Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

Poker is becoming more and more a global pastime and it is showing with the addition of yet another poker tour. This time players from all over the world will be descending on Central and South America for the first ever Latin American Poker Tour. Beginning in May, this series will be visiting a few of the top Latin American countries and opening another door for the world of poker.

The tour kicks off in Rio De Janiero, Brazil on May 7^th through May 10^th. Later in May, the second event will be held in San Jose, Costa Rica, and the tour will wrap up in Punta Del Este, Uruguay in August. Organizers expect to see at least 250 entrants in each tournament, with a cap of 300 players and prize pools are estimated to reach $600,000 or better. This tournament will give Latin American poker pros, like Humberto Brenes and Andre Akkari, a chance to show their skills in front of a hometown audience.

As with the European Poker Tour and Asia Pacific Poker Tour, the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) is sponsored by Pokerstars. Players can win a prize package that includes entry into the first tournament, as well as accommodations and money for expenses through the Steps sit-and-go satellite tournaments at Pokerstars. For those who want to don’t want to win their way in, you can buy-in to the tournament for $2500 and get information about accommodations through the LAPT website.

Congratulations to Glen Chorny (known online as Choron) on an amazing performance at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo.  After 6 days of some very amazing poker, Glen outlasted one of the biggest fields that the EPT has ever seen to win the biggest EPT prize ever:  €2,020,000!

Glen qualified for the tournament online at Pokerstars and told me that going into the tournament he knew he was going to win it.  His aggresive style play, combined with his great confidence at the poker table, really helped Glen make it to the end as #1.  Chorny’s chip stack constantly swung up and down and at several points he went from chip leader to short stack.  Each time he got low, he would open his game up and aggressively grind his way back, with few players really willing to take a stab at him.

Here is the final list of winners for the 2008 EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo:
1. Glen Chorny (Canada) - € 2,020,000
2. Denes Kalo (Hungary) - €1,179,000
3. Maxime Villemure (Canada) - € 715,000
4. Isaac Baron (United States) - € 589,000
5. Michael Martin (United States) - €421,000
6. Luca Pagano (Italy) - €337,000
7. Valeriy Ilikyan (Russia) - €253,000
8. Antonio Esfandiari (United States) - € 168,000
9. Henrik Gwinner (Denmark) - € 126,000
10. Stig Top Rasmussen (denmark) - € 126,000

Here are some pictures from the final table:

Glen Chorny with Denes Kalo

Glen Chorny with his massive stack after doubling up from Maxime Villemure

Kara Scott interviews Chorny after the win

Choron’s new trophy

One of the many bottles of Cristal that were had to celebrate the win:

How the United States government is currently handling online gambling is a hot topic of conversation for poker players as well as congress’ members. Hardly a week goes by without a new proposal or theorized amendment to the current restrictions. Just last week, Representatives Barney Frank (D-Mass) and Ron Paul (R-Texas) introduced a bill that would limit enforcement of the 2006 online gambling ban, and Shelley Berkley (D-Nev) suggested a one year study of internet gambling. But both proposals were just talk, and poker players don’t think it will progress much further than that any time soon.

Jay Lakin, the vice president of Poker Source Online, publicly stated his opinion, saying that anything and everything takes a very long time to get through Congress. Even with a mound of proposals, it could be years until the ban is anywhere near being lifted. At the very least, poker players as well as gamblers will have to wait for the presidential election to end before action can occur, and even then, the next steps will depend on who is elected and who has control of the House. If it’s the wrong party or the wrong group, poker could be doomed for some time to come.

So until that is determined, the only thing online poker players can do is to play it safe. Go to the big sites, keep your dealings legitimate, vote for your benefit and hope that when we move the next round of officials to Washington, they are more than just talk. They’re action, at a hare’s pace.

PartyPoker.com is the world’s largest poker room, inviting player’s from across the globe to test their skill. Usually, it’s every man for himself, but recently it became every country for itself when PartyPoker.com held the 2008 Poker Nations Cup. Teams from Ireland, the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Holland and Sweden, among others, competed against each other for the $100,000 prize.

In the end, Great Britain claimed the title, but it wasn’t easy. Team captain Roland de Wolfe had to exercise a great deal of forethought and strategy as he determined the order of his players; he began with Surinder Sunar, then Joe Beevers, himself, Ian Frazer and second to last Charlie Durbin. Neil Channing took the final spot and secured the victory in a heads-up with Ireland’s Donnacha O’Dea.

For all involved it was a phenomenal win - one worthy of much pride, particularly since the men were playing as representatives of their country rather than just themselves. Channing and de Wolfe were both quoted as saying that this victory was equal to if not better than any previous solo win.

Great Britain, however, was not the only team to play well. Ireland defeated the others, coming in second and giving its final opponent a run for the pot. The United States, sadly, got knocked out almost immediately, followed by Sweden, Germany and Holland. For the first year in quite a while the United States did not have a solid showing in any international team event.

None the less, it was a close competition for the entire week, one that no nation will soon forget.

Luca Pagano has set a few new records at this EPT in Monte Carlo. Pagano now holds the record for most EPT cashes with a total of 9. Also, Luca and his father Claudio Pagano have created a new record for first father and son cash in an EPT event.

Luca’s biggest cash yet came in 2006 when he cashed for just over $25,000 in the EPT Dublin € 5,000 EPT - No Limit Hold’em event. Luca is currently sitting with one of the larger stacks and should be a favorite for the final table.

The Bubble Has Burst!

After 2 and a half hours of waiting for the bubble to burst at the 2008 the day finally came to an end for Surinder Sunar. Surinder shover all-in when he was dealt pocket Jacks only to be called by Ricardo Sousa’s KQ. Ricardo hit the Queen on the flop, which was all it took to send Surinder packing.

As I am currently attending the 2008 EPT Finals in Monte Carlo, it is only right that I post up some pictures. Here are some pictures from around the EPT and even some of just Monte Carlo in general.

Entrance to Le Sporting, where the EPT Finals are being held in Monte Carlo

The cars parked outside the Bay Casino in Monte Carlo (the hotel where the EPT is running)

The Grand Casino, Monte Carlo (Where the James Bond poker scene was shot)

EPT Floor

Daniel Negreanu being interviewed on Day 1a

Joe Hachem, Daniel Negreanu, and Victor Ramdin

Barry Greenstein

Greg Raymer

Mel Judah and Noah Boeken

Maya Antonius (wife of Patrik Antonius) with Patrik’s new baby

Phil Ivey

Hot Polish reporter covering the EPT

Thomas Wahlroos

Tony G’s Car

Marcel Luske

Anna Wroblewski

Luca Pagano pushes all-in, but doesn’t get a caller

Chip leader after 2 days… Oyvind Riisem

Thanks for stopping by!