Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

Brian Townsend

A few days ago, Brian Townsend admitted to using multiple accounts to get an unfair edge in his poker games. Since so many players were used to his style of play under his main accounts: aba20 (PokerStars.com) and Brian Townsend (FullTiltPoker.com), he decided to create 2 new accounts so that nobody would know who he was.

Brian has since admitted what he did was wrong in a recent apology posted in his blog.  Brian wrote:

“For the past 6 months I have been playing under the 2nd aliases Stellarnebula on FTP and makersmark66 on PokerStars.  I have not used the aba20 account on Stars since I began playing on the Makersmark66 account.  I have since gone back to using the aba20 account and will play only that account.  During this time I played the 25/50 and 100/200 PLO games.  I played under the Stellarnebula account from February until the end of June at which time Lee Jones and I had a discussion and we came to an agreement that I needed to close it.  During this time I was playing under the Brian Townsend account, never at the same table with the Stellarnebula.  Under the Stellarnebula account I played 25/50, 50/100, and 100/200 PLO.  During this time I played a very small amount of 50/100 PLO and primarily 200/400 PLO under the Brian Townsend account.

I have also hurt those that I work closely with primarily at CardRunners but also at FullTilt.  To compensate those that were hurt by my actions I am going to be donating 25,000 dollars to a charity to be determined in the future.  This money will be removed from my CardRunners distributions.  This is by no means me making my actions correct but I hope that it shows some good faith towards those that I work closely with.  I am very proud of CardRunners; we are doing something very special.”

Brian has also opened a thread on 2+2 where he has been taking questions from players.  He seems to be avoiding all the questions about how much money he made from these accounts, but in an admission of guilt, Brian has decided to donate $25k to a charity for his actions.  Full Tilt Poker will also be suspending Brian’s Red Pro status for 6 months as a penalty for this.

The real question though is, was he so wrong to do this?  I don’t really see this as cheating as online poker is supposed to be anonymous.  Using software to study your opponents’ patterns and taking notes is part of the game, but why not allow players to keep their identity private also?  If he is THAT GOOD, then he deserves to keep winning no matter what account.  But hey, I guess the sites have these rules in place for a reason, so though I don’t really think he was right, I don’t think he deserves to be crucified for this also.

What do you think?  Was Brian wrong for doing what he did?  What should happen to him?

John "The Razor" Phan

The final table of the 2008 World Poker Tour Legends of Poker $10,000 no limit hold’em championship kicked off at 4 p.m. at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California. Up for grabs was a first place prize worth $1,091,428 with every player ready to take it home. Of the final six players, five of them were at their first WPT final table ever, while John Phan was making a back-to-back appearance.

Here’s the chip stack going into Day 4:

Seat 1: Trong Nguyen — 980,000
Seat 2: Amit Makhija — 3,225,000
Seat 3: Paul Smith — 1,130,000
Seat 4: John Phan — 2,415,000
Seat 5: Zachary Clark — 2,025,000
Seat 6: Kyle Wilson — 1,425,000

The back and forth heads up battle between Amit Makhija and Phan that ultimately decided the winner of the top prize. Both players went through huge chip swings testing their mettle though each player doubled up during the heads up battle. After a grueling three and a half hours of heads up play, Phan emerged as the winner of his first WPT title. Phan is on fire, he has now made three of the last six WPT final tables and in between, he won two gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker. Phan also nailed down a huge lead in the Card Player Player of the Year race with the win.

Here are the highlights from the final table action:

Eliminated in 6th Place, Kyle Wilson - $176,035

John Phan raised to 160,000 and Zachary Clark re-raised to 560,000. Without hesitation, Kyle Wilson moved all in for his last 995,000 and the action folded back to Phan. After a few moments of thought, Phan decided to fold. Despite being priced in, Clark hesitated before calling and his doubt was confirmed when Wilson’s pocket kings were revealed. Clark did have a chance however with his A-J.

The flop came out with A-7-5 causing the crowd to groan at Wilson’s bad beat. The turn and river were no help when they came 5-3. With Wilson’s elimination in sixth place, Clark was now contending for the chip lead.

Another notable hand came when Trong Nguyen moved all in for 770,000 and Amit Makhija made the call. They both turned up their hands revealing:

Makhija: A-K
Nguyen: 6-6

Board: j-10-2-10-6

Nguyen doubled up and now held 1.3 million in chips.

Eliminated in 5th Place, Trong Nguyen - $211,245

Amit Makhija raised to 150,000 and Trong Nguyen called from the big blind. The flop came 7-7-2, prompting Nguyen to bet 300,000. Makhija made the call and the turn brought a 4. Nguyen then moved all in for 800,000. After thinking it over for a bit, Makhija called and showed 6-6. Nguyen was in bad shape with K-Q and the river offered no help when the 5 fell. Nguyen was eliminated in fifth place, taking home $211,245.

Eliminated in 4th Place, Paul Smith - $246,450

Paul Smith moved all in pre-flop from the small blind for 1,225,000 causing John Phan to take plenty of time to think it over. After 3 minutes, Smith called the clock and with the count down from the tournament director at under 10 seconds, Phan finally made the call. Both players slowed their hands:

Smith: A-7
Phan: 8-8

Board: 9-7-7-10-6

Phan was behind on the flop but came back strong to make a 10 high straight, winning the hand. Smith was eliminated in fourth place, taking home $246,450.

Eliminated in 3rd Place, Zachary Clark - $281,645

Zachary Clark moved all in pre-flop for 1,855,000 with Amit Makhija making the call. John Phan mucked and both players showed their cards:

Makhija: A-6
Clark: K-2

Board: 10-7-5-A-J

Clark was eliminated in third place taking home a healthy $281,645 and moving Makhija back into the chip lead.

Winner of the 2008 Legends of Poker, John Phan - $1,091,428

In the final hand of the tournament Amit Makhija moved all in and John Phan made the call. Makhija showed K-7 and Phan was hanging on with 3-3. The flop came Q-5-5 giving Makhija more outs to challenge Phan’s pair. The turn brought an A and leaving open the possibility of a Q to chop the pot. But the river was a 10, making Phan the winner of the 2008 Legends of Poker tournament.

Makhija earned $563,320 for his second place finish. Phan earned $1,091,428 and took an incredible lead of nearly 1,500 points in the CardPlayer Player of the Year race.

Final Table results:

1st Place: John Phan — $1,091,428
2nd Place: Amit Makhija — $563,320
3rd Place: Zachary Clark — $281,645
4th Place: Paul Smith — $246,450
5th Place: Trong Nguyen — $211,245
6th Place: Kyle Wilson — $176,035

Amit Makhija - Chip Leader

Despite expectations that Day 4 would be a long drawn out battle narrowing the field down to the final six players, the line-up was determined in just four hours at the WPT Legends of Poker Tournament.  Coming in to the day with 27 players, there was no shortage of suckouts, huge pots and collapses that reduced the field at a rapid rate.

Short stacks Ben “bfineman” Fineman and Adam Weinraub were quickly eliminated followed by one of the biggest pots of the tournament went to Amit “amak316″ Makhija eliminating Ron Jenkins.  Makhija’s top pair held up against Jenkins’ big draw, catapulting him to the chip lead.

Joining the ranks of the casualties were Allen Cunningham and Maria Ho followed by a long string of short stacks in a steady stream.  Players 27-19 received $21,125 for their efforts:

27. Ben Fineman
26. Adam Weinraub
25. Ron Jenkins
24. Allen Cunningham
23. Maria Ho
22. Tan Le
21. Jim Hof
20. Marco Johnson
19. Kirk Conrad

Tournament directors then redrew for the final two tables, expecting the action to slow.  The players had other ideas though, sending Rodeen Talebi, Philip Stark, Samuel Ngai and Takashi Shiono home in short order.  A short half an hour later, Gary Najarian’s day ended when his pocket Kings were taken down by Zachary Clark’s set of fours.  Clark also scored a huge side pot on the hand from Layne Flack, putting him near the top of the leader board.

Lee Markholt then found himself short stacked and all in with A-K against John Phan’s pocket fives.  Markholt was able to catch up with an Ace hit the turn but the river showed a five, ensuring he wouldn’t improve on last year’s ninth place finish in this event.

Just before the break, Jinyun Lin and Sirous Baghchehsaraie were taken down to bring the player count to 10.  Normally, the final 10 would combine to play out the remainder of the tournament but at the Bicycle Casino, both tables played five handed until a player is eliminated to create a nine-handed final table. After an hour of hand for hand play, Denny Lee’s pocket jacks were smashed by Trong Nguyen’s pocket kings.

Once the final nine were put together, play slowed down considerably.  Each player was making very careful decisions, trying to avoid a blunder that would cost them all their chips.  That blunder came when Raymond Voskanian pushed all in with pocket 10’s on a flush board with three overs into Matt Keikoan’s diamond flush.  Voskanian finished in ninth place and earned $70,415.

Though it took a while for the next player to go, it became on of the most important hands of the day.  John Phan raised to 110,000 and Layne Flack re-raised to 360,000, leaving just 300,000 behind.  Phan then counted out his chips and considered what he would have left if making the bet.  Phan then asked for the dealer’s ‘all in’ button, as he has done all tournament long.  Realizing this could be an angle to see his opponent’s reaction, the tournament director informed Phan that the next time he asks for the button, he will be all in.

After another minute of deliberation, Phan tossed in the button and both players turned over their cards.  Flack had A-A and Phan had 7-7.  The flop came out 7-6-4 causing the crowd to gasp, realizing Phan had flopped a set.  The turn didn’t do much to help Flack when another 7 was peeled off the deck, giving Phan quads.  The river card was a Q and Flack was eliminated in eight place, earning him $105,620.

After winning that pot, Phan’s chip total rose to over 2 million in the process.  The elimination held more importance than for just chips or a pay increase.  With Flack’s elimination, Phan was now guaranteed to surpass Erick Seidel for the lead in the Card Player Player of the Year race.

Only a few hands after the break, Matt Keikoan pushed his 10 big blinds stack from the small blind and was immediately called by Zachary Clark.  Keikoan’s 7-4 off suit was in trouble to Clark’s A-K and a King on the flop was the writing on the wall.  Keikoan was eliminated on the bubble, earning $140,830.

The chip counts going into the final table are:

Seat 1 - Trong Nguyen - 980,000
Seat 2 - Amit Makhija - 3,225,000
Seat 3 - Paul Smith - 1,130,000
Seat 4 - John Phan - 2,415,000
Seat 5 - Zachary Clark - 2,025,000
Seat 6 - Kyle Wilson - 1,425,000

Erica Schoenberg is the not only one of the sexiest poker players, she is also the wife of poker degen, David Benyamine.

So I was watching this soccer babe video (football for all our non-North American friends) and couldn’t help but think how much the 2nd girl looked just like Erica.

Anyway, the video is worth a watch regardless if you like sexy women, so check it out:

- Watch more free videos

Johnny Chan Ginger

In the latest edition of Mike Sexton’s “Sexton’s Corner“, Mike talks with Johnny Chan.  In the interview one thing that came up was how Phil Hellmuth used to stalk the top players to study their every move.  When asked about this Johnny replied:

“Johnny Chan: {(With a little smile)Johnny said yes very emphatically.} Phil studied me for a long time. He was a very hard worker. During my streak he was watching over my shoulder all the time! He followed me wherever I went. He was a good kid who would even jog with me around the Horseshoe occasionally. He is a good person and family man, even though he acts like a sissy person at the poker table, whining and complaining all the time.”

I guess this isn’t really anything new, as we have all seen Hellmuth whine like a baby at the table.  It is just funny because it is coming from Johnny “The Ginger” Chan.

Maybe Johnny is just bitter about Chan Poker closing?  Who knows…

Poker Pro, Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson is mad at Barack Obama.  Why?  For picking Joe Biden as his running mate.  What could Doyle have against Joe Biden?  For starters, Doyle says that Biden is a hothead and a potential screw up.  Writing on his web log last Friday:

“I’ve been watching the news all afternoon and it looks like Joe Biden is going to be Obama’s running mate. I think it is a bad choice because Biden is hot headed and might screw up royally. I think Hillary would have cinched the election if he had picked her. But, what do I know, I was a George W. man. If McCain picks Romney as his running mate, all the gamblers had better vote for Obama.

Why does Doyle think “all the gamblers” should vote for Obama?

He doesn’t go into details nor does he outline just how Biden might screw up royally.  Its interesting to learn that Doyle feels so strongly that Hillary Clinton would have been a better running mate for Obama than Biden.

Lifelong Republican and poker legend Doyle Brunson has said on several occasions that he will vote Democrat for the first time in his adult life, which when calculated is about a century.

“Well I’m a life long Republican,” said Brunson, whose online poker room is amongst the most well known in the world. “But I think I’m probably going to vote Democrat this year, because of the way that they ran the Internet gaming bill through. I think that maybe the Democrats will be a little bit more lenient with the online gambling.”

Doyle is one of the most well-known and influential poker players in the world.  He was the first player to earn $1 million in tournament winnings and has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets.  To date, his total live tournament winnings have exceeded $5,300,000.

Brunson is arguably one of the best, if not the best, poker players in the world but he may want to rethink his role as a political pundit.