GUKPT Coventry Poker Victory

The winner of the latest GUKPT event is Thomas Besnier. The 33-year old Frenchman took down all comers at the Blue Square Poker Grosvernor United Kingdom Poker Tour Summer Series main event in Coventry at the G Casino. He was the last man standing out of 84 runners and took home a prize of £8,200 as well as a seat in the GUKPT £100,000 Champion of Champions tournament. The main event was a £300 no limit Texas hold’em poker tournament.

GUKPT Coventry Result – Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Coventry Completes Summer Series

The GUKPT Summer Series main event at the G Casino in Coventry has been won by 33-year old Frenchman Thomas Besnier. He defeated a field of 84 players in the £300 no-limit Texas hold’em poker tournament to take down the first prize of £8,200 and claim a seat in the tour’s £100,000 Champion of Champions tournament. Besnier, a sports agent from Tours, near Paris is the first Frenchman to win a GUKPT event, but has visited the UK on several occasions to play on the tour. His compatriot and travelling companion Julien Bardet also made the final, finishing in 8th place. Besnier commented that he likes to come to play in these events because the structure is so much better than they are used to getting in France.

His heads up opponent was Mark Deacon from Leicester, who was playing in his first ever GUKPT event. The heads up stage of the tournament went on for over two hours, but after a monster pot with A-8 versus K-T, Besnier left his opponent with not enough to make up the small blind. Two hands later he emerged victorious with an unlikely holding of 3-2 versus Q-T. A board of 4-6-J-J-5 gave Besnier a straight and brought the tournament to a conclusion.

Andrew O’Flaherty from Leeds, who has previously graced an EPT main event final table, finished in third place, while Rotherham’s Paul Rayner was fourth. John Exley from Barnsley who finished 5th, was the only player on the nine-man final table to have previously made a final table on the GUKPT. Chris Gavriel, Barry MacDonald, Julien Bardet and Dilbir Sahota completed the final table line up, finishing in 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th places respectively.

The Summer Series is now complete for 2009, but the main tour continues this week at the Grosvenor casino in Cardiff, which plays host to the 7th leg of this year’s tour. The last time the tour visited Cardiff was in 2007 where former Eastenders actor and PokerPlayer writer Michael Greco claimed victory. The festival starts on Monday 31st August with a £200 no-limit hold’em freezeout, while the £1,000 main event gets underway on Thursday 3rd September.

Big Losses for Mystery Online Poker Player

At the online poker room Full Tilt Poker mystery player Martonas suffered big losses. Martonas has received a lot of attention from his high stakes wins and losses, causing players to speculate as to his real life identity, which so far remains a secret. Recently he played a match with Tom Dwan, known as durrr, losing nearly one and a half million dollars. Two pots provided the bulk of that loss, totaling over $700k. On the other hand players like THEASHMAN103 wound up way ahead; this player found a profit of nearly one million in one week.

The Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival is Coming Soon!

Do you have a little Irish in you? Want to test your ‘luck o’ the Irish’ in a big way? If so, dust off that four leaf clover, grab that rabbits’ foot and get ready for the Irish Poker Festival. The action takes place at the Irish National Events Centre (INEC) in Killarney, Co Kerry, Ireland for three days this October 2nd through- 4th and Ladbrokes Poker wants to send you there!

Be right in the thick of things because the INEC is at the center of the busy hotel and leisure complex and players who win prize packages will be staying at the Gleneagle Hotel, which is right by the bustling INEC. So when you take a break from the poker tables, soak up some Irish hospitality with a wide range of night-life filled with Irish music and having the craic -all within walking distance! And just what does having a craic mean? It is a traditional Irish word defining what you will be doing in Killarney; having fun, enjoyment, abandonment, or lighthearted mischief – often in the context of drinking or music!

This year, the three day Irish Poker Festival will showcase the €550 Main Event which will feature a real pot ‘o gold – a whopping €250,000 guaranteed prizepool! And players will have plenty of time to make their best moves with a $15,000 chip starting stack and one hour blinds. Plus players will also earn European ranking points for participating! The Festival also includes two side tournaments: a two day €270+30 buy-in tournament on Saturday, October 3rd and a one day €150+20 buy-in tournament on Sunday October 4th. And of course when you win your trip on Ladbrokes Poker, you will have exclusive access to Ladbrokes hospitality facilities with a game room offering pool and darts to help you relax in between all those winning hands!

Last year every event at the Irish Poker Festival was a complete sell-out, setting a European record with 832 players competing in the Main Event. When the smoke cleared after three days of non-stop poker action it was lucky Irish local lad Jimmy McSweeney who walked away with 1st Place bragging rights and €100,000. And this year promises to be even bigger and better!

But why not plan to be there to get in the action yourself? You can for as little as just €3 + 0.30! A limited number of Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival Main Event Packages are available for €1,000 (€950 + €50) but thanks to Ladbrokes Poker, you can get your seat way cheaper by winning one of these satellites:

•    Monday – Saturday Satellites held throughout the day for just €3 + 0.30
•    Monday – Saturday Satellites Daily Final at 20:30GMT for €20 + 2
•    Sunday Weekly Final at 20:30 GMT for a buy-in of €100 +10

With all of these satellites running until September 20th, now is the time to start playing to win one! And when you come out on top, you will win a prize package that includes your €550 buy-in to the Main Event and three nights B&B at the Gleneagle hotel.

If you have ever wondered why Ladbrokes Poker is number one in the UK and Europe, now you know – because they offer great promotions to major live events like the Irish Poker Festival all year long! Don’t miss the chance to take your seat at the biggest poker tournament on the European Poker Circuit – by winning your Irish Festival Prize Package today – only at Ladbrokes Poker!

November Niner leads WPT Legends final

Just a month after making the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table Kevin Schaffel finds himself in the WPT Legends of Poker final six.A little over a month since making the final table of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, Kevin Schaffel will go into the final six of the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker Wednesday with the chip lead.

“It’s just been unbelievable,” said Schaffel, who appears to have matched Ivan Demidov’s feat of making the WSOPE main event final table while awaiting his shot at a WSOP Main Event title last year.

“I just came off one of the worst streaks of my poker career starting in January and for these two things to happen back to back it’s almost impossible to even dream of.

“I can’t wait to get in to my next tournament and see if I can make another final table.”

Fellow November Niner Steven Begleiter actually held the lead through the first two days at the Bicycle Casino in L.A., but could not hold on busting in ninth place.

Now sitting in the driver’s seat, Schaffel says he’s squarely focused on the task at hand and not November.

“Obviously this is what I’m going to be doing tomorrow and November is November,” he said. “Plus, November is such a different story because I’m [sixth in chips] and three or four people have big chip leads over me. The whole dynamic of the table is going to be different.

'It's really exciting.'

“Here I can – not bully people – but be a little more aggressive against the shorter stacks because they can’t knock me out in one hand like five others can do at the Main Event.”

Getting a win here at Legends will be no easy task for Schaffel, who has a final table in a $5k at Legends in 2007 on his resume.

Coming off a second place finish at the Borgata Winter Open main event this year, Veteran pro Todd Terry is just 10k short of Schaffel’s 2,219,000 chip stack and is feeling great about his game.

“I feel good about the decisions I’m making and the plays I’m making,” he said. “It’s really exciting. I’ve been playing WPT’s for a while now and I’ve had terrible luck in them. I’ve never even cashed in one, so to be going into the final table just about tied for the chip lead is pretty awesome.”

Right behind the two chip leaders sits Prahlad Friedman, who, in addition two deep runs at the 2006 and 2009 WSOP Main Event, is a veteran of the highest stakes cash games online.

Considering the top heavy payout structure at the Bike, Friedman said he will head into his first WPT final table focused on winning.

“I’m trying to make money, that’s my job,” he said. “So I’m not thinking I finally made a WPT final table. I’m just happy I’ve got a chance to win a million and that’s what I’m focused on.

“All the money’s in first so that’s what I’m going to be playing for.”

Mike Krescanko, who has two WSOP Stud final tables and a host of small cashes on his rap sheet, is next on the leaderboard.

'I've got a chance to win a million.'

Sam Stein, who made ninth at the WPT Bellagio Cup this summer, sits right behind Krescasnko.

“It’s nice to get on TV,” Stein said. “It would have been nice to go back to back on TV – people would certainly notice that – but whatever. I’m still happy. Even though I’m fifth in chips I’m definitely trying to win. It’s the only thing on my mind.”

Rounding out the final six is the venerable Toto Leonidas.

The Full Tilt pro has over $3 million in career earnings, but joins the entire group in making their first WPT final table appearance.

“I’ve been longing to get to a final table at the WPT,” he said. “I’ve blown up in a lot of WPT tournaments before. I’ve been close a couple of times, so this feels pretty good.”

The action will get underway at 4 p.m. PT with a $1,009,000 first place prize on the line.

PokerListings will have comprehensive live updates throughout on or Live Tournaments page.

Asian Poker Tour Macau Over

The 2009 Asian Poker Tour Macau main event has finished. The victor, a French poker player from Rennes, 23-year-old Adrien Allain. Allain typically plays online under the name zlatan35, but his live performance left nothing wanting as he swooped down on the competition and came away with a $391,556 cash prize. Allain defeated Korean player Inwook Choi in a heads up match that left his opponent with $214,158 cash as consolation. Third place finisher JC Tran was an early favorite, but the American poker pro had to make do with a final table placement.

Your Seat is Open in the $20,000 WCOOP FreeRoll

Courtesy of PokerWorks and PokerStars, get ready for the biggest online tournament in the world because it is almost here! Starting in less than two weeks, on Thursday September 3rd the monumental 2009 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) on PokerStars kicks off!

This year the guaranteed prize pools are bigger than ever, totaling a massive $40,000,000 making the WCOOP the biggest online tournament the poker world has ever seen! And in their effort to make sure every player has a chance to get in the action, PokerStars and PokerWorks have teamed up to bring you a deal you cannot afford to pass up! Why? Because it is FREE!

And this is no little rinky-dink FreeRoll either because it is valued at a whopping $20,000! So how do you qualify? Easy – just Download PokerStars here on PokerWorks and register a new account. Then make a minimum deposit and play your favorite poker games to earn 200 VPPs (player points) from August 1st through August 31st at 23:59 EDT. Once you earn the required VPPs and are eligible to play, after August 31st you will receive a FreeRoll ticket, which is used to manually register for the freeroll. It is just that easy to get your ticket to the FreeRoll and then advance to the WCOOP because there will be 90 FREE tickets given away to the biggest online tournament in the world! Are you already a PokerStars player? If so, you too can get a seat in the WCOOP FreeRoll as long as you originally signed up with PokerStars via PokerWorks and meet all other requirements!

Once you are qualified and have your ticket, get registered, and get ready to FreeRoll – to the WCOOP on Wednesday September 2nd at 22:45 ET! Play your heart out and jump in the winners’ circle to win the following entries to the 2009 World Championship of Online Poker:

•    1st Place wins a $2,100 ticket
•    2nd and 3rd Place finishers each receive a $1,050 ticket
•    4th through 6th Place each win a $530 ticket
•    7th through16th Place each receive a $320 ticket
•    17th through 41st Place win a $215 ticket
•    42nd through 90th Place finishers each win a $109 ticket

Now in its eighth year, the WCOOP will prove it is bigger than ever when 45 events will be played out over 18 days starting September 2nd. With the record-breaking $40,000,000 guaranteed combined prize pool, this is an event no poker player will want to miss! And to top it all off, on September 20th at 16:30 the grand finale takes off in the form of the $5,200 buy-in Main Event, with a gigantic $10,000,000 guaranteed prize pool!

Every top notch online player in the world will be there to join the Team PokerStars Pro members and PokerStars wants you to join the fray! And you CAN – by taking advantage of the WCOOP PokerWorks and PokerStars $20,000 FreeRoll give-away! This FreeRoll is most definitely your very best chance at winning your PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker seats and the best part is it is all FREE!

Get to playing and qualifying NOW for your PokerWorks and PokerStars WCOOP FreeRoll seat and for more information on this fabulous online tournament series, be sure to check out WCOOP.com for the full schedule of events.

Stud Hi-Lo – Poker Strategy | Stud Hi-lo

If you’re a good poker player with solid theoretical knowledge, it’s in your interest to seek out complicated poker games. The more complicated the game, the more likely it is that your opponents will make mistakes and poor decisions. And one of the most common ways to make a game more complex is to add a split-pot element.  

In split-pot games, the pot is divided into two or more parts, with each part going to a different type of hand at showdown. The most common type of split-pot game is hi/lo split, in which half the pot is awarded to the best traditional (high) poker hand, and half to the best low hand. It’s possible for the same player to win both parts of the pot, using different combinations of the available cards for each part. Continuing our look at stud variants, this month we’ll delve into stud eight or better.

How To Play

Stud hi/lo is essentially half Razz, half regular stud. However, unlike in Razz, there is a qualifier for low. If you don’t have an Eight low or better (at least a straight eight, 8-7-6-5-4) your hand doesn’t count and you automatically relinquish the low half of the pot.

If nobody can make an eight low or better, the entire pot is awarded to the best high hand. Stud hi/lo is dealt just like regular stud, except that no double bet is allowed on fourth street. On third, the lowest door card brings it in, and from fourth onwards the highest hand showing starts the betting.

Starting Hands

In all poker games, good starting hand selection reduces the number of difficult decisions you’ll make on later streets, which is particularly important if you’re new to a game. The number one objective in any split-pot game is to win the entire pot or scoop, by making the best hand for both parts. From this, you should deduce that the best type of hand to start with is one that can develop into a strong high (like a straight or a flush) as well as a strong low (like a five or six).

Hands such as (K-9)-K just don’t have that scoop potential. Instead, you’ll tend to make only a mediocre high hand like two pair, and no low. Similarly, a pretty looking Razz hand like 7h-6c-Ad doesn’t have much potential for high. A tell-tale sign of a weak hi/lo player is a tendency to continue for too long with these types of weak one-way hands.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t play strong high only hands – rolled up trips is still a dream hand in stud eight, and big pairs that improve early can be powerful. Because it’s possible for a high hand to win the entire pot when nobody shows a low hand, you will occasionally be rewarded for taking one to a showdown.

The Importance Of Up-cards

In previous months we’ve talked in great detail about the importance of the up-cards to your decision making. Suffice to say you shouldn’t be thinking about entering the pot with a high-only hand unless these are in your favour. You want your hand to be both live and disguised, and preferably to be up against only a single low draw or weaker high hand. If the situation is not perfect, you should play with extreme caution.

Much better are hands like (A-A)-2, which gives you a pair of Aces for high, and two cards to the best possible low. A hand like 6-5-4 gives you three cards to a straight plus three cards to a good low. The hand everyone wants to see is 5h-4h-3h, which gives you a draw to the best possible low, plus straight and flush draws for high.

Early Street Play

Because there are so many possibilities in stud eight, and because the bring-in may be waiting to pounce with a monster hand, it’s a little more difficult to steal the antes than it is in most other stud games. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try it, but in general you should have some kind of back up hand when you do so, since you’re more likely to be called.

In stud hi/lo you won’t necessarily always enter the pot with a raise. In fact, if you have a strong low hand and all the players still to act look like they have high hands, you welcome them in the pot since these are the very opponents you’re looking to scoop. Depending on the situation and your exact opponents, you can consider limping in, hoping that one of them will enter the pot behind you, giving you a chance to win a huge pot on later streets.

Playing The Later Streets

Stud hi/lo is a game of monster draws, which you should not be afraid to bet strongly when necessary. For example, lets say you have (7h-6h)-5h-4h on fourth street, your hand is live, and you’re up against an opponent who is showing a pair of nines and some other high cards.

Don’t allow your opponent to get away from this situation cheaply. You’re a significant equity favourite (around 75% depending on the dead cards) and you should be getting as much money into the pot as possible, even though you haven’t made a hand either way yet.

In previous articles we talked about recognising board lock, which is a situation where, because of the exposed cards, you know that your hand must be equal or superior to your opponent’s. In hi/lo games, it’s equally important to recognise a freeroll.

A freeroll occurs when you have already made a low hand, and your opponent either has no low hand, or a low hand that cannot beat you. For example, you have (6-4)-3-2-A, and your opponent is showing 9-K-K. There are no cards that your opponent can catch to give him a better low than your smooth six, and you have a chance to beat him for high by catching a five to make a six-high straight.

In this situation, you should play as aggressively as possible, both to build the pot for the occasions when you scoop, and to encourage your opponent to fold when you don’t. Some players will criticise you for ‘feeding the rake’ in this way – but those players are out of their tiny minds unless the rake is for some reason extremely significant relative to the stakes.

Playing By Numbers

One last tactic to be aware of in split pot games is how to manipulate the number of opponents in the pot based on your holding. For example, if you have a board lock for low with no chance to scoop, and you’re up against two opposing hands, it’s to your advantage to keep both of them in the pot, to increase your winnings. You’ll therefore bet in such a way as to trap one of your opponents in the middle of you and the third player, building the pot in small increments which will be easy for him to call.

Conversely, if you have a low hand with some potential to win high, you often do better by playing aggressively and forcing out other high hands, giving you a better chance to scoop. For example, if you have (5-5)-3-2-A, knocking out a player with a pair of Kings for a high increases your equity substantially.

Poker heats up in Hollywood

WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack says a deep run in the Main Event by a celebrity like Jason Alexander could be big for poker.Poker’s big boom may have been six long years ago, but A-list celebrities, actors, musicians and sports stars continue to flock to the game.

A glimpse of the celebs into the game is available every year at the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational and various charity tournaments, but many celebrities also scratch their poker itch at home games and online.

Anthrax lead singer Scott Ian has been playing poker for years and has seen several celebrity friends converted into players first hand.

“Keanu Reeves just recently got into Hold’em,” Ian told PokerListings. “A few months back he said to me, ‘Hey man, I was playing a lot of poker with this director on my last movie and he was just constantly taking my money.”

Ian said Reeves is learning more and more about Hold’em and has become a semi-regular at a private game in Santa Monica.

“I know tons of people who play and when I’m home we all try to get together and play as much as we can,” Ian added.

Keeping a weekly slot open for a real-life home game is tough for Hollywood types and rock stars on the road – a predicament that led Ian to move his home game online to Ultimate Bet.

“The first one had Kirk Hammett from Metallica, Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains, Slash, Vinnie Paul from Pantera and John Dolmayan from System of a Down,” said the Anthrax frontman.

“What it means is just a lot of my friends in bands, these ‘rock star’ guys, who like to play Hold’em. It is a way for us to get to play together since we don’t get to play together physically because of everyone’s schedules.”

'I know tons of people who play.'

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips has had a semi-regular home game running almost as long as he’s been in show business.

Phillips put the skills he learned in that home game to good use this summer finishing 186th out of 6,494 at the WSOP Main Event.

“The home game has been crazy,” Phillips told PokerListings. “It’s been going on for 20 years.”

Over two decades his game has seen a rotating group of actors and entertainers.

“George Clooney used to hang back in the day,” Phillips recalled fondly. “Brad Pitt before he got Thelma and Louise, all the 90210 kids.”

Like a lot of Hollywood home games the stakes are anything but astronomical, and the level of play is anything but professional.

“No, it’s a lot of bullshit is what it is,” Phillips laughed. “We’re drinking a lot of beer and going, ‘My two-three offsuit will kick your kings’ ass.’ “

Low stakes and a casual yet competitive atmosphere seem to be the norm in celebrity home games.

$500 buy in?

Actor and Simpsons cast member Hank Azaria has a regular game at his Soho, New York, residence where the buy-in is reported to be a modest $500.

Simpsons creator Sam Simon shares a similar attitude, one that he’s taking to television this year with Sam’s Game on the Playboy Channel.

Juxtaposing his casual home-game style with serious shows like GSN’s High Stakes Poker, Simon is recreating the home game experience and expects to tap into viewers’ natural love for the format.

While HSP relies on big names and big dollar amounts, Sam’s Game uses the same things we all love about home games – Jokes, food, beer and a little bit of poker.

While celebrity home games are mostly about good times, poker’s popularity in Hollywood circles could have a real effect on the vitality of the game.

With Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander and Phillips both running deep in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, much was made about what a celebrity at the final table could mean.

In 2003, Chris Moneymaker’s victory catapulted poker into the public’s consciousness.

Now, with the four month break before the Main Event final table, players are given an even bigger opportunity to take the poker word to the masses.

'My two-three offsuit will kick your kings' ass.'

WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack says having a poker pro like Phil Ivey at the final table this year will surely help grow the game, but the exposure someone like Alexander would garner in mainstream media could be staggering.

“I think anytime a big name makes the final table of the Main Event it’s good for poker and good for the WSOP,” he said. “At the same time, any personality that can crossover in that setting would also be great.

“Phil Ivey will be great, Jason Alexander would have been great and, last year, Tiffany Michelle would have been great. You have a top poker pro, a big Hollywood celebrity and a compelling newcomer.

“All three are different and all three have the capacity to crossover and that’s something that’s always attractive to have.”

Thousands in freerolls coming your way

With exclusive freerolls going on every week for PokerListings players, right now is the right time to grab your free seat for cash prizes.

Unless otherwise noted, all PokerListings.com players, new and existing, can take part in any of the following freerolls. Just meet the qualification requirements.

If you’re not a PokerListings registered player on any of the following sites, click on the site’s name in the list to sign up. Getting your free seat in the tournament can be just as simple as that.

Full Tilt

Full Tilt offers weekly freerolls to all PokerListings players. Qualify with 200 points earned the week before the event to grab your seat. Here are the next two planned events

• Date: Aug 22, 13:00 EST
• Value: $3,000
• Qualify with: 200 points
• Qualify between: Aug 15 – Aug 21

• Date: Aug 29, 13:00 EST
• Value: $3,000
• Qualify with: 200 points
• Qualify between: Aug 22 – Aug 28

bwin Poker

For first-time depositors only. This exclusive freeroll requires only 50 points to qualify.

• Date: Aug 23, 19:00 GMT
• Value: $2,000
• Qualify with: 50 points
• Qualify between: May 14 – Aug 20

Poker Stars

If you’re a Poker Listings player, and collected 500 player points between July 1st and 30th you’ve qualified to play in this exclusive $20,000 freeroll, grab your seat and win some serious cash.

• Date: Aug 30, 15:00 EST
• Value: $20,000
• Qualify with: 500 points
• Qualify between: Jul 1 – Jul 31

William Hill Poker

William Hill Poker spreads a monthly $2,500 freeroll for all PokerListings players. The fields are small, making it easy to get your piece of the prize. Qualify with just 100 points.

• Date: Sept 3, 19:00 GMT
• Value: $2,500
• Qualify with: 100 points

Titan Poker

Titan Poker spreads a monthly $5,000 freeroll for PokerListings players. It takes just 25 points to qualify for your seat.

• Date: Sept 6, 19:00 GMT
• Value: $5,000
• Qualify with: 25 points

Ultimate Bet

Ultimate bet offers a $5,000 monthly freeroll to PokerListings players. Play just 100 raked hands in the month prior to the event for your seat.

• Date: Sept 13, 15:00 EST
• Value: $5,000
• Qualify with: 100 raked hands
• Qualify between: Aug 1 – Aug 31

Sportsbook Poker

For first-time depositors only. Sportsbook poker offers a monthly freeroll with $2,000 awarded to the winners in cash.

• Date: Sep 13, 19:00 EST
• Value: $2,000
• Qualify with: Deposit and play
• Qualify between: Aug 1 – Aug 31

Titan Poker

The largest of Titan’s upcoming freerolls offers $15,000 in cash prizes to all PokerListings players who collect a minimum of 750 points

• Date: Sept 20, 19:00 GMT
• Value: $15,000
• Qualify with: 750 points

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