WBCOOP 2013 - World Blogger Chamionship Of Poker

There have been numerous up and downs over my time playing poker. I first learnt sit and goes then moved on to MTTs and then went on to playing cash games. Later I played omaha and also 8-game. I played both live and online.

The best part of it all was moving up through the ranks from the bottom at NL2 to playing over 20k hands at NL400.

I am now looking forward to playing this years WBCOOP series..!!

Last year's entry was a lot more interesting..!!

A Decent Run In The VIP $1,000,000 Quarterly Freeroll

Micro Millions 3 Starts

Tournament Series Micro Millions 3 has just kicked off on Pokerstars.

This series is aimed at the micro stakes players of poker with some of the buy-ins as low as a 11 cents.

The guarantees in comparison are relatively large which is the attraction.

I played event #04 last night / early hours of this morning. It was a $3.30+R which means re-buys are allowed for the first hour along with an add-on in the break after the first hour. I insta got the double re-buy which means you start with double the chips. I also got the add-on, so my total investment was $9.30.

There were a huge 15,365 runners and prizes were as follows:

I managed to beat 91% of the field and finish in the top 1,500 and also in the 6th tier of money for $25.30.

I'm not sure how many more I will play but am looking forward to the Main Event which has a $1,000,000 guaranteed.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

The Good:

Its nice to have a good start to a month after July and August were so tough. I haven't played many hours yet but winning 13 BIs is cool. I have also won every session that I have played so far:

The Bad:

I took this on the last day of August and seriously cant remember the last time my balance was this low, maybe 3yrs or so. It is usually around the $5k mark but the bad run has hit me. 

The graph above is cash won after this so it is looking a bit better now. I am playing 6 ZOOM tables at the moment so that I can get NL50 tables in otherwise my 16+ tabling sessions are still at NL25. Once I get to $2k I will shift all my play to NL50.

The Ugly:

I pissed away almost $300 in Tournies yesterday including WCOOP-02 and as always my tourney ends in a crappy beat. I hate tournament poker:

5 Alive

Since my downswing began last month it peaked at around 60 Bis down. That pretty much equals my worst ever swing in terms of Buy-Ins. The last time was at higher limits and a lot of $$$$.

The bad run has resulted in the unlikely situation of me not being rolled for NL50 and having to drop down to NL25. Now, in actual terms I can easily deposit and be back up at NL50 or NL100 but I am stubborn and want to work it back up.

I am only a few days away from a $1,600 bonus which will boost me straight back up to NL50 so I am enjoying NL25 and noticing a marked difference in the game quality. NL25 is a lot easier to beat than NL50. Reading forum posts lead me to believe the gap in player quality was a lot narrower but what I have seen over a few days leads me to the conclusion that it is wider than many people think.

I played 5 sessions today, winning all of them. The players were splashing the cash around. A few more days like this and I will wipe out my downswing completely:

On Saturday I intend on winning a poker tournament when the Stars VIP freeroll kicks off. I could certainly do with bagging a 6-figure payday..!!

Downswing Continues

I have continued to lose at the tables. As soon as I came back from time out last month I can't win a dime. A 2 week rest and I have forgotten how to play the game.....

On a positive note I did win a small tournament :)

It was a home game run by Pokerstars Player Neil Ross:

Report Here...

2012 WSOP Main Event Entrants, Prizepool and Payouts

The big one is under way. Here are the stats:

Buy-in: $10,000

Prizepool: $62,021,200

Entries: 6,598
Paid Places: 666

Place               Earnings

1st                   $8,527,982

2nd                  $5,292,889

3rd                   $3,797,558

4th                   $2,850,494

5th                   $2,154,616

6th                   $1,640,461

7th                   $1,257,790

8th                   $971,252

9th                   $754,798

10th-12th         $590,442

13th-15th         $465,159

16th-18th         $369,026

19th-27th         $294,601

28th-36th         $236,921

37th-45th         $191,646

46th-54th         $156,293

55th-63rd        $128,384

64th-72nd        $106,056

73rd-81st         $88,070

82nd-90th        $73,805

91st-99th         $62,021

For 2013 numbers click here

Big One for One Drop $1,000,000 Buy-In NLHM Event #55 WSOP 2012

I had to give mention to a little piece of history that took place a couple of days ago at this year's WSOP.

The biggest Buy In poker tournament ever took place with the required entry fee set at $1,000,000.

A total of 42 entrants put up the funds with a lot of staking actioned rumoured to be behind some of it.

The final nine players of the 48-player (max capacity) field will receive the following:

1st: $18,346,673 
2nd: $10,112,001
3rd: $4,352,000
4th: $2,645,333
5th: $1,834,666
6th: $1,621,333
7th: $1,408,000
8th: $1,237,333
9th: $1,109,333
Total $42,666,672 (Prize Pool)

The remaining $5.5m will be given to the One Drop Charity.

It was lots of fun as huge charity funds had been generated.

Guy Laliberte flips with Antonio while wearing comic noses

At the end of this amazing event Antonio Esfandiari took home a cool $18.3m for his efforts, securing the greatest 1st prize in poker history.

This propels him to the top of the all time winners:

Almost Deep in the Million

I just came very close to having an ultra deep run in the Quarterly $1m Freeroll for Supernova+ players.

I'm not a big fan of tournies but with this much value in a freeroll you simply can't miss it.

It was also the 2nd one of the year and generally that has the lowest turnout of the four as many will have lost their supernova status due to not accruing enough monthly VPPs in 2012.

Here is the money shot:

Tournament Night

I decided to play a few tournaments last night for a change. There was the 100k Freeroll, the Pokerlistings Freeroll and the BIG 55.

It ended up as usual with me f'ing and blinding about being knocked out by a bad beat or a 50:50 and saying the usual 'why do I play tournaments?'

I did beat 72% of the field in the one that I paid for though (BIG 55) but you generally have to beat 85% of the field to finish in the cash.

I was playing zoom alongside the tournies and I managed to bag $100 profit after my tourny entry fees too which was okay.

There were lots of fun, amusing hands in the tournaments as per usual.

Here is one in the BIG 55 where it went raise, call, call, re-raise, call, call, re-raise all in, call, re-raise all in and then call with 3 players going to the flop. Expecting 3 monsters? errrr no:

Can't believe I folded 74o.....

And of course 45o wins the pot.

The best part of this was that it was just the beginning of level 2. I surely have to run deep in a big one soon with this level of play :p

SCOOP 2012 Schedule + Reload Bonus

How does $250 of free cash sound?? Pretty damn good..!!

I made a deposit of $500 yesterday and will now be busy clearing 50% of it to get the $250 bonus. You get $10 of bonus for each 200 VPPs that you earn.

I have 30 days to clear the whole amount but it should only take me 10 days or so.

Most of my play is still at NL50 so its a nice 5 BIs for free.

I am still making plans about which events to play in wrt to SCOOP. I won 2 tickets during the WBCOOP championship which I need use.

Here is the complete schedule:

Sunday, May 6th
11:00 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-01-L: $27 NL Hold'em (6-Max)
SCOOP-01-M: $215 NL Hold'em (6-Max)
SCOOP-01-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em (6-Max)

14:30 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-02-L: $27 NL Hold'em
SCOOP-02-M: $215 NL Hold'em
SCOOP-02-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em

Monday, May 7th 
11:00 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-03-L: $5.50 NL Hold'em (6-Max, Action Hour, Rebuys)
SCOOP-03-M: $55 NL Hold'em (6-Max, Action Hour, Rebuys)
SCOOP-03-H: $530 NL Hold'em (6-Max, Action Hour, Rebuys)

14:00 ET
SCOOP-04-L: $27 FL Badugi
SCOOP-04-M: $215 FL Badugi
SCOOP-04-H: $2,100 FL Badugi 

17:00 ET
SCOOP-05-L: $11 NL Hold'em (Rebuys, Turbo)
SCOOP-05-M: $109 NL Hold'em (Rebuys, Turbo)
SCOOP-05-H: $1,050 NL Hold'em (Rebuys, Turbo)

Tuesday, May 8th
11:00 ET
SCOOP-06-L: $11 NL Draw
SCOOP-06-M: $109 NL Draw
SCOOP-06-H: $1,050 NL Draw

14:00 ET
SCOOP-07-L: $7.50 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up)
SCOOP-07-M: $82 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up)
SCOOP-07-H: $700 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up)

17:00 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-08-L: $11 NL Hold'em
SCOOP-08-M: $109 NL Hold'em
SCOOP-08-H: $1,050 NL Hold'em

Wednesday, May 9th
11:00 ET
SCOOP-09-L: $27 NL Hold'em (SuperKnockout)
SCOOP-09-M: $215 NL Hold'em (SuperKnockout)
SCOOP-09-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em (SuperKnockout)

14:00 ET
SCOOP-10-L: $27 Stud
SCOOP-10-M: $215 Stud
SCOOP-10-H: $2,100 Stud

17:00 ET
SCOOP-11-L: $7.50 PL Omaha Hi/Lo (6-Max)
SCOOP-11-M: $82 PL Omaha Hi/Lo (6-Max)
SCOOP-11-H: $700 PL Omaha Hi/Lo (6-Max) 

Thursday, May 10th
11:00 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-12-L: $27 PL Omaha (Heads-Up)
SCOOP-12-M: $215 PL Omaha (Heads-Up)
SCOOP-12-H: $2,100 PL Omaha (Heads-Up)

14:00 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-13-L: $27 NL Hold'em (Knockout)
SCOOP-13-M: $265 NL Hold'em (Knockout)
SCOOP-13-H: $2,600 NL Hold'em (Knockout)

Friday, May 11th
11:00 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-14-L: $7.50 NL Hold'em (Ante Up)
SCOOP-14-M: $82 NL Hold'em (Ante Up)
SCOOP-14-H: $700 NL Hold'em (Ante Up) 

14:00 ET
SCOOP-15-L: $27 FL Omaha Hi/Lo
SCOOP-15-M: $215 FL Omaha Hi/Lo
SCOOP-15-H: $2,100 FL Omaha Hi/Lo

17:00 ET
SCOOP-16-L: $27 NL Hold'em (2x Chance, Turbo)
SCOOP-16-M: $215 NL Hold'em (2x Chance, Turbo)
SCOOP-16-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em (2x Chance, Turbo)

Saturday, May 12th
11:00 ET
SCOOP-17-L: $27 NL Hold'em (10-Max, Shootout)
SCOOP-17-M: $215 NL Hold'em (10-Max, Shootout)
SCOOP-17-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em (10-Max, Shootout) 

14:00 ET
SCOOP-18-L: $11 PL Omaha (6-Max, Rebuys)
SCOOP-18-M: $109 PL Omaha (6-Max, Rebuys)
SCOOP-18-H: $1,050 PL Omaha (6-Max, Rebuys) 

17:00 ET
SCOOP-19-L: $27 Triple Stud
SCOOP-19-M: $215 Triple Stud
SCOOP-19-H: $2,100 Triple Stud

Sunday, May 13th 
11:00 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-20-L: $27 NL Hold'em
SCOOP-20-M: $215 NL Hold'em
SCOOP-20-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em 

14:30 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-21-L: $27 NL Hold'em
SCOOP-21-M: $215 NL Hold'em
SCOOP-21-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em

Monday, May 14th 
11:00 ET
SCOOP-22-L: $11 Mixed NLHE/PLO
SCOOP-22-M: $109 Mixed NLHE/PLO
SCOOP-22-H: $1,050 Mixed NLHE/PLO 

14:00 ET
 SCOOP-23-L: $27 NL Hold'em (4-Max)
SCOOP-23-M: $215 NL Hold'em (4-Max)
SCOOP-23-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em (4-Max)

17:00 ET
SCOOP-24-L: $11 PL Omaha (1R1A, Turbo)
SCOOP-24-M: $109 PL Omaha (1R1A, Turbo)
SCOOP-24-H: $1,050 PL Omaha (1R1A, Turbo)

Tuesday, May 15th 
11:00 ET
SCOOP-25-L: $11 Triple Draw 2-7
SCOOP-25-M: $109 Triple Draw 2-7
SCOOP-25-H: $1,050 Triple Draw 2-7

14:00 ET
SCOOP-26-L: $27 Stud Hi/Lo
SCOOP-26-M: $215 Stud Hi/Lo
SCOOP-26-H: $2,100 Stud Hi/Lo 

17:00 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-27-L: $11 NL Hold'em
SCOOP-27-M: $109 NL Hold'em
SCOOP-27-H: $1,050 NL Hold'em 

Wednesday, May 16th 
11:00 ET
SCOOP-28-L: $27 Razz,
SCOOP-28-M: $215 Razz
SCOOP-28-H: $2,100 Razz

14:00 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-29-L: $11 NL Hold'em (Big Antes, Rebuys)
SCOOP-29-M: $109 NL Hold'em (Big Antes, Rebuys)
SCOOP-29-H: $1,050 NL Hold'em (Big Antes, Rebuys)

17:00 ET
SCOOP-30-L: $27 NL Hold'em (SuperKnockout, 6-Max, Turbo)
SCOOP-30-M: $215 NL Hold'em (SuperKnockout, 6-Max, Turbo)
SCOOP-30-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em (SuperKnockout, 6-Max, Turbo)

Thursday, May 17th 
11:00 ET
SCOOP-31-L: $27 8-Game
SCOOP-31-M: $215 8-Game
SCOOP-31-H: $2,100 8-Game 

14:00 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-32-L: $27 PL Omaha Hi/Lo
SCOOP-32-M: $215 PL Omaha Hi/Lo
SCOOP-32-H: $2,100 PL Omaha Hi/Lo

Friday, May 18th 
11:00 ET
SCOOP-33-L: $27 NL Hold'em (1R1A)
SCOOP-33-M: $215 NL Hold'em (1R1A)
SCOOP-33-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em (1R1A) 

14:00 ET
SCOOP-34-L: $55 FL Hold'em (6-Max)
SCOOP-34-M: $530 FL Hold'em (6-Max)
SCOOP-34-H: $5,200 FL Hold'em (6-Max) 

17:00 ET
SCOOP-35-L: $27 NL Omaha Hi/Lo
SCOOP-35-M: $215 NL Omaha Hi/Lo
SCOOP-35-H: $2,100 NL Omaha Hi/Lo 

Saturday, May 19th 
11:00 ET
SCOOP-36-L: $55 PL Omaha (6-Max)
SCOOP-36-M: $530 PL Omaha (6-Max)
SCOOP-36-H: $5,200 PL Omaha (6-Max)

12:30 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-37-L: $215 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up, High-Roller)
SCOOP-37-M: $2,100 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up, High-Roller)
SCOOP-37-H: $21,000 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up, High-Roller)

14:00 ET
SCOOP-38-L: $27 HORSE
SCOOP-38-M: $215 HORSE
SCOOP-38-H: $2,100 HORSE

Sunday, May 20th 
11:00 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-39-L: $27 NL Hold'em (6-Max)
SCOOP-39-M: $215 NL Hold'em (6-Max)
SCOOP-39-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em (6-Max)

14:30 ET (2-Day Event)
SCOOP-40-L: $109 Main Event - L
SCOOP-40-M: $1,050 Main Event - M
SCOOP-40-H: $10,300 Main Event - H, $2.5M Gtd

Pokerstars 6th Anniversary Sunday Million

I just thought I'd give a quick mention to this tournament that took place on Sunday.

It was the 6th Anniversary of the biggest online tourney on the planet and it generated 33,732 entrants, a pool of $6,746,400 with $1,000,000 guaranteed for first place.

I managed to beat 90% of the field and finish in 3,333rd place for $473. Its a shame that I could not run really deep. My 'one time' is still to come.

I used my FPPs to buy the ticket which helps maintain my bankroll.

The Prize distributions were as follows:

1st - $1,064,737
2nd - $635,510
3rd - $443,238
4th - $314,382
5th - $221,281
6th - $157,191
7th - $102,545
8th - $73,535
9th - $53,296
10th to 12th - $40,478
13th to 15th - $30,358
16th to 18th - $20,239
19th to 27th - $12,143
28th to 45th - $7,421
46th to 63rd - $6,071
64th to 90th - $5,059

The final eight chopped and all got between $190k - $590k. GG

WB'POOP' 2012 Ends

WBCOOP 2012 has ended in pretty unremarkable style.

I think I am done forever with playing small tournaments on their own. They are simply a waste of time.

From now on if there isn't a nice six figure 1st prize then I will stick to cash games.

Today I wasted almost four hours playing the WBCOOP Final alongside the Bigger $8.80. I just missed the cash in both but would have been far better off just playing cash games as I would have made some VPPs. The prizes were very small and as I didn't play any cash games alongside it was not really worth it.

It is also annoying how many crappy beats I take when I get dumped out. Today in the $8.80 I get AA all in pre vs the table donk's JTo and he gets a flush, GG. Then in the WBCOOP I flop a set and 1 guy has a bigger set and the other had the nut flush draw, GG. Lol Tournaments.

Anyway, let me end my winging rant and conclude my WBCOOP. I played in 11 events total, cashed in only 3, winning SCOOP tickets which means more small tournies. I will always play cash games while I play tournaments from today onwards as I makes it worthwhile. They were all freerolls so I am grateful for that, ty Stars. Hope all of you faired slightly better than me..!!

CU soon.....

Finishing on a High + WBCOOP Event 15

The back end of February is looking pretty hot as I have turned things around from the early month disaster.

I've been on a good run since August 2011 winning at over 2bb/100 across the games of which I have mainly played NL50. The start of this month was the worst run I have had since then.

I have cashed again in WBCOOP, this time a 20th place finish in event 15 which was a Turbo NLHE offering.

There could be some surprise news coming out in March or April so watch out for that.

Here is the back end of the month graph:

Comeback Complete + WBCOOP Event 7

The recovery from the downswing is complete. The graph shows what the month looks like with me hitting a low of -28 BIs.

It feels like I have been running way below EV though the graph does not show that. I always wonder how accurate the RED line really is. Personally I don't pay too much attention to it like other players do. I just try to play the best I can in every single pot.

Today I finished in 25th place in WBCOOP Event #7. I won a $16.50 SCOOP ticket + entry to the WBCOOP Main Event on Sun March 4th. I have 6 Tournaments left so lets try n bring back more tickets..!!

There was a pretty cool 4-way All-In pre pot which I took down, knocking out all 3 opponents:

Good luck to Liverpool FC for tomorrow's Cup Final. I hope that we will be seeing something like this:

Finally, a quick thanks to all of you that watch the YouTube clips on the side pane. It helps generate a little cheeseburger cash every month so keep clicking. Cheers..!!

Laters.

My WBCOOP 2012 Schedule

I have now received my 10 tickets for the WBCOOP 2012 series of events which starts this Thursday.

I have drafted my schedule below although this is possibly subject to a few revisions:


WBCOOP 2012 Tournament Schedule (GMT)

Feb 23

#1 - 15:00 NLHE

#2 - 19:00 PLO [6-Max]

#3 - 23:00 FL Badugi

Feb 24

#4 - 15:00 NLH/PLO [Turbo]

#5 - 19:00 NLHE [Triple Shootout]

#6 - 23:00 8-Game 

Feb 25

#7 - 15:00 NLHE [6-Max]

#8 - 19:00 NLHE

#9 - 23:00 PLO [6-Max]

Feb 26

#10 - 15:00 Stud

#11 - 19:00 NLH/PLO

#12 - 23:00 Stud Hi/Lo [Turbo]

Feb 27

#13 - 15:00 NLHE [4-Max]

#14 - 19:00 PL 5-Card Draw [6-Max]

#15 - 23:00 NLHE [6-Max, Turbo]

Feb 28

#16 - 15:00 Triple Stud

#17 - 19:00 NLHE [Heads-Up]

#18 - 23:00 PLO [Turbo]

Feb 29

#19 - 15:00 FLHE [6-Max]

#20 - 19:00 PLHE [Turbo]

#21 - 23:00 NLHE [Triple Shootout, 10-Max]

March 1

#22 - 15:00 PLO [6-Max]

#23 - 19:00 NLHE [Big Antes]

#24 - 23:00 NL Omaha Hi/Lo

March 2

#25 - 15:00 NLHE [Deepstacks]

#26 - 19:00 PL Omaha Hi/Lo [6-Max]

#27 - 23:00 NLHE [Turbo]

March 3

#28 - 15:00 HORSE

#29 - 19:00 NLHE [6-Max]

#30 - 23:00 NLHE

March 4

#31 - 15:00 NLHE Main Event

Pokerstars WBCOOP 2012

The WBCOOP (World Blogger Championship of Online Poker) is back for 2012.

There are 30 tournaments running from February 23 - March 4 2012.

These are a variety of events scheduled that include No Limit Holdem, Pot Limit Omaha, Fixed Limit Badugi, 8-Game, Stud and many variations thereof.

Bloggers who meet the entry criteria will be awarded 10 tickets to play in these freeroll events which have cash prizes, live tournament packages and online tournamaent seats up for grabs. There is also a series tournament leader board in which your score from all 10 events will be added up. You will then have a chance to win some additional prizes.

Also up for grabs is $5,000 for the best blogger prize.

Last year was pretty good for me as I won a few prizes including SCCOP tickets and I also managed to final table one of the events.


So what would I do with an extra 5 grand in the bank??

1.  Travel

I could step up my travel plans and add to the current list of destinations that I have already been to if I had a few extra bucks floating around.

I would love to visit South America for the first time going to Brazil, Bolivia or Peru. The Machu Picchu Inca site looks like an amazing destination.

I have still never been to Las Vegas which is like a mecca for poker players and gamblers alike. This would be one of my top destinations to visit and a trip during the WSOP in the summer would be fantastic.

There are other places like Canada and Australia that really interest me too.

2. Take on the Big Boys

I am currently tackling all my favourite clowns and jokers of NL50 while having an occasional shot at NL100 and NL200.

A bigger roll would see me step into playground of some of the bigger boys and take them on. I could do this without busting my whole roll in a single session if it was padded up with a few extra G's.

Bring on the NL1k....!!

3. Red Letter Days 

The Red Letter Days are special events that only cost between like $30 and $300. There are a few that I want to go on like:

- Ferrari Driving
- Hot Air Ballooning
- Segway Rallying
- Vinyard Tour
- Flight Simulator
- Extreme Dodgems
- Gordon Ramsey at Claridges Four-Course Menu
- Clay Pigeon Shooting

4. Buy a New Toy

Sadly $5,000 will not stretch to a new BMW but there are few new toys that I would be able to afford like these:

- A new Samsung Galaxy S2 phone
- A new wide screen TV
- Terry the Swearing Turtle
- Budweiser mini fridge
- Mr Beer Premium Gold Beer Kit
- DJ controller for ipod

5. Give Something Back

In the past I used to make regular donations to charities and good causes in the UK and Internationally. Over the last 2 or 3 years I have slacked in this department.

I think its time to make a few donations again.!

6. Treat the Missus

The things that I could do in this category are pretty much endless. I could make write hundreds of items here but I will list only a few:

- Jewellery
- Bags
- Shoes
- Treatments
- Hair Styling
- Weekends Away
- Nights Out

7. Olympic Tickets 

The Olympics are in London this year. It is a huge deal and has been talked about for the last few years. Most of the tickets have already been sold but some are still available and also unwanted ones will come back on sale although maybe at a premium.

Event that I would like to see:

- Athletics
- Boxing
- Cycling
- Badminton
- Football
- Tennis

8. Investments and Savings

I used to buy £500 worth of a new stock every now and again in the past. Sadly these days I do more selling than buying. A bit of spare cash would let me buy 1 or 2 new stocks and add to my portfolio.

I could also do with a bit of rainy day money







Lets take down the WBCOOP...!!!

GL All

Biggest Prize Pool Ever

A bit of history took place last Sunday when the weekly Sunday Million tournament was set with a guaranteed prize pool of $10,000,000 to celebrate 10 years of Pokerstars.

A prize of $2m was also guaranteed for first place.

I snap entered this with hopes of making the final table. An amazing 62,116 entrants made the cut off to register the largest pool in online tournament history of $12,423,200.

I managed to beat 94% of the field and score my largest MTT win of $729.63 finishing in 3,718th place.

A deal was done at the final table and the event ended as follows:

1. First-Eagle (Canada) $1,146,574.65*
2. Unstoffable (Spain) $580,724.34*
3. BLAABAR (Sweden) $709,896.78*
4. tunafish919 (Australia) $627,317.26*
5. Dimedroll (Russia) $995,996.85*
6. SkunkDen (Australia) $758,986.42*
7. fireballdia (Portugal) $182,406.00
8. kaalen (Sweden) $119,866.80
9. yokouno1980 (Israel) $86,512.56

*= reflects a six-way deal that left an additional $200,000 for the winner


A huge day for these guys

Congrats to BLAABAR who posts in my forum and finished 3rd.


The Actual Prize breakdown before the deal was:

1st -             $2,000,020.70
2nd -            $1,042,320.00
3rd -             $677,508.00
4th -             $489,890.40
5th -             $354,388.80
6th -             $255,368.40
7th -             $182,406.00
8th -             $119,866.80
9th -             $86,512.56
10th-12th -   $65,666.16
13th-15th -   $47,946.72
16th-18th -   $34,396.56
19th-27th -   $22,931.04
28th-45th -   $15,634.80
46th-63rd -   $11,986.68
64th-81st -    $8,859.72
82nd-99th -   $6,775.08

Surely one day I must make the final 9. I will keep trying..!!

The Secret Tournament

As you may or may not know Pokerstars is 10yrs old and during the last month there have been numerous promotions to celebrate this birthday.

One of the promos was a cash game leader board everyday for around 10 days.

All the cash ring games were divided into groups and the top 100 VPP earners in each group were awarded cash prizes each day.

One of the side bonuses to these leader boards was that the top 1000 each day in each category would be entered into a free-roll with a huge $500k prize pool.

With all the stuff they had going on Pokerstars forgot to publicise this tournament. I randomly saw a post on a forum and checked it out without even realising that I was registered, lol. About a day later I then checked my registered Tournaments link in the client for something else and was surprised to see myself in the draw.

The Tournament had around 12,300 players registered and only around 40% of those players knew about it, hehe. Amazing for a $500,000 event.

This amazing screen shot shows a situation that will probably never happen again in my life. It shows my 1st table where I played a good 200 hands and I am the only player active. Unbelievable:

I won every hand uncontested with all the players sitting out. There were 2 guys that did sit in late and start playing but I busted them both pretty quick and they were replaced by 2 more 'sitting out' fish, lmao. I then proceeded to try to hit raise as quick as I could each hand and it didn't take long for me to reach 2nd in the tournament with about half the field eliminated.

I stacked all the non active players so quickly that when I arrived at a legitimate table with around 5 active players the 'sit outs' there still had 2/3rds of their stacks left.

It was so ridiculous that hundreds of players that were 'sitting out' made the money as they paid out 5,400 places out of the 12,300.

I remained in the top 100 for ages and until I lost a few big hands and finished 448th and cashed $160. Not bad for a free roll versus people sitting out. The top prize was around $48k.

World Record Tournament

On Sunday Pokerstars held the largest tournament ever. You can see the official  confirmation from Guinness in the photo being presented to Fatima Moreira de Melo.

It was a $1 buy-in and the field reached the maximum number a few hours before the start.

200,000 people played for a first prize of $50,000. This surpassed the previous record of 149,196 players 2 years ago.

I wonder how many would have registered if there was no capped limit. This means for sure that this record will be beaten again in the future.

The were more than 400k players online at one time when I checked.

The eventual winner was Russian player sokoluk1991 who took down just over $40,000 after the last 3 players made a deal leaving $5k for the eventual winner