Poker

Eric "AceQuad" Brix is so hot right now, he could melt ice by just looking at it. AceQuad has put on a clinic during this year's Spring Championship of Online Poker. Last night, one of the hottest online poker players on the planet made two final tables in "high" events (#37-H and #38-H). AceQuad began the day near the top of the Leader Board and is among the favorites to win Player of the Series. AceQuad is still in the middle of an epic rush. His run good continued and he advanced to his seventh SCOOP final table after a deep run in Event #39-L, a remarkable feat considering he faded 3,001 other players to do so. With seven final table thus far, no one player has more final table appearances at this year's SCOOP. The closest is David "WhooooKidd" Baker had five going into today's action. The only downside to AceQuad's magical kismet is that he was unable to break through and actually win one of these SCOOP events. Alas, his first title remained out of reach and AceQuad could only get as close as third place in this one. Denmark's mossberg1988 pulled away with the victory in Event #39-L with a stunning double-elimination knockout to end the tournament. SCOOP Event #39-L $55 PLO [6-Max] attracted 3,007 runners. They boosted the prize pool to $150,350. Only the top 390 places paid out with $23,681.55 originally set aside to the eventual champion. PokerStars Team Pros were well represented in this event and included George Danzer, Marcin "Goral" Horecki, Bryan Huang, Joe Cada, David Williams, Nacho Barbero, ElkY, Lex Veldhuis, Alex Kravchenko, Richard Toth, Chad Brown, Martin Hbruby, Marcel Luske, and Rino Mathis. Team PokerStars Online members taking a shot at a SCOOP title included the usual suspects like mement_mori, sirfredy83, and nkeyno. Notables who cashed included Team PokerStars Pros George Danzer (52nd) and Marcin "Goral" Horecko (341st). Team PokerStars Pro Danzer was seeking his third career SCOOP title after winning Event #12-H ($2,100 NL 2-7 Draw) last week. Danzer began the day near the top of the overall SCOOP Leader Board. Other big names vying for the coveted Player of the Series included Shaun Deeb, David "WhooooKidd" Baker, AceQuad, and ninototoroko. Danzer was getting short and made a final stand with [Kc][Qd][8c][5c] against Holger Hott's [Ad][9h][9c][8d]. Holger Hott flopped a set and that's all she wrote for Danzer, who was knocked out in 52nd place ($323.25). Danzer's quest for a third SCOOP crown came up short. With 18 players remaining on the final three tables, AceQuad sat atop of the chip lead with 2.1 million. With 12 players to go, AceQuad's big stack incurred a hit and he slipped as AELISTAS1987 seized the lead with 2.3 million. With seven to go, action went hand-for-hand since the final table was six-handed. Short-stacked hort336 bombed it all-in preflop with [Ac][7c][5h][3d] and Strlxen tried to pick him off with [Ad][Qh][4h][3s]. The board ran out [Ts][8d][2h][6c][Jd] and both players failed to improve their hands, but Strlxen won the pot with Ace-high and a Queen-kicker. Canada's hort336 unceremoniously bubbled off the final table in seventh place. Event #39-L - Final Table Chip Counts: Seat 1: Strlxen (1,297,436) Seat 2: ttouch77 (965,865) Seat 3: ITSME81 (1,264,088) Seat 4: balsareny88 (4,602,467) Seat 5: mossberg1988 (3,197,608) Seat 6: AceQuad (3,707,536) The table commenced during Level 35 with blinds at 30K/60K. With six left in the hunt for a SCOOP title, balsareny8 sat on the big stack with 4.6 million, while ttouch77 was the shorty with 965K and the only player with fewer than 1 million in chips. AceQuad advanced to his seventh final table in this year's SCOOP. ttouch77 eliminated in 6th place The final table played a full level before someone busted. Strlxen opened to 240,000, ttouch77 potted to 720,000, Strlxen shoved all-in for 1,017,436, and ttouch77 called all-in for 5,865. Strlxen: [Kd][Ks][9h][8c] ttouch77: [Ad][Ac][5h][2d] Two big hands; ttouc

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Gaming industry conferences are a dime a dozen these days. GIGSE, IGNA, ICE, NIGA, NIGC … Barcelona, Amsterdam … G2E Vegas, G2E Macau … It’s often many of the same people talking about the same topics related to gaming — forward thinking statements, sure — but all the different wonk-fabs have their own unique flavor and some stand out as a bigger deal than others. Coming up next week, at Caesars Palace, just across the highway from the 2013 WSOP: the 15th annual International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking. This one is a symposium with roots going all the way back to the ‘70s. ICGRT is put on by UNLV’s International Gaming Institute and UNR’s (University of Nevada, Reno) Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming — yeow, that’s a lotta capital letters! But no wonder, as presumably ICGRT is how UNLV (and the entire University of Nevada system) cements its status as an THE academic authority for a global industry meriting full-scale study not just by huckster entrepreneurs and casino big bosses, but by doctors of philosophy and unencumbered statisticians. This gathering of gaming intelligentsia will feature some 300 presenters over five days. I’m part of the Corporate Communication and Social Responsibility panel, where I’ll be presenting industry leaders, regulators, and policy researchers my study on: “Professional Practices for Gaming in Social Media” Publish or perish, yo … good times ahead, for sure. Conference starts Monday. My group goes last on Friday… so that makes us the headliner! after five days of intensive powerpointing just steps away from high-dollar blackjack and the Pussycat Dolls, I’m sure the crowds will be all warmed up for that serious learnin’ we’re ready to drop. It’s not too late to get tickets here!

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PokerWorks and PokerStars have teamed up to give PokerWorks' visitors the chance to play in a special freeroll tournament that has a massive prize pool of $30,000! Get ready to play for your share of $30,000. Introducing the PokerWorks $30,000...

Rheem, who has mixed seven-figure scores with crippling gambling debts throughout his long career, earned $1,150,297 for the win. It was his second WPT title - Rheem also won the WPT Five Diamond Classic at Bellagio in Season 7. Lindgren, who coincidentally has also been hamstrung by massive sportsbetting debts alongside a very successful poker career prior to Black Friday, earned $650,275 for the runner-up finish. Roy Third, Salsberg Takes WPT Player of the Year Major POY sweat for Salsberg   WPT Montreal winner Jonathan Roy had a chance to take home Player of the Year honors with a win but fell just short in third place. Busting out with a set of eights against Rheem's made flush, Roy came up shy of a second title this season and sealed the POY title for former Weeds producer Matt Salsberg. A very experienced final table of six saw play extend well into the night and over 250 hands needed to end things. Official final-table results and payouts: 1. Chino Rheem - $1,150,297 2. Erick Lindgren - $650,275 3. Jonathan Roy - $421,800 4. Matt Hyman - $289,988 5. Brandon Steven - $223,203 6. David Peters - $173,993 For a full rundown of all the final-table action, check the WPT Live Updates.Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Who doesn't like getting together at a regular time each week to play poker and chat with friends while polishing their poker skills? Sitting in your favorite comfy chair with your preferred beverage and snacks close at hand makes it even better. When you combine that with some great swag and the chance to play even bigger tournaments you have some of the components of what makes the PokerStars Women's Club a winning combination. Ima Notellin, or Margaret as her friends call her, says that playing at PokerStars Women's Club offers certain advantages that can't be found in other tournaments. Meeting new friends and visiting with regular players is part of it, but the skills learned in these tournaments are skills that are essential to all players. "It's a great place to learn and not break the bank," she commented. She likes knowing that many of the same players will show up, and the fact that she gets to profile their play doesn't hurt either. "Knowing your opponent is certainly an advantage, and the smaller fields are nice, too." She also likes knowing that as a result of the smaller numbers, the tournaments won't keep her up all night. The freebies she gets from her earned club vouchers are also nice, as Margaret tells us. She has scored some PokerStars swag in the form of shirts, track pants and handbag hooks as a result of playing the club tournaments. The confidence in her game she has earned is an even more important by-product. She plays the Women's Sunday often and has cashed and made a final table there. Her sights are now set on playing the PCA next year. She hopes to win a satellite for her trip to the Bahamas and the chance to win a life-changing tournament. She looks forward to meeting some of her online friends at the luxurious Atlantis resort in January. Margaret is just one of many women who are learning the game in the Women's Club while meeting new friends. The PokerStars Women's Club offers free tournaments, play money tournaments, and micro level buy-ins at the $0.10 or $1.10 levels. The tournaments run daily, and up-to-the minute information on times and schedules can be found on the PokerStars client by clicking Tourney/All and searching for PokerStars Women's Club. All the tournaments are listed in pink. PokerStars Women's Club vouchers can be earned by playing in the tournaments and can be redeemed for various items including clothing, iPhone cases, and more. For more information on the PokerStars Women's Club or anything related to women in poker see the PS Women home page, where you will find the latest news, interviews, and information about upcoming live events. And for daily updates on what's going on at PokerStars Women see our Facebook page.

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You'd think playing against 200 fans might not be the most sensible warm up for Rafa Nadal as he plans his record-extending assault on the French Open. And you'd be right. Why risk picking up a freak injury before the serious business of bagging an eighth title begins? Well, Rafa did no such thing. As regular readers will know, he now has two games in his locker. He took his fans on at poker. Last night, 200 lucky French PokerStars players got to meet Rafa and play in a special poker tournament with him. This was no ordinary live poker game. Instead, they all met on a tennis court and played across the virtual felt in a special online tournament. Rafa has said he loves the competition that poker provides, and recent study and practice appeared to have paid off as he progressed nicely, even denting Team PokerStars Pro Julien Brécard's hopes with a well-timed bluff. But the tennis star's night came to an abrupt halt when his K-Q was out-flopped by a player's J-6. He may have finished half-way down the field, but Rafa made sure all his fans had a great time. The winner of the tournament was Kinkin.a.60 on PokerStars.fr, while the top 20 finishers received a PokerStars chip set signed by Rafa. Now Rafa's attention turns to the tennis. He begins his title defense at Roland Garros next week, looking to win a record-extending eighth title. It's looking to be chilly and damp - but will that slow down PokerStars' clay-court machine? We'll keep you informed. Meanwhile, find our more about Rafa, the poker player here.