Poker

Records are made to be broken, and PokerStars players do just that with astounding regularity. Eighteen months ago, PokerStars celebrated its tenth anniversary and the surrounding festivities included its fourth World Record tournament, where 200,000 players played for a $250,000 prize pool. But after Thursday's bombastic 100 Billionth Hand celebration (don't think about how big 100 billion is, it will either trigger an existential crisis or make your head explode) did you really think we weren't gonna take the opportunity to smash that record again? By game time, a capacity crowd of 225,000 players had gathered, officially breaking the record for the largest poker tournament ever played. Their $1 buyins contributed $225,000 to the $300,000 guaranteed prize pool, PokerStars kicking in a $75k overlay to sweeten the pot even further. 60,000 players earned a share of it with first place set to earn $25,000. After only an hour of play, the crowd thinned to 28,000 and another hour later only 2,595 remained. Hour three saw the field reduced to 190, and with five minutes left before the fourth break, the final table bubble hit and play went hand for hand. With the blinds up to 3M/6M with a 750k ante, chip leader Mr.SlavaPro opened for a min-raise to 12 million. With 3.75 milllion of his remaining 4.1 million already committed in the small blind, MattDooms called all-in and Ravic77 folded his big blind. MattDooms' [5h][Ts] was already drawing thin against Mr.SlavaPro's [Kd][Kc], but went completely dead on the [Kh][Ks][5c] flop. Mr.SlavaPro raked in the 19 million pot with quad kings and sent us to the final table, while MattDooms exited in eleventh place. Final table chip counts Blinds: 3,000,000/6,000,000, ante 750,000 Seat 1: johnnykara75 (17,560,748 in chips) Seat 2: SOY PATO355 (14,065,727 in chips) Seat 3: Evgeniy33377 (3,729,288 in chips) Seat 4: Mr.SlavaPro (87,268,525 in chips) Seat 5: KARI#9 (64,386,794 in chips) Seat 6: Ravic77 (17,422,024 in chips) Seat 7: jpstef06 (13,712,929 in chips) Seat 8: 1star09 (52,884,148 in chips) Seat 9: Tormenter85 (34,974,394 in chips) Seat 10: jmmetra (31,495,423 in chips) johnnykara75 doubles with aces, Evgeniy33377 eliminated in tenth It took 11 minutes and only 20 hands to distribute the $73,000 in remaining prize money. The jumps were huge and the stacks extremely shallow, the chip average only 6.25 big blinds as the final table began. On Hand #1, jmmetra picked up [9h][9c] and moved all-in for 30.7 million on the button, only to have johnnykara75 wake up with [Ac][Ah] in the small blind. Johnnykara75's aces held and he doubled to 47.1 million, leaving jmmetra on only 14.5 million (2.5 bb). However, jmmetra's situation wasn't quite as dire as Evgeniy33377's. On Hand #2, Evgeniy33377 was all-in for 1.97 million in the big blind while SOY PATO355 had 4 of his remaining 7.3 million committed in the small blind. Johnnykara75 limped in for 8 million on the button, SOY PATO355 called all-in and the cards went on their backs. SOY PATO355 [Qc][9h] Evgeniy33377 [3c][3h] johnnykara75 [Td][4h] SOY PATO355 snagged the lead on the [As][9s][6c] flop and held onto it, the turn and river falling the [Jc] and the [Ac] to send Evgeniy33377 to the rail in tenth place ($1,000). Ravic77 out in ninth, jmmetra exits eighth Evgeniy33377's elimination left jpstef06 as the table short stack. On Hand #3, jpstef06 moved all-in for 11 million from UTG+1 and KARI#9 called the 3 million balance from the big blind. Jpstef06's [As][Qh] held up aganist [6c][7h] and he doubled to 35 million, only to move all-in from UTG on the next deal. Ravic77 called all-in for 5.67 million more with [Qs][Js] in the big blind, but did not improve against jpstef06's [7s][7c]. For ninth place, Ravic77 took home $1,500. With only one more hand to go before he'd be committed in the 8 million big blind, jmmetra pulled the trigger with [Qc][Td] and moved all-in for 9.9 million from UTG+1. 1star09 called with

Steinberg had the young pro dead-to-rights with ace-king over king-ten on the river of a Q-8-2-4 board with a bracelet on the line in Event 27 $3,000 Mixed Max. Instead Hagerling binked a miracle ten to not only survive but win 97% of the chips in play. Steinberg was shocked and even Hagerling admitted he thought he was done. “I was thinking this is it,” he said. “I managed to look pretty dumb while coming in second place.” Steinberg did not finish second, however. Instead he won the pot, and despite a late comeback by Steinberg, eventually sealed the deal to win his first gold bracelet and $372,387 in cash. Amazingly the final day of the tournament also took place on Hagerling's birthday as he turned 26. Hagerling Bests Pros Timoshenko, Ausmus to Make the Final Isaac Hagerling   The No-Limit Hold’em Mixed Max is a unique format that sees players start nine-handed, then move to six-handed on Day 2. When the field is cut down to 32 players the format moves to heads-up play. This year the tournament drew 593 and the final 32 provided a fantastic showcase of poker talent with Jason Koon, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Jeremy Ausmus and Brandon Cantu in the final eight. Hagerling, who hails from Cleveland, beat Timoshenko and Ausmus to get into the final heads-up match against Steinberg. It was an incredible victory for a player who got into poker by playing $5 Sit & Goes in his College dorm just outside of Chicago. It’s doubtful Steinberg will be able to find any solace tonight but Hagerling was humble in victory. “This tournament had a lot of play but there is still a huge amount of variance in it. I don’t think it proves anything that I won this one,” he said. “The money means a lot though.” For even more info about the final day of the $3,000 Mixed Max check our live coverage here. Here's the complete payouts for the final eight places: 1st: Isaac Hagerling - $372,387 2nd: Max Steinberg - $231,501 3rd: Jeremy Ausmus - $132,748 4th: Jason Koon - $132,748 5th: Yevgeniy Timoshenko - $51,561 6th: Dan Healey - $51,561 7th: Chris Johnson - $51,561 8th: Brandon Cantu - $51,561 Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Here's a recap of the #rewards we're giving away in #Zynga #Poker today! (Remember you can get one type of reward per day.) http://zynga.tm/fqp http://zynga.tm/aoJ http://zynga.tm/cnv <-- Shootout Round 1 skip.

“Heads-up is great, as players aren’t protected,” he explained while on break at the 2013 WSOP. “If you’re playing a ring game with ten people, even if you’re not that skilled of a player, you can have a pretty default strategy and be protected.” Koon has the benefit of watching roommate Jason Koon ">Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene battle Isildur1 for the highest stakes available online over the last few months. “It helps me out just being able to have conversations with him over dinner,” he said. He's also getting extensive coaching from a player he didn't want to disclose. Koon Eyes Nosebleed High-Stakes Games Jason Koon's roommate Ben Tollerene knows heads-up.   Koon has always loved heads-up poker and when he originally got into poker he played numerous $3 heads-up Sit & Goes. Over the last year Koon has developed a desire to take his game to the next level however. “I’ve always had the desire to become a nosebleed heads-up reg so I started putting those hopes into action and in the next few months I’ll be ready to go,” he said. It seems to have paid off, as Koon put on impressive performance in the heads-up portion of the Mixed Max event before finally getting unlucky to bust against Max Steinberg. Koon finished in the penultimate round of the tournament to earn $132,748. According to Koon heads-up requires more thought than standard ring-game poker. “Heads-up, you can’t sit around and wait for two jacks or you’ll get eaten alive,” he said.   Jason Koon   “Your edges are bigger and if you have leaks, they’re more obvious. Heads-up is the purest form of poker." There are some dangers in focusing entirely on heads-up poker though. “If you’re not careful, you’ll start playing too many hands in ring games,” he said. “As long as you can switch the gear on and off you’ll be okay." Koon Makes Huge Changes to his Poker Game While Koon didn’t want to go into too many specifics, he did say his game has changed dramatically over the last six months. “There are a lot of spots back in the day where, let’s say, I would’ve raised but now I call because it’s better for my range,” he said. “It’s demoralizing for an opponent when they have a feel for what you’re doing with a specific hand and then are completely flabbergasted when you open your hand.” Despite the danger of getting tunnel vision when learning heads-up, Koon still recommends it for most players. “If you can remember to think how many people are behind you and be very disciplined like that, then playing heads-up will only help your game,” he said.Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Lots of announcements to make on this fine June day even as the Borgata Summer Poker Open's Championship Tournament is underway.Today is Day 1B of the $2,500 + $200 tournament, but daily and evening tournaments are scheduled through June 21. Follow all the action on Borgata's live tournament blog and check out the Borgata Summer Poker Open's full schedule.OK, now for the announcements.First of all, the Borgata Bad Beat Jackpot took a better than $20K leap over the weekend and now comes in at just over $400K. There's something magical about that $400K mark. It sets off something we like to call Bad Beat Mania.The jackpot has hit four times in 2013 - twice for more than $500,000. Somebody is already walking around lucky and doesn't even know it.The Borgata Poker Room has also announced some summer special tournament events to heat things up even more this season. Actually, the room itself never says anything, but you get the idea.On tap for the summer are:$250,000 Guaranteed 10th Anniversary Deepstack Double Play, $500 + $60 No Limit tournament June 30 to July 2. Day 1A is Sunday, June 30 at 11am with Day 1B July 1, also at 11am. Yes, it's Borgata's 10th anniversary.Special July 4 Holiday tournament, $150 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em tournament.$100,000 Guaranteed Saturday Series, $350 + $50 No Limit Hold'em tournament July 13-and-$100,000 Guaranteed Saturday Series, $350 + $50 No Limit Hold'em tournament Aug. 3.$250,000 Guaranteed $1,000 + $90 Deepstack Double Play Tournament, July 14-17.$100,000 Guaranteed $150 + $30 Big Stack Multi-play No limit Hold'em Mini-Series. (Four Opening Day Sessions). The winner also receives a seat at the Borgata Open Championship.And of course, The Borgata Poker Open Sept. 3-20 (which is still summer).It's a lot, huh? Especially considering our 24/7 live play and regular daily tournaments (Returning after the Borgata Summer Poker Open).Really, there's no other place in Atlantic City like the Borgata Poker Room.

Results and winners photos from Events 21-25 Event 21 Six-Handed No Limit Hold&rsquo;em Buy-In: $3,000 Number of Entries: 807 Total Prize Pool: $2,205,840 Number of Places Paid: 90 First Place Prize: $506,764 June 11 - June 13, 2013 1st: Martin Finger - $506,764 2nd: Matt Stout - $313,370 3rd: Matt Berkey - $199,733 4th: David Pham - $131,679 5th: Nikolai Sears - $89,402 6th: Andrew Dean - $62,458 Event 22 Pot Limit Ohama read more

Results and winners photos from Events 11-20 Event 11 Six-Handed No Limit Hold&rsquo;em Buy-In: $2,500 Number of Entries: 924 Total Prize Pool: $2,102,100 Number of Places Paid: 108 First Place Prize: $473,019 June 4 - June 6, 2013 1st: Levi Berger - $473,019 2nd: Scott Clements - $292,339 3rd: Ben Palmer - $185,426 4th: Eddy Sabat - $121,711 5th: Jacob Bazeley - $82,297 6th: David Gonia - $57,282 Event 12 Pot Limit Hold&rsquo;em read more

PokerStars just can't help themselves. The poker room and promo guys and gals are drunk on 100 Billion Hand Celebrations.* All this week they're pumping money into Golden Sit & Go's, a bonus $1,000,000, we've been told, which could end up being much more. Get your multi-tabling head on! More than 3,200 players have been rewarded already with in excess of $80,000 in bonus Golden payments. *They are not literally drunk, they just get carried away easily. A Golden lobby Once a sit-and-go fills up it's revealed if you're lucky enough to have pulled a Golden Sit & Go and, if so, what level it is. All are good, of course, but they do get progressively better. The three levels of Golden Sit & Go's 1. Double prize pool and two buy-ins per player 2. Quadruple prize pool and four buy-ins per player 3. Ten times prize pool and ten buy-ins per player So if you sign up to play a $30 nine-handed Hyper-Turbo and are lucky enough to pull the most golden level then you'll be credited with $300 and find yourself playing for a $2,589.30 prize pool where first-place would pay out $1,294.80! It should be a whole lot of fun and might be a real test of your ICM skills! Check the official Golden Sit & Go's page here to find out more. The promotion runs 17-23 June and all standard real money Sit & Go's are eligible, including Heads-Up, 6-Max, multi-table and Hyper-Turbos. Satellite and Steps are ineligible for this promotion. Rick Dacey is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

Results and winners photos from Events 1-10 Event 1 Casino Employees Event Buy-In: $500 Number of Entries: 898 Total Prize Pool: $404,100 Number of Places Paid: 90 First Place Prize: $84,915 May 29-30, 2013 1st: Chad Holloway - $84,915 2nd: Allan Kwong - $52,318 3rd: Robert Rooney - $33,903 4th: Brian Pingel - $24,811 5th: Daniel Ellery - $18,426 6th: Sean Small - $13,868 7th: Tyrone Smith - $10,567 8th: Michael Trivett - $8,146 9th: Hieu Le - $6,348 Event 2 Eight-Handed No Limit Hold&rsquo;em read more

Chip leads might look good on paper (or felt), but converting them into the 'Big W' is another matter. Just ask Scott Seiver. In Event #23: $2,500 Seven-Card Stud, Seiver controlled over 50% of the chips with just four players left. Five hours later, that percentage was nothing but a memory. The PCA Super High Roller winner hit the rail courtesy of five-time bracelet winner David Chiu in a classic heads-up battle of youth vs. experience and stubble vs. no stubble. Clean-shaven Chui collected $145,520 in winner's prize money to Seiver's $89,980, and the 52-year-old's win kick-started a weekend heater for those who remember poker before it was improved by a keyboard and mouse. David Chiu got the bracelet ahead of Scott Seiver 68-year-old Kenneth Lind was the main highlight, banking $634,809 for the win in Event #26: $1,000 Seniors NLHE, and in Event #24: $1,500 NLHE, no less than two young EPT champs were stopped in their tracks by 'ancient' 36-year-old college professor, Corey Harrison. Both 2011 EPT Loutraki champ, Zimnan Ziyard (7th for $54,191), and 2012 Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final winner, Mohsin Charania (6th for $72,208), were chasing their first World Series success, but were out-schooled by Harrison, who earned $432,411 and the envy of teachers worldwide. EPT Loutraki champ Zimnan Ziyard Elsewhere, Team PokerStars Pro Marcel Luske is riding high after bagging up 175,000 chips - good for seventh place - in Event #29: $5,000 H.O.R.S.E. Just 28 players remain after fellow Team PokerStars Pro Nacho Barbero's late bust on Day 2, and Luske will be hoping the rungood that saw him win five tournaments in five months was packed alongside his trademark shades for Vegas. However, sadly, these past few days haven't all been about poker for many at the World Series. On Saturday, former Sunday Million final tablist, Kevin 'Phwap' Boudreau, was hospitalised and placed in an induced coma after suffering severe bleeding in his brain. News on Boudreau is still patchy, but poker pros from around the world were quick to offer their sympathies and support, including Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, who tweeted: "Our thoughts and prayers are with fellow poker pro @KevinPhwap". Kevin Boudreau at the WSOP 2010 Like many others currently sweating Boudreau's condition, the PokerStars Blog wishes him a speedy a recovery and hope he returns to the tables as soon as possible. For more day-to-day reports from the World Series, stay tuned to the PokerStars Blog. Keir Mackay is a copywriter for PokerStars.