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My attempt to raise money for Cancer Research UK involves curry and beer. I know my friends like curry; I know they like beer. In fact, they like beer a lot. They also like invitations to come to my place and stay late. So, I've asked them for 10 pounds each to come to a charity curry party, rather than simply asking for donations to my fundraising page. I hope curry + beer = money for a good cause. I hope my friends will have a good time, while knowing they've spent their Friday night cash for a worthwhile cause. In a similar way, I hope poker players will play a $5+$5 PokerStars tournament on June 1 at 15:00 ET alongside Liv Boeree in order to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. This tournament will be fun (it's playing with Liv!) and the $5 tourney fee will be donated to Cancer Research UK and used in research efforts to find cures for all 200 types of cancer. Liv Boeree has so far raised £2,370 of her £10,000 fundraising target. You can donate directly here through this link, and I know she will appreciate your support. Liv will race on Clapham Common, close to her London home, on June 1 in a Cancer Research UK Race for Life 10K event. It appears the race may be something of a challenge, as the EPT Grand Final was slap-bang in the middle of her training schedule, which she explains in this video. I will be running a 5k race. This will also be a challenge, with the curry and beer night only 48 hours before the race... Could my running efforts be hampered by too much spicy food? Look out for a week of Cancer Research UK fundraising tournaments from June 1 to June 9. Play poker, have fun, and know that your cash is helping a good cause. Cancer Research UK is the world's leading charity dedicated to saving lives through research. This is a disease which effects countless people worldwide, but Cancer Research UK is working to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. Playing the charity tournaments or donating to Liv's fundraising page will help this excellent cause, and may be responsible for feelings of satisfaction and cheeriness that beat anything that curry and beer can do for you.

The 2013 Spring Championship of Online Poker is happening now, and it's no surprise that Team PokerStars Pros are out in full force. Not only that, many of them have already found success such as George Danzer, who took down PokerStars SCOOP Event #12-High $2,100 No-Limit 2-7 Triple Draw for $34,040 after defeating a tough final table that included Shawn "buck21" Buchanan, Dan "HundoFight" O'Brien, Toby "810ofclubs" Lewis and Alexander "joiso" Kostritsyn. Needless to say, his SCOOP watch will look nice alongside his two World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) bracelets. As anyone who play can attest, SCOOP season is an electrifying time. It's full of thrills and whimsy, but in order to make the most of it players must buckle down and prepare for success--case in point Team PokerStars Pros Liv Boeree and Jason Mercier. The latter decided it was time to get in shape for the long SCOOP grind, and what better way to do it than with a fellow team pro. "Day 2 of #Insanity workout ... day 1 for @ive_boeree WE GONNA BE RIPPER BY THE TIME SCOOP IS DONE," Mercier tweeted with the following picture. Look at those guns! Mercier's arms are alright too. In exchange for the workout lessons, Boeree was kind enough to give Mercier a place to bunk during the SCOOP festivities. However, apparently Mercier wasn't satisfied with the guest room and opted to sleep in the hallway instead. "Chilling at @Liv_Boeree (see pic) place for scoop. Sleeping in the hallway starting at 7 am cuz it's so damn bright everywhere in her flat," Mercier admitted on Twitter. Boeree confirmed: "So I have @JasonMercier staying during #SCOOP and apparently the spare room is too bright, so he slept here." With a workout regime established and her poker buddy comfortable, Boeree turned her attention to her "grind station," which is where she planned to spend the majority of her time during SCOOP. "Finally go the grind station set up properly for #SCOOP," she tweeted with a photo of her computer setup. Unfortunately for Boeree and Mercier, all there preparation hasn't yet paid off. Mercier has played 12 events but has only mustered 5 points on the 2013 SCOOP Leader Board, while Boeree has entered 21 events and earned 30 points. Mercier may not add to that total as he has taken a break to play some live tournaments, but Boeree is still busy grinding. "Deep in the Scoop #22M," she recently tweeted, "and getting tired so drink a load of coffee at 4am to stay awake. Promptly lose almost all stack KK You can follow all the action in PokerStars' dedicated SCOOP section, which includes results, statistics, leader boards and much more.

The UKIPT team have been onto us to write something about the upcoming UKIPT Marbella event. We're going on holiday, they say. The UKIPT is joining up with the ESPT, they add. So what? Why should we right about that? Everyone knows that there's a €1,100 UKIPT Main Event going on in sunny Spain by now. You do know about that, right? But satellites are running now and you've got to qualify soon if you're going to get to Marbella for 12 June on the cheap, they exclaim. Well, yes, that is worth flagging up, I suppose. And there's the welcome cocktail, free party and chance to run around like a maniac shooting pellets at one another, they suggest. Wait... what...? Now you're talking! Welcome Cocktail, Hotel H10 Andalucia Plaza Pool* Date/time: Tuesday 11th June, from 21:30 until 23:30 Airsoft Experience Date/time: Thursday, 13th June, from 11:15 until 16:00 Bus Collects Players at H10 Andalucia Plaza Hotel at 11:30 Airsoft Experience 12:00 - 14:30 Lunch 14:30 - 15:30 Bus picks players up at 15:30 back to hotel by 16:00 PokerStars Marbella Festival Official Party*** - Ocean and Aqwa* Date/time: Saturday, 15th June, from 21:30 until 23:00 (Open bar) at Ocean (the official party), from 01:00am the party moves to the upcoming club Aqwa (official after party) where players will enjoy a glass of champagne upon arrival and party until the early hours of the morning. Dive in. The water's warm... * Wristbands are required for entry ** Spots are limited and players need to contact info@estrellaspokertourhotels.com to sign up, there might not be availability upon your arrival ***Open Bar for the first 1.5 hours of the party And, of course, there is a whole of poker going on with a great spread of tournaments and cash games on offer. This is one that you really don't want to miss. Check the UKIPT Marbella schedule here. Find the UKIPT satellites in the PokerStars lobby by clicking 'Events' > 'More' > 'UKIPT'. Good luck! Rick Dacey is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

You have to know Maria "maridu" Mayrinck to really get a sense for how loud things can get during times of excitement. First, she's Brazilian, which means she's biologically predisposed to being overwhelmingly excited. Second, she's Maria, and that's a state of being that scholars have spent a couple decades trying to decode. Unsatisfied to wear her heart on her sleeve, she often wears no sleeves and waves her heart around on a big flagpole. That's Maria. So, when she started blowing up my personal Twitter feed with exclamations and virtual mouth-frothing about her man David "WhooooKidd" Baker doing well in the Spring Championship of Online Poker, I assumed my crash position and waited to ride out the Maria storm. I mean, to be fair, Maria can get really, really excited about a good cup of coffee. Sleeveless Maria and Smilin' Bakes But this time, Maridu was not the girl who cried wolf. She was the Maria who cried WhooooKidd. David Baker--Bakes to his friends--is having a stellar SCOOP. He's cashed eight times. Four of those were final table finishes. One of them was a SCOOP title in last night's 8-game battle. Bakes is tied for 7th on the overall SCOOP Player of the Series leaderboard having played fewer than half of the events as leader Shaun Deeb. And get this...Bakes has won $535,978 so far this SCOOP, more than anybody else this year. It's pushed his career SCOOP earnings to $861,242 (4th on the overall earnings leaderboard). I mean...really, there are a lot of great stories today. Team Pros Nacho Barbero and George Danzer got close to wins last night. But today, no matter how you slice it, is International David Baker Day. If you want to catch up on any of the other news from Thursday, click on any of the headlines to see our final table wrap-ups. SCOOP-33-L: $27 8-Game Entrants: 2,780 Prize pool: $68,249 Cashes: 360 1. Alximik1203 (Russia) - $9,999.81* 2. Name1ess0ne (Poland) - $8,600* 3. Kusu_a (Finland) - $5,801.16 4. kr1voship (Russia) - $3,753.69 5. babefish (Sweden) - $2,388.71 6. Shpikachka (Russia) - $1,219.60 * denotes two-way deal PokerStars Blog report: SCOOP-33-M: $215 8-Game Entrants: 594 Prize pool: $118,800 Cashes: 78 1. meneerbeer (Netherlands) - $19,226.07* 2. aDrENalin710 (Russia) - $19,977.93* 3. Make (Russia) - $12,177 4. Nacho 'nachobarbero' Barbero (Argentina, Team PokerStars Pro) - $8,316 5. milanissimo8 (Germany) - $5,940 6. kaivari (Finland) - $3,694.68 * denotes two-way deal SCOOP-33-H: $2,100 8-Game Entrants: 128 Prize pool: $256,000 Cashes: 18 1. David 'WhooooKidd' Baker (Mexico) - $66,560 2. MUSTAFABET (UK) - $44,800 3. ana marquez (UK) - $33,280 4. GeorgeDanzer (Austria, Team PokerStars Pro) - $21,760 5. Thor 'osten' Hansen (Norway) - $16,640 6. AceQuad (Mexico) - $11,520 SCOOP-35-L: $27 NL Hold'em (Turbo, 2x Chance) Entrants: 11,848 (5,563 rebuys) Prize pool: $427,440.05 Cashes: 1,530 1. BOOGANDEHAH (Canada) - $48,410,84* 2. PokerStarJ2 (Hungary) - $37,483.92* 3. wiredoor (Australia) - $46,233.98* 4. imcastleman (Canada) - $21,372 5. BWFCLEE (UK) - $17,097.60 6. T-BooGiE (Canada) - $12,823.20 7. zenonmika (Belgium) - $8,548.80 8. theboss77777 (Canada) - $4,274.40 9. eazynow007 (Denmark) - $2,692.87 * denotes three-way deal PokerStars Blog report: SCOOP-35-M: $215 NL Hold'em (Turbo, 2x Chance) Entrants: 2,693 (1,344 rebuys) Prize pool: $861,400 Cashes: 378 1. FellipeNunes (Brazil) - $99,341.40* 2. san-ok135 (Russia) - $104,027* 3. 7HE__D__ASH (Switzerland) - $106,735.93* 4. theNERDguy (Brazil) - $50,383.28 5. GearUp777 (Austria) - $37,470.90 6. DeathBlow500 (Canada) - $28,856.90 7. bullyon (Costa Rica) - $20,242.90 8. DwnByDaBrdge (Mexico) - $12,490.30 9. 07Papi (Portugal) - $7,321.90 * denotes three-way deal SCOOP-35-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em (Turbo, 2x Chance) Entrants: 562 (260 rebuys) Prize pool: $1,644,000 Cashes: 63 1. Peter 'Belabacsi' Traply (Hungary) - $284,143.08* 2. Also11 (Austria) - $258,376.92* 3. David 'WhooooKidd' Baker (Mexico) - $168,510 4. Igor 'lec

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Editor's note: Earlier this week, PokerStars released a short film about Shane Schleger that triggered a few memories in Trent Wyatt, a longtime PokerStars employee. In 2005, Wyatt was still a part-time player with a dream. This is what happened. March 25, 2005 started much like any other day off from my previous job. I woke up, had some breakfast, did some light exercising and then opened PokerStars. My days off were the only time I could commit to playing poker. Little did I know later in the day I would meet the infamous shaniac in an event that would change my life. I had recently made a $500 deposit with the specific goal of playing WSOP satellites. Unfortunately, things were not going as I had hoped. This day I was staring at a balance of $15.50 which felt like my chance--my last shot--was all but gone. At this time in my life I was struggling to pay my living expenses and college loan. Losing $500 was hard to swallow. I had bought directly into two $160 Double Shootout events and did not make it through round 1. I spent he rest on $2 to $20 satellites with no luck. I opened the Events tab and started browsing the WSOP satellites. The only events awarding seats to the Main Event were $160 DS events. It was a far cry from my measly balance, and unless I could find a smaller buy-in satellite, I would have no chance. Then I noticed a $5.50 + rebuys satellite to the $160 DS that just started. My first thought was I only have one buy-in, one rebuy and possibly an add-on if I didn't have to reload. I hesitated. Should I play this? Should I try to make a run at Sit and Go's? Should I try and run it up at a cash table? Honestly, I figured any chance with my bankroll was hopeless, and I would not reach my goal. I grabbed a cup of coffee and then debated my best shot at reaching my goal to win a seat to the WSOP. This was the biggest goal I had set for myself in poker to this point, and I was failing. If I lost this $15, I really could not afford to reload and try again. Without even realizing it, I had apparently made my decision and had registered to the satellite. Something took control of me. I did my first rebuy right away so I could start with double the chips. Now I only had enough for one last rebuy or hopefully an add-on if I could last without busting my first two bullets. The very first hand of the event I was dealt the elusive pocket aces, and something just felt right about my decision to play this event. I doubled up that hand and ran good up to the end of the rebuy. At the end of the rebuy period I found myself in the top 10 of the chip counts. After doing the add-on my account balance was $0. It was this or nothing. The satellite awarded 33 seats to the $160 DS, and I was determined to get one of the seats. And there it was: 33 players left and I was first in chips. I made it to the next event, and I could not have been more thrilled to accomplish the first leg of the day's goal. The DS was set to start as soon as 81 players registered. With the 33 that advanced from the satellite it did not take long to fill up and get started. The first round was a breeze, I was getting slapped in the face with the deck, and everyone just kept paying me off. It took less than 150 hands to seal the deal and move to round 2. There was one table left playing, so I opened it to observe. It was the first time I had ever seen the screen name "shaniac." He was heads-up. I immediately noticed was how popular he was; the rail birds were in full force rooting shaniac on to victory. Round 2 started and I was as nervous as I had been. Is this real? Am I really eight people away from winning a WSOP seat and reaching my goal? Once the first hand was dealt I calmed down a bit and got focused. The chat between shaniac and the rail birds was very entertaining, and to me it was very cool to see this popular guy interact with his fans. In addition to shaniac there was another player who had just become

On Saturday (May 25), PokerStars will run a special freeroll for players who signed up through PL.com with ten $109 SCOOP Main Event Low tickets up for grabs. The low version of the 2013 Main Event is going to offer a $1 million guarantee so a PokerListings qualifier could potentially walk away with a life-changing amount of cash. Look for PokerListings SCOOP Special in Lobby The satellite tournament will take place in a nine-handed No-Limit Hold’em turbo format so it’s best to show up on time. Action starts at 15:00 ET and seats will be available one minute before the tournament begins. To find the tournament just look for the “PokerListings SCOOP Special” in the tournament lobby or search using the ID: 723505518. The 2013 SCOOP has already awarded millions with pros Cal Anderson, Thor Hansen and Dan “djk123” Kelly among the notable winners. To sign up for an account on PokerStars through PokerListings click here.Visit www.pokerlistings.com

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Scoring a free €3,000 package through a World Series of Poker (WSOP) satellite at Unibet could be one of the greatest feats you achieve this year while playing online poker. The adventure of traveling to Sin City and rubbing elbows with the elite...

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