News, Reviews And Interviews From Around The Poker World

Change of Venue for Irish Open
PaddyPowerPoker.com has confirmed that its prestigious Irish Open festival will return to the Burlington Hotel, Dublin in 2010.

This four-star hotel nestled in the centre of Dublin city first played host to Europe’s longest running tournament in 2007, and now it will do so again across four days starting on April 2, 2010.

Paddy Power, communications manager at the site said, “We are delighted to return to the Burlington Hotel; everyone loved the venue in 2007 and we’re expecting a similar reaction in 2010.

“The tournament room will be as well-presented as usual and with play located in the heart of Dublin, visitors to our lovely city can take in all the sights and sounds of one of Europe’s favourite locations, just minutes from the tables!”

When booking accommodation, players can avail of Paddy Power’s special bed and breakfast rate of €69. To do so, quote the promotional code “IO 2010 – Irish Open” when booking. For Burlington Hotel reservations call 00353 (0)1 618 5600 or email [email protected].

The Irish company has also announced the return of its popular Sole Survivor promotion where all players who qualify on PaddyPowerPoker.com for the 2010 Irish Open will be eligible for participation in the “last longest” competition in the main event. The player who outlasts all other Paddy Power qualifiers will win a €100,000 package made up of cash and tournament entries.

Diver Negotiates Sharks at PKR Live III
Vincent “vd12345” Diver won PKR Live III in November taking the top slot from a field of 134 players and a subsequent $33,500 payday after 18 hours of play at the Loose Cannon Club in London.

The 21-year-old Londoner arrived at the final table with just under average chips but busted the first player to take the chip lead and never looked back.

The final-table payouts were:

1 vd12345 $33,500
2 badboy579 $20,100
3 bulletproofJ $14,740
4 pokerkate88 $11,658
5 Najammq $10,050
6 Waswini $8,040
7 geoffbrent $6,365
8 panolis $4,690
9 TreeFree $3,417
10 EspenKR $2,948

The final table featured players from France, Portugal, Spain, Norway, the UK, and Switzerland.

Russian Wins European Masters of Poker Slovenia
Vladimir Mefodichev won the first €1,000 + €100 buy-in European Masters of Poker of season two in Ljubljana, Slovenia beating 252 opponents to lift the €58,190 top prize at the Grand Casino in late November.

After three days play the final table comprised players from Israel, Russia, France, Greece Germany, Sweden, Denmark (x2), and Romania.

The final standings were:

1 Vladimir Mefodichev €58,190
2 Mihai Sorin Nedelcu €34,914
3 Jeremias Fjellgren €22,770
4 Anders Kjaerulff €14,168
5 Steffen Uhldahl €11,132
6 Andreas Chalkiadakis €8,602
7 Sylvain Lanternier €7,590
8 Christopher Brammer €6,578
9 Avi Cohen €5,566

The EMOP tour next rolls into Casino Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, from January 28 to 31, 2010, and qualification is now underway on all Entraction network sites.

Players can qualify for as little as €2 or 200 VIP points in more than 30 daily feeder satellites into weekly qualifiers where there are guaranteed €2,000 packages on offer.

The weekly satellites are:

Each Tuesday 8:40 p.m. (CET) with €100 buy-in and five €2,000 packages guaranteed
Each Thursday 8:40 p.m. with €100 buy-in and five €2,000 packages guaranteed
Each Sunday 8:40 p.m. with €200 buy-in and eight €2,000 packages guaranteed
Check out EuropeanMastersofPoker.com for further information.

James Akenhead is Poker Million Champ
James Akenhead from England won the Full Tilt Poker Million VIII in early December, taking down the $500,000 top prize after battling through a strong international final table.

Akenhead, who made the final tables of both World Series of Poker main events this year, was marginal favourite to win the event ahead of chip leader Luke Schwartz.

The final-table payouts were:

1 James Akenhead $500,000
2 Juha Helppi $250,000
3 Dag Martin Mikkelsen $200,000
4 Luke Schwartz $150,000
5 Craig Wakeham $100,000
6 Pete Vasiliou $75,000
7 Taylor Caby $50,000

The final table was broadcast across Europe live on SKY Sports 2.

Thorsson Takes Down Amsterdam Master Classics
Kristoffer Thorsson from Sweden won the €6,000 buy-in Amsterdam Master Classics of Poker at the Lido Casino in the Dutch capital in November, topping a field of 342 players to take down the €636,120 top prize.

The final-table payouts were:

1 Kristoffer Thorsson €636,120
2 Saydam Ozgür €365,256
3 Nicklas Mattson €211,356
4 Andras Nemeth €135,432
5 Tim van de Riet €108,756
6 Kenny Hallaert €86,184
7 Thierry van den Berg €65,664
8 Ben Roberts €45,144
9 Fatima Moreira de Melo €32,832

Firth First Among Women at Betfred Ladies’ Final
Helen Firth from North Yorkshire has won the Betfred Ladies’ Poker Tour grand final at London’s Western Club, taking down a £20,000 sponsorship package for her final table victory.

Ten players made the grand final but when play left just two remaining it was Firth who was short-stacked with 90,000 while Sue Adams had 160,000. However, after hitting a straight with all her chips in the middle, Firth was again all in with K-K against Adams’ A-6. The flop came K-10-7 with two hearts giving Adams a flush draw but a 7 on the turn gave Firth a full house and victory.

The final table standings were:

1 Helen Firth Swansea leg runner-up
2 Sue Adams Leader board winner
3 Emily Curzon Leeds winner
4 Michelle Bricknell Stockport leg winner
5 Alyson Chadwick Calahonda leg winner
6 Kim Jagger Sheffield and Swansea leg winner
7 Kelly Jackson Birmingham leg winner
8 Mel Lofthouse Scarborough leg winner
9 Charlotte Langton London leg winner
10 Karen Tomczak Online satellite winner

Cascarino Scores at Grosvenor UK Poker Tour
Former Chelsea and Celtic footballer Tony Cascarino has won the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour grand final topping a field of 183 players and taking home £168,800 for his win.
This is the second time the soccer pundit has won a GUKPT title and it shot him to the top of the all-time GUKPT money list.

The final table results were:

1 Tony Cascarino £168,800
2 Antoine Arnault £107,100
3 Philip Patrick £71,400
4 Daniel Millar £43,900
5 Albert Iversen £32,900
6 Charalambos (Bambos) Xanthos £27,400
7 Romano Pizzo £22,000
8 Mike Hill £16,500
9 Stuart Rutter £11,000

Online Sites Sign More Pros
French poker pro Fabrice Soulier has joined Everest Poker as its latest ambassador. The Frenchman joins fellow countryman and November Nine player Antoine Saout on Everest‘s roster.

The company said the move was, “… reinforcing its presence in the country in a continued effort to develop poker in France ahead of the opening of the market.”

Soulier is well known on the international poker circuit having won a World Poker Tour event and made four World Series of Poker final tables.

Elsewhere Full Tilt has snapped up online legend Tom “Durrrr” Dwan; PKR has signed Vladimir Geshkenbein, the 21-year-old Russian poker player who recently won the PKR Heads Up Grand Slam and Asia Pacific Poker Tour High Roller events; and Boylepoker.com has signed Irish pro Nicky Power.

Bo Selecta! At the Euro City Poker Tour
Swede Bo Sehlstedt won the €1,500 + €150 buy-in Euro City Poker Tour main event at Casino De Venezia, Valetta, Malta in mid-November, heading the field of 126 players and taking home the top prize of €51,382 at the Titan Poker sponsored event.

The final table results were:

1 Bo Sehlstedt €51,382
2 John Van Der Bruggen €31,200
3 Michael Schuchardt €21,450
4 Manuel Thiede €15,600
5 Bernd-Philipp Hoff €13,650
6 Mitja Potocin €11,700
7 Sorel Mizzi €9,750
8 Sean Perry €7,800