Reviews, News, and Interviews From Around the Poker World

Special Invites and Satellites for Irish Open
There is so much going on at PaddyPowerPoker.com in the run up to the Irish Open in April. Most dramatically an invite has been sent to the White House asking President Obama to take part in the main event.

With Obama’s Irish roots and his love for Texas hold’em, Paddy Power has extended some Irish hospitality to the President of the United States, and if he accepts, $1 million will be added to the prize pool.

In other Irish Open related news, the site has announced live super satellites for the event both in the Grosvenor Victoria Casino, London on March 17 at 7:45 p.m. and Dusk Till Dawn card club in Nottingham on March 19 at 8 p.m..

PaddyPowerPoker.com also has a wide range of satellites on its Irish Open online qualifier schedule such as weekly €175 + €18 buy-in ticket-only satellites with a ticket awarded for every €3,600 in the prize pool.

This year’s event will be streamed live at PaddyPowerPoker.com and the event’s official blog. Viewers will be treated to special offers over the course of the festival such as daily freerolls and a variety of unique betting markets organised exclusively for them and focused on the action being broadcast at that time.

Finally, the company has also announced a change in the structure of the Irish Open main event.

It will now see two new levels – 1,200-1,400 and 2,500-5,000 – as well as longer blinds which are being increased from 60 minutes to 75 minutes from level seven onwards. The starting stack is 10,000 in chips.

The full structure can be viewed at IrishPokerOpen.com and don’t forget to check out the many ways to qualify for this event at PaddyPowerPoker.com.

Pole Position for European Masters of Poker
Maciej Lipny ploughed his way through Sweden, Finland, and Denmark to conquer the European Masters of Poker Gran Canaria main event final table in late January.

He was one of three Poles who took home titles from the seven events EMOP had to offer, beating 287 others to take home the top end of the €288,000 main event prize pool.

The final table payouts were:
1 Maciej Lipny (Poland) €66,240
2 Henri Ovasta (Finland) €39,744
3 Mika Nyyssönen (Finland) €25,920
4 Reijo Anttila (Finland) €16,128
5 Sören Godskesen (Denmark) €12,672
6 Jimmy Östensson (Sweden) €9,792
7 Björn Lundgren (Sweden) €8,640
8 Tommi Heikinniemi (Finland) €7,488
9 Mikko Pirinen (Finland) €6,336

The next stop on the tour is Casino Estoril, Lisbon, in Portugal, and will run from March 25 to 28. Players can qualify for this event throughout the Entraction network in 32 daily satellites which begin at €2 or 200 VIP points.

Full Tilt Introduces Rush Poker
A few weeks ago the world awoke to a brand new software update on Full Tilt Poker which introduced a revolutionary new poker format to one of the world’s largest online poker sites. It was called Rush Poker, and it has since exploded in popularity.

In standard ring games, players are forced to compete against the same opponents and wait for the hand to conclude before receiving a new one. In Rush Poker, you can join a large pool of players spread out across multiple tables. The second you fold your hand, you are instantly moved to a new table, with new opponents and, more importantly, a new hand to play.

“Rush Poker is the greatest innovation in online poker since poker started on the Internet,” said Team Full Tilt member Chris Ferguson. “Rush Poker is an amazingly fast-paced game. You always have a decision to make; you’re never waiting for other players to finish the hand.”

At the time of writing, Rush Poker was being offered at stakes up to $1/$2 in no-limit hold’em and $0.25/$.50 pot-limit Omaha. (See From the European Bureau Chief)

Microgaming Bans Data Mining
Online gaming software provider Microgaming has announced that it is making moves to prevent data mining. Players will no longer be able to download hand histories in bulk or store them on their computer from observed tables.

Andrew Clucas, head of poker at Microgaming, said, “Concern has been rising over the long-term effect of third party software upon the poker industry as a whole, and in particular the negative effect it has on the recreational player demographic. The decision to put a stop to the practice of data mining on the poker network is part of Microgaming’s overarching network strategy to support operators in attracting and retaining recreational players. It further demonstrates commitment in providing a secure and fair playing environment.”

In January, Microgaming also confirmed it was changing the way it calculated rake for the poker rooms operating there, shifting from the “contribution” method to the “weighted contribution” method.

“I would like to emphasize that with this change, as with the change to Weighted Contribution [rake calculation method], Microgaming is not seeking to alienate its winning players,” said Clucas. “There has been a move in the industry towards penalising winners; we believe that is the wrong approach. There will always be winners and losers in poker. What we are trying to achieve is a more level playing field for all the players.”

Russian Wins Top Euro Poker Award
The winners of the ninth annual European Poker Awards were announced in mid-February ahead of the main event of the Euro Finals of Poker at the Aviation Club de France in Paris.

The winners of the six categories were:
Player of the Year Vitaly Lunkin (Russia)
Europe’s Leading Lady Sandra Naujoks (Germany)
Rookie of the Year Antoine Saout (France)
Outstanding Tournament Performance of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro (Italy)
Internet Player of the Year (New Category Patrik Antonius (Finland)
Poker Staff Person of the Year Edgar Stuchly (Austria)

The €5,000 buy-in Diamond Championship at the Euro Finals of Poker attracted 142 players and the final table payouts were:
1 Hugo Lemaire €213,570
2 Eric Qu €113,460
3 Michel Abecassis €80,090
4 Dominik Nitsche €53,390
5 Daniel Amara €40,045
6 Laurent Leclerc €33,370
7 Rony Halimi €26,690
8 Erik Friberg €20,020
9 Rodolphe Dethiere €13,350

Jake Cody’s French Fancy
The European Poker Tour Deauville attracted 768 players, most of whom were French, but in the end, a 21-year-old first-time EPT-er, Jake “neverbluff67” Cody from the UK, never backed down, despite many setbacks along the way, and stole the show on the Normandy coast.

He took home €847,000 after beating Romanian Teodor Caraba in a two-hour heads up battle.
The final hand of the event came when Caraba raised to 800,000, and Cody reraised to 1,760,000. Caraba shoved, and Cody called. Caraba flipped over A-K, and Cody showed K-K which held up.

The final table payouts were:
First Jake Cody €847,000 + EPT Grand Final seat
Second Teodor Caraba €516,000
Third Mike “Timex” McDonald €295,000
Fourth Craig Bergeron €221,000
Fifth Claudiu Secara €165,000
Sixth Stephane Albertini €129,000
Seventh Michael Fratty €92,000
Eighth Peter Eastgate €70,000

Dutchman Wins in Manchester
Joeri Zandvliet from Utrect, Netherlands topped the field of 518 players at the PokerStars.com UK and Ireland Poker Tour Manchester in February taking down the first prize of £63,200 at the G Casino.

The final table payouts were:
First Joeri Zandvliet £63,200
Second Jack Ellwood £37,500
Third Mike Hill £23,500
Fourth Tony Millan £15,100
Fifth Dean Lyall £12,100
Sixth Chris Brammer £9,100
Seventh Dan Owston £6,500
Eighth Tim Brown £4,800
Ninth Julian Hasse £3,650

Boylepoker.com Sponsors Irish Poker Rankings
Boylepoker will be sponsoring the 2010 Irish Poker Rankings after a successful year which saw Francis “Wally” McCormack take down the inaugural title in 2009.

This year there will be huge prizes for successful ranking players. The player who has earned the most points in any given month will win a free token to the Monthly Million on Boylepoker. At the end of the year, the 2010 Irish Poker Rankings champion will be awarded a €10,000 sponsorship deal.

This year sees a new ranking system which factors in event buy-in, field size, and finishing position, to award points to players.

McCormack secured the 2009 title with five first place victories and 11 other final table finishes over the course of the year.

The top five players in the 2009 rankings were:
1 Francis McCormack 18,950 points
2 Dara O’Kearney 17,990 points
3 Rob Taylor 11,660 points
4 Keith McFadden 9,900 points
5 Chris Dowling 8,600 points

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi
The run of Aussie champions at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia has now been increased to a second year. Tyron Krost, a resident of Sydney, topped a field of 746 players at the final table of the AUD$10,000 no-limit hold’em main event at the Aussie Millions 2010 to take home the impressive top prize of $2 million.

Krost faced tough competition at the final table, including Annete Obrestad, who won $40,000 in the $1,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha event, Peter Jetten, and the chip leader when the final table began (and this month’s Card Player cover star), Sorel Mizzi.
Krost won the final hand and the tournament with a pair of kings up and a nine kicker, and Fredrick Jensen was eliminated in second place.

The final table results were: (AUD$)
1 Tyron Krost $2,000,000
2 Frederik Jensen $1,100,000
3 Sorel Mizzi $715,000
4 Kosta Varoxis $450,000
5 Peter Jetten $350,000
6 Steve Friedlander $250,000
7 Annette Obrestad $175,000
8 Stephen Shelly $125,000

The Aussie Millions $10,000 pot-limit Omaha event was won by Erik Seidel. He took home the top prize of $120,000 and he captured the 22nd tournament win of his poker career in the process. Seidel defeated a tough field of 26 players and he faced down both Florian Langmann and Mike Watson on the final day of play.

The $100,000 no-limit hold’em challenge attracted 24 players creating a total prize pool of $2.4 million. The top five players would walk away with prize money and the final payouts were (AUD$):
1 Dan Shak $1,200,000
2 Phil Ivey $600,000
3 Billy Jordanou $300,000
4 Tony Bloom $200,000
5 Tony G $100,000