Archive for the Poker Stars category.
March 01, 2010
Whether you are involved in online gambling or any other kind of sports betting, proposition bets are one of the most common types of bets made on sporting events. At its most basic level a proposition bet is nothing more than a bet placed upon a specific outcome, otherwise known as the proposition. These can be things as mundane as a final point score in a particular game, or can be based on more complex variables the like statistics of a team. They can also be bets that are placed on one-of-a-kind events or games, not related to professional sports leagues.
Proposition bets as they relate to sports betting are fairly common, with various betting sites allowing individuals to place bets on things such as whose team will score first in a particular game, or whether or not a particular team will win by a margin of X, or win with a total of X points by the end of the game. Sports betting very rarely deals with the one-of-a-kind bets, which are usually the type of bets made between individuals, such as “I’ll bet you 20 pounds you can’t climb that tree”, or publicized bets such as the one detailed in the book “The Professor, The Banker, and The Suicide King”, in which David Grey bet Howard Lederer $10,000 USD that he would not eat a cheeseburger due to Lederer’s vegetarianism. Proposition bets are used around the world, and are most frequently seen on betting sites catering to games like blackjack and craps.
June 04, 2009
The World Poker Championship is one of the best gambling tournaments online, which has been played by many famous poker players like Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Carlos Montensen, and Daniel Negreanu.
The popularity of poker games based on the Internet led to the creation of different websites that offer poker-related programmes and other contents that inform poker gamers about the latest news, tournament results, poker software, strategy articles as well as important information such as the schedule of World Poker Championships, its rules, and number of players who can participate in the game.
The players start the game with tournament chips amounting to $100,000. The game commences in the first level with no ante or initial contribution made to the pot amount. The dealer will determine who among the players will put the first blinds amounting to $50, after which, the player next to the first player will double the amount to $100. Every level will last for about 90 minutes, and a 15-minute break is given at the end of each level. There will be no re-buys when a player loses the game. On the third level, a minimum ante amount will be placed in the pot, together with the blinds amount and so on. The game continues until there are only two players left on the table and when the amount of blinds has reached the $1 million mark and the ante $ 100,000.
March 22, 2009
Antonio Esfandiari is a regular part of the most exclusive big bet poker tournament clubs. In addition to winning both World Series and World Poker Tour titles, he is a regular at many of the biggest games across the globe. Recently, in the newly started European Poker Tour, he reached a final table.
Antonio was born in Iran as Amir Esfandiari. Later he changed his first name to Antonio. He is popularly called “The Magician”. This title has a direct significance to Esfandiari and his great skill at playing cards. Before he became a poker pro, Antonio Esfandiari started off as a professional magician in casinos. At those very casinos he picked up the skills of the game of poker which would earn him a big fortune in the future.
He chose to be out of the circuit for six years and instead decided to be part of cash games exclusively. He then stormed into it and reached the top in 2004. The high stakes Chris Moneymaker Tournament in 2003 pushed him into participating on the circuit again.
He won the World Poker Tour and the World Series in 2004. In his travels around the globe for tournaments he gained Phil Laak as a friend. They used to share the same room in hotels. Later the two went on to inspire the popular TC show, “I Bet You”, a famous HDD network Mojo Show. The show features unusually talented players like Esfandiari and Laak from all around the world.
March 13, 2009
Barry Greenstein is the only player in the history of poker to have won three WPT events and three WSOP bracelets. To top it all he is the only player to have given everything he earned out of these wins to charity. There is little doubt then as to why he is called the Robin Hood of the poker world. He has given away close to $8 million to charity.
In spite of giving away such huge chunks of his earnings to charity, Greenstein continues to make a lot of money through poker. He is seen participating in games with the highest stakes in the world. He is also an established author in the poker circuit. He has written a book on poker that he gives as a gift to any player who manages to beat him in a tournament.
Apart from being a great player he has also trained three of the world’s best poker players. Joe Sebok, Mimi Tran and Tuan Le are his disciples.
Barry is actively involved in online poker. He represents the much-respected ‘PokerStars’ team and plays under the alias of ‘barrg1’.
The three bracelets that he has won in the WSOP have been achieved in very different games. One was won back in 2004 in a $5,000 No Limit Deuce to 7 Draw, the second was in a $1500 PL Omaha in 2005 and the third, in 2008, was at a $1,500 Razz event.
Greenstein dedicated his last win to a friend who was struggling with cancer. His friend succumbed to the disease just a week later.
March 04, 2009
When Annette Obrestad was only 18 years of age she triumphed in the biggest Hold’em tournament ever held in Europe. The day before her 19th birthday, she won £1,000,000 GBP on 17th September 2007 in the World Series of Poker’s first $10,000 European Buy-in Main Event. Another world record was set by her on that day: it was the biggest prize ever won by a woman.
She started her career when she was 15 years old under the online alias, “Annette 15.” She never deposited real money in her account but just like “Jesus” Ferguson, she first made money in a freeroll tournament.
In a span of two years she reached a stage where she would regularly buy into $100+ rebuy tournaments. In one year alone she made close to $1,000,000 by winning on Ultimate Bet, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Her World Series win was the last in that year. Annette gathered more than thirty, first and second place finishes and a total of $3,000,000 after her World Series win.
She is compared to the legend Stu Ungar for gaining such a meteoric rise in her teenage years.
Annette, at 20 years of age, is considered to be one of the best players around. She has come first in a 180 person NL Hold’em online contest in the dark. She did not even see her cards. Such a feat only goes to show how talented a player she is. Next year she will turn 21 and be eligible for the US World Series.
February 27, 2009
One thing Chris Moneymaker and Chip Jett have in common is that they have two of the hippest poker names! Chip is considered to be a player who is fearless and improving all the time. His presence is often intimidating for his opponents because of his slick looks and style.
Before stepping into the world of poker, Chip was a lifeguard. But he soon realised that there is more money to be made with his skill set in poker. He joined dealing school and began a career in gambling, at first being a dealer and later a prop player. He got his breakthrough when he won the 2001 Best All Around Player title at the Poker Classic event in Los Angeles. In the same year he had managed to make it to final tables in Omaha Hi-Lo, No Limit Hold’em, H.O.R.S.E , Seven-card Stud Hi and Hi-Lo.
Jett has still not won a bracelet in the WSOP but it seems that he doesn’t need this accolade to prove his worth. He has reached the final tables of some of the most prestigious tournaments collecting over $2,000,000. He has been at two WSOP final tables, a WPT final table and finished second in the WPT PartyPoker event all in the year 2003. He says that more than anything else it’s his award of Best All Around Player and being profiled and put on the cover of the popular magazine, Poker Digest, that makes him proud.
He is married with two kids. His wife, Karina Jett, is also a pro poker player. Together they do the tourney circuit, covering close to about 300 tourneys.
February 18, 2009
Allen Cunningham is one of those few poker stars who keep a low profile. You won’t see Allen on computer games, TV shows or taking on modelling assignments.
Yet he has reached great heights. He has won $10,100,000 in tournaments and has five bracelets of WSOP to his name.
Allen, born in California, has been playing since childhood. He says that he used to defeat all his family members in games played over the kitchen table. Since then he has dreamed of playing with the best in the world. He has waited for that wish to come true since he was young. But during this time he polished his skill by playing in local casinos. He would practice playing free rolls and low stake tables.
Life then took Allen to UCLA to study civil engineering, but his growing income from poker made him change his course and follow poker professionally. He started being seen around with young players of the likes of John Juanda, Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu. All of them later reached great poker heights.
In 2001 Cunningham won the WSOP bracelet for the first time. Since then there has been no turning back. He is one of seventeen other players who have five bracelets and more to their credit and amongst an even smaller group of champions who have won these bracelets consecutively for three years.
He is feared by his opponents for his discipline and analytical playing. Allen has been awarded the “Most Underrated Player” title and the “Best All-Around Player under 35″ title in the past. His standing amongst the biggest tournament earners is 4th.
January 11, 2009
The world has seen some of the best poker players. Here is a compilation of some of the most talked about names.
1. Chris Ferguson – Also known by the nickname “Jesus,” this full tilt poker player has a PhD in Computer Science and has won five World Series of Poker bracelets, including the bracelet for the 2000 WSOP Main Event. He is also the winner of the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
2. Erick Lindgren – He is an American professional poker player who won his first major tournament at the Bellagio in 2002. Lindgren, who believes in perfecting his game by watching other players, also won his first World Poker Tour (WPT) win ten months later. Six months after that win, he won the WPT PartyPoker Million III cruise, where he was awarded a million-dollar top prize.
3. Eric Seidel – This professional poker player hails from Las Vegas and has to his credit eight World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title. He started off by playing backgammon with a group of players and then won the 2008 WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic, earning $992,890. His tournament winnings come to a whopping $9,200,000 up to 2008.
4. Howard Lederer – Known as “The Professor” because of his style and many wins, Lederer has also launched an instructional poker video called Secrets of No Limit Hold’em. He also runs the Howard Lederer Poker Fantasy Camp.
5. Jennifer Harman – She is probably the best woman professional player the world has ever seen. Harman began as a cash game player but later entered into the tournament world. She finished 2nd in the WSOP Circuit Championship Event at the Rio and has also authored the limit Hold’em chapter for Super System II.