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One of poker's biggest names will dawn the marquee in San Jose as Phil Hellmuth Jr. will come in second in chips in an attempt to win his first WPT title.
The 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner will be making his third WPT final table and a comeback of sorts, having admitted 2009 was his worst year in poker.
"I've been working really hard on my game," Hellmuth told PokerListings. "It feels really good. I'm really happy and I'm pleased with the way I'm playing."
Daniel Negreanu recently criticized Hellmuth, claiming the Poker Brat wasn't taking the necessary steps to improve his game in an ever changing poker landscape.
However, Hellmuth now says he's been working with players like Brandon Cantu, Ted Forrest and David "The Maven" Chicotsky to adjust.
A plan that appears to have worked out here at Bay 101.
"We've been talking about some of the Internet kids and their techniques and how they're playing," he said. "They seem to be very mathematical. Everything is about the math.
"And I've been learning because I have to figure out how they're playing and devise a strategy to beat them."
Armed with a better understanding of what the players around him are up to, Hellmuth will head into the final table confident and ready to get to work.
"I think I have a great chance if my reads stay strong," he said. "But I've still got a lot of work left."
Now, he says even his biggest critic has changed his tune.
"Daniel's in my corner now," he said. "He likes the fact that I'm trying some new school stuff."
However, it's still going to take all Hellmuth has to get past a final six with a combination of experience, youthful exuberance and poker skill.
Andy Seth, the runner-up in one of the many $1,500 events at the WSOP this past summer with a list of online poker accomplishments a mile long will come in with the chip lead and a reputation as the player whose been giving Hellmuth the most headaches thus far.
Plus, after an 11th place finish here last year and a ninth in Biloxi earlier this season, Dan O'Brien will finally get a crack at a big score here and has the chips to make some real noise.
Despite having played with the poise of a veteran pro, turning his short stack into a big one on the event's penultimate day, McLean Karr has just a few preliminary cashes around the circuit on his resume.
However, a recent run all the way to 62nd in the inaugural PokerStars NAPT Las Vegas and a boatload of online experience have set the U.S. Air Force Academy Applied Math and Statistics grad turned poker player on the edge of something rather large here in the Bay Area.
In the meantime, Hasan Habib will come in to his third WPT final table fifth in chips. He has yet to book a win, but does have five final tables at the WSOP and a bracelet there, proving he knows how to get it done.
Matt Keikoan has also won at the WSOP and took down the WSOP Circuit event in Lake Tahoe last year. After a seventh and a ninth on the WPT over the past few years, he will enter his first final table as the short stack.
Known for the loudest fans on tour, San Jose will be treated to a final filled with big names and dramatic story lines destined to go down as one of the most exciting in World Poker Tour history.
Action will begin at 4 p.m. PT. For comprehensive coverage, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
The unknown Swede's session started by turning around a heads-up $500/$1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha session against CardRunners pro Cole South, going from down over $300k after 133 hands to up $557,896 after 952 hands of play.
Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo, who has been playing heads-up Hold'em with Isildur1 almost daily, took $101k from the Swede after just over 300 hands of $200/$400 No-Limit Hold'em, but was unable to hold on to it losing back $622,648 a couple hours later.
Bonomo would leave the tables down $521,566 last night.
Tom "durrrr" Dwan, who has been in the process of making a massive comeback since his brutal losses at the end of 2009, would be next on Isildur1's hit-list, but after 888 hands of $300/$600 PLO Dwan managed to pull off a massive $1,021,995 win, almost entirely negating Isildur1's profit for the day.
Dwan's million dollar profit moves him to first place for profit in 2010 with over $3.3 million earned so far at Full Tilt.
Next up, Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond continued the heads-up $200/$400 NLHE session started by Bonomo, making just over $57k after 1,482 hands.
The two then agreed to move the game to $300/$600 PLO where they remained for 2,182 hands, moving up to $500/$1,000 after Isildur1 got stuck for over $254k.
Galfond turned up the heat at $500/$1,000, absolutely crushing Isildur1 for over $1.6 million across the action-filled 2,064 hand session.
In total, the two played 8 pots worth over $300k, the largest of which came in at $415,999.
By the end of the day, Isildur1 had lost $1.9 million exclusively to Galfond, booking a massive $1.8 million dollar loss on the day.
Below are three of yesterday's largest pots. To see more hands from last night, head to MarketPulse.
"I think it's completely irresponsible to start playing again," he told PokerListings approximately 90 minutes after the robbery. "This is the most important moment in my poker career. We're playing for €1 million here, and you think, after a raid like this, you just sit back at the table and play?
"After an incident like this, everybody should get some time to sleep over this and to calm down. Tell me, how many people are expected to get back to work the same day they were held at gunpoint? Is there any other job in the world where you would do that?"
Officials from the PokerStars European Poker Tour now claim the robbery involved four armed men targeting the registration desk outside the tournament area at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Marlene-Dietrich-Platz. No shots were fired and nobody was seriously injured.
Despite German tabloid reports to the contrary, the EPT says approximately €240,000 was stolen and the men were armed with a handgun and a machete, not Kalashnikov assault rifles or hand grenades.
The suspects quickly fled after a security guard intervened and remain at-large as the police investigation continues.
The tournament resumed after a few hours and was eventually won by MacPhee, a 29-year-old poker pro from Idaho.
A few days after the incident, MacPhee said he understood why organizers decided to play on and praised their efforts to piece together the action in the event after the robbery.
"Obviously it worked out for me, but at the time I was upset about continuing," he said. "I still think they should have consulted with the players more. Although most of them wanted to play, I think some were affected by the incident psychologically."
In response to MacPhee's comments, I.A. Tanj Mayer from the Spielbank Casino, where the event was held, said since no one was seriously hurt within the tournament hall, tournament organizers came to the decision to continue with the main event and this decision was met with approval by the players.
Meanwhile, in recent statements to the German press, Head of the German Police Federation Rainer Wendt has claimed the suspects were "petty criminals" acting "chaotically and amateurishly."
He also says they left "mountains of clues" behind and police will catch them "very quickly."
However, Wendt was also slightly critical of members of the private security firm hired by the EPT for showing up unarmed and undermaned.
The EPT claims it maintains strict security standards and collaborates closely with the local tournament organizers to insure the safety of its players.
And Mayer says the outcome in this particlar incident was not as serious as it could have been, thanks to the prompt response of tournament security, which was suitable for a tournament of this size.
"All EPT-events, which have now been taking place in various European countries for six years, adhere to strict safety standards," he said. "These standards are also respected during the EPT itself. In our capacity as the event organizers, we have done everything in our power to ensure the smooth running of the EPT.
"We had professionally trained and experienced security personnel in an adequate quantity who were watching the access to the tournament area."
Mayer said he was satisfied with the work of the security team on the premises.
"Our security team reacted in a calm and measured manner, in complete accordance with their qualified professional training," he said.
A statement from the tour says because of the events at EPT Berlin, it will enhance security measures at all future events.
The next event for the tour is the EPT Snowfest at the Alpine Palace in Austria from March 21-26.
In the meantime, police are asking anyone who has information, video footage or photographs that might aid the investigation to contact them at:
The police president of Berlin
Police Press Office
Platz der Luftbrücke 6
12101 Berlin
Email: pressedienst@polizei.berlin.de
- With files from Dirk Oetzmann
Faraz "The-Toilet" Jaka picked up the game in the dorms at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign while earning a degree in economics and business management.
He soon started playing live here at Bay 101 when he was at home and online while at school, quickly taking to the game, booking massive scores and winning packages to play in high-stakes events all over the world.
However, a year and a half of following the PokerStars European Poker Tour and his first half a dozen shots at WPT glory did not bear even a single cash.
Then suddenly, one year ago right here at home, things turned around in a big way.
He booked his first WPT cash at the 2009 Bay 101 Shooting Star before moving on to make third at the hotly contested 2009 World Series of Poker $5k Six-Max event.
Then, when Jaka finished second at the Bellagio Cup this past summer and third at December's Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, he took the lead in the World Poker Tour's Player of the Year race and hasn't given it up yet.
Add in a final table appearance at the inaugural PokerStars North American Poker Tour's $25k High Roller Bounty Shootout and the San Jose native has cashed for almost $2 million in live tournaments over the past 12 months.
"It's kind of ironic, considering I played so many of these tournaments and then all of the sudden I start doing really well, but it's really just variance," he said. "Obviously I'm constantly improving a little bit, but I don't think there's been anything drastic."
Despite the rough start, having played thousands of tournaments earning over $1 million online before he ever stepped foot on the high-stakes live tournament stage, a 24-year-old Jaka says his confidence never wavered.
"I always thought I was good enough to be at the top of these things and win a few," he said. "It's always been just a matter of time."
Now in the midst of the kind of successful run that would turn even the most seasoned pro green with envy, he's still missing one thing: A major tournament victory.
"I'm definitely ready for a win," he said. "It's frustrating getting second and third so I'm definitely hungry."
Yet he seems to understand opportunities like this won't last forever.
"I'm obviously running amazing this year and it's not going to keep going, I understand that," he said.
In the end, Jaka's just hoping to keep playing his best and let the chips fall where they may, especially here at home.
"This is my hometown," he said. "So this tournament is a little more personal for me. I grew up playing here. It brings back so many memories and I still recognize so many of the dealers here from like four or five years ago.
"It would be really nice to do well here."
Action at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star continues through March 12. For comprehensive coverage, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
With Hastings having won $4.2 million in a single session against Isildur1, and South having the best year of his life so far, the odds seemed slim for Isildur1 to have much of a chance if he returned to the biggest games on Full Tilt.
To the surprise of many, he did come back just a couple months after his crushing defeat, and has begun to steamroll his way back to the top.
For Isildur1, yesterday's session began with a 1,114 hand $200/$400 Pot-Limit Omaha match against South, ending with Isildur1 up $240,779.
Hoping to expedite his comeback, South chose to step up the heads-up match to $300/$600 PLO, but only managed to lose another $401,733 over 566 hands.
With South's hole growing deeper by the second, Hastings logged on to try and get one back for the CardRunners team. After 811 hands of $300/$600 PLO, Hastings himself booked a $250k loss before moving the game to the nosebleed stakes: $500/$1,000.
After 1,356 hands of furious action, Hastings threw in the towel down another $581,954.
Up next for Isildur1 came another re-match against Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo at $200/$400 No-Limit Hold'em. Across the two-and-a-half-hour 2,386-hand Hold'em match, Isildur1 took another $101k before Bonomo took his leave.
After losing $31k to NEKOTYAN over just six hands of $200/$400 PLO, Isildur1 went on to make another $154k at the $200/$400 Cap-PLO tables.
His day would end on the downswing, starting with a $30k loss to skjervoy at $100/$200 PLO before he sat across from South once more, this time losing back $354,008 over 133 hands of $500/$1,000.
In total, Isildur1 booked a more than $1.5 million profit, add that to the $572,746 he made Monday and everyone's favorite mystery Swede is quickly working his way to the top of the 2010 profit leaderboard.
In fact, he is currently sitting in second place behind Alexander "PostflopAction" Kostritsyn on around $2.8 million.
South, thanks to his $354k win at the end of the night, managed to keep his losses to only $309,215, while Hastings took a hit of over $832k.
Below are three of the largest pots from yesterdays matches, to see more head to MarketPulse.
A statement from Tokwiro CEO Paul Leggett says the online poker rooms also has plans to develop a monthly $500k Guaranteed Tournament with an eye on building it into a million-dollar event, create more pro-related competitions and run its UB Online Championship twice a year.
"It is with great regret that we are announcing that the Aruba event will not run this year, but 2010 is going to be an exciting year for UB and its players," said Leggett. "Over the last year, we've been redefining the UB brand in every way. We love the Aruba Poker Classic event, but we think we can do a lot more for our players by investing in new events and rewards."
UB will continue to offer players access to events like the World Series of Poker and major World Poker Tour events through ongoing online satellites.
Players will also see benefits in the form of major WSOP incentives and additional loyalty benefits for top players.
"I, for one, am excited about what this shift in focus means for UB and what this will add to the experience for our players," said Joe Sebok.
The 2009 Aruba Poker Classic drew 475 players to the Caribbean island creating a $2,303,750 prize pool. Brandon Hall took the title after a heads up chop with then chip leader Robert Mizrachi, giving Mizrachi the lion's share of the cash.
Titan Poker launched the new 9.6 version of its online poker software this week featuring a host of new features and functionalities.
Included are an updated Flash version compatible for Mac users, Razz games and five additional languages, including Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Portuguese and Romanian.
The site also unveiled a radically revamped website, sleek new brand logo and the Titan Poker Academy, a comprehensive poker strategy guide providing valuable insights for both beginner and veteran players on odds calculations, money management, positioning, bluffing and more.
With nearly 30,000 online players at peak hours, Titan Poker has grown into the number one online poker room in Europe.
The site guarantees $16,000,000 in monthly prizes, features special sit 'n' go tournaments with progressive jackpots as high as $100,000, and awards players with entries to major worldwide poker tournaments.
Click the banner below for more information on the changes at Titan Poker.
Created by Bay 101 owner Marko Trapani 14 years ago, tournament director Matt Savage says the concept was based on the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which draws some of the best golfers in the world, a host of celebrities and thousands of spectators to the Northern California coast every year.
Trapani's original plan was to try and draw the world's best rounders to a fan and player friendly $1k buy-in event in the Bay Area.
When it first started, the bounties were a bunch of Trapani's friends, but it slowly grew and when the World Poker Tour came along seven years later, Savage says they bumped up the buy-in and had a perfect fit.
"It's great for TV and the fans because it's a really unique tournament," he said. "With the $5k bounties, $10k for the chip leader at the end of the first day and six-handed play with 36 left, it's unlike any other tournament in poker."
Unique tournament structures also make for unique tournament strategies.
"Some people chase the bounties," Savage said. "The local players sometimes are just out here to get the bounties. They think, 'Hey, I won my way in through a $200 satellite, now I have the chance to pick up five thousand,' so they might make a loose call.
"That's why one or two of the shooting stars make the final table every year, because people are going after them and if they pick up chips, they're tough to get."
Team UB Pro Brandon Cantu loves the format and actually won the event in 2009, collecting a record six bounties on his way to the title.
"This is one of my favorite tournaments," he said. "And I actually do hunt the bounties. It's nice to try and get the buy-in back, so I'm really a fan of going after the bounties."
Cantu went wire-to-wire in 2008, taking the chip lead on his Day 1 and the $10k prize it came with.
He says that's the kind of thing that really makes the event fun to play and keeps the fans on the rail entertained throughout.
"I was actually going for it," he said. "When I was 8,000 behind late in the day, I really went for it. I wanted it."
What Cantu didn't enjoy was being a bounty for the first time last year.
"People played really differently against me," he said. "It seemed like they were up to no good all the time and it just changed my whole mindset.
"I didn't know where I was in a hand as much as I usually do. I didn't like it."
Phil Laak has a bounty on his head and says it changes just about everything.
"I love it, but it really sucks as a bounty when your chip stack starts diminishing," he said. "You are forced to get real hands, because people are going to call you down, often correctly.
"But it is nice when you have some chips, because people are going to take some incorrect lines to try and chase you."
Like it or not, with a rail full of fans watching the biggest names in the game here in San Jose this week, Trapani's plan has worked.
Action at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star continues through March 12. For comprehensive coverage, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
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