Duke vs. Obrestad - Favourite Poker Pro

Here is the final Round 1 matchup in our Favourite Female Poker Pro tournament bracket.

The second round will feature Jennifer Harman who won the "Married to a Pro" bracket going up against Kara Scott who won the "Canadian" bracket.

On the other side of the tournament, Liv Boeree KO'd Lacey Jones in the "Model Behaviour" bracket and will face up against the winner of the next poll, the "Fighting Annies" bracket.

Before I get into the current match up, here is the results from the last poll.

WHICH OF THE BELOW IS YOUR FAVOURITE FEMALE POKER PLAYER? THIS POLL IS ONE OF THE ROUND 1 MATCH UPS IN THE "FAVOURITE FEMALE PROFESSIONAL TOURNAMENT BRACKET".

(I think her photo spread just might have tilted the poll in her favour.)

Here is the who's who of the "Fighting Annies" bracket that matches up Annie Duke and Annette Obrestad.

Annie Duke

Annie Duke is an accomplished pro who got her start in the early 1990's with the coaching and finance of her brother, poker pro Howard Lederer.  As of 2010 her live tournament winnings were over $4 270 000.  She has cashed in 38 WSOP events.  2004 was the year that she won a WSOP bracelet in Omaha High-Lo 8 or Better.  That year she also won $2 000 000 in the very first WSOP Tournament of Champions that was a 10 player winner take all event, stacked with great poker pros.  The 2004 WSOP was also memorable for her as she knocked out Howard Lederer from 4 different events.  She has also won the 2010 NBC National Heads Up Poker Tournament.  [Annie is more than a poker player though, she has been involved in all areas of the game.  She is a coach (on The Best Damn Poker Show and for Ben Affleck when he won the 2004 California State Poker Championship.)  She is an author (She has an autobiography called How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed and Won Millions at The World Series of Poker and she has a new book out called Decide to Play Great Poker.)  She is a teacher (WSOP Poker Academy).  She is a reality TV star (Deal or No Deal, Celebrity Apprentice where she placed 2nd to the hideous Joan Rivers and 1 vs 100 where she answered a record 35 consecutive questions right until she was eliminated in a last man standing match where she was eliminated at the same time as Ken Jennings in the final 5.)  She is a spokesperson for poker players and is active in fighting for players rights.  She has been a spokesperson and a consultant for Ultimate Bet although these days her time is spent as the commissioner of the new Epic Poker League.  Quite the resume.

Annette Obrestad

Annette was 15 when she started playing poker on-line.  She is 22 now and somewhat of a phenom within the poker community.  She has numerous online tournaments including an impressive win in a $4, 180 person sit and go online without looking at her cards, just to prove that position and paying attention to players is so important to be successful.  Another impressive feat was when she took down a 20 000 player field in an $11 tournament on Poker Stars.  In live poker, 1 day before she turned 19, she won the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe Main Event with a top prize of $2.01 million USD, to top Annie Duke's record win by a female poker player by .01 million.  Right now her lifetime winnings stand at $4 374 464.  The world was shocked when a 15 year old Norwegian came out of nowhere to humble the male dominated game, but now the world can't get enough of what Annette_15 will do next.


Now that you know the contestants, please go to the poll on the right and vote for your favourite!

2011 WSOD - Event #4 Heads Up Results and Pictures

I had 8 people signed up for the 2011 WSOD - Event #4 Heads Up (double knockout) tournament within a day of the announcement - and almost an equal number of unhappy regrets.  As advertised, if we couldn't hit 16 players commited to the event, I was going to cap it at 8.  And as it was written, so shall it be.

Even though we had our lineup a week in advance, the seat draws happened only 5 minutes before the cards were in the air.

ROUND 1

Game 1  - The Co-Bra v Dandy Bloch - This was a battle that needed to be fought.  They have had some great tilts at the home game with Co confounding Dandy time and time again.  This game was no different.

Winner - Co (1-0)
Loser - Dandy Bloch (0-1)

Game 2 - Big Stack Bob v Schneider - A great tournament rivalry has developed between BSB and I.  We have build quite a history of playing one another or often getting into game within a game situations.  Big Stack texted me earlier in the week wanting to draw me in the first game, and he got his wish.  Neither of us gave up much room and not surprisingly this was the longest match in the first round.  In the end the blinds were up there and Bobby pushed with 44 and I was lucky enough to turn up fishhooks.

Winner - Schneider (1-0)
Loser - Big Stack Bob (0-1)


Game 3 - Geppedo Harvey v V Dub - The recap I got was mid-big hand in my tournament but I think Kailey might've had Queens and Harvey cracked them.  Harvey raved about how well Kailey played and how it could have ended differently if a couple of hands had flopped differently.  Being a fierce tournament player, Geppedo might've rolled with it though - he always seems to be around in the end.


Winner - Harvey (1-0)
Loser - V Dub (0-1)


Game 4 - The Crantini Kid v Dycker - The Crantini Kid is the defending champion in this event, and even though he hasn't played much poker since he moved, he was definitely in the mix to win this thing.  Dycker on the other hand I thought provided him with probably the most interesting matchup as their styles could provide for some interesting hands.  I didn't get to watch any of this game, but when I looked down the table, I saw The Kid with all of the chips.  I would've liked to rail this one!


Winner - The Crantini Kid (1-0)
Loser - Dycker (0-1)

ROUND #2

Winner's Bracket

Game 5 - The Cobra v Schneider - The Co-Bra can play an aggressive style that is relentless, but he can be crafty and make some plays that are impossible to figure out.  I played a trapping game against Co which I felt got me in some great spots to win massive pots, unfortuately for me, Co has a magic coin and it wins hands for him.  In the end, I had to take my bad beat stories with me to the loser's bracket.

Winner - Co (2-0)

Loser - Schneider (1-1)

Game 6 - Gepeddo Harvey v The Crantini Kid - This is a matchup that begged to be played.  These guys have been clashing at our home game as long for as long as we've been playing cards.  They know one another's style and my guess is there was going to be a lot of putting one another to tough decisions. It was over in one hand.  Crantini was unlucky enough to get AA and Harvey (turned) the nut ball straight.

Winner - Harvey (2-0)

Loser - The Crantini Kid (1-1)

ROUND #2

Loser's Bracket

Game 7 - Dandy Bloch v Big Stack Bob - Dandy didn't wear a vest and Bob didn't bring out the gym teacher pose, so neither were relying on their secret weapons.  In the end Bobby got Lindros and Dandy got Gretzky.  Dandy was gushing when his 99 held up over the eights as Bobby was retired from the tournament.  I think that everyone was happy they wouldn't have to face him in the later rounds.

Winner - Dandy Bloch (1-1)

Loser - Big Stack Bob (0-2) - Eliminated in 7th

Game 8 - V-Dub v Dycker - Kailey and Dycker, now this was a match I've wanted to see for some time now.  This is probably not the best matchup for V-Dub, because Dycker knows her style to a T.  Dycker was firing at all times and played "Lemon aggressive".  He whittled Kailey's stack down to nothing and Dycker lives to play again.

Winner - Dycker (1-1)

Loser - V Dub (0-2) - Eliminated in 7th

ROUND #3

Winner's Bracket

Game 9 - The Co-Bra v Gepeddo Harvey - I wasn't able to watch much of this game, but it seemed that Mike had control of the chips from the beginning and Co's stack gradually got smaller until he was sent to the loser's bracket with the rest of us.

Winner - Harvey (3-0)

Loser - Co (2-1)

ROUND #3

Loser's Bracket

Game 10 - The Crantini Kid v Dandy Bloch - 2 amicable guys mixing it up with no history of play between them.  Because I was playing as this game was running I was only able to hear Dandy giggling as he claimed another victim.  The lowlight for all involved was Dandy singing J-Lo "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I've got (I'm still Dandy from the Bloch)"

Winner - Dandy Bloch (2-1)

Loser - The Crantini Kid (1-2) - Eliminated in 5th

Game 11 - Schneider v Dycker - This match was a marathon with both of us having 1/2 of the other guys chips at some point.  We were well into the late rounds when he raised, I shoved and he called and we flipped over a classic confrontation - AK of hearts for me and QQ for Dycker.  The window card was an Ace and the next card was a K and it was over.  A count of the chips revealed that I only had a couple chip lead when we both started with 10 000 chips.  A very very tight match indeed.

Winner - Schneider (2-1)

Loser - Dycker (1-2) - Eliminated in 5th

ROUND #4

Winner's Bracket

Bye  - Gepeddo Harvey

ROUND #4

Loser's Bracket

Bye - The Co-Bra


Game 12 - Dandy Bloch v Schneider - Well Dandy started with a couple of good hands and got me down a few 1 000 early.  I battled back and played aggressive to the point where Dandy's head was spinning and he didn't know where he was in any of the hands.  At least that's what he said.  I also avoided some pitfalls when I had garbage and folded preflop not knowing that Dandy had monsters.

Winner - Schneider (3-1)

Loser - Dandy Bloch (2-2) - Eliminated in 4th

ROUND #5

Winner's Bracket

Bye  - Gepeddo Harvey

ROUND #5

Loser's Bracket

Game 13 - The Co-Bra v Schneider - Round 2!  This was the more important of our matchups because the loser would be eliminated.  Co had a grin on his face and he hoped he still had my number.  I on the other hand was nervous because Co's style is such that he will force you to lose big pots even when you are trying to keep the pots small.  He made a few crafty moves that had me folding some big hands.  A couple of times he bet way more than what was in the pot (2 000 into 1 200) and I asked him why he overbet.  You know what the he said?  "I didn't overbet!"  Very very crafty!  In the end, I was able to hold off his aggression and took it down to exact my revenge.

Winner - Schneider (4-1)

Loser - Co (2-2) - Eliminated in 3rd

ROUND #6

Championship Match

Game 14 - Gepeddo Harvey v Schneider - Our history goes back to the days of 10 cent / 20 cent fixed limit poker in 2003.  In the last home game I outdrew Mike in a hand that he was all in on and he called my cards dead to rights, while others said, there was no way that is what I held.  I on the other hand was on a bit of a roll, having won 3 straight and we both wish we had an easier opponent in the end.  The game really went back and forth and was well played on both sides.  We played until the blinds got very high and we were both willing to move more chips around to steal the blinds.  In the final hand Harvey pushed all in with K9 of diamonds and I called with A5 off which held up.  The game took forever and was a mental strain, but it was finally over.

Winner - Schneider (5-1)

Loser - Harvey (3-1) 

Unfortunately Harvey rolled the dice a little bit mid-tournament and made a commitment for later in the evening.  When I won the first match, he congratulated me and stood to leave.  In all the excitement he had forgotten it was a double knockout!  I reminded him that we had to play again and he couldn't.  He took the championship picture, congratulated me for the win and was out the door.

Winner of the 2001 WSOD Heads Up tournament

Other photos from the tournament...

The Crantini Kid drawing the seat selections

The set up for round #2

The infamous 1 hand match

Crantini's Aces fall to Harvey's turned straight

Game #8 - A matchup we all wanted to see happen

The Co-Bra about to strike

My very best Hollywood

The vestless Dandy bloch dealing for himself for once

On tilt?

(please don't bet, please don't bet, please don't bet...oh crap he's betting)

Shulman Drops a Duece, Ivey Flushes

The moment in poker captured in the video below has by itself allowed millions of players to justify their terrible lack of attention at the table and has kept at least some percentage of the fish out there playing.  If they think Ivey makes plays like this and is the greatest player in the world, then just maybe they aren't so bad after all.

You can't make a mistake like that at the table and not have to answer for it.  Here is Ivey explaining the hand...

The Birth of an Aneurysm

I am currently reading a Phil Hellmuth book (again) that I will be reviewing in a later post.  In honour of the upcoming review, I give you a random Poker Brat video...

I seriously would love to see Hellmuth and Lemon at a table.  You know they would end up mixing it up and after the hand was over, (and it would be really gross) between Hellmuth's offensive and Lemon's relentless defence the hand yammering would never end.

ESPN coverage would be extended a couple of extra hours, even with the edits.

Line Up Announced for the 2011 WSOD - Event #4

HEADS UP!

There is something primal about playing heads up poker.  You can't just sit and pick off the fish.  You have one target and at the same time, your opponent has only one person in their sights.  It can truly be an intimidating game.

When I put out the call for the Heads Up Event, I had 8 people immediately e-mail their RSVPs.  Those of you who did not, can make all the excuses in the book, but fear just might have been a factor.

Here are the questions surrounding those brave enough to step in the ring;

Clayton - How many hours will he have to wait while the tournament drags on before he can go to bed?
The Crantini Kid  - Can the defending champ reclaim what is rightfully his?  Will A-Ten be his kingdom -maker or his downfall?
Co-Bra - He has been crushing the cash game of late, can it translate to the 2 person game?  Will people be able to comprehend the play of the Co-Bra of the here and now?
Dandy Bloch - Can he untaint his good name after Brain Kramp sullied it for him at the last home game?  Will he be able to continue to make 2011 the year of the Bloch-head?
Dycker - Will he be able to translate his league success to the WSOD?  Without Lemon as an antagonist, will he have the will to fight for the bracelet?
V-Dub - Can she finally break through from being a regular money winner to a bracelet winner?  Will she show up with bruised knuckles from punching T-Mart in the merkin?
Big Stack Bobby - Can the master strategist come up with the proper playbook to win?  Has the fire for a bracelet flickered now that he finally has one after years of trying?
Geppedo Harvey - Will he be a danger to himself or will he be a danger to others?  Can he turn his recent misfortunes and capture the title?

HEADS UP!

2011 WSOD Event #4 Heads Up Double Knockout Announced

In March I ran a poll to see which event you would like to see run this year as part of the World Series of Dip.  With 44% of the votes, Heads Up was voted into this year's line up.

The last Heads Up tournament we ran was held in a van driving to Vegas and it was eventually won by The Crantini Kid, winning the 2nd of his WSOD bracelets.  It just so happens that The Crantini Kid is back in town this week and everything worked out perfectly for The Kid to defend his title.  Here are the details;

WSOD - EVENT #4 Heads Up Double Knockout

The game will be held on Sunday, August 28th at my house (AKA The fishbowl).  Show up at 3:45 for your first match up draws.  The cost will be $40 and there will not be a cash game after, although you are welcome to stay and play other small tournaments or a small cash game while the Heads Up tournament plays out.

You must RSVP and if you RSVP, you must attend.  The perfect # is either 8 or 16 for this tournament and I reserve the right to limit it to the first 8 that RSVP to my home e-mail if we are not close to 16.  Feel free to invite your friends to this one - I would definitely prefer a 16 player field!

This is the limited edition commemorative plaque that hangs in The Fishbowl

This is the limited edition commemorative reprint that hangs on my dartboard

To see The Crantini Kid's player profile in what is one of the funniest posts this year, check out the below link;

Pass The Dip Profile: The Crantini Kid

A Dandy Impostor and the Return of the Gym Teacher - August 17, 2011 Results and Pictures

This week the players showed up early and stayed late.  There were lots of really interesting hands and it seemed like everyone had a really distinct and different style of play.  Two jackpots were won and the table was full all night.  It was a fun night, here are the highlights;

Brain Kramp, still reeling from his losses last session, showed up in a vest, "To channel the play of Dandy Bloch"  Unfortunately the vest must be a few years old, because he channeled the 2008 Dandy Bloch, not the game-crushing 2011 Dandy Bloch.  As X would say "That's a Bogey."

Speaking of Nat X, he played surgical like a Doctor, but unlike our house voodoo Dr., Dr. Kramp  - he had lots of patience.

Big Stack Bob was the night's big winner and dazzled with his play and his gym teacher pose.  He really played solid and justified his nickname.

 Following the game, Ali-G booked a consultation with a plastic surgeon for her bad hands.

The Co-Bra played strong, he played silent and he had a plate-full of chips.  He played like that kid from the McCain's commercial.

Army felt the heat and his stack went commando.

T-Money Mart didn't take great care of her little clay children.  CFS removed the chips from her care for being so aggressive and pushy with them.  Eventually with some good behaviour, she was able to earn some visitation rights with a few of them by the end of the game.

Cheeseburger played like rock star.  He came, he collected his appearance fee and he jetted.

OK - So that rock star is Cheeseburger's cousin, Whitney Houston, so it's really not that impressive, but a win is a win...

Harvey came late and was a little short (on his luck).

Lastly, I don't want to admit to money laundering, but I did make a Tidy profit.

The bonus was won twice last game, bringing the total times the jackpot has been won to 7.  No player has won the jackpot twice.  You can check out the 2 players that have been added to the jackpot club as well as the winning hands and jackpot amounts, by clicking here.

Here is more photo evidence of the good time had by most;

The last comment goes to our white board.  We tracked Kramp's losses throughout the night and even had a pie chart of who had the chips he lost.  By the end of the night we needed a longer white board...

Keep posted for another game coming soon.  The Crantini Kid is coming to town and that is as good a reason as any to get a game going.  

More and More and More Poker Shirts

Here we go!  The latest version of the Pass The Dip poker shirt gallery.  Obviously I will have to explain the first shirt to Kramp. Speaking of Kramp, if the second shirt was true, he would own a Chinese restaurant and be very very rich.  Thanks to Lemon for lending me his shirt 36.  Army could flash shirt 33 to Brain Kramp, in fact, he could wear a new one every day this year.  I fully expect T-Mart to utter shirt 35 to Lemon at least once at the game tomorrow.  I did hear that Ali-G and Kailey "V-Dub" Stoezey chipped in and bought a dozen shirt 34s for all the suckers they knock out next tournament.  I will wear mine proudly!

I'll let you write your own jokes for the rest of these beauties...

If you enjoy these, check out the previous 7 posts by clicking here.

  Shirt 31

  Shirt 32

Shirt 33

Shirt 34

  Shirt 35

  Shirt 36

  Shirt 37

Shirt 38

  Shirt 39

  Shirt 40

Boeree vs. Jones - Favourite Female Poker Pro

Here is the latest installment of our Favourite Female Poker Pro tournament bracket.

First was the "Married to a pro" bracket where Jennifer Harman crushed Vanessa Rousso.

Here are the results in the "Canadian" bracket had Isabelle Mercier up against Kara Scott.

WHICH OF THE BELOW IS YOUR FAVOURITE FEMALE POKER PLAYER? THIS POLL IS ONE OF THE ROUND 1 MATCH UPS IN THE "FAVOURITE FEMALE PROFESSIONAL TOURNAMENT BRACKET".

In the latest match up, Mercier's low cut assets were not able to be used against Scott, but they did attract Italian pro, Dario Minieri.  Mercier concedes the contest as she wanders off to a corner of the room with Dario.  Kara Scott with a twinkle in her eye takes the win and advances to the 2nd round.

The next bracket is the "Model Behaviour" bracket and I encourage you to read on before you go and vote for your favourite.

Liv Boeree

Liv Boeree is an astrophysics studying, heavy metal loving, guitar playing model that crushes at the poker table.  I don't care where she has to hide her cards.  She entered poker through the UK reality series Ultimatepoker.com Showdown.  From there she was flooded with offers from the poker community as TV presenter, a journalist and, well, eye candy.  Somewhere along the way she has managed to win over $2 000 000 at the tables - WOW.

Lacey Jones

Lacey Jones got her start in the poker world through a modelling gig.  She was hired as a prop player to play in a tournament and did so well that was picked up by Absolute poker who had her fine tuning her game with Mark Seif.  In the poker community she is known not just as one of the hottest girls on the circuit, but also for her intellect (who else reads books on quantum physics in their spare time?)  Her winnings in poker pale in comparison to the money she makes from the poker community by astutely promoting herself.  Life is good for Lacey Jones!

Now that you've read about BOEREE and JONES (you did read beyond the pictures, right?), so to the side of the blog and vote for your favourite in the poll.

Epic Poker - Inaugural Tournament Series

The very first Epic Poker tournament series has just come to completion at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.  (For those that hadn't heard, this is the league created by a group called Federated Sports and Gaming League which includes Annie Duke and Jeffery Pollack amongst others).

There were 3 tournaments that ran from August 5th to the 12th.

PRO/AM EVENT


Buy-in - $1 500
Entries - 190
Prize Pool - $259 350


The top 9 players gained a $20 000 seat into the Main Event.  Andy Bloch was the only player in the top 9 that already has a card to play in the Main Event, so 8 players that had been blocked from the big one, got their chance to prove themselves against the world's best.  Here is how this event played out;

 1st:     Steve O'Dwyer        $43,810 
 2nd:    Brandon Meyers      $31,900
 3rd:     Andy Bloch             $27,540 
 4th:     Cliff Waite               $25,160 
 5th:     Jeremiah DeGreef    $23,570 
 6th:     Micah Raskin           $22,780 
 7th:     Dan Fleyshman         $21,990 
 8th:     George Long            $21,190 
 9th:     Sean Getzwiller        $20,000 
10th:    Brian Rast                $3,170 
11th:    Michael Chow         $3,170 
12th:    Vanessa Selbst        $3,170 
13th:    Evan Karcie            $2,380 
14th:    Aniko Lendvai         $2,380 
15th:    Jordan Jayne           $2,380 
16th:    Chris Klodnicki       $1,590 
17th:    Mike Matusow        $1,590 
18th:    Eli Elezra                 $1,590 


CHARITY EVENT

Buy-in - $240 with $100 rebuys and a $100 add on

Entries - 91

Prize Pool - $53 800 - all of which went to Operation USA

The first ever Epic Poker Charity event was hosted by Brad Garrett and Jeremiah Smith.  The charity of choice for this tournament was Operation USA which will benefit the victims of the tornadoes that devastated Joplin Missouri.  The tournament was quite a fun event with players joking with one another as well as with the rail.  The final table had Gavin Griffin raving about how this was one of the toughest tables he has ever played at.  Besides Griffin, the final table featured Dwyte Pilgrim, Justin Young, Mike McDonald and the winner, Andy Frankenberger.

Frankenberger donated his 80% of his first place money to Operation USA and the remaining money to the dealers.

Video - Epic Poker Charity Tournament Highlights

MAIN EVENT

Buy-in - $20 000 

Entries - 137

Prize Pool - $3 140 000 (includes $400 000 added by Federated Sports and Gaming)

This was run as a 6-Max No Limit Hold'Em event and was only open to Epic Poker League card carrying members as well as the top 9 finishers from the Pro/Am.  The tournament structure was developed by Matt Savage, so you know it was a good one.

The final table of this event featured a ridiculous amount of talent as you would expect with the design of  this league.  Hasan Habib, Jason Mercier and Chino Rheem started at the top end of the chip counts while Gavin Smith, Erik Seidel were lower in the counts with Huck Seed entering as the chip stack.  

Seed made up some ground before being knocked out in 6th.  Mercier then knocked out Smith when Smith's nines failed to improve against Mercier's queens.  Habib was the next to go when his sixes were barely overpaired by Rheem's sevens.  Seidel sent Mercier to the rail in 3rd when he won a big coin flip and then finished him off when Mercier shoved with 89 off suit.  

Heads up had Rheem winning pot after pot and had him and Seidel showing each other cards and having a great time talking back and forth.  In the end Seidel had AQ and Rheem had AK and the win.

Rheem didn't show much joy in his win which might be explained by the rumours that he owes a number of pros money, some of whom were sweating his final table play, waiting to collect.  Rheem was escorted to the cage following the presentation of the championship ring by League Commissioner Annie Duke.

Here is the ITM list for the Main Event;

1st: Chino Rheem - $1,000,000
2nd: Erik Seidel - $604,330
3rd: Jason Mercier - $360,970
4th: Hasan Habib - $237,560
5th: Gavin Smith - $154,260
6th: Huck Seed - $107,980

7th: Adam Levy - $70,960

8th: Eugene Katchalov - $70,960

9th: Brandon Meyers - $70,960

10th: Isaac Baron - $49,360

11th: Sam Trickett - $49,360

12th: Ted Lawson - $49,360

13th: Noah Schwartz - $43,190

14th: Matthew Glanz - $43,190

15th: Dan Fleyshman - $43,190

16th: Hafiz Khan - $43,190

17th: Hoyt Corkins - $43,190

18th: Justin Bonomo - $43,190

epicpoker.com