Posted by pokerguru on June 15, 2009
Jeffrey Carris has only cashed in the WSOP on two occasions, but he made his second one count. The winner of the No Limit Hold’em Shootout tournament outlasted 9 other players in what amounted to be a 12 hour SNG tournament. With all players starting out with the same amount, this final table is like nothing you will see in any other format. Play usually drags out and it is a true test of grit and talent.
It all came down to Somerville and Carris, but the two players did not waste any time in settling this one. After only a few hands of heads up play, Somerville threw all his chips into the middle of the table with Qs6d. Carris took a few seconds to think about it but then decided correctly that his Kc6d was a big enough hand to make the call. The board fell harmlessly and totally missed both players’ hands and Carris got the jewelry and $313,913 to go with it.
In other tournaments…
The story of the day on Saturday so for is easily Phil Ivey. He has been dominating the Omaha/ Seven Card Stud Hi/Low 8 or better tournament from close to the beginning and is still not letting up. At this point, they are down to only 3 players and he has a huge chip lead of almost a half million chips over second place. As impressive as that is, he is also about to make the money in the Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Low Split 8 or better tournament as well.
The truly amazing thing is that he has barely played a hand in the second tournament. As chip leader of the other mixed tournament, he has been unwilling to leave the table and risk his position in the second tournament. He has only been over there when he is on break. Once he reached the final table, he was barely noticeable, but on every break he seemed to win a key hand that kept him alive. There currently 22 players remaining with only 18 getting paid and while he is one of the short stacks, he continues to make an appearance at precisely the right time to stay alive. This will be a huge accomplishment if he somehow stays alive in that tournament long enough for his final table to be over and then make a run here as well. More to come on this one as soon as it is available.
Event 24 is also on its final table, but it would appear to have quite some time left to go as the chips are pretty event. Panayote Vilandros is the current leader with 5 players remaining. Event 26 is now down to 34 players and should be able to get down to the final table tonight as well as Event 27 with only 22 players remaining. Event 28 has already lost about 75% of the starting field and Event 29 is just getting underway. No chip counts or leader information is available as they are both on Day 1.
Posted by James on November 7, 2008
Barry Greenstein attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he studies Computer Science. While at college, he would host various poker games where he would offer to teach people how to play poker. The only stipulation was that they must play him in a poker game after the lessons. His games attracted various students and professors. Upon graduating with his Bachelors Degree, Greenstein became a regular in the California card rooms, where he honed his skills
One of the players that Greenstein played with frequently was Larry Flint, who was the owner of Hustler Magazine and owned the Huster Casino. In 2003, Flint put together a 7 Card Stud event with several of the top names in poker and himself. Flint wanted the event to result in only a single winner, but in the end Flint and Greenstein wound up chopping the prize money and Greenstein took home his first large score in poker at $770,000.
Later in the year, Greenstein earned his nickname “The Robin Hood of Poker” during a WPT event in Tunica, MS. Greenstein made the final table of the World Poker Open and eventually took down the top prize. He then donated the prize of over $1.2 Million to charity. Greenstein also took a WPT title in 2006. He placed first in the WPT Invitational held in Los Angeles, CA. For a long time Greenstein donated all of his tournament winnings to charity, but he had to slow down and only donate his overall profit from tournaments.
Barry Greenstein also holds three bracelets at the World Series of Poker. He won an lowball bracelet in 2004, and won a Pot Limit Omaha bracelet in 2005. His third bracelet came in 2008 when he won the Razz event. Greenstein also has made two final tables at the WSOP in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship. In both 2007 and 2008, he made the final eight, finishing 7th and 6th respectively.
When not playing at the tables, Greenstein is a member of Team Pokerstars. He is a regular ambassador for the site and is featured prominently on their site. Greenstein also authored the book Ace on the River. This book is primarily his autobiography, but it also delves into the pro poker lifestyle. He frequently autographs a copy of his books and gives it to players that knock him out of different tournaments. Greenstein is a high stakes poker player and is featured on shows such as High Stakes Poker and regularly plays in the “Big Game” at the Bellagio. Greenstein also is extremely respected by his peers. He is even called upon at times to settle disputes amongst professionals.
Greenstein has been around the poker community a long time and has adapted as the games switched from lowball and stud to Texas Holdem. He is skilled in all forms of poker and continues to compete at a championship level. His bracelet in 2008 was just one of many great accomplishments in his career and Greenstein looks to be a successful member of the poker community for many years to come.
Posted by James on October 23, 2008
Of the greatest lowball poker players the name Billy Baxter would shine in fine splendor. Even at a very young age he took to gambling as a career, to begin with in the ambiance of a pool hall. When he was 18, Baxter was attracted towards poker and as many poker players concentrated on Stud or Holdem; he had great skill in Lowball poker.
The World Series of Poker in 1975 was the launching point for Baxter as he won his first bracelet in 2-7 Lowball. In 1978 he proceeded to win the $10,000 Lowball event as well. He repeated the feat in 1981 in the same event. The same year he won Ace to Five Lowball Event. He seemed to make it a habit to win 2-7 Lowball Event bracelets as he did so in 1987 and 1993. It was not until 2002 the he would win something besides lowball by winning the $1,500 Razz event. Though this game is a lowball variation of Stud, it provoked Max Shapiro to warn players against doing two things, and those were tugging on Superman’s cape and playing Baxter in a lowball game.
Apart from 7 bracelets, Baxter has to his credit 9 cashes in lowball at the WSOP. Of the 16 total cashes, two were final table and two were runner-up slots. Even the recent 2008 WSOP lowball saw him cash though he lost by a whisker to make it to the final table. But his virtuosity is not limited to Lowball as he has shown exceptional skills in No Limit Holdem as well. It must be remembered that his skills in NL were subsequent acquisitions. This year alone he has bagged two NL events and had been in the finals for two more events. His consolidated earnings in tournaments have exceeded $1.7 million. It is likely that the actual amounts could be more because full figures not connected with World Series are unavailable. He reached the peak of glory in 2006 when he was ushered into the Poker Hall of Fame.
It is interesting to recall that though a champion poker player, Baxter’s gift to the game came from outside the ambit of the game in the form of a lawsuit. Professional gambling earnings were subjected up to 70% tax prior to 1986 when William E.Baxter Jr. v. United States case ruled that it could attract just 50% as a business. The judgment of a Nevada Court enables professional gamblers to have the same tax structure as small businesses.
A permanent place is assured to Billy Baxter in poker with lowball. This should be seen in the light of his 7 world titles. He gauged the direction of the many changes in poker and remained a powerful figure. It is no exaggeration to say that his fierce advocacy has changed the status of professional gamblers. He is quite active in poker at the age of 68. With his ability to adapt and expand his knowledge of poker, there would be no surprise if Baxter did not win another couple of titles before the end of his illustrious career.
Posted by James on October 18, 2008
It is impossible to find a man quieter than Erik Seidel at the table. You can almost always see him well dressed and sitting quietly and if you talk to him you would think that he is no more than a quiet polite man. If you were to play against him, then you would believe that he was nothing more than a mediocre player at first. Unfortunately for you, you would quickly find that you were wrong about what you probably consider an antisocial man. Before you knew what was going on, all of your chips would be his.
Erik Seidel is a New York man that started his gambling career with backgammon. At this time he was attending Brooklyn College, however, though he later dropped out. After leaving college he took up backgammon professionally. Soon after that, he also began to play poker. He continued these two games until 1985. This is when the decision was made that it was time for a new job. He continued to play poker in his spare time for the years that he was a stock broker. After a few years, the stock market crashed and he lost his job but continued to play poker. Seidel took his first try at the World Series of Poker during 1988 after he worked on his game for a while.
Erik Seidel’s first nine games didn’t go as planned. He had absolutely no cashes during that time. Seidel eventually found himself against the World Champion, Johnny Chan, during the Main Event, and though he lost, it became obvious that great things would be seen from him later on.
Eric Seidel spent a few years playing high stakes poker while he was a stock broker. Seidel refrained from playing poker as a professional even as he won the bracelets in 1992 and 1993. After winning the $210,000 and his third bracelet in 1994 when he won the $5,000 Limit Holdem event, Seidel to decide to turn professional. He soon moved to Vegas with his wife.
Moving was the best decision Seidel could possibly make. He now ranks 5th all time for WSOP bracelets. On the whole, Seidel won eight different world series of Poker Bracelets to earn that ranking. He of course won them in different areas, including two wins in bracelets in No Limit Holdem, two wins in Limit Holdem, two wins in 2-7 Lowball, one win in Pot Limit Omaha, and a win in Omaha 8. In his career, he has managed to win over nine million dollars in tournaments. He also won his very first WPT title in April of 2008. He won the Foxwoods Poker Classic earning $967,390. He also now embraces the titles for the former Diamond Jim Brady, Four Queens classic, and Fiesta Al Lago events.
Erik Seidel enjoys music and is a huge music buff. He can usually be seen with a set of head phones that allows him listen to his favorite music as he plays. He also works for Full Tilt Poker. He is one of the people in charge of site design.
Seidel is just 48 and chances are he will be around for a long time to come. It will be interesting to see where he finishes on the all time list for WSOP bracelets.
Posted by James on
Who’s the person that everybody looks to when asked about the most tight or aggressive player? I’ll give you a hint; he started as champion backgammon and chess master. Still not sure? Well I guess I’ll tell you then. It’s Dan Harrington, just ask anybody who knows anything about poker. He started his poker habits at New York’s Mayfair club and in the 80’s earned a little more experience. During that time he played Erik Seidel, Howard Lederer, Jay Heimowitz, and Steve Zolotow.
Harrington finished sixth at the WSOP in 1987, which was when people really began to notice him. You might remember this as the very same year Johnny Chan managed to win his first title. It was 1995 before Dan won the NL Holdem Event for $2,500, taking home his very first WSOP bracelet. Later in the year, he walked away with his second bracelet and the $1 million prize pool after winning the Main Event. Harrington at different points of the final table tried to talk players into accepting a deal but they would not agree and he ended up walking away with all the money.
Even though that prize pool and the title would be considered a major feat for most players, Dan Harrington managed to top himself. It was the year 2003, and Harrington had again went to the Main Event. This time, he finished third. This was when Poker really boomed because of the unexpected win of Chris Moneymaker. The very next year, there was a huge increase in the number of people that showed up. There were 2,576 people on the field. It was a new record! There were so many people there that Harrington had to work to find his way to that final table. He failed to win the tournament, and received only fourth place, but his achievements was is still considered one of the greatest in the history of poker.
Harrington doesn’t only have his accomplishments in the World Series of Poker. He’s also made two final tables in the World Poker Tour. He took second in his first final table at the Doyle Brunson North American Championship winning $620,730. When WPT made the decision not to randomly raise limits in 2007, Harrington made the final table for the Legends of Poker. Harrington managed to win his very first WPT title, which ended up being the longest final table in the entire history of WPT.
Dan Harrington won well over 6.5 million dollars in tournaments. While winning his poker tournaments, he wrote books and worked as real estate as well as a stock investor. He wrote five different books dedicated to poker. They were Harrington on Holdem: volumes 1 through 3, all of which focus on tournament play. He also wrote two books entitled Harrington on Cash Games, both of which keep their focus on ring games.
Though it may seem boring, if you want results, Dan’s tight and aggressive approach is the way to go. Even if it is in business you want to go, having his solidness and business smarts will help you become a winner.
