Poker Bankroll Blog » Poker Pro

Bleznick and Cates high stake poker action February 2011

Mark — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:40:26 +0000

High stake poker action during the second week of February 2011 Here’s a summary of the high stake poker action from the 2nd week of February 2011. During the week between February 6 and 13, the online poker action was yet again sizzling at both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Jared Bleznick and Daniel Cates took center stage yet again, although not for the reasons they would’ve preferred. They both dropped serious amounts of money to players relatively unknown for the high stakes railbird community. Gus Hansen represented the other end of the spectrum as he kept his winning streak alive by taking down a $570k profit in only 651 hands spread over 8 sessions. Ironically, the largest pot of the week went down between the two losers, Bleznick and Cates, at the $300/$600 PLO tables at Full Tilt Poker. Following the usual preflop tussle which had already stuffed the pot nicely, the Kd, 7d, Qs flop ignited a little more give and take. The 9d on the turn was the last straw as both players shipped all their chips into the middle in its wake. Both players were right to shove all-in as they both had K-high straights. The river card was run twice, and the Kh on the first run split the pot between the players. The 9c on the second run though gave the win to Bleznich who thus ended up with three quarters of the $130k pot. Bleznick returned to action at PokerStars on Wednesday, only to drop around $114k to a guy named MrSweets28. Cates also saw action at Full Tilt Poker, locking horns with a Swedish player known under the moniker Lindqvro at the $25/$50 heads-up PLO tables. The affair turned into quite a bloodbath, with Cates filling the shoes of the harmed party. Both monster pots that developed ended up in Lindqvro’s possession. Gus Hansen and rumramper finished with the biggest profits, as Andreas Torbergsen joined the winners’ list too. UarePileous was the biggest loser, followed by Phil Galfond, Jared Bleznick and Daniel Cates.

The post Bleznick and Cates high stake poker action February 2011 appeared first on Poker Bankroll Blog.

Gus Hansen 2011 – can he continue his heater?

Mark — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 09:37:30 +0000

Here’s a short recap of how Gus Hansen’s 2011 looks so far According to HighStakesDB he is up by 2.3 million$ in 2011 spread over 155 sessions. This extends Gus Hansen’s winning streak from September 2010. In 2011 he has been very successful in the Omaha poker variants, which cost him close to 4 million $ in 2010. Gus Hansen has also started to get some money back from players like Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond and Di “Urindanger” Dang who have both lost considerable pots to the Dane. I don’t think Phil Galfond will be too unhappy about this though, since his 2011 so far has given him a profit of almost 5 million $!!!! That’s so sick. Hopefully Gus Hansen will continue his steady earnings throughout 2011 and steer clear of the kind of blow-ups, which cost him several million $ in 2010.

The post Gus Hansen 2011 – can he continue his heater? appeared first on Poker Bankroll Blog.

Blom and Bleznick high stake poker February 2011

Mark — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:49:23 +0000

Blom and Bleznick high stakes online action Here’s a recap of the high stake poker action from the 1st week of February 2011. Viktor Blom, aka Isildur1 may have had his woes during January at PokerStars’ tables, but in the end he managed to lure Lady Luck to his side, finishing the month above the red line. Last week, his heater continued. In fact, his $332,904 profit – accumulated over about 8,200 hands – made him the biggest winner of the week. Another player who did extremely well was Jared “harrington25″ Bleznick. His $251k haul was enough to give him second place on the winners/losers list. Whenever there are winners there have to be losers too. Last week, Rychard Lyndaker headlined the part of the list which fell under the red line. Tom Dwan got stuck with a massive 6-figure loss as well. One of the most interesting confrontations of the week was the one between Viktor Blom and Brian Hastings. Those who follow the going-ons of the online poker world know about the history between these two, so they’ll understand why this shaped up as a perfect opportunity for vindication for the Swede. Unfortunately for him, Hastings still appeared to have his number at the $25/$50 PLO tables, and he ended up dropping a little over $150k to the player responsible for his 2009 Full Tilt Poker demise, yet again. Both significant pots that developed during the session ended up in Hastings’ pockets. While all this was happening at PokerStars, Jared Bleznick was busy over at Full Tilt Poker fleecing a player known as “UarePielous”. The $500/$1,000 Capped PLO tables represented the scene for the trouncing. Two maxed-out ($80k) pots were registered during the slaughter and obviously: both went to Bleznick. For the first one, he flopped a set of Ks, which steamrolled his opponent’s flopped two pair. For the second 80k pot, the two players ran the turn and the river cards twice. Both times, Bleznick made boats, so there wasn’t really a whole lot more anyone could add to that. When the line was drawn at the end of the week, Blom was the biggest winner, followed by Bleznick. Also above the red line were Benjamin Tollerene with a profit of $252k, and Gus Hansen. Scott Palmer joined the winners’ circle as well. Besides Lyndaker and Dwan, Andrew Lichtenberger and Cole South lost money too.

The post Blom and Bleznick high stake poker February 2011 appeared first on Poker Bankroll Blog.

Gus Hansen broke in 2010?

Mark — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 06:26:12 +0000

Gus Hansen was rumored broke in late 2010 after a reportedly miserable year on the online felt. In this article I will give you a recap of Gus Hansen’s poker performance in 2010 (based on highstakesDB records). I thinks it’s safe to say that Gus Hansen didn’t go broke in 2010. He did however lose so much that his poker bankroll must have suffered. Gus Hansen’s live tournament results in 2010 include a 1st place finish in The WSOP Europe event in London as well as a 1st place finish in the winner-takes-it-all Poker Million tournament hosted by Full Tilt Poker. In total Gus Hansen won around 1.5 million $ in live tournaments in 2010. However it was his online swings at the nosebleed stakes on Full Tilt Poker, which took the headlines in 2010: Gus Hansen’s 2010 online poker performance: January: $+1.743.125 February: $+81.361 ($+1.824.486) March: $-1.617.936 ($+206.550) April: $-374.822 ($-168.272) May: $+895.070 ($+726.798) June: No information – to few hands July: $-176.303 ($+550.495) August: $-2.856.898 ($-2.306.403) September: $+208.806 ($-2.097.597) October: $+184.226 ($-1.913.371) November: $+173.546 ($-1.739.825) December: $+31.979 ($-1.707.846) As you can see if it hadn’t been for a catastrophically poor March and especially August, Gus Hansen would have been a huge winner in 2010. His almost 3 million $ August loss over around 43000 hands was the biggest monthly loss for any player in 2010. Gus Hansen’s main problem in 2010 was without a doubt his stubbornness to continue playing Pot Limit Omaha against players who have an edge on him – players like Tom Dwan durrrr and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond. In 2010 Gus Hansen lost a whopping 4 million $ (give or take a few $) on Pot Limit Omaha. In comparison he was at the top of the charts when in comes to fixed limit H.O.R.S.E where he totaled a profit of 2 million $. In conclusion, the rumors of Gus Hansen going broke in 2010 were only rumors. Although losing almost 2 million $ on the online felt, he won 1.5 million $ in live tournaments and don’t forget Gus Hansen is also hugely successful in backgammon, which has most likely given him a decent profit for 2010.

The post Gus Hansen broke in 2010? appeared first on Poker Bankroll Blog.

Erica Schoenberg

Mark — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:03:29 +0000

For a long time Erica Schoenberg has been regarded as the hottest female poker player and she’s talented to boot. Just how talented will be revealed once I finish this article. Erica Schoenberg is becoming one of the most recognized players in professional poker. Her stunning good looks are certainly part of the appeal. Her devastatingly accurate play is even more engaging. She has appeared on a number of televised events and her credentials are much more impressive and diverse than many would expect. The Early Years Erica caught the gambling bug from her parents. They met at the Santa Anita racetrack in California. After marrying, they moved to Akron Ohio where Erica was born in 1978. The family often played quite a bit of cards at home and Erica learned about handicapping by accompanying her father to the local racetrack. She developed her math skills early with help of her parents and quite a lot of proposition betting. Occasionally there would be pocket money involved but more often than not, Erica was betting she wouldn’t be doing the dishes or mowing the lawn. In 1991 she demonstrated how well she learned these early math lessons by placing 1st at the Knox County Math Championship. She was just 13 years old at the time. In college she studied theater and began a career in modeling shortly after graduation. It wasn’t long before her competitive spirit took her into a brief stint as a professional volleyball player. She also spent some time as a personal trainer and kickboxing instructor before her affinity for math brought her back to cards. Finding Her Place In The Universe She applied her innate math skills to blackjack had a very successful run. She fell in with members of the MIT Blackjack Team and under their tutelage she increased her winning percentages significantly. In 2005 she appeared on the GSN’s World Series of Blackjack and finished 2nd on her episode. The next year she participated in CBS’s Ultimate Blackjack Tour. She quickly became known simply as “Blackjack Babe.” During this time she started to nurture a passion for Texas Hold’em. She played in home games that featured players like World Series of Poker champion Phil Helmuth. In 2006 she cashed in the Five-Star World Poker Classic. This 16th place finish demonstrated that she had the makings of a successful poker and Mansion Poker quickly signed her as their first spokesperson. In 2007 she won a World Poker Tour no-limit hold’em event at Mandalay Bay. In short order, Erica’s nickname transformed from “Blackjack Babe” to “Poker Babe.” She has cashed many times in both WSOP events and WPT events around the world. Today she is one of the notable Full Tilt Pro’s. Anybody looking to match wits with her across the electronic felt should look for her at the 25 50 no limit tables. She can also be found occasionally playing at Mansion Poker under the nameStr8flushiiin. Balancing Life And Poker While poker is her chosen profession, […]

The post Erica Schoenberg appeared first on Poker Bankroll Blog.

Liv Boeree

Mark — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:00:19 +0000

Liv Boeree is one of the newest members of Team PokerStars and she looks great on pictures….what more could you ask for? I wonder if Liv Boeree has a boyfriend? No wonder “Liv Boeree picture” and “Liv Boeree boyfriend” are some of the most searched poker keywords in Google. In this article I will attempt to give an overview of Liv Boeree’s poker career. If you asked a non-poker playing person to describe what they thought a stereotypical poker player looked like then I can 100% guarantee that they would not paint a picture of someone who looked like the delectable Liv Boeree. Liv Boeree’s early gambling days Born in Kent in 1984, Boeree never considered becoming a poker player, in fact she did not discover the game until she was 25-years old. She was one of five contestants chosen to appear on a reality television show that resulted in her being taught poker by the likes of Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott and ten-time WSOP poker bracelet winner Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth. Boeree developed a passion for the game and set about studying it intently, much like she had done during her time at Manchester University where she studied astrophysics. He first recorded cash in a live poker tournament came back in 2007 when she placed 7th in a $10,000 freeroll to celebrate the opening of the Loose Cannon Sports Club in London for a mere $400. The following year she really put herself on the map when she beat Lenna Martyak heads up in the $2,000 buy-in European Ladies Championships for $42,000. This gave her the bankroll boost needed to play in a number of World Series of Poker events, though she is yet to have a major score in the eight times she has cashed. Liv Boeree’s major tournament wins A number of relatively small cashes followed her success in the European Ladies Championships but in April 2010 she had an absolutely amazing result that will mean she will not need to use any 2011 WSOP qualifiers as she became a millionaire overnight. The San Remo stop of the European Poker Tour saw a record field of 1,240 pay the €5,000 entry fee, creating a prizepool of €6,014,000 shared out amongst the top 184 players. After playing some exceptional poker over the course of the tournament, Boeree found herself heads-up against Sweden’s Jakob Carlsson. She eventually beat him to claim the massive €1,250,000 ($1,698,300) first place prize and a place in poker history. Liv Boeree’s other interests Apart from being a millionaire astrophysicist, Boeree is also a huge heavy metal fan and an accomplished rock guitarist! What more could you want from a women? Poker, money, loves rock music and is rather pleasing on the eye! I guess Miss Boeree proves there must be a God!

The post Liv Boeree appeared first on Poker Bankroll Blog.

Joe Cada winner of the 2009 world series

Jeffrey — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 18:56:32 +0000

This article is about Joe Cada, winner of the 2009 world series. Joe Cada made his name in poker by winning the 2009 World Series of Poker main event at the Rio hotel-casino in Las Vegas. Cada has established a reputation as one of poker’s most personable and intelligent stars as well as one of the game’s leading tournament players. Personal Background Cada was born on November 18, 1987, in Shelby Charter Township, Michigan, approximately 30 miles north of Detroit. He resides in nearby Chesterfield Township, Michigan, and he has said he is considering purchasing a second home in Las Vegas. Online Nickname Cada plays online poker at several sites using the screen nicknames jcada99 and JCADA99, obvious takeoffs on his real name. Cada is sponsored by the online site PokerStars. Poker Background Cada comes from a family of card players, but he made his first serious venture into competitive poker in 2003 when he set up an online poker account with his brother Jerome. The brothers ran up an initial deposit of $25 to $250 before Joe lost the entire bankroll in one night. Cada began legally playing casino poker at the age of 19 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, across the river from Detroit. Tournament Winnings Cada had compiled a total of $9,215,654 in poker tournament winnings as of March 2011, with five major tournament titles and 34 cashes in major tournaments. Of the total winnings, $8,546,435 came from his first-place finish in the 2009 World Series of Poker championship event. Major Victories Cada finished atop of field of 6,494 entrants to win the 2009 World Series of Poker main event. Each player paid $10,000 to enter the tournament, in which no-limit Texas hold ‘em is played throughout the event. At the final table of the tournament, Cada participated in several memorable hands, including two in which he went all-in before the flop with a pocket pair only to find he was up against his opponent’s higher pocket pair. In the first of these key hands, Cada held pocket 3s against pocket jacks, and in the second he had pocket 2s against pocket queens. Each time, Cada hit a “set,” or three of a kind, on the flop and held on to win the hand. When the final table had been pared to the final two players, Cada had a chip lead of $135 million in tournament chips to the $58 million in tournament chips held by his opponent, Darvin Moon. The heads-up portion of the tournament lasted 88 hands. On the final hand, Cada’s pocket 9s held up against Moon’s queen-jack of diamonds. At age 21, Cada became the youngest player to win the World Series main event. Two months before his World Series victory, Cada had earned $128,872 by winning an online no-limit hold ‘em tournament on PokerStars that carried a $1,050 entry. Other Achievements Cada has had several other major scores besides his World Series championship. In January 2008 he won an online tournament at Full […]

The post Joe Cada winner of the 2009 world series appeared first on Poker Bankroll Blog.

Daniel “Jungleman12″ Cates

Mark — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 18:52:42 +0000

Daniel “Jungleman12″ Cates is one of the hottest online NLHE poker players today and the following article will give you some more information on his great success on the online felt. Many poker players start their careers whilst studying at university but the vast majority either fall by the wayside or continue to play only in an amateur capacity whilst their studies and then career take over. One player who discovered the game of poker whilst studying for an economics degree at the University of Maryland, USA was Daniel Cates, someone who most certainly has not become one of poker’s forgotten men. Back in 2008, the year the first Betfair GSOP Gold Hunt took place, Cates created an online poker account with the alias “jungleman12” and began playing heads-up no limit Hold’em with blinds of $0.25/$0.50. By the end of the year he had turned a profit of $100,000 and had made the jump into the $10/$20 games. The following year he managed to progress to the $25/$50 games and win close to $1,100,000 and was starting to be considered as one of the top ten heads up players in the world. Not bad for a student! The Jungleman12 in 2010 Last year was most certainly the year of Cates after he completely obliterated all that dared to take him on at stakes of $25/$50 and even at $300/$600 and the nosebleed $500/$1,000. By the end of 2010 Cates had won more than $5,500,000, meaning he could quite easily afford to pay out the prizes awarded for scoring a Betfair GSOP 6 Hattrick. Despite his huge success at the cash tables Cates still grinds online poker in the basement of his parent’s house in Maryland, where he is still studying for a degree in economics, of which he has around a year of studying left. Although he has almost completed his education Cates admits that poker is and will continue to be his main focus for years to come. What makes Cates’ success even greater is the fact he did not just play weak players instead he took the fight to the likes of Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Phil Ivey and Tom “durrrr” Dwan, the latter widely regarded as the best online poker player in the business. Cates has even taken Dwan up on his so called “Durrrr Challenge,” which will see him play 50,000 hands of heads up no limit Hold’em with stakes of $200/$400 over four tables and should Cates finish at least $1 in profit he will win $1,500,000 from Dwan but if the 50,000 hand mark is reached and he is not in profit then he has to pay Dwan $500,000! At time of writing Dwan and Cates have played 17,108 hands of the allotted amount and Cates leads by $819,213.50, though they have not played since January 4 when Cates won $319,103.50 from his opponent over 2,918 hands! Although known as a cash game specialist, Cates has had some success in online poker tournaments with his […]

The post Daniel “Jungleman12″ Cates appeared first on Poker Bankroll Blog.

Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond

Mark — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 18:47:27 +0000

Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond is an upcoming poker superstar and is often seen on the highest stake tables on Full Tilt and PokerStars. Phil “omgclayaiken” Galfond As young poker players come they don’t come much more inspirational and aspirational than Phil “omgclayaiken” Galfond. Born in 1985, this twenty-something poker player is the poster boy for poker wannabes across the world, causing online poker hopefuls of all ages to cash in their Party Poker discount codes in the hopes of attaining a level that might mimic his mighty achievements. Originally from North Potomac in Maryland, USA Galfond started his poker career in the online poker rooms making him an icon for those who hope to rise through the poker ranks in this way. Phil Galfond Shook the Poker World Operating under the poker nickname of “omgclayaiken” Galfond quickly became a force to be reckoned with in the big money stakes. Starting with sit and go games online, Galfond honed his skills to a level, before beginning his forays into cash games – where his studies of disciplines including psychology and probability soon paid off, pushing him to the top of the tables and earning him a seat on some ultra high stakes games. The young pretender shook the poker world by taking his first ever WSOP bracelet aged just 23. Why is Phil Galfond Called “Omgclayaiken”? Explaining his somewhat incongruous choice of nick, the manly young poker champion told pundits that he had wanted to opt for a moniker that would in some way unnerve his opponents. He explained that he felt the decidedly non-macho reference to the popular singer/songwriter who rose to fame in the reality show American Idol and later confirmed his homosexuality, coupled with the girlish acronym OMG (which means “Oh My God!”) would give him the edge, since losing to such a non-alpha male seeming player would likely prove a psychological hurdle to other players. Phil also plays under the nick of MrSweets28 on certain poker sites. How Much Money Has Phil Galfond Won? Currently living in New York, USA, Galfond’s publicly known poker earnings from live totalled $996,000 in 2010, while the man’s own website confirms that he has broken the magic million dollar mark many times over in his short career. Winnings amassed from tournament play include a 817,781 purse from the Pot Limit Omaha tournament, 39,570 for a 70th place finish in the 2008 World Poker Tour and an 18th place finish in the 2006 WSOP event earning him $22,895. Certainly the man is a multi-millionaire with no need to continue to play, which may be why he eschews the limelight of live tournaments most of the time, choosing instead to ply his poker in the online area where his career began. Phil Galfond Shares His Poker Skills Online Still playing poker both in person and online, Phil “omgclayaiken” Galfond is now also an online businessman running his own poker training concern at BlueFirePoker.com. The site, which offers aspiring “OMG”s an insight into the game […]

The post Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond appeared first on Poker Bankroll Blog.

Matt Affleck

Mark — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 18:41:58 +0000

Matt Affleck is a rising poker star and deserves mentioning on this blog. Hailing from Mill Creek, Washington Matt Affleck got in on the game early. Hosting poker tournaments for his friends in high school, Matt collected $5 dollar entry fees when he first started his poker nights. He raised the price to $20 an entry as his poker nights became more popular with his buddies and their acquaintances, and Matt was hooked on the game ever since. Matt Affleck built up his career playing successfully in online poker tournaments, starting with bonusy bez depozytu sounds like a good way to do this nowadays, making a name for himself as he won enough money to quit his job during his time at the University of Washington. He continued his education and received a degree from the University of Washington in finance, and went on to continue to play poker in amateur tournaments. Matt Affleck’s live tournament winnings Matt remains an avid player of online poker, but he’s had some big wins in poker tournaments all over the country. He’s earned a total of $972,517 off of his poker career, just a few tens of thousands beneath a million dollar winout.I n 2009, Affleck won big with the SCOOP PokerStars tournament, raking in $470,000 off of the no-limit Texas hold’em tournament. This drove Affleck’s poker career into the limelight, and he became one of the most well-known new entrants into the world of online poker, winning sponsorships from PokerStars and other companies worldwide. Matt Affleck won again after buying in to a $5,000 poker tournament in the California State Championship Main Event. He brought another astonishing $125,000 win out of the tournament drawing more attention from the old pros who examined his career. Matt Affleck’s future career With two first place finishes, Affleck is still relatively new on the street. Still in his prime, Matt Affleck plays online and live games full-time as his career, and doesn’t want to think about stopping anytime soon. Affleck can expect to play against more of the legends of poker, and many wins and losses lay ahead of the young aspirant. Avid players are confident that Matt Affleck’s name will forever be cemented into the history of poker, and few disagree. As one of the youngest and biggest winners of all time, Affleck’s career represents a bridge between two generations of poker. His success shows that a lot of money can be made off of kick-starting a poker career with online poker games, and PokerStars has been more than supportive. Other interests Matt is a huge fan of the Seattle Mariners, and spoke fondly of the team, sporting their trademark jersey in several poker tournaments to show off his state pride. Affleck has truly never forgotten where he’s come from. He’s a self-proclaimed homebody and loves Washington State. In addition to the Mariners and Poker, Matt also loves traveling the world and updating his Twitter.

The post Matt Affleck appeared first on Poker Bankroll Blog.