April 2016
30 April
EPT12 Grand Final: Day 1A main event coverage archive
This is an archive of previous coverage. Click through for live updates. If Day 1A is an indicator of what is to follow in a main event on the European Poker Tour (EPT), then there were conclusions to be drawn from the eight levels played today. Some 286 players arrived,...more
EPT12 Grand Final: Schemion scythes through super high rollers to mark triumphant return
Ole Schemion: German whizz back to winning ways Over the past year or so, it has become very, very difficult to beat Mustapha Kanit in any kind of poker tournament. He's won them all. But about a year before that, we were saying much the same thing about a young...more
EPT12 Grand Final: Right to Play Charity tournament - tonight
The Right To Play charity tournament takes place tonight and already promises an array of top poker pros taking part. Among those hoping to compete are Team PokerStars SportStar and Brazilian football legend Ronaldo plus fellow SportStar Fatima Moreira De Melo. They'll be joined by a whole bunch of...more
EPT12 Grand Final: €100K super high roller final table live updates
Ole Schemion wins super high roller for €1,597,800 Full final table report here 7pm: It's over! Ole Schemion wins super high roller for €1,597,800 Level 21- Blinds 50,000/100,000 (10,000 ante) That was a short heads-up battle, but then again that was the players' intention when they shortened the levels to...more
FPS Monaco: Main Event Day 3 coverage archive
There were 1,261 to start. Then 339, then 60. Now, just six players are still with a chance at the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event title and the €218,000 prize that goes with it. One of those six will have an edge to start play tomorrow, France's own Stephane...more
FPS Monaco: Main Event Day 2 coverage archive
It was a fast-paced Day 2 in the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event on Friday -- so fast, in fact, the decision was made to forgo the dinner break stop a couple of levels early. When the last hands were dealt 60 players remained, all that's left from the...more
29 April
Spin & Go to Monaco
The EPT Grand Final Main Event is in full swing in Monte Carlo with a record number of satellite qualifiers taking part. For the first time in PokerStars history, 121 of those qualifiers won their seat into one of the year's most prestigious tournaments just by winning a Spin &...more
EPT12 Grand Final: Super high roller Day 2 coverage archive
This is an archive of previous coverage. Click through for latest updates. They started with 46 players, who together contributed 61 entries costing €100,000 apiece. And now, with one day left in this most costly of tournaments, only eight players are left. Lucky them. They are each now guaranteed at...more
EPT12 Grand Final: Super high roller Day 1 coverage archive
This is an archive of previous coverage. Click through for latest updates. 9:55pm: Mikita Badziakouski bags up Day 1 lead While the big names made their bids for top spot at the close of play today, it was relative new boy Mikita Badziakouski who beat them to it, bagging up...more
28 April
EPT12 Grand Final: Kornuth continues hot streak, wins €10K high roller after abrupt finish
Chance Kornuth: Continues a spectacular run There are a couple of ways to end a poker tournament, over and above the traditional approach of one player winning all the chips. Late this evening at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final, the €10,000 single re-entry high roller found one of...more
EPT Grand Final: €10K Single re-entry high roller final table coverage archive
Read a full recap of today's action and scan the full list of prizewinners. 10:30pm: Chance Kornuth wins the single re-entry high roller and €351,108 Level 26 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (5,000 ante) After three days of play, Chance Kornuth has topped the 214 entries in the tournament (164 unique players...more
27 April
FPS Monaco: Main Event Day 1B coverage archive
We knew when we saw 349 come out for yesterday's Day 1A -- the first of two Day 1 flights in this €1,100 buy-in France Poker Series Monaco Main Event -- that today was going to be grand (bilingual pun intended). That was well over last year's Day 1A turnout,...more
EPT12 Grand Final: €10K Single re-entry high roller Day 2 coverage archive
There are three important things that happen on most Day 2s in tournaments: 1. Entry closes and the field size is confirmed 2. The payouts are announced 3. The bubble bursts So let's start with No.1. A total of 156 players brought chips through from Day 1 of the EPT...more
Five tips to avoid tilt
There is a menacing, ugly, bug in your brain. It's trying to gnaw its way out of your skull, and when it does, it will turn around and burrow back in. It will make you insane before you even recognize it's there. It will cost you money. It will cost...more
EPT: The chills and thrills
As the European Poker Tour's 12th season nears its end, it's amazing the tour hasn't installed EKG machines in the tournament rooms. Over more than a decade, the tour has provided more heart-pounding, heartbreaking, heart-wrending moments than any tour should be allowed. As the Grand Final plays out in Monaco...more
Taking Manila Megastack up a notch
Things are heating up in the Philippines with the upcoming Manila Megastack. The Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) and PokerStars Live Manila will be hosting the fifth installment of the Manila Megastack series May 3-8 at the Grand Ballroom of City of Dreams Manila. The Manila Megastack is the third...more
FPS Monaco: Main Event Day 1A coverage archive
As a usual kick-off to the the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final, the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event is traditionally a popular starting point for poker players coming to beautiful Monaco to take part in the lengthy festival. With 80 events on this year's schedule, this €1,100 buy-in...more
26 April
Super Tuesday: Perrymejsen cracks the case for $70K, Concepcion 3rd (4/26/16)
With so many skilled players turning up to play week after week, Super Tuesday final tables almost always have a compelling storyline. Sometimes it's a past champion attempting to repeat, or a massive comeback, or even repeated showdowns between the same two players. Almost never, though, does a single final...more
Putting EPT winners into facts and figures
With the EPT Grand Final festival underway and the Main Event set to begin this weekend, we played around with a few figures, adding up the career earnings of every one of the 110 EPT Main Event winners (from 111 events) and comparing them to what they won in that...more
China's Zhi Lin wins ACOP Platinum Series XIII
Last week, the 'PokerStars LIVE Macau' poker room completed ACOP Platinum Series XIII attracting festival totals of 782 players and more than HK$2.6 million in prize money. China's Zhi Lin defeated the 239-player Main Event field to take home the week's feature title along with HK$258,810 in prize money. In...more
NJSCOOP: PokerStars brings largest ever online poker series to New Jersey
With $1.1 million in guaranteed prize money, the first-ever PokerStars New Jersey Spring Championship of Online Poker (NJSCOOP) will be the richest online series ever held in the region. The first NJSCOOP will take place from May 15-29 featuring 27 events across two stakes (Low and High), meaning a total...more
Monte Carlo: Inside the luxurious and exclusive country
When you walk off the street in Monte Carlo, you have to brush the money off your feet before walking on the clean floors. When you jump in the sea, that cool, refreshing feeling you experience is cold, hard cash. Monte Carlo is a country built on a mountain of...more
EPT Grand Final: €10K Single re-entry high roller Day 1 coverage archive
With one day in the books and another 10 still to come, the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final is a marathon. But it's a marathon comprising a number of sprints. The first of those raced away at a remarkable clip this afternoon in the Sporting Club at the Monte...more
24 April
Sunday Million: DEdgge's second chance pays off with $176k win
Ten weeks ago, on February 21, Israel's DEdgge was sitting at this very final table. From a field of 5,778, DEdgge made the last nine, albeit as a very short stack, and even doubled up in the early going to stay alive. However, he found himself on the wrong end...more
Sunday Warm-Up: droulis9 feeling fine after $70K victory
For Game of Thrones fans they got to see the drama of Jon Snow and Khaleesi (look elsewhere for spoilers) returning after several months wait for the season six premier. For online poker players and fans, the wait for the 2016 Spring Championship of Online Poker is only 14 days...more
22 April
Try Knock Out Poker for a share of $120,000 each week
We're giving you the chance to win a share of $120,000 every week by completing new Knockout Poker Challenges. You'll find daily and weekly challenges to play and enjoy between April 22 and May 12, 2016. To complete them your job is simple - "knockout" players by playing Sit &...more
What will you be looking forward to on PokerStars this weekend?
Another weekend to look forward to. Here we take a look at the week on PokerStars. 1. Breaking the bank at Monte Carlo Poker players and fans rejoice. The European Poker Tour is back in action after an extended period of repose following EPT Dublin. And as if to re-affirm...more
PokerStars unleashes new multi-table tournament schedule
The multi-table tournament schedule will be updated and enhanced from Monday, April 25 on PokerStars, an Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand. The exciting new schedule will make it easier for customers to find and play their favourite tournaments. The hallmarks of the new schedule are better timing, instantly...more
Give your support to the CARE Ecuador Earthquake Appeal
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador on Saturday evening causing widespread devastation to the South American nation. A powerful 6.1-magnitude quake last night has compounded that humanitarian crisis pushing the death toll towards 600, with many more injured and left in dire straits without water, electricity or basic sanitation. The Ecuadorian...more
21 April
Splash! The "x-Turbo" naming convention (finally) sinks to the bottom
"What is a 3x-Turbo?" That's a question that we've been asked more times than I care to remember over the years. From the time that the first x-Turbo was created (in September 2007, as a satellite to the 2007 WCOOP Main Event), the naming convention of this special and very...more
20 April
PokerStars NJ ready to Run It Up at Resorts Casino Hotel
PokerStars returned to New Jersey last month so it's about time we had an official welcome party. We want you to share the moment with us. And because it's a big deal we want to make it a memorable day for all involved. So we're teaming up with Jason Somerville...more
Sunday VIP Club Live seminar in Köln
A little more than a year ago I rented my little poker office at a building complex called Solution Space in the heart of my city Cologne - right next to the impressive cathedral called the Dom. Initially, the reasons for deciding to get an outside working space instead of...more
19 April
Luis "Turko_man" Rodriguez follows Sunday Million win w/Super Tuesday title (4/19/16)
When Luis "Turko_man" Rodriguez won the Sunday Million just a week-and-a-half ago, we noted then how he'd done that once before many years back. The wait for his next six-figure score on PokerStars wasn't nearly as long, as the player from Finland took down tonight's Super Tuesday, earning a cool...more
The Elite Series trip report
Trip Report? Yes, the Elite Series was indeed an online event, but I played it while traveling through Germany early April, which sort of made it a poker trip. The tournament series concluded Sunday, and that is also when I spent the first night back in my own bed again....more
18 April
Weekend Review: Kicking up a 100K (Sunday) Storm
A look at all the major stories from this past weekend on PokerStars. Weekend highlights * Nelson 'FeCoNiCuZn' Maccini wins the Sunday Million for $166,377 * m8675309a does the same in the Sunday warm-up * The fifth anniversary running of the Sunday Storm was won by Dutch player profesjenol, who...more
Sunday Million: Heavy metal man Nelson 'FeCoNiCuZn' Maccini bangs out win and 166K score
Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, and Zinc. Those are five metals included on the Periodic Table of Elements, which also happen to make up the online poker moniker of Australian Nelson 'FeCoNiCuZn' Maccini. Before tonight, FeCoNiCuZn was best known for a victory in the opening event at the 2014 SCOOP. I...more
17 April
Sunday Warm-Up: Jenny has the answer as m8675309a wins $58K after chop
The weather in this neck-of-the-woods is finally showing its true season. A day of sunshine, freshly raked lawn, and ten tons of pollen-induced allergies on my nose while settling in along with 2,365 runners for this week's $425,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-Up. Someone not affected by a stuffy head and consistently...more
15 April
Two more weeks to win $5,000 each day in Card Hunt
All good things must come to an end. Well sometimes. Not when it comes to the PokerStars Card Hunt. Card Hunt was due to end today, but this afternoon we got that Friday feeling and now we're announcing an extension. You can now continue your daily Card Hunt challenges, with...more
Welcome to Lee's Trout Stream
Sadly, this is not an invite to a real trout stream, with babbling waterfalls, caddis hatches, and native brookies. It is, however, an invitation to a stream of sorts - in this case, a Twitch stream. If you're not familiar with Twitch, don't be alarmed - you're in good company....more
Five things not to miss on PokerStars this weekend
As we head into the weekend we take a look forward to, and back on, the top stories from the PokerStars world. 1. Fifth anniversary of a perfect (Sunday) Storm Let's start with the weekend's priorities, and the fifth anniversary of the Sunday Storm, or to put it another way,...more
14 April
Huge numbers set for European Poker Tour Grand Final
More than 300 qualifiers registered for Main Event which will be streamed live from Day 2 The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final, which starts in less than two weeks, has witnessed a record number of online qualifiers, PokerStars announced today. The Season 12 finale, which joins forces...more
12 April
Javiér "rasta25″ Venegas victorious in 4/12/16 Super Tuesday, wins $101K
The nine who made this week's Super Tuesday final table on PokerStars were playing from nine different countries -- Argentina, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Slovenia -- not atypical for the weekly $1,050 no-limit hold'em contest that routinely attracts online poker's best players from...more
Surfer "majagua" ascends Everest to win Mountain Series in record fashion
You have to ask yourself, what was a man who lives to surf doing at the top of Mount Everest? Well, winning of course. That's what Federico "majagua69" Quevedo does when he's riding a wave, and also when he's grinding at the day job. For Quevado, 32, is a surfer,...more
Set your watch for SCOOP 2016
Raise your wrist, look down to your fancy watch, and start counting the minutes, because it's just about time for the biggest Spring Championship of Online Poker in history. Don't have a watch? Then just start counting and you might just win a really nice one (not to mention a...more
Why you're really just a golfer, facing Amen Corner at the Augusta National
While thousands of players were competing for top prizes in the Sunday Majors last weekend, the final round of the Masters golf was concluding at Augusta National. Undoubtedly there were nightmares endured at the tables, but so too in Georgia, where the reigning champion Jordan Spieth underwent a collapse some...more
11 April
Weekend Review: In short, the general theme was "big"
A look at all the major stories from this past weekend on PokerStars. Weekend highlights * Luis "Turko_man" Rodriguez wins the Sunday Million for $183,000 * Usman Siddique wins the UKIPT6 London Main Event at the Hippodrome Casino * greengrass67 is the Sunday Warm Up winner, earning more than $76,000...more
10 April
Sunday Million: Luis "Turko_Man" Rodriguez makes it back to win another Milly
Way back in June 2009, the Luis "Turko_Man" Rodriguez claimed a Sunday Million title, one of many deep runs the Finland-based player would claim on PokerStars over the years. This week Rodriguez made it back to the Sunday Million final table, and almost seven years later managed to win the...more
Sunday Warm-Up: greengrass67 mows down competition winning $76K
One of the best golf tournaments in the world finalized in Augusta, Georgia this afternoon as Jordan Speith tried to hold on for a wire-to-wire victory. The final table of the $425,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-Up featured OverTheTop43 trying to run over the table with five players left much like Speith...more
Usman Siddique crushes all-comers to claim UKIPT6 London title
Very few people come to play poker at Hippodrome Casino and don't fall in love with the place. The UKIPT has made its London home here and it'd be hard to imagine playing anywhere else in this fine city now. At midday today there would've been 10 players who agreed...more
UKIPT6 London: Final table player profiles
Seat 1. Daniel Harwood, United Kingdom - 1,302,000 27 year-old Daniel Harwood comes from Cheltenham and has been playing poker for six or seven years. He is currently making the transition to poker pro. Although he likes playing both online and live, recent times have seen him focus more...more
UKIPT6 London Final Day: Live updates
* Usman Siddique wins UKIPT6 London * Main Event is over 7.15pm: Usman Siddique wins UKIPT6 London for £84,100; David Gassian runner up for £51,930 Level 29 - Blinds 50,000-100,000 (10,000 ante) Well, there's not much heads-up play to report! Usman Siddique raised every pot, and David Gassian folded every...more
9 April
UKIPT6 London: Usman Siddique leads final 10 at the end of Day 2
We started with 176. We ended with just 10. Welcome to the day of execution known as Day 2 of UKIPT6 London. Whittling 176 players down to 10 in just 11 levels of play in a well-structured event like the UKIPT might have seemed far-fetched at the beginning of the...more
UKIPT6 London Day 2: Live updates
* CLICK HERE TO REFRESH FOR LATEST UPDATES * 10 players (from 644) remain * Final day starts at midday Sunday 12.50am: That's all, folks A wrap of the day's play can be read by clicking here. Usman Siddique will head into the final day as chip leader on...more
8 April
UKIPT6 London Day 1C: Xiaoyang Luo leads all heading into Day 2
If yesterday was ladies day then today was get a seat wherever you can day. After registration closed at the end of Level 6, 337 players had made Day 1C their home for the day, or part of it. At one point, the Hippodrome Casino had tables in five separate...more
Meet Team Pro at the Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival
If you happen to be in sipping distance of Atlantic City, New Jersey this weekend, you might run into some of your favorite Team PokerStars Pros and have a chance to take a seat in the All-In Happy Hour. Today and tomorrow at the Atlantic City Convention Center, PokerStars will...more
Sunday Majors (and minors) to look forward this weekend
Plenty to talk about looking ahead to the weekend, and regardless of your bankroll there's a way for you to win big enough to thoroughly anaesthetise any pain you might normally feel on Monday morning. Sunday best Starting online it's worth taking a minute to remind ourselves how things turned...more
UKIPT6 London Day 1C: Live updates
* Read a full report of Day 1C here * Day 2 starts tomorrow at 11am * 176 players will return 10.05pm: It's over Level 12 - Blinds 1,000-2,000 (200 ante) Read a full report of Day 1C here. --JS You can win your seat to one of countless...more
7 April
UKIPT6 London: Irina Nikolaidi bags 'ladies day' chip lead on Day 1B
"At major horse race meets across the UK, you'll find that Thursdays are traditionally branded as Ladies Days. They help bring a touch of grace and elegance to an industry that's (normally) very male dominated. Sound familiar? There are seven (out of 80) ladies in the field today and that's...more
Lost: My Twitch virginity
Last week I started streaming on Twitch. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I'm an avid Twitch user myself. Over the past 4-5 years, I watched a ton of Starcraft and Dota streams. I just never knew what kind of content I wanted to make streaming...more
The Elite Series from the Road
It will be like stepping back in time - in a good way. On Saturday, April 9, I will touch ground in Hamburg, my birth town. The city-state was also the place where I started working for IntelliPoker, PokerStars' poker school. Back then "playing for play money" meant to practice...more
UKIPT6 London Day 1B: Live updates
* Day 1B over. A full wrap can be found here. * Day 1A is over - read a full report of the day here. * Day 1B Players (39 of 161 remain). * Day 1C starts tomorrow at 11am. 9:50pm: Day 1B in the books That's all for...more
6 April
UKIPT6 London Day 1A: Xizhe Yuan leads first of three starting flights
London has been part of the UKIPT since the very beginning - be it as a normal stop or as a Grand Final wrapped up as an EPT (Season 1) - so it seems as right as place as any to kick off the sixth season of one of the...more
UKIPT6 London Day 1A: Live updates
* Day 1A is over - read a full report of the day here. * 39 remain (of 146 Day 1A entries) * Day 1B starts tomorrow at 11:00am 12.45am: It's all over Level 12 - Blinds 1,000-2,000 (300 ante) Play has ended for the night - you can...more
5 April
NEWFlat can afford a new flat after winning 4/5/16 Super Tuesday, $102K
This week's Super Tuesday -- the weekly $1,050 no-limit hold'em tournament on PokerStars -- drew a big field as usual with 539 players taking part. But even with the big turnout it played out a bit more quickly than usual, with Russia's NEWFlat needing just 10 hours and 11 minutes...more
Support Right to Play with Jake and Fatima
Imagine waking up tomorrow and finding there was no more online poker. Imagine there were no more poker rooms. Imagine you couldn't even find a table to cover with a cloth and use to deal a game among your friends. There are a lot of first world luxuries we take...more
Really? You don't think a ticket to the EPT Grand Final is for you?
It's an easy mistake to make. Even as you read this you might be looking at pictures of Monaco, or the Salles des Etoiles where the EPT Main Event takes place, with its retractable roof and uninterrupted view of the Riviera, and be thinking: "nice, but surely not something I...more
4 April
Weekend Review: Riding the Sunday Million wave
A look at all the major stories from this past weekend on PokerStars. Weekend highlights * AlexanGeo wins the Sunday Million which again featured a big field * Bjartefau takes down the Sunday Million * London set to host new UKIPT season Round up of latest results Kristen Bihr put...more
Sunday Million: AlexanGeo upsets Lekerov in $144k win
Could a $500,000 deal really fall apart over as little as $2,000? If you've followed the Sunday Majors at all over the years, you know the answer is a resounding "yes." When tonight's field was down to four players, chip leader neto gol cleverly used his position to squeeze a...more
3 April
Sunday Warm-Up: bjartefau outlasts stacked final table to win $77K
Live victories and Major online victories: the final table players of the $425,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-Up had both and were looking to claim another. However, bjartefau would quietly stay in charge and after a chop attempt went for naught, bjartefau would take away the full $77,610.00 as this week's winner....more
2 April
P1M Guarantee- April: Michael De Leon Storms his way to Victory!
It was a wild five days at PokerStars Live Manila with the P1M Guarantee Main Event charging in like a tornado. This was the first time an event of its kind was introduced in the country. Players could choose between three different qualifying tournaments with each one representing a different...more
1 April
P1M Guarantee- April: Final Day Action
Here we go! The PokerStars Live Manila P1M Guarantee gets underway with 51 players returning for their final battle. The eventual winner will take home P190,000 in cold hard cash and the victory trophy. Coming in with the largest stack is Julius Lagman with 262,500 chips and bringing up the...more
P1M Guarantee- April: Final day with 51 qualifiers
The final day of the PokerStars P1M Guarantee Main Event will see the return of the 51 players, all of them having qualified at the previous day one flights. Everyone is already guaranteed P4000 with Filipino player Pedro Gutierrez getting a double up as he was the only player who...more
PokerStars forges alliance with Autism Speaks in New Jersey
The world's largest online poker site, PokerStars, an Amaya Inc. (NASDAQ: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand, today announced a partnership with the New Jersey chapter of Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization. Through its Corporate Giving Programme, Helping Hands, PokerStars will become a Premier Sponsor of Autism...more
Book your place for some #StarsFun at the EPT Grand Final
You might already have it marked on the calendar; you may even be counting down the days. Alternatively you might be grinding away in satellites, or giving the new Spin & Go's a try, which so far have turned a few dollars into a package worth €9,000 for more than...more
P1M Guarantee- April: 22 players qualify into the final day
The last day one flight of the PokerStars Live Manila P1M Guarantee Main Event has concluded with another 22 players qualifying into the final day. In the first heat of the day, Filipino player Manny Padernal ended the day as the chip leader with 175k at bagging. At the second...more
Storms brewing and mountains to climb: just your typical PokerStars weekend
If you were thinking that after the Easter weekend things might now return to a quieter, steadier tempo you'd be wrong. Even I thought there might not be much to note this weekend, just the usual schedule of high stakes weekend majors, etc., etc. But I was wrong. There's plenty....more
P1M Guarantee- April: Day 1d Updates
The last flight of the P1M Guarantee Main Event is underway with players quickly filling up the tables at PokerStars Live Manila. There will be two day 1d heats to qualify into the final day, one at 215pm and the other at 530pm. The earlier heat has a P1000 entry...more
P1M Guarantee- April: PokerStars Live Manila Main Event
PokerStars Live Manila has kicked off another P1 Million Guarantee event at City of Dreams Manila. This event was up and running on Tuesday March 29 and will run until Sunday April 3, 2016. This event is quite different from its usual Main Events as it offers a very unique...more
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