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• Decade in Review: WSOP Champions 2006 Part I

  Tournament poker in 2006 was summed up by the breakout performance of the world series.  A young kid named Jeff Madsen won two tournaments and finished third in two others.  Madsen had the world at his feet.  The film student didn’t mind acting or fake agonizing over big decisions time and time again, and he drew his opponents into pot after pot.  Neophyte Madsen represented the incredible change that had taken over poker.

  He and his wet behind the ears ilk were gobbling up bracelets and cashes, the old men of poker for the first year were definitely elbowed out of final tables.  Fast aggression chewed up ABC players and nobody rode the accelerator that year like Jeff Madsen.  Madsen’s first tournament victory was in the $2,000 No Limit Texas Hold’Em event where he pocketed $660k.  Paul Sheng was his final victim.

  The last guy standing in Madsen’s second bracelet winning run was Erick Lindgren.  The two played heads up in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Short Handed 6/Table where Madsen won a little over $640k.  Madsen’s twofer was the cherry on top for the new generation of players.

  Early on it got started with Brandon Cantu winning event two.  The youngest earned $757k as he prevailed in the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event.  In Event Five a made for TV final table pitted young gun Dutch Boyd vs. Joe Hachem (the Main Event winner from the previous year).  Dutch Boyd outlasted Hachem, finally felting the man his mother had a crush on, and winning $475k.    The next event had youngsters Mark Vos vs. Nam Le two guys that were new to the scene but haven’t left it yet.

  David Williams won a bracelet in Event 10 $1,500 Seven Card Stud event.  The runner up to Greg Raymer two years ago, like Hachem earlier and more immediately, proved his deep main event run was hardly a fluke.  Seven card stud is supposed to be an old man’s game, an Atlantic City game, but Williams credentials didn’t include age or an East Coast origin.  No his background like many of his young peers was in the card game Magic:  The Gathering.   

  As good as the youngsters were the old men hadn’t quite left the building.  Phil Hellmuth caught up to Chan and Brunson by winning a bracelet in the $1,000 No Limit Hold’Em with multiple rebuys.  Jason Lester, David Pham, Ralph Perry, Sam Farha, and Allen Cunningham all took bracelets down too. 

  Madsen wasn’t the only two time bracelet winner.  David Wiliams almost joined him wihen he lost to Daniel Alaei in heads up play in the $5,00 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball w/rebuys.  The one guy that did it was the older Bill Chen.  Chen took down a $2,500 No Limit Hold’Em Short Handed 6/Table event and that was a follow up to his win in the $3,000 Limit Hold ‘em tournament.  Still, the complete move to the Rio away from Binions was mirrored by the success of the new players in the new venue.

  The one vestige the old guys kept a hold of was the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament which featured a final table of pre-poker boom legends.  Brunson, Cloutier, Tomko and others butted heads to win the newest event, and the most prestigious.  The winner was a guy many revered as the best all around player in the world, a guy who barely had an interest in the tournaments as it took too much time from his lucrative cash games, and a man with one of the best names in poker:  Chip Reese.  Chip won two bracelets at the World Series before that in 1978 for 19k, and in 1982 for 92k. 

  Reese’s experience in the big game, with many of the regulars like Phil Ivey at the H.O.R.S.E. final table gave him an edge on all the young newbies rocking out to their iPods.  However, the private country club at the top of the mixed games table would be broken into sooner rather then later, and Chip’s victory while sweet was in an event that was the last island to be swallowed up by the new blood.

• Decade in Review: WSOP Champions 2005 Part II

  When the World Series of Poker left the Rio to wrap up the remainder of the No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em poker action in the main event in Binions it went to the landmark casino for the last time.  Originally the move to the Rio was to accommodate the influx of new players. most online poker qualifiers, created by the Chris Moneymaker inspired poker boom.  The World Series thought they could solve the capacity problems Binions suffered under by opening things up at the Rio.  Then after the field had been pared down to a manageable size they’d return to play it out at Binions like the good ol’ days.

  While that worked for the players what they didn’t count on was the increased media attention the event was garnering as well as fan interest.  Once again, Binions was busting at the seams this time not from rows and rows of players but rows and rows of media and fans.  Suddenly, watching poker had become a hot ticket and they simply did not expect it.  As mentioned in part one 2005 was probably the last year of transitioning to the new age of poker.

  It was fitting that Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson captured bracelets but the passing of the torch that began earlier in the decade was almost complete.  2005 the mid-year in the decade was also the close of the old world of poker.  A theme in the decade had been the Main Event portending the rest of the decade.  Moneymaker, an online qualifier, won and ushered in the herds of online qualifiers. 

  In 2005 Joe Hachem would win the Main Event, bringing a mini-poker boom to Australia and predate the international boom of players.  As the decade moved along more and more foreign born players joined the Americans in the World Series, perhaps inspired by Hachems success as Joe Sixpack in the U.S. had Moneymaker’s success to aspire to.

  In 2005, there was another everyman convincing the average man that anybody could go deep. Steve Dannenmann who was caught on tape bragging on his cell phone about bluffing Howard Lederer looked completely out his element yet he kept surviving.  Only in heads up play did it appear his inexperience caught up with him in the final hand (we’ll get to that).

  Dannenmann was one of the 5,619 entrants that signed up and his dreams of winning might have been just as unlikely as any of them, yet it was he that went further than any American poker player (or for that matter all but one poker player).  One site alone had 1116 online poker qualifiers.   Greg Raymer’s attempt at a back to back run, the first since Johnny Chan (who’s loss to Phil Hellmuth prevented him from winning three in a row) ended at 25th spot.  Raymer a big stack suffered a horrenduos beat and then got bounced when his short stack couldn’t multiply.

  In 2004, Greg Raymer a noted contributor of an online forum, the  poker school of its time, which advance the thought and strategy of the game, won the Main Event.  In 2005 he was running just as good again until his bust out.  In ‘04 he had a memorable clash with then chip leader Mike Matusow.   In ‘05, deja vu all over again, Matusow also was going deep.  This time Matusow had his bust upwith Shawn Sheikam, but Shawn gave as good as he got. 

  Phil Ivey was on everybody’s minds as he lasted until 20th.  Another deep run for Ivey in the Main Event, even as the fields were doubling in size.  Tiffany Williamson was the last woman standing winning 400k for 15th.  The Final Table was notable for everybody making it winning one million dollars.  Matusow was the first one out and predictably ran bad at the wrong time. 

  After Tex Barch, Arron Kanter, Andrew Black (whose massive stack imploded as well), Scott Lazar, Daniel Bergsdorf, and Brad Kondracki went out 3rd to 9th.  Dannemann and Hachem  got to heads up play as Hachem turned his small stack into the chip lead and they were buddy buddy friendly.  Dannemann raised with A3 o/s and Hachem called with 73.  Hachem flopped a straight 456.  Dannemann bet his straight draw with his ace high.  Hachem raised him. 

  Danneman called and a terrible card hit the turn, an A.  Hachem, a 97% favorite to win, bet 2 million.  Dannemann raised him 3 million.  Hachem probed with some chatter to see how relaxed or how good Dannemann thought his hand was.  When he knew he could get a call he interupted Dannemann and went all in.  Dannemann called and the tournament was over.  No seven came for a chop.

• DURRRR CHALLENGE RETURNS

  The Durrrr Challenge, Tom Dwan’s open invitation to the online poker world to take ridiculous odds and compete in his sweet spot has reignited again. So far, because of the snail like pace of play only online poker player Patrik Antonius has been able to take Durrrr up to play online poker in the Challenge format offer. So far, it’s been acknowledged that David Benyamine and Phil Ivey. The others must wait in the wings until the Durrrr Poker Challenge completes. There was some belief that Benyamine was first up but it turns out it was Antonius that got first crack.

  The online poker site got behind the challenge and started to promote it to railbirds. They devoted special tables to the action. No small wonder Dwan later signed with the site in a poker sponsorship deal. In fact, at the beginning of the Challenge the primary beneficiary was neither Dwan nor Antonius but the place they were playing. The Durrrr Challenge landed in their lap, and the unsigned Dwan’s creation was better PR than anything their marketing department had thought up.

  The Challenge stipulations were simple enough, each player must play four tables at once heads up. The challenger has the choice of No Limit Texas Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha. The stakes must be a minimum of $200/$400. The sample size to determine the better player would be over 50,000 hands. The person leading after 50,000 hands willl be declared the winner even if the lead is as small as say $1.00. If Dwan or Durrrr is winning he keeps his profit plus wins $500,000 from his opponents pocket. To get challengers Dwan offered 3 to 1 odds meaning his challenger would win $1,500,000 if he’s up even one dollar. Those are odds that had the top players salivating.

  When it got started last year in February there was a great deal of hype and attention to it. The railbirds were tuned in and the excitement about the steep odds Dwan was offering was palaple. Questions abounded some focused on what lead would be big enough for them to settle the online poker challenge early. How far ahead did a front runner need to get people wondered? Was a settlement allowed? Was Dwan being foolish for offering such steep odds to the best players in the world? Who would snap him off?

  From the get go the two online poker pros played 3% of the required hands. Dwan took a small lead of $134k. Since then the problem with the Challenge is finding time to play. Also, Dwan’s downswings at the hands of Isildur1 and, in general, have contributed to his rumored bankroll trouble. While it is not a recognized reason for the lack of play between Dwan and Patrik Antonius it can be surmised it’s impeded the two playing. Of course Dwan has been up in the challenge and when the two finally met again all he did was extend his lead.

  The most recent meeting played over two days allowed Dwan to extend his lead. For the first time in the Challenge a player has taken a lead over a million dollars. At this point, if Dwan plays Antonius even he’s wiped out the odds he gave the Swede. Dwan stands to win over 1.5 million. If Antonius can recoup his million dollar deficit he’d win 1.5 million. So it’s almost a break even with 64% of the challenge played.

  To a degree Dwan has already won. If they were to discuss settlements Dwan now has all the leverage. Considering it’s taken a year to play 2/3rds of the challenge things should wrap up in August. Course the World Series is in July so if it’s to end more likely it should be completed by June. Perhaps, the two online poker players will use the time constraints as motivation to finish things up sooner rather than later.

• Decade in Review: WSOP Champions 2005 Part I

  In 2005 the transition from the old age of poker to the new dawn of poker was almost complete. The shift in locale was still muddied by playing every bit of tournament action in the Rio except for the last two days of the Main Event which went back to clustered and cloistered Binions. The dominance of live pros still took precedence over the coming surge of online superstars but only just. Several new names continued to win bracelets but it was kind of a last stand year for two of the biggest names in poker.

  Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan, two of the most decorated players ever went back to the well for an additional bracelet in 2005. They started the series tied with Phil Hellmuth with nine bracelets all time, but the best two players of their respective generations got one more bracelet before Hellmuth did.

  Chan won his bracelet in a crazy night at the Rio. On the TV table a couple of lesser names were getting the ESPN camera treatment but the powers that be at the Entertainment and Sports Network recognized history was about to be made. It didn’t hurt that Chan’s heads-up opponent was Phil Laak, aka the Unabomber who was at the height of his popularity with his erratic antics at the table. Television gold.

  While Laak was matching wits with Chan, his movie star girlfriend Jennifer Tilly was on the verge of making history in her own right by battling in the Ladies tournament. Was it possible the couple would win two bracelets in one night. Shockingly, they won one, and it was shocking because it wasn’t won by Laak. The inexperienced Tilly got the bracelet after besting Anh Le in heads up action.

  Chan and Laak’s impromptu televised heads up match (ESPN put them on a TV table as soon as they could) lasted only 17 hands. Chan stood all by himself on the mountain top with 10 bracelets won all time. That didn’t last too long for the No Limit Hold ‘Em expert. Less than five days later, Doyle Brunson showed he wasn’t ready to be put out to pasture yet. Despite not being interested in accumulating bracelets early in his career Brunson recognized the importance of them later.

  In a 5k No Limit Short Handed tournament Brunson bested a final table of all stars. Two former world champions, Chris Ferguson and Scotty Nguyen couldn’t beat Brunson, nor could Men Nguyeyn or Minh Ly. When it was all said and done Brunson and Chan looked down, even on Phil Hellmuth.

  It was a great series for Brunson because his bracelet not only put in him in the lead for all time victories it also meant when son Todd Brunson won the 2,500 Omaha Hold ‘Em Hi/Lo Event they were the first father and son to ever win bracelts in the same series. Meanwhile another father and son duo were just pipped at the finish line as Barry Greenstein, a bracelet winner, watched his son Joe Seebok come up just short in making two final tables but winning neither.

  Another two bracelet story line for the world series was Mark Seif’s two bracelets in one week. Seif took down the June 17th $1500 Limit Hold Shootout and on June 24th he was busy winning the $1500 No Limit Hold ‘Em event. Seif introduced himself to the world stage with his impressive haul and won another for the career pros.

  He was joined on the proverbial winner’s podium by the likes of Allen Cunningham (or clever piggy as his online poker), Erik Seidel, Barry Greenstein, TJ Cloutier, Josh Arieh, Phil Ivey, David Chiu and of course the Brunsons. In part two we’ll look at the growing main event with Mike Matusow’s deep run, Greg Raymer’s attempt to repeat, and the rise of sugar passing Aussie named Joe Hachem.

• WPT: Southern Poker Championship Final Table Resu...

  8It was not to be for the local online poker phenom Tyler Smith.  Smith’s recent run at the Biloxi casino’s poker tables includes making last year’s final table, coming in second in another big buy-in No Limit Texas Hold’em event (to Chad Brown) and this week coming into the final table with the second most chips.  He was playing on home court, playing relaxed and playing great.  Eighteen hands later he was out of the tournament.  Gone.  A red headed whisp of a memory and an empty seat the only demarcation he was even there.  He had the home fans in his corner but at least he did them one favor.  His outcome was decided early and for those not interested in Hoyt Corkins or the four Js that remained they could go home.

  Watching live poker is a bit like watching traffic at an intersection.  Speed things up a bit and you’ll see near collisions and every once in a while awful crashes.  Big trucks ramming small cars and less commonly big smash-ups between two big vehicles.  The same is true of stack sizes.  There is a great bit of orderly progression on many hands.  Light turns green, a player raises and the other stacks wait outside the intersection.  But occasionally there is a call.

  That’s the way it’s supposed to go.  For Tyler, his poker strategy was one of sitting in an expensive sportscar blowing through red-lights and he brought taunt drama to the first two revolutions of the table.  When he finally bowed out his stack had gone from Lamborghini to Chevette.  Smith’s went home with 80k+ but when first was paying just under 800k he had to think he some missed opportunities and had to regret not pumping the breaks a little more.

  The Alabama Cowboy Hoyt Corkins came into the final table with the big stack.  As he watched Tyler bow out he bided his time.  He certainly had the shoving down pat and despite falling to third when it was three handed he weathered the storm and survived.  He played the role of cagey cowboy darting between gun-fights and bullets and staying alive as the blinds escalated and nerve less a choice and a more a need. 

  The four Js that finished in between Corkins and Tyler:  Jonathan Kantor, Jerry van Strydonck, Jared Jafee, and James Reed, offered a challenge but Hoyt’s experience enabled him to sit back, pick his spots, and outlast them all.  James Reed entered the final table as one of the short stacks and as he watch Tyler Smith try to speed through the traffic lights  he had to be happy the first casualty wasn’t him.   He’d be the second roadkill on the day, but the poker maxim “Patience is money” is never more true to a guy biding his time and rising up the pay ladder. 

  Reed made another 26k by outlasting Smith, and when you are the short stack at a poker table, that’s never a bad outcome.    It’s not fair to say he sat idly on his hands as Reed shoved over the top of several Smith raises en route to whittling down the local player’s advantage.  Reed’s demise came as he shoved with 75 o/s.  Jared Jaffee called with pocket eights and they held.

  Jared Jaffee’s jubilation was short lived as the poker pro found him also headed to the rail of the tournament area a short while later.  It was fitting that the JJ of his opponent, Hoyt Corkins, was the hand that knocked out JJ.  Jaffee held KQ o/s and never made a pair but still won$135k.

  Action after that ebbed and flowed with the chipstacks, each player taking the chip lead and being the short stacked.  The bulk of the final table hands were three handed.  Again, Hoyt Corkins, the cowboy in the dark hat was doing the eliminating.  Jerry Vanstrydonck went out in third when his 98 of diamonds couldn’t catch the KQ o/s of Corkins earning $196k.

  Heads up play had some lead changes but after a limp by Kantor, a shove by Hoyt, and a quick call with K10 o/s Kantor finally ended the tournament.  Hoyt caught an Ace and it was all she wrote.  Kantor won $366k for second.

• UPPER KROST… AUSSIE MILLIONS POKER MAIN EVEN...

  Tyron Krost won the biggest of the No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments down under. Krost got the upper hand on Frederik Jensen in heads up play and prevailed in the main Event. In a weird quirk of (intentional) scheduling there are a number of poker tournaments still to come. Krost joins the upper crust as a newly minted double millionaire (Australian dollars). Frederik Jensen also joined the millionaires club winning just over 1.1 million (Australian dollars).

  Jensen’s poker death knell came when he got it all in on the flop. He smacked top pair and had to be excited as it came out K32 (rainbow). Jensen didn’t like the call and turned over Kd6s. Krost had him crushed with his Ks9d way ahead. Two blanks followed. The turn was the 7h. Jensen was praying for a six and though the turn was close to it the river wasn’t as a lowly 2h showed up.

  Krost, a native of Melbourne, whose poker school was basically in that very casino, won the tournament and the glory. His hometown fans, friends and family shared in his jubilation. It was a great win for a compelling underdog and it was an unexpected one too. As far as poker names go, the final table had two big ones, and the conventional wisdom held that young online poker stars Sorel Mizzi or Anette Obrestad would take down the title.

  Mizzi came into the final table weighing down his section of the felt with a ton of chips. Their total sprawled into his neighbors space and you’d have to think he’d be on cruise control through the final levels of play. Obrestad or Anette15 or the Huntress is a lady of firsts, and of first place finishes, but it was not to be on this day. The young princess of poker excels at final tables despite chip deficits so she was never going to feel too far adrift of the pace.

  Mizzi, a Canadian, felt the pull of the Mounties as his massive chip stack dwindled to nothing and managed only a third place finish. It had to be tough to watch all his chips dissipate. As always he’ll feel a lot better about the third place pay-out a few days after than he did at that moment. Mizzi won 715k. It was not to be for either of the online poker pros turned live poker pros as Obrestad went out earlier.

  Annette Obrestad, had a shorter day and though equally disappointed and a little less richer she battled to make it to seventh. She added 175k to her bankroll and another major final table to her resume. She will get more tv time than only one other player as the Aussie Millions Main Event was an eight handed
  final table. The pay-outs ranged from 125k to the 2 million first place prize.

  The final table took thirteen and a half hours to finish. Just as they did when the Aussies hosted the Olympics the fans were at a fever pitch. Joe Hachem probably got misty eyed remembering his Aussie friends acting equally as rowdy at the World Series of Poker Main Event when he won his bracelet. This would be another good day for Australia.

  First one to the rail Stephen Shelly finished in 8th place and won 125k. The Princess of Poker Anette Obrestad nabbed seventh place and 175k. Somewhat well known Steve Friedlander won $250k for 6th place. Petter Jetten netted 350k for 5th place. Kosta Varoxis earned 540k for 4th. As mentioned Sorel Mizzi won 715k for third place. Frederik Jensen got the runner up take of 1.1 million. Tyron Krost won 2 million for first.

• WPT: Southern Poker Championship Main Event Final...

  Nestled in the scenic gulf coast city of Biloxi, Mississippi, the Southern Poker Championship had some local flavor as well as a sprinkling of the top pros battle it out for the latest World Poker Tour event.  In the No Limit Texas Hold’Em Main Event, the bigger names bubbled to the top and several flat out bubbled.  One of the most successful players when it comes to Biloxi events is online poker pro Tyler Smith, who added another TV final table to his resume. 

  Smith, profiled before on Bet & Win Poker is an up and coming player from Mississippi, perhaps he’s already achieved too much to be called an Up and Comer.  The online poker player has arrived and he’s been there for at least a year.  Live or online there are few better than Smith and his humble demeanor only enhances his likability in the new age of webcam coverage (scroll down for his interviews with Amanda Leatherman). 

  Smith who doesn’t travel far for big buy-in poker events doesn’t need too.  He won 124k for a second place finish at the same casino in September.  He’s won over 100k at Harrahs New Orleans events which is but a short car drive away for Smith.   And of course in the same event last year he won over 134k coming in 5th.   Smith’s final table experience, despite his young age, on many days would be the most at any final table, but that doesn’t hold true when Hoyt Corkins is in the tournament.

  Hoyt, an Alabama Cowboy, got his start driving the back roads of the deep south looking for games, so the fact that he would return to Biloxi and achieve success is no surprise.  Hoyt’s success in World Poker Tour events includes televised victories and a number of cashes, the most recent a sixth place finish in 2008 Doyle Brunson’s Five Diamond World Poker Classic/WPT event Season 7 Main Event.  Hoyt pocketed over 216k for that one.

  Hoyt’s big scores include a WPT victory in Season 2 for over one million and a 2nd place in Season 6’s World Poker Open for 458k.  World Series of Poker bracelets for 96k and 515k.  He’s also recorded cashes for 381k and 325k.  It’s no surprise when you add them all together he’s won over  4 million dollars with 44 lifetime cashes.  So despite Tyler’s credentials Hoyt was the one everybody feared.

  The rest of the final table were no slouches either.   Jared Jaffee, James Reed, Jerry Vanstrydonck, and Jonathon Kantor each had names that began with J but none were jacks and none were poker jokers either.  Jared Jaffee  has 5 cashes to his name and winnings over 71k in live poker play.  Plenty more deep runs in online play too.  Jaffee might have come into the final table as the hottest player of the bunch having won a preliminary tournament for 49k and taking 3rd for almost 8k.  There is nothing liked being zoned in when Main Event play starts and Jaffee was most likely to be in the zone.

  James Reed’s pedigree is not quite up to Jaffee’s as an online search reveals zero cashes to his name and certainly no final tables.  Jerry Vanstrydonck has a perfect name to make fun of had he been an early bust-out (Jerry NiceTryDonk) but names can be deceiving.  Vanstrydonck has cashed in a WPT Main Event.  True it’s his only cash to date and it was for 5k and it was for finishing 87th but it’s better than James Reed.

  Jonathn Kantor’s recent is heater is very similar to Jaffee’s.  At the Southern Poker Championship he’s already won a preliminary event for 68k and min cashed in another event (18th for a little over 1k).   He’s got two other cashes to his name 2nd and 18th.    Still, as final table begins the big targets will be the two biggest stacks:  Hoyt Corkins with 2,069,000 and Tyler Smith with 1,154,000.  The four Js are within hailing distance but have some work ahead of them.  James Reed is the short stack with 377k, Jared Jaffee sits at 762k, Jonathon Kantor at 894k, and Jerry Vanstrydonck the only other man over the million dollar barrier at 1,044,000.

• AUSSIE MILLIONS, 100,000 HIGH ROLLERS POKER TOURNA...

  As noted on bwin’s poker blog the activities surrounding the Aussie Millions are awesome for their own sake offering sumptuous opportunities.  However, inside the Aussie Millions was where the really high rollers were enjoying themselves in the High Stakes poker tournament.  Dan Shak who made a name for himself a couple of years ago at a Texas Hold’em No Limit Tournament at the  Taj Mahal in Atlantic City (The US Poker Open) and on various World Series of Poker telecasts has recently been overshadowed by his ex-wife Beth Shak’s self-promotion.  Beth Shak has garnered more TV time, most notably recently featured on an episode of MTV’s cribs with her children, implying the luxurious house they live in was paid for from her poker winnings.   

  True, the divorcee of Dan Shak and receiver of a big chunk of his Wall Street earned millions has been featured on a final table at the WSOP winning a big paycheck for her involvement and has other poker cashes to her name.  You might remember her jumping around on the telecast made memorable particularly when mixing it up with Phil Hellmuth, but to suggest their opulent lifestyle was courtesy of her poker money is more than an embellishment.

  Dan picked up his poker hobby as a sideline activity to his successful Wall Street career and he actually may in fact be a profitable player but for both their bottom lines it’s more hobby than career.  Beth caught the bug as Dan enjoyed some tournament successes.   Nightly online poker play became a staple of their domestic life.  Still, despite their poker successes both he and his ex-wife are rich enough that even if he were losing money overall the buy-ins are but a drop in the bucket and poker even at the 10k, 25k and 100k buy-ins is still an almost inexpensive hobby for them.  So, it’s no surprise Dan Shak put up the 100k to take part in the Aussie Millions high-rollers tournament.  Sure, the field included only the best or the richest but Dan was hardly out of his element or his league.   Now he’s the poker Shak with the biggest score in the family.

  When he found himself face to face with world’s best player Phil Ivey, he showed no fear and outlasted the wunderkind.  Shak added to his Scrooge McDuck like bank vault by winning $1.2 million dollars AUD (which is about $1.08 million USD).   Shak didn’t only have to overcome the top player in the world he also had to overcome a bit of a chip stack deficit.  Phil Ivey had a 1.38 to 1.06 million chip lead when heads up play began.

  It didn’t take long for Shak to beat the legendary Ivey.   Shak built his chip lead to almost 2 million chips to Ivey’s half million.  That set up he final hand of the tournament came when Shak moved all-in preflop.   Ivey called and was a leader in a dominating fashion.  Much like his recent WSOP Main Event bust-out the dominance only lasted until the flop where his better kicker couldn’t hold up against the paired kicker of Shak.  Ivey had raised from the button pre-flop, Shak moved him in and Ivey virtually snap called.  Ivey’s A10, both diamonds was for the moment crushing the A7, both clubs of Shak.  An Ivey double up seemed likely and that of course would bring the heads up battle closer to even.

  Then  the flop came a rainbow Q75.  Suddenly, Ivey was dominated.  Desperate to pair his better kicker it was not to be and Ivey had to be having Darvin Moon and Chris Moneymaker flashbacks as the board bricked out.    Ivey had to settle for second place and  $600,000 AUD.   The prize payouts were as follows  1. Dan Shak, $1,200,000 2. Phil Ivey, $600,000 3. Billy Jordanou, $300,000 4. Tony Bloom, $200,000 5. Tony G, $100,000.  Dan Shak upped his lifetime winnings to approximately $2 million dollars.

   As big a day at it was for Dan Shak’s career earnings it was arguably an even bigger day for Phil Ivey’s even though he made less.  Despite his second place finish Ivey was still a winner.  The additional cash that he won propelled him to first place in the all time tournament winnings list.   Ivey is now incrementally a bigger winner than Daniel Negreanu.  It’s hard to say it’s easy to win 4 million dollars in live tournament poker, but considering the number of pros hovering around the 2 to 4 million mark and how few are over 10 million, it is truly an accomplishment for Ivey to have over 12.5 million.

  With over $12.8 million dollars in lifetime tournament cashes Ivey is looking down on his friend Daniel Negreanu who has $12.43 million. Negreanu recently pipped Jamie Gold.  The bulk of Gold’s winnings were in one tournament but it was still enough for him to be number one since that WSOP Main Event vicotry in 2006.   As it stands, Gold is about 230,000 behind Negreanu with $12.2 million dollars.   Considering Gold had to chop his Main Event winnings the numbers are a little skewed, but no telling how many, if any, of Ivey or Negreanu’s tournament dollars were split too.  nge.

• AUSSIE MILLIONS, ANETTE OBRESTAD NETS OMAHA POKER ...

  Once upon a time there were rumors of a girl from the top of the world who could play online poker without looking at her cards  and still win.  Before she introduced herself to the world with a victory in one of Europe’s most prestigious tournaments Anette “Annette_15″ Obrestad was a legendary online player.  Here are some of the startling stories about her.

  She has won millions playing poker but she never once has deposited money on an online poker site.  She started by playing massive freerolls to build up her initial online bankroll.  At times she has over a million dollars on different sites in less than a year.    In July 2007, Obrestad played a $4 180 person sit and go without looking at her cards.  She focused on playing position and observing the other players at the table.  Poker is easy for some of us.

  A day before turning 19 years old she won the aforementioned World Series of Poker Europe Main Event.  She won 2.01 million dollars and that was the largest prize won by a woman ever in any tournament. 

  Then two years later she turned 21.  Now she no longer has to back her older and inferior friends to get a sweat at the World Series as she’ll be able to back herself.  She has already grown a huge bankroll from just playing freerolls and soon she’ll be able to compete on the biggest stage.

  En route to Las Vegas and her World Series coming out party, where she’ll rub elbows with the likes of Annie Duke (who held the former biggest one day pay day by a woman at 2 million in the WSOP Tournament of Champions, 2004), Obrestad took in the Aussie Millions this year.  Despite being more well known for her Texas Hold ‘Em No Limit acumen, it was in Pot Limit Omaha that she won her first of age tournament.

  Anette is a No Limit Hold ’Em genius and now apparently she can claim she is an Omaha genius too.  She did battle with a starting field of 160 runners.  She captured the 1.1k Pot Limit Omaha (Event 4 at the 2010 Aussie Millions) this week with the same type of careful observation of position and players as she used to win a $4.00 sit ’n go blindfolded.

  Sometimes, the player you fear the most at a final table isn’t the old hand, the grizzled rounder, or the computer geek with an online poker site logo on his height, it’s the unassuming quiet and gracious young lady from Norway that will rob you blind and bully you are the weakest kid in the playground.  The players knew to fear Obrestad bu there was nothing they could do to keep her from capturing the $40,000 AUD first place prize.   

  The final table began to shed contestants when Michael Sampieri could not beat Billy Seri and took home $3,200 AUD for his troubles.   Obrestad got into the mix knocking out players when she put Tony Bloom in her sights.  Anette started with AKQJ and improved to top two when the board came out J56K2.  Bloom’s pocket rockets to go with a 5 9 hoped the board would pair the 5 or 6 on the river but the 2 came instead.  Bloom’s booty was 4,800 AUD.

  The next to go was the affable Paul Taylor.  He finished the Omaha poker event in seventh place winning $6,400 AUD.  Obrestad eliminated her next victim when  Emad Tahtouh’s KK810  could not overcome Obrestad’s AAKQ.  Tahtouh’s sixth-place finish was good for $8,800 AUD.

  The next to go had a lot of pros and cons.  A pro for pro poker player Con Angelakis was that he made the final table.  The con for Con was that he went home in fifth place.  A pro was he made $11,200 AUD. A con was that he didn’t win the 40k first place prize. 

  Obrestad wasn’t done kicking people off her final table as she knocked out Oliver Gill (fourth place for $17,600 AUD).  Then it was Ryan Gutch’s turn on the gallows (third place for $22,800 AUD).   Billy Seri might have started off the final table with the first elimination but on the final elimination it was he that was sent packing.   Obrestad held KJJ2 and Seri had Kj98.  The board gave Seri the bad news when Obrestad’s jacks held;  AA9210.  Seri had $31,200 AUD to comfort himself.  

  For a youngster who is getting comfortable making firsts, this marked two more as it was her first live PLO title, and she became the first female Aussie Millions Champion.

• Decade in Review: World Series of Poker Champions...

  In 2003, Chris Moneymaker an online poker satellite qualifier turned poker on its ear.  The poker world had an idea that they lived in a very different place than they used to but it was not until the Main Event in 2004 that they saw the difference first hand.  Greg Raymer left an indelible mark on that event, the first of the post Moneymaker era, and the ironically named Fossilman was more newbreed than old.

  Seated on a memorable table that the TV cameras found Raymer locked horns with Mike Matusow, Raymer got chewed out but took it well showing exactly the kind of tempermant and patience it would take to win a tournament of this size over a period of days.  This is not a skill they teach you in poker school but it should be an introductory class.

  Raymer first started gaining attention from the media during the main event due to his holographic sunglasses.  They offered an intimidating colorful stare that unsettled opponents.  Raymer certainly knew how to wear them as he put them on during a hand, put his head on his fist and just looked in his table-mates direction until they blinked. 

   Raymer waded through a massive field using his chip stack like a seasoned pro.  The patent attorney who had one WSOP cash to his name knew to use the stack like a big lever to apply pressure on his opponents.  Many of whom were also satellite qualifiers just looking to go as deep as possible.  Some were pros like Matusow and they too fell victim to Raymer’s aggression.

  The final table brought a diverse new breed of poker players together in what would be a template for many final tables to come.  There were young pros, a  young euro, an old hand or two, a young Moneymaker inspired kid, and a couple of wannabes.  In television shows this final table was the eagerly awaited sequel to Moneymaker’s and a familiar face headlined the event. 

  In his green Boston Red Sox cap was the man known as Action Dan Harrington.  He was the most feared poker player at the Texas Hold ‘Em No Limit final table regardless of his chip stack and Dan had plenty of those.  Harrington entered final table play 4th in chips.  Everybody was looking up at Raymer but everybody was scared of Harrington, a former Main Eventer, and a repeat final table player. 

   Raymer’s dinosaur sized stack dwarfed the others as he sat with almost 9 million in chips.  In seat 5 was Matt Dean, a math teacher from just outside of Houston.  He picked up poker by playing at his fraternity house, and the 25 year old was new to huge tournament poker.  He had just under 5 million in chips and represented the biggest threat to Raymer. 

  One player that the others feared was previous bracelet winner Josh Arieh.  The youngish poker pro had 10 World Series of Poker cashes under his belt at that time and knew how to wield his 3.25 million in chips.  Glenn Hughes a graduate from Ole Miss, a semi-retired 38 year old, with a big personality pipped Harrington’s chip stack by 30k. 

  David Williams came into final table play with 1.575 million.  Like Mattias Andersson who was on the short stack (740k) Williams moved from playing Magic the Gathering to playing poker for high stakes.  Williams brash youth would set up a good heads up match with the eventual champion but he’d come up just short in his young quest for a bracelet.

  The final two players were poker pros Mike McLain and Al Krux.  McLain at 39 didn’t have the years of near misses that Krux did but both were near the apex of their poker careers.  McLain came in with 885k while Krux had 1.3 million.  Neither lasted too long.

  McLain was the first to go winnning 470k.  The short-stack Swede Andersson was next to head the exit with 575k.  Matt Dean’s day turned upside down and the second biggest stack was the third player out pocketing 675k.  Al Krux grinded his way to 800k.  Glenn Huges becam the Main Event’s first millionaire winning 1.1 for 5th place.  Looking back on the table the four biggest names were all that were left.

  Arieh and Harrington had the most experience but Harrington got bounced in 4th with 1.5k, Aried in 3rd for 3.5k.  David Williams and Raymer played a short heads up match and the pocket 8s of Raymer prevailed over Williams’ weak ace.
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