Things get quite bizarre around me when I find myself going a week’s length of time without serious internet access. I always have my trusty iPhone on my person in case immediate situations present themselves where I need access to a search engine for frivolous trivia answers, but it doesn’t give the outlet for my inter-words or a chance to follow along with things in the poker world. That was the situation I found myself over the last week when I left the grind of the Borgata Poker Open and took a little birthday time away in an island paradise.

So what has happened over the last few days that might be of interest to the casual fan of poker? Members of Team Full Tilt putting a big stamp on the World Series of Poker Europe and an FTP Heads Up grinder collects a WPT win after an huge comeback.

First out of the chute is the easy reporting duty since I was there in person. 1,018 players entered the 2009 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship, they battled for 5 days until we finally found ourselves looking at a heads up match for the title. Olivier “livb112″ Busquet found himself looking at a massive underdog chip stack going up against blackjack specialist Jeremy Brown. Busquet makes his living tearing through $1,000 Heads Up SnG’s on Full Tilt Poker, booking over $1,500,000 in earnings. Brown’s claim to fame seemed to be chugging a beer per orbit and shots of Patrone with his friends. At one point Busquet was all in with his last 1,800,000 in chips versus the +30,000,000 of Brown, behind and turning lucky. Battle after battle, he eventually turned the tide and took down the title. It will certainly be one of the more interesting telecasts of the new season next spring. You can catch his victory interview with Amanda Leatherman here.

In the big news across the pond, we saw members of Team Full Tilt dominate the early WSOP-E events and making a run at the Main Event as we read/write this post. With just 4 total events during this London-based series, players did not have the luxury of warming up with a bunch of smaller events before jumping after a bracelet. The first event was a standard £1,000 buyin No Limit Hold’em tournament. While none of the Full Tilters ran huge in this starter event, we did have Markus Gloser and John Juanda make the money and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson just miss the final table in 15th.

Event #2 is where things became interesting. Just 158 players bought into the Mix Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha for £2,500 with 18 players getting paid. Team Full Tilt member Vitaly Lunkin and “friend of the blog” Allie Prescott both made it into the money but could not get onto the final table. It was a talented final nine which included Howard Lederer, Hoyt Corkins, Chris Bjorin, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Ian Frazer and Erik Cajelais. In the end, Team Full Tilt had the first off the final table and the last man standing. Howard Lederer was eliminated in the 9th place while Erik Cajelais collects his first WSOP braclet to go along with his WPT Five Diamonds Classic title. Many of the players on the final day were also registered for Day 1 of the £5,000 PLO tournament and there seemed to be a lot of live multi-tabling going on.

Howard Lederer would not let his 9th place finish hamper his efforts in Event #3,  £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha sure to attract the best European poker players around. 154 players were in the running to start Day 1 but only 18 would make the money and a chance at the bracelet. Tom “durrrr” Dwan has been known to play a few hands of PLO on occasion (tongue firmly in cheek) but he was unable to crack the final table coming in 14th. Nearly half of the final was composed of the red and white patches of Full Tilt with Robert Williamson III, Hendon Mobster Ross Boatman, Roberto Romanello and Howard Lederer in the last nine. Howard Lederer was poised to capture the second bracelet for FTP but was unable to overcome Jani Vilmunen to finish second. That is back-to-back final table finishes for “The Professor”.

The £10,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event is will underway and there are just two tables left battling it out. John Juanda won the bracelet in 2008 but was unable to defend his title. James Akenhead has a fantastic chance to duplicate the feat by Ivan Demidov last year. Demidov was already set up as a member of the “November Nine” in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event when he went to Europe and final tabled that Main Event. Akenhead will represent Full Tilt Poker later this year for the WSOP Main Event final table and is now sitting mid-field with 18 players remaining in the European Main Event.

Also looking to make a run at this final bracelet you can find poker legend Doyle Brunson, Hendon Mobster Ram Vaswani, Tony Cousineau, Matt Hawrilenko, Daniel Negreanu, and Jason Mercier.  There are no soft spots left in this field. They continue to grind away and hopefully we’ll have just one more great story for Team Full Tilt before the series is complete.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

Team Full Tilt Look to Dominate Live Poker. Again.

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In the good news of the day, “Miami” John Cernuto is back in the Amazon Room after spending several days in the hospital with some serious health issues. He seems to be back to his old self, holding court over the table and joking with Tom McEvoy. Many other members of Team Full Tilt are making the Main Event appearance including Howard Lederer, John Juanda, Lee Watkinson, David Singer, and 2008 Final Table player Kelly Kim.

There was speculation around the room about the size of today’s field considering a lot of online pros generally spend their Sunday taking on the big online tournaments but some of those big names are in the field today including Eric “Rizen” Lynch. We won’t have the exact number of entrants until well into the evening but there is a chance we’ll hit the magic 2,000 player number.

More to come later in the day including pictures from Day 1b. A handful of Full Tilt pros including Fabrice Soulier (87,725), Mike Matusow (37,875), Chris Ferguson, (24,050), and Erik Seidel (18,550). Those players will return on Tuesday for Day 2a.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2009 World Series of Poker Day 40 – The New Batch

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While all this is going on, the good folks at Image Masters continue to provide us with some great action shots during the tournaments.  Every morning I receive pictures from the day before that I use to enhance the stories I try to bring the readers.  I hope they’ve added to the experience.

Today I bring you some photos from Week 2 of the 2009 World Series of Poker without my ramblings.  A small taste of what we have available, look for a full gallery coming in the next few days.  All pictures courtesy of Image Masters.

Pictures after the jump, click to enlarge:

The Two Faces of Andy Black
Andy Black started off the 2009 World Series of Poker with players talking about his play AND his appearance. He seemed to be rocking the beard and laid back look at the beginning and looked completely different during Week 2. Your investigative blogger will get to the bottom of this before the end of the series.

Phil Ivey collects World Series of Poker bracelet #6 at the daily ceremony from WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack.

Phil Ivey wasted no time after winning his 6th WSOP bracelet. He hopped right back into action.  Full Tilt pro Beth Shak in the foreground and may be the recipient of the Ivey stare.

Legends side-by-side.  Erik Seidel and Mike Sexton grinding away in Event #15 of the 2009 World Series of Poker.  Seidel came close to winning his 9th WSOP bracelet in the Pot Limit Hold’em tournament had to settle for a seventh place finish.  Seidel is tied with another legend, Johnny Moss, with 8 WSOP bracelets.

Svetlana Gromenkova and Karina Jett were just a few of the Full Tilt pros to represent in the 2009 World Series of Poker Ladies Championship. Gromenkova won this event in 2008 but was unable to defend her title.

“Miami” John Cernuto and John Juanda playing in Event #16 $1,500 Seven Card Stud tournament.  “Miami” John would put up a great fight ending up in 11th.  Juanda had his first shot at bracelet number 5 by making the final table. Juanda’s run ended with a 5th place finish.

Howard Lederer playing in the $10,000 Mixed World Championship.  It’s been a slow start to the series for “The Professor” this year with only one cash to date.  No doubt he’ll be a factor as the series progresses.

Both David Chiu and Huck Seed won their way to the final table of the $10,000 Mixed Championship with a chance to add to their jewelry collection.  Seed collected over $102,000 for his 5th place finish and Chiu was the runner up for $304,000 but no new trophies on his wrist.

Erica Schoenberg only has one cash in the 2009 World Series of Poker but continues her search for a WSOP bracelet.  As a railbird favorite, she is always easy to find in the poker room.

It’s never a dull moment when Perry Friedman is in the poker room.  He started the series by sporting a “Full Tilt Poker grill” (gold hip hop teeth things for us uncool folk) and he added a little twist in Week 2.  It’s tough to see but he rocking the cornrows on each side of his head with Full Tilt spelled out in beads.  Who knows what to expect in Week 3.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2009 World Series of Poker – Week 2 in Pictures

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John Juanda playing in Event #20 at the 2009 World Series of Poker
Photo credit: IMPDI

Event #24, the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, lived up to it’s reputation.  2,506 players entered the tournament and just 270 survived the ten levels of Day 1.  That averages out to just under 2 players busting out every 60 seconds of the tournament.  They were leaving almost as quickly as they came.  Those remaining players will return for Day 2 and attempt to play down to their final table.  If history has taught us anything this year, they will most likely play til the 3am cutoff with 3 or 4 tables to play.

In blogger news, CK31 ran well all day and goes into Day 2 of the $2,500 Omaha-Stud/8 tournament sitting comfortably in the top third of the chip counts and above average chipstack.  376 players entered the event and 153 will come back trying to make the money, final table, and a bracelet.  Another loaded tournament with plenty of big names near the top including Allie Prescott, Jon “Pearljammed” Turner, Phil Ivey, Chau Giang and Toto Leonidas.

Two Full Tilt pros ended the day with another chance to add to the bracelet count in the $10,000 World Championship of Deuce to Seven Draw.  Both John Juanda and Roland De Wolfe halted play at the 3am cutoff before forming the final table 7.  2008 champ Mike Matusow was unable to fight his way through the tough field and defend his title.

In crazy railbird news, a gentleman has begun walking the hallways in full American Indian headdress gear trying to make time with the Sapphire bikini girls.  He doesn’t seem to be making much progress and I have yet to see him sit down to a poker table.  I’m also waiting for someone to be offended and beat the tar out of him.

Seriously, do you really want to make a play against that stare?

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2009 World Series of Poker – Day 16 From the Rail

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John Juanda and Tom “durrr” Dwan battled for the biggest online cash pots
Photo credit: PokerNews.com

I don’t generally spend too much time trolling the super high limit tables on Full Tilt to watch the action but that might now have to change. A blog called “Poker From The Rail” should start spending some time railing the biggest cash games found online now. Surfing around I found a writeup on PokerNews.com that reported some incredible hands this weekend on the two big FTP cash tables.

They are reporting that the record for the single biggest online cash pot was broken. Not once but 4 times in short succession this weekend and big timers Phil Ivey and John Juanda were in the mix. Two of the biggest hands involved a poker players nightmare, getting all the money in holding KK versus AA.

Juanda won a $678,069 pot against Tom “durrrr” Dwan when his KK spiked a third king on the river versus the AA held by Dwan. I will keep this pot in mind the next time someone hits a two outter on me, my beat won’t cost me near $700k. The current record for biggest online cash pot of $723,938 saw durrr again battling KK versus AA, only this time he was holding the KK and didn’t improve. He watched as the huge pot was pushed to Urindanger and a new cash game standard was set.

You can find the big game action going on at the $500/$1000 NLHE tables in the lobby named “RailHeaven” and “GusHeaven”.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

Railing the Big Cash Game

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John Juanda wins 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event
Photo credit: PokerNews.com

John Juanda began the WSoP-E Main Event final table with the chip lead and finished the evening as the last man standing. Juanda captured his 4th World Series of Poker bracelet along with the £868,800 first place money. It was a final table that required endurance along with remarkable poker skill as the play lasted 22 hours with head’s up play alone lasting 7 hours.

Scott Fischman had an up-and-down day finishing the day in 6th for a £171,950 payday when his AQ was outdrawn by KQ.

Overall it was a successful Main Event for the Full Tilt pros with 7 players making the money, two players at the final table and Juanda taking it down for Team Full Tilt.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2008 World Series of Poker Europe – John Juanda wins Main Event

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Scott Fischman makes WSoP-E Final Table

The dreams of a mostly Full Tilt pro final table at the World Series of Poker Europe went out the window quickly with Andy Bloch, Erik Seidel, Mike Matusow and Brandon Adams going out almost in succession. The final table table still shows a chance for an FTP WSoP-E Main Event champion with John Juanda leading the field and Scott Fischman making an outstanding showing.

Also at the final table will be Ivan Demidov who has probably set an unbeatable record. Demidov already had his seat at the big table for the WSoP Main Event scheduled to be played in November. Incredible feat as Scott Fischman kept reminding him throughout the day as the players continued to get knocked out around him.

Full Tilt pro finishing place and cash:

17th – Brandon Adams – £36,200
18th – Mike Matusow – £36,200
19th – Erik Seidel – £28,960
23rd – Andy Bloch – £28,960
33rd – Josh Arieh – £25,340

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2008 World Series of Poker Europe – Two Full Tilt pros make the final table

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John Juanda ends Day 3 of the World Series of Poker Europe near the top

Day 3 of the World Series of Poker Europe ended with Full Tilt pros making a big run at the WSoP-E Bracelet and the £868,800 first place prize money. Play finished with just 25 players remaining and 7 of those are Tilters leading with John Juanda heading into Day 4 third in chips. The Main Event started with 362 and only 24 more to go til glory. The money bubble burst with the top 36 paying, everyone is guaranteed £28,960. The day will begin with the blinds at 2000/4000 500 ante.

Full Tilt pros remaining, position in the field and chip count:

3rd – John Juanda – 580,000
8th – Brian ’sbruby’ Townsend – 355,000
10th – Brandon Adams – 309,000
12th – Andy Bloch – 301,000
13th – Scott Fischman – 265,000
19th – Erik Seidel – 133,000
20th – Mike Matusow – 125,000

Chip counts courtesy of the lovely Change100 and the PokerNews crew

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2008 World Series of Poker Europe – Day 3 Full Tilt Pros

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Category	John Juanda	Lynette Chan	Survey Says
Career Earnings	Nearly $7 million	According to thehendonmob.com, she’s only won just under $4K. That can’t possibly be right, I mean, she is a professional…	If this is setting the standard for what we’re about to see for the rest of the match, cover your eyes. This one ain’t gonna be pretty. Juanda takes round one.
Major Titles	Three WSOP bracelets	Ummm… Has she even played in any major tourneys?	Ughhh – who in the hell made these pairings? This just isn’t fair. What? This is my fault you say. As if I was the one who put this whole thing together and I’m to blame. So I guess I have to hate myself now. Oh well, that’s pretty par for the course for me. At any rate, put another mark on the chalk board for JJ.
Tournament Play	One of the best (if not the best) tourney players on the circuit today.	See above. Un-sarcastic side note: to Lynette’s credit, she is known as more of a cash game player than a tourney specialist.	Wow, Lynette’s getting pounded harder than a cheerleader on prom night. Wait, did that joke make any sense? And that’s two prom jokes in one week from me, am I in high school or something? If I keep asking these questions, will anyone ever answer them? Needless to say, I need help. Juanda three, Chan zero.
Cash Game Play	Best known for his tourney play, JJ is nonetheless capable of hanging with the best cash game players in the world.	Lynette is what the locals call “la casho gamo expertista,” which surprising enough translates to “woman with very large breasts.”	I really wanted to give this one to Chan, but I can only imagine that JJ would eat her alive at the table. What a tasty meal that would be, eh? Juanda scores another point, the beat down continues.
Playing Style	Crouching Tiger	Hidden Dragon	There was a debate in the office as to whether the answers in this category might be deemed racially insensitive. You know, because they’re both Jewish. At the end of the day, we decided that we don’t care. JJ’s tiger style wins this race, if only because we’re rooting for our first Mortal Kombat style flawless victory.
Best Game	No-Limit Hold ‘em	No-Limit Hold ‘em	Um, can there be a tie? Have we ever done that before? No? Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to give this one to JJ as well.
Nickname	The Pros Pro	*Nickname to be decided at a later date when she actually does something in poker or I can think of a name that isn’t racially insensitive.	This is just merciless. I feel like a ref who needs to stop the fight before one of the boxers kills the other one. But I’m not that nice – the show must go on. Juanda now leads by a score of seven to nothing.
Aspirations	Aspires to become a doctor so he can help out people in third world countries.	Aspires to become a model and actress.	We’d normally go with the hot chick who wants to be a model here, but JJ is just too much of a good guy. The world doesn’t need any more model/actresses, but it does need some more selfless doctors. Juanda moves one step closer to the sweep.
Past Lives Pavillion	Former door-to-door Bible salesman.	Former marketing executive for luxury automotive brands, including Ferrari and Mercedes.	How do we spin this one in Juanda’s favor? Bibles versus fast cars – that doesn’t even seem fair. Then again, there is a lot of smiting going on in the Bible and we do loves ourselves a good smiting. We do it at least four or five times a day. We’ll give this one to JJ because, well, we can.

Wait for it, here it comes: FLAWLESS VICTORY! Yes, it has finally happened! I haven’t been this excited since John Tesh decided to leave Entertainment Tonight to pursue his music career full time. Wait, I’ve said too much. Ignore that last comment; please strike it from your memory. Until next week…

Post from: Poker From The Rail

Heads Up: John Juanda Versus Lynette Chan

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