Texas Holdem Poker

One of the largest online poker rooms has shifted legal gears. PokerStars, thinking in smaller terms than the US Federal UIGEA, is hoping to convince Nevada lawmakers to allow them to be the first online poker room for the residents of their state. In making the push, PokerStars will be presenting lawmakers with tax numbers and job predictions this week.

The online poker giant has agreed that they will hand over 6.75% on the rake from the revenue generate within the state plus an additional 4% on the global profits. Since PokerStars stands as one of the two largest online poker rooms in the world, that 4 percent could become quite a substantial boon for the Nevada economy. Additionally, moving a PokerStars office into the state will create numerous jobs and increase the local revenue significantly. The forecasted numbers will be reflected when representatives of PokerStars speak to state legislators this week.

Should Nevada become the first state to legalize and operate online gambling facilities, they will lay the foundation for an intrastate challenge. This foundation may grow and Nevada and PokerStars may find themselves in a position to address this on the federal level. The global poker community will be watching the small state of Nevada very closely.

In recent years we have seen a rise in the quality of the online poker bots. In previous years, poker bots have been online robots that are little to no challenge for an online poker player. In the last couple of years things have begun to change, thanks to AI integration and a new approach by the designers. This is proving more difficult for poker rooms to identify the bots and eliminate them swiftly.
Last year a major poker room was forced to suspend thousands of dollars in money from player’s accounts due to poker bots. By July they had purged their system completely of this online poker menaces. Today this poker room keeps a team of people diligently watching for more bot activity. This diligence proves their unyielding focus to maintain the integrity of their site and games.
Even as the major poker rooms work hard to combat the prolific invasions of online poker bots, they are still openly available for sale online. One company, Shanky Technologies, sells licenses for a Texas Holdem Poker Bot at 129 USD annually. A co-founder of the company has indicated that more than 400 of his customers have been banned from the major online poker rooms. With each banned customer’s totals adding up quickly, the poker giants have seized more than 50 thousand USD. The Shanky founders believe that the revenue their bots could potentially generate for the online poker sites would easily top the 70 thousand USD mark each month. A Shanky co-founder has stated his surprise over the choice to put the bots out of the online gaming systems.
Brian Jetter, the more outspoken of the Shanky co-founders, has indicated there are no formal relations with any online poker room but that many of the online poker sites are ‘looking the other way’ when their bots compete on their online poker sites. One poker website, PokerScout.com, indicates they have more than 600 online and active poker rooms for people to play in. With those numbers and potentially thousands of accounts on each of the 600 online poker rooms, it would be difficult to track each online poker bot down and ban it. Such a staggering situation lends credence to Mr. Jetter’s statements.
One of the speculative reasons online poker rooms and similar sites do not crack down on the robots is that the science is still infantile. Generally speaking, poker bots are not the best players at the game. Often they aren’t even a challenge to a typical poker player. According to Darse Billings, a consultant for Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker and former chief data analyst at Full Tilt, “The large majority of bots are very bad. More than 90 percent are losing money.” With new technology and information, the online poker bot is getting smarter. Thanks to new advances in the computer sciences field, developments have proven beneficial to the way software can be programmed to play games.
By comparison, it is easier to develop a live chess computer than it is a poker bot. Chess is an information based game that can be anticipated and predicted by the location of pieces on the board. This can be read, anticipated and played before the game has moved the first piece. Poker is quite a different animal. Every possible and plausible scenario can change with the draw of one card. There are also some very imperfect human elements to the game; examples would include how often a given player tends to bluff, or what card opponents have.
A poker bot must do the vast majority of its work prior to the match, running millions of simulations prior to the cards being dealt. Unfortunately for the online poker bot, computing every possible simulation or situation is implausible.
Currently, the best poker bots in the world are located the University of Alberta Computer Poker Research Group and with Professor Tuomas W Sandholm’s Poker Research Group at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. This friendly rivaly has been ongoing since 2006 when the first Annual computer Poker Competition drew more interest to poker playing computers. With these exceptional computers, Professor Sandholm believes they can rival good players but not approach the skill of the best. Given the focus and resources available to these two groups, that’s only a matter of time. Obviously, the poker playing robots created and enhanced by these two groups are not available online or to the general population.
The most common online poker bots are the result of a personal hobby or programmers experiment. Some have developed bots to watch and record games, while others will purchase a bot like those sold by Shanky to provide themselves an intellectual exercise and a consistent competitor for improving their own game. Mr. Jetter, “Using a poker bot is in fact a natural extension of the game of online poker. Creating your own playing profile is a fun challenge that many players enjoy.” He indicated that buyers of his company’s poker bot can customize the playing style, decision making strategies, and other details. This makes the bots more attractive to buyers who are looking to improve their game against various potential situations.
The major poker rooms disagree with Mr. Jetter’s assessment of the situation. All of the major online poker rooms are striving to maintain the integrity of the game and preventing the use of online poker bots. Will we find this is truly an extension of the online poker room as Shanky believes? Or are online poker bots truly the abomination that competitive online poker players perceive them to be? Time will tell.

Darvin Moon and Heartland Poker Tour
In the years since the Heartland Poker Tour’s inception, the tour has not sponsored a player. In the time since Darvin Moon became the runner up in the World Series of Poker Main Event (WSOP), he’s not accepted a single sponsorship offer. Together they are forging an attention catching team.
Darvin Moon was deemed by many as unable to be signed, because he refused sponsorship as a member of the November Nine. With his home town feel and attitude, Moon was quoted as saying, “I don’t want a boss. I’ve come this far on my own; I don’t want to answer to anybody now.” He called the shots that brought him all the way to the final table and had no plans to change that at the final table.
Since that time, Darvin has found a comfortable match among the people of the Heartland Poker Tour. He believes they represent the perfect fit for his lifestyle. No one doubts that Darvin Moon is one of the hardest working names in poker today. This, of course, refers to outside of the poker industry as a whole. This long time Maryland logger ran his own business for many years before competing in the 2009 WSOP main event. His general disposition has not changed from that of the hardworking American man, competing for the pleasure of the game and the win.
Todd Anderson, president of the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT), believes Darvin is the right kind of guy to represent their brand. In the eyes of Mr. Anderson, Darvin is the hardworking man who now lives the dream many people seek when playing the game of Texas Holdem.
In the years to come, Darvin Moon will wear the HPT brand and play in their live events. He will become the face of the Heartland Poker Tour. This is something both parties are looking forward to.

John Dolan starts 2nd in chips at this year’s WSOP final table with 46,250,000 in chips. This online pro, who plays online under the name”JRD312,” has numerous strong live tournament performances, including making the final table of $1,000 NL Hold’em Event #36 earlier in the 2010 WSOP and his $94,000 win playing online in a Full Tilt Poker $1k Monday tournament in 2009. John Dolan WSOP final table could be either legendary or short-lived, since the pro has had a tendency in the past to blow through bankrolls. Still, Dolan’s professional record is impressive, boasting over $1 million in lifetime earnings, including nine titles and 91 cashes. Dolan was born in New Jersey but grew up in Bonita Springs, Florida and attended Florida State University, where he studied Business.

Fresh young faces at the poker table have been a reoccurring theme in the past 5 to 10 years. With the boom of internet poker and televised live tournaments, there has been an ever-growing amount of people wanting to take a shot at stardom. Enter Tom Dwan: the 23 year old internet poker sensation turned high stakes live tournament player. For 6 years, Tom has been playing poker as much as possible and really mastering the game.

His dream began when he was just 17 years old with a modest $50 initial investment. It was a gift from his father placed on an internet poker room that gave Tom the start he needed. Amazingly, he lost over half of his $50 and was ready to write off his possible talents. But Tom was not satisfied with giving up so easily. He pushed on and turned a meager $15 into a promising career.

Play Online Poker

As Tom Dwan, aka “durrrr” – his internet poker nickname, started to build his bank roll, he experimented with many different games. Sit n Go tournaments, cash games and multi-table tournaments until he found his favorite. That favorite game was heads up no limit poker. Tom was not afraid to go up against the big guns either. He regularly battled against some of the top pros both from the internet and from the pro circuits. With Tom’s newfound confidence and his impressive knack for the game, it was not wonder that he showed up at the World Series of Poker to try and make a name for himself. With 2 cashes at the World Series including one final table, Tom has really brought some attention his way.

One of the most interesting aspects of Tom Dwan is his fearlessness. Amazingly, Dwan reports that he has lost huge amounts of money in very little time periods. It is believed that Tom lost of about $2.5 million in a just four month’s time. What is even more remarkable is that Dwan has managed to gain it all back. He is even challenging huge name players to go heads up for $1 million. It seems like the kid has ice in his veins. If there is one thing we can count on from Tom Dwan, it is that he is not going anywhere for a while. Look for Dwan to make a lot of noise through his heads up challenges and he might even be a threat to win some events at the World Series of Poker this year.

Doyle Brunson Reaches Round 2 in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship

One of the poker players in contention is Doyle Brunson in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in Las Vegas. The tournament is unique and there was a lot of speculation if Brunson would be able to play as he had a dental surgery after the Super Bowl which took place last month. Doyle Brunson not only played in the tournament but also reached the Round 2. He defeated Brock “t soprano” Parker to qualify to this round.

In the final hand Brunson had A-Q of diamonds whereas on the other hand Parker had wired pair of eights. His had truly had created a tight spot. Brunson did not need to look back as soon as the queen came in the form of window card. In the round of 32 Brunson will now play Don Cheadle. Cheadle reached the second round by defeating J.P.Kelly.

The first round of the game truly saw the clash of the titans, when Howard Lederer played against Phil Hellmuth. This match was also very interesting like the match between Brunson and Parker. There was a race situation and Hellmuth finally won. In the 2nd round will have to play against Annette Obrestad who is another giant in the industry. He is the winner of the World Series of Poker in 2007 and he reached the second round by beating Orel Hershiser on Friday.

Davin Moon is the other player who qualified to the second round. He was the runner up in the World Series of Poker in 2009. The table on which he played along with Bill Huntress was the ‘quietest table on the set’. Moon held the best hand and showed a K-10 which included ten of clubs. The game also was very interesting and after a point there was no hope for Huntress, the Caesars qualifier to qualify to the second round. In the second round Davin Moon will play against Annie Duke who is a guest columnist in the Poker News Daily.

There were seven players who entered and out of these one was eliminated in the first round. These are the updates on the second round of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship for the year 2010. The action is taking place at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. It starts at 1:00pm PT. The winner of the championship will be declared on Sunday after the final match happens that day.

If you are looking for an online poker training school, you now have a new option. Full Tilt Poker has opened the Full Tilt Poker Academy. Unlike many of the schools on the internet, Full Tilt is offering the training at their academy free of charge to members. This differs from many schools that charge monthly access fees to their users.

The Full Tilt Poker Academy uses interactive video instruction to present various topics to students. Topics range from cash game strategies to tournament play. Full Tilt’s roster of pros makes up the faculty for the academy. Instructors include Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Andy Bloch, Bill Edler, Paul Wasicka, Howard Lederer, and Allen Cunningham.

Each pro brings a different skill set to the academy and all poker lessons are one on one video session with the pro. For example, Andy Bloch conducts a session on simplifying poker math. Aaron Bartley conducts lessons on Sit-N-Go play. Lessons are broken down into either category or by pro. Lesson topics are divided into general strategy, cash game strategy, tournament strategy, and Sit-N-Go strategy. You can also bring up a list of pros and click on their link to discover which subject they will teach.

Another feature of the academy is live game sessions conducted by the Full Tilt pros. In these games, viewers get to watch pros play in live games and they get to hear why pros make their moves in the games. Almost every game is covered at one point or another during these sessions, so there should be a video for every poker fan that visits the site.

Learning new skills are great, but members of the Full Tilt Poker Academy can apply their newly developed skills in one of two ways. First, they can take Sit-N-Learn interactive quizzes that tests player’s knowledge on the material they have covered. They are scored both by how quickly they correctly answer the questions. After they finish the quiz, they are ranked among other participants in the quiz. The top members then get an opportunity to compete against each other in a monthly free roll event setup for academy members.

The next way that members can apply their new found skills is via pro challenges. These challenges are sets of tasks that are assigned to members and they must be completed in live play. Challenges range from cash game plays to tournament and sit-n-go plays. Once the tasks are completed, members receive Academy Credits that can be used at the Full Tilt Academy Store. At the academy store, members will be able to buy items including Full Tilt merchandise, entries into tournaments, Full Tilt member points, and even cash.

There are two ways that you can become a member of the Full Tilt Poker Academy. First, there is a signup form on the website for new members. If you are already a member of Full Tilt Poker, then you are already a member of the Full Tilt Poker Academy. All you need to do is login with your username and password.

There are many options on the web for online poker training, but there are few quality sites out there that give you free training. Full Tilt Poker Academy looks to be one of the few quality sites on the web that can give you real world training that will allow you to clean up at the poker tables.

Dutch Poker Players
There are many beloved poker players who come from the Netherlands, some very highly regarded in the poker community. One recently well-known poker player from the Netherlands is Rob Hollink, who took home three wins from the 2008 WSOP, one of which was first place in Event #30, the World Championship Limit Hold ‘em. He also placed 15th in Event #19 Pot-Limit Omaha and 22nd in Event #50 World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha.

Another rising star from Amsterdam in the poker world is Noah Boeken, born in 1981. Like many other professional poker players from all parts of the world, his strategy skills came from excelling in the game Magic: The Gathering, which prepped him for a successful career in poker. His big break came from his 1st place win at the 2005 Scandinavian Open when he took down Ram Vaswani for almost $200K.
Boeken is often called Mini-Marcel after his mentor, fellow Dutchman and intercontinental poker champion, Marcel Luske, who is probably the most well-known of Dutch poker players. Luske is also known as the “Flying Dutchman” as he started out playing poker all over Europe, flying from city to city to compete in tournaments. Luske is an avid player at many high-stakes live events and a winner of millions of dollars. This classy poker giant, also from Amsterdam, is the definition of poker etiquette and his stylish air is pleasantly complemented by his acute sense of humor, known for breaking out in song at the tables and wearing upside down sunglasses. Being an older poker player gives him an edge against the young guns that populate the tables these days. He approaches poker with respect and in 2001 was ranked as the number one player in Europe, later to be European Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004. In 2008, he ranked as 150th on the Player of the Year list, up from 884th in 2007. Needless to say, he’s not new to poker.
Luske taught Boeken that there is a place for modesty and respect for yourself and others in poker and in life, in general. Luske has been called “Poker’s Roving Ambassador” for the goodwill he exhibits among his opponents. He embodies the honorable character of the region he represents and teaches Boeken to do the same. These two players are seen together often, representing the past, present, and future of Netherlands poker. Both of these poker players from the Netherlands are proud of the role they have played in Dutch poker, as well as global poker. They have a huge Dutch following, and many of their fans are inspired by them enough to follow in their footsteps. Luske, especially, has done a great job promoting poker as a rather admirable job in the Netherlands.

HosniMubarak takes down Full Tilt $750K guarantee for $136,080

This week’s 750K guarantee on Full Tilt Poker attracted over 3800 players and 30 sponsored pros. Jordan Morgan was the last pro standing when he finished a few tables short of the final table at 55th place. The final 9 players entered the final table after seven hours of tournament play. All of the stacks were relatively in close size, with averages at 1.2 million. Reletrom and HosniMubarak were in contention with each other for the chip lead until it got 4 handed and Reletrom was eliminated. HosniMubarak would maintain his lead to take 1st place in this week’s $750k guarantee, along with a prize of $136,080 for his efforts.

9th place KO : MajorPayne11 ($10,299)

Full Tilt Poker Game #7504851370: $750,000 Guarantee (56134520), Table 27 – 30000/60000 Ante 7500 – No Limit Hold’em – 2:11:49 ET – 2008/08/04
Seat 1: theman2892 (1,040,326)
Seat 2: Reletrom (2,030,792)
Seat 3: LWALKER (1,295,948)
Seat 4: CountTilt (879,613)
Seat 5: potbuilder1881 (840,646)
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (1,422,952)
Seat 7: lemac1980 (1,408,692)
Seat 8: theoneone (1,554,642)
Seat 9: MajorPayne11 (1,055,389)
theman2892 antes 7,500
Reletrom antes 7,500
LWALKER antes 7,500
CountTilt antes 7,500
potbuilder1881 antes 7,500
HosniMubarak antes 7,500
lemac1980 antes 7,500
theoneone antes 7,500
MajorPayne11 antes 7,500
potbuilder1881 posts the small blind of 30,000
HosniMubarak posts the big blind of 60,000
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
lemac1980 folds
theoneone has 15 seconds left to act
theoneone folds
MajorPayne11 has 15 seconds left to act
MajorPayne11 raises to 180,000
theman2892 folds
Reletrom folds
LWALKER folds
CountTilt calls 180,000
potbuilder1881 folds
HosniMubarak folds
*** FLOP *** [3c 9h Ks]
MajorPayne11 has 15 seconds left to act
MajorPayne11 checks
CountTilt checks
*** TURN *** [3c 9h Ks] [Qc]
MajorPayne11 has 15 seconds left to act
MajorPayne11 bets 180,000
CountTilt has 15 seconds left to act
CountTilt raises to 460,000
MajorPayne11 has 15 seconds left to act
MajorPayne11 raises to 867,889, and is all in
CountTilt calls 232,113, and is all in
MajorPayne11 shows [9c 9d]
CountTilt shows [Kh Kd]
Uncalled bet of 175,776 returned to MajorPayne11
*** RIVER *** [3c 9h Ks Qc] [Ac]
MajorPayne11 shows three of a kind, Nines
CountTilt shows three of a kind, Kings
CountTilt wins the pot (1,901,726) with three of a kind, Kings
MajorPayne11: wow
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,901,726 | Rake 0
Board: [3c 9h Ks Qc Ac]
Seat 1: theman2892 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Reletrom folded before the Flop
Seat 3: LWALKER folded before the Flop
Seat 4: CountTilt (button) showed [Kh Kd] and won (1,901,726) with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 5: potbuilder1881 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: lemac1980 folded before the Flop
Seat 8: theoneone folded before the Flop
Seat 9: MajorPayne11 showed [9c 9d] and lost with three of a kind, Nines

8th place KO: LWALKER ($13,835)

Full Tilt Poker Game #7505037865: $750,000 Guarantee (56134520), Table 27 – 50K/100K Ante 10K – No Limit Hold’em – 2:34:45 ET – 2008/08/04
Seat 1: theman2892 (885,326)
Seat 2: Reletrom (2,887,792)
Seat 3: LWALKER (544,952)
Seat 4: CountTilt (1,828,726)
Seat 5: potbuilder1881 (521,146)
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (2,648,904)
Seat 7: lemac1980 (1,033,496)
Seat 8: theoneone (1,178,658)
theman2892 antes 10,000
Reletrom antes 10,000
LWALKER antes 10,000
CountTilt antes 10,000
potbuilder1881 antes 10,000
HosniMubarak antes 10,000
lemac1980 antes 10,000
theoneone antes 10,000
potbuilder1881 posts the small blind of 50,000
HosniMubarak posts the big blind of 100,000
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
lemac1980 folds
theoneone folds
theman2892 folds
Reletrom folds
LWALKER raises to 534,952, and is all in
CountTilt folds
potbuilder1881 folds
HosniMubarak has 15 seconds left to act
HosniMubarak calls 434,952
LWALKER shows [8h As]
HosniMubarak shows [8d 9d]
*** FLOP *** [Jc 9s 6c]
*** TURN *** [Jc 9s 6c] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [Jc 9s 6c Qc] [Kc]
LWALKER shows Ace King high
HosniMubarak shows a pair of Nines
HosniMubarak wins the pot (1,199,904) with a pair of Nines
LWALKER stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,199,904 | Rake 0
Board: [Jc 9s 6c Qc Kc]
Seat 1: theman2892 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Reletrom folded before the Flop
Seat 3: LWALKER showed [8h As] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 4: CountTilt (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: potbuilder1881 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (big blind) showed [8d 9d] and won (1,199,904) with a pair of Nines
Seat 7: lemac1980 folded before the Flop
Seat 8: theoneone folded before the Flop

7th place KO: lemac1980 ($17,678)

Full Tilt Poker Game #7505054027: $750,000 Guarantee (56134520), Table 27 – 50K/100K Ante 10K – No Limit Hold’em – 2:36:50 ET – 2008/08/04
Seat 1: theman2892 (895,326)
Seat 2: Reletrom (3,117,792)
Seat 4: CountTilt (1,668,726)
Seat 5: potbuilder1881 (1,022,292)
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (3,203,856)
Seat 7: lemac1980 (652,350)
Seat 8: theoneone (968,658)
theman2892 antes 10,000
Reletrom antes 10,000
CountTilt antes 10,000
potbuilder1881 antes 10,000
HosniMubarak antes 10,000
lemac1980 antes 10,000
theoneone antes 10,000
CountTilt posts the small blind of 50,000
potbuilder1881 posts the big blind of 100,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
HosniMubarak has 15 seconds left to act
HosniMubarak raises to 219,000
lemac1980 raises to 642,350, and is all in
theoneone folds
theman2892 folds
Reletrom raises to 1,065,700
CountTilt folds
potbuilder1881 folds
HosniMubarak folds
Reletrom shows [Kd Ks]
lemac1980 shows [Qd Qc]
Uncalled bet of 423,350 returned to Reletrom
*** FLOP *** [5h 9s 6d]
*** TURN *** [5h 9s 6d] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [5h 9s 6d 3c] [5c]
Reletrom shows two pair, Kings and Fives
lemac1980 shows two pair, Queens and Fives
Reletrom wins the pot (1,723,700) with two pair, Kings and Fives
HosniMubarak: nh
lemac1980 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,723,700 | Rake 0
Board: [5h 9s 6d 3c 5c]
Seat 1: theman2892 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Reletrom (button) showed [Kd Ks] and won (1,723,700) with two pair, Kings and Fives
Seat 4: CountTilt (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: potbuilder1881 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: HosniMubarak folded before the Flop
Seat 7: lemac1980 showed [Qd Qc] and lost with two pair, Queens and Fives
Seat 8: theoneone folded before the Flop

6th place KO: potbuilder1881 ($23,596)

Full Tilt Poker Game #7505082850: $750,000 Guarantee (56134520), Table 27 – 50K/100K Ante 10K – No Limit Hold’em – 2:40:32 ET – 2008/08/04
Seat 1: theman2892 (1,085,326)
Seat 2: Reletrom (4,179,142)
Seat 4: CountTilt (566,434)
Seat 5: potbuilder1881 (1,674,584)
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (3,284,856)
Seat 8: theoneone (738,658)
theman2892 antes 10,000
Reletrom antes 10,000
CountTilt antes 10,000
potbuilder1881 antes 10,000
HosniMubarak antes 10,000
theoneone antes 10,000
HosniMubarak posts the small blind of 50,000
theoneone posts the big blind of 100,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
theman2892 folds
Reletrom folds
CountTilt folds
potbuilder1881 raises to 410,000
HosniMubarak raises to 3,274,856, and is all in
theoneone has 15 seconds left to act
theoneone folds
potbuilder1881 has 15 seconds left to act
potbuilder1881 has requested TIME
potbuilder1881 calls 1,254,584, and is all in
HosniMubarak shows [8h 8d]
potbuilder1881 shows [Ac Tc]
Uncalled bet of 1,610,272 returned to HosniMubarak
*** FLOP *** [4h Ah 3c]
*** TURN *** [4h Ah 3c] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [4h Ah 3c 7c] [8s]
HosniMubarak shows three of a kind, Eights
potbuilder1881 shows a pair of Aces
HosniMubarak wins the pot (3,489,168) with three of a kind, Eights
HosniMubarak: std tho
potbuilder1881 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,489,168 | Rake 0
Board: [4h Ah 3c 7c 8s]
Seat 1: theman2892 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Reletrom folded before the Flop
Seat 4: CountTilt folded before the Flop
Seat 5: potbuilder1881 (button) showed [Ac Tc] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (small blind) showed [8h 8d] and won (3,489,168) with three of a kind, Eights
Seat 8: theoneone (big blind) folded before the Flop

5th place KO: theoneone ($31,820)

Full Tilt Poker Game #7505174384: $750,000 Guarantee (56134520), Table 27 – 60K/120K Ante 15K – No Limit Hold’em – 2:52:51 ET – 2008/08/04
Seat 1: theman2892 (690,326)
Seat 2: Reletrom (3,011,274)
Seat 4: CountTilt (2,210,736)
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (4,844,348)
Seat 8: theoneone (772,316)
theman2892 antes 15,000
Reletrom antes 15,000
CountTilt antes 15,000
HosniMubarak antes 15,000
theoneone antes 15,000
Reletrom posts the small blind of 60,000
CountTilt posts the big blind of 120,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
HosniMubarak folds
theoneone raises to 757,316, and is all in
theman2892 folds
Reletrom raises to 1,394,632
CountTilt folds
Reletrom shows [Ts Th]
theoneone shows [8c Ad]
Uncalled bet of 637,316 returned to Reletrom
*** FLOP *** [7s 3s Tc]
*** TURN *** [7s 3s Tc] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [7s 3s Tc Jc] [4s]
Reletrom shows three of a kind, Tens
theoneone shows Ace Jack high
Reletrom wins the pot (1,709,632) with three of a kind, Tens
theoneone stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,709,632 | Rake 0
Board: [7s 3s Tc Jc 4s]
Seat 1: theman2892 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Reletrom (small blind) showed [Ts Th] and won (1,709,632) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 4: CountTilt (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: HosniMubarak folded before the Flop
Seat 8: theoneone showed [8c Ad] and lost with Ace Jack high

4th place KO: Reletrom ($42,427)

Full Tilt Poker Game #7505334653: $750,000 Guarantee (56134520), Table 27 – 80K/160K Ante 20K – No Limit Hold’em – 3:15:47 ET – 2008/08/04
Seat 1: theman2892 (2,297,152)
Seat 2: Reletrom (1,407,142)
Seat 4: CountTilt (3,388,117)
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (4,436,589)
theman2892 antes 20,000
Reletrom antes 20,000
CountTilt antes 20,000
HosniMubarak antes 20,000
theman2892 posts the small blind of 80,000
Reletrom posts the big blind of 160,000
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
CountTilt folds
HosniMubarak raises to 4,416,589, and is all in
theman2892 folds
Reletrom calls 1,227,142, and is all in
HosniMubarak shows [As 7s]
Reletrom shows [Qs Ad]
Uncalled bet of 3,029,447 returned to HosniMubarak
*** FLOP *** [7h 2h 2s]
*** TURN *** [7h 2h 2s] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [7h 2h 2s Ts] [2c]
HosniMubarak shows a full house, Twos full of Sevens
Reletrom shows three of a kind, Twos
HosniMubarak wins the pot (2,934,284) with a full house, Twos full of Sevens
Reletrom stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,934,284 | Rake 0
Board: [7h 2h 2s Ts 2c]
Seat 1: theman2892 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Reletrom (big blind) showed [Qs Ad] and lost with three of a kind, Twos
Seat 4: CountTilt folded before the Flop
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (button) showed [As 7s] and won (2,934,284) with a full house, Twos full of Sevens

3rd place KO: theman2892 ($53,802)

Full Tilt Poker Game #7505356193: $750,000 Guarantee (56134520), Table 27 – 100K/200K Ante 25K – No Limit Hold’em – 3:19:03 ET – 2008/08/04
Seat 1: theman2892 (1,482,152)
Seat 4: CountTilt (4,033,117)
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (6,013,731)
theman2892 antes 25,000
CountTilt antes 25,000
HosniMubarak antes 25,000
theman2892 posts the small blind of 100,000
CountTilt posts the big blind of 200,000
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
HosniMubarak raises to 435,000
theman2892 raises to 1,457,152, and is all in
CountTilt has 15 seconds left to act
CountTilt calls 1,257,152
HosniMubarak folds
theman2892 shows [Ah 7d]
CountTilt shows [7c 7h]
*** FLOP *** [8c Js Qs]
*** TURN *** [8c Js Qs] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [8c Js Qs Ts] [8h]
theman2892 shows a pair of Eights
CountTilt shows two pair, Eights and Sevens
CountTilt wins the pot (3,424,304) with two pair, Eights and Sevens
theman2892 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,424,304 | Rake 0
Board: [8c Js Qs Ts 8h]
Seat 1: theman2892 (small blind) showed [Ah 7d] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 4: CountTilt (big blind) showed [7c 7h] and won (3,424,304) with two pair, Eights and Sevens
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (button) folded before the Flop

2nd place KO: CountTilt ($82,240)
1st place: HosniMubarak ($136,081)

Full Tilt Poker Game #7505445040: $750,000 Guarantee (56134520), Table 27 – 120K/240K Ante 30K – No Limit Hold’em – 3:32:59 ET – 2008/08/04
Seat 4: CountTilt (3,364,269)
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (8,164,731)
CountTilt antes 30,000
HosniMubarak antes 30,000
HosniMubarak posts the small blind of 120,000
CountTilt posts the big blind of 240,000
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
HosniMubarak calls 120,000
CountTilt raises to 3,334,269, and is all in
HosniMubarak calls 3,094,269
CountTilt shows [9c Kc]
HosniMubarak shows [As Ac]
*** FLOP *** [6d Ks 5h]
*** TURN *** [6d Ks 5h] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [6d Ks 5h 7c] [2s]
CountTilt shows a pair of Kings
HosniMubarak shows a pair of Aces
HosniMubarak wins the pot (6,728,538) with a pair of Aces
CountTilt stands up
HosniMubarak stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,728,538 | Rake 0
Board: [6d Ks 5h 7c 2s]
Seat 4: CountTilt (big blind) showed [9c Kc] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 6: HosniMubarak (small blind) showed [As Ac] and won (6,728,538) with a pair of Aces

HosniMubarak would take 1st place in this week’s $750k guarantee and receive $136,080 for his efforts.

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Leslie Thornburg chip leader at final table kicked out of WSOP circuit tournament

A possibly historic incident occurred at this year’s first World Series of Poker circuit event held in Atlantic City. A contractor from Virginia, Leslie Thornburg was forcibly removed from the final table for his behavior.

“Thornburg, who had been given two warnings for unsportsmanlike behavior on the previous day, pushed everyone’s patience to the limit with a ceaseless display of loud comments and baiting tactics lasting several hours.”

“Holding onto a perilous chip lead, Thornburg lost self-control and began jamming chips into the pot with reckless abandon. Warned by tournament officials (repeatedly) to stack his chips properly and obey the rules, Thornburg crossed the final demarcation of everyone’s patience when he shoved half of his stack into the pot and then later announced, “all in.” Fed up with the annoying and confusing antics, officials announced Thornburg’s immediate disqualification.”

The remaining players and spectators could only watch as Thornburg was ejected from the texas holdem poker tournament. He was automatically eliminated in 5th place, earning $19,026. His chips were removed from play and the final table played out like normal. Frank Panetta would go on to win first place, with a prize of $76, 104.

The full story can be found here: http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/news/article.asp?newsid=1966