April 25 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

If you were wondering whether Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom won the latest PokerStars SuperStar Showdown, then you’ve come to the right place to find out whether the Swedish phenom took down online qualifier “Mastermixus.” Also, where the World Poker Tour is headed next, and more, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

The Sunday Grind took a little break in light of the developments from Black Friday, but never fear, it’s not gone for good. The latest Video Vault takes a look at some of our favorite episodes of The Sunday Grind.

While numbers may be down, the Sunday Majors continue to award six-figure sums. Find out who padded their bankrolls this week in the Sunday Briefing.

FSN’s coverage of the World Poker Tour headed to the Bellagio this week for the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. If you missed it, you should check out the WPT recap for the action.

The second session of the season on High Stakes Poker is over. We could tell you who came out on top, but then you wouldn’t check out the HSP recap – and there’s plenty of interesting information in it.

SuperStar Showdown

On Sunday, Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom took on online qualifier “Mastermixus” in the latest installment of the PokerStars SuperStar Showdown. This was a smaller version of the SuperStar Showdown than what most of you are used to. The two still played 2,500 hands but at $5/$10 blinds. Each player started with $15,000.

The lead changed a couple of times over the 2,500 hands, but in the end, Blom emerged victorious, notching a $1,279 win. According to the PokerStars Blog, through all of his Showdowns, Blom is up $351,486 and has a record of 6-3. While Mastermixus may not have a win against the online phenom under his belt, he did get to keep the remaining $13,721 from his $15,000 starting roll – which is a win in our books.

If you want to check out the action from the SuperStar Showdown, you can head on over to the PokerStars Blog.

Tour in the Sunshine State

The World Poker Tour is descending on Florida this week for the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown. It all kicks off on April 27, and you can look at this as your friendly reminder to get to Florida in the next day or so if you’re looking for a $10,000 buy-in event.

According to some tweets we’ve seen, plenty of pros are already in Hollywood — Florida that is — to soak up some rays before the event. It looks like Scott Montgomery, Matt Affleck, Allen Bari, Joe Tehan, and Jeff Madsen are among the players who will be attending the event. For those of you wondering how big the field will be, Matt Savage has guessed 450. We’ll soon know if he’s right or not.

SeminoleHardRockHollywood.com has the schedule of events.

RSVPs

About a month ago, we told you about the announcement of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Champion of Champions event. We told you how a player got invited to the event, and when it would be played, but there were no confirmations of players who would attend – until now.

According to the PokerStars Blog, more than 40 previous champions have confirmed that they will be attending the event in Madrid. Liv Boeree, Arnaud Mattern, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Roland de Wolfe, and Carter Phillips are among those confirmed. There are still plenty of players who haven’t though, including Jason Mercier, Noah Boeken, and Patrik Antonius.

There is €100,000 worth of EPT season-eight buy-ins awaiting the top four finishers, with first place taking home a €50,000 EPT Season 8 Passport.

You can find out who else is confirmed at the PokerStars Blog.

Derby Poker Championship

If you’re going to be in Louisville next week for the Kentucky Derby, we’d just like you to know, we’re pretty jealous. Not only can’t we be there sipping mint juleps with you, but also we can’t stop by the Derby Poker Championship celebrity poker event — but you can. The event, which takes place on May 5 at the Louisville Palace Theatre, will be hosted by Phil Hellmuth, Robert Williamson III, and former University of Louisville basketball head coach Denny Crum.

The event benefits Kentucky Harvest: Blessings in a Backpack and the Health and Climate Foundation. The buy-in for the event is $550 and there are $200 rebuys and add-ons through the first hour of play. In 2010, the event raised close to $50,000.

DerbyPokerChampionship.com has more.

Are you following PokerNews on Twitter yet? Go ahead; it doesn’t take long, and you can keep up-to-date with all the news in poker.

April 25 2011, Rich Ryan

Last week on High Stakes Poker, “Silent” Mike Baxter stole the show by making big hands and timely bluffs. He’s been the big winner thus far during the second session, but Haralabos Voulgaris and Jason Mercier are both well in the black and are both capable of making moves. Amateur Bill Perkins hasn’t had a winning episode yet, and entered the last one of the session down over $250,000.

SPOILER ALERT: If you are waiting to watch the HSP episode, read no further.

Eff It, I Call: Bill Perkins opened to $2,300 with , and Barry Greenstein called with on the button. The blinds released, and the flop fell . Both players checked. The turn was the , giving Greenstein a flush, and Perkins led for $3,600 with just ace-high. Greenstein called.

The river was the , and Perkins quickly checked. Greenstein tossed in $15,000 – more than a pot-sized bet – and Perkins said, “F*** it, I call.” Greenstein showed him the winner, and Perkins angrily mucked his hand.

On Your Horses: Bill Perkins straddled for $1,600, and Barry Greenstein opened to $5,100 from under the gun with . The action folded all the way to Julian Movsesian in the big blind, and he reraised to $25,400. Perkins got out of the way, Greenstein shoved for $72,200, and Movsesian called.

The flop was dry – – but the spiked on the turn, giving Greenstein the lead. The river was a meaningless , and Greenstein doubled his stack to $146,400.

Picking off Bluffs: Jason Mercier opened to $2,300 with on the button, and both Julian Movsesian () and Bill Perkins () defended their blinds. The dealer fanned , and everybody checked. The turn was the , Movsesian checked again, and Perkins fired $4,000. Mercier called, Movsesian didn’t.

The river was the , and Perkins led for $13,000. Mercier quickly called.

“You win,” Perkins announced, and Mercier tabled his hand.

“The only thing nicer than hearing ‘f*** it’ is ‘you win,’” Mercier joked.

The Car Crash: Bill Perkins straddled for $1,600, and Barry Greenstein opened to $5,100 from under the gun with . “Silent” Mike Baxter called from the cutoff with , Jason Mercier called from the small blind with , and Bill Perkins told a weird, anti-climatic and unfunny story about car crashes in movies before folding.

The flop was a fun one – . Greenstein led for $10,000, Baxter raised to $30,000, and Mercier smooth-called. Greenstein called as well. All three players checked after the turned, and again after the fell on the river. Mercier tabled his set of sevens, and the $108,500 pot was shipped his way.

“Car crash!” Perkins yelped.

The Setup: Haralabos Voulgaris opened to $2,300 with two red sixes, Julian Movsesian called with on the button, and Barry Greenstein defended his big blind with . The flop came down , Greenstein checked, and Voulgaris continued for $4,200. Only Movsesian called. The turn was the , and Voulgaris led for $7,200. Movsesian made a play at the pot, raising to $27,800, but Voulgaris was going no where with his set of sixes and called.

The river was the , and Voulgaris checked. Movsesian immediately fired $30,000, and Voulgaris tank-called. The two opened their hands, and Voulgaris took down the six-figure pot.

A Passive King: Jason Mercier opened to $2,300 from under the gun with , Julian Movsesian called with , Bill Perkins followed suit with , and Haralabos Voulgaris three-bet to $12,000 with on the button. Mike Baxter cold four-bet to $30,000 with from the small blind, and the action folded back to Voulgaris who just called.

The flop fell , and Baxter led for $50,000. Voulgaris called. Baxter quit when the turned, checking to Voulgaris who surprisingly checked behind. The river was the , both players checked again, and Voulgaris won another big pot.

“I wanted to fold on the flop,” Voulgaris admitted, shaking his head.

Chop Suey: Bill Perkins straddled for $1,600, and Phil Laak opened to $5,100 from middle position with . Perkins defended his straddle with , and the flop was all hearts – . Perkins checked, Laak continued for $9,000, Perkins check-raised to $30,000, and Laak immediately moved all in. Perkins called, and the two agreed to run it twice.

The first board ran , , giving Laak half of the pot, and the second board ran , , giving Perkins the other half.

“Why are you so excited about chopping?” Haralabos Voulgaris asked Laak after the hand.

“Because it’s so tough to win anything,” Laak responded. “At least we chopped the blinds and antes.”

High Stakes Legends: Fred “Sarge” Ferris was an American grinder of Lebanese decent, and he escaped poverty by grinding on the felt. He defeated Doyle Brunson heads-up in a WSOP event in 1980, and in the same year he backed Stu Ungar in the Main Event and he defeated Brunson heads-up as well. Ferris passed in 1989 and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame later that year.

Let’s take a look at the stack sizes.

Hollywood: “Silent” Mike Baxter wanted to straddle, but had already received his cards so he min-raised to $1,600 with . Jason Mercier three-bet to $4,400 with , Bill Perkins called with , and Baxter called as well.

The flop was a nightmare for Mercier – . Baxter checked, Mercier continued for $8,600, and Perkins called. Baxter mucked, and the turn was the . Mercier led for $20,100, and Perkins began cursing angrily. He finally moved all in after a horrible acting job, and Mercier made the crying call.

“Run it twice guys,” Phil Laak offered. “I’m telling you, it’s 3D.”

Mercier and Perkins obliged. The first river was the , the second was the , and Perkins doubled to $175,600.

“That’s what I get for getting excited on the flop,” Mercier murmured

The next episode of HSP marks the start of a new session. Bill Klein, Robert Croak, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak and Doyle Brunson will return for their second session of the season, while Phil Galfond headlines the newcomers.

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