March 01 2012, Brett Collson
Phew. We made it through a day without an indictment, a guilty plea or a bankruptcy filing. However, there was still plenty going on around the poker world, including the release of ESPN’s The Nuts rankings, WPT Magazine’s Readers’ Awards winners, and more.
In Case You Missed It
Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian continued to unload shares of MGM Resorts International this week. For the latest on MGM, as well as Caesars’ 4Q revenues, check out Inside Gaming.
Vanessa Selbst surged into the top 5 of the Global Poker Index this week. Mickey Doft takes a look at the biggest movers and shakers on the GPI.
Last year, several participants of the Montreal Open were left empty-handed after the event’s sponsor, Full Tilt Poker, failed to pay the winners. Chad Holloway recently spoke with Morden C. Lazarus who played a major role in organizing the event.
The 2012 World Series of Poker Circuit Africa came to a close this week. For a complete look at all the winners, check out our recap.
What adjustments need to me made when transitioning from online cash games to live cash games? In the latest Strategy with Kristy podcast, Kristy Arnett talks to two live poker coaches, along with their current student, about the major differences between the two settings.
ESPN’s The Nuts
The latest edition of ESPN’s The Nuts was released Thursday. The monthly blog post ranks the best poker players in the world at the moment. The 10-person panel includes PokerNews’ Editor in Chief Elaine Chaivarlis, PokerNews’ Tournament Reporting Manager Don Peters, ESPN’s Andrew Feldman, Gary Wise, and Bernard Lee, among others.
Jason Mercier held the top spot in the rankings for the ninth consecutive month, receiving seven of the 10 first-place votes from the panel. Mercier has been quiet on the tournament scene in 2012 but he has supposedly booked some major cash game wins during his travels, most recently at the Commerce Casino in L.A.
Erik Seidel and Phil Ivey landed at No. 2 and No. 3 in the rankings, respectively. Seidel has been slumping a bit this year, at least by his standards, but Ivey stormed back onto the live tournament scene by taking 12th place in the Aussie Millions Main Event and winning the $250,000 buy-in Aussie Millions Super High Roller. Ivey made his return to the U.S. last week at the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic but bubbled the Main Event in 55th place.
Rounding out the top five in this month’s rankings were Eugene Katchalov and Jonathan Duhamel. The 2011 WSOP Main Event champ moved up three spots following an impressive finish at the LAPC $5,100 no-limit hold’em event last week.
If you want to find out what the rest of the list looks, check it out at ESPN.com.
The Votes Are In
The World Poker Tour Magazine readers have spoken. On Thursday, the U.K. publication unveiled the winners of the 2011 WPT Poker Readers’ Awards, which will be featured in the March issue of World Poker Tour Magazine.
Among the honorees were November Niner Sam Holden for Best British Player, Ben Lamb for Best International Player, and Tatjana Pasalic for Best Poker Personality. Probably the biggest surprise went to the U.K.’s Kevin “kevsteele” Steele for Best Online Player. Steele, who won the PokerStars Sunday Million twice within a four-month period last year, beat out top online grinders like Chris “Moorman1″ Moorman, Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen and Jordan “jymaster11″ Young.
| 1 | Jonathan Duhamel | 552.10 | – |
| 2 | Faraz Jaka | 308.35 | +3 |
| 3 | Sam Chartier | 305.80 | +1 |
| 4 | Jason Koon | 284.24 | -2 |
| 5 | Ruben Visser | 258.04 | -2 |
| 6 | Oliver Speidel | 238.23 | – |
| 7 | Daniel Chevalier | 228.35 | – |
| 8 | Corey Burbick | 228.03 | – |
| 9 | Luca Pagano | 227.52 | – |
| 10 | Erik Cajelais | 212.19 | – |
For the full GPI Player of the Year standings, head on over to EpicPoker.com.
The Country Club Murders
Last May, former professional poker player Ernie Scherer III was sentenced to life in prison after a judge found him guilty of murdering his parents. Authorities believed Scherer killed his parents because he faced financial pressure from gambling debts in Las Vegas and stood to collect a $1.5 million inheritance once his parents passed away.
On Saturday, Scherer will be the focus of a 48 HOURS MYSTERY story called The Country Club Murders on CBS. The show will air at 10 p.m. and feature interviews with Scherer’s wife and sister, both of whom helped investigators uncover the mysterious second life of their loved one.
Here’s a sneak peek:
Life Rolls On
On March 10, Life Rolls On founder Jesse Billauer will join Annie Duke and others for the 2nd Annual “A Night of Poker” at the Hustler Casino in Gardena, Calif. The event will benefit Billauer’s Life Rolls On Foundation, which works to provide the inspirational message of achievement for those with spinal cord injuries.
The $225 No-Limit Hold’em charity tournament will award a 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event seat to the winner. Several other prizes will be handed out during the evening, including a Corum watch to the second- and third-place finishers.
Billauer founded the Life Rolls On Foundation in 1996 after suffering a tragic spinal cord injury while surfing.
More information on the event and the foundation can be found at liferollson.org.
Sh#t Poker Bloggers Say
The “Sh#t People Say” craze on YouTube has spread faster than KevMath retweet. Last month, Sarah Grant brought you Sh#t Poker Players Say. Today, commentator Jesse May posted a “Sh#t Poker Bloggers Say” meme on the PartyPoker Blog:
We’re pretty sure all the bases have been covered now. Unless, of course, Howard Lederer wants to record “Sh#t Board Members Say.”
One time?
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March 01 2012, Chad Holloway
Ever since Raymond Rahme made the final table of the 2007 World Series of Poker, the game has expanded greatly in Africa. In South Africa, in particular, native players such as Warren Zackey, Jarred Solomon and Darren Kramer have found success. For the second year in a row, the World Series of Poker Circuit returned to the Emerald Casino in Johannesburg to host the continent’s most prestigious tournament series.
The premier tournament of the six-event stop was the $3,300 Main Event, which attracted 218 players and created a prize pool of $634,380. However, there were five other ring events, plus a ladies event, to keep things busy. Here’s a look at the action from the 2nd Annual WSOP Circuit Africa.
Main Event (Event #4)
The three-day event saw the field reduced to 134 players after the first day, with the aforementioned Zackey – the defending champ – finishing with the chip lead. However, he was unable to get anything going on Day 2 and was eliminated just shy of the 24-player money bubble. When players bagged and tagged heading into the final day, only 14 players remained.
On Day 3, it took just two hours to reach a final table, which included two players who had won rings just days before in Gregory Ronaldson and Jason Straus. The two Johannesburg natives trailed fellow local pro James Parker, who began the final table with a healthy chip lead.
WSOP Circuit Africa Main Event Final Table
| 1 | James Parker | 1,756,000 |
| 2 | Marc Joseph | 525,000 |
| 3 | Brian Bouwer | 189,000 |
| 4 | Jason Straus | 400,000 |
| 5 | Ivan Pakkiri | 949,000 |
| 6 | Joe-Boy Rahme | 737,000 |
| 7 | Gregory Ronaldson | 1,223,000 |
| 8 | Matt Mullhall | 300,000 |
| 9 | Brad Flynn | 450,000 |
Between Parker and Ronaldson, nearly half the chips were accounted for, which meant there were bound to be some early eliminations. The first was 29-year-old Brian Bouwer, who began the final table as the short stack. He was followed out the door by the other short stack, 22-year-old college student Matt Mullhall. Another college student, Brad Flynn, 24, was the next to go in seventh place.
After Marc Joseph was felted in sixth place, 28-year-old Ronaldson was eliminated despite having begun the final table second in chips. Days earlier, Ronaldson took down Event #1, which was the largest live poker tournament field in Africa’s history. This title came just weeks after he won the Heads-Up Championship at the 2012 Crown’s Aussie Millions Poker Championship. Needless to say, it has been quite the year for Ronaldson, who took home $39,649 for his fifth-place finish.
Parker followed in Ronaldson’s footsteps after his big stack was dispersed among his opponents. The amateur player made his way to the payout desk in fourth place, collecting $52,780.
Joe-Boy Rahme then got lucky to double when his 
outdrew the 
of Straus, who was unable to recover and was eliminated in third place. That left Rahme to battle a self-employed father of two by the name of Ivan Pakkiri. There wasn’t much to the heads-up match as Pakkiri was soon all-in holding 
against the 
of Rahme. The board failed to help Pakkiri, who earned $98,012 for his runner-up finish.
“This feels great; I’ve been working toward a WSOP championship for 25 years. This is fabulous,” said Rahme, who earned $158,595, said after the win. “Poker has really grown over the last five years, we’re sending more and more players to Vegas for the annual WSOP each year and they are having great results. We play mostly home games, but casinos are starting to recognize us and more games are becoming available.”
WSOP Circuit Africa Main Event
| $3,000+$300 | 218 | $634,380 |
| 9 | Brian Bouwer | Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa | $14,654 |
Event #1
The Main Event was preceded by the largest live tournament in Africa’s history. Event #1, a $350 no-limit hold’em event, drew 324 players to generate a prize pool of $97,200. Tournament Director Jack Effel and five-time WSOP bracelet winner Scotty Nguyen addressed the crowd and gave the ceremonial “Shuffle up and deal!”
The field ended up so big that a third day was added to the schedule, which worked to Greg Ronaldson’s advantage as he managed to overcome a big chip disadvantage at the final table to take home the ring. As mentioned before, this marked his second major win in less than two months, not to mention his Main Event final table appearance.
Gregory Ronaldson, winner of Event #1
WSOP Circuit Africa Ring Event #1 No-Limit Hold’em
| $300+$50 | 324 | $97,200 |
| 8 | Eugene Du Plessis | Stellenbosch, South Africa | $2,642 |
| 9 | Mark Botha | Benoni, South Africa | $2,046 |
Event #2
Even though a chop had been negotiated during heads-up play in Event #2, Jason Strauss and David Crookes were determined to battle it out for the ring. The heads-up match lasted six hours, and it wasn’t until 7 a.m. that Strauss bested Crookes for the title.
“[Crooks] was a very tough opponent, picking good spots and keeping the pots small,” Strauss said after the win. “This is a great feeling, winning such a prestigious tournament. It’s unbelievable, really … unbelievable.” As we already mentioned, Strauss went on to final table the Main Event and established himself as a major player in South Africa.
Jason Strauss, winner of Event #2
WSOP Circuit Africa Ring Event #2 No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed
| $500+$60 | 189 | $94,469 |
| 2 | David Crookes | Johannesburg, South Africa | $16,048 |
| 3 | Steven Brown | Camps Bay, South Africa | $11,340 |
| 4 | Wayne Monks | Cape Town, South Africa | $8,061 |
| 5 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 6 | David Cornell | South Africa | $4,139 |
| 7 | Ryan Shandel | South Africa | $2,296 |
| 8 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 9 | Uzi Aronson | N/A | $2,174 |
Event #3
The third of the six ring events, the $10,000 High Roller Event, was designed to appeal to South Africa’s elite poker players. The event drew 20 players, including Scotty Nguyen who was eliminated in ninth place. Day 1 halted with just seven players, with only three making the money on Day 2.
One of the men who managed to secure a payday was Bennie Lingenfelder, a 40-year-old married entrepreneur from Kempton Park. He finished in third place for $38,800. That left Rob Fenner, a 34-year-old consultant, to do battle against Kinesh Pather. Both players abandoned Event #2 to play the high roller event.
“I would say it turned out well,” Pather said.
Fenner echoed those sentiments: “I purposely busted out of the six-max event so that I could play in the high-roller event. I’m glad I did.”
The heads-up battle lasted about an hour and saw Fenner, who had finished fifth in the inaugural WSOP Africa Main Event, take down the top prize of $97,000.
“The online poker ban really hurt the economy in South Africa, you know and it came at a bad time as poker has grown tremendously here over the last few years,” Fenner said after the win. “Players are going to play regardless, whether in casinos of in a friends’ garages, we play because we love the game. We hope the government reverses course, but in the meanwhile tournaments like WSOP Africa are helping to keep the up momentum we’ve built here over the years.”
Event #5
The first tournament after the Main Event was Event #5, a $350 no-limit hold’em tournament, which drew 247 players, creating a prize pool of $71,877. The two-day event saw more than 60 players survive Day 1, and it took all afternoon on Day 2 to reach the final table, which saw Greg Tucker, a 29-year-old self-employed poker player from Johannesburg, enter as the dominating chip leader.
While Tucker had the chips, he couldn’t use them for victory, making his exit in fourth place. Instead, the day belonged to Armand Saayman of Witpoortjie, South Africa, who captured the ring and $17,610 top prize after playing into the early morning hours.
Event #6
The last ring event of the WSOP Circuit Africa, a one-day event, drew 89 entries and created a prize pool of $25,946. It took all day, but in the end, Heau Pienaar, a 34-year-old poker player from Johannesburg, took down the last ring and earned himself $7,784 … not bad for a day’s work.
Ladies Event
Given that South Africa is comprised of 52 percent women, it only makes sense that the WSOPC would hold a Ladies Event. The tournament managed to draw 68 entrants, the largest ladies event in Africa’s short poker history.Pippa Rockas, a restaurant owner from Johannesburg, ultimately captured the $4,617 first-place prize.
“It’s not as promoted as it should be here,” Rockas said of the state of ladies poker in South Africa. “This was an amazing event and of course, I’m very happy that it was held here,” she said.
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