March 16 2012, Brett Collson
The day has arrived. PokerStars has launched the real-money beta version of Zoom Poker, and just in time for the weekend! We’ll cover that story, as well as Jennifer Tilly’s poker cameo on The Simpsons, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.
In Case You Missed It
How was the high-stakes action at the PokerStars tables this week? Read the Online Railbird Report to find out the week’s biggest winners and losers.
A final table was reached at the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Madrid Main Event on Friday. Find out which players are in contention for the “545,000 top prize in our daily EPT recap.
Earlier this week, CardPlayer published a story about the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Federated Sports + Gaming (FS+G). On Friday, FS+G responded to the story with a statement and gave an exclusive interview with PokerNews.
Will online poker be up and running in New Jersey by the end of the year? Sen. Ray Lesniak seems to think so. Matthew Kredell explains the steps that still need to be taken.
The first day of voting for the PokerNews Fan Bracket is in the books. For a look at Rich Ryan’s predictions, check out his story in The Muck.
How do you get over a huge loss at the poker table? Alec Torelli talks about recovering from downswings in his latest Pro Blog.
What does @AsianSpa think about the Epic Poker League and Erick Lindgren’s debts? Head over to The Muck to find out.
Did you miss anything from the past week? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Kristy Arnett and Laura Cornelius break down all the big stories in the PokerNews Weekly.
Zoom Poker Launches
On Friday, to the delight of high-volume poker junkies, PokerStars launched the real-money beta version of Zoom Poker, a fast-paced poker format that allows players to play hundreds of hands per hour and (potentially) increase profits. The game plays exactly the same way as any other online cash game except for one huge difference – as soon as you fold, you are removed from the table you were seated at and placed at a new table with different players.
For now, the beta release is only offering a few tables of micro-limit hold’em and Omaha games, but PokerStars says that more games and limits are on the way in the coming weeks. The client is allowing 1,500 players at a time to partake in the beta games while the kinks (if any) are identified and resolved. After that, PokerStars will unveil bigger stakes, other game types, and possibly even Zoom tournaments in the future.
Check out our Zoom Poker review here at PokerNews.com. You can also find more info at the Zoom Poker page.
Jen Tilly Teaching Lisa Simpson How to Hold’em
Jennifer Tilly has used her voice in a number of cartoons during her career, perhaps most notably as Bonnie Swanson on Family Guy. But now, according to reports, Tilly will get to see herself in cartoon form in an upcoming episode of The Simpsons.
Inside TV reports that the actress and World Series of Poker bracelet winner is set to make a cameo during the next season of the seemingly immortal television series. Tilly, the ex-wife of the show’s co-creator, Sam Simon, will appear in a poker instructional video that Lisa Simpson watches to hone her poker skills.
Tilly has been dating a cartoon character for years, so it’s about time she became one herself.
(Just kidding, Phil)
Read more at InsideTV.com.
Learn from Jungleman
Private poker lessons from the game’s top pros can often be pricey. In fact, Dan “Jungleman” Cates normally charges up to $2,000 an hour for his coaching services.
Next month, however, Cates and poker pro Johannes Strassman will be holding a three-day seminar at the King’s Casino in the Czech Republic for “2,499 per student. The seminar will run from April 1 through 3, placing it directly between EPT Campione and WPT Vienna. It will focus on advanced topics like three- and four-betting optimally, board textures, assigning ranges, and plenty more.
“We will coach you for three intensive days if you are interested in moving your poker game to a much higher level,” Strassman says. “This is a unique opportunity for you to get in contact with other advanced players and to learn from the player who is considered by many as the best online player of the world, Daniel Cates.”
Visit the Card Coaches website for more information.
PokerStars Juices Up UKIPT Nottingham
Poker players love the words “million” and “guarantee.” Tournament organizers have learned through the years that if you push the words together, players will flock to the tables in droves.
That’s exactly what PokerStars and the Dusk Till Dawn poker club did this week, slapping a £1 million guaranteed prize pool to the PokerStars UK & Ireland Poker Tour event in Nottingham next month. The £700 + £70 buy-in tournament will take place at Dusk Till Dawn from April 11 through 16, featuring three Day 1 flights that will need to draw around 1,460 players to hit the guarantee.
“We are delighted to guarantee a £1 million prize pool for the UKIPT Nottingham Event,” UKIPT President Kirsty Thompson said. “The UKIPT has seen huge growth year on year, and the £1 million guarantee cements our position as the premium live poker tour in the UK & Ireland.”
Read more at UK.PokerNews.com
Nut Blockers
High-stakes cash game players Andreas “Skjervoy” Torbergsen and Tom “LearnedfromTV” Chambers have collaborated on a new digital magazine for pot-limit Omaha and mixed-games enthusiasts.
The first issue, released earlier this week, includes strategy articles with WSOP bracelet winners Barry Greenstein and Eric Rodawig, as well as pieces from many of the contributing writes for the magazine.
Among the players offering their expertise for the project are Torbergsen, Mike “Gordo16” Gorodinsky, Phil “Jackal” Shaw, Mike “Schneids” Schneider, and Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane.
“I thought an all-PLO community was long awaited with the first NutBlocker launch, now I think they just nailed it, and threw in some great mixed games stuff for good measure,” said Jim “Lefty2506” Egere. “I’ll be writing for NB as much as I can; so nice not to have to temper the depth to make it accessible to inexperienced players, you’ll get the best stuff I have here.”
For a preview of the magazine from Torbergsen himself, check out NutBlocker.com.
Join PokerNews!
Would you like to join Team PokerNews for the 2012 World Series of Poker?
Why wouldn’t you? We’re awesome.
PokerNews is taking applications for bloggers and interns for the duration of the 2012 WSOP in Las Vegas. We’re searching for experienced bloggers and first-timers looking to get their feet wet in the industry, and what better place than the biggest tournament series in the world?
Check out the PokerNews Career page for more information. If you think you’re qualified, send an application to career@pokernews.com with a resume, cover letter and two writing samples. We look forward to hearing from you!
Who’s Got Moves Like Ronaldo?
Kristy Arnett is a big fan of Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo. During the PokerStars European Poker Tour Main Event, Arnett scoured the poker room to see if any poker players had soccer skills like Ronaldo.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
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2010 December 27, Kristy Arnett
Every year, just before the World Series of Poker gets under way, every major poker media outlet releases some sort of compilation of the best players in the world who don’t own a bracelet, and every year, those accomplished pros who have yet again made the list, hang their heads in envious shame.
Now of course, tournament variance is simply unpredictable, but pressure can be a large deciding factor. When the world is looking at you to prove yourself, players can go one of two ways. It is up to them whether they simply resign themselves to a cursed destiny of having even-weighted wrists for life, or to rise to the occasion, forget naysayers, and focus. In 2010, three poker greats, Gus Hansen, Phil Laak, and Gavin Smith, were the latter, and finally, captured gold.
While the headline for all the wins were the same: “Pro finally wins first WSOP bracelet,” each respective one had its own theme. The first to win one was Smith. He snagged his this summer in the WSOP $2,500 Mixed Hold’em event. His win was about accomplishment shared with loved ones.
As Smith played down from the final table to heads-up, the stands continued to fill to the brim with anxious onlookers hoping their dear, humble friend would finally get his chance in the WSOP spotlight. When last card was dealt, and Smith had won, a flood of close friends surrounded him, and the overwhelming emotional gratitude moved him to tears. For winning the title, Smith was awarded $268,238, but it’s likely that this moment for him is priceless.
While putting a price on things or actions is something Laak likes to do on a regular basis, his win was more about silencing the critics. In 2005, Laak came in second for a bracelet to Johnny Chan in the $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em event, and that very same year, his now serious girlfriend Jennifer Tilly won a bracelet in the $1,000 Ladies Event. Over the years, Laak has had to listen to the so-called “haters” giving him grief for lack of a WSOP title, but none as persistent as his best friend and bracelet winner Antonio Esfandiari. However, after Event 1 of the World Series of Poker Europe which was the £2,650 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament, he put a stop to it, and also added £170,802 to his bank account. Now, for anyone who has had the pleasure of knowing Laak, it’s easy to see that he is far from an egomaniac and is one of the nicest guys around, but finally being able to stick it to those who may have doubted him had to feel good.
Perhaps the man with longest running and most surprising appearance on the list of pros without a bracelet has been Hansen. The man has won nearly everything else. He has three World Poker Tour titles and also took down the Aussie Millions in 2007. He pioneered the way for loose-aggressive maniacs around the world and accumulated millions of dollars on the tournament circuit. So, when he annihilated his opponents in Event 4, the £10,350 Heads Up Event at the WSOPE, his win was about finally breathing a sigh of relief. For his exhale, he took home £288,409.
With these three players officially off the hook for 2011, who will the fans look to next year to get the proverbial monkey off their backs? Will it be Andy Bloch who has had second-place heartbreak? Perhaps the Frenchman Bertrand Grospellier. Or, could the bracelet bets push Tom Dwan to a win. There’s only one way to find out and that is to sit back and watch, and, of course, PokerNews will be there covering the action throughout the upcoming year.
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