April 20 2012, Brett Collson, Donnie Peters

Phil Ivey is often referred to as the “Tiger Woods of Poker.” Will the two superstars collide on the felts next week? We’ll bring you that story, as well as the results of the inaugural Manila Millions, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Jonathan Little was one of countless poker pros affected by the events of Black Friday. Chad Holloway caught up with Little to find out how Black Friday changed his life.

Do you have what it takes to make it in poker? Alec Torelli’s latest blog focuses on finding a passion for what you do.

The European Poker Tour Berlin Main Event played down to a final table on Day 4. Davidi Kitai held the chip lead and was in position to win his third leg of poker’s Triple Crown.

William Hill’s license application in Nevada has been delayed again. Read about that and more in the latest Inside Gaming.

Is data mining good or bad for the online poker industry? Rich Ryan takes a look at the feud between PokerStars and Poker Table Ratings.

Day 2 of the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Main Event concluded on Thursday. Clyde Hinton held the chip lead, but poker pros Tommy Vedes and John Dolan were close on his heels.

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.

@AsianSpa was back with his latest blog on Friday. This week he talks about Black Friday, a robbery in Las Vegas, and more.

Did you miss anything from the past week? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Lynn Gilmartin and Laura Cornelius break down all the big stories in the PokerNews Weekly.

Tiger’s Poker Night

Golf legend Tiger Woods will be hosting a charity poker tournament at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Friday, April 27, 2012. The event will benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation, a program that raises college scholarship money for underprivileged youth.

The $10,000 entry fee includes a seat in the poker tournament plus a guest to attend Tiger’s Poker Night, one suite at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay for Friday and Saturday nights and two VIP tickets to attend Tiger Jam, featuring Jon Bon Jovi and Friends on Saturday, April 28.

The event will bring out the best of the best as Phil Hellmuth will emcee the poker tournament and Doyle Brunson will also be on hand to take part in the action. That’s 21 World Series of Poker titles right there; Tiger has 14 Major Championships of his own.

The winner of the tournament will receive a foursome (of golf) with Tiger Woods. Other prizes include a putting lesson with Woods, Pro-Am spots at PGA TOUR events, golf rounds at exclusive courses across the country, autographed memorabilia items, and a Nike Golf custom club-fitting.

For more information, check out the Tiger Woods Foundation website.

Self-made Millionaire

On Friday, the inaugural HKD$1,000,000 (USD$129,000) buy-in Manila Millions Super High Roller took place at Resorts World Manila’s Genting Club in the Philippines. The prestigious event attracted 30 players, including poker pros Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, JC Tran, Johnny Chan, Nam Le, John Juanda and Joe Hachem.

Surprisingly, all of the aforementioned pros busted out before the money bubble, where the remaining five players were left battling for a top prize of HKD$13,080,000 (USD$1.685 million). After American pro Keith Gipson busted out in fifth place, Macau regular Richard Yong exited in fourth place. According to Poker Portal Asia, Yong was all in preflop with pocket eights against Allan Le’s pocket queens and was unable to improve on a king-high board.

China’s Sun Sheng was the next to bow out, leaving Le and Devan Tang competing for the title. A swingy heads-up match ended when a short-stacked Tang shoved on the button for 800,000 with and Le called with . The brought no help to Teng, who collected just over USD$1million for his runner up finish. Le’s USD$1.7 million score is far and away the largest of his career.

Manila Millions Results

The last player standing in the way of Liu and the win was Larry Abrams. On the final hand, Liu set Abrams all in for his last 750,000 holding the with the blinds at 60,000/120,000/10,000. Abrams made the call with the looking to double up. After the flop gave Liu the lead when the rolled out, the on the turn and on the river left Abrams with the losing hand and a second-place finish.

Borgata Spring Poker Open Final Table Results

Prior to this victory, Liu had $158,913 in career tournament earnings and his largest score was $42,734. This is also his first victory on the felt since November 2009.

For more information, visit the Borgata Spring Poker Open blog.

World Poker Tour Hits Spain

The Main Event of the WPT National Series Marbella kicked off in Costa del Sol, Spain on Friday. The “1,650 tournament at Casino Marbella runs through April 20 and offers players a chance to re-enter if they are eliminated on Day 1a.

Raúl Mestre, Kent Lundmark, Tomeu Gomila, Daniel Hernández, and Juan Maceiras were among the 166 players in the field on Day 1a. Friday’s action was winding down with less than 100 players still alive as of press time.

The World Poker Tour has also WPT National events in Mauritius, Denmark and France this year and expects to announce partnerships with a number of additional venues. Winners do not qualify for a WPT title, Player of the Year points or a WPT World Championship buy-in, but the affordable buy-ins allow players to compete for big prizes against some of the top players around Europe.

For more information on the WPT National Series events, visit the World Poker Tour website.

Girls on Film

Gaëlle Garcia Diaz is one of the hosts of the European Poker Tour television production. Lynn Gilmartin gets to know more about Gaëlle in the inaugural edition of Girls on Film.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

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April 12 2012, Chad Holloway

Last year, I had the opportunity to review Jonathan Little’s Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker Volume I, which I found to be quite impressive. At the time, I knew a follow-up was planned, aptly titled Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker Volume II (SOPTPII). This book recently hit the market.

Like Volume I, Little has personally written every word in the SOPTPII, and as I said in my previous review he has a natural ability to transfer complex concepts and thoughts to paper in an uncomplicated manner. The same holds true here. He has taken his years of experience as a poker instructor and written a text that connects with the reader.

As Little explains: “In this book I will explain how to alter your game at each level of a tournament and squeak the most equity out of every situation.” Little focused on tournament fundamentals in Volume 1, but he has now taken things to the next level by focusing on the more minute details of tournament play, some you may have never considered.

For example, while Little talks about traditional things like Stages of a Tournament, Short-Handed Play and Practical Tips for Tournament Play, he intersperses more innovative sections like Breathing, Endurance and The Long Run. Take the section on Breathing as an example. How many of us really pay attention to our breathing at the poker table? I don’t necessarily mean when you’re trying to run a big bluff; I mean your breathing throughout the day. I know I didn’t.

In SOPTPII, Little points out that this is a big mistake and that most people tend to breath incorrectly all the time. Seriously? As Little explained:

“Learning to breathe optimally is important for numerous reasons. Just about everyone breathes incorrectly. Their shoulders rise when they inhale. The correct way to breathe is for your stomach to extend outward when you breathe in, with little to no movement of the shoulders. This helps your body get the most oxygen from the air. I suggest that you learn to breathe this way all the time so that is happens naturally when you play poker.”

After reading this and examining myself, I discovered that, sure enough, my shoulders rose every time I took a breath. The very next time I sat at the poker table, I tried Little’s breathing advice and immediately felt more relaxed and refreshed. In general, players these days know what they’re doing when they play poker, meaning often the differences between success and failure lay in the details. The breathing section is a great example of such a detail, and just one of many you’ll find in SOPTPII.

Here is a quick look at some of the other sections in SOPTPII:

• Be Open Minded but Skeptical
• Tells Based on Who You Associate With
• Poker Gear Tells
• Checking in the Dark
• Do Not Talk to the Person you Just Beat
• Do Not Set Silly Goals
• Do Not Try to be Macho

Of course, that is just a small sample of what you can expect to find in the book. Little not only shares strategy, but also gives plenty of advice. For example, there is a whole section on Going Pro where he hits you with some hard truths and tells you what you’d best expect if you want to make that leap.

Another thing I liked about SOPTPII is that it can stand apart from its counterpart. By that I mean if you haven’t read the first volume, or are confident in you tournament fundamentals, you could pick up Volume II and find it worth your while. In fact, I think the second volume provides a plethora of pertinent and interesting information that would appeal to both new and existing readers of Little.

The book is priced reasonably at $27.95, which includes free access to Little’s videos and a one-month membership to his training site, FloatTheTurn.com. In addition, it is available on the Kindle.

Little readily admits that one day his books will be rendered obsolete as the game of poker progresses and transforms; however, Little’s knack of getting you to think about poker from unexplored angles ensures SOPTPII remains relevant for quite some time.

To get your copy of Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker Volume II, visit Amazon.com today.

Have you read Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker Volume I or II by Jonathan Little? If so, give us your thoughts in the comments section below. In the meantime, be sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

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