Tue, 02/15/2011 – 00:36 – PokerPages Staff

PokerStars is set to axe ‘Double or Nothing Sit and Gos’ following an announcement from ‘PokerStars Steve’ late last week. The change will come into effect on Tuesday, February 15.

“This is not a decision that was made easily, as these tournaments have proven to be quite popular with players. However, PokerStars has decided that the format needed improvement.”

PokerStars recently introduced a new ‘Fifty50′ Sit n Go format which pays players in relation to their chip stacks when five players have been eliminated.

‘PokerStars Steve’ went on to suggest that this was one of the reasons behind the announcement as players competing in the ‘Double or Nothing’ format do not have to take an interest in the game until the end if they wish to maximize their gains.

“The difference means that players always have some incentive to care about the size of their chip stack, whereas in Double or Nothings, this was not always the case.”

“This added element makes the Fifty50s a more skillful and, to many, a more interesting format.”

There has been a mixed reaction to the news on the TwoPlusTwo forum. Some believe it would make the new format more difficult to beat while others suggested the ‘Fifty50′ format could be extended to satellite events.

Poker players can find ‘Fifty50 Sit n Gos’ at the world’s biggest online poker site under the ‘Sit and Go’ and ’1 Table’ sections in the PokerStars lobby.

Mon, 01/24/2011 – 21:39 – PokerPages Staff

Team PokerStars sponsored pro Viktor ‘Isildur1′ Blom and Dan ‘jungleman12′ Cates sat down at the world’s biggest online poker site on Friday for an epic heads up duel.

The nosebleed regulars began their exchange at the $25/$50 tables before moving up to the $50/$100 tables several hours later.

Cates, who was playing under his ‘w00ki3z’ PokerStars alias, was on a small downswing early on but managed to dominate the latter stages to post profits in excess of $40,000.

Cates won a pivotal hand after meeting Blom’s all in call with a second pair. Blom flipped over K-10 high and the 21 year-old took down the $29,698 pot.

The marathon duel prompted several choice words from the duo with the Swedish sensation calling Cates’ style of play a ‘joke’ and commenting that he would ‘play this session until I bust or you quit.’

However, Blom was unable to fulfill that aim as he lost out in a huge coin flip situation at the end of the session.

Cates six bet all-in pre flop with Ac-Ks and Blom completed with Jh-Jd. Cates paired up on the flop and the turn and river drew air. The Maryland native snared the $40,000 pot.

It represents a welcome turn around in fortunes for Cates who was one of Blom’s major victims during his hot streak on Full Tilt Poker during late 2009.

Viktor Blom has struggled to find consistency on PokerStars since joining the illustrious Team PokerStars ranks. The 20 year old was down $100,000 on Saturday, pushing his overall deficit past the $300,000 mark.

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