Spain's Pablo Gordillo Caballero is the current chip leader with 2,111,000 in chips while Johnny Lodden, Marcel Luske, Jude Ainsworth and Stephen Chidwick hang on in pursuit.

Catch up with the day's action with the live stream video replay; meanwhile, plenty of interesting things went down in and around the main show and our reporting team grabbed a few tidbits:

-        PokerStars pro Eugene Katchalov won the play-out of the Eureka High Roller Event over Niki Jedlicka; heads-up play lasted four hours. Jedlicka (online: Kaibuxxe, RealAndyBeal) was ahead most of the time; they struck a deal with Jedlicka on 5 million and Katchalov on 4 million chips: €121,700 for Katchalov, €127,600 for Jedlicka with €27,700 left for the winner.

-        EPT champion becomes bubble boy. Swiss High Roller Ronny Kaiser busted on the bubble on Day 3. Kaiser won EPT Tallinn in 2012.

Katchalov gets paid.

 

- The largest group of players in the main event is from Germany (150), followed by Austria (85), and Russia (77). Countries with one player: Albania, Armenia, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Tunisia, Turks & Caicos Islands, Uganda, Uruguay

-        Gus Hansen made his first EPT cash since 2005 (!). Among others he busted EPT champion Kevin Stani and then tweeted “busted another shortstack." Doesn’t seem to know many EPT winners.

-        The following players won a seat to the EPT Grand Final in the $2,150 NLHE Turbo Hybrid Side Event: Martin Jacobson (Sweden), Farid Jattin (USA), Ariel Celestino (Brazil), Griffin Benger (Canada), Valentino Yasenov Konakchiev (Bulgaria), José Carlos Garcia (Spain). Marc-André Laduceur (Canada) came in seventh.

-        Nomen est omen. The winner of side event no. 16, €500 PL 7-Card Stud is named Dmitry Chop. He did not want to make a deal with his heads-up opponent Max Pescatori (Italy).

-        Big-name bustouts today: Vladimir Geshkenbein, Sam Trickett, Viktor Blom (out in 77th), Gus Hansen (71st), Bertrand Grospellier, Martin Staszko, David Vamplew

Decision of the Day (from Day 1b):

One players raises from middle position. Before the button can announce her action the Small Blind tells the dealer he's accidentally seen the button’s hand. The floor is called.

Decision: The button’s hand gets opened so everybody has the same information as the Small Blind.

The action goes back to the initial raiser. He can take his chips back and start his move fresh. The blinds are also playing against the open hand of the button. Watch the action unfold below:

Tweets from the Stars

I win!!!! 4 hour super tough battle where I was down most of the time but pulled through in the end. Thanks to everyone for the support!

Won another coinflip against a shortstack All-In - holding 66 vs his AK - up to 635K

Just lost every single all in for 4 hours in the cash game ??! Need to get 9th in the Main event now to get even....#EPTVienna

With a new sponsorship with Everest Poker and the next $1m Big One for One Drop - the tourney that made him the winningest European poker player of all time - looming, everyone's got their eyes on Trickett in anticipation of his next big performance.

A runner-up finish at WPT Venice and a second cash this week at EPT Vienna show Trickett's on form in tournaments, but like most high rollers it's the cash games - where he runs in a pretty elite circle - where he really makes his graft.

PokerListings' Christian Henkel caught up with him after a long night at the biggest game in Vienna to find out more.

PokerListings: There are rumors here at the EPT Vienna Main Event that PLO World Champion Jan-Peter Jachtmann organizes a PLO high-stakes cash game every night at the expensive penthouse of Sans Souci Hotel. And you're supposed to have been there. Can you really concentrate on a €5,000 tournament at the same time?

Sam Trickett: I can concentrate on both. I used to play both major tournaments and big cash games at the same time. But it was really late last night.

Down "five-figures+" in PLO.

 

I got six hours sleep. Enough so it doesn’t affect my decision-making here in the main event that much.

But I lost big last night and I was doomed today in the main event. I ran so hot yesterday that I think now they have a voodoo doll in the penthouse ... (laughs)

PL: Will you play the whole week?

ST: Yes, even more now that I have busted from the main event. I need something to do. So I'll try to make some money.

PL: How is it going so far?

ST: Not well. I had some really bad sessions. We played PLO and I lost four hours in a row almost every hand. I think I was all in 60 times ...

PL: In Euro?

ST: More than a five-digit number. I don’t wanna tell too much, but I think my opponents were quite happy afterwards.

PL: Other players involved?

ST: Mostly German pros and Austrian guys. Ronny Kaiser, Florian Langmann and Noah Boeken were also involved.

PL: How did you get in the game?

ST: I know some guys from longer stays in Vienna. Gregor Reichardt for example, who was floorman in the high roller lounge of the Montesino.

I always brought some really good action in the games before, so now they hope that I fill up their bankrolls (laughs)

PL: You know the Germans from other games. They smashed live High Roller Events in 2012 and 2013, and you were always one of the really few European players who could face them on the same level. What do you think about that Teutonian bunch, that scary think tank?

Gruissem "thinks about tournament poker in a completely different way."

 

ST: It never surprised me really. They played most of these tournaments. And they are better tournament players than most. They train their brains almost every day, by challenging each other. And they are nice lads.

PL: Who is the best of them?

ST: Wrong question. Quoss, Gruissem, Reinkemeier and Kurganov. Four guys, four different styles.

PL: What is Gruissem's style?

ST: I can’t tell you all my reads on him exactly, but he thinks about tournament poker in a completely different way than all other tournament players.

He is always really creative in his post-flop game and in finding bluffing spots, that no other players would pick. Most tournament players prefer to have a lot of pot control.

It seems that he doesn't give a shit for pot control. That can make a really big difference in tournaments with a huge buy in.

PL: And Tobias Reinkemeier?

ST: He plays the game not as aggressive like Gruissem. Tobias plays a perfect game, really straightforwardly and never makes mistakes. He punishes you for every weak moment in a tournament.

PL: They all live in England. Do you know them privately?

ST: No. I don’t live in London. I use to play some private cash games, but I never met them there. I live in Lincoln, a city in the Northeast of England close to Nottingham and Sheffield.

But I meet them quite often at live tournaments. And I swapped with them in the high roller and super high-roller tournaments.

They are actually the only guys with whom I ever swap in these tournaments.

PL: Back to the high-stakes cash games. You used to be involved in the most expensive cash games in the world in Macau. But we heard that they don’t let you in anymore? Are too good, too dangerous?

"People trust me and sponsors have always supported me quite well."

 

ST: I used to play the highest games there. And I think Tom Dwan and me were for a long time the only pros who were allowed to play there. But then the games dried out a little bit.

And when they came back, the local VIPs decided to not let any poker pros in the games. So I lived in Macau and waited day-to-day to get an invitation.

But whenever they organised a game it was filled up with western poker pros, mostly shorthanded and not really attractive.

So I decided to go back to Europe. But Tom told me recently that he received some invitations from the locals again. So maybe I'll go back soon.

PL: What makes you such an extraordinary player - now the most sucessful European poker player of all time?

ST: To be honest I think I'm good, good enough to survive under the most dangerous sharks. But I had a lot of luck, with my results in the high roller and particulary with my results in the super high roller tournaments.

On the other hand I always got along with people and had never big arguments with other poker players or any big fall outs.

So people trust me and sponsors have always supported me quite well. In return I give interviews, even if I am absolutely not in the mood to do them. Like now (laughs).

Play poker. Watch poker. Talk poker. Travel for poker. Sleep (occasionally). Repeat.

And fair enough. If you want to get good at this game these days, you need to put the hours in. If you're playing poker 12-16 hours a day, online or live, it's also pretty hard to keep up with what's happening in the world-at-large.

If you're a poker player from Russia or the Ukraine, however, you don't have the option of turning the outside world off. It finds you. And especially in recent months, with ongoing political unrest and rioting in Kiev during the recent RPT to the current stand-off over Crimean sovereignty.

While calling it a form of "political poker," as many news organizations have, is undeniably a stretch there's no question the struggles of their countrymen and women weigh heavily on the minds of poker pros from both countries.

PokerListings' Christian Henkel caught up with three high-profile pros at EPT Vienna to get their thoughts on the situation.

Eugene Katchalov (33), Team PokerStars Pro, born in the Ukraine, raised in the US

“It doesn’t really affect my daily life because my whole family emigrated in the early 90s. But I have a lot of friends in Kiev and so I am worried about the situation. So I am staying up to date and always reading the news.

Ukrainian-born Eugene Katchalov

 

"It is a little bit strange though. We are Ukrainians, but we left the country before the Ukrainian language turned into an official language. So, I only speak Russian.

"The discussion about that issue (Crimea) is more a dispute between the social levels and socialisation than nationalities. I would be surprised if poker players from Russia and Ukraine would really get in trouble over that.

"The conflict is very difficult to understand and I am sure there is a lot of strategy involved from all sides. It is actually hard to know what the right thing to do is. But some people get really hurt and that’s why I dont want to bring that too close to a poker game.

"I go to the Ukraine a couple of times every year. The last time in fall last year, shortly before the protest begun. I represent the Ukraine as the only player for PokerStars.”

Maxim Lykov (31), EPT winner, born and raised in Russia, recently left the country

"The situation is hard to understand. If you live in Russia you get the impression more and more that the government leads the country more and more back to the 19th century. The politicians behave like kings and for people like me it’s time to move to Europe to have the chance to lead a normal live.

Russian Max Lykov.

 

"It is not right to take a part of another country, doesn’t matter what happened 50 years ago.

"I check a few news sites in the morning and don’t think about it too much during the day. The Ukrainian poker players are more affected by the situation. So, we talk with them more about their personal situation and sorrows.

"There are not too many discussions about the higher level of this conflict and to think about that in poker terms is more your job as journalists. Players like me can play on the EPT or in the US. But the poker middle class in the countries of the former Soviet Union were really happy about their opportunities in Kiev, before the rebellion.

"The city has its own charm and a lot of mid-range tournament series, including the Russian Poker Tour, have taken place. Now it’s all over, and these poker players have no replacement for that. We hope the new government can stabilize the situation soon.

"Otherwise we have the same situation like in Russia: a lot of illegal poker games and no real security for the players.”

Ivan Demidov (32), born in Moscow, WSOP Main Event runner-up 2008, still lives in Moscow

Ivan Demidov

 

“People that have never been to Europe or the US are way more likely to believe the stuff they see on Russian TV etc. But if your main source of information is the Internet then it is different.

"It is not that simple though. Among internet users there are still a lot of people that support the official Russian point of view. But the percentage is definitely smaller, compared to the TV audience

"I still live in Moscow at the moment, but I am planning to buy an apartment or house in Riga (Latvia). To get a permanent residence there, so I’ll be free to travel in the EU.

"We haven't decided yet if we’ll move there completely or if we’ll spend half of the time in Moscow and half in EU. But all the recent political events have definitely made me scared.

"I like to argue with Ukrainian poker players :) So I’ve spent a lot of time arguing the issue. Not anymore I guess, as it has come to a stalemate and there is not much new info.

"I don't think we can compare it to a poker game, to be honest. But from a psychological point of view, I personally think Putin is acting irrational, while the rest of the world tries to stay rational.

"That doesn't mean Putin had no plan or that all of the Crimea operation wasn't thought through. I definitely think it was well executed technically. But I am talking about the real motives behind all of this.

"I don’t think the situation will change much in the Ukraine poker world. Some Kiev tournaments were canceled, and probably there will be a period of time with no big tournaments in the Ukraine, but I don’t think it will last long.”

Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop a note in the comments and we'll gladly take a look.

Today in the 3-Bet we find a massive $400k bad beat jackpot hit at Playground Poker in Montreal, Xuan Liu angling for a long day of poker and Marvin Rettenmaier puts the kibosh on the shot clock fanfare.

1) Quad 7s No Good; $400k Makes Up for it

Day 1a at the WPT Canadian Spring Championship is underway but, while the action has been good, the real fireworks have come over in the cash-game section.

Specifically: an epic $400k Bad Beat Jackpot was hit when quads sevens were no good against quad 10s:

Everybody in the cash-game room got a piece, too. And even the impossibly poker-rich Antonio Esfandiari was impressed:

Arrived @PLAYGROUNDPOKER for day1WPT within 30 min I busted AND witnessed someone hit a 400k Bad Beat JACKPOT 77 lose to 1010 #SoSick

Turns out the secret was just busting out of the tournament. We can do that:

The guy who won BB jackpot @PLAYGROUNDPOKER (Richard Figiel from Mont) started at my tourney table, got broke, & then hit BB jack for $157k!

2) Xuan Liu: Bright-Eyed and Ready to Play

Speaking of WPT Montreal plenty of notables, including the above-mentioned Esfandiari, have made the trek to Kahnawake again for another shot at WPT glory.

Among them is PokerListings fav Xuan Liu, who might be among the only poker players in the world fresh enough at 11 am to hope for an epic day:

11am start...let's make this a 12 hour poker day @WPT Canadian Spring Championship @888poker

So far so good for Xuan as she hit an early double up and is cruising on around 76k in chips as they hit Level 7.

Tune in to the WPT Live Updates for up-to-minute coverage.

3) Rettenmaier Not So Keen on Shot Clock

Who shall listen to my songs if we play so fast?

 

Plenty of buzz circulated lately about the WPT considering implementing a shot clock at future events.

Nothing is set yet, of course, but the general consensus among players surveyed in LA (80% in favor) and poker vets like Lee Davy is yeah, full steam ahead.

Not so fast, says German pro and general good times guy Marvin Rettenmaier. As he says in a new blog post keeping amateurs in the game should be more important:

"We need to really ask what the goal of implementing a shot clock is. There has been a lot of talk about how we need to make poker more accessible and enjoyable for the amateur players rather than the pros. I think a shot clock would be detrimental to that goal...

"We’re putting up more barriers to poker with a shot clock, newcomers are already scared when they have to play in a live setting for the first time. Now you want to make it even harder by giving them time restrictions."

Rettenmaier's primary concern is a 30-second shot clock, as suggested, is too fast although any kind of clock is still a barrier he says.

As always Rettenmaier is a voice of reason in a world gone mad; check the full piece here.

Ghamrawi grabbed the overall chip lead with 5.5 million in the waning stages of EPT Vienna Day 5 earlier today. 

The Vienna-native will have to get by WSOP bracelet winner Simeon Naydenov if he hopes to wrap up his first EPT title.

The final table is certainly a diverse one with two Germans, two Bulgarians, a Spaniard, Dane, Ukrainian and of course an Austrian.

Johnny Lodden Denied Third EPT Final Table

Johnny Lodden

 

Heading into Day 5 famed poker pro Johnny Lodden was most likely the most well-known player in the field but fell just short of the final table coming in 15th place.

The Norwegian got himself in a classic race situation with A-K to Gavin O’Rourke’s 8-8 but couldn’t out-flop the Irish pro who spiked a set.

Lodden picked up €40,550 for finishing in 15th place.

Consistent Hungarian grinder Andras Kovacs also got close to the final table but ultimately whiffed coming in 11th place for €50,250. 

The final table is set to begin at 12 p.m. local time tomorrow with someone walking away with an €816,000 first-place prize.

Here’s a look at the complete final-table chip counts heading into play:

Or is it? And just how big of an advantage does it give you, really?

On the verge of the final table at this year's EPT Vienna main event PokerListings Denmark's Thomas Hviid went through all 96 main events played so far on the EPT to see just how the chip leaders have fared.

By his count, unsurprisingly, the chip leader heading into the final table has won 32 of the 96 tournaments, or 33.33 per cent.

If you're second in chips at the start of the final table your chances are slightly lower at 22.90 per cent, but still fairly solid. In total 22 EPT tournaments have been won by the player in second place in the chip counts to start the final day.

Who's the best bet to get here?

 

Somewhat surprising?

Players coming in fifth in chips have been more succesful than those in third and fourth. A total of 13 players have won titles starting fifth while 11 and 9 players have won it from third and fourth, respectively.

What does it mean for EPT Vienna? Looks like the good money is on Anthony Ghamrawi, Frei Dilling and Simeon Naydenov. Here's the complete breakdown of the numbers:

How has the chipleader fared in instances where he or she didn't end up with the title? Here's where you really see the advantage of being chip leader to start the final day.

In 91 of the 96 tournaments the chip leader ended up finishing 5th or better. There's also more than a 50% chance he or she will get heads-up for the title.

Only in two tournaments has the chip leader on the final day busted first. A look at chip-leader results:

More interesting facts about chip leaders on the final day at EPTs:

- Season 5 featured the lowest amount of times the chip leader went on to win the tournament (1 of 11). Salvatore Bonavera of Italy was the only player to do so (Prague).

Super Dario let the chip lead slip away twice.

 

- The highest amount of chip leaders to win the tournament was in the following Season 6 (8 of 13). The players were Maxim Lykov (Kyiv), Carter Phillips (Barcelona), Aaron Gustafsson (London), Antonio Matias (Vilamoura), Jan Skampa (Prague), Kevin McPhee (Berlin), Allan Bække (Snowfest) and Nicolas Chouity (Grand Final).

- Martin Nielsen of Denmark (Barcelona, Season 5) and Mikael Norinder of Sweden (Prague, Season 4) are the only two players to start the final day as chipleader and bust first.

- Two players have managed the opposite, to come from last position in the chip count to win the tournament. Noah Boeken from Holland did it in Copenhagen (Scandinavian Open) in Season 1, and American Reuben Peters copied that in Dublin, Season 4.

- Steve O’Dwyer has twice come into the final day as the chip leader. The first time was in London, Season 9, where he busted in fifth. The second time, at the Grand Final in Monte Carlo in Season 9, he won the title.

- Dario Minieri of Italy has also been the chip leader on the final day twice but failed to take down the win each time. The first time was in San Remo in Season 4 (won by Jason Mercier) and Warsaw in Season 4 (won by João Barbosa). Minieri finished 3rd in both.

- Starting positions of "big-name" EPT final-table winners:

Watch the final table live stream of EPT Vienna starting tomorrow at 1 PM CET right here.

Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop a note in the comments and we'll gladly take a look.

Today in the 3-Bet we find a piece on poker staking surfacing in the Wall Street Journal, Tony Dunst reveals Mohsin Charania's shoving secrets on the WPT Raw Deal and the holy union of Scrabble and poker is finally consumated.

1) Poker Players Get Staked; Public Just Finding Out

Like any smart tourney pro Jaka knows staking/swaps help variance.

 

In the poker world it's such a given people rarely even think about it unless a deal goes squirelly.

Of course players are "backed" in tournaments. Few players only use their own money. And it doesn't lead to soft play at the tables. Not often, anyway.

The pervasiveness of staking in poker isn't so obvious to the viewing audience at home, though. They see the Main Event winner with his arms around a giant pile of cash, they picture that cash in the player's bank account (we're won't even guess why they don't think about taxes).

Wall Street Journal reporter Alexandra Berzon bursts the staking bubble a little in a piece today, although few in poker will find it surprising.

It's very well done and accurate for a mainstream poker piece, though, with a couple of interesting tidbits for even the most hardened poker player (the existence of Shane Sigsbee's 80-player staking company Imawhale, for instance.)

Check it out here. (Btw the player who finished 12th in the 2011 WSOP and spoiled Sigsbee's shot at a big profit - Bryan Devonshire).

2) Know When To Shove, When to Min-Bet and Fold

It's not quite as catchy as "Know when to hold'em, know when fold'em" but if there's a comparable chorus for the modern poker tournament player it could very well be "Know when to shove your short stack, know when to min-bet then fold."

EPT Grand Final winner and all-around tournament crusher Mohsin Charania is, in fact, a master of this very technique as WPT Raw Deal host Tony Dunst explains perfectly in this new clip.

Well, not perfectly as far as the music goes (Turn the raw guitar down, WPT!). But the explanation is great:

3) Scrabble + Poker = Scroker!

Love Scrabble? Love poker?

Hold on to your nuts, then; this is probably going to change your life:

Or rather Gruissem wants to do more with his money and actually make a difference in the world by contributing to charities.

Gruissem is a believer in the philosophy of effective altruism, which motivates him to earn more playing poker so he can make a difference in other people’s lives.

PokerZeit’s Dirk Oetzmann caught up with Gruissem at EPT Vienna and discussed philosphy, poker strategy and more.

PL: You are playing the high roller event here. Is that compatible with the concept of “effective altruism”?

PG: “Effective altruism” is an attitude to life. It roughly means I am making money to give to others.

I take the decisions that are most beneficial for other people. The best I can do to do that is play poker.

I would never be as useful as a gardener or a nurse. (laughs)

PL: You seemed to be lacking motivation to keep on playing not too long ago.

Philipp Gruissem in Uganda

 

PG: In the beginning, poker is just fun, but then it turns into a job. A job that is about money, and money only.

In the long run, this just isn’t enough for me, as I don’t consider money as very important anyway. I was missing a second motivating factor.

PL: Sounds a little Buddhist…

PG: Yes. Buddhism says giving will make you happy. I agree with that a lot.

PL: Are you a Buddhist?

PG: I don’t like to be categorized. There are some basic characteristics of all the great religions in everyone’s lifestyle. I just happen to incorporate more Buddhist principles.

Your personality is the sum of the different influences you experience in your life.

PL: What does “effective altruism” mean in practice?

PG: You try to make as much money as possible, to invest in charitable projects. My best case scenario is to put enough money in the bank to be financially independent, and then take the other money to invest in profitable projects.

PL: So, where die did the first batch of money go?

PG: We gave 60,000 dollar to the “Schistosomiasis Control Initiative” (SCI), which fights bilharzia and worm infestations.

They operate in Uganda, and I have recently visited them. At the same time, Igor [Kurganov] went to the Swiss headquarters of “Effective Altruism” to hands over 90,000 dollar.

PL: So you watch where your money goes.

Philipp Gruissem

 

PG: Yes. We want to use it to utmost efficiency. In Germany, I can’t do much with 2,000 dollars. In Uganda, I can help a thousand people. I think, people have the same value everywhere, so I put my money where it helps most.

PL: What does the poker community think about this?

PG: Actually, charity is very uncool. Many poker players like to show off their new cars or watches. It’s completely absurd, when you think about it.

PL: Have you quit private high stakes then?

PG: On the contrary. These are even more interesting, now that I can put the winnings to a good use.

PL: Wouldn’t that mean, a sponsorship would be just the right thing for you? Gus Hansen mentioned your name as a potential successor of Tom Dwan for “The Professionals”.

PG: That is interesting, in general. However, nobody has approached me or made me an offer.

PL: Sam Trickett has described your game as “extremely creative post-flop and regardless of any pot control”.

PG: I think, he summed that up pretty well. I change my style a lot and I take high risks.

PL: And how would you characterize Trickett’s game?

PG: Rather solid, but extremely efficient.

PL: Are there players you can learn from?

PG: You can learn from every single player you play with. I do. Sam is one of them.

PL: What is the secret master plan behind the success of German players in high roller and super high roller events?

Fellow German high roller Igor Kurganov

 

PG: You wouldn’t think it, but we never planned anything like this. At some point, we had enough money to afford them, and as we very successful early on, we could afford to play more of them.

Also, we are all friends with each other, so we know about each others’ poker skills.

PL: Have you never been accused of softplaying or cheating?

PG: Not directly. The only guy who ever insinuated anything was Tony G. I gave him a proper answer and he never said anything again.

If Tony G. shuts up that’s a sure sign you are right.

Aside from that, no one has ever suspected me of anything. And you know that the guys are very attentive and speak out if they suspect anything.

PL: How does a think tank like your group work? Are you scheduling a two hour discussion on Omaha, Monday morning 8 AM, and then there is a 2-7 workshop Thursday afternoon?

PG: (laughs) I wish. In reality, there are more spontaneous, unplanned discussions, like in Skype or between just two of us.

It is true, though, that we speak about 2-7 more often than other games.

PL: Macau is the home of the big games now. Are you thinking of taking them on?

PG: Actually, I’ve been there several times. But the truth is, it didn’t go well for me at all, so I need to recover first, before I go back.

PL: You travel all the time. Do you never get homesick?

PG: I don’t get anywhere-sick anymore. I’m not longing to be somewhere at any time.

I want my friends and my family around me, but it doesn’t matter where that happens.

Wherever I am, I feel at home.

Khoroshenin entered heads-up play with a commanding 20-6 chip lead against Ghamrawi and didn’t waste his opportunity.

After 45-minutes of battle Khoroshenin finally landed the knockout blow when he turned a king-high flush.

Thanks to a three-way deal Khoroshenin walked away with €578,392 for first-place while Ghamrawi earned €446,481.

The biggest winner, at least financially, was actually third-place finisher Marko Neumann who picked up €638,127 and definitely got the best of the deal.

Bulgarian Pro Simeon Naydenov Places Sixth

Simeon Naydenov

 

The day didn’t go quite as well for Bulgarian pro Simeon Naydenov.

Naydenov, who won a WSOP bracelet last summer, lost a crucial coin flip with ace-jack against Ghamrawi’s pocket sevens.

The Bulgarian earned €151,000 for his efforts but no doubt had his eyes on the bigger prize.

The European Poker Tour now heads to San Remo on April 14-20 with the EPT Grand Finally in Monaco taking place shortly thereafter.

Here are the complete final-table payouts (*represents three-way deal):

In 2007 he made $3.5 million profit in just five months playing online high stakes under the KaiBuxxe handle on Full Tilt Poker.

Despite subsequently losing up to $4.4m playing under his own screen name since, Jedlicka's still held on to the mystique he earned with that first online success.

Rumors of ultra-high PLO cash games, long trips and an unconventional lifestyle only furthered the legend.

Jedlicka has popped up on the live scene from time to time over the years and although he didn’t intend to play at this past week's EPT Vienna he rediscovered his love for NLHE watching some friends play in the Eureka Poker Tour main event.

He ended up buying in and coming second in the Eureka High Roller event. PokerListings caught up with him at the Hofburg Palace to find out more.

PokerListings: Niki you haven’t been at an EPT for ages. What made you come to the Hofburg Palace?

Back in the KaiBuxxe days.

 

Niki Jedlicka: Originally, I just wanted to check out the location. Then I saw so many familiar faces in the Eureka Main Event that I began to feel like playing myself. I registered for the High Roller…

PL: …and you ended it as the runner-up behind Eugene Katchalov. He is one of the best live players in the world. Did you think you were lacking some experience to keep up?

NJ: I’ve always used my instincts a lot when I play. Also, with all due respect, I don’t consider him a better live player than me.

PL: You became a millionaire at the age of 20 and you never went broke. Are you still motivated to play?

NJ: I never studied a lot of poker theory and my bankroll management was probably terrible.

However, I could always rely on my talent and my ambitions. Poker was often not about money for me but about dominating the opponent with high-class poker.

PL: There has been a private high-limit PLO game during the EPT. Surely you couldn’t miss that?

NJ: Of course not. We’ve been playing several nights till five o’clock in the morning. The stakes were €50/€100, later also €100/€200.

I did pretty well. That’s all I’m saying.

PL: That’s your thing, isn’t it? High-stakes PLO. What does a private game have to offer to make it interesting?

NJ: The limits have to be pretty high. But it's also about fun. If there are two or three guys in the game who can’t afford to lose, the "oh so good" vibes disappear quickly.

PL: Do you enjoy being a living legend? You’ve been taking millions off top players before most of today’s players even knew poker.

NJ: This has always been greatly exaggerated. And being famous is relative in the online world.

Still, during this week I was approached twice by complete strangers. It’s been a long time since anything like this has happened to me.

PL: If you look at all the young players now don’t you feel like a being from another time?

NJ: Yes, I do a little. Poker made me rich very early. After 2007 I felt like I was permanently freerolling.

"It's too late for me to learn a proper job."

 

PL: Wouldn’t more money also give you more options in life?

NJ: Actually, I am thinking about that. There were times when everything less than $100,000 was like play money for me.

Currently I'm refurbishing my new apartment with some very exclusive, expensive furniture. So I’m thinking in terms of winning that special closet or this rare kitchen table.

PL: What’s your future going to be?

NJ: It's too late for me to learn a proper job. At the moment I’m mostly travelling and taking care of my investments. Now and again I play a little poker.

But I’m also planning a new project, I can’t really talk about it for now.

PL: Are you going to the WSOP this summer?

NJ: I hate Vegas. I was there only once – two days in autumn. The World Series will – again – have to do without me.

A full-scale investigation was carried out and Sir Trevor Brooking, the Director of Development at the Football Association, told the world "we need to start earlier. Anybody emerging from the 5-11 age group has to be comfortable on the ball."

The world realized that the English national football side had slipped into mediocrity because the structure of the nation's game was wrought with problems. The foundation that was built to create some of the best players in the world was devoid of technical ability.

It was back to the drawing board and it will take a very long time before the English national side reaps the benefits of changes. Changes made to the grassroots of football.

Our Foundation is Not Strong Enough

Even Flushy wonders where next gen will come from.

 

There are some parallels to be drawn with poker here.

Now I’m not advocating that we need to teach our 5-11 year olds how to play poker (although in all seriousness it would help kids in Math class pay more attention to their studies than down the chest of Beverley Lally), but we still have a fundamental problem with the grassroots level of our game.

Our foundation is not strong enough, especially in Britain. This is going to lead to fewer people taking up interest in the game, which in turn affects everyone in the industry.

Online poker sites have started to wake up and smell the coffee. Only this week Merge Gaming became the latest network to make changes to its operations aimed at appeasing recreational players when it made registration for all SNG games anonymous.

The Merge Network follow in the footsteps of Bodog, PartyPoker, Unibet, PokerStars, Dusk Till Dawn and many more organizations that have made changes to their online infrastructures to make the online game more accessible to the recreational player.

But What About Live Poker?

In this regard I want to throw some support the way of Dave Hulme. A stereotypical working class Northerner who is trying his level best to create a better foundation for what he calls ‘The Next Generation of Amateur Poker Players.’

Hulme has set up Grassroots Poker in a bid to create a home for the thousands of UK poker players who find it difficult to justify paying £50 to play a game of poker

His latest focus of attention is on the aging UK Pub Laws which state that:

Low-stakes poker is permitted in pubs as long as stakes are kept below £5 a head and £100 per premises per day.

No one rallies around a countryman like the UK fans.

 

His assertion is that these archaic laws are stopping the flow of recreational players right at the beginning of their life cycle. Kitchen table aside the UK pub is the breeding ground for many of the greatest players in the UK game, and he quite rightly takes up the fight where it is needed most.

If the pub laws can be relaxed to allow landlords to offer poker competitions, with reasonable cash action, then Hulme believes more people will find their way into the game than currently do via the rake-ridden casinos.

It's Time for a Change

One great point Hulme makes in his article ‘Challenging the UK Pub Laws’ is that people can visit a pub and plough as much money as they like into the slot machines but can’t sit down and play a game of skill for more than £5.01 per head.

It’s time for a change and Hulme asks all of poker to unite in his fight to get these laws overturned so the British can start to make changes at the right end of the game.

The grassroots of poker.

If you would like to support the growth of British poker then please visit Grassroots Poker and sign Dave’s petitions to get the UK laws changed.

According to highstakesDB, Hansen crushed the big $2k/$4k 2-7 Triple Draw game on Sunday.

First he smashed Dan “jungleman12” Cates for $200,000 in a heads-up match then went on to play an incredibly tough six-max table that included the likes of ragen70, thecortster, Follow The Hawk, samrostan, alexonmoon, Alexonmoon and Phil “Polarizing” Ivey.

Hansen was nearly unbeatable in the 6-Max game ended up pocketing $574,000 as the game broke.

Once you include Hansen’s PLO winnings from Saturday he’s up about $850,000 over the weekend.

Viktor Blom

 

Hansen has been mired in a soul-crushing downswing for most of the year but has shown signs of life after admitting he wasn’t feeling very positive about online poker in an interview we did with him last week.

Interestingly one of Hansen’s biggest heaters ever came during roughly the same time of year in 2011. Hansen was up nearly $4 million on FTP when Black Friday viciously interrupted his winning streak.

Doug Polk Eviscerates Isildur1

The weekend wasn’t as kind to Gus Hansen’s fellow Professional Viktor “Isildur1” Blom. 

Although Blom recorded a big win on Saturday it was arch-rival Doug “WGP-Rider” Polk who got the best of him yesterday.

Polk and Blom played two huge matches of $1,000/$2,000 Cap NLHE and Polk ended up stacking the young Scandi for $236k.

Blom made up some of the difference in the PLO games that were running at the time and managed to reduce his losses to $138k for the day.

Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop a note in the comments and we'll gladly take a look.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Chris Moneymaker revisiting his early days on the poker circuit, All In Magazine gets inside poker playboy Dan Bilzerian's LA mansion and Zack Elwood reveals an ancient technique that's changed his fortunes at the poker table.

1) Moneymaker Goes Retro

Chris Moneymaker is not busto and homeless. Repeat: Not homeless. We're pretty sure.

He did, for some reason, sleep in his car this weekend though:

Slept in my car for the first time in 11 years. #throwback

Makes us a little weepy for the time we hobo'ed our way around the Dakotas following The Spin Doctors in 1999 (What of it? They were still great then...).

2) Dan Bilzerian's House (and Guns and Cars)

Want an inside look at the life of poker playboy Dan Bilzerian?

All In Magazine got an exclusive tour inside The Most Interesting Man on Instagram's abode (sidenote: it used to be Phil Ivey's house) recently and posted the first in a "Life of Dan Bilzerian" video series.

If you know anything about his Instagram account his life looks, well, exactly like you think it would look like.

Bilzerian himself? Actually like a man of reason, believe it or not. See for yourself:

3) Drink Your Own Urine, Play Better Poker

How early do you have to post an April Fool's joke these days to get any takers?

At least a day, it seems. Doesn't make it any less funny though, so kudos to Reading Poker Tells' Zachary Elwood. An excerpt:

Got to start early to play the fools.

 

"The fourth day out I got up nice and early, and made a big bacon, eggs, and toast breakfast accompanied by a juice glass filled with 3 ounces of my own “pure water” (as the Sanskrit text the Damar Tantra refers to it).

"It went down smooth and easy; it felt like I’d been drinking my own urine my whole life. Nothing much to report for that day but I did feel more calm and focused than I can remember recently.

"I guess my tip would be: Keep drinking the urine and don’t give up. (Lost $375.)"

Enjoy the full hilarity here.

The buzz apparently reached all the way to the Capitol as Senator John McCain - "caught" playing poker on his smart phone during a Senate hearing on Syria last year - will be among the participants at the tables in 2014.

McCain's staff confirmed today the outspoken Senator and former Presidential candidate will head to the Battle of Malta after vacationing with his family in nearby Italy just prior to the start of the tournament (Nov 6-10).

McCain Unapologetic About Syria Hearing, Focused on His Game

"Scandal!” McCain tweeted last year when the photo of him playing poker on his phone leaked out. “Caught playing iPhone game at 3+ hour Senate hearing – worst of all I lost!”

The ensuing furor over whether he was dissrespecting the office reached a fever pitch but McCain was unapologetic.

Getting "caught" in Syria hearing inspired McCain to take his game more seriously.

 

The uproar instead inspired McCain to take his poker game more seriously. He purchased memberships in several notable poker training sites and reportedly invested heavily in the frequent home games among power brokers in Washington.

As one of the premier destination tournaments for low- to mid-stakes poker players the Battle of Malta is right in McCain's wheelhouse and "the perfect opportunity," his staff said, for him to work on his tournament game in a casual and friendly environment.

Should Sen. McCain win the tournament - with a guarantee of €500,000 this year the first-place payout should top €75,000 - his staff said he will donate the proceeds to a charity of his choice.

For more on the 2014 Battle of Malta, visit our page here.

Last September Middleton outlasted 1,234 players to win a staggering $1.2 million at EPT Barcelona.

Middleton outlasted even more players last night on PokerStars. He beat out 1,624 and a pro-heavy final table to win half a million dollars and an entry into the WCOOP Main Event.

Since winning EPT Barcelona, Middleton has been on exceptional run online that includes a win in the Sunday 500 for $89k and a $72k final-table score in last year’s WCOOP.

Middleton Gets By Bryn Kenney, David “Bakes” Baker

Bryn Kenney

 

The final table of the WCOOP Main Event Challenge was surprisingly pro-heavy with online grinders David “Bakes” Baker and Bryn Kenney both getting a shot at the $500k.

The final nine nearly included Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen who had serious momentum but eventually finished 44th for a $9k consolation prize.

Kenney actually made several important double ups just get to the final table but didn’t last very long once he got there. Kenney made an ill-timed shove with K♠ Q♣ and got snapped of by online player ventox’s A♥ 5♠. Kenney earned $32k for his efforts.

David “Bakes” Baker made it a bit farther. He was cruising until he shoved A-2 into Middleton’s pocket sevens. The pair held up and Baker busted in sixth place for $154k.

Here are the complete final-table payouts (*reflects two-way deal):

Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop a note in the comments and we'll gladly take a look.

Today in the 3-Bet we find PokerListings fav Sofia Lövgren moving on from her original poker home, the Global Poker Index goes all in for April Fool's day and our Magic: The Gathering brethren get immortalized in butt crack history.

1) Lövgren Leaves PKR

One of our favorite pros - and one of poker's soon-to-be leading lights - in Sofia Lövgren announced yesterday she's leaving the PKR pro team after four years.

Nothing acrimonious or anything - Lövgren says she's simply moving on to an as-yet unnamed new adventure:

Within 2 weeks my next big adventure will be official!

New project for Lövgren coming shortly.

 

As she writes it's been six years since PKR gave her her start as a pro and she couldn't be more thankful:

"It is now six years since I started from the lowest levels building a bankroll on PKR. After grinding millions of hands and just turning 20 I was given the responsibility to be the first female Team Pro.

"I was from day 1 very well treated by this unique and friendly community. So many people have tried to encourage me and made my poker life enjoyable.

"PKR has been like my second family and it has been an absolute pleasure to work with so many genuine and nice people and to represent this unique poker site and community."

If you don't know her yet we have a feeling you will shortly. Her new project is more than likely going to up her profile over here and she says she intends to spend at least a month in Vegas this summer grinding the WSOP.

Read her full post and look for details on her new project in the coming weeks here.

2) Global Poker Index Builds Tinder Killer

Pick a Trickett for high-end club perks.

 

Mildly amusing April Fool's joke articles are, of course, littering the web today but no one has committed as wholeheartedly to the annual parade than poker's own Global Poker Index.

Along with articles suggesting the WSOP Poker Kitchen is going vegan, Rafael Nadal is under investigation for gambling and our personal favorite, Alex Dreyfus is now #1 on the Bluff Power 20, the GPI went all out on pushing its new "Poker Matchmaker" app.

According to the GPI the app offers up "lightning in a bottle" in an exclusive list of millionaire poker bachelors culled from their rankings for ladies who "dream of living a life of luxury."

Ladies can choose from the likes of billionaire playboy Dan Bilzerian, "Huggable Hansen" types you can console after they lose millions and "Trickett Tickets" for those who prefer high-end club service.

With a geo-location feature to hook up with players instantly at the WSOP this summer, too, it's a real "Tinder Killer" they say.

We won't spoil all of the good jokes in there; check the fake app out here.

3) Magic: The Butt Cracks is Amazing

Given poker's long and storied connection to Magic: The Gathering we couldn't pass up mentioning this brilliant bit of performance art from the latest Magic Grand Prix in Richmond, Virgina.

We will warn you, however: what you're about to see can't be unseen. Sample below:

Heinecker shredded the big $2k/$4k 2-7 Triple Draw game that was running on Full Tilt Poker with the likes of Isildur1, Phil “Polarizing” Ivey and thecortster.

The German pro raked in a total of $499k, according to highstakesdb.com. Heinecker opted out of tracking this year but topped the online charts in 2013 when he pulled in a staggering $6.3 million.

Interestingly Philipp Gruissem mentioned in an interview last week that the German crew of high-stakes pros, which includes Heinecker, talk 2-7 strategy more than any other game.

Isildur1 Crushed for $550k

Viktor Blom

 

Yesterday didn’t go quite as well for Swedish high-stakes pro Viktor “Isildur1” Blom who played a huge 1,700-hand session.

Blom played in the big 2-7 TD game but also the $500/$1000 Cap PLO game against Bttech86, trex313 and no_Ola.

Isildur1 ended up dropping over $550k but continued to play as this article was published.

It’s been an up-and-down year for Blom who initially spun up several million in winnings but now appears to be heading towards just $700k profit on the year.

At least Blom had some notable company in the loser’s column as Phil “Polarizing” Ivey had a very bad night that saw him drop over $300k.

For whatever reason Ivey has never really gained much traction since FTP relaunched and currently sits with over $3 million in losses.

Despite his losses Ivey remains the biggest all-time winner on the site with $17 million in profit.

Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop a note in the comments and we'll gladly take a look.

Today in the 3-Bet we find FOX TV Host John Stossel ripping government hypocrisy over gambling, Houston Rocket Chandler Parsons hustling Holdem games on the team plane and an amazing looking teaser about Atlanta's underground poker games.

1) Stossel: Gov't Likes Gambling Only When It's the House

Nothing unreasonable about that mustache either.

 

We don't know much about FOX TV host John Stossel and his political bent tbh but we can definitely find some common ground with his stance on government and gambling.

As he lays it out in a new piece on Reason.com, there's a bit of a double standard going on there:

"Politicians can't quite make up their minds about gambling: They approve certain casinos and promote state lotteries but crack down on sports bets and some charity poker games. It seems that government dislikes gambling, unless government gets to be the house.

"Increasingly, government is. After locking up bookies for "dangerous and criminal" activities ... most states now offer much worse odds in state lotteries. Then they take money from taxpayers to advertise their scams ...

"Politicians award casino permits to politically connected businessmen who make most of their money from slot machines that offer miserable odds. But when "unapproved" websites offered Internet poker, at far better odds, the federal government charged operators with "money laundering" and shut the sites down."

Seems, well... pretty reasonable. Check the full piece here.

2) Chandler Parsons Crushing Post-Game Holdem

We know the Vancouver Canucks, led by commited poker lover Roberto Luongo, and plenty of other NHL teams dabble in some poker on the road. The Washington Wizards, uh, definitely did too.

Know we know some of the NBA's Houston Rockets - including Jeremy Lin, Omri Casspi and Chandler Parsons - also share our love for the game.

As Parsons explains in a new Grantland interview they've been diving into some pretty deep Holdem games on plane trips lately with the stakes as high as - gasp - $1,000:

Luongo: Chandler Parsons of the NHL.

 

The sample size, according to Parsons, is only five flights... but still. It's always good to know who the team hustler is. Full interview here.

3) "If You Want ... a Back Alley Game, You Can Go to a Back Alley Game"

If Parsons and the Rockets Holdem crew are looking for a more serious game they might want to reach out to a couple of guys on the Atlanta Hawks, apparently.

According to this amazing "character selects" sizzle reel about the underground poker scene in Atlanta it is the hub for poker in the South. And some Hawks players dabble in the game from time to time, too - along with a litany of actors, entertainers, business guys and more.

It's hard to even pick out the best character here. Energy Drink guy? Awesome. Guy with the gold grill? Awesome. Relative of Josh Arieh? Cool. Friend of the Gambino family? Ridiculous. Shannon? God bless.

This. Show. Would. Be. Amazing. Behold:

This round of FTP payments were sent to any players who were approved in the first round but needed to correct their banking information.

The funds were sent out on April 1. If any petitioner failed to update their banking information they will instead be sent a check in the mail.

The most recent payments are dwarfed by the ones that went out in February with the Garden City Group issuing 27,500 individual payments worth a total of $76 million.

Millions Still Unclaimed by U.S. Poker Players

One of the many FTP players who has been paid back.

 

Meanwhile if players received a notice because they had a debt qualifying for collection through the Treasury Offset Program they are supposed to send their completed United Financial Management System Vendor Request Form to the GCG as soon as possible.

Visit the fulltiltpokerclaims.com website for more information.

It’s unclear if there will be more Full Tilt Poker repayments going forward but considering it was estimated that U.S. players were owed $159 million at one point it appears there is going to be a sizeable chunk of cash that goes unclaimed.

It’s now been nearly three years since online poker’s Black Friday forced PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker out of the U.S. market.

Full Tilt was unable to pay back its players and eventually the U.S. DOJ filed a civil suit against the company’s management and accused the site of being a Ponzi scheme.

Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop a note in the comments and we'll gladly take a look.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Antonio Esfandiari still wowing crowds with sleight-of-hand on the Las Vegas Strip, Tom Hall getting deep stacked in Macau and Shannon Shorr reflects on an almost-decade in poker.

1) Antonio is In Your Pocket, Blowing Your Mind

It's still cool to call someone "a mack" right? "The Mack?" Macking it?

We never really got that expression right, really. But if ever it fits to call someone that Antonio Esfandiari is definitely in the ballpark with his Strip Magic series.

On to Part 5 now (with one to go) Antonio pretty much just owns people's hearts and minds on the Strip with his up-close magic tricks and red cargo-pant/blazer combo.

He's still so good at these tricks it makes you wonder just how great a magician he was before steering down the poker path. We'd bet on amazing.

Watch his latest below as he drops a four of clubs into a dude's pocket - hands-free and from a distance. WTF.

2) The Neverending Magic of Plaques

Speaking of magic... We've always been and always will be suckers for casino plaques.

Chips are great, sure, as are bundles of cash but there's something about the high-rolling, Bond-style plaque that pretty much captures the magic of gambling for us in every way.

Tom Hall, a regular visitor/gadfly about the big games in Macau got us stoked with this plaque shot from a new game going at StarWorld Casino. Just two of them, even, but gdamn they look good:

Potato chips,computer chips & my fav chips - SW 500K chips. Played in a new game - Top Macau session!. pic.twitter.com/g7Ek9g4Bw2

3) Shorr: No Feeling Like Deep in Major Tournament

When we first met Shannon Shorr at the 2007 WSOP he was in a back brace after a "jumping off a balcony onto an air mattress" stunt gone awry.

Growing up in poker has turned out pretty well for Shannon Shorr.

 

He was a pretty soft-spoken, grounded guy back then, as we noted, but still gave off a sense of trying to find himself - both as a person and in poker.

Seven years later - and close to a decade into his poker life - Shorr has literally grown up in the game and the results, as they say, speak for themselves.

Grateful. Thoughtful. Polite. Personable. Shorr has evolved into the exact kind of guy poker can feel very, very good about having helped shape. His game has also stood the test of time, as his spot on the Moneymaker-era Top 9 attests.

Even better, as he says in a new blog post, the game and its opportunities have challenged him to make the most of poker's isolation and grow as a person:

"In my near decade of traveling playing poker professionally I've learned to deal with isolation. I've taught myself to be pretty productive in my downtime.

"Usually it is spent trying to better myself in some way. I feel I'm really coming into my own in terms of self-confidence. As a result I've been able to cultivate some very cool friendships and relationships worldwide.

"I've taken myself out of my comfort zone and jumped into social situations that I previously would have altogether avoided."

As his recent second-place finish at WPT Lucky Hearts also showed him, though, there's still no feeling in life like being deep in a major poker tournament. It's a great post from a guy we respect a lot; check it out here.