Due to a typographical error and a confusing phone call it turns out our confirmation from Sen. McCain’s office was not actually a confirmation at all.

After seeing what we thought was his name on the player list we called his office and an intern was tasked with asking the esteemed Senator if it was him registered to play the Battle of Malta.

Given his advanced age and failing hearing, however, he thought he was being offered the role of George "The Falcon of Malta" Beurling in the next Darren Aronofsky film, Battle of Malta. (He accepted). Our apologies for the confusion.

After revisiting our player list though we would like to offer a warm welcome to retired police officer John McClane.

Given his stated age and bio information (just “Yippee Ki Yay"), we are now positive noted Christmas terrorism spoiler McClane will be bringing his talents to Malta.

The Best-Value Low Buy-In Tournament in Europe

Nothing wrong with location, either.

 

Poker fans across Europe can hardly blame McClane for his enthusiasm.

With a massive €500,000 guarantee for just a $550 buy-in the 2014 PokerListings Battle of Malta is easily the highest-value, low buy-in tournament of the year.

The paradisical setting in the heart of the Mediterranean doesn't hurt either.

Last year’s winner, Louis Cartarius from Germany, walked away with €80,000 and this year’s prize should compare favorably.

With a 1,400 player cap in place, though, those interested in registering for this year's event would be best served to do so shortly by contacting battleofmalta (@) pokerlistings.com.

More info on our 2014 Battle of Malta page.

Big poker names like Jason Mercier and Liv Boeree made their careers there, more or less, and it remains one of the busiest, best-value stops on the EPT.

Dates, events, fun facts and how to qualify for 2014 - here's where you can find out more.

Big Money in Little San Remo

With a population of just 50,000 San Remo is one of the smaller cities on the EPT schedule. Nonetheless it has seen the largest EPT Main Event on European turf with 1,178 players.

Where things really hit high gear for Mercier.

 

That was in 2009 and the winner of €1.5 million – the largest prize on the tour aside from the PCA and Monte Carlo – was Constant Rijkenberg.

The Dutchman became famous not only for his aggressive, almost-erratic playing style, but mostly for having sold more than 100% in shares – the latter maybe being connected to the former.

However there have also been several illustrious winners at the Italian stop of the EPT. The inaugural event was taken down by then-unknown Jason Mercier, who won €869,000. He was followed by the above-mentioned Rijkenberg.

Liv Boeree won EPT San Remo in 2010 for €1.25 million and earned herself a contract with PokerStars, just as Mercier two years before.

In 2011 it was Rupert Elder, one of the top players of the British Isles, who lifted the trophy. Russia’s Andrey Pateychuk, who final-tabled virtually every event he played that year, followed in 2012.

Last year France's Ludovic Lacay was the last man sitting. It was his second EPT final table and his first win in the prestigious tournament series.

Main Event Starts April 14

This year's Season 10 EPT San Remo main event runs from April 14-20 and has a €4,600+300 buy-in. Satellites are still running on PokerStars but you’ll have to hurry because the last direct satellites run on Monday, April 7.

There will also be a €10,300 High Roller event with a single re-entry option.

Where the action happens.

 

Before the EPT main event starts the local Italian Poker Tour series will serve as a warm-up.

The €770 IPT San Remo Main Event goes April 9-14 with three starting days. To make for a higher prize pool it will use the accumulator format which means you can buy-in on any of the starting days with a new chip stack and then play on with all the chips you earned during days 1A-C.

You can still qualify online for this event, too. Check the PokerStars lobby at Events > More. The last qualifier is running on Sunday.

If you don’t have an account yet sign up via our PokerStars review. Find a complete overview of the schedule on europeanpokertour.com.

Did You Know?

One of only four casinos in Italy.

 

- The Casino San Remo is one of only four all over Italy – and that includes the Italian exclave Campione. The other casinos are in Venice and Aosta.

- Side-event buy-ins which usually cost €1,100 are reduced to €990 mainly because Italian legislation says you can’t buy-in with cash for more than €999.

- One of the most famous murders in literary history takes place on the shores of San Remo. It happens in the story of The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith.

- San Remo is called “the city of flowers” and is famous for its roses and carnations. There are over 200 companies in the city involved in the flower business.

- Alfred Nobel, initiator of the Nobel Prize, lived and died in this small city on the Riviera. Empress Elisabeth (“Sissi”) of Austria-Hungary spent some leisure time there and the last sultan of the Osman Empire, Mehmed VI, picked San Remo as his exile home.

You can make suggestions for future 3-Bet pieces in the comments section below.

In today’s 3-Bet we’ll take a look at Doyle Brunson pulling a Johnny Carson, a former poker player changing the flower business and PL teaches you to not suck at poker.

1) Former Poker Player Behind Breakout Flower Distributor

Looking for that sweet flower money.

 

Since Black Friday in 2011 a large number of poker players in the USA have transitioned into other careers.

Here’s the thing: Some of them have been very successful.

This week Fast Company magazine featured a start-up flower company called BloomNation that is revolutionizing the bouquet delivery business.

BloomNation was started by WSOP bracelet winner David Daneshgar along with friends Farbod Shoraka and Gregg Weisstein.

After Daneshgar won a Commerce $1k event in 2011 he decided to use it as a start-up fund for the flower company. Here’s one of the best quotes in article (maybe of all-time):

When Daneshgar collected the $27,000 in prize money later that night, he wasn’t dreaming of cars, parties, or island vacations. Instead, an exhilarating thought crystallized in his mind as he turned to his friends: “It’s flower time.”

Flower time, indeed. So it turns out the critical thinking, people reading and pattern recognition skills you learn from poker can be utilized in a number of other jobs. Who knew.

Check out the complete article on Fast Company.

2) Going Retro with Doyle Brunson, Bobby Baldwin, Lyle Berman

To say Doyle Brunson has had an illustrious poker career would be an understatement.

Brunson is the one of the original roadside gamblers, a 10-time WSOP champion and was even the face of an online poker site.

There is one title we didn’t know he had however: talk show host. 

That’s right the Godfather of Poker actually hosted his own show on the Players Network.

The clip below is of an interview Brunson did with Bobby Baldwin and Lyle Berman in the mid-2000s. It’s interesting to hear them discuss the ceiling of poker and when it will peak.

Ahh, the Moneymaker era. Good times.

3) Hey Noob You’re Playing Too Many Hands 

The latest PokerListings video series dropped today with some compelling evidence that you’re playing too many hands.

The video is adapted from our How to Not Suck at Poker series and is aimed primarily at new poker players. 

If you have friends that are just getting into poker be sure to show them this video. Or not. Maybe just tell them to play more hands and keep stacking them in your home game for years to come. The choice is yours.

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It’s a welcome change since 888poker and WSOP.com have supported iOS since the beginning in NJ.

Real-money gambling applications are not allowed on the Google Play store but users can utilize a direct download on the respective WSOP and 888poker sites to install the client on their mobile devices.

The 888poker app has been available in rest of the world locations for awhile now but U.S. regulators required independent testing and approval.

The download is available for any device running Android including smart phones and tablets.

888poker, WSOP.com Still Chasing Party Poker

888poker ambassador JC Tran.

 

Party Poker remains the biggest site in NJ but WSOP.com and 888poker are close behind.

Interestingly WSOP.com just announced players will be able to win seats into the WSOPC National Championship for free through its Nevada and New Jersey-facing sites.

The WSOPC National Championship will take place May 22-24, 2014, with a $1 million prize pool guarantee.

This will be the first year that WSOP.com will be fully operational heading into the actual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and they are expected to start pushing qualifiers for the venerable series.

For more information on the various promos on each site be sure to check our 888poker review and WSOP.com for more information.

Do you want me to be authentic? Do you want me to have an honest opinion? Do you want to be interested in what I'm saying? Do you want to be intrigued?

Or do you want me to bury my opinion underneath the wage I’m paid for writing this? Disinfect my words? Protect a brand? Keep poker players happy?

I've always tried to write in a style that I would want to read. I choose topics that are controversial and that other writers don’t want to touch with a shitty bargepole.

But I feel like I might be a dying breed.

I Like the Vanessa Selbst View on Life

Selbst: Not afraid of the unconventional line.

 

I was recently talking to former European Poker Tour (EPT) Champion Mickey Petersen about the game of Vanessa Selbst.

Astutely, he said “She is one of those people who have an uncanny ability to 'guess' right more than anyone else and is not afraid to look stupid or take unconventional lines.”

I like the Vanessa Selbst view on life. I like to take the unconventional line when it comes to writing. I understand that this often makes me look stupid, but just like Vanessa I am fine with it.

When Manchester United were being hammered by Manchester City the other week it was a pleasant surprise to see retired United lifer Paul Scholes sitting in the pundit’s chair.

What was even more surprising was what came out of his mouth.

The man who avoided the public spotlight for so much of his career suddenly reminded us why he is respected by so many of the world’s greatest football players and coaches.

He spoke his mind.

Breathing New Life Into Football Commentary

He had an opinion, knew that not everyone would like it and he shared it anyway.

He told the world of football that Man Utd players had let David Moyes down. That Marouane Fellaini “Has not been great, has he?”

If footballers aren't immune from critique, why should poker players be?

 

And then he lashed out at the Arsenal players for playing "tippy-tappy football" and said they are a "million miles away" from winning the league.

Social media lit up in praise of Scholes because he was breathing "new life" into a job that had become stale.

When was the last time you heard a SkySports commentator say that a player was truly awful? It doesn’t happen.

Yet if you turn on the radio and listen to TalkSport and the likes of Stan Collymore you'll hear him call a player a donkey without batting an eyelid.

Let the Dirty Words Flow

Collymore, Scholes and to a certain extent Gary Neville are starting to make football punditry and commentary a little bit more interesting because they're airing their opinions.

They're touching nerves. They’re saying what’s on everyone’s lips. They’re throwing the disinfectant down the drain and just letting their dirty words flow.

I love dirty words.

Back to poker. There aren’t enough people with an opinion. Or at least it has the feel of a group of people at times afraid to miss out on the check.

Poker literature is becoming boring. Tedious. Repetitive. Commentary is in danger of going the same route.

If Blom makes a howler, we should hear about it.

 

If a player’s made a howler I want to hear the commentator have an opinion. And he doesn’t have to have "played poker at the highest level" to have an opinion.

That’s utter nonsense.

Take Unconventional Lines

There are some very bright, sharp-witted poker writers and commentators out there. People with a great understanding of the game and the ability to make the mundane seem magical.

Let's let them loose. If they say that a big-name sponsored pro has played a hand like an idiot will the company/site suddenly lose a few players? Of course not.

Gus Hansen and Viktor Blom regularly lose a few million dollars a week online and they're still (fairly) the faces of Full Tilt Poker. So when did being “great” at poker have anything to do with the price of cheese?

Let’s push poker writers and poker commentators to take the Vanessa Selbst line. Push them (and me) to surprise us. To be aggressive.

To take unconventional lines and sometimes look a little stupid while we're at it. It will make our poker world a much more interesting place.

A total of 8,207 players bought into the Sunday Million this week creating a massive $1.6 million prize pool.

The story of the tournament was Belgian pro Christophe de Meulder who was in prime position to take down a Sunday Million title.

de Meulder entered the final table as one of the big stacks but couldn’t win an all-important flip for his tournament life with pocket sixes against online player Filurn’s A♣ Q♣.

This paved the way for the United Kingdom’s Monchonidas to take control and, after a four-way deal was reached, he went on to win the tournament for $163,000.

Christophe, who has a twin brother named Matthias de Meulder who also plays poker, has over $250,000 in lifetime live-tournament earnings. He placed fifth in a 2012 SCOOP event for $28k.

Here are the complete final-table results for yesterday’s Sunday Million (*reflects five-way deal)

Technical Error Means $260k Overlay Error in Sunday Warm-Up

Meanwhile a rare error in the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up made it impossible to late register for the tournament.

Instead of cancelling the event, PokerStars opted to make good on their guarantee and run the tournament with a massive $260,000 overlay.

That meant the 1,201 who actually got into the tournament benefited from serious added value. None more than KeyserMM who picked up $85,000 for coming in first place.

Here are the complete final-table results for this week’s Sunday Warm-Up:

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 new crew of young guns collectively storming the poker scene in India, San Holden embraces his inner geek and moves on from poker and Winfred Yu has big plans for a big poker game at the EPT Grand Final.

1) Mumbai Young Guns Rising

Aditya "Intervention" Agarwal

 

The names might be unfamiliar but the story - young guys grinding hard online, fanatically railing each other and analyzing hands until the big scores start to come - surely will.

A group of young guns based in Mumbai, India are storming the poker scene with back-to-back wins in the PokerStars Big 109 among other nice scores.

Disciples of Indian online poker legend Aditya "Intervention" Agwarwal the new names tearing up the online tournament scene include:

Is India the new promised land for online poker grinders? Could very well be. Check the pic on the article and it's like flashing back to the ShipitHolla ballers in 2004, no?

More info on this intriguing grinding crew at PokerGuru here.

2) November Niner Sam Holden Semi-Retires

As one of the central locations for Sam Holden interviews online we're pretty well versed in the poker career of Britain's favorite floppy-haired former November Niner.

We knew he didn't think of poker as a life-long endeavor so it didn't come as a surprise he announced his semi-retirement from poker in a new blog post today.

Going on three years since his Main Event run earned him a spot on Team 888 Holden is moving on to some new challenges, inspired his recent dabbling in effective altruism, a lack of financial motivation for poker and an expanding wont for intellectual and philosophical stimulation:

Represented the game and 888 well.

 

"Over the past few years, before properly considering life after poker, I’ve tried to embrace my inner geek. I find myself listening to debates, podcasts, lectures and speeches whilst playing online.

"I’ve also started to develop some pretty strong opinions on politics and ethics, a position opposed to my previous relentless fence-sitting stance. This passion for what I think is right in the world, has spurred me further in to the arts, and I find myself reading more than ever.

"Above all else, I really want to question every opinion, to listen to others and be consistently sceptical of my own views."

More power to him; sounds like a fun and noble adventure and we wish him all the best. More from Holden here.

3) Winfred Yu Bringing Macau Big Guns for €500k Cash Game?

Well-traveled and in-the-know poker reporter Remko Rinkema was at APPT Seoul this past week and picked up this interesting bit of intel from Macau poker centerpiece and High Roller regular Winfred Yu:

Spoke briefly with Winfred Yu and he said he's taking five VIPs from Macau to Monte Carlo for the EPT and a possible €500k buy in cash game.

Take five Macau big guns, mix in at least another 10-15 takers from Europe and North America and that adds up to a revolving bankroll of, oh, €7.5m-€10m on the table more or less.

Which sounds, well ... spectacular. We'll keep an eye out for more info as we get closer to the EPT Grand Final and we'll have our International reporting team on the scene for highlights.

While some have a hard time understanding why the young Brit would give up a golden ticket to travel the world and play poker - to study philosophy no less - PokerZeit's Dirk Oetzmann says it just shows how ahead of the game Holden's been all along.

By Dirk Oetzmann

The short career of former November Niner Sam Holden from England shows not everyone gets lost in the shiny world of poker.

Remember Holden sitting at the final table of the WSOP Main Event in 2011? If you don’t, it’s because he was the first player to stand up and leave.

Inspired by Gruissem and Kurganov but realizes his true talents lie outside of poker.

 

However since then Holden has been a representative for 888poker, traveled the world playing poker on their dime and, it’s safe to say, he was one of the best ambassadors poker could have.

Always polite and never out of line when he showed up at live tournaments, he has surely played a part in his poker room’s (and poker's) positive development.

Now he's announced that he is taking a leave, or a “semi-retirement” from poker, and he’s done so in style.

Inspired by Effective Altruism, Choosing a Different Path

It's interesting to see that there seems to be a new breed of players developing who have managed to keep their minds straight and find life beyond poker.

Apart from young players getting burnt out almost before they're allowed to vote (remember the “retirements” of Peter Eastgate or Mike "Timex" McDonald) or those who slowly seem to lose touch with reality – how “professional” was Tom Dwan ending his sponsorship and slowly disappearing into the Macau high-stakes swamp – there are now players who take life with poker to a new level.

One of these ways seems to be via “effective altruism." Recently we reported how Philipp Gruissem and Igor Kurganov got involved in target-oriented charity funded by their elite poker skills and Holden, too, said he “drew some inspiration” from it.

As a matter of fact he made some donations himself before realizing that he wanted to go down a different path. Being highly interested in politics and ethics, he decided to take on a university degree in philosophy.

It is, by the way, his second degree as he already holds one in forensics.

The Serious Part of Life is Outside Poker

“Above all else, I really want to question every opinion, to listen to others and be consistently sceptical of my own views”, Holden wrote in his retirement announcement.

The serious part of life is outside poker, and Holden's ahead of the curve for realizing it so young.

 

Strong words for a 24 year old. Compare that to the quote from last year’s winner Ryan Riess (“I just think I'm the best poker player in the world"), which probably cost him a lot of money and reputation even if he might have just been carried away for a minute.

Holden didn’t win his final table in 2011. In fact, he finished “first” in the sense that he ended up in ninth place.

His live career lasted only three years according to Hendonmob.com and he won two-thirds of his $1.2m live earnings on that one day in November.

The GPI lists him in 1,578th place. Not too impressive, you might think. But then whereabout are you on that index?

Sam Holden has left a mark on poker deeper than a lot of players twice his age, and he will continue to do so.

PokerListings had the chance to witness his composure several times, among those his appearance at the Battle of Malta in 2013. He was one of the nicest guys in the tournament.

And he’s not saying he's quitting poker entirely. In fact he’s already qualified online for UKIPT Nottingham.

He’s simply become aware that too much competitive poker has lost its appeal, and he wants the fun (and meaning to his life) back.

The serious part of life is outside poker, and Holden's ahead of the game for realizing it.

The Hamburg-born player clobbered the 2-7 tables four days in a row and earned more than one million dollars.

Also in the top 5 of the week: French player Alexandre Luneau, KagomeKagome, and Niki Jedlicka. Former flagships Phil Ivey, Viktor Blom, and Gus Hansen have been having some issues, however.

Since Heinecker chose to get his tracking blocked at the beginning of the year, he temporarily stepped out of the spotlight of the nosebleed tables.

Last week, however, his results became so good on a daily basis, that he re-conquered the headlines. From Monday to Wednesday he won $591k, $310k, and $514k, respectively.

Another big win for Niklas Heinecker.

 

According to highstakesDB, these results catapulted Heinecker to the top of the yearly leaderboard.

By Dirk Oetzmann

Niki Jedlicka Returns to Crush

On Thursday, he had to give that lead to Niki Jedlicka, though. The Viennese player, well-known online under his nicknames RealAndyBeal and KaiBuxxe, had not played on Full Tilt Poker in a long time.

However, it seems that the cash games that ran parallel to the EPT Vienna have given him the motivation to return to online high stakes.

He sat at an 8-Game table for about the hours over three sessions, and at the end he had added about $500,000 to his bankroll.

The third player who went on a roll last week was Alexandre alexonmoon Luneau. The French player was already considered a specialist in draw poker, when Heinecker and the others hadn’t even heard about 2-7.

Luneau played some very profitable lowball AND 8-Game sessions, taking almost a million dollar from players like Patrik Antonius and No_Ola in the process. This was good enough for second place in the weekly rankings.

Blom, Hansen, Ivey Hit Hardest in High Stakes

That Polarizing screen name isn't really working out.

 

On the losing side of the table: Viktor Blom, Gus Hansen, and Phil Ivey. Since Full Tilt’s relaunch, Ivey lost 3.4 million dollar on the site, and maybe he also lost the title of being “the world’s best all-round player”.

Ivey was involved in the biggest hand of the week, though, although not until the river. It played out on a $300/$600 NLHE table with Dmitry Rhje Yaskevich, regular Denoking, Phil Polarizing Ivey, and Isaac LuvtheWNBA Haxton.

All the money went in pre-flop – the money of Haxton and Denoking, that is – whereas Phil Ivey folded after his initial raise.

The pot grew up to $192k, when the board was dealt twice:

Board1:          

Board2:          

And these were the hands face up:

luvtheWNBA:    

Denoking:    

Denoking was dominating and won both halves of the pot.

The Week and Year of Online High Stakes Poker:*

Winners of the week

Losers of the week:

Winners 2014:

Losers 2014:

*Numbers may differ from official tracking websites. PokerListings is collecting data on a daily basis from several resources to get the most precise numbers.

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 PokerStars pro Vanessa Rousso making her contribution to the twerking phenomenon, Marvin Rettenmaier unwittingly takes care of his female problems in Mexico and another non-team activity gets squeezed into a team format.

1) Rousso Drops "I Can Twerk"

We know there will be a lot of disappointed readers here in about three seconds when we reveal there's no clip of PokerStars pro Vanessa Rousso doing this.

There is, however, a new mixtape from aspiring DJ/producer Rousso called "I Can Twerk," which you can hear below:

Don't hate the messenger. Hate the game.

2) Rettenmaier Goes Through His Mexican Period

Marvin Rettenmaier is a literal geyser of great road stories and chalked up another memorable one on his recent trip to Mexico, apparently. As he posted on Facebook:

"Now that was a rather interesting visit to the doctor here in Mexico:

"Showed him the Paracetamol which I've been taking the last two days which I thought my buddy had left in the apartment.

"He starts cracking up and tells me that it's for menstrual pain. The pink box it was in just wasn't enough to give that away."

So many questions for Marvin after Mexico trip.

 

On top of questioning his own deduction skills he also ends up questioning the entire pharmaceutical industry:

"And then there was the awkward moment when he told me that it was 35 pesos (less than 3$) for the 20-30min examination and I had reassure myself 5 times to find out that it really was that cheap.

"Then I got lots of medication including antibiotics for like 12$ - kinda makes you think how other countries come up with their prices for pharmaceuticals."

If you enjoy hilarious stories, poker or otherwise, @MadMarvin is a solid follow.

3) Team Fighting > Team Poker; Still Not Great Idea

You know how poker is always trying to fiddle with a "team" format that really captures your attention but always falls a little bit short?

Reminds us a bit of this go at it with MMA, although we'll give them some extra points for the level of turtling involved:

Former players from all five teams will act as captains for poker teams in the inaugural event, which is set to take place at Juventus Stadium on May 3-4.

Rafael Martin Vazquez, Enzo Scifo, Stefano Taccono, Manual Amoros and Denis Irwin will all take part in the special tournament, which will be hosted by Party Poker pro Kara Scott.

"I am a real poker enthusiast, so I will be doing my best to support the Marseille team onto victory,” said Manuel Amoros. “Just like football, we will have to work hard for the victory and mix up our tactics, but I'm really looking forward to spending the day with fellow poker lovers.” 

Satellite into the Poker Champion’s Cup Now

Kara Scott

 

Qualifiers for the Poker Champion’s Cup are currently running on bwin Poker with VIP packages up for grabs.

Winners receive $1,300 packages that include travel and accommodation as well as entry into the event. Package winners also receive access to VIP activities including tickets to a Juventus game.

The team that eventually wins the Poker Champion’s Cup will receive a VIP experience with their club of choice. The experience includes home game tickets, flights, accommodations and a meet & great with players.

"I'm delighted to be involved in the bwin Poker Champions Cup," said Man Utd's Denis Irwin.

"I’m not much of a poker player, so if the guys playing have as much ability on the table as they did on the pitch, it's going to be a tough day. I’m sure the lucky online winners will give them a testing time too! It's an honour to be representing Manchester United and I'm hopeful of reliving my 1999 experiences by clinching another European title!"

To learn more check out our bwin Poker review.

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 four very bad things amateur poker players say at the tables, Phil Hellmuth earns bragging rights over President Obama and Norman Chad (Norman Chad!) helps bring the Norwegian Poker Championship to life.

1) Fuzzy Thinking is Killing You

Pretty good chance this guy put him on AK.

 

Ever say one of these things at the poker table:

If so, Ed Miller says, chances are good you're an amateur poker player. And likely to stay that way.

Miller, author of the modern poker classic Small Stakes No Limit Hold’em, writes in a new piece called "Four Bad Things Amateur Poker Players Say" that there are a few major distinctions between the way amateurs and elite players talk about the game. These four verbal tics, though, are the worst.

Miller says they show specifically how recreational players still focus on single hands rather than hand ranges, don't understand variance at all and consistently make -EV decisions using poor logic.

Basically they're doing some "fuzzy thinking" and killing any chance of being profitable long term. Sound like you? Right your ship by reading the full piece here.

2) Hellmuth Trounces Obama in Bracket Challenge

OK, besides straight up UConn or Kentucky homers who had a UConn-UK NCAA final?

Oh, no one? Sounds about right. The two college basketball powerhouses (although not powerhouses this year) met in the NCAA final on Monday to cap one of the most entertaining tournaments in years.

The dowside to "entertaining" of course? Plenty of upsets and millions of utterly destroyed pool brackets.

Standing out in the crowd this year, though? None other than Phil Hellmuth - renowned Golden State Warriors fan and, apparently, NCAA b-ball nostradamus.

Hellmuth placed a very impressive second in the ESPN Celebrity Bracket Challenge, falling just short of winner Bubba Watson but soundly trouncing hoops lover Barack, who finished 16th.

Hellmuth's pick to win it all? Heavy favorite going in to the tournament, Florida. Which sounds about right for Hellmuth's overall philosophy on who should win tournaments.

3) Norman Chad on Mic for Norgesmesterskapet Live Stream!

Wondering what that gigantic, syllable-laden word up there means? Our highly attuned Scandinavian poker radar tells us it means it's time for the Norwegian National Championship!

As is well known around the poker world live poker is illegal in Norway so the event's been held in Dublin for years. That doesn't keep it from being one of the best attended poker events of the year, though, as Norwegians flock to the Emerald Isle for national glory.

Given the incrdible talent pool in Norway the caliber of play is also outstanding, as you'll see if you tune into the ongoing live stream below. Even better? This year the inimitable Norman Chad will be on hand to confound Scandinavians and Irish alike with American college football references. Enjoy!

Poker writer Lee Davy has met his fair share over his years playing in and covering the major (and minor) poker tours and shares his personal reflections on some of his favorite characters in this ongoing series.

By Lee Davy

Stuart Rutter rhymes with ‘nutter’ and that’s exactly what I thought he was when I met him in person for the first time.

You don’t always get what it says on the tin, though, and the 30-year old from Jasper Carrot country is one of life’s wonderful examples of that.

I used to think he was one of the biggest stars in poker and I guess it’s this Little Englander approach that I have. I don’t seem to see much beyond my own tiny little island, and when it came to poker I thought he owned it.

You don't always get what's on the tin.

 

I would pick up the free poker magazines in my local casino and read them whilst losing my wages, and Rutter would be in all of them. He was a strategy expert and a sponsored pro for Grosvenor Casinos.

He was big time.

Then I started writing for some of the same magazines. Now I was also "big time."

Always Laughing, as Are the People Around Him

The first time I ever met him was in the Grosvenor Casino in Blackpool. It was 2010 and I was playing in the £1,000 Grosvenor United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour (GUKPT).

I remember thinking he was a lanky string of piss. I also remember thinking he was a scruffy bastard, until years later I realized everyone in poker was the same. He also had headphones around his neck. He never once wore them.

It was as if he had ants in his pants. He would fold his hand and dart around the room to talk to someone. He was always laughing, and the people he was talking too were always laughing. Rutter does this to you. He’s infectious.

I found myself seated on a table next to him and some of the players were ribbing him about his strategy articles. I kept looking at him, hoping he would recognize my photo from the magazine and talk to me. I think he thought I was either attracted to him or a serial killer of some sort.

He didn’t have a clue who I was.

A few years later and I would head to Las Vegas for my first-ever World Series of Poker (WSOP). My home for the next six weeks would be a mansion - equipped with a butler no less - and one of my housemates was none other than Stuart Rutter.

Does Not Look or Sound Anything Like Joe Hart

I liked him instantly.

I started to think of him as a Duracell Bunny. You know, the advert where all these fluffy bunnies are dying because their batteries are running out but this Duracell Bunny just kept on, and on, and on, and on.

Does not resemble England goalkeeper Joe Hart.

 

His levels of energy were incredible.

He was also sharp, highly intelligent and had a bag full of tricks that could have easily handed him a place on stage. I believe he has some very posh type of mathematics degree picked up from Harvard or something like that.

I remember him once getting us into a club by telling the bouncer he was the Manchester City and England keeper Joe Hart. He doesn’t look nor sound anything like him, but his confidence did the trick.

There was a time when we all decided to head to the Green Valley Ranch to watch Steel Panther and the doorman wouldn’t let a few of us in because we didn’t have our passports with us.

Stuart took this rebuff particularly hard and declared, “Let’s take this budget casino down!”

Take This Budget Casino Down

Budget. Rutter called everything budget. And so we followed him to the roulette wheel eager to see how he was going to "take this budget casino down."

“How much is your biggest bet?” asked Rutter.

“$50,000 sir,” came the reply.

“Well I will have $500 on red,” said Rutter before handing the croupier a pocketful of sticky notes.

Vegas can grind even the best down.

 

“RED! RED! RED! RED!” shouted Rutter.

‘RED! RED! RED! RED!” shouted the gang.

The ball spun around the wheel and Rutter was bouncing up and down shouting “RED!” at the top of his voice.

"Black Four,” said the croupier.

“YEAH!!!! BLACK! BLACK! BLACK!” shouted Rutter before walking towards the bar and ordering several bottles of champagne. Bottles that he never ended up paying for, probably because all of his money was now in the coffers of that budget casino.

The WSOP Can Turn You Into Dust

Vegas was tough for Rutter.

On the outside he gave off the impression that he was a party animal, but if you cut him open fluff would fall everywhere. He was nothing more than a big cuddly teddy bear.

I could tell that he missed his partner Gemma and that the difficulties of living a poker lifestyle had created its scars. He much preferred to stay indoors and grind online than head to the Rio to actually do what he came here to do.

He wasn’t alone in that regard.

He had finished third the year before in a Shootout event for six figures and so he started the series with confidence anew, but over time it waned. The WSOP is the grandest stage of them all, but it can wear you down and turn you into dust.

He played most of the mixed games with limited success. It was a losing trip and before it the Series ended he had already left to fly home to his beloved Midlands.

The house was a lot quieter.

Enjoys a good mug off.

 

The Duracell Bunny Mugging Me Off

I would next bump into him in Estonia where he had turned up with Gemma to play in a High Roller event.

The three of us went out for the night and I learned more about him during that night than I did for the whole time I spent with him in Vegas.

We were in this bar surrounded by college girls when one asked me what I did for a living.

“I am a writer,” I said.

“Interesting … what do you write?” she asked.

“I have my own blog …”

Before I could finish the young girl exploded with laughter.

“A writer … and you own a blog … a writer! Don’t make me laugh. Ooh … look at the little writer with his little bloggy-woggy.”

Suddenly, I was being torn apart by an 18-year old student. I was devastated.

I looked at Stuart for some help and he was rolling around on the floor in tears. The Duracell Bunny was even mugging me off.

A Man Making a Difference

When he isn’t laughing at me whilst being verbally abused by Estonian college kids who look like shot putters he is a Samaritan, as is his mother.

That’s inspirational to me.

He gives his time to help people by lending them his ear. Many of these people have reached a point where they believe life is pointless. They pick up the phone and there is Stuart.

An inspiration then, an inspiration now.

 

A man making a difference in the world.

He also gives up a lot of his time to travel to prisons around the UK to help convicts learn listening skills that will help them with their rehabilitation. He also has plans to travel to Ghana to help in one of the toughest prison networks there is.

It won’t be the first time Rutter has been to Ghana - he once helped out by teaching school kids. Never judge a book by its cover.

A lot of people in poker are faking it. It’s the nature of the beast. But just peel back some of those old yellow pages and you will be surprised at the beauty that lies within.

Tales and stories that you would never believe fitted with the plot you have already created in your mind.

When I first met Stuart Rutter I used to think he was big time. I still do.

According to highstakesDB, Galfond is up $1.09 million since Wednesday with massive scores in PLO and Mixed Games.

Last night Galfond crushed the big $1500/$3000 mixed game that was running with the likes of Phil “Polarizing” Ivey, Isildur1, Niki Jedlicka, Patrik “FinndaGrind” Antonius and Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn.

Despite the extremely tough lineup, Galfond walked away the biggest winner with $578k in profit.

The big win couldn’t have come at a better time for Galfond who actually dropped an early $2.2 million profit

Galfond, who has been remarkably consistent in the high-stakes games over his career, is still in the red in 2014, however, although only by a scant $70k.

Viktor “Isildur1” Blom Takes $330k Hit

Viktor Blom

 

Meanwhile one of Galfond’s good friends, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, continues to struggle in April.

Blom lost $330k in the big mix games last night, with a large portion going straight to Russian Alex “Postflopaction” Kostritsyn who’s been on a serious heater lately.

It’s been one of the swingiest years yet for the young Swede as he’s seen an early $2.2 million profit completely evaporate. He’s now down close to $400k on the year.

Isildru1 wasn’t the only player to take damage last night, however, as the wheels finally fell off the Niki Jedlicka train as he lost nearly all of a $700k win that he accumulated earlier in the day.

Phil Ivey continues to struggle as well and ended up losing over $100,000 in the $1500/$3000 mix.

There were no Gus Hansen sightings in the high-stakes games last night, which might mean the Great Dane has finally decided to take a break from getting globbered.

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 Phil Hellmuth passing along one of his 13 WSOP bracelets to his "bestie," Brad Booth still on his crusade to bring the Poker Brat to accountability and Nolan Dalla tells us what books we need to have in our poker library.

1) Hellmuth Gives 13th to Chamath

If you had to guess who Phil Hellmuth considers his best friend, who would you start with? Himself? His wife? Daniel Negreanu? Mike Matusow? A valet guy somewhere?

Turns out Hellmuth gives former Facebook VP turned venture capitalist/Golden State Warriors co-owner and long-time poker pal Chamath Palihapitya the nod at #1.

Chamath also gets Phil's 13th WSOP bracelet:

PIC: bye bye WSOP Bracelet #13. Gave #WSOPBracelet13 to my best friend @Chamath. Gave 10 to family, 1 to bestie http://t.co/YYsjTEQhoR

It's kind of an odd declaration for a man nearing 50 to make, sure. But we're all about love here. Hellmuth followed up by sharing where the rest of his bracelets have landed:

WSOP Bracelets: 1 & 12 me, 2 wifey, 3 4 mom dad, 5 sister Ann, 6 bro/law John, 7 8 sons Phillip Nick, 9 10 11 bro Dave sis's Kerry Molly

2) Booth Says Hellmuth Has UB Demons

Someone who's definitely not getting one of Phil's bracelets? Former High Stakes Poker star and victim of the UltimateBet superuser scandal, Brad Booth.

Booth has implied pretty strongly over the last few years that Hellmuth - once the face of UB - has some culpability in the debacle although he's yet to come out with specifics as to Hellmuth's particular responsibility.

@phil_hellmuth if only the respectable @chamath found out about your inner BullShit at UltimateBet he would never except it - U R A POS PH

Booth has struggled with personal debt, gambling and accountability himself over the last couple of years including a money exchange gone sour with high-stakes regular Doug Polk.

Neither Hellmuth nor Chamath have responded to Booth's tweet.

3) The 10 Most Important Poker Books Ever Written (Non-Strategy)

This one made the cut.

 

We've mentioned our personal poker philosophy of "In Nolan Dalla We Trust" before, right?

One of poker's great storytellers Dalla shared his picks for "Poker's 10 Most Important Books" in a new blog post yesterday and, having read and loved most of them, we can't wait to dive into the rest.

These aren't poker strategy books, if that's what you're looking for - these are non-fiction books that captured a time and place in poker and simultaneously moved the game forward. As Dalla writes:

"...the most meaningful poker books are those rare few texts which broadened poker’s mass appeal and gave us a greater understanding of things we didn’t know before.

"A meaningful poker book challenges old assumptions we once held and reshapes our vision. This applies to the way others look at the game and they way we see ourselves.

"The best authors even took risks and made sacrifices in pursuit of new subject matter and came to unexpected conclusions."

A few "honorable mentions" appear too including his own poker narrative One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey "The Kid" Ungar, which could easily make the Top 10 as well.

Poker Face by David Hayano is now on the immediate must-read list; check Dalla's full Top 10 here.

Party Poker has the upcoming $600k-GTD NJCOP in mid-April while WSOP Poker has already qualified numerous people for the 2014 Main Event in Las Vegas.

There’s been a ton of good (that massive Party Poker tournament) and some bad (overall cash game numbers are still low) but momentum continues to build in the state.

It’s an exciting time to say the least and we thought we’d catch you up with the latest out of New Jersey straight from the people themselves.

Tweet Relief: New Jersey edition starts now:

NJ online poker players face a tough choice between regulated and unregulated sites, argues @DivergentGames http://t.co/mO2suGhYw0

@OPReport just a hunch but I'd bet rogue casino sites are a bigger problem for NJ than rogue poker sites (bwin obv has interest in both).

I told you there was more results for day$$$$ #poker #onlinepoker #njpoker #pokerlife #888poker #wsop http://t.co/ymR4yJevfc

@GovChristie Thank you for supporting online #poker. Some in Congress would ban NJ's games! Please oppose this clear federal overreach.

Literal #ReeferMadness now! RT @CheriJacobus: Get stoned and play online poker in New Jersey! http://t.co/vmvXZYj9fP via @nbcphiladelphia

NJ grinders: You can qualify to play in the $10k WSOP Seat Freeroll every month when you play on @WSOPcom http://t.co/Ulkj7utiec … #njpoker

Meet a guy who commutes from Manhattan to NJ every day 2 play online poker. NJ needs more of him. via @ByJessicaGould http://t.co/Bk4dM3R8aY

WSOP "Won't Endorse, Won't Ban" Use of HUDs in New Jersey http://t.co/PjnZpcVo86 Poker pic.twitter.com/uDpkhvFD7k

Interview with Bob "s.l. halper" Taylor, who has had much success with the launch of regulated #poker in #NewJersey: http://t.co/r7DgGo4yNg

Ray Lesniak offers a glimmer of New Jersey hope for PokerStars http://t.co/Sb4XyMrPQk

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 head-turning Karin Bruteig peeling down at the Norwegian Poker Championships, Lex Veldhuis proves he's legit at the Canadian border and we help beginner poker players figure out which hand wins once and for all.

1) Bruteig Loses Bet, Strips Down

Remember Norwegian poker player Karin Bruteig, she of the renowned "Daniel Negreanu busted" Vine video at the 2014 PCA? She's been turning some heads at the Norwegian Poker Championships in Dublin this week, too.

Losing a prop bet to pro Ola Amundsgård (he of the 1m kronor open politician challenge, btw) Bruteig had to get down to her bikini during play at the Norgesmesterskapet yesterday. As you might expect with a national TV station on hand, she made it to the nightly recap (click the pic to watch):

Asked about its affect on her and her tablemates, she said:

"I think they find it a little disturbing. It was lovely to take off your clothes because I was a little sweaty before." Read Bruteig's poker life (in Norwegian obv.) here.

Watch the live stream of Day 2 featuring ESPN poker guru Norman Chad here.

2) Veldhuis Say No One Better Than Ivey; Story Checks Out

Veldhuis: Passed Ivey test.

 

We haven't heard much from Dutch PokerStars pro Lex Veldhuis on the live scene lately so it was good to see he's still around and kicking in a new blog post today.

Grinding online in Toronto from time to time with girlfriend Evelyn Ng, Veldhuis decided to take advantage of its proximity to the American East Coast and hit the road for a trip with a good pal from Holland.

As any poker player knows, crossing the US-Canada border can be a trying process but Veldhuis was fortunate enough to run into a border guard with a knowledge of poker nad a sense of humor:

"From there we drove over to Detroit, and crossing the border was kind of a funny episode in itself. After all, we were two Dutch guys just going on a road trip into the U.S., and so it wasn't too surprising that the border guard wanted to ask us some questions.

"'What do you do for a living?' he asked me, and I told him how my friend was an event organizer and I was a poker player.

"'Oh yeah?' he responded. 'Are you better than Phil Ivey?'

"We laughed, and I told him 'No... no one is better than Phil Ivey.' He chuckled back and said 'Now I know you're legit.'

He then asked me if I was better than Tom Dwan, and again I said no, I didn't think so. 'I think that kid is crazy... I don't think he knows what he's doing,' he said, and I replied 'Well, you know some people wonder that sometimes, but he's pretty good.'"

Yep. Story checks out on both counts. The rest of the road trip sounded pretty fun too; check it out here.

3) Don't Know Which Poker Hand Wins? This Will Help

Not quite as advanced with poker as Veldhuis or Ivey? No worrie. We've got the whole "how to read the board/figure out which hand wins" thing explained in 90 seconds for you:

Reported first by the New Jersey Law Journal, the Borgata is suing Ivey and a female companion, Cheng Yin Sun, along with card manufacturer Gemaco, Inc.

The lawsuit claims Ivey exploited a flaw in the design of the card deck to know which cards were coming over the high-stakes sessions.

Sun accompanied Ivey to the tables, the lawsuit says, and communicated how the deck should be shuffled and cards arranged to the Mandarin-speaking dealer, which Ivey requested.

Difference of opinion over edge sorting.

 

Beginning with a starting stake of $1m, the reports says, Ivey cashed out as much as $4m+ in a session which he had wired to a bank account in Mexico.

Ivey in Similar Lawsuit with London Casino

Ivey is currently involved in a similar lawsuit over edge sorting with Crockfords Casino in London - this time as the plaintiff rather than the defendant.

Ivey won close to $12m at the Punto Banco tables over two nights in August 2012 using the same technique, which he admitted to using in the lawsuit.

The difference in that case is the casino refused to pay out the winnings, forcing Ivey to sue.

Ivey claims that while he's "an advantage player" and did use the technique the onus is still on the casino to protect its games and honor the winnings.

The site is set to deal tournament number 900,000,000, in April, which is easily the most for any online poker site ever.

PokerStars is celebrating the achievement with a cavalcade of prizes and a special $1 million-GTD tournament #900,000,000.

For the entire week April 21-27 PokerStars is increasing a large amount of normal guarantees, up to triple the normal prize money in some cases. There will also be $100,000 in added prizes to be won.

Golden Sit & Goes Offer $500k in Prizes

Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu

 

PokerStars will kick off the Carnival of Tournaments with Golden Sit & Goes, which begin April 14.

Golden Sit & Goes will be picked at random (your table will turn gold if you are lucky enough to be selected) with huge prizes for players.

There are three different tiers of Golden Sit & Goes including Big, Bigger and Biggest.

BIG: You win your Sit & Go buy-in back, and will therefore be 'freerolling' in the tourney. The total prize pool will also be doubled.

BIGGER: You win 2x your Sit & Go buy-in, and the total prize pool will be tripled.

BIGGEST: You win 5x your Sit & Go buy-in, and the total prize pool will be multiplied by six.

Play Tournament #900,000,000 for a Shot at $1m

Finally the Carnival of Tournaments will culminate with a special $1 million-GTD event on April 27 at 13:00 ET.

PokerStars is going to infuse the tournament with an extra $100,000 in prizes. Players will be chosen at random with tournament tickets, cash and live event packages up for grabs.

All you have to do is enter Tournament #900,000,000 for a shot at tons of extra prizes.

If you don’t already have a PokerStars account be sure to check out our PokerStars review for various special sign-up bonuses.

This question seems to cause more upset and mixed opinion than any other topic I've focused on in the world of poker.

As a writer for another site I created a series called The Female Perspective on Poker aimed at understanding how women feel about quarters of the poker industry treating them as sex symbols instead of talented poker players in their own right.

The women that I interviewed had very differing views on the use of sex as a marketing tool to attract more players.

Some abhorred it and suggested the media should do a better job of focusing on skill. Some said sex should be exploited if the end benefit is to attract more eyeballs to poker’s little corner.

None of Them Play Golf and They're All Well Endowed

The Golf Digest cover in question.

 

A recent furor over Golf Digest magazine and a social media landscape caked in sex has prompted me to once again lift the lid on this debate.

LPGA Tour commissioner Mike Whan, and a whole host of female golfers, recently complained that Golf Digest put Paulina Gretzky on the cover of the magazine.

The daughter of ice hockey icon Wayne Gretzky is pictured in a tight pair of white pants and bra, and her only connection to golf is her relationship with pro golfer Dustin Johnson.

In fact the last three women to appear on the front of Golf Digest have been Gretzky, Kate Upton and Golf Channel personality Holly Sonders.

What do they all have in common? None of them play golf and they are all very well endowed.

Interestingly, Whan’s complaints are not centered around the sexualisation of the women but on the fact that it's not the female golfers who are being hoisted onto the front cover.

This is not a view shared by the female golfers, some of whom - Stacey Lewis in particular - have come forward to say that these sorts of covers mean "we don’t get respect for being the golfers that we are."

“I’m guaranteeing you right now, it was not a woman editor who chose that cover,” said former Golf Digest cover girl Juli Inkster.

Golf Digest editor-in-chief, Jerry Tarde, defended his choice of cover girl. He made it very clear that his job is to sell copies of Golf Digest and a photo of Pauline Gretzky will do that.

He added "she also might get some new people interested in the game."

Take a Look at My Lovely Little ... Dog

That last comment got me thinking.

One of the complaints that female poker players have about this hyper-sexualized marketing tactic is that is will stop more female poker players coming into the game.But is that really the world we live in these days?

I have 849 Facebook friends and follow 376 people on Twitter. My social-media streams are awash with photographs of women who work in the industry. And a very high percentage of them post content of a sexuaiised nature.

There's an argument that this is a male point of view and that my over sexualized eye can turn a seemingly harmless photograph into porn. But I ask you this:

Some female players have a different agenda at the tables.

 

When a woman sends out a photograph with the title "check out this glorious white sandy beach" and all you see in the photo is two grains of sand and two 36DD breasts bursting out of a tiny white bikini, am I missing the point?

"Take a look at my lovely little dog." OK … but why are you in a bikini when you've taken this shot?

"This is what I look like in the mornings. Check out my bed hair."

Well I would if you weren’t standing in front of the mirror wearing high heels, a thong and a teeny-weeny bra.

My experience of sleeping with the opposite sex is it takes me 15 minutes to get through all the jogging bottoms and jumpers if I'm going to get any … but maybe that’s just the cold weather in the UK?

My point is more and more females in the poker industry are waking up to the fact that in order to excel in the game they're going to have to market themselves. And that means, it seems, marketing their bodies.

They're not just OK with this this; the volume of photographs they post seems to prove that they're willing, and they're exceptionally good at it.

Does It Mean More Players in the Game?

So does this attract more female poker players into the game?

Nobody knows if the hyper-sexualized marketing strategies turn more people off, or more people on, but hasn’t the state of the female game become much stronger over the past few years?

The state of the female game has never been stronger.

 

It seems that way to me.

Female poker players are getting more exposure, and they are getting stronger. There are more sponsored female poker players than I can remember and it’s starting to be uncommon not to see a female poker player getting to the final stages of a major contest.

And this is all happening at the same time a section of these female poker players are choosing to increase their visibility in the game by using their bodies as a tool.

Is this any different than Vanessa Selbst using her skill as her marketing tool? Shouldn’t we use any attribute in our power to gain visibility, or else we get lost in the crowd?

If we know we have an inferior skill edge to the absolute best players in the game, should we just be martyrs to the cause or do we promote ourselves in other ways?

And isn’t it just common sense that if a women gains entry into the poker industry because of her seuxality that she will eventually gain more skill because that sexuality has afforded her the opportunity to play with the very best players in the game.

That skill then translates into success and more exposure.

The Last Time I Walked Into a Poker Party...

It’s time to admit that sex is just a part of the poker industry and if it irks you that much then find a different job.

If the end goal is more women in the game, what's the best approach?

 

The last time that I walked into a poker party I certainly got the message that it was, and I didn’t see too many people complaining about the excess flesh that was thrust into your face with more aplomb than the guys holding clipboards down the High Street.

So has the Rihanna "semi-naked selfie" marketing nuance actually done more good for poker? And if a female poker player continually posts photographs of her puppies, why is the media getting a hard time over covering them?

Why aren’t we seeing more female-to-female debate on this issue? Why will a prominent female poker player attack an article from the media that promotes sexuality over skill, but not direct that same ire at the female who has posted a video of her arse and sent it to thousands of people in the poker community?

So is selling sex a good or bad thing in poker? Over to you…