Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find the legendary Patrik Antonius returning to his equally legendary stomping grounds, Mike “Timex” McDonald falling just short of top-model perfection and Terrence Chan tackling the age-old question of poker pro as nit or risk taker.

1) Patrik Antonius Back in Action on Full Tilt Poker

Poker handsome standard.

 

One of the most profitable -- and handsomest -- players to ever play on Full Tilt Poker has returned to his old stomping grounds for the first time since Black Friday.

Patrik Antonius, former Red Pro and second all-time in profit on Full Tilt with $10 million according to highstakesdb.com, logged on Monday for the first time since its relaunch in November of last year.

How’d things go? Well, the Finnish pro got off to a rocky start and quickly found himself down $350k by Wednesday. Fortunately he straightened the wheels for a late-week comeback and lit up the $1,500/$3,000 mixed games yesterday for $486k.

With the victory he's now up over $100k on FTP 2.0. And it may only be a matter of time until he renews acquaintances with the red-hot Isildur1, which could change that number considerably.

Antonius won the biggest pot in online history, worth $1.3 million, from Isildur1 back in 2009 but said as a result of Black Friday he stood to lose about $5 million.

Antonius had been playing on PokerStars under the name FakeLove888 in the interim but didn’t have a ton of success there, down $1.6 million on that account.

2) Mike “Timex” McDonald: True 9 and Ultimate Luckbox

Watch the throne, Antonius.

 

Speaking of handsome poker pros...

In one of the most truly bizarre forum posts we’ve ever read, poker-themed or otherwise, we found out that in the eyes of one strange man, poker pro Mike “Timex” McDonald could easily be a male model.

There’s no way to quite capture the magic of “Looks Scale 1-10 (Male and Female)" in our own words, so this blurb about Timex, who was the poster boy for a "9," can speak for it.

“This guy is seriously the ultimate luck box in life, he’s an extremely rich young guy, very talented, and on top of it all is very genetically blessed.

“I avoided this question during my AMA, but I could see Timex ease into the modeling word with ease.”

How he didn’t make a 10 is beyond us, but still.

Go there now; bring something for the tears.

3) Terrence Chan: Sicko at Cards, Nit at Life?

Brain teaser.

 

Poker vet Terrence Chan has taken a random question from a date with a neuroscientist and turned it into an intriguing blog post about the real level of "risk-raking" in the poker life.

The theory, his date said, was individuals with larger prefrontal lobes are more inclined towards "risk-taking behaviors" - public perception being poker is a "risk-taking" activity.

Chan's personal experience and recent conversations with poker pros Ramzi Jelassi and Max Silver tell him it's not so clear cut, though:

“For most regular folks, the idea that there are people even walking around with $1000, $10000, or $100000 of cash on a regular basis strikes them as incredibly risky, much less gambling it in a poker tournament with less than a 15% chance of getting any of it back.

“But I'm not convinced that poker players are that much more risk-seeking than the rest of the population; rather, they have simply become very good at compartmentalizing that risk.

“What else would explain all the self-proclaimed life nits in the poker world?

“I dislike it when people not in the poker world say, ‘I could never do that; I'm not much of a gambler.’ Everyone gambles, because everything is a gamble.”

Another great post from a future subject of our mini-documentary series, Easy Game. Check the full post here.

The online gaming giant added another $5 million to its guaranteed tournaments every month, which means a total of $15 million will be up for grabs each month in MTTs.

It also means a guaranteed tournament starts every 15 minutes on the site, 24/7, 365 days a year.

The site also added $100k to its biggest weekly tournament, which means players will now be able to play a $300k GTD Sunday tournament.

To celebrate bigger and better tournaments Party Poker is giving away $10,000 in freerolls every day in January. All real-money players have access to the following free tournaments every day of the month:

$1,000 Daily Giveaway            11:00 ET$1,000 Daily Giveaway            12:00 ET$5,000 Daily Giveaway            13:45 ET$1,000 Daily Giveaway            15:00 ET$1,000 Daily Giveaway            17:00 ET$1,000 Daily Giveaway            19:45 ET

In addition Party Poker is also still running VIP races for its elite players over the next few weeks with up to $4,000 in cash available every week.

As usual the more you play, the more cash-back rewards you’ll get at the end of the week.

Players who sign up for Party Poker through PokerListings currently receive a 100% deposit match up to $500.

To learn more be sure to check out our Party Poker review.

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find golden boy Sam Trickett giving fans even more reason to be envious, Roberto Romanello alsmot winning his own tournament and Rick "The Claimeer" Trigg having a Sunday session to be proud of.

1) Sam Trickett Proposes to Girlfriend Natasha Sandhu

One man who was missing from the PCA High Roller events but who will definitely be making an appearance at the Aussie Millions is the golden boy of UK poker, Sam Trickett.

Trickett's fiance Natasha Sandhu

 

These days, when kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up they say, “Sam Trickett”.

The ISPT Ambassador only cashed three times in 2012 and yet still managed to finish second on the 2012 Money List and overtake Devilfish #1 n the GB & Ireland All Time Money List.

Just when it seems that Trickett’s life can’t get any better, 2013 starts with a bang.

He joined forces with Poker Royalty and immediately after had his wedding proposal accepted by the stunning Natasha Sandhu.

2) Romanello Nearly Wins His Own Tournament

Romanello: Almost claims own tourney.

 

The UK number one ranked live tournament player on the GPI, Roberto Romanello, very nearly won his very own tournament after his creation, Multi Prize Pool (MPP) poker, was revealed to the world at the Dusk till Dawn (DTD) Poker & Casino in Nottingham.

The inaugural MPP event attracted a field of 177 entrants that included the likes of Sam Trickett, Ben Vinson, Simon Deadman and Romanello himself.

Of the 177 entrants, 64 were eligible for the £100 prizepool, 111 for the £50 prizepool and all 177 for the £25 prizepool; the total prizepool of £10,400 smashed the £5,000 guarantee.

Incredibly, Romanello nearly went and won the thing after finishing runner-up to Brian Sheppard. Sheppard bought for £100 so took down all three prizepools for £3,040.31.

Rick "TheClaimeer" Trigg.

 

3) Rick Trigg Rises to Top of UK Rankings

Rick “TheClaimeer” Trigg has risen to the top of the UK & Ireland online poker rankings for the first time after a Sunday session he should be rather proud of.

The self-confessed punter won the Sunday Brawl, the $109 1R1A on Stars and the $60k guaranteed rebuy on Full Tilt.

To top it off he had a fifth-place finish in the $215 Second Chance and a sixth-place finish in the Sunday 500 for a rather splendid showing.

The online crusher from Sheffield now has well over $3 million in online profits and is sixth overall in the world online rankings.

Live Trigg has "just" $360k in live tournament cashes including four WSOP cashes and a $91k win this past summer in Vegas in a $1k Deep Stack event.

In between bashing up people in the virtual world, Trigg has also been trying desperately to sweep all before him in Snooker, Darts, Horse Racing, Soccer, Ludo and Tiddlywinks.

Jarzabek incredibly finished fourth in last week’s Sunday Million for $137k. The former FTOPS winner also won PokerStars Super Tuesday for $78k earlier this month, which means he’s up well over $300k in 2013 from online tournaments.

The Sunday Million was hardly the only massive tournament running yesterday as the MiniFTOPS Main Event drew over 17,000 players and showcased a final table that included Mike “goleafsgoeh” Leah.

Here are all the highlights from three of the biggest tournaments on Sunday:

PokerStars Sunday Million

Liv Boeree was the last PokerStars pro standing.

 

Sweden’s stackarn outlasted a field of 7,324 and beat a final table that included Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek and skilled MTTer Somme to win the Sunday Million yesterday.

Stackarn took down $164k for his impressive performance.

The large field meant a large prizepool and the Sunday Million’s $1-million guarantee was easily surpassed with $1.4 million up for grabs.

Lex Veldhuis, Maxim Lykov, Johnny Lodden and Matthias de Meulder were among the many PokerStars pros who took a stab at the massive tournament.

Liv Boeree earned bragging rights over her teammates by finishing 438th to earn $483 and become the last Team Pro standing.

By the time the final table rolled around stackarn was sitting on a tournament-leading 15 million-chip stack.

Stackarn continued to dominate but actually opted to make a deal with five players left. Thanks to a chip-based chop, every player remaining, except for murballz66 received over $100,000.

Surprisingly it was murballz66 who ended up being stackarn’s heads-up competition after Jarzabek bowed out in third.

Unfortunately for murballz66, he couldn’t stop the stackarn train and it only took the Swede a few hands to win with pocket kings against pocket fours.

Here are the complete final-table payouts from this week’s Sunday Million (*reflects a five-way deal):

Full Tilt Poker MiniFTOPS Main Event

Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah

 

Four players received over $100k in the $70 buy-in MiniFTOPS Main Event and noted pro Mike “GoLeafsGoEh” Leah finished sixth for $31k.

The popular conclusion to the latest MiniFTOPS on Full Tilt Poker attracted a total of 17,578 runners to create a prizepool of $1.2 million.

Thayer “THAY3R” Rasmussen, Mike “Timex” McDonald and Joao Barbosa were among the many notable pros who played the tournament.

Online player Pessagno would go onto win the tournament but thanks to a four-way deal he didn’t go home with the most cash.

Pessagno took down $120k for winning but heads-up opponent MacMoneySack actually locked up $130 for coming in second.

Tripmen and baqr, who finished third and fourth respectively, both earned just $100k. Not a bad return on a $70 investment.

Meanwhile Canadian Mike Leah, perhaps inspired by the return of his beloved Toronto Maple Leafs, added yet another notch on his impressive tournament resume by coming in sixth for $31k.

Here’s a complete look at the final-table payouts for the MiniFTOPS Main Event (*reflects a four-way deal):

Party Poker $300k GTD

Party Poker upgraded its popular weekly $200k-guaranteed tournament to $300k in 2013 and the event has been drawing some impressive numbers.

This week the $300k GTD attracted 1,432 players, which meant a very slight overlay was up for grabs.

Some of the pros in the event included unidentified but dangerous zugzwang16 and Russell “rdcrsn” Carson.

Belarusian AAleshkAA would eventually beat Wisiniewski heads-up to win the tournament for a $40k payday. Wisiniewski had to settle for the $33k attached to second place.

Here’s a complete look at the final-table payouts:

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find a lively discussion about players “snubbed” by the NBC Heads-Up selection committee, Liv Boeree analyzes Lance Armstrong’s interview tells and Phil Ivey, the best poker player in the world, finally figures out how to send a tweet.

1) NBC Heads-Up "Snubs" Draw Heat

David Sands and Erika Moutinho

 

The $25k NBC Heads-Up Challenge returns this month after a one-year hiatus and, by all means, it's a great move forward for poker. Sure, it only got a reprieve because of an NHL-size hole in NBC's schedule, but any poker on TV is good for the industry.

The final list of 64 players was released last week, though, and some were less than pleased with the selections.

Among the many worthy players left off the list were high-ranking GPI pros David "Doc" Sands and Tom Marchese plus European superstars Phillip Gruissem and Marvin Rettenmaier. Sands took to Twitter to voice his displeasure:

Very annoyed that I didn't get invited to play in the NBC heads up event. Absurd to me that they don't auto-invite the top 10 in the GPI

Dan Fleyshman echoed the sentiment:

@kevmath Regardless of how nice Matt Matros, Rob Salaburu, Matt Salsberg may beit's dumb when theres clear choices like Doc Sands/Marchese

As with any invitational event there's always a few deserving players left out but the NBC Heads-Up event is about entertainment and name-value as much as talent.

Given Sands' slow-paced style and his girlfriend Erika Moutinho's popularity from her Main Event run, Sands might not even be the top pick in his own house.

2) Liv Boeree Analyzes Armstrong's Live Tells

Not fooled by Lance.

 

The epic Oprah-Lance Armstrong interview dominated the headlines last week and naturally drew analysis from news outlets around the world.

One of the more interesting approaches came from The Telegraph newspaper in the UK, who brought in a couple of experts to give their take on Armstrong's behavior.

One of those experts? PokerStars pro Liv Boeree, who used her poker experience to break down some of Armstrong's non-verbal cues:

"I’m usually not listening to what is coming out of someone’s mouth, instead I am looking to see what their body is telling me through physical tells. When watching the interview with Lance my first impression is of his nervousness and tension.

"Of course he’s understandably apprehensive about the interview. His posture is fixed; he’s visibly tensed through his shoulders and core and barely shifts from that throughout the entire interview. His fingers are usually tightly interlaced, a method of controlling oneself.

"... My opinion is that Lance, whilst admitting some incredibly hard and damaging truths after years of ingrained lying, has not given Oprah or the public an entirely open or complete set of answers."

A sport psychologist at the University of Wolverhampton also has a pretty interesting take.

Check their full analysis here.

3) Phil Ivey Sends First Real Tweet. Maybe

The @philivey Twitter account has always been a bit of a running joke in the industry as it's always been pretty clear it wasn't really Ivey pecking out his own social media missives.

So much of a running joke even that a popular hashtag meme - #RealIveyTweets - had a brief moment in the sun.

The laughing stock days are over, however, as Phil Ivey, the greatest poker player to ever live, says he's finally mastered the technical means to send his own tweets. Or so it seems.

I just figured out how to send a tweet myself lol

He followed it up with a few more believable, "Ivey sounding" tweets, but there's still a few suspicions out there he's just hired a better social media ghoster:

Sweating game.. Big difference between laying 3.5 and 4

I don't believe you tweet and no one else does either.. Take a picture and prove it.. @philivey

Either way, Phil or not, it looks like he lost a bundle on the AFC Championship. Follow "Phil" on Twitter here.

Elder took down AUD$250,000 for winning the $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Crown Casino in Melbourne.

It was a dynamic final table with last year’s winner Brendon Rubie as well as former EPT champs Finger and Elder all gunning for the top prize.

Rubie put in an impressive performance in defense of his title but eventually lost a coin flip with his Q-J losing to pocket sixes to bust in fifth place.

Elder Meets Finger Heads-Up in European Showdown

That would eventually set the stage for a high-profile battle between European poker stars Elder and Finger.

Unfortunately for Finger, Elder had a massive 10-1 chip lead at that point and it proved to be insurmountable for the German.

In the final hand Finger got all-in with top-pair on a queen-jack-deuce flop but Elder had a straight draw that hit on the river to end the tournament.

Elder has been a regular on the poker circuit since 2009 but finally took down his first major poker tournament in 2011 when he won EPT San Remo for $1.3 million.

It was also in 2011 that Elder made a deep run in the WSOP Main Event, getting a fair amount of TV coverage before finally busting in 132nd place for $54k.

The 2013 Aussie Millions runs from now until Feb. 3 with the $10k Main Event scheduled to go Jan. 27-Feb. 2. PokerListings will be out out in full force so expect exclusive features from the biggest tournament in the southern hemisphere.

Villa-Lobos pulled off an unbelievable comeback, entering the final table dead last in chips but fighting back to eventually overcome Bulgarian poker player Vladislav Donchev heads-up.

"I had spirit and very good vibrations from my friends in Brazil,” Villa-Lobos told PokerStars.

“Everybody was supporting me a lot and sending me messages. I'm happy, very happy."

While the good vibrations and support from his home country may have helped, Villa-Lobos making quads to double up on the second hand of the final table certainly did.

Later that level Villa-Lobos nearly tripled up in a massive three-way all-in with pocket queens against runner-up Vladislav Donchev's pocket sixes and Swede Christian Bergstrom's K♦ Q♦.

That pot took Villa-Lobos to second in chips and made Bergstrom the first elimination at the final table.

We last saw Christian Bergstrom at the PokerListings.com Battle of Malta final table.

 

We last saw Bergstrom when he finished fifth at the PokerListings.com Battle of Malta last November.

Also snagging a spot in the top eight of this UKIPT event was EPT London champion David Vamplew.

The young gun from Scotland took down £900,000 for his EPT victory in 2010 but settled for fourth place and £27,350 in Edinburgh last night.

Here are the full final-table results for the 2013 UKIPT Edinburgh main event:

Villa-Lobos Gaining Celebrity as Poker Grows in Brazil

Poker is exploding in Nicolau Villa-Lobos' home country of Brazil.

According to Brazilian Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari fields are growing massively at live events and the online game is gaining popularity.

Akkari recently signed an endorsement deal with soccer-legend Ronaldo's entertainment agency 9ine and he says that celebrities like Ronaldo getting involved in poker will lead to even more growth.

Andre Akkari is the de facto "man" when it comes to poker in Brazil.

 

Nicolau Villa-Lobos might be able to contribute to that growth, being the son of one of the country's most influential rock musicians.

Nicolau's father Dado was lead guitarist for Legião Urbana, one of the biggest-selling bands in the country's history, and Nicolau is reportedly playing his father in an upcoming biopic on Legião Urbana frontman Renato Russo.

Nicolau finished 77th at the WSOP Main Event this year, building on a runner-up finish he had at the Brazilian Series of Poker earlier in the year worth $43k.

Now with a major title and more earnings under his belt Nicolau could find himself among the celebrity poker players gaining recognition in Brazil.

Watch this video interview PokerListings.com did with Nicolau in Las Vegas this summer to get to know him better:

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You can always make suggestions for future 3-Bets in the comments below.

In today’s 3-Bet we’re looking at stats man Nate Silver making an appearance in the 2013 Aussie Millions, poker as art and how U.S. politicians are bluffing when it comes to the debt ceiling.

1) Nate Silver Confirmed for 2013 Aussie Millions

Nate Silver

 

Stats wizard Nate Silver will be taking a quick break from the predictions game to play the 2013 Aussie Millions as a guest of Crown Casino.

Silver, who we interviewed at the WSOP this summer, has become somewhat of a rock star in the U.S. after successfully predicting winners in all 50 states during the last presidential election.

In the last year Silver also released The Signal and the Noise, which has become a New York Times bestseller.

Despite his current high-profile status, Silver has a background in poker. 

“Poker played a major role in helping my life to become what it is today, and is a great way to develop the critical thinking skills that allow us to make better decisions under conditions of uncertainty,” he said.

“No venue puts those skills to the test more than a tournament like Crown’s Aussie Millions Poker Championship with elite players from all around the world.”

Here’s a prediction for you: Nate Silver makes the money in the Aussie Millions.

Can we back that up in any legitimate way? Hell no. Who do you think we are?

2) Charlotte van Brabander: Poker Isn't Art

Charlotte van Brabander, courtesy PokerStars

 

Is poker art?

That’s the question poker player Charlotte van Brabander is posing in her latest post on the PokerStars blog.

Brabander has a background in playing popular PC game Counter-Strike so she first starts by arguing that videogames are indeed art.

Of course I think games are art. There are a lot of schools, art schools, that people come from before going into the gaming industry. Besides that there are many creative people behind every game that is produced, and some of the decisions that are made are high-level artistic decisions For example, with the making of the video game character Mario (of Mario Brothers fame), they made a lot of color studies and environment studies before finalizing the character's look. My answer is yes, that's art.

She doesn’t quite feel the same way about poker, however, in large part thanks to the aesthetics of the game.

Poker isn't art though. Not really. It can't be. Maybe the themes of online tables are art, but the game doesn't lend itself to art.

On the other hand have you ever seen Phil Ivey play poker? Pretty sure that’s art.

3) Matros on Politicians Playing 'Debt Ceiling Poker'

Three-time WSOP bracelet winner Matt Matros

 

Journalist/poker player Matt Matros is handicapping the best and worst bluffers in the Debt Ceiling debacle that is currently playing out in Washington, D.C.

Matros, who’s quietly picked up three WSOP bracelets in three years, penned an article for CNNMoney where he handed out awards to various politicians including Worst Bluff, Best railbird and Biggest Welcher.

President Barack Obama received the dubious honor of getting called the Biggest Nit thanks to his cautious position on the debt ceiling.

The article is a little bit tongue-in-check but Matros makes a very good point near the end.

There is actually one big difference between a real poker game and the budget showdown. In the case of the economy, there's a way everybody can win! But that solution would require risky compromise on tax increases and spending cuts.

The entire article is worth a read so be sure to check it out on the CNN site here.

Party Poker pro Rettenmaier, back-to-back WPT titlist and EPT Prague High Roller champ this year, took home the marquee award of the night in European Player of the Year to go along with German Player of the Year.

With over 20 notable cashes, Rettenmaier earned nearly $2.3 million in 2013 to make him a shoo-in for the award.

Finn Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen also scooped one of the more prestigious titles of the night, topping a stacked field of nominees including Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, Chris Moorman and Ilari Sahamies to earn Internet Player of the Year.

ESPN Main Event reporter and Battle of Malta host Kara Scott snagged her own high-profile trophy for Poker Personality of the Year, edging out Rettenmaier, Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier, Gus Hansen, Neil Channing and Tony G.

Hansen Wins Lifetime Achievement Award

Despite losing the Poker Personality race Danish poker icon Gus Hansen didn't go home empty-handed as he was awarded the European Poker Lifetime Achievement Award.

Gus Hansen, life winner.

 

Other big winners on the night included German wunderkind Ole Schemion, Belgian Davidi Kitai and France's Lucille Cailly.

See the list of winners below; visit the European Poker Awards site for the full list of nominees.

More information about the Global Poker Index and the European Poker Awards here.

The low-buy-in tournament series paid out $951,000 in prizepools in 2012. Many players qualified for their entry online on 888poker. 

“We never expected the Super Stack series to blow up like it did,” said Director of 888poker Gareth Edwards. “The feedback from the players has been phenomenal and it’s great to watch the series spread to so many new territories.”

The United Kingdom’s Mark Greening won 888poker Super Stack Player of the Year by finishing on top of the series’ leaderboard.

Greening will receive free entry into every 2013 Super Stack event. It’s a prize worth more than $8,000.

888poker is expanding the Super Stack Series even further in 2013 with 27 events.

Some of the highlight locations of the 2013 Super Stack Series include Malta, Ibiza, Sheffield and Barcelona. You can see the complete 2013 Super Stack Series schedule on superstack.net.

The first leg of the series will take place on Jan. 25 in London.

Players can already qualify for the 2013 Super Stack Series on 888poker for as little as $11. You can sign up using a PokerListings bonus link here.

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comment.

Today in the 3-Bet we find tennis legend and PokerStars signee Rafael Nadal binking his first-ever tourney win, Phil Hellmuth getting framed (in a good way) by the WSOP and Daniel Negreanu pulling out of the NBC Heads-Up Championship and hinting at big life changes.

1) Nadal Wins First Poker Tournament, Scores €152.40

Rafa wins!

 

For a guy widely considered the second greatest tennis player of all-time, playing a €10 poker tournament is one of the last things you'd ever expect him doing.

Him dedicating two hours to winning said €10 poker tournament seems like an even less likely scenario.

That’s exactly what Rafael Nadal did yesterday, though, as he beat 47 players on PokerStars.es - knocking out the last five on his own - to win a €10 freezeout for a bankroll-boosting €152.40.

When PokerStars announced the signing of Nadal it seemed like a boon for the industry but still a longshot Nadal would ever put that much time in at the tables. Most figured he'd pop in for a live tourney here and there, do some ads and appearances and that'd be that.

The fact he has the dedication to both play a €10 tournament and win it speaks to just how competitive he is and how great an asset he can be for the game of poker worldwide.

We'll see if he still puts the time in once he returns from injury to tennis but the thought of Nadal making a deep run in a major tournament is almost too exciting to contemplate. Bravo Rafa. Check the write-up here.

2) WSOP Frames Hellmuth’s Winning Hand from 2012 WSOPE

Hellmuth's WSOPE winning hand.

 

Speaking of guys with armloads of titles ...

The one-and-only Phil Hellmuth got a nice surprise form the World Series of Poker this week when they presented him with a framed set of the cards that won him the 2012 WSOPE Main Event (see right).

The win made him the first-ever player to win both the WSOP and WSOPE Main Events and added a record 13th bracelet to his collection.

No matter how many times you do it, winning a poker tournament never gets old and it's great to see even the legends of the game still get excited about it.

PIC: my final hand (the winning hand) of the WSOPE Main Event!Pretty cool that they framed it for me! moby.to/w563xs

Hellmuth will be looking to add another high-profile crown to his collection as he is one of the chosen 64 for the $25k NBC Heads-Up Championship this weekend.

3) Negreanu Drops Out of NBC Heads-Up, Alludes to Changes

Speaking of the NBC Heads-Up Championship and another poker icon ...

Based on a few cryptic tweets, a terrible music video and an official withdrawal from the NBC HU tourney, big things seem to be developing in Daniel Negreanu land.

It's far from clear what it's all about but here’s what we know right now:

I am withdrawing from the NBC Heads Up event this weekend. I love and support this eventand will explain why in a video later today.

For the record, David "Doc" Sands will be his replacement in the NBC Heads-Up field.

So what's really going on? The latest announcement follows a series of cryptic tweets that started early Tuesday:

I spent about 5 hours on the phone today having deep meaningful conversations. I learned stuff about myself today that's just "woah" lol

Made one of the most important discoveries of my life this weekend, and a tough decision last night. I am 100% CERTAIN I chose correctly!

I'll clue you in tomorrow evening. Sorry for the cryptic tweets lol but it will all make sense soon :-)

THIS: youtube.com/watch?v=cRrdP8… the lyrics to this song have some really deep meaning for me!

We'd watch the Creed video for a hint, but yeah. There’s no chance we make it through two seconds of that song.

Speculation has clearly been rampant. Is he quitting poker? Proposing to the girl from Millionaire Matchmaker? Embracing meat in his diet? Going with Faraz Jaka on a silent monk retreat?

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: OK, video is out and it's not quite as dramatic as he implied although clearly an important and moving step for Daniel. He's skipping the NBC HU to honor a commitment to friends (and ultimately to be the kind of guy who attracts the woman of his dreams). Still, Creed? Clip below:

Among the opening round battles of particular interest are Erik Seidel vs. Tom Dwan, Phil Laak vs. Phil Ivey, Maria Ho vs. Phil Galfond and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom vs. Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger.

A couple of poker icons in Phil Hellmuth and Mike Sexton will match up, as will Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi and Mike "The Mouth" Matusow and Dan Smith and Jason Mercier

Good friends Isaac Haxton and Justin Bonomo also drew each other as did leading female players Liv Boeree and Gaëlle Baumann.

Negreanu, Harman Withdraw

Prior commitment knocks Negreanu out.

 

The last-minute withdrawal of Daniel Negreanu and Jennifer Harman allowed for alternates David “Doc” Sands and Tom Marchese to enter the field.

Sands will match up with 2012 WSOP October Niner Rob Salaburu in the first round while Marchese will meet poker legend Doyle Brunson.

Opening matches start this afternoon at Caesars. Check back later this evening for results from the round of 64.

Clubs Bracket

Spades Bracket

Hearts Bracket

Diamonds Bracket

If you have an idea for a great 3-Bet piece, just drop us a note in the comments below.

It’s an all-NBC National Heads-Up Championship 3-Bet today with Daniel Negreanu making his Heads-Up picks, some hilarious Twitter trash talk and the best NBC HU clip of all-time.

1) Negreanu Predicts ElkY to Win NBC Heads-Up

His time?

 

So Daniel Negreanu may not be actually playing the NBC National Heads-Up Championship but that hasn’t kept the one-man media machine from taking an interest in the contest.

Negreanu posted his predictions based on the recently released draws for the heads-up tournament on Full Contact Poker today.

For the most part Negreanu was pretty conservative in his guesses and didn’t really offer any huge upsets.

His potential final four is pretty online heavy, however, with Chris Moorman, Andrew Lichtenberger and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier as well as Liv Boeree.

Boeree might not be a bad choice actually as women have historically done very well in this tournament with Vanessa Rousso finishing second in 2009 and Annie Duke winning it all in 2010.

In the end Negreanu went with ElkY to win it all for the $500,000 first-place prize.

ElkY is a very solid pick considering he made the final four of NBC heads-up in 2009. Also, he's insanely good at poker. Check out the rest of Negreanu's picks on Full Contact Poker.

2) NBC Heads-Up Ignites Trash Talk on Twitter

Tweet-master Erik Seidel

 

With NBC Heads-Up set to start later today some of the contestants have already started to needle each other on Twitter.

Maria Ho, Gaelle Baumann, Chris Moorman and Justin Bonomo all had some choice Tweets but Erik Seidel razzing opponent Tom Dwan over the amount of time he spends in Macau was highlight-reel worthy.

Here’s a look at some of the best Tweets regarding NBC Heads-Up:

My 1st round match up in the NBC HU is the great asian player Tom Dwan

In the interest of accuracy, Tom was actually born in the US. He moved to Macau when he was very young and spent his formative years there

At this point Tom's Asian enough to interest @barrygreenstein

I have no idea who Bruce Miller is, but he's gotta be a favorite against @brokelivingjrb right? #NBCHU

Arrived in Vegas last night, will play the 1st round against Liv Boeree! #NBCHU#girlfight GL!

I would tell you, but, you know. MT @philgalfond: What bracket am I in for #NBCHU tomorrow and when do I play?I was there but, you know.

3) Dwan Lays Sick Beat on Hellmuth in Famous NBC HU Clip

Finally we’ll cap our multi-media look at the NBC National Heads-Up Championship with perhaps the most famous clip from the long-running tournament.

We’re talking about Phil Hellmuth getting his pocket aces cracked by Tom Dwan’s pocket tens.

If you’ve never seen it, Dwan 4-Bet jams with tens pre-flop only to get immediately called by Hellmuth with aces.

A ten hit on the turn and that launched Hellmuth into one of his most uproarious tirades ever. Just watch the clip:

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The 24-year-old poker pro from Morton, Illinois outlasted 254 players to book the win and add another title to the Heartland Poker Tour event he won in 2007.

Reiman started the final table second-last in chips but managed to battle his way to heads-up and defeat Florida native Lyle Vincent to clinch the win.

Vincent had previously notched results at the WPT and WSOP but recorded his biggest score with this $98,940 runner-up finish.

The final hand saw the two players get it in on the flop with top pair for Reiman versus ace-high for Vincent.

Louisiana poker player Tim Hebert finished third for $55,564.

Reiman at the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

 

Here are the full final-table results for the 2013 Beau Rivage Million Dollar Heater:

Reiman Remains Consistent on Live Circuit

Ty Reiman broke out on the live circuit when he finished second at the 2010 PCA main event for $1.75 million, and with this win he surpassed $2.5 million in lifetime live tournament earnings.

While he hasn't been able to duplicate the seven-figure score that put him on the map, he has been posting consistent results at major events all over the world.

Just a couple weeks ago Reiman cashed in both the PCA main event and $25k High Roller event.

Reiman is also known as an elite online MTT player under the names puffinmypurp on PokerStars and gimmeda1time on Full Tilt Poker, most notably winning the PokerStars Sunday Million in 2010 for $228k.

The 2013 Beau Rivage Million Dollar Heater consisted of 29 individual poker tournaments. The main event boasted a $2,500 buy-in and a total prize pool of $618,375.

And despite its suggestive name, the Million Dollar Heater main event had a guarantee of $500,000.

Kicking off March 13 at the Enjoy Casino & Resort in Viña del Mar, Chile, the upcoming season of the LAPT features six locations across Latin America, culminating in a $2,500 Grand Final in Uruguay November 13.

This will mark the fourth time the LAPT has visited Chile with the season-opener offering nine events including a $1,100 main event and a $5,000 High Roller.

Last year 672 players entered the main event, a growing popularity the tournament will look to build on this year.

“It’s amazing how fast the LAPT has grown in the past few years and the most exciting thing is that it continues to expand,” said Team PokerStars Pro and former LAPT champ Leo Fernandez.

“The organization, the well thought out buy-in levels, the prestige and the experience that all professional and amateur players bring to the LAPT makes this tour better and better, year after year.”

Leo Fernandez (Photo courtesy of PokerStars Blog)

 

Here is the full schedule for season six of the Latin American Poker Tour:

Fernandez to Defend Title in Panama

Fernandez won LAPT Panama in season five and is looking forward to defending his title in a few months.

“I’m happy that the tour I love to play will return to Panama, where I felt great excitement not only from winning the event, but also because I was able to share the experience with friends and people I love,” he said.

“There is a unique atmosphere of love and support from everyone involved in LAPT events that you cannot find elsewhere.”

Player experience is something the LAPT has focused on since its inception in 2008, and it's something LAPT President David Carrion is still making a priority.

“Season 6 will build on last year’s growth and return to the same cities, adding stability for poker and the LAPT brand in the region,” said Carrion.

"Season 6 will focus on delivering an excellent poker experience to players at all skill levels.”

Poker superstars Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Phil Galfond were all among the survivors as were notable heads-up experts Dan “Jungleman12” Cates and Scott Seiver.

Old timers Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Mike Matusow, Barry Greenstein, Eli Elezra and Huck Seed all represented well for the "old guard" of poker and also made it to the next round.

Other notables to advance include Chris Moneymaker, Antonio Esfandiari and 2010 WSOP Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel.

durrrr v. Doyle in Rd 2

 

Dwan/Brunson, Blom/Matusow in Round of 32

As for the next round, Dwan has perhaps the most fan-friendly match in the Round of 32 as he’ll face poker icon Brunson.

Brunson defeated alternate Tom Marchese to advance while the other alternate to make the field, David “Doc” Sands, won his match against WSOP October Niner Rob Salaburu.

Sands will now meet 2003 WSOP Main Event champ Moneymaker in the second round.

Other marquee matchups include Blom vs. Matusow, Ivey vs. Justin Bonomo, Galfond vs. Eugene Katchalov and Cates vs. British pro Chris Moorman.

French pro Gaëlle Baumann and Vanessa Rousso are the only females left in the field. Baumann edged Liv Boeree in the first round while Maria Ho and Jennifer Tilly lost their matches.

Action picks up again at 2 pm in Vegas today with Round of 32 and Sweet 16 matches scheduled. Here’s how the brackets shaped up:

SPADES Bracket

Round of 32 Matchups

HEARTS Bracket

Round of 32 Matchups

CLUBS Bracket

Round of 32 Matchups

DIAMONDS Bracket

Round of 32 Matchups

Snub-Gate, as no one except us is calling it, has been raging on in the Twittersphere all week but as the first round of matches played out last night in Las Vegas, the conversation has begun to turn to poker.

And as the clock ticks down on Day 2 we bring you up to date by compiling the most relevant NBC Heads-Up tweets.

From Tommy Vedes' slightly disturbing dream about defeating TV-legend ALF to Jean-Robert Bellande's predictable first-round loss, we've exhausted the hashtag searches and scoured the poker Twitter lists to bring you this compendium of NBC Heads-Up communication.

My 1st round match up in the NBC HU is the great asian player Tom Dwan

Beat the best player in the field (IMO - @ikepoker) round 1. On to @philivey round 2. #SoftField

Boom won 1st round match :) big flip with ak v 77 for most of it then held aj v a5. Jungleman up next at 1.15 tomorrow, can't wait! #NBCHU

Now sweating the Moneymaker/Summerville match since I play the winner.

Had weird dream that I beat ALF in the #NBCHU then overheard him ask Mori if he could get back on NBC #HollywoodSquarestwitter.com/TommyVedes/sta…

Victory in the first round vs the very talented and tough Yevgeny Timoshenko. On to the next one!! :)

Won 1st HU match against Liv Boeree, playing Dan Smith tomorrow... Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it :) #NBCHU

Played my ass of yesterday against @o_rly but couldn't win the flips at the end. good luck to her in round 2 though, she's an awesome lady.

Won 1st match aganist The Big Cheese. As expected, he played well. Get Tom Dwan tomorrow.

I have no idea who Bruce Miller is, but he's gotta be a favorite against @brokelivingjrb right? #NBCHU

In not so stunning news, BJ Miller beats Jean-Robert Bellande #NBCHU (h/t @wsop)

AA<QJ in my first round match of #NBCHU against @philgalfond but I played well so nothing to be sorry about. So much love and support

Whatever happened to "Syracuse" Chris Tsiprailidis? (And why was he snubbed for the #NBCHU?)

re: NBC HU field. If you took the best 64 it would be pretty boring. You can only have so many robots. Have to add some humans.

seen a lot of talk about snubs for #NBCHU, but by a measurement of both talent and personality @therealphilbort was the biggest one imo

Speaking of NBC HU snubs. . . Ummmmm, @prahladfriedman?????

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comment.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Xuan Liu on the cover of Cat Fancy the next edition of WPT Magazine, Faraz Jaka shutting his pipes down on a 10-day Buddhist retreat and Jean-Robert Bellande getting the gears for his first-round fumble in the $25k NBC Heads-Up Championship.

1) Xuan Liu Pushing Chinese Poker on WPT Cover

On the cusp of new boom?

 

We're big Xuan Liu fans here at PokerListings and wholeheartedly agree with her spot on the WPT's Ones to Watch list.

We also wholeheartedly agree she's a very worthy cover girl, and that's what's up next month for the latest edition of WPT Magazine.

Liu announced the cover in a new blog post and says there will be a distinctly Eastern motif in lieu of the latest WPT push into China:

"I’ll probably be wearing a green strapless dress with my phonetic name in an Oriental-inspired font and my Chinese name attached horizontally on the side. Hopefully this will be just as good for the poker world as it will be for my self-esteem and my family’s honour. I hope my arms won’t look fat.

"I know poker in Asia has been trying to expand for some time now, but I sincerely believe that 2013 will be a huge year for the game in China. I missed WPT China in Hainan in December, but I have been brushing up on my Mandarin skills in preparation for the market to break through."

Read the full post here.

2) Faraz Jaka Going Silent on Buddhist Retreat

Hair will do only talking in Thailand.

 

We're also big fans of Faraz Jaka here and were heavy-hearted after his first-round exit yesterday in the NBC Heads-Up.

Everyone knows big hair makes for endearing TV. He also happens to be a super funny, positive guy with crazy good poker skills, so it would have been great to see him go deep.

Still, things aren't so bad for Jaka. He's on his way to the Aussie Millions, he told PocketFives, followed by a 10-day, no-talking Buddhist retreat in Thailand:

"I'm flying to the Aussie Millions to play what's probably my favorite poker event of the year. Then, I'm going to Thailand and staying in a Buddhist monastery for 10 days where I'm not allowed to speak the entire time.

“I have always been interested in Buddhism and mediation, so I just reached out to some friends who are into the same and got some recommendations for places people have been to in the past. It's a meditation retreat.

“I like to keep myself busy and work hard, but I think it's important to do the exact opposite and just spend some time appreciating the simple things in life...”

Read the full interview here.

3) Jean-Robert Booted by Qualifier, Mocked

Depending on how you look at it, perennial poker whipping boy Jean-Robert Bellande had either the best or worst first-round draw in the $25k NBC Heads-Up Championship.

Drawing WSOP.com qualifier Bruce Miller, it looked like JRB was a big favorite to at least make the second round before things got tough. JRB wasn't convinced it was all that great a draw, though:

If vs @erik_seidel or @philivey, I'd have nothing to lose but I find myself surprisingly nervous playing qualifier Bruce Miller#brokechoke

Fulfilling his own prophecy, @BrokeLivingJRB went down quickly and quietly in Round 1. As expected, as his inclusion in the event was questioned to begin with, the JRB haters rained down the vitriol:

Haters enjoy. Super frustrated. I thought I played great. Couldn't fade the runner runner flush or all-in w top vs his f draw#brokechoke

Wow @brokelivingjrb BR-$10,000, pride gone, losing to Bruce Miller...priceless.

@randompoker @brokelivingjrb ha ha that's cause your fucking rubbish!

To top it off, he promptly got fleeced by Tom Dwan in Open-Face Chinese Poker:

My 1st time trying fantasy land & @tomdwan presents me with..I swear I can't even count that effen high#brokechoketwitter.com/BrokeLivingJRB…

Poor JRB. Can't win for losing. More tweets from the NBC Heads-Up here.

Two of the game's original and most recognizable stars, both had to make it through tough opponents in the Rounds of 32 and 16 to advance.

Hellmuth, who won the inaugural NBC Heads-Up event in 2005, continued his string of strong results in the past year by defeating Justin Smith and David "Doc" Sands to make the quarter-finals.

Matusow, who hasn't seen the same level of success or exposure since Black Friday, surprised at least a few observers by knocking off Viktor "Isildur1" Blom and Barry Greenstein for his spot in the quarter-finals.

Hellmuth will face Eugene Katchalov in the quarters while Matusow will face John Hennigan.

Dan Cates.

 

Cates, Seiver Clash in Clubs Bracket

While the poker vets controlled the Hearts and Spades brackets the young guns ruled the day in the Clubs and Diamonds.

Heads-up killers Dan "Jungleman12" Cates and Scott Seiver will match up in the quarters of the Clubs bracket while Joe Serock and Brian Hastings meet in the Diamonds bracket.

Hastings knocked off fellow online icon Tom "durrrr" Dwan in the Round of 16 and Serock topped GPI Player of the Year Dan Smith.

Action picks up again at 2 pm from Vegas and won't stop until a winner is crowned.

Tomorrow's Match-Ups:

Yesterday's results:

SPADES

Round of 32

Round of 16

HEARTS  

Round of 32

Round of 16

CLUBS

Round of 32

Round of 16

DIAMONDS  

Round of 32 

Round of 16

Wigg won the Sunday Million in 2009 for over $213k playing as antesvante on PokerStars and took down EPT Copenhagen in 2010 for over $672k.

And in addition to his over $1.4 million in live tournament results Wigg is also a successful cash game player.

In this interview Wigg shares how he turned a tiny online deposit into a lucrative career traveling the world playing poker.

PokerListings.com: How did you first become involved with poker?

Anton Wigg: I always excelled at card games, chess, etc. So when I got introduced to such a complex game as poker where both the intellectual challenge of an extremely complicated game merges with the competitive nature and the earning of a few Swedish Kronor, I was sold! 

I started playing freerolls, and back then my focus wasn’t financial.

Instead, it was beating the other guys from my football team, and giving them shit over messenger. When I turned 18 I put about €50 into my first bankroll.

PL: How did that first bankroll turn out?

AW: I played recreationally and had a job as a caretaker right after I finished school.

Then one day I'd built my bankroll up to €50k and was on my way to work at 6am on a Monday morning on five hours of sleep, since I stayed up a bit late the night before playing a juicy game.

I made more money the night before then I did - after tax - working for a month. I knew I'd always be offered a job right away if poker didn't work out and so I set roughly €20k aside and started treating it professionally, following sound bankroll management advice, but taking shots in really good games.

Anton Wigg (Photo courtesy of PokerStars Blog)

 

PL: That’s one heck of a run!

AW: Well at this time the games were much softer then they are today. I just had somewhat of a clue about what I should be doing and was extremely aggressive.

The first few buy-ins I was playing a little bit tighter just because that was the money I was planning on spending, and I didn't want to make another deposit. As soon as I had a few buy-ins to lose I started playing a much more crazy style.

Most of the €50k came from 5-max cash games, but some from €50-200 tournaments where I was very successful. Later that turned out to be my career.

PL: What was your first significant win?

AW: Well the first one was a win in a €50 tournament where I won something like €3k. But getting a roll quickly was so huge, and got my cash game-play off to a really quick start.

The second one was winning the Sunday Million.

At this point I couldn't really grasp how huge this win was, but it boosted my bankroll by a lot and enabled me to satellite to big live events where my third huge score came winning the EPT in Copenhagen.

PL: Was winning the Sunday Million a proud moment For you?

AW: It came at the perfect time because I was on a big downswing. I'd just broken up with my girlfriend and moved in with a friend of mine who also played poker.

One Sunday night we decided to go play tournaments at an internet-cafe in central Stockholm. The night started OK with a few cashes, but then I managed to get a stack in both the Million and the Mulligan on FTP.

In the Million I was chip leader from 300 players left all the way to the final table and in the Mulligan I was grinding along and went on a rush just before the final table.

Both final-table bubbles burst at the same time and we were all cheering with a little rail gathering behind me. We had to ask the guys who ran the place to keep it open a bit longer then usual so they were watching too.

Wigg winning EPT Copenhagen in 2010.

 

In the Mulligan I got in AA vs AK and KK for more then half of the chips in play with six left and I got one-outed on the river! I busted in fifth or sixth place.

But I remained focused in the Million and I was so sure that I'd win it. Then after a really aggressive final table, where me and the other chip leader clashed a bunch of times, I finally managed to grind him down heads-up and win a coin flip to take it down for about $210k!

The guys were heading home, but I had other plans in mind.

I went to a car rental place. Rented a pretty nice car and went out for a drive down the freeway for about two hours and just enjoyed the hell out of every second of it.

PL: Do you remember any early light bulb moments in your poker career?

AW: Well the first one was just how much aggression pays in NLH. Not just betting and raising, but to have an overall aggressive game, which includes aggressive checks to play bigger pots in highly profitable spots.

The second one was understanding the mathematical fundamentals of the game.

Learning what hands played well and where, and really piecing things together, taking good lines and playing a less exploitable game when games got tougher.

PL: People never stop learning. What was your latest moment?

AW: Lately, I've been feeling very passionate about my game and been excited to sit down and play poker.

Don't get me wrong, I like my job, but when I feel motivated and energized my game is so much better, since I'm quicker to make small, but highly profitable adjustments.

PL: Who do you most respect in this game?

AW: A lot of players! And some great players not at all!

If I started naming people I could go on for a while. But hard workers that enjoy what they do for a living and treat the people around them well, is a good start to get on the list of people I respect.

PL: How do players manage to make it over the long run?

AW: To play within your bankroll and to not be afraid of dropping down limits, selling pieces, getting backed and be very sure what the reasons behind those decisions are.

Wigg is still backed by legendary online MTT player Chris "Moorman1" Moorman.

 

Ask yourself if you feel like your game is sharp enough to play those stakes. If yes, then selling pieces, being backed is a great option to be able to make the most profit.

If no then moving down stakes and working hard on your game is a much better option if you want to make it in the long run.

PL: Towards the end of 2012 Chris Moorman started to lay off some of his horses. Were you one of the casualties?

AW: No, I am still one of his horses. Our relationship has been very successful, as I have managed to consistently make money for the both of us.

I'd met him briefly a couple of times and logged a lot of hours against him. After my Copenhagen win I bought an apartment and went on a huge downswing right after.

I didn't want to affect my investments so I added him on Facebook, asking if he was interested in backing me, and we've had a great relationship ever since, both professionally and as friends. 

PL: What is your opinion of backing?

AW: Well from my point of view backing is a great way to earn money for both parties. I think the problem most people have had is that they've been picking up too many players.

Variance in tournament poker is a HUGE factor hence you need a HUGE bankroll too, no matter how good your horses are.

As a backer you also need to treat it as a business, which means making some tough choices if you feel like your horses aren't playing their best, or are in fact losing.

There is just no point pouring money down a growing black hole just because you are financially and/or emotionally invested.

There are a lot of stories about successful backing relationships. Steve O'Dwyer is the first one that comes to mind.

PL: What sets you apart from hundreds of Swedish poker players that have not made it?

AW: It's hard to not sound a bit cocky saying this, but I have a talent for this game and adjusting to the changing times where games are tougher and played a bit differently.

But also the huge amount of work I've put in to stay ahead of the curve constantly trying to make good adjustments.

PL: What do you want to be remembered for?

AW: Well, achievements will be determined in the future and I feel like it's too early for big plans, although I hope that I'll be in a position to make big things happen, like starting a school or something similar.

But for now I'm very happy with being able to help my family and friends reaching their goals since I'm in a good financial position. 

When it comes to being remembered I had a discussion the other week about what I want my funeral to be like: A classy, but casual ceremony filled with smiles and happy memories and of course a big party afterwards!

I hope I have, and will have made, a positive difference in people's lives and therefore live on with them, in a smile, a thought or an act where I've inspired someone to do something good.