Poker Blog

Ronald Lee 122,700
Balazs Botond 90,000
Christian Harder 55,100
John Racener 50,000
Andrew Cohen 48,000
John Dolan 46,000
Davidi Kitai 45,000
Jason Newburger 44,500
Ali Eslami 44,500
Alessio Isaia 43,900
James Dempsey 40,000
Justin Flitz 40,000
Cody Slaubaugh 40,000
Rene Angelil 38,000
Mike Leah 35,600
Matt Hawrilenko 34,000
Steve O’Dwyer 34,000
Dan Heimiller 30,500
Noah Schwartz 30,000
James Carroll 28,500
Jeff Hakim 27,100
Allen Kessler 23,500
Owen Crowe 21,500
Grant Hinkle 20,000
Chris DeMaci 20,000
Pierre Neuville 19,000
Hoyt Corkins 13,800
Pat Pezzin 11,000
Ted Lawson 10,400
Robert Cheung 9,300
Tony Cousineau 9,000
Randall Flowers 9,000
Joe Sebok 8,400
Mickey Petersen 5,000

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2011 WSOP Predictions by James Guill

The 2011 WSOP Main Event is less than 2 months away. As such, predictions and speculation around the events have begun, and as many of you know, I like to share my opinions on all things poker. Here are my predictions for the 2011 WSOP.

Jason Mercier Takes Down $25,000 Heads-Up Title

I had Jason Mercier going deep in the NBC National Heads-Up finals and ultimately falling to Phil Ivey. Sadly, neither prediction came true. However, Mercier has been one of the more dominating forces in poker over the last three years, and I feel that he takes down another bracelet this year. This event I think sets up perfectly for Mercier and I think he kicks things off with taking down the first open bracelet of 2011.

Phil Ivey Takes Down $10,000 Stud World Championship

Normally I wouldn’t make a prediction on an event like the Stud World Championship, but Phil Ivey has to win something. He typically shows well in this event and was heads-up for this very title 4 years ago when it was a $5,000 buy-in event. Stud is easily his best game and I think he takes down his 9th bracelet in this event.

Erik Seidel Takes Down $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship

With Erik Seidel’s epic run so far in 2011, it is hard to not put him as a favorite in any event with a buy-in of $25,000 or more. The reason I picked him for this event is partially for his epic run and partially because he tends to run better later in the WSOP. He has made final tables or won bracelets in just about every even in the 8-game mix, so he definitely has the skills. Back in 2006, I asked him who he thought would take this down and he told me without hesitation “Chip Reese.” This year, I think most will not hesitate to tell me “Erik Seidel” if I ask them the same question.

Phil Hellmuth Takes #12

He has come close the last couple of years, but this year I think Phil takes down bracelet #12. He is looking to reestablish himself in the poker world after leaving UB.com and I think a bracelet win will help to do so. A win in something other than Hold’em would earn him more respect among the pro community, but any bracelet win should put him back in the forefront of poker.

Lacey Jones Photo by Barret Appelgate

A Woman Makes the WSOP Main Event Final Table

You read that right folks. A woman will make the WSOP Main Event final table this year. However, I don’t think it will be a known pro, or at least one that is known now. Everyone tried to make last year the “Year of the Woman” and for the poker world as a whole, it was true. The WSOP, not so much. I think this year a woman breaks through, but I do not see her taking it down. Maybe a 3rd place finish at best. Otherwise, don’t expect a big name at the WSOP Main Event final.

This years WSOP will boast the largest field of participants ever and will produce a ton of great stories. With any luck, the above stories will be among them, but regardless of what happens, this promises to be an exciting summer for poker.

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Jason Wheeler screen name jdpc27

A Player to Watch
Card Player’s Annual Online Player of the Year Award is one that is sought by any active online poker player. They tally scores based on hands won vs. loss, rake, pots and a multitude of additional criteria. Last year’s winner was Taylor ‘ambiguosity’ Paur with a total of 11,030 points and more than a million in winnings in online poker tournaments.

This year the front runner to watch is Jason ‘jdpc27’ Wheeler. He is 33 years old and a former management consultant. Since being laid off, Jason has grinded his way through the tables. He began competing effectively at sit and go’s and is now making the multi-table tournament field take note. His most recent tournament win is the 500 dollar buy in at the FTOPS event 8. He cashed for a nice 85 thousand dollar payday. Just this year alone, he has more than 350 thousand dollars and a lifetime online poker winning record of more than 2 million dollars. With a point total of 4,288,he stands to be the easy front runner for the Online Player of the Year award. Jason ‘jdpc27’ Wheeler is an online poker professional to keep your eye on.

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Daniel Negreanu Makes Epic Comeback to Win Vs Isildur1 in Superstar Showdown

Last weekend, Daniel Negreanu dropped $150,000 to Viktor Blom in the PokerStars Superstar Showdown. The match did not even go 1,500 hands and Negreanu vowed to come back with a fresh $150,000 to take another crack at Isildur1. The rematch between the two kicked off on Sunday afternoon on Pokerstars.

Daniel had made it very public that he planned to practice all week on Pokerstars in anticipation of the matchup with Blom. Early on in the match, it looked like that Negreanu’s hard work was going to be for naught as Isildur1 took the early lead. Blom was running hot against Negreanu and steadily built that lead until he was up over $110,000 at around the 1,500 hand mark.

Many fans were beginning to question whether Negreanu should even be in this matchup as the match moved down to just three tables. This looked to be a repeat of last week until Daniel started going on a bit of a run. In the series of around 158 hand, that all changed as Negreanu put on a massive run. He cut the deficit from $110,000 to just a mere $7,800. Most of this was done on the combination of big poker hands and a bit of good fortune. For example, a huge pot between the two players saw Daniel flop two pair with 7-8, and Isildur1 flop the nut straight. Unfortunately for Blom, Daniel caught a full house on the turn and when Blom shoved, Daniel stacked him.

Isildur1 hung onto his lead until about 348 hands left when Negreanu was sitting with over a $9,100 lead. Negreanu was indeed running well, but it was clear at this point that Isildur1 was pressing. For example, Isildur1 shoved pre-flop in a pot against Negreanu with A-Q after Negreanu four-bet. Negreanu called with queens and the hand held.

Isildur1 was able to retake the lead with about 258 hands left, but that lead went back to Negreanu in a huge set over set hand. The flop had both a ten and a four on it when Isildur1 decided to move all-in with his flopped set of fours. Daniel made the easy call after flopping a set of tens. The case four did not hit the board and Daniel looked in control.

With about 14 hands left to play, Negreanu had an $8,800 lead. The railbird were clamoring for Negreanu to fold to a win. Negreanu even said that he could do, but he would not. Daniel stayed true to his word as he got involved in a couple of all-in pots at the end and managed to win them both with pocket aces and pocket queens.

The final hand total for the match was 2,502 and Daniel Negreanu made a fantastic comeback to win the rematch by $26,500. This loss drops Isildur1 to 5-2 in the Superstar Showdown Challenge. His only other loss was in the very first match against Isaac Haxton. Between the two challenges, Isildur1 is up $123,500 over Negreanu.

The next matchup for this challenge was announced at the conclusion of the match. Next Sunday, Scott Palmer screen name urnotindanger will take on Isildur1 over a two week period and a total of 5,000 hands. The matchup between these two should be a hard fought one as Palmer is looking to avenge some recent losses online.

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