A Perfect Fit

According to Philip Lake, the president and the founder of Shodown Couture, the signing is a ‘perfect match’ with Shodown’s brand image and philosophy. Shodown Couture focuses on clothing that reflect the kind of lifestyle that savvy poker pros live – and, with his image as the youngest WSOP Main Event winner and as a fresh, new millionaire, Joe Cada seems to fit this roll to a tee. Philip Lake said, “Joe’s style is aggressive, but he is respectful while playing. He intimidates at the tables. He is the face of poker and is extremely talented. He represents what Shodown is about: quality play, bad ass style, and respect for the game”.

Indeed, what they said about Cada was completely true. Anyone who has seen him play at the final table will see how formidable this young man really is at the felt. Shodown was able to see these great qualities in Cada, and he was thus offered this great deal, this wonderful opportunity. The reason, perhaps, why the guys down at Shodown were able to spot Cada is because they themselves play poker. They’re not just riding on the game’s current hype. They also know and love the game, and are thus more in tune to the likes and dislikes of poker players everywhere.

Joe Cada’s Part

Of course, as a representative of Shodown Couture, Cada will have to show up at the tournaments wearing the Shodown apparel. The first tournament in which we will see him in his spiffy new clothes would be the North American Poker Tour, particularly at the Mohegan Sun. Furthermore, Cada won’t just be a mute poster boy for the apparel company, he will also be allowed to give his own input on the type of clothing for his own signature series. Shodown’s clothing has always been known to be bold and fashionable, so you can be sure that the items will be worthy of note. The items will only be purchasable online from Shodown Couture’s site but there are plans for opening an actual retail outlet this 2010.

Hellmuth’s Dilemma

Phil Hellmuth is no doubt one of the best poker players in the world. He has broken many records, including one for having the most number of WSOP bracelets. His prowess on the felt, coupled with reputation as the ‘poker brat’, has made him a legend in the poker industry. However, in recent years, other pros have been repeatedly taking a jab at Hellmuth’s game, saying that he has become impotent in the felt. Even some fans were doubtful about whether or not Hellmuth still has what it takes to be a legend. True enough, Hellmuth has been pouring his efforts into making a major comeback. He joined tournament after tournament, but never came up with anything stunning.

It was further compounded by his much-too-fast exit from the High Stakes Poker TV Show and the subsequent thrashing his name received from the other pros who outlasted him. However, Hellmuth seemed to be making a nice recovery when he started making waves at the World Poker Tour Bay 1010 Shooting Star. He went right to the very top, sometimes making a skirmish to the second place. Of course, Hellmuth managed to make it into the final table. But things took a turn for the worse when his chip stack started dwindling. In the end, Hellmuth had to exit the table at sixth place. It could have been his glorious comeback if he had won first place, but it was just not meant to be.

Tony G’s Concern

At one point after making his exit, Hellmuth curled up into fetal position and somebody had the audacity to take a picture. Soon enough, the picture was weaving its way through cyberspace at a velocity faster than the speed of light. Tony G was genuinely worried about his friend’s mental condition and even wrote a letter to Hellmuth on his blog, expressing his concern and reiterating that the 6^th place finish was merely the start of a ‘mega, mega comeback’ as long as the loss at the WPT does not leave lasting damage. He went on to stroke Hellmuth’s ego by showering the latter with praises and finished by saying that he would always be there to help a friend in need.

The Aftermath

Just recently, Chile was hit by a massive quake with a magnitude of 8.8 – a disaster that killed more than 500 people. It also caused major damage to infrastructures, both in the public and private sector. The quake was one of the strongest ever recorded in history, further compounded by the 30 aftershocks that accompanied it. Some of these aftershocks had magnitudes that were greater than 6.0, making the city’s recovery even more difficult to achieve. Even until now, there are still some aftershocks hitting Chile, the most recent occurring last March 11. Three aftershocks wracked the country that day, the strongest reaching a magnitude of 7.2, it was an even stronger quake than the one that devastated Haiti. Tsunami warnings were also sent out to the neighboring countries. The exact extent of the damages caused by the quake and its aftermaths is still largely unknown. But one of its effects, albeit a very minor one in relation to the others, was the cancellation of the PokerStars LAPT Vina del Mar Event.

What could have been

The LAPT Vina del Mar Event was set to run on March 19 up until March 23. However, due to the quakes, PokerStars had to cancel the said tournament. Not only would the city’s current state cause it to become difficult to host a proper event, it would also become a safety hazard to the participants. PokerStars weighed the pros and cons of continuing with the event and just decided that it would be better to cancel it. PokerStars already released an apology to those who were planning to attend the event. They also said that those who bought into the tournament or qualified into it would be fully refunded. The Grand Finals in Argentina would have come next after this stop at Chile. However, now that the events have been derailed by disasters, a final date for the main event has yet to be finalized.

Not this Year

Last year was a good, if not great, year for the Aruba Poker Classic. The tournament attracted a field of 475, with Brandon “AreTheseUtz” Hall as the one reaching the very top. The first place prize reached $753,000 and the players who were in the money were able to partake in a prize pool worth more than $2 million. All things considered, it was truly a big success for the Ultimate Bet. But despite this, UB has decided not to host the Aruba Poker Classic this year, choosing instead to focus on other ventures. Paul Leggett, Tokwiro COO, revealed in a press conference that they deeply regret having to cancel the Aruba event. However, they assured the players that 2010 will still be an exciting year for them as the reason why they are cancelling the tournament is because they feel that they can better serve the people with new events and reward programs.

Goodies in Store

UB will be expanding its live and online tournament schedules. They will be adding a monthly $500,000 guaranteed tournament in addition to their weekly $200,000 guaranteed tournament. They will also make the Ultimate Bet Online Championship or the UBOC a biannual event instead of just an annual one. The first UBOC was held last January, but it is still unclear as to when the second one will be held. People are already expecting the second tournament to become a million dollar event too just like the first one. Furthermore, UB will be hosting more satellite tournaments which will help more players to qualify for the World Poker Tour (WPT) and the World Series of Poker (WSOP). They will also be revamping the loyalty program and improving the benefits given to their top players.

The Aruba Poker Classic Tournament will certainly be missed, especially by those who play in UB. However, with these new offerings by UB, things can only get better. They might have taken something away from the players this 2010, but they’re sure giving back tenfold with their new promotions, events, and tournaments.

A Bad Day for Antonius

Patrik Antonius was having a bit of a run in with a classic case of sheer bad luck. The whole day, he has been suffering from losses at the online tables. As if that wasn’t enough, Antonius deemed it a good idea to turn up at the “durrrr” challenge on the off-chance that his luck might just turn around. Well, you know how off-days are – they usually start off badly, and they inevitably end badly. This lesson, however, is a hard one to learn, which is probably why Antonius still gave it one last shot. Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius played for only a bit more than an hour, making it quite a short session. They logged in about 364 hands, which does not really make a substantial addition to the total hands played.

But for tradition’s sake, then let’s just say that Tom and Patrik now have only 16,758 hands left on the challenge. However, to say that the last session was bad for Antonius would be a bit of an understatement. He has been on the losing side of the spectrum for ten of their last eleven sessions. With Dwan sporting such a huge lead, it seems highly difficult for Patrik Antonius to ever recover. But then again, you never really know how things will go in the world of poker.

Dwan’s Monster Pots

There weren’t any million dollar pots in the span of the short session that transpired earlier. But there were three big pots that managed to materialize, with Dwan taking two of them. The largest pot reached a sizeable $213,000. Dwan began the action by making a raise of $1,200,  starting a bit of a pre-flop raising battle. By the time the flop was revealed, there was already $64,800 in the pot. At first, it seemed as if Antonius would be the one taking home the bacon. However, Dwan lucked out at the turn and managed to seal the win at the river. Antonius did win one of the three six-figure pots of the session, though. He won a $185,000 pot when his hand held up against Dwan’s.



Small-Time Crooks, he says

According to Police Chief Rainer Wendt, the four armed gunmen who raided the Grand Hyatt Hotel were mere ‘small-time crooks’. The police investigation showed that the culprits held nothing more than a handgun and a machete. The tabloids were just all over the case, grossly overestimating the story by saying that the four men had Kalashnikov assault rifles and hand grenades. Well, everyone knows how much they love to juice up a story, anyway, so it’s really no surprise there. Furthermore, rumors about the amount of cash stolen by the thieves were an over-estimation. In fact, according to the police, the amount they mulched off of the casino was ‘substantially less’ than the numbers circulating in cyberspace. Another news article, however, hinted that more than 800,000 Euros were stolen from the casino, which is not exactly a paltry amount. Still, there’s no way for us to verify, as the official statement from the casino and from the police are really the best we can go by in terms of truth.

Tightening Casino Security

Still, despite the small-time nature of the crime, the police were putting a great emphasis on revamping the casino security in the city. There were no injuries that happened during the incident, but it could have easily turned into a disaster had the crooks been more inclined to pull the triggers on their guns. Spiegel said, “A Few guards and a hotel intern are not enough. That was really quite negligent.” Indeed, the security force at the casino was not armed, and was thus relatively powerless against the attackers. However, most of the blame should be laid against the door of the tournament officials. They asked the security not to be armed during the said event, and though the guard could have used other, more physical means to subdue the culprits, they sensibly reiterated that it’s not that simple to ‘break a person’s neck’. They did, however, respond with much resourcefulness, subduing the culprits not by using the ropes used for the visitor lines. Still, the culprits were able to escape. It was fortunate, however, that the police managed to lift a DNA sample from one of the suspects and that a casino employee managed to find a bag containing 500,000 Euros, probably abandoned by the thieves in their haste and panic.

The Prelude

The first sign that something was wrong came when a group of people came running down the long hallway that led to the media room. They were on the second floor of the hotel and were in full view of several guests, including some media men. Curious, some people walked to where the group had come from to see what was going on. What they saw was chilling. At the opposite end of the hallway, the security guards were fighting with two masked men. One of the two managed to break free and came charging towards the media men, brandishing a weapon about. Of course, the people did the only wise thing they could do: they ran in the opposite direction. Heading straight towards the media room, they closed the door behind them and barricaded themselves in. This was where they stayed until all the commotion died down – a rather wise move since it deprived the thieves of the chance to take them hostage.

The Stampede

Back to where the other masked man was wrestling with the guards, people were starting to get hysterical. People were running about, trying their best to get away from the scene as quickly as possible. Johannes Strassman was even said to have been seen leapfrogging chairs and tables and yelling frantically in German. Chips were strewn all over the posh casino floor, forgotten in the midst of fright. Everyone – media men, guests, and players alike – were scrambling to get to the back corner of the room where the exit was located. It was practically a stampede. But thankfully, nobody was seriously hurt save for a few minor bumps and scratches. By the time the commotion ended, everyone was already standing outside of the building, waiting for confirmation that the situation was under control. The venue for the tournament, however, did not fare quite as well.

The stampede left the whole place in complete disarray, tables upturned, chairs strewn about, chips everywhere – it was practically a disaster site. As a result, the €1,000 side event and ladies event had to be sidetracked and the players could opt for a refund if they so desired. The €1,000 was completely cancelled but the Ladies Event resumed play once things settled down. According to the rumor mill, there were six men who attacked the building. They were armed with guns, knives, and machetes and their aim was simply to steal as much as possible.

Hands 1 – 93

The pace of the game on the WPT L.A. Poker Classic’s Final Table was grueling and intense. The non-stop action certainly kept the fans at the edge of their seats as, one by one, the competitors at the final table left the room. The first one to go was Michael Kamran. He had the shortest stack going into the final table and he was not given an opportunity to rectify his dire situation as he was bumped off by Kasabyan. Next to go was J.C. Moussa who was eliminated by Tri Huynh. Kasabyan, despite having a good run, was sent packing in fourth place, also courtesy of Huynh. It was one of the most exciting plays of the session, with Kasbyan calling all in with his A-7. However, even at this point, Hyunh held the upper hand, as he had A-9. The flop was A-9-8, giving Hyunh a two pair. When the 7 turned up at the turn, it was truly a scene of bitter irony. Then a 9 happened to turn up at the river, giving Hyunh a full house, it almost seemed as if the fates were mocking Kasabyan. Kasabyan had to leave the table after that, leaving only Hyunh, Dolan, and Koroknai, all of them holding fairly even chip stacks. But Hyunh would not last long, as his pocket jacks fell to Koroknai’s pocket kings. Hyunh’s exit put Koroknai at a huge advantage.

The 94^th Hand

Entering into heads-up, he had a 10:1 edge over Dolan’s chip stack, placing the latter in a very impossible situation. Sure enough, it took only one hand to force Dolan out of the game. Having a hand of Q-4, Dolan immediately made the call with what little remained of his chip stack. Koroknai had a Q-8 which put him at a better spot. Unexpectedly, though, the flop came as 10-9-4, giving Dolan a fighting a chance with his pocket 4s. However, along with the flop was two hearts, which made Koroknai’s hand a possible flush. The turn was revealed to be a 7, further improving Koroknai’s chances, giving him a shot at a straight. Finally, it was all up to the river to decide whether Koroknai would have a flush, a straight, something else entirely, or nothing at all – and sure enough, the King of Hearts appeared at the river, completing Koroknai’s flush and giving him the title as well as the $1.8 million prize.

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A Show that’s simply too specific

While 2 Months, $2 Million was a show that poker fans enjoyed immensely, most of the world could not, for the life of them, truly get into it. To begin with, it had a very good concept. Basically, it was about four online poker players who would endeavor to earn $2 million dollars collectively by the end of two months. The first season featured Dani Stern, Brian Roberts, and Jay Rosenkrantz, and Emil Patel. They worked together to reach their goal of 2 million but ultimately fell short – very short. Together, they only managed to earn $676,000. However, the show also incorporated quite a bit of drama, with all the players experiencing various highs and lows during the course of the season. They rented a spiffy house in Vegas for the duration of season 1, adding to the ‘poker’ feel. Poker players were able to relate to their hardships brilliantly and thus watched the show avidly. The rest of the world, however, found it painfully dull. They just could not relate. Thus, G4 found it prudent to not renew the series. The show had lots of potential and G4 even said that it fit their network perfectly and was fitted to their target demographic. However, though it was certainly popular when it first aired, its success only lasted for 3 weeks. By the third week, ratings took a turn for the worse, and the show never recovered after that.

Don’t give up just yet

However, just because G4 won’t be renewing it, it does not mean that all hope for this poker show is lost. The members of the cast are still discussing their options. Jay “Krantz” Rozenkrantz, for one, said that they learned a lot from Season 1 and would certainly apply these things in season 2. They have a lot of ideas on how to improve the show, now that they “know what people like about it and what they don’t”. One thing, particularly, is the goal. 2 Million is a bit too much, even for 4 people, and the fact that they were unable to achieve even half of their aim was simply disappointing. Changing the 2 million to 1 million would, no doubt, be one of the first goals.

Lady’s Privilege

With women being the underrepresented minority in the world of poker, it’s only right that they finally get the proper treatment they deserve. With the establishment of the www.PokerStars.com Luxury Ladies Poker Club, several women will get the chance to participate at one of the biggest annual events in the poker industry. It’s in the works right now but when it’s properly established, it will be running some daily and weekly satellites. Through these satellites, some lucky women will be sent to the €1,100 Ladies Championship that is slated to be held at one of the most beautiful hotels in Monte Carlo, the Columbus Monaco. These satellites come at different levels, so many women will be able to compete, regardless of how big their wallets are. Furthermore, the club will be hosting a freezout tournament and a rebuy, which ultimately makes the game more exciting and more challenging. Each tournament will have a minimum of one seat to the Monte Carlo event up for grabs.

Poker and Pampering

However, it’s not just poker that makes the Lady’s Poker Club interesting. The chance of winning a prize package that’s worth €3,500 is also a huge plus. This package has everything a lady needs for a luxurious trip, complete with several amenities that will make their trip even more memorable. Furthermore, they’ll have a 5-nights’ worth of accommodation at the Columbus Monaco, easily one of the most impressive hotels in the region. Furthermore, they get to participate in Vanessa Rousso’s Ladies Boot Camp, an event that has a prize worth €300. Of course, there’s also the goodie bag that contains various types of PokerStars paraphernalia, particularly a PokerStars Lady’s Shirt. As if that isn’t enough, PokerStars will also offer the women a chance to watch the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique on May 1 and 2, which features several vintage Formula One racecars.

No Men Allowed

Because of certain incidents in a Lady’s tournament last year, www.PokerStars.net decided to add a new clause in this year’s rule book. Men who try to participate in this event will be disqualified and will be banned from this year’s events. So, if there are any men out there who are set on making trouble, know this now: It will not work.