This Week in Poker: December 3 – 9

In the PokerGuru feature ‘This Week in Poker’ we bring to you the weekly round up of the biggest online scores by Indian MTT players along with the top stories from both the live and online poker circuit.

Here are this week`s top stories

A week of thunderous poker with non-stop action, both online and live. Typhoon Hagupit stormed Philippines, but the action at the APT-RWM was undiminished. Besides, the orient, poker events continued across the globe at the WPT National Prague, 2014 PMU.fr World Poker Tour National Paris, WPT Alpha 8 St. Kitts and at the Seminole Hard Rock ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open’ Championship in Hollywood. Read all about these events and their winners further on…

The action will now move to Bangalore as the “Tilt Poker Festival” will run at the Rockets Poker Room from Dec 17 – 22, organized by the newly collaborated Tilt Poker Series, helmed by Sangeeth “Samoh” Mohan and Rajeev Raut.

PokerStars continues to rule the news boards and now, a new online poker bill in California, raises doubts about its entry into the country.

However, PokerStars continues with its December Festival, with its Knockout week having just begun yesterday. FTOPS XXVII continues till the Dec 14 and online, Armaan “armaan007” Kochhar is once again our ‘PokerGuru Star of the Week’.

Online Railbird Report

Armaan “armaan007” Kochhar seems to have boarded the bullet train last week, as he chugs away another seven amazing wins. These include three first place and two 2^nd place finishes, adding up to a count of $26,152 this week.

Yes, Armaan is once again our ‘PokerGuru Star of the Week’.

Danish Shaikh makes a stunning re-entry into the winning circle, with a 4^th place finish. Danish managed the feat after a five-way deal in the ‘$109 Sunday Kickoff, $100K GTD’ on ‎PokerStars, collecting a cool $12,513.39!

Amit “bblacklegend” Jain is another who notches up a significant score of $16 K. Amit makes the most of this from his 3^rd place finish in the PokerStars $320 Wednesday Hundred Grand.

Other notable scorers include Sabyasachi “infusion_leo” Chakraborty and Rohit “buzzzbeee85” Mariwalla, who made $7,521.30 and $6,007.65 respectively.

Notable Scores of the Week-

– Armaan ‘armaan007’ Kochhar amassed a total of $26,512 this week. Following are his scores:

1. Won $1,028.16 for 68th place in the PokerStars ‘$215 Sunday Warm-Up, $500K GTD’.

2. Won $1,590.28 for 9th place in the PokerStars ‘$215 NL Hold’em [Turbo], $24K GTD’.

3. Won $4,991.59 for 1st place in the PokerStars ‘$1+R Sunday Spark [3x-Turbo], $30K GTD’.

4. Won $2,297.67 for 2nd place in the PokerStars ‘$25 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo], $15K GTD’.

5. Won $1,744.94 for 2nd place in the PokerStars ‘$82 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Hyper-Turbo], $8K GTD’.

6. Won $9,578.25 for 1st place in the PokerStars $’162 Nightly Forty Grand, $40K GTD’.

7. Won $5,005.00 for 1st place in the PokerStars ‘$215 NL Hold’em [Turbo, Re-Entry], $15K GTD’.

– Amit ‘bblacklegend’ Jain won $12,408.00 for 3rd place in the PokerStars ‘$320 Wednesday Hundred Grand, $100K GTD’, $2,472.25 for 2nd place in the PokerStars ‘$55 NL Hold’em [Turbo, Re-Entry], $12.5K GTD’ and $1,168.20 for 5th place in the PokerStars ‘$55 NL Hold’em [Turbo, Knockout], $20K GTD’.

– ‎Young Gun Danish ‘Danish7’ Shaikh finished 4th after a five-way deal in the ‘$109 Sunday Kickoff, $100K GTD’ on PokerStars for $12,513.39.

– Sabyasachi ‘infusion_leo’ Chakraborty won $7,521.30 for 4th place in the PokerStars ‘The Bigger $11, $130K GTD’.

– Rohit ‘buzzzbeee85’ Mariwalla won $6,007.65 for 5th place in the PokerStars ‘The Bigger $75, $60K GTD’.

– ‘consciusness’ won $2,054.97 for 1st place in the PokerStars ‘Omania $33 [PLO], $10K GTD’.

– Anup ‘rmanasa’ Palod won $1,677.50 for 3rd place in the PokerStars ‘$52.50 NL Hold’em [Hyper-Turbo], $12K GTD’.

– ‘Jaya_indian’ won $1,712 for 4th place on PokerStars $109 Turbo.

– Sanjay Taneja won $1,323.45 for 9th place in the PokerStars ‘The Hotter $55 [Turbo], $100K GTD’.

PokerStars December Festival

The fever pitch excitement of last week continues at the PokerStars iconic December Festival now in its ninth day, with action unabated, as players vie for its tantalizing pool of an assured $15,000,000 in prize money. The $1 Million Spin n Go`s and the 300 special Milestone Hands, with their fast pace have already begun, with lots more in store throughout the month, culminating with the last tournament $5 Million GTD Sunday Million on Sunday, Dec 28.

December 8 – 14 Knockout Week

Yesterday saw the launch of the $5 Million GTD Knockout Week, which will run from Dec 8 to 14.

The objective of this seven-day event featuring Knockout and Progressive Knockout tournaments is to eliminate as many players, as one can while reaching the final table. Players need to watch out for the black or red cross-hairs in the PokerStars lobby, to grab a share of the guaranteed $5,000,000 prize pool.

The highlight will be the $500,000 Main Event on December 14 and players can hop aboard via qualifiers, which are on now, starting at just $1.

Players can also win extra prizes at the knockout week, by checking the personal Challenges Window, for the Knockout Week Challenges.

APT-RWM Poker Finale 2014 Highlights

The 2014 APT RWM Poker Finale took off on Dec 3 at the Resorts World Manila in Pasay City, Philippines. The 8-day tournament featured 14 events and drew some big names from the poker industry, such as two-time APT POY winner Sam Razavi of England, APT Philippines 2014 Main Event champion Feng Zhao and APT Asian Series Manila 2014 champion Mike Takayama.

The inaugural PHP 11,000 buy-in side event RWM Poker Fiesta 2M GTD saw its prize pool expanded to almost 3 Million, with a player field of 302.

Vietnamese, Hiue Le Trong took the title, after a deal was struck among the last three players. Hieu finally beat Benjamin Lim of Philippines in a heads up game to claim the winner’s prize of PHP 499,500.

Event 2, the PHP 108,000 High Rollers had 34 Entries, who inflated the prize pool to approximately PHP 3.3 Million. Jojo Tech of Vietnam clinched the title winning 1,319,000. Jojo beat Japanese duo of Katsuhiro Muto and Yo Doi, after a three-way deal in the final play.

In Side Events, the PHP 16,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha Hi found a winner in New Zealand’s Slade Fisher and England’s Sam Razavi won the PHP 7,500 Ante Up for Charity.

Typhoon Hagupit hit the Philippines, even as the APT was underway, but had little impact on the enthusiasm of the players.

On Saturday, Dec 6, the PHP 50,000 Main Event unfurled with 115 runners. Day 3 is just over and Vietnamese Huy Pham is leading the final eight, with 1,218,000 in chips. Chip leaders of Day 2 Mike Takayama and Day 1a Sam Nee, both did not make it to the final eight. Day 1b chip leader Michael Miriakis is among the eight to play at the final table tomorrow.

APT-RWM Poker Finale 2014 Main Event Final Table Chip Counts

1. Huy Pham – 1,218,000
2. Eric Sia – 1,158,000
3. Linh Tran – 1,031,000
4. Chow Mun Fei – 613,000
5. Tetsuya Tsuchikawa – 548,000
6. Michael Mariakis – 543,000
7. John Tech – 384,000
8. Azusa Maeda – 287,000

APT-RWM Poker Finale 2014 Side Event Results

Read the complete story here.

Jason Mercier Takes Down World Poker Tour Alpha8 St. Kitts Super High Roller Event

The $100,000 buy-in event at the WPT Alpha8 drew 15 entries, ballooning the prize pool to $1,455,000. The event registered some impressive names, such as Daniel Colman, Olivier Busquet and Antonio Esfandiari among others.

It was Team PokerStars Pro and two-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Jason Mercier, however, who was the victor, claiming his first WPT title, along with the winner’s prize of $727,500.

Day 2 saw Busquet leading the chip counts and it was Daniel Colman, who was the first to exit the final table. Mercier played a low-profile game until Busquet got busted at 4^th place.

Kathy Lehne, Tony Guglietti and Mercier settled down to three-handed play. Several tough hands later, Guglietti was sent packing to the rails, when his king three, came up against Mercier’s king ten. Guglietti settled for 3^rd place with $291,000.

Heads up play saw a thrilling finale between Lehne and Mercier. Ultimately, Mercier’s pocket aces declared him the winner, in the face of Lehne’s ten eight, leaving her with $436,500 at 2^nd place, though it still elevated her to 46th position on the women’s all-time money list.

Mercier not only took the winner’s trophy, prize money, but also a pair of monster 24K Headphones and a Hublot King Power Unico watch.

Read the complete story here.

Seminole Hard Rock ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Championship $2 Million Gtd Main Event

The $3,500 buy-in Main Event at the Seminole Hard Rock ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Championship, attracted 601 hopefuls and lasted all of 6 days. Only 63 of these finally made it to the money.

Chris Bolek claimed the title, vindicating his recent November runner-up finish to Ryan Van Sanford in the World Poker Tour bestbet Jacksonville Bounty Scramble Tournament.

Several notables, such as Vanessa Selbst, Jason Mercier, Michael ”The Grinder” Mizrachi, Tristan Wade and 2001 Main Event Champion Carlos Mortensen along with former November Niner`s Joh Dolan and Dennis Phillips were present to make it a formidable event.

The final table of 6 was streamed live from the Paradise Live Theater. Heads up play between Bolek and Sean Winter was a revelation of grit, as Bolek accumulated a chip lead to a 15:2 advantage position. The final hand saw Bolek take the title with his pocket tens, overcoming Winter’s ace five.

Winter made $270,000 for 2^nd place and Bolek claimed prize money worth $480,200 for his win.

Read the complete story here.

Alex Goulder Wins 2014 Partypoker World Poker Tour National Prague €2,000 Main Event

251 players belted out €2,000 to participate in the WPT Prague main event, ballooning the prize pool to €438,250 at the Corinthia Hotel.

Britisher Alex Goulder won the event, pocketing the winner’s prize of €105,000, after beating Swede Niclas Adolfsson in an epic heads up battle that lasted all of 115 hands. The Swede put up a valiant fight, managing to double up twice, after being grounded down. Finally, his king ten, fell prey to Goulder’s ace eight and he had to settle for 2^nd place with €72,000.

Goulder took home the trophyand DNA Monster headphones, along with the prize money.

Read the complete story here.

Laurent Polito Wins 2014 PMU.fr World Poker Tour National Paris

Day 2a runaway chip leader Laurent Polito won the WPT National Paris, for €140,000 and collected his third amazing World Poker Tour National title. 682 runners had lined up for the event, which had a prize pool of €736,550 and only 81 made the money.

Polito refused a deal with final opponent Carlo Savinelli and his obstinate ways paid off, when he beat the latter’s ace nine, with his pocket aces.

California Bill raises Question Mark Over PokerStars US Entry

In a new twist, Mike Gatto, Assemblyman proposed a fresh bill in California State, to regulate online poker. Earlier, Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer had already stated that he was intending to introduce a bill on the same in Dec.

The new bill seems an almost replica of the bill drafted by the 13 Californian Indian tribes and has not only retained the disputed “bad actor” clause, but has strengthened it further. However, the bill has also made provisions for the California Gambling Control Commission, to grant licenses, using discretionary powers to suitable applicants. The bill contains a detailed list of points for licenses to be provided, but appears to be ambiguously worded.

It is yet not clear if the bill will prove to be a game-changer for online operators, such as PokerStars or will be rectified to make its entry difficult. Till then the suspense continues….

Read the complete story here.

And that, wraps all the poker happenings this week. Do logon again, same time next week for all the news.