Andres Carrillo were one cool customer all of the week. A chip leader early and always a few of the big stacks because the Latin American Poker Tour Panama Main Event moved towards its final stages, he always seemed in charge of himself and frequently the table as well.

That sense of calm continued all the strategy to three-handed play with Aaron Mermelstein and Ruben Suarez, and remained the case as Mermelstein fell in third and Carrillo took a lead during heads-up.

But for a moment things began to look doubtful for the Colombian. Suarez' loud rail of supporters, some waving Venezuelan flags, won't have rattled him, but losing a couple of pots -- including once folding the most productive hand after Suarez had bluffed him -- might well have.

But Carrillo regrouped. He found a place and pushed it. And he won. 

Andres Carrillo - LAPT9 Panama Main Event champion

Carillo becomes the second one Colombian ever to win an LAPT Main Event title, following Weider Gutierrez who won in Medellin back in Season 6, and earns a handsome first prize of $138,225 for his efforts.

When the general eight arrived for today's final day -- all that was left from a 553-entry field -- it was the Spaniard, Raul Paez leading the crowd chip-wise with Mermelstein of Philadelphia not far behind to begin the day. 

The final table begins

Meanwhile Alcides Gomez brought the shortest stack to today, and it only took a few half-hour for him to position all of it in danger with ace-jack. Alas for the Miami-based pro, Austin Peck picked up kings within the small blind, and five cards later Gomez was at the rail in eighth.

Alcides Gomez - 8th place

 

Paez continued to keep up his lead as Carrillo became the fast stack. But Carrillo -- sitting to the left of Paez -- started to accumulate while Paez started to lose chips, and while there have been no busts it was Carrillo ascending to take the lead while Suarez found himself in seventh position.

The Colombian Anderson Blanco -- at one time a chip leader himself early on Day 3 -- then got short as well, and got all his chips in on a ten-high flop holding pocket aces while Carrillo had an open-ended straight draw. 

Blanco desired to see blanks, however the turn card filled Carrillo's straight and shortly Blanco was out in seventh.

Anderson Blanco - 7th place

With six left Carrillo looked in control, however the short stacks kept doubling, perhaps most dramatically in a hand that saw Mermelstein all-in with pocket fours against Paul Cukier's kings, and spike a four at the river to outlive. Not too long after that Mermelstein -- like Carrillo -- had gone from worst to first within the counts because the blinds and antes got bigger and the stacks more shallow.

That hit helped end Cukier's run more quickly than he'd have liked. The Costa Rican grandson of WSOP bracelet holders Max and Maria Stern would put his chips in behind jack-ten, get called by Suarez who had queen-ten, and fail to enhance to fall in sixth.

Paul Cukier - 6th place

Moments later Suarez took care of another short stack, stopping Paez in fifth after the latter's king-jack couldn't improve versus Suarez's pocket nines.

Raul Paez - 5th place

And right at the heels of that hand came another flip, this one between Mermelstein's king-queen and Peck's pocket tens. A king on board sent Peck all the way down to only a single blind, and one hand later Mermelstein won that, too, to send the 20-year-old out in fourth.

Austin Peck - 4th place

Three-handed play between Mermelstein, Suarez, and Carrillo lasted for much longer than it seemed it would. The stacks were shallow to start, but they made it through a few levels to peer them get even shallower, with the lead changing hands constantly and all-ins changing into day-saving double-ups over and again.

Indeed, in a single hand Carrillo was all-in with ace-king against the king-ten of Suarez, and a 10 at the flop looked as if Carillo was destined to complete third. But an ace fell at the turn and Carrillo kept his seat.

Finally Mermelstein -- a two-time World Poker Tour champ on the lookout for an LAPT title so as to add to his collection -- saw his run stopped in third when his queen-ten did not catch as much as Carrillo's ace-queen.

Aaron Mermelstein - 3rd place

Suarez had the threshold to start out heads-up play, but as noted above Carrillo seized it, lost it, seized it again, and eventually sealed the deal. The overall hand was a heart-stopper -- Suarez all-in at the flop with a couple and Carrillo drawing to a flush, with the river card completing both the flush and Carrillo's quest for an LAPT title. Meanwhile Suarez came one spot shy of changing into the tour's first Venezuelan champion.

Ruben Suarez - 2nd place

Carrillo greater than triples his career tournament earnings with this win. Indeed, after earning that gigantic six-figure score, it is not surprising to peer Carrillo looking cool and calm once more.

Andres Carrillo - LAPT9 Panama Main Event champion

LAPT9 Panama Main Event final table results
Entries: 553
Places paid: 79
Prize pool: $721,6651. Andres Carrillo (Colombia) $138,2252. Ruben Suarez (Venezuela) $86,8803. Aaron Mermelstein (USA) $62,2004. Austin Peck (USA) $48,5005. Raul Paez (Spain) $30,0406. Paul Cukier (Costa Rica) $29,8807. Anderson Blanco (Colombia) $22,3008. Alcides Gomez (USA) $15,440

Thanks for following our coverage all week from the Sortis Hotel, Spa & Casino. Listed here are each day's live updates, where you'll be able to relive it all:

Day 1A live updatesDay 1B live updatesDay 2 live updatesDay 3 live updatesFinal table live updatesFinal table profiles

The LAPT takes a break for a couple of months before returning in late September in Punta del Este for LAPT9 Uruguay. Until then, beunos noches from Panama!

Want to compete in your own online championship? Click here to get a PokerStars account. Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Latin American Poker Tour]

Italian Alessandro Adinolfo beat a field of 390 players to win the IPT Saint Vincent Main event this week, earning a primary prize of €80,000. The sphere amassed a prize pool of €378,300, paying the highest 55 players. Adinolfo's defeated Giuseppe Caridi heads-up, with Caridi collecting €45,000 for second place.

The final action saw Adinolfo go all-in with A♥J♣, which was called by Caridi holding 7♦ 6♣. The board of 8♣5♥5♦ J♥8♥ sent the spoils to Adinolfo.

Adinolfo has earned greater than $250,000 in tournaments during ten years within the game. The title marks a career high for the person from Turin, whose other results have come from across Italy, notably in Venice and Sanremo.

The IPT now heads to Nova Gorica from September 10-15, 2015.

The full result from the IPT Saint Vincent Main Event is below:

IPT Saint Vincent €1,000 + €100 Main EventEntrants: 390Prize pool: €378,300Places paid: 55

1. Alessandro Adinolfo (Italy) € 80,0002. Giuseppe Caridi (Italy) € 45,0003. Enrico Consales (Italy) € 32,0004. Giorgio Soceanu (Italy) € 26,0005. Christian Cipriano (Italy) € 21,0006. Giuseppe Mancini (Italy) € 16,0007. Paolo Antonio Pellegrini (Italy) € 12,0008. Micha Renaldo Hoedemaker (Netherlands) € 8,5009. Matej Adamic (Slovenia) € 7,000

Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Italian Poker Tour]

Perhaps scared after reading concerning the other semifinal match taking up 19 hours, Phil "MrSweets28" Galfond and Daniel "w00ki3z." Cates had plans on going in a superb amount of hands in a far quicker time period. While last night/this morning's tilt between Team Online's Ike Haxton and Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky taking 19 hours to play 4,200 hands, our two superstars this evening took a bit over seven hours to run through just over 3,000 hands. After being down for many of the start hours of the match, Cates would storm back on the end and take the second one seat on the finals to face-off against Sulsky.

Hours 1 - 2 (Hands 1-759)

Annnnnnd we're off!

Sort of.

After a handful of hands on all four tables Cates called for a five minute day out and commenced anew on all four tables after returning. The tables showing the "Join Waiting List" button as Daniel's Cookie Monster avatar was absent, but this author declined such a call for participation (no, they weren't REALLY in search of open and searching out players) because just paying the blinds on this $100/$200 blinds four-table match would cause some heavy perspiration. Also, not helping is the near 100% pre-flop button raise rate from both players and only after a protracted night of drinking would I consider even betting that quantity on a Pai Gow hand on the Gold Coast (and certain have a far better chance of winning).

Another five minute pause by Cates half way during the first hour came a couple of minutes after Phil scooped up a $17,400 pot on Table 4. After Galfond three-bet to $1,700, Dan would call the raise to peer a J♠T♥4♠ flop. Galfond followed through with a $2,400 bet which Cates called again. 6♣ at the turn and Galfond kept the accelerator on with $4,600 bet which Dan would call a 3rd time. The river 2♦ saw the match's first all-in bet from Galfond as he put out $11,300 and Cates had no respond to the shove as Galfond would take a $2,775 overall lead after 111 hands.

Shortly afterwards Cates would suffer nearly back-to-back stackings. First one shown below:

Cates just wouldn't believe that Galfond had the ace as Phil shoved at the river with the board showing T♣ A♦ 3♠ J♣ 2♦ and turned up Q♠ A♥ for the $40,000 pot winner as Dan showed J♠Q♣.

Five minutes later with Phil holding a $31,177 to $22,556 lead on Table 4 and the board showing 6♦ T♣ 2♠ 7♣ 6♥ the turned seven would make all of the difference in this one with $12,054 already within the pot, Cates put out $10,200 at the river as Phil shoved for $25,150. Big time cooler for Dan with the turned straight 8♦ 9♥ as Phil notched a suite at the turn holding pocket sevens 7♦ 7♠ and filled up at the river for the $45,112 pot.

Early leader Phil "MrSweets28" Galfond

The $50,000 swing. As much as hand 216, Galfond appeared to be in charge of the outlet hour then a punch-drunk Cates taking a nine anticipate the mat, slowly got up while landing some big punches. On Table 1 with Galfond holding a $42,673 to $25,527 lead, the most important pot of the primary hour would shift the momentum to Cates. Watch below:

With the highest heavy board showing J♠ A♣ K♠ T♦ 9♠ with a potential flush or straight, Galfond trying stealing the $18,600 within the middle with a shove that covered Cates' stack holding big slick A♠K♦. Unfortunately for Phil, Dan liked his straight Q♥J♦ enough to make the winning call.

As the players broke for the primary hour break they might both lead on two tables, but Jungleman Dan held the lead with a $45,410 overall profit.

Shortly after the break Galfond would strike back for a $58,054 pot after both players hit the 9♥A♠T♥ flop hard. Cates with the flopped set 9♦9♣ and Galfond the straight flush draw 7♥8♥. The flush would get there at the turn 4♥ and unfortunately for Dan he would miss filling up at the river 6♠ for an enormous lead this point as Phil began to fight his long ago trimming Dan's lead half way during the hour to only $2,303.

Small pots paid off in a large way for Galfond in hands 522-590 as he turned the tables on Cates, taking up the lead within the latter a part of the hour.

MrSweets28:I dunno why I DO NOT trust my gut and checkw00ki3z.:I would break my laptop

This first conversation of the match came about shortly after Phil flopped trips with K♣T♣ and cracked Cates' aces A♠A♣ after the flop T♠ 5♠ T♥. But Galfond continued to bet at the turned ace A♦ and shoved at the river 8♣ handy over the $55,278.00 pot.

Phil however didn't let himself get down too much, nor did he suffer any damage to his laptop (to our knowledge) as shortly before the top of the second one hour and already $17K within the lead, Galfond would notch the most important pot ($43,102) so far. With the board showing J♦ Q♥ 3♥ 9♦ and $4,000 within the middle the 2 would trade bets backward and forward until Cates was all-in holding the flopped two pair J♣3♣. Phil was happy to name with the nut straight T♣K♦. After avoiding a jack or trey at the river 4♣, Galfond's lead going into the second one hour break would climb to $70K.

111 Hands Galfond +2,775216 Hands Galfond +14,517262 Hands Cates +$42,710306 Hands Cates +$52,010410 Hands Cates +45,010522 Hands Cates $2,303590 Hands Galfond $27,251653 Hands Cates +$7,439710 Hands Galfond +$17,260759 Hands Galfond +$70,681

Hour 3-4 (Hands 760-1,671)

At the beginning of the third hour, a railbird could clearly see who had the higher hand as Galfond sported six figure stacks on both Table 1 and a pair of while conceding modest results in Cates on Tables 3 and 4.

Cates was not focused on letting Galfond run over him just yet but it surely would a lucky turn card to prevent the bleeding a little. With Phil holding $96,606 to Dan's $24,802 on Table 2 after Phil four-bet to $3,200 preflop, Daniel decided to shove for $24,802 as Phil made the decision with big slick A♥K♠. Cates went in search of a jack holding A♦J♦ and would find one to his liking at the turn T♠ 5♠ 7♥ J♠ 5♦ because the $49,604 pot temporarily stopped Galfond's bull rush on Cates' stack.

Galfond would open a small door for Cates in a $38,008 pot on Table 4. With a board showing A♥ 7♦ 5♦ 4♠ 7♠ Cates shoved $11,004 at the river and turned over the simpler ace K♣A♣ to Phil's A♠J♥.

The last hands of hour three and 4 weren't kind to Mr. Cates, just watch one in every of two $40K+ pots swing Galfond's way below:

After Cates flopped a ship with 5♦4♥ and got Galfond to commit his $22,000 stack at the turn with the board showing 4♦ 5♥ 5♣ A♣, Phil's pocket sevens 7♠7♥ found some love at the river 7♦ costing Cates the $44,000 pot as Galfond took the primary six-figure lead of the showdown while taking a break for the third hour.

Small ball was the word for hour four of the tourney as Galfond held to his six-figure lead for almost all of the hour with just one pot climbing over $20,000. Then, towards the close of the hour the players got some Red Bull of their systems because the action picked up. First, there has been a possible $30K pot on Table 2. With the board showing T♦ 6♦ 4♥ A♥ 6♣ and $15,600 within the middle, Cates shoved for $12,200 but after about 40 seconds of thought, Galfond refused the offer and handed over the pot without further contesting.

A little while afterward Table 1, Cates would allow Galfond to do the various betting for him. With the board showing A♥ 3♠ 2♣ 9♥ 6♥ Phil would check-call the flop, then check-raise the turn as Cates called. At the river holding top two 9♦A♦ Galfond shoved $13,100 and Cates called again with the flopped set 2♦2♠ taking down the $41,000 pot. Shortly before the fourth hour break Cates would strike again with a flopped set, this time on Table 2 and faded a flush draw for a $45,102 pot which helped Cates visit the fourth hour break only $65K down.

817 Hands Galfond +$82,786904 Hands Galfond +$85,3481,019 Hands Galfond +$82,3511,034 Hands Galfond +$88,2981,134 Hands Galfond +92,6761,206 Hands Galfond +$65,5621,262 Hands Galfond +$106,0691,311 Hands Galfond +$109,9201,499 Hands Galfond +$88,2481,535 Hands Galfond +109,2041,671 Hands Galfond +$65,456

Hour 5-6 (Hands 1,672-2,636)

Sometimes the large bluff works...

... and other times not such a lot. Watch below as this $46,204 pot unfolds:

With the board showing J♦ 2♦ 9♣ J♥ and $6,800 already within the pot Cates would check as Galfond bet $4,800. Cates came back with a check-raise to $10,200 as Galfond thought for a moment and decided to shove while covering Cates' stack at Table 3. With the turned trips Dan made the decision K♥J♠. Galfond didn't however have the nice and turned up the now lame pair of ducks 5♠2♠ because the river didn't matter, sliding $46,204 over to Cates.

A lot of items were sliding to Cates because the hour five break approached. Momentum and more importantly money, as Jungleman Dan continued to near the space after which hit an enormous pot on Table 1. Holding $58,953 to Galfond freshly, unsealed $20,000 stack, Cates would three-bet preflop to $1,600 because the two saw a A♦ 4♠ J♠ flop. Bet-call $1,800 by Cates, and another bet-call at the turned K♠ this time for $4,600 because the river K♥ didn't change Cates' aggressiveness and shoved to greater than cover Galfond's stack. A COUPLE OF clicks of the timer did nothing to modify Phil's decision to name with A♥T♠. Cates however would turn over a rather better hand. Big slick K♦A♠ would seal up the $40,000 pot and knock Galfond's lead under $50K.

With the rise within the blinds from $100/$200 to $200/$400 bobbing up at the 3,000th hand, Galfond's lead continued to slip steadily throughout the sixth hour and likely enough before the sixth hour the nearly 2,000 hand reign of Galfond had ended as Cates stormed back into the lead convincingly. After all it didn't hurt hit a flop or two like in this hand:

Cracked kings for Galfond, and a flopped straight (and rivered flush) for Cates contributed to Jungleman's epic rise after being under Galfond's thumb for almost all hours two through five as Cates would take a $66,688 lead into the sixth hour break.

1,778 Hands Galfond +$75,0871,826 Hands Galfond +$84,2041,930 Hands Galfond +$63,0852,120 Hands Galfond +$59,4632,203 Hands Galfond +$49,9972,267 Hands Galfond +$44,6412,393 Hands Galfond +$27,9612,564 Hands Cates +$40,3852,602 Hands Cates +$74,0412,636 Hands Cates +$66,688

Hour 7-8 (Hands 2,634-3,051)

Things might need gotten our two combatants little loopy within the seventh hour after a nine would have given Galfond a collection and Cates a straight:

MrSweets28: GREAT THING I DID NOT HIT A 9w00ki3z.: YES IT WAS AN EXCELLENT THINGw00ki3z.: NEXT TIME TRY HARDER PLEASEMrSweets28: OKw00ki3z.: I WOULD LIKE YOUR CHIPSMrSweets28: NO I DO

And after this overuse of caps the 2 would take a seat like gentlemen and continue towards seeing who would walk away with no less than $250,000 and a shot at Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky who could be a bit loopy himself after his 19 hour semi-final match with newly minted Team Online's Ike Haxton.

Back-to-back stackings at Table 2 would nearly close down our first table of the match as both Cates and Galfond would notch a rivered straight with the board showing 3♠ 5♦ Q♣ 7♥ 4♥. However, Cates' 8♠6♠ outpipped Galfond's 6♦7♣ and the $40,000 pot slid to Dan. At the next hand with $9,478 remaining at the auto-reload Galfond tried a semi-bluff check-raise with the board showing 8♠ 4♠ 9♥ 3♥ holding T♠7♥ and got called by Cates' two pair and a flush draw 9♠3♠. The rivered 2♠ gave Cates the $18,956 pot closed the table for slightly until Galfond worked his funds around like a tight Wall Street broker and commenced up the table again with a fresh $20,000.

The 3,000 hand barrier could be crossed a little bit before the seventh hour and two modern tables of $200/$400 blinds were hand-crafted by the best... well they're made especially our All Star Showdown as these later hours have favored Jungleman.

On the sixth hand of $200/$400 play on Table 4, Cates would knock Galfond all the way down to his last stack. Watch below:

With the board showing a straight 7♠ 4♠ 6♥ 5♦ 8♣ and $15,200 already within the pot, Galfond tried to push Cates off his hand with a shove for $38,702. Unfortunately for Phil, Dan already had what he was representing, a greater straight 9♠A♦. Galfond showed he was playing the board J♥K♠ and Table 4 had nothing but a Cookie Monster avatar and $80,000 under his name as play moved to Table 1.

MrSweets28: SO TILTED I CANT SPELL

But moments later being the nice man he is, Phil "MrSweets28" Galfond would need our second All Star Showdown finalist Daniel "w00ki3z." Cates good luck within the finals.

Down to $6,316 of his starting stack of $200,000 Galfond would check the limped button to peer a 2♦J♣7♦ flop. He would check again as Cates led out for $400 as Galfond called. K♠ at the turn and Galfond would check-call a $1,200 bet. The 4♥ at the river will be the card of the match as Phil check-called for the third straight time, this time for all his chips holding the flopped top pair J♠3♦. However, Cates turned the easier pair 3♣K♦ and took home the last $12,632 pot in conjunction with assuring himself $250,000 for reaching the All-Star Showdown final with Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky.

Hand 2,636-2,722 Cates +$78,505Hand 2,722-2,765 Cates +$102,005Hand 2,765-2,913 Cates +90,859Hand 2,913-2,967 Cates +$117,000Hand 2,967-3,022 Cates +$169,378Hand 3,022-3,042 Cates +$180,382Hand 3,042-3,051 Cates +$200,000

Daniel "w00ki3z." Cates All-Star Showdown finalist

Be certain to check back here on the PokerStarsBlog for all of the action as Cates takes on Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky at 18:00 CET tomorrow (November 4th) for $550,000 and the primary All-Star Showdown trophy!

David Aydt is a contract contributor

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: All Star Showdown]

With MicroMillions 6 winding to an in depth this weekend, probably the most last things at the schedule was a different edition of the Saturday Splash. Fans of this tournament comprehend it well - a $2.22 no-limit hold'em event with a turbo structure and unlimited re-buys for the primary 90 minutes that often awards. Normally it sports a $50,000 guarantee but for MicroMillions that was tripled to $150,000.

This Saturday's siren call drew 19,405 sailors to the shore by the tip of late registration and coaxed 72,242 re-buys and 10,429 add-ons from their pockets, building a complete prize pool of $206,193.52. That arrange a top prize of $22,253.20, which might be awarded lower than seven hours after the tournament began. What else are you able to do with two dollars that may bring that sort of return?

By 4:37 p.m. ET the overall table was set, with 1.6M/3.2M/320K blinds and antes and these nine players seeking to join the ranks of MicroMillions champions:

Seat 1: MAGA777MAGA (131,975,370 in chips)Seat 2: it5tricky (31,418,739 in chips)Seat 3: tomicic (16,341,024 in chips)Seat 4: lahmaputra (36,867,088 in chips)Seat 5: Mist€r.pc (64,409,684 in chips)Seat 6: martella31 (77,149,291 in chips)Seat 7: RiKiHC (23,276,299 in chips)Seat 8: BUWUBALO (52,964,144 in chips)Seat 9: expect more (15,340,9361 in chips)

Starting with a bang

Croatia's tomicic arrived on the final table with a stack worth just over five big blinds and got it all in play at the first actual hand, moving all-in for 16M. lahmapura of the Czech Republic, also fairly short with just 36.6M chips, went into the time bank before finally electing to name with Q♠ 7♥. THe timing couldn't has been so much worse as tomicic held a dominating A♣ 7♦ and was an excellent favorite to double up. However the 5♥ 8♥ T♥ flop and 4♥ turn have lahmaputra a heart flush, and the 3♠ sent tomicic to the rail in 9th place ($1,237.16).

Nobody was desperate to get too involved, possibly as a result of difference of nearly $1,200 between busting out next and making it to 7th place. Because of this most hands were taken down before the flop with little resistance. Hand #10 finally saw a transformation of pace as Russian player MAGA777MAGA's opening raise to 7.2M was re-raised all-in for 47.6M by itStricky from the uk. MAGA777MAGA called with A♣ 4♦ and outlasted Q♦ T♦ on a board of 7♥ 4♠ 2♦ 7♣ 6♥ to knock itStricky out in 8th place ($1,855.74).

The blinds and antes went as much as 2M/4M/400K two hands later and the pattern from the start of the general table persisted until Hand #15, when Romania's expect more flexed a bit of muscle in position to transport into the chip lead:

RSS readers, please click through for replay

MAGA777MAGA made up for that loss partially at the next hand when Canada's RiKiHC moved in from early position for just a little under two big blinds, MAGA777MAGA isolated with a raise and showed A♦ T♣, while RiKiHC held Q♣ 9♣. Both players paired at the 3♠ A♣ Q♦ flop, however the 8♠ turn and 6♦ changed nothing further and RiKiHC was gone in 7th place ($3,092.90).

The Russian player struck another blow just three hands later, this one the most important of the general table to this point. The Ukraine's BUWUBALO opened the betting with an all-in bet of 45.1M, and expect more called from the small blind with 146M left behind. Then MAGA777MAGA moved all-in for 170M within the big blind, clearing expect more out of how for a heads-up pot. BUWUBALO had opened the betting with J♣ J♦ only to run into Q♣ Q♠, and with out a jack at the 9♣ 4♥ 2♣ 6♦ 8♥ board the Ukrainian player was eliminated in 6th place ($5,154.83).

Mighty MAGA777MAGA

After taking the following pot for 30M with an all-in re-raise before the flop, MAGA777MAGA had a considerable lead with five players left and the blinds and antes still at 2M/4M/400K:

Seat 1: MAGA777MAGA (263,358,696 in chips)Seat 4: lahmaputra (40,488,112 in chips)Seat 5: Mist€r.pc (34,189,685 in chips)Seat 6: martella31 (103,509,289 in chips)Seat 9: expect more (146,265,218 in chips)

There was soon a burst of action that might cut into that lead. Portugal's Mist€r.pc stacked as much as 84.2M to be had #23 after moving in with K♦ Q♣ and getting MAGA777MAGA to name with K♥ J♦. lahmaputra did the similar at the next hand, with A♥ K♦ against the Russian's Q♥ T♦, for a double to 87.1M. By Hand #36 MAGA777MAGA held 187M chips and Mist€r.pc was in a great place to double in the course of the Russian after an overly friendly flop, however the turn changed everything:

RSS readers, please click through for replay

That eight at the turn gave MAGA777MAGA the 215M-chip pot and sent Mist€r.pc to the rail in 5th place ($7,216.77).

That gave MAGA777MAGA a 290M-chip stack and the Russian put it to good use, leaning at the other three players over the following dozen hands and stealing enough blinds and antes to transport up over 340M. Hand #49 erased much of that progress, Holding A♦ 4♦, MAGA777MAGA opened under the gun for 125M, enough to transport anybody of the opposite players on the table all-in, and expect more called from the large blind with J♥ J♦. The 7♦ 9♥ Q♦ kept expect more within the lead by gave MAGA777MAGA 11 good outs going to the turn. The J♣ came there and took the 3 aces within the deck away but left seven of the diamonds in play. The 2♥ at the river was safe for expect more, giving the Romanian player a lifeline with the 207M chips within the pot.

Both lahmaputra and Poland's martella31 were hanging on with stacks worth about 13 big blinds. martella31 doubled that to be had #57 with A♣ Q♦ against expect more's K♣ Q♥, but after a lull gave much of it back available #72:

RSS readers, please click through for replay

The battle between the 2 short stacks continued after lahmaputra doubled through MAGA777MAGA to be had #78 with A♦ 2♥ against 8♦ 6♦. They finally ended up clashing with each other available #83 when lahmaputra moved in for 58.6M at the button and martella31 raised to isolate, leaving 4.21M behind after expect more folded within the big blind. lahmaputra was ahead with K♠ T♣ against Q♦ J♣ and stayed there after the board came 9♥ 5♦ A♣ A♠ K♣. martella ended up all-in two hands later and mucked after expect more and lahmaputra checked down the A♥ T♣ A♦ 7♦ 8♥ board, expect more won the pot with K♣ J♣ and martella31 left the tournament in 4th place ($9,278.70).

Standoff at three

lahmaputra managed to come back within the game available #94 after flopping middle pair and outrunning MAGA777MAGA's inside straight draw. Two hands after that lahmaputra got the easier of MAGA777MAGA again after flopping an inside straight draw, calling an inexpensive bet to hit it at the turn, and getting paid at the river. That left the 3 players stacked like so:

Seat 1: MAGA777MAGA (129,363,931 in chips)Seat 4: lahmaputra (223,009,792 in chips)Seat 9: expect more (235,437,277 in chips)

lahmaputra put all those chips in danger in a nasty spot available #101, coming excessive of expect more's 14M bet for 185M with [A♣ Q♠ and running into A♠ K♥, however the board came 5♦ 5♥ 3♦ 3♥ 4♠ for a split pot. Ten hands later the Czech player's run would come to an end after moving all-in excessive of MAGA777MAGA's 24M-chip opener. The Russian called with A♣ K♣ and promptly caught two pair at the A♠ K♥ J♣ flop. The Q♣ turn left open the risk of splitting the pot with a ten, however the 3♦ hit the river instead and lahmaputra was out in 3rd place ($17,526.44).

Heads-up(set)

MAGA777MAGA held a pleasant advantage as heads-up play began with 4M/8M/800K blinds and antes:

Seat 1: MAGA777MAGA (374,773,723 in chips)Seat 9: expect more (213,037,277 in chips)

expect more only won probably the most first four pots as MAGA777MAGA kept the pressure on, however the fifth was a large win way to the very best river card:

RSS readers, please click through for replay

Now it was expect more who applied the pressure, winning seven of the following 11 pots to transport right into a lead of 68 big blinds. The 17th hand of heads-up saw both players pick up big starting hands, expect more with A♥ Q♥ and MAGA777MAGA with A♠ T♣, and the entire Russian's remaining chips went within the middle before the 4♥ 4♣ Q♠ flop. Only running tens could save MAGA777MAGA, however the 5♠ and K♠ came instead to bring the tournament to an end jsut six hours and 22 minutes after it began.

Thoguh MAGA777MAGA fell one spot in need of the victory, the $17,526.44 runner-up prize was still ten times larger than the Russian player's previous career-best cash. Champion expect more's $22,253.20 prize was also a brand new high-water mark at $7,500 greater than the former best, though that tournament's buy-in was $109 in comparison to the $2.22 minimum investment on this event. That's serious money regardless of the way you have a look at it, so congratulations to both for his or her play.

MicroMillions-085: $2.22+R NL Hold'em (3x-Turbo, Saturday Splash Special Edition)Entrants: 19,405 (72,242 re-buys, 10,429 add-ons)Prize pool: $206,193.52Places paid: 2,475

1. expect more (Romania) $22,253.202. MAGA777MAGA (Russia) $17,526.443. lahmaputra (Czech Republic) $13,402.574. martella31 (Poland) $9,278.705. Mist€r.pc (Portugal) $7,216.776. BUWUBALO (Ukraine) $5,154.837. RiKiHC (Canada) $3.092.908. itStricky (UK) $1,855.749. tomicic (Croatia) $1,237.16

Jason Kirk is a contract contributor to PokerStars Blog.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: MicroMillions]

So far, having pored during the PokerStars.tv archive, we've discovered clips that show a kind of progression in the course of the tempers and emotions of a poker hand.

First came the bluff. From that the natural consequence of the bad beat. But then what? What follows the bad beat?

The "blow up" of course.

The video below shows what we predict are the highest five blow ups from PokerStars.tv, each of them as cringe-worthy as they're entertaining, and ok to lift eyebrows and sometimes)( lower the tone.

Ready to enroll in PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

As with other clips we've shared they make for nice poker television, although anything that involves the likes of Phil Hellmuth and Tony G typically attracts an even crowd.

Then there are moments featuring the likes of Vanessa Selbst and Ryan D'Angelo, also set to be filed deep into the filing cabinet marked "awkward".

See for yourself within the video below.

Have we missed anything? Tweet your suggestions to us at: @PokerStarsBlog.

Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog. Follow him on Twitter: @StephenBartley.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com]

Three weeks ago we were finishing the 12th season of the ecu Poker Tour in Monaco. Three months from now we'll be starting the 13th in Barcelona.

With the top of 1 season the brand new one is rarely far away, and the brand new season, which starts within the traditional setting of Barcelona, promises to top everything that has come before. 

We know that because we have seen the schedule, that's released today. 

The entire festival begins on August 17, 2016, with events bound to cause fireworks. That's when the €10K event begins alongside the six day Estrellas Main Event, which this year has three starting flights.

After that comes the €50,000 Super High Roller, which begins on August 20, with the overall table three day in a while August 22, the day that the EPT Main Event starts. 

The easiest method to get to an EPT is by winning a major Event package on PokerStars. Click here to get an account.

This year the principle feature has the similar buy-in of €5,000 and is ready to be a record breaker. Last year Casino Barcelona positively strained to deal with thousands of players searching for one of the vital festival action, and it didn't disappoint. As a season starter there may be nothing quite find it irresistible. Did we mention the elements is also quite good too?

As the EPT Main Event plays on it is going to conclude alongside the 3 day €10K High Roller which concludes on August 28. Two whole weeks of poker, at stakes as little as €120 and as high as €50,000, with all manner of buy-ins in between. The phrase "something for everybody" was never more applicable. 

For all of the details take a look at the EPT homepage which has details of all of the Barcelona festival, now just three months away. Check back at the PokerStars Blog for more information about the festival within the coming weeks in addition to how one can book your trip to Barcelona for a fragment of the primary Event buy in. 

Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: European Poker Tour]

Hotel workers needed only a few weeks to succeed in a brand new union contract with Atlantic City casinos, not like dealers who've been unable to achieve a deal after almost three years.

Atlantic City resort workers came to an agreement with four casinos owned by Harrah's Entertainment, opening the door to signing a freelance with all eleven New Jersey gaming hotels. Workers in Local 54 of UNITE-HERE gave 97 percent approval to the brand new deal.

Only Harrah's, Caesars, Bally's, and the Showboat Casino are officially tied to the brand new contract, but union spokesmen said the negotiating reps were told to make sure to succeed in a standard ground that are supposed to be acceptable to all of the casinos. Over 15,000 employees are represented by the union, and neither side wanted a walkout when casino revenue is in double-digit decline and almost 10,000 jobs has been lost.

The successful talks stand unlike those between the United Auto Workers, representing dealers at several casinos, and the gaming companies. Those talks have resulted in no results after two years, causing some to name for dismissal of the union.

"Harrah's is pleased with its record as a responsible union partner as further evidenced by this contract which was developed and agreed to in exactly a couple of short weeks and without disruption to the business and employees," said Harrah's Eastern Division President Don Marrandino, clearly regarding the UAW talks.

Under the brand new terms, employees receive raises as much as a dollar an hour, with a promise health care will remain as is, irrespective of rising costs.

Published on September 29, 2009 by EdBradley

Read More... [Source: Harrahs Casino News]

Online casino advocate Bryan Bailey, known in all places as Casinomeister, has issues a “Rouge Warning” for the Pamper Casino. It sounds as if they're using stolen software from Net Entertainment, Bailey reported, and that the positioning is notorious for poor customer service, or slow pay, or other bad behaviors.

The report goes directly to say that Bailey “…was surprised that this no pay rogue casino was still active…. I BELIEVED that no-one could be stupid enough to play they. But I USED TO BE wrong… In the event that they are using stolen games, what do you thing they're using for a game server? Pamper Casino is unregulated, located in Costa Rica that's the mecca of crabby cowboy-town casinos, they're about as rogue as you may get. ”

You can read the entire article by following this link to Casinomeister.

Similar Stories from This Week in Gambling:

Read More... [Source: Gambling Headlines – This Week in Gambling]

PokerStars is headed to Russia, and you can now go along for the rise.

PokerStars has just introduced the Russian Poker Tour. The RPT already has its sights set on Moscow and St. Petersburg and it will provide you with a possibility to win your seat.

January 25-February 1, PokerStars will host its first Russian Poker Tour event in St. Petersburg. A COUPLE OF weeks later, it's directly to Moscow.

In recent years, we've seen one of the crucial world's best players pop out of Russia, most notably Team PokerStars Pro Alexander Kravchecnko and World Series runner up Ivan Demidov. As of this moment, the 2 men have won extra money playing poker than every other Russians.

PokerStars has already kicked off satellites for the RPT. Winners get an $8,000 package that covers the buy-in, hotel, and travel cash. You'll be able to qualifiy for as low as $2.22 or 111 Frequent Player Points. You can see the satelllites under Events-Special within the PokerStars tournament lobby.

For more information, visit the Russian Poker Tour page at PokerStars.com.

See you in St. Petersburg!

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Russian Poker Tour]

^

Donnie is joined by JASON SOMERVILLE (!!!) within the Biggest Little City on the earth for Run it Up Reno. 

Read More... [Source: PokerNews Podcast Network]

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, a world annual campaign involving thousands of organizations, to focus on the significance of breast awareness, education and research.

This year, to assist support this worthy cause, TCSJOHNHXULEY America has launched a campaign where casinos can join with them to advertise the cause and lift awareness. TCSJOHNHXULEY will donate $5 from every awareness-themed table layout purchased and $50 from every 1000 awareness-themed casino chips ordered to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Todd Cravens, CEO for The Americas comments, ”Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an unbelievable initiative that gives much needed funds and support for a cause that is affecting 1-in-8 women within the U.s.a.. Our campaign to donate proceeds from any BCAM themed table game layout and chips gives casinos the chance to boost awareness and assist with any in their own fundraising efforts. We're extremely product to be supporters of the sort of great cause.”

TCSJOHNHXULEY has more than a few themed designs for casinos to choose between or they're can get inspired and design their own. 

Read More... [Source: Featured Products]

The Italian Poker Tour Grand wrapped up its seventh season in Saint Vincent this week, with a Grand Final event won by Hungarian Balazs Somodi. Somodi topped a field of 308 players to earn a primary prize of €70,000 from a combined prize pool of €298,760.

Somodi, who has earned greater than $250,000 on the poker table over the last ten years, despite being a qualified chess player by day, overcame Romanian Tudor Purice heads-up. Purice collected €40,000 as runner-up.

Ready to join PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

The final hand on the Casino de la Vallée involved Purice moving all in with ace-six off-suit, which was called by Somodi who held king-ten off-suit. Purice flopped a six, but Somodi took the title when a 10 hit the river.

The full result from Saint Vincent is below.

IPT7 St Vincent $1,000 Main EventEntrants:Total prize pool: €298,760Places paid: 39

1. Balazs Somodi (Hungary) € 70,0002. Purice Tudor Lucian (Romania) € 40,0003. Mangano Fabio (Italy) € 29,5004. Pio Lorenzo (Italy) € 21,0005. Armanavicius Liutauras (Lithuania) € 16,5006. Shabalin Vladimir (Russia) € 13,0007. Lache Vlad Stefan (Romania) € 9,8608. Casabona Massimo (Italy) € 7,0009. Giannico Gianfranco (Italy) € 5,500

For more information about the tour visit the IPT homepage.

Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Italian Poker Tour]

It's hard to not stay up for the following few weeks for the thrill discovering the impending tournaments here at PokerStars. You were given the 6th anniversary of the unique Sunday Major, the Sunday Million bigger and badder with a $6,000,000 guarantee and someone walking away with seven figures. Then, those folks small-stakes players gets to polish like those in tonight's $500,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-up while playing within the MicroMillions. In ten days just eleven cents is sufficient to potentially get you a seat at a last table which may be worth thousands. Not bad for pocket change found a coffeehouse floor. Tonight's Sunday Warm-up carried a bit of higher price ticket at $215 which 3,770 players probably didn't find at the floor of a Starbucks but all of them got an equal chance of finishing the highest 540 places for a slice of the $754,000.00 prize pool.

Down to simply over 30K in tournament chips, the last Red Spade standing Team Online's Javier "El Cañonero" Dominguez would enjoy a slight double up with just four-nine offsuit, then a triple as much as nearly 200K after winning a three-way all-in holding pocket kings against linnna's suited Ace-eight and super proper's big slick to come back into tournament contention with 145 players left and 6K/12K ante 1,200. A race against Polizischt's big slick while still within the 6K/12K ante 1.2K level would push the Spanish online pro over 400K because the selection of players left tumbled to 2 digits. Previous to the blinds moved as much as 10K/20K ante 10K Dominguez would attempt to throw across the weight of his newly found stack nevertheless it would find some resistance within the type of tamikaspace. Starting out with a min-raise to 30,000 from the small blind, tamikaspace would three-bet to 73,280 from the massive blind. Javier sensing somewhat weakness would shove for 376,158 total as tamikaspace covered and made the decision holding Q♣A♣. Javier was also suited but trailing with the J♠6♠. No spades at the 9♥ 3♣ 5♦ T♦ A♦ board and the Team Online member was pushed to the rail in 83rd place ($1,131.00) cashing within the Sunday Warm-up for the second one consecutive week.

tamikaspace would run away with the chip lead for nearly two hours after eliminating Dominguez but handed that lead off to auercan of Turkey after finishing in 22nd place ($1,922.00). auercan would take the lead going into the general two tables because the only player over four million chips holding 6,041,518 because the players took a five minute rest before coming back to the 40K/80K ante 8K level.

2NDclass: "id b surprised in case your computer continues to be in a single piece" after watching Lenya Summer take a second bad beat. The primary one was doled out by 2NDclass himself spiking a six with pocket sixes all-in preflop against Lenya's pocket kings for a two million chip pot. Then, ok72 with ace-six would shove a brief stack from middle position only to get called by Lenya's ace-jack. Sixes? Not Lenya Summer's favorite number after two of them appeared at the flop to knock the German all the way down to under a 100,000 chips and blinds at 50K/100K ante 10K. Never fear, Lenya would double up 3 times to rally to just about 800K in chips as Charibert at the other table fell in 18th place ($2,262.00).

kurt23x's trip nines would send short stacked maaarcel out in 17th place ($2,262.00) and the bad beats kept approaching Table 74 as TESIK and ok72 pitched of their short stacks for a 1.7 million chip pot and TESIK's Q♠A♦ would discover a queen at the flop and another at the river 8♥ J♦ Q♥ 7♠ Q♦ to overcome out ok72's big slick K♠A♠ who finished in 16th place ($2,262.00) narrowly missing out another big final table as ok72 took sixth place during Event #30 at this year's inaugural Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP). Tryboom would finish in 15th place shortly before Lenya Summer's run would finally lead to 14th place ($3,393.00).

CesarSPA has several Major final tables here at PokerStars including the Sunday Million in November which he took home sixth place for $44K tonight's run would end wanting a last table however seeking to squeeze queen-jack offsuit past the pocket kings of A-laursen and finishing in 13th place ($3,393.00). After hansapils82 and torkolort1 finished in 11th and 12nd place respectively (both earning $4,524.00) the hand-for-hand notices popped up on both tables because the blinds held at 80K/160K ante 16K.

A tough final table bubble to burst as QUARTER-HOUR of hand-for-hand play would float by in addition to blinds moving as much as 100K/200K ante 20K as not one of the final ten were willing to surrender their shot on the $118,378.00 first place prize. Two hands into the brand new blinds and TESIK was backed right into a corner holding just 627,248 chips and within the small blind. danita332789 was happy to use more pressure min-raising from the cutoff as TESIK would shove holding T♠A♣. Back to danita332789 looking down at K♥8♥ making the maths call and was rewarded with a king at the flop 2♦ 5♦ K♣ 9♦ 3♦ to take down the 1.5 million chip pot sending TESIK off at the final table bubble in tenth place ($4,524.00) and taking off the overall table below:

Seat 1: A-laursen (6582251 in chips)Seat 2: danita332789 (5539151 in chips)Seat 3: matilla87 (1776076 in chips)Seat 4: hmd78 (2412920 in chips)Seat 5: auercan (6076494 in chips)Seat 6: kurt23x (3682592 in chips)Seat 7: LaurisL91 (4635188 in chips)Seat 8: Pokerfan89Gr (4252546 in chips)Seat 9: 2NDclass (2742782 in chips)

Worth the wait

In what could be a primary for this tournament, we might not lose our first player on the final table until the 150K/300K ante 30K level. danita332789 would start the betting with a min-raise from UTG+1 as Pokerfan89Gr would shove from the small blind for 1.54 million. Holding a small suited ace 2♥A♥ and never a lot more to call, danita332789 would just do that up against the pocket queens Q♥Q♦ of Pokerfan89Gr. No rivered ace excellent or disappointment dependent on the side you're rooting for because the ace hit the flop together with a two 3♠ A♦ 2♣ 8♠ K♣ to finish Pokerfan89Gr's night in ninth place ($6,032.00).

And there's the ace in a well-recognized place

Right before the blinds were scheduled to transport up, Danita332789 and A-laursen got together preflop for a 5.6 million chip pot. Take a look at below because the ace at the board lands in a well known place:

RSS readers please click through to view video

Ace at the river helped danita332789's K♠A♥ overcome A-laursen's pocket kings K♣K♥ to knock out A-laursen in eighth place ($9,425.00).

2NDclass earns a 1st class paycheck

Up to 200K/400K ante 40K blinds and 2NDclass clinging directly to 2.01 million chips, shoved from middle position as matilla87 made sure nobody else wanted in by re-raising to four million. No takers as matilla87 rolled over Q♦A♣ which dominated the 6♦A♥ held by 2NDclass. Two pair at the board negated the domination 5♥ 4♦ 4♠ 5♣, however the Q♥ didn't as 2NDclass will now manage to pay for a upgrade finishing in seventh place ($16,965.00).

From "would you like a deal?" to the largest pot of the tournament

Still within the 200K/400K ante 40K blind level, matilla87 tried to squeeze in a six-way deal attempt, but kurt23x and LaurisL91 were too busy shoving their chips into the center as auercan, who made a min-raise from the button, folded to BOTH blinds shoving. Pocket fours 4♥4♣ for kurt23x as LaurisL91 covered and turned up tens T♦T♣. Despite picking up four more outs at the turn, kurt23x watched the harmless jack fall at the river 3♠ 5♥ Q♥ 7♣ J♥ to finish the night in sixth place ($24,505.00).

After the long wait the sphere trimmed once again

While it took 20 minutes into the general table to get people to leave, only some minutes would separate the eliminations within the 200K/400K ante 40K level. auercan again came in with a min-raise from the button as danita332789 with 3.72 million would shove from the small blind holding A♠T♣ hoping to select up some dead chips. Instead auercan was very happy to name with the dominating A♣J♣. Both players would pair their kicker 4♥ 7♠ J♥ T♠ 3♥ however the preflop lead held as danita332789 would exit in fifth place ($32,045.00).

Back-to-back for auercan

The aggressive player from Turkey continue his tear at the final table at the very next hand creating a call from the large blind as hmd78 tried open shoving from the small blind. auercan only held a small ace 2♠A♣ but found himself within the lead over hmd78's 9♣K♦. Neither player found a card connecting theirs at the 6♠ J♣ 6♥ 7♣ 4♣ board as hmd78 used his stealthy how one can earn a fourth place finish ($43,355.00).

Costly non-deal

Down to 3 players the threesome tried to connect to one another emotionally and financially but tonight there can be no hugs of congratulations because the players used their five minute hourly break for nothing but a busted deal attempt and play would roll on. auercan would score an enormous hit at the chip leading LaurisL91's stack after raking in a 23.6 million chip pot when the 2 shoved preflop and LaurisL91 leading with big slick A♣K♣ against auercan's Q♣J♣. But a straight by the turn 9♣ 4♣ T♥ 8♦ J♦ would shift all power to auercan. 12 hands later auercan would scoop up the remainder of LaurisL91's chips as Lithuanian took home third place ($62,205.00). Perhaps LaurisL91's previous experience at a tremendous final table had some sway into the non-deal as he was the runner-up within the Sunday Million back in November for $178K.

Now we will hug it out

With LaurisL91 gone, the remainder two would get right to sending verbal kisses around the chat box and quickly came to the deal shown below (leaving aside $10,000 for the winner):

aurecan: $102,869.69matilla87: $93,726.31

You can't beat luck

auercan holding a 27.9 million to matilla87's 9.7 million would put away the tournament just seven hands after agreeing to the deal. Take a look at the general hand below:

RSS readers please click through to view video

Getting the cash in behind again, as auercan held K♦9♦ to matilla87's big slick A♦K♠ however the board was in favor of auercan again as a nine would hit the door and switch 9♠ T♠ Q♥ 9♣ K♥ at hand auercan the additional $10,000.00 and claim this week's Sunday Warm-up title!

$500,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-Up results (03-04-12):(* denotes a part of two-way deal)1. auercan (Turkey) *$112,869.692. matilla87 (Spain) *$93,726.313. LaurisL91 (Lithuania) $62,205.004. hmd78 (Germany) $43,355.005. danita332789 (Greece) $32,045.006. kurt23x (Costa Rica) $24,505.007. 2NDclass (UK) $16,965.008. A-laursen (Denmark) $9,425.009. Pokerfan89Gr (Greece) $6,032.00

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: PokerStars Sunday Tournaments]

Crystal Display Systems have introduced their commercial and professional monitors to the display monitor market. 

Their budget-friendly commercial grade ProCom range is accessible from 32″ to 84″. The displays utilize the newest LED backlighting technology and offer improved brightness and contrast in addition to drastically improving their lifespan and reducing their power consumption.

The displays are fitted with industrial grade panel and components in addition to an integrated media player with a USB plug and play function. The monitors utilize the most recent LED backlighting technology leading to improved brightness and contrast. These impressive products are completed with built-in audio, an ecofriendly power timer in addition to smart temperature control systems. 

The ProCom range is so versatile they've been implemented in all kinds of applications including; restaurants & shops, exhibitions, schools, surveillance & security and lots of more. 

All units are soak tested before being able to ship worldwide! 

Read More... [Source: Featured Products]