^

6:15pm: Level 16 begins, blinds are 2,500/5,000 with a 500 ante

6:00pm: Team Pros terminated

Since reporting on Kosei Ichinose's elimination earlier, it appears that the only remaining Team PokerStars Pro Chen-an Lin has also made his way to the exit this afternoon.

While we didn't catch the action, Lin is no longer in his seat and his absence marks the end of the PokerStars contingent.

The last eliminated Team PokerStars Pro Chen-an Lin

5:50pm: Hand for hand play as bubble approaches

Our remaining 137 players have been instructed that the tournament will now play hand-for-hand until the bubble bursts. With 135 places paying dividends and a few short stacks around the room we may not have to wait too long.

Those 135 lucky players will guarantee themselves at least HK$22,300 for their efforts, and will be chasing the $HK2,360,000 first-place prize.

Let's find out who will be this season's bubble boy or girl.

5:30pm: Salter swinging

Louis Salter just won some then lost some in two recent hands.

The first saw Valentyn Shabelnyk open to 8,000 before Salter moved all in from the small blind for his last 56,000. Shabelnyk decided against calling it off and the pot was shipped Salter's way.

In the second hand Salter raised to 8,000 on the button and the player in the small blind came along to a flop of [jd][9s][3h]. It was checked back to Salter who continued for 11,000.

His opponent began counting on his fingers before shuffling his chips, and then moving all in over the top. Salter snap folded and forfeited the pot.

5:15pm: Level 15 begins, blinds are 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante

---

5:05pm: First break

Players have commenced their first break of the day. The action will resume in 10-minutes' time.

4:50pm: Alner scoops one

Tom Alner was in the big blind and called an early position raise of 6,000 before the flop came down [2s][5s][4d]. He then check-called a bet of 8,000 and the dealer turned the [8d].

The action went check-check and the [2d] arrived on the river. Alner took the opportunity to lead out at this point, betting 20,500. Alner's opponent counted out his own stack but decided to throw his hand away.

Alner adds that pot to the 72,000 he had behind.

Tom Alner

4:35pm: Shabelnyk sends Wan home

Meilin Wan opened the action with a 54,000 chip all-in move and it was folded around to the player on the button. He confirmed the count and went into the tank momentarily but ultimately folded. Valentyn Shabelnyk, however, woke up with [9s][9d] in the big blind and called to put Wan at risk.

Wan was holding [ac][jh] and needed to improve to stay alive. The [ks][7h][4d] didn't bring much help and while the [qs] brought some additional gut shot out, the [4h] river couldn't deliver as Shabelnyk collected the pot and Wan was eliminated.

4:20pm: Reigning APOY blazing a trail again

Asia Player of the Year Alan King Lun Lau is in the field today and chipping up nicely.

We caught a recent hand he was in on the turn with the board showing [th][2c][3d][9d]. Lau was first to act in the small blind and put his opponent to the test with an all-in jam for 65,000.

The player thought about the decision for arout 30 seconds before relinquishing his hand.

Lun clocked an impressive 16 live cashes here in Macau last year and with the bubble fast approaching he looks set to lock up another one here on Day 2.

4:05pm: Level 13 begins, blinds are 1,500/3,000 with a 400 ante

3:55pm: Jacks for Shabelnyk

The Ukraine's Valentyn Shabelnyk just sent a tablemate packing after picking up [js][jc]. The two got it in preflop and with Shabelnyk's opponent holding [kd][3d], the latter wouldn't improve on a runout of [3h][ad][6h][6s][7c].

That knock out brings Shabelnyk's stack up to 159,000.

3:45pm: Davies done

It seems US pro Scott Davies has also been eliminated in the early stages here today. He took to Twitter to inform his followers.

Busted the main to @LouisSalter1 after open ripping button w 78 into his AJs in the BB. Hope u take it down Louis! #MPC24

— Scott Davies (@sdaviespoker) March 2, 2016

3:35pm: Ichinose out the door

One of only two Team PokerStars Pros in today's field has just left us. Kosei Ichinose found himself all in and at risk after a preflop confrontation.

It folded around to Weichun Jiang on the button and he put in a raise to 5,800. Ichinose moved all in from the small blind for his last 37,800 and was quickly called when it folded back to Jiang.

Ichinose: [ks][ts]
Jiang: [ac][jh]

Ichinose was behind but he still had a fair shot at staying alive holding live cards. The [5h][6d][2c][4c][2d] would bring him no help, however, and the Team Pro headed for the exit.

Recently eliminated - Team PokerStars Pro Kosei Ichinose

3:20pm: Chen loses a chunk

James Chen started the day as one of our chip leaders here but just took a big hit in the first level.

Chen opened the action with an under the gun raise to 4,800 and the big blind opted to defend. The flop landed [5s][9d][7d] and when checked to, Chen continued for 6,000. The player in the big blind check-raised to 13,500 causing Chen to pause for a moment.

After eyeing the big blind's stack Chen put in another raise for a total of 50,000. His opponent quickly moved in for 86,400, Chen quickly called, and the cards went on their backs.

Chen: [kd][jd]
Opponent: [Ad][td]

Both with flush draws but Chen the inferior one he'd need to find a king or a jack to eliminate the player in the big blind. The board failed to cooperate as the [4h] turn and [4c] runout bricked off.

Chen falls back down to around 96,000 after that hand.

3:05pm: Shuffle up and deal!

Cards are in the air here for Day 2 of the MPC24 Red Dragon.

Blinds commence at 1,200/2,400 with a 400 ante and the average stack currently at 62,258.

The returning 259 will be hoping to have another great day at the felt and make it through to Day 3 in the quest for the HK$2,360,000 top prize and the spectacular Red Dragon trophy.

Let's go!

MPC24 Red Dragon Day 2 starting soon

It's time for Day 2!

We have 259 players returning today from a total starting field of 1,075.

Leading the pack is China's Huitong Cao. He emerged as chip boss last night and will bring 232,600 to the table today.

We're in for six levels of play this afternoon. Those will be an hour each so things wrap up just in time for the Macau Poker Cup Welcome Party.

We'll have more details for you as soon as cards are in the air. Stay with us!

All photos by Kenneth Lim Photography courtesy of PokerStars LIVE Macau

Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Asia Pacific Poker Tour]

The fight to win the 2016 Presidential eElection is heating up and is major news around the world. President Barrack Obama is barred by constitutional term limits from seeking reelection, so the United States of America will have a new President once the election is completed.

One presidential candidate who never seems to fall out of the news is Donald Trump. To say he has caused controversy with some off-the-cuff comments is a major understatement, as the New Yorker has angered people around the globe when he said of Mexican immigrants, "They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people."

You can almost certainly find a dozen or more of the 69-year-old's outbursts on the Internet.

Love him or hate him, Trump has an army of supporters, and Republicans are looking at ways to defeat him and prevent him obtaining a term in office. Yesterday, a digital newspaper called TheStreet, turned to the most unlikely of people to discuss anti-Trump tactics, 14-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.

"Trump is the ultimate loose-aggressive player," said Hellmuth in an interview with The Street, which seems to be true when you look at how a loose-aggressive player approaches the game of poker. Loose-aggressive players will play any two cards, attack relentlessly, and essentially bully their opponents into handing over their chips.

Thinking in terms of Trump's tactics thus far, he is willing to take up any position to give himself an advantage, never apologizes, and continues to become louder and more abrasive. Plus, his bullying behavior can be seen as a strategy to get what he wants.

"When you're playing against a loose-aggressive player, think of a harpoon," Hellmuth said. "You nail them with a harpoon, on one big pot for all their chips. They're a big target, and Trump is a big target."

Hellmuth went on to explain that Trump is playing many weak hands, but because he's smart and resilient, he's managed to shake off "being harpooned." He even suggests that Trump has changed the rules of the game and the U.S. public has allowed him to do that.

So how does Hellmuth suggest the other candidates act in order to prevent Trump from running away with the election?

Patience, good discipline, and getting more aggressive than the loose-aggressive player, Trump. Hellmuth calls on the recent GOP debate where Marco Rubio countered some of Trump's arguments by quizzing him about his inheritance, his business acumen, and the hiring of foreign workers — Trump was fined 35 years ago for hiring illegal Polish immigrants on a worksite.

“Rubio made a smart move. He finally took it to the next level. He assumed he was just going to win with patience and when you're waiting for someone else to implode and they don't implode, all of the sudden you're way behind in the chips and Super Tuesday is coming up and you can't wait anymore. Rubio can't wait. Rubio changed tactics, finally aggressively attacked Trump — and he looked pretty good doing it.”

Fighting back, as opposed to sitting back and being patient, could be the best strategy for the Republicans, according to Hellmuth. Waiting for a perfect opportunity to strike could result in Trump being too strong (having too many chips to be hurt) due to the sheer amount of supporters he has.

The author of the article on TheStreet, Jeremy Greenfield, likens the election to a high-stakes poker game in terms of it playing out on an emotional level.

"Like the highest-level poker, this election is being played on the emotional level," said Hellmuth. "Many elections have come down to specific policies, party loyalty, how the economy was doing. This election, however, is about raw emotion."

Whether or not Trump gets caught bluffing too often and finds himself harpooned remains to be seen, but the world is watching on with baited breath waiting for the next play to be made.

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us both Facebook and Google+!

Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @

Read More... [Source: PokerNews]

When Bryn Kenney called his name during the draft for the first-ever Global Poker League (GPL) on Feb. 25, the selection came as surprise for Kevin MacPhee, the two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet winner.

"I didn't chat with Kenney about that prior to the draft, and I knew that he was not going to waste his first pick on me," MacPhee told PokerNews while in Tallinn, Estonia, to play in the Kings of Tallinn event. "I wouldn't have done that as well."

Nonetheless, Kenney selected MacPhee in the third round of the draft, and MacPhee is now a member of the New York Rounders. At the time, he joined Kenney's previous selections of Jason Mercier and Tom Marchese.

"I believe Jason Mercier was an obvious first pick, and I think Kenney managed to form a great team with four very good poker players," MacPhee said. "As for myself, I am pretty high ranked on the Global Poker Index (GPI), and I figured that if Kenney would not pick me, I'd probably get selected by one of the other teams like the Las Vegas Moneymakers."

The Moneymakers, as you might've guessed, are the franchise managed by Chris Moneymaker.

I am not sure where the GPL will end up, but I am onboard, and I am ready to support it however I can.

Before the draft took place, MacPhee admitted that he would have liked to be a part of the adventure.

"I think poker is hurdling right now, and we need something to revitalize the interest in the game," he said. "In my opinion, Alex Dreyfus has an interesting vision, and I support that."

MacPhee's support to the GPL comes from that fact that he sees this as the venture poker needs to regain popularity and survive a decline that started to endanger the survival of the game as we know it today.

"For poker to get a jumpstart, we need an entrepreneur with an outside perspective and who can set up something new," said MacPhee. "I believe the GPL can make poker more engaging, and I believe Twitch will help to bring it to a lot of new people. All in all, I find it to be a pretty cool idea. I am not sure where the GPL will end up, but I am onboard, and I am ready to support it however I can."

Online Players Will Do Better In the GPL

"I don't mind the idea to do heads-up matches standing up," MacPhee explained when we asked him about some of the elements that are set to differentiate the GPL games from others. "To be completely honest, this particular part is not going to make a significant difference to me because, when I play online, I stand for most of the time already."

When Dreyfus announced that the GPL live games would see the players standing up, some took to Twitter and Facebook and voiced their opinion against it. Others, like PokerNews Editor-in-Chief and American Poker Awards Media Person of The Year Donnie Peters, explained that even a small detail like that one could take some players out of their comfort zone and create new dynamics at the table.

We have a great team. Bryn Kenney, Jason Mercier, Tom Marchese, and Jason Wheeler are all very strong and accomplished players.

While we now need to wait to discover whether Peters is correct or not, this should not be the case for MacPhee, since he confessed being already used to playing fast-paced poker games standing on his feet.

"When I moved into my place in Montreal, I started to play standing at my high kitchen table," MacPhee said. "To be completely honest, I hate sitting while I play poker, so I don’t think this new format will be a problem for me. I am used to standing up, and I usually act pretty quick. My decision-making process is very fast, so the fast-paced action of the GPL won’t be much of an issue for me."

The habit to play while standing up is also not the only advantage MacPhee feels to have on the competition, as he believes the GPL to be a competition more geared towards online players.

"I think there are a lot of aspects of the GPL that make it more for online players than live players," he explaiedn. "This is why I believe the Los Angeles Sunsets, guided by Maria Ho, have a very strong team. They have Olivier Busquet, and I am sure he is the kind of all-around player who has everything to succeed and do well in a competition like the GPL."

But that doesn't mean MacPhee is selling his squad short, as he likes the chances of the Rounders, as well.

"However, we also have a great team," he said confidently. "Kenney, Mercier, Marchese, and Jason Wheeler are all very strong players, and I believe we have all it takes to fight for the win."

Besides the L.A. Sunsets, MacPhee confessed fearing the teams put together by Liv Boeree for the London Royals and the one Marc-Andre Ladouceur built for the Montreal Nationals.

"Those are the teams that stand out," he said. "Others, like Celina Lin's team, had a different task and tried to create something that could introduce poker into new marketplaces. However, even if some of the players she picked are lesser known than others, it doesn’t mean that they are not as strong as everyone else in the league. After all, the fact they were draftable is a testament to their skills."

Also, in MacPhee's opinion, skills alone are not be enough to create a winning franchise, as team spirit could make a real difference in the long term.

"I always thought it was going to be very interesting to see how the draft played out to be because there are a lot of social dynamics in poker," MacPhee said. "What we have seen with the GPL is that friendships are relationships made a difference: players like Mustapha Kanit, Dario Sammartino, and Walter Treccarichi hang out together a lot and are a natural fit in a team. Others have gone to the Burning Man together and are very close to each other, while players like Kenney, Mercier, and myself are all good friends. I believe this can help to get a better result."

Not Too Excited To See PokerStars Back in the United States

If the live side of the game is now getting ready to see what the GPL is all about, the biggest news from the online realm is undoubtedly the return of PokerStars to the United States.

Online poker used to be my bread and butter.

"I am sure it is a big deal for PokerStars, but I am pretty indifferent to it," MacPhee said about the world's largest poker site finally getting ready to offer online games in the U.S. for the first time since the Black Friday. "I am not sure this will be much different from partypoker being back in New Jersey. It's not a thing for the whole country, it only about New Jersey."

But MacPhee's sentiments could be a result of his transition more to more live poker, which he did add.

"Online poker used to be my bread and butter, and I used to qualify online for every European Poker Tour stop," he said. "Now I just don't. I don’t put a priority on playing online anymore, so I guess that’s why I am not too excited about PokerStars getting back in the U.S."

On top of that, MacPhee explained that some of the decisions that were taken by PokerStars after Amaya Inc. took control of the Rational Group have pushed him away from the poker room.

"I think PokerStars have been mismanaged quite a bit since Amaya took over, but I believe one day they will probably wake up and realize that the online games are going down, and something needs to be done about that," he said.

"Phil Galfond's Op-Ed Is a Dangerous Precedent"

Recently, Remko Rinkema and high-stakes pro Jason Mo debated issues on Joey Ingram's Poker Life Podcast. Involved in that discussion was the op-ed written by Phil Galfond to out an unpaied poker debt[/B], and MacPhee voiced his opinion on that.

"It's probably a dangerous precedent to publicize things like that on a major poker site like PokerNews, especially as I know that almost immediately after Galfond's piece was published, Shaun Deeb came out with something similar, and nobody published his story," MacPhee shared, although Deeb took to the Under the Gun Podcast hosted by David Tuchman to share his story.

"I also had somebody who owed me more than $100,000, and I know they are not going to pay me back even if I have never outed them," MacPhee went on to explain. "The truth is that it is a little weird to see how poker is like. Sometimes, people seem to pull a sheet over their eyes. Just think about the GPL. Sorel Mizzi has been drafted in the midst a serious controversy that he has not even responded to. To me, it is a bit ridiculous to see how things work in the poker world, and I think events like the GPL should consider adopting something like an ethics committee. I understand that it would be pretty funny if something came up during the play. People talking crap to Mizzi would be good for ratings."

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us both Facebook and Google+!

Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @

Read More... [Source: PokerNews]

The three dozen casinos in Macau reported gaming revenue of $2.4 billion in February, a figure that was nearly unchanged from a year ago, the city’s government said Tuesday.

According to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the dip of less than one percent year-over-over is the strongest performance for the casinos in 21 months. Gaming win fell by more than 21 percent in January, which was the 20th straight month that gaming win declined year-over-year.

The city’s gaming revenue fell 34 percent year-over-year to $29 billion in 2015. It was the second straight year of less gaming revenue than the year before. Macau had a record $45.2 billion in gaming revenue in 2013. Macau gaming revenue has been predicted to fall by another eight percent in 2016, according to a report from Bloomberg, though February’s performance could bode well for 2016. February did have an extra day due to the leap year.

When gaming win fell 28.4 percent year-over-year this past October it was was then the first month since January 2015 when gaming revenue fell less than 30 percent.

The February performance is good news for casino operators MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts. Both firms are in the middle of casino projects in the former Portuguese colony and have each experienced construction delays.

MGM said last month that its new $3 billion casino in Macau won’t be opening this year, while Wynn said in November that its new casino will open in July, rather than in March.

Two new casinos opened in Macau last year—one from Melco Crown Entertainment and one from Galaxy Entertainment Group. Collectively, $20 billion has been invested into Macau by major casino operators despite the recent downturn.

Additionally, Las Vegas Sands said it will open its new casino there in September.

Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @

Read More... [Source: CardPlayer Poker News]

^

7:00pm: Play is underway!

Just as Day 1a and Day 1b kicked off, things just began here with PokerStars LIVE Macau's Fred Leung taking to the microphone to welcome tonight's players and announce that it was time to get the cards in the air.

We're in for 12 40-minute levels here tonight. Including breaks that means things are set to wrap up around 3:30am.

Registration will be open until 11:20pm and with over 350 players already registered, and a line at the booth, we look well on track to eclipse the 1000 mark.

Players will start with 15,000 in chips and the blinds at 25/50.

It's go time!

MPC24 Red Dragon Day 1c ready to go

It's almost time for the Red Dragon's third and final opening flight!

Today is expected to be easily the biggest yet and with 563 combined entrants from Days 1a and 1b we'll be hoping the field can reach the 1000-player milestone.

Those taking their seats today will be chasing yesterday's chip leader Kamel Mokhammad. The Ukrainian set the pace last night bagging up 210,600.

Play kicks off at 7:00pm tonight and with the later start we'll be playing until the early hours of the morning. Stay tuned to the PokerStars Blog for everything you need to know from here in Macau!

All photos by Kenneth Lim Photography courtesy of PokerStars LIVE Macau

Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @

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

PokerStars.fr, the French-regulated client of PokerStars, announced last week to its Austrian player base that it will no longer be servicing players residing in the country starting at 10:00 ET on March 1, 2016.

  Share: Facebook Twitter Google+ Linkedin   

Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @

Read More... [Source: PokerNews]

After missing nearly all of February, Andres "Educa-p0ker" Artinano returned to the virtual felt this week.

  Share: Facebook Twitter Google+ Linkedin   

Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @

Read More... [Source: PokerNews]