WSOP

Whether you love or hate Phil Hellmuth you can not rebuff that he might just be the finest player in the history of the WSOP. If he is not the greatest he at least is on the short list of players that would include Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Stu Unger and Chip Reese. Phil has more bracelets has one thing on all these guys or anyone you can think of. He already shared with Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson, by winning his eleventh bracelet in 2007 Phil set the record. Phil has finished more then five million dollars at the World Series of Poker alone.

Phil’s biggest cash at the World Series of Poker is the first bracelet came in 1989 and still. In 1989 Phil won took home $755,000$ in the 10,000 No Limit Holdem Main Event. That seems like not anything compared to the fact that the Main Event winner these days can make more then $10,000,000. Although the field was no where near the size of today’s events you need to understand that in those days the Main Event was filled with top professional players. Phil was only 24 years old and his first bracelet didn’t come easy in 1989, he had to beat Johnny Chan heads up to take the title. At the time Johnny was going away for his third straight title and may have been the best poker player in the world. Phil didn’t manage to win a bracelet, but in 1992 he took home the $5000 Limit Holdem poker bracelet.

1993 was the year that Phil Hellmuth formally began the talk that he might be the best player in the poker world. He succeeded three events in 1993 including the $1500 No Limit Holdem, $2,500 No Limit Holdem and the $5,000 Limit Hold’ em. With more then $450,000 in earning and three coveted bracelets, Hellmuth walked away from the 1993 World Series of Poker. For the three years following Phil’s advance in 1993 he didn’t manage to win a single bracelet, but broke through again in 1997. Hellmuth won the $3000 Pot Limit Holdem tournament taking home more then $200,000 in 1997. Heading into 2001 Phil Hellmuth was a poker star. He had six bracelets and was looking further. He tied poker legends Chan and Brunson, winning his tenth bracelet in the $1,000 No Limit Holdem Rebuy tournament in 2006. In 2007 Phil captured his second best single tournament making at the World Series when he won over $630,000 in the $1,500 No Limit Holdem event, his record infringement eleventh bracelet.

Phil Hellmuth’s nickname when he is sitting at the poker table is “The Poker Brat”. As the World Series of Poker gained exposure on television, so did Phil Hellmuth became as popular for his tricks at the poker as he was for his outstanding play. If he thinks you made a bad play he is going to tell you about it, maybe more then once Phil is known to speak his feelings when he is at the tables. You better watch out if you are at a table with Phil and you hit an inside straight to beat his set. The public want to see him play this persona has taken Hellmuth along ways. Most because of his unpredictable attitude, although some even watch to see a great poker player in action. Unique to him and was created through years of experience “The Poker Brat” has his own style. It will be like walking on a tight rope, you never know when you are going to fall if you play like Phil. His inert and slow play opens himself up to get sucked out on, or to win pots with monster hands. Attempt it play like that and you will find you might get a little disturb from time to time at the tables to.

Texas Hold’em is Phil Hellmuth’s game, all eleven of his bracelets won playing it and has won bracelets playing Pot Limit, Limit and No Limit Hold’ em, but has never won playing a new form of poker. People who criticize Phil tend to look directly at this stat, Hellmuth has mastered hold’ em.

However Hellmuth has won eleven bracelets playing Hold’ em. “The Poker Brat” will always have his reviewers, although if you ask around the top pros in the world you find they have great respect for his game. People will hate on Phil because of his publicity, much like the way people hate on Tiger Woods in golf, but it is not reasonable. Hellmuth is still in his prime and who knows how many bracelets he will win in his life time, other than you can be assured that he will try to win them all. Over Five Million Dollars in career World Series of Poker pay, a record eleven bracelets and more then sixty cashes, Phil Hellmuth is a star at the World Series of Poker.

The next couple of hours saw a rally between the two Poker players. They were going back and fourth against each other, neither of them giving much ground to the other. They had almost the same amount of chips left as the last chip count update when a hand occurred between them. Juanda raised from the button to 100,000. Alekhin made the call. The flop fell Qd-9h-6h and Alekhin checked to Juanda. The latter bet out 105,000. Alekhin raised to 285,000. Juanda made the call. The turn fell 6h and Alekhin bet out 375,000 after which Juanda made the call. It was intense. The river fell 7d and Alekhin bet out 725,000. Juanda released his hand. Alekhin revealed a hand of 5h-8h for the straight. He took the pot which was worth nearly 750,000 chips.

At hand 355, this event made a record of being officially the longest event in WSOP history as far as the number of hands played. The last event to last almost as long at 354 hands was the 2006 H.O.R.S.E. event. The final table had run 17 hours and 30 minutes but there was still a lot of poker to be played.

Alekhin raised from the button to 100,000. Juanda made a reraise to 325,000. The flop fell 2c-Ks-4h and Juanda bet out 365,000. He was called. The turn fell the 10d with Juanda betting out 480,000 chips. His Poker opponent was starting to stack chips. Before Alekhin could put them in the middle, Juanda folded his hand. Alekhin showed his holding of pocket queens and at that point had a chip stack of 4.66 million. Juanda’s chip stack was at 2.61 million.

With a huge chip lead to back him up, Alekhin started turning on the pressure to Juanda, chipping away at the latter’s stack over the course of the next hour or so. At one point, Juanda had just 940,000 chips left. He had at hand 399 and decided to raise to 150,000. Alekhin put him all in, showing Kd-Jd. Juanda had As-Kc. The flop fell Jc-4c-4s, leaving Juanda far behind in the game. Help came when the turn fell the Qh. Juanda just needed an ace, a king, a queen, or a 10 on the river to hit his hand. The river Poker card fell the 10c. Juanda doubled up his stack to 1.78 million in chips.

A few more hands later, Alekhin raised to 150,00 pre-flop. Juanda called. The flop was Ad-4h-6d. The 2 fell on the turn and Juanda bet out 275,000 and Alekhin called. The river card fell the 10s and Juanda bet out 475,000. Alekhin moved all in. Juanda stood up and said that he’d call. Alekhin showed Qd-2h for a pair of ducks while Juanda showed Ah-6c for two pair. He doubled up to take the chip lead, moving up to 3,850,000 in chips. Alekhin had 3,370,000 in chips.

After hand 420, Alekhin had 3,600,000 in chips while Juanda had 3,620,000. It was a rollercoaster ride all the way through, with chip lead swinging back and forth between the two. Alekhin was able to take back the lead and had about 4.2 million in chips when a huge confrontation occurred between him and Juanda.

Juanda had raised 165,000 pre-flop. Alekhin made the call. The flop fell Kc-Qh-7c and Alekhin bet out 325,000. Juanda moved all in and was called. He held Kh-6h for top pair and Alekhin had 4c-3c for the flush draw. The turn fell the 9s, which meant that Alekhin was needing one of 9 clubs. The river fell the 4h. Juanda doubled up and at this point held 6.6 million in chips. Alekhin was far behind with just 600,000.

At hand 484, Alekhin moved all in from the button and was called. He held Ac-9s while Juanda had Ks-6c. The board fell 6d-6s-2d and Juanda flops a near miracle. The turn fell the Qc and the river 6h, giving Juanda quads and the title. Stanislav Alekhin finished runner up and took home £533,950.

The entire event lasted 22 hours and crowned John Juanda as Champion of the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event. It was his fourth bracelet. He also took home £868,800.

Groups of Poker tournaments held at various locations around the United States, The World Series of Poker Circuit season has already begun and kicked off the event at its first stop in Elizabeth, IN. The World Series of Poker Circuit has always been a platform where players are given exposure to the World Series of Poker, albeit on a smaller scale. Most tournaments are around the $500 buy-in range, although there are higher buy-ins. The Main Event of the circuit event comes in at a $5,000 buy-in.

Aside from a shot at Poker stardom, the winner of each circuit event receives a gold ring along with the first place prize money. On the other hand, winners of the Main Event of each Circuit series will receive an entry into the Main Event of the next year’s World Series of Poker Las Vegas. This year the circuit will be at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana from October 2 to 14. From the 24th of October to the 2nd of November, they will be at the Horseshoe Hammond in the Chicago area. They will stop by Harvey’s Lake Tahoe in Nevada from November 6 to 16 and at Harrah’s Atlantic City from December 5 to 18. They will start the New Year off at Harrah’s Tunica in Mississippi where they will be from January 20 to February 9. From February 12 to 25, they will be at the Horseshoe Council Bluffs in Iowa. While from March 4 to 14 they will be at the Caesars Atlantic City and at Harrah’s Rincon in San Diego from the 19th to the 29th. They will visit the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas next from April 12 to 29 and the last stop will be at the Harrah’s New Orleans where they will stay from May 8 to 20.

Majority of the events in the WSOP Circuit are No Limit Holdem, but you can expect them to mix the events up every now and then, offering H.O.R.S.E., Limit Holdem, Omaha 8 or Better, 7 Card Stud and, on much rarer occasions, Stud 8 or Better.

Many view the WSOP Circuit as the minor leagues because here you will find that many of the preliminary events are headlined and won by virtually unknown players. There will be many occasions when a first time poker player will play in an event and take one down. This is in part what the circuit is all about. One of the reasons why they hold the event is to give players at all levels a chance at WSOP glory.

Some poker professionals tend to fly in for the Main Event of the various WSOP Circuit Events where the $5,000 buy-in is part of the attraction. Another is the opportunity for media exposure because many of the Main Events are widely covered by various media outlets.

Like in the World Series of  Poker in Las Vegas, you can also satellite your way into any event at the WSOP circuit. You can win an entry into the $500 events with $65 satellites. At $125 satellites, you can enter the $1000 event. You can play all the way up to $550 satellites if you want your shot at the $5,000 buy-in Main Event. There are also mega satellites being held.

Nicknamed Kid Poker, Daniel Negreanu is among the most respected and most decorated professional players in the history of poker. At every event he plays in, he is a fan favorite and surely someone to reckon with at the Poker tables. Coming off a great performance at the latest World of Series Poker Europe, he remains one of the top players in the poker world. The general public find it easy to relate with his style of play, which includes a whole lot of talking. He comes off as easy going and seems to always have a great time at the tables. His broke out into the poker scene in the mid 1990s and continues to be successful today. He has a natural love and knack for gambling and even bets on golf. Negreanu is a true poker player in essence and will play any form of poker available to him.

He is a poker icon back in his native country Canada where his Poker dreams started. He first tried playing in backroom games and in casinos near Toronto Ontario and broke through in 1997 at Foxwoods where he won two events for more than $50,000. This started the climb to the top of the poker world for the young man. The year after that he won his first bracelet at the WSOP, this was worth more than $160,000 and would be a sign of future success at the tournaments. His next bracelet was won in 2003 but during that period he had eight top 15 finishes and came close several times. The second bracelet was won in a SHOE tournament where he also bagged more than $100,000.

But the best year so far in his career was in 2004 when he claimed top honors for his efforts. During that year, he finished in the top 10 in tournaments for five times. He finished 3rd in a No Limit Holdem event and won the limit holdem event for his third bracelet. In 2005, he took home more than $750,000 after winning a circuit event. This was his biggest cash at the WSOP. In 2008, he won his fourth bracelet in a Limit Holdem tournament. Just recently he was in London and was looking to win his first WSOPE bracelet. Although he didn’t win, he still made the final table at the main event and won more than £250,000. Overall, he has four bracelets, 33 cashes, and more than $2 million in WSOP earnings in his careers so far.

He has also had considerable success outside of the World Series of Poker. He has two WPT titles and was the WPT Player of the Year back in 2005 with 16 WPT cashes in his career. If you try to add everything up, his total poker tournaments earnings would reach up to $10 million. He ranks the second all time to main event winner Jamie Gold. And as he is still young, we can expect to see more of him in the poker world, whether he is at the tables or as an announcer.

Don’t let her good looks and sweet smile fool you, Vanessa Rousso knows how to be aggressive when she’s in a No Limit Holdem game. Beauty, brains, and poker smarts all wrapped up in a package, Rousso is a French-American is a law student at the University of Miami and a professional poker player. She was born in White Plains, New York but spent most of her childhood in Paris, France until her parents divorced when she was nine. After the split, she and her mother moved back to the United States.

Rousso has always been an active student even back in her grade school days, participating in many extracurricular activities while keeping focus on her academic pursuits as well. She played basketball, softball, and lacross. She was also a member of the debate team, graduating valedictorian with a full scholarship grant to come study at Duke University. At Duke, she majored in Economics and took a minor in Political Science, all while juggling several extracurricular activities. In 2004, she graduated cum laude and entered law school.

Even while law school is keeping her busy, Rousso still finds time to play more live Poker and has started to cash in various circuit events. The year 2006 was her breakout year as she made the final table at the Five-Star World Poker Classics, earning her $263,625. Soon after, she signed a sponsorship deal with PokerStars.com and then had a streak of cashes before eventually winning a preliminary event at the Borgata Poker Open in September of that year where she took hom $285,450. Shortly after, she started dating fellow poker pro Chad Brown. The two are currently engaged are in the middle of making wedding plans.

After her fantastic year in 2004, Rousso went out of the Poker scene for a while. She had a 2nd place finish in a televised UPC event and other live cashes, which gave her an earning of about $90,000.

PokerStars.com sponsors the annual World Championships of Online Poker and many top pros will usually come out to take a shot at the big prize pools and online bracelets. Vanessa Rousso went on to play at the Main Event of the WCOOP where she achieved her biggest poker score to date. She made the final table, finishing 3rd for $463,940.50. Later on, however, it was discovered that the winner had violated the rules and was thus disqualified. Rousso went up a notch in the standings and her payout became $700,782.50.

Her strong finish at the WCOOP kick started Rousso’s amazing year of poker in 2008. She has had eight cashes so far this year and has made a final table at the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final along with her first cash in the WSOP Main Event.

Vanessa Rousso’s total poker earnings reach up to a million dollars from live tournament wins. Although mainly known as a No Limit Holdem player, she has already started to branch out with much success to other variants of poker. It wouldn’t be long before we see this girl taking down a major poker title. Who knows, her first bracelet might just be around the corner.