Rounders Report

After three days of play, 36 of the original 334 entrants are still alive in the 2009 WSOPE (World Series of Poker Europe) main event.

At the top of the leader board is Matt “hoss_tbf” Hawrilenko, who will take a stack of over 700k with him into Day 4.

Hawrilenko is currently enjoying a phenomenal 2009, having already booked a WSOP bracelet (5k NLHE Six Handed) earlier in the year, in addition to several strong performances in major online tournaments. Hawrilenko, who is widely considered to be one of the very best Limit Hold’em players in the world, will be very tough to topple as the tournament approaches the final table.
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Popularity: 6% [?]

• Two-time WSOP bracelet winner in $1,500 Limit Omaha
• One of Germany’s top poker players
• Professional pilot

Eddy Scharf plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Sometimes you don’t know when you’re about to make one of the most important decisions of your life. For Eddy Scharf, picking a flight school seemed like a toss-up. He could’ve taken classes in his native Germany, but he went to Arizona instead. Now, because of that one coin flip, he’s Germany’s most accomplished poker player.

Scharf came to the U.S. to learn how to fly jumbo passenger planes. While in Arizona, he went on weekend trips to Las Vegas. A card player his whole life, Scharf always considered poker a game of luck. That changed when he noticed that the same guys kept winning. Upon realizing that poker is a skill game, Eddy set out to learn all he could about the game

Scharf’s poker education took many years as his primary focus remained on his family and his aviation career. But while he took care of business, he was always reading poker books and squeezing in table time. The latter mostly happened when he’d travel to the U.S. for work. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 5% [?]

For the second day running, Ziigmund was able to gett he best of Phil Ivey in a $500/$1000 PLO Heads-Up match. It was fairly short and sweet, so in the span of 97 hands and 35 minutes, he was able to take two buy-ins equalling exactly $200K from Ivey.

Ziigmund turns trips to take out Ivey’s aces for a $166K pot.

This hand is a good example of how vulnerable Aces are in PLO, and in particularly for a player that is out of position. When seeing both hand, we can conclude that the flop was quite nice for Ziigmund with top pair and an open ended straight draw. However, from Ziigmund’s perspective, Ivey could very well hold better draws and in addition he is probably holding the best hand as well. All this would have led him to conclude that it was unlikely that he could make Ivey fold to a raise on the flop. Besides, he is in position on the turn, so he will be able to control the action from there. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11% [?]

Popularity: 2% [?]

The story of the week in the internet gambling industry has been the constitutional challenge to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) brought on by the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA). Internet gambling law expert I. Nelson Rose comments on the ruling, which was passed down by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Third Circuit tossed out iMEGA’s arguments that the UIGEA violated the First and Tenth Amendments of the United States Constitution as well as privacy rights and international treaties. However, the judicial body asserted, “It bears repeating that the Act itself does not make any gambling activity illegal. Whether the transaction… constitutes unlawful internet gambling turns on how the law of the state from which the bettor initiates the bet would treat that bet, i.e., if it is unlawful under that state’s law, it constitutes ‘unlawful internet gambling’ under the Act.” The bet must also be legal in the jurisdiction in which the internet gambling operator is located. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 9% [?]

Just when you thought that August was going to end with a whimper on Full Tilt Poker, the high stakes action on the site suddenly heats up. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 13% [?]

A three-judge panel disagreed with many of the arguments made by the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) on Tuesday as to why the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) should be deemed unconstitutional. In the process, however, internet gambling may now be a states’ rights issue. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 9% [?]

This weekend, the action at the Full Tilt Poker high-stakes tables was relatively calm compared to the Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) frenzy that transpired last weekend.  The slow action of Friday and Saturday brought an anticlimactic end to a week that saw the return of Durrrr Challenge play, a big winning week for Ashton “THEASHMAN103″ Griffin, and a substantial loss for the player known as “martonas.”

The bulk of martonas‘ $1.4 million downswing came at the hands of Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond last Friday at the $300/$600 PLO tables.  Martonas clashed with durrrr in two massive hands, one worth over $280,000 and another that sent $460,000 durrrr’s way.  In the latter hand, the two got it all-in on the flop with martonas holding a massive combination flush and straight draw to durrrr’s nut flush draw.  The river brought the third diamond to complete the flush and give durrrr the best hand. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 12% [?]

Taking place throughout the month of September on Full Tilt Poker is Take 2, an innovative online poker promotion that allows players to earn up to $50 in cash and double Full Tilt Points (FTPs).

Take 2 kicks off at 00:00 ET on September 1st and runs until 23:59 ET on September 30th. There are two ways to boost your bankroll and FTP balance. First, players who compete on at least two real money ring game tables during the month-long promotion will earn bonus cash based on the number of days they hit the virtual felts. Five days of multi-tabling will earn a Full Tilt customer a cool $5 bonus. Players who multi-table for 10 days will pocket an extra $10 for a total of $15. Fifteen days of multi-tabling means an extra $10 in your pocket, or $25 total. Finally, 25 days of multi-tabling during the month of September results in $50 in bonus cash. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 9% [?]