September is sort of done and with it the WCOOP. I went to Vienna to play the series with a friend, which was nice because I wasn't alone grinding the entire time.
Now I'm waiting for the arena Series of Poker Asia-Pacific, which gets going early in October and can last for two-and-a-half weeks. I've booked my flight to Melbourne, Australia, which after all may be an extended journey. I COULD have some jet lag once I first arrive, but I'LL attempt to adapt by changing my sleeping schedule before leaving.
I've never been to Australia before, although I always desired to visit the Aussie Millions previously. I probably shouldn't have gone to the WSOP APAC if not for the WSOP Player of the Year race, for which I'm sitting in second place not far behind Brandon Shack-Harris (who I DO KNOW may also be there).
George DanzerI'm just a little lower than seven points behind Brandon for the POY. That amounts to a single min-cash, so first-place is actually still up for grabs. Player of the Year awards -- or Player of the Series awards like in WCOOP and SCOOP -- definitely provide extra motivation for players, especially for those who're near the highest because the last events are arriving.
I personally think the WSOP Player of the Year race should end with the WSOP Main Event and never necessarily involve the Europe or Asia-Pacific series. The various points are won in those events in Vegas, and it builds up nicely to that climax after which it's over. Adding the later series just complicates things, and naturally not everyone can visit Europe or Australia and continue to fight for the POY. I say that although it would has been bad for me this year, because I MIGHT have finished second!
The WSOP APAC will only encompass ten tournaments and EPT London is occurring on the same time, so I MIGHT have preferred to stick in Europe and played on the EPT as opposed to make a 20-hour trip (and back). But you can not win the WSOP Player of the Year too often, so while you get the danger you more or less must opt for it.
I've teamed up with a few buddies of mine and we are going to be renting an apartment in Melbourne, for the reason that location itself is rather expensive. You almost certainly couldn't win enough in those tournaments to pay for the hotel.
The events at the schedule are fine. There are a few mixed-game tournaments, a few pot-limit Omaha events, or even a $25K high roller. If there have been 20 tournaments it might be a bit nicer, given how long it takes to get there. Even so, I'm excited for the series and looking out forward to doing my best while there.
I don't plan to peer much of Melbourne while I'm there as I WILL BE playing poker daily. I'm really just going to be there to take a look at to win the WSOP POY -- that'll be the one goal.
I could be going back to that a part of the sector in January, however, to play the Aussie Millions and likewise to have a correct vacation with my girlfriend so we can include going over to New Zealand to boot. We'll perform a little hiking both in Australia and New Zealand, and that i won't be 100% all in favour of poker. It's good that I'VE that trip planed for later, because otherwise I'd be bummed about being in Melbourne without the risk to look anything other a large number of poker hands.
The break after the WSOP in Las Vegas was pretty long, and as I HAVE BEEN playing WCOOP I HAVE BEEN seeking to get refocused on my game and shake off a bit rust. The WCOOP didn't necessarily go too well for me results-wise this year, but it surely have been great for purchasing back within the swing previous to my upcoming trip.
Wish me luck down under!
George Danzer is a member of Team PokerStars Pro.More tournaments and more innovation, particularly for those players who love to stay awake late after they play poker.
It all is available in the shape of the King's Cup, a brand new additional to the 2014 calendar, to be staged on the King's Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic.
Rozvadov is hardly a brand new stop for poker players, given its pedigree as a well-liked spot at the Eureka Poker Tour. The King's Cup however is a standalone event, going down between 6 and 9 November, with the highlight being a €500+€50 by-in Main Event with a €200,000 guarantee.
If that does not pull people throughout the door then there are a couple of other curiosities to maintain you interested.
For the primary time in PokerStars history the festival will feature a turbo starting day for the principle Event -- with the similar structure and starting stack, but with shorter levels, permitting players who register on the last minute, in addition to people with short attention spans, to enroll in within the fun.
But festivals like this aren't all concerning the main event. PLENTY OF side events will keep players busy across the clock. And accordingly we mean that quite literally.
In another first the King's Cup festival will include a variety of events that begin at midnight, open to any player who has the buy-in, and who has not by then become a pumpkin.
Those events include a €150+€15 Midnight Turbo on Thursday 6 November -- starting at exactly 00:00 - and a Midnight Bounty event on Saturday 8 November. Let's accept it, for many poker players that's late afternoon.
In addition to all of this there'll even be room for a Eureka pot-limit Omaha Champion with a distinct two day event set to happen as a part of the festival, starting on November 8. There'll even be satellites for the Eureka Season 4 main event in Prague, which happens within the Czech capital sooner than the EPTs arrival on the town.
For more details at the King's Cup, and everything going down through the festival in Rozvodov, take a look at the the Facebook page.
Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.
Such was the case for Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko yesterday. He'd been comfortable enough in day two of the debut Russian Poker Tour event in St Petersburg, and was seeking to make a deep run into the money, which started in 18th place (201 entries).
With 19 still in with a shout, and with 50,000 chips behind him, the house favourite moved all in confidently with A-A when chess player Alex Grishuk pushed with what turned out to be a slightly feeble A-2.
The double up would make Kravchenko, a former WSOP Main Event final tablist, a force to be reckoned with. But wait! A two at the flop, and another falling devastatingly at the river was enough to send Kravchenko to the rail in 19th place - only one off the money.
Grishuk's slice of luck didn't last, though. Only a twinkling of an eye later he got all his chips in with 10-10 and was busted by Vadim Markushevsky's A-K when the king fell at the river.
That gave Markushevsky the momentum to last the day and reach today's final table of nine players, where Dumitru Gaina from Moldova will lead the pack chasing the 10,600,000 rubles first price (about $300,000):
1. Dumitru Gaina, Kishinev, Moldova - 501,0002. Sergey Popuk, Arkhangelsk, Russia - 302,0003. Sergey Solntsev, St. Petersburg, Russia - 256,0004. Vadim Markushevsky, Minsk, Belarus - 256,0005. Anatoly Ozhenilok, St. Petersburg, Russia - 203,0006. Bulat Bikmetov, Novokuznetsk, Russia - 181,0007. Evgeny Zaytsev, Lubertsy, Russia - 178,0008. Alex Pantuhin, Kaliningrad, Russia - 76,0009. Oleg Suntsov , St. Petersburg, Russia - 64,000
It had taken 90 minutes to burst the general table bubble, so spare a thought for Mark Vronsky, who pushed with pocket nines but bumped into a mighty - and ultimately - conquering J-Q.
Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso started day two but was unable to make things happen together with her short stack of little greater than 10,000. She pushed with an ace, was called by Q-7, and a seven at the board was enough to eliminate her. She was gracious in defeat, though, and offered a fair" luck" in Russian to everyone on the table. PokerStars sponsored player Ivan Demidov also fell early within the day in 39th place.
Today's final kicks off at 3pm local time. For those who can decipher Russian - and let's accept it, it is easy enough... NOT! - you'll follow the action with Pavel Sychev, our Russian blogger here. When you can't understand a word of it, do not be disturbed - we'll report at the progress on these esteemed pages later!
