You may have heard it in the past: “Phil Ivey is the Tiger Woods of poker.” Sure, maybe race has a little something to do with it, but it’s also because they have icy cold stares, an unparalleled amount of determination and have the distinct similarity of being absolutely dominant in their games of choice.

So, join us as we go comparing the king of the EPT’s Mike “Timex” McDonald to pop icon Justin Bieber.

Canadian: Of course, we have to first address the fact that both Mike and Justin hail from Canada. Granted these Canucks are from different cities, Bieber from London, Ontario and Timex from Waterloo, Ontario. When you look at it on a map though, those cities are only about an hour and change away from each other…pretty close, eh?

“Not nearly close enough to pair them up, pure coincidence. Next.”

Pretty: By most accounts, in both their fields, these two guys would be considered pretty good looking kids. Justin Bieber, of course, makes the girls swoon at each and every concert while Timex gets labeled a 9 out of 10 by the fawning fans on Two Plus Two. Let’s face it, both these guys would have a leg up with the ladies even if they weren’t rich.

“Still no real connection but we’re starting to see what you’re going for. Is that all?”

Talented: Hate on them all you want but what they have is undeniable talent. They’ve both got it. Timex has climbed to the mountain top of poker and Bieber has “bad boy-ed” his punk ass to the pinnacle of pop music. These guys both have exhibited a determination and drive to be one of the best, as have most well known celebrities in their given career paths.

“Yea, but a lot of people have these things in common…you’ve got to do better.”

2008: Many people will remember the story of Timex’s big splash onto the poker scene when he, as an 18 year old, went to EPT Dortmund in 2008 and won the whole thing for over $1.3 million and made his mark on the worldwide poker scene. That happens to be the same year that a 14 year old Justin Bieber became the #1 most subscribed to Canadian musician on YouTube (number 20 in the world at the time) and it was the same year he was 'discovered’ by a talent manager and introduced to pop star Usher. Yep, the pair of good looking Canadian phenoms were discovered in the same year.

“OK, that’s interesting…”

Yellow Lambo:

“What??”

That’s right. Yellow Lamborghinis. Mike McDonald owns a yellow Lambo convertable. He called it one of the “least responsible” financial decisions he’s made. In fact, it’s the same kind and color that Justin Bieber was driving when he was busted for his irresponsible DUI this week. The $200k sportcar, which Bieber was drag racing, has a top speed of 200mph and both these guys drive one.

“Bring it home, you’ve just about got me…”

Retirement: Both McDonald and Bieber publicly announced their premature retirement. Bieber pulled a head fake on Christmas Eve last year via twitter at the ripe old retiring age of 19. McDonald announced his retirement from the game of poker at a much older and wiser 20 years of age, back in 2010. But, of course, we know that both have successfully returned to the limelight in their separate professions: Timex at the PCA and Bieber with a DUI.

“Oh man, oh man…is this some sort of joke?”

So is Mike “Timex” McDonald the Justin Bieber of poker? If you throw in the icy stares, the well groomed hair, the fact they both like to show off their chests a little too much and the fact that Justin Bieber actually has a song called 'One Time’ …it’s close.

But NO, we’re not prepared to saddle McDonald with that title. Simply because despite their seemingly parallel lives, Bieber, from first hand accounts, is a total douche whereas Timex has a reputation for maybe being a little flashy, and a little curt, but overall smart and humble in person.

That said, that yellow Lambo has probably worn out its welcome.

What do you think?

Check out Timex dressed as Bieber for Halloween. Photo courtesy of the good humored Mike McDonald.

Picture the peaceful sleeper nestled under the covers: body at rest, breathing and pulse slow and steady. Beneath that serene surface, the brain is hard at work processing the events that have just occurred. It sorts and files, makes connections, and even solves problems.

Morley goes on to take you step by step through his process of getting ready to spend a full day clicking buttons and playing poker. It’s a really quick read that will help you get your brain around improving your game.

If, and that’s a big IF, he can find the support, he and Micros mastermind John Wray may start with webcomics and add an animated version as a stretch goal.

“First I’ve heard of this. So Krantz wants to do a 'fundraiser’ right before the World Series of Poker? And he says it’s for The Micros? Riiiiiiigh,.” Wray said to F5.

If you recall, the webseries really hit its stride when it was sponsored by Full Tilt Poker. Well, according to our big bros at pokerfuse, $82 million in Full Tilt funds are looking like they will be paid back within a few weeks, so perhaps the community will set aside some reimbursement to give this project new life. So, do you want more episodes of The Micros??

Watch the original episode to rediscover the magic:

While Garrett may not have the same popularity of Jean-Robert Bellande, he does have the respect of many in the poker community. According to an article on PokerListings, Garrett did some work for poker training site Deuces Cracked as well as appeared on strategy podcast “Deuce Plays” with Bart Hansen.

You can watch Adelstein, as he competes for the “brains” tribe, on Survivor when the show premiers on Feb. 26.

Perhaps congrats to all the fanboys in poker as well as it looks like Liv’s next payday will benefit just about everybody…it’s a photo shoot with FHM Magazine.

Although, to be honest, we hope that this photo shoot does not end up like her Maxim shoot where she, inexplicably, ended up on a toilet.

Wanna read more about Liv’s fast start to 2014? Check out a new interview she did with PokerPlayer Magazine online.

How expensive is that? Well, if you remove any sentimental attachment, at today’s gold prices, the bracelet would need to be solid gold and weigh nearly 5 full pounds in order to equal the value of what is being asked.

If this bracelet indeed goes for $100k, just how many WSOP bracelet winners would rethink keeping their victory wristwear? How much money would a real sentimental bracelet, like Johnny Chan’s 1988 WSOP Main Event bracelet, be worth?

Finally, if you’re one of those people that think $100k is too expensive — note that they are offering free shipping.

Is this the bracelet that is for sale? Photo courtesy of The Hendon Mob

With only a $150 buy-in, Matt needs (as of yesterday) another 4,749 runners in order not to have the Commerce shell out any cash to make up the prize pool difference. The question really is: Is he being real or just trying to juice the numbers? There’s a high likelihood that the later it gets towards the end of the Day 1 heats, the more people will show up. Is Matt really worried? Either way, it’s a massive tournament for a little price tag and if you are in the LA area, it’s a great time to take a shot without much downside.

Check out the entire schedule for one of Los Angeles’ premiere poker festivals, the Los Angeles Poker Classic.

Poker: Crushing Final Tables.

There’s nothing quite like playing for four or five days and making a final table—it’s such a feeling of accomplishment. I’ve final tabled EPT High Rollers, but never a Main Event. The fields in Europe are so massive and tough that it would be quite a feat to become an EPT winner (after that: a Triple Crown).

Life Balance: Only playing when she’s focused and relaxed.

I’ve learned this lesson over and over—if I play when I don’t want to play then I won’t play well.—and I want to try harder to remember this year, to make it a precept of my career. I play best when I’m living a balanced life. When I’m spending quality time with friends, attending family celebrations, petting my dogs, enjoying being married, staying active, and making sure that my mind is thinking about and working on more than just poker.

Smiling: You get what you give.

It sounds cheesy, but I really want to make a conscious effort to smile more so that my outside matches my inside.

You can also read about Selbst’s work with her non-profit organization dedicated to rooting out abuses of power and also, why she plans on spending more time on social media. Check out the full post over at the PokerStarsBlog.

Philadelphia’s Anthony Nicodemo hit a set of kings and eventually rivered quads in a losing effort when David Gallagher, from Ridley Park, flopped a straight flush. Everyone knows that a beat that bad qualifies for the bad beat jackpot and so Harrah’s started to dish out the prizes.

For losing the hand, Nicodemo walked with the lion’s share of the loot claiming $91,811 and Gallagher, who took home the negligible pot, scored an additional $45,905 for winning the hand.

They weren’t the only winners though. According to the Casino City Times, there were 5 other guys just watching the action who were in the game. Each of these luckboxes walked with $9,181 just for sitting in.

Harrah’s Philadelphia, a Caesar’s property, promptly reset the bad beat jackpot to it’s $100k base and started the process all over again.

Now, it’s 2014 and a Circuit Court judge of Ireland will be hearing if a quarter million of that cash is to be forfeited to the State. You see, in 2011, the Irish police force found €36,000 in cash at a property that they were investigating under a drug warrant. The cash, hidden in a bag in a wardrobe, was eventually traced to Carr as a pal told police he was holding it for him for safe keeping. The fact that it was in this house, under these circumstances, left authorities with doubts.

Counsel for Mr Carr, Michael Collins, said that while his client may have “come from a certain part of town” or that he “may have friends in low places” were not grounds enough to question how the poker player came to have the money.

That’s not the end of this story, of course. During a routine traffic stop, in 2012, police suspicions were again raised when they found an additional €240,000 in the footwell of a car. Carr stepped up to claim that cash too. Adding it all together, it’s roughly the amount of his Paddy Power score.

Carr tried to convince the court that all the cash was a part of his tournament victory, but officials were not convinced that the cash had not become part of a criminal proceeding and this week are looking to deliver Carr the worst beat of all…taking it for the state.

The pair dueled at the insane stakes of $400/$800 at the NLHE uncapped tables, both sitting with 6-figures in front of them. In the end, it would be Ike who made more in about an hour then most of us will in the next 5 years netting a $530k profit. The massive score came partly from two massive hands.

Watch: Ike flops a Q hi diamond flush for a $322k pot.

Watch: Isildur three-barrels ace high into a turned two pair

Though such a loss would seemingly be devastating, Isildur was already up $660k on the day. In fact, as it turns out, after a 12 hour session, Blom would still end up with a profit of $160k, and he currently sits with over $1.34m in profit in 2014.

For all the details on Blom’s high stakes hijinx, check out the full report over at Full Tilt.

Of course, this is the 2nd time an event had to be cancelled in this series, the first being Event 1 due to the massive shit storm caused by the introduction of 1 million fake tournament chips, the result of which is still pending.

While it’s freezing on the East Coast, all signs point to the BWO getting back on track tomorrow with two tournaments – Event 13 a $350+$50+$100 buy in bounty tournament and Event 14, a $1500+$150 2-day Heads Up tournament.

Check out the entire schedule, as it’s supposed to play out, for the Borgata Winter Open.

“Poker in Pittsburgh is actually pretty big,” says Jack Schanbacher, 31, of Reserve, who went up against 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer, 2009 Main Event champion Joe Cada and four other big names during the “Poker Night” filming at Rivers Casino. “There are some high-stakes games that go on in Pittsburgh that you don’t find across the country. There are some wealthy guys that enjoy playing poker. We get some very big games.”

In fact, it was PNIA’s Nolan Dalla that saw the potential in the city as a up and coming hotbed of poker activity.

“(It’s) a fresh, new market where poker is popular and seems to be growing,” says Dalla, who has been media director for the World Series of Poker since 2002 and was PokerStars’ communications director for three years. “We find that players are much more excited and open to what we are trying to do in poker locations that are relatively new and fresh.”

The players were excited to take a shot at some of the big name pros as well as the locals who reportedly sometimes play games as big as $25/$50. Poker Night In America was shot at the Rivers Casino, the 4th largest casino in PA, with a 30 table room that sees its fair share of higher stakes action players.

Interested in reading more about how the Pittsburgh poker scene? Check out the full article.

Talk about aces cracked.

In a more traditional sense, the king of photographing bad beats, @flyinlyons, snapped this shot of pocket AA getting it all in yesterday:

All in all, the last year was rather disappointing since I couldn’t even get close to the final table in most of the major tournaments. The only exceptions were Macau and the France Poker Series in November, where I reached the final table. But that’s certainly not sufficient. The main point is that I want to improve my game – I don’t want to have another year like 2013 ever again.

That’s not the only thing BG is working on. This guy has been hitting the gym and he’s got the photos to prove it. ElkY believes that a strong physical presence helps you get through those hours of poker fatigue when you go deep in a tournament.

If you’re not in a good condition, you’re going to be tired much faster and making more more mistakes especially at the end of the day.

It’s a solid article and a great way great to catch up with the Team PokerStars Pro ... check it out.

Buttons on the side activate the flop, turn and river and three people can gather around the clock without seeing each others hole cards, thanks to a slotted view. The reverse side of the watch allows users to play roulette as well. According to the watchmaker’s website, the technology inside reportedly took a team of experts a full two years to perfect. So, who wants one?

Check out the options and features of the Christope Claret Poker Watch

So it looks like Justin is in the market for someone to be his liaison with the outside world. If you are looking for a job, live in Los Angeles and have some excellent “life references” – shoot Justin an email.

It’s the job of Matt Savage to deem who is “Star” worthy and get them to commit to being at Bay 101. He’s finally got it on lock and so, here it is: The list of pro players who will be in San Jose, CA this March trying to dodge the local bounty hunters while attempting to take down what will likely be a $1m first place prize.

1. Aaron Massey – over 1.5 million in career tournament earnings
2. Allen Cunningham – 5-time WSOP bracelet winner
3. Allen Kessler – 2013 HPT Player of the Year
4. Ana Marquez – Spanish pro with nearly $1m in career tournament earnings
5. Antonio Esfandiari – 3-time WSOP bracelet winner, 2-time WPT champion, #1 All Time Money List
6. Blair Hinkle – WSOP bracelet winner
7. Bruce Buffer – the voice of the UFC Octogon
8. Carlos Mortensen – 2001 WSOP Main Event Champ, 3 time WPT champion
9. Chris Moorman – multi-time #1 ranked online player, over $10m in online earnings
10. Dan Shak – Premiere League VI winner, 2012 Aussie Millions $100k Challenge winner
11. Daniel Negreanu – 6-time WSOP bracelet winner, 2 time WPT champion, 2013 WSOP POY
12. David Chiu – 5-time WSOP bracelet winner, WPT champion
13. Dominik Nitsche – WSOP bracelet winner, WPT champion, LAPT champion
14. Erik Seidel – 8-time WSOP bracelet winner, WPT champion
15. Eugene Katchalov – WSOP bracelet winner, WPT champion
16. Faraz Jaka – 2-time WSOP bracelet winner
17. Greg Mueller – 2-time WSOP bracelet winner
18. Jason Koon – over $2.4m in career tournament earnings
19. Jason Mercier – 2-time WSOP bracelet winner, EPT champion
20. Jay Farber – 2013 WSOP Main Event runner-up
21. JC Tran – 2-time WSOP bracelet winner, WPT champion
22. Jennifer Harman – 2-time WSOP bracelet winner
23. Jennifer Tilly – WSOP bracelet winner, bone fide movie star
24. Joe Hachem – 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion, WPT champion
25. Joe Serock – over $2.3m in career tournament earnings
26. John Juanda – 5-time WSOP bracelet winner
27. Jonathan Duhamel – 2010 WSOP Main Event Champion
28. Kyle Julius – over $2.5m in career tournament earnings
29. Loni Harwood – WSOP bracelet winner
30. Ludovic Lacay – French pro with over $3.2m in career tournament earnings
31. Maria Ho – Commentator for the HPT with over $1.5m in career tournament earnings
32. Marvin Rettemeier – 2-time WPT Champion
33. Matt Salsberg – WPT Champion, writer/producer for TV show “Weeds”
34. Michael Mizrachi – 3-time WSOP bracelet winner, 2-time WPT champ
35. Mike Matusow – 4-time WSOP bracelet winner
36. Mike Sexton – WSOP bracelet winner, host of the WPT television show
37. Nam Le – WPT champion
38. Noah Schwartz – WSOP bracelet winner, WPT champion
39. Paul Volpe – 3rd place in 2013 WPT Shooting Stars, over $2.3m in career tournament earnings
40. Phil Hellmuth – 1989 WSOP Main Event Champion, 13-time WSOP bracelet winner
41. Phil Laak – WSOP bracelet winner, WPT champion
42. Ravi Raghavan – WPT champion
43. Ryan Riess – 2013 WSOP Main Event Champion
44. Scotty Nguyen – 5-time WSOP bracelet winner, WPT champion
45. Todd Brunson – WSOP bracelet winner
46. Tom Dwan – over $2.3m in career tournament earnings, confirmed sicko
47. Tony Dunst – WPT champion, Host of the WPT Raw Deal segment
48. Vanessa Selbst – 2-time WSOP bracelet winner, 2-time NAPT champion, confirmed sicko
49. Will Failla – WPT champion
50. Yevginy Timoshenko – WPT champion

Well, now Dwan himself has come out and denied it…but conspiracy theorists and people who take things way too seriously have questioned if the denial is a fake tell. Winning that amount of money could make you a target not only from governments who want their cut, but also from superfans who go by the name of Dan.

Either way, that was fun. On to the next one.

Watch an actual huge win for Durrrr: