Jennifer Tilly Finds Happiness In The Insane Vortex Of Poker

The latest episode of PokerStars' Bonus Cut may be their best yet.

An F5poker favorite, Jennifer Tilly talks openly about her early acting career and how she became sucked into the crazy vortex that is life as a professional poker player.

Never one to do something half way, Tilly, essentially dropped acting for a time and focused solely on cracking the insane puzzle of pro poker. While Tilly has the utmost confidence in her big screen ability, she recognizes that she still has a few leaks to plug in her game, and that’s OK…for now.

If you’ve ever met Tilly, you’d be confident in her belief that she’ll not only always up her game but she’ll find a way to be happy while doing it.

Listen to this:

Conversation With Jennifer Tilly Pt.1 – Vanessa Selbst, Poker Collectibles and Making Her Mark on the Game

Conversation With Jennifer Tilly Pt.2 – Her Biggest Loss, Poker Rehab and The End of “DEJEN”

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Chris Moorman’s Unwanted Online Accolade

"Moorman1" continues to rack up the awards - both good and bad.

Chris “Moorman1” Moorman is one of, if not the, most accomplished online players in poker history. When you’ve won over $11M online and captured as many titles as he has, you know he’s seen it all…including his fair share of bubbles.

Thanks for the needle @winamaxeurope! #poker #bubbleboy #missionfailed

Well, here’s a new award he can take credit for: the bubbleboy award given to him by Winamax.

Don’t feel too bad for the online beast, he just recently won his 22nd PocketFives Triple Crown and has a new book coming out this November where he plans on sharing all of his trade secrets. Hopefully he’ll leave out how to bubble effectively.

With all of Chris’ recent activity and his career long successes both online and off, poker pundit Lee Davy can’t help but ask himself 'Why The **** Isn’t Chris Moorman Sponsored?’ [Pokerlistings]

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Supplement Your Bankroll – Company Claims Specially Formulated Poker Nutrition

These guys think their products can help you win more.

Next thing you know we’ll be calling for testing of PED’s in poker.

Poker Fuel is a company that is using their “one time” to market their brand of poker nutrition products (drinks, pills, mixes) specifically for and to poker players. “Nutrition for Winners!” is one of the slogans that promises to bring you more endurance, mental energy and better play for long days on the felt.

Whether you play online or live, these dudes are claiming to have a “range of specially-designed nutrition and poker supplement products will keep you performing at your peak and can be prepared instantly.”

Is nutrition important in poker? Just ask All-American Dave. Can someone create a specific supplement just for poker players? Poker Fuel certainly clams to.

Our supplements are created by poker players, for poker players. We know that the nutrition you need is different to other sports so our range is designed for your needs.

They are even giving away a free tumbler for you to chug that poker protein. We think though that they may have missed the mark on their name branding.

The products have brands like “Prepare”, “Fortify” and “Endurance” when they should have been named things like “One Time” for when you need a single solution for your long grind, “Run Good” for deliciously flavored shake and finally “Slow Play” for when you need to relax after a long day at the tables.

Interested in poker specific nutrition? Here you go…it’s Poker Fuel.

Note: We don’t know these guys, have never tried it, do not endorse this or anything like that…we just think it’s funny.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Liv Boeree Poker Princess, Metal Mistress

Poker Night In America unleashes the Iron Maiden.

Team PokerStars Pro in good standing, Liv Boeree, joined the cast of the Poker Night In America exclusive cash game at Turning Stone today and when she wasn’t chopping pots, she was shredding on her axe.

Boeree, who has a well publicized love of metal music, took the opportunity to play to the camera and she picked Metallica's “Fade To Black” for her anthem.

You can’t spell Liv Boeree without E.V.I.L.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Dan and Danielle Develop Ninja Skills, Save Jobs In “Me vs U”

Episode 8 is hardcore parkour.

Survivors of the Ultimate Poker roster cut, Danielle Andersen and Dan O’Brien, are once again taking their rivalry to new heights. This time the pair fling their bodies around a rudimentary parkour course to see who has better cat-like reflexes and ability to scale walls.

To the winner – dinner. To the loser a stint on the Las Vegas Strip entertaining people with their god-given skills until they reach $10 in tips.

Want more “Me vs. U”? Here you go.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink


Daniel Negreanu Would “Bet A Million” On His High Stakes Online Ability

Potential epic prop bet on the horizon?

While Phil Ivey gets the general consensus nod for being the best poker player on the planet, there’s a case that one could make for 2013 WSOP Player of the Year Daniel Negreanu. He sits atop the All Time Money List, he’s the only 2-time WSOP POY in history, he’s tied for 6th on the bracelet list with 6, and he’s a two-time WPT Champion. “Kid Poker” is good.

But is he good enough to beat the 25/50 game online at PokerStars?

The online debate (some might say trolling) started once Negreanu began getting some “feedback” from followers about his televised play from the televised One Drop. He took a few moments to explain himself and provide some general poker advice,

Not good enough for some haters/doubters, including poker player Daniel Merrilees who gets back on the attack and question Daniel’s “real world” ability by suggesting that he couldn’t even beat the 5/10 online game on PokerStars.

Want to rile up Kid Poker? Question his ability on the felt, virtual or otherwise.

Confidence never an issue for the Choice Center alum, Daniel offered to take his critic for all they are worth and even provided all a reminder of his re-education of the high stakes online game back in 2010. While he may not be able to jump in today, within a couple weeks he could beat 25/50 again.

Not sure if serious, Negreanu was prodded a little more and then he offered up a plan that shows he’s extremely serious.

Would bet a million.

The last time Daniel would bet “up to a million” he and Ivey took on the poker community in a bracelet bet…and won. Could this be another prop bet in the making? But who would take the opposition to Negreanu? Perhaps his One Drop nemesis…Daniel “DarkGame” Colman, who is not as confident in Negreanu.

Taking Daniel’s side though is top-of-the-line good guy Isaac Haxton.

Is Negreanu up to the challenge once again? Back in 2010 he was very open about revamping his game, getting help and getting back into the biggest games online. Will this future Hall of Famer once again go back into the classroom and provide the poker world with one of the most interesting prop bets in recent memory?

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

One Drop Wizard Daniel Colman Takes Exception To ESPN Characterization

"I do not care about poker."

Poker’s so-called anti-hero Daniel Colman, the winner of the $15M first place prize in the ESPN televised Big One For One Drop Tournament decided he has a little more to say.

After the airing of the final episode, and the subsequent media storm about just how tame Colman’s reaction was, Colman took to his recently active Twitter account to rebuff his characterization by announcer Lon McEachern and his heads-up opponent Daniel Negreanu.

He tweets on again about his decision to decline to talk to the media and even claims that he “misrepresented” himself initially.

At the same time, over at 4Flush, Steve Ruddock does a little celebrating of our emo champ in his latest column where he calls the “conflicted superstar” another welcome archetype to the cast of poker characters.

While Colman would not likely appreciate being cast in this role, if he’s keeping it 100, he’s sure to understand that it’s somewhat of his own doing. One doesn’t enter the biggest tournament of the year, one that was previously advertised to be televised, win the damn thing and expect those that are covering it (and the industry) to simply leave you alone with that regard.

Read: Daniel Colman Is the Bill Belichek of Poker, and That’s a Good Thing

It looks like Colman’s coming out of his shell, at least a little, though his Twitter account has only a total of 11 tweets (at the time of this writing), almost all have come in the past two weeks despite his page saying it was established in July 2012 (may be a misclick).

It’s something his fans are sure to appreciate.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Saul Goodman – Poker Playing Attorney At Law

It's rigged!

Poker is rigged! If you don’t think so just ask noted criminal defense attorney, in good standing, Saul Goodman.

The Albuquerque, New Mexico Attorney At Law can be seen here, in the privacy of his own office via his own webcam, playing a little poker (among other interesting activities) in his downtime. It seems that in the couple of hands he plays, Saul had some bad breaks that leads him to having his assistant look for a new poker app – “One that’s more fair!”

With online poker not quite legal in New Mexico, should you get nabbed running a for-profit home game you’d Better Call Saul.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Best Buys And Bad Beats At The Full Tilt Merchandise Auction

A little over a week ago tons of confiscated merch from the old regime of Full Tilt Poker was auctioned off at a fraction of alleged value. If it had a Full Tilt logo stamped on it, it was up for sale on the cheap.

Read: Full Tilt Auction – Discount Merch Is Going, Going, Gone

Now over at 4Flush, Haley Hintz takes a hilarious in-depth look into the “The Good”, “The Bad” and the “What-the-Hell??!?” items that were sold and what the possible end of the road will be for these old school reminders of the golden era of online poker.

Even in the midst of a big-lots sale that averaged less than four pennies on the dollar compared to supposed full value, there were some good buys, bad buys, and some unsellable head-scratchers.

Here’s the best and worst of the recently completed Full Tilt Poker auction of bulk-lot merchandise. Expect individual items from these bulk lots to start cluttering up eBay, Amazon, and flea markets across the country within weeks.

We liked it, you will too.

Read: Evaluating the Full Tilt Poker Merchandise Auction

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

“Nacho” Barbero May Be Gone But His Message Carries On

No, he’s not dead! But the man named “Nacho” has, ahem, “parted ways” with PokerStars. But just because he’s no longer representing the online giant doesn’t mean he can’t still represent the online giant. Wait…what?

That’s right, we posted yesterday about the departure of Jose “Nacho” Barbero from Team PokerStars and no sooner than we did, we received a promotion from PokerStars featuring…Jose “Nacho” Barbero.

Our pals at Card Player Latin America first reported about Barbero’s departure at the beginning of the month, and even though his photo and individual page has been removed from the website here he is, even after getting dumped…we mean “parting ways”... pitching the promotion that PokerStars games are now available in LATAM Spanish almost two weeks later.

Just goes to show you that even when a pro is no longer with an online site, their legacy lives on.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

European Poker Tour Hypes 100th Title

Get ready to spend your days in front of your computer.

Hope you are ready for the biggest, baddest European Poker Tour hype video yet. With 99 titles claims over a 10 year reign the dubstep loving production crew over at PokerStars is ready to get you abso psyched for #EPT100.

EPT Barcelona kicks off on August 16th with the €5,000 + €300 Main Event, covered by James, Joe and the EPT Live crew, begins on Thursday August 21.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Daniel “DarkGame” Colman – Does Nothing, Goes Viral

Those in the poker know, already knew how The Big One for One Drop winner Daniel Colman would react to winning the $15M first place prize – which is to say he wouldn’t react at all. Well, the rest of the planet, who would care about such things, seems slightly stunned at his expressionless victory over the somewhat giddy runner-up, Daniel Negreanu.

This clip of Colman’s victory hand is well over 6-figures in views in under 24-hours.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Poker Is Life – Incorporating Poker Skills into the Workplace

Tips on how to soothe those 9-to-5 aches & pains.

Eventbrite Vice President of Engineering Pat Poels took full advantage of the “Moneymaker” boom ten years ago—capturing two World Series of Poker bracelets and subsequently piling up over $1 million in live tournament cashes.

However, the Arizona businessman opted to reunite with his first love—the tech industry—in recent years… taking what he learned at the tables and incorporating it into his current work environment.

Over at FastCompany.com, Poels provides a list of five “poker skills” that have helped make his professional grind as a tech executive a success.

For starters, Poels believes that the ability to read individuals (whether they are current employees or potential business partners) is mandatory.

Use your eyes—not just your ears—to pick up on problems.

On top of that, being aware of your current financial position and how your decisions will affect it is also of utmost importance, as is being able to let go of your ego and walk away from a deal that doesn’t provide sufficient Risk vs. Reward.

In poker and business alike, the question comes down to: is the juice worth the squeeze?

Finally, Poels suggests that stress management as well as trusting one’s internet decision making process could hold the key to long-term success in any business endeavor—regardless of whether it is competing at a poker table or in the corporate world.

Check it out: 5 Ways Poker Can Make You Better At Your Job

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

partypoker Premiere League 7 – Episode 20

It's Final Table Time!

Back-to-back TV tables for your workday Wednesday.

The partpoker Premiere League 7’s televised broadcast is winding down and we’re ready to watch the final table. Brian Rast, Jason Koon, Jeff Gross, Scott Seiver, Sorel Mizzi and Daniel Colman takes their seats in the early action to determine the eventual winner.

Looking for more Premiere League? Here’s the previous episode: partypoker Premiere League 7 – Episode 19

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Nick “FU_15” Maimone Negotiates For World Peace

Declares victory in Super Tuesday tournament.

Good on you if you remember Nick “FU_15” Maimone from his deep run (and tons of TV time) in the 2009 World Series of Poker. We found this screencap pretty amusing of Nick attempting to negotiate a chop in last night’s PokerStars Super Tuesday tournament.

Turns out this deal didn’t go through and so Nick just had to settle for chopping heads up with Ankush “pistons87” Mandavia for over $103K each.

Not bad, sir.

Read all about how Super Tuesday went down and the process of negotiation from Shamus and the PokerStars Blog: Nick 'FU_15’ Maimone and Ankush 'pistons87’ Mandavia chop 8/12/14 Super Tuesday, earn $103K each

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

PokerStars EPT 2014 PCA Main Event – Episode 2

Over ten million in the prize pool and $1.8M for first.

Roughly 450 players return to the Atlantis in the Bahamas to battle it out for EPT glory and the over $1.8M first place prize. The featured table in this episode features an F5 favorite – our pal Jennifer Tilly takes center stage.

James and Joe call all the action on one of the best produced-for-tv, hole-cards-up broadcasts that you’ll watch this week. Your body may be at work, but send your mind to the beach and enjoy Episode 2 of the PokerStars 2014 PCA.

Miss Episode 1? We got you.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Jose “Nacho” Barbero Team PokerStars Pro No More

Contract not renewed for two-time LAPT Champion.

A nod to Brian Saslavchik over at Card Player Latin America who brought to our attention (via our Facebook page!) that the recent news that Humberto “The Shark” Brenes has parted ways with the newly acquired online giant PokerStars is not the only Latin American pro to lose his sponsorship. There were a pair of other pros who were not retained at roughly the same time.

Jose “Nacho” Barbero, the two-time Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) champion and EPT London High Roller champ will no longer be sporting the PokerStars patch.

As reported in Card Player Latin America last week (and translated via Chrome), Barbero’s non-contract renewal came on the heels of another sponsorship ending the relationship with poker pro Angel Guillen.

Read: Nacho Barbero will not continue as Team PokerStars Pro

The translation of the article’s quote effectively said that Juan Carreño, PokerStars Regional Manager has indicated that there is a shift in policy when it comes to the region of Latin America and according to him, this is by no means because of new management. It’s a matter of budget cuts and PokerStars cannot support multiple Team Pros in Argentina and Mexico.

He also indicated, according to the translation (which could be wrong…technology), that this isn’t limited to just Latin America and that there may be a reduction of pros in regions where there are more than one.

This is happening all over the world. You can not be two Team Pro by country. [translated]

If this is the case and the translation is correct, the dismissal of Nacho, Angel and The Shark may be the first wave of poker pros victimized by “budget cuts” of a new regime at PokerStars.

In fact, it’s been a vicious week for the poker employed. In addition to PokerStars trimming their roster, Ultimate Poker cut their stable of “Team U” pros in half this week.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Poker Night In America – It’s More Fun When Mikey’s Happy

Matusow pouts, a new cast is brought in.

Poker Night In America coaxes Mike Matusow back to the made-for-TV cash game table but The Mouth isn’t happy about it. The cast of jibber-jabbers have to deal with Matusow’s emo reaction to getting slowrolled.

Midway through the episode, not only do Deeb and Matusow make up, but the PNIA cast switches it up and new superstars sit to try and stack each other. Phil Laak, Eli Elezra, Will The Thrill, David Williams, Layne Flack and more sit down to change the texture of the broadcast.

Looking for more PNIA? Check out episode 4 right here.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Mike Sexton Prefers The Comfy Confines of Home

Check out another promo video from partypoker where Grandpa Mike gathers his flock around the poker table and holds them hostage through tales of the old days.

In this short segment, Sexton, the mouthpiece for the World Poker Tour, starts with home games, name drops Bobby Hoff and Johnny Moss and subtly acknowledges that poor Vince Van Patten has probably heard these stories, like, 1000 times. (right, Vince?)

At least Kara Scott seems amused. You may be too. So check out Sexton as he tells tales of his Hall of Fame poker career.

More Mike: Mike Sexton’s Championship Dreams

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

More Than The Needle – Man Stabs Friend In Home Game Feud

Everyone is guilty of giving another player, especially a friend, the needle. But a man from Evansville, IN-KY has been charged with more than providing sharp words, he allegedly stabbed a bro.

According to CourierPress.com, Steven L. Duncan Jr. and his mate Shawn Hendricks were playing a little late night poker, in Ellis Park, KY, when something went awry and the pair found themselves in the midst of an argument.

Rather than rely on sarcasm, Duncan preferred to, allegedly, stab Hendricks in the side because of it. Which is a pretty awful way to end a poker game.

Well, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office got involved (of course) and arrested the stabber, charging him with second-degree assault while the victim was shipped off to the hospital for medical attention.

Duncan is now looking for a good game at the Henderson County Detention Center.

More Poker Crime: Man Allegedly Ratholes Chips That Aren’t His

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Daniel Colman Extols The Bright Side of the One Drop

It's not all bad.

Now it makes sense.

Watch Daniel “DarkGame” Colman fumble through a 30 second segment as he’s trying to explain to the people sitting in their luxurious living rooms what makes the One Drop so great. Clean water.

Hey, you, living you life of luxury. Want to make a difference? You can donate to help bring clean water to those in need through the efforts of the One Drop Foundation.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Ultimate Poker Slashes Half Of “Team U” Roster

Team U decimated in apparent dropping of Reynolds, Ausmus, Collins and Hanks.

Woah. This week is not turning out to be a good one for sponsored pros.

On the heels of the announcement that long time loyalist Humbero Brenes has parted ways with AmayaStars, now it’s looking like Nevada based legal online poker site Ultimate Poker has canned half of “Team U.”

No longer featured on the Ultimate Poker website are (former?) team members William Reynolds, 2012 Novermber Niner Jeremy Ausmus, 2011 November Niner Phil Collins and Brent Hanks. The disappearance of a Team Pro from a website is a pretty good indicator that the affiliation is no longer in tact.

Still employed: Antonio Esfandiari, #RunItUp’s Jason Somerville, and “Me vs. U” stars Danielle Andersen and Dan O’ Brien.

Randy Dorfman, a former Ultimate Poker Team Pro himself, was the first to break the news and add a little commentary of his own.

No official word yet from Ultimate Poker or any of the involved pros, but should there be anything good, we’ll be sure to bring it to you.

Update: She was so quiet in her promotional duty we left Lauren Kling off the list of UP pros that got the axe. She doesn’t appear on the website either. Thanks to Twitter follower dweb77 for hitting us up!

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Humberto Brenes – Not The Shark’s Week, Parts Ways With PokerStars

Is the pro from Latin America just the first to be shown the door?

One has to wonder if this is the first of many situations like this to come.

Team Latin America PokerStars Pro, Humberto “The Shark” Brenes confirmed to PokerNews that he and PokerStars, the online goliath in the midst of a major shift in ownership, have decided to part ways in their sponsorship relationship.

“My contract with PokerStars ended in late July and it was not renewed,” Brenes announced. “This decision was made through mutual agreement between the parties. The terms of the renewal were not suited for the company or for myself, so we decided to end the relationship.”

Brenes, known for his Shark card protector and his over-the-top Main Event antics whenever he found himself “All-eeenn”, served PokerStars as a patch bearing ambassador to Latin America for 8 years. His contract, which came to an end at the end of last month, was not renewed.

Some are conjecturing that with new owners Amaya’s high cost of purchase that, for the time being, every penny is going to need to be accounted for and perhaps their massive roster of Team Pros will find itself “streamlined.”

Read: Team PokerStars Online Pro Dale “Daleroxxu” Philip Dropped For Excessive Celebration…of Football

For his part, it doesn’t seem that Brenes is terribly bitter, in fact it sounds like he knew that there was blood in the water (hi-o!). Brenes was asked if he thought that other pros would be given the axe.

“The matter should be treated carefully, especially with Latin American players since the focus of the company will not be only poker. The amount of sponsored players could be reduced, but that’s up to the new administration. I don’t see it possible that the company could hire new faces for the team.”

It’s not as if Brenes didn’t put up results either. As a part of his over $6M in lifetime earnings, far and away the #1 Costa Rican on the planet, just this summer he made a real run at WSOP history by cashing in a series high 10 events.

But now it’s all over. So what’s a poker playing Shark to do when not getting fed on the regular? Spend time with family and maybe even get some rest.

Bonus: Hungry, Hungry!

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

WSOP Main Event Champ Jamie Gold Sets A Course For Adventure On An Island Breeze

Gold stars in hilarious promo video.

Only the biggest stars in the poker world have poker rooms named after them: Bobby Baldwin, Phil Ivey, Sam Trickett and…Jamie Gold? Jamie Gold, the 2006 World Series of Poker Champ does indeed have a poker room named after him (again) but, unlike the others, it’s not on one of the premiere land based casinos in the US or the UK.

In fact, it’s not on a land based casino at all. Gold’s namesake poker room is afloat on Florida’s Island Breeze Casino boat and the sleuths at Two Plus Two have unearthed an amazingly hilarious promo for the would-be pirate ship which stars Jaime himself – having a drink, playing some locals.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Danielle “dmoongirl” Andersen Takes A Flying Leap

It looks like all those challenges in her “Me vs. U” videos is giving Ultimate Poker sponsored pro Danielle Andersen a thirst for adrenaline. Or maybe it’s just the “no fear” attitude that comes with playing poker professionally. Perhaps she just received word that she has to do another video with Dan O’ Brien.

Whatever the reason, Danielle took a massive jump at Lake Mead in Nevada and someone caught this sick pic of the freefall.

More stuff! Ultimate Poker’s “Me vs. U” Competition Awards The Bronze

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Bad Beat Diaries – It’s Never Easy

Kings flop quads, still have to fade.

We’ve all been there: aces cracked. Here’s an interesting hand posted by Rob Yong, the charismatic owner of the UK’s Dusk Til Dawn Casino. Here, in the Sam Trickett Room (the UK’s version of the Ivey Room), Rob gets it all in holding the #1 starting hand (even in the UK where they drive backwards, Aces are still premium) and he runs into Kings.

Will people stop hitting quads against me all in pre flop @Samtrickett1 'a room . Please.

Now, we don’t know exactly how much cash is on the table, but the placards have a value of 1,000 – so it’s a healthy haul for the winner. The sickest part of this hand is that, even having flopped quad kings, Rob turns a sweat card, drawing to the 10d for the straight flush. Indeed, “it’s never easy.”

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Erik Seidel – Nearly Two Decades of Dominance

When it comes to poker, there’s not very much that Erik Seidel has not accomplished. He’s won 8 World Series of Poker bracelets, a World Poker Tour title and is a living member of the Poker Hall of Fame.

But did you know that before the man known as Seiborg collected all his trophies and over $20M in lifetime earnings, he used to be a backgammon hustler and a Wall St. trader and when he went heads-up against Johnny Chan for the championship title in 1988, Seidel was still a relative newcomer to the game he would one day dominate.

Here’s another in Calvin Ayre's series of photo-filerted profiles of the biggest name in poker.

Bonus: For the few that haven’t seen it – Seiborg.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Shannon Shorr Conquers Mount Kilimanjaro

Decorated poker pro makes it to the mountain top.

Professional poker player Shannon Shorr may not yet have made it to the top of Mount Poker, but this past weekend he did something just as impressive – climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Mount Kilimanjaro is known as the “summit of Africa” standing 19,341 ft. (over 3 miles) above sea level. The dormant volcano, which the #7 ranked Global Poker Index Player of the Decade (2004-2013) scaled starting on August 1st, is the 4th highest peak on the planet.

Before making the 8 day trek, Shannon talked about his journey on his blog:

I have another big adventure on the horizon. I’m going to climb the Lemosho route of Mount Kilimanjaro in the African country of Tanzania in less than three weeks. It will be quite the journey and takes a full 8 days roundtrip. When I touch down in Tanzania, I will have visited all of the world’s continents aside from Antarctica. I will be on a private climb with Jesse and his younger brother Paul. I expect that this will be very transformative from a personal growth standpoint. It’s a huge bonus to do it with two great friends that I respect so much. I’m sure we’ll learn a lot about ourselves. It will be a test physically to reach the summit of 19,341 feet. I trust that we will all have the endurance and motivation to reach the top, however the altitude poses a bit of a challenge.

Thankfully, Shannon and his mates made it all in one piece. So what’s a guy who just conquered Mount Kilimanjaro do with himself after such a feat? Get back to the grind and fly to Barcelona to play in the upcoming European Poker Tour 100th event, searching of his first major title to go along with his $5.5M mountain of lifetime earnings.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

WSOP Champ Ryan Riess – Big Baller Plays In Nike 3-on-3 Celebrity Game

Riess rolls with T.O., Lil Romeo and McLovin.

World Series of Poker 2013 Champion Ryan Riess, like Johnny Chan before him, chased those hoop dreams off the felt this weekend when he was tapped to be one of 27 “celebrities” that participated in the Josh Hutcherson Celebrity Basketball Game as a part of the festivities of the Nike 3-on-3 tournament in Los Angeles.

The 6-foot-something Detroit poker pro ran the court with former NFL wideout Terrell Owens, “Kick-Ass” and “SuperBad” actor Christopher “McLovin” Mintz-Plasse, title celebrity Josh Hutcherson from “The Hunger Games” franchise and ton of other “celebs” we’ve never heard of. It wasn’t just fun and games though, they were raising money for charity.

The Champ uses his length to take on Lil’ Romeo

The celebrity game was geared to promote and donate money to Hutcherson’s charity of choice, “Straight But Not Narrow”, an organization aimed at educating teens and pre-teens on how to support their LGBT peers.

Ryan stands next to teammate, Terrell Owens.

In the end Riess’ team, Team White, won the game 78-55. No box score yet on how many buckets the champ contributed though.

Here’s the closing minute of the game and while Riess is on the sideline when the game is called, you can see him slapping hi-fives on the court.

published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink

Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau Continues To Crush, Covers His Tracks

High stakes beast opts-out of long term tracking.

UK based French player and Triple Draw specialist Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau recently claimed the top earnings spot from U.S. player Dan “jungleman12” Cates in the high stakes online cash games rankings, then cheekily disappears from the yearly standings.

It seems Alex Luneau has suffered stage fright when he became this year’s highest cash game earner online after overtaking Dan Cates; a player well-known for his NLH heads-up prowess. Just as media hype began to surround Luneau’s success, no sooner did he disappear from the rankings on highstakesdb.com leaving Cates as the top earner!

It seems Luneau has opted out of having his long term stats recorded. However, we do know as of Sunday 3rd August, Luneau had racked up a yearly profit of $1,666,720, and he has tacked on $915,891 worth of profits since then. If our calculations are correct, Luneau is cleaning up with a $2,582,611 profit so far in 2014.

Even though Dan Cates currently shows as the highest earner on highstakesdb, reality is that he is slightly lagging with a $2,284,337 profit. Nonetheless, this could all change as live reports show that Cates is currently 600k in profit over Saturday’s grinds with no sign of Luneau at the tables.

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published 9 years, 7 months ago • by permalink