The Nightly Turbo: Phil Ivey's New Talent, Massive Prize Pools for PokerStars TCOOP
Miss any of the day's biggest poker stories? That's what we're here for. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we're bringing you the newest pros for Phil Ivey's training site, results from the PokerStars Turbo Championship of Online Poker, and more.
In Case You Missed It:
Casey Jarzabek made his second straight PokerStars Sunday Million final table yesterday. Read about this and more in the Sunday Briefing.
The 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant Main Event played down to 15 players on Sunday. Check out the remaining field in our WSOP Circuit recap.
What was life like for Antonio Esfandiari before he found poker? Find out that and more in the latest Seat Open.
Open Face Chinese is the hottest poker format in the world right now. Need some tips on how to play? Listen to the Strategy With Kristy podcast with Shaun Deeb and Jason Mercier.
The a winner was crowned in the opening event of the 2013 Aussie Millions Poker Championship on Monday. Find out who won the ring in our Aussie Million recap.
#TeamIvey
The rumored Jan. 14 launch of IveyPoker.com has come and gone, but Phil Ivey is still expanding his team before the site goes live. Late last week, Ivey signed Kevin Vandersmissen, Mathew Frankland and Ronnie Bardah to represent the site as pros and instructors.
Bardah is best known for winning his first bracelet at the 2012 WSOP $2,500 Limit Hold’em Six Handed event, raking in $182,088. Bardah also finished 24th at the 2010 WSOP Main Event, adding $317,161 to his earnings. Bardah has two career titles and over a million in overall winnings during his decade-long poker career.
Vandermissen burst onto the live tournament scene with a runner-up finish at the 2011 PokerStars EPT Snowfest Main Event, earning $368,601. He also received $533,316 for taking the title at the 2012 Irish Open last April. Vandersmissen is also a feared tournament grinder on the virtual felts, and on Sunday, he won the Sunday 500 on PokerStars for $77,130.
You may recognize Frankland from last spring's PartyPoker Premier League V, where he earned his seat as a qualifier and held his own against some of the game's top pros. The U.K. native has yet to win a major live title but did place third in the 2010 English Open for $110, 409.
Ivey's website will be dedicated to teaching people how to play poker the "right way." Ivey and his team of pros will provide free, downloadable video instruction to the poker community. As yet, no new launch date has been released.
Find out more at IveyPoker.com.
PokerStars TCOOP Winners
PokerStars' second annual Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP) continued over the weekend with 15 more events on the 50-event schedule. The series, which consists of only turbo-structured events, is running through Jan. 27 with $15 million in guaranteed prize pools.
Among the weekend's winners was Paul "padjes" Berende from the Netherlands. Berende chopped Event #17, a $109 no-limit hold'em contest with one rebuy and one add-on, for $106,970, adding a TCOOP title to the SCOOP victory he earned last spring. When the WCOOP kicks off this fall, Berende may have a chance to become the first "Triple COOP" champ — assuming nobody else beats him to it.
The players with the best hourly rate over the weekend were Romanian players "SorinRF" and "idvalentina," who agreed to a heads-up chop in Event #15, an $82 no-limit hold'em super turbo tournament. Each player collected nearly $60,000 and the event lasted just 2 hours and 18 minutes. The final table was the second of the series for SorinRF, bumping him into second in the TCOOP leaderboard standings behind Canada's "Yaba."
Here's a complete look at the TCOOP winners from Friday through Sunday:
| Event | Buy-in | Entrants | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event #5: No-limit Draw | $25+2 | 2,340 | mimoletka | $9,049 |
| Event #6: No-limit Hold'em Six-Max Shootout | $50+5 | 3,672 | apostolis20 | $16,807* |
| Event #7: No-limit Hold'em w/ Rebuys | $25+2 | 8,089 | FrankThomas8 | $78,607 |
| Event #8: No-limit Hold'em Big Antes | $75+7 | 4,805 | LastDrive | $68,336* |
| Event #9: Pot-limit Omaha Knockout | $75+7 | 2,742 | viticov | $30,517* |
| Event #10: No-limit Hold'em Turbo w/ Rebuys | $10+1 | 14,538 | GaggleoKings | $58,737* |
| Event #11: No-limit Hold'em Heads-up | $100+9 | 3,083 | gorglav | $37,455* |
| Event #12: Triple Stud | $25+2 | 2,508 | powerhockey | $10,469 |
| Event #13: Saturday Speedway Special | $30+3 | 7,749 | DARE U TOO | $34,876 |
| Event #14: No-limit Omaha Hi/Lo Six-Max | $75+7 | 1,069 | Erä_Koira | $30,326 |
| Event #15: No-limit Hold'em Six-Max Hyper Turbo | $75+7 | 5,701 | SorinRF | $59,341* |
| Event #16: No-limit Hold'em Knockout | $300+20 | 3,363 | sirgenutz | $127,247 |
| Event #17: No-limit Hold'em | $100+9 | 3,659 | Paul "padjes" Berende | $105,906* |
| Event #18: Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max 2x Turbo | $25+2 | 4,117 | maciekzbg | $58,628 |
| Event #19: No-limit Hold'em Hyper-Turbo | $200+15 | 3,231 | iPUNI$H | $46,955* |
*Denotes deal at final table
For a full look at every tournament, check out the recaps in the PokerStars Blog.
Villa-Lobos Wins UKIPT Edinburgh
Brazil's Nicolau Villa-Lobos bested a field of 612 to win the £770 buy-in UKIPT Edinburgh Main Event on Sunday for £101,000.
Villa-Lobos began the eight-handed final table with only 313,000 of the 9.14 million chips in play, but less than five hours later, he had them all. Villa-Lobos went from short-stack to champion, outlasting top pros David Vamplew and James Sykes along the way. He entered the heads-up match against Vladislav Donchev with a massive chip lead, and eliminated the Bulgarian when his A♣Q♣ held up against Q♥7♥.
"Today was another day and I was in the small blind so knew I had an orbit to play," Villa-Lobos told the PokerStars Blog after winning. "I had spirit and very good vibrations from my friends in Brazil; everybody was supporting me a lot and sending me messages. I'm happy, very happy."
Here's a look at the final table results from UKIPT Edinburgh:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicolau Villa-Lobos | £101,000 |
| 2 | Vladislav Donchev | £61,000 |
| 3 | Przemysław Dajer | £37,400 |
| 4 | David Vamplew | £27,350 |
| 5 | Chris Derrick | £21,150 |
| 6 | James Sykes | £17,000 |
| 7 | Guido Braye | £12,850 |
| 8 | Christian Bergstrom | £9,750 |
The PokerStars Blog has the full final table recap.
Akkari, Ronaldo Team Up in Brazil
This week, Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari opened up about his business relationship with 9ine, a communications agency owned by former Brazilian soccer superstar Ronaldo Nazario.
Akkari is ranked second on Brazil’s all-time money list with more than $970,000 in live tournament cashes and has more than $2.4 million in online earnings. His biggest score came at the 2011 World Series of Poker where he won his first bracelet in a $1,500 no-limit hold'em event, securing a money prize of $675,117.
Akkari signed on with the 9ine agency last July but finally decided to explain the partnership at the PokerStars Blog: “I have some really exciting news to share. I've been signed as a client by 9ine, one of the top sports and entertainment agencies in Brazil.”
As the first poker player to be signed by the sports agency, Akkari’s reps are responsible for managing his image, brand planning, sponsorship, and according to Akkari, getting him in the gym. “They also told me I had to get in shape and hired me a personal trainer! I've been working out every day and my trainer even came with me to the PCA," he wrote.
Now that Ronaldo has taken an interest in the game, Akkari believes poker in Brazil could potentially see a boom of 15 million to 20 million active players in the next couple of years, up from the three million active players now.
It is believed that Ronaldo’s presence in the poker community has already produced a boost in participation. Before Akkari joined 9ine, the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) was attracting around 400 players per event. Five months after Akkari and Ronaldo teamed up, the BSOP event in December attracted over 1,500 players, and the next event later this month is expected to draw even more.
Be sure to read Akkari's full blog here.
Joe Hachem & Shane Warne Celebrity Poker Tournament
Poker players and celebrities hit the Crown Casino over the weekend for the Joe Hachem & Shane Warne Celebrity Poker Tournament at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship. PokerNews' Lynn Gilmartin caught up with Hachem, Jackie Glazier, Jesse Sylvia, and others to talk about the event.
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