May 2007 Archives

By Brad "Otis" Willis

The black limos sat in a line, pitch-colored automotive sharks packed full of some of the world's biggest celebrities. Paparazzi jammed the velvet ropes, looking for that one shot that would earn them their daily nut. The carpet was a color of red that seems reserved for such gala events.



The invite list this night in Cannes was exclusive as it gets. Names like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Don Cheadle sat at the top of the list. Every eye in the crowd was wide open and straining to get a look at the cast of the "Ocean's Thirteen."



A hand took the handle of a limo's door and opened it. Lightbulbs flashed. Everybody in the crowd craned their necks. Who emerged from the doors?

What few people in the crowd knew at that moment was that four tough poker players had battled their way to the top four places in a poker tournament to aid suffering in the Darfur region of Sudan. The charity Not On Our Watch was hosting gala event and PokerStars had sent four of its players and more than $1 million to help the project. Now, these four players, JaspudUF, SM4RTASS, herbert, and berchem13, were walking the red carpet with the the world's biggest celebs.


Jason Lee & Matthew Seymour


Daniel and Ericka Smith with Anton Kolomiets

PokerStars player, Christian "berchem13" Gauche, had only been playing poker for a year when his fortune took a good turn. At 26 years old, he won an event on PokerStars, qualified for the World Series, and won the trip to Cannes all in his first year.


Christian Gauche and girlfriend Magdalena Kurzeja

"To win a special trip like this one is something very special," he said from his home in Luxembourg.

"It was a great feeling to represent Pokerstars in Cannes for their charity. Such a donation shows also the world that poker is not only about doing money, money, money."

Like the other three winners, berchem13 made it to Cannes in time for the red carpet walk, was whisked by limousine to the party, and sat in on the worldwide premiere of the movie.

"The trip to Cannes was amazing," he said.

Each winner handled his trip differently. While berchem13 took his girlfriend, Holland's Anton Kolomiets (aka SM4RTASS) decided to take a buddy.

"The girls in Cannes are absolutely gorgeous, so it would have been a waste to bring just a single girl along," he joked.

Anton and his friend hit Cannes with full force.

"At first we just scouted the area a bit," he said. "The environment and landscape are gorgeous. Later on we got to meet the rest of the tournament winners, which were all very cool guys."

After that, he hit the city and premiere with full force. Afterward, Anton put his poker skills to good use.

"We went to an after party at a very exclusive place later on where we weren't really invited, but as poker players we bluffed our way in. We got to meet some of the cast, together with Quentin Tarantino and Kylie Minogue, among other celebs.


Anton Kolomiets and Doplh Lundgren

"I think it's great that PokerStars offers us the option to win exclusive trips like this, not available for the major public," Anton said. "Anyone can win money with sports betting, gambling, lottery etc, but you can't win this kind of stuff in most places."

Congratulations to all the players who made it to Cannes.

Coming up on June 5, four other PokerStars players will be hitting the gala premiere in Hollywood. Congratulations to H@££INGGOL, LAFMAN123, xBryceyx, and wushuplaya. Have fun in Hollywood!

I first met Isabelle Mercier at EPT Dublin, Season 2. This was 2005 and my first experience of big money tournaments, and PokerStars blogs. I was in awe of this Team PokerStars lady, even though she'd always be helpful when I counted her chips for the blog updates. She'd usually tell me her chip count with a friendly smile, but if she ever had less chips than she liked there'd be no time for smiles, her gaze would instantly return to her table, focused on chips in the other player's stacks as she contemplated how to take them.

I remember I made a bad joke on the blog about her being in 'good shape'. And it's easy to admire this undoubtedly 'shapely' Team PokerStars player as just a glamorous addition to a poker team made up of heavyweights like WSOP champions Raymer and Moneymaker. I'll avoid that obvious joke on the 'heavyweight' theme...



You'd be making a mistake if you considered Isabelle to be 'just a pretty face' in any field. She studied law in Canada, before moving to Paris and working her way to the top at the Aviation Club de France, becoming the club's Poker Room Manager. The other side of the tables beckoned, and soon Isabelle was earning her living as a successful poker pro.

Isabelle Mercier has taken over $250,000 in tournaments winnings. She won the World Poker Tour's "Ladies Night Out" poker tournament, where she earned her 'No Mercy' nickname from World Poker Tour host, Mike Sexton. She is 9th in the rankings for all time tournament winnings for lady poker players. She has many live game wins and final table experiences to her name, you can read her full tournament results on her blog. And if you ever want to see Isabelle in in action at PokerStars tables you can find her playing on PokerStars as 'NoMercy'.

I've overcome my awe of this Team PokerStars star these days, and approached her to see if she'd share and tips and advice with PokerStars.net players. She obliged - with a pretty smile of course.

Jo: Thanks for taking the time to talk to PokerStars.net blog. Obviously your tournament experience is a bit different from play money Sit and Gos! But do you think these can be valuable experience, and did you ever used to play fun money games or freerolls?

Isabelle: Oh yes! I played many freerolls when I started poker in order to get practice and win some seats in bigger events. The good thing about it is that my investment was zero, and my return was the experience I got and some wins into cash events. I like freerolls with something to win because the players tend to play much more seriously than in play fun money, and that’s where I find my challenge.

Jo: Did you have any luck in these games? How different are these from the big money games you usually play?

Isabelle: They are two completely different games and environments. I am challenged by the big games and their players, so of course it brings out the best in me. But the freerolls are a lot of fun and much more relaxing to play.



Jo: What skills should fun money players hope to develop from PokerStars free games?

Isabelle: Tons of skills! I always say you can read as many books as you want, watch as many poker shows as you can, and talk as much as possible with players you respect, but in the end, the only way you really get to learn is to play, play and play. So that’s what you can acquire on PokerStars.net, the chance to practice the game and develop a feel for it, for free! Before I turned pro, I played full time on PokerStars for one entire year. So when I came into live games as a pro, I already seen more hands on internet than a lot of my opponents have been dealt in the last three years! I think online poker is the fastest way to learn the basics of the game.

Jo: Is there any encouragement you'd like to give, or advice you can offer, talking as someone at the top to someone very new to poker?

Isabelle: I would say to a new player to try the following experience: Sit down on a free money tournament table and then, for the entire duration of this tournament, allow yourself only two options: raise or fold. Pretend calling is not an option in poker and live without it for this entire tournament. I promise you will be surprise by the results and by the power of aggression. Most of the people I encouraged to try this exercise actually won the tournament they were playing! Now, be careful, I am not saying that calling is not important in poker, on the opposite, it is a very powerful weapon you will use in play, but I think people tend to call too much and this exercise make them see another side of the game. Play money or freerolls tournaments are the perfect place to try this!

Jo: Finally, PokerStars.net is a fun money site, the emphasis on fun and not profit. So is poker still fun in the big money games you play?

Isabelle: I think poker is fun all the way, with my friends in my kitchen, online on free money tables, in tournaments around the world and in big cash games tables. The game in itself is fun, and yes it’s still fun at high levels, it’s just more challenging.

Jo: Thanks Isabelle, and good luck!

By Brad "Otis" Willis

Imagine the Hollywood lights, the flash of the cameras, and the feeling of the red carpet beneath your feet. See yourself walking into one of the biggest premieres in Los Angeles as a VIP star. With a good showing in an upcoming PokerStars' charity tournament, you could rub elbows with some of Hollywood's biggest stars.

PokerStars has teamed with the cast of the upcoming Hollywood blockbuster "Ocean's Thirteen" to offer a truly unique prize: tickets to the premiere of "Ocean's Thirteen" in Los Angeles.

Last weekend, four PokerStars players won trips to the movie's world premiere in Cannes, France. On May 24, PokerStars' players JaspudUF, SM4RTASS, herbert, and berchem13 will all be on the red carpet in Cannes with the likes of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Don Cheadle.

Not only do you stand to win some great prizes. Just by playing poker you can help relieve the suffering in the western Sudan, Africa region of Darfur. For more than three years, the area has suffered under a deadly conflict that has killed nearly half-a-million people and driven millions more from their homes. PokerStars is donating $1 million to Not On Our Watch, a charity established by "Ocean's Thirteen" stars, plus producer Jerry Weintraub to help provide aid in Darfur. What's more, all buy-ins for the tournament will be donated, and PokerStars will match that sum raised, too.

Tournament information:

May 27th 2007:

Top four players will receive tickets to the June 5th premiere in Los Angeles plus two nights hotel accommodation and $2,000 for travel/expenses. The top 18 players will also receive an autographed copy of the "Oceans Thirteen" DVD, after its general release. The prize pool will be matched by PokerStars and donated to Darfur charity.

We hope you will join PokerStars and the cast and producer of "Ocean's Thirteen" in helping such a worthwhile cause.

Note: If you want to donate direct to the charity, PokerStars is making that easy, too. All funds donated will be matched by PokerStars and sent directly to the charity. Email support@pokerstars.net if you'd like further details about donating.

PokerStars reached a special milestone this week, dealing hand number 10,000,000,000. Hang on while I double check if I used the correct amount of zeros? That is a big pile of zeros to keep track of, but then 10 Billion is a big, big, (BIG) number!

To celebrate this milestone hand PokerStars awarded a $100,000 bonus to the winner of the hand. So let me tell you how this hand was dealt, and all about its lucky winner.

More than 100,000 players were packing PokerStars tables, as busy a Saturday afternoon as PokerStars has seen. I'm sure plenty of those players were looking at the hand count number in the top left of their table, hoping it would read #10,000,000,000 for them.

At 6 handed No Limit Hold'em table 'Venusia' sat PokerStars players Rechargeable, inwooke, The_Moog, XTedForrestX, Ferius, and justine0003.

Suddenly, everything stopped as the game was paused, and the hand number at the top of the Venusia table read: 10,000,000,000.

An announcement was made, and soon the rail was flooded with observers offering congratulations and advice. 122 players joined the waiting list for this lucky table, of course they would be too late to get dealt into this special hand!

The Big Ten Billion. PokerStars Host Jeff was there to oversee the action.

HostJeff [observer] said, "Guess what?"

justine0003 said, "?"

The_Moog said, "wowowow"

HostJeff [observer] said, "Don't leave your seat -- you're all winners!"

And indeed they were. I mentioned $100,000 to the winner. Did I also mention that there was a $10,000 prize to everyone else dealt into this game?

Four of the six players got their chips in the middle, as the board came out Ac Kc Td 9c 8h.
Rechargeable showed 5c, 4d - high card Ace.
The_Moog showed 9h Th - two pair, Tens and Nines.
Ferius mucked.
justine0003 showed 3c 8c - a flush, Ace high.

Justine0003's low cards were clubs, and the flush gave her the $100,000 win. Every other player at the table received $10,000.

So, who is the mystery woman who walked away with $100,000? Her name, as you might expect, is Justine. Justine Hall, in fact.

The 19-year-old woman is a university student from Canada who is waiting tables for the summer. She started playing poker in high school about four years ago and fell in love with the game. So, naturally, she gravitated toward PokerStars.



While she knew the BIG Ten Billion promotion was going on, she wasn't expecting to hit it. In fact, when her table stopped, she didn't even realize that she had hit the big one.

"It was a total fluke," she said. "I didn't even realize that it was the major big hand right away,. I thought it was just another one leading up to it!"

So, now, Justine has $100,000 which she plans to use to pay for her education, and, she said, "of course, a little shopping. I'm just really thankful and feel extremely lucky."

Congratulations to all the players who won money in the milestone hands leading up to the BIG Ten Billion, especially to justine0003 who has three zeros in her PokerStars name, six zeros in her new poker bankroll, and has the ten zeros of PokerStars 10 Billionth hand to thank for this.

I like pub quizzes, although I'll admit I'm much better at the 'pub' side of things than the 'quizzing'. Our team never wins, although we do hold our own in the 'enjoying your beer' round.

I've learnt a lot from these quizzes, and I now know lots of fascinating trivia facts... Did you know?

There are more chickens in the world than people.

Horses cannot vomit.

The first female monster to appear on the big screen was Bride of Frankenstein

Noway consumes more spicy Mexican food than any other European Nation.

The cat is the only domesticated animal not mentioned in the Bible.

In the 1940s, the Bich pen was changed to Bic for fear that Americans would pronounce it "bitch."

Herring is the most widely eaten fish in the world.

No president of the United States was an only child.

A Sultan's wife is called a Sultana.

Months that start on a Sunday always have a Friday the 13th.

In the 18th century all carrots were Purple or White. Dutch farmers cultivated orange ones only because it was their national colour.

'TYPEWRITER' is the longest word that can be created by using only the top row of the keyboard.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

Sadly, none of these trivia facts will help you enter PokerStars Trivia freerolls!

These special 'Quiz' events are part of PokerStars 10 Billionth Hand Celebration. To enter each freeroll you'll have to answer a PokerStars Trivia Question. These freerolls run each day until May 22nd, at 00:10, 09:10, 13:10 and 19:10 ET. More details can be found on our Trivia Freerolls page. You can find these events in the 'Tourney' lobby, and there's a $1000 prizepool for all those who know their PokerStars, and their poker playing!

So far these Trivia teasers have tested player's knowledge with...

What color are Diamonds in the PokerStars Four Color Deck?

When did PokerStars first have over 100,000 players simultaneously online?

What job did 2003 WSOP Main Event Champion Chris Moneymaker hold before becoming a professional poker player?

Good luck!

And on a final Triviatastic note... Did you know that Alka Seltzer makes seagulls stomachs explode?

By Brad "Otis" Willis

You've likely already read about PokerStars Ocean's Thirteen Darfur Charity tournaments. The events have already gotten started and it's going to mean a very big time for four PokerStars players.

Last weekend, those players won trips to Europe for an “Ocean’s Thirteen” Charity event there. On May 24, PokerStars players JaspudUF, SM4RTASS, herbert, berchem13 will all be on the red carpet in Cannes with the likes of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Don Cheadle.



The players won their trips in charity tournaments to benefit the suffering in Darfur. All of the buy-ins and rebuys in that event were matched by PokerStars and added to PokerStars' $1 million donation to the Darfur cause.

While the Cannes trips have already been claimed, there is still a chance for you to hobnob with the stars of Ocean's Thirteen at the American premiere in Los Angeles. We'll have more on that in the coming days. For a preview, you can check in on the Ocean's Thirteen Darfur Charity tournaments page on PokerStars.com

When I was a child 'a billion' seemed like a magical number. Most likely because I couldn't count that high however hard I tried. I could only try to use fingers and toes, and I didn't have anything like a billion of those to help me reach this magic number milestone. Now I'm an adult and I'm sensible enough not to try counting quite so high. Although I'm in awe of someone at PokerStars who did this! I haven't seen anyone wandering around the office with a billion digits, but somehow, someone at PokerStars counted all the way up to 10 billion!

PokerStars has come very close to dealing 10 billion hands, we're onto hand #9870564486 as I type this. Make that hand #9870564487, #9870564488, #9870564489... Glad it's not me who's doing the counting!

In honour of this impressive big number hand milestone there'll be a whole host of promotions and special events at the site.

It's hard to believe, but less than a year ago PokerStars celebrated its 5 Billionth hand, but the rapid growth of the site has led to 5 billion more hands being dealt in just twelve months.

There's a whole lot of 10 Billionth Fun planned to celebrate this special milestone hand. Many special hands will award cash prizes. $1,000,000 of prizes will be awarded in total - with $100,000 cash to the winner of the 10 Billionth Hand itself.

There'll also be 'Trivia Freerolls' testing your knowledge of all things PokerStars. To enter you'll need to answer a quiz question about PokerStars. There are 4 of these freerolls per day each with a $1,000 prizepool, and starting at 10 past the hour. Well, '10 billion past twelve' would hardly work as a time, would it?

There's lots more going on at PokerStars in the run up to that big hand itself, full details are here. Enjoy the fun!

#9870576749, #9870576750, #9870576751, #9870576752, #9870576753...

By Brad "Otis" Willis



Darfur--the western region of the Sudan, Africa -- has suffered a deadly conflict for more than three years. No less than 400,000 people have died. More than two million innocent civilians have fled their homes. In all, 3.5 million men, women, and children depend on international aid for survival.

In advance of the "Ocean’s Thirteen" premiere, the cast and producer of the upcoming blockbuster (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and producer Jerry Weintraub) are hosting a charity fundraiser in Cannes. PokerStars has pledged $1 million to the charity Not On Our Watch. What’s more, it’s going to host a series of tournaments to help you donate as well.



PokerStars will match the prize pool of these special tournaments and then donate all of the money to the Darfur relief effort.

Tournament information:

May 13th 2007:

Top four players will receive tickets to May 24th premiere in Cannes plus two nights hotel and $2,000 for travel/spending. Top 18 players will receive an autographed copy of “Ocean’s Thirteen” DVD. The prize pool will be matched by PokerStars and donated to Darfur charity.

Tourney May 27th 2007:

Top four players will receive tickets to June 5th premiere in Los Angeles plus two nights hotel and $2,000 for travel/spending. Top 18 players will receive an autographed copy of “Oceans Thirteen” DVD. The prize pool will be matched by PokerStars and donated to Darfur charity.

For more information, visit the Ocean's Thirteen Darfur Charity Tournament page.

Note: If you want to donate direct to the charity, PokerStars is making that easy, too. Please email Support@PokerStars.net if you'd like further details on contributing to this cause. All funds donated will be matched by PokerStars and sent directly to the charity.

Last night saw the launch of Anthony Holden's new poker book, 'Bigger Deal' the cover print describing this as, 'A year on the new poker circuit.'

When Holden penned his original poker novel 'Big Deal' in the 90's his description of his year trying to make his way as a professional poker player felt like a brave quest, few of his readers would imagine playing a big game in Vegas without taking a week off work, and persuading the wife to let them get away.

These days becoming a 'big time pro' feels as easy as logging on to an online site, staying up all night playing in your pyjamas, calling in sick when you can't face work next day, and thus just-one-more-hand-ing your way to a new life as an online poker hero.

'Bigger Deal' describes the 'Moneymaker effect'. The dream that a cheap online game can turn you into a multi-millionaire over night, based on the turn of a few cards. Hey, you could even play with a laptop on your knee... No need to even get out of bed!

Chris Moneymaker in 2003 turned a $40 satellite win into $2.5 million World Series heroics. Greg Raymer followed the very next year, and although Greg's studious approach to the game made him less a pyjama-player and more a thoughtful 'old schooler', the poker dreamers had the bug by now. Poker was big. And so were those World Champions. Maybe someone should try playing online poker with a laptop beside their running machine..?

Holden's book points out the changes in the modern poker world, 'A teenager anywhere in the world, unable to play (legally) in an American casino until he or she is twenty-one, can play more hands in six months than septuagenarian Doyle Brunson, the world's most respected player, has in his lifetime. And all too many are doing so.'

Anthony Holden's first novel described the 1988 World Series of Poker where just 167 players competed for a prize of $270,000. In his latest work he contrasts this with the 2006 WSOP in which nearly 9,000 players played for a first prize of $12 million.

So how does Anthony fit into this brave new poker world? A win in a PokerStars media tournament sent him to WSOP 2006, and this gave him plenty to write about. He also describes the part he played for the England team in the PokerStars World Cup of Poker, and the very different pressures of playing for a team.

Many make the claim that 'poker is like life' but few writers will make you feel it as Anthony Holden does. His story is both touching and involving, words describing much more than mere cards. Of course there's the poker pain and joy we all recognise, but he also explains the part the game played when his private life became troubled by his split from 'the moll' his wife.

Anthony says, 'I hope, the book will explain why poker has become a mass-audience game as respectable, even chic now as it was seedy and disreputable when I wrote Big Deal. Bigger won’t improve your play – but it’ll give you a chance to cackle at mine, while meeting today’s leading players and learning the behind-the-scenes story of the game’s amazing growth.'

If you'd like a copy of, 'Bigger Deal', copies will no doubt be available in PokerStars Frequent Player Point Store soon, but I have three signed copies of the book to give away to PokerStars.net blog readers. Just answer the following question. Anyone who writes in with the correct answer before Friday May 11th will be entered in a draw for a copy of the book.

Anthony on his new, 'Bigger Deal' website, talks of his regular Tuesday night home game that saw the creation of three poker books. So, my question is... Which two other notable poker writers regularly played in Anthony's London game?

Send your answers to Jo@PSblog.net.


Anthony Holden playing WSOP 2006, courtesy of a PokerStars tournament win.