Sep
17
by Jake
Here's how you can do it on October 25th...
To celebrate Phil's WSOP bracelet, Unabomber Poker is hosting a final table promotion of its own, with the winner moving on to a heads up match against the Unabomber himself. From September 16 through to Sunday October 3rd, each day you play at Unabomber Poker you will be awarded a ticket for the final table promotion. The more tickets you have, the more chances you have to make the final six. On Monday October 4th, six lucky winners will be drawn to play a final table with the winner moving on to a $1,000 heads up challenge against Laak on October 25th. Take down the Unabomber and the $1,000 is yours.
We chatted with Phil after his WSOPE bracelet win and he had this to say to his future heads up opponent.
"I love how sick things can get when playing heads up. Can't wait! For sure will be showing a few bluffs!"
This is one seriously sick promotion, so get to the tables today and start accumulating your tickets for the $1,000 Final Table Challenge.
For complete details go to the "$1,000 Final Table Challenge" section on the promotions page of the Unabomber Website.
773d3c0f-8ae9-4321-8b27-3b5a798434e2|4|5.0
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Sep
17
by Phil
Last night I won my first WSOPE bracelet and pocketed a fistful of dollars... well, pounds actually. But if you were to go to xe.com and convert 170,802 pounds into dollars you would arrive at the super fine and glorious number of 267,010 dollars!!
This couldn't have happened at a better time. I am currently in the process of helping my mom get a house in LA, and well, even with the slight drop in real estate prices it is still takes a lot to get something in LA. Can you say larger backyard, and maybe a guest bedroom? Cuz I can, and it feels beyond amazing.
My guardian angel (which is a funny thing to say considering I am not really big on the idea of a god, but more of like well, a continuous and dynamic mixed level strata of different energy states that we as humans have the ability to take from or give to - covering everything down the line from the concept of relative good/evil stuff on thru to creative and destructive tendencies etc), but I diverge... Like I was saying I feel like my guardian angel has been there at some key spots in my life.
The recent accident for one. I could have been toast that fateful day. But instead I WALKED away with full sight, brain intact, and no spinal damage!! That was running amazingly high considering how low my expected value was as I was hurling thru space from 30 feet in the air towards that very unsoft earth. And the off suit 5 on the turn. In my last hand Andrew had about 74 outs twice for a win % of nearly 185%. But I binked the off suit 5d. So sick.
Maybe Peter (my angel) took a minute out of his day and willed that one for me. If so, thanks mate!
It was my girl's b-day yesterday and that made the win that much more sweet. Oh, and it is also nice that Antonio won't be ribbing me anymore about not having a bracelet while my girl has one.
All this recent winning (Partouche/15th for 52,000 Euros/10 days ago.......... English Poker Open/min cash/5 days ago.........and now this) we at UnabomberPoker are giving some of it away. Not a crazy boatload amount, but still a decently healthy 1,000 dollars. Which is nice considering there will be no entry fee if you want to try and get it. Check out the promotions page to find out more.
Anyway, gotta hop. Day 2 of the 5k plo is starting soon and I don't want to miss any hands
e7868c8b-7181-4a8f-a3e2-fd95e0e3e92d|2|5.0
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Sep
16
by Jake
Phil Laak came into the 2010 WSOPE £2,650 Six-Handed No-Limit Holdem Event #1 with the third most chips and found early momentum that rarely faltered. He eventually went heads-up against Andrew Pantling before finally winning not only his first WSOPE bracelet but his first WSOP bracelet period. Laak also pocketed a tidy £170,802 to go along with the hardware.
The sold out event saw 244 entrants battle it out over three days. The final table saw Willie Tann eliminated first in sixth place(£23,900), followed by Ilan Rouah in fifth place (£33,617), David Peters in fourth (£48,202), and Chris Bjorin in third (£70,473) leaving Andrew Pantling and Phil to go heads-up.
Pantling started with a lead of 1,078,000 to Laak’s 759,000. The tables turned fairly quickly as Laak evened the score and then took the lead. From there the two went back and forth for a while before a decisive hand gave Laak a significant lead.
With a relatively small pot of about 50,000 and the board showing 10c-7c-6c-Ks, Phil made an overbet of 180,000 which brought an all-in push from Pantling. Phil made the call to put his tournament life on the line.
The men flipped their cards to show bottom pair with flush and straight draws for Pantling who held 6s-8c while Phil led with two pair with 6h-7h. The river missed Pantling’s draws with a 10h doubling Phil up to 1.4 million and leaving Pantling with 430,000.
The final hand came when Pantling raised from the button and pushed back with his entire stack. Pantling called for his final 350K and showed Ah-9h to lead over Phil’s Kd-5c. The flop fell 7h-4h-4c giving Pantling plenty of hope by adding a flush draw. But the turn brought a 5d and the crowd roard with excitement as Phil took the lead. The Qc on the river changed nothing for Pantling and Phil Laak took down his first WSOP bracelet.
Congratulations to Phil and here’s to further success at the 2010 WSOPE!
Sep
13
by Chad Holloway
I had the opportunity of working at the 2010 World Series of Poker as a blogger/field reporter for PokerNews, and it turned out to be the best summer of my life. I met a lot of great people and had the experience of a lifetime. One of the goals I set for myself before heading to Las Vegas was to work hard and do the best job possible. Evidently, I must have done a decent job since PokerNews has thrown a bit of post-WSOP work my way. I’ve done some recaps on an online poker tournament series, some ghostwriting, and even a recap of a WSOP broadcast on ESPN.
Although those were all great writing opportunities, the thing I’m most excited about is PokerNews’ offer to send me to Argentina to cover the Latin American Poker Tour Rosario Grand Final tournament. The event takes place between September 23-26 at the largest casino in South America, City Center Casino. Aside from covering some great poker action, I am looking forward to experiencing a whole other culture and taking a much needed (working) vacation. I’ve never been to South America, or to the Southern Hemisphere for that matter, and to have the chance to go, especially to do something I love, is beyond unbelievable. You can rest assured that I’ll post some pictures and discuss my exploits in a future blog.
I’ve also got a new article that appears in Poker Pro Magazine, as well as on their website, that recaps the Fantasy Poker action from the 2010 WSOP. If you want to check it out, here is the link. This year proved to be my most successful year in Fantasy Poker. I took 343rd out of over 20,000 in an online Fantasy Poker competition and participated in the 2010 ESPN Fantasy Poker League against the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Howard Lederer, Gavin Smith, Dennis Phillips and Eric Baldwin, just to name a few. The official results haven’t been released yet, but I am pretty sure I managed to take that one down with Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi’s deep run in the Main Event. I plan on writing a lot on that league once the winner is announced, so you can look forward to that as a future blog as well.
Now that it is September, I’ve had to switch gears from Fantasy Poker to Fantasy Football. This year I am in four leagues, which is the most I’ve ever attempted. My most prized league is one I do every year with my closest friends. We actually made it a keeper league last year and I managed to win my first Fantasy Football championship. I’m looking to defend my title and feel I have the team to do it. Let me just give you three names that’ll let you know just how good my team is: Chris Johnson, Andre Johnson and Brandon Marshall (I’m a huge Miami Dolphins fan). Those three players alone would have won me most games last year.
Another league that I’m in is the PokerNews Pigskin Invitational. There are twelve teams and I’m not overly excited about my chances. I was unable to make the online draft so the auto-draft feature was used to choose my team. I had some great wide receivers chosen in Larry Fitzgerald and Roddy White, but my QB situation was dire (it drafted me just one in Jason Campbell). The waiver wire had no decent options, so I immediately sought out a trade. Luckily for me, Jonathan Aguiar had WR and RB needs and we struck a deal. I gave him Steven Jackson, Mike-Sims Walker and Kellen Winslow (I have Brent Celek as my starter) in exchange for Donovan McNabb, Jonathan Stewart and Hines Ward. I think this is a pretty fair trade and feel a lot more comfortable having a proven veteran QB on my roster. I guess only time will tell as the NFL regular season kicks-off on Thursday.