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Articles by Brian Rast
What celebrity alive or dead would you stake in a poker game?
For the longest time, I was convinced I'd give my cash to Glenn Frey who played more hours on the road with Eagles than anyone could imagine. But then I ran across this Dan Rather interview with the legend Willie Nelson, and it became immediately clear that--as long as he's playing in his game in Maui--Willie can play my roll. He explains in the video below. Meanwhile, who would you choose?
Is the Mike Matusow documentary worth watching?
I rented the Matusow documentary on Amazon Prime. Cost me $2.95, and I feel fine saying I got my money's worth. What the film lacks in production and well-crafted narrative, it makes up for in behind-the-scenes access and explanations for lots of stories we've only known bits and pieces about in the past. I won't spoil them all, but one too-short moment in the documentary gives an explanation for why Matusow and 2004 WSOP Champion Greg Rayer were at odds.
Should we create a poker tour for the older generation?
The other day I posted on X: "Hear me out: Too Old For This Shit Poker Tour. Shuffle up and deal at 9 a.m. bag 'em at 5. Winner gets the coveted TOFTS gold coffee cup. I would never miss an event." If I were to really do it, I think The Early Bird is a great name for it. The trophy can be a bird eating a worm! The Early Bird Poker Tour championship trophy
What is the best poker room in the world?
PokerOrg has been keeping an eye on the GPI Poker Awards. The 2024 Fans Choice award shortlist has four poker rooms on it: Aria Las Vegas Asia Poker Arena King's Resort Rozvadov Playground Montreal Those rooms might have made the shortlist, but there are a lot of other places that might deserve consideration. So what say you? What is your vote for best poker room on Earth?
WSOP | Tournaments | Event Updates
Wednesday, October 27, 2021 10:45 PM Local Time (about 15 hours and 49 minutes ago) Brian Rast Wins Fifth Bracelet Event #51: $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em ($474,102) Only a few dozen players returned for their chance at World Series of Poker gold and the top prize of $474,102 on Day 2 of Event #51: $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em. By day's end, it was Brian Rast who conquered the field and claimed victory for his fifth WSOP gold bracelet at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.
WSOP One Drop review: Bonomo leads final six; Salomon makes his third final table
Lee Davy brings us up to speed with all the exits and excitement of Day 2 of the $1m buy-in Big One for One Drop as we reach the final six players with $10m up for grabs. The Little One for One Drop raised over half a million dollars for the One Drop Foundation. The Big One for One Drop has raised $2.1m. So why does it feel like a failure? Is my bombed out 43-year-old mind cased in cynicism?
Casino Poker for Beginners: Talking 'Table Stakes'
February 24, 2020 Robert Woolley Ed. note: For those who might have missed it before, we're reprising Robert Woolley's series of articles for poker players who are new to live poker. The series is great for newcomers, and likely useful as well to those with experience playing in casinos and poker rooms.
How to Cope With a Continual Downswing in Poker
While at the recently completed PokerStars Championship Prague series in the Czech Republic, our Laura Cornelius spoke with a number of pros about the strategies they employ in order to deal with downswings — an almost inevitable part of poker, especially when it comes to the variance associated with tournaments. The first two to respond to the question of how best to deal downswings — Dietrich Fast and Ryan Riess — revealed they weren't necessarily the best qualified to address the issue.
Poker Reporters Partner with Top Pros to Give Back Via Charity Stream
'Tis the season for giving and in the poker community, Twitch has become a prime platform for raising funds for all kinds of causes. The newest charity stream just announced on Twitter is the brainchild of two poker tournament reporters based in Canada who are using their contacts in the poker world to raise money for REG Charity this holiday season.
Online PLO Crusher "cumicon" Retires With Walk-Off Epic Graph
The poker world has been abuzz on what could have otherwise been a sleepy Monday morning after a long holiday weekend. That's because online pot-limit Omaha player "cumicon" announced via a TwoPlusTwo post that he's walking away from the game. In doing so, he posted one of the sickest results graphs ever seen, as the lines paint a story of $7.4 million in heads-up cash game winnings across 1.3 million hands played between Jan. 1, 2013 and Nov. 12, 2017.
PokerNews Returns for 2018 Aussie Millions Coverage
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will once again return to Melbourne, Australia, to provide coverage of the 2018 Aussie Millions Poker Championship. The famous tournament series kicks off Jan. 17, 2018, and features 26 events over the course of nearly three weeks. Billed by tournament organizers as "Asia-Pacific's longest-running poker tournament," the Aussie Millions has a rich and fabled history, which spans nearly two decades.
This Week in Poker Live Streams: Poker After Dark, PNIA and WCOOP
The streaming age of poker is in full force and with the return of Poker After Dark along with some of the biggest online poker series going on right now, there is no shortage of live games and tournament streams to consume online, most of them at no cost. A few weeks ago, the poker world saw the return of the show that got many interested in the game, Poker After Dark. And with it, we also saw the triumphant return of Tom “Durrrr” Dwan.
Kaiser Reigns After Day 2 of the €10K High Roller in Barcelona
A 10-hour Day 2 in the €10,300 PokerStars Championship Barcelona High Roller saw a field of 266 hopefuls being whittled down to just 34. Although everyone already has a sweet payday of €25,380 locked up, each of them still has a shot at the massive first-place prize of €1,036,800 that awaits the victor on Sunday night. In an exceptionally strong field, it was EPT8 Tallinn champion Ronny Kaiser who bagged the overall chip lead with 2,696,000.
partypoker MILLIONS Russia Returns to Sochi with $5M Gtd Main Event
After a successful inaugural event last March, partypoker LIVE returns to Sochi, Russia for MILLIONS Russia with a schedule that boasts $9,000,000 in guarantees including a $5 million guaranteed Main Event. In March, Dmitriy Chop outlasted a field of 1,170 to win the €1,100 buy-in Main Event for $225,000.
$9 Million Guaranteed for the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia Festival
The partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia festival is set to be the biggest poker event in CIS history thanks to $9 million being guaranteed across five tournaments. The bulk of the guaranteed prize money will come from the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia tournament. $5 million will be won by the time the $5,300 buy-in tournament plays down to a winner on Sep. 14, and $1 million of that huge sum is locked up for the champion.
Despina Yiannakoulias and Andrew Markos Make a Great Team at The Star Sydney Championships
The 2017 Star Sydney Championships has provided a full spectrum of poker stories so far, from first time triumphs to celebrity professionals adding more bust outs to their résumé. But the teams event has added an extra dimension. Last night, Despina Yiannakoulias and Andrew Markos successfully beat off what was a comparatively huge field of 179 teams to win the 2017 Star Sydney Championships Team Event.
How to Watch the WSOP Main Event Final Table on ESPN and PokerGO
PokerCentral announced on Wednesday that PokerGO will be broadcasting the World Series of Poker Main Event final table to non-ESPN markets for all three days of this week's tournament. The final table will start Thursday, July 20 and run through Saturday, July 22, with coverage beginning at 9 p.m. ET each day. PokerGO will provide hand-for-hand action to areas that don't carry ESPN or networks affiliated with ESPN.
WSOP Day 45: November Niners Lamb, Saout, Hallaert Go Strong into Day 4
Today's What to Watch For is brought to you by the VerStandig Law Firm, LLC. Combining a keen understanding of the gaming world and an equally keen understanding of the law, Mac VerStandig and his colleagues are devoted to fighting on behalf of the poker community and its members. The VerStandig Law Firm, LLC represents poker professionals, sports bettors and advantage players across the United States.
Martin Jacobson Playing the Long Game in Las Vegas
Three years ago, Swedish poker pro Martin Jacobson won one of the most dramatic final tables in recent years in the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event. Jacobson entered the final table second to last in chips but made a valiant comeback to secure poker's most prestigious title along with the $10 million prize. This year, Jacobson has already enjoyed two final tables already and is planning for a deep run in Main Event when he plays Day 1a on Saturday.
Facing Negreanu: What's It Like on the Other Side of the Table?
You're super deep in a tournament. Maybe heads-up, or maybe just three or four left. You've played your A-game for days, and on a massive run. The cameras are filming every hand and the rail is deep with spectators – and almost all them are there hoping to watch you lose. Daniel Negreanu is on the other side of the table and his fans are out in force. They're hoping another bracelet will soon be added to his wrist.
Super High Roller Bowl Day 4: Schindler Cracks Aces, Leads Final Three
Jake Schindler began Day 4 of the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl at ARIA as the chip leader after his late Day 3 heater. He finished it as the chip leader as well with the field being reduced from nine to just three, and it was all thanks to one massive pot he played against a fellow big stack. Christoph Vogelsang opened for 90,000 at 20,000/40,000/20,000 — the ante in this structure is paid by the big blind — and Schindler called on the button with pocket eights.
WSOP Day 1: Ready to Rumble, Poker’s Best Join Forces in $10K Tag Team
Today's What to Watch for is brought to you by the VerStandig Law Firm, LLC. Combining a keen understanding of the gaming world and an equally keen understanding of the law, Mac VerStandig and his colleagues are devoted to fighting on behalf of the poker community and its members. The VerStandig Law Firm, LLC represents poker professionals, sports bettors and advantage players across the United States.
Poker & Pop Culture: Card-Playing Cowboys in American Westerns
In the history of film criticism, the western holds a special place. The western really is the start of "genre criticism" in film — that is, that variety of analysis and interpretation that foregrounds audience expectations created by the way a film's narrative and thematic elements resemble other, similar films.
Global Poker Online World Challenge Kicks Off May 31
Global Poker is thrilled to announce the Global Poker Online World Challenge. Starting on May 31st and running over eight weeks, Global Poker will be awarding a total of $1,250,000 $weeps Cash in guarantees and freerolls! Each weekday the action gets started at 5 p.m. ET with a total of 18 tournaments running through midnight.
PokerStars Festival Chile Kicks Off May 20
In just a few days, the PokerStars Festival Chile kicks off at Casino Enjoy Viña del Mar for 21 events over the course of eight days from May 20-31. The highlight of the festival is the five-day $1,650 PokerStars Festival Main Event, which features a huge $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. The tournament kicks off with two opening days on May 23-24. Players begin with 25,000 opening chips with blinds increasing every 60 minutes.
McKeehen Still on Fire, Wins Parx Big Stax 1100
While some former World Series of Poker Main Event champions fade from the spotlight, 2015 winner Joe McKeehen doesn't appear to be among that number. He just keeps putting up fantastic results, the latest of which was a victory in the Parx Big Stax XXI 1100 for $106,126. McKeehen bested a field of 447 players and banked his third six-figure score within the past two months.
10 Tips for Sit & Go Success: Three-Handed Play
Last week, we discussed beginner strategy for the bubble of a standard, nine-handed, single-table sit & go in which the top three spots pay (50/30/20 percent). This week, we will discuss strategy for three-handed play. We are in the money and our main goal now is to take the lion's share of the prize pool and all the glory.
Throwback Thursday: The Always Controversial __fullflush1__
Luke "__fullflush1__" Schwartz has been calling it like he sees it since he exploded on the scene with controversial comments and a take-no-prisoners attitude. He lit the poker world on fire again when he called out Doug Polk in an interview with Laura Cornelius. For this Throwback Thursday, we looked back at some earlier videos of the bad boy. In this interview from 2009, he doesn't mince words when describing some other poker powerhouses of the time.
Dzmitry Urbanovich Joins Team Partypoker as Sponsored Pro
The stable of sponsored pros at partypoker continues to get stronger as the new partypoker LIVE circuit enjoys major success. On Thursday, high-stakes poker player Dzmitry Urbanovich was added to the Team partypoker roster, joining Mike Sexton, Tony Dunst, Sam Trickett, Johnny Lodden and a host of other well-known poker player and personalities.
Ole Schemion Wins PokerStars Championship €10K Opening Event
German mega-talent Ole Schemion returned to the winner's circle yet again in a PokerStars Live event, taking down PokerStars Championship Presented by Monte-Carlo Casino €10,300 Opening No-Limit Hold'em event for €274,750 and his ninth spade trophy. Schemion has been particularly dominant here in Monte Carlo. Last year, he won the €100,000 Super High Roller here for about €1.6 million and chopped the €50,000 Super High Roller for another €857,241.
READ: Socialite Jane Hitchcock Explores Poker World for New Book
Jane Hitchcock has been playing poker for eight years, an unlikely hobby for a socialite and a writer in Georgetown. “Poker’s like a big theater,” she said. “Every hand is a scene and everyone’s an actor. But it’s supposed to be that way. That’s the joy of it, that’s the thrill of it and that’s the game of it.” She recently played a World Poker Tour DeepStacks tournament at Maryland Live casino, according to The Washington Post, and was one of eight women who made it through to Day 2.
888poker Launches New XL Championships Series
After a successful Super XL Series, 888poker recently announced its three XL Championships series, the first of which is the $7.5 million XL Inferno Championships May 7-21. The XL Inferno will kick off with 197 events, indicating the start of the three separate XL Championships series. The other series, the XL Eclipse and the XL Blizzard run in September and January 2018, respectively.
Dan Colman Seeks Another Win at SHR After Bagging WPT Lead
The World Poker Tour is in the midst of wrapping up Season 15 with its usual bang, and the first of what will be three featured final tables at Seminole Hard Rock in Florida has been locked in. The $3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown drew a field of 1,207 players, and after three days of play, one of poker's young superstars sits at the top of the final table counts.
The Weekly Turbo: WSOP Live Reporting, Heaters & Going Pro
This week in poker news: Ben Tollerene rocks the online tournament world, Parker Talbot told PokerNews his E! True Poker Story, PokerNews became the official live reporting partner of the WSOP, and one blogger tells the world about what it takes to go pro and move to Vegas. Read on for more! Andy Hills chopped the 2017 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) Manchester Main Event with Tuan Le, Mark Dyson and Endrit Gecu. He banked £46,987.
The Weekly PokerNews Quiz: These Hands Deserve Awards
This week the third annual Global Poker Index American Poker Awards were handed out, giving us all a chance to remember some of the year's most memorable achievements. This week's installment of The Weekly PokerNews Quiz draws from a few of the winners and nominees to present eight multiple-choice questions. Get six of eight correct earns you the award of a passing grade, and be sure to check the "Top results" afterwards to see where your finish ranked compared to others.
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