Jackie Glazier

Covering live poker tournaments for a living affords me the opportunity to see countless thousands of hands played out, many of which offer interesting and potentially valuable insights into how players — both amateurs and professionals — play the game. In this ongoing series, I’ll highlight hands I’ve seen at the tournaments I’ve covered and see if we can glean anything useful from them.

On the fifth day of the 888poker XL Blizzard Series, three new tournaments were on the schedule. Most of the attention went out to the $250,000 High Roller, where some massive prizes were "up for grabs." After almost nine hours of play, Mexico's "SteveyBG" won the XL Blizzard #16 - $250,000 High Roller for $63,697. The event attracted 118 players for a little overlay and a total prize pool of $250,000. Some of the best tournament players in the poker world registered to the event.

Dutch poker player Bas de Laat secured his first live tournament win in a big way by coming out on top in Aussie Millions Event #5: A$1,150 No Limit Hold'em Mix Max for A$72,155. He improved on last year's performance in the same tournament when he took 11th place for A$6,715. He now has nearly $200,000 in lifetime tournament cashes. The tournament attracted 285 entrants, 24 percent more than the 230 players in the event last year, generating a A$292,125 prize pool.