Husband, father, and co-founder/CEO of Fresh Clean Threads
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Matthew Parvis
Inside Gaming: Fontainebleau Las Vegas Sale Nets Big Profit for Icahn
This week's installment of Inside Gaming covers the recent sale of the Fontainebleau property on the Las Vegas Strip, reports New Jersey's filings to the Supreme Court regarding its appeal of the federal sports betting ban, and follows up on heavy betting on "The Money Fight" from last weekend. Forbes this week reports that Icahn Enterprises L.P. and its majority shareholder Carl Icahn has sold the unfinished Fontainebleau Las Vegas property on the Las Vegas Strip for $600 million.
Esfandari and the Folding Pocket Kings Preflop Puzzle
Pocket kings. It's the second-best hand in hold'em, which means folding the hand before the flop isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility — in theory, anyway. If you've been following the relaunch of Poker After Dark on PokerGO, you know how that very topic came up, and immediately a situation presented itself in which a player with pocket kings genuinely had to ponder whether or not to let his pair of kings go before the flop. The stakes were $400/$800 and the stacks quite deep.
Poker & Pop Culture: The Great Tuesday Night Game Trilogy
Continuing this mini-survey of late 20th-century poker-related literature, among the handful of "must read" narratives produced during the period are three books authored by participants in the same north London home game. David Spanier was a foreign and diplomatic correspondent for The Times and later a reporter for other outlets. having written a well regarded book about Britain's entry into the European Common Market.
The Muck: Doug Polk Hypes Upcoming Heads-up Match Against Hellmuth
With tournament series in Sydney, Manilla, Bucharest, and Choctaw, there was plenty of poker playing going on around the world. It seems, however, as if it's taking a backseat to the complaining about structures and women - on Twitter at least. In fact, you might have to climb to the top of the hill to get away from it all. Or maybe not depending on how a certain someone fares. We're not talking about the childhood game played in abandoned fields around town while growing up.
Do You Have 'Jack-O-Phobia'? Playing Pocket Jacks in Live NL Hold'em
Pocket jacks hold a special place of disdain for many live $1/$2 players in Las Vegas. I often hear them say something like "I hate jacks!" yet I rarely hear the same thing about pocket queens or tens. "Jack-O-Phobia" seems to be a real phenomenon in the lowest stakes games. From where does this dislike of pocket jacks come? Let's look a little more closely at some of the math involved with this starting hand and consider how that math should help us play the hand.
WSOP Day 14: Cada, Elky Advance to Day 3 of Millionaire Maker
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.
Unibet Poker Issues Refunds in its Biggest-Ever Tournament
Due to focussing its efforts on recreational poker players, Unibet Poker is not known for offering tournaments with large guarantees, but this fact changed on Jun. 11 when it ran a €50,000 guaranteed event for the first time. Unibet Poker ran the €50,000 guaranteed tournament to help celebrate dealing 500 million real money hands and by the time late registration ended, the prize pool weighed in at an impressive €65,000, going to show there is a demand for this size tournament on Unibet Poker.
Faces in the Crowd: Former MLB Pitcher, Army Veteran Play The Colossus
The tables in the Amazon Room were stacked on Friday as rounders from across the country and around the world hoped to bring their A-game to the $565 Colossus III and survive for another day and a shot at the $1 million top prize and gold bracelet. We decided to take a look at some of the players who turn out to play each summer and tell their own unique stories – ranging from a retired soldier to a former pitcher for the Texas Rangers.
Anatoly Filatov Leads High Roller at partypoker Live Million Germany
After seven 45-minute levels, Day 1 of the 2017 partypoker LIVE Million Germany €2,200 High Roller at King's Casino Rozvadov generated a total of 65 entries. Most of the field made it through as 48 hopefuls bagged up chips when the tournament clock stopped just before midnight. Play initially began on just one table before a handful of players joined in on the action, necessitating the opening of a second table.
Use Caution or Exert Pressure? Flopping Middle Pair in a Three-Bet Pot
Today we have a fun hand from the $10,000 buy-in World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic Main Event at the Commerce Casino. The tournament was not a re-entry — that is to say, it was a standard "freezeout" which has actually become less common these days. That's relevant to point out, as this hand comes early and in freezeouts I tend to be a little more aggressive during the first levels if I think my opponents are leaning toward not wanting to go broke.
Corporate Card Playing: Unique Tales of Wagering, Business Survival
The analogies are endless between poker and capitalism — the risk, the money, the long hours, equity — it goes on and on. But a few major businesses have a unique history when it comes to cards, chips, buyouts and bankruptcy. We took a look at some of these unknown gambling stories. The famous hamburger franchise, now owned by Carl’s Jr. parent company CKE Restaurants, was founded in 1960 in Greenville, North Carolina, by Wilbur Hardee.
The Long, Winding Road to Tournament Poker Victory or Heartbreak City?
Hello again, PokerNews. I was actually a little shocked when I saw my first blog posted on here back in April. And so, I thought to myself, why not start submitting a few more blogs from my heyday? I probably have about 20 or so in the vaults (Google Drive). But this one is the one that has special meaning to me. In honor of the WSOP starting soon, I want to share my story in tournament poker. Cash games made me money, but tournaments gave me the glory... and the heartbreak.
Leo Fernandez Wins the PokerStars Festival Chile $3,300 High Roller
Day 3 of the $3,300 PokerStars Festival Chile High Roller was a quick one, lasting just four hands. Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez is the winner, taking home $20,950, the title and the elusive gold trophy. The Argentinian pro was arguably the most decorated player in this event, boasting over $2 million in lifetime earnings, with two high roller titles and a Latin America Poker Tour Main Event title on his resume.
Poker Central Announces On-Demand Subscription Service, PokerGO
Poker Central launched PokerGO, a subscription service that will provide on-demand programming for poker's biggest events, like the World Series of Poker and Super High Roller Bowl, May 22. “PokerGO will offer the best live and on-demand poker tournaments and content for the fiercely passionate poker fan and casual enthusiast alike - whenever and wherever they want them,” said JR McCabe, chief digital officer of Poker Central, in a release.
Hugo Larachiche Wins Winamax SISMIX Main Event
France's Hugo Larachiche emerged victorious after utterly dominating the final table, knocking out four players within 90 minutes of play and ultimately defeating Japan's Kazuma Fujiyama in a quick heads-up encounter of just seven hands to end the record-breaking 2017 Winamax SISMIX Main Event. The third and final day of the event saw 18 survivors out of a 1,078 strong field return to the tables in the palace building of the Casino de Marrakech. Play was resumed just after 1 p.m. local time.
Mike Sexton Leaving WPT to Become partypoker Chairman
Mike Sexton will be leaving his longtime role as commentator with the World Poker Tour, a tour he helped build from square one into one of the most popular poker shows and live tours over the past 15 years. "It has been an honor and a privilege to work with the World Poker Tour since its inception in 2002," Sexton said in a release from the WPT.
2017 PokerStars SCOOP Day 15: Brian Rast Wins 2-7 Single Draw Title
Brian “tsarrast” Rast became a Spring Championship Of Online Poker champion on Day 15 of the 2017 SCOOP when he topped a field of 157 players in the SCOOP-52-H: $1,050 NL 2-7 Single Draw event, a result that netted him $36,502. The 157 entries were made up of 73 unique players and 84 reentries and their $1,050 buy-ins created a prize pool of $157,000, which was more than three times the $50,000 guaranteed amount.
888poker XL Inferno Series Day 15: 'Alien_Army' Wins Main Event for Almost $300K
On the final day of the 888poker XL Inferno Series, there were 17 tournaments on the schedule. Most of the attention went to the $1,500,000 Main Event, which had a buy-in of $1,050. This was the highlight on Day 15 but there was more with some big winners in other events. Let's see who took down the Main Event and the other events on this final day of the series. After more than 13 hours of play, the $1,050 XL Inferno Main finally came to an end.
888poker Launches the 8-Team for the 2017 WSOP
888poker, the official sponsor of the World Series of Poker, is sending a team of poker players to the 2017 WSOP known as “The 8-Team.” A lucky qualifier could become a part of it and have the chance to fly the 888poker flag at next year’s series. Five teams, each from a different country, feature a team captain, a wing man and a qualifier will be chosen to represent the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Brazil and Sweden at the upcoming 2017 WSOP Main Event.
Sampo Ryynanen Leads the Final 11 in PSC Monte Carlo PLO High Roller
A field of 60 runners has been reduced to 11 after 14 levels of play in the PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® €10,300 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller. Finnish player Sampo Ryynanen has the chip lead after turning his 50,000 starting stack into 590,000 by day's end. Ryynanen won a massive pot during Level 14 (2,500/5,000) that propelled him from the middle of the pack into the chip lead. As he told us after the players bagged, he got it in preflop with aces three ways.
READ: Mexican Legislators Waited on President Trump's 'Poker Bluff'
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that he would begin the process of withdrawing the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), reported The New York Times, but Mexican legislators decided to use a tactic straight from the poker table this time. There was talk at the White House that Trump was finalizing his executive order and readying to withdraw. Mexican Senator Armando Ríos Piter thought it best to wait out Trump's theatrics and not react publicly.
Life Is A Gamble When I'm All About My Poker Chips
The year was 2005. I had a full head of hair. I was a second year college student (criminal justice) who was just going through the motions. I was living on my own in a small, cheap place. It was all mine though, and it was more than almost anyone else my age at the time could say. I was working two jobs, making money, but not really putting it toward anything. One lazy Friday night, I had a friend I had called in order to hang out. “Sorry man, I’m having poker night,” he said.
Fantasy Golf: Top DraftKings Picks for the Valero Texas Open
The PGA Tour heads to the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course this week for the Valero Texas Open. The Par-72 course plays firm, fast and long at 7,435 yards, and the layout challenges every aspect of your game. It will be very important to check the weather on Wednesday night ahead of this tournament. Pop up winds happen all the time in South Texas and they could have a big effect on the AM/PM waves on Thursday and Friday.
WSOP Announces Circuit Stop in Rotterdam
The World Series of Poker has gotten a head start on announcing the WSOP Circuit schedule for 2017-18, revealing that there will be a new stop at Holland Casino Rotterdam. The Holland Casino stop is scheduled for Aug. 25-Sept. 2 and will feature 13 numbered events with 12 rings to be won, including a €1,650 Main Event that runs Aug. 29-Sept. 2. It's the first time the WSOP Circuit will be traveling to the Netherlands.
Nick Walker Wins the 2017 WNYPC Opening Event
2014 Western New York Poker Challenge Main Event champion Nick Walker has done it again, taking a different event, the opening event on the 2017 WNYPC schedule at the Niagara Falls Poker Room Sunday night. After four starting flights over two days at the Seneca Niagara Casino & Resort, 96 players returned to play down to a champion Sunday. The event drew a total of 638 entries, creating a $100,000 guarantee-smashing $160,617 prize pool with plans to pay the top 63.
Sunday Briefing: 'Xavi666' Wins Almost $1.1 Million
PokerStars ran its 11th Anniversary special of the Sunday Million this weekend, which boasted of a $10 million guaranteed prize pool for only a $215 buy-in. Not only was the guarantee hit, the 55,835 entries were playing for a massive $11,167,000. Germany’s “Jack17444” fired two bullets at the Sunday Million but was the unfortunate soul who burst the bubble, falling in 9,207th place. His elimination meant everyone else was in the money and had locked up at least $326.07.
Big Stack Strategy in Tournaments with Daniel Negreanu
Much poker tournament strategy revolves around understanding the significance of stack sizes. Smart players are always aware of the amount of chips they (and their opponents) have relative to the blinds and antes, as well as how stacks compare to each other.
Inside Gaming: NFL Owners Approve Raiders Move to Vegas
Inside Gaming this week is Vegas-centric, starting with the big news of NFL owners voting to approve the Oakland Raiders' desire to move the franchise to the Nevada desert, then moving on to talk about February revenue numbers for Nevada and now another set of LV casinos taking away free parking. This week owners of the 32 National Football League franchises voted to approve the Oakland Raiders' proposal to relocate to Las Vegas, Nevada.
PokerStars Releases 2017 SCOOP Schedule
This year's Spring Championship of Online Poker boasts the largest PokerStars series guarantee ever, coming in at $55 million. This SCOOP guarantees $15 million more than SCOOP 2016. This year's tournament also features 57 events and runs an extra week this year, from April 30 to May 23. Team PokerStars Pros Jake Cody and Felipe Ramos discussed the schedule in this exclusive video. The tournament has accessible buy-ins at $5.50, $55 and $530.
Will Berry Wins First WSOP Circuit Tulsa Hard Rock Main Event
The third time was the charm for Will Berry. After twice making World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event final tables, both in Choctaw, Berry broke through to take down WSOP Circuit Tulsa Hard Rock Main Event, the first Circuit stop at the venue. He topped a field of 574 for a $180,806 first-place prize, the biggest yet for the talented young Oklahoman. "I've played a lot of these tournaments and never managed to finish better than fourth place," Berry told WSOP staff after the event.
Golden Nugget Announces 2017 Grand Poker Series Schedule
The Golden Nugget's annual Grand Poker Series is back for a 10th edition in 2017. The series, which runs alongside the World Series of Poker and several other poker series during the summer in Las Vegas, runs from May 30 through July 3 with a total of 57 events. The Grand Poker Series is one of several lower-buy-in options available during this summer, with most tournaments ranging from $150 to $570.
Donkey Poker: When Can I Take a Bathroom Break?
A couple of years ago I was attending the Wednesday Poker Discussion Group in Las Vegas — held each Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Ricardo's in Las Vegas — when a curious question came up. "What is the best time to get up from the table to visit the restroom?" It's an interesting question that actually has a mathematically correct answer. The answer may seem obvious to a good player. Even so, I am often surprised when players get up for a quick break.
West Virginia Introduces First Online Gambling Bill
West Virginia introduced its first online gambling bill, H.B. 3067, March 14 which would legalize and regulate online gambling, reported Online Poker Report. Delegate Shawn Fluharty sponsored the bill with Sean Hornbuckle, Mike Pushkin, Joseph Canestraro and Mike Bates.
Life is Looking Up After Being Kidnapped and Shot
About PokerNews PokerNews.com is the world's leading poker website. Among other things, visitors will find a daily dose of articles with the latest poker news, live reporting from tournaments, exclusive videos, podcasts and so much more. PokerStars is the largest online poker site offering the biggest amount of poker games and different game variations including Texas Hold'em, Omaha and other popular poker games.
Igor Yaroshevskyy Leads PokerStars Championship Panama
Day 2 of the PokerStars Championship Panama started with four new players signing up, boosting the total to 366 players for the inaugural event in Panama City. Martin Jacobson, Ambrose Ng, Erik Seidel and Bryn Kenney joined the field of 171 players that had survived Day 1a and 1b to start Day 2. With 366 players and a total prize pool of $1,775,100, the PokerStars Championship Panama Main Event is by far the biggest event in the history of Panamanian poker.
Throwback Thursday: Tito Ortiz and Liv Boeree Beach Training
With MMA Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz headlining the PokerStars Championship Panama, PokerNews decided to take a look back at the last time Ortiz made an appearance at a PokerStars Event. At the 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, the athlete did a beach training session with Remko Rinkema and some members of the poker community. Since Liv Boeree didn't seem to exhausted after the workout Ortiz showed Boeree a few tricks of the trade to use on Igor Kuganov if he gets out of line.
Igor Kurganov Reveals his Reason for Becoming Team PokerStars Pro
About PokerNews PokerNews.com is the world's leading poker website. Among other things, visitors will find a daily dose of articles with the latest poker news, live reporting from tournaments, exclusive videos, podcasts and so much more. PokerStars is the largest online poker site offering the biggest amount of poker games and different game variations including Texas Hold'em, Omaha and other popular poker games.
888poker Ranks the Most Influential Poker Books
One of the most popular methods of improving as a poker player is to read a strategy book penned by either a top poker player or strategist; those two things usually come hand in hand. There are hundreds of poker books available to buy today but they are not all created equally so 888poker decided to ask 56 professional poker players who have combined live tournament earnings in excess of $184 million for their opinions on what are the most influential poker books in history.
Global Poker Index: Kenney, Peters Lead While Strelitz, Fish Move Up
Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes into account a player's results over six half-year periods. For a look at the entire list, visit the official GPI website. Here's a look at the rankings as of March 8.
The Railbird Report: Tollerene Collects All the Money
Another week, another big winner topping the leaderboard. Last week we had Jens Kyllönen who threw in the towel, this time nobody has called it quits. But action did slow down a bit with not a whole lot of high-stakes tables running and all but one huge pot was seen. In fact, some of the biggest pots came from $50/$100, considerably lower stakes than the $100/$200 and $200/$400 we see usually. This week's biggest pot is, however, a big one if you look at the amount of big blinds going in.
Paysafe Revenues Pass $1 Billion For The First Time
Paysafe Group, the owner of Neteller, Paysafecard and Skrill, has released its full year results for 2016, which show the company’s revenue exceeding $1 billion for the first time in its history. The payments specialist reported revenue of slightly more than $1 billion, up 63 percent from the same period in 2015 that saw Paysafe generate revenue of $613.4 million. Also on the rise was Paysafe Group’s Adjusted EDITDA, which is often used to show how financially healthy a company is.
PokerStars Championship Panama Starts This Weekend
PokerStars makes its first visit to the Sortis Hotel, Spa & Casino in Panama as the second PokerStars Championship stop. On March 10, PokerStars Championship Panama will follow the debut championship event in the Bahamas in January with a set of tournaments designed to appeal to players of all levels. PokerNews will be on the floor providing live coverage.
Five Beginner No-Limit Hold'em Tips from 888poker
Players just getting started with poker have it a lot better today than in the past. Even just a couple of decades ago, just before the dawning of online poker games and the growth of the internet, players had to go the extra mile to find strategy advice in books or articles, or more likely simply had to find a game and learn by experience — sometimes expensively.
Paul Volpe Leads After Day 2 of the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Event
The race towards the $1,373,000 first-place prize of the 2017 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event is on Paul Volpe finds himself in pole position after ending Day 2 with 1,749,000 chips and the title of chip leader. There were 264 players in their seats at the start of Day 2 and after a 15-hour grind, which ended at 3 a.m. PT, only 44 people had chips in front of them that required bagging up for the night.
International Women’s Day: Exploring Poker Dynamics
As it’s International Women’s Day, I thought I’d discuss (as an ignorant man) how having a woman at the poker table can affect the table dynamic. Let’s get this out of the way. Men can be arseholes. Women can also be arseholes. Now that that’s cleared up, hopefully I can get through this post without appearing to take sides. I think its fair to say that poker is a male dominated pastime.
Getting Out of Line With an Underpair in a Three-Bet Pot
Today's hand comes from a tournament I played last summer and involves me making a play that I virtually never make, which means the hand is an interesting one to look back on and analyze. It was early in the tournament, with the blinds at 50/100. I had about 18,000 to begin while the two other opponents in the hand were both at 25,000, meaning we were all deep. A 40-year old player opened for 300 from middle position, then a younger player who was loose-aggressive called from the button.
Parker Talbot: Keeping His Eyes on the Prize
Some poker players don’t easily fall into a single category. Parker Talbot, also known as ‘tonkaaaa’ online, is one of them. Is he the king of Twitch, an entertaining character on the live circuit or an online grinder of global repute? He might be all three, but one thing is for sure - there is a lot more to the man than you might think. One fact about Parker Talbot may not surprise you: He started putting in the hours early. Really early.
Jake Quinsee Wins the DTD200 8-Max
Jake Quinsee is the latest player to win a DTD200 title after he triumphed in the £100,000 guaranteed 8-Max event at Dusk Till Dawn this weekend where he turned £220 into £20,550.
Exclusive: Igor Kurganov Joins PokerStars Team Pro
In the heydays of online poker, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker were involved in an unprecedented arms race, signing up sponsored pros like there was no tomorrow. PokerStars Team Pro had over a hundred members at the time, still outdone by Full Tilt who had over double that. As Black Friday hit and the duopoly came to an end, so did the competition of patching up as many poker players as possible. PokerStars said goodbye to a large part of their stable and today has 29 players on their roster.
'Game of Skill' Arguments Hitting New York, India
The gaming buzz phrase that makes poker players everywhere sigh and roll their eyes is back at the forefront of at least two very different political arenas. In both New York and India, events have been set in motion that will see poker pushed as a "game of skill" in efforts to separate it from stringent anti-gambling laws. In 2016, a poker bill in New York made some headway, sponsored by State Sen. John Bonacic.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Matthew
Contact Matthew, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack