Online Poker Weekend: NETELLER a Non-Issue?Numbers Are Back Up to Almost Normal, Bodog Exceeds Expectations, and Pros Are Everywhereby Shawn Patrick Green | Published: Jan 28, 2007 | |
 
|
|---|
The numbers were down for all of the big online poker tournaments last week - down by very large percentages. It seemed very likely that the news of the NETELLER pullout from the U.S. markets was the catalyst for the change. However, one astute CardPlayer.com reader offered another possible factor in an e-mail:
I scanned your article for the mention of the impact of the [Sunday] football games. After all, my first thought was that I played last week and skipped this Sunday because of football. I really think that [the] players will be back next week and missing the week after [for the Super Bowl]. The sky is not falling! Please don't panic the sheep!
Thanks,
Storm
His words could not have been proven truer when yesterday's Sunday tournaments did very well for themselves. Granted, the Sunday tournaments aren't at the record-breaking numbers they were at before the NETELLER situation, but they certainly don't appear permanently damaged by the NETELLER pullout, either. Even the newly minted Bodog $200,000-guaranteed tournament, generally expected to have a huge overlay, far exceeded forecasts.
Guess it was the football, after all.
A large number of Internet poker pros hit the final tables this weekend, including Gary "GB2005" Bogdanski at PokerStars, Shawn "phat_cat1" Luman at Full Tilt, Faraz "The-Toilet" Jaka, Maria Nuccia (aka T Soprano), and Cory "UGOTPZD" Carroll at UltimateBet, and Adam "Roothlus" Levy at Bodog.
PokerStars Sunday Million
The PokerStars monthly $500 buy-in Sunday Million tournament enticed 2,768 players to join the fray, building a total prize pool of $1,384,400. The good turnout at PokerStars was an indication - among many such indications this weekend - that the NETELLER pullout will likely have minimal short-term effects and few, if any, long-term effects on the online poker industry.
Internet poker pro (although he doesn't like to be called a pro) Gary "GB2005" Bogdanski made the final table of the Sunday Million tournament this week. The self-proclaimed non-pro's recent accomplishments in poker include earning the best all-around player honors for the Full Tilt Online Poker Series II and a first-place finish in the Full Tilt $350,000-guaranteed event less than a month later. He outlasted 2,140 other players to take the first-place prize of $78,789, for what was his biggest online cash to date. He had the chance to surpass that accomplishment with a third-place finish or better here.
GB2005 entered the final table in third place in chips with $4.8 million. WestmenloAA was in first with $5.4 million and dominospizza was in last place with $1.1 million. Frankie810 wasn't too far ahead of dominospizza and he ended up being the first player sent to the virtual rail. Frankie810 pushed all in preflop and was reraised by westmenloAA, folding the remaining players. WestmenloAA showed pocket tens and was up against the A
9
of frankie810. The board paired itself, but otherwise missed both players, and westmenloAA eliminated frankie810 with two pair, tens up. Frankie810 earned $11,072 for his ninth-place finish.The next elimination hand was over a half hour later, an eternity for an Internet poker tournament. Blom21 went down to the felt preflop for $890,000 and was called by both mylo and aboli70. The flop came 6
5 4 and aboli70 pushed all in for his remaining $1.7 million, folding mylo. Aboli70 turned over pocket sevens and Blom21 held K
J and needed to improve. The turn and river were blanks and aboli70 took down the pot with a pair of sevens. Blom21 pocketed $19,099 for eighth place.Ten minutes later, the doctor was out when DoctorIn2010 raised all in preflop for $1.9 million and was called by GB2005. DoctorIn2010's K
Q was dominated by GB2005's A K. The board ran out J 10 2 Q J, giving DoctorIn2010 two pair but landing a Broadway straight for GB2005 to take the hand and eliminate DoctorIn2010 in seventh ($30,171).Dominospizza had been nursing his relatively short stack for most of the tournament, and his time finally came. He pushed all in preflop and was up against aboli70, who showed A
J. Dominospizza held A 10 and was in bad shape. A meaningless ace came on the turn to pair both players but, in the end, aboli70's jack kicker played and he raked in the pot to eliminate dominospizza in sixth ($42,904).While GB2005 didn't win the next elimination hand, it would be big news for him anyway. Mylo raised to $645,000, with the big blind at $240,000, and aboli70 pushed all in over the top for $1.1 million. WestmenloAA reraised to $4.8 million and mylo pushed all in himself for $5.5 million total. WestmenloAA called the extra $700,000 and showed pocket tens. The other two all-in players showed great news for westmenloAA when they both revealed A-K in the pocket. The board missed everyone and westmenloAA's pocket tens were enough to eliminate both players. Aboli70 received $56,744 for fifth place and mylo received $70,584 for fourth place.
The double elimination meant that Gary "GB2005" Bogdanski was guaranteed the biggest cash in his online poker career with at least $85,670 for third place. And he was on track to get more than that when three-way play began, sitting in second place with $6.6 million versus maxout12 in third with $2 million. WestmenloAA held a massive lead with $19.1 million in chips.
A big hand four minutes in left GB2005 relatively crippled. Both GB2005 and westmenloAA played stop-and-go with big pocket pairs as the board put out brick after brick. GB2005 managed to avoid pushing all in with pocket jacks on a board of 9
4 2 8 9 and westmenloAA showed pocket aces to take down a large pot. GB2005 lost almost $4 million in the hand to put himself below $2 million in chips.Three minutes later, GB2005 played his last hand of the tournament. WestmenloAA raised to $18.5 million from the small blind and GB2005 called all in for $1.1 million in the big blind. WestmenloAA showed A
Q and had GB2005's A 10 dominated. The board ran out and westmenloAA's queen kicker was enough to take GB2005 out in third ($85,670).Maxout12 had basically been a short stack since the tournament's start and he finally saw his end in the very first hand of heads-up play. He pushed all in for $2.6 million and westmenloAA called and showed A
K. Maxout12 was in the lead with pocket sixes until the flop came A 9 2, spiking an ace for westmenloAA. A 5 on both the turn and the river gave both players two pair, but westmenloAA's aces up were enough to eliminate maxout12 in second ($129,404) and win the tournament. WestmenloAA received a huge $254,518 payday for first place in the event.The final standings were:
1) westmenloAA - $254,517.60
2) maxout12 - $129,404
3) Gary "GB2005" Bogdanski - $85,669.60
4) mylo - $70,584
5) aboli70 - $56,744
6) dominospizza - $42,904
7) DoctorIn2010 - $30,171.20
8) Blom21 - $19,099.20
9) frankie810 - $11,072
Full Tilt $300,000 Guarantee
Full Tilt lowered its regularly-scheduled big weekly tournament's guaranteed prize pool from $400,000 to $300,000 this week after the disappointing run of its monthly $750,000-guaranteed tournament (which required a $60,000 overlay). The lowering of the guarantee proved unnecessary when 2,115 entrants ponied up the $200 buy-in to put the prize pool at $423,000.
The $400,000-guaranteed tournament that ran before news of the NETELLER pullout broke had 2,473 entrants. The 14 percent drop in attendance is likely due in large part to the NETELLER pullout, but the impact of the news is proving far less significant than many in the industry expected.
Internet poker pro Shawn "phat_cat1" Luman made an appearance at the final table, sitting down in eighth place in chips ($406,000). GDSC entered the final table in first place as the only player to break into a six-figure chip stack with $1.1 million. Most players were within one double-up of taking over the chip lead.
Phat_cat1 made an early exit when he pushed all in preflop for his remaining $116,000 and was called by Algator, who showed pocket tens. Phat_cat1 showed he was dominated with his K
10. The board paired itself, but otherwise improved neither player, and phat_cat1 was eliminated in ninth ($5,922).The stacks were very close when it came down to three-way play. Temaki ($2.3 million), GDSC ($2.2 million), and Klovnen ($1.8 million) were basically neck and neck. GDSC siphoned some chips off of both his opponents in the two minutes before the next elimination hand. Temaki called the $60,000 big blind from the small blind and GDSC raised to $180,000 from the big blind. Temaki reraised up to $480,000 and GDSC called. The flop came Q
9 4 and Temaki bet $600,000. GDSC raised to $1.2 million and Temaki pushed all in over the top for almost $400,000 more. GDSC called, having Temaki covered, and showed Q 9 for top two pair while Temaki held Q 8 for just top pair. The turn was a blank and river was a 4 to pair the board, but Temaki's two pair was still worse and he was eliminated in third ($31,302).GDSC now had $4.8 million versus Klovnen's $1.5 million. Klovnen gained some momentum four minutes into the heads-up match when he pushed all in preflop and was called by GDSC, who showed A
6. Klovnen held K 10 and was behind. The flop paired both his king and his 10 and the two pair was good enough to double him up to $2.6 million. GDSC was still in the lead, but it was a narrower lead. Klovnen's momentum continued for over 15 minutes until the two players had basically switched the chip stacks they started with. Klovnen now held $5.2 million compared to GDSC's $1.1 million.In the final hand, Klovnen pushed all in preflop and GDSC called and showed J
10. Klovnen flipped up 7 6 and needed help to win the tournament. That help arrived when the flop came Q 6 3, giving him a pair of sixes for the lead. The turn was the 9, giving GDSC an open-end straight draw to go with his two overcards and almost a 32 percent chance to win the hand. The river, however, was the 5 and Klovnen raked in the pot with his pair of sixes to win the tournament. GDSC pocketed $47,799 for second place while Klovnen made $77,832 for his first-place finish.The final standings were:
1) Klovnen - $77,832
2) GDSC - $47,799
3) Temaki - $31,302
4) muckthenuts - $24,957
5) Algator - $19,035
6) flipflopdoc - $13,620.60
7) motnahp - $9,940.50
8) RaSZi - $7,825.50
9) Shawn "phat_cat1" Luman - $5,922
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
The UltimateBet $200,000-guaranteed tournament had two interesting things going for it this weekend: 1) Its attendance numbers rocketed back up to 977 from the 862 last week and 2) it was full of notable Internet pros. The attendance number is particularly interesting in that it means the tournament is back in form and seemingly unscathed by the payment processor pullouts.
The notable names at the final table included Faraz "The-Toilet" Jaka, entering in first with $468,000, Maria Nuccia (aka T Soprano on PokerStars) in fourth with $335,000, and Cory "UGOTPZD" Carroll in tenth with $83,000. Maria Nuccia recently won the UltimateBet Online Championship main event, earning $168,450.
True to his stack, UGOTPZD was the first to go when he pushed all in preflop and was called by The-Toilet. UGOTPZD showed pocket sixes and was ahead against The-Toilet's A
9. A 9 on the turn turned the tables on UGOTPZD and The-Toilet took down the pot to eliminate UGOTPZD in 10th ($2,000).Maria Nuccia and The-Toilet held the first- and second-place chip stacks throughout most of the final table action, and both players had been in the chip lead at least once. The two players carried their stacks through to the final heads-up match with The-Toilet in the lead with $1.3 million versus Maria Nuccia's $1.1 million. At the beginning of the match, Maria Nuccia got disconnected for eight hands. Once The-Toilet noticed, he began playing his hands very slowly and letting his action clock run down to allow Maria Nuccia to reconnect without losing too much to the blinds and antes. He offered to sit out just before Maria Nuccia reconnected and play resumed.
The-Toilet slowly chipped away at Maria Nuccia's stack until the final hand, less than 20 minutes into the match. Maria Nuccia ($547,000) called $16,000 from the small blind preflop and The-Toilet ($1.9 million) checked his option. The flop came A
10 4 and The-Toilet bet $20,000. Maria Nuccia called and the turn was the 3. The-Toilet checked and Maria Nuccia bet $56,000. The-Toilet raised to $190,000 and Maria Nuccia pushed all in for $511,000. The-Toilet called and showed 10 3 for a turned two pair, tens and threes, and Maria Nuccia turned over A 5 for a pair of aces and a gutshot-straight draw. The river was the Q, no help to either player, and The-Toilet won the hand to eliminate Maria Nuccia in second ($26,500) and take home the $45,000 first-place prize.The final standings were:
1) Faraz "The-Toilet" Jaka - $45,000
2) Maria Nuccia - $26,500
3) wake all in - $18,000
4) durrtyD - $13,100
5) ivoltron - $10,500
6) Earl the Dog - $8,500
7) PrtyPfcp - $6,500
8) SQUIL - $4,500
9) HB_HITMAN - $3,400
10) Cory "UGOTPZD" Carroll - $2,000
Bodog $200,000 Guarantee
The first-ever Bodog $200,000-guaranteed tournament on Sunday had a much larger turnout than previously expected, with 1,909 entrants. This attendance number was just 91 entrants short of making the posted guarantee based on buy-ins alone and Bodog had to pick up the relatively small $9,100 overlay. The general consensus had been that the tournament would lure a maximum of 1,500 entrants, considering both the pullout of many large payment processors from the U.S. market and the fact that last week's $100,000-guaranteed tournament had only 801 entrants (and a $19,900 overlay).
Along with the relative success of the attendance at the tournament's first run, the final table featured a very prominent name in online poker, Adam "Roothlus" Levy. Roothlus came to the table in sixth place in chips ($349,000). In first was timosy with $1.4 million.
With seven players remaining, Roothlus (now with $493,000) lost $473,000 and dropped down to $20,000 after a big hand when he pushed all with K-Q and was called by People_Mover with pocket jacks and the jacks held up. He went all in in the next two hands in a row and was called both times by at least one other player. He won both hands and was back up to $322,000. The won all-in hands failed to do much but delay the inevitable. In his final hand, Roothlus pushed all in preflop for $289,000 on the button, with the big blind at $60,000, and timosy called and showed A
9. Roothlus held K 5 and was behind. Timosy won the hand with an unimproved ace high and Roothlus was eliminated in seventh ($4,740).Timosy, the chip leader entering the final table, eventually found himself heads up with Adanthar. Adanthar had drawn out on a few opponents to build a stack of $3.5 million at the start of the heads-up match compared to timosy's $1.3 million. The stacks remained relatively unchanged until the final hand just five minutes later.
Timosy raised to $320,000 preflop, with the big blind at $120,000, and Adanthar pushed all in. Timosy called for his remaining $952,000 and showed pocket tens. Adanthar flipped over J
10 and was dominated. The flop came 9 8 6, giving both players a gutshot-straight draw, but Adanthar with a better, jack-high draw. The turn was a blank, the 2, and the river brought the 7, completing both players' straights but giving Adanthar a higher straight to give him the pot and eliminate timosy in second ($19,800). Adanthar won the tournament with another unlikely draw-out hand and earned $39,240.The final standings were:
1) Adanthar - $39,240
2) timosy - $19,800
3) countryfried - $14,080
4) People_Mover - $11,400
5) kooocken - $8,940
6) Teamhronic - $6,740
7) Adam "Roothlus" Levy - $4,740
8) matrix - $2,940
9) CFern21 - $1,760
Card Player is working with several sites that continue to serve U.S. players to provide deposit bonuses to our readers. Click on the following names to receive bonuses: UltimateBet, Bodog, Absolute, and Full Tilt Poker.
12 Comments
NICHOLAS929
over 2 years ago
You are all the Dreamgirls if you think Neteller pulling out will not hurt the US online market and all the poker sites. If I am lying I'm drying...US players might have some money left, but when that runs out you will see the difference. How about the Worl Series of Poker..how many players this year.... 8,500 players or 2,300 players?:
It has been fun, but for now the party is over in the US.
detroitjunkie
over 2 years ago
I wouldn't put poker on the felt just yet in the USA. Television still has a strong pull for poker and the WSOP, more and more land based casinos are having satellites for the main event, and thousands have already won their online satellites. Furthermore, you are assuming that the USA wants to end online poker as we know it, which is still debatable, I still think they want to keep it to the USA only - by booting out the competition, and opening newer more safe and regulated USA online casinos. And to go a step further, lots of people still have lots of money online, it will be quite some time before the coffers are empty, and I believe the WSOP main event satellites only have a few months left anyways, so at least this years main event should be sizeable - my guess is roughly 9100 (hey Card Player - any way of finding out how many have registered yet?).
Now next year should be where the concern lies - if an overabundance of people in a tourney is a good thing for you - we will have to see what the summer brings, as well as a new Commander-In-Cheif - remember this is an election year - and during election years the people are heard more often than during non-election years...so lets voice out folks!
Rguzzo1986
over 2 years ago
I thought the article was good...but i hated how it didnt mention that WestMenloAA is 19 year old Isaac Baron who has only plaid 3 live events and has good results and now has taken down the biggest tourney of the week across all sites... he also kills every form of cash game wait till he turns 21.... GG Isaac
SevenKidsPoppy
over 2 years ago
Depositing is one thing, but the real problem will be cashing out if the DoJ goes after ePassporte AND stops the banks from cashing checks from poker sites. I was thinking about moving to the South Pacific anyway....
shawng
over 2 years ago
See, now I didn't know who Isaac was (poker sites are very picky about giving out info). I'm always happy when someone e-mails me about a noteworthy player that I didn't mention the specifics of, so feel free to shoot me an e-mail (my e-mail address is above) if I miss something. With all of the information out there, and everything that I am responsible for reporting on each weekend, I'm SURE to overlook some important players.
I've been introduced to some very prominent players because they themselves shot me an e-mail, "Hey, I'm important! Here's why! Put my name in there!"
hummer93
over 2 years ago
neteller is an issue bacause they are holding poker players money. They will not release it. If this continues how is someone going to deposit money in poker sites. If neteller does not give players their money it will be the end of internetpoker/gambling. If you get ****
by the largest company then anyone can do same.
mario17
over 2 years ago
us=freedom?(yea right!!!) i cant belive this b u l l s h i t ,whats next u cant play on-line anymore? lets move to europe or australia or somethin if the gov.dosnt whant our $.f... bush and his f... laws peace everybody
h2maximus
over 2 years ago
Where there is this much demand, there will always be a way to fund the site and I wouldn't be surprised to see the major sites open their own funding options as a branch of their business.
Truthseeker
over 2 years ago
Sorry Mr. Green, you do not belong writing for Cardplayer. There are many reasons but here are the basics.
1) You use correct grammar
2) It seems you double check your work
3) Your stories seem to flow
Cardplayer...this guy should be writing at WPT events, not online stuff!!
bmpek
over 2 years ago
how many of you moaners and crybabies have ever voted???. head for canada or wherever and play with the yellowbellies that ran there in the seventies
thatboyelite
over 2 years ago
Whats the best service to use now that Neteller Is out?
detroitjunkie
over 2 years ago
Oh I've voted, unfortunately I voted republican, so I am one of the bad guys....this issue actually has me rethinking my beliefs. And sorry Elite One, the only way now is credit cards, and thats if your credit card allows it. I guess you could try and have someone transfer the money and then write them a check...but lots of on-line sites frown on player transfers...I wonder if thats going to change now.