Inside Straight -- News

J.C. Tran Trounces Premier League Opposition

J.C. Tran took down the PartyPoker.com Premier League III and the top prize of $300,000 in December.

Tran, who seemed to easily demolish anything that came into his path, was favourite to win as he was top of the league table with three first places and two seconds in the heats, and proved to be in top class form.

The final heads up of the league saw Tran battle against Tony G for the lion's share of the $1.25 million prize pool. The confrontation started out with Tony G's 1,150,000 in chips staring down Tran's 780,000, but all it took at that point was one key hand to change everything.

Tony G raised to 75,000 preflop with 8 6 and Tran called with 10 8. The flop fell Q 10 6 and Tony G bet 95,000. Tran called. The turn was the Q and Tony G again led out, betting 110,000 this time. Tran's response was a raise to 260,000, and as Tony G gave up his cards, he also gave up his chip leading position. Once that happened, the end was nigh.

The blinds were at 20,000/40,000 and Tran limped in with 9 7. Tony checked behind with K 8. The flop was 7 6 5, Tony G checked raised all in, and was called down by the fearless Tran. Tony G needed a king, a four, or a nine to regain the lead but the turn was the J, and the river, the 2.

A victorious Tran said, "This is brilliant and I am so happy. I have been feeling good all week and it is amazing to win this event. Until this week I had never played in Europe before - I really couldn't ask for more!

Runner up Tony G's response was - "I brought my best game but it just wasn't good enough." The total official pay outs including heat and final table winnings were:

Portuguese Wins EPT Poland as Italian Takes Prague Title

The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour ended its most successful year to date with events in Warsaw, Poland; and Prague, Czech Republic.

The PLN 20,000 buy-in EPT Polish Open was won Portuguese player Joao Barbosa who topped a pro-heavy field of 217 players to collect the €367,140 first prize.

The first six eliminations from the final table were:



Barbosa made his bid for glory from three out when he bet 44,000 preflop, Minieri shoved all in, and Barbosa called with 9-9. Minieri flipped over 7-7 and got no help from the board before hitting the rail for €123,162.

In the final hand of the evening, Nico Behling bet 60,000, Barbosa bet 200,000 and Behling went all in. He turned over J 7 while Barbosa had him dominated with A 10. The board came down A 7 3 6 6 and Barbosa became the new champion. Behling who said something about it being his lucky hand, finishes runner up for €205,270.

Meanwhile Salvatore Bonavena took down the €5,250 buy-in EPT Prague for a tidy sum of €774,000 to become the first Italian ever to win an EPT event. He was cheered on by hoards of Italian supporters including Dario Minieri and Gino Alacqua.

Bonavena was the last man standing from a field of 570, and the final obstacle in his way of the title was amazingly another Italian; Massimo Di Cicco. Di Cicco took home €445,000 for his second place finish.

The final table eliminations were:



The last hand of the night saw Di Cicco move all in on an 8 3 2 flop with A 4. Bonavena called with 8 7. The turn was the 6 , and the river, the J. Bonavena's pair of eights held and the EPT had its first ever Italian poker hero.

Russia Becomes Latest Tour Destination

PokerStars.com has announced details of its new Russian Poker Tour which kicks off in St. Petersburg and Moscow in January and February 2009.

The Tour will be in conjunction with organisers Poker Style, the Russian Sport Poker Federation, and Russian TV channel, Sport. The events will have $5,000 and $10,000 buy-ins respectively, with the main events taking place from Jan. 25 to Feb. 1 in Palkin restaurant, St. Petersburg, and Feb. 22 to 28 in Moscow (venue not yet released).

Both locations will play host to a variety of side events and the main event of each festival will be filmed for broadcast on Russian TV. More dates will be announced soon.

Marty Smyth is Ladbrokes Poker Million Champion



After being crippled early session in the Ladbrokes Poker Million VII by Liam Flood, Marty Smyth who was then 100/1 against winning, made a dramatic comeback to take down the event.

Smyth overcame challenges from Norwegian Svein Petter Neilsen and Englishman Kevin Allen to ensure the Irish took the top four spots and over $1.5 million in prize money.

The results were:



For a behind the scenes look at this event see Jen Mason's feature in this issue.

Ash Burns Bright as Champion of Champions

Ash Hussain is the BlueSqPoker.com Grosvenor UK Poker Tour 2008 champion of champions, topping the 93-strong field who had won their way into the £75,000 freeroll by taking down a GUKPT event over the last year.

Hussain collected £20,000 for his win at the G Casino, Luton having seen the payout structure voted for by players prior to the event. He saw off stiff final table opposition from GUKPT leader board winner Marc Goodwin (for which Goodwin collected £10,000), and recent grand final winner Paul Foltyn.

Hussain, who recently won the Grosvenor Grand Prix, had to overcome Dave Rudling's chip lead to snatch victory. The final hand of the evening saw him call a 45,000 bet, and then an all-in from Rudling on a J-T-2 flop with J-8, which stood up against his opponent's 9-9.

Rowe Makes Splash in Sydney

Martin Rowe, 34, from Sydney, won the PokerStars.com Asia Pacific Poker Tour, Sydney in early December taking down the AUD $1 Million top prize for beating 476 opponents.

"I cannot believe I have won tonight," said the overwhelmed Sydneysider. "I felt on edge but not out of control the entire tournament, and now to have the title I am just ecstatic - this will be life changing for my family."

Rowe beat fellow Aussie Jason Gray heads up with A-Q versus 9-5 suited, with the money in preflop.

The Sydney tournament ends season two of the APPT, with an announcement of the season three stops expected soon.

Dane Wins Amsterdam Master Classics

Jan Sørensen, the Danish World Series of Poker bracelet winner, has lifted the Amsterdam Master Classics crown, and with it the €623,000 top prize. Sørensen beat Gustav Erkot heads up to take the prestigious title, now in its 17th year.

This marks the third major tournament triumph for Denmark in just over one week after Peter Eastgate won the World Series of Poker main event and "hahila" won the Ladbrokes European Online Championship of Poker.

The €6,000 + €200 buy-in main event in the Netherlands attracted players from America, Canada, Russia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Slovakia, England, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, and Belgium.

The main event was the culmination of a week of tournaments, including a pot-limit Omaha event won by Brit Surinder Sunar who took home just over €100,000.

Devilfish Gets Everywhere

DevilfishPoker.com is targeting Hungary and Eastern European markets with the announcement that it has acquired the player base of Paramin Poker. Players at the online poker room, formerly owned by Poker Akademia, have been migrated to DevilfishPoker and the two companies have entered into a new affiliate agreement.

Early in 2008, Devilfish made the final table of the European Challenge where he played against two Hungarians including eventual winner Peter Gelenscher.

Elsewhere the UK poker legend's recent reality TV show How to Become a Poker Millionaire has been released on DVD with bonus footage, and is available from online retailers such as HMV, Amazon, and Zavvi.