Jeff Lisandro does the un-thinkable!

So far the coolest thing I have seen in this years World Series of Poker is aussie poker player Jeff Lisandro taking down three bracelets. Yes, Jeff is the Australian born son of a miner and if he wasn’t on the map before the 2009 WSOP he is now. For the hard core poker fan Lisandro is a known entity but many people had no idea of who he was before he won his third bracelet in this years WSOP.

Jeff came up in his native Australia as the son of a miner and did his time in the mines too. His father taught him the game at a young age and he took that wisdom to heights far and beyond any one’s expectations. Currently residing in Salerno, Italy Jeff is credited with helping to get poker off the ground in several countries. It is that kind of hard work and dedication to the game that has made him the formidable cash game and tournament poker player he is today.

Obviously winning a bracelet in the WSOP is a big deal but there are only three other players, Ted Forrest, Phil Ivey, and Phil Hellmuth, that have won three in the same WSOP. To say he is in good company would be an understatement. Lisandro also added his own twist to this incredible feat by winning it in the Stud forms of poker to boot winning 7 Card Stud, RAZZ, and 7 Card Hi/Lo against the best players in the world.

Another interesting side line is the prop bet against Eric Lindgren and Dan Negreanu which pitted them against Lisandro and Barry Greenstein. This bet was to be paid to the two man team that accumulated the most WSOP Player of the Year points. Needless to say that after a promising start with Negreanu making a Final Table and finishing second in the 6 handed No Limit tournament early on. But after that Lisandro went on a run for the ages to cement his place in WSOP lore along with his partner in crime Barry Greenstein. They are keeping tight lipped about the amount each team wagered but you can believe it was more than just a small bankroll boost.

So the next time you think about great Aussie poker players and Aussie poker in general maybe it isn’t just Joe Hachem who comes to mind. I know Jeff Lisandro would be on my list of great Aussie players too!

Travel tips for Aussie Poker players

Of all the poker players in the world aussie poker players have the most daunting task when it comes to travel. A trip to the UK or even the United States can be a sobering  journey sitting while sitting on a jet for almost 24 hours.

Aussie poker has been a strong part of the culture for some time now. It just so happened that Joe Hachem had to win the WSOP in order for the rest of the world to catch up. One thing that I have found interesting about players that do not live in the United States or UK is how they go about handling their travel arrangements. Sitting down at a poker table when you are not well rested and your head is in the game is a recipe for disaster.

Many players that know they are going to participate in the WPT or WSOP tournament series will rent houses or make arrangements to be there a couple of days ahead of time so as to counter the effects of jet lag. That is probably the smartest approach considering the amount of travel that tournament poker players from Australia, Korea, and the UK have to do in order to arrive at the tournament site.

Getting plenty of exercise is also key in keeping your mind and body fresh and ready to go. Professional poker tournaments are multi-day events that takes not only skill and a little luck but you also need endurance. Lastly, eat light when you are ready to play poker. Don’t load up on a bunch of sugar and carbs that will lead you to a big crash a few hours after consumption. A salad and a bottle of water should suffice intially and make smart choices throughout the day to supplement your diet to keep your mind sharp.

Australia Poker Show Looking For Players

A new poker TV show, australian poker Hero, is looking for poker players to take part it its first series.

Australian poker Hero will be a first series of its kind to run in the country, and will offer Australian players the chance for fame, fortune and glory as they compete in a televised poker tournament, for cash prizes.

Players can qualify for the show by competing in satellite tournaments on Full Tilt Poker.  There are free qualification tournaments running every day between now and the 21st November 2009.

The series will feature weekly qualifiers, with celebrity guests taking part. Players will be competing for a share of a weekly $25,000 prize pool, with part of the prize being a $10,000 donation to a charity of the winner’s choice.

The final table each week will offer players the chance to win a seat at the 2010 Aussie Millions, which has a prize pool of around $2.5 million!

The series will have ten episodes, and is to be filmed at the Crown Entertainment Complex.  The episodes will air nationally on the WIN and NBN television networks in October 2009.  If you think you’ve got what it takes to be a Poker Hero, now’s your chance to show your skills to the country!

Poker Pack Dominates at Asian Poker Tour

The twelve day long Asian Poker Tour Macau Festival of Poker has reached almost halfway through, but there’s still a lot of excitement to be had, as the $4,000 buy-in Main Event has just begun.

The Macau Festival of Poker attracted poker pros from all over the world, including US Players Chino Rheem and Tommy Le, who both enjoyed success in the early days of the event.  Le and Rheem made it to the final table of Event 4, a No Limit Hold’em game with one rebuy and one add-on.  Rheem then defeated Le in heads-up play to win the event.

Rheem is a member of the Poker Pack, a group of poker players who alsoserve as the official ambassadors of  the APT at tournaments around the world.  The Poker Pack includes Rheem, Tommy Le’s brother Nam Le, J.C. Tran, Quinn Do, Steve Sung and Kwang Su Lee.

The Poker Pack faced off during a special ‘battle of the nations’ tournament, which included poker pros from 13 different countries.  Participants included World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Johnny Chan, Full Tilt Pro Vivek Rajkumar, David Chiu, Theo Tran and Australia’s own Stewart Scott.

Rheem continued his successful festival performance by taking the victory for his country in the Battle of The Nations.

The tournament’s Main Event is now underway, and is expected to conclude on Saturday 23rd August.

The 2009 Victorian Poker Championship Has Begun

The 2009 Victorian Poker Championships Main Event has begun and taken off to a strong start. Over 150 players have begun competing in this even for a hefty prize and a shot at fame.

The crowd was diverse, with some of pokers most popular players showing up to pad their wallets and increase their popularity. Joe Hachem, 2005’s World Champion is competing along with his brother, Tony, who was just crowned the Australia New Zealand Poker Tournament Player of the year. Other players included WSOP bracelet winner, Mark Vos, and online players Ben Delaney, Tim Horan, Matthew Pearson, Kristian Lunardi, Joel Dodds, Daniel Kochan and defending champion Jay “Seabeast” Kinkade.

A notable hand was Jay Kinkade’s exit. Betting on a pair of fours, he lost to a flush that appeared on the river to Mike Ivin; Another former Victorian Championship Main Event winner. While this was definitely an exciting hand, more people are commenting on how George Flourentzou was able to do enough damage to Julian Powell to gain the lead in the event with a chip count of 154,700. This amount gives him nearly a 10,000 lead over the second place Daniel Kochan.

While the main event got off to a strong start, it got off to an even quicker end for some. Of the 156 players that began the tournament, only 57 remain. At the end of the day, chip counts were as follows for the top ten:

George Flourentzou – 154,700
Daniel Kochan – 146,000
Leonid Cai - 144,500
Gary Benson – 142,200
Aytunc Tezay – 136,100
Jason Clissold – 133,200
Karim Jomeen – 119,500
Bill Jordanou – 115,000
Helen Davis – 108,500
Jason Gray – 107,300

Players paid $2,700 to participate in this event which takes place at the world famous Crown Casino in Melbourne. The final tables of certain events and other activities are being broadcast via Aussie Millions Phase 2 & 3 satellites.

European Poker Tour London Becomes a Poker Festival

If you’re a poker fan that enjoys travelling, you should make the London leg of the European Poker Tour a priority stop this year.  The event, which is now dubbed the EPT London Poker Festival, will be running from September 30th to October 7th.

The festival will include several new events, such as the £2,000 European 8-Game Championship, a £1,000 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event, and the £1,000 six-handed no-limit hold’em event.  In total, there are sixteen events for poker fans to enjoy.

“The EPT London Poker Festival will have a rich mix of games and buy-ins to cater to the most players possible in a compelling schedule — by poker players, for poker players,” said EPT Founder John Duthie. “This continues on the fundamental programming shift made for last season’s EPT Grand Final, where we tried to create the best opportunity for all of our players, not just higher rollers, to play a wide mix of poker games and formats at a variety of accessible buy-ins.”

The EPT London Poker Festival will be taking place shortly after the the World Series of Poker Europe series, which is being held at the nearby Casino at the Empire.

Players wishing to take part in the EPT London Poker Festival will find opportunities to qualify via satellite tournaments on PokerStars.

Scott Kerr Wins Australian Poker Tour

Scott Ker, a twenty-one year old poker dealer from New Castle in New South Wales, has won the first PokerStars Australia New Zealand Poker Tour, which was held in Queenstown. Kerr qualified for the tournament online, and took home $168,075 for his efforts in the tournament. He represented his country in heads up play against the Kiwi Philip Willcocks, and won the final hand with an A/Q against Willcocks’ QJ.  Neither player took any aid from the flop, turn, or river, so Kerr took down Willcocks to win the tournament. The Queenstown tournament was the final one in the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour’s first season.  The season was very successful, so we have high hopes for the future!

Aussie Millions to be held January 2010

The Aussie Millions - known as the biggest poker tournament in the southern hemisphere, is due to take place in January 2010.

The tournament, which will from January the 14th till the 31st, 2010 in Melbourne, will turn Australia into the poker capital of the world for its duration.  Aussie Millions is the sixth biggest tournament of poker in the world, and celebrated its tenth anniversary last year.

The tournament expects to have an eight million dollar prize pool, with two million going to the winner.  The Main Event will take place at the Crown Casino Resort - and will run from the 24th January until the 31st January.  The buy-in has been set at 10,500 Australian Dollars.  Alongside the main tournament, there will be about twenty smaller tournaments, including the High Roller tournament - where $100,000 is played in two days, and a HORSE tournament.

If you’re a poker fan, why not head out to the tournament, to meet some of the best australian poker players?

Staying Focused at the Table

Staying focused at the poker table is something we all have to be conscious of. I know that we all get involved in conversation and chit chat between hands. That is fine and to be expected. However, you still must have your eyes and ears open for any kinds of hints, clues or tells that may be revealed in the hands you are not involved in.

It is OK to be social at the poker table but not to the point where you lose focus on the task at hand. Considering that aussie poker professional Joe Hachem enjoys chatting quite a bit he still never loses focus. Hachem uses his banter to probe his opponent or at least those opponents that are willing to respond.

There should never be a time at the poker table that you are bored because there is always something to be heard and observed. This is part of what separates the professional No Limit Hold’em players from amateurs. Professional players are always seeking an edge and looking for weakness. The better players have very few lapses in concentration both in playing hands as well as observing their opponents.

We can all learn a great deal from guys like Joe Hachem and improve our game in the process. In the end staying focused will keep you on your toes and ready to play at the peak of your abilities.

1st Australian Deaf Poker Tournament

The Deaf community across Australia was brought closer together last week, with the first ever Australian Deaf Poker Tournament launching on 1st August 2009.

The weekend long tournament started with a Welcome Night celebration.  There was a Deaf Poker Australia representative on hand to teach new players the basics of the game.

Play began at 6PM on August 1st, 2009 at Burwood, Sydney.  The australian poker League played host to the tournament, and a total of 87 players registered for the event, with 150 spectators watching the games.

Trent H of QLD was the first player knocked out.  He earned an APL booby prize for his efforts.  For 75% of the players, the event was their first poker tournament, although most had at least watched some televised poker tournaments.

Poker beginner Ward T - who had only just learned how to play poker 24 hours prior to the tournament, made it to the final table, but his beginner’s luck wore out and Ashley T of NSW proved his poker skills and bested the other five players  at the table, to take home $700 and a trophy for his efforts.  Second placed Adam V won $350, and third placed Jimmy P won $100.

Free Demo of New MMO Casino Game

If you enjoy video games and casino games, then why not check out the free downloadable demo of Phantom EFX’s ‘Reel Deal Live’ - a massively multiplayer online casino game, where you can enjoy all your favourite skill games - including Texas Hold’em Poker, in a multiplayer environment.

“We wanted to give everyone the chance to experience a little bit of what Reel Deal LIVE is all about,” said Phantom EFX CEO Aaron Schurman. “This demo is perfect for those who want to test drive the game before making the purchase. You’ll get a chance to see LIVE’s detailed casino environments and get a taste for some of the multiple slots, tables, and games that are available to play.”

The free Reel Deal Live demo offers the chance to explore a huge, full 3D casino, and play their favourite games without risking any real life money. Play like a high roller and wager thousands on Black 21, go all in with Hold Em’, or just chat to your friends at the tables - the choice is yours.

If you enjoy the game, the full version offers several benefits, including quests, customizable avatars, access to a shopping mall, and a university to help you improve your poker game.

Profile Your Opponents

When you sit down at the table you should consider the others that are their with you as the enemy. That doesn’t mean that outside of your poker game you can’t be friends but it does mean that you must be very aware of what the enemy is doing and keep them as close to you as possible. It would be almost impossible to be a profitable poker player without being capable of knowing what kind of players are at your tables and their tendencies.

So how do you find out what kind of players you have?

You must learn how to profile your opponent. Profiling comes with a lot of live tournament practice and focus. That is not to say that you won’t occasionally glance up at the plasma screen every now and then. Yes, you can do that but don’t allow the TV to become a distraction. Profiling is all about understanding your opponents and their thinking. This can include: How they bet their hands? What kinds of cards they play and from what position? Do they give off any kind of tell when they have a good hand? Are they capable of making big bluffs?

Each of these pieces helps you to draw a picture of your opponents capabilities. Once you have done this then it is time for you to categorize the players. Are they loose aggressive? Are they tight and passive? Are they a hybrid aggressive and solid player? Usually after you have played for thirty minutes or so you have a fairly good idea of what your opponents are going to do. The real skill comes in learning the smaller tells to help fine tune your profile on that player. Understanding how they put their chips in the pot or very subtle gestures that indicate a strong or weak hand. The only way you can gain this kind of information is to be extremely focused and always aware of how people act when involved in a hand. If you can do that on a regular basis you will be much better prepared to play well against just about anyone.