Dinesh Alt is the latest champion on the Eureka Poker Tour, becoming the first man from Switzerland to take a title on the tour that snakes through mainland Europe, and adding a major live victory to the TCOOP Main Event that he won under his online moniker "NastyMinder".

"Everything happened that you need to win a tournament," Alt said after his victory. That included having a girlfriend on a work trip to Hamburg this week, which gave Alt reason to come to northern Germany in the first place.

Alt took his seat on Day 1B this week, becoming the first of a flurry of familiar faces to arrive on the second starting day. For a while, he was sat on a table with Charlie Carrel, George Danzer and David Yan, all of whom are regulars at the highest-stakes tables in the world, but none of whom was still involved when the tournament reached its business end today.

The 25-year-old from Bern, Switzerland, was the shortest stack in the room when 22 players came back yesterday, but managed to duck and weave his way to today's final, then land his punches at precisely the right moments.

"When I was short, I waited for good spots," he said. "The good spots came and I won every flip since then."

He was especially ruthless during a brief heads-up battle against Ercan Atmaca, a Dutch player living in Germany, when Alt picked off all Atmaca's bluffs and was seemingly always ahead when he committed big portions of his stack.

Atmaca ended up moving all in with [jh][5s] on the final hand. Alt made a shrewd call with [ac][2d] and it held up. Alt takes €69,120 for the win, having refused to talk about a deal. Atmaca takes €43,790 for second.

The final table had an unusual dynamic at its start, with only 12 big blinds separating the biggest stack from the shortest and no one with the luxury to play anything but a potentially tournament-defining pot.

Walid Abdi-Ali was the first to surge up the leader board, profiting in the main from Erik Scheidt. But then Alt, who had been the short stack for long periods, took it out on Abdi-Ali and put his own charge into motion.

Ismet Oral sat most of this out, with the shortest stack for the longest period, and it was proven to be a wise strategy. He will have known that the dam would have to burst soon and was careful that it didn't sweep him away first.

The unfortunate man to first hit the rail turned out to be Marcel Schauenburg, whose other claim to fame this week was that he had played every single day. Three players in the field used their full allocation of potential buy-ins, firing on Days 1A, 1B and 1C. Schauenburg was the only one to make it to Day 4, but couldn't hoist the trophy.

He lost a massive flip with [ac][qc] against Scheidt's pocket twos, and then Alt picked up the last shrapnel. Schauenburg won €15,590 for sixth.

Such was the delicate nature of all this that despite profiting from Schauenburg's misery, Scheidt was the next man out. He lost a flip with pocket fives when Oral's [js][th] made a straight. That sent Scheidt looking for €20,260 from the second Eureka Poker Tour final table of his career.

But lo and behold, Oral couldn't make those chips last very long. He tried to push Alt off an ace pre-flop with a big small-blind shove, but Alt made a shrewd call and the [ac][6h] stayed strong against Oral's [kc][qd].

Oral had laddered up a couple of spots and took €25,600 for fourth.

After playing for more than two-and-a-half hours without an elimination, we quickly saw three in 20 minutes. And then another one immediately after the first break of the day.

Abdi-Ali had slumped to short stack when they went three handed and got it in with [kd][4c]. Atmaca made the right call with his [ac][js] and it stayed good.

That left the stacks evenly balanced when heads-up play began, but Alt's superior guile quickly paid dividends. He won a chunk of chips when both players flopped a pair and turned two pair. And Alt could then afford to double up Atmaca when [ks][js] beat [jd][th].

But with Atmaca appearing to tire in the face of Alt's relentless precision, they went at it for the last time at around 7:10pm local time. Alt, as ever, was good.

Take a look through the live updates page for details of how it all went down.

Next up in the PokerStars universe is UKIPT Birmingham, which starts on Wednesday. Jake Cody, Liv Boeree and a young man named Chris Moneymaker are booked to play in the last ever event under the UKIPT branding. Head to Birmingham to join them.

Goodnight from Hamburg!

Eureka6 Hamburg Main Event

Dates: September 28-October 3
Buy-in: €1,000+€100
Entries: 367 (327 uniques, plus 40 re-entries)
Prize pool: €355,990

Click for full payouts

While the Hilton Hotel here in Prague is quite a spectacle, the tournament poker room leaves a little to be desired. Not in its appearance, mind; nor from its friendly staff. It's just that when you have as many players playing as we had today, a little more space wouldn't go amiss!

It was a busy Friday on the felt as we kicked off the last ever Eureka Poker Tour Main Event with Day 1A. A total of 602 players turned over the €1,100 buy-in for a shot at becoming the Eureka6 Prague champ, and when all was said and done 168 remained. Leading them all after twelve 45-minute levels was Mathias Jensen of Denmark, who got very fortunate in the last level of the day to end with 311,200.

Jensen found himself in a huge three-way all-in pot with the [ac][jc] against [qd][qs] and [ad][as] on a [jh][3c][5s] flop. The turn was the [6d], but the river? Yep -- it came the [jd], giving Jensen trips.

We caught up with the 19-year-old after play had ended. He came to Prague with his friend from Denmark, where they both work in a casino. "We can't play there as the company we work for owns all the casinos in our country!" Jensen explained.

He played yesterday's satellite but failed to qualify as he got two-outed. Eventually, he decided to take a shot and bought in anyway. He's predominantly an online player, telling us: "I won about $5K a few weeks ago and that made this trip possible." So far, it's been a great decision.

Others who had heavy bags filled with chips include Lars Wik with 303,400, Erez Walerstein with 273,800, Ioannis Mantonanakis with 254,300, Matas Cimbolas with 244,100, Rainer Rockenstein with 224,000, and Kaan Okar with 203,200.

There were plenty of big names in the line-up, many of whom hopped in having busted the €10K which started last night and continued today. Benjamin Pollak, Simon Deadman, Jason Wheeler and Sam Grafton all switched their focus over to this tournament, but none could survive the day. It could have been so different for Grafton though; he was all-in for a 220-big blind pot with a flopped flush draw and open-ended straight draw against pocket aces, but couldn't hit to survive.

Of the High Roller turncoats, it seems only Martin Finger (60,800) and the aforementioned Matas Cimbolas made it through, but we had plenty of notables who kicked off their Prague poker fest in this tournament too. Ana Marquez (100,500) and Tom Hall (147,100), for example, will both be returning for Day 2 on Sunday. Click here for a look at all 168 Day 1A survivors' counts. 

It's Day 1B tomorrow and play kicks off at 12pm. We'll be playing another twelve 45-minute levels, and you can expect the numbers to be even bigger. You know what that means: even less space for us humble reporters to move around.

Nevermind. Get some rest and we'll see you tomorrow here on the PokerStars Blog. Dobrou noc! --JS

Day 1A coverage

11pm: Day 1A concludes

That's it for the first of two Day 1 flights in the Eureka Prague Main Event. It appears Jensen held onto the chip lead to end the night, although Lars Wik has edged up close to challenge him. Back soon with a full recap of the day's action. --MH

10:50pm: Three more hands
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

You know the drill. --MH

10:45pm: Wheeler rolls out
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

Jason Wheeler was one of the bigger stacks earlier today, but now is on the rail after losing the last of his chips in a three-way all-in.

Wheeler had been chipped down to a small stack before committing with [Kd][2s] and being up against both Javier Zarco's [As][Qd] and Davor Mudric's [Ac][Kh].

The board ran out [5c][Js][5s][Qh][Jd] which enabled Zarco to survive with about 60,000 and Mudric to keep about 190,000, but Wheeler has none and has departed. --MH

10:35pm: River jack gives Jensen huge pot, chip lead
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

A huge three-way hand just completed, with Mathias Jensen of Denmark dramatically emerging as the winner of the biggest pot of the day, catapulting himself into the chip lead as the last Day 1A level starts.

We picked up the proceedings before the flop, where Bartosz Jablonski appeared to have initiated things from middle position, then Anthony Borde looked to have reraised from the button with Jensen calling out of the small blind. Then Jablonski pushed all in for 42,700 total, and both Borde and Jensen called.

The flop fell [Jh][3c][5s] and Jensen pushed all in, and Borde who had a little less called the shove. All three tabled their hands:

Jensen: [Ac][Jc]
Jablonski: [Qs][Qd]
Borde: [Ad][As]

Jensen was a distant third when the chips went in, and stayed behind after the [6d] turn. But the [Jd] fell on fifth street, prompting an "oh, wow!" from Jensen as he saw he'd won the hand to knock out both Jablonski and Borde.

It took a while, but Jensen finally stacked up what looks to be about 360,000, certainly the most of anyone at the moment. --MH

10:30pm: Grafton's gone, in his own words
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

My colleague has just informed us here in the media room that Sam Grafton is out. Sam told him that the money went in preflop, creating a 220 big blind pot. Grafton had pocket jacks with the [Js], and was up against pocket aces. The flop came 8-9-10 with two spades -- giving Grafton a flush draw and open-ended straight draw -- but he bricked the turn and river to bust. --JS

10:25pm: Renaud's Hall pass
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

"All-in," said Tom Hall as I arrived at the table. While his only opponent - Gfeller Renaud - was thinking about what to do, I had to assess the situation: There was 17,000 in the middle pre-flop and the board fell [2c][8h][9s]. Renaud checked, Hall bet 9,500, and Renaud then raised it up to 19,000. Then Hall jammed - essentially putting Renaud all-in with a much bigger stack.

Now we're up to speed. Renaud looked at Hall for information, and the Brit just shrugged with a smile. In the end the man from Switzerland passed and left himself in the dangerzone with 17,500, while Hall is moving along nicely with a 120,000 stack. --JS

10:20pm: Last level
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

Level 12 has begun, the last 45-minute level of Day 1A. --MH

10:15pm: Grasu gets the double
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

Niculina Grasu just doubled up to keep her seat. All in with [5h][5s] for her last 14,000 versus Joerg Gehrke's [Kh][Ts], a [2h][5d][Ac] flop gave Grasu a set and a seven on the turn sealed it.

She's back to about 30,000 while Gehrke has 72,000. --MH

10:05pm: Blind vs. blind, flush vs. flush
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

Any pro will tell you how important blind vs blind pots are in No Limit Hold'em tournaments. You can ask Zdenek Sedlacek and Max Blaum and they'll certainly concur after their last hand together.

Action folded to Sedlacek in the small blind and he limped. Blaum then bumped it up to 4,000, which was called. They saw a [7c][3c][ks] flop and it checked to Blaum who continued for a rather large 12,000 - more than the pot. Still, Sedlacek called.

The turn came the [5c] - putting three clubs out there - and the action was identical, bet size and all. That brought us to the [kc] river. It paired the board, and brought four to the flush. Sedlacek immediately moved all-in for 19,900, Blaum called and got the bad news.

Sedlacek - [ac][jc]
Blaum - [qc][2c]

Both had flopped flush draws and turned flushes, only Sedlacek's was the biggest available. That sneaky pre-flop limp with the big suited ace paid off big time, as Sedlacek moved up to 98,000, while Blaum was crippled to just 7,000. --JS

9:55pm: River deuce saves Schiffbauer
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

"I thought you were snap-calling... I was about to turn them over."

So said a grinning Robert Schiffbauer just now to Martin Kabrhel. After a Kabrhel raise to 3,500, Schiffbauer had three-bet all in for his last 11,500 and the action returned to Kabrhel who hesitated a moment longer.

"I was tank-calling," quipped Kabrhel who only waited a couple of seconds more before calling and showing [Kh][7s]. Schiffbauer had [Qh][2s], and after the [Td][7c][2s] flop gave both players pairs Kabrhel asked Schiffbauer what other events he planned to play.

Schiffbauer looked ready to go, and as the [3d] turn fell he focused on the days to come. Then came the river, which forced him back into the present -- the [2h]! Trips for Schiffbauer, who keeps his seat with about 25,000. Kabhrel is at 60,000 now. --MH

9:45pm: Chip lead for Tseissler?
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

I might have just caught a hand which has given us a new chip leader. Or at least I caught part of it.

There was 38,000 in the middle, a flop of [6s][8s][3d], and two players: Aleksei Tseissler and Robert Soogea. Tseissler had made a bet which had been raised to 35,000 by Soogea, only to then be re-raised to 87,400.

Soogea was deep in the tank when I turned up, and remained in there for another couple of minutes. The raise was for about half of his remaining chips, but in the end he decided to let it go.

Tseissler took it down and turned over his holding: [kd][kh]. Soogea tapped the table as he dipped to 106,000, while Tseissler might very well now have the chip lead with a 190,000 stack. --JS

9:35pm: Stenback climbs back
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

After Alexander Krasuntsev raised from early position, Nils Stenback reraised all in from the button for 11,500 and Krasuntsev called.

Krasuntsev had [Ac][3c] while Stenback had picked up [Kh][Ks]. The board came clean for the latter -- [8h][6d][7d][2c][3s] -- and Stenback is back up around the starting stack of 25,000. Krasuntsev meanwhile has 55,000. --MH

9:30pm: This one goes to eleven
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

Level 11, that is. Actually there are two more levels left to go tonight, which will carry things up until about 11 p.m., in fact.

Right now 250 players remain from the Day 1A starting field. --MH

9:29pm: Grafton loses a few to Straka
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

It folded to Sam Grafton in the hijack and he came in for a raise to 2,500. That got a call from the cutoff, and Oskar Straka defended his big blind. The flop came down [jh][7c][8h] and it checked around to the [2h] turn, which checked to Grafton. Here the Brit made a delayed c-bet to 7,800 - a pot-sized wager - which shook off the cutoff but gave Straka reason to think.

The Slovakian then put in 14,900, but as it wasn't double Grafton's bet he had to increase it to 15,600. Grafton had already called while the chips were still being counted.

The river was the [5d] and Straka moved all-in for 34,000 exactly. After a little thinking time Grafton decided to give it up, leaving himself with 60,000, while Straka increased his stack to 73,000. --JS

9:25pm: Dobryakov done
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

Following a mid-position open, Dmitriy Dobryakov pushed from the small blind with his last 15,000 or so, then Ping Liu called from the big blind and the original raiser got out.

Dobryakov had [Ah][Jh] and was behind Liu's [Ac][Kd]. The board came [8d][Jc][3h], then [Kc], then [5h], and Dobryakov has been eliminated. Liu now has about 105,000. --MH

9:20pm: Gapon stands up to the bully
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

Yuriy Gapon opened to 2,500 and it folded around to Klavs Kukainis in the big blind. He defended to see the [2c][9d][4d] flop and checked it to the raiser, letting Gapon in for a c-bet worth 5,000. Kukainis then slid in around 35,000 - enough to put Gapon all-in - but the big stack bullying didn't work. Gapon made the call with his [ad][kd] for the nut flush draw, which left Kukainis' [kh][qd] drawing very thin. The flush came in on the [7d] turn (river [2h]) and Gapon doubled to 75,000 while Kukainis is still healthy with 125,000. --JS

9:10pm: Who has a big stack?
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

Less than half the starting field remains, which means anyone with more than 50,000 (twice the starting stack) is above average at the moment. Some have done considerably better than that so far, as a post-dinner promenade around the tables reveals.

Klavs Kukanis had been leading in the counts earlier, and he's still doing well with 115,000 although others have passed him. Robert Soogea, Jason Wheeler, and Rainer Rockenstein have been among those rockin' the most so far on Day 1A. Here are those big stacks:

Robert Soogea - 165,000
Jason Wheeler - 160,000
Rainer Rockenstein - 155,000
Piotr Romanczukiewicz - 150,000
Lars Wik - 150,000
Ivan Gabrieli - 145,000
Bart Onsman - 140,000

We'll see how well this group fares over the last couple of hours of play, as well as who comes to challenge them for the end-of-night lead. --MH 

8:53pm: Grafton grafting, Finger raising, Wheeler fortune
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

We thought we'd check in a few of the more notable names still in the field after dinner.

Sam Grafton just opened a pot from the cutoff to 2,700 but was three-bet to 11,000. He'd then fold, leaving himself with a 75,000 stack.

Martin Finger was getting busy too. With the only action an under-the-gun limp, the German raised it up to 3,800 from the cutoff and got a call from the limper. They saw an [8c][6h][4h] flop and after it checked to him Finger fired for 5,000 and took it down. He has around 50,000.

They're both trailing the big stack of Jason Wheeler though. The American has quietly amassed a fortune of 160,000. --JS

8:50pm: Back at it
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

Players are back and the action has resumed here on Day 1A. Three more 45-minute levels remain before play ends for the night. --MH

7:35pm: Dinner time

There are 310 players remaining and they've all now gone on a 75-minute dinner break, so we will too. See you back here at 8:45pm. --JS

7:20pm: Shalashov shoves
Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

With about 30,000 in the middle, Kirill Shalashov pushed the last of his 18,300 forward as an all-in bet and after thinking for a while Eldad Bentov decided to call.

Shalashov showed [Kh][Th] for tens and fours, and that turned out to be good enough has Bentov had [Ac][Ks]. Shalashov has about 68,000 now, while Bentov has 27,000. --MH

7:15pm: Alidzanovic KO's Koufakis
Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

Alexandros Koufakis was all in and at risk with [Ac][7h] versus the [Ah][Js] of Damir Alidzanovic, but the [5s][3d][Qc][Td][6s] board was no help for Koufakis and he's out. Alidzanovic, meanwhile, chips up to 78,000. --MH

7:10pm: More victims
Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

They're falling thick and fast now as we approach the dinner break. Even Felix Schlott, who we just wrote about in our last hand, is now out.

Joining him on the rail are Bryan Paris, David Longmate, Yury Gulyy, Thomas Leidecker, Radek Jantos, Bohumil Valenta, Martin Bartos, and about 30 others. --JS

7:05pm: Schlott not falling for Cimbolas speech play
Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

Matas Cimbolas is being very vocal here today; in fact, it's unusual to see him in a hand where he's not chatting away to his opponents.

He was at it again in a hand with Felix Schlott. The flop read [4d][8d][ks] and Cimbolas checked, before calling Schlott's assumed c-bet of 2,500. The turn then came the [qs].

"I check, then you make it......6K," said Cimbolas, trying to predict the future. Schlott grabbed 6,000 in chips, brought them down to the felt, but then tapped the table to check. "Oooooh, weakness!" laughed Cimbolas.

The river came the [9h] and that did inspire some more betting. "How much do you want me to bet?" asked the Lithuanian. "Hmmm..." thought Schlott. "13,300."

"What?!" said Cimbolas, surprised at the huge random amount. "It will be easier to call," said Schlott.

Well, he did bet, but it was 6,000 - not 13,300 - from Cimbolas in the end. Schlott then moved all-in for 37,000 and Cimbolas had a decision.

"If you fold I'll show you one card," offered Schlott, and that's exactly what happened. Cimbolas' face down hand hit the muck, and he then picked and turned over the [tc] from Schlott's hand.

Schlott now has 65,000, while Cimbolas is still very healthy with 108,000. --JS

6:55pm: What might have been
Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

Erik Cajelais once made it to 43rd in the PCA Main Event (in 2012). He's out. Remi Castaignon won the EPT9 Deauville Main Event. But he's out, too.

Romain Lewis took runner-up in a side event here in Prague a year ago, but he's busted. Georgios Sotiropoulos won the LAPT Bahamas event earlier this year, but he's lost the last of his stack here as well. And Antoine Saout, third-place finisher in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event and a final tablist at the EPT12 Grand Final Main Event in Monte Carlo where he finished seventh -- well, he's also on the rail.

But we shouldn't dwell on the past. Onward and upward! --MH

6:50pm: Forss-ing the issue
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

Martin Bartos moved all in before the flop for about 27,000, and after thinking a bit Nils Marcus Forss called the shove. Forss had just a little less than Bartos, so he was the one at risk.

Forss: [9s][9c]
Bartos: [Ah][Kc]

The board ran out nicely for Forss, with [2s][4h][8h][8s][9h] adding up to both a full house and a full double-up (as they say). Forss has around 52,000 now while Bartos slips to just a few thousand. --MH

6:45pm: Lucky duck for Jantos
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

Radek Jantos must be bowing to the poker Gods right now after that last hand. He was all-in and at risk with the [4d][4s] against Thomas Taubenschuss' [qh][qs] on an [8d][5h][6h][3d] board. He needed a four for a set or a deuce or seven for a straight.

And he got one. The [2s] on the river changed everything and doubled Jantos back to the 25,000 starting stack, while Taubenschuss dropped to 9,500. --JS

6:30pm: Yasyuchenya eliminated
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

Elena Yasyuchenya has been eliminated here in Level 8. She lost the last of her chips after her [Ks][8s] failed to best Milan Sasek's [Kd][Qh].

Sasek has about 43,000 now, with 370 Day 1A players remaining. --MH

6:20pm: Marquez freerolls but can't double
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

Ana Marquez was just in the perfect spot to get a full double up, but unfortunately for her she had to settle for a chop.

The hand began with an 1,800 open from Kirill Shalashov, which was then three-bet to 4,800 by Marc Negron. Action then folded to Marquez and she came in for a cold four-bet to 10,200, which only Negron would match.

The flop then fell [jd][8s][qd] and it checked to Marquez. She didn't hesitate in making a c-bet of 11,800, but then Negron shoved with the bigger stack. Marquez made the call and their hands were flipped: [ad][kd] for Marquez, and [ac][kc] for Negron.

Marquez was freerolling with the royal flush draw, but the [7s] turn and [ah] river meant this one would be split. Marquez has 44,000, Negron has 54,000. --JS

6:10pm: Shakhbazyan sunk
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

We all know poker is a partial information game. So here's a partial information hand, missing details from before the flop and after, but including the most pertinent information. And truly, for the players involved it will be the turn and river that stand out more prominently in their memories.

The board showed [6c][Js][Jc], and Vagan Shakhbazyan was all in holding [Ts][Tc]. That gave him the lead versus Ronan Monfort's [Ah][6h], but the turn brought the [Ad] and the river rubbed it in with the [6s], giving Monfort a full house and ending Shakhbazyan's tournament.

Monfort now has about 55,000. --MH

6pm: Gabrieli gets value
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

Arriving on the river with the board showing [3h][Qh][Jh][Qc][5s] and a decent-sized pot already having developed, Ivan Gabrieli bet 20,200 and Asaf Mashiach tanked for a while to decide whether or not he wanted to call a bet representing about two-thirds of what he had behind.

Finally Mashiach did call, and when Gabrieli tabled [Qs][Jc] for a full house, Mashiach grimaced before mucking his cards.

Mashiach is down around 10,000 now, while Gabrieli is up to 125,000 after collecting that nice pot. --MH

5:55pm: The departed
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (100 ante)

Just a few of the almost 200 bust-outs we've had so far include:

Dominik Panka, Benjamin Pollak, Ben Heath, Daniel Portiansky, Dinesh Alt, Tony Dunst, Luis Cruz, Thomas Popov, Kevin Killeen, Zoltan Gal, Konstantinos Nanos, Cauf Man Taelly, and Jean-Marc Bellini. --JS

5:45pm: Er grounds Garces
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (100 ante)

Zorlu Er, best known for his fifth-place finish in the EPT13 Barcelona Main Event, just knocked out Jorge Rios Garces.

Others were involved preflop, but eventually only Er and Garces remained with Er playing [Ad][Kd] and Garces [Qd][Qh]. The board ran out [3h][Kh][4s][9c][3s] giving Er the better pair and ending the tournament for Garces. --MH

5:35pm: Pollak gets hooked
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (100 ante)

Farook Hossen Ghafoor's Day 1A just keeps on getting better. He's just busted two players, despite starting with the only unpaired hand.

It started when he limped in under the gun, which also brought limps from Benjamin Pollak, Nicoaos Skiadas, and Pavlos Xanthopoulous. The action was then on big blind Abraham Serrano and he squeezed it up to 5,000. That brought a quick call from Ghafoor, which Pollak then shoved over for 15,200, which got two folds and a call from Serrano. Ghafoor then jammed with the biggest stack and got Serrano to commit all of his chips.

Pollak - [jh][js]
Serrano - [6d][6c]
Ghafoor - [ac][qc]

Two over cards against two pairs. Unfortunately for the two players at risk, the flop came [qd][3h][kc], giving Ghafoor the lead, which he'd hold onto through the [as] turn and [2s] river. Pollak and Serrano made their exit, and Ghafoor increased to 120,000. --JS

5:25pm: A few counts
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (100 ante)

As the new level begins, here's a look at a few chip counts among the folks we've been tracking today, a list topped by Klavs Kukainis who continues to sport a big stack after accumulating rapidly during the early levels.

Klavs Kukainis - 138,000
Sam Grafton - 102,000
Martin Finger - 50,000
Ana Marquez - 42,000
Jason Wheeler - 35,000
Yury Gulyy -- 24,000
Antonina Anapolska - 23,000
Antoine Saout - 20,000
Dominik Panka - 14,000
Georgios Sotiropoulos - 14,000
Benny Spindler - 12,000

5:15pm: Play resumes
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (100 ante)

With the big board showing 470 left from the 602 who started Day 1A, cards are in the air again. They'll be playing three more 45-minute levels, then will come the 75-minute dinner break. --MH

4:55pm: Take 20

Players have gone on another 20-minute break. --JS

4:51pm: Spatharis still alive
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)

A huge heap of chips was crowding the middle of the table - around 60,000 or so - and then I saw why: Alexandr Spatharis was all-in with the [2h][2d] against Viachos Lampros' [ks][kc] on a [jc][qc][2c] flop. Flopped set versus the overpaid and flush draw.

The turn was the [3d], which kept the three ducks in front. Finally the [8s] floated down on the river and Spatharis have the table a loud tap to show his joy. He raked in the pot, while Lampros falls to just 12,000. --JS

4:45pm: Good flop for Eskelinen
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (75 ante)

Following a [Jd][5c][5h] flop, Mathis Wosegien inquired how much Kimmo Eskelinen had behind, saw it was 18,200, and bet all his chips. Eskelinen called to put himself at risk, but he was way ahead with [Td][5d] for trip fives versus Wosegien's [Qc][Jh].

Two red aces filled out the board, and Eskelinen bumps up to around 40,000 while Wosegien slips to 11,000. --MH

4:35pm: Going...Goetz...gone
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)

Matas Cimbolas has done a great job of increasing his stack over the past level, taking his 25,000 starting chips and turning them into 70,000. Most of those newly-acquired discs came from this hand.

Ondrej Goetz was under the gun and opened to 1,100, which got callers from three players including Cimbolas. They saw a [4d][7s][qd] flop and it checked to the Lithuanian, who took the betting lead with a 2,500 stab. Goetz was the only caller to see the [7h] turn, and he checked it again. Cimbolas fired a second bullet for 5,000 and Goetz called quickly.

Finally the [9d] completed the board, putting three diamonds out there. Cimbolas started talking while Goetz contemplated his decision. "That can't be your card," Cimbolas said, referring to the river. "You can only check."

Goetz did indeed tap the table and Cimbolas didn't take too long to announce he was all-in for 24,000. Goetz had slightly less and made the call.

"Flush," said Cimbolas as he turned over the [6d][5d] for a flopped flush and straight draw, which became a flush on the river. Goetz mucked but was forced to show the [qc][tc] for top pair as he made his exit. --JS

4:25pm: Aloric doubles through Suman
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (75 ante)

Nedzib Suman opened from the button, Milan Aloric reraise-pushed for around 9,000 from the small blind, and Suman called.

Suman had the preflop edge with [Ad][Jd] versus Aloric's [Qs][8s], but the board came [7c][Qc][3s][7d][Ks] to help the at-risk player, and Aloric doubles to around 19,000. Suman slips back to just under the 25,000-chip starting stack. --MH

4:15pm: Gone Gal
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (75 ante)

Zoltan Gal has been eliminated. He committed the last of his chips behind [6d][6s] and was up against Avraham Arava's [Ks][Js]. The board ran [Kd][4d][3s][4h][7s] to give Arava the better two pair, spelling the end for Gal.

Arava has about 70,000 now. --MH

4:05pm: Onsman busts Susak
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (75 ante)

After Bart Onsman opened for 1,525 from middle position, Almedina Susak three-bet with her last 3,300 or so and when it folded back to Onsman he called.

Susak had [Kd][Qh] and needed help versus Onsman's [Ad][Jd], but the [9d][9c][Ac][8h][2c] runout had her drawing dead by the turn and she is out. Onsman has about 40,000 now. --MH

3:55pm: Talent pool
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (75 ante)

A quick walk around the field (now that entry has closed for the day) has revealed a few big names who managed to take their seats as-yet-unnoticed.

We've got the UK's Sam Grafton, Tom Hall, Jason Wheeler, Senh Ung, and husband and wife team Simon and Shola Deadman. Then there's Germany's Julien Stuer and France's Benjamin Pollak.

Ung was the only one we caught in the action while doing the rounds. Picking up the hand on the turn of a [5h][8c][6h][8s] board, Ung led for 1,600 against his sole opponent Pavel Sourek, who then raised it to 3,500 and got Ung to fold, bringing him down to 12,000. --JS

3:50pm: Time, time, hear the bells chime
Level 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

Sam Grafton just played two hands that could be described as above-average on the "interesting index." Not to get too abstract, but you could say "time" won both of them.

The first was a more conventional spot. Having raised preflop and gotten a couple of callers, just one opponent called his flop c-bet, then after the turn got checked through his opponent fired a decent-sized river bet.

Grafton tanked a while, then finally covered his watch with one hand, lifted his hand to peek at it, and folded. 

"I call 25% of the time there," he said afterwards, implicitly explaining why he'd checked the second hand on his timepiece.

The next hand was a bit more unusual, though also was one in which the action was also motivated by what a player's watch read.

While the earlier hand was playing out, Daniel Van Aken told the table he was going to have to leave the tournament early to catch a flight. He'd won a satellite seat and couldn't give it to anyone and so started today's Day 1A, but now close to four hours into the tournament he was having to leave.

That meant a blind all-in bet from under the gun for Van Aken for his last 20,000-plus. Grafton reraise-shoved from a couple of seats over to scatter everyone else, then showed [Kh][Js]. Van Aken had [Qc][2d], and the [Qd][6s][Kc] flop paired both players' hands.

"Don't do it, Neil!" pleaded Grafton to the dealer wincingly, and indeed the [3h] turn and [8h] river were both okay for him. 

He has about 55,000 now, while Van Aken bid the table good luck before heading to Václav Havel Airport Prague to make that departure time. --MH

3:35pm: The dreaded kings against aces
Level 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

Tough break for the Czech Republic's Ondrej Drozd. A pre-flop betting war saw him all-in (although not at risk) against Bogdan Ionescu. Drozd had the [kd][ks], but Ionescu had one better - the [as][ad].

The board provided no help for the local lad, meaning he shipped 19,500 over to the Romanian. Ionescu is up to 40,000, while Drozd drops to 22,000. --JS

3:25pm: Some notable names
Level 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

In the last level we had a few familiar faces take their seats. Antoine Saout is in the mix, as are Matas Cimbolas, Louis Salter, and Rasmus Agerskov. --JS

3:20pm: Late registration closes
Level 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

With the end of Level 4, late registration has closed for Day 1A. The big board is showing 597 players made it into today's first of two starting flights for the Eureka Prague Main Event. We'll keep watch to see if that indeed proves the official total of entries for today. --MH

3:15pm: Big blind special helps Damian
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (50 ante)

Ben Heath is here, and soon after entering was raising to 650 from middle position, getting two callers in Patrik Ciklamini (small blind) and Paul Damian (big blind). The flop came [4c][9h][3h], and after Ciklamini checked Damian fired a bet of 1,300. Heath raised to 3,200 to chase Ciklamini, but after thinking a bit Damian pushed all-in for 15,700 total.

Heath went into the tank, and after standing Damian offered to give him other things to think about besides the cards and betting action.

"Not on a draw, if that helps you," nodded Damian, and Heath responded with a nod. "I got my aces busted earlier by nines," Damian continued, and Heath grinned and said he wasn't sure if the information Damian was providing was helping him or making things more difficult.

Ultimately Heath called, and saw that Damian was telling the truth as he'd flopped two pair with [4h][3c]. He was vulnerable, however, as Heath had [9c][7c] for top pair. The [2s] turn and [Qd] were both safe for Damian, though, and he bumps up around 40,000. Heath now has about 7,000. --MH

3:10pm: Big pot for Marinelli
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (50 ante)

Yet another big multi-way pot to tell you about. It started with a 700 open from Dario Marinelli under the gun plus one which was called by Antonio Di Benedetto, Violetta Szczerba, Marc Negron, and Ana Marquez in the big blind.

They all went to a [js][8s][9d] flop and it checked to Marinelli who fired a c-bet worth 1,800. Only Szczerba, Negron and Marquez called to see the [9c] turn. Marquez checked again letting Marinelli fire again, this time for 3,325. Szczerba then raised it up to 6,800, which got rid of Negron and Marquez, but Marinelli wasn't done. He jammed for 25,000 total.

"I have to call," said Szczerba, but she didn't like what she'd see. Marinelli turned over the [jh][jc], and with the full house he was beating her [qh][9h]. The river was the [5c] and Marinelli now has over 60,000, while Szczerba drops to 6,500. --JS

3:05pm: Darbellay knocks out Ghirelli
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (50 ante)

Tsymbal Igor raised to 1,500 from middle position, and Edolo Ghirelli reraised all in with his last 3,275 from the button. Demetan Remy Darbellay then called from the big blind, Ghirelli called as well, and the two remaining players checked the [3c][Jh][5c] flop. Darbellay fired a bet at the [5s] turn, Igor folded, and Darbellay turned over [Qs][Qh].

Ghirelli had already been standing, and quickly mucked his hand as the [2c] river fell before exiting. Darbellay is now up around 50,000. --MH

2:55pm: An ace for an ace
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (50 ante)

Jonatnan Guetta was under the gun plus one and made a noticeably large open to 1,100 - almost four times there big blind. It folded around to the big blind player - Lars Wik - and he flashed the [ad] as he folded his hand.

Guetta then flashed his [ac] as he picked up the chips. Wik then asked something along the lines of whether Guetta had pocket aces again. "Not this time!" came the reply, but we'll never know for sure. --JS

2:50pm: Lost a Finger
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (50 ante)

Martin Finger just entered the tournament room, chips in hand, on his way to find his seat. PokerStars Blog photographer Tomas Stacha then came over to ask who we needed photos of. "Well, Martin Finger is over there...wait, where did he go?"

He was there one second and gone the next. He's in the field somewhere or other though. --JS

2:45pm: Leja leaves, Avitan ascends
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (50 ante)

Roberts Leja's Eureka Prague Main Event has come to an abrupt conclusion here at the start of Level 4 after losing the last of his short stack to Shai Shalom Avitan. Avitan now has around 55,000.

By the way, the big board is now showing 570 having registered today. This is the last level of late registration. --MH

2:35pm: Back to work
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (50 ante)

More than 540 players have just returned from their break. Let's get back to the action. --JS

2:15pm: Break time

They've reached the end of Level 3 and are now on the first 20-minute break of the day. --MH

2:10pm: Merheb takes from Dunst
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

Not long after sitting down, Tony Dunst lost a small one with pocket aces versus Gilbert Merheb though still has just under 20,000. Merheb is sitting on 42,000 as the first break of the day nears. --MH

2:10pm: Limping's the order of the day
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

After that nine-handed hand we brought you not too long ago, we were a bit disappointed in this one to see just the four players limp before there was a three-bet. Luckily Valentin-Marius Cristea provided the raise, having recovered from his queens v aces beat early on today.

With four limpers he made it 1,150, which was called by two players, including Petr Vesely. The flop came [jh][8d][9s] and it checked to Vesely, who took it down with a 2,500 bet.

Not quite as exciting as before, but with many players seemingly adopting a limping strategy it could make for plenty more interesting pots today. --JS

2:05pm: You'll know him from...
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

Tony Dunst is here, ladies and gentlemen.

You'll know him from his hosting duties on...well, let's just say he's on TV, co-presenting a poker show we can't really mention. He's also sponsored by...erm...let's just say he wears a patch when he plays. He recently won his first bracelet at...that big annual poker series where they give out bracelets.

Tony Dunst is here, ladies and gentlemen. Just Google him, yeah? --JS

2pm: Kukainis keeps collecting
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

We're not even to the first break yet, and Klavs Kukainis of Latvia has already established himself as a frontrunner after spinning his starting stack of 25,000 up over 120,000 in less than two hours. --MH

1:55pm: Betting it all, getting no call
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

There were postflop all-ins on adjacent tables just now, one of them involving a short-stacked Jorge Abreu.

Facing multiple opponents on a board of [Ad][Js][6h][2s][5d], Abreu pushed and got folds all around, with Maria Duarte De Miranda the last to fold, showing an ace as she did. Abreu showed one card, too -- a jack -- and won the small pot. He's at just under 20,000 now.

Meawhile next door it was Ozgur Arda pushing all-in on a [3d][9h][7c][Qd][Tc] board and forcing Salem Sahed to decide whether or not to call off his stack of around 22,000. The clock was eventually called, but Sahed folded before any staff had come over and Arda won that one, pushing up to around 35,000. --MH

1:45pm: Berger sizzling
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

Cyprien Berger of France just enjoyed a double-up after a confrontation with the Canadian Thomas Popov sitting to his right.

Arriving post-fireworks, Popov had [Qc][Qh], meaning the board of [Qs][Ks][4d][8s][6s] had given him a set. But Berger's [As][Ah] had made him a flush, and he survived the encounter.

Berger now stacks up over 45,000, while Popov slips to about 7,500. --MH

1:35pm: Field continues to grow
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

They've moved into the day's third level, and already more than 500 players are in action on this first of two Day 1 flights. --MH

1:30pm: Family pot goes to Ghafoor; Butsan busto
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

It's been a great couple of levels for Farook Hossen Ghafoor. He's just taken down a nice pot which had nine of the table's ten players involved at one point.

It started with a limp from Vitaly Butsan under the gun, which Ghafoor three-bet to 400 from middle position. That got callers from Thomas Leidecker (lojack), Pedro Lamarca (hijack), Kay Schoeb (cutoff), Matous Houzvicek (button), Mikko Turtiainen (small blind), Renee Xie (big blind), and Abraham Serrano (big blind). When the action got back to Butsan he squeezed it up to 2,700, and only Ghafoor and Lamarca called.

The three saw an [8h][2d][7c] flop and Butsan was first to act. He shoved for his last 6,000 and got a quick call from Ghafoor, while Lamarca folded.

Butsan - [as][js]
Ghafoor - [9s][9d]

The pocket pair was ahead and Butsan would need to hit something to survive. Instead the board ran [5c] and [3h] and the Russian hit the rail. Ghafoor is now playing roughly 62,000. --JS

1:27pm: Arkun's out, Schulz surges
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

We've just clocked our first elimination, and the unfortunate soul is Huseyin Arkun. Well, we say unfortunate, but you be the judge: he got all his chips in the middle with the [9c][3c] on the two-club flop against Robert Schulz's [kc][6c], and when his flush got there it was still no good. Schulz is up to 60,000 already. - - JS

1:25pm: A river chat
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

We're at the Hilton Prague Hotel, located right near the Vltava River, the longest river in the Czech Republic -- great for walking alongside with friends and enjoying lengthy conversations.

Rivers often provide opportunities for talking in poker, too, as demonstrated just now in a hand between the chatty Ramzi Zuraikat and Martin Zeleznik.

The board showed [4c][5c][Kh][Kc][3s], and after Zeleznik checked. "I want to see if I can get anything out of you," said Zuraikat, who then bet 3,500. Zeleznik exhaled in response.

"Can I take it back?" he jokingly asked the dealer while pointing at the chips he'd bet. "I don't want him to hate me!" he added with a grin.

They chatted some more, with Zeraikat guessing jacks or queens for Zeleznik as they did. At last the latter folded. "Because I like you, I'll show, said Zeraikat, who turned over [Kd][Qd] and collected the pot.

Zeleznik complimented Zeraikat on the river bet while saying he'd had pocket tens, their river conversation continuing into the next hand. --MH

1:10pm: Ghafoor gets some
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

With the board showing [8d][Kc][8h][4c][Qh] and about 7,500 in the center, Pedro Lamarca (playing from the big blind) checked, then Farook Hossen Ghafoor (playing from the button) bet 5,600. Lamarca thought a short while then called, and Ghafoor tabled [Qc][8s] for a full house to claim the pot.

"Nice flop," said Thomas Leidecker, sitting in the between the pair. Indeed, and not a bad river, either. Ghafoor has 42,000, while Lamarca has 28,000. --MH

1pm: Haanniemi breaks the Sandsgaard
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

There's still plenty of three-betting going on in these early stages. The latest to get involved was Jari Haanniemi who made a three-bet to 2,150 after a 400 open from Tomas Stasek. Borge Sandsgaard made the call, but Stasek gave his hand up.

The dealer put out a [2c][td][5h] flop and Haanniemi chose not to continue, check-calling an instant 3,000 bet from Sandsgaard. That took us to the [qc] turn which both checked, followed by the [6s] river. Haanniemi put out a very delayed c-bet of 5,000, and that was enough to take it down. --JS

12:50pm: There's no longer a Lakhov Marquez
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

Among the sea of faces playing here on Day 1A so far we haven't been able to spot many recognisable names... until now.

Alexander Lakhov is here. You might remember the Sunday Million, Super Tuesday, and SCOOP winner from the IPT8 Malta final table, in which he got coolered to bust in sixth to eventual champ Ismael Bojang after his flopped set of fours lost to Bojang's rivered set of sevens.

We've also been joined by Ana Marquez. The Spaniard has more than a million in live earnings yet is missing a PokerStars live title. Perhaps she's left her best performance 'til the last ever Eureka/EPT festival. -- JS

12:45pm: 450 and climbing
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

Play continues into Level 2 without a break as new players continue to arrive at a rapid pace. There are now more than 450 registered, with late reg open through Level 4. --MH

12:40pm: King found corrupt, removed
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

"New deck please, table 19!"

So called the dealer, with tournament staff promptly stepping to the table with a fresh 52. Before accepting the new deck, the dealer held aloft the [Kd] one last time, showing all how it had bent just a bit too far to remain in the game. --MH

12:35pm: Sourek collects
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

Lots of small pots here in the first level, as might be expected. Just now we spotted one of the blue chips (worth 5,000) being put at risk, but earning a fold in response.

With around 12,000 in the middle and the board showing two pair -- [Jd][Th][Ts][Js] -- Tsymbal Igor checked from the hijack, Pavel Sourek fired 6,000 from the cutoff, and Igor hemmed, hawed, then folded. Sourek is up around 40,000 here near the end of Level 1. --MH

12:30pm: Massimo decides well
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

From the very start of any poker tournament, players face decisions at every turn. Even the ones made during the first level can start charting a course toward a success or failure.

Just now Anderlini Massimo faced a decision whether or not to play his [Ks][3s] from middle position, and he chose to do so. He then found himself involved postflop versus Mathis Wosegien who had position on him, but happily for Massimo a [Kd][Td][Kc][6h] board had given him trips.

Massimo chose to lead for 425, then when Wosegien raised to 1,225 Massimo made another choice just to call. He then opted to check the [2d] river, and when Wosegien fired 2,500 into that opening Massimo already had his mind up to call right away.

"Good hand," said Wosegien even before tabling his [Ah][Qc], and Massimo's decision-making won him the pot. He's up around 35,000 now and off to a good start, while Wosegien slips to 20,000. --MH

12:20pm: The action starts early
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

A stack of 250 big blinds gives players a comfort blanket, but an early nightmare can soon see that protective cover kicked off. Just ask Valentin-Marius Cristea.

Amit Shaham was the one who kicked off the hand with an open from the lo-jack, which was then three-bet to 750 by Cristea in the cutoff. It folded back to Shaham and wanted to play higher, four-betting to 1,500 which got a call from his only opponent.

It was already a 30+ big blind pot when the [3c][4s][6c] flop hit the felt. Shaham wasted no continuing for 2,500 which got a quick call, and it was a similar story on the [6h] turn; Shaham fired again for 6,000 and was called.

This pot, in this first level, was enormous. It was about to get bigger too as when the [ts] river landed it looked at first like Shaham was going to jam, but he instead opted to make it 8,100. Cristea made a fast call but wouldn't be happy when Shaham showed him the goods: [ah][ac]. Cristea flipped his losing [qd][qc] and dropped right down to 8,000, while Shaham is living the dream. He's up to around 45,000 after just 20 minutes of play. --JS

12:10pm: Miss breakfast, don't miss value
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

Players are starting with deep stacks of 25,000, although one player has already gone through all of it just a few minutes into the first level.

Majid Ejlal Noubarian has already left his seat and is heading for the exit after losing all of his chips in a hand versus Patrik Ciklamini. 

"If I had my breakfast, I wouldn't be sitting here right now," Ciklamini told the table afterwards. Missing a meal means getting value for the Slovenian player, who is now stacking up around 50,000. --MH

12pm: Cards in the air!
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

Let's play some poker. Day 1A has begun! There are about 300 players in their seats already, with late registration lasting through the first four levels. --MH

11:30am: Got it! Eureka Prague Main Event begins today

"Eureka" is an expression often uttered by a person who after some period of struggle at last discovers the answer to a long-nagging problem. As in "a-ha... I've got it!" You know, the kind of thing that happens at the poker table constantly when players "solve" puzzles being presented to them by the cards, the chips, and their opponents.

Today begins the first of two Day 1 flights for the Eureka Prague Main Event here at the Hilton Prague Hotel, a €1,100 buy-in tournament that will continue until a winner is determined next Tuesday.

You say you want updates, hand reports, photos, chip counts, and more? Got it!

Today's schedule calls for 12 levels each lasting 45 minutes, with a 75-minute dinner break coming at the end of Level 9.

Last year this event drew a whopping 1,893 entries, with Spain's Javier Mederos outlasting the Czech Republic's own Martin Staszko heads-up to take the title and a huge €311,000 first prize -- the lion's share of what amounted to a nearly €2 million prize pool.

We'll soon start to see just how big the Eureka6 Prague Main Event turns out to be. And like we say, it won't be such a puzzle for you to figure out where to get your updates. Come back in a half-hour and we'll be bringing the action to you all day and night. --MH

Also all the schedule information is on the EPT App, which is available on both Android or IOS.

Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog

Remember when 'Y2K panic' was a thing? If you're a young whippersnapper, perhaps you won't. But essentially, as the year 2000 approached, there was a sense of dread in the air due to the digits of the year. People thought that when computers were reset to the 00, it would cause mass chaos and outages the world over.

We had a similar thing here tonight. Hubert Matuszewski and Vladas Tamasauskas were heads up, in the 12th hour of the day, with the blinds at 500K/1M, and just 50 big blinds in play, and yet we still couldn't find a winner. But as the clock ticked down on the level, we noticed there was no 'Next Level' present on the screen. What would happen when it ticked down to zero? This tournament had gone on for so long that we were entering unchartered waters. Panic ensued.

The tournament was 'FINISHED' - or at least according to the clock. Instead of moving on to a new level, it stopped thinking the event must be over. In fact, what happened was the dealer had to ask the floor staff what the next level should be. 'Level 40' (600K/1.2M) and 'Level 41' (800K/1.6M) didn't exist on the structure sheet until tonight. The two players battled it out for more than an hour in this unexplored territory (and for three hours total), before we finally found a winner.

Poland's Hubert Matuszewski has just taken down the last ever Eureka Poker Tour Main Event for €193,298, defeating Lithuania's Vladas Tamasauskas heads-up to finish off a marathon final table session. Tamasauskas was level-headed throughout the entire day, battling back when he was down in the same fashion that saw him win the UKIPT6 Dublin Main Event earlier this year. But in the end he couldn't get past the man we started calling 'The Hube' (mainly through deliriousness).

This tournament was a record breaker in more ways than one and an excellent way to cap off the final Eureka Poker Tour Main Event. The Day 1A runners totalled 602, which when combined with the enormous Day 1B meant we had a total of 2,031 players. Their entry fees added up to a prize pool of €1,970,070, which was split between the last remaining 391.

Of course, someone has to finish 392nd, and you might recognise the man who did. EPT12 Malta winner Niall Farrell found himself with just three big blinds on the bubble and got them all-in on a flop holding an up-and-down straight draw. Needless to say, the Scot didn't hit and 'Firaldo87' had to find another way to spend the rest of his Sunday.

Just 62 of the 617 Day 2 players made it through with chips, returning on Monday for Day 3. Tom Hall and Kristen Bicknell had deep runs (finishing in 32nd and 31st respectively), as did Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki. The sole representative of the red spade made it all way down to the final two tables, but was ultimately felted in 12th for €12,340.

A hectic end to the night saw two players bust in quick succession to leave us with the final table. First Jan Susicky (10th - €16,030) lost a race with pocket tens against Rosen Angelov's ace-queen; then Ben Farrell lost his chips with ace-deuce to the ace-five of Vojtech Horut.

It was Italy's Alessandro "ale779" Giordano who had a slight chip lead coming into the final table, closely followed by UKIPT6 Dublin Vladas Tamasauskas of Lithuania. The shortest stack belonged to Piotr Romanczukiewicz, and - as you might have expected - he was the first to fall today. He bet most of his chips pre-flop without actually going all-in, and after a mis-click by Vojtech Horut in which he tried to make a smaller raise, the bet was called and the rest of the chips would went in on the flop. Romancukiewicz had a flush draw versus Horut's ace-high, but couldn't hit. He won €22,500.

Frenchman Jawad Bengourane left us next, for €31,840. He opened and then called a a Rosen Angelov three-bet to see a [qd][th][9d] flop. Bengourane checked and then shoved over a 1.35 million continuation bet; it was bad timing though as he was snap-called. Angelov had the [9c][9h] against Bengourane's [ac][qs], and the rest of the runout didn't see him improve.

Rosen Angelov took a strong chip lead at this point and held onto it for quite a while. His closest competitor became Hubert Matuszewski after he knocked out James Juvancic in sixth for €45,030. It was Juvancic's [ad][qc] against the [as][7s], and a seven on the turn delivered the knockout blow.

Five-handed play didn't last long. It was just a couple of hands later when Rosen Angelov opened and was called by Vojtech Horut. They saw a [7s][7h][3d] flop, and both checked to the [ks] turn. Horut chose this point to lead out for a bet, which Angelov called after a minute of thinking. The [tc] river completed the board and Horut jammed for 2.8 million - a shove that Angelov couldn't have called quicker with the [as][ah] for slow-played pocket rockets. Horut had only the [5d][6s] for a busted straight draw, and said his goodbyes as he went to collect €63,680.

Comparably, four-handed play lasted an age. The chips moved back and forth; Giordano was the shortie then doubled through Angelov, before Tamasauskas won a big pot from Matuszewski. Ultimately it would be Rosen Angelov who fell in fourth for €90,070, calling off his short stack with [kc][6c] against Matuszewski's [ac][jd], which held up on the [2d][2s][2c][qh][7c] board.

When our trio regrouped, they started chatting about a deal. ICM numbers were proposed, but ultimately they couldn't reach a decision and play continued as normal. More than two hours later, though, with slightly more even stacks as play got increasingly shallow, they cut a deal which would give Vladas Tamasauskas €188,157, Alessandro Giordano €180,694, and Hubert Matuszewski €173,298, leaving €20,000 for the winner. The blinds were 500K/1M/100K at this point, and the biggest stack was just 20 big blinds.

With big bucks secured, Alessandro Giordano made his exit in third. Hubert Matuszewski opened for 2 million from the button, and it folded to Alessandro Giordano who jammed from the big blind for 8.85 million. Matuszewski called and tabled the [ks][6s] while Giordano had the [as][2c]. The flop came [kh][jd][3c] to put Matuszewski in front, and neither the [8c] turn nor [4s] river could save Giordano. He went to collect his €180,694, and we were heads-up.

And it went on and on, as you already know. It had to end sometime, though.

First, with a 4:1 chip deficit, Vladas Tamasauskas doubled up with the [ks][9c] against Hubert Matuszewski's [as][3s]. The board ran out [5h][6c][js][6h][9s] and the river saved him.

But then in the next hand it was Matuszewski's turn to get lucky on the river. He opened jammed the button and Tamasauskas called. Matuszewski had the [qs][6s] and Tamasauskas the [ac][5h]; the flop fell [7s][ah][5s], the turn the [4c], and the [4s] river gave Matuszewski a flush and the win.

And then it was over. Life had returned to normal. At least for us, anyway; Matuszewski's may have just changed forever. The 37-year-old recreational player from Poland now has €193,298 to take home to his wife and two kids. That is, unless he fancies hopping in the EPT Main Event tomorrow...

Eureka6 Prague Main Event

Dates: December 09-13, 2016
Buy-in: €1,100
Entries: 2,031
Total prize pool: €1,970,070
*denotes three-handed deal

Jack Stanton is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog. Photos by Tomas Stacha.

An excerpt from From Vietnam to Vegas! How I Won the World Series of Poker Main Event by Qui Nguyen and Steve Blay, a comprehensive study of hands Nguyen played at the 2016 WSOP Main Event final table.

Qui Nguyen’s victory in the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event was punctuated by an exciting final table marked throughout by Nguyen’s aggressive play. It made for some compelling viewing as well, with commentator Antonio Esfandiari remarking at one point “I couldn’t get a read on Qui Nguyen if my life depended on it.”

Following his victory, Nguyen collaborated with Steve Blay of Advanced Poker Training to explain to Esfandiari and everyone else his thought process throughout that final table. In the resulting book From Vietnam to Vegas!, Nguyen reviews 176 key hands, with additional commentary from Blay additionally analyzing the mathematical basis behind Nguyen’s decisions.

The book additionally includes a Q&A with Nguyen covering other topics that arose during the three-day final table as well as a short autobiography in which Nguyen relates the story of his life and his journey from Vietnam to Las Vegas. Esfandiari also contributes an entertaining foreword introducing the book.

Besides chronicling the final table in an in-depth and interesting way, the book provides insight into how both intuition and logic matter at the poker table, and shares with readers practical ways to apply such insight in their own play.

In the following excerpt, Nguyen discusses a hand he played on Day 1 of the final table when six players were left, one in which he made what at the time seemed like a curious fold on the flop versus Cliff Josephy.

2016 WSOP Main Event Final Table, Day One: Hand 87

Level: 37
Blinds/ante: 400,000/800,000-100,000
Players: 6

Preflop: Qui is UTG with 9♠9♦
Qui raises to 1,950,000, Josephy raises to 4,900,000, 4 folds, Qui calls 2,950,000

Flop: (11,600,000) 4♥4♠6♣ (2 players)
Qui checks, Josephy bets 4,500,000, Qui folds

Results: 11,600,000 pot
Final Board: 4♥4♠6♣
Qui mucked 9♠9♦ and lost 5,000,000
Josephy mucked and won 11,600,000 (6,600,000 net)

I’ve taken more criticism for this hand than almost any other hand. Even Antonio Esfandiari specifically mentioned it at the start of Day 2 as an example of how I was beatable.

I raised to $1,950,000 from under the gun with 9♠9♦. Cliff Josephy, on my left, re-raised me to $4,900,000. With the remaining four players left to act behind him, I gave him credit for a real hand here. This is an unfortunate situation to be in. The flop of 6♣4♠4♥ is favorable for my hand, but the question remains, how am I going to get this hand to show- down? Poker is all about avoiding difficult situations. I checked and when Cliff bet $4,500,000, I folded.

Some players will say you should check-call at least one street here, and then check-fold after that. But there are so many turn cards that make your hand even worse. If Cliff is playing right, he is not going to let me show this down. He is going to continue to value bet his big pairs, and if he totally missed he is going to bluff me off my hand. I certainly don’t want to call him down with this hand, find out he has a bigger pair, and lose a $30 million dollar pot to him. At this point my primary concern is protecting my chip stack and putting myself into situations where I can play with confidence. Also, I need to protect my “control of the table” (momentum), which I risk if I lose a big pot to Cliff.

Hopefully my logic makes sense to you now. I know it seems a little weak to just check-fold the flop, but I had been so successful up to this point not putting myself in difficult spots, that it seemed like the best play. It turns out in this case I was wrong, and Cliff had a hand (Q♦T♦) much weaker than what he would typically three-bet with from the hijack.

From Vietnam to Vegas! is available in paperback and as an e-book at D&B Poker.

D&B Publishing (using the imprint D&B Poker) was created by Dan Addelman and Byron Jacobs 15 years ago. Since then it has become one of the leading publishers of poker books with titles by Phil Hellmuth, Jonathan Little, Mike Sexton, Chris Moorman, Dr. Patricia Cardner, Lance Bradley, Martin Harris and more, all of which are available at D&B Poker.

A recap of the major results from this weekend on PokerStars…

• Romania’s “luigy666” wins Sunday Million for $108K
• Huge Sunday for Andras “probirs” Nemeth
• “Day saver” for Fintan “easywithaces” Hand
• All the results from the weekend majors

ROMANIA’S “luigy666” WINS SUNDAY MILLION FOR $108K

It took 14 hours and 14 minutes for the $109 Sunday Million to get from 10,360 entries down to just one. When all was said and done, it was Romania’s “luigy666” who came out on top, banking a massive $108,192.

There was no deal made, meaning the runner-up finisher, Croatia’s “QTsN€v€rF0ld”, earned $77,787. The final table also included Latvia’s poker@luffyD (7th – $14,947).

This isn’t “luigy666″‘s first taste of Sunday success, having taken down the $22 Mini Sunday Million back in March 2018 for $21,200. We’d have to look into it, but this might make “luigy666” the first player to have won both editions of the Milly. “luigy666” has now eclipsed their previous biggest score, $68,322 from a 2011 WCOOP final table.

HUGE SUNDAY FOR ANDRAS “PROBIRS” NEMETH

While the High Roller Club always shines a light on some of poker’s best online players, it was Super High Roller regular Andras “probirs” Nemeth who shone brightest on Sunday.

To kick things off, Nemeth took down the prestigious $2,100 Sunday High Roller for $50,695, outlasting a formidble final table which included current world no.1 Niklas “Lena900” Åstedt (4th – $22,966), Sami “Lrslzk” Kelopuro (6th – $13,547), long-time crusher “€urop€an” (7th – $10,404), and Conor “1_conor_b_1” Beresford (8th – $7,990).

Nemeth also final tabled the $1,050 Daily Warm-Up, finishing fifth for $6,614. To cap things off, Nemeth placed second in the $2,100 Sunday Cooldown for a cool $18,059. Simon “C. Darwin2” Mattsson took that one down for $23,504.

“DAY SAVER” FOR FINTAN “easywithaces” HAND

PokerStars Ambassador Fintan “easywithaces” Hand has been on a tear of late, securing his biggest score last week. However, Sunday wasn’t going so well for him.

Thankfully for Hand, his final run of the day provided some financial relief:

Nice little day saver and then some for the lads. Will be back online at just after 16.00 CET tomorrow. Love a bit of poker when you’re winning. pic.twitter.com/0EscSGVQql

— Fintan Hand (@EasyWithAces) March 18, 2019

Hand took down the Bigger $33 for $4,793.

TOP 5 RESULTS FROM THE HIGH ROLLER CLUB

TOP 5 RESULTS FROM THE WEEKEND MAJORS

For the full list of weekend results, including the Sunday Majors and High Roller Club, check out the weekend results page.

Opening a PokerStars account is easy. Click here to get an account in minutes.

From March 21-26, 2019, the Brazil Series of Poker (BSOP) returns to São Paulo for what is certain to be a simply enormous live tournament festival. This is the event that draws the biggest fields outside of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and pays some of the biggest prizes in the region. The Brazil poker boom shows no signs of slowing, and a spring trip down to São Paulo would be a smart move for any tournament poker player.

Of course, away from the BSOP tables, visitors to São Paulo will also immediately be dazzled by a city that throbs with activity 24 hours a day. This is the most populous city in the Americas — around 50 percent more people live here than in New York City — and fully discovering São Paulo takes a lifetime rather than the few days usually afforded most out-of-towners.

Nevertheless, you can quickly get your bearings in São Paulo with reference to a few landmarks, and a tiny bit of local knowledge. Here are a few pointers to help you make the most out of a trip to Brazil.

WHERE AM I?

The BSOP tournament takes place in the Sheraton São Paulo WTC Hotel, which is in the very heart of the city’s Berrini business district. That means streets lined with thousands of office workers going about their daily lives amid countless restaurants, coffee shops and bars. It is also close to the Pinheiros River, which runs for around 25 kilometres through the centre of the city, and a short walk to the Berrini stop on São Paulo’s metro system, which is on the Green Line 2. From there, the whole city opens up.

Most visitors will quickly want to discover Ibirapuera Park, a vast and beautiful city park amid the urban bustle, which is Latin America’s answer to New York’s Central Park. It has many kilometres of footpaths wending past lakes, woodland, landscaped gardens and sports fields. Some of the buildings were designed by Brazil’s most celebrated architect Oscar Niemeyer, including the striking Ibirapuera Auditorium, a performance space that attracts musicians and artists from across the world. Some of the city’s most visited museums are also in or neighbouring the park, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Japanese Pavilion. Ayrton Senna Square, a monument dedicated to the Formula 1 racing driver, is also nearby.

There are close to 200 museums and galleries in São Paulo, which means a day off should never go to waste, come rain or shine.

The city’s most important road is Paulista Avenue, which runs for close to 3km and defines what many consider the “centre” of São Paulo. Originally Paulista Avenue was flanked by the mansions of the city’s richest merchants, but now it is another vibrant urban thoroughfare with offices and cultural institutions along either side. São Paulo’s main Museum of Art (MASP) is halfway down, opposite Trianon Park. On a Sunday, the area beneath the museum becomes a wondrous antiques market selling all manner of curios.

Also check out the brilliant Football Museum in Charles Miller Plaza, a short walk from Paulista Avenue’s northernmost end. If you thought you liked sport, wait until you see how the Brazilians regard football (soccer). This museum pays homage to the game that is treated as a religion in these parts.

While we’re on the subject of football, a number of professional teams have their home in São Paulo including Corinthians, Palmeiras and São Paulo, all of which currently play in the top flight Série A. The season runs from April to December, so while you won’t be able to catch any matches if you’re in town for the BSOP, bear it in mind for your inevitable return trip.

If you want to get the best literal overview of São Paulo, head to the top of the Edifício Itália, which is a 46-story skyscraper and has panoramic views over the city. It is in the historic centre of São Paulo, close to where the city began life as a tiny village in the 16th century. Though the Metropolitan Cathedral here is a modern construction, the area has been the spiritual focus of the city for more than 400 years.

I’M HUNGRY, FEED ME

São Paulo is a foodies’ paradise, with high-end restaurants and street vendors alike serving their own twists on local specialities. Like all great metropolises, various immigrant communities have long made their home in São Paulo, and the influences of countless cuisines is never more evident than on the city’s menus.

Arguably the most revered of all local snacks are “pastel de feira” — a kind of fried dough pocket, like an empanada, stuffed with whatever takes the maker’s fancy and served from breakfast through late night. They originally owe their presence in Brazil to immigrants from Asia, but they now feel as Brazilian as Pele, particularly when served with zesty “vinagrete” and washed down with sugarcane juice.

You also have to try some “coxinha”, which take bar snacks to a new level. The name translates as “little chicken thigh”, a reference to their triangular shape (also sometimes described as like a raindrop). These comprise shredded chicken mixed with punchy spices and deep-fried. Wash them down with cold beer.

If you’re still playing, and need something highly nutritional to focus mind and body, find yourself somewhere selling açaí na tigela, which ticks every single box for a health-conscious professional. This is a nutrition, protein, vitamin-packed smoothie-style concoction, which combines the local super-food açai with any number of fruits and natural sugars.

By and large, you can’t go wrong by heading to one of the city’s “padocas”, or bakeries, which serve light snacks and full meals (as well as booze) often 24 hours a day. For some heavier and more meaty fare, look for a “churrascaria”, which is an all-you-can eat steakhouse characterised by huge portions of meat served on skewers. There’s a dense concentration of restaurants in the Pinheiros district of the city.

FIND ME SOMEWHERE TO STAY

The obvious place to stay for the BSOP is in the tournament venue itself: the Sheraton São Paulo WTC. It’s a four-star business hotel and has all the amenities that come with the territory.

This being the business district, there’s also a Hilton, a Wyndham and the Estanplaza nearby. None are more than a 10-minute walk from the venue, and there’s a Novotel, a Grand Hyatt and a Park Inn only a little further.

Looking further afield, the Hotel Unique is exactly that: an architectural marvel close to Ibirapuera Park, which was named as the best hotel in Latin America by readers of Conde Nast Traveler. Similarly, if you win the tournament you might want to treat yourself to a couple of nights in the wonderful and expensive Hotel Fasano, which combines 1930s elegance with all the most modern functionality.

There are countless far cheaper hotels and hostels across the city, though you’ll need to make sure you figure out decent transport options to and from the tournament venue. If you really want to do all this on a shoestring budget, there are a network of cycling trails across São Paulo, and plenty of places to rent bikes, so why not give that unconventional approach some thought?

***

All in all, São Paulo is the kind of city that rewards intrepid exploration of as much of its 1,500 square kilometres as you can manage. New museums, restaurants and markets continue to pop up, while others have remained popular for many hundreds of years. As ever, we hope you spend as much time playing poker as you possibly can, and win all the money. But there’s ample consolation among São Paulo’s city streets should things not go according to plan.

If you like freerolls then March on PokerStars is a month designed specifically for you…

It’s called the Prizepool Madness Freeroll. And while you might already know what a freeroll is, the madness part will take some explaining.

Because that’s where you come in.

This is no ordinary freeroll. Over the next 12 days you can help determine just how big the prizepool gets. Just by completing tasks along the way.

You’ll find these tasks across the PokerStars world. It could be from our Team Pros on Twitch, on Social Media, or on the PokerStars Blog.

If you help compete the task – whatever that might be -we’ll add more money to the prize pool.

Right now, that prizepool stands at $10,000. But it could be several times that figure before play starts at 16:00 ET on Sunday 31 March.

How you can boost the freeroll prizepool

Here’s an example of some of the ways you can help.

Each day between now and Sunday 31 March, we’ll post some sort of request. It might be something like asking for a re-tweet, answering a quiz question, making a prediction or even just clicking something.

If enough people take part, and meet the challenge criteria, we’ll add more money to the prizepool. We have money to add every day. So, make the most of it.

So, while that prizepool figure starts at $10,000 it could (with your help) reach several times that. It’s up to you.

How to get a freeroll ticket

The freeroll itself is not open to everyone. But we want to make sure only those who make the effort get to play. So, tickets to the freeroll will be awarded to players depositing $20 or more on PokerStars using the deposit code: BLOGMAD

You won’t need a penny of it to play this freeroll, but you’ll be free from opposition less scrupulous about putting in the effort than yourself.

You’ll find the freeroll in the Tournament Lobby: ID 2564195778

Make a deposit and we’ll credit you with a ticket to play on Sunday 31 March. But you can start to affect how much you’ll be playing for almost immediately.

How best to take advantage?

Keep an eye PokerStars over the next 12 days. You can do that on Twitter:

@PokerStars
@StarsSchool
@PokerStarsBlog

And you should keep an eye on the #PokerInTheEars hashtag as well. Because the Podcast team are in on this as well.

Every day they’ll be some way to help, with the first announced tomorrow.

And here’s a hint: Keep an eye on those twitter accounts to discover what’s in store.

Collect your entry ticket now

And remember: to play the freeroll all you need to do is make a deposit of $20 or more between now and Sunday 31 March.
Do that by using the Deposit Code: BLOGMAD, and you’ll be credited with a freeroll ticket.

The rest is literally up to you. Starting tomorrow you can help add thousands more to the prizepool. And have a little fun along the way.

Stay tuned to find out how.

And good luck!

You want to improve your poker game. PokerStars School has you covered. Here’s a look what our friends at PS School are doing this week to help you master the game you love.

Healthy Habits To Improve Your Game

“Habits are the nuts!” writes Pete Clarke. “Why? Because they come from the subconscious mind, which has far superior processing power to the conscious mind. Imagine the poker player’s mind as a computer. Having too much going on can slow things down, but when information is learned so well that it becomes stored, that precious RAM (or conscious thought) is no longer required to utilise those concepts.”

Handily, Pete is ready to help you figure out which habits will improve your bottom line the fastest. Consider committing these eight habits to your subconscious so that it’s almost impossible NOT to do them.

Winners Wall interview with PS School Discord regular “Scoobydubiou”

The latest entry on the Winners Wall is an interview with Canada’s Kevin “Scoobydubiou” Bilmes, a regular in the PS School Discord channel. Over the last six years he’s gone from knowing nothing at all about the game to having played mroe than 17,000 tournaments on PokerStars, and he credits PS School for helping him find his way.

“I find being able to chat in real time with other poker players through the Discord platform to be more my speed than the forums for discussing poker strategy,” he says. “There are quite a few very knowledgeable individuals there who can help you dissect a hand or even tell you if you might have bet too much on the turn. Also, I enjoy the camaraderie I share with the Discord regs when the conversation veers toward other topics. It can be quite a fun place to hang out, chat and meet new people to talk about poker or a variety of other topics.”

Check out the full interview here. And be sure to check out this introduction to the PS School Discord community, where you can learn everything you need to know about this excellent resource.

Videos: MTT Strategy Course

Federico Sztern returns this week with two new installments in his MTT strategy video course.

“It’s true that a lot of poker players make the same mistakes again and again,” says Sztern of his first video. “If we are serious about being a profitable player then we need to be able to, not only not make the mistakes ourselves, but also to be able to identify the tendencies and mistakes of our opponents and exploit them.” Watch the video to find out more.

The next lesson focuses on playing after the flop with a deep stack. With so many variables and factors to take into account, it’s not always easy to figure out your next move once you’ve seen the flop. Luckily Sztern has just the tips you need to elevate your game in this video.

For more strategy video content, head over to the PS School Youtube channel.

Other PokerStars School content you might enjoy

• Prizepool Madness: Learn how to score a free Prizepool Madness ticket from PS School
• Twitch: ZOOM Poker with Carroters
• Strategy: Spin & Go Video Course

Open a PokerStars account today and start learning from PokerStars School. Click here to get started, and then click here to register for PokerStars School.

Heard about the time legendary poker player and three-time World Series of Poker Main Event winner Stu Ungar called an opponent’s all-in holding just 10-high? And was right!

Ungar’s amazing call has entered poker lore as a remarkable real-life hold’em hand, recounted many times over as evidence of Ungar’s poker prowess. It has also received a kind of homage as a fictional hand arising in the Showtime TV series Billions.

Billions was co-created by Rounders screenwriters Brian Koppelman and David Levien along with Andrew Ross Sorkin (no relation to Aaron Sorkin). Just last week James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton were discussing the show on the Poker in the Ears podcast. In fact, in this week’s episode the pair will be interviewing Koppelman and no doubt they will be talking about Billions — and probably about a hand occurring in a poker game shown in the third episode of Season 2.

Billions takes place in the high-stakes world of Wall Street. At its heart is an interesting and ongoing “heads-up” battle between Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and billionaire hedge fund manager Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis).

“The way they talk about poker is the same way they talk about investments and business,” explained Hartigan on last week’s Poker in the Ears. He’s right — there’s a lot of poker-like gamesmanship happening throughout the series, even if poker isn’t a primary part of the narrative.

Incidentally, the Rhoades character is loosely based on former U.S. Attorney of SDNY Preet Bharara, whom poker players might remember for his prominent role around the time of “Black Friday.” Meanwhile Axelrod is based somewhat on the hedge fund manager Steven Cohen whose company’s trading at one time accounted for 2 percent of the entire stock market. Cohen is also known for having found himself ensnared in an insider trading scandal resulting in a huge settlement and a period on the trading sidelines for Cohen.

As it happens, Cohen is himself an avid poker player. A Wall Street Journal profile once detailed his poker playing in high school in college and how Cohen later affirmed the game “taught me how to take risks.” Thus it’s appropriate in the episode titled “Optimal Play” to find him eagerly joining a high-stakes Wall Street charity poker tournament called the “Alpha Cup.”

Ungar takes the wind out of Matloubi’s sails

The climactic hand in the Alpha Cup draws directly from the famous Stu Ungar hand alluded to above. If you aren’t familiar with it, here’s the story.

In 1990, Stu Ungar was in a bad place. At the start of the 1980s he’d won back-to-back WSOP Main Event titles plus two more bracelets, but none since 1983 as he more often battled his own demons than poker opponents. That year, however, he found himself among the chip leaders through two days of the Main after having been bought into the event by Billy Baxter.

When Day 3 began, everyone but Ungar was in their seats. Eventually he was found unconscious on his hotel room floor, downed by drugs again. Soon he was carried by ambulance to a hospital where he’d remain while the tournament played to its conclusion with Mansour Matloubi winning. Remarkably, Ungar (and Baxter) still cashed in ninth place after his big stack finally blinded away.

Peter Alson and Nolan Dalla continue the story in their book about Ungar, One of a Kind, describing how afterwards “The Kid” challenged Matloubi to a heads-up, winner-take-all match for $50,000. The duel eventually took place at the Four Queens early the next year.

Matloubi initially took the lead in the match, then Ungar nudged in front. Phil Hellmuth is the source of the account of what happened next (shared in One of a Kind).

Ungar started the action with a raise to $1,600 (a 4x raise, I believe) and Matloubi called holding 5-4 offsuit. The flop came 3-3-7 rainbow, Matloubi checked, and Ungar made a big bet of $6,000 (close to 2x pot) which Matloubi called with his gutshot straight draw. Both players then checked the K turn.

The river was a Q, and “smelling weakness in Stuey” (says Hellmuth), Matloubi jammed all in with the $32,000 he had back. Ungar took less than 10 seconds to call, obviously having sensed weakness as well. He then showed 10-9 — winning the pot and the match with just 10-high. In other versions of the story, Ungar says out loud “you’ve either got 4-5 or 5-6” to Matloubi before calling.

“When a guy makes a call like that against you, you just give up,” Matloubi later told Hellmuth. “It’s like he’s taken the wind out of your sails.”

The task of televising the 10-high call

That same punch-to-the-gut, “wind out of your sails” feeling was clearly the intended goal in the very similar hand portrayed in the “Optimal Play” episode of Billions written by Willie Reale.

The Alpha Cup is an annual event, and in the episode the charity tournament becomes a battlefield between Axelrod and a rival hedge fund manager named Todd Krakow (Danny Strong). Krakow has won the event three times and Axe is desperate to knock him down a peg.

Firms are allowed to enter a couple of players into the event, and Axe selects Taylor Amber Mason, an analyst at Axe Capital, who has a poker background. In truth, Axe goads Taylor into playing, as the latter is almost strangely turned off by competition despite being an excellent player.

Like Asia Kate Dillon who portrays the character, Taylor is non-binary — the first such character on a major TV series. That background obviously makes Taylor unique among other characters on the show. So, too, does Taylor’s overabundance of empathy, which in the tournament translates into a seeming lack of desire to win, especially since doing so in poker necessarily comes at others’ expense.

With Phil Hellmuth turning up again in a cameo as the tournament’s emcee, we see Krakow knock out Axe after flopping a set versus Krakow’s two pair, then soon enough Krakow and Taylor are heads-up for the title. Not only is the trophy on the line, but Axe has made a $1 million side bet with Krakow that Taylor will win, something Krakow brings up in an effort to unsettle Taylor.

Somewhat like Stu Ungar who famously thought little of the meaning of money, Taylor is unfazed.

“In the continuum, 10,000 years of human history, this card game, the Alpha Cup, what does it mean?” responds Taylor. “By 2090 we’ll all be gone, every last one of us.”

Then comes the hand — 5♥4♥ for Krakow, and T♣9♦ for Taylor. Krakow raises, Taylor three-bets, and Krakow calls, and the flop comes 3♥3♣7♦. Taylor leads and Krakow calls again, then after the K♠ lands on the turn Taylor checks.

To this point the players’ hands and the board are mostly mirroring the Ungar-Matloubi hand, although here on the turn Krakow makes a bet and Taylor just calls (a seemingly strange thing to do with 10-9).

The river Q♦ completes the board, and Taylor checks again. Here we’re reminded we’re watching a fiction as Krakow calls “time” and consults with his coach, Wendy Rhoades — the U.S. Attorney’s wife (their marriage is troubled) who happens to work for Axe (yeah… it’s complicated).

Krakow returns to the table and announces he’s all in. Taylor begins to think.

“You don’t have a king, you’d have reraised preflop,” Taylor begins. “You’re never moving in on a queen here in case I have the king. I think you’re on a gutshot… 4-5… 5-6. I think you’re trying to bully me, and a bully’s devastated when you stand up to him. I’m sorry. Call.”

Indeed, Krakow is devastated when he sees he has lost the hand (and the tournament) to Taylor’s ten-high. Meanwhile Taylor shows no emotion and indeed gets no joy at all out of winning, unlike Axe.

It’s a bit of a risky move by Billions, dramatizing a hand like this one rather than the typical straight-flush-beats-quads overkill often found in other five-card fictions.

In a review of the episode for The New York Times, Scott Tobias praised the show for not repeating in the last hand the “cruder form of warfare” exemplified in the earlier one between Krakow and Axe. Instead the hand shows how Taylor’s “genius is to exercise soft power and allow Krakow to trip over his own hubris.” (Again, not unlike Ungar in the hand versus Matloubi.)

Gutsy play, Billions. Though not as gutsy as calling an all-in with 10-high!

For more on Billions and other five-card fictions, be sure to check out the next episode of Poker in the Ears with Brian Koppelman on Soundcloud, iTunes, and Spotify.

More “5-Card Fiction”:

• Paul Newman surprisingly turns over four jacks in “The Sting”
• Three hands in “Rounders” screenplay draft that didn’t make it to the screen
  

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  “5-Card Fiction” is an ongoing series examining fictional poker hands from film, television, and elsewhere. Have a favorite fictional poker hand you’d like to see discussed? Tweet your suggestions @PokerStarsBlog.

Our “Second Steps” series aims to make you slightly better at a game you already know. In other words: you know the rules, you’ve played the game, now here’s a bit of strategy to set you apart from the rank amateurs. This week: SCRABBLE

Just as all poker players have been asked at one point or another to “show us your poker face”, all vaguely competent Scrabble players are used to facing a similar irrelevant request. “What does that mean?” someone inevitably asks as “QI” or “JO” or “CWM” or “ZEK” or “QAID” or “EUOI” lands on the board.

But here’s the thing that regular Scrabble players know but once-a-yearers do not: the definition of words is no more relevant in Scrabble than the name of your first pet. It really doesn’t matter what “QI” or “JO” or “CWM” or “ZEK” or “QAID” or “EUOI” means. All you need to know is that they’re valid words in the game. And if you know that, you’re well on your way to winning against most total rookies.

Scrabble may be the most popular word game in the world, but you don’t need an English degree, nor to be able to construct beautiful sentences, to win it. In fact, as all-conquering New Zealander Nigel Richards proves, you don’t even need to be able to speak the language at all. Richards is the world champion in Scrabble in both English and French. But don’t expect him to be able to buy a cheese baguette or even get directions to the train station if you dropped him in Paris. Il ne parle pas français. Richards has just done what all top Scrabble players do: he’s memorised a heck of a lot of words.

This is probably the first important lesson to learn when you’re attempting to get slightly good at Scrabble. Don’t get hung up on the meaning, the length, the beauty of the words. Just worry about the points they can earn you. You need to learn how best the tiles fit together, and where you can put them on the board.

FROM AA TO ZZZ: THE POWER OF TWO AND THREE

You take a massive step forward in Scrabble the minute you understand how useful the short words can be, in particular those of two or three letters. While it’s tempting as a newbie to look for the longest word you can, it’s far more important to learn the deployment of shorter words. You stride forward again when you learn all 124 valid two-letter words (and it’s useful to have a handle on most of the 1,000+ of three letters.)

That may sound daunting, but really it’s not. You actually already know the vast majority of two-letter words — the likes of AM, AN, IF, IN, BY, WE, etc. — and then there are others like TA, AD, OP, ER or SH that you also use but possibly thought weren’t actual words. (Useful rule of thumb with regard to short words in Scrabble: if you think it might be a word, it probably is.)

There are then quite a few unfamiliar two-letter words — such as CH or GU or JA or UT — but after a good few games they become familiar too. Scrabble players are far more likely to play XI or QI or ZO or even KY than they are words like TABLE or CHAIR.

Here’s the complete list of permissible two-letter words. It’s really worth memorising them:

AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY BA BE BI BO BY CH DA DE DI DO EA ED EE EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EX FA FE FY GI GO GU HA HE HI HM HO ID IF IN IO IS IT JA JO KA KI KO KY LA LI LO MA ME MI MM MO MU MY NA NE NO NU NY OB OD OE OF OH OI OM ON OO OP OR OS OU OW OX OY PA PE PI PO QI RE SH SI SO ST TA TE TI TO UG UH UM UN UP UR US UT WE WO XI XU YA YE YO YU ZA ZO

Have a quick Google to find the three-letter word list.

In a sentence: Learn the short words.

BUILD COMPOUNDS

One of the reasons short words are so important is that they offer so many more ways to place tiles on the board and make individual plays so much more valuable. Beginners to Scrabble tend to look at ways to make words intersect like a British crossword, with two words crossing through a single letter (below right). However advanced players look to layer tiles, more like in an American crossword (below left), creating multiple point-scoring words in a single turn.

Let’s say your opponent kicks off a game by playing HARE down the centre of the board. You have the letters CAY on your rack and have a number of ways to now play them. You can make RACY, building from the R (fig. 1) or CRAY building through the same R (fig 2), both of which earn 15 points.

But you can also lay CAY alongside the H and A of HARE (fig 3) to build three words: CAY, AH and YA. This offers 29 points, with the Y on the double-letter score in two different words (CAY and YA). Layering words like this, particularly with high-value letters landing on bonus squares, is almost always far more profitable than simply building one longer word.

Now take a look at figs. 4-5 and the subsequent deployment of the letters SPEAR.

In fig. 4, we make the words HARES and SPEAR, with the latter on a double-word score, for a total of 25. But in fig. 5 we make AHS, YAP, RE, EA and SPEAR for a total of 31. Again, this utilises our knowledge that all of AHS, RE and EA are playable words in Scrabble.

In a sentence: Look for ways to create multiple words in one turn.

KNOW YOUR LETTERS, AND USE THEM WELL

Another division between Scrabble newcomers and Scrabble veterans develops when they pull the J, Q, X or Z out of the bag. Newbies groan while veterans delight. And again, it’s the veterans who know best.

The relative value of individual letters in Scrabble depends on their scarcity in the language. All the vowels only earn one point because they’re used so frequently, while J and X are worth eight points, with Q and Z worth 10. (By contrast, in the German version of the game, where many more words have a Z, it’s worth only three points. The comparatively rare Y is worth 10.)

Although these high-scoring letters supposedly make building words more difficult, they can help produce massive totals, particularly when placed on a bonus square. It’s why top players make extra effort to memorise as many words involving these letters as they can, then are at pains to put them on the big bonuses. If, for instance, you manage to place a Z on a triple, and get it running in two directions, that is already 60 points — for placing one letter alone.

As ever, there are some decent resources online for lists of obscure words using these rare letters, which can not only help you out of a jam, they can potentially turn a game on its head. Here are just a handful to get you started:

Words using J, Q, X or Z

Two-letter: AX EX JA JO QI XI XU ZA ZO
Three-letter: ADZ AXE AZO BEZ BIZ BOX CAZ COX CUZ DEX DUX DZO EXO FAX FEZ FIX FIZ FOX GJU GOX HAJ HEX HOX JAB JAG JAI JAK JAM JAP JAR JAW JAY JEE JET JEU JEW JIB JIG JIN JIZ JOB JOE JOG JOL JOR JOT JOW JOY JUD JUG JUN JUS JUT KEX LAX LEX LEX LOX LUX LUZ MAX MIX MIZ MOZ MUX NIX NOX OXO OXY PAX PIX POX POZ PYX QAT QIN QIS QUA RAJ RAX REX REZ RIZ SAX SAZ SEX SEZ SIX SOX SOZ SUQ TAJ TAX TEX TIX TUX VEX VOX WAX WEX WIZ WOX XIS YEX ZAG ZAP ZAS ZAX ZEA ZED ZEE ZEK ZEL ZEP ZEX ZHO ZIG ZIN ZIP ZIT ZIZ ZOA ZOL ZOO ZOS ZUZ ZZZ

Selected others: JUGA AFLAJ QUATE TRANQ IXIA XENIA ZEIN ZAIRE

It’s also worth remembering that contrary to most written English norms, not all valid Scrabble words require a U to follow a Q. In fact, plenty of words (most of which originate in Arabic) are valid in Scrabble that dispense with the U altogether. So remember these ones too: QADI QAID QOPH WAQF FAQIR QANAT QIBLA TALAQ

In a sentence: “Awkward” letters can be your friends.

THE STRENGTH OF THE S AND BLANK

At the other end of the usefulness spectrum, we find the most playable tiles in the bag: the S and the blank. Even a total rookie should know how useful these tiles are — even if they officially score a grand total of one and nothing, respectively.

In many cases in the English game, the S can simply be added on to a word already on the board to collect what sometimes seem like free points. But don’t just go placing the S down without also building a second word at the same time. The S is the perfect “hook” tile, which can join two words in a way that maximises points. Typically they join with both ending in the S, but there are also numerous common words that can make a new word with the addition of an S to the front (CAN become SCAN, LAP becomes SLAP, PLATTER becomes SPLATTER, for example).

Of course, the S also becomes incredibly valuable if you have a six-letter word on your rack that can be pluralised for a seven-letter bingo.

See fig 6 and 7, where a rack of TIMESTN can become either MITTENS or SMITTEN and can be placed either at the front or the end of PARK. That’s worth up to 83 points.

Most Scrabble experts will say that the S is so valuable that you should only play it when it adds a minimum of 10 points to your play, and usually something closer to 20 or 25 points. It is simply wasted if you play it alone or if it does not help produce a high-scoring word.

The blank tile — of which there are only two in the bag — is even more valuable, and top-ranked players believe it should only be played when it stands to add around 50 points to your total. That’s because its versatility as a stand-in for any letter should lead you to be able to construct a seven-letter bingo, or at least as a prop to move a high-scoring tile on to a premium bonus square. There are a number of highly valuable combinations of letters in Scrabble — such as ING, IER, IEST, PRE, which can turn common short words into high scoring longer words — and the blank can help transform any rack into something far more playable.

It follows that you should never squander the blank. Even if you have a tile of mismatched letters, do your best to shed a few in shorter words while retaining your blank to play only when it will reap the most significant reward.

In a sentence: Make sure the big hitters score big.

PRACTICE RACK MANAGEMENT

Scrabble’s random element comes when players draw tiles from the bag, and even the best in the world sometimes find themselves with seven vowels or seven consonants and pretty much no hope of piecing together a high-scoring word.

When things get too desperate, it’s always worth remembering that players can sacrifice their turn to discard and exchange tiles at any point during the game (provided enough replacement tiles remain in the bag). However, you don’t always need to reach for the nuclear option — and it’s even less likely if you remember that prevention is better than cure.

Top Scrabble players are conscious of the vowel/consonant balance on their racks at all times and aim to keep it at roughly three vowels to four consonants (or two to five). There are several valid words known as “vowel dumps” (or “consonant dumps”) that can help in clearing up a messy rack and guide it back towards a more agreeable balance. You should consider these instead of exchanging if there’s a place to put them on the board.

Popular vowel dumps: AE, AI, AIA, EA, EAU, EMEU, EOAN, EUOI, IO, IOTA, OBOE, OE, OI, OU, UREA, UVEA

Good players also try to keep combinations of letters on their racks that work well together, and can forge high-scoring bonus words. By common agreement, the absolutely ideal Scrabble rack is AEINRST, whose letters can be arranged into no fewer than 11 seven-letter words (ANESTRI, ANTSIER, NASTIER, RATINES, RESIANT, RETAINS, RETINAS, RETSINA, STAINER, STARNIE and STEARIN). Because the bonus for a seven-letter word is so high — 50 points — it’s worth the effort to seek one out. That means dumping awkward letters in lower-scoring, shorter words and trying to cultivate a rack of letters that work well together, building to a bonus.

Suffixes such as -ING, -ED, -ISH, -ISE, -ER, -EST, -IER and -IEST are exceptionally useful in building seven-letter words, as are groupings such as -ABLE or -LESS. Don’t forget prefixes either, such as RE- and PRE- or UN-, which can be attached to numerous verbs to create valid Scrabble words.

In a sentence: TRAIN to RETAIN the good letters.

As with players of all highly competitive, sophisticated games, Scrabble’s elite have spent many hours studying, learning and honing their skills. They learn hundreds and hundreds of words specifically for their use on the Scrabble board. But it’s also true that most beginners could improve their games dramatically by the application of only a handful of simple strategy points. We hope these Second Steps will lift you slightly clear of the pack.

PREVIOUS SECOND STEPS: MONOPOLY

Having worked in the aviation industry for seven years, Denmark’s Kristian “kristiandali” Høeg decided to spend more time working on his poker game throughout 2018. The results speak for themselves.

Høeg took down the High Roller Club’s $530 Daily Supersonic last week for $14,973, so it felt like the right time to find out a bit more about him.

PokerStars Blog: How did it feel to take down a High Roller club title like the $530 Supersonic?


Høeg: “It felt great! I have never won a tournament with such a high buy-in before. I normally play $22-$215 tournaments, and usually I try to qualify for the $530s. I have played the Supersonic a couple of times before, and one time I managed to reach fourth place. But winning it was something else.”

PS BLOG: Were there any key hands that you remember on your way to the win?

Høeg: “Not really. Obviously there were a few lucky spots that helped me reach first place.”

PS BLOG: Is this the biggest win of your poker career? If not, what was?



Høeg: “Close. I finished second last year in the $215 Fat Thursday which brought in around $16K. Although to me, my biggest achievement in online poker was back in July 2018 when I won the $215 Bounty Builder two times within the same week. I was on a golden roll that week!”

PS BLOG: Speaking of 2018, your tournament results seemed to take a huge leap last year. What made 2018 so good for you?


Høeg: “I started taking poker more seriously and started studying poker more and more. I learned a lot from poker forums, online pro’s Twitch channels (especially Lex Veldhuis and Parker “Tonkaaaa” Talbot), YouTube videos etc. and of course reviewing my own play and hand histories.

“What made the big difference for me was deciding to only focus on one aspect of the game (multi-table tournaments) and dedicating two to three evenings a week to play poker.”

PS BLOG: What are your favourite tournaments to play?

Høeg: “I prefer playing the ‘hots’ and other turbo events, plus Bounty Builders as I really like the structure in these tournaments.”

PS BLOG: Are you a professional player, or do you have another career?


Høeg: “I don’t play poker professionally, but it is my favourite hobby. I’ve been working in the aviation industry, primarily within sales and planning, for about seven years now.

”I live in Denmark with my girlfriend and work nearly 30 kilometres from where I live. In my free time I play poker, hang with the lads, and I like to travel a lot.”

PS BLOG: Can you tell us about how you first got into poker and your journey so far?


Høeg: “I started playing poker with a friend about 10 years ago and began playing live tournaments worth $20-$33 in my local poker club. We then began playing online poker and were playing anything from $1 to $33 tournaments, sit and gos, and cash games. It costed both of us a lot of money back then as we were really caught by the game but didn’t really understand it.”

PS BLOG: What does the Supersonic win mean for you going forward?

Høeg: “Winning this event will not change the game or the tournaments I play. I feel comfortable in the $22-$215 range and won’t really consider playing bigger events on a regularly basis because of one good win. I try to qualify for the bigger events now and then, and did once, but so far without any cashes.”

Opening a PokerStars account is easy. Click here to get an account in minutes.

Play one hand on PokerStars between now and April 14, and you could win anything from freeroll to a $100 Spin and Go tickets…

It’s part of what we call Spin of the Day, which must have the lowest barrier to entry of any PokerStars promotion.

Play one hand now to claim your free Spin of the Day

All you need to do is log into your PokerStars account and play one hand of poker.

No deposit. No minimum requirement. Just play a single hand of poker. Do that, and you’ll automatically be given a Spin of the Day ticket.

That’s when the fun starts (if the hand you just played didn’t live up to expectations).

How it works

The Spin of the Day ticket entitles you to one free bonus spin. You’ll see it in a pop-up window, so you can’t miss it.

You can use this ticket immediately or up to 12 hours later. You’ll find it in your Stars menu. Just be sure to use it before then, otherwise the ticket expires.

And you’ll want to use it. Because when you use your spin great things can happen.

Great prizes to be won

For instance, you could win entry into one of five freerolls taking place every day on PokerStars.

Daily freerolls

$5,000 = 14:00 ET (Turbo)
$2,500 = 10:00 ET and 16:00 ET (Hyper)
$1,000 = 12:00 ET and 18:00 ET (Hyper)

Or, you could win Spin and Go tickets worth anywhere between $0.25 and $100 (and from there who knows?).

Make the spare minutes you have more exciting

That gives you a good reason to fill those unused minutes you have every day.

It might make your morning commute a little more interesting, or the wait for the bus home.

And what better way to fill idle minutes as the kettle boils, or before the microwave pings?

Spin of the Day starts today on PokerStars

So, to recap: That’s an excuse to get a small poker buzz every day, at a point of the day usually spent staring out the window, and doing something more productive with your screen time.

It starts today on PokerStars. Earn a free Spin a Day every day between now and Sunday April 14.

Play one hand now to claim your free Spin of the Day

It might not be life changing money, but it could be commute changing money. Or tea break changing money. Or waiting in line at the cash register changing money.

You get the idea.

Today we can announce the dates of this year’s Spring Championship of Online Poker.

The keys dates to note are:

SCOOP 2019: Sunday May 12 to Monday May 27, 2019

Main Event: Sunday May 26, 2019

Low/Medium Phase 1 satellites: Starting Sunday April 15, 2019

High Phase 1 satellites: Starting Sunday April 21, 2019

Type all this into your smartphone, write it in your diary, scrawl it on the bedroom wall, paint it on the side of your house, mow it in big letters on your lawn if you have to. Just save the dates.

They’ve been talking about it for what seems like a lifetime. Now Parker “tonkaaaaP” Talbot and Ben “Spraggy” Spragg have actually done it: they went to showdown in PokerStars VR.

With Chris Moneymaker performing hosting duties for the PokerStars Twitch channel, the two streaming superstars met this past weekend for a play money heads-up match of $100/$200 No Limit Hold’em.

The rules were simple. Both players started with a bankroll of $40,000. They could buy-in for as much of that bankroll at any given time as they wanted. And if either player went broke in the first hour, both players would receive another $20,000 to continue the match.

“Hey Spraggy,” said Moneymaker as the first pot ended, “my chat wants to know: how did you get staked for this heads-up match?”

“I have some very smart backers who, once they saw the opposition, basically just gave me unlimited funds,” replied Spraggy.

And from there, they were off.

Catch up on all of this week’s PokerStars Blog content…

• Spring Championship of Online Poker 2019 starts Sunday May 12
• Second Steps: Strategy tips for Scrabble
• Spraggy battles Parker “tonkaaaap” Talbot heads-up live on Twitch

Plus:

• 5-Card Fiction: Evoking Stu Ungar with a 10-high call on “Billions”

SCOOP 2019 KEY DATES ANNOUNCED

The key dates for the 2019 Spring Championship of Online Poker have now been revealed. This year’s series will run from Sunday May 12 to Monday May 27.

Click here for the key dates so far, including the Main Event and satellites.

Speaking of big tournaments, don’t forget this week’s Sunday Million begins at 14:00 ET, not 13:00 ET. That’s for this Sunday only, and takes into account Daylight Saving. It returns to normal the weekend after.

SECOND STEPS: STRATEGY TIPS FOR SCRABBLE

Scrabble may be the most popular word game in the world, but you don’t need an English degree, nor to be able to construct beautiful sentences, to win it.

In ‘Second Steps’, Howard Swains aims to make you slightly better at a game you already know. This week it’s Scrabble, and he’s got some amazing tips to help you score more points and make your tiles go further.

Click here if you’d like to start beating your friends at Scrabble.

SPRAGGY VS TONKAAAAP: HEADS-UP VR LIVE ON TWITCH

They’ve (pretended to have) had a heated rivalry on the Twitch streets for years, and this week we saw them finally squared off: Ben “Spraggy” Spragg vs Parker “Tonkaaaap” Talbot, heads-up in a game of PokerStars Virtual Reality poker.

We won’t give you any spoilers, but trust us: it’s well worth a watch.

Check out Spraggy vs Tonkaaaap here.

5-CARD FICTION: EVOKING STU UNGAR ON “BILLIONS”

Ever heard the story of when legendary poker player Stu Ungar made a call with just 10-high, and was right? If not don’t worry. The writers of the TV show Billions have, and they liked it so much they turned it into a fictional hand on the popular Showtime TV show.

In this week’s 5-Card Fiction, Martin Harris examines the original Ungar hand, how it compares with the Billions tribute, and how nice it is to see a poker hand on TV that isn’t quads vs a royal flush!

Have a read of 5-Card Fiction, the Billions edition.

Other pieces you might be interested in:

• “kristiandali” on his High Roller Club victory and how he improved his game in 2018
• PokerStars School: Add these eight healthy habits to your game
• Attention freeroll players: We’re adding thousands to New Prizepool Madness Freeroll
• São Paulo: Home of the BSOP, but that’s only the start
• Book excerpt: “Mastering Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em” by Jonathan Little

Have a great weekend!

You can play poker for free on PokerStars. Simply click here to open an account.

Of poker pro and coach Jonathan Little’s several strategy books, Mastering Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em has been especially cited for praise by those who play lower stakes NLHE — a group that comprises the majority of poker players.

In the book Little shows readers how to play a solid, competent, decently aggressive style that will be profitable in these games. He provides both a basic strategy to crush small stakes games and identifies adjustments needed when facing more challenging competition.

Mastering Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em begins with several chapters devoted to preflop strategy, including how to play when you are first in as the open-raiser, when facing limpers, when facing a raise, and other situations. Then come chapters focused on postflop strategy, including how to proceed after being the preflop aggressor and after calling before the flop, and other technical skills applicable to postflop play.

Little also includes more advice about game selection, tournaments, bankroll management for a wide variety of formats, and how to avoid tilt yourself while taking advantage of it in others.

The following excerpt appears within the chapter “Post-Flop Strategy: As the Pre-Flop Aggressor” and comes within a section covering how to proceed after you’ve raised before the flop and then flopped a draw — be it a strong draw, a marginal draw, or a “junky” draw.

Draws

For the most part, your plan with your draws is to bet with the intention of betting again on most turns, especially if the board changes (making your opponent’s premium and marginal made hands worse). If you happen to have a draw that has a large amount of showdown value, checking behind on the flop may be ideal. If your draw relies on fold equity, betting is mandatory if you think you have fold equity, but be willing to check it if you have reason to believe your opponent will rarely fold.

Strong Draws

Strong draws are draws with 12 or more outs to the effective nuts. While your best draws always have a significant amount of equity, it is important to understand that they vary in strength and should be played accordingly. For example, A♥K♥ on J♥T♥3♠ is a marginal made hand that can easily win at showdown if it does not improve (your best Ace-highs usually fall in the marginal made hand range), whereas 9♥8♥ cannot win at showdown. As your showdown value decreases, you have to rely more heavily on fold equity, although that is not always the case.

For example, an early position player raises and only you call from the button with J♥T♥. The flop comes A♥K♥4♦. Your opponent makes a continuation bet. At this point, you do not have much fold equity because this board should be excellent for your opponent’s range, as most early position raisers play primarily big pairs and strong big cards. A raise will make your opponent fold all hands worse than a King, but you will almost certainly be able to win the pot from those hands on the turn by betting when your opponent checks. Calling allows you to keep the pot small when you are not a huge favorite, and allows you to continue keeping the pot small if you do not improve on the turn. If instead you had 6♥5♥ on a 9♥8♥2♦ board, you should strongly consider raising because this board is not good for most preflop raisers’ ranges, meaning you have some amount of fold equity.

In general, middle card boards are better for the caller than the raiser because most players raise with all big cards and only some middle cards. When someone calls, they often have many combinations of middle cards in their range and fewer combinations of big cards (because they 3-bet some of them). This means that the pre-flop caller should have more middle cards in his range than the pre-flop raiser. Also, note that the pre-flop raiser should have more big cards than the pre-flop caller, making boards containing big cards better for the pre-flop raiser.

With your best draws, it is vitally important that you do not play them in a manner that leads to you having to fold. It is quite common for amateurs to raise a continuation bet with a hand like Q♥T♥ on 9♥8♥4♠ and then fold when their opponent goes all-in. If you think that your flop raise may get pushed on a decent amount of the time, call instead. Even if you do raise and get pushed on, you should usually call due to the fact that premium draws win about 50% of the time against ranges that are not incredibly tight (remember, you don’t want to raise against tight ranges because they won’t fold) and you will only need to win 40% of the time or so based on the pot odds.

Marginal Draws

Marginal draws have 8 or 9 outs to the effective nuts. These are your unexciting open-ended straight draws and flush draws. They often have overcards that may or may not add additional equity. These hands are usually strong enough to bet and call a reasonable raise due to their large implied odds, but if you bet perhaps 4 big blinds on the flop and your opponent raises to 29 big blinds, you should fold the majority of the time.

Compared to strong draws, marginal draws have to rely heavily on implied odds because they are behind all made hands. This should lead you to bet these hands every time on the flop unless you are confident you have no fold equity or you think your opponent is going to check/raise to an amount that will force you to fold.

Junky Draws

Junky draws are draws with fewer than 8 outs to the effective nuts. The most common junky draw is a gutshot straight draw. Even gutshots vary in value, from decently strong to completely unplayable. For example, J-10 on 8-7-3 is quite strong due to the presence of overcards that can improve to top pair, but 5-4 on the same board is total junk because it only has 4 outs, and when you hit, you still lose to the most obvious draw, 10-9.

Jonathan Little

For more from Jonathan Little, check out this recent summary of his revealing and insightful “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit Poker.

Mastering Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em is available in paperback, as an e-book, and as an audio book at D&B Poker.

D&B Publishing (using the imprint D&B Poker) was created by Dan Addelman and Byron Jacobs 15 years ago. Since then it has become one of the leading publishers of poker books with titles by Phil Hellmuth, Jonathan Little, Mike Sexton, Chris Moorman, Dr. Patricia Cardner, Lance Bradley, Martin Harris and more, all of which are available at D&B Poker.