Saturday, August 15, 2009 - Phil Hellmuth
My favorite drinking establishment in Vienna is the famous Schweitzer Haus, which serves an incredible Budweiser Beer, but nothing like the Bud that we drink over here in the states. When you’re done at the Schweitzer Haus (they close at 11:00 PM), then head on over to Nacht Sicht, where they have three different dancing rooms to choose from. Of course the Poker EM is held in Baden, which is about twenty minutes south of Vienna, in the palatial Casinos Austria.
Now to business: with three qualifying events, where 24 people advance to the main event from each qualifying event, you will find things work a little bit differently in the Poker EM. Each qualifying event starts with a sold out 456 players. It costs $300 to enter, $300 to re-buy and $300 to add on each day.
You are handed your seat assignment ticket, one re-buy ticket and one add on ticket, but here’s the catch: you can only use your add on ticket if you still have chips left at the end of the re-buy period. So, if you go broke before the re-buy period ends, then you are out of the qualifying event right then!
Thus I believe that the best advice I can give anyone is to make the end of the re-buy period, even if you have to throw away ‘rolled up’ aces [(A,A), A], which is the best possible starting hand in Seven Card Stud! After all, to win a pot with A,A-A right before the re-buy period ends is helpful, but to go broke right before the re-buy period ends is absolutely unacceptable. Therefore muck the A, A-A if your short on chips before the add on period ends!
In 2000, I actually ‘anted off’ without even looking at my hole cards – because I was short on chips right before the re-buy period ended – when I ‘qualified’ for the Championship event. Again, make sure at all costs, that you make the end of the re-buy period, so that you can add-on!
The second interesting thing about the Poker EM is that they play down to six tables, and then you play down to the final four players at each of those final six tables, and that group (of 24 players) ‘qualifies’ for the Championship event. Last year, two people from my table ‘qualified’ with only a few chips! So when you make the final six tables with a lot of chips, avoid playing big pots, just make sure that you make the ‘final four’ players at your table to qualify for the Championship event.
When you make it down to the final six tables with a short or medium stack, make sure that you keep a close eye on the amount of chips that your opponents at your table have. You may need to throw away a strong hand because you can see that some of your opponents are extra short on chips. After all, it doesn’t matter how many chips that you end up with, it only matters that you make the final four at your table and move on (everyone starts with the same number of chips in the ‘Championship’).
Throughout the tournament, I like to start with strong hands only, like big pairs or three big flush cards. I have noticed that a lot of people at the Poker EM are recreational players that play a lot of really weak hands. This means that; on one hand you will take some really bad beats, but on the other hand you will win some really big pots.
The antes tend to be bigger then we are used to in the USA (or anywhere in the world for that matter!), so that winning an ante means something. If you have the opportunity to ‘steal’ an ante, then go for it. However, stealing too many antes is hazardous to your tournament health.
One last tip: I had good luck playing my drawing hands very aggressively. If I knew that I had to call a bet from my opponent, then I would just raise and put myself into the lead in case the other guy was drawing as well. I always recommend aggressive play in poker tournaments.
The Poker EM is a really beautiful poker tournament with all of its pageantry and flair. The 72 finalists are introduced to the whole casino one at a time, and the flags for their different countries are held aloft proudly during those introductions. The final table is surrounded by hundreds of people and broadcast live on the Internet in audio and video. The money is brought out on a silver platter in plastic packages. And the Champagne flows freely after the event ends!
The trophy is beautiful, and winning the Poker EM was the highlight of my year in 2000 (especially after finishing ninth in the Poker EM in 1999!).
Tags: Austria, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, Poker Tips, poker tournaments, Vienna
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - Miss C
Hey All,
I WANT TO GO BACK! Who knew I would be a snow bunny, after all I am a city chick? I am now back at home and I miss the vistas of Hinterglemm:(.
I guess I wouldn’t want to live in it for an entire winter, but for a week or 2, it would be perfect. I am putting my hand up for next year already. For a couple of our younger qualifiers AIRKID3 (AP) and PAUL426 (UB), this was the first time they had qualified for a land based event, and after many discussions, they have truly been spoilt as this was their ever live event. Me, personally, I have been to more than I can remember and I feel spoilt!
KUDOS72OFF (AP) was the one player we were most proud of as he made the final table of the Pokernews Alpine Cup…Yeah Kudos! This was his first live final table and he came in a healthy 8th. Not bad for a 19 year old who can’t even drink at home. I know he can drink as he was last seen bringing an entire bottle of Jagermeister down to the lobby and I swear that bottle did not last 20 minutes. On our last night we all sat down at the poker table and Kudos took my money when his K’s held up against my J’s. All was forgiven when I sat down and played for him and made him a few hundred euros.
These 3 players – KUDOS72OFF (AP), AIRKID3 (AP) and PAUL426 (UB) all want to go to the Aruba Poker Classic. Kudos was instrumental in convincing them as he was at the APC 2008 at the tender age of 18. These trips are awesome as they breed new friendships and it is a bonus to be able to that in a different country. I hope to see them all in Aruba in October.
Thanks PokerNews, same time same place next year + 3 days prior for ski lessons!
Cheers,
Miss C
Tags: Absolute Poker, AP, APC, Aruba, Aruba Poker Classic, Austria, Jagermeister, PokerNews, ub, Ultimate Bet
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009 - Miss C
Hey All,
A few years back (actually nearly a decade ago:)) my boss at the time organized a poker trip to Europe and I thought this was a fabulous idea. There were 20 of us in total, all Aussies. We had been asked to do the live coverage at 2 of the events we were attending.
The first stop was Venice and we entered in the most grandest of styles, by water taxi from the airport. There was something truly magical the way the city just appeared and when we entered the Grand Canal, I didn’t know which way to look. In Venice there was no poker, we were here to soak up the culture and boy wasn’t it fantastic. Meandering through the maze of streets would be one of my most special travel memories. We were in town for 3 nights, but one of our group could not wait, he left his case for us to bring (and I can tell you an additional case in Venice is a hindrance when trying to pull 2 suitcases over cobble stones) and caught a train to our next destination which was Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
The rest of the crew arrived in due time via coach. This place was beautiful. It was never on my must see lists, but I would definitely recommend it. Great people and the biggest, juiciest cherries you have ever tasted. We were here to do the live coverage of the Torneo De Poker and it was a great event. This is the event where I met most of the European players I know, including the Hendon Mob and having the privilege of having Devilfish serenade us through dinner . A couple of the Aussies made the money, but while we were here, poker was not the only thing on our minds, we did a couple of trips to see the country and we were not disappointed. If you are ever there, visiting Bled is a must. The week here flew by and before we new it we were heading to Austria.
Vienna, Austria had us at the Concord Card Casino for the World Heads Up Championship where we also did the live coverage. This tournament had an American contingent – our very own Phil Hellmuth, Ted Forest, Layne Flack, Amarillo Slim and a very young Alan Cunningham. Unfortunately, if my memory serves me right, Phil was knocked out in the second round to an Austrian poker player named Erich Kollmann. Vienna also had us doing trips and we found some great places and we even had an adventure looking for the schnapps factory…we did find it! Once again another week flew by and we were off to St Petersburg, Russia.
St Petersburg the Venice of Russia, so beautiful, very hard to put into words. A very amazing and breath taking city, so old but really well preserved. The Hermitage was stunning, I could have spent days there. We were there during their white nights season, which means it only gets dark around 4am for about 30 minutes. Not good for someone who doesn’t like sleeping through daylight hours. Our evenings were spent at the regal Taleon Club Casino, an old mansion set on a canal. A sweeping staircase led up to the silver service 5* restaurant (where even handbags got chairs) and the gaming floors. When you played at Taleon, there were white carpets, murals on the ceiling a green room which was for ciagrs and a small beautifl poker room. Sadly this was our last stop on the tour. It was a lot of fun and there was a lot of laughs.
If you get a chance to do a poker trip like this, get on board it’s a great ride.
Cheers,
Miss C
Tags: Alan Cunningham, Amarillo Slim, Austria, Bled, CCC, Concord Card Casino, Devilfish, Erich Kollmann, Hendon Mob, Hermitage, Layne Flack, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, Slovenia, St Petersburg, Taleon, Ted Forest, Torneo de Poker, Venice, Vienna, WHUP, World Heads Up
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Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - Miss C
Hey All,
Where has this year gone? I can’t believe I have blinked and we are in the 1st week of March. Every week pretty much finds us comtemplating where to go next and which tournament should we play.
The travel bug in me is starting to find its legs and I am super excited about heading out to Austria this month for the Pokernews Alpine Cup. The snow, my new boots, catching up with PokerNews and all the european connections. I can’t wait. I have been to Austria a few times and have only managed to get to Vienna and Baden. I am so looking forward to seeing a bit of Salzburg, it is meant to be beautiful and some people claim that it has the best chocolate in the World.
April translates to Vegas and you all know how excited I get when this town is mentioned. The who’s who of the poker world head into town to play the WPT World Championship at Bellagio. A mere 25K will get you into this tournament. If 25K isn’t lose change, you can satellite your way in at Bellagio, or if you want to take another chance you can play on UltimateBet to win a package to go to Vegas and try your luck in a satellite.
Oops that means May is next in line and I am going to Vegas forever, well that technically means about 8 weeks for the World Series of Poker. I ususally have a 2 week max in this town and I will tell you I am very nervous about this stay. 90% of all the people I know in the Poker World will be in 1 city and they all want to catch up at the same time. All I can think about for this stay will be gym membership, gym membership, gym membership.
Just remember if you are coming to the WSOP and you are playing the Main Event come and see UltimateBet as there are 10 million more reasons to be seen in UB gear through the Main Event.
Good Luck and I hope to see you soon.
Cheers,
Miss C
Tags: 25K, Austria, Bellagio, las vegas, PokerNews, pokernews alpine cup, Salzburg, ub, ultimatebet, Vegas, world series of poker, WPT, WPT World Championship, WSOP
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Tuesday, February 3, 2009 - Miss C
Hello Everyone,
This is my first post, how exciting! I will be letting you know what is coming up and where we are going. If your you lucky to be particpating you may see your name or pic in my blog!
The first land based tournament that we will be participating in is the PokerNews Alpine Cup, being held in the beautiful mountains of Austria. The package is worth 8K and is awesome…accommodation at the Hotel Alpine Palace, transfers by VIP shuttle and return by helicopter to Salzburg (btw this is the town that Motzart was born in), sauna packages, ski passes and even a PARTY.
Satellite are running for this event at ultimatebet.com as we speak. Satellites start from $10 feeding into the $530 qualifier. I know quite a few of our online Pros want to get to this event so you never know who you might see there or online trying to get there. When our Pros travel with us, our Pros become your Pros, you will have the chance to meet them, have dinner and drinks and even get some pre tournament advice.
Here at UltimateBet we have got some new merchandise that I am preparing especially for Austria. We are in the process of getting some funky beenies and scarves produced. These will be on the Raise store very shortly so even if you don’t get a set in Austria you can buy your own at Raise.
I am hearing rumblings now that the WSOP 2009 have released their dates and we have started rumbling too. Very soon I will be able to let you know what UltimateBet and the team are going to do at the WSOP and we are all very excited about this.
Good Luck with the satellites and I hope to see you in Salzburg, Austria for the PokerNews Alpine Cup.
Cheers,
Miss C
Tags: Austria, pokernews alpine cup, pros, ultimatebet, WSOP
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Sunday, January 25, 2009 - Debo34
The thing I value most in my life is my family. Spending time away from home many times throughout the year can be tough, but that’s the life of a poker player. I’ve been home for about 2 months straight, and have loved every minute of it. I always enjoy being home for the holidays. It’s at this point every year that I start to get the itch to get out and play some live tournaments. The time that I try to layout most of my years schedule and start booking flights and hotel rooms. The past 2 years I have been in Los Angeles for the LAPC in February. I decided to skip that event this year and spend a few extra weeks at home.
The first trip I plan on making is to Reno. Reno is always an easy trip for me only being a 6 hour drive from my home. I have always had good success in Reno and have enjoyed the tournaments there. It’s always a place where tons of my friends go, and we can usually get away and do a few fun things away from the tables. This trip is planned for late February through early March.
Something that caught my eye this week, which I had no idea even existed was the poker in the Alps satellites on UB. I have never been anywhere in Europe before and this looks very appealing to me. I am going to take a few cracks at the satellites on the site and see if I can win one of the 8k packages. This looks like it could really be a cool place to go play some cards. You can see the all the details of the event here.
http://www.ultimatebet.com/poker-promotion/poker-news-cup
After these events I am undecided as to what will be next for me, but I am leaning towards the WSOP circuit event at Caesars Las Vegas. I love the poker room at Caesars, and the event schedule looks very good as well. About that time it will be time to start making my WSOP plans for the summer.
I have a few weeks home before I head out for some live events and I plan on enjoying it. Tomorrow I am heading up into the mountains to a place called Diamond Lake. 10 of us have rented two cabins for the weekend to do some snowmobiling and play some cards. This trip is guys only weekend so I also planned a trip Valentines Day weekend for my family. I will be taking them to a similar trip to a different location called Elk Lake. Both should be a blast, and I am really looking forward to them.
Hope everyone’s New Year is off to a great start.
Good luck,
Debo
Tags: Austria, Debo34, family, LAPC, Reno, WSOP
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Friday, January 23, 2009 - UB Marketing
Last week was huge for poker at Ultimate Bet. Not only the UBOC championship finished, but some major promotions like the Wild Card (NFL Super Bowl Tickets) giveaway took place and 2 UB players will soon be heading to the nice city of Tampa in Florida for the game of their lives.
Things have come back to normality regarding the tournament schedule and this week we’ll be hosting the $200k GTD after 2 weeks of absence. Not only the 200k is back, but be sure to check all the new satellites that have been launched for events such as the Sniper 40k, Sniper 80k and the all the $100k events we host throughout the week.
On another note, for all those huge tournament players and sit n go players remember Ultimate Bet recently launched brand new leaderboards which have been designed to reward every type of player. So it doesn’t matter if you like playing $1 9 seated sngs or $200 multi table tournaments if you finish in the money you will be scoring points and participating in some CEREUS money giveaways at the end of the week and major freerolls for top winners at the end of the month.
So, for the following weeks one of the biggest satellite we are running are the Pokernews Cup satellites. This major event will take place in Austria from March 21st-28th and it promises to be a 1 of a kind event. Not only some major poker personalities will attend and huge prizepools are expected, but attendants will have the opportunity to play poker in one of the most amazing sites in the world surrounded with beautiful mountains, nature and amazing views… My advice, check out the satellite schedule on your poker client and get your luggage ready because for as low as 660 points or $10 you can end up playing some exciting tournaments with the best players in the world at the Alps!!!
Tags: 200k guarenteed, Austria, Cereus, leaderboards, players rewards, Pokernews Cup, sniper 40k, sniper 80k, sniper tournaments, super bowl XLIII Ticket Giveaway, UBOC, wild card main event
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