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The staff at Party Poker has already got their eyes set on another super Sunday, that’s right our PartyPoker Social Media $ 50 Freeroll tournament! With a little bit of cash, a chunk of glory and a ton of fun all up for grabs. What more could you ask for?

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The Details

Name: $ 50 PartyPoker Blog Freeroll
Found Under: Freerolls
Date and Time: 16th June 2013 – 15:00 EDT / 20:00 BST / 21:00 CEST
Game Type: No Limit Holdem
Starting Chips: 3000
Blinds: 3 Mins
Cost: $ 0

8.15pm: Eruption! Ludovic Geilich is your PokerStars Marbella Festival champion! It began as they had been beginning. The pot that is. Ludovic Geilich opened for 400,000 and Pablo Rojas moved all-in. Geilich checked his cards and made the quick call. Each players’ contingent rushed past the rail and crowded the table.

“Out,” Tournament Director Toby Stone ordered. The staff moved everyone back, but they were busting at the seams.

Geilich tabled [9s] [9d], a hand he was quick to point out was Phil Hellmuth’s to win the Main Event way back in 1989.

Rojas flipped [Qs] [Jc], his life now resting on a coinflip.

With the situation under control, the dealer took three cards off the top of the deck:

[Kc] [Td] [Tc]

To say it was loud would hardly capture the atmosphere. This was a sweat. Everyone was calling out, some bellowing, the card their hero of the moment would desire.

Rojas had flopped very well and it was still anyone’s game.

The fourth card arrived:

[3s]

Now the Spanish cheers reached a fever pitch, desperate for their man to continue in this event. One card to go, Geilich’s contingent hoped.

[8h]

Boom goes the dynamite. The fans could not be contained and the rail dispersed as if it had never been there in the first place. Geilich encircled by his friends, jumped up and down to “LUDO! LUDO! LUDO!”

Breaking away from the pack, Geilich found Rojas in the chaos, the two competitors turned friends embraced and exchanged hearty congratulations. Rojas takes home a treasure — €98,000. But it is Geilich who is the envy of all, awarded €130,000.

That is what has been witnessed. Ludovic Geilich had conquered Marbella in a virtuoso display of no-limit holdem prowess. — GC

7.58pm: Grinding, grinding, ground
The trend continued — Geilich winning more than his share of small pots. Rojas was down to a re-shove stack, dipping dangerously below twenty big blinds. Two hands were representative of this stretch:

Geilich opens for 400,000 and Rojas moved all-in. Geilich folds.

Rojas folds his button.

Rojas was down to somewhere in the 2,500,000 neighbhourhood. Thirteen big blinds can not last long without an all-in confrontation. — GC

Geilich, locked in7.43pm: Ten hands in a row
There was a lot of folding in the first ten hands to start this level, with Rojas continuing to vary his open size. Here is the break down of how it began:

1) Rojas makes it 500k on the button, Geilich folds.

2) Ludovic Geilich opens to 400k, Geilich folds.

3) Pablo Rojas open folds his button.

4) Geilich makes it 400k and Rojas calls. The flop is [Qs] [6c] [2d] and Rojas leads for a suspicious 225,000, which Geilich calls. The turn was the [Qh] and Rojas lead again, but for 475,000. Geilich releases his hand quickly.

5) Rojas folds another button.

6) Geilich raises his button the minimum and Rojas folds.

7) Rojas raises to 450,000, Geilich says “all-in,” and Rojas folds.

8) Geilich raises to 400,000 and Rojas folds.

9) Rojas shows [Tc] [4s] and folds his third button of the last four.

10) Geilich makes it 400,000 and gets one caller. Guess who? The community cards start [Kh] [7h] [5c] and check matches check.

The [Kd] turns and Geilich wins the pot for one quarter of the pot, betting 200,000 when checked to.

That’s an eight to two tally in Geilich’s favour. Rojas is going to have to start scrapping over the small pots if he is going to swing the match. This much is certain: Geilich will never take his foot off that gas pedal. — GC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 100,000-200,000

 

7.30pm: Level 31 is over
Wow next level is 100k/200k.

The chip stacks are like this currently, Geilich getting the better of the duel.

Geilich – 10,500,000
Rojas – 4,500,000 — RS

7.15pm: Geilich pushes for dominance in the four-bet realm
With the blinds getting to semi-ridiculous levels and every single button opened, the number of three-bet re-steals is rising and naturally this has led to this aggressive pair increasing the regularity of a big four-bet re-re-steal.

RIght now Geilich is the one getting away with these lucrative manoeuvres most effectively. Two recent hands saw him pop the button to 320k, Rojas dig out a 700k move and Geilich pick up the Spaniard’s chips with one final definitive act of aggression – betting 1.5 million and getting a pair of mucks for his efforts. — RS

7.09pm: Value betting like a champion
These two love to play pots. You might think the fact the stacks are slow to change is down to nittery but the truth is the chips are ebbing and flowing back and forth almost every pot. The result is a very fluid dynamic between these two that is probably just favouring Geilich.

Recently the pair played out a very interesting pot – Geilich peeling a Rojas raise preflop, before the pair checked the [Jd][6d][6h] board.

A [4d] on the turn saw Geilich lead for 395k, called by Rojas with the comment, “let’s see if your jack is better than mine then,”

The [Js] on the river saw Geilich consider his options before popping out a 975k bet.

Rojas called, only to muck when Geilich showed him [As][7s] for ace-high.

Rojas was visibly annoyed at this, having made a hero-call with what we think was king-high.

“You make the same bet with any two cards,” he grumbled. Geilich disagreed.

“No, no I don’t!”

Is there trouble in paradise? — RS

6.56pm: The mucking metagame
Here are the rules, if you want to see, you have to show. Last aggressor (ie who made the last bet) has to show first if called. If they don’t show and muck their hand, the other player can take the pot without showing themselves. Got it? Good.

Geilich min-raised the button and Rojas called. Three cards were dealt face up (strange game this), and they were [Qc] [7s] [3h].

Rojas made an action we are told is referred to as a “check.” Then Geilich cut out a 345,000 chip bet. Rojas called.

Another card was added to the board, the [6h]. Both players dabbled in the art of checking on this street.

Then, yet another card, the [5c]. Rojas fired out 425,000 and Geilich called. Rojas mucked and so did Geilich, in that order.

“I call so you need to show,” reminded Geilich.

Rojas had a deep laugh about that, leaned across the felt, and the two exchanged fist bumps. A mutual respect has been mutually earned and the pre-chop bromance is back in full effect. — GC

6.43pm: Five easy pots
Rojas and Geilich have entered into a protracted poker match. Who would have thought? Five recent hands went like this:

1) Ludovic Geilich raises to 320,000 and Pablo Rojas folds.

2) Pablo Rojas raised to 390,000 on the button and Geilich folds.

3) Geilich raises to 320,000 and Rojas folds.

4) Pablo Rojas raised to 380,000 and Geilich three-bet to 840,000. After a quick think Rojas made it 1,835,000. Geilich looked to have bad intentions, but folded.

5) Geilich raised to 320,000 and Rojas called. The flop came [Jd] [2s] [8c].

Rojas checked, Geilich bet 315,000, and Rojas raised to 650,000.

“If I fold, will you show me?” Geilich asked. Rojas now has ear buds in and likely didn’t hear.

When Geilich folded those ear buds came out.

“Show me?”

“The cards? You know that’s not possible.” Rojas grinned.

“I wish we had hole card cameras here,” he continued, “so you could see everything tomorrow.” — GC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 80,000-160,000, ante 20,000

 

6.34pm: Rojas fights back
Prior to the dinner break Rojas was beginning to show a few signs of frustration and dejection. Since the resumption though he has cut a different figure.

Little talking, sunglasses on, earphones in – Rojas looks the model of focus – a hermetic seal wrapped round his visage to protect him from leaking any useful information to the alert Geilich, who soaks it up like a sponge.

And you know what? His new strategy’s working…he has won a series of small pots to reduce Geilich’s lead ratio from 3:1 to 3:2 and the rail cries of “Vamoooo” that signal Spanish success are increasing in frequency.

Could the tide be turning?

9 million for Geilich, 6 million to Rojas… — RS

The consummate professional6.23pm: Preflop war breaks out
Both players are active on their buttons and a few moments ago the pair engaged in a game of preflop chicken. It started with a standard Ludovic Geilich preflop button open to 240,000 – Rojas looking to end the positional aggression with a three-bet from the big blind to 575,000.

Geilich pondered things in his usual way clicking chips and thinking it over before cutting out 2 big stacks of 25k chips totalling 1 million and scattering a number of 25k and 5ks on top as icing – 1,200,000 the giant 4-bet – before pushing the chips over the line.

Rojas looked briefly interested but something changed and he blinked first, mucking his hand leaving Ludovic to sweep up a tasty pot with no showdown. — RS

6.05pm: Calm before the storm?
Rojas limped his button and Geilich checked. The flop?

Can’t take the suspense?

It was [8c] [3s] [5d] and both players checked.

[2h] turn and both players… checked.

The [9d] smashed down on the table with a thunder usually reserved for Thor’s hammer or Zeus’ bolts of lightening. No, not really — it arrived without even a soft whimper. Geilich quickly check-folded to a nearly minimum bet from Rojas. — GC

5.55pm: Small pot procession
The final table may have began with a flurry but the melee has turned to a war of attrition between two heroes.

Geilich raised the button and Rojas called. The flop came [Ah] [Ac] [Kc] and both players checked. On the [2h] turn Rojas check-called a 245k bet from Geilich, who checked the [4d] river back in position.

Rojas: [Kh] [Ts]
Geilich: [4h] [Th]

On Rojas’ button he raised to 325,000 which, after a handful of previous folds, elicited a call from Geilich. The flop was [Kd] [Jd] [4c] and it went check, bet 375,000, call. Both players checked the [5h] turn and the [7h] river.

Geilich mucked when he saw Rojas hadn’t deemed the [Js] [8c] worthy of a river value bet. — GC

5.45pm: Rojas is a chameleon
His words, not ours. But well said. Rojas was opening the button to 325k at 60k-120k, which was unusual enough. But in addition to that he’s also been limping buttons, three at the least. Geilich doesn’t quite know what to make of it at this point, but remains a confident bruiser. — GC

5.35pm: Meet your chip-leader
The incomparable Nick Wealthall had a chat with Ludovic Geilich before final table play began this morning:

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 60,000-120,000, ante 10,000

 

5.30pm: Two left gunning for the title
Folllowing the break, we’re back heads-up with hand-reader extraordinaire Ludovic Geilich holding a roughly 3-1 chip lead over his sparring partner, Spaniard Pablo Rojas. –RS

Geilich: The man reads hands for fun

Next up in our series of the World Series of Poker Champions we take a quick look at the life of one of pokers more colorful characters that’s right Thomas Austin ‘Amarillo Slim’ Preston, Jr.

He became the 2nd person to win the World Series Of Poker Main Event in 1972, beating Walter “Puggy” Pearson and taking home $ 80,000 for his troubles.

The event was held again at the infamous Binion’s Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas which was the very same venue founded by his best friend Benny Binion.

A Real Star On Both The Small And Big Screen

It’s noted that soon after the win, his now celebrity status transcended from the tables to television with guest appearances on shows like Good Morning America, 60 Minutes, and even a cameo in Hollywood Gambling Movies like Robert Altman’s ‘California Split’ alongside the likes of George Segal and Elliot Gould.

An Original Rounder

What we would call a true rounder back in the day, Amarillo Slim toured the United States seeking out gambling action with future WSOP winners Doyle Brunson and Sailor Roberts. All of this is of course very well documented in the books Brunson’s ‘Super System’ and Slim’s own autobiography.

Amarillo Slim won a total of 4 WSOP bracelets in his time, and it’s claimed that Slim also beat both country legend Willie Nelson at dominoes and Hustler boss Larry Flint in poker, taking home a massive $ 300,000 and $ 2 million respectively. Which you have to say was a long way from that 1972 WSOP payday!

Las Vegas is calling, Will You Answer?

We want you to get the most out of your time with us here at PokerPoker that’s why we created the best and in depth poker learning tools, articles and videos available. So get on your A game today and we could see you heading to Vegas this summer!

Dan ‘djk123′ Kelly should think about renaming himself ‘ATM123′ because the 6-COOP winner has been a human cash machine this World Series of Poker. While 400,000 of you battled away for $ 1,000,000 on PokerStars last night, Kelly notched up his sixth cash of the series. Tenth in Event #21: $ 3,000 NLHE Six-Handed was good for $ 33,090 and one pay jump away from marking Kelly’s third World Series final table in 2013. Not bad, eh?

Dan Kelly: busy cashing outThe relentless trips to the cage have seen Kelly climb to second in the Player of the Series leader board, where he sits snugly behind little known Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu.

Like Kelly, Kid Poker’s had the sort of year most poker pros can barely dream of. But unlike ATM123 (it’ll catch on), the World Series hasn’t quite gone as Negreanu would have hoped. Two cashes and a grand total of $ 16,158 are all that’s lining his pockets to date, but thanks to his WSOP APAC win earlier this year he still tops the Player of the Series pyramid going into week three.

Daniel Negreanu: “I’m still leading?”Negreanu’s most recent success (aside from being honoured with the ‘Greatest Ever Poker Hand’ this week), came in Event #23: $ 2,500 Seven-Card Stud, where he busted in 26th for $ 3,889. With Negreanu gone, attention turns to curly-haired, Big Game loving, PCA Super High Roller champ, Scott Seiver, going into today’s climax. Fourth in chips with 10 left, Seiver will be looking to add a second World Series bracelet to his already bulging resumé.

Scott Seiver: auditioning for the rat pack?

We’re back with Episode 5 of the PartyPoker Premier League! Watch Group A battle it out again on the felt with – Daniel Negreanu, Scott Seiver, Jonathan Duhamel, Antonio Esfandiari, Sam Trickett, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Jungleman Cates, Marvin Rettenmaier for a spot at the final table and of course that $ 450,000 prize!

Don’t worry if you missed anything:

Episode 1 is here
Episode 2 is here
Episode 3 is here
Episode 4 is here

Now sit back as it’s time for Episode 5:

Episode 5 – Part 1

And Phil Hellmuth is already trying to put people on tilt here…

Episode 5 – Part 2

Things are looking pretty serious on the table now…

Episode 5 – Part 3

Oh dear Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates leaves to goto the bathroom right before his big blind, what?…

Episode 5 – Part 4

Looks like some grudges are starting to show here now!

When you win the World Series of Poker Main Event, you are immediately slapped with two lofty unspoken expectations. The first is that you will serve as an ambassador for the game, and the second is you’ll somehow show the world you’re not just a one-hit wonder. With that in mind, how does 2009 WSOP Main Event champ and Team PokerStars Pro Joe Cada stack up?

In regards to the former expectation, Cada accepted his role as poker ambassador with open arms. He immediately took to the media circuit, had an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman and even did an interview with Time Magazine. It was a lot to ask of a 21-years-and-seventh-month old kid from Michigan (then the youngest person to ever win the Main Event), but he embraced it wholeheartedly. By signing on as a member of Team PokerStars Pro, Cada was able to travel the world carrying the torch, and he did a fine job with his one-year ambassadorship.

Cada back in 2009 with a lot of cheeseAs far as Cada’s critics are concerned, and there have been a few, the issue isn’t his success as a poker ambassador, but that off being a poker player. Some argued that Cada’s victory was pure luck, and while he was certainly fortunate at the final table, those people seemed to willfully ignore the fact that Cada was a successful online pro long before making the November Nine–he even bought a house with his winnings.

Admittedly, you could see their point. A couple of years ago his only notable cash since his Main Event win was an 11th-place finish at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $ 25,000 High Roller Event for $ 51,450.

“Cada is still traveling the circuit and could still prove the naysayers wrong, but the clock is ticking.” I wrote in a piece back then.

Since then the clock has done anything but stop, he’s had a stirring resurgence. In the past two years, Cada has amassed a substantial $ 903,099 in winnings ($ 596,189 in 2012 and $ 306,910 in 2013). Compare that with the combined $ 141,373 he won in the two years directly after his win ($ 51,450 in 2010 and $ 89,923 in 2011), and it’s clear to see Cada is coming into his own as a professional.

Cada’s most recent success came on the very stage that made him famous in the first place: the World Series of Poker. After failing to notch a single cash in the year after his win, and just two in 2011 for $ 33,007, Cada no doubt felt pressured to perform. He stepped up in 2012 by finishing runner-up to Carter Phillips for $ 412,424 in Event #31 $ 1,500 No-Limit Hold’em. Cada didn’t leave with his second gold bracelet, but he did take home a whole lot of money and a sweet consolation prize: a paradigm shift among his peers, fans and industry insiders that he was no longer a one-hit wonder, he was a legitimate contender.

Fast-forward one year to the 2013 WSOP. Within a week Cada was back at the final table–this time in Event #4 $ 1,500 No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed–and once again in pursuit of a bracelet. Cada was denied when he was eliminated in fourth place for $ 83,558, but this story of revival didn’t stop there. Less than two weeks later, Cada would be at his second final table of the summer.

Cada at the final table of Event #17It happened in Event #17 $ 1,500 No-Limit Hold’em after Cada navigated a field of 2,105. The Michigan native began third in chips and soon made it to four-handed play. It was at that point, on Hand #162 in Level 19 (40,000-80,000, ante 10,000) to be exact, that Cada got unlucky. It happened when Athanasios Polychronopoulos made it 190,000 from under the gun and Cada moved all in for roughly two million. Polychronopoulos called with the [As][Jh] and was dominated by the [Ad][Qh] of Cada.

The [8c][2s][7d] flop brought Cada one step closer to his second bracelet, but then disaster struck as the dealer burned and turned the [Js]. Polychronopoulos hit his card and won the hand after [6c] was run out on the river. Cada, now a matured professional, shook hands with his opponents before leaving with another fourth-place finish, this one good for $ 161,642 (you can read about that here, too).

“For these tournaments you have to have a combination of both (playing and running well),” Cada said. “I feel like I’m playing well but at the same time you have to run well, so maybe both have brought me here.”

The same could be said of Cada’s career, which is obviously far from over.

For illustrative purposes only

Guest post by Robbie Strazynski.

The 2013 WSOP is running strong right now and they’re about one-third of the way through their 62-event schedule. Though there haven’t yet been any women bracelet winners, women have actually been performing just as well as, if not better than, their male counterparts – at least according to one measure: number of cashes.

Some of this year’s top women poker performers thus far include Vanessa Rousso and Xuan Liu, while the likes of bracelet winners Vanessa Selbst, Katja Thater, and Kathy Liebert, as well as top performers like Mario Ho and Liv Boeree are always threats to make deep runs in almost any event they enter.

As a matter of fact, according to a couple of recent Tweets by WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky,

Women outdoing men @wsop thus far! Cashing at 9% rate vs. events entered, better than men’s 8.9% rate. Thru 13 WSOP events.

— Seth Palansky (@SethPalansky) June 8, 2013

and

Women have cashed 71 times in 789 entries, while men are 1,744 times in 19,397 entries @wsop thru 13 events. #ladieseventJune28

— Seth Palansky (@SethPalansky) June 8, 2013

Who’s the Next Big Woman Poker Starlet?

One of the main storylines of last year’s WSOP Main Event were the performances of Elisabeth Hille and Gaelle Baumann, who bubbled the final table in 11th and 10th place, respectively. Previously unknown to the mainstream poker world outside of their home countries, both Hille and Baumann are now considered legitimate forces at the poker table.

Once can only wonder which women poker players we haven’t yet heard of who will top the charts this year. Perhaps they’ll replicate the efforts of previous breakout stars like Annette Obrestad, who memorably won a bracelet taking down the inaugural WSOP Europe back in 2007.

One Woman 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner is Almost Guaranteed

In just under 3 weeks’ time, on Friday June 28th, the WSOP will stage its annual Ladies event, which is practically guaranteed to have a winner who is a woman. That’s only “practically guaranteed” because there’s technically the chance that a man may actually enter the event. By law, men cannot be prevented from playing in any WSOP event, so organizers have made the buy-in a whopping $ 10,000 and offered women participants a $ 9,000 discount.

Time will tell if anyone has the bal… ahem, guts, to pony up $ 10K and try his hand against a field full of women.

With the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event less than a month a way I thought it’d be fun to take a trip down the memory lane of poker. In 1970 Benny Binion invited who he considered to be the world’s seven best poker players to his legendary Horseshoe casino in Las Vegas to determine which of them should be considered the greatest living poker player. The strange thing about the first WSOP championship was that it was awarded without a single hand of poker being played.

So The Story Goes…

All of the seven assembled players were simply asked by Benny to cast a vote on who they thought was the best poker player. Poker players naturally tend to believe they are the best and so the first ballot proved inconclusive as each man voted for himself. With a bit of head scratching later Benny decided the players should cast a new ballot. With each of the players asked to now vote for who they thought was the world’s second best poker player, so who won? That’s right Johnny Moss.

The Grand Old Man of Poker

Born in 1907, Johnny was introduced to poker as a teenager when he got a job observing poker games in a Dallas saloon. Johnny Moss probably had one of the strangest jobs you’ll ever hear of, he was actually employed to spot the cheats, however he used his time well to develop his own skills as a poker player. Shortly after Johnny hit the road becoming what’s known as a ’rounder’ and never looked back.

Have To Let You Go

Much of Johnny’s reputation prior to the advent of the WSOP is staked on a legendary high stakes poker game that he played with Nick ‘The Greek’ Dandalos in 1949. The marathon game lasted around five months during which time Johnny and ‘The Greek’ played their way through a wide range of poker games. Johnny took around an estimated $ 4 million before the ‘The Greek’ uttered the famous phrase, “Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.”

No Doubt

If anyone doubted Johnny’s abilities after the first WSOP title was awarded by ballot, those doubts were laid well to rest one year later in 1971 when Johnny won the first competitive WSOP Main Event where he beat ‘Puggy’ Pearson heads up. And he didnt stop there Johnny went on to win again in 1974 to become one of only two people to have won the Main Event three times. Can you name the other?

Here’s what you’ve all been waiting for,Episode 4 of the PartyPoker.com Premier League! and what a show this week! Watch the Second Heat of Group B with stars like Tobias Reinkemeier, Tony G, Igor Kurganov, Phil Laak, Dan Shak, Jason Mercier, Jennifer Tilly, Talal Shakerchi. You won’t believe how this one ends!

Don’t worry if you missed anything Episode 1 is here and Episode 2 is right here and Episode 3 is here. Now sit back as it’s time for Episode 4:

Episode 4 – Part 1

Phil Laak up to his mind tricks again…

Episode 4 – Part 2

Whats the joke Jason Mercier?

Episode 4 – Part 3

Tilly in deep thought…

Episode 4 – Part 4

Tobias Reinkemeier playing it cool…