Player News - PokerPlayer Grand Prix III
Freeroll 9 report
It's nine down with one to play and Freeroll 9 brought a win for tolekim
By Chris Marais - April 2007
Not long to go now, as the penultimate freeroll of the world famous Betfair Grand Prix III went down on Monday 23 April.
Winning a freeroll no longer provides enough points to make the top 50, so the name of the game at the moment is consolidation. Take the 5 points for playing, and pick up the extras wherever possible.
599 players sat down at 7pm to do battle. Only five of the PokerPlayer usual suspects made the starting line-up, with the others seemingly scattered around the globe: Barbados and Goa being colourful excuses.
The Mini-League top three, Colch-Kev, Shafty78 and darklord5, were joined by HillyFish and Dicey for Freeroll 9.There was a quiet start for darklord5, A-7 won a hand, on a 7 high flop, but from then on it was tough going. The likes of 7-4, 9-3, 4-7, 5-2 kept coming and going, before pocket Queens were folded to an Ace high board. That hand meant the stack dwindled to around the 1,000 mark, which then plunged even lower at the first break. 805 chips, 327th with 337 left in – was not very auspicious. 3-3 arrived after the break which was tempting, but darklord5 hung on, before pushing all-in with 6-6. The sixes were called by Hugo01 with Q-8, and yep, a Q and an 8 showed up on the flop. The turn was a blank before a miracle 6 came on the river for the double-up.
Then it was time for musical tables, being moved all over the shop, seemingly into the big blind on each occasion. A-J hit a J on the river, which bought a little more time, before darklord5 lost a pot to a disconnected player! When that happens, (darklord5’s A-K v 9-3), you kind of know that it’s not your night. So it was all-in with 1,000 or so chips, putting up 9-9 to slug it out with A-2. The Ace hit and it was goodnight Vienna in 157th.
Two PokerPlayers had departed earlier, HillyFish in 461st, and Dicey in 157th, both with hard luck stories.
HillyFish's first 3 hands were 10s, 8s, Aces with everyone folding round to the Aces. According to the scaly one: "A quiet spell followed, although thanks to Betfair's 'see folded hands' option, I realised I would have flopped 2 pair at least six times."
"I was then in the big blind with K-J, there was no raise, and with a flop of 2-6-J I made a pot-sized bet. I was reraised by Dr X UK, I put him all-in, and he instantly called with pocket 2s for a set."
Dicey felt particularly aggrieved when faced by an ‘interesting’ call: “MRBALL raised to 600 from the cut-off. On the button with A-K I push all-in for about 3,500.”
“MRBALL then ponders for some time. Obviously thinking about my bounty, he decides to call with his marginal A-9. Hitting his under card on the turn – the absolutely inevitable 9 - I take a tumble rather than bouncing into the top quarter of the field.” Congratulations to MRBALL then who swipes that bounty.
Special mention must be made of Paula S, who managed to knock out Mini-League leaders Colch-Kev and Shafty78. She also picks up double points for the Colch-Kev elimination. Shafty78 won the minor battle there though, finishing in 103rd to Colch-Kev’s 141st.
A big well played goes to tolekim who won the Freeroll, and also congratulations to everyone whose performances kept them sitting pretty on the leaderboard.
The final online freeroll tournament before the live final of Betfair Grand Prix III is scheduled for Sunday 23 April, and it’s a deep stack, double-point spectacular, with fireworks guaranteed. Don't miss it.
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Freeroll 8 report
It's eight down with two to play and Freeroll 8 brought a win for BaconKing
By Chris Marais - April 2007
The eighth Freeroll of the now legendary Betfair Grand Prix III was played on the evening of 9 April with 571 online poker players hunkering down for a shot at the big time.
Five of the PokerPlayer usual suspects made the starting gate, including the top three in the Mini-League, Colch-Kev, Shafty78 and darklord5; with Tallulah, Dudek and K_Unknown unable to make the caper.
With only three freerolls left to provide opportunities to make the Live Final, and the PokerPlayer Mini-League hotting up, it was tense stuff with no quarter given or taken.
Well it was if you had some decent cards. Darklord5’s stint in the tourney lasted an hour and a half. It was the usual story of nicking a few chips, dribbling a few chips.
3-3 made trips and a couple of Ace Jacks pulled in pots, but the key hand, holding Q-Q in the big blind saw every single other player fold. Typical.
‘Short stack in relation to the blinds’ time came around and an all-in push with K-8 in the small blind into the newcomer on the table, greenman88’s big blind, seemed like a good move. Unfortunately it wasn’t as he called with A-Q and flopped a Queen. Soundly beaten and out in 268th.
Darklord5 wasn’t the first PokerPlayer out though, that highly dubious honour fell to Dicey in 492nd, who struggled with his internet connection throughout his brief stay in the competition.From then on it was serious stuff for the PokerPlayer gang as the final three battled deep into the night.
HillyFish went first in a creditable 112nd, having been in the top fifty for most of the night, making plenty of moves and scooping big pots. The end came when his A-9 suited met KINGQUA4s’ Q-J. An Ace and a Queen on the flop got the chips in, a Jack on the turn ensured that Hilly’s oppo kept them.
Then it was down to Mini-League leaders Colch-Kev and Shafty78. Grand Prix II winner Colch-Kev departed first in 66th with two players, Sabbat and card camel, taking down the double bounty in a 4-way all-in split pot extravaganza.
So with just Shafty78 left, and the money and all important extra Mini-League points looming, we were set for a big finish. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be as he crashed out in 48th.
The end was nasty and best conveyed in Shafty78’s own words:
“I hit a set on the flop (3-5-7), and with no obvious straight or flush draws, checked to WinstonSLI who checked as well. The turn brought a blank (8), I bet 5000 – about half my stack (and a substantial amount of his), and the river came 10. I moved all-in and he called with J-9 off suit for a straight.”
“Not only had he called a big pre-flop raise with a very marginal hand, he then called a big bet on the turn with nothing more than a gutshot and got incredibly lucky on the river to make his straight. Fish.”
Congratulations go to BaconKing who won the tournament and an automatic seat in the Live Final, and also to all those that made the top 30 and those valuable extra leaderboard points.
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Freeroll 7 report
It's seven down three to play and Freeroll 7 brought a win for nikov
By Chris Marais March 2007
Things are gettting highly competitive between the usual suspects and going into Freeroll 7, it was clear that time and potential points are running out.
The same can be said of the leaderboard and those all-important top 32 spots that ensure qualification to the legendary live final.
679 runners convened for the delayed 8pm start, and it was tough going. Tight aggressive was the order of the day on darklord5's table, with any raise was massively re-raised. A bit of limping didn't work, so it was time to shut up shop.
First usual suspect to exit was Tallulah in 557th, who after winning the very first Freeroll of the Grand Prix is now slipping down the Mini-League.
Soon after it was Mini-League leader Colch-Kev in 539th who went out with Queens vs. A-K with his oppo's Ace hitting on the river. Next to go was HillyFish who arrived at the table suitably rested. "Had a siesta, set the alarm for 6:50 and sat down with a coffee to discover I was an hour early. Betfair seemingly oblivious to the concept of British Summertime."
"Spent early stages chatting to last year's Poker Player WSOP competition winner. Reraised jambo22 all-in with AK, was delighted to see him turn over KQ, less so when a Q came on the flop. Desperate all-in with QJ, got called by the same player with A8 - a brace of 8s on the board for a 498th place. Muck." Fair enough. Dudek and Dicey were next in 353rd and 329th respectively, with Dicey playing at the office and blaming his exit on the train timetables, "pulling a move with Q8s" - no excuse.
Shafty78 managed to hang on till 244th, despite battling a dodgy connection and not playing a hand for the first hour and a half.
Back on darklord5's table a lot of pre-flop play indicated that it wasn't worth getting involved without a strong holding and it wasn't until an hour of play that darklord5 was able to take down his first pot and double up with A-Q.
It really was a case of playing the waiting game, but there was plenty to watch while waiting, in particular a $23,000 pot which catapulted skatmand69 into the chip lead, flopping two pair with J-Q.
A glance at the leaderboard showed that only K_Unknown was left in, and so tournament survival was key.
With a dwindling chip stack, J-K flopped a King with a Jack on the river and a triple up meant 6,000 chips and what should have been a couple more hours play.
However with a pair of nines in the very next hand a big bet was called by 5-4 of diamonds which made a flush on the river. Crippled, but at least K_Unknown had just exited, after a nip and nuck battle for the Mini-League points.
It's still anyone's game in the PokerPlayer Mini-League, but it's getting tight on the main leaderboard, with a strong one-off tournament finish no longer enough to make a dent on the leaders. Consistency is key.
Congratulations to nikov who took down the tournament and the automatic live final seat after a hotly contested final table.
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Freeroll 6 report
We're past the half-way point now and Freeroll 6 brought a win for Matilda17
By Chris Marais March 2007
605 players turned out for Monday night's Freeroll 6 of Betfair Grand Prix III, and after the delights of the deep-stack last weekend it was back to the grind, 2,000 chips, quicker structure and chips flying all over the place.
Seven of the PokerPlayer gang turned up for business, with some creditable finishes. Four of the usual suspects cracked the 200 and two of those the top 100, with Colch-Kev just missing the money and a points finish in 34th.
It was a solid performance from the big man, who seems to have adapted his style to play deep with the bounty on his head, and after hitting the chip lead early in the tournament, held on to take maximum points for the PokerPlayer Mini-League, a competition he is now dominating.
The less said about darklord5's performance the better really. After some improving finishes and tactical battles, all that good work went out of the window, pushing all-in with Queens on an Ace high board against Zingbot's A-J. Half an hour's play and dumped out in 498th. Fish.
Next to go was K_Unknown in 345th. The gang's leader is, by his own admission, struggling to win a hand in the Grand Prix at the moment. The end came here when his pair of sixes went up against Leeds007's A-J suited which made a flush on the river.
Two PokerPlayers out and 2-0 to the A-J. Next was Tallulah, who's also struggling for a bit of form after winning Freeroll 1 and missing the deep-stack double-point special. She exited in 331st, despite having Kings four times in an hour and a half, when John Doe's K-Q outdrew her A-J on the river. 2-1 to the A-J.
There's a big jump here to the next elimination, so well played the PokerPlayers.
Dudek departed in 174th after refereeing a row on his table between DonkBuster and irmanator before Donk knocked his top pair, top kicker out with runner runner straight. Especially galling as DonkBuster had been laying into irmanator for a good 20 minutes after he had done exactly the same to him.
HillyFish went out in a creditable 149th, we don't have his bounty yet as he's still in bed (12.46pm), and it was over to the big guns.
Shafty78 took 56th place when he was knocked out by javier36. His oppo limped in, Shafty78 raised with A-J and javier38 thought about it and called.
The flop came 8-3-3, javier38 checked, Shafty78 pushed all-in and javier38 called having hit one of his only three outs with A-8. Ouch, and 2-2 for A-J.
So just Colch-Kev was left, but he was unable to capitalise and take it to a money and points finish. However, he extends his lead at the top of the PokerPlayer Mini-League with his 34th place finish.
Matilda17 wrapped up the win 5 hours and 6 minutes after the 7pm start, so congratulations to her/him on her/his automatic qualification to the live final.
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Freeroll 5 report
It was deep-stack time in Grand Prix III with double points up for grabs for bounties and money finishes
By Chris Marais March 2007
Freeroll 5 of Betfair Grand Prix III was PokerPlayer’s first ever online deep-stack tourney and a lot of fun it was too.Kicking of at the unfamiliar time of 4pm on Sunday afternoon, five of the PokerPlayer gang reported for duty, including head honcho, K_Unknown logging in from his hotel room in Goa.
The change in time confused a few people, the aquatic one, HillyFish included who “Sat down on Monday night with a brew to find that I'd finished 197th the day before”.
With 5,000 starting chips, a 20 minute clock, double points on offer, and the rest of the afternoon and evening stretched out in front of the 611 runners, it was time to play some serious poker.
For darklord5 it was a chance to play some steady ABC poker, with button raises with middling Aces winning chips here and there before trip Aces won a tidy pot.
Then some good fortune came darklord5’s way as his pocket Tens made a straight to bust pocket Kings, before A-K hit an Ace to crack another pair of cowboys. These two hands meant it was up to the heady heights of 16th place and 20K in chips.The stack then took a bit dent as spookily A-K lost out this time to tigran65’s K-K in a 25K pot. From the heady heights of 16th it was back down into the pack with 7K.
The slow structure meant it was tough to get properly short-stacked in the first couple of hours, and it was always possible to build back up.Then came a massive hand. All-in pre-flop with pocket Jacks and two callers darklord5 was dominated by K-K and in a race with A-Q. A Jack came on the flop to steady the nerves, but a King on the Turn meant he was behind again, before the miracle Jack arrived on the River. Quad Jacks to beat Kings Full and a Broadway straight! Massive hand, and a tasty triple-up. Thanks very much – gotta love the luck!
By this stage K_Unknown was already out first (with one eye on the cocktail and fireworks party going right off in his 5* beachfront hotel) in 377th.
Then it was Dicey in 290th after dropping most of his growing stack when trip Aces-King kicker ran into a Full house, and then finally departing with A-Q to Q-Q after crippling himself just a few hands before with A-Q (again) due to a loose J-Q call which spiked a J.
So with three PokerPlayers left in a field of around 150 it was time to assess tactics. Colch-Kev was well up the leaderboard, after briefly being chip leader, with darklord5 and Shafty78 bouncing around either side of the hundred mark.Darklord5 took the decision to hang in and monitor Shafty78 with all important leaderboard points up for grabs.
Rather than taking some risks and gathering chips at this critical stage of the tournament it was about maintaining tournament life, and when Shafty78 went in 124th, darklord5 followed shortly after in 90th, with 4-5 in the big blind, sensing weakness losing out to P3TER’s 6-7 in the small!
It was then left to Colch-Kev, to power on to a very impressive money finish in 22nd. Special mention must also me made of Hornet1 who managed a superb double bounty, accounting for both Dicey and Colch-Kev.
The final table wrapped up just before midnight after 7 hours 47 minutes of deep-stack fun and congratulations to moFace who beat scoob1888 in the heads-up to secure automatic qualification to the Live Final.With double points for the money finishes and bounties, the leaderboard will make interesting reading. Click here to see how you are doing.
Final table results:
1. moFace
2. scoob1888
3. Kicker1
4. roy keane
5. sbchief
6. tolekim
7. Granny
8. hodge02
9. Telepe
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Freeroll 4 report
An average night for the PokerPlayers, but a fierce battle is developing in the Mini-League
By Chris Marais February 2007
A field of 740 runners convened on Monday night 19 February, for Freeroll 4 of the world famous Betfair Grand Prix III. The highest placed PokerPlayer was 202nd, which wasn’t great, but a battle within a battle is unfolding.
The PokerPlayer Mini-League has shifted tactics among the PokerPlayers, the focus is very much on staying in the tournament longer than your rivals, regardless of field position.
At least that was the approach darklord5 took. Poor cards meant an ultra tight strategy, as the other PokerPlayers fell by the wayside, being called by all sorts of hands by eager bounty hunters.
The tournament progressed until Shafty78 and darklord5 were the last two PokerPlayers left in. Upon Shafty78 exiting in 212th, darklord5 announced to his table that ‘it’s time to play some cards’. Short-stacked, he pushed all-in with 9-9 and was called by CBPostie with Ace-rag, and Ace came on the river and darklord5 was out, one hand after changing tactics.
Congrats to CBPostie on the bounty, and all on that table for some great banter, including Colch-Kev railing.
Dicey went first this week, after his money finish last week, in 675th after his Queens ran in to Kings. Next was Tallulah in 537th, whose every bet was re-raised on an aggressive table, and then it was Dudek who fell with his Tens versus FISHING4U’s Aces.
Then it was HillyFish in 485th, who “slept for the first half hour (which was enough to put me ahead of Dacey). Then picked up some chips before needlessly crippling myself when I didn't believe a button raise and pushed all-in with K-10 suited. Unfortunately he had AJ suited, and from there it was a desperate all-in with J6 running into Toot81's QQ.”
Then K_Unknown bombed out in 415th and the aforementioned Colch-Kev in 342nd. Colch-Kev is happy to let us know that he “played like a kipper and despite a half decent start donked off most of my stack with top pair against runner-runner flush draw and finally succumbed with 5-6 diamonds against the A-Q of Ell-Ess-D”.
Congratulations to GreyStar who took the tournament down after a keenly contested final table, and similar congrats to all those that reached the final table who should now be shooting up the leaderboard.
Final table results:
1. GreyStar
2. 47 sooted
3. thehiggin
4. salarsen
5. thethommo
6. derbyred
7. bax111
8. stockster
9. CLAIRE AA
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Freeroll 3 report
By Chris Marais February 2007
Monday night saw a much better performance from the PokerPlayer gang, getting back on track, and in one case, back in the moolah.
PokerPlayer head-honcho K_Unknown was unfortunately absent, but the other seven wise guys had been pouring over the plan and were ready for it to go down.
738 players rocked up for action in the third freeroll of the world famous Betfair Grand Prix III. With leaderboard points on everyone’s mind players were eager to score more than the basic five points for competing.It meant that play was pretty solid to start off, with players settling into a well-paced structure.
On darklord5’s table there was some good, tight poker being played. Some positional play and pocket Tens then Big Slick meant darklord5 was able to get to the first break in pretty good shape.
From there a steady strategy continued to see the chip stack maintained, but with the no great gains. A key hand came when holding A-9 on a 9 high board. Facing an all-in raise, darklord5 felt he was ahead, but folded to preserve his tournament life.
That decision played on his mind which translated to chasing a few hands in error to become short-stacked, before finally succumbing in 344th when JARV1 took the bounty with a middling Ace vs. J-9h. Hmm.
He wasn’t the first PokerPlayer out though. That dubious honour fell to HillyFish who bombed in 624th. Next was Colch-Kev, who is not enjoying his bounty status, with a busted set in 603rd, and Dudek in 599th.
Star performer was Dicey who has got his game back together after a cash at the weekend in Slovenia, of all places. He ended up finishing in 13th place, while Shafty78 cracked the 200 to end up in 180th, when A-7 suited lost out to K-J (with the King obviously waiting until the river to spike). The end came for Dicey when he was getting fairly short stacked and pushed with Sevens. DonkBuster called with Tens which held up.
Dicey had earlier missed a chance to double up to one of the chip leaders when his AK met AJ only for the board to put down a straight flush in spades for a split pot.
It was a good return to form for Dicey, and it’s a result which sees him storm right back into contention on the PokerPlayer Mini-League. Check the PokerPlayer Mini-League to get an idea of how the banter is flowing in the office.
Before leaving work on Monday evening Dicey had said that he was going to play this one deadly serious as he needed to get some points on the board (he was last after missing the first freeroll and doing poorly in the second). And so he did, fair play.
Freeroll winner and automatic qualifier for the live final was billythfc, which would have cheered him up no end, and he would have desperately needed it, if his name is a reference to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. So congratulations to him and the other final table finishers.
Final results:
1. billythfc
2. sunnysun
3. grayzee6
4. anthannie
5. Zingbot
6. GolfTalent
7. lamuerte
8. Coach73
9. DonkBuster
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Freeroll 2 report
The PokerPlayers hang their heads in shame after a frankly embarrassing showing in the second freeroll
By Chris Marais January 2007
After the heady heights of Tallulah's win a fortnight ago, it was back down to earth with a crash on Monday night.
The job was badly botched by the PokerPlayer gang. It what can only be described as a dreadful performance, not a single member cracked the top 400, with five of the seven players playing flaming out in the first half an hour. Pitiful.
The overall performance was also not helped by Tallulah sitting Freeroll 2 out, perhaps in an attempt to liven up the PokerPlayer Mini League after taking first place and maximum points in Freeroll 1.
And so to business. First out was Dudek who spent all day yesterday telling anyone that would listen he was going ‘deep’. Well deep was 786th place out of a total of 864 players.
Next Dicey and Colch-Kev fell in quick succession in 772nd and 766th respectively. Dicey got his strategy all wrong, being called to the River on a bluff by an eager bounty hunter, while Colch-Kevwas on the wrong end of a Royal Flush early doors, to cripple his stack.
Next was Shafty78 in 677th followed by darklord5 in 597th. It was a tough night for darklord5, who played four hands and didn’t win a pot.
Being re-raised off pocket sevens early doors set the tone. He then found K-8 in the big blind, and with a King on the board was called all the way to the river by A-8 of diamonds, only for the oppo to hit a diamond to fill his flush on the River and take the pot down.
The poor cards continued, getting re-raised off 10-J suited, before a shortstack all-in push with A-Q came up against Bigger’s A-K and that was that.
That left HillyFish and head honcho K_Unknown to fight on. HillyFish went in 519th and K-Unknown was able to hold on for another hundred places or so to finally bomb out in in 406th. He departed to set over set, which is always tough, but will gladly take the Mini-League points.
Interestingly, players who registered but did not play finished far higher than any of the PokerPlayers, coming in at around the 300th mark. So a disastrous night all round for the PokerPlayers.
Automatic qualifaction to live final from Freeroll 2: mickandem
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Freeroll 1 report
What a start! PokerPlayer Tallulah beats 688 players to take down the first freeroll
By Chris Marais January 2007
First of all everyone at PokerPlayer would like to let everyone one of you that played last night know, it’s 1-0 to the PokerPlayer posse.
Oh yes, our very own Tallulah took down the first Betfair Grand Prix Freeroll last night, nailing first place and $280 in the process. However, the automatic live final qualifying spot will go to anfield18 who finished second. For a hardened criminal gang we’re nothing if not fair.
Seven of the usual supects lined up in a field of 689 runners on Monday night with leaderboard and prestigious PokerPlayer Mini-League points at stake.
The eighth wiseguy Dicey is in the Caribbean on ‘business’ but he was pre-registered, and so his chips went to someone, and we also managed to get his bounty winner. Congratulations to wpr1 who bagged that one – perhaps not the most difficult bounty to grab.
Two PokerPlayers went early. First was crimelord K_Unknown in a frankly embarassing 646th. A bona fide bad beat lay behind his exit though, as his full house, Fives full of Aces, got shot down by dwarfer1’s boat Aces full of Nines. Ouch.
Darklord5 followed swiftly after in 636th. After a cagey start, a great looking K-K appeared in the hole 20 minutes in, and were fast played. darklord5 managed to shake off one caller and sensed the remaining player, Spitvenom, was looking to race for the bounty points, flat calling the whole way.
The read was completely wrong however as Spitvenom’s T-8 flopped a set and made a full house by the River. Double ouch. darklord5’s play is improving but he’s not yet good enough to lay down the cowboys.
After those two hard luck stories the remaining Pokerplayers battled on to go deep. HillyFish and Dudek in particular played well to crack the top 200, while new boy and Grand Prix II winner Colch-Kev went one better to crack the top 100, finishing a creditable 80th.
All well and good so far, some solid, and some not so solid efforts, but Tallulah’s win has set Grand Prix III alight. Easily the highest finish ever from a PokerPlayer and a brilliant performance. She was never the chip leader, but always had a meaningful stack, picked her spots and quite frankly outplayed the final table.
Tallulah arrived at the final table with a stack just under 300k which was dented quite early on by riverruss. The key hand saw Tallulah in the small blind with A-7, with play folded round to her, she raised to about 18k. Riverruss in the big blind calls. Flop is A-10-4. Tallulah continues with a bet of about 30k, so see riverruss go all in for about another 30k. Tallulah calls, riverruss shows Q-T and rivers another T.
Despite that early setback Tallulah continued to knock players out, accounting for 3rdcat, thibeaus and riverruss before anfield18.
Heads-up kicked off after five and a half hours with Tallulah sat behind 769k against anfield18's 608k with the blinds at 15/30k.
Bring on the next one, and everyone’s chance for revenge!
