GSOP Results and Discussion

My own story and that of Team Betfair players from Event #1 and Event #2.

Mini-GSOP reports forthcoming

The eighth edition of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) kicked off on Sunday 26 February and already Betfair Poker players are absolutely destroying the series and winning ridiculous sums of cash! Even this humble scribbler is in profit, what on Earth is happening?!

GSOP Event #1: $190+$10 No Limit Hold'em Deepstack $500,000 Guaranteed

The first GSOP VIII event started at 2000 CET on Feb. 26 with the $190+$10 No Limit Hold'em Deepstack event that carried a massive $500,000 guarantee on it. I almost missed the start as I was travelling back from EPT Copenhagen but managed to get back home with mere minutes to spare. Even if I had missed the start it would not have been too bad because the structure was so amazing; 5,000 chips and 20-minute blinds.

The slow structure must have appealed to my donkish ways and I somehow managed to make it into the money places, eventually crashing in 370/2,419 for a more than welcome $282.20. The run could have possibly been even deeper but I made a bad push in the last hand where I three-bet jammed over an UTG raise for 15bb whilst holding AhJh and ran into AxKx but it was fun, if a little tiring!

It was not only little old me representing Team Betfair who made it to the money, there were 75 of my fellow Betfair Poker players who cashed so a massive congratulations to you all! Special mentions have to go to fellow Brit harwell2 and Romania's FIREZUCU who both finished in the top 20 places (19 and 15 respectively) but an even bigger shoutout has to go to richard5174 who eventually busted out in fifth place for a score of $18,510.20.

But he was not the best placed Betfair Poker player, no, that honour went to mar1ach1 who almost took down the first event but fell just short in second place. The German lost heads-up to pasikko but I'm sure the $49,049.64 he picked up for second place will help numb the pain a little! It has been quite the couple of months for mar1ach1 as he also finsihed second in the Jan. 23 Champion Chip $200,000 guaranteed for $24,462! Congratulations!

Event # 1 in numbers

Total entrants: 2,419
Total prize pool: $500,000
Total Team Betfair entrants: 417 (17.24% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 76
Total Team Betfair prize money: $112,457.23 (22.49% of prize pool)

GSOP Event #2: $50+$4 No Limit Hold'em Turbo Unlimited Rebuys $75,000 Guaranteed

If it was up to me I would not speak about my performance in Event #2 because the tournament we terribly. As my Betfair account balance was looking extremely sorry for itself I was forced to play in a rebuy tournament with just a single bullet, a far from ideal scenario.

I had managed to build my stack up to 2,985 and was laughing in the face of those who had rebought but they were to have the last laugh. The blinds were 25/50 and I was under the gun with a beautiful pair of black aces, the best kind I'll have you know. I raise four times the big blind hoping for some nutcase to come over the top of my donkey raise and the ploy worked as Linbeo three-bet to 1,000. Mission accomplished; or so I thought. The big blind, Betfair player Slayerpl then moved all in for 3,000 in total and I obviously shipped in the rest of my stack and the cards were flipped over.

Me: AcAs
Slayerpl: QdJd
Linbeo: KdKc

I had around 67% which is all fine and dandy until the bloody flop came down 8s-7c-Ks. Yeah thanks for that. The turn and river were the 2c and 4c respectively and the 9,010 chip pot was shipped to Linbeo. It would not have hurt as much if he had put them to good use but he didn't even cash.

So my "Pud won a GSOP" brag attempt ended in me finishing a very disappointing 815/895 but it could have been so much better. God bless tournament poker.

But these articles aren't just about me they are about my fellow Team Betfair players too and 23 of you did me proud by making it into the money places. Giro_413 was the first to pick up some moolah, $229.20 to be exact and this amount started to gradually increase right up until j_sideris of Greece's 18th place finish that saw him scoop $898.72 for his efforts.

But again his performance was not the bets of Team Betfair because we had two players on the final table! The player who sounds like the seagulls from Finding Nemo, MYMMYMMYM, almost took down Event #2 but he busted out in third place for a bankroll boosting $11,399.92.

Usually this would be enough to get the non-existant but still lucrative title of Team Betfair Player of the Tournament that I have just this second made up but not in this event because jumpjump99 of Denmark finished in second place for a cool $15,923.69. He narrowly missed out on glory when he was defeated by the_pean heads-up. Can Team Betfair Players please stop finishing second! A massive congratulations to everyone who made it into the money places, especially our final table members.

Event #2 in numbers

Total entrants: 895
Total prize pool: $134,000
Total Team Betfair entrants: 173 (19.33% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 23
Total Team Betfair prize money: $36,004.45 (26.87% of prize pool)

As you can see Team Betfair have been fast out of the blocks and have been tearing up the first couple of events. The running total so far is 590 entrants, 99 cashes and a massive $148,461.68 in prize money being won; that is 23.42% of the prize pools so far!

Keep up the good work boys and girls and hopefully we can write about more Team Betfair exploits in the coming days!

Any chance of posting the finishing times of each event so I know which ones I can safely enter?

any chance of updating the GSOP leaderboards in a consistant manner so we can look for ourselves how we are all doing ?

KeithA - just finding out the exact finish times but deepstack tourneys looked like they finished late. It was 1:45pm when our writer exited and there were still 200+ runners left.

Wow 1.45pm! That's one longgggggggg tourney!

My 0145 finish was the deepstack event with 1200 runners. However, I just checked when I busted out of the $108 rebuy that had 600 runners (I came 50th)and I busted out around 0040.

Some of the structures in these events are fantastic, which unfortunately means late finishes if you go deep.

Here's a write up of GSOP event #3 and the mini version where we have another winner!

GSOP Event #3: Can You Say Winner?

If you read yesterday's articles you will be aware that Team Betfair players have got off to an absolute flying start in the GSOP and mini-GSOP winning $148,461.68 and $7,257.26 respectively. After such an amazing start to proceedings surely the third event would be somewhat of a let down? Nope, not a chance. Betfair players continued to hoover up chips like they were the latest Dyson Vac! Want to know how they got on? Then keep reading.

GSOP Event #3: $100+$8 No Limit Holdem Rebuy $150,000 Guaranteed

Of the early events this was the one I was most apprehensive about because I could not realistically afford to rebuy, which in a rebuy tournament is quite detrimental to your chances of glory. My game plan was simple; play tight and solid and hope to find a spot to find some spots to double up.

The tournament looked like it was going to be a case of fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, shove, lose until something happened and I won a pot as a decent underdog. I had built my 2,500 starting stack to around 5,400 but lost a couple of pots in quick succession to drop me down to 3,395, and with blinds of 125/250/25a that is not ideal. Thankfully when I decided to open-shove from the small blind with Ks2s and the Jorizz in the big blind called with 10h10s the poker gods rewarded me by putting a king out on the turn to catapult me to 7,290 and give me some breathing room.

From here I could do no wrong and kept picking up chips until I won a massive pot that saw me soar amongst the chip leaders. Blinds were 150/300/30a and I opened from early position with KdKs, the action folded to the button who moved all in for 5,715. Not to worry because I am calling all day long. The then cho3535 in the small blind shoved for 6,569 and I am like WTF but obviously called anyway to be shown KcQc and AhQd respectively. A jack-high board won the hand for me and I was now armed with 21,259 chips! Oh yeah!

My stack peaked at around 39,000 and I was preparing myself for a five-figure score but then things started to go wrong and the blinds started to nip at my toes like overeager crabs and I needed to pick up chips again. I made loose call when the blinds had exploded to 1,250/2,500/250a when a player who had been moving all every hand shoved his 12,039 chips in and I called in the big blind getting just shy of 2:1. I turned over KsJh and lost to his Ad8c to leave me with 15,270. I doubled again three hands later, my three-bet shove with ace-jack being called by king-queen and hitting a jack, then came a massive hand that put me back in contention!

Finding KdKc UTG+1 I min-raised to 6,000, the next player raised to 25,000 leaving just 3,252 behind and the player next to him moved all-in for 39,980! I call, as does the initial raiser and they both turn over ace-queen! No ace, no ace no ace, came the pleas and there was no ace on the board by the river and I was now sat with 128,622 chips! Could the Pudding win a major? No, unfortunately not.

I lost 20 or so thousand chips before I made a move then went wrong. With blinds now 2,000/4,000/400a I opened to 8,000 from middle position with 6h6s. The cutoff, a  fellow Team Betfair player meredithp73 three-bet to 18,000. The action was back on me and I shoved for 85,047 but she snapped me off with AsKd. The 5h-4s-2c flop kept my heart pounding but the Ac turn meant I had to hit a three or six to stay alive. The river was the queen of diamonds and I bowed out in 50/600 for a career best score of $520.82. My executioner went on to finish in 16th place for $1,126.92, so congrats to him / her!

In total 19 Team Betfair players cashed in this event including snowpaw who narrowly missed out on a final table appearance. But one player who did make the final table form their home in Portugal was lorddogs33, who not only reached the final table but went the whole way and won the entire event for $28,934.30 and a $5,000 seat to the GSOP Grand Final! An amazing performance in such a difficult event and we wish lorddogs33 the very bets of luck in future GSOP events and the March 18 Grand Final.

Event #3 in numbers

Total entrants: 600
Total prize pool: $155,900
Total Team Betfair entrants: 102 (17.00% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 19
Total Team Betfair prize money: $41,994.33 (26.94% of prize pool)

Mini GSOP Event #3: $10+1 No Limit Hold'em Rebuy $30,000 Guaranteed

The mini-GSOP was only an $11 buy-in so even through my tight-fisted Yorkshireness (is that a word?) I was planning on rebuying if things did not go my way, but fortunately they did and I quickly found myself with 12,165 chips and was in pole position to go deep. I'd already chipped up to 8,015 when a big pot went my way when the hijack raised to 400 with blinds at 80/160 and the player to his left flat-called. I decided to set the price at 1,175 to play as I liked the look of my pocket tens but the initial raise liked their hand too because they came along for the ride. The 2h-4c-7s flop saw villain shove 2,335 into the 2,990 pot and I called to be shown AdJh. No drama on the turn or river and I was feeling good about my chances, that was until I donated my stack to clowde28pp, who then went on to finish in 61st place for $79.71.

In the hand the blinds were 125/250/25a and he raised to 650 in the hijack seat. I was on the button and three-bet to 1,525 with KsQs and he called. The flop came down 2d-9s-Qc and when villain checked I bet 2,675 into the 3,675 pot and villain called. Hmmmmm. The turn was the 5c and villain checked again. With just 6,330 chips left and the pot now 9,025 I moved all-in and villain instantly called and showed QhQd for top set and that was the end of me in a disappointing 735/1,261 and after the rebuy period.. Holy get it in with 0% equity Batman.

Thankfully 30 other Team Betfair players managed to make it into the money so the tournament wasn't a completely lost cause. Two hundred and 20 places were paid and juanhit of German finished in 220th to get the ball rolling. His fellow countryman Rand0mD0nk was the first Betfair player to crack the top 100p places whilst ggoba87 of Russia made it into the top 40.

For the first time this series we did not have a Team Betfair player on the final table, our best placed finisher was FoxRS of the Ukraine in 16th place. Onwards to the next tournament we go!

Mini Event #3 in numbers

Total entrants: 1,261
Total prize pool: $35,370
Total Team Betfair entrants: 197 (15.63% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM cashes: 30
Total Team Betfair prize money: $1,897.94 (3.37% of prize pool)

Another set of superb results from the boys and girls of Betfair Poker. In the GSOP Team Betfair have now cashed 118 times for total prize money of $190,456.01 whilst the mini GSOP gas seen 111 cashes and $9,155.20 in cashes! Keep it up everyone!

why does everyone at Betfair ignore my remarks  about the GSOP leaderboard? Is it because Betfair's managers are incompetent or is it because they don't care? It must be one of the two options..

Maybe they don't negotiate with terrorist dictators?

Especially ones who are supposed to be dead!


Disclaimer:  I know this isn't the real Colonel Ghaddafi and that the poster is not dead!

GSOP Event #4 write-up

GSOP and Mini_GSOP #4: Close But No Cigar

Event #4 of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) and mini-GSOP saw the focus switch back to a No Limit Hold'em freezeout with buy-ins of $162 and $22 respectively Would Team Betfair players continue to tear up the games as they had during the opening three events and could I achieve my goal of a four-figure score? The text below will reveal all.

GSOP Event #4: $150+$12 No Limit Hold'em Freeseout $125,000 Guaranteed

Event #4 switch back to a freezeout format which pleased me as I this is by far my strongest game and I was looking forward to another deep run in a GSOP event. Things didn't start as planned as I first ran into quads after I rivered two pair just three hands into proceedings!

Chill Evans opened to 60 from middle position and I smooth-called on the button with AcQc and it was heads-up to the 10h-6h-Ah flop. Villain bet 90 into 150 and I called. The turn was the 6s and villain bet 170 into 330 and again I called. The river was the Qh and villain checked to me and my spider sense was tingling and I checked behind to be shown 6d6c. Five minutes later I paid off a set of nines with my jacks on a board reading 9h-7c-3s-5h-8c but I still had 4,245 chips at the 15/30 level so not to worry.

Hardly anything happened at all until the 125/250/25a level apart from me slowly bleeding my stack away until I decided to GAMBOOOL in the big blind. The action folded to the pieleapulii in the small blind and he jammed his 8,828 chips in with what turned out to be JsTh. He's probably doing this with any two if he has half a brain and I decided to take the probable 40/60 or flip with my black fours. The flop came down 7c-7h-7d and my full house held and I now had 21 BB to play with.

My donkey ways lead me to double up again shortly afterwards when I put the tried and trusted technique of “if in doubt just shove” into practice. The action folded to me on the button and with my 14 big s I moved all in with red eights. 1Srslyfu was the big blind and he called off his 5,630 stack with As9c and when the board ran out Qh-8s-Jd-6c-5s I was up to 8,670.

I even managed to break through the 10,000 barrier but pocket tens once again let me down and sent me for an early batch. I found ThTs in the big blind with blinds 300/600/60a and when the hijack raised to 1,500 and the button called there was only one thing to do and that was move all-in for my 10,060 chips, which is exactly what I did. My move received absolutely no respect and both players called showing 8c8d and AdQd respectively, probably the best I could have hoped for when called in two spots I suppose. The board ran out 5c-3d-2h-6d.....Jd, fkjndsjknjlknjkxbkj! That was for just shy of 50,000 chips so instead of battlign it out FTW I had busted in 264/977. Oh well, that's poker as the annoying people say to others when they have just busted out of a tournament!

At least I didn't crash in burn in 143rd like Betfair player Rudocop just three spots shy of the money. Unlucky son. In total 24 of Team Betfair made it into the money places each picking up between $242.87 and $952.32 for their efforts, that last amount going to 586527 of Mexico for their 16th place finish. What am I saying, there was a bigger score than that because 69.com from the UK progressed to the final table where they eventually busted out in fourth place for a bumper pay day of $8,947.94! Not bad work if you can get it! Congrats to everyone who made it to the money and to 69.com better luck next time, but still a valiant effort!

Event #4 in numbers

Total entrants: 977
Total prize pool: $146,550
Total Team Betfair entrants: 184 (18.83% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 24
Total Team Betfair prize money: $18,731.87 (12.78% of prize pool)

Mini-GSOP Event #4: $20+$2 No Limit Hold'em $20,000 Guaranteed

Event #4 of the mini-GSOP saw a massive field of 1,350 player take to the virtual felt, all playing for second position behind yours truly and that would possibly have been true had pocket tens once again let me down. What used to be one of my favourite hands in Hold'em has rapidly slid down the slippery slide of hatred; you will see why shortly.

I treaded water right up to the 125/250/25a level until I found myself in the small blind with pocket eights facing a min-raise from the button. Guess what I did? That's correct, SHOVE! Button called with JhTs and when the five community cards ran out jack and ten-less I was back to around 20 big blinds, something that seems quite common lately!

The next level I opened to 650 from UTG with AcQh and after two players folded Dedulja22 moved all in for 5,537. I called and was behind to jacks but an ace on the flop and a queen on the river soon sorted that out!

My stack dwindled again and by the time the final hand took place I was down to 6,858 at the 250/500/50a level. The action passed around to hsulfstun in late position and he opened to a ridiculous 1,750, yeah really, and I moved in on him from the button with TdTd. He called with TcTs and we split the pot. Oh no we didn't, sorry if my brain tried to blank out the fact that the board ran out 8h-8c-Ac-Kc-4c gifting villain the flush! You have to love poker sometimes! It softens the blow a tad that hsulfstun is both a fellow Brit and Team Betfair player who then went on to cash in 167th place whilst I busted in 415/1,350 around 200 places short of the money.

My executioner was one of 49 Betfair players who cashed and this was one of our best tournaments for deep runs. We had 30 players reach the top 10% of the tournament and 11 of those made it through to the top 50 places. Give a big round of applause to tupoeelbo of Russia who was the final table's bubble boy and if you clapped for him then jump up and down and stamp your feet for the sixth place finisher humbug1969 who picked up $830.55.

But you need to save your biggest and best cheer for Alendel0n7 from Russia who fell just short of victory, eventually being eliminated in third place for a cool $2,054.76, pretty good going for an initial $22 outlay.

Mini Event #4 in numbers

Total entrants: 1,350
Total prize pool: $27,000
Total Team Betfair entrants: 216 (16% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 49
Total Team Betfair prize money: $5,743.81 (21.27% of prize pool)

So another three final table appearances by the Betfair heroes, at this rate next year's GSOP will be called the Betfair Series of Poker (BSOP)! Running totals for the series up to and including Event #4 are 142 cashes for $209,187.88 in the GSOP and 160 cashes for $14,899.01 in the mini-GSOP. Give yourselves a pat on the back!

Join Betfair Poker Now

So whats the estimated finish time for tomorrows then?

Happy with Yorky Pud's write-ups here. Been really busy at work - looking forward to playing over the weekend and also Monday morning.

Total prize money won by Betfair players up to and including Event #6 is rapidly approaching $275k, nice swan!

Team Betfair Crush Event #6: Almost A Double Win!

If you are in the camp that thinks Pot Limit Omaha is a game that is completely crazy with chips flying around like a swarm of angry bees who are trying to get their honey back then God only knows what you must have thought about Event #6 of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) because it was nuts. Want to know more? Of course you do.

Event #6: $50+$4 No Limit Hold'em Short-Handed Rebuys$100,000 Guaranteed

I was quite looking forward to Event #6 because I thought it would have quite a few satellite players in it because people would think the short-handed format would play exactly like in a cash game, so they would be making plenty of mistakes and what do mistakes make boys and girls? That's right, prizes!

My own tournament was not going exactly to plan and I had dwindled down to 1,940 chips by the time the blinds reached 60/120 but that was all set to change. The player under the gun opened to 480 and I had noticed they had folded to most three bets so I was basically going to ship it in on them and pick up the pot but DeStruCti0n spoiled the party and three-bet to 1,250. They'd been three-betting a lot so I jammed anyway for 1,940 in total, the UTG player folded but the other villain called with AdKc and I won a flip for once, despite the flop coming down 5s-4d-2c. This put me to 4,600 and gave me much more breathing room; no only if I cold catch some cards.

A few medium sized pots went my way then a few went the other way but I did find myself at 8,280 at the 80/160 level and feeling really good about my chances of going really deep in this event. I skilfully reduced my stack to 6,625 to give the others a chance of winning and then fooled them all by doubling up when everyone folded to me in the small blind at 100/200 and I made it 500 to play. IMOBI in the bib blind then shoved which I thought made no sense at all so I called them and was shown Ah2s. The flopped a two but a mighty queen paid me a visit on the turn and I now had 13,450 and was obviously running OK again.

The Pudding peaked at around 18,200 before falling back to 10,000 before rebounding with AsAd versus anelfegi's QhQc to sit behind 21,422 virtual ceramic discs. A few hands later I picked up kings and managed to get paid so I had almost 29,000 chips at 300/600/60a. But it all went horribly wrong shortly afterwards at 400/800/80a when I made it 1,600 with KhTc from the cutoff and the big blind called. The 8s-Kc-Jc board saw the BB check, me bet 2,400 and the Bbclick it back to 4,800. I thought he was full of it and shoved for an additional 12,952 and he snapped me off with KdQd, which held and I busted in 159/865 with 120 spots paid! My shove is probably a lot fishy to be honest but in my defence I had folded to three-bets pre and once to a player who had raised my c-bet all within the last two orbits. I went with my gut and despite its huge size it was wrong. Had I been correct this may have been a brag article!

If I was pretty gutted about falling just short than I need to get a grip because poor Team Betfair player SpiritRz of Bulgaria came 124th but Expekter123 of German managed to scrape into the cash by busting in 119th! In total 21 Betfair players cashed but more importantly four of them made it to the last two tables, three of those made it to the final table and one, Hentschit_ only went all the way and won the sixth event!

Hentschit_ aside, the three who went super deep with him were Varnatraderx of Bulgaria in eighth, mar1ach1 from Germany in sixth, 586527 of Mexico in fifth! Each of them picked up between $2,594.60 and $5,548.36 for their efforts whilst our very own champion picked up a bankroll boosting $20,370.79. A massive congratulations from everyone at Betfair.

Event #6 in numbers

Total entrants: 865
Total prize money: $119,650
Total Team Betfair entrants: 144 (16.65% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 21
Total Team Betfair prize money: $39,212.68 (32.77% of total prize pool)

Mini GSOP Event #6: $5+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Short-Handed Rebuys $20,000 Guaranteed

This tournament attracted a bumper crowd of 1,561 fishes and me, making it 1,562 and like the $54 version I was feeling in confident mood, a mood that soon turned sour when I had to rebuy! The chips went flying in on a 6d-Qh-8c-9c board with yours truly holding 7h5d for the second nut straight and Ninikis7 6c6h for bottom set, which turned into a boat when the 8d landed on the river. Chips please.

This stack turned out to be much luckier than its predecessor because they helped me win a couple of decent sized pots almost straight away. With blinds 60/120 L.P.BERIY opened to 287 in the hijack, villain from my bust out hand called on the button and I called with As7s in the big blind. The flop came down 9s-Ac-Ks, I checked, hijack bet 420, button called and I played it fast and raised to 2,280 and surprisingly both folded. The very next hand I won another 4,800 pot when I found AdKs on a 2s-Kh-7h  flop against Kd-Js. Nice when it goes your way.

From there though the lucky chips were donated to someone else and I simply could not do anything ritght at all so by the time the blinds were 200/400/40a it was time to bring out the magical ace-nine offsuit. The UTG player min-raised to 800 and I three-bet all in for 6,156 from the button with Ah9c. Once again I ran into a huge hand in AsKh and he called but little did he know the board would run out 4c-5d-Qc-2c-9h, bink, and I was back in the hunt again!

Again my stack dwindled and again the magical 9h came to my rescue, what a card! Sat with 7,786 on the button at the 300/600/60a level I open-shoved with Td9s and the small blind called with AdKh, does he not know of the magic number nine? Obviously not! The board ran out 2c-Qs-4d-3h-9h and I climbed back to 16,532! Easy game. Then things really took a turn for the better, again against Big Slick.

The small blind made it 1,500 to play and I three-bet to 4,500 with my queens. Villain shoved for 46,304 and I called. I was rewarded with a 6h-Qh-Kc flop, a 9h turn (which locked up the hand) and a Jh river. Thanks for the 25,000 stack.

By this time we were into the money places but there were very flat and little difference between cashing and making it to the final table so it was time to play looser and pick up chips for a charge up the table. Unfortunately that charge didn't last very long as my luck finally ran out. APSA1 min-raised to 2,400 from the cutoff and I decided to re-steal for my 22,890 stack with KcJs from the button but once again I ran into a big hand, this time AcQc, and villain called. The Qh-3s-8s-2c-9d board was no help to me and 222/1,562 was all mine. I've since checked my exit hand and it was a definitely resteal based on the fact I reckoned he'd fold 60% of the time but a fold he he only lets his hand go 50% of the time, so pretty close.

Like its $54 buy-in cousin this event saw a number of Team Betfair players go deep with 37 players cashing, eight making it to the final 10 tables, three of those making it to the final three tables and one, RiblStrike of Russia, falling just short of th evictory finishing in third spot. How amazing would it have been if RiblStrike had won this tournament after Hentschit_ had won the bigger GSOP.

Mini Event #6 in numbers

Total entrants: 1,562
Total prize money: $22,975
Total Team Betfair entrants: 219 (14.02% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 37
Total Team Betfair prize money: $$3,214.64 (13.99% of total prize pool)

Once again a fantastic effort from all the Team Betfair players who have now cashed a total of 170 times for $251,150.81 in the GSOP and cashed 202 times for $18,278.55 in the mini-GSOP. Quite frankly brilliant!

GSOP Event #7: Team Betfair Take Down Mini Event!

The Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) switched back to four holecards for Event #7 though this time it was a pure Pot Limit Omaha Hi freezeout, something that was right up my street if I am honest. The “big” GSOP was the largest buy-in PLO tournament I had played in but in for a penny in for a pound I say and the buy-in didn't faze me one iota.

GSOP Event #7: $190+$10 Pot Limit Omaha $50,000 Guaranteed

If ever a non-professional poker player is going to bink himself, or herself a relatively large online poker tournament then it will probably be in Pot Limit Omaha where the variance is so mental that event the most horrific players can run deep in dozens of events, so I was quietly confident of success in this event!

Many non-Omaha playing poker peeps think that PLO is a game of coinflips and whilst that can be the case sometimes they fail to realise that full ring PLO is basically a game of folding and hoping to pick up something that resembles a playable hand. Something appears to have gone wrong with my tracking database and it has only kept a record of my first 125 hands before simply disappearing and not logging anything so I am kind of stuck now as during those 125 hands the largest pot I won was 12 big blinds profit, wowzers!

I can tell you that the last hand it tracked I had a stack of 6,478 and the blinds were 400/800 so I was in pretty good shape. I can also recall, from memory not my seemingly broken database that I get the last of my chips in with Qd-Jd-Ts-9s and lost to a bare pair of aces to bust me out in 86/364 with 60 places paid. I can also tell you that if I ever get a hand to hold up near the bubble I will win one of these babies!

If I found my 86th place frustrating though imagine how bad octoboy1 and PulloHaikara felt busting out in 66th and 63rd respectively, cruel game this sometimes I can tell you. Good effort boys. In total 76 Team Betfair players entered and only 13 of them managed to make it to the money places. Ilwvxll of Spain was the first Betfair player to be paid, picking up $279.68 for his 52nd place finish and the money gradually increased to the $820.77 IfeelURFear of Russia was eliminated in 12th spot. But a special mention has to go to the top Betfair performer Finland's Khamoon who made it to the final table before bowing out in eighth place, good for a bankroll boosting $1,694.51.

Event #7 in numbers

Total entrants: 364
Total prize pool: $69,160
Total Team Betfair entrants: 76 (20.88% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 13
Total Team Betfair prize money: $6,344.81 (9.17% of prize pool)

Mini-GSOP Event #7: $20+$2 Pot Limit Omaha $10,000 Guaranteed

Like in the big Event #7 tournament my tracking software seems to have decided to stop importing hands after hand 134 of mini-GSOP event #7 which is immensely frustrating to say the least, especially as I was uber-close to making it to the money places once again.

Things did not get off to the bets of starts because during the 25/50 blind level I managed to donate most of my stack to AALH77 which certainly was not the plan at all. Danilking opened to 125 from UTG+1 and the action folded to AALH77 in the small blind who three-bet to 425. I have Jc-Td-9c-8d in the big blind and I am ready to gambooool so stick in a four-bet to 1,400. Danilking mucks but AALH77 shoves for 3,840. Oh, suited aces huh? Erm, no. 6s-4d-3c-2s actually, seriously WTF dude? Anyway, the board runs out Ah-3h-3s-4c-Qs to reward my new friend's stupidity and I am left nursing 955 chips. Marvellous.

I manage to more than double my 855 chips in the 50/100 level when my As-Qh-5h-3s wins against Ah-Kc-9s-2s then the following level I get massively lucky with Ts-Tc-8h-7h against 6c-6c-5h-3c when I bet all three streets of a 9d-2s-9c-5d-9s board to climb to 7,580.

The next hour or so was spent folding and what happened then is down to your own imagination because my tracking software died. What I do know is I busted in 105/657 just 15 spots from the money and it will have almost certainly been a result of me getting my chips in as a 70% favourite and losing to some bloody ridiculous holding. I feel like Helluth here, if it wasn't for luck.....

Thankfully I can take solace in the fact 19 of my Betfair brothers and sister did make it into the top 90 places though UnexpectedV only just made it, a 90th place finish worth $34.66 for them. They were joined on the virtual sidelines by the likes of PapAmericano who has, like yours truly, been going deep in a number of GSOP events, UK player surrender and Evey88. The latter busted out in 11th spot for $147.30 narrowly missing out on a final table appearance.

RR-T0T0Nr1, which looks like the chemical formula for run good, did make it to the final table before dusting off their stack to finish in a very respectable sixth place for a more than welcome $475.31 payout. But it was the aptly named n1cELiFe.DK who receives all the accolades and the $2,351.81 first place prize. That's right, we have another Team Betfair winner! A massive congratulations to nIcELiFe.DK on their win and a big round of applause to all of you who made it into the money places.

I'll just have to win Event #8 I guess.

Mini Event #7 in numbers

Total entrants: 657
Total prize pool: $13,140
Total Team Betfair entrants: 109 (16.59% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 19
Total Team Betfair prize money: $3,836.41 (29.20% of prize pool)

Another fine set of performances by Team Betfair players who have now cashed 183 times for $257,495.62 in the main GSOP and 221 for $22,114.96 in the Mini-GSOP. Hopefully my tracking software will hold up in the future events so I have more hands to write up and fingers crossed another cash or even a win makes its way to me shortly!

Join Betfair Poker Now, the bets place to play the GSOP!

Another Betfair players wins a GSOP!

GSOP Event #8: Another Win For Team Betfair -- Combined Winnings Pass $300k Point

Another day another fantastic Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) and mini-GSOP event. Event #8 of 18 saw 342 Team Betfair players take to the felt to play in the $108 and $11 Short-Handed No Limit Hold'em tournaments. How did they get on? The clue was in the title but continue reading anyway!

GSOP Event #8: $100+$8 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max $75,000 Guaranteed

For the first time in eight events I actually managed to get off to a relatively decent start in this GSOP event, although I hardly played a hand until the 25/50 level. That's a lie I actually played quite a few but all I seemed to be able to do was pick up 50 chips here and there to stay ahead of the blinds.

Right at the start of the 25/50 level I was armed with a stack of 4,875 and was dealt AdKh in the small blind and was primed and ready for some action. It came when the player UTG+1 open-limped then called when I bumped it up to 175. The As-h-8s  flop was greeted by a 265 bet from me and an immediate call from villain. I decided to check the turn, which was the 5h, and I saw villain bet 475 into the 930 pot so I called. The river was the Ac and I checked again almost 100% sure villain would take another stab at the pot and I was correct as he bet 1,400 and I called. Maybe I should have just shoved the rest in but I do not see what is going to call me in that spot that I beat. Villain mucked Ts9s in case you were interested.

I lost 905 chips with kings when I was forced to fold the river of a board that was wetter than an otter's pocket then for the next hour or so it was a case of two steps forward and then two steps back. I'd win 240-300 chips then lose them a few hands later, quite frustrating to say the least but it was still relatively early days as the blinds had just reached 100/200 and there weren't any antes in play yet.

During the middle of the 100/200 level I picked up Kd10d in the cutoff and min-raised to 400, a raise that only zzz123zzz called from the big blind. The flop came down 7d-10s-Kc which I'm sure you'll agree was a pretty tasty flop for my hand so when villain checked to me I bet 560 into 900, probably should have been more but whatever, and he called. The turn was the 7c and when villain checked I checked behind hoping he bluffed the river, which was the Jc, completing a number of unlikely draws. Villain then fired a bet of 1,350 and I quickly called only to be shown As7s for trips. Nice catch sir.

Then came my exit hand around 20 hands later and entirely my own fault. Blinds were now 100/200/20a and I saw kaseo open from UTG+1 to 500 but did not see ikar.gr also call on the button. So my raise to 1,600 with JcJs was quite pathetic in the circumstances. The initial raiser folded but ikar.gr came along for the ride, much to my surprise as I though there was only kaseo and myself in the hand. Oops. The first three cards came out 6s-2h-Kh and I thought why not try represent ace-king and shove my 3,441 chips into the 3,920 pot which might not have been such a bad idea had the KsQs not been in villain's hand! The 8d turn and 2s river were no help at all and I bowed out 442/940 quite angry with myself.

My exit was miles away from the money places but mpookis' exit was not because they finished in 140th place with 140 paid, a real skin-of-their-teeth affair there. Mpookis was joined on the rail over the next couple of hours by a whole host of Team Betfair players right up to fergie28 who busted out in eighth place for a cool $1,945 straight, narrowly missing out on a final table appearance. Nazenit was one of two Team Betfair players on the final table the Russian being eliminated in fourth place for $5,626.05. Amazingly nazenit had won a ticket worth $108 on March 1 and used it to win over $5,600!

Although naenit's performance was superb it was outdone by a player who is no stranger to the tournament tables on Betfair Poker, Belarus' FINISHzFISH who went all the way and took down Event #8 for a massive payday of $15,270.69! To make his win all the more special FINISHzFISH also finished fourth in the $018 buy-in $10,000 guaranteed on the same night for an additional $1,288! What a night! He is currently ranked 152nd in the world for online tournament play on PocketFives and this latest win will certainly boost his position.

Event #8 in numbers

Total entrants: 940
Total prize pool: $94,000
Total Team Betfair entrants: 173 (18.40% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 23
Total Team Betfair prize money: $27,561.19 (29.32% of prize pool)

Mini-GSOP Event #8: $10+$1 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max $10,000 Guaranteed

Mini-GSOP Event #8 was one I was particularly looking forward to based on the fact it is more my buy-in level and I felt like a good, deep run was on the cards. Surely the poker gods owed me a solid finish for once and let me run good? Obviously not.

About half hour in I seemed to lose the ability to concentrate and also to play any form of poker, not good when you are in a tournament! I'd already dusted off 700 chips by the 25/50 level when I thought it would be a great idea to gift 1,300 chips to someone else. From the cutoff I opened to 125 and the big blind called me. The 4h-2h-5s flop saw me begging for an ace in case my new charity case had called with a weak one and when he checked to me I made it 150 to play. But villain spoiled the party and check-raised to 450, that wasn't in the plan. A little perplexed I called and then called a 725 bet upon the arrival of the Js on the turn. I'm such a fish. The Jc river saw villain bet 1,485 and me get out of the way. Well played Pudding you donk.

I managed to double up to 5,940 when my tens cracked aces in a battle of the blinds, kind of serves villain right for slow playing preflop to be honest. Once I flopped the set I went into check call mode and get nicely paid off. KERCHING! From there though it was a battle to keep around my starting stack, that was until another double up came along.

With blinds of 100/200/20a I open-limped in the small blind with AcAh simply because the big blind was a nutcase and was likely to raise everything he held. Sure as eggs are eggs he made it 750 to play so I went for the old “limp-reraise surely he can't have AA trick” and villain fell for it as he shoved for 5,162 in total. SNAPCALL to be shown AdJd. No drama amongst the five community cards and suddenly I was up to 9,560, nice.

It would have been nice had I not busted out shortly afterwards after two successive hands. The first saw me min-raise to 500 with AsTc and Usch58 call in the big blind. A flop reading Kh-Ks-7c was checked by us both but villain came out firing on a 10d turn. I called and then tank-folded to his overbet on the 6s river. He was courteous, or illy enough, to show me KdQs and I was back down to 7,098.

The very next hand I showed my tournament inexperience in my exit hand. I opened from UTG to 625 and both the button and big blind called. The flop came down 6c-Ah-3d and after the big blind had checked I bet 1,375 into the 2,150 pot. The button, yeahback, then shoved for 22,040 and 88jason88 called off his 3,938 stack. WTF. I'm probably beaten here always but I ended up clicking the call button to be shown As3s and Ac3c, seriously. I still had 29% equity somehow but none of it materialised on the turn or river and I was eliminated in 477/1,271, far from ideal.

Thankfully 32 fellow Betfair Poker players managed to make it into the money places but sadly we dod not have a winner or even a player at the final table but we did have a player on the final two tables, snowpaw of the UK who exited in 12th place for $118.46 in prize money.

So another profitable night at the virtual felt for Betfair Poker peeps who have now made it to the money 206 times in the GSOP winning $285,056.81 and 253 times in the mini-GSOP for a further $22,881.16. A big pat on the back to you all!

Join Betfair Poker Now.

GSOP Event #9: So Full Of Win!

One of my favourite poker tournament formats is one played to No Limit Hold'em rules with a deep stacked structure and has tons of money money in the prizepool so surely Event #9 of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) should have been right up my street. Well it was but it did not go exactly how I planned to.

GSOP Event #9: $190+$10 No Limit Hold'em Deepstack $400,000 Guaranteed

If ever an online tournament had my name on it then it was this one. $65,000 up top would have been the perfect amount for me to significantly boost my bankroll, treat the family to a holiday of a lifetime and purchase a new motor. Instead I picked up some Player Points, a little bit of experience and approximately $3 in valueback; hardly the same is it?

My tournament started off slowly with it taking 34 hands to pick up my first pair, fives, and a further five to pick up an ace with a kicker higher than a three. If only 8c5c was a premium hand. The first pot of note that went my way saw me call a UTG+1 raise to 125 (blinds 25/50) whilst in the cutoff holding Jh10h. The flop came down a rather draw heavy 7s-8c-Jc and I called villain's 175 continuation bet. The turn was the 10c and we both checked but the river was the 10d and when villain checked I bet 335 into 675 and he quickly called then mucked when shown my full house. That was the only action I saw until the 80/160 level but when it came it was certainly worth the waiting.

I picked up AdAc UTG+1 so obviously I came out raising, making it 320 to play. It looked like I was about to pick up the blind when the button three-bet to 909. He didn't seem like a complete monkey so he probably had a decent hand, a hand that he would possibly call a four-bet to 2,315 with! Except he didn't call, no, he shoved for 9,967 and I snap-called off my remaining 2,524 chips and was shown KhKs. The flop was a perfect Ah-3h-3s and it is a good job I flopped a boat because the turn and river were both hearts and I would have lost in cruel circumstances but as it were I was now armed with 9,918 chippies. Nom nom nom.

A few hands later and I attempted to steal with queen-seven but met some resistance from the blinds. My cause was helped though by flopping a queen and hitting a seven on the river to add another 2,000 or so chips to my stack but as they say “easy come easy go” I lost a huge pot as a 96% favourite, which is pretty standard for me. I picked up aces again and min-raised to 320 and to my delight the player to my immediate left three-bet to 800. With the action back on me I four-bet to 2,240 and villain now called. The 5c-9h-Ac flop was pretty damn good and with the pot being 4,720 and villain only having 3,550 left I just shoved and he snap called with AhQh! Result! Pass the sugar. Ship it. BOOM! But just as I was about to virtually stack my 18,000 pot the turn came the 2h and the river the Jh to send the lovely stack of multicoloured pixels to the horrendous fish, who never made it to the money by the way.

Unfortunately neither did I and it was pocket aces again that almost killed me off. The blinds were now 100/200 and I was in the big blind with AcAh. The cutoff open-limped, yes open-limped in a a $200 buy-in tournament, the small blind completed and I raised to 700. Both villains called and we shared a 7d-10d-Jh flop. Not the kind of flop to slow play so when the small blind checked I bet but mistakenly bet just 800 into the 1,600 pot and the limper called but the small blind folded. The turn was the Kd and I should have just bet because I was intended to call his inevitable shove as he only had 2,990 chips and the pot was 3,200. He shoved, I called and eh showed me KsJs. FML. River was the six of clubs and I was left with just 878 chips.

These went into the middle two hands later with my Qs10s only to run into As10d, neither of us caught any of the flop but his ace-kicker came into play and I was sent tot he rail in 1,288/2,160, around four hours earlier than I had planned.

Thankfully Team Betfair players chose this event to absolutely kill it! We had a total of 64 pf our men and women make it into the money places, each one winning a minimum of $279.88 but Betfair players aren't happy with min-cashes so it was no surprise to see no fewer than 19 of them in the top 100 places. By this stage they had all locked up $626.10 and the money was starting to get serious, even more so by the time IvanDimidov and weigolio busted out in 35th and 34th respectively because they were all now walking away with over $1,300 but the best was yet to come because not only did we have two players on the final table we actually finished in Event #9 in second and third place for a combined score of more than $70,000!

MacStokir of Poland was the third place finisher netting himself $29,309.04 and ZOMGMCBACON fell just short of victory coming second for $40,720.35. Amazing performances all round but especially from these two players. Over $70,000 in prize money for $400 outlaw, I'd take that every day of the week!

Event #9 in numbers

Total entrants: 2,160
Total prize pool: $410,400
Total Team Betfair entrants: 379 (17.55% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 64
Total Team Betfair prizes: $103,492.39 (25.22% of prize pool)

Mini GSOP Event #9: $20+$2 No Limit Hold'em Deepstack $30,000 Guaranteed

Another GSOP, another set of bad beats and another cashless finish for yours truly; this is starting to get on my nerves! As early as the 25/50 level I was struggling for chips after getting my money in with a full house  but it was not meant to be. Shu11er77 open-limped from under the gun and the aptly named svanedonk raised to 200 from the cutoff. I was on the button with QhQs and I raised to 540 and when the initial limper called he screamed a big hand but he didn't raise so I though he probably had ace-king or something like that, maybe kings but meh. Donk called and the flop came down As-Qd-Qc. Both players checked to me and I bet 1,100 into 1,695 only to see the UTG player shove for 3,090 in total then donk shove for 3,600! Surely they haven't got AA and AQ? Nope, UTG held AdKs and donk boy AhJc. The 4d on the turn meant I was about to scoop the 11,985 pot but the Kc river put paid to those plans and I was down to 2,655 chips.

Although not really short-stacked I was not in a position that I had hoped but that was about to change during the 40/80 level wasn't it, especially as I had just picked up KhKc and saw some ridiculous action in front of me. The dude with the ace-king a few hands ago open-limped the player to his immediate left raised to 200, the player to his left called as did the button! Seriously! The small blind then moved all in for 2,255 chips and I instantly re-shoved. Everyone else then folded and I was up against AcQs. The 3c-2s-10d flop was superb but the Ad turn was beyond horrid and when the 10h landed on the river my stack had been decimated and I was sat behind just 480 chips. These were shoved in with queen-jack a few hands later and I busted in 1,545 when I was called by both ace-ten and ace-three and nobody caught any of the board. GG me. Maybe I should start folding AA and KK preflop from now on!

Whilst I was busy texting my poker playing friends with my bad beat stories Team Betfair players were busy making their way into the money places, all 43 of them. The first to cash, and the first to cash in the entire tournament, was gs12345678 of the Czech Republic was the first Betfair player to cash and the first player in the tournament overall, he picked up $26.51 fir his efforts and by the time Gadgerno1 had busted out in 30th place the prize money had increased to $155.68. Alendel0n7 picked up slightly more at $192.72 for his 16th place finish and HarziMcGoon of Germany $509.85 for making it all the way to the final table before busting in ninth. But mini Event #9's star performer was zzzzzzzze of Latvia who was finally eliminated in fifth place for $1,451.38.

Event #9 and its mini equivalent were the most profitable of the GSOP yet with $107,413.84 won! Absolute phenomenal stuff from Team Betfair. This huge wins mean that through Event #9 Betfair players have cashed 270 times winning $388,549.20 in the process whilst the mini GSOPers have cashed 296 times for winnings of $26,802.61.

Join Betfair Poker Now

How did you get beat with quads?

I was on the button with QhQs and I raised to 540 and when the initial limper called he screamed a big hand but he didn't raise so I though he probably had ace-king or something like that, maybe kings but meh. Donk called and the flop came down As-Qd-Qc

Well spotted humbug! The Qc should have been an ace of clubs, my mistake, was a long day!

GSOP Event #10: Team Betfair on Mad Tilt!

From time to time poker players, for some unknown reason, love to start with shallow stacks and move all-in like crazy horses just for the laugh. Poker players especially like to do this when they can rebuy and try to win the piece of a $50,000 prize pool and a $7,500 guaranteed one like in Event #10 of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) and it's mini equivalent. Here's how Team Betfair and I got on.

GSOP Event #10: $50+$4 No Limit Hold'em Mad Tilt Rebuy $50,000 Guaranteed

The Mad Tilt tournament is not one I would usually enter because it feel like pure gambling to me, a pastime I neither particularly enjoy or partake in, but in for a penny in for a pound let's go play a $54 rebuy one! For this write up I will describe, in great detail, every single hand I played so make sure you're ready.

The tournament kicked off with everyone starting with 100 chips and blinds of 10/20 so we only had five big blinds! Thankfully I had been dealt AcKc under the gun so I simply moved the bet slider all the way to the right, clicked bet 100 and my virtual chips slid into the middle of the equally virtual table. One player folded and I was then called in two spots to discover I was up against AdJc and 8h8d. The flop came down a rather stunning As-4c-Kh which pleased me no end because now I am about to triple up to a massive 15 big blinds. The Qc turn is even better because not I have the nut flush draw to go with my top two and I am already rubbing my hands together with glee. That happiness soon turned sour though as the river was an eight of spades! Mother F***er! Get out of here.

No rebuy for me and I busted out 534/546, amazingly 12 people had busted before me including three Team Betfair players including the last place finisher but we shall spare them of the embarrassment of naming and shaming.

Thankfully me fellow Team Betfairians seemed to fair a little better, except BetFairy who burst the bubble in 80th place. Their demise was for the great good though as it meant everyone else picked up at least $210.27 for their efforts. In tota 17 Betfair players made it into the money with forum and community game regular Mrs Keith A going really deep before busting in 21st place for $450.57. Mrs Keith A was the third highest Betfair casher as only xvisitor1 (16) and Dr.Giddens (7) managed to outlast him/her. Dr.Giddens of the Norway variety won a welcomed $2,327.94. GG everyone. Thank the heavens that one is over with!

Event #10 in numbers

Total entrants: 546
Total prize pool: $78,150
Total Team Betfair entrants: 116 (21.25% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 17
Total Team Betfair prize money: $7,265.42 (9.30% of prize pool)

Mini-GSOP Event #10: $5+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Mad Tilt Rebuys $7,500 Guaranteed

If you thought a $54 buy-in tournament where you start with five big is mental then imagine what it's $5.50 baby brother is like. Yeah, it's completely barmy! I actually rebought in this one, not that it did me any good like but at least I helped to push the prize pool past the $7,500 guarantee.

Eight hands in I am sat armed with the monster stack of 155 and the blinds had already increased to 25/50 so when ti folded to me in late position I moved in with my AhJh and was called by Piraeus in the big blind who had somehow acquired a 505 stack. Anyway, they called with As9s, the board ran out 5c-Kh-4c-8h-4h and all of a sudden I had 335 chips!

It all went Pete Tong shortly afterwards though when the blinds were 40/80. I open-shoved for 435 from UTG+1 with AsKs and was called by Piraeus again and punisher101 was already all in from the big blind. Piraeus showed a dominated AhQd and punisher101 Qs4h. Marvelous, almost a triple up on the card for Pudding then. Don't be silly, everyone knows I run worse than anyone in history! The board ran out 10h-Qc-9d-5h-2d to leave me with 60 chips.

These went all in from the small blind a couple of hands later with 8s6c and syxoi777 raised it up with Ac10s. A board reading Jd-5d-Qh-3c-2d was enough to send me to the rail in 335/713. No more rebuying for me in this event. At least I know why they are called Mad Tilt events.

Some players obviously like them more than me, in particular the 18 Team Betfair players who finished in the top 105 places to receive some money back into their accounts. A big congratulations for not smashing your lap tops to pieces in frustration to 16 of those 18 in the money people but a massive congrats to DJ_Mustafa1 of Ireland and A4Ash of Canada who quite amazingly finished in first and second respectively, winning a combined $2,882.50 between them! Great stuff I am sure you will agree! Well played shove monkeys!

Mini Event #10 in numbers

Total entrants: 713
Total prize pool: $9,860
Total Team Betfair entrants: 96 (13.46% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 18
Total Team Betfair prize money: $3,369.20 (34.17% of prize pool)

More wins for Betfair Poker players which is never a bad thing is it? I would love to see figures from other Ongame sites because I doubt any are killing the games as much as our guys and gals are right now. As of the conclusion of the 10th events Betfair players have cashed 287 times for total winnings of $395,814.62 whilst our mini grinders have made it to the money on no fewer than 314 occasions cashing for $30,171.81. Great stuff, keep it up!

GSOP Event #11: Another Betfair Bridesmaid

At this year's World Series of Poker Phil Hellmuth seemed to have a unique and rather unwanted ability to finish as runner-up in some big events. At this year's Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) a number of Team Betfair players have been suffering the same fate. Who was a bridesmaid this time around? Keep reading to find out.

GSOP Event #11: $50+$4 No Limit Hold'em Short-handed Rebuys $100,000 Guaranteed

Regular readers of these recaps will have realised that I am not a fan of rebuy tournaments, especially rebuy tournaments that I cannot really afford to rebuy in. Before the GSO I said to myself that I would give my all in the rebuy games but unless the rebuy was within my bankroll management constraints I would not be rebuying. Usually $54 buy-in games are outside of those bankroll restrictions so this was another event where I was trying to get through with just one bullet.

The problem with playing with just a single shot is that you sometimes play a little too tightly in order to preserve your chips and that is exactly what happened in this event. Looking back through my Holdem Manager database I missed several raising and three-betting opportunities but failed to pull the trigger. Thankfully at the 80/160 level, when I was down to 1,380 chips, I picked up KsKh and open shoved from UTG. The action folded to TRAOULOS1 in the big blind and thanks to him having more than 12,000 in his stack he made the call with Ad2s. The Qs-7s-8d flop missed him, the 2h turn hit him but the 9c on the river was not one of his outs and I bought myself a little breathing room.

Not long afterwards, during the same level, I found AsKs under the gun and min-raised to 320. Nobody wanted to play until the action was on Sejan in the small blind and he three-bet to 960, exactly three-times my raise. The big blind got out of the way and I decideed to ship in my remaining 2,280 chips and villain snap-called with pocket jack. Great, time to lose yet another flop and that looked like it would be the case as by the turn the board read 3s-4d-Qh-7d but the ace of clubs showed its beautiful face on the river to double me again. [ ] Skill game

I was starting to feel pretty good about another GSOP cash as I was starting to run well and I started to run even better when I picked up AhAc during the next level, 100/200. Houen 7 opened to 500 from under the gun and when it folded to me in the big blind I three-bet to 1,400. Villain called and it was off to the fantastic looking 5d-2d-As flop. With 2,900 in the pot and just 3,360 behind I simply shoved like the money I am and villain called with AdQh. No drama on the turn or river and my stack was touching 10,000! Who needs to rebuy?!

Then the ride became a little bumpier. I'd win 1,200-2,500 chips, lose the same out, win them back and so on and so forth. That was until MswatiIII open-shoved for 4,607 with blinds of 250/500/50a with what turned out to be Ah5d, a much lesser hand than the AsJc I called with in the big blind. It was only the best hand for the first two cards on the flop because the final board read 8d-4h-5c-5h-3c to leave me in shoving territory with 7,645 chips.

Two hands later it was all over. The action folded to me on the button and I thought the best play for my 7,295 chips was to move in with my Ac6d. Unfortunately for me the villain from the last hand woke up with KdKc, which held, to send me to the rail 215/757. From hero to zero in two hands. That as they say is poker.

Commiserations to dalemark70 of the UK who busted out in 108th with 105 paid, a much more disappointing, to him, feeling than my bust out I am sure. He was followed to the virtual rail shortly afterwards by Chris “NigDawG” Brammer in 93rd, Brammer being the number one ranked online tournament player in the entire world! In total 17 Betfair players made it through into the money place but only one made it through to the final table, Rand0mD0nk, whose name obviously is not true! Rand0mD0nk eventually finished as runner-up for a score of $12,481.01, narrowly missing out on the magic that occurs when you take down a GSOP event. An amazing performance from the dinkish one and I am sure it will not be his last major cash.

Event #11 in numbers

Total entrants: 757
Total prize pool: $103,600
Total Team Betfair entrants: 121 (15.98% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 17
Total Team Betfair winnings: $17,520.71

Mini-GSOP Event #11: $5+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Short-Handed rebuys $15,000 Guaranteed

The mini-event was one where I said I was going to splash around early doors and try to build a stack up and it seemed to pay off as my donkey plays were rewarded! As early as the 15/30 level I managed to double up! Lukas V76 opened to 90 on the button then called when I three-bet to 240 with a pair of sevens. The Ad-Qh-6d flop saw me lead for 380 and villain call. The turn was the 7h gifting me an unlikely set and I bet 960 and villain simply called again, which was strange because that bet only left me with 450 behind! These obviously went into the middle when the river was the 5s and villain called the mucked. I was now on 4,090.

Unfortunately that is where the good fortune ended as it was a rapid downward slide from that very point. At 80/160 I opened to 320 with Kh10h from the cutoff and only the small blind, mole666, called. We both checked the Jd-4c-Jc flop but villain lead for 560 into 800 on the Kc turn. I didn't believe him and called and I didn't believe him when he bet 960 into 1,920 on the arrival of the 8c on the river. There is no way he has a king that I am not chopping with and he hasn';t got the flush but he did have Js8s for a full house. Yeah, that beats my hand too! Oops.

So I went back to treading water for the next 10 minutes when I found a nice little re-steal spot. _ASDASDASD min-raised to 400 from the cutoff, I shoved for 2,885 on the button with Ac4h and villain called. A flop reading Jc-Kc-Ks was all that was needed to bust me because the turn and river missed me by miles and another tournament void of winnings was mine; 706/1,115.

Thankfully not all Betfair players were feeling as fishy as me and 20 of the 159 who entered made it into the money places. The first to collect some cash was Eyeball Kid_ of Russia and his in the money finish paved the way for more players to receive money. If the tournament had been played to a full ring format then DRK HRT would have made it to the final table with their ninth place finish but alas this was six-max. Which also means daianov of Bulgaria missed out on a final table appearance but they did make it into seventh place for $412.08 which in itself is a great result.

Mini Event #11 in numbers

Total entrants: 1,115
Total prize pool: $16,085
Total Team Betfair entrants: 159 (14.26% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 20
Total Team Betfair winnings: $1,369.69

So what are the running totals after the 11th events? Well, in the GSOP Team Betfair players have cashed a total of of 304 times for winnings of $413,335.33 whilst our mini heroes have made it into the money 334 times for prize money worth $31,541.50.

GSOP Event #12: Pot Limit a Betfair Strong Point

It appears that in Team Betfair circles there is a big thumbs up for Pot Limit Omaha but a resounding chorus of boos and hisses for the same betting structure when applied to Texas Hold'em. Why? Divert your eyes downwards to find out.

Event #12: $100+$8 Pot Limit Hold'em 1r1a $50,000 Guaranteed

Although I am not personally a fan of Pot Limit Hold'em I love the idea of one rebuy and one add-on formats so please Betfair Poker add some more of these to the regular schedules. The reason I like them is the fact they help increase the prize pools and allow you to loosen up a tad without having to have a gigantic bankroll to rebuy a dozen times. Anyway, more on that later, let's get down to the action or should I saw lack of it.

I wish you guys could see my Holdem Manager database to see the cards I was being dealt early on, they were ridiculous to say the least. We started with Js5h, 7s5h, Qd7h, Qh5s, 3s3h, Ts6d, Jh5d, Jh4h, Tc8s, Qd2h, 8c3h, 7c2h, 6c6d, Kd2h and 6s2s! Amazing. I then picked up QdQc, raised and picked up the blinds to start the ball of crap cards rolling again.

I'd lost a coupled of 150-200 chip pots trying to get creative but it looked like another early bath was on the cards until I picked up KdKs during the 50/100 level. BobbyJ4 opened to 300 from under the gun, one player folded before tiltnogood8 three-bet to 699. Another player folded before I shoved for 1,935 in total. BobbyJ4 then re-shoved for 5,785 and when tiltnogood8 folded I found myself up against pocket queens. A ten-high board was enough to see me scoop the pot.

Although things weren't going my way I decided to add-on during the break which is why I was able to donate 8,143 chips to my opponent during the 300/600 level. The action folded to Sircall in the butoff and he made it 1,200 to play. I was on the button and three-bet to 3,480 then called off my 4,663 remaining chips when Sircall essentially shoved on me. My 8s8c were ever so slightly ahead of the Ah9h of villain but I don't win flips and didn't win this one either as the board ran out Jh-Jd-10d-Ad-Kh to bust me out in 160/297. Meh.

It appears that PLHE is not the forte of my fellow Betfair players either because only three of us made it into the money places. Toots2_x finished in 40th, Doobs faired a little better busting in 24th whilst Mulegrynet's tournament came to an abrupt end in 14th place. Still over $1,700 won so not all lost by any means. Well done everyone who cashed!

Event #12 in numbers

Total entrants: 297
Total prize pool: $72,100
Total Team Betfair entrants: 44
Total Team Betfair cashes: 3
Total Team Betfair prize money: $1,711.05

Mini-GSOP Event #12: $10+$1 Pot Limit Hold'em 1r1a $10,000 Guaranteed

This particular event was one of the worst I had played in, not because of the format or anything like that but the fact I lasted exactly 37 hands despite rebuying! Yes I suck.

I'd already won a couple of little pots (before I rebought) so was seated with 2,600 chips when I picked up jacks in middle position. The UTG+1 player min-raised and I opted to call. I should possible have raised but whatever, I called. Gairy87, on the cutoff, also called and it was three ways to the 7s-7d-2h flop. UTG+1 checked, I bet 145 into the 225 pot and Gairy87 raised to 345. Our friend folded and it was no heads-up to the 6d turn. I now checked, villain bet just 165 into 915 and I called bringing us to the Ks turn. I checked again and villain bet again, setting the price at 555. I remember saying to myself that he had to have typed that amount in deliberately but I couldn't fathom out what it meant. It wasn't a king that's for sure. I opted to call and wasn't shown a king instead I got to see 9h7h for trip sevens. Ah, that makes sense!

I topped up my stack with some more chips and got back trying to find a hand. The blinds were 50/100 when I next got involved, making it 245 to play with my Ah6h from middle position. Everyone folded to the delightfully named CalzonePizza in the small blind and he call. We shared a flop reading 3h-7h-Jd and when my doughy friend checked to me I continued with a 300 bet into 590 only to see him suddenly check-raise to 800. Now here I should probably call and re-evaluate on the turn but that isn't fun is it? No it isn't, so I put in a raise myself, this one to 2,990. Have that! CalzonePizza did not take after his namesake and fold instead he shoved for 3,242 in total and I obviously called and even more obviously missed my flush.

The Pizza then busted me three hands later when I got the rest of my chips in with sevens to his eights and I couldn't find a third seven on the five community cards. Another finish outside the money for me, 361/412. Time for bed for Pudding.

Like the bigger GSOP Event #12 only a select few managed to make it into the money, four in total. PapAmericano made it into the money places yet again finishing in 59th place and he was joined by robmug )51st), dukeboy10 (19th) and a big shout out to 586527 who reached the final table before being eliminated in fifth for $520.19.

Mini-GSOP Event #12 in numbers

Total entrants: 412
Total prize pool: $10,000
Total Team Betfair entrants: 52
Total Team Betfair cashes: 4
Total Team Betfair prize money: $675.23

So by the time the dust had settled on the 12th events the figures looked a little something like this. In the GSOP Betfair players have cashed a total of 307 times winning $415,046.38 in the process whilst the mini-GSOPers have cashed 338 times for combined winnings of $32,216.73.

GSOP Event #13: Min-Bet Championships

My first experience of online poker was playing Fixed Limit Hold'em and getting my ass handed to me. Eventually I learned the ins and outs of the game and I actually started to enjoy the game; but don't tell anyone please because fixed limit games just aren't cool any more!

Event #13 of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) was the only fixed limit game on the schedule and I was strangely eager to play. How did I and Team Betfair players get on? Keep reading to find out.

GSOP Event #13: $300+$20 Fixed Limit Hold'em $50,000 Guaranteed

Fixed limit tournaments are a strange beast in that the average chip stacks seem to remain constant for what seems like an age then all of a sudden everyone starts to bust out one after the other. This is because, for obvious reasons, you cannot get your chips into the middle of the felt, you have to do that one bet at a time. I suppose you could describe it as bleeding to death slowly, well it is if I am at the helm.

In a 10-handed game tight is right but tighter is righter (did I just say that?) so I wasn't expecting my starting table to be borderline lunatics but that appeared to be the case with at least half of them playing between 35 and 60 percent of their hands, including the donkey in the next hand.

The action folded around to yatzy_19 in the hijack and he made it 60 to play. I was next to act and three-bet with AhAs the button folded but the small blind, playing 66/8/1.0 cold-called. The big blind folded and the original raise tossed in the extra chips needed to call so it was three handed to the 7h-3s-3c flop. The small blind, KillBill27, checked, yatzy_19 checked and I made the maximum allowed bet of 30. Wow, that'll scare 'em. The small blind then check-raised to 60 and straight away I was like WTF and just called. The 7c turn saw fish face bet 60 and me call, which is exactly what happened with the 9s river and villain flipped over 7s3h. Post flop is fine obviously but what on Earth was he doing preflop? As usual poker rewards the donkeys in the short term.

That kind of set the tone for the entire evening and when the blinds started to rise quite substantially raising and missing the flop gets quite expensive. I raised, missed the flop and c-bet with ace-king, ace-queen and ace-jack during the 150/300 level and by the time the blinds had reached 300/600 I only had 1,500 left after paying the big blind. Icenigel opened UTG, the action folded to bojarek on the button and I three-bet with Ac9h in the big blind. Icenigel capped and bojarek called and I called off my last 300 chips. Both players checked down the Qh-7d-2s-4d-3h board and both showed ace-king and I was out of there.

By the time the tournament had come to an end only three Team Betfair players had made it into the money places. St1lett0 finished in 22nd for $527.67, Jack “Ellw00dinh0” Ellwood came 17th for $633.20 whilst Waaaaal of Austria's 11th place finish was the deepest of the lot earning him $911.81.

Event #13 in numbers

Total entrants: 198
Total prize pool: $59,400
Total Team Betfair entrants: 44 (22.22% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 3
Total Team Betfair prize money: $2,072.68 (3.50% of prize pool)

Mini-GSOP Event #13: $30+$3 Fixed Limit Hold'em $7,500 Guaranteed

It took almost exactly 30-minutes for the first hand of note to occur in the mini Event #13 but it was worth the wait as it added a monster nine big blinds to my stack! The action folded to me in the hijack and I raised to 100 with KsKd only for nikmani and Woadsyyyy to call on the button and in the small blind respectively. The flop came down a rather safe looking 3h-6c-2c and when the SB checked to me I fired a 50 chip bet an unsurprisingly was called in both spots. The 6s turn saw Woadsyyyy lead into me, I called and nikmani folded meaning it was heads-up to the Ah river, not the best card in the deck, so when villain checked to me I checked behind to be shown QcQs.

I then lost three pots before picking up aces and betting all three streets of a king-high board and being good, then a few hands went my way and I was starting to think I could go quite deep. But then I stole on the button with queen nine and the big blind defended with nine-seven, flopped two pair and I paid him off. Damn. Not to worry because seven or eight hands later I would pick up kings again.

Of course this would not be a tournament I had entered if I did not have AA or KK cracked at a key time so here's my cowboys being obliterated. The blinds were 200/400 and I am sat in late position with 2,815 chips and KcKd, so when niki199393 to my immediate right opened to 800 I was delighted and instantly three-bet planning on getting my chips in at some point.  Villain called, creating a 3,000 pot and now I only had 1,615 I was basically going to be all in. The flop came down 4d-3s-7s and villain check-called my bet. The Ah turn received the same treatment as did the 10h river. I showed KK, they showed As8s and that was it, a 119th place finish.

Only two of Team Betfair made it through to the money places, j_sideris of Greece busting in 21st for $67.66 and PingoPenguin being eliminated in 13th place for $97.42. Not our finest hour but fixed limit tournaments are difficult to consistently go deep in.

Mini Event #13 in numbers

Total entrants: 196
Total prize pool: $7,500
Total Team Betfair entrants: 32 (16.33% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 2
Total Team Betfair prize money: $165.08 (2.20% of prize pool)

With the completion of both Event #13's Team Betfair players had cashed 310 times for $417,119.06 whilst mini-GSOP players have cashed on 340 occasions for $21,381.81.

Join Betfair Poker Now

GSOP Event #14: Massive Piles of Win!

Event #14 of the Grand Series of Poker saw the play switch back to Pot Limit Omaha but not just any version of PLO, no. This one was six-handed with unlimited rebuys for an hour. Things were about to get messy.

Event #14: $50+$4 Pot Limit Omaha Short-Handed $50,000 Guaranteed

If ever there was a time to use your “one-time” then this was the tournament to use it in but only if you, like me, were planning to play on a single bullet. I see little point in rebuying into a tournament that you have no edge at all so off I went in an attempt to go big or go home.

Had this event been Omaha Hi/Lo then I may have actually played some hands within what seemed like three months, actually that's a lie because the cards I was being dealt were pathetic and basically unplayable. The problem with being card dead is everyone labels you as a complete nit so when I raised with KK44 double suited everyone folded and I picked up the 150 blinds. That's right folks, my first raise came in the 50/100 level, that's how bad things were. I went back to folding for a couple of orbits before opening with AhJsTsTh and again picked up the blinds. Boo.

Yet more folding took place when something miraculous happened' I flopped a set and it held! Finding myself down to 1,595 chips and blinds at 75/150 was not an ideal scenario so when the action folded to me on the button I raised to 525 with 9s9d3h3c, not the most premium of hands but with my tighter than a duck's bumhole image my raise should have gotten through. But that was not the case because ffreshhh decided to make it 1,725 from the small blind, and rightly so because he held a nice looking AdKhQsTh. Unfortunately for him I was in a gambling mood and called and when the board ran out 8s-Kc-9c-2d-5c I doubled to 3,340 but was still not exactly deep stacked. Then I had a brain fart and blew my chips.

I opened from UTG with JdTh9s6s because I am a donkey but if my raise was bad then my four-bet shove over the top of ffreshhh's re-raise was horrendous. He snapped my hand off and showed AdKdKc4s, the baord ran out 6d-3c-Ah-4h-5s. Why did I play it like that? I honestly do not know because it was a terrible move. Pud you big fat fish.

Thankfully the fact I played like a pile of poo was overshadowed by the awesomeness of Team Betfair players. In total 12 of them made it into the money places including PapAmericano who has had some amazing results this series and is really impressing me. His latest 47th place finish worth $251.74. Special mentions simply have to go to LazyDaawg from German, RE_WIRED of the UK and ImToulouse of Sweden who finished in 12th, 11th and 10th respectively. Congrats because reaching the final two tables is great achievement.

Another amazing accomplishment is finishing in fourth place like .HajniAK. Did for $4,429.46 but the best of all came from Canada's anustobouche who went all the way and won Event #14 for a cool $12,139.32! Absolute quality from the  four card loving Canadian.

Event #14 in numbers

Total entrants: 391
Total prize pool: $62,750
Total Team Betfair players: 74 (18.93% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 12
Total Team Betfair prize money: $21,317.76 (33.97% of prize pool)

Mini Event #14: $5+$0.50 Pot Limit Omaha Short-Handed Rebuys $10,000 Guaranteed

This little event should have been a barrel of laughs thanks to the low buy-in and the crazy nature of the game. But it is only fun if you get to play some hands, something I didn't really do until the 75/150 level. By this stage I had lost a large chunk of my stack and had to rebuy, well I didn't have to but wanted to you see, that way I could give even more chips to my fellow players!

The first donation came when I folded a street, maybe two, too late. UTG limped and I limped behind on the button with 9s8s6h5h, the big blind checked (there was no SB as there had just been an elimination). The three of us shared a 3s-10s-9c flop a flop that the BB bet 150 into 450 and we both called. The 8h turn saw the big blind change tactics and instead of betting small they bet 900 into 900 and again the open-limper and I called. The 2d on the river was a complete blank but that did not stop the big blind potting the action and now both myself and my passive opponent decided enough was enough and we folded.

A few hands later and I doubled up after finding aces, a great Hold'em hand but not so much Omaha. I opened to 525 with AhAc6d3s not planning on anything than having my UTG raise scoop the blinds for me. But the next player called and then muncken87, on the button, squeezed to 1,987. Hmm. I thought why not shove so did that, folding out the cold caller but muncken87 made the call with AdQs5d5s and despite picking up a flush draw on the turn he failed to hit and I suddenly had 10,745 chips but just as I was starting to really warm up I played a hand that I am sure I butchered.

With blinds now 200/400 I opened to 1,400 with Ah-Ks-Qc-Jc and villain three-bet to 4,800 with just 3,850 behind. The action folded to me and I think I should be shoving here and seeing all five community cards but for some reason I flatted, missed the flop and check-folded. In fact scrap the first sentence, I know I butchered this one. Wow, I played that badly, really badly. I paid the ultimate price too because I was eliminated the very next hand in a three-way all in.

I limped UTG with AsQhThTd and the cutoff, small blind and big blind came along for the ride. The flop came down Ts-9c-7c gifting me top set but I actually had poor equity because after the chips went flying in resulting in both myself and the small blind being all in against the cutoff I discover I was up against a flopped straight 9s9d8c6d (cutoff) and a flush and straight draw QsJc2c2s (SB). The Kh turn improved the SB to a straight but kept me in the game. The 6c river ended that game and the SB scooped the 25,075 pot. Oh well, maybe next time!

Again, like in the bigger GSOP, my fellow Team Betfair players' performances helped to gloss over my disappointing finish. Commiserations to Dr.Giddens of Norway who busted out in 93rd place with 92 paid, difficult to go so deep and not cash but someone has to burst that bubble. With Dr.Giddens becoming the bubble boy it paved the way for 11 Betfair Poker players to help themselves to some cold hard cash. Germany's nIcELiFe.DK busted in unlucky for some 13th whilst xxxTH80xxx was the 10th place finisher. Like the “big” Event #14 we had two Betfair players on the final table, RR-T0T0Nr1 eventually losing out in fifth place and PapAmericano falling just short of the tine in second place. PapAmericano has had an amazing GSOP and once all the events are written up it will be interesting to check out their figures. Well played everyone, you did Betfair proud.

Mini Event #14 in numbers

Total entrants: 620
Total prize pool: $11,185
Total Team Betfair players: 87 (14.03%)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 11
Total Team Betfair prize money: $2,432.10 (21.74% of prize pool)

Team Betfair have now cashed 322 times and won $438,436.82 whilst the mini editions have cashed a total of 351 times for $23,813.91

Join Betfair Poker Now

GSOP Event #15: So Much Win!

Poker is a funny old game. Sometimes no matter what you do absolutely nothing goes right for you but on other occasions everything seems to slot into place and you completely crush the games. Nope, I've not been dominating event #15 but Team Betfair completely annihilated it.

GSOP Event #15: $190+$10 No Limit Hold'em 1R1A $250,000 Guaranteed

Event #15 was another event I was looking forward to due to the one rebuy one add-on structure, something I am a big fan of as explained in previous write-ups. Again I planned on playing the $200 buy-in version on one bullet as it had served me right on more than one occasion so why not this time around?

As usual I got off to a slow and steady start but picked up a nice pot during the 25/50 level when I opened to 125 from the hijack with pocket jacks and the big blind called me with what turned out to be pocket nines. Villain check called a 175 bet on the 8c-Ks-7d flop and check-called a 395 bet on the arrival of the 7h on the turn. But  couldn't pull the trigger again when the Ac fell on the river so we both checked and I scooped the pot.

Shortly afterwards I won a big pot by gambling with ace-king. A player opened from early position to 200 at 40/80 and the action folded to the small blind who inexplicably moved all in for 2,332. Something just didn't smell right and I decided to take what I thought would be a flip with some small to medium pair so I shoved for a few hundred more and the original raiser folded. The three-bet shover then turned over KhQh and although he picked up an open-ended straight draw on the 10d-2c-Jd flop, the turn and river bricked off and suddenly I had close to 5,500 chips.

I climbed to 6,700 or so when my ace-queen held against a 10bb shove from Ah7h and then I won a nice pot with 88 after flopped a boat and rivering quads. Unfortunately the board was eight high so it was difficult to extra any value at all really, but for the first time really in the GSOP I was picking up cards when I needed to and was hitting cards; could this be my big win?

I further added to my stack after the rebuy period when the the small blind made it 3,600 to play with blinds just 150/300. He only had 610 behind so I put him all in with my red jacks, which held against his king-ten of hearts then I picked up aces twice in 15 hands and won a total of 10,400 chips and the Mrs was planning on what to spend my winnings on but there was time for me to mess things up.

With the blinds now 400/800/80 and me having 16,317 chips I was in an awkward position stack wise and a stack size that I am not used to playing at all. Three players folded and a shorty moved all in for 1,443 chips. I was next to act and for some reason I opted to make it 3,200 to play. Here I should be folding but if I was to play then I should have been shoving but hey, I'm a low stakes cash game fish! Anyway, two players folded but the button called. The flop came down Qc-Js-Td, I checked and villain checked behind. The turn was the 3s and there is now way villain has AK or 98 here but again I made the mistake of going for the check-raise instead of leading, a mistake because if he is drawing then I am giving him infinite odds to make his hand. Anyway I checked, he bet 2,800 and I check-raised all in for my last 13,117 chips. Villain snapped my hand off before showing me TsTh for a set of tens. Jesus! The river was the 4c and I was left with 5,140 and in need to double again.

A couple of hands later I picked up queen-jack UTG and open shoved for 4,900 and won the blinds then four hands later the action folded to me in the cutoff and I open-shoved 5,300 with 2s2d. Unfortunately for me the button, 61kepn, woke up with AsKs. He flopped a king and I was eliminated in 141/697 with 92 paid. I emailed a few top poker players about the 33 hand and each of them said I should simply have folded. Damn!

Once again my disappointment was turned into joy as Team Betfair demolished the field. A big shout out to 1PLAYNUDE from Finland who could have bought themselves some clothes had they not bubbled the tournament but at least they can console themselves with the fact everyone else who busted out after them picked up $673.11. Five Betfair Poker players won this amount but we also have four players who won between $1442.38 and $2,860.72. This alone would be cause for celebration but waiting until you read this next little bit!

Raidalot, 110100101101, grifsdik, CANCELC and St3kR3 finished first, third, fifth, sixth and seventh respectively! Absolutely unbelievable performances there from our heroes! Their results alone were worth more the $97,500 and I can't describe how amazed I am at those results; breathtaking is somewhere near.

Event #15 in numbers

Total entrants: 697
Total prize pool: $250,000
Total Team Betfair entrants: 117 (16.79% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 16
Total Team Betfair prize money: $110,856.40 (44.34% of prize pool)

Mini-GSOP Event #15: $20+$2 No Limit Hold'em 1R1A $30,000 Guaranteed

Mini-Event #15 saw me not only re-buy quite early on but also add-on at the break as I really had a good feeling about doing well in this one. In total there were 777 players making for some decent prizes and like I say I just had a feeling about it.

My spider sense must be slightly off because for the first 90 minutes I essentially folded, folded and folded some more and I was wondering if the Poker Gods were not pleased about my $40 investment but then all of a sudden I won a few pots in a row. First I three-bet over the top of a late position raiser and took down the pot without contest then I not only picked up pocket rockets but I picked them up and got shoved on, magnificent.

The blinds were 150/300/30a and I picked up AhAc in early position and made it 600 to play. To my direct left was bmf1968 and I cannot really fault him for three-bet shoving 6,715 chips with AdQd at all. Obviously I called and was delighted to see his hand as I was a substantial favourite to be sat with over 14,000 chips in a few moments' time. The 7c-9c-8s flop gave me even more joy as now the diamond flush was impossible and he had around 4% equity. The 10h turn improved that to 14% but surely I'd still win? No, not a chance. The river was the Js which although gave me a straight (playing the board) gifted the bmf1968 a higher one thanks to the queen in his hand. I swear you could not make this up!

I managed to double on the next hand with A8 vs 77 but then shoved with JdTd and ran into AdJc. Neither of us improved and ace-high took the pot. So instead of bragging about another really deep run I had to make do with 336th place. On to the next one!

Just like in the Big GSOP equivalent Team Betfair walked all over this tournament too, with 22 of our players cashing and two of those almost going the full distance before falling down in fifth, sixth and tenth. Step forward, in that order, the guy who all but busted me bmf1968 (at least he put my chips to good use), KkmocrosKK and MookBlaylock. Top bombing guys.

Mini-Event #15 in numbers

Total entrants: 777
Total prize pool: $36,520
Total Team Betfair entrants: 109 (16.72% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 22
Total Team Betfair prize money: $6,106.17 (% of prize pool)

With those amazing results Team Betfair players have won more than half a million dollars this series! GSOP players have cashed 338 times for combined winnings of $549,293.22 whilst the mini-GSOP players have bagged themselves $29,920.08 spread across 373 cashes. Superb results people!

Join Betfair Poker Now

GSOP Event #17: Another $90,000 Day For Betfair Players!

Event #17 and mini-Event #17 of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) saw combined guaranteed prize pools of $600,000 making meaning there was a chance this could be Team Betfair's most profitable day. As it happened it did not pick up that particular title but Betfair players still picked up more than $90,000 for their efforts.

GSOP Event #17: $500+$25 No Limit Hold'em $500,000 Guaranteed

Event #17 was the biggest online tournament I have ever played in, in fact it was the largest tournament live or online that I had ever played in but instead of being nervous I was so looking forward to it. Maybe that would have been different had I bought myself in but hey, I was eager to get down to business and win some serious wonga!

From the first card being dealt you could tell this was a higher buy-in game as it played much tighter than others I had been part of and I was planning on using that to my advantage by trying to pick up some early chips but thanks to having ridiculously bad cards that plan was shelved after around 35 minutes. I did try to make a move during the 100/200 level when the hijack opened to 400, I three-bet to 900 with 8h7h but we both got out of the way when the big blind shoved for 6,345.

The next hand I played came in the next level and it ended like the one previously. I made it 625 to play with the blinds 125/250/25a with pocket sevens in middle position only to see the hijack shove for 3,278 and the big blind to re-shove for 12,451. Sevens no good then? Nope.I obviously folded and was shown TT and JJ. I then got back to folding until the 103rd and final hand of my tournament.

HhCMotU23 was UTG+1 and he min-raised to 600 two players folded and ReidHorkins made the call. I was next to act and I thought it would be a good spot to squeeze in but instead of shoving my 20bb into the middle I got it into my head that making a normalish raise would look far scarier so I made it 1,990 to play leaving 4,360 behind. The table folded back around to HhCMotU23 and he shoved for exactly 19,000 ReidHorkins folded and I called off my chips with pocket nines to find myself up against the ace-king of diamonds. The first card out was the As followed by 3h-2h-5c-Ks and I was eliminated 823/1,143. Oh well, maybe next year.

There were still over 150 of my fellow Betfairians in the field at the time of my bust out and of those 38 managed to make it through to the money places which started at 180th place and awarded $764.66; I'd have been delighted to have even got that far. By the time wigolio has finished in 100th spot everyone was taking home $1,108.27 for their efforts but they still had the chance of a huge prize. Iklonkyou of Sweden almost won a monster prize but busted out in 14th spot for $4,500.83 and this was outdone by KPCHUK of the Ukraine who fell in ninth place for $9,122.66. The best placed Betfair Poker player was Cigar71 of the UK who lost his stack to finish in eighth place for a cool $11,711.84 taking the toal won in that event to $68,209.40!

Event #17 in numbers

Total entrants: 1,143
Total prize pool: $571,500
Total Team Betfair entrants: 246 (21.52% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 38
Total Team Betfair prize money: $68,209.40 (11.94% of prize pool)

Mini-GSOP Event #17: $50+$4 No Limit Hold'em $100,000 Guaranteed

The mini-Event #17 was one of the biggest fields of the series with 2,257 entrants in total, 373 of them coming from Betfair including little old me. Feeling more experienced than ever I was keen to get this tournament under way but it took me over an hour to play the first pot of note, up to that point I had simply treaded water and by the 125/250/25a level I had 9,913 chips of my starting 10,000. Yeah, that's how it was going.

That all changed though when bufik88 opened to 500 from UTG and I woke up with AcAs two seat to his left. I naturally three-bet to 1,375 and to my surprise ulM8gg_ moved all-in for 11,597 from the small blind! The original raiser folded but I was going nowhere and called to find a pair of kings staring back at me. The board ran out Qc-Qd-10s-Jd-2h and I had doubled to 20,576 and was now in good shape to say the least.

Thanks to a lack of playable cards and some mistimed steal attempts my stack had dwindled to 14,606 when this hand in the 300/600/60a level happened. Getalife45 opened to 1,200 under the gun and I failed to notice they only had 6,595 at the start of the hand so my three-bet to 3,450 a bit pointless I guess but I was still in early position so shoving didn't feel right but whatver. Anyway, Getalife45 then called leaving just 3,145 behind and he shoved. Almost without thinking I folded then kicked myself as I saw the stack sizes. FML!

I then got moved tables and the found jacks under the gun so moved all in with for 9,281 with blinds now 400/800/75a and winced when any2andy called on the button but my fears were put at ease when he showed pocket sevens and in the same suites as mine! The 4s-6s-Ac-5c-Qs board saw me double back to 20,112 then six hands later I opened from the hijack with KdQh and both blinds called. The flop came down Kh-Kc-Jd, both blinds checked, I lead for 3,910 into 5,550 only to see the SB fold but the BB check-raise to 8,000. Instead of playing it slow I went for the kill and shoved for my last 12,952 and he instantly mucked. Still, I was now up to 30,412. That was until any2andy from a few hands ago knocked me out.

The blinds had just gone up to 500/1,000/100a and I was playing just over 28,000 when I saw any2andy open to 2,000 in middle position. I was on the button with QcQd and I made it 5,675 to play. Both blinds folded but any2andy called and we shared a flop reading 6c-6h-7s. Villain checked to me and I moved all-in for 22,612 into the 13,850 pot hoping villain thought I had either missed the flop with AK / AQ type hands or I had something like 88 or 99.Villain did indeed call but not because of those reasons but because he was holding pocket aces! A 4h on the turn gave me a sweat for the split pot but it failed to arrive and I busted out 373/695 whilst any2andy, a fellow Betfair player, made it all the way to 209th for $103.48.

In total 79 Betfair players made it into the money places including Cigar71 who we mad eit to the final table of the Big Event #17, he busted in 19th place in the mini-event so a big shout out to them. Other huge shoutouts need to go to the next three players who made it all the way to the final table! Paisti00 (8th), UbeenBaxed (sixth) and gs12345678 (third) all fell just short of the massive $17,000 first place prize. A massive congrats to you all!

Mini-Event #17 in numbers

Total entrants: 2,257
Total prize pool: $112,850
Total Team Betfair entrants: 373 (16.53% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 79
Total Team Betfair prize money: $22,771.66 (20.18% of prize pool)

More sterling performances from our Team Betfair players who now have winnings of $617,502.62 from 360 cashes and our mini players a total of $52,545.11 from 452 in the money finishes!

Join Betfair Poker Now

The last of the "normal" Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) events before the Grand Finals saw the focus switch back to rebuys, a $54 and $5.50 version of them. They both kicked off 90-minutes after Event #17 and I only managed to last a total of 60 hands between both events. I am so awesome!

GSOP Event #18: $50+$4 No Limit Hold'em Turbo w/Rebuys $75,000 Guaranteed

Sticking with my tried and tested plan of accumulate a big stack without the need to rebuy seemed to be going quite well because after the fifth hand I had three-times my starting stack! Three players folded and the fourth moved all in for 10, that's ten, chips. Next to act then made it 150 to play, to their left called, I called with pocket jacks on the button and the small blind called too! Family pot! The 4c-2c-3d flop was greeted with a 400 bet from the small blind, a raise all in for 1,300 from the intial raiser and a call from me. The SB also called so we had a three way all in where I was up against 77 and 99! I held though 60 chips went to the nano-stack who had actually flopped a set of deuces!

Due to the turbo blind structure it wasn't long before I was, just like a woman in labour, wanting to push. I decided that the best way to play AhQc with a 4,065 stack and blinds of 300/600/60a was to move all in UTG+1 but unfortunately for me the cutoff came along for the ride with 9h9c and the big blind held a dominating AcKs. The board ran out 10c-7d-6c-Kc-Qs and my one bullet shot of glory ended 373/684.

Meanwhile the 129 Betfair Poker players who started the tournament were gradually being whittled down to just a select few, 22 to be exact, who made it to the money places. Commiserations to PapAmericano who busted in 95th place with 90 spots paid, he has had an amazing series. But once again one man's disappointment paved the way for greater things for his fellow Betfair players because we had no fewer than seven players on th final two tables and two on the very last tabel of the tournament. HenrikX_ came sixth for $3,227.16 whilst his fellow Swede St3k4R3 came agonisingly close to wining before busting out in second spot for a cool $11,093.36.

Event #18 in numbers

Total entrants: 684
Total prize pool: $90,650
Total Team Betfair entrants: 129 (18.86% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 22
Total Team Betfair prize money: $22,771.66

Mini-GSOP Event #18: $5+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Turbo Rebuys $12,500 Guaranteed

I should have known that mini-Event #18 was going to be a short one after I had to rebuy after 10 hands. I managed to get my chip in with AsAc against both 8c8s and AsKh only for the board to run out 2d-5d-7s-8d-Jd. LOL! Donkaments. After reloading I last a further 13 hands before I moved all in with AhJh for just shy of 6BB and was called by AdJd, 9d9c and QcQd! Really! The board ran out 6d-6h-5d-3c-10c and I busted out in 725/839.

There was no point rebuying at that stage because doing so would have only given me 7.5BB and a double rebuy 15 so I'd rather keep the $10 in my pocket ta.

Thankfully some of the Team Betfair players sailed through into the money places, 17 of them in total and of those 17 three of them made it all the way to the final table. NestyaBalUA of the Ukraine came seventh. I - a88a - I from Latvia was sixth whilst PapAmericano of Poland was fifth. Super dooper pooper scooper!

Mini-event #18 in numbers

Total entrants: 839
Total prize pool: $12,870
Total Team Betfair entrants: 133 (15.85% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 17
Total Team Betfair prize money: $1,956,43 (15.20% of prize pool)

So with just the Grand Final's to go Team Betfair players have cashed 382 times for prize money of $640,274.28 and the mini-GSOP players reached the money 469 times for total winnings of $54,501.54! Overall that adds up to $694,775.82 from 851 cashes, which is quite frankly amazing!

The Grand Finals are on Sunday night and once they are completed we will have some in-depth analysis of the series as a whole but you can see here it has been a resounding success!

Team Betfair Destroy GSOP Grand Slams: Simon “123jalla” Ravnsbaek Wins The $5k

The eighth edition of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) came to a thrilling conclusion over the weekend with the both the GSOP and mini-GSOP Grand Slam events taking place and although we are disappointed such an amazing online festival has drawn to a close we are absolutely delighted to say Team Betfair players completely destroyed both events and won a combined $462,639.66 from the final two tournaments!

GSOP Grand Slam: $4,900+$100 $500,000 Guaranteed

Although I have been somewhat of a luckbox in during the GSOP I was unable to bag or blag myself a $5,000 GSOP Grand Slam seat, which is probably a good thing because I would probably have had some sort of seizure during it through stress!

In total 154 players ponied up the necessary $5,000 creating a monster prize pool of $754,600 in the process. Amongst the 154 runners were a total of 48 players, going some distance to show that Betfair Poker provides some of the best players on the Ongame Network.

One by one the big name players fell by the wayside including Mathew “get thereeee” Frankland (49th), Chris “NigDawG” Brammer (43rd) and our very own John”kunku wap” Tabatabai (30th). However disappointed they felt came nowhere near the disappointment endured by 666MManson, a Betfair Poker player who finished in 28th place when only 27 were paid. Ouch!

666MManson's demise meant everyone who still had chips to play with had locked up at least $7,319.46, and seven of the last 27 were from Betfair! Raidalot2 (26th), XvasikaX (24th), IAMCEOBITCH (22nd) and Hentschit_ (20th) all deserve mentions for making into the money place but there are four more players who not only cashed but made it all the way to the ten-handed final table.

Iklonkyou of Sweden was the first of our heroes to bust out, his eighth place finish netting them $23,715.06 and he was followed to the rail a couple of eliminations later by RaiseyDaisy01 of Germany whose fifth place was worth a massive $48,169.38! Another bust out later and the last three players, two of whom were from Betfair Poker, were battling it out for ridiculously large prizes. Mike “MikeMcDonal” McDonald, better known as Timex, was the third place finisher. The young Canadian now has an extra $84,539.79 in his Betfair Poker account but his huge score was blown out of the water by Danish pro Simon “123jalla” Ravnsbaek who defeated the online poker legend that is ch0ppy heads-up to get his hands on the $171,612.12 first place prize! That's correct, a Team Betfair player took down the GSOP Grand Slam! Ship it, etc and whatever the cool kids say nowadays!

Ravnsbaek is not just a fantastic online player but he is also a very talented live player indeed and one who has more than $600,000 in live tournament winnings. His two largest live scores came in 2011 when he came third in the WPT Vienna Main Event for €169,690 and he won the Danish Championships for the equivalent of $83,872. Then earlier this year he reached another WPT final table in the Venice Grand Prix for a €52,565 addition to his bankroll. This will not be the last time you hear the Dane's name that is for sure.

An absolutely phenomenal set of performances from Betfair Poker player who between the eight who cashed won $358,778.08! We've run out of superlatives so we'll move onto more demolition of tournaments in the Mini-GSOP Grand Slam!

Mini-GSOP Grand Slam: $500+$25 $100,000 Guaranteed

The Mini-GSOP Grand Slam commanded a $525 entry fee but for that $100,000 in prize money was guaranteed. But any fears of the guarantee not being met were soon dashed when 594 players bought in and created a prize pool of $297,000.

My fishy little self played in this tournament and without going through all of the hands played, because I was in for 10 hours, I made it all the way to 11th place, a finish that earned me my biggest win of my career at $3,566.76. Although I burst the final table bubble I was, and still am, delighted with how the tournament went and I simply cannot wait until the next GSOP.

Of the 594 players Betfair Poker players made up 121 of them, again showing Betfair is one of the most popular sites on the Ongame Network for high stakes online poker, probably due to the fact funds are 100% safe on here! From these 121 players we managed to get 21 into the cash though Chris “NigDawG” Brammer only just made it as he finished 79th with 82 paid!

Cigar71 was the first player to take home four figures, his 50th place finish worth $1,025.07 and this steadily increased until yours truly came 11th for $3,566.76. This set the 10-handed final table where we had four Team Betfair players! Unreal! RE_WIRED of the UK busted in ninth for $5,649.86 whilst captainmilo of Hungary was stacked to finish one place ahead in eighth for $7,253.40. Seventh, six, fifth and fourth places were decided before ZayaZaya of Russia was knocked out in third place for a cool $28,324.25. Great effort. We almost had double Grand Slam wins but GoLionsGoEh could not quite get the job done and finished a very commendable second for just shy of $40,000!

In total the 21 players who cashed in the Mini-GSOP Grand Slam managed to earn $103,861.58 another breathtaking set of results put up by our boys and girls, amazing.

These results mean that Team Betfair players won an unbelievable $1,185,000.83 during GSOP 8 in in the coming days we will have plenty of facts and figures including the country with the most cashes and most prize money. It may not be who you expect it to be!