Kalmar is best known for his heroics at last years WSOP Main Event, coming in 5th, making him an instant millionaire, taking home a cool $1.25m. Following his success, Kalmar became an instant poker celebrity in the UK, where his charisma often shines both on and off the table.

Kalmar has proven to be more than just a flash in the pan, especially in this month alone (April), with a series of cashes in the WPT World Championships where he has made a 21st, 1st and 3rd place finishes.

Kalmar will join an elite group of four players sponsored by [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-Ladbrokes.php]Ladbrokes[/url] and will help spearhead a group of 110 members of Team [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-Ladbrokes.php]Ladbrokes[/url] going into Las Vegas for the WSOP Main Event.

Kalmar said “I’m thrilled. I can’t wait to take up my role of [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-Ladbrokes.php]Ladbrokes[/url] poker pro in an official capacity. I’m raring to go. As part of Team [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-Ladbrokes.php]Ladbrokes[/url] in 2006, I came 82nd in the Main Event and finished 5th last year. Let’s hope I continue to improve my performance.

Kalmar’s contract with [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-Ladbrokes.php]Ladbrokes[/url] will see him providing his own blog as well as reporting on all the major poker events all over the world, including the forthcoming WSOP events. Kalmar will also have a poker promotion named after him on the website.

The action on the final table last nearly 12 hours, one of the longest in WPT history with 229 hands being played out. First to go on the final table was Ted Forrest, where found himself all-in with pocket Jacks, only to find himself up against Richardson’s pocket Aces. Richardson’s Aces held up and sent Forrest out for 6th place and $103,360 for his troubles.

Next to go was Katz, who raised from the cut-off for 110,000 whilst holding Q (Clubs) and Jack (Spades). Richardson called the raise from the big blind, where the flop came Q (Hearts) – 6 (Spades) - 5 (Hearts). Richardson immediately bet out 140,000 and after some deep thought, Katz moved all in with top pair (Queens) with a Jack kicker, only to be snap called by Richardson who showed K, 5 both of Hearts, giving him a pair and a flush draw with plenty of outs. The turn came a 6 (Diamonds), pairing the board, and the river card came a King (Clubs) which hit one of Richardson’s outs and gave Richardson a higher 2 pair, eliminating Katz into 5th place. Katz took home $151,811, the biggest cash of his young career.

Cieri was next to go, finding himself short-stacked and having to push all-in with Q-7, only to be called by Richardson’s K-6. Cieri failed to improve after the board, and went out in 4th place, earning himself $200,261.

At this stage, it took another grueling 6 hours of play before another player was eliminated, Seidel raised from the button to 280,000, only to be re-raised all-in by Barta who was on the big blind. Seidel called immediately, showing pocket Jacks, and found himself in a race situation, with Barta showing A (Hearts) – Q (Spades). The board was kind to Seidel, where the flop came J (Clubs) – 6 (Spades) – 3 (Clubs), giving Seidel a set of jacks, and Barta desperately needing a runner, runner straight to win. However the turn brought a 5 (Spades), leaving Barta drawing dead, and the river came a 6 (Hearts). This left Barta extremely crippled with merely half a small blind left.

Unsurprisingly on the next hand, Richardson and Seidel checked it down all the way, and Seidel’s Ace high was enough to win the hand and take out Barta for 3rd who took home $280,011.
Ironically, after almost 12 hours already, the heads-up battle between Seidel and Richardson was the quickest heads-up battle in WPT history lasting just one hand. Seidel raised preflop to 260,000 which was called by Richardson. The flop came Ace (Clubs) – King (Hearts) - 9 (Spades), and Seidel continued the action after the flop, raising to 300,000. Richardson called the raise and the turn dealt was 8 (Hearts), Richardson then moved all-in himself for his last 1,275,000. Seidel called immediately, with Richardson showing 9 (Hearts – 7 (Spades) against Seidel’s Ace (Hearts) – J (Diamonds), giving Seidel top pair against Richardson’s lower pair of nines. The river came a king (diamonds), which failed to improve Richardson’s hand and gave Seidel his first ever WPT title. For second place, Richardson took $558,792, and for first place, Seidel won $992,890.

2008 has started with a bang for Seidel; it was only recently that Seidel came in second place at this years Aussie Millions main event, winning just under $900,000. With this WPT win on top, this is considered a remarkable achievement by anyone’s standards.

Final results:
1. [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/Erik-Seidel.html]Erik Seidel[/url] - $992,890
2. Robert Richardson - $558,792
3. Andrew Barta - $281,011
4. Frank Cieri - $200,261
5. Adam Katz- $151,811
6. Ted Forrest - $103,360

In the biggest poker tournament to be ever held in Italy, each contestant paid €5,000 to enter, with the prize pool totaling over €3,200,000.

Online wonderkid and local favorite, Dario Minieri, entered the final table with the chip lead and was tipped by many to take the title. However, it was Mercier, who entered the final table in second position, who ended up controlling the table, where he single-handedly eliminated all of the final five players himself on the way to the title.

In a crucial hand, with just three players left, Minieri was dealt pocket Queens and raised to 100,000, Mercier looked down at A - 4 both of diamonds and reraised to 340,000 which Minieri called. The flop came 7(Hearts), 2 (Diamonds), and 8 (Diamonds). Mercier checked his flush draw, and Minieri bet 400,000, which followed Mercier shoving all-in having Minieri covered. Minieri called immediately with his overpair, needing to avoid a Diamond card on the turn and river. The turn came a 4 (Hearts), pairing up Mercier, giving him even more outs. Ultimately Mercier hit his flush with a 2 (Diamonds) coming on the river, sending Minieri crashing out in third.

The final hand of the tournament ended up in a classic coin flip situation, where both were all-in preflop, with Mercier holding K-Q against Lellouche’s pocket sevens. The board dealt Q-A-4-8-2, which paired up Mercier’s Queen, handing him a cheque for €869,000 ($1,350,000 USD) and automatic entrance into the EPT Grand Final in [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/Monte-Carlo.html]Monte Carlo[/url].

EPT San Remo Top 8

1. Jason Mercier- €869,000
2. Antony Lellouche- €505,000
3. Dario Minieri- €287,000
4. Eric Koskas- €223,600
5. Gregory Genovese- €188,500
6. William Thorson- €140,600
7. Dag Palovic- €111,800
8. Marcus Bower- €76,700=700

And now, it is believed that perhaps that global sports superstar, soccer player, David Beckham, will be playing at this years World Series of Poker Europe.

It is understood that organizers Harrah’s Entertainment have struck a deal which will grant Beckham a wild-card entrance into the £10,000 event. Beckham is one of the most recognizable figures in world sport and it is believed that his presence in the tournament will see viewing figures soar, where he has a cult following all over the world, especially in South-East Asia.

The WSOPE is to be held on September 19th until October 1st in London, England, which will see Beckham miss at least one soccer match for LA Galaxy.

Beckham’s poker skills have yet to be revealed on television, however, it is believed that Beckham first learned the game, when away on England duty, playing with team-mates, Michael Owen and Teddy Sheringham. Sheringham himself, is a respected poker player amongst the UK poker community, and has been seen to make various appearances on the UK Poker Circuit.

An insider revealed “Teddy taught him the basics and David has had an interest in the game ever since. He loves the mind games involved.”

The extent of Beckham’s poker skills have yet to be seen, however, one thing that we do know, is that he will certainly bring a strong table presence with him and a following which would be unparallelled with any professional poker player.

Channing was rampant, as he entered the final table as a massive chip leader with $2.75 million chips out of the $6.67 million chips in play, giving him a huge chip lead.  At this stage, Channing used his chip stack perfectly, applying the pressure at the right times where he managed to eliminate all but one player (Edwin Tournier) on the final table.

Channing found himself heads-up against local favorite, Donal Norton, holding a 2-1 chip lead.  In a crucial hand, Norton held J-8, landing trips with the board.  Unfortunately for Norton, Channing held K-8 which ultimately crippled Norton.

Eventually Norton found himself having to push all-in with pocket fives preflop on the small blind, only to be called by Channing with A-9 where the flop came
Q-A-10, with the turn a K and the river was an A, giving Channing trip Aces and the Irish Open Championship.

This was a mammoth win for Channing, giving him the largest pay day of his career.  The field consisted of some big names, including [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/Doyle-Brunson.html]Doyle Brunson[/url], Andy Black, Roland De Wolfe and David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliot. 

The top 6 standings for the Irish Open 2008:

1. Neil Channing (London, United Kingdom)- Euros 801,400 ($1,260,000 USD)
2. Donal Norton (Tipperary, Ireland)- Euros 420,000 ($660kUSD)
3. Thomas Dun Woodie (Newcastle, United Kingdom)- Euros 275,000 ($432k USD)
4. Tim Blake (Wansford, United Kingdom)- Euros 220,000 (346K USD) 
5. Kai Paulson (Trondheim, Norway) - Euros 220,000 ($275K USD)
6. Edwin Tournier (Netherlands)- Euros 135,000 ($212K USD)

The tournament held in Piggs Peak, South Africa, also included local hero, Raymond Rahme in the line-up, who is best known for being the first and only South African to reach the final table of a WSOP main event, coming in 3rd in 2007.

Tabatabai who is known for his ‘crazy’ play, played a very aggressive game which the other players struggled to cope with.  As a result, he ultimately ended up eliminating all of the 9 other players on the final table himself, to take down the tournament.

For 1st place, Tabatabai was rewarded with one million Rand ($128,000 US), along with a seat at this years WSOP main event.  2nd place was 400,00 Rand ($50,000 US) with a WSOP package.  Local favorite, Rahme gained a respectable 3rd, winning 300,000 Rand ($37,500 US) and a WSOP package.

The All Africa Poker Tournament is the first major tournament that Tabatabai has won since coming second in the WSOPE and there’s no doubt that there will be more to come from 22 year old.  Tabatabai had a lot of praise for the whole tournament set up, where although he won’t be able to defend his title in May for the next All Africa tournament, although he will try to make it for the one after that.

After the tournament, Tabatabai shared some words of wisdom to the aspiring younger players in South Africa, saying “Do not try to become a pro or make poker your sole income.  You will play better if you have a backstop, something that takes the financial pressure off.  Never assume you are the best player.  Listen to everyone, even players you consider weaker than yourself.  They will give you an insight into how they think which will help you play against them.”

Poker in South Africa is becoming increasingly more popular, and on the evidence of this tournament, it just shows that it’s only a matter of time until we see a major poker tournament being staged in this part of the world.

Seed has made a string of cashes in major heads-up tournaments in recent years without quite managing to clinch the title. 2 years ago, he came in for 3rd in the Canadian Open Poker Championship. And in the NBC National Heads-Up Championship, this year he came 3rd, as well as a 9th place finish in 2007, 3rd in 2006 and 9th in 2005.

The buy-in for the event was $5,000, comprising of 64 players which created a prize pool of $290,160 after 2.5% went to charity. Amongst the big name poker players were Gavin Smith, Joe Hachem, Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak.

Seed eventually found himself against Canadian professional, Brad Booth on the final table in a best-out-of-three battle, where after 5 hours of play, Seed finally managed to clinch the championship.

Naturally, Seed was delighted with the win, and said “I love it when the cream rises to the top, and I got a chance to play with the best in the world. I am so happy that I finally won a heads-up tournament.”

Seed was rewarded $100,000 for the win, and Booth cashed in $50,160 for second.

Top 8 players:

1st. Huck Seed- $100,000
2nd. Brad Booth- $50,160
3rd. Graeme Putt- $30,000
4th. Gavin Smith- $30,000
5th. Nghi Van Tran- $20,000
6th. Joe Hachem- $20,000
7th. Van Marcus- $20,000
8th. Shawn Buchanan- $20,000

With a strong field of 64 players, Ferguson was the last man standing, beating the likes of [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/Phil-Ivey.html]Phil Ivey[/url] along the way.

On the final hand of the tournament, Ferguson held pocket Jacks, against Bloch’s 10-4 of spades. The board showed 10 - 7 -3 - 7 with two spades, giving Ferguson an overpair and Bloch top pair with a flush draw. Ferguson pushed all-in, having Bloch covered. Bloch eventually called after mulling over his decision. The river was a 7, which gave Bloch a Fullhouse, but giving Ferguson a higher Fullhouse which ultimately handed the Championship to Ferguson, and a cheque for $500,000 with Bloch receiving $250,000 for second place. This brought Ferguson’s total winnings in the National Heads-Up Championship to a cool $1 million after his previous second place finishes.

A lot of modern poker literature often emphasizes that aggression is key to successful heads-up play, however, Ferguson’s vast success in these championships, just demonstrates how a methodical and mathematical approach to the game can also be used to very good effect in a heads-up battle.

Ferguson said “I’m ecstatic to finish first after the two second-place finishes… This is a very meaningful victory for me. I feel blessed to have had so much success in this tournament.”