@Bruno Fitoussi 'The King' is a living legend in France where he is honored as one of the 'founding fathers of poker' in the country and has been a role model and inspiration for players of all generations. But he is also among the first - and rare - Europeans to build a reputation for himself and gain the respect and admiration of American players, as well.
In a 2014 interview, Daniel Negreanu urged for 'de-Americanization' of this institution of poker and named @Bruno Fitoussi as the worthy European HOF candidate:
Question: If you could change just one thing about the Poker Hall of Fame, what would it be?
Negreanu: Well, it’s way too American-centric. The Hall of Fame should reflect the growth of the game and the influence of other players, like overseas. So many people have done so much.
Question: So give us a name or two of people from overseas who you think deserve to be in the Poker Hall of Fame?
Negreanu: Easy. Bruno Fitoussi is the first. He’s done so much in France and all over Europe for poker. Everyone loves Bruno and respects him. He was one of the first people to bring Americans over to Paris to see the poker scene there.
If you, too, think it's time to induct a European in the Poker Hall of Fame, TODAY is your last chance to vote and nominate Bruno Fitoussi.
After the 15th of August, "all submissions will be tabulated and the top 10 nominations will be reviewed by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council. The existing Poker Hall of Fame members and a blue ribbon media panel will then cast votes of the final list of nominees to determine the class of 2015".
Meanwhile, watch Bruno move up to a runner-up finish (repeatedly enraging and eliminating Phil Hellmuth in the process :) at the WSOP 2007 H.O.R.S.E. Championship - arguably the toughest and most prestigious tournament in the world:
WSOP 2007 H.O.R.S.E, Episodes 1-6
Cast your vote for Bruno Fitoussi now:
http://www.wsop.com/2015/POKERHALLOFFAME/
2015 Poker Hall of Fame Nomnations | Official World Series of Poker Online www.wsop.com
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If you can squeeze it into your busy poker schedules, you can join Jennifer at the Villa Marina, Isle of Man, in this year's edition of the combined chess-and-poker tournament during PokerStars Isle of Man International Chess Tournament and the UKIPT Isle of Man (October 1-4, 2015)!
PokerStars Mind Sports Ambassador Jennifer Shahade Bio and Poker Profile
Jennifer Shahade on Rankinghero Jennifer Shahade on Rankinghero [repost from September 2014 by @Annie RKH] @Jennifer Shahade comes into the world of poker with the rigor of a chess grandmaster and a beautiful woman's self-questioning creativity. The...Poker Nuts and Nutcrackers
They say you don't need balls to play the nuts but you certainly need a lot more than a perfect flop to take home a big pot. Defined as 'any source of pleasure' in the Online Etymology Dictionary, by their relative nature, the nuts can also be a source of terrible pain and frustration. Many things can go wrong - from scaring off your opponent to waiting too long for them to catch up. And as if you don't already need good luck to hit the nuts on the flop, they can - and will often - change from flop to river, so it takes even greater luck to get it all in with someone holding the second-best hand and not to find yourself outdrawn by showdown...
In a nutshell, beware of nutcrackers and don't go nuts with the nuts ;)
Sometimes, no amount of Hollywooding and/or slowplaying will get you paid...
...and at other times, the poker gods may play a nutcracker joke with you on the river...
Ideally, your absolute best hand will come across the absolute second-best, resulting in coolers that will chill your opponents to the bone...
Watch the other videos in The Nuts Playlist starring @Kara Scott @Marvin Rettenmaier @Jose Ignacio Barbero and many others, and get inspiration for your own #PokerNugget in our ongoing mission!
Definition and origin
By definition, 'the nuts' / 'nut hand' refer to the best possible hand in any given situation and can change depending on the board.
According to Wikipedia, "A common and certainly apocryphal folk etymology is that the term originated from the historical poker games in the colonial west of America, where if a player bet everything he possessed, he would place the nuts of his wagon wheels on the table to ensure that, should he lose, he would be unable to flee and would have to make good on the bet. Since it would be expected that a player would only make such a bet when he had the best possible hand, the folk lore says that this is how the best possible hand came to be known as the nuts. It is also rumored that these historical games were played only in the winter, and therefore, the nuts that were placed on the table were 'stone cold', hence coining the term 'stone-cold-nuts'."
Check out the entries under the latest topic in our Poker Nugget Mission and contribute to our collection of golden poker tips!
http://www.rankinghero.com/en/clubs/492/Poker.Nugget/activity/2610142.html#activity
Newly Joined RankingHero Notables: Kara Scott
@Kara Scott is living proof of the fascinating diversity in the poker world when it comes to family and education backgrounds and personal histories. She went from teacher and Muay Thai boxer (!) to TV presenter and producer, poker player and ambassador, and today is one of the most respected and admired personalities in the industry. Please give a warm welcome to Kara and don't miss her interview for RankingHero!
Follow Kara on Instagram for more beautiful woman-in-red pics :)
She was born and raised in a small community in Northern Alberta, Canada, where winter temperatures of minus 50 degrees Celsius are not uncommon. Kara grew up close to nature, without luxuries such as running water or an in-house toilet. She says she was proud to be ‘the smartest kid in class’ and we’ll take her word for it since there were only six of them in that class :)
Armed with a linguistics and a teaching degree, as well as her martial arts training, she embarked in London right after she finished her education, bringing only her suitcases and the wish to ‘see the world’.
After some big city high-and-lows and a few years in teaching, she ended up working in television and by 2008 had fallen in love with poker. She started as show host but refused to be a ‘talking head asking silly questions’. So Kara learned everything she could on her own and then some more from the pros she was watching and interviewing every day, and took to the live felt in 2007.
2008-2009 marked her live poker career highs, including her biggest cash to date ($415,381) with a runner-up finish from PaddyPower Irish Open. Watch her flop the nuts in a hand from that final table (with 3.8 million views!):
2013 was a great year for Kara on a more personal level – she got engaged to be married to poker pro @Giovanni Rizzo and moved to Italy.
More big changes followed in 2014 as she left partypoker and the just married couple announced a new collaboration with Italian company Tilt Events.
Kara's latest poker project is with the Aria Super High Roller TV Series and this year again, we'll have the pleasure of watching her as sideline reporter and anchor for the WSOP on ESPN!
Kara has just joined us and still hasn't had time to explore the website but promised to do so very soon! We'll be looking forward to her feedback about HeroScore!
Meanwhile we invite you to read her exclusive interview for RankingHero, to visit her profile and give her distinctions.
http://www.rankinghero.com/kara.scott
Kara Scott - Poker index and results of Kara Scottwww.rankinghero.com
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Advoghado 31 Jul 2015
Very cool, great interview and Welcome @Kara Scott 
Arty Mcfly 3 Aug 2015
It's great to see Kara on here. She's done a huge amount to help keep poker popular, and seems like a genuinely nice person.
Score Good Karma Points in Time for WPTN London!
This week @Aspers Casino - Westfield Stratford City will be hosting the WPT National - London and the festival will kick off with a special charity event for the benefit of DT38 Foundation. If you believe one should 'give back to get more', here's an excellent opportunity to earn favor with the poker gods while supporting a good cause!
DT38 Foundation was established in memory of Australian born professional footballer (West Ham United) Dylan Tombides who was misdiagnosed at first and eventually lost his three-year battle with cancer at only 20 years old. The foundation is dedicated to raising awareness of testicular cancer and hopes to help change the way it is diagnosed so as to avoid tragedy striking other young lives.
Dylan at his West Ham debut in 2012, pursuing his dream all while battling cancer with surgery and chemotherapy. Photo: Newham Recorder
The rebuy charity tournament is scheduled on Wednesday July 29th at 7pm. The £100 buy-in will get you 6,000 starting chips and while 38% of the prize pool will be donated to DT38 Foundation, the @World Poker Tour and @PartyPoker.com are adding the following great prizes:
WPT National London Seat (two flights)Four sets of Monster headphonesA WPT500 entryTwo Grandstand tickets to October’s British MotoGPA £330 Pokerfest buy-inSigned sports memorabiliaWPT National flight buy-in for busting Simon Lazenby or Tony Dunst
Confirmed poker notables include @Charles Chattha @James Akenhead @James Dempsey and partypoker ambassador @Tony Dunst. RankingHero members will be pleased to know that our ambassadors @Lucille Cailly and @Pedro Canali will be in attendance as well!
And for those of us unable to play the event at Aspers, it is possible to donate directly on the DT38 JustGiving page!
Read Dylan's story as told by his mother, Tracy Tombides on the DT38 Foundation website:
Being Dylan - DT38 Foundationdt38.co.uk
%MCEPASTEBIN%
Mentions
Renaud Desferet 27 Jul 2015
Tempting
Szanto Anna 27 Jul 2015
Poker Writer & Coach Jonathan Little and 'Grindette' Katie Dozier on RankingHero
Two of the latest players to join us are well-known members of the poker community and active contributors - please welcome @Katie Dozier and @Jonathan Little! We hope to see both of them fill up their profiles soon so we can upvote and boost their HeroScores :) And most of all, of course, we hope they'll make the best use of our platform to share updates and poker content!
2008 WPT Player of the Year Jonathan Little ($6,169,635) is a professional poker player, prolific poker writer and highly respected coach, and regularly streams on Twitch:
JonathanLittlewww.twitch.tv
In one of his latest articles, Jonathan Little identifies 5 typical mistakes by amateur players and offers tips on how to Beat Your Friends at Texas Hold ’em.
Here's one of his latest videos about this summer's WSOP and you'll find lots of poker resources on his website:
Check out his player stats page to see how he did in WSOP 2015.
Katie Dozier is a pofessional poker player and writer for PokerStars, CardPlayer, and Two Plus Two Magazine. As one of the lovely four Grindettes she produces coaching videos and has co-authored two poker books with her husband, fellow poker pro @Collin Moshman.
For a sample of her writing, check out her advice to live poker pros in 5 Ways to Make Poker More Fun! Watch Katie 'hotjenny314' multi-tabling on PokerStars
..and find out more about her latest project here!
Grindette Katie Dozier: 'Hope is always worth fighting for' - Ranking Herowww.rankinghero.com
Mentions
online2014 15 Jul 2015
WELCOME!
10♠J♠Q♠K♠A♠
Guess the Last Hand of the WSOP Summer!
All good things must come to an end, alas. The World Series is drawing to an end in Vegas and we are wrapping up our WSOP Guessing Game. You've got a few more hours to post your 2015 prediction about the final table bubble hand! Here's a look at the last hands of the last 6 WSOP summers!
Curiously enough, it was A9o TWO years in a row - @Gaelle Baumann in 2012 and @Carlos Mortensen in 2013! Small pocket pairs were the end of @Jose-Luis Velador (2014) and @John Hewitt (2011) and back in 2009, Pocket Rockets failed the bubble boy @Jordan Smith.
The WSOP Guessing Game - Question 9 - Ranking Herowww.rankinghero.com
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Newly Joined RankingHeroes: Brian Rast
Please welcome multiple bracelet winner, U.S. All-time Number 7 and worldwide Number One in 2015, @Brian Rast!
Career live earnings: $15,615,763 HeroScore: 681,267
Watch Brian Rast in action at the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship in WSOP 2011 when he won the title in heads-up against none other than @Phil Hellmuth:
"Getting heads up with Hellmuth was awesome. Just to contrast, I had won a bracelet that summer. It was off on some side table. Honestly, after I won, it wasn't like I celebrated. The money was nice, but it's not like it was a ton. It was pretty small for a bracelet tournament. It was great to have won my first bracelet, although I didn't really appreciate it as much at the time. That was likely because neither the final table experience nor the money felt special. Whereas the $50K was not only at the real final table, it was being televised on ESPN. It was the first time I'd been at a major final table that was going to be on TV with hole-card cameras — definitely more pressure. After I won, it was probably the only time in my career that resulted in pure unadulterated celebration. It was a totally different experience. Way better. That's the experience you're going for. To this day it's definitely my most memorable accomplishment in poker."
[source: Life in the Rast Lane: Brian Rast's Incredible Poker Journey, PokerNews]
Even without a deep run in the 2015 Main Event, Brian Rast certainly had a good summer, with 5 cashes in the 46th Annual World Series of Poker. But even more notably, a 1st place in a small (22 entries, $25,000 buy-in) qualifier tournament at the @ARIA Resort & Casino led to a 1st place in a somewhat bigger ;) (43 entries, $500,000 buy-in) event - the inaugural Super High Roller Bowl.
Photo: Matthew Showell, PokerListings
Photo Blog from the High-Stakes Aria $500k Super High Roller Bowlwww.pokerlistings.com
The $7,525,000 in first-place prize money constitutes Brian Rast's biggest cash to date and took him up to 7th place in the all-time U.S. ranking by live tournament earnings and to Number One on the 2015 worldwide money list:
No wonder then that he has been able to enjoy the Main Event, even after busting:)
For another side of Brian as a romantic and a family man, check out @Chad Holloway's feature piece in PokerNews:
Life in the Rast Lane: Brian Rast's Incredible Poker Journeywww.pokernews.com
If you like his style, give him distinctions, endorse his achievements, and follow Brian Rast on RKH for the latest updates!
Mentions
Emty 13 Jul 2015
Nicolas Levi 13 Jul 2015
Welcome here :)
Quick WSOP Guessing Game Update
Thanks to our in-house game master @Ina Rkh, many RankingHeroes caught the 'forecasting bug'. The daily WSOP Guessing Game is drawing to an end with the last question to be posted tonight and I hope you've all enjoyed it!
I'd like to thank @ArchyWraith @Skilful who've shared resources and results of their research with the other guessers. Special congrats are in order for @Emty who guessed 6421 entries in WSOP Main Event and amazingly came within 1 entrant of the right answer - 6420!
There are 69 players remaining and plenty of Europeans (among whom, 4 Brits) are looking to reproduce last year's triumph of EUpoker :) Most notably, Belgium's 72-year-old @Pierre Neuville is chip leader and if he makes the November Nine, may well reverse the trend of younger finalists (in 2010 the average age of the final table players was a record 26 years and in 2014, the average age was 28).
French superstar @Patrick Bruel finished 237th and three-time Olympic medalist @Fatima Moreira De Melo left the competition earlier, in 286th place, so there are no more show business or sports stars in contention.
All the poker playing ladies are gone but one - our hopes are pinned on @Kelly Minkin, 40th in chips with 2,145,000 after winning a nice pot in the very last hand of Day 5!
Source: WSOP Live Updates
Among the 5 million+ live tournament pros, @Justin Bonomo is hanging in, with 1,295,000 chips. The current HeroScore Number One, @Daniel Negreanu has been enjoying himself immensely and has 3,620,000 chips, just 1.4 million short of his Day 5 target!
Wishing you all 'happy guesswork' with the last #WSOPguess question today!
Annie :)
In case you haven't placed your forecast bet in the WSOP Guessing Game Question 5 yet, quite an impressive group of top #HeroScore influencers are moving on to Day 3: @Daniel Negreanu @Phil Hellmuth @Thuan B. "Scotty" Nguyen @Chris Moorman @Jonathan Duhamel
I'm sure the ESPN TV producers are keeping their fingers crossed for Scotty Baby or The Poker Brat because of their ++EntertainmentValue :)
The WSOP Guessing Game - Question 5
Elena RKH on Rankinghero Elena RKH on Rankinghero The rules are simple: Every day of the Main Event, we ask a new question. You have 24 hours to post your prediction on your RankingHero page with the right hashtags. On July 16th, we will post the...
