The Young Man and the Sea: Must-Read Story by Poker Pro Sorel Mizzi

It has all the ingredients of a Hollywood script - a beautiful setting (Rio de Janeiro), famous real-life characters (yes, the casually mentioned 'Dan' is the prodigal prince of high-rollers, @Daniel Colman), a seemingly impossible challenge, and, of course, a protagonist who is heroic in a most unpretentious and likeable way. Needless to say, it also has the Hollywood happy ending. 

This victory helped me prove to myself as well as others that belief in yourself makes your visions both possible and attainable.

@Sorel Mizzi (Canada's Number 4 with $11,199,439 in live earnings) has written a great story, Swimming Against All Odds, about how he accepted a bet with a bunch of 'degenerate gambler' friends that he would manage to swim across to the distant island in the picture below:

Fans are sure to enjoy the glimpse into the world of high-stakes poker stars off the tables and Mizzi also shares some valuable tips and experience with visualization as a powerful tool for self-fulfillment. But perhaps best and most thought-provoking of all is the question he throws back at us in the last line:

One of my favorite authors, Napoleon Hill, once said “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve.”

And the real question I have to you is: what exactly is it that you want to achieve, and what story do you keep telling yourself that’s holding you back?

PS

I happened to accidentally save the pics for this article in a folder on my laptop called 'HeroScore' . The more I think about it, the more appropriate it seems and who knows what heroic exploits this inspirational story might unleash over the weekend ;) Whether you use the visualization technique or self-analysis to overcome or at least identify the fears and insecurities that might be holding you back, please share with your fellow RankingHeroes! In the meantime, we can all spare a minute to visit Mizzi's page and give his HeroScore a little boost :)

Swimming Against All Odds - Sorel MizziI can still remember fragmented images from early childhood experience with water; swimming with my floaters placed firmly around my arms, while Mom and Dad lounged next to the pool. Being fascinated and curious about the world around me, on one particular occasion, I took the floaters off to explore further depths. My parents observed …sorelmizzi.ca

Have you placed your forecast bet in our WSOP Guessing Game yet?

There's never a shortage of celebs in Vegas and many of them are drawn (like moths to a flame?..) to the poker tables during the WSOP Main Event. In the year when PokerStars signed two football superstars - Neymar Jr and Cristiano Ronaldo - it might be great to see a celebrity and/or sports elite breakthrough in the WSOP. What's your prediction?

Unfortunately, one Hollywood star who is NOT going to shine at the final table is Aaron 'Breaking Bad' Paul...

Aaron Paul Breaks Bad to Bust $10,000 WSOP Main EventAaron Paul, famous for portraying Jesse Pinkman in the acclaimed Breaking Bad, is the latest celebrity to slap down $10,000 to play the World Series of Pokerwww.pokerlistings.com

Do you have any other tips about celebs and famous athletes spotted at the @Rio? Share with the other guessers in the WSOP Guessing Game! 

Maybe we should hope they don't make it since our good friend @Alessio Bianchi threatens to quit the game if they do ;)

The WSOP Guessing Game - Question 3 - Ranking Hero Every day of the Main Event, we ask a new question.www.rankinghero.com

News from the Ladies Poker Front

Some are busy collecting cashes in #WSOP2015 and other live events in Vegas casinos, others are engaged with charity or even reality TV projects. Still others, are making the most of their tournament dinner breaks and girls' nights out :) Let Big Brother watch, Sisters know how to have fun with poker!

Here are some #womenINpoker picks and bits!

@PokerListings Battle of Malta Host @Maria Ho is busy with a charity 'diplomatic' mission: she will be hosting the upcoming @Chad J Brown Memorial Tournament:

Read Maria's interview for RankingHero here and RT this tweet of hers to help spread the news of the charity event :)

As you know from our articles&interview, Maria Ho has been in two reality TV shows herself. Now her good friend @Vanessa Rousso has been getting lots of mainstream media attention for poker as one of the contestants in the ongoing Big Brother show on CBS! We wish Vanessa luck in all her endeavours and hope she will always stand by her life's motto:

I find my calm not at the finish line, looking back at the distance I've traveled, but in the moment, on the run, out of breath, looking forward. I don't know where I'm going, and I guess I hope to God I never get there—I'm happy as I am: Chasing something eternal and ethereal. The world is not—will never be—enough for me and that's just the way I like it. Also, I live by a code of, "Do right, be fair, have heart.

@Natasha Barbour was the first female player to come close to the gold this summer, in WSOP Event 20, but...

Here's how the hand ran, as reported in WSOP Live Updates:

Natasha Barbour calls from the small blind and @Benjamin Zamani  makes it 710,000 to go from the big blind. Barbour announces a reraise and makes it 1.6 million total. Zamani snap four-bets as he says "two point nine".

Barbour grabs a stack of chips and then calls. There's nearly six million in the pot in what is sure to be the defining moment of the tournament.

The flop comes A♦2♣7♣and Zamani quickly pushes forward some chips for a bet of 950,000. Barbour snap-calls.

The turn is the A♠ and Zamani taps the table softly. Barbour thinks for a moment and then announces that she is all in. Zamani holds up his cards and turns them over as he announces a call.

Zamani: A♣Q♦
Barbour:10♠9♣

Zamani has trips, and Barbour is drawing dead. The dealer puts out the 8♠on the river.While she wasn't happy with her read on her opponent, Natasha was excited to have won a lot of money for her backers. "They believed in me, and now we all win, so I'm very happy for them and for myself."

If there was any disappointment, it must soon have been completely turned around with the amazing run of Barbour's boyfriend @Jason Mercier (one win, one runner-up, and one 7th place finish in two weeks)!

.

Entertainment lawyer, movie producer (The First Time) and screenwriter (No Reservations) @Carol Fuchs not just came close, but actually captured the first open event bracelet for womenINpoker this year! She outplayed an illustrious field including the reigning 2014 champion @Robert Mizrachi in a tough event with 19 variants of poker! Carol may be an amateur, but she is a regular in a famous Hollywood home game, featuring Castle Rock Entertainment executives, among whom the company's co-founder and Carol's husband, @Martin Shafer. And guess what they play? Dealer's Choice...

“It’s encouraging when someone like me who is an amateur, and a woman, and – let’s just say someone ‘older than 30’ – wins something big like this. I respect what the pros do, but for a non-pro to come out here and win, is encouraging for all players and especially for amateurs and women.”

Always a media favorite, the Ladies Event, which has been a tradition since 1977, drew a great and cheerful field this year. Though few of the notable entrants made it to the top, they couldn't wait for the dinner break and the Ladies Night party ;)

Crowned queen of the tournament, after besting a field of 795 entrants, was a 66-year-old former nurse from Florida - @Jacquelyn Scott, who played her first WSOP event! 

I think the Ladies event is really special. I’m used to playing mostly with men back at home, but decided to come out for the first time and play in this. I was so impressed by the way everyone behaves and the kindness you see at the table. We talk among ourselves and really enjoy the atmosphere. Many women make this their one Las Vegas tournament of the year.

Jacquelyn is a licensed real estate broker, so now you know where to go if you should be looking to buy property in Southern Florida :)

Hoping to bring you more good news about the ladies playing in Vegas soon and looking forward to seeing more female players' names coming up in the WSOP guessing game of our own @Ina Rkh ;)  

He's a hero of two games and two passionate communities - poker and Magic:The Gathering! As always in the busy WSOP season, he's hopping from one tournament to another (and collecting cashes on the way:) It might be an idea for our in-house 'gamemaster' @Ina Rkh: Will Gabriel Nassif make it to the 18 paid places in the 10K Championship?..  Will he capture a bracelet in the year of the 10th anniversary of his first WSOP cash? Make your bets now :) 

Read the interview with @Gabriel Nassif: 

RankingHero Interview: Magic-the-Gathering and Poker Hero Gabriel Nassif

Gabriel Nassif on Rankinghero Gabriel Nassif on Rankinghero The Magic:The Gathering champion is also France's WSOP number one by final tables and ITM finishes, though he has yet to get a winner's photo in the gallery of bracelet holders. Gabriel Nassif...

She made time in her busy WSOP schedule to answer our questions and we love her all the more for it! Thank you @Maria Ho and go get that bracelet now!!! :) 

RankingHero Interview: Maria Ho about Battle of Malta, the WSOP, and more!

Maria Ho on Rankinghero Maria Ho on Rankinghero While a very successful live tournament player (three-time Last Woman Standing in WSOP ME!), Maria Ho's career in poker is by no means confined to the tables. Coaching, writing and commentating,...

Newly Joined Poker Notables on RankingHero: Russ 'Dutch' Boyd

We are proud to welcome multiple WSOP bracelet winner @Russ 'Dutch' Boyd!

Did you know

Russ was a child prodigy and started college when he was 12! He obtained his law degree at the age of 18 but opted for a professional poker career instead.

Here's how he introduces himself on his website:

I HAVE A PERFECT GIRLFRIEND, MICHELE. WE LIVE IN VEGAS WITH OUR DOG, JUNE. BASICALLY, I'M JUST LIKE YOU. ANOTHER PLAYER IN LIFE, MOVING FORWARD, TRYING TO MAKE THE RIGHT MOVES.

'A player just like us', possibly with a 'tiny' difference: Dutch Boyd won a WSOP gold bracelet in 2006, did it again in 2010, and yet again in 2014 :) This year he published his first book Poker Tilt, co-authored with Laurence Samuels.

@Nolan Dalla:  Dutch Boyd takes us on a wild roller coaster ride of ups and downs and twists and turns, interweaving his experiences in and out poker into a deeply personal, at times provocative reflection of living in the fast lane. Funny, sad, riveting, thought-provoking, and always on edge, this book is an amusement park of emotions.

Maybe he'll find time to share a few snippets of his personal story on RankingHero and meanwhile, here's the link to @Lee Davy's latest interview:

Dutch Boyd: “I Don’t Want The Golden Age of Poker to be 2006”

Dutch Boyd: “I Don’t Want The Golden Age of Poker to be 2006”Lee Davy talks with three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Dutch Boyd about life inside and outside the WSOP, and why Twitch could save our gamewww.pokerupdate.com

The must-see final heads-up in the NLHE Short Handed against then reigning WSOP champion @Joe Hachem in 2006:

If you enjoy his writing and play,  there's a great way to give back and show him your appreciation - give Dutch Boyd distinctions and endorse his achievements to boost his HeroScore! 

Unibet Open Glasgow Over, Long Live UO Cannes!

A new hero of #BGPoker has emerged -  @Daniel Chutrov qualified online for €250, finished Day 1a as chip leader and then kept up his good run, leading throughout the tournament and finally besting a field of 211 for the @Unibet Open title and $65,762!

After the legendary Celtic Park, next stop in the Unibet Open is glamorous Cannes and the @Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette, September 17-20! The latest champion, Daniel Chutrov is sure to be there and hopefully we'll have many RankingHeroes to root for, as well :)

The final hand:

Would YOU have made that call?

Our own qualifier @B165L1Ck75 had an unfortunate short run but a long weekend of fun (apparently even meeting up with some of the @Ace-High Poker Group)  in Glasgow and we hope to hear more about it from him! In fact, his KK  running into AQ and a flopped flush in a major tournament certainly qualifies for the ongoing 'spectacular hand mission'.

Meanwhile, you may notice two other members of RankingHero in the Unibet Open Glasgow paid places - @Quentin Lecomte (24th) and our Last Longer winner from Unibet Open London, @Paulo Rodrigues, who finished 22nd :)

True Hero of Amateur Poker: Meet Unibet Open Finalist & RankingHero Last Longer Winner Paulo Rodrigues - Ranking HeroPoker media and fans sometimes get so engrossed in the big winners and stars of the game that we tend to forget the ranks and file of live tournament poker - the amateurs with real day jobs who have to save up vacation days and money to play half a dozen tournaments each year; who are struggling to overcome more or less vocal family disapproval; who have to juggle relationships, work,  and the all-consuming passion for poker...www.rankinghero.com

Quentin and Paulo are Unibet Open regulars and maybe we'll have the chance to see them again in UO Cannes in September? And who knows, there might be another fun competition on RankingHero and a second chance for @B165L1Ck75 :)

The Colossal Numbers of the Colossus

@Lance Garcia will go down in history as the winner of the biggest poker tournament of all time after besting a never-seen field of 22,374. Yet, some would say that the real winner in the Colossus is the WSOP with the raked $1,454,310 :) 

Entries: 22,374 / $565 buy-in

Unique players: 14,284, from 98 countries, aged between 21 and 96 (!), of whom 5,664 had never played a World Series event before!

Prize pool: $11,187,000

Paid places: 2241

First place prize: $638,880

Rake: $65 / $1,454,310

During the eight days between May 28 and June 3, the event used 362,425 poker chips, 982 dealers, and 4,480 decks of cards.

Surprisingly enough, perhaps the least impressive number from the Colossus was the first place prize: $638,880 (5.7% of the prize pool). Many were outraged when it was announced, especially in light of the $1.45 million raked in by Caesar's Entertainment (owner of the WSOP brand).

Event 5: $565 NLHE THE COLOSSUS (USD5 000 000 Guaranteed Prize Pool) - Ranking Herowww.rankinghero.com

What do YOU think? Was the Colossus ultimately good for poker? Do you agree 'no one would have played' if they knew the winner only stood to win 600k?.. 

Poker Takes Over Sacred Football Ground: Unibet Open at Celtic Park

UK's biggest tournament in 2015 is about to kick off at the largest stadium in Scotland: the legendary Celtic Park will host Unibet Open Glasgow!

Poker is thinking BIG these days - big stars, big fields, big venues. Across the Atlantic, the WSOP staged the biggest tournament in history as the much awaited Colossus registered 22,374 entries. And when you are looking to attract the crowds and reinforce your public image and prestige as a sport, what better natural ally than football, with its armies of passionate fans and its pool of experienced and popular ambassadors.  The biggest company in the industry recently signed two megastars of football:- Neymar Jr and Cristiano Ronaldo are the latest PokerStars Team SportsStars. 

Unibet finds itself on the crest of both waves - the 'Big is Beautiful' and the football-themed one :) Unibet Open Glasgow will be the first major tournament to take place at the home of Scottish champions, Celtic F.C.. Celtic Park is one of the most iconic football stadiums in the world, and to celebrate this, Unibet will be hosting a Sports Legend invitational alongside the €1,100 Unibet Open.

Unibet Sports Legends Challenge

Both sides of the famous “Old Firm” (Celtic and Rangers) will be represented in the Sports Legends invitational which takes place on Saturday 6th June with former Dutch International and Rangers full back,  @Arthur Numan joining former Celtic and Republic of Ireland international turned poker shark, @Tony Cascarino. Other sporting legends attending include footballers @Rob Lee and @Pat Nevin , along with ex-England cricketer, @Graeme Swann.

Streaming

The Unibet Sports Legends event will be streamed live on June 6th at 15.30 CET via Unibet Poker’s YouTube and Twitch channels. All four days of the €1,100 Unibet Open main event will also be streamed live with hole cards shown throughout:

Day 1a – Saturday 6th June 2015 15:30 CET: https://youtu.be/wBqOR0e8wY4
Day 1b – Sunday 7th June 2015 15:30 CET: https://youtu.be/qe2K36rcEOg

Day 2 – Monday 8th June 2015 14:30 CET: https://youtu.be/yLBRbT_Ot-o

Day 3 (Final Day) – Tuesday 9th June 2015 14:30 CET: https://youtu.be/D7BZCXnockU

All players please note:

NO CASH BUY-INS

Unibet Open Glasgow will be a cashless event, so players are encouraged to buy in online via the Unibet client by logging into the client or at @Grosvenor Casino Merchant City. 

RankingHeroes will be rooting for our own @B165L1Ck75 who won his package in the FUN WAY TO GLASGOW and we'll look forward to his posts about what is sure to be an amazing event!

Meanwhile, you have until Saturday 15h00 to place your bets and the odds for all competing sporting legends can be found here:

https://www.unibet.com/betting#/group/2000054290/category/0

Unibet Sports - online sports betting oddsUnibet offers online sports betting odds, live betting on all major sports events like Premier League, Champions League, NHL and many more.www.unibet.com

So, are you Celtic or Rangers? Football or cricket fan? Would you put your money on the favorite Tony Cascarino or the underdog Arthur Numan? Will be even more fun to watch the stream if any of you decide to bet - let us know :)