The Most Spectacular Final Table Hand in WSOP Event 2

2012 WSOP Champion @Greg Merson made the final table in the first open event ($5000 NLHE) of this summer series and, in his own words, "ran sick hot to get 4 handed'. The most spectacular run-good example was Hand 34, when he hit his one-outer and made quads on the turn!

It started as a cooler...

With blinds at 12K/24K, Merson open raised to 55,000 from UTG+1 and Nguyen reraised to 155,000 from BB.

Then it went from bad to worse, with flopped set over set:

Nguyen bets 250,000 into the 354,000 pot, and Merson calls.

The turn lived up to its name with an improbable turn of events as Merson hit his one-outer and made quads:

Nguyen' goes all in. Merson snap calls.

Merson: "I didn't even want to call the 3-bet, knew he was good."

So it went, from set over set to full house vs quads. The miracle A♦ did not show and Nguyen left the final table in 8th place... 

All screenshots are from the WSOP live stream and you will soon be able to watch the replay here:

http://www.wsop.com/videos/?vcat=1

World Series of Poker - Official Tournament Coverage and Resultswww.wsop.com

More interesting hands coming soon for our #WSOP2015 #PokerHand collection!

Viktor Blom Twitches Up a Storm on Unibet Poker Channel

The megastar of online poker is the latest top pro to ride the twitch wave. @Viktor "isildur1" Blom streamed for 10 hours on the Unibet Poker channel, playing Hold'em and Omaha at cash tables ranging from €0,25/€0,50 to €2/€4. He was accompanied by @James Sykes - @Bluff Europe's podcast host.

Here are the stats kindly provided by Swedish @Unibet ambassador and journalist @Dan Glimne in his poker blog:

10 hours of streaming

30,000 unique views

1750 hands

442 flops (25%)

625 euros and 21 cents net profit 

The highlights are up: http://www.twitch.tv/unibetpoker/v/5572893

UnibetPokerUnibet Poker - Next Broadcast: Unibet Open Glasgow, 6-9 Junewww.twitch.tv

And you can also watch Viktor and Jamie in our coverage from the Unibet London Golden Cash Game:

Gold Rush, Loads of Action, and RankingHero in the Spotlight in Golden Cash Game - Ranking HeroRankingHero was at the center of the @Unibet Open Golden Cash Game action at @Aspers Casino - Westfield Stratford City! @Mathew Frankland wore our patch and finished with a significant net profit :)www.rankinghero.com

Don't forget to follow RankingHero on Twitch - another stream coming on Monday!

http://www.twitch.tv/rankinghero

RankingHeroThe Poker Talkshow GIVEAWAY with Unibet & RankingHerowww.twitch.tv

And last but not least, our own @Skilful is on Twitch too, and will surely be happy to be followed by fellow RankingHeroes :)

http://www.twitch.tv/skilfulpoker

SkilfulPokerUnibet Poker - Thursday Thrills! 4! x 4nl CASH TABLES ! www.twitch.tv

So who else is twitching? And who is in your twitch poker bookmarks?

More Inspiration for the Battle FOR Malta on RankingHero.com

As the Battle FOR Malta rages on RankingHero and is about to go into the second round with the flop, we hope to inspire even more of you to join in with a very special interview. Please meet and welcome to RankingHero Battle of Malta Tournament Director @Ivonne Montealegre Oviedo - a beautiful woman who had a beautiful vision of a poker holiday in Malta and made it all come true with the support of PokerListings!

Read the interview here and ask her your own questions but please be patient for the answers as Ivonne is happily expecting a baby any day now! (A baby destined to become a poker hero according to the prophetic words of a dealer to the pregnant Ivonne at the poker table:)  

RKH Interview: TD Ivonne Montealegre Promises Fantastic Poker Holiday with Battle of Malta! - Ranking HeroIn 2011 Ivonne Montealegre took the concept of a ‘poker holiday’ in Malta to PokerListings and together they have since been writing the record-smashing success story of The Battle of Malta. Ivonne herself comes from Costa Rica and features in the RKH database with a cash in 2014 LAPT Chile. Though she is not a pro player herself, she does ‘play professionally’ in another sense - to collect experience and ideas, to analyze, and take the best of what’s on offer in the live circuit in order to incorporate it in the events she creates herself as tournament director.www.rankinghero.com

The latest strategy mission to win a fantastic package for the Battle of Malta 2015 has inspired many of you and it is already certain that the honorable Judge @Nicolas Levi will have a tough time deciding the winner!..

Perhaps he will resort to the help of some Battle of Malta veterans in our community :)

Spot the Ranking Heroes in the final table photo from Battle of Malta 2014!

We are proud to have 4 of the 2014 finalists: the champion @Antoan Katsarov, runner-up @Alan James Brincat, @Hugo Lemaire and the latest to join us: from Sweden, third-place finisher @Pär Ebenhardt! But that's not all: two of the most popular poker pros based in Malta are on RankingHero, too, and I take this opportunity to invite you to follow and support the lovely couple @Sofia Lovgren and @Luca Moschitta! Last but not least, Ladies and Gentlemen, the official Battle of Malta host herself, @Maria Ho is in the house :)

Happy strategizing everyone and please join our new RankingHero News Group on Facebook, where we will also be posting updates about the Batle of Malta Mission!

RankingHero Member News: Jack Salter Interview

The UK poker community on RankingHero will no doubt be happy to see @Jack Salter among us!

Check out his poker profile, watch him in action in a selection of videos, and read his interview!

UK Poker Hero Jack Salter Profile & Interview - Ranking HeroIt was not that long ago that the 28 year-old Londoner scored his very first tournament cash on record (2010). Today he’s a fixture on the live circuit with his trademark all-in triangle sign, a favorite with fans, and a feared opponent at final tables in major tournaments across the world. @Jack Salter  finished 2014 second only to @Paul Newey by earnings in the UK, was distinguished as Breakout Player of the Year in the European Poker Awards, and topped the Bluff European Rankings for 2014!www.rankinghero.com

RankingHero Member News: Special Welcome to Maria Ho!

Please welcome @Maria Ho to the RankingHero community - give her distinctions and upvote her achievements! And hopefully we'll have lots of opportunities to congratulate her on future tournament cashes on her stats page!

Photo: The Official Site of Maria Ho

Current HeroScore: 441,222

If you are a female poker fan and/or active player, you probably love Maria Ho as a great personality and inspiring role model for Women-in-Poker!

She's also a favorite with the members of the male sex and there's hardly a Top Ten Hot Poker Babes list without her :)

Industry professionals admire her as a dedicated and popular brand ambassador and host.

Pros respect her for her impressive live tournament career, as confirmed by her 11th place in the all-time worldwide ranking of female players by earnings!

But what you may not know about Maria Ho is that she is equally a singer and musician and loves to perform when the opportunity arises :)

In fact, back in 2004, Maria appeared in Season 3 of American Idol and made it to Hollywood Week!

Here is Maria performing with @Tiffany Michelle - another fantastic-looking, successful poker player with a music talent who happens to be her best friend and companion in many of her endeavors (including poker and their joint participation in reality TV show The Amazing Race).

More about Maria Ho on RKH:

Three Women Who Inspired Us in WSOP 2014 - Ranking HeroThe only woman who won a bracelet in an open event this summer; the only woman to survive to Day 6 in the Main Event; and the first woman in history to cash AND to make it to the final table in the 50K Poker Players Championship - these are just some of the achievements of these three great players who inspired us during #WSOP2014 : @Vanessa Selbst @Maria Ho @Melissa Burr.www.rankinghero.com

Maria Ho Stealing a Pot for Women in Poker in 2014 WSOP Main Event - Ranking Hero@Maria Ho topped this year's WSOP women's ranking by cashes with 8 ITM finishes. What is more, for the second time since 2007, Maria was the last woman standing in the Main Event. She finished 77th out of 6683 for $85,812!www.rankinghero.com

"We Are Facebook on Steroids for Poker"

@Nicolas Levi talks to @Lee Davy about #HeroScore and RankingHero.com!

Tell me about Hero Score.

“All sports have their industry ranking such as the PGA, and they are very good in terms of an aspirational model, but we also think poker is different. It’s not just a sport – it’s also a game. So we decided to do something completely different and create rankings of poker prestige and influence. If you rank people by the money they have made it doesn’t tell the whole story. Also, don’t forget, those rankings don’t tell you how much they have lost.

“It’s like comparing companies by who is spending the most money. WE want to know who is creating the better contribution: where does Apple fit against Tesla, or McDonalds? So we are introducing a ranking system that has an actual meaning: how much does a poker player do for the industry. We think it’s needed. A lot of people are complaining about the pros that just care about making money. If that were all you are going to say about them, then why would they want to do anything else?

“The Hero Score has three dimensions. The first is results, because the best poker players naturally get prestige. These results compare live and online, so the likes of Moorman, Kaiser, and Isildur will now be considered. Then there is a dimension for popularity. Suddenly, people, like Dan Bilzerian pops up. You also get some local stars. Patrick Bruel is mega famous in France, and he pops up because he single handedly created the fourth biggest poker market in the world. The third is contribution. Here we look at what someone has done – like a Linked In resume – so you can say that you created a blog; streamed on Twitch, etc., and this gives you a base amount of points. Then the community can up vote for these things. The more people do this, the more relevant the scores get.

“I have looked at the tables. They look pretty solid. It will evolve as the community continues to rank these people. As we reward people for doing meaningful things in the industry, it gives people a reason to do well. We have beta tested this for eight months and it’s the most exciting thing we have done.”

How important is it to find something different like this?

“I would say it’s not just important to be different, it’s the whole point. If you come to a mature industry, like poker, then you have to ask why are we here and what are we doing? We want to generate conversation. People talk about results and rankings so we need these to make people feel at home. At Ranking Hero you can see what they have won live and online, where they are posting, Facebook, Twitter, and you can congratulate them when they cash. It’s a one-stop shop for every activity in the poker industry for a player. It’s a completely different value proposition from everybody else, and it took a tremendous amount of time to build. We couldn’t be more different.”

read on:

Nicolas Levi on Ranking Hero’s New Hero Score RankingsLee Davy catches up with Ranking Hero co-founder, Nicolas Levi, to talk about the social media network’s latest development: The Hero Score.calvinayre.com

RankingHero Member News&Updates: Ruth Hall

We are as proud as LIPS (@Ladies International Poker Series) to have @Ruth Hall among us and very happy every time she adds a new cash to her poker stats page :)

Current HeroScore: 41,507!

Find out more about Ruth:Ruth Hall in the Spotlight with Ladies International Poker Series - Ranking HeroThis month's player spotlight of @Ladies International Poker Series is on Ruth Hall, whom we are very happy to have as a RankingHero member!www.rankinghero.com

Heroscore Released: Ivey and Negreanu Top Influencers in Poker

It's official: Heroscore is up and running for everyone to explore! Discover the poker ranking which is like no other, upvote your favorite players and boost your own Heroscore by adding your achievements!

The top two names in the Heroscore ranking released today need no introductions. Together, @Phil Ivey and @Daniel Negreanu  have $53.5 million in live tournament winnngs, 16 WSOP bracelets, 1.2 m followers on Twitter, not to mention the fans they have helped win for the game of poker with their countless TV appearances! Explore their profiles on RankingHero to see some of the achievements that take them to the top of our unique ranking, which is based on poker results, contribution and popularity! 

Everything you need to know about #HeroScore:

Nicolas Levi explains what Heroscore is:

Nicolas Levi - Blog Post - Ranking Hero www.rankinghero.com

 The Heroscore FAQ 

Support - FAQ - Ranking Herowww.rankinghero.com

The Heroscore Tutorial

Tutorial: HeroScorewww.rankinghero.com

The full Heroscore ranking:

HeroScore - Ranking Herowww.rankinghero.com

Start exploring and please share your comments, criticism, and praise :)

HeroScore Countdown: Number 3, Phil Hellmuth

In case you've missed it, find out what HeroScore is in this post by @Nicolas Levi! 

The new feature will premiere on Monday, May 18th. Meanwhile, here are the top influencers revealed so far:

@Michael Mizrachi   Number 10

@Chris Moorman   Number 9

@Dan Bilzerian   Number 8

@Antonio Esfandiari  Number 7

@Patrick Bruel Number 6

@Doyle Brunson Number 5

@Erik Seidel Number 4

Our Heroscore Number 3 has won WSOP bracelets in FOUR decades!

"Bad Boy of Poker" @Phil Hellmuth celebrated his 50th anniversary in 2014 and has won World Series of Poker bracelets in all of the past FOUR decades. He owns a record 13 bracelets and is equally unsurpassed by number of in-the-money finishes and final tables in the World Series. He was inducted in the Poker Hall of Fame in 2007.

Hellmuth's explosive personality has earned him the nickname "The Poker Brat". He was the youngest player to win the WSOP Main Event at the age of 24 in 1989. With over 18,000,000 dollars in live tournament winnings, he ranks seventh in the all-time money list.

The long list of his achievements includes countless TV appearances as player and commentator, best-selling DVDs and poker books, as well as numerous business ventures, including a mobile phone game and clothing line.

Check back tomorrow for the official launch of #HeroScore and thank you for joining the Thunderclap campaign :)  

HeroScore LaunchI just supported HeroScore Launch on @ThunderclapIt // @RankingHerowww.thunderclap.it

Just hours away from the unveiling of the two highest heroscores in the world of poker, who do you think are the personalities leading the unique ranking by combined results, contribution, and popularity?

HeroScore Countdown: Number 4, Erik Seidel

In case you've missed it, find out what HeroScore is in this post by @Nicolas Levi! 

The new feature will premiere on Monday, May 18th. Meanwhile, the Top 10 countdown has revealed

@Michael Mizrachi   Number 10

@Chris Moorman   Number 9

@Dan Bilzerian   Number 8

@Antonio Esfandiari  Number 7

@Patrick Bruel Number 6

@Doyle Brunson Number 5

Our HeroScore Number 4 has had an amazing poker career, yet he may be most famous for a hand he lost 27 years ago!

@Erik Seidel  is a veteran in poker and has amassed $23,954,113 in live tournament earnings. His trophy cabinet includes 8 WSOP bracelets and a WPT title. Seidel recently scored the second biggest cash of his career when he took down the EPT super high roller in Monte Carlo.  He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2010.

Back in 1988, the very first time Erik Seidel played the World Series, he went all the way to heads-up in the Main Event. The final hand that he lost to Johnny Chan was featured in the all-time favorite poker movie - Rounders.

Coming right up, #HeroScore Number 3!