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World Poker Tour Yet to Crown First Female Champion

The @World Poker Tour is in its 13th Season and has yet to crown its first lady champion. About 2 dozen have made the main event final tables since 2002, and six female players have played heads-up for the  title: @Kathy Liebert@Joanne Jishung "JJ" Liu@Vanessa Selbst@Lily Kiletto@Cecilia Pescaglini, and @Diane Gagne.

Today we will be watching @Gaelle Baumann at the partypoker WPT Vienna final table of six, while across the Atlantic another woman will be battling the remaining 17 in the WPT Rolling Thunder - @Joanne Jishung "JJ" Liu!

Anthony Zinno won his Season 12 title in the Borgata Poker Open in heads-up with one of the top scoring women in the World Poker Tour: Vanessa Selbst. 

 

Another high-finishing lady in the WPT who has played heads-up for the title is Taiwan-born Californian @Joanne Jishung "JJ" Liu. In 2007 she was defeated by @Ted Forrest and finished second for $600,000 in the $10k buy-in WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star:


WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star 2007 Pt09 von allpoker56 

 

2015 WPT Rolling Thunder, @Thunder Valley Casino Resort 

Today JJ Liu will be seated at Table 1 as the WPT Rolling Thunder rolls towards its culmination, most notably in the company of the short-stacked (10 bb) two-time champion @Darren Elias (2014 WPT Borgata Poker Open and 2014 WPT Caribbean).

Photo: flickr.com, World Poker Tour

2015 partypoker WPT Vienna, @Montesino - Wien 

The WPT Vienna Main Event starting field of 220 is now down to 6. Gaelle Baumann starts with the shortest stack, and is guaranteed a minimum cash of $30,964 for 6th place finish.

Seat 1 - @Vladimir Krastev - 2,379,000
Seat 2 - @Thomas Bichon - 593,000
Seat 3 - @Konstantinos Nanos  - 1,386,000
Seat 4 - @Andreas Freund  - 521,000
Seat 5 - @Sotirios Koutoupas  - 1,327,000
Seat 6 - @Gaelle Baumann  - 382,000

WPT Champions

Meanwhile, in WPT history, three players have won three titles each @Gus Hansen @Carlos Mortensen and most recently, @Anthony Zinno (Borgata 2013, Fallsview 2015, LAPC 2015).

Zinno is also part of another exclusive  three-member club together with @Marvin Rettenmaier and @Darren Elias. They have all won back-to-back titles in the same season ('MadMarvin' in two overlapping seasons). 

The Poker Merry-Go-Round...

@Gaelle Baumann doubles up through @Vladimir Krastev  with AQ...

...only to get busted by his AQ a little later...

Congratulations to Gaelle on her 5th place and $37,262 prize!

GG Gaelle, another first class performance!

Does Your Mother Know (You Play Poker)

March 15th 2015 is Mothering Sunday in the UK! Let's give a shoutout to all poker-playing and poker-players' Moms!!!

Take the survey:

Weekly RankingHero Highlights

Congrats to our winners of the week @Scott Demoulin and @Christopher Perez at the @ARIA Resort & Casino@Edward Liu at the @Bicycle Casino,  @Mark Duguid at @Grosvenor Casino Merchant City!  

The RankingHero community is proud of @Jose Ignacio Barbero's great performance in LAPT Chile Main Event, where the two-time LAPT champion made his seventh final table in the @Latin American Poker Tour! Congratulations on the 4th place finish!

In more news from the LAPT, find out how 'purple became the new yellow-and-green':

LAPT Runner-Up Renata Teixeira Refuels Brazil's Newfound Poker Passion 

Meanwhile, all the questions we've been discussing with the MoreThanMoney hashtag seem to be heading for a showdown :) What do we have in store for you?

What is HeroScore ? - Ranking HeroDear Ranking Heroes,You’ve been seeing and posting under the #MoreThanMoney hashtag in the past month and a half.www.rankinghero.com

 

Today is Mothering Sunday in the UK. Congrats to all poker-playing and poker players' moms!!! Here is why @Lee Davy thinks 'it should be International Women's Day every day' :) 

Must Read: Part II of @Nicolas Levi's interview with WeeklyHero @Jack McClelland

'Casinos always considered poker like a doorstep child' Part II, Jack McClelland Interview - Ranking HeroIn Part I of the interview long-time tournament director, @Bellagio legend, and 2014 Poker Hall of Fame inductee @Jack McClelland talked about the 'perfect storm', the rise of televised poker and the 'lottery mentality', and the subsequent down cycle.www.rankinghero.com

Join the discussion about the November Nine format - see how @Billy Pappas commented on Facebook and share your own opinion! 

WPT and WSOP Pitting Their Gladiators in Quest for the World? - Ranking HeroSpeaking as an 'old-school poker player' and long-time devoted fan of the WSOP, partypoker spokesman and @World Poker Tour host @Mike Sexton recently voiced his concern that the World Series does not seem to be evolving in the best interest of players. A response was quick to come on the partypoker blog - from none less than @World Series of Poker Executive Director Ty Stewart.www.rankinghero.com

Special welcome to @Kennii Nguyen  @Nicolas Le Floch @Sharon (Sherrie) Nachamkin @Michael Vanderwoude, to all the members of the @Mona Lisa club, and everyone else who joined rankinghero.com in the past week!

Good luck at the tables  and keep us posted!!!

Yours truly,

@Annie RKH 

#RKHweekly  

LAPT Runner-Up Renata Teixeira Refuels Brazil's Newfound Poker Passion

'Purple was the new yellow-and-green' on Twitter and Facebook during the recent LAPT 8 Chile 2015 Final Table, in honor of Brazil's Renatinha! @Renata Teixeira De Paulo scored the best result by a female player in Brazilian poker history and the biggest cash & highest finish by a woman in all 8 seasons of the @Latin American Poker Tour so far. 

After blazing for several months with #vamosfostera and the first-ever Brazilian November Niner @Bruno Politano, poker fever exploded again in Brazil with Renata's great run in the LAPT Chile Main Event. This time the hashtag was #somostodosxtinhax and the color was purple but the carnival spirit in the rail and the excitement of the fans was just the same! 

The purple-haired pro made her Akkari Team (sponsored by PokerStars Team Pro @Andre Akkari)  proud and is sure to inspire more Brazilian women to ride the poker wave under the #VamosBrasileiras banner :)

Watch Renata win a crucial pot and the chip lead just before the 4-way chop deal:

Source: PokerStars Live Stream, You can watch the LAPT8 Chile Main Event coverage and Final Table on the PokerStars YouTube Channel

 

The deal:

Teixeira: $113,460; @Oscar Alache Orrego: $111,962; @Jose Ignacio Barbero: $100,073; @Osvaldo Venegas: $86,505. Play then resumed for the title and $20,000, which ultimately went to Chile's now two-time LAPT champion, Oscar Alache!

Special congratulations to our own hero at the final table - Nacho Barbero, who finished 4th!  We hope that Renata herself will join the growing Brazilian group within the RankingHero community and maybe @Mustafa Ali will help extend the open invitation :)

 

Check out the vamosfosteraRKH page for more Brazilian poker coverage on RankingHero.com!

Who Is Your Last Longer Bet Among the Shooting Stars in WPT Bay 101?

With $2,500 bounties on some of the best-known heads in poker, the @World Poker Tour Shooting Star currently under way at @Bay 101 is a very popular and fun event to follow. Check out the Day 2 survivors and pick your Last Longer favorite! 

Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldpokertour

This year, there were 52 Shooting Stars at the outset:

Aaron Massey, Andrew Lichtenberger, Andy Frankenberger, Anthony Zinno, Antonio Esfandiari, Bryn Kenney, Chris Moorman, Dan Shak, Dan Smith, Daniel Negreanu, Darren Elias, David Sands, Dominik Nitsche, Erik Seidel, Eugene Katchalov, Faraz Jaka, Garrett Greer, Greg Mueller, James Carroll, Jared Jaffee, Jason Koon, Jason Mercier, J.C. Tran, Jeff Madsen, Joe Hachem, Joe Kuether, Joe Serock, John Hennigan, Keven Stammen, Kevin Mathers, Lily Kiletto, Liv Boeree, Maria Ho, Marvin Rettenmaier, Matt Salsberg, Matt Stout, Mike Leah, Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton, Mohsin Charania, Mukul Pahuja, Nick Schulman, Noah Schwartz, Phil Hellmuth, Ronit Chamani, Ryan Riess, Scott Siever, Scotty Nguyen, Sorel Mizzi, Todd Brunson, Tyler Patterson, and Will Failla.

As we get ready for Day 2, with 252 players left out of 700, twenty special Bounty T-shirts with the names and photos of the shot-down stars have already been given out.


@Lily Kiletto about to sign her T-shirt for the bounty hunter who took her out and @Igor Kurganov showing off after busting @Mike Matusow :)

You can check the Day 1A and Day 1B survivors here and pick your favorite to Last Longer! Play resumes today at 6 pm GMT (11 am PDT).

Day 2 chip counts and seating plan available from WPT Live Updates:

WPT | Live Updates | LiveOfficial Site. Find show and tournament information. Watch clips, view WPT player bios and statistics, improve your game, and play online.www.worldpokertour.com

I myself feel obliged to root for the only surviving female Shooting Star, @Ronit Chamani, and for someone who does not have a bounty on her head but has been taking down stars (such as @Dan Shak)  - the chipleader  @Haixia Zhang! Who is YOUR #ShootingStar #bay101 pick?..

WPT and WSOP Pitting Their Gladiators in Quest for the World?

Speaking as an 'old-school poker player' and long-time devoted fan of the WSOP, partypoker spokesman and @World Poker Tour host @Mike Sexton recently voiced his concern that the World Series does not seem to be evolving in the best interest of players. A response was quick to come on the partypoker blog - from none less than @World Series of Poker Executive Director Ty Stewart.

Essentially, Mike Sexton brings up two objections - to the November Nine concept and to the world expansion of the WSOP, with bracelet and POY events in Europe and Australia. In other words, what started in Vegas, should stay in Vegas, and it should all happen in July!

Mike Sexton Ty Stewart
We all know they move the main event final table from July to November for PR and TV reasons.

I hope the industry feels proud of a platform which sees every hand of a poker tournament covered on the #1 sports network in the world via a multi-day prime time finale. Extended coverage, cross-promotion on ESPN programming, even the big lead on SportsCenter. From metrics like trends on twitter, measured media, etc. the WSOP Final Table is the biggest window we have to celebrate the game. By the same token, I don't think anyone (with exception perhaps of another tour) would want to see those weekly prime-time slots on ESPN go away that reach the masses. Definitely not best appropach to market game to put WSOP in a one-week box and complete serialized programming in July.

1)The WSOP keeping players’ money for four months
2)Players having an opportunity to train for an additional four months
3)Those of us that are in-shape are being penalized by allowing others months off to rest, etc. One of these days, someone is going to die in the four months before the final table. I’m guessing they’ll put a little coffin on the table and blind that person off (a sombre victor for the eventual winner).
4)A player from Finland, South Africa, or Australia, one of these days, is going to make it to the final table with 2-3 Big Blinds and have to travel all the way back to Vegas to, most likely, go out in the first couple of hands and receive no additional money.


Simply put, the November Nine doesn’t put players first

1)we do in fact pay out 9th place money in July - 2)we put the remaning prize pool in an interest baring account and distribute to the players 3)furnish business cass travel and expenses for return trip, etc. While it is not easy on all players, many have spoken of the great opportunity to gain a sponsorship deal in this tough climate, use a heightened profile to their advantage in subsequent tournaments, and experience things through their profession they never thought possible.

..The November Nine has always been about putting players first, albeit more focused on the future players we all so desperately need. We don't make more money or share in ad revenue from ESPN. 

 

While many agree with Sexton about the November Nine and find the 4-month gap annoying or inconvenient, there is no denying that in terms of building the hype and getting mainstream attention to poker the current scheme has its advantages.

Mike Sexton's arguments against including more and more bracelet events every year and having tournaments in Europe and Australia count in the Player of the Year race basically boil down to the feared depreciation of the bracelet as the most coveted trophy in poker and of WSOP as a revered institution.

 

Mike Sexton: Ty Stewart:

I understand more players exist today and have no problem with the number of events they hold in Las Vegas, but WSOP bracelets should only be awarded in Las Vegas.

I’m worried, as the number of events continually grow, the value of each bracelet will diminish. My suggestion to the WSOP decision makers is to keep tradition in mind and not let their attempts increase the bottom line destroy bracelet’s value.

Let poker players aspire to obtaining a coveted bracelet and keep their dream alive.

The international events were another of our convinctions to do what we can to grow the game through power of our platform - with a long term view of the world. We have always believed in the "World" in WSOP and that with a fast growing global game not all events should be on home soil where Americans can save the travel expenses.

We want to be a source of pride and unifying platform for you and everyone who loves poker.

We want to bring together the Poker World..and we want to encourage the World to discover Poker.

 

I can't help thinking that one bracelet event in WSOPE is only a small, and definitely fair, compensation for the European poker community in view of the huge statistical advantage of American players in the summer Series. Yet, Las Vegas may be an intrinsic part of the myth and dream that is the 'sacred WSOP' to every poker player around the world.

What do you think? Should what started in Vegas stay in Vegas?.. 

You can read the full exchange on the partypoker blog here

And in case you've missed it, check out @Nicolas Levi' s interview with Mike Sexton:

Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton Interview: 'Poker is not going anywhere, it will continue to grow!' - Ranking HeroIn November 2014, @World Poker Tour host and @PartyPoker.com spokesman @Mike Sexton talked to Nicolas Levi about the present and future of the poker industry and about the role of professional poker players and projects such as RankingHero.www.rankinghero.com


WSOP NEWS: WSOP EXPANDS INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS LAUNCHES GLOBAL CIRCUIT EVENTSwww.wsop.com

Meanwhile, the schedule of the 46th Annual World Series (May 27-July 14) is up, so you can start marking your calendars on RankingHero :)

The Alpha and Beta of Your Poker Brain

Pounding heartbeat and restless legs, dry mouth and sweating hands - we're all familiar with the physical symptoms of anxiety and adrenaline rush during a poker session. But have you ever wondered how they are reflected in brain activity? You will love this presentation on how the brain works at the different stages of the game and at different skill levels! 

"During an all-in, levels of brain activity in the Beta band spiked considerably across the full brain, showing that this is a high-stress situation for beginner playersThe beginner was equally guided by logic and emotion during this all-in."

"During the betting stage of the flop, the expert reverts to Theta activity in the frontal lobes, which demonstrates that the expert player is in a state of automation. The bilateral activity in both frontal lobes shows that this is equally driven by logic and emotional instinct."

Here are some basic facts about beta and theta waves from mentalhealthdaily.com to help you better understand the images and brief explanations on the website:

Beta Waves

These are known as high frequency low amplitude brain waves that are commonly observed while we are awake. They are involved in conscious thought, logical thinking, and tend to have a stimulating affect. Having the right amount of beta waves allows us to focus and complete school or work-based tasks easily. Having too much beta may lead to us experiencing excessive stress and/or anxiety. The higher beta frequencies are associated with high levels of arousal. When you drink caffeine or have another stimulant, your beta activity will naturally increase. Think of these as being very fast brain waves that most people exhibit throughout the day in order to complete conscious tasks such as: critical thinking, writing, reading, and socialization.

Frequency range: 12 Hz to 40 Hz (High)
Too much: Adrenaline, anxiety, high arousal, inability to relax, stress
Too little: ADHD, daydreaming, depression, poor cognition
Optimal: Conscious focus, memory, problem solving
Increase beta waves: Coffee, energy drinks, various stimulants

Theta Waves

This particular frequency range is involved in daydreaming and sleep. Theta waves are connected to us experiencing and feeling deep and raw emotions. Too much theta activity may make people prone to bouts of depression and may make them “highly suggestible” based on the fact that they are in a deeply relaxed, semi-hypnotic state. Theta has its benefits of helping improve our intuition, creativity, and makes us feel more natural. It is also involved in restorative sleep. As long as theta isn’t produced in excess during our waking hours, it is a very helpful brain wave range.

Frequency range: 4 Hz to 8 Hz (Slow)
Too much: ADHD, depression, hyperactivity, impulsivity, inattentiveness
Too little: Anxiety, poor emotional awareness, stress
Optimal: Creativity, emotional connection, intuition, relaxation
Increase theta waves: Depressants

 

The link http://pokerbrain.brewingatbc.co.uk/ was posted on 2+2 without any additional details about sources and the underlying research but maybe a Ranking Hero will find and share more information?..
Your Brain on PokerExplore here to see how the brain reacts to a game of poker, how it varies amongst the differing skill levels and learn tips on how to improve your playing with WPT pro Tony Dunst.pokerbrain.brewingatbc.co.uk

 

Weekly RankingHero Highlights

There's a new question up for discussion on RankngHero: What makes you proud in poker? It might be a supernatural read, a cold-blooded bluff, or maybe a compliment from a respected opponent? Or perhaps you take pride in the way you handled a defeat, resisted a temptation, or kept your cool against an offensive trash-talker? Share your proud moments and enjoy those of others on the MoreThanMoney page!

Happy International Women's Day to all the poker-playing ladies on RankingHero! Many thanks for the great posts to @Mariechocolat and @sev dubju, congrats to the ladies with recent cashes - @Diane Casino@Renee Xie, and last but not least, our own @Eva Dimitrova, who took down another RankingHero Home Game on Friday :) 

Our #WeeklyHero @Jack McClelland has a professional resume which spans nearly 4 decades in poker and is full of reasons for pride and we invite you to read his bio and Part I of the interview by Nicolas Levi!

2014 Poker Hall of Famer Jack McClelland Bio and Poker Profile - Ranking Herowww.rankinghero.com

From Perfect Storm to Down Cycle and a Whole Different Ball Game. Poker Interview with Jack McClelland - Ranking HeroOur #WeeklyHero @Jack McClelland is a man who has seen it all in his 37 years in poker and who has helped shape the industry as we know it. He talked to @Nicolas Levi about the 'perfect storm', the rise of televised poker and the 'lottery mentality', and the subsequent down cycle.www.rankinghero.com

One player who certainly felt proud this week and amazed the poker community was @Anthony Zinno. Zinno won the LAPC Main Event @Commerce Casino  for back-to-back  @World Poker Tour titles (and third WPT win overall). Will the WPT Shooting Star be next?. Follow his profile for updates!

Special welcome to @Philip Hayano @Lee Gibson @David Weyrick and all the new members of our community! Congrats to @Mick Stephens and @Mustafa Ali who keep adding new results, and good luck to everyone at the virtual and live tournament tables next week!

Finally, lots of inspiration to all the French-speaking (and -writing :) bloggers on RankingHero in the new BPT Ribeauvillé  mission!

Yours truly,

@Annie RKH 

#RKHweekly 

 

Merci beaucoup d'avoir pensé à moi pour cette journée. La journée internationnale de la femme c'est pour les conditions de la femme dans le monde. Pour le monde du poker en tout cas en France, rien n'est fermé pour les femmes mais elles doivent effectivement se battrent pour montrer que leur poker n'est pas "féminin" mais construit et réfléchi. De plus on voit que les efforts fait pour faire venir les femmes dans cet univers assez macho n'est pas toujours compris et certains hommes s'inscrivent en dépit de toutes logiques à des tournois ladyes. 

Hey Annie, Happy woman's and Mother's day!! Lot's of flowers from our snowy office in Sofia!