'Busted the Main' - Poker Pros Making Their Goodbyes to WSOP 2014

Painful, cheerful, grateful, truthful, thoughful, peaceful - there are a million ways to say goodbye to the #WSOP2014 . RankingHero takes a look at the Main Event 'busto messages' of the poker notables:

RankingHero Proudly Presents WPT500 Winner Sean Yu

Armed with two pairs of 8s and 7s and a lucky RankingHero patch, @Sean Yu won the final all-in against @Kareem Marshall and the $260,000 first prize in the WPT500 $1 Million Guaranteed - his biggest live tournament cash to date!

RankingHero picked this incredible poker event for its promotional U.S. launch and Sean was one of well over 200 players who signed up for our Last Longer competition and wore the RankingHero patch during the #WPT500 Main Event. Sean Yu ended up dominating the amazing field of 3,599 entries of $565 (over six starting flights) that had generated a prizepool exceeding the $1 million guarantee - $1,799,500.

Photos: WPT

Set against the first prize and the trophies from @World Poker Tour and @ARIA Resort & Casino, the buy-in of $565 that he won back in the RankingHero Last Longer competition may not seem a lot, but the patch certainly proved lucky. We hope it will secure another great run for Sean at the WPT500 Dusk Til Dawn in Nottingham, UK for which he won a $2,000 package.

WPT500 down to 6, RankingHero with a Finalist

The #WPT500 at @ARIA Resort & Casino has been an astounding success! With a total of 3,599 entries the $1 million guaranteed prizepool has long been surpassed and the winner will get $260,000!

RankingHero couldn't have picked a better event for its promotional U.S. launch. To quote our co-founder and ambassador, @Nicolas Levi:

"WPT 500 is making poker history. Innovative structure, payouts, blind levels to gather thousands of players, creating a huge event affordable to more poker fans. We are very very proud to be a part of it and overwhelmed with the positive response of the players at the Aria. "

In the course of the past 5 days, well over 200 of our members signed up with our lovely two twin hostesses for the promotional RankingHero Last Longer competition. We are now cheering for @Sean Yu, wearing the RankingHero patch at the final table!

Photo credit: Camille Matet

Check the latest results here!

Philipp Gruissem: 'Giving makes you happy and everybody should try it'

In the aftermath of the Big One for #OneDrop and during the ensuing 'Colman debate' about whether or not poker should be promoted at all, an alternative has emerged from within the poker community itself - @Philipp Gruissem @Igor Kurganov @Liv Boeree and other top pros have found an answer to 'Colman's Dilemma': Raising for Effective Giving. It is a program designed to help and encourage poker players to make meaningful and efficient donations to various causes and charities of their choice. While Colman drew attention to the 'ugly world' of poker, Gruissem came out with a simple answer to his moral dilemma: "Trust me, the only way to be 100% happy if you are living in this poker world is to give back."

REG launch dinner during #WSOP2014 

The idea behind effective giving is to rely on science and rational decision-making in order to find the most effective interventions.

REG is collaborating with researchers, think tanks and charity evaluators to provide members with the best information on the most effective giving opportunities. Interested REG members are encouraged to participate in discussions about effective giving.

Additionally, REG will promote effective giving to the poker-interested public and encourage members to become ambassadors for this important cause.

Helping people through poker: A reply to Dan Colman

by Igor Kurganov and Adriano Mannino

A solution to Dan Colman’s dilemma

by Phil Gruissem

 #PokerCharity 

Meet the Man with Most Poker Tournament Wins in the World - Flaminio Malaguti

If you are in Vegas this summer, chances are you might meet him at the @Rio Deepstacks or @Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino Phamous Poker Series, where he is a regular. @Flaminio Malaguti is an Italian who has been living in Vegas for many years. You may not be impressed by his $344,170 in live earnings, but he has won more tournaments than anyone on record, with uninterrupted series of as many as 26 consecutive wins in 2014 and a total of 97 first place finishes!

Flaminio Malaguti with @Max Pescatori and @Todd Brunson

Dan Colman Speaks Out on the 'Ugly World' of Poker, Daniel Negreanu Looks on the Brighter Side

@Daniel Colman has spoken out on 2+2 and, unsurprisingly, his post immediately provoked an avalanche of opinions ranging from unconditional support and admiration to outrage and mindless trashing; from romanticized views of the game as a family-bonding and socialization tool to cynical observations on the exploitative nature of capitalism.

Between them, Colman and @Daniel Negreanu won more than 23 million in the world’s biggest buy-in tournament, Big One for #OneDrop. They represent two very different generations and schools of poker and perhaps more surprisingly, diametrically opposed views and feelings about poker. The controversy surrounding Daniel Colman’s decline to talk to the media is still hot on poker forums. Both Colman and Negreanu make some thought-provoking points and all of us who love the game of poker should maybe take the time to answer the questions they raise for ourselves.

I really don't owe anyone an explanation but Ill give one...

First off, I don't owe poker a single thing. I've been fortunate enough to benefit financially from this game, but I have played it long enough to see the ugly side of this world. It is not a game where the pros are always happy and living a fulfilling life. To have a job where you are at the mercy of variance can be insanely stressful and can lead to a lot of unhealthy habits. I would never in a million years recommend for someone to try and make it as a poker pro. 

It is also not a game where the amateurs are always happy to be losing their money for the sake of entertainment. The losers lose way more money at this game then winners are winning. A lot of this is money they cant afford to lose. This is fine of course because if someone is dumb enough to gamble with money they cant afford to lose, that's their problem. Im not really buying that though. In a perfect world, markets are based on informed consumers making rational transactions. In reality sadly that's not the case, markets are based on advertising trying to play on peoples impulses and targeting their weaknesses in order for them to make irrational decisions. I get it if someone wants to go and play poker on their own free will, but I don't agree with gambling being advertised just like I don't agree with cigarettes and alcohol being advertised. 

It bothers me that people care so much about poker's well being. As poker is a game that has such a net negative effect on the people playing it. Both financially and emotionally. 

As for promoting myself, I feel that individual achievements should rarely be celebrated. I am not going to take part in it for others and I wouldn't want it for myself. If you wonder why our society is so infatuated by individuals and their success, and being a baller, it is not that way for no reason. It is their because it serves a clear purpose. If you get people to look up to someone and adhere to the "gain wealth, forget all but self" motto, then you can get them to ignore the social contract which is very good for power systems. Also it serves as a means of distraction to get people to not pay attention to the things that do matter.

These are just my personal views. And yes, I realize I am conflicted. I capitalize off this game that targets peoples weaknesses. I do enjoy it, I love the strategy part of it, but I do see it as a very dark game. 

Happy to read any ones opinions that could convince me otherwise of my views.

@Daniel Negreanu as we know him could obviously not stay away from a controversy that just seems to be begging for his opinion and we didn't have to wait long for a response from him. These are the final two passages and you can read the entire post here:

Whatever it is you choose to do in your life, make sure INTEGRITY is at the core of it. If you are genuinely having an issue with the morality of playing poker for a living, make a choice. Don't compromise your own moral code for money. If you truly believe in your heart that what you are doing hurts people, and you don't want to hurt people, you need to make a choice.

If I may make a suggestion, why not continue to do what you love, empower others, educate others about the dangers of this lifestyle, and use the money your talents allow you to earn, to make a difference in the world? Not by staking people btw! Lol. You have the potential at a very young age to make a positive impact on the world, both with your money and intelligence. Don't waste the gifts you've been given, and be grateful for the kind of life you are able to create as a result of those gifts.

More on RankingHero:

Second-Biggest Winner in Poker History Refuses to Promote the Game

Daniel Negreanu on Top of the World

Terrible Day for AA in Big One for One Drop with Two Bad Beat Eliminations

‘Most profitable day ever’ and a ‘solid year’ for Douglas Polk, the Bellagio Again Moves U.S. Rankings

Half way through 2014, @Douglas Polk has every reason to call it a very 'solid year' in his live tournament career. What most poker players would be happy to accomplish in a lifetime, he did in a few months - Polk  won a bracelet in the 1k buy-in #wsop23 and $3.5 million in live tournaments in 2014!

"In order for me to break out into the live scene, I really need to be in the media and in the community in a variety of ways. And I think that the first and most important is results. Winning stuff gets noted." 

Polk's rise to live tournament fame started in February, with a fourth place in the 100K NLHE at the Aussie Millions, for $770,285.

Then a runner-up and a third place in @Bellagio High Roller events in February and April.

He followed up with three #WSOP2014  cashes.

With a trophy secured for posterity, Polk went back to high stakes. In the first super high-roller event at the Bellagio he finished fifth for $602,910 and of all top finishers in that tournament who went on to play the Big One for #OneDrop a few days later, Douglas Polk lasted longest. He was eliminated in 17th place by Phil Ivey.

The second super high roller drew 37 entries (Ole Schemion, Erik Seidel, Dan Smith, Philipp Gruissem and Brian Rast, to cite just a few) and $1,648,350 of the resulting prizepool went to the winner.

The @Bellagio has once again moved the U.S. rankings, with Douglas Polk going up to third place after his victory in the second edition of the 100K Super High Roller!

Related:

Millionaires Made at the Bellagio in 100K Super High Roller, Dan Smith Second Only to Ivey in 2014

PokerListings interview:

Six Champions to Watch on Day 2 of the 2014 WSOP Main Event

Turnout on Day1A for the #WSOP2014 Main Event may have been a slightly disappointing 717, but there were more than enough stars to delight poker fans and journalists. Here are six former Main Event champions who played on Day1A - some barely survived, others finished with average stacks, but all are worth watching out for on Day2 :)

@Tom McEvoy (1983, $540,000)

Everyone knows about Chris Moneymaker's $39 buy-in, but it was in fact Tom who was the first satellite qualifier to win the WSOP Main Event. Born in 1944, Tom is a true poker veteran and was inducted in the Poker Hall of Fame in 2013.

@Johnny Chan (1987, 1988)

Not only did he win back-to-back in 1987 and 1988, but in 1989 finished runner-up (against @Phil Hellmuth ), which makes this three-year run of his truly unprecedented and unequaled since.

Born in China in 1957, Chan was 11 when his family moved to Arizona. His major brakthrough in poker came in a highly publicized $10k event in 1982, which he won after personally knocking out all 8 other players at the final table and earning himself the nickname "The Orient Express".

Here is the famous 1988 Chan-Seidel final hand later featured in everyone's all-time favorite poker movie, 'Rounders' (where Chan made a cameo appearance):

@Chris Moneymaker (2003 $2,500,000)

This American pro (and accounting graduate) surely must have the most auspicious family name in poker history (and the Moneymaker Era could not be more aptly named). 

In 2003, the famous $39 buy-in got him into a $600 PokerStars Satellite where the top three finishers got free seats in the Main Event and No. 4 would get $8,000. Curiously enough, Chris was actually playing for the cash prize and it was a friend who managed to convince him to go for the win and qualify :)

@Annette Obrestad (2007 $2,017,319)

The young Norwegian made history when she won the very first WSOP Europe Main Event on September 17, 2007, just one day before her 19th birthday. That makes the youngest player and the first and only woman to have won a Main Event in WSOP. What is more, her $2,017,319 prize is still the biggest single-event cash won by a woman!

Annette made a first, rather controversial, appearance at WSOP in Vegas in 2010 and is remembered for some tactless comments about ladies events and Doyle Brunson. Since then she has lost lots of weight and gained even more in patience and maturity, and we wish her luck at Table 407 in the Amazon on Day2!

@Greg Merson (2012 $8,531,853)

Greg is in many ways a typical representative of American poker pros of his generation, including with his dropping out of college to play fulltime and relocating to Canada after #BlackFriday. He won the Main Event in 2012, defeating a field of 6598 players and has since established himself as one of the most consistent and successful players among Main Event winners. In this summer Series alone, Greg has already had 4 ITM finishes and is the top earner in 2014 of the six former champions who played on Day1A (most notably with his $948,996 runner-up prize in the PCA NLHE High Roller).

Here is his emotional ESPN winner interview in 2012:

@Ryan Riess (2013 $8,361,570)

"Ever since I saw Chris Moneymaker win this event in 2003, I knew it was something I wanted to experience, too." 

Reigning champion Ryan Riess stirred a huge controversy last year with his winner's comment 'I just think I'm the best player in the world'.

He has three minor cashes so far in #WSOP2014 and his biggest win since last year's Main Event was the 43th place in 2014 Bay 101 Shooting Star (WPT), for $20,890.

Here is Ryan in a 2014 interview with PokerNews' Kristy Arnett who asks him about the controversial comment:

Weekly RankingHero Highlights

This week France celebrated its second bracelet at WSOP 2014 and 16th in history, with Hugo Pinray's victory in the Monster Stack over a monstrous field of 7862, which earned him the biggest cash in 2014 in the French earnings ranking! 

It has been a truly big week for poker, marked by the Big One for One Drop and it's mind-blowing prizepool of $37,333,338. It resulted in major movements in the rankings - most notably in the cases of Daniel Negreanu and Daniel Colman, but also in the German and U.S. rankings. The biggest mover was socialite Rick Salomon, who shot up 2658 places in the U.S. earnings ranking. The winner, Daniel Colman, was naturally in the focus of attention though mainly with his decline to talk to the media, rather than with his amazing victory. Finally, don't miss the article on the terrible confrontation of AA vs AA - one of the most memorable hands in #OneDrop and #WSOP2014 !

Outside of the WSOP, one of the most exciting events this summer has started at the @ARIA Resort & Casino - the #WPT500 $1 Million Guaranteed, which will run from July 4th to July 9th. We are proud and happy to be a part of it and are offering a special Last Longer competition for certified RankingHero members during the Main Event. 

We are particularly happy to welcome @Derek Leforte @Christopher Perez and all of our new members joining us from the Aria in Vegas this week!

Special thanks to @Jason Matthieu @Fabien David and all the members sharing links, thoughts, tips, and images from their live and online poker experience! Congrats to our members with ITM finishes in WSOP and elsewhere in the world - @Ludovic Lacay @Ruth Hall @Flavien Guenan @Amanda Musumeci to mention just a few who scored in the past few days!!

To finish on a sad note this week, the poker community has been mourning two if its own this past week - the young German player Johannes Strassman and Chad Brown, who lost his battle with cancer. May they rest in peace.

See you soon here on RankingHero and on Facebook and wishing you many high poker moments!

Yours truly,

@Annie RKH 

#RKHweekly 

Second-Biggest Winner in Poker History Refuses to Promote the Game

I don’t see poker as being a sustainable source of income a few years down the road. It's like a gold rush, I have one of the best spots in poker to mine for gold. I might as well make good use of it. (Colman, 2013)

Good use he certainly made of it! One of the world's best online players, Daniel "mrgr33n13" Colman, just became the top live poker earner of the last 6 months after winning the Big One for One Drop and the second-biggest prize in live poker tournament history - $15,306,668.

Much has already been said and written about his decline to talk to the media and his reluctant photo session - some players close to Daniel have explained in his defense that he did not wish to promote gambling and poker or take away attention from the charitable cause. However, most members of the media and perhaps most importantly, most fans, remain unconvinced and feeling slighted and everyone misses the unbridled joy and celebration that followed @Antonio Esfandiari's win in 2012. You can read more on this topic in this highly recommended PokerNews article by Rich Ryan - Five Thoughts: One Drop Winner Colman Declines Media, Ivey Wins Number 10, and More.

Colman shared in an interview last year that in the summer of 2012 he had actually been planning to withdraw from poker and go back to college, but "I messed up my applications and then ultimately decided to give poker one last go around". As many other American players, after #BlackFriday Colman relocated to Canada and later Brasil where he was playing (and winning big) online, with occasional trips to Vegas and various EPT stops.

His breakthrough on the live torunament scene came this year at the EPT Grand Final in Monaco. Colman dominated the spectacular field of top pros and amateur millionaires in the EPT Grand Final Super High Roller, which ended with a chop deal between him, @Daniel Cates and @Igor Kurganov.

The $2,086,087 prize was not enough to get him into the Top 5, then dominated by @Mike McDonald and his spectacular series of THREE seven-figure cashes in 2014 (PCA and Aussie Millions). This year Colman and McDonald crossed swords and cards at the EPT Grand Final (in direct competition and in side bets).

In the 100K Super High Roller, Mike finished 9th, right before the official final table, while Colman went ahead and won the event. With the fabulous #OneDrop miilions added to his live winings, Colman left Mike McDonald and everyone else far behind. In the controversy surrounding Colman's refusal to give interviews after his victory, McDonald has been one of the pros (along with @Olivier Busquet) defending him: "I just think it's outrageous to vilainize him".

Interestingly enough, Mike, too, has voiced his personal disapproval of poker and gambling, which have done ‘more harm than good’. ‘If it were up to me casinos and gambling just wouldn’t exist because it’s just like one more way for dumb people to get [beep-beep] over by smart people.’