LAPC Final Table Tonight

So there they are - the six players who made it to the final table of one of the most prestigious and publicized events in the world of poker - WPT #LAPC2014.

1. @Michael Rocco  – 5,615,000 - seat 6

2. @Chris Moorman – 3,190,000 - seat 1

3. @Patrick Bruel  – 2,280,000 - seat 2

4. @Josh Neufeld – 1,930,000 - seat 3

5. @Glenn Lafaye – 1,855,000 - seat 4

6. @Adam Friedman – 1,150,000 - seat 5

http://www.lapcnews.com/

French poker fans are excited about the performance of Patrick Bruel and are looking forward to a new peak in his poker career after the 1998 WSOP bracelet.

Moorman has had a fantastic week, winning Best Online Player for the fourth time at the British Poker Awards and coming up 1st on the PocketFives World Wide Online Poker Rankings. This is his first WPT final table.

Friedman is a seasoned player with $1.5 million in live winnings and he, too, is playing a WPT final table for the first time. Michael Rocco is the current chip leader by far, with 5,615,000 and 187 bb. Josh Neufeld, and Glenn Lafaye are about to win their biggest live cashes to date.

Here is a video of the unofficial final table, just before @Dan O'Brien was eliminated in the 7th place with A♣ A♥ :

The final table will begin at 4 pm PT (7 pm ET) - 0:00 GMT - on the WPT stage inside the Commerce Casino.

http://www.worldpokertour.com/Live_Updates/Live.aspx

Chris Moorman Eliminates Jennifer Tilly at WPT L.A. Poker Classic

Last month @Chris Moorman officially claimed his profile and joined the RankingHero community and we are really happy with all his recent good news. The week started out great for Chris  - on Monday he won the British Poker Award for Best Online Player for the FOURTH consecutive year. (Of course he wasn’t there to accept it as he was busy winning the WPT LAPC.)

And there’s no stopping him now. Chris Moorman must be having such a good time at the LAPC, he’s even begun tweeting in rhymes - ‘Bust Tilly, Win a Milly’ was his triumphant poetic tweet after he eliminated @Jennifer Tilly, the only remaining lady at #LAPC2014. The two clashed on Day 4 when Moorman raised early with 7♥ 6♥ and Tilly moved all in with her remaining T100,000 and A♠ 10♦. And would you believe it, the flop came out 8♦ 5♦ 4♣.

The first man in history to pass the $10 million bar in online poker winnings has long established himself on the live scene as well, with $3 million in live cashes. And that’s without counting his already secured ITM finish at WPT LAPC where he is currently third in chip count, with 1,731,000. Tonight he’ll be playing at table 1, notably with the current chip leader, @Josh Neufeld and French pop and poker star, @Patrick Bruel.

Pedro Canali About British Poker Awards Exclusively on RKH

Everyone’s raving about last night’s British Poker Awards so the hosts must have been generous enough with the champagne :) There are detailed reports about the awards winners but little information about the tournament right after the ceremony. RankingHero has been able to get first-hand insider information for you from our very own ambassador, @Pedro Canali, who attended the party and ceremony, AND played the final table. 

RankingHero: There were many well-liked poker celebrities at the ceremony last night. Who got the most cheers from the crowd (besides the sexy dancers)?

Pedro Canali: Besides the sexy dancers, it was probably @Barny Boatman. And his speech was really nice.

RKH: Did you get good champagne?

PC: Really good.

RKH: How many people played the tourney after the ceremony? 

PC: Around 40.

RKH: Was there a lot of bluffing/drinking/laughing/soft-play or was it pretty serious?

PC: It was really fun! Mainly because of the champagne.

RKH: Who else was there besides yourself and Neil Channing? Any women at the final table? 

PC: Six men and four women! Barny Boatman, @Liv Boeree, @Neil Channing - it was as if I was playing an EPT!..

But it was really great fun, except for the fact that it was a 'winner take all' and I finished second with AQ vs QT all-in preflop for 80% of the chips!..

Other than that, we had a marvellous night. To sum up the evening, let me just give you this Tweet by BluffEurope:

Happy Birthday to Sofia Lovgren!

@Sofia Lovgren grew up in a house by the sea near Gothenburg, Sweden, with two brothers and a sister. She first learned about online poker from her brothers when she was 16 and by the time she finished high-school she had been successful enough to convince her parents it was worth trying it full-time.

In 2008 she discovered the innovative poker room PKR (back in 2006 PKR was the first to introduce 3-D graphics and customizable, interactive avatars), opened an account with $50 under the screen name ‘welllbet’ and has been there ever since!

“I used strict bankroll management, put in a lot of hours and after another year, I had $60,000 in my bankroll. This was encouraging and I decided to try playing poker full time after finishing high school. After another year grinding mid-stake cash games, PKR contacted me and I was given the opportunity to be a Team Pro in 2010.”

At the age of 20, Sofia became the first woman to join the PKR Team and has been a very dedicated, model ambassador ever since, attentive to her fans, generous with interviews, regularly posting on her blog and in social media. The PKR sponsorship has allowed her to go into live play and travel the world. Sofia still considers mid-stakes multi-tabling online her ‘bread-and-butter’ but she has an impressive live tournament record and about $140,000 in live winnings since 2010.

Don’t be fooled by her frail, elf-like grace and innocence :)

“..people sometimes underestimate me at the tables since I’m a young girl. Some guys may think it’s very easy to steal my blinds and try to bluff and run over me. This is a big advantage since in the end I often trap them and take all their money. It’s also much easier for me to do a big bluff because they usually don’t expect me to do that. They usually fold and say, nice hand.”

At 24 (as of today!), Sofia splits her time between Sweden and Malta, where she recently moved with her boyfriend and fellow poker pro Luca Moschitta. Last year they were both nominated for most promising young player in the PokerListings awards. 'I'm happy Luca won it, it was best for domestic peace ;),' Sofia said in a PokerFaceNews interview. Well, we are sure it will be best for 'domestic peace' if Luca has arranged some special - and unpeaceful - celebration for tonight! 

 More on RankingHero:

#womenINpoker #HappyBirthdaysOnRKH 

GG Patrick Bruel at WPT L.A. Poker Classic

This year one of the most awaited poker events in the U.S. - the WPT L.A. Poker Classic attracted 534 entries. 172 players survived Day 2 and Day 3 play begins at 12 p.m. local time today.

France's poker superstar @Bertrand Grospellier dropped out on Day 2 but the popular singer, actor and poker player @Patrick Bruel finished 13th with an impressive chipcount of 185,300.

He doubled up with a nine-high straight when his 8♦ 7♦  got a board of 9♥ 7♣ 5♦ 6♣  after the turn and the river J♦  didn't make a difference.

Among the many notable departures on Day 2 were Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth.

Ivey was eliminated with Q♣ J♣  vs A♥ K♣ , and the board showing A♦ 7♠ 5♦ 6♥ 3♦ .

Phil Hellmuth dropped out during Level 7 (blinds at 250/500):

You can check out the Day 3 chip counts and seat assignments here 

Neil Channing - the 'Gent of Poker'

@Neil Channing has been in the news a lot the past month - in connection with the closure of his Black Belt Poker site and his nominations in three categories in the British Poker Awards - Best Blogger, Poker Personality of the Year, and Best Social Media User.

Neil Channing is best known as the winner of the 2008 Irish Open but he has since accumulated live winnings of nearly $3,300,000. He’s also come to be called Neil ‘Bad Beat’ Channing and has two notable second places at @World Series of Poker events in 2010 and 2012. A beautifully written account by Nolan Dalla of the 2012 WSOP heads-up  is a must read and draws a great portrait of the man and the player.

In April 2009 Channing launched the Black Belt Poker cardroom, which was a skin on the iPoker network and offered an original internal grading system, with progress from green, through blue and brown, to the ultimate black belt, and a wide range of belt-specific prizes (typically tournament packages).

Fans of Channing and of BlackBeltPoker.com were very saddened by the news in February that the site was to be closed - the last event took place on Friday, Feb. 28th. Channing’s social media pages are full of touching comments and appreciation for his year-long efforts and dedication to poker.

Before turning professional, Neil Channing worked as a bookmaker at UK racecourses and he is the co-founder of Betting Emporium - a site offering betting tips and training. Channing is a regular contributor on the site and most recently the subscribers enjoyed a great piece of his with Oscar bet tips.

If he has been called an ‘old-school poker player’ it has little to do with his age (46) and much to do with his devotion to live poker, his knowledge about the game and the willingness to share it, his generous and positive nature, and last but not least, his ‘niceness’ and good manners. These qualities have made him one of the most widely respected and best-liked figures in UK poker.

In fact, his inherent decency and politeness have earned him the nickname 'the gent of poker' and gotten him involved in a debate on live poker etiquette. Channing voiced his indignation about many pro players’ disdainful and arrogant attitude to amateurs and their fellow table players in general.

Kara Scott Nominated for British Poker Awards' Best Blogger

@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, and finally, professional poker player, and PartyPoker ambassador.

Photo by Anne Laymond

She was born thirty-something years ago 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 her 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.

While 2008-2009 were her live poker career highs, with about $500,000 in live winnings, 2013 was been a great year for Kara on a more personal level – she got engaged to be married and moved to Italy.

With her experience ranging from extreme weather conditions, through teaching problem students and martial arts, to a career in television, Kara Scott certainly has the physical and mental stamina to survive and thrive in the poker world. What is more, she’s got a beautiful winning smile and we hope 2014 will bring her many occasions to show it off!

We don't know about Best Blogger, but she would certainly be up for a Best Poker Smile award

Good luck at the British Poker Awards Ceremony tomorrow, where she has been nominated for the Best Blogger award!

Read Kara's blog on PartyPoker.com

Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Jeff Gross

For its official international launch, Dans le Carré International is offering you some exclusive content. Congratulations to the team for managing a full interview with this crazy bunch of talented players that are @Antonio Esfandiari, @Phil Laak and @Jeffrey Gross 

They talk about Death, Dreams and the One Drop, plus plenty of topics and laughs for you on RankingHero!

British Poker Award for Best International Player

The BluffEurope British Poker Awards ceremony will take place on March 3rd at the Hippodrome Casino in London's West End. Who do you think will be voted Best International Player?

@David 'Bakes' Baker 

@Daniel Kelly 

@Viktor "isildur1" Blom

@Daniel Negreanu 

@Marvin Rettenmaier