Jen Leo's blog

Party Poker for Macs!!!

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:57:28 +0000

I feel like I'm the last to know, Party Poker is available for Macs! This is very exciting. The more options for Macs, the better. It's still in BETA so expect some wrinkles. Here's what happened to me.

When I first went to PartyPoker.com and started looking for the Mac Version, I clicked the "Play Anywhere" button first. The screen came up, but I couldn't login and the Party page was frozen.

No worries, I probably didn't read the instructions.

I went back and checked the requirements, all systems go, and then downloaded the software with their Mac friendly icon on there. Login worked fine (I'm using Firefox), adding chips worked fine, and then the news that will keep me waiting on edge.

"PartyPoker.com Monster and Tournaments are currently not available, but the fully function client is coming soon..."

This is why I can't play my beloved Steps and Mini-steps. And I've been eager to check out the Monster stuff. HUGE!

So, I'll check in now and again, but someone please alert me when the tournies are working, thanks! This is going to be so great!

Victorious! The First Woman Champion for the European Poker Tour

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 23:14:26 +0000

Great for poker! The final four players busted out relatively quickly and before we knew it we had the heads up match we were hoping for.
Emad vs Vicky.

But as quickly as they came back from break and we positioned ourselves to see through the crowded stands, Emad had given away half his chips as the two made it a big pot with a pair of 8s vs a pair of 10s. The local Vic regulars were cheering for their girl,

"Go on Vicky!"
"Vicky, bring home the bacon!"

By the third hand her friends were saying that she'd jump on him while he only had a million chips, and that she did.

The flop was 5c 3c 4d
Vicky bet, Emad re-raised, Vicky called
The turn was a 10d and Emad moved all in
Vicky called quickly

Emad showed 8 6=Vicky had the straight with 6 7

The river was a Jack giving Vicky the historical win.

More photos, more photos - keep reading!

EPT London Final Table Six Left

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 21:32:38 +0000

We're down to six, and man is this going to be a great TV table. Vicky is beautiful, spunky and mixing it up. She and the grinning Emad seem to be having a tête-à-tête with every hand they're in together. They are fun to watch. Chad Brown has lots of experience and his calm coolness is a good balance to the crossfire spunkyness playing out in front of him. (BTW, did you know he was going out with Vanessa Rousso?) Michael Muldoon and Jan Sjavic are pretty quiet.

Emad Tahtouh 1,100,100
Chad Brown 929,000
Vicky Coren 662,000
Michael Muldoon 636,000
Jan Sjavic 435,000
Jules Kuusik 309,000

Read on for pictures.

EPT London Final Table Players and Bios

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 17:14:28 +0000

Mad Harper of Poker Stars has been busting her ass to get the media information about the players. She gave the A-OK for everyone to reprint the bios as is so we all can familiarize our audiences with the finalists.

It's almost as exciting as the media making their last longer bets (I have Michael Muldoon for a pound), and debating about whether or not Vicky Coren will take the whole thing and make EPT history as the first female champion. In the past two seasons, all winners have been male. This, of course got John of PokerNews.com and Stephen of Gutshot.com betting over whether or not the U.S. was going to have a female for our next president.

Read on for the bios.

EPT London Penultimate Final Table

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 17:06:55 +0000

Here's an overhead shot of the penultimate final table. They were playing here until they got down to eight. Emad Tahtouh called Oscar Schweinebarch's all in, and eventually busted his pocket fives with KQ when a Queen came on the river. Schweinebarch took home £10,000 for 9th place.

After a 45 min break, the following eight players will resume play at the TV table.

Seat 1 Chad Brown 759,000
Seat 2 Emad Tahtouh 480,000
Seat 3 Sid Harris 270,000
Seat 4 Michael Muldoon 380,000
Seat 5 Jan Sjavik 460,000
Seat 6 Peter Hedlund 380,000
Seat 7 Jules Kuusik 240,000
Seat 8 Vicky Coren 400,000

EPT London Working Their Way Down

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 14:51:05 +0000

They got it down to 13 last night by 4am when everyone was getting pushed out of the casino. (It's the law). Michael Muldoon, a 25-year old civil servant from Belfast, N. Ireland, will be the color for today's final table. He had quite the fan club yesterday. A few of his buddies were cheering him on from the rail and calling their other friends back home. Imagine a thick Irish accent saying, "He hit the nine, he HIT the NINE!"

Isabelle Mercier cashed in 16th place for 10,000. Shannon Shorr went home with 6,000 for 21st place, and Barny Boatman got the same cash for 22nd. Both Phil Ivey and the Blonde Ivey busted early on yesterday as they were trying to make their moves.

Table Tech

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 20:15:39 +0000

LONDON--Two days ago I was saying there wasn't a TV table here at the EPT, but yesterday they were putting it together. I've never seen a poker table in this state before. It's fascinating. Look at what goes on underneath the felt, what with all those hidden cameras and all. And the stage. It's impressive when you see it get put together from the beginning.

EPT London Day 2 Starts

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 17:53:49 +0000

We're getting there. Last night some big named players got sent home including Joe Hachem, Barry Greenstein, Gus Hansen, Vanessa Rousso, and Londoner Anthony Holden.

104 players begin Day 2 (or the third day of play). Here are the top fifty. The question is, who are these guys? There are so many names I don't recognize. Not that I would expect to know a mix of Euro/Intl online and tourney players. I looked up the top ten chip leaders to get a better idea of who was kicking butt.

1. Chad Brown 127,800
2. Johnny Lodden 126,700
3. Dean Sanders 117,600
4. Emad Tahtouh 110,300
5. Michael Abecassis 87,200
6. Barny Boatman 87,100
7. Arshad Hussain 86,600
8. Daniel Needleman 84,600
9. Torben Snejbjerg 83,100
10. R Pedersen 78,500

EPT London Start of Day 1B

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 23:18:37 +0000

LONDON--There's something about a Day 1B that is a bit less exciting than 1A. Maybe it's the sudden rash on the hands, the beckoning of other friends in town. The rain. I only stayed at the Vic for a short while today. Long enough to see that everyone was more interested in the Europe vs. USA Ryder Cup than they were the poker.

Sure there were names in play today. Joe Hachem, Barry Greenstein, Gus Hansen, Andy Black, Mark Goodwin (who did remarkably well in the WSOP Roshambo event), Anthony Holden, Vanessa Russo, Mel Judah, and my fave up and comer, The Blonde Ivey.

But like I said, it was all about the golf. Look at the pics and we'll talk about who lasted in the next post.

EPT: End of Day1A

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 15:21:52 +0000

LONDON--Here is a list of the top ten finishers from yesterday's EPT London event, Day1A. Of 198 starters, there are 54 remaining.

1.Johnny Lodden, 126,700
2.Barny B. Boatman, 87,100
3.Torben Sneibjerg, 83,100
4.Michael Muldoon, 73,900
5.Stuart Rutter, 61,500
6.Shannon Shorr, 60,200
7.Ivar Rivenaes, 60,000
8.Simon Zach, 58,900
9.Ross Boatman, 56,500
10.Tim Flanders, 55,500

Phil Ivey finished 19th with 42,200 chips. Isabelle Mercier made it through the day with 36,000 chips. Ram Vaswani kept 28,300 for 29th place.It's shocking to see Victor Ramdin's name absent from this list.
Apparently, Ramdin went out on the last hand. That was sometime around 3am in the morning and I was well on my way to the hotel. I've been searching the coverage, but I don't know if anyone got the details.

On to Day1B....

EPT Season Comparison (London)

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 14:49:49 +0000

LONDON - To answer Dan's question from yesterday's post "EPT London is Sold Out!" the European Poker Tour is definitely growing. Here's a quick comparison of the past three seasons of the London event.

Season 1(2004)
BUY IN: €4,000
FIELD SIZE: 175
1st PRIZE: €291,276
WINNER: John Shipley

Season 2(2005)
BUY IN: €4,000
FIELD SIZE: 236
1st PRIZE: €408,400
WINNER: Mark Teltscher

Season 3(2006)
BUY IN: €5,197* (£3,500)
FIELD SIZE: 400
1st PRIZE: €743,000 (£500,000/$950,000)
WINNER: ??????

EPT London is Sold Out!

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 01:42:54 +0000

LONDON--The success continues for the European Poker Tour. London's Crown Victoria Casino is a buzz with players keen on having a flutter. Upstairs, Day1A of the poker tournament began with 198 of the 400 players. Unlike last year, there is no TV table, and unlike last week's EPT event in Barcelona, there is nary a Poker Stars brand to be seen. The tables are packed in tight with luscious red drapes and healthy green palms as their backdrop. Smoke swirls throughout the room and no one says much of anything if a player is fussing with his phone at the table. It is very different than the social and excitable atmosphere that we left in Spain.

Notable pros that played today included Phil Ivey, Isabelle Mercier, Luca Pagano, Jeffrey Lissandro, Victor Ramdin, Ram Vaswani, Kenna James, David Colclough, David Plastik, Paul Telstud, and last year's champ, Mark Teltscher.

Victor Ramdin had an early lead, and was the talk of the evening. Eyes were also on Phil Ivey, online pro Johnny Lodden, and the ever-so-handsome, Luca Pagano. Sadly, Luca went out around midnight. Kenna James, David Colclough, David Plastic, online legend Terrance Chan and even last year's champ went out much earlier. They're planning on playing through nine levels tonight which will having the boys up until just about 3am.

Barcelona EPT with pics of the final table

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 10:13:56 +0000

BARCELONA--The European Poker Tour began its third season in Barcelona, Spain with a sell out tournament of 480 players. I arrived the night before the final table when they were widdling the field down to 13. The buzz inside the casino could easily be compared to the buzz just outside. Gelato shops, tapas cafes, upscale restaurants, and discos lined the Port Olympico. The view of the Mediterranean sea was soothing

This is my third time watching the EPT (last year I saw the London, ENG and Deauville, FRN events), and I continue to be impressed. A little digging into the history of the EPT reavealed that early on they weren’t expecting many pros because of the smaller buy-ins and prize pools. Clearly, that is changing.

Between Day 1 A&B, players saw Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Joe Hatchem, Marcel Luske, Gus Hansen, Isabel Mercier, Humberto Brenes, Andy Black, Jeff Lissandro, Luca Pagano, John Gale, Hendon Mobbers Ram Vaswani, Ross & Barny Boatman, Mel Judah, David Plastik, and former EPT Champion Rob Hollink among others.

Hello from Europe!

Sat, 16 Sep 2006 15:03:33 +0000

BARCELONA--It's nice to see everyone working so hard! Snaps to Amy and Tim for all their efforts on The Articles. Dan and Jen, I'm envious of your trip to Tahoe. I lived there for a winter in 1994 and loved it.

Since leaving Vegas and the WSOP, I've been up and down the west coast promoting my new travel book, What Color is Your Jockstrap? It's a part of a four book series of anthologies that started with Sand in My Bra. What does that have to do with poker? Well, Phil Gordon has a story in it! "The Fruit Salesman" is about an experience he had in Thailand where a fruit salesman attempted to sell him an aphrodisiac. I read it at Powell's in Portland, OR last week and it received many laughs.

So, I had events in San Francisco, CA, Portland, OR, and Seattle, WA before jetting off to Barcelona for the final table of the first European Poker Tour event. I got in last night after 24 hours of travel, and that is not worthy of getting into our next collection of travel misadventures.

I'll write an article about today's final table with some pics, and then next week I'll be in London for the second EPT event. After that, I'll be writing a column (that still needs a fun name) about gambling/travel destinations. Casinos and cardrooms from around the world and how to make the most of your visit once you get there. Help me think of a clever name, please.

I hope everyone is well.

Leaving Las Vegas

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 16:45:15 +0000

If spending a summer in Vegas for the WSOP is like sex, you never forget your first. And as coming years might continue the analogy, there's a first time, and then there's a first time. Jeffrey Pollack called the 2006 WSOP a work in progress, and I'd like to think that way, too. Nothing could compare to the intoxication I felt last year just from being in the room and hearing the sound of the chips being riffled, stacked, and splashed. It continues to be the the reason I give to anyone who plays even a little poker about why they should come by for a day. Because that sound is special.

In the year between 2005 and 2006 I learned a lot about poker, how to watch it, and how to take notes. Last year I would've paid anything to take a poker writing class. Phil Gordon had told me quickly, "Jen, there's no future in chip counting. You have to get the real story."

With that, I'd like to say that my favorite piece that I wrote for poker blog was about Scott Malone. And since I posted it here on PokerBlog, two of his local newspapers have been in touch with me to use the photos for their own pieces about Scott.

Read Scott Malone and the Bear Creek Rounders to hear a story about a small town Kansas man who played with his home game for 40 weeks on a chance to play in the Main Event at the World Series. There are some interesting twists to the story, and like anyone would suggest, look into the story behind the story.