joe

EUROPEAN POKER AWARDS

Key figures at the IFP World Championships were among those at a lavish ceremony in Paris earlier this week for the 11th Annual European Poker Awards.

Now one of the most prestigious events in poker, the awards marks the achievement of players at the tables over the past 12 months, as well as key figures off the tables.
Collecting the coveted prize of Player of the Year was Englishman Sam Trickett, a member of the UK Nations Cup team, who had an outstanding 2011.
Trickett began his 2011 in form that he would continue throughout the year, posting his first win in the A$100,000 no-limit hold’em event at the Aussie Millions before finishing second in the A$250,000 High Roller event just days later.After reaching the final table of the WPT Diamond Championship in France, Trickett cashed twice in the World Series before returning to France, the South this time, to win the Partouche Poker Tour main event in Cannes. Trickett then reached two further finals, first in the EPT London High Roller event before finishing fourth in the World Series of Poker Europe pot-limit Omaha. In all, Trickett closed the book on 2011 with nearly $4.6 million in prize money.

Elsewhere there were awards for World Series of Poker Main Event winner Pius Heinz who collected the gong for Best Tournament Performance, while Andrey Pateychuk was named Rookie of the Year, for his EPT and a WPT titles, won within six weeks of each other.

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier picked up the Rob Gardner Memorial Award for the Poker Personality of 2011. The Frenchman won two EPT High Roller events in 2011, as well as a World Series bracelet. He also took part in a much hyped kick boxing contest again fellow Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis (he lost).

Away from the tables Jesse May collected the Lifetime Achievement Award. May, known as “The voice of poker,” has commentated on poker for more than a decade, his restrained and hushed enthusiasm familiar as the voice introducing Late Night Poker in the 1990s, the show that turned many people on to the game. May was also in the commentary box at the IFP World Championships.

To read about the rest of the winners from the European Poker Awards, go to the Card Player website.

joe

CALL, BET, RAISE, RIGHT HOOK

Boxing Gloves Blog 13feb12

The gloves are off, and on…

Promoting poker as a mind sport may be at the heart of what the International Federation of Poker is about, but it seems one entrepreneur has found an altogether different direction to take the game, a novel approach that you might describe as out of the box and into the ring.

 

Citing the loss of poker themed television in the United States, following the US Department of Justice’s action against major online poker companies, one man seeks to fill the gap with a show promoting the eclectic skills of pool, poker and mixed martial arts (MMA), packaging it together for a television audience in a show called Pool, Poker & Pain (PPP).

For poker players who might think a bad beat is pain enough, Blair Thein, a veteran of the MMA world, has been the developing the concept of this more literal bad beat for nearly a decade. That work is now paying off, a broadcast partnership in the process of forming to beam this unlikely combination to a TV screen near you.

“I have been working on PPP for eight years, but officially partnered with two-time Emmy award winner Doug Stanley from Deadliest Catch just seven weeks ago,” Thein told PokerNews recently.

“PPP got created when I was talking about how the pool world is one of the most untapped sports on the planet, and me being a high stakes nine-ball player and fighter, and poker being on fire, it just made sense to combine all three sports.”

The concept of PPP is quite simple. Contestants compete in all three disciplines, but secure victory only by thriving in each. The expert poker player who also knows their way around a pool table is unlikely to win if beaten to a pulp once they step into the ring.

It’s the kind of “Jeux Sans Frontières” format that might evoke a tinge of ridicule from some quarters, the notion of our beloved mind sport being reduced to a contest between those still able to think straight after walking (or being carried) from a round of MMA.

Thein, though, is adamant that PPP will be a serious and unique contest, adding that the 16 contestants will receive training from world class experts in each discipline, as they travel between Las Vegas and Florida, to ensure credibility.

For those who prefer their poker a little more “traditional” let’s say, you can always try the IFP world Championships later this year.

joe

TEACH POKER, NOT GAMBLING

BlackboardAnyone in the UK starting last weekend with a copy of The Times might have had their attention drawn to the front page headline regarding the suggestion that British school children should be taught about gambling.

The article detailed a suggestion supported by the British Labour Party that children as young as 12 should be taught how to gamble. The report was put together by GamCare, a UK based organisation that runs a gambling helpline, with the intention of promoting responsible gaming.

But the report, which suggested children analyse horse racing form as well as the odds for sporting contests, neglected to highlight poker.
Surely a mind port such as poker should top the list as an excellent way to teach people of all age groups and nationalities, from children to senior citizens, analytical skills, as well as favourable odds, as a letter to The Times on Monday by the IFP President Anthony Holden pointed out…

GAMBLING LESSONS

Sir, As President of the International Federation of Poker (IFP), I was surprised and dismayed to find no mention of poker in your front-page lead (“Lessons in gambling urged for all children”, Dec 3).

As is evidenced by IFP’s provisional membership of the International Mind Sports Association, alongside chess, bridge and other such cerebral pursuits, our mission is to promote poker as a mind sport of strategic skill, with huge educational potential.

While IFP does not regard poker as gambling — unlike craps, slots and the other games you mention, players are wagering favourable odds — we are already embarked on an international initiative to use poker as an educational tool.

At our annual congress last month, the keynote speaker was Harvard’s senior law professor Charles Nesson, who uses poker to teach his law students courtroom techniques, and is developing a worldwide, university-based mind sports research network in collaboration with IFP.

The Labour Party and other supporters of the scheme would do better to promote the teaching of mathematics, statistics, probability and other such valuable skills via poker rather than the mindless games of chance your report mentions.

Anthony Holden

joe

IFP AND LIMEHOUSE CREATE IFP BOOKS

Ifp Rulesofpoker BlogFans of poker literature will delight in the news that the International Federation of Poker has teamed up with Limehouse Books to create IFP Books, the UK’s only imprint dedicated to poker.

The first title to be published will be The Rules of Poker, in August of this year; the definitive guide to the full spectrum of poker games from Texas hold’em to Omaha, and is edited by the poker playing novelist David Flusfeder, chairman of IFP’s distinguished International Rules Committee.

The book will also feature an introduction by the IFP’s President Anthony Holden, renowned biographer and author of the seminal poker memoir Big Deal.

“I am thrilled to have forged this alliance between IFP and Bobby Nayyar’s Limehouse Books, and to have found the perfect editor-in-chief in Natalie Galustian, who last year compiled the finest collection of rare poker books in the long history of the game,” said Holden.

Plans for IFP Books include producing a volume each year which will aim to combine the authority and global reach of the Federation with the quality and style that are the trademarks of Limehouse, which has grown to publish eight print titles since it’s founding in October 2009.

‘I’ve enjoyed playing poker ever since I read Big Deal several years ago,” said Nayyar of Limehouse. “So now it is a great honour to be working with Anthony Holden and the IFP team to craft dedicated poker titles that will be distributed worldwide in print and digital.

“Our remit is to maintain the high production and design standards of Limehouse Books, and focus on commissioning new titles, whilst republishing classic poker texts that are no longer in print. This is an exciting proposition, as poker is a game that goes from strength to strength.’

Those keen to get hold of what will be an historic book in the history of the IFP will have to wait until August, when The Rules of Poker will be published in hardback, priced at £12.99.

joe

POKER ENDORSED AS BRAZIL’S NEWEST SPORT

Cbth LogoFantastic news reached poker players in Brazil this week as the Brazilian Sports Ministry officially recognized poker as a sport.

The decision was announced in a private meeting with members of the Confederação Brasileira de Texas Hold’em (CBTH) over the weekend as the ministry officially gave its endorsement to the CBTH and accepted its registration to be the official governing body of poker in Brazil.

While little has been made public a statement has been published on the Brazilian Sport’s ministry’s website:

“Poker is a competitive discipline, which requires the participant to have intelligence, ability, and intellectual and behavioural skills in order to succeed. The CBTH represents the most extended definition of poker, Texas Hold’em and all the other variants of this game including but not exclusively Omaha, Omaha High / Low, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud High / Low, Razz and Mixed Games.”

Officially founded on 29 January 2009, CBTH was among the first member federations of the International Federation of Poker and shares many of its ambitions and CBTH president Igor Trafane was among the distinguished guest speakers at the 2011 IFP congress In London addressing delegates alongside Harvard Law Professor Charlie Nesson and sports marketing guru Patrick Nally. Trafane presented a road map to attendees from more than 40 nations on how to reach this goal of recognition.

Just two days later Trafane took part in the first IFP World Poker Championship event “The Table” finishing in third place and establishing himself as one of the great minds of poker both on and off the felt.

With the Brazilian Poker Tour starting in a few weeks, preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup under way, and the 2016 Olympic Games and World Mind games on the horizon, poker’s rise in this sports-mad country could not have come at a more appropriate time.