Gaming News
Christer Johansson has won the Irish Poker Open!
Christer Johansson is a thirty-nine year old poker professional from Sweden. He has played poker from childhood and mostly plays Texas Hold’em. His first major tournament success was the 2000 Vienna Spring Festival. He was also in the money at the 2002 World Series of Poker. He won a first prize of $500,000 at the World Poker Tour and came second at the European Poker Tour in 2005. Before winning the 2009 Irish Poker Open his tournament winnings amounted to $1,300,000. He has now added €600,000 to that.
Alongside Christer Johansson, seated at the final table were also Kara Scott and Andrew Pantling. Kara Scott is the glamorous poker player and television presenter from the UK. She hosted ‘Poker Night Live’ and authored numerous articles on poker. Her poker skills have increased over recent years and in 2008 she won about $42,000. Andrew Pantling comes from Las Vegas and before the Irish Open his total tournament winning amounted to just over $15,000. Although he only came third in the Irish his winnings amounted to €205,200, whilst second place Kara Scott won €312,500.
The subtleties of heads up play dominated the game. Heads up play is quite different from big games and different skill sets are needed. Hand selection is completely different when there are only a few players remaining, and once it gets down to two players, opening with a jack-seven you have a 50:50 chance of winning. Also, it tends to be the aggressive, confident poker players who fare well.
In the final game Kara Scott was dealt a Jack-nine and Christer Johansson a King-three. Kara was on the button and she raised. Christer called. The flop was Jack-King-Seven which obviously failed to help either player. Time seemed suspended for a while and the atmosphere was electric.
Then Christer checked and quickly Kara raised and Christer raised again. The turn failed to improve either hand and neither did the river, so both ended up as they started with Christer Johansson the victor.
World Series of Poker – Europe
Poker tournaments have become extremely popular across the globe. Recently it was announced that the World Series of Poker Europe would be commencing on September 21. This will be the third annual tournament in Europe. The tournament is owned and operated by Harrah’s entertainment.
Also with this announcement came the description of poker play available in the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe. There’ll be four tournaments replying bracelets to play. One of these tournaments is new. It will be a mixed event consisting of Hold’em poker and Omaha poker. There is a limit to the pots of 2500 pounds. The winner of each tournament will receive a gold bracelet, which is a highly coveted symbol in the tournament.
The World Series of Poker Europe will begin on September 17 and later concluded on October 1. It will be located in London England at the casino at the empire. This casino is an open 24 hours a day and has become a Mecca for poker players. Additionally the casino features satellite tournaments for the world series of poker Europe.
If a poker games player wishes to participate in the tournament, there are multiple ways in which to register. Any player interested can register at any of the many London clubs international locations. Also registration can be made in Las Vegas at the Rio all suites hotel and casino. The top 18 players will be eligible to purchase a page in the world series of poker Europe.
If you are unable to attend the tournament be assured that some of the World Series poker Europe will be broadcast on television. ESPN has exclusive rights to these broadcasts and plans on allowing viewers worldwide to watch. Currently it is planned to provide live coverage to viewers residing in the United States, Europe, Brazil and Mexico.
If ESPN is not part of the local broadcasting stations Harrah’s entertainment plans on distributing the tournament to these at venues. In the United Kingdom channel four is expected to broadcast some of the tournament.
A rise in social online gaming.
The current trend on online gaming is set to grow to new levels in 2010, social gaming has seen a terrific influx of new users playing the vast variety of online games which are available on the popular social media sites. A sound example of this is Mafia Wars, the Facebook game which allows users to become mafia moguls and take over their friend’s territory through varied means.
The advent of these games draws a parallel to the growth of the online casino and gambling industry – with brick and mortar casinos becoming ever less apparent in today’s world, a positive shift in user intent can be seen online. The ever growing popularity of online bingo illustrates this perfectly. The vast variety and quantity of online bingo portals and online bingo news channels has risen dramatically since the end of 2008 further highlighting the shit in social trends towards online gaming, the integration of the gambling platforms and the mix of casino games they offer are testament to the scale and importance of the online gambling industry.
Here at games and casinos we try and provide the very best the varied casino and gambling sites offer, we propose to establish and order the games into a functional and trustworthy source list and thus divert users into the most authority and trustworthy casinos which are online today.