Poker Guru Blog

Norwegian engineer Fredrik Dahl claims to have developed a poker bot able to best all but the very top 100 elite players in the world.

Norwegian engineer Fredrik Dahl has been studying neural networks-based artificial intelligence and poker is an excellent field for his experiments, as the highest levels of the game require creativity instead of simply observing patterns and exploiting weaknesses with general strategies.

According to the New York Times, Dahl has achieved some impressive results in modeling the human brain. He has created a program that thinks and learns in a way that it has become virtually unbeatable in poker for most players.

The development of the online world championship, the list of the biggest winners and several fun facts. A WCOOP infographic.

The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) kicked off on 8 September with three events taking place on the opening day. The last tournaments launch on the 29th, including the $5,200 NLHE Main Event. In a total of 66 individual tourneys, players can enter the competition for the $40,000,000 total guaranteed prize pool.

This year’s WCOOP comes with an interesting infographic by PokerStars, providing a number of fun facts and statistics. Do you know who won the most money in WCOOP events? Who has the most victories? What has so far been the biggest first prize?

NBA legend Dennis Rodman has teamed up with online poker and sports betting operator Paddy Power to bring an exclusive international basketball event to North Korea. Taking place in Pyongyang in January, 2014, the show is backed by DPRK leader Kim Jong-un.

Details of the Paddy Power Dennis Rodman Invitational event have surfaced recently and it has been confirmed that Rodman’s exclusive basketball show takes place in Pyongyang, the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in January, 2014. The event will be sponsored by Ireland-based poker, casino and sportsbook operator Paddy Power, as well as the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, a diehard fan of Rodman’s and North American basketball.

Is it Phil Hellmuth’s rant, Ivan Freitez’ angle shooting or Humberto Brenes’ singing that really grinds your gears?

You might remember Mimi Luu, who put on a real show, tanking with pocket kings in the $5,300 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open event and repeating “I can’t fold this” and “I don’t know what to do” in a high pitched voice. The lady instantly became a poker meme, commented on by Daniel Negreanu as “This woman easily cracks top 5 most annoying people in poker. This video has train wreck written all over it!”

Who do You think the most annoying poker person around is? Here is a compilation of ten of those who can really grind our gears, anyway:

The €10,000 High Roller event of European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona 2013 kicked off yesterday with a large number of renowned pros among the 168 entrants. Daniel Negreanu was one of them but only until Level 3, when got eliminated after an awful quarrel with the tournament director over the enforcement of the new TDA Rule #29.

During Level 3 (25/150/300) of the EPT Barcelona 2013 €10,000 High Roller event, five times WSOP champion Daniel Negreanu happened to be talking to Philipp Gruissem, who sat at the table next to Negreanu’s, before returning to his own and posting the small blind. He did not sit down but stood next to his chair and kept talking to Gruissem. Meanwhile, cards got dealt and then the dealer mucked his hand and took his blinds, in accordance with the new Rule #29 of the TDA guidelines. Negreanu, who had already been known for criticizing the rule, turned back to the table to see his hand mucked.

PKR Poker, renowned in the online poker world for its unique, 3D game client and poker experience, has taken one step even further. Not only can you now replay your hands but also you are able to edit your own movie out of the replays.

One of the most popular recreational poker sites, PKR Poker is best known for its one of a kind, 3D game client and unique poker experience with customizable avatars and stunning visuals. Rest assured, there is nothing any closer to the real life casino experience around in the online poker market. The room has now added one more exciting feature: players are now allowed to edit their own videos of the most exciting hands they have played and upload them directly to YouTube.

Douglas ‘WCGRider’ Polk and Ben ‘Sauce’ Sulsky have made a six figure bet on a heads-up challenge, played in No Limit Hold’em games before mid October.

No Limit Hold’em heads-up challenges tend to be extremely popular in the poker community; both Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom’s SuperStar Showdown and the Durrrr Challenge (whenever it is active) has been being followed by a large audience. A brand new challenge has now been announced, which, accordingly, has instantly become a hot topic of the forums: Douglas ‘WCGRider’ Polk and Ben ‘Sauce’ Sulsky will clash soon.

Yeong-Ung Yang presents a short documentary on the bus-kkun community, to whom the casinos of the United States mean an alternative way of living.

For most people, Las Vegas, Atlantic City and the world of the casinos of the United States mean glamour, shining and wealth. All poker players dream of playing just once at the tables of one of the most renowned establishments and several live poker specialists make a living here, winning immense sums from wealthy tourists. It turns out, however, that it is not only poker players who make ends meet at the casinos...

Daniel Negreanu has been skipping out recent poker tournaments. He uses his time to introduce basic changes to his lifestyle; most importantly, he is learning languages, reading books and working out with a fitness superstar.

Canadian poker celebrity and PokerStars Team Pro member Daniel Negreanu has not played a single live tournament since this July. Instead, he has been working on getting used to a different, healthier lifestyle, in the framework of which he has taken up studying languages, reading books and working out with the assistance of a fitness star, Tiffany Boydston.

Phil Ivey announced via his Twitter that he had made a high stake prop bet. To win, he must not drink any alcoholic beverage for an entire year.

In the past weeks, a number of poker pros announced different prop bets; Big One champion Antonio Esfandiari bet he could stand an entire year without sex and then Nick DiVella announced he would spend 6 days in a bathtub. Now, the latest major prop bet is made by Phil Ivey: the nine times WSOP champion is not allowed to drink alcohol of any kind for a year.

While Ivey is not famous for his parties, it is a challenge even for him. The prop bet is on as of 27 August and Ivey celebrated the last day with alcohol with a party.

Google has recently revised its stance on applications conducting real money gambling, found in the offering of its Play store. The company will no longer allow such apps to be downloadable from the platform, similarly to Apple’s App Store.

According to the latest decision from Google, the Play store will no longer offer applications that include real money gambling. In a memo sent to third party developers, the company announces that they discontinue providing apps with “content or services that facilitate online gambling, including but not limited to, online casinos, sports betting and lotteries, or games of skill,” as long as these programs offer cash income or other value through gameplay. Parties now have 30 days to remove such apps from the store, otherwise they will be banned.

Mimi Luu could neither fold nor, apparently, call with her pocket kings in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open. Her 10-minute tanking even gave some ideas to SrslySirius. Bet you can’t fold this!

On 21 August, the $5,300 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) launched with a gargantuan prize pool of $10 million. There were three Day 1s and a total of 2,384 players registered, accumulating $11,920,000 in prize money and making a $1,745,245 first prize.

Even though an entire list of seasoned poker pros entered the event, the community is currently obsessed with a poker lady of $271,000 in total live tournament winnings. Mimi Luu has instantly become a poker meme after tanking surprisingly long and in a funny/annoying way at the end of Day 2.

The most successful female poker player of all time, Vanessa Selbst married her love Miranda Foster on 24 August.

Two times WSOP champion Vanessa Selbst annnounced in January via her twitter that she had engaged her partner, Miranda Foster, who said yes.

"Got engaged to @mm_forster! Told her I did it tonight because I thought it would make me lucky for the super high roller tomorrow,” she posted.

Renowned poker tournament director Matt Savage suffered a serious accident on a waterslide. He underwent cervical stenosis surgery urgently to avoid paralysis and he left the hospital late last week.

The poker community crossed fingers for one of the most recognized poker personality and tournament director in the industry, Matt Savage late last week. He spent several days in hospital, undergoing surgery to save him from paralysis. Savage suffered a hit to his neck on a waterslide and the MRI examination revealed major injuries to his nerves. Were it not for the quick surgery, Savage would have been paralyzed for life.

As the first live poker tournament series ever, European Poker Tour will provide free, wireless charging of the mobile devices to players in Season 10. The technology is provided by Duracell Powermat.

The European Poker Tour, as the first of the major live poker tournaments around, introduces the Duracell Powermat charging hotspots to the tables in Season 10. Players will therefore be provided free, wireless charging opportunity for their mobile devices. The company installs the devices into the customized poker tables, giving access for players to the mats, next to their drink holders. Those who already own the corresponding phone case can use them and those who do not, will be provided a connector. Using it, they will only have to put their device on the mats and have them fully charged throughout the festival.