Poker Guru Blog

In modern times, poker has enjoyed a resounding popularity among all forms of card games. The explosion in online poker rooms saw the rise of certain varieties of poker, namely Texas Hold’em, Omaha and Caribbean Stud, in favour of other lesser-known variants, a phenomenon that was also helped in no small part to their heavy presence at land-based casinos and in movies.

Online tournament grinders have plenty of great series to choose from throughout the year - Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP), MicroMillions, Full Tilt Online Poker series, but the most prestigious of them all is the World Championship of Online Poker. The WCOOP kicks off this Sunday and has a guaranteed prizepool of $40 million, spread out through 66 events. 

The 2012 Big One for One Drop was the first big event that linked poker with charity, and it gained a lot of attention from the mainstream media. One Drop founder and Cirque du Soleil owner Guy Laliberte was the first one to take a step in the right direction, and lots of players have been inspired to follow in his footsteps.

German high roller Phil Gruissem has decided to hit up the Burning Man Festival in the Nevada desert, but first he needed an appropriate costume. Let's just hope he keeps hydrated in the heat, otherwise the trip could have a "Grusome" ending.

Phil Ivey is widely considered the best player to ever play the game, his "Phil Ivey" account on Full Tilt Poker is the biggest cash game winner of all times, but ever since the return of Full Tilt Poker, he has lost over $5 million on his "Polarizing" account.

From now on, PokerGuru Blog is going to post a picture from the poker world every day. If you have any interesting or funny pictures that you want to share with us, be sure to post it in the comments section or on our Facebook page! To kick things off, here is a picture of a heads-up home game played by Dan Bilzerian and his guest.

"Impressive poker face..."

Andrea Dato is one of the big talents of the Italian poker scene, this week he finished in 4th place at the EPT Barcelona Main Event for €362,000, which is his biggest score so far. In a recent interview he talked about his background, about the future of his career and more.

The two Full Tilt Poker pros are going to have a best-of-three heads-up showdown, with $50,000 up for grabs. You can vote for the winner and if you're right, you win a ticket to a $30,000 guaranteed Flip Freeroll, and anyone watching the battle can also win a $635 tournament ticket.

Daniel Negreanu is one of the most recognized faces in the poker business, and he's also the biggest live tournament winner in history. If you're curious where he is staying when he is not crushing tournaments somewhere around the globe, the following video will show you the Las Vegas apartment that has a vibe that Daniel describes as "Austin Powers meets Pee Wee Herman".

Olivier Busquet, winner of the €50,000 Super High Roller at European Poker Tour Barcelona, shared his opinion regarding the controversial t-shirt wearing incident that has sparked a heated discussion in the media and on the poker forums.

The €10,300 High Roller started with 21 players and played down to the winner, and many expected a really long day at the tables, but the 6 bustouts in the first 30 minutes made it clear that players were not afraid to put chips in the pot. 

The EPT100 in Barcelona is coming to an end, and yesterday two new champions were crowned, a young German player won the 100th Main Event in EPT history, but Samuel "buckguy2200" Phillips walked away with the most money.

Hossein Ensan is leading the EPT Barcelona Main Event final table with a commanding lead, while Ami "UhhMe" Barer is leading the star-studded field in the €10,300 High Roller with 21 players left.

In the new episode of the live cash game show, besides the poker action, the two producers, show us what happens behind the scenes and what kind of preparations they have to do to make  the show is flawless.

They plan on introducing the new format, which is going to pay 50% of the field, at the PokerStars Caribbean Aventure in 2015.