WSOP.com have announced that they will be streaming live coverage of the final table action from all 60 gold-bracelet events.

Poker commentator David Tuchman is on board as the WSOP official announcer for the primary web-casts and will feature along side numerous player-commentators.

For the full schedule of all of the events, dates and times visit:

http://www.wsop.com/news/2012/May/3774/WSOPcom-to-LIVE-WEB-STREAM-60-WSOP-GOLD-BRACELET-FINAL-TABLES.html

Before the start of the greatest live poker show on earth, there’s arguably one the greatest online poker events for players to sink their teeth into. The Pokerstars SCOOP (Spring Championship Of Online Poker) series boasts one of thelargest prize pool of any online poker series with a huge $30 million GTD up for grabs.

The series consists of 40 different events this year spread across two weeks, but the unique aspect of the series is the 3 different buy-in levels for each tournament consisting of low, medium and high making the series accessible to all players from micro grinders to high rollers.

So the events got underway last Sunday with poker players around the world getting comfy at home and logging on to the Pokerstars site. The first events that have been played have been mostly no-limit hold’em, incorporating all different forms of the game; from re-buys to turbo’s and the ones with the larger fields have mostly been played over two days.

The big winner so far has been Viktor Blom aka ‘Isildur1′, the high stakes cash player renowned for massive swings and ridiculously huge pots. He took down the $215 no-limit hold’em medium buy-in event (event 2M), beating over 8,000 runners that accumulated over $1.5million, smashing the $1million GTD laid out by Pokerstars. Blom walked away (or rather remained sprawled out at home) with a top prize of $247,000 and you think that would of meant he’d take his foot of the gas- in which case you don’t know Viktor Blom at all.

The next day he registered for the $530 re-buy six-max no-limit hold’em high buy-in event (event 3H) against 485 runners and took that down for $160,000. These two wins have shot Blom to the top of the SCOOP leader board and have cemented him firmly in the running for the title of player of the tournament and the prizes that come with it.

With 10 days still to go and a further 28 different events taking place, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Blom go deep a few more times yet and maybe even cap his first SCOOP series with a trio of titles.

To make this huge poker spectacle even more interesting we’ve decided to follow a poker pro through the event, which can make or break a professionals’ year and in some cases career.

Luke Marsh is a poker pro who learnt his craft in the world of online poker heads-ups, steadily building his bankroll and his stakes and never being afraid to take a shot in online tournaments. After a couple of years of hard grinding with some significant online cashes along the way he decided to take a shot in live poker. In 2008 he took down the Anniversary Cup Main event at Nottingham’s DTD (Dusk Till Dawn) poker room for over £60 000, only his 2^nd live tournament entry.

Since then he has gone deep in EPT events, final tabled the UKIPT Edinburgh in 2010 and ventured to the WSOP in Las Vegas in 2011. This year he’s hoping to emulate his European success and make an impact stateside.

We decided to catch up with Luke and ask him a few questions before his marathon poker journey begins:

So Luke, how did you get in to poker in the first place?

A friend’s granddad asked me if I’d ever played poker because if I did I’d have a good poker face, so for Christmas I asked for a poker table and chips and got my friends involved as well. We used to play every Friday night.

How did you start playing online?

A friend made the leap and told me it was good, so I decided to deposit $20. I had zero bankroll management so after winning a few HU at the lower stakes and getting my roll up to a couple of hundred dollars I went straight in to $100 HU games.

I was all over the place- up, down, up down. After a while I decided to take a shot and entered a tournament on FTP with my whole role and won it for $11K. I managed to spin that up to about $27K and was flying high.

S0 did you ever go broke?

Yup. I lost it all in one day, in pretty much one hand. After that I didn’t know what to do. College had just finished so a friend convinced me to enroll on a university course but I was more focused on building my roll again.

A friend leant me £1000 to play with and I started using proper bankroll management. Grinding low stakes HU games all night. My university work suffered and I got a 0% in my first assignment for plagiarism…. So I quit. I built my roll back up to £10k and I thought I was in control but then I went on tilt and lost it all again in one night. I was distraught.

My friend lent me £200 more and told me that was it. Everything I have now is from that. I built that up to around £60k playing HU matches and a few tournament wins on pokerstars. I decided to take a trip to Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham to play the Anniversary Cup and won it for another £60k.

So I’m guessing with your bankroll going up and down so much you’ve had a few coolers and bad beats, which was your worst?

I’d have to say it was the hand that I lost my entire roll on the first time. I can’t remember it exactly but I basically got it all on the table with a King high flush only to get beat by a guy sat with the Ace. It was one of the worst feelings of my life.

So, going in the other direction what’s been your best one-time on the river?

I’d have to say it was the hand that I took down the Anniversary Cup at DTD with. I raise with KQ and he flats. The flop comes JJ9 and we both check. The turn is a Queen and he leads out for 50K. I shove over the top and he calls with K10. The river is a Jack and my full house beats his straight and nets me £60 000. Job done.

Have you met many people through online poker?

I’ve met quite a few people that I recognize when they’re online, but only a few that I would consider friends. When I first started playing it was on the kryptologic network and I exchanged online messaging details with a few people in order to chat, talk about poker and generally improve my game. From there I got introduced to new people through people and now I have a group of guys from all over the UK and even a couple from Sweden who I talk to regularly and meet up with at events.

Where have you been more successful? Online or at live events?

It depends how you look at it. I’m definitely up more through online play but my games to cash ratio in live play would suggest I’m better at live poker. Personally I massively prefer playing poker online, the time it takes to play a live tournament coupled with traveling and having to stay in hotels is exhausting!

Have you got any goals or targets at the WSOP in Las Vegas this year?

My basic aim is to play as many side events from $1k to $3k as possible and then try and satellite in for the main event. I’m going out on June 3^rd this year and just planning to do 3 weeks and then fly back for the main event. I stayed out there for the duration last year and I was going insane by the end of it.

Before you go Luke can you tell us what sites you play on and what are your screen names for them?

Lets see if any readers are willing to track you down and take you on!

On pokerstars its ‘gambuuuuul ‘ and on the pacific poker network its ‘gambuuuuuul’ (one extra ‘U’). If anybody wants to take a shot then I’m waiting.

Thanks to Luke for giving up his time for this chat, we’ll keep you up-to-date on his activities leading up to the WSOP and then we’re going to be doing a weekly round-up of his progress throughout the WSOP so you can keep tabs as this prominent young pro enters some of the biggest poker events on the planet!

In the world of live poker, the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final got underway last Thursday with the first day of play. It was a relatively small field leading onlookers to believe that the majority of the pokerstars pro’s would wait for 1b to take to the tables but a few decided to get in early and play 1a. Phil Ivy showed he was in the mood to play, progressing to day 2 with a stack of 72 000. Vanessa Selbst put in a reasonable shift and has a healthy 54 900 chips going in to day two. But Joe Cada struggled to get out of the blocks, with the 2009 WSOP main event winner down to 17 000 from his starting stack of 30 000.

As expected day 1b saw an increase in entrants, both amateur and professional, all seeing the bigger field as a chance to finish up the day with a bigger stack, luring a further 394 players to the tables for a total of 665 runners altogether. Despite the large number of high profile pro’s lurking around the tables, at the end of play it was Chile’s Nicolas Yunis who topped the board with the overall chip lead. Yunis has played poker professionally since 2008, mainly playing online but showing he’s got what it takes at live events too, with some good results and a number of final table appearances.

There were plenty of others that managed to navigate their way to day two with playable stacks such as Jason Mercier, Justin Bonomo and Annette Obrestad. Those limping through included Daniel Negreanu and Chris Moneymaker, both with sub-starting stacks. Jonathan Duhammel and Yevgeniy Timoshenko were two of the notable names sent to the rail after failing to progress.

Day 2

Day two saw some big moves by the pro’s and some big scalps for the tournament. Notable dismissals by the end of the day were Daniel Negreanu and Joe Cada who failed to recover from their poor chip size, and an early exit for Vanessa Selbst, who had a reasonably healthy stack going in to play but couldn’t replicate the form that she’s produced throughout the season.

Those making their presence felt at the tables were veteran Erik Seidel who finished the day in third and Max Martinez, one of the newest professionals to join the pokerstars ranks who finished the day top of the board despite getting a bad beat when his pocket aces were cracked when Fabrice Soullier’s pocket queens tripped-out, flopping a queen to take the huge pot. Instead of tilting with his greatly diminished stack, he took his time, picked his spots and rampaged through the last level of the night to finish the day top of the board. By the end of play 394 dreamers had become 130 believers, all thinking they had a shot at the cash and the title.

Day 3

By the end of the days play 104 would be sent to the rail leaving just 26 left to battle it out for the title. With the money line set at 97, nobody wanted to go home empty handed but a double elimination on two different tables duting hand for hand play it was Adam Levy who failed to burst the bubble, leaving Andrew Badecker and Martin Fingerer to split €15 000.

Six pokerstars pro’s made it in to the money but none of them survived day three. Max Martinez, who started the day in top spot failed to progress along with Angel Guillen and Richard Toth amongst just some of the big names who won’t be taking home the title in season 8. Erik Seidel also fell by the way-side and despite a strong start to day three by Justin Bonomo, he was eliminated in 28^th place after getting it all-in in a three way pot only to see his A-Q dominated by Andrew Pantling’s A-K and Geert-Jan Potijk’s Q-Q. Potijk’s pockets held to give him the chip lead going in to day 4 but the dream was over for Bonomo to claim the high-roller and main event titles.

Day 4

So there’s just 8 players left to battle it out for the title of ‘EPT Season 8 Monte Carlo Main Event Grand Final Champion’ (I wonder if that will fit on the trophy?) but first here’s a recap on how some of the other 18 players from day 4 failed to make the final table.

Andrew Pantling was the first to go when he shipped his short stack in to pocket aces. This was the first in a number of eliminations where short stacks were being shipped only to get dominated. Amit Makhija saw his pocket queens run in to pocket kings, Jason Wheeler got coolered when he ran his top two-pairs in to top set. Vadzim Kursevich was was the last hope for a double EPT champion but he suffered a bad beat at the hands of Ben Vinson when his A-8 were crushed when Vinson’s 7-3s hit its flush. Vinson, who had been playing well, saw his tournament fall apart and was eventually eliminated when Andoni Larrabe’s pocket nines held against his 9-10.

So there you go, the final 8 are decided with Bernard Guigon as the massive chip leader with almost a 2 million-chip advantage over the 2^nd stack. Sergio Castelluccio is technically the short stack but he still has around 1.4 million to play with.

Day 5 – Final Table

So it’s over, the final hand has been dealt and the winner of the 2012 EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final Main Event has been crowned. Here’s how the final eight were whittled down to just one. With such huge amounts of cash up for grabs it’s easy to understand the slow start to the days play, with everybody being super tight. Due to the length of play on day 4 and the number of levels played, blinds were up to 50 and 100 thousand. Sergio Castelluccio and Michael Dietrich were the first to decide to exploit this, increasing their shipping ranges in an attempt to pad their stacks.

The first real action happened when Castelluccio woke up with K-K, raising to 200k before Daniel Gomez shipped his A-Qos, with Rodrigo Caprioli getting involved with his J-J. The board ran out and Castelluccio took the pot and the tournament chip lead. Gomez was out and Caprioli was severely weakened but out yet.

Clayton Mozden was the next player sent to the rail after his A-10 failed to hit against Lucille Cailly‘s 9-9. taking her to chip leader. Castelluccio rivered a straight against Cailley shortly after to retake the lead. Mohsin Charania knocked out Dietrick when his A-Ks held against Dietrich’s A-9s. Five became four when Caprioli suffered a bad beat with his Q-Q when Castelluccio rivered an ace.

Charania was able to capitalise on a crucial point in the match when he bet his K-K against Castelluccio’s 7-7, the board stayed low and Charania was able to extract three streets of value. Castelluccio’s tournament was over shortly after when his J-J were cracked by Cailly’s A-Qos, who turned her queen had meant it was down to just three.

Bernard Guigon, who came in to the final with a sizable lead hadn’t been able to increase it throughout the day and was eventually beaten when his A-4 failed to hit when Charania’s K-Q landed a queen on the flop.

So it was down to just two- Mohsin Charania and Lucille Cailley. The Heads-up battle only lasted five hands, with the conversation fixed on striking a deal for the cash. In the end it came down to a €200k flip, with Charania’s Q-Q holding against Cailley’s A-k to to bag him the top prize, the trophy and the title of EPT Grand Final Champion.

EPT Monte Carlo €100K Super High Roller

Before the start of the EPT main event in Monte Carlo (the final leg of this years series) there was the small matter of the €100 000 Super High Roller event. The field was littered with poker royalty, from online star Viktor Blom aka Isildur1- who won the event in 2011, to the live poker elite including Daniel Negreanu and Jonathan Duhamel.

It wasn’t a pokerstars pro who managed to take down the huge €1 640 000 grand prize though, with seasoned pro Justin Bonomo taking top spot and the trophy ahead of entering the main event today.

Pokerstars Have Changes In The Works For EPT Series

Many EPT regulars have been voicing their concerns at the 13 stops now situated on the tour and the financial implications of all that travel. To combat this, the Pokerstars powers-that-be have decided to scrap5 of the destinations for a more streamlined series. Edgar Stuchly, president of the EPT, went on to announce that despite the reduction in venues, the tour would be increasing its stay at each stop to just shy of 2 weeks, piling in more buy-ins and even looking at partnering regional tours such as the UKIPT and the Estrellas Poker Tour.

Online Poker

Gearing Up For The SCOOP Series

The main focus for all online poker tournament players at the moment is the impending Pokerstars Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) series. Kicking off on May 6^th, it’s going to be BIG. With so many events all boasting three different buy-in levels, it’s important to plan your schedule. Make sure you take note of the tournaments you want to play and plan accordingly. Sort out your sleep patterns, stock your fridge and say goodbye to the ones you love because you’re going to be off the grid for a while….

Rakeback.co.uk’s promotions team have arranged a fantastic May Pokerstars $10,000 in Freerolls. There’s plenty of added value for Pokerstars players this month so take advantage and enjoy the online felt this May. There’s nothing like getting something for nothing and that’s what we offer our rakeback players every single month. Check out the Ts and Cs and all the details below:

Total Prize Fund:

$10,000 in

Dates Of Promotion:

1st May 2012 to midnight on the 31st May 2012

Further Details:

The freerolls will be held on Sunday 17th June 2012 at 20:00 BST (15:00 EDT, 19:00 GMT, 21:00 CET)

Terms and Conditions:

Freeroll 1 – $5,000
New Players: Earn 1 VPP at PokerStars during the qualifying period and you will get automatic entry to the Freeroll.
Existing Players: Existing players must earn 500 VPPs at PokerStars during the qualifying period. Players need to track their own VPP total in the month.
Freeroll 2 – $5,000
New Players: Earn 2 VPPs at PokerStars during the qualifying period and you will get automatic entry to the Freeroll.
Existing Players: Existing players must earn 1000 VPPs at PokerStars during the qualifying period. Players need to track their own VPP total in the month.

If you are still looking for a rakeback deal then check out all of the Best Rakeback Deals here. To sign up to Pokerstars all you have to do is Click here and you will be joining Rakeback.co.uk as well and will be able to access our monthly promotions for free.

If you currently play your poker without a rakeback deal then you are throwing money away every time you sit at an online table. Make the most of your time at the online poker felt with a rakeback deal from Rakeback.co.uk. Sign up here: PokerStars. If you already have a deal at Pokerstars then why not make the most of your May and take advantage of our $10,000 in Freerolls.

Rakeback.co.uk’s promotions team have arranged a fantastic May Poker Heaven €5,000 Rake Race. There’s plenty of added value for Poker Heaven players this month so take advantage and enjoy the online felt this May. There’s nothing like getting something for nothing and that’s what we offer our rakeback players every single month. Check out the Ts and Cs and all the details below:

Total Prize Fund:

€5,000

Dates Of Promotion:

1st May 2012 to midnight on the 31st May 2012

Further Details:

Finish in the top 50 FPP earners in RTR’s Heaven rake race during the qualifying periods and win a share of €5,000
First prize in the race will be €800 Cash

Terms and Conditions:

The data we used is based on the 24 hour reports we get from the poker room. Players who finish in winning positions on our leader board will receive their prizes direct to their poker account on or before the 15th day of the following month. These Race payments are in addition to your 30% Rakeback. This Promotion is run in conjunction with 3 other affiliates.

If you are still looking for a rakeback deal then check out all of the Best Rakeback Deals here. To sign up to Poker Heaven all you have to do is Click here and you will be joining Rakeback.co.uk as well and will be able to access our monthly promotions for free.

If you currently play your poker without a rakeback deal then you are throwing money away every time you sit at an online table. Make the most of your time at the online poker felt with a rakeback deal from Rakeback.co.uk. Sign up here: PokerHeaven. If you already have a deal at Poker Heaven then why not make the most of your May and take advantage of our €5,000 Rake Race.

Rakeback.co.uk’s promotions team have arranged a fantastic May Poker Heaven €4,000 in Freerolls. There’s plenty of added value for Poker Heaven players this month so take advantage and enjoy the online felt this May. There’s nothing like getting something for nothing and that’s what we offer our rakeback players every single month. Check out the Ts and Cs and all the details below:

Total Prize Fund:

€4,000

Dates Of Promotion:

1st May 2012 to midnight on the 31st May 2012

Further Details:

Rake period: 30th – 6th May — Freeroll 1: 10/05/2012, 20:30 CET (19:30 BST, 14:30 EDT)
Rake period: 7th – 13th May — Freeroll 2: 17/05/2012, 20:30 CET (19:30 BST, 14:30 EDT)
Rake period: 14th – 20th May — Freeroll 3: 24/05/2012, 20:30 CET (19:30 BST, 14:30 EDT)
Rake period: 21st – 27th May — Freeroll 4: 31/05/2012, 20:30 CET (19:30 BST, 14:30 EDT)

Terms and Conditions:

New Players: Play one raked hand at PokerHeaven Poker from Monday to Sunday and you will get automatic entry to a €1,000 Freeroll the following Thursday
You can qualify for all four of the freerolls listed below by raking a hand in each qualifying period.

If you are still looking for a rakeback deal then check out all of the Best Rakeback Deals here. To sign up to Poker Heaven all you have to do is Click here and you will be joining Rakeback.co.uk as well and will be able to access our monthly promotions for free.

If you currently play your poker without a rakeback deal then you are throwing money away every time you sit at an online table. Make the most of your time at the online poker felt with a rakeback deal from Rakeback.co.uk. Sign up here: PokerHeaven. If you already have a deal at Poker Heaven then why not make the most of your May and take advantage of our €4,000 in Freerolls.

Rakeback.co.uk’s promotions team have arranged a fantastic May PKR $4,000 Endurance Challange. There’s plenty of added value for PKR players this month so take advantage and enjoy the online felt this May. There’s nothing like getting something for nothing and that’s what we offer our rakeback players every single month. Check out the Ts and Cs and all the details below:

Total Prize Fund:

$4,000

Dates Of Promotion:

1st May 2012 to midnight on the 31st May 2012

Further Details:

This challenge is open to ALL players tracked to RTR and Rakeback Partners Sites
The $4,000 will be made up of 4 x $1,000 weekly endurance challenges as follows:
• Week 1 (4th-10th May) – Earn 200 PKR Points ($2 Rake) each day to win a share of $1,000
• Week 2 (11th-17th May) – Earn 500 PKR Points ($5 Rake) each day to win a share of $1,000
• Week 3 (18th-24th May) – Earn 2,000 PKR Points ($20 Rake) each day to win a share of $1,000
• Week 4 (25th-31st May) – Earn 5,000 PKR Points ($50 Rake) each day to win a share of $1,000

You earn 100 PKR points for every $1 in rake that you generate.

Terms and Conditions:

• The promotion consists of 4 weeks wirth of challenges from the 4th May to 31st May. Players must earn the relevant number of points each day within the corresponding week to qualify. If you fail on any day, for any reason, you will be removed from the prize pool. No second chances!
• Time on the reports will be Server Time GMT, so you might want to earn more than the amount of points required just to be sure! If you mess up the challenge because of the timing issue, you are to blame!
• The PKR points will need to be earned through real money play only in cash games and tourney fees. Any promotional PKR points credited for whatever reason will not count and any points won through freerolls will not count either.
• Each qualifying player will receive a share of $1,000 (e.g. if 50 players complete the challenge, then each player gets $20. If 10 people complete it, then each gets $100)
• If you play at a cash table, you must leave the table before midnight to guarantee the rake is accumulated before midnight. If you’re playing in a tournament, the tournament needs to end before midnight (whether you’re still in the tournament or not). So you should make sure you earn your points well in advance of the end of the day.
• The PKR reports are delayed by at least 48 hours. So the remaining players in the challenge will not start to show up until at least the 7th of May.

If you are still looking for a rakeback deal then check out all of the Best Rakeback Deals here. To sign up to PKR all you have to do is Click here and you will be joining Rakeback.co.uk as well and will be able to access our monthly promotions for free.

If you currently play your poker without a rakeback deal then you are throwing money away every time you sit at an online table. Make the most of your time at the online poker felt with a rakeback deal from Rakeback.co.uk. Sign up here: PKR Poker. If you already have a deal at PKR then why not make the most of your May and take advantage of our $4,000 Endurance Challange.

Rakeback.co.uk’s promotions team have arranged a fantastic May Paradise Poker €2,500 Hands Race. There’s plenty of added value for Paradise Poker players this month so take advantage and enjoy the online felt this May. There’s nothing like getting something for nothing and that’s what we offer our rakeback players every single month. Check out the Ts and Cs and all the details below:

Total Prize Fund:

€2,500

Dates Of Promotion:

1st May 2012 to midnight on the 31st May 2012

Further Details:

Finish in the top 20 players with the most raked hands at Paradise during the qualifying period and win a share of €2,500

Terms and Conditions:

The data we used is based on the 24 hour reports we get from the poker room. Players who finish in winning positions on our leader board will receive their prizes direct to their poker account on or before the 15th day of the following month.

If you are still looking for a rakeback deal then check out all of the Best Rakeback Deals here. To sign up to Paradise Poker all you have to do is Click here and you will be joining Rakeback.co.uk as well and will be able to access our monthly promotions for free.

If you currently play your poker without a rakeback deal then you are throwing money away every time you sit at an online table. Make the most of your time at the online poker felt with a rakeback deal from Rakeback.co.uk. Sign up here: Paradise Poker. If you already have a deal at Paradise Poker then why not make the most of your May and take advantage of our €2,500 Hands Race.