10KingsPoker

Mickey Rourke on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross!

2009-02-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

Two legends go heads-up! This is a truly remarkable interview (3 parts) with Mickey Rourke on BBC's Friday Night with talkshow-host Jonathan Ross two days ago. Strongly recommended!

Part 1 of the interview:
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiSa5m_guDE">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiSa5m_guDE

Part 2:

Part 3:

My treble won!

2009-02-19T13:28:00.000-08:00

Shaktar Donetsk vs Spurs 2-0
FC Copenhagen vs Man City 2-2 (FC Cop equalised in 91st min!)
Storhamar vs Stjernen 8-1 (easy!)

Donetsk covered handicap bet and both teams scored the Denmark.

Unfortunately I included Fiorentina on my betting slips, so the usual 'Allan fuckup' happened. Never mind. At least my blog picks were right... (snufs, snufs)

New picks tomorrow.

Ding, Ding! My treble for today;

2009-02-19T04:27:00.000-08:00

Shaktar Donetsk vs Tottenham / Homewin at 1.90
Corluka, Pavlyucenko, Keane, O'Hara, Defoe, King, Woodgate and Modric are all out of the Spurs squad. Harry Redknapp focuses on the relegation battle in the Premiership, and can't be arsed about this match. 4 matches in the next 11 days says it all. Shaktar beat Basel and Barcelona in Champions League, and despite in the middle of a winter break, home team should win this match.
I even try -1 handicap win for Donetsk.

FC Copenhagen not to lose vs Man City / 1X at 1.60
Robinho is out due to a minor injury, and Man City isnt the best travelling in European football. Poor away team. FC Copenhagen has good attacking qualities, and I think they will get at least one goal tonight. I was consider a bet on both teams to score, but Man City has struggled away to Stoke, Pompey and Boro. Ambitious FC Copenhagen managed by Ståle Solbakken will be a tough nut to crack, and I 'm confident the Danes will not lose this game!

Norwegian icehockey:
Storhamar vs Stjernen / home win at 2.00
I have been brought supporting Storhamar, and played 15 years at the junior levels there. Last year's champion starting to hit the home form as playoff is approaching.
Lost 1-0 at home to league champs Sparta a week ago although a good performance in which they deserved all three points - then won 1-0 at home to arch rivals Vålerenga. I think we can expect another home win tonight as Stjernen has faded a bit the last few weeks due to financial problems and having points deducted by the federation.

Good luck.

Henning Granstad pre-festival interview

2009-02-17T09:03:00.000-08:00

'Top 3' at LWF; Droulias, Bradshaw and Mulla

2009-02-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

Allan on LWF - part 1

2009-02-13T04:50:00.001-08:00

Allan on LWF - part 2

2009-02-13T04:20:00.001-08:00

Nutz TV sums up Liverpool Winter Festival 2009

2009-02-12T05:37:00.001-08:00

MalMaison - where we stay in Liverpool!

2009-02-11T06:17:00.000-08:00

LWF on Tower News 10th of Feb

2009-02-11T06:02:00.000-08:00

Allan Aasterud - Interview before Day 3

2009-02-11T05:44:00.001-08:00

Dermot Dinan gives you his Festival thoughts

2009-02-11T04:59:00.000-08:00

Dermot Dinan gives you his thoughts about Liverpool Winter Festival:

So the curtain has come down on the Liverpool Winter Festival of Poker 2009, and it was an unforgettable time for all those who are able to say "I was there!"
At the business end of things, three Scandies 'made the money' in the Main Event, which I am told, was the strongest poker field ever assembled in Liverpool.

Here is the result of the Main Event:-

PRIZE BREAKDOWN

Prizepool.....£57,500

Entries 115
Buy-in £500 + £50

1st...£13,900 .....Rayeez Mulla

2nd... £10,000.....Theo Droulias
3rd... £10,000.....Andy Bradshaw
4th... £5,200.....Jimmy Morgan
5th... £3,150.....Terry Nelson
6th... £2,600.....Ky Hutchinson
7th...£2,300.....Steve Helmsley
8th... £2,000.....Thomas Sande
9th... £1,700.....Zach Ford

10th...£1,450.....Ole Johan Steinvik
11th... £1,450.....Jonathan McCann
12th... £1,450.....Oyvind Efraimsen
13th... £1,150.....Tony Wooley
14th... £1,150.....Charlie Nelson

All in all, a tremendous showing from the Norwegian contingent and all of us here in Liverpool would welcome them back in a heartbeat.
Oyvind Efraimsen can consider himself a little unlucky, going out to the eventual winner Rayeez Mulla, after taking his time before calling Mulla's all-in from the SB. With his tournament life at stake, Oyvind was about a 4/6 favourite preflop showing A 9 to Mulla's J 8. The flop was bad news however with 8 6 5 and 3 then 4 on the river signalled the end for him.

Ole Johan Steinvik had been in great shape for a long time until this key hand came along.

Ky Hutchinson has A Q and is about an 11/4 chance vs. Ole's K K. The flop comes A J Q and only a 2-outer can stop the Hutch from winning this.It wasn't to be as a 4 -2 completes the board and Ole's stack is halved to about 140 k. Soon after the break he makes a move all-in and this time Andy Bradshaw's call has the best of it preflop, but Ole's only 7/4 against.

AB : A 10
OS : 8 9 flop is bittersweet with 5 9 10 ... the turn offers a little hope as a 7 gives Ole an up + down straight draw but the river Q is not kind and Ole is gone.

Thomas Sande was the only remaining Norwegian in the Main Event as Ole's exit meant that the prized Final Table of 9 players was upon us. It was around this time that messages appeared on the A World Of Poker Forum site with one from Thomas's sister which I thought particularly heart-warming, telling him how proud his family were of him, and how much they were enjoying watching the action back in Norway. Well done to CCTV and PeeKay of AWOP for passing that one on ! Those two lads worked their socks off to bring the event to life for those unable to be there ... a really great job, fellas !

Andy B 349 k
Zach F 319 k
Jimmy M 300 k
Steve H 253 k
Rayeez M 236 k
Ky Hutch 221 k
Thomas S 216 k
Terry N 159 k
Theo D 141 k

This is how the Final Table set up and as you can see, although Thomas was 7th in chips, he was not far off the pace. Naturally it was getting a bit tense out there and the blinds were beginning to bite. I suspect that Thomas had become a bit 'card dead' because he was uncharacteristically quiet. That was all about to change though as Zach Ford (who had been as low as 700 chips mid-way through Saturday), crippled by Mulla a few hands earlier,went out in 9th as he tried to double up.

The blinds went up again.

6 k / 12 k now with a 2 k ante meant that there was a minimum of 34 k in the middle for the remaining 8 players before a card was dealt !

Jimmy M made a raise from the button making it 32 k to go ... Thomas from the big blind moved all-in over the top for 140 k ... Jimmy called double-quick and they were 'On their Backs'

TS : A J
JM : A A Ouch ! Miracles need only apply ... Thomas is 12/1 against and the flop comes 7 6 4 Turn Q River 6

An eighth place finish in this particular field was nothing short of remarkable in my humble opinion.I got to know Thomas a little from earlier in the week and a very personable young man he is too.His appetite for poker is voracious, for example,during the 45 minute break on Day 2 of the Main Event, he nipped downstairs to play a few hands in a cash game, winning a few hundred pounds for himself while the rest of us were mostly feeding our faces! He looks like he shouldn't even be allowed to know all the moves he's got in his game, but those who under-estimate him will pay a heavy price. I hope this experience will have given Thomas's poker career a boost and I expect to hear bigger and bolder things from him in the future. The way this lad plays he probably doesn't need the money but £ 2000 is a nice reward for 3 days work.

Before the Festival started, Allan Aasterud asked me what I thought about the challenge from Scandinavia, particularly the 'online' generation,(my full answer is on a previous blog from the 3rd of Feb) and I don't think I stated the case strongly enough. In general,these guys seem to think deeply about the game,and displayed some real 'guts' in difficult spots, not just in the Main Event but in the side events too. The set up in Norway appears to be bringing players on in a different style to here and long may it continue.I'm just glad I stayed away from their cash games where I could have been eaten alive !

Theo Droulias merits a special mention too, as this was genuinely only his second live event, the first being a 10Kings Poker satellite in the Circus Casino!

I was a bag of nerves for ages in live games because my only experience of tournament poker came from the internet,w here the only thing I could get wrong was pressing the 'call'/raise' button instead of the 'fold' (which of course I have done).Pot sizes are calculated for me, I don't have to physically distinguish the different chip values, I can't make a string bet on the 'net (I didn't know what one was until I did it by accident in my first live game),and my opponents stack sizes are conveniently displayed for me. The machine makes very loud and irritating noises when it's 'my turn to act' so I was often day-dreaming in my first live tournies wondering what everybody was waiting for (oops)

Theo even survived a bit of a clash with Andy Bradshaw when it was 4-handed and came through it apparently unscathed.

I have only the slightest reservation about the deal Theo agreed to when there were 3 left. The original prize for 2nd was £ 9'800 with £ 6900 for 3rd place. Without knowing the chip stacks exactly, I can't say for sure whether or not the extra £200 Theo got for sharing 2nd and 3rd (ie £10 k each) was worth what he gave up for the chance to knock someone else out. My gut feeling is that Andy Bradshaw got the best of it but hey! ... that's poker.

Considering all of this though, many congratulations to Theo on his bumper pay day of £ 10'000.

I'd just like to say a few words about the English representatives. The Liverpool lads were great, the Nelson twins,Charlie (14th) and Terry (5th) both cashed, and they have another brother Ian who I got talking to on Saturday, who was brutally outdrawn on Day 2. These guys are very experienced players and regularly compete on the EPT with some success I might add.

Big Jimmy Morgan has been a regular player on the local scene for a while now and is clearly going the right way. The winner Rayeez Mulla is no stranger to the winner's enclosure and is well established on the national scene as are Andy Bradshaw,Steve Helmsley and Ty Hutchinson.

The team at Stanley Circus Casino have surpassed all expectations and their tireless efforts have made this Festival a complete success. Kevin Proctor,Paul Fox and Ged have developed a card room to be proud of without doubt. What a pleasure it was to play in this great venue where the standard of dealing was impeccable! I can't recall a single dispute over the five days as any contentions were dealt with swiftly and decisively.

Now they have shown they can handle events of this size and stature with such a level of professionalism I think they can look forward to accomodating many more satisfied poker fans and sponsors.

Having virtually lived in the Circus Casino since Wednesday afternoon I was able to enjoy the events unfold today at home,thanks to the technology provided by The Nutz.TV.The quality of the pictures from the live feed provided by Chris 'The Cub' were astonishingly good and with excellent commentary from Phil 'The Tower' (clearly these two are just poker nuts) I feel I saw more action today than I had seen when I was actually there. The two lads on the laptops giving live updates for the AWOP forum were just as dedicated, so many thanks to 'PeeKay' and 'cctv'.

'The Malmaison' where 10KingsPoker had put me up,was simply the best hotel I have stayed in. It's been a while since I've enjoyed that kind of luxury and would recommend a stay there to anyone coming to this rejuvenated City of Liverpool for a break.

I really have tried to think of something about the last 5 days that I didn't like but apart from not making it into the Main Event,there just wasn't anything. So in conclusion,thanks to Allan, Jostein, LK, Henning and all the Norwegians that I met that helped to make this event what it was.

Top 3 winners

2009-02-08T21:53:00.000-08:00

Well done to all!

Top 3 in the £500+£50 Main Event:
1st...£13,900 .....Rayeez Mulla
2nd... £10,000.....Theo Droulias
3rd... £10,000.....Andy Bradshaw

Lots of clips and pics to come:

See a pre-tournament interview with ex LFC legend Jan Mølby:
http://www.thenutz.tv/videodetail.php?video_id=68731

Only 12 players left in the £500 Main Event!

2009-02-08T08:12:00.000-08:00

Click here for latest info on forum:
http://www.aworldofpoker.com/forum/about16237-0-asc-0.html
Watch it live here:
http://www.thenutz.tv/live

Final table next!!

Ole Steinvik...............247,000

Mulla.......................242,500

Zach Ford................239,500

T.Droulais..................234,000

Jimmy Morgan...........190,500

Thomas Sande..........188,500

Oyvind Efraimsen.......144,000

Johnathan McCann.....126,500

Charlie Nelson............118,000

Ky Hutchinson..........114,500

Andy Bradshaw...........92,500

Steve Hemsley..........38,000

Meet & Greet at Malmaison from 2:30pm

2009-02-07T05:12:00.000-08:00

Nutz TV
Jan Mølby
Gillette Soccer Saturday
Team 10KingsPoker + guests
Feel free to come down and have a chat with us and watch football.

LIVE streaming is running!!

2009-02-06T12:51:00.000-08:00

Watch us live! Directly from www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com

Click on LIVE stream link

Meet and greet drinks in Malmaison Saturday from 2.30pm.

2009-02-05T22:21:00.000-08:00

In cooperation with our sponsor Malmaison (www.malmaison.com) and their Business Development ManagerSharon Simens, 10KingsPoker.com will welcome all our guests to come down to Malmaison on Saturday at 2.30pm.

Malmaison is a fabulous hotel, and this is where we all stay during Festival. Team 10Kings, Nutz TV, Competition winners, poker pros - we're all booked in.

Saturday is Day 2 of the festival, and we will sit down, watch some football, talk about betting and relax ahead of another exciting poker night. Gillette Soccer Saturday on TV, Jan Mølby quiz and a good atmosphere. If you're out of the Main Event, you might even look at Malmaison's wine and champagne menu.

10KingsPoker & Circus Casino are proud to be associated with Malmaison, hope to see you on Saturday.

Live updates from Thursday's £100+£10 Freeze out

2009-02-05T22:08:00.000-08:00

See http://www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com for live updates. Have a look!
Two Norwegians, One Swede and One Blackpool guy in Top 4.
It was a very good tournament leading up to Main Event which starts Friday evening.
Pics to come.

Dermot Dinan blogs: We're off to a crackin' start in Liverpool!

2009-02-05T12:11:00.001-08:00

A crackin’ start!
The Liverpool Winter Festival started yesterday evening. Allan , Joe and I were met at the Circus Casino by General Manager Kevin Proctor at about 6:30 pm who told us that his phone had been ringing off the hook with enquiries for Friday’s Main Event.

I had earlier asked Allan how many entries he thought there might be for the £30 semi – freezeout tonight and he declared 60 would be a very good number, as this would generate about 5 seats or so into the Main Event at £500+£50 a ‘pop’. Kevin meanwhile was confidently predicting 80 + runners and he was nearer the mark with an entry field of 90 players by the time 8:30pm rolled around.

Just to recap, a semi-freezeout is a neat combo of a re-buy and a once only buy-in (freeze-out) multi tournament. In this case, following a £33 registration for 4000 chips, you are allowed one re-buy at any time for another 4k of chips , and a further add-on and 4k after 2 hrs of play. So the most anyone can do in is £93. That’s 4 pints a lager and a chippie meal, eh?

After the dust had settled and the rebuy and add-ons had finished, £5,970 had been collected. This meant that 10 seats in Friday’s £500+£50 Main Event were on offer plus £470 cash for the 11th placed finisher…. But more of that later.
The first all-in arrived on my table in hand 2 …. AK outflopped JJ for a quick double up for seat 7 – that player seemed to be involved in almost every hand after that! I won my first pot of the night by checking my seat 5 BB after seat 2 had smooth called. My 69s was smacked squarely with a 7 8 3 … he bet a strange (to me) less than 1/3rd of the pot which I called and the 5 came on the turn. He moved all-in for about 2k and I called …. He showed 77 but didn’t manage to house up. I started to feel a bit more settled after that!

Martin Bosch (from Alta, Norway – close to the Arctic circle!) was unlucky to walk into AA with his QQ but he took it well, rebought and came back strongly.
Level 2 and 100/200 blinds, I look down at AKs and make it 600 and get 2 callers … flop comes K 9 7 and seat 7 pushed all-in, 2nd caller folds and hoping he didn’t have K9 I called …. He showed K 10 and got no help…. I’m above chip average for the first time so I’m feeling ok.

Just before the break and the end of additional chips, I’ve got AA in mid- position and raise to 600 and get a call from Dennis in seat 1 who’s been very busy of late, and is in the BB…flop is A Q 8 and he bets 1k … I set him in for 2400 and he calls … he shows Q8 and is dead in the water.
74 players remained after the break and my add-on took my stack to 17k with the average at 9k … ok so far but a long way to go.

Levels 3 thru 5 seemed to pass very quickly without too much happening except for the eventual loss of Martin who having been dealt a blow holding QQ once before, found the ‘Sisters’ again only this time they left him crippled. A showdown of 5 5 vs. 8 8 summed his night up really as no help came to the aid of his underpair.
Next up was Level 6 Blinds 600/1200 46 remain DD stack 21k Average 21 k
I met a young man named Jamie McCormack around about this time on a short break. I knew Joe was doing well at the time, on about 35 k + and was chatting to Jamie about the football (Get in you Blue Boys !!! ).

I casually asked him how he was doing and when he replied “ Not too bad thanks … I’ve got about 52 k in chips“ I realized he had to be close to the lead which he confirmed, not in an arrogant manner but as a matter of fact. Jamie told me he is from Blackpool, aged about 20,and has been playing poker for 2 ½ years or so. What struck me about this young man was how composed he was at the table and in conversation. It came as no surprise that he comfortably made a Main Event seat by the way. I wish him well for Friday and the future.

OK. Level 8 and it’s getting hot out there !
32 remain Average 25 k DD 17k Blinds 1k/2k
Norwegian Joe has gone … he rather fell on his sword with AK to AA … having asked a serious question with a good sized raise, Joe was quickly re-raised for all 40k+ of his chips…. I know Joe is not happy with his call in this spot and it is easy to see the case for getting away from this one but y’know, poker makes us all do strange stuff now and again.
I’m trying to hang on but am between two stacks of 80k + and with the blinds increasing every 20 mins now I need to pick a spot.

Level 9 27 remain Average 31k DD 22k
Blinds 2k / 4k
There is panic in the air and I can feel it … people are moving with ‘any old ace’ and the big stacks are mopping up.
I have AJ and small blind makes it 8k to go …. I think I have enough chips to make him think hard for a while and those blinds are coming around again soon. When it’s me to speak I’m ready and announce all-in for 22k … Babu as he is affectionately known (no really !) is thinking that I haven’t played many hands but 14k is still about 1/3rd of his stack …. After an age he calls and “On Their Backs” he shows KK …. Ouch ! Flop K 9 7 Turn 3 River K!

Out in 27 th and soon after ‘Team 10Kings’ member LK was cut adrift in 21st place.
Sorry to say that it seems there was no Norwegian representative successful in today’s attempt to qualify but …. The have a strong contigent of players already confirmed entries for Main Event.

Incidentally the final twelve players each put £20 into the kitty as a sweetener for the 12th placed finisher,which I thought was very democratic and Liverpudlian-like … d’you know worrameeeen like ?
My man of the LIVE satellite: Mark Blake (Wales) – keep an eye on him for the Main Event. The structure suits him perfectly, he’s in-form and a very disciplined player.

Liverpool Winter Festival Day 1 is over and we're looking forward to new tournaments over the next few days.

Deadline for Team Competition

2009-02-04T05:12:00.000-08:00

In agreement with Circus Casino and Nutz TV, we have set the deadline for entry to Team Competition at Friday by lunchtime at 12.00. Register a poker account with 10KingsPoker now!
If you have problems finding a team mate, let me know.
If you have problems register an account, let me know.
allan@10KingsPoker.com is my e-mail address

Registered entries so far:
* Team 10Kings

* 2 Brothers and a Donk
* The Fullring Nits
* Team UltraPervo
* The River
* Team Sandefjord
* Newcastle Poker Forum
* The Flintstones
* 3 Kings from The Castle
* Team Hartlepool
* Team Fart
* Team Salty Liquirice

Hurry up! £500+£50 Main Event filling up...

2009-02-04T05:02:00.000-08:00

Hurry up, we now have 100 confirmed entries for £500+£50 Main Event!
If you want a seat, contact Circus Casino Liverpool directly asap.
There will be a LIVE satellite tonight which will open approx 10-14 seats depending on entries and rebuy/add'on.
Norwegians arriving at Casino around midnight, and we keep getting calls and buyins from all over UK.
Hurry up now - book your seat before it's too late!

Direct from Circus Casino: Dermot Dinan!

2009-02-03T19:36:00.000-08:00

Please meet 10KingsPoker's expert blogger during Liverpool Winter Festival; Dermot 'Number Cruncher' Dinan!
This guy will praise, excite, provoke, critise - and 10KingsPoker is proud to have secured his services for the next few days while we bring the exciting game of poker to City of Liverpool.

Who is Dermot Dinan?

I am a 52 year old Irish born Wallasey man, although I have lived in London and Spain before returning to the Wirral in 1982, remaining here since then.

When did your interest for gambling start?

I started playing 3 card brag in school aged 11, frequently being punished for possession of 'The Devil's Bible' ! ... worth it though as 'ciggy' money was paramount in those days. After much dossing about in my late teens, getting married at 22 was a huge factor in getting only my second 'proper' job, as a Betting Shop Manager for Joe Coral in West London.I had been playing the horses recreationally since age of 15 with predictably poor results, and was sold on the idea of being paid to work in a place where I was spending too much time (not to mention money) anyway.

Dream job, eh?

Allan,listen. It's worth pointing out that back then (1978) the betting shop environment was totally different to today. Never any more than 2 afternoon meetings + 1 dog meeting, closed for night racing in the summer, open at 1030am and finished by 6pm at the latest. Yeah, it was a dream job. No all-weather nonsense and profit levels were more than acceptable. I only visit shops now under sufferance and even though they are virtually empty, the non-stop cacophony of 'cartoon' racing, American rubbish, dogs at all hours, all-weather, Lucky Balls every 15 minutes, and a minimum of 4 all-singing all-dancing roulette type machines..... as you can see,it really cracks me up!

It’s 24 hours business these days, mate. Times are changing…

Anyway, the cost of living enticed me to move back to the Wirral in 1981 and I went to work for an embryonic Stanley Racing .Most of their top-level management cut their teeth at Ladbrokes and after Stanley failed in some of their ambitious expansion plans, I was persuaded that Ladbrokes provided more opportunities for me. This was a big mistake and I can safely say, that a more immoral collection of yes-men and business graduates with no bookmaking experience, would be hard to put together in one company. What a complete shower they turned out to be! After 6 years of trying to do it their way I ultimately chose the highway.

You have never left the betting industry?

No, since then I have been on the periphery of some serious independent gambling circles where I got an invaluable grounding in spread-betting on eg, Winning Distances for Horse Meetings and the Bookings market in Football. As the Spread firms became educated over the years so indeed did the perceived value in both these markets eventually disappear. Not before I was able to flag up 6 consecutive winning years and a a very cheeky profit ‘thank you very much’ .... aaahhh those were the days!

Speaking about gambling circles… When did you enter the world of poker?

I learned to play 5 Card Draw at 15 but 7 Card Stud soon became the game of choice. Regular home games were the thing and although pubs didn't encourage us, the local snooker club saw some very tasty amounts change hands in the mid-70's ie £200 -£400. I was soon able to recognize the stronger players and made every effort to avoid them, the trouble was there were never any really weak games.

When did you first try online poker?

About 5 years ago I think, but it was definitely a small Sit & Go on Will Hill. I was a complete technophobe and was hoping for a gentle introduction as I wasn't sure about the buttons to call/rais. I was first to speak after the flop which came 777 ... all I could see was my KQ (I know, I know) and completely panicked unable to see the 'Check' button. I bet max instead much to the delight of the only other player left in who duly called with his A 7.....Ooops- ahem - bye! If I congratulated him on his Quads? Ahh come on, I couldn’t even find the chat box!

During Liverpool Winter Festival week you will face some of the young online poker Scandics. What do you think about them?

Overall I think the standard has improved across the board. While I feel it is wrong to generalise, the Scandys have certainly made their mark haven't they? I also think they have gone a long way to put to bed the argument that they "won't be able to get away with that in a live game",usually referring to a strong move out of position, UTG for instance seems to be a particular favourite.

I am also amazed at those who can play upwards of 6 games at once although that multi-tasking skill is not owned by just the Skandys.I can just about manage 2 games but always feel I'm missing something.

Looking forward to the Liverpool Winter Festival?

I really do! I love the buzz of a live event and having played the 10KingsPoker Invitational at Circus Casino last October I urge everyone who reads this to give it their support. As you know I will be trying to qualify for the Main Event via satellites so it suits all pockets. The Circus card room management are top-notch too, thanks in advance to Kevin, Paul and Ged.

How is the poker interest and knowledge on Merseyside?

Like a lot of cities poker in Liverpool has been around since before the advent of Hold-em, but it is television that stimulates the interest of non-players. Usually the basics of poker are taught at home but I suspect this tradition may not be as strong as it once was. The top TV tournaments covered by Sky still create talking points among sports fans though. Let me also say that there are some very good poker players on Merseyside, and this festival will be great venue for these to shine.

What are your poker strengths?

Unfortunately for me, outweighed by my weaknesses but I am much more patient in poker however, than I am in life. I do feel I am able to 'get away' from big hands in certain circumstances. I'm no graduate of M.I.T. but the old-fashioned method of settling bets I was taught by Joe Coral has meant that I had am a player who is strong percentage play. Stats are essential in evaluating most spread betting scenarios and have been known to unearth real value.

Any bad beats?

I'm bored listening to them so I try not to tell them but I like the story of the guy in Vegas who charges $50 per 15 mins to listen to your unlucky stories about any game... He charges double for losing Keno stories! Ha-ha.

Any bragging stories?

Quite a few! None that relate to gambling though…

Dermot, you have followed 10KingsPoker.com since early Summer, and you know our team well. How can we be successful in the long run?

I hate all the 'business speak' crap... you know .. blue sky this, out of the box that. It's just laziness in my opinion. I suspect you already know the answers but for what it's worth Allan, you can't do any more than market an honest, ‘value for money product’ that people find easy to consume/navigate. Word of mouth is still a very powerful selling tool, even in this multi-media market of today. Speaking about the Liverpool Winter Festival, you may not reap the benefits of your association with the City of Liverpool for many months but yes I would say, 10KingsPoker is on the right track.
Ok, enough talk. I will see you all down at Circus Casino Wednesday night for the LIVE satellite (£30 Rebuy + Add’on) for Main Event which starts Friday.

Dermot Dinan will keep you informed all festival long, and blog live from Circus Casino. And he does it 'Dermot-way'! 10KingsPoker has given him full freedom to write and say whatever he wants. We can guarantee more action from DD in a few hours...

Arrived in Liverpool

2009-02-03T10:21:00.001-08:00

Checked in at Malmaison, done a quick interview with Nutz TV, got an update from Jan Mølby and booked transport for all Norwegian guests. It doesnt get any better, eh?

About to make a move, heading to Circus Casino for food, meeting with the one and only Paul Fox and later on playing the £40+4 Headhunter FreezeOut.

Good news from London too. 'Lobsterjo', LK and Klinge all arrived safe and sound at Stanstead - and now heading for action at VIC Casino. A warm up ahead of tomorrow's Festival start. Yippi!

ZZzznowstorm in London!

2009-02-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

News from BBC:
Britain is bracing itself for further disruption as fresh bands of snow sweep across the country. South-east England has been hit by the heaviest snow in 18 years, causing trains and buses to be cancelled, and airports and schools to be closed.
There has been issued an 'extreme weather warning' for England, and passengers travelling to and from Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick airports have been warned to expect "significant delays and cancellations".

This is no good news for our festival guests who will start arriving tomorrow at Stanstead, Luton, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. I hope to go by train from London/Euston tomorrow at lunch. Fingers crossed. Good night.

Caroline Cove and her big balls!

2009-02-02T04:07:00.000-08:00

I have seen CC play both in Blackpool and Liverpool, and she sure knows the game of poker. I must admit I had a good laugh when a frustrated poker friend of mine described her this way after being knocked out in Blackpool; 'Allan, that girl must be at least 7 feet tall, she was talking nonstop but you really dont wanna mess with her!'

For the Main Event starting Friday let's welcome; Caroline Cove!

CC, I know you're an experienced poker player on Merseyside. However, not many Scandics know you. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?

Alan I'm an open book :) Everyone who has met me at the poker tables knows I am a very refined, quiet and shy lady, who only ever goes in with the nuts. I have never - repeat - never been barred from any casinos for arguing. Vicious rumours.

Where are you from?

I have a pub in Town Green which is near to Ormskirk.

Somebody asked me if that 'shy blondy' qualified through the LIVE satellite at Circus last Monday? Haha, not sure if he meant you.

Yes, he will definitely have meant me. I'm actually surprised he even noticed me, I am that quiet.

Being a girl around the poker table, do you have any special strategies? You certainly know how to play.

Okay I'll take my tongue out of my cheek now and tell the truth. I am not a typical representative of a girl at the poker table. It has been said many times I have bigger balls than most of the blokes! I run a pub, I've never been a shrinking violet and I am a very confident, outspoken woman - the line I hear most often is "Caroline says out loud what everyone else is just thinking" and I'm afraid it's true. I love to play poker and I have worked hard over the past year to really improve my game, so I can back up my big mouth with the moves to match as part of my game. I can talk anyone into calling when I want them too. One of my weaknesses is talking them into calling when I DON'T want them to! I talk when I have a hand and I talk when I don't so at least I'm consistent.

How long have you played online poker? Your strengths?

My strength online is not playing! I find it too easy to go on tilt online, yet I never do live. I have had a bit of success online but I'd be lying if I said overall I was up. I don't play cash online at all, but do enjoy 10 seater Sit n Goes.

How have you been doing lately?

I seem to be on form, I've only played live seven times this month and have cashed in 5 out of those 7 tournaments, plus I have played cash 4 times and only left down on one occasion. Last Monday I won one of the 4 LIVE satellite seats to the main event at the Winter Festival which I'm really excited about!

Have you entered the team competition yet?

No! We are two members (Caroline and Colin) - one to find! If anyone wants to play with me... speak up now!

Any bad beat stories?

I tend to forget a bad beat as soon as it happens purely because I know how many times I've bad beat people myself! They tend to even out but I think people forget about the horrible calls they make and get lucky and only remember when it happens to them.
My personal moment of achievement was in Dublin last year at the Winter Festival. I played the £500 side event, which I was paid into by Betfred (I spent the money and then had to win a satellite!!!) and had a very hard game with a massive lack of hands. Anyway, I tend to play a short stack well, as my concentration really sharpens up, and managed to keep myself in with a series of steals, squeezes and bullying small boys till they folded. I was then moved to a table which really should have been the TV table - other players there included Julian Thew, Ciaran O'Leary, James Akenhead and a few online pros. I played my heart out and finally managed to make it to the last two tables - into the money. I do remember what I went out with - a guy had just made a really bad call and gone on tilt, all in blind last three hands. The fourth time he did it I found KK in the SB and called. He had JQ and the flop came rag, rag, rag.. followed by a jack.. and another Jack! Game over! 18th place, about €1K. Like I say though, I had been on borrowed time for the past two hours, so I really couldn't complain - I had sucked out a few times to get as far as I did.

Looking forward to see you in Liverpool, Caroline.

I can't wait!! Good luck to 10KingsPoker.com and Circus Casino.

'The Fullring Nits' wants your chips!

2009-01-31T09:30:00.000-08:00

Liverpool Winter Festival has an integrated Team Competition. Meet the latest team trio to enter a very prestigious competition - and these guys are hungry for your chips; 'The Fullring Nits'!

- Team captain Martin Rasch, sorry that I’m asking but is there a spelling mistake in your team name? 'The Fullring Nits' – is that correct spelling?
Ha-ha.
You got it all right. Haven’t you heard of us previously? 'The Fullring Nits'. Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, Bahamas – we turned up once and we will never be forgotten.

- Is that right?

No, just kidding! The three of us are mainly fullring stake grinders from no limit 1-2 to 10-20, including some successful and less successful attempts on even higher stakes. The guys are pretending to have a nitty image on the table, although that’s not always the truth. As we’re an ambitious trio, who is ready to challenge for the Team Competition glory, we needed a special name on our special team. Here we are , 'The Fullring Nits'!

- Who are the team members?

Mads Amot: 23 years old from Gausdal. Futsal player and pokerspiller
Ole Johan Steinvik: 25 years old from Dombås, sharing a flat with Mads in Oslo.
Martin Rasch: 27 years old from Elverum, football coach and poker player who trying to turn his attention from tournaments into cash games.

- Hmm... I don’t think this trio frightens ’The River’ or ‘Team 10Kings’. You need to play at the top of your game to beat these two teams.

Yeah, but let me finish then. . . I was about to give you some facts about my two team mates. OJ has spent a crazy number of hours playing online poker the last few years, and he has taken down most of his opponents. The guy has done very well lately, although he doesn’t play too many tournaments. However, he is the reigning Norwegian champion online (Riverblaster). He also cashed in APPT Macau 2008. A talented guy who could be a chippie after Day 1 in Main Event Liverpool.
Mads came 4th in Norwegian championship Limit Holdem 2008, and he cashed also in 2007. He has been dipping his toes in different prize pools lately, but haven’t made it all the way.

- Do you like the integrated Team Competition?

Yeah, absolutely. It gives added excitement to the Main Event, an extra competition for the players – a lot of prestige on stake. It will be interesting to see how long my team mates can keep their chips stack alive.

- Rumours are saying you are in great online poker form, Martin?

What? Is it a joke, Allan? You see, both my PCs crashed last week...

- Sorry to hear, I thought you had taken a much deserved online break.

True. I can’t complain. I actually won 10KingsPoker’s €3500 GUARANTEED back to back. Always a great feeling to win tournaments, a real confidence booster – although the starting fields were only 72 runners and 68 runners. Thanks for talking me into those tourneys, Allan – definitely value! Ha-ha.

- Been to Liverpool previously?

No, we havent. Definitely looking forward to it despite being Man Utd fans! We are a group of 5-6 guys, and we’ll up for it all. Poker, parties and football. Our travel guide will be Kent Stenseth who has numerous trips to England/Liverpool on his CV, and I’m sure he will be a good city guide.

- LFC fan Kent Stenseth? You better be joking?! I know that dizzy fella very well. If he’s going guide you, you won’t even make it to Circus Casino until Day 2! If he has booked your tickets, make sure you are going to Liverpool Airport and not Stanstead…

Ha-ha! We will keep an eye on Kent. The Fullring Nits is like Fergie’s Man Utd. We might be slow starters, lose a few pots early on - but when the big pots are on the table, don’t count us out.

10KingsPoker is proud to welcome 'The Fullring Nits' to Liverpool Winter Festival!

Our exclusive hotel sponsor!

2009-01-29T10:09:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Malmaison! Our exclusive hotel sponsor is a stylish hotel located in the heart of the historical city of Liverpool, and perfectly suited for Liverpool Winter Festival players and Team Nutz TV. Sharon Simons is Business Development Manager at Malmaison Liverpool, and she looks forward to welcome our guests.

Q1 - Thanks, Sharon. 10KingsPoker is proud to announce Malmaison as our exclusive sponsor, and a truly stunning hotel which will bring added style and elegance to Liverpool Winter Festival!

Certainly! Our friendly staff at Malmaison will do its best to make sure your stay is a plesant one.

Q2 - Where is Malmaison located in Liverpool?

Malmaison is on Princes Dock on the Mersey. About 15 minute taxi ride from the airport, and a quick 10 minute walk into the heart of the city centre.

Q3 - The Malmaison chain is wellknown for their boutique hotels.

Yes that's true. Passion goes a long way in Malmaison. All the way from the converted Episcopal church that is our hotel in Glasgow to fabulously remodelled prison in Oxford and beyond. With thirteen daringly different hotels in the UK, and more in the pipeline catering for the business of pleasure and the pleasure of business, it looks like passion is well and truly here to stay.

Q4 - When did Malmaison launch in Liverpool?

The new Liverpool ‘Mal’ opened on 29th January 2007, ready, willing and extremely able to welcome LiverBirds and City of Culture Vultures alike to a Liverpool hotel, bar and Brasserie with a new and different kind of sophistication that’s decidedly more 5th Avenue than Water Street.

Q5 - Why should choose Malmaison?

Malmaison dares to be different…

The hotel boasts 128 superbly welcoming, non-smoking rooms, many of which have river views, plus 2 suites, dedicated to the City’s favourite football teams.

The totally soft, purple Plum Bar is all waiter service and will be open from 10am every morning, serving an extensive repertoire of drinks, sublime cocktails and bar snacks – definitely the scene if you want to be seen.

The Brasserie serves classic French bistro dishes and locally inspired dishes available from the Home, Grown & Local menu. Least we forget the two private dining rooms The Boudoir, The Kitchen and a wine tasting cellar. For work and play, for those on business, the hotel also features 4 meeting rooms and an excellent Techno gym.

Q6 - A boutique hotel like Malmaison must be VERY expensive, Sharon?

The hotel is pure style and luxury; people may think its going to be expensive but Malmaison is different.. Rooms are from £75 room only (subject to availability), so its stylish yet affordable!

Q7 - Champagne bar, gym and Liverpool/Everton suites - what's that all about?
Malmaison not only boast sumptuous rooms, delicious cuisines and delectable cocktails..we also have a Veuve Clicquot Bar, this used for private functions but due to popular demand Liverpool Mal will be hosting a regular champagne tasting event!
The gym is fully equipped and one of our larger gyms out of the hotels..if you don’t want to work out, how about living it up like your favourite footballer and stay in one of our suites? The Suites are something else! Liverpool and Everton fans will be winners, thanks to its two premiership Suites.

‘The Kop’– a Killer corner Suite overlooking the Mersey, with double shower, saucy teak bath with huge plasma TV screen, table-top footie and Liverpool pictures and memorabilia everywhere.

‘The Toffee Shop’ –this stylish Suite comes with ‘team’ bed, plasma TV screen, state-of-the-art design with room to practice tackling!

Thanks to Sharon and we're looking forward to stay at Malmaison next week.
Personally I can agree with every word she says. I have just come back after business meetings in Liverpool, and Malmaison is a perfect place for a business trip or weekend away. A luxury hotel perfect located! My hotel room was very modern, comfortable bed and free wireless internet access. A fantastic bathrooms including a top class shower. Absolutely brilliant!

10KingsPoker can definitely recommend Malmaison as our favourite hotel!

Ranking status and Nutz TV

2009-01-29T05:39:00.001-08:00

Liverpool Winter Festival now got European Ranking Status!

Nutz TV with Phil Heald & co will attend Main Event - and give you online stream and LIVE updates. Fantastic news! See them speak about Liverpool Winter Festival here:
(go to 4 mins and 30 seconds;)

http://www.thenutz.tv/videodetail.php?video_id=68655

Hotel recommendation: MALMAISON !

2009-01-27T08:54:00.000-08:00

Are you coming to Liverpool?

Malmaison Liverpool is the place to stay in The Official European Capital of Culture. Perfectly suited for a business trip or luxury weekend break, this is a truly stunning hotel which offers all the luxury you’d expect from a Malmaison boutique hotel.

http://www.malmaison-liverpool.com/the-hotel
Exclusive interview with Malmaison representatives to be launched online Wednesday.

Malmaison offer rates from £75 room only, subject to availability

ATTENTION: Payment Info

2009-01-27T02:32:00.001-08:00

To be able to register your seat for Liverpool Winter Festival (4th - 8th Feb), you need to make your payment to Circus Casino now. Online or offline, please see below bank details:

* The UK based players can buy in at their local Stanley Casino. *

For non-UK players see bank details below:

Account Name: Stanley Casinos Limited Gaming Revenue Account
Account number: 41527615
Sort Code: 60-13-19
IBAN: GB41NWBK60131941527615
BIC: NWBKGB2L

Here are the tournaments:
£500+£50 Main event
£30+£3 Semi FreezeOut Satellite
£100+£10 NL Hold'em FreezeOut
£200+£20 NL Hold'em FreezeOut
£50+£5 NL Nold'em Semi-FreezeOut

Send me an e-mail to allan@10KingsPoker.com if questions.

PS! To be a eligble for tournament play, payment needs to be received by Circus Casino before start of tournament.
The normal way to do this is:

1) The player to contact Circus Casino to register for a tournament (register online, see www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com). He/she also gives a confirmation on mail or fax.

2) Circus Casino reserves one or several seats and give the player information to make a bank tranfer. (See bank info above)

3) The player transfers money enough to cover any tournament buyin.

4) Circus Casino receives the transferred money and buy the player into tournament.

5) If any money left, the player can collect them in the cash desk when he/she arrives at Circus Casino.

'10Kings Heads Up' tournament at 20:00 GMT

2009-01-26T09:19:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 26, 2009: '10Kings Heads Up'
Don't forget tonight's exclusive €30+€3 Heads-Up tournament.
Only for 10KingsPoker members and Payout to Top 4. Max players: 64
Start: 20:00 GMT (10KingsPoker.com guarantees €200)

This is a tournament requested by some of the players who intend to go to Liverpool Winter Festival. The Top 4 will walk away with a bit of cash, and several of these players will meet up again in Feb - this time face to face in Circus Casino.

A lot of banter already, and there are some feisty heads-ups expected...

Home favourite Terry Owens looking forward to Festival!

2009-01-25T04:33:00.000-08:00

Watch this guy! One of the local players aiming for a seat in the final and his hands on the £3,000 Team Competition prize is Terry Owens from Liverpool. As a friend of mine for several years, we had a good chat about his team, his worst bad beat and his restaurant.

* Hello Terry, you ok? I know you're an ambitious player who knows your game. Ready to challenge our 'Team 10Kings'?

Yes, Allan. We're ready. You know me, shy guy and all that - but I really fancy our team for the win and one of us to final table and possibly win it outright.

(Shy guy yeah. There you have Terry Owens. Ha-ha. No way!)

* What's the name of your team?

We have called the team The River after my restaurant opposite the casino. It seemed a natural choice for a poker junkie in a city with such a famous river running through it.

* Who are your team mates?

They are James Morgan and Andy Booth. James and Andy have steadily improved over the last year or two and have moved up from low stakes live poker to regular journeymen of the domestic poker circuit. They have also made the online game a regular choice as it offers great value and a chance to win those coveted places at live main events.
To this end James Morgan won so many GUKPT live event seats last year that they had to pay some of them in cash as there were no more events to win! Andy Booth also had a good run in that in one week he won four online tournaments netting him over $12k in the week, this had him placed in the Blue Square Hall of Fame!

* And last but not least, how are you doing, Terry?

Pretty well, mate. There has been four trophies awarded in Liverpool for festival events and I have been lucky enough to win three of them which earned me over £20k . Two of them were back to back which resulted in quite a party afterwards. James Morgan came 2nd and 3rd in two of those events. The three of us are active cash game players on various rungs of the ladder, but we would all consider ourselves tournament players first and foremost.

* Do you like the team competition integrated into Main Event?

We all do! The team competition is a great free extra laid on by 10KingsPoker and shows innovation. It gives the player added interest even when knocked out and improves upon many team games in that the individual player still gets the lions share of prize money if they place in the main event.

* How was your poker form in 2008?

I played quite a few gukpt events last year. http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=41422
I final tabled in the main event in Walsall winning about 8k, runner up in a GUKPT side event in Bolton and made the money in the main event, winning about 8k for the week. I also final tabled at a side event in Kent. I won one of the trophies in Liverpool earlier in the year at Leo Casino. Just recently I came runner up in the $500 online short handed main event on Blue Square. Losing head's up to Jeff Kimber who is a previous heads up world champion. (He is a lucky fish!).

* Any 'bad beat' story for our readers, Terry?

Bad beat stories, so many yet so few people want to listen. I shall recount only two!
Story 1: The first is an online omaha cash game. It's a $10K pot with three players. I started with double ace suited and the flop comes A 5 10 (rainbow). All the money (a lot!) goes in and we have one caller. Turn comes a 2 and the river comes a 5. I was the preflop raiser and the postflop loser as he wins the pot with quad fives!

Story 2:
We're at a live texas cash game at the Venetian in Las Vegas. I have about $7K infront of me making me about $5K ahead on the night. We are now three handed and I am about to leave. I am talked into staying by one player as the other is drunk has about $15K and is doing his best to dump it on us. I agree to stay another hour! I have Ace Ten. The flop comes Ace Ten Nine with two clubs. The pot gets big on the flop and we see a turn card. The A of clubs... This gives me a full house and puts a flush out there. All of the money goes in. Now up until now I had been playing at The Orleans hotel who had a bad beat jackpot of $50K and to win this you had to lose with aces full or better. The river brings the Seven of clubs. I am behind only to quad tens or so I think, and he declares flush and flips his cards over. I go to scoop the pot about $14k and the dealer declares straight flush ! The guy didn't see it and I couldn't believe it. A one outer, he had the six and eight of clubs !! Hang on, maybe a bad beat jackpot could get me out of it. NO, there isn't one at the Venetian!

Allan, why did you have to ask this gut wrenching 'bad beat' question?? Ha-ha.

* Oh that's a bad one, Terry. Your story must be the ultimate definition of a 'bad beat' story. Any advices for the newcomers we will welcome from Norway to the Liverpool Winter Festival?

First of all, we are looking forward to meet them. An international mix always spice up any tournament, and we have a lot of respect for the Scandics. Here you have my three tips for 'newbies':

1. Watch the players at your table and observe their styles and use the info later when it counts.
2. Use position as a weapon. eg. blind theft, squeeze plays and don't get out of line early.
3. Be able to lay a hand down if you think you are beat and you have time to recover.

* Any local players to keep an eye on?

Paul Marrow: Nicknamed 'The Diceman'. Unprediatable, aggressive and will either go out early or make a play for the win.
Joe Kershaw: Another player with the talent to win a big tourney if things fall his way.
Ian Nelson: He once described himself on a televised live final as the person with the biggest balls in Liverpool. Pass.

* I can strongy recommend any player to check out your restaurant 'The River'. Great food and service!

Thanks, Allan. 'The River' is opposite the casino, around 50 metres to walk. A good place to chill out if you need a break from the casino. I have two websites for the restaurants adddresses below, and I give 10% discount to all Liverpool Winter Festival players. We'll also organse breakfast and pre-tournament dinner at a set price for the players as it's a good meeting point for Scandics and local players. See you in Liverpool between the 4th to 8th of February!
http://www.haymarketrestaurant.co.uk

http://www.riverbarandgrill.co.uk

Plenty of online action on 10KingsPoker!

2009-01-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

Date GMT
25.jan 15:00 €7,500 GTD Super Sunday €70+€7 (Deepstack Tourney)
25.jan 15:00 €100K - 10 seats GTD €10+€1
25.jan 16:30 Irish Open Weekly €32+€3
25.jan 17:30 P.A.T Weekly €47,50+€2,50
25.jan 17:30 €250,000 Weekly €32+€3
25.jan 19:00 €100,000 Guaranteed €140+€10
26.jan 20:00 10Kings Heads-Up' €30+€3 (Exclusive for our members)
27.jan 19:00 €25,000 Freeroll (1,500 raked hands required)
01.feb 18:00 €250,000 Guaranteed €300+€20
15.feb 16:30 Irish Open Final €300+€20 (€5,000 winner package)
15.feb 17:30 P.A.T Final €450+€25

Daily satellites:
Irish Open Rebuy €2+20c
Irish Open Daily €3,5+50c
P.A.T Rebuy €3+30c
P.A.T Daily €5+50c
€100,000 Satellite €15+€1
€250,000 Rebuy €2+20c
€250,000 Daily €3,50+30c

Register your entry to Liverpool now!

2009-01-23T13:47:00.000-08:00

Hey, are you going to Liverpool in february for http://www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com?

Have you registered your entry?

Which of the tournaments are you gonna play:
* £500+£50 Main event
* Team Competition
* £30+£3 Semi FreezeOut Satellite
* £100+£10 NL Hold'em FreezeOut
* £200+£20 NL Holdem FreezeOut
* £50+£5 NL Nold'em Semi-FreezeOut

Go to the festival site, click on register and send us your entry. We need to know now to be able to give you 1st priority.

Please do it NOW!

(10KingsPoker and Circus Casino will launch the payment options for non-UK players on Monday.)

http://www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com

10KingsPoker on Duncan Barkes Show!

2009-01-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

10KingsPoker and Liverpool Winter Festival got a good mention on Liverpool's City Talk 105.9 FM Thursday morning!

The Duncan Barkes Show is on air every weekday between 9am and 12midday, and the host Duncan Barkes is portly, provocative and definitely primed.
The topic of the day was: Duncan was arguing that “online poker is for wimps”. He was saying the only way to play poker is face to face in a smokey room. We provided someone to defend online poker and sing its praises! It was great. You did well guys! Good PR for 10KingsPoker.com, Circus Casino and our Liverpool Winter Festival during the interview.

The show starts after 02:02:00. Small talk about for the first 17 mins, then I recommend you listen from 02:17:00 when 'Gary the Cabbie' comes on, followed by our good friend and ex Red, Pompey and Oxford, Mr. John Durnin!!

Listen to the debate on Duncan Barkes Show by clicking this link.

http://www.whatson.com/goto/?type=radio&station=citytalk&show=a_duncan_barkes___thursday

I don't think this link is available for Scandinavians.

Newcastle to run a LIVE satellite!

2009-01-21T03:57:00.000-08:00

There’s a LIVE satellite in Newcastle on Saturday 24th Jan. Fancy having a go?
Read this interview, join the action and try to qualify for a seat in Main Event at Liverpool Winter Festival. 10KingsPoker has had a chat to the local duo who have organised the Saturday’s poker night in Circus Casino.
Name : Scott Collins (son, age 20) & Dave Collins (father, age 53)
City : Newcastle upon Tyne

Q1: Why do you find the festival interesting?

The festival looks great, with an appealing schedule and festival site (www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com). That’s why we were so enthusiastic to organise a satellite for and hope to get as many players qualified for it through our forum. The structure looks great and the main event buy is affordable for amateurs to play in and get some deep stack live experience. Also, with a lot of Scandinavian online qualifiers it could be a very different experience.

Q2:Was it easy setting up the LIVE satellite?

There had been already been discussions of trying to get more members into bigger events and then we heard about the Liverpool Winter Festival. We knew we could get a good response from the local players so asked Circus Casino if something was possible. We have an excellent relationship with Circus and they were very happy to host the tournament even on a day where they don’t normally run tournaments.

Q3: How is the poker interest?

Poker is very big in Newcastle and is still growing. We’ve got 3 casinos up here all competing for business so it’s not difficult to find a game you like.

Q4: So tell us, who are the top players in Newcastle?

A VERY tough question! I can’t answer because there are so many local quality players in the area. However, I’ve dug out some threads on our forum which gives people’s opinions on who they think is good.
http://www.newcastle-poker.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=215
http://www.newcastle-poker.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1926

Q5: Any feisty 'heads-up' expected?

Yes! Lots of banter already, it’s building up to a really exciting poker night in Newcastle. I will post clips and photos on our forum Sunday/Monday.

How is the relationship between Newcastle and Liverpool? I have also been told that Geordies and Scousers get on well. Is that true?
Yeah we’ve got a pretty good relationship with the scousers but I think they like us more than we like them and you’ll got the odd jokes like when they came to Newcastle on the train and drove back. Sorry, but that’s a classic. Ha-ha.

Q6: 10KingsPoker will be looking for new destinations for our Festival. Will Newcastle be a good place to be?

Absolutely! To the Nordic readers, I can only recommend anyone to come to play poker up in Newcastle or just for a night out as you are guaranteed a good time. Hopefully, Poker in Newcastle will grow even further this year and maybe host some big events.

NEWCASTLE:
Live Satellite for the Liverpool Winter Festival
Saturday 24 January at 6pm.
Location: Circus Casino Newcastle
The buy in is £35 + £2.50
A £700 package for every £700 in the prizepool (£550 seat + £150 expenses).
10KingsPoker.com will be adding a £110 seat for the bubble finisher if 25 runners.

A very talented Newcastle bunch - in many different ways:

Latest news about Festival (speaking to Paul Fox at Circus Casino)

2009-01-20T10:24:00.000-08:00

Our members are looking forward to make the poker trip to Liverpool in Feb, and they have lots of questions. See below for current status as we have asked Circus Casino's Paul Fox 10 quick questions. (Thanks for taking the time to speak to us as you guys are busy preparing for Liverpool Winter Festival.)

Name: Paul Fox
Age: 30
Poker alias: Pafo777
Favourite team: Everton
Poker idol: Daniel Negreanu
Job: Cardroom Manager (Circus Casino, Liverpool)

Q1: How are you, Paul. Busy days as a cardroom manager, what's your background?

Doing fine, mate. I started working as a dealer in 2005 and having already had a keen interest in poker I took the opportunity to get involved in running the poker competitions at Liverpool Mint Casino as soon as it came up.

When I found out that the company would be opening a new Circus casino and wanted to have a strong focus on poker I knew that this was something I wanted to be involved in. I was given the role of Cardroom Manager and we haven't looked back since. We have been open for just over 12 months now and it has not been easy but we've finally established ourselves as one of the leading cardrooms in the north-west.

Q2: How has the last 6 months been at Circus Casino? You almost started from scratch and has slowly been building a new members base?

The last 6 months have been more enjoyable than the 6 months that preceeded it. We have gone from strength to strength in the latter part of 2008 and a lot of that has been down to the introduction of our £30 semi-freezeout tournament. I believe this competition to be one of the best value tournaments around; with a maximum spend of £63 and pots of around £5,000.

We finally managed a record field of 100 players on Sunday with the winner taking home £1865 for his £63 stake!!! I don't expect that record field to last long though with the upcoming Winter Festival looking like being a sell-out.

Q3: Is poker a popular game in Liverpool?

Poker, mainly Texas Holdem, is extremely popular in Liverpool and even in the midst of a credit crunch our numbers continue to rise. There are some really good players in the city and I'm looking forward to seeing some of them pit their wits against players like the 'Team 10Kings' of Nordic lads Henning, LK and Jan in the Main Event.

Q4: How's the interest for the Liverpool Winter Festival up in Liverpool?

The festival has created a buzz amongst local players that has surprised even me! It has been the main topic of conversation for the past few weeks. The best example I can give is the fact that we've tried numerous satellites for various comps over the last 12 months and never got them off the ground, yet in the last 2 weeks we have held satellites for the Main Event and have already allocated 6 seats.

Q5: We know you're busy guy these days. How do you prepare for the festival?
I'm basically preparing by eating, sleeping and living the Liverpool Winter Festival 2009!!!

Our 4 competitions a week (1 of which is a satellite to festival) are spent answering questions about the festival. When the tourneys are over I sit down with the casino managers and discuss all aspects of the festival week, staff, tables, chips, hospitality, etc.

On my days off I'm either hitting the poker forums, sitting writing notes or getting together with Ged (Cardroom Supervisor) and making sure we both know what we're doing when the time arrives.

We have hired extra staff, more tables, chips and a 2nd computer system to ensure we are prepared and myself and Ged will probably be working 11 days straight across the festival to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible. Poker players are not shy and i'm sure we'll hear the verdict in 3 weeks time!!!!

Q6: The Circus Casino staff are highly rated by 'Team 10Kings'. Impressive performance by you in Blackpool (final table in the £100 freeze out.) You had any luck lately online or offline?

As you can gather by my previous answer I haven't had much time to play poker lately but I have made it my New Year's resolution to play more. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Blackpool with 'Team 10Kings' and to cash was an added bonus. Anytime you want the 10Kings logo on a final table just give me a call! Ha-Ha.

Q7: By playing in the Blackpool Festival, did you pick up any useful advices? Was it a learning experience ahead of Liverpool Winter Festival?

It certainly was. I'm always looking for little things I can take back and use to improve our game. The thing I was impressed with most in Blackpool was how they coped with the sheer volume of players through the cardroom. The registration process is something I'm hoping to get right in order to get the tournaments going without any major delays.

Q8: Hosting a festival of this size is a real challenge, and it's a lot of responsibility on both Circus Casino and 10KingsPoker. Where do you see the biggest challenge is? Where's your main focus?

We could have held festivals before at Circus Casino but I have purposely held it off until we had a sound setup and have had time to iron out any problems. I know have a very competent team in place and think we're ready for the challenge. The enthusiasm of 10KingsPoker certainly helps too!

I don't think there is any one think you can point to and say "this is important". I think it's about getting the whole package right. From the registration process, to getting the comp started smoothly, good hospitality service and a well run tournament. All these things come together and create the good/bad poker experience.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about hosting a big event like this one but i'm also excited about what Circus Casino, Liverpool and 10KingsPoker are offering and intend to deliver.

Q9: We know there's a lot of interest for the Main Event! Can you tell us a bit about the side events and cash games? How do you handle these tournaments? How to register for the tournament? Can we pre-book seats also in the side events?

The side events will be sell-outs I'm sure. We are currently taking pre-registration for the 1st 50 seats in the £100 and £200 freezeouts. Both games will be capped at 100 runners but will allow alternates.

The cash game side of things should be interesting. I'm expecting numerous cash games on all days of the festival and I'm guessing the action will be huge. We will make tables available as early as possible for the cash and dealers where possible.

Q10: For those who wanna win a seat in the Main Event, what do they have to do? When is the next LIVE satellite in the Circus Casino?

We have already awarded 6 seats through live satellites and are offering 2 more chances to qualify live. Next Monday 26th January will be a £30 semi-freezeout (1 Rebuy OR Add-on) 8:30pm start.

Then we have the Super Satellite which is Wednesday 4th February.
£30 semi-freezeout ( 1 Rebuy AND 1 Add-on). Expecting this one to be VERY busy as it will be the last chance for people to qualify and two days before Main event starts.

After speaking to Paul Fox at Circus Casino, I'm confident Liverpool Winter Festival is in safe hands. This team knows what they are doing!

Richard gives you the latest news from Blackpool!

2009-01-20T08:22:00.000-08:00

If you're in Blackpool on Saturday 24th Jan, Castle Casino will be the place to be. Take a seat, enjoy the fun and play your way into the Liverpool Winter Festival through a €20 Rebuy tournament. 10KingsPoker.com had a chat with Richard Gilby who is in charge of the LIVE satellite on Saturday.

Your poker alias: I'm known as 'doublebubble' online. ('awoper' on 10KingsPoker)
Age: 37
City: Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire

Your poker experience and strengths:

I've been playing 8 years, and my biggest strength is that I'm very solid and patient. Playing a short stack very well...

Ehh, is that a good thing, Richard?!

Hmm.. maybe not. You caught me there. Ha-ha. I must have too much practice at it.

Why do you find the Liverpool Winter Festival interesting?

I was immediately drawn to the 10,000 x 2 double chance structure, as I haven’t seen that before. This is my preferred tournament structure giving that life-line from a potential bad beat. It was the main reason I wanted to organise a satellite. For bigger tournaments I feel that £500 is also the right amount.

How did you hear about the Festival/10KingsPoker
I was talking to a friend of mine about playing more selective tournaments this year and he sent me the link for the Liverpool Winter Festival site which is being run by 10KingsPoker.

Was it easy setting up the LIVE satellite in Blackpool ?

Yes and no. There is a good network of players in the Blackpool area, and the response has been excellent. When it comes to organisation though I try to be a perfectionist and cover all angles. This has created a lot more work however a good turnout will make it all worthwhile. I have been to see the General manager at the Circus in Blackpool, been over to see Cardroom manager Paul Fox in Liverpool, posted on poker forums, created an event in Facebook, handed out flyers at the local competitions, and phoned and texted everyone I know that would be interested.

I was in Blackpool in November, and to me it seems that Blackpool has a really good name in UK poker, especially when it comes to festival poker, well run tourneys and the strong interest in card games. You agree?

Certainly! Blackpool has a massive interest in poker. Only recently one of the mainstream players took down the Blackpool leg of the GUKPT for £75,000. Also some big names on the online world and the live circuit have come out of Blackpool , I will hopefully show on Saturday how popular events like the Winter festival will be.

So please tell us about your Top 5 players in Blackpool .

Oh, this is a tricky one... A bit like an Oscar acceptance speech, you're always going to miss someone out. I think one of my good friends Adam “Clarkatroid” Clark has to be on the list. He is a very successful on-line player and this year is looking to hit 1,000,000 hands!

Other players out of the Blackpool Camp that are well respected:
* Dave “Nice Dave” Mayall
* Simon “Bubble” Zac
* Mick Fletcher
* Alan “The Rev” Barnicle

Finally you can't list Blackpool Players without including Simon “Boycie” Rimmer. A must at anyones table.

Any feisty 'heads-up' expected? Is there some wellknown rivalry between Blackpool poker players?

There will be plenty of rivalry between players. Expect fireworks between
* Doublebubble and WackyDUK
* The Hutch and CCTV
* Ron and Enid Musson (Husband and Wife!)

Thanks, Richard. You have done a very good job in Blackpool, and 10KingsPoker will do everything we can to welcome you to an enjoyable Liverpool Winter Festival.

Yeah, fingers crossed for Saturday. I am actually very hopeful of a good turnout. I started off hoping to get 25 although if all goes well there should be more than double that. This is a great opportunity to enter a satellite where a few seats are going to be generated. You just have to be a member of the Casino to get in but you can join on the day, and no need to buy in before. Feel free to contact rickgilby@yahoo.co.uk or allan@10kingspoker.com if you need more info.

BLACKPOOL:
Live Satellite (£20 rebuy) for the Liverpool Winter Festival
Saturday 24 January, starting time 6:00pm
Location: Castle Casino Blackpool
Starting chips: 2,000
2 levels of 45minute rebuys ‘50/100’ 100/200’ and then a 20minute clock
Alternates allowed for the first 2 levels
Add on allowed at the end of the rebuys
(If you have entered from the start the add on is 3,000. Alternates add on is 2,000)
(This is just an incentive to be in from the start)
For every £550 in the pot 1 seat will be generated and this will be handed in to the Circus in Blackpool who will transfer it to Liverpool.
10KingsPoker.com will be adding a £110 seat for the bubble finisher if 25 runners.

(Copyright on pictures: Aworldofpoker.com)

Several LIVE satellites in UK

2009-01-20T05:27:00.000-08:00

SOUTHPORT:
Live Satellite for the Liverpool Winter Festival
The venue to be Ormskirk pub
Tonight Tuesday 20th, starting time 8.30pm
Buyin: £50+£5
5K start stack, one rebuy or addon up to end of level 4.
Blinds 30 mins throughout, start 25/50.
Tel: 07703 879875 to book
Free soft drinks plus a house dealer, possible cash game later
(PS! Only 3 seats left)

BLACKPOOL:
Live Satellite (£20 rebuy) for the Liverpool Winter Festival
Saturday 24 January, starting time 6:00pm
Location: Castle Casino Blackpool
Starting chips: 2,000
2 levels of 45minute rebuys ‘50/100’ 100/200’ and then a 20minute clock
Alternates allowed for the first 2 levels
Add on allowed at the end of the rebuys
(If you have entered from the start the add on is 3,000. Alternates add on is 2,000)
(This is just an incentive to be in from the start)
For every £550 in the pot 1 seat will be generated and this will be handed in to the Circus in Blackpool who will transfer it to Liverpool.
10KingsPoker.com will be adding a £110 seat for the bubble finisher if 25 runners.

This can also be deducted if you want to buy directly into the main event (no cash alternative)

NEWCASTLE:
Live Satellite for the Liverpool Winter Festival
Saturday 24 January at 6pm.
Location: Circus Casino Newcastle
The buy in is £35 + £2.50
A £700 package for every £700 in the prizepool (£550 seat + £150 expenses).

'MrsJambo' to make Scotland proud

2009-01-20T04:06:00.000-08:00

The "Liverpool WF Active Freeroll" on Monday night was a freeroll set up exclusively for those of our members who had participated in minimum 3 rebuy satellites in December. The female winner 'MrsJambo' stormed through a final table dominated by Norwegian players and booked a seat in the Main Event. Take notice of the nick 'MrsJambo', cruel_zip, andrso and ollis#9# - you may get your revenge in Liverpool!

Here's a short interview with the winner:

Name: Val Gray
Age: ??
City: Musselburgh ( just outside Edinburgh)

Why did you find the festival interesting?
I like playing in festivals, enjoying the buzz it creates, and there seems to be lots of enthusiasm for this one from the organisers to make it a success.
How did you hear about Liverpool Winter Festival?
From my husband who met Allan & Team 10Kings at a festival in Blackpool.

Do you know Circus Casino in Liverpool?
Yeah, I do. I was at the Casino for the Betfred Ladies Tour last year, and I found your staff very friendly and helpful.

How's the poker interest in Edinburgh?
There is a good interest in poker especially well organised tournies, day to day poker can be up and down just now.

Thanks to Val, see you soon!

'10Kings Heads Up' tournament at 20:30 GMT

2009-01-19T03:08:00.000-08:00

Don't forget tonight's exclusive €30+€3 Heads-Up tournament.
Only for 10KingsPoker members and Payout to Top 4. Max players: 64
Start: 20:30 GMT (We guarantee €300)

We give a 50 Euro bounty on last week's winner 'Ultratite.

This is a tournament requested by some of the players who intend to go to Liverpool Winter Festival. The Top 4 will walk away with a bit of cash, and several of these players will meet up again in Feb - this time face to face in Circus Casino.

A lot of banter already, and there are some feisty heads-ups expected...

Ultratite vs ANDOS_1
The finalists last week. Time for revenge, ANDOS_1?

lobsterjo vs LK70
I would love to see these two players go heads up at a live game! If they can make it through from Day 1 in Main Event, everything can happen.

lo547 vs i_seeyou
Local derby! This is just a warm-up before they meet again in Liverpool.

tartanman vs dalgrush99
The guys are begging me to play. Not sure if that's a compliment, ha-ha. LFC vs Everton on TV, but I can't say no to a Heads-Up against tartanman.

cruel_zip vs cruel_nit
cruel_zip is dreaming about a contract with FC Liverpool. That says it all about his ambitions. Ha-ha, his poker abilities is really on Conference level at the moment, and I can't see him last long on Day 1. cruel_nit says this should be an easy H2H for him.

p0wer143 - UNLUCKY YESTERDAY! Played the €3,500 GTD last night. Pushed hard on final table, took on the chippie and got rivered.

Dr.Hasard vs andrso
Local action between two good guys. Looking forward to see you two in Liverpool.

Kesella - I met the player first time on Saturday, and he booked Main Event entry on Sunday. Respect!

mester2222 vs webdollar
You might lose that battle, mate. Ha-ha. Fingers crossed - trying my best to help you.

fjears vs Knuttebass
Tons of experience go head to head in this one. These two players can go on for hours...

FrittVilt vs Tvalle (?)
No player at the Liverpool Winter Festival will travel a longer distance than FrittVilt! A win tonight will reduce travelling costs ha-ha.

Therat002 - interview with 'Therat002' below.

awoper - If you are a better player than an organisator, I'm VERY impressed. Will book a seat in the Main Event if he gets into Top 4 tonight. Great to see the poker interest in Blackpool!

Geirern88 vs dalgrush99
I want my revenge for last week!

nhggfusmdm - impressive performances in the Liverpool WF satellites. Chippie all the way through, both in the qualifier and in the super finale. Let's see what this player can do Heads up...

Matias.A vs zen86
These two won't slow play. All-out attack!

TRUELADY vs haymarket
Neither of these two players wanna lose a Heads up match. Any team who wanna challenge for the Team Competition glory, needs to get past these two players. That's not gonna be easy!

kilevinken vs 7soversen
Kilevinken might call in sick at work tonight... You see, he loves a real heads-up challenge! 7soversen plays a steady game, right up there all the time. I suggest we will have an extra security operator to watch their chat box tonight. Ha-ha.

TakkForMat vs morteny123
Two guys who will be coming to Liverpool with serious ambitions about winning Team Competition!

Bernie Holmes takes his seat at the Festival

2009-01-19T02:25:00.000-08:00

Two more players won seats in the Main Event at Liverpool Winter Festival; 'Therat002' and 'nhggfusmdm' (aka Niall). The latter was interviewed back in December, so 10KingsPoker caught up with 'Therat002' for a chat.

Name : Bernie Holmes
Home : I live in Birkenhead which is just across River Mersey / Liverpool.
Age : 29

How did you hear about Liverpool Winter Festival?
I heard about the festival in the Circus Casino whilst playing a tournament there.
I think the casino is great and should be a fantastic venue to hold your event in.

Congratulations! Top 2 and a seat in the Main Event. You had a good feeling all the way through?

Thanks, I wasnt really worried at any stage. You see, I already decided I was gonna buy in direct anyway even if I didnt qualify, so I wasnt playing scared or anything. In the satellite I made 1 bad play with the QJ hand but with only 1500 chips and quite a quick blind increase I decided to play fast straight from the off. I got a little lucky with my pocket kings when my opponent held AQ and hit 2 pair on the flop. However, I did have the best starting hand so I figure I deserved to win it. Ha-ha.

How is your poker form?
Im running pretty good at the moment in all forms of poker so I had a good feeling I would qualify. I recently cashed in the Anniversary cup ( £1,000 buy in ) at Dusk till Dawn coming 3rd and winning £19500. It only cost me £15 via a satellite so that was a nice return! My aims now are to satellite into lots of big events.

What do you think about 10KingsPoker.com?
I have only played on 10kingspoker for about a week now but I already like the feel of the site and theres lots of action, so along with 1 or 2 other sites this looks like I'm gonna start playing a lot on here. There are some great heads up sit & go's on the site which I like playing.

Thanks for the chat, Mr. Holmes. See you in Liverpool in Feb.

(Picture copyright: http://www.pokertourradio.com/)

More info abouyt festival here:
http://www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com

Confirmed: 'Mourinho' coming to Liverpool!

2009-01-16T04:54:00.000-08:00

10KingsPoker.com is happy to confirm the entry of Oslo-based 'Mourinho' at Liverpool Winter Festival. The young Oslo guy is in real form these days, and he has enjoyed a great start to 2009!

'Mourinho' won entry to £500+£50 in a LIVE satellite after going Heads-Up with 'Levent'.

The well respected Norwegian player 'thebalrog' paid some credit to the winner in his blog:
"...for those who don't know 'Mourinho', I can only say he's definitely one of the best players you'll find in any cash game these days."

Norwegian poker pro and captain of 'Team 10Kings' Henning Granstad has also praised 'Mourinho' lately. How does that affect him?
Oh, I appreciate the kind words from good players, and especially Henning certainly knows what he's talking about! I have a lot of respect for him, he's a great guy and a top international player. I'm an ambitious guy, and I have set goals for myself - but I got feet solid planted on the ground. Still learning, this game is all about experience and dicipline.

As 'Mourinho' is a passionate Chelsea fan, I think he will be in for a miserable start of his poker week in Liverpool. On Saturday the 31st of Jan, Chelsea will be up against league leaders...

See ya, buddy!

Exclusive interview: LFC legend David Fairclough

2009-01-14T04:01:00.001-08:00

In the next weeks to come, 10KingsPoker.com will do 10 exclusive interviews.

Interview number 1, Liverpool FC legend David Fairclough speaking about Norway and who should be the next coach for the Norwegian national team.

How attractive is the Norway national team manager job?
In my eyes, I see it as an extremely attractive job! Norway has a good name in football, a very knowledgeable country which knows its football and a good football community with strong traditions. World Championship finals (the World Cup USA 1994) and World Cup France 1998, and you have been defeated by strong nations like Spain and Czech Rep in two playoffs. Norway can't afford to lose out on the big finals, you need to be there! Åge Hareide stepping down as coach of Norway didn’t come as a big surprise, not producing results will cost you in the end. Despite the 2008 season was a big disappointment, who failed to win a single match, the Norway job is currently seen as one of the most appealing jobs in international football.

There has been a huge debate in Norwegian media about who will become our new national team coach. Egil "Drillo" Olsen is seeing himself as the obvious choice for the vacant position as a short term solution. What do you think, David?
Drillo was successful at his time, but I would say 'those were the days'. He might belong to the past and I think the Norwegian Football Federation should broaden their search as the football has moved on.

Former Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez has expressed his interest in the vacant Norway coaching post.
Lawrie Sanchez? Wow. That's a surprise! I didn’t think his name would be mentioned among the candidates. Has the football association spoken to Lawrie Sanchez?!

No, I don't know. But hoping to get an interview with the Norwegian FA, he said: 'I have had a look at the job and I'm very interested'
I bet he is!

As ex Wimbledon Crazy Gang member and FA Cup hero from 1988 Lawrie Sanchez certainly doesn’t understate his case. He seems to be very keen, but is he the right man for the job?
He has his strong views on how football should be played, that’s for sure. Anyway, only Norwegian Football Association knows who the ideal candidate for the job is. My opinion is that you need to sign an international coach with a strong international standing. The coach needs to gain respect from every member of the squad and in the clubs immediately – and they have to believe in him. Respect, admiration and faith are key words. Despite previous manager jobs with Northern Ireland, Wycombe and Fulham, I don’t see Lawrie Sanchez as the right man for Norway. Bear in mind, a national team coach is a heavy job with a lot of responsibility. Finding the right guy isn’t easy!

Can you offer the Norwegian Football Association any advices?
Not really, mate. It’s a long process, but they need to get input from the top Norwegian guys. One of the first I would contact is Kjetil Siem. Have they done it? Has he been quoted in the media, Allan? I would even go as far as saying that the association has done a poor job if they haven’t spoken to Kjetil Siem. I have known Kjetil Siem for almost 10 years, and I have a lot of admiration for him. He did very well, making the transition from sports fan journalist to an international football administrator. (Kjetil Siem is currently the CEO for the Professional Soccer League in South Africa). Knowing football and business is a good mix and politics on top of that as he has a good name and credibility within UEFA. Norwegian FA got to speak to him due to his vast network of useful international contacts.

I will list a few candidates, and let’s see what you think. Ok, here we go; Roy Hodgson, Louis Van Gaal, Frank Rijkaard, Guus Hiddink and Carlos Alberto.
Roy knows Scandinavia, but I can’t see him leaving Fulham which is doing well at the moment.
The three Dutch guys will be too expensive. Great names but I can’t see any of them as a Norway coach.
Carlos Alberto has been around for years, but the Brazilian mentality and style of play won’t suit Norway. No candidate for me.

Which managers would you recommend?
You certainly don’t want a novice, and Ole Gunnar Solskjær is too young and inexperienced. Henning Berg will be an obvious choice in the future IF he brings in an experienced assistant/manager.
I would recommend someone like Roy Evans in an assistant- or manager role. He’s got a wealth of experience, also internationally with both Liverpool and Wales (assistant manager of John Toshack). Roy has a mixed bag of emotions, good with people and a leveled guy with his feet on the ground. That’s so important.
What about Karl-Heinz Riedle? Speaking about international experience, this guy has done the whole lot! Riedle was a great German international with spells at Bremen, Lazio, Dortmund and Liverpool. A nice guy, highly rated by any manager (including Roy Evans), look after himself and his nickname ‘Mr. Perfect’ says it all. A great fella. German organization, hard work ethics and lots of experience. I think he’s living in Switzerland these days.
A northern European is the obvious choice. Mark Hughes did well with Wales, grinding out results away from home. Strong leadership, a well organized back four and 11 players who wears their hearts on their sleeves! Actually, Sparky might be available very soon as the Man City saga is a complete chaos.
Speaking about future managerial talent, look out for Wrexham manager Dean Saunders. Great enthusiasm got a good football brain and get on very well with people. I think you will hear a lot more about Deano in the future!

Thanks to David Fairclough. You will meet him at the Liverpool Winter Festival in Feb.

'Ultratite' loves Heads-Up action!

2009-01-12T16:23:00.000-08:00

10KingsPoker.com's first ever Heads-Up tournament (€30+€3) was played on Monday night, and the winner was 'Ultratite' from Stord. We spoke to him after his win.

Name: Sigbjørn Mortveit
Age: 25
Poker alias: ’Ultratite’ on 10KingsPoker, and ’#1Ultratight’ on Stars
What’s the reason behind your nick?
People see me as an extremely tight player (I play few hands). Honestly, the truth is that I play a solid game of poker.
I take advantage of my image, and I go a long way in most tournaments. And I’m confident I will see more prize money in near future.

Any international poker achievements?
I came 17th in EPT Copenhagen Main Event 2008. To play against so many top names from all around the world, what a fantastic experience! And then to come as far as I did, it was amazing for me. 3 days of perfect poker only to make a mistake which knocked me out of the tournament. .. (I admit I didn’t sleep for 2 days afterwards!).

Which players sat at your table?
Among others; Noah Boeken, Bill Chen, Jesper Pettersen, Sebastian Ruthenberg,
Niki Jedlnica, Jarle AA, THE__D__RY, and last but not least, the best player I have ever played against; Christian Grundtvig.
On Day 2 he increased his chips stack from 27,000 to nearly 150,000 chips within 2 hours and no showdowns!

Rumours say you are an active online player..
Yeah, I play quite a few heads-up tournaments on Stars. I figured out that during a day I played roughly 15,000 hands! I have an income of $30-$70 pr hour I play. My previous experience by playing a lot of Heads-Up helped me a lot on Monday night. Hmm… let me think… I must have played 1,500 Heads-Up SNG`s last two months…

You played ANDOS_1 (Liverpool) in the final tonight. Any comments about his play?
Obviously a good player, and I enjoy playing these guys. It makes me play optimal poker, knowing where I am in the hand, just waiting for
my spots. Then to get the money on when I have the best hand or when I KNOW he is gonna fold.
I respect him 100% as a poker player, I really look forward to share a few pints in Liverpool and talk poker. However, if there was something that he could have
done better, it might be this:
1. check-raise my bets on flop more times than he folded to my bets.
2. played his smaller pairs "less hard"
(See you at the Circus Casino, ANDOS_1.)

You will head to Liverpool as one of the dark horses in the Main Event, and also a strong favourite for the team competition. Who is joining you?
My team will be Kjetil Næss (elpervo) and another player from Stavanger. They are both very strong players who play poker for a living.
I look forward to play the event in Liverpool, its gonna be a lot of fun. My team is coming to Liverpool for one reason; To win the event! 

And one last comment regarding Liverpool Winter Festival. What do you think?
It looks great! Fingers crossed, but you work harder than anyone and that means it will turn out to be a fantastic festival for all of us involved. Personally, I think you have a strong product which well received by customers and the market needs something fresh like this. I booked a cheap flight to UK, got a nice hotel to a decent rate and a cool £500+£50 event with a good structure. I’m fed up with boring trips to Tallinn with a ‘super-bingo-structured’ tournaments, so my message is: Keep up the good work, 10KingsPoker!

Can you beat 'kilevinken' Heads-Up?

2009-01-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

"I have a good feeling about tonight. You don't wanna mess with me Heads-Up!"
('kilevinken', Hamar, 12/1-2009)

10KingsPoker.com runs their first exclusive Heads-Up tournament (€30+€3) tonight at 19:30 GMT (20:30 Norwegian time), and the starting field includes the one and only 'kilevinken'. This guy is ready to give a real fight for the money!

Why using the poker alias 'kilevinken'?
Why not? The guys know me as 'holtekila' and 'kilevinken' - and you will see that name in final Top 10 tonight. Next question please.

Age: 39

Favourite poker player: Phil Hellmuth (the guy they all love to hate)

About tonight, you up for it Yeah, certainly! Looking forward to the €30+€3 Heads-Up tournament. It requires skills, man against man - and you have to push hard.

Best player at your local poker club?
Hmm... The best HH player, if I put myself top of the list ha-ha, I would say... 'knutn'. He is a good player! Ahh, would love to make the final, then play heads-up with 'knutn' and then beat him!

Your poker experience?
I played for years. Played poker since the old days. Normal 5 card draw in the start, then Texas Hold'em for around 5 years.

Your strengths?
Strengths? How long time have we got left of the interview? I can go on and on ha-ha. No, just kidding - but I think I'm a good reader of the game, I analyse my opponents and I'm patient..

Favourite team?
Liverpool FC. Kevin Keegan was my childhood hero, what a team they had, and the football they played was great to watch. Fingers crossed, we might be able to bring home the league trophy this season. It's been a long wait... almost 20 years. Unbelievable!

Any player you dont like on the international poker circuit?
Hmm... Sorry, mac - I'm no fan of dmmikkel (Dag Martin Mikkelsen). No further comments about that.

'holtekila', imagine this happening tonight; there are only 6 players left, close to the prize pool only to be rivered by local player 'geirern'! ..
Hey Hey, take it easy now! Don't fire me up. 'geirern' has messed me up previously, and I dont want that to happen again. I think my reaction will pretty much be this:
I get mad, throws my Yamaha cap to the floor and shouts: You fucking clown! Playing crap cards like it's AA! Ha-ha.. Pardon my language, I have to calm down. That question wasn't good for my blood pressure.

Good luck tonight, guys. 10KingsPoker.com gives away a €30 bonus bounty on the player who knocks 'kilevinken' out of the tournament :-)
Be aware, 'holtekila' is ureally up for the challenge!

lo547 (Tonstad) won, FrittVilt (Alta) and 7soversen (Hamar) qualified.

2009-01-11T16:21:00.001-08:00

Liverpool WF Feeder tonight at 20:00 GMT

2009-01-11T08:42:00.000-08:00

Registration page on festival site is online.
http://www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com

Feeders added to 'Liverpool WF Super Satellite':
11th Jan €10+€1 Rebuy (1 seat GUARANTEED)
12th Jan €20+€2 Rebuy (1 seat GUARANTEED)
13th Jan €10+€1 Rebuy (1 seat GUARANTEED)
14th Jan €5+€1 Rebuy (1 seat GUARANTEED)
16th Jan €10+€1 Rebuy (1 seat GUARANTEED)
17th Jan €20+€2 Rebuy (1 seat GUARANTEED)
Every day at 20:00 GMT. 1 seat to 'Super Satellite' for every €109 in the prize pool. 'Super Satellite' to be played 18th of Jan.

New feeders and Heads-Up!

2009-01-10T08:06:00.000-08:00

Many feeders to the Liverpool WF Super Satellite the following week.
http://www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com

and dont forget our exclusive 'HH Heads-Up' challenge on Monday 19.30 GMT. I challenge you!
(We even guarantee a seat in the Super Sat for the winner.)

€30+€3 buyin, and max 64 seats.

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=115487

U ready for a real Heads Up challenge?

2009-01-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

*New feeders added to 'Liverpool WF Super Satellite'*

11th Jan €10+€1 Rebuy (1 seat GUARANTEED)
12th Jan €20+€2 Rebuy (1 seat GUARANTEED)
13th Jan €10+€1 Rebuy (1 seat GUARANTEED)
14th Jan €5+€1 Rebuy (1 seat GUARANTEED)
16th Jan €10+€1 Rebuy (1 seat GUARANTEED)
17th Jan €20+€2 Rebuy (1 seat GUARANTEED)
Every day at 20:00 GMT

1 seat to Super Satellite for every €109 in the prize pool.

And on the 12th January we run an exclusive Heads Up tournament!
19:30 GMT, Buy in is : €30+€3
Max 64 players (min. 25 players)
This is the warm-up ahead of our planned Heads Up poker league.
Payout to Top4. May the best win! Take a seat and prepare for the Festival.
¨

My face on The Hendon Mob

2009-01-07T00:46:00.001-08:00

Gus Hansen, Devilfish, Henning Granstad, Johhny Lodden, Phil Ivey and...

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=115487

have all got a profile on the The Hendon Mob Database!

Enjoyed yesterday as I won a €20 rebuy tournament with 22 starters. Got off to a good start, and was Top 6 after end of rebuy/addon. Short stacked after making the mistake of the week. My hand was K Q and flop is Q A J - My opponent moves all in. I lost concentration as I got too focused on knocking out the player. I thought he bet around 3000 (I had around 12,000 chips at that time), and I dont think he had an ace. I call him, and he shows A J. Fair enough. I am surprised when he counts his chips. He went allin with 7000 chips! How on earth could I misjudge that?? I really respect the value of the chips, ha-ha!
Short stacked for the next 2 hours or so, and on final table I'm struggling to stay alive. However, I got good hands at the right time, I pushed the chips and put the guys under pressure. Avoided the silly coin flips, and was slowly rebuilding a nice stack.

Went all in with A 3 suited vs Q Q - picked up a flush on flop. Got A A against Q Q (a big pot), K Q vs A 10 and flop is Q Q 9. Won a monster pot against chip leader by having flopped a well hidden flush. I think I played that hand really well.

Around 10 hands with no action in the Heads up final (I have around 75% of the chips), then my opponent moves all in with his K Q. I look down at my hand which is a K K! Flop is another K. Game over!

€500 - and that did me really good, although I admit the dealer gave me some fantastic hands. No comments about my cash game play later on. I'm definitely a tournament player :-)

A very enjoyable night.

Taking it easy today

2009-01-06T03:00:00.000-08:00

Tired! Been 3-4 hectic days preparing for the big online Liverpool WF final last night. I've hardly left the house for a week! I think it's time to start moving my ass again, and I'm heading for a dip in the local aqua centre. I ate too much during Xmas, slept a lot and no gym at all. No complaints though, I really needed it - as all the work ideas, projects and festival planning take a lot of energy and focus. See you later. 'Uncle Allan'
PS! Yeah, I finally got a haircut - and no, I didnt lose any bet. I planned to cut it this short. Haha.

And the winner is: THOMAS SANDE FROM SOLA!!

2009-01-05T15:12:00.000-08:00

CONGRATULATIONS!
Thomas Sande (komp1) from Sola/Norway won the first Liverpool WF Super Finale. The €2,000 VIP package incl. a VIP Festival entry pass!

We will come back with a full interview tomorrow. Liverpool fan Thomas was a member of 'Team 10Kings' after winning our tournament on the Student Cruise 1. You're doing well, mate! The only word which came out of him after winning the final was....: 'JACKPOT!'

Jørn Vaage (VikinGutt) lost heads up after holding a strong chips lead when there were only 3 players left. (Life is hard being a Leeds fanatic). However, his hand 3 3 knocked 20LEGEND_ (an Oslo Manc) out of the final.

I'm not surprised if Thomas Sande gets a team together and challenge 'Team 10Kings' in February! Just wait and see..

Only 10 players in the final so far...

2009-01-05T02:59:00.000-08:00

..and the winner walks away with a €2,000 VIP package!

Here are the finalists:
VikinGutt
bifta1
ToreM1
cruel_zip
FrittVilt
alkatraxxx
komp1
.A
20LEGEND_
terjejo

You can still register for the €250+€2+ Liverpool WF Final starting 19.00GMT. Good luck!

'terjejo' (Tonstad) qualifies for the FINAL!

2009-01-04T14:12:00.001-08:00

Home town: Tonstad/Norway
Name and Age: Terje, 30 y.a

Congratulations! So how do you feel?
Thanks, I’m satisfied with my own play tonight as it ran smoothly from the start.
I can only remember one hand going against me: I sit with J J and the flop is 5 10 J – and I go ‘all in’. My opponent who is fairly short stacked sits with K Q – and he gets StraightFlush when A came on the turn! Nice hand!

How often do play poker?
I love poker and I play quite a lot. A couple of hours every day do me good.

And you are one of the poker mad football supporters?
Yeah, definitely. My team is Lillestrom (12 years as a player) in Norway and in England I support Liverpool. Now I wanna go back to Liverpool in Feb to improve from my 3rd place in the 10KingsPoker Invitational in October – and it will be cool to meet Jan Mølby again.

I think Mølby is looking for revenge…
Hey, I felt bad about that. Knocking the big legend and one of my all time heroes out of the tournament.. Sorry.. To be honest, that night was something I will never forget.

See you in Feb then? You ready to take Mølby & ‘Team 10Kings’?
First of all, let's focus on Monday’s big final. I really want that €2,000 VIP package! My friend has already qualified for Liverpool Winter Festival, and now it’s up to me as finding a third person will be easy. Good luck to the guys tomorrow.

WOW! FLOP it Like it's HOT...

2009-01-03T13:03:00.000-08:00

Happy new year to everyone! Liverpool Winter Festival 2009 coming up. A friend of mine said yesterday: "Poker, football and beers.. A fantastic combination! What can actually beat that?"
I really don't know. Maybe Fiona will join us for the Main Event? I can only recommend this clip, guys.. :-) Apparantly she's got a fantastic poker face too!

Fionna Millines -DropitlikeitsHOT
Uploaded by carlosroye

(Copyright: Fionna Millines)

One extra Liverpool WF satellite set up!

2008-12-31T08:36:00.000-08:00

Latest news!

10KingsPoker.com has set up one last satellite ahead of the Liverpool WF Super Satellite on Monday 5th January;

Sunday night, 20:00 GMT. €10+€1 Rebuy satellite

One seat in the Super Sat final for every 270 Euro in the prize pool!
Min 5 players required.

** Grab this last opportunity as the winner will secure a €2,000 VIP package **

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!

alkatraxxx qualifies for Monday's SuperSatellite!

2008-12-30T06:29:00.000-08:00

'alkatraxx' won our Freeroll on Monday night, and he booked his seat in the Liverpool WF Super Satellite on Monday 5th January. Will this guy walk away with the exclusive €2,000 VIP package?

Congratulations with the win! Who's behind the poker alias 'alkatraxxx'? Alf-Eirik Klinge from Karmsund & Norway

Age? 18....+10... umm...+ another 10... and...

Fotball interested? You will find me in the category 'Football mad'.

I guess you're pretty happy with your own performance?
I always play like a poker God... LOL. To be fair, I played ok, felt strong and now I'm happy to have qualified for the Super Satellite on Monday. The Heads Up was a bit tricky as I felt my opponent was very lucky with a few river cards. (See below!)

How often do you play poker? Ouch, I play way too much! Just love it...

Have you been participating in major tournaments previously?
I've played tournaments up to $500 buyin online. Biggest tournament so far was Norwegian Championship in Nottingham, and I've also been 3 times in Tallin (Super Weekend). I have also bought into several various €350/€440/€220 buyin tournaments we have been running here in Haugesund and Stavanger.

Liverpool Winter Festival coming up in early February. What are your plans, Mr. Klinge?
I love a good poker weekend, and regardless of me qualifying or not, I'll be in Liverpool. One of our local players Frode Alfredsen joined 'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool and his feedback was great as he obviously had a super poker weekend. I assume he will join this festival too, and and I wouldnt't mind getting a team together and challenge the guys of 'Team 10Kings'!

See 'alkatraxxx' in action (below) on final table!

£40 FreezeOut - here are my rivals!

2008-12-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

Looking forward to a LIVE game on the 4th day of Xmas. Let me introduce some of my opponents as I'm sure there will be an exciting night. You might think the description of my opponents shows a lack of respect? You're absolutely right, I think this will be a real walk in the park. Ha-ha!

OveNor
Bring out the wine wine, please! In a previous £150 FreezeOut tournament with 30 players, this guy entered the final table as dominant chip leader only to be knocked out 4 hands and four wine glasses later on! Respect. Later came back, sat down at the final table occupying a current player’s seat which lead to storming protest, anger and threats – only to be led away by the Tournament Director. I felt sorry for the abused taxi driver who drove us home... Never a boring night when OveNor is in the house. (Actually never a alcohol free night either!) He’s seen as a player more suited and built for LIVE poker (turbo expert) better than online poker – although a newly born baby daughter might have improved his patience.

Esk the Manc
Who the f*** are Man Utd? Who the f*** is this guy? Who the f*** invited him? Not sure the door will be opened for 'Esk the Manc' as the hosts of the night are both true Liverpool fans. It’s gonna be interesting to see him take his seat at the table though, because I heard about his poker antics years ago. I don’t he has the nerve, he will make it to Top 10, then bottle it. Although he could pull some trickery out of his sleeve (Ronaldo), I wouldn’t be surprised if he throws an elbow in your face (Vidic), shows arrogant body behaviour (Berbatov) or talks like a little gobshite (Rooney). I've never faced him, never seen him in any casino and unable to track his action online. Is he a big bluff? Or a real card devil?

The Farm Senior
An under rated poker player in his younger days when he was single and strong. His poker face never gave away anything, difficult to read and always ended up in the prize pool. The Farm Senior could have been mistaken for being a criminal the way he was stealing pots all the time, setting up an innocent and arrogant face any Mafia Boss would have been proud of. Once seen in possesion of a Chevrolet on the same size as a mini US cruise ship, but never made it out of his own local town due to heavy fuel costs! These days he’s a quiet family man who gone soft, and the former ‘no nonsense central defender’ is no longer the man he used to be. Will he struggle to keep head above water? Could be a dark horse on the night and an early chip lead could make him bully his opponents again.

Tkh81 – The Dump Candidate
When your football career CV includes team names like FART and The DUMP Candidates, don’t expect too much respect from international poker players. 'Tkh81' struggled to play football, no matter if it was indoor or outdoor, and the same can be said about his poker achievements both LIVE and online. Might be showing some improvement this year, could he be on the right track? This guy won’t go down without a fight, and that means he has some enemies in the game. Talking about respect, team mate and poker opponent 'cruel_zip' (pic) can't be bothered about ’Tkh81 – The Dump Candidate’. **** ***!

Ragge
Soon to be married into the national betting company. As poker isn’t offered in the company portfolio, Ragge (his poker alias after midnight when the stronger alcohol is served is Crazy Reggae) and his poker game is struggling. Previously a very active poker player, going back 10-12 years, playing various games i.e 5Card Draw, Texas Hold EM, Strip Poker and ‘3 cards on hand and 8 cards in the flop’. Despite a poker face covered by facial hair worthy an Arabic santa claus, Ragge is reported to be totally out of form and practice. I can’t see him last till midnight!

The Farm Junior
The Farm Junior is another card wizard from the The Farm family, and this is a player to keep an eye on. Trust me! In the late summer his parents sent him far far away from home, as they wanted him to get a proper education. Now he’s back and it usually means trouble. This guy is co-hosting the poker night, and I wouldn’t trust him for a split second. The Farm Junior decided the buy-in, he will act as a cocky tournament director and now he even asks people for an entrance fee! I can smell a dead rat from distance, and this cheeky bastard is deffo one of them. Having him on my poker table would mean trouble from 1st minute and red signal lights all over the place. He will talk to you non-stop, try to wind you up and frustrate your play. For sure, he will piss me off! Losing to The Farm Junior? No, out of the question. No fucking chance!

Ivar Thorsteinsen
I’m certain this guy doesn’t read any poker literature after coming home from work. No online poker player either - and never will be. ‘All out Attack’ can sum up his poker play style. Never short of a bit of cash, plays more hands than any other poker player on the circuit. Thank God it’s not a rebuy! Any defeat will be followed up by threats about physical abuse and violence, especially a finger pointed in the direction of The Farm Junior. A feisty Heads Up between these two players is expected as they will bet, bluff, raise, re-raise and never ever think about folding a hand. No surrender.

Not turning up:
O.J
I’m not surprised! Would have been a pleasure to knock him out early on. O.J is even more annoying copy of loud mouthed Mike Matusow, would you believe it!

Stai
This £40 tournament is probably way over Stai’s level and limits. The young and inexperienced guy is not suited for local tournament style as he will have to face a lot of big guys who are not easy to bluff. So much talk and hype around the Stai name, but haven’t seen anything yet. A one hit wonder or a man who has the poker world at his feet? I don’t know, but I would like to meet him one day.

Havent replied yet:
Bratt is .A
The ex sponsor of any local poker game has improved his poker play so much he’s an obvious candidate for the New Norwegian Player of the Year 2008 trophy. He qualified for the 10KingsPoker Invitational (€12K Guaranteed) in Liverpool in October, and he’s always up there fighting for glory in the exclusive online tournaments held on 10KingsPoker.com.
Bratt is .A defeated old enemy ‘Ragge’ online early Spring, and the latter didn’t take it very well. Now it looks like Bratt is .A will walk all over the same opponent also in the Xmas LIVE tourney. I can smell blood, sweat and tears. It’s gonna be an ugly battle behind closed doors.
Rumours are saying the guy finds it difficult to step down one or two levels after playing regular poker with big names including ex Tottenham hard man Graham Roberts, Liverpool legend John Aldridge and Norwegian top comedian Henrik Elvestad.

See 'Bratt is .A' in action here:

Martin Bosch wants a new meeting with Jan Mølby!

2008-12-24T03:52:00.001-08:00

10KingsPoker.com interviewed Norwegian player Martin Bosch. He was the winner of last week's freeroll satellite, and is now qualified for the Liverpool WF Final Super Satellite on the 5th of January. A friendly guy who actually made his LIVE debut in Europe's biggest poker tournament, finding himself seated on the same table as some of the finest poker players in the world.

Name: Martin Bosch, 41 years old and from Alta.

Poker alias: FrittVilt

Why this poker alias?

It was the name of a DVD lying next to my laptop. It sounded like a good poker alias for a guy from Alta. Luckily I wasnt in the kitchen, then I probably would have ended up with GRANDIOSA FROZEN PIZZA or maybe ’HEINZ KETCHUP’! Hehe, I’m not one of those creative minds, you see.

How is the poker interest up north?

Alta has a very active poker community. 20-30 guys on a tournament night once or twice a week, that’s fairly normal and quite impressive for a small place like Alta (18,000 people)
On a yearly basic quite a few members of my local poker club participate in EPT and WSOP. The club also include Steffan Kristoffersen (Norwegian Champion of 2007), so the level of quality is fairly impressive. Can’t remember last time I ended up winning money. Have I ever? Hihi.

How is your poker play going?

Same shit, different week. Haha. The last year or so been fairly quiet compared to previous years. Havent played much poker, neither LIVE or online, as I’ve been busy. However, I’ve enjoyed some small stakes cash and sit & go’s lately, and I have also entered a few LIVE tourneys. Good fun, good guys.
When it comes to ambitions, I’ve just realized I lack the mental toughness. Anyone else who got the same problem?

Speaking about EPT and major tournaments, you certainly made your LIVE poker debut with a big bang!

Yeah, I will never forget that! In 2005, by only spending €5 in a satellite I qualified for the €5000 Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam, €5,000 buyin!
It was really exciting to come up against poker pros in the biggest and best poker tournament in Europe. Imagine this, your first ever LIVE tournament, and on your table you find Noah Boeken (the Belgium star ended 8th!), John Shipley (impressive results from WSOP), UK legend Ram Vaswani, Thomas Middlethon (the winner!) and the one and only Dave Devilfish Ulliott! Never been so nervous in my life!

Despite a strong table, I wasn’t happy with my poker performance. Out on Day 1 after 5-6 hours of play. Went all-in with KK after flopping 8-8-2, and Boeken was enjoying life with his J 8. Game over.

In the Liverpool Winter Festival you will get the opportunity to play an old friend.

That’s true! What I do remember best from that poker festival was the fact that Liverpool legend Jan Mølby was part of the same team as me. (Team BetandWin). I’ve been a Liverpool supporter since the 70s, so this was a big happening for me, and playing poker and talking football with the Great Dane. Poker, football and a few drinks - what a great trip we had!

I have put the Liverpool Winter Festival dates in my diary. I won last week’s Freeroll satellite, and I will try my best. I will even consider making even if I don’t qualify through 10KingsPoker. I will play the online finals on the 5th, 11th and on the 18th - then let's see.

Portsmouth vs Liverpool on Saturday the 7th of Feb. You planning to head down there to watch the game?

Nope. I have no plans to be out after Day 1. Making no other plans. Ha-ha.
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all poker friends and supporters.

'Team 10Kings' gets challenged!

2008-12-19T04:57:00.000-08:00

Regarding our planned 'Team Competition' in the Liverpool Winter Festival's £500+£50 Main Event;

GREAT FEEDBACK FROM OUR MEMBERS SO FAR!

9 teams have confirmed their entry and we haven't even reached 1st January yet!

'Team 10Kings' is poker pro Henning Granstad, card expert LK Johannessen and LFC legend Jan Mølby.

They will be up against teams from Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, London, Haugesund, Oslo, Løten, Stavanger and Sandefjord.

An extra £3,000 up for grabs!

Some of the individual players who want to enter the tournament will bring new teams together, and we will introduce the teams starting from next week.

For more info about Team Competition, click here:
http://www.playrealpoker.co.uk/team-comp.html

Fore more info about Liverpool Winter Festival, click here:
http://www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com

Hallelujah! The winner of X factor 2008 is....

2008-12-17T07:57:00.000-08:00

ALEXANDRA BURKE!

Congratulations. I strongly suggest you check on the clip from the final (awesome version!) and the you tube links. This girl is already a star! Fantastic voice, great personality and top performer week in and week out. That's how you sum up a true winner!

Alexandra & Beyonce / 'Listen':

Alexandra / 'Toxic' (Much better than Britney!)

Alexandra / 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody':

Alexandra / 'CandyMan':

Alexandra / 'Relight My Fire':

Alexandra & Her 1st Audition:

(NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. Copyright ITV plc 2008 The X Factor)

This player won €250,000 this morning!

2008-12-15T05:56:00.000-08:00

We got a winner! 'petinvest' (Timisoara) won the €1 MILLION GUARANTEED on 10KingsPoker.com, and 1st place was an amazing €250K! The tournament lasted from 19:00 GMT until 07:15 GMT... A fantastic well run tournament, dominated by some of the better Danish players and three of them were bossing the final table in the early stages. See the pictures from the final table:

Interview: Doomed or just unlucky?

2008-12-14T23:26:00.000-08:00

> 1. Sunday's winner of Liverpool WF's Freeroll
satellite, who are you?
I’m Niall and I’ve just moved to N.Ireland for a bit from sunny Scotland. Probably
moving to London soon :) Ship it!

> 2. Your poker alias?
Nhggfu on my main boss media skin. A few other screen names elsewhere. Have a look on my poker blog if you're interested

(http://pokerblog.ukgamblingforums.co.uk) <-- haha I guess I should plug my poker forum too (http://ukgamblingforums.co.uk). > 3. For how long have you been playing poker?

Maybe 4 years online, about 2 years live.. I've played a few Live majors i.e Irish Open, some GUKPTs. Most memorable live moment getting slowrolled by AA (I have QQ).. clock is called and he asks(with 2 seconds left).. ‘Oh is it me? then flips over AA. nhgg sir. One day I swear I will crush one of these! I have been playing poker for a living for the last 2 years.. Mostly MTTs but I do dabble in cash 2/4 and 5/10 and I have been known to play 25/50 on Boss network when I am drunk and crazy!

> 4. Are you in-form these days? Winning a Freeroll should boost your confidence? How have you been doing lately?

I feel doom-switched. Moved to some of the US sites and keep busting 11/700,
14/1500 etc. QQ hates me, AK hates me, AA hates me. I should stick to 78 suited for the win. Wish I had stuck to mid-stakes ‘donkaments’ as moving up and then enduring a 2 month downswing (and losing flips for 8K, 15K etc) sucks. It can't last forever though! (can it?) Winning a freeroll is good, a win is a win!

> 5. Any bad beats lately?

Yes, my Pokerhand page reads like an obituary! Bad beats are boring! I prefer dishing them out though :)

> 6. On the chat during play you had a clear message to Arteta10 who you knocked him out as Number 3. Have you got any word of advice for him? How should he have played the last few hands when he was short stacked and BB?

Sure, when you have 3 big blinds w/ 3 players leftand you're on the Big blind..you got to snap-call with any 2 cards. Worst case scenario you have like 40%
equity unless the other guy has EXACTLY AA. Get tooled up with equity tools like pokerstove (http://pokerstove.com) to run these scenarios. When there's only 1 prize and 5 players left, and you have <10BB you need to push or fold. I like the Pushing!

> 7. So will we see you at the Liverpool Winter Festival in Feb 2009?

Hehe! I thought I had qualified, then noticed it was a qualifier to the
Liverpool WF super satellite! I'll certainly consider it. I am looking forward to
the super satellite for sure. Regular satellites (plus generous freerolls with little runners!) and weak fields (sorry guys hihi) on 10KingsPoker means it will be trivial to get to the Super Sat stage.. And hey, isn’t Liverpool voted European Capital of Culture 2008? A good excuse to meet some poker friends, and hob-knob with some footballers and party in Liverpool. Oh and I get to meet Allan who is
pouring his heart and soul into making 10KingsPoker.com one of the most
exciting places to play poker for fun and profit! (first beer is on you, Allan!)

> Would you consider coming over to the Main Event even if you haven’t qualified online?

Yep, as long as there's some live satellites for the Main Event. The cash games will be juicy too no doubt!

> 8. 'Team 10Kings' ready to challenge you... What do you think of a Team comp in the Main Event?

Bring it on ‘Team 10Kings’.. Your football stars don't stand a chance against me:) Team Comp could be interesting! Tell us more!

Good luck to 10KingsPoker.. Ready for the Liverpool Winter Festival and let the prize pool be FAT!

€1 MILLION GUARANTEED: GOOD LUCK!!!

2008-12-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

The fantastic €1 MILLION GUARANTEED tournament starts at 19:00 GMT. Good luck to our members! If you're not qualified, try your luck in one of our 'Liverpool Winter Festival' satellites 19:00 GMT and 20:00 GMT.

Saunet qualified for tonight's €1 MILLION Weekly!

2008-12-13T02:37:00.000-08:00

TV2 celeb Saunet 'Imani' Sparell is only one step away from competing about €1 MILLION GUARANTEED! Yesterday evening she qualified for €1 MILLION Weekly through a €5 Rebuy satellite with a 82 players starting field. Good luck tonight! Get into the 'Top 20', and you qualify for the fantastic final tomorrow night. €250,000 to the winner - how about that!!

Interview with Norwegian TV celeb Saunet Sparell

2008-12-12T11:26:00.000-08:00

Here is an interview with Nordic TV celeb Saunet 'Imani' Sparell who is a regular player on the 10KingsPoker website.

- Have you checked out of 'Hotel Cæsar', Saunet?
Yes, I left ‘Hotel Cæsar’ (The longest running TV series ever in Scandinavia, and close to 2000 episodes) May this year. Basically I was contracted for one year but my ‘Nadia’ role became popular and it was well received by the Norwegian TV-public. Since I really enjoyed working at ‘Hotel Cæsar’ – my stay was extended. After 2 and a half years both "Nadia" and I were exhausted and the writers and I agreed that she needed a proper break :-)

- Do you see yourself back on the screens in future as ‘Nadia’?
Hmm…IF she would one day returns, she will come back as a very dangerous and revengeful lady. Hihi.

- What’s new in Saunet’s life since leaving The Hotel?
I have focused on another passion of mine which is writing. Currently I´m working on two different screen plays for Scandinavian TV. I am also involved in creating and developing new concepts for entertainment in TV. Acting wise I took part in Paolo Cuelho´s "The Experimental Witch". We ended up on the shortlist and were among the 3 finalists from over 6000 contestants! Me playing an Irish woman might have been the downfall
since I wasn´t exactly "type cast", hahaha!

- You have got a new hobby. How is your poker going?
Good thanks. I´ve always liked to play cards and started playing poker regularly
about 2 years ago. Online and LIVE poker with friends, still learning though –I’m like a rookie poker girl. However, I think I’m probably more suited for LIVE poker than online.

- What makes poker so fascinating?
What I like about poker is the game underneath the game. The psychology and dicipline
- not to give anything way, read body language and change strategy etc. At first I didn´t think I could become good at it since anything that has to do with numbers normally isn´t my thing. After watching a lot of poker, like the EPT and WSOP on TV, I started watching poker from a whole different perspective. THAT really got me wanting to learn more. It´s the thrill and the excitement when you know you have good read on your competitors. And the game really triggers the competitive side of me!

- Is it possible to compare acting and poker?
Yes, I think so. Every player will try to not show his or her strategy or hand. As an actor you are trained both to portray and or hide emotions. This is definitely a useful tool in poker – and I know this could be used to my advantage in LIVE poker. It’s all a mix, but you need to understand the game, you need to be good at reading other players and you can’t allow yourself to give anything away to your opponent.

- The Liverpool Winter Festival coming up in Feb 2009. Have you ever been to Liverpool?
I have been to England, mostly London though. I have never been to Liverpool but I would love to go there. I don’t know much about the city, apart from 2 high profiled football teams and the hometown of The Beatles... I think the local accent s super cool but quite hard to understand!

- You have ambitions to play the festival?
Absolutely! Poker, casino and a few good parties. Sign me up, I'll be there!

- Your poker alias is ’Imani’ and you did very well in Monday’s Liverpool satellites. 2nd place in your Rebuy tournament debut!
Thank you very much! Honestly I was very surprised since I was basically card dead the first half hour. Then I made two big mistakes and this being my first time, I thought I was done and dusted. Got back on track, got some confident and made some good calls. And Yippi – I made the final table! I actually missed out on the ‘add-on’ as I didn’t know what it was all about haha! I have no regrets though as I had a lot of fun and I am happy to have done fairly well on my debut. I will try again both Sunday and Monday – because I really want to be in the Liverpool Winter Festival online final on the 5th January.

- 10KingsPoker to run €1 MILLION GUARANTEED tournament this Sunday evening.What would you do with a 1st prize of €250,000?
That is ALOT of money! Crazy amounts... I will definitely take a shot at it, who wouldn´t? It’s a crazy amount of money, especially as you know there will only be a couple of hundred players in the final. Imagine sitting playing online poker in your own flat, and a few hours later you have picked up a winning checking which will make you financially secure for years ahead. Like I said, it’s crazy!

What I would do if I win the 1st prize of €250,000?? Hmm… I would send my family on a long vacation and then I´d rent a place in Egypt for the rest of winter to finish writing in the sun.
Anyway, I have to stop dreaming. I'm hoping to qualify for the €1 MILLION tournament, and there's a few €5 rebuy satellites tonight. Let's give it a go!
(Picture copyright: Anne Helene Gjerdestaad & TV2)

Thanks to Saunet Sparell for taking time to speak to 10KingsPoker.com.

Words of wisdom

2008-12-12T03:17:00.000-08:00

Hey.
Enjoyed a night of LIVE poker with the guys yesterday. Or maybe 'enjoyed' is the wrong word.. Knocked out after 7 mins in the 1st Tournament (£20 Freezeout)!
All in after flop with my Ac Jh. Flop was 4 8 9 - all clubs. He got the flush. Shit. 6h on turn and 3s on the river. Loser!
Not much more luck in 2nd Tournament as I was soon short stacked. LK hit the flush, and my three 9s send me out again. Back to the practise table, Mr. Aasterud!

LIVE poker with the guys always good fun. Nice to meet up with some of the 10KingsPoker members, have a chat and a few beers.

Despite having no luck, I left with a smile on my face as there was some words of wisdom passed around. I.e this incident:
Lots of action pre-flop.. Raise- re-raise-allin and showdown.

LK shows AA
KHJ shows JJ
Dr. E is all-in with AQ

Flop comes: 4 - Q - 7

Dr. E clap his hands and gives out a shout: 'YEAH!'
(Ups, quickly realises he's still way behind LK's AA despite picking up QQ. Hihi)

Turn: 4
River: 8
LK trippled up and Dr. E is knocked out of the tournament.

Dr. E shows great sportsman ship and leaves the table with a 'fair play' comment:
"Ok, guys - the best hand actually won this time."

It usually does, Dr. E :-))

I leave you with Lady Gaga's own words of wisdom in the 'Poker Face' track: "Russian Roulette isn't the same without a gun"

You really fucked up my day!

2008-12-10T02:42:00.000-08:00

Talking about getting rivered on the last hand... I'm fuming, life feels f**king unfair these days!
Yesterday I put a nice combination bet together:
Champions League & Championship (Liverpool, Roma & Wolves)
NBA (Chicago Bulls to score less than 112 points & Trailblazers to win)

I only needed hosts Trailblazers to beat Orlando MAGIC to collect my profitable 'combo'. Yeah, I needed that win and the cash.

5 seconds left, Portland Trailblazers leading 108-106. Timeout for Orlando. See what happened when it was 0.3 seconds left of the match. The 6ft10 Turk Hedo Turkoglu steps up saying: "LET ME RUIN YOUR DAY, ALLAN!"

(Copyright: Espn/Youtube)

Orlando Magic 109 vs Portland Trailblazers 108
My combo a losing bet, and I will never bet on NBA again.
Magic my ass!

You looking for VALUE..?

2008-12-09T07:52:00.000-08:00

Then have a look at TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR!

** €1 MILLION GUARANTEED ***
(Sunday 14/12-2008 at 19:00 GMT)

Do not miss out on 10KingsPoker's biggest tournament ever!

Only 200 players/qualifiers have registered for the final so far. 5 more days to go!

The final '€1 MILLION Weekly' will be held on Saturday 13th December at 18:30 GMT. We have INCREASED the number of GUARANTEED seats to the final from 10 to 20!!!!

This is the final week of Satellites for the €1 Million Guaranteed Tournament, and
they will be running continuously up until the start of the main event;
• €1 MILL LottoFrenzy €6+€50
• €1 MILLION Daily €12+€1
• €1 MILLION Rebuy €5+50c
• €1 MILLION SuperSat (€50+€5) at 17:30 GMT, 19:30 GMT and 21:00 GMT.

Saturday 13th December at 18:30 GMT: '€1 MILLION Weekly' (€100+10€)
20 seats GUARANTEED!!

€1 MILLION GUARANTEED tournament!!
• Buy-in: €1,000 + €50
• 14th December @ 19:00 GMT
• Blinds: 30 minute Levels
• Chips: 3,000
• 1st Place Payout: €250K GUARANTEED!

Winners: "Ultratite" and "20LEGEND_"

2008-12-09T02:12:00.000-08:00

10KingsPoker ran two new satellites for Liverpool Winter Festival yesterday.

"Ultratite" from Stord made his tournament debut on 10KingsPoker, and what a performance he put in the Freeroll. He was really head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Definitely a player to watch in the Super Satellite on the 5th of January!

There were 20 players in the €5 Rebuy satellite which started an hour after Freeroll. That's great. The Man Utd fan "20LEGEND_" (Oslo) was chips leader most of the tourney, and he did play solid all the way through. After knocking "Dr. Hasard" out of the tournament in 3rd place, "20LEGEND_" was heads up against Oslo-based "Imani". Quite a surprise as this was Imani's 3rd ever tournament and actually a 'rebuy satellite' debut. Well done!
10KingsPoker will soon be back with an interview as this celebrity loves poker and has ambitions to compete for glory in Liverpool Winter Festival.

Just look at the winner hand (2nd picture below);
'Imani' went all-in pre flop with JJ and 12,000 chips. Unlucky.

6 tracks - my local favourites

2008-12-08T04:30:00.001-08:00

6 Norwegian bands singing in English. Here are some of the stuff I listened to when I was younger. Please send me your faves!

Wig Wam & ‘In My Dreams’

Kurt Nilsen & ‘Beautiful Day’

A-ha & ‘Take on Me’

Briskeby & ‘Propaganda’

Weld & ‘The Crown Imperial Song’

TNT & ‘10,000 Lovers’

(Copyright: These clips have all been taken from youtube)

Big evening ahead!

2008-12-08T02:05:00.000-08:00

Don't forget tonight's satellites to Liverpool Winter Festival's Super Satellite 5th January. Qualify now!
19:00 GMT Freeroll Satellite ('Liverpool WF FR')
20:00 GMT €5+€1 Rebuy Satellite ('Liverpool WF RB')

See below for what 1st prize offers!

* £500+£50 Main Event
* Football match tickets
* Travel and spending money
* Meet international top players and famous ex footballers

See more info about the fantastic festival:
http://www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com

Who wants to challenge «Team10Kings»?
A team competition will be integrated into the £500+£50 Main Event, and 10KingsPoker.com will offer an additional £3,000 prize to the winning team. Submit a team of 3 players and take on «Team 10Kings» & co!

Liverpool Winter Festival 2009 will bring you five days of fantastic poker action for poker pros and newcomers alike. Check out the poker tournament structure for more details on how to qualify online with 10KingsPoker.com or live at Circus Casino.

The vikings turn London upside down...

2008-12-06T05:41:00.000-08:00

The Norwegian Poker trio in London.

HENNING GRANSTAD, always so serious and professional, nipping his drink and playing cool. The photographer's best friend...

EIRIK SVANÆS enjoyed his Chinese 'late-night' meal. After securing 4th place, winning £60K in the GPT Main Event, this guy was on fire, being a true gentleman with the Asian waiters. I'm sure you'll welcome back anytime! or.. ? :-)

The one and only KNUT RAKE-RYSSTAD realised there is actually a new world existing outside The Vic Casino i London. He met 'normal' people, got some fresh air and enjoyed a bar crawl, though he looks more comfy sitting by the poker table.

Hmm... WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BACKGROUND, HENNING??! THANKS TO THE STUPID PHOTOGRAPHER GUY WHICH RUINED A GOOD PICTURE!!

Bale certainly no lucky mascot!

2008-12-03T14:25:00.001-08:00

This is the QUIZ of the WEEK:
Which Premier League star has never won a league game?

(No, it's not LFC's Andrea Dossena! Haha)
The answer: He plays for Tottenham, he is only 19 years old and he is one of Europe's most talented left backs...

Gareth Bale, can you please step forward...

Since his £10 Million transfer deal from Southampton last August, Spurs has lost every one of Bale's 18 league outings! Fantastic statistic, or what? Talking about (un)lucky mascot, and I'm sure fans of Arsenal and Chelsea want to see Bale feature in the Spurs line up week in and week out.

Gareth Bale hasn't a won a league game since 6th of May - then he was wearing a Soton shirt, and the opponent was Southend (4-1).

I'm a big admirer of Bale, I actually hoped Liverpool would sign him last year - but that didnt happen, and unfortunately he has been struggling with injuries since his move to White Hart Lane.

His luck will to change, and I'm sure this lad will be voted Premier League's best left back next season. A crackin' left foot - just watch the clip and see for yourself.
(Thanks to London Lite for these stats.)

Ballack, Gerrard and Redknapp

2008-12-02T09:40:00.000-08:00

This will make you smile.

Ballack with power:

Gerrard and the clay pigeon:

and the one and only Harry Redknapp get hit by a ball:

".A" (Olsvik) and "cruel_zip" (Loeten) qualify!

2008-12-02T07:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening the Norwegian players ".A" from Olsvik and "cruel_zip" from Loeten qualified for the Liverpool Winter Festival Super Satellite on 5th of January.

"cruel_zip" won Liverpool WF Freeroll satellite which we run every Monday 19.00 GMT.

".A" won Liverpool WF €5 Rebuy satellite which we run every Monday 20.00 GMT.

Well done, guys - and good luck in the big Super Satellite on the 5th of January. The winner will secure an exclusive €2,000 VIP package!

TOP 20 - MONDAY FREEROLL:
1. cruel_zip
2. andrso
3. tartanman
4. *Tove*
5. Naaisi
6. J82G
7. DrDonkey
8. safran1
9. blackdruid
10. ylvami
11. gismo71
12. KEDSTER691
13. zen86
14. ironman77
15. xydern
16. stigroar
17. newstar9
18. MrsJambo
19. skaphoe
20. Matias.A

Don't forget you can rake your way to Liverpool Winter Festival;

http://www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com

Fairclough made his 'Team 10Kings' debut

2008-12-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

10KingsPoker.com mixing football and poker.

Thanks to Liverpool legend David Fairclough for joining 'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool.

New website. New satellites. Qualify tonight!

2008-12-01T07:43:00.001-08:00

Welcome to our new festival website!

http://www.liverpoolwinterfestival.com (Click on link)

Win a fantastic €2,000 VIP package!

It's easy to take part, just sign up to our Satellites:

Monday 1st December:
19:00 GMT: A FREEROLL satellite (it's called 'Liverpool WF FR')
20:00 GMT: €5 + 50c rebuy satellite (it's called 'Liverpool WF FR RB')

Win a satellite to qualify for the online 'Liverpool WF Final' on Monday 5th January 2009! See below for what this prize offers!

* Tournament £500+£50 (at Circus Casino 6th-8th of Feb' 2009)
* Tickets to a live Premier League football match
* Travel and spending money
* Meet international top players and famous ex footballers

Just visit us to sign up and play for your chance to win this brilliant prize.
See you online!

Allan
www.10KingsPoker.com

PS! Why not rake your way to Liverpool? See festival website for more info.

That was embarrasing, Britney!

2008-11-30T04:43:00.000-08:00

Hey!
I have always been a huge music fan, and to me it feels like UK produces new talents every week. I will give you some great examples later on.

In Norway we have the well known Pop Idol, UK has developed THE X FACTOR.
Ever heard of Simon 'Mr. Naughty' Cowell? He is the creator, judge and mentor on the show, and he does speak a lot of sense.

Last night there was 'Britney Spears' night on THE X FACTOR, and each of the 4 contestants did one Britney cover. Fantastic quality, believe me - they are true performers you will hear about in the future!

However, today's big talking point is Britney Spears' LIVE performance last night. Personally, I think it was very poor - and Britney fans must have been felt let down. These superstars usually spend time with the contestants - Mariah Carey did it. Take That did it. Rod Stewart & co. have all done it. Britney didn't.

After 4 years 'exile', she was back on British soil. The TV show lasted more than 3 hours, and Britney was in action for approx 4 mins. Expectations were high, the crowd was fired up, the judges looked like kids in a sweetshop - what a great welcome they gave her. Sadly, it went downhill from then on!

Ok, look for yourself. I admit I'm no expert, because I dance like a headless chicken. I am scared of attention, microphones and stages. Still though, what has happened to Britney? Choreography? Does she mime? Playback? And seriously, I expected this girl to offer a few more useful advices to the contestants. Just watch the short interview after performing 'Womanizer'

See Britney Spears' stage performance:

(Clip taken from youtube)

Awesome, Britney? You certainly weren't.

Forget poker face and dicipline

2008-11-27T03:04:00.000-08:00

Phil Hellmuth vs Dave 'DevilFish' Ulliott

Here you have two strong characters from the world of poker.

I was down at the Vic Casino yesterday. Dead busy as Grosvenor Poker Tour has entered its final stages. £3,000+£30 Main Event starting today. Good luck to Henning, Terry and the other lads. A hefty prize pool!

I had a meeting in the restaurant with my colleague LK, then went to the bar, watched the Liverpool game on telly and shared a few drinks with a young Norwegian poker pro duo. Cool guys. It's all about poker, and we had a lengthy discussion about big players, the biggest names in poker and we all had strong opinions. Very few player causes more debate than Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott... And while we were debating at the loudest, the man himself suddenly walks in with his entourage!

We changed subject, had a few more drinks ordered and then I went home to my flat. Switched on telly, and guess who appeared on the screen: Dave 'DevilFish' Ulliott.

As I said, these two guys dont hide their feelings.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BJpcbpt-3jc

Liverpool Winter Festival - satellites tonight!

2008-11-24T05:25:00.000-08:00

Win a €2,000 VIP PACKAGE!

Qualify tonight (Monday 24th of November)

10KingsPoker.com has just launched a brand new, exclusive campaign (Liverpool Winter Festival) and would like you to be the first to hear about it!

It's simple to take part and have your chance to win, just sign up to our Satellites:

Monday 24th November
19:00 GMT: A FREEROLL satellite (it’s called ‘Liverpool WF FR’)
20:00 GMT: €5 + 50c rebuy satellite (it’s called ‘Liverpool WF FR RB’)

Take part to win a seat at the final table of the amazing Winter Festival in Liverpool. See below for what this prize offers!

Be the envy of your friends: Fantastic €2,000 VIP Package!
• Tournament £500+£50 (at Circus Casino 6th & 7th of February 2009)
• Tickets to a live Premier League football match
• Travel and spending money
• Meet famous ex players from international football
• Join 'Team 10Kings' captained by poker pro Henning Granstad and Liverpool legend Jan Molby
• Compete in a fantastic team competition

Just visit us to sign up and play for your chance to win this brilliant prize.

See you online!

Allan
www.10KingsPoker.com

Read Neil Channing's view on Blackpool

2008-11-24T05:14:00.000-08:00

This guy knows his poker..
http://www.pokerverdict.com/Poker-Blog/Neil-Channing/149929/top_ranking.html

'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool - see pictures

2008-11-24T04:54:00.000-08:00

Voila!
'Team 10Kings' enjoyed a fantastic poker weekend in Blackpool.
I played the £100 side event, was dead nervous, felt I was short stacked the whole tournament - and then to end up on final table!! Yippi, what a buzz!

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=115487

http://www.pokerpages.com/players/profiles/123920/allan-aasterud.htm

I'm proud. Final table - it does sound good, eh?
Only £230 - but 8th place among 66 starters. I'm happy.
Thanks for a great trip, guys!

See you at the "Liverpool Winter Festival" in Feb'2009!

'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool - Player 6 : Henning Granstad

2008-11-12T02:57:00.000-08:00

Name: Henning Granstad

Job: International poker pro for the last 4 years and captain of 'Team 10Kings'

How many years have you been playing poker?
I have played texas holdem and other various poker games for around 8 years. The interest for 5 card draw goes years and years back!

You have met them all, but if you have to name one poker legend you really enjoy watching?
I’ve always liked Phil Ivey, but the last few years several other guys are making a real impact. Not many can compare with Phil Ivey, but I played against John Juanda in the WSOPE main event. He was pure quality that day we sat on the same table! You know, he used to very tight. However, on this occasion he certainly wasn’t! I don’t think I’ve ever played a tournament with anyone who played as many hands and won as many pots as he did. It was unreal! Definitely one of the most impressive tournament performances I’ve ever seen.
I also have a tremendous respect for players like Nam Lee and JC Tran who always seem to perform on top level in major tournaments. Remember, that’s what the game is all about. To perform, day in and day out.

Any young or old or new UK player you rate a lot?
Plenty to choose from, but I’d like to mention players like Neil Channing and Julian Thew which have been around for a long time. Both have a tight aggressive play which is difficult for the other players to read. Of the younger guys, I like ”Team Hit Squad”. All of them are tricky guys to play against!

What is your favorite poker game?
I currently play Pot Limit Omaha online. LIVE it tends to be "round of each" PLO and NLHE and the tournament favorite is No Limit. I also enjoy Fixed Limit which is a more action game than NL.
How do you prepare for big poker tournaments? Any special preparations?
There are different ways of preparing. Usually I want to relax and take it easy ahead of big tournaments. That way you can be max focused and ready to ‘survive’ long days in the casino. I do my own pre-camp. I play a lot of cash games to mentally prepare myself and focus on patience and discipline to start hands etc. The key word for success is discipline.

Your favourite casino in Europe?
No casino in Europe can even compare to an average casino in Las Vegas. I do like The Vic in London though, and the card room at Casino Cosmopol in Stockholm isn’t bad at all. To be honest of the places I have played poker in Europe, I think Stockholm is my favorite. Now let's see what Blackpool can offer!

'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool - Player 5 : Leiv Kåre Johannessen

2008-11-12T01:59:00.000-08:00

Name: Leiv Kåre Johannessen

Poker alias: LK

Age: 38

Favourite club: Nottingham Forest

Your biggest strength as a poker player?
The capability to adapt my game to other players and different situations.

You have played poker all over the world. Your favourite place/casino?
In Europe: The casino in Barcelona because of the 20-40 euro limit game. A lot of old spanish guys with too mutch money, and little knowlege about poker.
In US: Commerce in LA, - the biggest poker room in the world. You play against players that have done this on a weekly basis for decades. They have read Sklansky and a couple of other books, making them very predictable.
In Las Vegas: Mirage. Not many places in Vegas can offer a $20-40 limit game. This is the game in Vegas I have made most money from. Not as good as Barcelona and LA, but a friendly card room placed in the centre of the Strip.

What's your best placing in a LIVE tournament?
I have won a few live tournaments, the first one at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas some years ago.

What do you think of the UK Grovenor Poker Tour?
I have not played it before, but it looks good. I really look forward to play as part of the 'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool.

Is it true that you were once banned from gambling in the state of Nevada?

Yep. I was banned from the Black Jack tables. They kicked me out off casinos in four different cities/towns in Nevada: Laughlin, Henderson, Las Vegas and Mesquite. In Mesquite I caused an alarm at the same second I entered the casino. They had my picture, and I could just forget about playing. Some how they didnt like players that count cards ha-ha. It was a problem I had experienced several times before. This time I came to Nevada with three disguises. After Mesquite I went back to Las Vegas, removed my beard and my Barcelona costume, and put on some new glasses and a gold chain. This way I could start over again - playing 30 - 40 minutes at each casino - moving around - playing in maybe 10 different places a day. The new disguise lasted for 4-5 days before they spotted me again. I never used my last disguse. I was really sick of Black Jack at that time, and it was one more week to go before my flight back home to Norway. I went to the poker room at Mandalay Bay, watched the guys in action for about 40 minutes, before I sat down in the $4-8 game. This was how I started playing poker.

'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool - Player 4 : HENRIK NARVESEN

2008-11-11T07:30:00.001-08:00

Name: Henrik Narvesen

Age: 25

Poker alias: blueprins

Your idol: Bruce Dickinson

What's the most interesting aspect about poker?
To see and learn the different players' tactics and styles. I learn something new everyday, and I enjoy both online poker and LIVE tournaments.

Have you been in England before?
Yes, in London. However, it was only for one day! Ha-ha.

Are you football interested?
No, not really, although I do like Real Madrid. Impossible not to follow Spanish football when I lived in Madrid.
Your favourite sports then?
I'm all about icehockey! Love it, the greatest sport in the world.

What's your ambition ahead of Blackpool?
Be comfortable and confident. That way I can play with variety and enjoy myself all the way to the final table!

On Friday you will join up with 'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool. Are you nervous?
I have warmed up for the weekend by playing online, and on Thursday I will enter a LIVE tournament locally.

What do you think is your strength in a LIVE tournament?
I am good at reading players, and I dont let any one to mess with me.

You are one our winners from StudentCruise 2008. What's your feedback?
I made the Top 3 after a rocky ride in the start of Day 2. I was short stacked and not too optimistic.
Luckily the tournament structure gave me time to play my game, and I could collect chips. Honestly, I felt I did well and played solid poker all afternoon.
Blackpool here I come!

'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool - Player 3 : FRODE ALFREDSEN

2008-11-11T06:13:00.001-08:00

Name: Frode Alfredsen

Age: 33

Poker alias: safran

Favourite team: Nottingham Forest

Favourite player: Oh, that’s an easy one. Stuart Pearce!

How often do you play poker?
I play a couple of LIVE tournaments each week, and you will also find me online on a regular basis.

What makes you fascinated about poker?
It’s the social aspect of the game and the great excitement.

What’s your ambitions in the Blackpool?
I want to win.

Are you nervous? Any special preparations?
Nah, not nervous at all. Haven’t prepared in any special way. Just looking forward to trip and meet up with ‘Team 10Kings’.

How did you qualify for a seat in the Team 10Kings?
I won a 10KingsPoker freeroll LIVE in Haugesund (West coasts of Norway) in the end of September. I certainly would like to repeat that performance in Blackpool on Friday!

'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool - Player 2 : THOMAS ERIK SANDE

2008-11-11T05:11:00.001-08:00

Poker alias: siddis

I support: Liverpool

My idols: Steven Gerrard as a player, captain and person. Gus Hansen for his aggressive style.

How often do I play poker?
I play about 3-4 times a week. I enjoy playing online, but I prefer the LIVE action. One of the best experiences I have had is from a cruise in the Carribbean. I knocked out all 8 players on my table and went on to the final table. Ended up heads up at the end. I was Big Blind, and my hand was 5-2. The flop was A-3-4. Sweet! The guy goes all-in and shows A-A! Sorry mate, but you shouldnt have slow played pre-flop… hihi.

My biggest strength at the poker table: I’m relaxed. I don’t stress.

How did Thomas Erik Sande secure a place in the 'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool?
I was one of the '€1,000 package' winners from 10KingsPoker’s tournament on StudentCruise 2. I was very satisfied with my own play on the final table on Day 2. I was short stacked, the player with the least chips in the final – but I kept the calmness and made the right calls at the right time. I also bluffed a few times which gave me extra confidence. Well done to 10KingsPoker.com, you guys created a tournament with good atmosphere and lots of excitement. Plenty of poker was played on Day 2, and ‘LK’ ran the whole show smoothly as dealer.

My ambitions ahead of the Blackpool trip:

Wanna do my best and play a good game. A good result must be final table and in the money pool – but let’s take it step by step. I have a lot to learn. Depends on my Friday performance, but I am tempted to enter the Main Event on Saturday. Fingers crossed!

'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool - Player 1 : PAUL FOX

2008-11-11T01:43:00.000-08:00

Name: Paul Fox
Age: 30
Pokeralias/nickname: Pafo777

Favourite team: Everton

Your poker idol: Daniel Negreanu

Job: Cardroom Manager (Circus Casino, Liverpool)

Any UK player you rate a lot?
One or two local players but I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of naming them!

Your favourite poker game:
No Limit Holdem. Currently having some fun with "Crazy Pineapple"!

Do you play a lot online/LIVE?
I have been playing online for around 4 years. Only small stakes and not as often as I'd like. Hard to play live when you can't play in any Stanley casino in the country! 400% profit in only proper live game so far.

What makes poker such a great game?
It requires a lower level of fitness than football.

Have you got a good poker story to tell?
I've just seen 3 players all-in on a final table. One player shows AA and is very pleased when he sees BOTH his opponents have KK. Not so impressed when the board comes 9, 10, J, Q!!!!! That's gotta hurt...

Your biggest strength as a poker player?
Not being afraid to put my chips in.

How is it to be a player and not a dealer? How do you prepare?
I'll probably warm up by donating some money to the casino's three card poker! The pressure will come from people knowing me as a dealer and wanting to see if i can play.

Your ambitions in Blackpool?
To enjoy the experience as being part of 'Team 10Kings' and prove that I can play a bit. Really looking forward to meet up with you guys. The 10KingsPoker Invitational back in start of October was such a pleasure to be involved in. I didn't have to resolve a single dispute all day. The tournament was played in the right spirit and all players and supporters had an enjoyable experience. The structure of the tournament allowed plenty of play and the standard of poker was extremely high.
Now that 10KingsPoker and Circus Casino (Liverpool) know what each other have to offer the Winter Festival in February should be a massive success.

See Paul 'Pafo777' Fox in action here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbLmDxLpqxc

First qualifier confirmed: 'VikinGutt' !!

2008-11-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

Qualify for 'Liverpool Poker Festival 2009'!

2008-11-04T03:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our new and exclusive campaign: 'Liverpool Winter Festival 2009'.
Qualify for the big final already on Sunday!

Win a €2,000 VIP package!

Sunday 9th of Nov at 19:00 GMT -
'A €10+€1 Rebuy satellite to Liverpool WF Final'
Only open for members of 10KingsPoker.com
1 entry for every €270 in the prizepool.

Monday 10th Nov at 18:00 GMT -
'A FREEROLL satellite to Liverpool WF Final'
This is a Freeroll satellite to the €250+€20 'LPool Super Satellite Final' on Monday 5th of January 2009.
1 entry to the final.

Monday 10th of Nov at 19:00 GMT -
'A €5+50c Rebuy satellite to Liverpool WF Final'
1 entry for every €270 in the prizepool

(Qualify for the 'Liverpool WF Final' online on Monday the 5th of January 2009)

Win a €2,000 VIP package!

Please email 10KingsPoker@gmail.com if questions.

Allan
www.10KingsPoker.com

See from Top8 to 1st place (26 slides!) '10KingsPoker Freeroll' on Monday night

2008-11-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

Latest news! We are entering the world of music...

2008-10-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbLmDxLpqxc

The music video from our '10KingsPoker Invitational' is finally here. Yeah!

We got them all on camera; Rambo Mølby, Aldridge, Robbo Roberts, Elvestad, Warky, LK, Durnin, red Devil Martin, Henning Granstad, Paul Ward, Paul Marrow, Lobsterjo Staveland, Kjetil Sande, Brattis, Abrahamsen, Terje Johansen, 'Plastic Viking' Johansen, George Sephton, 'Bifta' Smyth, Paul 'Done Deal' Fox, Kevin Proctor, Charles Denton, Parry, Keith Jones and Dermot Dinan.

A great bunch of lads. Watch the music video and you can feel the great atmosphere!

Dear reader, can I please ask for some assistance? 'Friends of Scarlett' has given us the approval to use their own track 'Sex without Me'.
Please forward the link to your friend(s)! We hope this will give them a real boost and hopefully end up with some airtime on radio in the future.

A special thanks to;
Ole Magnus 'Cable Guy' Storberget - I couldnt have done this without you, mate. I owe you a BIG favour for this, and good things will come in future. Thanks for letting us use the track on this video.

Marthe 'Turbo Girl' Johannessen - 10 out of 10 stars. It was fun, wasnt it? Looking forward to work with you again.

George 'Mr. Anfield' Sephton - I'm proud of the work we did, G. The end product is quality. It was a brilliant night, thanks for your support and backing all the way.

'Circus Casino' - you guys were brilliant, and we really hope to see you guys again very soon!

Thanks.
Allan

Daniel Evans - What life is all about

2008-10-29T03:46:00.001-07:00

(Picture from Youtube)

Not much blogging on this one, but the story is still a beauty.

Please read the story about the X-fFactor contestant Daniel Evans and his dream.
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/showbiz/article22840.ece

A moving story and a great singer!

See the full audition:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JFvhdSg8uXY

A real inspiration to all people out there:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yCNOGM_hJSA&feature=related

Live Show 1:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=N1TKwVk7Ns4

Live Show 3:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=X9AweSZoIx8&feature=related

(Clips from youtube)

I'm in a creative mood. Enjoy!

2008-10-24T19:34:00.001-07:00

TO TUNE DOWN MUSIC, CLICK ON LOUDSPEAKER.

Some pictures from 10KingsPoker Invitational

2008-10-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

Wake up, before it's too late!

2008-10-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

Those were the days vs. Greed culture

Here we go again. Suitcase packed, passport in hand and we’re off to a new event. This time we are preparing for a Norwegian Studentcruise 2008. In Oslo around midnight, heading for a hotel nearby and cruising off for a night in the Nordic sea Wednesday.

Now with my ass solid planted in the flight seat, I will blog my 2nd post today. Living in UK, I get the same question from friends at least twice a week; you must watch a lot of football games in England. The answer is: No, I don’t. I don’t watch LIVE football at all. I’m fed up, in a way I’ve had enough. Just tired.
Last two games I watched in London were West Ham vs. Liverpool and Tottenham vs. Liverpool. For the Hammers game I came 20 mins into the game! (Sorry, Taggy - I really messed it up on that night. Still embarrassed and I owe you one.)

For the end of season game between Tottenham and Liverpool, we were 8 guys in the executive box. Special guest was Jan Mølby, and we were actually spending more time watching Gillette Soccer Day on the TV, paying attention to our bets and asking quiz questions to each other.
Why have I lost interest? I really don’t have a good answer. I might be a moaner, because I'm not even an English - and still I have a go at the Beautiful Game!
Pardon me guys, but Premiership today is all about business, nothing else. (Man City is the latest example) I’m just fed up, and some of us can hardly afford to go to the odd games anymore. I feel sorry for the diehard working class fans and I’ve sort of made my decision. Can't even remember last time I was at Anfield! (Sad isnt it?)

Ok, let's start lightly: An decent match ticket could cost around £40 (if you are lucky to get one!), football match programmes cost £10, burgers £7 and pints £4,5 (and you thinking Norway was expensive?) Who can afford this in the long run?

UEFA chief Michel Platini is crying out about the game’s increasing debt problems. With the credit crunch, there are serious warning signals all over. In today's Daily Mail coloumn writer Des Kelly points out a few interesting facts about the Premier League:

- West Ham United could be in serious financial difficulties due to Icelandic bank crisis (Icelandic owner and Icelandic main sponsor)
- Liverpool FC are owned by two Americans who hate each other and they bought the club with funds they borrowed from struggling banks.
- Newcastle United’s owner Mike Ashley are trying to sell the club. He only bought it a year ago!
- Tottenham Hotspur is a BIG club in England. Now they have to fight relegation, financial problems and manager chaos.
- At Portsmouth the wage bill takes up 90% of the club’s turnover!
- Wigan, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Fulham all have to deal with massive debts
- and don’t forget Man Utd’s staggering liability of £600m!

English football has played an important part of my life since early childhood, but now I worry about its future. The culture of greed will soon have a negative boomerang effect. No one will miss me at Anfield, neither the club nor the players on the pitch. But the smaller clubs? One empty seat makes no difference. Neither do 10 seats. What if we see 100 empty seats before Christmas? 1000 empty seats before end of season?

Wake up, soon it might be too late!