In a time where buy-ins are dropping to accommodate a slumping economy, leave it to Monaco to make people feel poor again. Not content with the highest buy-in tournament to date being the $100,000 Aussie Millions High Rollers event, Casino Monte Carlo in junction with the IPPA (International Poker Player’s Association) is hosting a $250,000 buy-in shootout in late November. Before you ask, “who could afford this nonsense?”; evidently 14 pros have already signed up, with names ranging from Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan all the way to Robert and Michael Mizrachi. There are a few things with this tournament that help it stand out beyond the absurd high buy-in:
It will be “limited” to 48 players total and played out in a shootout format, with $5 million guaranteed to first place. Which means that if this is a true guarantee and not just a projected prize if all 48 slots fill, mean that you would need 20 players minimum just to break even (sans rake, and only if it’s a winner-take-all tournament).
The IPPA is not…well known, at least certainly not in the US. Their website is equally sparse in terms of action information, but they may be trying to put themselves on the map with a tournament of this size.
There are satellites running in at least two confirmed places, Monte Carlo (naturally) and The Bicycle Casino in beautiful Bell Gardens, CA. How does one even satellite into this tournament? Think the step tournaments online, except the stakes are much, much higher. The Bike already ran $100, $1k and $9k satellites during the Legends of Poker tournament series, but their site does not have any results for the $1k and $9k satellites so its unknown how many takers they got.
It will be a televised event, but with the field the way it is so far the IPPA and/or Monte Carlo hopefully will be pushing hard to get some whales in the game, or it may deter other pros from throwing their hat in the ring.
Still, the organizers have to cover their “overlay” first, which will be no small feat when pros are being asked to drop $250,000 in one go into a shark-filled tank. If this tournament happens it certainly will be an interesting sight, not just for the prize pool but the revival of a lingering question regarding how we keep score in poker. Already there has been talk of what “counts” on the all-time money list, so if someone like Ivey did win the $5 million for what amounts to a 48-person (or less) SnG it could lead to some gripping from a few pros (quite possibly including the #2 man on that list…who could become a distant #2 or 3 after this tournament).
The durrrr challenge with Jungleman ran its second session late Monday morning into the afternoon, playing a shade under 1000 hands this time around. Jungleman (Daniel Cates) continued to hold the advantage, and even when losing big pots he was always able to bounce back within minutes. Durrrr, on the other hand, was found felted on two tables and playing shortstacked poker, despite a rule in the challenge requiring a reload at 75bbs. Jungleman ended up winning $172k in session #2, all NLHE, to bring his total to +$692k after 6820 hands, according to FTP’s Poker on the Rail blog. Not bad (so far) for a 20-year-old college student making the 24-year-old Team Full Tilt pro look something like an old man.
JungleMan’s blog on CardRunners here. Good interview with Daniel Cates here.
Though Isildur1 player names have popped up on the microstakes tables at PokerStars, Absolute, and PartyPoker … there’s one new player over at Betfair — Omlphalotus — that looks possibly to be the real Isildur attempting to work on his game / shore up his bankroll.
Firstly, the player in question is Swedish – the same nationality as Isildur1 – and is certainly playing the type of nosebleeds stakes expected from the most talked about online player for years.. A railbird told me he was seen recently with just under 400k at the tables waiting for action at some 250/500 and 100/200 NL HU tables.
[…]
Other factors that have stoked this rumour include railbirds noticing Omlphalotus playing a similar style to Isildur1 as well as enjoying long sessions multi-tabling.
More details here from a site with an arguably less-compromised interest in pimping high-stakes games on Betfair.
Sure, we know Isildur1 was like sooo 2009, but couldn’t help starting the new year checking out this breakdown of the biggest online poker hand in history. The video replay (with decent commentary) includes the two hands of Pot-Limit Omaha that led up to $1.3 million going in on the flop between the mystery Swede and Patrik Antonius on Full Tilt:
Check it out … Phil Gordon (“dean” of the Full Tilt Academy) sits down with one of Isildur’s key opponents, Patrik Antonius, to discuss what’s really going on in these highest-stakes online games vs. the biggest mystery opponent of 2009/in history.
Part 1 is an 18-minute interview where they discuss the Isildur1 phenomenon, the advantages of playing anonymously, and other matters relevant to those risking six- and seven-figure sums against him.
