The All Africa Poker Tournament crowns another champion
Written by Rob Dickson
Thursday, 26 November 2009 00:00
The most prestigious poker tournament in southern Africa -the All Africa Poker Tournament hosted by Piggs Peak Hotel & Casino in Swaziland – has concluded and the latest poker millionnaire has been crowned. Ilja Martinovic, better known in poker circles as the White Eagle, has walked away with the tilte and the huge cash prize. He may be All Africa Poker’s newest millionaire, but he is certainly no newcomer to the Tournament. In fact, of the 19 All Africa Poker Tournaments to date, Martinovic has played in all but one, the first one. Martinovic managed to stay the course and knock out all 109 players who were battling it out over the R3,500,000 prize pool.
21 year old Joeseph Cada has just won the 40th World Series of Poker. Previous youngest winner from last year, 22 year old Peter Eastgate, has to hand over the title.
Joe Cada rode a roller coaster of a chip stack and emotions late last Monday night into Tuesday morning to defeat Maryland logger Darvin Moon to win the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event.
Going in to the final heads up the chip stacks were: Joeseph Cada - $135.95 million Darvin Moon - $58.85 million
Many pundits were predicting a quick night and they nearly got exactly that on the first hand of the night. Moon limped from the small blind and Cada raised to 3,500,000 and Moon called. The flop came Ks 3s 2d, Cada bet 2,500,000 and Moon raised to 10,000,000. Cada called. The turn was the Ad, Moon followed Cada’s check with a bet of 10,000,000 and Cada called. Both players checked the Kc river. Cada tabled 9d 9c and Moon showed Qs Qd to take the 47,000,000 chip pot.
After the first break of the night Moon was a man on a mission. He picked up four of the first five pots by countering Cada’s aggression with even more aggression. Cada’s raises were almost always met with a reraise from Moon, forcing Cada to fold without even seeing a flop and the shift caused Cada some concern.
“It threw me off. Every time he did something it was different. Every time I did something or made a move it was a misstep. He played perfect poker,†said Cada, who saw his chip lead turn into a 3-1 chip deficit at one point.
Cada’s tournament seemed to turn around on the 80th hand of heads-up play. Cada put in a preflop button raise to 3,000,000 and Moon called. The flop came Tc 9h 5d and both players checked. The turn came Td and, after Moon checked, Cada bet 3,000,000. Moon responded by announcing all-in. Cada took some time to replay the hand in his head and after tanking for some time, made the call and tabled Jh 9d. Moon showed 7s 8s and was behind, needing a six or jack to complete his straight draw. The river was the 3h and Cada doubled up through to 109,000,000 and the chip lead again.
“I was almost positive I was ahead. The only problem was the bet compared to the pot size. It was a big bet, it was like 50 million and I bet 3 million into a 6 million pot,†said Cada. “Once you break down the hand and think about it, it’s not that tough of a call.â€
Only eight hands later the tournament was over. Cada raised to 3,000,000 from the button and Moon followed the pattern he’d been following with a re-raise to 8,000,000. Cada announced all-in and Moon called almost instantly. Cada showed 9c 9d and Moon tabled Qd Jd and all of Cada’s cheering section went wild. The flop came 8c 7s 2c and Cada stayed ahead. The turn was the Kh and the river was the 7c and with Moon missing his draw, Cada was world champion.
“It’s a pretty sick flip that you have to wait,†said Cada. “I thought he had queens at first when he flipped it over. Once I saw queen-jack it was one of those things, if I win I win, if I lose I lose.â€
For his part Moon realised he was behind but was prepared to race in the hopes of taking back the chip lead.
“I knew where I was at. I was in better shape than I thought. I thought I was 40/60. He told me I was 48/52,†said Moon. â€There’s my shot to take a tremendous chip lead. I didn’t get it.â€
Joe Cada wins the bracelet and the first prize of $8,5 million, while Moon walks away with $5.1 million.
Source: BluffMagazine.com
Moon actually wins more than Cada in WSOP
Written by Rob Dickson
Thursday, 19 November 2009 00:00
According to information from the Detroit News, Cada will split his $8.5 million World Series of Poker winnings with his two backers: "Two well-known backers in the poker community are Eric Haber and (Cliff) Josephy. They back tons of players and that's what they do for a living. They are investors in poker," Cada said. "They look up your results and your stats online and ask you to send them hand histories of you playing online in tournaments. So they go over how you play and make a judgment. They put up all the money and take 50 percent."
Josephy and Haber will get half of Cada's winnings since they put up the $10,000 buy-in for the main event. So technically, Darvin Moon, who takes home the whole $5.1 million for his second placing, will have more money in his account than the first place winner. However, he doesn't get the title, the bracelet, the prestige and obviously the major endorsement deals.
 Source: BluffMagazine.co.za
Royal Swazi Rumble III
Written by Rob Dickson
Thursday, 12 November 2009 14:05
As poker continues its meteoric rise in popularity, so too does the tournament landscape keep sprouting prestigious battles to slake the thirst of South Africa's poker fans. Swaziland has quickly established itself as the premier poker destination in southern Africa. It now plays host to two of the biggest poker tournaments – All Africa Poker Tournament hosted at Piggs Peaks and the Royal Swazi Rumble at the Royal Swazi Hotel, Casino & Spa.
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