Soulier Leads EPT Campione Final Table, Busquet 2nd

/ Short-Stacked Shamus / 30 March 2012 / Leave a Comment

Fabrice Soulier looks to add to his $3.6 million-plus lifetime earnings with a win at EPT Campione (Photo: Neil Stoddart)

A sequence of knockouts early on Friday helped catapult Fabrice Soulier into the chip lead, but a late surge by Olivier Busquet helped position him close to Soulier with eight players remaining.

A relatively quick day at the European Poker Tour Campione Main Event on Friday saw the field of 24 swiftly whittled down to eight, with the Frenchman Fabrice Soulier ending the day in front to begin tomorrow's final table as leader. Soulier amassed a stack of 3.48 million by day's end, putting him ahead of a tough group including Olivier Busquet (2nd, 3.011 million) and Jannick Wrang (3rd, 2.882 million).

When play began on Friday, Jannick Wrang led the 24 who'd survived from the starting field of 570 players. Early action saw the short stacks quickly exiting, including Jose Manuel Nadal (24th), Andrea Benelli (20th), and Jean-Philippe Rohr (17th), all among the group earning €15,000 back from their €5,300 buy-in.

With 16 left they redrew for the final two tables, and soon Soulier began his climb up the counts by eliminating Alessandro Minasi in 16th (€20,000). Primoz Adamie followed Minasi to the rail in 15th, also earning €20,000, then Soulier knocked out both Giuseppe Biancouiso (14th) and Alexandre Andermatt (13th), both of whom earned €25,000 for their efforts.

By the time Ramin Hajiyev (12th) and Pasquale Vinci (11th) had been eliminated -- both taking away €30,000 -- Soulier had surged to the top of the counts to battle start-of-day leader Wrang and Balazs Botond for the lead.

However, Olivier Busquet would be the star of the final stretch, scoring the final two knockouts before play concluded.

First Busquet knocked out David Vamplew in 10th (€41,000) in a hand in which all of the latter's chips went in on the turn with the board showing 8s-5d-Qd-Ks. Vamplew had Kh-Jh for kings, but Busquet had Qh-8h for two pair, and after the Ah river Vamplew was out.

After that one, Busquet and Simeon Naydenov got into a preflop raising war that resulted in Naydenov all in with Jc-Jd against Busquet's Ah-Kc A king flopped, and Naydenov was unable to catch up, eliminated one spot shy of the final table in ninth (€41,000).

Here's how the final eight will stack up for Saturday's final day of play:

1. Fabrice Soulier -- 3,480,000
2. Olivier Busquet -- 3,011,000
3. Jannick Wrang -- 2,882,000
4. Balazs Botond -- 2,080,000
5. Koen De Visscher -- 1,856,000
6. Stefano Puccilli -- 1,450,000
7. Mario Nagel -- 1,210,000
8. Robin Ylitalo -- 1,153,000

First out tomorrow earns €54,000, while the winner will pick up a cool €640,000 plus the Shamballa Jewels winner's bracelet worth €10,000 more.

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EPT Campione Day 2 Completed: Hungary's Balazs Botond Leads

Poker News / Matthew Pitt / 29 March 2012 / Leave a Comment

Balazs Botond: Chip Leader

Botond flew under the radar for most of the afternoon mainly because he was not involved in many big pots, instead he just went quietly and efficiently about his business; the business of building his stack to a tournament leading level

The Campione leg of the European Poker Tour is getting down to the business end of matters after the 325 players who returned to the Casino di Campione yesterday afternoon were whittled down to just 99. The man who will lead them back into battle when play resumes at 14:00 CET is Hungary's Balazs Botond who is armed with 646,600 chips.

Botond flew under the radar for most of the afternoon mainly because he was not involved in many big pots, instead he just went quietly and efficiently about his business; the business of building his stack to a tournament leading level. Botond may not be a household name but if his form continues in this tournament that could be set to change because he is running well and playing even better, a deadly combination as any poker player will tell you.

Hot on the heels of the Hungarian is Switzerland's Ronnie Kaiser who earlier in Season 8 of the EPT won the Tallinn Main Event. Young Kaiser has also been completely killing the high stakes pot limit Omaha cash games over the past couple of weeks, taking on the big names and coming out on top by over a quarter of a million dollars. He returns to his seat today as the only other player to have cracked the 500,000 chip barrier.

As is usually the case in European Poker Tour events the focus shifts to the fact nobody has ever won two main events despite over 90 of them being played so far. That particular story will rear its head today also because there are no fewer than eight former champions still in the tournament. Along with the aforementioned Kaiser there are David Vamplew, Liv Boeree, Rupert Elder, Roberto Romanello, Nicolas Chouity, Martin Finger and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier still in with a chance of doing what nobody has done before and win two EPT trophies.

The astute amongst you will have noticed that four of those former champions are British, and each of them are are in great shape to mount a serous title charge. Elder has just under an average chip stack but the rest have at least double that, with Vamplew leading the quartet with a stack of 412,900 chips; enough to place him fourth overall. Vamplew won the 2010 EPT London Main Event and we would bet good money on him making it through Day 3 because he is playing full of confidence and the deck is smacking him in the face on a regular basis.

Play gets underway at 13:00GMT (14:00 CET) and will continue until just 24 players have chips in front of them. This means the bubble is guaranteed to burst at some point as only 88 players will be paid and there are 99 left in the field. Who will be the disappointed 11? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

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Scott Baumstein Leads WPT Bay 101 As Only 20 Players Remain

Poker News / Matthew Pitt / 08 March 2012 / Leave a Comment

Scott Baumstein (Photo: WPT / Francesco Rizzo)

Baumsteim, like his fellow Americans, lost his right to play online poker in the aftermath of Black Friday and was forced to turn his attention to live poker and so far it seems to be working out more than okay for him

One of the most popular stops on the World Poker Tour is without a shadow of a doubt the Bay 101 Shooting Stars Main Event in San Jose. The tournament is always one of the best attended each season, which means it has some huge prizes on offer but its unique format makes it fun and exciting to both watch and participate in.

Each year a number of prominent poker players are selected to become Shooting Stars for the duration of the event and each of these so-called Shooting Stars has a $5,000 bounty placed on their head. Whoever eliminates a Shooting Stars picks up their $5,000 bounty and a personalised T-shirt. It is all good fun and has always been received well. Along with these bounties the chip leaders from Day 1a and Day 1b also receive a $10,000 bonus which means it can be quite a profitable trip even if a player does not make it into the money.

Yesterday saw 149 players and 19 shooting stars return to their seats in the Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, California for Day 2 of the Main Event and by the time the tournament director Matt Savage called time on proceedings only 20 players has chips to bag up, amongst them just two Shooting Stars. They were JC Tran who bagged and tagged 145,000 and former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel who ended the day with a much healthier looking stack of 751,000 chips. However, both bounty-laden players were massively outchipped by Scott Baumstein who will start Day 3 later today armed with little ceramic discs worth 1,301,000.

Who wants to be a millionaire

Baumstein was one of only three players to end the Day 2 with more than one millions chips, the others being Andrew Badecker (1,106,000) and Moon Kim (1,016,000), and he is now in pole position to take down this tournament. Baumstein may not be a household name just yet but he is an extremely talented poker player indeed and it is only a matter of time before he becomes better known in the live poker world; maybe this could be his springboard to stardom?

The American is a high-stakes heads-up sit 'n' go specialist and like some of his peers, Olivier Busquet springs to mind, he has been able to transfer his online skills into the live arena. Baumsteim, like his fellow Americans, lost his right to play online poker in the aftermath of Black Friday and was forced to turn his attention to live poker and so far it seems to be working out more than okay for him. In 2011 he cashed twice at the World Series of Poker including reaching the final table of the $5,000 Shootout event, he also finished fourth at WPT Amneville where he busted out in fourth place and in November he won a star-studded €10,000 buy-in High Roller event at the Amsterdam Masters for a career best score of €129,500. In total Baumstein has won just under $745,000 from live poker tournaments but that amount will be dwarfed if he goes all the way in this event as there is $960,900 awaiting the eventual winner, plus the possibility of two $5,000 bounties of course.

Standing between Baumstein and the win are the aforementioned players but also a sprinkling of talented and famous players including WSOPE bracelet winner Erik Cajelais, former WPT champion Taylor von Kriegenbergh and WSOP bracelet winner Amir Lehavot. Play resumes at 12:00 Pacific Time (20:00GMT) and we believe the plan is to play down to the six-handed final table. At which point each player will be guaranteed $128,200 and will be just five eliminations away from becoming a World Poker Tour champion.

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Tuan Phan Leads, Ivey Bubbles WPT L.A. Poker Classic; 54 Remain

Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 27 February 2012 / Leave a Comment

Phil Ivey hadn't played a U.S. tourney since March 2011, but returned to play the WPT LAPC event which he won in 2008 (Photo: World Poker Tour)

Current chip leader Tuan Phan will return to a stack of 1.14 million when play resumes on Monday, with Jason Somerville his nearest competitor with 860,000 and Joe Tehan third with 831,500.

After three days of play at the World Poker Tour Los Angeles Poker Classic, just 54 players remain with Tuan Phan the only one among them with more than 1 million chips. Meanwhile, because of his elimination Sunday night in 55th place, Phil Ivey bubbled the event as the last player to be eliminated before the cash.

Of the 549 who entered the $10,000 buy-in event, 182 had made it through to Day 3, and it would take seven 90-minute levels of poker on Sunday for the field to be trimmed to 54.

Current chip leader Tuan Phan is on a roll, having just won the World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah's Atlantic City Main Event in December for which he claimed a $188,190 first prize. Phan returns to a stack of 1.14 million chips, with Jason Somerville his nearest competitor with 860,000 and Joe Tehan third with 831,500.

Among the late-day bustouts on Sunday were several notables, including J.C. Tran, Phil Collins, Nick Schulman, Matt Stout, and Phil Hellmuth. As action wound down in Level 17 (500/2,500/5,000), Bryan Piccioli was knocked out in 57th and Sam Barnhardt in 56th, meaning they were one away from the cash.

Phil Ivey had around 200,000 chips at that point, but lost two-thirds of his stack to A.J. Jejelowo in an all-in confrontation in which the latter's 6s-6d held versus Ivey's Ad-10s.

Not long after that Ivey open-pushed for about 65,000 with pocket sixes and was called by David Baker who held K-K. The kings held, and Ivey -- playing in his first major tournament in the U.S. since the spring of 2011 -- was out in 55th.

Here's how the top of the counts look heading into Monday's Day 4, with a number of familiar names among them:

1. Tuan Phan -- 1,140,000
2. Jason Somerville -- 860,000
3. Joe Tehan -- 831,500
4. Casey Stewart -- 791,000
5. Lawrence Greenberg -- 707,000
6. Noah Schwartz -- 685,000
7. Larry Lipman -- 571,000
8. Tom Marchese -- 530,000
9. Badih Bouhahra -- 469,500
10. Doc Sands -- 463,500

Also returning to above-average stacks are Dan Idema (11th), Dan Kelly (14th), Nick Binger (16th), David Pham (19th), and David Baker (22nd). Among those in the lower half of the counts are Joe Hachem (38th), Sorel Mizzi (43rd), and Christian Harder (50th).

The first players eliminated on Monday will earn $21,080 -- a little over twice their buy-ins -- although all will be eyeing the whopping $1,370,240 first prize reserved for the winner. Players will play down to 18 on Monday, with those returning to play down to a six-handed final table on Tuesday.

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Pimenta Leads with 24 Left at LAPT Grand Final; Negreanu 10th

Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 18 February 2012 / Leave a Comment

Ciao Cesar Pimenta leads with 24 left at the LAPT Grand Final in Brazil (Photo: PokerNews / PokerStars)

Daniel Negreanu nearly grabbed a massive chip lead on Day 2 in a huge, half-million-chip pot versus Ciao Pimenta. Pimenta had an overpair versus Negreanu's straight and flush draws, but the turn and river blanked for Kid Poker and Pimenta took the chips and the lead.

They've played down to 24 in São Paulo at the Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final, with online star Caio Cesar Pimenta of Brazil leading the final group as the only player with more than 600,000 chips. The Venezuelan Vincenzo Giannelli is Pimenta's nearest competitor at present with 538,000, with Carlos Ibarra, Joshua Ewing, and Vitor Torres rounding out the top five. And Daniel Negreanu remains in the hunt as well in 10th place.

A total of 367 players entered the event which sported a buy-in of R$4000 (about $2,333 USD). Of that group just 107 survived Friday's first day of play, with Jean Double, Robinson Carnero Quirouga, and Shaun Sheffield leading the counts to start Saturday's Day 2.

As it happened, neither Double nor Quirouga would be able to maintain their positions at the top of the leaderboard, and both would fall shy of the final 48 and the money. It didn't take long, in fact, for the cash bubble to burst, with Felipe Ramos being the unfortunate player to go out one spot shy of profiting.

Among the first to be eliminated thereafter were 2012 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event winner Elio Fox (47th), Patrick Mahoney (39th), Sheffield (36th), and Leo Fernandez (32nd), each of whom earned R$6,320.

Along the way a huge hand took place between Pimenta and Negreanu that helped establish the former as end-of-day chip leader. Preflop action had seen Negreanu raise, Pimenta three-bet, and Kid Poker call, then both watched the flop come 10h-Kh-6d. When Pimenta continued, Negreanu shoved all in, and Pimenta quickly called, tabling Ac-As to Negreanu's Ah-Qh.

The turn was the 10c and river the 8s, thus giving Pimenta the 530,000-chip pot and the lead. Meanwhile Negreanu was left with a still-healthy stack of 375,000, and he would add a few more before play concluded.

About eight hours after they started on Saturday, Vitor Torres knocked out Victor Silva Talamini in 25th (R$6,320) when his pocket jacks held versus Talamini's Ks-10d, and the remaining players bagged their chips for the night.

Here's how the top of the counts appear heading into Sunday's Day 3:

1. Caio Cesar Pimenta -- 607,000
2. Vincenzo Giannelli -- 538,000
3. Carlos Ibarra -- 479,000
4. Joshua Ewing -- 460,000
5. Vitor Torres -- 447,000
6. Daniel Nestola -- 443,000
7. Hugo Mora -- 414,000
8. Mayu Roca Uribe -- 412,000
9. Felipe Morbiducci -- 402,000
10. Daniel Negreanu -- 398,000

Also returning to the shortest of stacks tomorrow will be Humberto Brenes, 24th of 24 with just 51,000 chips.

Day 3 will see the tourney to play down to an eight-handed final table, then the final group will return for one last day of poker to determine who among them will be taking away the title and R$324,600 first prize.

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World Poker Tour Venice Grand Prix Final Table Set: Andrea Dato Leads

Poker News / Matthew Pitt / 09 February 2012 / Leave a Comment

Andrea Dato (Photo: Francesco Rizzo / WPT)

The finalists have now locked up at least €32,195 for their efforts over the past week but the eventual winner will walk away with €229,800 which includes a seat to the 2012 WPT World Championship worth $25,500.

On Monday a total of 155 poker players passed through the doors of the oldest running casino in the world, the Casino Di Venezia, and exchanged €4,950 for 30,000 tournament chips and the chance to join the likes of Phil Ivey, and Gus Hansen in becoming a World Poker Tour champion.

For 149 of them the dream has ended but for the six men who have reached the televised final table the dream is certainly still alive and in around 24 hours time one of them will indeed be crowed WPT Venice Grand Prix champion. The man who they all have to catch when the tournament resumes at 1400 CET on Friday is Andrea Dato who ended the penultimate day with 1,591,000 chips, the only player to pass the one million chip barrier..

The name Dato may ring a bell with some of you and it should because in December 2011 he was mentioned on these very pages after he finished fourth in the WPT Venice Main Event. That particular tournament carried a lower buy-in of €3,000 and was hosted on the mainland not the historical floating city. Now the Italian is looking to go all the way and follow in the footsteps of Edouard Alescio (winner of December's WPT Venice) and keep the trophy in Italy.

Five men stand between Dato and him winning the title not least of all Simon Ravnsbaek who will start the day as Dato's nearest rival with 922,000 chips. Ravnsbaek has played controlled, aggressive poker throughout this Main Event and it is nailed on that he will either win this event or have a major say in who does. He has shown he is not afraid to get involved in pots, especially against Dato who he has position on and Friday's encounter should be very interesting indeed.

Making up the final six are Rinat Bogdanov (907,000 chips), Alessandro Longobardi (558,000), Andrea Carini (347,000) and Gianluca Trebbi (343,000). The blinds will start at 10,000/20,000/2,000a and the average stack is 775,000 so some of the shorter stacks have a little work to do if they are to mount a serious challenge at this final table.

Along with the prestige if winning such an event there is also the not so small matter of prize money. The finalists have now locked up at least €32,195 for their efforts over the past week but the eventual winner will walk away with €229,800 which includes a seat to the 2012 WPT World Championship worth $25,500.

WPT Venice Grand Prix Final Table

Seat 1: Andrea Dato: 1,591,000
Seat 2: Simon Ravnsbaek: 922,000
Seat 3: Rinat Bogdanov: 907,000
Seat 4: Alessandro Longobardi 558,000
Seat 5: Andrea Carini: 347,000
Seat 6: Gianluca Trebbi: 343,000

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Paul Guichard Leads Final Eight at EPT Deauville; Pagano 6th

Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 05 February 2012 / Leave a Comment

Paul Guichard carries the chip lead to the EPT Deauville eight-handed final table (Photo: Neil Stoddart)

Thanks to a huge field of 889 entrants into the €5,300 buy-in EPT Deauville Main Event, a lot of money awaits those at the final table, with more than 2.55 million Euros still up for grabs and a cool €875,000 reserved for the winner.

After five days of poker in northwest France at the Casino Barriere, they are down to the final table at the European Poker Tour Deauville Main Event where Paul Guichard of France leads the way with nearly 6 million chips. In not-too-distant second sits Vadzim Kursevich of Belarus, making a return trip to an EPT final table after taking third in Berlin last year. And Luca Pagano of Italy returns in sixth of the final eight, thereby making his seventh EPT final table.

Pagano had been the chip leader when play began on Sunday, by which point just 24 of the 889 who entered the €5,300 buy-in event had survived. The top 129 finishers made the money in the event, and among the notables cashing were Alain Roy (113th, €7,500), Todd Terry (92nd, €9,000), James Dempsey (90th, €9,000), Toby Lewis (60th, €13,000), Ludovic Lacay (58th, €13,000), and end-of-day-2 leader Martins Adeniya (43rd, 15,000).

Play began on Day 5 with the short stacks quickly falling, beginning with Karim Lehoussine (24th), Kevin Vandersmissen (23rd), and Patrick Nataf (22nd), all of whom earned €23,000. Marc Inizan soon followed in 21st when his pocket eights failed to hold against Kursevich's As-Kc. A king flopped, and Inizan was out, also earning him a €23,000 payday.

Next to fall were Antonio Guerrero (20th), Andre Corredoira (19th), Rumen Nanev (18th), and Christian Togsverd (17th), all of whom also took €23,000 for their efforts.

Artem Litvinov followed in 16th (€26,000), then came a huge three-way all-in pitting Guichard (Kh-Kd), Chris Brammer (As-Ks), and Denis Cheremisin (Jh-10h). The board came Qd-3d-10c-9h-4d, meaning Guichard's kings were good. Two more players had hit the rail, Cheremisin (15th) and Brammer (14th), both earning €26,000.

Guichard was already leading before that hand, but afterwards had shot up to the 5 million-chip mark to extend his lead. Bruno Jais followed with about 3.6 million, with Kursevich third with just over 2.9 million.

As play wound down on the two short-handed tables, Rob Stain went out in 13th (€30,000), Ignat Liviu was eliminated in 12th (€37,500), and Nikolaus Teichert was felted in 11th (€37,500).

Kursevich next took care of Etienne Moudaress. The latter had shoved a ten-high flop holding As-10h, and Kursevich called holding Jh-Jc. The better pair held and Moudaress was out in 10th (€50,000).

Finally, the last hand of the day saw Sergey Baburin and Jais checking a Qh-Qs-10d flop, then Jais leading out after a 2s turn. Barburin raised all in and Jais quickly called, tabling Kc-Qc for trip queens. Baburin had but 10s-9h, making the river no matter and sending him out in ninth (€50,000).

Here's how the final eight will stack up for the sixth and final day of play on Monday:

1. Paul Guichard -- 5,955,000
2. Vadzim Kursevich -- 5,670,000
3. Olivier Rogez -- 4,415,000
4. Bruno Jais -- 3,450,000
5. Vuong Than Trong -- 2,570,000
6. Luca Pagano -- 2,010,000
7. Yorane Kerignard -- 1,680,000
8. Mick Graydon -- 960,000

A lot of money awaits those at the final table, with more than 2.55 million Euros still up for grabs and a cool €875,000 reserved for the winner.

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Yann Dion Leads Final 12 at Aussie Millions Main Event; Phil Ivey in 12th

Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 27 January 2012 / Leave a Comment

Yann Dion leads with 12 remaining at the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event (Photo: PokerNews)

After just missing the $100,000 Challenge final table (finishing 9th), Ivey has been among the leaders at the end of each day of the Main Event, although will return to the shortest stack among the final 12 for Day 5.

They've played down from 659 to just 12 at the Aussie Millions Main Event, with the Canadian Yann Dion finishing Day 4 as chip leader with 2.67 million. Bjorn Li of Hong Kong sits nearby in second with 2.471 million, followed by Mohamad Kowssarie of Sweden in third with 2.23 million. And after ending each of the previous days near the top of the counts, Phil Ivey continues to hold on though now with a short stack in 12th.

Londoner Karim Jomeen will begin Saturday in fourth, followed by Daniel Idema (Canada) and Lee Nelson (New Zealand).

As mentioned, Phil Ivey, who finished ninth in the $100,000 Challenge won by Dan Smith, just missing the final table there, started strong in the Aussie Millions Main Event and has been on the leaderboard since he played in the third of the three Day 1 flights.

Ivey ended that day in the top 10 overall with 305 players left, then finished Day 2 second behind Tim O'Shea with 75 remaining. Day 3 ended with 26 players still in the hunt and Ivey in sixth.

Others still alive on Friday but who did not make it through to Day 5 included David Steicke who was the first elimination of the day in 26th, good for a $35,000 return on his $10,600 buy-in (AUD). Among the others hitting the rail as the day progressed were Tim O'Shea (22nd, $45,000), Joey Lawrence (17th, $60,000), Minh Nguyen (16th, $60,000), Grant Levy (15th, $75,000), and Matt Turk (15th, $75,000).

The final hand of the night saw Danny Chevalier all in with Kd-Js against Yann Dion's Ah-Qd. The board came Jh-Ad-6d-8s-7h, sending Chevalier out in 13th ($75,000) and giving Dion the chips and the lead.

Here's how they'll stack up when play begins on Saturday:

1. Yann Dion -- 2,670,000
2. Bjorn Li -- 2,471,000
3. Mohamad Kowssarie -- 2,230,000
4. Karim Jomeen -- 2,063,000
5. Daniel Idema -- 1,840,000
6. Lee Nelson -- 1,651,000
7. Patrick Healy -- 1,565,000
8. Janis Lesinskis -- 1,501,000
9. Kenneth Wong -- 1,498,000
10. Oliver Speidel -- 809,000
11. Mile Krstanoski -- 755,000
12. Phil Ivey -- 699,000

Also of interest this weekend will be that $250,000 Challenge, a.k.a. the "Super High Roller." Originally scheduled for Friday, that event has been pushed back to take place during the weekend.

The Main Event also has had an extra day added to its schedule, as the plan will be for these 12 to play down to a seven-handed final table on Saturday, then return on Sunday to determine who among them will be taking away the $1.6 million first prize.

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The Aviation Club de France in the heart of Paris was the venue for the 11th edition of the European Poker Awards, which took place on Thursday. In total there were nine awards presented thought the category that everyone had...

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Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe: Sarafina leads French charge

Longchamp Arc Meeting / Isabel Mathew / 01 October 2011 / Leave a Comment

Is Sarafina a worthy favourite?

"Sarafina has yet to win on good ground, but it should not disadvantage her."

Isabel Mathew provides some helpful insights as she weighs up seven front runners in Sunday's big race at Longchamp...

French participants make up seven of the 16 runners in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday, most notably ante-post favourite Sarafina, who will bid to take up where Zarkava left off three years ago for the Aga Khan.

Sarafina: Third after finding trouble in running coming into the home straight in the Arc last year, the Alain de Royer-Dupre trained daughter of Refuse To Bend has been better than ever this year. In June, the four-year-old took the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, showing her trademark burst of speed, once again evident in the Prix Foy over the course and distance when beating Japanese contender Hiruno d'Amour by a short neck. She has yet to win on good ground, but it should not disadvantage her. Drawn number 13, the same as Workforce last year.

Reliable Man: Bounced back to form to take the Prix Niel in impressive fashion from Meandre over the course and distance last month by two lengths, however the predicted going is a major negative for the son of Dalakhani. Unbeaten until disappointing when third to Meandre in the Grand Prix de Paris in July, this was reportedly one race too many for the colt, who is still immature. An easy winner of the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby), Royer-Dupre has won the Arc twice, including with his sire in 2003.

Galikova: With a good number four draw, she bids to emulate her third dam Gold River, who won the event in 1981 for Jacques Wertheimer. The half-sister to 14 times Group 1 winner Goldikova finally notched a victory at the highest level over the course and distance last month, impressing in the final stages to win by two-and-a-half lengths from fellow Arc runner Testosterone. Doted with a large weight advantage due to her age and sex, the daughter of Galileo's connections have been very confident about her chances to become the fourth three-year-old to triumph in five years. She is, however, untried on firm ground conditions, and the quality of this year's French three-year-olds is hard to sum up.

Meandre: Failed to win as a two-year-old, and has only this year shown his talent. The son of Slickly can pull hard in his races and is reportedly difficult, although he seemed to turn the corner when beating the Irish and French Derby winners in the Grand Prix de Paris when showing an outstanding turn of foot. He since finished a slightly disappointing two length runner up to Reliable Man in the Prix Niel when evens favourite. Fabre's stable has been under a cloud for some time, although the colt has been supplemented into this event by his connections.

Shareta: Sarafina's stablemate has been allowed to take her chance in this event, with her trainer citing that she will enjoy the firm going. Held on form by Galikova on their three meetings, the daughter of Sinndar most recently finished behind her and Testosterone in the Prix Vermeille. Often a front-runner, including in her last three starts, she is sure to contribute to setting the pace for the rest of the field in the early stages. A talented performer in her own right, she won a Group 3 by three lengths at Deauville in August.

Testosterone: Winner of the Group 2 Prix de Malleret in June, Testosterone takes her place in the line-up after finishing second to Galikova in the Prix Vermeille last time for her trainer Pascal Bary. A €15,000 two-year-old, she has won 13 times that in prize money, but seems to be held on form compared to some of the other contenders. The daughter of Dansili only made her debut in April this year, winning at Longchamp over a furlong shorter on her second start.

Silver Pond: Entered in Arqana's Arc Sale the night before, this son of Act One was extremely highly regarded last year when remaining unbeaten to take the Group 2 Prix Hocquart last May for Alec Head's Haras du Quesnay. After a training injury, the four-year-old made a promising comeback race in March, and three months later beat last year's Arc favourite Behkabad by a head in the Grand Prix de Chantilly. He finished a good one-and-three-quarter lengths behind Sarafina in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in June, but was 10 lengths adrift of Cirrus des Aigles at Deauville last time. Would probably prefer a softer surface, and has an outside draw.

Timeform give their opinion on each of the runners lining up in Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp.......

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Hellmuth Leads WSOP POY Race

World Series of Poker 2011 / Matthew Pitt / 22 June 2011 / Leave a Comment

Rather tool-like but one hell(muth) of a record at the WSOP

It pains me to write this but Phil Hellmuth Jr is one of poker's true greats. There I have said it. It kind of stuck in my throat on the way out but I have to hold my hand up and admit that I may have been a little hasty in my negativity about "The Poker Brat."

The problem with Hellmuth is that the image he has created for himself makes him a target, that and the fact he was a shill for the cancer of online poker that is Ultimate Bet for such a long time. In all walks of life people who constantly blow their own trumpet and come across as completely egotistical set themselves up for being the target of abuse. Look at how much stick someone like Cristiano Ronaldo gets for example. Whilst I find Hellmuth entertaining at times, some of the self-promotion he does, such as his ridiculous WSOP Main Event entrances, make me want to exact some violence on his face. That said you cannot argue with the man's results over the years, particularly at the World Series of Poker.

Anyone who has every read or heard anything to do with Hellmuth will know that he has won the most WSOP bracelet of any other player, with him owning 11 of them. Despite winning 11 bracelets, Hellmuth is still often teased about them all being in Hold'em disciplines and referred to as a great player against weak opponents, the type of player who frequents these large-field No Limit Hold'em events. However, this ridicule is complete unjust in my opinion and not just because of his performances in non-Hold'em events at this year's WSOP.

Last week Hellmuth finished second in the $10,000 Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball (No Limit) event to John Juanda, arguably the best 2-7 player in the world. Then he once again narrowly missed out on bracelet number 12 yesterday when he finished as runner-up to Eric Rodawig in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo Championship. These two results alone have earned him 393.75 WSOP Player of the Year points, just enough to put him ahead of Sam Stein who has already won a bracelet and made the top three of a $10,000 event. Full standings can be found here.

These two results, although great, are not clarification that Hellmuth is not a one-trick pony but a check of his Hendon Mob Database page shows that he has made no fewer than 17 final tables in non-Hold'em WSOP events, including four second place, two thirds and two fourths. Pretty amazing going. You also have to take into consideration the fact he has finished second in four Hold'em events too and he could quite easily have won 20 bracelets.

I got a little bit of stick myself for laughing at Hellmuth over on Twitter in the moments after his most recent second place finish and calling him a "complete and utter tool," and although I stand by that statement due to the image he has created for himself and his affiliation with UB during the cheating scandal and his silence on the matter, I have to doff my cap (if I was wearing one) to Hellmuth and his remarkable record at the WSOP. Could you even find me rooting for him in future events, quite possibly. I never thought I'd hear myself say that.

There were a number of familiar faces sitting around the final two tables of World Series of Poker Event #35, the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (Six-Handed) event, late in the day yesterday. Among those still with chips with 18 left were...

Event #35 of the World Series of Poker is the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Six-handed tournament and two of the biggest names in British poker have made it to the last 15 places. Both Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott and Chris "Moorman1"...

Sam Stein's first recorded live tournament cash was for just $4,267 when he came 14th from 255 entrants in a $1,500 buy-in event at the 2009 LA Poker Classic. Little did the poker community know that this relatively small win...

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French 1000 Guineas Betting: Maqaasid leads British challenge in Pouliches

Timeform Features / Timeform / 14 May 2011 / Leave a Comment

Maqaasid looks the leading British contender in Sunday's Pouliches

"the leading British contender appears to be Maqaasid, who finished third behind Blue Bunting on the Rowley Mile."

It's French Guineas day at Longchamp on Sunday. Timeform's Paul Robson looks at the contenders for the fillies race, the Poules d'Essai des Pouliches...

After the recent defection of Memory, who is reportedly in season, the leading British contender appears to be Maqaasid, who finished third behind Blue Bunting on the Rowley Mile last time. John Gosden's filly was travelling best of all two furlongs out at Newmarket but didn't quite come out of the Dip as strongly as her rider Richard Hills would have liked and, with the flatter track in France likely to be more suitable, she goes there with a leading chance.

Rod Collet will try to emulate his father's success in 1981 when he saddles 1000 Guineas fourth Nova Hawk. However, though she ran creditably at Newmarket, her pedigree does suggest she's likely to be suited by further than a mile in time and perhaps the Prix Diane (French Oaks) could be the race for her.

Ed Dunlop, who won the Pouliches in 1996 with Ta Rib, will be hoping Sharnberry can progress from her Fred Darling second to Rimth and follow suit. Unlike Nova Hawk, however, she will also have to prove her stamina, having looked as if she may prove best at 7f that day. She will also do well to reverse from with the winner, too. Paul Cole's Rimth, who had to be supplemented, was one of the best recent Fred Darling winners and is right up there in terms of ratings, but, she's another who will be hoping for a test of speed.

Another Britain challenger is the unexposed Zoowraa, who makes her debut for Godolphin. A winner of both of her starts at two for Michael Jarvis, including a taking performance in the listed Radley Stakes, she's certainly an interesting contender.

Like Memory, 1000 Guineas seventh Moonlight Cloud was another missing from the declarations for Sunday's race, but, the French still have a strong challenger in the shape of Helleborine, who represents the same connections as last year's dual 1000 Guineas winner Special Duty. Although a beaten favourite twice in her last two outings (both in Group races), her form with Moonlight Cloud, to whom she finished second in the Prix Imprudence, gives her every chance.

The home team's challenge will also be bolstered by Golden Lilac, who will be bidding to give Andre Fabre his third win in the race. Ridden by Maxime Guyon on all three starts so far, including when comfortably landing a Group 3 at Longchamp on her reappearance (beating the reopposing Espiritia), she certainly comes into consideration.

Timeform look at what's in store over the next week, starting with the French Guineas meeting at Longchamp and ending with the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on Saturday night.......

It's just over two weeks since Frankel's demolition job in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and, on Sunday, Longchamp stages the French equivalent, the Poule d'Essai des Poulains. Timeform's Paul Robson looks at the main contenders, including a strong contingent aiming to bring the crown back across the English Channel....

Phil Thompson brings you another three horses that have caught the eye of the Timeform reporters.......

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