It’s the end of the week in the PokerPlayer office and that means only one thing…
Nope, I’m not talking about beer…
It’s time for Running It Twice! Our look back at the last week on PokerPlayer.co.uk.
RIP BBP
Sadly today is the day that Neil Channing’s Black Belt Poker (BBP) site closes it’s doors. A skin on the iPoker network, BBP has been home to many top UK professionals, including Sam Razavi and PokerPlayer blogger Jamie Burland.
Channing himself had this to say: “Sadly sometimes in life you just have to accept that things are not working and you need to move on. That time has come with Black Belt Poker.”
For more heartbreaking quotes, check out our article from earlier in the week. From a personal point of view I only took part in one grading and played the site for a short time, but I still wanted BBP to achieve a lot of success. I know a lot of friends who were loyal to the site and it’s nice to see Karl Mahrenholz and Poker Encore offer a new home to a lot of BBP regs.
Simon Deadman speaks exclusively to PokerPlayer
Although I had to wear shorts and flip flops to talk to him (he’s on a heater, get it? Ok I’ll get my coat…), it was great to chat to one of the most respected guys on the tournament circuit.
Having played a few live tournaments myself, I’ve never encountered a single poker player who has a bad word to say about Simon Deadman. Reading it back, his positive and down to earth attitude really comes across in every answer he gave.
Staking and backing are much-talked about areas of poker nowadays and Deadman has some wise words to say on the matter. It was really interesting to hear the opinions of a backed player and I suggest any poker player who receives backing gives the interview a read.
Another step on the road to recovery for US poker
It may have taken over 1,000 days but American players have finally started to receive their Full Tilt Poker refunds! Thousands of players had their accounts frozen on Black Friday and it’s great news that they are starting to see their funds returned – in the form of bank deposits.
I’m sure our friends over the Atlantic ocean will be enjoying a few expensive nights out this weekend to celebrate, just remember to raise a glass to PokerStars!
8 years of the Sunday Milli
PokerStars celebrates the eighth anniversary of their flagship Sunday Million tournament this weekend with a whopping $8m guarantee! It means that the winner will leave their sofa/leather office chair seven figures richer.
The PokerPlayer team will be ponying up the $215 buy-in with extreme optimism. There’s only so many times you can write about these tournaments without running deep, right?
Personally I can’t wait for Monday morning. “Er, hi boss. I won’t be in today, I’m currently on the final table of the Sunday Million.”
We share our secrets
The strategy section on PokerPlayer.co.uk is constantly improving and there’s been some excellent articles over the last month. This week Patrick Leonard took us through tackling short stackers and calling stations.
There’s a lot to learn from the guys that write these articles and Patrick has been doing a great job teaching our readers how to beat us in the Grand Prix and our very own PokerPlayer Tour (first leg TOMORROW)! Learnt much yourself? Let us know, tweet us @PokerPlayerUK.
The new issue of PokerPlayer magazine is out NOW! Get it on iTunes here.
