Friday, 15 September 2017
Sonesta Maho is Helping Resort Employees Following Hurrican Irma
The Sonesta Maho Resort, which normally hosts the TK Poker Tour events in St Maarten, is doing its best to help its employees in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. We received this message from them today, letting us know what we can do to help:
"Our beloved island has been devastated and, although we will rebuild in the future, our primary focus now is on relief efforts providing the basic living essentials like clean drinking water, food, clothes and cleaning supplies. There is much to do and compassion must be paramount.
As you know, our Sonesta St. Maarten team and staff and the people of Sint Maarten are the soul of our hotels and our destination. It is the people that make the experience exceptional – they are the ones that make St. Maarten “The Friendly Island" and they cannot be forgotten in their time of need. So now, please help us help them.
We are working directly with the relief organization Samaritan’s Purse that has been instrumental as the first responders to the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, and they are currently stationed at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort supplying humanitarian relief efforts to the island.
We have also set up an official fundraising page for the employees and staff of Sonesta Resorts Sint Maarten and The Maho Group. This fund will collect money to provide new clothing, supplies and household items; it will also help support aid to the employees and staff and offset medical and travel expenses.
We kindly ask for your support and donations today as timing is critical. We assure you that your donation is legitimate and legal, and that it will be closely monitored.
Donate through our dedicated Sonesta St. Maarten GoFundMe page providing direct relief to our cherished resort staff at: www.gofundme.com/sonestasxmstaff.
Or visit the Samaritan’s Purse website to donate to general St. Maarten island relief efforts at: www.samaritanspurse.org.
We cannot let Irma’s victims in the Caribbean be forgotten. The real work is just beginning."
Tuesday, 12 September 2017
The People of St Maarten Need Our Help
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The St Maarten resorts we know and love are in shambles following Hurricane Irma. |
Last week one of our favorite poker destinations was flattened by Hurricane Irma. The category 5+ storm tore into several islands in the Caribbean with 185 mile per hour winds, ripping roofs off buildings, flattening homes and filling streets with trees and debris. The Sonesta Maho Resort which was to host the WSOPC St Maarten in November has had to close. The badly damaged hotel has had to cancel all reservations. The casino across the street was also badly damaged and is closed. So the WSOPC has been officially cancelled.
Sad news for us -- but even sadder for the locals. Not only is their island and home destroyed but now the resort they worked in is closed. Tough times :(
The island has started the long process of re-building after the storm, but they need help. Water, food and medicine and rebuilding infrastructure all cost money. We're told that the best thing we can do to help St Maarten is to send financial aid.
The Netherlands has been offering a lot of aid on the island and the Dutch Red Cross has opened a special account to raise funds for further aid. If you can handle the Dutch website you can donate here.
Globalgiving.org’s Hurricane Irma Relief Fund accepts online donations and their website is in English.
Thursday, 7 September 2017
Severe Hurricane Irma Damage in St Maarten Forces Cancellation of WSOPC
Wow. It's worse than we thought -- and we knew it was going to be pretty bad. Hurricane Irma hit the West Indies this week and there has been catastrophic damage to some of our favourite Caribbean islands. All of the resorts in Punta Cana, and St Maarten that we've been to for poker tournaments have sustained heavy damage.
St Maarten was hit so hard that the organizers of the WSOPC tournament that we planned to attend in November have no choice but to cancel the event. No one knows when the airport will re-open and the host hotel is cancelling all reservations for the remainder of 2017.
"Because of the circumstances the WSOPC Caribbean Poker Festival, November 1-15, 2017, is officially cancelled. All prepaid reservations will be refunded," read a statement from the organizers, TK Poker.HURRICANE IRMA: Devastation in St Martin #Caribbean #HurricaneIrma https://t.co/onFPE52a0X pic.twitter.com/1sd89vurgZ
— WIC News (@WIC_News) September 6, 2017
Official Statement of Sonesta Maho Resort & Casino where the WSOPC was to have taken place:
"All guests and staff of Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Royal Casino are safe and unharmed.
The damages to Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Royal Casino are severe, as is widespread damage and destruction on our beloved island of Sint Maarten. Severe damage has also occurred at Princess Juliana International Airport, and we do not have news as to when the airport will resume operations.
The Sonesta St. Maarten executive team and management are doing their best to assist guests who are at the resorts to remain safe, secure, and as comfortable as possible until they are able to depart Sint Maarten—this is our primary concern. Guests are currently in on-property safe areas at the resorts.
Due to the damages the resorts suffered, all further reservations from now through the end of 2017 will be cancelled."
Our thoughts are with the wonderful people of St Maarten and the Dominican Republic. We'll let you know when we hear of ways we can help them through this.
We'll also be thinking about our friends in Florida where Irma is headed this weekend.
Tuesday, 1 August 2017
Intertops Players Reflect on Poker EM 2017
Derek Nakafuji from Los Angeles managed to take down one of the Poker EM Velden packages online at Intertops. He could bring a friend, which was included in the package on Intertops. When two friends, Gary and Paul, said they wanted to make it an extended European vacation -- including Velden, Munich, Paris, Lille and Vienna -- Derek brought both of them along. Derek played the Poker EM Main Event and unfortunately was knocked out late on day 2, but it seems the three friends made the most of their Velden visit!
Hjalmar Lethin talks about the satisfaction of yet another sucessful live event with online qualifiers from Intertops. Hjalmar talks about what the players were up to outside the poker room, the greatness of Velden and of course Casino Velden with their great staff lead by poker managers Gerald Golker, Dieter Printschler and Niklas Sattler. He also talks about the things to come for online qualifiers in the future including available packages for St Maarten with sub satellites starting already on August 2.
Note: Videos we had posted here are no longer available.
Hjalmar Lethin talks about the satisfaction of yet another sucessful live event with online qualifiers from Intertops. Hjalmar talks about what the players were up to outside the poker room, the greatness of Velden and of course Casino Velden with their great staff lead by poker managers Gerald Golker, Dieter Printschler and Niklas Sattler. He also talks about the things to come for online qualifiers in the future including available packages for St Maarten with sub satellites starting already on August 2.
Note: Videos we had posted here are no longer available.
Sunday, 30 July 2017
Simon Boss Wins Poker EM European Poker Championship
Simon Boss from Switzerland really loves the Poker EM in Velden. Two years ago he managed to win the main event and this year he became the first player to ever win this event for the second time. Simon is a successful entrepreneur in his home country with a company with 120 employees and he has poker as his favourite hobby. The win, which was made possible thanks to Simon’s ‘Velden Final Table Shirt’, was worth €142,000. Simon talks some about the decisive hands of the tournament, the online poker ban in Switzerland, his plans in poker for the coming months and that he will for sure come back next year to Velden to defend his title.
Note: The video we had posted here is no longer available.
Friends Take Each Other to Tournaments
Péter Gál is a big fan of Velden -- this year was the first year that he won his way to the European Poker Championship in an online poker tournament, but it wasn't the first time he's played the Poker EM European Poker Championship. Last year his friend Daniel won a satellite tournament at Intertops Poker that awarded an all expense paid trip to the Austrian spa/casino resort. Since Intertops qualifiers can always bring a friend to the live events, Péter tagged along.
Last year Daniel won an online satellite tournament at Intertops for the Punta Cana Poker Classic and they went to the Caribbean together. To even things out, Péter thought it was time to level the score and managed to win a satellite to Velden this year.
Last year Daniel won an online satellite tournament at Intertops for the Punta Cana Poker Classic and they went to the Caribbean together. To even things out, Péter thought it was time to level the score and managed to win a satellite to Velden this year.
Peter talks to Rikard about being an online pro for nine years, his education, and his plan to win another satellite on Intertops and bring his friend Daniel to St Maarten in November.
Note: The video we had posted here is no longer available.
Note: The video we had posted here is no longer available.
Intertops Player Looks Back on Poker EM 2017
Note: The videos we had posted here are no longer available.
This was Sven Lucha's second European Poker Championship in Velden Austria. Although he didn't finish in the money, he enjoyed the tournament and his week at the posh spa resort and will, no doubt, be back again next year!
This was Sven Lucha's second European Poker Championship in Velden Austria. Although he didn't finish in the money, he enjoyed the tournament and his week at the posh spa resort and will, no doubt, be back again next year!
Turbo bubble play in Velden with Intertops qualifier Sven Lucha:
Wrap-up interview:
Saturday, 29 July 2017
European Poker Championship, Day 3
Note: The videos we had posted here are no longer available.
Final day in Velden:
Day 3 in Velden - shuffle up
Bubble play in Velden
Chipcounts leading up to day 3 of Poker EM Velden.
Final day in Velden:
Day 3 in Velden - shuffle up
Bubble play in Velden
Chipcounts leading up to day 3 of Poker EM Velden.
Some players prefer to remain anonymous, hence only their first names or nicknames. 37 players through to day 3, 27 will get a minimum of €6,500 and the first prize is €142,000.
Ben 1.081.000
Killian Löffler 811.000
Said Nadjem 542.000
Steffen Sontheimer 521.000
Der Papa 500.500
Rinat Bogdanov 488.000
PiuPiuPiu 472.000
Stefan Huber 460.000
Jaroslaw Sikora 457.000
Daniel Studer 426.000
Tibor Benkoe 417.000
C. Stallinger 382.000
Simon Boss 342.000
Steve O’Dwyer 335.000
Wilfried Härig 324.000
Bruno Stefanelli 319.000
Ondrej Pulec 276.000
Jan Petzholdt 270.000
Matthias Habernig 256.000
Benoinat 245.000
Markus 240.000
Joe 216.000
Mario Pichler 211.000
Josip Simunic 205.000
Dominik Nitsche 201.000
Michael Engel 181.000
Manig Loeser 175.000
Daniel Vogel 166.000
Atsharia 157.000
A. Rettenbacher 154.000
C. Milbradt 145.000
Istvan Törö 145.000
Angelo Falletta 144.000
T. Taubenschuss 123.000
Onkel Otto 120.000
Gustavo 108.000
Robby Westrom 94.000
Killian Löffler 811.000
Said Nadjem 542.000
Steffen Sontheimer 521.000
Der Papa 500.500
Rinat Bogdanov 488.000
PiuPiuPiu 472.000
Stefan Huber 460.000
Jaroslaw Sikora 457.000
Daniel Studer 426.000
Tibor Benkoe 417.000
C. Stallinger 382.000
Simon Boss 342.000
Steve O’Dwyer 335.000
Wilfried Härig 324.000
Bruno Stefanelli 319.000
Ondrej Pulec 276.000
Jan Petzholdt 270.000
Matthias Habernig 256.000
Benoinat 245.000
Markus 240.000
Joe 216.000
Mario Pichler 211.000
Josip Simunic 205.000
Dominik Nitsche 201.000
Michael Engel 181.000
Manig Loeser 175.000
Daniel Vogel 166.000
Atsharia 157.000
A. Rettenbacher 154.000
C. Milbradt 145.000
Istvan Törö 145.000
Angelo Falletta 144.000
T. Taubenschuss 123.000
Onkel Otto 120.000
Gustavo 108.000
Robby Westrom 94.000
Source: Pokerfirma.com
Friday, 28 July 2017
Live Streams thru the Day from the $700K European Poker Championship in Austria
Note: The videos we had posted here are no longer available.
Day 2 began at the European Poker Championship in Velden.
11 pm Day 2, 46 players remain in the game.
Unfortunately we lost all remaining Intertops players today. Sven went out about 9 pm, then Csaba Molnar lost with 88 against AK and AK and finally Péter Gál went out around 20 places before the money and was thereby the best qualifier from Intertops.
Day 2 began at the European Poker Championship in Velden.
11 pm Day 2, 46 players remain in the game.
Unfortunately we lost all remaining Intertops players today. Sven went out about 9 pm, then Csaba Molnar lost with 88 against AK and AK and finally Péter Gál went out around 20 places before the money and was thereby the best qualifier from Intertops.
Remaining are big names Steve O’Dwyer, Dominik Nitsche,
Steffen Sontheimer and last year’s winner Matthias Habernig.
Thursday, 27 July 2017
Day 1 at the European Poker Championship: Chilling with Online Champion Sven Lucha
Four online satellite tournament champions from Intertops Poker and Juicy Stakes Poker -- Sven Lucha, Joakim Lidberg, Peter Gal and Derek Nakafuji -- are in Velden, Austria this week for the €700,000 European Poker Championship Main Event.
In our first video report from the posh casino resort, Rikard Ekberg catches up with Sven to talk about his strategy for Day 1 of the 4 day, tournament.
“It’s a four day event. You can’t win it today,” said cool-headed Lucha who’s in Velden for his second European Poker Championship. “So on the first day just relax, stay cool, try to get some chips out of your good hands.”
Rikard will be back with highlights of the the Main Event Day 1 and interviews with Sven and the other Intertops Poker and Juicy Stakes Poker players throughout the event.
In our first video report from the posh casino resort, Rikard Ekberg catches up with Sven to talk about his strategy for Day 1 of the 4 day, tournament.
“It’s a four day event. You can’t win it today,” said cool-headed Lucha who’s in Velden for his second European Poker Championship. “So on the first day just relax, stay cool, try to get some chips out of your good hands.”
Rikard will be back with highlights of the the Main Event Day 1 and interviews with Sven and the other Intertops Poker and Juicy Stakes Poker players throughout the event.
Friday, 14 July 2017
Online Satellite Winners en Route to Austria for €700,000 European Poker Championship -- Video Reports Start July 27
They each won a $4000 prize package that includes €2700 buy-in to the EPC main event (July 27th to 30th), accommodation at a premium hotel close to the casino and cash for travel expenses.
This year the EPC Velden prize pool is estimated to be over €700,000 (over $770,000). Players from all over Europe (especially Germany and Italy) will play tournaments and cash games on more than 40 tables at the exclusive lakeside resort.
Sven, one of the online poker champions on the Intertops team, is a German tennis coach. He plays mostly online but has played a few live tournaments -- smaller tourneys, not big buy-ins. This is his second European Poker Championship and he looks forward to returning to the Austrian spa resort for another poker holiday.“Last year there were a lot of good players and a big prize pool. ” he said. “Like last year, I’ll make this a vacation, go swimming, go out a little bit, then play the tournament. The casino is very beautiful – and there are a lot of cash games to play as well!”
Derek, a professional poker player from Los Angeles, California, also won an online satellite tournament at Intertops Poker and will be joining Sven in Austria.
He recalled the online tournament where he won his trip: “When I doubled through the chip leader, I started to realize that I might just win the tournament. At that point I had a decent stack to play with so I knew I had a good shot to take it down.”
“My strategy for online tournaments is to stay cool in early stages, try to find good spots to make chips with the best hand,” he added. “In later stages I get more and more aggressive. The best is winning the pots without showdown, especially in the late stage.”
Wednesday, 10 May 2017
German Tennis Coach Wins His Way to Austria
He said he mostly plays online but has played a few live tournaments -- smaller tourneys, not big buy-ins. So with its €700,000 prize pool and €2700 buy-in, EPC Velden will be a big event for him!
The German poker player recalled the moment at the Final Table when victory was in sight.
“When I doubled through the chip leader, I started to realize that I might just win the tournament. At that point I had a decent stack to play with so I knew I had a good shot to take it down.”
“My strategy for online tournaments is to stay cool in early stages, try to find good spots to make Chips with the best Hand. In later stages I get more and more aggressive. The best is winning the pots without showdown, especially in the late stage.”
Another series of EPC online satellites concluded May 14th. We'll be announcing the winner of that event shortly.
Tuesday, 11 April 2017
Players Look Back at European Poker Championship 2016
A group of online poker players that won satellite tournaments at Intertops Poker and Juicy Stakes Poker got a once-in-a-lifetime chance to play in a massive European poker tournament last summer.
Tim O’Keefe from Texas, USA finished in the money, 22nd for a €6,490 pay day. Here he talks about free schnitzel and other Austrianisms he enjoyed in Velden as well as the first of two key hands in the tournament.
Juicy Stakes online qualifier Mark Dufner recalls two key hands in the tournament.
Tim O’Keefe from Texas, USA finished in the money, 22nd for a €6,490 pay day. Here he talks about free schnitzel and other Austrianisms he enjoyed in Velden as well as the first of two key hands in the tournament.
Juicy Stakes online qualifier Mark Dufner recalls two key hands in the tournament.
Monday, 6 March 2017
Seefeld Winter Poker Championship: Great Location, Awesome Poker Action
Another great trip with Intertops has come and gone! The Winter Poker Open in Seefeld Austria!! It’s a small ski village that’s filled with spectacular sites, all the winter activities you can think of and plenty of poker action! Great locations, great fun and poker action is what Intertops is all about and this was no exception! This trip had it all! Amazing views, wild aggressive players, TheTrooper97 ski crashes and, of course, schnitzel! It was yet another experience of lifetime!


The closet thing might have been some of the WSOP Vegas events, but still not quite as aggressive. It proves to be a difficult adjustment to make and requires another level to your poker game! So this year, armed with that knowledge and more experience of playing against such aggro players, I was prepared to have some revenge. lol Unfortunately though, the European players had other ideas!! It was a tough table draw again for me this year, but at least I had position on the most aggressive players! Still even with the 3 most aggro players on my right, I was often hand-cuffed by the 3 and 4 betting before I even got to act! It was an interesting dynamic as I had a few calling stations on my left. I had thought I would be able to take advantage of them but that backfired as well, because strangely enough, every time I put in a raise or re-raise to combat the aggros on my right, the donkeys on my left would cold call!? lol Ever have one of those tourneys were you feel like everyone’s out to get you!? Well this for sure felt like one of those for me! I lost almost 15k in the first 30 minutes of the tournament! I had AA, KK x 2, AKo and AJo all lose on the river. With the majority of the chips going in the hand where I had KK for the second time in 20 minutes and had to fold the river to an all in shove after the 3rd flush card hit! It was brutal, as obliviously had that sick run of starting hands all had gone in my favor, I would have enough chips to coast to bagging up for day 2. Not only that but given how early it was, a good chance to bag up a significant stack for a real shot at going deep on day 2.

There’s plenty more to write about from this one, between hand histories, views from the top, weird Euro poker chips and TheTrooper97s brutal ski crash! So I’ll get to another blog to fill you all in, Don’t forget to watch us on Twitch for give-aways and upcoming promotions from Intertops. Maybe you can win yourself a seat and come along for the next adventure!
Til next time
Run Good
Tim
2Fit2Fold Blog
“This post was shared on the Alec Torelli’s Best of Poker Series“.
Monday, 20 February 2017
Online Players off to Europe for Winter Poker Championship in Seefeld, Austria this Week
Our friend Tim O'Keefe is on his way back to Austria this week for the Winter Poker Championship in Seefeld. Tim was with us when we were there last February and he'll be posting pics vids and stories here on Living the Dream blog again later this week.
Tim and Douglas Klein -- a recent online satellite tournament winner -- will be in Seefeld for the Main Event. Vegas vlogger TheTrooper79 will be with them.
On his 2Fit2Fold blog this weekend, Tim talked about how he's been "fine tuning" for this week's big event, re-living hands he's played at WSOPc events in LA and Choctaw over the last few weeks.
"Hopefully I can learn from these tough lessons, redeem myself from last year's performance and take it to those uber aggressive Europeans!" he said from his home in Texas before setting off for Europe.
The Winter Poker Championship (formerly CAPT Seefeld) Main Event takes place at
Casinos Austria, Seefeld February 24th to 26th.
Tim and Douglas Klein -- a recent online satellite tournament winner -- will be in Seefeld for the Main Event. Vegas vlogger TheTrooper79 will be with them.
On his 2Fit2Fold blog this weekend, Tim talked about how he's been "fine tuning" for this week's big event, re-living hands he's played at WSOPc events in LA and Choctaw over the last few weeks.
"Hopefully I can learn from these tough lessons, redeem myself from last year's performance and take it to those uber aggressive Europeans!" he said from his home in Texas before setting off for Europe.
Thursday, 26 January 2017
LA Financial Analyst is On His Way to Austria
Intertops Poker is sending another online satellite winner to a big poker tournament in Europe next month!
Douglas Klein, a Financial Analyst from LA, won an online satellite tournament last weekend where he was awarded a $4000 prize package to travel to Austria and compete in the prestigious Winter Poker Championship (formerly CAPT Seefeld). Douglas is a regular in his local casinos but this will be his first overseas tournament.
The Winter Poker Championship takes place at Casinos Austria, Seefeld February 24th to 26th.
Video: Online Satellite Tournament Player Wins Trip to Austria
Intertops Poker and Juicy Stakes Poker currently hosting satellites for TKPT St Maarten.
Tim O’Keefe, who won his way to the Austrian ski resort the same way last year, will be with Douglas. Since meeting Tim in Seefeld last winter we've also followed him to St Maarten where he'd won his way to the TKPT Caribbean tournament.
“With three players remaining, I flopped a set of 9s against AA and won a huge pot,” recalled the champion. “I had the chip lead going into heads up so I felt like I would win. I lost one big pot but then crippled my opponent shortly after. I ended up by putting my opponent all-in with 88. He had A7. That was it. The most exciting moment I've had playing poker – and now I’m going to Europe!”

The winner has a strategy for winning online tournaments that certainly worked for him this time.
“I try to play pretty tight for the first few levels while maintaining at least an average stack,” he explained. “As the blinds increase, I play more aggressively, opening with a wider range and bluffing more. In the middle levels, I feel like you have to take chances to get chips. If I have 15-20 BB and it’s close to the final table, I lower the amount of my opening raises and play aggressively in position. This strategy seems to work well. I have a decent win rate.”
“I’ve never played in an event as big as the Winter Poker Championship in Seefeld,” he said. “The biggest tournament I ever played in was a $500 buy-in with about 100 players. I finished on the bubble. Aside from that, I've played in several small tournaments in Las Vegas, Palm Springs and Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.”
Douglas will have his wife with him for moral support, and O’Keefe will be there to help him get the lay of the land.
“My first time over there I couldn’t believe how differently they play in Europe!” said O’Keefe. “Maybe all that schnitzel makes them so aggressive? I don’t know, but I’m more ready for them this year, that’s for sure!”
Friday, 6 January 2017
We've Been to Tropical Islands 3 Times but Just Once to an Austrian Ski Resort!
Over the last year or so we've been to the Caribbean 3 times with online satellite winners. Tropical islands are great -- but one of our best trips was to poker tournament at a ski resort in Austria last winter! Seefeld is where we first got to know Tim O'Keefe and Chris Perkins. Daniel Montagnolli, who we'd met in St Maarten, lives in nearby Innsbruck and was with us again too.
This video episode was shot in the car as we drove through the mountains on the way back to Salzburg.
Larry aka TheGamblogger
This video episode was shot in the car as we drove through the mountains on the way back to Salzburg.
Larry aka TheGamblogger
Tuesday, 3 January 2017
My First is Still a Favorite
Since starting this blog I've been to four major poker tournaments and produced 20 or so videos featuring players that have won their way to poker tournaments in exotic locations by winning online satellite tournaments.
This episode from my first Living the Dream video series and is still one of my personal favorites:
It was fun travelling to the Caribbean Poker Tour with Daniel Montagnolli, Derek Scallon, Neil Slade, Steven Loney & Phil Cardella.
Until our next poker adventure...
Larry
This episode from my first Living the Dream video series and is still one of my personal favorites:
It was fun travelling to the Caribbean Poker Tour with Daniel Montagnolli, Derek Scallon, Neil Slade, Steven Loney & Phil Cardella.
Until our next poker adventure...
Larry
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