Malta – Poker Capital

There is one tournament that we are all waiting for, and for many reasons: the Chilipoker DeepStack Open in Malta.

The main one is that Malta is the home of many gaming companies, including Chilipoker. We have been organizing the Chilipoker DeepStack Open for two years now, going from an entertaining Irish City, to a beautiful Spanish resort. This is now time for all at once. The fun, the sun, the parties, the poker environment.  We are going to make sure that you make of this experience, one of the best in your poker life.

The casino is located a few miles from our headquarters, and we all live in the Saint Julians-Sliema area, where the casino is located. By the time the tournament comes, you could be sitting with the Chilipoker Crew, sipping a good old Cisk in the sun (Folks, drinking is bad).

We are expecting the tournament to be sold out online, and so far it is looking good. The tourney is getting lots of attention from players in Italy, France, England, Scandinavia etc … We should reach the 500 players mark. Added to one hour levels, and 50,000 chips per players, you will add to the sun and the party time, lots of blood! (not actual blood, i’m talking about action at the tables !)

Super Satellite – Don’t Miss Out

Since August, we have been organizing a series of online qualifiers (DSO a la Carte), but tonight starts our Chilipoker DeepStack Open Super Satellite. For €88, you could win a €1150 package (flight, hotel, buy in etc …) and join us in Malta!

A bit too much for your modest bankroll? Well not a problem, because you can qualify for as little as €1 on Chilipoker.com.

So don’t wait and register for tonight’s satellite ! We are waiting for you, in Malta !

And if you don’t believe you can have fun during a DSO, ask Liv Boeree ;o) !

The main event of the World Series Of Poker 2011 has never been so close, and we keep discovering our qualified players, here, on the Chiliblog.

This week, an other brazilian player!

NELSINHO DANTAS:

Nelson, can you please introduce yourself  for our readers please?

My name is Nelson Dantas, I’m 35 years old, live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and i own a marketing agency. My second life is: Poker Player.

How long have you been playing poker for and how did you discover the game?

I’ve been playing  poker since 2002 and I started to play live in 2004. When I was younger i used to play five cards draw, and since I found Texas holdem, I never went changed back.

What do you play? What limits and what’s your favourite?

I always play Texas holdem. I don’t usually play many cash games, and usually go for tournaments. My favourite tournaments are the guaranteed with $109 to $300 dollars buy in. When I  play cash, I usually go for  $1/$2 tables.

Why do you play on Chilipoker?

I’ve known Chilipoker for some time, but I had never played there myself. When I started, my goal was to play the WSOP qualifiers and try to get a package for the  WSOP Main Event. I discovered that this Mega Super Satellite was the online tournament that was giving more on the guaranteed package and decided to play it, and all went well. Hope to keep playing there and keep winning tournaments.

Have you ever been to Las Vegas before, and have you played the WSOP before?

This is my fourth year in Las Vegas to play the WSOP main event. On the first year I went there because I was the Brazilian online champion, what guaranteed me a seat on the main event. That year i fell right near the bubble. With that came a sponsorship offer from another site which i accepted. On the second year with the sponsorship, I played the main event again and finished 535 th, being the second best Brazilian that year. And last year I also played the main event, but did not manage to get to day 3. I hope that this year i can get to the 6^th day.

How did you qualify this year and was it difficult?

I qualified by playing the satellite on Chilipoker with 30 packages guaranteed. Any tournament that awards 5% of the field is, we can say,  tough. But I tried to play a solid game to grow my stack continuously so that in the end of the game i would not have the problem to bust on the bubble. So I happen to pick up AA right on the third hand, where i was BB and the button had KK, forced an all in pre flop and doubled up right from the start. From there onwards I always managed to keep myself in the top 30. In the final i tried to keep myself within the top 15, and end up working just fine. GUARANTEED PACKAGE TO THE WSOP MAIN EVENT !

What events are you going to play once you are in Las Vegas?

I will arrive in Vegas on the 5^th and i want to play some tournaments at the Caesars, the Wynn and the Venetian, but from the WSOP I wanted to play just the main event. My focus this year is on the main event.

Is it going to be your biggest event ever? What other major events have you played before?

The main event is always the biggest event played by anyone, but i played several big tournaments, especially in Brazil.

Other than you, who do you think has a good chance for a bracelet this year?

The main event is very hard, not many people have a chance to get there, and the field is monstrous (around 7000 players) which does not give any favouritism to anyone. There are many aspects that influence a tournament where there are 9 days to find out who is the champion.

You manage to reach the heads up of the main event, in November. What do you do?

Going to focus even more to win, won’t let the opportunity slip through the fingers, in case i get to HU, but in case i get to HU the first thing i would do was to buy an apartment in Las Vegas to spend more time there. I Would also help some philanthropic identities here in Brazil.

What can you say to all the Chilipoker players to make them want to support you during the WSOP?

In the beginning i’ll post step by step of the main event on my twitter and facebook live, and also will pick a % to do a Freeroll on the site for all my followers.

Follow me:

Twitter: @nelsinhodantas

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/NelsinhoDantas

What do you think about the Chilipoker team for the WSOP and about the fact that we Connect Players?

I think it’s very interesting because it gives a strong base and safety to us players, besides we have contact with other players from the same team to exchange experiences and all…

Are you looking forward to meeting Liz Lieu?

Yes, always. Let’s see if she can give some luck to the WSOP event. hehehe

Thanks Nelson, and Good luck for the series!!

In other news today, our CEO Alexandre Dreyfus and Also Norson Saho, made it to day 2 in the event #54 at the WSOP, a $1,000 NLHE. Norson has 17,500 chips and Alex about 15,000. There are 360 players left and they both are between 160th and 200th so far. Good luck to both of them!

la fete du poker

Hi all,

As you may know now, as i’ve been writing on this blog for a few months, I am a poker fanatic. I love this game

Sunday night, after a nice weekend around Malta, either on a boat or on the seafront (let’s face it, mostly in the water), I decided to take part into the WSOP mega supersat qualifying for the Main Event in Las Vegas.

Everyday, I’m in touch with our qualified players, who will soon leave for the WSOP. Unfortunately, when they will all get to the Rio, a few minutes before the “shuffle up and deal”, I will be here in Malta (ok, it could be worse, i’ll give you that). So on my way back from the beach, I felt like giving it a go. Why couldn’t I join them in Las Vegas.
Chilipoker was giving away 30 packages worth $13,000 to go and play the main event.  After a nice cash out last weekend, I tought I could invest in this supersat and try to make the most of it.

586 players took part into this online tournament, and it was going to be a long way. First table, first danger: Norson Saho is sitting at the same table. Norson is one of the best players on Chilipoker and already qualified for a few events at the WSOP. At least I knew who he was, so I wasn’t going to play too many hands against him, especially out of position.

By the way you can find his interview I made right here.

Observation period

I started my satellite by observing what was happening at the table. I normally try to begin my tournaments by playing a lots of hands, while the blinds are low. Lots of small cards, suited connectors, one gapers, two gapers (three gapers? :p ) and mostly played small ball. But here it was different. The goal is not to win the tournament, but to reach top 30. I decided to play pretty tight, and only in position. Obviously you don’t see good cards too often, and when I finally saw a pair of queens, I was pretty keen to 3bet Norson aka llllllliiilllliiillllllll. The thing is, 3 players called me. And with a king on the flop, that was it… I gave up on my queens, and skipped to the next hand… This was pretty much a desert. Not only no cards, but no spots… After a few levels, I was down to 15 big blinds, and when the button raised again on my small blind, I thought KJ was good enough to push it all. He would fold most of the time anyway… He called with AJ. 30% to stay alive. Not much is it? The flop gave us AQx and the turn, a Ten, made me smile. I was back in the game, just bellow average.

Cruise control

From there, I got slightly better cards and ended up playing a bit more. A guy decided (on tilt) that it was good enough to shove his 20BB under the gun with pocket nines, and I was happy enough to call from the button with kings. That’s when i managed to be 10k above average, top 40, with 250 players left. More time to wait for better cards, and wait for players to kill each other. The goal was clearly to reach the top 30, and not to be chip leader. I was on cruise control, stealing the blinds from time to time on the weaker players. A couple of Anna kournikovas (AK), or AQ, aslo helped to win a few pot on the flop or on the turn. Almost no bluff. This was a very standard tight play.

Finally, the structure (which was nice don’t get me wrong -5,000 chips and 15 minutes levels-) caught up with me, and I was down to a few blinds. I pushed a first time with AKo, and wasn’t called. The hand after that, a player raised under the gun, and I pushed my 12BB from the button with AQs. He snapped call with KK and, although I had 12 outs with my flush draw on the turn, the kings held.

Tha was it. 1.30am and the deception of not going to Las Vegas with the Chiliteam. I will be connecting players, but from Malta. I hope these guys will do great because there is a number of great players out there, waiting for the right spot to make a great performance, and why not, become rich and famous. I won’t be one of them, at least not this year

If you also played this satellite, come talk about it with me on Facebook or on twitter!  It’s always great to talk about hands we played, talk about strategy, or sometimes just to whine about a good old bad beat!

After introducing our first qualified player for the WSOP, Marc Esteve, let’s continue this week with our second player.

#2 Pawel ZIELONY aka LuckyGilmor

Pawel can you please introduce yourself for our readers please?
My name is Paweł Zielony and i’m from Poland , i’m an online poker player and on my free time, I play basketball.

How long have you been playing poker for and how did you discover the game?
I have been playing poker for 3 years and I learnt it at college.

What do you play? What limits and what’s your favorite?
I play Heads Up  sit’n'go $100 to $200 NLHE and sometimes MTTs.

Why do you play on Chilipoker ?
Chilipoker is a one of the best ipoker skin and it is friendly for polish players

Have you ever been to Las Vegas before, and have you played the WSOP before? Was it a dream?
No I never went to Vegas before. My dream is not exactly to play the main event. My dream is to WIN the main event and become one of the top poker players. Playing the main event will be just a start!

How did you qualify this year and was it difficult?
I played the sunday $500 satellite. It was difficult but when the tourney went to final table, i think i showed some good skills and then, I won a couple of preflop all ins and that was it.

What events are you going to play once you are in Las Vegas?

Unfortunatly i can’t come to vegas earlier so i will only be playing the main event  Also, I am taking my girlfriend with me.

Is it going to be your biggest event ever? What other major events have you played before ?
Yes its the biggest  and my first live event.

Other than you, who do you think has a good chance for a bracelet this year ?
I think that this year these guys have a chance for a bracelet: Gus Hansen , Erik Seidel, Tom Dwan and Viktor Blom.

You manage to reach the heads up of the main event, in November. What do you do?
I think i will crush my oponnent easily because of my HU experience

What can you say to all the chilipoker players to make them wanna support you during the WSOP?
Keep your fingers crossed for lucky rivers

What do think about the Chilipoker team for the WSOP and about the fact that we Connect Players?
I think is a very good idea because you give us an easy opportunity to  exchange our thoughts and experience about the game!

Are you looking forward to meeting Liz Lieu ? :p
I always want to meet a poker star so I am looking forward to it very much!

Thanks Pawel, and Good luck for the series!

We will keep you posted on the chiliblog, facebook and Twitter, on how our team is doing!

We ‘ve already told you a few times, but here at chilipoker, we love poker. We are a team of passionate, and very often, on the weekends, we go to our local casino to play cards.

Last weekend, our FBI team (Fabulous, Beautiful, Intelligent, remember ? ) went to play the Malta Poker Live Adventure, at the casino @ Portomaso.

With a €330 buy in, and 350 players, this was gonna be a hell of a tournament. €100,000 garanted and even a WPT package on top of the 20 grand first prize for the winner. We certainly were ready!

Alex played on day 1A and unfortunately, this wasn’t gonna be the best experience ever. He didn’t make it to day 2. On day 1B, Feliciana and I bought in and started to play. After 15 minutes, i was down to 7,000 chips from the 25,000 we had. Not the best start is it? Straight away, I didn’t panic, and started to think it would be a nice story if i could win that tournament.
I stayed very patient, and eventually i doubled up. When pre flop i re raised with AK, i was happy to see a flop king high. I did my continuation bet, like Dan Harrington told me to, and when on the turn,  the Italian player check raised me all in, i had no choice but to call. He had a flush draw and an open ended straight draw, and my top paire top kicked held.

From that, i managed to grind a little, increasing my stack up to 50,000 with almost never going to showdown. Eventually, a 3 barrel bluff is not gonna work on a local, and i’m back to 22,000…. Roller coaster :)

I’ll end up day 1 with 47,000 chips, with an average of 58,000. Happy to still be alive, considering the terrible start i took. Un fortunately, Feliciana, on her side, wasn’t that lucky. Seating at a very crazy Italian style table, where players were not scared to go all in with queen high, she reached the diner break with less that 10 big blinds… She eventually doubled up, craking Aces but she then lost a crucial coin flip KQ vs 33.

Back for Day 2

On the second day, with 150 players left, and a new table, the start is not gonna be any better that on day 1. Totally card dead, i managed to lose half of my stack, just because of the blinds. I’ll finally double up when after a raise from a local, i will shove my 10 big blinds with A9 from the button. She calls and the flop gives us a nice A98. From that, i then managed to steal the blinds from time to time, and keep my stack bellow average, but not too short stack. After changing tables for the 5th time, i had to move. With 20k in the middle just with the blinds and antes, and with a stack of 45k, i pushed 3 or 4 times in a row with hands such as J4 … I was never called. Finally, under the gun, i was called when i pushed with a pair of 10. It was a coin flip against AJ and with a J on the flop, but also a ten, it was my turn to collect some chips. The hand right after, when everybody folds and the SB is obviously trying to steal my BB, it is to me an obvious call with A5s. He holds a pair of tens, totally the top of his range, and I am lucky enough to hit the Ace on the turn. I’m now seating behind a nice 270k, where i was only around 80k 3 hands before…

Last hand before the diner break. I raise from the SB with 55. The BB calls. The flop gives Q96. We both check. The turn is a 4 and I proceed to my delayed Cbet. He calls. There is 2 hearts and 2 spades on that board. The River is an other Queen, that he never has. I decide to check call any bet, but after a good 3 minutes reflexion, he gives up and check with King high and a missed draw.

I’m up to 368k at the dinner break, and I finally have a good stack to play the bubble time, and play my aggressive game. This is gonna work quite well as i’m gonna travel through the bubble and increase my stack significantly up to 400k. I raise QQ, a guy moves all in for 200k with JJ. and a Jack on the flop takes away the chip lead from me. Down to 220k, I still don’t panic and finally arrive to a new table. he blinds have increased and under the gun, i shove my 7BB with A3 suited, and get called my AK. I hit a straight, and i’m back in the game. I’ll even get lucky once more when from the button, i shove KQ to still the blinds of two guys who were short stacked, and get called once again by AK… We will both his a straight (again), and my stack is unchanged. The chip leader moves to my right, and everytime he is gonna raise, i’m gonna move all in. I will double up my stack with never showing a hand. :p

I finish the day by busting out an other short stack QQ vs A7s and i reach the final table with the 5th stack, with 1,240 millions.

Final table

The final table is rather interesting as we are 5 with almost the same stack. The 4 short stack are going to bust quite quickly, and we can then fight among bigger stacks. I manage to lose some of my chips, but finally, i win a coin flip to bust another Italian.

A bad bluff and a lost coin flip later, i finish 4th of this tourney, out of 350 players! Nice run. The colors of Chilipoker were brought to a final table, and I have never been so proud to were that patch on my chest! (report of my final table in french and english here).

Yes, we do love poker, but on top of that, we are proud to work for this brand!

Chilipoker, connect players !

As we were explaining last week, we didn’t wait for the WSOP to start, to qualify our own players.

The past few weeks, lots of players fought to get a chance to win a package that would take them to their dream destination: Las Vegas.

Today, we are going to start the indroduction  of our 4 qualified players with an interview every week (with more to come hopefully).

#1 Marc ESTEVE aka MarcEsteve12

Marc can you please introduce yourself for our readers please?

My name is Marc and I’m a 29 years old male from Barcelona, Spain. Until lately, i was the owner of a mobile phones store but because of the crisis, I’ve had to close it. I now try to live of poker but I have only just started.

How long have you been playing poker for and how did you discover the game?

I have started to play 5 cards draw about ten years ago, from time to time, with friends.  Regarding Texas Holdem, I have been playing for 3 years now, and I aslo started by playing only with friends. For 2 years, I have been playing more regularly, and it’s only these past two months that I’ve decided to play more seriously.

what do you play? What limits and what’s your favorite?

I play mostly Texas Holdem No Limit although i play Pot Limit Omaha from time to time. Most of the time I like playing live tournaments, cash games, and finally online poker five to six hours a day, on different networks. Whether i play online or live, i play low to medium limits. The past year and a half, i managed to make about $60,000 mostly in tournaments.

Why do you play on Chilipoker ?

I discovered this poker room with the Chilipoker DeepStack Open in Lloret de Mar, Costa Brava, where i finished 5th, and then i won the package for the DSO in Cannes, still on Chilipoker.com. At the moment, I am 6th in the leaderboard, and we’ll see how it goes in Marrakesh from the 23rd of June. The reason I play on Chilipoker is because they have really good satellite tournaments.

Have you ever been to Las Vegas before, and have you played the WSOP before?

No I’ve never been to Las Vegas before. I couldn’t make it last year because of personal reasons linked ot my business. I’m very excited to be able to travel this year thanks to Chilipoker. It’s all inclusive, I get to play the main event. What else can I ask for?

How did you qualify this year and was it difficult?

I saw the online satellite while I was going through the lobby as I didn’t know it very well yet. The first time I played it, it had been classified though another sat of cheaper buy in, around $15, but i busted in 5th position. So the following week, I decided to try again and Boom! I was delighted! When I got to the final table with 3 times as many chips as the second player, i started to play really aggressively and I managed to get rid of the 9 players left.

What events are you going to play once you are in Las Vegas?

I decided to go to vegas a few days before the main event, in order to play some side events in the WSOP. I will be in Las Vegas from the 30th of June until the 17th of July.

Are you going on your own, or with friends?

I will be going with some friends who already were in Vegas last year.

Is it going to be your biggest event ever? What other major events have you played before ?

This is going to be the biggest event I’ve ever played and I think the WSOP main event is the tournament every poker player wants to play once in his life, whether amateur or professional.

As I said, i play at a level a lot lower than what i would be able to afford. I already took part in some EPT and WPT side events (€1,000, €1,500) and a main poker event in Barcelona for €1,650, the EMOP still in Barcelona for €1,000, and several stages of the Spanish Championship. Two weeks ago, i played the Estrellas Poker Tour in Alicante, Spain, for €1,000. This season, i will be taking part in all stages of the Chilipoker Deepstack Open, and next week I will probably play the Unibet Open in Barcelona (€1,650). To summarize, i play tournaments with an average buy in of €1,500, because my bankroll doesnt allow me to play higher.

Other than you, who do you think has a good chance for a bracelet this year ?

Since I can’t pick me or Phil Ivey (who won’t be playing the series this year), the choice is quite hard! ;o) To be honest, the field is so wide that a pronostic is almost impossible. I think someone like Gus Hansen has good chances this year.

You manage to reach the heads up of the main event, in November. What do you do?

I would be so happy that I would go crazy! Who wouldn’t?

What can you say to all the chilipoker players to make them wanna support you during the WSOP?

For every player who will support me if I manage to be a November Nine later this year, I will give them 0,01% of my payout! ah ah a h ;o)

What do think about the Chilipoker team for the WSOP and about the fact that we Connect Players?

I think it’s really good to try and create a team spirit so everybody can feel more supported.

Are you looking forward to meeting Liz Lieu ? :p

I think I remember playing with her once in Barcelona for the EPT in 2010, the €1,000 side event and it will be nice to see her again.

Thanks very much for your answers Marc, and good luck for the series!

We will obviously keep you posted on how Marc is doing during the main event. If you too want to join our team and qualify for the WSOP, find more info on this page!

Next week, you will discover another player from our Chilipoker WSOP team!

Like you all know (because you read this blog daily), Chilipoker was the sponsor of the IGSOP in Dublin during the Supershow.

The supershow is THE affiliate conference in Europe where all the igaming industry gets to meet each other, do business, exchange. We call that networking.

Of course, Chiligaming was attending, and our marketing and affiliate managers made the trip to the city of Molly Malone, from Malta, going through the ashes of Grimsvoetn in Islande.

Supershow 2011

As soon as they get back they will talk about their trip on the Share The Chili blog, but from what we’ve heard it was a hell of a week.

They got to intoduce a bit more Chiliconnect to everyone, and we are happy to hear lots of positive feedback on it. Obviously, we are very eager of any kind of constructive feedback on this topic, whether is it in a comment on the blog, on on Twitter, or our Facebook page.

Andrea, our casino manager, was here too, representing Chilicasino. There will be lots of good news coming in the future regarding our Casino games so stay tuned and follow Inside Chilicasino!

IGSOP

This year Chilipoker was the proud sponsor of the IGSOP in Dublin. All the players had fun, while the Dealers could all proudly wear a Chilipoker T-shirt, and a hat. Seeing the poker tables with our logo reminded us of the WPT in Marrakesh and it is a nice feeling.

Our numerous qualified players did well, and we hear that one of them even reached the final table! Once again, more news soon on Inside Share the Chili!

While our crew is coming back today (apparently the ashcloud is being nice today), and so you can wait for the report from our affiliate team, here are a few pictures from Dublin!

Enjoy!

Our next stage of the DSO is going to be in Africa. Morocco is a beautiful destination, and Marrakesh an amazing city with so many things to do. Here is a teaser for you guys wondering whether you are going to buy in or not.

Morocco – Sun, Fun, and Luxury

Whether you go to Morocco on Holiday, or to play a poker tournament, you want to make sure you are going to have a good time and that you will enjoy the sun a little bit.

Marrakesh is the perfect place for people accompanying you or even for yourself, if you were not lucky enough and busted out early from the tournament. The Red city offers the massive advantage of being full of  resources for tourists, but also appears to be a great location for those who want to escape to the snow-capped Atlas mountains. Only a few hours away, you can discover a totally mind blowing landscape that will for sure be a big change of scenery, wherever you are coming from in Europe. You could decide to get lost in the largest traditional market in Morocco (called Souk), or discover the Moroccan desert in a 4X4 excursion .

And who knows, in the corner of a street, you could end up face to face with Jean Paul Gaultier or Juan Goytisolo, both exiled to the Red city.

Marrakesh – African Poker Capital

Along with the WPT Marrakesh, the first ever major tournament on the African soil, and organized by Chilipoker, This city is famous for the Marrakesh Poker Open, a regular tournament always loved by the players.

The casino Es-Saadi is the place to be, if you wanna play poker in Marrakesh. Excellent organisation, beautiful buffet, excellent diner breaks, you will only have to focus on your game.

The hotels available near the Casino will surely make you wanna enjoy and relax in between your poker sessions. Large swimming pools, palm trees, sun. You could even be tempted by a massage in the morning, before getting ready to spend the day at the poker table. We have tried it, it’s really worth it

Playing poker in a Palace, surrounded by numerous Pro poker players , often taking the opportunity to escape Europe to enjoy some quality time in Morocco (like French WSOPE representative Roger Hairabedian), you will surely appreciate the benefits of a casino who first thinks about the players well being.

Qualify now for the Chilipoker DeepStack Open Marrakesh

You could go and visit a different continent, and for almost nothing.

Chilipoker is giving away a bunch of tickets and packages for the DSO Marrakesh. Online satellites started 9th of May, and will be running up to the 13th of June. Schedule of satellites and how to qualify are on this page. So don’t wait any longer, get your mouse and be one click away from going to what was called Mur (n) Akush, literally the land of God, and see if the One can help you dodge the bullets!

-more info about the DSO-

Poker, sun, change of scenery, and cocktail along the swimming pool… Come on, who’s NOT in? Only a donley would miss it… I mean, a camel :p

Last weekend in Malta took place the Malta Team Poker Tournament, organized by the Casino Di Venezia in Vittoriosa.

We found the concept quite original: 42 teams of 3 players in the same tournament. Every team distinguished by their outfits (t-shirts, hats, glasses, etc…) and identified by a team name (some of them were, trust me, pretty cool).

45,000 chips per team, shared the way they wanted between team members, and 20 minutes levels, for a pretty fast structure, but only a €35 buy in per member.

What differenciates this tournament from a normal one, is that at every break, you were allowed one chip dump per team, along with one seat change. The chip leader was allowed to give up to 25% to his stack to one team mate, and two players from the same team could swap seats at the break, making this a pretty exciting experience.

By now you must now that at Chilipoker, we are passionate about this game, and it was with a non dissimulated excitement that we were looking forward to this event.

3 members of our staff decided to make a team, and that’s how Alexandre (live event manager), Feliciana (CFO), and myself were on our way to the Malta Team Poker Tournament.

team name: F.B.I (because at Chilipoker, we also have a sense of humor, we decided to not be called Chilipoker – although we had stickers on our shirts – but instead decided to have a wink at the Black Friday ;o)

Along with a few friends on the island, we were on our way to the Three Cities, on the other side of Valetta. It didn’t take long before we all talked about a side bet in the van… You might think that we have been working too hard on Chiliconnect lately, and you might be right! Here it was, we chose the Last Longer, just like you can do on Chiliconnect. The team that will finish before the other one will be the winner. it’s as simple as that! The stakes? the losing team will take the other one for diner into the restaurant of the choice of the winning team. It’s on!

Malta Team Poker Tournament at the Casino De Venezia

Shuffle up and deal!

After the casino took a picture of every team and after calling them one by one, the tournament finally started. We could tell all the players were excited and were really ready to play.
One rule though: until the final table, team mates were not allowed to be called during a tough decision at the table.

We decided to start with equivalent stacks, as there was no reason to start with more chips than anybody in the tournament, since we thought the majority of the teams would do the same.

After a few hands, we all had a good idea of who was at our tables, and everyone got involved in several hands, starting with Alex, who quickly built a decent stack.

Feliciana, at her table, and after only a few levels, got stuck in a bad set up with a tricky player limping with a pair of jacks. Our CFO raised with A6 in position, and they both saw a flop A 6 J rainbow. All the chips went in and the FBI had to report one agent down.

On the other side, our friends from the pink panther team were doing quite good with two of their players gathering chips, and dumping to one of their short stack during the break. On our side, we decided to not dump anything when i was up to 22k and Alex around 18k. Both around average, it wouldn’t have changed anything. Also, we both kept our seats. I think it is an advantage to stay at the same table when you start building an image, and when you think you might have an edge on the table. If nobody is bullying you, then, stay as long as you can at the same table!

With 20 minutes levels, the average stack was quickly around the 20 big blinds (20k)… After being up to 30k alex started to lose some chips and finally on a last end, when he was down to the 15k mark, he lost the whole lot trying a “move” … Second agent down

It was all on me now to try and go the furthest to : A/ try to win this thing, and : B/ to win the last longer.

Not long after the bad news, one of the weakest players at my table, short stacked, moved all in for a third of my stack. I decided to isolate him by pushing all in, with pocket 8, as i didn’t want to give good odds to anybody after me (especially the blinds).  Once again, bad news when i saw the small blind calling with two Kings …

It was up to destiny now, and everybody has to know that i hate that!

8c 8s vs Kh Kd vs Ah 3h

Flop: 9c Th  Jc

Turn: Qc

River: 4c

I guess you need to get lucky once in a while. My stack went up 2,5 times and i could now play more aggressively. With only a few levels to play and blinds really high, the other team lost their two biggest stack, and were only left with Sylvie, short stacked. On my side, i kept stealing blinds until the last hand of the day. With already 7,000 in the middle with blinds and antes, plus 2 limpers, i decided to defend my big blind by a nice all in shove. Nobody wants to bust on the last end of the day, so I had quite a nice fear equity, and i was also holding Th Js, a hand that will most likely have a decent equity if i get called by a small pair (around 48%), or a weak ace (around 40%). Everybody folded and i ended up the with 60k, the tenth stack out of 64 players.

Day2 at the Malta Team Poker Tournament

A lottery

With 20 minutes levels and blinds going up not so smoothly, this game pretty much became a lottery. Just had to wait for cards, and push at the right time to steal the blinds and antes once in a while.

Sylvie, the last opponent in our last longer bet “Chiliconnect style” arrived at my table. I could already smell the nice dinner we were going to get. She was down to 1 big blind only after a bad set up on the other table! But fate is what it is. She tripled up, then doubled up, and in no time she was back in the game. She even managed to double up once more holding 88 vs 88, making a flush on the river!!!

Talking about cards, i finally saw my first pair of aces of the weekend. I was under the gun, and had to disguise a smile on my face when one player called my raise, and the chip leader of the tournament re raised for 3/4 of my stack… I just had to go all in, leaving him no choice but calling, with a pair of Kings. The aces held and i was now seating behind 100k, one of the biggest stacks.

But shortly after that, i was moved to a new table, and after a failed attempt at stealing , and the blinds going up so quickly, it was not long before i realized that i had was now holding 4,5BB … UTG+1, i moved all in with 55 to be called by AK and saw a board that left no expectations … AQT K 4
Last agent down, in 16th position.

Our team finished the tournament in 13th position out of 42 teams.

Needless to say that after coming back from nowhere, our friend Sylvie then took the chip lead and finished 3rd in the tournament! Good Game to her! We will be happy to all go for a nice diner, on our expenses  …

Most of all, we all agreed on the fact that this tournament was such in a good atmosphere, that it makes us want to play that kind of event even more. We can’t wait for the next one, and you can make sure that this time, we will bring more than one team!!!

Here at Chilipoker, we like to be close from our players. This is why I got in touch with “x4v1ar”  to get his impressions when he qualified for the Chilipoker Deepstack Open Costa Brava, a couple of weeks ago.

x4v1ar: Hi, im a 29 years old guy, I live in Warsaw/Poland,and I work full-time as an IT Engineer. My hobbies are obviously poker but also formula1, motorcycles & cars, snowboard, films, music (many kinds). I’ve starded playing poker 2 years ago and now playing online cash games  6max NLHE on a regular basis

I’m a cash game player, mostly shorthanded 6max NLHE games. My limits are from $2/$4 to $5/$10. Most of the time (like 95%) I play online.

I’ve heard about the DeepStack Open from my poker buddies from Poland, and it will be my first DSO event.

I heard that many of my buddies will be playing this DSO event and I’ve never been to Costa Brava before, so I decided to give it a chance. The tournament structure and the place looks very promising. I qualified through the weekly satelite €40+€4 R/A

Well I’ve never been the chipleader but rather had an average stack all the way.There was a couple of lucky situations I guess, coinflips that I won, etc. At the end I had a streak of good hands and that was crucial – thanks  to this I was able to win the package. In poker you always need a bit o luck

The whole series is so great because of the structure and destinations. I love Chilipoker’s idea about organizing such live tournament series. Places are great, after Costa Brava (it will be my first visit there) I’m planing also to visit Marrakesh, Malta, Paris, Vienna. Great cities, a lots of  places to discover!

Well it would be nice to end up in the money, but its poker. Nice deep structure and long blind levels helps better players so its less luck-dependent, but sill its poker so u never know I’m not gonna prepare in any special way, tournaments are not my primary game, so I’ts gonna be more like fun to me.

DSO look like a great live series, I hope that Chili will continue this year over year! Great idea and good job, guys! I also  want to wish all the best and luck at the tables to all my friends playing DSO @ Costa Brava!

Well thank you “x4v1ar”, and we wish you and your mates the best of luck for this event, starting on Thursday.

If you want news from “x4v1ar” or any of your friends during the DSO Costa Brava, follow the live updates on the blog and make sure you interact with our staff!!