Is it worth playing live poker tournaments?

Is it worth playing live poker tournaments?

The whole poker industry as we know is based on live poker tournaments, they are the biggest and the most popular, and now there are a lot of options for you to pick from depending on where you live. But is it really worth it? The answer is really up to you and up to what scale you are willing to play.

Professional poker players live “the dream” for many, but behind the luxuries and extensities of being a professional poker player, there is a world of stress and commitment with no comparison. Being a live poker player requires a lot more than just the will to do it. You need to invest a serious amount of hours and this is not an option for the average poker player. There are several factors you need to keep in mind:

Bankroll: The investment of being a poker player requires you to invest big portions of money. On online play is very simple as the investment can be a couple bucks, but if you want to play at a bigger scale we are talking a lot more than a couple hundred thousand dollars. This is the reason most poker players look for a sponsorship to cover their tournament entries.

Time: Another important factor when you play poker is time. Most poker tournaments and play involve hours of continuous play and traveling. If you are a family person this can seriously affect you, and even more if you have a normal job. It is not many people that can spare a week of their live to go and play poker. The journeys for a poker player are extensive, most of them live in hotels all round the world as there is a poker tournament every month. Today is Las Vegas, tomorrow is somewhere in Europe and the following week Latin America.

Winnings: As poker is a game of chance as it is of skill, there is always the uncertainty of not cashing in a tournament, only from 10% to 20% of players cash at a tournament. That means that out of 10 tournaments you play, you will cash out in 1 or 2 in average. And if you spend 20 hours in each, you will normally spend 200 hours of your time with a 20% chance of winning.

Prizes: The prizes that you can win at a tournament are big compared with most other sports. Millions are dealt in many tournaments such as the WSOP. But you need to consider the costs of you playing at these events: hotel accommodations, flight costs, taxes and many other costs that can affect significantly the amount you win.

Physical Integrity: Part of being a poker player is training your body and mind. It is not easy to play for 8 or 10 straight hours every day for 3 days in a row. The anxiety that comes with play also affects, so if you suffer of back aches or have vision problems this is something that you need to look into before enrolling into this world.

Bottom line, if you are willing to take all these points in consideration to do this at a mayor scale and you have what it takes go for it! But if not, then look to play short tournaments with a lower investment of your time and money. Your return can be higher if you win many small tournaments than just one big one.

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2010 Aruba Poker Classic by UB.com Cancelled

UB.com decided to cancel their Aruba Poker Classic this year. They want to get more involved in other online and live poker events. This was a very crowded event that was offered for many years. In 2002, the first year this tournament was held, Juha Helppi was the winner of the event. Winners of other years include, Erick Lindgren, Eric Brenes, Freddy Deeb, Travis Rice, Matt Brady and last year’s winner Brandon Hall who defeated 475 players and took $753,000 first place prize.

Ultimate Bet looks forward to expand their online and live tournaments this year, and this is the main reason behind their decision of cancelling the Aruba Poker Classic. They will invest in new online tournaments that will include a monthly guaranteed tournament for $500,000 and a weekly guaranteed tournament for $200,000 Guaranteed. They expect to bring with this more than 1,000 players.

A press release was given on Wednesday from Tokwiro COO Paul Leggett and he commented, "It is with great regret that we are announcing that the Aruba event will not run this year, but 2010 is going to be an exciting year for UB and its players. Over the last year, we've been redefining the UB brand in every way. We love the Aruba Poker Classic event, but we think we can do a lot more for our players by investing in new events and rewards."

Beside all this, UB.com will continue to send players to the World Poker Tour (WPT) and to the World Series of Poker (WSOP), plus many other great prizes that will benefit loyal players.

Annie Duke is the absolute winner of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship

The Caesar’s palace witnessed how the amazing Annie Duke was crowned the first female champion of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker championship on Sunday. Duke, UB.com pro, took home a $500,000 prize after beating her good old friend Erik Seidel, eight time winner of World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Seidel who stayed by Annie’s side tweeted "Ended 2nd to Annie Duke in the NBC Heads Up. She played an outstanding match. Easiest loss of my career, very happy for her."

She had 3 long days with dramatic matches. Her first round was against Andy Bloch. She also had a match with 2007 NBC Heads-Up Poker Champion Paul Wasicka, where she was at risk of elimination.

Duke’s pocket nines in the final hand were enough against Seidel’s A-2. Duke took the main prize and sent Seidel home with a $250,000 consolation prize.

Here were the final payouts:

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Annie Duke	$500,000
2nd	Erik Seidel	$250,000
3rd	Scotty Nguyen	$125,000
4th	Dennis Phillips	$125,000
5th	Jerry Yang	$75,000
6th	Doyle Brunson	$75,000
7th	Jason Mercier	$75,000
8th	Peter Eastgate	$75,000
9th	Paul Wasicka	$25,000
0th	Eli Elezra	$25,000
11th	Annette Obrestad	$25,000
12th	Barry Greenstein	$25,000
13th	Gabe Kaplan	$25,000
14th	Phil Laak	$25,000
15th	Chris Moneymaker	$25,000
16th	Jamie Gold	$25,000

Amazingly, nearly half of them, made it to the top 16. Some of the most remarkable pros that were part of the championship are: Patrik Antonius, Chris Monyemaker, David Williams, Erik Seidel, Phil Ivey, Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Gordon, Doyle Brunson, Chris Ferguson and many more.

NBC’s television coverage will start on April 18^th and end up by May 23^rd.