Poker News @ ICUFISH

One PocketFiver who has had a rowdy cheering section in recent months is Sean swd805 Dorn. Celebrating his two-year anniversary as a member of the online poker community this month, Dorn turned in an impressive series of tournament results in July. At the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in Las Vegas, Dorn stormed through a field of 6,494 players and finished 466th, earning $25,000. He returned home to California, where he promptly took down the $50,000 Guaranteed and finished second in the $75,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker for a combined $32,000. Dorn has come a long way over the last seven months and sat down with PocketFives.com to recap his journey.

On the same day Dorn took down the Full Tilt $50,000 Guaranteed, which boasts a $150 buy-in, he also turned in a fourth place showing in the site’s $75,000 Guaranteed for another $10,000. He told PocketFives.com that the secret to his success was a memento purchased earlier in the day: “Before I started my session for the day, I was at the market getting some things and saw this Lucky Bamboo plant (sample pictured at left), so I bought it to put on my desk and it turned out to be real.” He finished second in the Full Tilt Poker $75,000 Guaranteed two weeks earlier to round out an impressive month of July that featured nearly $80,000 in cashes from tournaments that are tracked for the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings.

In December, he earned a win in the Full Tilt $100 rebuy. Then, the bottom dropped out. Not wanting to stick with playing multi-table tournaments, Dorn gravitated towards sit and gos and dabbled in No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha cash games. He recalled, “Instead of starting at $0.50/$1 or something like that, I would just jump into a $400nl game, lose, and play higher stakes. I’d also play heads-up cash games where I was a dog. I had bad bankroll management for a very long time and it’s something I’m just recently getting better at.” In March, after seeing that many of his peers were succeeding while Dorn was on the verge of going broke, he decided to refocus on multi-table tournaments.

On his turnaround, Dorn admitted, “I wish I learned earlier that profit is ground out over time. I stopped lying to myself and stepped down in stakes to rebuild my roll.” His changes paid off in a big way. In June, he captured two WSOP Main Event seats, ultimately taking 466th in the $10,000 buy-in tournament for $25,000 at the Rio (pictured at left). He returned home from the WSOP refreshed and ready to grind. The result was a colossal month of July that has attracted the attention of his friends and the entire poker community. On the outpouring of support, Dorn commented, “It feels good to have people congratulate me on this recent run.”

The $50,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker kicks off at Noon in California. Dorn described the field that shows up for the popular multi-table tournament: “It usually has a fairly soft field because of its time slot. My usual strategy is to wait for people to make mistakes and give away their stacks early. I don’t try to force anything in the early stages.” He held a top five stack when 50 players remained and reached the final two tables in a comfortable position to make a run at the title. Sure enough, the victory was worth $19,000 and his second largest online poker payday to date.

When he was a little tyke, Dorn played Five Card Draw and Seven Card Stud with his family. His real interest in poker came as a result of the Moneymaker Boom in 2003. His road ultimately led him to the Chumash Casino (pictured at right) in Santa Ynez, California. However, he was a newcomer in every sense of the word: “I remember the first time I got felted for a $200 buy-in there and it made me feel sick. Thinking back to when I first started there is hilarious because I had no clue what I was doing.”

Online, he began playing on PokerRoom, which has since sent its customers to the Ongame Network’s flagship site, bwin. After PokerRoom ceased taking U.S. customers, Dorn logged onto Full Tilt Poker. He won a satellite for a $216 seat into the $400,000 Guaranteed and made the final table, earning $7,000. He offered the following words of encouragement for up and comers in the world of poker: “Never give up. It’s up to you if you want to succeed in this game. I deposited and went busto dozens of times before getting a bankroll going.”

He wanted to extend a shout out to ComptonMasta, knique1, capfish, rampup, stinkko_mikko, DarkTemplarI, and adam_mc. Congratulations from all of us here at PocketFives.com to Sean swd805 Dorn for a resoundingly successful month of July.

Recent Scores for swd805

$19,012.50

$150 buy-in, $50,000 Guarantee on FullTiltPoker. 07/29/2009, 1 place for 19,012.50

$13,136.25

$150 buy-in, $75,000 Guarantee on FullTiltPoker. 07/16/2009, 2 place for 13,136.25

$32,575.00

$100 buy-in, $85,000 Guarantee (Rebuy) on FullTiltPoker. 12/28/2008, 1 place for 32,575.00

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From October 3rd through 10th, the annual Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic will play out from the sunny island nation. Side tournaments will take during the week-long festivities, with the $5,500 buy-in Main Event kicking off on Monday, October 5th. Ultimate Bet, which makes its home on the CEREUS Network, is giving players a chance to stamp their tickets to Aruba this weekend in a 25 Seat Super Satellite. The tournament kicks off at 17:30 ET and comes with a $530 buy-in. Satellites will also run throughout the day to give players a chance to qualify at a discounted rate.

Each Aruba prize package is valued at $8,500 and includes the $5,500 Main Event buy-in plus $3,000 in spending money to use towards hotel and airfare. The tournament can be found in the Ultimate Bet lobby under the name “Aruba 25 Seat Super Satellite.” At 14:45 ET, the online poker room is holding a $66 buy-in satellite to the 25 Seat Guarantee. At least 15 seats in the $530 buy-in event will be up for grabs in the qualifier. The massive event is one of the first chances PocketFivers will have to win their way to Aruba, where an annual gathering of online poker’s elite occurs.

On August 30th, Ultimate Bet will hold another 25 Seat Aruba Guarantee. On September 13th, just a few weeks before throngs of players will descend upon the Radisson Resort and Casino in Aruba, a 50 Seat Guarantee will play out. I can’t describe the setting in Aruba with any more adjectives than a press release distributed by Ultimate Bet did. Here’s what you can look forward to: “Players will enjoy action-filled cash games and poker tournaments, invitation-only parties, mingling with Hollywood ‘celebs and UB’s burgeoning stable of Pro players, plus guaranteed sun drenched days on what is arguably the world’s best beach.” Plus, who doesn't want to hang out with Phil Hellmuth (pictured at left)?

Heading to the sun drenched beaches of Aruba, for many players, involves winning a satellite. If the 25 Seat Guarantee doesn’t pan out for you this weekend, don’t fret. Every Sunday at 20:30 ET, Ultimate Bet offers a $530 buy-in Aruba Super Satellite that guarantees at least three $8,500 packages. Every Tuesday at 20:45 ET, you can hit the felts in a $215 buy-in Aruba Super Satellite that offers up at least one package. Finally, every Wednesday at 21:45 ET, a $109 rebuy takes place that shells out at least one ticket to paradise.

The first ever Aruba Poker Classic was held in 2002, with Juha Helppi emerging victorious from the pack after defeating Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Gordon heads-up. In 2003, Erick Lindgren outlasted a field of 400 players to claim $500,000. In 2004, Eric Brenes bested 646 other players en route to victory, while one year later, Freddie Deeb pocketed a $1 million first place prize. In 2006, Devon Miller defeated Cliff JohnnyBax Josephy and in 2007, Travis TravestyFund Rice was tops in Aruba and earned $800,000. The reigning Aruba Poker Classic champion is Matt Brady, who banked $1 million at last year's final table (pictured at right).

Here’s a schedule of events for the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic. All times are local:

Saturday, October 3rd
$120 Continuous Single-Table Satellites for Today’s $500+40 Event – 3:00pm
$650 Single-Table Satellites for Main Event – 3:00pm
$120 Cash Sit and Gos – 3:00pm
$500+40 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament – 7:00pm
Welcome Banquet – 8:30pm

Sunday, October 4th
$120 Continuous Single-Table Satellites for Today’s $500+40 Event – 12:00 Noon
$120 Cash Sit and Gos – 12:00 Noon
$650 Single-Table Satellites for Main Event – 12:00 Noon
$500+40 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament – 7:00pm

Monday, October 5th
Aruba Poker Classic Main Event Day 1A- 12:00 Noon
$120 Cash Sit and Gos – 12:00 Noon
$120 Continuous Single-Table Satellites for Today’s $500+40 Event – 2:00pm
$650 Single-Table Satellites for Main Event – 2:00pm
$500+40 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament – 7:00pm

Tuesday, October 6th
Aruba Poker Classic Main Event Day 1B – 12:00 Noon
$440 Continuous Single-Table Satellites for Wednesday’s $2,000+100 event – 2:00pm
$120 Continuous Single-Table Satellites for Today’s $500+40 Event – 2:00pm
$120 Cash Sit and Gos – 2:00pm
$500+40 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament – 7:00pm

Wednesday, October 7th
Aruba Poker Classic Championship Event Day 2 – 12:00 Noon
$440 Continuous Single-Table Satellites for Today’s $2,000+100 Event: 11:00am
$120 Continuous Single-Table Satellites for Today’s $500+40 Event – 1:00pm
$120 Cash Sit and Gos – 1:00pm
$2,000+100 Two-Day No Limit Hold’em Tournament Day 1 – 3:00pm
$500+40 No Limit Hold’em Tournament – 7:00pm

Thursday, October 8th
Aruba Poker Classic Championship Event Day 3 – 12:00 Noon
$225 Continuous Single-Table Satellites for Today’s $1,000+60 Event – 11:00am
$120 Cash Sit and Gos – 12:00 Noon
$1,000+60 No Limit Hold’em Tournament – 3:00pm
$2,000+100 Two-Day No Limit Hold’em Tournament Day 2 – 3:00pm
Local Charity Event – 7:00pm

Friday, October 9th
Aruba Poker Classic Championship Event Day 4 – 12:00 Noon
$120 Continuous Single-Table Satellites for Today’s $500+40 Event – 11:00am
$120 Cash Sit and Gos – 11:00am
$2,000+100 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed Tournament – 2:00pm
$500+40 No Limit Hold’em Tournament – 3:00pm

Saturday, October 10th
Aruba Poker Classic Championship Final Table – 12:00 Noon
Awards Banquet – TBD

Don’t forget that you can sign up for 30% rakeback on Ultimate Bet through PocketFives.com. We hold a monthly $20,000 rake race on the online poker site, which is among the largest recurring promotions you’ll find anywhere. The rake race champion walks away with $2,000 and the top 100 spots pay out. With August now upon us, start raking by visiting Ultimate Bet today.

For a guy who spends a lot of his time playing poker in a Full Tilt jersey, it may come as a surprise that Greg Mueller’s nickname…

The parent company of Station Casino and its non-casino subsidiaries has filed for bankruptcy protection. The company’s casino properties…

PocketFives.com members won five major tournaments for the first part of this week, led by Ty dabears87 Reiman (pictured) of Champaign, Illinois, who outlasted 400 opponents to take down the Full Tilt Poker $1k
Monday for $100,250. Reiman also has numerous wins in the $100 rebuy
tournaments on Pokerstars as well as a 3rd place finish in last month's
Super Tuesday for $32.5k. Finishing runner-up to Reiman was BillChapel of
New Jersey who earned $62.1k, just a few months after his $53.3k score
for taking down the Sunday Mulligan. PocketFives blogger Cre8ive placed third for $46.1k, followed by ASPoker8 in 5th for just over $27k. Christian charder Harder finished 7th for $13k, dsindy in 8th for $10k and 8BallDeluxe took home just over $8k for placing 9th.

The second largest tournament this week was the PokerStars
Super Tuesday, which paid out $394,000 in prize money. This week, six
PocketFives.com members reached the final table, led by Daniel Allanon Drescher
of Germany, who finished runner-up for $57.1k. Drescher is no stranger
to major final tables, already booking a win in this event in March for
$71.7k as well as an outright win in the Sunday Million last year for
$184,500. Ozenc of the Netherlands finished 3rd in this week's event for $43.3k, Todd tbt4653 Terry earned $22.4k for 5th, IrunDisBitch placed 6th for $22.4k, JasonGray took 7th for $13.3k and pokerjoe9 finished 9th for just under $7k.

Monday's $100 rebuy tournament on PokerStars saw four P5s members at its final table this week.  Thirty-ninth ranked player pokerjamers (left)
outlasted the field of 275 other players to earn the $21.7k top prize.
In early April, this player chopped the SCOOP-08-H event for $380,000. Blizair, who is currently ranked #70, finished 5th in this weeks $100 rebuy for $6.2k, followed by LUHMAN in 6th for $4.7k and JBT449 took 8th for $2.6k.

Five P5ers were seen deep in Monday's Nightly $100k Guaranteed tournament. JDSmith9 of North Carolina took runner-up in this tournament for just over $20k. Blair blur5f6 Hinkle, a World Series bracelet winner from 2008, placed 4th for $11.3k. 2BOO2BOO of San Jose finished 5th for $7.8k, followed by FLUSH634 in 6th for $6.3k and bgr9292 earned $3.2k for his 8th place finish.

Tuesday's PokerStars $100 rebuy tournament had 319 entrants this week. Six P5s members made the final table, led by Zackattak13 of
New York City, who won this event for $26.6k, just a little over a
month after his win in the $55 rebuy tournament for $30.6k. PeachyMer received $14.7k for her third place finish, followed by Triple Crown winner theczar19, who placed 4th for just over $11k. Believer82  finished in 5th for $7.6k, ronaldgrauer earned $4.5k for 7th and mcmatto placed 9th for $2.2k.

Just two P5ers were seen deep in Tuesday's Nightly $100k Guaranteed tournament. Matt swifterjet Swift, who finished 4th in the Sunday Million earlier this year for $75k, placed 4th in this event for $11.1k. Dansteele of New York was close behind Swift, taking 6th for $6,100.

The
Quarter Million on PokerStars had 966 entrants this week and five P5s
members reached the final table, led by 10th ranked player David Doc Sands Sands, who finished runner-up in this event for $37.6k which surely should hold his place in the top ten. Bhanks11 of Las Vegas took 4th this week for $21.1k, followed by playaa17, who earned his largest online score of $14.9k for taking 5th. Daniel djk123 Kelly placed 7th for $9.1k and kudos1017 took 9th for $3.7k.

Wednesday's
$100 rebuy tournament on PokerStars paid $145,600 in prize money this
week. This week's final table saw seven P5s members, led by Ravi govshark2 Raghavan (pictured), who won this event for $27.7k. Raghavan is also featured on the most recent Podcast
discussing his WSOP final table appearance as well as his $1k Monday
win from last week, which earned him $78.2k. Finishing runner-up to
Ravi in the $100 rebuy was phatchoy888 of New Jersey, who earned $20.9k for 2nd. Eric SiVTEC placed 3rd for $15.6k, GhettoFabolous earned $11.9k for 4th, kvnok88 placed 7th for $4.9k and gboro780 and charder had 8th and 9th place finishes for $3.5k and $2.4k respectively.

The
$100k Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker had 431 entrants this week. This is
a $100 rebuy 6-max tournament, usually attracting some of the top
tournament professionals and known to be one of the toughest weekly
tournaments. This week, just one P5er reached the final table. Mike tuna_fish_tank Stroh of Toronto took 6th in this tournament, taking home $6.4k for his efforts.

UltimateBet is the host for two large tournaments on Wednesday. The Sniper 80k Guarantee tournament
had 496 entrants this week. Mark dipthrong Herm
was the eventual winner, taking home $21.8k just one month after he
also won the $530 $100k Guaranteed on the same site for $26.6k. Taking
5th this week was Nick OneTime_10 Frost, who earned $6.2k. Jeremy daisyxoxo Fitzpatrick of South Carolina took 6th for $4.2k, followed by _cwp394_ in 7th for $3.3k, B00mer888 in 8th for $2.4k and beland66 in 9th for $1.7k.

Five P5ers reached the final table of the $150k Guaranteed
tournament, which is a $1,000+50 buy-in event. This week 183 players
entered this tournament and Juan koolkeith13 Dixon was our top finisher, taking runner-up for $29.2k. Darryll DFish Fish placed 3rd for $21.5k, SPIN101 earned $10.9k for 6th, ryanbluf finished 8th for $6.4k and Alex AJKHoosier1 Kamberis took home $4.5k for placing 9th.

Congratulations to all P5ers who cashed in weekday major tournaments.  Here are the final table results of covered events:

Monday

Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday $1,000+60
401 entrants – $401,000 paid out to 45 spots

GimmeDa1time – $100,250 (dabears87)
BegsClutch – $62,155 (BillChapel)
Cre8ive – $46,115 (Cre8ive)
4Judy – $36,090
ProbBluffingYou – $27,067 (ASPoker8)
LCsLittleTrick – $20,050
charder30 – $13,032 (charder)
dsindy – $10,025 (dsindy)
8balldeluxe – $8,020 (8BallDeluxe)

PokerStars 100r $100+9
276 entrants – $106,300 paid out to 36 spots

pokerjamers – $21,791 (pokerjamers)
hyperkerat1 – $15,945
greener_tree – $12,011
Myllaren – $9,035
Ericb09 – $6,271 (blizair)
LUHMAN – $4,783 (LUHMAN)
bacco70 – $3,720
JBT449 – $2,657 (JBT449)
Gin777 – $1,860

PokerStars Nightly 100k $150+12
1043 entrants – $156,450 paid out to 117 spots

BruceWizayne – $28,161
jdsmith9 – $20,338 (JDsmith9)
grillermo – $15,175
blur5f6 – $11,342 (blur5f6)
iMTHaDoCTA – $7,885 (2BOO2BOO)
flush634 – $6,320 (FLUSH634)
mrose357 – $4,756
bgr9292 – $3,207 (bgr9292)
VOLCANO360 – $1,955

Tuesday:

PokerStars Super Tuesday $350k Guaranteed $1,000+50
394 entrants – $394,000 paid out to 45 spots

route666 – $76,239
Allanon85 – $57,130 (Allanon)
ozenc – $43,340 (ozenc)
AmirSF – $32,505
tbt4653 – $22,458 (tbt4653)
In a Gang – $22,458 (IrunDisBitch)
JasonGray – $13,396 (JasonGray)
acesover333 – $9,456
bigegypt – $6,895 (pokerjoe9)

PokerStars Nightly 100k $150+12
1021 entrants – $153,150 paid out to 117 spots

ATM£$682 – $27,567
Rubadubducky – $19,909
artbrancusi – $14,855
swifterjet – $11,103 (swifterjet)
HedgeSpectre – $7,718
rckhound – $6,187 (dansteele)
S. Bégin 22 – $4,655
SPIN31 – $3,139
Brughtality – $1,914

PokerStars 100r  $100+9
319 entrants – $130,100 paid out to 36 spots

Zackattak13 – $26,670 (Zackattak13)
Typhoonish – $19,515
PeachyMer – $14,701 (Peachymer)
theczar19 – $11,058 (theczar19)
Believer82 – $7,675 (believer82)
Empire2000 – $5,854
ronaldgrauer – $4,553 (ronaldgrauer)
phatlat – $3,252
MCMATTO – $2,276 (mcmatto)

Wednesday

PokerStars 100r $100+9
350 entrants – $142,300 paid out to 45 spots

govshark2 – $27,748 (govshark2)
supadphat – $20,989 (phatchoy888)
SiVTEC – $15,653 (SiVTEC)
malicous222 – $11,953 (GhettoFabolous)
icujoke – $8,182
detroitj6 – $6,403
kvnok88 – $4,980 (kvnok88)
gboro780 – $3,557 (gboro780)
charder30 – $2,490 (charder)

PokerStars Quarter Million $300+20
966 entrants – $289,800 paid out to 108 spots

mwalsh2020 – $52,453
SexSeen – $37,674 (Doc Sands)
AceBonG – $28,255
usourcek – $21,155 (bhanks11)
playaa17 – $14,924 (playaa17)
mehmet deniz – $12,026
djk123 – $9,128 (djk123)
UNCGuy – $6,404
kudos1017 – $3,709 (kudos1017)

Full Tilt Poker $100k Guarantee $100+9 rebuy
431 entrants – $180,000 paid out to 54 spots

q naz – $39,600
lou corby – $26,100
CWTREFEREE04 – $18,900
pvitantonio – $14,040
throwinphins – $9,900
tuna_fish_tank – $6,480 (tuna_fish_tank)

UltimateBet Sniper 80k  Guarantee $200+15
496 entrants – $89,280 paid out to 54 spots
 
DIPTHR0NG – $21,873 (dipthrong)
CHPSKRWD – $13,392
DR FLOP67 – $9,151
N_FROST_10 – $6,249 (OneTime_10)
MARIA_NUCCIA – $5,133
DUHDUHDAISY – $4,240 (daisyxoxo)
_CWP394_ – $3,348 (_cwp394_)
B00MER888 – $2,455 (B00mer888)
BELANDATOR – $1,740 (beland66)

UltimateBet $150k Guarantee $1000+50
183 entrants – $183,000 paid out to 18 spots

A_PLY2WIN_A – $48,495
KOOLKEITH13 – $29,280 (koolkeith13)
DFISH – $21,502 (DFish)
THEHUNTD – $17,385
UBRAMAUCCH – $13,267
SPIN31 – $10,980 (SPIN101)
POCKETSET444 – $8,692
RYANBLUF – $6,405 (ryanbluf)
AJKHOOSIER1 – $4,575 (AJKHoosier1)