The Mid-States Poker Tour Majestic Star came to an end, with the main event being the final milestone and it was Brian Zimcosky who emerged victorious. The poker player has the reputation of making deep runs in various tournaments and he lived up to it, by making the final table of the main event. This is not the first time that he competes in a tournament hosted under this brand, with his most recent performance being a third place in March.

Back then he won almost $30,000 and now that he emerged victorious, he was awarded twice as much money, not to mention the pride of outshining more than 220 players. The final table featured nine players and there was no shortage of poker professionals among those who survived the first day. One of those who were expected to make the final table was Chad Holloway, a poker player who has a lot of experience in both live and online poker tables.

He did a fine job in the first day and brought a decently large stack to Day 2, but he couldn’t follow through and failed to make the final table. The bubble burst before Mike Deis was eliminated, which means that Michael received $2000, the amount corresponding to the one who finished in the 26^th place. Joel Casper looked like a strong contender for the final table but he was stopped in his tracks and came just four places shy of making this deep run.

Brian Zimcosky and Alex Kaufman quickly emerged as favorites to win the trophy as both of them were among the chip leaders at the final table. Each of them caused the elimination of two other players and consolidated their position at the top of the food chain, setting the stage for the heads up. The terms of a potential deal were discussed, but since the two players couldn’t reach a conclusion, they had no choice but to play under the final hand was dealt.

It was the right decision for Brian Zimcosky who won it all and $61,000 as one can see below:

After the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure ended, many poker professionals decided to take a break, waiting for the Aussie Millions to begin. There was no shortage of pros willing to compete in the EPT Deauville Main Even, but none of them were capable of beating Sotirios Koutoupas. The Greek survived some scary encounters and got lucky when he needed most, to win the tournament and collect the lion’s share worth €614,000.

An interesting interview featuring the winner and taken right after the main event ended can be watched here http://www.pokerstars.tv/channels/2014/02/ept10-deauville-champion-sotirios-koutoupas.shtml. The Greek player was one of the 671 date €5300 for a chance to participate in this prestigious tournaments and he enjoyed an excellent return on investment. Competition was steep and he had to face vastly more experienced opponents at the final table, including PokerStars Team Pro Eugene Katchalov.

While his opponent had the advantage of experience and popularity, Koutoupas had the deepest stack and he put its entire weight behind his actions. He picked his fights carefully but didn’t hesitate to lock horns with professionals such as Eli Heath who brought a significant stack to the final table. He caused his elimination in the fourth place and then focused his attention on Oliver Price who was struggling with a puny stack and was waiting for an opportunity to go all in.

When this chance presented itself, he didn’t hesitate but his seemingly strong starting hand was beaten by the Greek. This was the sixth and final player to be eliminated before the heads-up began and Sotirios was clearly ahead with 75% of the chips in play. Eugene Katchalov was hardly impressed by his opponent’s advantage and managed to close the gap in the first half an hour. He won two big pots and got within striking distance of the chip leader, but he couldn’t cross the 8 million chips threshold.

From that point onward he started to bleed chips and eventually was forced to go all in with A-K, only to see his hand utterly destroyed by an unfavorable flop. He had to settle for a consolation prize of €380,000, while the Greek player claimed the first bought in the EPT Deauville Main Event and $614k. This is how the final table looked like at the end of the tournament:

1. Sotirios Koutoupas – €614,000
2. Eugene Katchalov – €379,500
3. Oliver Price – €271,200
4. Eli Heath – €207,800
5. Harry Law – €164,600
6. Rustem Muratov – €128,200
7. Carlo De Benedittis – €93,000
8. Anthony Lerust – €63,900

The main advantage of playing mostly tournaments, is that you always have the chance of winning a big amount in one successful session. This is not a luxury that cash game players can afford, as they choose an entirely different road, which rewards perseverance. They grind their profits and to some extent, the more hours they spend playing, the better the odds are to boost their bankroll and there is an indissoluble link between the amount they make and the stakes they play at.

Tournament players are subject to variance and even though they don’t require such a significant bankroll, they are always in danger of running out of money, before the bad luck ends. The vast majority of profits collected at tournament tables are the result of players finishing in the money and only a handful make the final tables in big events. Even though such a performance is usually enough to offset all losses incurred over a long period of time, securing a place among the final nine is not an easy thing to do.

The difference between the payouts awarded to the winner and the one who is sent to the rail in the ninth place is considerable, with the former sometimes collecting 20 times more. Those who find themselves in this fortunate position and win a considerable amount after a lengthy draught, are allowed to celebrate but they need to take some precautions as well. There are plenty of examples of people who lost it all or squandered most of their profits, simply because they were not prepared for managing their good fortune.

The first thing that players tend to do when they win a tournament or collect a lot of money as a result of making the final table is to try their luck at cash game tables. Even though they don’t put it that way and assume that the same set of skills that helped them win the tournament will serve them well at cash game tables. The problem is that they don’t adjust limits according to their original standards and sit down at limits that are supported by their new bankroll.

When professionals are asked what they wish for when they begin a poker session, they will say that the best case scenario is to have a newcomer as an opponent. Generally, they have to compete against equally experienced players and that’s why the winnings and losses are hard to predict, but when they play against an amateur, they rarely leave empty-handed.…

UKIPT Maine Event started fast and furious this December, with hundreds of players buying in, so the first day was divided into three sessions. Even though the players who take the lead at the end of Day 1 rarely win the event, players do their very best to ensure this position, as it maximizes their chances to make the final table. With three chip leaders at the beginning of Day 2, it was obvious that all those who are still in the race will shift into an aggressive gear to strip them of their temporary achievement.

Chris Brammer was the most successful player and he fully deserves the result, as he started from scratch and built his stack one pot at the time. Unlike other players who avoided coin flips and barely went all in, Chris took on the most aggressive opponents and pit them against difficult decisions. He locked horns several times with Tim Wong and in the second half of the day, the player from Malaysia appeared to be favorite to finish the session with the biggest stack.

Even though he came painfully close of hitting this milestone, he is just 13,000 chips behind and with a bit of luck he can leapfrog the leader in the first couple of hours of Day 3. Among those that fell to him was Richard Kellet who played his cards very well and represented a monster hand, but got called all the way to the river. Those who followed the action on the official website and PokerStars blog commented on the subject, with some of them thinking that Wong made a brilliant call, while others dismissing him as lucky and slightly crazy to take such chances.

Another player that spent a lot of time in the spotlight was Mickey Petersen who finished day 1 with an above average stack and thrived in the first hours of Day 2. His luck ran out when he locked horns with Adam Gotch as his pocket Kings got crushed by aces and Petersen’s stack was reduced to 80,000 chips. Much to his credit, he is still in the race and can take pride in making Day 3, unlike other poker professionals such as David Nicholson.

He was unlucky to lose major pots while winning many more insignificant hands but at the end of the day what matters is that he enjoyed a good run and spent some quality time at the UKIPT.…