Recently we caught up with Tom Dwan in Vienna where he let us know his thoughts on practically everyone in the poker world. What do you think?

Another great weekend in Minsk – the games in Belarus are out of this world. I am making serious progress in getting myself in a nice  position to enter the One Drop at the WSOP – I also think I have some other players who are keen to enter.

Tony Resort Time!

The games are so good in Belarus that I have even agreed to fly all the players from the game to Tony Resort for some good old fashioned hospitality. When you are winning a game and the game is so good you cannot just walk away with all the profits (eg. Patrik Antonius in Australia) – you have to keep the game going, the stakes could get even higher and the profits even bigger. Yes, I know, the losses could get bigger too but I’m running like a g train at the moment. People talk about the ecology of an online poker room – the ecology of a big cash game is something hard to ignore when you know it is spot on.

Those Buddhists in South Korea

The only game in the world that was potentially better than Minsk was that one with the Buddhists in South Korea. I have seen the publicity around this in the last week or so – drinking and smoking monks. Am I the only one who wondered if Andy “Mad Monk” Black was there? Where’s the Devilfish – where’s the Monkfish?

I’m making a mint!

I have a commitment to go to the US at the end of the week for the WPT World Championship at the Bellagio, which starts on Saturday, and the $100k Super High Roller so I will drag myself away from making a mint in Minsk and I know that the other players will understand. I still haven’t won a WPT and to win the biggest event of the year in Vegas would see all my dreams come true. There’s also the $100k Super High Roller. All of this is going to be televised more than ever before and I think it is good to go over there and put on a show. I want to talk about whether a certain player is going to be there but they remain nameless as I am frightened of scaring them away. Alright honey?

They are QUALIFIED!

I also have word that my good sponsors PartyPoker.com have agreed to sponsor a new player and they will be taking part in the event at Bellagio – this is great for poker as of late as we have seen movements away from player sponsorship and I have to say I am impressed by their choice. I was on the selection committee as a guiding hand, of course – nobody could qualify for Team PartyPoker.com without my consent. All I say now is if you can afford a new pro Party then I better be getting my company chequebook I have been asking to have for over two years! Who is it? You’ll just have to wait and see – they deserve a big warm welcome! One other clue – they are QUALIFIED!

Phil Hellmuth it aint!

I can tell you who it will not be though: it is not Phil Hellmuth, he’s only qualified to be my dog walker! Please note he isn’t qualified enough to walk Zasko though – the muzzle to protect the brat from the guardian of my empire could never be big and strong enough.

Our good friend Josef Rantamäki over at PokerBlog decided here in a guest post that it was high time he told us just who we he thought were the Top 5 High Stakes Poker Players:

1) Phil Ivey:

Now granted his legacy, of late, has been tarnished with his sabbatical from the scene.  Some wonder if his gambling so high like he had a bottomless pit of money behind him finally caught up to him.  Let’s not forget, one thing that hasn’t changed is the fact he’s still Phil Ivey.  It’s true, stories of epic craps rolls by Ivy have gone the way of the dingo and now sightings of the great one is instant news, but… he’s still Phil Ivey.

The naysayers may ask these last couple of years, if he’s so great where’s he been, and why hasn’t he still been dominating? That’s silliness or contrived retrospective analysis, and perhaps ignorance of everything Ivey has gone through. Not just the upheaval in the industry but personal conflicts. Embroiled in a still simmering divorce, Ivey’s been distracted, that will change soon enough. His peers almost universally named him as the best, and in a game where it’s so difficult to separate yourself he makes that separation look easy.

He’s earned his accolades it by being the best in the world. The face of the glory years of poker will always be Phil Ivey.  He won live, he won online, he won tournaments, and he won cash games basically excelling in every aspect of the new world of poker.

2) Tom Dwan:

The Durrrr Challenge, his internet fan boys, and his savvy, contemplative, aggressive, fearless style of play consumed the poker media recently. Touted as an amalgam of past greats, Dwan in a short time elevated himself to their equal. He is unflappable. Granted as a tournament player, arguably hundreds are better, but as a high stakes cash game player he rarely leaves a loser.  He might get an escort out of Macau if he keeps winning multi-million dollar pots there.

The Moneymaker effect transformed online poker and Dwan perhaps more than anybody else rose up through this new form of poker to dominate as no one had before him.  If Ivey is the face of the era, Dwan is a close second.

3) Isildur1:

Viktor Blom rose to prominence as a screen name: Isildur1.  He destroyed players in a meteoric rise that transfixed the world. “Who is Isildur1?” was the question every poker fan, writer, and player was asking at the end of this era. When Viktor Blom admitted, as many people suspected, he was the mysterious high stakes player capable of punting new found millions as easily as he earned them, not many were surprised, but legions of fans now had a face to root for.

Blom’s placement on this list, is likely the most debatable, as his accomplishments pale compared to the other four. What can’t be questioned is the fact he is living proof of the meritocracy of online poker, and talent having a short wait for success during poker’s heyday.

4) Patrik Antonius:

The Finnish professional poker player started to make news with results in 2005 and continued to be a star all the way through 2011. He battled Tom Dwan in a high stakes online challenge that never completed but transfixed observers. Antonius, like Ivey, played almost as competently in the nosebleed cash games, be it live, or online as he did in tournaments.

He has the good fortune and misfortune to be a part of some of the biggest pots of all time. Winning or losing his ever stoic face never changes

5) Erik Seidel:

The only player on this list to not been a part of, or express an interest in being a part of a huge online poker heads up challenge.   His loss to Johnny Chan in the Main Event was immortalized in the movie Rounders but since then, it’s been him and not Chan that has dominated High Stakes Poker tournaments.

Seidel’s run of success in recent years has him sitting atop the all time money winners list.  He also is just a few bracelets shy of Phil Hellmuth’s record 11.  Seidel, no matter the stakes, wins.  He has a track record of excellence that is second to none.

6+:  Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, John Juada, Gus Hansen, Bertrand Grospellier, Jonathan Duhamel, Michael Mizrachi…  All great players, but not quite great enough for this list. For more on high stakes players and high stakes news head on over to PokerBlog.

So we recently caught up with a few players at the Premier League in Vienna and asked them the simple question Europe Vs USA in poker, here’s what we got back!

Now and again on the poker circuit someone always seems to say to us “Hey don’t you think so and so looks a lot like…” it got us thinking so here are some startling discoveries featured below, as far as poker players that so closely resemble famous celebrities that the only rational explanation is that they were separated at birth:

We’re not exactly sure how the hospital managed to separate twins Freddy Deeb and Danny DeVito at birth but somehow or other it happened. If things ever go south for either at least they have the back-up plan of suing the hospital for millions for such an egregious error.

Poker pro John Eames and professional panda trainer Tony G fall more onto the father-son side of the separated at birth phenomenon, with Eames plying the poker tables for his fame and fortune while Tony G wrangles pandas and continues his search for the perfect personal assistant.

Sadly we don’t know the identity of the Phil Hellmuth twin on the right, piloting a giant hot dog at sea, but it apparently isn’t the Poker Brat despite the eerie resemblance and the love of hot-dogging that they share.

Jamie Gold: very lucky, rich, and loves to bluff

Stephen Colbert: very lucky, rich, and loves to bluff.

A rare brother-sister case of separated at birth, TJ Cloutier and Estelle Getty seem to share little in common other than a physical resemblance at first glance but it’s a little known fact that in one Golden Girls episode Sophia took care of a dog named Bingo, while TJ Cloutier can occasionally be found at the poker tables when taking a break from craps.

Our car may explode the next time we turn the key in the ignition but we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t point out the Jeff Lisandro – Tony Soprano connection.

Please tell us we don’t need to explain this one for you.

Another one that should speak for itself, with Jimmy Fricke only missing the cap and doughnut to complete his transformation into Chief Clancy Wiggum.

Todd Brunson and sister Pamela Brunson have followed in Papa Brunson’s footsteps and found plenty of success at the poker tables — maybe darts legend Andy Fordham should take aim at the felt as well.

Sorel Mizzi, meet Mr. Bean; Mr. Bean, Sorel Mizzi.

This is one where we really need to step in and make sure that Tom McEvoy and long-lost brother Newt Gingrich get together, as the online poker world could benefit from a little political power in the extended family to add a little push to legalizing online poker in the US.

How in the world have we all missed this one for so many years, as not only do Mike Sexton and Vince McMahon share a fairly resemblance but both ending up in a similar line of work as far as their announcing duties?

If you’ve spotted your own poker players and celebrities switched at birth please let us know in the comments, as we’re sure there are more out there in the world that we missed!

My moving day is inching ever closer and I’m no closer to figuring out the ‘where‘ portion of it all. I’m actually no closer to moving either as I’ve yet to actually go and get boxes or organise anything. Is it still considered ‘being in denial’ if you’re embracing the denial? I’ve got both arms wrapped tightly around my denial and am giving it a big, warm hug. All of that being said, I suppose I actually should begin to think about packing as I need to be out of here in around a weeks time. Nothing like leaving things til the last minute! I kind of think it gives life that extra bit of spice.

WSOP 2012 time

Thankfully, it’s nearly time for the WSOP in Vegas so that pretty much takes care of my summer plans and I can defer the ‘where to move’ question for at least a couple of months. I’m enjoying everyone’s suggestions on twitter for where I should considering making my new home so keep them coming! In the meantime, I’m cramming as much as possible into my last weeks here in Santa Barbara with my friends. Lots of time spent eating, chatting and walking on the beach. It doesn’t get much better than this!

Full Moon Night

Last weekend was the largest full moon of the year – or as some people liked to call it, the potential werewolf apocalypse. It was absolutely gorgeous! I walked down to the pier with my neighbours to get a proper look at it (and drink wine on the pier, the perfect compliment to moon-gazing) and it was just as impressive as I’d thought. Granted, it looks a little less impressive in this photo where I’m trying to ‘crush’ it, a la Kids In The Hall:

Hopefully the craziness of the full moon didn’t affect any of you during PokerFest II!

Wow what a Pokerfest this one was! With the obvious highlight being the Main Event which was played out yesterday evening, it must have been something of a Super Sunday when Andy Ward took it down for a payday of over $216K, from all of us here at PartyPoker a huge congratulations to you!

10 times a winner

Some other great highlights along the way included a player called Ikovalence who managed to cash 10 times and receiving a nice bonus of € 2.500!

We asked Ikovalence about his performance and got this back:

“As part of the community Pokerstartegy.com, I knew there was promotion Pokerfest happening on PartyPoker, but I had not heard of Jackpots. I actually made the bubble in Event # 2 … Then one of my friends passed me the word, so I was very excited.

I had no particular strategy in the beginning… Normally, a tournament player should not target only the money, but especially the victory. I still keep the good memories of my victory in Event # 25 in points, it’s always fun!

Getting €2.500 with these achievements, I am now going to up my tournament buy-ins.

I want to thank PartyPoker, Pokerstategy.com and everyone who encouraged me especially: That51Dude, Karonbeach, Melpok, Arnaudbzh, and Sebabouic Okapikipok. “

Win your seat to the WSOP 2012 with PartyPoker!

Kind words there, and remember there’s always something great going on at PartyPoker; just now we have qualifications to the world’s largest poker tournament the WSOP 2012!

Every poker player dreams of sitting down at the Main Event and winning the biggest prize the game has to offer. Last year Pius Heinz outplayed everyone else to claim more than $8.7 million. In 2012 you could be the one writing history with a starring role in Las Vegas and playing at the greatest poker tournament on the planet. Make sure you give the WSOP 2012 a shot!

Ladies and gentleman I can firmly say that I have found the biggest and best cash games in the world – in Minsk. Yes, Minsk is in Belarus and it has been going very well. Last weekend I had a ma$$$$$$$ive score and would like to thank those that invited me for their excellent hospitality.

I will be back, Minsk is a remarkable place and a new frontier for poker. The best PLO games are now in Minsk – reach out to me. I have found a new paradise on earth – clean, safe and secure.

Tony Betties - new band I have put together

I am now back at Tony Resort in Lithuania. Zasko, my faithful German Shepherd friend, is now fully grown and loving life more than ever. He is frolicking in the forest, running free but at the same time keeping away from the dangerous bears. He’s a lover to most things but when he is on the attack, he is on the attack – you would not want to be his enemy.

He is specially trained to be the guardian of Tony Resort and is kicking hard. He tolerates open mindedness but whatever you do don’t get his wrong side. His jaw is big and active – in fact, Zasko is very active at the moment – he is still looking for his life mate as it is time to breed.

Zasko looked on fondly when I completed the line-up for a new music band I have put together – The Tony Betties and we are going to have a concert at TonyResort soon. Check out their debut single and video – I predict their success will spread beyond Lithuania to the international market. They are all fired up and I want to be their Simon Cowell – they are going to do a big concert here at Tony Resort. They have true talent.

Jungleman leaks in online game too

For the moment I think business is going to keep me on this side of the world. I have been monitoring my twitter @tonyguoga and playing Pokerfest on PartyPoker when I can. I also encountered Jungleman on the cash tables at Party recently too – I know he is scared of me as he won’t take up my challenge. Nice lad but leaks in his live game and online game too it seems!

Lots of you ask for my sports betting tips so I am going to give you one now. I have put a sneaky bet on Ukraine at 40/1 (41) to win the Euro 2012 soccer. They are hosts and shouldn’t be underestimated – I am also positive their price will shorten before and during the tournament too. Easy money.

Remember you read it here first!

Morten Lihn Christensen is in many ways a traditional poker player. Except that he is one of the few professionals who are not using BRM.

Just when you thought that the Danish triumph with three victories in major tournaments in 2012 could not get any bigger, Morten Lihn Christensen won WPT Vienna and began to give the other European countries something to think about. What is it they are doing in Denmark?

We have addressed “Skipper-dawn” which is his regular nick on various poker sites and asked him how he has come so far with poker. And it turns out that Morten in many ways is very traditional poker player, but definitely also slightly different from other professionals.

The 27-year-old Dane from Aarhus had received his bachelor’s degree in business and economics, and found out that maybe he had chosen the wrong path. And what to do when you suddenly have to find something else to do? You begin, of course, to make a living out of your hobby. And luckily Morten’s hobby and passion was poker.

- I started playing as a 17-18 year old, during the early poker boom for about 10 years ago. Back then it was just a question of enjoying poker like so many others, where you did not play solid, but just on a small scale.

But when I about two years ago dropped out of my education, the choice was not really that hard. I was doing pretty well online and decided to try to do it for a living.

Morten who we have caught at his parents place, informed both of them about his decision, and also got the necessary support.

- My parents have known it all along. They have followed me from the sidelines, and even if they liked me to finish some sort of education, they can easily see that I’m doing fine and make a nice living out of it. They often ask me about how my day has gone and how the economy looks. But now that I won in Vienna, they have been very relaxed about it.

Morten has not his desire for poker from strangers. He says that the father also has a gambler gene himself and as a young man was playing poker with his friends.

- Yes, my dad can easily sit a whole night besides me and keep up. He thinks its fun to see how I’m doing and how it goes.

My first tournament was WSOP Main Event 2009

So far there is not much surprisingly about Martins poker and parents concerns about their son, but where Morten is slightly different from others is the total lack of home games with friends the first few years.

- No, I’ve actually never really sat down and played with friends. It has only been online. I have a very mixed social circle, so it has not only been poker acquaintances, but also a lot of friends from sports, school and education.

My first real live tournament was the WSOP Main Event in 2009. Before that I had only played a single 1,000 kroner tournament at Aarhus Casino, but that was it.

It may seem like a bit of a baptism of fire when you throw yourself directly into the main event during the World Championship, but Morten has a good explanation for it.

- I had won a package, where I got the money instead. I was then offered a package that a colleague had won at PartyPoker for Vegas with hotel, stay and buy-in for the Main Event for $8,500. And as the Main Event alone cost $10,000, I could hardly say no. It was my first real tournament, and I got a little taste of it there.

Then for about a year ago I started to play all those smaller tournaments. GSOP, EMOP, SPT and their likes. Just to get a lot of experience and learn a little. This year I tried the PCA Bahamas, Deauville EPT, WPT Vienna and gave EPT Berlin an unplanned shot, to see if I was still on a heater, Morten laughs into the phone.

The tournaments have also meant that Morten has become a part of the Danish poker community and has made some friendships there. During this year’s WPT in Vejle, he was staying in a house with a larger group of players fronted by Martin B. Hansen. And Martin B. Hansen also gets high praises from Morten for having taught him a lot.

- I’ve played a lot with Martin B. Hansen and Rasmus Gandrup. It helps a great deal on your own game when you have someone to sit and talk with about your game.

There are many crazy things you should be able to deal with to become a good player, but just the little things like talking with others or see how skilled players bet, call, or push, has made a huge difference on my own game.

And when asked what type of game it is his prefers, the reply comes fast:

- MTT’s. I only play tournament poker. I also played a little PLO cash game, but that’s a long time ago.

I play on almost all sites, and all the big tournaments. Previously, it was 20-22 tournaments at a time, but I’ve cut down to about 16 now.

There’s a bit of silence on the phone before a question about how to keep track of so many tables and players, when tournament poker is so much more about assess the individual opponents and read them.

- I use Hold’em Manager. That way I can see which of my opponents who are actually talented, it helps enormously. It has also given me a pretty good view that I only play 16 instead of 22 tables. When you play so many tournaments, you also end up on more final tables. And the routine you get from endgames is also of great help.

Bankroll Management? I use common sense instead

Of course it requires capital and a strict administration of the it to play so many tournaments on so many sites, and here comes the day’s second surprise.

- Bankroll Management? No, I try to use common sense instead. If, for example I’m playing an expensive program, then you might just hold back a little if things go wrong, otherwise it can become a real expensive experience.

Now you would think that a Morten exclusively only played tournament with buy-in of hundreds of dollars, but it’s not the case.

- I actually play all the tournaments that have a good guaranteed prize pool. There may well be one among them for $ 5, but usually they are in the range from $ 20 – $ 200.

I’ve been lucky at the slightly more expensive. I won seats for both for the Bahamas, Deauville and Vienna in the first attempt. Vienna was not actually planned, but then I saw the $ 300 tournament in the client and thought: You haven’t got any plans for that day …

Morten won as we know WPT Vienna, and can reveal when during the tournament he first began to believe in victory.

- When we came heads up and Benjamin Wilinofsky was eliminated I thought: That’s good.

Without offending Konstantin Tolokno, he was the final table’s weakest player. I lost the first 10 hands in a row, but at the same time he called me on everything I did, so I just had to wait until I had the cards. And when I came ahead on chips, he didn’t dare to play back on me. Exactly then I knew I would win…

For Morten, poker is his life right now. He knows that he might be doing something else at some point. And when asked directly if he ends up as Doyle Brunson, he laughs and says:

- No, I think not. Right now I can not really see what I want instead. One thing is certain and that is that I need feel a strong passion for it. There are many possibilities, I could go back to school, or maybe start my own business. It could then be anything from investing some of what I’ve earned to just speculate in stocks.

Morten Lihn Christensen has proven that you can win major international tournaments, even without a BRM or hours and hours of poker with friends. It just takes a lot of training in front of the screen and a few good friends to talk to every now and then.

The Santa Barbara Fair and Expo was in town recently and damn, do I love me some Carnival hijinx!

I was lucky enough to check out this once-a-year event with some friends of mine; a really fantastic couple and their 3 small kids.

I kind of think that carnivals need to be seen through the eyes of overly excited, sugar-high toddlers to really be done right. So yeah, we did it right.

After a visit to the BBQ stand to pick up some grilled meat (a Fair ‘must-do’ in my opinion), we took a wander around the grounds to check out the attractions and let the kids try some of the rides.

There’s something really magical about fairgrounds at dusk; the brightly coloured lights, the music blaring out of the rides, the smell of cotton candy and funnel cakes (a fried dough treat that I was introduced to only recently) and people’s happy but tired faces all around.

I think one of the reasons that I love the poker circuit so much is that it kind of reminds me of the Carnival. It’s full of all of these interesting people who decided that what they really, really wanted to do, was join the circus. Plus I love any kind of food that is terrible for me and both the real circus and the poker circus are chock full of that!

My time off continues here in Santa Barbara but it’s not all rest and relaxation. I’m actually getting ready to move house again (sadly) so my life is pretty much completely taken up with boxes and packing tape right now. I’ll be back with the poker circus full time again soon, living out of a suitcase again for the next few months while I figure out just where in the world I should make my next home. If you have any great ideas for me, answers on a postcard!