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Ultimate Poker Challenge Season 2 Results
The Ultimate Poker Challenge (UPC) was a series of weekly poker tournaments acting as super-satellites into the series semi-finals. The first and second seasons are available on NTSC DVD. In the United States, it was a syndicated program. Format Players are entitled to enter multiple super-satellite tournaments (entry into the semi-finals is transferable.) Players can also qualify for the semi-finals based on the points leaderboard for their finishing position in each event. In the first season, "Silent" Steve Simmons placed highest on the points leaderboard and received $40,000. The second place finisher received $20,000. Beginning with season 4, the show was renamed ''Ultimate Poker Challenge Presents Cash Poker: The Ultimate Gamble''. The format changed from weekly tournaments to following the action at cash games. Crew Each tournament was commentated by Chad Brown, with Brandi Williams performing interviews along with intros and outros to commercial breaks. Daniel Negreanu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poker Tournament
A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table (called a "heads up poker, heads-up" tournament), and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tables. The winner of the tournament is usually the person who wins every poker chip in the game and the others are awarded places based on the time of their elimination. To facilitate this, in most tournaments, blind (poker), blinds rise over the duration of the tournament. Unlike in a Cash game, ring game (or cash game), a player's chips in a tournament cannot be cashed out for money and serve only to determine the player's placing. Buy-ins and prizes To enter a typical tournament, a player pays a fixed ''buy-in'' and at the start of play is given a certain quantity of tournament poker chips. Commercial venues may also charge a separate fee, or withhold a small portion of the buy-in, as the cost of running the event. Tournamen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Pescatori
Massimiliano Pescatori (born 22 January 1971 in Milan) is an Italian professional poker player. His first tournament win was in the $300 limit hold'em event in the 2003 World Poker Challenge in Reno, Nevada. Three days later he won the Omaha High Low event. At the 2006 WSOP, Pescatori won the $2,500 no limit hold 'em event when his defeated Anthony Reategui's on a board of . At the 2008 World Series of Poker he won the pot limit half Texas hold 'em, half Omaha hold 'em event, with its $246,471 first prize. At the 2015 WSOP, Pescatori won two bracelets in the $1,500 Seven Card Razz and the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better events. Pescatori has also finished in the money in eight World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the fi ... (WPT) eve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Cernuto
John Anthony Cernuto (born January 10, 1944, in Jersey City, New Jersey) also known as ''Miami'', is an American professional poker player based in Las Vegas, Nevada, specialising in Omaha hi-lo events. Cernuto has won over $5,500,000 in live tournament winnings, his largest score was for $259,150 from his $2,000 No Limit Hold'em bracelet victory in the 1997 World Series of Poker. Early years Before embarking on his poker career, Cernuto graduated Florida State University as a finance major. After graduating, he worked as an air traffic controller. When President Ronald Reagan fired the air traffic controllers during a 1981 strike, he turned to poker for his profession. Poker career World Series of Poker He first cashed in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) after making the final table in the 1989 World Series of Poker in the $5,000 Seven-card stud event. He finished fourth in the final table, which featured David Sklansky, Humberto Brenes, Gabe Kaplan, and the tournamen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Hellmuth
Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. (born July 16, 1964) is an American professional poker player who has won a record sixteen World Series of Poker bracelets. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Main Event of the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), and he is a 2007 inductee of the WSOP's Poker Hall of Fame. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tournament players of all time. Personal life Hellmuth was born in Madison, Wisconsin, and attended Madison West High School. He had trouble with grades and friends during school and said at the time he was the "ugly duckling" of his family. He then moved on to the University of Wisconsin–Madison for three years, where he dropped out to become a full-time poker player. Since 1992, he has lived in Palo Alto, California, with his wife, Katherine Sanborn, who is a psychiatrist at Stanford University, and their two sons, Phillip III and Nicholas. Poker career He is ranked 19th on the a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russ Hamilton (poker Player)
Russ Hamilton (born 1948 or 1949) is an American poker player. He was the 1994 World Series of Poker main event champion, defeating Hugh Vincent in heads-up play to win $1 million in first-prize money as well as his body weight in silver. Following his World Series win, Hamilton served as a consultant for Ultimate Bet, an online poker server. In 2008, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission found Hamilton largely responsible for cheating players on Ultimate Bet out of $6.1 million through software that allowed access to opponents' hole cards. In 2009, Kahnawake increased the $6.1 million estimate to $22,100,000. Hamilton initially attended college in Michigan and pursued a degree in electrical engineering, before a conversation with a professor led him to decide that playing poker for a living would be more profitable. After playing in underground games in Detroit, he moved to Las Vegas at the age of 36. He joined a tournament blackjack team and enjoyed a successful run; however, when t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Laak
Philip Courtney Laak (born September 8, 1972) is an Irish–American professional poker player and a poker commentator, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Laak holds a World Poker Tour (WPT) title, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, and has appeared on numerous nationally aired television shows. Early life Laak was born in Dublin, Ireland, raised on the East Coast of the United States, and now lives in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. His family moved to Wellesley, Massachusetts, when he was four years old. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in mechanical engineering and worked in varying jobs prior to getting into open poker games in California. He is a former roommate of fellow professional poker player Antonio Esfandiari. Prior to moving to the west, Laak lived for several years in New York City where he honed his skills as a backgammon player before turning his focus to poker. Poker career Laak learned to play poker as a child. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonio Esfandiari
Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari ( fa, امیر اسفندیاری; born December 8, 1978 as Amir Esfandiary), is a professional poker player and former professional magician, known for his elaborate chip tricks. Esfandiari was the face of the now-defunct poker site, UltimatePoker.com. In addition to appearing on several poker television shows, he has won two World Poker Tour (WPT) championships and three World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets in his career, including the "Big One for One Drop" in 2012, a $1,000,000 buy-in tournament benefiting the One Drop Foundation. By winning the event, Esfandiari won the second largest single payout in tournament poker history at $18,346,673. Esfandiari was ranked number one for all-time tournament poker winnings, until Daniel Negreanu took this title by finishing 2nd in the " Big One For One Drop 2014". In 2012, he authored ''The Magician's Secrets for Winning Tournaments'' on Insta Poker, a poker strategy game available for iOS. Ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amir Vahedi
Amir Vahedi (February 25, 1961 – January 8, 2010) was an Iranian professional poker player born in Tehran, Iran. who won a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet at the 2003 World Series of Poker in the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event. World Series of Poker Vahedi was named No Limit Texas hold 'em player of the year in 2001 and was runner-up to Men Nguyen for Card Player Magazine's 2003 Player of the Year. In 2003 he made the final table of the Main Event of the World Series of Poker and finished sixth, earning $250,000. Earlier in the series, he won his first WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event for $270,000. During the 2003 World Series of Poker, in reference to the natural tendency of players to tighten up on the bubble (when only a few eliminations are left to the money), Vahedi stated: "In order to live, you must be willing to die." Vahedi was also the season three champion of the Ultimate Poker Challenge. During his lifetime, Vahedi won over $3,250,000 i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenna James
Kenna James (born December 18, 1963 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American professional poker player, television commentator, Personal Coach and actor who currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Poker career James' total live tournament winnings exceed $3,500,000. He ranks 185th on the all-time money list in the united states and 314th in the world. James' biggest win came in the 2006 LA Poker Classic, winning $242,251. In March 2006, James finished second in the $10,000 buy-in Limit Hold-em event to Mike Schneider in the fifth annual PartyPoker Million Cruise. James received $700,000 for this finish for the biggest cash of his career. James' tournament career includes over 100 final tables and more than 20 overall titles. World Series of Poker He has finished in the money 36 times at the World Series of Poker earning over $500,000 of his total tournament winnings at the WSOP. He has two final table appearance at the WSOP including a 4th place in the 2003 $2,500 no limit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evelyn Ng
Evelyn Ng (born September 14, 1975 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian professional poker player. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Early life Ng began her gaming career playing pool for money at age 14. By age 17, she had expanded into dealing blackjack and poker games in her hometown of Toronto. Around that time, she dated fellow Canadian poker player Daniel Negreanu. He helped her develop a style of play designed to combat aggressive players. Poker career Ng achieved fame on the World Poker Tour (WPT) circuit in 2003 after placing second to Clonie Gowen in the ''Ladies' Night I'' tournament, finishing ahead of established professionals including Annie Duke, Kathy Liebert and Jennifer Harman. Ng was included as one of the characters in the video game ''Stacked with Daniel Negreanu''. Formerly a representative of the online poker room PokerStars, she is now part of Team Bodog. Ng was a participant in the ''King of Vegas'' television series on SpikeTV, and featured in the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kristy Gazes
Kristy Gazes (born October 28, 1967) is a professional poker player originally from California. Gazes has been playing poker since 1986. She made a living for years as a high-stakes cash game player in Los Angeles, California. Gazes preference for high-low split and mixed games such as H.O.R.S.E and H.O.S.E. has earned her the nickname "Mixed Games". She made the 2001 World Series of Poker S.H.O.E. final table. Her biggest career win came in 2005, when she took first place in the Full Tilt Poker Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas, besting a live televised final table that included Ted Forrest, Clonie Gowen and Daniel Negreanu. She took a $250,000 payout for her victory. In 2003, she won the World Championship of Online Poker Omaha high low split title. Gazes made multiple final tables during the first season of the Ultimate Poker Challenge and appeared as a guest commentator on that program. She appeared in the GSN series ''Poker Royale'' Battle of the Sexes. In 2007 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clonie Gowen
Cycalona "Clonie" Gowen (born November 6, 1971) is an American professional poker player, based in Dallas, Texas. Early life Gowen was born in Florida, and grew up in Kiowa, Oklahoma. Her first name was inspired by the fact that she was born while a tornado (cyclone) moved through the region. She won Miss Teen McAlester, Oklahoma, at age 15, and as a teenager moved to Corsicana, Texas. She was a member of the varsity basketball team and placed seventh in state high jump. Poker Gowen was introduced to poker by her boyfriend's father, and started playing while living in Dallas, driving to Shreveport, Louisiana, on the weekends. She finished tenth in a World Poker Tour (WPT) event in late 2002, before gaining national recognition in 2003, winning the televised WPT Ladies' Night event. Over the next five years, Gowen added ten more top-40 finishes in WPT and World Series of Poker events. She has not been active in tournament events since a high finish in the 2009 Aussie Millions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
