2008 October | All Africa Poker Blog

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AAPT all africa poker Ben Wilinofsky Daniel Lamberti danny k Darren Kramer Darren ‘KingKramer’ Kramer Deal European Poker Tour Evro Psiloyenis Ilija Martinovic Jay Sookoo KingKramer Lolly Jackson Mel Banfield neil andrews Nic Zakhem piggs peak Piggs Peak Casino poker Ryan Brauer Shuffle Shuffle up and deal swaziland Warren Zackey Wessel Jacobs World Series of Poker WSOP

October | 2008 | All Africa Poker Blog

News Up and coming players fill us in

Oct.07, 2008

What was the defining moment for you in your poker career?
AJ: “Thus far in my career, coming 4^th at All Africa Poker and winning the Poker Cruise would be my defining moments, as far as tournaments are concerned. As far as cash games are concerned, it was showing a profit 19 months in a row. I believe though, that I will have many more defining moments which will supersede these in the future.”
GR: “The most defining moment in my poker career was my first final table appearance at the SA Poker Open last year in May. Since then, it has to be my win at the last All Africa Poker tournament in November, which finished off an amazing year of poker.”

What have you been up to since the last All Africa Poker Tournament?
AJ: “Nothing special, just normal festivities, working on my poker game and learning more about other varieties of poker. Hold’em gets a bit boring at times.”
GR: “Since the last All Africa Poker, I traveled to Prague and the Bahamas to play in events on the European Poker Tour. The level of play is incredibly high, but it was a great experience and tons of fun.”

How has your life and poker changed since your final table appearance at the All Africa Poker Tournament?
AJ: “Honestly my life hasn’t changed much apart from the fact that I travel a lot more (over 40 flights in 2007), excluding the ones I missed … lol. Aah, I did buy myself a nice car with some of the winnings.”
GR: “Well, winning the All Africa Poker obviously comes with a very nice pay day, but other than the money, it’s great to earn the respect of other poker players.”

Andre’s tip for all you aspirant poker players out there, is to find some reading material about basic strategies at first. And practice these at low stakes or even on play money tables. Just to get a feel for the game. Try and implement different strategies in your play. Practice, practice and more practice. Before you start playing for any kind of money which is going to affect your life style, you should read up on effective bank roll management, “I cannot stress this highly enough. I, like many others have had to learn the hard way. Good luck and see you on the felt.” Andre, a solid tournament player who is always a force to be reckoned with at the poker table, can be seeing strutting his stuff at the upcoming 12^th All Africa Poker Tournament.
Greg’s advice is to start small and build your way to the top. “The more you read and learn about the game the better – even the pros learn something new every day.”Greg will be back to defend his title, and with the experience he has gained from his travels to Prague and the Bahamas, he will not be dethroned easily. But with players such as David Dadic, Sami Sadia, Andre Johnstone, Marco Farrell, two time champion Peter Vermaas and Martie Faber to play against, Greg will certainly have his work cut out for him.
To follow all the poker action as it happens, don’t forget to get to the All Africa Poker Blog on the http://www.allafricapoker.com/blog.aspx

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Category: Poker News 2008

News Weekly column “Mucked” by Shortstack Bullets

Oct.07, 2008

My tournament poker career has been filled with many highs and many lows. I have won a couple of tournaments (the prestigious inaugural All Africa Tournament topping my list of course,) made numerous final tables, lost it all near the bubble after fighting hard for many hours or just made cameo appearances on the odd particularly horrible day when the poker gods favour was being courted by someone else.

Like every poker player, I remember the losses with alarming clarity and since every poker player loses more tournaments than he wins, I have many memories of my failures. I have categorised them as follows: The bad beats are the stories that we relate with incredulity and disdain because it wasn’t our brilliant play that let us down but rather the luck of some donkey. Then there are the unlucky all-ins when our cowboys are outgunned by the mug with the rockets. Lastly, in this batch of losing stories, there are the days when the cards simply dry up and you pretty much watch (helplessly) as your chip stack erodes with the ever-increasing blinds.

The final category is the one that very few players talk about. This happens because we don’t really want to relate stories in which we look like idiots. In these stories, we seem to have forgotten everything that we learnt after the hand rankings and could result in our flattering (and generally self-chosen) nicknames changing to something more realistic. “Palooka” springs to mind!

Here is a list of my favourite dumb moves that generally appear after a good run with a respectful chip stack quite deep into a tournament.
Consciously deciding to steal as many blinds as possible (you don’t really need them, but…) is a good idea and losing hand after hand.
Brazenly deciding that you should knock everybody out of the event so you call every short stack all-in with your rags (they are live cards right?)
Over- or under-playing hands because you feel its time to change gears and end up being too aggressive or too timid.

The root cause of all of these mistakes is a loss of focus. After many hours of intense concentration it is too easy to forget the fundamentals and start calculating what you are going to do with all of that prize money. What inevitably happens is that the prize money goes to someone else and the dreams of extravagant spending sprees remain just that.

The really nice thing though about doing something really asinine, is that it helps you to learn something that you already know…I learnt what I already know

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Category: Poker News 2008

Shuffle exits the London EPT!

Oct.06, 2008

After a long run at the London European Poker Tour, Andre Johnstone joined the rest of the players on the rail in 73rd position.
Considering at all 596 seats were accounted for and the event was sold out – Shuffle had his work cut out for himself. Shuffle, whilst disappointed was still in high spirits said ”close but no cigar…”
The player who had the last luagh….Michael Martin, who walked away with the title and the record setting £1,000,000 first prize.

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Category: Poker News 2008

Shuffle makes his way closer to the London EPT title.

Oct.03, 2008

Andre ’Shuffle’ Johnstone has gotten off to a great start at the London EPT tournament taking place this week.Andre is going to play the best poker of his career as he is up against the likes of Scotty Nguyen, Joe Hachem and previous All Africa Poker Tournament Champion John Tabatabai – but if anyone can do it it’s our Shuffle.Comment from Andre, “I heard from early edition that Andre Johnstone is winning a million pounds this weekend .”Go Shuffle, us back home are routing for you!

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Category: Poker News 2008

The Rhino … a formidable opponent you do not want to face across a poker table

Oct.03, 2008

Although largely underestimated, they say a rhinoceros is one of the most dangerous animals because of its unpredictable nature and incredible sense of smell. In the same sense, many unsuspecting poker players have fallen prey to the formidable Ryan Dreyer, aka “Rhino.” In spite of his placid appearance, “Rhino” is a force to be reckoned with and the results of most recent major poker events have once again affirmed that. Although Dreyer himself is virtually impossible to read, he has an almost supernatural ability to sniff out a bluff from a distance. Combine these traits with his analytical approach to the game, and the “Rhino” is a poker opponent you do not tussle with.

According to Ryan himself, his best poker characteristics are his “patience, discipline and bankroll management.” And although these characteristics are not what make an overnight poker star, they are certainly the qualities that will let you win at poker consistently in the long run. In the past few years, Ryan has slowly but surely grown from a tournament newcomer to a familiar face at major poker events, not only locally, but on the international poker circuit as well. During the last year 2 years for example, Ryan placed 6th at the Main Event of the Million Dollar Sun City Poker Tournament; was runner up at PokerAce, 4th at the Carousel and cashed at A WSOP event in June this year.

The achievement that finally made the world sit up and notice his poker talents though, has to be his most recent win in 2008 Sun City Million Dollar Poker Challenge. To claim the victory as well as the much desired prize of $650,000, Ryan had to outplay 273 competitors, which included some of the most established poker pro’s from around the world, including the likes of Shannon Elizabeth; Patrik Antonius; top 5 player of the year candidate and WSOP final tablist Michael Binger; local poker legend Ray Rahme who came 3rd at the 2007 WSOP Main Event; All Africa Poker Champion Darren Kramer and all the rest of the Top South African crew. Interestingly enough, a little over a year ago, Ryan relayed one of his strangest poker moments as looking over his shoulder while playing at the WSOP, just to see Daniel Negreanu playing at the table right next to him. Well, Ryan, we suspect that Daniel, “Kid Poker” Negreanu will be rather proud to be seen playing next to you too…!!

Ryan’s interest in tournament poker, originates from his involvement in the All Africa Poker Tournament. Not only does Ryan form a part of the team who produces the live poker footage that is screened on the All Africa Poker Channel, but he is also the lead commentator for the All Africa Poker Tournament, which takes place several times a year at Piggs Peak Hotel & Casino, Swaziland. And how has this impacted on his game? “Being involved on the sidelines at All Africa has definitely made me want to play more tournaments…and play them well, which has led to me being an ardent student of the game”, says Ryan.

Ryan is also part of a popular programme that was recently launched on the Poker Channel, called “Ask the Commentators.” In this interactive poker programme, real poker scenarios are created, and viewers get to email in and ask for poker tips. Ryan has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is not just a flash in the pan, but a respected poker player who can provide invaluable insight into the game from both a player and a commentators’ perspective. To watch and learn from Ryan Dreyer, aka “Rhino,” the new undisputed African King of Poker.

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Category: Poker News 2008

The only 24/7 poker channel in Africa has gone interactive.

Oct.02, 2008

Making way for the future and ensuring that the All Africa Poker Channel can meet viewer’s needs, we have gone interactive. The first of its kind poker channel is now paving the way for bigger and better things to come. So don’t be left behind, all you need to do is select OK on your DSTV remote not matter where you are on the DSTV Bouquet and the DSTV Touch Menu will appear. Scroll down and select the Poker Channel option and you will be automatically tuned in to your favorite poker action.

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Category: Poker News 2008

Jared Solomon features at WSOP Europe

Oct.01, 2008

All Africa Poker Tournament regular Jared Solomon was seen strongly featuring at the WSOPE Main Event £10,000 NLHE. This major international poker event attracted 362 of some of the best players from around the world, including the likes of Phil Ivey; David Benyamine; Phil Hellmuth; Andy Bloch; Howard Lederer; Mike Matusow; Vanessa Rousso; Erik Seidel and many more. In spite of the stiff competition, Jared managed to stand his own very well and finished very close to the money, in around 45th place.

The hand that was responsible for crippling his chip stack the most, was against Talal Shakerchi. Jared bet out on a flop of 6D 5D 2C after Talal simply called the R14,000 bet. When the turn showed 9H, Jared checked. Shakerchi moved all in though with R66,000 chips and Jared, who appeared slightly unsure at first, called nevertheless. Solomon showed pocket Kings, but when the river brought him no further help with JH, Shakerchi who held 6S 5S, knocked him out with a two-pair.

After that, Jared still illustrated some great poker play, but finally the disadvantage of his short stack caught up on him. From the All Africa Poker Tournament team: “Well done, Jared! You have proved once again that our local players have what it takes to make their mark on the international poker circuit!”

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Category: Poker News 2008

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