The 23-year-old Scot’s colossal triumph catapulted him straight to top spot in the Scottish all-time money listings.  David joins a succession of RakeTheRake members who have triumphed in a major live poker tournaments.
If you’d like to increase your bankroll and receive rakeback like David, check out our offers here

* World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah’s License Company, LLC (“Harrah’s”). Harrah’s does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with RakeTheRake or its partners, products, services promotions or tournaments.

So what’s the fuel behind all these ladies taking the cake? For Selbst it could be her luck, it could be chance, or it could be the impressive academic background that she brings to the table. Selbst first came on the scene in 2007 when she finished third in the heads-up championship at the World Series of Poker*. Just one year later she picked up her first bracelet in a pot-limit Omaha event and then unexpectedly to most, virtually disappeared from the scene. Holiday to a tropical island? Year off to work on her game? Hardly, Selbst took off to hit the books.

Selbst decided that poker was losing the fun it used to have and she missed the intellectual stimulation of school. Selbst returned to Yale, (where she already held one degree and a subsequent Fulbright scholarship) to pursue a degree in law as a human rights lawyer. If you think about it, this career choice – skilled poker shark turned lawyer – isn’t that strange of a call as some of the qualities lawyers and successful poker players share are surprisingly complementary- analytical style, logical thought process- it makes sense.

Selbst has stated that her removal from the game really gave her the time she needed to take a step back and approach the game with a clean slate. Following her NAPT win Selbst stated that, “When I’m playing tournaments now, I play so few that everything is fresh and seen from an outside perspective; I don’t get caught up in pre-programmed lines and thoughts, and I’m able to look at each situation anew. In some ways I’ve leveled myself, I needed some distance from the game to see it as it is.”

Lawyer gone poker, or poker gone lawyer, either way this leading lady is doing something right and has proven that she’s got what it takes to succeed in both fields. Selbst now plans to take next year off from her studies and return to the tournament circuit before completing her degree the following year. After her degree is finished, Selbst plans to find the perfect medium and division of her time by playing the tournament circuit for about six months and trying her hand at pro bono cases for the rest of the year.

So boys, are you going to sit back and let these ladies walk away with all the prize money in 2010? Only time will tell but one thing is for sure, the horses are out of the blocks and the stallions have some catching up to do. Good luck to all in the rest of the year’s competitions and if anything goes sour we can recommend a really good lawyer.

If you’re interested in pursuing a law degree you’re going to have to look elsewhere, but if it’s a little poker with the added bonus of rakeback you want to try your hand at then look no further.

* World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah’s License Company, LLC (“Harrah’s”). Harrah’s does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with RakeTheRake or its partners, products, services promotions or tournaments.

Some of these passengers included poker players making their way to the European Poker Tour underway in San Remo, Italy, only to find that nature had thrown a substantial hurdle in their path. While some managed to squeak through on flights soon after the eruption before airports clipped on to the idea that it could be dangerous for aircraft, others had to seek alternate modes of transport. Soon after air traffic was grounded, messages flooded Twitter, Facebook and Online Poker chat room sites and forums; sent by stranded poker players crying, pulling their hair out and chewing their nails to the quick for having had to miss out on the action. 

And action there is aplenty! Last year’s EPT was heralded as the biggest major poker tournament ever held in Europe and involved a hefty €5,300 buy-in, a total of 1,177 players and a total prize pool of €5,713,300! That’s over 7.5 million US Dollars! This sum went to a rather delirious 20 year-old student from Amsterdam, called Constant Rijkenberg who took the pot after a grueling 6 hour final against Finland’s Kalle Niemi. His last words before he disappeared with the pot were: “I expected it.”

Assuming you play micro stakes cash poker games, you will get 50% more VIP points in these rooms during MicroMania.  The offer stands for holdem poker tables that are between the $0.05/$0.10 and $0.10/$0.20 stakes. 

Poker tournament players can also benefit from MicroMania because PokerStars will be adding $1,000 to the prize pool of select $1.10 No-Limit Hold’em tournaments.  To find these value-added tourneys, just go to the poker software and look for MicroMania Specials.  You can also earn a share of $100,000 by winning MicroMania $1.10 Super Sit & Go; as the name implies, everybody that wins one of these sit and go’s will receive a piece of the $100k.

Players will be able to satellite into some special casino poker events during MicroMania as well since seats to NAPT Los Angeles (July 11th), LAPT Florianopolis (July 4th), EPT London (July 18th), and the WCOOP Main Event (July 25th) are all offered.  The MicroMania satellites to these tournaments are only $1.10 to enter so as long as you know how to play poker, you should consider playing in these events.

Everybody who completes the poker download and signs up for PokerStars during MicroMania will also be able to participate in a free poker tournament.  Plus you’ll get to take advantage of all the online poker deals that PokerStars offers on a monthly basis including the Frequent Player Program.  Since you’d be earning 50% more VIP points in cash games and tournaments, you will be able to receive freerolls entries, cash bonuses, and merchandise from the VIP Store much quicker.

The most recent stop on the UKIPT was at Killarney where 253 players competed in the Main Event poker tournament for thousands of Euros.  The most notable players in the tourney included PokerStars online poker pro Julian Thew, UKIPT Nottingham champion Andrew Couldridge, and UKIPT Coventry champ Gilles Augustus. 

None of these internet poker pros managed to make the final poker table as mostly amateurs landed made their way deep into the tournament.  The final poker hands were played between Aonghus Farrell and Femi Fakinle.  Fakinle came into heads-up play with the lead, but Farrell managed to steal the lead at one point.  However, the lead was short-lived as Fakinle battled back to take control of the tournament. 

The final hand came when Fakinle (Q-J) put all his poker chips in and Farrell (K-6) called.  Fakinle hit a two-pair and earned €63,000 for winning the holdem poker event along with a seat in the EPT London Main Event, which starts on September 29th. 

After Fakinle turned over his winning poker cards he said, I’m most excited about the fact I’ve won a seat to EPT London……the chance to play against some of the best players in the world is something I’m looking forward to.”

While Fakinle won’t be earning any rakeback like he would in online poker, there is still plenty of reason to get excited about the EPT London tournament.  The 2009 Main Event set a casino poker record for a UK poker tourney with 730 players involved, and Aaron Gustavson earned £850,000 for winning.

* World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah’s License Company, LLC (“Harrah’s”). Harrah’s does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with RakeTheRake or its partners, products, services promotions or tournaments.

The four robbers were identified by police and their pictures were released to the public. Names of the criminals were also released as Ahmad el-Awayti, 20 years old; Vedat S, a 21 year-old from Turkey, Jihad Chetwie, a 19 year-old from Germany and Mustafa Ucarkus, a 20 year-old from Turkey.

Vedat S was the first of the four robbers to turn himself in to the police. His conscience must have got the best of him and it was clear he wouldn’t be able to stay hidden for long. He was the one driving the getaway car and since being detained is now agreeing to cooperate with the police.

Ahmad el-Awayti also found himself with a guilty conscience and turned himself in only a few days later. Police officers were stationed at subway stations to keep an eye out for the suspect when he walked right up to them and turned himself in.

The other two suspects have yet to be apprehended but with the cooperation of Vedat S and Ahmad el-Awayti, their fate surely doesn’t look good.

Clearly, this gamble didn’t pay off. However, many online poker sites offer ways for you to walk away as pocket heavy as these fellows without putting your freedom on the line or taking anything that doesn’t belong to you. Why not try your hand at getting that extra monetary bonus the right way? Through outstanding promotions and rakeback options available at the very best rakeback sites. Not only will you not have to flee the country, but you won’t even have to leave your home.

A European Poker Tour competition that was taking place in Germany was interrupted early this year when armed gunman came through to the floor and in true wild west fashion pulled out their guns and took off with the prize from the tournament. The gunmen took off with over £720,000 while the TV cameras were live on air. Luckily nobody was killed or critically injured during the robbery. The German security force did very little to hinder the robbers’ operation.

Poker used to be played in dangerous atmospheres like this years ago back in the wild west when lawlessness was always associated with poker games. In this sense, the men armed with machetes and guns bought back a bit of nostalgia to the game in Germany. It’s great to see the game going back to its grass roots. The police took five suspects from the robbery into custody. 

Many people nowadays play poker online so that they don’t have to deal with crazy robbers carrying machetes. Perhaps you should join them just to be safe.

What are some of the other advantages of playing poker online?

One of the best advantages of playing poker online is that it saves you plenty of time over conventional poker games that you play in person. You don’t have to wait for dealer to mix and cut each deck before handing out cards. Online the hands are dealt out lightning fast and there is never a dealer error. You can finish a 12-man tournament online in 30 minutes, whereas if you are playing poker live in person a 12 man tournament will take hours to complete. Another huge advantage in playing poker online is that you could play at multiple tables at once. Some people play over 5 tables in one sitting. It’s simply impossible to play in more than one table playing poker conventionally. If you join a big Rakeback affiliate like RakeTheRake.com you can play poker online and get cashback every time a hand you were playing gets raked. RakeTheRake also offers many promotions from multiple poker sites.

In the blog, McDonald stated that he knew few people outside of the players he had met through Internet poker or at live poker tournaments.  McDonald wrote the following in his blog, “I think in all honesty I should be a fairly interesting person given the amount of time, resources, experience and opportunities I have but to someone outside of the poker world I appear quite one-dimensional and although I think I am definitely appreciated once I get to know people, getting to know people is often tough since my world is so different from their world.

McDonald continued his rant by writing, “This leads to tons of people in the poker world having literally 0 non-poker friends but I don’t aspire to one day be completely engrossed in the poker world and after watching the “busto to robusto” movies and looking at the lives of older players it got me thinking about my future.”

Michael McDonald is perhaps best known for being the youngest person ever to win a European Poker Tour event.  At age 18, the Canadian holdem poker player won the EPT German Open and earned €933,600 after his big win.  As of right now, his total live winnings equal over $2,200,000. 

In addition to his live exploits, McDonald is also well know for being a Full Tilt Poker red pro.  He was not only one of the best players on the site, but he also earned tons of money in rakeback cash.  Now, after seemingly retiring from poker, McDonald plans to work towards a degree and meet other people outside of the poker world.

Berlin police say they have the mastermind behind the crime and he is a 28 year-old Lebanese man.  A spokesperson for the police department said, “According to the current state of our investigation, the suspect is thought to have been the organizer.  He also drove the getaway car.”  The getaway car was reported to be a fancy Mercedes that the robbers drove off in after legging it through a local shopping mall. 

The first suspect that police were able to arrest in the heist was simply named “Mohammed B”, and was supposedly the brains behind the robbery.  Eventually, police were able to extract enough information from the suspect so they could arrest the other three people involved in the robbery.  Ahmad el-Awayti, Mustafa Ucarkus, and Jihad Khaled Chetwie were all arrested thus bringing together all four suspects.

In the wake of the robbery, American poker player Kevin MacPhee was able to concentrate and still play his poker hands well enough to win the EPT Berlin event.  MacPhee took the largest share of the prize pool at €1 million and also earned an appearance on the CBS Early Show.  On the show, MacPhee talked about his experience during the whole ordeal and how he was able to remain composed.

Following the EPT Berlin incident, security is extra tight at the EPT Snowfest event in Austria.  Apparently the heightened security has made people feel more safe since 546 people bought into the event.

The robbers broke up the €5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event as they ran into the ballroom.  At least one of the men had a gun and another was holding a machete when they interrupted one of Europe’s biggest live poker tournaments.  When they entered the Grand Hyatt’s ballroom, players took off running towards the exits in a desperate attempt to avoid the robbers.  In their haste to escape, the players tipped over tables and chairs, which left some people with bruises and scrapes.

Luckily, those were the only injuries during the incident and no security guards were seriously injured either despite briefly scuffling with the gunmen.  There’s no word on whether the robbers have any idea how to play poker, but they did manage to grab a large share of the prize pool when they reportedly made off with over €250,000 of the Main Event money. 

As of now, Berlin police are still looking for suspects and the only lead they have is that a security camera caught one of the criminals with their mask off – but from behind.  Berlin’s police chief Reiner Wendt says that the organizers of the EPT event are at fault for not hiring enough security guards for the event. 

In any case, this scary incident might force many of the 1,000 players in attendance to stay at home and play online poker for a while.  Some of the players were so shaken by the incident that they were given back their €5,000 buy-in.