blonde Poker 2011 Advent Calendar

[celtic]

never met him but defo seems to be one of the gooduns.

sick brag

[smashedagain]

Nice pick again and genuine guy. But they say behind every great man is......  Well I can't remember what they say but I'm sure mrs hopo deserves some credit

[kinboshi]

Bawbag

Very much this.

[DMorgan]

lol never read it and never met Stu but this diary sounds sick, will definitely have a look!

[outragous76]

Stuart hopkin is  hero

he has locked me out of his house and stood me up for drinks, but he is still a fkn hero

An all round heroic friend - what a bawse!

[EvilPie]

So gay. Costs me a f**king fortune in holidays that I really didn't need to go on.

Bird Hopkin has helped save me from going totally busto now that he doesn't need quite so much man love.

Always good if you need a curry/drinking partner though.

[mulhuzz]

he should drink more havanna7, but good diary!

[Karabiner]

A well-deserved accolade for blondes top tipster.

[millidonk]

Hopkin is a massive hero and i will never knock another one of his tips/fancies again.

[DUNK619]

met him a few times top bloke

[MrsHopkino]

Stu woke me up this morning with....... Have you seen the Advent Calender?? I'm in it!!

So I had a wee read and wow some lovely comments, which I already know are very true!!

Stu is a great guy and he has always been there for me through thick and thin, always wants to make me smile!

I'am very grateful to have found a Stu....... If you haven't already........ Everyone should find themselves a Stu ;-)

Love you Stu xxx

[TightEnd]

Behind door number 12...is a slight change of plan

[pleno1]

Today at 11:11:11 AM »

[TightEnd]

Of course it's not every day that the majority owner of the site ships $800k+.

I think we might be hearing the phrase "rest" as much in 2012 on the blonde poker staking boards as we did in 2011

A well deserved win at the Bellagio, and I am sure everyone is delighted for James "Royal Flush" Dempsey. Except his ex-barber



The WPT site gives us the weekend's amazing story

What began as an errand ended as a dream come true for James Dempsey.  The British poker pro came to Las Vegas as a favor to friend Chris Moorman, who needed someone to pick up some money for him.  Dempsey ending up picking up quite a nice payday for himself, winning the Season X Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $821,612.

As is always the case at the Bellagio, this year's final table wa sa stacked one with reigning champ and two-time WPT winner Antonio Esfandiari, November Niner Soi Nguyen, online poker phenom Andrew Lichtenberger, WPT Jacksonville Fall Series 4th place finisher Vitor Coelho, Dempsey, and WSOP bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst.

Esfandiari's hopes for a repeat victory were dashed early in the evening when he busted on just the tenth hand of play.  Dempsey was on the button and raised enough to put Esfandiari all-in from the big blind.  Esfandiari called with Aheart10spade and was out front of Dempsey's Adiamond4heart, but Dempsey managed to turn a four to send the Magician out in sixth place.

Just two hands later, Coelho joined Esfandiari on the rail when he put the remainder of his dwindling stack in with pocket eights, but couldn't hold against the overcards of Nguyen and Selbst.  Coelho's fifth place finish did help him move to second behind Will Failla in this year's WPT Player of the Year race.

The actin kept coming at rapid fire pace, with Selbst doubling thru Lichtenberger and Lichtenberger subsequently going out in fourth place when he four-bet shoved all-in holding pocket eights and Nguyen made a big call with pocket nines.  The hand sent Lichtenberger to the rail and sent Nguyen to the top of the chip counts going into three-handed play.

Dempsey evened up the stacks just six hand later when he made a big call of his own.  Selbst four-bet shoved holding Kclub9spade and Dempsey called her all-in with a dominating Aheart9club.  The 6diamond5heart4heartAclub board left Selbst drawing dead by the turn, and with the 5club on the river she headed out in third place.

Selbst's exit left Dempsey and Nguyen heads-up and virtually dead even in chips after just 41 hands of action.  From there, the speedy pace of the tournament screeched to a halt as the two players battled back and forth over the course of more than 80 hands of heads-up action.

The two sparred at first, but Nguyen eventually moved out to a substantial chip lead after getting paid off by Dempsey on a couple of big hands.  Dempsey managed to rally back though, doubling thru Nguyen to stay in contention, then doubling thru him again to take a big chip lead of his own.

That hand left Nguyen in a position where he needed a quick double up to stay alive.  It wasn't long before Nguyen took his stand, moving all-in over the top of a raise from Dempsey holding KclubJdiamond. Unfortunately for Nguyen, Dempsey called and had him dominated with KheartQclub.

Nguyen got lucky with the Jclub9heart6club and his pair of jacks remained out front with the 4heart on turn, but Dempsey hits a lucky card of his own with the 10diamond on the river to make a straight worth over $800,000 and a WPT title.

Dempsey's errand was an excuse to play in his first-ever WPT event.  Now he is a WPT champion and won't need any excuse to be back at Bellagio in May, when he will take his seat in the Season X WPT World Championship.

Here are the final table results from the Five Diamond Main Event:

1st: James Dempsey - $821,612 (includes $25,500 WPT World Championship seat)
2nd: Soi Nguyen - $517,478
3rd: Vanessa Selbst - $338,351
4th: Andrew Lichtenberger - $218,933
5th: Vitor Coelho - $159,224
6th: Antonio Esfandiari - $119,418

I think Flushy's intention is (was?) to play the Monte Carlo this weekend, so I am sure a number of you who will be there can add your congratulations in person   

[tikay]

Been away for a few days, so on catch up today.

Bopkin? Excellent inclusion, another good selection by Tighty.

I admit, I don't read Bopkin's Diary - can't read them all - and alcohol consumption is not a subject that sets me on fire, to be honest. But I do know that whenever I encounter the Bopkinator, if he's had a drink, he's the greatest type of drunkard there is - glazed eyes, funny as hell, & a bugger to beat at poker.

More to the point, as someone already noted, he's a proper bloke, & if there's a scrap going off, I want him in my corner.

He shares one trait with Matt Russell, too, though Matt has not made the Advent Calendar...... many Posts & Posters are utterly predictable, but with those two lads, they always come up with the curveball, the angle you least expect, & do so with dry, understated, humour, so their Posts are must-reads. Long may they both remain blondes, even though Matt never made the Advent List. (Just saying).