Thursday, November 05, 2009

High Stakes Poker Season 6 Players Announced

High Stakes Poker season 6's expected players are:
  • Phil Ivey
  • Daniel Negreanu
  • Phil Hellmuth
  • Tom "durrrr" Dwan
  • Doyle Brunson
  • Mike Matusow
  • Patrik Antonius
  • Antonio Esfandiari
  • Barry Greenstein
  • Dennis Phillips
  • David Benyamine
  • Eli Elezra
  • Yevgeniy Timoshenko
  • Allan Meltzer
  • Lex Veldhuis
  • Sammy George
  • Andreas Hoivold
The show will tape 13 episodes at the Golden Nugget from November 11th to 13th. They will air on GSN Sunday nights at 8 PM starting February 14, with reruns at 11 PM and 2 AM. Gabe Kaplan will do commentary alone, and Kara Scott will do interviews. As in the past, blinds will be $400/$800 with a $200,000 minimum buy-in and no prop bets will be allowed. GSN promises "a brand-new look and feel for the show that puts viewers in the thick of the poker action." Note that the above list isn't purported to be complete, and player lineups are never certain until they sit down to play.

Some popular past players not listed:
  • Sammy Farha
  • Phil Laak
  • Todd Brunson
  • Jennifer Harman
Bios of the players are in the comments below. 

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Posted by Self Made at Thursday, November 05, 2009
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8 comments:

  1. GSN's bios of the players, with a few of my comments thrown in:

    Patrik Antonius (previous appearances: HSP3, 4 and 5)—The Helsinki, Finland native and former model and tennis player is considered one of the best short-handed high-stakes cash game players in the world. Antonius is known for his cool, calm, calculating style of play at the tables, which has earned him in excess of $2.84 million in lifetime live tournament winnings. (Ed.: he's one of the biggest online poker winners of all time.)

    David Benyamine (HSP2, 3, 4, 5)—The French native and former pro tennis player now lives in Las Vegas and is considered one of the best high-stakes cash game players in the world, especially in pot-limit Omaha. He owns one WPT open title and one WPT invitational title, and won his first WSOP bracelet in the $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo World Championship in 2008. With lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $3.47 million, he ranks #2 on France’s all-time money list.

    Doyle Brunson (HSP1, 2, 3, 4, 5)—At the age of 76, Brunson is perhaps the greatest player of all time, and is the author of several books, including Super System and Super System II. Impressively, he won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1976 and 1977. Ranked 33rd on the all-time money list, he has lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $5.87 million. He’s the owner of 10 WSOP bracelets, and has left his mark on the game: the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic was renamed the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in 2007.

    Tom Dwan (HSP5)—Known to his huge online fan base as “durrrr,” Dwan is considered one of poker’s premier cash game players despite his young age. He made two final tables in the 2008 World Series of Poker (the first he was old enough to play in), and has live career tournament winnings in excess of $1.12 million. (Ed.: he's the biggest online no-limit hold 'em winner of all time.)

    Eli Elezra (HSP1, 2, 3, 4, 5)—A former member of an Israeli army commando unit, Elezra is a highly successful Las Vegas businessman and entrepreneur who considers poker just a hobby—but boasts lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $1.91 million. He won his first World Series bracelet in 2007 in 7-card stud hi/lo, and also owns one WPT title.

    Antonio Esfandiari (HSP1, 2, 3, 4, 5)—“The Magician” is indeed a former professional magician and has been a regular in this game since the show’s inception. Esfandiari finished 24th in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, and has career live tournament winnings in excess of $3.49 million. He is also the winner of one WSOP bracelet and one WPT title.
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  2. Sammy George (first appearance on HSP)— Born in Baghdad, Iraq, George moved to England when he was eight years old, and is now an extremely successful London businessman who plays in the highest-stakes cash games available. George says he will play deuce/seven like aces if he thinks the psychological make-up of his opponent warrants it. His nickname is “Any Two.”

    Barry Greenstein (HSP1, 2, 3, 4, 5)—Ranked 23rd on the all-time money list, with career live tournament winnings of almost $7 million, Greenstein has been dubbed the “Robin Hood of Poker” for being one of the first players to donate winnings to charity, his favorite being Children, Incorporated. He’s the winner of two WPT titles and three WSOP bracelets, the latest in the 2008 $1500 Razz event. He is the author of Ace on the River, which he signs and gives to any player who knocks him out of the tournament. (Ed.: for about a decade he was the winningest player in The Big Game, the mixed game that was the biggest game in the world at the time.)

    Phil Hellmuth (HSP1, 4)—Known as the “Poker Brat,” Hellmuth was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in July 2007. He won his 11th World Series bracelet in 2007, making him the first and only person in history to do so. With 6 cashes in the 2009 WSOP, he now has more World Series cashes (75) and has made more WSOP final tables (41) than any player in history. His career live tournament winnings are in excess of $10.92 million, and he ranks 4th on the all-time money list. (Ed.: he's famous for his tournament success, but is regarded as a fish in high-stakes cash games.)

    Andreas Hoivold (first appearance on HSP)—The 37-year-old English native now lives in Kristiansand, Norway, and says if he could change one thing about poker, it would be to legalize live poker in Norway. Nicknamed the “Cartoon Collector,” his card protector is a Mickey Mouse. He won the 2007 EPT Dortmund, good for $880,000, and has lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $1.51 million.

    Phil Ivey (HSP3)— Highly regarded by many as the best player in the game today, Ivey ranks 3rd on the all-time money list, with career live tournament winnings in excess of $12.09 million. He’s the winner of seven WSOP bracelets, and one of only five players to win three in one year (2002). He capped off a terrific 2009 WSOP (during which he won two WSOP bracelets) by becoming a member of the November Nine.

    Mike Matusow (HSP2, 3, 4)—Known as “The Mouth” for his trash-talking, Matusow is one of poker’s most recognizable players. He’s the winner of three WSOP bracelets, his latest in the prestigious 2008 $5000 no-limit 2-7 draw event w/rebuys, and has lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $7.29 million. His recently released autobiography, Check-Raising the Devil, is a candid look at his life and the many battles he has faced in his rise to stardom.
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  3. Allan Meltzer (HSP5)—The man who once sold pretzels in the street in Brooklyn is now the president of Wind-up Records, the largest independent recording label in the U.S. A successful high-stakes amateur poker player, Meltzer plays with hedge fund managers in New York, the high-stakes crowd in Hollywood, and in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

    Daniel Negreanu (HSP1, 2, 3, 4, 5)—One of poker’s most likeable personalities, “Kid Poker” owns four WSOP bracelets, the latest in a 2008 WSOP $2000 limit hold ’em event, as well as two WPT titles. With his 2nd place showing in the 2009 WSOPE Main Event in October 2009, he now has lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $12.42 million and ranks #1 on the all-time money list.

    Dennis Phillips (first appearance on HSP)—The 54-year-old is a former account manager for a commercial trucking company—a company he is now in the process of buying. He was a member of the 2008 WSOP November Nine, and finished 3rd in the Championship Event, good for $4.51 million; he has lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $4.76 million. Phillips works with 22 different charities, most notably Multiple Sclerosis, The Pujols Family Foundation, CancerPrevention.org and Juvenile Diabetes. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

    Lex Veldhuis (first appearance on HSP)—Born in Vlissingen, Netherlands, Velhuis now splits his time between Rotterdam and Las Vegas as a jet-setting pro. A former gamer, he currently multitables high-stakes cash games online, where he’s known by his screen name “RaSZi,” and has topped the PokerStars Tournament Leader Board twice. He finished 7th in the 2009 WSOP $40,000 NLHE 40th Anniversary Event, good for $277,000. (Ed.: Evelyn Ng is his girlfriend last I heard).

    Yevgeniy Timoshenko (first appearance on HSP)—Born in Ukraine in 1988, Timoshenko lives in Seattle, Washington, and is also known by screennames “Jovial Gent” and “Bballer88.” He won the 2009 WPT Championship, good for $2.15 million, as well as the World Championship of Online Poker Main Event in 2009, good for $1.71 million. He has lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $3.22 million and is ranked 4th on the 2009 money list.
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  4. The maximum buyin has been reported as either $400,000 or $500,000, so I've removed that part of the post. The lower number is from a less-reliable (Dennis Phillips) but more recent source than the $500,000 number (Mori Eskandani to Poker Listings a while back).
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  5. Reports of who will play on High Stakes Poker are notoriously unreliable, but here are a few of the rumors:
    - Andrew Feldman was actually confirmed by a production company representative at one point, but didn't appear on the above list.
    - Elky, a PokerStars-sponsored player, was reported to be playing (it's in French).
    - Peter Eastgate has said he's playing.
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  6. Greg Raymer was invited but won't play:

    ...except for some of the rich amateurs (i.e., Guy), who has been on HSP and is sensibly rolled for it? Pretty much nobody. So almost all of them are either staked or playing way over their limits.

    I was also invited to play in this, as I have been in seasons past. I've always said no, because I don't have the 10-20M bankroll you should have to sensibly participate. I am pretty much 100% certain that PS is not going to stake anybody in this show. PS pros are probably more likely to be invited than in seasons past, but if they play, its their own money, or their backers.

    If DP chooses to play on his own dime, then he is overplaying his bankroll. But its his BR to do with as he wishes. If he is getting staked, then he is obviously making a huge +EV decision, as it is presumably a freeroll for him.

    DP = Dennis Phillips
    BR = bankroll
    PS = PokerStars
    Guy = Guy Laliberte
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  7. Mori Eskandani told Poker News Daily: "This year, Meltzer will be playing, but we didn’t want to go to the same recreational players we always went to. Several that we went to ended up having cold feet."
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  8. Sammy George didn't play. Hellmuth was reportedly a last-minute replacement for Timoshenko on day one.
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