The amount of player traffic a site gets can be very important.  At the end of the day biggest is often the best in the online poker world, because more action means more money and more game choice.  With that in mind here are the biggest poker sites/networks for European and American players.

4 biggest poker sites for European Players

PokerStars
Full Tilt
Party Poker
iPoker Network (eg Titan Poker)

4 biggest poker sites for American Players

Pokerstars
Full Tilt
Cereus Network (eg Ultimate Poker)
Cake Network (eg Cake Poker and Doyles Room)

With 43 events gone at this year’s WSOP it’s time for a bit of a summary so far.

It has largely been the year of the unknown players with several notable exceptions.   Some of the more familiar names to win bracelets are:

Event 2: Michael Mizrachi
Event 5: Praz Bansi
Event 10: Men “The Master” Nguyen
Event 11: Matt Matros
Event 21: Richard Ashby
Event 23: Dutch Boyd
Event 24: Sammy Farha
Event 37: Phil Ivey
Event 38: Scott Montgomery

Some of the guys have gone close include Neil Channing (2nd in Event 6), Brandon Adams (2nd in Event 10), Tom Dwan (2nd in Event 11), Men Nguyen (2nd in Event 32), Bill Chen (2nd in Event 37), Richard Ashby (2nd in Event 43)

With 14 events left to play let us see if any other big names can hit a big score.

Phil Laak is going to attempt to break the World Record for a continuous poker session.   The current record is held by Paul Zimbler and stands at 78 hours.   When Zimbler got that record he ended the 78 hours as a hallucinogenic zombie, so god knows how Laak will be looking if he gets to his targeted 80 hours.

The attempt is going to start on the 2nd June at the Bellagio Poker Room in Las Vegas.   Good luck Phil, you nutter.

There are 6 events of the European Championship of Online Poker (ECOOP) remaining.  The Main Event takes on the 6th June and has a guaranteed prizepool of $1.5 million dollars!  Not bad. 

If you are interested in taking a shot at this tournament then join Titan Poker and receive a bonus up to $525.00

615 entrants paid the $10,300 entry fee to play the SCOOP Main Event on Pokerstars.  The winner was toetagU who won over one million dollars

1st toetagU $1,162,350
2nd Sumpas $851,775
3rd BradL $627,300
4th DuckU $473,550
5th cpfactor $332,100
6th BongBob $261,375
7th siola $199,875
8th jpmetalman $138,375
9th delaney_kid $94,095

After DuckU busted there was some discussion about a possible deal.  At first toetagU was reluctant to even see the numbers.  Then when they did agree to see the numbers it was actually Sumpas (in 3rd place in chips at the time) who refused to accept them and wanted to play on.   After a long 3 way battle, and a long heads-up battle toetagU eventually emerged the winner.

To play similar big tournaments to this register to play holdem at Pokerstars

FTOPS XVI Schedule.   The 16th FTOPS on Full Tilt Poker is now underway.  It runs until Sunday 2nd May.   The FTOPS is an online poker tournaments series, comprising of 30 events, 21 of which are in the most popular game Texas Holdem.   If you fancy giving it a go then sign-up to play the FTOPS and get a $600 deposit bonus.

Event #1
Friday April 23rd 14:00 ET
$216 NL Holdem
$750,000 Guaranteed

Event #2 Friday April 23rd 18:00 ET
$322 NL Holdem
Super Turbo 6max
$300,000 Guaranteed

Event #3
Friday April 23rd 21:00 ET
$216 Limit Holdem 6max
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #4
Saturday April 24th 14:00 ET
$535 PLO 6max
$400,000 Guaranteed

Event #5
Saturday April 24th 16:00 ET
$109 NL Holdem Rebuy
$600,000 Guaranteed
 
Event #6
Saturday April 24th 18:00 ET
$216 NL Holdem Rush Turbo
$250,000 Guaranteed
 
Event #7
Sunday April 25th 14:00 ET
$129 NL Holdem Knockout
$800,000 Guaranteed

Event #8
Sunday April 25th 16:00 ET
$500 + $35 NL Holdem Heads Up
$500,000 Guaranteed

Event #9
Sunday April 25th 18:00 ET
$322 NL Holdem
$1,250,000 Guaranteed

Event #10
Monday April 26th 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 PLO/8
$200,000 Guaranteed

Event #11
Monday April 26th 18:00 ET
$322 NL Holdem
Quadruple Shootout 6max Turbo
$300,000 Guaranteed

Event #12
Monday April 26th 21:00 ET
$1,060 NL Holdem 6max
$1,250,000  Guaranteed

Event #13
Tuesday April 27th 14:00 ET
$240 + $16 PLO Rush Knockout
$200,000 Guaranteed

Event #14
Tuesday April 27th 18:00 ET
$216 NL Holdem Turbo
$400,000 Guaranteed

Event #15
Tuesday April 27th 21:00 ET
$535 HORSE
$250,000 Guaranteed

Event #16
Wednesday April 28th 14:00 ET
$216 7-Game
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #17
Wednesday April 28th 18:00 ET
$216 NL Holdem Cashout
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #18
Wednesday April 28th 21:00 ET
$322 NL Holdem 6max Rebuy
$1,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #19
Thursday April 29th 14:00 ET
$216 NL Holdem
1 rebuy and 1 add-on
$600,000 Guaranteed

Event #20
Thursday April 29th 18:00 ET
$322 PLO Heads Up
$250,000 Guaranteed

Event #21
Thursday April 29th 21:00 ET
$109 Stud Hi-Lo
$100,000  Guaranteed

Event #22
Friday April 30th 14:00 ET
$216
NL Holdem 6max
$400,000 Guaranteed

Event #23
Friday April 30th 14:00 ET
$535
NL Holdem Quadruple Shootout
$350,000 Guaranteed

Event #24
Friday April 30th 21:00 ET
$322
Razz
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #25
Saturday May 1st 14:00 ET
$2,100
NL Holdem
Ante From Start
2 Day Event
$2,000,000  Guaranteed

Event #26
Saturday May 1st 16:00 ET
$109
PLO Rebuy
$400,000  Guaranteed

Event #27
Saturday May 1st 21:00 ET
$535
NL Holdem
Super Turbo Knockout
$350,000 Guaranteed

Event #28
Sunday May 2nd 14:00 ET
$256
NL Holdem Knockout 6max
$1,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #29
Sunday May 2nd 16:00 ET
$163
NL Holdem Rush Rebuy
$500,000  Guaranteed

Main Event
Sunday May 2nd 18:00 ET
$640
NL Holdem
$3,000,000 Guaranteed

Annette Obrestad, famed for playing poker very succussfully online from a young age has finally turned 21, and is therefore finally eligible to play the WSOP in Las Vegas.

The series starts at the end of May and with a whole string of wins to her name only a fool would bet against her going deep in one event or another.  A final table seems a distinct possibilty, as ludicrous as that sounds given the field sizes.   And who would rule out an actual bracelet?  Not many.

 If you fancy trying to qualify for the WSOP yourself then Full Tilt have some great satellites where you can win large WSOP Packages.  Play a WSOP satellite now at Full Tilt Poker

It was interesting on a recent episode of High Stakes Poker on the TV.  They asked all the players individually who they thought the best poker player in the world is, and all of them answered Phil Ivey.  Without exception.  It is impressive how one player can carry so much respect.  And no doubt deserved too.

Ivey’s results and winnings in tournaments and cash games speak for themselves and the fact that he has been succesful in many many differnt games, not just holdem, backs that up even further.  Not only that but he has also been very successful online, which really makes him the full and complete package.

If you would like to see Phil Ivey play online, or even play against him at one of the cash tables then sign up to Full Tilt Poker where he plays exclusively.

Sometimes it is nice just to be able to play poker without having to download anything. Well at Party Poker you can. You can literally play poker online just straight in a browser window the same as when you visit any regular website page. No download at all. Great for keeping your PC free from software, and a lot less hassle.

The site is great too. Party Poker actually won the Poker Operator on the Year award in 2009 at the eGaming awards.

If you fancy giving instant play poker (no download) a go then sign up to Party Poker and get a bonus up to $500 at the same time

Tony G is probably one of the best NL Holdem cash players in the world.   His table talk inevitably helps put the odd player on tilt, but I think he a nice guy despite his doubters.   However what interests me more is how big is Tony G’s bankroll?

With generosity such as this below, it can easily be assumed to be way into the millions:

• In 2006 he won $451,700 in an Asian Poker Tour event and decided to give half of money to charity.
• The 2007 he won $205K for winning the Moscow Millions Main Event.  He gave all of that to various Russian orphanages.
• In the last few years he has donated all of his live tournament winnings to charity.
• When a big series comes there is usually a high rollers event.  And who is there almost without fail?  Mr Tony G.
• Then look at this year.  He has agreed to stake Isidur1 at the nosebleed stakes on Full Tilt in 2010.  If you want to see Isidur1 in action then sign up and visit Full Tilt Poker.

It is safe to say Tony G isnt short of a few bob.  And we at Play Holdem Online for one, wish him continued success.