REAL POKER MASTERY

CardRunners, one of the top online poker training sites in the game today, announced yesterday the addition of top Norwegian Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) master Andreas “Skjervøy” Torbergsen to their roster of poker talent, with his first video for the site set to debut today.

Torbergsen, who will also step up to become a Full Tilt Poker red pro with his new status on CardRunners, has routinely terrorized the PLO world online. He has seven figures in earnings on both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, playing anywhere from $2/$4 PLO Six Handed tables to the rarefied air of $100/$200. Even with these sterling statistics online, “Skjervøy” doesn’t hesitate to take his chances in the live arena.

His first exposure to live poker success came in the biggest arena the game has to offer, the World Series of Poker. In 2008, Andreas made an outstanding run in the 6,844 player field to finish in 551st place, earning $23,160. Since that time, Torbergsen has earned two other cashes at the Norwegian Poker Championship, but primarily plays online now.

CardRunners founder Taylor Caby knows Torbergsen’s skills quite well and is excited about the newest member of Team CardRunners. “Andreas is an incredible PLO player and he’s a great addition to our talented group of instructors,” Caby stated during the announcement. “I can’t wait to see his first video!” With his skill set, Andreas will be doing high-stakes PLO videos for CardRunners.

In an interview on the CardRunners site, Torbergsen took the time to give some background to participants on their forums. “I’m from Skjervøy (hence the screen name), a small town in Norway with 2500 people,” Andreas replied to one of the questions posed. “ I moved out from home at 17 to go to high school in Tromsø… (many) poker players with success are from there, especially the old Prima crew.”

When asked about how he became interested in poker, Andreas stated that his father was his first exposure to the game. “We would play five card draw for nickels and dimes…I was about twelve years old,” Torbergsen reminisced. “I really got into poker when I was 19, in a weekly game with two friends I shared a house with.”

Torbergsen gave his first advice on poker during the Q&A, regarding how he got his start playing PLO. “I gave myself a PLO roll, which I kept separate from what I would play No Limit Hold’em, on Party Poker and I grinded it up,” Andreas advised. “After some time, I was able to reach a stake where I started playing $10/$20 PLO there in late 2006.”

Finally, Andreas was asked how his time at the WSOP this year went. “In the Main Event, I got a nice stack off of an older guy early,” he reported. “The blinds were 150/300, he limps cut-off, button limps, I complete QTo in the small blind and the big blind checks. The flop came perfect for me – A-K-J rainbow – and I check the small blind. It‘s checked to the gentleman in the cutoff, who bet 1100, and the button folds. I make it 3000, everyone gets out of the way except the old guy. He makes it 10500 and I just shove 30k more since he clearly thinks he has the nuts and he snaps AJ.” Torbergsen’s endgame wasn’t good, however. “In the end, I lasted into Day 3 in the Main Event but didn’t cash.”

The addition of Torbergsen to the CardRunners staff means there is yet another excellent instructor for players to learn from. With such players as 2010 WSOP bracelet winner Matt Matros, potential “durrrr Challenge” opponent Jungleman12 and “LearnedFromTV” on their roster (among others), the CardRunner teaching staff has something for whatever form of poker a player is looking to improve in.

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Topics: HR 2267, statement from Alfonse D’Amato, bwin/PartyGaming merger and Vegas Casinos headed to the auction block.

Coming up on the Daily Deal, we’ll continue the discussion about the house committee passing HR 2267, get a statement from the PPA’s Alfonse D’Amato, find out which two poker superpowers are merging, and find out which vegas casinos are headed for the auction block.

Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily. We start once again with news out of Washington, as the victory celebration continues for poker. Thanks to the work of Barney Frank and the Poker Players Alliance, progress was made with the committee passing of HR 2267. It might just be a first step in a long journey to get online poker legalized in the United States, but at this point many are very encouraged with the progress. The bill is now heading to the House of Representatives for a majority vote. Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the PPA said,

“Congress has a choice — it can license and regulate it to provide government oversight and consumer protections, or our lawmakers can stick their heads in the sand, ignore it, and leave consumers to play on non-U.S. regulated websites in all 50 states. I’m glad the Financial Services Committee today overwhelmingly chose to act and protect Americans as well as preserve the fundamental freedoms of adults and the Internet.”

Big news out of Europe as a long rumored merger in the online gaming industry was revealed when Austrian based BWIN and Gibraltar based PartyGaming announced their merger. The pact is expected to be completed by the first quarter of two thousand eleven and will create the largest publically traded online gaming conglomerate in the industry. According to Gaming Intelligence, the two companies combined to earn six hundred and eight two million euros in 2009. The merger does have some roadblocks left to clear, one of which is approval of seventy five percent of each company’s stock holders. Stock prices of both companies saw sharp increases in value once the announcement was made.

News out of Vegas tells us after months of legal troubles, Station Casinos filed papers indicating that it has reached a settlement with a group to keep the company afloat and out of bankruptcy. Some of the properties include the Red Rock Resort and Boulder and Palace Station. Another eleven of Station’s properties are going to go up for auction next week.

Well that does it for today’s edition of The Daily deal and we thank you for tuning in. Be sure to follow us at twitter dot come slash poker news daily and come back to our site for the latest poker news and interviews. I’m sean Gibson wishing you a fantastic poker weekend!

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Frank Kassela is a player that took his game to the next level during the 2010 World Series of Poker. He was the only man able to win multiple bracelets, assuming that Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi does not win the Main Event in November. If Mizrachi fails to win it all, then Kassela will officially be the 2010 WSOP Player of the Year. He’s no stranger to the live tournament circuit or the Rio in Las Vegas as he’s regularly attended and played in the World Series for many years.

Kassela was born in 1968 in Chicago, Illinois and is a professional poker player that resides full time in Las Vegas. His two bracelets from the 2010 WSOP came first in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship event. His next bracelet was in the $2,500 Razz event. Not to be outdone, he final tabled the 2010 WSOP $25,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-max event for a cash of $556,053 as well as the Main Event in 674th place for $21,327.

In this interview with Bernard Lee, Kassela talks about his great run and what he did before the Series started that turned out so well for him this time around. He also touches on his cash game play and answers the trademark four questions from Bernard Lee, dubbed The Hijack Seat.

Bernard Lee is an official correspondant for Poker News Daily and can be found on the airwaves in the New England area as well as on ESPN’s Inside Deal.

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