San Jose, Costa Rica (PRWEB) June 13, 2008
The PocketFives.com online poker community has been buzzing for the past week about the play of two of its members, Grant “drossxyu” Hinkle and Michael “worldsgrtest” Banducci. Each took home a coveted World Series of Poker bracelet, the first pieces of hardware won by members of the site. PocketFivesLive.com was at the Rio in Las Vegas providing live WSOP coverage of each event.
Hinkle emerged victorious in Event #2, which attracted the largest non-Main Event tournament field in WSOP history at nearly 4,000 players. He cashed for $ 831,462, a fine return on his $ 1,500 buy-in. He commented to PocketFives.com on the moments following his groundbreaking win: “Following the river card, it was total euphoria. Every time I had a moment to think about it, it brought a huge grin to my face. It was a dream come true.”
Banducci cashed for $ 636,736 and his first WSOP bracelet in Event #5. In a long three-way battle with Peter Gould and Jeff “yellowsub” Williams, Banducci emerged the victor. He commented after the tournament ended, “The amount of time it takes to become a good player is reduced by playing (on the computer). We play so many hands. We talk to our friends (about the hands). You learn so fast. I think younger players understand the fundamentals much better.”
This week’s PocketFives.com poker rankings update features a two-spot climb for “shaundeeb,” who is now ranked #5 in the world at online tournament play. He recently took down the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up for $ 102,500 and had a final table in the FTOPS $ 300 rebuy for another $ 38,500. Phillip “USCphildo” Collins moves up one to #9 this week following his second place finish in the Full Tilt $ 1K Monday tournament for $ 58,700. Kory “s00tedj0kers” Kilpatrick enters the rankings this week at #67 after capturing the PocketFives.com Triple Crown in early June. He’s had two cashes over $ 50,000 in the last two weeks: a win in the PokerStars $ 100 rebuy and a second place showing in the Stars Sunday Warm-Up.
PocketFivers have had quite a bit of success lately, winning nearly half the Sunday major tournaments over the last month. Denmark’s second-ranked online tournament player, “Kongsgaard,” took home $ 158,500 after taking down the PokerStars Sunday Million. “OnlyPlayRagz” justified his entrance into the Top 100 with an outright victory in the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Brawl for $ 62,700; while Kenny “Kenny Rap” Weinstein won the PokerStars $ 200 rebuy for over $ 46K. Long-time online tournament player Allen “Aawwnutz” Carter took first in the UltimateBet $ 200K Guaranteed for $ 45,000 and “WiCane” won the Stars Sunday Second Chance for $ 45,700. “JohnGalt” earned $ 23,600 for his victory in the Bodog $ 100K.
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