The finale of the 22nd Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS, took place over the weekend. The Main Event was smaller than in years past, but still mustered a field of 3,653 entrants to create a prize pool of nearly $2.2 million. By comparison, the last two FTOPS Main Events, both of which were also $640 Multi-Entry Tournaments, had prize pools of $2.8 million.

The latest installment of the PocketFives Online Poker Rankings was released on Wednesday. No movement occurred in the top four, but longtime PocketFiver Illini213 (pictured) moved up two spots and can now be found at #5 worldwide. Belarus' Legenden, who has been in the top spot since March 27, remains out in front.

online tournament player T3G3S picked up his largest career online poker tourney cash over the weekend with an outright victory in the PokerStars SCOOP-22-M for $249,245 while fellow member Vinicius viniciustele Barrel Teles of Brazil (pictured) earned $183,391 for his runner-up performance. LucianoHollanda of Brazil overcame a significant chip deficit to take down the SCOOP-21-M for $110,766 ...

You have to love the ability of poker players to travel. A person's home city is in some cases irrelevant, as they can travel the world in the blink of an eye and the swipe of a credit card. Take Norway's theding, for example, who won a recent running of the Ongame $100K Guaranteed. He is originally from Norway, but now makes his home part-time halfway around the world in Macau (pictured). Best ...

Every player has his own unique story of how he got started in the game. Whether through freerolls, low-stakes tournaments, or a massive flash in the pan, each player built his bankroll in a different way. For Poland's debesciak69, an initial run online didn't go so well, but an affinity for freerolls kept him involved and eventually led to a win in an iPoker iPOPS $135 No Limit Hold'em event ...

On Tuesday, November 27, PokerStars will be hosting an exclusive tournament for the PocketFives community. The buy-in is a scant $1.10 and the winner will receive a $700 Step 5 ticket to qualify for the upcoming PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. As if that weren't enough, PokerStars will also be adding $300 in cash to the prize pool that will be distributed starting with the second place finisher. ...

On Sunday, December 2, PokerStars is holding another PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super Satellite for the PocketFives community. This time around, the tournament takes the form of a password-protected freeroll and gets underway at 12:30pm ET. Our Super Satellite will send the top 150 players into a $10 PCA Satellite that starts shortly afterward, so you could legitimately win your way to the ...

Veteran PocketFiver Kevin kice32 Iacofano, currently ranked #276 worldwide, cashed for $197,052 upon winning the PokerStars Sunday Million weekly flagship tournament following a heads-up deal. Kevin, who has been a member since December 2005, has accumulated more than $2.5 million in career online tournament cashes and also has a couple of six-figure live poker tournament paydays to his credit.

As recently as March 2011, Taylor taypaur Paur (pictured) was ranked #1 on PocketFives. On Monday, Paur, who lists the island of Cyprus as his location in his PocketFives profile, came out on top of the pack in Event #20 of the ongoing Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS, a $1,060 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max Double Chance contest. A total of 387 players turned out and Paur earned $73,000 ...

We have all the heard the Benjamin Franklin quote, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.” It appears that some poker players in Spain are finding this to be true. According to a report by the Spanish language poker news site Poker Red, the Spanish government wants its cut of poker players’ winnings, and it wants it now.

Online poker payment processor Ira Rubin (pictured), one of 11 men indicted on Black Friday, plans to appeal his three-year prison sentence for a second time. PokerFuse has published a handwritten Notice of Appeal mailed by Rubin in late November from the Federal Correctional Institute in Miami to United States District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York indicating his ...

PocketFives can independently confirm that the U.S. subscription-based Zen Entertainment Network of poker sites has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Zen Chief Marketing Officer Luisa Woods told PocketFives in an exclusive statement, "Our first concern is for our players. They need to know what is going to happen to their winnings and we’re working to make sure they are kept informed."

We all like OFC hands where we make a flush on the bottom, two pair in the middle, and a nice pair up top. Those hands happen, but much more commonly, we are scrapping to get a high card or are thrilled to make a pair of fives in the middle so that we don’t foul, unless the case ten pairs us up top. By the way, you can play OFC using this app.

Royalties are extremely important in Open Face Chinese Poker, and preserving the opportunity to make them as long as you can is a key part of the strategy of the game. At the same time, balancing the chance to make royalties with not giving away the other parts of your hand and opening yourself up to getting scooped is also important.

Often, I find myself going for a flush down low, as it is one of the most common royalties to make. But, sometimes going for a flush isn’t the right play, and there are some significant issues with playing for flushes in Open Face Chinese Poker. The four-point bonus is great, but trying to make it can often leave you with a hand that doesn’t build well and is all-or-nothing at the end. You ...

Fantasyland in Open Face Chinese Poker is a variation in which you are rewarded for making a qualifying hand that has a pair of queens or better up top. If you meet the qualifications, you then get to set your next hand after seeing all of your cards, giving you a huge advantage. This variation has caught on and is being played by more and more of the Open Face Chinese community. You can play ...

Back by popular demand in April is the PocketFives League on HogWild Poker. Once again, $500 in cash will be on the line as well as plenty of PocketFives Gear and a bounty of Hog Bucks. The League will be held on Tuesday nights at 10:00pm Eastern Time and everyone, including those players in the United States, can take part. There's no cost to enter. Sign up for HogWild Poker here to be entered ...

There was little movement in the top 10 of the PocketFives Rankings this week, as Belarus' Legenden has a stranglehold on the top spot with 8,457 PLB Points, 400 more than second place. Legenden has been #1 in the Rankings since three weeks ago on March 27 and padded his stats by winning the Full Tilt Super Sized Sunday over the weekend for $38,000 and a whopping 424 PLB Points.

Big scores have varied impacts on players' careers. Some jump up in stakes and volume, some hit the stock market, and others take a little bit of time off. For flyflo, chopping the Full Tilt $350,000 Guaranteed earlier this month means potentially venturing out further into the world of live poker. After all, $68,000 in newfound profit can go quite far. We caught up with flyflo to learn more ...

The latest version of the PocketFives Rankings was released on Wednesday, and Jon PearlJammer Turner (pictured) stood out from the pack. This week, he jumped 11 spots to #8 worldwide and is just 150 PLB Points shy of reaching #7. His month of May has included wins in the PokerStars Hotter $5.50, $55 Rebuy, and $109 No Limit Hold'em Turbo.

Last weekend, Todd Witteles posted on Twitter, "Report: Caesars Nevada online poker to launch within 7 days." Four days later, we haven't heard much from the Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment about a time line for the launch of its real money, regulated online poker site in Nevada. In the meantime, the lone option for Nevada players is Ultimate Poker, which has ties to Fertitta Interactive, ...