New Ranking on Hendon !

The Serial Qualiifer is back, this is very encouraging before Deauville ...

Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:47:20 -0500
From: support@pokerstars.be
Tournament started 2012/01/24 20:19:08 CET 2012/01/24 14:19:08 ET
Dear Zoutechamp,
Dear PokerStars Player,
Congratulations on winning a package to EPT 8 Copenhagen! The Main Event will be taking place from February 20 - February 25 at the Casino Copenhagen, Denmark.

A millions thanks to Simon Young for this great article !

Read the full blog post

Here is an great poker year that ends.

Let's see the result of 2011 with the rankings :

Ranking Cashes EPT All Time : 2nd ex-aequo with Elky (11 cashes)

Top 12 EPT All Time Leaderboard : 9th juste below Mike McDonald

World - GPI :

Belgian Ranking :

What a nice feeling to be back in my favorite casino totally "Pokerstars-standardized" ! Half a century ago I was standing with my parents on the front-door waiting for my 21 birthday to open the doors. Since then and until now, I have been friends with all the different generations of owners and players. Namur has definitely become THE center of the poker community in Belgium.

There reigns an absolute warm and amicable atmosphere and I believe the best is yet to come !

The honor goes to our precursor of us all : Jean Christophe Choffray. Only yesterday I told him that the great hospitality and of course the competence of the entire poker staff in the Casino of Namur is an example for everyone !

And on top of that, our highly estimated national (and internationally estimated) Kenny is running the tournament like a maestro. And with excellent event-manager Cedric, everything is under control.

If you wish to read more about this than go to the below website. You will enjoy the literary style of our best poker-writer Julien. http://www.pokerstarsblog.fr/

The quality of the playing field is at the height of the organization ... great play in Namur !

All of that somehow increases the desire to drag a good performance out of it ... even if the cards dot not always help.

Well, let's tackle day 2B and try to fructify my small 33.000 stack.

Good luck to all of you !

Zoutechamp is Proud to have been the last team pro member on the bridge during the Storm of the Pokerstars 10th anniversary tournament. "Only" 115.000 players got busted before me. It was a real treat to chat with all the players during play and on top of that every one of them more than enjoyed the bounty "PRO Team Headhunting" !

With the eliminations of Dale "DaleRoxxu" Philip of Team Online (12,105th, $23.28), and Ana Marquez of Team PokerStars Spain (11,444th, $23.28), that left just five more representatives of Team PokerStars among the survivors, and thus five more potential bounties to be claimed: Nacho Barbero, Ivan Demidov, Jonathan Duhamel, Alex Kravchenko, and Pierre "Zoutechamp" Neuville.

"I think you got the last bounty pro here gl," typed Pierre "Zoutechamp" Neuville at his table a while later.

Some time after that Neuville became short-stacked, then folded down until he had but 664 chips remaining at which point he pushed his last chips in the middle.

Five opponents limped along for 20,000 each to see if they could earn the final bounty, and in the end it was Luk1985 whose K♠5♣ gave him a pair of fives, good enough to win the pot and $100 as Neuville hit the rail in 1,562nd ($58.20).

Don't miss the rest of the fabulous article on PokerStars's Blog :
http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/10th_anniversary/2011/chrjs2k-thunders-through-field-of-116400-089228.html#more

8 hours of main event, 6 bounty hours = 14 hours of continuous EPT Poker !

Quite happy having found my game back after some recent doubts ! But ... busted just a few minutes before the closing bell of the day.

Convinced that bad luck can not continue for another 12 hour, I hurry - before closure - towards the event 6; the 1000 bounty.

I really appreciate the rhythm of that sort of game, but, it is a bit exaggerated though, 14 hours in a row of poker and the bubble is at 2 o'clock in the morning !

So, I take pleasure in continuing and really after that amount of hours of play one does not take it too seriously anymore.

To all those youngsters in their thirties, wait another 40 years and so will find out ... sooner then you think.

The fact remains that I am still in ... happy not to be the bubble.

Ended in 14th place which is a nice result, glad to add the Czech flag to my list but a pity that the big prices are only attributed to the first 3 with 50.000 for the winner. Third place "only" pays-out 3000 euros.

In brief, it was a fine day of poker, a fight a the highest level. Of course I can do better but we will come back on that later.

Now it is 4 in the morning and about time for a long night's rest.

Nominated in the two main categories of the "As d'Or' ceremony in Spa this week-end, Pierre Neuville has the last few days been successful in accumulating extra points for the category "Clic d'Or" (may I remind you that he is one of the principal nominees)

His first achievement took place during sunday. He ended at a noticeable 5th place during the 160$ freezout of Pokerstars with a field of 1409 players ! His gain = 11.093,87$

His second exploit was during tuesday night, by ending 4th out of 162 players during the strong 320$, 6-handed. His gain = 4.131$

Finally, last night, he ended up 2nd in a field of 415 players during a 54$ turbo bounty. Once again a nice gain = 2.375,50$ (without the bounties)

One can only wonder what can stop this fascinating machine ... apart from technical internet connection problems !

That is exactly what happend last monday. Pierre "only" ended on a 3rd place of a Step G for the EPT Prague. 2 packages were in play. But unfortunately, as all Belgian players , Pierre was confronted with the Pokerstars.be internet connection bug during that night. (he was at that exact moment chipleader with only 3 players remaining !)

Glad to find out however that this connection problem did not harm his excellents warrior spirits !

Yes, you read this well ... A warrior.

I can not find any other words to describe a sponsored player who has the panache to "fight" for the packages that his sponsor is supposed to provide him with. Thus, just 8 days ago, the "Serial Pokerstars Qualifier" set an example by winning also a package for the finals for the Belgium Poker Series in Namur ... like any other player from the room with the red spade.

Respects Sir !

Source - Circus Poker News

Thanks to Julien for this article !

The new December 2011 rankings

Pierre is still in the top 10 but it would be a good time for a new deep run

Regarding the GPI and the Belgian Poker Live Ranking; Pierre managed to stay the first Belgian, the 9th european and the 57th player all around the world ! A nice performance that has to be remembered.

http://pokerlivebe.wordpress.com/category/pokerliveranking-11/

http://www.globalpokerindex.com/this-week/

This week was a good one for Pierre ! He made 3 final tables on PokerStars.be !
Here are the results :

PokerStars Tournament #548011257, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $150.00/$12.00 USD
1409 players
Total Prize Pool: $211350.00 USD
Tournament started 2011/11/27 22:00:00 CET 2011/11/27 16:00:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp,
You finished the tournament in 5th place. A USD 11,095.87 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

PokerStars Tournament #475271649, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $300.00/$20.00 USD
162 players
Total Prize Pool: $48600.00 USD
Tournament started 2011/11/29 19:30:00 CET 2011/11/29 13:30:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp,
You finished the tournament in 4th place. A USD 4,131.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

PokerStars Tournament #475271599, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $40.00/$10.00/$4.00 USD
415 players
Total Prize Pool: $16600.00 USD
Tournament started 2011/11/30 17:00:00 CET 2011/11/30 11:00:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp,
You finished the tournament in 2nd place. A USD 2,365.50 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

Here is one of my most appreciated qualifications; with all my belgian and dutch friends on PoksrStars, a great poker from Belgium !
Everything was perfect, the chat, the poker level, the mood of the players, one of the most agreable way to play poker !
See you soon in Namur,

Een kwalificatie die me bijzonder verheugd. Spelen met mijn Belgische en Hollandse vrienden staat altijd garant voor een uitstekende ambiance van bij ons.
Leuke chat animatie. Puur on-line poker plezier !
Gezellig, sympathiek, en leuke poker !
Tot ziens allemaal !

Pierre

Dear PokerStars Player,

Congratulations on winning a main event entry worth €1.700 to the Belgian Poker Series Grand Final in Namur, Belgium. This No-Limit Texas Hold'em poker tournament will take place at the Casino of Namur from the 10th to 18th December 2011.

All players who enter this Belgian Poker Series event are required to sign a media release and waiver form in advance of the tournament. Players who do not sign the form will not be allowed to participate.

Cash games and side events will be available throughout the event period commencing on the 10th of December.

Here is the schedule for the event:
Day 1A: Saturday 10 December
Day 1B: Sunday 11 December
Day 1C: Monday 12 December
Day 1D: Tuesday 13 December
Day 2A: Wednesday 14 December
Day 2B: Thursday 15 December
Day 3: Friday 16 December
Day 4: Saturday 17 December
Day 5: Sunday 18 December

If you have any preference for a starting day, please notify us of this before December 4 at registrations@pokerstars.com, so we can arrange this for you.

Go to the following page for more details about the Belgian Poker Series: http://www.belgianpokerseries.com/index.html

The minimum age to enter the Casino of Namur is 21. The dress code for the casino is smart casual (no shorts, sandals, sportswear, beach clothes or ripped jeans). Please also make sure that you bring a valid passport or ID card as you will need this to register in the casino. Also, if you need a VISA, please do not forget to apply for one.

It might also be useful to have a look at the following page: www.pokerstars.be/en/poker/promotions/belgian-poker-series/

Email us at bps@pokerstars.com if you have any questions.

You can follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/BelgianPokerSeries

Thank you for playing on PokerStars and we look forward to seeing you at the BPS in Belgium!

Regards,

The PokerStars Event Planning Team

Beste PokerStarsspeler,

Gefeliciteerd met het winnen van een plaats voor het Main Event van de Belgian Poker Series Grand Final in Namen in België ter waarde van € 1.700. Dit No Limit Texas Hold’em-pokertoernooi vindt plaats van 10-18 december in het Casino de Namur.

Alle spelers die meedoen aan dit evenement van de Belgian Poker Series zijn verplicht voordat het toernooi begint een vrijwaringsformulier te tekenen voor de media. Spelers die het formulier niet tekenen mogen niet meedoen aan het evenement.

Er zijn vanaf 10 december en tijdens het evenement cashgames en nevenevenementen beschikbaar.

Dit is het programma van het evenement:
Dag 1a: zaterdag 10 december
Dag 1b: zondag 11 december
Dag 1c: maandag 12 december
Dag 1d: dinsdag 13 december
Dag 2a: woensdag 14 december
Dag 2b: donderdag 15 december
Dag 3: vrijdag 16 december
Dag 4: zaterdag 17 december
Dag 5: zondag 18 december

Mocht je een voorkeur hebben voor een begindag, laat dit ons dan voor 4 december weten door een e-mail te sturen naar registrations@pokerstars.com zodat we dit voor je kunnen regelen.

Ga naar de volgende pagina voor meer informatie over de Belgian Poker Series: http://www.belgianpokerseries.com/nl/

Om toegang te verkrijgen tot het Casino de Namur moet je minimaal 21 zijn. De dresscode is nette vrijetijdskleding (geen korte broeken, slippers, sportkleding, strandkleding of kapotte spijkerbroeken). Zorg dat je een geldig paspoort of identiteitsbewijs bij je hebt, want dit heb je nodig om het casino binnen te komen. Vergeet niet indien van toepassing een visum aan te vragen.

Misschien is het ook handig om op de volgende pagina te kijken:

www.pokerstars.be/nl/poker/promotions/belgian-poker-series/

Mocht je nog vragen hebben, e-mail dan naar bps@pokerstars.be.

Volg ons op facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/BelgianPokerSeries

Bedankt voor het spelen bij PokerStars en we zien je graag op de BPS in België!

Met vriendelijke groet,

PokerStars Team Evenementen

The constistancy of my resultats during the past 3 years has maintained me in the world top 60 for 16 weeks in a row ! It's getting pretty hard to stay in there without making a huge result. Next week it will be Kenny who is going to make a huge leap forward with his winnings in Loutraki !

I invite you all to join me this sunday on PokerStars !

Details:
SUNDAY STORM
The 10th Anniversary Sunday Storm tourney will have a first prize of $150K Gtd. The details are as follows:
Date: December 11
Time: 13:30 ET
Buy-In: $11
Prize Pool Guarantee: $1,000,000
Prizes: $150,000 Gtd for 1st, plus $100 bounties all Team Pros
Tourney ID: 469008644

But when will this interminable series end?

I’ve put on my nice Sunday shirt, my Pokerstars badges, my patience; now I sit in front of my short stack and don’t move for 11 hands, waiting for the best opportunity. Finally, AK diamonds! Someone who should keep still jumps in enthusiastically with A8 ... and the river, capricious temptress that she is, seems to forget that there are still 41 other cards which can double my stack.... no, she decides to show one of the three 8's left ...

50th of 335, 36 ITM, I sit and watch for 30 minutes, play one hand, return to the hotel until Tuesday for the qualification for the main event.

However, apart from that, the atmosphere is very pleasant, good-natured; the Dutch hosts, both in the hotel and the casino, are ten times nicer than the French in Cannes.

Hello from Amsterdam !

With a starting stack of 15.000, I played tight and sticked to my image and went up to 50.000.

Then the last two hours where a complete mess ... no cards, blinds were going up fast ... I managed to survive and kept 20.000 of my stack, only 8BB but there was nothing else to do.

We are still 65 on the 323 players at the beginning of the day. Let's see if the cards will be there in my few first hands sunday at 2PM.

Here are the latest tournament leaderboard and Global Poker Index !

Pierre remains in the top ten for the EPT TLB and in the top 50 for the GPI with his latest results.

But what a pleasure to be back in San Remo, in the bosom of the EPT "family".
It seems that there is nothing sensational to write when things are going well; our newspapers just fill themselves with scandals, crimes or other bad news; artists, writers claiming to be massacred by professional critics, etc.

Because I am only good amateur, a retired man, happy to be so well received within this global world of poker, today I want to write some news which is not simply "everything is going wonderfully on the European Poker Tour".

The goals of this little note are to say a big ‘thank you’ to all those who make up this EPT microcosm and who make my life so pleasant, but also at the same time to respond to you, the thousands of Poker fans who write that - and this is fully understood by the Serial PokerStars Qualifier – if they could simply play even one EPT, just once, alongside the top players of the world, a lifelong dream would be fulfilled.

I am currently writing a pretty big chronicle to be published in 12 chapters on PokerListings (translated into 9 languages) to help these poker aficionados realize their dream. But in the meantime, I want most of all to break down the barriers that prevent thousands of players from joining us on an EPT. This is for all those who hesitate, who ask a thousand questions; I’ll take you by the hand and guide you on a tour of the EPT in San Remo.

First of all, the price: no, on your first attempt you are not obliged to play the main event; each EPT is a festival of poker with a week of poker tournaments in all price ranges, starting at a 300-euro buy-in - your personal main event, you may very well secure an excellent 1k.

Then we have the facilities: the EPT is the best poker organisation in the world, it combines hospitality, warmth and professionalism... you don’t have to complete any kind of advance registration, everything is planned to welcome you as an avid friend of poker.

Nobody has asked me to write this note, but I have spent a lot of time with large multinationals, global organisations in the world of sports such as the Table Tennis Tour, the Golf PGA, and, well, I can assure you that nowhere have I come across the kind of organisational precision, laid over with a dusting of general kindness, that there is in an EPT.

It will in fact be "no news", but since it isn’t explained anywhere, I’m going to remove the mysterious side of the EPT; for all of you who follow it from a distance, I invite you to join me on a tour of the first contact with an EPT tournament. This will be my "unlimited thanks" to all those who, as was so well written by John Wenzel in Poker Pro Magazine, have made me the happiest poker player in the world for my eternity.

Read the full article

Here is the story of my premature exit from San Remo; after the now-famous pre-flop KK fold in Cannes, my subconscious was not prepared to cower in prudence.

So much has been said recently about my game that they consider me super-cautious and not made to win a big tournament (nobody takes into account the run of bad luck that I’ve had in recent finals: 4 outs the first time, then 2 and even a single one!) All this shouldn’t influence me, but when I see Moorman getting into the final at Cannes with his 3,4 and 5 incessant bets...... I was perhaps not ready enough to fold QQ pre-flop!

In the pot we have: 2.2K, 0.8K and my 6K ... 22K in total! I raise 7K with the reasoning: 29K, I’ll have 70% if there is no AK on the flop, so still time to play the tournament.. if not I’ll play on 15 instead of the 22! But I had decided to go all-in today, so, QQ, yes, let’s go for it – I can go in with 45 or 60 without a risk! Finally, the flop comes, AT9, and I abandon my assault. So I fall back to 14,000!

Afterwards I manage to scrabble back up to 22K. Then down to 14K, no hit.

Was the raise too aggressive? I still don’t know, even now, after 2 hours of reflection.
150/300, a player bets 900, I call; the BB (the man of my QQ) raises 3000! Fold, fold! Every hand raises, they raise everything! AT, AJ, AQ KJ – I’m left with13K, deep down not really wishing to carry on while putting in my 77 .... still 40% chance that I have the best hand .. and one can at least see the flop? I call, I still have 11K! The flop is 653 .. I’ve got the mini top pair and not 2 outs but 6 ... still 30% if there is a top pair ! A folding equity if there is AX ... he bets 100% of the time on the flops ! He bets 4000 ... there is 12,000 in the pot ! I can return to 30K if there is an AX! If there is an over-pair I still have 30% and if I hit just once for a change.... the choice is made, it’s 33K on the return or out... but when I play the grinder like this I’m always out. I didn’t feel like going through a long short-stack party again.
Maybe because I was remembering Cannes or because I have won the qualification twice; who knows what steers the mix of our minds and subconscious when involved in guiding our choices.

Whatever it is, if you have any advice on this one, please don’t hesitate!

Dear Bloggers,
Let me give you a summary of the first days, to put you in the picture, and then a more detailed description of the third.

The WSOP Europe main event is awesome. It really is the championship of championships, and more intense than Vegas. Why? Because in Las Vegas the 5000 players comprise players of every level, allowing much more flexibility from the start. But here they are all present, the 300 best players in the world, not one of them is missing.

Here – immediately the table from hell lead by Martin Jacobson (who precedes me on the EPT All-Time Leaderboard in 5th position). There were some moments when, I admit, I had the feeling that I didn’t know how to play anymore, but gradually things got better and taking advantage of my super-tight image, I managed to call in a series of pots and get up to 57 000.

The biggest happening of the Day 1 came when I folded (yes, believe it) – KK pre-flop to the all-in Martin Jacobson who let me see his one K to prove he didn’t have the ace. Tough. Really tough.
I calmly digested this episode, and while the stars around me began to rise – Jason Mercier on my left, Phil Helmut on my right - I resolved to rise too, and finished up, exhausted, with 75,000 at 1 a.m.... 13 hours of poker – a true World Championship first day!

Let Pierre tell us about one of his most memorable coups of Day 2:
So, after the vacillations of Day 1, both mentally and on the table, today I descend to 50k, I fold 95% of the time and am granted some blinds because of it, on my left I have chip-leader Mustapha with 350,000 and Liv Boeree who hits constantly, on my right there is Barry Greensteihn in the place of the busted David Bach.
I’m on the button, the blinds are 800/1600/300 and I open anyway with 36 suited! 4K... Mustapha and Liv call ... oops ... here comes the flop, T6T! I bet 7000 into a 14K pot. Mustapha calls 7K and I think he hasn’t got it. He’s preparing to float me. Liv folds. I check the turn; Jack! Mustapha bets 11K, I am 50K behind now, I call. There is 50,000 in the pot now. I check the 9 and I feel I’m going to be made to go all-in, but no, he bets 28,000 which is less pleasing. I’ll be left with 10K, but I had decided to go for it from the flop and I can’t turn back now. It’s a confident call! And he shows Q high, to my enormous pleasure!
I gather in my best pot of the day with the 6... accompanied by the congratulations of Barry and Liv, who hadn’t expected such a heroic call on my part.

A little later, Pierre tells us about another triumph just before the end of Day 2:
Two hands later, I open 4000, Mustapha 11,000, I’ve got AK suited. I hesitate; I have just regained an almost decent all-in, if I 4-bet I can either be out or on 200,000. I have suffered too much; to come back tomorrow, I decide just to call and to get out if I don’t hit. The flop, 789, straight flush draw on the table which I haven’t got... but I love it! Check, he bets a timid little 10,000 which attracts me... I call! The 3rd spade falls. I bet 15,000 and he folds instantly. I show my AK, telling him I had the best hand anyway. He turns green and throws in his JJ.

I ended up with 134,000 at the end of this even more exhausting Day 2. Phew, an amazing and difficult day of poker ... without a single hit!

Day 3 This is Pierre’s Seat Draw for today:

11   1	Robert Giordano        112500
11   2	Ayaz Sadrudin Manji 	82600
11   3	Pierre Neuville        134000
11   4	Barry Greenstein       105600
11   5	Joel Dodds             270400
11   6	Shawn Buchanan         291400
11   7	Fabrizio Gonzalez       38000
11   8	Constant Rijkenberg    462800

A table which threatens to be far from easy.... Greenstein on the left and Rijkenberg a bit further along.... hey, this could bear fruit!

Update 13.00
Pierre’s table has already been chosen by the press as the favourite for this Day 3 debut!

Update 14.00
Pierre lets us know that this table is not without hardships. Right before his eyes, Rijkenberg, true to himself, doesn’t let up harassing the players. He has already got rid of 4 of them since the beginning of the day, and doesn’t look like stopping while it’s going so well ..........so Zoute has a stack approaching 120,000 and will try to get by as well as possible for the time being....
There are currently 99 players left, so still some long hours to go before ITM, but there you go, we all know that Pierre and his short-stack have a long romantic history!

Update 15.10:
Just as Pokernews announces ‘Pierre Neuville 92,000’, Pierre lets us know that he has about 65,000 .... a veritable desert of cards, impossible to climb back up... he is hoping for a miracle to be able to get back in the saddle!

Update 16.10
According to PokerNews, Pierre seems to have risen to about 100,000!
We are approaching the bubble gently with a little more than 70 players still in!

Update 18.30
This is the moment of truth, we are at the bubble! For more than two hours Pierre has had the smallest stack and has been fighting body and soul to be ITM – is he going to make it? We hope so.....

Update 19.00
‘It’s the thriller of my career’ Pierre tells us. This hand-by-hand play seems to be going on forever, nobody’s jumping and he only has 20,000 left... the suspense is so exhausting !

Update 19.17
Pierre passes the bubble at the expense of Barry Greenstein who is the unlucky loser.
Unfortunately, Pierre leaves on Barry’s heels in 64th position... his stack couldn’t keep him alive for long, but he couldn’t be happier to finish ITM in this Cannes WSOP!
Fate gave him the following hand: AT suited vs AQ off.... and no T on the table to save him!

October 5 2011, Brad Willis

Brad,

Could you send "a million congratulations to the whole Pokerstars Magazine team” which has just published what, in my opinion, is the best magazine ever published about a Poker Tour. The Official 64-page London EPT Magazine.

It is so well written, it would be worth considering publishing excerpts on- line for every "Pokerstars Player" to enjoy.
With a global view, we often criticize Americans for their in-depth knowledge of their beautiful country compared to their lack of it regarding the rest of the world. But now you have just proved the opposite with pages personalized for each national tour.
With regard to Belgium, I took the liberty of publishing your page # 57 on my blog, (even translating it into French and suggesting to Bram that he translate it into Flemish) for the benefit of the Belgians, who would not otherwise have the chance to enjoy your wonderful style.

They can thus discover how meticulously you describe the evolution of Belgian poker.
That the best current American poker writer... can so precisely describe the evolution of Belgian poker is a cause of pride for the Belgian poker community.
On behalf of everyone here and the entire Belgian poker community, I would like to thank you for your appreciation of '"these friendly, reserved people” and for knowing so precisely all the details of the "boom" poker we are involved in here in Belgium.

You have fully understood that it has taken time for the Belgians to arrive on the international scene, but that we have a long tradition of high-quality poker. I am, therefore, just the visible tip of the iceberg.
Via a coaching journal on Pokerstars and elsewhere, I help some of the best to prepare for a great future in poker ....
And many players have let me know that my results have convinced them that it is "possible", and as a result, to prepare themselves to make the leap to go international.
We thank you for your wonderful page, which has genuinely moved us, and we hope to give you the material to write many more in the future.
Kind regards,

Pierre Neuville

In Belgium, there has always been a quality poker tradition. Each of us takes his poker seriously and, no matter the level, we are all looking to progress. However as Belgian are quite and reserved people by nature. the quality of our poker is completely unknown to the world.
A wonderful article has been published in the official PokerStars Magazine during EPT London. It has been written by one of the most prestigious poker writer, Brad Willis. It is so precise... and as It has been written by an American, It is a huge gratitude that I wanted to share with all of you.

Here are the 9 next poker trip of Pierre

14 october - Departure for Cannes
15-20 october - WSOP Main Event

20 october - Departure for San remo
21 october - Main Event 1A EPT San Remo
28 october - Leaving from San Remo

5 november - Departure for the Amsterdam Dutch Series
13 november - Leaving from Amsterdam

14 november - Departure for Loutraki
15 november - Main Event 1A EPT Loutraki
21 november - Leaving from Loutraki

4 december - Departure for Prague
5 december - Main Event 1A EPT Prague
10 december - Leaving from Prague

12 december - Departure for Namur BPS Pokerstars
18 december - Leaving from Namur

5 january - Departure for the Bahamas PCA
15 january - Leaving froms Bahamas

30 january - Departure for Deauville
31 january - Main Event 1A EPT Deauville
6 february - Leaving from Deauville

The official magazine of the London EPT Season 8 is the best and most complete magazine ever produced by PokerStars. I recommend it to everyone ! Above all, there is a wonderful article on page 57 about the evolution of poker in Belgium ( They even wrote Pierre Neuville Zoutechamp is the most accomplished player on the European tour ). Belgium is in the middle of a poker revolution. Home to friendly, reserved people. 


So that everyone can read it at home, I'll send it to my favorite Webmaster .. it will be on line soon ...



Pierre

Pierre finished in 4th on the WCOOP 55 this morning. This is his best result online so far after an extra long tournament 'till 6 in the morning today.

Here's a recap by PokerStars's blog:

A big ‘thank you’ to Journalist Tristan Godaer for his respect AND objectivity with regard to our sport. At last we have a journalist who makes the effort to provide actual information about tournament poker, who talks about ranking, not dollars, like in every other individual sport; who writes about its true values, and who doesn’t seek out the cheap sensationalism as is so often the case in similar articles.

Some additional thoughts ... to the excellent article in the DH Sport Magazine

Read the full article

1st try for San Remo ... Transformed ! I am very very happy, San Remo remains one of my prefered stop ... and best souvenir from the shortest stack at the bubble AND finally ended 9th.

Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:51:19 -0400
From: support@pokerstars.com
To: pierre-claudine.neuville@hotmail.com
Subject: Results for PokerStars Tournament 440964986
Dear Zoutechamp,
Dear PokerStars Player,
Congratulations on winning a package to EPT 8 San Remo! The Main Event will be taking place from October 21 - 27 at the Casino San Remo, Italy

Since a few days, there is a new ranking available for Belgium players !

Here are a few words 'in het netherlands' : "Hier is de allereerste Belgische pokerranking met in de top 10: Pierre Neuville, Kevin Vandersmissen, Koen De Visscher, Philip Meulyzer, Kenny Hallaert, Davidi Kitai, Matthias De Meulder, Glenn De Backer en Olivier Baeten"

http://pokerlivebe.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/belgische-pokerlive-ranking-11/

Congratulation to them for the initiative !

Great PokerStars poker ambiance here at the BPS Blankenberg ! And welcome to my Colleague PokerStars Team Pro Chris Moneymaker for his 1st tournament in Belgium.

By the way, my latest resuls in Barcelona brought me to the 47th place in the GPI; best result ever in this new ( and wonderful ) ranking. You can find the entire ranking on the official GPI website : http://www.globalpokerindex.com/this-week/

I'll see you on Day 2 tomorrow !

A very rare pourcentage of ITM on PokerStars ... Indeed Pierre finished 15 out of 46 tournament in the money. A exceptionnal 33%.

Let's hope to continue this in Barcelona and the WCOOP.

Fabrice keeps the lead this time but maybe not for long !

Fabrice - Win 7 - Lost 3 - Total earnings 1142$ ( benefit  +142$ )
Pierre  - Win 3 - Lost 7 - Total earnings  439$ ( benefit  -561$ )

Total o this day :

Fabrice - Win 13 - Lost  7 - Total earnings 2095$ ( benefit  +95$ )
Pierre  - Win 10 - Lost 10 - Total earnings 1639$ ( benefit -361$ )

Here are the results of the 2nd round.

The young sportman will begin this one with a good lead. I gave the best exemple of what ... you must never do ! After a wrong start with some bad beat 0/3 ... I was eager to get my revenge on those SNG and played badly ... wrong bluff, agressivity, etc. The total went like this 3 winnings out of 10 SNG.

Fabrice - Win 7 - Lost 3 - Total earnings 1142$ ( benefit  +142$ )
Pierre  - Win 3 - Lost 7 - Total earnings  439$ ( benefit  -561$ )

Total score to this day :

Fabrice - Win 13 - Lost  7 - Total earnings 2095$ ( benefit  +95$ )
Pierre  - Win 10 - Lost 10 - Total earnings 1639$ ( benefit -361$ )

Interesting start for our challenge with Fabrice.

Yesterday evening we did a little warm up with the 1st serie of 10 fifty/fifty 100$

Here are the results:

Fabrice - Win 6 - Lost 4 - Total earnings   953$ ( benefit  -47$ )
Pierre  - Win 7 - Lost 3 - Total earnings 1200$  ( benefit +200$ )

One precision, as I am usually coaching Fabrice, we never play toegether in the same sng. Evident deontology.

For the evening spectators of Pokerstars,

Do not be spurprised to find Fabrice RSCA03 and Zoutechamp in a Fifty50 series ! The sportsman has indeed challenged his coach.

After 18 months of intense coaching it is amusing to test our poker abilities in a fifty50 challenge; it is probably the best way to avoid a maximum of variance on the short term.

The challenge :
On 100 sng Fifty50 at 100$.
All the "Fifty's" played, count.
Each player keeps a register of : the rank of the Fifty, day, place and gain.
Also, we publish each time when one of us has played 10 of them.

There are 2 challenges; who is going to win most of them and who will cash the most dollars ?

Good luck to you Fabrice !

Accidents are made to happen one day ; they are part of the difficulties of this record.

Most of the Tallin qualiffications happened during my stay in Las Vegas. On my return back home, only 2 stallites remained to be played and unfortunately both were “hit” by monstrous bad beats ! I Hoped for a “last minute” step G but unfortunately not one single step G was planned during the whole week. And on top of that, Pokerstars cancelled all remaining qualifications for Tallin from their main lobby last Sunday !

At several occasions during this incredible run of qualifications , I avoided the trap , by organizing my timing and availability …..but yes ……. all good things have an end.

23 is a huge number to beat and I challenge every poker player in the world to do better than 23 qualifications in a row for a main EPT event ! It will be a tough struggle to face the variation of the challenge. Good luck to all of you who want to try.

It has been a fantastic epic and a poker adventure out of the ordinary , demanding so much … that has captivated my spirits during these last 20 months.

It has also made me progress in my research to beat these damned variances and increase the chances of victory !

Source : http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2011/the-global-poker-index-085437.html

Pierre Neuville : “The Belgian Steve Fossett “ … The new AKA given by the excellent poker writer Julien Becquart in his Circus Poker columns.

Still a long way to go , as Steve Fossett established 116 records , but the Fan team decided to start listing Pierre’s records , starting of course with his incredible serie of qualifying on Pokerstars :

1. 23 qualifications in a row for EPT main events , on Pokerstars
2. Winning seats for all events of a single season(7) , using all differents tournaments available on Pokerstars . Step G , 530, 22rbuy, 33$rebuy,& FFP
3. 50% cashes results in the last 14 EPT main events (7/14)
4. First Belgian to enter the top 10 EPT leaderboard
5. Top Belgian in the EPT cash ranking
6. The oldest “runner-up” in the EPT history
7. The oldest in the top 100 EPT leaderboard
8. Best qualifier award winner of season 6 and runner-up the following year.
9. 7 cashes for the EPT leaderboard during season 7
10. 20% ITM on Pokerstars MTT
11. First Belgian to be runner-up in a EPT main event
12. First European Friend of Pokerstars
13. Senior member of the Pokerstars Pro team

Get set to find some more !

But Pierre considers his nicest record the one that John “Johnny Quads” Wenzel mentioned in his Online Pokerpro Magazine,……here are his first words :

“Pierre Neuville is an anomaly”. He is a retired , he’s fun, he always has a good word for everyone, he doesn’t have a huge ego, he always has a good time at the tables….and he wins” and will enjoy poker for his eternity ..”

Pierre also got the first place of EPT All Time Cash for Belgium

Pierre Neuville			Belgium		$759,983	105
Davidi Kitai			Belgium		$747,356	106
Kevin Vandersmissen		Belgium		$402,380	200
Kenny Hallaert			Belgium		$257,410	295
Koen De Visscher		Belgium		$219,255	327

During these last 5 years, the monthly page that has interested me most of all is the editorial from John Wenzel in Poker Pro Magazine.

Each month I learn something out of the variety of new interesting things he writes about. John covers all poker topics from morality to technique with the intelligent approach of a real top poker pro.

I had never imagined that one day John would illustrate “my poker” at the other end of the ocean!

And yes, finally his editorial was a fact. In hardly a few lines, I saw my entire poker life unraveled.

What I have tried in many interviews and multi pages ... John achieved in just a few lines. Once again, he has understood it all! His concise spirit is close to genius. He speaks about my poker life and my philosophy of the game better than I have ever been able to do so during these last years.

One day, John wrote the best definition of the poker pro: ” he has to live on it “, so he simply has to be beneficiary each year ... what he accomplishes with consistency.

I am not a pro but a retired and happy poker fan. Like millions of players I am captivated by the king of games. John describes marvelously well what poker should be for most of us: have fun at the tables and then ….play better and better so that the “fun” in itself becomes more than satisfying.

Dear John, from now on, all the bad beats in the world have no more grip on me: I only have to read your page again…..and yes I will continue to be happy and be able to compete and adore my new poker life…for my eternity.

Thanks to you John , next week & ever I will appreciate even more my privileged flight to Las Vegas!

Read the full article

Dear Rail Radio listeners ...

Congratulations for your wonderful letters ... our belgian poker community must be proud to have some valuable poker fans like you. It was too difficult to make a choice between the last 4 finalists, they were too good ... I thus have asked my friends & family to vote ... and the winner of the Madrid qualifier bag is Kevin Geets ! I have added as many Pokerstars souvenirs as I could in the bag ... Kevin may leave his adress or come to Knokke and pick it up ... or meet me in Blankenbeghe during the next BPS ! I also will offer some Pokerstars souvenirs to the 3 others so they are welcome to leave their adress too !
Thank again for your good words !

Here are the 4 letters :

Winner: Kevin Geets to Pierre neuville
Dear Pierre,
Given the opportunity to write you a letter, I didn’t have think long before opening my notepad. I’d like to kick off by telling you, you are truly an inspiration for me as I dream to play an EPT myself one day. It is amazing to see how you have qualified online for so many EPTs so far and it seems to me the list will only grow longer in the future. Besides your obvious poker skills, I (and many others with me) also appreciate your persona which is very relaxed and friendly both at and away from the tables. It is people like you who are truly a blessing for the increasingly positive image of poker. Pokerstars has correctly realized this as well granting you the ‘friend of Pokerstars’ title.
But on to business now, as writing you a letter also gives me the chance to ask you some questions. First off, do you think qualifying for an EPT through the Pokerstars steps program is worth the try knowing that with my bankroll I’ll have to start at step A, B or C? Or should I focus on building my bankroll way up and then eventually play the satellites (with higher buy-ins) which grant several packages and are played with much more players? Apart from that I also wonder what you valued most to improve your poker game when you were playing poker the first few years. Was it reading books, talking with other players, perhaps coaching sessions,… or do you feel that in the end, it is playing the game a lot which will help you most?
My final two questions concern winning a live tournament and what to do with the money. I wonder which live tournament, you would like to win the most and why (I’m expecting one of the EPTs here, but surprise me should I be wrong)? And finally, following the previous question, do you have a certain dream (making a trip around the world, buying something special,…) you would fulfil with the money you would win?
It was a pleasure writing you this letter and it would be great to receive some answers. Nonetheless, I wish you the very best both in life and poker and hope to see you play many more EPTs. And although I am also a fan of the Belgian young poker guns (like Kevin Vandersmissen, the De Meulder twins,…) it would be epic to see you take down an EPT as first Belgian ever.
Kind regards,
Kevin

Read the full article

After a whole night of bad beats and 4 out of 4 Aces cracked ... A nice payback in final ! Prizes are not similar to SCOOP but it's always enjoyable;

PokerStars Tournament #421010705, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $50.00/$5.00 USD
190 players
Total Prize Pool: $23400.00 USD
Tournament started 2011/05/20 23:30:00 CET 2011/05/20 17:30:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp, You finished the tournament in 1st place. A USD 5,031.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

Here are the latest results of Pierre during the SCOOP this week ! At first he won the qualification twice for a 2100$ tournament ! Then he suceded to make two ITM during the night.

PokerStars Tournament #395860041, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: $350.00/$7.00 USD
6 players
Total Prize Pool: $2100.00 USD
Target Tournament #2011050283 Buy-In: $1050.00 USD
2 tickets to the target tournament
Tournament started 2011/05/18 19:29:54 CET 2011/05/18 13:29:54 ET
Dear Zoutechamp, You finished the tournament in 1st place.

PokerStars Tournament #2011050283, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $1000.00/$50.00 USD
207 players
Total Prize Pool: $624000.00 USD
Tournament started 2011/05/18 20:00:00 CET 2011/05/18 14:00:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp, You finished the tournament in 23rd place. A USD 6,240.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

PokerStars Tournament #2011050282, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $100.00/$9.00 USD
1342 players
Total Prize Pool: $391800.00 USD
Tournament started 2011/05/18 20:00:00 CET 2011/05/18 14:00:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp, You finished the tournament in 60th place. A USD 979.50 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

Thank you to all for the support during the SCOOP ...

A 1st final table in the Scoop ... I enjoyed this 1st test in Ante Up as much as I could

PokerStars Tournament #2011050133, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $1500.00/$75.00 USD
171 players
Total Prize Pool: $256500.00 USD
Tournament started 2011/05/13 17:00:00 CET 2011/05/13 11:00:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp, You finished the tournament in 7th place. A USD 10,260.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

I have reorganized the Zoutechamp planning as follows :
Friday 20th wake up 3 PM. Fitness & Cycling 90 minutes. Telephone off for 72 hours ... great poker !
17.00 1 Re buy No Limit

Sunday 22nd :
16.00 6 Max NL
20.00 Main event

This has been one of my most difficult surviving day ever in EPT !

Madrid 1A, hit zero flop, win zero show down ... survived with 3 amaizing pots !

1. Down slowly in 4 "desert" hours. I am on the button : opening 750. BB Basile, the young agressive Eurosport pro ... of course raise 2,1K. I could fold my A4... but It's Basile... I call ! Flop, 66A, he bets 400 (pot 4500) eventually call ... trying to convince him no A on the button. The pot is now 5300; he bets 1000 on the 9 turn ... call again ... I have time ! Thus we have 7300 in the pot ... he bets, you read well, 14.800 ! Reading an additional tell, I call enjoying my first pot of the day ! I am up to 38 !

2. Another desert, no flop period, I am down to 25 k ... folding 25 hands ! I Imagine my 1st raise would impress. I just decided to raise my next BB ... from button or small any 2 ! An excellent Fulltilt pro raises from the button 1100 and I 2900 and it happend that my any 2 are 36; surprisingly he calls ! A random 48T flopm and again he calls my bet 3500 ! This supposed easy pot is becoming costly ... The helping turn is A and I check. My supposed joy because he doesn't like it remembering my pre flop raise and check. The river is doubling the 8 ... but also showing a 3 flush runner runner. He thus is facing 4 dangers for his hand ... 88, AS, flush and my serious tight image is enough to bluff a good player even if he has a hand ! I fired 8000 ... I really need this pot. He takes time to think it out but eventually folded ... I am back above 30 !

3. Last but not least ... again 2 last levels, down slowly to miserable 25k at a hell table ! Two aggressive past winners Choulty & Michael Turmier, 3 good pros ... and two seat on my left Barry Greenstein. It happened that Barry is down to 22k ... we thus both are the shorts at this rich table ! Remembering the day I busted him in the Bellagio & he said no book today. I am thinking "today ...he 'll give me his book" ! I am BB... 1000 and he is opening UTG +1 for 2500 and everybody behind folded ... anxiously I am looking for the hand of the day ... 57 not even suited ! Not the real one for my target ... Thinking : short with 24 or 22.5 that's not a big difference ... He probably will show around AQ ... 57 still 30/40% maybe the 1st flop of the day ?! Folding means, no funny signed book, alling anything can happen ! 4 hands to go for the day, no fun to come back with 20K on day 2 ... I call ! The flop came and is T74. I saw so rare hitting cards on the flop during the all day so I am really enjoying this 7 ! Barry well known flop aggressiveness bets 3500. I slowly call. I do not hate the 9 coming on the turn neither Barry's insta bet of 6000 ... He is left with 12.500, no doubt that he will fire the river any card ! I call again. The 2 river doesn't change a thing but Barry bets 10.000 and is keeping a 2500 "stack". Rushing on my big hand just like if I was ignoring his stack "How much do you have left" ? All in without touching a chip ! Barry insta folded his hand.

This hand beeing one of the most funny hands in my EPT history I had to show it ... to a more than surprised table 57, 4 calls !
In the evening I went to Barry presenting some excuses for the "hand" and showing and told him how his book was guilty ... Fair enough he answered "ok, good luck for to morrow"

See you all on Day 2 !

On sunday, Bram Luyten the excellent animator from Rail Radio Poker, gave his live comments during my qualification for Madrid on Pokerstars. Another 288 listeners joined him.
It was fun playing at home in front of a audience of fans wonderful poker moment.

The Pokerstars bag that I will receive for my record 23rd qualification in Madrid, will be part of the belgian poker history. I would have wish to give one bag to each listener. But there is a choice to be made.

Bram Luyten decided he would organize a competition: the most original letter from a fan to Pierre Neuville would win the Pokerstars qualification bag which includes : tee-shirts, Pokerstars sweater and many small gifts.

These letters moved me enormously, so many letters filled with admiration and knowledge for the poker game.
I will take with these with in the plane to Madrid and read them all over again; it is a nice preparation for the big game with all the star players of the world.

Hi Pierre,
as promised, I'm sending you the submissions for the EPT Goodie bag contest. The challenge was simple: the listeners had to write you a letter with some relevant questions.
All submissions can be found here: http://railradio.ning.com/forum/topics/pierre-neuville-goodie-bag
But I hand-picked my top 4. It will take you a few minutes to read them, but they write with so much admiration and passion that I think it will be worth your time. It would be cool if you can select 1 of these guys, and award him with the goodie bag.
cheers,
Bram Luyten

Here are the 4 finalists (click on "Read the full article"):

Read the full article

Quizz : Yesterday took place the last Step G of the 7 th EPT season; 1 seat only for Madrid grand final ! Who do you think won the only seat ?

SerialQualifier didn't let it go to anybody else ... and closed the record season winning again this grand final seat.

San Remo did not go as planned ... QQ lost against KK ... KK lost against AA ... So frustrating each time !

But as soon as I came back home, everything went so great ! A huge victory on a pokestars's 373 players tournament :

PokerStars Tournament #418010594, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $50.00/$5.00 USD
373 players
Total Prize Pool: $60200.00 USD
Tournament started 2011/04/28 21:30:00 CET 2011/04/28 15:30:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp You finished the tournament in 1st place. A USD 11,739.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account

Then a confirmation of my qualification for Madrid ! I won a step G and also got Michael Jacobson out whom is not yet qualified for Madrid. But even with that ... I have to win Madrid to get the first place of the Best Online Qualifier and win it !

And then, to end the night; a nice final table at the 109R !

PokerStars Tournament #418010505, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $100.00/$9.00 USD
262 players
Total Prize Pool: $81500.00 USD
Tournament started 2011/04/29 20:00:00 CET 2011/04/29 14:00:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp You finished the tournament in 5th place. A USD 4,808.50 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

Welcome back from San Remo !

Short news to let you know my latest and best online ranking ever on 120 days !

The Serial Qualifier has been invited to participate at the One Everest Tournament in Monte Carlo. As he could not qualify on-line because of his exclusive on-line commitments with Pokerstars.

There was only one solution left really and that was to win the super satellite .....what he actually did ! Some performance.....and in excellent company. His charming colleague Liv Boeree also won one of the 10 seats for the main event.

Congrats to Liv and good luck for the main event.

Friday at 13 hours.

Probably the best moment ever since I play poker. The 23rd qualification in a row and the Grand Slam ! The real one with this entire season of qualifications ! A page in the poker history that is going to survive to me.

BTW congratulation to Martin Jacobson for making a 3rd final table. It could have been so fantastic to win the "Award of best qualifier" runner runner but Martin is now unbeatable this season 7. I will have to take on the challenge for runner up this season.

While qualifying for Madrid, the SerialPokerstarsQualifier made definitively "history" on Pokerstars. 23 EPT Seat in a row and real grand Slam for the season 7 ! Who will beat this challenge ... ?

PokerStars Tournament #383500655, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: €500.00/€30.00 EUR
217 players
Total Prize Pool: €108500.00 EUR
Target Tournament #375913932 Buy-In: €12345.00 EUR
8 tickets to the target tournament
Tournament started 2011/04/17 19:45:00 CET 2011/04/17 13:45:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp, Dear PokerStars Player, Congratulations on winning a Full Package (Seat plus Hotel plus Expenses) to the EPT Season 7 Grand Final in Madrid!

Retiree Proves You Can Have Fun at Poker and Still Win

Pierre Neuville is an anomaly. He’s retired, he’s fun, he always has a good word for everyone, he doesn’t have a huge ego, he always has a good time at the tables – and he wins.

In many poker circles, it’s just not fashionable to look like you’re enjoying yourself at the table. You’re supposed to be a “poker businessman,” or super serious, holding all those you deem inferior to you poker-wise in utter contempt. Players hang out in cliques, complaining about “bad players,” “donkeys,” bad beats and opponents who are just “horrible.” In Vegas, players who enjoy the game too much are considered “tourists” – and “tourist” is a major insult in Vegas. Tourists aren’t cool.

On the flip side, Pierre just seems happy to be able to compete, and is overjoyed with his new life. It must be good karma or something because he has qualified for European Poker Tour events an amazing 19 straight times on PokerStars. That’s right, 19 straight main events thanks to online satellites, and he’s not done yet.

The “Serial Qualifier” (see page 32) gets an overlay in every event he plays in, and is way ahead of the game, in part due to his runner-up finish at EPT Vilamoura last year for $370k.

This optimistic Belgian’s ambition is to “enjoy poker for my eternity.”

Good luck with this, Pierre. If anyone can do it, you can.

A million thanks to The Poker Pro team for your nice words and the smiling Cover Page

Feel free to rate the article if you liked it @ http://onlinepokerpromagazine.com/articles/2231.html

A huge thank you to the Pokerstars's blog for publishing those two articles that are putting belgium on the main stage of the poker world !
Let's go, we can believe in Belgium ! We can thrust our best players for the end of this EPT 7's season. All of the medias will follow our evolution and we will always have our place between the "Great Poker Nations".

http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept/2011/belgium-leads-ept-awards-charge-for-best-079897.html

http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept/2011/belgium-small-country-great-poker-nation-079898.html

The challenge is not yet over, Pierre did qualify yesterday evening for San Remo !

PokerStars Tournament #378298543, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: €20.00/€2.00 EUR
96 players
Total Prize Pool: €11540.00 EUR
Target Tournament #374788877 Buy-In: €7220.00 EUR
1 tickets to the target tournament
Tournament started 2011/03/30 20:05:00 CET 2011/03/30 14:05:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp, Dear PokerStars Player, Congratulations on winning a package to EPT 7 San Remo!

When I started on the EPT during 2008, a Belgian player was hard to find in the poker world. But I knew better, Belgians are fine poker players !

They have the skills for an imaginative and creative game, combined with a traditional game respecting the cards and their probabilities. But a Belgian is a rather shy person , not really at ease in this jungle of big tournaments.

When I obtained the Award of Best Qualifier, I have set myself a new objective : pull Belgium up to the first country at the EPT rankings.

Now, there are a lot more Belgian players on the EPT. Prague and Deauville have seen the number of Belgian participants grow steadily. Of course a large number of good players, but without any experience at the top of the EPT.

The 8 % ITM in Deauville was under the average. Luckily, some excellent players recently cashed in their first ept , and the results YTD are : 88 participants with 13 ITM, or 14% (average is 15%) ! If we add my results with 5 ITM on 10, or 50%. The total result of Belgium is ytd 18,37% ! We are just on the first place with a short margin.

I know, the probability is against me because 50% is hard to hold. But I think that the best Belgian players will stand strong during the last 3 events. It would be great for Belgian and its poker to win the Award of “Best Poker Nation”.

This is the list of the Belgian players and their ytd ITM for the Season 7 :

Pierre Neuville 5

Daniel Dodet 2

Joel Benzinou 1

Christophe Demeulder 1

Michael Denis 1

Kenny Hallaert 1

Didier Mazairac 1

Mathias Demeulder 1

Fried Meulders 1

Filip Verboven 1

Koen De Visscher 1

Philip Meulyser 1

Keven Vandersmissen 1

Total : 18 Belgium cashes

I wish you all to qualify for Madrid……and hopefully be together when we receive our first Award of “Best Poker Nation”.
Good luck to Belgium poker land !

Pierre Neuville

Belgie, klein land maar grote poker-natie !


Wanneer ik begin 2008 in de EPT ben begonnen, was een Belg onbestaande in de poker wereld. Ik wist wel beter; de Belg weet van fijn pokeren.

Nagedacht spel geassocieerd met een variatie en vindingrijkheid in mogelijkheden om de kaarten te laten spreken.

De Belg is van natuur nogal discreet dus zoekt hij niet zo vlug zijn weg in deze jungle van belangrijke tornooien.

Nadat ik de Award van “Best Qualifier” in de wacht had gesleept, had ik nog één doel voor ogen : België naar de eerste plaats loodsen in de EPT ranglijsten.

Nu zijn er heel wat meer Belgische spelers in de EPT. Praag en Deauville hebben het aantal Belgen aanzienlijk zien verhogen. Dat betekent natuurlijk ook een groot aantal spelers maar zonder enige ervaring aan de top van de EPT.

Het % ITM in Deauville was met zijn 8% onder het gemiddelde. Gelukkig zijn er sedertdien enkele nieuwe uitstekende jonge spelers bijgekomen die hun eerste ept ITM, en YTD hebben gerealiseerd als volgt :

88 Belgische deelnemers met 13 ITM, ofwel 14% (gemiddelde is 15%).
Als men mijn resultaten daarbij telt, 5 ITM op 10, ofwel 50%.
Is het totale Belgische resultaat, tot op heden, 18,37% ! We staan op de eerste, echter fragiele plaats.

Mijn 50% zijn moeilijk te houden, dus geloof ik sterk in de jonge Belgen die de laatste drie evenementen zullen hoog houden. Het zou schitterend zijn voor de Belgische poker wereld om de “Award van het Beste Poker Land” in de wacht te mogen slepen !

Hieronder de lijst van de Belgische spelers en hun ytd ITM gedurende seizoen 7 :
Pierre Neuville 5

Daniel Dodet 2

Joel Benzinou 1

Christophe Demeulder 1

Michael Denis 1

Kenny Hallaert 1

Didier Mazairac 1

Mathias Demeulder 1

Fried Meulders 1

Filip Verboven 1

Koen De Visscher 1

Philip Meulyser 1

Keven Vandersmissen 1

Total : 18 Belgische cash-ins

Ik hoop dat U allen Madrid haalt en U er U terug te vinden tijdens de overhandiging van de trofee van het beste poker-land !
Veel geluk voor U allen beste Belgische poker vrienden.

Pierre Neuville

EPT 6 Best Online Qualifier Pierre Neuville is back in no uncertain terms and his impressive performance at EPT Snowfest – he came 11th in the Main Event – means he now has another 324 points and is only 380 points behind leader Martin Jacobson. There are still 300 online points available to collect before the end of the season (100 for each online qualification) so – like last season – it’s set to be a very close race. As it is, last season’s runner-up Kevin MacPhee is also within reach for this year’s Award. He is currently eighth with 1,000 points. To add to the excitement, all three have won seats for Berlin.

Source : http://www.europeanpokertour.com/news/

My best thanks to Hilda, EPT events manager ! Her active competency makes our days at the EPT events.

Friend of PokerStars Pierre Neuville has made it into the European Poker Tour Tournament Leaderboard Top Ten for the first time.

The serial PokerStars qualifier now joins an elite of EPT players who have shown exceptional prowess over the long-term. Most of those in the top ten have been playing – and winning – at EPTs for at least five seasons and many, like Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano and French pro Antony Lellouche, have been cashing since Season 1. Neuville joins the TLB in tenth place with 2,716 points – just nine points behind Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier.

Neuville’s 45th place at Copenhagen for DKK 65,000 last month (around €8,700) is what propelled him into the top ten and was his tenth EPT cash since he started competing on the tour. His first event was the PCA in January 2008 where he came 18th after buying in direct. This accomplishment spurred him on not only to continue competing at live events but to win his seats on PokerStars in future.

Up against considerably younger competitors, Neuville – who used to be a senior executive at the games company Hasbro - wanted to see how far he could get. The answer was a pretty long way. Just over a year after his first PCA, and following a series of min-cashes in Belgium and at the World Series, Neuville bubbled the final table of EPT San Remo, coming ninth for €78,800.

This was by far the biggest payout of his poker career to date but the big score was yet to come. In November 2009, at the debut EPT in Vilamoura, Portugal, Pierre Neuville finished second. Neuville, who was 67 at the time, took home €257,681 and became the oldest runner-up in EPT history.

Neuville spent the rest of EPT Season 6 qualifying for as many EPTs as possible. He managed ten out of 13 events and cashed twice more, including 36th place for €35,000 at the Grand Final. His goal was to win EPT Online Qualifier of the Year and his only real challenger towards the end was EPT Berlin champion Kevin MacPhee however Neuville had pulled ahead and achieved his ambition. He was also made a Friend of PokerStars.

This season, Neuville has ploughed on industriously, qualifying for tourney after tourney and cashing in four Main Events as well as an eighth place finish in the EPT London High Roller event last October.

EPT Business Development Manager Kirsty Thompson said: “Pierre Neuville has worked hard and achieved a huge deal. He now sees his name up amongst some of the best players in the world. The EPT Tournament Leaderboard has been going since the very start of the EPT so that’s a very big and talented field.”

At present, the EPT Tournament Leader Board carries no active prize value – apart from the massive kudos of long-term achievement on the tour. However some form of accolade is planned to mark the advent of EPT Season 10 in three years’ time.

source : http://www.facebook.com/EuropeanPokerTour

History :

My personal calculation gives 312 pts to Pierre for his 11th seat in Snowfest he would just reach the 6th seat in the EPT all time leaderboard !

Let's wait for the official EPT publishing !

UPDATE :

And here is the official announcement !

The serial missed San Remo on this try. 2nd place and only the first one has won the package ! Hard second place !

PokerStars Tournament #374796068, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: €20.00/€2.00 EUR
80 players
Total Prize Pool: €11240.00 EUR
Target Tournament #374788877 Buy-In: €7220.00 EUR
1 tickets to the target tournament
Tournament started 2011/03/18 19:05:00 CET 2011/03/18 14:05:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp, You finished the tournament in 2nd place. A EUR 530.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

EPT Business Development Manager Kirsty Thompson said: “Pierre Neuville has worked hard and achieved a huge deal. He now sees his name up amongst some of the best players in the world. The EPT Tournament Leaderboard has been going since the very start of the EPT so that’s a very big and talented field.”

My very special thanks to Kristy Thompson.

To read the full article, please click below.

Read the full article

A huge thanks to you all for your encouragements during the final hour, you were many that I can't wait to put the news online ! 21 qualifications in a row without missing one ! At some time I doubted that I was going to succeed but It is a happy end, one more time ! By the way, congratulation to my friend Dominic N for his great comeback !

PokerStars Tournament #368267646, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: €500.00/€30.00 EUR
222 players
Total Prize Pool: €111000.00 EUR
Target Tournament #366034665 Buy-In: €6910.00 EUR
14 tickets to the target tournament
Tournament started 2011/03/06 19:45:00 CET 2011/03/06 13:45:00 ET
Dear Zoutechamp, Dear PokerStars Player, Congratulations on winning a package to EPT 7 Berlin!

Martin Jacobson from Sweden maintains his lead in the Online Qualifier race and added 180 points for his EPT Copenhagen performance. His nearest rival is Romanian Anton Ionel who also qualified online for Copenhagen (100 points) but failed to cash, giving Jacobson a 640 points lead. Friend of PokerStars Pierre Neuville, the defending title holder, has qualified for all nine EPTs this season and min-cashed at EPT Copenhagen to add 180 points to his count. He leapfrogged Dmitry Vitkind from Russia and Konstantinos Nanos from Greece and is now lurking dangerously behind the leaders in third place.

My dream came true ! Making it to the top ten of the EPT Leaderboard of all time !

I am moving on the 6th seat ... but Martin did it in Deauville !

Here we are once again, my record goes up to 20 in a row with this new EPT Snowfest qualification !

Subject: Results for PokerStars Tournament 363578644
PokerStars Tournament #363578644, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: €670.00/€30.00 EUR
9 players
Total Prize Pool: €6030.00 EUR
Tournament started 2011/02/11 21:05:30 CET 2011/02/11 15:05:30 ET
Dear Zoutechamp, You finished the tournament in 1st place. You have won an admission ticket to 'Step G'.

PokerStars Tournament #363238608, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: €2000.00/€100.00 EUR
9 players
Total Prize Pool: €18000.00 EUR
Target Tournament #360851928 Buy-In: €6176.00 EUR
2 tickets to the target tournament
Tournament started 2011/02/11 21:43:31 CET 2011/02/11 15:43:31 ET
Dear Zoutechamp, Dear PokerStars Player, Congratulations on winning a package to EPT 7 Snowfest!

My operation of last monday in Brugge hospital was a success. I feel much better day after day !
Thanks you to all of you for the good wishes and attentions.

A special award to My friend Kenny Hallaert with his giant "basket of fruits" ! With this diet I am better days after day and I feel stronger to leave for Paris.

There is so much to play there with the Pokerstars France Series and the WPT !

Beste Pierre,

Het lijkt erop dat je de populairste pokerspeler in België bent, als je uitgaat van de reacties op 'De Beste' op pagina 23 van PokerVisie 24. Mag ik je daarom wat vragen stellen voor ons volgende nummer?

* Was je te druk om serieus poker te spelen voor je stopte met werken?

Ja. Ik heb 6 jaar gespeeld toen ik aan de Universiteit van Brussel economie en rechten studeerde. Maar ik speelde al poker voordat ik naar de universiteit ging, toen ik nog heel jong was... Eigenlijk heb ik altijd al een passie voor de magie van poker gehad.
Maar vervolgens kwam ik door mijn verantwoordelijkheden bij Hasbro helemaal niet toe aan wat voor vorm van gokken dan ook. Poker werd onterecht als gokken beschouwd.

* Waarom koos je voor poker en niet voor bijvoorbeeld bridge, wandelen, tuinieren of wat dan ook?

Ik speelde op een goed niveau bridge toen ik op de universiteit zat. Daarnaast damde en schaakte ik… Maar poker biedt zoveel mogelijkheden, vraagt zoveel van alle menselijke kwaliteiten, dat kun je niet vergelijken met wat dan ook…het plezier en de emotionele momenten die poker kan brengen zijn oneindig.

Read the full article

Yes I enjoy the pleasure to reach the top 12 of all time EPT Tlb leaderboard. And for a symbolic 1 point to pass our Italian star Dario Minieri !

Cheers everybody !

The new Pokervisie N°25 is in shops for sale from today !

The new aka they are giving to me is a little too much : " The Pokerstars Phenomenon from belgium" but in poker you have to accept the best, and enjoy, having in mind the smiles you will have in front of all the bad beats on the road.

Having said that : "Thank you very much to all the pokervisie team for your attention and appreciation."

The sexiest poker cover page ever
no efforts spared to please our dutch friends

PokerVisie verschijnt voor de 25ste keer en gaat daarmee zijn vijfde levensjaar in. Het ‘pokervisje’ is een echte player geworden en inmiddels ook de senior van de Nederlandstalige pokertijdschriften.
Dat blijkt ook uit de volgende prettige artikelen: * Jaloersmakend: het PokerStars fenomeen Pierre Neuville uit België die EPT kwalificaties aaneenrijgt gelijk vlees aan een satéstokje.
Hoe flikt deze gepensioneerde spelletjesverkoper dat?

Your input about the idees in this article are welcome write to serialpokerstarsqualifier@pierre-neuville.com !

Press Release Source: Poker Pro Media On Thursday December 2, 2010, 5:01 am EST

LONDON (BUSINESS WIRE) Poker Pro Europe magazine (pokerproeurope.co.uk) has taken its distribution to the next level, securing promotions for 2011 in all WHSmith stores and increasing its presence all over the UK.

“In our effort to expand distribution and readership going into 2011, we have we secured fantastic promos in the WHSmith retailership,” said Vice President of Marketing Will Jordan. “We will be a force to be reckoned with next year. While other publications are hunkering down, we are expanding.”

Editor-in-Chief John “Johnny Quads” Wenzel added: “We are increasing our presence throughout the European poker world, and you will find Poker Pro Europe in every cardroom, as well as an increasing number of retail outlets. Our agreement with WHSmith will be a boon for us, for poker and for the Smith stores too.”

The latest agreement with WHSmith is part of an overall expansion plan for the magazine, which is a smart, upscale, glossy publication well respected in the poker world. It is published by Poker Pro Media, which also produces poker-related publications in the U.S. and Canada, as well as the world’s leading Internet poker publication, Online Poker Pro magazine.

Expect more special promotions for Poker Pro Europe magazine and an even greater presence at airports, train stations and newsstands in the coming year.

Poker Pro Media, parent company of Poker Pro Europe (pokerproeurope.co.uk), Online Poker Pro, Poker Pro Canada and Poker Pro magazines, was established in 2004 and now has seven titles worldwide that every month bring readers up to speed on the major happenings in the poker world. As an industry leader, the Poker Pro Media family of publications provides readers with an entertaining and informative mix of poker-related news, profiles, event reports and strategies.

Source : http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Poker-Pro-Europe-Magazine-bw-4102886587.html

While the PCA is not going so good for me this year, I continue to win some online tournament !
2nd final table, 3rd ITM ... How can I bring this luck to the table in the poker room here at the Atlantis ?

PokerStars Tournament #401010767, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $100.00/$9.00 USD
131 players
Total Prize Pool: $39400.00 USD
Tournament started 2011/01/10 0:00:00 CET 2011/01/09 18:00:00 ET
You finished the tournament in 9th place. A USD 788.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

PokerStars Tournament #401020018, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $500.00/$30.00 USD
896 players
$52000.00 USD added to the prize pool by PokerStars
Total Prize Pool: $500000.00 USD
Tournament started 2011/01/09 23:30:00 CET 2011/01/09 17:30:00 ET
You finished the tournament in 101st place. A USD 1,000.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

Juste a little quizz for you all :

What's the common point between all those players ?

Negreanu
Achem
Akkari
Gomes
Greg Raymer
Lucas pageno
jason Mercier
Barry Greenstein
J Duamel
Lex veldhuis
Vanessa Rousso
Phil Laak
Pierre Neuville

A list of a tournament's dream final ?
No simply a selection of a few players out at the main event here at PCA after Day 1A !

And for the end, a good news, here's my latest online ranking:

I think I am in good shape thos last month ... I play 10 or 20 times less tournament than all those multi table players and the official ranking brings me to the top of the top ! I am at 0,05% of the 100% !

A huge thans to PokerStars !

The exact same amount than the PCA package was just added to my bankroll on PokerStars in T$ ! This is gift is going to allow me to play a lot of side events here at the PCA.

I don't know how many people received the same gift but it seems that everyone that qualified threw PStars and then got ITM at the WSOP received the same gift.

However, here, we are about 1800 in front of this dream that is the PCA. Dreaming about the final table ... and probably millions of fan dreaming of joining us but tonight for half of us, the dream has ended !

Grand Slam qualifier N°19 Copenhaegen !

I received the present at the 6th minute of my birthday, on the 2nd of january ! A real thriller during the last 30 minutes, short stack while we were 6 players and indeed " all in call" between big stacks ! Thank you for the present ... fiesta poker ...

The challenge goes up to 19 !

PokerStars Tournament #345148546, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: €500.00/€30.00 EUR
56 players
Total Prize Pool: €28000.00 EUR
Target Tournament #341952650 Buy-In: €6329.60 EUR
4 tickets to the target tournament
Tournament started 2011/01/01 19:45:00 CET 2011/01/01 13:45:00 ET
Congratulations on winning a package to EPT 7 Copenhagen!

Here's a good end for 2010 and a good victorious start into 2011 !

PokerStars Tournament #346010505, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $100.00/$9.00 USD
171 players
$21000.00 USD added to the prize pool by PokerStars
Total Prize Pool: $75000.00 USD
Tournament started 2010/12/31 20:00:00 CET 2010/12/31 14:00:00 ET
You finished the tournament in 2nd place. A USD 11,625.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

Above all, I wish you a very happy and prosperous 2011 !

For our loved poker I forecast a booming year world-wide, during which solutions for legalizing poker will further develop in many countries in synergy with the growing success of the online game.

I was afraid that the record would be stopped at Deauville (no step activity during the whole week on Pokerstars.com due to the absence of French players)

Leaving for PCA in one week from now, there is not a lot of opportunity to play qualifications.

But Santa Claus was generous with the Serial …

I decided to take on the challenge and play all cheap opportunities; pre-qualif with 2000 FPP … and won the 20k FPP with 128 players, 4 packs on Sunday evening. I have broken my own record of the cheapest qualification of the series … just 2000 FPP !

I must complete the true story : At the same time, the 1st sng step G of the week started and I joined in and won it too : a second qualification for Deauville …!

Fiesta, I will be more than happy to enjoy a week off … before boarding for the Bahamas on the 5th of January !

And a wonderful 2010 for all the team

Pierre Neuville

PokerStars Tournament #341956587, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: 20000 FPP
128 players
Total Prize Pool: 3240000 FPP
Target Tournament #334471486
4 tickets to the target tournament DEAUVILLE 2011
You finished the tournament in 1st place

I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to "Pokervisie" for their continuous support during 2010.

Even if you do not speak dutch, I highly recommend this Pokervisie magazine. It is one of the only magazines that reports about the Belgian Poker and its players. They do this with an extreme acurracy and is written by very professional poker-reporters.

I sincerely appreciate that they made "a wink" at me in their dutch columns. Thank you very much for your "chapeau Pierre" !

Ik wens mijn bijzondere dank te betuigen aan Pokervisie voor hun steun gedurende het hele jaar 2010.

Zelfs indien U niet nederlandstalig bent, wens ik toch Pokervisie aan te bevelen. Het is één van de weinige magazines die over het Belgische poker berichten met een zekere exactheid en daarbij nog geschreven is door zeer ervaren pokerkenners.

Ik kan het enorm waarderen dat ze in "het Nederlands" een knipoog naar me maken hartstikke bedankt voor hun "chapeau Pierre" !

Doei !

Very special thanks and happy new year 2011;
to my docters Evelyne Wirawan & Mariane Medot for their special attention that brings me in even better condition for 2011.
to all at Pokerstars for their support and friendship
to all EPT organisers, bloggers, dealers, specially to Hilda, Neil, Alen, Miguel, Ben, Simon, Marc, Rachel, Lena and so many more !
to all my poker fans & Fabrice their president for their wonderful encouragements
and to my webmaster & son Alexandre !

A question that comes very often is ' Is the online game different, at different levels of buy-in ? '
My answer is yes, of course ! Players are taking more risks at 1st levels ...

I am actually experiencing winning satellites at all levels with diffrent strategies; here are my last recent experiences :

PokerStars Tournament #341960420, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: 2000 FPP
22 players
Total Prize Pool: 64000 FPP
Target Tournament #341956587
3 tickets to the target tournament
You finished the tournament in 1st place.

PokerStars Tournament #342679885, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: 500 FPP
16 players
Total Prize Pool: 8000 FPP
Target Tournament #342679879
4 tickets to the target tournament
You finished the tournament in 1st place.

PokerStars Tournament #342687244, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: €2.02/€0.20 EUR
98 players
Total Prize Pool: €1080.70 EUR
Target Tournament #342687137 Buy-In: €215.00 EUR
5 tickets to the target tournament
You finished the tournament in 1st place.

Who knows, maybe it is the last jump ?

This is the 1st page of the EPT Main Event Leaderboard to date.

I will therefore enjoy and celebrate with all of you in my heart and mind ... Being part of the Top 15 best players on the EPT all time leaderboard was beyond my wildest poker dreams ... Today I am in 14th position, just behind my friend Jason ... having in mind that 25 000 players from 96 countries were playing this world tour ... makes me simply happy !

And thanks to you all my fellow friend competitors, have a fine X-mas !

And here is the 17th EPT qualification, in a row without an error !

PCA, here I come again, my first EPT succes !

A month ago I won the EPT qualification for Prague : the 16th one !
As this record goes by, I realise how much of a thriller it has been and I remember how lucky I am that I have been able to qualifiy for each EPT since the first one I won a few month ago during EPT 6 !
However Prague was one of the most direct one ... I got it at my first try !

Read the full article

Lieve, the mother of my wife Claudine suffered a sudden strong cerebral thrombosis.
The diagnostic is very pessimistic; doctors are forecasting a surviving delay of 72 hours. Last year Marie my beloved mother passed the way and Lieve was my second mam as we were so close during the last 20 years. The sadness is immense for Claudine and myself.

I duly qualified for EPT Prague winning a tournament on Pokerstars, but of course I will not be able to participate in Prague; we have to follow our destiny.
My regrets to the organisors and all friend players, wish them good luck.

Here are the latest 'must read' of the web concerning Pierre.
Thanks to poker-actu.fr and pokerstarsblog.com for their kindness and their time.

Pierre Neuville le roi des qualifications EPT sur PokerStars - Poker-Actu.fr
Pierre Neuville claims a poker Grand Slam - PokerStarsBlog.com
Pierre Neuville remporte le Grand Chelem des satellites en ligne EPT sur Pokerstars - Pokernews Fr

Here sare the 12 nominees for the - Golden Ace - Trophee

NEUVILLE Pierre
KITAI Davidi
HALLAERT Kenny
BENZINOU Joel
VANDERSMISSEN Kevin
CAPAN Mustapha
CHARLIER Xavier
HALLEUX Fabrice
VAN MOL Rudi
GOMEZ ARAGON Muriel
MEULIZER Philip
BELDROEGAS Manu

The event will take place at the Casino of Spa on december 19th at 9.30PM.
There will also bee a 30€ Freezout tournament around 2.30PM.
And also the Spa Open which begins on decembre 18th ( see the Circus calendar ).

Georgy

It is with great pleasure that I can announce you my qualification for Barcelona on Pokerstars. It is the 15th qualification in a row without missing a single one! There exist 13 EPT events in a year … so I have achieved the GRAND SLAM.

The road was long. As you may know from experience when the variance makes you enter into the bad run series it becomes a real struggle to win another qualification.

The New York Times journalist, Alison Danzig, invented this tittle in order to salute the performance of Donald Budge, who won 4 tennis majors in 1938.

So today is the birth of the first Grand Slam of qualifications on Pokerstars…..We are millions to participate at the EPT qualifications and I am therefore very happy to have written poker history with this achievement on my small Mac.

I have no tracker, nor do I use any of the actual advanced techniques on-line

I simply play poker at its finest and from a high Belgian standard school. This has been a long adventure, one year with 15 happenings. Now , all records are made to be beaten but I sincerely hope that this one will stand as long as my poker career lasts.

So, from today on, I will play with the number « 15 » of the SerialPokerStarsQualifier.

Zoutechamp
Pierre Neuville

Here is a little entry of Aryan Borger that I found in the Pokervisie of November 2010.

The original is in het Nederlands :

"... Als leefftijd er niet toe zo doen, is het Belgische talent eigenlijk de bejaarde Pierre Neuville. Elf finale plaatsen in twee jaar tijd ! En hij speelt pas twee jaar toernooien ! Wat moet zijn zoon trots zijn !"

"... If age would not matter then the real talent is the Belgian senior player Pierre Neuville. 11 times ITM and that in two years. The amazing thing is that he only started playing tournaments 2 years ago; his son must be very proud of him !"

Thank you for this article !

This year has been one of the most pleasant for me; what a joy to be part of a "Team"..... That strange feeling of solitude a poker player might feel has disappeared completely ! Of course,the presence of the pretty and dynamic Liv, who reinforced the Belgian Team, was an appreciated asset.

A pretty champion and a friendly partner of our Team ....Liv Boeree pays tribute to Pierre's "poster"accompanied with the usual British humour, thank you Liv !

Namur and the Belgian Poker community will never forget your enthusiastic visit ! Hope to see you back next year at the final table.....

Also many thanks to the Casino of Namur for hanging up the poster in the cash game room.......in memory of my first bets in Namur !

“Interview” : Many challenges amuse and passion the world of poker; now what is the challenge of the “Serial” ?

“Zoutechamp” : I have somewhat been titillated by the publications around my records and that due to my age !
The oldest of the Top 20 at the EPT leaderboard, the oldest runner-up in the history of the EPT. At each tournament I am the oldest Pokerstars Qualifier and so on : the oldest this and the oldest that ...
So I really wanted to establish a long lasting record BUT in an area so called dominated by the younger generation “on-liners”

“Interview” : yes, but why Serial Qualifier ?

"Zoutechamp" : Everybody was convinced that a young genius internet guy would take away the Award of the Best Qualifier during season 6 of the EPT . So , at the end when it turned out that a senior of over 60 years old got the Award more than one was surprised; the entire press, pro’s and organizers.
What was so great about it that the entire poker community saluted the achievement, they thought it was FUN !

Read the full article

Here is the latest TLB where I am sitting at the 17th place, Best result ever for me !

My joy exploded when I qualified for London winning a step 6 last on Sunday ... As I was lucky enough to qualify for Vienna winning the 10K FFP tournament, It 's a good start ! 4/4 for the Season 7.

I don 't have a British flag yet on the Hendon ranking ... I am therefore looking forward to see the London tables !

Pierre

Un-hoped-for and above my wildest dreams; It is hard to find the right words to express my joy: I have entered the top 20 of the EPT leaderboard: I am currently at the 18th position!

When I started playing I had never expected to make up for the three and an half years I was not yet on the EPT; catching up with the lost time was quite challenging!

With 25000 players, having played from the beginning on the EPT and me ending up 18th in their ranking is really exceeding my hopes in the international world of poker.

Sincerely yours,

Pierre

Thank you to " Pokervisie " for the new AKA they are giving to me in their N°22 Edition one the page 34 !
You can read :
Event 30 @ WSOP : "En de SuperBelg Pierre Neuville was de beste van Benelux met een fraaïe 42e plaats ".

"Super Belg" in a Magazine from Holland ...
Thank you for the compliment.

Pierre.

Dear Mad & Simon,

During the holidays I send you my answer to Vicky Coren’s question in Monaco :
5 “ Pierre Pokerstars is offering you the full package in Tallin …for your best qualifier Award …….will you still try to qualify for Tallin …?? “

My answer was a challenge :
The record last season for a single event was to qualify 4 times …I will beat that record …

The good news at the eve of Tallin is that :
I succeeded in qualifying 6 times for Tallin through at least one of each different qualifying channels available on Pokerstars :classic MTT qualifier of Saturday , step G and 22 re-buy …..

It may not be worth the Guinness book of records …but as all players know ,qualifying is never easy and setting any record is a valuable one !
I think that Pokertars blog is the best means to send this successful answer to Vicky …

See you again with great pleasure in Tallin !

By the way, here is my new logo for this EPT Season 7, feel free to share it everywhere !

SerialPokerstarsQualifier,
Pierre

Dear Mad & Simon ,

At the Awards evenening Vicky Coren was the master of ceremony. When presenting me the Award of best qualifier ... she said with her delicious "english humour"
"For this award Pokerstars is offering you a full invitation to Tallin ... The problem is you might not have anymore desire to qualify online for the Tallin EPT ?"

I promissed an answer later on ... last Season 6 nobody qualified "5 times on Pokerstars for a single event".

Could you let Vicky know via the blog that my answer is : The more I am invited, the more I am excited to qualify and thus :
"I made the challenge to hit the record of qualifying 5 times for Tallin"

and ... there are still opportunities out there !

Kind Regards,

Pierre

Thank you Mad for welcoming me in Tallin ...

http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept/2010/pokerstars-vanessa-selbst-to-make-ept-de-071677.html

The SerialPokerstarsQualifier is preparing Season 7 and wil start it with a surprise, soon ?!

Pierre

I am very thankful to the PokerStars team for being able and taking the time to translate my biography in twenty two languages and therefore being able to share my life resume with all the PokerStars friends around the world.

Here are a few example for all my Nederland, German, Chinese and Russian friends who're visiting this website.

Read the full article

Hello Georgy,

In the rush to get everything done before I leave for Las Vegas, I also wanted to make some time for this interview you have requested friendly as ever.

Nevertheless, I do not agree with your idea to delay it and to wait for more successful times at the WSOP.

I already am the happiest poker player in Belgium and probably in Europe. Everything I could ever have imagined, has actually happened and honestly, I could not have wished for anything more. All this exceeds what I have ever dreamed of.

Read the full article

Very happy to be able to defend my reputation of "Serialpokerstarsqualifier" ... with this victory in the first qualifation tournament for Las Vegas and that after having already won the first two steps 6 !

So, this is my third qualification. It looks like the run has an easier start than the one for Monte Carlo. I hope that the finish-line will be as great.

Well, it was not really that 'easy'; there were 291 players in the fight for a long final and I was short stack the last hour.

Plus, I am publishing a very nice picture that Crai MacPhee sent me last week; Battle of the awards with Kevin :

Pierre,
It was great meeting you in Monte Carlo. I know that Kevin has much admiration of you. I have attached a photo of the two of you as you requested. Best of luck to you and hopefully we’ll see you in Las Vegas this summer.
Regards,
Craig A. MacPhee

See you all,

Pierre

I don't have much to say about it, I am a little bit speechless so I will just copy the mail from Miguel B from the PokerStars Live Events Team :

Hello Pierre,

I can confirm you ended in the 3rd place. This the final top 10 for the Player of the Year:

1 Maxim Lykov 208
2 Kevin MacPhee 178
3 Pierre Neuville 166
4 Martin Kabrhel 163
5 Allan Baekke 155
6 Jan Skampa 150
6 Carter Phillips 150
8 Yevgeniy Zaitsev 138
8 Mike McDonald 138
10 Anton Wigg 133

Regards,

Miguel B
PokerStars Live Events Team

Thank you all, You made all my dreams come true and much more !

Here are a few picture from the EPT Award's ceremony in Monte Carlo. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did back then !

As it is now official on the PokerStars.com website, I am proud to share this brand new information with you all ! I am now a part of the PokerStars Friends Team !
Here are the few informations available on the website http://www.pokerstars.com/team-pokerstars/ :

My poker life has juste began !

Today I want to share with you the best poker mail I have ever recieved in my life.

Being the winner of this ranking which mixes the performances of 100.000 players who are playing the online qualification on PokerStars and their live event results is the most beautiful dream of all my poker career; It is my own world championship. so here is the letter I have recieved :

Hello Pierre,

PokerStars.com would like to personally invite you to attend the EPT Season 6 Awards ceremony on Friday 30th April at 8h30pm where you will be awarded with the EPT Season 6 Best Online Qualifier trophy. Congratulations!
You are also shortlisted for the EPT Season 6 Achievement of the Year Award for you record 10-seats in Season 6 and runner-up at EPT Vilamoura. The Achievement of the Year Award will be voted by players and the results will be revealed at the Award Ceremony.
The European Poker Tour Season 6 Awards ceremony will be held at the Karement Club (10, Avenue Princess Grace) in the Grimaldi Forum, a short walk from the tournament area. Free Shuttle Buses will depart from the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel from 8:15pm to 9:15pm
The Awards ceremony will be followed by the Season 6 Wrap party. Free food, drink and entertainment will be in abundance.
Main event players will need their player wristband to gain access to the party – their guests will need the red party wristband distributed at the main event tables to all players.

Hope to see you there,
PokerStars Live Events Team

Live from MC !
Here I am, the Monte Carlo's dream is now reality; I finished ITM with the 36th place.

This is my fifth cash for an EPT event and It grants me the award that I have been dreaming of fora few months : Best Online Qualifier of the EPT Season 6.

This Season ends on a great victory that I will probably never forget ... This record of qualifications for 10 different events of the season 6 if final and probably won't be beaten in the futur !

See you soon for the WSOP of course !

Hello everybody,

As you may have noticed, thers has been a light update in the banner of the blog. After a few years under the aka Columbo, I think it is no more up to date according to my game style.

The PokerStars's Blog team renamed me a few months ago The Serial PokerStars Qualifier™ and starting from now I will be using this nickname everywhere.

Everything has changed in my poker life, I have put an end to my undercover game and also to all the chips Columbo could make me win.

I had the chance to beat the record of the most qualifications on Pokerstars ( 10 ) for the EPT Season 6 and with great humor they created my soon to be new aka.

Bye bye Columbo, long live The Serial Pokerstars Qualifier, who will always be an other player.

Pierre.

Good evening,

It is with great pleasure and a little bit of emotion that I can announce you that I have succeeded in qualifying for the EPT Grand Finale !
This qualification gave me the record of the most qualifications for an EPT Season !

EPT Barcelona
EPT Vilamoura
EPT Prague
EPT PCA
EPT Deauville
EPT Copenhagen
EPT Berlin
EPT Snowfest
EPT San Remo
EPT Monte Carlo

This last qualification grants me 10 more points for the Best Online Qualifer Ranking that won't be unnecessary to be able to win this award !

In the meanwhile, I will be soon flying to San Remo, my head cleared by this last challenge that was the qualification for Monte Carlo.

See you soon,

Pierre

Hello everybody ,

Here's a little update about the EPT Ranking for best online qualifier; I qualified myself a 4th time for San Remo at the 22+R 3X Turbo Satellite which brings me at the top of the Ranking at this time.

It should look like this :
- Pierre Neuville - 185 ( 4 of San Remo included )
- Kevin MacPhee - 180 ( Monte Carlo qualification included )
- Carter Phillips - 165

And that's it for the latest !

Pierre

Hello,

I am pleased to announce you that PokerStars have updated the official EPT Ranking a few days ago.
Here are the official two rankings :

And here is the article on the PokerStars.com blog :
http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept/2010/ept-awards-coming-down-to-the-wire-065767.html

I can also give you a little unofficial hint about the evolution of the top 3 for the best online qualifier. I have, at the moment, 180 points Carter has 165 and Kevin 150. Let's hope everything will go as planned ... but don't forget this is poker, things rarely go smoothly !

Kind regards,

Pierre

I am proud to give you the link of the European Poker Raking.

http://www.pokerineurope.com/europeanrankings/index.php?year=2009&gamecode=2&page=1

I really didn't exepected to be at the 10th place but I am verry happy and proud the be the only Belgian player with such a good result !

At the end of 2009 I’m filled with joy and very pleased to be able to wish all my friends in Belgium, in Europe and all over the world who are passionate about poker a very happy 2010.

Read the full article

Belgian Poker: Pierre Neuville ‘in a world where youngsters triumph’

Pierre Neuville, former CEO of a multinational, is currently accumulating performances in the international poker world. As runner-up of the main Pokerstars EPT tournament at Villamoura 2009, the Belgian poker player reflects upon his relationship to poker and upon all the excitement caused by his performances.

Pokernews: ‘ Your first results in international tournaments date from November 2007 at the Belgian Poker Championship in Spa. Is playing poker actually new to you?’

Pierre Neuville: ‘Just until recently I acted a bit conceited and was able to hide my advanced age in a world where youngsters triumph. But as I have put two records in European Poker history in Portugal, I have begun to consider my age as something positive. As Pokerstars European Tour has published: I am the first ever 66-year old player to end as runner-up at an EPT tournament and never before has the oldest player reached the final table in a tournament. So, my old-age complex definitely is a thing of the past! They are even considering putting the record in the Guiness Book of Records...

All this to come to the truth: I have been playing poker for 50 years! I have dedicated a lot of time to it when I was at university, at the time, many I students from middle east and east countries played high-level poker. They were taught how to play at family gatherings at a very young age.

Having said this, I must add that as former Vice Chairman of the world’s leading company in Toys & Games (Hasbro MB);, I couldn’t ‘gamble’ because poker was not preserved well at that time. Therefore I had to wait a few years (30 years) before I could actually play poker around the world and realize my old dream.

Pokernews: ‘What’s your relationship with poker?’

Pierre Neuville:‘In 2007, I was the victim of three surgical accidents. I almost died and was immobilized for five months. I actually promised myself to stop everything if I survived, to resell my business company and to devote my rediscovered youth to make my dream come true: poker at the top level around the world

I spent five months rethinking my poker game and adjusted it to modern poker playing , to practice, to come up with new original strategies which would differentiate me from the young geniuses of today. And then we took the plane for the Pokerstars PCA in January 2008: I ended 18th!

Pokernews: ‘The Belgian poker fans have actually noticed your spectacular improvement on the major tournaments. Is the recognition of your performances by the poker community. important to you?

Pierre Neuville: ‘The enthusiasm of the Belgian poker community is really astonishing! To be honest, it’s exciting. And, I would even say it makes me better at table. But my poker world does n’t stop at at the Belgian borders , I am a European Player , I have fans and friends across the borders of all ages … mainly in France and Holland

I have done many different things in my life: from the invention of the Eddy Merckx game in 1969 to managing a multinational or to being the personal coach of many sports celebrities. But not one of these activities has ever generated that much sympathy as poker has.

Julien Bécqart, the president of one of the most active clubs of the country wrote to me some time ago on Walloniepoker.net, a discussion forum: ‘You are no longer alone at the table, you have 1800 members supporting you.’ And it is true! Sometimes it even prevents me from making mistakes. It’s like I can feel the hundreds of e mailed letters which I will read once I get home. I can feel the people hooked to their PCs.

My phone is full of text messages wishing me well every day when I am playing a tournament ! I almost felt embarrassed having made that mistake at Warsaw, where I let Carter Philips bluff me and being almost out instead of becoming chip leader. I actually admitted that mistake on air.

All my life I have said: ‘If during the day you have managed to make at least one person happy, your day will have been of use... Poker can actually do this for us...’

Pokernews: ‘Is there such a thing as a poker player’s identity?’

Pierre Neuville:‘ No. The poker player is not really an identity for me ... Definitely not! I always taught managers that they should never link their identity to a position, a title, a job. This avoids major problems when there are sudden lay offs, it avoids disillusions... And as all of life’s coincidences can be found in poker, being a poker player should no be an identity which young players would want to take on. It’s a message which we should try and get across in our communication...

I am very proud to receive hundreds of messages telling me I bring joy to those who are passionate about poker. I would be even more proud if I every one, especially the youngsters, could only take the best out of it, without experiencing the downsides... No youngster should give up his schooling because he thinks he will make it as a poker player and make easy money...

The risk is similar to that of tennis at the time when the price money went up spectacularly. There were thousands of parents and children who declared themselves future champions. We should avoid disappointing thousands of people, because only few are chosen.

Nevertheless, it’s an occupation which I like a lot. This not only because you need a lot of human qualities to play it well, not only because it requires high-standards from the organisers of the game, but also thanks to the fair play which is widely spread in the game. I have written some articles regarding this topic which were well received and which you can read on www.pierre-neuville.com. To me poker is the most superior game, the game which brings together all the qualities of the best players of black gammon, over card games, to chess... That is why poker brings together so many people all over the world. Its universal character definitely brings nations closer, and of course there’s also the joy brought about by the internet which allows us to take part in international games every evening it’s a luxury which I could never have imagined.

Poker is a healthy, intelligent, creative and educational distraction, played with a lot of fair play. It’s a way of meeting people and nationalities, a sports of the mind which develops one’s character and is multi-educational... Therefore it should be promoted but not without proper advice.

I’m always careful in all my communication, because if I ever found out that I had influenced, even if only indirectly, a youngster who could not resist the pitfalls of poker, it would really get to me. I therefore consider it my responsibility to use my communication in a positive and educational manner.

Pokernews: ‘ How has your entourage responded when you started playing tournaments?

Pierre Neuville: ‘My entourage is completely supportive: my wife is trilled that her husband is getting younger by the day, at least in spirit...

I have called in the help of medical specialists to find out just how far I can take this positive form of tiredness at my age, an age when the ability to learn has almost disappeared... But the intellectual intensity and nervousness which is required of a 66-year-old brain playing poker is interesting to study. I regularly do memory tests and tests which monitor my IQ with a psycho-neurologist who is really keen to study me. Millions of retired people are ready to play poker … no other activity is better for that age category : cheap: for 1$ you they can enjoy hours of tournament … keeping interest and fun in life …training mind for yougness

However, to really be in top condition, I lack physical training... because at the end of the week I leave the tournaments feeling exhausted...’

Pokernews: ‘Which qualities which you have developed during your professional life actually serve you now?’

Pierre Neuville: ‘What makes poker so fantastic is that it requires qualities which are usually contradictive. It requires qualities which we don’t normally see in one person: therefore everyone needs to develop, everyone needs to work on his weakest points if he wants to make it in poker...

The calm, the reserved, the careful ones will have to develop their grit, their courage, their audacity and vice versa... The bad beats are sometimes so shameless that they destroy your dream. Self-control is a good lesson at times like that.

In that respect I’m thinking about taking part in a few educational programmes in the US, based on poker. Something which I will probably do either here or over there after having played for three more years.

Pokernews: ‘What is the best hand that could be dealt to you in the future?’

Pierre Neuville: ‘Well, I prepare for it every day, I refine it in tens of different situations. I must compensate for the slowness of my 66-year-old brain as I’m usually confronted with shiny 25-year-old opponents who have been champions in chess or in computer games. I tend to compensate this by preparing long and hard... Are we from the past at 66 years old … this is the true question for millons of senior poker players …my answer is ”then the past has still a great future “.

To all my correspondents, send me a text message.

I received today my new Proximus sim card by DHL but I have no phone numbers with me.

So could you please be kind enough as to send me your name and phone number in your next text message, it will make it easier for me to fill in my contacts directory.

Thank you

Hello everybody, I've updated the "People" section with the following celebrities: Ruud Gullit, Sir Redgrave, Jesper Parnevik and Andrew Coltard.

The gallery has also been updated with photos of the n°38 event.

Good day to all of you and see you soon.

Hello everybody,

Since I'm stuck in bed sick (nothing major, but the doctor still prescribed some antibiotics to heal my throat) for a few days, which consequently allows me to rest a bit prior to the next event, I've taken the time to write up a few new articles.

I've thus updated the "Special Thanks" section with Alan Hassenfeld, Robert Wagner and Léopold Lippens.

In the "People" section, you will find information on such Hollywood stars that are Kevin Costner and Robert Wagner.

I am also summing up the n°42 event, short lived but quite intense.

Happy reading to all, have a nice day !

I've just added a little comment for Mr. Fabrice Soulier in my thanks. Fabrice, if you're passing through...
For my visitors, I recommend you read the text related to the man in the "People" section and which illustrates, to me at least, the perfect example of poker mentality.

Wishing you all a pleasant day.
I will be resting today before tomorrow's action.

It is with great pleasure that I announce to you all that my good friend Philippe A. inaugurates this section with a text entirely written by himself. Sort of an "outsider's view" on my first WSOP experience.

I therefore encourage you all to go read it.

Today, n°39 event at noon (local time) ... I will keep you posted on my evolution as much as possible.

Wishing you all a pleasant day.

After dozens of hours of work, my son Alexandre has just put online the new design of the blog as well as the english version. You will no doubt enjoy this new presentation, clearer, more enjoyable to browse through, quite more "attractive" as they say on this side of the Atlantic !

Do not hesitate to send mails or post your comments on the subjects that interest you.

I'll take this opportunity to also inform you that I will now rest a bit, I will be back in action for the n°39 event, as you can probably well see in the agenda !

I wish you all a pleasant day.

PS: If you have pictures of me or come across some on the internet, I would much appreciate it if you can pass those on over to me, sending me a link is fine too ... Being alone here I don't have much time to take or gather pictures

Dispite a very tight schedule here in Vegas, I've still found the time to write up two or three articles which were requested on several occasions.

In the "People" section, you will find an article on "Yvan Lendl"
In the "Philosophy" section, the new article is titled "Tips and Thoughts"

You can also find a list of my "Special Thanks"; I've not had time to mention everyone yet so don't be alarmed if you're not on that list ... yet !

Here is a first article in the "Philosophy" section.

It, of course, is related to poker. You will find in it the description of the game as well as my vision of poker. The psychological as well as the human side are covered.

This article can be useful to your entourage and all those that are curious by this phenomenon that is poker.

Departure for Las Vegas on June 12th...

You will be able to follow my evolution day by day through this blog. Starting with my qualification on to each and every day of the actual tournament.

The updates will be available here here in the WSOP 2008 section.

Hereunder is a list of people that have shared with me the fun stories I will be telling you.

Read the full article

I am pleased to announce that I am currently working on writing material to fill this blog. It will soon be opened to public viewing with tons of stories to read and reread !

Be patient !