UB.net Pro Wins 1 Million on WPT

Eric Baldwin, a member of Team UB.net (aka Team UltimateBet), finished in second place at the recent World Poker Tour event at the Las Vegas Bellagio, the WPT World Championship. For his accomplishment, Baldwin walks away with a cool $1 million. This just weeks after fellow UB.com pro member Liv Bouree walks away with first place in the EPT San Remo event in the 2010 Eutopean Poker Tour. A good year it’s shaping up to be for Ultimate Bet Poker indeed.

Oft hidden in the UB shadows behind brighter lights Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth (the latter of whom came in 7^th place at this same event, for a $152,856 pay day), Eric Baldwin may be stepping out further into the UB limelight after this big triumph.

This WPT World Championship Main Event win marks the third cash for Eric Baldwin in just two weeks time, having finished in second on April 9^th at Event #10, a $1,000 buy-in NL Holdem event, for a $12,125 win. Then, a few days later, he cashed in 6^th place at Event #18 for an addition $20,793 in his pocket.

This is a great confirmation of Baldwin’s deservingness of the 2009 Card Player Of The Year Award that he was awarded by CardPlayer Magazine. Contributing also to his now over $3.7 million in career winnings were the following 2009 achievements:

• 1^st at Event #15 in the Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $256,600


• 1^st at Event #9 of the Caesars Palace Classic for $10,686


• 1^st at Event #24 of the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza II for $198,933

Baldwin also won $521,932 in the 2009 WSOP. Currently UB.com is hoping to find the next World Series of Poker champion, and is willing to pay for it. Check out the 2010 WSOP satellites and bonuses UB.com has going now.

Odonkor1 Makes Appearance At Full Tilt Poker

Odonkor1 Makes Appearance At Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker was all a buzz this week as Swedish online poker player, Joel “Odonkor1” Nordkvist, made an unexpected appearance at the high-stakes, no limit poker games. The name “Odonkor1” has become a fixture in the online poker community since being nominated “Best Online Poker Player of 2009” in the PokerStars Scandinavian Poker Awards.

It hasn’t yet been confirmed that the new “Odonkor1” at Full Tilt Poker is Nordkvist, but the name is synonymous with the Swedish online poker pro, having held the same account with Betfair Poker and several poker rooms on the iPoker Network. Interestingly enough, the big news story here is not just the appearance of “Odonkor1”, but the implications of the young Swede holding another infamous username in the online poker community.

Anyone who’s kept up with current poker news over the last year has surely seen the name “Isildor1” in the headlines. There is a distinct similarity between Odonkor1 and Isildor1, and many suspect they are, in fact, one in the same. The only real difference between the two is that Joel Nordkvist has not bothered to hide his identity as Odonkor1, while the player behind the Isildor1 name has tried to maintain more discretion.

Odonkor1 is drawn to high-stakes poker games, and does not bother keeping a low profile at the fishiest poker sites. He strikes like lightning, sometimes hitting his target with exact precision, and other times failing miserably. Last weekend, Odonkor1 stormed his way to victory.

Odonkor1 spent about an hour and a half playing nearly 600 hands against Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton on Saturday, finishing with a hefty profit of $156,500. After a 2-hour hiatus, Odonkor1 returned to the Full Tilt tables, this time targeting “URnotINdanger2” at stakes of $100/$200. The session ended with another $159k added to Odonkor1’s bankroll.

The online poker pros reign of the tables was not over yet. He returned on Sunday to take on Sami “LarzLusak” Kelopuro where another long session ended with Odonkor1 scooping up $179,000. After that, Odonkor1 vacated the $100/$200 blinds for $300/$600 tables, where he routed “cerutten” for another $57k.

His biggest win came on Monday when he played a total of 3,228 hands against “jungleman12” for 7-1/2 straight hours at the Full Tilt Poker tables. By the time it was over, Odonkor1 had pocketed an impressive $309,500. Add that to his weekend earnings and he finished with about $850k in just three days.