Interview with the Champ

How does it feel to be Premier League Champion??
Superb! I am aBsolutely made up. Its a league made up of extremely tough and competitive poker players and to win it is a wonderful achievement for me.

When the league began, did you think you were capable of winning it?
I just started the league like I start every competition… try my best and don’t make stupid mistakes. I know if I am on my A game I can play some decent poker, but to answer the question, no I didn’t think I would win it, especially with the competition I was up against.

At what point in the season did you start thinking you might win it??
I think it was at about game 7 when I managed to pull away at the top from the others who were close to me. kenn and raff (think it was) had a bad game and it allowed me to get away. I started to feel had a good chance, but then rickyrosa when on his rampage!

Going into the final game, what was your gameplan??
Keep my eye on how ricky was going to play it. If he was going to try and accumulate chips, then I would have to do the same and if he stayed tight, then I would too. The important thing was to keep him firmly in my sights.

A few words for RickyRosa??
Well rickyrosa won season 1 and his strategy to bring him back into season 2 contention was awesome. He made this go all the way to the wire and to be totally honest if it wasn’t for his Aces getting cracked in the final game by Queens, I am not sure if it would be me doing this interview.

ricky, you were an awesome opponent sir and if wasn’t for that horrible luck it could all have been very different. VGG.

You’ve now won a satellite entry to an EPT event. Looking forward to it??
Of course! I am just awaiting the details at the moment. i will obviously be nervous, but I am definately taking my A game to that one!!!!

And finally - can you retain your tiltle next season??
Well I won’t give it up easily thats for sure! If you are reading this and are thinking of playing next season…. just you come and try to get it from burnleymik… BRING IT ON!!!!!!!

Premier League Champ 2 : BurnleyMik!!!

Season Two came to a finish tonight - and it was a straight head to head between season one champ RickyRosa and RTR co-founder and admin man BurnleyMik.
BurnleyMik had spent most of the season around the top, and RickyRosa had forced himself into contention with a great late run.
The game started very cagily, with neither BM or RR willing to get involved - it was a straight last longer contest - so there was no reckless pushing tonight.
Amatay, Bullmeist and Mair were the first three to go.
And suddenly the league was decided.
RickyRosa had a pair of Aces, and was up against Dremeber with a pair of Queens - and a Queen came on the flop - so BurnleyMik was crowned league champion!!!

Last weeks winner Cloudy went when his KK didn’t hold up against Raffels AK, and then Raffel went himself along with Dremeber in a huge 3 way pot with Kenn121. Dremeber had AA, Raffel had QQ and Kenn had 10 10, and the 10 on the flop gave Kenn a huge chip lead.
MarkyMark went against Kenn as well with King Jack against Ace Jack - and Kenn continued this run with an agonising 2 on the river that put Acornman out on the bubble with JJ against 22.
League Champion BurnleyMik succumbed in third when his AJ lost to Kronsdats AA in a three way pot - and Kronsdat was in with a chance now after eating into Kenn’s stack - and taking the lead.
The very next hand Kronsdat won when his Ax beat Kenns Kx.

A very exciting season, with a hugely entertaining end - and thanks to everyone who took part!!
Congratulations to BurnleyMik on his victory, and a well done to RickyRosa for nearly making it two in a row.
BurnleyMik now gets a shot at an EPT seat with a shot at a satellite event…
Is Europe ready????

RTR Premier League Game 9 Report

The penultimate week – and we were down to the nitty-gritty of the league.
No one could win the league this week, but there were some who could lose it.

Thirteen runners lined up this week, and soon to go was Kenn121, which put paid to his league hopes. And soon afterwards saw one of the biggest hands of the season, and a pivotal hand at that.
There were three players all-in pre-flop– and the three players were all in the top five of the league. Amatay had KK, Raffel69 had AK and RickyRosa had QQ. Amatay was a strong favourite, Raffel needed an Ace, and RR was desperate for a Queen. A queen duly arrived and RR dodged a huge bullet and trebled up – putting paid to Amatays and Raffels league chances.
The league was pretty much down to two players now – BurnleyMik and RickyRosa.
Bullmesit, Acornman, Dremeber and Mair were the first to go from the final table – Mair unluckily after flopping a set to Cloud’s overpair, but Cloud hit his own set on the turn.
So there were six left, with both league contenders still going strong.
BurnleyMik went in a battle of Burnley when his A3 ran into AJ, so RickyRosa had a chance to take the top spot – and at this point he had a nice chip lead over Cloud, MarkyMark, Necromancer and BurnleyJoe.
Necromancer shoved with K9 but ran into Clouds A10 and we were on the bubble.
Then another huge hand took place. New chip leader Cloud went head to head with RickyRosa. Cloud had 99, RR had QK. Cloud raised, RR called. The flop was Axx. Cloud bet, RR went over the top all-in, Cloud called and held to knock out RR. RickyRosa had just done enough to grab the league lead going into the final week.
With three left Cloud flopped a set against MarkyMarks top pair, and now Cloud was heads up against BurnleyJoe.
The tournament was over was Cloud hit trips on the turn after BurnleyJoe hit top pair on the flop – and Cloud took his first win of the season.
(What a fine player that Cloud is…..)

We go into the final week with RickyRosa holding a miniscule lead over BurnleyMik – with the title essentially going to the player who finishes highest. An exciting week ahead – and may the best man win.

January Caption Competition

1st - “If you think I’m ugly , you should see my brother Simon ” - Mike Saban

Equal 2nd - “Shrek matures from boyhood into puberty” - Smoothplz

Equal 2nd - “The battle to become Miss Grimsby 2008 hots up” - Cloud

RTR Premier League Game 8 Report

This is the story of a man named Rosa…..RickyRosa.
RickyRosa was the champions of Raise the River’s first Premier League.
However his defence of the title started badly, and after six events he sat mid table, but then won the seventh event to bring himself just about into contention. Could “The Closer” do it again in week eight??

There were fourteen runners in week eight – thirteen of them chasing league leader BurnleyMik.
Kenn121 was the first to go – and this put a huge dent in his hopes of claiming the title, and was followed by Mair. Already the game was crazy, and chips were flying everywhere, with RickyRosa seemingly ready to pull the trigger and shove his chips at every opportunity. Bullmeist and Poker4Ever were next to go, and in around twenty minutes we were down to the final table already.
2Much2Drink and Kronsdat made it eight, and then Necromancer and contender Raffel69 were the next to go.
Then a massive hand in the context of the league happened. BurnleyMik, the league leader took on the very aggressive RickyRosa. BM had QK, RR had 33. An enormous flip, and RickyRosa held, to now give him a shot at catching the leader.
Acornman finished fifth after a long time sitting out when K5 fell to Amatays A6 and it was bubble time.
Amatay shoved with a pair of Jacks, and ran into RickyRosa AQ, and he managed to hit an Ace and a Queen – so were down to three – RickyRosa with a huge chip lead against The Cloud and MarkyMark.
The Cloud pushed with A4 and ran into RickyRosa’s Q2 – but RR hit a Queen and we were heads up, and amazingly we hadn’t hit the hour break yet.
RickyRosa still had a huge lead, but amazingly MarkyMark managed to battle back and take the lead – but RR came back, and finally won when his A6 beat MarkyMark’s JQs.

With two events to go, the Premier League is now wide open.
BurnleyMik has a slight lead over new second placed man RickyRosa – Raffel69 and Kenn 121 are still very much in contention, and Poker4Ever, Amatay and Bullmeist have outside chances.

Unofficial Odds
BurnleyMik 6/4
RickyRosa 13/8
Raffel69 5/1
Kenn121 7/1
Poker4Ever 25/1
Amatay 25/1
Bullmeist 40/1
100/1 Bar