Birthday Belt Boost

This New Year, Black Belt Poker are giving you two reasons to launch a party-popper into the air and plant a kiss on the nearest victim with our Birthday Belt Boost.

If Her Majesty's two birthdays turn you green with envy, then be jealous no more as we're showering you with gifts and celebrating your birthday right here at Black Belt Poker.

Each year from the anniversary of your first deposit, you will have 30 days to make a further deposit and receive a Belt Boost, thus enabling you to earn Belt Points twice as fast. If you make a deposit of $100 or less you will receive 3 Belt Points for every dollar raked, but deposit over $100 and you'll earn 4 Belt Points!

If you first deposited with Black Belt Poker before January 1, 2011, then your birthday will become available as the fireworks hit the sky on January 1, 2012. What's more, you'll also receive a Birthday Belt Boost again iater in the year on the date of your initial deposit.

For those who first deposited during 2011, and less than 12 months ago, then don't fret, we'll be celebrating your birthday during 2012 and, on your one-year anniversary, you will also be eligible for the Birthday Belt Boost and increased rate of earning points.

If you're a Yellow Belt, then this is the perfect opportunity to fast-track your way to Orange and start reaping the benefits of the Belt-Up Rewards System. Not only will you earn Belt Points at a faster rate, but you'll also be invited to play in our weekly Orange Belt Freerolls.

For the first time ever, there will be five Freerolls in February, including two new entries: Omaha Orgy and Limit Up in which players will fight it out over Omaha tournament tokens and 1,000 in Belt Points respectively. Also that month, we're holding our first freeroll satellite into the third Black Belt London Live event.

If you've been regretting not taking full advantage of your first-time deposit Belt Boost when you initially opened your account, then the Birthday Belt Boost is the ideal opportunity to make amends and treat yourself to some added value. Please check out our promotions page for all the details.

Festive Freezeouts on Black Belt Poker

The stockings have been unfilled, the Christmas pudding consumed, and the Sherry bottles emptied - you've even had time to squeeze in a heated argument with the family over a game of Monopoly.

But what do you now? New Year's just under a week away, tackling the tube strikes and onslaught of bargain-hunters is no longer an attractive proposition, and you just don't fancy that umpteenth viewing of Goldfinger.

Don't worry, as Black Belt Poker has the answer to your post Christmas-woes with our Festive Freezeouts.

In order to fill in that festive gap, Black Belt Poker are hosting three festive tournaments, commencing with the Turkey Sandwich on Tuesday, December 27, a $10+1 six-max freezeout at 19:30.

Then, the following day, again at 19:30, we'll be adding more stuffing to the seasonal period with the Big Turkey Sandwich, this time with a $50+5 entry fee. If you want to play pros such as Richard Ashby and Neil Channing, then this one's for you.

Finally, later that evening at 20:30, you can feast on some deep-stacked action in our Festive Mulligan, a $15+1.5 No Limit Hold'em freezeout with Belt Points added to the prize pool for the top five finishers.

And if you've got some poker ants in your pants and can't wait until then before hitting the cyber felt, then we have $5+0.5 satellites for the Big Turkey Sandwich running tonight at 17:00, then again on Monday, before a double whammy on Tuesday (17:00 and 20:30).

Don't just sit there unfastening your Belt and digesting the final remnants of Christmas dinner - join us at Black Belt Poker for some festive poker shenanigans and add some hard cash to your pile of presents. Surely you're not just going to settle for those Argyle socks?...

Tokens are now available in the Store, or buy-in directly via the cardroom lobby.

Click here for a reminder of the schedule...

Born To Win; Atkinson Tops League XII

Earlier this week, Yellow Belt Mark 'bornTOflirt' Atkinson won the latest Black Belt Poker League, earning himself an invite to tonight's Black Belt Poker Christmas party where he'll be get to meet, greet, and eat before participating in a £100 SNG against our lineup of sponsored pros including Neil Channing, Richard Ashby and Kevin Williams.

Heading into the final leg, only a disaster of epic proportions could steal defeat from the jaws of victory, and such an occurrence was indeed evaded as Mark secured the title with a consistent-as-ever 21st place finish. The spoils on this occasion went to Peter 'UliKoko' Derrick, who defeated a tough final table - which included League XI runner-up finishers Nick 'nickhem1' Hemming and Karl 'KBV1TALS' Briggs - to claim the $114.000 first prize.

Also among the 76 entrants were bubble boy and former League Champion Andy 'RedKiteBlackBelt' Brisland, and dethroned Champion Robert 'myteamouse' Bulman who sadly picked up the wooden spoon in 76th place.

1st UliKoko -- $114.00
2nd bolden1212 -- $76.00
3rd S0luton -- $47.50
4th mork1971 -- $36.10
5th paul6543 -- $28.50
6th liquidpoker101 -- $22.80
7th nickhem1 -- $19.00
8th Snotterz -- $15.20
9th KBV1TALS -- $11.40
10th lionrampant27 -- $9.50

In total, 193 poker fanatics partook in League XII, with 10 lucky players receiving prizes for their hard work. With just 50 points separating 5th from 17th, all the changes occurred in the bottom half, with NPenfold (22nd) and TeeDeeEye1 (19th) replacing Elysiumjay (44th) and 45683ah (60th), the latter just missing out on a payday by a mere seven points.

1st bornTOflirt -- Xmas Party & Seat in £100 Pro SNG (668 points)
2nd Mrdroodle -- 1,000 Belt Points (602 points)
3rd Sarannedipity -- 850 Belt Points (596 points)
4th liquidpoker101 -- 725 Belt Points(585 points)
5th losbert40 -- 600 Belt Points (551 points)
6th Nanoplankton -- 500 Belt Points (536 points)
7th KBV1TALS -- 400 Belt Points (526 points)
8th TeeDeeEye1 -- 300 Belt Points (521 points)
9th bagpussrocks -- 200 Belt Points (521 points)
10th NPenfold666 -- 100 Belt Points (519 points)

11th 45683ah -- (512 points)
12th lionrampant27 -- (506 points)
13th Elysiumjay -- (505 points)
14th ACarey -- (504 points)
15th doochats -- (499 points)
16th JaytheHippy71 -- (496 points)
17th ChipRead77 -- (495 points)
18th BoatDrink -- (485 points)
19th taylormade777 -- (481 points)
20th RedKiteBlackBelt -- (467 points)

Although Mark Atkinson was all but dusting his crown prior to the starting whistle, there remained hope for others in the form of the Second Chance SNG, a one-table tournament that offered all leg winners the opportunity to be the last-man-standing and capture the star prize.

The Leg winners were as follows:

Leg 1: JosseWales
Leg 2: JaytheHippy71
Leg 3: steviegw
Leg 4: myteamouse
Leg 5: DConTour1
Leg 6: mrdroodle
Leg 7: mrdroodle
Leg 8: UliKoko

Although Andy 'mrdroodle' Erskine had achieved the remarkable feat of winning two consecutive events, he was to suffer the pain of the bubble at the final furlong when he lost heads-up to opening leg winner Barry 'JosseWales' Styles. As a result, we'll be seeing Barry tonight at the Grosvenor Victoria where he'll join Mark in the £100 Pro SNG.

The League may have come to a close, but our weekly Mulligan was still offering players a second bite at the cash cherry (as well as bonus Belt Points) with a feast of deep-stacked action for the affordable price of $15+1.5. 33 clicked 'register', but only one came out smelling of roses: former League Champion Mark 'russellhansen' Brassington.

1st russellhansen -- $198.00 (50 Special Points)
2nd HesGot2Aces -- $123.75 (30 Special Points)
3rd ourkidsid -- $79.20 (10 Special Points)
4th deadlydaveLDN -- $54.45 (5 Special Points)
5th Bluegooner1 -- $39.60 (5 Special Points)

Meanwhile, the latest Orange Belt Freeroll was taking place simultaneously with 65 players battling it out for shares in Richard Ashby in the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event. With a final table already under his belt, Richard's pie-slices were hotly contested as 65 looked to grab their piece of the action. Only four could enjoy this pleasure, however; they were:

1st JustinBieber -- $100 sponsorship
2nd BoatDrink -- $50 sponsorship
3rd lionrampant -- $25 sponsorship
4th WiseOwlBB -- $25 sponsorship

Tonight, the Yellow Belt No-Lose Deepstack returns to cyber shores this evening at 20:00, but to keep you entertained during the holiday season, we have our Festive Freezeouts which include the wonderfully named Turkey Sandwich and Big Turkey Sandwich, $10+1 and $50+5 freezeouts respectively.

The Big Turkey takes place at 19:30 on December 28 with satellites running throughout the week, so there's no excuse for failing to escape the in-laws and joining us for some poker debauchery on Black Belt Poker. Check out our tournaments page for more details, and we look forward to seeing you at the tables with your almost-out-of-date mince pies and ready-to-go New Year party poppers.

Don't have an account? Then click here to download the software and open an account following the simple step-by-step process provided.

Week 1 - 'JosseWales' Shoots to League XII Victory
Week 2 - 'JaytheHippy71' Rocks Leg 2
Week 3 - Stevie Does It
Week 4 - Mighty Win for Bulman in Leg 4
Week 5 - DConTourTakes Us to Valuetown
Week 6 - Erskine Shines in Leg 6
Week 7 - Droodle Does Double

2012 Academies Announced

With the final Black Belt Poker Academy of the year: Home on the Range done and dusted, 2011 has now concluded its full schedule, thus allowing you to put into practice your newfound skills over the festive period in-between those mince pies and drops of Sherry.

As the cliche claims: "poker is easy to learn, but hard to master," and so Black Belt Poker will be returning in the New Year to once again serve up a poker pitstop and help you stay ahead of the game with six more Academies.

The first Academy will take place on Saturday, February 25 at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London with Alex Rousso being joined by Black Belt and UKIPT Champion Sam Razavi. Together, they will teach techniques in game-adjustment, including exploiting opponents, and how to avoid being exploited yourself.

As a heads-up cash specialist with a penchant for speech-play, Sam boasts oodles of experience in poker psychology, and will be on hand to teach you all the nuances and tricks for getting the better of your opponent.

The full schedule for 2012 is as follows:

Saturday, February 25: 'Learning to Adjust: Levelling & Exploitation'
Saturday, April 21: 'Poker by Numbers: The Basics of Odds & Outs'
Saturday, May 26: 'WSOP: Winning Your Seat & Surviving Vegas'
Date tbc: 'How to Become a Pro'
Date tbc: 'Preflop Aggression: Three-Bets, Four-Bets & Beyond
Date tbc: 'The Biggest Leak: Value-Towning the River'

If you would like to attend any of the aforementioned Academies, then you can secure your seat now by emailing us at training@blackbeltpoker.com. Academies cost just £99 per ticket, or 4,800 Spending Points via the Black Belt Poker Store. And as a special deal, we're also offering five tickets for the reduced price of £400, meaning you get one free!

Anybody who reaches Green Belt in the Belt-Up Rewards System automatically receives free tickets to two Academies of their choosing. Alternatively, there will be a free seat up for grabs in our Enlightenment Orange Belt Freeroll on Wednesday, February 1.

"Our last Academy of the year was a sell-out," reveals Bluff Europe columnist Alex Rousso, "and we also received some of the best feedback ever. We've worked hard on the format of our Academies over the last two years and they really are a fantastic learning experience. Come see for yourself."

For one time only, February 25 will feature a double-Academy as 2008 Irish Open Champion Neil Channing hosts a day of educational gems at the Northern Poker Stars Poker Club in Carlisle. The topic will be Tournament Play with Neil divulging all the skills that helped him to a near three million in live tournament winnings. Contact ken@northernpokerstars.co.uk to reserve your seat.

Droodle Does Double

The Black Belt Poker League entered its penultimate leg of the season this week as 72 players looked to knock 'bornTOflirt' off his throne and echo the last-man-standing achievements of Andy 'Mrdroodle' Erskine just seven days prior.

In the end, neither objective was fulfilled as 'bornTOflirt' not only held onto top spot, but extended his lead, and 'Mrdroodle' entered Groundhog Day by completing an incredible double.

In fact, most of the final table were in near-equally fine fettle: last week's runner-up 'HammerHorror' finished third, 'taylormade777' repeated his seventh place, whilst 'Nanoplankton' improved on his ninth place finish by two places.

Meanwhile, 2010 Ultimate Warrior Hasmukh '45683ah' Khodiyara turned a token purchase into a $79.20 payday, and former League Champion Trevor 'TeeDeeEye1' Ingman snuck into the money in eighth.

1st Mrdroodle -- $115.20
2nd 45683ah -- $79.20
3rd HammerHorror -- $48.60
4th S0lution -- $36.00
5th bornTOflirt -- $27.00
6th Nanoplankton -- $21.60
7th taylormade777 -- $18.00
8th TeeDeeEye1 -- $14.40
9th KODDZILLA
10th JaytheHippy71

Another emphatic performance from 'bornTOflirt' means that, barring a meteorite falling from the sky, he's going to be the League XII Champion and joining us at the Black Belt Poker Christmas party to play in the £100 SNG. However, it's not too late to join him; win the final leg next week and you'll be entered into a Second Chance SNG with the previous leg winners, the survivor of which will also be awarded the star prize.

1st bornTOflirt -- 612 points
2nd Mrdroodle -- 537 points
3rd Sarannedipity -- 533 points
4th losbert40 -- 520 points
5th liquidpoker101 -- 506 points
6th 45683ah -- 495 points
7th Nanoplankton -- 475 points
8th Elysiumjay -- 472 points
9th JaytheHippy71 -- 469 points
10th bagpussrocks -- 468 points

11th BoatDrink -- 466 points
12th doochats -- 465 points
13th NPenfold666 -- 464 points
14th TeeDeeEye1 -- 463 points
15th taylormade777 -- 458 points
16th ACarey -- 457 points
17th KBV1TALS -- 456 points
18th ChipRead77 -- 454 points
19th lionrampant27 -- 438 points
20th JHobbit1 -- 435 points

For those who struggled in the current League, there were consolative rewards in this week's Orange Belt Freeroll as we gave away a total of 36 tokens into League XIII in the new year. 'Nanoplankton' came out smelling of roses; he earned himself free entry into all eights legs.

1st Nanoplankton -- Season Ticket Pass
2nd bagpussrocks -- 7 League tokens
3rd ourkidsid -- 6 League tokens
4th ToddCoxeter -- 5 League tokens
5th generlashifty -- 4 League tokens
6th 10Royals -- 3 League tokens
7th VBlueBBP -- 2 League tokens
8th Ruaction -- 1 League tokens

Finally, 18 players participated in Wednesday's Deepstack Mulligan with top prize going to Kevin 'S0lution' Birt:

1st S0lution -- $135.00 (50 Belt Points)
2nd nicenutter -- $81.00 (30 Belt Points)
3rd lionrampant27 -- $54.00 (10 Belt Points)
4th TheHulk85 (5 Belt Points)
5th losbert40 (5 Belt Points)

If you haven't already heard the news, Black Belt Poker are hosting some Festive Freezeouts to keep you entertained during the respite period between Christmas and New Year, including our $50+5 Big Turkey Sandwich. If you're looking to slip away from the in-laws for a few hours, then this could be the perfect escape route.

Don't have an account? Then click here to download the software and open an account following the simple step-by-step process provided.

Week 1 - 'JosseWales' Shoots to League XII Victory
Week 2 - 'JaytheHippy71' Rocks Leg 2
Week 3 - Stevie Does It
Week 4 - Mighty Win for Bulman in Leg 4
Week 5 - DConTourTakes Us to Valuetown
Week 6 - Erskine Shines in Leg 6

Orange Wednesday: New Freerolls Added

If you're considering going to the cinema on Wednesdays, then think again as Black Belt Poker are making you an offer you can't refuse.

Every Wednesday at 20:00, Black Belt Poker host an Orange Belt Freeroll, exclusive to Orange and Purple Belts. As the title suggests, entry is absolutely free, with prizes ranging from training to a luxury chip set to shares in our Black Belts in live tournaments.

In total, there are five freerolls including Merchandise Madness and Barney Rubble, but whilst you've been grazing on your poker popcorn, we've spiced things up with an extra three freerolls. Threerolls!

The first one to grace your monitor will be Omaha Orgy, an orgasmic experience that will delight its winners with Omaha tournament entries, including a seat into the $100+9 Monday Night Omaha event.

Also joining the roster is Limit Up. Take your game to the limit in our Limit Hold'em freeroll and win Belt Points for finishing in the top four spots with first place earning an entire month's worth of free Orange Belt maintenance.

Then, in February, a month in which there will be an unprecedented five freerolls for you to feast on, you'll be able to take a bite out of our London Live Freeroll, in which we'll be serving up free seats into the third Black Belt London Live.

The next freeroll is The Season Ticket Giveaway on Wednesday, December 14 in which we give out no fewer than 36 tokens into the Black Belt Poker League. The following week will then be A Slice of the Action - your chance to win shares in the Aussie Millions with Black Belt Richard Ashby, who final-tabled the event in 2009.

The schedule for the next three months is as follows:

December:

Week 1: Merchandise
Week 2: The Season Ticket Giveaway
Week 3: A Slice of the Action (Richard Ashby - Aussie Millions)
Week 4: Barney Rubble

January:

Week 1: The Season Ticket Giveaway
Week 2: Omaha Orgy
Week 3: Slice of the Action (Sam Razavi - UKIPT Galway)
Week 4: Barney Rubble

February:

Week 1: Enlightenment Freeroll
Week 2: Omaha Orgy
Week 3: London Live Freeroll
Week 4: A Slice of the Action
Week 5: Limit Up

So, this is your chance to be a contender, a somebody. Go ahead, make your day and may the force be with you. There's no place like Black Belt Poker on a Wednesday.

Want us to show you the money? Check out our promotions page to see exactly what you can win from our current lineup of Orange Belt Freerolls.

Erskine Shines in Leg 6

Leg 6 of Black Belt Poker League XII commenced last Tuesday night, with 85 players pulling $5.50 out of their virtual pockets to join in with the competitive fun. With only two legs to go after this, participants were eager to make their mark and boost their chances of joining us at the BBP Christmas dinner.

In the previous leg, Andy 'Mrdroodle' Erskine had only managed 57th place. This week though, the Orange Belt came roaring back to claim the honours, leaving with $127.52, 110 valuable points and undoubtedly a huge grin on his face. This victory has also propelled him into 6th in the overall standings with 440 points.

This week's runner-up came in the form of Tim 'HammerHorrow' O'Mahoney. The Yellow Belt won $85, 102 points, and, like 'mrdroodle', vastly improved on last week when he finished in 41st place. He now sits in 32nd place in the overall standings with 347 points.

Third place was claimed by former League Champion Mark '99Ranny' Ranson who took home $53.12 and 98 points. The Yellow Belt is in 74th place with 218 points.

1st Mrdroodle -- $127.52
2nd HammerHorrow -- $85.00
3rd 99Ranny -- $53.12
4th 7onyB -- $40.37
5th Sarannedipity -- $31.87
6th elvis18111 -- $25.50
7th taylormade777 -- $21.25
8th Elysiumjay -- $17.00
9th Nanoplankton -- $12.75
10th CareybearBBP -- $10.62

At the moment, Yellow Belts are holding the top three spots in League XII.

Mark 'bornTOflirt' Atkinson still leads the way despite dating danger this week when he finished 31st for 55 points. He now has a total of 534 points.Saranne 'Sarannedipity' Branter, meanwhile, maintained her second place position in the overall standings and inched closer to 'bornTO'flirt' after claiming fifth place in Leg 6. She now has 505 points.

Third place changed hands after Jason 'Elysiumjay' Layland climbed four positions, courtesy of an eighth place finish. He is now on 469 points.

1st bornTOflirt -- 534 points
2nd Sarannedipity -- 505 points
3rd Elysiumjay -- 469 points
4th losbert40 -- 458 points
5th liquidpoker101 -- 449 points
6th Mrdroodle -- 440 points
7th ACarey -- 436 points
8th NPenfold666 -- 435 points
9th doochats -- 421 points
10th BoatDrink -- 420 points

11th JHobbit1 -- 420 points
12th bagpussrocks -- 412 points
13th KBV1TALS -- 409 points
14th 45683ah -- 406 points
15th JaytheHippy71 -- 405 points
16th elvis18111 -- 401 points
17th ChipRead77 -- 400 points
18th Nanoplankton -- 400 points
19th TeeDeeEye1 -- 394 points
20th lionrampant27 -- 390 points

On Wednesday at 20:30, 27 people jumped into the $15+1.50 Deepstack Mulligan. Ciaran 'HeGot2Aces' Cole came out on top, gaining a $202.50 payday.

1st HeGot2Aces -- $202.50
2nd doochats -- $121.50
3rd CaptainJack5 -- $81.00

Finally, a special congratulations goes out to Gerald 'WiseOwlBB' Stanley, who became our first player to cash in the daily $6K GTD tournament with a token gained through the Orange Belt 'Barney Rubble' Freeroll. He had won $261.60 in the actual tournament, but doubled up as part of our promotion, taking home a total of $523.20.

Don't have an account? Then click here to download the software and open an account following the simple step-by-step process provided.

Week 1 - 'JosseWales' Shoots to League XII Victory
Week 2 - 'JaytheHippy71' Rocks Leg 2
Week 3 - Stevie Does It
Week 4 - Mighty Win for Bulman in Leg 4
Week 5 - DConTourTakes Us to Valuetown

iPOPS: 2 BBP Brits & An $89,300 Czech

The iPOPS Live kicks off tomorrow in Prague, but at 16:00 two Black Belt Poker players will be playing for an $89,300 first prize in the grand finale of the iPOPS Main Event.

The iPOPS (iPoker's Online Poker Series) was a mini-series of four events with a value-quenching $1 million in guaranteed prize pools. In total, there was in excess of $150,000 in added money, including a whopping $77,125 overlay in the $125+10 Main Event.

This monetary carrot lured 3,383 to the felt, included 16 players who had won free seats courtesy of Black Belt Poker. As well as adding seats to our weekly tournaments, we also held daily Bang For Ya Buck MTTs which offered players the chance to win a seat for a single buck. Meanwhile, 'FlopTheNuts77' received free entry just for bubbling Event #1 as part of our exclusive Bust a Black Belt promotion.

As such, Black Belt Poker boasted a near five percent of the field, including Nik Persaud, Neil Channing, Richard Ashby and Toby Lewis, as well as Blue Belts Jamie Burland and Ben Meredith who both managed to cash. The stars of the day, however, were Rupinder 'AceSingh' Bedi and Richard 'generalshifty' Hurst who survived to the final 27, and will now play to a conclusion at the iPOPS Live tomorrow.

Rupinder is a well-known circuit player from Leicester who has enjoyed a number of results including a GBPT title, a DTD Monthly Freezeout victory, and a final table in the GUKPT Blackpool. Richard, meanwhile, is a regular on Black Belt Poker shores, and is a former Purple Belt who recently cashed in the Black Belt Nottingham Live. In doing so, he earned an extra 10 percent to his prize for being Orange Belt, as well as $100 for eliminating bounty Jake Cody.

Having lost a crucial pot just moments before the final whistle, Rupinder was left with just a few big blinds, but thankfully iPoker have come to his rescue and modified the structure to enable more play. Blinds will therefore start at 10,000/20,000 with a 40-minute clock, meaning Rupinder now has a fighting chance with over 10 big blinds, and Richard a much more manageable 25 big blinds.

The chip counts heading in to tomorrow are as follows:

Anastasiya3250 -- 626,755.06
CurtisCTUfrom24 -- 971,299.60
geoffowen -- 2,214,830.15
GrinderBerlin -- 907,542.32
TonyMontana147 -- 696,249.92
BlinkyBill00 -- 3,177,658.96
generalshifty -- 507,207.34 (D)
Veryunique -- 1,524,204.00 (SB)
heyjoe26 -- 2,464,969.37 (BB)

mitchelll -- 2,570,963.85 (SB)
panjodeluxe -- 4,194,546.70 (BB)
AceSingh -- 206,085.45
gliiiiip -- 1,239,831.76
ShaneGamble -- 889,053.26
fladfisk1l1 -- 582,330.93
nbban -- 944,745.87
Chuikapridi -- 1,615,161.41
JonnyWhite22 -- 1,078,997.58 (D)

Nickval79 -- 1,124,955.12 (BB)
daramcc -- 1,023,706.82
XENOC1DE -- 800,550.95
whatdoiwant -- 746,129.80
poomhead -- 224,191.60
POKZ1337 -- 1,085,977.56
EuroxxBuster -- 684,230.44
NashvilleSkyline -- 1,085,448.46 (D)
mick44yx -- 642,375.72 (SB)

The event runs alongside the iPOPS Live €700+70 Main Event with the final table scheduled for 13:00 on Sunday, December 11. Good luck to both Rupinder and Richard, and congratulations to everyone who cashed in the inaugural iPOPS. You can follow Richard's progress on Twitter @generalshifty.

Academy: Home on the Range

If you think a "range" is little more than a series of mountains, then our latest Academy is for you - taking place on Saturday, December 17, Home on the Range will provide you with all the information you need for placing opponents on a range of hands, whilst also learning methods of widening your own.

Taking the reigns this time will be Bluff Europe columnist Alex Rousso and Black Belt Poker sponsored pro Kevin Williams. With oodles of experience between them, they'll be presenting topics such as opening ranges, polarising and range-merging, whilst also hosting smaller discussion groups and workshops.

Kevin explains further:

http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/articles/read/Academy-Range

"These days," adds Alex, "it's no longer enough to figure that an opponent is tight or loose, bad or good; you need to know about opponent range assessment. Since opponents in the modern game are more likely to have multi-street plans - both for how they play their hands and combat yours - it's much better to have plans of your own."

Tickets cost a mere £99. If you would like to attend, then drop us an email as soon as possible at training@blackbeltpoker to discuss payment options and secure your seat. Alternatively, you can purchase a token in our Store under Live Events using Spending Points accrued at the Black Belt Poker tables.

The full schedule is as follows:

(13:00) Introduction: putting someone on a range, not a hand
(13:15) Opening Ranges: player types and their ranges
(13:45) Workshop: opponent opening ranges
(14:30) Short Break
(14:45) Narrowing Ranges: what opponent actions mean
(15:15) Workshop: opponent ranges on later streets
(16:00) Guess the Hand
(16:40) Short break
(16:45) Battling Ranges: polarising and merging
(17:15) Workshop: battling against ranges
(18:00) Recap Session: with Q&A or optional extra workshop
(19:00) Seminar Ends
(19:45) Optional entry into Vic £50+6 tourney with last-longer for Academy attendees

For those working from a budget, there will be a $10+1 satellite tomorrow at 19:30, exclusive to Black Belt Poker players. The event requires a minimum of five runners so register early if you plan to play.

'DConTour1' Takes us to Valuetown

Last week, onlookers assumed we were off our rocker when we gave away an incredible seven seats into the iPOPS Main Event this Sunday; this week, rocker-descent was officially confirmed when we dished out a further nine. That's a total of $2,160 in added value!

The action kicked off on Monday with Bang for Ya Buck, a daily $1 rebuy satellite with one seat added to first place on top of the standard prize pool. Winners so far include: 'gnomeeee' (Monday), 'lionrampant27' (Tuesday), 'liquidpoker101' (Wednesday), 'SurrealKiller' (Friday) and 'daveyb15' (Friday) with the final event currently playing out. With fields from as little as 22 runners, players were certainly getting a whole lotta bang for that buck.

Once again, we also added a seat to the fiercely competitive Black Belt Poker League as 95 players swamped the tables for Leg 5. Although Jason 'Elysiumjay' Layland was competing in his second consecutive final table, he couldn't quite make it to the top of the tree, the final branch snapping when he lost heads-up to debutant winner 'DConTour1'.

1st DConTour1 -- $142.52
2nd Elysiumjay -- $95.00
3rd bornTOflirt -- $59.37
4th sixnout -- $45.12
5th generalshifty -- $35.62
6th liquidpoker101 -- $28.50
7th nakgeela4 -- $28.50
8th SurrealKiller -- $23.75
9th ACarey -- $14.25
10th habbad -- $11.87

175 hopefuls have partaken in League XII thus far including Neil Channing and Richard Ashby, but the frontrunner remains Yellow Belt 'bornTOflirt' who extended his lead by collecting the bronze medal. 'Sarannedipity' remains steady in second, whilst Leg 2 winner 'JaytheHippy71' is snapping at her heels in third.

1st bornTOflirt -- 479 points
2nd Sarannedipity -- 414 points
3rd JaytheHippy71 -- 401 points
4th NPenfold666 -- 397 points
5th losbert40 -- 391 points
6th BoatDrink -- 391 points
7th Elysiumjay -- 387 points
8th KBV1TALS -- 382 points
9th liquidpoker101 -- 375 points
10th ACarey -- 374 points

Currently close, but no cigar are the following batch, including former League Champions Adam 'JHobbit1' Saunders and Trevor 'TeeDeeEye1' Ingman:

11th doochats -- 373 points
12th JHobbit1 -- 373 points
13th 45683ah -- 364 points
14th TeeDeeEye1 -- 358 points
15th bagpussrocks -- 352 points
16th habbad -- 342 points
17th plusEVldn -- 342 points
18th RykanShadow -- 335 points
19th sprinterz -- 331 points
20th ChipRead77 -- 331 points

Again, echoing the generosity of last week's ventures, the Deepstack Mulligan returned with not only community points in tow, but also a free seat to play for. After numerous near misses, and gut-wrenching bad beats, Dawn 'bagpussrocks' Cooke finally buttered her bread the right side with an outright victory. $198.00 was the monetary reward.

1st bagpussrocks -- $198.00 & iPOPS Main Event seat (50 Belt Points)
2nd Yosemity 2207 -- $123.75 (30 Belt Points)
3rd CaptainJack5 -- $79.20 (10 Belt Points)
4th thefly2011 -- $54.45 (5 Belt Points)
5th 45683ah -- $39.60 (5 Belt Points)

Although Bang for Ya Buck has yet to reach its conclusion, the iPOPS (iPoker's Online Poker Series) has already witnessed the first three events create a gargantuan $112.900 in overlays, including the Omaha which fell short of the $150,000 guarantee by a whopping $84,900.

In total, 25 players have cashed via Black Belt Poker, most notably an in-form Bruce 'UsainZeus88' Jones who final-tabled the opening event for $13,160.00. More recently, David 'deadlydaveLDN' Eames received $1,575.00 for 10th in the last night's Omaha adventure.

Event: $100+9 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max Freezeout
Entries: 1,890
Black Belt Poker players: 92
Guarantee: $200,000
Overlay: $11,000

4th UsainZeus88 -- $13,160.00
36th emotivator21 -- $660.00
49th johnnycoot123 -- $500.00
58th griffyid7777 -- $460.00
110th nickhem1 -- $280.00
138th RVP83 -- $260.00
172th farryboybbp -- $220.00
180th PhilNe2Q -- $220.00
250th NeilChanning -- $180.00

Event: $50+5 No Limit Hold'em Rebuy
Entries: 1,357
Black Belt Poker players: 35
Guarantee: $150,000
Overlay: $17,000

24th farryboybbp -- $600.00
26th LegendKing1 -- $600.00
27th myteamouse -- $600.00
44th lordmatt0 -- $435.00
64th losbert40 -- $330.00
93rd johnhunkydory -- $270.00
109th kippery -- $240.00
198th 45683 -- $165.00

Event: $100+9 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max Freezeout
Entries: 651
Black Belt Poker players: 36
Guarantee: $150,000
Overlay: $84,900

10th deadlydaveLDN -- $1,575.00
18th UliKoko -- $975.00
30th UsainZeus88 -- $615.00
60th THENFORCER -- $435.00
68th GONGONONGO -- $405.00
78th NeilsBitch -- $405.00
100th themackem1968 -- $315.00
116th NikPersaud -- $300.00

Meanwhile, in other news, Wednesday saw our Orange Belts fight it out for MTT tokens in the Bareny Rubble Freeroll. To those new to the name, if the following players turn their tokens into tournament winnings, we'll double their cash prize:

1st WiseOwlBB -- 5 tokens
2nd LolaLoveheart -- 3 tokens
3rd mork1971 -- 1 token

And finally, 47 took at a stab at our recently introduced Yellow Belt No-Lose Deepstack. Every single player received their $1 entry back with the final table sharing the $100 in added money.

1st Bambury -- $31.00
2nd BlackMadonna26 -- $21.00
3rd rungootPLS -- $13.50
4th FLYINGPROFISH -- $10.50
5th vinvgo -- $8.50
6th gnomeeee -- $7.00
7th WhiteShadow951 -- $6.00
8th BoraBoraBoy -- $5.00
9th BeatTheDonk123 -- $4.00
10th PhilDee64 -- $3.50

Another week and another value-fest on Black Belt Poker; every single event enjoyed an inflated prize pool, with nine lucky players hoping to turn their minor investment into a behemoth of a payday in tomorrow's final iPOPS event. If you've been living in a cave for the last few weeks, it's not too late - the action starts at 18:00 and unless 4,000 runners miraculously appear from the sky, there will surely be an overlay.

See here for details on Black Belt Poker's exclusive Bust a Belt Promotion for tomorrow's Main Event.

Don't have an account? Then click here to download the software and open an account following the simple step-by-step process provided.

Week 1 - 'JosseWales' Shoots to League XII Victory
Week 2 - 'JaytheHippy71' Rocks Leg 2
Week 3 - Stevie Does It
Week 4 - Mighty Win for Bulman in Leg 4