Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes are an ethnic group native to Greece, southern Albania, Turkey, Egypt and, to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. They form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world. Greek colonies and communities have been established on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, but the Greek people have always been centered on the Aegean and Ionian seas, where the Greek language has been spoken since the Bronze Age; until the early 20th century, Greeks were distributed between the Greek peninsula, the western coast of Asia Minor, the Black Sea coast, Cappadocia in central Anatolia, the Balkans and Constantinople. Many of these regions coincided to a large extent with the borders of the Byzantine Empire of the late 11th century and the Eastern Mediterranean areas of ancient Greek colonization; the cultural centers of the Greeks have included Athens, Alexandria and Constantinople at various periods. Most ethnic Greeks live nowadays within the borders of Cyprus.
The Greek genocide and population exchange between Greece and Turkey nearly ended the three millennia-old Greek presence in Asia Minor. Other longstanding Greek populations can be found from southern Italy to the Caucasus and southern Russia and Ukraine and in the Greek diaspora communities in a number of other countries. Today, most Greeks are registered as members of the Greek Orthodox Church. Greeks have influenced and contributed to culture, exploration, philosophy, architecture, mathematics and technology, business and sports, both and contemporarily; the Greeks speak the Greek language, which forms its own unique branch within the Indo-European family of languages, the Hellenic. They are part of a group of classical ethnicities, described by Anthony D. Smith as an "archetypal diaspora people"; the Proto-Greeks arrived at the area now called Greece, in the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. The sequence of migrations into the Greek mainland during the 2nd millennium BC has to be reconstructed on the basis of the ancient Greek dialects, as they presented themselves centuries and are therefore subject to some uncertainties.
There were at least two migrations, the first being the Ionians and Aeolians, which resulted in Mycenaean Greece by the 16th century BC, the second, the Dorian invasion, around the 11th century BC, displacing the Arcadocypriot dialects, which descended from the Mycenaean period. Both migrations occur at incisive periods, the Mycenaean at the transition to the Late Bronze Age and the Doric at the Bronze Age collapse. An alternative hypothesis has been put forth by linguist Vladimir Georgiev, who places Proto-Greek speakers in northwestern Greece by the Early Helladic period, i.e. towards the end of the European Neolithic. Linguists Russell Gray and Quentin Atkinson in a 2003 paper using computational methods on Swadesh lists have arrived at a somewhat earlier estimate, around 5000 BC for Greco-Armenian split and the emergence of Greek as a separate linguistic lineage around 4000 BC. In c. 1600 BC, the Mycenaean Greeks borrowed from the Minoan civilization its syllabic writing system and developed their own syllabic script known as Linear B, providing the first and oldest written evidence of Greek.
The Mycenaeans penetrated the Aegean Sea and, by the 15th century BC, had reached Rhodes, Crete and the shores of Asia Minor. Around 1200 BC, the Dorians, another Greek-speaking people, followed from Epirus. Traditionally, historians have believed that the Dorian invasion caused the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, but it is the main attack was made by seafaring raiders who sailed into the eastern Mediterranean around 1180 BC; the Dorian invasion was followed by a poorly attested period of migrations, appropriately called the Greek Dark Ages, but by 800 BC the landscape of Archaic and Classical Greece was discernible. The Greeks of classical antiquity idealized their Mycenaean ancestors and the Mycenaean period as a glorious era of heroes, closeness of the gods and material wealth; the Homeric Epics were and accepted as part of the Greek past and it was not until the time of Euhemerism that scholars began to question Homer's historicity. As part of the Mycenaean heritage that survived, the names of the gods and goddesses of Mycenaean Greece became major figures of the Olympian Pantheon of antiquity.
The ethnogenesis of the Greek nation is linked to the development of Pan-Hellenism in the 8th century BC. According to some scholars, the foundational event was the Olympic Games in 776 BC, when the idea of a common Hellenism among the Greek tribes was first translated into a shared cultural experience and Hellenism was a matter of common culture; the works of Homer and Hesiod were written in the 8th century BC, becoming the basis of the national religion, ethos and mythology. The Oracle of Apollo at Delphi was established in this period; the classical period of Greek civilization covers a time spanning from the early 5th century BC to the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 BC. It is so named because it set the standards by which Greek civilization would be judged in eras; the Classical period is described as the "Golden Age" of Greek civilization, and
Tony Bloom
Anthony Grant Bloom is a football club chairman and professional poker player. Bloom has been a sports property investor, nicknamed The Lizard. Bloom appeared in the Late Night Poker television series and has a final table appearance on the World Poker Tour, he made back-to-back final table appearances in the first two Poker Million events. His first major win came in January 2004 when he won the Australasian Poker Championship in Melbourne, collecting a first prize of around A$420,000. Bloom won the £5,000 No Limit Hold'em VC Poker Cup Final in London on 5 August 2005 and won the £200,000 first prize, he had a fourth-place finish in the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions. He was a member of the winning British team in the Poker Nations Cup; as of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceed $1,500,000. Bloom won A$600,000 for his second-place finish in the High Rollers Challenge, event 8 of the Australian Poker Millions tournament held in Melbourne in Jan 2009. Bloom fell short of the million pound grand prize in the Poker Million IX event held in London on 10 December 2010.
He finished second behind Gus Hansen. Since 2009, Bloom has been the chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion, who are a Premier League club, having gained promotion in the 2016–17 season after 34 years out of the top flight of English football, he succeeded Dick Knight after securing a 75% shareholding in the club and investing £93 million in the development of the club's new ground, the American Express Community Stadium at Falmer. Since the stadium has been built, it has received numerous extensions in spectator capacity and has received funding to ensure that it is "Premier League ready" by installing floodlights, amongst other minor features. Upon taking over the club, Bloom declared his love of the game, "I've been a football fan and a gambler since the age of about seven or eight. My interest in both developed at the same time." Bloom is a longtime fan of Brighton and his family has had a long association with the club: his uncle Ray is a director and his grandfather, was vice-chairman during the 1970s.
On becoming chairman, Bloom appointed former Uruguay international Gus Poyet as manager, together they led the team to promotion from Football League One as champions in 2011, the season before Brighton moved into their new home - the Falmer Stadium. Poyet left the club in 2013 after losing in a play-off semi-final to Crystal Palace. In June 2013, Bloom appointed Óscar García as the new head coach of the club; the next manager was former Liverpool player Sami Hyypiä, who only lasted a few months in the managerial role after a poor start to the 2014–15 season left Brighton in the relegation zone. Chris Hughton became manager towards the end of 2014, the club have been successful since. Hughton steered Albion to safety in their 2014–15 campaign, guided the club to an impressive third-place position in the Championship in the following season, narrowly missing out on promotion to Middlesbrough on goal difference; the club would again taste defeat in a play-off semi final, for the third time in four years - this time to Sheffield Wednesday.
Brighton went one step further in the 2016–17 season under Hughton's guidance and Bloom's ownership, finishing second in the Championship and gaining promotion to the Premier League for the first time in the club's history. Bloom backed Hughton in the following transfer window, breaking several record transfer fees to improve the squad, ready for Brighton's first Premier League season. In 2018, Bloom completed the takeover of Belgian second division club Union SG. Bloom is Jewish, has contributed to the development of a synagogue project in Hove, he stepped in with the Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation suffering financial problems, the funding for the development will come from his Bloom Foundation, of which he is the chairman. Hendon Mob tournament results World Poker Tour Profile Jewish Chronicle feature
Josh Arieh
Josh Arieh is an American professional poker player. Arieh has been competing in poker competitions since 1999, he is married to Angela Arieh. Arieh finished in third place in the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event and has a World Series of Poker title in Limit Texas hold'em in 1999 and a 2nd-place finish at the 2000 World Series of Poker Pot Limit Omaha event to Johnny Chan. At the 2005 World Series of Poker, he won his second bracelet by defeating Chris Ferguson in a Pot Limit Omaha event. Arieh finished 2nd in the 2014 World Series of Poker $5,000 No Limit Hold'em - Eight Handed, he has final table television appearances. As of 2017, his total live tournament winnings exceed $6,800,000. Most of his tournament winnings have come at the WSOP. Arieh has the reputation as something of a divisive figure relying on verbal bullying when trying to force a hand, he has earned the friendship and respect of many of his competitors, but has committed several faux pas during his career, lambasting Harry Demetriou after an important hand in the Main Event of the 2004 World Series of Poker and, after being eliminated from that tournament, pulling one of the remaining players aside and whispering, "ice this motherfucker," referring to the other remaining opponent, eventual champion Greg Raymer.
He subsequently apologized after both incidents. Arieh is friends with former professional baseball player John Smoltz. Arieh was Smoltz's caddy when Smoltz attempted to qualify for the U. S. Open Championship in 2010. World Poker Tour profile Feature article in American Jewish Life Magazine
World Series of Poker bracelet
The World Series of Poker bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. If the victory occurred before 1976, WSOP championships are now counted as "bracelets". During the first years of the WSOP only a handful of bracelets were awarded each year. In 1990, there were only 14 bracelet events. By 2000, that number increased to 24; as the popularity of poker has increased during the 2000s, the number of events has increased. In 2011, 58 bracelets were awarded at the WSOP, seven at the World Series of Poker Europe, one to the WSOP National Circuit Champion; this brought the total number of bracelets awarded up to 959. Five additional bracelets were awarded for the first time in April 2013 at the inaugural World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific in Melbourne, Australia.. In 2017, 74 for bracelets were awarded at the WSOP and an additional 11 will be awarded at the WSOPE in Czech Republic.
After the conclusion of the 2014 WSOP APAC, there have been 1083 bracelets awarded, 500 of which were won by 170 players who have won at least two bracelets, with all of the other bracelets being won by one-time winners. This includes 17 Main Event winners: Hal Fowler, Bill Smith, Mansour Matloubi, Brad Daugherty, Jim Bechtel, Russ Hamilton, Noel Furlong, Robert Varkonyi, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Jamie Gold, Jerry Yang, Peter Eastgate, Pius Heinz, Ryan Riess and Martin Jacobson. Since Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 Main Event, only three players have won and followed it up with a win in another bracelet event, Jonathan Duhamel, Joe Cada and Joe McKeehen; the 1976 bracelet looked "like gold nuggets kind of hammered flat". The bracelet in 1976 cost $500. In the 1980s, Las Vegas jeweler Mordechai Yerushalmi became the exclusive manufacturer of WSOP bracelets until Harrah's Entertainment bought the rights to the WSOP in 2004. According to 2003 WSOP Champion Chris Moneymaker, the design of the bracelet remained unchanged under Yerushalmi.
In 2005, Gold and Diamond International based in Memphis, TN won the bid from Harrah's Entertainment to manufacture the 2005 World Series of Poker bracelets. The company manufactures the WSOP circuit rings. In 2006, Frederick Goldman, Inc. made the WSOP bracelets while luxury watch maker Corum introduced some commemorative watches as part of the prize package. In 2006, the Champion's bracelet had 259 stones including 7.2 carats of diamonds, 120 grams of white and yellow gold. It used rubies to represent the heart and diamond suits, a sapphire to represent the spade and three black diamonds to represent the clubs. In 2007, Corum became the official bracelet manufacturer for the WSOP; some of the 2007 World Series of Poker champions received both a bracelet from Corum. Corum designed four variations for the 2007 World Series of Poker Bracelets; the standard version, presented to 53 winners features 53 diamonds. The Ladies World Champion receives a bracelet, adorned with four black diamonds, two rubies and 87 blue sapphires.
The $50,000 HORSE Champion Bracelet has two rubies. The World Series of Poker Main Event Bracelet has 120 diamonds on 136 grams of 18 carat white gold; the value of the 2007 bracelets have not been released, but the typical price of a Corum watch ranges from $1,500–$30,000+. In 2008, the Main Event Bracelet had 291 diamonds, totalling 2.81 carats set in 168 grams of 18kt white gold. The other 54 event bracelets consisted of 55 diamonds, totalling 0.25 carats set in 80 grams of 14kt yellow gold. In 2010, an Australian-based company OnTilt Designs Pty Ltd won a multi-year contract to become the official bracelet manufacturer for the WSOP. OnTilt jewelers decided that the 2010 bracelet design would return to the tradition of the 1970s and 1980s where the bracelet was a heavy piece of unadorned metal. American jewelry designer Steve Soffa was chosen to design and manufacture the entire set of bracelets; the goal was to create a bracelet that somebody would want to wear every day. In 2011, OnTilt has been chosen to manufacture the WSOP Circuit rings.
In 2012, Jason Arasheben, famed jewelry designer and owner of Jason of Beverly Hills was chosen as the official bracelet manufacturer of the WSOP. Arasheben had designed the championship rings for the 2009 and 2010 Los Angeles Lakers and the 2011 Green Bay Packers, among others; the Main Event bracelet will feature each suit in the deck in black diamonds. In terms of sheer mass, it weighs in at over 160 grams of 14 karat gold and over 35 carats of flawless diamonds. A special platinum bracelet was awarded at the 2012 WSOP to the winner of The Big One for One Drop, Antonio Esfandiari; the event was a $1 million buy-in tournament created as a fundraiser for the One Drop Foundation, a charity established by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté. At first, the bracelets did not have much prestige. Ten-time bracelet winner Doyle Brunson said that his first bracelet "didn't mean anything" to him and that he did not pick up two of them; some professional poker players believe. Those who have belong to an exclusive club.
"It's impossible to overstate the value of a World Series of Poker gold bracelet to anyone who takes the game seriously," stated World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack during the 2006 bracelet unveiling. "It is the equivalent of winning the Stanley Cup in hockey or the Lombardi Trophy in American football."Many professional poker players desire the recognition, associated with the bracelet. Former Celebrit
Layne Flack
Layne Flack is an American professional poker player from Rapid City, South Dakota, residing in Montana and Nevada. Flack started playing cards with his grandparents, but became engrossed in the game whilst working at a casino, he would go to another casino after work to play poker. Despite becoming the Night Manager in his job, he quit as he was spending too much time on poker to continue working full-time as well, he met up with Johnny Chan who helped him improve his game and, following a big loss, encouraged Flack to ensure he had a lot of rest before a tournament. He has been mentored by Huck Seed. In 2004, Flack's recreational drug use became problematic, his friend, Daniel Negreanu paid $60,000 for him to go into rehab. According to Flack "poker was not a priority in my life. A lot of it was based on drugs and quitting drugs and a relationship situation and just dealing with success and failure all at once; these are all things that are hard for people to face, handle, or overcome, to do all of them at once was tough".
As of 2010, Flack has won over $4,300,000 in live tournament play. His 43 cashes at the WSOP account for $2,740,892 of his live tournament winnings. Flack has won six bracelets at the WSOP, he got the nickname "Back to Back Flack" after winning two consecutive Legends of Poker events in August 1999. He would accomplish the same feat three years at the 2002 and the 2003 events. Flack has captured one WPT title. 2002 World Poker Finals - 2nd place WPT Invitational Tournament - Winner 2004 UltimateBet. Com Poker Classic - 2nd place 2008 Legends of Poker - 8th place World Poker Tour Profile CardPlayer article Hendon Mob tournament results
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment Corporation. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker players to the Horseshoe Casino for a single tournament, with a set start and stop time, a winner determined by a secret ballot of the seven players; as of 2017, the WSOP consists of 74 events. However, in recent years, over half of the events have been variants of Texas hold'em. Events traditionally take place during one day or over several consecutive days during the series in June and July. However, starting in 2008, the Main Event final table was delayed until November; the 2012 and 2016 Main Event final tables commenced in October because of the United States presidential election. As of May 2017, the World Series of Poker has done away with the November Nine concept and instead gone back to the old format of crowning the Main Event winner in July; the idea of a World Series of Poker began in 1969 with an event called the Texas Gambling Reunion.
It was an invitational event sponsored by Tom Moore of San Antonio and held at the Holiday Hotel and Casino in Reno. This inaugural event was won by Crandell Addington; the set of tournaments that the World Series of Poker would evolve into was the brainchild of Las Vegas casino owner and poker player Benny Binion. In 1970, the first WSOP at Binion's Horseshoe took place as a series of cash games that included five-card stud, deuce to seven low-ball draw, seven-card stud, Texas hold'em; the format for the Main Event as a freeze-out Texas hold'em game came the next year. The winner in 1970, Johnny Moss, was elected by his peers as the first "World Champion of Poker" and received a silver cup as a prize. In 2004, Harrah's Entertainment purchased Binion's Horseshoe, retained the rights to the Horseshoe and World Series of Poker brands, sold the hotel and casino to MTR Gaming Group, announced that the 2005 Series events would be held at the Harrah's-owned Rio Hotel and Casino, located just off the Las Vegas Strip.
The final two days of the main event in 2005 were held downtown at what is now the MTR-operated "Binion's" in celebration of the centennial of the founding of Las Vegas. The WSOP added a made-for-television $2 million "freeroll" invitational Tournament of Champions event first won by Annie Duke as a "winner-take-all" event; the winner of each event receives a World Series of Poker bracelet and a monetary prize based on the number of entrants and buy-in amounts. Over the years, the tournament has grown in both the number of events and in the number of participants; each year, the WSOP culminates with the $10,000 no-limit hold'em "Main Event," which, since 2004, has attracted entrants numbering in the thousands. The victor receives a multi-million dollar cash prize and a bracelet, which has become the most coveted award a poker player can win; the winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event is considered to be the World Champion of Poker. Since 1971, all WSOP events have been tournaments with cash prizes.
In 1973, a five-card stud event was added. Since new events have been added and removed. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP; the tournament grew for over a decade, reaching 52 participants in 1982. In the early 1980s, satellite tournaments were introduced, allowing people to win their way into the various events. By 1987, there were over 2,100 entrants in the entire series. At the 2006 World Series of Poker, there were 45 events. Participation in the Main Event peaked that year, with 8,773 players; the number of participants in the WSOP grew every year from 2000 until 2006. Following 2006, new online gambling legislation restricted the number of online qualifiers to the event. 2007 was the first dip in numbers in the 21st century while in 2008 more people participated than the previous year. In 2000, there were 4,780 entrants in the various events, but in 2005, the number rose to over 23,000 players. In the main event alone, the number of participants grew from 839 in 2003 to 8,773 in 2006, has hovered between 6,300 and 7,200 entrants in the eleven years since.
Phil Hellmuth has won the most bracelets with 15 followed by Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Phil Ivey with ten bracelets each. Crandell Addington is the only player to place in the top ten of the World Series of Poker Main Event eight times, albeit in earlier years with small fields compared to modern times. Four players have won the Main Event multiple times: Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar and Johnny Chan. Bracelet winners who first achieved fame in other fields include French actor/singer Patrick Bruel, Danish soccer player Jan Vang Sørensen, American actress Jennifer Tilly, American musician/record producer Steve Albini. In recent years, there have been non-bracelet events at the WSOP. Texas hold'em, Omaha hold'em and Seven-card stud and their lowball variants are played. H. O. R. S. E. has been played in the past and returned in 2006. S. H. O. E. has been played in the past, returned in 2007. Other events played in the past include Chinese poker, Five card stud, many others. Like most tournaments, the sponsoring casino takes an entry fee and distributes the rest, hence the prize money
Betting in poker
In the game of poker, the play centers on the act of betting, as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, increase security while playing. Different games are played using different types of bets, small variations in etiquette exist between cardrooms, but for the most part the following rules and protocol are observed by the majority of poker players. Players in a poker game act in clockwise rotation; when it is a player's turn to act, the first verbal declaration or action they take binds them to their choice of action. Until the first bet is made each player in turn may "check,", to not place a bet, or "open,", to make the first bet. After the first bet each player may "fold,", to drop out of the hand losing any bets they have made. A player may fold by surrendering one's cards. A player may check by making any similar motion. All other bets are made by placing chips in front of the player, but not directly into the pot. In general, the person to the left of the dealer acts first and action proceeds in a clockwise fashion.
If any player has folded earlier, action proceeds to next player. In games with blinds, the first round of betting begins with the player to the left of the blinds. In stud games, action begins with the player showing the strongest proceeds clockwise. If there is a bring-in, the first round of betting begins with the player obliged to post the bring-in. If no one has yet opened the betting round, a player may pass or check, equivalent to betting zero and/or to calling the current bet of zero; when checking, a player declines to make a bet. In games played with blinds, players may not check on the opening round because the blinds are live bets and must be called or raised to remain in the hand. A player who has posted the big blind has the right to raise on the first round, called the option, if no other player has raised. If all players check, the betting round is over with no additional money placed in the pot. A common way to signify checking is to tap the table, either with a fist, knuckles, an open hand or the index finger.
If in any betting round it is a player's turn to act and the action is unopened the player can open action in a betting round by making a bet—the act of making the first voluntary bet in a betting round is called opening the round. On the first betting round, it is called opening the pot, though in variants where blind bets are common, the blind bets "open" the first betting round and other players call and/or raise the "big blind" bet; some poker variations have special rules about opening a round. For example, a game may have a betting structure that specifies different allowable amounts for opening than for other bets, or may require a player to hold certain cards to open. A player makes a bet by placing the chips they wish to wager into the pot. Under normal circumstances, all other players still in the pot must either call the full amount of the bet or raise if they wish remain in, the only exceptions being when a player does not have sufficient stake remaining to call the full amount of the bet or when the player is all-in.
To raise is to increase the size of an existing bet in the same betting round. A player making the second or subsequent raise of a betting round is said to re-raise. A player making a raise after checking in the same betting round is said to check-raise; the sum of the opening bet and all raises is the amount that all players in the hand must call in order to remain eligible to win the pot, subject to the table stakes rules described in the previous paragraph. A bluff is when a player bets or raises when it is they do not have the best hand; when a player bets or raises with a weak hand that has a chance of improvement on a betting round, the bet or raise is classified as a semi-bluff. On the other hand, a bet made by a player who hopes or expects to be called by weaker hands is classified as a value bet. In no-limit and pot-limit games, there is a minimum amount, required to be bet in order to open the action. In games with blinds, this amount is the amount of the big blind. Standard poker rules require that raises must be at least equal to the amount of the previous bet or raise.
For example, if an opponent bets $5, a player must raise by at least another $5, they may not raise by only $2. If a player raises a bet of $5 by $7, the next re-raise would have to be by at least another $7 more than the $12; the primary purpose of the minimum raise rule is to avoid game delays caused by "nuisance" raises (small raises of large bets, such as an extra $1 over a current bet of $50, that have little effect on the action but take time as all others m
