Last year, Pius Heinz became the first German to pick up the main event bracelet in World Series of Poker with his success at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Heinz was left in a heads-up with Czech Martin Staszko who went all-in with 10-7 in his final hand which was called by the 22-year old with no hesitation with AK. The board didn't improve either player's hand which left the German with the best five cards to land the top prize of $8,715,638. Even fans of Omaha poker wouldn't sniff at that kind of prize.

It was by far Heinz's biggest win of his career following successes in the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Mulligan in 2010 and a PokerStars $150,000 tournament a year later.

During the heads-up battle, there were 119 hands played with the lead changing nine times through the duration. At one point, the Czech player had a lead of 4 to 1 but Heinz clawed himself back in front and never looked back from there.

There were over one hundred spectators at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in what was a fantastic atmosphere on the final night of the main event in the series.

Before his triumph in Las Vegas, Heinz was considering reducing his time spent playing poker games and aiming to go back to college. He had suffered a disappointing six months where very little went right for him in the game, but thankfully for the German, everything came to fruition in the biggest prize of them all. The success may pave the way for European hopefuls who dream of victory in the World Series of Poker.

The events post Black Friday affected the whole poker world, but more so if you plied your trade living in the United States. Professional poker players either quit, emigrated or left their bedrooms for the brick and mortar casinos.

The transition from virtual world to the real one is tough, but if you have talent then it can shine anywhere. Playing in softer fields is probably a good starting point and the early stages of a European Poker Tour (EPT) or Asian Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) is a better place to start than any. It's probably better than jumping straight into the WSOP 2012.

Andrew Kim from the United States has just taken that very route, and recently took down the 2012 APPT held in Seoul, South Korea. 268 players contributed to a total prize pool of $639,571 and $129,253 of that went to Kim ??? not bad for his first ever live cash!

It was a decent final table with the 2012 Aussie Millions runner-up Kenneth Wong taking his seat, 11th place finisher at 2010 EPT Vienna Jose Severino and WSOP final tablist Daisuke Endo all generating a decent amount of experience.

It was actually Wong who was eliminated first after moving all-in pre flop holding pocket nines versus the Ah Qh of Vincent Rubianes. Back to back queens on the turn and river sealing Wong???s fate. Fans of online poker will know this is a typical scene.

Moritz Ortmann eliminated Endo in 8th; Kwon fell in 7th before it was the turn of Jose Severino. The man from Panama moved all-in with Ac Qh and Ortmann woke up with Ah Kh and that was the end of that.

Sasa Zorc left the party in fifth; Ortmann fell in fourth before the elimination of Rafael Rodrigo set up the heads-up clash between Kim and Rubianes, which Kim won to take home his first ever major title.

The Bluff Power 20 is not a collection of the twenty greatest poker bluffs of all time. Instead it is an annual declaration of the twenty most powerful and influential people in poker, brought to you by the people at Bluff.

The list has recently received criticism from certain quarters of the poker media for being too US-centric and this year was no different. Only three European's made it onto the list that once again declared the United States as the epicentre of the world of poker. Fans of Betfair may have their own views on this.

Interestingly, last year a certain Howard Lederer held number one spot. Unsurprisingly, the former Full Tilt man did not make the list this time around, but a family member still did. Lederer's sister Annie Duke sneaking onto the list in 18th place under her official title as Commissioner, Epic Poker League. What are the odds that this time next year Duke will follow Lederer out of the Bluff 20 after the recent announcement of the problems the Epic Poker League is facing just to survive. Those playing Betfair poker have no such worries.

Although Duke doesn't play much these days she is still classed as a player and she is one of only three poker players to make the list. The owner of Pokernews, Tony G making 11th place and Duke's nemesis Daniel Negreanu making an appearance in 9th spot. Daniel Negreanu was the only poker player to make the list without any other business interests in the game.

The Bluff Power 20 number one spot for 2012 went to Isai Scheinberg the founder of PokerStars.