For those who missed it live … here’s yesterday’s Poker Beat podcast to get you through “the grind”, the hump, the “dog days”, whatever you wanna call the Series in mid-June. In this episode, we discuss what a bracelet really means to a guy like Greg Mueller, just how good really is JC Tran, and, in this Year of apparent Multiples, what’s a guy like Roland deWolfe all about? Also … “Full Tilt’s” lawsuit (via Kolyma) vs. an Aruba-Aussie payment processor run by 25-year-old Crocodile D-bag … and “celebrity” tournament director Matt Savage joins us to discuss the TDA Summit — and specifically rule changes related to texting at the table.

on PokerRoad

The Poker Beat
Huff, Caldwell, Michalski, Nemeth, Wise, Stapleton + Savage
6/18/09

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Sorry for the slowdown in getting podcasts to you. For those who can’t always handle semi-informed snarky banter for more than 2-4 minutes at a time and need more vulgarity and shticked-up grit, Tao of Pokerati (brought to you by Dream Team Poker) will also be back very soon.

Bring it!

Recapping the conclusion of Thursday’s action at the WSOP…

Baldwin Hits a Grand Slam with Bracelet

Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin a member of the 2005 NCAA Division III University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team, took down the $2,000 NL Holdem event early Friday morning, besting Dane Jonas Klausen in heads-up play to take home over $520,000 in winnings and his first career bracelet. Baldwin picks up his second major tournament victory of the year, he won the $2,500 NL Holdem main event at the Venetian Deep Stacks Extravaganza II in April.

Mizzi Mastering PLO

Sorel Mizzi leads the final 11 when day 3 of the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event when play resumes at 1pm today, with the hope of having a final table of nine ready for the 2pm internet broadcast on ESPN360 and wsop.pkr.com. Here’s how the remaining players are currently seated:

Seat 1: Rifat Palevic (949,000)
Seat 3: Samuel Ngai (207,000)
Seat 4: Dan Hindin (342,000)
Seat 5: Felipe Ramos (323,000)
Seat 7: Richard Austin (537,000)

Seat 1: Van Marcus (482,000)
Seat 2: Peter Jetten (370,000)
Seat 3: Jeppe Nielsen (242,000)
Seat 5: Sorel Mizzi (969,000)
Seat 7: Cliff Josephy (805,000)
Seat 8: Isaac Baron (170,000)

Corwin Cole Claims Cardinal Condition

Corwin Cole is the chip leader at 185,700 when day 2 of the $2,000 NL Holdem event resumes at 2pm today with 213 players remaining, 171 making the money. Other notables returning include: Dustin Dirksen (145,000), Shaun Deeb (88,500), Chino Rheem (74,600), Rob Hollink (53,500), and Eugene Todd (48,500).

Tuan Top Stud

Tuan Le is the reported chip leader of the $10,000 Stud 8 or Better World Championship when play resumes at 2pm today with 110 players remaining, 16 getting paid. Le has 234,000, with Los Angeles Lakers CEO Frank Mariani in second place with 111,300. Tom Schneider is among the returnees with 83,300, good for 8th place. Dario Minieri (81,500), Nick Schulman (73,000), Jerry Buss (67,800), David Benyamine (65,400), and Mike Sexton (53,400) are some of the other notables hoping to play on Saturday’s final table.

Friday’s Tournament

Only one tournament kicks off today, the $2,000 Limit Holdem event, which was won last year by Daniel Negreanu in a field of 479, good for just over $200,000. The WSOP Staff Guide projection for this event is 480, but don’t be surprised if just over 500 take to the felt today.

More stuff during the day at Pokerati, and catch the live updates over at www.wsop.com

Usually, at least among bracelet holders and Batfaces at the WSOP, Team Pokerati members are not required to wear their patchwork until after electronic devices have to come off the tables. This was a compromise reached with the TPPU (Team Pokerati Players Union) because we see lots of people we know and like throughout the early stages of tournaments, and unless they’re some sort of ridiculous super-monster chip leader, we usually say the same thing when they say hi: Whatever, talk to us on Day 2.

Well, for the first time this Series, our mascot pal Tom actually has something to say … because for the first time this WSOP, @DonkeyBomber has “bagged chips” — and sure enough, he credits his early donning of The Patch, if not our friendly encouragement and mixed games coaching, for this baby step toward success. Tom is playing in the $10k 7CS-HL, and with 110 of 164 players remaining, he’ll begin Day 2 near the top of the leaderboard, 8th in chips.

Follow his progress throughout the day here … and maybe here. (Though don’t count on it, as superstition seems to be part of his new plan.)

Congrats, Schneider. Hopefully yesterday will not be remembered as your best day of the 2009 WSOP!

It seems like the payment processor crackdown may be contained — with freezing activities limited to that $33 million seized a couple weeks ago. I’m not hearing any more stories of bounced checks, and I just got an email from Full Tilt (encouraging me to activate my latest bonus) that implies all is back to normal, at least on the player’s end, or at least is not spreading:

We’ve recently reduced the minimum re-deposit (reload) amount from $50 to $30. You can deposit using a variety of payment methods, including instant eChecks – check the Cashier for full details.

(Emphasis theirs, not mine.)

Does this jibe with what everyone else is finding, at Full Tilt, Stars, UB, and elsewhere?

Recapping the early action from Thursday at the WSOP:

De Wolfe Lying Low at Final Table

As Dan mentioned below, Roland de Wolfe is trying to win his second bracelet at this year’s WSOP at the $1,500 NL Holdem final table. As the player’s just left for a dinner break, here’s the chip standings with seven players remaining:

Jonas Klausen – 3,315,000
Eric Baldwin – 2,505,000
James Taylor – 1,385,000
Andrew Youngblood – 1,118,000
Benjamin Scholl – 500,000
Roland de Wolfe – 305,000
Steven Bradbury – 240,000

Jesper Jumps to PLO Lead

About 30 players in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha returned from their dinner break a few minutes ago, with Jesper Hougaard is the current leader. Sorel Mizzi, Isaac Baron, Ralph Perry, David “Devilfish” Ulliot and Fabrice Soulier are some of the notables remaining in the field as they try to make the final table of nine by the 3am deadline.

$2,000 NL Holdem Update

A smaller than expected field of 1,695 started the $2,000 NL Holdem event at noon today, with less than 700 who return after their 90-minute dinner break. Some notables who will get to return: Svetlana Gromenkova, Shaun Deeb, Joe Sebok, Roy Winston, Eugene Todd, Maria Ho and Michael Binger.

Stud 8 or Better Update

The $10,000 Stud 8 or Better World Championship drew a field of 164 that started shortly after 5pm, who will play eight levels tonight. Daniel Alaei is the early chip leader, with Scotty Nguyen, Tuan Le, Scott Clements and Frank Kassela among the notables near the top of the leaderboard. Tom Schneider is currently listed at 22,000 in chips (players started with 30,000).

More updates during the evening can be found at www.wsop.com and Pokerati during the evening hours

WSOP Top 10: now in colour!

They’ve been updated through 33 events … and whether or not it matters to you, are now presented by our good even better friends at Betfair. (They were kind enough to pay for the little flags you can now see in the sidebar — because who doesn’t like little flags?)

Click here to see the Pokerati World Standings in further detail.

Obviously it’s all about the bracelets (and associated spoils) … because with a second WSOP victory, Canada has asserted itself as more than just a suburb of the United States. Not quite a poker superpower yet –but capable of outplaying nuclear-armed countries and just about all other icy, hockey-loving socialist domains.

And speaking of … Sweden showed up in the Top 10 this week, letting us all know that there’s more than just Finland and Denmark (sooo 2008) to Scandiland. But the big arrival, in the eyes of this Nevada-based Texan, is Mexico. Hmm, wonder if a recent surge in Latino marketing by poker bizzers has had an effect … or vice versa.

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Roland de Wolfe is at the final table in a $1,500 donkament, going for his second bracelet of 2009. Would be pretty cool to win one in a 198-player PLO-HL and a 2,095-player NLH.

The fact that I had him on my fantasy team in 2008 and not 2009 just further reassures me that I am a man ahead of my time.

Current final-table chip counts:

1. Jonas Klausen 2,849,000
2. Steven Bradbury 1,860,000
3. Eric Baldwin 1,700,000
4. James Taylor 1,200,000
5. Martin Jacobson 633,000
6. Roland de Wolfe 500,000
7. Andrew Youngblood 453,000
8. Benjamin Scholl 328,000

Click here to follow the action online.

And here (Bluff) or here (PKR) to watch it live.

A reliable source and reader writes in to let me know I misquoted him misconstrued his words when I said, “and at least one Canadian tells me his people are none-too-happy with my ignorant yankee soilage of the ice people’s grail. In their eyes, apparently, you’re not supposed to touch it, even if your team wins, unless you played an active role in winning it.”

He says, to clarify:

That’s not entirely what I said. What I said was that many hockey fans (Canadian or not) won’t touch the Cup without having been on the team. Some will touch it – but not all. We don’t have any issues with people who do touch it – some of us just prefer not to tempt the hockey gods into punishing us OR our team again.

It seems fitting that Greg “FBT” Mueller won his bracelet on “hockey day” — being that he’s a former professional hockey player. I’m sure that will make his win last night in $10k Limit Hold’em all the more memorable. The Stanley Cup’s presence will also make the 2009 WSOP a special one for Mean Gene, who took this fawning pic of the silvery list of hockey champions in front of the silvery wall of poker champions, as well as others with the Cup in the Amazon Room. I do suppose it isn’t often when an inanimate object gets such celebrity treatment.

I feel kinda bad (not really) for crushing Tom’s soul. But I was hearing the same story from him as I’ve heard from at least a half-a-dozen other pros finding similar results: “I’m playing great! I’m making sick laydowns! My mental state is good! Just running bad. Cold cold cold. It’s getting frustrating. But I’m playing some of the best poker of my life! Jesus, [everyone else] is just getting lucky!”

Yeah. Uh-huh. That’s gotta be what it is … it’s clearly not possible that the deadest money on the table is someone who thinks they’re playing their A-game but isn’t compared to everyone else. In an effort to get a semi-retired Pokerati blogger and my best pro pal to consider shifting gears, I sent him the net-results rankings for everyone who has played in the 2009 WSOP under the Team Pokerati banner:

1. Gregg Merkow
2. Cliff Fisher
3. Robert Goldfarb
4. John Harris
5. Julie Schneider
6. Pat Poels
7. Shoegal
8. Tom Schneider

I then reminded him that the guy who picked him to be on his ESPN Fantasy Team (Gary Wise) is in dead last place. (Ha ha.)

You get the gist. The numbers don’t lie repeatedly. So while “playing some of the best poker of my life!” … not only is the DonkeyBomber something like 0-for-13 in cashing in tournaments, but also he hasn’t even made a Day 2. So before he finds himself trying to trade jewelry with Eskimo Clark for a satellite buy-in, he has decided to change his game says he will no longer be twittering until he bags chips for the first time in the 2009 WSOP. Good gameplan.

Click here to see the beginnings of a first-half WSOP fail regaled in increments of 140 characters or less. We’ll see if Tom returns with a vengeance or if his twitter account, along with his poker career, fades into oblivion.

As seen on WSOP.com:

255 – Ville Wahlbeck
225 – Phil Ivey
220 – Brock Parker
220 – James Van Alstyne
175 – Pete “the Greek” Vilandos
160 – Steve Sung
155 – Daniel Negreanu
150 – Jeffrey Lisandro
150 – Rami Boukai
147 – Jason Mercier

I would like to remind everybody that it’s just past halftime … so technically anyone can come out of nowhere and join this pack. But at the same time, enough events have passed that you can’t really say anyone’s just lucked their way onto the top of the POY leaderboard, as may have been the case a couple weeks ago. So this is mostly indicative of who’s really playing well.

Recapping the late Wednesday night WSOP activity…

WSOP Bracelet Touched by Angel

Angel Guillen picked up his first WSOP bracelet in the $2,000 NL Holdem event, defeating Mika Paasonen in a marathon heads up match to deny Finland a second WSOP bracelet. Guillen adds over $530,000 for first place, and throws his name into the Player of the Year race, as he had a 2nd place finish in the $2,500 NL Holdem event two weeks ago.

Mueller Musters a Bracelet

The $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship ended with a 1-2 finish for Canada, as Greg “FBT” Mueller passed Pat Pezzin to win his first WSOP bracelet. Mueller, a former hockey player, mentioned he was inspired by the Stanley Cup making an appearance at the WSOP on Wednesday, saying it was his destiny to win after having made several WSOP final tables, and two second place finishes in previous attempts.

Klausen Claims Day 3 Chip Lead

The $1,500 NL Holdem event heads to its conclusion at 1pm today with 21 players remaining, and Dane Jonas Klausen holding the lead with 939,000 in chips. Swede Martin Jacobson starts in second (806,000) with Roland de Wolfe, (644,000), Eric Baldwin (610,000), Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier (414,000) and Young Phan (211,000) among the notables remaining. When they eventually make the final table, it’ll be streamed over the Internet at www.bluffmagazine.com/live and wsop.pkr.com.

Hougaard Adds to Dane Domination

Another Dane, Jesper Hougaard will lead the 64 returning players who resume at 2pm in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event with 208,500 in chips. Sorel Mizzi (177,000), Jeff Lisandro (162,500), Sandra Naujoks (157,000), David “Devilfish” Ulliott (140,000) and John Kabbaj (95,700) are some of the notables looking to make the money, which will be reached when 36 players remain.

Thursday’s Tournaments and Projections

Two tournaments kick off on Thursday, starting with the $2,000 NL Holdem event at 12pm, which was won last year by Alexandre Gomes in a field of 2,317. The $10,000 Stud Eight or Better World Championship commences at 5pm, which was won last year by Sebastian Ruthenberg in a field of 261 when the buyin was $5,000. The WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 2,549 for the $2,000 NL (expect a field of 2,100), while the $10,000 Stud 8 World Championship field is projected at 150 (take slightly under, 135).

Come back to Pokerati during the day for more WSOP stories, and follow the live updates at www.wsop.com starting at 12pm today.

Recapping the quartet of tournaments going on this evening at the WSOP.

Mika v Angel for a Bracelet

The $2,000 NL Holdem event is down to headsup play with Finn Mika Paasonen holding a slight chip lead over Angel Guillen. Play resumes shortly in that matchup.

Sextet Left for a Limit Holdem Bracelet

The $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship is down to six players as they take their one-hour dinner break. Pat Pezzin is the current chip leader, followed by Daniel Alaei, Greg “FBT” Mueller, and Chad Brown with all four players over 1,000,000 chips. The two Matts, Hawrilenko and Glantz make up the remaining field. For those who like to follow the ladies, Jennifer Harman finished in 12th, while Maria Ho finished in 11th.

Elky Crafting a Star in $1,500 NL

The $1,500 NL Holdem event is down to under 100 players remaining, trying to get as close to a final table as possible before the 3am deadline. Bertrand “Elky” Grospelier is the current chip leader (470,000) with Day 1 chip leader James Taylor (180,000), Luke Vrabel (150,000), Roland de Wolfe (130,000), Praz Bansi (104,000) and Young Phan (90,000) among the notables remaining. Phil Hellmuth added another cash to his WSOP record with a top-200 finish.

Baron Best in PLO, for Now

The $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event drew a field of 363, with just 139 returning after the level 6 dinner break. Isaac Baron is the current chip leader at 140,000. Other notables returning include Jeff Lisandro (128,000), Nam Le (76,000), Scott Clements (56,000), Hoyt Corkins (49,000) and Greg Raymer (42,000) also make their return shortly as they play four more levels tonight.

For more updates, check out www.wsop.com for more updates and Pokerati for more goings on at the World Series of Poker.

Admittedly, hockey is far from my favorite sport. Even hailing from St. Louis Blues country, I’ve never been a hockey fan. So as the NHL Charity Shootout sponsored by PokerStars was underway on the ESPN stage, I wasn’t exactly compelled to check it out.

The decision to grab a pic was more for Pokerati readers than any other reason, but when the security guard told me I wasn’t allowed in the media area, I used Twitter to express my dismay. Within a matter of minutes, WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack was at my work station. “Come with me,” he said in a way that made me think of card counters being taken into the back room to be roughed up nicely. He took me to the NHL game media area, told the security guard I was to be allowed in, and let me know that he simply didn’t want the media to have a bad experience with this event. Done and done. (Later, I’ll see if my new BFF wants to hang out at the clubs.)

Back to the event, three tables full of NHL stars, poker pros, and online qualifiers will play out, and the winners will return to play the final table at 7:30-ish tonight for big money to be donated to their charities of choice. ESPN is filming all of the fun, and Mean Gene is anxiously (understatement of the week) awaiting the arrival of the Stanley Cup around 7pm. Here are a few pics of Table #2 that is still playing out in the Amazon Room.

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The ESPN feature table has been transformed all hockey-y for today’s special tourney. If fans are lucky, there’ll be a fight!

NHLers are all over Vegas this week — mostly for tomorrow night’s NHL Awards, which guys like Daniel Negreanu plan to attend regardless of what tournament he’s missing. And today they’ll be all over the WSOP — along with the Stanley Cup, which will be on stage as JC Tran receives his bracelet to the tune of the Star-Spangled Banner. Should be pretty cool, as nonsensical as it may seem.

I touched the Stanley Cup in ’99 (Stars!), and at least one Canadian tells me his people are none-too-happy with my ignorant yankee soilage of the ice people’s grail. In their eyes, apparently, you’re not supposed to touch it, even if your team wins, unless you played an active role in winning it. I suppose it’s like taking communion at a Catholic church if you haven’t received the sacrament and cleared your soul of mortal sins. But whatever … Pantera got to dent it.

Anyhow, there’s a special hockey-themed tournament at the WSOP today — The NHL Charity Shootout Presented by Pokerstars.net — a 5th televised event that non-PokerStars players have no chance of getting in on, as much fun as it would be to send Matusow or Hellmuth to the penalty box:

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