November 7, 2009

We’re 6 hours into the action, Phil Ivey is All-in (with ~ 20 BB in his stack) and Jeff Shulman is in the tank ….

The crowd is shushing each other all of the sudden. And re-shushing. It’s like everyone in here understands that this tourney does change dramatically if and when Ivey goes out.

UPDATE: Shulman folds. Crowd cheers.

Seriously, wow, that was different. Phil Ivey is different. (Can’t wait to see who had what with that hand.)

Now on to level 36 … 250k/500k blinds … 50k ante.

We’ve talked a little about cheering sections at today’s final table, but we’ve saved the strangest combination of superfans for last.

Sitting on stage near their main man Phil Ivey are the Humphreys, the little old couple who have rooted him on since his days as an Atlantic City phenom. Next to them are some of Ivey’s newer friends… rap mogul Irv Gotti and rapper Ja Rule.

Wouldn’t you love to listen in on their conversations?

So much craziness going on, and we’ve hardly covered any poker. James Akenhead hit a sick three-outer — the crowd erupted — to triple up, and Antoine Saout called an all-in bluff from Darvin Moon with two pair to stay alive … that was like over an hour ago when this post started.

So here’s a rundown of the off-the-table things that have gone on … and maybe a few on-table situations as well.

HAND UPDATE: Akenhead vs. Schaffel … KK < AA and Schaffel doubles up to stay alive.

Thanks to @haribo22 for sneaking me in to the special Harrah’s VIP room in the Palazzo Suites for the free sandwiches and Pepsis. Mooching off the elite, of course, is how we roll.

Turned out to be a good thing … as the original plan was to attend a special PPA gathering with free sandwiches and Pepsis … but the event got canceled when they ran out of food and neither Howard Lederer nor Annie Duke showed up. To be fair, one or both of them was on the air with Bluff Radio at the time.

The new-and-improved WSOP website has a pretty nice feature for following the action … combining chip counts, pics, and tweets:

(Click to launch.)

It’s funny, of course, because for the past few years, there has been so much to-do over number of posts per hour, and who covers what … and now, after so much chest thumping and kneecap cracking to figure out how it all should and does work … all that stuff is pretty much irrelevant in 2009 — not only because there’s no selfishly “official” info provider, but moreso because twitter has become the default way to go for immediate, albeit unofficial, results.

HAND UPDATE: James Akenhead is out 9th! 33 < 99 vs. Kevin Schaffel. Crowd doesn't so much erupt as respectfully and enthusiastically applauds.

If you're not already, follow the action and then some on Tao of Poker.

Check it out: the Penn and Teller Theater did reach capacity (1,200). And the line outside the WSOP&T, stretching through that long long hallway that summertime WSOP visitors know all too well:

HAND UPDATE: Ivey folded. But he really had to think about it.

HAND UPDATE: Schaffel all-in again, with AA vs. Eric Buchman’s KK. Flop K-Q-J. WOOOOOT! 4th King on the turn … Schaffel out in 8th place.

Note for next year: How ’bout a visible tournament clock? We’re all guessing where we are in the levels.

Supposedly the WSOP website has been a bit slow at times … as has PokerNews. If in need for a super-updated chip count fix, check out PokerListings as a go-to backup. They also have rules there for a main event final table drinking game … which can still have you pretty hammered by heads-up, even with others having nearly a 6-hour head start.

HAND UPDATE: Shulman starting to come alive.

The Penn & Teller theater is a big room with seating for hundreds of friends, family and media folk. Some of us are down on the floor close to the action while others, like me, are relegated to the sky box where we can look down on the action from high above.

While we can’t see the cards, we do have some large monitors and hand-by-hand commentary to help us keep up with the action. It’s pretty cool, actually.

A view of the final table from high in the sky.

A Closer Look at the Action

While the battle for the bracelet heats up on stage, Doyle Brunson is taking care of business in the lobby of the Penn & Teller theater where he’s signing copies of his books, including his new autobiography that goes on sale soon.

You're not putting this on eBay, are you?

Who says you need to final table to make money at the WSOP?

We’re back … with the world’s shortest poker podcast … so short, we’ve already got two episodes for you.

Episode 1: Pre-action Action

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Episode 2: Homme-team Advantage

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Phil Ivey made the first all-in move of the day and the crowd went… silent.

It was certainly the tensest moment so far as both Joe Cada and Jeff Shulman considered taking Ivey on and, potentially, knocking him out. In the end though, Ivey’s fold equity was enough that he took down the pot and lived to play on.

I can’t wait to see what happens when we have an all-in and a call.

In spirit … Phil Ivey just took down his first pot, and a voice from the crowd screamed: “Stack’em, stack’em, to the top!”

Phil Ivey and Jeff Schulman may be the two biggest names at the final table, but they’re far from the only poker celebrities in attendance at the Penn & Teller theater.

Some of the faces in today’s crowd include Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth (who walked in with Jeff Schulman before sitting down to hawk copies of his book), Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman & Marco Traniello, Allen Cunningham, Phil Gordon, Greg Raymer, Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu and Perry Friedman.

Hellmuth Hard at Work

Poker’s biggest final table is taking place just a few hundred feet away from where I’m sitting, but it’s not the only tourney at the Rio today. About 15 tables were set up outside of Buzios where local players, including Doyle Brunson and T.J. Cloutier, took part in the Rio Invitational.

Earning a seat at the table was apparently based on overall gaming play as opposed to poker ratings, which means there was probably a lot more gamble going on than there will be inside the Penn & Teller theater.

Pomp and circumstance is underway … and a betuxed TD Jack Effel began with a lesson on “poker fan etiquette”. Jack’s rules:

• Cheer and clap all you want
• Do not, however, interfere with play in any way by screaming “Go All In!” or “Don’t do that!”
• Scream all you want
• Please don’t boo.

[Editor's Note: Booooo!]

• No flash photography

With all that explained, Jack “Link’s” Effel (who’s clearly been studying the works of the Buffer Brothers and touring rock bands) tried to rally the crowd to see who had the biggest cheering section. In terms of volume, Joe Cada’s rail-gang was clearly the loudest. “Joey! Joey! Joey!”

But in terms of style … Antoine Saout’s Frenchy hooligans definitely have it. They are all wearing Everest Poker soccer jerseys, with “Saout” on the back, along with Everest Poker scarves … and they’re showing us American sports fans don’t know a thing about local support songs.

As the mostly American crowd briefly paused to listen to whatever soccery song they were singing … Cada’s fans finally drowned them out with the creatively eloquent: “USA! USA! USA!”

Poker players may sometimes wear their hearts on their sleeves and their tells on their faces, but that’s nothing compared to the hundreds of friends and family members who are showing their support for today’s November Nine with the shirts on their backs.

Following a precedent set by Dennis Phillips Cardinals clad clan at last year’s final table, hundreds of spectators are wandering the halls of the Rio in matching T-shirts supporting their favorite players.

Begs, Begs, Begs

Yellow-clad Cada Fans

Moonies

A Saout Supporter

The day is here. The players are hidden away in some back corner of the Rio going through their pre-game routines while the fans wait patiently in line for a chance to witness poker history. Or at least grab a glimpse of Phil Ivey.

With almost two hours until the cards fly, the line in the Rio stretched from the Penn & Teller theater almost all the way back to the Amazon Room.

I went to Bellagio yesterday for free danish a little poker suit ho-down to learn more about the PartyGaming-World Poker Tour merger/acquisition/absorption … and was thinking how this meeting that included outgoing WPT president Steve Lipscomb and incoming new boss Adam Pliska might be kinda like George W. Bush handing the keys to the White House over to Barack Obama — you know, peaceful transition of power, new regime, new direction … change … then I thought, nah, that comparison might not be fair, and might be stretching things a bit.

But then, upon meeting Pliska a few minutes later …

Hmm … White House, WPT House, WPTE House … Party Politics … workshop … but still, there might be something there.

Click below to read the corporate bio of a guy who stands to be rather influential in shaping poker’s future. But first, here’s another pic (taken at the actual White House) of the new WPT president, who was in town to talk about plans for what he believes will be a major poker stimulus: