Sunday is a day off for the remaining players in the Main Event, with only the media event scheduled at the WSOP.

Day 2b eliminations

Day 2b got underway Saturday afternoon with Bruce Buffer, who finished with 160,000 in chips, offering the command to shuffle up and deal to the 2,700+ hopefuls at the Rio with varying chances of making it to Monday’s Day 3. Some of the notable names who won’t be returning include Phil Ivey, Todd and Doyle Brunson, Darvin Moon, Andy Bloch, Josh Arieh, Roy Winston, Orel Hershiser, Shannon Elizabeth, Sam Simon, John Phan, John Duthie, Chris Ferguson, and Team Pokerati/Loudmouth Poker sponsored pro Tom Schneider.

Day 2b survivors

After four levels of play, concluding in the middle of level nine, the unofficial chip leader is David Assouline from Canada with 387,800.
Notables also returning Monday include Vanessa Selbst (265,000), Archie Karas (242,700), Dan Bilzerian (216,600), Phil Galfond (195,400), Jason Mercier (186,300), Karina Jett (170,000), Eric Buchman (134,200) and Dan Harrington (114,500). The full list of the over 2,500 players returning to day 3 are available here, while the Day 3 table draw is now available.

WPT Bellagio Cup VI starts today

Saturday, the WPT held a press conference announcing various changes for the ninth season, with their first event in the US at the Bellagio starting today, Bellagio Cup VI. In a last-minute scheduling change, late registration is now available until Tuesday afternoon, with four 90-minute levels Sunday and Monday. Here’s an interview RawVegas.tv had with CEO Steve Heller and Kimberly Lansing:

Watch WPT CEO Steve Heller Comments on Recent Changes to the WPT on RawVegas.tv

UPDATE: Late registration for Bellagio Cup VI will now be open until the start of level 12 on Tuesday. Sunday and Monday will be five levels each day.

Episode 56: Beast Light Reunion – Pauly quizzes Dan about reconnecting with his ole teammates from Milwaukee’s Best Light (one of whom has also joined Team Pokerati) and wonders whatever happened to the inflatable beer cans that seemed ubiquitous at the WSOP just a few years ago.

Episode 57: Scents and Subtle Sounds of the Main Event with Snoopy – An impromptu episode (with our British colleague Snoopy) to further discuss odor emissions — stemming from loose bathing habits, flatulence, pungent reefer, and a growing desire for luck — as the main event progresses.

UPDATE: For an updated version of the day 2b table draw, click here. The updated table draw only affects those who had another person in their seat.

Day 2a eliminations

Day 2a of the Main Event saw the return of over 2,400 players filling the Amazon and Pavilion rooms at the Rio in Las Vegas, with the field playing four full levels. As can be expected during the Main Event, the eliminations happened at an accelerated pace. Among the notables who won’t return to the Rio with chips on Monday: Mike Sexton, John Hennigan, Tiffany Michelle, Antonio Esfandiari, Eli Elezra, Liz Lieu, Dennis Phillips, Greg Mueller, Sara Underwood, Dutch Boyd, Daniel Alaei, Ted Forrest, Carlos Mortensen and “Miami John” Cernuto, who didn’t return Friday afternoon due to illness and was blinded off.

Day 2a survivors

With play concluding halfway through level nine, a field of 1,200 will enjoy their weekend before returning to join the day 2b survivors as the field will be in the same tournament area for the first time on day 3 at 12pm Monday. The day 2a leader is Boulos Estafanous of Darien, Florida with 340,100 in chips. Other notables with a healthy chip stack include Johnny Chan (281,600), Tony Korfman (275,100), Patrik Antonius (258,600), Sammy Farha (226,500), Annie Duke (176,600), Padraig Parkinson (153,100), Joe Cada (122,400), Chris Moneymaker (104,000), Kathy Liebert (87,000), Scotty Nguyen (67,800), and Matt Savage (54,400). The full list of chip counts can be found at wsop.com, a partial table draw will also be linked here and on my Twitter account.

Saturday at 12pm, over 2,700 players make their way to the Rio for day 2b of the Main Event with half the field expected to be out the door by the time play concludes. Follow the action over at WSOP.com.

WPT Press Conference Saturday

Matt Savage takes advantage of his days off to hold a press conference at 11am at the Bellagio regarding the upcoming season of the WPT. The press conference will also be streamed over the Internet at Ustream.TV here. The first US event of WPT Season IX is the Bellagio Cup VI Main Event, starting Sunday.

Spotted this California beemer in the Rio front valet … so there’s no guarantee it belongs to a poker player. But all those dBags who’ve shown up en masse this year have to draw their inspiration from somewhere:

(I take it all back, of course, if this car happens to belong to Webber Kang.)

Not sure what the 3N means. All I can figure is maybe he’s trying to say “Broadwayin’”?

Seen in the WSOP-valet lot at the Rio:

Episode 53: Porn Stars, Hookers, and Poker Players with Benjo – While sitting in the press box, Pauly and Benjo notice that their favorite massage girl is working today. The discussion veers off into running a hooker ring out of Europe to coincide with various poker tours.

Episode 54: Day 1D Pharmaceutical Report – Here’s Pauly’s solo report where he give a quick rundown of street prices for pharmies and other illicit narcotics.

Episode 55: 7,319 with Benjo - The official numbers for the Main Event were released: 7,319 runners. Benjo and Pauly discuss the origins of the increase in the player pool.

The final opening day of the Main Event drew a field of 2,391 hopefuls to the Pavilion and Amazon rooms at the Rio on Thursday afternoon. Football Hall of Famer/Dancing with the Stars winner Emmitt Smith kicked off the festivities with the “Shuffle up and play” command, before deciding to go with the traditional “shuffle up and deal”. According to Pauly’s semi-live blog, he initially refused to sign the ESPN waiver, possibly still bitter about the Worldwide Leader getting rid of him a couple years ago. After finally signing the waiver, he was eliminated a short time later. Among the notables who also had an early day: Joe and Tony Hachem, Doug Lee, Sorel Mizzi, Allen Kessler, John Juanda, Phil Gordon, Brian Townsend, Steve Dannenmann, Michael Craig and Pam Brunson.

After nine hours of play, 1,699 players get to return Saturday afternoon for day 2b. The reported day 1d leader is Steve Billiarakis with 187,150 in chips. Some other notables returning on Saturday include: Archie Karas (137,775), David Benyamine (130,800), Vanessa Rousso (111,050), Jason Mercier (90,525), Frank Kassela (87,000), Darvin Moon (78,400), Kara Scott (69,625), Barry Greenstein (53,625), Doyle Brunson (52,425), 97-year old Jack Ury, (40,500), Bryan Micon (36,400) and Shawn Sheikhan (32,900). The full list of chip counts is available at wsop.com. The day 2b table draw is available here, you can also find it on my Twitter as well.

Day 2a gets underway at 12pm with over 2,400 players returning, scheduled to play 4 levels. The 90-minute dinner break will be held after 3 levels are played, which would mean the middle of level 8, although that has not been confirmed by tournament director Jack Effel at this time. For those looking for the day 2a table draw, it’s available in PDF and spreadsheet form. During the day, be sure to check out wsop.com and your favorite Twitter followers and find out what’s going on at the World Series of Poker.

Today’s parking lot report comes from the Rio, by a mysterious player who apparently has a message of product disappointment for Dwight Schrute. Or maybe he’s just talking to his beloved New York Rangers?

We don’t have a make on this vehicle — “it was dark,” says our Lot C correspondent, who was filling in for Goldfarb — but we can be pretty sure it’s not a Bentley or a Hummer.

The official numbers are in for the Main Event, 2392 players registered on day 1d, making a total of 7,319 players — making it the second largest live tournament in history — with a 1st place prize of $8,944,138. More details at wsop.com.

More details on other payouts as they become available.

Nevada and California aren’t the only places you see poker cars. @DDaleShew (a venerable 1/2 nl/plo player from North Carolina) shares with us the back-end view of a small pick-up seen in the parking lot of the Tri-State Racetrack and Casino in West Virginia.

Apparently no need to finagle the spellings in and around Appalachia (as is the case in Vegas):

Kinda tells us either a) that A-list pokery license plate phrases are still readily available in Darvin Moon’s home game; and/or b) that elite players in that neck of the woods drive nice trucks, sure, but with unimpressive, hardly used hitches.

NOTE: Over 2,100 players have registered for day 1d, with a capacity field of over 3,700 expected.

Day 1c of the Main Event drew the biggest field as 2,314 players as defending champion Joe Cada handled the “shuffle up and deal” to get today’s activities underway. Cada finished the day with a respectable 55,000 in chips. Among the notables who don’t get to return for day 2b on Saturday: Tom Dwan, Howard Lederer, Huck Seed, Isabelle Mercier, Chad Brown, Men Nguyen, Faraz Jaka, Dario Minieri, Chau Giang, 2009 November Niner Steve Begleiter, and after making his usual dramatic entrance, Phil Hellmuth exited quietly.

At the end of 9 hours of play, 1,642 players will join the 762 day 1a survivors Friday afternoon at 12pm at the start of day 2a. The reported leader at this time is Mathiu Sauriol with 169,900 in chips. Johnny Chan finished the day 2nd in chips with 163,700, other notables back for day 2a include Lauren Kling (149,650), Barny Boatman (144,050), Hoyt Corkins (129,150), David Williams (112,225), Todd Terry (96,175), Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh (85,425), Brock Parker (71,125), Liz Lieu (70,050), Annie Duke (62,000), Yevgeniy Timoshenko (48,150), and Antonio Esfandiari (44,150). The full list of chip counts is now available at wsop.com. The full table draw for day 2a will be linked here and at my Twitter for those interested when it becomes available.

Day 1d of the Main Event gets underway at 12pm, with football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith handling the “shuffle up and deal” duties, with some poker site sure to put a patch on him if he decides to play. The Main Event field is already the second-largest in history with over 7,000 players registered with a chance it breaks 8,000 over the next 8 hours. Catch the action over at wsop.com, Pauly’s blog and Twitter to see if anyone gets shut out, who gets knocked out, and how this afternoon’s action is played out.

Lots of times poker players talk about “retiring” from the game. What they usually really mean is “I’m getting sick of running bad against the Delta Betas.” But every once in a while, someone actually means it … and one of those could be 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate.

We knew earlier that he was more interested in the World Cup than WSOP preliminaries. But now he says, via PokerStarsBlog via Wicked Chops (with a nifty pic added from Pokerati, shortly before walking in to his televised raping on High Stakes Poker):

“When I started playing poker for a living, it was never my goal to spend the rest of my life as a professional poker player. My goal was to become financially independent. I achieved that by winning the WSOP Main Event in 2008. The period following has taken me on a worldwide tour, where I have seen some amazing places and met many new people; it has been a great experience. In the 20 months following my WSOP win, I feel that I have lost my motivation for playing high level poker along the way and I have decided that now is the time to find out what I want to do with the rest of my life. What this will be, I do not yet know. I have decided to take a break from live tournament poker, and try to focus on Peter Eastgate, the person. I want to thank PokerStars, my friends and family for their support over the last 20 months and for their support in my decision to take a break from poker.”

Meanwhile, one man who will not be retiring (probably until he’s dead) is Phil Hellmuth. Had to wonder how he could ever top Caesar … but this year he himself donned UB-branded MMA fighter attire, while surrounded by Dancing Bracelets, which I think are supposed to represent prize belts.

Check it out, by and via Pauly. Is it too early to wonder if Hellmuth will reach the ridiculousness apex* in the 2011 WSOP?

While he has no plans to retire for life, he does have a specific place where he will retire for the night.

Apparently Hellmuth doesn’t understand why everyone’s always talking Ivey, Ivey, Ivey … and it seems he musta went to some honchos at Aria and said, hey, why don’t I get an Ivey Room, too? While they couldn’t hook him up with his own super-high-stakes cash game area, they did put him up in one of their shmancy Sky Suites, and he gives a pretty cool 360-degree tour of it via All 360 Poker here.

* note: I’m taking claim to the phrase “ridiculousness apex” — anyone wanna fight for it?

Let me just brag on Pokerati’s coverage for a bit, and say that without a doubt we’ve got the top parking-lot reporters in all of poker. If Bluff magazine had a Reader’s Choice Award category for this, @robertgoldfarb should definitely be a finalist. He’s still too young to be in the Parking Lot Reporting Hall of Fame, but his latest gem — capturing the peculiarities of those who flock to Vegas unashamed of their poker natures — was spotted on a Dodge at Bellagio, presumably belonging to a player who isn’t necessarily ostentatious, but recognizes the greatness of a specific flop and maybe turn when playing two really big cards.

NOTE: Over 2,000 players have already registered for day 1c, late registration for day 1d is scheduled to reopen at 4:40pm PT today.

Day 1b of the Main Event brought 1,489 players to the Amazon and Pavilion rooms at the Rio for 9 hours of poker action. Phil Gordon, Rafe Furst, Joe Sebok and other dignitaries took part in the pre-game activities to help promote the Bad Beat on Cancer charity. Tuesday’s “shuffle up and deal” command came from Ashley, named “Dealer of the Year” by the WSOP, to get the tournament into action. Some of the notables who didn’t make it through the day included Annette Obrestad, Joe Sebok, Jamie Gold, Erick Lindgren, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Liv Boeree, Justin Bonomo, Mark Seif, Brandon Adams and former November Niners Darus Suharto, Ivan Demidov and Craig Marquis. For a semi-live view of Tuesday’s action, check out Pauly’s day 1b blog.

After 4 1/2 levels of play, 1,017 players will return Saturday afternoon as part of the day 2b field. The day 1b leader is James Danielson of La Plata, Maryland with 201,050 in chips. Some of the notables with a significant amount of chips: Alexander Kostritsyn (131,800), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (107,100), Gavin Griffin (97,200), Blair Rodman (85,025), Todd “Dan Druff” Witteles (73,475), Brandon Cantu (65,025), Gavin Smith (62,275) Vladimir Shchemelev (53,500), and Phil Laak (40,275). Team Pokerati/Loudmouth Poker pro Tom Schneider finished the day with 22,075 in chips. The full list of chip counts is now available at wsop.com. For those who made it through day 1a, there is a partial table draw available now here. The day 2b partial table draw is now online here, and on my Twitter when available.

As mentioned above, over 2,000 players have already signed up for day 1c, and today also brings the annual circus of Phil Hellmuth’s grand entrance, scheduled for 1:30. This year, he’s dressing up as an MMA fighter with Wanderlei Silva expected to be part of his entourage and UFC announcer Bruce Buffer introducing him. Daniel Negreanu has jokingly tweeted his own plans about making his entrance today as Rocky Balboa. The rest of the field will make their entrance the usual way, by walking into the Rio without making a spectacle of themselves. See what transpires during the day at wsop.com.

The poker trainers at CardRunners have given me the week off, apparently. I figured they figured with my recent spurt of run-good in my own 1/2 NL/PLO game (up almost $200 in the past two weeks!) that I had finally learned everything I need to know about poker.

But alas, no, that’s not the case … it’s just that Brian Hastings, Taylor Caby, and the rest are taking the night off today for a party.

When: tonight, Tuesday, 8-11 pm
Where: El Segundo Sol (in the Fashion Show Mall)
Who: for CardRunners pros and people who’ve signed up with TrulyFreePokerTraining.com
Why: Because poker players sometimes need to chill out and Dan likes to eat and drink for free!

So that’s the plan. I’ll be there. You should be, too. If you’re already signed up for CardRunners via their free or paid poker training services, just show up. (You shoulda gotten something in your email.)

And if you’re not someone they care about turning into a better poker player, become one — and get an invite to the party this way — by signing up for truly free poker training here.