Wrapping up yesterday’s action, with a preview of today’s tournament (with a moment of silence for John Bonetti):

The $5,000 NL Holdem 6-handed event finally reached their final table at around 5:30am, now they have to attempt to get some rest before returning in front of the watchful eye of the ESPN360 cameras at 2pm with this sextet:

Seat 4: Richard Lyndaker 2,345,000
Seat 3: Joe Commisso 1,961,000
Seat 5: Tom Lutz 1,493,000
Seat 1: Samuel Trickett 1,045,000
Seat 6: Edward Ochana 928,000
Seat 2: Davidi Kitai 298,000

The $1,500 Stud Eight or Better stopped play with 13 players remaining as they play down to a winner starting at 3pm. Here’s the approximate chip counts of the baker’s dozen (chip counts and seats to be rearranged later):

(Table 14)
Seat 1: Ryan Hughes 73,000
Seat 4: Margaret Macre 173,000
Seat 5: James Richburg 274,000
Seat 6: Ron Long 33,000
Seat 7: David Brooker 45,000
Seat 8: Daniel Nicewander 41,000

(Table 15)
Seat 1: Mike Hefer 71,000
Seat 2: Tim D’Alessandro 82,000
Seat 3: David Sklansky 110,000
Seat 4: Thomas Hunt III 101,000
Seat 6: Alessio Isaia 172,000
Seat 7: Joshua Feldman 121,000
Seat 8: Jonas Klausen 346,000

Other tournament action (plus the final 24 in the $50k HORSE) on page 2:
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Recapping last night’s events with a preview of today’s action:

The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better event was won last night by Martin Klaser, who was dominant in the brief heads-up battle with Casey Kastle to take down his first bracelet and just over $216,000. Kastle winds up with almost $138,000, the biggest cash in his career.

The $1,000 NL Holdem with Rebuys event got down to their final table, here’s how it’ll look like under the hot lights of the ESPN360 cameras at 2pm today:

Seat 1: Scott Freeman 675,000
Seat 2: Max Greenwood 728,000
Seat 3: Curtis Kohlberg 209,000
Seat 4: Rene Mouritsen 1,007,000
Seat 5: Alex Bolotin 308,000 - His 3rd final table of this Series
Seat 6: Albert Iversen 921,000
Seat 7: Aliaksandr Dzianisau 186,000
Seat 8: Phung Ngo 556,000
Seat 9: Jesse Chinni 2,160,000

Other action from yesterday on the next page:
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Recapping the Friday action and a preview for today:

The $1,500 7 Card Stud winner turned out to be Mike Rocco, who endured the barbs of Al Barbieri to take down his first bracelet and about $135,000.

The $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better World Championship stopped play with 18 left, they get to return at 3pm to determine their winner. The final two tables have plenty of notable names remaining, which consist of:

Table 14

1 Danny Dang 257,000
2 Stuart Paterson 96,000
3 Eugene Katchalov 252,000
4 Chau Giang 384,000
5 Shun Uchida 134,000
6 Pat Pezzin 65,000
7 David Benyamine 378,000
8 Ram Vaswani 569,000
9 Toto Leonidas 269,000

Table 15

1 Brent Carter 114,000
2 Jason Gray 347,000
3 Berry Johnston 338,000
4 Mike Matusow 396,000
5 David Chiu 372,000
6 Greg Jamison 208,000
7 Hieu “Tony” Ma 319,000
8 Ray Dehkharghani 149,000
9 William McMahan 76,000

The ESPN360 final table for today on the next page…

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Finishing the recap from last night’s activities with a preview of today’s lone tournament:

The $5,000 Seven Card Stud Eight or Better World Championship concluded shortly after 2am, with German Sebastian Ruthenberg outlasting Chris “Jesus” Ferguson to win his first bracelet, along with just over $328,000 in a grueling 3 hour heads-up battle. Ferguson and Ruthenberg would trade the lead several times, each having a huge chip advantage. While some may say the structure went too fast at the end, I have the feeling he wouldn’t be as vocal if the other player won.

Final tables for today and other action from last night after the leap:

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Happenings for this evening as I found out from Jen I’ve become a member of the WPA all over again:

The $5,000 Stud 8 or Better World Championship is down to the final 3, with Team Full Tilt Pro Chris Ferguson the dominate chip leader. Marcel Luske finished in 4th, Annie Duke finished 5th, you can catch all the action at the WSOP site here.

The other final table for today already has its champion, to find out who it was, click on the jump:

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Events from last night at the WSOP, as I try in vain to come up with new ways to say the same old stuff:

As Dan mentioned in the post below, Dario Minieri took down the $2,500 NL Holdem 6-handed event in a final table that lasted almost 200 hands, surprising for a 6 handed final table. Seth Fischer finished in 2nd, putting a brutal beat on Justin Filtz to eliminate him in 3rd when the AK of Fischer ran down Filtz’ AA.

The $5,000 Stud Eight or Better final table was finally set after 7am this morning, and another first almost occurred as both Annie Duke and her brother Howard Lederer were among the final 9. However, Howard was eliminated in 9th, but the final table still has notable names such as Chris Ferguson, Steve Sung and Marcel Luske that will return at 5pm today to determine the winner. Here’s that final table:

Seat 1: Bob Lauria: 44,000
Seat 2: Marcel Luske: 308,000
Seat 3: Steve Sung: 207,000
Seat 4: Annie Duke: 277,000
Seat 5: Alessio Isaia: 398,000
Seat 6: Sebastian Ruthenberg: 663,000
Seat 7: Chris Ferguson: 434,000
Seat 8: Robert Beveridge: 288,000

The other final table today and other action after the thing you click to get to the next page:

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What’s happening tonight at the WSOP:

The only final table for today, the $2,500 NL Holdem 6-handed event, is down to the final 3.  Seth Fischer is the current chip leader, Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri is second, and Justin Filtz is in 3rd. Dario once had over half the chips 3-handed, but he’s doubled up both players and run into some bad luck to fall into 2nd. Their action can be followed at the World Series of Poker’s live updates here.

Other action after the thing that says More…

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Happenings from last night at the World Series of Poker:

Finishing up the final tables from last night, Full Tilt Pro Rob Hollink came back from the dinner break to make a rush and take down the $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship, knocking out Jerrod Ankenmann in a short headsup match.

A heads-up match that took a bit long was the $3,000 NL Holdem final table. Even though a deal to chop the top two places took place, John Phan and Johnny Neckar still had a heads-up match that went for over 6 hours. There were several wild swings in the chip counts, and with both players allin, Neckar thought he had the title won when his KJ had outflopped Phan’s AJ when a K hit the flop. However, Phan’s entourage would erupt when the Ace hit the river keeping him alive. Later, they played three hands all-in blind. Neckar took the first to take the chip lead, then Phan won the second hand with 7 high to double up, then Neckar would double off Phan in the third hand. They returned to more conventional poker after that and a short time later Phan would take down his first bracelet.

More action from yesterday after the jump:

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What’s happened tonight while preferring to watch the Pokerati Bowling Series over PBS every time:

The $3,000 NL Holdem event is down to headsup play with John Phan and Johnny Neckar. There’s been some controversy over where the action has taken place. First, David Singer had an issue with the lighting in the area and requested to be moved to another location. The table they were moved to was in the center of the tournament floor, and the crowd of players in other tournaments, fans, and media were too much for the players. The floor staff would eventually rope off the area to give the combatants some breathing room. Singer eventually finished in 5th place, chip leader Matthew Vengrin would be eliminated in 3rd.

More after the leap:

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What happened at the WSOP last night while Phil Hellmuth was humble in defeat…

In a table full of well known names, it was online regular Phil Galfond who took down the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha w/rebuys event, beating Adam Hourani in a heads-up match that lasted over 100 hands. David Benyamine would finish 3rd. Galfond gets to take down over $817,000 and take the WSOP earnings lead over Grant Hinkle by less than $1,000.

The $1,500 NL event winner last night was Vitaly Lunkin, who beat Brett Kimes headsup to win just over $628,000 and the coveted bracelet. Other results from that event can be found here.

Two more final tables were established last night, they can be found on the next page:

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Facts and Figures from the WSOP so far, at the end of play early Friday morning:

Number of entrants: 20,141
Bracelets awarded: 20
Most cashes: Nikolay Evdakov - 5
Most final tables: Theo Tran, Erick Lindgren - 2
Current ESPN POY: Erick Lindgren 175 points
Leading money earner: Grant Hinkle - $831,462

A review of the week 2 action at the World Series of Poker:

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In a final table filled with high-stakes players and bracelet winners, Eric Brooks ($0 in tournament cashes) beats Fu Wong ($110,000 in tournament cashes) in the $10,000 7 Card Stud World Championship. Alexander Kostritsyn, who at one point had a 1,000,000 chip lead over his nearest competitor, finished in 3rd. High stakes regulars Minh Ly and David Oppenheim finished in 4th and 8th respectively. 8-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel finishes in 5th.

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What’s happening today at the WSOP:

The $2,500 NL Holdem final table is already at heads-up, after a whirlwind of eliminations. Steve Merrifield currently has had a commanding lead over Duncan Bell. Bell then doubled up off of Merrifield with A9 v 55. The final hand was a cooler for Merrifield, on a flop of 8-6-2, Bell went allin, Merrifield would call with 10-10. Unfortunately for him, Bell had AA, Steve couldn’t catch another 10 and Bell gets to take home $666,777, Merrifield will have the consolation of taking $428,948 for 2nd.

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Happenings this evening, while I make this part small so you can read all the good stuff below:

The $5k NL Shootout final table is down to headsup. The current chip leader winner is Phil “The Chairman” Tom. His son, Scott, was the founder of Absolute Poker, and we know how that turned out. (Readers may want to insert their own superuser jokes here). Greg “FBT” Mueller is in a close finished 2nd, while Leo Wolpert was recently eliminated in 3rd.

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What’s happening at the WSOP while I go looking to buy some vurry expensive watches :
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One of today’s final tables just concluded, event #10 ($2,500 Omaha 8/Stud as Farzad Rouhani ran over the final table, eventually knocking out Tom Chambers in a brief heads-up battle. “Miami John” Cernuto took 3rd. The other final table, event #9 ($1,500 NL 6-max) currently is down to their final 3. Rep Porter is the current chip leader, Devin Porter (no relation) in 2nd, Nathan Templeton 3rd.

The $5,000 NL shootout has their final table, they’ll get underway Sunday at 2pm, and it will consist of:
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Previewing Day 9, reviewing Day 8 at the WSOP, as I wonder why the EUROPEAN Poker Tour allows worldwide airing of final tables live, while the WORLD Series of Poker decides to restrict airing of final tables to a select few in the United States.

The second Saturday of the Series gets underway at noon with event #13 ($2,500 NL Holdem). Being a NL tournament held on the weekend, expect another large field to lay their money down. At 5pm, the latest round of $10,000 buyin World Championships takes place, this time it’s 7 Card Stud. Expect a small but elite field to try their hand at winning a bracelet.

Earlier today:
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Happening today at the WSOP, while plotting against my cable provider for not having ESPN360.

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Happenings at the WSOP while JC Tran (and his spectacular breasts) make the final table.

Play ended shortly after 5am in the $10k Mixed Event World Championship. A tournament that had its share of controversy, from confusion over the structure to players threatening to go to 2+2 to express their dislike of having table redraws start at triple draw instead of going through the eight-game rotation. Here’s the final table, starting at 4pm:
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What’s going on at the WSOP this afternoon while waiting for Tom updates from Michalski:

For the first time at the Series this year, an event sold out as the $1,500 NL 6-handed tournament drew a full field of 1,236. Reports from elsewhere said that at least 200 were shutout of the event. The Brasilia room still won’t be available for another week, costing those players (and Caesars/Harrah’s getting their 9%) the chance to participate. Less than 3 hours into the tournament and already the field is down by half. Maybe some of them will try their hand at the next tournament at 5pm, $2,500 Omaha 8/Stud 8. Other action after the jump.
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The latest episode of Beyond the Table is up. Click to listen. In this week’s festive podcast, you’ll hear:

• Dan misses a meeting … too many responsibilities.
• Karridy on the Mathematics of PokerBowl.
• Update on the Karridy vs. Big Robert music video challenge.
• Tom heads out to the California State Poker Championship.
• The resurgent popularity of douchebags?
• Dan runnin’ bad and old men rollin’ bad in Oklahoma.
• BTT improvements.
• Who is Annette_15 and why wasn’t the WSOP Player of the Year at WSOP-Europe?

And if you missed it last week, click here for the Tom Schneider episode of Ante Up! Lots of real content on this show — too much to list, but you will delight in a German guy’s inquiring about Tom’s fondness for the Hammer and the most fascinating recount of a 7-stud Hi-Lo hand I’ve ever heard.

PokerNews has posted an interview for all you Tom Schneider fans. Very interesting read on what goes through a pro’s mind during a tournament he really did not want to play in the first place he was looking forward to playing so he could take home a bracelet.

Click here to read Part One.

UPDATE: And here for Part Two.

LAS VEGAS–Tom Schneider is heads-up for his second bracelet of the 2007 WSOP — against Hoyt Verner from Orlando (who finished 8th in this event last year). They go into their mano-y-mano dead even in chips, 570k to 570k. With this guaranteed 2nd place finish, Schneider moves into first place in the WSOP Player of the Year race — a spot he could virtually lock up with a win here.

The two remaining players took off to the bathroom together — theoretically to discuss a deal. But they returned with no unofficial gentleman’s agreement in place, deciding the money differential was small enough to just play for it all as-is.

Money on the line:
1st Place — $147,713
2nd Place — $82,064

UPDATE: Tom is starting to put the beatdown on Hoyt now. Will have to get a little unlucky to lose it here. TJ Cloutier has shown up to watch the action. (He says “hi” to Karridy.)

Tom wins!
First player to win two bracelets in 2007. Goal of making three final tables secured. Nice job — busting out just before the bubble was so 2006.

LAS VEGAS–Watching the action from the Milwaukee’s Best Light No-Limit Lounge with “Big Robert” Goldfarb … as Tom Schneider has finally — after three final tables in the 2007 WSOP — made it to the TV stage. Granted, it’s the ESPN handheld “B-roll” crew, not the real camerapeople, but still … lots of neato lights.

There are five people left, and Tom is second in chips. One player — Saundra Taylor — is on fumes, just holding out against the scoop. She’s being sweated by Paul Darden and his wife.

Meanwhile, Tom just got scooped, but he’s comfortable — wearing his Pokerati jersey.

Click here to follow the play-by-play.

ALT HED: Bracelet #2?

LAS VEGAS–Yesterday was kinda a crazy day — full moon and all — and today looks to be just a shade less looney.

Play has just three hours ago gotten underway in the last $1,500 NLH. According to Mean Gene:

Eerily Quiet
You put 3,000 people in a room you’d think there’d be a bit of noise, but as with the other $1,500 events we’ve covered the room falls nearly silent when play begins. For so many of these players this is their first World Series event and while they have their game faces on, it takes some time for them to find their voices. A dry mouth will do that to you.

The final table of $1,000 7-stud Hi Lo gets underway at 3 pm. This was supposed to be just a two-day event. TOM SCHNEIDER entered into nine-handed play last night (with a random fifth alternating between two tables) as the shortest stack; he’ll take his seat as the CHIP LEADER.

Hoyt Verner 129,000
Scotty Nguyen 203,000
Hieu “Tony” Ma 60,000
Saundra Taylor 202,000
Tom Schneider 275,000
Tommy Hang 110,000
Miguel De La Cruz 253,000
Woody Deck 110,000

SCOTTY NGUYEN should be sober by then. He gave Tom a lot of chips as he got drinky and aggressive in the wee hours, turning over bluff after bluff as Tom drank with him and laughed it up while rebuilding his stacks.

Dallas poker lady SONG WEBB, by the way, won $4,498 for finishing 26th; and OLIVER TSE (who started the day at Tom’s table) scored his first WSOP cash (in 11 tries) with a 21st place for $5,106.

Oliver stuck around last night long after he busted because, in his off-the-table attempts to become the BRIAN BALSBAUGH of non-American players, he was chasing down a couple GERMANS fighting for a seat at the final table.

Click here to follow today’s bracelet-eyed action semi-live.

Garthy giving a shout out to the Batfaces.

Getting underway about an hour ago is the final table of $5,000 Short-handed No-Limit Hold’em:

Seat 1: Greg Pohler - 655,000
Seat 2: Alex Bolotin - 2,010,000
Seat 3: Gioi Luong - 570,00
Seat 4: Bill Edler - 535,000
Seat 5: Dutch Boyd - 705,000
Seat 6: Erik Friberg - 2,795,000

Some friendly North Texas faces made quite a showing in this event …

Raj Kattamuri (left) finished in 13th place, winning $27,031. Vandy Krouch got $16,766 for finishing 26th. And GREGG MERKOW eeked into the money — 78th place, $6,159.

Other notable cashers include: Tobey Maguire, Vicki Coren, Jamie Gold, Scott Clements, Men the Master, Justin Bonomo, Phil Hellmuth, and Dustin Woolf.

Day 2 of the $2,000 NL Hold’em event is rolling — playing down from 147 players to a final table. This event also featured a ROUNDER CLUB cash: GINA Salinas-Torres won $4,080 for finishing 180th. Way to go, Gina!

Check this out:

A drunken THOMAS WAHLROOS showing how the Euros like to have fun fucking with HELLMUTH …

[via Shuttergypsy]

The EUROS are arriving in force. ENGLISH-ONLY is becoming more and more of a rules call throughout the Rio and Las Vegas. Just ask STEVE WONG, who finished 7th in the SHORT-HANDED event, or MARCEL LUSKE, who fell short of winning a bracelet yesterday in $2,000 Omaha Hi Lo …

LAS VEGAS–It’s been a crazy up-and-down day for the Donkey Bomber in $1,000 7-Stud Hi Lo. He’s come back from almost nothing at least three times, and briefly assumed the chip lead. I was thinking at that point he should basically sit on his chips for a while. But what do I know about this game? He told his daughter at dinner break that this was when he really needed to put the pressure on.

With 13 players left — 8 make the final table — Tom is the shortest stack with 34,000. Scotty Nguyen is second in chips with 150k. Tony Ma is 10th with 70,000. Tommy Hang, a highly respected player in high-stakes mixed action, is to Tom’s right, while a goofy guy who appears to be a total 7-stud donkey is to his right … with a ton of chips and a plastic riding crop thingy that is amusing Scotty Nguyen — “High five [for spanking]!” Scotty said. Seven-stud Hi Lo bracelet winner Pat Poels explained to me on the rail that position probably matters less in this game than any other, save for maybe Chinese poker.

Click here to see if he can hang in there.

UPDATE: 11 players remaining. Tom has 42k in chips.

UPDATE: Down to 9 players. Scotty Nguyen says, “That’s right baby! Spanky Spanky!” as the 7-stud doofus (he’s jogging around the table right now muttering “wubbawubbawubba”) smacks his plastic spanker on the table.

Tourney officials are going to move a player every 20 minutes to keep the 5-and-4 disparity “even.” Tom is at 78,000 now.

UPDATE: Ming Ly is one of about two dozen people sweating the action on the rail. Scotty Nguyen is more than a little drinky, and ordering beers for the table. Tom obliged, and thanked him as he tried to tip the waiter. “No no! I already tip him. Ten dollars. When I say I take care of it I take care of it.”

“You’re trying to get me drunk,” Tom joked upon taking a big swig, “so you can take advantage of me.”

UPDATE: Tom and Scotty’s table now has five players, instead of four, and Tom and Scotty are the ones drinking. Hang, meanwhile has said no more. “I’m happy to have another Bud [Milwaukee's Best] Light,” says Tom, “But I’m having a bathroom issue.”

Now Tom’s being moved to the other table, at which point Scotty says, “See you tomorrow, baby.”

UPDATE: One hand passes at the new table and an argument breaks out — two amateurs bitching at Tony Ma for exposing his cards when two other people were still in the hand. “That’s bullshit!” screamed Saundra Taylor. “Total bullshit. You’re a professional you should know better!” Tom made random comments like, “Gamble-time!” and “Beam me up, Scotty!” Brilliant, Schneider. Good work.

Tom now has 235k in chips … the player to his left, Mark Smyrski just went out … and Tom makes his third final table, with plenty of chips to play. Nice work, Tom!

LAS VEGAS–The $50k HORSE event finished up this morning … and FREDDIE DEEB is officially crowned the best all-around poker player in the world for the time being.

You can only presume HARRAH’S OFFICIALS are breathing a sigh of relief — after having pimped the tourney as the biggest deal, it makes a much better story to give the title to an immigrant who came to America to save his family from war and turned to poker as a way to make good while AMERICAN IMMIGRATION BUREAUCRACY futzed around with his ability to earn a living.

Had JOHN HANSEN won, the story would’ve been about a relatively unknown bad-ass from the NEW YORK hardcore poker underground. Less savory.

Speaking of LEGALLY QUESTIONABLE poker players, did you know drug kingpin JIMMY CHAGRA — released from prison earlier this year — played in the SENIORS EVENT?

He was on “Talkin’ Trash” with BRIAN WILSON just a couple days ago. [via Gary Wise on 2+2.]

JEFFREY POLLACK did a little semi-live blogging from the HORSE final table. Maddest props to the Commish — not only for letting us know what he heard from the poker-players town hall, but also for providing his first-ever outbound link. Puts him on a short-list of people who just-might qualify for Pokerati posting privileges some day. We’ll be watching as he continues to cut his Wicked blogging chops.

In the meantime, The Jeffster tells us:

1. There is insufficient play in the middle levels of limit games and too much in the beginning.

2. There are some instances where the color-up process isn’t being handled correctly.

3. The tent is not a comfortable place to play.

4. There needs to be more room between the spectators on the ropes and the players.

5. The next day’s breaking order should be posted when an event ends for the night.

6. We need to improve media access to final tables.

7. The sequestered tables are tough to cover for the media and follow for the fans.

8. Tournament clocks should be more visible.

9. The Amazon Room is too cold.

10. We should continue and better publicize escort service to the parking lot late at night.

Yesterday’s “other” bracelet went to a guy named SAIF AHMAD, who won the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event with relative ease.

View from the rooftop of Pokerati’s VEGAS EDGE bureau:

ERIC ROSENBERG poses an interesting question on his new-ish blog — about why official poker “stats” don’t subtract known tournament buy-ins from “winnings.” The WSOP, of course, has records of every bracelet-bound buy-in … so it could be done. Likewise, they bar-code initial seat cards, so it’s theoretically possible to provide PokerNews or whoever with the basic info on every single player whose chips they try to track.

Maybe next year?

Rosie has also spurred further conversation about BACKING-DEAL DISCLOSURE — specifically as it pertained to BILL CHEN’S WSOP-approved chip-dumping agreement. It’s not about gratuitous rabble-rousing so much as it is about decisions that will affect the future of poker, regardless of what they are.

So the $1,000 7-Stud Hi Lo continues today. Pokerati’s own TOM SCHNEIDER sits down with 4,300 chips. We’ll find out if North Texas pokerer DAMON RAMIREZ is still alive. And DOYLE BRUNSON takes his second stab at bracelet #11 with 10,700 chips. Pokerati fantasy man STEVE WONG also ain’t too far behind.

Follow the 7-Stud Hi Lo action today here.

Today’s other tournament action:

Day 1 of $2,000 No Limit Hold’em
Day 2 of the $5,000 World Championship of Short-handed No-Limit Holde’m.

And the final table for $2,000 Omaha Hi Lo gets underway, with at least one familiar professional face, who will see if he can hold on to the chip lead.

Seat 1- Martin Corpuz, Jr. 292,000
Seat 2- Ming Lee 373,000
Seat 3- Mitch Maples 70,000
Seat 4- Thang Luu 238,000
Seat 5- Jess Robinson 255,000
Seat 6- Frankie O’Dell 318,000
Seat 7- Marcel Luske 427,000
Seat 8- Marvin Ryan 104,000
Seat 9- Stuart Paterson 58,000

LAS VEGAS–They’re still three-handed in the HORSE event … Bruno Fitoussi, Freddy Deeb, and John Hanson. Chips are such that it’s still anyone’s game.

Meanwhile, Tom is somehow still alive in the 7-stud Hi Lo event. Waiting to receive a text about his chip count. (He must be playing lots of hands now, which can be dangerous for him in this game. At least I think. When he and his friends start talking stud situations, I do a lot of head-nodding and “uh huh”s.)

UPDATE:

Hav 4500 was down 2 475 at 200 400

Also alive in that event is North Texas player Damon Ramirez. (Understandable that he is not being tracked yet … because he has only 19 career cashes under his belt.) Last we heard on Damon, he was pretty short-stacked while sitting at Doyle Brunson’s table.

UPDATE: Brunson finished Day 1 second in chips.

Damon Ramirez, not Doyle Brunson

LAS VEGAS–Donkey Bomber is playing in the $1,000 7-stud Hi Lo and is hanging on by a thread as Day 1 nears a close. I’m following via infrequent text as I am currently not at the Rio and PokerNews hasn’t noticed he is in the tournament yet, which is fine, because really, Tom’s bracelet was so early-June 2007 — like what has he done lately? — and his stack is small.

One thing I found kinda interesting is what I think is a new feature (it’s possible journo types can miss something, ya know) on the chip-count leaderboard … check it out, and you’ll see a column for “sponsor.” I like it … though all are currently blank, even though, indeed, there are a few folks playing with the backing of another company.

You know another reason why this is relevant — beyond the fact that so much of the 2007 WSOP has been about making the World Series sponsor-friendly? Because there’s so much talk about backing deals … and whether or not these should be disclosed. At least one Pokerati journo believes they should be, for multiple reasons — most generally in the spirit of being fair, open, and honest.

The soon-to-be-poker-standard-setter WPA – whose black-and-yellow spade patches have become the red ribbons of the 2007 WSOP — hasn’t had anything specific to say about the notion of sponsorial disclosure, but they probably should … as well as something about whether it should apply to just corporate backers or individuals as well.

This year, to cram in 55 events, Harrah’s added several 5 pm bracelet tournaments. I’ve been told by an unreliable source the new schedule allows players to bust from the noon (usually) No-Limit Hold’em events then register for the afternoon tournaments (usually) Stud, Omaha and Limit Hold’em.

Here is the problem, limit tournaments take a long time to lose players which means you need a good 14 hours to make it to the money with a large field (1200-ish) and possibly more with a small field (300-ish). Last year when playing in a noon limit event you could make it to the money by 2 or 3am, however, this year the door to the vault doesn’t open until close to the end of day two. Unfortunately, this prevents players from playing in the noon event the following day.

While having a NL event first provides earlier eliminations at a faster rate, limit events at 5pm are just a little too late.
IMHO.

LAS VEGAS–Paul “Eskimo” Clark was playing in the $2,000 7-stud Hi Lo event today … Dallas pro Gregg Merkow was at his table, and it was two chips for Eskimo to call. He threw in one, and then sorta froze. After some seconds lapsed, players started trying to recapture his attention, letting him know he needed to throw another chip in the pot. That didn’t happen, and soon the other players at the table were helping him to the ground, where he lay as the tournament was stopped and medical help was summoned.

So not to be crass — because of course we hope he is recovering, as surely plenty of players who have fronted him do, too — but what happens to a player’s chips in this situation? Clark had about 4,275 when the apparent stroke happened. So when it was clear he would not be back anytime soon, floor staff removed his original 4,000 chips from play, and then anted off the remaining 275, so the table would not be at a disadvantage. Word is that the WSOP also refunded his buy-in.

LAS VEGAS–Meanwhile, Tom is hanging on in the $2,500 HORSE event. There are 50 players left (out of 382) and 40 get paid. The Donkey Bomber He has about 25k in chips, with the average stack about 38k. I think he’s the last man standing from his Arizona Posse, but can’t be sure, as “Big Robert” Goldfarb is sometimes hard to see.

CORRECTION: Goldfarb is still alive and well, as the AZP continues to represent.

UPDATE: Schneider is on break. Lewis (Michele) is at hand-for-hand. 101 100 players left. She must’ve successfully stolen some blinds, because she’s got roughly the same 24k.

JC Tran, playing a few tables away in the $5,000 limit hold’em event is taking a peculiar interest in the Fresh Princess’ play.

UPDATE: The bubble has burst and Michele is still alive (still with 24k in chips). She’s in the money — congrats! — and now she moves into phase 2 of her game. All the other ladies are hooting and hollering and crying and hugging. Fresh P is returning the smiles politely but is clearly focussed on what comes next. Nice job, Michele!

Meanwhile, Tom is at the bona fide bubble in his tourney, about six tables away. 41 left. He is about an average stack. Maybe a little smaller after having just folded in a 7-stud pot that started with his raising. (Or is it completing?)

LAS VEGAS–The Fresh Princess is on dinner break in the $1,000 “World Championship” Ladies NLH event … and she’s standing strong as they’re nearing the bubble — with $30k in chips. This is a particularly important event for her to cash in, because she is playing backed by another player. (She made me promise not to reveal his name yet, but I can tell you that he’s on Todd’s Batface fantasy team, not on her fantasy team, and Tom thinks this guy is the very best player in the world right now.)

Click here to follow Michele’s progress — though the official WSOP website isn’t being all that well updated for this event, she is near the chip lead as they are under 200 players. (1286 started, 99 get paid.)

Go Fresh P!

Meanwhile, Tom Schneider somehow stayed alive in the $2,500 HORSE event. It wasn’t looking good when I took off for dinner, but when I returned, he had about 25,000 in chips … against a tougher and tougher remaining field. Click here to follow his action.

382 entries in this field … not sure how many are left — 100ish maybe? His stack seems somewhere between slightly below average and slightly above. And this comes after a huge grumble: “I just lost a huge [amount] with rolled-up fives. Rolled-up fives! Can you believe it?!?”

UPDATE: 80 players left. 40 get paid. He now has about 19k … a little below average but not overly threatening.

Um, no Tom, I cannot. I also cannot believe that the chip counters had no clue who you were until Pauly corrected the situation about 10 minutes ago. Geesh, you’d think Rodney Dangerfield Donkey Bomber would get a little more respect having won a bracelet. Don’t they know how insecure he is about this sort of thing?

Speaking of … there’s a new episode of Beyond the Table up. Check out the player to the right or right-click here to hear Tom talk about how much he hates Stud and Hi-Lo events … before he won a bracelet in them.

LAS VEGAS–It’s official, I’m important. Or at least all the people without badges in the Amazon room think I’m important. Even though Dan seems to think he needs a better one, my press credential seems to work very well at the table since now the players either think I must know something about poker if I’m working the WSOP, or they think they can get on my good side and I will put them on the internet. Bottom line…they no longer think I’m a bored housewife who’s husband stuck me in a tournament to keep me out of the Forum Shops.

High Noon marked the starting time for the $2k NL Hold’em Event, while yesterday’s $1k NL Hold’em (with rebuys) is down to 20ish players. I watched Amir Vahedi make an amazing call with a Qc-Qh-9c board. Amir held pocket sixes against the short stack with A-4. Amir is rocking in Day 2.

Across the ropes is the $5k Stud event started this afternoon and it is another super pro field. Jen Harman, Doyle Brunson, David Williams, Mel Judah, Thor Hansen & Brandon Cantu. It’s no secret the WSOP added many more events this year to allow the old-school players some real time with the “other” poker games including Razz, Omaha, Stud & more limit games with bigger buy-ins. Many pros feel the large field/small buy-in NL Holdem events are “crap shoots” and not only is there a better chance at a bracelet (Tom) in the other events but they are actually more fun since you don’t have to push all your chips in on one hand with a bunch of little newbie players that are afraid of getting out played on the turn and river. Yes, that’s right, I said afraid. And if you are not afraid…you will be. You will be.

Thanks to all my sweaters. Special thanks to Dan and Karridy for providing emotional support during the tournament. Julie, my wife, gave me several tongue lashings about my play which kept me on track. Pat Poels and Robert Goldfarb provided strategy advice and a calming influence.

It truly was an amazing experience. The cards ran over me. Luck is not overrated. I didn’t even want to play in this event. Sooo much for game selection. You will hear more about my experience on Beyond the Table. Take a listen. I’m done. I’m drunk and going to bed with a bracelet in my room. Thanks to everyone at Pokerati for wishing me well, and for those that didn’t, jump on the train, cuz it’s leaving.

I guess Dan was lucky that he wasn’t able to drop me from his fantasy poker team. I truly appreciate all of your support

Tom

Annie Duke is out. Tom is still in. And so is “Omaha Ed” Tonnellier. Tom has maintained the chip lead since Day 1, but it’s uncomfortably tight right now with Tom just below 1 million in chips, and Omaha Ed just under 700k.

ESPN did decide against making this match-up the premier TV event of the day … opting instead for Gavin Smith vs. Mike Spegal in the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event, with Gavin trying tocome back from a 2-1 chip disadvantage.

The Main TV Table

Meanwhile, in the Poker SuperStructure wind tent, Fresh Princess is sitting with a slightly above-average stack heading into the tail end of Day 1 in $1,500 Omaha Hi Lo. She’s got Minneapolis Jim Meehan on tilt … not because she referred to him as “Poker Jack Meehan or Something,” but because she apparently called out of turn, enticing some sort of 400 chip mistake from Meehan that garnered zero sympathy from a crusty, fire-red-haired lady dealer.

Tom’s still at it — looking good to bring home the gold in the $2,500 Omaha/7cs Hi Lo event. My fantasy team couldn’t be more excited. Out of 327 starting players, it’s down to five four … Tom’s got a whopping chip lead … and Chris Ferguson has barely any chips.

Follow the live coverage here.

The prize pool he’s competing for.

For those of you who don’t really know Tom, here’s a primer on the DonkeyBomber’s poker/life cred:

• He wrote a book. Buy it here.
• He also won the 2006 Pokerati Invitational (beating the guy who introduced him to the concept of poker radio).
• He’s now the host of Beyond the Table, a bitchin’ not-so-pokery podcast where he talks about things like WPT blind structures, gambling on the golf course, and pooping in your pants while at the table. His most recent episode is below.

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• And, of course, Tom also blogs for Pokerati. Here are posts by Tom Schneider, and here are posts about him.
• Oh, right, and he plays poker professionally … and has found a bit of success on the job.