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From the always clickworthy good folks at RawVegas.TV

When it comes to charitable causes these days, paralyzed vets are better than kids with cancer … especially when trying to make a political statement with your fundraising. The politics of poker have gotten funky of late as the election season kicks into higher gear — so what better way to warm some electoral hearts than with a good-ole-fashioned charity tourney?

It’s gonna be a late-night event at Coors Field on Tuesday, Aug. 26. $500 a seat, with proceeds going to the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Hosted by the PPA, with Andy Bloch, Barry Greenstein, and Ben Affleck serving as poker ambassadors. Sponsored tables available for businesses looking for a meaningful way to spend their charitable dollars.

This one will make Dan smile.

The first annual “All In for CP” charity poker tournament was held at Hollywood Park Casino in L.A. this past Sunday and is being hailed as a total success. More than $44,000 was raised for Jacob Zalewski’s One Step Closer Foundation, which helps ease the lives of those afflicted with cerebral palsy, as well as researchers seeking a cure.

Numerous celebrities and poker pros attended to make the event a success, names like Montel Williams, Shannon Elizabeth, Miguel Nunez, Jamie Gold, and Barry Greenstein. And in the end, it was The Simpsons creator and Hollywood writer/producer Dan’s man crush Sam Simon who won the tournament and donated all of the winnings back to the charity. Awww!

Congrats to Jacob for hosting his first charity tournament! Sorry I missed it, as I heard it was great fun, but hope to catch the next one…

UltimateBet has been dancing around this superuser/cheating scandal for more than six months. Everything was delayed - acknowledgment of the allegations, investigation updates and results, and developments like the alleged ties of Russ Hamilton to the scandal.

Annie Duke has become the spokesperson for UB, and she has had to conduct interviews and give politically correct answers to questions for months as UB has come under fire from every direction. While she is attempting to be the face of UB, as Phil Hellmuth clearly dodges the issue and avoids speaking publicly about it, the company itself is allowing Duke to do what its Public Relations Department - or ownership, for that matter - should be doing. Enough is enough.

Listening to a PokerRoad Radio episode from last week (dated 7/16/08), it became clear that Russ Hamilton will not be defending himself or issuing statements on the UB scandal or his alleged involvement in it. (The discussion of the issue begins approximately 30 minutes into the show.) Hamilton declined the opportunity to speak on the show and clear his name upon the advice of his attorney, though he invited Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok to visit his home and discuss the issue privately. However, Hamilton’s attorney was there, too, and would not allow Hamilton to address the UB accounts supposedly connected to Hamilton. Greenstein and Sebok insisted that they were not taking sides but felt that Hamilton was genuine in his claims of innocence. Hamilton wanted people to know that when the investigation is complete, names will come out but his will not be one of them. And his attorney wanted to tell people, “Can’t you just wait a couple months?”

No. The poker community has been forced to wait long enough. It is time for answers. Not only does Hamilton need to come clean with any information he is privy to, but Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth need to do the same. A source tells me that Duke and Hellmuth were aware that Hamilton was implicated in this scandal well before Nat Arem posted his personal investigatory findings. Russ Hamilton cannot seem to defend himself, so UB seems content to let his reputation be scarred forever - while claiming innocence from behind closed doors - while the investigation goes on…and on…and on. And UB seems to operate under the notion that no news is good news, and the less information that comes out officially, the better. Transparency seems to be a pipe dream as the story gets murkier by the day.

C’mon, UltimateBet. If there is actually a team of investigators on this issue, it shouldn’t take months to find answers. Your reputation in this industry is crumbling before your eyes, and as part of the poker community, you must step up to the plate and put your not-so-secret hole cards on the table. Show us some respect if you ever hope to get any in return.

(The opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily represent those of Pokerati. They are the sole ravings of a frustrated journalist.)

Erick Lindgren

When Event 53 came to an end with Matt Graham capturing the $1500 LHE Shootout bracelet on the morning of Thursday, July 3, the 2008 World Series of Poker Player of the Year race ended, as the main event doesn’t count for points. And out in front of the POY leader board was Erick Lindgren. He was ten points ahead of Barry Greenstein, and E-Dog’s five cashes (one of which was a bracelet) and $1,348,528 in winnings this summer added up to the win.

It was announced yesterday that Lindgren officially captured the title. Congratulations!

The entire list of players in contention for the 2008 WSOP POY race can be found here.

What happened last night, as we finish the preliminary events of the Series today before the Main Event begins tomorrow:

Phil Hellmuth was unable to take down the $1,500 HORSE event for his 12th bracelet, as he finished in 3rd place. James Schaaf, from Torrance, California takes down the bracelet in what also appears to be his first tournament cash. Tommy Hang follows up on his 3rd in the $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship by finishing in 2nd.

The $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship was won by Irishman Marty Smyth who eliminated Canadian Peter Jetten in one of the more exciting final hands of the Series. Both players flopped a straight when all the money went in, but Smyth was freerolling to a club flush. The turn was a brick, but when the 6 of clubs appeared on the river, the Irish part of the crowd exploded with delight while the Canadian contingent groaned in despair at Jetten’s turn of events. Smyth takes down almost $860,000 with the bracelet, while Jetten is consoled with the fact of winning $528,000 for second place. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi ground to a halt in 3rd.

The last two tournaments conclude today, the ESPN360 table and the WSOP POY on page 2:
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It has taken over three hours to see three players hit the door in the $50K HORSE. It has seemed slow at times, but the intensity at the table dictates that this could be a long night.

8th place - Patrick Bueno - $230,880
He was the short stack with less than 700K upon sitting down today, so it was only a matter of time before he would make a move. He did it against Lyle Berman and lost. The French businessman bid adieu to the table.

7th place - Huck Seed - $284,160
Huck never has much to say, and neither do I.

6th place - Barry Greenstein - $355,200
Though he’s not the kind of guy most people would want at a fun dinner party, Barry’s story at the WSOP, especially in this event, would have been a great one. He is the only player to have cashed in each of the three years that the $50K HORSE has been played, and this was his second year in a row for a final table in it. He already won a WSOP bracelet a few weeks ago in seven-card razz, but he couldn’t pull of the big one with his short stack. (That just sounded wrong, I know.) He did earn his sixth cash of the WSOP, though. Not a bad showing for the Bear this year so far.

After 75 hands, Michael DeMichele has taken the chip lead. Lookie here for the PokerNews chip counts:

Michael DeMichele - 3,700,000
Erick Lindgren - 3,400,000
Scotty Nguyen - 3,300,000
Lyle Berman - 2,200,000
Matt Glantz - 2,150,000

Finishing the action from last night, with the Sunday preview that’s not really a preview:

The HORSE final table is now set for 3pm to be under the really hot lights of the ESPN cameras. Here’s how this stacked lineup will be seated at that table:

Seat 1: Matt Glantz (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — 1,445,000
Seat 2: Huck Seed (Las Vegas, Nevada) — 1,200,000
Seat 3: Patrick Bueno (Paris, France) — 695,000
Seat 4: Lyle Berman (Minneapolis, Minnesota) — 1,430,000
Seat 5: Scotty Nguyen (Las Vegas, Nevada) — 3,535,000
Seat 6: Barry Greenstein (Rancho Palos Verdes, California) — 1,955,000
Seat 7: Michael DeMichele (Las Vegas, Nevada) — 905,000
Seat 8: Erick Lindgren (Las Vegas, Nevada) — 3,680,000

The other final table for today the $2,000 NL Holdem event, will be held in some corner of the Amazon room at 3pm, but here’s what that final table will look like:

Seat 1: Dan Rome 650,000
Seat 2: Ryan D’Angelo 520,000
Seat 3: Marco Johnson 2,135,000
Seat 4: Kirill Gerasimov 1,145,000
Seat 5: Robert Brewer 1,050,000
Seat 6: Gabe Costner 1,475,000
Seat 7: Alan Cutter 535,000
Seat 8: Alexandre Gomes 1,075,000
Seat 9: Sverre Sundbo 685,000

The $5,000 NL Holdem 6-handed final table finally ended after 6 hours of heads up play when Joe Commisso finally eliminated Richard Lyndaker to take down the bracelet and just over $911,000. Commisso had to be wondering if he’d ever win after having Lyndaker dominated 7-1 on 3 separate occasions, only for Lyndaker to claw back into contention and take the chip lead. Between the two of them there was almost a dozen all in confrontations where the smaller stack would win, which turned out to be a one in 600-something possibility.

Other tournament action on the next page:
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What’s happened tonight at the WSOP:

The two final tables for today are both heads-up. First, the $5,000 NL Holdem 6-handed event is down to Joe Commisso and Richard Lyndaker, having played over 130 hands of heads-up action so far. Commisso at one point had a 7-1 chip lead before Lyndaker clawed his way to having his own chip lead. At this time Joe has retaken the lead, but it’s still going to be hard for him to close the deal.

The $1,500 Seven Card Stud Eight or Better tournament is was down to Ryan Hughes and Ron Long. At the moment, Hughes has a 2-1 chip lead, but the chips have been going back and forth quite a bit during heads-up play. Hughes finally defeats Long, taking home the bracelet and $183,000, while Long takes home just over $113,000. This is Hughes’ second bracelet, as he took down the $2,000 Stud Eight or Better event last year. The only other notable name at this final table was 2+2 author David Sklansky, who was the first out at the final table again, finishing in 8th.

Other tournament action on the next page:
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Mike Wattel just went out in 17th place in the $50k HORSE event, finishing one shy of the money. Can you imagine anything worse? Wattel was tiny-stacked with 20 players left, and managed to hang on with hardly an ante until Barry Greenstein raised in a 7-stud hand, and Wattel, looking at two queens, went with it … only to say Barry make a runner-runner-runner flush.

Unlike any other bubble boy, after 3+days of solid play, Wattel just missed out on a $124k payday and instead ended up the same -$50k that his fellow Arizona buddy Tom found after only a day-and-a-half. I’m sick to my stomach and I hardly know the guy. (You may recall his similarly unfortunate 6th place finish in the 2007 WPT Championship … my guess is he’s currently tilt-gorging on Corona’s, nickel slots, and old archived episodes of Beyond the Table.)

The remaining players:

Table 32

Seat 1: Patrick Bueno 730,000
Seat 2: Huck Seed 900,000
Seat 3: Joseph Michael 575,000
Seat 4: Scotty Nguyen 1,050,000
Seat 5: Phil Ivey 635,000
Seat 6: Barry Greenstein 1,300,000
Seat 7: Doyle Brunson 60,000
Seat 8: David Bach 800,000

Table 39

Seat 1: Erick Lindgren 355,000
Seat 2: Raymond Davis 1,200,000
Seat 3: Michael DeMichele 1,010,000
Seat 4: Lyle Berman 1,100,000
Seat 5: Andy Bloch 120,000
Seat 6: Ralph Perry 1,635,000
Seat 7: Daniel Negreanu 1,480,000
Seat 8: Matt Glantz 1,460,000

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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What’s happening tonight at the WSOP:

The $1,000 NL Holdem with rebuys event has a winner, Canadian Max Greenwood took down the bracelet, making a remarkable comeback from being shortstacked 3-handed to take down the bracelet and almost $700,000. Rene Mouritsen of Aarhus, Denmark finished in 2nd (for the 3rd time at a WSOP event the past two years) to win just over $445,000. Fellow Aarhus resident Albert Iversen finished in 3rd. Greenwood was down to just over 400,000 when he went allin with a pair of 5’s against Mouritsen’s AJ. Another ace hit the flop, and a brick on the turn meant that Greenwood was down to two outs. Miraculously, Max hit that 5, doubling up twice more off Mouritsen to take the chip lead before Mouritsen would take it back when Iversen’s set of 5’s was run down by Mouritsen’s turned flush. After just over 30 hands of head-up play (and boisterous rooting from both player’s friends), all the money went in on a Jack high flop with Max’s AJ ahead of Mouritsen’s KJ. No help came and Greenwood completes the remarkable comeback.

The only tournament to start today, the $2,000 NL Holdem event, drew a field of 2,317, with just under 400 remaining with a couple more levels remaining in the day. Notable names at the top of the leaderboard: Erik Cajelais, Marco Johnson, Erica Schoenberg, Blair Rodman (who won this tournament last year), David Pham and Chau Giang.

Other tournament action today on the next page:
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By the end of Day 2 of the 5-day event, there were only 67 players left standing in the tournament. The 81 players who have been eliminated left $4,050,000 behind for the others.

Among those gone from the field is reigning champion Freddy Deeb, courtesy of Steve Zolotow in an Omaha-8 hand. Last year’s second-place finisher Bruno Fitoussi was taken out of this year’s event by Hasan Habib in a razz hand. David Singer’s run for a third final table in three years was thwarted by Rob Hollink in a stud-8 hand early on Day 2.

Taking a look at what is possible, there are several players who could make for some interesting stories here:

1. Barry Greenstein cashed in 2006 (12th place) and 2007 (7th place).

2. 2007 final table players who are still in the running to make it happen a second year in a row include John Hanson, Kenny Tran, Thor Hansen, Gabe Kaplan, and Greenstein. It won’t be possible for Amnon Filippi because though I swore I saw him on Day 1, it seems that he didn’t play this event as his name is not on the bust-outs or chip count list.

3. Of course, Doyle Brunson could make a run at that 11th bracelet, and he would win the first-ever Chip Reese commemorative trophy. Could there be anything better?

There are more stories to develop as the field thins further. The chip leader going into Day 3, which starts in just moments, is Lyle Berman. Could a WPT guy win the biggest tournament at the WSOP? Let’s see how it goes! Updates throughout the evening…

Tonight’s goings-on at the WSOP:

The one final table of today is down to heads-up play, as the $2,000 Pot Limit Holdem event is down to Chris Bell and Davidi Kitai. So far during heads-up play, there have been 10 lead changes as they’ve battled back and forth for over 3 hours, covering about 120 hands at this time. Follow along with the live updates at the WSOP website here.

Other action from today at the jump:

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Recapping last night with a preview of Sunday activities:

In the $1,500 NL holdem event, Jesper Hougaard returned from the dinner break seemingly in better spirits, as he was able to recover from giving up a 6.5-1 chip lead to Cody Slaubaugh to get back to having a very slight chip lead. A single $25,000 chip separated the two when the final hand was played out as Jesper’s QQ (with a 3rd Q on the flop) crushed Cody’s A-10. Hougaard takes home the bracelet and $610,000, while Cody has the consolation of winning $389,128 for finishing 2nd.

The $10,000 Omaha 8 or Better World Championship led to another name being removed from the list of best players to never win a bracelet as David Benyamine won $535,687 and the coveted WSOP bracelet. Greg Jamison finished in 2nd, Mike Matusow finished in 5th, Eugene Katchalov was 6th, while David Chiu ended up in 8th. Benyamine’s win places him only 2 points behind Jacobo Hernandez in the ESPN WSOP Player of the Year race. The announcement that the $50,000 HORSE event later this week will count towards the standings means that plenty of big names are still in the hunt to take down that title.

The final table for today, and other stuff on page 2…

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Happenings tonight at the WSOP.

The $1,500 NL Holdem final table is now heads-up between Jesper Hougaard and Cody Slaubaugh. Jesper had been dominating the final table and started heads-up with $6,500,000 in chips to about 800,000 for Slaubaugh. Just 6 hands later, Slaubaugh had a nearly 2-1 chip lead as Hougaard decided it was now an opportune time to take the dinner break. They’ll return at about 9:30 PT to finish, the way it’s going it won’t take long either way. Follow along on the World Series of Poker’s update site here.

The other final table on Page 2.

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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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What’s happening this evening while watching Tiger Woods decide to wait until Monday to win his next major:

The $10,000 Heads-Up World Championship is down to the final 2, as Kenny Tran is taking on Eric Torelli in a best of 3 match for the bracelet. Vanessa Selbst would finish tied for 3rd in this event for the second straight year, but does move into 2nd place in the ESPN POY standings for the time being.

More at the jump:

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Events from the evening part of day 16:

In what is certainly a first (at least I think so), two brothers have won a bracelet in the same World Series of Poker. Blair Hinkle, whose brother Grant won the $1,500 NL event last week, took down his own bracelet in the $2,000 NL event, knocking out Canadian Mark Brockington.

More after the jump:

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OK, you know I don’t want to make this year’s WSOP all about Tom’s lack of sponsorable attention … but I can’t help it on this one … watch the WSOP video update, and they talk about what a star-studded final table this is … and they mention 6 of 7 players’ names. I guess the two bracelets and that WSOP POY title, like bitching about Tom’s lack of coverage, is so 2007!

Click here to follow along. Tom just picked up another big pot. He seems focussed.

Two other interesting things to note: 1) Barry Greenstein was the tiny stack once they got into the money; and 2) Last year’s POY race came down to this event (the last one pre-main event in 2007). Tom went out somewhere in the teens, leaving it to Jeff Lisandro to make the final table to snatch the Player of the Year honors. At the time his chip stack was strong, and Tom went over to donk off $3,000 at the high-stakes cash tables. (I’m sure he couldn’t even tell you what game he was playing.) But Lisandro fell short … so in a way, he probably really wants this win, too.

Event #18 is the No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball w/Rebuys tournament. The field was small with only 85 competitors, but those few people managed to rebuy 272 times and create a $1,036,035 prize pool to be divided between the top 14 finishers.

Today, the third day of the event, the final table is underway. Check out this line-up:

Seat 1: Jeffrey Lisandro (Salerno, Italy) 461,000
Seat 2: Mike Matusow (Las Vegas, Nevada) 520,000
Seat 3: Tom Schneider (Scottsdale, Arizona) 162,000
Seat 4: Erick Lindgren (Las Vegas, Nevada) 1,104,000
Seat 5: Barry Greenstein (Rancho Palos Verdes, California) 541,000
Seat 6: Tony ‘G’ Guoga (Melbourne, Australia) 394,000
Seat 7: David Benyamine (Las Vegas, Nevada) 410,000

Here’s the kicker. Hardly anyone can see it.

The table is being held on a table NEXT to the ESPN stage. The rail is insane, four- or five-people deep, and those people are frustrated because they can’t see anything. Throw in the official WSOP media, ESPN cameras and crew, and floor staff, there’s nothing to see. Some members of the media tried to go up to the Milwaukee’s Best Lounge so we could watch from above, though that is rather uncomfortable as well, and snap a photo or two, but security instructed us to leave. Immediately.

Why, I asked of some fellow media folk, is the ESPN stage empty with no other final tables running today? Why can’t move this stellar final table over there with more room for the media and lots of room for fans to take seats and watch? WHY? The Poker Shrink informed me that ESPN does not take out insurance on the stage and lounge areas if there is no final table scheduled there. There is no insurance on the area today, and evidently, no one can make a phone call to get it.

Therefore, the players are stuck in a very small space, their friends and family are having a tough time seeing the table, and those against the rail have fans breathing down their necks. The fans are annoyed that they can’t see the best final table of the WSOP so far. The non-official media is pissed at being treated rudely by the floor staff and security team - being shooed from the area and given NO explanation, leeway, or assistance.

After a few weeks of virtually no missteps on the part of Harrah’s and the WSOP, this may be one that they hear about from the players and the media.

First, important Pokerati news:

Tom Schneider made the final table of the $5,000 NL 2-7 KC Lowball w/rebuys final table. Per usual, this event has an impressive final table lineup (starting at 3pm):

Seat 1: Jeffrey Lisandro 461,000
Seat 2: Mike Matusow 520,000
Seat 3: Tom Schneider 162,000
Seat 4: Erick Lindgren 1,104,000
Seat 5: Barry Greenstein 541,000
Seat 6: Tony ‘G’ Guoga 394,000
Seat 7: David Benyamine 410,000

Here’s the payouts:

1 $ 537,862
2 $ 347,004
3 $ 225,552
4 $ 156,151
5 $ 104,101
6 $ 78,075
7 $ 58,990

Other action from yesterday and a preview of today after the jump:

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BREAKING NEWS: GSN does not exercise Season 7 option for GSN. Talks ongoing with GSN to possibly air “parts” of season 7. Press release from WPTE

Happenings from yesterday at the WSOP:

The other final table of yesterday concluded earlier this morning, as Jimmy Shultz took down Event #12 ($1,500 Limit Holdem), eventually beating Zac Flowers in a heads-up battle to win a bracelet along with just over $250,000. Upon his victory, he announced he was donating 25% of his win to the Charleston, SC Fire Department , who lost nine firefighters June 18, 2007. Vinny Vinh, along with his “associates” railing him, finished 3rd.

More info after the jump:
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Big Poker Sundays is one of the PokerRoad radio shows that hits the interweb regularly and courtesy of the Joe Sebok/Barry Greenstein start-up. BPS, as it’s called, features the comedic duo of Scott Huff and Haralabos Voulgaris. While they’re both hilarious, it is Voulgaris’ deadpan sense of humor that leaves me in tears almost every time. His kind of wit is unique - a little David Niven-ish.

Since PokerRoad is doing quite a few things live from the 2008 World Series of Poker, BPS did their first live show of the summer this morning from 11am to noon in the hallway just outside the Amazon Room. I thought it might be fun to watch, which it was, but work called halfway through and I had to leave. In the meantime, the show had drawn quite the crowd of fans who were happy to stand around and listen to the two radio superstars live.

Not sure how comfortable the two were with everyone watching them do nothing but talk, but they were up for it. Congrats on your live BPS, Bob & Huff. Laughs are always appreciated!

Funeral services are set for Friday, December 7th at 2pm. This will take place at Palm Mortuary - 6701 North Jones Boulevard in Las Vegas. (Thanks to Michael Craig for the heads-up.)

There may also be a public memorial service of some sort held at the Bellagio next week, but no plans are confirmed at this time.

The Associated Press reports that not only was Chip home when he passed away, but his 18-year old son found him. Reese is survived by that son, Casey, as well as his 16-year old daughter Taylor, and a step-daughter (believed to be in her twenties) Brittney.

For some thoughts from Barry Greenstein, visit his audio blog on PokerRoad.com. He reflects a bit on his memories of Chip, some of Chip’s great qualities, and the wake-up call that his death should be for many people in the poker world to take better care of themselves.

UPDATE: In lieu of flowers or other gifts of condolence, the Reese family has asked that friends contribute to the Alzheimer’s Association in Chip’s name.

They’re down to six at the WPT World Poker Challenge in Reno. Good players, too … including David Pham, JC Tran, Mark Seif, and Danny Wong (not the Wong I have on my fantasy team, but a really good Wong nonetheless). $683k to the winner — a notably smaller payout than last year … No million-dollar champion, and roughly $90k less to whomever takes over Tom’s coveted 3rd-place crown. I wonder how the fact that there are fewer chips at the final table will affect play. The WPT, of course, still seems to believe that lots of all-ins makes for exciting poker TV, which may or may not be true.

Dallas expatriate Chantel looked like she might do more-than-cash, but in the end, she went out in 48th or 49th place, with 45 getting paid. Though I’m not sure what the chip-stacks were pre-flop, the hand she busted out on might merit some discussion … (You gotta fold those queens, right?)

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Joe Sebok and Barry Greenstein won the WPT “Fathers and Sons” tourney. That’s kinda sweet, no?

Too bad (and a little discriminatory?) that David and Shirley Williams couldn’t play. And what about Clonie and Edna? I wonder what would’ve been more important to the WPT … keeping the “Fathers and Sons” name (because that’s who they’re clearly marketing to) or the TV goodness of letting it be a Parents & Children affair. Doesn’t have quite the ring to it, I know … And while the concept of a WPT Family Game might make a nice little political statement, too, it doesn’t really go with Budweiser as the sponsor.

Here’s the full field:

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