A-Hoai to Pham!

Hoai Pham

Hoai Pham, a dealer at the Village Club Card Room in Chula Vista, California, earned the first bracelet of this year’s WSOP in the $500 Casino Employees Event this morning. Pham’s pocket aces on the final hand was more than enough to best Arthur Vea’s pocket fours on the final hand of heads-up play, collecting $71,424 and a prized WSOP bracelet. Vea collected $44,079 for his 2nd place finish, with the rest of the field who made the money here. Pham will return to the Pavilion at 2:20pm today for the bracelet ceremony and to hear the Vietnam national anthem being played in his honor. You can read the tournament report from Nolan Dalla here.

Morrison Moves into First in 50k Players’

Kirk Morrison

Kirk Morrison ended day 2 of the $50,000 Players’ Championship as chip leader with 54 players remaining. Morrison started the day with just 124,800 in chips, below the 150,000 starting stack. Andy Bloch finished the day second in chips (716,500) while day 1 chip leader Erik Sagstron wound up in fifth (656,000). Other notables: Robert Mizrachi (625,500), Michael Mizrachi (439,000), Chris Ferguson (430,500) and David Singer (369,000). Among those without chips: Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren, Jason Mercier and Daniel Negreanu. Play resumes Sunday at 3pm with another six levels of play scheduled as the field gets even closer to the money. Click here to see all who remain.

Day 1a of Donkament Down

Amarillo Slim

Day 1b of the first $1,000 No-Limit Holdem gets underway at noon today, with what could be an intriguing situation for the WSOP staff towards the end of play. Day 1a concluded with 276 remaining from the initial field of 2601, slightly over 10 percent of the field. Poker gadfly Allen Kessler noted on 2+2 of possible problems if too many players get eliminated Sunday. The 2010 payout structures do not appear to be available on the WSOP site. Using the payout structure from 2009, if the numbers are similar for day 1b, they’ll be very close to the money for day 2 on Monday.

Getting back to the action on the table, Terry Fleischer appears to be the day 1a chip leader with 119,300. Nancy Todd Tyner is the only other player with a six-figure chip stack (103,000). Some recognizable names near the top: Lisa Parsons (61,400), Amarillo Slim (58,700), Tommy Vedes (55,700) and Chris Bjorn (39,800).

Trifecta for Thang?

Thang Luu

Besides day 1b of the 1k, the $1,500 Omaha 8 or better tournament gets underway at 5pm today. Thang Luu is the two-time defending champion of this event, finishing 2nd in the $2,000 Omaha 8 event in 2007. The late start may have an effect on the field, as 918 started this event when it started at noon last year. Check out PokerNews and www.wsop.com to follow the updates and other information about what’s happening.

Photos: Rob Gracie/WSOP and Flipchip/PokerNews

Seat 1: Claudio Piceci – 4,460,000
Seat 2: Alexey Rybin – 1,890,000
Seat 3: Atanas Gueorguiev – 2,520,000
Seat 4: Jakob Carlsson – 13,525,000
Seat 5: Giuseppe Diep – 1,830,000
Seat 6: Liv Boeree – 3,440,000
Seat 7: Toni Pettersson – 5,035,000
Seat 8: Michael Piper – 4,600,000

Updates will be available over at PokerNews, along with live streaming video of the final table over at www.PokerStars.tv at 6am ET.

In a post-tournament interview, Ahamdi wanted to point out that he is proud of his heritage and supports change in his native country. He believes that playing the Iranian anthem at the WSOP will enable many poker players and the public to better understand the pro-Western attitudes held by many Iranians, both who live within Iran and abroad.

With all of the unrest going on in Iran surrounding the recent election, it was a thought that the people in the Amazon Room would stand with extra pride, exert some sort of extra support for the people of Iran, and it would be a grand moment representing the state of the world (or something like that). In fact, the moment was like any other bracelet ceremony, as the majority of the room stood to respect the anthem of the winner’s country, the winner seemed consumed in his own private moment of silence, and it was over.

Perhaps, however, that is what is notable about the World Series of Poker…and poker tournaments in general. Conflicts that may arise between groups of people or warring countries are not apparent at the poker tables. It’s the demeanor of the person at the table, along with playing style and respect for others that gets the attention rather than their ethnicity or skin color. Others like Dr. Pauly contend that the WSOP is simply so all-consuming that no one responds to news unless it hits them in the face like the death of Michael Jackson. Iran? Never heard any of their music so… Read the Tao of Poker take on the mindset of the players here.

Steve Hall knew poker columnist Lee Munzer better than most of us … and respectfully honors his fancy for the ladies as Wicked Chopsian before Wicked Chops was cool existed.

And while you’re at PokerGossip … Steve also has a good piece — from a Brit’s perspective — on yesterday’s “God Save the Queen” bracelet goof. Check it out.

You just could tell … 2009 was sure to be a big year for Iran! Thought it was gonna be Farzad Rouhani who did it first at the WSOP — but he got Lisandro’d in a Stud event.

Bahador Ahmadi took down the $2,500 Mixed Hold’em event (limit and no-limit — first prize: $279k).

We’re probably not gonna get the conundrum-y bracelet ceremony I was hoping for … because though Ahmadi is Iranian, he currently calls Canada (BC) his home. But if he were to claim this victory for Iran — and the WSOP were to play the Iranian national anthem — do we stand? Do we turn our backs? And whom would we be speaking to by doing so — Ahmadinejad or supporters of Mousavi?

I suppose that’s kinda what they’re fighting about in the streets of Tehran …

UPDATE (from Cali Jen): They’ll be playing the Iranian national anthem tomorrow at 2:20 (or 2:50 – whatever they decide)

Had there not been a delayed start, the number mighta been closer to 50.

All this on a Day when the WSOP decided to take a risk and play the Sex Pistols version of God Save the Queen in lieu of the British national anthem, which some thought was great, others thought was terrible, and in the end had @WSOPsuits apologizing. (All I can say is yikes, rough day, know how that goes …)

I suspect there’ll be a lot of buzz and analysis over the HORSE field for a some time to come … after all, though not the first event with a decline in entry numbers, it is the most noticeable … resulting in a $2million drop in prize pool and a six-figure hit in the take for WSOP tourney staff.

Hey, bottom line, $50k is harder to come by these days — way more harder than in 2008, and presumably even harder than in early June 2009. But is it the money, or is it the lack of ESPN coverage?

NOTE: More than 25 percent of $50k HORSE players are members of Team Full Tilt. That doesn’t mean FTP ponied up their buy-ins (directly) … but it does say something. Particularly since many of these players were some of the last to buy in, after the entry period would have ended were it not for the cards-in-the-air delay.

Bailout?

Following Austin’s victory, he declined to be interviewed. Furthermore, Austin refuses to participate in the traditional WSOP gold bracelet ceremony. This means there will be no gold bracelet ceremony held on Saturday, June 20th.

Austin is the first WSOP winner to decline participation in post-tournament activities. All other 34 gold bracelet winners this year have agreed to participate in interviews and festivities.

The WSOP Media and Pubic Relations makes every effort to provide as much background information about the winner as possible. However, coverage of this tournament (Event 35) is, by necessity, limited to facts and figures about the event, rather than the winner.

· Austin collected $409,484 for first place. He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet.

· According to the official records, Austin now has 1 win, 1 final table appearance, and 1 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP. He has $409,484 in career WSOP winnings.

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

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

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

The NHL Charity Shootout Presented By Pokerstars.net will be taped to create four hours of TV to air on ESPN Classic and ESPN2 in the US and TSN in Canada and NHL Networkâ„¢ throughout North America. Stars scheduled to participate in the tournament include current NHL players Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks), Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals), Mike Richards (Philadelphia Flyers), Jeremy Roenick (San Jose Sharks), Sheldon Souray (Edmonton Oilers), Steve Sullivan (Nashville Predators) and Kris Versteeg (Chicago Blackhawks). NHL legends Pat LaFontaine, Cam Neely and Luc Robitaille also will play alongside celebrity participants and poker professionals Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Vanessa Rousso.

Play will begin with a round of No Limit Texas Hold’em in a shootout format in which each table plays down to a single winner. The surviving players will move on to play for incredible prizes adding up to more than $150,000 for charity. Portion of the proceeds go to the Ronald McDonald House of Las Vegas as well as NHLPA Goals & Dreams Fund. Each participating NHL player will receive $2,000 for a designated charity of his choice

Have a look at the pics taken last night, after they set up the stage for today’s big event. where the Corum bracelet display has been replaced by a hockey net, the felt has been done up to look like a hockey rink, and faux boards have been erected in front of the front row — begging fans to bang on the glass in anticipation of a big river. It’s totally gonna fall down, I’m sure! Should make for good TV!

California is the only region, btw, with someone to cash in every single event so far. Nevada players (mostly Las Vegans) have cashed in every tournament but one — the $1,500 7cs that Jeff Lisandro won (representing Italy).

“Europe” has cashed in every single event.

One of the biggest surprise shifts has taken place at the bottom of the table — could you theoretically have relegation in poker? — where the Latin Americans have come on strong to surpass the Asia-Pacifickers in bringing home the most skrilla. Most of this comes on the backs of Mexicans, specifically Angel Guillen’s $318k 2nd place score in $2,500 NLH, which a dozen Aussie ITM finishers and a Korean have not been able to match.

Click here to view the complete Pokerati’s complete 2009 WSOP World Standings.

Perhaps in the future the WSOP could take a note from Facebook, allowing players to enter both a current city and a hometown … so say a guy like Daniel Negreanu were to win, he would be tallied for both Canada and the USA, and would have a choice over what anthem he wants to play at his bracelet ceremony. Lots of potential “fun” controversy in that … and we’d finally get to see how good all those California-centric (but US-scattered) Vietnamese really are.

Some newcomers to the 2009 WSOP money:

Both Slovenia and Slovakia booked a cash.

Also … Rhode Island
Nebraska
Washington DC
Puerto Rico
Delaware

The UK is making a charge to challenge the Russians.

And where’s Denmark, who were certainly more than just Peter Eastgate last year? The Scandis would be doing little if it were not for a few Finns this year.

Texas is the top money-winner without a bracelet.

Mad props to the Hawaiians, who thanks to Lisa Hamilton’s bracelet in the Ladies event, silenced the Alaskans who briefly looked like they were gonna stake a claim to extra-continental American poker supremacy.

With just a few hundred dollars of separation, Maine and Spain are also in a kinda tight race money-wise. They rhyme.

(Oops.)

During the ceremony Wahlbeck leaned over to Pollack and said, “This is a nice song, but it’s not the Finnish National Anthem.”

“Roll with it,” Pollack replied.

Palansky said that he got the song off the internet, and it was labeled as “Track #37: Finnish National Anthem.”

LOL, when are WSOP officials going to learn not to trust what they find on the internet?

You can read Wahlbeck’s blog (in Finnish) here.

And now that he’s won a bracelet, have a listen to the youngster Scandi pro talk about how he’s ready to retire from poker … save for the World Series, WSOP-Europe, the EPT, and maybe some other tournaments:

Ville Wahlbeck is a Finnish player, and his ceremony culminated in the playing of the Finnish anthem. Not sure what the song actually was, but Benjo reported that Finnish players seemed perplexed. And according to Benjo‘s conversation with Wahlbeck, it was NOT the Finnish anthem. Whoops.

Yesterday, media row received a visit from Dan Frank, owner of a relatively new player representation company called Top Set. He announced that there would be a “can’t miss” formal introduction of the company just after the start of today’s ladies event.

We watched from media row as a line of people marched into the Amazon Room with a bright-lighted camera filmed the entrance. Led by a petite woman, Frank followed, as did a string of rented ladies in Top Set logo’ed skimpy-ish t-shirts and tight pants, and they all paraded around the room. After taking the long route and finally ending up at a table, the lead woman sat down to play in the event, and the rest of the crew took places on the rail to cheer her on. Who was this woman? No one knows. And the Top Set website said nothing whatsoever about her, as there is no woman even listed as one of their clients. None of the media recognized her. And, she was out of the tournament by the end of the first level. Serious flop.

It was one of the best ideas that Commissioner Pollack and crew implemented in years. Starting yesterday, the bracelet ceremonies are in full effect to honor every event winner with a moment in the spotlight. Instead of winners like Andrew Cohen being given his bracelet in the wee hours of the morning when exhaustion mixes with emotion for a sometimes unfulfilling chaotic moment in time, he was honored as the Event 1 Casino Employees World Champion in the middle of the Amazon Room where the eyes of the fans, media, and fellow players were on him. Call me a sap, but it was a touching moment.

Every 2009 WSOP bracelet winner will receive the same treatment. And in a sea of players and tournaments and Day 1’s and Day 2’s and cash games and fan-filled aisles of people, the 2:20pm ceremony each day will be a refreshing few minutes that reminds everyone of why we’re all here.

Today marked the first official coronation of a bracelet winner at this year’s WSOP, and the ceremony drew mixed reviews, especially from the heavyweights in the $40,000 No Limit tournament. I got a taste of some of the commentary as I watched the reactions from the players at Andy Black’s table as Jeffery Pollack came on the PA to crown the latest bracelet-winning dealer.

At first, they seemed to tolerate the rather loud intrusion, but once they announced that they will play the national anthem of the winner’s country each day for the rest of the WSOP, the words began to fly faster than the chips. As soon as the Star Spangled Banner started playing, several players at Black’s table began voicing their displeasure with having to hear the various anthems on  a daily basis.

The often outspoken Black became visibly frustrated by the WSOP’s decision to include the patriotic tunes. “This is not happening every bracelet. I would rather piss on the flag and burn it,” said the Irish pro with a laugh.

This prompted an interesting question from tablemate Greg Raymer who commented, “I want someone from some foreign island to win. What happens if a guy wins from Kazakhstan? Are they going to play the Borat theme?”

One interesting thing to note is that the announcers on the PA thanked the players in today’s Event #4 for being patriotic after they stood for the national anthem. Ironically, none of the $40K players at Black’s table batted an eyelash as they all kept playing as though nothing was happening. If there is anything to be learned here, it is that when there is over $1.8 million on the line for first place, don’t expect the game’s elite to sit out a hand in order to show their national pride.