Recapping Wednesday night’s WSOP action, starting with the awarding of two more WSOP bracelets:

Daya Takes down $1,000 NL bracelet

The first $1,000 No-Limit Holdem bracelet of this year’s WSOP was awarded to Canadian Aadam Daya defeating Deepak Bhatti in heads-up play. Daya won the sixth-largest live poker tournament in history, besting a field of 4,345 players to earn $625,872. Bhatti picked up $385,106 for the runner-up finish. The full list of results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report is available at WSOP.com.

Bansi’s Best for bracelet #2

Praz Bansi picked up his 2nd career WSOP bracelet, winning the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem bracelet, defeating Vincent Jacques heads-up to prevent a Canadian sweep of bracelets on Wednesday. Jacques earned $320,913 for falling just short of a bracelet, the full list of results and Dalla’s report are online here.

Channing, Levi headline Shootout Final Table

The final table of the $5,000 No-Limit Shootout gets underway at 2:30pm this afternoon with these six players, each with the same starting stack of 1,500,000:

Neil Channing
Stuart Rutter
Nicolas Levi
Brent Hanks
Joseph Elpayaa
Joshua Tieman

Triple Draw almost reaches their final table

Play at the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball ended earlier this morning with its final table just out of reach, returning at 4pm this afternoon to determine a winner. Among those who made the money: Team Pokerati’s Pat Poels (10th for $12,232), Ted Forrest (12th for $9,972), Jordan Seigel and Allen Kessler (16th and 17th for $7,663 each). The rest of the results can be found here. Here’s the eight players looking for a bracelet:

David Chiu 436,000
Peter Gelencser 400,000
Don Mcnamara 370,000
Raphael Zimmerman 262,000
Tad Jurgens 223,000
Leonard Martin 195,000
Shunjiro Uchida 173,000
Jameson Painter 127,000

Schlein Leads $1,500 NL for Day 2

Josh Schlein leads the remaining 270 players returning at 2:30pm for day 2 of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem with 127,300 in chips. Other notables on the leaderboard: Jean-Robert Bellande (89,200), Phil Hellmuth (84,700), and Amnon Filippi (55,800). The full list of chip counts can be found at PokerNews.

Thursday’s Tournaments

The $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem event starts at 12pm today, won last year by John Paul Kelly for over $190,000 in besting a field of 633. A compact field is expected at 5pm today for the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud World Championship won by Freddie Ellis last year, winning over $370,000 as the last man standing in a field of 142.

Recapping the six-pack of tournaments in action this evening. But first more on Jeffrey Pollack’s employment with Professional Bull Riders with Michele Lewis and Wicked Chops Poker.

50k Players’ Down to Five

David Oppenheim holds a commanding lead with five players remaining at the final table of the $50,000 Players’ Championship. Oppenheim currently has about 8,000,000 in chips with Vladimir Schemelev (3,000,000) John Juanda (2,000,000), Robert Mizrachi (1,400,000) and Michael Mizrachi (1,100,000) the remaining players as they go on dinner break. David “Bakes” Baker ($272.275), Daniel Alaei ($221,105) and Mikael Hurwitz ($182,463) were the first three eliminated at the final table. Follow the live reporting over at PokerNews.

Two Tables Left in 1k

The $1,000 NL Holdem event is down to 18 players as they return from their dinner break shortly. The current plan is for a winner to be determined tonight, although they will reevaluate when they get down to nine.. The current chip leader is Samuel Paolini at 1,600,000, followed by Cory Brown (1,360,000), Dash Dudley (1,345,000) and Aadam Daya (1,100,000). CardPlayer POY Eric Baldwin is among the final 18 (740,000) as well as Gabe Costner (500,000) and Jeremiah DeGreef (355,000).

Eleven Left in Omaha 8

Eleven players remain in the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event as the field returns from dinner break. Sasha Rosewood remains the chip leader (750,000), while Dan Heimiller (380,000) and Ylon Schwartz (120,000) the other recognized names in the field. The field will have a very late night as they play to a bracelet winner.

Under 100 in $1,500 NL

The $1,500 NL Holdem event is down to about 80 with ten levels or they reach the final table this evening. Praz Bansi is the leader with 300,000, with Chris Moorman (240,000), Adam Levy (165,000) and Dwyte Pilgrim (160,000) near the top of the leaderboard. Updates on the action can be found here.

NL Shootout Day 1

The $5,000 NL Holdem Shootout drew a field of 358 situated around 36 tables, each playing down to a winner. Those who win their table are guaranteed $16,607, and move on to meet the other winners Wednesday afternoon. Some who have already moved on: Faraz Jaka, Neil Channing, James Akenhead, Chris Ferguson, Chino Rheem and Dario Minieri. To see who else advances, those updates are available here.

Lowball on the Rise

The $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event drew a field of at least 270, slightly higher then last year. It’s a little early for a clear leader to be established, but Andy Bloch, Sorel Mizzi and Team Pokerati’s own Julie Schneider are reported to have an above average 7,500 chip starting stack. The field will play eight levels tonight, more updates can be found here.

A sign of how things change … back in 2005 the already legendary TJ Cloutier was still tearing it up. But in 2010, the WSOP bracelet he won in the 2005 $5k NLHE is now for sale on eBay. I guess he didn’t cash big enough via the sale of PokerPages to buy it back Bummer, dude. We feel ya. Not sure where the big fields are coming from in LA, AC, Australia, and France … everybody seems broke. But either way, you get the sense that those who are playing are doing so with far more seriousness than the fields were back in the day when TJ won this:

The seller is Plano Pawn Shop (“specializing in fine jewelry and firearms”), who has a 100 percent positive feedback rating after 314 eBay sales. Plano, of course, is the suburb next door to TJ’s home in Richardson … and on the way to the Choctaw Casino in Oklahoma, not to mention some of the bigger private games in the Dallas area.

UPDATE: His bracelet from the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV is also up for sale.

Via Bluff Magazine.

Short jokes aside, “the little corporal” of poker is on a Napoleonic quest to dominate the poker world … or at least the WPT.

The WPT Festa al Lago final table gets underway this afternoon/eve (4pm PT). After all the early tourney hubbub about super-late registrations and related blind structures, the final table looks not unlike just about every other WPT final table — with one well-known pro, one kinda-sorta known pro (Vedes), and four other guys.

Freddy Deeb is the chip leader going into today’s action, but not by much. This is Deeb’s fifth WPT final table (out of 70 appearances) and stands to be his third win, which would tie the WPT bracelet record currently held by Gus Hansen. Deeb also has two WSOP bracelets to his name.

The Festa al Lago final table, by chip count, with seats yet to be drawn:

1. Freddy Deeb – 3,840,000
2. Shawn Cunix – 3,670,000
3. Tommy Vedes – 2,990,000
4. Craig Crivello – 2,570,000
5. Jason Lavallee – 2,045,000
6. Jason Burt – 1,375,000

You can follow the play-by-play at WorldPokerTour.com or via PokerListings here.

The WSOP-E main event is well underway … they’re getting into the money today, playing down to 27. We’ll wait ’til a few more get knocked out before we see what kinda final table is really taking shape. Lots of interesting names still alive — including a couple November Niners. But one player long dead: Phil Hellmuth, aka Caesar.

Check it out, he did a repeat performance of his Caesarian entrance … but this time with actual animals parading through the streets of London. Gag away:

But here’s the funny part … so he had all his tunic-clad ladies, each representing a bracelet … but when they got to the casino door, they couldn’t get in because they didn’t have their ID’s!

More details here:

Phil Hellmuth WSOPE Entrance FAIL

In the last edition of Card Player Magazine that I may receive (canceled the subscription after his initial WSOP comments), November Nine member Jeff Shulman takes the sly opportunity to make another unclear accusation point about the WSOP and Harrah’s.

To refresh memories, Shulman was headed for the final table of the WSOP Main Event in July and made some comments regarding the possibility of winning the bracelet, namely that he would throw the gold in the trash. Two days later, CardPlayer.com published a story allowing Shulman to clarify his feelings. He noted therein that he was disappointed in how the WSOP is run, and that it is no longer run by people who care about poker or have the players in mind. Some of his comments:

“Look, I love poker and entered with the hopes of winning,” Shulman stated. “But, more importantly, I support making the industry stronger and better for the players, and to do this, there needs to be some major changes to the way the World Series is run at the highest level. Hopefully, by doing something like this, people will start talking about those changes. I am going to stand by my commitment, but instead of pointlessly throwing it in the trash, I have come up with a few ideas.”

Jeff Shulman’s alternative bracelet ideas:
1. Auction off the bracelet and give the money to charity
2. Hold a tournament for all players shut out of the main event and award the winner the bracelet
3. Give the bracelet away in a SpadeClub.com tournament
4. Give the bracelet to Stephen Colbert

As the Card Player Media President and COO, Shulman has the magazine at his disposal in which to write a lengthy explanation of what is so wrong with Harrah’s and how he could fix poker. Instead, though, a page in the September 1 issue is dedicated (as always) to the Card Player TV show entitled “The Scoop with Adam & Diego,” and this time Shulman was the guest and excerpts were printed from the interview. Right off the bat, Diego Cordovez asked a question that baffled me coming from someone in the poker press:

“Now, the last couple of days, the poker press, what there is of it, has started to quote you and stir up controversy, which you initiated…”

Anyhooo, his answer? “…I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and say that somebody’s got to do something about it. I’m not sure I’m the right guy, being that I’m in the industry, but it’s not like we have some special relationship here. They hate us, for whatever reason… I think they hate anyone who’s not a celebrity, or maybe it’s just that they treat the celebrities so much better than everyone else that they have special rules, they don’t get penalties. I’ve never seen anything like it. If we really want to take poker to the next level, you can’t have different rules for different people.”

Evidently, by disrespecting the WSOP bracelet and Harrah’s (and all the players who would do anything to be in his final table position), he plans to take poker to the next level. Would that be the rude and insulting level? Would that be the vague and evasive level? Would love to hear some thoughts on this issue…

(The opinions/insinuations herein are Cali Jen’s views and not necessarily those of Pokerati or Pokeratizens.)

Recapping the first half of Wednesday’s WSOP:

Lisandro Wins Bracelet #3, Wins Stud Triple Crown

Jeff Lisandro becomes the first player to win three bracelets in one WSOP after Chris Moneymaker initiated the poker boom in 2003, takes down the $2,500 Razz event, good for $188,370. Lisandro has won all three of his bracelets in stud events in each of the three disciplines of stud (Stud high, Stud Hi/Lo and Razz). Lisandro held the chip lead at the beginning of the day and was never seriously threatened. Michael Craig finished in 2nd, good for $116,405. Other notable finishes: Kenna James (6th), Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri (10th), Ville Wahlbeck (12th) and Nikolay Evdakov (13th).

Seniors Six-Pack

Half a dozen players remain in the $1,000 Seniors NL Holdem World Championship, led by Scott Buller with over 2 million in chips. Michael Morusty, Charles Simon, Dan DeLatorre, Michael Davis and Barry Bounds make up the remaining players.

Thang Flung From Omaha-8

The $2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better has 70 players remaining, only 45 get paid. The unofficial chip leader is Frankie O’Dell (109,000), followed by day 1 chip leader Josh Schlien (85,000), Pat Poels (71,500), Marsha Waggoner (54,000), Mike Matusow (38,000), and Max Pescatori (28,000) among the familiar faces. Thang Luu unfortunately was eliminated before the dinner break earlier today.

Brummelhuis Bringing It in Pot-Limit

The $10,000 Pot-Limit Holdem World Championship is down to 35 players, only 27 get to cash with day 1 chip leader Michiel Brummelhuis remaining chip leader (570,000). Isaac Haxton (450,000), Eric Baldwin (430,000), Darryll Fish (310,000), Vanessa Rousso (280,000), Sam Simon (173,000), and Eugene Todd (165,000) are among the remaining.

Mixed Holdem Brings Mixed Blessings

The $2,500 Mixed Holdem event drew a field of 527 players, of which just 184 remain. The unofficial chip leader is David Baker (unknown if that’s the one from Michigan or Texas) at 73,000. Eli Elezra (51,000), Marc Naalden (46,000) and Jean-Robert Bellande (42,000) are some well known folks with chips.

More updates during the evening over at www.wsop.com and Pokerati for more Lisandro stuff and other commentary about all things WSOP.

From official WSOP reports … (with a WSOP historical info, Phil Ivey bio stuff, and post-game interview):

The Winner –

· The 2009 World Series of Poker $2,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split / Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split champion is Phil Ivey, from Las Vegas, NV.

· Ivey collected $220,538 for first place. He was also awarded his seventh WSOP gold bracelet.

· With this victory, Ivey joins Billy Baxter with seven WSOP titles, which ranks sixth on the all-time wins list. Remaining ahead of Ivey are Phil Hellmuth (11 wins), Doyle Brunson (10 wins), Johnny Chan (10 wins), Johnny Moss (9 wins), and Erik Seidel (8 wins).

· According to the official records, Ivey now has 7 wins, 19 final table appearances, and 33 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP.

· Ivey currently has $3,439,386 in WSOP winnings.

· Ivey won three of his WSOP gold bracelets at the 2002 WSOP.

· Ivey has never won a WSOP gold bracelet in Hold’em.

More…

Just happened … more TK.

Photo: BJ Nemeth (via iPhone?)

UPDATE:
Not so fast Ville Wahlbeck and Brock Parker … Player of the Year race ain’t over yet!

And prop bets? Oyy, the prop bets. One of the good things about poker is that betting on yourself won’t keep you out of the Hall of Fame. But it will keep your friends, cronies, and fans wildly speculating on your side action … which Pokerati, btw, puts at anywhere from $2 million to $12 million for Phil Ivey this summer. (We stand behind our numbers.)

Oh, right … the event: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8-or-better … or as I like to call it, OHL/7CSHL. (LOL.) The guy he beat was Ming Lee (not to be confused with Minh Ly).

ALT HED: Black Guy Beats Asian (of course) in Yet Another Event Involving 7-Stud

ALSO UPDATE: I think this pretty much gives Daniel Negreanu the lock on the ESPN Fantasy WSOP pool. We all picked eight players … and Negreanu’s squad has four bracelets less than halfway through the Series. (Lisandro, Alaei, Ivey, Ivey.)

Imagine this … you’re heads-up against Phil Ivey for your first bracelet … up and down up and down … you start to believe you actually have a chance:

John Monnette, who banked $59,587 for finishing in 2nd place in the $2,500 2-7 NL-1d, can take pleasure in knowing that he won more money for his last win — “Big Poker October” — than Ivey did in this one.

Not counting sidebets, of course.

Nowhere else but poker will you find so many men willing to study jewelry. Take a closer look at the Corum wrist-trophies for (clockwise from left) the main event, $50k HORSE, and all other bracelet events:

click to enlarge

Hi-res photos: IMPDI for 2009 WSOP

Click here to zoom in on just the main event hardware, and then click here to shop for purses.

(Warning: Sarcasm-free blog post. Enjoy it or hate it while it lasts.)

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.

Earlier this morning, Andrew Cohen became the first bracelet winner of the WSOP as he took down the $500 Casino Employees event. Cohen, a bartender at the N9ne Steakhouse at the Palms, took down $83,833 and will take part in the first bracelet ceremony of the Series at approximately 2:20pm in the Amazon room. Paul Peterson, a barback at the Mandalay Bay, finished 2nd.

At 2pm, the 40th Annual $40,000 NL Event will start their day 2 with 89 players remaining. Bruno Fitoussi will start play as chip leader with 812,500 in chips. Chris Moneymaker is close behind in 2nd with 805,000, with Justin Bonomo in 3rd with 738,000. With the final table scheduled for Sunday, it’s likely they’ll play down to the money today, which will be the final three tables.

The next bracelet event on the schedule will begin at 12 noon with Event #3, $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better. Last year, Thang Luu won $243,342 in a field of 832. This year, the WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 916 for today’s event. Taking into account that tomorrow will be day 1a of the $1,000 NL Holdem “Stimulus Special”, taking the under on this projection looks like the logical play here. I’ll suggest that the field size will be closer to 850. You can check out the WSOP site for updates during the day to follow the action and to see how right or wrong I guessed. More stuff from the rest of the team during the day.

Pure conspiracy theory … inspired by the winner’s pic of “Harold and” Vivek Rajkumar proudly displaying his WSOP WPT bracelet at the Borgata. Without even a rumor to base this on (just circumstantial observations and wild speculation) I called Pauly hoping we could start one. Pauly was in London after covering the entirety of the last WPT event in Atlantic City, and had a brief stop-over in Amsterdam, which I figured put him in the exact right frame of mind to feel the rhymes I was droppin’ … and sure enough, by the time our jam was done we’d have Full Tilt moving in on PokerStars’ brick-and-mortar territory by bailing out Steve Lipscomb & Friends in an effort to challenge the EPT.

So you heard it here first … be sure to spread the word:

Tao of Pokerati: Episode 2.1
WPT Bailout Rumors (7:28)

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Phan Phantastically wins 2nd bracelet of Series

Recapping last night, and a preview of today’s tournaments at the WSOP:

John Phan continued a tradition since 2000: A multiple bracelet winner at the World Series of Poker. Phan takes down the $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball title over Shun Uchida, earning just over $150,000 for his second bracelet of the Series.

The other final table yesterday, the $1,500 Mixed Holdem event, was suprisingly won by RV enthusiast Frank Gary over Jonathan Tamayo. After Michael Binger was eliminated in 3rd, it appeared to be Tamayo’s tournament to win. However, Gary took control during the limit holdem period; winning several large pots that gave him a big enough chip lead to put Tamayo away in the first hand of the NL holdem round to win the bracelet and $219,000, which should cover his gas costs for the rest of the year.

The final table for today, plus a preview of today’s tournaments on page 2:

More…