Will the WTP be a matter of someone finally getting it right, or is there something inherent to the game itself that makes team tournament poker a concept that just can’t stick?

The WTP inaugural at the Golden Nugget will feature eight teams of what seem to be six, seven, or four players each. They face off at different tables, in shootout-fashion.

We’ll be able to watch it low-res live and streaming here.

Here’re the official rosters:

Team USA: Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Allen Cunningham, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, Mike Matusow

Team China: Johnny Chan, David Chiu, Maria Ho, Chau Giang, Winfred Zhu, Derek Chung, Rich Zhu

Team Vietnam: Men “The Master Nguyen” Scotty Nguyen, Kenny Tran, Tim Phan, John Phan, Karina Jett

Team Australia: Jeff Lisandro Tony Guoga, Mel Judah, David Saab, Gary Benson

Team England: Ben Roberts, David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Joe Beevers, Peter Costa, Surinder Sunar

Team Israel: Eli Elezra, Josh Arieh, Abe Mosieri, David Levi, Robert Mizrachi, Michael Mizrachi, Mose Elezar

Team Brazil: Juliano Maesano, Rodrigo Capriolo, Felipe Ramos, Christian Kruel, Leandro Pimentel

Team Greece: George Kapalas, George Theofanopoulos, Alex Dervos, Stavros Kalfas, Dimitris Chatziriotis, Dimitris Liritsis

Sounds great, no? I presume that list is in order of seeding. Team Greece is already being made out to be the potential Cinderella story.

Also noteworthy, however, are the number of teams that didn’t quite pull it together enough to be included in this first go-round. But hey, original plans often change, and maybe it’s good to have the next round of eager contenders waiting in the wings? Shannon Elizabeth got in touch with her inner Arab (who knew!) to partner with Freddie Deeb and Danny Joe Georges on Team Lebanon, yet they didn’t get seats and will instead make an appearance limited to the red carpet. All events like this have to have a red carpet …

Below is a rundown of team poker ventures that have gone before, and what ultimately became of them:

The US PokerBowl (2007)

Wrong out the Gate

The PokerBowl grew out of a local team concept that had taken off in a couple cities — creating an event where teammates were identified by wristband, and chip-dumping, collusion, and hand signals were all part of the game. So they took it to Vegas, promised a million-dollar prize pool, and before you knew it, TV production crews were on the clock, and all the top pros and recent stars (Steve Dannenmann, for example) on board … 25 teams of six, split up into five “conferences”. Day 1 was a drinky day for Scotty Nguyen, which 9 times out of 10 great for TV.

The whole city concept got lost along the way … but that didn’t really matter nearly as much as the issue of collusion. Many of the online-backed pros — if I recall, Doyle Brunson (playing for Denver) had the final say –refused to play if endorsed collusion was gonna be part of it. So USPB ganked it … no cheating allowed … and all the semi-pros and TV-unknowns who paid their $6,600 buy-in had to unlearn signals, for example, like covering your cards with two chips to signify a pair, and placing them like clock hands to indicate its strength.

But for all the clusterfuckiness that goes along with the first attempt at any new-big event, everyone seemed to be having a blast … so much laughter, screaming, hugging, and general raucousness amongst teammates. There we’re only two people in the entire Key West Room at the Palms who looked unhappy — John Nightingale, the creator of it all, and John-Robert Bellande.

Bellande’s team had cashed, and the fresh-from-Survivor big-man was becoming a bit irate that a check for his winnings would be sent to him by mail … in a few weeks. That scene was not the new era of poker they wanted to show on TV.

I first sensed that something was wrong when Tom Schneider and I got hired as the television hosts … without having to send in a video or even talk to anyone on the phone! By the time they mysteriously fired Lacey Jones on Day 2, only to replace her with Nightingale’s wife … Tom and I began discussing bets on whether or not the show would ever make it to TV. It never did.

Clearly the event had grown beyond the infrastructure needed to support it. And Nightingale made the critical mistake of forgetting that just because several pros lured in on a freeroll, someone still needed to cover their buy-ins in the prize pool! It would take months before the winners received their checks, which all bounced … more than $440,000.

The Palms would eventually end up making good on the payouts, but still received an additional $100,000 fine from the Nevada Gaming Commission.

Dream Team Poker (2008-2009)

We Are the Champions!

Similar concept, smaller teams, and a patented scoring system that ensured teammates would never be at the same table until the final. But once in the big-money, teams could call time-outs to collaborate on a hand. There were two separate prize pools — for team and individual results.

The folks running this one seemed to be good people … and sure enough, at their inaugural event at the Hard Rock, DTP paid their winners, lol. (Who woulda thunk that in tself would be enough to have everyone happy-happy.) From there they threw a second event … this one even bigger, 144 teams on about a $500 collective buy-in, at Caesars. Again, a great party beforehand, and a fun tournament to follow.

DTP seemed well on its way … hooking up a $1,680 (per team of three) non-bracelet event at the WSOP. They even got to do a dry run at the media event, and then at the real deal, where 366 players bought in (122 teams) … none other than Team Tao of Pokerati took down the team prize … (for what would become the biggest score of my not-so-pro poker career).

(Still kinda peeved this victory isn’t reflected in the Hendon Mob, Cardplayer, or PokerPages databases.)

Alas, though Team Tao of Pokerati are still the defending WSOP Team Champion, it seems that instead of becoming the team poker ambassador I envisioned, we’ve been relegated to just a footnote in the poker almanac under one-off events.

The problem Dream Team ran into, apparently, was that running a solid operation (that pays winners promptly) costs money! So even though copycat events began springing up — using slightly altered rules to dodge patent issues — instead of growing bigger, Dream Team Poker’s next step looked like downsizing. They launched a small buy-in team league at the Bike, which was supposed to be a beta-test of the concept they were hoping to bring to casinos around the country.

Like everything else team poker, that seemed to develop a loyal following of players. But as of now their status seems up in the air. There’s no word of Dream Team continuing for a second season at the Bike, and they’re no longer listed on the Bike website. We’ve heard nothing publicly from Dream Team since their 2009 season finale. Supposedly they still exist … but it seems they are laying low, perhaps looking to retool their business model.

Even so, they were the one team concept that was an arguable success … yet at present their future is unclear.

UPDATE: Dream Team Poker CEO Daniel Delshad writes in to assure us that they are by no means dead:

After the successful DTP event at WSOP we had many requests for DTP to come to local casinos. With that in mind, we successfully beta launched of our league product for local casinos at the prestigious Bicycle Casino. With the game becoming so widely accepted, we have been working on several very large partnerships to take DTP worldwide across other platforms. These partnerships do take time to formalize and we believe it’s very important to pick the right partner when dealing with contracts that secure long term rights in events, online, and TV. We know that our patience will be rewarded.

Caesar’s Cup (2009)

Et tu Harrah’s?

I couldn’t even tell you the rules of this Ryder Cup-like set-up designed especially for WSOP-Europe … a made-for-TV special event put on and put together by the WSOP-E with their lead sponsor Betfair. But Betfair is no longer with WSOP-E … their contract ended after ’09 and they didn’t renew … which is fine by World Series officials, who look forward to self-sponsoring the London event with WSOP.com, CaesarsCasino.com, and CaesarsBingo.com. With those kind of web-names to be pimping, you’d think a 2nd annual Caesar’s Cup would be inevitable.

But there’s been no mention of it, and word last fall was that a repeat performance wasn’t likely. Again, at best unclear … but another team event — this one more contrived than others — that still hasn’t taken solid hold.

JBet Battle of Nations (2009)

The Communist Hope

From the best we can tell, the inaugural Battle of Nations (presented by some Asian site I had never heard of called JBet) was a success — sounded pretty exciting with the Koreans (Steve Sung, Chino Rheem, and Brandon Wong) beating the Vietnamese (represented by the Le brothers, Nam, Tommy, and Allen) … it was the battle of America’s Asian war enemies from the second half of the 20th century, fighting it out amongst themselves for honor and Hong Kong dollars on the APT in Macau.

Do not, however, confuse the APT (Asian Poker Tour) with the APPT (Asia-Pacific Poker Tour presented by PokerStars) There’s been just one running of one event so far, sponsored by an online site that wasn’t sponsoring the whole tour, and may or may not matter in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Remains to be seen if there will be a round 2 of world poker fighting (hey, quick, somebody trademark that!) in Macau.

International Team Poker League (2010)

A Lot of Talk, Not Progress

Sigh … just when it seemed like maybe we were getting there … Montel Williams was the ITPL commissioner, but even his starpower was hardly enough to make this thing happen. In fact, his business partner would sue him (for $300k) before things even got going … Montel claimed it was a simple matter of sour grapes from a rogue business partner that he needed to get rid of to give this thing a chance. (Though not certain, I think the case has since been thrown out or settled.)

Regardless, an investment somewhere had clearly gone awry. But the ITPL still showed up at the Vegas Hard Rock in late January with hopes of living up to their team poker mission:

With plans to turn the International Team Poker League into the greatest televised reality poker show in 2010, the ITP League is kicking off the year with an event in Vegas which promises not only to have a great poker tournament line up with fantastic prizes but also an experience of a lifetime.

Their opening non-team charity event went fine … but they knew they might have problems come the open main event — which was supposed to be the springboard for the whole league. Not only was no one buying in directly (at $3,500/player), but they couldn’t even make a table for a $350 satellite.

So that’s pretty much a complete history of team poker as we know it in the 21st century. The latest incarnation of a collaborative (but non-cheating) game — the WTP — gets underway Wednesday at noon. We can only anticipate there will be jerseys.

I’m by no means assuring failure. Think how many would-be pioneers took off with wooden arm wings, hopping carts, and soda-water jetpacks only to literally fall on their faces before the Wright Brothers came along and finally figured something out. Once that happened, a true revolution was underway, and in less than a lifetime humans were hopping around on the friggin’ moon!

I can almost guarantee you the WTP will be a hopping wild, great-fun televisable event … one that has people talking about how awesome team poker is and speculating on how it seems an inevitable part of poker’s future.

But what no one seems to be able to guarantee — no matter how things go this week — is that any of these events can survive long enough to become more than just a really good time, a business venture that didn’t quite take hold, and a footnote in the history of poker.

And making his second consecutive go at the WSOP-E main-event title, runner-up Daniel Negreanu would come up two outs short of being “happy” that he just became the biggest winner in the history of tournament poker.

photo: The Tower / A World of Poker

Negreanu knocked out six of the other final table-ists to get heads-up. And yet in the end Barry Shulman — CardPlayer’s overlord emeritus — held strong in a war of presumably tight aggression to win £801,603 (= $1,283,687 USD). That, of course, is almost exactly the amount his son Jeff has been guaranteed for making the November Nine. No added pressure/father’s shadow issues for sure.

Negreanu’s second-place finish and £496k payday propelled him to the top of the all-time tourney-money leaderboard, passing Jamie Gold and Phil Ivey — who now needs to finish 6th-or-better this November to re-pass Negreanu as the winningest tournament player ever.

(Thanks, Lance, for the deets!)

Here’s video of the final two hands from The Casino at the Empire, Leicester Square:

(If for some reason the above vid disappears, you can find the original page here.)

For those of us debating how ESPN and PokerPROductions (a different film crew than the gang producing WSOP-LV episodes) should do their broadcasting jobs … it seems this 6-day event will be shown in 2 hours, not 20 … and that includes squeezing in the Caesar’s Cup! While that may not seem to do poker-junkie justice to a tournament that kept a bunch of us jaded, immune-to-tourney-hype types checking in on the action for more than 16 hours of final table play, I suppose movie-length could work, too.

UPDATE: Clarification of ESPN’s programming intent in the comments below (from ESPN sources who would know). They plan to give it way too much more coverage than implied above.

Click below for Nolan’s official write-up/script:

Official Final Report
WSOPE Event 4
2009 WSOP Gold Bracelet Event: 61
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: £10,000 (= $16,020 USD)
Number of Entries: 334
Total Net Prize Pool: £3,340,000 (= $5,348,677 USD)
Number of Places Paid: 36
First Place Prize: £801,603 (= $1,283,687 USD)
26 September to 1 October 2009

Tournament Report

Event Headlines –

1. Card Player CEO Barry Shulman Wins 2009 World Series of Poker Europe Championship

2. Card Player Ace Barry Shulman Wins Second WSOP Gold Bracelet

3. Thrilling 5:00 AM Poker Hand Decides Fate in Fantastic Finish

4. Poker Titans Shulman and Negreanu Battle Heads-Up for Three Hours in WSOP Europe Finale – Card Player CEO Victorious

5. Negreanu Now the All-Time Leading Money Winner (Overall) in Poker Tournament History — $12 Million in Earnings, and Growing

6. World Series of Poker Continues to Impress: Overall Tournament Attendance for All WSOP Europe Events Increases 19.7 Percent over Last Year

7. Sixty Gold Bracelets Won – With One to Go: WSOP Main Event Final Table Championship Begins on November 7th

The Champion (Barry Shulman) –

· The 2009 World Series of Poker Europe £10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event champion is Barry Shulman, from Las Vegas, NV.

· Shulman is the 63-year-old CEO of Card Player Magazine and Shulman Media.

· Shulman was born in Seattle, WA. He became a millionaire through real estate investments. After retiring from real estate during the mid-1990s, Shulman moved to Las Vegas to play poker professionally and bought the poker industry’s leading publication, Card Player magazine, in 1999. He initially served as its President and Publisher. His son Jeff, assumed the role of Editor at Card Player in 2001.

· Barry’s son, Jeff Shulman, is one of the famed “November Nine,” who will compete for the 2009 world poker championship next month.

· Shulman’s wife Allyn Jaffrey-Shulman is also a dedicated poker player. She plays regularly on the tournament circuit and competes in many WSOP events. Allyn Jaffrey-Shulman supported her husband from the audience during the entire 16.5-hour finale.

· Shulman became a grandfather recently.

· Shulman collected £801,603 for first place. The cash prize is equal to about $1,283,687 in U.S. dollars.

· According to official records, Shulman now has 2 wins, 8 final table appearances, and 14 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP.

· Shulman currently has $1,574,955 in career WSOP winnings.

· This was the second victory at WSOP Europe ever by a player from the United States. Nations which have placed players in the winners’ circle at London include: Denmark (2), Finland, Afghanistan (1), Germany (1), England (1), Canada (1), Italy (1), Norway (1), and the United States (2).

Winner Quotes (Barry Shulman) –

Note: WSOP Europe Main Event champion Barry Shulman was interviewed moments after his victory.

· On where this victory ranks among his many accomplishments in both business and poker: “It’s a lot of fun for me to be here right now. It’s been great. When I moved to Vegas, I took up poker. I tried to prove that I could beat the best in the world. I got pretty good for a while, but then I started to focus more on my business at Card Player (magazine). Since then, I have not been playing as hard. Now, I’m back on the winning trail and feeling very good about it.”

· On there this final table ranks in terms of toughness: “When I broke into poker, the big tournaments had like 100 people…. and when I would sit down at the table I would know 6 or 7 of the players at my table. But since the days of Chris Moneymaker and Internet poker, now I only know maybe one-third of the people. This tournament – because it was a relatively small field (compared to regular WSOP events in Las Vegas) – attracted the best players in Europe and brought over the best player in the United States. So, there just were no weak spots, to use a poker expression – at least at my tables.”

· On his thoughts as “the hand” played out: “The truth is, because it was on television and we were heads up, I knew I got in with the best hand (holding pocket aces). When the jack came on the turn (giving Negreanu three-of-a-kind and making him the huge favorite), I had pretty much given up. I said to myself, ‘well, at least I am not going to be embarrassed here. What are you going to do? That’s poker.’ When the ace came (on the river), I just about passed out.”

· On what still motivates him to play and compete in many of the world’s toughest poker tournaments: “I love winning. I also have a wife who has expensive tastes.”

· On what he will tell his son, Jeff Shulman, who is one of the November Nine finalists: “I did my part. Now, you do your part. It’s your turn to win.”

· On his pick to win the 2009 WSOP Main Event: “Take a guess.”

The Final Table –

· The final table included six former WSOP gold bracelet winners – Daniel Negreanu (6 wins). Chris Bjorin (2 wins), Jason Mercier (1 win), Praz Bansi (1 win), Matt Hawrilenko (1 win), and Barry Shulman (1 win).

· The final table was played nine-handed.

· The final table included two members of the famed “November Nine,” which will play for the world poker championship, to be held next month in Las Vegas. James Akenhead arrived at this final table ranked second in chips (he is ninth in chips going into the N9 championship). Antoine Saout arrived at this final table ranked sixth in chips (he is eighth going into the N9 championship). Russian poker pro Ivan Demidov was the only other player to make it to both final tables at the WSOP Main Event and WSOP Europe, which was accomplished last year.

· The final table was played on the main stage of the Empire Casino. The cozy confines of the Empire made for a cavernous atmosphere. All seats were filled to capacity. Spectators lined the surrounding rails and staircases in order catch a glimpse of the action. As players were eliminated and day turned to night, the crowd size actually grew as there were far more spectators than space available. A nearby bar, located adjacent to the feature table supplied a steady stream of (ahem) refreshments.

· It took more than five hours to eliminate the first player from the finale. That moment finally came when James Akenhead was knocked out late in the afternoon. This fell short of the WSOP record for longest span at a final table without an elimination, which is about six hours. Once Akenhead went out first, four more eliminations quickly took place within a 90-minute span.

· Despite so many accomplished tournament players at the final, local poker pros Praz Bansi and James Akenhead enjoyed the most rousing cheering sections. The home field advantage seemed to particularly favor Bansi, who constantly turned and looked to the crowd for their support and enthusiasm.

· The ultimate winner Barry Shulman arrived at the final table ranked fourth in chips out of nine players. He took the lead about two-thirds of the way through the finale, then see-sawed back and forth with Daniel Negreanu before finally prevailing.

· When heads-up play began, Negreanu enjoyed slightly better than a 3 to 2 lead over Shulman. The exact chip counts were: Negreanu with 6,180,000 vesus Shulman with 3,855,000.

· During a short break while the two finalists were being re-positioned, Negreanu was interviewed at tableside and remarked: “Playing against Barry (Shulman) is dangerous. There is no pressure on him. That makes him very difficult to play against, because I can’t be sure where I am at. I’ve played a lot of hours with Barry and think I have him somewhat figured out. But he’s got at least one advantage against me, which is having no pressure.”

· During the same break in the action, Barry Shulman was interviewed briefly. He commented: “This is exactly what I was hoping for. To be playing heads up for the gold bracelet, especially with Daniel. It’s perfect. I’m on a complete freeroll. I’m having a lot of fun.”

· After about an hour of heads-up play, a critical hand took place. Shulman was down about 5-3 in chips and after the flop, he moved all-in on a flush draw. He held the A-5 of hearts and was down to a heart draw when the board showed Kd-8h-6h. Negreanu called the all-in semi-bluff instantly and tabled two black aces. Negreanu was two cards away from the championship. But a heart on the turn saved Shulman from extinction, and deflated Negreanu’s momentum. That critical hand gave Shulman about a 3 to 1 advantage.

· Negreanu never gave up. It took another two hours, but Negreanu finally regained the chip lead. There were no all-in moments, nor memorable hands along the way. Rather, Negreanu simply managed to chop away slowly at Shulman. About three hours into heads-up play, the two well-known poker personalities were about dead-even in chips.

· Poker fans everywhere will certainly be talking about what is destined to become known as “the hand.” The dramatic climax of this event rivaled the legendary Mansour Matloubi vs. Hans “Tuna” Lund’s late confrontation during the 1990 WSOP Main Event (often described as the most exciting hand in WSOP history). WSOP Europe’s decisive hand came when Negreanu was dealt Q-J. Shulman was dealt A-A. After the flop came J-x-x, Negreanu (holding top pair — jacks) bet out and Shulman raised all in (with an overpair — aces). Negreanu thought for a few minutes, and then finally announced, “Call.” Negreanu didn’t know it, but he was way behind. As the crowd rose to its feet, screaming for various cards, the turn nearly blew the roof off the Empire Casino. It was a jack, giving Negreanu a near-miracle catch and putting him a single card away from winning what would have been a fifth WSOP gold bracelet. Negreanu, blushing from the good fortune, stood in marked contrast to the ever-somber Shulman, who was desperately drawing to two outs. With his tournament life on the line, down to two remaining aces, the bullet hit. It was an ace — striking Negreanu between the eyes and lifting Shulman to the doorstep of his second WSOP career title. Following screams of horror from everyone except those sitting in the Shulman camp, the room went nearly silent as the full effects of the hand began to set in. It was the most exciting hand of the 2009 WSOP and, once broadcast to a global poker audience, is destined to be remembered for years to come.

· It’s hard to imagine an anti-climatic final hand. But Negreanu’s pocket fours were ultimately crushed by Shulman’s pocket tens. A ten flopped – good for a set – which amounted to running up the score after the game was over. The carnage was complete at 5:17 am in front of a packed casino, who had all witnessed one of tournament poker’s most thrilling finishes.

· Echoing the rivalry ignited by the inaugural Caesars Cup held the previous week won by Team Europe, which saw Team Americas humiliated by Team Europe – this final table was comprised of a mix of (5) Europeans and (4) Americans.

· The runner up was Daniel Negreanu, from Las Vegas, NV. Negreanu is one of the world’s most famous poker personalities. He holds four WSOP gold bracelets. With his second-place finish in this tournament, which amounted to £495,589 in prize money, Negreanu became the all-time leading money winner for career lifetime earnings. He now has more than $12 million in tournament winnings, which puts him slightly ahead of Phil Ivey. Note that Ivey can re-take the lead should he finish higher than seventh in this year’s Main Event. The race is on.

· Negreanu has now made back-to-back final table at WSOP Europe Main Events. He finished fifth in last year’s championship.

· The third-place finisher was Praz Bansi, from London, UK. The former WSOP gold bracelet winner ($1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em in 2006) seized the chip leader late in the finale. But he was not able to sustain his momentum. Bansi lost two big hands late, resulting in a third-place showing. His share of the prize pool amounted to £360,887.

· The fourth-place finisher was Jason Mercier, from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The end result was a bitter disappointment for the former gold bracelet winner, who has been one of tournament poker’s most successful players over the past year. Mercier, who won the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event earlier this year, also won the EPT championship at San Remo (Italy) as well as the £1 Million Showdown, in London. Mercier had higher ambitions in this finale, given his lofty chip advantage from the start. But Mercier ultimately lost his lead, his edge, and the remainder of his chips and ended up as the fourth-place finisher – worth £267,267 in prize money.

· The fifth-place finisher was Markus Ristola, from Helsinki. He hoped to become only the third Finnish citizen ever to win a WSOP gold bracelet – following in the footsteps of fellow countrymen Jani Vilmunen and Ville Wahlbeck who both won titles earlier this year. But Ristola came up short when he was eliminated on a big hand against Daniel Negreanu. Ristola ended up with £200,367 in prize money.

· The sixth-place finisher was two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner, Chris Bjorin, from London, UK. Bjorin was short-stacked midway through the final table and lost holding A-J against A-Q on his final hand. This was Bjorin’s third cash at this year’s WSOP Europe – the most of any player. He finished 6th in Event #2, 11th in Event #3, and 6th again in the Main Event. Bjorin has now finished in-the-money 50 times in WSOP events, which ranks eighth on the all-time list. Sixth place paid £150,267.

· The seventh-place finisher was Antoine Saout, from St. Martin des Champs, France. Saout lost a race to Daniel Negreanu when his pocket fives were cracked by A-Q suited (Negreanu made a flush). That bounced the Frenchman from the finale, which was good for £114,228 in prize money. Saout returns to the poker limelight again next month, as one of the November Nine.

· The eighth-place finisher was Matt Hawrilenko, from Boston, MA. The former WSOP gold bracelet winner collected more than $1 million for his victory in the $5,000 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship (Event #56) held earlier this year in Las Vegas. Hawrilenko specializes primarily in cash games, particularly short-handed Limit Hold’em. Poker master Lee Jones called Hawrilenko “one of the top two or three heads-up Limit Hold’em players in the world. The cash game crowd considers him a major deity.” Hawrilenko’s tournament game isn’t bad either, evidenced by four final table appearances this year in WSOP events. Eighth place paid £87,074.

· The ninth-place finisher was James Akenhead, from London, UK. He is one of this year’s “November Nine,” who will play for the WSOP Main Event championship in Las Vegas next month. On his final hand, Akenhead moved all-in pre-flop with A-K and was called by Daniel Negreanu, holding two kings. The big pair held up, eliminating Akenhead. He’ll have another shot at his first gold bracelet on November 7th. Ninth place paid £66,533.

· The final table started at 12:45 pm on Thursday, 1 October. Play ended at 5:17 am. The duration of the finale was 16 hours and 32 minutes, counting breaks.

In-the-Money Finishers –

· The top 36 finishers collected prize money.

· Twelve of the 36 players who cashed (one-third) were former WSOP gold bracelet winners.

· Tony Cousineau, from Daytona Beach, FL finished in 13th place. Cousineau holds a somewhat dubious record (that most any poker player would long for). He has finished in the money 42 times, which is the most of any player who has not yet won a gold bracelet. Cousineau was visibly disgusted when he had plenty of chips late on Day Four, but lost with A-K to a runner-runner flush. “I’m the king of the snake-bitten,” Cousineau shrieked – fittingly ending up as the thirteenth-place in this tournament.

· The 14th-place finisher was English football (soccer) superstar Teddy Sheringham. The 43-year-old semi-retired athlete previously played for the club Manchester United, as well as England’s World Cup team. He has also been awarded an MBE, which is the Member of the Order of the British Empire. Sheringham has become a devoted poker player in recent years. This was his most impressive tournament performance, to date.

· Former WSOP gold bracelet winner Ram Vaswani, from Hendon, UK finished in 15th place. He won the Limit Hold’em Shootout championship in 2007. Vaswani is the youngest member of the famous “Hendon Mob,” a group of five star poker pros based near London. Vaswani is also the only player to date who has made it to four European Poker Tour final tables.

· Doyle’s Brunson’s deep run in this event fueled intense interest worldwide, particularly on Day Four. At one point, Brunson climbed into the top six in chips. But he lost a series of late pots and ended up going out in 17th place. Brunson now has 34 career cashes and nearly $3 million in WSOP lifetime winnings. Brunson was the 1976 and 1977 world poker champion.

· Poker pro Liz Lieu, from Las Vegas, NV was the highest female finisher in this year’s championship tournament. She ended up in 22nd place, and has yet to win her elusive first WSOP title.

· Arnaud Mattern, from Paris, France received a mixed blessing on what was his 30th birthday. He was eliminated on 30 September (his birthday) finishing in 23rd place, which was a disappointment. However, Mattern collected a posh birthday gift totaling £25,918.

· Six-time gold bracelet winner Men “the Master” Nguyen’s 26th-place finish in this tournament gives him 67 career cashes in WSOP events. This currently ranks second on the all-time WSOP cashes list, behind Phil Hellmuth, who has 75.

· John Kabbaj, from London, UK finished in 28th place. He won his first WSOP gold bracelet earlier this year in the $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship. Kabbaj’s victory was made even more memorable for the official gold bracelet ceremony held the following day. A rogue version of “God Save the Queen” by the British punk band, the Sex Pistols, was played to honor Kabbaj, instead of the more traditional version of the national anthem.

· Steve Zolotow finished in 32nd place. Zolotow has been playing tournament poker for more than 20 years. Zolotow, also known as “Z” and “The Bald Eagle,” started out playing poker at the legendary Mayfair Club in New York City. He has since won two WSOP gold bracelets.

· David “Devilfish” Ulliott was less than thrilled with his 35th-place finish. The brassy former WSOP gold bracelet winner, who is one of the UK’s most famous poker stars, was displeased at being placed at the feature table multiple times during the tournament. “These kids, they get on television, and they start to play differently,” Ulliott grumbled. “They don’t want to make fools out of themselves, so they play better. Me? I don’t need to be on television. I’ve been on TV hundreds of time. Everyone knows who I am.”

· David Docherty, from Coatbridge, Scotland finished in 36th place. This marked his second in-the-money finish this year at WSOP Europe.

· Players reached the money at the conclusion of Day Three. This amounted to the completion of 17 Levels, or about 26 hours of tournament play.

· Among the 36 in-the-money finishers, the following nine nations were represented: United States (15), England (10), France (3), Brazil (2), Germany (2), Hungary (1), Israel (1), Finland (1), and Scotland (1).

Odds and Ends –

· World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) includes the final four gold bracelet events of the 2009 calendar year. WSOP events 1-57 were played in Las Vegas from 26 May through 15 July. WSOP Events 58-61 (a.k.a. “WSOPE”) were played in London, England from 18 September through 1 October.

· The championship final is classified as “WSOPE Event 4″ as well as “WSOPE Event 61” as it is the 61st WSOP gold bracelet event of the 2009 calendar year.

· This marks the third consecutive year of WSOPE, presented by Betfair. In 2007, three gold bracelet events were played. In 2008, four gold bracelet events were played.

· All WSOPE results are included in official WSOP records — including all-time wins, cashes, final table appearances, and so forth.

· This was Tournament Director Jack Effel’s third consecutive year to oversee all the events played at WSOP Europe. Effel has been the WSOP Tournament Director since 2006. In that span he has already run more WSOP events than any other official in history, other than Jack McClelland and Eric Drache.

· Interestingly, former Binion’s Horseshoe legend Drache was also highly visible at WSOP Europe from start to finish. He’s a consultant to Poker Productions, which is owned by television producer Mori Eskandani. Poker Productions was on hand to film WSOP Europe for broadcast on ESPN.

· All four tournaments took place at Casino at the Empire, located in Leicester Square, in Central London. Leicester Square is best known as the theatre district of the city. Casino at the Empire is part of London Clubs International, which is owned by Harrah’s Entertainment.

· Casino at the Empire holds 35 poker tables. Regular gaming tables were removed during the 16-day duration of WSOPE in order to make necessary room for the large turnout of poker players and spectators.

· WSOP Europe is sponsored by Betfair, which is known as the world’s largest betting exchange. According to Betfair: “The exchange allows customers to choose their own odds and bet against each other.” Betfair is a registered, legal bookmaker in the U.K. and is also licensed in Australia, Austria, and Malta. For more information, visit: www.betfairpoker.com.

· During the play of this final table, Betfair offered a live betting exchange on the outcome.

· Richard Bloch, International PR Manager for Betfair Poker said: “We are thrilled that Barry Shulman has won the third WSOPE main event title presented by Betfair. He faced tough opposition but showed his class and is a very deserving winner.”

· Shulman was presented with his second gold bracelet by WSOP President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, who spoke to the capacity crowd afterward and to television cameras: “This has been quite a year for the entire Shulman Family….Barry has been an industry leader and an important voice in poker for more than a decade. I am honored to present him with the gold bracelet he so richly deserves.”

· The tournament will be broadcast later on ESPN. The two-hour program will air initially within the U.S. on 7 February 2010. Coverage will also include the inaugural Caesars Cup, a poker team match between Team Europe and Team Americas, which concluded on 25 September. Air dates in Europe and elsewhere will be announced soon and are expected to be sometime early in 2010.

The Tournament –

· This was a six-day tournament.

· The tournament attracted 334 entries. This was slight decline from the championship event played at the same time last year, which attracted 362 entries.

· Tables were played nine-handed during most of the tournament.

· Players started this tournament with 30,000 in tournament chips.

· The buy-in amount for Event #4 was £10,000 (GBP), which is equivalent to about $16,020 (USD) at the current exchange rate.

· Seven of the ten former WSOPE gold bracelet winners competed in this tournament. They were Sharkahn Farnood, Theo Jorgensen, Annette Obrestad, Dario Alioto, Erik Cajelais, Jani Vilmunen, and John Juanda. None cashed.

· Five former poker world champions played in this event, including Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Huck Seed, and Peter Eastgate. Brunson was the only player to cash.

· Day One lasted six levels, which went about 12 hours. The end of Day One chip leader was American poker player Brian Powell. He did not cash. Powell’s no-cash broke a chain of three consecutive Day One leader/winners. In the first three events at WSOP Europe, the End of Day One chip leader won each event. J.P. Kelly led throughout the tournament in event #1. Erik Cajelais led most of the way in Event #2. And in event #3, Jani Vilmunen enjoyed a decisive advantage following play on Day One and went on to win.

· The first day was filled with several highlights. The day officially began with Doyle Brunson performing the traditional “Shuffle Up and Deal” honors. WSOP President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack introduced Brunson by saying, “Doyle was there in Las Vegas at the very start of the WSOP forty years ago. Doyle was also with us when we started WSOP Europe three years ago in London. And, we are proud to have him with us today.” Predictably, Brunson’s grand introduction received a standing ovation from players and spectators.

· During an early break in the action, Pollack presented poker pro Jeffrey Lisandro with his prize for winning 2009 World Series of Poker “Player of the Year” honors. Lisandro, who won a record-tying three gold bracelets in events earlier this year in Las Vegas, received three buy-ins into future WSOP Main Events. He will freeroll the 2010, 2011, and 2012 world poker championships, courtesy of Harrah’s Entertainment. Lisandro’s award is valued at more than $30,000.

· Eleven-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth entered the Empire Casino with his usual flair. He repeated his grand in-your-face entrance into this year’s WSOP Main Event. The poker bombast was clad in full regalia dressed as a Roman gladiator and rode through Leicester Square in Central London on a chariot drawn by a white horse. As if that was not enough pomp and circumstance, Hellmuth was encircled by several muscled centurions and concubines wearing white dresses (11 in all, once for each WSOP gold bracelet won by Hellmuth). “It’s great to be me,” the poker legend mused. Hellmuth’s grand arrival brought a mix of gasps, laughter, and puzzled stares from the thousands of people gathered around London’s theatre district witnessing the spectacle.

· Day Two lasted four levels, which went about 7 hours. The end of Day Two chip leader was Ian Munns, from the UK. However, he did not finish in the money.

· Day Two began later than usual, in observance of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. Instead of a noon restart time, play on Day Two resumed at 5:30 pm in order to accommodate players who observe the solemn holiday.

· Day Three lasted nearly six levels, which went about 13 hours. The end of Day Three chip leader was Matt Hawrilenko, from Boston, MA. He ended up finishing in eighth place.

· The defending champion was John Juanda, who won his fourth WSOP gold bracelet in an epic battle in last year’s WSOP Europe Main Event championship. Juanda was the victor at what turned out to be the longest final table in WSOP history. This year, Juanda survived until Day Three. He was interviewed shortly after being eliminated and made the following statement:

Of course, I am disappointed not to win. But everyone is an underdog here. It’s not like tennis where Roger Federer wins a series of heads-up matches and repeats five years in a row. Poker is not like that. I have to expect this. I always want to win, but I have to prepare myself for the reality that it does not happen very often.

· Day Four lasted five levels, which went about 11 hours. The end of Day Four chip leader was Jason Mercier. He ended up busting out in fourth place.

WSOP / WSOPE Statistics –

· There have been three WSOP Europe Main Event champions:

2007 – Annette Obrestad
2008 – John Juanda
2009 – Barry Shulman

· The four events at WSOP Europe produced 1,254 total entries. Last year’s four events attracted 1,047 total entries. This represents an increase of 19.7 percent over last year. WSOPE has grown 134 percent since its inception just two years ago. Here’s the breakdown, by year:

2007 (3 events) – 532 total players
2008 (4 events) – 1,047 total players
2009 (4 events) – 1,243 total players

· The total amount of prize money awarded at WSOP Europe since its inception in 2007 (through 11 total events) equals a combined £15,206,996, equal to about $24,305,341. This figure exceeds the total amount of money paid out during the first 12 years of the WSOP (1970-1981). Here’s the annual breakdown:

2007 (3 events) – $7,606,303
2008 (4 events) – $8,526,930
2009 (4 events) – $8,172,108

· Continuing with this year’s gold bracelet winners, by nationality:

WINNERS – BY NATION: Through Event #61 (excluding #57, the Main Event) – the home nations of the WSOP gold bracelet winners read as follows:

United States – 37
United Kingdom – 4
Canada – 4
Australia – 2
Germany – 2
Finland – 2
Russian Federation – 1
Sweden – 1
Mexico – 1
Italy – 1
Holland – 1
Hungary – 1
Iran – 1

· Continuing with this year’s gold bracelet winners, by city:

WINNERS – BY CITY: Through Event #61 (excluding #57, the Main Event) – the following cities have produced multiple WSOP gold bracelet winners (Note: Metropolitan area suburbs are included in major city counts):

Las Vegas, Nevada – 11
Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) – 4
London, UK – 3
Salerno, Italy – 3
Los Angeles, California – 3
Washington, DC (Maryland and Virginia Suburbs) – 3
New York, NY – 2
Helsinki, Finland – 2

· Continuing with this year’s gold bracelet winners, by profession (pro versus amateurs):

Event #61 winner Barry Shulman is to be classified as a semi-professional player. Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard currently reads (not counting Casino Employees Event and the Main Event, which is pending):

Professionals — 42 wins
(Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey-1, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb, Ville Wahlbeck, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker-1, Jeffrey Lisandro- 1, Daniel Alaei, Brock Parker-2, John-Paul Kelly, Jeff Carris, Nick Schulman, Phil Ivey-2, Pete Vilandos, Tomas Alenius, Roland de Wolfe, J.C. Tran, James Van Alstyne, Angel, Guillen, Greg Mueller-1, Eric Baldwin, Jordan Smith, Jeffrey Lisandro-2, Richard Austin, Marc Naalden, Matt Graham, Peter Traply, Jerrod Ankenman, Jeffrey Lisandro-3, John Kabbaj, Jeff Ahmadi, Brandon Cantu, Greg Mueller-2, Carston Joh, David Bach, Matt Hawrilenko, J.P. Kelly – 2, Erik Cajelais, Jani Vilmunen)

Amateurs — 9 wins
(Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson, Zac Fellows, Michael Eise, Michael T. Davis, Jorg Peisert, David J. Halpert, Tony Veckey)

Semi-Pros — 8 wins
(Vitaly Lunkin, Brian Lemke, Lisa Hamilton, Leo Wolpert, Ray Foley, Derek Raymond, Jeff Ahmadi, Barry Shulman)

· Sixteen of the 60 winners so far this year (27 percent) were previous gold bracelet winners. There were four double winners in 2009 – J.P. Kelly, Brock Parker, Phil Ivey (Main Even pending), and Greg “FBT” Mueller. There was one triple winner in 2009 — Jeffrey Lisandro.

· This year’s WSOP and WSOP Europe awarded $182,594,608 in total prize money.

· This year’s World Series of Poker was the largest in history. A grand total of 62,129 players entered the 61 combined gold bracelet events held in Las Vegas and London.

· The final WSOP tournament of the year is the Main Event championship finale, a.k.a. the “November Nine.” Play begins with the nine finalists on 7 November. The final two survivors play heads-up for the championship on 9 November.

Reporting from London, ladies and gents, thank you and good night!

While I personally found it interesting to see the layout of the casino and how it fits innocuously within a cityscape, his encounters with Men the Master and Mike Matusow are also quite good.

Watch (a tired) Men for tells as Hellmuth calls him “the Vietnamese Godfather of Poker” and addresses when he will or will not get into the Hall of Fame. And hear Matusow explain why he thinks the Caesar’s Cup is a “farce” … he swears it’s not just because he didn’t get picked to play.

The WSOPE’s made-for-TV special event:

Team Europe is comprised of – Annette Obrestad, Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Ilari Sahamies, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, and John Harvey – Betfair Qualifier.

Team Americas in comprised of – Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Huck Seed, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, and Barry Greenstein.

Caesars Cup began at 1 pm on Friday, 25 September at the Empire Casino in London. Play is expected to last until Friday evening, when one team wins four match victories and wins poker’s ultimate bragging rights.

You can follow American coverage here. And for a European perspective, our friends at Betfair have it here.

Aww, sad for Annette_15: The European captain is the only player without a sponsorship patch, and it’s her site’s event!

Click below for a closer look at the trophy that Fake Phil Ivey is just dying to win. Says Fake Phil: “Winning this will be the pinnacle of my career. My patriotism is on the line. I’m doing it for America. I’m doing it for Barack Obama … oh and Jesus, of course, but I’m always doing it for Jesus. Big ups!”

Cup check: The most coveted trophy in poker since the Binion's Cup at the 2009 WSOP-LV.

Team Americas: Daniel Negreanu (captain), Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda, Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman

Team Europe: Annette Obrestad (captain), Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri, Bertrand Grospellier, Patrik Antonius, Ilari Sahamies (aka Zigmund)

Also more on the format:

The Caesars Cup will feature the game No-Limit Hold’em with two teams of eight doing battle over a series of Heads Up and two-man doubles matches, with single points awarded for each match. The doubles formats will include alternate betting. The first team to 4 points will win.

The first match will be Doubles: Alternate Bet where two players compete per side. One player per side will play pre-flop and on the turn; the other player will play the flop and the river.

Once players are designated, their roles will not change. Two matches of this format will be played, so that 4 of the 8 players on each team will be featured.

The next two matches will feature Doubles: Same Stack where two new players compete per side. They share the same chip stack. They alternate playing two hands at a time so both have the button.

After the doubles matches conclude, the matches change to Heads-Up – if necessary. Team captains will select which members of their teams play heads up and it will be an alternate selection process, where if the European team names their player first for Match 1, the Americas team will have to name their player first for Match 2. That format continues until one team has accumulated 4 total points. The strategy of when to use a player and whom they match up with will be critical in determining which team will come out victorious.

LOL, and BJ thought my “family poker” concept event seemed gimmicky.

One skillucky Euro, of course, can still qualify for one of that team’s two remaining seats online at Betfair.

Play kicks off for this new-fangled made-for-TV event in London on Sept. 25.

We’ve got the Caesar’s Cup coming up at WSOP-Europe, PokerStars has their America’s Cup of Poker, there’s another new op taking shape called World Team Poker … and at the APT-Macau tourney going on right now, they just had the JBET Battle of Nations, where the Koreans — represented by Brandon Wong, Chino Rheem, and Steve Sung — outmuscled the Vietnamese Le brothers — Nam, Tommy, and Allan — to take down an HK$406,000 first prize. (US$52,400.)

I don’t quite understand how it worked — teams of 3 playing macro-heads-up on 6-handed tables? — but click below for more details … I’m sure it was a good time; team poker always is … and with all these events I think it’s clear that team poker will indeed become a part of the true-to-life poker landscape … making the real question now: which format is gonna stick? I dunno, maybe I’m jumping the gun … but the Winter Olympics, World Cup 2010 … how can flags not be coming into fashion on the poker table and off?

KOREA TRIUMPH IN INAUGURAL JBET BATTLE OF THE NATIONS EVENT IN MACAU!
2009 ASIAN POKER TOUR MACAU MAIN EVENT UNDERWAY TODAY

Macau – 20th August 2009 – It was glory for Korea in the inaugural JBET Battle of the Nations event at the 2009 Asian Poker Tour Macau Festival. Dominant throughout the event, all three members of Team Korea advanced to the final table en route to their comprehensive victory.

The team of Brandon Wong and Poker Pack pros David ‘Chino’ Rheem and Steve Sung garnered 106 points to win the overall team championship before the final table even began. The Vietnamese team, which was composed of brothers Nam Le, Tommy Le, and Allan Le, was second with 89 points. For the team win, the Koreans picked up the HK $406,060 team championship prize.

David ‘Chino’ Rheem said: “We’re all delighted that the Korean team picked up first place and that our win was so comprehensive. Halfway through I really thought it was going to be our day. It is always fantastic to win any poker tournament but it gives you something extra when national pride is at stake too!”

The top two individual awards, though, went to members of the Vietnamese contingent. Allan Le won the top player award for a prize of HK $95,700 while his brother and Poker Pack member Nam Le picked up HK $52,200 for second. Third place went to David ‘Chino’ Rheem, who went home with HK $26,100.

The JBET Battle of the Nations event was the ninth side event at the 2009 Asian Poker Tour Macau. Amongst the teams that took part included 888Poker Team Australia, sponsored by 888.com and captained and managed by James Potter – the line-up included 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event winner Stewart Scott. Team USA and Vietnam teams featured Poker Pack stars JC Tran, Quinn Do and Nam Le. Hong Kong was represented by the likes of 2009 Asian Poker Tour Macau High Rollers winner David Steicke and the legendary Johnny Chan. Vivek Rajkumar led the line for India, David Chiu was a key member of Team China, while Theo Tran was a flag bearer for Canada. One surprise package was the team from Belarus, featuring PartyPoker.com online qualifiers, while Japan also brought a strong side.

The JBET Battle of the Nations was a unique team no limit hold’em tournament. Teams were composed of three members from the same country. Teams faced each other, with all tables six-handed. There were13 teams of three, featuring 39 players. Every place was worth one point (eg. finish 39th you win one point). The top three players left and the winning team scooped the prize pool. The buy-in for the event was HK$48,000. 70% of the prize pool went to the winning team with the other 30% went to the top three players. Overseeing the action was the world’s leading Tournament Director Matt Savage.

The Asian Poker Tour Macau hosts over 20 events with 15 official side events. Amongst the online networks sending players are The Ongame Network, the iPoker Network and PartyPoker.com. In addition, online rooms BWin, PKR, Dafa Poker, JBET Poker, Betfriends, 888.com, Titan Poker, RedKings, 32Red, ChiliPoker, Winamax, BetSafe, PafPoker and PokerLoco are in on the action guaranteeing a significant online qualifier contingent. Sponsors of the side events and collaterals include the Hong Kong Game Club, DafaPoker, Dafa888, The Poker King Movie, JBet, PartyPoker.com, BWin, Zipang Casino, 777babycasino and PKR.The buy-in for the Main Event is set at HK$34,400.
Full details can be found at http://www.asianpt.com/

Videos capturing the action and atmosphere at the festival can be found at: http://www.asianpt.com/videos

The event has already been successful for the Asian Poker Tour Ambassadors, ‘The Poker Pack’ with David Chino Rheem and Quinn Do both taking down side events.

Team Americas: Daniel Negreanu (captain), Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth and John Juanda

Team Europe: Annette Obrestad (captain), Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri, Bertrand Grospellier

I still don’t quite have a grasp on the format, or how the other four slots will be selected. But I do know Euros can qualify for a seat on their team via our good mates at Betfair Poker.

The following events saw the Europeans go back into their shells somewhat. The $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo saw Jack Rosenfeldt finish the event as the highest European player in 11thplace. Rosenfeldt banked a little over $9,000 for his efforts. England’s Steve Jelinek was down in 19th in an event dominated by Americans.

The case was much the same as the next few side events concluded. Americans dominated while the Europeans picked up the scraps. The $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event saw France’s David Jaoui as the highest European player in 8th place for $87,855, as 2817 players made eventual winner Tony Veckey, from Illinois, $673,276 richer.

2-7 Triple Draw Lowball is a variation of poker that you won’t find readily available at all online poker rooms and because of that many players may not be totally prepared when it comes to optimum strategy or even knowing the rules of the game! Certainly, the European players struggled to make an impact in this $2,500 bracelet event. Sweden’s Peter Hedlund was the highest European in 11th place. Hedlund has a superb record in the big events around Europe and his cheerful persona is ever present on the European Poker Tour. He will be representing Betfair Poker in the WSOP Main Event. Further down the 258 player field was Spain’s Miguel Rodriguez in 12th place and England’s Ali Sarkeshik in 15th in an event where John Juanda and Daniel Negreanu bother registered cashes.

With Rory Matthews, from Scotland, being the last European player to cash in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Six Handed event in 11th place for $52,295 it concluded a tough end to the week for Europeans.

All eyes are now trained on the Main Event. So, what of the early exchanges? Well Day 1C has just concluded and a quick scan down the chip count list sees our old friend Jeff Lisandro in 6th place. Lisandro already has three bracelets in the bank from this Series. A fourth for the man that calls both Australia and Italy his home would almost seem greedy! More importantly will he be eligible to represent Europe in the Caesars Cup at the WSOPE in September? A number of Europeans have healthy looking chip stacks at this early stage but we must remember that the main event is a marathon and not a sprint. A few notable players already calling taxis for McCarran International airport include; Vicky Coren, Liv Boeree and Marcel Luske.

Check the latest bracelet and cash counts at the Pokerati World Standings Leaderboard presented by Betfair.

Annette Obrestad is heading up the European team, and today at the Rio she made her first pick. Peter Eastgate will be joining her on the team, along with several other players to be announced, one of whom will win his/her way onto the team through a Betfair online poker leaderboard competition. Daniel Negreanu is the team leader for the Americas, and his first pick was announced by Jeffrey Pollack as Phil Ivey.

Annette Obrestad & Peter Eastgate v. Daniel Negreanu & Phil Ivey

Hard to place any bets at this point, considering many picks have yet to be made.

The 2009 WSOP started in earnest with the $40,000 buy in No Limit Hold’em Anniversary event back on May 28th. Vitaly Lunkin, from Russia, took the honours and a $1,891,018 pay day after fighting his way past a plethora of world famous poker players. Lunkin has been in red hot form in 2009 and his victory brings his WSOP bracelet tally up to two following his success in the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event here last year.

UK players have been enjoying a great Series so far. According to the Pokerati 2009 WSOP Standings table players from the UK have made 72 cashes, 9 final tables and won 2 bracelets to date.

So who are the British bracelet winners? It was JP Kelly that was first to register on the WSOP bracelet radar. Kelly, despite his baby-face looks, has been a regular on the international poker circuit for a while now but he has been suffering a dry spell of late. With only two cashes in 2009, it was unlikely John Paul went into the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event on June 9th brimming with confidence. What a difference a tournament can make! Kelly took command of the final table with a power-packed display of aggressive poker like a player who has a sock drawer full of WSOP bracelets at home. Despite Erik Seidel (7th) in menacing mood and, fellow Brit’, Aaron Virchis (5th) looking dangerous there was simply no way Kelly was going to be denied the title and a $194,343 win. Credit should also go to second place player Marc Tschirch, from Germany, who pressed Kelly all the way in the heads-up stages.

While the UK digested JP Kelly’s success, the British poker player army struck again at The Rio. This time it was Roland De Wolfe’s turn to grab some WSOP wrist jewellery. De Wolfe is having an outstanding Series so far. Following three impressive cashes earlier in the festival the ever cheerful Londoner finally grabbed a WSOP title by winning the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo tournament for $246,616. The tournament was littered with European cashes with Andy Black (Ireland) in 6th, Anthony Lellouche (France) in 9th and Mark Bartlog (Germany) a creditable 11th.

Betfair Poker pro’ Sorel Mizzi has also been enjoying a great Series so far. Mizzi, from Toronto, Canada, started his 2009 WSOP off in superb fashion with a 25th place in the $40,000 No Limit Hold’em Anniversary event for $71,858. A creditable cash in the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event, on June 2nd, followed for Mizzi against a field of almost 2800 players.

Popular Canadian Daniel Negreanu is, perhaps, the unluckiest player of the 2009 WSOP so far, falling just short of a bracelet success. Negreanu has been his usual consistent self with 4 cashes in the bank. A 2nd place in the $2,500 Limit Hold’em (six handed) event and a 4th place in the $10,000 World Championship Omaha Hi/Lo event has certainly boosted Negreanu’s profits but that won’t be any consolation for the WSOP regular as the hunt for a 2009 WSOP Negreanu bracelet continues. Negreanu will still be brimming with confidence, though, and with the WSOPE Caesar’s Cup on the horizon, in which Negreanu will captain the American team against Annette Obrestad’s European squad, the Toronto born professional still has plenty of time to register a WSOP success in either Europe or America.