Taylor wins battle of roommates at Limit Shootout

The final table of the $1,500 Limit Shootout was one of the strongest final tables you’ll see at a $1,500 event with notables like tournament limit holdem specialist Terrence Chan, former WPT player of the year Jonathan Little and former Party Poker Million winner Mike Schneider. When it came down to heads-up, it would be roommates Brendan Taylor and Ben Yu battling it out for the bracelet, with Taylor coming out on top to earn $184,950 and the bracelet. Yu brings back $114,484 for the runner-up finish while Little finished 3rd ($73,218), Schneider came in 6th ($23,563) and Chan a disappointing 8th ($12,961). Full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report at wsop.com.

Kelly and Kassela headline 25k 6-max final table

Day three of the $25,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max started with a flurry of eliminations in the first hour; leading Daniel Negreanu to take issues with the structure on Twitter, eventually finishing in 11th. Dan “djk123″ Kelly, who started the day 18th in chips, will start the final table today as the overwhelming chip leader, while Frank Kassela will try to add to his WSOP Player of Year lead. Here’s how the final table will look when play resumes at 2:30pm PT, with streaming available at ESPN3.com (where available) or updates at wsop.com:

Seat 1: Frank Kassela – 2,610,000
Seat 2: Jason Somerville – 1,665,000
Seat 3: Dan Kelly – 5,895,000
Seat 4: Eugene Katchalov – 475,000
Seat 5: Shawn Buchanan – 2,110,000
Seat 6: Mikael Thuritz – 1,535,000

Talbot tops day 1b 1k NL

Day 1b of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem drew a field of 1,504 players Friday afternoon, with 255 players joining the rest of the day 1a survivors to have a total field of 586 returning at 2:30pm. The money will be reached when 396 players remain with the winner earning $570,960. The day 1b chip leader is Andrew Talbot with 70,175. The full list of day 1b chip counts can be found at wsop.com, those looking for a table draw, i’ll try to get it up on my Twitter as soon as it becomes available.

Sander grinds into lead at $2,500 NL

The final prelim of the WSOP, $2,500 No-Limit Holdem drew a field of 1,941 players Friday afternoon, with 500 players remaining when play resumes at 3pm. The money is reached when 198 players remain, with the winner pocketing a payday of $826,418. The reported chip leader is Dan Smith with 229,000, although he tweeted 22,900 earlier this morning. Marc Sander holds the chip lead with 98,000, followed by notables such as Mark Newhouse (81,400), Isaac Baron (70,100), Court Harrington (69,000), Dan Heimiller (53,100), Jamie Gold (42,000), Jonathan Aguiar (37,000) and Ivan Demidov (34,800). The full list of chip counts appears over at wsop.com and check my Twitter or WSOP’s Twitter for the table draw.

Ante Up for Africa

The annual charity effort held at the WSOP, Ante Up for Africa, gets underway at 2pm. The $5,000 buy-in event helps bring poker pros and celebrities together to help out a worthy cause. Those who make the money are encouraged to donate half of their winnings, hopefully the controversy from last year’s event will be avoided this year.

Busse “kickz” out Crowe to win 1k NL bracelet

Shawn “jordankickz” Busse got the better of Owen Crowe to win Event #47, $1,000 No-Limit Holdem, earning $485,791 along with the coveted WSOP gold bracelet. Crowe earned $300,494 for his runner-up finish. Full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report at wsop.com.

Chance wins out at 5k PLO

The $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet goes to Chance Kornuth, earning $508,090 in defeating Kevin Boudreau heads-up. Boudreau earns $313,792 for finishing in 2nd, while Robert Mizrachi couldn’t join his brother Michael in winning a bracelet, finishing 8th at the final table. Full results and Dalla’s report at wsop.com.

Linn wins $1500 NL

Michael Linn ended up with all the chips in the final $1,500 No-Limit Holdem tournament of the WSOP, getting the better of Taylor Larkin in heads-up play to pocket $609,493 and the bracelet. Larkin has $378,905 to cushion the blow of finishing in second. Full results available at wsop.com.

Eaton leads 3k NL Triple Chance

Jon “sketchy1″ Eaton leads the final 12 players returning for the final day of the $3,000 No-Limit Holdem Triple Chance at 2:30pm to play down to a winner. Here’s how the field will be seated when play resumes, follow the updates over at PokerNews:

Table 306:
Seat 2: Will Failla 960,000
Seat 3: Frank Rusnak 1,041,000
Seat 4: Gregory Ronaldson 145,000
Seat 6: Bradley Craig 340,000
Seat 7: Tad Jurgens 292,000
Seat 8: Koen Debakker 259,000

Table 307:
Seat 2: Tommy Vedes 984,000
Seat 3: Guillaume Darcourt 613,000
Seat 4: Jon Eaton 1,678,000
Seat 5: Sergey Lebedev 917,000
Seat 6: Ryan Welch 932,000
Seat 7: Noel Scruggs 553,000

Day 2 of 25k 6-max

A field of 191 signed up for the $25,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event, with just 69 returning when play resumes at 2:30pm. ESPN3 (where available) will start airing a feature table at that time. Only 18 players will make the money, with the winner earning $1,315,518. The current chip leader is Alexander Gruibem with 548,000, followed by Jason Somerville with 516,600. Other notables returning include: Daniel Negreanu (407,100), John Juanda (401,300), Nick Schulman (280,000), John Duthie (256,800), Freddy Deeb (234,400), Barry Greenstein (194,800), Ivan Demidov (169,200), Erick Lindgren (154,400) and Andrew Feldman (101,600). The full table draw is available here and follow the action at wsop.com.

1500 Limit Shootout makes the money

The $1,500 Limit Holdem Shootout drew a field of 548, with the 64 winners of their table making the money, returning at 3pm to play down to the final 8. Among the winners yesterday: Chau Giang, Nam Le, Terrence Chan, Yevginey Timoshenko, Barry Shulman, Marcel Luske and Jonathan Little. The table draw for day 2 is now online, check out who’s sitting where here and follow the min-raising thrills over at wsop.com.

Thursday’s Tournaments

Today is the last day where two new bracelet events get underway, starting with day 1a of the final $1,000 No-Limit Holdem starting at 12pm with the usual crowd of thousands heading to the Rio. The 5pm tournament is the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, won last year by Matt Graham, winning nearly $700,000 in defeating a field of 295.

Of course you’ve known for years that I’m nowhere near so prolific as Pauly. That’s why he has a book coming out — I think like today! — and I’ve got just overlapping outlines, partial sample chapters … and now the occasional TOP episode previously unpublished here, but of course always available in the complete Tao of Pokerati archives for the chronologically demanding.

Dan and Pauly keep a bird eye’s view on DonkeyBomber’s run during Day 2 of a donkament from the press box and find the easiest way to spot him is by his pants. They also chat about another Pokerati player — Toothless Bob — who was running great but suddenly went AWOL, as various types are known to do as we all get deep into the WSOP.

What do Benjo and 7 Mexicans have in common with a flaring mob of Americans and Africans demanding someone at Harrah’s change the channel? Bad beat, obv. We’ve all heard stories, but Dan takes Pauly to the Bad Beat Bar itself, a comfortable but sparsely populated spot in a Rio Convention Center spillover area that feels more like a university commons than sports bar.

WSOP 2010 Insta-flashback …

The World Series had just gotten underway and Pauly, Dan, and Benjo preview the upcoming World Cup …

Episode 20: Benjo’s Bets and Conspiracy Theories

Benjo explains his bets and talks about rigged-game conspiracy theories that our favorite Bulgarian bartender shared with him. Pauly and Dan pontificate on the gross discrepancies in World Cup lines between Harrah’s properties and off-Strip sports books.

Papola denies the Master bracelet #8

Jeffrey Papola defeated Men Nguyen in the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event, earning $667,443 and his first career bracelet. Nguyen earned $412,746 for the second-place finish, moving into a three-way tie for first in the WSOP Player of the Year race with Michael Mizrachi and James Dempsey. Erick Lindgren finished sixth for $82,303. Full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report are available at wsop.com.

Velador slams the door on his second bracelet

Luis Velador took down the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha/Pot-Limit Holdem title as he defeated David Chiu heads-up, good for $260,517 and his second career WSOP bracelet. Chiu earned $160,902 for the second place finish, moving into a tie for 6th in the WSOP Player of the Year race. Full results and Dalla’s tournament report can be found at wsop.com.

10k NL Heads-Up down to an Elite 8

The final day of the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Holdem Championship resumes at 3pm with these matchups:

Jason Somerville vs. Kido Pham
Faraz Jaka vs. Ayaz Mahmood
Alexander Kostritsyn vs. Ludovic Lacay
Ernst Schmejkal vs. Vanessa Rousso

The matches will be single-elimination until the finals, a best of three match. Follow the action at PokerNews.

Minetti leads Seniors’ event, Schneider among final 23

Day 3 of the $1,000 Seniors’ No-Limit Holdem Championship resumes at 2:30pm with Michael Minetti leading the final 23 players with 1,038,000 in chips. Other notables returning include Michael Woo (523,000), Jack Ward (519,000), and Team Pokerati/Loudmouth Poker pro Tom Schneider (284,000). The full list of chip counts is at PokerNews.

Montgomery leads day 1a of 1k NL

Original November Niner Scott Montgomery (75,200) led the day 1a survivors in the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event as the field played halfway through level 9 to get down to 286 players. Other notables: Neil Channing (64,500), Michael Gracz (52,700), Fabrice Soulier (39,125), Liv Boeree (24,275) and Leo Margets (22,875). The full list of chip counts is available at wsop.com.

Siegel super at day 1 of 3k HORSE

Day two of the $3,000 HORSE resumes at 3pm with Jordan Siegel leading the 207 players who remain with 66,900 in chips. Other recognizable names include: Darus Suharto (55,100), Dan Heimiller (52,100), Howard Lederer (44,400), Chau Giang (36,400) and Eugene Katchalov (29,900). The full list of chip counts is available at wsop.com.

Sunday’s tournaments

12pm is day 1b of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event, with a field of at least 1,000 expected. The 5pm tournament is the $10,000 Pot-Limit Holdem Championship, won last year by John Kabbaj in a field of 275 for $633,335.

DonkeyBomber leads 1k Seniors’ field

Day 1 of the $1,000 Seniors’ No-Limit Holdem Championship concluded with 427 players remaining at the end of 10 levels of play. The reported chip leader is Team Pokerati/Loudmouth Poker pro Tom Schneider in front with 94,000 in chips. Other notables with chips when play resumes at 2:30pm: Berry Johnston (62,900), Lon McEachern (27,200) and Sam Simon (23,100). A full list of chip counts is now available at PokerNews.

Ellis wins bracelet #4 for the UK

The $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event reached a conclusion first as Mike Ellis overcame a large chip deficit heads-up against Christopher Gonzales to win the bracelet along with $581,851 as the Briton wins the fourth bracelet this year for the UK, moving them into second in the WSOP world standings. Gonzales earned $360,906 for the runner-up finish. Full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report are available at wsop.com.

Puchkov punches his way to HORSE victory

The $1,500 HORSE event finally concluded in the wee hours of the morning as Konstantin Puchkov defeated Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri to earn $256,820 and a WSOP bracelet. Barbieri earned $158,647 for the second place finish. Full results and Dalla’s tournament report will be available at wsop.com shortly.

Lindgren, Nguyen feature final day of 5k NL 6-max

The final day of the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event gets underway with 12 players remaining. Here’s how the field will be seated when play resumes at 3pm:

Seat 1: Orlando Delacruz – 301,000
Seat 2: Anthony Roux – 668,000
Seat 3: Evan Panesis – 299,000
Seat 4: Jeffrey “jpapola” Papola – 598,000
Seat 5: Mark Radoja – 1,493,000
Seat 6: Darren Elias – 841,000

Seat 1: Bruno Launais – 875,000
Seat 2: Men Nguyen – 264,000
Seat 3: Erick Lindgren – 1,165,000
Seat 4: Taylor Mcfarland – 848,000
Seat 5: Paul Sheng – 712,000
Seat 6: Lucas Greenwood – 425,000

Follow the updates of this event at PokerNews.

Velador and Chiu top two in 2500 PLO/PLH

Day 3 of the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha/Pot-Limit Holdem resumes at 3pm with 14 players remaining. Jose-Luis Velador (455,000) and David Chiu (451,000) are the leaders, while Rob Hollink (423,000), Victor Ramdin (262,000) and Phil Ivey (207,000) also return. PokerNews will be there until a bracelet winner is determined.

10k NL Heads-Up down to final 64

Two rounds of play have finished in the $10,000 No-Limit Holdem Heads-Up Championship with 64 players remaining when the field returns at 3pm. The 32 round three winners will make the money, with some of the notables returning include: Phil Ivey, Gavin Smith, Phil Gordon, Antonio Esfandiari, Sorel Mizzi, Jonathan Little, Josh Arieh, Vanessa Rousso and Vivek Rajkumar. The full bracket for this event is now online at wsop.com.

Saturday’s tournaments

The 12pm tournament is day 1a of the fourth $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event of the WSOP, with a field of at least 3,000 expected over the weekend. The 5pm tournament is the $3,000 HORSE event, which drew a field of 452 players last year with Zac Fellows coming out on top for $311,899.

Boesen leads 1k Ladies’ Championship

Day 2 of the $1,000 NL Holdem Ladies Championship is down to 54 ladies, with newly signed member of Team Pokerati La Sengphet is the current chip leader with 296,000, busting Liv Boeree, who had been third in chips. Other notables in the field: Linda Johnson (104,000), Mimi Tran (67,000) and new Full Tilt pro Lacey Jones (32,000). Among those who’ve already made the money: Jess Welman, Maria Ho Jennifer Cox (Jan Brady in the Brady Bunch movies), and Bryce Daifuku, who has the “honor” of being last man standing. Former Pokerati writer Michele Lewis was knocked out just short of the money. Play will continue for six more levels or the final table is reached, whichever happens first.

“Tex” has Texas-sized lead in $1,500 PLO

2005 WSOP Main Event final tablist John “Tex” Barch leads the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha final table with four players remaining. Barch holds 2,025,000 in chips, while Trai Dang (830,000), Nenad Medic (765,000) and Klinghammer Thibaut (315,000) make up the remaining field returning from dinner break shortly.

Pietsch leading Stud final table

Christine Pietsch leads the remaining five players at the $1,500 Seven Card Stud final table with 610,000 in chips. Darren Shebell (471,000), Dan Heimiller (416,000), Owais Ahmed (216,000) and Richard Ashby (86,000) are looking to re-energize themselves on the dinner break in the hopes of overtaking the leader. Sorel Mizzi, who started as the chip leader at the final table, finished in 6th.

Meinders leading limit 6-max as bubble looms

The remaining 47 players in the $2,500 Limit Holdem 6-max event are returning from dinner break shortly, with the money reached with 36 players remaining. Brian Meinders currently holds the lead with 172,000 in chips. Notables looking to cash include: Chris Vitch (109,000), Rafe Furst (94,000), Michael Binger (85,000), Dutch Boyd (75,000) Phil Gordon (70,000), and Justin Bonomo (64,000). David “Bakes” Baker’s win in the 10k NL 2-7 Lowball event last night meant Bonomo won on his prop bets that a Panorama Towers resident would win a bracelet at this year’s WSOP.

Donkament #3 underway

Day 1a of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event drew a field of 1,931 this afternoon, with around 600 returning from their 90-minute dinner break. The reported chip leader is Alex Kamberis with 22,000, with notables Alex Jacob (15,000), David Sklansky (10,000) and Tom McEvoy (8,700) among the dinner break survivors. The field will either play ten levels or around 280 players left in today’s field.

10k Omaha 8 or Better Underway

The 5pm tournament today was the $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better World Championship, which drew a field of 212 entrants. The top 27 make the money, with first place earning over $488,000. The early chip leader is Allen Kessler, taking his 30,000 starting stack to over 46,000 in early action. Among the numerous notables in the field, Scott Clements (41,800), Jennifer Harman (40,000), Mike Sexton (34,500), Matt Savage (33,000) and Tom Schneider, looking stunning in his Loudmouth Poker jacket (20,000). Eight levels await the field this evening.

Follow all the updates during the evening over at PokerNews and www.wsop.com

To bring you breathtaking excitement (and palpable tension) from the Amazon floor last night, I’m gonna skip ahead in the Tao of Pokerati storyline … and catch up with Pauly and Benjo, who were of course right there as Durrrr’s chip-stack had a collection of prop-bet gamblers re-evaluating their futures.

While the final table of Event #11 was being set up, Benjo spotted a group of the Big Game regulars who bet against durrrr having a quick meeting. The T.O.P. crew speculate on a potential bracelet bet buy-out if durrrr continues to dominate the donkament.

Moments after the big donkament ended and durrrr took second, Benjo and Pauly headed over to the rail of the $10k Stud-8 event to watch the reactions of pros who bet against durrrr winning a bracelet and dodged a massive bullet.

Everyone in poker seems to really care about the French these days.

And for all you us pathetically unilingual Americans, here is an easy-to-bookmark tinyurl for Benjo’s “Las Vegas, off the record”, with his personal take on any and all WSOP action robo-translated from French to English: http://tinyurl.com/38r4wdd

Matros Wins Limit Holdem Bracelet

Matt Matros won the $1,500 Limit Holdem for $189,870, defeating Ahmad Abghari in heads-up play. The full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report is available at wsop.com.

Binger Highest at Lowball Final Table

The final table of the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball, Single Draw final table resumes at 3pm with this lineup, you can follow all the tournament action over at PokerNews:

Seat 1: James Bord – 83,800
Seat 2: Alexander Kravchenko – 144,500
Seat 3: Mike Wattel – 146,000
Seat 4: Yan Chen – 182,500
Seat 5: Derric Haynie – 189,000
Seat 6: Nick Binger – 309,500
Seat 7: Todd Bui – 68,500

1k NL field combines for Day 2

Day 2 of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event drew a total field of 3,042 players, with 445 players remaining for a 2:30pm start. Andy Black is the current chip leader with 90,275 in chips. 324 players will make the money, with the winner pocketing $472,479. A full list of chip counts can be found at wsop.com.

Stud 8 World Championship

Marco Johnson will start day 2 of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo World Championship as the chip leader (121,500) when play resumes at 3pm. Phil Ivey is currently in third place (109,800) with Jennifer Harman (93,500) and Barry Greenstein (88,700) towards the top of the leaderboard. The tournament drew a field of 170 entrants, with 112 remaining. 16 players make the money with a first place prize of $447,446. A full list of the remaining field is up at wsop.com.

First 6-max at this year’s WSOP

Monday’s only tournament is the $1,500 NL Holdem 6-Max event starting at noon. Last year’s winner was Ken “Teach” Aldridge, who defeated a field of 1,459 good for $428,259.

Québécois LeFrancois wins $1,500 NL

Pascal LeFrancois, a 23-year old student from Quebec, won the $1,500 NL Holdem event, winning $568,974 along with the coveted WSOP bracelet. LeFrancois defeated Max Steinberg in heads-up play, with Steinberg collecting $352,916 for his runner-up finish. The full list of results, Nolan Dalla’s tournament report, and a first for the official winner’s photo, can be found over at wsop.com.

Schmelev and Mizrachi at it Again in 10k Stud

Twelve players remain for day three of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship with Vladimir Schmelev and Michael Mizrachi looking to renew their rivalry from the $50,000 Players’ Championship won by Mizrachi earlier this week. Schmelev is the current chip leader (921,000), with Mizrachi in third (544,000). Other notables: Nikolay Evdakov (543,000), Steve Bilirakis (448,000) and Men Nguyen (302,000). The full list of chip counts is now available at PokerNews.

Chanthabousay Leads Pot-Limit Final Table

The final table of the $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem gets underway at 2:30 this afternoon. JJ Liu is the first woman to make a final table at this year’s, starting third in chips with 479,000. Here’s how the entire final table will look:

Armen Kara 220,000
Gregg Wilkerson 230,000
Mark Babekov 246,000
JJ Liu 479,000
Edward Brogdon 89,000
Scott Haraden 224,000
Steve Chanthabouasy 533,000
Joseph Williams 385,000
James Dempsey 528,000

Gupta Going Great in $1,500 NL

Day 2 of the third $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event resumes at 2:30 this afternoon with 291 players returning, 270 making the money. Venkatesch Gupta will be the leader with 199,100 in chips. Among the notables: Blair Hinkle (112,400), Shannon Shorr (64,300), Erick Lindgren (57,600), Jerry Yang (49,100), Tom Dwan (44,500) and Neil Channing (42,000). Team Pokerati’s Pat Poels finished the day in 288th place with 3300 chips. The full list can be found over at PokerNews.

Taking it to the Limit for Day 2

The $1,500 Limit Holdem event returns with 177 players returning at 3:00pm to attempt to play down to a final table. Jameson Painter, who finished 5th at the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw event earlier this week, starts play today as the chip leader with 47,600. David Williams is 3rd in chips (41,800) with Jason Potter (32,800), Jeff Madsen (28,700) and Matt Hawrilenko (23,900) among the notables near the top of the standings. The full list of players returning can be found at wsop.com.

Saturday Tournaments

Saturday brings Day 1a of the second $1,000 NL Donkament to the WSOP at 12pm today, with about 4,000 runners expected over the next two days. The plan is to play ten one-hour levels today per usual, but if the pace of eliminations is as rapid as it was last Saturday, there could be a change in plans. The 5pm tournament is the $1,500 NL 2-7 Lowball Single Draw event, won last year by Phil Ivey when it had a $2,500 buy-in with a field of 147.

The $50,000 Players’ Championship reached the bubble earlier today with day 2 chip leader Kirk Morrison the unfortunate bubble boy, leaving 16 players guaranteed almost $100,000. At this time, Robert Mizrachi is the current chip lead with over 2.5m in chips, followed by John Juanda at 2.4m in 2nd. Michael Mizrachi is currently in 5th with nearly 1.7m while Nick Schulman, and Daniel Alaei have around 1m in chips with just 13 players remaining. The Mizrachi brothers are looking to be the first brothers to make the same final table since Ross and Barny Boatman performed the feat in 2002. (Thanks to a poster on 2+2 for that info).

1k Donkament Day 2

The $1,000 NL Holdem event reached the money within the first level this afternoon, and the pace has not slowed down, with under 200 players remaining at the end of level 14. The chip leader at the dinner break is Drew Crawford at 230,000. Play continues to the end of level 20 or the final table, whichever comes first.

Omaha 8 Day 2

Around 120 players remain in the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event as they head to their dinner break. Phil Ivey, Allen Kessler, David Bach, Brock Parker, Andrew Black and Team Pokerati’s own Tom Schneider are some of the familiar names looking to make the money bubble at 81 players and the eventual final table.

$1,500 NL Day 1

The $1,500 NL holdem event drew a field of 2,092, with 216 making the money and the winner getting over $500,000. 638 players will return after their 90-minute dinner break. The early leader appears to be online legend Shaun Deeb with 55,000 chips. Lauren Kling is unofficially in second with 45,000, while Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu, Mark Seif and Joe Cada off to a fast start as well.

Be sure to check the links on the right to find more content, live updates, and other WSOP-related stuff.

First probs came with PokerNews’ suffering extended downtime … You’d expect the Lithuanians to have it all fixed by Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 … With hand reports and chip counts hard to find, the big story of the day was supposed to be the $50k Mix, whittling its way down toward the money. However, it was the first of six $1k NLs getting too close to the money too quickly that had Ty Stewart potentially facing his own Day 1-Donkulus. And it apparently came at a time when Nevada Gaming regulators were supposedly on premises breathing down necks while studying payout structures. Perhaps to his chagrin, Stewart had little choice but to give an unrehearsed, impromptu press conference in the face of a Tao/Pokerati ambush, complete with cussing and follow-up questions.

It seems as those tech issues have been plaguing the poker media from Poker News to the Tao of Pokerati. Dan quizzes Pauly about what really goes on behind the scenes at Poker News.

Episode 7: Ty Sweat

While “brainstorming” for future episodes of Tao of Pokerati, Dan and Pauly encounter WSOP VP Ty Stewart, who is returning to the Rio around Midnight to keep an eye on a potential disaster, as he sweats the thinning field in the last level of Day 1B of the $1k Donkulus.

Click below for the first thing that comes up, from Urban Dictionary, when you do a Google search for “donkulus”:

1. f’donkulous

(adj) form of f’donk; the state of being cock-slapped unconscious

The bitch passed out after we got f’donkulous on her ass.

[Also:] f’donk, cock slap, mushroom stamp, weinerschmack, roman war helmet

by amp18 Jan 24, 2007

Problems with Payouts?

Day 1b of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event drew a field of just 1,744 entrants for a total of 4,345 over the weekend. This means that 441 players will make the money, with first place taking down over $625,000. Day 1a ended with 276 making it through the end of level 10. Updates from the PokerNews and WSOP.com sites report that they will either play down to 170 players or to the end of level 10, whichever comes first. There were around 550 players remaining when the field returned from their 90-minute dinner break, so it’ll be intriguing to see how far they’re able to go tonight. In lieu of chip counts for today’s event, read Michael Craig’s blog for the story of a player banned for life for trying to steal an absent player’s chips during the 1k yesterday.

Kostritsyn in Control of Players’ Championship

Full Tilt pro Alexander Kostritsyn is the current chip leader of the $50,000 Players’ Championship as they head to their dinner break with approximately 35 players remaining. Kostritsyn, known online as “PostFlopAction”, is the only player with a seven-figure chip stack (1,430,000). Another Russian, Vladimir Schmelev, second with 830,000 in chips and Robert Mizrachi third with 810,000. Other notables: Erik Seidel (720,000), Erik Sagstrom (656,000) and Andy Bloch (604,000). Three more levels are scheduled, although that may change if they near the money, at 16 players.

Late Night Omaha 8

Play started this afternoon in the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better missing it’s two-time defending champion Thang Luu. There had been talk during last year’s WSOP about Luu being banned for life for injuring a dealer’s hand in a cash game. Reports now indicate that he was banned for one year. A field of 818 signed up for some split-pot action, with eight levels of play scheduled tonight. 81 players will make the money, with the winner pocketing over $237,000. One very early casualty was Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, his third straight early elimination from a tournament.

Donkament Disappointing?

Day 1a of the Event #3 – $1,000 No-limit Holdem tournament drew a field of 2,601 entries today, a disappointment for those expecting a field of over 7,000 battling for this bracelet over the weekend. The 788 players who made it to the dinner break are returning shortly for another four levels of play. The unofficial chip leader is PokerRoad’s Joe Sebok with 27,000 chips. Other notable chip counts: Amarillo Slim (21,000), Chris Bjorin (20,000) and Bryan Devonshire, (17,500). Track the action for this event over at PokerNews.

First bracelet winner to be determined tonight

Just 18 players remain in the first WSOP bracelet event the $500 Casino Employees Event have returned from their dinner break, with Kent Washington maintaining the chip lead at 332,000 in chips. You can follow the action for this event over at PokerNews.com.

Players’ Championship Day 2

The $50,000 Players’ Championship field is currently on their one-hour dinner break at the conclusion of level eight with 90 players remaining. The current chip leader appears to be Steve Zolotow, with 420,000 in chips. Some of the fallen who may be looking to watch UFC 114 include: Phil Galfond, Tony G, and Todd Brunson. When play resumes, the field will play another three levels before the bag up their chips, sign their name, and hopefully don’t be recorded as busted when they decided not to report their chip counts. To catch the action of this event over at PokerNews, head here.

There are lots of amateur poker leagues out there, and with all due respect, we don’t pay as much attention to them as we used to unless there’s allegations of grift and/or a plot to kill the guy running it with snakes. However, the Lodge Amateur Poker League has always been near and dear to Pokerati’s heart.

Back in the early boom days, All In magazine called it “The best amateur tournament in America!” Ahh, we were having some good after-church strip-club times every Sunday, with more and more players getting better each week … in pursuit of not just gift certificates and lap-dance coupons, but also, and believe it or not more important than seeing boobs for most, a seat in a $1,500 WSOP event (travel expenses included, of course).

But like so much in poker, after Dan left it eventually lost its way. The tournament carried on, but allegations of chip dumping and cheating (yes, in an amateur tourney) made it lose its luster. Then came the Texas sin tax that made this “free” tournament a $0+5 NLH — with that whole $5 going to the State — and field sizes continued to dwindle.

Courts have since ruled that tax unconstitutional, so the game is free again … and now the Lodge — named Best Strip Club in America at the 2008 Exotic Dancer Awards in Las Vegas, btw — has renewed its commitment to making its weekly amateur poker tournament not just the best in Texas, but tops anywhere. The new TD cracking the poker whip: Sharron Nix.

Very cool. She knows her stuff, and knows how to have a good time. I’ll have to make a trip back to Dallas to check it out … and I hope it becomes a regular stop for poker people passing through. I don’t know the details about prizes or anything yet, but I’m sure she’ll run a great event.

Now the details:

Beginning this Sunday, The Lodge will open at NOON with a full slate of NFL football on our gazillion big-screen TVs. Our great lunch specials go on till 4 p.m., and it’s Happy Hour all day and night.

Our new, improved, fabulous and free PRIMO POKER debuts this Sunday at 4 p.m. Our Poker Princess, Sharron Nix, will offer free Texas Hold’em lessons at 3 before the cards drop at 4. Highlights include great weekly prizes, season prizes of buy-ins at big-time tournaments, terrific food and drink specials, and beautiful dealers at every table. Plus, you’re at The Lodge.
See you Sunday!

Meanwhile, this shirt is not for sale in the WSOP store, but is still pretty awesome, and doesn’t technically violate Rule #36, though I’m sure it insults somebody!

Thanks, Ed, for the link!

presented by:

Tao of Pokerati at the 40th WSOP
Las Vegas, NV

Episode 11.26: DonkTwit Conspiracy
4:54

This took place at a table in the Miranda Room, shortly after the first break … a player was re-raised all-in, and he supposedly went into the tank for a good two minutes. During that time, the player with his tournament life on the line reportedly stood up from the table and sent a text. A few seconds after getting a reply, he folded.

Though no one called the floor during the questionable texting, the table did bring it up after the hand, and the dealer apparently said that no, they are not supposed to issue any sort of reprimands for texting-related issues. The assumption around the table was that this dealer simply was a bit clueless … but then when a new dealer came in, the players brought up the same hand and issue, and the new dealer concurred, that yes, they are not supposed to stop any such activity.

I think we all know that this shoulda been a dead hand — sorry dude, your tourney’s over — but with the new dealer echoing the same thing, perhaps there was something misconveyed to the dealers about non-enforcement of original texting rules at the table, exception to the exception obviously being when a player’s in a hand?

We’ll see if we can’t find out more. Obviously you’d hate to boot a player on a rule violation or technicality in a $1,500 Donkament Super-Amazing Intraductory Pokerthon (we’re still workshopping a new name) … but at the same time, to avoid that, you’d think the dealers would need the authority to pipe up and say, “hey you, Mr. Amateur who doesn’t follow these sorts of things on Pokerati, stop that or your hand will be dead!”

Last $1,500 NL Draws Capacity Crowd (Again)

Monday’s $1,500 NL Holdem event drew a field of 2818 entrants for another sold-out event. Around 1,000 players will be left when the players come back to play four levels when play concludes for the evening. The unofficial chip leader is JC Tran (51,000) followed by Theo Tran (no relation) at 42,400.

HORSE Gallops to Final Table

12 players remain on Day 4 of the $50,000 HORSE, with the remaining players on their dinner break. Erik Sagstrom is the current chip leader (3,782,000) followed by David Bach (2,800,000), Vitaly Lunkin (2,060,000) and Erik Seidel (1,315,000). John Hanson, Huck Seed, Ville Wahlbeck, Gus Hansen, Ray Dehkharghani, Chau Giang, Mike Wattel and David Chiu make up the remaining field as they play down to the final 8.

$1,500 NL Final Table

The $1,500 NL Holdem event that started on Saturday finally reached their final table, now streaming at bluffmagazine.com/live and wsop.pkr.com with this lineup with Jason Helder the chip leader:

Seat 1: Owen Crowe
Seat 2: Carsten Joh
Seat 3: Steven Levy
Seat 4: Jason Helder
Seat 5: Thibaut Durand
Seat 6: David Walasinski
Seat 7: Georgios Kapalas
Seat 8: Nathan Page
Seat 9: Andrew Chen

Triple Chance Stumbles into the Money

The $3,000 NL Triple Chanceevent just eked their way into the money before taking their dinner break. Jeff Lisandro got knocked out just short of the money in his attempt to put the WSOP Player of the Race out of reach. Jason Dewitt (375,000) is the current chip leader, followed by notables Jason Somerville (245,000), Karga Holt (230,000), Shane Schleger (155,000), Eric Lynch (140,000), Joe McGowan (135,000) and Nick Binger (125,000). The remaining field will be playing until 3am, unless they get down to the final table of 9 before the deadline.

Sugar Bear Sweet on Stud 8 Bubble

Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri is the current chip leader (130,000) with 49 players (the money bubble) in the $1,500 Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better event. Max Stern, Andy Bloch, Chad Brown, Barry Greenstein, Bryan Micon, Justin Bonomo, Norman Chad and Matt Savage make up some of the noted names remaining in the field as they play down to the 3am deadline.

2-7 Triple Draw

A field of around 250 entrants signed up for the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event, with another five levels of play left on their day 1. Eli Elezra and Shannon Elizabeth are two very early eliminations, with several more to come during the wee small hours of the morning.

More live updates can be found over at www.wsop.com, and discussions on donkaments, entry fees, and all other things WSOP can be found on Pokerati during the evening.

Bracelet Winners go 1-2-4 in Limit Shootout

Greg Mueller becomes the fourth double bracelet winner at this year’s WSOP, taking down the $1,500 Limit Holdem Shootout, good for $194,854 as he denied Marc Naalden his second bracelet this year. The only year where more players have won more at least two bracelets was 2003 (Ivey, Juanda, Men Nguyen, Ferguson, Chan and Flack) . Millie Shiu finished in 3rd, tied for the highest placing woman in an open WSOP event this year(Ming Reslock in the $1,500 Omaha-8 and Laurence Grondin in the $2,000 NL Holdem). David Williams finished in thirdfourth..

Lunkin Looking to Make it Five in $50k HORSE

Vitaly Lunkin, winner of the first open bracelet ($40,000 NL Holdem) leads the remaining 19 players in the $50,000 HORSE event going into day 4. Three players will make zero on their investment, as they play down to the final table today starting around 2pm. Here’s how the remaining players will be seated:

(Table 58)
Seat 1: Erik Sagstrom – 1315000
Seat 2: Erik Seidel – 464000
Seat 3: Steve Billirakis – 576000
Seat 5: David Chiu – 397000
Seat 6: Mike Wattel – 779000
Seat 7: Chau Giang – 616000

(Table 60)
Seat 1: Huck Seed – 672000
Seat 2: Ray Dehkharghani – 262000
Seat 4: Brett Richey – 671000
Seat 6: Todd Brunson – 145000
Seat 7: Vitaly Lunkin – 1527000
Seat 8: Frank Kassela – 499000

(Table 62)
Seat 1: Tony G – 642000
Seat 2: David Bach – 1265000
Seat 3: John Hanson – 815000
Seat 5: Ville Wahlbeck – 842000
Seat 6: John Kabbaj – 678000
Seat 7: Freddy Deeb – 1300000
Seat 8: Gus Hansen – 801000

Durand Looking for Durability in $1,500 NL Holdem

Day 3 of the $1,500 NL Holdem starts with 30 players remaining, with Thibaut Durand (1,650,000) holding the chip lead when play resumes around 1pm PT. Owen Crowe (1,025,000), Josh Schlein (875,000), and Alex Jacob (274,000) are the most recognizable names remaining. When the final table is eventually reached, bluffmagazine.com and wsop.pkr.com will stream all the action.

Australians go 1-2 in Triple Chance

Day 1 of the $3,000 Triple Chance NL Holdem ended with 149 players remaining and it’s two Australians who hold the top spots when play resumes around 2pm today. Tim Horan is the chip leader (149,000), followed by Harris Pavlou (137,300). Notables returning on day 2 include Jeff Lisandro, Antonio Esfandiari, Shane Schleger, Nick Binger, Mike Caro, Noah Schwartz and Praz Bansi.

Prescott Gives Field Allie Can Handle in Stud 8

Day 2 of the $1,500 Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Betterevent resumes around 2pm with 146 players remaining, with Allie Prescott leading the field with 52,500 in chips. Notables returning include Jim Geary, Annie Duke, Marcel Luske, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Jon Turner, Matt Savage and Norman Chad.

Monday’s Tournaments

The 12pm $1,500 NL Holdem Donkament is already sold out, although there’s always the slim chance they’ll open a few more seats during the day. This is the seventh event of the $1,500 NL Holdem of this year’s WSOP, so it’s a “new” event, not having a winner last year. The 5pm (if it starts on time) event is the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event, won last year by John Phan for just over $150,000 in a field of 238. The WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 262 entries.

Today and tomorrow will both be extremely busy with six tournaments going on at the same time, so check out www.wsop.com for live updates, and Pokerati for other stuff during the day.

Cantu v Watkinson Heads-Up

Brandon Cantu and Lee Watkinson are the last two standing in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better event, each going for their second career bracelet. At the moment, Watkinson holds a 2-1 chip lead over Cantu.

Habib Handling HORSE Headline

Hasan Habib remains the chip leader (453,000) with 77 players remaining in the $50,000 HORSE event as they return from a dinner break with three more levels remaining in today’s play. David Bach (426,000) and John Kabbaj (340,000) are the top 3 in chips at the moment. Among the eliminations today, Justin Bonomo, John Juanda, Eli Elezra and Jennifer Harman. More updates can be found over at www.wsop.com

Limit Holdem Shootout

The field of 64 that started round 2 of the $1,500 Limit Holdem Shootout on Saturday is down to 38 players spread over eight tables. Among the remaining players, David Williams, Tom Schneider, Humberto Brenes, Marc Naalden, and Jean-Robert Bellande.

More Donkament Carnage

A sold-out field of 2781 in the next to last $1,500 NL Holdem event is down to about 975 players as they return from dinner break. The unofficial chip leader is Thomas “titantom32″ Braband at 78,000 with another 4 levels before play ends for the day.

More updates available at www.wsop.com and Pokerati for other stuff during the evening.