This shoulda gone up about two-and-a-half months ago … but hey, we were busy with the November Nine and Tiger Woods was busy banging every chick in Vegas who ever said “call me!” … not to mention posing for photoshopped covers of Golf Digest with advice for Barack Obama. No wonder he didn’t have time to be smoking pot with Michael Phelps …

Still, before golf officially decided to go the degen route — or perhaps in preparation for it? — Golf Magazine ran a feature in their November issue about Phil Hellmuth, Layne Flack, Erick Lindgren, and Gavin Smith hitting the Las Vegas links, apparently foreshadowing the concept of risking big-big bucks on every hole:

Golf Magazine feature on High Stakes Poker Players Golfing

Boys will be boys, and those of us in poker’s minority know this. The Wicked Chops entities made “hot girls” the norm for poker media, and the PokerListings guys have jumped on board with this gem, including comments about how their telephoto lenses are always “extended and ready.” Seriously, guys? Argh! But I’ve gotta be honest… The other side of that coin is that girls will be girls.

Believe it or not, there are some hot boys in poker who, with just a glance across the table, can make us drop our, ummm, chips. It is true that many of them, while looking good with their rock-hard abs and chiseled upper arms, do have poker “performance issues” (most of my hot boy picks didn’t exactly show positive results at the WSOP), but sometimes poker is hard! Even without final tables or gold bracelets, they still to stand out from the masses – at least 6 to 8 inches, I assume. Here are a few:

Chad Brown
Now that is what the gym is for. Not only is he in shape but he shows it off with his tight-fitting shirts. And he’s well-spoken and intelligent. Go on witcha bad self. Turn-ons: playing poker and traveling the world with wife Vanessa Rousso, donating to various charities, and working out.

Erick Lindgren
Not sure if he has rock-hard abs because his shirts aren’t tight enough, but he is athletic and good-looking. Best of all, he’s got a fantastic dry sense of humor. Turn-ons: playing poker tournaments, engaging in a little one-on-one on his home (basketball) court, and remembering reporters’ names (hi, Erick!).

Patrik Antonius
A list of hot boys would not be complete without Patrik, who likely was just born looking so amazing. His model good looks make everyone’s heads turn when he enters a room. Turn-ons: playing the highest stakes poker games in the world, living in Monte Carlo with wife Maya, and being a hot dad to his baby.

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Even more semi-pokery TV … Shaquille O’Neal is in town, doing some filming at Planet Hollywood for his new Shaq Vs. program, which debuts tomorrow at 9pm ET/PT on ABC.

The concept is that Shaq takes on the best in the world at their own game(s). He’s got some sort of swimming contest set up with Michael Phelps, a tennis match vs. Serena Williams, boxing vs. Oscar de la Hoya, and he’s been taunting David Beckham on twitter claiming the (once) great soccerer can’t bend one past him in goal.

While the entire show seems to be athletic-based — there’s no challenge to Elton John for some dueling pianos, e.g. — poker seems to have slipped in there. (Props to Disney sibling ESPN?) According to @Phil_Hellmuth, he, Mike Matusow, Chris Ferguson, and Erick Lindgren are on set right now filming an episode that we can only presume is Shaq trying to beat the best at Texas Hold’em.

Not sure about the format, but gotta think Lindgren’s got the edge after all his experience on Face the Ace.

For those who missed it live … here’s this week’s episode of The Poker Beat, where the topics of the day include Jeff Lisandro, the Lindgreanu / Greensandro bet, National Poker Week, and Miami John coverage.

on PokerRoad

The Poker Beat
Huff, Nemeth, Wise, Michalski, Stapleton
6/25/09

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I’m not sure what to make of this. Does it feel like 2005 again? The game is called Excitebots: Trick Racing, for the Nintendo Wii … and there’s a poker mode where kids can learn how to make good poker hands and focus on their cards amid distraction. Mmm, tastes good with some Jack’s Links Beef Jerky. Now if only there were a way you could play online for money …

Starring Daniel Negreanu, Evelyn Ng, Gavin Smith, and Erick Lindgren; hosted by Dave Farrah (from RawVegas).

A little late, but here’s the first half recap of Sunday’s action…

Naalden in Dutch for Bracelet

Marc Naalden went nearly wire-to-wire to victory in the $2,000 Limit Holdem event, as he held a large chip lead over the field, handing it over to Steve Cowley for a few hands when play got to heads-up, but then going on a rush at the end to take a bracelet home to the Netherlands, as well as $190,770.

Can Cantu Can Do?

The $1,500 NL Holdem event is down to ~80 players, and Brandon Cantu is the current chip leader with 530,000 in chips. Other notables remaining include Joe Bartholdi (390,000), Raymond Davis (342,000), Nam Le (125,000) and Alex Jacob (78,000). Play will end at the 3am deadline well short of the final table, so the remaining field gets to return at 1pm to play down to a winner.

May the Schwartz Be With Him

Noah Schwartz is the current chip leader (674,000) in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship with 42 players remaining, only 27 getting paid. Jonas Entin (434,000), David Williams (359,500), Erick Lindgren (270,000), Nenad Medic (216,500), Padraig Parkinson (173,000), and Barry Greenstein (111,000) are some of the other notables who’ll be happy to reach the 3am deadline with chips.

Shootout at the Rio, 5k NL Version

A field of 280 is down to 30 in the $5,000 NL Holdem Shootout with the remaining players meeting at five tables of six players each to create a five player final table on Tuesday. Phil Ivey, Jean Gaspard, Joe Serock, Jennifer Harman, Neil Channing, Peter Feldman, John Monnette and Mark Teltscher are some of the returnees for day 2 at 2pm Monday.

All Mixed Up

The debuting $2,500 Mixed Event drew a field of 412 to play eight different games (HORSE, PLO, NL Holdem, 2-7 Triple Draw) with 335 players remaining. JC Tran appears to be the unofficial chip leader at 27,000, followed by Steve Billirakis at 26,000 and Sabyl Cohen-Landrum at 19,000. The players just returned from their dinner break to play another four levels before they do it all over again at 2pm Monday. More coming from me in the morning update, and check out Pokerati for other accusations of cheating, while www.wsop.com will cover the updates and other exciting stuff that’s not as controversial at the World Series of Poker.

Finishing up Saturday’s action from the WSOP…

Lisandro Pulls the Triple Double at the Rio

Jeff Lisandro became the third double bracelet winner of this year’s 2009 WSOP when he took down the $10,000 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better World Championship a couple hours ago defeated Farzad Rouhani at about 4am Vegas time. Lisandro pockets over $430,000 for his victory as well as several hours sleep before he comes back to the Rio Sunday to hear Italy’s national anthem this afternoon. When he won his first bracelet two weeks ago in the $1,500 7 Card Stud event, the Australian national anthem was played, making him the first to have two anthems played. This is also the first time more than two players have won multiple bracelets since when six players (Chan, Ferguson, Juanda, Hellmuth, Flack, and Men Nguyen) won bracelets in 2003. His second bracelet also moves him into a tie for first in the red-hot WSOP Player of the Year Race.

Texan Tops in NL Holdem

Jordan Smith from College Station, Texas took down the $2,000 NL Holdem event, pocketing $586,212 after defeating Ken Lennaard heads-up to take home a bracelet. From Nolan Dalla’s tournament report, Smith had this to add about legalizing poker in Texas:

“I think poker definitely needs to be legalized and regulated. Legalize it. Tax it. Regulate it. I don’t think it’s the government’s job to tell me what to do or how to spend my money – even though they sure want a cut of this (taxes) whenever I win it.”

This was event #36 of the WSOP, and after only one woman (Annie Duke) had made a previous final table, there were two at this one. Almira Skripchenko who is more well known for her successes in chess, being an FIDE Woman Grandmaster, finished in 7th place, good for $78,644. Laurence Grondin from Montreal, Quebec, Canada finished in 3rd for $237,537.

Obligatory Limit Holdem Final Table Mention

The final table of the $2,000 Limit Holdem consists of:

Seat 1: Jared O’Dell 189,000
Seat 2: Danny Qutami 323,000
Seat 3: Ian Johns 113,000
Seat 4: Marc Naalden 755,000
Seat 5: Tommy Hang 202,000
Seat 6: Steven Cowley 322,000
Seat 7: Rep Porter 287,000
Seat 8: Jameson Painter 205,000
Seat 9: Alex Keating 284,000

O’Dell, Johns, Hang and Porter list Washington state on their bio sheet, which may be the first time Washington state has represented so strongly at a WSOP final table.

Charania in Charge

Moshin Charania finished day 1 of the $1,500 NL Holdem event the leader with 144,100 in chips with 327 players remaining, of which 270 make the money. Brandon Cantu (86,600), Grant Hinkle (85,800), Jeff Williams (66,200), Eric Baldwin (63,400) and Shane Schleger (63,000) are some of the players who won’t be playing the Sunday tournaments online, as they’ll be returning to the Amazon room at 2pm.

Nate is Great in PLO

Nate Lindsay from San Francisco is the chip leader (482,200) at the end of day 1 in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship with 116 players remaining, only 27 getting paid. Noah Schwartz (292,600), Ilari “Ziigmund” Saharies (229,400), David Williams (223,000), and Josh Arieh (220,600) round out the top five. Steve Zolotow (220,200), Ben Grundy (191,000), Tom McEvoy (142,800), Erick Lindgren (120,900) and Jimmy “Gobbo” Fricke (108,000) are just some other notables back for more action at 2pm as they attempt to make the final table.

Sunday’s Tournaments

The 12pm tournament day is the $5,000 NL Holdem Shootout which was won by Phillip Tom in a field of 360 for over $475,000. The WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 396 for this event, but if it’s slightly above that, it could cause a bit of a problem for tournament staff. The payout structure for the shootout event pays 40 spots if the field is between 378 and 420, which would create 11-player tables for the first round if the field size is in the 401-420 range. The 5pm tournament is the debut of the $2,500 8-Game event which consists of HORSE, NL holdem, PLO and 2-7 triple draw, with a projected field size of 250.

More updates during the day at Pokerati and follow the WSOP at WSOP.com

The $1,000 NL Holdem Stimulus Special is nearing its final table as they’re down to 13 players and may stop for the day when they reach their final table. Jeff Oakes is the current chip leader with 2,400,000. Danny Fuhs is currently 2nd. Dan Heimiller and Steve Sung are other notables who are looking to make the final table, which will either take place later tonight or Wednesday at 2pm, as the scheduled streaming of the final table has been postponed.

The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event is working their way down to its final table tonight. They currently have 27 players remaining as they went on their dinner break. Jonathan Tare will have the chip lead when the players return, Greg Pappas is currently in 2nd, with day 1 chip leader Jason Mercier is 3rd in chips. Former bracelet winners Dario Alioto, Eric Froehlich and An Tran are some of the notables making up the final three tables.

The $10,000 7-Card Stud World Championship has 45 players remaining while they play down to their final table. The current leader is Fu Wong, followed by Greg “FBT” Mueller, Max Pescatori, Nick Frangos, Hoyt Corkins and Cory Zeidman. A recent elimination was Day 1 chip leader David Oppenheim, along with Phil Ivey, Joe Cassidy and Bruno Fitoussi being day 2 casualties, falling far short of the money that will be reached when 16 players remain.

The $1,500 NL Holdem event got underway today as a field of 2,791 entrants flooded the tournament area, causing delays in the starts of several other events. Returning on the dinner break will be 889 players, with the current chip leader is Jonathan Little, with “Minneapolis Jim” Meehan, Bertrand “Elky” Grospelier, Tiffany Michelle and Chau Giang among the notables off to a fast start. The money will be reached when 297 players remain, with the winner taking home $666,853.

The $2,500 NL 2-7 Lowball Single Draw event started as 148 players took their seats, as plenty of notables round out the field, including Greg Raymer, Erick Lindgren, John Juanda, Billy Baxter, Chino Rheem, Gavin Smith and Pokerati’s own Tom Schneider as they play eight one-hour levels tonight. Follow all the tournament’s progress at www.worldseriesofpoker.com and Pokerati for DonkeyBomber and other updates.

The WSOP unofficially starts at 9am today as the Amazon Room at the Rio opens for registration, cash games and satellites before the tournaments begin Wednesday with Event #1, the $500 Casino Employees tournament. That’s as good a reason as any to do the preview for this year’s World Series of Poker, so here’s some things to look out for during the Series:

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Crap, one of my final four picks is already out. Erik Seidel. I so almost went the other way with that one, too.

Otherwise, all is well in my bracket. Got the 4 3 other matches right — Farha d. Cunningham, Eastgate d. Bloch, Lindgren d. Lederer, Elezra d. Chan. Alas, we will not be seeing Gowen vs. Lederer deep, which Ali Nejad reminded us yesterday woulda been great for poker, because it probably woulda been followed on Court TV.

CORRECTION: I guess I changed my pick on Chan vs. Elezra / didn’t go with my gut. Of course Eli was gonna win.

If you wanna follow a little more play-by-play, take your pick:
CardPlayer.com
PokerNews.com
PokerListings.com

Flipchip for really good photos.
Audio stuff TK at PokerRoad.

And it’s still not too late to get in on the bracket-picking action … though points scored on matches already started won’t count in the end. We’re doing this with our forum friends at PokerRoad. Show who’s boss.

UPDATE: Yang defeats Gowen! Boo Jerry Yang! Makin’ us rankers eat it!

Chewed up, spit out? Clonie Gowen is challenging the most fearsome of Full Tilt avatars in Clark County Court.

We all knew something fishy was going on with Clonie and Full Tilt, right? And we’ve always wondered how exactly Full Tilt operates — seriously it’s kinda a mystery, even to people who work for them — and now, with Clonie Gowen suing four different companies connected to the game so many play with the pros, we should find out quite a bit of interesting info.

As far as I know, this is the first time any online poker biz that operates in the grayish world of processing money from American players (really really light gray, but still … ) will have to show its stuff publicly. Even Ultimate Bet/Absolute, with all the audits and investigations hasn’t really had to show anything it doesn’t want to to anyone outside its own semi-corporate family.

Um, hole-card cameras in the courtroom?

Official court docs here.

Gowen v. Tiltware LLC, et al.,
Plaintiff: Cycalona Gowen
Defendant: Full Tilt Poker, Tiltware LLC, Pocket Kings Ltd., Kolyma Corporation, A.V.V., Raymond J. Bitar, Howard Lederer, Andrew Bloch, Phillip Ivey, Christopher Ferguson, John Juanda, Phillip Gordon, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, Michael Matusow, Allen Cunningham, Gus Hansen and Patrick Antonious

Case Number: 2:2008cv01581
Filed: November 14, 2008

Court: Nevada District Court
Office: Las Vegas Office [ Court Info ]
County: Clark
Presiding Judge: Judge Robert C. Jones
Referring Judge: Magistrate Judge Robert J. Johnston

Nature of Suit: Contract – Other Contract
Cause: 28:1332 Diversity-Other Contract
Jurisdiction: Diversity
Jury Demanded By: Plaintiff

They’re talking about it on 2+2, and the summary of her allegations below comes from the Hendon Mob:

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E-Dog had the Player of the Year title locked up in July, but the honor and gift was officially bestowed upon him tonight, just prior to the start of the WSOP main event heads-up match.

In a very brief ceremony, Jeffrey Pollack recognized Erick Lindgren for winning his first World Series bracelet this year, which he did in the $5K Mixed Hold’em event, and a total of four cashes in various events, two being final tables (4th place in the $5K NL 2-7 Draw Lowball and 3rd in the $50K H.O.R.S.E. event). It was a stellar summer for Erick, and he certainly earned the POY award.

While there are likely tournament entries to various WSOP events included in his prize, Erick was also presented with a new custom-engraved Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He spoke very briefly to say that he was honored to receive the award, being in the company of many great past winners, and was happy to see the theater packed with poker fans tonight.

Congrats, Erick!

I wasn’t the biggest supporter of the WSOP delayed final table. I had many reasons to be against it, but in the end, I assumed it wouldn’t be popular with the fans. I was about as right-on there as I have been with most of my prop bets.

The Penn & Teller Theater is packed tonight. Sure, there are a handful of friends and family members of the Demidov and Eastgate in the building, along with a smattering of poker pros like Chris Ferguson, Jamie Gold, Jeff Madsen, Chris Moneymaker, “Miami” John Cernuto, Cyndy Violette, and Erick Lindgren, but the vast majority of this crowd filling the place to (or dang close to) capacity are simply fans of the game. They’ve come here to see history on giant plasma screens, and despite not being able to actually see the table with their own eyes, they seem happy enough to simply be here.

Even Erick Lindgren, upon accepting his Player of the Year award before play began, noted that he was happy to see the theater filled with fans, though he sarcastically wondered aloud why they all came to see poker.

I’m going to go out on a short limb here and say that this delayed WSOP final table is a success. Consider this eating my words for being so quick to dismiss the idea many months ago.

Click, and enjoy.™

From the always clickworthy good folks at RawVegas.TV

I’m just askin’ … watchin’ a little WSOP, and after an hour-and-a-half of ZeeJustin, I see a dude who’s good — really good — and possibly due for an ass-kicking.

UPDATE: Erick Lindgren says Bonomo is “the future of poker.”

The smallest opening day field (1,158) since the WSOP was first held at the Rio in 2005 started play shortly after noon yesterday. The attendance for days 1c and 1d look to be much more encouraging, with at least 3,000 expected to play over the next two days. They’re going to need another 800 to sign up over the next couple of days to match last year’s total, and it looks to be a close call if that actually happens.

The 636 who made it through day 1a are now combined with the 615 who made it through the end of play earlier this morning to play July 8th at 12 noon. Ben Sarnoff is the day 1b leader with 177,500 in chips. Notable names near the top of the leaderboard: Robert Mizrachi, Erick Lindgren, Marc Karam, Thor Hansen, Hal Lubarsky, Hoyt Corkins, Patrik Antonius, John Duthie, and Victoria Cohen. You can see the other chip counts at the WSOP site here (or wait until later for some sort of list by seat assigment/alphabetical order).

Another 1,700+ souls descend on the Rio today to start their chance at WSOP glory shortly after 12, who knows what musical act/attraction will greet the nonplussed group.

More updates during the day…

The 4th of July holiday certainly put a damper on the size of day 1b, as a disappointing 1,158 showed up to play at noon today. Pauly notes that some country music singer did the Star Spangled Banner and some sort of flag ceremony was attempted that didn’t go as planned. The players are currently on their dinner break, with about 850 remaining. Among those whose dream is over: Kenny Tran, Ram Vaswani, Orel Hershiser, Jamie Gold, Greg Raymer, Tuan Le, Ted Forrest, Daniel Negreanu, among many others. The early chip leader appears to be Patrik Antonius, with Robert Mizrachi, Erick Lindgren, Vanessa Rousso, and 2007 ME final tablist Philip Hilm near the top of the leaderboard. Follow the progress when they return on the WSOP.com website here.

More updates as they warrant…

Erick Lindgren

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

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

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

We take you into Tao of Pokerati studios on a random Sunday evening bustling with action. Pauly and I look at Kiddie Table HORSE and discuss how a new player-of-the-year point system — with Scotty Nguyen and Erick Lindgren at the Big Dog HORSE final table — presents real possibilities for a WSOP Triple Crown. Special appearances by Isabelle Mercier, David Benyamine, Donkey Bomber, Jerry Buss, Cyndy Violette, Richard Brodie, and Chris Ferguson.

Episode 18: Triple Crown-and-Coke

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

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

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

The last two tournaments conclude today, the ESPN360 table and the WSOP POY on page 2:
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Scotty Nguyen is the 2008 World Series of Poker $50K H.O.R.S.E. champion!

First things first…
3rd place – Erick Lindgren – $781,440 (This occurred at approximately 4:30am after a valiant fight with a pesky short stack. Fine job, Erick. Seriously.)
2nd place – Michael DeMichele – $1,243,200 (An amazing feat for a young, up-and-coming player.)

And first place goes to Scotty Nguyen…baby.

After a seemingly kind and understanding conversation with the runner-up, Scotty took in the win. He hugged some friends in the audience (like Layne Flack and David “Devilfish” Ulliott), then looked to his wife whom he embraced and lip-locked for quite some time. The emotion from both of them was obvious. He thanked the audience who was still there after 5am to take in the history. Scotty did an interview with ESPN and proceeded to the presentation platform where Jeffrey Pollack presented him with the Chip Reese trophy. Scotty was quite overcome with emotion and stood with his face in his hands for several moments before wiping the tears and accepting the trophy. He held it up and thanked Chip Reese with an eye to the sky, thanked his fans and friends, most importantly his wife, and was subsequently awarded the WSOP bracelet.

It was an emotional victory for the long-time pro, and the importance of the victory was not lost on Scotty Nguyen. The hard-fought battle took more than 12 hours but ended with a very grateful and deserving champion. Congratulations, Scotty!

Click below for some photos from the $50K H.O.R.S.E. victory…

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Not saying it’s not exciting to watch and follow along… Okay, maybe I am saying that. We’ve hit a rut. It has been three-handed for nearly 75 hands. While there is some form of action on many of the hands, it is getting monotonous. Am I the only one thinking about a chop here?

Seriously, since we last chatted, two players have left the field:

5th place – Lyle Berman – $444,000
The WPT will not win the WSOP. It would’ve been an amazing and interesting story for the WPT Enterprises bigwig to win the $50K HORSE championship event at the WSOP. Berman came close to winning a bracelet by going deep in the heads-up event several weeks ago… The $2 million first prize tonight might have been enough to perform a semi-bailout of the WPT, but now we’ll never know what he would’ve done with the money…

4th place – Matt Glantz - $568,320
I’m not familiar. He’s probably a great human being. Now, he’s a much richer human being.

Three-handed is taking what seems like days, but Erick Lindgren isn’t going out that easily. Up until now, the shortest stack is typically the next to go, and it hasn’t taken terribly long to make that happen. But E-Dog is staging a comeback. Whether it is his enormous fan/friend support in the audience, the $2 mil, the Chip Reese trophy, the title of champion in this prestigious event, or all of the above, Lindgren is doing his best to get back on the horse. (Get it? Horse? HORSE? Work with me here; I’m tired…)

UPDATE: 2:30am PST – Still three handed. Nearing hand #235. DeMichele with 5.73 million, Nguyen with 4.605 million, and Lindgren with 4.465 mil. And you thought I was exaggerating when I indicated this may never end…

UPDATE: 4am PST – There are some signs that this might end before the presidential election. Updated chip counts, courtesy of PokerNews: Nguyen 10,085,000; DeMichele 3,040,000; Lindgren 1,675,000.

It has taken over three hours to see three players hit the door in the $50K HORSE. It has seemed slow at times, but the intensity at the table dictates that this could be a long night.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other tournament action on the next page:
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Since returning from dinner break, the players in the $50K HORSE have been in slow motion, barely trotting here. So much is on the line, so I don’t blame them… The railbirds aren’t getting tired, though. They’re still packed in there like wide-eyed sardines, snapping photos and hoping to get a wink or a nod from a pro. Entertaining to watch…for a few minutes at a time.

In the past three hours, only two players have busted.

13th place: Daniel Negreanu – $142,080
If Daniel had won this tournament, the prize money would have catapulted him into the position of top tournament money earner of all time, surpassing Jamie Gold. Well, that ain’t happenin’ in this tournament, sad to say.

12th place: Phil Ivey - $159,840
Not the most entertaining player at the table, but definitely a fan favorite and one of the best out there. Much to the dismay of the standing-room audience, he had to nod goodbye.

Erick Lindgren has jumped out to a dominating lead here, as it stands at 1am. He has 3.25 million, and the next closest stack belongs to Scotty Nguyen with 2.7 million. I smell a good final table. (And I smell a poker player who needs a shower, but that’s not relevant here.)

UPDATE:
11th place: David Bach – $159,840
10th place: Raymond Davis – $177,600
9th place: Ralph Perry – $177,600
Final table set! Seat assignments and accurate chip counts to be posted when announced…

What’s happened tonight at the WSOP:

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

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

Other tournament action on the next page:
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Wrapping up yesterday’s action, with a preview of today’s tournament (with a moment of silence for John Bonetti):

The $5,000 NL Holdem 6-handed event finally reached their final table at around 5:30am, now they have to attempt to get some rest before returning in front of the watchful eye of the ESPN360 cameras at 2pm with this sextet:

Seat 4: Richard Lyndaker 2,345,000
Seat 3: Joe Commisso 1,961,000
Seat 5: Tom Lutz 1,493,000
Seat 1: Samuel Trickett 1,045,000
Seat 6: Edward Ochana 928,000
Seat 2: Davidi Kitai 298,000

The $1,500 Stud Eight or Better stopped play with 13 players remaining as they play down to a winner starting at 3pm. Here’s the approximate chip counts of the baker’s dozen (chip counts and seats to be rearranged later):

(Table 14)
Seat 1: Ryan Hughes 73,000
Seat 4: Margaret Macre 173,000
Seat 5: James Richburg 274,000
Seat 6: Ron Long 33,000
Seat 7: David Brooker 45,000
Seat 8: Daniel Nicewander 41,000

(Table 15)
Seat 1: Mike Hefer 71,000
Seat 2: Tim D’Alessandro 82,000
Seat 3: David Sklansky 110,000
Seat 4: Thomas Hunt III 101,000
Seat 6: Alessio Isaia 172,000
Seat 7: Joshua Feldman 121,000
Seat 8: Jonas Klausen 346,000

Other tournament action (plus the final 24 in the $50k HORSE) on page 2:
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What’s doing tonight at the WSOP while I welcome Tuscaloosa Johnny to the Pokerati fold:

The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better event is down to it’s last 3 with Casey Kastle, Martin Klaser, and Michael Fetter remaining. Kastle currently holds the chip lead, Erik Seidel was eliminated in 4th in his attempt at winning his 9th bracelet.

The $5,000 NL Holdem 6-handed event have returned from their dinner break with 280 out of a starting field of 805 to return. Notable names near the top include Alex Jacob, Mark Vos, Gavin Griffin, and Hevad Khan.

Other tournament action is available by clicking on the more thingy:

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What’s happening at the WSOP tonight:

The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha w/rebuys event just concluded with a winner, and it’s Layne Flack who put on a dominant performance at the final table, taking an overwhelming chip lead that no one would be able to catch him. Layne wins his 6th WSOP bracelet, putting him in some elite company as one of 10 poker players who have won at least 6 bracelets (Hellmuth, Chan, D. Brunson, Seidel, Cloutier, Moss, Baxter, Heimowitz, M. Nguyen are the others). Daniel Makowsky finished in 2nd, and Ted Forrest will have to try yet again to get his 6th bracelet, as he finished in 5th. Dario Alioto finished in 4th for those following the Italian contingency.

Other action from today after the jump:

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Finishing the recap from last night’s activities with a preview of today’s lone tournament:

The $5,000 Seven Card Stud Eight or Better World Championship concluded shortly after 2am, with German Sebastian Ruthenberg outlasting Chris “Jesus” Ferguson to win his first bracelet, along with just over $328,000 in a grueling 3 hour heads-up battle. Ferguson and Ruthenberg would trade the lead several times, each having a huge chip advantage. While some may say the structure went too fast at the end, I have the feeling he wouldn’t be as vocal if the other player won.

Final tables for today and other action from last night after the leap:

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Without having to calculate exact days or tournament numbers, let’s consider the WSOP to be at the halfway mark.

Taking a look at the WSOP Player of the Year overall points standings, Erick Lindgren is in a pretty solid first place spot right now. Jacobo Fernandez-Hernandez is in second place, followed by Scott Seiver, Daniel Negreanu, and Theo Tran. A certain Tom Schneider looks to be in 31st place, but the current standings do not include his 12th place razz finish last night; that addition might move him up 15-20 spots.

As far as the number of cashes, Tom just moved up to a three-way-tied first place with Nikolay Evdakov and Alex Jacob – all of them have five cashes thus far. The all-time record for cashes at the WSOP in a single year is eight, and with quite a few tournaments to go, the goal of beating that record is definitely attainable.

Happenings from last night and the Sunday preview at the WSOP:

The semifinals of the $10,000 Headsup World Championship have now been set, even if it appeared Lyle Berman didn’t want that to happen. His round of 16 match with David Williams would eventually take over 5 hours, before Berman eventually took it down. That match went so long that the tournament staff decided to start the quarterfinal matches unaffected by the outcome. Those winners were Vanessa Selbst, Jonathan Jaffe, and Kenny Tran. Lyle would face Alec Torelli in their quarterfinal match, and true to form, this match would take over 4 hours with Torelli triumphant in the end. So here’s the semifinals that meet the ESPN360 cameras:

Vanessa Selbst v Alec Torelli
Kenny Tran v Jonathan Jaffe

Other action from yesterday at the jump:

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All of the tables in the PLO w/rebuys tournament are sick. The field isn’t enormous, but it consists of so many notable players that it’s hard to look away.

One table in particular, Table 15 in the Orange section has an impressive line-up: Robert Williamson III, Phil Hellmuth, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Sirous Jamshidi, Daniel Negreanu, and Daniel Alaei. And as I’m typing, Alex Kravchenko was moved to that table as well.

The players are having a good time with the set-up, and it’s a couple tables away from the spectator rail, so railbirds aren’t hovering. Strange thing happened, though. A non-ESPN-credentialed person came up to the table with a video camera, which is typically good enough to get you and your media credential kicked out on your ass, and filmed some of the action, even commenting to the players and looking for reactions. Hellmuth started to get annoyed, and that’s when a certain Harrah’s big-wig came over and monitored the filming; by his mere presence, he sanctioned it.

As a few fans found their way through the tables and security to get closer to the table, they were shooed away and told to get out of the area. Yet, the rogue videographer was able to stay and continue filming for quite awhile before leaving upon obtaining the footage he desired. Interesting exception to the media rules. I’m sure there was a good reason…

Facts and Figures from the WSOP so far, at the end of play early Friday morning:

Number of entrants: 20,141
Bracelets awarded: 20
Most cashes: Nikolay Evdakov – 5
Most final tables: Theo Tran, Erick Lindgren – 2
Current ESPN POY: Erick Lindgren 175 points
Leading money earner: Grant Hinkle – $831,462

A review of the week 2 action at the World Series of Poker:

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So bummer that ESPN has bad insurance — and I’m not just sayin’ that because Pokerati’s new made-for-TV patches just arrived. While the ESPN camerapeople are taking some atmosphere filler shots — you know, just in case Erick Lindgren wins his second bracelet — it really is too bad that the WSOP doesn’t have the ability to call a final-table audible or two. (The actual physical table for the bracelet-crowning end of the $5k NL 2-7 lowball single-draw w/ rebuys doesn’t even have hole-card cams.)

Not only is there a great field to follow, and multiple story lines … Lindgren going for his second bracelet, which would put him way ahead in the WSOP Player of the Year race … and speaking of POY, last year Jeff Lisandro and Tom Schneider had everything riding on the results of this event … but also, if you’re gonna show a crazy mixed game on TV, there’s really not a better one to televise than NL 2-7 single-draw.

TV fans are already comfortable with the concept of no-limit … and it won’t take much for them to understand that the best hand in this game is 2-3-4-5-7. Then mix in the poker psychology (wielded by top-notch pros) of a game where you get soooo little information on your opponent’s hand — there are only two rounds of betting — and consider that there are only 5 cards in each hand to think about … and there you have it: great, surprising and unexpected poker TV. (The $5k with rebuys also adds a bigger-money component to it as well.)

When I watched this game last year, I got totally hooked — would love to be able to play it somewhere. And F-Train’s solid coverage of it for PokerNews/the WSOP reflects that he’s finding the same thing. Read along for just a few posts and you’ll have a whole new understanding of a game you previously probably hardly knew.

UPDATE: Tom is now second in chips … click here to follow along.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

First, important Pokerati news:

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

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

Here’s the payouts:

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

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

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Happenings this evening, while I make this part small so you can read all the good stuff below:

The $5k NL Shootout final table is down to headsup. The current chip leader winner is Phil “The Chairman” Tom. His son, Scott, was the founder of Absolute Poker, and we know how that turned out. (Readers may want to insert their own superuser jokes here). Greg “FBT” Mueller is in a close finished 2nd, while Leo Wolpert was recently eliminated in 3rd.

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Teddy “The Iceman” Munroe: Watch out for this guy. Tough to play against.

Tom is was the chip leader in the $2k Omaha Hi-Lo. That’s pretty cool.

UPDATE: Tom is out. Not cool.

And that limit event he busted out of yesterday … Erick Lindgren just missed the final table, which is now set with some interesting players, including Teddy Munroe, Ali Eslami, and Vinny Vinh. (Teddy and I go way back — last year I’d be typing outside and “The Iceman” would fill me in on the $100-$200 cash action while taking a piss on the tournament tent air conditioners. “Makin’ money, baby!” he’d say before shaking himself dry and heading back to the table.)

Even the $10k 7-Stud World Championship is getting interesting … with Doyle still alive and both Bob and Maureen Feduniak with the potential to become the first ever husband-wife presumably non-collusive team at the final table. Never mind. Since typing this, all the above-mentioned have been eliminated.

I learned about this 7-Stud shape-up from the a WSOP-TV vid. And though I tend to detest any lack of imbeddability, I gotta say I like a lot of what this ESPN/WSOP/Bluff (?) crew has got going here. For example, Harmonie Krieger does a basic feature video interview set on the different jobs people come to the WSOP from. Nice enough, right? — but very real when one of the guys she talks with is Jay Columbo, who ran the legendary Mayfair and Playstation poker clubs in New York City, legally questionable status notwithstanding.

And then, perhaps most shocking to me, I enjoyed Jean-Robert Bellande’s “Surviving the WSOP” — where the young, aspiring Eskimo Clark chronicles his ups and downs at the World Series while his video-podcast editors comment Pop-up Video-style — follow along as he hustles high-rollers for buy-ins.

Even learned something from Phil Ivey’s less exciting V-log … and that is that he’s playing so many big-field, low-buy-in donkfests because he has a lot of side action pending on whether or not he’ll win a bracelet this year. We’ll see if we can’t find out more about this.

Speaking of donkfests, the Ladies Event has already lost 2/3 of its starting field, and of those still remaining, at least three of them are Pokerati MySpace friends: Lacey Jones, Kathy Liebert, and Mandy Baker are looking strong and pretty much representing the spectrum of all that is good about women. Go girls! I mean chicks … er babes .. uh bitches?

UPDATE: Lacey is nursing a short stack. Poker Roadie Amanda Leatherman has come on strong, however, and picked up the aggressive pace. Michele Lewis, Tiffany Michele, and PokerNews editrix Haley Hintze are all out.

In the meantime, primarily because it is awesomely embeddable, check out the debut episode of The Degenerate Report, from Neverwin Poker:

What’s happening at the WSOP while I go looking to buy some vurry expensive watches :
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Previewing Day 9, reviewing Day 8 at the WSOP, as I wonder why the EUROPEAN Poker Tour allows worldwide airing of final tables live, while the WORLD Series of Poker decides to restrict airing of final tables to a select few in the United States.

The second Saturday of the Series gets underway at noon with event #13 ($2,500 NL Holdem). Being a NL tournament held on the weekend, expect another large field to lay their money down. At 5pm, the latest round of $10,000 buyin World Championships takes place, this time it’s 7 Card Stud. Expect a small but elite field to try their hand at winning a bracelet.

Earlier today:
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A review of the action from the first week of the World Series of Poker:

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Tonight’s $10k Mixed Event World Championship drew 192 players, and after some confusion regarding the structure, things appears to be going along nicely.

In other tournament action, all but the the $2k NL tournament (which just returned) are on their respective dinner breaks.

The $1,500 PL Holdem final table has Jacobo Hernandez and David Singer are heads-up and almost even in chips. The $5,000 Mixed Holdem event is on their break as well with five left at their final table as Justin Bonomo, Andrew Robl, Erick Lindgren, Chino Rheem and Roland de Wolfe remain.

The $1,500 Omaha 8 tournament just broke the money bubble, then went right to their dinner break. The $2,000 NL tournament has about 400 left, with 153 getting paid. The $1k NL tournament is down to 29, returning shortly to get to their final table with Negreanu, Gowen, and Juanda among the remaining.

I’ll be back at it tomorrow, like it or not…

What’s happening at this moment while reading Gary Wise’s latest entry about what’s “good for poker” is really good for poker.

Today brings another two tournaments to the starting line, first at noon is the $2,000 NL holdem event and another large field is expected. The event the pros may be swooning over is the $10,000 Mixed Event “World Championship”. This tournament will have it all for the big cash game specialists as they throw eight games into the mix. This grouping of players will play Triple Draw lowball Deuce to Seven, Limit Holdem, Omaha 8, Razz, Stud, Stud 8, No Limit Holdem and Pot Limit Omaha; playing each game for 8 hands before moving on to the next game in the rotation. Hopefully there won’t be many mixups between the players, dealers, and floor and this becomes a staple of the WSOP schedule.

Play finally finished earlier this morning in the marathon that was event #2, $1,500 NL Holdem. After over two hours of headsup play, Grant Hinkle made an aggressive move, raising and eventually going all in with 10d-4d against James Akenhead’s Ac-Kh. Things were looking good for James, but his was truly aching after the flop came down 10-4-10. A fourth 10 hit the turn and it was over, as Hinkle took the bracelet and over $800,000 in victory. Chris Ferguson finished 3rd, the full results can be found over at Pokernews.

What else happened yesterday:
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It seems that the World Series of Golf has come and gone. A car salesman from Michigan, Andrew “AJ” Johnson, won the $250,000 first prize, and Erick Lindgren came in second place for $60,000. Also in the final round was Allen Cunningham. (Is there anything that guy can’t do?)

The Full Tilt-sponsored 80-person event took place at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort and concluded on May 15. The WSOG is scheduled to air on CBS Sports on June 28 and 29.

Can I get a golf clap?

Pokerati file photo: The HB-3186 war room, led by Lavigne in Austin (standing, top left) with Texas poker politicos, player representatives, and out-of-state allies preparing for a capitol offensive.

In addition to those state-by-state member numbers, the PPA put out a press release this week announcing its new state directors. Good to see poker players getting more involved in grassroots activity as the politi-dudes looking out for us in Washington DC continue to develop into a real Beltway force. However, there’s one state where the director curiously isn’t named — and that’s Texas.

Um, Mike …? Has there been a change to your resume that you might wanna blog about that you might wanna blog about?

UPDATE: Lavigne in Austin en-route-to-Wichita-Falls confirms via Blackberry that he is indeed still a state director for the PPA, and showed off his political skills by dodging my follow-up question about “why the ‘TBA’ then?” by reassuring me that the poker political machinery in Texas, having been built and tested now, will be well-oiled for 2009 with real Texas Hold’em in Texas in 2010 so long as I don’t write anything to muck it up.

LAS VEGAS–Pauly has a great breakdown of Erick Lindgren’s $340,000 prop bet against Phil Ivey and others on the golf course. Bold not only because of the amount, but because it was against Ivey, who has done a nice job earning a reputation as quite the golf-time hustler. And Pauly himself had $2,700 riding on the outcome:

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

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

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