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Well whaddya know … Pokerati fave [name deleted] still plays poker … and last night he (”luvgamble”) won WCOOP event #24: $530 NL 2-7 Single Draw. (Which really is the best psychology-based poker game of all.)

308 runners, 49 in the money. First Place paid a nice $42k … glad to see [name deleted] finally book a noticeable win in 2008, which will make me feel better taking a chunk of it in our presidential election wager.

The one unfortunate thing … [name deleted] always liked to play anonymously, and wouldn’t even tell me his PokerStars screen name for fear that I’d publicize it. But now, as it goes in poker because I have no conscience he actually won a semi-public event, I get to out him, and the “Shmonkey Shmomber” is stuck playing a Googleable screen name into perpetuity. Ha ha, er, I mean congrats!

Other notable money finishers with trackable screen names:

newhizzle - Mark Newhouse
Bill Chen - Bill Chen
GavinGriffin - Gavin Griffin
KidPoker - Daniel Negreanu
BeL0WaB0Ve - Kevin Saul

Meanwhile, here’s a moment of Zen from 10th-place finisher Bill Chen, speaking on “The Power of Acceptance”, and even the necessity of embracing plausible death:

Today’s attendance at day 1c of the Main Event was a vast improvement over the past two days, as 1,928 laid their money down to participate in the Main Event. Rumors are circulating that Sunday will have a complete sellout of 2,700 which would take them near the 7,000 figure that seemed improbable on Thursday. Among those whose dream is already over, such notables as: Huck Seed, Larry Flynt, Sean Buchanan, Gavin Griffin, Mimi Tran, Justin Bonomo, David Chiu, Bart Hanson, and Marco Traniello.

The leader at the dinner break appears to be Michael Martin, who is just under 100,000 in chips. More familiar names near the top: Jeff Madsen, Chris Moneymaker, Mike Matusow, TJ Cloutier, and the lovely and talented Liz Lieu, Clonie Gowen, Evelyn Ng, Kara Scott, and Isabelle Mercier. More updates can be found at the WSOP update site here.

The returning horde of about 1,500 will return shortly to play two more two-hour levels, with those survivors returning to play on Wednesday, July 9.

More updates during the evening…

What’s happening tonight at the WSOP:

The only final table for today, the $2,500 NL Holdem 6-handed event, is down to the final 3.  Seth Fischer is the current chip leader, Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri is second, and Justin Filtz is in 3rd. Dario once had over half the chips 3-handed, but he’s doubled up both players and run into some bad luck to fall into 2nd. Their action can be followed at the World Series of Poker’s live updates here.

Other action after the thing that says More…

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Events from the evening part of day 16:

In what is certainly a first (at least I think so), two brothers have won a bracelet in the same World Series of Poker. Blair Hinkle, whose brother Grant won the $1,500 NL event last week, took down his own bracelet in the $2,000 NL event, knocking out Canadian Mark Brockington.

More after the jump:

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Action today that’s not the $5k NL 2-7 KC Lowball tournament:

The $1,500 PLO Event is down to 14 players, Vanessa Selbst is currently the overwhelming chip leader, with over 450k in chips, which is double what 2nd place has. Eugene Todd Bro and Chris Bjorin are the only other recognizable names left.

The $2,000 Limit Holdem event is down to 61 players, with 45 getting paid. Richard Li is chip leader, Daniel Negreanu’s in the top 10. Other recognizable names include Phil Hellmuth, Matt Matros, Thor Hansen, and ESPN announcer Mike Patrick.

The $5,000 NL Holdem Event drew a field of 731 with just under 400 remaining. Michiel Brummelhuis, who had a final table earlier this week is current chip leader. John Hennigan, Eli Elezra, and Gavin Griffin are among those in the top 10.

The $3,000 HORSE event started at 5pm with a field drew a field of 414. Chau Giang appears as current chip leader, Marcel Luske, David Benyamine and Perry Friedman are notable names in the top 10.

More from me in the AM, great stuff from Dan and Jen throughout the evening.

What’s happening around the WSOP while the world’s #1 Limit Holdem player is waiting for you.

It’s almost 6:00am and play finished at 18 in the $1,500 NL event. They’ll be coming back at 1:30pm today to eventually get to a final table, broadcast for ESPN. Theo Tran appears to be the chip leader, while Chris Ferguson, Minh Nguyen, David Bach, and Perry Friedman are still in the mix.

Two new events go underway today, but expect more attention being paid to the $1,000 NL holdem w/rebuys event, starting at 12 noon. The two NL w/rebuys events averaged a combined 3,000 entries/rebuys, expect more of the same today. Daniel Negreanu has not had a good Series so far, expect him to be rebuying heavily today. For the non-holdem fan, the $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better tournament will start at 5:00pm.

What happened yesterday:
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DALLAS–I happen to be on my old stomping grounds … to play a little Batface poker and try to do the work that police can’t and get to the bottom of the string of robberies here. (Pokerati’s conclusion, despite declarations to the opposite a few weeks ago: the Dallas Poker Bandits are a single group of three or four people hitting one room after another … not random coincidental robberies by different sets of two black guys in ski masks.)

Anyhow, this post isn’t about robberies in Dallas or police raids in Houston — everybody wants the poker money, don’t they? … it’s about the April ‘08 issue of Bluff. Though these articles aren’t online yet, three of the four they highlight are about Texans:

One is about how to be like Houstonian Sammy Farha. Another is about poker politics and ledes with a certain group of Dallas players wooing Congressman Pete Sessions to get behind pending poker legislation. And a third is about Gavin Griffin, a former Dallas underground dealer who became poker’s first “triple crown” winner.

Not only do I think that is Texas neato, but also I think it says something about the state’s continued super-relevance in the game. But hey, maybe I’m biased.

Last night, the Normandie Casino in L.A. hosted a poker tournament to benefit the Los Angeles Youth Network (LAYN). The organization helps abused, neglected, and homeless adolescents become self-sufficient.

A local L.A. band performed to kick off the evening, and after a buffet was opened up, the tournament began. Fun times. The $40 buy-in was right up my alley, though the $20 rebuys got expensive! Strangely, Cali Jen did not represent well by winning or even making the final table, but hey… I did my part for a good cause.

Gavin Griffin and girlfriend Kristen came out to support LAYN and play in the tournament. Always a good sport, Gavin was gracious about the attention he received and photos being taken of him. Since Kristen and I busted early, we supported the bar quite nicely.

(Kristen was seated to the left of Gavin during the tournament, and they did anything but soft play each other. Note to Kristen: When he got you to fold your Q-5, he was bluffing with 8-4 off.)

Thanks to Dr. Lisa, Robert Turner, Ryan, Teissia, and everyone else for hosting a great event!

Gavin & Kristen

In Atlantic City, New Jersey, tonight, Gavin Griffin won the WPT Borgata Poker Classic, making him the first player to win a WPT title, EPT title, and WSOP bracelet.

The final table set out to be a good one with names like Lee Watkinson, David Tran, Noah Schwartz, and Griffin. When it was all said and done, Griffin won a tough heads-up battle against Tran (the final hand detailed here by WPT Live Updates) to win the title, along with the $1,401,109 prize, a Tag Heuer watch, and a customized Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Griffin won his first major title in 2004 by capturing a WSOP bracelet in the $3000 Pot Limit Hold’em event, then took the poker world by storm with the 2007 EPT Grand Final win at Monte Carlo less than a year ago. Tonight, he took his first WPT title and solidified his place in the game’s history.

On a personal note, I had the pleasure of meeting Gavin and his girlfriend Kristen several months ago in L.A., and I had drinks with Kristen just a few days ago in Las Vegas. They are both incredibly kind, charitable, and fun people. And today is Kristen’s birthday - I can confirm that a major celebration of many sorts is going on at the Borgata tonight.

Congrats, Gavin!

A new episode of (the new and improved!) Beyond the Table is up. We’re still tinkering with the technology you see on the righthand sidebar and below … so any functional usability feedback will be totally ignored because you are probably not smart and we’re tired of fucking with shit warmly received and carefully considered.

Beyond the Table - 4/11/07[display_podcast]

This week, you’ll get the clickable privilege of hearing, Tom, Karridy, and Dan enlighten you about:

Segment 1

• Chris Moneymaker urinating during an interview
• Covering the WSOP as a blogger / “working” the WSOP as a player
• Getting stood up by Cash Poker, and other televised cardsy infomercials
• World Poker Tour moves from Travel Channel to GSN.
• Deal or No Deal strategy
• ZeeJustin kicking simultaneous ass online by playing two tourneys at once
• Criminal poker and the lack of recourse

Segment 2

• Tom heading to Bellagio for the 5-star WPT Championship
• The mathematics of buying in (or not) for $25k
• California players vs. Arizona players
• Poker strategy at The World Series of Golf
• Tom grows up, technologicially speaking

Segment 3

• One-name wonders in Poker (and Soccer)
• Googlefight.com while Tom takes a leak
• Annette_15 — underage online PokerStars phenom, top-ranked online player in the world, and not seeing Gavin Griffin’s penis
• Gavin Griffin wins the EPT Championship
• Teaching Tom to use google to stalk Annette Obrestead
• Males vs. Females online, and lack of interest in Dan’s proposed “Male Minority” tournament