The big story Thursday evening is Phil Hellmuth’s attempt to win his 12th bracelet in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better, currently on dinner break with 8 players remaining. Here’s the standings when play resumes shortly to blinds of 15,000/30,000, follow the action at PokerNews:

John Gottlieb 1,200,000
Ben Lamb 725,000
Michael Chappus 470,000
Ryan Karp 400,000
Phil Hellmuth 270,000
Anders Taylor 266,000
Mandy Thomas 266,000
Steve Jelinek 220,000

UPDATE: Hellmuth finished in 7th place for $30,000.

The rest of Thursday’s tournament action in brief:

The $1,500 No-Limit Holdem has about 100 players remaining when they resume from dinner break. Mike Sowers leads the field with 632,000 in chips, follow the action and updates at PokerNews.

The $10,000 HORSE World Championship has about 75 players remaining as they try to reach the money when 24 remain. The current chip leader is Steve Bilirakis (205,000) followed by Greg Raymer (170,000), Annie Duke (167,000), Robert Mizrachi (145,000) and Matt Glantz (105,000). More updates and chip counts at wsop.com.

Six levels of play have taken place in the $2,500 Mixed Holdem, with 169 of the 507 players who started remaining as they take their dinner break. John Phan is the early leader with 55,000 in chips, followed by Dwyte Pilgrim (46,000), Andy Bloch (36,000), Brandon Cantu (25,000) and Justin Bonomo (20,200). More details to come at wsop.com.

Greg Raymer is still alive in the NAPT main event (with 128 of 872 remaining). He made it just in time for the tournament … via Washington DC, where he was at CPAC 2010, bringing “our issue” to the people who came to see the likes of Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, John Ashcroft, Glenn Beck, and Tucker Carlson.

It’s kinda a tough sell when you think about it … the buzzwords in influential conservative circles these days are all about less government, not more. So here we have poker’s Libertarian ambassador trying to persuade GOPers to: forget the moralists in favor of personal freedom (ok, probably doable), set up a new government bureaucracy to monitor our financial activity on the internet (what the …?), and tax him a lot more personally. (“OK, now we gotta hear this; hey Jeb get over here, I think the guy who showed up in your office this summer wearing shorts and sandals with socks is gonna tell a joke!)

Vanity Fair seemed to find it a little bit mockworthy. But according to Time magazine, what really matters is that poker players do know how to party:

But probably the coolest parties that first night at CPAC were secret ones — invite-only passes palmed to a select few. The first one was hosted by the Poker Player’s Alliance and included CPAC’s “It” kids, James O’Keefe of Acorn pimp fame and his three cohorts who were recently entangled with the law for messing with Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu’s phone lines; anti-tax champion Grover Norquist; conservative media personality Andrew Breitbart; and 2004 World Poker Champion Greg Raymer. The open bar at Medaterra got quite a workout with young conservatives ordering everything from beer to shots of Redheaded Sluts, a crimson concoction involving Jagermeister. (After some debate, no one was game enough to try a flaming Redheaded Slut.) Breitbart and the rest of the Louisiana Four — as they were fondly hailed by many at CPAC — then headed over to a party hosted by Mike Flynn, editor of the website Big Government, at Morton’s Steakhouse. Flynn not only had an open bar tab but stacks of fine cigars for guests to chuff on.

BTW, check out CPAC’s straw poll to see what issues matter most to people who consider themselves true conservatives in 2010. You’ll see on page 11 that the runaway favorite for president amongst these folks is Ron Paul (R-TX), who generally hates all things more-government, but as a co-sponsor to the Barney Frank bill, could prove a critical ally.

I’m watching it, for the first time. ESPN just did the sidebar piece on Justin Bonomo’s prop bet on one of the 40something players living in Panorama Towers winning a bracelet. (Does anyone know if he won that bet? I’m sure Panorama Towers had at least as many final tables as Denmark.) Greg Raymer just busted out … Norman Chad’s same ole shtick seems fresh, not tired … and the poker itself is good.

I gotta say, like the way the 2009 season is starting … I could see a few people getting hooked during a weekend marathon. Go ESPN. I think my reluctance to give a shit about first airings might say more about an evolving desire to watch TV podcast-style, at one’s own convenience, than it does about non-excitement for what is clearly a great poker show. Well shot, well edited.

MORE: The cutover to the Champions Invitational … with Raymer coming over after busting out in third, to take a seat amongst a bunch of recognizable-to-grandma champions … nice! Seriously, semi-interested in that tourney now. (If only it had more money at stake.)

Greg Raymer did an online chat with the Washington Post today … relatively interesting stuff, and good to see that while the non-poker-geeky masses may not be charged up about online poker issues, they are starting to understand them … or at least ask better questions.

Still, seems most of the curiosity is about card play itself:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/07/21/DI2009072102508.html

Sometimes I think they’re important to have. Other times, um, lol? From Facebook:

J ***** sent you a message.

Subject: WSOP

“You still in the main event? In the money yet?”

Hey, so if all you could play along … I’m thinking of telling him yeah, it’s Day 3, I’m good for like $160k and am thinking of cashing out before I lose it all. Cool? If he asks who’s winning we’ll say Greg Raymer, OK? Ooh, or even better, Phil Ivey … er …

A reminder of what the main event really is all about — at least for more than thousand true online poker geeks in attendance last night at the PokerStars party — because really, when else would Gregory Raymer ever have a chance to be on the same page as Simon LeBon?

The daily briefing from Pokerati’s always reliable Vegas nightlife informant:

photo: Shane O’Neal/N9NE Group

Rain Nightclub inside Palms Casino Resort hosted the 40th Annual World Series of Poker Event Thursday night (7.9.09), a private event which featured a special performance by Grammy award-winning artist, Nelly. The evening consisted of poker stars and celebrities who joined as one with PokerStars.net to celebrate poker at its finest. Dressed in a white polo shirt and jeans, Nelly arrived with an entourage of 15 people. Shortly after midnight, he hit the stage and rocked a 40-minute live performance in front of a packed house. In addition to singing top hits, “Hot In Herrre,” “Dilemma” and “Country Grammar” he also treated the crowd with two songs from his new album expected to hit stores in the fall.

Others in attendance included: actor and poker player Chad Brown; professional poker players Daniel Negreanu, Gregory Raymer and Barry Greenstein; actor and comedian best known for his role in Seinfeld, Jason Alexander; and actor who was recently crowned the winner of reality TV series, I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here, Lou Phillips.

English rock band Duran Duran partied at Playboy Club at a VIP table. They arrived with a couple friends and were seen drinking beer, leaving shortly after midnight.

ALT HED: Chad Brown’s an Actor?

First, this note from Nolan Dalla’s latest tournament report:

In the days following the third annual Ante Up For Africa tournament, WSOP officials have received a number of media inquiries regarding the event’s second-place finisher – specifically whether he collected his winnings without donating a portion to the cause the tournament benefits. In light of these ongoing inquiries and certain erroneous media reports that have been filed since the event’s conclusion, the WSOP feels it is necessary to clarify certain relevant facts.

First and foremost, the second-place finisher, to date, has not collected his tournament winnings. Nor has he stated an intention not to contribute to the charity. This player has, in fact, contacted Ante Up For Africa organizers to discuss his plans for the money. Any reports to the contrary are factually inaccurate and should be disregarded.

Day 1b concluded with 655 players returning Tuesday afternoon, joining the remaining entries from day 1a as Day 2a gets underway. The reported* chip leader at the end of play is Brandon Demes with 137,075. Other notables with a decent stack include: Fabrice Soulier (97,725), Joe Sebok (78,800), Bruno Fitoussi (58,100), Shaun Deeb (55,100), Amarillo Slim (48,075) and Greg Raymer (43,750). To see the entire list of survivors, check out the link here.

* Day 1 chip leader Eric Cloutier’s stack was reported as 150,750, it turns out it actually is 15,075.

Day 1c gets underway with a possible change in schedule, as ESPN.com’s Andrew Feldman noted, day 1c and 1d MAY start with 5 levels of play, then playing 4 levels on Day 2b on Wednesday. Day 2a will then be five levels long so everyone has played for the same amount of time. Feldman expects an announcement to made just before play gets underway at 12 noon today. Follow the updates over at www.wsop.com here and maybe some stuff from the rest of Pokerati during Sunday.

The Rumble at the Rio had its press conference/weigh-in ceremony today in the Rio Pavilion hallway to introduce Liv Boeree (representing UltimateBet) and Melissa Castello (representing PokerNews), who will be fighting each other on July 1 for publicity charity. ESPN filmed it, and the poker media was out in force to cover it. Almost every poker media outlet was there to take photos or gather notes to publicize the event.

It is significant to note that only about 25% of those reporters were anywhere near the Poker Players Alliance press conference yesterday. PPA Chairman and former NY Senator Alfonse D’Amato spoke, along with NV Rep. Shelley Berkley and PPA board members Greg Raymer and Linda Johnson, to announce National Poker Week.

Who says the poker media doesn’t have integrity/priorities?

Recapping the early part of Friday’s WSOP action:

Austin Awesome in $5,000 PLO

Richard Austin took down the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event in stunning fashion, eliminating Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy and Sorel Mizzi on the final hand when he hit a flush on the river to take down the coveted WSOP bracelet as well as $409,484. Mizzi would take second place, good for $253,048, while Josephy finished in 3rd for $166,771.

Nguyen Winning $10k Stud 8

Day 2 of the $10,000 Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better World Championship has Scotty Nguyen, still $4,000,000 short of his goal at this year’s WSOP or he retires from poker, is the current chip leader (342,500) with 33 players remaining. Lyle Berman (280,000), John Hennigan (230,000), Greg Raymer (196,000) and Jeff Lisandro (154,000) are some of the notables remaining. Unfortunately for Pokerati readers, Tom Schneider was one of the most recent eliminations.

Woodall Waxing Competition in $2,000 NL

Warren Woodall, who had a deep run in an earlier $2,000 NL holdem event, is the current chip leader (580,000) with 68 players remaining in another $2,000 NL Holdem event. Corwin Cole (465,000), Christian Harder (375,000) and Ken Lennaard (251,000) make up a few of the notables remaining as they play down to the final table or the 3am deadline, whichever comes first.

Sands Rises in the Desert

David Sands leads the remaining 239 players from a starting field of 446 in the $2,000 Limit Holdem event with two levels left in the day. Sands currently has about 36,000 in chips, followed by John Monette (30,000), Daniel Negreanu (23,500), Alex Kravchenko (20,000) and Mickey Seagle (19,000) as notables on the unofficial leaderboard.

Follow the updates over at www.wsop.com and more pictures of ass crack here at Pokerati.

Six bracelet events are working towards different conclusions this evening. The one that most people are following is the $2,500 NL 2-7 Lowball final table, which is now heads-up between Phil Ivey and John Monette. Ivey stands to win about $100,000 in the tournament, plus $3,000,000 in bracelet bets. You can catch the action at wsop.pkr.com or bluffmagazine.com/live

The $1,500 NL Holdem event finally reached their final table this evening and the players went on a dinner break. That final table was supposed to be streamed, so apparently when the Lowball event ends, they’ll move whomever’s left in the Holdem event to this table. Here’s how that final table will begin:

Seat 1 – Steve Karp
Seat 2 – Brian McInnis
Seat 3 – Mark Salinaro
Seat 4 – James McClain
Seat 5 – Walter Wright
Seat 6 – Mike Ciotola
Seat 7 – Kam Low
Seat 8 – Travis Johnson
Seat 9 – Craig McConville

In the $1,500 NL 6-max event, 35 are currently remaining as they’ll play down to a 6-handed final table. Notables remaining include David Fox, David “Bakes” Baker, Manny Minaya, Peter Gould and Praz Bansi. The $2,500 Pot-Limit Holdem/Pot-Limit Omaha event finally reached the money after returning from dinner break. Greg Raymer and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi went out just short of the money. Amnon Filippi is the chip leader, with Hevad Khan, Surinder Sunar, Ben Grundy and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier looking to be at the final table tomorrow afternoon.

A starting field of 1,646 entered the $2,000 NL Holdem event, and when the dinner break was over, just under 800 were returning, one of which will pick up nearly $570,000. The evening tournament, $10,000 Mixed Event World Championship drew a field of 194, and in the early hours, Vanessa Rousso is the current chip leader. Plenty of big names, including Scotty Nguyen, Ivan Demidov, Victor Ramdin and Barry Greenstein are in the top 10, with plenty of big names looking to take down the $492,000 top prize. For more updates during the evening, point your browser over to www.worldseriesofpoker.com often.

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 $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event started at noon today, and it appeared they were competing with the two Day 1′s of the $1,000 NL Holdem Stimulus Special in terms of winnowing the field in a hurry. As the players go on their dinner break, just 198 players remain from a starting field of 809. There’s a chance that the field will be able to make the money, as 81 players will get paid, with first place taking down just over $237,000. The 75% reduction of the field in the PLO event is greater than the 67% decimation that hit the $1k NL event this past weekend. The early leaders appear to be Jason Mercier and Jesse Rios, both over 70,000 in chips. Other notables still with a chance: Josh Arieh, Amnon Filippi, Shannon Shorr, David Sklansky and Andy Black.

In games where you use two cards, the $1k Stimulus Special is on their dinner break, with play scheduled to end at 3am with the belief that a final table will be close at hand. Zach Melaney appears to be the chip leader (260,000). Notables near the top include J.C. Tran (200,000), Jonathan Aguiar (140,000), Steve Sung (90,000) and Will “The Thrill” Failla (76,000).

The WSOP Champions Invitational is currently three-handed as Tom McEvoy, Robert Varkonyi and Dan Harrington are playing for the Binion Cup and 1970 Corvette. Probably not the final three the ESPN cameras were hoping for, but that’s poker for you.

The $10,000 7 Card Stud World Championship drew a smaller than expected field of 142, down 16 from last year. However, plenty of poker’s elite still make up the field such as: Phil Ivey, Greg Raymer, Tony G, Barry Greenstein, David Singer, John Hennigan and Chau Giang. Updates on all of these events can be found at www.worldseriesofpoker.com all night.

A few recaps while several tournaments are on their dinner breaks:

The 40th Annual $40,000 NL Holdem final table has 4 players remaining. Greg Raymer, Vitaly Lunkin, Isaac Haxton and Dani Stern make up the final four to take home nearly $2m and the first open gold bracelet of the WSOP. Ted Forrest, Noah Schwartz, Lex Veldhius, Alec Torelli and Justin Bonomo were eliminated earlier today from the final table.

Speaking of Raymer, the WSOP Champions Invitational got underway earlier this afternoon. 20 of the 25 surviving champions accepted their RSVPs to be filmed under the bright lights of the ESPN cameras. Within the first orbit, 2006 winner Jamie Gold was the first player eliminated, while 2003 winner Chris Moneymaker watched his 10,000 chip stack dwindle erode before he finally busted. Raymer was able to get a couple of hands in before returning to the $40k final table. Six more one-hour levels or until the final table of nine return Monday afternoon.

More recaps on the next page:
More…

The money bubble bursts in the $40k NLH — Neil Chriss suffers — and Pauly, Benjo, and I are there to capture it live while talking about sheep hookers. By the time this event gets to the final table, it’s about whether Greg Raymer is old-school or new-school, and if I would ever spend my Sundays at a strip club. (A few hundred Lodge players, of course, know the answer to that.) Plus: how a four-figure strip-club bill in Week 1 turns into a five-figure blowout by Week 6, and who knows what kinda party’s in store when a Frenchman wins a bracelet.

Special appearances by Short-Stacked Shamus and a lovely French woman.

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

Episode 11.7: Bubble Party
4:01

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Episode 11.8: $40K Final Table Dance
4:25

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The first major final table of the 2009 WSOP takes place at 2pm today for the 40th Annual $40,000 NL Holdem. ESPN will be filming today, the only bracelet event besides the Main Event to bring out their cameras. Fortunately, they’ve made a wise choice as they have a final table with a World Champion, several bracelet winners and some of today’s best Internet players battling out for nearly $1.9 million for first and a gold WSOP bracelet. Here’s how the players will be seated when play resumes:

Seat 1 – Ted Forrest (560,000)
Seat 2 – Noah Schwartz (660,000)
Seat 3 – Alec Torelli (2,340,000)
Seat 4 – Isaac Haxton (5,955,000)
Seat 5 – Greg Raymer (3,345,000)
Seat 6 – Justin Bonomo (1,685,000)
Seat 7 – Lex Veldhuis (3,805,000)
Seat 8 – Dani Stern (1,300,000)
Seat 9 – Vitaly Lunkin (4,565,000)

The unfortunate (for both ESPN and himself) final table bubble boy was Tony G, outflopped by Lunkin on the final hand of play yesterday, but he should be able to console himself with the $172,000 he earned for the 10th place finish.

Day 1a of the $1,000 NL Holdem Stimulus Special is now in the books, with 2,998 entries for day 1a, and only 375 surviving the donkey slaughter to return on Monday afternoon to join the remnants of Sunday’s field of nearly 3,000 who start play at 12 noon. The day 1a chip leader is Jeremiah DeGreef with 132,200 in chips, the only other player who broke the 100k mark was Jonathan Tamayo (107,500). The average stack for the remaining day 1a players will be about 24 BBs (24,000). A more detailed recap of today’s events from me can be found on PokerNews. Today at 12 noon, another field of nearly 3,000 will be taking their seats for day 1b, playing ten levels of poker and then coming back on short rest tomorrow to first make the money, then the final table.

The ESPN cameras will also be focused on the Champions Invitational which will start at 4pm PT today. Somewhere between 20 and 25 players anticipate on being part of the lineup, although Greg Raymer could certainly be excused if he shows up a little later than the others. Russ Hamilton and Bobby Baldwin, as noted earlier, will not be in action today. Chris Ferguson surely has RSVP’d by now, but the remaining champions (Mansour Matloubi, Hamid Dastmalchi, and Noel Furlong) may not bother coming back to Vegas just to play for the Binion Cup trophy and 1970 Corvette that goes to the winner.

The $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event will also come to a conclusion today starting at 2pm, as 19 players remain at the end of play on day 2. Ed Smith is the current chip leader at 433,000 in chips, defending champion Thang Luu is in 2nd (410,000). Other notables remaining: Robert Price, Jim Geary, Freddy Deeb, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Richard Toth, Ming Reslock, and Jordan Rich. Follow all the action over at www.worldseriesofpoker.com and throughout the day here on Pokerati.