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.

Lindgren and Nguyen highlight 5k 6-max FT

Six players remain at the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max final table with Jeffrey Papola (2,340,000) leading when play resumed at 9pm. The rest of the final table is made up of Erick Lindgren (1,670,000), Men Nguyen (1,505,000), Orlando Delacruz (1,100,000), Bruno Launais (1,003,000) and Mark Radoja (480,000). Follow the action at PokerNews.

Velador vibrant at PLO/PLH FT

Eight players remain in the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha/Pot-Limit Holdem final table with Jose Luis Velador (985,000) holding the chip lead. Kevin MacPhee (631,000), David Chiu (437,000), Rob Hollink (323,000), and Victor Ramdin (200,000) are the notable names remaining, follow the action at PokerNews.

10k NL HU at Round 4

The $10,000 No-Limit Holdem Heads-Up Championship is currently at round 4 with players now in the money. Among the round 4 winners: Faraz Jaka, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Brian Rast, Kido Pham, Ludovic Lacay and Jason Somerville. One more round is scheduled for 11pm tonight, with the 8 survivors playing to a winner Sunday afternoon. See who else moves on at wsop.com.

Seniors’ sauntering along at day 2

Less than 150 players remain as play continues on day 2 of the $1,000 Seniors’ No-Limit Holdem Championship with Duane Gerleman (210,000) reported as the chip leader. Other notables in the hunt: Team Pokerati/Loudmouth Poker pro Tom Schneider (181,000), Berry Johnston (110,000), Susie Isaacs (60,000) and John Spadavecchia (55,000). Find more info over at wsop.com.

Day 1a of 1k NL underway

A field of 2,485 1,987 started day 1a of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem with around 550 players remaining, scheduled to play 10 levels or down to about 360 players, whichever comes first. Notables who’ve grown their 3,000-chip stack: Scott Montgomery (25,000), Liv Boeree (24,700), Neil Channing (18,000) and Lee Childs (11,000). More updates and chip counts can be found at PokerNews.

3k HORSE field saddles up

The 5pm tournament today, $3,000 HORSE, drew a field of 478 entrants with the top 48 making the money, with the winner earning $329,840. The early leader is Robert Willamson III with 16,000 in chips, followed by Andre Akkari (13,000), Shaun Deeb (12,500), Matt Savage (11,700) and Scotty Nguyen (10,500). More updates as eight levels of play is scheduled at PokerNews.

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.

Seniors’ event sets record

The $1,000 Seniors’ No-Limit Holdem event drew a record 3,248 entries this afternoon when play started shortly after 12pm today. Not only was this a record field for a Seniors’ event, it was the largest field to start a tournament on a single day in poker history. The current leader is Team Pokerati and Loudmouth Poker’s own Tom Schneider with 29,000 in chips. Other notables include: “Minneapolis Jim” Meehan (16,000), Lon McEachern (14,500), Alan Boston (13,000) and TJ Cloutier (11,000). The field is currently on their dinner break with four levels remaining for the field to play. Follow the occasional updates over at PokerNews.

10k Heads-Up sells out again

The $10,000 No-Limit Heads-Up Championship drew a sold-out field of 256 entries, with two rounds scheduled for today. Winners of round 1 matches include Gavin Smith, Tom Dwan, Jason Mercier, Annette Obrestad, Josh Arieh, Phil Gordon, Blair Hinkle and Phil Ivey. The 128 winners will return at 10pm for round 2 action. See who moves on and who moves out at PokerNews.

Barbieri leading HORSE final table

The final table of the $1,500 HORSE has returned from their dinner break with eight players remaining. Here’s the chip counts when play resumed:

Al Barbieri 635,000
Konstantin Puchkov 605,000
Blake Cahail 540,000
Hani Awad 520,000
Andrew Revesz 475,000
Dustin Leary 420,000
Robert Mizrachi 250,000
Ken Lennaard 250,000

Follow the updates over at wsop.com.

Gonzales leads 1500 NL day 3

Christopher Gonzales (2,700,000) holds a large chip lead in the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem final day with 11 remaining. The field will be returning from dinner break shortly, see if anyone can run him down at wsop.com.

Brady leads bunch at 5k 6-max day 2

Dinner break ends shortly for the 56 players remaining in the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event, with 54 making the money. Matt Brady (465,000) holds a slight chip lead over McLean Karr (460,000) when play resumes. Other notables include David Ulliott (265,000), Christian Harder (255,000), Isaac Haxton (185,000) and Eric Baldwin (157,000). PokerNews will be there to follow the action when play resumes.

Tieman leads during day 2 of PLO/PLH

The $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha/Pot-Limit Holdem field is on dinner break with 54 players remaining, but only 45 make the money. Joshua Tieman is looking for his 2nd WSOP bracelet this year as he leads the field with 209,500 in chips. Victor Ramdin (155,000), John Kabbaj (98,000), David Chiu (87,600) and Burt Boutin (67,000) are among the notables looking to get a return on their investment when play resumes. The fine reporting team at PokerNews will be there to see who bubbles and who bounds into the lead.

It looks to be a long night for some of these events to get finished, but for those who don’t want to stay up that late, another report will be forthcoming in the morning.

Keikoan grinds out 10k limit title

After almost five hours of heads-up play, Matt Keikoan defeated Daniel Idema in the $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship. Keikoan earns $425,969 and his second WSOP gold bracelet, while Idema will have to be consoled with earning $263,244 for the runner-up finish. Full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report are available at wsop.com.

Proulx powers his way to PLO bracelet

Miguel Proulx dispatched Loren Klein in heads-up play to win the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet along with $315,311 early Friday morning. Klein pockets $195,147 for falling just short of the bracelet. Dalla’s report and full results at wsop.com.

Gonzales leads 1500 NL field for day 3

Day three of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem has Christopher Gonzales leading the field with 1,315,000 in chips as 21 players remain when play resumes at 3pm to play down to a winner. Other notables: Neil Channing (461,000), Jean Gaspard (413,000), and David Sands (346,000). Chip counts for the remaining field is online at PokerNews.

Puchkov leads HORSE field on final day

The final day of the $1,500 HORSE will have Konstantin Puchkov (465,000) leading the final 24 players when play resumes at 3pm. Others looking to make their way to the top include Robert Mizrachi (238,000), Allen Kessler (229,500), Cliff Josephy (165,500), Chip Jett (120,000) and defending champion James Van Alstyne (111,500). The full field is now online at PokerNews.

Harder holding 5k 6-max lead for day 2

Day two of the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event has 116 players remaining when play resumes at 2:30 this afternoon with Christian Harder the chip leader with 258,700. Other big names returning to win the $667,433 top prize include David “Devilfish” Ulliot (176,000), Phil Ivey (148,300), Isaac Haxton (123,100), Chad Brown (101,400), and Todd Terry (99,500). The full list of chip counts can be found here.

Smith boosted into PLO/PLH lead

Justin “Boosted J” Smith (130,000 in chips) leads the day 2 field of 126 survivors in the $2,500 Pot-Limit Holdem/Pot-Limit Omaha event when action resumes at 3pm. The tournament drew 428 entrants, with the top 45 making the money, with $260,517 going to the winner. Other notables returning include Victor Ramdin (54,750), Ashton Griffin (44,000), Jeff Lisandro (40,200),

Friday’s tournaments

Two tournaments on Friday’s agenda, with the 12pm event the $1,000 Seniors’ No-Limit Holdem Championship, with players who are 50 years old and over eligible to participate. Last year’s winner was Michael Davis who defeated a field of 2,707 entrants, good for $3437,358. The 5pm tournament is the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Holdem Championship, guaranteed to attract a sold-out field of 256. Last year Leo Wolpert was the winner, earning $625,682.

Event 1 – £2,500 NL Holdem 6-max – September 14-16th
Event 2 – £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha – September 16th-18th
Event 3 – £1,000 NL Holdem – September 17th-21st (This event will have three day 1′s)
Event 4 – £10,000 High Roller Heads-Up NL Holdem Septermber 21st-23rd
Event 5 – £10,000 NL Holdem Main Event – September 23rd-28th (This event will have two day 1′s)

Seven years ago today, the 2003 Main Event got underway …

After wading through a massive field of 839, Chris Moneymaker would end up facing off against Sam Farha, the quintessential Vegas gambler, and making the bluff that created an industry:

(Check out his hat. Think PokerStars got good ROI on their swag?)

From PokerListings:

Cada Wins It All!
12 minutes ago

After falling into an almost 3:1 chip deficit, Joe Cada grabbed control once again.

He made it 3 million preflop and Moon called.

The flopped rolled out Tc 9h 5d and both players tapped the table.

The 10d would bring some fireworks, however, as Moon check-raised all-in after a 3 million chip bet from Cada.

Cada leaned back in his chair for a few minutes pondering a call that would be for his tournament life.

Suddenly and decisively, he laid it all on the line making that call.

Moon showed 8s 7s for the open-ender and Cada’s Jh 9d was ahead.

Moon would need a six or a jack to win the Main Event title, but it was not to be as the 3h river fell, handing Cada the double-up and the chip lead.

Following the hand, Cada was up to 108 million and Moon ground down to 86 million.

A few hands later, the two got into a preflop raising war that saw Cada push in with nines and Moon make the call for his tournament life with Qd Jd.

The flop came 8c 7s 2c and chants of “Joey” filled the theatre. The turn brought the Kh and Cada needed to fade just one more card.

As the crowd murmured in anticipation, the river came the 7c and the Main Event title and $8.5 million was suddenly Cada’s.

A roar of approval could be heard all the way to Freemont Street.

Darvin Moon will take home $5.1 million for his second-place finish, but the World Championship and all the glory that goes now belongs to Joe Cada.

Level: 40
Blinds: 600,000/1,200,000
Ante: 200,000
Average Stack: $194,820,000
Players Left: 1
Tables Left: 1

The WSOP&T Theater is packed-packed again … with plenty of folks lined up outside waiting to fill any empties.

So far I think I’ve seen the best ever rail-fan prop — about 10 rows from the stage, in Darvin Moon section of fans, a guy is holding up a toy chainsaw every time something positive for Moon occurs on the felt. Poker Loggers unite! Crap/LOL: domain name long taken/abandoned.

Lots of heckling, too … which gotta say, much to my surprise, Jack “Link’s” Effel is deflecting quite well.

MORE in this spot TK, at least for a while … keep refreshing.

– Everything intensified with such an audience watching. Even “checks” get gasps from the crowd … and mucks get “whoop whoop whoops!”

– Frat boy chants: “Let’s Go CA-DA! Let’s Go CA-DA!”

– Darvin now has the chip lead.

UPDATE: New level … and Linda “Tranwreck’ is the dealer … bad beats on the way?

NOTE: Blinds at 600k/1.2mm … exceeding the level where the 2008 WSOP main event came to a close.

STATING THE OBVIOUS: Barry Greenstein is a big fan of Linda Tran. @barrygreenstein tweets:

Linda Tran is the current dealer and she is beautiful and Asian. More incentive for me to final table next year.

via @WickedChops

–The gaming agents (not to be confused with gaming-agents) that Pauly loves to talk about are here … but either they have little business to attend to and are simply supporting their client Joe Cada … or they have learned how to prevent people like me from taking pictures of them looking devious by saying things like, “hey, how’s it goin’?” (Foiled!)

– Blinds are 600k/1.2mm … and with 195 million total chips in play, that means an average stack has roughly 81 BB

UPDATE CHIP COUNT:

Darvin Moon – 97,650,000
Joe Cada – 97,150,000

That’s what we wanna know … after Saturday/Sunday’s marathon 9->2 session … how long do you think the heads-up battle between Darvin Moon and Joe Cada will go?

They’re currently in Level 39, with blinds at 500k/1000k + 150k.

Moon has almost the same number of chips he started with, 58,850,000, while Cada, who started with just 13,215,000, now has all the rest — 135,950,000.

What they’re fighting for, essentially: $3.36 million in cash, and then everything else that goes with being WSOP champ.

NOTE: In our previous unscientific poll, Moon got the second-most votes … Cada fourth-most.

The record for WSOP heads-up battles is 7 hours 10 minutes, set by Chip Reese vs. Andy Bloch in 2006. Before that it was 7 hours, in the 1983 main event … where after Doyle Brunson busted out in 3rd on a semi-bluff, an unknown from Michigan, Tom McEvoy, beat Rod Peate for $580,000:

BTW, for a fun historical perspective, watch the start of the television coverage of the 1983 final table here.

Notable eliminations: Joe Hachem, David Benyamine, J.C. Tran, Theo Tran, Bertrand Grospellier, Blair Hinkle and Joe Serock.

The Dream Team Poker event is down to Kenna James versus Judy Tejwani for the individual title. Congrats again goes to the Tao of Pokerati team for clinching the team title a few hours ago. Live updates now available for the Main Event at www.wsop.com and more stuff from the rest of the writing team during the evening.