But what about the rest of ‘em?

You can currently find Jerry Yang, the 2007 WSOP’s biggest winner and #20 on the all-time poker tournament money list, bussing tables while commanding an otherwise lackadaisical staff (according to Yelp) at Pocket 8s Sushi & Grill in central California. Um, pass the yum-yum sauce?

Via Pokerati’s resident Vegas grinder-thug @AndrewNeeme:

Poker Fish: You wouldn’t believe how many of Jerry Yang’s relatives are always hitting him up for free sushi.

source: @RobertGoldfarb

Really … $1k an hour? I mean that’s not quite Carrot Top money, and supposedly Gold’s already had five students pony up … but jeesh … you’d think at that rate they could at least afford a nicer sign!

Additional Resources

• [video] Eliot Spitzer hooker money
• [video] Wall Street Journal on $1,000/hr attorneys
• Richest comedians/Carrot Top net worth

Though I hardly recall why specifically, something about this visitor seemed peculiar enough for me to wanna preserve the moment. ith the benefit of hindsight, I’m sure I was just kidding.

Here’s a storyline that ESPN somehow missed/didn’t feed us on the media-prep conference call … It’s a very Jewish WSOP main event final table.

The Jewish Daily Forward points out what may or may not be a statistical anomaly: Four of the November Nine — Jeff Shulman, Steve Begleiter, Eric Buchman, and Kevin Schaffel — happen to speak Hebrew, at least during family holidays.

From a stack perspective, these Jewish players control 49.6 percent of all the chips in play. How stereotypical …

The J-article also offers a rich history of Jews in the game … from Jack Strauss to Jamie Gold … and most recently Barry Shulman’s Yom Kippur victory at WSOP-E. Back in the day, of course, the World Series was all about Jews vs. Texans, but Texans have been sucking it up in recent years now the game has a more widespread international appeal that has prevented any one region from owning pwning it.

Full Disclosure: I used to make an annual pilgrimage to a Dallas synagogue in an effort to bring people with money to the Lodge convert non-gentiles to the poker way. So yeah …

ALT HED: נובמבר תשע עצה: בית על היהודים

And making his second consecutive go at the WSOP-E main-event title, runner-up Daniel Negreanu would come up two outs short of being “happy” that he just became the biggest winner in the history of tournament poker.

photo: The Tower / A World of Poker

Negreanu knocked out six of the other final table-ists to get heads-up. And yet in the end Barry Shulman — CardPlayer’s overlord emeritus — held strong in a war of presumably tight aggression to win £801,603 (= $1,283,687 USD). That, of course, is almost exactly the amount his son Jeff has been guaranteed for making the November Nine. No added pressure/father’s shadow issues for sure.

Negreanu’s second-place finish and £496k payday propelled him to the top of the all-time tourney-money leaderboard, passing Jamie Gold and Phil Ivey — who now needs to finish 6th-or-better this November to re-pass Negreanu as the winningest tournament player ever.

(Thanks, Lance, for the deets!)

Here’s video of the final two hands from The Casino at the Empire, Leicester Square:

(If for some reason the above vid disappears, you can find the original page here.)

For those of us debating how ESPN and PokerPROductions (a different film crew than the gang producing WSOP-LV episodes) should do their broadcasting jobs … it seems this 6-day event will be shown in 2 hours, not 20 … and that includes squeezing in the Caesar’s Cup! While that may not seem to do poker-junkie justice to a tournament that kept a bunch of us jaded, immune-to-tourney-hype types checking in on the action for more than 16 hours of final table play, I suppose movie-length could work, too.

UPDATE: Clarification of ESPN’s programming intent in the comments below (from ESPN sources who would know). They plan to give it way too much more coverage than implied above.

Click below for Nolan’s official write-up/script:

Official Final Report
WSOPE Event 4
2009 WSOP Gold Bracelet Event: 61
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: £10,000 (= $16,020 USD)
Number of Entries: 334
Total Net Prize Pool: £3,340,000 (= $5,348,677 USD)
Number of Places Paid: 36
First Place Prize: £801,603 (= $1,283,687 USD)
26 September to 1 October 2009

Tournament Report

Event Headlines –

1. Card Player CEO Barry Shulman Wins 2009 World Series of Poker Europe Championship

2. Card Player Ace Barry Shulman Wins Second WSOP Gold Bracelet

3. Thrilling 5:00 AM Poker Hand Decides Fate in Fantastic Finish

4. Poker Titans Shulman and Negreanu Battle Heads-Up for Three Hours in WSOP Europe Finale – Card Player CEO Victorious

5. Negreanu Now the All-Time Leading Money Winner (Overall) in Poker Tournament History — $12 Million in Earnings, and Growing

6. World Series of Poker Continues to Impress: Overall Tournament Attendance for All WSOP Europe Events Increases 19.7 Percent over Last Year

7. Sixty Gold Bracelets Won – With One to Go: WSOP Main Event Final Table Championship Begins on November 7th

The Champion (Barry Shulman) –

· The 2009 World Series of Poker Europe £10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event champion is Barry Shulman, from Las Vegas, NV.

· Shulman is the 63-year-old CEO of Card Player Magazine and Shulman Media.

· Shulman was born in Seattle, WA. He became a millionaire through real estate investments. After retiring from real estate during the mid-1990s, Shulman moved to Las Vegas to play poker professionally and bought the poker industry’s leading publication, Card Player magazine, in 1999. He initially served as its President and Publisher. His son Jeff, assumed the role of Editor at Card Player in 2001.

· Barry’s son, Jeff Shulman, is one of the famed “November Nine,” who will compete for the 2009 world poker championship next month.

· Shulman’s wife Allyn Jaffrey-Shulman is also a dedicated poker player. She plays regularly on the tournament circuit and competes in many WSOP events. Allyn Jaffrey-Shulman supported her husband from the audience during the entire 16.5-hour finale.

· Shulman became a grandfather recently.

· Shulman collected £801,603 for first place. The cash prize is equal to about $1,283,687 in U.S. dollars.

· According to official records, Shulman now has 2 wins, 8 final table appearances, and 14 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP.

· Shulman currently has $1,574,955 in career WSOP winnings.

· This was the second victory at WSOP Europe ever by a player from the United States. Nations which have placed players in the winners’ circle at London include: Denmark (2), Finland, Afghanistan (1), Germany (1), England (1), Canada (1), Italy (1), Norway (1), and the United States (2).

Winner Quotes (Barry Shulman) –

Note: WSOP Europe Main Event champion Barry Shulman was interviewed moments after his victory.

· On where this victory ranks among his many accomplishments in both business and poker: “It’s a lot of fun for me to be here right now. It’s been great. When I moved to Vegas, I took up poker. I tried to prove that I could beat the best in the world. I got pretty good for a while, but then I started to focus more on my business at Card Player (magazine). Since then, I have not been playing as hard. Now, I’m back on the winning trail and feeling very good about it.”

· On there this final table ranks in terms of toughness: “When I broke into poker, the big tournaments had like 100 people…. and when I would sit down at the table I would know 6 or 7 of the players at my table. But since the days of Chris Moneymaker and Internet poker, now I only know maybe one-third of the people. This tournament – because it was a relatively small field (compared to regular WSOP events in Las Vegas) – attracted the best players in Europe and brought over the best player in the United States. So, there just were no weak spots, to use a poker expression – at least at my tables.”

· On his thoughts as “the hand” played out: “The truth is, because it was on television and we were heads up, I knew I got in with the best hand (holding pocket aces). When the jack came on the turn (giving Negreanu three-of-a-kind and making him the huge favorite), I had pretty much given up. I said to myself, ‘well, at least I am not going to be embarrassed here. What are you going to do? That’s poker.’ When the ace came (on the river), I just about passed out.”

· On what still motivates him to play and compete in many of the world’s toughest poker tournaments: “I love winning. I also have a wife who has expensive tastes.”

· On what he will tell his son, Jeff Shulman, who is one of the November Nine finalists: “I did my part. Now, you do your part. It’s your turn to win.”

· On his pick to win the 2009 WSOP Main Event: “Take a guess.”

The Final Table –

· The final table included six former WSOP gold bracelet winners – Daniel Negreanu (6 wins). Chris Bjorin (2 wins), Jason Mercier (1 win), Praz Bansi (1 win), Matt Hawrilenko (1 win), and Barry Shulman (1 win).

· The final table was played nine-handed.

· The final table included two members of the famed “November Nine,” which will play for the world poker championship, to be held next month in Las Vegas. James Akenhead arrived at this final table ranked second in chips (he is ninth in chips going into the N9 championship). Antoine Saout arrived at this final table ranked sixth in chips (he is eighth going into the N9 championship). Russian poker pro Ivan Demidov was the only other player to make it to both final tables at the WSOP Main Event and WSOP Europe, which was accomplished last year.

· The final table was played on the main stage of the Empire Casino. The cozy confines of the Empire made for a cavernous atmosphere. All seats were filled to capacity. Spectators lined the surrounding rails and staircases in order catch a glimpse of the action. As players were eliminated and day turned to night, the crowd size actually grew as there were far more spectators than space available. A nearby bar, located adjacent to the feature table supplied a steady stream of (ahem) refreshments.

· It took more than five hours to eliminate the first player from the finale. That moment finally came when James Akenhead was knocked out late in the afternoon. This fell short of the WSOP record for longest span at a final table without an elimination, which is about six hours. Once Akenhead went out first, four more eliminations quickly took place within a 90-minute span.

· Despite so many accomplished tournament players at the final, local poker pros Praz Bansi and James Akenhead enjoyed the most rousing cheering sections. The home field advantage seemed to particularly favor Bansi, who constantly turned and looked to the crowd for their support and enthusiasm.

· The ultimate winner Barry Shulman arrived at the final table ranked fourth in chips out of nine players. He took the lead about two-thirds of the way through the finale, then see-sawed back and forth with Daniel Negreanu before finally prevailing.

· When heads-up play began, Negreanu enjoyed slightly better than a 3 to 2 lead over Shulman. The exact chip counts were: Negreanu with 6,180,000 vesus Shulman with 3,855,000.

· During a short break while the two finalists were being re-positioned, Negreanu was interviewed at tableside and remarked: “Playing against Barry (Shulman) is dangerous. There is no pressure on him. That makes him very difficult to play against, because I can’t be sure where I am at. I’ve played a lot of hours with Barry and think I have him somewhat figured out. But he’s got at least one advantage against me, which is having no pressure.”

· During the same break in the action, Barry Shulman was interviewed briefly. He commented: “This is exactly what I was hoping for. To be playing heads up for the gold bracelet, especially with Daniel. It’s perfect. I’m on a complete freeroll. I’m having a lot of fun.”

· After about an hour of heads-up play, a critical hand took place. Shulman was down about 5-3 in chips and after the flop, he moved all-in on a flush draw. He held the A-5 of hearts and was down to a heart draw when the board showed Kd-8h-6h. Negreanu called the all-in semi-bluff instantly and tabled two black aces. Negreanu was two cards away from the championship. But a heart on the turn saved Shulman from extinction, and deflated Negreanu’s momentum. That critical hand gave Shulman about a 3 to 1 advantage.

· Negreanu never gave up. It took another two hours, but Negreanu finally regained the chip lead. There were no all-in moments, nor memorable hands along the way. Rather, Negreanu simply managed to chop away slowly at Shulman. About three hours into heads-up play, the two well-known poker personalities were about dead-even in chips.

· Poker fans everywhere will certainly be talking about what is destined to become known as “the hand.” The dramatic climax of this event rivaled the legendary Mansour Matloubi vs. Hans “Tuna” Lund’s late confrontation during the 1990 WSOP Main Event (often described as the most exciting hand in WSOP history). WSOP Europe’s decisive hand came when Negreanu was dealt Q-J. Shulman was dealt A-A. After the flop came J-x-x, Negreanu (holding top pair — jacks) bet out and Shulman raised all in (with an overpair — aces). Negreanu thought for a few minutes, and then finally announced, “Call.” Negreanu didn’t know it, but he was way behind. As the crowd rose to its feet, screaming for various cards, the turn nearly blew the roof off the Empire Casino. It was a jack, giving Negreanu a near-miracle catch and putting him a single card away from winning what would have been a fifth WSOP gold bracelet. Negreanu, blushing from the good fortune, stood in marked contrast to the ever-somber Shulman, who was desperately drawing to two outs. With his tournament life on the line, down to two remaining aces, the bullet hit. It was an ace — striking Negreanu between the eyes and lifting Shulman to the doorstep of his second WSOP career title. Following screams of horror from everyone except those sitting in the Shulman camp, the room went nearly silent as the full effects of the hand began to set in. It was the most exciting hand of the 2009 WSOP and, once broadcast to a global poker audience, is destined to be remembered for years to come.

· It’s hard to imagine an anti-climatic final hand. But Negreanu’s pocket fours were ultimately crushed by Shulman’s pocket tens. A ten flopped – good for a set – which amounted to running up the score after the game was over. The carnage was complete at 5:17 am in front of a packed casino, who had all witnessed one of tournament poker’s most thrilling finishes.

· Echoing the rivalry ignited by the inaugural Caesars Cup held the previous week won by Team Europe, which saw Team Americas humiliated by Team Europe – this final table was comprised of a mix of (5) Europeans and (4) Americans.

· The runner up was Daniel Negreanu, from Las Vegas, NV. Negreanu is one of the world’s most famous poker personalities. He holds four WSOP gold bracelets. With his second-place finish in this tournament, which amounted to £495,589 in prize money, Negreanu became the all-time leading money winner for career lifetime earnings. He now has more than $12 million in tournament winnings, which puts him slightly ahead of Phil Ivey. Note that Ivey can re-take the lead should he finish higher than seventh in this year’s Main Event. The race is on.

· Negreanu has now made back-to-back final table at WSOP Europe Main Events. He finished fifth in last year’s championship.

· The third-place finisher was Praz Bansi, from London, UK. The former WSOP gold bracelet winner ($1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em in 2006) seized the chip leader late in the finale. But he was not able to sustain his momentum. Bansi lost two big hands late, resulting in a third-place showing. His share of the prize pool amounted to £360,887.

· The fourth-place finisher was Jason Mercier, from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The end result was a bitter disappointment for the former gold bracelet winner, who has been one of tournament poker’s most successful players over the past year. Mercier, who won the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event earlier this year, also won the EPT championship at San Remo (Italy) as well as the £1 Million Showdown, in London. Mercier had higher ambitions in this finale, given his lofty chip advantage from the start. But Mercier ultimately lost his lead, his edge, and the remainder of his chips and ended up as the fourth-place finisher – worth £267,267 in prize money.

· The fifth-place finisher was Markus Ristola, from Helsinki. He hoped to become only the third Finnish citizen ever to win a WSOP gold bracelet – following in the footsteps of fellow countrymen Jani Vilmunen and Ville Wahlbeck who both won titles earlier this year. But Ristola came up short when he was eliminated on a big hand against Daniel Negreanu. Ristola ended up with £200,367 in prize money.

· The sixth-place finisher was two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner, Chris Bjorin, from London, UK. Bjorin was short-stacked midway through the final table and lost holding A-J against A-Q on his final hand. This was Bjorin’s third cash at this year’s WSOP Europe – the most of any player. He finished 6th in Event #2, 11th in Event #3, and 6th again in the Main Event. Bjorin has now finished in-the-money 50 times in WSOP events, which ranks eighth on the all-time list. Sixth place paid £150,267.

· The seventh-place finisher was Antoine Saout, from St. Martin des Champs, France. Saout lost a race to Daniel Negreanu when his pocket fives were cracked by A-Q suited (Negreanu made a flush). That bounced the Frenchman from the finale, which was good for £114,228 in prize money. Saout returns to the poker limelight again next month, as one of the November Nine.

· The eighth-place finisher was Matt Hawrilenko, from Boston, MA. The former WSOP gold bracelet winner collected more than $1 million for his victory in the $5,000 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship (Event #56) held earlier this year in Las Vegas. Hawrilenko specializes primarily in cash games, particularly short-handed Limit Hold’em. Poker master Lee Jones called Hawrilenko “one of the top two or three heads-up Limit Hold’em players in the world. The cash game crowd considers him a major deity.” Hawrilenko’s tournament game isn’t bad either, evidenced by four final table appearances this year in WSOP events. Eighth place paid £87,074.

· The ninth-place finisher was James Akenhead, from London, UK. He is one of this year’s “November Nine,” who will play for the WSOP Main Event championship in Las Vegas next month. On his final hand, Akenhead moved all-in pre-flop with A-K and was called by Daniel Negreanu, holding two kings. The big pair held up, eliminating Akenhead. He’ll have another shot at his first gold bracelet on November 7th. Ninth place paid £66,533.

· The final table started at 12:45 pm on Thursday, 1 October. Play ended at 5:17 am. The duration of the finale was 16 hours and 32 minutes, counting breaks.

In-the-Money Finishers –

· The top 36 finishers collected prize money.

· Twelve of the 36 players who cashed (one-third) were former WSOP gold bracelet winners.

· Tony Cousineau, from Daytona Beach, FL finished in 13th place. Cousineau holds a somewhat dubious record (that most any poker player would long for). He has finished in the money 42 times, which is the most of any player who has not yet won a gold bracelet. Cousineau was visibly disgusted when he had plenty of chips late on Day Four, but lost with A-K to a runner-runner flush. “I’m the king of the snake-bitten,” Cousineau shrieked – fittingly ending up as the thirteenth-place in this tournament.

· The 14th-place finisher was English football (soccer) superstar Teddy Sheringham. The 43-year-old semi-retired athlete previously played for the club Manchester United, as well as England’s World Cup team. He has also been awarded an MBE, which is the Member of the Order of the British Empire. Sheringham has become a devoted poker player in recent years. This was his most impressive tournament performance, to date.

· Former WSOP gold bracelet winner Ram Vaswani, from Hendon, UK finished in 15th place. He won the Limit Hold’em Shootout championship in 2007. Vaswani is the youngest member of the famous “Hendon Mob,” a group of five star poker pros based near London. Vaswani is also the only player to date who has made it to four European Poker Tour final tables.

· Doyle’s Brunson’s deep run in this event fueled intense interest worldwide, particularly on Day Four. At one point, Brunson climbed into the top six in chips. But he lost a series of late pots and ended up going out in 17th place. Brunson now has 34 career cashes and nearly $3 million in WSOP lifetime winnings. Brunson was the 1976 and 1977 world poker champion.

· Poker pro Liz Lieu, from Las Vegas, NV was the highest female finisher in this year’s championship tournament. She ended up in 22nd place, and has yet to win her elusive first WSOP title.

· Arnaud Mattern, from Paris, France received a mixed blessing on what was his 30th birthday. He was eliminated on 30 September (his birthday) finishing in 23rd place, which was a disappointment. However, Mattern collected a posh birthday gift totaling £25,918.

· Six-time gold bracelet winner Men “the Master” Nguyen’s 26th-place finish in this tournament gives him 67 career cashes in WSOP events. This currently ranks second on the all-time WSOP cashes list, behind Phil Hellmuth, who has 75.

· John Kabbaj, from London, UK finished in 28th place. He won his first WSOP gold bracelet earlier this year in the $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship. Kabbaj’s victory was made even more memorable for the official gold bracelet ceremony held the following day. A rogue version of “God Save the Queen” by the British punk band, the Sex Pistols, was played to honor Kabbaj, instead of the more traditional version of the national anthem.

· Steve Zolotow finished in 32nd place. Zolotow has been playing tournament poker for more than 20 years. Zolotow, also known as “Z” and “The Bald Eagle,” started out playing poker at the legendary Mayfair Club in New York City. He has since won two WSOP gold bracelets.

· David “Devilfish” Ulliott was less than thrilled with his 35th-place finish. The brassy former WSOP gold bracelet winner, who is one of the UK’s most famous poker stars, was displeased at being placed at the feature table multiple times during the tournament. “These kids, they get on television, and they start to play differently,” Ulliott grumbled. “They don’t want to make fools out of themselves, so they play better. Me? I don’t need to be on television. I’ve been on TV hundreds of time. Everyone knows who I am.”

· David Docherty, from Coatbridge, Scotland finished in 36th place. This marked his second in-the-money finish this year at WSOP Europe.

· Players reached the money at the conclusion of Day Three. This amounted to the completion of 17 Levels, or about 26 hours of tournament play.

· Among the 36 in-the-money finishers, the following nine nations were represented: United States (15), England (10), France (3), Brazil (2), Germany (2), Hungary (1), Israel (1), Finland (1), and Scotland (1).

Odds and Ends –

· World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) includes the final four gold bracelet events of the 2009 calendar year. WSOP events 1-57 were played in Las Vegas from 26 May through 15 July. WSOP Events 58-61 (a.k.a. “WSOPE”) were played in London, England from 18 September through 1 October.

· The championship final is classified as “WSOPE Event 4″ as well as “WSOPE Event 61” as it is the 61st WSOP gold bracelet event of the 2009 calendar year.

· This marks the third consecutive year of WSOPE, presented by Betfair. In 2007, three gold bracelet events were played. In 2008, four gold bracelet events were played.

· All WSOPE results are included in official WSOP records — including all-time wins, cashes, final table appearances, and so forth.

· This was Tournament Director Jack Effel’s third consecutive year to oversee all the events played at WSOP Europe. Effel has been the WSOP Tournament Director since 2006. In that span he has already run more WSOP events than any other official in history, other than Jack McClelland and Eric Drache.

· Interestingly, former Binion’s Horseshoe legend Drache was also highly visible at WSOP Europe from start to finish. He’s a consultant to Poker Productions, which is owned by television producer Mori Eskandani. Poker Productions was on hand to film WSOP Europe for broadcast on ESPN.

· All four tournaments took place at Casino at the Empire, located in Leicester Square, in Central London. Leicester Square is best known as the theatre district of the city. Casino at the Empire is part of London Clubs International, which is owned by Harrah’s Entertainment.

· Casino at the Empire holds 35 poker tables. Regular gaming tables were removed during the 16-day duration of WSOPE in order to make necessary room for the large turnout of poker players and spectators.

· WSOP Europe is sponsored by Betfair, which is known as the world’s largest betting exchange. According to Betfair: “The exchange allows customers to choose their own odds and bet against each other.” Betfair is a registered, legal bookmaker in the U.K. and is also licensed in Australia, Austria, and Malta. For more information, visit: www.betfairpoker.com.

· During the play of this final table, Betfair offered a live betting exchange on the outcome.

· Richard Bloch, International PR Manager for Betfair Poker said: “We are thrilled that Barry Shulman has won the third WSOPE main event title presented by Betfair. He faced tough opposition but showed his class and is a very deserving winner.”

· Shulman was presented with his second gold bracelet by WSOP President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, who spoke to the capacity crowd afterward and to television cameras: “This has been quite a year for the entire Shulman Family….Barry has been an industry leader and an important voice in poker for more than a decade. I am honored to present him with the gold bracelet he so richly deserves.”

· The tournament will be broadcast later on ESPN. The two-hour program will air initially within the U.S. on 7 February 2010. Coverage will also include the inaugural Caesars Cup, a poker team match between Team Europe and Team Americas, which concluded on 25 September. Air dates in Europe and elsewhere will be announced soon and are expected to be sometime early in 2010.

The Tournament –

· This was a six-day tournament.

· The tournament attracted 334 entries. This was slight decline from the championship event played at the same time last year, which attracted 362 entries.

· Tables were played nine-handed during most of the tournament.

· Players started this tournament with 30,000 in tournament chips.

· The buy-in amount for Event #4 was £10,000 (GBP), which is equivalent to about $16,020 (USD) at the current exchange rate.

· Seven of the ten former WSOPE gold bracelet winners competed in this tournament. They were Sharkahn Farnood, Theo Jorgensen, Annette Obrestad, Dario Alioto, Erik Cajelais, Jani Vilmunen, and John Juanda. None cashed.

· Five former poker world champions played in this event, including Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Huck Seed, and Peter Eastgate. Brunson was the only player to cash.

· Day One lasted six levels, which went about 12 hours. The end of Day One chip leader was American poker player Brian Powell. He did not cash. Powell’s no-cash broke a chain of three consecutive Day One leader/winners. In the first three events at WSOP Europe, the End of Day One chip leader won each event. J.P. Kelly led throughout the tournament in event #1. Erik Cajelais led most of the way in Event #2. And in event #3, Jani Vilmunen enjoyed a decisive advantage following play on Day One and went on to win.

· The first day was filled with several highlights. The day officially began with Doyle Brunson performing the traditional “Shuffle Up and Deal” honors. WSOP President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack introduced Brunson by saying, “Doyle was there in Las Vegas at the very start of the WSOP forty years ago. Doyle was also with us when we started WSOP Europe three years ago in London. And, we are proud to have him with us today.” Predictably, Brunson’s grand introduction received a standing ovation from players and spectators.

· During an early break in the action, Pollack presented poker pro Jeffrey Lisandro with his prize for winning 2009 World Series of Poker “Player of the Year” honors. Lisandro, who won a record-tying three gold bracelets in events earlier this year in Las Vegas, received three buy-ins into future WSOP Main Events. He will freeroll the 2010, 2011, and 2012 world poker championships, courtesy of Harrah’s Entertainment. Lisandro’s award is valued at more than $30,000.

· Eleven-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth entered the Empire Casino with his usual flair. He repeated his grand in-your-face entrance into this year’s WSOP Main Event. The poker bombast was clad in full regalia dressed as a Roman gladiator and rode through Leicester Square in Central London on a chariot drawn by a white horse. As if that was not enough pomp and circumstance, Hellmuth was encircled by several muscled centurions and concubines wearing white dresses (11 in all, once for each WSOP gold bracelet won by Hellmuth). “It’s great to be me,” the poker legend mused. Hellmuth’s grand arrival brought a mix of gasps, laughter, and puzzled stares from the thousands of people gathered around London’s theatre district witnessing the spectacle.

· Day Two lasted four levels, which went about 7 hours. The end of Day Two chip leader was Ian Munns, from the UK. However, he did not finish in the money.

· Day Two began later than usual, in observance of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. Instead of a noon restart time, play on Day Two resumed at 5:30 pm in order to accommodate players who observe the solemn holiday.

· Day Three lasted nearly six levels, which went about 13 hours. The end of Day Three chip leader was Matt Hawrilenko, from Boston, MA. He ended up finishing in eighth place.

· The defending champion was John Juanda, who won his fourth WSOP gold bracelet in an epic battle in last year’s WSOP Europe Main Event championship. Juanda was the victor at what turned out to be the longest final table in WSOP history. This year, Juanda survived until Day Three. He was interviewed shortly after being eliminated and made the following statement:

Of course, I am disappointed not to win. But everyone is an underdog here. It’s not like tennis where Roger Federer wins a series of heads-up matches and repeats five years in a row. Poker is not like that. I have to expect this. I always want to win, but I have to prepare myself for the reality that it does not happen very often.

· Day Four lasted five levels, which went about 11 hours. The end of Day Four chip leader was Jason Mercier. He ended up busting out in fourth place.

WSOP / WSOPE Statistics –

· There have been three WSOP Europe Main Event champions:

2007 – Annette Obrestad
2008 – John Juanda
2009 – Barry Shulman

· The four events at WSOP Europe produced 1,254 total entries. Last year’s four events attracted 1,047 total entries. This represents an increase of 19.7 percent over last year. WSOPE has grown 134 percent since its inception just two years ago. Here’s the breakdown, by year:

2007 (3 events) – 532 total players
2008 (4 events) – 1,047 total players
2009 (4 events) – 1,243 total players

· The total amount of prize money awarded at WSOP Europe since its inception in 2007 (through 11 total events) equals a combined £15,206,996, equal to about $24,305,341. This figure exceeds the total amount of money paid out during the first 12 years of the WSOP (1970-1981). Here’s the annual breakdown:

2007 (3 events) – $7,606,303
2008 (4 events) – $8,526,930
2009 (4 events) – $8,172,108

· Continuing with this year’s gold bracelet winners, by nationality:

WINNERS – BY NATION: Through Event #61 (excluding #57, the Main Event) – the home nations of the WSOP gold bracelet winners read as follows:

United States – 37
United Kingdom – 4
Canada – 4
Australia – 2
Germany – 2
Finland – 2
Russian Federation – 1
Sweden – 1
Mexico – 1
Italy – 1
Holland – 1
Hungary – 1
Iran – 1

· Continuing with this year’s gold bracelet winners, by city:

WINNERS – BY CITY: Through Event #61 (excluding #57, the Main Event) – the following cities have produced multiple WSOP gold bracelet winners (Note: Metropolitan area suburbs are included in major city counts):

Las Vegas, Nevada – 11
Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) – 4
London, UK – 3
Salerno, Italy – 3
Los Angeles, California – 3
Washington, DC (Maryland and Virginia Suburbs) – 3
New York, NY – 2
Helsinki, Finland – 2

· Continuing with this year’s gold bracelet winners, by profession (pro versus amateurs):

Event #61 winner Barry Shulman is to be classified as a semi-professional player. Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard currently reads (not counting Casino Employees Event and the Main Event, which is pending):

Professionals — 42 wins
(Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey-1, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb, Ville Wahlbeck, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker-1, Jeffrey Lisandro- 1, Daniel Alaei, Brock Parker-2, John-Paul Kelly, Jeff Carris, Nick Schulman, Phil Ivey-2, Pete Vilandos, Tomas Alenius, Roland de Wolfe, J.C. Tran, James Van Alstyne, Angel, Guillen, Greg Mueller-1, Eric Baldwin, Jordan Smith, Jeffrey Lisandro-2, Richard Austin, Marc Naalden, Matt Graham, Peter Traply, Jerrod Ankenman, Jeffrey Lisandro-3, John Kabbaj, Jeff Ahmadi, Brandon Cantu, Greg Mueller-2, Carston Joh, David Bach, Matt Hawrilenko, J.P. Kelly – 2, Erik Cajelais, Jani Vilmunen)

Amateurs — 9 wins
(Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson, Zac Fellows, Michael Eise, Michael T. Davis, Jorg Peisert, David J. Halpert, Tony Veckey)

Semi-Pros — 8 wins
(Vitaly Lunkin, Brian Lemke, Lisa Hamilton, Leo Wolpert, Ray Foley, Derek Raymond, Jeff Ahmadi, Barry Shulman)

· Sixteen of the 60 winners so far this year (27 percent) were previous gold bracelet winners. There were four double winners in 2009 – J.P. Kelly, Brock Parker, Phil Ivey (Main Even pending), and Greg “FBT” Mueller. There was one triple winner in 2009 — Jeffrey Lisandro.

· This year’s WSOP and WSOP Europe awarded $182,594,608 in total prize money.

· This year’s World Series of Poker was the largest in history. A grand total of 62,129 players entered the 61 combined gold bracelet events held in Las Vegas and London.

· The final WSOP tournament of the year is the Main Event championship finale, a.k.a. the “November Nine.” Play begins with the nine finalists on 7 November. The final two survivors play heads-up for the championship on 9 November.

Reporting from London, ladies and gents, thank you and good night!

Anyhow, check out their rockin’ new promotional vid from the WSOP team tournament … they’ve got a few different musical varieties on their site and YouTube, but I liked this one best:

Starring Kenna James … with splash appearances by Lacey Jones, Liz Lieu, Jerry Yang, Dennis Phillips, Susie Isaacs, Alex Outhred, Barry Greenstein, David Williams, Evelyn Ng, Gavin Smith, Bryan Micon, Pam Brunson, Jose Canseco, et al.

ALT HED: Pauly Sniffs Cash

Seems that about 180-200 people turned out to play in the tournament, including players like Annie Duke, Joe Reitman, Men Nguyen, and Jamie Gold. Some of the celebs spotted were Camryn Manheim and Sara Rue, along with local TV newscasters like hottie Phillip Palmer. It was no surprise that Duke took it down, though, and donated the winnings to Ante Up for Africa. (I get the feeling she’s really dedicated to that there organization.)

Notable names already eliminated: Annie Duke, Daniel Negreanu, Evelyn Ng, John Caldwell, Lacey Jones, Chino Rheem, and Jamie Gold. The unofficial leader at this time is Jeff Lisandro, looking for his 4th bracelet this year, leading the field with 132,000 in chips. Other notables with stacks include Hevad Khan (94,000), Joe Hachem (88,000), David Singer (78,000), Justin Bonomo (56,800), Brett “gank” Jungblut (51,000), Scotty Nguyen (49,000), and Dan Harrington (47,500). Other chip counts and live updates can be found at the wsop.com site here.

More updates later this evening from Team Pokerati, and another update from me in the morning recapping who’s left at the end of the night.

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:

The $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event came back today with 19 players, with 6 players remaining at their final table. To give them their due, here’s how the final 9 were situated:

Seat 1 – Ming Reslock
Seat 2 – Jordan Rich
Seat 3 – Pascal Leyo
Seat 4 – Ed Smith
Seat 5 – Freddy Deeb Out in 8th
Seat 6 – Senovio Ramirez Out in 9th
Seat 7 – Thang Luu
Seat 8 – Robert Price
Seat 9 – Jim Geary Out in 7th

Price will return with the chip lead, followed by Reslock, and Rich. Thang Luu is towards the back, but this is his third straight year with a WSOP final table in an Omaha 8 event. In 2007, he finished 2nd in a $2,000 OHL event, and last year took down this same event.

Finally, day 1b of the $1,000 NL Holdem Stimulus Special drew a field of 3,014 entries today. The 6,012 total creates the 4th largest sized field in live poker behind the 2006, 2007 and 2008 WSOP Main Events. Like Saturday’s field, over 2/3rd of the field weren’t able to make the dinner break. Among them: Phil Ivey, Jonathan Little, Thor Hansen, Roy Winston, Jeff Madsen, John Phan and Erick Lindgren. Some players who are sticking around: JC Tran, Lee Watkinson, Kathy Liebert, Jimmy “Gobbo” Fricke and Mike Wattel. You can follow the four tournaments in action during the overnight over at www.worldseriesofpoker.com and get more stuff here at Pokerati.

27 players are eligible … and almost all have pre-registered. Bobby Baldwin ’78 has RSVP’d in the negative. But there’s one interesting name on the list of non-confirmeds* — well actually there’re five, but one of these is not like the others … in fact, as a member of the WSOP PAC, he’s probably on Jeffrey Pollack’s speed dial:

Mansour Maltoubi ’90
Hamid Dastmalchi ’92
Russ Hamilton ’94
Noel Furlong ’99
Chris Ferguson ’00

None of these are holdouts, from what we’re hearing … just MIA. (Though we’re not so sure the WSOP is looking that hard for Russ, because they could always give his invitation to Layne Flack.)

Wicked Chops is on the hunt for them here.

No details yet … just third-hand information over here. But I’m hearing that either Gold said hey, time to pay up and they didn’t have the cash, or Aced said, yo, Jamie, where are all those players you promised us?

Either way … assuming that some element of the above is true, is it shocking that this didn’t last?

Current Poker Sith Lords
Russ Hamilton — guilty til proven innocent, and with good cause.
Ernie Scherer III — he’s still innocent til proven guilty, but considering that he faces the death penalty for killing his parents to pay off poker debts — and the last 10 Google searches found on his computer were “countries that don’t extradite to the U.S.“, I think we can rest assured that he will not become a Full Tilt pro anytime soon.

Dishonorable Mentions
James McDaniel — this Dallas poker room operator was convicted of killing an ex-cop, engaged in collusion in Oklahoma (my personal observation and unproven accusation), and is currently on trial for supplying drugs to one of his railbirds who ended up OD’d-dead in a portable toilet.

Reformed Reputations
Jamie Gold
Justin Bonomo
Dutch Boyd

Jury Still Out
David Sklansky — technically crime-free, but young aspiring female players are hardly flocking to his tutelage.
Amarillo Slim — he says he’s not guilty, and his family and a lie detector now apparently agree, even though his criminal record implies otherwise.
Layne Flack — everybody seems to like Layne, but unless he’s working undercover a la Poker Brasco, hanging with Russ Hamilton surely won’t help him get sponsored by Ultimate Bet.

So who else? Really, I’m not looking for a bunch of potentially libelous name-calling … but I am looking to create a list of once and future poker bad-guys, and maybe a rating system for criminals and outcasts and offenses that may or may not attract the attention of law enforcement, but still result in scorn and contempt from fellow poker players.

Likewise, over at Wicked Chops, they’ve got the Hottie Beat covered … and PokerListings has manhandled the actual tournament action.

Tao of Pokerati Dream Team teammate Shaniac has some great music to listen to while you’re waiting for more.

Meanwhile, Team Aced did their thing to keep Aced.com in the public eye as a potentially legitimate newfangled online poker room with celeb-pro representative Jamie Gold, LV poker-room man Houston Waldie, and Gold-girlfriend Ashley Nataupsky — who is still alive for the individual championship — locking up the team title earlier today.

The vibe on Day 2 (final three tables) was quite distinct from Day 1 (field of 444 playing down to 27). From an informed source on the ground at Caesar’s:

It was great. People really had to watch the standings when making plays. They might have had pot odds on a few calls, but people were laying down hands to hold. It turned into one big last longer prop bet.

photo: pokergossip

William Hung was the first “celebrity” I noticed, as he arrived as soon as the red carpet was ready for action. And the poor guy was the only one from the red carpet featured by Perez Hilton today, and not featured in a particularly good way.

Food was excellent as usual, with a random assortment of Asian and Greek set-ups, along with the yum-yum appetizers floating around the room on waiters’ trays.

No DJ in the outdoor area like last year’s event, but it actually made for a more conversation-friendly atmosphere on the patio.

Wicked Chops scored seats in the tournament. I spent way too much time trying to figure out how that happened.

photo: pokergossip

Reports of the demise of the Phil Laak/Jennifer Tilly relationship were evidently untrue, as the two looked typically couple-y as usual – Jennifer in a beautiful outfit, Phil in saggy jeans and a hoodie.

Some celebrities on the “confirmed” list were no-shows, such as Camryn Manheim, Montel Williams, and Nelly. (Yes, I was more than disappointed about one of those absences!)

CORRECTION: Manheim was there, and Jen was still disappointed. -DM

Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough are still a couple and just as adorable as ever, with Shannon checking on Derek and his amateur poker experiences throughout the evening.

Contrary to all reports from the tournament, Antonio Esfandiari was not the first person eliminated from the tournament, as Mike “SirWatts” Watson (former WPT champion) was out of the tournament and standing with us at the bar when that announcement was made. Ouch.

New to my social radar were Mike Watson and Shane Schleger, both of whom were introduced to me by Gavin Griffin and Kristin Roberts and very nice to chat with.

Also met Jamie Gold for the first time, who was extremely friendly and psyched about his Aced Poker affiliation, though my question about his possible ownership in the company was met with the standard “details of the contract cannot be disclosed” line. Good brief chat anyway. (His calling card gives him the title “Poker Philanthropist.”)

Mekhi Phifer took the reigns during the rebuy period, grabbing the mic and encouraging players to rebuy (or even just donate) to his charity, The Vine Group, to help educational efforts in Africa. He was a great spokesperson for the organization and raised $78,270 for it, while managing to maintain his usual humble but outrageously sexy demeanor.

Say what?

Good for Gold in finding a gig in these tough times. Honestly, kudos to anyone who is securing work instead of being on the unfortunate end of losing it right now. Maybe we’ll hear more about Aced Poker in the near future, if the site decides to promote him (which they have yet to do – Aced has no mention of him on the pages of its site thus far). And come to think of it, Betfair wasn’t big until it signed Annette Obrestad and Sorel Mizzi, and Cake Poker still hasn’t signed any players to a roster but continues to gain popularity. Aced Poker is clearly trying to work its way into the upper echelon of sites in the American market by signing a recognizable name to promote it. Keep your eyes open for “Aced is Gold” and other oh-so-clever promotions.

The first annual “All In for CP” charity poker tournament was held at Hollywood Park Casino in L.A. this past Sunday and is being hailed as a total success. More than $44,000 was raised for Jacob Zalewski’s One Step Closer Foundation, which helps ease the lives of those afflicted with cerebral palsy, as well as researchers seeking a cure.

Numerous celebrities and poker pros attended to make the event a success, names like Montel Williams, Shannon Elizabeth, Miguel Nunez, Jamie Gold, and Barry Greenstein. And in the end, it was The Simpsons creator and Hollywood writer/producer Dan’s man crush Sam Simon who won the tournament and donated all of the winnings back to the charity. Awww!

Congrats to Jacob for hosting his first charity tournament! Sorry I missed it, as I heard it was great fun, but hope to catch the next one…

The $500 buy-in tournament (with $100 rebuys for the first 90 minutes) looks to have some famous names in the field, like Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Mekhi Phifer, Montel Williams, Jennifer Tilly, and Norm MacDonald. It is open to the public. The only poker pro officially on board is Jamie Gold, but it is likely that others will attend, as they often do when charity events are held in the L.A. area.

A silent auction will accompany the festivities, where memorabilia will be up for bid, as well as prize packages donated by Ray Romano and Brad Garrett.

I have family (with two kids) in town this weekend, so I will not be able to attend, but my hope is that others in L.A. will go enjoy a day with the celebs for a good cause. (And if you see Mekhi there, take photos please.) For more info, visit the official website.

More updates as they warrant…

It’s actually the first time I’ve seen this episode — if that tells you anything about the immediacy or lack thereof attached to current WSOP broadcasts … and it prominently features/follows Jamie Gold. Pretty impressed with how ESPN handled his storyline, and Gold does a pretty good job explaining the Crispin Leyser lawsuit … well enough that I start empathize for just a moment until Norman Chad follows up with a reminder of why he may not have had many supporters regardless.

(About 2:00 in.)