Some various news stories while wondering what Darus Suharto’s doing right now…

Congrats to John Phan, who took down the WPT Legends of Poker main event at the Bike. That makes 2 WSOP bracelets and 2 WPT final tables since mid-June for the Razor.

The debacle at the $50,000 HORSE event appears to have affected the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge at the Cherokee Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The page dedicated to the event appears to have changed a bit in the past week:

August 23rd version from Google’s cache

The same page on August 30.

An interview with Nolan Dalla, WSOP Media Director, on Lou Krieger’s Keep Flopping Aces podcast says to expect new rules regarding player behavior to be instituted in time possibly for the WSOP Circuit events in October.

Strangely enough, the current rules in place were able to disqualify a player who was misbehaving at the final table, even though said player had the chip lead.

The five remaining defendants from an arrest (and SWAT team raid) on a South Carolina home for playing poker back in April 2006 are still trying to get a trial, which may be over a year away.

The Asian Poker Tour drew a field of about 250 for their latest stop, Macau. They had two day 1’s to whittle down the field to 67 remaining. Notable names remaining: JJ Liu, Casey Kastle, and Mel Judah. Play starts again at midnight Eastern time, with updates available on the APT site and Pokernews.

Circle your calendars for Oct. 14, when the Real Deal poker game show (with host Paul Rodriguez) at the Venetian makes its debut. Tickets start at only $75, but audience members will be able to walk away with valuable prizes (imagine how hard it is to walk away with a plasma TV).

More exciting stuff later, maybe…

Courtesy of the World Poker Tour

Scratch what I said about Men “The Master” being on a hot streak. John “The Razor” Phan is having an unbelievable year and just added another notch to his belt early this morning by winning his first World Poker Tour title.

The final table at the Legends of Poker at the Bike had some potential to be a good one, as several semi-notable pros were seated there with Phan. Amit Mahjika, the chip leader coming into the final table, held his lead for the majority of the night but found himself heads-up with Phan, and that battle lasted nearly 3 1/2 hours with the two players trading the lead over and over. Both were quite determined, as evidenced by the WPT live updates, and Mike Sexton called it the “greatest heads-up match in WPT history.” Finally, at about about 1:40am, Phan did it and claimed his first WPT victory.

Finishes were as follows:

6th place: Kyle Wilson ($176,035)
5th place: Trong Nguyen ($211,245)
4th place: Paul Smith ($246,450)
3rd place: Zach Clark ($281,645)
2nd place: Amit Makhija ($563,320)
1st place: John Phan ($1,116,428)

Phan’s year has consisted of five WSOP cashes (two of which were bracelet wins) and four WPT cashes (three of which were final tables and one of which was this victory). Not only was the WPT win his first, as were the WSOP bracelets, but his 2008 tournament winnings now top the $2 million mark. The year of the Razor, indeed.

The World Poker Tour kicked off its seventh season with the Bellagio Cup at Bellagio (go figure). The powers-that-be raised the buy-in to $15K in the hopes of getting a field of pros, and that’s what happened. A total of 446 players anted up to create a prize pool of $6,489,300 with a whopping $1,673,700 first prize. (The prize money was not given away in a cup, which would have been a creative idea, right? C’mon, guys. A WPT bracelet and a Bellagio Cup bracelet? A gold cup - use your imagination!)

Anyway, the final table looked promising… Several pros made it, and it looked like David Benyamine was going to take it down and add two bracelets (ugh) to the WSOP bracelet he won this year. But 24-year old online pro Mike “SirWatts” Watson’s luck skillful play got in the way, and a brand new name was added to the list of WPT millionaires. The action will be shown - dates unknown - on Fox Sports.

The final table results were as follows:

1st: Mike “SirWatts” Watson - $1,673,770
2nd: David Benyamine - $840,295
3rd: Luke Staudenmaier - $452,465
4th: Ralph Perry - $290,900
5th: John “The Razor” Phan - $193,915
6th: Gabe Thaler - $129,275

Next stop on the World Poker Tour: The Bike in Los Angeles at the end of August.

What’s happening tonight at the WSOP:

The $1,000 NL Holdem with rebuys event has a winner, Canadian Max Greenwood took down the bracelet, making a remarkable comeback from being shortstacked 3-handed to take down the bracelet and almost $700,000. Rene Mouritsen of Aarhus, Denmark finished in 2nd (for the 3rd time at a WSOP event the past two years) to win just over $445,000. Fellow Aarhus resident Albert Iversen finished in 3rd. Greenwood was down to just over 400,000 when he went allin with a pair of 5’s against Mouritsen’s AJ. Another ace hit the flop, and a brick on the turn meant that Greenwood was down to two outs. Miraculously, Max hit that 5, doubling up twice more off Mouritsen to take the chip lead before Mouritsen would take it back when Iversen’s set of 5’s was run down by Mouritsen’s turned flush. After just over 30 hands of head-up play (and boisterous rooting from both player’s friends), all the money went in on a Jack high flop with Max’s AJ ahead of Mouritsen’s KJ. No help came and Greenwood completes the remarkable comeback.

The only tournament to start today, the $2,000 NL Holdem event, drew a field of 2,317, with just under 400 remaining with a couple more levels remaining in the day. Notable names at the top of the leaderboard: Erik Cajelais, Marco Johnson, Erica Schoenberg, Blair Rodman (who won this tournament last year), David Pham and Chau Giang.

Other tournament action today on the next page:
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Recapping last night’s events with a preview of today’s action:

The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better event was won last night by Martin Klaser, who was dominant in the brief heads-up battle with Casey Kastle to take down his first bracelet and just over $216,000. Kastle winds up with almost $138,000, the biggest cash in his career.

The $1,000 NL Holdem with Rebuys event got down to their final table, here’s how it’ll look like under the hot lights of the ESPN360 cameras at 2pm today:

Seat 1: Scott Freeman 675,000
Seat 2: Max Greenwood 728,000
Seat 3: Curtis Kohlberg 209,000
Seat 4: Rene Mouritsen 1,007,000
Seat 5: Alex Bolotin 308,000 - His 3rd final table of this Series
Seat 6: Albert Iversen 921,000
Seat 7: Aliaksandr Dzianisau 186,000
Seat 8: Phung Ngo 556,000
Seat 9: Jesse Chinni 2,160,000

Other action from yesterday on the next page:
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What’s doing tonight at the WSOP while I welcome Tuscaloosa Johnny to the Pokerati fold:

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

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

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

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Phan Phantastically wins 2nd bracelet of Series

Recapping last night, and a preview of today’s tournaments at the WSOP:

John Phan continued a tradition since 2000: A multiple bracelet winner at the World Series of Poker. Phan takes down the $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball title over Shun Uchida, earning just over $150,000 for his second bracelet of the Series.

The other final table yesterday, the $1,500 Mixed Holdem event, was suprisingly won by RV enthusiast Frank Gary over Jonathan Tamayo. After Michael Binger was eliminated in 3rd, it appeared to be Tamayo’s tournament to win. However, Gary took control during the limit holdem period; winning several large pots that gave him a big enough chip lead to put Tamayo away in the first hand of the NL holdem round to win the bracelet and $219,000, which should cover his gas costs for the rest of the year.

The final table for today, plus a preview of today’s tournaments on page 2:

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What’s happened today at the WSOP while I finally figure out what day it is in the Series.

The $1,500 Mixed Holdem event is down to its final 3 competitors with Jonathan Tamayo, Frank Gary and Nick Binger went on their dinner break. Binger, who at one point had over 1.6m in chips and had eliminated the first 6 players, lost his chip lead to Tamayo while Gray has been playing just enough to try and get into 2nd place. Follow their progress on the WSOP website here.

The $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event is also on dinner break 3 handed. Shun Uchida, John Phan and Gioi Luong are remaining in what has been a very contentious final table. Luong and Phan had a verbal altercation after Luong attempted to change his discard, while Phan angrily accused him of angle shooting. Things have appeared to calm down, but in all the tension, Uchida has a commanding lead at this time. To see how that turns out, check the updates over at worldseriesofpoker.com here.

The other updates appear on the next page:

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Recapping last night’s action and previewing today’s tournament while getting my tickets for the next poker related piece of nonsense musical to hit the mainstream audience. Thanks to Wicked Chops Poker for the link.

The final table for the $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball final table has been set, and a favorite of some forums David Sklansky is among those remaining:

Seat 1: Ben Ponzio 113,000
Seat 2: Shun Uchida 200,000
Seat 3: David Sklansky 78,000
Seat 4: Gioi Luong 291,000
Seat 5: Robert Mizrachi 215,000
Seat 6: John Phan 294,000

The other final table and other stuff on page 2:

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Happenings from last night at the World Series of Poker:

Finishing up the final tables from last night, Full Tilt Pro Rob Hollink came back from the dinner break to make a rush and take down the $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship, knocking out Jerrod Ankenmann in a short headsup match.

A heads-up match that took a bit long was the $3,000 NL Holdem final table. Even though a deal to chop the top two places took place, John Phan and Johnny Neckar still had a heads-up match that went for over 6 hours. There were several wild swings in the chip counts, and with both players allin, Neckar thought he had the title won when his KJ had outflopped Phan’s AJ when a K hit the flop. However, Phan’s entourage would erupt when the Ace hit the river keeping him alive. Later, they played three hands all-in blind. Neckar took the first to take the chip lead, then Phan won the second hand with 7 high to double up, then Neckar would double off Phan in the third hand. They returned to more conventional poker after that and a short time later Phan would take down his first bracelet.

More action from yesterday after the jump:

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What’s happened tonight while preferring to watch the Pokerati Bowling Series over PBS every time:

The $3,000 NL Holdem event is down to headsup play with John Phan and Johnny Neckar. There’s been some controversy over where the action has taken place. First, David Singer had an issue with the lighting in the area and requested to be moved to another location. The table they were moved to was in the center of the tournament floor, and the crowd of players in other tournaments, fans, and media were too much for the players. The floor staff would eventually rope off the area to give the combatants some breathing room. Singer eventually finished in 5th place, chip leader Matthew Vengrin would be eliminated in 3rd.

More after the leap:

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What happened at the WSOP last night while Phil Hellmuth was humble in defeat…

In a table full of well known names, it was online regular Phil Galfond who took down the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha w/rebuys event, beating Adam Hourani in a heads-up match that lasted over 100 hands. David Benyamine would finish 3rd. Galfond gets to take down over $817,000 and take the WSOP earnings lead over Grant Hinkle by less than $1,000.

The $1,500 NL event winner last night was Vitaly Lunkin, who beat Brett Kimes headsup to win just over $628,000 and the coveted bracelet. Other results from that event can be found here.

Two more final tables were established last night, they can be found on the next page:

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Reviewing what happened last night…

In a final table that ESPN SHOULD be covering (instead of ESPN360), the final table of the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha w/rebuys final table has been set for around 3pm.

Seat 1: John Juanda 694,800
Seat 2: Phil Hellmuth 119,000
Seat 3: David Benyamine 1,041,000
Seat 4: Kirill Gerasimov 558,000
Seat 5: Phil Galfond 1,393,000
Seat 6: Daniel Negreanu 460,000
Seat 7: Brian Rast 1,176,000
Seat 8: Adam Hourani 300,000
Seat 9: Johnny Chan 624,000

The three names that may not appear familiar to the poker fan, but those who follow the online scene know OMGClayAiken, tsarast and the_houdini very well.

Other action from last night after the jump:

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What’s happening this evening while watching Tiger Woods decide to wait until Monday to win his next major:

The $10,000 Heads-Up World Championship is down to the final 2, as Kenny Tran is taking on Eric Torelli in a best of 3 match for the bracelet. Vanessa Selbst would finish tied for 3rd in this event for the second straight year, but does move into 2nd place in the ESPN POY standings for the time being.

More at the jump:

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Photo taken by Kaelaine Minton of PokerPages

The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star main event wrapped up late last night in San Jose, California. The player who walked away with the $1 million prize and his first WPT title was Brandon Cantu.

This tournament is always a unique one, with bounties on numerous pro players worth $5k each, and $10k bonuses for the chip leader at the end of Day 1A, Day 1B, and Day 2. Players typically enjoy the unique aspects of the game, and the fans can’t get enough. There are fans everywhere seeking autographs, photos, and a glance at the pros in action.

The final table was set to be a great one…

Seat 1: Noah Jefferson - 842,000
Seat 2: John Phan - 374,000
Seat 3: Brandon Cantu - 3,323,000
Seat 4: Steve Sung - 474,000
Seat 5: Jennifer Harman - 541,000
Seat 6: Michael Baker - 1,964,000

Phan was the first to go, followed by Baker and Jefferson. The lovely Jen Harman put up a solid fight but finished in third. By the time heads-up action began, Cantu had over 6 million chips to Sung’s 1.3 million. It didn’t take long for Cantu to seal the deal.

Cantu had a stellar tournament. Not only was he the Day 1A chip leader for a $10k bonus, but he ended up collecting six bounties throughout the event for an extra $30k. And in the end, he maintained his final table chip lead, which is an usual phenomenon these days, and took the WPT title and cool mil. He is now one of the elite group of players to have won a WSOP bracelet (2006 $1500 no-limit hold’em) and a WPT tourney.

Congrats, Brandon!