They’re playing a $15,000 freeroll, and its been rumored that there might be quite a bit more on the line for the November Niners. In order to keep things interesting and competitive, there are last longer bets and a few other interesting props that I’ll try to keep track of.

The tournament just got underway, and with 30 minute levels and a 10k starting stack, this freeroll looks like it will take quite some time.

Stay tuned for a couple of updates throughout the day here, as well as a comprehensive post of the Tuesday’s events coming up. To keep up to date with the action, as well as watch a live stream featuring Joseph Cheong, Michael Mizrachi, Matt Jarvis and Lon McEachern, head on over to Foxwoods Live.

That’s the big news — major-extreme technological advancement, from the original producers of Pop music disguised as a poker podcast … after prolly more than 200 episodes that required actual clicking efforts for our listeners to hear, we now have it where a single click can get you Tao of Pokerati updates forever and ever.

Click here to subscribe, and enjoy the first episode, getting ready for this weekend’s big WSOP action … nice one out-the-gate, starting off by misidentifying Michael Mizrachi’s ethnic heritage as if I were the Sharron Angle of Poker:

N9 – Episode 1: Power Breakfast – Italian Cock and Eggs — Dan and Pauly recorded an episode at their favorite breakfast place after a power meeting to prep for the November Nine. They discussed a bit of pre-game strategy and what’s to come for upcoming coverage of their third November Nine and sixth WSOP Main Event final table. As per usual, Dan veered off topic and delved into a tangent about cocks again (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

For more episodes of the 2010 WSOP visit the Tao of Pokerati archives.

• The pseudo-live coverage of the final table will be on ESPN3, which means if your ISP does not provide it (or you live outside the US) then its fairly likely you will not be able to watch the proceedings short of proxies/other hackery. Obviously it will not have hole cards (Ty mentioned that Nevada is more “conservative” than Europe in that regard), but it will have community cards and a video stream.
• James Hartigan will provide the play-by-play and pros will provide additional commentary (which means, basically, they are doing a very similar format to the EPT Live coverage, right down to the commentators).
• Mizrachi is on a lot of poker media member’s minds: including his tax issues. ESPN noted that while they are talking about it, but its not a big part and they are dealing with the “Year of the Mizrachis” angle, at least they had been until the final table.
• Some of the storylines of the final table: youth of the table + the experience of the players + the international flavor of the FT (even if the majority of players are American, some players were born elsewhere).
• The WSOP and ESPN are definitely enforcing the 3 player patch rule. Players were informed about the rule and they understand the situation. (One thing that didn’t get asked in the call was if players would essentially be able to swap patches with a non-patched player if a patched player is eliminated.)
• Walk-on music will combine with other aspects that will give the final table a more choreographed feel. (As Ty Stewart put it: “More pomp and circumstances this year.”)
• Changes to the Penn + Teller Theater: More seats to the public, fewer seats to friends and family.
• Editing the final table is pretty much a non-stop endeavor, and they actually record voiceovers for more hands than actually get shown depending on how the story of the final table plays out. Voicing gets finished while the 1st hour of the final table coverage is already on the air.
• The NGC, Harrah’s, and federal regulators feel like online poker is illegal, according to Ty Stewart (but for some reason have no problem taking ad dollars from said people).

Some pretty important topics were addressed (how ESPN is going to deal with Mizrachi’s tax problems, how FTP is going to deal with its push to actually get a main event champ in the stable, etc.) and as the November Nine gets closer some of these may come more into focus.

• It will be “limited” to 48 players total and played out in a shootout format, with $5 million guaranteed to first place. Which means that if this is a true guarantee and not just a projected prize if all 48 slots fill, mean that you would need 20 players minimum just to break even (sans rake, and only if it’s a winner-take-all tournament).
• The IPPA is not…well known, at least certainly not in the US. Their website is equally sparse in terms of action information, but they may be trying to put themselves on the map with a tournament of this size.
• There are satellites running in at least two confirmed places, Monte Carlo (naturally) and The Bicycle Casino in beautiful Bell Gardens, CA. How does one even satellite into this tournament? Think the step tournaments online, except the stakes are much, much higher. The Bike already ran $100, $1k and $9k satellites during the Legends of Poker tournament series, but their site does not have any results for the $1k and $9k satellites so its unknown how many takers they got.
• It will be a televised event, but with the field the way it is so far the IPPA and/or Monte Carlo hopefully will be pushing hard to get some whales in the game, or it may deter other pros from throwing their hat in the ring.

Still, the organizers have to cover their “overlay” first, which will be no small feat when pros are being asked to drop $250,000 in one go into a shark-filled tank. If this tournament happens it certainly will be an interesting sight, not just for the prize pool but the revival of a lingering question regarding how we keep score in poker. Already there has been talk of what “counts” on the all-time money list, so if someone like Ivey did win the $5 million for what amounts to a 48-person (or less) SnG it could lead to some gripping from a few pros (quite possibly including the #2 man on that list…who could become a distant #2 or 3 after this tournament).

The Poker Beat: July 22, 2010

Rookie twitterer @GaryWise1 took his turn in Capt. Huff’s chair as @BJNemeth and @JessWelman panel-bantered about:

• The pre-markup hearing in DC with Annie Duke
• Make-up of the 2010 November Nine
• The value, if any, of poker agents — and how the WSOP accommodates them during the main event
• BJ’s philosophical non-dilemma over coverage of Matt Affleck’s emotional bustout *
• The difference between poker media and poker journalism
• The Year of Mizrachi and the accidental WTF? of the current WSOP Player of the Year scoring system
• Annette Obrestad’s B- performance
• The 3-headed Monster of Team WSOP without @JeffreyPollack
• WSOP numbers and final table times

* great explanation, BJ. But question … Is there any discernable line where the “field of play” in poker begins, and ends?

Other episode-relevant links:

The Redemption of Matt Affleck by Gary Wise
The Long, Lonely Walk of Matt Affleck by Howard Swains (with photos by Joe Giron)

Next ep coming tomorrow. Play along in the PokerRoad forums.

Jonathan Duhamel — 65,975,000 — Boucherville QC

John Dolan – 46,250,000 – Bonita Springs FL

Joseph Cheong – 23,525,000 — La Mirada CA

John Racener – 19,050,000 – Port Richey FL

Matthew Jarvis – 16,700,000 – Surrey BC

Filippo Candio – 16,400,000 – Cagliari  IT

Michael Mizrachi — 14,450,000 – Miami FL

Soi Nguyen –9,650,000 – Santa Ana  CA

Jason Senti – 7,625,000 – St. Louis Park MN

I’d say see ya’ll in November, but I think we all know we’ll be talking about lotsa things before then. Click below for the Nolan’s early write-up from WSOP.com:

After 78 grueling hours of poker played over eight days, nine players remain. This year’s November Nine are:

SEAT 1: Jason Senti
Hometown: St. Louis Park, MN (USA)
Age: 28
Profession: Poker Pro
Note: This is Senti’s first time to ever cash in a WSOP event. He picked the right tournament and the right year to achieve a poker breakout, since he’s now guaranteed more than $800,000 in prize money.
Chip Count: TBA

SEAT 2: Joseph Cheong
Hometown: La Mirada, CA (USA)
Age: 24
Profession: Poker Pro
Note: Cheong earned a degree in psychology from UC-San Diego last year. He also won a WSOP Circuit gold ring at Harrah’s Rincon four months ago. When Cheong won his victory, he promised himself he would play in the Main Event. Here he is now, competing on poker’s grandest stage.
Chip Count: TBA

SEAT 3: John Dolan
Hometown: Bonita Springs, FL (USA)
Age: 24
Profession: Poker Pro
Note: Dolan has six WSOP cashes, including three in-the-money finishes at this year’s series. He has been one of the more consistent performers on this tournament, hanging around the leader board much of the way.
Chip Count: TBA

SEAT 4: Jonathan Duhamel
Hometown: Boucherville, Quebec (Canada)
Age: 22
Profession: Poker Pro
Note: This is Duhamel’s third time to cash at this year’s WSOP. This has been a huge year for Canadian players so far, with five gold bracelet winners. Duhamel hopes to become number six.
Chip Count: TBA

SEAT 5: Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi
Hometown: Miami, FL (USA)
Age: 29
Profession: Poker Pro
Note: “The Grinder” is among the most successful tournament performers since the poker boom began. He won his first WSOP gold bracelet and $1,559,046 in this year’s Poker Players Championship, which took place during the opening week of the series.
Chip Count: TBA

SEAT 6: Matthew Jarvis
Hometown: Surrey, BC (Canada)
Age: 25
Profession: Poker Pro/Student
Note: Jarvis is primarily an online player. This marks his first time to cash in a WSOP tournament. Jarvis would become the first Canadian world champion in history should he win the Main Event.
Chip Count: TBA

SEAT 7: John Racener
Hometown: Port Richey, FL (USA)
Age: 24
Profession: Poker Pro
Note: Racener is one of the stars of the national WSOP Circuit, with more than $500,000 in earnings, including the 2007 Main Event championship victory at Harrah’s Atlantic City.
Chip Count: TBA

SEAT 8: Filippo Candio
Hometown: Cagliari, Sardinia (Italy)
Age: 26
Profession: Poker Pro
Note: Candio is the first Italian player ever to make it to the Main Event final table. He has a number of cashes at major tournaments held in Europe.
Chip Count: TBA

SEAT 9: Cuong “Soi” Nguyen
Hometown: Santa Ana, CA (USA)
Age: 38
Profession: Sales (Medical Supplies)
Note: Nguyen is the senior player at this final table, at the advanced age of 36. He’s also one of only two amateurs sitting among the final nine. Nguyen has been near the chip lead during the past three days of competition. He cashed in the 2008 Main Event (614th place).
Chip Count: TBA

The unfortunate N9 “bubble” finisher was Brandon Steven, from Wichita, KS. To see a full list of all players who cashed in this year’s Main Event, click HERE.

The championship final table, also known as the November Nine, will be played starting on November 6th, 2010. The initial session of play will whittle the nine finalists down to the last two survivors. They will return two days later to play heads-up for the 2010 world championship.

This year’s winner will receive $8,944,138 in prize money, the coveted WSOP gold bracelet, and designation as the official 2010 world poker champion.

Each player who made the November Nine will be paid out the guaranteed prize money which amounts to $811,823 (each). When the Main Event resumes play on November 6th, players will compete for all additional money in the prize pool, plus interest on the withheld funds. The prize money payouts are as follows:

1st place – $8,944,138
2nd place – $5,545,855
3rd place – $4,129,979
4th place – $3,092,497
5th place – $2,442,960
6th place – $1,772,939
7th place – $1,356,708
8th place – $1,045,738
9th place – $811,823

Stay tuned. The best is yet to come.

Notables:
William Thorson – 12,290,000
John Racener – 9,275,000
Bryn Kenney – 7,400,000
Matt Affleck – 5,535,000
Adam Levy – 5,180,000
Scott Clements – 4,200,000
Michael Mizrachi – 3,655,000
Johnny Lodden – 3,495,000
David Baker – 2,960,000
Theo Jorgensen 2,300,000
Hasan Habib – 520,000

Notable Eliminations:
Jacobo Fernandez
Tony Dunst
Alexander Kostritsyn
Peter Jetten
David Benyamine
Eric Baldwin
Jean-Robert Bellande

Theo Jorgensen will lead the remaining 78 players of the WSOP Main Event when play resumes at the Amazon room shortly after 12pm today. Jorgensen starts the day with 9,300,000 in chips followed by Michael Mizrachi with 7,535,000 and John Racener with 7,200,000 with play starting today on level 26, 25,000/50,000 blinds with a 5,000 ante. Play will continue until 27 players remain, then return Saturday to play down to the November Nine.

Other notables returning today:

William Thorson – 6,525,000
Alexander Kostritsyn – 5,715,000
Matt Affleck – 5,315,000
Bryn Kenney – 3,830,000
Eric Baldwin – 2,135,000
Johnny Lodden – 2,105,000
Adam Levy – 1,685,000
David Baker – 1,635,000
Tony Dunst – 1,550,000
David Baker – 1,540,000
Hasan Habib – 1,165,000
Scott Clements – 1,085,000
Jean-Robert Bellande – 700,000
Peter Jetten – 675,000

Notable eliminations from last report:
Juha Helppi
Todd Witteles
Fokke Beukers
Christian Harder

Full results here, and follow the updates over at wsop.com.

Bellagio Cup VI results

Moritz Kranich, a previous winner on the European Poker Tour, added a WPT title by defeating Justin “Boosted J” Smith heads-up to win the Bellagio Cup VI Main Event for $875,150. Smith earned $594,755 for the runner-up finish, with Phil Ivey finishing third for $363,650. Full results can be found here.

The chip leader is John Racener with 6,260,000 in chips. Other notables:

Michael Mizrachi 5,654,000
Alexander Kostritsyn 4,834,000
Bryn Kenney 4,300,000
Matt Affleck 3,750,000
Scott Clements 2,200,000
Adam “Roothlus” Levy 1,600,000

Notable eliminations:

Johnny Chan
Phil Galfond
Breeze Zuckerman
JP Kelly
Robert Mizrachi
Matt Keikoan

Full results so far here, chip counts and other updates at wsop.com.

Jesper Hougaard – 2,700,000
Alexander Kostritsyn – 1,990,000
Jean-Robert Bellande – 1,520,000
Phil Galfond – 1,345,000
Johnny Chan – 1,115,000
Michael Mizrachi – 735,000
Robert Mizrachi – 675,000

Notables eliminated during the day:

Hoyt Corkins
Danny Mizrachi
Adam Schoenfeld
Jason Mercier
Dwyte Pilgrim
Evelyn Ng
Mori Eskandani
Eric Morris

Full results so far can be found here and follow the updates over at wsop.com.

Mathematically, a Chan or Nguyen is still probably your best bet, and the Johnsons and Changs have kinda disappointed their global families. But one name stands out as being a bit different than all the rest, thus highlighting the uniqueness of four brothers going deep.

Nguyen – 7
Binh Nguyen 263,100
Scotty Nguyen 47,800
Tam Nguyen 183,100
Cuong Nguyen 429,300
Philip Nguyen 148,000
Hien Nguyen 464,300
Tuan Nguyen 30,900

Kim – 6
John Kim 59,006
Robert Kim 217,000
Kevin Kim 181,900
Jin Kim 68,500
Hyung Kim 45,900
Can Kim Hua — 312,200

Taylor – 6
Simon Taylor 60,800
Paul Taylor 147,100
Anders Taylor 199,400
Todd Taylor 54,600
Richard Taylor 92,100
Mark Taylor 71,500

Smith – 5
Daniel Smith 103,400
Alex Smith 88,700
Mitchell Smith 47,900
Gavin Smith 42,500
Matthew Smith 66,000

Brown – 4
Matthew Brown 341,900
John Brown 140,100
Andrew Brown 657,700
Jamie Brown 182,200

Chan – 4
Andy Chan 82,400
Johnny Chan 636,000
Feming Chan 151,800
Edmund Chan 260,300

Clark – 4
Richard Clark 55,100
Zach Clark 114,800
Edward Clark 138,700
Timothy Clark 81,800

Lee – 4
Bernard Lee 186,200
Redmond Lee 240,300
Nicky Lee Evans 147,700
Kris Lee Steinback 147,700

Mizrachi – 4
Daniel Mizrachi 128,600
Michael Mizrachi 91,700
Robert Mizrachi 342,800
Eric Mizrachi 95,800

Young – 4
Django Young 225,300
Derek Young 200,100
Jerry Young 26,900
Ryan Young 216,700

Today is the money bubble day, arguably the most intense day of big-field poker you can find. 7,319 started last week, 1,203 remain … 747 make the money. Tomorrow it will be about who gets to play for “real money”.

Here’s everyone who still has a dream, some more desperate than others, sortable by name, chip count, or table assignment:

2010 WSOP Main Event Day 4 Seat Assignments, Chip Counts

Lots of people worth watching … tons of big-name pros, plenty of rising stars, but the only not-so-pokery celeb being Hank Azaria, of The Simpsons and the voices of Chief Wiggum, Moe, and Apu. Follow the action throughout the day here.

Team Pokerati has just one remaining player, The Big Randy, who went out last year three hands into Day 4, before getting a chance to fight through the money bubble.

• The average chip count should be about 182,500
• Brown has 140,100
• That puts him at 632nd out of the 1,203 remaining players, and 4th out of 4 remaining Browns
• Blinds start tomorrow at 1200/2400 + 300
• That leaves our player with 58 big blinds and an M=22

TBR’s starting table tomorrow has a fellow Texan from Arlington and the shortest-stacked of all remaining Mizrachis. Next to the Grinder is Chris Bjorn … overall looks to be not a bad seat draw, with the biggest stack (5th overall in the tournament) two to TBR’s right:

Table 277, by seat

1. Brian Fite (Arlington, TX) — 151,600
2. John Brown (Dallas, TX) — 140,100
3. James Czarnecki (Edgewater, MD) – 88,400
4. Jan Boye (Harrow, GB) — 213,600
5. Chris Bjorin (London, GB) — 132,200
6. Michael Mizrachi (Miami, FL) — 91,700
7. Samuel Edwards (Las Vegas, NV) — 131,000
8. Jose Tavares (Commerce, CA) — 48,300
9. Max Casal (Burbank, CA) — 687,200

Warga wins second bracelet, makes history

The $1,500 Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better winner is David Warga, becoming the first player win the Casino Employees bracelet (in 2002) and win another WSOP bracelet. Warga defeated Maxwell Troy heads-up, winning $208,862 while Troy pockets $129,253. Full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report are available at wsop.com.

Haydon hacks his way to 2500 6-max bracelet

William Haydon defeated Jeffrey Pappola heads-up to take down the $2,500 No-Limit Holdem 6-max title, earning $630,031. Pappola’s runner-up finish was good for $391,068, the full list of results and Dalla’s report can be found here.

Proulx on precipice of Omaha prize

Miguel Proulx (877,000) leads the remaining 12 players when day 3 of the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha resumes at 3pm. Among the notables who cashed: Adam Junglen, Chau Giang, Christian Harder, Tad Jurgens (now leading with 5 cashes), TJ Cloutier and Michael Binger. Get the chip counts and follow live updates at PokerNews.

Ray leads final 13 in 10k limit holdem

Another event resuming at 3pm is day 3 of the $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship, with Kyle Ray leading the field with 643,000 in chips. Other notables: Dave “Not Bakes” Baker (543,000), Matt Keikoan (418,000), Brock Parker (351,000), Michael Mizrachi (256,000) and David Chiu (144,000). Chip counts and updates available at PokerNews.

Lehmann leader in 1500 NL

Day 2 of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event will resume at 2:30pm with Markus Lehmann (135,200) leading the field with 261 players remaining. Other notables: Carlos Mortensen (108,500), Matt Stout (74,800), and Jean Gaspard (63,300). The full list of chip counts is available at PokerNews.

Reslock leads HORSE

Day 2 of the $1,500 HORSE resumes at 3pm with 246 players returning. The current chip leader is Ming Reslock with 50,000. Some of the notables returning: defending champion James Van Alstyne (40,900), Allen Kessler (36,900), Tom Dwan (34,900), Brandon Cantu (29,100), Andy Bloch (26,800), and Chip Jett (21,300). The full list of survivors is at PokerNews.

Thursday’s tournaments

Two tournaments yet again get underway at the WSOP. Starting at 12pm is the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event, won last year by Matt Hawrilenko for just over $1,000,000 in besting a field of 928. The 5pm tournament is the $2,500 Pot-Limit Holdem/Pot-Limit Omaha event, with nine hands of each game played before switching. Last year’s winner was Rami Boukai, defeating a field of 453

1k NL final table set

The $1,000 No-Limit Holdem final table gets underway this afternoon at 2:30pm with this lineup:

Seat 1: Blake Kelso – 1,166,000
Seat 2: JD McNamara – 2,393,000
Seat 3: Kiet Tran – 2,311,000
Seat 4: Greg Pohler – 1,660,000
Seat 5: David Cai – 844,000
Seat 6: Michael Gross – 535,000
Seat 7: Denis Murphy – 789,999
Seat 8: Jeffrey Tebben – 466,000
Seat 9: John Tolbert – 925,000

Cowley leads final 15 in 2500 NL 6-max

Steve Cowley (1,279,000) leads the remaining 15 players in the $2,500 No-Limit 6-max event when they play down to a winner starting at 3pm. Among the notables with chips: Justin “Boosted J” Smith (641,000) and Erik Cajelais (345,000). The full list of chip counts is online at PokerNews.

Troy leads 1500 Stud 8 on final day

Maxwell Troy (430,000) leads the final 23 players who return at 3pm in the $1,500 Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better event. Among the familiar names looking to get a WSOP bracelet in this event: David Levi (216,000), Karina Jett (187,000), Blair Rodman (117,000) and Brandon Cantu (50,000). The remaining field’s chip counts is online at PokerNews.

Klein leads 2500 PLO after day 1

A field of 596 players started the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event Tuesday afternoon, with 102 returning at 2:30 today. The final 54 players make the money, with the winner collecting $315,311. The leader is Loren Klein with 187,300 in chips. Other notables on the leaderboard: Richard Ashby (137,700), Tex Barch (72,600), T.J. Cloutier (70,400), Chau Giang (59,800), and Scott Clements (58,200). A full list of the survivors will appear soon at wsop.com.

Lisandro leads 10k limit holdem

The $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship drew a field of 171, with 102 remaining after ten levels of play. The leader is Jeff Lisandro with 130,900 in chips. Other names you’ve heard of: Brett Richey (113,800), Hoyt Corkins (109,900), Shaun Deeb (89,000), Michael Mizrachi (69,800), Doyle Brunson (65,300) and Jennifer Harman (46,300). The full chip counts are online at wsop.com.

Wednesday’s tournaments

Another two bracelet events get underway this afternoon, starting with the fourth full-ring $1,500 No-Limit Holdem starting at 12pm. The defending champion in this event is Eric Baldwin, defeating a field of 2,095 for $521,991. At 5pm it’s the $1,500 HORSE event, with James Van Alstyne defeating a field of 770, earning $247,033.

DeWitt leads 5k NL final table

Jason Dewitt (2,600,000) holds a slight chip lead over Jeff Williams (2,550,000) with 8 players remaining in the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem final table. David Benefield (1,265,000) and Amit Makhija (720,000) are others looking to take down the title.

Brussard leading 2k limit holdem

The $2,000 Limit Holdem event is down to 48 players, with the money bubble burst when 45 remain. Andrew Brussard leads with 158,000 in chips, followed by Daniel Makowsky (140,000), Matt Matros (80,500), and Joe Serock (71,500) among the notables.

Danzer leads 10k 2-7 Lowball

George Danzer (200,000) leads the 34 remaining players in the $10,000 2-7 No-Limit Lowball World Championship. He’s followed by David “Bakes” Baker (187,000), Eric Cloutier (145,000), Billy Baxter (101,000) and Daniel Negreanu (97,100) among the recognized names returning shortly from dinner break.

$1,500 PLO Day 1

The $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event drew a field of 889, with the top 81 making the money, with a first place prize of $256,919. Half of the field has already been eliminated before the dinner break, with the unofficial chip leader Wade Townsend with 55,000. Jordan Morgan (44,500), Fabrice Soulier (40,000) and “Miami John” Cernuto (32,000) among the names you’ve heard of in the top 10. Four more levels of play are left, with a chance that the money bubble will be burst later tonight.

$1,500 Stud Day 1

A field of 408 started the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event this afternoon, with the last 40 remaining earning more than they paid. In early action, Sorel Mizzi is the unofficial leader with 10,000, followed by Cyndy Violette (8,000), Allen Kessler (7,000) and Humberto Brenes (6,100). The field will play eight levels before calling it a night.

Tom Dwan
Andy Bloch
Michael Mizrachi
Sorel Mizzi
Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
Liv Boeree
Paul Wasicka
Gus Hansen
Don Cheadle

The tournament will be filmed for the online version of WSOP Academy, with commentary provided by Ali Nejad and Phil Hellmuth. You can also follow the action as it happens on WSOP Academy’s Twitter. More information can be found at WSOP.com.

To bring you breathtaking excitement (and palpable tension) from the Amazon floor last night, I’m gonna skip ahead in the Tao of Pokerati storyline … and catch up with Pauly and Benjo, who were of course right there as Durrrr’s chip-stack had a collection of prop-bet gamblers re-evaluating their futures.

While the final table of Event #11 was being set up, Benjo spotted a group of the Big Game regulars who bet against durrrr having a quick meeting. The T.O.P. crew speculate on a potential bracelet bet buy-out if durrrr continues to dominate the donkament.

Moments after the big donkament ended and durrrr took second, Benjo and Pauly headed over to the rail of the $10k Stud-8 event to watch the reactions of pros who bet against durrrr winning a bracelet and dodged a massive bullet.

Everyone in poker seems to really care about the French these days.

And for all you us pathetically unilingual Americans, here is an easy-to-bookmark tinyurl for Benjo’s “Las Vegas, off the record”, with his personal take on any and all WSOP action robo-translated from French to English: http://tinyurl.com/38r4wdd

The Poker Beat
6/3/10
TPB (and skilled technician John V) won’t let interstate technical snafus get in the way of award-winning deliverables. With BJ at the helm and Huff watching from the booth in LA, Jess and Wolfman discuss what may or may not be going on as the WSOP and the post-hardened UIGEA era get underway almost simultaneously … all while Michael Mizrachi takes down the first big bracelet of the Series, the Nevada Gaming Control Board clamps down on dot-net poker relationships, a thieving player tries to palm a stack of chips, and Joran van der Sloot allegedly kills again while hitting the Latin American poker circuit.

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5/27/10
Jess, BJ, and I arrive at the Rio, and kick it a little more freeform to trade notes on what we’re hearing, what we’re seeing, and WTF the masses were thinking on American Idol, which is obviously rigged.

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5/20/10
Gary, BJ, and Jess Welman preview what to expect at and from the 2010 WSOP. A week in, were they right?

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5/13/10
A political shit-storm is brewing … and though Wolfman was supposed to do the “ranting”, Gary and Huff went hardcore nuts while addressing the most recent Cereus security issues, and Gary (at about 28 min in) gives what might be the best explanation of why all in poker should be angry at all things Ultimate Bet and Absolute, including those who still play on either site.

Star Studded Final Table

Six players remain in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud event, with Men Nguyen the current chip leader with over 1,000,000 in chips. The rest of the final table consists of Nikolay Evdakov, Brandon Adams, Michael Mizrachi, Joe Cassidy and Steve Bilirakis. The first two to to cash from the final table are Vladimir Schmelev ($55,991) and Sirious Jamshidi ($46,206). Follow the final table activities, and other WSOP events over at PokerNews.

Dempsey Dominant at Pot-Limit

The final table of the $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem event is down to heads-up, with James “Flushy” Dempsey holding the chip lead over Steve Chanthabouasy. JJ Liu fell short of triumph, finishing in 3rd for $86,512. Updates of the battle are ongoing over at PokerNews.

$1,500 NL in the money

Less than 100 remain in the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem, with chances appearing slim that a final table will be reached. Notables remaining: Blair Hinkle, Tom Dwan, Neil Channing, Roy Winston, and Alex Bolotin.

$1,500 Limit Day 2

The field in the $1,500 Limit Holdem event is down to 77 after their dinner break, with 63 making the money. Michael Miccio is the current chip leader at 85,000, followed close behind by Jameson Painter (82,000), Terrence Chan (81,000), Jason Potter (74,000), and David Plastik (56,000) in the top 10. Play continues until they reach the final table or around 3am, whichever comes first. More updates available at PokerNews.

Donkament #2 Numbers Down

1,922 handed over their money for day 1a of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event, a decrease from last week’s 2,600 day 1a. The remaining 450 players remain with play ending for the night when 15% of the field remains or 10 levels of play, whichever happens first. Some of the notable post-dinner break survivors: Phil Gordon, Kathy Liebert, John Cernuto, Tony Cousineau, Liv Boeree, and Vitaly Lunkin.

2-7 NL Lowball Draws a Crowd

A field of 250 players decided to give the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball, Single Draw event a try, with notables such as Annette Obrestad and Eric Baldwin making their lowball debut. Players start with 1,500 in chips along with three $1,000 “rebuy” chips that can be used anytime within the first 4 hours. Nick Schulman appears to be the early chip leader with 25,000, but the volatile nature of the game means anything can happen over the eight levels of play this evening.