We’ll save the 9/11 comparisons for later — because no one has died yet — and it’s just kinda coincidental that the DOJ has 9 charges against 11 defendants. But there seems to be a need for people to talk through these matters openly and honestly … and in kinda an organic way, the few truly independent operations (that don’t rely on Stars, Tilt, or UB for their existence) have come together to fill that void.

What began with appearances on an “EMERGENCY EPISODE!!!!” of Donkdown radio has migrated to a 24/7 live podcast put together by @AgentMarco from QuadJacks.

It’s been a rather loose-aggressive media emergence … with old-school cooperation in play. Pokerati has taken part … Tom Schneider, myself were on for the first few hours, Mark Gahagan is on now, and I’m about to rejoin to share some new information. Others that have been on have included Dutch Boyd, Scott Matusow, Micon-Brandon-and-Dandruff from Donkdown, The Maven, Kevmath, Pete the Blunt-smoker, Thomas the Rapper … as well as just regular ole online poker players sharing their stories about how a “little” government action has greatly affected their lives.

Anyhow, blah blah blah to infinity … the podcast that won’t stop is still going on — they’ve been going for 48 hours so far, with no sign of stopping, even if Marco eventually needs a nap. More than 1,000 listeners at this moment, so check out the chat room and keep it on for background music. Here’s the link:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/day-2-qj-live-show

Funny how once the concept of “conversions” stopped mattering, 24/7 poker radio could finally emerge.

Dan is more than capable to handle things here at Pokerati, and there’s several possible things in the coming months that may make me regret this decision. I know the site will continue to grow and I hope for the best, and I’ll still make my appearance in the comments as needed. I appreciate Dan giving me my break in May of 2008 after enduring my hundreds of comments to his posts. Thanks again, and hopefully I can do with Bluff what I’ve done for Pokerati over the coming months.

Kevmath

Kevin Mathers, the venerable 2+2 moderator and longtime blogger-editor at Pokerati, will not be posting here for the foreseeable future.

No joke … he has been relieved indefinitely from Pokerati blogging duties. Technically, we had to “let him go”. Sucks, but we just couldn’t afford the increasingly valuable services of the hottest independent info-tweeter in poker. Here is a copy of his termination papers:

Kevin, I saw your interview on TWIP. Good job. I also just read Can you send me relevant threads from 2+2?

Hey, so, you are fired. Sorry. Hard times.

I really wanted to believe you were a bot.

See you on Twitter or something?

Rumor is Kevmath is headed to the minor leagues Bluff, where he and Jess Welman would form quite the menacingly mighty poker-reportage duo. Of course without Kevmath, Pokerati will change … we’ve got Gahagan to work double time and some other changes in store, but we might have to cut back on some previously standard coverage elements, such as “facts”.

But @Kevmath did leave behnd a Pokerati farewell … after 30 months, 579 posts, and 1,642 comments, all of which helped make this a better place … seriously, how lucky were we to have him as long as we did? Glad the “for hire” media finally came around.

Check back to read what hopefully won’t be the last time we see @Kevmath around these parts.

Eric Baldwin
Lance Bradley – Editor at Bluff Magazine
Andrew Feldman – Poker Editor at ESPN.com
Chad Holloway – Poker Pro Magazine
Howard Lederer
Bernard Lee
Daniel Negreanu – Defending champion
Dennis Phillips
Steve “Chops” Preiss – Wicked Chops Poker
Mark Seif
Gavin Smith
Gary Wise

Each participant made eight picks in the draft and the handy chart below displays their selections by round:

A detailed analysis from Feldman on the selections can be found at www.espn.com/poker

Page 2 features how points are earned and my selections:

Here’s how points will be earned:

1st – 50
2nd – 40
3rd – 30
4th – 25
5th – 20
6th – 16
7th – 14
8th – 12
9th – 11
10th – 10
Top 20 – 5
Top 50 – 2
Cashing – 1

Bonus points:

Points are doubled for all $10k+ buy-in events
1 additional point awarded for every 100 players in the field, starting at 200

Last year I figured I could pick a better lineup than at least 6 of the “experts” out of players who weren’t selected. I didn’t do as well as hoped, but I’ll surely give it another try.

Here’s my 8 selections:

Christian Harder
Sam Stein
Andy Seth
Jon Turner
Gavin Griffin
David “Bakes” Baker
Noah Schwartz
Mike Sowers

I’ll update the standings weekly here at Pokerati, or when I remember to do it, whichever comes first.

We of course weren’t the only ones. Another new site also went live that same week … FullTiltPoker.com. Their launch was the subject of our first post. Huh … it’s been quite a ride to say the least — I’m not sure Durrrr was even born yet! What I do know is that I had a lot more hair back then.

Now, six years since, I actually think poker is about to implode.

I know I’m in the minority amongst the well-informed and so-called poker media on this … but gather round folks … we’ve seen implosions in Vegas before, and they always make for a good show. You’ll hear and feel the charges — boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom … and then there’s a pause before the support beams fall and moments later what once stood gloriously is collapsing on top of itself leaving behind jagged piles of rubble and a spectacular cloud of dust. It’s all part of clearing the way to build something even more fantastic than anyone previously conceived.

Pokerati Post #2 still might apply, unironically:

LOL, if only they really knew …

Pick up a copy in a Southwest Airlines seat back near you.

UPDATE: Cruisers beware of pirates.

Segment one appears below, but stayed tuned for the special Pokerati mention in segment three on page 2:

(Thanks to all looking out for this site’s good name.)

6:54 pokerati: maybe we can get uyou involved somehow with some streams like this..
6:54 WhoJedi: Pokerati is Dan, is this Dan?
6:54 WhoJedi: That would be cool.
6:54 pokerati: nosir
6:55 pokerati: i did NOT no there was a pokerat that wud be cinfused
6:55 pokerati: i am NOT impostering
6:55 WhoJedi: lol
6:55 WhoJedi: no worries
6:55 pokerati: my twit name is DservAA
6:55 pokerati: i dnt want ppl thinkn im trying to solicit ppl using anown name
6:55 WhoJedi: I am whojedi on Twitter, find me and send me a message…
6:55 pokerati: i need everything to be as legit as poss for this to go throughj
6:55 Kevmath: who’s left of the final 3?
6:56 WhoJedi: cool
6:56 WhoJedi: they are on break, be back in a few minutes, I am gonna try and find out who the three are…
6:56 jcpoker: jedi kesller in?
6:57 pokerati: believe so
6:57 WhoJedi: yes
6:57 jcpoker: k what position
6:57 jcpoker: chip countg
6:57 pokerhag: why are you using pokerati when you are not Dan??
6:58 pokerati: how are they allowing you to film this?
6:58 jcpoker: hes getting attention for a film
6:58 jcpoker: using a known name
6:58 jcpoker: ha
6:58 pokerhag: kind of sucks
6:58 WhoJedi: Kessler has 23,600
6:58 jcpoker: k thanks
6:58 jcpoker: he went way down
6:59 jcpoker: good thing he sold 25 of his action
6:59 JamesDaBear: WhoJedi… that’s what I thought too at first… Because I follow pokerati on twitter too
7:00 JamesDaBear: hey
7:00 JamesDaBear: i don’t think that’s what he is doing at all
7:00 JamesDaBear: nice dance
7:00 pokerati: jcpoker that was NOt cool..
7:00 WhoJedi: three players left in the $1K NLHE is Ryan Hughes, Robert Kalteux and Ray Henson.
7:00 JamesDaBear: nice
7:00 pokerati: can i chng my name here
7:00 JamesDaBear: thanks
7:01 jcpoker: how do yu randomly come up with pokerati?
7:01 jcpoker: ha
7:01 pokerati: illuminati
7:01 pokerhag: I think you should change it….not good
7:01 pokerati: pokeraati
7:01 pokerati: simple..
7:01 jcpoker: k
7:02 jcpoker: james believes you
7:02 pokerati: could be subconscious maybe sam it on 2p2 or twitter, small wrld now
7:02 pokerati: i will chng, im sry..but thats weak that you thinks its shady
7:02 pokerati: i will try
7:03 jcpoker: i dont
7:03 jcpoker: i dont care
7:03 jcpoker: i just think its funny
7:03 jcpoker: naive
7:03 JamesDaBear: pokerati is not some brilliant thing that Dan Michalski can claim as his own lol
7:03 pokerati: mee too..F that im not chngng anything
7:03 jcpoker: yea
7:04 jcpoker: take a stand
7:04 pokerati: what if i workd at the ATi gas station dwn the road
7:04 pokerhag: fraud
7:04 JamesDaBear: most people do use their twitter name on here
7:04 pokerati: or for advanced teletronics incorporated
7:06 Kevmath: he never said he was dan michalski, i admit it’s confusing but it’s not intentional
7:06 pokerhag: you are misrepresenting yourself.sir.
7:07 JamesDaBear: so it would be cool to change your name… so the cynics will start having real conversations instead of this crap
7:07 pokerhag: now he has the facts and should change it especially since he is pushing a project
7:07 WhoJedi: Funning thing is, Dan is here with me…lol…He got a kick out of it, no harm no foul…
7:07 JamesDaBear: lol
7:07 JamesDaBear: funny
7:07 Kevmath: that’s what made me think it was dan, since i know he’s in la this weekend
7:07 pokerhag: me too
7:07 WhoJedi: I’ll have him wave to the camera in a minute…
7:08 Kevmath: looks like heads-up
7:08 pokerati: arhghh tech supprt says i need new email
7:08 JamesDaBear: nice
7:08 Kevmath: i assume it’s klateaux v hughes?
7:09 pokerati: dammit..WHO IS DAN BROFLOWSKI AND WHY ARE YOU HAUMNTING ME!!!!!!!!
7:09 WhoJedi: Here comes Dan, say hi…
7:09 pokerati: lol, i cant chngn!!!!!!
7:09 pokerati: im sorry dude, blind mistake..i dank bet the river..unintentionally
7:09 jh00k: wolfman!!!
7:09 WhoJedi: No worries…
7:10 Kevmath: er kalteux and hughes

***7:03 JamesDaBear: pokerati is not some brilliant thing that Dan Michalski can claim as his own lol***

Point of order to JamesDaBear … ok, “not some brilliant thing” I’ll give ya, but when it comes to claiming the phrase as my own in “online journals, namely blogs, featuring information and opinion on poker” technically I can.

Is there some reason the most recent article is dated the 17th, 5 days ago?

There is a reason for that, and we may or may not tell you eventually. My apologies to the poker world for not letting other media know what they should be writing about taking a break.

I remember hearing about this “new site” from Clonie way back before they even existed (and the UIGEA was about as unimaginable as Barack Obama). Was looking to see if I happened to write anything that woulda implied a belief in ownership even before Pokerati’s traffic was borne from Google searches for “Clonie Gowan naked”.

I did not find anything resembling contractual evidence, but I did come across this site’s first-ever post … which seems a bit ironic in hindsight. For those wanting to join me in this self-indulgent quest for perspective:

APRIL 21, 2004
ON TILT?
It seems like everyone and their grandmother is opening up an online poker room these days. And why not? Each imaginary table that pops open in the cyberether forms a little vortex of constant pecuniary intake (no matter what’s happening in the game itself). But is the market at a saturation point?

Probably so, but that didn’t stop Full Tilt Poker from going online this week. Despite the competition, I suspect this site — a venture put together by a bunch of top pros (Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Phil Gordon, et al.) — will fare well. Haven’t played it yet, but at first glance they’ve upped the graphical interface significantly. And the ability to give your avatar facial expressions … very cool. Could change the online game when you think about it.

Posted by Dan Michalski on April 21, 2004 09:20 AM

Click the links, which are archived.org … bias or not, honestly surprising that the judge wouldn’t give these sorts of old records a look, let alone her attorneys a chance to depose the other defendants about them.

LOL: Is the market at a saturation point?

ALT HED: Kicking myself for not using an affiliate code

Unique visitors: 492,404
Visits: 1,119,809
Page views: 5,353,853
Avg. Visit: 7min 13sec
Bandwidth: 1.176 Terabytes

Damn, sounds like a lot … but fuggit, let’s double that shit for 2010; I don’t care how many terabytes it takes!

Shouts out to our top referrers in 2009. Our best friends of the year, in order, are:

Wicked Chops
2+2
Tao of Poker
Twitter
Poker Grump
LasVegasVegas
Facebook
Pocket Fives
Poker Road
Benjo
Hardboiled Poker
Youtube

Also, some notable newcomers, whom we hope to see still lurking around these parts of the internet even more in 2010:

Pokernews
Bluffmagazine
PoliticalWire
BigSoccer
Bartcop

And, of course, we wouldn’t want to forget our foreign-lingual pals … without whom we couldn’t spread our loose-aggressive reporting worldwide as if it might actually be fact:

http://www.pokeritieto.fi
http://tiltkontrolle.blogspot.com
http://www.pokerisivut.com
http://forum.pokerzysta.pl
http://poker.deluxe.hu

Good year. Go readers, skimmers, and clickers!

Pokerati, as you may or may not know, is up for a Bluff Magazine Readers Choice Award — “Top Poker Blog of 2009″. Yippee. And The Poker Beat is a nominee for “Best Poker Podcast”. It’s always nice to see hard work yield some semblance of results. Tao of Poker+Wicked Chops+Poker News Daily=whatever. Other people are up for other things, too. Hey, really, they all deserve it.

Cast your ballot(s) semi-intelligently here.

If you need help making a decision, here’s Jennifer Tilly with some strong advice:

tied up hands and feet
lesbian poker
naked fat chick
joe cada is a jew?
hogtied men
the novembrists
oliver tse
are maria and tiffany gay
are the poker girls amazing race gay
(and lots of variants of the above theme)
joe cada shirtless
pictures of amy calistri nude
mitch garber asshole
hot boys guy donkeys
hookers at the commerce casino
óòðî
chau giang rub titties

LOL. Seriously … who are you people? And were you able to find everything you’re looking for?

Crap, if he’s moving in I guess I gotta get an airbed?

As a note, the average chip stack is now about 3,044,000 with the blinds starting at 25,000/50,000 with a 5,000 ante. Leo Margets will earn the last woman standing title as Nichoel Peppe finished in 75th place, good for $68,979. Other notables eliminated after the dinner break: Peter Eastgate (78th), Kenny Tran (86th), Noah Boeken (96th).

Follow the live updates over at wsop.com and check out Pauly for his own version of the action.

To wrap up the Dream Team Poker event, Kenna James did take down the individual title.

Page 2 contains excerpts from Nolan Dalla’s tournament report:

2009 World Series of Poker Presented by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada

Official Report
Event #57
World Championship
World Series of Poker Main Event
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $10,000
Number of Entries: 6,494
Players Remaining: 64
Total Net Prize Pool: $61,043,600
Number of Places Paid: 648
First Place Prize: $8,546,435
July 3–November 10, 2009

Tournament Highlights:

Day 6 Headlines

1. World Series of Poker Continues – Down to 64 in the Main Event
2. Darvin Moon (Oakland, MD) is the New Chip Leader Going into Day Seven
3. Many Well-Known Poker Players Still Alive – including Tom Schneider, Phil Ivey, Fabrice Soulier, Jeff Shulman, Antonio Esfandiari, Dennis Phillips, Joe Sebok, Blair Rodman, and Prahlad Friedman
4. Defending World Champion Peter Eastgate Eliminated in 78th Place – Last of former Champions Finally Out
5. Two November Nine Finalists Face-Off at Same Table on Day 6 – Peter Eastgate and Dennis Phillips Tangle in Re-Match, Phillips Survives
6. Seven-Time Gold Bracelet Winner Phil Ivey (Las Vegas, NV) Currently in Third Place

The Main Event Continues

– The 2009 WSOP Main Event continued with the play and conclusion of Day 6. The day included a deep run into the money, as the tournament field size was reduced by nearly two-thirds. All 185 players who started play were already guaranteed $36,626 in prize money. Now, after 11 days and 50 hours of tournament play, all finishers are guaranteed at least $90,344 in prize money.

– Day 6 began with 185 players. The day ended with 64 survivors.

– Prize money payouts increase at various intervals. Every player still alive in the tournament (64th place and higher) is now guaranteed at least $90,344 in prize money. After one more player busts out, survivors are guaranteed at least $108,047.

– This was the 46th day of the 2009 WSOP. Play continues for two more days, plus the finale to be played in November. There will also be four gold bracelet events played at WSOP-Europe, to be held in London in September.

– Tomorrow (Tuesday) begins at noon and is expected to include five levels of play.

– Play on Day 5 began on July 13, 2009 at 12:05 pm.

Playing on Day 1 – A, B, C, or D – Does it Matter?

Which of the four Main Event starting days is the most advantageous? The data has been run and the numbers are now in. Statistics from the past two years of Main Events show there is almost no correlation between the starting day and the odds of finishing in-the-money. Here are the numbers:

2009:
Day 1A: 121 cashes out of 1116 entrants –10.8 percent
Day 1B: 84 cashes out of 873 entrants — 9.6 percent
Day 1C: 162 cashes out of 1696 entrants — 9.5 percent
Day 1D: 281 cashes out of 2809 entrants — 10 percent

2008:
Day 1A: 122 cashes out of 1299 entries — 9.4 percent
Day 1B: 117 cashes out of 1158 entries — 10.1 percent
Day 1C: 187 cashes out of 1936 entries — 9.7 percent
Day 1D: 240 cashes out of 2461 entries — 9.7 percent

Play on Day 6

— Defending champion Peter Eastgate was eliminated late in the day, in the middle of Level 25. He ended up as the 78th-place finisher. He busted out with A-J against Billy Kopp’s 8-8. Eastgate initially connected with a pair of aces. But Kopp ended up making a heart flush, which eliminated the Danish poker champion. It was an impressive run for the Danish poker pro. Eastgate made the deepest run by a defending champion since Greg “Fossilman” Raymer’s remarkable 25-place finish in the 2005 Main Event.

— Eastgate was the final former Main Event champion left standing in this year’s championship. 2005 WSOP champion Joe Hachem, who also started the day in contention, was eliminated in 104th place.

— Players competed for five complete levels. Play ended after Level 25. When play resumes tomorrow at Level 26, blinds will be 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante. The average stack size is currently 3,044,063.

— Day 5 started with a field of 185 players and ended with 64 survivors. This means only about 1 percent of the original 6,494 starters survived past the fifth day.

— One of the most interesting tables on Day 6 contained two final table players from last year’s Main Event. Peter Eastgate (1st place) faced Dennis Phillips (3rd place). The irony of déjà vu in this year’s Main Event was obvious to both players as they exchanged several comments about being back at center stage almost a year to the day of last year’s success.

— Two females started the day. They were Nichoel Peppe (Long Beach, CA) who began in 35th place. Leo Margets (Barcelona, Spain) started in 135th place. However, their roles were reversed as Margets survived. Peppe busted out in 75th place. Leo Margets is now the only female player left in the field of 64. She is currently in 18th place.

— The 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem was eliminated in 104th place. He busted out after missing a flush draw and received a rousing ovation from the crowd as he exited the ESPN main stage. Prior to busting out, Hachem was interviewed during the middle play on Day 6. He was asked about his goals for this event. “The only reason I keep playing is to make history,” Hachem said. “The money is extra. I want to be part of World Series of Poker history.”

— Sarne Lightman, who presently lives in San Jose, Costa Rica, ended up as the 112th-place finisher. Lightman overseas operations of the Latin American Poker Tour, which will be entering its third season later this year.

— Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Chris Bjorin (London, UK) was eliminated on this day and finished in 156th place.

— Bob Riley (St. Charles, MO) was one of the most senior players still in contention coming into Day 6. The 70-year-old poker player finished in 168th place.

— Players who survived Day 6 will return to continue their quest for the 2009 world poker championship gold bracelet and $8.5 million in prize money on July 14th, starting at noon.

— Play on Day 6 ended at 12:45 am.

Day 6 Chip Leader (Darvin Moon)

Darvin Moon is the new chip leader after six days of play. He lives in the small eastern Maryland town of Oakland. Moon owns and operates a small logging company with other family members. Most of his days are spent in pine forests scattered throughout the Maryland panhandle. He is married and was cheered on by his wife, who was sitting in the crowd. This is Moon’s first time to play in the WSOP. It was also his first time to visit Las Vegas.

A Short Interview with Darvin Moon

Question: How did you get to the WSOP?
Moon: I won my seat at the casino in Wheeling (WV). We started going out there last year. I came in ninth one time last year. This time, I played three times (trying to qualify for a seat to play in the Main Event). I finished third the first time, and then busted out the next time. The third time, I won my seat.

Question: How long have you been playing poker?
Moon: About three years. I watch poker on TV a lot. And I pay attention to it.

Question: What is your usual poker game?
Moon: there are about 70 of us around who play around. We do benefits at places like the Elks Club, American Legion, and the fire departments. I also play in Wheeling (WV).

Question: You really came out of nowhere to seize the chip lead. How did you do it?
Moon: It’s easy to play when you get hands like I was getting. It’s just unbelievable. It’s like a dream. I got pocket aces and flopped trips, and someone was betting into me. But I had pocket kings one time and the other guy pushed all in over the top of me. I just mucked my hand pre-flop. I mean, he has to have aces. What else can he have? That’s just my style. I play tight. When I get them I bet and when I don’t, I fold.

Question: You must feel like a kid in a candy store here at the WSOP.
Moon: Oh yeah. I’m nervous. I mean, this is my first time in Las Vegas. It was my first time on a big plane.

Question: How did it feel to play on the main ESPN stage under the spotlight of television cameras?
Moon: It didn’t bother me at all. I mean, I am nervous. But I am more nervous out there than I am here. I focus on the cards and I am comfortable playing. I walk down that hall and everybody that’s won and everybody is big time and a name. And they walk right by you and you say, ‘wow, here I am playing with these guys. It’s a dream come true.

Question: Why are you wearing a New Orleans Saints (NFL) cap?
Moon: I like cheering for the underdog. They were underdogs for a long time. But now they are doing good and I am sticking with them. We are located right between Pittsburgh and Baltimore. It is mostly Steeler fans where I live. And I wear this hat to mess with them.

Question: Let’s say you get offered ninth place right now. You can make a deal and you will get $1 million for ninth, plus you get to be part of the November Nine. Would you take the imaginary deal?
Moon: No. No. Ninth place? I got my goals set. It’s not first. But it’s not ninth, either. I’ll be happy. I don’t care if I go out the first hand tomorrow. I’ve had fun. It’s been worth every minute of it. I just like to play and it’s unreal. It’s something I can’t even dream of doing, and here I am.

— Here’s how the previous end-of-day chip leaders have fared:

Day 1-A: Redmond Lee (London, UK) – eliminated, did not cash
Day 1-B: Brandon Demes (Tempe, AZ) – eliminated, did not cash
Day 1-C: Joseph Cada (Shelby Township, MI) – currently in 15th place
Day 1-D: Troy Weber (West Terre Haute, IN) – eliminated, did not cash
Day 2-A: Andrew Gaw (Philippines) – eliminated, did not cash
Day 2-B: Amir Lehavot (Weston, FL) – CASHED IN 226th PLACE
Day 3: Bertrand Grospellier (Nancy, France) – CASHED IN 122nd PLACE
Day 4: Matt Affleck (Seattle, WA) – CASHED IN 80th PLACE
Day 5: Waren Zackey (Johannesburg, South Africa) – currently in 51st place
Day 6: Darvin Moon (Oakland, MD) — TBD

ESPN WSOP Broadcasts

– ESPN has been broadcasting its WSOP coverage since 2003. This year, four events will be featured. These events include the $40,000 buy-in 40th Anniversary No-Limit Hold’em Championship, the World Champions Invitational, the third-annual Ante-Up for Africa charity tournament, and the Main Event.

– Although the number of WSOP events receiving broad coverage has been reduced to four, the total number of broadcast hours is actually the same as last year. More coverage will be given to the Main Event, since the world championship receives the greatest amount of viewer interest.

– The total amount of time the WSOP will be broadcast this year is 32 new and original hours of coverage.

– Debut WSOP broadcasts on ESPN will remain in their customary Tuesday night time slot.

– The 2009 WSOP broadcasts will begin on July 28th.

– Of the remaining players who are still alive going into Day Six, 18 are international (non-American) players. This represents 28 percent of the field.

US – 46 players remain
UK – 3 players remain
Canada – 4 players remain
Australia – 1 players remain
France – 3 players remain
Germany – 1 player remains
Italy – 1 player remains
Finland – 1 player remains
Denmark – 1 player remains
Spain – 1 player remains
St. Kitts – 1 player remains
South Africa – 1 player remains

– Daily elimination percentages are as follows:
DAY ONE: 68 percent of the original starters in this tournament survived the first day / 32 percent were eliminated.
DAY TWO: 31 percent of the original starters survived the second day / 27 percent were eliminated from the start of day amount.
DAY THREE: 12 percent of the original starters survived the third day / 60 percent were eliminated from the start of day amount.
DAY FOUR: 6.2 percent of the original starters survived the fourth day / 48.2 percent were eliminated from the start of day amount
DAY FIVE: 2.8 percent of the original starters survived the fifth day / 55 percent were eliminated from the start of day amount
DAY SIX: 1 percent of the original starters survived the sixth day / 65.4 percent were eliminated from the start of day amount

Sunday brought another three-level day to the WSOP, with just 185 players remaining when play resumes Monday afternoon at 12pm. The current unofficial leader is Warren Zackey, who’s listed from Honeydew, South Africa with 4,977,000 in chips. The most notable name at the top of the leaderboard is 2007 WSOP POY and member of Team Pokerati Tom Schneider at 3,168,000, good for 4th place. More notables, with their unofficial chip counts: Noah Boeken (2,4000,000), Eugene Katchalov (2,1000,000), Ludovic Lacay (1,685,000), Fabrice Soulier (1,450,000), Bertrand Grospellier (1,400,000), Blair Hinkle (1,100,000), Joe Sebok (1,100,000), Joe Hachem (1,000,000), Peter Eastgate (927,000), Blair Rodman (890,000), Joe Serock and Prahlad Friedman (760,000) and Kenny Tran (700,000).

Notable eliminations: Kevin O’Donnell, Mickey Mills, Cornel Cimpan, Kara Scott, Dan Shak, Nick Binger, Bobby Baldwin, Kevin Saul, William Robertie and Can Kim Hua.

Hopefully the official chip counts will be coming shortly, and Pokerati will be the 5th place to find them. Follow Pokerati also for Dream Team Poker updates, when they return from dinner break.

In a surprising move, play ended Saturday after just three levels of play in the main event, as the field is now down to about 400 players after three levels of play, which included nearly two hours of hand-for-hand play. Chip counts are unofficial at the moment, but it appears that Frenchman Ludovic Lacay will be the chip leader with 1,608,000 chips. Tom Lutz is listed in 2nd place with 1,600,000 chips. Other notables returning tomorrow with unofficial chip counts: Jordan Morgan (1,489,000), Blair Hinkle (1,399,000), Bertrand Grospellier (1,250,000), Nichoel Peppe (880,000), Kenny Tran (850,000), Tom Schneider (790,000), Lou Diamond Phillips (755,000), Dennis Phillips (630,000), Kara Scott (580,000), Joe Hachem (570,000), Noah Boeken (515,000), Joe Sebok (412,000) and Joe Serock (400,000). The returning players resume at 12 noon tomorrow, guaranteed at least $27,469.

The bubble was reached after 13 hands during hand-for-hand play. Kia Hamadani had about 160,000 in chips when they were about 20 players for the money, unfortunately for him, he took several hits to his stack until he was all in for his 500-chip ante. His last hand was 4-3o, which was crushed by someone making a large bet on a Q-Q-6 board with 9-2o. A nine on the turn and river meant that Hamadani would finish in 649, consoled by the fact that Jack Link’s Beef Jerky gave him a free entry to the 2010 Main Event.

Notables who can sleep in tomorrow: Phil Hellmuth, Patrick Bruel, Kelly Kim, Surinder Sunar, Matt Brady, Mark Gregorich, and Jesper Hougaard.

Official chip counts will be available in the morning, so return to Pokerati to see what’s turns up next.

Day 2a will start at noon today, as they play five two-hour levels at nine-handed tables in a field of 1,476 (half the size of the day 2b field Wednesday). A list of those players is here. The over 2,900 strong field for day 2b will have over 120 tables start 10-handed when play resumes for them on Wednesday. It could be another logistical nightmare if the day 2a field has too many eliminations, and play is forced to be suspended sooner than expected. The Day 2b field only has four two-hour levels of play on their agenda so that when the field is combined on Friday, expect a field of at least 2,000 starting for Day 3.

As usual, check out Pokerati or Pauly for more details, and www.wsop.com for updates during the day.

At the moment, there’s about 4,000 registrants already signed up, most of which are on days 1c and 1d, so don’t be surprised if you hear rumors about Monday’s day 1d being “closed” for registrations to add some entrants to days 1b and 1c. Notables who have already been eliminated today include: Jerry Yang, Freddy Deeb, Orel Hershiser, John Phan, Gabe Kaplan, Davidi Kitai and 2009 EPT Grand Final winner Pieter de Korver. The unofficial chip leader is Dragan Galac at 110,000 in chips, followed by by 2006 EPT Grand Final winner Jeff Williams at 106,000.

Other notables with chips: Jason Alexander (84,500), Eli Elezra (84,300), Tom Schneider (57,000), Phil Laak (46,000) and Jimmy Fricke (45,000). Follow the last level of play at the WSOP site here. Chip counts should be available in the early morning hours, but if you want to see who decided to pay their $10,000 today, a list of Day 1a entrants can be found here. More stuff this weekend, so come back to Pokerati often.

Watch Jeffrey Pollack Vlog on Day 1A of the 2009 WSOP Main Event on RawVegas.tv

Ante Up for Africa is being filmed now for ESPN, and it has plenty of Full Tilt Poker pros with Rafe Furst, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Phil Gordon, Erik Seidel, Jennifer Harman and John Hennigan appearing at the final table. Hopefully Dan and/or Jen will have more updates when there’s a result.

Friday afternoon starts the Main Event, and all the fun and chaos that brings to the Rio. Pokerati will be there to catch the action, so come back, please.