Move over Full Tilt Poker dot net. Scotty Nguyen sends the whole table a virtual Corona!

Personally, I don’t think they coulda picked better pros — Scotty Nguyen, Maria Ho, Jean Robert Bellande, and Dani Stern, aka Ansky (not pictured) — even better than a Team of Brunson, Hellmuth, and Negreanu, imho. If you don’t see why these pictured three +Ansky should do incredibly well @RisePoker … well, I could tell you, but, well … let’s say it goes beyond just “Asian”.

We already know about Maria Ho, already repping Team Choctaw and following that deal up with the biggest cash by a woman in WSOP-Las Vegas history … and here’s a video about Bellande’s 2011 WSOP travails — complete with talk of the grind of going 0-for-8 so far at the Series, and starting off with nearly $20k of make-up. Very real.

And though we don’t have any pictures of Ansky … we do have a picture of his license plate, which says a little something about the guy:

Though none of the eleven Season VI HPT Champs ran deep to the Six, many of them stuck around the extra night to sweat the final table including HPT POY Bryan Reisner, Las Vegas grinder Kimbo Ung, US Army Staff Sergeant Jason Fennel, aspiring American Idol singer Kurt Fraser, and an extremely personable Matt “MyTmase” Mason (who was diligently counting chipstacks all throughout Day 2.)

Here are the results:

HPT Soaring Eagle Season VI ->$1500 +$150 Main Event
1st: $176,865 Ahmed Harajli
2nd: $88,434 Joey Brown
3rd: $53,060 Jordan Rowan
4th: $41,269 Dean Hamrick
5th: $35,374 Bernard Lee
6th: $29,478 Chuck Earl

The taping of the final table lasted about 5 hours. Chuck Earl was the first to exit the taping area when Dean Hamrick’s big slick & ace-on-the-river combo beat Earl’s Queens.  Pros Dean Hamrick and Bernard Lee busted out 4th and 5th place, respectively.  Early on, Bernard went on a heater, shoving four consecutive times, while everyone folded and urged him to knock it off until on the last hand he showed kings.

Cowboys were not good to him in the endgame – he took a particularly nasty beat when his pockets fell short to 10s, when the case 10 hit the turn (another player revealed after the hand he was holding the other out), ending his tournament life.  Shortly thereafter, Hamrick ran his 33s into QQs, leaving him on the shortstack.  In the next hand, he pushed allin with K-rag vs. AQ, but it did not get there, and he left with fourth place money.

I happened upon the pair conversing during the break just after Lee’s shove-shove-shove-and-shove fest at the FT.

Here is the link to the interview where they discuss running deep together in the $1500 2010 WSOP Main Event where Hamrick won his first bracelet-> rungood.tv| ESPN Inside Deal Host Bernard Lee and Dean Hamrick Square Off at Heartland Poker Tour TV Table

Jordan Rowan cashed out soon after at 3rd, leaving headups to Joey Brown and Ahmed Harajli.  I’m interested to watch the broadcast of this matchup, because without seeing the hole cards, it still was more entertaining to me than watching the Duhamel-Racener matchup streaming on XBox Live. In the end, Joey went all in shortstacked with K5 against Ahmed 10s.  Ahmed’s hand held up, making him champ of the HPT Season VI Finale, surviving a field of 413 players.

Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle, patched in UB, presented the Michigan native with his $176,865.  I overheard the floor saying that Ahmed, showing some real class, requested to donate a portion of his winnings to the Disabled American Veterans charity.

Tiffany Michelle was TV table “bubble girl”, eliminated by big stack Joey Brown, finishing 7th of 413 entrants and taking home $19,927.

Making the final six was ESPN Inside Deal host and poker pro Bernard Lee, who decided to enter in the tourney at the last minute. Another pro at the table, who has played Bernard previously, is WSOP 2008 Main Event bubble boy Dean Hamrick.  Dean won his first bracelet this year at a $1500 WSOP 2010 NLHE event, and cashed in two others.

Seat Assignments/Chip Counts
Seat 1: Dean Hamrick 715,000
Seat 2: Joey Brown 2,020,000
Seat 3: Bernard Lee 680,000
Seat 4: Chuck Earl 450,000
Seat 5: Jordan Rowan 850,000
Seat 6: Ahmed Harajli 1,520,000

Payouts
1st: $176, 865
2nd: $88,434
3rd: $53,060
4th: $41,269
5th: $35,374
6th: $29,478

Blinds will be set according to the *secret* HPT TV Table magic formula (??) and will last 40 minutes. Cards will be in the air shortly at approximately 6:45p EST/3:45p Vegas.

Follow me @scarlet_lv today for live-tweets from the rail.

There were five notable pros playing the Main, who attending the PPA-sponsored charity bounty tourney benefiting the Disabled American Veterans on Thursday.

Tiffany Michelle & Maria Ho = future USO?

@TheScottyNguyen was the first of them to fall on D1, with his aces cracked in Level 6 (see rungood.tv|bustout interview vid.)  Darvin Moon’s 99′s pre-flop shortshack jam fell to 77′s set late in Level 11.  @TiffnyMichelle and ESPN Poker’s @BernardLeePoker are healthy; @MariaHo has just over 10BBs.

Play for D2 resumes shortly after 10a EST/7a Vegas today at L13 (40 min levels), playing to 6.  The final TV table of the “HPT Six” is scheduled to begin taping @ 5p EST/2p Vegas.

POI (person-o-interest) Chip Counts:

Tiffany Michelle: 162.5k
Brandon Dosch: (HPT Champ & POY Contender): 162.5k
Matt Alexander: (HPT Champ & POY Contender): 136.5k
Bernard Lee: 118k
Maria Ho: 68.5k

Average Stack = 103,250
Big Stack ~ 230k

Day 2 -> L13 Antes/Blinds = 500/3k/6k

Cash bubble @ 41 players today, and the winner will take down an estimated ~ $177k. (hey, I’m not @KevMath y’all, even *inside* the tourney room.)

Follow @TiffnyMichelle, @BernardLeePoker, @MariaHo for table-twitfeed.
Follow me @scarlet_lv today for live-tweets from the rail.

“I have no reason to be out there,” says Moon. “I’m not playing.”  But that doesn’t mean that the WSOP didn’t want last year’s runner-up to be there, front and center. In fact, according to one conversation I eavesdropped on between Darvin and a Heartland Poker Tour in the hotel lobby, Harrah’s practically begged him to attend the event.  He declined, and instead is here at the Meskwaki Bingo Casino in Iowa with the “real people” of poker.

I caught Darvin on vid late last night, filming from the ten seat of his tourney table.  He was on break, well on the road to successfully satelitte-ing into the HPT Main Event, which starts today.  Here are some snippets from our table talk:

Q: World Series offered for you to come to the taping of the November Nine, correct?
A: Yeah they called and invited me out, but I refused. Watching poker, without playing, is like watching paint dry.

Q: And that’s why you played the Main Event this year at the Series?
A: I play for the money. The bracelet don’t mean nothing to me. I’m after the cash.

Q: I saw you playing over at the 1/2 tables. How’d you do?
A: I got my ass beat. You got any money, and you play me in cash, you’re gonna get it.

Darvin, his wife Wendy, and I bonded over some Iowa corn-fed red meat the other night at the very-local Rube’s Steakhouse with the crew of HPT.  Moon is here as the event’s “main draw”, a last minute replacement for Scotty Nguyen, who was side-lined by a sinus infection.  Both Moon and @TheScottyNguyen, as well as Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle, are slated to play in the Celebrity Charity Bounty Tournament at the HPT Season VI Finale later this month in Michigan.

BTW, I think it’s pretty dang cool that Darvin has spent hours grinding out the 1/2 ($200 max buy-in) tables here with the local farmers, rather than playing the higher limits, or just showing up for the main.  I can’t think of a lot of other big names in poker that would have done the same.

I’m en route from Las Vegas to DC, taking the long way I guess you could say, and was driving over the state line of Wyoming => South Dakota when I got the following DM tweet:

@Pokerati to @scarlet_lv:  “10/15 is Heartland’s 5th anniversary bash near Fargo ND.  Think about going.  I can hook u up.”

Fargo?, I thought.  Really, DanM? It was about 600 miles in a completely different direction from where I was heading, but free booze …a party?  I quickly rerouted the Prius GPS to head northeast, and arrived in the city-of-the-distinct-accent late Monday night.

Yesterday afternoon, I ate some Thai with Jen Mastrud, GM and Director of PR for the Heartland Poker Tour, based here in Fargo, ND.  Waiting for the mint-leaf spring rolls appetizer, we chatted about the festivities, upcoming Season VI and VII events, and some poker poli-biz topics as they relate to a nationwide, smaller-stakes operation such as the HPT. 

Heartland’s currently in the middle of their Season VI Shooting Star Casino event in Mahnomen, MN (just across the North Dakota border), and Friday will be celebrating their 5th anniversary with a party hosted by Greg Raymer. @FossilMan will also be on hand playing some cash, and will compete in the 2-day $1100 Main Event, which final-tables on Sunday.

All throughout the week, they’ve got two different satellite options for the budget-minded seeking a seat in the Shooting Star main event. 

Option 1: $35 SNG (2 players advance) -> $130 Super Qualifier SNG (10% Advance) -> $1100 Main Event Entry

Option 2: $85 SNG (3 players advance) -> $250 Qualifier SNG (20% Advance) -> $1100 Main Event Entry

Jen and the HPT were kind enough to sport me a #mediafreeroll right into $250 qualifier. (So watch out, Raymer, I’m chasing my fossil!)

HPT across the Interstate
By cosmic weirdness, while en route to the HPT’s anniversary bash in Fargo, N. Dakota, I stopped at a Denny’s truckstop in Sioux Falls, S. Dakota, to find HPT’s TV production crew gassing up.

Last week, Scotty Nguyen announced plans to make his HPT debut at the Meskwaki Bingo Casino in Iowa (Oct 31-Nov 7).  Jen tells me that  he also plans to be at the final TV taping of Season VI, during the Champ Open at Soaring Eagle in Michigan (Nov 12-21). When not playing, the expectation is you’ll be able to find @TheScottyNguyen (and chat with him) at the bar.

The Hall of Fame’s criteria are:

• Player must have played against known top competition
• Played for high stakes
• Played consistently well, gaining respect of peers
• Stood the test of time
• Contributed to the overall growth and success of the game (this normally applies to non-players, but I think players should help in this aspect as well)

Some additional criteria to consider include:

• Tournament Success
• Cash Game Success
• Depth of Poker Knowledge (NLHE specialist vs. mixed game master)
• And..finally…public perception (because this is really important these days)

But, of course, there is a little battle to settle. While Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel cleared the hurdle, Barry Greenstein and Scotty Nguyen are neck-and-neck, so before we can do anything we have to settle a simple question, who (in my mind) is worthy of a vote?

Scotty Nguyen vs. Barry Greenstein

I thought this would be a little easier than doing the rest of this article, because I just have to boil things down to the facts. While Scotty Nguyen has a more impressive tournament record and holds some pretty prestigious accolades, he is only a tournament player. Barry Greenstein plays both cash and tournaments, but he hasn’t even cashed in the Main Event yet. I won’t count media perception, because again I maintain Scotty’s actions in the 2008 HORSE event is not enough for me to punish him for this. In fact, his interaction with his fans on twitter (or at least someone that works for Scotty is) eclipses that of almost any pro out there. Barry does have a feather in his cap though, being the Robin Hood of Poker and donating vast sums of money to charity. So this boils down to does the ability to play both cash and tournaments beat the ability to win big tournaments consistently?

In the end, I’ve surprised even myself, and I’m giving the edge and the tiebreaker to Scotty Nguyen for his impressive tournament record beating Greenstein’s cash chops. It really just comes down to feel and a coin flip, and I would want to take both, but if I have to choose one I’ve gotta take Scotty, he’s just too damn entertaining.

Edge: Nguyen

So there you have it, Scotty, Dan, and Erik would be the people I would vote for based on this year’s ballot. Now we’ll go through each part of the criteria to determine who has an edge, then based on the edges people have, assign a number of votes. I won’t go into whether I value one category higher than another, but hopefully my final rankings won’t be too “WTF?!”

Played Against Known Top Competition, Played for High Stakes, Stood the Test of Time, and Played Consistently Well

I lumped these together because honestly, there really isn’t a distinction between the three. They all have done these aspects equally well in their own ways.

Edge: Draw

Contributed to the Growth of the Game

• Seidel was on the design team for Full Tilt Poker, and as such helped contribute to the growth of online poker with the US’s #2 trafficked cardroom.
• Harrington has written many books about tournament and cash poker, elevating the knowledge base of thousands of poker players since he has written the book.
• Nguyen’s entertaining personality helps TV poker continue to be a draw for the casual fan.

Edge: Harrington (and a big one at that)

Tournament Success

• Harrington has reached the final table of the main event 4 times, winning it once. He also has another bracelet and a WPT title.
• Nguyen has 5 bracelets, one in the 1999 WSOP ME and another in the 2008 $50k HORSE. Also has a WPT title.
• Seidel has 8 WSOP bracelets and 1 WPT title.

Edge: Nguyen (for his big wins) and Seidel (for sheer volume)

Cash Game Success

None of the players are big on their cash game play, only Dan Harrington has much evidence of this given his books on the subject. Seidel played in the Mayfair Club, but that was over 20 years ago.

Edge: None, with a slight tilt to Harrington for at least having evidence of still being a cash game player.

Depth of Poker Knowledge

• Based on accomplishments alone, Harrington is strictly a NLHE specialist, while he may dabble in other games, he doesn’t have much hardware to show for it.
• Seidel has bracelets in 2-7, Omaha, and Hold’em
• Nguyen has bracelets in NLHE, HORSE, and Omaha

Edge: Nguyen

Public (read: My) Perception of the Player

• Scotty’s double edged sword is that he has a lively personality, but it can get him in trouble.
• Erik is definitely a poker player, he was against hole card cams and doesn’t have a personality that people can latch onto.
• Dan is a teacher, and is given mostly positive coverage. While he also doesn’t have as much of a personality as Scotty, he’s definitely known for his green Red Sox cap and his demeanor at the table.

Edge: Harrington

Final Verdict

I have ten votes to give. I tend to weight contributions and public perception slightly higher than raw accomplishments, because poker is still growing and we need people to help grow the sport. Those people that have done so should be given their just rewards. Likewise, I then look at tournament accolades next, followed by how deep a player’s knowledge of the game is.

And the results are:

• Dan Harrington: 5 (for his contributions to the game, his public perception, and to a lesser extent his tournament play)
• Scotty Nguyen: 3 (for his tournament accomplishments and depth of knowledge)
• Erik Seidel: 2 (for his tournament accomplishments alone)

I will confess, when I started this, I had a heavy bias toward Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel. But over the course of this process, Scotty came in as a dark horse and ended up with more votes than Seidel at the end of the day. I feel confident in this vote, and while I don’t have a say this year, I hope that this analysis helps others draw their own conclusions. And they’ll have to do it fast, voting ends on Friday.

• Dan Harrington: 9
• Barry Greenstein: 7
• Phil Ivey: 6

But with 4 more people to go, none of these players are safe (well, three people need to get 10s in order to knock our Harrington, but you get the idea.) The last four are Tom McEvoy, Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen, and Erik Siedel.

Tom McEvoy

Age: 65
Time Played: 30+ years
Tournament/Cash Stakes: WSOP tournaments every year
Accolades:

• 1983 WSOP Main Event Champion
• 4 WSOP Bracelets
• 38 WSOP Cashes
• Tournament winnings: $2,931,000
• Team Pokerstars Pro

Off the Felt:

• Prolific writer, writing The Championship Series of poker books
• (EDIT) Largely responsible for smoke-free poker rooms

Thoughts: Tom McEvoy has an incredibly long tournament resume that stretches back over 25 years; it goes all the way back to his win in the main event in 1983. He was the first player ever to win a WSOP ME after satelliting in, and he has put up an impressive 4 bracelets wins. However, the accolades kind of stop there. He hasn’t won a bracelet since 1992 (and no, the Champions Invitational does not count), has barely made any noise at all in the last few years, and his tournament winnings seems low for someone that has been around for someone last long as Tom, even if you account for inflation. His books do give him a similar, albeit smaller, boost to what Dan Harrington got for his publications. I personally haven’t read any of them, but its on my to-do list. That said, the fact that they are regulated to my “to-do” list as opposed to, say, the “must read” list, may suggest a bit of a decline in how those books are perceived.

Final Points: 5

Daniel Negreanu

Age: 36
Time Played: 15+ years
Tournament/Cash Stakes: Consistently high buy-in tournaments and the largest cash games in Vegas
Accolades:

• 4 WSOP Bracelets
• 47 WSOP Cashes
• 2 WPT Titles
• Tournament winnings:$12,751,000
• Team Pokerstars Pro

Off the Felt:

• Main contributor to “Power Hold’em Strategy”
• Main Pro behind PokerVT
• Contributed to Super System II in the 2-7 Triple Draw chapter
• On pretty much every poker TV show under the sun…unless he cant go because of sponsorship issues.

Thoughts: Initially, I just thought writing one simple sentence and leaving it at that: If I don’t think Phil Ivey deserves getting in this year, then Daniel Negreanu definitely will not. And while this sums up my position on Daniel pretty exactly, it does belittle his accomplishments. $12.75 million dollars is enough money to live off of forever, and that doesn’t even include the money he has won at the cash tables (well, the non-High Stakes Poker cash tables anyway). His tournament resume shows there is a reason he is so high on the all-time money list, but there is another reason Daniel gets so much attention; he is a media whore, in probably the best way you could use that phrase. He is on pretty much any show Pokerstars can get their hands on, and even shows where his sponsor doesn’t have a stake. Daniel also has been writing about poker (in books and through his blog) and coaching (through PokerVT) for years. You pretty much can’t get through a year of following poker without seeing something about Daniel at least once a week. Of course, he also speaks his mind, which got him in trouble earlier this year and in times past, so while we always enjoy honesty when we can get it, it does make us cringe when something non-PC gets said. Its the price of marketing yourself as a high profile poker superstar, but its a job that, for the most part, Daniel has done very well in. At the end of the day, if I am applying a somewhat arbitrary age requirement on Phil, it also applies to Daniel, and if I’m more likely to vote for Ivey than Negreanu, then Negreanu is going to be a little lower on the totem pole, at least this year.

Final Points: 5

Scotty Nguyen

Age: 47
Time Played: 25+ years
Tournament/Cash Stakes: Consistently high buy-in tournaments around the world
Accolades:

• 1998 WSOP Main Event Champion
• 2008 Chip Reese Trophy Winner ($50k HORSE)
• 5 WSOP Bracelets
• 37 WSOP Cashes
• 1 WPT Title
• Tournament winnings:$11,341,000

Off the Felt:

• Showed us how alcohol and poker sometimes don’t mix.

Thoughts: I will confess, I have not been in the business long enough to understand fully how Scotty rubs some members of the media the wrong way. Yes, he was an absolute jerk in the 2008 HORSE, but he has apologized for that profusely and at the very least he has moved on. Maybe its the fact he adds “baby” to the end of every sentence, which makes dictating and quoting him an absolute nightmare (or really easy). Whatever it is, he is the only player to have both a Main Event win and a $50K HORSE win, and his experience across all the games is something that should be able to put people past one bad final table. Not only that, but Scotty is 5th on the All-time Money List, has 5 bracelets, a WPT title, and has final tabled that series a whopping 9 times. He does get dinged for being purely a tournament player, but his accomplishments certainly warrant a serious look at being inducted this year, the next year, and beyond.

Final Points: 7

Erik Seidel

Age: 50
Time Played: 25+ years
Tournament/Cash Stakes: Consistent high buy-in tournaments around the world
Accolades:

• 8 WSOP Bracelets
• 60 WSOP Cashes
• 1 WPT Title
• Tournament winnings:$10,350,000
• Member of Team Full Tilt

Off the Felt:

• Part of the design team for Full Tilt Poker

Thoughts: Now…I get some of the negative things about Erik Seidel. In an era of colorful personalities, Erik is quiet, reserved, and very much just a poker player. However, you can say the exact same thing about Phil Ivey, or at the very least be in the same kind of ballpark. Phil is way up there on everyone’s list “in spite of that”, so I don’t see why Erik would get the shakedown for a similar personality. Also, Erik was against hole card cams because it would let people know what player’s strategies are when they play poker, even weighted against its necessity in television poker coverage. We all know who won that battle as well as its results, both on TV’s end and on Seidel’s. Despite those pesky holecard cams, he has won 3 bracelets from 2003 onward, and recently was the runner-up to Annie Duke in the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up championship. Like Scotty, he is a tournament specialist, but 8 bracelets, a WPT title, and over $10 million in career winnings certainly are the right kind of stats to have if you want to get in the hall purely based on your tournament chops.

Final Points: 8

So due to excellent planning, there are 4 people in the top 3 because there is a tie…Harrington, Siedel, Greenstein and Nguyen. In the final part of the series, I’ll see who to cut between Greenstein and Nguyen, and then how many votes the three finalists will get for this year’s ballot.

Harrington – 81
Seidel – 56
Ivey – 54
Johnson – 33
Greenstein – 30
McEvoy – 20
Nguyen – 15
Negreanu – 9
Ferguson – 12
Harman – 0

Click here to cast your mock ballot if you haven’t already.
Note: We’ve added a spot for write-ins and for you to leave your Twitter ID!

Of the 33 ballots tabulated, two had to be thrown out, which should be a bummer for Scotty Nguyen, since he had the most among the illegitimate points, and I don’t mean that in any sorta racist way.

You know, when Scotty does get in, you can imagine much will be made of his whole “Baby” shtick. That right there tells me something, as it would be much more “adorable” coming from a withering inductee in his 70s than an active player apparently getting paid in product for his sponsorship deal with Jheri curl.

With age always relevant in the Hall of Fame selection process, naturally, @BJNemeth and I couldn’t resist a Socratic dialogue competitively pissing in the wind about the meaning of the emphasized phrase this year:

DM: here is the age issue in a “sport” where you don’t retire:

if moneymaker NEVER did anything again he still deserves to be in eventually before he dies.
if durrrr happened to win a bracelet or two and die an untimely death before age 30, he probably deserves in too … eventually

BJ: To me, this year means things like Phil Ivey & Daniel Negreanu not being “old enough” to get in. I still think they need to codify the Chip Reese Rule into the rules. Voters obviously take age into account already, or else Ivey would have made it last year.

If not for age, Brunson would pick Ivey over Seidel, and even Change100′s PokerNews editorial would seem absurd for suggesting Linda Johnson over Phil Ivey.

Formalize the Chip Reese Rule (players must be 40 years old, with at least a 10-year poker career to be eligible), and these awkward, unwritten problems go away.

DM: so should people below 40 get in only in the result of an untimely death? maybe … but i totally disagree with your 10-year-rule, on the moneymaker clause above.

BJ: I was going for brevity. If a player dies before they reach 40, they become eligible on what would be their 40th birthday. Also, they wouldn’t be eligible until 10 years after their poker career began. (To avoid Durrrr-like issues w/ 40-year-old rookies.)

DM: BJ, you are starting to get absurd.

BJ: I think anyone who suggests that Chris Moneymaker belongs in the Hall of Fame (in anything other than an honorary capacity) is the absurd one.

DM: sigh … but awesome. Moneymaker = Edmund Hoyle.

BJ: I will actively campaign against Moneymaker in the Hall of Fame. Absolute nonsense.

DM: I agree.

Again, cast your mock ballot here. No matter how these results compare to the real ones, the plan here at Pokerati is to use the data as irrefutable proof that “our people” are smarter than everyone else.

Lindgren and Nguyen highlight 5k 6-max FT

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

Velador vibrant at PLO/PLH FT

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

10k NL HU at Round 4

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

Seniors’ sauntering along at day 2

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

Day 1a of 1k NL underway

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

3k HORSE field saddles up

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

Also … think there’s any connection that ♥2BLUFF is driving the PT Cruiser, not a Bentley or a Jag?

Tieman Takes Down Title

The $5,000 No-Limit Shootout final table with Joshua Tieman eliminating the final four players to take down the coveted WSOP bracelet, along with $441,692. Tieman disposed of veteran British pro Neil Channing in heads-up play, earning $273,153 for Channing. Stuart Rutter ($179,617), Joseph Elpayaa ($125,387), Nicolas Levi ($92,543) and Brent Hanks ($71,998) rounded out the final table results.

2-7 Lowball Final Table

The $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball is down to three players with Raphael Zimmerman the chip leader (865,000), followed by Dan McNamara (675,000) and Peter Gelenscer (612,000). David Chiu ($50,517), Jameson Painter ($34,843). and Leonard Martin ($24,723) were the others at the final table. Follow the action over at PokerNews.

$1,500 NL Day 2

The $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event is down to under 80 players as the field is now at their one hour dinner break. The chip leader is Jose Gatmaitan at 350,000. Notables with chips: Josh Schlein (196,000), Matt Stout (150,000), Phil Hellmuth (145,000), and Steve Sung (85,000). The field returns to play five one-hour levels or reach the final table, whichever happens first. Follow PokerNews to get all the latest updates.

Taking it to the Pot-Limit

The first tournament to start on Thursday, $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem starting with a field of 650, with under 200 remaining when they return from their 90-minute dinner break to play four more one-hour levels. The final 63 players in the field cash, with the winner earning $197,470. Chad Batista is the current chip leader (52,000), followed by notables Justin Bonomo (32,000), Liv Boeree (26,500), Team Pokerati’s Tom Schneider (22,000) Lex Veldhuis (17,000) and Eric Froehlich (15,000).

World Championship Stud Starts

The $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship got underway at 5pm this afternoon, with a field of about 148 when registration closed. Yuval Bronshtein has already doubled up his starting stack of 30,000 to take the early lead. He’s followed closely by Daniel Negreanu (51,800), Robert Mizrachi (49,000) and Scotty Nguyen (35,000). For updates and a full list of entrants, check out wsop.com for more information.

[ED NOTE: Video removed because of autoplay]

Here’s how the final six players will be situated when play resumes around 4:30pm PT:

Seat 1. John O’Shea – 1,200,000
Seat 2. Billy Baxter – 2,440,000
Seat 3. Eric Baldwin – 4,490,000
Seat 4. David Williams – 4,700,000
Seat 5. David Benyamine – 4,705,000
Seat 6. Shawn Buchanan – 1,965,000

Follow the live updates with BJ Nemeth, Jess Welman and the rest of the WPT Live Updates crew here.

Seat 1: Hasan Habib – 455,000
Seat 2: Phil Hellmuth – 1,433,000
Seat 3: Andy “BKiCe” Seth – 2,164,000
Seat 4: Matt Keikoan – 371,000
Seat 5: Mclean Karr – 1,112,000
Seat 6: Dan O’Brien – 1,129,000

Other big names who missed the final table: Scotty Nguyen (8th), “Miami John” Cernuto (11th), Nick Schulman (13th), Chau Giang (14th), and current WPT Player of the Year leader Faraz Jaka (18th). Live updates will be available from BJ Nemeth and the other good people over at the WorldPokerTour.com site.

In other news related to Hellmuth, Ultimate Bet has decided to cancel the 2010 Aruba Classic as they decided to expand their offerings online, including having a second Ultimate Bet Online Championship series each year.

Incontrovertible living proof that poker is definitely not a sport:

From a feature in the new issue of ESPN the Magazine.

(The poker nakedness occurs for half-a-blip at about 3:15, perverts.)

via PokerNews

BARRY GREENSTEIN
DAN HARRINGTON
PHIL IVEY
TOM McEVOY
MEN NGUYEN
SCOTTY NGUYEN
DANIEL NEGREANU
ERIK SEIDEL
MIKE SEXTON

I see two who definitely won’t get my vote. As for the rest, will have to give them some thought. It’s gonna be a tough call. I’ll probably do a bracket.

Click below for the official press release on it all, giving the criteria, PHOF schedule, etc.:

POKER HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES FINALISTS LIST FOR 2009 CLASS
LIST NOW GOES TO HOF MEMBERS & MEDIA PANEL FOR FINAL VOTE

LAS VEGAS (September 8, 2009) – The Poker Hall of Fame has narrowed the list of nominees for the 2009 Class and all that remains is for the 15 living Hall of Fame members and the 15-member Media Panel to cast their votes before we know the inductees.

A total of nine people remain eligible for induction in 2009.

The Induction Ceremony will be part of a special Hall of Fame dinner ceremony on Saturday, November 7 at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas during the dinner break of the Main Event Final Table.

The eligible candidates, in alphabetical order, are as follows:

BARRY GREENSTEIN
DAN HARRINGTON
PHIL IVEY
TOM McEVOY
MEN NGUYEN
SCOTTY NGUYEN
DANIEL NEGREANU
ERIK SEIDEL
MIKE SEXTON

The voters must determine who among the above list most deserves to be inducted this year. The additional criteria they will consider in their vote are as follows:
• A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
• Played for high stakes
• Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers
• Stood the test of time
• Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.

The Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council commented on Tom Dwan, an initial nominee in 2009: “With all due respect to Mr. Dwan, one of the games most exciting young players, he does not currently meet the criteria for Hall of Fame selection. We wish him well and expect he will again be considered once he has ‘stood the test of time.’”

Names on the finalist list but not receiving more than 75% of the votes this year will still be eligible for induction in the future.

The voting members will receive their ballots this week and have until October 2, 2009 to submit their completed forms.

Current Hall of Fame members also have the ability to add a write-in candidate – someone they feel deserves consideration for the PHOF – but were not among the list of finalists this year. This write-in candidate will be added to the 2010 nomination list automatically.

For the first time, the inductees will be invited to a special dinner held and hosted in their honor where they will give their induction speech and be awarded their commemorative trophy. All nine of the above finalists will be invited to the dinner, and room will be reserved for additional family, friends, the current Hall of Famers and the media voting panel.

A select handful of seats will be made available to the public via the dinner’s presenting sponsor, JAQK Cellars. For more information on how to be part of this special evening, visit: http://jaqkcellars.com/wine-poker-hall-of-fame-dinner/high-roller-and-world-series-of-poker-vip-ticket

ABOUT THE POKER HALL OF FAME
The Poker Hall of Fame, established in 1979, was acquired by Harrah’s Entertainment along with the World Series of Poker in 2004. Though the Hall of Fame is virtual in nature, its membership includes poker’s most influential players and other important contributors to the game. There are 15 living members, and 37 members have been bestowed the honor of Poker Hall of Famer. The Poker Hall of Fame traditionally elects one or two members annually. The enshrinement ceremony is now held in concert with the final table of the Main Event of the WSOP, held each November in Las Vegas.

ABOUT JAQK CELLARS
For its three founders, acclaimed winemaker Craig MacLean with Katie Jain and Joel Templin, JAQK Cellars is a passion born out of a love for wine and poker. JAQK, named after the Jack, Ace, Queen and King from a deck of playing cards, was launched in October 2008 in San Francisco, CA. JAQK’s collection of eight limited-production wines are hand-crafted from the Napa Valley and are packaged with an edgy, playful design bringing pleasure to wine lovers before the first sip is even taken. To learn more about JAQK Cellars, visit www.jaqkcellars.com.

POKER HALL OF FAME – 2009 BALLOT PROCESS/TIMELINE

Eligible Voters:
• 15 Living Members of the Poker Hall of Fame
• 15-member Media Panel

Process:
• All eligible voters to receive the ballot with the 9 names eligible for induction in 2009
• Eligible voters to return ballot with up to 3 names they consider worthy of induction in 2009. (Can vote for less, but no more than 3 names)
• Simple “yes” or “no” next to each candidate will determine inductees. Those receiving at least 75% “yes” votes will be the 2009 Class of the Poker Hall of Fame.

Timeline:
• September 10 – Ballots sent to eligible voters from Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council
• October 2 – Deadline to return final ballots
• November 7 – Induction Ceremony/Dinner – Rio Hotel, Las Vegas

Criteria:
• Among finalists, who is most deserving to be elected this year
• A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
• Played for high stakes
• Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers
• Stood the test of time
• Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.

Other:
• Current Hall of Fame members also have the ability to add a write-in candidate – someone they feel deserves consideration for the PHOF – but were not among the list of finalists this year. This write-in candidate will be added to the 2010 nomination list automatically.
• Any voter who fails to return ballot by deadline will not be counted, and vote-percentage will be based on all voters who returned ballots.

The list of the 37 Poker Hall of Fame members is as follows:

1979: Nick “The Greek” Dandolos; “Wild Bill Hickok”; Edmond Hoyle; Felton “Corky” McCorquodale; Johnny Moss; Red Winn; Sid Wyman
1980: T “Blondie” Forbes
1981: Bill Boyd
1982: Tom Abdo
1983: Joe Bernstein
1984: Murph Harrold
1985: Red Hodges
1986: Henry Green
1987: Walter Clyde “Puggy” Pearson
1988: Doyle Brunson; Jack “Treetop” Strauss
1989: Fed “Sarge” Ferris
1990: Benny Binion
1991: David “Chip” Reese
1992: Thomas Austin “Amarillo Slim” Preston
1993: Jack Keller
1996: Julius Oral “Little Man” Popwell
1997: Roger Moore
2001: Stu “The Kid” Ungar
2002: Lyle Berman; Johnny Chan
2003: Bobby Baldwin
2004: Berry Johnston
2005: Crandall Addington; Jack Binion
2006: Billy Baxter; T.J. Cloutier
2007: Barbara Enright; Phil Hellmuth
2008: Henry Orenstein; Duane “Dewey” Tomko
2009: ???

He pulls no punches, noting in his latest blog post that Mike Sexton is his top pick, and he also likes Tom McEvoy, Erik Seidel, Scotty Nguyen, and Barry Greenstein. Interesting that he notes he’s admired Men the Master’s “work ethic” for years without any mention of numerous and widespread allegations of him cheating in live games.

With Doyle ready to make his picks, his thoughts likely echo many of the other Hall of Fame voters. See below for specifics:

Remember, these are my thoughts. If you don’t agree with me, please don’t start a civil war about it.

The criteria for selection is:
(1) Must have played against top competition.
(2) Played for high stakes.
(3) Played consistently well, gaining respect of their peers.
(4) Stood the test of time.
(5) Contributed to the overall growth and success of poker with positive and lasting results.

Here are the players in alphabetical order and my opinions about each one.

(1) Tom Dwan – It’s really an honor for Tom to be a nominee at the age of 22. Obviously, he can’t meet the criteria that are listed. I think he is a fine player and barring something unforeseen, his picture will be on the wall someday.

(2) Barry Greenstein – Barry meets all the requirements. I think he was a much better choice when he was a cash game player only. He is in my top 3 or 4 choices.

(3) Dan Harrington – “Action Dan” as he is known would be a good representative of the poker world. He has a lot of interests outside poker, which will go against him.

(4) Phil Ivey – This is where I’ll get a lot of heat, because I think the Halls of Fame for any sport is for players whose careers have more to look back at than look forward to. Phil isn’t even at the height of his career yet but is a 100% cinch to be inducted soon. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to lose this argument which is OK if I do.

(5) Tom McEvoy – Tom is a long time ambassador of poker and is one of the old guys that I favor. I understand that playing for high stakes is different for everybody. You have to be a little bit crazy to play the stakes some of us play for, but Tom has put his time in at the tables.

(6) Men Nguyen – I’ve admired Men’s work ethic for years. Nobody has played and supported tournaments as much as Men. He has several player of the year awards as proof of that.

(7) Scotty Nguyen – Anybody that is called “The Prince of Poker” has to be a viable candidate. He is one of the best all-around players and he certainly meets the criteria well.

(8) Daniel Negreanu – What can I say here? go back and read what I said about Phil Ivey and pretend it’s here. Daniel is my choice to outlast any of the “young guns” people keep talking about Daniel and Phil both meet all 5 criteria.

(9) Eric Seidel – Eric is definitely one of my top choices. I think he is the consummate gambler. Besides being a great player, he has the best all-around disposition of anyone. He reminds me of Chip Reese, which is the highest compliment I can pay anyone.

(10) Mike Sexton – In my opinion, here is the #1 choice. Mike paid his dues at the table for years, gambled as high as his bankroll allowed and meets all the requirements for induction. Mostly, go back and read #5 in the criteria. Nobody and I mean nobody has contributed more to the success of poker than Mike Sexton. If he isn’t one of the people selected, something is wrong. I know of 3 votes from the living members at the HOF that Mike will get. Binion and Crandell Addington both assure me Mike will be their 1st choice, also.

Tom Dwan
Barry Greenstein
Dan Harrington
Phil Ivey
Tom McEvoy
Men Nguyen
Scotty Nguyen
Daniel Negreanu
Erik Seidel
Mike Sexton

The entire press release after the jump:

THE PUBLIC HAS SPOKEN AND CHOSEN THEIR CANDIDATES FOR THE 2009 CLASS OF THE POKER HALL OF FAME

by: Harrah’s(Bluff Media)

After a five-week process that saw hundreds of votes cast weekly on WSOP.com, the public has made clear who they think should be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. It will now be up to the current Hall of Famers and a panel of media members to determine who actually does join this exclusive club.

The following represents the Top 10 nominated individuals at WSOP.com from May 26-July 2.

NAME

TOM DWAN

BARRY GREENSTEIN

DAN HARRINGTON

PHIL IVEY

TOM McEVOY

MEN NGUYEN

SCOTTY NGUYEN

DANIEL NEGREANU

ERIK SEIDEL

MIKE SEXTON

*Listed alphabetically without correlation to amount of nominations received

Now the process moves forward with the vetting of these candidates by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council, who will select the final list of candidates eligible for induction in 2009. That will be followed by the voting of the final nominees by current Hall of Fame members and a 15-person media panel. Only the 15 current Poker Hall of Fame members and the 15-person Media Panel cast votes for induction.

The criteria they will consider in their vote are as follows:

* A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
* Played for high stakes
* Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers
* Stood the test of time
* Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.

The 2009 Class of the Poker Hall of Fame will be inducted as part of the World Series of Poker Main Event final table festivities in November.

41 different names received multiple nominations during the public nomination process. All of these individuals are still eligible for future consideration. Among the people receiving nominations, but not enough to continue on in the process this year were:

* Patrik Antonius
* Humberto Brenes
* Mike Caro
* Norman Chad
* Allen Cunningham
* Ivan Demidov
* Eric Drache
* Annie Duke
* John Duthie
* Sam Farha
* Chris Ferguson
* Ted Forrest
* Andy Glazer
* Bertrand Grospellier
* Gus Hansen
* Jennifer Harmon-Traniello
* Jay Heimowitz
* Rob Hollink
* Jesper Hougaard
* Phil Laak
* Howard Lederer
* Marcel Luske
* Mike Matusow
* Chris Moneymaker
* Luca Pagano
* Greg Raymer
* Matt Savage
* David Sklansky

An interesting side note to this process. Existing Poker Hall of Fame members still received multiple votes! Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Stu Ungar each had public nominations despite the fact they are already in the Poker Hall of Fame!

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.