My source is @CommerceCasino:

And awaaay they go!! The Racebook at Commerce Casino is now open!!
3 minutes ago from web

While we know sports betting and poker have gone hand in hand ever since Stu Ungar introduced the concept of winning millions playing cards and almost immediately losing it all on the Bengals, I’m not so sure there’s as much overlap between the horses and poker. Could be wrong … and still, the convergence of poker and horses is kinda what we were going for in Texas earlier this year, except we had horses first and were trying to add poker, as opposed to the other way around.

I have this multi-drawer file I call Dead Story Office — not about the deceased, but full of notes and documents (from mostly pre-poker days) on stories that never quite came to fruition — and one of them: “World Series of Poker”. Though I didn’t quite see how it all came together (and in retrospect it couldn’t be more of an uh-duh observation) I was pretty sure Ungar had to be a major and fascinating character.

If you’ve got nothing better to do, click below to rummage through the manila folder where I’ve carried a guy I never knew with me through four homes and two external offices over the past 10 years:

Not to wax too nostalgic, but what else was going on in the world the week Ungar died: Michael J Fox underwent brain surgery, Flip Wilson was the most famous person to dearly depart, Exxon-Mobil were talking about a possible merger, and the price of a gallon of gas was $1.05. (From Newsweek Dec 7 1998)

I don’t recall how or when I acquired this photocopy of a page from CardPlayer, but it was the first time I had ever heard of the World Series of Poker. And with all that cool-looking lightning on the commemorative new-and-improved VHS gift box, something told me this “WSP” thing had to be pretty exciting.

Some lady named Adina was the hook-up for press info, and at the time of Ungar’s death, apparently the main event was held in early May. Poker seemed to be booming, as the World Series stood out amongst competitions of similar stature — Backgammon World Championship, Backgammon Olympiad, King David Chess Tournament, Hula Bowl, etc. — with an amazing $2.7 million prize pool … a record amount that you can suspect organizers wondered if they’d ever see again after the unseemly death of their greatest superstar and most recent-time repeat champion.

I refer you to Poker Grump’s post on the anniversary for the summary and some current photos of the Oasis Motel (scene of death), like the one below.

Tom Schneider made the final table of the $5,000 NL 2-7 KC Lowball w/rebuys final table. Per usual, this event has an impressive final table lineup (starting at 3pm):

Seat 1: Jeffrey Lisandro 461,000
Seat 2: Mike Matusow 520,000
Seat 3: Tom Schneider 162,000
Seat 4: Erick Lindgren 1,104,000
Seat 5: Barry Greenstein 541,000
Seat 6: Tony ‘G’ Guoga 394,000
Seat 7: David Benyamine 410,000

Here’s the payouts:

1 $ 537,862
2 $ 347,004
3 $ 225,552
4 $ 156,151
5 $ 104,101
6 $ 78,075
7 $ 58,990

Other action from yesterday and a preview of today after the jump:

As noted last night, Svetlana Gromenkova took down the Ladies’ World Championship, Anh Le finished 2nd yet again in the Ladies’ event.

In other final table action, the $2,000 Omaha 8 winner was Andrew Brown, Ted Forrest finished 2nd, Jim Pechac turned 2,000 in chips at the start of play yesterday into a 3rd place finish. Scott Clements finished in 7th, while Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke finished 9th.

The $1,500 NL Shootout winner was Jason Young, Mike Schwartz was 2nd, and John Strzemp III, whose father finished 2nd to Stu Ungar in the 1997 WSOP Main Event, finished 3rd.

In tournament action that started yesterday:

Event #19, $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha, started with 759, and after 10 levels of play the field shrunk to a very compact 46. Seems starting the blinds at 25-50 with only 3,000 in chips may not have been the best idea. Day 2 expects to be a very short day if the action is maintained at this pace. Vanessa Selbst appears to be chip leader with about 200,000 in chips. Carter Gill, Eugene Todd Tran Bro Rob Hollink and Jordan Morgan appear to be in the top 10. As always, Pokernews or worldseriesofpoker.com are the place to be to follow the updates live (as long as the wi-fi at the Rio holds up).

Another day, another two events start today:

Event #21 ($5,000 NL Holdem) starts at noon. Last year, 640 entered, with James “mig.com” Mackey winning the bracelet.

The 5pm tournament is event #22 ($3,000 HORSE), which should serve as a warmup for the $50,000 HORSE in two weeks. Last year’s HORSE drew 382 entrants, with James Richburg taking down the bracelet. Expect him to return in his attempt at winning a bracelet in three consecutive years.

More updates this afternoon…

In it he reminds even yours truly about how close the World Series was to going out of business in 2004. He’s right, of course, even though I had completely forgotten about that.