The Rio, Las Vegas [The Poker Atlas]

Here is the schedule of tournaments and events for the 2010 WSOP at the Rio in Las Vegas.

The rules for the 2010 World Series of Poker were released this afternoon, with the obligatory press release appearing on the next page. To alleviate the fears of Phil Hellmuth, there has NOT been a change to what logos a player can be sporting. There were some minor changes to reflect the latest rules published by the Poker TDA, as well as some changes for players who choose to register late (Rule #12) and clarification for those who registered but don’t show up (Rule #14). Also of note is there was a change to the rule regarding cell phones and electronic devices that “banned” the Iphone, Blackberry, Itouch, and similar devices has been removed for 2010 in light of the immense popularity of Twitter. One other new rule that someone pointed out on 2+2, part of rule 37 about player conduct (bolding is my emphasis):

B. All participants are entitled to expect civility and courtesy from one another at every Tournament table and throughout the Tournament area. Any individual who encounters behavior that is not civil or courteous — or is abusive in any way — is encouraged to immediately contact a Tournament official. This shall include, but is not limited to, any player whose personal hygiene has become disruptive to the other players seated at their table. The determination as to whether an individual’s personal hygiene is disruptive to other players shall be determined by the Tournament Staff which may, in its discretion, implement sanctions upon any such player who refuses to remedy the situation in a manner satisfactory to Rio.

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Here’s my favorite pic I’ve seen so far of the November Nine spectacle from this weekend. With all the great, mainstream media-oso’s in the house, it was none other than Flipchip from LasVegasVegas, the most experienced WSOP photog in the Rio, who found the one spot that really highlights the enormity of the event going down in the WSOP&T Theater:

Still looking for other great shots out there on the internet that maybe I’ve missed …

UPDATE: This is a pretty good one, too, from Wicked Chops … capturing the French fan contingent at an Antoine Saout double-up:

As you all have probably heard, Phil Ivey didn’t exactly want to do a bustout interview after his AK lost to Darvin Moon’s AQ. But as he tried to sneak out the back hallway — to the back lot at the Rio where his RV and Hummer were parked — a few people were able to block his exit and force him to talk, which you can see here:

Afterwards, according to The Maven, Ivey reportedly darted to his automobile with Howard Lederer trailing behind him, and Lederer said, “You wanna race?”

Ivey’s response: “I don’t like races.”

Well into Friday eve, the ESPN production crew is testing small-scale pieces of their tech set-up, and the Rio is readying itself for a big crowd …

twitpics: @JoyKendra

The LA Times’ Las Vegas correspondent, Richard Abowitz, recently celebrated his 10th year covering Sin City … and in doing so he wrote up the biggest changes he’s seen in Vegas over the past decade. Along with the rise of clubbing Celine Dion, and the fall of OJ Simpson:

The power of poker

What happened to blackjack? It would be hard to assign a specific moment when the poker phenomenon took off. But what had been at best an obscure part of the casino, the poker room, became a magnet for tourists and the best players (unlike any other gamblers) became celebrities. The World Series of Poker, after years in dirty downtown Vegas at Binion’s, now is owned by Harrah’s and held at the far more styling Rio with highlights broadcast on ESPN.

“Far more styling”, of course, makes me chuckle … though I suppose it is technically accurate. And the one thing he didn’t include, which was probably super-impactful and happened almost exactly 10 years ago: the election of Mayor Oscar Goodman as LV’s partyer-in-chief.

photo: Steve Hall

Now where’s a guy like Devilfish gonna go to work on his tan?

We saw them in bikinis every day … and though we didn’t get to know their names (at least their real ones), they had without a doubt become part of the WSOP family at the Rio. The hot wayward distant cousins, I suppose, roaming the halls of the Rio with free drink coupons and promises to poker players of nipples in the sunshine …

And now they are gone.

Sapphire Pool at the Rio has closed, after failing an “integrity check” by LVMPD.

We can only wonder what that might have entailed. Brilliant concept, though — stock a casino/resort pool with topless dancers working on their line-less tans (who in turn use it as a way to recruit customers to an off-premise strip club).

It also raises the question of why go after the Sapphire Pool? Were the post-WSOP shenanigans just out of control (after the girls had to make up for the cheap bastardness of poker players)? Do the Las Vegas cops have it in for the Rio? Or can we expect further “integrity check” crackdowns at the clubs themselves? You know, rough economy and all has made the, er, “intensity” of lap dances rather negotiable …

ANSWER: No, according to the LVRJ story (Thanks, F-Train, for the link). Harrah’s supposedly requests these integrity checks, and voluntarily closed the pool down on its own behest.

UPDATE: Prostitution and cocaine selling. (You naughty girls!)
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jul/29/metro-prostitution-activity-found-topless-rio-pool/

(Does anyone recognize any of the mugshots as poker-hallway girls?)

Beating almost everyone’s expectations, the November Nine was established before 11pm Wednesday night with chip leader Darvin Moon cracked Jordan Smith’s aces, flopping a set of eights. Here’s how the final table is scheduled to be seated when the players return on November 7th to the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio:

Seat 1: Darvin Moon – 58,930,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead – 6,800,000
Seat 3: Phil Ivey – 9,765,000
Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel – 12,390,000
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter – 29,885,000
Seat 6: Eric Buchman – 34,800,000
Seat 7: Joe Cada – 13,215,000
Seat 8: Antoine Saout – 9,500,000
Seat 9: Jeff Shulman – 19,580,000

As some Twittered earlier this morning, the appearance of Phil Ivey at the final table caused much joy to the WSOP staff, ESPN, and the poker forum community. You’ve got the chip leader a good ol’ boy from Maryland who’s involved in the most dangerous job in the US (logging), meaning those who wonder what happens if someone in the November Nine passes away or is incapacitated may have their wish come true. You have Begleiter, a former executive at Bear Stearns, You’ve got two European players (Akenhead and Saout), you’ve got the lightning rod for the “bad for poker” audience in Shulman, who made statements that he would throw away the bracelet if he won, criticizing the WSOP’s stance on exclusivity in poker reporting. These stories and many others will be played out in the coming days, and Pokerati will be there to sift through them all, starting this afternoon on The Poker Beat over at www.pokerroad.com.

Just before the Final Table Ten became the November Nine, I made my final attempt to get near the action. The closest I could get was the “media” area, which was soon an uncontrollable mess of fans pushing their way through to capture the Ivey Kodak moment with their disposable cams. But before that happened, here is what the packed stands looked like:

UPDATE: Gene got a good shot of the eruption!

The November Nine, upon its creation.

The room was packed with players, who gathered on short notice to find out what Harrah’s would do with the hundreds (conservative number) of irate/disappointed/confused players who were denied entry to the 2009 WSOP Main Event because of their late arrivals to the sell-out event. Notables in the room included Mike Sexton, Mickey Appelman, and Melissa Hayden.

twitpic: @melissalvla

Between the tournament staff, Harrah’s staff, and security contingent, there were approximately 20 suits, lined in front of the room. Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack addressed the crowd with a prepared statement that began, “We are sorry and I am sorry.” He went on to say that the players would not be allowed to play, and that he understands that it is disappointing. “We wish we could accommodate you,” he said and added that he wished they would have played other starting days.

Questions were beamed at Pollack, many players talking over each other at times. Allegations of special treatment were aimed at Harrah’s, with some players asserting that well-known players were granted entry after others were shut out. Pollack’s response? “Absolutely not.”

Most questions revolved around the option of allowing players to begin play this evening and play through the night or somehow incorporating a Day 1E into the mix, but Pollack insisted that it would be logistically and operationally impossible to do. When someone pushed the subject, WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky jumped in with a question of his own directed at the player. “Why didn’t you show up earlier?” A collective “oooh” let Palansky know that he may have gone too far with the comment.

Pollack tried to cool the crowd with comments like, “We are not doing this happily today,” but it was clear that the players were not becoming any more satisfied with the comments. With Pollack promising that sell-out tournaments will be the number one topic to be discussed when planning the 2010 WSOP, he eventually ended the meeting with parting words “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Pollack, Palansky, and other executives went out a private side entrance protected by security.

It was no secret. It has been public information since mid-June, and the PPA announced it days ago that House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank made plans to visit the WSOP today. First, he took to the floor of the Amazon Room to speak to the Day 1C players and issue the “shuffle up and deal command,” after which he toured the Rio Convention Center to see poker’s bizness and held a press conference at 1pm. You’d think it might be quite an event for those with any interest in the future of the poker industry.

But while the general reception Frank received in the Amazon Room was positive, it also gave an indication of what kind of struggles his efforts face. Beyond having to deal with the self-promotional shenanigans of Phil Hellmuth and all he brings to the table in the name of poker (for better or worse), behind me on the rail were some poker players/fans/bigots who made hateful gay jokes during his entire short-but-semi-important speech.

Nearing the 1pm start of the press conference in the Full Tilt Chris Ferguson suite, there were about 5 reporters present. No kidding. By the time Frank began speaking, there were possibly twice that, excluding PPA representatives and Full Tilt Poker bigwigs. Of the 5-8 media outlets represented, ESPN got their headshot early and left, before the speech had hardly started.

Some of what the disinterested might have missed:

~It is likely that the Obama Administration was not behind the Southern District of New York’s seizure of more than $30 million in online poker site payments, though Frank is pursuing answers and will attempt to clarify the role of the Department of Justice in the actions.

~While Frank’s current proposed legislation (H.R. 2267) may not be heard in committee until September, it is a priority for Frank to push his companion legislation (H.R. 2266) that will delay the implementation of the UIGEA through 2010.

Meanwhile, everyone else was standing outside the Rio waiting for Phil Hellmuth to arrive in a chariot with scantily-clad chicks, then following him down the hall like he was someone important President Obama. After that embarrassment spectacle, I noticed that there was more media interested in interviewing a WSOP player wearing a full-length Indian headdress than were in the Frank press conference.

(Sigh.)

I just can’t help but wonder if the people who ignored Frank’s presence today will be the same ones asking why the delay in passing pro-poker legislation, or why their online poker funds are frozen, or why they have trouble finding work in the poker industry.

Interesting evening at the Rio tonight…

“Miami” John Cernuto was spotted at the Rio today after being released from the hospital just days ago. When I finally caught up to him tonight, he said that he’s been playing cash games today but is not in tournament shape yet. He still holds out hope that he’ll feel well enough to play the main event, but he’s not sure.

As a side note, John appreciated the concern for his health in our Pokerati posts. Our message to John? Don’t collapse anymore, please! The controversy that ensues is interesting but…

In other news, a random walk down the hallway of the Rio found my favorite stalkee Nelly and friends leaving the cash games and being confronted by a group of drunk? people that struck up a conversation with the rap star. Someone challenged someone to a foot race, but after Nelly threw out betting numbers in the $20K range, talks quickly fell apart as Nelly got annoyed with the ridiculousness of the bet. With that, Nelly and his crew left the building through the back door.

Scooters are a ubiquitous part of any big poker event .. but at the WSOP NLH-Seniors Day 1 — with 2,707 runners — the Amazon and Rio Convention thoroughfares became more like Sturgis at 4mph.

Finishing the Sunday tournaments plus a preview of the Monday doubleheader and a reminder that Sen. Al D’Amato and Rep. Shelley Berkeley will be at the Rio to announce National Poker Week, also be sure to go to www.pokerpetition.com and add your name.

Iacavone In Control

Michael Iacavone is the reported chip leader (1,605,200) when play resumes in the $1,500 NL Holdem as the remaining 26 players come back at 2pm to play down to a winner. Joe Bartholdi (1,040,000), Nam Le (500,100), Mohsin Charania (471,000), Alex Jacob (433,000), and Raymond Davis (401,000) are the notable names also returning to capture a bracelet.

Schwartz Still Swinging a Big Stack

Another field with a long day on Monday will be the remaining 25 players left in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship who return at 1pm today as they’ll eventually be streamed over the Internet on ESPN360 and wsop.pkr.com. Noah Schwartz (1,220,000) remains the chip leader, with Markus Golser (621,000) and Robin Keston (606,000) leading their respective tables. Recognizable names returning include: Matt Graham (586,000), Barry Greenstein (467,000), Josh Arieh (356,000), Richard Austin (331,000), Howard Lederer (326,000), Padraig Parkinson (259,000), and Vitaly Lunkin (220,000).

More Shooting at the Rio

Some more names that won their first table in the $5,000 NL Holdem Shootout: Danny Wong, Davidi Kitai, Amit Makhija, Roland Isra and David Pham. The remaining 30 players return at 2pm for the second round with the final five winners returning Tuesday for a five player final table.

Filippi 8-Game Leader

153 players return at 2pm Monday for day 2 of the $2,500 Mixed Game event with Amnon Filippi the chip leader with 90,000 in chips. Other notables with chips: Andy Black (58,000), Thayer Rasmussen (48,425), Jon Turner (41,725), Sorel Mizzi (39,525), and JC Tran (34,700).

Monday’s Tournaments

Today’s a pair of events for the 50+ crowd, with the $1,000 Senior’s NL Holdem World Championship, won last year by Dan Lacourse for $368,832 in a field of 2,218. The 5pm tournament is the debut of the $2,500 Razz event. The WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 2,440 for the Seniors’ event, and a field of 300 projected for the Razz event.

More updates during the day at www.wsop.com and Pokerati should have some new stuff during the day, check back often.

Recapping the early part of Friday’s WSOP action:

Austin Awesome in $5,000 PLO

Richard Austin took down the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event in stunning fashion, eliminating Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy and Sorel Mizzi on the final hand when he hit a flush on the river to take down the coveted WSOP bracelet as well as $409,484. Mizzi would take second place, good for $253,048, while Josephy finished in 3rd for $166,771.

Nguyen Winning $10k Stud 8

Day 2 of the $10,000 Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better World Championship has Scotty Nguyen, still $4,000,000 short of his goal at this year’s WSOP or he retires from poker, is the current chip leader (342,500) with 33 players remaining. Lyle Berman (280,000), John Hennigan (230,000), Greg Raymer (196,000) and Jeff Lisandro (154,000) are some of the notables remaining. Unfortunately for Pokerati readers, Tom Schneider was one of the most recent eliminations.

Woodall Waxing Competition in $2,000 NL

Warren Woodall, who had a deep run in an earlier $2,000 NL holdem event, is the current chip leader (580,000) with 68 players remaining in another $2,000 NL Holdem event. Corwin Cole (465,000), Christian Harder (375,000) and Ken Lennaard (251,000) make up a few of the notables remaining as they play down to the final table or the 3am deadline, whichever comes first.

Sands Rises in the Desert

David Sands leads the remaining 239 players from a starting field of 446 in the $2,000 Limit Holdem event with two levels left in the day. Sands currently has about 36,000 in chips, followed by John Monette (30,000), Daniel Negreanu (23,500), Alex Kravchenko (20,000) and Mickey Seagle (19,000) as notables on the unofficial leaderboard.

Follow the updates over at www.wsop.com and more pictures of ass crack here at Pokerati.

Recapping the quartet of tournaments going on this evening at the WSOP.

Mika v Angel for a Bracelet

The $2,000 NL Holdem event is down to headsup play with Finn Mika Paasonen holding a slight chip lead over Angel Guillen. Play resumes shortly in that matchup.

Sextet Left for a Limit Holdem Bracelet

The $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship is down to six players as they take their one-hour dinner break. Pat Pezzin is the current chip leader, followed by Daniel Alaei, Greg “FBT” Mueller, and Chad Brown with all four players over 1,000,000 chips. The two Matts, Hawrilenko and Glantz make up the remaining field. For those who like to follow the ladies, Jennifer Harman finished in 12th, while Maria Ho finished in 11th.

Elky Crafting a Star in $1,500 NL

The $1,500 NL Holdem event is down to under 100 players remaining, trying to get as close to a final table as possible before the 3am deadline. Bertrand “Elky” Grospelier is the current chip leader (470,000) with Day 1 chip leader James Taylor (180,000), Luke Vrabel (150,000), Roland de Wolfe (130,000), Praz Bansi (104,000) and Young Phan (90,000) among the notables remaining. Phil Hellmuth added another cash to his WSOP record with a top-200 finish.

Baron Best in PLO, for Now

The $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event drew a field of 363, with just 139 returning after the level 6 dinner break. Isaac Baron is the current chip leader at 140,000. Other notables returning include Jeff Lisandro (128,000), Nam Le (76,000), Scott Clements (56,000), Hoyt Corkins (49,000) and Greg Raymer (42,000) also make their return shortly as they play four more levels tonight.

For more updates, check out www.wsop.com for more updates and Pokerati for more goings on at the World Series of Poker.

Covering the afternoon coverage of Sunday afternoon at the WSOP:

de Wolfe wins de Triple Crown

Roland de Wolfe became the second player (after Gavin Griffin) to win poker’s Triple Crown (Winning a WSOP bracelet, WPT main event and EPT main event) with his triumph in the $5,000 PLO 8 or Better event, defeating Brett Richey in heads-up play. Dual Omaha bracelet winner Scott Clemens finished in 3rd.

Obligatory Limit Holdem Winner Mention

Sweden’sTomas Alenius defeated Jason Tam heads-up in the $1,500 Limit Holdem event. Day 3 chip leader Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri finished 3rd. Fortunately for the WSOP staff, they have Sweden’s national anthem already downloaded.

Heads-Up Down to Sweet 16

Round 5 of the $10,000 NL Holdem Heads Up World Championship is down to its final 16 competitors, with one more round of play before the winners return on Monday. Among the survivors: Jason Mercier, Mike Caro, Leo Wolpert, Roberto Romanello, Bryan Pellegrino, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Dustin “Neverwin” Woolf, Johnny Chan and WSOP runner-up in 2008, Alec Torelli.

$2,500 PLO Debut a Success

A larger than expected field of 436 started the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha event, with 153 returning after the dinner break. The unofficial chip leader is Jesse Rios, with another four levels of play to finish the day.

Late Night HORSE

The $1,500 HORSE event started about three hours ago and a field of 770 left the starting gate. No established chip leaders at this time, but they have eight levels of play to leader going into the first turn. Check out www.wsop.com and give Pokerati a visit during the rest of your Sunday evening/early Monday morning.

As two final tables, four ongoing tournaments, and loads of cash games and satellites raged on at the WSOP in the Rio, many eyes were firmly fixed on TV screens around the rooms as the Penguins beat the Red Wings in a nail-biting Game 7 of the NFL finals. With many a sports bettor looking to win or lose a buy-in or two a friendly wager, there were sighs as well as cheers when the Penguins took it down.

Some of the poker media members took a break to watch the game in the Rio sportsbook, while others of us went to support friend and UB blogger Gene Bromberg as he rooted on his Pittsburgh home team. And just as Mean Gene was in full celebration mode, Bluff Magazine managing editor Lance Bradley whipped through to the sportsbook to let us know he won quite the impressive futures bet placed in February on the Pens.

Condolences to the lovely Lacey Jones, whose Red Wings lost despite her tremendous cupcake distribution effort on behalf of her team. (Lacey makes a mean cupcake!)

Meanwhile, WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack paid close attention to the game and the Stanley Cup presentation because, well, his half-brother, Gary Bettman, is the Commissioner of the National Hockey League. (Two commissioners in one family? Rigged!) And just after the game, Pollack twittered:

Pittsburgh wins! Time for GBB to present the Stanley Cup — which may make an appearance at the WSOP next week!

Sure, the Stanley Cup will make its way to Las Vegas for the June 18 NHL Awards at the Palms, but will someone tote it across the street to the Rio? Seems like the brothers might discuss it and give the WSOP players a glimpse of hockey’s version of the WSOP gold bracelet.

Word about the payment processor shizznit was definitely part of the buzz around the Rio today. We should know in about a week whether this is poker’s version of the swine flu, or if it spreads into something far more significant. Supposedly Full Tilt checks are back to clearing. However, at least one major PokerStars affiliate had his check bounce — and that’s money he lives on.

Seen in the Amazon cash game area (reading a story in the New York Post):

UPDATE: Oops, maybe swine flu wasn’t the best comparison.

The $1,500 NLH-Shootout, which gets underway tomorrow/today (Wednesday) has been sold out for a while now, having reached its 1,000-player max. However, it’s not too late to get in if you happen to be at the Amazon now … as a fresh block of seats is about to open up.

Play just wrapped for Day 1 of $3,000 HORSE … and 30-40 players who are moving on to Day 2 in that event were pre-registered for the Shootout, so now, many are discussing, most are planning to unregister before leaving the Rio for the night.

Click here to follow Day 2 of HORSE (376 of 452 remaining).

And here for Day 1 of NLH-SH.

Another day, another two final tables delayed at the WSOP yesterday. Starting with the $2,000 No Limit Holdem event, 25 players return at noon on Saturday to play down to the winner. The reason for the early start is in the hopes that a final table will be reached around the scheduled 2pm time that the final table would air on ESPN360 (http://wsop.pkr.com for those outside the US). The chip leader when play resumes will be Mike Carlson with 858,000 in chips. Others people may have heard of include Jim Geary (511,000), and Jose Rosenkrantz (187,000).

The other event will definitely have a more intriguing final table, as the $10,000 Mixed Event World Championship is down to its final 20 players, all of whom are in the money. Huck Seed will be the chip leader at 645,500. In a father-son battle, it’s Todd Brunson (374,500) with a slight chip lead over Doyle Brunson (335,000). Other notables remaining include Mark Gregorich (266,000), Mike Wattel (210,000), Michael Binger (132,000), Eric Froehlich (102,000) and a mystery person who name and chip count wasn’t reported. They’ll get to return at 1pm, and with the average stack having just 10 big bets, a final table may not be that long in the offing.

In the two final tables that concluded earlier this morning, Ken “Teach” Aldridge schooled the final table to win the $1,500 NL Holdem 6-max event for $428,259, and Rami Boukai took down the $2,500 PLO/PLH (HA) event, which was worth $244,862.

More tournament news after the jump:

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Two final tables are underway, with the $1,500 NL Holdem 6-max event down to their final 3 players. Ken “Teach” Aldridge is the current chip leader in a big hand that went down just after the dinner break. You can follow the streaming final table coverage on the Bluff Magazine website or at wsop.pkr.com. The $2,500 PLH/PLO event is down to their final 6 players. Cornel Cimpan, WPT LA Poker Classic winner in February, is the current chip leader, with Ben Grundy and Paul Parker the other notables left at the table.

The $2,000 NL Holdem event is now in the money with about 100 players remaining. Phil Hellmuth added to his WSOP record with his 70th cash, and is still going strong as the players return to their dinner break soon. Jason Mercier, T.J. Cloutier, Tom McEvoy and Tom Franklin are some of the bracelet winners who are still in the field. When the players return, they’ll be playing beat the clock to get to a final table before the 3am deadline.

The $10,000 Mixed Event World Championship is down to about 55 players remaining, with Soheil Shamseddin the leader, with Robert Mizrachi, Steve Sung, Huck Seed and Hasan Habib remaining as they’ll also attempt to get to the final table of eight by the 3am deadline.

The 12pm tournament today, $2,500 NL holdem drew a smaller than expected field of 1,088, some possibly took the day off before the $5,000 NL Holdem event tomorrow at noon. The usual rapid decimation of the field still took place, as less than 450 players returning when the 90-minute dinner break began. Alan Goehring appears to be the chip leader, with the winner taking just over $500,000 and 116 others pick up some cash.

The 5pm tournament, $2,500 Limit Holdem 6-max, looks to have drawn a field of about 360. No clear leaders have been established, but check out www.worldseriesofpoker.com for updates from all six events this evening. Please.

Six bracelet events are working towards different conclusions this evening. The one that most people are following is the $2,500 NL 2-7 Lowball final table, which is now heads-up between Phil Ivey and John Monette. Ivey stands to win about $100,000 in the tournament, plus $3,000,000 in bracelet bets. You can catch the action at wsop.pkr.com or bluffmagazine.com/live

The $1,500 NL Holdem event finally reached their final table this evening and the players went on a dinner break. That final table was supposed to be streamed, so apparently when the Lowball event ends, they’ll move whomever’s left in the Holdem event to this table. Here’s how that final table will begin:

Seat 1 – Steve Karp
Seat 2 – Brian McInnis
Seat 3 – Mark Salinaro
Seat 4 – James McClain
Seat 5 – Walter Wright
Seat 6 – Mike Ciotola
Seat 7 – Kam Low
Seat 8 – Travis Johnson
Seat 9 – Craig McConville

In the $1,500 NL 6-max event, 35 are currently remaining as they’ll play down to a 6-handed final table. Notables remaining include David Fox, David “Bakes” Baker, Manny Minaya, Peter Gould and Praz Bansi. The $2,500 Pot-Limit Holdem/Pot-Limit Omaha event finally reached the money after returning from dinner break. Greg Raymer and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi went out just short of the money. Amnon Filippi is the chip leader, with Hevad Khan, Surinder Sunar, Ben Grundy and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier looking to be at the final table tomorrow afternoon.

A starting field of 1,646 entered the $2,000 NL Holdem event, and when the dinner break was over, just under 800 were returning, one of which will pick up nearly $570,000. The evening tournament, $10,000 Mixed Event World Championship drew a field of 194, and in the early hours, Vanessa Rousso is the current chip leader. Plenty of big names, including Scotty Nguyen, Ivan Demidov, Victor Ramdin and Barry Greenstein are in the top 10, with plenty of big names looking to take down the $492,000 top prize. For more updates during the evening, point your browser over to www.worldseriesofpoker.com often.

The ‘cigarette/candy’ girl at the RIO is charging $3.00 for M&Ms and Reese’s while the giftshop is closed. UNREAL bad business.

Finishing up business from Monday night before moving on…

The $1,000 NL Holdem Stimulus Special finished at 3am today with 50 players returning at 1pm to play down to a winner. The chip leader is Robert Comegys from Grand Prairie, TX with nearly 1.2m million in chips. Danny Fuhs is close behind, with notables such as Eric Mizrachi, Lee Watkinson, Dan Heimiller, and Jonathan Aguiar far down the leaderboard. More details will be available in my PokerNews recap later today. Today’s event is scheduled to be the first of over 20 WSOP final tables to be streamed online this year. The scheduled 2pm final table will be pushed back at least a few hours, depending on how fast play is today. Updates on Pokerati during the day today.

The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event finished their Day 1 with 81 players remaining, the exact amount needed to reach the money. Jason Mercier, best known for his success on the European Poker Tour, is the chip leader with 227,000 in chips, over 60,000 more than second placed Matt Humphrey. Other notables who’ve made the money include Eric Froehlich,, Dario Alioto, Josh Arieh, An Tran, Warren Karp, Shannon Shorr, Robert Mizrachi, and Kirill Gerasimov. Those players and many more return at 2pm today to play down to a final table.

The $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship ended after eight levels with 101 of its remaining 142 entrants remaining. High-stakes cash game player David Oppenheim emerged as the chip leader, with veterans “Miami John” Cernuto, Nick Frangos, Danny Robison, and Steve Zolotow helping make up the top 10. Others who’ll be looking to work their way up include Eli Elezra, Todd Brunson, Eric Drache, Erick Lindgren, Andy Bloch, Cory Zeidman and Phil Ivey. They also return at 2pm to play down to their final table.

The one event that was able to conclude Monday was the WSOP Champions Invitational as Tom McEvoy, the 1983 Main Event winner, knocked off Robert Varkonyi, the 2002 Main Event champion to win the first Binion Cup along with a 1970 red Corvette.

The preview for today’s events:
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Two WSOP bracelets were awarded early in the morning on Monday, but the recipients were not new to earning some hardware. First, Vitaly Lunkin took down the 40th Annual $40,000 NL Holdem event, outlasting Isaac Haxton after a three-hour heads-up battle that will surely be boiled down to a few hands on ESPN when it airs in July. After Haxton had knocked out Greg Raymer in 3rd place (the former World Champion earning $774,927), he held a dominating chip lead over the Russian, who won a bracelet last year in a $1,500 NL event. A few hands later Lunkin would take the lead, only for Haxton to take control again. Eventually though, Lunkin’s AA would crush Haxton’s bottom pair on the final hand to earn $1,891,012. Haxton was also able to walk away with a 7-figure payday, earning $1,168,566.

As Dan mentioned in the post below, Thang Luu defended his title in the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event for $263,135. Ed Smith, the chip leader at the end of play on day 2, finished in 2nd for just over $162,000. Ming Reslock finished 3rd ($106,373).

More stuff on the next page:
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The girls from Sapphire Pool — a unique partnership between the Rio and the world’s largest strip club, or “titter” as the politicos call them — may have had their booth shoved in a back corner outside the Amazon room, but that doesn’t mean they still can’t do their part to make poker as clean as possible. Apparently figuring if you can’t beat’em, join’em, they hosted a charity car wash in the WSOP parking lot, and our intrepid-reporting pals at PokerListings were all over the story:

The girls from the biggest strip club in the world, the Sapphire Club, decided to raise some money for the United Way with a bikini car wash.

Naturally we threw some dirt on the Prius and headed over to see what it was all about.

The $1,000 NL Hold’em Stimulus Special looks to be a huge success, as day 1a appears to be sold out with at least 2,800 entered. There’s still some room for tomorrow’s day 1b, but it looks like that field will also be maxed out before play gets underway at 12 noon today. The WSOP Staff Guide projected 5,305 entrants and that has already been exceeded, so I’ll take the cheap win and take the over with a field of 5700 who will eventually play this weekend as the WSOP staff finds a few additional tables to put on the floor to accommodate the field.

The 40th Annual $40,000 NL Hold’em event returns for day 3 action today at 2pm with 23 players playing down to Sunday’s ESPN final table. Justin Bonomo will start action as the chip leader with 2,678,000 in chips, Ted Forrest in 2nd with 2,586,000, and David “WhoooKidd” Baker in 3rd with 2,367,000. Greg Raymer is the last remaining World Champion in the field, in 4th place with 2,287,000. Other notable names include Alec Torelli, Dani Stern, Matt Glantz, Isaac Haxton, David Chiu, Neil Channing, Andy Black, and Andrew Robl.

The $1,500 Omaha Eight or Better also comes back at 2pm today with 197 players remaining from their record field of 918. 2008 winner Thang Luu appears to have returned to his winning form, as he’ll start play today as the chip leader with 73,600 in chips. Other notable names remaining in the field include Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Todd Brunson, and Brandon Cantu. Their final table is also scheduled for Sunday, although with much less exposure than what will be a mix of live and online stars of the 40k event or the WSOP Champions Invitational event, which also starts on Sunday. More to come today, with an update soon (?) if the Stimulus Special has sold out.

8am Update: Under 80 seats left for Sunday.
10:30am Update: 5,839 registered from Da Commish’s Twitter

Dan joins Pauly at the Rio, where everyone’s settin’ up shop and getting the lay of the Amazon-ish land. In doing so, the podcastic duo begin scratching at the complex corporate relationships between Harrah’s, the WSOP, the Rio, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau, technology, and strip clubs … but abandon attempts for bathroom humor to explore over-under prop-betting lines on the anticipated field size for the 40k, along with the World Series of Divorce.

With special appearances by Devilfish (trying to position himself as the Zac Efron of Poker?) and Change100.

Tao of Pokerati at the 40th WSOP
Las Vegas, NV

Episode 11.3: High School Musical
2:50

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Episode 11.4: Getting Pissy
3:19

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For a more verbose explanation of any and all WSOP shenanigans, don’t forget to get your daily fill of Dr. Pauly at Tao of Poker.

The final numbers for the big $40K NLHE event were released just after the first break of the day:

Number of Entries: 201
Net Prize Pool: $7,718,400
First Place Prize: $1,891,012
Total Spots Paid Out: 27

The vast majority of big names seems to be here – Scotty, Phil, Jesus, Annie, you get the picture. But one player who was specifically invited by Jeffrey Pollack to come to the WSOP anytime to play any event was not in the field. President Barack Obama evidently had more important things to do than spend the day at the Rio, despite his ownership of a new personalized WSOP jacket. Pollack talks about it about around the 3:45 mark on this Raw Vegas video from the May 27 “Sucking Out on the Rivers” charity tournament hosted by Annie Duke.

Watch Annie Dukes Sucking Out On The Rivers Charity Poker Event on RawVegas.tv

[Speaking of Duke, is there a reason that her opinion about things like American Idol matter so greatly now? I'm not sure I like understand the trend.]

Play officially began for the 40th World Series of Poker as Phil Hellmuth and Jeffrey Pollack bellowed the immortal “Shuffle Up and Deal” for event #1, the $500 Casino Employees tournament. A smaller than expected field of 866 entered the Amazon Room to take part including known names such as Bellagio TD Jack McClelland, Marsha Waggoner, and two-time bracelet winner Pat Poels. Play ended when the money was reached at around 1am PT with 81 players (including Team Pokerati member John Harris). The chip leader going into today’s play is Cesar Chavez (not to be confused with Cesar Chavez) with nearly 110,000 in chips. Those players will return at 2pm to play down to the first bracelet winner of the Series.

The first open event at the WSOP also has the highest buyin for a no-limit holdem event. Event #2, the 40th Anniversary $40,000 NL Holdem starts at 12 noon. Players will start with 300 BBs (120,000 in chips), so don’t expect too much action on day one of the four day event. What will be highly anticipated is the number of entrants for this event. Most are expecting around 225-300 to try and get themselves on the ESPN final table on Sunday afternoon.

My first over/under prediction didn’t go so well, as I was over 200 off and was below the WSOP Staff Guide’s projection for the Casino Employees event. I’ll try to get myself to 1-1 by stating that the field will be well over the 150 projected by the WSOP, with a final field size of 237. More updates to come as the day progresses.

Day 1 of the World Series of Poker is a misnomer, really. Much of the Amazon Room is still being put together, as is the ESPN feature/final table area, and the media room was dark (well, awfully bright, actually, but without staff to hand out press passes). Many of the hallway displays were still being constructed or had not yet even arrived, and cash games were still being played in the Rio poker room in the casino. However, pre-registration was open as promised, and satellites were in full swing in the Convention Center area.

Players were anxiously getting their game on in the satellite room, looking to be some of the first to win their WSOP event seats via the mega-satellites. And there were a few excited faces walking down the hallway after having purchased their first WSOP seats. But the hallways were relatively empty, as they will not be again for the next 50 or so days.

Today is Day 2, when Event 1 allows the casino employees to get their games on before the madness begins. And that will lead us to tomorrow, which is officially noted as Day 3 but will offer up the first of the much-anticipated big WSOP tournaments – the $40K buy-in NLHE (Event 2) – as well as the first final table, which will award the first WSOP bracelet of the year to a casino employee.

At noon today, the World Series of Poker officially gets under away with the first event, the $500 Casino Employees tournament. Yesterday, the Amazon Room officially opened for registration, cash games and satellites, especially the first of two $1,570 mega-satellites for Thursday’s $40,000 NL event. An early report of someone who paid the full $40k yesterday afternoon said he was the 14th to register.

What will hopefully be a daily feature is attempting to outguess the WSOP by doing mythical over/under bets on the field size for each WSOP bracelet event. The WSOP Staff Resource Guide has made projections on the number of entries for each WSOP bracelet event. Last year, this event took place towards the end of the WSOP with Jonathon Kotula, an employee at O’Sheas on the LV Strip, winning $87,929 in besting a field of 980. The Resource Guide set the projection for this year’s Casino Employees’ event at 1,023. I say take the over, as closer to 1,100 will be ramming and jamming their way to tomorrow’s final table. Live coverage of this event will be minimal, but any other news that comes out from the Rio will surely be reported by someone on Team Pokerati, so check back this afternoon for more news.

The WSOP unofficially starts at 9am today as the Amazon Room at the Rio opens for registration, cash games and satellites before the tournaments begin Wednesday with Event #1, the $500 Casino Employees tournament. That’s as good a reason as any to do the preview for this year’s World Series of Poker, so here’s some things to look out for during the Series:

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The WSOP website has put out their Staff Resource Guide, containing over 230 pages of various information about this year’s World Series of Poker. There you can find floor plans for the three poker rooms that will be in use this year (no tournament tables at the Poker Room or Buzio’s, their seafood restaurant). You’ll also find the structures for every tournament one can take part in the Rio. You’ll also find a copy of the tournament rules and procedures, a dealer’s reference guide, how the tournament and floor staff will be compensated, and a copy of the daily calendar. The calendar also includes their projections on how many entrants will be in each bracelet event (and a comparison from last year when available), which is as follows:

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Bluff Magazine has those dates listed for the 2009 WSOP, similiar to last year’s schedule. However, there are no tournaments listed yet, expect that to be known shortly.

From $4 to $5 in most rooms and games. Don’t know the exact casino-by-casino and hand-by-hand breakdowns of what the house takes, but the Rio and Caesar’s Palace both recently put the $1 uppage into play earlier this month.

I recently discovered some new tricks on YouTube, so … In what is sure to be as critically acclaimed as Lucky You, here’s a glimpse of the American political system in action, as seen at a semi-private PPA get-together on Day 1B of the 2008 WSOP main event (July 4th) … where a poker activist braintrust confabbed down the hall, in the Palazzo Suites, about Beltway procedure and parliamentary strategy moving forward:

(click twice for bigger)

A moving and dramatic civics lesson, to be sure. Starring Al D’Amato, Howard Lederer, and Annie Duke. Special appearances by Phil Hellmuth and Jeffrey Pollack as The Commish.

I caught a glimpse of the economic crunch on the streets of Las Vegas. Construction projects halted. Rusted steel beams shot out of concrete blocks on unfinished architectural superstructures. The vertical ghost towns cluttered the Las Vegas skyline. The illumination of Sin City, once glorious and majestic as the morning light at the dawn of the new day, has been dulled by a morass of financial gloom, so much so that even the languorous hookers were bitching. Shit, everyone was bitching. Cocktail waitresses. Poker dealers. Cab drivers. Valets. And even the crackling snaps of pamphlets from the porn slappers seem a little sullen these days.

– Tao of Poker

You know what, fuck this “Pauly’s the Hunter Thompson of Poker” shit. Woo-woo, I’m a tortured writer who does lots of drugs to share my twisted vision of the world with the world [/whine] … all so you’ll play $10 tournaments on PokerStars … Saturday’s with Dr. Pauly! — and then we can bet more on FantasySportsLive! [/excitement] It’s seems to me like a pathetic cover for life as a (balding) professional shill.

OK, maybe I’m just bitter — because one of my best pals called me a “cooler”. Do you realize how damaging that can be to a guy who scratches out his living as “The Ernest Hemingway of Gambling” a casino hanger-on? Granted, it really did happen for like 6 hands in a row that whomever I stood behind was guaranteed to lose at pai gow — and when I courteously left to play craps for the first time in two years, not only did I blow $93 in about 7 minutes, but also I literally killed the table … messed up a “hot roller” by improperly placing a bet and impeding a flying die with my hand … re-roll … and from there it was craps, craps, craps — seven out — until all the other players left the table rolling their eyes in gambler’s disgust. Ha-ha, luck is funny.

But all is not fun and games here in Vegas these days — in America, really; but the morale-shift seems accentuated in Sin City, where just about every hooker has lost at least one home in the desert suburbs to foreclosure. So it’s not all about me, but I get to be the Set-up Guy (nice) … and it’s definitely not all about poker: DPauly just happens to be journaling life on a road speckled with tables, where he sees the American lives in the face of severe economic downturn — the human condition amid stormy weather — as revealed ever clearly through the teats and mouths of an aggressive pack of 3rd Millineium Mary Magdalenes.

An especially worthwhile two-part read this week on Tao of Poker.

And, of course, though not as good (my appearance didn’t make the cut), you can get the audiobook version here.

Dennis Phillips was the chip leader for four months — possibly the longest time anyone in the history of poker has held onto the biggest stack. And though he got off to a shaky start and would ultimately finish 3rd (winning $4.5 million) he still skillfully survived a roller coaster session to be the Last American Standing. When it was all said and done (a day earlier than he had hoped for), he threw a party for his 200 or so traveling friends at McFadden’s (formerly the Tilted Kilt) — and without a heads-up match to worry about, it was some good wholesome relaxed American fun, compliments of a good wholesome All-American player who proved even a bald, middle-aged white guy could inspire a loyal and appreciative following to wear red hats and cheer.

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Mr. Peanut demanded too much money to call the opening cards in the air, so the WSOP got Michael Buffer instead.

As the 2008 WSOP was coming to a close a few days ago, Pauly and I couldn’t help but notice that there seemed to be no new sponsors that weren’t already around for in the summer. Disappointing, sure — but maybe it’s just the general economy?

I began to speculate that WSOP marketing honcho Tye Stewart must be in BIG trouble, dude! couldn’t have been too happy that the most celebrated deal inked between July and November was an extended contract with Johnny Chan’s All In Energy Drink. About 10 minutes later, though, Jeffrey Pollack was speaking to the crowd, giving specific thanks and extreme kudos to Stewart as the successful, hard-working architect of the The November Nine vision. And indeed, we now know the broadcast returned some admirable TV numbers; and even as players got eliminated, there were lines of people in the Rio hallways to fill the Penn & Teller Theater’s 1,200 seats. So maybe now, with something definitive to sell potential backers in the future, what looked a little disappointing while riding up and down the escalators is actually a sign of better things to come?

Below is a pictorial look at some added value for official WSOP banners (and inflatables) in action:

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Your WSOP Experience is hardly complete without a drink or seven at the notorious Rio hooker bar … and while I skipped out early on post-coronation festivities, Pauly stuck around to yuk it up with Otis and Howard (from PokerStarsBlog.com, and England). Frightening observations of obese depravity lead to existential musings on the pathetic existence of all who domicile in Vegas (umm …) and while the trio don’t talk with Peter Eastgate as he walks through the Rio casino eerily alone for a guy who just won $9 million, they do interview one of the working girls … and before you know it they’re negotiating a deal to shoot a tag-team porno, all of which eventually deteriorates into threats of a lawsuit.

Hey, that’s just how things float early after sunrise on a Wednesday morning at the Rio.

Book 5: Tao of Hooker Bar

Episode 5.1: Boundless Nature, Las Vegas
6:05

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Episode 5.2: Hurricane of Hookers
7:25

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Episode 5.3: Cage-Savvy Coochie
3:05

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The cost of video poker at the Hooker Bar (in the Rio) has dropped — from a $1 minimum bet to 25 cents.

The hallways surrounding the Penn & Teller Theater at the Riohave been bustling since just after 8am this morning. From media anxious to find their seats and set up for a long day to poker fans, including multitudes of friends and family members of the November Nine, it was a gratifying site for all of the Harrah’s, ESPN, and WSOP folks who made this into a big production.

The theater itself is set up beautifully, with the media set up in two different sections. Pokerati happens to be in the orchestra section, which is directly in front of the stage. Sounds great, except that there is a big Milwaukee’s Best Light barrier set up around the final table, making it impossible for us to see any of the action that doesn’t appear on the big-screen televisions. Would be nice to see it live and catch some of the table talk, but I’m not complaining about my velvet couch and the company of my fellow media reps.

Excitement in the halls, though, began to turn to frustration when long lines of people were being told that the theater was sold out. Granted, it was first-come, first-serve for seating, but I’m not sure if the November Nine relayed that message to their friends. Those inside the theater, however, did not lack for energy, despite the numerous delays that put the start of the final table at approximately 45 minutes after originally scheduled. The media and players were probably more restless than the fans, likely because the fans were already dippin’ at the bar and not considering the fact that this could be a v-e-r-y long day/night.

All of this to say that I’ve got a few intro pics to share:

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Pauly and I are back … watching the biggest sit-n-go in the history of poker, very live-ish from the Penn & Teller Theater in the Rio. As fans were filing in, chips were being unbagged, and 4 months of semi-hyped anticipation was getting underway, we are nice guys looking to share our observations with you.

Book 4: WSOP Final Table
Episode 4.1: WSOPenn & Teller 2:04

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Supposedly poker is dying (a slow and painful death). Poker rooms are closing, dealers can’t get jobs, and one of the top tournament directors in the world is running a relatively rinky dink room in Vegas. (No offense to my dealer friends at the Rio.) But hey, the basic laws of biology say that without death there can be no life … and low-stakes, locals-friendly poker seems to be getting some new life at the Gold Coast. At least that’s the plan, as seen in this pic taken there tonight:

Was just checking out the RJ for some local election results, and their front-page pic featured a shot of the Nevada State Democratic Party party …

Didn’t even need to read the caption to see that official Go Obama election-night headquarters were on poker-hallowed ground.

There are 50 poker rooms in Las Vegas, so we thought you might appreciate the assistance of fellow degenerates in narrowing down the possibilities of where to play when you come to town. The votes have been tallied … and four places stood out above the rest … In what may or may not become a recurring tradition around these parts, Pokeratizens say the Best Poker Rooms in Vegas are:

Gold Medal
The Venetian

Great regular tourneys, Deep Stack Extravaganzas, plenty of all-but-the-highest-stakes action, bottled Fiji water, and maybe the escalator that dumps off drunkenly clad party girls coming out of Tao right in front of The V’s poker room make it far and away the favorite of this website’s readers/players/dealers.

official site / TPA

The separate tournament room really is cool, if not the best in town, and the comfortable multi-tiered cash game area never seems short of action appealing to the masses of big little-stakes players. Great freerolls for regular cash players, too.

official site / TPA

Still home to the biggest games in Vegas (in terms of buy-ins), thereby drawing the most pros and the players who want to challenge/sit near them. Everything Bellagio is always luxe, of course, and their regular $500 and $1k tourneys makes the chance to play for baller money an in-town constant.

official site / TPA

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The 2008 World Series has come and gone and will most likely, in a little less than three months, will come again. In the meantime, while cleaning out the computer(s) we’ve come across these “lost” episodes … recorded in the tail days of the main event. But this is everything … there’s no more, OK? At least not for now. So if you’d like to step back into the WSOP for just a few minutes at a time to the vocal stylings of yours truly and Dr. Pauly, by all means, have a listen/download. Some of it actually seems a little extra interesting with the benefit of a month-or-so of hindsight.

For the entire WSOP season click here.

The heretofore unheard old-new episodes, salvaged from the cut-and-pasting room floor:

Episode 30: The Cost of Donuts
Grubby joins the media to talk main event numbers and the price of trendy donuts in today’s oil economy. (3:19)

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Episode 31: Scotchy Poker
Dan+scotch early in the WSOP day=talk of Dario Minieri and Isabelle Mercier. (4:02)

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Episode 32: French Warfare
Benjo takes over the mic when Dan calls in drunk, and he and Pauly talk more about Isabelle Mercier live from the Day 2 killing fields. (5:14)

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Episode 33: New York & Texas
Michele Lewis joins in as Dan and Pauly break down the difference between Texas and New York humor, or at least the difference between Pauly and Dan. (2:40)

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Episode 34: Go Team!
Dallas’ Raj Kattamuri is going deep, and Pauly tracks down Dan in the poker kitchen to find out what it takes to be patched up on Team Pokerati. (2:37)

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Episode 35: No Wiener
Benjo is not his usual jovial self as the main event comes to a close and he bids farewell to his American friends in the penultimate WSOP episode of Tao of Pokerati. (4:41)

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Episode 36: Unhookered
The traditional late-late night poker-blogger farewell binge drinking at the Rio’s Hooker Bar, with guest appearances by Otis and Mean Gene. (3:29)

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Just outside the Amazon Room … seriously, this one makes little sense to me.  I suppose it’s a reminder that while you can take the World Series out of the trailer park, you can’t take the trailer park out of the World Series?