It’s PLO week on Poker after Dark, and thus the first new televised poker I’ve been excited to watch (on first run) in forever. Though I’m sure someone had to play a 4-card hand on ESPN in 2004, I can’t remember any PLO on TV since learning the definition of a “wrap” … and certainly not since the Pokerati game began introducing low-stakes players in Vegas to PLO (with run-it-twice!) a year-an-a-half ago.

(L to R) Adams, Antonius, Ivey, Dwan, Hastings, Galfond

Hard to believe televising a short-handed cash game session of the second most popular poker game in the world — the one that has produced the biggest online pots in history — would prove “revolutionary” … but really, it is kinda historic; and that says something about the limits of creative innovation in the online poker infomercial biz.

But kudos to PAD for at least taking a peak outside the ’06-’09 box to embrace variance. Though I wouldn’t contend pot-limit Omaha and four-color decks are what will reinvigorate poker on TV … for a semi-regular PLO player who doesn’t necessarily dream of playing the game for $100k buy-ins but just wants to beat my friends once a week at 1/2, hearing about a different sector of hand possibilities almost feels fresh … and it’s always good-fun to see extra cards on the table:

Poker After Dark is trying its hand at pot-limit Omaha, according to Brian Hastings’s blog on CardRunners (via PokerJunkie). From the sound of it, imho, could be another great step in the evolution of poker on TV …

We’ve previously contended that just because mixed games don’t play well on TV, there should be an exception for PLO. It’s easy-enough for any Texas Hold’em player to follow … same winning hands (essentially) … with enough crazy beats, dramatic suck-and resuck, and occasional nut-folding to make things exciting … while opening a new realm of poker thinking that should keep viewers coming back, especially if they play the game, too.

Supposedly this rare televised high-stakes PLO cash game, played a couple days ago in Ivey’s Room @AriaPoker and airing some time next year, was 300/600 with a $100k minimum buy-in. Pretty sexy line-up, too:

While at least five of those names have inherent high-stakes appeal, and one of them is Durrrr, I particularly wanna tune in to see Farha. We always hear how Omaha is his game … but I dunno that I’ve ever seen him play PLO before with hole-card cams — and should be interesting to watch his old-school style match-up with the online generation in a game that isn’t Texas Hold’em.

Could be wrong, but If this episode plays well — which I think it will, relatively — don’t be surprised to see a little more PLO factor into other poker franchises’ TV decisions.

In a time where buy-ins are dropping to accommodate a slumping economy, leave it to Monaco to make people feel poor again. Not content with the highest buy-in tournament to date being the $100,000 Aussie Millions High Rollers event, Casino Monte Carlo in junction with the IPPA (International Poker Player’s Association) is hosting a $250,000 buy-in shootout in late November. Before you ask, “who could afford this nonsense?”; evidently 14 pros have already signed up, with names ranging from Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan all the way to Robert and Michael Mizrachi. There are a few things with this tournament that help it stand out beyond the absurd high buy-in:

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

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

Another good interview from the WPT-London Poker Classic, which seems to be going on for about as long as the Durrrr Challenge. Wha? Nevermind, it’s the PartyPoker World Poker Open … more poker in the same London Palm Beach Casino … but technically a different event.

Anyhow, London-London-London … that’s the hottest spot in the poker world this month. And everyone loves Durrrr (many in a strangely homosexual way according to YouTube comments) … and forget the Patrik Antoniuses and Gus Hansens … now Jungleman seems to be the only non-Ivey nosebleed opponent that matters.

I personally dig his talk of the two games he plays — no limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha.

The durrrr challenge with Jungleman ran its second session late Monday morning into the afternoon, playing a shade under 1000 hands this time around. Jungleman (Daniel Cates) continued to hold the advantage, and even when losing big pots he was always able to bounce back within minutes. Durrrr, on the other hand, was found felted on two tables and playing shortstacked poker, despite a rule in the challenge requiring a reload at 75bbs. Jungleman ended up winning $172k in session #2, all NLHE, to bring his total to +$692k after 6820 hands, according to FTP’s Poker on the Rail blog. Not bad (so far) for a 20-year-old college student making the 24-year-old Team Full Tilt pro look something like an old man.

JungleMan’s blog on CardRunners here. Good interview with Daniel Cates here.

For those who like to railbird the high stakes action online, especially at Full Tilt Poker, Tom “Durrrr” Dwan’s open challenge seemed like a match made in heaven. 50,000 hands of 200/400 NL holdem or PLO action over at least 4 tables, with Dwan offering his opponent an additional $1,500,000 if they were ahead with the opponent paying Dwan $500,000 if he came out on top. The first player to accept the challenge was Patrik Antonius in February 2009. However, other cash game action slowed down the action creating gaps of several months where no hands were played. 18 months later, Dwan is up over $2,000,000 on Antonius with about 10,000 hands left in their challenge.

Enter Daniel “Jungleman12″ Cates, an instructor at CardRunners who went from .25/.50 NL HU to playing in the biggest cash games online in just two years. After Cates accepted the challenge on July 19th, the forums went wild, longing for the days when Isildur1 was crushing the cash game superstars. It took over a month, but after an interview with AlCantHang on FullTiltPoker’s Poker from the Rail blog, the challenge finally got underway early Friday morning. The first session had Dwan ahead by over $161,000 after nearly 1,600 hands were played. A second session started a few hours later, with Cates holding over Dwan over the next 3500 hands, finishing with a profit of over $500,000. The chart of the early action appears below, and you can follow the action on FTP’s Durrrr Challenge 2 page.

Gotta think the twitters are gonna be an important part of following the main event … from Days 1×4 all the way to the November Nine. We can presume, of course, you’re already following the essentials for play-by-play and more — @kevmath @pokerati @wickedchops @taopauly @bjnemeth @wsop @wsoptd @jesswelman (also doing @bluffmagazine) @espn_poker @matthewparvis @change100 @benjodimeo and @pokernews …

But a few others that you may wanna be sure to add for the main event and beyond include:

@Tom_Dwan — the real durrrr is now tweeting, and turns out he’s pretty good at keepin’ it real in 140 characters or less.

@JeffreyPollack — the former WSOP commish has resurfaced on the internet with warm wishes. Good to see him around WSOP parts again, albeit slightly removed.

@RioVegas — if the suits @Harrahs have done one thing right, it’s hire a good social media dude for The Rio who has proven surprisingly responsive and capable of putting smart tweeters in touch with the right people when necessary.

@TheRealAsianSpa — not sure if this is an alterego to the most vitriolic (but informed) poker hater on twitter or what … but either way, apparently @AsianSpa has taken the ways of @SamChauhan’s @PositiveReport to heart and can’t help but look at everything #WSOP as benefitting from a happy ending.

@GamingCounsel — was hoping others might not notice the Canadian attorney who’s proven a great source on the latest legal developments in the gambling world … but now my competitive colleagues all follow him, so if you care about poker laws, you should, too.

@TheGroupie — she’s just a poker fangirl who’s not in Vegas, but met this 20something poker-playing figure-skater PhD @riovegas just the other week, and for some reason couldn’t stop staring at her tweets.

@OskarGarcia — the AP’s Vegas-based reporter covering gaming is putting in some extra time at the WSOP.

@PUNTE — Josh Zerkle is a professional sports and social media-y kinda guy @WithLeather, and is keeping his WSOP micro-thoughts and observations here.

There … all those should do you extra-well. Feel free to leave any others @’s you think Pokeratizens and assorted poker fans might not wanna be missing this July in the comments.

Phil Ivey was at the Golden Nugget enjoying barbecue last night — at Howard Lederer’s World Series of BBQ — when he learned that Tom Dwan was making another serious run for a bracelet, in $10k PLO.

pic: Melissa Hayden

Durrrr in the headlights: Please, Melissa, I’m trying to eat …Who Tom Dwan what? How many chips? I need more sauce.

Play ended last night with 33 left and Durrrr the chip leader … by like a lot. (36 got paid.) Phil Hellmuth is 13th in chips, with 330k to Dwan’s 910k.

Here’s the event coverage Ivey and just about everyone will be sweating on Saturday: $10k Pot-Limit Omaha. Sigh. If only ESPN knew what Euros (and players in my 1/2 NL/PLO game at the Hard Rock) already do … that Omaha is hold’em, and thus can make for some great TV.

Others still alive include:

Jason Mercier
Devilfish
Ludovic Lacay (Benjo’s friend/French bad-ass)
Fabrice Soulier
Michael Binger
Daniel Alaeai
Tony Cousineau
Jason Lester (for viewers still insisting on familiar ’03-’04 faces)

Interestingly enough, the last man out for the night (winning $19.8k) was EPT Tournament Director Thomas Kremser … essentially the Matt Savage of Europe. Alexander Kravchenko, another pretty good-TV name, busted him.

But hey, this is PLO, so all sorts of card craziness can happen. Let’s reconvene when they get to the final table and see if indeed, poker geeks and uber-high-stakes prop-bettors everywhere will be clamoring about Dwan (and maybe Hellmuth) closing out the WSOP with a multimillion-dollar bang.

Recapping the sextet of tournaments underway Thursday afternoon:

Klein leads PLO final table

Loren Klein (850,000) leads the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha final table, which has 8 players remaining as they take their dinner break. Play will resume around 8:30pm, follow the hands as they’re played out at PokerNews.

Idema idolizing limit holdem bracelet

Seven players remain at the $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship final table, with Daniel Idema holding the chip lead with 1,163,000 with seven players remaining. Michael Mizrachi finished in 8th place to move into a tie with James Dempsey for the WSOP Player of the Year lead, but Jameson Painter (3rd in chips with 953,000), moves past both of them with a win. Updates of the action on the table and at the rail is at wsop.com.

Gonzales leads 1500 NL

Christopher Gonzales (260,000) leads the field of 130 players remaining as they return from dinner break in the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event. Six more levels of play are on tap for the field, see who goes deep and who goes home over at PokerNews.

Leary tall in the saddle in $1,500 HORSE

The $1,500 HORSE event has 100 remaining, with 80 making the money later this afternoon. Dustin Leary (132,000) holds the chip lead, followed by Jeff Shulman (125,000), Tom Dwan (66,000), Jason Mercier (61,000) and Robert Mizrachi (50,000). Wsop.com has all the mixed-game updates.

Benyamine leading 5k NL 6-max field

Day 1 of the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event drew a smaller than expected field of 568, with a $2,100 tournament at the Venetian held at the same time. David Benyamine (80,000) holds the chip lead, followed by Dave Ulliot (65,000), Hevad Khan (62,000), Andrew Lichtenberger (55,000) and Isaac Haxton (53,000) among the early leaders. PokerNews will be following the action during the evening.

PLO/PLH event underway

The last tournament to start this afternoon was the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha/Pot-Limit Holdem event. The early chip leader is Matt Vengrin with 26,000, followed by Chris Reslock (24,000), Daniel Negreanu (19,500), Layne Flack (17,000) and Vitaly Lunkin (16,200) among the notables. Follow wsop.com for more updates and chip counts.

An overview of the rest of Wednesday night’s action with two more bracelet winners

Warga wins second bracelet, makes history

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

Haydon hacks his way to 2500 6-max bracelet

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

Proulx on precipice of Omaha prize

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

Ray leads final 13 in 10k limit holdem

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

Lehmann leader in 1500 NL

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

Reslock leads HORSE

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

Thursday’s tournaments

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

A review of Sunday night’s tournament action:

Dutch doubles up on bracelets

Russ “Dutch” Boyd wins his second career WSOP bracelet, defeating Brian Meinders heads-up to win the $2,500 Limit Holdem 6-max event, collecting $234,065. Meinders earns $144,650 for the runner-up finish. A full list of results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report is online at wsop.com.

Chow leads 10k Omaha 8

Day three of the $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better World Championship will resume at 3pm with Michael Chow, winner of a Omaha 8 bracelet earlier in the WSOP, leading with 600,000 in chips with 23 players remaining. Among the returning players: Sammy Farha (512,000), Eugene Katchalov (463,000 after being down to a single 1,000 chip), Jean-Robert Bellande (314,000), David “Bakes” Baker (283,000) and “Miami John” Cernuto (269,000). The full list of chip counts is online at PokerNews.

Wilkerson leads 1k NL day 1b field

Day 1b of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem tournament concluded with 222 players returning this afternoon at 2:30pm to join the 290 day 1a survivors, with 342 players making the money. The reported chip leader from last night is David Wilkerson with 66,400. Other notables: Eric Froehlich (47,325), Tom Dwan (36,250) and Chad Batista (34,000). A full list of chip counts is at PokerNews.

Monday’s Tournaments

It’s another doubleheader today, with the 12pm tournament the $2,500 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event, last year won by Brock Parker in a field of 1,068 for $552,745. The 5pm tournament is the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better event, won last year by David Halpern for $159,048 in a field of 466.

Two new bracelet winners were determined Wednesday night, two more bracelet events get underway this afternoon, so here’s a brief recap:

Phillips Wins $1,500 NL 6-Max

Carter Phillips became the 7th-youngest WSOP bracelet winner when he took down the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event last night, defeating Samuel Gerber of Switzerland in heads-up play to earn $482,744. Phillips, who won an EPT event last year in Barcelona, has now earned over $1,800,000 in his 18-month tournament career. The full results, along with the tournament report from Nolan Dalla is online at wsop.com.

Gee, I just won a bracelet!

Steve Gee of Sacremento, CA defeated Matt Vance to take down the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem bracelet, along with $472,479. The full results and Dalla’s tournament report is now up at wsop.com.

DeWitt DeBest for Day 3 of 5k NL

Jason Dewitt (1,873,000) leads going into day three of the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem bracelet event, resuming at 2:30pm with the field of 18 playing down to a winner. Among the day 3 survivors: Jeff Williams (1,323,000), Antonio Esfandiari (883,000), Perry Friedman (361,000) and David Benefield (326,000). Chip counts and updates can be found all afternoon over at PokerNews.

$2,000 Limit Holdem

After ten levels of play on day one, Joshua Honegger leads the field with 87,000 in chips at the $2,000 Limit Holdem tournament. Others in contention for a bracelet include Matt Matros (53,700), Matt Glantz (50,700), Eric Buchman (39,400), Joe Serock (38,000) and Joe Serock (33,400). The field of 109 returns at 2:30pm with 45 making the money, with $203,607 going to the winner. The full list of chip counts is now online at PokerNews.

10k 2-7 NL Draw Day 1

Day 2 of the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball World Championship resumes at 3pm with 72 of the 101 starters returning. Homan Houshiar will start the day as chip leader, with 116,100 in chips. Following close behind include David “Bakes” Baker (104,000), Tom Dwan (64,100), John Juanda (54,050), Daniel Negreanu (46,800), Yan Chen (33,200) and Team Pokerati’s Tom Schneider (18,700). 14 players will make the money, with the winner pocketing $294,314. Chip counts are now available at PokerNews.

Thursday’s Tournaments

Starting at noon is the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event, last year won by Jason Mercier for over $237,000 over a field of 809. Players will start with 1,500 in chips, along with three “rebuy” chips, each good for 1,000 additional chips used during the first four hours. The 5pm tournament today is the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event, won last year by Jeff Lisandro for almost $125,000, besting a field of 359. While waiting for the tournaments to start, check some of the links along the right hand side for more WSOP content than you ever thought was possible.

Voting for the WSOP Tournament of Champions closes on June 15, and the final seat in the 27-player field will be determined in a nine-person tournament on June 10th. The nine players taking part in the tournament June 10, with the winner playing the $1,000,000 TOC June 27 are:

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

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

Second place, not first. That other guy won. I’m sure we’ll remember his name eventually …

“This was a huge shot in the arm for the gambling community,” said Mike Matusow to his table in the $10k Stud-8 World Championship, referring to a couple-million+ of anti-durrrr-bracelet sidebets.

@howardhlederer tweeted:

……..exhale

Frankly I was kinda surprised to see Lederer so nervous. Would seem that he was the one guy who couldn’t lose … you know, having the newest pro added to his team taking down an early WSOP donkament, for the first of what will likely be multiple bracelets.

@realkidpoker:

Congrats to Tom Dwan! We were all rooting for you… To come second! Wow I escaped. What a sweat that was.

Durr just doubled up and the rail cheered while most of the people in the stud 8 moaned and cried.

The atmosphere in the room is electric. So many of us have bets against Durrr winning. 3 left and we are sweating hard!

@realannieduke:

Players in the Stud 8 or better championship breathe a sigh of relief as Tom Dwan finishes second. Never a bigger swing in a $1500 than 2day

I’m enjoying sweating the Durrr match mainly because I have no money on it:) Big swing for a bunch of my friends and relatives though.

Meanwhile, Huck Seed is apparently owed a refund. Though I suspect he might just let Dwan hold on to the $325k, figuring that a 2010 bracelet may be inevitable.

The $1,500 NL Holdem final table went on their dinner break, except for Dwan, who decided to play in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo World Championship instead. Play has resumed, so here’s the chip counts after dinner, with blinds at 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante:

10:10PM update: Now 5-handed with the blinds at 25,000/50,000/5,000

Tom Dwan 2,415,000
David Randall 2,085,000
Austin McCormick 3,000,000
Tom Dwan 2,850,000
Simon Watt 2,500,000
David Randall 2,200,000
Jason Young 1,695,000
Michael Smith 6th ($105,185)
Marvin Rettenmaier – 7th ($78,681)
Kyle Winter – 8th ($59,407)
Eric Ladny – 9th ($45,603)

Concerning the prop bets, one person has already paid $325,000 to Dwan. To find out who that was, check out Pokerlistings.