Play started about 12:20 this afternoon for day 1a of the $10,000 NL Holdem Main Event, with the UNLV Marching Band and Wayne Newton kicking things off. I’m sure those who’ve chosen days 1b-1d are thankful that they didn’t have to experience that for their start as it will probably be a bit more low-key for them when play starts. It appears that the day 1a numbers will be around 1,297, which is very slightly above the day 1a figure from last year. The mysterious figure so far appears to be in the 4500-4900 range for now, as there are 468 spots currently showing for the prize pool (of course no $ figures as of yet) if you take a look at the picture on Pauly’s site.

Among those that won’t have to worry about making the November Nine: Raymond Rahme, Tuan Lam, Roy Winston, Tom “Durrr” Dwan, Vanessa Selbst, Eli Elezra, Katja Thater, Phil Galfond, Bob and Maureen Feduniak, Chad Brown, Lyle Berman, Dan Harrington, Jason Alexander, and plenty of other names (known and unknown). The current chip leader going into the dinner break is David “Chino” Rheem, who is currently at 103,000 in chips. Other recognizable names: Blair Hinkle, Svetlana Gromenkova, Kido Pham, Noah Boeken, Anna Wroblewski, Mekhi Phifer, Maya Antonius and plenty of others. Follow the updates during the evening at the WSOP.com site here. Play starts again shortly, as they play two more 2-hour levels, then the survivors get to return on July 8 for day 2a.

More updates during the rest of the evening…

What’s doing tonight at the WSOP while I welcome Tuscaloosa Johnny to the Pokerati fold:

The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better event is down to it’s last 3 with Casey Kastle, Martin Klaser, and Michael Fetter remaining. Kastle currently holds the chip lead, Erik Seidel was eliminated in 4th in his attempt at winning his 9th bracelet.

The $5,000 NL Holdem 6-handed event have returned from their dinner break with 280 out of a starting field of 805 to return. Notable names near the top include Alex Jacob, Mark Vos, Gavin Griffin, and Hevad Khan.

Other tournament action is available by clicking on the more thingy:

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Lance Bradley wrote a prescient article in the current issue of Bluff highlighting five online young-guns to watch out for at the 2008 WSOP, and two weeks into it, all of them had cashed and then some. But at the same time, they’ve hardly dominated or taken the Series by storm. In this episode, Pauly attempts to educate me on who’s who when it comes to crossing over from online studliness to WSOP success. Durrr, Gobboboy, Yellowsub, and Good2cu, previously of the shipithollabolla crew, et al.

Episode 8: Online Sharks::WSOP Salmon

I’ll make this one brief:

Svetlana Gromenkova wins Ladies’ Event.

Ted Forrest chip leader at $2,000 Omaha 8 final table (7 left).

Jason Young leader with 3 left in the $1,500 NL Shootout.

Tom Dwan chip leader with 570k in $5,000 2-7 KC Lowball Event, Tom Schneider 5th with 270K. 17 left, 14 get paid.

Carter Gill chip leader at $1,500 PLO Event, under 100 left.

480 signed up for the $2,000 Limit Holdem Event, Ayaz Mahmood chip leader, 400 left.

More from me tomorrow…

Happenings at the WSOP while awaiting the inevitable Gary Wise article tomorrow on the Ladies’ final table:

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A review of the action from the first week of the World Series of Poker:

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Happenings at the WSOP while JC Tran (and his spectacular breasts) make the final table.

Play ended shortly after 5am in the $10k Mixed Event World Championship. A tournament that had its share of controversy, from confusion over the structure to players threatening to go to 2+2 to express their dislike of having table redraws start at triple draw instead of going through the eight-game rotation. Here’s the final table, starting at 4pm:
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While Dan may be out breaking some news, I’ll note that at the 10k Mixed Event dinner break, Tom “Durrr” Dwan leads with 285k, Tom at 180k. More updates from the rest of the Pokerati team as they return shortly…

Just for funsies, I thought I’d make predictions on the final 6 with 61 players left — hey, if they can change a rule mid-tourney, why can’t I change my theoretical horses? So that was last night, but I fell asleep before the official chip counts went up … hence no post until now, with 45 players remaining, and all “my guys” still in (sorry, Tom, I just didn’t “feel” a monster comeback). I did make one change, however, after seeing play develop a little bit today:

Gus Hansen
Jeff King Steve Billrakis
TJ Cloutier
Jonathan Kalmar
Robert Mizrachi
Tom Dwan/Durrr

Anyone got an over/under on how many of these I’ll get right? Or perhaps their own picks based on who’s well-chipped, favorably seated, and generally playing well of late?

Tom Dwan, aka Durrr, cracked Phil Hellmuth’s pocket aces with pocket 10s in the third hand of the opening round of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship … and now there is talk of a rematch for $100,000.

(Hellmuth already made about $90k from other players offering insurance on the hand while waiting for the flop.)

Phil wrote about the hand itself — and he’s right, Durrr made a bad play — unless of course the online phenom was possibly taking Chris Ferguson’s philosophy that worked against TJ Cloutier into account, which says that when you are outmatched it is mathematically in your interest to gamble. Anyhow, here’s Hellmuth’s recall of how the 2008 hand went down … and here are the terms of a potential rematch:

After I told him that I wouldn’t have lost $3,000 with 10-10–which is the truth–Durr handled himself with class, albeit he did what all the young guys do when they’re a bit insecure, he challenged me to play heads up for $100,000. Durr knew he played the hand poorly, and if he doesn’t know now, he will understand how bad a play he made in two or three years. Will I play him heads up in the real world? Absolutely! But on my terms. I don’t need the money, and I have nothing to gain from playing him heads up, whereas he does have something to gain. He could say that he beat me. Despite that, here are my terms: I will play him in the bay area, in a casino (his terms, and I echo them), during the daytime (like starting at noon), whenever I feel like it (I choose the date). I don’t need to play him, I crushed him in three hands on NBC!! He may have won the chips, but the world knows who really won the hand!!

It’s that time of year again. The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship is on the horizon, and many players have already confirmed that they’ll pay the $20k to get some camera time compete in the event. Sixty players have been announced, leaving four open seats for qualifiers yet to be announced.

Festivities will begin on February 28th at Pure Nightclub at Caesars in Vegas with the drawing party to determine the match-ups. The following day brings the first matches, and a winner will be determined and get his/her $500k on March 2.

Previous champs Paul Wasicka, Ted Forrest, and Phil Hellmuth will be playing, as well as numerous first-time players like David Singer, Bill Edler, Scott Clements, Jerry Yang, Brian Townsend, Tom Dwan, celebrities Jason Alexander and Brad Garrett, MLB player Orel Hershiser, and the 2007 CardPlayer favorite WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider.

Click below for the list of players:

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