The eventful EPT Berlin Main Event final table came to a conclusion Sunday afternoon, and it would be American Kevin MacPhee taking down the first prize of 1 million Euros, defeating Ilari Tahkakollio heads-up. MacPhee also had the chance to do this brief interview Monday about his weekend:

An interesting footnote to the excitement from Saturday was a decision Tahkakollio made when play eventually resumed. With 21 players remaining, he was involved in a hand with Luca Canielli, who was all-in for his last 600,000 with As-Qd, against Tahkakollio’s Ad-10h, with the board showing 3c-Kc-8s-4c. At that moment, the armed robbery took place, scattering players and chips leaving this for the players to return to about four hours later (picture from pokerolymp.de):

As the players and tournament staff came back to their seats, and exact chip counts impossible to determine, tournament director met with the remaining players in the main event. It was decided that the players would go by the honor system to determine each player’s chip stack.

Next was to decide how to handle the Tahkakollio-Canielli hand. Since it was impossible to know if the deck had been tampered with amongst the confusion, Kremser ruled that the hand be ruled dead. However, Cainelli was unhappy with this decision as he was in need of doubling up. Kremser then ruled that the deck could be reshuffled so the river could be dealt, but would also need the approval of Tahkakollio, who could have decided to have the hand ruled dead and the two get their chips back. After thinking for several minutes, Tahkakollio decided to allow the river to be dealt, and when the 5h came on the river, Cainelli received his double up, while Tahkakollio had lost about a third of his chips. Tahkakollio recovered from that setback to make the final table third in chips, and after a tense back and forth battle with MacPhee when play got to heads-up, eventually collecting 600,000 Euros for finishing 2nd.

The original reporting of the hand was done by the PokerStarsblog.com team.

Daniel Negreanu has an interesting new post up where he breaks down what he believes to be the 10 Toughest Tournaments in the World.

Spoiler alert:

10. WPT LA Poker Classic (Los Angeles)
9. PCA (Bahamas)
8. WSOP Heads-up Championship (Las Vegas)
7. EPT Grand Final (Monte Carlo)
6. WSOP Main Event (Las Vegas)
5. WPT Championship (Las Vegas)
4. NAPT Bounty Shootouts (??)
3. WSOP-Europe Main Event (London)
2. WSOP $25k Six-handed Event (Las Vegas)
1. $50k WSOP Players Championship (Las Vegas)

Click here for Negreanu’s explanations of what makes each of these events special.

Numbers 4 and 2 are the only ones that seem possibly questionable to me. The Bounty Shootouts, indeed, are likely to become great. But it’s not even clear yet where the real championship will take place. (The upcoming version at Mohegan Sun will be the first open one of these.) Likewise for the WSOP’s new $25k six-handed event. High-roller and fast no-limit hold’em action, sure … but again, can you really put something at #2 when it hasn’t even happened yet? I’d rather see an Ironman tourney on that list … even though they aren’t big, yet, I think all who have battled in them can attest they are tough.

UPDATE: Anyone else finds Daniel’s omission of the NBC Heads-Up curious? I wouldn’t think much about it had he not included WSOP Heads-up as #8. Now I gotta wonder if his list woulda been different had he been in the final four this weekend / Annie Duke not won.

Here’s the final table of EPT Berlin, with the standard EPT Live streaming at www.eptlive.com scheduled to start at 6am ET:

Seat 1: Marko Neumann – 2,185,000
Seat 2: Marc Inizan – 3,655,000
Seat 3: Kevin MacPhee – 6,070,000
Seat 4: Artur Wasek -3,530,000
Seat 5: Marcel Koller – 3,590,000
Seat 6: Nico Behling – 960,000
Seat 7: Ketul Nathwani – 4,685,000
Seat 8: Ilari Tahkokallio – 3,940,000

How they got to that final table on Saturday took an approximate 5-hour detour when a group of masked robbers stormed the Grand Hyatt Hotel around 2:30pm local time. You can check out my previous two posts from Saturday for some clips here and here.

Various mainstream media reports have said that up to 1 million Euros have been stolen, or as some called it, a “jackpot“. While the EPT Berlin event did boast a 1 million Euro first prize, it’s expected that the amount the robbers were able to pocket is expected to be far less than that.

While there have been numerous eyewitness accounts, most of them are German, which can make some interesting translations for those looking for something in English. Here’s a few foreign reports (translated through Google Translate):

Bild newspaper photographer

Report on what happened in the cashier area

BZ-Berlin article, showing pictures of two of the thieves

Here’s a couple of interviews (in English), first from the cameraman who filmed the robbery in progress:

The other from another eyewitness:

Details are a little sketchy, but apparently at around 2pm CET (8am ET) a group of masked robbers stormed the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Berlin during day 4 of the EPT Berlin Main Event.

Here’s video someone recorded off the live stream as people frantically leave the area:

3:35pm Berlin time update from Pokerstarsblog.com :

“An armed robbery by six men took place today at EPT Berlin. Nobody was seriously injured. We hope to re-start all events at 4pm local time. A police investigation is under way. If you have video footage or photographs that could help the police, please contact the EPT organizers as soon as possible.”

UPDATE #2, make that 5pm local time for a possible restart.

UPDATE #3, the 1,000 Euro event that started today was canceled, while the main event finally resumed around 6:00pm local time, but the EPT Live webcast has been canceled. Also, here’s a breaking news article from Pokernews along with a video update:

Page 2 has some pictures during the incident:

More…

We all know there’s lots of chit-chat on blind structures, always, and there should be. They are important. In the early days of the poker boom, a lot of tourney directors didn’t really know what they were doing and surely didn’t understand the nuances of stack sizes deep into tournaments with bigger-than-expected fields. Then the Venetian came along with their Deep Stack concept, kinda-sorta revolutionizing the way smaller-stakes tournaments were played … at which point everyone started copying it and multiplying … and eventually trying to apply a bajillion starting chips concept to higher buy-in, big-time poker.

That’s when TDA honcho Matt Savage stepped up to say, wait a minute, let’s take a look beyond the first few levels, maybe these perceived Deep Stacks in a lot of instances aren’t all everyone says they’re supposed to be. Just about any educated “outsider” I’ve talked to who has taken a close look at the prevalent blind structures of the day contend that, indeed, while the non-bastardized Venetian Deep Stacks set-up is good, Savage’s not-so-deep-stacks structure as seen at the LAPC are indeed some of the best in the business — a model for other tourney directors to emulate.

After Day 1 of the WPT-Commerce main event, Daniel Negreanu agrees. Read more as he explains a bit why.

NOTE: I learned a good rule of thumb about antes from Negreanu, and where they fit in to breed action in “slower” events.

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.

More…

@AllenKessler loves a good blind structure, and may or may not love to bitch about those in successful tourneys he’s not even playing in. Regardless, he’s answered @SavagePoker’s call to reassess the popular deep-stacks format by trying to start a twitter flame war on behalf of … well, that much we’re not so sure about, but we haven’t seen such a fun Battle of the Tweets since @EskimoClark vs. @BigRussPoker (whose account has apparently been suspended?).

We may or may not get around to taking a closer look at the finer nuances of currently popular blind structs, but in the meantime we wanna know, unscientifically, of course, from a tournament blinds perspective, where you think the best place is to play. Daily voting to your right.

Oh, and then just for fun, be sure to check out the delightfully mock-a-vellian @ComplainSaw.

Posts on 2+2 earlier this morning mentioned a tentative 2010 WSOP schedule, but for those who take a look at it will note there’s still some work to be done.

For example, the first event on the list is dated May 10th, but it’s event #21 – $1,500 7 Card Stud. Also of note is that almost every tournament except the Main Event is a 2-day event. This doesn’t make much sense since most tournaments have been three-day events in recent years. Another notable change is that the “World Championship” of HORSE now has a $10,000 buy-in. There is however a $50,000 “Player’s Championship” on the schedule. So take the schedule with several grains of salt, and expect a corrected schedule in the very near future.

In related news, WSOP spokesman Seth Palansky talks with the Las Vegas Sun about what’s expected for next year’s WSOP. Among the newsworthy items, there will be no poker played on July 4, and expect more $1,000 buyin events (there’s six on the unofficial schedule).

UPDATE: The schedule has been taken offline for now.

The folks over at Wicked Chops Poker were lucky enough to get an interview with the outgoing Jeffrey Pollack, now former WSOP Commissioner on Friday. All three parts of the interview are now online, as the interview was held in the Pavillion Ballroom, home of PokerPalooza! earlier this year and what is likely to be part of the larger footprint of the 2010 WSOP:

Watch Interview With Former WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack Part 1 on RawVegas.tv

Click below for parts 2 and 3.

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The long wait is almost over as the November Nine take their place at the final table Saturday afternoon. The following look at stack sizes, seat position, blind levels, M, etc. is part of a much larger post I made over at 2+2 regarding the final table, the information taken from the WSOP November Nine Media Guide:

Final Table Details

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

More…

We low-stakes players love the deep-stack events … but as Matt Savage pointed out this summer, and a concern that Andy Bloch has re-raised more recently, big-time pro tourneys don’t necessarily benefit in the same way from these structures.

(The basics of the beef: the blinds move too slow early, and too fast in the middle of the tournament.)

Should be extra interesting to see these issues in action tomorrow for the start of the WPT Festa al Lago $15k main event. Not only are stack sizes in relation to the blinds in play, but also — and I’m pretty sure this part is new — players will be allowed to late-register (with a totally fresh starting stack) well into Day 2!

For a better explanation, WPT Lead Tournament Reporter BJ Nemeth breaks it down a bit more. Says BJ:

There are currently 40 players registered for this WPT event, & there is only one starting day (tomorrow).

Like the December tourney, this one will let you register anytime during the first *eight* levels. [So] they’re letting players register until 5:00 pm on Day TWO.

This tourney begins with 60,000 in chips (4x stack) and blinds at 50-100. That’s 600 big blinds. (Though I still expect someone to bust in the first level or two.)

If you skip Day 1 and show up at the start of Day 2, you’ll have 75 big blinds to work with. If you wait as long as possible and begin play at the start of Level 9, you’ll have 37.5 big blinds in your stack.

Hmm, OK … we’ll have to see if this adds fuel to Andy Bloch’s fire, or satisfies those who pony up the $15k buy-in enough that complaints about overly deep stacks fail to grow any teeth. Word is that tournament-side WSOP officials will be watching closely at how it plays out.

Click below to see Bellagio’s venerable TD Jack McClelland’s blind structure for tomorrow’s big event in its entirety:

More…

Some strange happenings in poker this Sunday:

Abraham Korotki, a WSOP Circuit Main Event winner in 2006, beat formidable odds to take down the $300 Borgata Ladies’ event on Saturday for just under $21,000. The “last woman standing”, Nicole Rowe, who recently discovered she had breast cancer, finished 2nd, good for just under $12,000.

On the Left Coast, TMZ.com reports that Poker PROductions, the makers of the NBC show Face The Ace, is being sued for $85,000,000 by Brandon McSmith, who said the company “stole” his idea called “The All-Star Poker Challenge”. McSmith’s idea consisted of a player having to defeat five pros in a series of heads-up matches to win prize money and a $10,000 WSOP Main Event seat, with the contestant having the option to risk their winnings after conquering their opponent. This lawsuit appears to top Gambling Times’ lawsuit against Scott Lazar for $1,000,000 for lack of product placement in the poker movie “Deal”, which grossed under $100,000 in lawsuits that will go nowhere.

The Commerce Hold’em Series just got underway yesterday in California. It’s a 2+ week festival with limit, no-limit, and pot-limit hold’em tourneys … most of them in the $200, $300, and $500 range … and some with fun little twists such as knockout bounties and creative payout structures. They got off to a good start with 1,217 entries on Day 1A in their $220 NLH — with a $500k guarantee — and It all culminates in a $2,580 main event (also with a $500k guarantee).

But the event that’s most intriguing to me: Event #15 — a $1,600 “Ironman” tourney, on Wednesday, Sep 23.

The concept, from a Commerce spokesman:

$1600 Ironman Tournament. 10,000 in starting chips. 1 hour levels starting at 25-50, with slow progressions. Includes 50-75, 250-500, 900-1800 blinds. The key is that there are no breaks! We will play from start to finish without interruption. 3 meals provided as long as you are in the tournament. Must play down to one player. Paying only the final table with 50% for first.

Wow. Awesome. Cool. While part of me thinks this might-should be called the Meth-head Invitational, it will be really interesting to see who plays the best under those conditions. Short-stacked smokers at a disadvantage, but hey … them’s the (only) breaks.

UPDATE: Event #1 seems pretty unique, too. Each Day 1 plays down to 27, and 90 players have already made the money. An additional funky caveat — those who have already busted can re-enter on Day 1B or Day 1C. What-the …

Officially it’s just been postponed … but I might be willing to make a wager.

The red flags flying around this thing made it seem, well … at best, like the second coming of the Poker Bowl. Not implying that the guys behind the Sports Legends Challenge are in any way shady, but the numbers just didn’t add up. They promised so much — so much poker, and black jack, and party-party-party with not just poker pros but real celebrity athletes, and $10 million worth of prizes, all on a beach! — and yet it was based on 2,100 people ponying up $10k (in 2009?) for Poker-Sports fantasy camp and that didn’t even include travel. No way its presenting sponsor, Absolute, could send as many people as PokerStars sends to the main event. Even with PokerNews pumping it up, mix in tons of freerolls and a disclaimer that any million-dollar jackpots would be paid in 40-year annuities … and yeah, all those who thought they might be headed to the Bahamas in a couple weeks got an email today like this one:

From: entries@sportslegendschallenge.com [mailto:entries@sportslegendschallenge.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 1:17 PM
Subject: On behalf of the Sports Legends Challenge

Hello,

On behalf of the Sports Legends Challenge, this letter is to inform you that due to circumstances beyond our control, we have decided to reschedule the inaugural Sports Legends Challenge event.

From the outset, our unvarying commitment has been to produce a world class event for participants, sponsors and spectators. It is our conviction, that this goal can best be achieved by rescheduling the event for a domestic location that will not only make the event more accessible to major population centers, but also make travel much easier for the participants. We are also modifying the time of year for the event so that weather issues are much less of a concern (a major issue for a September event in the Bahamas).

We are pleased to note that not only are the investors involved in the program fully supportive of this change, but it is also supported by our key sponsors, partners and affiliates. The essence of the program will be unchanged – creating unique opportunities for sports and gaming fans to interact with some of the greatest Sports Legends of our time along with some of the world’s top poker pros while competing for major cash prizes. However, we plan to use the time leading up to the rescheduled event to add elements and make adjustments that will make it even more exciting.

Over the next few days we will provide you with additional information about the rescheduled event, including the new location and dates. We appreciate your patience in working with us to accommodate this change and will do all in our power to help ensure that the Sports Legends Challenge is a highly successful event.

Thank you,

Bruce Bibbero, CEO and Larry Lubin, President

Interestingly enough, no word on any money or refunds for those who might like to back out now that the dates and details have changed. (Though their website did claim all would get refunds should it be canceled, which is why the claim will be that it isn’t canceled … just postponed, lest they started having to give money back, I speculate.)

UPDATE: Click here to learn about the lawsuit resulted the last time Bibbero and Lubin tried to put on a similar tourney with PokerPlayerNewspaper.

UPDATE 2: Allegations of bad internet etiquette, too … http://www.patrickokeefe.com/2009/07/02/sports-legends-challenge-presented-by-absolute-poker-is-engaging-in-a-despicable-online-marketing-campaign-relying-on-lies-and-spam/

Click below for a list of sports legends you will not be playing golf, poker, blackjack, and slot machines with on Sep 14-17 in the Bahamas this year, despite strong means weak! super-heavy promotion and mass emailings offering buy-ins at a 40 percent discount:

More…

That’s the question Matt Savage, one of the guys who has created quite a few of them, asks in 2+2 Magazine. Fascinating look (for blind-structure geeks) at things like “the rubber-band effect” in middle levels.

Indeed, I agree that too often people think simply adding more chips leads to better everything — but don’t consider myriad other factors that come into play over the course of hours (or days) in a timed event that takes you from X number of players ultimately to just one.

[via F-Train]

Here’s a list of the 59 poker rooms that, as of right now, have signed on to officially embrace the 2009 TDA rules:

Aces & 8`s Poker
Amelia Belle Casino – Amelia, LA
APT Poker Room – Galaxy Starworld Hotel & Casino, Macau
Asian Poker Tour – asianpt.com
Avenue Card Club, Hove, UK
Aviation Club – Paris, FR
Bay 101 – San Jose, CA
Bay Mills Resort & Casino – Brimley, Michigan
Beau Rivage – Biloxi, MS
Big Slick Poker Tour – Prince George, BC
Binion`s Horseshoe – Las Vegas, NV
BLACK LIONS POKER CLUB, BUFFALO NY
Borgata – Atlantic City, NJ
Caesars Palace LV
Canterbury Park – Shakopee, MN
Card Player Cruises – At Sea in the World
Casino Del Mar, La Concha Resort – San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Casino Oostende, Belgium
Cherokee – Tulsa, OK
Club 52 at Melbourne Greyhound Park – Melbourne, FL
Colorado Central Station – Blackhawk, Co
Commerce – Commerce, CA
Crystal Crown Casino, Sunny Beach, Bulgaria
Daytona Beach Kennel Club & Poker Room
Derby Lane Poker Room- St. Petersburg, FL
Diamond Jo Casino – Dubuque, IA
Eureka Resort and Spa – Mesquite, NV
Federação de Poker do ES (FePES) Vitória-ES, Brasil
Firelake Grand Casino – Shawnee, OK
Fortune Rooms, Northern Ireland
Foxwoods Resort and Casino – Ledyard, CT
Golden Gates/Blackhawk, Co
Golden Nugget – Las Vegas, NV
Grand Sierra – Reno, NV
Grey Eagle Casino – Calgary AB Canada
Hollywood Casino – Lawrenceburg, IN
Hollywood Park Casino – Inglewood, CA
Horseshoe – Tunica, MS
Horseshoe Casino – Bossier City, LA
International Club – London,UK
LUCKY CHANCES CASINO – San Francisco Bay Area
Mandalay Bay – Las Vegas, NV
Mirage Resort Casino – Las Vegas, NV
Northern Stars Poker Tour – Manitoba, Canada
Ocean`s 11 Casino San Diego County, Oceanside, CA
Orchard Farms Poker Room – USA
Peppermill – Reno, NV
Red Rock Resort Casino and Spa – Las Vegas, NV
Ringo`s Little Vegas – Spokane Valley, WA
Rio – Las Vegas, NV
Spirit Mountain Casino – Grand Ronde, OR
Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino – Lemoore, CA
The Casino at Portmaso – St. Julian Portomaso PTM01, Malta
The Poker Room @ Seabrook Greyhound Park – Seabrook, NH
The Silks Poker Room @ Tampa Bay Downs – Tampa, FL
Tri State Casino – Cross Lanes, WV
Venetian – Las Vegas, NV
VFW Post 194 – Salisbury, MD
Wynn Casino – Las Vegas, NV

Not everyone uses these — the WSOP has their own version filled with extra, enforceably questionable legalese — but these are the simple standards made available for card-room runners across the world by the Tournament Directors Association, recently updated at a conference held during the World Series, and thus far officially adopted by 57 59 poker rooms.

Click below for the rules (which TDA members can download here in all sorts of easily printable and mountable forms).

What’s changed?

The over 125 Poker TDA members that attended the 2009 Summit discussed and voted to accept the following:

Nineteen (19) 2007 Rules were changed; they are rule #’s 3, 4, 6, 8, 18, 21, 23, 25, 29, 30, 31, 34, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 43 and 44.

In addition, Four (4) new rules were adopted; they are rule #’s 7, 15, 28 and 33.

More…

Southpaw WSOP dealers: We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher!

We’re down to 14 players in the main event — Phil Ivey’s the remaining good guy, Jeff Shulman’s the bad guy, and James Akenhead’s the Brit …

On a recent hand — being broadcast on screens set up outside the ESPN poker stadium — we saw a chopped pot: A-A-4-4-5 … where both players’ Ks played as a kicker. After the applause, Robbie the on-stage TD said over the PA, “How ’bout a round of applause for these dealers. They’re working hard for you today, and are some of the best in the business!”

That may be true — but only if you’re right handed.

When WSOP dealer supervisors sent their best of the best to ESPN for TV-table dealing this year, those who happened to be left-handed were sent back. Supposedly it has something to do with their laying out the flop “backwards” … but even lefties who had trained themselves to do it like a righty were still not welcome. ESPN decision … not one worth fighting for the tourney staff’s perspective, since they did have enough righties in the mix who could handle the job of pitching cards on the feature felt.

Edit: Here’s the official chip counts:

In a surprising move, play ended Saturday after just three levels of play in the main event, as the field is now down to about 400 players after three levels of play, which included nearly two hours of hand-for-hand play. Chip counts are unofficial at the moment, but it appears that Frenchman Ludovic Lacay will be the chip leader with 1,608,000 chips. Tom Lutz is listed in 2nd place with 1,600,000 chips. Other notables returning tomorrow with unofficial chip counts: Jordan Morgan (1,489,000), Blair Hinkle (1,399,000), Bertrand Grospellier (1,250,000), Nichoel Peppe (880,000), Kenny Tran (850,000), Tom Schneider (790,000), Lou Diamond Phillips (755,000), Dennis Phillips (630,000), Kara Scott (580,000), Joe Hachem (570,000), Noah Boeken (515,000), Joe Sebok (412,000) and Joe Serock (400,000). The returning players resume at 12 noon tomorrow, guaranteed at least $27,469.

The bubble was reached after 13 hands during hand-for-hand play. Kia Hamadani had about 160,000 in chips when they were about 20 players for the money, unfortunately for him, he took several hits to his stack until he was all in for his 500-chip ante. His last hand was 4-3o, which was crushed by someone making a large bet on a Q-Q-6 board with 9-2o. A nine on the turn and river meant that Hamadani would finish in 649, consoled by the fact that Jack Link’s Beef Jerky gave him a free entry to the 2010 Main Event.

Notables who can sleep in tomorrow: Phil Hellmuth, Patrick Bruel, Kelly Kim, Surinder Sunar, Matt Brady, Mark Gregorich, and Jesper Hougaard.

Official chip counts will be available in the morning, so return to Pokerati to see what’s turns up next.

Day 3 of the Main Event were able to play five full levels yesterday, with 789 players surviving to return at noon Saturday as they crawl their way to the money bubble at 648 players. The only player with a 7-figure chip stack is Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier with 1,380,500. Other notables who are still hanging around: Blair Hinkle (542,000), Dennis Phillips (510,000), Phil Hellmuth (485,000), Kara Scott (456,500), Mike Sexton (414,000), David Benyamine (381,500), Lou Diamond Phillips (359,500), Kelly Kim (346,000), Joe Sebok (297,500), Joe Hachem (239,500), Tom Schneider (231,000), Bobby Baldwin (193,500) and The Big Randy (190,500). The entire list of survivors is available below:

Five more levels of play are scheduled for today, but a prolonged period of bubble play can play havoc, depending on when they start hand for hand play and how much time is added back after the money is reached. In any case, it’ll be a joyous occasion for most who make the money, while the more established players will be looking to abuse the bubble, and take chips off players looking to get out of Vegas with their $21k+ payday.

Follow all the action over at www.wsop.com here and Pokerati for other stuff going on during Saturday.

The first three levels of the Main Event have seen over 900 players already hit the rail, leaving around 1,100 players returning from dinner break. The unofficial chip leaders are Brian Hanson and James Akenhead with 625,000 in chips. Other notables with an above average stack (currently around 170,000): Owen Crowe (555,000), Bertrand Grospellier (520,000), Sorel Mizzi (445,000), David Benyamine (402,000), Phil Hellmuth (390,000), Phil Ivey (360,000), Lou Diamond Phillips (345,000), Mike Sexton (297,000), Dennis Phillips (240,000), Tom Schneider (230,000), 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Lisandro (211,000) and Jason Alexander (190,000).

Notables who hit the rail:

Erik Seidel, Raymond Rahme, Jimmy Fricke, Jean-Robert Bellande, Bill Edler, Darus Suharto, Ville Wahlbeck, “Miami John” Cernuto, Bryan Micon, Roland de Wolfe and Sam Farha.

More stuff from Pokerati later this evening as the money bubble may be reached tonight, depending on how fast the eliminations go after dinner.

The Main Event resumes today around noon today with the remaining 2,044 entrants expecting to play 5 two-hour levels today. If they follow the procedures in the Staff Resource Guide, hand for hand play should begin with about 670 players remaining, if the eliminations come fast enough. To see the entire list of players, check out the page below:

Follow the tournament updates here with more stuff from Pokerati during the day, hopefully.

Mystery indeed … we’ll see what we discover today (as I finally make it back to the Rio) … but while Kevin is on top of the relevant seat assignments, at least one plausibly reliable source informs us:

Those tables mentioned on your site, green 146 and such, dont exist. The only tables in green all series were 150-155. Those other tables were ghost tables. Those players were given different seats, empty seats.

Ahh, see, this is why some people can’t handle seeing us dig in semi-real time … the business of gathering (and assembling) facts while reporting news can be messy. But hey, thanks for helping us understand.

Regardless of whether or not any shenanigans were in play, one thing for certain is that there will be a lot of hubbub and cries for asterisks should Joe Reitman, Kirk Morrison, Sully Erna, Tony Hachem, or Kevin O’Donnell go super-deep. That much we definitely know.

First, an interview with the Commish from SkyPoker’s James Hartigan about Day 1d (Thanks to DesD on 2+2 for the link):

Day 2a concluded with 607 players remaining and Andrew Gaw the chip leader with 386,800 in chips. In an interesting story, Eric Cloutier, who was reported chip leader at the end of day 1a with 150,750 in chips, turned out to have 15,075 to start the day. He ends today in 2nd place with 383,500 in chips. Other notables: Greg Mueller (287,300), Andy Black (215,700), Mike Sexton (169,000), Kara Scott (139,500), Jimmy Fricke (138,300), Tom Schneider (123,700), Greg Raymer (95,900), Jason Alexander (73,700), Sam Farha (67,500), Erik Seidel (55,600) and Roland de Wolfe (21,200). To view the entire list of day 2a survivors, follow this link.

The Mystery of Amazon Green 156

The day 2 situation brings up this interesting case, especially since it’s the very last table in the Amazon Room. As I mentioned to Pauly, there were 4 players on the day 1d entrants list who were seated in the 10 seat, all of them in the Amazon Green section:

Jeppe Nielsen – Amazon Green 143/10
Joe Reitman – Amazon Green 144/10
Marco Bertaccini – Amazon Green 145/10
Dale Poynter – Amazon Green 146/10

To be fair, only Poynter’s table was actually 10-handed, although in Reitman’s case, that table only seated 7 players (according to the list). Another interesting table is Amazon Green 156, which is seated as follows:

LANDAU, MICHAEL
ERNA, SALVATORE
GASPARD, JEAN
HACHEM, TONY
MICHNIK, MICHAEL
HARRISON, AUDLEY
SEED, HUCK
MORRISON, KIRK
ODONNELL, KEVIN

Gaspard and Seed both had been guaranteed a seat, for winning WSOP-C New Orleans and the NBC Heads-Up event respectively, as noted by the Commish in the above video. Audley Harrison is a known British boxer who has played a few events this year at the WSOP. Some of the rumors that were flying around the Rio yesterday were about some players getting preferential treatment. I’ll leave it to the reader to guess which names on the above list fit that role. Another name worth mentioning is Kevin O’Donnell, who apparently was shut out, according to Gary Wise’s article on ESPN.com:

Frustration was boiling over among those who felt their dreams of championship glory moving beyond reach, many feeling betrayed by what they saw as insufficient warning of what might be going down.

“I think that Harrah’s communications was awful,” said Kevin O’Donnell, a professional circuit regular who’d gone home to Arizona for Independence Day. “If they’d warned us better about this possibility, we’d have made the needed adjustments. There are a lot of things they’re going to say that are true, but ultimately the communications broke down. As a business person, I understand you can only fit in so many people, but they should have done a better job of letting people know they were going to have these space issues.”

Meanwhile, Palansky was sending out a follow up e-mail at 12:08 p.m. entitled “WSOP Main Event – Flight 1D is a SELLOUT.”

Yet O’Donnell did get a seat — at Amazon Green 156 — and returns today with more than 72,000 in chips.

Day 2b gets underway at noon today, playing 4 two-hour levels. A not exact list of chip counts and where they’ll be sitting can be found here. If you’re in the Amazon Room and poker room, you’ll be playing 9-handed. Buzio’s and any of the other tournament rooms will mostly start 10-handed, although they’ll be breaking tables as fast as they can to get to 9-handed as quickly as possible. One of the tables not in use at the moment, Amazon Green 156.

Follow the live updates at www.wsop.com and other updates from Pokerati about other goings on at the WSOP.

Day 1d ended play this morning with 1,816 players remaining and Troy Weber the overall chip leader with a whopping 353,000 in chips. Other notables with chips: Carter King (170,000), J.C. Tran (139,975), Josh Arieh (135,700), Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (127,475), Dutch Boyd (121,050), Kirk Morrison (96,000) and Tony Hachem (89,400). To see everyone’s chip counts, click here. To see all 2,809 entrants to day 1d, click here.

Day 2a will start at noon today, as they play five two-hour levels at nine-handed tables in a field of 1,476 (half the size of the day 2b field Wednesday). A list of those players is here. The over 2,900 strong field for day 2b will have over 120 tables start 10-handed when play resumes for them on Wednesday. It could be another logistical nightmare if the day 2a field has too many eliminations, and play is forced to be suspended sooner than expected. The Day 2b field only has four two-hour levels of play on their agenda so that when the field is combined on Friday, expect a field of at least 2,000 starting for Day 3.

As usual, check out Pokerati or Pauly for more details, and www.wsop.com for updates during the day.

Though I absolutely understand that there are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to installing, revamping, and enforcing late registration policies (which have been problematic for the Series even pre-main event Day 1d) … the Dream Team Poker event is filling up with little clue how big it might ultimately end up being, and they are keeping it simple and clear so even a guy who often tempts time and knows how to occasionally get a string pulled can understand: you’ve got a built-in two-hour window to call in favors if you think you’re enough of a VIP interested players very well may be shut out even before cards go in the air.

(emphasis added)

DREAM TEAM POKER
WSOP Event July 12-13th
THE RIO

Thank you for entering our Dream Team Poker at the 2009 WSOP Tournament!

Completing your registration is a 2 step process:

· Purchase your 3 table & seat assignments at the Rio Cage
· Present these 3 receipts at our DTP Registration desk to pick up your customized team jerseys & player scorecards.

Yes, it’s that simple!

We have customized all of your team jerseys and they are waiting for you to pick them up!

We are located in the Rotunda Area next to our jersey wall where the WSOP is being played.

Keep in mind that player registration closes at 12:00pm (Noon) on July 12th. There will be no exceptions.

The tournament will begin at 2:00PM on July 12th in the Brasilia Room at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino.

May the best team win! See you at the Tournament!

www.DreamTeamPoker.com

Pauly and Benjo are on site in the Amazon room to discuss what really may or may not have gone down on Day 1d. It wasn’t pretty, but at the same time, kinda a beautiful thing, no? On to Day 2a (and 2b), where the real carnage begins.

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

Episode 11.30: The Day 1d Debacle (feat. Benjo)
5:51

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

That hedline makes me giggle, because really, there’s a lot to these numbers:

Day 1a – 1,116
Day 1b – 873
Day 1c -1,696
Day 1d – 2,809

An eventful Day 1d field is off to their dinner break with a record field of 2,808 for a starting day of the Main Event (with several hundred left out) starting around 12 this afternoon. About 2350 returned from dinner break (as about 15% of the field has already been eliminated today). Some notable eliminations: Lyle Berman, Huck Seed, John Salley, Scott Montgomery, Dario Minieri, Eric Baldwin, Roy Winston and Peter Feldman. The early leader is Blair Hinkle with 120,000 in chips. Other notables with an above average stack: Chad Brown (105,000), Dutch Boyd (85,000), Shannon Shorr (65,000), Vanessa Rousso (64,000), Tom “Durrr” Dwan (55,000), Ron Kluber (53,000) and Phil Ivey (52,000). More chip counts and updates can be found at the wsop.com site here. More reactions to the Refusal at the Rio can be expected on Pokerati and various other places to discuss poker on the Internet in the late night hours.

Some people you may recognize not playing in the main event, much to their own surprise after showing up in some cases a good 15 minutes before cards went in the air! (mostly from Feldman at ESPN.com):

Tom Franklin (head of WPA)
TJ Cloutier (legendary+PAC member+craps)
Mickey Appleman (breaking 30-year streak of main events)
Minh Ly (Doyle pal)
Brandon Adams (Full Tilt Red Pro)
Melissa Hayden
Random Australian guy screaming about desire to sue

(Let me know if there are others to add to the list.)

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.

Ahh, should be a fun test to see how this plays out. Jeffrey Pollack is to address the mob shortly. From @TaoPauly:

Commissioner Pollack will address the disgruntled players at the Poker Palooza at 2:30pm.

Correction… Antonius is in the field according to ESPN. Lindgren at feature table. Eastgate at secondary table.

Lots of conflicting reports of favoritism. Sully Erna got in now & players in the Diamond Registration line were told to return at 3pm.

I can’t see how anyone could/should be shocked if Diamond players get first dibs. That’s kinda how casinos work, no? When I had Fawcett’s Diamond parking pass, I could get valet parking even when they said “valet full”.

But still … Pollack conceivably bidding farewell to at least a few customers for life, via @JoeSebok:

Official number will be available soon … but we’re looking at close to 3,000 for today (including @TheBigRandy and @RobertGoldfarb).

Final numbers for the 2009 main event coming soon …

Via @taopauly:

Several big names shut out: Brandon Adams, TJ CLoutier, Patrik Antonius & Sully Erna

Chagrined non-players, via Otis:

Just got word from very reliable sources … 2,400 people are already registered for Day 1d. Main event sign-ups have been coming in today at a rate of nearly 100 an hour. Satellites are still running. A sell-out tomorrow looks inevitable. In fact, the problem may be too many players — the WSOP is looking at potentially having to turn away (theoretically) up to 500 players looking to buy in. Not only will they be difficult to seat, but there’s a further problem, because so few advanced on Day 1b, with balancing the fields as they move toward the Day 3 convergence.

UPDATE: First prize is more than $8 million already.

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: The problem would be not just the logistics of seating more than 3,000 people for Day 1d, but also, should such a monster field not be whittled down small enough (based on the current pace of slow-stack eliminations) the then they’d face the same problem of not having enough space for the remaining players on Day 2b.

So that’s the concern … not Day 3 … and it’s part of why they’re playing 5 levels today and tomorrow, but there’s still a teensy fear that won’t provide the necessary eliminations.

The Day 1c field has returned from its dinner break a few minutes ago, with two more levels to play today. The difference between this field and the first two Day 1’s is that the field as well as tomorrow’s field will play 5 two-hour levels. When Day 2a commences Tuesday, they’ll also play 5 two-hour levels, while the Day 2b field will play 4 levels. A field of 1,697 were registered today, and there’s a possibility that Monday’s Day 1d field could be sold out. If not, it will certainly be the largest Day 1 field with well about 2,300 already registered.

Notable names already eliminated: Annie Duke, Daniel Negreanu, Evelyn Ng, John Caldwell, Lacey Jones, Chino Rheem, and Jamie Gold. The unofficial leader at this time is Jeff Lisandro, looking for his 4th bracelet this year, leading the field with 132,000 in chips. Other notables with stacks include Hevad Khan (94,000), Joe Hachem (88,000), David Singer (78,000), Justin Bonomo (56,800), Brett “gank” Jungblut (51,000), Scotty Nguyen (49,000), and Dan Harrington (47,500). Other chip counts and live updates can be found at the wsop.com site here.

More updates later this evening from Team Pokerati, and another update from me in the morning recapping who’s left at the end of the night.

First, this note from Nolan Dalla’s latest tournament report:

In the days following the third annual Ante Up For Africa tournament, WSOP officials have received a number of media inquiries regarding the event’s second-place finisher – specifically whether he collected his winnings without donating a portion to the cause the tournament benefits. In light of these ongoing inquiries and certain erroneous media reports that have been filed since the event’s conclusion, the WSOP feels it is necessary to clarify certain relevant facts.

First and foremost, the second-place finisher, to date, has not collected his tournament winnings. Nor has he stated an intention not to contribute to the charity. This player has, in fact, contacted Ante Up For Africa organizers to discuss his plans for the money. Any reports to the contrary are factually inaccurate and should be disregarded.

Day 1b concluded with 655 players returning Tuesday afternoon, joining the remaining entries from day 1a as Day 2a gets underway. The reported* chip leader at the end of play is Brandon Demes with 137,075. Other notables with a decent stack include: Fabrice Soulier (97,725), Joe Sebok (78,800), Bruno Fitoussi (58,100), Shaun Deeb (55,100), Amarillo Slim (48,075) and Greg Raymer (43,750). To see the entire list of survivors, check out the link here.

* Day 1 chip leader Eric Cloutier’s stack was reported as 150,750, it turns out it actually is 15,075.

Day 1c gets underway with a possible change in schedule, as ESPN.com’s Andrew Feldman noted, day 1c and 1d MAY start with 5 levels of play, then playing 4 levels on Day 2b on Wednesday. Day 2a will then be five levels long so everyone has played for the same amount of time. Feldman expects an announcement to made just before play gets underway at 12 noon today. Follow the updates over at www.wsop.com here and maybe some stuff from the rest of Pokerati during Sunday.

Another down day for today’s Main Event as only 873 registered for day 1b, the lowest day 1 figure since the poker boom began. Reports indicate that over 2,700 players combined have already registered for days 1c and 1d, combined with the 1,989 who have already registered means the 5,000 figure should easily be reached. Another rumor, this one reported by ESPN’s Andrew Feldman, says that Days 1c and 1d will play 5 two-hour levels, followed by 4 two-hour levels for Day 2b. The Day 1a and 1b survivors will then play 5 two-hour levels on Day 2a so everyone has played nine levels when the field combines for day 3.

On to what’s known, and that is the Day 1b field is on their fourth and final level of today’s play, with about 720 players remaining. Notables who have already been eliminated: Chris Moneymaker, Doyle Brunson, Vicky Coren, David Pham, boxer Winky Wright, and Marlon Shirley, who will definitely get some airtime during ESPN’s Day 1b coverage.

The unofficial chip leader is Nick Maimone, with 129,000 in chips. Some notables with chips includes: Ali Eslami (85,000), Fabrice Soulier (66,000), Erik Seidel (59,500), Shaun Deeb (53,000), Joe Sebok (42,500), and Amarillo Slim (36,000). You can follow the live updates at www.wsop.com here.

See what other rumors get started or squashed at Pokerati in the evening hours and early morning and I’ll be back with more stuff in the morning.

@Phil_Hellmuth

UB party starting at Studio 54 at MGM! On my way, i am making my entrance on a trapeze!! also i signed up for 2-7 tourney, c em a 11 pm
about 13 hours ago from txt

Drinking Dom in VIP booth with wife. Trapeze stunt from 5 stories up at 10:40 pm…Scary!
about 12 hours ago from txt

I am pretty drunk!! Chris Ferguson just called me and told me they picked me up in 2-7 tourney!!
about 9 hours ago from txt

Sunday July 5 i show up to WSOP as ‘Caesar: with 100 models, 11 muses w body paint, a chariot w 2 horses, and a drummer dropping rose petals
about 8 hours ago from txt

15,200 extra chips are in play going into Day 2 of the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw — roughly a third of which belonged to no-show Phil Hellmuth before tournament officials removed his remaining stack (in level 5) and refunded his late buy-in.

Plenty of grumblings about this situation from the rail …

Hellmuth bought into WSOP Event #55 by proxy — presumably near the last possible minute — with his 7,500 starting stack brought to the felt shortly before the end of the break between levels 2 and 3. His seat in the Brasilia Room remained empty for hours as he attended a much-ballyhooed Ultimate Bet party at Studio 54 in the MGM.

Hellmuth’s stack had been blinded down to about 2,500 when the event TD approached Chris Ferguson, who was playing, and asked if he had Hellmuth’s phone number. Ferguson did, and the TD called but got no answer. So he then called his supervisor, who apparently instructed him to remove Hellmuth’s chips from play.

Shortly thereafter — in Level 5 still — the number of entrants on the screen was reduced from 258 to 257, and prize payouts were downgraded accordingly.

At the end of Day 1, the 73 remaining players bagged a total 1,942,700 chips, even though the appropriate number for 257 players in a $2,500 event would be 1,927,500. No word yet on where the 10,000 chips that didn’t belong to Phil Hellmuth came from.

Click here to follow the action in $2,500 2-7 Triple-Draw when play resumes at 2 pm pacific. Plenty of interesting big-name pros and 2009 bracelet winners still in the hunt — Negreanu, Ankenman, Sung, Mueller, among them — along with a few dozen lesser known mixed-games grinders … all competing for a $166k $165k bracelet.

More…

Yet we still don’t know how many runners are coming. We can tell you that players are showing up an hour early to take their seats — a sign they won’t win — but the actual number … well that’s a complicated algorithm. It has something to do with numbers of tables available based on other events … and then of course, like all things Vegas, they have to save a few seats for those extra-special VIPs.

(Not sure what they do with those seats when they aren’t taken and there are no alternates … but bottom line is that if Barack Obama or Bono or plausibly even Jeffrey Pollack’s brother showed up to play, they’d find them a seat … even if it meant finding a farmboy from Iowa and tying him up in the back room until dinner break.)

The $1,500 NLH that sold out a few days ago had 2,790 players. And the Seniors Event had 2,707. So there’s your ballpark.

[Fact-check props to the Tao.]

UPDATE: 2,818

And to show the love because Vinny B. has us feeling snippy under his claims that we don’t give proper props to the no-names, click below for a complete list of every single person who showed up today with $1,500 and a dream, but not necessarily a plan on how to really achieve it

More…

That’s what @JeffreyPollack wants to know — after today’s $1,500 NLH maxed out with 2,790 entrants (one of which is The Big Randy, fyi). Specifically, he twitters:

should WSOP events ever sell out? Do sell-outs conflict with our brand promise? Or, are they okay?

Though I’m not exactly sure what the “brand promise” of the WSOP is beyond free beef jerky for media (hey, can we get the strips instead of the nuggets? that’d be great … thanks … sesame please), I gotta think the answer is no.

If you let alternates run, then it ultimately becomes the players’ choice whether or not to buy-in.

There could obviously be exceptions for numerically dependent tournaments such as Shootouts and Heads-up events. But I’m not even so sure that those should ever close until X number of necessary logistical minutes before cards go in the air.

Send your thoughts to the Commish in 140 characters or less here.

photo: LasVegasVegas

The $2,500 Razz event came to an abrupt halt today when Miami John Cernuto collapsed at the table. Apparently action was on him, at first people thought he was asleep, and then someone said I don’t think he’s breathing … at which point they kinda poked him, and he fell to the ground felt.

Tournament officials stopped the clock and cleared the area while paramedics rushed to attend to him. No official medical report yet, but it appeared to be a heart attack. However, in the end, about 40 minutes later, he appeared to be OK. Like an injured athlete being carried off the field of play, Cernuto waved to the crowd and received an ovation as he left the Brasilia room and was calling someone on his cell phone en route to the hospital.

Pokerati was there to try to show how a major tournament handles such incidents — and though we know this matter isn’t about “us”, we apologize for the unclear photographs snapped before being expelled from the premises for trying to bring you the story:

More…

The card pictured here, according to @Andy_Bloch, was actually in use and in play at his table during today’s $5,000 NLH-Shootout.

Hmm, despite what some Batfaces may contend after a particularly good home-game run in 2005-06, I don’t know enough about card-marking systems to tell if these scuffs are a matter of defective product or an overzealous cheater. I’d tend to think the former — when you use a bajillion decks, there’s gonna be a bad one in there — but this pic is not the first murmur of marked cards at the 2009 WSOP.

But usually it’s in the high buy-in mixed games where the dangers occur (and floormen are operating on high alert). For example, smudges and nail marks were reportedly found on decks in the $10k 2-7NL-1D (won by Phil Ivey), where at least one specific player was targeted for enhanced interrogations intensified scrutiny.

Finishing up Saturday’s action from the WSOP…

Lisandro Pulls the Triple Double at the Rio

Jeff Lisandro became the third double bracelet winner of this year’s 2009 WSOP when he took down the $10,000 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better World Championship a couple hours ago defeated Farzad Rouhani at about 4am Vegas time. Lisandro pockets over $430,000 for his victory as well as several hours sleep before he comes back to the Rio Sunday to hear Italy’s national anthem this afternoon. When he won his first bracelet two weeks ago in the $1,500 7 Card Stud event, the Australian national anthem was played, making him the first to have two anthems played. This is also the first time more than two players have won multiple bracelets since when six players (Chan, Ferguson, Juanda, Hellmuth, Flack, and Men Nguyen) won bracelets in 2003. His second bracelet also moves him into a tie for first in the red-hot WSOP Player of the Year Race.

Texan Tops in NL Holdem

Jordan Smith from College Station, Texas took down the $2,000 NL Holdem event, pocketing $586,212 after defeating Ken Lennaard heads-up to take home a bracelet. From Nolan Dalla’s tournament report, Smith had this to add about legalizing poker in Texas:

“I think poker definitely needs to be legalized and regulated. Legalize it. Tax it. Regulate it. I don’t think it’s the government’s job to tell me what to do or how to spend my money – even though they sure want a cut of this (taxes) whenever I win it.”

This was event #36 of the WSOP, and after only one woman (Annie Duke) had made a previous final table, there were two at this one. Almira Skripchenko who is more well known for her successes in chess, being an FIDE Woman Grandmaster, finished in 7th place, good for $78,644. Laurence Grondin from Montreal, Quebec, Canada finished in 3rd for $237,537.

Obligatory Limit Holdem Final Table Mention

The final table of the $2,000 Limit Holdem consists of:

Seat 1: Jared O’Dell 189,000
Seat 2: Danny Qutami 323,000
Seat 3: Ian Johns 113,000
Seat 4: Marc Naalden 755,000
Seat 5: Tommy Hang 202,000
Seat 6: Steven Cowley 322,000
Seat 7: Rep Porter 287,000
Seat 8: Jameson Painter 205,000
Seat 9: Alex Keating 284,000

O’Dell, Johns, Hang and Porter list Washington state on their bio sheet, which may be the first time Washington state has represented so strongly at a WSOP final table.

Charania in Charge

Moshin Charania finished day 1 of the $1,500 NL Holdem event the leader with 144,100 in chips with 327 players remaining, of which 270 make the money. Brandon Cantu (86,600), Grant Hinkle (85,800), Jeff Williams (66,200), Eric Baldwin (63,400) and Shane Schleger (63,000) are some of the players who won’t be playing the Sunday tournaments online, as they’ll be returning to the Amazon room at 2pm.

Nate is Great in PLO

Nate Lindsay from San Francisco is the chip leader (482,200) at the end of day 1 in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship with 116 players remaining, only 27 getting paid. Noah Schwartz (292,600), Ilari “Ziigmund” Saharies (229,400), David Williams (223,000), and Josh Arieh (220,600) round out the top five. Steve Zolotow (220,200), Ben Grundy (191,000), Tom McEvoy (142,800), Erick Lindgren (120,900) and Jimmy “Gobbo” Fricke (108,000) are just some other notables back for more action at 2pm as they attempt to make the final table.

Sunday’s Tournaments

The 12pm tournament day is the $5,000 NL Holdem Shootout which was won by Phillip Tom in a field of 360 for over $475,000. The WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 396 for this event, but if it’s slightly above that, it could cause a bit of a problem for tournament staff. The payout structure for the shootout event pays 40 spots if the field is between 378 and 420, which would create 11-player tables for the first round if the field size is in the 401-420 range. The 5pm tournament is the debut of the $2,500 8-Game event which consists of HORSE, NL holdem, PLO and 2-7 triple draw, with a projected field size of 250.

More updates during the day at Pokerati and follow the WSOP at WSOP.com

For those who missed it live … here’s yesterday’s Poker Beat podcast to get you through “the grind”, the hump, the “dog days”, whatever you wanna call the Series in mid-June. In this episode, we discuss what a bracelet really means to a guy like Greg Mueller, just how good really is JC Tran, and, in this Year of apparent Multiples, what’s a guy like Roland deWolfe all about? Also … “Full Tilt’s” lawsuit (via Kolyma) vs. an Aruba-Aussie payment processor run by 25-year-old Crocodile D-bag … and “celebrity” tournament director Matt Savage joins us to discuss the TDA Summit — and specifically rule changes related to texting at the table.

on PokerRoad

The Poker Beat
Huff, Caldwell, Michalski, Nemeth, Wise, Stapleton + Savage
6/18/09

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Sorry for the slowdown in getting podcasts to you. For those who can’t always handle semi-informed snarky banter for more than 2-4 minutes at a time and need more vulgarity and shticked-up grit, Tao of Pokerati (brought to you by Dream Team Poker) will also be back very soon.

Bring it!

One of the rules changed at today’s (yesterday’s) TDA Summit (for the TDA, not the WSOP) … as per a tweet from @SavagePoker:

New TDA Rule….. All Hold’em Final Tables that start 9 or 10 handed will go to final table at 10 handed. 6 handed tournaments at 7…

Hmm, not sure how I feel about that one, or how it would work at a place like The Lodge, where an extra-big field meant starting with some fold-up outer tables that were only 6-handed, compared to the 8-9-handed tables elsewhere in the room.

As we all know, there’s far more to the World Series than just bracelet events. One of the alt-poker activities going on today and tomorrow and yesterday (Tuesday and Wednesday) is the TDA Summit. That’s where tourney directors from card rooms around the country get together with Matt Savage, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, and the other honchos in tournament operations to discuss, debate, and vote on various technicalities of poker rules — as well as to discuss handling new and old situations that inevitably arise.

They also had a specialty non-bracelet tourney today — a $125 buy-in with 60something players (Warren Karp was the “known” name who made the final table) — and I happened to stumble upon the semi-funny sitch captured above … where at a table full of floormen, someone called floor. Ha ha.

Though you can imagine the pressure on the floorguy should he make the wrong ruling, it frankly wasn’t that hard of a decision … But there were a lot of people interested in how it would turn out, particularly because these players, while being trained in TDA rules, where in a tourney being run by WSOP staff, which has its own rules, which are slightly different from the TDA’s.

Click below for a breakdown of the situation, and see for yourself if you woulda made the same decision.

More…

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.

While watching the action at the $1,500 NLH event tonight, I’ve noticed the floor isn’t actively enforcing the rail, letting spectators get right up close to the action.

WSOP media director Nolan Dalla says this was commonplace in the old days of the WSOP down at Binion’s, and he thinks it actually helps to speed the game along as players make looser calls or bigger bluffs in order to impress the bystanders.

I’m not sure if Nolan’s theory is right or not, but if you look at the speed of final tables from 10 years ago vs. today, he may have an interesting point.

First, some advice from the Poker Shrink to those in the poker media during the WSOP.

Day 1a of the $1,000 NL Holdem Stimulus Special drew a full field of entries today as the WSOP tournament staff issued a press release declaring the event a sellout at 6,000 entrants, although official numbers are slightly below the 6000 total. There have been rumors that a few spots are still available on Sunday to select individuals who wish to register. An earlier rumor that alternates were being allowed to enter the event turned out to be incorrect. The players will be returning from their dinner break shortly, with less than 1000 players remaining to play the final 2 to 4 levels today. Among the notables that have already came and went: Kevin Saul, Shannon Shorr, and PokerRoad’s Joe Sebok, Joe Stapleton and Barry Greenstein.

The 40th Annual $40,000 NL Holdem event almost has its final table in place, as they’re now 10-handed and return from their dinner break shortly. Alec Torelli leads a stacked table with 5,375,000 in chips. The remainder of the table features Greg Raymer, Tony G, Ted Forrest, Justin Bonomo, Dani Stern, Vitaly Lunkin, Isaac Haxton, Noah Schwartz and Lex Valdhuis (with his girlfriend, Evelyn Ng, sweating the action on the rail).

The size of the Stimulus Special caused a one-hour delay in the start of day 2 of the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event. The players reached the money just before their dinner break. Notables who won’t be heading to the pay window include Phil Hellmuth, Andy Bloch, “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Scott Clements and Tony Cousineau. Defending champion in this event Thang Luu is near the top of the leaderboard, with Layne Flack, Freddy Deeb, Todd Brunson and Pat Poels all still in the fight. Special congratulations goes to former WSOP TD Matt Savage for his first WSOP cash. With about 85 players left, the goal is to play down to a final table for Sunday, but don’t be too surprised if there’s a couple of tables who’ll get to return tomorrow afternoon. Check out www.worldseriesofpoker.com for more updates during the evening, and here for players to follow.

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