Mike Sexton apparently has a new gig over at my personal poker news RSS reader PokerNewsDaily, and in his debut column shares his real thoughts on the 2008 WSOP. They are respectful (of course) but, the WPT television co-host doesn’t hold back from addressing his concerns about WSOP floor staff, cheating, and death.

Some highlights:

Another problem I have: “What if someone dies before the final table is assembled?” Putting a little casket on the table and blinding a guy off would not only create a morbid setting, it would also change the strategy players might induce to move up in the money. And although a legend didn’t make that final table (such as Doyle Brunson), what if they did and then they died in October? What might have been perhaps the greatest final table ever would now be a very sad and tragic final table.

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Jack Effel: “Players, you may now go on your 117-day break.”

I thought it would be extra funny if two people went out on the final hand … would’ve totally caused a “Doh!” moment to the folks who bought thenovembernine.com and thenovember9.com. (I’ll give you a hint, since I can’t link specifically to search results here.)

Craig Marquis made it! And even though he had the smallest cheering section of any player — save for maybe the stoic Russian — the dude from Dallas is clearly the man, and the only player who matters. St. Louis, Shmaint Louis!

In the meantime, while we figure out what’s up over the next almost-four months, you can see a few more details about the final table of the 2008 WSOP main event here.

Jack Effel and Oliver Tse

(Apologies for the blur, but I had to kick into full-on Stalkerati mode and take these shots while running.)

Change 100 reports (via PokerNews):

25,000 Chips Introduced

“Hey, what are those green chips in your stack?” asked a surprised Maya Antonius. A small stack of forest green chips sat atop her tablemate’s stack of yellows and oranges.

He showed the chips to a curious Antonius– at the last color-up dark green 25,000-denomination checks were introduced into play.

Ms. Antonius looked a bit disappointed that she didn’t have any… yet.

The arrival of these chips have been highly anticipated — not just because they are big — but because of the color troubles last year with orange, off-orange, and pinkish-orange all on the table at the same time.

All the denominations higher than 5,000 have changed this year, and even the floor staff doesn’t now what they will be until they come out for color-up.

Johnny says: Ask Dan to post about garbage men and chip dumping. He had some interesting ideas on conspiracty theories…

Indeed … today we moved from yellow-chip ($1k) threat level to orange ($5k) — with tighter than usual security notably apparent during the green-chip race-off today. After clearing out the fans then players, the perimeters around the table we’re extra secured: no media allowed in, no masseuses, no waitstaff. A couple people did wander in unknowingly and were quickly and sternly ushered out. It was all taken so seriously — making sure every chip was properly accounted for, one can only presume. For as empty and quiet as the entire Amazon room was — only about a dozen small-stakes cash games going — it was totally abuzz. Floorsuits half-running down the aisles, barking questions, answers, orders … dealers making sure the chip trays were aligned at the perfect angle … all done with a certain military efficiency that suggested they had done the dress rehearsal, and now it was go-time.

(Even in the hallways, I saw for the first time semi-armored chip carts, arriving empty, and by the end of the day returning full.)

The only non-tourney staff allowed in to the tournament area was the sanitation crew. On breaks, they pick up empty cans, bottles, discarded magazines, general poker waste, etc. while wheeling overstuffed black trash bags between the tables. For all the effort that went into protecting the integrity of the 2008 main event race-off, these necessary laborers were the security weakness should anyone want to engage in shenanigans. Pay these guys off with something akin to their annual wages and before you know it those garbage sacks arrive amid the floorstaff frenzy stuffed with a orange chips machine guns or even bigger and stun grenades … poof, a little slight of hand while cleaning, and whammo, a dirty player returning from break finds a few big chips tossed onto his stack or wedged between the felt and rail. At least that’s what I would do.

What, you think it doesn’t happen? Probably not … but it would make a good movie if it did.

So really, I know poker players aren’t supposed to be religious superstitious, but paying 666 players in the main event?

Though it’s not unusual for pros to show up late for WSOP tourneys, something was amiss during one of the last 1500s when Scotty Nguyen didn’t show up til well into the 100/200 level …

Apparently Scotty lost one of his capuchin monkeys. The fire department was still trying to get the the pesky little primate out of a tree when Scotty decided he just had to go. Not sure what the status is of said monkey, but one thing that is interesting is how the floor handled his depleted stack.

From Adanthar:

Naturally, Scotty was unhappy about that and asked the dealer why he didn’t have 3K. But at the WSOP, only late registrations get their full 3K chips (and get seated in Seat 10); everyone else gets a regular seat and then gets blinded off if they’re late, which is normal. Scotty, though, obviously didn’t like the idea of starting out with a 9 bet stack, said “I’m not playing”, and went off to find the tournament director. I think he just wanted to be allowed to unregister, but instead, a couple of minutes later, the floor showed up with a full stack and gave it to him. On the one hand, this is pretty much blatant cheating - it’s a free 1200 chips that nobody not named Scotty Nguyen would ever get;

Murmur?

(Thanks, Shamus, for the link.)

There haven’t been too many difficult floor decisions this year. There was supposedly a confusing situation during the heads-up tourney where two players took the wrong seats after the break and played out a few hands before the mistake was realized … but other than that, the most difficult theoretical situation was handled rather quickly and decisively without much alteration to tournament purity:

The event was one of last week’s big-field $1,500 NLHs … and the problem began with a single table in which every player started with an extra 1k in chips. Conclude what you will about donkament ethics and how the “prisoner’s dilemma” applies to poker … but no one said a word, and cards went in the air with every player at one table given a 33 percent starting-stack advantage.

It was supposedly about 20 minutes into play when a dealer recognized the problem. Floor supervisor Jimmy Sommerfield made the quick decision to rectify things by removing 1,000 chips from each player’s stack. Sounds simple enough, and in this situation it really was — very few chips had moved around, and not many decisions affected by falsified stack sizes. And besides, every one of them at the table was technically a dishonest bastard, so what are they gonna say?

But what if a few more hands had passed, and one of the players had only 900 chips remaining?

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What’s happening tonight at the WSOP as I read a post that makes you want to take AP’s side for once:

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Tom busted out on his first hand of today’s $1,500 NLH event. Here’s how it went down … Donkey Bomber shows up and is looking for his seat. A floor guy directs him to his table — only he sends him in the wrong direction, and when he finally makes it to his seat, turns out he was just a table away when he asked for directions. Oops.

So he arrives having missed the first hand … no biggie, right? Takes his seat and the first two cards he sees are both queens. So he raises … Bill Edler re-raises (to about 1,500 — virtual half-stacks) and Hevad Khan calls. So Tom concludes that there’s no way Hevad has aces or kings — he woulda just shoved — and Edler was just letting Tom know who’s gonna be boss at the table … so Tom goes all-in.

Edler calls (with pocket 5s) and Khan calls (with AK). Edler would end up flopping a 5, and Hevad also paired one of his big-boys … so just like that, Tom is out. But wait, there’s more …

A floor guy had come over to the table to let players know that some of them were in the wrong seats … including Edler and Khan. Hevad woulda had the pocket 5s, and Edler woulda been in the ded big-blind’s stack … something like that. But in general, everything woulda been different.

Kinda funny/ironic … especially since dealers are being extra-cautious about checking IDs.

A player in a hand against Kathy Liebert made a royal flush on the turn … he claims he didn’t realize it, which seems believable when he was last to act and checked on the river.

The player was issued a warning, because at the WSOP it’s against the rules to check the nuts when you’re last to act on the river.

(This rule is new to me … makes sense-ish. But am curious what happens if, say, I have the nuts, am first to act, bet, the next guy raises, and I just call. Will see if I can find out the answer to this in the next half hour month.)

Here’s the audio of the hour-long media conference call today.

WSOP Media Call 5/1/2008

I didn’t think about pressing my mute button for much of it, so apologies for the heavy breathing/typing/petting. Audio hindsight says I shoulda been giving running commentary. Fortunately Wicked Chops live-blogged it for a witty-but-real take as the teleconf action went down. And CC has a very thorough recap of everything discussed, point-by-point, voice-by-voice.

Craig runs with an interesting hedline, too — deciding added money to the prize pool was the real big news here. It’s an interesting thought — because while you can break down the numbers however, establishing a process for injecting additional funds into the prize pool has gotta be a good thing to start.

That’s the first real news I’ve heard so far on the WSOP conference call.

More room between tables than ever before, too.

UPDATE: No Pay-Per-View online … but some bracelet events might be broadcast on ESPN-360, whatever that is.

I wrote this post right after the 2007 WSOP, but I hadn’t pressed publish yet. With all the talk about structural changes and travel plans for the upcoming WSOP, now seem’s a good time for us to think about our (poker players’) behavior for the upcoming WSOP:

I have a request for all poker players. Anyone that wants to complain at the WSOP 2008, please STAY HOME! I don’t care how much dead money you bring to the tables, I don’t want to hear the yakking when I’m taking a leak.

At the 2007 WSOP, bitching was the theme. Here are just a few of the complaints that I heard.

• Harrah’s is making too much money. Have you seen how much juice they are taking out?
• The food is horrible
• The dealers are making too many mistakes
• It’s cold
• It’s hot
• The lines are too long
• The structures are too fast, too slow, too medium
• The walk is too long to the tournament area
• There are too many tournaments
• The cocktail service is bad.

Is that enough or should I keep going?

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There’s a media conference call tomorrow with WSOP honchos Jeffrey Pollack and Jack Effel. According to the invite:

WHAT: A preview of the 39th Annual World Series of Poker, presented by Milwaukee’s Best Light to discuss what is new for 2008.

Hmm, I wonder what new stuff the WSOP commish and man charged with making sure the tournaments maintain their poker purity might want to tell us about.

The email came with one of those red exclamation points attached to it, so they obviously think it’s important. More hints:

BACKGROUND: Continuing the trailblazing efforts that have made the WSOP the richest and most prestigious poker tournament in the world, WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack will preview the 39th Annual World Series of Poker, presented by Milwaukee’s Best Light. The 2008 event begins on May 30th at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This is the first statement I remember receiving from the WSOP that didn’t mention the end date. So no promises, but I just have a feeling we’ll have some new and official details on a delayed main event final table in about 13.5 hours. And it’s probably a good bet that elections and poker will be the big winners during TV’s November sweeps.

Trailblazing, indeed.

I loved being a tournament director — training dealers was particularly fun at the Lodge, and I can think of no truer example of getting to be a benevolent dictator. You have some basic big rules to follow, and then lots of little rules that you can interpret in any number of arguable ways … but the ultimate determination is left to a supreme court of one — and there are no appeals, unless, of course, you decide to change your mind.

Bellagio tourney director Jack McLelland introduced a little democracy to the WPT today — responding to some complaints on Daniel Negreanu’s blog* — by putting his show-one-show-both rule to a vote among the remaining players, who overwhelmingly supported this seemingly sensible mid-tourney change. The short-stack lobby, however, was unsuccessful in persuading the Bellagio’s Dear Tourney Leader to lower the blinds.

From the WPT Live Updates:

Rule Change!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 12:15 PM PDT

Before the start of play, Daniel Negreanu and Jack McClelland stood up on the stage next to the featured table to make an announcement.

McClelland talked about Negreanu’s blog, stating that Negreanu’s complaints about the show one card, show both rule may be valid, and that he would like to put it to a vote.

So he asked the room if they would be opposed to a rule change. The response was overwhelming to say the least. Nearly every person in the room voted to change the rule.

McClelland responded with, “In the words of Steve Lipscomb, “Ahh…. F#%K it,”" and just like that the rule was changed.

Players are still not allowed to flash a card in the middle of the hand, however. The rule only allows you to flash a card after the hand is over.

After McClelland gave himself a 20-minute penalty [for language], he did warn the players that he has been training the dealers for three years to turn both cards over, and that they should be patient with them as they learn the new rule all over again.

*NOTE: Still looking for a direct link to the post McClelland was referring to. If anyone has it, please pass along. Thanks.

Have done a little semi-investigative drinking digging, and here are a few more quasi-confirmed “facts” regarding a major potential schedule change mid-main event:

• No decision is final yet, but on the big pro-con list, the left side of the board has it all but locked up.
• Television ratings are the driving force behind this idea.
• It was essential, however, that the integrity of the game be protected and blind structures unaltered, no matter what ESPN says.
• “Plausibly live” is the buzzphrase for what they’re trying to create. (Pokerati applauds the linguistic choice, btw, and would like to suggest “presumably non-rigged” as well.)
• The final table will be played over two days — from the final 9 to 2, and then heads-up the next day. Very Sangy.
• Timing will be carefully coordinated so most people will be watching to see who will win, not how one wins (the Olympics broadcast model)
• All final tableists will be paid 9th place money in July and will have their return trips to Vegas comped.

In what could well be the biggest change to the main event since playing outside on Fremont Street with a sheet of heavy plastic to hold down the flop … the WSOP reportedly has serious intention of playing the 2008 $10k NLH Championship down to a final table in July, then reconvening three months later as these nine new millionaires play down to a winner. The intent being lots of build-up to a near-live final table on ESPN.

This unconfirmed decision came with careful consideration from what I can tell — many months of discussion, multitable input, and committeeizing. Harrah’s/WSOP authorities were well aware of potential grumbling as they sorted through the logistical details. More TK on this, you can be sure. Reliable sources tell Pokerati that one hold-up was what to do if someone dies or becomes incapacitated/incarcerated in the off-tourney interim … and though this, too, isn’t confirmed, I think they decided to go with blinding off the stack instead of letting poker players designate a substitute in their wills.

Scoop props: Wicked Chops

Well shoot, got scooped by my own peeps. I was-gonna surreptitiously pimp my own pimping by talking about the actual substance of the article by Gary Wise, and his suggestions for improving the selection process in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which could be an even bigger deal for NBC if they want it to be:

• Pick some of the players through pre-established criteria: WSOP champion, WSOP Champion one year removed, HORSE Champion, WSOP heads-up champion, WPT World Champion, WPT Player of the Year, Card Player Player of the Year, Bluff Magazine Player of the Year, European Poker Awards Player of the Year, EPT Grand Finale Champion, NHUPC Champion, NHUPC Champion one year removed. That should do it. Make these criteria available to the public.
• Continue to allow sponsors to fill some slots, but do so by having them submit a list of representatives with the understanding that the producers get to choose from that list. The producers could hand select, appoint a committee of poker people from across the industry or…
• Pick some of the players through fan vote: Want an old-schooler who reminds us of days of yore? Hey fans, come to our Web site and participate in the “rounders” vote for one of T.J. Cloutier, Billy Baxter, Jay Heimowitz or Berry Johnston. Pick two players from our “Big Game” election, two from our “online stars” election and one from our “divas of poker” election. At least this way, you’re getting representatives of each archetype the people actually want to see.
• Get rid of some of the personalities who haven’t done anything in years. Guys like Ferguson, Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson will give you an entertaining broadcast anyway.

Well shoot … I was hoping we could spend our day watching Tom Schneider take down the $7,500 main event at the WSOP-circuit in Tunica. But while checking my facts, finding some links, and watching the Bluff-mag video coverage at worldseriesofpoker.com … I discovered that Tom has been eliminated — 8th place … paying $39k. Congrats, Tom! Seriously, we know you’re bummed … but remember, you did almost as well as people expected of you!

Here’s the hand that knocked him out, from PokerListings:

Tom Schneider is out eighth after a stellar play by Ryan Young checking a straight twice. The action was a battle of the blinds as Young limped from the small blind and Schneider checked his option.

The flop came and both players checked. The hit on the turn and Young checked, as did Schneider. It turned out the river was a great card for Young as the fell and he checked again. Schneider made it $40k and Young came over the top, putting Tom all-in for his tournament life. He made the call felting for the rivered trips, but was done in by Young’s slyly played for the turned straight.

Schneider cashes $38,928.

Ouch, while typing, I just saw Tom’s elimination. That had to hurt.

You can watch the rest of the semi-live action on internet video here, as six-and-a-half players are still competing for the $428k first prize (on a 1-hour delay).

Or click below to see the semi-ironic post I was working on before Tom got eliminated:

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For those who are curious, here’s how the USPC has changed over the years, in terms of the size of the main event field, and thereby payouts:

(Top 2 finishers in parentheses)

2002 — 72 players* (John Hennigan beats Erik Seidel)
2003 — 99 players (Toto Leonidas beats Erik Seidel)
2004 — 177 players (John Aglialoro beats Joe Cassidy)
2005 — 226 players (James “Capo” Caporuscio beats Ralph Pecorale)
2006 — 261 players (Alex Jacob beats Jordan Morgan)
2007 — 164 players (Winner TBD / Not Gavin Smith)

Not sure what all this says about the level of competition or the poker world in general, but the numbers are telling of something. This tourney did lose its TV contract this year, which certainly alters the field. But what becomes of it from here remains to be seen.

Click here to see the top-heavy payout structure.

And/or click here to dig into the history of this boldly named event. (Pre- and post-poker boom.) Do you think it’s possible that “struggling” tourneys like this one might change their payout structures to make them more appealing? Because while the 1st Place prize is plenty hefty, pros know how hard it is to actually win one of these things … and I gotta think if they knew a final table provided a bigger ROI it might be easier to put it on their schedule. Just a thought …

* Buy-in in 2002 was $7,500. Raised to $10,000 thereafter.

Have been enjoying the new episodes of the WSOP on ESPN. Brings back the memories … and while tourney officials this year were extra careful about coloring up chips when they got into the big money in the main event, they didn’t make it easy on themselves. When selecting colors for chip denominations, they apparently did so with an old box of Crayolas, choosing off-orange (5k), flesh (25k), and semi-pale pink (50k) to all be on the table at the same time:

Oops.

Tourney Director’s Tip: For the sake of players, dealers, floor staff, and chip counters … limit the total number of chip colors in play at any one time to four (4), and make sure they come from at least three (3) different regions of the rainbow.

I’ll try not to overdo this as Dan has posted much on this past weekend’s tourney; but I did want to give a quick summary of my tournament and a review of the tournament and casino at large.

First, my tournament. I made it into level 7, a little more than halfway through the day. I had a good starting table, with several players limp-calling and nittily letting there chip stacks dwindle away. The only problem was that through the first break (after level 4) we hadn’t busted a single player at my table; at the same time, almost half the starting field on our day 1 was gone. As a result, there were not as many chips for the taking. Even still, I was at 8400 (average of 6200) and feeling pretty good. I have not played a MTT since the Main Event (subject of a to-be-written post entitled “Supernova, or, how to donk away a money finish in the Big One”), and I was a little loosey-goosey early, but I managed to level it out and felt pretty good with a pretty good table image.

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1st - $230,000
2nd - $120,000
3rd - $70,000
4th - $50,000
5th - $40,000
6th - $35,000
7th - $30,000
8th - $25,000
9th - $22,500

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Hand-for-hand play at the bubble to see who will compete for the big money on Sunday at the WinStar Casino’s signature annual event.

THACKERVILLE, Okla.–Below is the list of Day 1-Day 1 Day 2 qualifiers. Names of those who advanced yesterday aren’t yet available, nor is any info on the 41 39 remaining players today. But hey, no sweat … after all, the entire prize pool for this $1 million tourney was just $50k two years ago … so a lot of this is new to the people running the show here, and I gotta say, speaking as a tournament directorial wonk guy who likes to tell people they are doing things wrong, they seem to be doing a really good job. They may not have figured out whether or not they’re gonna let media take pictures — seriously, dudes, it’s cool … players like it … just be sure to remind us “no flash” — but they’ve for the most part got a smooth-running show going on here, with a player-friendly blind structure to boot. Priorities, right?

(Meanwhile, while the lone person sitting at an unwatched table littered with stray media/player/staff badges, I am getting a lot of curious looks, along with some friendly “hello’s” from WinStar employees moving in a bit closer to size me up. Like why on earth would someone be typing so vigorously at a poker tournament!?! Is that a computer?)

We’ll see if we can’t have a list of the entire field of those who have made the money and are fighting for the $230k first prize up before cards go in the air tomorrow. In the meantime, we know that these 33 people will be there:

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Some of you say that you want to get a breakdown of what Harrah’s takes out of the pot and how much the dealers make. It’s none of your business. Some of you have done some horrendous math which indicates that dealers for the main event only made $10.15 per hour, hogwash. Hey, I’ve never used that word before. That was fun. How can you divide the total tip by 700 people working 11 days? I didn’t notice 700 dealers at the final table.

Do you know how much the person at the Gap makes when you go in to buy your plaid shorts? Do you know how much the guy makes that is changing the oil in your Yugo? How much does the Slot Manager at Caesar’s Palace make? Who cares about any of this, and who cares how much dealers make except for dealers and the people hiring them?

What should a dealer make? I say pay them whatever they need to be paid to attract reasonably talented people. The answer I’m guessing is probably somewhere between $20 and $35 per hour. For a full time employee, that’s an annual salary between $41,600 and $72,800.

Excepting errors, does the dealer have anything to do with me winning or losing a tournament? If you say yes, start collecting stamps not playing poker. Since the answer is no, why should I tip them? Do I want them to make a good wage? Of course I do. So here’s the plan. In this plan I will use the WSOP as the example:

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LAS VEGAS–The WSOP dealers, as mentioned before, were wanting to see Jerry Yang win for the sake of a bigger tip. He couldn’t have had a reputation as a big tipper — because as a guy playing in his first WSOP and with no noted accomplishments high-stakes or otherwise, how could they know? Perhaps they saw him as a mark … an inexperienced player who had already committed 10 percent of his winnings to charity might be easily persuaded to “give a little back,” if you know what I’m sayin’.

Not sure what Yang’s intentions were as he walked into the payouts room … but Chris Ferguson reportedly joined him — not because he was invited, but because he was a Full Tilt guy looking after a Full Tilt player. When the payout ladies asked what he would like to leave for the dealers, Ferguson supposedly informed him that he had already given 2 percent. Nolan Dalla corrected him, saying, “Actually it’s 1.8 percent.” [Ed. Note: Inaccurate as originally reported. We regret/apologize for the error lazy journalism.]

At that point Ferguson pointed out what that came out to — $148,500 by my calculations, but not certain that’s the number he cited — and said, according to a mostly reliable source who was in the payouts room, “So I recommend zero.”

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LAS VEGAS–It all started with a joke from senior floorman Jimmy Sommerfield. But now BJ Nemeth is doing the math and realizing that indeed, a chop might be sensible. He writes on PokerNews:

With 72 Players Left, a Chop Would Be Worth 9th-Place Money

With 72 players left, there is still $37,866,039 left in the prizepool. If everyone agreed to chop the rest of the money, each player would receive $525,917.

By comparison, ninth place is worth $525,934 — just $17 more. The numbers just get more compelling.

And …

An 81-Player Chop?

When there were 81 players left, Assistant Tournament Director Jimmy Sommerfeld announced that they had reached another level in the prizepool, and everyone was guaranteed at least $106,382 — finally breaking the six-figure barrier.

When everyone finished cheering the news, Sommerfeld added, “Unless you’d like to chop it 81 ways.”

Well, we’ve run the numbers here at PokerNews, and with $38,823,477 left in the prizepool, an 81-player chop would give everyone $479,302.19. Almost half a million dollars each for 81 people.

Before you laugh off this idea, keep in mind that 72 of these players will make less than that. To earn more, they’ll need to reach the final table.

If it were me, I’d seriously consider it.

Click here to see the actual payouts for yourself.

I for one, am not a fan of chopping, even though sometimes it makes mathematical sense — as BJ points out that it clearly currently does. I just want to play it out authentically — and see other people do the same. What I definitely don’t mind is redistributing the wealth. So perhaps a better alternative would be to leave $5 million for the winner, $3 million for 2nd, $2 million for 3rd, and $1 million for 4th-9th.

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LAS VEGAS–By the way, one of the things I suspect they’ll rethink for next year … they got rid of the $1,000 bracelet events being held after the main event started. While a good idea not to cheapen the bracelets, it really has sent all the action to Bellagio … and has turned the Amazon Room into 3/4 of a ghost town at what is essentially the most exciting poker being played yet.

Payouts under a new “flattened” prize structure for the main event of the 2007 World Series of Poker … five new millionaire’s:

(You’ll also notice they’ve rounded off the champion’s share, but not the rest of the numbers.)

1st - $8,250,000
2nd - $4,840,981
3rd - $3,048,025
4th - $1,852,721
5th - $1,255,069
6th - $956,243
7th - $705,229
8th - $585,699
9th - $525,934

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LAS VEGAS–If you had the over in any main-event field-size over-under bet … you almost certainly won. Considering the hit poker took as a whole since last year’s WSOP, everybody seems pretty happy about the numbers for 2007. Small dip … Clearly the 2017 WSOP will feature between 25,000 and 250,000 players.

For 2007:

6,358 players
621 spots paid
621st place — $20,320
1st place — $8.26 million

Thanks to Justin from PokerPages for the early info.

LAS VEGAS–Some good discussion going on below about quality poker tourney coverage. And I just found some really good stuff here at Gutshot. They are not the most easily linkable site … but their on-the-floor coverage is solid — and it should be, as they’ve been following the WSOP semi-live since before the poker boom.

Scroll down a bit to see some interesting mystery prop bets going on between Mike Sexton, Doyle Brunson, and Chip Reese … and learn about a big, tournament-stopping controversy involving late buy-ins and artificially shortened chip stacks — complete with comments from players involved:

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LAS VEGAS–This just in, from WSOP officials … mark your calendars accordingly:

World Series of Poker® Expands Start
Of 2007 Main Event To Four Days

LAS VEGAS – June 30, 2007 – The World Series of Poker has added a fourth start day for the WSOP Main Event, which begins July 6, WSOP officials said today.

The Main Event – a $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’Em World Championship – traditionally draws the largest fields in poker. Last year, 8,773 players competed for the $12 million top prize and coveted WSOP gold bracelet.

“We want to ensure that we’re able to provide a comfortable experience for all players who want to enter the Main Event,” said Jack Effel, WSOP tournament director. “Adding a fourth start day will allow us to do that.”

Players who pre-register for the Main Event will be able to choose Day 1A, 1B. 1C or 1D – July 6, 7, 8 and 9 – as their start day. July 9 was originally scheduled as a break day.

Perhaps pre-registration isn’t over after all?

John Harris (dealing to Suzanne Carpenter in the 1-seat) at the WSOP.LAS VEGAS–I was kinda surprised to learn that a few of the Dallas dealers who “auditioned” for the WSOP in May didn’t get the gig. (Like what’s wrong with La? She can deal just fine!) Turns out it was more a matter of timing … early birds got the 2007 WSOP dealin’ worms. But now, a month later — as in like today, in the tent — floor people were put in the box to accommodate a lack depth on the card-pitching bench.

In the tourney directors’ defense, they did break down the tables with floormen-turned-dealers first, since we all know that floor people are at best rusty inside the box, and sometimes downright terrible … misdeals galore.

Before Event #1, the WSOP stocked up with dealers, knowing they would lose a bunch along the way. 250 were fired in the first week for inadequate skills, reliable sources say. Others quit (as they always do) when their first paycheck didn’t live up to expectations. And since then there have been a smattering of pink slips and walk-offs. Floor personnel insist that the need for extra dealers today was not the result of a shortage — just a matter of scheduling problems.

(But aren’t those kinda the same thing?)

LAS VEGAS–TBR in Dallas calls in seeking information about the logistics of buying into the main event. He missed the pre-registration deadline and wants to know if he can still get his money to the WSOP before he gets back to Vegas … and if he can still secure a specific starting day:

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Randy, I spoke with some higher authorities … and you are shit-outta-luck. Kinda. The only way you can buy in is to show up and buy in. You can, of course, wire money to the Rio (or any other casino) and pick it up to carry to the registration desk if you don’t want to carry that much cash through various airports.

As to choosing your starting day, that option is still available — and will be available until a specific day fills up. But, says WSOP guru Nolan Dalla, it is highly unlikely that any specific day will fill up until the day before the main event starts. So if you plan to get here a little early, you’re fine and dandy. But if you wanted to play Day 1c because you weren’t planning on making it out here until the end of Day 1b, then you might run into a few problems.

LAS VEGAS—Michele, I’m wrong? Wanna bet? Steve Wong made, by definition, the final table. There were no other tables that followed the last one he sat at … and there were no other tables running when he was seated there with chips.

But because I think you sometimes know stuff and because I don’t always trust my own hearsay, I consulted higher authorities on the 7-seated 6-handed final table matter. BJ Nemeth covered the event for PokerNews and knows how to explain the intricate details of on-field tournament operations pretty-dern well:

Dan —

In most events, you need to finish in the top 9 to be recognized as “reaching the final table.” This is why Phil Hellmuth didn’t tie T.J. Cloutier for the most final tables until the tenth player busted on ESPN. The final ten players all play at the same table, but the official “final table” doesn’t start until they reach nine players.

The same logic applied to the six-handed event. They combined the final seven players into one table (rather than playing three- and four-handed), and continued play until one more player was eliminated. The remaining six players reached the official “final table.” But the final seven all played at the same table.

So if you’re asking me if the final seven players in the six-handed event played at the same table, that’s true. But play continued on Day 2 until #7 busted. The official final table started on Day 3 with just six players, and only those six players receive “credit” for reaching the final table.

Confusing enough for you? Well, that’s the way the tradition goes.

– BJ

Thanks, BJ. It does make sense. Well I mean not really — but I guess we shouldn’t be surprised to see decision-making poker people not understanding that words should almost always mean what they say, especially when numbers are attached.

ALT HED: Strunk & Poker?

PS — I have decided to stick with Steve Wong through the remainder of the Series. He knows what’s at stake and seems to have the desire necessary to deliver.

LAS VEGAS–Actually, Michele, I think Steve Wong did make the final table in the 6-handed event. (Go Fantasy Team!) There was a lot of tourney directorial hubbub today yesterday about how strange it was to play a 6-handed tournament and then put 7 at the final table.

But hey, they did a 10-handed final table yesterday, too … or at least ESPN started filming one player early — supposedly to make room for Phil Hellmuth.

LAS VEGAS–Will be an interesting final table in the $1,500 Razz event. Not just because Men the Master should be sobered up by 3 pm (pacific) today when cards go in the air; and not just because German poker lass Katja Thater is showing she really knows her shiznit … The big question mark buzzing over lots of heads right now is about Eskimo Clark — who made the final table, despite collapsing twice en route, stopping tournament play while he received medical attention. Oh, and O’Neil Longson is going for his second razz bracelet in three years.

From Bodog Beat:

Paul “Eskimo” Clark collapsed at an earlier event while in the heat out in the “poker sauna”. The incident was attributed mostly to poor health triggered by the conditions in the tent. However, today in the air-conditioned Amazon Room during the $1,500 Razz event, the same convulsions put him on the floor again. Twice.

After both episodes (one of which involved Clark County Fire and Rescue), Eskimo was helped back into his chair to keep playing pursuant to his request to do so (he actually was gripping the bumper of the table, not wanting to leave). At the time, poker players around him were visibly upset at the decision to let him continue, but at time of publish he seems cognizant and well - although no one is sure for how long he will remain so. Whatever the issues are, he is also playing a mean game of Razz. He is currently second in chips with only 12 players remaining. Hopefully, he will remain well enough to play in the final table tomorrow.

When I walked up on it all, paramedics were making their way through the Amazon Room to tend to Eskimo, who had just suffered his second collapse of the day (third of the Series). With play temporarily suspended, players and fans were texting fiercely and making calls, presumably about more than just chip counts. “I don’t know why,” said one rubbernecker on the rail. “He just started twitching and shaking.”

Meanwhile, floor supervisors were keeping an eye on the tournament area as people got moved back. They were discussing rules and plans as it pertained to handling his chips. “That’s what we’ve gotta do. But still call Jack, he needs to know.”

It wasn’t mayhem per se. But there clearly was a frantic buzz inside the ropes. Rio security and Clark County medical were all professional and methodical as they moved (through) the masses. So were the dealers and tourney staff charged with protecting both players and chips. It’s times like these — with both money and actual lives on the line — that certain people’s jobs really matter, no?

At least a few folks in the media believe that, I know. And not to make it about media coverage — because really, it’s not, or at least it shouldn’t be. But there were those who were clearly aware that something newsworthy was happening and kicking into gear while others, just like old times, were physically trying to stand in our way. I suppose the difference is between those who see the WSOP as a public sporting event, and those who see it as a casino marketing event. If I coulda taken any picture, it would’ve been of a wife taking a souvenir photo of her smiling husband posing with a gracious Jennifer Harman, as Paul “Eskimo” Clark lay on the ground semi-conscious (but in the money!) about 12 feet away.

For different unofficial perspectives, check out Wicked Chops and The Poker Biz.

LAS VEGAS–Paul “Eskimo” Clark was playing in the $2,000 7-stud Hi Lo event today … Dallas pro Gregg Merkow was at his table, and it was two chips for Eskimo to call. He threw in one, and then sorta froze. After some seconds lapsed, players started trying to recapture his attention, letting him know he needed to throw another chip in the pot. That didn’t happen, and soon the other players at the table were helping him to the ground, where he lay as the tournament was stopped and medical help was summoned.

So not to be crass — because of course we hope he is recovering, as surely plenty of players who have fronted him do, too — but what happens to a player’s chips in this situation? Clark had about 4,275 when the apparent stroke happened. So when it was clear he would not be back anytime soon, floor staff removed his original 4,000 chips from play, and then anted off the remaining 275, so the table would not be at a disadvantage. Word is that the WSOP also refunded his buy-in.

LAS VEGAS–In the double-bubble quadrant of the Amazon room, over the PA …

Tournament Official (in the Ladies tourney): “Attention players. No more iPods at the table. New WSOP rule. No more iPods or electronic devices now that we are in the money.”

David Williams (still alive and strong in HORSE), snarkily: “Attention players. No more cheating now that we’re in the money.”

LAS VEGAS–They’re coloring up the green chips now in the Ladies event … and should be right at the bubble with 130ish players left. But for some unknown reason, only 99 of this 1,286-player field will get paid. Michele is at 31k, similar to Barbara Enright Susie Isaacs, who is also at her table. [NOTE: Husbands do not make the best reporters.] This puts them both at about 15th in chips — pretty much the bottom of the top. Below that, everyone else is pretty short … and getting desperate.

For the longest time, the ladies were not given a clock telling them how much time is left or giving them the necessary info to calculate the average stack. A few Gen-X babes were talking about lodging a formal complaint if the situation wasn’t fixed. But Susie Isaacs, being the grand dame of poker she is, reportedly took care of the matter with floor personnel before it got to that … and the big-screen clock was up and running with about 140 players left.

UPDATE: 130 left, Michele is 8th in chips, and the Ladies event clock is not running anymore. (But all floor people supposedly have synchronized handheld timing devices.)

UPDATE UPDATE: Pokerati friend Suzanne Carpenter just busted out. She got crippled when her Kings lost to “that [beyotch] who keeps getting queens.” The generally jovial Suzanne (right) is not a happy camper right now, having played all day and night to finish 122nd. “It really sucks to be in the top 10 percent and not get paid, you know?”

UPDATE and ANSWER: Michele has lost half her stack … she’s got about 15k with blinds at 600/1200 + 100. The reason this tourney payout structure is different than the rest? According to one of the assistant floor supervisors, “This is a LIPS event, not really a WSOP event. I mean it is a WSOP bracelet. But LIPS sets the structures.”

POSSIBLE UPDATE: According to her husband, she has at least 24k. Garrr!

115 players left. Again, 99 out of 1,286 get paid.

BETTER ANSWER: According to the floor supervisor, why the payout is less than 10 percent … “I’d like to know myself.” He said it had nothing to do with LIPS, and went on to explain that the 6-handed NLH event also paid out similar to the ladies event. “So my bullshit answer is that it’s because it’s only a $1,000 event — the only one, I think. That’s my guess … Let me know if you hear anything different.”

LAS VEGAS–Shuttergypsy sends word of an ado brewing yesterday between Clonie Gowen and Brandi Hawbacker, seated to her left. According to Gutshot (scroll all the way to the bottom) Clonie wasn’t too appreciative of the apparent coaching being given to Brandi (dubbed the Lindsay Lohan of Poker by Pauly) by master game theorist (and young-girl lover) David Sklansky.

For whatever reason, Clonie insisted it was not Sklansky but rather some random old guy — because surely Sklansky would never violate any terms of rules and etiquette, right? With all due respect to the original boom-era poker babe, I am willing to bet, oh, I dunno, how ’bout $250, that Clonie is so wrong. Not about the coaching, but about the identity of the bald and scruffy rail rooster, who looks very similar to this guy, shot by Shuttergyp last year wearing his lucky shirt:

LAS VEGAS–I’m Michele Lewis, reporting for PokerNews.com: OK, not really, but I play one on TV.

Check it out, the Fresh Princess talking to Thor Hansen about Omaha Hi Lo and $5k 7-stud and, briefly, the WPT’s single-dimensional approach to poker. But the best part is the second half, where they rehash the terror of the “Poker SuperStructure” (Jeff Pollack’s words, not mine) … which succumbed to a fierce Vegas windstorm.

It really was funny/scary. Early in the $1,500 Omaha Hi Lo, Jim Meehan (seated at Michele’s table) was setting an over-under on when the hardwall tent would fall. It was kinda sorta a joke at first, but as the windspeeds picked up and things began shaking almost violently, a few folks were starting to wonder if the WSOP didn’t have a Great White situation developing, not to mention a chip-counting nightmare. Shortly before dinner break, things began snapping, and power on the flat-panel tournament info boards went out. That’s when the highest level suits were called in. And to their credit, they relocated the overflow tables inside the brick-and-mortar poker room (the players and dealers, not the tables themselves).

Just in time … A gaggle of us were at th