LAS VEGAS–Kinda interesting … I don’t know where this video shot from the rails came from … either I pressed a wrong button on my iPhone (in theory) or an anonymous person emailed it into me/YouTube or it was magic. But still, couldn’t wait for ESPN to get and produce the same, er, footage — though they are absolutely welcome to it if they would like.

Anyhow, legal disclaimers aside … Watch a couple of small stacks well into the money but needing to make moves (including Josh Evans, right, shortly before he goes out) with about 80 players left. I wonder how Joe Navarro would interpret this intense, athletic under-the-table action.

LAS VEGAS–So I’m not sure what the Jew count is in the remaining field — theological-based bloodlines are such a hard thing to determine from the ropes — but there is one regional collective challenging the hoo-hawin’ Texans for No-Limit Hold’em supremacy. That would be the Scandinavians. They have long claimed they can play … and now they are proving that poker, to them, is like the next Winter Olympics.

Scandis that made it through to Day 5:

Dag Martin Mikkelsen — Norway — 5,700,000 (chip leader)
Stefan Mattsson – Sweden — 3,200,000
Mikkel Madsen — Denmark — 1,700,000
Philip Yeh — Sweden — 1,000,000
Christian Togsverd — Denmark — 900,000

Gus Hansen — Denmark — 61st — $154,194
Bjorn-Erik Glenne — Norway — 65th — $120,288

ALT HED: Fjord vs. Chevy

LAS VEGAS–Oops, we had our number in the hedline wrong. Turns out poker peeps from Texas were even more dominating than we thought — with nine Here are the Texans who made it to Day 5, with either their current chip count or their cash prize already collected:

Ray Henson — Houston — 6,200,000 (chip leader)
Ayaz Mahmood — Houston — 1,600,000
John Armbrust — Austin — 780,000
Senovio Ramirez III — Mercedes — 770,000

Leonard Pruzansky — Richmond — 75th — $106,382
Josh Evans — Plano — 76th — $106,382
Mark Ellerbe — Richmond — 84th — $82,476
Jared Hamby — Waco — 88th — $82,476
Michael Zinna — San Antonio — 93rd –$67,535

Go Ray Henson! You’re the best! Woooo!

UPDATE: As of dinner break, Henson has dropped to 6th chip position, with 4 million.

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.

More…

LAS VEGAS–The Pokerati dream of following a local boy all the way to the final table has come to an end. Clonie David Williams Tex Barch Chris Como The Big Randy Jerry Randack Josh Evans has been eliminated. After taking a rough hit by a cowboy who doubled through him, he was in a position where he needed a little luck … needed to win all races and maybe hit a river here or there to get back in the action. Still, he finished high enough that — according to his friends who drove into town overnight — he could start doing what he needed to make it to the final table.

That entailed pushing with A-6 … and getting called, unfortunately, by A-10.

Josh Evans Eliminated By Jason Welch

Josh Evans pushed all-in preflop with {A-Clubs}{6-Hearts} and was called by Jason Welch holding {A-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}.

Board: {K-Diamonds}{J-Spades}{8-Spades}{J-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}

Welch had the nut flush by the river and Josh Evans was eliminated.

Still, 76th place, for $106,382 … not bad for a guy who was playing $60 tourneys every Tuesday not that long ago. (By the way, Josh is running pretty dern good. He won $49,505 less than a month ago by finishing 2nd in a Venetian Deep Stacks tourney.)

Congratulations, Josh! And thanks for making our main event a little more exciting.

As for Pokerati, we’re off to find another bandwagon to jump on. Remaining Texans, of course, will take priority … as will players with healthy chip stacks.

LAS VEGAS–Throughout history, the WSOP has been dominated by Texans and Jews. At least one side is doing its part to keep that up this year, as eight Texans made it through to Day 5. One guy who probably didn’t get the coverage he deserved is Jared Hamby, known both live and online as “The Waco Kid.” Like Josh Evans, he too happens to be a Jackie’s alum. (Funny to me how reminisces of Jackie’s sound the same as non-Texan reminisces of PartyPoker. Ahh, yes, the good-old-days [of 2006] … )

Anyhow, mad props to Hamby, who finished in 88th place, winning $82,476.

LAS VEGAS–Josh Evans appears to have lost a chunk of his stack … now sitting below average with 1 million chips, but not yet frighteningly so.

Follow the action here. And don’t fret if there’s a lack of updates on him … suggests little drama over at his table; that he’s just waiting for the right opportunities.

(Homer much?)

To really get a grasp of Josh’s situation, Change100 spells it out in a way that should make sense to all those serious semi-amateurs interested in seeing him do well.

The Cost Per Round

In Dan Harrington’s book “Harrington on Hold’em” he introduces readers to the concept of “M,” which is just a fancy way of referring to what it costs a player in blinds and antes to play one orbit in a tournament.

At the current blind level, 12,000-24,000 with a 3,000 ante, it costs players 63,000 just to play one round. With the current average stack of 1,428,700, the average chip stack’s “M” is 22.67 (meaning, they could fold every hand for 22 2/3 orbits before going broke). According to Harrington, an “M” of 5 is considered a short stack while an “M” of 30 or more is a very comfortable stack to play with.

Speaks well of the new WSOP blind structure, too, no?

UPDATE: [4:20 pm pdt] Josh is hanging on with 600,000 chips. With 83 players left, he’s three spots away from the six-figure payouts.

LAS VEGAS–As play gets underway today in Day 5 — the battle for the deep money — there are more people from Texas than any other state … any other nation for that matter.

Click below to read the official recap/preview to learn more.

More…

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.

LAS VEGAS–It’s gettin’ kinda funky in here. As the intensity of the on-the-table action ramps up, everything else is dying down. They’re tearing down the tables in the tent and throughout the Amazon rooms, the cash games hearken back to a low-rent poker room (with just a few smallish stakes games going), the Lewis family is headed back to Houston … just a couple hours ago a guy from Pokerwire was being staked 60-40 for some online play by some online pro — I have no idea who, but he reportedly has had as much as 141k in his Full Tilt account.

“Don’t worry if you lose the first thousand,” he said. “I can keep giving it to you $1,000 at a time.”

Meanwhile, at “the crossroads” right outside the Amazon Room, Max Pescatori was talking to Jason from Full Tilt about a potential endorsement deal for an online phenom named Dario. (He’s the kid who bought a Porsche with his PokerStars points.) And we have new security guards on duty. One of them was advising (in a whisper) some Germans to go to “The Green Door” — a Las Vegas swingers club — and his replacement is talking WWII history to anyone who will listen.

Should be even more different as Day 5 moves on. Speaking of … with 112 players remaining, Josh Evans enters Day 5 with exactly 1,792,000 chips — enough to put him in the top 20. Everyone redrew for tables, and an exact map of who’s sitting where is forthcoming. But I looked at the bagged chips on his table, and while he’s not the chip leader, he should be relatively comfortable, with only three others in his chip vicinity.

LAS VEGAS–As mentioned before, there’s so much action going on a dwindling number of tables that it’s hard to keep up with it all. But that doesn’t stop Pauly and Otis from sneaking away for a little lime tossing.

The way this game works is you set up at the top of the dealer’s smoking porch steps … each player has a Corona, which comes with a single lime. At that point it is your task to chuck your lime down the stairs toward a rubbish bin. Hit it and you win $20. Land it in the ash tray and get $100. Stick it in the hole … $250. After about a week of playing, Brad and Pauly have each hit the thing like once or twice. I decided I had to get in on the action, and on my inaugural real-money throw … “Thunk!”

Pay up, beyotches! Otis balked that I “sucked out” thanks to a chair it bounced off of. “Nice catch, donkey!” Pauly shouted. Personally, I think I deserve the $50 trick shot bonus. But either way, they both are scared, as they seem baffled by my unorthodox overhand throwing technique. Please, nobody tell them that I briefly thought darts was going to be the next poker.

More…

LAS VEGAS–I swear we’re following more people than just Josh from Dallas … but his chip stack has hardly changed. What has changed as he’s getting closer and closer to an average stack is the player to his right … now Gus Hansen, who has a similar stack size.

UPDATE: Table changes and a couple all-ins. Read the comments below for any necessary timeline. But overall, Josh is still fine, with the same chip stack he has had for about ever.

UPDATE: From PokerNews:

John Bird Doubles Through Josh Evans

Josh Evans, playing from middle position, opened the pot for a standard raise. Action folded around to John Bird in the small blind who moved all in. Evans called and the players showed…

Evans: {4-Spades}{4-Diamonds}
Bird: {A-Spades}{10-Hearts}

The board ran out {A-Hearts}{A-Diamonds}{5-Clubs}{Q-Clubs}{3-Clubs} and John Bird doubled up to 500,000. Don’t feel bad for Evans just yet, he is still a force with just under 2,000,000.

LAS VEGAS – I just received word that I don’t need to be here for a potential press release (don’t ask, no hints, more on that later hence the expression…press release). After my brain realized my soul was granted freedom from the media room/The Rio/The WSOP/Las Vegas/Sao Paulo and The Tilted Kilt… my body crashed. In fact, I’m having difficulty holding my eyes open at this point. It has been 47 fun filled days of poker camp in the media room in what could best be described as…sitting in the back of the bus with my new fun brothers. Yes, it was fun but now, like every end of the WSOP, it’s “Time To Say Goodbye.”

The field has dwindled, the celebrities are gone, the halls are quiet and the only line you’ll see here is senior citizens at the buffet at 6pm. A handful of pros are still fighting for gold but the rest are new faces looking to be the new champ. There is still a buzz in the Amazon…all-in players standing on chairs with ten ESPN cameras zooming around, clapping, slapping on backs and the occasional waiter calling water, coffee, red bull? Gary Wise and Lacey Jones are still with camera but Mr. Peanut is gone.

Don’t fret…WSOP Europe will offer three bracelets in London this fall. Hmmm, London or Tunica? Tunica or London? For now, the closest I’ll be to London is flying over Big Ben on the Peter Pan ride as I’m off to Disneyland with my children.

As always…I don’t leave Vegas without getting a bit sappy with this below…

LAS VEGAS–We all heard the sound and paused for a moment … yep, that had to be what it was. A floorman dropped a rack of chips, right near the rail where spectators were gathered. Tourney officials handled it well, backing up the crowds immediately and authoritatively to secure the area and pick up the little (but very important) round pieces of plastic. It appears they were all yellow 1,000 chips — the smallest value in play right now — so there was little panic. But inside, just for a moment, you could tell the floor briefly feared another chip scandal.

With that said, the current total chip count is off by 5,000, as one orange 5k chip was found on the floor toward the end of Day 2 b and removed from play.

LAS VEGAS–Josh Evans has lost the chip lead … he’s now 4th, with just fewer than 2 million. With 191 players left, that’s about four times the average stack, so he’s still in very fine position. The chip leader has about 4 million.

UPDATE: Josh is down to 1.7 million … and he’s got a pretty tough table (that looks like it will be broken before the end of the night). At least four people on his table have at least a million, and, he says, “There are three Asians, so they really like to gamble.” Fortunately, he has enough chips that he can play extremely passively and wait out the typhoon, at least for a little while or until conditions change.

UPDATE: Josh’s table has turned rather passive all around. Very few hands played, almost no showdowns. Phil Hellmuth stopped by to wish two players good luck — including one guy who had just been re-raised by Josh … and folded before shaking hands with Phil.