Happenings at the WSOP while the 2008-08 WSOP Circuit schedule was announced:

As the Day 2a field is on their dinner break, about 700 remain to play a couple more 2 hour levels before the survivors get the day off and return on Thursday. The current chip leader appears to be Brian Schaedlich, with about 500,000 in chips. With such a large field, exact chip counts are hard to come by, but notable players towards the top include David “Chino” Rheem, Brandon Adams, Keith “The Camel” Hawkins, John Hennigan, Mark Vos, Hasan Habib and Kido Pham. Notables who don’t need to worry about coming back in November: Paul Wasicka, Robert Varkonyi, 2007 ME final tablist Philip Hilm, Greg Mueller and Scotty Nguyen.

More updates later…

The final table of the $5k main event at the WSOP-New Orleans goes down tomorrow at 2 pm central. Semi-live video coverage at worldseriesofpoker.com.

Click below for all the official details after the jump. I’ll be paying attention to Marc Fratter, from Clonie’s hometown of Murphy, TX. (Kinda near where my folks live, too.) He seems to have his game on these days, and if so seems well-seated with a medium stack:

Fratter

SEAT 7: Marc Fratter
HOMETOWN: Murphy, TX
CHIP COUNT: 311,000
Marc Fratter is a 36-year-old attorney from Murphy, TX. He has a three-year-old daughter named Kate who loves to play poker with her dad. Fratter was the co-champion of the 2007 Caesars Indiana Poker Championship. He won $117,000 in that tournament. He also cashed in the 2007 Red River Roundup. This is his third time to cash in a major tournament.

Miles

Go Mark! I mean Marc!

He’s going up against Timothy “TK” Miles, who won a $1,000 WSOP-Circuit event in New Orleans this past winter and has the chip lead.

Drogba

The WSOP-Circuit final table, however, is in a tough time slot tomorrow — going up against the UEFA Cup finals, being broadcast live from Moscow. (Bluff Media video honcho and former Fox Football Fone-in host Nick Geber is presumably ocnflicted.) Honestly, the soccer game will probably get most of my attention even though I’m not sure whom to root for — Chelsea vs. Manchester Utd. — since I usually just root against those two teams. (Go Liverpool/Wigan/Blackburn Rovers!)

Rooney

Chelsea, of course, is are the bad-ass team from the yuppity side of London, loaded with great players, most notably Drogba from the Ivory Coast. Man-U are the working-class faves from Britain’s Second City, with bratty high-paid hotshot Wayne Rooney … who likes to gamble (badly) and used to play Texas Hold’em in a rough-and-tumble Man-U home game.

Again, click below for details on the poker event going up against what is essentially, worldwide, the Super Bowl:
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Nolan Dalla’s recap and pic tell the story:

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Former Lodge Amateur Poker player and Rounder Club honcho Terry Keratsopolous is at the final table at a WSOP-Circuit event in New Orleans. Haven’t found any semi-live coverage yet … but just an FYI for those of you who’d like someone to route root for.

UPDATE: It’s reportedly a $500+ event … First place is about $28k, 10th place about $2,800. They started the final table at about 4 pm eastern … and Terry was short-stacked, standing 8th in chips.

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As I surveyed the room, it was about what I expected/hoped for. Mostly pros and several table with 5-6 well known players per. Sure, it would be tough as could be, but what a great experience nonetheless. At first glance, Ted Lawson was the only player I recognized at my table, sitting to me immediate right in the 2 seat and fresh off a win in one of the prelims. Then I saw that Mark Newhouse was in seat 6. Okay no biggie. Come to find later that Theo Tran was in the 1, John Racener the 7 and Michael Esposito in 5. There was also a very aggressive Asian kid in 10 who appeared to be a pretty good player at first blush.

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In the WSOP-Caesar’s main event:

Troy “Darling” Phillips has been sitting on a comfortable stack all day. He’s currently got about 20k in chips, which puts him well above average.

TBR has been playing short-stack poker all day, hardly getting above the starting 10k in chips. With blinds currently 100-200+25, he’s got about 4k in chips.

UPDATE: Pictures taken shortly before the dinner break …

TBR, currently running on less than fumes.

This chair got its aces cracked.

TBR and Darling are in town to play in the $5k WSOP Circuit main event at Caesar’s today. To prepare for it, the two of them and yours truly played in a $500+50 single-table satellite last night (go collusion! Troy’s money!).

With that lineup — and Troy’s playing really well of late, having chopped a satellite earlier in the day — what do you think the odds are that we would all play for nearly an hour-and-a-half and not one of us would finish in the Top 5?

Just to be clear, it was really TBR+vodka playing.

It’s good to be back in Vegas. Was interesting being on the plane as someone “returning home” as opposed to heading out. The guy in front of me was 21 and heading to Vegas for his first time with an older man who I can only presume was his father. A hot blonde local was sitting in the window seat. She works in construction — and apparently it’s been a little slow around here this winter (the best time to build, weather-wise), so she was on her way back from a vacation to Puerta Vallarta.

Not sure who was behind me, but he had three little open airline liquor bottles on the middle tray — one of which was tipped over, as if a Smurf had passed out with it in his hand before falling over. It was enough to have me feelin’ a little pokery and ready to head to the Strip myself. It is Super Tuesday Mardi Gras, after all.

Tom went to San Diego for his Fat Tuesday. He’s goin’ for two final tables in a row at WSOP Circuit events, which would be a nice way to start the year, no? This is the $5,000 Harrah’s Rincon event. I’m quasi-following on the WSOP website. Looks to be a solid field full of pros still alive … all competing for a $TKK,000 first prize:

Time Stamp: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 12:51:35 AM
Player / Chip Count

Vanessa Rousso 72,000
Layne Flack 69,000
Bill Edler 60,800
Ted Lawson 57,000
Lee Watkinson 54,000
Theo Tran 47,800
Tom Schneider 35,000
Damien Oborne 34,000
Chad Brown 29,000
Jeff Madsen 28,600
Roy Winston 24,000
Erick Lindgren 23,000
Alex Jacob 21,025
Gavin Smith 15,500
Brandon Cantu 13,500
Allen Kessler 8,800
Jerry Buss 5,600
Anna Wroblewski 5,600

Peter ‘Nordberg’ Feldman 0
Jerry Yang 0

Here it is a little more closer to live, from PokerNews.

I had a good time in Tunica. I came in 8th at the WSOP circuit event and didn’t play the WPT. I had an opportunity to play the WPT because the circuit event had a day off between day 2 and the final table, but I would have had to accumulate a ton of chips in order not to get blinded out on day 2 while I was playing at the final table.

Had I known that I would come in 8th, I definitely would have taken a shot at it. Had I tried to do it and made it through the first day of the WPT, I would have been able to blame my 8th place finish on being distracted, or at least Angry Julie would have reminded me many times.

I like Tunica because of its friendly environment, loads of PLO and the food. The food is pretty good but very fattening. I did happen to lose weight on this trip because I have totally changed my eating habits. I am now eating a very balanced diet with big emphasis on vegetables. I hate them, but I do like the way I’m starting to feel.

Late in December of ‘07 I declared that ‘08 is going to be the year of health. I weighed more than I ever have, and I was starting to feel it. In the past, I have always lost weight by working out hard and always being hungry. I haven’t been hungry once and have lost about 10 pounds since the beginning of the year. I have changed my ways of eating to something I think I can sustain for the rest of my life, at least that’s the plan.

A few comments about Tunica …

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So I’m kinda sorta enjoying the webcast of the WSOP Circuit Tunica final table. But I happen to be on a relatively low-bandwidth connection (courtesy of Las Vegas.net). Thus the stream is blipping out for five or ten seconds every 20 or so. Pesky to say the least. Here’s the thing … since the video is hardly exciting anyway (though it is mighty clear) … it would be nice to have an audio-only stream available of the Nick-and-Tom broadcast. I wanna be doing other things, ya know, while listening in the background.

Including an audio stream isn’t hard computer-wise, and it would make following the event more enjoyable for the readers viewers listeners.

There ya have it — take-it-or-leave-it-advice because Pokerati cares the internet happens to be slow today.

Leave it to Tom to turn lemons into lemonade … a $400,000 glass of lemonade to be more specific, but still. He may be out of the WSOP Circuit Tunica main championship event, but if you can’t get enough Tom on, near, or — ahem — beyond the table, he has joined Nick Geber to do the semi-live video webcast of the remaining players.

Click here to listen/watch.

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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Tom Schneider makes another final table, this time in Tunica. It was only back in November that he made the WSOP Circuit final table at Caesar’s Indiana, though then he was short-stacked.

Tomorrow, Tom will begin final table play with a healthy stack of 422,000. (Correction: The final table is Tuesday at noon CST. Thanks, Kevin!)

There were 180 players entered into the $7500 buy-in event, and the winner is guaranteed $428,210. Not a bad way to kick off 2008…

PokerListings is doing live updates from the event, which is where you can find the following info (and more):

Here are the final table seats and chip counts:
Seat 1: Tom Schneider $422,000
Seat 2: Ben Sabrin $417,000
Seat 3: John Devia $929,000
Seat 4: Giovanni Marcacci $465,000
Seat 5: Jordan Rich $147,000
Seat 6: Mark Garner $213,000
Seat 7: Bart Tichelman$164,000
Seat 8: Don Nicholson $325,000
Seat 9: Ryan Young $521,000

* Blinds: $4,000/$8,000
* Ante: $1,000
* Average Stack: $400,000
* Players Left: 9
* Tables Left: 2

Meanwhile, Tom is currently playing in the main event of the WSOP-Circuit event at Caesar’s Indiana, where he has made yet another final table. He enters into tomorrow’s action as a short stack, so he’s got some of work to do and might need a little luck early on. (With blinds at 2000/4000 +500, he’s got 45,000 chips.) Click here to follow the action, which gets underway Friday at 2 pm.

Beyond competing for the $223,000 first-prize payout, Tom is trying to stay alive in the overall Player of the Year race as the 2007 poker “season” comes into the homestretch. His placement in the CardPlayer rankings certainly stands out, and in fact looks similar to his situation at tomorrow’s final table, which will be Tom’s fifth of the year:

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I sent Harrah’s an email this past year asking them to add a circuit event in New Orleans since (please use a Texas accent) we have so many darned Texans that play poker. They responded with a thank you and a we’ll consider your request. Now, I certainly won’t claim that I had any part in Harrah’s announcement today but I will rejoice that they have expanded their WSOP circuit schedule. Which includes a fall tournament in New Orleans.

The schedule for the 2007-08 WSOP Circuit includes:

Property Dates*
Grand Casino Tunica Aug. 29-Sept. 13, 2007
Caesars Indiana Oct. 17-Nov. 2, 2007
Harvey’s Tahoe Nov. 3-13, 2007
Harrah’s New Orleans Nov. 26-Dec. 5, 2007
Harrah’s Atlantic City Dec. 8-18, 2007
Grand Casino Tunica Jan. 3-22, 2008
Harrah’s Rincon San Diego North Jan. 27-Feb. 7, 2008
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Feb. 18-27, 2008
Caesars Atlantic City Mar. 5-15, 2008
Caesars Indiana Apr. 2-16, 2008
Caesars Palace Las Vegas April 20-May 1, 2008
Harrah’s New Orleans May 9-21, 2008

According to his voicemail, James McDaniel was in Shreveport for the WSOP as police were looking for him. He said something about a satellite — so I dunno, maybe true, even though the current WSOP Circuit event was being held in New Orleans. But according to WSOP sources, he was not registered for any tournaments there.

OK, sorry … am burying the lede. Point of this post is that McDaniel, one of the more notorious figures in mid-stakes Dallas poker, was arrested last night at a University Park apartment. He was unconscious at the time (?) and transported to Parkland Hospital. More info here.

McDaniel’s arrest was not directly related to the death of SMU coed Meaghan Bosch, but was for parole violations and an alleged sexual assault in December 2005.

UPDATE: More detailed telling of this story here.

If you were thinking you needed to get some tournament play before heading out to the WSOP at The Rio then now is the time.

The Mirage Showdown and WSOP Circuit Event New Orleans are two perfect festivals to attend.

While The Mirage is the first of the WPT Season VI, the New Orleans Circuit Event is the last before poker pros start filling up The Amazon Room to play for a bracelet.

For those of you that have not played New Orleans you’re truly missing out. New Orleans is a fun city with amazing food and Phil Gordon will be there giving a seminar.

I highly recommend staying at the very swanky W Hotel as it is directly across from Harrahs. Furthermore, New Orleans rarely hosts legal poker tournaments and you (Texans) can drive!

Trying to clean up the place for a few new bloggers has left so much poker news passing us by. So in no particular order of importance, you might be curious to know:

CHARLES BARKLEY had a good weekend in Las Vegas, pocketing $700k on mostly blackjack. No word on where he played or how much he was betting per hand.

The first WSOP poker-bloggy marriage is set to go down, between the “all over the place!” JEN LEO and Stone Temple Pilots roadie-cum-PokerNews editor JOHN CALDWELL. Word spread via AMY C … should make for a festive Day 1B of the WSOP main event.

JAMIE GOLD has settled his case with CRISPIN LEYSER — no more lawsuit for the $6 mil … they’re gonna chop the pot instead. We’ll try to find out for how much, but clearly neither was going to win at this point, and any two SEMI-SERIOUS poker players can see the folly of letting LAWYERS take such a high rake in a heads-up match.

There’s an interesting tournament going on at THE BIKE … the $10,000 Poker Netcast HEADS-UP CHALLENGE. GAVIN SMITH sucked out hard on CLONIE (J7 vs AJ — 7 on the turn, 7 on the river) to knock her out.

Hey, check it out … a new generation of NEGREANU FANS are being bred educated at CANADIAN universities.

Despite CALVIN AYRE’s semi-fugitive status in the US, the COSTA RICAN billionaire is fixin’ to bring BODOG to AMERICAN TV starting next week.

By the way, what does the United States National SOCCER TEAM love to do while traveling? They play poker. (Or shall we say Pele poker?)

A PENNSYLVANIA JURY decides it’s not right to bust out of a poker game and return to shoot people. Duly noted.

THE WSOP CIRCUIT main event is underway in COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA. Pokerati finds it interesting that the WSOP in (what is essentially) OMAHA has no Omaha.

Note to self: WIN MORE. Lose less.

An interesting outline for HOW TO TAX online gambling from our good friends in HUNGARY. Summation: Take 30 percent.

Not surprisingly, LAWYERS with expertise in gambling are a hot commodity these days.

And anti-online gambling laws aren’t stopping Americans from trying to gamble online. Just ask SCANSAFE, a company that blocks employees of other companies from pissing off online while at work. (Looking at Karridy.)

COLLEGE KIDS at SYRACUSE are saying the same thing … they can’t be stopped!

But here’s a good article that looks into the hard-number connections between online gambling and TERRORISM.

The LA TIMES has a good op-ed on the ridiculousness of preventing wagers on the SUPER BOWL — more than $5 BILLION slipped through unchecked hands untaxed, experts say.

And here’s a quick little item that shows how/why US ATTORNEYS are trying to draw a connection between online betting and Al Qaeda-suited.

That should be enough for now. But as always, there’s more TK.

Oh, wait, almost forgot … Starting tomorrow, you are supposed to BOYCOTT online poker through SUNDAY. Oh, wait, no you’re not.

Dorkin’ out with the cushy headphones on … just came across an interesting interview over at Poker Podcast World. (via Shamus.)

Click here to hear Max Shapiro breakin’ down with WSOP tourney director Jack Effel.

Max Shapiro = the Diane Rehm of poker?

In this episode, Jack talks about the efforts the WSOP is going through to unionize? ensure a highest standard of dealer and floor personnel. Apparently last year’s complaints were heard loud and clear. He also reveals that a new WSOP Europe could see cards in the air as soon as September 2007. Harrah’s has other plans in the works, Effel says, for spreading the WSOP brand to the Middle East and Asia as well … coming soon: WSOP-Macau.

Oh, he also makes his “prediction” for the size of the 2007 main event field. It will certainly “grow,” says Effel, or maybe “decline a little bit.” He puts the over/under at somewhere between 7,000 and 11,000, and specifically pshaws the number set by Pokerati.

Here is the remaining field, to give you an idea of who he’s up against (via Kaelaine):

(Pokerati’s emphasis added)

Gregg Merkow 379,000
Peter Martin 329,500
Dennis Perry 239,000
Andy “the Eliminator” Chang 235,000
Brian Wilson 229,500
Jordan “Ims0Lucky” Morgan 229,000
Michael “the Grinder” Mizrachi 216,500
Dan Schmiech 200,500
Elvin Simpson 133,000
Joe Rivers 125,500
Matt Dean 121,500
Kris Kawohl 112,000
Dave Delaney 102,000
John Spagnuolo 100,500
Lance Allred 95,000
Nam Le 89,000
Jeff Cohen 84,500
Jordan Smith 82,500
Joe Wagner 82,000
Thomas Matthew McGrath 67,500
Vanessa Rousso 67,500
Hilbert Shirey 66,500
Gioi Luong 65,000
Harold “Big Daddy” Mahaffey 57,500
Norm Ketchum 45,000
James Lindsay 35,000
Narinder Singh Khasria 23,500
Keith Lehr 20,500
Tommy Reed 16,000
Larry Vance 13,500

And here are the payouts he’s competing for (via Spaceman):

1st $563,402
2nd $290,792
3rd $145,396
4th $127,222
5th $109,047
6th $90,873
7th $72,698
8th $54,524
9th $36,349
10th-12th $21,809
13th-15th $18,175
16th-18th $14,540
19th-27th $10,905
28th-36th $7,270

UPDATE: Merkow went out in 17th. Boo … yah?

A little Pokerati behind-the-scenes …

My distinguished internet radio colleague, “Wolfman” Karridy, tipping us off to the developing Gregg Merkow-Tunica love story:

________________________________________
From: Karridy Askenasy
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 11:55 AM
To: danm
Subject: RE: Merkow

Same event he won last year. Tunica’s Main event. Maybe I’m wrong… I really thought you’d know more about this than me. I’d hate to slip, but I think he’s onto something huge.

From: dan michalski
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 11:43 AM
To: ‘Karridy Askenasy’
Subject: RE: Merkow

Which event? Is this the same event he won last year or something like that, or did he win won last week?

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Dallas tourney fave Gregg Merkow is kicking butt in the WSOP Circuit @ The Grand main event in Tunica — he’s second in chips the chip leader with 39 players left … three away from the money.

Gregg Merkow made it 10K from the small blind and Stan Weiss jacked him on up to 35K from the big. Gregg moved all-in and Stan called. Gregg held T9 suited and was trailing Stan’s A7. Board came 9 7 5 9 8 and Gregg made trips to bust Stan. “Boo-yah, Ship It!” said Gregg.

Ahh, the Suckout & Taunt … well-played! Dallas poker at its finest! Eat at Merkow’s!

photo: Jason Kirk / Spaceman

Merkow seems to do pretty well in Tunica. He won a $3,000 event at the Gold Strike World Poker Open one year ago tomorrow … which followed a 1st place across the parking lot in a $500/single-rebuy WSOP Circuit @ The Grand event 10 days earlier. And The Grand, of course, is where his career as a professional began in August 2005, after a half-million dollars payday.

Click here to follow his progress as Kaelaine tracks his chipstacks.

And here … for Spaceman’s coverage of his quest for another Mississippi ring.

Mmm, steak and seafood.

For those of you following the $1,500 NLH event in Tunica a few days ago, below is the official WSOP report. The hand Todd went out on really was a bummer — particularly since he is arguably one of the best set-floppers in Dallas. Skipping to the good part:

We were now playing with blinds of 4,000/8,000 and 1,000 antes. Two hands into the new level, Todd “Tiny B” Phillips suffered a heart-breaker. After Williams moved in, Phillips called for his last 48,000 with pocket aces and flopped a set. But the flop also contained two hearts. A third one turned, and Williams, with Ah-2h, broke Phillips’ heart and left him in fifth place, which paid $19,904. Phillips, a 35-year-old real estate broker from Dallas, learned poker in a “great home game” in his city.

Click below to read the full story of how everything shook down …

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Todd’s tourney is over. He got 5th place (out of 225) in the $1,500 NLH event. Still don’t have a payout yet, but estimate is 19k. (Over/under?)

Says he went out via cracked aces. That’s all I know … oh, and that by making a non-second-chance WSOP circuit final table, he’s the first Batface to get CardPlayer P.O.Y. points.

(Congratulations, Todd! Seriously, you were due — have been playing great. Getting big pairs busted never bothers you, either.)

NOTE: Just discovered some quality semi-live coverage over at the BFs. Missed it all day and night … for some reason, the page wouldn’t (and still won’t) update upon refresh in Firefox. No prob with IE, however.

So Todd is apparently playing some damn good poker. From what I understand, he’s never been too much more than an above-average stack … in fact, he’s been mostly low, but a little more than tiny, stackwise that is.

Anyhow, there are five players left, and he’s fourth in chips. Successfully made “the real money”. Here’s the payouts he’s competiting for:

Er … can’t find them anywhere. But when Todd was a “sorta short stack” with seven players left, we learned that 7th place paid out $13k. So my guess is that he’s already guaranteed about $20k, if not more. Will let you know.

Just got a text message from Tiny B:

48 left in 1500. I have 15k in chips, a little above par. Top 27 get paid. I expect coverage.

So there you have it. Go Big Todd!

8400, coloring greens. 100-400-800 now. 34 left. Time to double up.Agoin … go Big Todd. (But how will he handle it if someone makes a “bad” play?

UPDATE: Nearing the bubble …

Doubled up with AQ vs. JJ. 17k now. 33 left

And indeed, looks like he crossed it. Todd texts:

in money, in decent shape.

By the way, I have to go out. Seriously … one of those drinky things that involves a guy who’s involved with the Native American casino interests — hopefully he’ll give me some inside scoop on the legendary Winstar Tribe’s role in Poker’s getting Double-Fristed. Anyhow, if you need Todd updates, you can find them here at my personal watchdog site. Kinda funny, especially looking at Todd’s pre-game posts:

from The Batfaces

1500
I’m at dinner break in the $1500 NL in tunica. 48 players remain of the original 225. The top 27 make the money. I have 15000 in chips, which is a little above par. Darling and Hong Kong played as well, but have not lasted. So unfortunately for some, I’m not offing myself. Winner takes home 101K.
posted by Tiny B at 7:31 PM | 0 comments

Tunica 2
Darling up.
Hong Kong up.
Tiny B… Fuck cards.
posted by Tiny B at 7:04 AM | 0 comments

Friday, September 29, 2006

Tunica live blog 1
Hammered. Go first class!

Honk Kong Sue, Darling and I just landed in Memphis. Aycock is waiting on us at The Grand. You fuckers will be sorry you missed this one. $1500 tomorrow at noon. If I don’t win the last-longer, I’m offing myself.
posted by Tiny B at 7:32 PM | 0 comments

TUNICA RESORTS, MS — Rounder Club regulars Frank Nasufi and Tim Staraveci made the money in WSOP Circuit Event No. 3 ($300+$40) Wednesday. Tim was still going strong with a decent stack and four tables left as of 10 p.m. Frank, who has knocked out the Minnow more than once, came in 42nd. Word has it he played aggressively. First place is worth $51,902. Congrats, gentlemen.

OH YEAH: The Minnow finished in the 160s, out of el dinero. An over the top all-in did not fly.

UPDATE: Tim finished 24th, cashing nearly a G.

TUNICA RESORTS, MS — After nearly going out on the bubble Tuesday night, Angel Word of Bowdon, Ga., came back to win the $500+$40 Event No. 2 Wednesday. The 30-year-old took down the ladies event at the World Poker Open last year and has cashed in three other major tournaments. She split the first- and second-place money to take home $58,005, then played for and won the ring. Nani Dollison, who has three WSOP bracelets, finished fourth. Go, ladies!

TUNICA RESORTS, MS — Eric Crain, the 22-year-old who knocked me out Monday, won the $300+$40 first event Tuesday evening with 6-2. After sustaining repeated all-ins from his opponent, the Murphysboro, IL, online high-limit Omaha pro pushed back and caught a 2 on the river. The second-place finisher (didn’t catch his name) had J-8. The board came 5-5-10-A-2. Eric, who’s been quite the subject of controversy on the poker forums, won $63,105. He also has his own blog. Thanks to Harrah’s Mark Shapiro for details on the heads-up play.

Meanwhile, Event No. 2 ($500+$40) was nearing the payout level at 10 p.m. last night (54 places). The final table or whoever is left at 2 a.m. finishes up Wednesday afternoon.

Yours truly plays in Event No. 3 (another $300+$40) Wednesday after winning my way in in a $45 satellite. That’s what I call a cheap flop.

TUNICA, MS — They’re goofing on my poker playing (again) over at my former employer’s blog. Well, at least the inimitable Mr. Dallas is. When I played in a World Series event in Las Vegas this summer, the site had record traffic due to my entries and the hilarious reactions of my colleagues (aided by DanM’s link from here). Here’s hoping my other friends at the Death Star weigh in at my expense this time too. (Any more pix of a monkey at the table, Anne?)

Full disclosure: Mr. Dallas and I have made a few trips to The Vegas, where we engaged in event dining and witnessed the mating rituals of Baccarat Bar workers.

I think I’m headed to the Gold Strike for an 11 a.m. $40/$20/$20 despite my aversion to rebuy tourneys. Another option: A satellite at the WSOP circuit to line up tomorrow’s $300 tournament. I’ll report later on the final table(s) of the Monday-Tuesday $300, which starts at 4 p.m., and today’s nooner $500.

TUNICA, MS — What an odd place. If not for the nonstop casino billboards along Hwy. 61, you could drive through this part of the world and never realize it’s a gambling haven. Fields of flowers are only occasionally broken up by specs in the distance — Horseshoe, Gold Strike and the rest miles off the main road like spaceships from the planet Prefab.

But that’s not why you called. Like me, you want to know what’s what at the WSOP circuit thingamajig at the Grand Casino, a series of tournaments that starts with a $300+$40 no-limit event tomorrow and ends with the $5,000+$150 main event Oct. 2-4.

Info on small sit-and-go satellites that feed the $300 and $500 tourneys is nonexistent on the Web, so I’ve tracked it down at the source. The cheapest way in is a $35+$10 that pays the winner a $300 tournament voucher and 50 in cash. There is also a $55+$10 ($500 voucher plus $50 to first place) and a $110+$10 (Two $500 vouchers and 100 cash).

Plenty of guys have been lining up for them since this morning, including yours truly who finished fourth in a $35+$10 after my 9-9 was rivered by a stealer with K-Q. Got my chips in with the best hand yada yada. (He raised my $50 BB to $150, I went all in and he called, as did a donk with something like J-8. Lady came on the river.)

I’m headed back for more. Stay tuned.