InstaWSOP

LAS VEGAS–We\’re coming to the tail end of WSOP Part I. And seeing the opening salvo of WSOP Part II — the parties, the Expo, the main event, yadda yadda.

The biggest deal today is HOWARD AND SUZIE LEDERER\’S barbecue (w/ STEPHEN Z) the final table of the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship … with DOYLE BRUNSON looking to put the screws to Phil Hellmuth:

Seat 1 – Doyle Brunson – 510,000
Seat 2 – Patrik Antonius – 650,000
Seat 3 – Marco Traniello – 420,000
Seat 4 – Rene Mouritsen – 775,000
Seat 5 – Tommy Ly – 1,895,000
Seat 6 – Jonas Flug-Entin – 445,000
Seat 7 – Steve Sung – 175,000
Seat 8 – Stephen Ladowski – 360,000
Seat 9 – Robert Mizrachi – 1,090,000

If you want to follow it closer-to-live, it\’s being video broadcast today. Mean Gene tells me word is that the event won\’t be sequestered … instead it will be broadcast without the hour delay, but no hole cards visible.


Meanwhile, at the secondary final table of $1,000 SHOE, PAT POELS (above) looks to reclaim the ARIZONA POSSE bracelet lead as he is gunning for his third. He was chip leader for most of the day yesterday, but took a big hit right at the end.

The Final Table:

Seat 1: Vladimir Shchemelev – 168,000
Seat 2: Chip Jett – 40,000
Seat 3: Dao Bac – 266,000
Seat 4: Imre Leibold – 250,000
Seat 5: Patrick Poels – 53,000
Seat 6: Raymond Davis – 235,000
Seat 7: Adam Geyer – 293,000
Seat 8: Michael Craig – 161,000

Mad props to fellow Andy Beal stalker blogger MICHAEL CRAIG (left), who has made his second final table of the WSOP (and also has some ARIZONA roots apparently). CHIP JETT (right), who I believe hails from Arizona originally, is fighting to hang.

Tomorrow he and his wife KARINA are hosting an party at a Las Vegas strip club, by the way.

Another player to watch … RAYMOND DAVIS (left — not from Arizona) has also been kicking butt this year, and seems due for big score. LUCKY LIU (right) just missed the final table. He is STEVE WONG\’S poker mentor. Shout out … nice go, LL!


Both TOM SCHNEIDER and MICHELE LEWIS are competing in the $1,500 Limit Hold\’em Shootout today. Tom made the final table in this event last year, and Michele made a final table in Limit Hold\’em, and cashed in a No-Limit shootout.

Since shootouts dictate that only one in 10 move on, Pokerati swears we don\’t want to see them at the same table for the sake of PHOTOGRAPHIC CONVENIENCE.

DONKEY BOMBER wants to cash really bad in this — the deeper the better — to lock up Milwaukee\’s Best Light Player of the Year. He\’s trying to hold off JEFF LISANDRO, who is well-chipped going into Day 2 of the $1,000 No-Limit Hold\’em w/ Rebuys event. Interestingly enough, these two have a pending $5,000 bet — not on who will finish higher in the POY standings, but over the NUMBER OF ENTRANTS into the main event. Tom has the under on 5,850.


If you have an opinion about the rightness of Ladies events, JENNIFER NEWELL has an interesting article — and new perspective on tournaments lacking a Y chromosome.

This presumably has something to do with why a fourth Day 1 for the main event was added. Really would be unfair to any players who had to start in the \”poker superstructure.\”


Totally unrelated to poker but by a WSOP-conscious poker player …

As the WSOP rolls on, the cash games are getting bigger and bigger — but where are the pros? Follow coverage of the LIVE ACTION at PokerWorks.

Dallas Dealer BETH LAIRD, seen here with ALLEN CUNNINGHAM and STEVEN Z(olotow) in the $1,000 2-7 Triple Draw w/ Rebuys.

RAFI AMIT won that event in the early Monday a.m. As they tend to do in mixed games, the ARIZONA POSSE represented … with DANNY FUHS just missing the final table, but still scoring a POSITIVE EV cash.