So much craziness going on, and we\’ve hardly covered any poker. James Akenhead hit a sick three-outer — the crowd erupted — to triple up, and Antoine Saout called an all-in bluff from Darvin Moon with two pair to stay alive … that was like over an hour ago when this post started.
So here\’s a rundown of the off-the-table things that have gone on … and maybe a few on-table situations as well.
HAND UPDATE: Akenhead vs. Schaffel … KK < AA and Schaffel doubles up to stay alive. Thanks to @haribo22 for sneaking me in to the special Harrah\’s VIP room in the Palazzo Suites for the free sandwiches and Pepsis. Mooching off the elite, of course, is how we roll.
Turned out to be a good thing … as the original plan was to attend a special PPA gathering with free sandwiches and Pepsis … but the event got canceled when they ran out of food and neither Howard Lederer nor Annie Duke showed up. To be fair, one or both of them was on the air with Bluff Radio at the time.
The new-and-improved WSOP website has a pretty nice feature for following the action … combining chip counts, pics, and tweets:
It\’s funny, of course, because for the past few years, there has been so much to-do over number of posts per hour, and who covers what … and now, after so much chest thumping and kneecap cracking to figure out how it all should and does work … all that stuff is pretty much irrelevant in 2009 — not only because there\’s no selfishly \”official\” info provider, but moreso because twitter has become the default way to go for immediate, albeit unofficial, results.
HAND UPDATE: James Akenhead is out 9th! 33 < 99 vs. Kevin Schaffel. Crowd doesn\'t so much erupt as respectfully and enthusiastically applauds. If you\'re not already, follow the action and then some on Tao of Poker.
Check it out: the Penn and Teller Theater did reach capacity (1,200). And the line outside the WSOP&T, stretching through that long long hallway that summertime WSOP visitors know all too well:
HAND UPDATE: Ivey folded. But he really had to think about it.
HAND UPDATE: Schaffel all-in again, with AA vs. Eric Buchman\’s KK. Flop K-Q-J. WOOOOOT! 4th King on the turn … Schaffel out in 8th place.
Note for next year: How \’bout a visible tournament clock? We\’re all guessing where we are in the levels.
Supposedly the WSOP website has been a bit slow at times … as has PokerNews. If in need for a super-updated chip count fix, check out PokerListings as a go-to backup. They also have rules there for a main event final table drinking game … which can still have you pretty hammered by heads-up, even with others having nearly a 6-hour head start.
HAND UPDATE: Shulman starting to come alive.