I want to clear something up that happened during a hand in a $1,500 no limit tournament. I have heard that some are accusing me of using my influence to get a favorable ruling and/or that I took a shot to win a pot.

I’ll let Pokerati readers decide.

On the river, I bet. My opponent calls, to which I announce, “nothing.” My opponent does not turn over his hand, so I table my jack-high. He looks befuddled, picks up one of his cards so only his next-door player can see it. He does NOT table his hand. Only one player sees his one card, which is a queen and would be a winner. He takes his two cards face down and places them on top of the stub of the deck.

The dealer pushes the pot to me. Two seconds go by and everyone is kind of stunned. One guy at the table mutters “sick call” thinking the guy called and couldn’t beat a jack hi.

The dealer does make a little mistake by not mixing all the cards together to make sure that the hand is unidentifiable. Now my opponent looks puzzled and says, “Wait, I had the winning hand.” Yes he did, but he mucked it. Now he’s saying he should get the pot.

We call floor and tell our stories. The floor asks if the hand is identifiable. We all say yes. He leaves and comes back to the table and says that my opponent gets the pot. So I ask, “When is a hand ‘over’? And are you telling me that a player can muck his hand and then get awarded a pot?” He says, “hold on, I’ll be back.”

More…

A reminder that day 2 of the WSOP Tournament of Champions resumes shortly after 12pm PT this afternoon. ESPN3 will be streaming the action with 22 players remaining as they play four more levels before concluding the action on July 4. To see how the field stands and get updates for those unable to watch, head to wsop.com.

Two more players picked up their first WSOP bracelets this morning, and the rest of Sunday night’s WSOP tournament action:

Rockowitz hammers Coburn to win $1500 NL

The final hand of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event may have brought delight to some poker bloggers, as Jesse Rockowitz held the suited hammer (7h-2h), flopping two pair against Ray Coburn. Coburn turned a straight draw, but the river was of no help, giving Rockowitz the bracelet along with $721,373 for his victory. Coburn was resigned to collecting $446,274 from the cashier for the runner-up finish. Full results along with Nolan Dalla’s tournament report at wsop.com.

Bell rings up a bracelet in 5k PLO 8

Chris Bell, good friend of recent bracelet winner Gavin Smith, won a bracelet of his own, defeating Dan Shak in a lengthy heads-up battle to win the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better bracelet along with $327,040. Shak earned $202,142 for the runner-up finish, with David “Devilfish” Ulliott third for $150,925. Erik Seidel concluded his lengthy day after playing the Tournament of Champions by finishing in 5th for $85,800. Full results and Dalla’s report at wsop.com.

Yakovenko leads final day of 2500 Mixed Event

Day three of the $2,500 Mixed Event begins at 3:00pm today with Nikolai Yakovenko (310,000) leads the remaining 20 players in the field. Other notables returning include Matt Vengrin (276,600), Kirk Morrison (214,900), Scott Seiver (197,700), Alexander Kravchenko (178,100), Dario Minieri (145,600), Todd Brunson (101,400) and John D’Agostino (60,600). Full chip counts and updates during the afternoon at wsop.com.

$1k money day

Day 2 of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem gets underway at 2:30 this afternoon with around 445 players returning to the Rio as they first reach the money when they reach 324 players, then try to get close to a final table, although that’s unlikely. The leader of the final 188 players who survived at the end of day 1b remains Ben Klier with 65,675. Other notables from day 1b: Pokerati fave Richard Ferro (64,375) Olivier Busquet (59,100), Jeff Madsen (43,000), Chris Moneymaker (41,125), Terrence Chan (29,200), David Sklansky (23,850) and Faraz Jaka (17,700). For Team Pokerati followers, John Harris finished with 12,425, Full chip counts now available at wsop.com.

Monday’s tournaments

Two more tournaments get underway this afternoon, starting with the seventh and final $1,500 No-Limit Holdem tournament of the WSOP. Last year’s winner was Tony Veckey, who defeated a field of 2,818, winning $673,276 for his only career cash. The 5pm tournament is the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, won by Richard Austin last year for $409,484 in besting a field of 363.

Recapping the Thursday afternoon action, with one bracelet already decided:

Tieman Takes Down Title

The $5,000 No-Limit Shootout final table with Joshua Tieman eliminating the final four players to take down the coveted WSOP bracelet, along with $441,692. Tieman disposed of veteran British pro Neil Channing in heads-up play, earning $273,153 for Channing. Stuart Rutter ($179,617), Joseph Elpayaa ($125,387), Nicolas Levi ($92,543) and Brent Hanks ($71,998) rounded out the final table results.

2-7 Lowball Final Table

The $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball is down to three players with Raphael Zimmerman the chip leader (865,000), followed by Dan McNamara (675,000) and Peter Gelenscer (612,000). David Chiu ($50,517), Jameson Painter ($34,843). and Leonard Martin ($24,723) were the others at the final table. Follow the action over at PokerNews.

$1,500 NL Day 2

The $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event is down to under 80 players as the field is now at their one hour dinner break. The chip leader is Jose Gatmaitan at 350,000. Notables with chips: Josh Schlein (196,000), Matt Stout (150,000), Phil Hellmuth (145,000), and Steve Sung (85,000). The field returns to play five one-hour levels or reach the final table, whichever happens first. Follow PokerNews to get all the latest updates.

Taking it to the Pot-Limit

The first tournament to start on Thursday, $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem starting with a field of 650, with under 200 remaining when they return from their 90-minute dinner break to play four more one-hour levels. The final 63 players in the field cash, with the winner earning $197,470. Chad Batista is the current chip leader (52,000), followed by notables Justin Bonomo (32,000), Liv Boeree (26,500), Team Pokerati’s Tom Schneider (22,000) Lex Veldhuis (17,000) and Eric Froehlich (15,000).

World Championship Stud Starts

The $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship got underway at 5pm this afternoon, with a field of about 148 when registration closed. Yuval Bronshtein has already doubled up his starting stack of 30,000 to take the early lead. He’s followed closely by Daniel Negreanu (51,800), Robert Mizrachi (49,000) and Scotty Nguyen (35,000). For updates and a full list of entrants, check out wsop.com for more information.

Bubble Burst in 50k

The $50,000 Players’ Championship reached the bubble earlier today with day 2 chip leader Kirk Morrison the unfortunate bubble boy, leaving 16 players guaranteed almost $100,000. At this time, Robert Mizrachi is the current chip lead with over 2.5m in chips, followed by John Juanda at 2.4m in 2nd. Michael Mizrachi is currently in 5th with nearly 1.7m while Nick Schulman, and Daniel Alaei have around 1m in chips with just 13 players remaining. The Mizrachi brothers are looking to be the first brothers to make the same final table since Ross and Barny Boatman performed the feat in 2002. (Thanks to a poster on 2+2 for that info).

1k Donkament Day 2

The $1,000 NL Holdem event reached the money within the first level this afternoon, and the pace has not slowed down, with under 200 players remaining at the end of level 14. The chip leader at the dinner break is Drew Crawford at 230,000. Play continues to the end of level 20 or the final table, whichever comes first.

Omaha 8 Day 2

Around 120 players remain in the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event as they head to their dinner break. Phil Ivey, Allen Kessler, David Bach, Brock Parker, Andrew Black and Team Pokerati’s own Tom Schneider are some of the familiar names looking to make the money bubble at 81 players and the eventual final table.

$1,500 NL Day 1

The $1,500 NL holdem event drew a field of 2,092, with 216 making the money and the winner getting over $500,000. 638 players will return after their 90-minute dinner break. The early leader appears to be online legend Shaun Deeb with 55,000 chips. Lauren Kling is unofficially in second with 45,000, while Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu, Mark Seif and Joe Cada off to a fast start as well.

Be sure to check the links on the right to find more content, live updates, and other WSOP-related stuff.

After starting your day off right by reading Pauly’s link dump, here’s the recap of Sunday night at the WSOP:

Dilemma Diverted at Donkament

After all those Tweets, forum posts, and other whinging, Day 1b of the $1,000 NL Donkament were able to finish all ten levels of play with 205 players remaining. The day 1b chip leader is Braxton Dunaway, with 139,000 chips. The full list of survivors is now available over at PokerNews. They’ll join the 276 who survived day 1a at 2:30pm, first bursting the money bubble at 441 players, on their way to a scheduled ten levels of play.

Grinder in Gear at the 50k Players’

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi is the day 3 leader of the $50,000 Players’ Championship with just 21 players remaining when play resumes at 3pm as they play down to the final table, which will consist solely of no-limit holdem for ESPN to broadcast later this summer. Mizrachi, in the news for his issues with the IRS and other financial difficulties, will start day 4 with 1,483,000 in chips. Vladimir Schemelev will start in 2nd with 1,432,000, with David Oppenheim 3rd (1,340,000). The chips for the other 18 names not mentioned are now up over at PokerNews.

Omaha 8

Day 1 of the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better finished with under 300 players remaining. As noted in the comments of the day 3 post, Thang Luu wasn’t able to attend after his incident with a dealer last year. Oleg Shamardin is the chip leader with 70,800 when play resumes at 2:30pm Monday. Top 10 notables: 2009 $50k HORSE winner David Bach (39,700), 2009 double bracelet winner Brock Parker (36,700), and Chau Giang (31,300). The entire list can be found at PokerNews here.

Can the $1,500 draw 1500?

Monday has one tournament starting today, the $1,500 No-Limit holdem at noon. With lower than expected numbers for the 1k over the weekend, will the trend continue? The first $1,500 event of the 2009 WSOP (held on a Tuesday) had a field of nearly 2800.

You can find updates during the day at PokerNews and www.wsop.com Make sure to check out Bluff Magazine, Wicked Chops Poker and PokerListings for more content from the WSOP.

An unsettling tournament rules situation … just in from one of our undercover Pokeratizen investigators playing in the $1,500 NLH … and, of course, it involves texting.

This took place at a table in the Miranda Room, shortly after the first break … a player was re-raised all-in, and he supposedly went into the tank for a good two minutes. During that time, the player with his tournament life on the line reportedly stood up from the table and sent a text. A few seconds after getting a reply, he folded.

Though no one called the floor during the questionable texting, the table did bring it up after the hand, and the dealer apparently said that no, they are not supposed to issue any sort of reprimands for texting-related issues. The assumption around the table was that this dealer simply was a bit clueless … but then when a new dealer came in, the players brought up the same hand and issue, and the new dealer concurred, that yes, they are not supposed to stop any such activity.

I think we all know that this shoulda been a dead hand — sorry dude, your tourney’s over — but with the new dealer echoing the same thing, perhaps there was something misconveyed to the dealers about non-enforcement of original texting rules at the table, exception to the exception obviously being when a player’s in a hand?

We’ll see if we can’t find out more. Obviously you’d hate to boot a player on a rule violation or technicality in a $1,500 Donkament Super-Amazing Intraductory Pokerthon (we’re still workshopping a new name) … but at the same time, to avoid that, you’d think the dealers would need the authority to pipe up and say, “hey you, Mr. Amateur who doesn’t follow these sorts of things on Pokerati, stop that or your hand will be dead!”

Yet we still don’t know how many runners are coming. We can tell you that players are showing up an hour early to take their seats — a sign they won’t win — but the actual number … well that’s a complicated algorithm. It has something to do with numbers of tables available based on other events … and then of course, like all things Vegas, they have to save a few seats for those extra-special VIPs.

(Not sure what they do with those seats when they aren’t taken and there are no alternates … but bottom line is that if Barack Obama or Bono or plausibly even Jeffrey Pollack’s brother showed up to play, they’d find them a seat … even if it meant finding a farmboy from Iowa and tying him up in the back room until dinner break.)

The $1,500 NLH that sold out a few days ago had 2,790 players. And the Seniors Event had 2,707. So there’s your ballpark.

[Fact-check props to the Tao.]

UPDATE: 2,818

And to show the love because Vinny B. has us feeling snippy under his claims that we don’t give proper props to the no-names, click below for a complete list of every single person who showed up today with $1,500 and a dream, but not necessarily a plan on how to really achieve it

More…

Recapping Sunday afternoon’s activities:

Mueller Muscling His Way to Bracelet #2

The final table of the $1,500 Limit Holdem Shootout has 6 players remaining after returning from their dinner break. Greg Mueller is the current chip leader (950,000), followed by Marc Naalden, Millie Shiu, David Williams, Flaminio Malaguti and Matt Sterling.

Erik Looking to put the 123 on the HORSE Field

Erik Sagstrom, an early Internet poker sensation, is the current chip leader (1,280,000) of the $50,000 HORSE with 31 players remaining. Ville Wahlbeck (775,000) is in 2nd place, followed by Vitaly Lunkin (735,000) in 3rd as the players take their dinner break. Day 2 chip leader Gus Hansen (670,000) is still in the top 10, along with Todd Brunson (610,000) and Freddy Deeb (560,000).

Hedler Ahead of the Field in $1,500 NL

Jason Helder (440,000) is the current chip leader in the $1,500 NL Holdem with about 120 players remaining as they try to play down to 9 before the 3am deadline. Notables with chips left include Men Nguyen, Cody Slaubaugh, Jason Potter, Owen Crowe and Vinny Pahuja.

Triple Chance NL Holdem

A field of 854 started today’s debut of the $3,000 NL Holdem Triple Chance event, with a field of approximately 400 remaining. No chip leader has been named yet, but the updates say that there’s a few players with stacks of 70,000 from their starting stacks of 9,000.

Stud 8 or Better

A field of 467 showed up for the $1,500 Stud 8 or Better event that started at 5pm, they have eight levels of play today, with the only notable casualty so far being Perry Friedman.

Check out www.wsop.com for more updates, and some stuff overnight from Pokerati.

That’s what @JeffreyPollack wants to know — after today’s $1,500 NLH maxed out with 2,790 entrants (one of which is The Big Randy, fyi). Specifically, he twitters:

should WSOP events ever sell out? Do sell-outs conflict with our brand promise? Or, are they okay?

Though I’m not exactly sure what the “brand promise” of the WSOP is beyond free beef jerky for media (hey, can we get the strips instead of the nuggets? that’d be great … thanks … sesame please), I gotta think the answer is no.

If you let alternates run, then it ultimately becomes the players’ choice whether or not to buy-in.

There could obviously be exceptions for numerically dependent tournaments such as Shootouts and Heads-up events. But I’m not even so sure that those should ever close until X number of necessary logistical minutes before cards go in the air.

Send your thoughts to the Commish in 140 characters or less here.

Recapping the rest of Friday night’s WSOP, and paying respect to the passing of Lee Munzer (1943-2009).

Habib Holds High HORSE Hierarchy

Day 1 of the $50,000 HORSE has 91 of the 95 original entrants remaining, with Hasan Habib holding the chip lead. The list of notables with chips is too many to mention, but you can see who else is remaining by checking out this link. Day 2 will begin around 2pm4pm with another sixfive levels of play scheduled.

Cantu Leads PLO 8 Final Table

The final table of the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better has been established and Brandon Cantu has maintained his lead, with the final table seated as follows when play resumes at 2pm:

Seat 1: Lee Watkinson – 412000
Seat 2: Steve Jelinek – 260000
Seat 3: William McMahan – 168000
Seat 4: Brandon Cantu – 1025000
Seat 5: Ted Weinstock – 250000
Seat 6: Aaron Sias – 353000
Seat 7: Jacqmin Mathieu – 552000
Seat 8: Ronnie Hofman – 76000
Seat 9: Tommy Vedes – 334000

Day 2 of Limit Holdem Shootout

64 players remain from the starting field of 571 in the $1,500 Limit Holdem Shootout. Among the first round winners: Jean-Robert Bellande, Nick Binger, Humberto Brenes, Dan Heimiller, Juha Helppi, Greg Mueller, Marc Naalden, Brock Parker, Tom Schneider, David Williams and Todd Witteles. Eight eight-handed tables will play down to a winner starting around 2pm Saturday, with the eight winners returning Sunday.

Saturday’s Donkament

The only tournament starting today is the penultimate $1,500 NL Donkament, starting at noon today with a projected field size of 2,800 taking the felt, which will surely delay the other three tournaments that are scheduled to start later this afternoon. Last year’s version of this event was won by David Daneshgar in a field of 2,693, taking down over $625,000.

Recapping the Tuesday night activities as we begin week four of the WSOP…

Van Alstyne Back in the Saddle with HORSE Triumph

James Van Alstyne, who finished second in the $3,000 HORSE event last week after holding the chip lead, came back in the $1,500 HORSE event to take down his first WSOP bracelet along with the $247,003 winnings. Tad Jurgens was runnerup, Mitch Schock finished third, and Bryan Micon, named one of poker’s “true anarchists” in Nolan Dalla’s final table report, finished fourth.

Boyes Buoyed by Chip Lead

The $2,000 NL Holdem event starts day 3 with 19 players remaining as they play down to a bracelet winner with Jason Boyes the current chip leader at 976,000. Finland’s Mika Paasonen is in 2nd place to try to be the 2nd Finn with a WSOP bracelet this year. Angel Guillen (496,000) and Peter “Nordberg” Feldma (486,000), and Daniel Makowsky (177,000) appear to be the most notable players remaining.

Limit Holdem Left with a Not So Dirty Dozen

The $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship has twelve players remaining as they resume at 1pm today to reach the final table for a scheduled 2pm broadcast on ESPN360 and wsop.pkr.com. Here’s how the remaining players are seated with plenty of familiar names for the poker viewer:

Seat 1: Maria Ho – 228000
Seat 3: Greg ‘FBT’ Mueller – 485000
Seat 4: Pat Pezzin – 300000
Seat 5: Kenny Hsiung – 831000
Seat 6: Soheil Shamseddin – 385000
Seat 9: Jennifer Harman – 126000

Seat 1: Matt Glantz – 483000
Seat 4: Chad Brown – 545000
Seat 5: Matt Hawrilenko – 601000
Seat 7: Michiel Brummelhuis – 687000
Seat 8: Mark Klecan – 603000
Seat 9: Daniel Alaei – 330000

Unfortunately, Ville Wahlbeck finished outside the money, but maintains his WSOP Player of the Year lead.

The Pros Strike Back Against the Donks

The $1,500 NL Holdem event returns at 2pm with 240 players remaining, only 216 get paid. James Taylor, unfortunately not this James Taylor has the chip lead with 174,400. More notable names are near the top of the leaderboard include: Eugene Katchalov (90,600), Roberto Romanello (89,400), Phil Hellmuth (88,100), Pat Poels (84,500), Quinn Do (80,600), Roland de Wolfe (61,300), and Allen Cunningham (60,200).

Wednesday’s Tournament

Only one event again on the calendar today, with the debut of the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event. This event usually is played with rebuys, but their elimination this year makes this a new event. As usual, players will start with 5,000 in chips followed by two “free rebuy” chips to add to their stacks at any time in the first three levels. The WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 250, but expect closer to 400 when play starts at noon this afternoon. Follow along with the action at www.wsop.com and return to Pokerati during the day for other stuff.

Recapping the early part of Tuesday action at the WSOP…

JC’s a Runaway Tran in PLO

JC Tran took down his 2nd career WSOP bracelet in the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event defeating Jeff Kimber in heads-up play to also adds $235,685 to his tournament database. Ross Boatman finished in 4th, John Juanda finished in 9th place.

Wolpert Topples Duthie Heads Up

The $10,000 NL Holdem Heads Up World Championship just conclude with Leo Wolpert taking the final two matches to defeat John Duthie 2-1 and pick up $625,682. Duthie settles for the 2nd place winnings of $386,636. Duthie won the first match in about 90 hands, while Wolpert won the second match in just nine hands. The third match took 191 hands, ending when Wolpert flopped bottom two pair against Duthie’s top pair.

Micon Trying to Schock the World

The $1,500 HORSE now has six players remaining at the final table, as Mitch Schock is the current chip leader with Shannon Shorr, Tad Jurgens, Bryan Micon, Brian Malcolm, and James Van Alstyne round out the final table.

Lennaard, Part 7

Ken Lennaard, a veteran Swedish pro, is the current chip leader with 77 players remaining in the $2,000 NL Holdem event. Notables still in the field include: Michael Binger, Peter Feldman, Andre Akkari, Kelly Kim and Chau Giang.

Go, Ho, Go!

The $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship is down to 48 players, only 18 get paid as they strive to reach a final table tomorrow. The current chip leader is online high stakes cash-game specialist Matt Hawrilenko with 272,000. Maria Ho is currently 3rd (225,000) with Ralph Perry (180,000), Josh Arieh (170,000), Steve Zolotow (150,000) and Jennifer Harman (142,000) among the notables still in contention. Ville Wahlbeck is still in the field, but towards the bottom of the field with just 54,000 in chips.

Donkament 4: Voyage to the Rio

The 4th $1,500 NL Holdem event started with a field of 2095, with only 669 players remaining. Unfortunately an early chip leader hasn’t been announced yet, but check out the morning update or wsop.com for an update later this evening.

Recapping what else happened last night, besides Phil Ivey winning bracelet #7…

My Big Fat Pete the Greek Bracelet

“Pete the Greek” Vilandos took down his second career WSOP bracelet with a win last night in the $1,500 NL Holdem event last night, picking up $607,256 for defeating Andy “BKiCe” Seth headsup last night. Seth picks up $372,855 for the runner-up finish, with British actor Michael Greco collecting $248,855.

PLO 8 Final Table an International Affair

The final table of the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better final table was established and somehow, Phil Ivey’s not a part of it. During a break in the Omaha 8/Stud 8 event, with 22 players left, Ivey tried to rebuild his stack, but was eliminated in the first hand he played to finish 22nd, just off the bubble. Here’s who made the final table and how they’re situated when they return at 2pm on Sunday:

Seat 1: Anthony Lellouche – 533000
Seat 2: Roland de Wolfe – 386000
Seat 3: Alex Kravchenko – 267000
Seat 4: Andrew Black – 182000
Seat 5: Brett Richey – 238000
Seat 6: Scott Clements – 801000
Seat 7: Armando Ruiz II – 192000
Seat 8: John Racener – 214000
Seat 9: Robert Campbell – 152000

Obligatory Limit Holdem Mention

15 players remain in the $1,500 Limit Holdem event with Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri the chip leader with 400,000 in chips. Rep Porter (196,000) and Richard Brodie (152,000) are among the remaining combatants.

They Shoot Donkeys, Don’t They?

Day 2 of the $1,500 NL Holdem event returns with a field of 327 players returning at 2pm, only 270 make the money. The chip leader is Holland’s own Van Dung Nguyen is the reported chip leader with 218,000 in chips. Other notables and people who have names that are better known on other people who return include: Marco Johnson (126,200), Eva Farha (57,300), Kelly Kim (55,500), Derek Tomko (49,100), Jason Potter (40,800), Thor Hansen (39,000), and Liv Boeree (24,200).

Mid-June Madness

Round 3 of the $10,000 NL Holdem Heads-Up World Championship return at 2pm with 64 players remaining, one more win is needed for the money to be reached. Brock Parker, Tom Dwan, Chris Ferguson, Erik Seidel, Dario Minieri, Vanessa Rousso, and Jason Mercier are among those returning to attempt at winning three more matchups today to move on to the final day on Monday.

Sunday’s Tournaments/Projections

The Heads-Up event means were now into the second half of the WSOP, so it’s all downhill from here! Another doubleheader today with the 12pm tournament with the debut of the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event, which has a projected field size of 350 (take the over). The 5pm event will be $1,500 HORSE which was won last year by James Schaaf in a field of 803 to win over $250,000. The field size for this event is projected at 883 (take the slightly under with a field of about 850).

Check out www.wsop.com and Pokerati during Sunday for all the latest on still another busy day at the World Series of Poker.