pic: David Clark @PLOGrinder

Don’t wanna say too much because, you know, don’t want any cooler-jinx factor in play … but La Sengphet is the chip leader going into today’s action for the WSOP-C National Championship. 97 players started … (three no-shows) … 35 remain. Top 10 ITM, $300k FTW.

We’ll save for later discussion of there being more Pokerati patches in the field than Full Tilt wearers … as well as jokes about Allen Kessler and the EV of a 97-way chop. For now, the story putting at least a few butterflies in stomachs in and around Caesars Palace … from WSOP.com powered by PokerNews:

Headlining today’s field is La Sengphet with an amassed 165,000 mainly courtesy of a huge call with second pair on a four-club board on one of the final hands of the day. Only two other players sit in the six-figure club with Huy Nguyen (122,700) and Jonathon Poche (121,400) snapping at Sengphet’s heels.

Charles ‘Woody” Moore (95,100), Curt Kohlberg (94,600), Doug ‘Rico’ Carli (72,800), Bernard Lee (70,900), Dwyte Pilgrim (36,300) and Allen Kessler (23,100) are just a handful of notables still in contention for capturing the $300,000 first prize and coveted gold bracelet.

Traci Brown (the only other woman to qualify for this event) and Pokerati pal Josh Evans are also still alive — though both small-stacked with about 33,000 chips and a chair.

Blinds are 600/1,200 + 200 as play gets underway right about now 20 minutes ago!

They play down today to a final table of 9. Follow along here.

Rabbit Hunt:

Our friends on the Rabbit Hunt podcast jump right into the middle of the Joe Sebok drama this week. The guys break down and criticize both sides of the drama, breaking down what both sides of did wrong. They also discuss why Paul Leggett will probably never agree to come to 2+2 to answer questions from the forum readers and how much work the moderators have had to do over the past few days. Take a listen to the show on either the Cardrunners site or download it directly from iTunes to listen to this interview.

The Bernard Lee Poker Show:

Making its first appearance in the roundup The Bernard Lee Poker Show welcomes mindset coach Sam Chauhan to their show. Chauhan speaks about being in the positive mindset in order to be successful. He also discusses about how he got started in the poker community with a short discussion that he had with Antonio Esfandiari in a restroom at the Rio. To close out the show the two discuss some of the tools that Chauhan uses with his students to keep them in the right mindset. If you would like to listen to this show you can either download it from Bernard’s site, listen to it directly on on Rounders Radio, or through iTunes.

I Am Nanonoko – Team Pokerstars Online Documentary:

OK, this is not a podcast but it was brought to our attention this week from our good friend Dr. Pauly from Tao of Poker. If you have ever wondered what it is like to be in the head of a Supernova Elite you definitely should check out this short documentary that was done on Randy “Nononoko” Lew. Also check out the brief blog that gives an introduction to the film.

Greetings, Pokerati faithful. I’m coming to you live from Foxwoods somewhere deep in the Connecticut wilderness. Today’s reunion of all nine members of the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event final table is the first of its kind in modern times. For the first time since the inception of the November Nine, the entire group has gotten together to play in the same event, along with 18 very lucky Foxwoods winners.

They’re playing a $15,000 freeroll, and its been rumored that there might be quite a bit more on the line for the November Niners. In order to keep things interesting and competitive, there are last longer bets and a few other interesting props that I’ll try to keep track of.

The tournament just got underway, and with 30 minute levels and a 10k starting stack, this freeroll looks like it will take quite some time.

Stay tuned for a couple of updates throughout the day here, as well as a comprehensive post of the Tuesday’s events coming up. To keep up to date with the action, as well as watch a live stream featuring Joseph Cheong, Michael Mizrachi, Matt Jarvis and Lon McEachern, head on over to Foxwoods Live.

Foxwoods Poker Room resident media guy, and fellow churros lover, Jay “WhoJedi” Newnum took time during Day 1 of the Foxwoods Mega Stack Main Event to ask James “jcamby33” Campbell from Marlborough, MA just how he felt about the possibility of a #reidbill-induced blackout.

See what someone representing that elite minority of online players making the *serious moolah* has to say on the subject.

Soundbite->

@WhoJedi: “Are you going to Canada for those fifteen months? What are you gonna do?”

jcamby33: “I talked to the wife about this the other night… we might have to rent a house in Aruba, or someplace tropical.”

Other notable east-coast interviews from Jay are with James Wood and with WSOP 2010 run-deep guy Ronnie Bardah.

***************
Streamit NOW-> justin.tv/foxwoodspoker
Checkit-> foxwoodslive.com
Follow -> @FoxwoodsPoker

MASHANTUCKET, CT: Day 2 of the Mega Stack Challenge XVIII $1000+$100 Main Event begins started 11a EST/8a LV at the Foxwoods Casino here in Connecticut.  I’ve been (living) here at the casino’s Great Cedar hotel since last Friday, after Amtraking my way from DC->CT in the wee hours of the morning, just hours after WSJ announced the existence of #reidbill, whose fate is still yet to be decided in DC.

I’ve split my time mostly between watching the action from the media desk, and railing iPoker from afar via CSPAN2.  It’s occurred to me during my time here, that if #reidbill lives on to become law (or possibly if it does not and the DOJ decides to force the issue anyhow), this casino is exactly the type of entity best positioned to provide once work-a-day online players a comfortable home to grind out a living in New England.

In the event the blackout takes hold in a month or two, say around the beginning of February, iPoker players will need to find local places to play to make a living in live play for at least 15 months, according to the stipulations of the current bill.  Used to making their own schedules, working in their underwear the comfort of their homes, and getting a trillion hands per hour – the #reidbill refugees will be hungry for daily tournaments under -say- $300, satellites into bigger live events such as WSOP 2011, and cash action. Perhaps this even will spell the re-emergence of some sit-n-gos here.

What makes me say that Foxwoods would stand to benefit, in particular?  The tourney room.

Foxwoods WPT World Poker Room
(photo courtesy of @WhoJedi, WJMedia.net)

Foxwoods has a big|bad ~70 table WPT World Poker Room dedicated to tournament play. Cash games were in here once, and then it was home to some slot machines, before being revamped in September 1st of this year.

The tourney room just kinda a *nice place* to exist in. The ceilings are super high, with a lot of natural light coming into the room during the day, and groovy curvy illuminated panels above.  They don’t have table service for food, but there is a deli right behind near the sports book. There’s lots of room to walk between the poker tables, and plenty of displays used both for the clock and TV display.  Suggestion for improvement: get some throne-like chairs akin those used at the Golden Nugget poker room.

The location works well too -> after players bust out of the tournaments, they are be faced with these options.

1) Donk off a bunch of chips at the ~90 table cash room downstairs and hope to hit the huge big bad beat jackpot (quad 8s beaten)

2) Donk off a bunch of chips on the way out of the casino at SHAKE-BO! -> a craps-like table where people take turns activating a Trouble Bubble on ‘roids with pushbutton activators

At least the players would be able to do some of their work at home from their laptops.  The Foxwoods Poker Room uses the ptseats.com reservation system, allowing the players to lock up their seats online.

***************
Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge XVIII -> Day 2 Update
Starts at 11a EST/8a LV
$1000+$100 (2-day) Main Event
69 of 265 entrants remain [30 will cash]

Prize Pool: $257,050 (guarantee was $100k)
1st: $61,692
2nd: $36,244
3rd: $23,392

POI (Person-O-Interest):
Busted: Darvin Moon, Bernard Lee, James Woods (with interview)
In it: Spiros Mitrokostas, WSOP 2006 PLO final tabler – with 205k – midfield
Played other events: Ronnie Bardah, WSOP 2010 Main Event (24th)

Chip counts/seat assignments can be found here.

***************
Streamit NOW-> justin.tv/foxwoodspoker
Checkit-> foxwoodslive.com
Follow -> @FoxwoodsPoker

Darvin may have just-said-no to an invite to the WSOP final table this year, but that doesn’t mean his participation in poker tourneys is finito.

From the heartlands to New England, Darvin Moon has spent the latter part of 2010 running the tournament hosting circuit.  Hosting the Mega Stack Challenge XVII with Chris Moneymaker in August, and making two stops along the Heartland Poker Tour in Iowa/Michigan in the past month, Darvin will be hosting and playing in Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge XVIII $375,000 Guarantee kicking off Saturday in Mashantucket, CT – not too far from Darvin’s homebase in Maryland.

Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge XVIII
December 4-12, 2010

$500+$60 NLHE (2 day) -> $75k guarantee – 20k/50 min
$200+$30 NLHE Re-Entry (2 day, 4 flights 1A/1B) -> $100k guarantee – 8k/30 min
$100+$20 NLHE Deep Stack Special -> $10k guarantee – 15k/20 min
$125+$50+$25 NLHE Bounty Deep Stack-> $15k guarantee – 15k/25 min
$300+$40 NLHE (2 day) -> $75k guarantee – 15k/40 min
$1,000+$100 NLHE Main Event (2 day) -> $100k guarantee – 40k/50 min

Bernard Lee, the Foxwoods Poker Room spokesperson who TV-tabled the HPT Michigan Season Finale a couple weeks back with a 5th place finish, invited Pokerati along to catch the action.

Visit the foxwoodslive.com for @WhoJedi‘s tournament coverage updates.
Follow the @FoxwoodsPoker for event twitfeed.

Follow me @scarlet_lv for other behind-the-scenes updates from Connecticut.

The HPT Soaring Eagle Six took to the TV felt circa 6:45p EST/3:45 LV last night.  There were a number of notables sweating this final table – Darvin and Wendy Moon were on the rail for the entire evening, and Scotty Nguyen made a (brief) appearance.

Though none of the eleven Season VI HPT Champs ran deep to the Six, many of them stuck around the extra night to sweat the final table including HPT POY Bryan Reisner, Las Vegas grinder Kimbo Ung, US Army Staff Sergeant Jason Fennel, aspiring American Idol singer Kurt Fraser, and an extremely personable Matt “MyTmase” Mason (who was diligently counting chipstacks all throughout Day 2.)

Here are the results:

HPT Soaring Eagle Season VI ->$1500 +$150 Main Event
1st: $176,865 Ahmed Harajli
2nd: $88,434 Joey Brown
3rd: $53,060 Jordan Rowan
4th: $41,269 Dean Hamrick
5th: $35,374 Bernard Lee
6th: $29,478 Chuck Earl

The taping of the final table lasted about 5 hours. Chuck Earl was the first to exit the taping area when Dean Hamrick’s big slick & ace-on-the-river combo beat Earl’s Queens.  Pros Dean Hamrick and Bernard Lee busted out 4th and 5th place, respectively.  Early on, Bernard went on a heater, shoving four consecutive times, while everyone folded and urged him to knock it off until on the last hand he showed kings.

Cowboys were not good to him in the endgame – he took a particularly nasty beat when his pockets fell short to 10s, when the case 10 hit the turn (another player revealed after the hand he was holding the other out), ending his tournament life.  Shortly thereafter, Hamrick ran his 33s into QQs, leaving him on the shortstack.  In the next hand, he pushed allin with K-rag vs. AQ, but it did not get there, and he left with fourth place money.

I happened upon the pair conversing during the break just after Lee’s shove-shove-shove-and-shove fest at the FT.

Here is the link to the interview where they discuss running deep together in the $1500 2010 WSOP Main Event where Hamrick won his first bracelet-> rungood.tv| ESPN Inside Deal Host Bernard Lee and Dean Hamrick Square Off at Heartland Poker Tour TV Table

Jordan Rowan cashed out soon after at 3rd, leaving headups to Joey Brown and Ahmed Harajli.  I’m interested to watch the broadcast of this matchup, because without seeing the hole cards, it still was more entertaining to me than watching the Duhamel-Racener matchup streaming on XBox Live. In the end, Joey went all in shortstacked with K5 against Ahmed 10s.  Ahmed’s hand held up, making him champ of the HPT Season VI Finale, surviving a field of 413 players.

Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle, patched in UB, presented the Michigan native with his $176,865.  I overheard the floor saying that Ahmed, showing some real class, requested to donate a portion of his winnings to the Disabled American Veterans charity.

The final TV table of six players has been reached at the Heartland Poker Tour “Championship Open” $1500 +$150 Main Event at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, MI. Six major names in poker played in this two-day event. Scotty Nguyen was eliminated mid Day 1, while Darvin Moon exited the tournament area in the final levels of that day.  Maria Ho finished in the cash earlier today on Day 2.

Tiffany Michelle was TV table “bubble girl”, eliminated by big stack Joey Brown, finishing 7th of 413 entrants and taking home $19,927.

Making the final six was ESPN Inside Deal host and poker pro Bernard Lee, who decided to enter in the tourney at the last minute. Another pro at the table, who has played Bernard previously, is WSOP 2008 Main Event bubble boy Dean Hamrick.  Dean won his first bracelet this year at a $1500 WSOP 2010 NLHE event, and cashed in two others.

Seat Assignments/Chip Counts
Seat 1: Dean Hamrick 715,000
Seat 2: Joey Brown 2,020,000
Seat 3: Bernard Lee 680,000
Seat 4: Chuck Earl 450,000
Seat 5: Jordan Rowan 850,000
Seat 6: Ahmed Harajli 1,520,000

Payouts
1st: $176, 865
2nd: $88,434
3rd: $53,060
4th: $41,269
5th: $35,374
6th: $29,478

Blinds will be set according to the *secret* HPT TV Table magic formula (??) and will last 40 minutes. Cards will be in the air shortly at approximately 6:45p EST/3:45p Vegas.

Follow me @scarlet_lv today for live-tweets from the rail.

Day 1 of the Heartland Poker Tour “Championship Open” $1500 +$150 Main Event tagged-and-bagged @ around midnight at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, MI with 60 players remaining of the original field of 413 (*huge* for HPT.)  This is the finale for season VI of the TV show, and tour regulars comment that it is by far the most star-studded event in their history.

There were five notable pros playing the Main, who attending the PPA-sponsored charity bounty tourney benefiting the Disabled American Veterans on Thursday.

Tiffany Michelle & Maria Ho = future USO?

@TheScottyNguyen was the first of them to fall on D1, with his aces cracked in Level 6 (see rungood.tv|bustout interview vid.)  Darvin Moon’s 99’s pre-flop shortshack jam fell to 77’s set late in Level 11.  @TiffnyMichelle and ESPN Poker’s @BernardLeePoker are healthy; @MariaHo has just over 10BBs.

Play for D2 resumes shortly after 10a EST/7a Vegas today at L13 (40 min levels), playing to 6.  The final TV table of the “HPT Six” is scheduled to begin taping @ 5p EST/2p Vegas.

POI (person-o-interest) Chip Counts:

Tiffany Michelle: 162.5k
Brandon Dosch: (HPT Champ & POY Contender): 162.5k
Matt Alexander: (HPT Champ & POY Contender): 136.5k
Bernard Lee: 118k
Maria Ho: 68.5k

Average Stack = 103,250
Big Stack ~ 230k

Day 2 -> L13 Antes/Blinds = 500/3k/6k

Cash bubble @ 41 players today, and the winner will take down an estimated ~ $177k. (hey, I’m not @KevMath y’all, even *inside* the tourney room.)

Follow @TiffnyMichelle, @BernardLeePoker, @MariaHo for table-twitfeed.
Follow me @scarlet_lv today for live-tweets from the rail.

The World Series of Poker starts on Friday, and the poker media (except for www.wsop.com) are getting ready with their various previews and other stuff to get their readers into the mood for six weeks of tournament action. Part of that is the fifth annual WSOP fantasy draft over at ESPN.com. Unfortunately, Pokerati’s own Dan Michalski apparently missed the conference call (he had the #1 pick) so here were the twelve participants in this year’s draft:

Eric Baldwin
Lance Bradley – Editor at Bluff Magazine
Andrew Feldman – Poker Editor at ESPN.com
Chad Holloway – Poker Pro Magazine
Howard Lederer
Bernard Lee
Daniel Negreanu – Defending champion
Dennis Phillips
Steve “Chops” Preiss – Wicked Chops Poker
Mark Seif
Gavin Smith
Gary Wise

Each participant made eight picks in the draft and the handy chart below displays their selections by round:

A detailed analysis from Feldman on the selections can be found at www.espn.com/poker

Page 2 features how points are earned and my selections:

More…

BJ disappeared to somewhere near the Arctic Circle, leaving Huff to moderate an imaginarily bloody tete-a-tete between me (representing the down-and-dirty side of poker) and G-Wise (representing “big slick”). Bernard Lee also stepped into the fray briefly to discuss his new deal with Foxwoods and offer up his services as a stand-in panelist. (Doesn’t the ESPN analyst and Boston Globe columnist know we can’t let any ole riff-raff into our shtick!)

In addition to a slew of newsbriefs and snoozing through the segment on the Durrrr Challenge, we discuss Lee’s signing with Foxwoods as well as the Forbes’ laying the online poker cards on the table/cover for all to clearly see.

The Poker Beat
2/11/10

[audio:http://www.pokerroad.com/upload/radio/23/audio/TPB21110.mp3]

As more and more casinos proliferate across the United States, some of the old stalwarts are looking for ways to keep themselves at the top of their region when it comes to poker prestige and casino profits … and the famed Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut has hired semi-accomplished poker pro and ESPN analyst Bernard Lee as their new representative.

Beyond being a landmark deal for himself personally, Lee’s partnership with Foxwoods opens up what may or may not become a trend in US brick-and-mortar poker rooms — hiring poker players with brand-worthy recognition to represent them on the tables, in the media, and possibly even at casino business meetings. Who needs an online site when there are fully legal, long-regulated American corporations trying to compete for gambling revenue share?

Pretty nice score for a guy who had one of his worst poker years ever in 2009, going 0-fer in the last WSOP and booking just a single five-figure cash ($13k for a 23rd-place finish in Misssissippi) since the election of Barack Obama.

Click below for the press release Foxwoods has put out announcing their new marriage:

More…

The Inside Deal makes its to its second season on ESPN.com with Joe Cada and John Pappas appearing on the show.

ESPN.com’s Andrew Feldman and Bernard Lee co-host the last Inside Deal episode of the year, discussing the news in the poker world over the past few weeks and a visit from 2009 World Champion Joe Cada. The good news is the web series will continue in 2010.