We know we’re entering into that final phase of the Series … with One Drop, the $50k Players Championship, and holiday barbecue plans taking shape … Cue the fireworks: the Main Event is right around the corner, marking the next new year for poker!

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1. Nolan Dalla calling for Venetian boycott

Marco riles up an impassioned plea from the WSOP media director for poker players to unite in meaningful opposition to Sheldon Adelson. [source: YouTube/QuadJacks]

More…

Jonathan Roy
Photo: World Poker Tour

Today’s Boxscore

Jonathan Roy $779,710 – World Poker Tour Montreal
Brock Parker $372,568 – Borgata Fall Open
Geoff Smith NZ$80,502 – ANZPT Auckland

The World Poker Tour Montreal stop may not have been a televised event, but that didn’t stop it from drawing all kinds of interest over the weekend. Things started off well when it was obvious attendance was going to be great well before the first card was dealt. Nearly 1,200 players traveled to the Great White North and Playground Poker venue received plenty of kudos from the players.

That was until Allen “King of the Endless Needle” Kessler decided to have one of his first-class hissy fits, even going so far as post his complaints on Facebook, the home of cat videos and high school bullies. Kessler took issue with the 60-minute levels and voiced his complaints publicly on Twitter and once again made a joke out of a real issue.

This final table would have made for some great TV as Canada’s drunkest son Gavin Smith was there on the last day along with Jeff Gross and Pascal Lefrancois. Gross had easily the most famous rail birds in the room as his best friend, and most decorated Olympian ever, Michael Phelps make a surprise visit for support. Eventual winner Jonathan Roy’s rail wasn’t too shabby either with 2010 WSOP Main Event Champion Jonathan Duhamel among his supporters.

Link Dump

Tweet(s) of the Day – That’s what hell of a cheering section, beats Gavin Smith’s section which probably consisted of bartenders, drunkards, and off duty strippers.

Pumped for the kid today!! Just surprised him for the final 6 of the #wptmontreal @playgroundpoker !!!! #weeeeneedit

— Michael Phelps (@MichaelPhelps) November 27, 2012

Man the kid!!! Can’t be more happy for what @jgross5 did!! Proud of u man!!!!

— Michael Phelps (@MichaelPhelps) November 28, 2012

Could Online Poker Help Avert the Fiscal Cliff? – I find all kinds of interesting articles throughout the week in terms of poker, gambling, and people who should be nominated for the Darwin awards. This is good read questioning whether online poker, instead of raising taxes, is a valid way to avoid the “fiscal cliff”. It’s also an SEO bonanza. (Warning, they make you enter an email address to read the entire article.)

Will online poker fall off the fiscal cliff? – On the other side, a horseracing blogger asks if the “fiscal cliff” will kill the chances of online poker in the near future. I’ve officially hit my quota of using the term “fiscal cliff”.

Pro Poker Player Embraces #GivingTuesday – Faraz Jaka, one of the good guys in poker, has a nice bio piece on the Huffington Post about his charitable side. Nice to see poker players being in the news for something positive.

WPT Montreal: Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps – Jeanine (Freddy not Shaun) Deeb was the lucky one to grab an interview with the 18-time Olympic medalist while he was on the rail for his best friend.

Two more bracelet winners became known Sunday morning, and the rest of Saturday’s action:

Papola denies the Master bracelet #8

Jeffrey Papola defeated Men Nguyen in the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event, earning $667,443 and his first career bracelet. Nguyen earned $412,746 for the second-place finish, moving into a three-way tie for first in the WSOP Player of the Year race with Michael Mizrachi and James Dempsey. Erick Lindgren finished sixth for $82,303. Full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report are available at wsop.com.

Velador slams the door on his second bracelet

Luis Velador took down the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha/Pot-Limit Holdem title as he defeated David Chiu heads-up, good for $260,517 and his second career WSOP bracelet. Chiu earned $160,902 for the second place finish, moving into a tie for 6th in the WSOP Player of the Year race. Full results and Dalla’s tournament report can be found at wsop.com.

10k NL Heads-Up down to an Elite 8

The final day of the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Holdem Championship resumes at 3pm with these matchups:

Jason Somerville vs. Kido Pham
Faraz Jaka vs. Ayaz Mahmood
Alexander Kostritsyn vs. Ludovic Lacay
Ernst Schmejkal vs. Vanessa Rousso

The matches will be single-elimination until the finals, a best of three match. Follow the action at PokerNews.

Minetti leads Seniors’ event, Schneider among final 23

Day 3 of the $1,000 Seniors’ No-Limit Holdem Championship resumes at 2:30pm with Michael Minetti leading the final 23 players with 1,038,000 in chips. Other notables returning include Michael Woo (523,000), Jack Ward (519,000), and Team Pokerati/Loudmouth Poker pro Tom Schneider (284,000). The full list of chip counts is at PokerNews.

Montgomery leads day 1a of 1k NL

Original November Niner Scott Montgomery (75,200) led the day 1a survivors in the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event as the field played halfway through level 9 to get down to 286 players. Other notables: Neil Channing (64,500), Michael Gracz (52,700), Fabrice Soulier (39,125), Liv Boeree (24,275) and Leo Margets (22,875). The full list of chip counts is available at wsop.com.

Siegel super at day 1 of 3k HORSE

Day two of the $3,000 HORSE resumes at 3pm with Jordan Siegel leading the 207 players who remain with 66,900 in chips. Other recognizable names include: Darus Suharto (55,100), Dan Heimiller (52,100), Howard Lederer (44,400), Chau Giang (36,400) and Eugene Katchalov (29,900). The full list of chip counts is available at wsop.com.

Sunday’s tournaments

12pm is day 1b of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event, with a field of at least 1,000 expected. The 5pm tournament is the $10,000 Pot-Limit Holdem Championship, won last year by John Kabbaj in a field of 275 for $633,335.

Time to recap the Saturday afternoon action:

Lindgren and Nguyen highlight 5k 6-max FT

Six players remain at the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max final table with Jeffrey Papola (2,340,000) leading when play resumed at 9pm. The rest of the final table is made up of Erick Lindgren (1,670,000), Men Nguyen (1,505,000), Orlando Delacruz (1,100,000), Bruno Launais (1,003,000) and Mark Radoja (480,000). Follow the action at PokerNews.

Velador vibrant at PLO/PLH FT

Eight players remain in the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha/Pot-Limit Holdem final table with Jose Luis Velador (985,000) holding the chip lead. Kevin MacPhee (631,000), David Chiu (437,000), Rob Hollink (323,000), and Victor Ramdin (200,000) are the notable names remaining, follow the action at PokerNews.

10k NL HU at Round 4

The $10,000 No-Limit Holdem Heads-Up Championship is currently at round 4 with players now in the money. Among the round 4 winners: Faraz Jaka, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Brian Rast, Kido Pham, Ludovic Lacay and Jason Somerville. One more round is scheduled for 11pm tonight, with the 8 survivors playing to a winner Sunday afternoon. See who else moves on at wsop.com.

Seniors’ sauntering along at day 2

Less than 150 players remain as play continues on day 2 of the $1,000 Seniors’ No-Limit Holdem Championship with Duane Gerleman (210,000) reported as the chip leader. Other notables in the hunt: Team Pokerati/Loudmouth Poker pro Tom Schneider (181,000), Berry Johnston (110,000), Susie Isaacs (60,000) and John Spadavecchia (55,000). Find more info over at wsop.com.

Day 1a of 1k NL underway

A field of 2,485 1,987 started day 1a of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem with around 550 players remaining, scheduled to play 10 levels or down to about 360 players, whichever comes first. Notables who’ve grown their 3,000-chip stack: Scott Montgomery (25,000), Liv Boeree (24,700), Neil Channing (18,000) and Lee Childs (11,000). More updates and chip counts can be found at PokerNews.

3k HORSE field saddles up

The 5pm tournament today, $3,000 HORSE, drew a field of 478 entrants with the top 48 making the money, with the winner earning $329,840. The early leader is Robert Willamson III with 16,000 in chips, followed by Andre Akkari (13,000), Shaun Deeb (12,500), Matt Savage (11,700) and Scotty Nguyen (10,500). More updates as eight levels of play is scheduled at PokerNews.

Season 8 of the World Poker Tour concluded Saturday evening with David Williams winning the $25,000 WPT World Championship, defeating Eric Baldwin in heads-up play. Williams collects $1,530,537 for his win, moving him into the top 20 on the all-time tournament earnings list. Shawn Buchanan’s third place finish meant Faraz Jaka became WPT Player of the Year. The full results from the final table:

1 David Williams $1,530,537
2 Eric Baldwin $1,034,715
3 Shawn Buchanan $587,906
4 David Benyamine $329,228
5 Billy Baxter $246,921
6 John O’Shea $199,888

The poker tournament circuit never stops though, as season 6 of the European Poker Tour holds their final tournament the €10,000 Euro Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Live coverage is available over at PokerNews and on the PokerStars Blog.

For the third time in seven weeks, a woman has won a major poker tournament. Today, it was UB sponsored pro Liv Boeree the winner of the PokerStars.it EPT San Remo event, officially winning 1,250,000 Euros (about $1.7m US), defeating Jakob Carlsson in heads-up play. Below is a clip of the winning hand:

Meanwhile at the WPT World Championship, Heather Sue Mercer started Day 4 second in chips (1,364,000) with 35 players remaining. The only woman to win a non-ladies WPT event was Van Nguyen’s win at the sorta-open 2008 WPT Invitational. Among other notables remaining when play resumes at noon PT: Shawn Buchanan (1,841,000), Billy Baxter (887,500), Faraz Jaka (856,000), Phil Hellmuth (806,500), David Benyamine (731,000) Carlos Mortensen (586,000) and JJ Liu (495,000). Follow the live updates over at the the World Poker Tour site.

UPDATE: Mercer out in 20th

The two major tournament circuits not named The World Series of Poker are currently running at the same time, with vastly different results. First, the $25,000 World Poker Tour World Championship at the Bellagio drew a field of only 195 entrants as registration closed after the conclusion of level 8. This continues the downward trend in the field size of most WPT events the past few years. Two years ago, the field in the WPT W.C was 545 players (won by David Chiu) and 338 last year (won by Yevginey Timoshenko). Only 18 spots will be paid, with the winner earning around $1,500,000. WPT Player of the Year leader Faraz Jaka is the current chip leader with 500,000 in chips. Follow the WPT Live updates here.

Meanwhile, the PokerStars.it EPT San Remo event drew a field of 1,240 entrants paying €5,000, just 24 remain when play resumes Tuesday for day 5. The current chip leader is Allan Bække (3,483,000), winner of the most recent EPT event in Austria, looking to be the first to win a second EPT main event. The other recognizable name to the casual poker enthusiast is Liv Boeree (1,337,000) First prize is a cool €1,250,000, and you can watch live streaming coverage of the final two days (volcano permitting) will be available at www.pokerstars.tv starting at 6am ET or you can follow the live updates over at PokerNews.

UPDATE: Jason Mercier FTW! [dm]

The final table of the $25,000 High Roller Bounty Shootout concludes the NAPT series at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut this afternoon. If you knock out a player at your table, you collect your opponent’s $5,000 bounty. The last player standing earns $60,000, or $50,000 for Luis Vasquez, seated at the only five-player table. The six shootout winners returning at 12 noon today with live streaming available at www.napt.com/tv (with bounties won so far):

Shawn Buchanan – 4 bounties
Luis Vazquez – 4 bounties
Jason Mercier – 3 bounties
Sam Stein – 3 bounties
Matt Glantz – 2 bounties
Faraz Jaka – 2 bounties

The remaining prize pool, $350,000, will go to the winner, and whomever ends up with the most bounties earns a free entry to the next NAPT High Roller event. The date and location hasn’t been announced, but it will take place after the WSOP concludes in mid-July.

After having what he admitted was his worst year in poker last year, Phil Hellmuth decided some changes were in order. In his blog from February, Hellmuth hired mindset coach Sam Chauhan and had a battery of tests among other changes to get his poker game back to the when he was considered by more than himself as the best player in the world. It appears to be paying off this week, as Hellmuth has made the final table of the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars Main Event Friday afternoon. Here’s how the rest of the final table will be seated when play resumes around 4pm PT (results come from the Hendon Mob Database):

Seat 1: Hasan Habib – 455,000
Seat 2: Phil Hellmuth – 1,433,000
Seat 3: Andy “BKiCe” Seth – 2,164,000
Seat 4: Matt Keikoan – 371,000
Seat 5: Mclean Karr – 1,112,000
Seat 6: Dan O’Brien – 1,129,000

Other big names who missed the final table: Scotty Nguyen (8th), “Miami John” Cernuto (11th), Nick Schulman (13th), Chau Giang (14th), and current WPT Player of the Year leader Faraz Jaka (18th). Live updates will be available from BJ Nemeth and the other good people over at the WorldPokerTour.com site.

In other news related to Hellmuth, Ultimate Bet has decided to cancel the 2010 Aruba Classic as they decided to expand their offerings online, including having a second Ultimate Bet Online Championship series each year.

The North American Poker Tour at the Venetian is coming to its inevitable conclusion with the $5,000 main event final table, scheduled to start at 2pm PT today, with live streaming available at www.napt.com/tv. Here’s how the final table of 8 will look when play resumes:

Seat 1: Daniel Clemente (1,345,000)
Seat 2: Sam Stein (6,145,000)
Seat 3: Thomas Fuller (4,735,000)
Seat 4: “Miami” John Cernuto (1,300,000)
Seat 5: Yunus Jamal (3,940,000)
Seat 6: David Paredes (4,700,000)
Seat 7: Tom “kingsofcards” Marchese (2,370,000)
Seat 8: Eric Blair (1,690,000)

On Thursday, the final table of the $25,000 High Roller Bounty Invitational Shootout will play out, also scheduled to start at 2pm PT. Here’s the final table, with the number of $5,000 bounties each collected:

Scott Seiver (6)
Hoyt Corkins (4)
Faraz Jaka (4)
Joe Cassidy (4)
Brett Richey (3)
Peter Eastgate (2)
Ashton Griffin (2)

Each player earned $75,000 for winning their table, with the last man standing on Thursday pocketing $455,000 in the winner-take-all format. All seven players are also eligible to win an additional $100,000 from PokerStars.net for having the most bounties.

For those looking to follow the action, check out www.pokerstarsblog.com w/ ShortStack Shamus, Jennifer Newell and Otis, or the live reporting over at PokerNews.

Recapping the other Wednesday night action:

Rui Ruling 5k NL Day Two

Rui Cao leads with ~60 players remaining in the $5,000 NL Holdem 6-max, as they play down to 6 players or 3am, whichever comes first. Others in contention include Shaun Deeb, Phil Hellmuth, Blair Hinkle, Darrell Dicken, Faraz Jaka, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Bill Edler, Raymond Davis and Shannon Shorr.

$1,500 NL Final Table

Nine players remain in the $1,500 NL Holdem event, Jason Wheeler is the chip leader, followed by Christopher Bonita, Christopher De Maci, Joseph Chaplin, Tony Veckey, Andrew Malott, David Jaoui, Miha Remic and Sergey Konkin.

Short update tonight, check out www.wsop.com for updates, and good luck to Julie Schneider, who just won a key double up in the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball.