It was a bit of a slow week as far as big money goes, but yours truly has searched far and wide for as much tournament action as you can stomach in this week’s report.

WPT Marrakech (Marrakech, Morocco)

Coming to a conclusion just after last week’s report hit the “presses”, the main event at the WPT Marrakech managed to pull in quite a few big names, including Carlos Mortensen, David Benyamine and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier. No one in this group managed to make much of an impact, and in fact there were very few names that would recognizable for American poker fans.

What the final table of WPT Marrakech did have was the French version of this year’s WSOP Main Event final table. Instead of a handful of Joes they had a pair of Guillame’s as well as a Sebastien and a Sebastian, the latter holding the chip lead entering eight-handed play. Sebastian Homann never relinquished his top position, dominating the final table on the way to a win and €244,508. [Bluff]

WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Just 54 of the 439 players who entered the main event of the WPT Five Diamond World Poker classic have survived through Day 3. A venerable murderer’s row of pros are still vying for this title, including Doyle Brunson, Freddy Deeb, Vanessa Rousso and The Chainsaw Himself, who bagged just enough chips to come into Day 4 in 53rd of 54. No word on whether or not his lobbying of Matt Savage to reset blinds and antes has been effective, but we’ll keep you posted as news comes in. Antonio Esfandiari is the chip leader, and the only player to eclipse the 1 million chip mark. Creeping up behind him in second place is the infamous Doug Lee.

Speaking of Lee, he recently did a lengthy interview with Marco of QuadJacks that should not be missed. This four-part opus delves into many of the controversies involving and having been linked to Lee over the last couple of years.

Earlier action in the prelims at the Five Diamond saw Tom Marchese take down a $1,000 rebuy event in his push for various Player of the Year awards, while in a result that would shock nobody if they had stopped watching tournament poker on TV in 2005, Josh Arieh flexed his Omaha skills in winning a slim field of 22 in a Pot Limit Omaha with rebuys event. [WPT Live Updates]

UKIPT Galway (Galway, Ireland)

Heavy snow in Ireland actually managed to delay this event by one day, but apparently not even Mother Nature could stop Nick Abou Risk from becoming a two-time winner on the UKIPT and €67,100 richer. The bigger story may have been local amateur Trish Mallin continuing the “Year of the Woman”, putting up quite a run before ultimately finishing in second. [PokerStars Blog]

WSOPC Harrah’s Atlantic City (Atlantic City, New Jersey)

One of the “Big 4” Regional Championship locations on the redesigned WSOP Circuit, Harrah’s Atlantic City started preliminary action on Saturday, with 1,250 players signing up for the $350 event, a Harrah’s AC record. One of those involved was your fearless author, who managed the impressive feat of winning just one pot in the first four 30 minute levels of play. The aptly named Christopher Rivers had a bit more success, taking down the circuit ring and $65,000 for his troubles. [WSOP]

We sometimes forget that a lot of poker players out there — particularly mid-tier pros — rely on big tournaments to help them make their living. So when they see something potentially asinine, they get a little upset. Unlike we analysts, who simply laugh, scoff, and position ourselves to “cover” what could well be a gloriously entertaining collapse.

So it goes for the upcoming Bellagio 5-Diamond event in April — which features a ridiculous 17 rebuy tournaments as its preliminary events. Seriously, someone has lost it here, right? We’ll see if we can’t get a comment from Tourney Director Jack McClelland on what’s the thought process behind this. Because right now, the best we can deduce arbitrarily surmise is that maybe it would be contractually better for him to get fired as opposed to resigning?

Some players were so incensed by this rebuy-crazy sked, supposedly, that they began circulating a petition to change the schedule back to its original set-up — a scheduling revolt supposedly led by Scott Clements. And in it, they proposed an alternative that seemed to make more sense. However, according to 2+2, the Bellagio has said thanks-but-no-thanks to the suggestion — leaving some players already talking about skipping this series, and a few media types excited about the pending collapse.

The latest and greatest from Huff and Seebs as they review the WPT Five Diamond Doyle Brunson Classic, an interview with 2009 CardPlayer POY (and new addition to Team UB Eric Baldwin) and a story on several players shaving their heads in support of Thuy Doan. Parts 2 and 3 appear on the following page:

More…

Courtesy of PokerListings

By all accounts, the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic final table was going to be a good one with a line-up that included Corkins, Sung, Rheem, and Filippi. But most eyes were on Rheem, who was one of the November Nine favorites but had to settle for a seventh place finish at the 2008 WSOP final table.

Rheem was determined going into the WPT final table, even knowing that two of his opponents – Steve Sung and Amnon Filippi – were close friends. But as players dropped out of sight, Rheem was able to go heads-up against Justin Young in what ended up being a five-hour epic heads-up match. The chip lead was exchanged numerous times, but it may have been sheer determination and fan support that led Rheem to finally capture the title at 2am. He won the World Poker Tour title and the $1,538,730 that came with it.

Here are the final results:

6th – Hoyt Corkins $216,175
5th – Amnon Filippi $288,235
4th – Steve Sung $396,206
3rd – Evan McNiff $540,440
2nd – Justin Young $936,760
1st – Chino Rheem $1,538,730

I would point you to the official WPT live updates, but it has been unavailable on the internets all morning. So, for updates as they happened throughout the final table, check out Martin’s reporting at PokerListings.

Meanwhile, our buddy Tom, the high-stakes pro who coulda made more money at Bellagio as a volunteer blogger than he did as a poker player during his 5-diamond extended weekend, is apparently all the rage in Bulgaria. Pic #1 of 100 … pretty impressive:

(Thanks, Shamus, for the link.)

Dutch is having a good December. Not only did he win one of the preliminary events at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio – the $2K NLHE event – but he found out this morning that he won his case against PokerHost.com.

The battle with PokerHost ensued in October when he received notice from an attorney that there was a UDRP complaint against him for holding the PokerHost.net domain. Dutch then turned the PokerHost.net site into one about the case and stood his ground on the issue, since he had tried to negotiate with them for quite some time before the complaint to no avail. But this morning, he received notice that the World Intellectual Property Organization decided the case for him, as he documented on his blog:

The Pokerhost.net WIPO decision came today. Not only did I win, but the WIPO panelist found in favor of my reverse domain name hijacking claim, which hardly ever happens. Unfortunately, the UDRP doesn’t actually give any punitive relief to respondents who win on this claim, but it’s nice to get anyway. It definitely put me in a better mood and was a nice thing to wake up to.

In other Dutch news, as it relates to his purchase of Steve Hall’s Pokerfolio domain, the misunderstanding has been settled. According to the text message from Dutch today:

“Just FYI, I did end up giving Steve Hall back Pokerfolio.com for free… Wish him the best.”

Ahhh, the holiday season!

Sure, the Bellagio 5-Diamond is a pretty big deal to the pros — it’s one of those tourneys that harkens back to pre-boom days of the WSOP, both in competition and relative size of the buy-ins. Every table is star-studded, and the no-names who make it to the Fontana Room have fought hard to get there, knowing mathematically maybe one or two of them stands a chance of doing something truly special.

You wouldn’t know anything about it, though, from the 82 bloggers who were in town for the fourth or fifth (anyone know?) annual Unnamed Winter Blogger Holiday Gathering — this year honoring the netty nuptials of Pablo and Gracie (ceremony officiated by Rev. AlCantHang). While all that mattered to the professional world was going on at Bellagio, what attracted reps from the other 99.9 percent of poker players out there was shaking down and out at the MGM and Venetian … where friends, colleagues, and acquaintances gathered for boozing, boasting, bitching, and busting chops, all surrounding a big-but-affordable challenging tourney that would reward on-the-felt bad-assness with real American dollars while everyone else still enjoyed ever-festive poker-bloggery times.

A full moon was closer to Earth than usual, naturally enhancing the funk. Dr. Pauly busted out the portable satellite Tao of Pokerati studio, and before you knew it, our recorded commentary degenerated into lunar analysis of semi-annual drunkfests, slumped-over gambling addicts, donk-ass keno play, and, of course, hookers in a down economy on the late-night Vegas prowl. Recorded live from an extended weekend’s worth of bars, sportsbooks, bedrooms, bathrooms, and casino floors … with guest appearances by Derek, Human Head, Bobby Bracelet, Mean Gene, and PKPNF, before and after his unsuccessful relationship with Betty Underground.

Aural delights below:

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The two chip leaders on Day 2 in the World Poker Tour’s Doyle Brunson 5-Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio (the WPT DB5DWPC?) are Clonie and Kido Pham. I’d say congrats, but I have argued vehemently with many an ESPNer that being chip-leader early in a big tournament is more often a kiss of death than a path to victory. Hopefully I’m wrong — I’d love to see Clonie and/or Kido go extra-deep. Also looking forward to seeing a big-table pic of her without the Full Tilt uniform.

Donkey Bomber, btw, went into Day 2 with 8,000 chips (they started with 45k) … and is still hanging on, now with 20k.

200 players left. Average stack is about 110k. BTW, field size this year was 497, compared to 664 last year. But by no means does there seem to be a shortage of any periphery play at Bellagio.

Click here to follow the tournament action.

UPDATE: Tom is out.

Also, a WPT video update, where we learn it snowed in Las Vegas today (or at least in Summerlin), Daniel Negreanu doesn’t like to tip valet parkers, and apparently now he drinks again (didn’t he go straight-edge at some point?):

The new episode is a pretty good one … Joe, Gavin, Shronk (via robot voice), a hot girl, and the other guy Ali Nejad haven’t even gotten to the Annie Duke interview that I clicked over to listen to yet … but they’ve kept me thoroughly infotained talking about the Bellagio 5-Diamond blind structure, November Nine TV appearances, and a few poker hands.

Good stuff. Goes well with FoxNews in the background: PokerRoad Radio, with Annie Duke

UPDATE: OK, I listened … and though I’m not sure I cared to know so many details about Annie Duke-Joe Reitman sex, she does answer some questions revealing why she didn’t participate with 60 Minutes (her claims of their falsehoods to lure her into the story seem totally believable to me — media people do say these things — though I do wonder could they have gone with a more regulation-oriented storyline had she or Paul Legget gone on camera), why she is indeed so confident about AP/UB/Cereus’ commitment to running an honorable business, why she remains a loyal face for the brand (it’s not the money), and how she wants to see Russ Hamilton burn in non-Atheist hell.

She also dances around questions about her rumored appearance on the upcoming season of The Apprentice in a way that semi-confirms she has intimate knowledge of a show beginning in March with a finale in May.

The World Poker Tour has announced that a ceremony will be held on April 21, during the WPT World Championship at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, to award bracelets to each of the 96 past WPT champions.

What a great idea! To memorialize a poker tournament victory with an expensive piece of jewelry that symbolizes the grandeur of what those players accomplished… Wait, haven’t I heard this idea somewhere before? It’s just not coming to me at this moment…

Anyway, the private Ceremony of Champions will take place at the “O” Theater at the Bellagio, where the players’ victories and accomplishments will be celebrated, and each will be awarded a Tiffany & Co. personalized titanium and diamond bracelet. Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten will be the Masters of Ceremony.

From the press release:

“There are so many incredible stories to celebrate from the six World Poker Tour seasons and we are thrilled to pay tribute to each of our WPT Champions,” said WPT Founder, President and CEO, Steve Lipscomb. “The championship bracelet has become synonymous with poker as a symbol of achievement and respect, and we are honored to continue the tradition that Benny Binion began over 30 years ago.”

When Benny Binion began the tradition… DOH!

The World Series of Poker has bracelet events, and now each WPT event will be a bracelet event. Really? I don’t want to say that one company is trying to be like another, but… Is there no other way to congratulate poker players than with a bracelet? What about a gigantic 25-pound bejeweled poker chip? Or a diamond-encrusted wallet to hold all of their dough?

Originality is dead.

The Five Diamond World Poker Classic brings the best in the poker world to the Bellagio each year, and 2007 was no exception. The preliminary events began in late November, and here are some of the better-known winners:

• Event #3 – $2,500 NLHE – 247 entrants, Dutch Boyd won $237,685
• Event #6 – $1,500 NLHE – 508 entrants, Chris McCormack won $239,590
• Event #7 – $2,000 NLHE – 362 entrants, Roy Winston won $230,365
• Event #8 – $2,500 NLHE – 319 entrants, David Pham won $279,845
• Event #12 – $5,000 NLHE – 307 entrants, JC Tran won $523,075

It should be noted that Tom Schneider came in fourth place in Event #3, and Courtney Harrington of PocketFives and PokerRoad made two final tables. Sully Erna, lead singer of Godsmack, came in second to JC in Event #12. Other notables who made final tables included Theo Tran, Kevin Saul, Jared Hamby, Nick Binger, Amnon Filippi, Dan Alspach, Marco Johnson, Shannon Shorr, and David Williams.

David Pham also sealed his status as the CardPlayer Player of the Year.

Next up was the $15,000 WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic main event. The total number of players was 664, and the prize pool was $9,661,200 – the biggest prize pool ever outside of the WSOP main event and WPT World Championship.

Hopes were high that several big names would make the final table, but many of them just couldn’t get there. Phil Ivey was the Day 1 and Day 2 chip leader but imploded on Day 3 to be eliminated. Gus Hansen was doing well for days until he busted in 22nd place, and Daniel Negreanu took a chip lead into Day 5 but was sent home in 14th. Other bustouts included Erick Lindgren in 10th, Jimmy Tran in 8th, and Raymond Davis in 7th.

Five Diamond Final Table – Courtesy of the World Poker Tour

The best known player at the final table was David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Ryan Daut is a young player who won a WPT title in January, and Jordan Rich and Eugene Katchalov are young pro players. Ken Rosen is a virtual unknown, and Ted Kearly is a 75-year old former college football coach.

In the fastest WPT final table on record, Eugene Katchalov took his final table chip lead to victory for a $2,482,605 payday. All of the action was summed up here.