WSOP Top 10: now in colour!

They’ve been updated through 33 events … and whether or not it matters to you, are now presented by our good even better friends at Betfair. (They were kind enough to pay for the little flags you can now see in the sidebar — because who doesn’t like little flags?)

Click here to see the Pokerati World Standings in further detail.

Obviously it’s all about the bracelets (and associated spoils) … because with a second WSOP victory, Canada has asserted itself as more than just a suburb of the United States. Not quite a poker superpower yet –but capable of outplaying nuclear-armed countries and just about all other icy, hockey-loving socialist domains.

And speaking of … Sweden showed up in the Top 10 this week, letting us all know that there’s more than just Finland and Denmark (sooo 2008) to Scandiland. But the big arrival, in the eyes of this Nevada-based Texan, is Mexico. Hmm, wonder if a recent surge in Latino marketing by poker bizzers has had an effect … or vice versa.

More…

A recap of the events from earlier this morning, trying something new to avoid the wall of text my morning reports have become:

Harb-oring a bracelet

Congratulations go out to Anthony Harb who took down the $2,000 NL Holdem event for $569,254 earlier this morning, outlasting Peter Rho and Jim Geary. All three players had cashed in earlier events in the WSOP as Harb and Rho cashed in the $1k NL Stimulus Special), while Geary finished 7th in the $1,500 OHL event.

Off to a Flying Finn-ish start

Onnittelu to the first Finn to win a WSOP bracelet, as Ville Wahlbeck, who had an earlier 3rd place finish in the $10,000 7 Card Stud World Championship bested David Chiu in heads-up play to take home the bracelet that eluded him earlier in the week, collecting nearly $500,000. He also moves into the lead in the WSOP Player of the Year race with 160 points, ahead of Phil Ivey and Vitaly Lunkin’s 110 points.

Another Finn looking for some glory of his own will be Tommi Horkko, who is the chip leader (509,000) with 11 left when the $2,500 Limit Holdem 6-max event gets underway at 1pm today. Daniel Negreanu (470,000) is close behind in 2nd place. Barry Shulman, Brock Parker, Shawn Buchanan and Nikolay Losev are the more notable names remaining in the compact field.

NAFTA: $2,500 NL version

The $2,500 NL Holdem event will also return at 1pm today with 20 players returning to play down to a winner. It”ll be like the Ross Perot v Al Gore debate all over again as Texan Gregg Merkow starts play as the chip leader (932,000), with Mexico’s Angel Guillen (860,000) and Canada’s Bahador Ahmadi (800,000) are the top three stacks fighting it out in the name of free trade and poker supremacy. Other international invaders who’ll be trying to take the bracelet to their own trade zone includes the UK’s Roland de Wolfe (400,000) and Russia’s Kirill Gerasimov (390,000).

Brazilian waxing 5k NL holdem

Brazilian Clemencau Calixto, not to be confused with the New Mexico band Calexico, is the chip leader (186,300) at the end of day 1, as 164 players will return at 2pm. Frere Jacques Faraz Jaka is 3rd in chips at 172,200. Other notables who are in the top half of the field: defending champion Scott Seiver (118,600), Jimmy “Gobbo” Fricke (112,200), Isaac Baron (101,300), David Benefield (85,200), Gavin Griffin (69,100), Erik Seidel (65,900), and Dan Heimiller (56,200).

$1,500 7 Card Studs

From a field of 359, only 97 will make their way back into the Rio at 2pm to attempt to reach a final table. The day 1 chip leader is David Levi (49,600). Among those in the top 10: Dutch Boyd (47,700), Jeff Lisandro (40,700), Jason Mercier (35,000), and Eli Elezra (31,100). Other notables include: Sam Grizzle, Nick Frangos, Pokerati’s own Robert Goldfarb, and Barbara Enright.

Hey Ladies!

Today’s event at 12 noon is the $1,000 NL Holdem Ladies’ World Championship, which was won last year by professional Svetlana Gromenskova in a field of 1,190 to collect just over $220,000 in cash. It remains to be seen if any guys will attempt to enter the field like last year, but it’ll surely make a great photo op for someone bold enough to give it a try.

Omaha, 8? You better!

The 5pm event today will be the $10,000 Omaha 8 or Better World Championship which was won last year by David Benyamine in a field of 235 to add over $535,000 to his tournament stats.

Projections

$1,000 Ladies World Championship – 1,190 (take the over, saying 1,254)
$10,000 OHL World Championship – 247 (take the under, guessing 231)

Follow the updates at www.worldseriesofpoker.com and Pokerati for the other stuff.

It’s becoming less and less of a secret that I get excited about most things soccer-y … and since moving to Nevada from Texas I really miss Mexicans. (We have Latinos here in Las Vegas, but the food, the music, the lawn care … not the same.) So you can imagine I was quite delighted to see PokerStars getting in bed with Mexican Futbol’s Primera Division.

This development actually probably has more to do with recent WPT World Championship-casher Boris Becker and “sports” in general than it does poker-and-soccer specifically, but still … here’s a sample of the ads they’re running on Mexican TV, this one featuring CD Chivas’ Luis Michel:

More at 2+2.

The World Poker Store announced the expansion of its Bar Poker League into Mexico with plans to host 40 free tournaments per week in or around Mexico City, beginning in February of 2009. Liga Mexicana de Poker is set to become the licensee of the Bar Poker League and manage the tournaments.

Other Bar Poker Leagues are set to begin in 2009 – China and Germany in January, The Netherlands in February. Those ideas sound great…but Mexico? Has someone missed the news recently about the LAPT’s rather serious problems with hosting a tournament in that country? Like when Mexican officials shut down the event without warning, refused to let the tournament resume despite talks between attorneys, and supposedly seized all of the production equipment that the government still holds nearly a week later… Sure hope someone lets the World Poker Store know about that little poker snafu south of the border.

That’s the unconfirmed word we’re hearing around Vegas this weekend: Apparently 441 Productions — the same TV crew that shoots the WSOP for ESPN — is still in Mexico, as their equipment has been confiscated(?) and they’re not gonna leave El Sur without it. Not sure if 441 honcho Matt Maranz is with his camerapeeps in Nuevo Vallarta or is back home stateside talking with Ross Perot about what it will take to send in an armed helicopter to liberate any gear being held hostage.

That’s the word just in … remaining runners will pick up where they left off chip-wise and play the tournament online (at PokerStars, natch) down to a final table, which will be held live in Chile. $50k new overlay, too. According to Jessie in Pokerstarzistan:

Hi Dan,

We just wanted to provide you with an official update from PokerStars on LAPT Mexico.

The Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) confirms that it is cancelling the poker tournament in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, due to an indefinite suspension served on one of its local partners.

The LAPT states it has cooperated fully and in good faith with the requirements outlined by the Mexican government. The LAPT respects and abides by local regulations in each market.

LAPT’s partner in Mexico obtained a formal ruling from the Mexican Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB) allowing the event to take place. As the LAPT complied with every rule stipulated by the Code of the Mexican Federal Law of Games and Raffles, the reasons for suspension are beingreviewed by lawyers of all parties.

All the best,
Jessie

POKERSTARS.NET LAPT MEXICO SUSPENDED

Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico – December 9, 2009 — PokerStars.net today announced that they will be offering a free roll on their site to all remaining players in the suspended LAPT Mexico event. The players will start with the same number of chips they had when the tournament was suspended and they will play down to the final table. The final nine will then be flown to the LAPT Vina del Mar in Chile, where they will finish the tournament live on a televised table.

More…

This tournament just will not go away, but that’s probably a good thing for the 89 players who felt a little left out in the cold warmth. No shot at a televised final table or a piece of Latin American fame or more money than $5500.

So, PokerStars is offering a freeroll tournament online – time and date to be determined by the availability of the players – for the 89 finalists, who will start with the number of chips they had at the time of the suspension. The nine who reach the final table will be flown down to Vina del Mar, Chile, the site of the next LAPT stop in January, to play for the win…and for television.

“We know that many of our remaining players really wanted the opportunity to finish this tournament and earn their shot at an LAPT title” says Sarne Lightman, Director of Marketing for PokerStars Latin America. “Although the tournament was suspended and the prize money distributed, PokerStars still wants to offer their players this extra opportunity. PokerStars will also be adding $50,000 in prize money to the final table. “

Inspiring shit over at Tao of Poker — with reports from the LAPT’s ill-fated venture into Nuevo Vallarta. Shame on me for not considering the imminent dangers … as I forgot whom we’re dealing with here:

Someone suggested that we remove our badges. For a couple of moments, I was on edge and extremely concerned at the safety of Change100 and myself and my fellow media reps like Owen, Otis, Joe, Alex, and everyone else. I never thought that I’d get tossed into prison in Mexico for a non-drug charge. Then I got really freaked out. The federalies wouldn’t throw me in jail. They’d whack me. Journalists are the enemy in third world countries and forty-five journalists were killed in Mexico since 2000. According to Reporters without Borders, Mexico is considered the most dangerous country for journalists with the exception of Iraq.

In the end there would be no gunfire, but a tense standoff between an international poker company and a shady second-world gov creates a pretty dramatic look at the sociopoliticonomic world we live in — with nearly a million dollars in play, one side walks into a trap, while the other shoots itself in the foot … everyone else scrambles in the crossfire.

Click here to get the full story of Otis’ Amazing 35th Birthday Party.

It seems that nothing has been resolved in the suspension of the Latin American Poker Tour stop in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. The LAPT itself nor PokerStars, the official sponsor of the tournament, have been able to put together a statement yet, as they are likely still trying to determine what can be done to save this situation…if anything.

Not only were there 89 players left in the tournament, including poker blogger turned poker pro Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck, but members of various media outlets were forced to leave the tournament area quickly as well. As Kevin mentioned, Dr. Pauly is there for PokerNews, but among the others are Owen for PokerListings and Otis and Change100 for PokerStars. Most of them aren’t writing anything about what happened yet and likely won’t until they’re out of the country.

F-Train, a field tournament reporter not on this trip, wrote a little ditty about it, posing the obvious “what to do” questions:

The tournament was stopped late on Day 1. 89 players remained when federal cops shut everything down. Not only did they shut everything down, but the entire room was cleared — players, media, dealers and all tournament staff. There is no way to confirm who was sitting where, or what any individual player’s chip count was at the time of the shutdown.

Pretend you’re LAPT President Glenn Cademartori or LAPT Tournament Director Mike Ward. Assume that play will not be able to resume as scheduled tomorrow. What would you do with the prize pool? How would you resolve this situation?

Still awaiting a statement or word that everyone is safely on planes, trains, or automobiles outta there.

Pokerstars’ Latin American Poker Tour’s first visit to Mexico may be its last. Play started on Friday with 242 players paying $2,500+200 to play at the Marival Resort in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. It appears that corrupt government officials weren’t paid off there were some sort of procedural issues that weren’t completed (there are no casinos in Mexico, so Pokerstars apparently had to get a waiver for this tournament). Play was suspended late Friday with 89 players remaining in the tournament with the hope that play will resume at noon local time Saturday. Pauly is down there right now, doing live updates and reporting for Pokernews, so expect more on this developing story throughout the day.

Fidel Castro just resigned as el presidente de Cuba, and what better way to celebrate the conclusion of his 49 years of dominance than by playing poker and munching on a Montecristo #4 from Havana? That’s how they roll in Mexico, specifically if you’re an American expat in the Yucatan:

Poker Night at Mercer Cigars
Wednesday nights are poker nights at Mercer Cigars. Everyone who participates gets a free Cuban cigar. Buy-in is $500 pesos and First place takes 60% plus a Romeo & Juliet Churchill cigar. Complimentary refreshments will be served, and beer, wine, food and cigars are available. Call for more information or to reserve your spot!

Location : Mercer Cigars, Prolongacion Montejo 85-3, 15 y 17, Colonia Mexico (next to La Parilla )
Time : 8:30 P.M.
Phone : 944-3647

Sounds like smokey good times. Wish I could be there … top-heavy payout structure and all.

Fidel Castro as the [cards]3s[/cards].