Dan Bilzerian tweeted this picture of $9.4 million in chips with the caption: “Our poker game is officially fucking huge.”

Flags were flying around Las Vegas — and it had more to do with the WSOP than the 4th of July.

Sure, you can always expect to see more $5,000 chips in play on Vegas felts during the WSOP, but the super-high-stakes action that requires them really picked up this summer — more so than usual, it seems, particularly in the days leading up to Big One for One Drop, the biggest buy-in tournament in history.

Pots in the hundreds of thousands of dollars practically became the norm in The Ivey Room at Aria, where a bunch of billionaires and Hollywood socialites were playing $2k/$4k NL for more than a week. At the same time, a $1k/$2k PLO game was going on in the Pavillion Room at the WSOP, and Doyle Brunson was logging super-long sessions at his home room in Bellagio.

Poker room supervisors say Vegas hasn’t seen this level of action since billionaire banker Andy Beal took on “the Corporation” at the Wynn in 2004. ($15k/$30k and $30k/$60k heads-up limit hold’em was their game.) There’s some chatter among Vegas regs about how different poker rooms go about bringing in certain players while keeping others out — lest the biggest casino whales get devoured too quickly by certain poker sharks.

Here is a 2012 guide to the who/what/when/where/why of the really big games around Las Vegas:

More…

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi of Miami became the first two-time winner of the $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship on Thursday night at the Rio in the World Series of Poker, dominating the field to earn $1.45 million.

Mizrachi, 31, who won the event in 2010, collected his third career World Series of Poker individual event championship bracelet, and ran his career earnings at the tournament to almost $7 million over 29 in-the-money finishes.

The event, considered the tournament’s second-most coveted title after the Main Event, drew a field of 108 competitors. Mizrachi became the first person to have his name engraved twice on the Chip Reese Trophy, named for the late winner of the inaugural event in 2006.

More…

The Hard Rock Hotel’s Detox Poker Series, lead by tournament director extraordinaire Matt Savage had four tournaments playing down to a winner on Sunday. The tournament that drew a lot of attention to the live streaming at the Detox Poker site featured a popular member of the poker media making the final table, but a former WPT winner who held all the chips in the end.

$350 NL Holdem

The final day of the $100,000 Guarantee $350 NL Holdem started with 18 players quickly making their way to a final table, which featured Bluff/WPT/Poker Beat reporter Jess Welman and 2006 WPT Mandalay Bay Championship winner Joe Tehan. Welman took her short stack into an 8th place finish, earning $3,140. Tehan maintained his chip lead until a deal was made three-handed, with Tehan collecting $31,943. The full results of the final table can be found here.

$350 HORSE

Event #3, the $350 HORSE wound up with Benjamin Yu and Colby Pitt making a deal heads-up with Yu earned the victory and $5,930. While Pitt was runner-up, he won more money, collecting $6,168. Full results available here.

$350 NL Bounty

Event #4, the $350 NL Bounty tournament, drew a field of 60 players, each with a $100 bounty on their head. Kent Frampton started heads-up down 5 to 1 in chips against Veerachai Vongxaiburang, eventually picking up the win good for $5,040 while Vongxaiburang earned $2,640. Blake Bluffington finished 3rd for $1,680 and Sam Grizzle finished 4th, earning $1,200. Full results and a winner’s photo here.

$350 7-Game

A field of just 28 participated in event #5, Scott Fischman 7-Game Mix with James Wheatley earning the title for $4,620. Brian Kim was runner-up for $2,520, Ryan Hullerman finished 3rd for $1,260.

Monday’s tournaments

Two more tournaments on the schedule, starting at 1pm with event #6, $350 NL Holdem, while at 5pm it’s Event #7, $350 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better. Be sure to check out DetoxPoker.com for updates, interviews and streaming video.

Saturday was a busy day for the Detox Poker Series, with day 1b of the $335 NL Holdem $100,000 Guarantee, the final table of the $350 Omaha 8 or Better event, and the opening day of the $350 HORSE.

$335 NL Holdem

Day 1b drew a field of 193 entrants, creating a total prize pool of $121,150 with the remaining 18 players Saturday making the money, with the final nine joining the nine survivors from Friday to play down to a winner at 3pm. Joe Tehan leads the field of day 1b survivors with 288,000 in chips. The other notable from day 1b returning this afternoon is Bluff Magazine/World Poker Tour/The Poker Beat Jess Welman, finishing with 75,500 in chips. Here’s how the final two tables will be seated with 19:42 remaining in level 16: 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante.

The final 18 are guaranteed at least $1,050, with the winner pocketing $34,440. The full list of payouts and players who cashed can be found here.

$350 Omaha 8 or Better

Frankie O’Dell, winner of two WSOP bracelets in Omaha 8 or Better, added another tournament win to his results as he defeated Mitch Schock heads-up. The pair made a deal with O’Dell earning $6,000 with Schock earning $4,944. The rest of the results are available here.

$350 HORSE

71 players hit the felt for some weekend mixed game action in the $350 HORSE, with the final table making the money. The bubble boy was Frankie O’Dell, unable to parlay his earlier win into back-to-back final tables. The final tablists are guaranteed $682, with the winner pocketing $7,881. Play resumes at the final table with 15:00 left on level 14, playing the 5th hand of Stud 8 or Better, limits at 2,000/4,000 and a 500 ante:

Seat 1: Benjamin Yu 39,500
Seat 2: Alan Miskin 36,000
Seat 3: Mitch Mitchener 45,000
Seat 4: Colby Pitt 64,000
Seat 5: Jeff Szamborski 51,500
Seat 6: JD Newitt 32,000
Seat 7: Kathy Raymond 41,500
Seat 8: Kevin Calenzo 56,500

Sunday’s Tournaments

Two more tournaments get underway today, at 1pm is the $350 NL Holdem Bounty tournament, with $100 bounties on every player’s head. The 5pm tournament is the $350 Scott Fischman 7 Game Mix event, consisting of HORSE, NL Holdem and Pot Limit Omaha. Be sure to check out Detox Poker and Quad Jacks for video, updates, interviews, and much, much more.

Recapping Monday afternoon’s WSOP action:

Matusow leads TOC, resumes Saturday night

Another four hours of play in the WSOP Tournament of Champions Monday afternoon, with 17 players still remaining after eight levels have been played. Since ESPN wants a final table of nine on Sunday July 4, another day of play has been scheduled for Saturday, July 3 at 7pm. However, those plans get scrapped if one or more of the 17 are still involved in the $25,000 6-max event or the $5,000 Ante Up for Africa tournament. Whenever play resumes, Mike Matusow (85,500) will hold the chip lead, followed by Huck Seed (73,000) and Johnny Chan (68,600). The full list of chip counts is available over at wsop.com.

Sung slips into lead at Mixed Event final day

Ten players remain as the $2,500 Mixed Event went to dinner break with Steve Sung leading the field with 581,000 in chips. Other notables returning include Matt Vengrin (522,000), Scott Seiver (218,000) and Todd Brunson (145,000). Full chip counts and updates available at wsop.com.

Busquet leads 1k NL into the money

Day two of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem is now deep into the money with around 200 players remaining with WPT winner Olivier Busquet leading the field with 185,000 in chips. Team Pokerati member John Harris unfortunately fell just short of the money, while veteran poker tournament reporter Mike Paulle squeaked into the money, finishing in 318th for a mincash. Among the players still with chips: Andre Akkari (132,000), Scott Montgomery (83,000), Antonio Esfandiari (65,000) and Carter King (42,500). The other person who Pokerati may be following Richard Ferro, there has not been any updates or in the results at wsop.com so he’s probably still in the field.

JP Kelly leading 1500 NL day 1

A field of 2,543 started in the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem, with less than 900 returning after their dinner break with Vegas/Europe WSOP bracelet winner JP Kelly holding the lead with 48,000 in chips. Some other notables: Roland de Wolfe (39,000), Theo Tran (23,000), Amnon Filippi (21,000) and David Pham (13,500). The money will be reached with 270 players remaining, with the winner earning over $600,000. More updates and chip counts over the final four hours of action over at wsop.com.

5k PLO underway

The 50th event of the WSOP, $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, drew a field of 460 players, an increase of nearly 100 from last year took the felt this afternoon. The very early leader is Michael Mizrachi with 35,000 in chips, with plenty of big names in contention. Some of those names: Greg Raymer (26,000), David Singer (22,000), Ville Wahlbeck (19,000) and JC Tran (14,000). The field still has four levels of play as well as their dinner break so catch the proceedings at wsop.com.

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.

A review of Sunday afternoon’s action, starting with the first day of the WSOP Tournament of Champions:

Seidel leads after four levels of TOC

With several players in the WSOP Tournament of Champions involved with other bracelet events, it was decided to play four one-hour levels today, another four levels on Monday, then the remainder of the field returning on July 4th to determine a winner. When play resumes at 12pm, it’ll be Erik Seidel holding the lead with 72,075 in chips with 22 players remaining. In the random table draw, Daniel Negreanu and Annie Duke were seated next to each other at the feature table as both spent the day avoiding to look at each other, even when involved in hands together. Johnny Chan will start tomorrow second in chips with 71,325, followed by Mike Matusow in third with 70,575. The full list of chip counts is available over at wsop.com.

Odell leads 1500 NL final table

Kevin Odell (4,300,000) will hold a commanding chip lead at the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem final table when play resumes momentarily. In second is Brazilian Thiago Nishijima (1,775,000), with Ray Coburn (850,000) the most notable name remaining. Updates available at PokerNews.

Shak sharp in 5k Omaha 8

The start of day three of the $5,000 Omaha 8 or Better tournament was delayed as Erik Seidel was still involved in the Tournament of Champions, with play eventually underway after 4:30pm. Seidel started the day 20th out of 21 players, but he’s still in the field, although currently 9th with 10 players remaining. Dan Shak has moved into the chip lead with 815,000, followed by Leif Force (725,000), Perry Green (400,000), and Seidel (280,000) among the notables. Follow the action at PokerNews.

Seiver surges into lead in 2500 8-game

Another tournament that experienced a delay because of the TOC was the $2,500 Mixed Event as Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman and Chris Ferguson still playing in that event. Approximately 70 players remain with their dinner break coming shortly. Scott Seiver holds the lead with 122,000 in chips. Other notables include David Steicke (86,000), Bill Chen (85,000), Michael Mizrachi (66,000), Steve Sung (54,000), Dario Minieri (45,000), Harman (41,000), Frank Kassela (39,000) and Ferguson (31,000). Team Pokerati’s Julie Schneider was one of the day 2 eliminations. Further updates and chip counts can be found at wsop.com.

Klier leading day 1b of 1k NL

Day 1b of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem brought 1,369 players to the Rio this afternoon, around 400 remain as the field returns from their dinner break. The report chip leader appears to be Ben Klier with 54,000, followed by Mike Beasley (32,000), Faraz Jaka (28,000), Chris Moneymaker (23,000) and Jeff Madsen (13,200). A little over three levels of play are scheduled, unless the field falls under 200 before that point. More updates and chip counts at wsop.com.

Recapping Saturday night’s action, with the list of great players without a bracelet had another named crossed off the list.

Ole G Smith wins mixed holdem bracelet

Gavin Smith, one of the most popular players on the tournament circuit, finally won his first WSOP bracelet this morning, defeating Danny Hannawa heads-up to win the $2,500 Mixed Holdem event along with winning $268,238. Full results at wsop.com

Tournament of Champions starts today

The WSOP Tournament of Champions gets underway at 12pm today, as the 27 participants will play four one-hour levels today and Monday, with the survivors returning on July 4 to determine the winner. Besides being filmed to air on ESPN later this year, ESPN3 will be streaming a feature table both days. Here’s the feature table when play starts today:

Doyle Brunson
Daniel Negreanu
Annie Duke
Howard Lederer
Joe Hachem
T.J. Cloutier
Antonio Esfandiari
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
Scotty Nguyen

Trickett on top final day of $1,500 NL

Day three of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem returns at 3:00pm with Sam Trickett (922,000) leading the 35 players remaining as they play down to a winner. Other notables in the hunt include: Dutch Boyd (619,000), Ray “ExitOnly” Rayburn (560,000), Paul Magriel (460,000), Alex Outhred (444,000), and Zachary Clark (176,000). Team Pokerati’s Tom Schneider finished 128th, good for $4,348. Full chip counts available at PokerNews.

Altbregin ascends to 5k PLO 8 lead

Day 3 of the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better resumes at 3pm with Sergey Altbregin (486,000) holding the chip lead with 21 players remaining. Other notables returning: David “Devilfish” Ulliott (415,000), Perry Green (367,000), Dan Shak (331,000), Dan Heimiller (247,000), Allen Kessler (117,000), Andy Black (100,000) and Erik Seidel (65,000). Full chip counts and updates available at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2010-wsop/event-46/“>PokerNews.

Brickner blasts his way into day 1a 1k NL lead

The next to last $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event of the WSOP drew a field of 1,759 entries for day 1a Saturday afternoon. That field was whittled down to around 300 players when they return on Monday afternoon, and the reported leader is Justin Brickner with 86,000 in chips. Other notables include Antonio Esfandiari (35,000), Scott Montgomery (30,000), Matt Glantz (28,000) and Carter King (17,000). Full chip counts along with updates for Sunday’s day 1b action available at wsop.com.

Jaffee leading $2,500 8-Game

Day one of the $2,500 Mixed Event brought 453 players to the Rio Saturday afternoon, with 162 returning at 4:10pm today. The reported chip leader is Jared Jaffee with 71,125. Some of the notables returning include: Justin “Boosted J” Smith (58,225), Michael Mizrachi (56,875), Brandon Cantu (41,000), Scott Seiver (37,350), Dario Minieri (32,175) and Gavin Griffin (29,150). Team Pokerati’s Julie Schneider returns with 18,975 in chips. Other chip counts and updates at wsop.com.

Two more WSOP bracelets were awarded this morning, plus the first of this year’s final tables will be streamed online this afternoon., so here’s the info:

Hamrick wins $1500 NL

Dean Hamrick, who bubbled the 2008 WSOP final table, earned his first WSOP bracelet as he defeated Thomas O’Neal heads-up in event #42: $1,500 No-Limit Holdem winning $604,222 and his first WSOP bracelet. O’Neal earned $375,627 for finishing 2nd, while UFC fighter Mike Swick finished in 10th. Full results online at wsop.com.

Gordon grooves to 10k HORSE bracelet

With nine players remaining, Ian Gordon was the least-known name of a star-studded final table in the $10,000 HORSE World Championship. That face didn’t stop him as he was the last player with chips on a lengthy final day, denying Richard Ashby his second WSOP bracelet, winning $611,666 and a coveted WSOP gold bracelet. Ashby earned $378,027 for finishing 2nd, while Eugene Katchalov finished 3rd for $248,831. Full results at wsop.com.

Ole G Smith, Pilgrim feature attractions at Mixed Holdem FT

The $2,500 Mixed Holdem final table will be the first at this year’s WSOP streamed online at ESPN3.com (check your local cable system for availability). Here’s how they’ll be seated when play resumes at 2:30pm:

Seat 1: Michael Michnik – 527,000
Seat 2: Jamie Rosen – 300,000
Seat 3: Dwyte Pilgrim – 196,000
Seat 4: Gavin Smith – 745,000
Seat 5: Jarred Solomon – 748,000
Seat 6: Daniel Idema – 237,000
Seat 7: Michael Santoro – 179,000
Seat 8: Danny Hannawa – 542,000
Seat 9: Timothy Finne – 331,000

Failla leads $1,500 NL

Day 1 of Event #45: $1,500 No-Limit Holdem completed their first 10 hours with less than 400 players remaining, with the final 324 in the field making the money, while the winner adds $721,373. The reported leader is Will Failla with 156,000 in chips. Other notables returning at 2:30 include Veronica Dabul (70,000), Alex Outhred (65,000), John Phan (58,500), Amnon Filippi (47,000), Lauren Kling (29,000) and Team Pokerati/Loudmouth Poker pro Tom Schneider (25,900). Full chip counts available at PokerNews.

Burton leads 5k PLO 8 M

Day 2 of the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better resumes at 3pm with 130 of the 284 players who started remaining. The chip leader is Colin Burton with 91,700. Other notables include James Dempsey (88,900), Mike Matusow (63,100), Scott Seiver (44,000), Annie Duke (39,900), Dave Ulliott (36,000), Tony Cousineau (29,000), and Annie Duke (23,000). Full chip counts available at PokerNews.

Saturday’s tournaments

The 12pm tournament is day 1a of the fifth $1,000 No-Limit Holdem with the usual throng of thousands expected to turn up. The 5pm tournament today is the $2,500 Mixed Event, consisting of HORSE, No-Limit Holdem, 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball and Pot-Limit Omaha. Last year’s winner of this event was Jerrod Ankenman defeating a field of 412, earning $241,637.

In just a few short hours, the 41st World Series of Poker will get underway at 12 noon at the Rio in Las Vegas with the first bracelet event, the $500 Casino Employees event. This will be followed at 5pm with the $50,000 Players’ Championship, consisting of HORSE, no-limit holdem, pot-limit Omaha, and 2-7 triple draw lowball with no-limit holdem being played at the final table.

Friday preview

Last year’s Casino Employee’s winner was Andrew Cohen, a bartender at the Palms, who won $83,833 in a field of 866 players. Hopefully Team Pokerati member John Harris can improve on his 25th place finish last year. This is the first year for the $50,000 Players’ Championship, a five-day event that is replacing the $50,000 HORSE event that was held the previous four years. David Bach won what appears to be the final $50,000 HORSE event last year, besting a field of 95 to earn $1,276,806. The Chip Reese trophy that was given to the HORSE winner will now go to the Players’ Championship winner.

Where to find information

For those looking for updates, the official WSOP site will have live updates powered by PokerNews. This year, the WSOP.com site will also be making various tournament information available to everyone, including entry lists, end of day chip counts, tournament reports from WSOP media director Nolan Dalla, as well as the media guide. CardPlayer, Bluff Magazine, PokerListings, PokerRoad, ESPN.com’s poker section and other poker media outlets (like Pauly) will provide updates, reports, gossip, video segments and other stuff for the poker enthusiast.

2010 WSOP storylines

With 56 bracelets up for grabs over the next seven weeks (with the final one decided in November), there’s plenty of interesting angles to find in this year’s WSOP:

Does the Year of the Woman continue? With the wins of Annie Duke at the NBC Heads-Up, Vanessa Selbst at NAPT Mohegan Sun and Liv Boeree at EPT San Remo, the poker media is anticipating a breakout WSOP for women. The last year more than one woman won an open bracelet event was in 2004 (Annie Duke, Kathy Liebert and Cyndy Violette).

How will Annette Obrestad perform? This is Annette’s first year she can actually play at the WSOP in Las Vegas instead of being a spectator limited to the hallway, a moment that has been eagerly anticipated by the poker community since she won the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event at 18. She’ll be the most followed, scrutinized, criticized, fawned over, etc. newcomer of this year’s group of WSOP newbies.

How will the UIGEA affect the WSOP? With the June 1 deadline rapidly approaching, online sites and players are wondering what will happen in the next few weeks. Does the US Department of Justice swoop down on the Rio and arrest Team Full Tilt? Will players not be able to get their funds in time for the Main Event? Will it be business as usual, with no noticeable drop in attendance at the Rio?

Betting on Bracelets Bracelet bets for big money is not reserved to Phil Ivey and his fellow pros. Justin Bonomo was laying 10 to 1 (1k minimum to Justin’s 10k) that at least one person from a list of people living at Panorama Towers will win a bracelet at the WSOP. Bonomo offered the same bet last year, laying 7 to 1, and Greg Mueller’s two bracelets had Bonomo winning his bet. The big Phil Ivey bet this year is with Howard Lederer: Ivey has the 2010-12 WSOPs to win two bracelets, WSOPE bracelets count only towards making the bet a push, for $5 million. Talk of other bets Ivey will surely hit the rumor mill over the coming weeks.

More updates to come during the next few weeks, and good luck to all the players.

As the California State Poker Championship rages on at the Commerce (with cool trophies, gotta say), tournament director Matt Savage’s return to Vegas for an LV Poker Series at the Hard Rock has taken final shape. The series itself will now be called the Detox Poker Series. And Event #12 will be Pokerati NL/PLO.

click to view the whole schedule

It’s a $230 no-limit hold’em / pot-limit omaha event, with a single $200 rebuy. Gee, sounds like a typical night for yours truly at the Pokerati game.

Takes place at 5 pm on Wednesday, August 18.

The 1 pm that day, btw, is a $230 NL … with no rebuys but a $50,000 guarantee. (A Matt Savage guarantee, mind you, not an old-way Hard Rock guarantee … seriously, the new bosses there really seem to have turned things around, and intend to prove their stuff during the WSOP.)

The Pokerati NL/PLO event will qualify for CardPlayer Player of the Year standings, too. (As will all the events in the Detox Poker Series.)

More…

It’s not often a WSOP Circuit event catches our eye, particularly when the final table is fighting for the lion’s share of a $20k prizepool. But Event #10 in New Orleans, the last Circuit stop of the 09/10 poker year, was special, as Daphne “Tweety” Turner beat Allen Kessler to win the $300+40 Mixed Games event.

It was a $6,700 score. But more notably about her NOLA victory:

1. She becomes the first woman to win two circuit rings. (Watch out Dwyte Pilgrim.)

2. She’s from Texas; Richmond to be exact, a big town in the sticks just outside of Houston. (Go Texas!)

3. She beat @AllenKessler heads-up; with all due respect to the Chainsaw, seeing
our favorite Vegas nit finish second makes “Tweety’s” victory even better. (Wonder if she got that nickname before or after the creation of Twitter.)

4. The event she won was a 7-game mix, or as I like to think of it as of today, HORSE+Pokerati … or the Pokerati Game+HORSE. (No-Limit Hold’em and PLO are the two added games.)

Here’s Turner’s interview after her win … the first woman to win two circuit events … and someone you might wanna be a little careful of should you see her at your table:

Big players are (back) in Las Vegas … low Festa al Lago prelim field sizes suggest nothing is as it was a couple years ago, but the higher-stakes action is moving at Bellagio … or at least arriving there.

Seen last night at North valet:

Also seen a little off to the side by our secret valet informant: David Levi exchanging cash through a car window with presumed backer Eli Elezra. (Not sure which direction it was going, though. New guy, lots of cars to park … )

@Phil_Hellmuth

UB party starting at Studio 54 at MGM! On my way, i am making my entrance on a trapeze!! also i signed up for 2-7 tourney, c em a 11 pm
about 13 hours ago from txt

Drinking Dom in VIP booth with wife. Trapeze stunt from 5 stories up at 10:40 pm…Scary!
about 12 hours ago from txt

I am pretty drunk!! Chris Ferguson just called me and told me they picked me up in 2-7 tourney!!
about 9 hours ago from txt

Sunday July 5 i show up to WSOP as ‘Caesar: with 100 models, 11 muses w body paint, a chariot w 2 horses, and a drummer dropping rose petals
about 8 hours ago from txt

15,200 extra chips are in play going into Day 2 of the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw — roughly a third of which belonged to no-show Phil Hellmuth before tournament officials removed his remaining stack (in level 5) and refunded his late buy-in.

Plenty of grumblings about this situation from the rail …

Hellmuth bought into WSOP Event #55 by proxy — presumably near the last possible minute — with his 7,500 starting stack brought to the felt shortly before the end of the break between levels 2 and 3. His seat in the Brasilia Room remained empty for hours as he attended a much-ballyhooed Ultimate Bet party at Studio 54 in the MGM.

Hellmuth’s stack had been blinded down to about 2,500 when the event TD approached Chris Ferguson, who was playing, and asked if he had Hellmuth’s phone number. Ferguson did, and the TD called but got no answer. So he then called his supervisor, who apparently instructed him to remove Hellmuth’s chips from play.

Shortly thereafter — in Level 5 still — the number of entrants on the screen was reduced from 258 to 257, and prize payouts were downgraded accordingly.

At the end of Day 1, the 73 remaining players bagged a total 1,942,700 chips, even though the appropriate number for 257 players in a $2,500 event would be 1,927,500. No word yet on where the 10,000 chips that didn’t belong to Phil Hellmuth came from.

Click here to follow the action in $2,500 2-7 Triple-Draw when play resumes at 2 pm pacific. Plenty of interesting big-name pros and 2009 bracelet winners still in the hunt — Negreanu, Ankenman, Sung, Mueller, among them — along with a few dozen lesser known mixed-games grinders … all competing for a $166k $165k bracelet.

More…

The recap of Tuesday activities…

Lisandro Goes for Bracelet #3

The $2,500 Razz has 13 players remaining with Jeff Lisandro the chip leader (438,000) in his quest for his 3rd bracelet and take first by himself in the WSOP Player of the Year race. Co-leader Ville Wahlbeck (55,000) will have some work to do to catch Lisandro, but it’s razz, anything can happen. Don Zewin, (300,000), Kenna James (284,000), Michael Craig (102,000) and Nikolay Evdakov (88,000) are the notables who also return to conclude the tournament, starting at 2pm.

The Mathematics of Poker = 3 Bracelets

Jerrod Ankenman finally joins co-author Bill Chen as a bracelet winner, taking down the $2,500 8-Game for $241,637 besting Sergey Altbregin in heads-up play. Chris Klodnicki finished in 3rd, Jeff Tims finished 4th, while Jon Turner got his second 5th place finish in mixed game events.

Thomas Tops Seniors

Tom Thomas of Amarillo, Texas is the chip leader (917,000) of the remaining 28 players in the $1,000 Seniors NL Holdem World Championship when play resumes at 1pm. Notable names are hard to find, but among them are Scott Buller (541,000), Ted McCollum (173,000) and Gioi Luong (100,000) are the most recognizable.

Schlein Spectacular at Split Game

Josh “Sdouble” Schlein will start Day 2 with the chip lead (60,700) with 196 players remaining in the $2,500 Omaha 8 or Better event. Thang Luu (56,200) is in second, Can Kim Hua (38,400), Pat Poels (36,900), Lee Watkinson (27,900), Paul Darden (26,400) and Shannon Shorr (22,400) among the notables returning at 2pm playing down to the final 9 or 3am deadline.

Wednesday’s Tournament

Only one tournament today, the debuting $2,500 Mixed Holdem event at 12 noon, featuring alternating 30-minute periods of no-limit holdem and limit holdem. The WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 475 today for today’s event, check out www.wsop.com for updates, and more stuff from Pokerati during the day.