Getting caught up and back in the swing of things — slowly but surely — so what better way than to listen to the most recent episode of The Poker Beat?

The Poker Beat: July 22, 2010
[audio:http://www.pokerroad.com/download/the-poker-beat:74]

Rookie twitterer @GaryWise1 took his turn in Capt. Huff’s chair as @BJNemeth and @JessWelman panel-bantered about:

• The pre-markup hearing in DC with Annie Duke
• Make-up of the 2010 November Nine
• The value, if any, of poker agents — and how the WSOP accommodates them during the main event
• BJ’s philosophical non-dilemma over coverage of Matt Affleck’s emotional bustout *
• The difference between poker media and poker journalism
• The Year of Mizrachi and the accidental WTF? of the current WSOP Player of the Year scoring system
• Annette Obrestad’s B- performance
• The 3-headed Monster of Team WSOP without @JeffreyPollack
• WSOP numbers and final table times

* great explanation, BJ. But question … Is there any discernable line where the “field of play” in poker begins, and ends?

Other episode-relevant links:

The Redemption of Matt Affleck by Gary Wise
The Long, Lonely Walk of Matt Affleck by Howard Swains (with photos by Joe Giron)

Next ep coming tomorrow. Play along in the PokerRoad forums.

Day 5 of the Main Event resumes at 12pm in the Amazon Room at the Rio with 574 players remaining as Tony “Bond18” Dunst leading the field with 1,546,000 in chips.
After the bubble burst with the elimination of Tim McDonald in 748th place, a flurry of eliminations happened in the last hour of play. Some of the notables who made the early payout levels include Humberto Brenes, Gavin Smith, Eric Mizrachi, Patrik Antonius, Paul Magriel, Mel Judah, Chris Bjorin and the now-official WSOP Player of the Year – Frank Kassela. The list of results is now available here.

For those looking for some sortable results of the day 5 survivors, check out:

WSOP Main Event Day 5 Chip Counts and Seat Assignments

Check it out, the blind structure for the $230 Pokerati No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha with one $200 Rebuy tournament is here for your perusal, along with all the other blind structures for the Detox Poker Series, August 13-22.

BTW, turns out my event is one of the few that does not meet CardPlayer POY criteria … bummer, and oops on contending otherwise … but hey, kinda a rookie here on the Vegas real-money poker scene, ya know? Just look at the event title and try to say it out loud … sure, I agree it sounds kinda sexy, but you can tell I still might have a few things to learn about running tournaments in the land of Big Casino.

Still promise a fun, challenging event with great food and (re)invigorating action. Mark your calendars (Aug 18), book your flights, and send your kids to summer camp. Come (back) to Vegas to annoy the locals and/or abuse the tourists!

Matt Savage: What do you think of the jump in antes at level 6 in the Pokerati event?

Allen Kessler: I’m not sure the single rebuy offers enough equity without POY points in play even when you consider the implied free-food equity. I mean ha-ha, what good is that when you’re not guaranteeing a take-home box!

Keep up to date with what is sure to be the best late-summer, chill-stakes miniseries of the year on twitter @DetoxPoker.

WSOP Main Event Note: Matt Savage is still alive at the Day 3 dinner break with 155k. Current official scoreboard here.

Recapping the rest of Friday night’s action that Dan didn’t post about, with a Saturday full of battles that don’t involve UFC 116: featuring Brock Lesnar v Shane Carwin.

Taylor wins battle of roommates at Limit Shootout

The final table of the $1,500 Limit Shootout was one of the strongest final tables you’ll see at a $1,500 event with notables like tournament limit holdem specialist Terrence Chan, former WPT player of the year Jonathan Little and former Party Poker Million winner Mike Schneider. When it came down to heads-up, it would be roommates Brendan Taylor and Ben Yu battling it out for the bracelet, with Taylor coming out on top to earn $184,950 and the bracelet. Yu brings back $114,484 for the runner-up finish while Little finished 3rd ($73,218), Schneider came in 6th ($23,563) and Chan a disappointing 8th ($12,961). Full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report at wsop.com.

Kelly and Kassela headline 25k 6-max final table

Day three of the $25,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max started with a flurry of eliminations in the first hour; leading Daniel Negreanu to take issues with the structure on Twitter, eventually finishing in 11th. Dan “djk123” Kelly, who started the day 18th in chips, will start the final table today as the overwhelming chip leader, while Frank Kassela will try to add to his WSOP Player of Year lead. Here’s how the final table will look when play resumes at 2:30pm PT, with streaming available at ESPN3.com (where available) or updates at wsop.com:

Seat 1: Frank Kassela – 2,610,000
Seat 2: Jason Somerville – 1,665,000
Seat 3: Dan Kelly – 5,895,000
Seat 4: Eugene Katchalov – 475,000
Seat 5: Shawn Buchanan – 2,110,000
Seat 6: Mikael Thuritz – 1,535,000

Talbot tops day 1b 1k NL

Day 1b of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem drew a field of 1,504 players Friday afternoon, with 255 players joining the rest of the day 1a survivors to have a total field of 586 returning at 2:30pm. The money will be reached when 396 players remain with the winner earning $570,960. The day 1b chip leader is Andrew Talbot with 70,175. The full list of day 1b chip counts can be found at wsop.com, those looking for a table draw, i’ll try to get it up on my Twitter as soon as it becomes available.

Sander grinds into lead at $2,500 NL

The final prelim of the WSOP, $2,500 No-Limit Holdem drew a field of 1,941 players Friday afternoon, with 500 players remaining when play resumes at 3pm. The money is reached when 198 players remain, with the winner pocketing a payday of $826,418. The reported chip leader is Dan Smith with 229,000, although he tweeted 22,900 earlier this morning. Marc Sander holds the chip lead with 98,000, followed by notables such as Mark Newhouse (81,400), Isaac Baron (70,100), Court Harrington (69,000), Dan Heimiller (53,100), Jamie Gold (42,000), Jonathan Aguiar (37,000) and Ivan Demidov (34,800). The full list of chip counts appears over at wsop.com and check my Twitter or WSOP’s Twitter for the table draw.

Ante Up for Africa

The annual charity effort held at the WSOP, Ante Up for Africa, gets underway at 2pm. The $5,000 buy-in event helps bring poker pros and celebrities together to help out a worthy cause. Those who make the money are encouraged to donate half of their winnings, hopefully the controversy from last year’s event will be avoided this year.

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.

Recapping the sextet of tournaments underway Thursday afternoon:

Klein leads PLO final table

Loren Klein (850,000) leads the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha final table, which has 8 players remaining as they take their dinner break. Play will resume around 8:30pm, follow the hands as they’re played out at PokerNews.

Idema idolizing limit holdem bracelet

Seven players remain at the $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship final table, with Daniel Idema holding the chip lead with 1,163,000 with seven players remaining. Michael Mizrachi finished in 8th place to move into a tie with James Dempsey for the WSOP Player of the Year lead, but Jameson Painter (3rd in chips with 953,000), moves past both of them with a win. Updates of the action on the table and at the rail is at wsop.com.

Gonzales leads 1500 NL

Christopher Gonzales (260,000) leads the field of 130 players remaining as they return from dinner break in the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event. Six more levels of play are on tap for the field, see who goes deep and who goes home over at PokerNews.

Leary tall in the saddle in $1,500 HORSE

The $1,500 HORSE event has 100 remaining, with 80 making the money later this afternoon. Dustin Leary (132,000) holds the chip lead, followed by Jeff Shulman (125,000), Tom Dwan (66,000), Jason Mercier (61,000) and Robert Mizrachi (50,000). Wsop.com has all the mixed-game updates.

Benyamine leading 5k NL 6-max field

Day 1 of the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event drew a smaller than expected field of 568, with a $2,100 tournament at the Venetian held at the same time. David Benyamine (80,000) holds the chip lead, followed by Dave Ulliot (65,000), Hevad Khan (62,000), Andrew Lichtenberger (55,000) and Isaac Haxton (53,000) among the early leaders. PokerNews will be following the action during the evening.

PLO/PLH event underway

The last tournament to start this afternoon was the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha/Pot-Limit Holdem event. The early chip leader is Matt Vengrin with 26,000, followed by Chris Reslock (24,000), Daniel Negreanu (19,500), Layne Flack (17,000) and Vitaly Lunkin (16,200) among the notables. Follow wsop.com for more updates and chip counts.

Recapping Monday night’s action, with a familiar face winning his third WSOP bracelet:

Farha outlasts Flushy in 10k Omaha 8

A lengthy day three in the $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better World Championship finally concluded Tuesday morning when Sammy Farha defeated James “Flushy” Dempsey in heads-up play to earn Farha’s third WSOP bracelet along with $488,237. Dempsey earned $301,790 for the runner-up finish, passing David “Bakes” Baker and Dan Heimiller, who also cashed in this event, into the WSOP Player of the Year lead. Full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report are now online at wsop.com.

Grenon leads Day 3 of 1k NL

30 players remain when play resumes at 3pm for what may be the final day of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event with Joseph Grenon holding the chip lead with 857,000 in chips. To see the rest of the contenders, the chip counts are available at PokerNews.

Haydon leads 2500 NL 6-max

William Haydon (179,3000) leads the 156 players returning for day 2 of the $2,500 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event when play resumes at 2:30pm. 126 players will make the money, with the winner earning $630,031. To see the table draws, they’re online at PokerNews.

Tremblay leads $1500 Stud 8

Odette Tremblay (43,700) leads the 208 players returning for day two of the $1,500 Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better event at 3pm. A field of 644 entered on Monday, with the final 64 making the money, with first taking down $208,862. The table draw is available at PokerNews.

Tuesday’s Tournaments

Already underway is the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event, at 5pm it’s the $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship. Follow the updates and other happenings at PokerNews and wsop.com.

Matt Savage, host of the new Las Vegas Poker Series at the Hard Rock, served as tournament director in the 2007 movie Lucky You. Don’t hold that against him.

Storied tournament director Matt Savage is stepping back into Las Vegas poker events — for the first time since 2004 — bringing the Las Vegas Poker Series to my weekly donk-stomping grounds at the Hard Rock, August 13-22.

The LVPS will feature low buy-in events ($230-$550), most of which count toward CardPlayer Player of the Year standings … with the Savage-tested deep structures (as opposed to deep stacks) that just about all players except Allen Kessler vigorously applaud. Also a money leaderboard of some sort is in play, though I’m not yet sure if this is about crowning an overall champion or qualifying for a player-appreciation freeroll … more TK as the schedule and other PR info gets released.

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A little excitement at WPT Bucharest this weekend, when controversial soccer agent Giovani Becali got kicked out of the tournament … Hmm, throwing chips and threats of blows … seems like a little Phil Hellmuth + (old) Hevad Khan + Bobby Knight with maybe a dash of European football violence thrown in.

Kinda funny to see the new-and-improved, PartyPokerfied Tony G becoming an etiquette ambassador instructing poker bad-boys on how to behave at the tables.

Meanwhile, as WPT-Bucharest continues … the WPT is hyping a pretty competitive field for a relatively small (161 players, €3,000+300) new WPT event:

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Another good video from the LAPC … in this one Matt talks with Eric Baldwin (aka “Basebaldy), the 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year. We, of course, got to know him as he was tearing through a Venetian Deep Stacks field prior to showing what he really was in town to do at the WSOP.

Anyhow, hate to make this all about the LAPC when tourneys are going on around the world — from Copenhagen to Tunica … but this gives a good glimpse at someone who is now a “big name” in poker though few have gotten to know him yet:

In the above video they talk about Baldwin’s efforts to snap his 0-fer history at the LAPC and where “taking it easy” fits in to the upcoming Ironman competition.

The first three levels of the Main Event have seen over 900 players already hit the rail, leaving around 1,100 players returning from dinner break. The unofficial chip leaders are Brian Hanson and James Akenhead with 625,000 in chips. Other notables with an above average stack (currently around 170,000): Owen Crowe (555,000), Bertrand Grospellier (520,000), Sorel Mizzi (445,000), David Benyamine (402,000), Phil Hellmuth (390,000), Phil Ivey (360,000), Lou Diamond Phillips (345,000), Mike Sexton (297,000), Dennis Phillips (240,000), Tom Schneider (230,000), 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Lisandro (211,000) and Jason Alexander (190,000).

Notables who hit the rail:

Erik Seidel, Raymond Rahme, Jimmy Fricke, Jean-Robert Bellande, Bill Edler, Darus Suharto, Ville Wahlbeck, “Miami John” Cernuto, Bryan Micon, Roland de Wolfe and Sam Farha.

More stuff from Pokerati later this evening as the money bubble may be reached tonight, depending on how fast the eliminations go after dinner.

Daniel Negreanu knows her as “whackjob surprise” … and though we have a feeling that might be what the Schneiders call Tom’s annual birthday present, well-informed, loyal Pokeratizens know her as “Angry Julie” (from back in the Beyond the Table days) … and as the main event nears the money bubble, she’s the frontrunner amongst the women for WSOP Player of the Year.

(Woot! Congrats, Julie!)

According to Julie, men don’t know what it’s like to have to dodge tilt at a final table on a heavy-flow day … but she didn’t let that get in the way of her finding success. With just the main event left to play — making it still anybody’s game, but statistically unlikely that anyone passes her — here’s the breakdown of the top women in the WSOP POY standings:

1. Julie Schneider – 65 pts
2. Vanessa Rousso – 60 pts
3. Millie Shiu – 60 pts
4. Annie Duke – 40 pts
5. Jennifer Harman – 37 pts

Recapping the still ongoing action from Tuesday night:

$50k HORSE Final Table, It Keeps Going, and Going, and Going…

It’s 9:15am PT, but the final table of the $50,000 HORSE is still going with David Bach and John Hanson playing heads-up with Bach holding a slim chip lead. Erik Sagstrom finished in 3rd, Vitaly Lunkin was eliminated in 4th, Huck Seed finished in 5th and Ville Wahlbeck finished in 6th place. Unless Wahlbeck makes a deep run in the Main Event, Jeff Lisandro appears to have locked up the WSOP Player of the Year with Wahlbeck a close second. For those of you who have followed the nearly 17-hour final table from beginning to end, God bless you.

“Whackjob Surprise” Goes Deep in $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw

Nine players remain in the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball when play resumes at 2pm. Here’s how the remaining players will be seated:

Seat 1: Hertzel Zalewski – 111000
Seat 2: Nam Le – 95000
Seat 3: Masayoshi Tanaka – 345000
Seat 5: Brad Libson – 146000

Seat 1: Kris Lord – 87000
Seat 2: Julie Schneider – 163000
Seat 3: John Juanda – 182000
Seat 4: Blair Rodman – 358000
Seat 6: Abe Mosseri – 447000

The reason for the title of this section is that it was a comment made regarding Julie Schneider by Daniel Negreanu on his Twitter. He would later add the following upon finding out she read his Twitter: “Apparently the lady reads my twitter. Oops lol. Oh well, when I sat down I swore she was a little off or slow. My bad!”. Negreanu eventually finished in 16th.

Halpern Lawyers Up in Stud 8

New Orleans attorney David Halpern defeated William Kohler heads-up to take down the $1,500 Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better picking up his first WSOP bracelet along with $159,048.

Piesert Gets Bracelet for Dessert

The country of Germany gets its second WSOP bracelet winner with Jorg Piesert taking down the $3,000 Triple Chance NL Holdem title along with $506,800, defeating Jason DeWitt in heads-up play. After going 50 events without a win, Germany wins on consecutive days, following Carsten Joh’s win in the $1,500 NL event Monday night.

Final Day of Final $1,500 NL

Sergey Konkin, who may also be Sergey Pomerantsev as Konkin’s name didn’t appear on the Day 1 chip counts, is the chip leader (1,400,000) with 28 players remaining in the $1,500 NL Holdem Spectacular when play resumes at 1pm. The most notable name of the remaining 28 is Vivek Rajkumar at just 216,000.

$5,000 NL 6-max

Day 2 of the $5,000 NL Holdem 6-max event begins at 2pm with 160 players remaining, with 90 players making the money. Rory Mathews leads with 369,800 in chips. Others with chips: Faraz Jaka (294,500) , Davidi Kitai (166,300), Justin Bonomo (138,600), Raymond Davis (131,400), Shaun Deeb (114,800), Yevgeniy Timoshenko (107,100), Phil Hellmuth (101,200) and Kenna James (85,500).

More stuff from Pokerati during the day, and follow the live updates this morning for the HORSE event, as long as it’s still ongoing at www.wsop.com

Recapping Monday night’s tournament action:

Final Table Set in 50k HORSE

The final table of the $50,000 HORSE was established early Tuesday morning, with Gus Hansen the unfortunate final table bubble boy. Here’s how the final table will be seated, with streaming coverage starting around 2pm PT at www.espn360.com and wsop.pkr.com:

Seat 1: Ville Wahlbeck – 645000
Seat 2: Erik Sagstrom – 3675000
Seat 3: John Hanson – 1700000
Seat 4: Huck Seed – 1380000
Seat 5: Vitaly Lunkin – 2490000
Seat 6: David Bach – 2345000
Seat 7: Erik Seidel – 965000
Seat 8: Chau Giang – 1075000

While Lunkin and Wahlbeck will be trying to win their 2nd WSOP bracelet this year, Wahlbeck will lead the WSOP Player of the Year race with just two tournaments remaining if he finishes first.

Carsten Joh Wins One for Germany

Carsten Joh took down the next to last $1,500 NL Holdemtournament picking up a WSOP bracelet and $664,426, besting Andrew Chen in heads-up play.

DeWitt DeLeader in Triple Chance

Jason Dewitt (1,599,000) leads the remaining field of 16 in the $3,000 Triple Chance as they play down to a winner starting at 1pm this afternoon. Among those trailing behind Dewitt: Alex Millar (1,006,000), Karga Holt (715,000), Jason Somerville (320,000), Max Greenwood (294,000), Eric “rizen” Lynch (230,000) and An Tran (216,000).

Swinford Stud Leader

Brian Swinford leads (292,000) the day 3 field of 14 in the $1,500 Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better when play resumes at 1pm this afternoon. Notables remaining: Chad Brown (284,000), Max Stern (216,000), Allie Prescott (202,000), Richie Sklar (134,000), Matt Savage (106,000) and Vince Burgio (40,000).

Christensen Leads Final $1500 NL Event

Jon Christensen of Oslo, Norway leads the field when day 2 of the $1,500 NL Holdem returns Tuesday afternoon with 160,800 in chips with action resuming at 2pm. Among the notables among the 397 returning players: Alexandre Gomes (76,000), Raymond Rahme (51,800), Dean Hamrick (39,500), Richard Lee (and his San Antonio sweatshirt – 34,300) and Vivek Rajkumar (31,800). 297 players will get paid over the next two days as they get close to the final table by the 3am deadline.

2-7 Triple Draw

Adam Ewenstein (71,800) leads the returning 73 players for Day 2 of the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball, with only 24 players making the money when play resumes at 2pm. Notables returning: Rick Fuller (55,200), Blair Rodman (46,500), Tuan Le (42,000), Justin “Boosted J” Smith (33,700), Shawn Sheikhan (31,100), Julie Schneider (25,700), David Sklansky (22,600), and Jimmy “Gobbo” Fricke (18,700).

Tuesday’s Tournament

The final preliminary tournament of this year’s WSOP starts at 12 noon with the $5,000 NL Holdem 6-max event, won last year by Joe Commisso in a field of 805 for over $900,000. The WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 865 today, which could delay the start of Day 2 in the $1,500 NL and $2,500 Triple Draw Lowball events.

Live updates of the last day of six tournaments begins around noon at www.wsop.com and Pokerati will surely have all sorts of stuff during the other parts of Tuesday.

I’m posting this latest Nolan interview because it touches on some familiar laments we’ve heard around these parts before. Who woulda guessed there were others who wonder how the not-best players get some of the sweeter sponsorship deals:

QUESTION: What were your expectations coming into this year’s World Series of Poker?

LISANDRO: Before it all started this year, I was very disappointed. I could not get a sponsor. I made the usual rounds to find out if anyone needed a player. I could not get a response. I spoke about it with a few of my friends. Finally I said, you know what – never mind. I am going to blast them right out of the water. I think I have done a lot in poker. But I’ve always been a little bit short of doing something really great. So, there was this doubt and maybe an excuse that I had not done quite enough to deserve (being sponsored). This year, I asked around. There was no response. No one got back to me. I’m just going to go ahead and win three (gold bracelets). I said that to a few of my closest friends. And, now I have done it.

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