Albini: Rock & Roll razz teacher.

That’s probably a stretch, referring to any Razz player as Jungleman … but hey, as of this moment he’s the most skilled and accomplished Razz player I’ve ever met studied on a training video. Or actually, maybe his sidekick, Brandon Shack (aka Oscillator) is the better player. It’s hard to say, but they seem to have rather different philosophies on playing the game that most of us got to know from a single Final Table hand in 2004 — you know, the one where Howard Lederer and TJ Cloutier taught us that Razz could indeed be a painful game?

(That hand, of course — they had the same low until the river — led me to my first and only bracelet, in Razz, in the 2005 $1,500 event on the PlayStation. I should clearly be in the TOC!)

Anyhow, that’s why I liked this video. And though I still have no plans to ever add Razz to any 1/2 NLH/PLO game I’m pimping, getting in the middle of an intense poker convo about the nuances of Razz does leave me feeling a bit better prepared should I ever end up in the game Vegas-local aggro-nit Rex really wants to host – NLH/PLO/Razz:

Albini, btw, is a rather interesting dude — a guy who comes to poker from the music biz. He worked as a producer on albums by Nirvana, Bush, the Pixies, Flogging Molly, the Jesus Lizard (Chris Ferguson, lol?), Helmet, Cheap Trick, and Robert Plant. Apparently he became quite the badass legend amongst producers in the underground-alt scene. Neato.

Reminds me that I’m glad I’ve signed up to get this type of specialist poker training for free from CardRunners with their Truly Free Poker Training.

Recapping Tuesday night’s action, starting with the latest bracelet winner:

Kwaysser makes it two for Hungary

Valdemar Kwaysser of Budapest, Hungary defeated Matt Marafioti heads-up for the $10,000 Pot-Limit Holdem Championship bracelet, along with $617,214 as he joins Peter Gelencser as Hungarian bracelet winners this year. Marafioti earned $381,507 for the runner-up finish, with the planned rematch from the NAPT Venetian final table fizzling out with Tom Marchese finishing 6th for $123,264 and Sam Stein finishing 10th for $44,010. Full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report available shortly at wsop.com.

Obrestad, Tran highlight final day of $1,500 Shootout

The final day of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem Shootout will have 14 players seated at two seven-handed tables playing down to a winner starting at 2:30pm. Here’s the list, each starting with 450,000 in chips:

Annette Obrestad
J.C. Tran
Dustin Dirksen
Michael Cooper
Derric Haynie
Heinz Kamutzki
Steven Kelly
Jeffrey King
Johnny Kitchens
Reagan Leman
Michael Pesek
Justin Scott
Brett Shaffer
Paul Varano

Final table for 1k NL set

The $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event started with 38 players when play restarted this afternoon, deciding when to stop and play it out today at 2:30pm. Here’s how they’ll be seated:

Seat 1: Scott Montgomery – 604,000
Seat 2: Adam Richardson – 702,000
Seat 3: Daniel Fuhs – 1,251,000
Seat 4: Peter Dufek – 780,000
Seat 5: Sebastien Roy – 1,867,000
Seat 6: Michael Michnik – 307,000
Seat 7: John Dolan – 967,000
Seat 8: Timothy Beeman – 1,788,000
Seat 9: Mick Carlson – 917,000

Lewis leads final day of $2,500 Razz

The third bracelet to be determined today will have Melville Lewis (504,000) leading the final 15 players in the $2,500 Razz when play resumes at 3:30pm to determine a winner. Other contenders for the bracelet include: Stuart Rutter (295,000), Chris Bjorin (163,000), Frank Kassela (144,000), Jennifer Harman (108,000) and Vladimir Shchemelev (81,000). Full chip counts and updates available at PokerNews.

Chappus chips up at PLO8

The lone tournament to start on Tuesday, the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better restarts at 2:30pm with 157 players returning to the felt. Michael Chappus (133,400) leads the field, with notables James Dempsey (119,800), Barry Greenstein (83,000), Mike Matusow (54,700), Ben Grundy (46,000) and Phil Hellmuth (31,600) in contention. The full list of chip counts and updates available at PokerNews.

Wednesday’s tournaments

Another pair of bracelet events return to the Rio, starting with another $1,500 No-Limit Holdem tournament at 12pm. Last year’s version of this event was won last year by Ray Foley in a field of 2,715, good for $657,969. The 5pm tournament is the $10,000 HORSE World Championship, the first time a $10,000 HORSE event has been held at the WSOP. This event replaces the $10,000 Mixed Game Championship, won last year by Ville Wahlbeck in a field of 194 for $492,384.

Recapping the Tuesday action at the WSOP, with congratulations going to Ayaz Mahmood for taking down the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Holdem Championship when he defeated Ernst Schmejkal heads-up, earning $625,682.

Final table set for 10k PL holdem

The $10,000 Pot-Limit Holdem Championship final table has been reached, and it could be like the NAPT Venetian Main Event all over again as Tom Marchese and Sam Stein are featured at the final table. Here’s how the table will be situated as play has just resumed:

Seat 1: Valdemar Kwaysser – 1,298,000
Seat 2: Blair Rodman – 231,000
Seat 3: Tom Marchese – 932,000
Seat 4: Konstantin Bucherl – 1,218,000
Seat 5: Matt Marafioti – 694,000
Seat 6: Peter Jetten – 714,000
Seat 7: Sam Stein – 754,000
Seat 8: Dani Stern – 961,000
Seat 9: Alexander Kuzmin – 818,000
Seat 10: James Calderaro – 268,000

1500 NL Shootout Day 2

Day 2 of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem Shootout started their day 2 with 140 players at 14 ten-handed tables, each playing down to a winner. So far only Derric Haynie is the only player to make it to Wednesday’s final day. Find out who the other 13 winners are over at PokerNews.

$2,500 Razz Day 2

Day 2 of the $2,500 Razz returned from their dinner break with 55 players remaining, 40 making the money. Maxwell Troy (170,000) currently has the chip lead, followed by Linda Johnson (130,000), Dario Minieri (102,000), Jennifer Harman (82,000) and Joe Hachem (80,000) among the notables. Updates available during the night at PokerNews.

$1,500 PLO 8 Day 1

The only tournament that started Tuesday was the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better, which drew a field of 847 players. Around 400 players remain as the field has already returned from their dinner break, with Ben Lamb the early leader with 23,100 in chips. Other notables: Brandon Cantu (16,450), Barry Greenstein (14,200), Kathy Liebert (12,500) and Phil Hellmuth (10,750). Four more hours of play is scheduled, follow the split-pot action at PokerNews.

A review of Monday afternoon’s action:

Ivey, Juanda, Lisandro among final ten in 3k HORSE

Ten players remain in the $3,000 HORSE event, with Ryan Hughes (860,000) leading the field on dinner break. Other notables returning include Bill Chen (700,000), John Juanda (670,000), David “Not Bakes” Baker (450,000), Jeff Lisandro (445,000), Chad Brown (395,000) and Phil Ivey (180,000). Play resumes shortly, see who wins a bracelet at PokerNews.

Mahmood v Schmjekal at it again in 10k HU

Match #2 in the $10,000 No-Limit Heads-Up Championship final is underway, Mahmood only needs to win once more while Schmjekal needs to win two straight to earn a bracelet. PokerNews will be there for the long haul, hoping for a swift conclusion.

Frye cooking the field at 1k NL Day 2

Around 150 players remain on day 2 of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem with Jeff Frye leading the field with 280,000 in chips as they return from dinner break. Other notables: Ryan D’Angelo (175,000), Scott Montgomery (140,000), Leo Margets (122,000) and Svetlana Gromenkova (73,000). See who’s cashed so far and get updates at wsop.com.

Jetten blasts into 10k Pot-Limit Holdem lead

62 players remain during day 2 of the $10,000 Pot-Limit Holdem Championship with Peter Jetten (605,000) holding the lead, with 27 players making the money which will be reached sometime this evening. Other notables: Tom Marchese (318,000), Jason Lester (290,000), Allen Kessler (245,000), Vitaly Lunkin (215,000), Burt Boutin (142,000) and Amnon Filippi (98,000). PokerNews will be go deep into the night providing updates and chip counts for people to track their favorites.

Shootout draws plenty of shooters

The $1,500 No-Limit Holdem Shootout drew a field of 1400 players, with the 140 ten-handed tables playing to a winner for round 1. The 140 winners return Tuesday afternoon, among the winners so far include Michael Binger, Adam Levy, Isabelle Mercier, Bryan Devonshire, Robert Mizrachi, Annette Obrestad, Rob Perelman, Chau Giang, JC Tran and Victor Ramdin. To see who else moves on this evening, check out wsop.com.

Razz draws hundreds to get frustrated

The 5pm tournament on Monday was the $2,500 Razz, which drew a field of 365 entrants starting with 7,500 in chips. Among the early chip leaders: Frank Kassela (14,300), Team Pokerati/Loudmouth Poker pro Tom Schneider (11,200), Dutch Boyd (10,600), and Lacey Jones (8,000). Eight hours of play are on the agenda, and PokerNews will be there to cover the excitement, if it can be found.

Recapping Sunday night’s WSOP action:

Angle corners Seniors’ bracelet

78-year old Harold Angle of Sun City Center, Florida defeated Michael Minetti heads-up to win the $1,000 Seniors’ No-Limit Holdem Championship and add $487,994 to his bank account. Minetti earned $301,389 for the runner-up finish. As Dan noted in the post below, Tom Schneider finished 14th in his WSOP Seniors’ debut. The full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report is available at wsop.com.

Mahmood leads 10k Heads-Up final 1-0

The finals of the $10,000 No-Limit Holdem Heads-Up Championship was expected to have finished earlier today, but the first match in the best-of-three final between Ayaz Mahmood and Ernst Schmejkal took over six hours to complete, with Mahmood eventually winning. Play will resume at 7pm tonight as they play to a finish, hopefully.

Juanda leads stacked 3k HORSE

25 players remain on day 3 of the $3,000 HORSE, with John Juanda (393,000) leading the way when play resumes at 3pm. The stacked field includes David “Not Bakes” Baker (373,000), Phil Ivey (205,000), Jeff Lisandro (193,000), Dan Heimiller (180,000), Bill Chen (158,000), David Benyamine (137,000), Chad Brown (108,000), Scott Seiver (105,000) and David Singer (93,000). The full list of chip counts are available at PokerNews.

Marchese leads 10k PL Holdem Day 2

A field of 268 players started Sunday afternoon in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Holdem Championship, after ten hours of play, Thomas Marchese emerged as the leader with 334,600 in chips when play resumes at 3pm today. Some of the notables returning include Dani Stern (200,500), John Duthie (171,400), Noah Boeken (136,400), Blair Rodman (92,900), Mike Matusow (77,300) and Shannon Shorr (72,700). The top 27 players get paid, with the winner pocketing $617,214. The full list of chip counts are available at PokerNews.

D’angelo leads 1k NL day 1b field

Day 1b of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem tournament drew a field of 1,119 players, with 165 of them joining the 268 day 1a players when play resumes at 2:30pm. The top 324 players make the money, with the winner picking up $481,760 at the cashier. The full list of chip counts for both days is available at wsop.com.

Monday’s tournaments

Two tournaments on the schedule today, first is the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem Shootout at 12pm. This has a listed cap of 2,000 players, which appears to be a strange number to use for a shootout. If more than 1000 players are registered, 20 additional tables will be added, with some tables being 9-handed. The winners from round 1 will make the money and return on Tuesday, with the winners of those tables playing on Wednesday to determine a winner. With a 1,000 player cap last year, Jeffrey Carris won this event last year, good for $313,673. The 5pm tournament is the $2,500 Razz, won by Jeff Lisandro in a field of 315 for $188,390.

The final table of the $50,000 HORSE finally concluded at 10am PT with David Bach defeating John Hanson in a marathon final table that lasted over 475 hands, making it the longest final table in the history of the World Series of Poker in the United States. Heads-up play between Bach and Hanson lasted for nearly seven hours total.

The final hand was in razz, with Bach starting out with 7-6-4-A, as Hanson was far behind with J-9-8-5. But for those that have played razz, it’s an intensely frustrating game, and it was for Bach when he went A-Q while Hanson went 6-5 to take the lead with his jack-low. The final card gave Hanson a deuce for 9-8-5-6-2, but Bach caught a nine to just edge him out 9-7-6-4-A to take down the bracelet, the Chip Reese trophy, and win $1,276,802, doubling his career tournament winnings. Hanson takes down $789,199 for the second place finish.

Recapping the first half of Wednesday’s WSOP:

Lisandro Wins Bracelet #3, Wins Stud Triple Crown

Jeff Lisandro becomes the first player to win three bracelets in one WSOP after Chris Moneymaker initiated the poker boom in 2003, takes down the $2,500 Razz event, good for $188,370. Lisandro has won all three of his bracelets in stud events in each of the three disciplines of stud (Stud high, Stud Hi/Lo and Razz). Lisandro held the chip lead at the beginning of the day and was never seriously threatened. Michael Craig finished in 2nd, good for $116,405. Other notable finishes: Kenna James (6th), Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri (10th), Ville Wahlbeck (12th) and Nikolay Evdakov (13th).

Seniors Six-Pack

Half a dozen players remain in the $1,000 Seniors NL Holdem World Championship, led by Scott Buller with over 2 million in chips. Michael Morusty, Charles Simon, Dan DeLatorre, Michael Davis and Barry Bounds make up the remaining players.

Thang Flung From Omaha-8

The $2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better has 70 players remaining, only 45 get paid. The unofficial chip leader is Frankie O’Dell (109,000), followed by day 1 chip leader Josh Schlien (85,000), Pat Poels (71,500), Marsha Waggoner (54,000), Mike Matusow (38,000), and Max Pescatori (28,000) among the familiar faces. Thang Luu unfortunately was eliminated before the dinner break earlier today.

Brummelhuis Bringing It in Pot-Limit

The $10,000 Pot-Limit Holdem World Championship is down to 35 players, only 27 get to cash with day 1 chip leader Michiel Brummelhuis remaining chip leader (570,000). Isaac Haxton (450,000), Eric Baldwin (430,000), Darryll Fish (310,000), Vanessa Rousso (280,000), Sam Simon (173,000), and Eugene Todd (165,000) are among the remaining.

Mixed Holdem Brings Mixed Blessings

The $2,500 Mixed Holdem event drew a field of 527 players, of which just 184 remain. The unofficial chip leader is David Baker (unknown if that’s the one from Michigan or Texas) at 73,000. Eli Elezra (51,000), Marc Naalden (46,000) and Jean-Robert Bellande (42,000) are some well known folks with chips.

More updates during the evening over at www.wsop.com and Pokerati for more Lisandro stuff and other commentary about all things WSOP.

Good episode of the Degen Report — bringing you more of the real WSOP, nearly a month in, as tempers flare, bankrolls fluctuate, and the general grind begins to wear. In this vid, we learn about rumors of who’s rolling whom (Jeff Madsen mugged at a Strip Club? Should help his rapper cred), near-broke folks making big scores, and @Dutch Boyd jumps in with an anti-Euro beef regarding the not-so-British way they do battle with Americans.

Watch Bryan Micon and Dutch Boyd Get Degenerate on RawVegas.tv

From here, it all gets really interesting — as the two discuss the enforcement of language and abuse penalties, the WSOP penalty “book”, and bring into question a potentially flawed rule that prohibits checking the river with the nuts … contending that indeed, there are situations where you might want to do that (particularly in split-pot games) without regard to soft-play perceptions.

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.

Just earlier today, Benjo was delivering his Angriest Frenchman scorn, telling me essentially to suck-it, because “You are never in zee bahd mood, Dahn Meehowskee!” But that was before Miami John Cernuto suffered a medical emergency in the $2,500 Razz tourney (he’s mostly OK now, or at least in stable condition), and yours truly tried to cover it Pokerati-style … only to end up in a scuffle with security. Major tiltage ensued, and Pauly, of course, is right there to capture my fiery journo-righteous ire as I totally misidentify my antagonist, and Dr. P, not on tilt, reports truer facts of this unusual tournament situation.

presented by:

Tao of Pokerati at the 40th WSOP
Las Vegas, NV

Episode 11.18: The Angry Michalski Episode
5:00
[audio:tao/TaoPokerati_WSOP_MiamiJohn.mp3]

Oh, and … brought to you by Dream Team Poker.

photo: LasVegasVegas

The $2,500 Razz event came to an abrupt halt today when Miami John Cernuto collapsed at the table. Apparently action was on him, at first people thought he was asleep, and then someone said I don’t think he’s breathing … at which point they kinda poked him, and he fell to the ground felt.

Tournament officials stopped the clock and cleared the area while paramedics rushed to attend to him. No official medical report yet, but it appeared to be a heart attack. However, in the end, about 40 minutes later, he appeared to be OK. Like an injured athlete being carried off the field of play, Cernuto waved to the crowd and received an ovation as he left the Brasilia room and was calling someone on his cell phone en route to the hospital.

Pokerati was there to try to show how a major tournament handles such incidents — and though we know this matter isn’t about “us”, we apologize for the unclear photographs snapped before being expelled from the premises for trying to bring you the story:

More…

Not everyone is winning this year … and we’re getting near that point where you either gotta make something happen to turn it around or be left, perhaps literally, in the main event going for broke.

Mike Matusow getting ready to lose it (via Annie Duke):

And of course we know how our buddy Tom is doing (0-for-14) … so he decided to booze it up for the $2,500 Razz. “It can’t really make me do worse,” he said, before giving most of his stack to Eskimo Clark en route to going bust:

Players to Watch

Negreanu

Wahlbeck

Johnston

Shinn

Turner

Flack

Boukai

Recapping the conclusion of Monday’s play… and looking forward at Tuesday’s action ready to get underway.

Foley Flies Home a Winner

Ray Foley, a business manager for Chrysler Financial, bested Brandon Cantu headsup to take down the $1,500 NL Holdem event early Tuesday morning, collecting $657,969 along with his first WSOP bracelet. Cantu was hoping to pick up his second, starting heads-up play and had Foley drawing to two outs in what appeared to be the final hand, but Foley caught a third ten on the turn to pass Cantu’s flopped pair of kings to take the lead. Foley’s Q-J outkicked Cantu’s J-7 on a jack high board in the final hand to send Foley, a resident of Northville, Michigan home the winner. Alex Jacob was the only other notable at the final table, finishing third.

Graham Cracks Russian, Wins PLO World Title

The $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship was won by Matt Graham, coming back from a 9 to 1 chip deficit to win his second career WSOP bracelet. The other three previous WSOP bracelet winners finished 7th, 8th and 9th (Josh Arieh, Richard Austin and Barry Greenstein respectively).

Five Remain in 5k Shootout

The final table of the $5,000 NL Holdem Shootout is now set, and here’s how the players will be seated, each with 1,500,000 in chips when play resumes at 2pm PT:

Seat 1: Maxim Lykov – 900000
Seat 2: Danny Wong – 900000
Seat 3: Andrew Lichtenberger – 900000
Seat 4: Peter Traply – 900000
Seat 5: Nasr El Nasr – 900000

Turner Hopes To Turn It On Again

14 players remain in the $2,500 8-Game Mixed event with Jon Turner (469,200) the chip leader when play resumes at 2pm. Other notables returning: Adam Friedman (325,800), Layne Flack (283,400), former MMA fighter and bracelet winner Rami Boukai (137,700), and Jimmy Fricke (47,400).

Seniors Day 2

Lloyd Shinn of Dallas (86,500) leads the 397 players returning for Day 2 of the $1,000 Seniors NL Holdem World Championship at 2pm. Former WPT winner Eric Hershler (82,500) is in second. A few names stand out among the remaining players, such as Jerry Reed (38,500), former WSOP Main Event winner Berry Johnston (29,400), “Minneapolis Jim” Meehan (27,400), and Hall of Famer Barbara Enright (24,600).

Razzerific!

Day 2 of the $2,500 Razz has Warwick Mirzikinian the leader (59,400) of the 118 players returning at 2pm on Tuesday. The field started with 315 players, only 32 making the money. Notables also returning include: David Chiu (41,800), Kenna James (38,600), Ville Wahlbeck (35,300), Justin Bonomo (30,600), Daniel Negreanu (21,900), and Archie Karas (15,900).

Tuesday’s Tournaments

Another two tournaments on Tuesday, starting with the $10,000 Pot-Limit Holdem World Championship, won last year by Nenad Medic for almost $800,000 in a field of 352. The 5pm tournament is the debut of the $2,500 Omaha 8 or Better event. The WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 370 for the 10k PL Holdem event, while in the $2,500 OHL, a field of 525 is projected.

Recapping the six-pack of WSOP events on Monday:

Graham Looking to Crack PLO Final Table

Matt Graham is the current chip leader at the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship final table which features several WSOP bracelet winners (including Graham). Here’s how the players are currently seated, currently streaming on ESPN360 and wsop.pkr.com:

Seat 1: Ferit Gabriellson
Seat 2: Matt Graham
Seat 3: Barry Greenstein
Seat 4: Josh Arieh
Seat 5: Stefan Mattsson
Seat 6: Richard Austin
Seat 7: Van Marcus
Seat 8: Vitaly Lunkin
Seat 9: Robin Keston

Can Cantu Can Do?

The $1,500 NL Holdem event is now on dinner break, returning with eight players remaining. Roy Foley is the current chip leader, with Brandon Cantu currently in second, with Alex Jacob in third.

Shootout Nears its OK Corral

The $5,000 NL Holdem Shootout has one table remaining before play concludes with the five winners of their six person table. Andrew Licthenberger, Danny Wong, Maxim Lykov and Peter Traply have already claimed their seat, while Nasr El Nasr and Barny Boatman are playing for the last seat. Phil Ivey was at the same table as El Nasr and Boatman, finishing 8th to move into the lead in the WSOP POY standings if the criteria doesn’t change.

Thang Doing his Thang in 8-Game

Thang Luu is trying to prove he’s not an Omaha-8 wonder, as he’s the current chip leader (150,000) in the $2,500 Mixed Event with 54 players remaining, 40 making the money. Other notables with chips: Michael Binger (115,300), Layne Flack (80,000), Blair Rodman (67,500), Jimmy Fricke (50,000) and Robert Williamson III (30,000). Play will continue until the 3am deadline or when 8 players remain, whichever comes first.

Seniors Sellout

A capacity field of 2,707 members of the over 50 set started the $1,000 Seniors NL Holdem World Championship with about 900 players returning after the dinner break with four levels remaining in the day.

Razz Draws Respectable Field

The $2,500 Razz event drew a field of approximately 300 (including Pokerati’s own Tom Schneider) to the Amazon room, with those sick enough to play razz playing eight levels before play ends for the evening.

No official chip leaders have been named in the above two events, but those who head to www.wsop.com should find updates during the evening hours.

Finishing the Sunday tournaments plus a preview of the Monday doubleheader and a reminder that Sen. Al D’Amato and Rep. Shelley Berkeley will be at the Rio to announce National Poker Week, also be sure to go to www.pokerpetition.com and add your name.

Iacavone In Control

Michael Iacavone is the reported chip leader (1,605,200) when play resumes in the $1,500 NL Holdem as the remaining 26 players come back at 2pm to play down to a winner. Joe Bartholdi (1,040,000), Nam Le (500,100), Mohsin Charania (471,000), Alex Jacob (433,000), and Raymond Davis (401,000) are the notable names also returning to capture a bracelet.

Schwartz Still Swinging a Big Stack

Another field with a long day on Monday will be the remaining 25 players left in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship who return at 1pm today as they’ll eventually be streamed over the Internet on ESPN360 and wsop.pkr.com. Noah Schwartz (1,220,000) remains the chip leader, with Markus Golser (621,000) and Robin Keston (606,000) leading their respective tables. Recognizable names returning include: Matt Graham (586,000), Barry Greenstein (467,000), Josh Arieh (356,000), Richard Austin (331,000), Howard Lederer (326,000), Padraig Parkinson (259,000), and Vitaly Lunkin (220,000).

More Shooting at the Rio

Some more names that won their first table in the $5,000 NL Holdem Shootout: Danny Wong, Davidi Kitai, Amit Makhija, Roland Isra and David Pham. The remaining 30 players return at 2pm for the second round with the final five winners returning Tuesday for a five player final table.

Filippi 8-Game Leader

153 players return at 2pm Monday for day 2 of the $2,500 Mixed Game event with Amnon Filippi the chip leader with 90,000 in chips. Other notables with chips: Andy Black (58,000), Thayer Rasmussen (48,425), Jon Turner (41,725), Sorel Mizzi (39,525), and JC Tran (34,700).

Monday’s Tournaments

Today’s a pair of events for the 50+ crowd, with the $1,000 Senior’s NL Holdem World Championship, won last year by Dan Lacourse for $368,832 in a field of 2,218. The 5pm tournament is the debut of the $2,500 Razz event. The WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 2,440 for the Seniors’ event, and a field of 300 projected for the Razz event.

More updates during the day at www.wsop.com and Pokerati should have some new stuff during the day, check back often.