In a time where buy-ins are dropping to accommodate a slumping economy, leave it to Monaco to make people feel poor again. Not content with the highest buy-in tournament to date being the $100,000 Aussie Millions High Rollers event, Casino Monte Carlo in junction with the IPPA (International Poker Player’s Association) is hosting a $250,000 buy-in shootout in late November. Before you ask, “who could afford this nonsense?”; evidently 14 pros have already signed up, with names ranging from Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan all the way to Robert and Michael Mizrachi. There are a few things with this tournament that help it stand out beyond the absurd high buy-in:

• It will be “limited” to 48 players total and played out in a shootout format, with $5 million guaranteed to first place. Which means that if this is a true guarantee and not just a projected prize if all 48 slots fill, mean that you would need 20 players minimum just to break even (sans rake, and only if it’s a winner-take-all tournament).
• The IPPA is not…well known, at least certainly not in the US. Their website is equally sparse in terms of action information, but they may be trying to put themselves on the map with a tournament of this size.
• There are satellites running in at least two confirmed places, Monte Carlo (naturally) and The Bicycle Casino in beautiful Bell Gardens, CA. How does one even satellite into this tournament? Think the step tournaments online, except the stakes are much, much higher. The Bike already ran $100, $1k and $9k satellites during the Legends of Poker tournament series, but their site does not have any results for the $1k and $9k satellites so its unknown how many takers they got.
• It will be a televised event, but with the field the way it is so far the IPPA and/or Monte Carlo hopefully will be pushing hard to get some whales in the game, or it may deter other pros from throwing their hat in the ring.

Still, the organizers have to cover their “overlay” first, which will be no small feat when pros are being asked to drop $250,000 in one go into a shark-filled tank. If this tournament happens it certainly will be an interesting sight, not just for the prize pool but the revival of a lingering question regarding how we keep score in poker. Already there has been talk of what “counts” on the all-time money list, so if someone like Ivey did win the $5 million for what amounts to a 48-person (or less) SnG it could lead to some gripping from a few pros (quite possibly including the #2 man on that list…who could become a distant #2 or 3 after this tournament).

Sorting through the list of remaining players, the surnames with the most players still in contention to win the main event hardly come as surprise, based pretty much on world population.

Mathematically, a Chan or Nguyen is still probably your best bet, and the Johnsons and Changs have kinda disappointed their global families. But one name stands out as being a bit different than all the rest, thus highlighting the uniqueness of four brothers going deep.

More…

First, regarding Main Event registration, day 1d registration is temporarily closed. That day has over 900 players registered while days 1a, 1b and 1c are running behind with around 350-500 players registered so far. Tournament staff hopes more players choose those day 1s catch up to day 1d’s figure before reopening registration.

For the first time in several weeks, no bracelets were awarded at the WSOP yesterday. However, as many as three could be awarded during Wednesday’s tournament action:

Seat 1: Wenlong Jin – 292,000
Seat 2: Chuan Shi – 894,000
Seat 3: Jason Mann – 893,000
Seat 4: Ilya Andreev – 985,000
Seat 5: Allan Baekke – 1,633,000
Seat 6: Shawn Busse – 1,203,000
Seat 7: Owen Crowe – 1,192,000
Seat 8: Pekka Ikonen – 626,000
Seat 9: Adam White – 1,685,000

R. Mizrachi leads 5k PLO

What is expected to be the final day of the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event resumes at 3pm with Robert Mizrachi (758,000) leading the field with 31 players remaining. Among the notables: Jose “Nacho” Barbero (480,000), Jason Mercier (221,000), Joe Beevers (212,000), Julian Gardner (190,000), Joe Serock (150,000), Justin “Boosted J” Smith (120,000) and Nam Le (60,000). Full chip counts available at wsop.com.

Linn leader final day of $1500 NL

Michael Linn (1,410,000) leads the final 23 players of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem when play resumes at 3pm this afternoon. Full chip counts available at wsop.com.

Vedes leads Triple Chance Day 1

Day one of the $3,000 Triple Chance No-Limit Holdem event drew a field of 965 entrants, with 177 returning to the tables at 2:30pm. Tommy Vedes leads the field with 231,100 in chips, followed by familiar names David Singer (204,100), Gavin Griffin (134,300), Joe Tehan (93,100), Tom Dwan (59,800) and Terrence Chan (52,200). Full chip counts available at wsop.com.

Wednesday’s tournaments

One of the most highly anticipated tournaments of the WSOP takes place at 12pm with the debut of the $25,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event. A field of over 200 players is expected, consisting of 6-max specialists from the Internet, veteran tournament poker professionals, and those with $25,000 to burn. Players start with 75,000 in chips with the opening level 150/300 with a 25 ante, giving players incentive to show up on time and get the action going. The 5pm tournament is the $1,500 Limit Holdem Shootout, won last year by Greg Mueller in a field of 571 players, earning $179,291.

The big story Thursday evening is Phil Hellmuth’s attempt to win his 12th bracelet in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better, currently on dinner break with 8 players remaining. Here’s the standings when play resumes shortly to blinds of 15,000/30,000, follow the action at PokerNews:

John Gottlieb 1,200,000
Ben Lamb 725,000
Michael Chappus 470,000
Ryan Karp 400,000
Phil Hellmuth 270,000
Anders Taylor 266,000
Mandy Thomas 266,000
Steve Jelinek 220,000

UPDATE: Hellmuth finished in 7th place for $30,000.

The rest of Thursday’s tournament action in brief:

The $1,500 No-Limit Holdem has about 100 players remaining when they resume from dinner break. Mike Sowers leads the field with 632,000 in chips, follow the action and updates at PokerNews.

The $10,000 HORSE World Championship has about 75 players remaining as they try to reach the money when 24 remain. The current chip leader is Steve Bilirakis (205,000) followed by Greg Raymer (170,000), Annie Duke (167,000), Robert Mizrachi (145,000) and Matt Glantz (105,000). More updates and chip counts at wsop.com.

Six levels of play have taken place in the $2,500 Mixed Holdem, with 169 of the 507 players who started remaining as they take their dinner break. John Phan is the early leader with 55,000 in chips, followed by Dwyte Pilgrim (46,000), Andy Bloch (36,000), Brandon Cantu (25,000) and Justin Bonomo (20,200). More details to come at wsop.com.

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 the Thursday afternoon action, with one bracelet already decided:

Tieman Takes Down Title

The $5,000 No-Limit Shootout final table with Joshua Tieman eliminating the final four players to take down the coveted WSOP bracelet, along with $441,692. Tieman disposed of veteran British pro Neil Channing in heads-up play, earning $273,153 for Channing. Stuart Rutter ($179,617), Joseph Elpayaa ($125,387), Nicolas Levi ($92,543) and Brent Hanks ($71,998) rounded out the final table results.

2-7 Lowball Final Table

The $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball is down to three players with Raphael Zimmerman the chip leader (865,000), followed by Dan McNamara (675,000) and Peter Gelenscer (612,000). David Chiu ($50,517), Jameson Painter ($34,843). and Leonard Martin ($24,723) were the others at the final table. Follow the action over at PokerNews.

$1,500 NL Day 2

The $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event is down to under 80 players as the field is now at their one hour dinner break. The chip leader is Jose Gatmaitan at 350,000. Notables with chips: Josh Schlein (196,000), Matt Stout (150,000), Phil Hellmuth (145,000), and Steve Sung (85,000). The field returns to play five one-hour levels or reach the final table, whichever happens first. Follow PokerNews to get all the latest updates.

Taking it to the Pot-Limit

The first tournament to start on Thursday, $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem starting with a field of 650, with under 200 remaining when they return from their 90-minute dinner break to play four more one-hour levels. The final 63 players in the field cash, with the winner earning $197,470. Chad Batista is the current chip leader (52,000), followed by notables Justin Bonomo (32,000), Liv Boeree (26,500), Team Pokerati’s Tom Schneider (22,000) Lex Veldhuis (17,000) and Eric Froehlich (15,000).

World Championship Stud Starts

The $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship got underway at 5pm this afternoon, with a field of about 148 when registration closed. Yuval Bronshtein has already doubled up his starting stack of 30,000 to take the early lead. He’s followed closely by Daniel Negreanu (51,800), Robert Mizrachi (49,000) and Scotty Nguyen (35,000). For updates and a full list of entrants, check out wsop.com for more information.

Recapping the Tuesday night action, with two events finishing earlier this morning:

Grinder chews up competition in 50k

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi overcame a 3-1 chip deficit during heads-up to defeat Vladimir Schemelev and win his first WSOP bracelet along with $1,500,000 in the $50,000 Players’ Championship . Schemelev collects over $960,000 with his runner-up finish. David Oppenheim, who was chip leader when the remaining five players took their dinner break, finished third for $603,348. John Juanda ($436,865) and Robert Mizrachi ($341,429) finished fourth and fifth respectively. You can read Nolan Dalla’s tournament report here.

Chow Main Man in Omaha 8

The other bracelet awarded this morning was the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event, won by Michael Chow, defeating long-time pro Dan Heimiller in heads-up action. Chow picks up $237,140 for the win, while Heimiller adds $146,505 to his long list of cashes. Full results for this event along with Nolan’s tournament report can be found over at wsop.com.

Final table set in $1,000 NL

The $1,000 No-Limit Holdem is down to a final table, resuming at 2:30pm after plans to play to a finish this morning were scuttled. The final table almost had the first father and son to play the same final table, but Irving Rice’s elimination in 10th place meant his son Richard would take up the charge to win a bracelet. Here’s how the final table will be seated, you can follow the live updates this afternoon at PokerNews.com:

Seat 1: Dash Dudley — 1,355,000
Seat 2: Bart Davis — 1,355,000
Seat 3: Nicholas Mitchell — 1,280,000
Seat 4: Deepak Bhatti — 400,000
Seat 5: Gabe Costner — 1,830,000
Seat 6: Richard Rice — 700,000
Seat 7: Aadam Daya — 2,855,000
Seat 8: Isaac Settle — 970,000
Seat 9: Cory Brown — 2,315,000

$1,500 NL down to 23 for Day 3

The $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event has 23 players remaining when play resumes at 2:30pm this afternoon, playing down to a winner. The chip leader is Vincent Jacques with 1,498,000. Notables remaining include Praz Bansi (616,000), online stars David Sands (628,000) and Yuval Bronshtein (498,000), along with three-time WSOP Circuit ring winner Dwyte Pilgrim (209,000). The full list of remaining players is available at wsop.com.

Shootout Day 2

36 players, each guaranteed $16,607, remain in the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem Shootout when play resumes at 2:30 today. The remaining players will be seated at six six-handed tables. Those winners return Thursday for the final table, with the winner earning $441,692. Among the notables who won their table yesterday: Chris Ferguson, John Duthie, Chad Brown, Tom Dwan, Christian Harder, Blair Hinkle and Justin “Boosted J” Smith. The list of survivors can be found here.

Hanna Leads Lowball Enthusiasts

The $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw drew a field of 291 entrants for a 5pm start. After ten levels thet field was reduced to 87, with Salim Hanna the chip leader with 65,400 when play resumes Wednesday at 3pm. Plenty of big names remain including Hoyt Corkins, Allen Kessler, Jeff Lisandro, Scott Seiver, Ted Forrest, Barry Greenstein, and Archie Karas. For Team Pokerati followers, Tom Schneider finished 12th with 43,200 in chips, Pat Poels was 46th with 21,000, while Julie Schneider was eliminated on day 1. A full list of chip counts will be available soon at wsop.com.

More No-Limit On Tap

Wednesday has just one event starting today, the second $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event of the WSOP, with a 12pm start. The second $1,500 of the 2009 WSOP was won by Pete “The Greek” Vilandos, winning over $600,000 in a field of 2,506. PokerNews will have constant updates available throughout the day as the field plays ten one-hour levels.

Recapping the six-pack of tournaments in action this evening. But first more on Jeffrey Pollack’s employment with Professional Bull Riders with Michele Lewis and Wicked Chops Poker.

50k Players’ Down to Five

David Oppenheim holds a commanding lead with five players remaining at the final table of the $50,000 Players’ Championship. Oppenheim currently has about 8,000,000 in chips with Vladimir Schemelev (3,000,000) John Juanda (2,000,000), Robert Mizrachi (1,400,000) and Michael Mizrachi (1,100,000) the remaining players as they go on dinner break. David “Bakes” Baker ($272.275), Daniel Alaei ($221,105) and Mikael Hurwitz ($182,463) were the first three eliminated at the final table. Follow the live reporting over at PokerNews.

Two Tables Left in 1k

The $1,000 NL Holdem event is down to 18 players as they return from their dinner break shortly. The current plan is for a winner to be determined tonight, although they will reevaluate when they get down to nine.. The current chip leader is Samuel Paolini at 1,600,000, followed by Cory Brown (1,360,000), Dash Dudley (1,345,000) and Aadam Daya (1,100,000). CardPlayer POY Eric Baldwin is among the final 18 (740,000) as well as Gabe Costner (500,000) and Jeremiah DeGreef (355,000).

Eleven Left in Omaha 8

Eleven players remain in the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event as the field returns from dinner break. Sasha Rosewood remains the chip leader (750,000), while Dan Heimiller (380,000) and Ylon Schwartz (120,000) the other recognized names in the field. The field will have a very late night as they play to a bracelet winner.

Under 100 in $1,500 NL

The $1,500 NL Holdem event is down to about 80 with ten levels or they reach the final table this evening. Praz Bansi is the leader with 300,000, with Chris Moorman (240,000), Adam Levy (165,000) and Dwyte Pilgrim (160,000) near the top of the leaderboard. Updates on the action can be found here.

NL Shootout Day 1

The $5,000 NL Holdem Shootout drew a field of 358 situated around 36 tables, each playing down to a winner. Those who win their table are guaranteed $16,607, and move on to meet the other winners Wednesday afternoon. Some who have already moved on: Faraz Jaka, Neil Channing, James Akenhead, Chris Ferguson, Chino Rheem and Dario Minieri. To see who else advances, those updates are available here.

Lowball on the Rise

The $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event drew a field of at least 270, slightly higher then last year. It’s a little early for a clear leader to be established, but Andy Bloch, Sorel Mizzi and Team Pokerati’s own Julie Schneider are reported to have an above average 7,500 chip starting stack. The field will play eight levels tonight, more updates can be found here.

Pokerati Dan on 2+2 Pokercast

Dan has already noted the final table of the 50k Players’ Championship, scheduled to start at 3pm in front of the cameras for ESPN. While Benjo and Pauly were talking about the final table, Dan was at home, doing an interview with the 2+2 Pokercast (starting around the 1:23:00 mark) to talk about the new-and-improved Rio as well as stories about the NAPT-Venetian and Jeffrey Pollack’s move to the PBR. Don’t forget to check out the links over on the right hand side! He follows Phil Laak discussing his upcoming attempt to set a Guinness record for longest single poker session ever.

41 Left in Donkament

In what is scheduled to be the final day of the first $1,000 no-limit event, Drew Crawford is the chip leader at 800,000 when play resumes this afternoon at 3pm. Like last year’s $1,000 event, there may be a decision to hold the final table Wednesday afternoon if it play goes longer than expected this afternoon. Other notables remaining include Terry Fleisher (489,000), Eric Baldwin (479,000), and Champie Douglas (344,000). The complete list of players remaining is now online at PokerNews.

Omaha 8 down to 26

Day 3 of the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event starts at 3pm as well, with three tables remaining as they play down to a winner. Sasha Rosewood starts play as the leader, with 389,000 in chips. Familiar names also returning: Dan Heimiller (211,000), Ylon Schwartz (166,000), Jeff Madsen (148,000), David Bach (107,000) and Huck Seed (57,000). Team Pokerati pros Robert Goldfarb (29th) and Loudmouth Poker sponsor Tom Schneider (32nd) each earning $6,128. The full list of players remaining is at PokerNews.

$1,500 NL near the bubble

223 players remain in the $1,500 NL Holdem when play resumes at 2:30pm this afternoon. 216 will make the money, leading to what should be a short hand-for-hand session. Stephen Foutty leads the field with 207,400 in chips, followed closely by Dwyte Pilgrim (202,000)and Chris Moorman (161,400). Other notables: Praz Bansi (118,700), Lauren Kling (62,800), Shaun Deeb (58,200) and Dewey Tomko (44,900). The full list is also at PokerNews.

Tuesday’s Tournaments

Two tournaments scheduled today, at 12 noon is the $5,000 NL Holdem Shootout, with a cap of 2000 players but expecting just a field of around 300. Last year, Peter Traply won this event in a field of 280, winning nearly $350,000. He’s parlayed this success into appearing in the top 50 for this year’s WSOP Tournament of Champions.

Starting at 5pm is the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event won last year by Abe Mosseri, and with Team Pokerati’s own Julie Schneider finishing in 3rd. If she and Daniel Negreanu meet up at the same table again, will there be a new Twitter controversy?

Gotta love Benjo and Pauly for keeping me (and therefore you) updated not just on results … but more so with what’s really happening on the Amazon floor as the first of three televised events — the $50k Players Championship — gets down to the final table.

Episode 8: 50k Agent Mix

Pauly and TOP’s ready stand-in Benjo describe events on the rail in the closing moments of the final table bubble for the 50K Players Championship. They also spy on a potential endorsement deal being negotiated in the far corner of the Amazon Ballroom

Here, btw, are the final table players in the $50k (8-Game) Mix, from PokerNews:

Seat 1: David “Bakes” Baker – 3,095,000
Seat 2: Mikael Thuritz – 2,300,000
Seat 3: Vladimir Schmelev – 1,925,000
Seat 4: John Juanda – 2,620,000
Seat 5: Daniel Alaei – 1,705,000
Seat 6: Michael Mizrachi – 2,620,000
Seat 7: David Oppenheim – 460,000
Seat 8: Robert Mizrachi – 3,125,000

More…

Bubble Burst in 50k

The $50,000 Players’ Championship reached the bubble earlier today with day 2 chip leader Kirk Morrison the unfortunate bubble boy, leaving 16 players guaranteed almost $100,000. At this time, Robert Mizrachi is the current chip lead with over 2.5m in chips, followed by John Juanda at 2.4m in 2nd. Michael Mizrachi is currently in 5th with nearly 1.7m while Nick Schulman, and Daniel Alaei have around 1m in chips with just 13 players remaining. The Mizrachi brothers are looking to be the first brothers to make the same final table since Ross and Barny Boatman performed the feat in 2002. (Thanks to a poster on 2+2 for that info).

1k Donkament Day 2

The $1,000 NL Holdem event reached the money within the first level this afternoon, and the pace has not slowed down, with under 200 players remaining at the end of level 14. The chip leader at the dinner break is Drew Crawford at 230,000. Play continues to the end of level 20 or the final table, whichever comes first.

Omaha 8 Day 2

Around 120 players remain in the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event as they head to their dinner break. Phil Ivey, Allen Kessler, David Bach, Brock Parker, Andrew Black and Team Pokerati’s own Tom Schneider are some of the familiar names looking to make the money bubble at 81 players and the eventual final table.

$1,500 NL Day 1

The $1,500 NL holdem event drew a field of 2,092, with 216 making the money and the winner getting over $500,000. 638 players will return after their 90-minute dinner break. The early leader appears to be online legend Shaun Deeb with 55,000 chips. Lauren Kling is unofficially in second with 45,000, while Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu, Mark Seif and Joe Cada off to a fast start as well.

Be sure to check the links on the right to find more content, live updates, and other WSOP-related stuff.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks in poker with notable tournaments running in locations as diverse as London, Aruba and… Blackhawk, Colorado? To keep you up with who’s winning around the world, our crack staff is everywhere. We think.

Barry Shulman
WSOPE Main Event
London, England

With more than $1.3 million in first-place money and a WSOP bracelet on the line, the match had Academy Award potential as Shulman, father of November Niner and up-and-coming poker bad boy Jeff “Happy” Shulman, bettered perennial fan favorite and all-time tournament money winner Daniel Negreanu.

For full play-by-play of the epic 17-hour, big-name final table, click here

Aaron Gustavson
EPT London Main Event
London, England

Across town at the Grosvenor Casino, it took just seven hands of heads-up play for 23-year-old online pro Aaron Gustavson to knock off defending WSOP main event champ Peter Eastgate and claim the £850,000 first-place prize at the EPT London Main Event.

More details at EuropeanPokerTour.com

Brandon Hall
Aruba Poker Classic
Aruba

A little rain couldn’t dampen Hall’s spirits as the 20-year-old online qualifier from Littlestown, Pa., beat out 474 other players to claim more than $753,000 and the title of Aruba Poker Classic Champion after defeating Robert Mizrachi in heads-up play. He plays online as “AreTheseUtz”.

Read more about him at the UltimateBet Blog

William Givens
HPT Mile High Poker Open
Black Hawk, CO

24-year old William Givens won nearly $145,000 and his mother’s respect after taking down the Heartland Poker Tour’s Mile High Poker Open at the Golden Gates Casino earlier this month. Givens, who has been playing professionally for just over a year, won his way into the $1,650 main event through a $360 satellite. Using cash game winnings from the weekend, he actually won two satellites and sold the other seat for additional profit.

Read more about his biggest win to date on the Heartland Poker Tour here

Two final tables are underway, with the $1,500 NL Holdem 6-max event down to their final 3 players. Ken “Teach” Aldridge is the current chip leader in a big hand that went down just after the dinner break. You can follow the streaming final table coverage on the Bluff Magazine website or at wsop.pkr.com. The $2,500 PLH/PLO event is down to their final 6 players. Cornel Cimpan, WPT LA Poker Classic winner in February, is the current chip leader, with Ben Grundy and Paul Parker the other notables left at the table.

The $2,000 NL Holdem event is now in the money with about 100 players remaining. Phil Hellmuth added to his WSOP record with his 70th cash, and is still going strong as the players return to their dinner break soon. Jason Mercier, T.J. Cloutier, Tom McEvoy and Tom Franklin are some of the bracelet winners who are still in the field. When the players return, they’ll be playing beat the clock to get to a final table before the 3am deadline.

The $10,000 Mixed Event World Championship is down to about 55 players remaining, with Soheil Shamseddin the leader, with Robert Mizrachi, Steve Sung, Huck Seed and Hasan Habib remaining as they’ll also attempt to get to the final table of eight by the 3am deadline.

The 12pm tournament today, $2,500 NL holdem drew a smaller than expected field of 1,088, some possibly took the day off before the $5,000 NL Holdem event tomorrow at noon. The usual rapid decimation of the field still took place, as less than 450 players returning when the 90-minute dinner break began. Alan Goehring appears to be the chip leader, with the winner taking just over $500,000 and 116 others pick up some cash.

The 5pm tournament, $2,500 Limit Holdem 6-max, looks to have drawn a field of about 360. No clear leaders have been established, but check out www.worldseriesofpoker.com for updates from all six events this evening. Please.

Six bracelet events are working towards different conclusions this evening. The one that most people are following is the $2,500 NL 2-7 Lowball final table, which is now heads-up between Phil Ivey and John Monette. Ivey stands to win about $100,000 in the tournament, plus $3,000,000 in bracelet bets. You can catch the action at wsop.pkr.com or bluffmagazine.com/live

The $1,500 NL Holdem event finally reached their final table this evening and the players went on a dinner break. That final table was supposed to be streamed, so apparently when the Lowball event ends, they’ll move whomever’s left in the Holdem event to this table. Here’s how that final table will begin:

Seat 1 – Steve Karp
Seat 2 – Brian McInnis
Seat 3 – Mark Salinaro
Seat 4 – James McClain
Seat 5 – Walter Wright
Seat 6 – Mike Ciotola
Seat 7 – Kam Low
Seat 8 – Travis Johnson
Seat 9 – Craig McConville

In the $1,500 NL 6-max event, 35 are currently remaining as they’ll play down to a 6-handed final table. Notables remaining include David Fox, David “Bakes” Baker, Manny Minaya, Peter Gould and Praz Bansi. The $2,500 Pot-Limit Holdem/Pot-Limit Omaha event finally reached the money after returning from dinner break. Greg Raymer and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi went out just short of the money. Amnon Filippi is the chip leader, with Hevad Khan, Surinder Sunar, Ben Grundy and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier looking to be at the final table tomorrow afternoon.

A starting field of 1,646 entered the $2,000 NL Holdem event, and when the dinner break was over, just under 800 were returning, one of which will pick up nearly $570,000. The evening tournament, $10,000 Mixed Event World Championship drew a field of 194, and in the early hours, Vanessa Rousso is the current chip leader. Plenty of big names, including Scotty Nguyen, Ivan Demidov, Victor Ramdin and Barry Greenstein are in the top 10, with plenty of big names looking to take down the $492,000 top prize. For more updates during the evening, point your browser over to www.worldseriesofpoker.com often.

Phil Hellmuth celebrates his first-round draft pick by Team Pokerati.

The draft just ended … (complete rosters forthcoming) …

1. Phill Hellmuth
2. Robert Mizrachi
3. Men the Master
4. Humberto Brenes
5. Matt Glantz
6. Nikolay Evdakov
7. Dwyte Pilgrim
8. Isaac Baron

All the above players should come find me before any of their events start so I can properly patch them up. (Those are the rules, right?)

UPDATE: Click below to see everyone else’s picks in draft position order — from Gavin Smith (via blackberry), Daniel Negreanu, Gary Wise, Bernard Lee, yours truly, Howard Lederer, Andrew Feldman, Mark Seif, Lance Bradley, Chops, and Joe McGowan (for Dennis Phillips):

More…