There’s nothing left to do except start handing out bracelets. Attention now turns to the Rio as the WPT finished up at the Bellagio and today kicks off the first WSOP event. There will be plenty of people hitting up the Venetian DeepStack Event as well as the other smaller series trying to pick up some overflow but most player are ready to descend upon the (for now) pristine hallways of the Rio convention center.

There was still a little business to handle before the caravan moved west off the strip. Marvin Rettenmaier, fresh off his new signing at Party Poker, won the $25,000 WPT Championship against a tough final table which included Philippe Ktorza, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Nick Schulman, Steve O’Dwyer, and Trevor Pope. Rettenmaier now has an extra $1.2m to play with at the WSOP.

That wasn’t the toughest final table of the weekend, that honor belonged to the $100,000 WPT Super High Roller. The tournament drew 27 players with 7 of them choosing to re-enter after busting for another $100k. With only 5 spots paying, Justin Bonomo busted on the $263,160 money bubble. Tom Marchese won the nosebleed tournament for $1,308,405 after beating Andrew Robl heads up for the title.

Next stop, the WSOP $500 Casino Employees event.

Photo: PartyPoker.com

Today’s Boxscore

Marvin Rettenmaier $1,196,858 WPT Championship
Tom Marchese $1,308,405 WPT Super High Roller

Link Dump

Live WSOP Chip Counts (Google Doc via Kevmath) – The World Series of Poker will attempt to have regularly updated (aka damn near live) chip counts and player tracking for every bracelet event this summer. The document was sent to WSOP dealers from Seth Palansky detailing the added steps they need to perform for the new system to work. My initial reaction was bull$#!$t but quickly changed my mind. This has the potential to be a huge development and I’m cautiously optimistic. If nothing else, it will stop Negreanu from whining every 15 minutes about his count being 100 chips off.

Bellagio Attempted Robbery – Another week, another Bellagio robbery. This time it was two members of Mensa grabbing a bunch of $5k chips from a blackjack table. They were quickly caught and no truth to the rumor it was a high-stakes poker player pissed off at playing a $25,000 tournament in the middle of noisy slot machines while Ma and Pa Kettle smoked it up.

ESPN Fantasy Poker Draft – Andrew Feldman has pulled a few people together each year, a good combination of players and media-type folks, for a WSOP Fantasy Poker draft. It usually a pretty good barometer of those running hot coming into the WSOP and who people think will have a great summer. As an unapologetic stats geek, I looked at the teams from every angle. Even with his laughable pick of Erick Lindgren, I think Chops has the best all around collection (Doc Sands, Buchanan, Bonomo, Haxton, JP Kelly, Dempsey) with Bluff’s Lance Bradley not far behind. I’d almost be willing to put down a wager.

The Micros – Thank god this wasn’t one of their webisodes or I would have Richard Marx stuck in my head. Speaking of their webisodes, I think it’s about time someone with deep pockets stepped up to fund these guys getting back to what they do best. Imagine the goodwill you would generate by returning the animated Tatjana Pasalic to the world.

Click to enlarge

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With the elimination of Sorel Mizzi on the bubble in 7th place, the WPT World Poker Finals final table is set for its Tuesday conclusion.

Two of the bigger names, Hoyt Corkins and Jason Mercier, were the first two to hit the rail on Day 5. It took less than three hour-and-a-half levels to cut 12 in half and finish up the action for the day.

There is 36:18 remaining in Level 23, which is 4,000/12,000/24,000. The average stack is 1.21 million. Tom Marchese went wire to wire with the chip lead on Day 5.

Here are the chip counts heading into the final table:

1. Tom Marchese – 3,022,000
2. Jeff Forrest – 1,949,000
3. Mohsin Charania -1,024,000
4. Nikolai Yakovenko – 624,000
5. Dave Inselberg – 344,000
6. Kevin Stammen – 341,000

Play will resume at 4 pm Tuesday.

There are just 12 players left heading into Day 5 of the WPT World Poker Finals at Foxwoods, with a short but exciting play down to the final table looming for Monday.

The 28 players that started the day quickly became 27, but after the redraw for the final three tables it would be over two hours before there would be another elimination, with the money bubble looming at 25. After another half hour or so of hand-for-hand play the bubble finally burst.

One of the early eliminations in the money was Gavin Smith, who lost a monster pot to end the previous day and never seemed to get traction on Day 4. Upon his exit, Gavin took quite a bit of the early afternoon rail with him. Josh Arieh, who had a lot of chips entering the day as well, fell victim to some unfortunate luck and was not long for the tournament today either.

Ronnie Bardah, who enjoyed a deep run in this year’s Main Event, got into the Halloween spirit by donning a wig for several hours during play today, which you can see here. He survived on the short stack for quite some time, earning a few double-ups before ultimately succumbing to the blinds.

There are still some big names in contention for this title. The chip leader heading into Day 5 is Tom Marchese with 1,832,000 but there are some heavy hitters chasing him including Jason Mercier, Sorel Mizzi, Hoyt Corkins, Kevin Stammen, and Mohsin Charania.

Play will resume at 12 pm Monday.

Chip Counts:

1. Tom Marchese 1,832,000
2. Jeff Forrest 979,000
3. Sorel Mizzi 789,000
4. Nikolai Yakovenko 690,000
5. Chris Bonita 610,000
6. Besnik Ziba 500,000
7. Keven Stammen 400,000
8. Hoyt Corkins 335,000
9. David Inselberg 331,000
10. Jason Mercier 322,000
11. Mohsin Charania 283,000
12. Ben Klier 269,000

Average Stack: 605,000

For more information on today’s action as well as live updates throughout the rest of the tournament visit foxwoodslive.com and worldpokertour.com.

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.