Ylon Schwartz
Photo: WSOP.com

Today’s WSOP Boxscore

Joe Cassidy $294,777 – Event #24 $5,000 Omaha/8
Brian Meinders $116,118 – Event #25 $1,500 LHE Shootout
Austin Scott $361,797 – Event #26 $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Ylon Schwartz $267,081 – Event #27 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
Timothy Adams $392,476 – Event #28 $2,500 NLH 4-Max

Ylon Schwartz was known best before yesterday as a member of the inaugural November Nine class when he when 4th place in the WSOP Main Event. Now he can also be called a WSOP Champion after winning the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. ahead of 888 other players and picking up $267,081. Schwartz was one of the more interesting players at the 2008 WSOP Main Event final table and the former Chess professional had to play more than 40 hours of the various games to outlast David Chiu for the title.

Sunday promises to be a big day at the Rio with the large field $1,000 NLH event kicking off, the Seniors Championship has plenty of big names on the last day, and the 2-7 NL Single Draw final table is stacked with big names including Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Brandon Cantu, Rep Porter, Erick “[snark redacted]” Lindgren, and Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger. Two more bracelets and a sea of lemurs.

Link Dump

Tweet o’ the Day – Doyle Brunson rules all, my favorite response was “I can almost here(sic) the RIP Doyle starting up again.”

That’s an easy one! …DEATH RTJeff Lange @digijeff@TexDolly what would it take for you not to gamble for an entire year?

— Doyle Brunson (@TexDolly) June 15, 2012

WTF Tweet o’ the Day – I hear Full Tilt may have some spots open

@EpicPoker How I can do to get sponsored? Because I seek sponsors to support me financially, I am a poker player. — sergio portillo (@serporcor) June 14, 2012

Record Smashing Friday at the Rio – Nothing major on Friday, just the single largest live poker starting day in this history of poker. 4,128 players showed up for the $1,000 Seniors Event, breaking the previous record set by the same event last year.

Tony G Bows Out of the Big One – The verbose Antanas “Tony G” Guoga has pulled out of the $1,000,000 buyin Big One for One Drop tournament this summer at the WSOP. Per PokerNews, he has decided to withdraw “due to his duties with the Lithuanian basketball team.”

There’s Something About Ivey – I understand, don’t necessarily agree with it, but understand most everyone is a big fanboy of Phil Ivey despite about 4 million rea$ons to feel otherwise. It might have something to do with still being the greatest player in the universe. PokerListings pulled together a nice twitter list of the poker world showing their Ivey love.

Video of the Day – PokerNews caught up with Maria Ho as part of their “Explain This” features. Top shelf grab because who doesn’t want to watch and hear Maria Ho.

Be sure to check out our new sponsors at Face Up Gaming. Legal, subscription-based online poker with plenty of great prizes including cash, WSOP seats, and poker trips. Sign up with Bonus Code pokerati.

The Detox Poker Series on Saturday Day 1b of the $550 NL Holdem – $200,000 Guarantee drew a field of 228 players on Saturday creating a total field of 433 entrants for a prize pool of $216,500. The final 27 players made the money, with some of the notables who cashed yesterday: Alex Outhred and David Tuthill (both earning $1,200), David “The Maven” Chicotsky and WSOP photographer Rob Gracie (each collecting $800).

The leader from Saturday’s action is Alexander Carmosimo, finishing with 511,000 in chips. The most notable name from Saturday who made the last nine was 2008 November Niner Ylon Schwartz, but he returns with only 73,000 in chips. The 18 returning players are guaranteed $1,700 with the winner earning $60,030. Live streaming of today’s action will be available at www.detoxpoker.com, with the players seated with 34:04 remaining in level 16, blinds at 4,000/8,000 and a 1,000 ante:

The full list of results and payouts are available at the Detox Poker site here.

The final tournament of the series starts at 5pm, the Player Appreciation w/ $50 rebuys tournament with $5,000 added to the prize pool. The tournament is available exclusively to players who present three tournament receipts from the Detox Poker Series. Players start with 2,000 in chips, with $50 rebuys available when your stack is 2,000 or lower. At the end of level three, a $50 add-on is available to add 4,000 chips to your stack.

Be sure to check out www.DetoxPoker.com for updates, videos and more as the Detox Poker Series concludes.

Recapping Monday’s WSOP, with another bracelet winner awarded:

Yan Chen Lowball Winner

The $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball, Single Draw champion was Yan Chen, a cash game veteran defeated Mike Wattel heads-up to earn his first bracelet, along with $92,817. The full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report are online at wsop.com. Check out a brief documentary on Chen, which I believe appeared on Pokerati a while ago, here.

18 Left for Day 3 of 10k Stud 8

Day 2 of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud 8 or Better World Championship concluded with 18 players returning at 3:30 this afternoon, but only 16 will make the money. The current chip leader is Frank Kassela (515,000), followed by Sergey Altbregin (497,000) and Kirill Rabtsov (388,000). Other notables returning include John Juanda (368,000), Allen Kessler (316,000), Steve Zolotow (301,000) and Vladimir Schmelev (275,000). Here’s the full list of the remaining field.

Vance leads day 3 of $1,000 NL

Matt Vance (547,000) will lead the day 3 field of $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event with 56 players remaining. Other notables returning at 2:30 to maybe play down to a winner: Mats Gavatin (453,000), Carl Olson (325,000), Jared Hamby (217,000) and Ylon Schwartz (183,000). See the full list of chip counts here.

Teska Tops for Day 2 of $1,500 NL 6-max

The $1,500 No-Limit Holdem 6-Max event drew a field of 1,663 players, with the field making the money near the end of play. When the 146 players return at 2:30 this afternoon, Roger Teska (221,000) will start with the chip lead, with familiar names David Sands (117,800), JP Kelly (92,900), Mark Seif (70,300), and Bryan Micon (65,500). Event 16 chip counts here.

Tuesday’s Tournament

The only tournament starting today is at noon, the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem event should bring out a strong field of pros, both live and online. Last year’s event was won by Brian Lemke, cousin of Justin Shronk, for nearly $700,000. Follow all the action this afternoon at WSOP.com or PokerNews.

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.

Recapping the Friday afternoon action…

Vallo Valuable in $50k HORSE

As the players return from the dinner break, Martin Vallo is the unofficial chip leader (245,000) in the $50k HORSE event with all 95 players who registered remaining. The players are now on level four, with three more levels of play scheduled before play ends for the day. Among the early leaders, Daniel Negreanu (200,000), Jeff Lisandro, (188,000), Patrik Antonius (175,000) and Todd Brunson (168,000).

Letting Ylon’s Be Bygones

Ylon Schwartz is the current chip leader (2,000,000) with three players remaining in the $2,500 Mixed Holdem event as they return from their dinner break. John McGuiness (1,200,000) and Bahador Ahmadi (750,000) round out the field. Barry Greenstein finished in 5th before heading off to join the $50k HORSE field.

Cantu Crushing PLO8

With 36 players remaining in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better event, Brandon Cantu (525,000) is the dominant chip leader, with Tommy Vedes (225,000) a distant second. Other notables remaining: Lee Watkinson (70,000), Noah Boeken (62,000), Phil Hellmuth (58,000), and Randy Holland (46,000).

Limited Field in Limit Holdem Shootout

The late afternoon tournament, $1,500 Limit Holdem Shootout drew a field of nearly 600, seated at 64 tables. The round one winners play at eight eight-handed tables, and those winners will return on Sunday to determine the winner. No table winners have been determined yet, but expect some notable winners included in the morning update.

Catch up with all the updates over at www.wsop.com and more stuff from Team Pokerati during the evening.

Here’s what’s happened this afternoon at the WSOP:

Tenner Tenuously Leading Omaha 8

Mark Tenner remains the chip leader with 6 players left in the $2,500 Omaha 8 or Better event. Josh Schlein, Fabio Coppola, Derek Raymond, Scott Bohlman, and Sirous Jamshidi round out the remaining field. Mark Gregorich finished in 8th, while Team Pokerati’s own Pat Poels finished in 9th.

Baldwin Looking to Hit a Double

Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin is the current chip leader with 7 players remaining in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Holdem World Championship, returning shortly after 8:30pm PT and streaming at www.bluffmagazine.com/live and wsop.pkr.com. Davidi Kitai, John Kabbaj, J.C. Alvarado, Kirill Gerasimov, Eugene Todd and Jason Lester are the remaining players at that final table.

Kuether in the Mix

Joe Kuether is the current chip leader (296,000) with 28 players remaining in the $2,500 Mixed Holdem event as they will end with either a final table of nine or when the clock strikes 3am. Randy Haddox is in second place (290,000) with Ylon Schwartz (245,000), Matt Matros (240,000), Barry Greenstein (227,000), and Gavin Griffin (145,000) in the top 10.

PLO 8, Flopping the Nuts is Great!

A field of 762 entrants started the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better event Thursday afternoon. When the players return from their 90-minute dinner break, approximately 270 players remain. No chip leader has been announced, but before the break Brandon Cantu was around 35,000 with Phil Hellmuth at 27,400 followed by Noah Boeken at 25,500.

Check the live updates at www.wsop.com and Pokerati for other stuff during the night.

Recapping the action from Wednesday night:

Brock to Brock

Brock Parker extended the streak of double braclet winners at the WSOP to 10 years, as he bested Joseph Serock in the $2,500 NL Holdem 6-max event. Both bracelets came in shorthanded events as he beat Daniel Negreanu heads-up in the $2,500 Limit Holdem 6-max event earlier this week.

Seidel Looking for Bracelet #9, #9, #9…

The $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem final table was reached earlier this morning, and this is how they’ll be seated when play resumes at 2pm at www.bluffmagazine.com/live:

Seat 1: Marc Tschirch – 268000
Seat 2: Erik Seidel – 337000
Seat 3: Jason Dewitt – 476000
Seat 4: Kyle Carlston – 320000
Seat 5: Andrew Radel – 250000
Seat 6: John-Paul Kelly – 627000
Seat 7: Ravi Raghavan – 145000
Seat 8: Kirk Steward – 231000
Seat 9: Aaron Virchis – 191000

HORSE in the Homestretch

The $3,000 HORSEevent reaches its conclusion today with 21 players remaining when play resumes at 1pm. Zac Fellows will start the day with the chip lead at 471,000. James Van Alstyne (455,000), Ylon Schwartz (186,000), Chau Giang (149,000), Bill Blanda (144,000), and Gavin Smith (121,000) are some of the notables coming back as well.

Shootout at the Rio, Day 2

Day 2 of the $1,500 NL Holdem Shootout has 100 players, sitting at 10 tables, remaining when play resumes at 2pm today. Each player will start with 45,000 in chips and play down to a winner, returning on Friday afternoon with 450,000 in chips along with the other table winners to determine the winner.

Drawing Without Limits

Day 2 of the $10,000 NL 2-7 Lowball Single Draw World Championship started with 96 entrants yesterday afternoon. 57 players return at 2pm today, 43 of which will get nothing for their efforts. Roland de Wolfe starts the day with 180,300 in chips. Notables also returning include John Juanda (111,800), David Benyamine (69,500), Kenny Tran (64,800), Phil Ivey (56,000), Daniel Alaei (51,000) and Freddy Deeb (49,600). Unfortunately for Dan, Tom Schneider will not be able to wear the Pokerati patch proudly, as he was eliminated.

Thursday’s Tournaments and Projections

Two tournaments start the action today, starting with another edition of the $1,500 NL Holdem event, with another field of over 2,000 players expected. Last year, Luis Velador took down this event in a field of 2,304 for $574,734. The 5pm event is another event for specialists, $2,500 Omaha 8 or Better/Stud 8 or Better won last year by Farzad Rouhani in a field of 388.

The WSOP Staff Guide projected that 2,400 players would start the $1,500 NL holdem event (take the over – 2,541), while the $2,500 OHL/SHL event would draw a field of 419 (take the under, 371). Action abounds at the WSOP today, so head to the WSOP website and Pokerati throughout the day for the latest in the online poker payment processor situation and other stuff during the day.

Speaking of Austin … though I’ve still got nothing on any room violence down there, super-secret powerful inside sources do tell me that 2008 WSOP 4th place finisher Ylon Schwartz is in A-town right now … visiting a friend and supposedly shopping for a condo. I gotta think the quiet Brooklyner would fit right in the Austin scene. Income taxes in Texas (none) are much better, too. Perhaps Schwartz hasn’t cashed in his winnings yet?

Ylon Schwartz check-raises with nothing into the nuts of Peter Eastgate, and Pauly and I begin the countdown and begin speculating on what two Eurokids (and maybe even Dennis Phillips) will mean for poker/PokerStars … and where poker is in Europe these days. But are Russians dead money or just scary? Maybe a little bit of both? Plus advanced blogging strategy by Dr. Pauly.

Book 4: WSOP Final Table
Episode 4.9: The Novembrists 5:31

[audio:tao/TOP-4-9.mp3]

Players are off on dinner break … and the chip counts are nicely on display for all to see:

Ivan Demidov: 30,725,000
Peter Eastgate: 27,175,000
Dennis Phillips: 26,950,000
Ylon Schwartz: 20,475,000
Scott Montgomery: 20,300,000
Darus Suharto: 10,600,000

Damn, that’s tight poker. And I don’t mean tight tight … I mean close-tight.

Before dinner break, btw, Phil Hellmuth introduced Johnny Chan, and Hellmuth got more boos than Tiffany Michelle. He said, that’s OK, boo all you want … and the crowd that is at this point tired-drinky (think post-football game tailgate in college) obliged.

They were announcing a multi-year deal between the WSOP and ALL IN energy drink. Oy, I guess all I can say for now is that after going through my bajillion cases … I didn’t rebuy.

So action is about to get underway. Players are unbagging their chips now. A few thoughts on what we are seeing/hearing:

• Dennis Phillips has close to 200 fans — all of them are wearing the same shirt he is, with the same patch logos.
• He and all his friends are die-hard Ford supporters (as per their patchwork), though it is uncertain whether or not Ford paid for such a placement.
• Many of his friends and fans began drinking at 9 am.
• Dennis has a great URL pimped on his shirt — thechipleader.com. (I’m sure Karridy is jealous.)
• Kelly Kim’s fans are chanting out the letters of his name.
• Favorite Dallas transplant dealer Linda Tran will be dealing this final table. She was working with the felt yesterday to get her pitch right — because, after all, she has never dealt multimillion-dollar pots before.
• The Penn & Teller Theater is a pretty cool venue — very vertical. Jen and I are in the orchestra pit … but there’s also a press box way up top that requires taking an elevator to get to.
• Personal opinion: the whole stage set-up should be flipped 180 degrees. The way they have it now, the Milwaukee’s Best Light No Limit Lounge completely blocks the table view for all the fans in lower seating. They still can watch on 20-foot plasmas, but regardless, having the lounge against the back wall instead of blocking the stage would also allow ESPN to show 100s of fans in the background.
• They do have a hot-chick DJ spinning tunes, however, in front of the No-Limit No-View Lounge.
• Ivan Demidov’s fans are all Russianed up — wearing funky hats (they’re called Babushkas, I think?) and hammer-and-sickle garb.
• Ylon Schwartz is super quiet and subdued. He also looks like my old pot dealer, Booger.
• Gamma-O “testosterone booster” passed out those inflatable phallic thingies that people can bang together to make noise.
• Kelly Kim’s crowd is the loudest, now screaming “Double Up!”

Go Craig Marquis! (Even though I think you’re probably too young to pull off the victory. Prove me wrong!)

photo: Flipchip / LasVegasVegas
Ylon Schwartz, en route to the final table.

For all those negatively noting that the delayed final table isn’t bringing the hype it promised … patience, patience … it’s coming: The New York Times just took note of their hometown favorite, Ylon Schwartz. He’s an interesting character — basically quasi-degenerate meets chess wizard with a soft spot in his heart for kids. His dad left when he was age 2, and his mom died five years ago. He got his start in the New York underground, going 2-for-2 in his first tournaments to win $12,000, giving him the bankroll with which, perhaps unknowingly, he would embark on a new career.

Since Schwartz’s making the WSOP final table, his father has been in touch to be his best friend, and he has basically told him to fuck off.

These are the kind of compelling stories that will come out, regardless of what we in the poker media do or do not have to say about it. And this is why, prediction here: the Live-ish broadcast of the WSOP main event final table on ESPN will be a huge ratings hit.

Remember, the Olympics spends four years and billions of dollars generating, at best, a few months of hype around a few weeks of activity. By scale, it’s only realistic to expect a few months of work (and a few million dollars?) to generate just a few days of hype around an event that takes place over a day-and-a-half.

The two auctions on Ebay for sponsorship concluded late Saturday, and the results could best be described as mixed. Ylon Schwartz’s second Ebay auction concluded again with zero bids. Dennis Phillips’ auction concluded with a winning bid of $19,350. The winner though, “schindlerlawfirm”, is also the person to contact for Dennis on his official website.

Update: Ylon’s people are trying a third time with the auction. Now it has a $100k Buy It Now price or “Best Offer”, and 50% of the proceeds are going to Habitat for Humanity. More details at http://tinyurl.com/ylon3rdtime

Hot on the heels of the heels of the Ylon Schwartz auction (currently at 0 bids), the current chip leader at the final table, Dennis Phillips, had his own auction go live earlier this morning on Ebay. All of the proceeds will be going to one of Dennis’ favorite charities, The National Multiple Sclerosis Society – Gateway Area Chapter in St. Louis, Missouri. If you care to know every detail of his other activities, you can check him out on the Interwebs at his own website.