Amarillo Slim passed away this past Sunday (April 29th, 2012) at the age of 83.

Those relatively new to poker might recognize his name only vaguely, which is a pity. He won the 1972 World Series of Poker, defeating seven – yes, seven opponents. Actually six because Doyle Brunson bowed out when they were three-handed.¹

Slim took that win and parlayed it into national (and international) prominence. Unlike most other poker players (of his heyday or any time), he was a born extrovert and people loved to hear him talk. He was an old Texas road gambler and hustler; he was just doing what he always did – trying to make a buck. But while he was doing that, he yanked poker into the public spotlight. He appeared on the Tonight Show 11 times, and every major TV morning show of the time.

Amarilo Slim at the 1974 WSOP–(Image courtesy David Schwartz, coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center)

He was the face of poker for a couple of decades; an entire generation of Americans, when they think of a professional poker player, has a vision of Amarillo Slim, even if they couldn’t tell you his name. But with his height, slender frame (“I look like the advance man for a famine”), cowboy hat, and boots, he became an icon of the game.

He could have – perhaps should have – gone on to be one of the grand old men of the game, the gambler emeritus invited to every major poker tournament, creating a wake of gawking and tweeting admirers in his path. But in 2003 he was arrested for indecency with a 12-year-old girl (his granddaughter). He pled guilty to misdemeanour charges, paid a fine, and that was that. The case was over, but so was his career. A movie about his life, with Nicholas Cage playing him, evaporated. Later, Slim said he pled guilty only to save his family the agony of a trial; he produced signed affidavits saying that the original charges were not true.

As Greg Dinkin, the co-author of Slim’s memoir, says in a wonderful blog piece:

Because he had been telling his own version of the “truth” for so many years, no one knew what to believe. Including me. As well as I knew the man, your guess as to what really happened is as good as mine.

But that’s not why I’m here. I want to thank Amarillo Slim for the stories, for two reasons. First, because those stories allowed him to spin a world that America found intriguing, and helped poker on its first tentative steps toward respectability. Second, because he told a great story and we need to be told stories. We are a race of story tellers and story listeners; Slim captivated us with his stories.

He ran black market cigarettes in Germany after World War II, looked down gun barrels in poker games, and almost died winning a prop bet involving rafting the Salmon River. He was from an older, wilder time and his adventures, forgive me, trump the coolest new sushi bar our SuperNova Elites are visiting.

Amarillo Slim at the 2009 WSOP

Are all of his stories 100% true? Unlikely. But many of them are probably 100% true and there’s a kernel of truth in most of the rest. But every one, bar none, is a wonderful tale. You forget where you are and are absorbed into Slim’s story, his world. As my colleague, Nick Williamson, pointed out, “You’re entertained – that’s what matters – not the absolute truth of the story.”

The other thing about Amarillo Slim was that he knew one of his jobs was to promote poker (a lesson that wouldn’t go amiss with many of today’s superstars). I met him only once, in the late 90′s at a tournament at the Orleans. People wanted to talk to him, get autographs, have their picture taken with him. He worked the crowd, shook hands, and cracked jokes. He never forgot that he was, first and foremost, a salesman.

Go read Slim’s memoir, Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People. The stories, almost without exception, are fantastic; the book flies by.

Whatever, whoever Amarillo Slim was, we owe him a debt of gratitude for growing poker and for leaving us with a wealth of tales interweaved into our game.

______________

¹ The circumstances around that departure are unclear; poker was a lot less transparent then.

Tags: archives | Asia Pacific Poker Tour | colleague | delicious | doyle-brunson | estrellas poker tour | game | Super Tuesday | twitter | wbcoop | wcoop

The bubble is always a fun time to be part of a poker tournament. It doesn’t matter if you’re a player, an observer or a reporter, we all enjoy the drama associated with the fine line between success and disaster. There’s a small, twisted part inside all of us that derives a little bit of pleasure from pain.

In fact, if you got all of the most painful bubbles in poker history and put them together into a compilation, it would probably make pretty entertaining viewing. Or perhaps it would be more like a bad horror movie. Anyway, it got us thinking about some of the craziest bubbles we can remember.

We recalled Kia Hamadani blinding down to a single ante before bubbling the 2009 WSOP Main Event, before nervously reminding Lynn Gilmartin of the 2010 WSOP Main Event exit of Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen. Hamadani received entry into the Main Event the following year (which he turned into a nice score!), but when Guillen’s pocket aces were cracked by pocket jacks two places from the money, he’d bubbled the bubble to become the last player to go home empty-handed in the biggest event in the world. Ouch!

Of course we only have to look back at the APPT Seoul event in 2008 to provide one of the most exciting bubble periods that we’ve seen when David Saab went from hero to zero in minutes to bubble in devastating fashion.

One man among our final 29 players who is especially keen to avoid the money bubble is Malaysian Daren Yoon. At the recent Macau Poker Cup series, Yoon pure bubbled two of the side events and now lurks dangerously close to making it number three.

He was recently all in with [6d][6h] against a short stack’s [jd][js] but somehow managed to chop when the board ran out [2s][qd][2c][2d][qc].

“I really don’t mind,” quipped Yoon as we asked him if the bubble now held any fears.

When we suggested the potential for a new nickname should he fall short again today, Yoon was a little more defensive.

“Bubble King? Well they are calling me Burger King at the moment,” he chirped, in reference to a recent interview with Lynn Gilmartin discussing the food options here at the casino. “So perhaps Bubble King would be an improvement,” he added.

With the bubble about to “pop” we look forward to grabbing front row tickets to watch. One more elimination. It will be pleasure for 28, and pain for one. Popcorn please!

Tags: 2010 WSOP | Asia Pacific Poker Tour | australia | events | facebook | portugal poker series | rio | seoul | Super Tuesday | World Series of Poker

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

The story broke on Friday. The head line on the PoRo Report read:

The move made sense considering Black Friday decimated American sponsorship deals.

Even though the article originated from Gambling911 (the accuracy of their intel is anywhere from 0 to 100% which makes any story from them a coinflip), the information was easy to verify with a Skype call to Costa Rica and a text message to the right person in Las Vegas. And yes, it was true. Doyle Brunson was leaving Doyle’s Room as official pitchman.

Although Brunson was not an old school hooligan like Benny Binion, Brunson flourished early in his career as an outlaw gambler playing the Texas circuit over 50 years ago. We got a taste of his renegade nature when he decided to continue to endorse Doyle’s Room even though the feds launched their crusade against funding online poker accounts.

Doyle’s Room was one of the sites which had revolving doors for American online poker players. Doyle intended on thumbing his nose at the goons in Washington and initially desire to stayed online post-UIGEA. However, the Tribeca Network (where Doyle’s Room ran its games) announced late in 2006 that it was leaving. Less than one year later, Doyle’s Room returned to the market.

In 2009, Doyle’s Room moved to the same network as Cake Poker. That relationship lasted to years because in early 2011, Doyle’s Room moved to the Yatahay Network (which operates BetCris sportsbook and True Poker — a site where I played blogger tournaments briefly in 2004).

The most interesting thing Doyle’s official statement was the line: “Although they believe they have the right to market the name Doylesroom and to use my name and likeness for a period of time, I have asked them not to.”

Doyle’s patented Stetson and shit-eating grin became synonymous with Doyle’s Room branding. Although old Texas Dolly wasn’t involved in the day-to-day operations (like say Howard Lederer’s extent at Full Tilt), his business partners were banking on his image and stature in the community to create a successful online gaming operation. Without the likeness — there’s no viable link to the legend.

So what’s next for Doyle Brunson? He should become the pitchman for scooters after that epic Scooter Race against Amarillo Slim at the 2009 WSOP.

Unless the gringos in Costa Rica can hire Ashton Kutcher to step in and replace Texas Dolly, you can expect Doyle’s Room to cease operations in the near future.

Tags: black | business | career | doyle-brunson | tournaments | Vegas | yatahay-network

6.15pm: Break time
That’s the end of the level. Players are now taking a 15 minute break.

6.14pm: Wice storm off
“I’m shoving the river anyway,” said Jackson Genovesi, his [js][8s] taking the 30,000-plus pot from Alex Wice on a [4h][th][6c][3d][jh] board.

Wice was looking decidedly unhappy that Genovesi had got there on the river. I arrived on the turn where the Italian had bet 7,800 into the 15,000 pot. Wice had called before both players checked down the river and an exasperated Wice threw down [as][qh].

Wice said that he would have called had Genovesi shoved a blank river and then took himself away from the table. Wice, who finished third at EPT Deauville earlier this year, is down to 23,000. Genovesi is up to 75,000. — RD

6.12pm: Take it away Gloria…
Gloria Balding brings you an updates from the tournament floor…

6.10pm: Well that’s that
Dario Minieri was ready to act in the big blind. The flop had already been dealt, coming [qh][tc][9s]. He checked to the only other player in the hand Diego Sanchez, a PokerStars qualifier from Mexico, who’d clashed with Minieri earlier. He bet 800 and waited for Minieri’s response. That was a familiar two-handed raise from Minieri, using both hands to thrust 2,750 forward. Then he stared at the board in the usual way, blinking a lot.

Sanchez called for a [3s] turn card. Again Minieri used both hands to bet a further 1,375, before resuming his staring. Sanchez hides his eyes behind aviator glasses; Minieri hides his behind a floppy fringe. He called for a [4h] river card, at which point Minieri announced he was all-in, a total of 21,925.

With around seven minutes left in the fourth level of the day Sanchez emerged from his thinking spell to call. Minieri showed [qs][9d] but Sanchez had him pipped, showing [qd][th].

“Nice hand, good game,” said Minieri departing. He’s out in the early stages, again. Mr Dirnberger, I’m on my way. – SB

Dario Minieri is no more (in this tournament)

6pm: Everyone wants to beat a champ
Team PokerStars Pro Joe Cada won the WSOP Main Event a couple of years back and since then has had to deal with players trying to gain the kudos from bluffing a world champ. Perhaps it was some of that dynamic in play here.

My info is incomplete as it was relayed courtesy of PokerStars EPT video presenter Gloria Balding: “The flop was [a][a][t] rainbow and Cada check-called 3,000. The turn was the [7d] and he check-called 6,000. The guy in the four seat (Germano Martucci) bet 12,000 on the river and Cada shoved. Insta-muck.” Cada is up to around 60,000. — RD

5.55pm: Spinks fails to bink all day
Jon Spinks is out after a day where nothing went right for him. He filled the blog in on the two major hands that cost him:

Firstly he four-bet with queens from the third position only to see the under-the-gun raiser five-bet and the second position player six-bet. Spinks threw his cards into muck and saw the UTG player do the same with kings, face-up.

He was playing off a 12,000 stack when entering the hand that bust him. Domenico Spinelli limped and called when Spinks raised to 800 with [7c][6c]. The flop came down [9][5][3] with two diamonds. Spinelli led and Spinks jammed with his double belly-buster straight draw. The Italian called with [7d][6d] for the same straight draw but with a flush draw free-roll. The flush came in and Spinks said he was off to ponder how to make a Day 2 of an EPT. — MC

5.50pm: Romanello’s stack slides
EPT Prague champion Roberto Romanelllo is down to 19,000 chips after paying off Troeung Noeung, who made his hand on the turn. The action was three-way to a [4s][5s][th] flop and Romanello check-called a bet from the Canadian, with the third player folding.

The turn came [qd] and the Welshman check-called a 3,700 bet to see the [8d] river. Once more Romanello check-called, this time to the tune of 6,400, but mucked upon seeing his Noeung’s [kc][qs]. — MC

5.45pm: Horecki flushing
On a board of [8s][4c][6d][tc] Nicola Grieco was in middle position and checked to Marcin Horecki on the button. The Pole bet 2,600 which was called by Grieco for a [8c] river card. Grieco chanced a bet of 5,300 but Horecki was quick to call. Grieco showed a single [jh] prompting Horecki to turn over his [5c][3c]. Grieco sat up, looked at the board as if to ask what the hell had just happened. He’d lost, that’s what. This finally dawned on him, and he mucked. – SB

Horecki flush with chips (behind his hands)

5.40pm: Let’s face it, we’re all only here for the food…
Gloria Balding puts her size zero status on the line with a taste tour of San Remo…

5.35pm: The language barrier
Andy Black is dealing with several Italian conversations taking place around him all at once. Being And Black, he wants to join in, and somehow manages to without speaking the lingo. But that never stopped him before.

He opened a pot from middle position for 725 which was called by Nicolas Rinquin in the cut off before Italian Quoc Trung Nguyen, who had been making the earlier noise, raised to 25,000 from the button. The action reached Black again, who passed, as did Rinquin.
“Show one card…” said Black, which translated easily enough. Nguyen showed Black a card (an ace) which seemed to fulfil expectations in the Irishman. “I know, I felt it…” – SB

5.30pm: No jokes for Naujoks
Poker allows you to adopt various playing styles and demeanours. Play like a lunatic, a rock or just sit and gas away the day. It’s your choice. Team PokerStars Pro Sandra Naujoks usually goes for the steely-eyed gaze, hair impeccably coiffed, chips carefully riffled. If she could smoke a cigar at the table, she probably would.

Having won EPT Dortmund back in 2008 for €917,000 she’s had no major live scores but plenty of near misses; ninth in a $25,000 High Roller at the PCA, 15th in a $10,000 PLO bracelet event and tenth in a £5,000 Omaha event. Having made just one EPT cash this season, $15,000 for 196th at the PCA, she’s no doubt keen to make another mark before EPT Season 7 comes to an end.

She’s currently on 27,000 having dragged herself back up from 20,000 after bettering Evelyn Ng in a small pot and Johan Hojman in a slighty larger one, betting a pot-sized 5,000 into the river of [6s][7c][6c][5d][9s] board. — RD

Sandra Naujoks puts on her war poker face

5.25pm: Veldhuis flies over the storm with AA
We mentioned earlier that Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis was feeling like he was about to whip up a storm in a soar or crash type of way. The man is much more settled now and he’s soaring above that storm with 44,000 after a full double-up.

He had aces versus the tens of Alessandro Speranza and called all the way to the river before raising all-in. Speranza made the call to see the bad news. — MC

5.20pm: Some fallers
Team PokerStars Pro Dag Palovic and EPT winners Lucien Cohen and Ben Wilinofsky are all out, as is Nicolo Calia who failed to get there with a gutshot straight flush draw against a set. — RD

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 150-300

5.17pm: Talking of Dario…
Gloria Balding talks to the diminutive Italian Team PokerStars Pro int he first part of his spotlight interview…

5.15pm: Minieri on manoeuvres
Tiziano Castagna limped from under-the-gun and the action was folded to Dario Minieri in the cut off. Would this be the moment Minieri re-engaged? Perhaps. He raised to 650 which forced the blinds to fold while Castagna threw in the call.

The flop came [4h][7s][ts] which was checked to Minieri. Another 650 was enough to take the pot.

If Minieri plays a hand it’s sometimes worth sticking around to see what he does in the next. At the PCA the Italian played nine hands in a row at one stage, and he went to his stack in the next hand here. If Minieri wins a hand he’ll try to win the next.

It doesn’t always work of course, but this time it would. Riccardo Festa opened for 550 which Minieri raised to 1,250 from the hijack. Diego Sanchez was in the cut off and raised to 2,850 and the action was folded back to Minieri who raised to 5,500.

The Team PokerStars Pro assumed a familiar position as he waited for Sanchez to make his move, staring at the board, staring through the board. Sanchez tried to see through this veneer, but Minieri was miles away. Sanchez passed, Minieri woke up and passed his cards to the dealer. – SB

5.05pm: A sad tale of two champs
Ben Wilinofsky is the most recent EPT champion after taking down EPT Berlin a couple of weeks ago. He’s down to 21,000 today after three-bet folding to Alexios Zervos.

An even sadder tale is that of Jonathan Duhamel. He’s out after turning trip queens but running into the flopped flush of Jackson Genovesi. The poor chap has come all the way from Canada too. He runs so bad. — MC

4.55pm: Bear hunting
Barry Greenstein was in action a few moments ago, limping to see a flop of [td][tc][9s] and playing the entire hand with is left hand fixed to the side of his face.

Salvatore Elio Marletta was first to act, making it 625 which Greenstein called in the hijack. Thomas Petit also called form the button while the blinds, Aldo Zambruno and Andrea Carini each passed.

The turn came [7s]. Marletta bet another 800 which Greenstein called while Petit stepped aside before the [ah] river. A check this time from Marletta leaving it to Greenstein to bet 1,700. Marletta called but regretted it, Greenstein turning over [ts][8c]. Marletta nodded and folded. Greenstein up to 42,000. – SB

4.50pm: Hansen settles for two streets of value
Lars Damgaard Hansen raised to 525 from early position and was called in two spots before Fabrizio Tripicchio three-bet to 1,500 from the small blind. Hansen called and the other two players followed suit to see the [4c][kd][5c] flop.

Tripicchio led for 2,500 and only Hansen called to the [2c] turn card. There was no slowing the Italian down as he led for 5,500. Call. He did slow down on the [ad] river however, and Hansen checked behind with his [5s][5d]. Tripicchio opened [jc][jd] and conceded defeat. — MC

4.39pm: Cada catches
The 2009 WSOP world champ Joe Cada is in the house (I think that’s the phrase the kids are using these days). He’s sat facing fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier at the far end of the tournament floor and has already got under one player’s skin. Admittedly that player, Maurizio Baisi, did slow play his pocket queens on a [8d][6d][8c] flop when Cada led into him from the big blind.

The young American had tossed 1,350 into the middle and had been called by Baisi before both players checked the [as] turn. Cada then led 2,500 into the [th] river and Baisi quickly called with [qc][qh]. Cada’s [ac][4d] scooped the pot as Baisi wafted his arms around in irritation. Cada shows a small gain up to 42,000. — RD

Joe Cada: 2009 WSOP World Champion

4.33pm: There’s a storm brewing at table one
The three Team PokerStars Pros at table one are Liv Boeree, Lex Veldhuis and Jonathan Duhamel and all are struggling a bit with 18,025, 24,000 and 21,000 respectively.

Veldhuis looked up said, “The storm is coming.” This will mean that he’ll have 50,000 chips or none by the next level.

Duhamel dropped to his level by raising pre-flop, betting the flop and turn before checking behind on the river. Sandiep Ajab Sing Khosa was his opponent in the hand and out of position in the small blind. The board read [ac][5c][3c][9d][2h] by the river and 7,800 had made it into the middle. The Canadian’s [jh][jc] were no good against the Brit’s [as][9h]. — MC

4.20pm: The Minieri front
Okay Dario this is probably a good thing but I’ve spent a whole level watching you play and as far as I can tell you haven’t played a single hand. If you’re trying to win, that’s fine, but what happened to nine hand in a row madness? Stay frosty. — SB

4.10pm: Back into the action
Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree won this event last year but has yet to get going this year, but given the structure she knows there is little need to hurry. The prize pool breakdown will be known after this level but we do have numbers confirmed; 549 players for the day making for a 987-strong field. — RD

Last year’s winner, Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree

PokerStars Blog reporting team at EPT San Remo (in order of excitement about the upcoming royal wedding): Stephen Bartley (has brought bunting), Rick Dacey (considered packing some novelty hats) and Marc Convey (Irish heritage)

Tags: black | board | cards | dealer | ept | food | gloria-balding | joe cada | kids | liv boeree | minieri | pca | pokerstars | prague | river

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

Bluff Magazine released their Power 20 list of most powerful and influential people in the poker industry.

As a columnist for Bluff Magazine, I had the dubious honor of being a part of the magazine’s (small) voting panel for previous Power 20 lists. They switched up the process for selecting this year’s Power 20 as the panel expanded to include over 100 different opinions from esteemed members of the poker industry. Once again, I was fortunate to be on the voting panel.

Here’s the results…

Bluff Magazine – 2011 Power 20

1. Howard Lederer – Consultant, Pocket Kings Limited

Deadhead. Former bookie. Poker pro. Online poker visionary. Top dog. Top gun. King of the Hill. The Godfather.

2. Isai Scheinberg – Founder, PokerStars

The hand that feeds me. I had Mr. Scheinberg occupying the top spot on my ballot. Play PokerStars.

3. Ty Stewart – Executive Director, World Series of Poker and Vice President, Caesars Interactive Entertainment

Fitting that the former high school hoops star with a wicked jump shot is #3 on the list. The head honcho at the WSOP is also the #1 executive on the list (also quite an achievement), which makes him the Top Suit in Poker.

4. Harry Reid – U.S. Senator (D-NV)

Snake Oil Salesman. Career Waffler. The sheeple are delusional for putting ANY politicians on the list,. Come on, we all know that politicians don’t actually have any power — they’re mere puppets for the corporate oligarchs who really run our country.

5. Brian Balsbaugh – Founder, Poker Royalty

In Hollywood terms, Balsbaugh is Richard Lovett and Poker Royalty is the CAA of poker. Heck, as soon as I’m done with my screenplay, I’m sending the first copy to Balsbaugh! If I’m being too obscure with Hollywood power broker references, how about this… Poker Royalty is the N.Y. Yankees of poker player representation.

6. Phil Ivey – The World’s Best Poker Player

OK, I didn’t make up that weak sauce title (see above)… it’s Bluff’s title, not mine. It’s not much a title as an absolute truth. I don’t think Ivey needs a title. I mean, on his business cards, it reads: Phil. That’s it. No title. No email. No phone. Not even a last name. Just a blank card with: Phil. He’s a man that does not need an introduction. Shit, he’s the man. Why isn’t he #1? He’s a part-owner of Full Tilt and with one arm tied behind his back, he can still whoop the shit out of Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World.

7. Daniel Negreanu – Player, Team PokerStars Pro

Danny Boy wields a significant amount of influence due to his fervent popularity among the masses, not to mention the morbid fear that he instills in the industry due to his willingness to say anything, at any given time, while using multiple pulpits.

8. Mitch Garber – CEO, Caesars Interactive Entertainment

The Cigarette Smoking Man of poker. The former big wig at Party Poker remained out of the spotlight since he jointed CIE, but he’s been very active behind the scenes sliding all the necessary building blocks in place for poker’s New World Order.

9. Mori Eskandani – CEO, Poker PROductions

I valued TV production heavily when I filled out my original ballot. Televised poker helped manufacture consent (to butcher use a Noam Chomsky term) of the legitimacy of the industry among the populous. I included Mori (along with everyone else) because of his contributions with High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark. At the same time, 441 Productions is the biggest exclusion from the 2011 Power 20. For my ballot, I included both Matt Maranz and David Swartz from 441 Productions, the crew behind the WSOP broadcasts who deserved recognition for their unique storytelling ability and shaping the current poker world through their filter/lenses.

10. Doyle Brunson – The Godfather of Poker

Doyle is not the “real” Godfather like say… Howard Lederer. But, if Howard is more like Michael Corleone, then old Texas Dolly is Vito Corleone (post-ambush) on his last licks and making funny faces with orange peels in the garden.

11. John Pappas – Executive Director, Poker Players Alliance

How could anyone make the list if they are the head of the most ineffective lobbying group on Capitol Hill (with the exception of the Pro-Clubbing of Baby Seals contingency)? Until online poker makes serious strides towards legitimization, I won’t include any political types on future ballots.

12. Tom Dwan – Player, Team Full Tilt

I didn’t have Durrrr on my list, but the more I think about it, the more I should have included the most fearless person in poker, who held the entire high-stakes community by the proverbial balls one sweltering night during the 2010 WSOP. It was arguably one of the most exciting moments from last summer. For more background on that tempestuous evening, check out 2010 WSOP Day 10: Most Likely You Go Durrrr’s Way (And I’ll Go Mine).

13. Tony G – Owner, PokerNews

The G rocketed to the upper echelon of the industry’s Great Pyramid after churning out PokerNews franchises in every possible language on the planet (which consequentially allowed him to print money in every possible currency). Word on the street these days is that The G over-stretched his vast online empire after gobbling up a chunk of virtual poker real estate and spending over $23 million to train 420 flying monkeys to do chip counts at the 2011 WSOP. The G’s most recent venture? Branching off into dead languages including PokerNews Mayan. Why? To gear up for the 2012 hysteria, of course.

14. Matt Savage – Executive Tour Director, World Poker Tour

One of the few good guys in poker. The media respects Savage. And poker pros friggin’ love him, which is strange because poker pros usually hate everything.

15. Ray Bitar – Director, Pocket Kings LTD

The former day trader-turned-online poker entrepreneur is one of the original minds behind Full Tilt Poker. Bitar should be much much much higher up on the list.

16. Phil Hellmuth – Poker’s Most Valuable Free Agent

Peeking into souls is overrated, but the fact that Hellmuth is a “free agent” gives him a tad more juice. Plus, he presses palms and slaps backs with former Presidents. Regardless if you think he’s a dick or not, the echo chamber considers Hellmuth’s ego-driven brand as one of the most powerful men in all of poker. Personally, I always thought that Hellmuth was the Fredo Corleone of poker.

17. Lance Bradley – Editor in Chief, BLUFF Magazine

Wow, I actually picked Lance Bradley #17 on my ballot. I must be psychic or something. With his inclusion in the Power 20, Lance is officially the most powerful Ginga in poker.

18. Steve “Chops” Preiss – Entity, Wicked Chops Poker

The creator of Wicked Chops Poker is not just about hot chicks and snark. Chops teamed up with web-trepreneur Jason Calacanis and the Cooley brothers to launch the poker industry’s most innovative product in 2010… This Week in Poker. I’ve already seen a few copy cats trying to replicate their format.

19. Jim Ryan – CEO, PartyGaming

Man, so sorry to Warren Lush. I voted for him over Jimbo. No offense to Jimbo, I mean, how could the poker industry turn its collective back on someone with the nickname “Fun Warren”? He should be in the Top 10 on any poker-themed list. But how about Party Poker getting a nod? Remember those guys? Well, they are still one of the biggest online gaming companies in the world despite not being able to tap into the U.S. market. Party Poker left American shores with the introduction of the UIGEA legislation. They paid a fine shakedown money to the DOJ in order to be the first foreign online poker operator in line… if the federales flip the switch on the UIGEA and dole out gaming licenses.

20. Eric ‘sheets’ Haber and Cliff ‘johnnybax’ Josephy – Backers

Even though staking one of the most murky aspects of the industry, backing syndicates are a vital component to the financial survival of many players. Without third-party financing of buy-ins (both online and live), overall numbers would drop with fewer entrants. Sheets/Haber’s group (the Goldman Sachs of poker) is among the most elite staking operations in the world. Remember Joe Cada’s run during the 2009 WSOP Main Event? After he won, who did he hug first? That’s right… Johnny Bax. His backer. His poker papa.

That’s it. By the way, thanks to the gang at Bluff Magazine for including me on the voting panel.

Here’s the official statement about Bluff Magazine’s 2011 Power 20.

Tags: 2010 WSOP | 2011 wsop | editor | ept | harry reid | poker | pokerstars | power | unique

Another glorious day has greeted us here at the Star City Casino in Sydney, but it probably hasn’t been well received by the locals as many are nursing sore heads after last night’s celebrations at the Acer Arena near the Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush, including the hundreds that packed every square inch of the Sports Theatre to watch Australian boxers Anthony “The Man” Mundine and Garth “The Contender” Wood duke it out.

What was particularly special about this fight was the lead-up story: both men are from Sydney, both are ex-professional rugby league players and both have made the transition into successful boxing careers. Mundine has even dabbled in rap music, but he’s built himself a reputation of being the boxer that everyone loves to hate due to some rather controversial statements to the media in the past, as well as fighting in main events against opponents of dubious quality.

Many thought that Wood was another one of those lacklustre opponents, but there was no doubting his dedication and motivation to get to this moment, having won the Australian version of the reality TV show The Contender to receive this dream main event drawcard opportunity against Mundine. Wood, in only his 12th professional fight, didn’t waste it – he floored Mundine with a left hook 58 seconds into the fifth round and won by knockout. The result sent shockwaves through the sporting community and already it’s been declared the biggest upset in Australian boxing history.

We love a good against-all-odds story in poker and there’s probably none bigger in this region than those of the brothers Hachem, Joe and Tony. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, Joe won the World Series of Poker in 2005 and almost single-handedly ignited the “Great Australian Poker Boom”, bringing the game of No Limit Texas Hold’em into the mainstream. Joe has since followed it up with a WPT title in 2006 and the PokerStars EPT London 8-game Championship in 2009, as well as being the first player to be elevated to “Legend” status in the Australian Poker Hall of Fame.

As for Tony, many of his critics thought that he would never come out from his brother’s shadow, but he made them eat their words after winning back-to-back PokerStars.net ANZPT Player of the Year titles in 2009 and 2010. Tony also holds the most in-the-money finishes in ANZPT history, cashing nine times from 13 events, including his breakthrough victory in this year’s inaugural ANZPT Perth Event at the Burswood Casino. Tony has also just come out of hospital after ankle surgery and though he may still be a little tender, there’ll be no doubting his determination to do well in this APPT Grand Final Main Event.

The Hachem brothers headline today’s Day 1c flight, alongside fellow TeamPokerStars Pro and 2003 WSOP Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker, WCOOP Player of the Series James Obst, reigning Aussie Millions champion Tyron Krost and 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Lisandro.

Be sure to stay tuned here on the PokerStars Blog as Landon Blackhall and Heath “TassieDevil” Chick bring you live updates from the Star City Poker Room today from 12.30pm AEDST (GMT +11). It’s going to be on like Donkey Kong!

Tags: 2009 WSOP | australian | breakthrough | controversial | hall of fame | london | pokerstars | sports | year

7:55pm: Three more levels
Players are headed back to their seats to begin the last three levels of the night. All the details of what they are playing for can be found on the payouts and prizewinners page.

7:40pm: Break time
That’s the end of level six, which means it’s a break for all an sundry. Back in 15 minutes to play level seven.

Full details of the official prize pool have now reached us and we’re currently building a page to show the breakdown. Early whispers have first prize at $725,000, and 104 places paid.

7:32pm: What’s Phil Laak doing?
We don’t know either. All we know for sure is that it involves Silly Putty and a wooden spatula. And, yes, he’s still playing.

7:25: Victor Ramdin steps into the freezer
Christina Lindley opened with a min-raise, opening the door to calls Jamie Rosen and Victor Ramdin in the blinds. On a flop of [td][ah][[ac], all three players checked. The turn bought the [8h]. Rosen led out, Ramdin raised, Lindley re-raised, Rosen moved all-in and Ramdin called. Bad news and a bit of a cooler for Ramdin’s [ad][8c]. Rosen held [as][ts], good for the win and a stack worth more than 60,000. Ramdin meanwhile is left to go sample some nice meat-on-a-stick in the player lounge outside.

7:15pm: Liebert nibbles some from Sesso
Kathy Liebert has never been afraid of tangling with anyone at a poker table, and she is now grappling with the dominant chip stack of David Sesso. There were six limps to a [4c][jc][9h] flop and Liebert, who had been in the small blind, fired 1,500. Everyone folded with the exception of Sesso, who called for a [2d] turn.

Liebert bet 3,000 at that, and Sesso called again. That took them to an [ad] river – and also slowed them down. They both checked, Liebert showed [js][7h] and Sesso mucked. “I was going to check-call,” Liebert said. “But if you’d bet a ton…hmmm.”

Sesso didn’t bet a ton, but he certainly could have if he’d have wanted. He is still the chip leader here with about 170,000. Liebert has about 25,000.

Kathy Liebert: unafraid

Post-script: Kathy Liebert has just tweeted that she has just doubled up with aces and now has about 50,000.

7.10pm: The ghost of Gualter
A fist-pump from Gualter Salles is always welcome, although his most recent visit to rap knuckles with media row was to bid farewell. The Brazilian Team PokerStars Pro has bust, leaving only Andre Akkari to represent the Latin American contingent.

Gualter Salles in happier times

7:04pm: Killing time
Funny we should mention iPads…

Several players have been utilizing the techno-toy to pass the time as they fold their way through Day 1. Here are just a few tasks being completed via iPad at the tables this evening:

Watching what looks to be some sort of suspense film – Frank Kassela
Checking their Facebook page – Dan Shak
Reading a film script – Shannon Elizabeth
Playing Words With Friends with half a dozen different opponents…and checking Twitter…and instant messaging – Daniel Negreanu

7:00pm: A word with the Canadians

6:55pm: Technology review

Number of iPads currently in use on Day 1b: 4
Number of hardcover books being read: 1 (by Michael Binger)

6.40pm: Cada on the climb
The past 12 months have been pretty sweet for Kevin MacPhee and Joe Cada. MacPhee won €1 million for taking down EPT Berlin in March, a matter of five months after Cada became World Champion and earned close to $9m to go with his gold bracelet.

They were table-mates in Los Angeles this afternoon, but MacPhee has just been sent packing – and it was Cada who did the deed. MacPhee opened to 750 in mid-position and he picked up a call from the small blind before Cada, in the big blind, raised to 2,350.

MacPheen moved all in for a little less than 20,000 and after the decision came back to Cada, he made the call.

Cada: [qd][qs]
MacPhee: [ac][kh]

That was about as standard as it gets in no limit hold ‘em and the board ran [4s][jh][7c][2d][jc] to ensure Cada’s pocket pair held up. He now stacks about 75,000 while MacPhee departs.

LEVEL 6: 200-400-50 BLINDS

6:22pm (Almost) nobody is drinking
A waitress, six feet in heels if she was an inch, came to Joe Cada and Marcello Del Grosso’s table with two vodka and Red Bulls. “You’re wearing Chanel, aren’t you?” the drinker asked the waitress. She affirmed the suspicion. “I knew it!” the drinker said. “My girlfriend in sixth grade used to wear that! I love it.”

Somewhere in another universe, players were check-raising each other. Joe Cada was folding.

“You want one?” the drinker asked Cada. The 2009 WSOP champ shook his head. “Come on, Joe,” the perfume aficionado urged. “I won’t tell PokerStars!” Cada still refused.

“Red Bull vodka?” the man pushed Del Grosso.

“I don’t drink alcohol when I’m playing,” Del Grosso said.

“But I bet you want to, huh?”

Del Grosso shook his head.

One by one, the man tried to push his amphetatmine-ish booze drink on the players. Finding no callers, he turned to this blogger and offered the drink. While it might have seemed an easy mark, even that offer ended in refusal.

“Y’all are just scared!” And so the man has to RBVs on his table and chips in play. Stay tuned.

Joe Cada soberly making his way up the leaderboard

6:15pm: A couple of departures
Both Bryn Kenney and Dan Heimiller recently trudged towards the exit with no obvious intention of returning to the tournament room. They’re out.

Better news for fans of Kevin Eyster and Joseph Elpayaa. The two of them have something like 100,000, still a little behind David Sesso’s chip-leading 190,000-ish.

6pm: Kassela’s run good endures
Frank Kassela has had an amazing poker year, winning two World Series bracelets and claiming one third place in Vegas in the summer, all of which contributed to his winning of the WSOP Player of the Year. He’s not going to give up here on the NAPT without a fight either, and just doubled up to about 35,000.

Kassela’s [5s][7s] connected rather nicely with the [7d][8s][10s] flop, and although a solitary foe had a nine for an up-and-down straight draw, the [ks] on the river decided it in Kassela’s favor.

5:58pm: Rousso run down
Vanessa Rousso vanished shortly before the last break but luckily one of her tablemates was able to catch us up on the action. With the board reading 6-3-4-5 with two clubs on the turn, Rousso bet out, her opponent made a substantial raise and she made the call. The river was the [Jc] putting a potential flush on board. Rousso moved all-in but her opponent called, tabling [6h][7h] for the straight. Rousso could only show a pair with [As][4s] and bid a hasty exit.

5:51pm: NAPT Los Angeles official entry numbers
We’ve just been approached by the people with the giant abacus, and we now know exactly how many people entered the NAPT Los Angeles main event. After auditing the buy-ins for the past two days, the numbers are as follows:

Day 1A: 328 players
Day 1B: 373 players

Total NAPT Los Angeles players: 701

Now…standby for payout information. It looks to be a doozy of a first place prize on the way.

5:44pm: Ask Andre!
For those of you who asked Andre Akkari some questions via Twitter and Facebook, here’s what he had to say.

5:43pm: Freedy Deeb need a hug
It was clear Freedy Deeb needed to talk. He wandered by our blogger HQ with a different look than most people (most folks are looking for a place to charge their phone, which we can do for nominal fee of $5 per phone…pass the word!).

In Deeb’s case, he just needed to warm up after a pre-break cooler that saw him losing most of his stack to Massoud Eskandari in a set of nines under set of tens scenario.

“That was a 150,000 chip pot,” Deeb mused. “But I’m still in.”

We didn’t offer a hug, and we actually feel a little bad about that.

5.42pm: Dion does for Kongsgaard
As players disappeared for the break at the end of level four, Soren Kongsgaard and Yann Dion were going nowhere; they were involved in a huge pot. Dion opened to 700 from under-the-gun and a player on the button raised to 2,300. Kongsgaard made it 5,500 in the big blind, but it wasn’t done yet. Dion five bet all in, covering both his adversaries.

The button quickly folded, but Kongsgaard tanked and tanked, going through the mathematics in his head and trying to figure out if he was priced in for his last 18,000 or so.

Eventually, with the rest of the room all but empty, Kongsgaard made the call and saw the bad news. His [qd][qc] was behind Dion’s [kd][kh], and it would only get worse.

The flop came [ks][10c][4c], giving a set to Dion. The turn, for good measure, was the [kc] for quads. That meant the [qs] river was even more irrelevant. Kongsgaard is gone while Dion has about 75,000.

5:40pm: Time for level 5
The players are headed back to their seats to play 150-300-25 blinds. This is where the antes kick in and the fun starts. Players still have five levels left to play before breaking for the evening.

Reports from the NAPT Main Event come from Change100, Howard Swains, Brad Willis, and photographer Joe Giron.

Tags: facebook | funny | napt | people | phone | pokerstars | reading | summer | time | Vegas

5:27: Break time
Players are on a 15-minute break. We’ll be closing out this post and moving on to a fresh one to start Level 5. You’ll find that on the top of the home page in just a few minutes.

5:20pm: Too Little too late
Markus Gonsalves opened for a 700 raise and was met with a three-bet to 2,000 from Jonathan Little. Gonsalves tanked for about a minute before calling and they saw a [Js][Ts][3c] flop. Gonsalves checked, Little bet out, and before you could say “Cocktails on Table 13!” all their money was in the middle. Gonsalves turned over [Jd][Td] for top two pair while Little’s [As][Jc] trailed. Little couldn’t find an ace and he quickly departed the table as Gonsalves stacked up 68,000 in chips.

The agony of defeat…

5:02pm: Sesso takes over chip lead
If you’re just tuning in and looking for the Day 1B chip leader, you’re looking for David Sesso. With a 6,000 bet to him on a flop of [5d][js][3c], Sesso made it 16,000 and got the call. When the [qh] fell on the turn, Sesso’ opponent checked and Sesso put out enough to put his man all-in. The call was of the snap variety. Sesso turned over [jd][jc], way out in front of his opponent’s black aces. The river was the [6s] and Sesso moved up to around 160,000.

We last met Sesso in Monte Carlo for the EPT Grand Final where he managed to place 21st while playing the entire event with a cast on his left arm. He seems to have healed well.

David Sesso loves chips as much as he loves other stuff

5:05pm: Del Grosso continues his climb
Marcello del Grosso’s comeback from the brink continues, and he is now a lot more comfortable in the high 20,000s. This time he raised to 800 in late position, was re-raised to 2,200 from the small blind, shoved for 10,500 and got a call. Del Grosso’s [as][kh] spiked a an ace on the flop to out-race [10s][10h]. Del Grosso, who was down to about 3,000 not so long ago, now has ten times that.

5pm: Back to square one
Daniel Negreanu was down to about 15,000 but has doubled it up to match his starting stack of 30,000. He found queens when Peter Costa had ace-queen and the pocket pair stayed good.

4.55pm: And now officially
Further to the unofficial announcement of 4.42pm, we now have our official number of players. In actual fact, 368 showed up today, which makes 698 in total for the two day one fields. They have combined to make a prize pool of $1,695,560, the breakdown of which will be with you shortly.

4:47pm: Sneaky, sneaky
With the sounds of the Brazilian semifinal soccer match still thundering in his ears, Andre Akkari put out an opening raise to 800 and got one caller in the small blind. Both players checked the [Kh][8h][8d] flop. The turn came the [2s] and the small blind checked over to Akkari, who bet 1,100. The small blind made the call, then check-called another 2,500 from Akkari on the river. Akkari turned over [Jc][8c] for trips, his crafty flop check earning him a substantial pot. He’s up to 45,000 in chips.

4.45pm: Easy come, easy go for Eskandari
No sooner had Massoud Eskandari appeared on the radar with the biggest stack in the room in front of him, than he was giving some of it to his new neighbour Freddy Deeb. Deeb raised to 1,300 from under-the-gun and Eskandari was the only caller, from the big blind.

They went to a flop of [jd][2s][4s] and Eskandari led at it instantly, for 1,500. Deeb didn’t wait much longer in calling. The turn came [4d] and again Eskandari insta-bet, this time 3,500. Deeb dwelled a moment before calling, taking them to a [js] river.

Now Eskandari checked, but Deeb fired for 11,500. If Eskandari felt a little hesitant about making the call, it was because although he’d rivered a flush with his [qs][10s], Deeb has rivered a boat with his [ks][jc].

We found out those hands after Eskandari did make the call, shipping about 15,000 to Deeb, who now has about 95,000 of his own.

4:42pm: Unofficially…
If you’re the type of people to focus on numbers, you might be interested in the unofficial number of entrants. One tourney official offered a 99% certainty that today’s entries will come in at 367. That will make the total field 697 players. When they settle up that remaining 1% of certainty, we’ll be back with official numbers and payout information. Until then, here’s a nice photo of Team Pro’s David Williams, one of the unofficial 367 in today’s field.

4:32pm: Eskandari topping the field
Maybe it’s the fact he’s sitting with NAPT champ Tom Marchese, or maybe it’s a day of run good, but local grinder Massoud Eskandari has emerged as our first player on Day 1B to make it to six figures. As we begin level four, Eskandari has nearly quadrupled his starting stack and currently sits on 110,000.

Massoud Eskandari

LEVEL UP. PLAYING BLINDS OF 150-300 IN LEVEL FOUR

4.20pm: Haffa has his revenge on ElkY; Nacho also crunched
In a matter of 10 seconds, this tournament has lost two of its favorites: the Team PokerStars Pro duo of Jose “Nacho” Barbero and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier. Details on the former elimination are a little scarce, but he’s involved in this story, which ends with ElkY following Nacho out the door.

Jose “Nacho” Barbero

Nacho was standing up, wolfing down a plate of noodles, and not seeming to be paying much attention to the poker being played at his table. It was because he was feasting on his last supper–he was already out when his food arrived–but hung around to finish it off. When Nacho had had enough, he wandered over to ElkY’s table to wish the Frenchman good luck with a pat on the shoulder. But Nacho might not have noticed that ElkY was embroiled in a hand at the time with Hafiz Khan.

The flop was out: [4h][10h][10d] and Khan check-called ElkY’s bet of 2,400. The [6s] turned and Khan checked again. ElkY bet 3,325 and Khan called. The river was [8c] and Khan checked again. ElkY moved all in for about 13,000 and Khan snap-called.

ElkY seemed delighted about the call until Khan turned over [10s][8s] for the flopped trips and rivered boat. ElkY showed his [4c][4h] in a mixture of disbelief and disgust and headed out the door. ElkY bested Khan to win the PCA in 2008, but this time Haffa had his revenge, rivering the bigger full house.

Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier

4:17pm: Del Grosso doubles
Marcello Del Grosso is still grinding. He just managed to double up to 6,000 when his [ad][8h] held up against Dan Heimiller’s [kd][qs] on a [4c][2d][4h][7d][jh] board. “When he tanked,” said one neighbor of Heimiller, “you had to know ace-high was good.” “I didn’t want a call,” said Del Grosso while stacking Heimiller’s chips.

Marcello del Grosso: grinding along

4:15pm: Ramdin rebounds
See, what did we tell you about Victor Ramdin? Our next pass by his table found him three-betting to 3,700 after the cutoff opened for 1,250. The cutoff shoved and Ramdin snap-called, tabling [Ah][Ac] to his opponent’s [As][Kd]. The board ran out a safe [Kc][Jc][2h][3h][7d] and Ramdin scored a double-up to 44,500.

4:07pm: Del Grosso almost Del Gone-o
Canadian Team PokerStars Pro Marcello Del Grosso is having a rough go of it today. Down to his last few thousand chips, he just got it in with big slick. His opponent shrugged and turned over…big slick. “Nice hand, young man,” Del Grosso said. They chopped the pot and the Team Pro is still on life support.

4:00pm: What Are They Eating, Day 1B
Yesterday we introduced you to a new feature here on the PokerStars Blog. As The Bike has the widest variety of tableside food choices of any casino in which we’ve worked. As the lunchtime of poker players has just passed, here’s a quick review of What They Are Eating.

Jose “Nacho” Barbero: Nachos Singapore Rice Noodles

Brett Richey: Pepper steak

Mario Ho: Fruit plate

Jim Meehan: New York Strip (medium rare) and four fingers of…something

Dan Shak: Turkey sandwich and potato salad

Nenad Medic: BLT

4pm: Bari flops two pair, cracks bigger pair
Allen Bari was all in on a board of [9h][6s][5h] and ahead with [5c][6c] against pocket tens. The turn was [ks] and the river [js], giving Bari the double up to more than 35,000. “I suck,” Bari said. “I should have folded to you.” After opening pre-flop, he had called a three bet with his suited connectors and got there, to crack the pocket pair.

3:55pm: Ramdin runs into trouble
We don’t tend to fear for Victor Ramdin when we find him short-stacked early; walk past his table one minute he’s down to the felt, walk past ten minutes later, he’s the chip leader. With the board reading [Kc][Tc][6s][7s], the small blind checked to Ramdin, who bet 2,200. The small blind called and they watched the [Jd] land on the river. The small blind checked, Ramdin bet 3,600, and he was met with a raise to 10,000. Ramdin thought it out for several minutes before releasing his hand, saving the 17,500 he had behind.

3.30pm: Akkari here in body only
We were joined on media row during the break by the Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari, smiling as always and clearly in good spirits. Well, he was here in body, I suppose, but his mind was clearly elsewhere. Akkari was plugged in to radio broadcast of his soccer team, Corinthians, playing a crucial match against their close rivals Cruzeiro in Rio de Janeiro. “This is more important than that,” Akkari said, pointing first to his radio and only then to his chip stack. “Eighty million people are watching this.”

Akkari wheeled away in delight mid-conversation, suggesting there had been a breakthrough in the match. His poker has been steady through the first couple of levels and he sits with about his starting stack. Soccer will always take precedence for the Brazilians.

Akkari, with mind elsewhere

LEVEL UP. PLAYING BLINDS OF 100-200 IN LEVEL THREE

3.10pm: Break time
That’s the end of level two and players are taking their first 15 minute break of the day.

3pm: Grinder’s wings clipped
We saw yesterday how last week’s November Niners have struggled to keep the momentum going after their million-dollar-plus paydays in Vegas. All of Matt Jarvis, Joseph Cheong and Soi Nguyen busted yesterday, and Michael Mizrachi has just been reduced to his last few thousand chips here today after a river bluff gone awry.

There was already about 5,000 chips in the middle and the flop of [10c][7d][js] exposed when Susie Zeho bet 3,700. Mizrachi called. The turn was [7c] and they both checked, taking them to a river of [4d]. Zeho bet 10,800 and Mizrachi moved all in over the top, covering Zeho’s 23,500 total stack – but only just. Zeho called and Mizrachi sheepishly announced: “Nine high.” Zeho tabled [kh][kc] to win.

Michael Mizrachi on day 1B of NAPT Los Angeles

“You bet the turn, I shove,” said Mizrachi, having also just demonstrated that he shoves the river too. Grinder isn’t yet out, but he is very short. His November Nine colleagues Jason Senti and John Dolan remain in today’s field.

2.45pm: Physioc phloored
“Hey, what was the name of that guy?” asked a player pointing to an empty seat, formerly occupied by Grayson “spacegravy” Physioc. It was a fairly effective way of indicating the departure of the Team Online player, who couldn’t recover from the huge beat in the first level (detailed below). Greg Mueller is also out.

2.40pm: Ketteringham up, Ketteringham down
Mark Ketteringham, who finished 17th in the Main Event of the first NAPT event at the Venetian in February, is again in the thick of the action this afternoon. He took a big pot from Victor Ramdin (who actually did extremely well to get away from a cooler so cheaply), but then paid most of it back to Jason Koon on the very next hand.

Here’s how those two hands played out:

First up, Ramdin opened to 400 from UTG+1 and Kettingham called on the button. Both the blinds also called, but they both check-folded when Ramdin bet 850 on the [4h][9c][2d] flop. Kettingham called, however.

The turn was the [2s] and Ramdin bet 2,150, which Kettingham called, taking them to a [9h] river. Ramdin slowed down and checked, but Kettingham seemed to like it. He bet 5,000. Ramdin picked a blue 5K chip from his stack and made what was clearly a reluctant call. He was duly shown Kettingham’s [js][9s] for a rivered boat. Ramdin’s [4d][4c] had been beaten.

Victor Ramdin, got away cheaply as boat was sailed down the river

On the next hand, as Ramdin related his misfortune to a friend on the rail, Kettingham was again involved. Aaron Lerner raised to 375, Ketteringham and Koon both called. The flop came [9c][3c][2d] and Koon fired 1,900. Lerner folded but Kettingham called.

The turn was [as] and Koon fired 3,600, which Kettingham called, and the pattern repeated after the [ad] rivered. Koon bet 11,000, which Kettingham called, but then mucked when Koon showed [ac][td].

2:30pm: Surprising Senti
It was a multi-way raised pot featuring none other than November Niner Jason Senti. Michael Cameron had come in for a raise and they saw a [5h][4s][tc] flop. Cameron led for 1,100 and Senti was the only one to call. Both remaining players checked the [ks] turn. When the [6s] came on the river, Cameron insta-checked. His check hit almost before the card hit the table. Senti casually tossed out a 1,000 chip. Cameron’s response was an immediate check-raise to 5,000. Senti seemed perplexed. His 1,000 bet apparently wasn’t meant to buy an orphan pot. It seemed he actually had a hand. After apologizing for taking so long, Senti called to see Cameron’s [as][ts].

Jason Senti on day 1B of NAPT Los Angeles

2:13pm: Still Grinding
Joining his fellow November Niners John Dolan and Jason Senti is Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, who drew one of the most aesthetically pleasing seats today, to the left of Jennifer Tilly. Mizrachi looks to be coming out of the gate fast and loose today, as he just played a substatial pot (allegedly) without pairing his hand.

On a [Qs][7h][6h] flop, Mizrachi checked to the player in the cutoff, who bet 2,100. Mizrachi made the call. When the [8s] hit the turn, Mizrachi asked his opponent how much he had left behind before making a surprising check. The cutoff checked behind. The river fell the [Jh] and Mizrachi made it 3,000 to go. It was enough to shake his opponent and Mizrachi stacked up 38,000 in chips, confessing that he held ace-king unimproved.

LEVEL UP. PLAYING BLINDS OF 75-150 IN LEVEL TWO

2pm: Menlo, Ho, Nacho (and Toilet)
Of all the tough tables in this room, the hardest is almost certainly that featuring Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron, Nacho Barbero, Maria Ho and Faraz Jaka. There’s some real pedigree in that little lot.

Elsewhere, Shannon Elizabeth lines up alongside Phil Laak, Carter Phillips and Darus Suharto.

1:54pm: Blogger makes good
We’re blogging types around these parts, so we always feel good when we see one of our own make it to the ranks of the big dogs. Several years ago when the PokerStars Blog team oversaw the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker, we met Dale Philip, better known as Daleroxxu, the man from Scotland who beat out more than 2,200 bloggers for the first place prize. Since then, he’s become one of the world’s more popular poker bloggers and has earned a spot on PokerStars’ Team Online. Philip is in the field today and has drawn a seat with November Niner Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi.

1:45pm: spacegravy dribbles down
Team Online’s Grayson “spacegravy” Physioc plays enough tournaments to know that big pairs don’t always hold up, even in the early levels. But as he watched pretty much all his stack slid in the direction of John Cernuto, there was enough evident despair etched on his face to show that it still hurts.

It seemed as though four players were initially involved pre-flop, with about 1,200 in the pot already from each of them. Cernuto then made it 6,400 from the cut off, and Physioc was the only one to call from the hijack. The flop came [jc][8s][qd] and Physioc checked. Cernuto bet 10,000 and suddenly they were all in (I’m assuming Physioc pushed, but couldn’t quite hear). Whatever, the result was the same. Physioc showed [kc][kd] but Cernuto’s [qs][qh] had flopped a set and the turn and river blanked.

Grayson Physioc sees the bad news

Physioc is down to loose change, while Cernuto has about 55,000.

Grayson Physioc gathers his thoughts after an early beat

1:43pm: Baron can’t shake Nacho
On a flop of [Qd][7d][4s], Nacho Barbero led out for 525 and was met with a raise to 1,525 from Isaac Baron. Barbero tossed in a red 1k chip and they went to the turn, the [2d]. Barbero checked, Baron bet 2,500 and Barbero came along. When the [3s] hit the river Barbero turned around and led for a 2,125 value bet. Baronmade what looked like a reluctant call and watched Barbero turn over [5d][6d] for a flush. Baron slipped to 24,200 while Barbero is up to 36,000.

1.30pm: Small battles and reunions
As is always to be expected, the random table draw has come up with some tasty small battles within the larger whole. Purists will no doubt appreciate the reunion of the 2008 PCA heads-up fighters, ElkY and Hafiz Khan, for instance. Another player from that final table, Joe “bigegypt” Elpayaa is sitting to the immediate right of Kathy Liebert.

Hafiz Khan and ElkY

Team Online’s Grayson Physioc is in the small blind when “Miami” John Cernuto is in the large, and one more table along Marcello Del Grosso plays on the same slab of felt as John Turner. The recent November Niner Jason Senti is on the same table as Daniel Negreanu. The 2009 WSOP Champion Joe Cada is alongside the EPT Berlin champion Kevin MacPhee.

1:18pm: Kid Poker pulls a fast one
“Porter! Porter!”

I thought someone was trying to flag down a food runner so I paid it no attention. Then Daniel Negreanu tapped me on the shoulder.

“I’d like a green salad with kidney beans and…”

I didn’t let him get any further before I fake-clocked him in the jaw and he scurried back to his seat.

“It’s Level 1! We all have 30,000!” he laughed, poking fun at the fact that we bloggers tend to start circling the field well, a little early.

Among those with 30,000 in chips are Negreanu’s tablemate Jason Senti, fresh off his November Nine appearance and seventh-place finish in the WSOP Main Event where he flew the mighty red spade.

We’ve spotted Team Pros Vanessa Rousso, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Nacho Berbero, Andre Akkari, and Joe Cada so far, along with 2010 WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kasella, Kathy Liebert, Chad Batista, Matt Stout, Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, Adam Junglen, Brian Hastings, Jimmy Tran, and both Lerner twins, Aaron and Derek.

1.05pm: Any minute now
Good afternoon all and welcome back to the Bike. Day 1B of the NAPT Los Angeles event is about to get under way and, as expected, this is a bigger field even than yesterday. Dealers have been busy counting out chips and stacking them in front of empty chairs for a good hour or so, and now those chairs have been filled with a procession of the great and the good from this game.

You can head on over to the chip count page to see approximate chip stacks from some selected day 1B players, updated through the day. If you want to see how it wound up yesterday, then check out the Day 1A counts.

Some time today, we’ll know the final number of runners and therefore the prize pool. Join us for that thrilling information – and plenty more – before we’re done.

Dealers prepare for day 1B of NAPT Los Angeles

Reports from the NAPT Main Event come from Change100, Howard Swains, Brad Willis, and photographer Joe Giron.

Tags: 2009 WSOP | 2010 WSOP | baron | food | november-nine | online | singapore | soccer

There has never been a question that Team PokerStars Pro is made up of an elite group of poker professionals who have given their lives to the game. Now, the Poker Hall of Fame is considering three Team Pros for poker’s greatest honor.

Barry Greenstein, Tom McEvoy, and Daniel Negreanu are among the top ten nominees chosen by the public for this year’s Poker Hall of Fame inductions. Now a panel consisting of media members and current Hall of Fame inductees will choose the 2010 class from the list of Team PokerStars Pros, Chris Ferguson, Jennfer Harmon-Traniello, Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Linda Johnson, Scotty Nguyen, and Erik Seidel.

The Team Pros’ records are undeniable. Barry Greenstein holds three WSOP bracelets, two major WPT titles, and more than $7 million in live tournament winnings. That is to say nothing of his untold success in live cash games, his charity work, and his support of up-and-coming players. He’s also the author of Ace on the River.

Barry Greenstein

Tom McEvoy is famous for a lot of things, not the least of which is a fairly long list of books he’s written to help poker players improve their game. He is well-known as the first person to ever win the WSOP Main Event after earning a seat via a satellite. Since that time, McEvoy has accumulated a total of four WSOP bracelets and more than $2 million in live tournament winnings. During the 2009 WSOP, McEvoy won the Tournament of Champions.

Tom McEvoy

And then there is Daniel Negreanu, a man who needs no introduction. One of the most outspoken members of the moden poker community, Negreanu owns four WSOP bracelets and can claim two major World Poker Tour titles. At just 36 years old, he has amassed more than $12 million in live tournament winnings.

Daniel Negreanu

Here are the Poker Hall of Fame criteria:

• A player must have have played poker against acknowledged top competition
• Played for high stakes
• Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers
• Stood the test of time
• Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.

The 2010 Poker Hall of Fame class will be inducted as part of the WSOP Main Event final table events in November.

Tags: 2009 WSOP | barry-greenstein | charity | daniel-negreanu | greenstein | poker | Tom McEvoy | tournament

Joe Cada, 2009 WSOP Main Event Champion, $8.5 Million Winner

Tags: event | flipchip | greats | multi | night-means | poker | tournament poker news | Vegas