By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Call it a coup d’etat.

Never mind the Brits, here come the French. First, it was ElkY. Now, it’s Elie Payan. The amateur from France played in his first ever WSOP event, and guess what? He shipped the bracelet in Event #22 PLO. The $1,500 buy-in was the Donkament version of PLO and largest ever PLO tournament in the history of the WSOP.

Le Ship It!
Photo courtesy of WSOP.com
PLO is a dangerous game. It’s like being a weekend cocaine user who all of a sudden gets turned onto freebasing. Kids, you don’t want to try this at home unless supervised by an adult. PLO is a game that is only for trained professionals and known drug fiends.

Four cards? Let’s gamboooooooool.

PLO is an action junkie’s wet dream. If you can stomach the mammoth swings, then you have a an outside chance of being a decent PLO player, because at worst, you’re never that far behind your opponent. That’s the only reason why most people don’t play PLO — they simply can’t handle the swings — both financially and mentally.

PLO tournaments are even more brutal than cash games, because if you get felted (which will happen no matter how optimal you play or how far a horseshoe is wedged up your digestive tract), you can always dig into your pocket for more bullets. The more bullets you have access to, the better your chances of digging yourself out of a hole. That is to say, if you can handle losing substantial chunks of your bankroll in a 24-hour period.

Fortunes have been won and lost at the PLO tables. The premier pros of the game have gone busto and robusto back to busto again all because of the tantalizing aspect of four card bingo. The biggest, baddest, mutherfuckers in poker are (er, were) mostly PLO gurus. Sure everyone played NLH because it’s the popular game and kept you in the limelight of the mainstream poker audience and in the poker media. However, if you wanted respect among your peers, then you had to measure your cock (or vagina) against the biggest of the Big Dogs. If you wanted big payday with a side order of notoriety, then sit down in Ivey’s Thunderdome and play the Phil Ivey of Poker in heads-up PLO. And not just one table… how about four or more?

If you wanted a chance of winning a half a mil in a session, then you had to go whale hunting in the PLO waters. Just a year or two ago, the biggest sharks in poker lined up to take a shot at sinking their teeth into proverbial white whale — an elusive Scandi named Isildur1 — who had no problems giving action to anyone who wanted to play multi-tables.

That’s like juggling chainsaws. And I’m not talking about throwing Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler into the air and trying to catch him, although I’d pay good money to see someone try to juggle Chainsaw with two chainsaws. One false move and you lose an arm.

* * *
Bouncin’ Round the Room…

I almost got run over by a douchenozzle on a Segway. I’ve thought about getting a golf cart, Segway, or min-cart to navigate from the Amazon Ballroom to the casino floor, but if I ever got access to a vehicle, I would drive at a safe speed in order to not hurt any pedestrians. Too bad the selfish dickhead that ran me over (along with a half-a-dozen others) in the hallway did not adhere to “safety first” rules. I don’t mind older folks on those mini-scooters, because after all, they are in the twilight of their lives or have medical conditions and need a scooter to be mobile. But a Segway? Talk about a self-indulgent. Didn’t the inventor of the Segway die after accidentally driving off a cliff?

I watched Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals with Lance. He was rooting for the Bruins and I had a bet on the Canucks. I got my ass stomped. I blame that sieve Luongo. I can win a hockey bet to save my life, but luckily I dominated the NBA playoffs wagering on the Mavs heavy over the last few weeks. I gotta say, after all the money I spent at the Rio covering the WSOP (food and drinks mostly, but when you play inflated rendonkulous casino prices, all of that adds up), it felt good to actually take the Rio for a few grand in the sportsbook. Poker is tough because you’re essentially taking money from other gamblers, whereas in the pits or at the sportsbook, you have a shot at bleeding the corporate entity dry.

The single table satellites are as soft as ever. I know horrible players who have been raking in the lammers — and these are my friends, the majority of whom are horrible players. Either their luckbox powers have been humming due to the close proximity to Planet X, or the quality of play is just that fucking atrocious. Whatever you want to believe, it doesn’t matter. They are giving away free money every day inside the tournament area. You’d be a fool not to show up a few days before your intended WSOP event, to play those single table sats. Juicy is an understatement. I know one pro who has yet to buy into a WSOP event because he’s simply killing the sats.

So do you want to know the effects of Black Friday? As expected, the numbers at some of the lower buy-in events WSOP are up. The PLO Donkament was the largest on record. According to stats released by the WSOP suits, the cash games are up 11% over the first two weeks. How they figured that number out, I’ll never know, but let’s just say they are right — the WSOP is printing money this year.

I don’t have any puke stories or tales of old guys jacking off in the bathroom of Binion’s, but I did see a guy as old as Vin Scully (I kinda hoped it was the legendary L.A. Dodgers announcer) walk past the craps table with two “rented” girls clinging to each arm. Their combined age had to be anywhere from 36 to 42… and not a year older. I wonder if those working girls foolishly got paid in tournament chips?

I love it when railbirds totally get the names of pros utterly wrong. The other day, two dudes in “Affliction” shirts stood on the rail and pointed at the table in front of them.

Railbird 1: “Is that Jackie Juanda?”
Railbird 2: “No, it’s gotta be that Jackie Chan guy?”
Railbird 1: “Are you sure? It’s Jackie Juanda.”
Railbird 2: “No, it’s Jackie Chan….”
(Pause… I got caught catching me eavesdropping and Railbird 1 saw my press credntials dangling around my neck.)
Railbird 1: “Hey you work here, right?”
Your Hero: “Only, for the pure love of the game.”
Railbird 2: “Settle an argument for us… is that Jackie Chan or Jackie Juanda.”
Your Hero: “Neither. It’s Layne Flack.”

* * *
That’s it. For a quickie wrap, head over to Rise Poker and check out Change100′s Day 16 Recap.

Follow @taopauly for Twitter updates throughout the day.

Also, help support indie writers and buy my books: Lost Vegas: The Redneck Riviera, Existentialist Conversations with Strippers and the World Series of Poker, and my recently released novel, Jack Tripper Stole My Dog. Both are also available for Kindles and iPads.

Tags: boom | day 5 | entertainment | ept | full tilt | las vegas | lost vegas | Music | news | phil ivey | philosophy

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

Photo courtesy of Benjo
The 2011 WSOP begins on Tuesday and for a 7th summer in a row, I’ll be live from the floor of the Rio providing coverage for Tao of Poker. I’ll also be tweeting (@taopauly) updates, recording podcasts, selling both copies of Lost Vegas and my newly released novel Jack Tripper Stole My Dog, and doing press for the French release of Lost Vegas. I’m also doing a little work for Rise Poker this summer, and of course I’ll be engaging in plenty of hijinks like beer bowling, Pai Gow, lime tossing, rum parties, and sharing new forms of silliness along the way.

Wow, hard to believe that in 2005 I moved out to Vegas to cover my first ever WSOP. To quote my favorite band, “What a long strange trip its been.”

Anyway, I’m in the process of moving to Vegas as we speak. So since it’s a holiday weekend, kick back and enjoy a recap of the 2010 WSOP by delving into last year’s coverage on Tao of Poker.

Enjoy…

Day 1: The Cold Open – Opening lines to several great novels inspired the opening post of the 2010 WSOP, but none more fitting than Charles Dickens. The 50K Players’ Championship also kicked off the WSOP, while many scribes and photographers were on alert just in case the federales were going to drag away a couple of the poker pro owners of Full Tilt Poker.

Day 2: Not So Easy Rider – The official WSOP live updates page crashed more times to count due to a crush of traffic. It turned out that a hamster and a drunk Lithuanian was to blame. Editor’s Note: This particular piece got me into a little bit of hot water with the humorless powers to be.

Day 3: Scandi Mafia and Donkulus’ Comet – The first potential headache of the WSOP arrived with the field in the $1,000 Donkulus event got decimated at a much faster pace than expected. Could the elusive donk get extinct at the 2010 WSOP? Meanwhile, as the 50K Players’ Championship progressed, the Scandi Mafia arrived on the rail to keep a keen eye on the outcome.

Day 4: Band of Brothers and Here Comes the Russians Reprise – The Brothers Mizrachi made waves when two of them (The Grinder and Robert) advanced to the final table of the 50K Players’ Championship. Also advancing to the final 8 was a mysterious wealthy Russian businessman named Vladimir Schmelev. I hopped on the phone, made contact with an old friend in Moscow, and got him to spill the vodka-infused beans about the unknown Russian.

Day 5: Redemption Song – The Grinder Wins Player’s Championship – The Grinder achieved redemption, something very few poker players have a shot at. Along the way, he had to knock out his brother and survive a heads-up battle against the mysterious Russian, Vladimir Schmelev, who proved to be a worthy adversary.

Day 6: Welcome to the Sausage Factory and the Return of Triple Draw Fargis – I arrived at the Rio in the middle of a massive dealers’ shift change. That got me wondering and thinking that the WSOP reminded me of a factory — a sausage factory — to be precise. Meanwhile, a blast from the past, Chris ‘Triple Draw’ Fargis, re-emerged after stepping away from the pro circuit to take a real job on a trading desk down on Wall Street.

Day 7: The Marvelous British Invasion – After a conversation with one of the British scribes, Snoopy, I was convinced that he was warning me that the Brits were going to make a waves at the WSOP and gobble up as many bracelets as they can while the Scandis were sitting out the preliminary events. Little did we know, that Snoopy was being overly conservative about the potential British dominance during the opening weeks of the WSOP.

Day 8: Darth Hellmuth – The Dark Lord returned to the WSOP. He’s the villain that everyone loves to hate. Hellmuth went deep in a donkament which got everyone inside the Rio buzzing during his hot pursuit of bracelet #12.

Day 9: God Save the Queen Reprise and Seven for Men – Less than a week after his prediction that a British player will win a bracelet, Snoopy looked like the oracle when his fellow countrymen, Praz Pansi and James ‘Flushy’ Dempsey shipped events. Oh, and much to the dismay of Men the Master haters (or I should say, people who despise cheaters), the slow-rolling controversial figure won his 7th bracelet.

Day 10: Most Likely You Go Durrrr’s Way (And I’ll Go Mine) – Tom ‘durrrr’ Dan had the entire high stakes poker community by the collective balls when he went deep in one of the donkaments. They all had to squirm on one side of the Amazon Ballroom, sweating millions of dollars in potential lost prop bets, as durrrr took center stage and played heads-up for a bracelet. Looking back, Day 10 was one of the most exciting nights at the WSOP that I ever experienced.

Day 11: Durrrr Hangover, Hooker Quota, and Orange Tossing – The night after the durrrr saga left many at the Rio walking around in a daze. Not much to report aside from everyone experiencing a durrrr hangover. I managed to squeeze in a bit of commentary on the decline of working girl sightings at the Rio and a witty story from Flipchip about pros betting on orange tossing during the olden days of the WSOP at the Horseshoe.

Day 12: The Kassela Chainsaw Massacre – The 10K Stud World Championship included a stacked final table featuring six known pros and two Russians: Jen Harman, Steve Zolotow, John Juanda, Frank Kassela, Chainsaw Kessler, Dario Mineri, Vladimir Schmelev and Kirill Rabtsov. After several hours of brawling, it came down to a heads-up battle between Frank Kassela and Chainsaw Kessler. The event went late into the night and was not settled until 4:20am as Kassela emerged victorious. That win would thrust him into competition for the Player of the Year race.

Day 13: The Carter Phillips Show – Going into the final table of NL six-handed, everyone assumed that Carter Phillips was going to win the bracelet at one of the youngest final tables ever assembled at the WSOP. It was essentially a race for second place as Carter joined an elite group of players who won an EPT event and a WSOP bracelet.

Day 14: No Soup for Yellowsub – I had fun writing this post which included a brief history lesson about the origins of the Beatles album Yellow Submarine. Meanwhile, Jeff ‘yellowsub86′ Williams made a deep run in the 5K NL event but got sunk in third-place, despite the echos of his friends chanting the chorus to Yellow Submarine.

Day 15: Dude Looks Like a Lady and Get Baked – Every year, the Ladies Only tournament stirs up controversy. How come most people are silent 364 days a ear (and 365 on leap years), and then only bring up the issue on the eve of the event? At any rate, even though at the root, I’m against Ladies events, I sounded off on the reasons why I would never play in a Ladies Only event (simply put — out of respect). As long as it’s on the schedule, let them play I say.

Day 16: God Save the Queen… Thrice – The third Brit, Richard Ashby, collected a bracelet in a two week period and by that point, the mainstream poker press caught onto the British Invasion, even though thanks to Snoopy, we were chatting about this story before it even happened. Oh, and all of this happened on the same day that the US tied the English’s squad in World Cup play.

Day 17: Durrrr’s Grandma, Dutch Boyd 2.0, and the French Win…a Ladies’ Bracelet – A little fun with captions after I saw a hysterical photo of an old woman sitting at the same table as Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan. Oh, and just in case you missed it… new bracelet were awarded to the (still) controversial Dutch Boyd and a French woman who won the Ladies Event.

Day 18: Sammy Farha Wins a Bracelet, Flushy Leading the POY Race, and Orphaned Notes – The ever cool Sammy Farha took down a bracelet, meanwhile one of the British bracelet winners jumped out into the POY lead. I also shared a bunch of orphaned lines from my notebook. I figured that even though they didn’t fit in anywhere specific, they were too good to flush down the toilet.

Day 19: Shorthanded Eels, the Russian Surge, and the Year of the Yang – I hoped that I bet on the right side of the fix as the NBA finals were coming down to the wire, and everyone’s favorite degen sports bettor, Phil Ivey, took center stage as more media were interested in what he was betting on, than the cards he was playing. Alas, I embedded myself on the rail and noticed some unusual things such as the run that former world champion Jerry Yang was making.

Day 20: Femme Fatales, Hallway Punches, and the Bubbling Eel – Another dull day inside the ropes, but lots of action outside the ropes. I caught a pro bringing a hooker back to his room and someone sucker punched David Levi in the hallway. Meanwhile, a friend from Madrid, Spanish pro Javier ‘anguila’ Etayo, had bubbled off the final table of a 6-handed event.

Day 21: Pappa Johnny Road – The official end of the third week mark of the WSOP was not without any side drama not to mention — drunken girls roaming around the Amazon Ballroom and the Rio’s hallways. I also breakdown the game plan that different pros have when deciding what events to play in the WSOP.

Days 22-24: OFF

Day 25: Phil Ivey Beats Supercomputer for Bracelet Ocho – Phil Ivey is the real fucking deal after he beat a supercoputer heads-up for his 8th bracelet. Ivey also collected an unknown sum (worth millions I’m told) in prop bets. One thing is for sure, humans prevailed over the machines in this battle as Ivey proved that he is truly superhuman.

Day 26: Dispatches from the Razz Event – Swollen Testicles, Ivey’s Hoodie, and Vigorous Confusion – Razz is never fun to watch, but one good story to come out of this event was the Phil Ivey hoodie story involving Mickey Doft.

Day 27: Kassela Wins Dos, Sinking Norwegian Queen, and Ivey’s Bracelet Ceremony – Frank Kassela distanced himself from the rest of the pack when he won his second bracelet inside of a month. And the pavilion was a buzz during Ivey’s bracelet ceremony, meanwhile, Annette Obrestad came up short in an attempt make a final table American WSOP debut.

Day 28: About My Very Tortured Friend, Phil Hellmuth – I couldn’t believe that I was going to write about Phil Hellmuth again, but I did trying to fully understand what it’s like to be the tortured soul.

Day 29: Redemption Songs, Part II: Gavin Smith and Dean Hamrick – Bracelets were won by two people seeking redemption. Las Vegas is a city where a lot of people are looking to exorcise past demons, but very few people get an actual shot at doing so.

Day 30: The Sun Wields Mercy; Gavin Smith Wins First Bracelet – Breakthrough day for Gavin Smith as he won his first bracelet.

Day 31: TOC Hoopla, Flashmob of Brazilians, and Erik Seidel Goes for Number Nine…. Number Nine… Number Nine… – It was TOC day at the Rio, and I sound off on all of the controversy surrounding the event from the voting to players trying to big-time the event thereby changing the schedule of the event. I also gave my suggestions for three different versions of the TOC.

Day 32: Le Boucherie, Ripple In Still Water, and TOC Day 2 – The donkanments have turned into something that would resemble a butcher shop, meanwhile, the TOC seems like it’s more of nuisance than a celebration as the middle of the fifth week of the WSOP becomes a dead zone.

Day 33: You Are What You Eat and Watch What You Tweet – Food and social media are among the topics of discussion. Ah, I also three everyone a bone and included an installment of Last 5 Pros I Pissed Next To…

Day 34-38: OFF

Day 39 – Main Event Day 1A: The Seekers – The Main Event is off and running and I pay homage to the courageous souls who said, “I don’t give a fuck!” and plopped down $10,000 in pursuit of a dream.

Day 40 – Main Event Day 1B: Great Expectations – Annette Obrestad’s first WSOP Main Event and all of the hoopla surrounding the 21-year old Norwegian wunderkind’s first appearance on US soil is the subject of my musings. I also wondered if she could ever live up to the hype and hysteria that we created for her in the media? It also made me question how much of an impact that we the media have in potentially setting up certain pros to fail?

Day 41 – Main Event Day 1C: The Odium of Hellmuthstein – Ah, the spectacle of the Phil Hellmuth Entrance. If you hate him you can skip this one. If you really hate him, you’ll end up reading it twice.

Day 42 – Main Event Day 1D: The Unluckiest Champion in the World – Robert Varkonyi took his seat in the Main Event, but without the pomp and circumstance of other former champions. I examine the story of the unluckiest champion in the world.

Day 43 – Day 2A: Moneymaker – The Shadow of a Dream – I love comparing Chris Moneymaker to Jay Gatsby. While Robert Varkonyi chases Moneymaker’s shadow, Moneymaker has to constantly chase his own shadow. Will he ever win a second bracelet or does it not even matter because after all, he’s Chris Moneymaker?

Day 44 – Day 2B: The Last of the Mohicans – I was wicked hungover after getting hustled in bowling the night before. I phoned it in for this piece. Don’t even bother reading it. My apologies.

Day 45: OFF – Media Day

Day 46 – Main Event Day 3: Johnny Fucking Chan, the Butcher Shop, and Here Come the Scandis – Johnny Fucking Chan made a run and I got to proudly write “fucking” instead of bleeping out his infamous nickname. The field continued to thin itself out on Day 3 while a couple of Scandi sleeper cells were activated and sprung into action.

Day 47 – Main Event Day 4: I Want to Take You Higher – Inspired by a Sly and the Family Stone song, I riff about the ghosts wandering around the Amazon Ballroom, brutal casualties of the killing fields.

Day 48 – Main Event Day 5: Fookin’ Bonkers, Scandi Ambush, and Disco Inferno – Tony Dunst began the day as the leader while most of the Amazon Ballroom began to empty out as the field was thinned to just 204. The Scandis continued their assault while a Dutch pro named Fokke Buekers became everyone’s darling. Meanwhile, California’s Breeze Zuckerman became the Last Woman Standing in the Main Event.

Day 49 – Main Event Day 6: Never Mind the Mizrachis, Here Come the Scandis – The Scandi sleeper cell was in full effect as everyone remaining in the Main Event was jockeying for a spot during the homestretch of the November Nine. Meanwhile, all four Mizrachi brothers cashed in the Main Event, but Robert and the Grinder could not replicate their 50K Players’ Championship feat with both of them advancing to the final table.

Day 50 – Main Event Day 7: Shine A Light – With 27 players remaining, the next superstar was sitting in front of me. I reflect on previous Main Events specifically on the first hand that I can recall watching from the rail that each former champion played leading up to the final table.

Day 51 – Main Event Day 8: Meet the November Nine – The Grinder advanced to the final table after a marathon November Nine bubble.

* * * *

FYI… 2010 Main Event Semi-Live Blog Links: Day 1A – Day 1B – Day 1C – Day 1D – Day 2A – Day 2B – Day 3 - Day 4 – Day 5 – Day 6 – Day 7 – Day 8

* * * *

FYI… here’s November Nine coverage:

Jonathan Duhamel Wins 2010 WSOP
Semi-Live Blog November Nine Heads-Up: Duhamel vs. Racener
Semi-Live Blog November Nine: 9 to 2
November Nine Episodes: Tao of Pokerati Podcast

That’s it for now. Thanks for following along last summer and all of those previous summers. And I’ll thank you in advance for following Tao of Poker this summer. I always say that this might be my last summer, but this year I’m more uncertain about my future than ever. That’s why you have to tune it, because if it’s gonna be my last WSOP, then I’m definitely going out with a bang.

BTW, after providing six summers of free entertainment, I think it’s only fair that you purchase a copy of Lost Vegas: The Redneck Riviera, Existentialist Conversations with Strippers, and the World Series of Poker, or help support independent writers and buy a copy of Jack Tripper Stole My Dog. Thanks and see ya Tuesday for comprehensive WSOP reporting.

Tags: business | day 5 | federales | game | night | phone | Podcast | rio | TOC | Vegas

6.28pm: Brenes heads-up finally
Team PokerStars Pro Humerto Brenes is finally heads-up at his table with Andrew Cheney Seidman. I write finally as Brenes was moaning the rail before that he had Seidman all-in three times and Shyam Srinivasan all-in twice without winning. Well, it was third time lucky for Brenes versus Srinivasan.

Srinivasan pushed from the button for just under 20,000 and Brenes followed him in from the small blind for another 10,000 on top. Seidman thought about calling with the chance to win it there but open folded [kd][td] and it was a good fold too.

Srinivasan: [tc][8s]
Nrenes: [kc][qc]

The board ran [4s][as][9s][9c][ac] to send Srinivasan to the rail. — MC

6.21pm: Amichai the Barer of bad news
Amichai Tzvi Barer dispatched of Daniel Negreanu some time ago. His heads-up battle with the blinged-up Al Levon Grimes took a long while to complete with the latter treading water on a stack between 20,000 and 40,000. Barer now has a big smile on his face, as the winner, which is a good thing as he was snatched off to have his picture taken.

Daniel Negreanu was not safe in the hood

6.17pm: Debora dispatches Moreira de Melo to make the cut
Fatima Moreira de Melo is tenacious to say the least but Team PokerStars Pro Greg Debora has finally managed to knock her out. Moreira de Melo open shoved from the button with [jd][kh] for close to 30,000 and Debora made the call with pocket deuces. The board ran out [qh][4d][ac][4s][6c] to put Debora through to Day 2. Just a few tables left. — RD

6.06pm: Kessler falls on Filippi’s chainsaw
Amnon Filippi has beaten Allen Kessler heads-up to win his table. It’s always nice to get you’re opponent all-in and drawing dead and that’s what happened. Filippi had top two-pair with ace-nine to Kessler’s ace-three. Kessler is now debating whether to jump in the Omaha Stud tournament about to start. — MC

6.01pm: Binger dragging it out for a rubdown?
Nick Binger passed through into the final 36 some time ago, Michael Binger is making more of a meal about it. He currently holds a two-to-one lead over Darren Kennedy. Maybe he’s just enjoying the massage. — RD

Michael Binger enjoying the good kind of rubdown

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,000-2,000, ANTE 200

5.55pm: Jason Senti home
If there was one player in the field you would expect to go through then it would have to be Johan “busto soon” Van Til. The Dutchman is one of the most feared players when it comes to high stakes sit-and-gos on PokerStars. WSOP Main Event finalist Jason Senti was his final victim. — MC

5.51pm: Moreira de Melo refusing to let go
Team PokerStars Pro Greg Debora is not having a lot of fun beating down Fatima Moreira de Melo. The Dutch former hockey player just shoved for 32,000 into a pot of around 20,000 on the river of a [2h][6c][jc][5h][6s] board. Debora looked pained, as if he was trying to pull a thorn out of the roof of his mouth with his tongue. He passed and Moreira de Melo is up to nearly 55,000. Debora holds a two-to-one chip lead. — RD

5.45pm: Czuczor fixes Fitzgerald
Alex Fitzgerald had a sizable lead against Marton Czuczor is their heads-up battle but the Hungarian came back and snatched an unlikely win. The final hand was an all-in pre-flop with Fitzgerald holding [8h][8s] to Czuczor’s [as][ts] and the board came [kd][th][2s][6h][9h] to pair Czuczor’s ten. — MC

5.35pm: Two more tables finished
Seat one was unlucky for both Ali Eslami and Matt Mezvinsky. They both made it to heads-up but lost out to Alex Wice and Shaun Deeb respectively. There are 11 tables left out of the 36 that started. — MC

5.33pm: Double celebration
Simoes Mesqueu and Toby Lewis were all-in pre-flop, both started celebrating but they couldn’t both. It was the Brazilian who was premature as, even though he filled in a straight, Lewis had four-flushed on the river. Lewis held [as][jh] to Mesqueu’s [ad][8c] with the board running [9h][4h][th][7d][6h]. Lewis is up to 85,000 chips now. — MC

Toby Lewis, now comes with reclined setting

5.30pm: Catching up with the sit-and-go guru
Dario Minieri was the first player through and swiped all five bounties on his way. The video team caught up with the Team PokerStars Pro just after his speedy victory.

5.20pm: Transferring online success to the live arena
Team PokerStars Online’s George Lind has taken down his table. He was heads-up with Gregory Merson and at one stage it looked as if Merson was on his way back. He doubled-up his micro stack after coming from behind with [qh][8d] to best Lind’s [as][3c] – hitting [8c] on the river.

A few hands later Lind got it in good again with [ah][8h] to Merson’s [kd][jd]. The board ran [9d][as][3c][qd][4c]. Merson picked up a straight-flush draw on the turn but missed to be eliminated. — MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800-1,600, ANTE 200

5.13pm: Debora and Moreira de Melo
Fatima Moreira de Melo and Greg Debora did manage to turn their fortunes around after all. Both players were short but now they’re heads up for a berth in the final 36. Debora just knocked out Cornel Cimpan with [as][8h] to [ac][9s] after catching an eight on the turn. The two PokerStars sponsored pros are pretty much equal stacked. — RD

Moreira de Melo: heads up for rolls (okay, a place in Day 2)

5.08pm: Madsen finds winning play
Jeff Madsen has come back from being one of the shortest stacks at his table to win. The final defense in his way was Dan O’Brien’s but Madsen found a way through to progress. — MC

5.05pm: Even-stevens
The unmistakable cry from Huberto Brenes from across the room prompted us to run over and see what was occurring. The Team PokerStars Pro was all-in along with his remaining two opponents; Andrew Cheney Seidman and Shyam Srinivasan . By the end of the hand all three stacks were evened up as no one was eliminated.

Brenes: [kh][kc]
Seidman: [ac][2s]
Srinivasan : [kd][qh]

The board ran [3c][5s][6c][4h][ah]. Seidman made a wheel by the turn to triple-up. Brenes took the side pot and Srinivasan’s lead was abolished. — MC

4.57pm: The Bear and Cairns win their tables
Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein and David Cairns are through to the next round, which takes place tomorrow. Greenstein took care of the formidable Scott Seiver to progress, while Cairns dispatched Brian England to make the final 36. — MC

Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein is in the final 36

4.54pm: Dyer out, Ladny through
That heads up battle we mentioned at the beginning of the level? Between Greg Dyer and Eric Ladny? It is over, and it’s Eric Ladny who is through. I believe some deal was made at the beginning of their long heads up so it’s not all bad news for Dyer. — RD

4.50pm: Brutal board for Hunichen
Chris Hunichen was crippled then eliminated after a cooler of a hand versus Andrew Chen. Hunichen held [td][7h] to Chen’s [3h][3d] and the board ran [ts][3s][3c][5c][th] with all the chips going in on the turn. I was asked to report they went in on the river but that wouldn’t be right, would it? — MC

4.40pm: Fitzgerald through
No sooner are we back from the break but Costa Rican Alexander Fitzgerald has gone through. Greg Dyer and Eric Ladny were the first two players to reach heads up – they’re still at it. — RD

Dario Minieri with his $5,000 bounty haul

PokerStars Blog reporting team at the shootout (in order of appreciation of the southern fried chicken eaten from the food court during the break): Rick Dacey (just about edible) and Marc Convey (liked it).

Tags: barry-greenstein | brazilian | daniel-negreanu | final | hungarian | moreira | team pokerstars pro | turn

By Pauly
New York City

Well, let’s get to it… the second part of the 2010 Year in Review kicks off with highlights on Tao of Poker beginning in June featuring in depth WSOP coverage.

* * * *
June 2010

I began the month in Las Vegas covering my 6th WSOP on Tao of Poker. If you’d like to listen to different episodes of the Tao of Pokerati podcast, the fastest poker podcast on the intertubes, then you should check out the Tao of Pokerati archives page.

I got an amazing Tao All-Stars guest post from Change100 titled WSOP Fashion Report: Alarming Trends.

Here’s the daily recaps of the WSOP…

Day 4: Band of Brothers and Here Comes the Russians Reprise – The Brothers Mizrachi made waves when two of them (The Grinder and Robert) advanced to the final table of the 50K Players’ Championship. Also advancing to the final 8 was a mysterious wealthy Russian businessman named Vladimir Schmelev. I hopped on the phone, made contact with an old friend in Moscow, and got him to spill the vodka-infused beans about the unknown Russian.

Day 5: Redemption Song – The Grinder Wins Player’s Championship – The Grinder achieved redemption, something very few poker players have a shot at. Along the way, he had to knock out his brother and survive a heads-up battle against the mysterious Russian, Vladimir Schmelev, who proved to be a worthy adversary.

Day 6: Welcome to the Sausage Factory and the Return of Triple Draw Fargis – I arrived at the Rio in the middle of a massive dealers’ shift change. That got me wondering and thinking that the WSOP reminded me of a factory — a sausage factory — to be precise. Meanwhile, a blast from the past, Chris ‘Triple Draw’ Fargis, re-emerged after stepping away from the pro circuit to take a real job on a trading desk down on Wall Street.

Day 7: The Marvelous British Invasion – After a conversation with one of the British scribes, Snoopy, I was convinced that he was warning me that the Brits were going to make a waves at the WSOP and gobble up as many bracelets as they can while the Scandis were sitting out the preliminary events. Little did we know, that Snoopy was being overly conservative about the potential British dominance during the opening weeks of the WSOP.

Day 8: Darth Hellmuth – The Dark Lord returned to the WSOP. He’s the villain that everyone loves to hate. Hellmuth went deep in a donkament which got everyone inside the Rio buzzing during his hot pursuit of bracelet #12.

Day 9: God Save the Queen Reprise and Seven for Men – Less than a week after his prediction that a British player will win a bracelet, Snoopy looked like the oracle when his fellow countrymen, Praz Pansi and James ‘Flushy’ Dempsey shipped events. Oh, and much to the dismay of Men the Master haters (or I should say, people who despise cheaters), the slow-rolling controversial figure won his 7th bracelet.

Day 10: Most Likely You Go Durrrr’s Way (And I’ll Go Mine) – Tom ‘durrrr’ Dan had the entire high stakes poker community by the collective balls when he went deep in one of the donkaments. They all had to squirm on one side of the Amazon Ballroom, sweating millions of dollars in potential lost prop bets, as durrrr took center stage and played heads-up for a bracelet. Looking back, Day 10 was one of the most exciting nights at the WSOP that I ever experienced.

Day 11: Durrrr Hangover, Hooker Quota, and Orange Tossing – The night after the durrrr saga left many at the Rio walking around in a daze. Not much to report aside from everyone experiencing a durrrr hangover. I managed to squeeze in a bit of commentary on the decline of working girl sightings at the Rio and a witty story from Flipchip about pros betting on orange tossing during the olden days of the WSOP at the Horseshoe.

Day 12: The Kassela Chainsaw Massacre – The 10K Stud World Championship included a stacked final table featuring six known pros and two Russians: Jen Harman, Steve Zolotow, John Juanda, Frank Kassela, Chainsaw Kessler, Dario Mineri, Vladimir Schmelev and Kirill Rabtsov. After several hours of brawling, it came down to a heads-up battle between Frank Kassela and Chainsaw Kessler. The event went late into the night and was not settled until 4:20am as Kassela emerged victorious. That win would thrust him into competition for the Player of the Year race.

Day 13: The Carter Phillips Show – Going into the final table of NL six-handed, everyone assumed that Carter Phillips was going to win the bracelet at one of the youngest final tables ever assembled at the WSOP. It was essentially a race for second place as Carter joined an elite group of players who won an EPT event and a WSOP bracelet.

Day 14: No Soup for Yellowsub – I had fun writing this post which included a brief history lesson about the origins of the Beatles album Yellow Submarine. Meanwhile, Jeff ‘yellowsub86′ Williams made a deep run in the 5K NL event but got sunk in third-place, despite the echos of his friends chanting the chorus to Yellow Submarine.

Day 15: Dude Looks Like a Lady and Get Baked – Every year, the Ladies Only tournament stirs up controversy. How come most people are silent 364 days a ear (and 365 on leap years), and then only bring up the issue on the eve of the event? At any rate, even though at the root, I’m against Ladies events, I sounded off on the reasons why I would never play in a Ladies Only event (simply put — out of respect). As long as it’s on the schedule, let them play I say.

Day 16: God Save the Queen… Thrice – The third Brit, Richard Ashby, collected a bracelet in a two week period and by that point, the mainstream poker press caught onto the British Invasion, even though thanks to Snoopy, we were chatting about this story before it even happened. Oh, and all of this happened on the same day that the US tied the English’s squad in World Cup play.

Day 17: Durrrr’s Grandma, Dutch Boyd 2.0, and the French Win…a Ladies’ Bracelet – A little fun with captions after I saw a hysterical photo of an old woman sitting at the same table as Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan. Oh, and just in case you missed it… new bracelet were awarded to the (still) controversial Dutch Boyd and a French woman who won the Ladies Event.

Day 18: Sammy Farha Wins a Bracelet, Flushy Leading the POY Race, and Orphaned Notes – The ever cool Sammy Farha took down a bracelet, meanwhile one of the British bracelet winners jumped out into the POY lead. I also shared a bunch of orphaned lines from my notebook. I figured that even though they didn’t fit in anywhere specific, they were too good to flush down the toilet.

Day 19: Shorthanded Eels, the Russian Surge, and the Year of the Yang – I hoped that I bet on the right side of the fix as the NBA finals were coming down to the wire, and everyone’s favorite degen sports bettor, Phil Ivey, took center stage as more media were interested in what he was betting on, than the cards he was playing. Alas, I embedded myself on the rail and noticed some unusual things such as the run that former world champion Jerry Yang was making.

Day 20: Femme Fatales, Hallway Punches, and the Bubbling Eel – Another dull day inside the ropes, but lots of action outside the ropes. I caught a pro bringing a hooker back to his room and someone sucker punched David Levi in the hallway. Meanwhile, a friend from Madrid, Spanish pro Javier ‘anguila’ Etayo, had bubbled off the final table of a 6-handed event.

Day 21: Pappa Johnny Road – The official end of the third week mark of the WSOP was not without any side drama not to mention — drunken girls roaming around the Amazon Ballroom and the Rio’s hallways. I also breakdown the game plan that different pros have when deciding what events to play in the WSOP.

Days 22-24: OFF

Day 25: Phil Ivey Beats Supercomputer for Bracelet Ocho – Phil Ivey is the real fucking deal after he beat a supercoputer heads-up for his 8th bracelet. Ivey also collected an unknown sum (worth millions I’m told) in prop bets. One thing is for sure, humans prevailed over the machines in this battle as Ivey proved that he is truly superhuman.

Ivey Ocho
Day 26: Dispatches from the Razz Event – Swollen Testicles, Ivey’s Hoodie, and Vigorous Confusion – Razz is never fun to watch, but one good story to come out of this event was the Phil Ivey hoodie story involving Mickey Doft.

Day 27: Kassela Wins Dos, Sinking Norwegian Queen, and Ivey’s Bracelet Ceremony – Frank Kassela distanced himself from the rest of the pack when he won his second bracelet inside of a month. And the pavilion was a buzz during Ivey’s bracelet ceremony, meanwhile, Annette Obrestad came up short in an attempt make a final table American WSOP debut.

Day 28: About My Very Tortured Friend, Phil Hellmuth – I couldn’t believe that I was going to write about Phil Hellmuth again, but I did trying to fully understand what it’s like to be the tortured soul.

Day 29: Redemption Songs, Part II: Gavin Smith and Dean Hamrick – Bracelets were won by two people seeking redemption. Las Vegas is a city where a lot of people are looking to exorcise past demons, but very few people get an actual shot at doing so.

Day 30: The Sun Wields Mercy; Gavin Smith Wins First Bracelet – Breakthrough day for Gavin Smith as he won his first bracelet.

Day 31: TOC Hoopla, Flashmob of Brazilians, and Erik Seidel Goes for Number Nine…. Number Nine… Number Nine… – It was TOC day at the Rio, and I sound off on all of the controversy surrounding the event from the voting to players trying to big-time the event thereby changing the schedule of the event. I also gave my suggestions for three different versions of the TOC.

Day 32: Le Boucherie, Ripple In Still Water, and TOC Day 2 – The donkanments have turned into something that would resemble a butcher shop, meanwhile, the TOC seems like it’s more of nuisance than a celebration as the middle of the fifth week of the WSOP becomes a dead zone.

Day 33: You Are What You Eat and Watch What You Tweet – Food and social media are among the topics of discussion. Ah, I also three everyone a bone and included an installment of Last 5 Pros I Pissed Next To…

I also made a cameo on the first episode of This Week in Poker, which also featured Jen Tilly.

The month ended on a high note with the publication of Lost Vegas.

* * * *
July 2010

I started the month in the South for Phish tour after I took off a couple of days to relax before the start of the Main Event. Luckily, I relied upon the Tao All-Stars to keep things afloat. Check out two of their stellar posts…

Frightfully British Invasion by Chris Hall
Everything All the Time: The WSOP’s Identity Crisis by Change100

Once I returned to Las Vegas, I was ready to tackle the arduous task of covering the Main Event. Here’s those daily recaps…

Day 39 – Main Event Day 1A: The Seekers – The Main Event is off and running and I pay homage to the courageous souls who said, “I don’t give a fuck!” and plopped down $10,000 in pursuit of a dream.

Day 40 – Main Event Day 1B: Great Expectations – Annette Obrestad’s first WSOP Main Event and all of the hoopla surrounding the 21-year old Norwegian wunderkind’s first appearance on US soil is the subject of my musings. I also wondered if she could ever live up to the hype and hysteria that we created for her in the media? It also made me question how much of an impact that we the media have in potentially setting up certain pros to fail?

Day 41 – Main Event Day 1C: The Odium of Hellmuthstein – Ah, the spectacle of the Phil Hellmuth Entrance. If you hate him you can skip this one. If you really hate him, you’ll end up reading it twice.

Day 42 – Main Event Day 1D: The Unluckiest Champion in the World – Robert Varkonyi took his seat in the Main Event, but without the pomp and circumstance of other former champions. I examine the story of the unluckiest champion in the world.

Day 43 – Day 2A: Moneymaker – The Shadow of a Dream – I love comparing Chris Moneymaker to Jay Gatsby. While Robert Varkonyi chases Moneymaker’s shadow, Moneymaker has to constantly chase his own shadow. Will he ever win a second bracelet or does it not even matter because after all, he’s Chris Moneymaker?

Day 44 – Day 2B: The Last of the Mohicans – I was wicked hungover after getting hustled in bowling the night before. I phoned it in for this piece. Don’t even bother reading it. My apologies.

Day 45: OFF – Media Day

Day 46 – Main Event Day 3: Johnny Fucking Chan, the Butcher Shop, and Here Come the Scandis – Johnny Fucking Chan made a run and I got to proudly write “fucking” instead of bleeping out his infamous nickname. The field continued to thin itself out on Day 3 while a couple of Scandi sleeper cells were activated and sprung into action.

Day 47 – Main Event Day 4: I Want to Take You Higher – Inspired by a Sly and the Family Stone song, I riff about the ghosts wandering around the Amazon Ballroom, brutal casualties of the killing fields.

Day 48 – Main Event Day 5: Fookin’ Bonkers, Scandi Ambush, and Disco Inferno – Tony Dunst began the day as the leader while most of the Amazon Ballroom began to empty out as the field was thinned to just 204. The Scandis continued their assault while a Dutch pro named Fokke Buekers became everyone’s darling. Meanwhile, California’s Breeze Zuckerman became the Last Woman Standing in the Main Event.

Day 49 – Main Event Day 6: Never Mind the Mizrachis, Here Come the Scandis – The Scandi sleeper cell was in full effect as everyone remaining in the Main Event was jockeying for a spot during the homestretch of the November Nine. Meanwhile, all four Mizrachi brothers cashed in the Main Event, but Robert and the Grinder could not replicate their 50K Players’ Championship feat with both of them advancing to the final table.

Day 50 – Main Event Day 7: Shine A Light – With 27 players remaining, the next superstar was sitting in front of me. I reflect on previous Main Events specifically on the first hand that I can recall watching from the rail that each former champion played leading up to the final table.

Day 51 – Main Event Day 8: Meet the November Nine – The Grinder advanced to the final table after a marathon November Nine bubble.

FYI, here’s the 2010 Main Event Semi-Live Blog Links: Day 1A – Day 1B – Day 1C – Day 1D – Day 2A – Day 2B – Day 3 - Day 4 – Day 5 – Day 6 – Day 7 – Day 8

I appeared on a couple of radio shows/podcasts plugging Lost Vegas including Gavin Smith’s final episode as the co-host of Poker Road Radio and a cameo on Jesse May’s podcast.

And in non-WSOP postings…

Uncle Ted gave a dramatic reading of Lost Vegas.

Psycho Killer: Ron Fanelli the Mad Yank is my reaction to the news that a former poker player murdered his girlfriend in Thailand.

The month ended with Recap: 50K Players’ Championship, a piece about the televised version of the 50K Player’s Championship that was won by the Grinder.

* * * *
August 2010

I took off most of the month off. But I managed to squeeze in a few tidbits including Cocaine Cowgirl: Paris Hilton Arrested in Las Vegas for Cocaine Possession and Overall Stupidity. The title says it all.

I posted Want a Job in Poker? Read Lost Vegas and Watch Almost Famous, a bit of sound advice that got lots of eyeballs.

I started watching episodes of the 2010 WSOP Main Event on ESPN. I didn’t bother writing about the plethora of episodes about Day 1, and instead I started with Day 2. Check out… Recap: 2010 Main Event Day 2A on ESPN – March of the Mizrachis and Dannypalooza.

Wolynski shared some of her favorite photos from the WSOP.

I ended the month with a conspiratorial rant titled The Lone Gunman. Here’s a toke:

“Poker is riddled with cheating even though all the powers to be do their best to keep the game clean. It’s in the industry’s best interest to run a fair game. Unfortunately, angle shooters are constantly concocting get rich quick schemes in an attempt to exploit flaws in the security apparatus. When in doubt, if you can’t circumvent the machines, you can always bribe a human to look the other way while you do your dirty deed. Those shitstains have no qualms about ripping off players and undermining the credibility of the online sites. They have a skewed sense of entitlement and pathological criminals who operate without any semblance of remorse (similar to the Worm character in Rounders).”

* * * *
September 2010

For the comforts of my own couch, I recapped episodes of the 2010 WSOP Main Event on ESPN. Here’s those…

Recap: 2010 WSOP Day 2B on ESPN – Happy Jacks, Action Dan, the Jenny Crank Diet, and Pancakes with the DonkeyBomber
Recap: 2010 WSOP Day 3 Main Event on ESPN – The Rudiments of Gruel
Recap: 2010 WSOP Day 4 Main Event on ESPN – Money Money Money
Recap: 2010 WSOP Day 5 Main Event – Wie Geht’s Detlef Schrempf and OMG Runs Good
Recap: 2010 WSOP Day 6 Main Event – Life Is Just to Die

Just when you thought that the nosebleed action was drying up, the second installment of the Durrrr Challenge kicked off with The Durrrr Challenge 2.0: Tom Dwan vs. Dan “jungleman12″ Cates.

I posted another installment of Tao of Five and interviewed Las Vegas cabbie Mr. Funk from the Las Vegas Cabbie Chronicles.

British scribe Chris Hall posted another Tao All-Stars guest post with Brit Watch: The New Golden Age.

Oh, and I made a second appearance on This Week in Poker and got to discuss Lost Vegas.

More philosophical musings with The Reykjavik Gambit.

I sounded off on the importance of WSOP bracelets in something titled Bracelets: Nouveau Riche Bling or Traditional Badges of Honor?

* * * *
October 2010

I continued to write recaps of the 2010 WSOP Main Event on ESPN with only one in the month. That was titled Recap: 2010 WSOP Day 6 Main Event (Continued) – The Surging Scandis and the Lone Mizrachi.

I made a cameo on the Hardcore Poker Show and got to plug Lost Vegas.

Michalski’s dog died and I posted a special tribute episode of Tao of Pokerati, the one when Michalski’s dog won’t stop sniffing my pocket.

I wrote Casino Magic, a story about my college days in the South including our introduction to riverboat gambling in Biloxi. Here’s a nugget:

“the Brazilian lived across the hall. He was like a suave micro-version of Ricardo Montalban, but maybe that’s a little too obscure of a reference, so the Brazilian was more like a younger version of that guy in the Dos Equis commercial, you know, the “most interesting man in the world.” The girls in Theta (the sorority with all the hot Southern girls) swooned over the Brazilian, and they loved everything about him, especially his his impeccable neatness because he compulsively wore a white Polo dress shirt, with sleeves rolled one quarter of the way up his forearm and perfectly tucked into a pair of khaki pants. On random afternoons, the Brazilian blasted the soundtrack to Phantom of the Opera and drank an exotic cocktail called a Mojito, which he made with limes and a special bowl and tool that he had brought back from his last trip to Rio de Janeiro. I’d walk down the hallway and peek into his room and he’d be mixing a cocktail in one hand, dragging a Dunhill in the other, as a dozen Thetas somehow squeezed onto his couch and uncontrollably giggling and groping one another. I was perplexed. We were in awe of the Brazilian’s ability to attract swarms of gyrating women. A decade later, the Brazilian came out of the closet which explained the fancy cocktails, show tunes, and the fact his room was Mecca for all the Southern fag hags at my school.”

Change100 and I embraced a self-indulgent project called Rounders Reprise when we get to share our half-baked commentary of Rounders. You have to view the videos in Rounders Reprise… Part 1: Mike McD loses his roll at Teddy KGB Game & Part 2: Joey Knish is a stoner and the Judges Game and Part 3: Mike McD Has a Shitty Girlfriend and Meet the Worm & Part 4: Worm and Mike McD = Old Partners.

The Hall of Fame committee welcomed Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel as the inductees into the 2010 Class of the Poker Hall of Fame.

And how about a Tao of Pokerati flashback? Let’s go back to 2008 and Budapest with special guest Benjo.

* * * *
November 2010

Election Day came and went and I posted the most apolitical politically-themed post titled Apolitical Poker Politics: Harry Reid Sucks Out on River, GOP Revolution, and Real World Celebrity Politics.

Timtern wrote up the 2010 November Nine Profiles as a guest post for the Tao All-Stars.

I headed back to Las Vegas for the November Nine. I covered the event in a semi-live blog as the final table went from 9 to 2, and I also covered the heads-up match in a semi-live blog. If you don’t know by now, Jonathan Duhamel won the Main Event.

Before I left Vegas, I squeezed in a degen session of Pai Gow, which meant I posted another installment of The Pai Gow Diaries titled The Cult of the Dragon. Here’s a bit:

“The Pai Gow tables are not brushed as often as it should, and a thin layer of ash covers some of the farthest corners of the torn and frayed felt, as black bits of expired cigarette papers mix in with shades of grey and white that form miniature mountains of soot. Remnants from previous gamblers are warning signs to those who want to be warned, because the last person who sat in your space attempted to chain smoke their way out of their losing streaks, and in the end all they had to show for it were a couple of watered down cocktails, an empty pack of Reds, and a series of bad beats from a porcelain doll-like dealer from Vietnam named Hong.”

I covered the NAPT Los Angeles in my adopted hometown. The final table of the Main Event was moved from the Bike to the Crystal Casino in Compton. Here’s the Dispatches from the NAPT Los Angeles…

Moneymaker Survives the Cut, Meat on a Stick, and the Ice Cream Man Cometh
Meatsticks and Spoons
When I Called Off, I Got a Sawed Off
Joe Tehan Wins NAPT LA Main Event
Eric “Basebaldy” Baldwin Wins NAPT Shootout in Compton

On Turkey Day, Dr. Chako won Turkey Cup.

The month ended on a high note with a couple of my favorite pieces of the year such as Bingo Halls: Dots Across America. Here’s a sample:

“Four Loko is a dangerous energy drink, sort of like the PCP of Malt Liquor, and it will put hair on your chest — that is, if you can actually wake up the next day after blacking out, but not before you chugged three Four Lokos, took a dump in the back of a taxi cab, then punched three holes in your bathroom door by head-butting it.”

I offered up another installment of the Pai Gow Diaries with Lucky Cards. Here’s a bit:

“This bot was non-Asian, which through me off for a few minutes because she looked like someone I knew. That’s when I figured it out — my dealer was the 40-year old version of Kelly Osbourne. She was relentless. She was brutal. She was an incorrigible and continuously beat down any of my stellar hands. I got caught in that horrible bad trip where she constantly beat me out by the slimmest of margins. If I had a straight and a pair of sevens, well she had a bigger straight and a pair of eights. If she showed J-10 up top, I was behind with J-9. I couldn’t win anything. Even when I tossed in a desperate chip to the Insurance circle, I came out a loser.”

And the last thing I posted in November was something called Anatomy Is Destiny. Yeah, the title is an obscure reference, but it was definitely a standout because I got to piss off a bully.

* * * *
December 2010

I let you have a glimpse into the frantic mind of a sportsbettor in The Portland Sweat.

Tao of Poker got the perennial nod from Bluff Magazine for Best Poker Blog. If you like what you have read here, then please vote for Tao of Poker!

I returned with yet another installment of the Pai Gow Diaries titled The Whale, the Goldfish, and the Toothless Old Man.

I headed to Vegas with my brother for the annual WPBT bloggers gathering. I penned a two part trip report with a “Moving on Up” theme… The Dream, Moving the Line, and Stay Away from My Sister and Coolers, Proposals, and Buy the Fucking Dip.

And I couldn’t end the year without tales of degen gambling on sports and Armageddon.

* * * * *
If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s Part 1 of the 2010 Year in Review.

And if you like what you read, I encourage you to vote Tao of Poker for Best Poker Blog in Bluff’s Readers Choice Awards. Thanks for your support.

Tags: 2010 WSOP | british | Chainsaw | ept | food | harry reid | las vegas | night | Pai Gow | paris-hilton | pokerstars | tao of five | villain | writing

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

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

Photo courtesy of Benjo
After another insane summer in Las Vegas, I’m on the cusp of heading on a much needed vacation. I’ll be taking a couple more days off in order to detox, recharge, and refocus. In the meantime, use this specific post as a launching pad for reviewing the Tao of Poker’s coverage of the 2010 WSOP as it progressed.

Enjoy…

Day 1: The Cold Open – Opening lines to several great novels inspired the opening post of the 2010 WSOP, but none more fitting than Charles Dickens. The 50K Players’ Championship also kicked off the WSOP, while many scribes and photographers were on alert just in case the federales were going to drag away a couple of the poker pro owners of Full Tilt Poker.

Day 2: Not So Easy Rider – The official WSOP live updates page crashed more times to count due to a crush of traffic. It turned out that a hamster and a drunk Lithuanian was to blame. Editor’s Note: This particular piece got me into a little bit of hot water with the humorless powers to be.

Day 3: Scandi Mafia and Donkulus’ Comet – The first potential headache of the WSOP arrived with the field in the $1,000 Donkulus event got decimated at a much faster pace than expected. Could the elusive donk get extinct at the 2010 WSOP? Meanwhile, as the 50K Players’ Championship progressed, the Scandi Mafia arrived on the rail to keep a keen eye on the outcome.

Day 4: Band of Brothers and Here Comes the Russians Reprise – The Brothers Mizrachi made waves when two of them (The Grinder and Robert) advanced to the final table of the 50K Players’ Championship. Also advancing to the final 8 was a mysterious wealthy Russian businessman named Vladimir Schmelev. I hopped on the phone, made contact with an old friend in Moscow, and got him to spill the vodka-infused beans about the unknown Russian.

Day 5: Redemption Song – The Grinder Wins Player’s Championship – The Grinder achieved redemption, something very few poker players have a shot at. Along the way, he had to knock out his brother and survive a heads-up battle against the mysterious Russian, Vladimir Schmelev, who proved to be a worthy adversary.

Day 6: Welcome to the Sausage Factory and the Return of Triple Draw Fargis – I arrived at the Rio in the middle of a massive dealers’ shift change. That got me wondering and thinking that the WSOP reminded me of a factory — a sausage factory — to be precise. Meanwhile, a blast from the past, Chris ‘Triple Draw’ Fargis, re-emerged after stepping away from the pro circuit to take a real job on a trading desk down on Wall Street.

Day 7: The Marvelous British Invasion – After a conversation with one of the British scribes, Snoopy, I was convinced that he was warning me that the Brits were going to make a waves at the WSOP and gobble up as many bracelets as they can while the Scandis were sitting out the preliminary events. Little did we know, that Snoopy was being overly conservative about the potential British dominance during the opening weeks of the WSOP.

Day 8: Darth Hellmuth – The Dark Lord returned to the WSOP. He’s the villain that everyone loves to hate. Hellmuth went deep in a donkament which got everyone inside the Rio buzzing during his hot pursuit of bracelet #12.

Day 9: God Save the Queen Reprise and Seven for Men – Less than a week after his prediction that a British player will win a bracelet, Snoopy looked like the oracle when his fellow countrymen, Praz Pansi and James ‘Flushy’ Dempsey shipped events. Oh, and much to the dismay of Men the Master haters (or I should say, people who despise cheaters), the slow-rolling controversial figure won his 7th bracelet.

Day 10: Most Likely You Go Durrrr’s Way (And I’ll Go Mine) – Tom ‘durrrr’ Dan had the entire high stakes poker community by the collective balls when he went deep in one of the donkaments. They all had to squirm on one side of the Amazon Ballroom, sweating millions of dollars in potential lost prop bets, as durrrr took center stage and played heads-up for a bracelet. Looking back, Day 10 was one of the most exciting nights at the WSOP that I ever experienced.

Day 11: Durrrr Hangover, Hooker Quota, and Orange Tossing – The night after the durrrr saga left many at the Rio walking around in a daze. Not much to report aside from everyone experiencing a durrrr hangover. I managed to squeeze in a bit of commentary on the decline of working girl sightings at the Rio and a witty story from Flipchip about pros betting on orange tossing during the olden days of the WSOP at the Horseshoe.

Day 12: The Kassela Chainsaw Massacre – The 10K Stud World Championship included a stacked final table featuring six known pros and two Russians: Jen Harman, Steve Zolotow, John Juanda, Frank Kassela, Chainsaw Kessler, Dario Mineri, Vladimir Schmelev and Kirill Rabtsov. After several hours of brawling, it came down to a heads-up battle between Frank Kassela and Chainsaw Kessler. The event went late into the night and was not settled until 4:20am as Kassela emerged victorious. That win would thrust him into competition for the Player of the Year race.

Day 13: The Carter Phillips Show – Going into the final table of NL six-handed, everyone assumed that Carter Phillips was going to win the bracelet at one of the youngest final tables ever assembled at the WSOP. It was essentially a race for second place as Carter joined an elite group of players who won an EPT event and a WSOP bracelet.

Day 14: No Soup for Yellowsub – I had fun writing this post which included a brief history lesson about the origins of the Beatles album Yellow Submarine. Meanwhile, Jeff ‘yellowsub86′ Williams made a deep run in the 5K NL event but got sunk in third-place, despite the echos of his friends chanting the chorus to Yellow Submarine.

Day 15: Dude Looks Like a Lady and Get Baked – Every year, the Ladies Only tournament stirs up controversy. How come most people are silent 364 days a ear (and 365 on leap years), and then only bring up the issue on the eve of the event? At any rate, even though at the root, I’m against Ladies events, I sounded off on the reasons why I would never play in a Ladies Only event (simply put — out of respect). As long as it’s on the schedule, let them play I say.

Day 16: God Save the Queen… Thrice – The third Brit, Richard Ashby, collected a bracelet in a two week period and by that point, the mainstream poker press caught onto the British Invasion, even though thanks to Snoopy, we were chatting about this story before it even happened. Oh, and all of this happened on the same day that the US tied the English’s squad in World Cup play.

Day 17: Durrrr’s Grandma, Dutch Boyd 2.0, and the French Win…a Ladies’ Bracelet – A little fun with captions after I saw a hysterical photo of an old woman sitting at the same table as Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan. Oh, and just in case you missed it… new bracelet were awarded to the (still) controversial Dutch Boyd and a French woman who won the Ladies Event.

Day 18: Sammy Farha Wins a Bracelet, Flushy Leading the POY Race, and Orphaned Notes – The ever cool Sammy Farha took down a bracelet, meanwhile one of the British bracelet winners jumped out into the POY lead. I also shared a bunch of orphaned lines from my notebook. I figured that even though they didn’t fit in anywhere specific, they were too good to flush down the toilet.

Day 19: Shorthanded Eels, the Russian Surge, and the Year of the Yang – I hoped that I bet on the right side of the fix as the NBA finals were coming down to the wire, and everyone’s favorite degen sports bettor, Phil Ivey, took center stage as more media were interested in what he was betting on, than the cards he was playing. Alas, I embedded myself on the rail and noticed some unusual things such as the run that former world champion Jerry Yang was making.

Day 20: Femme Fatales, Hallway Punches, and the Bubbling Eel – Another dull day inside the ropes, but lots of action outside the ropes. I caught a pro bringing a hooker back to his room and someone sucker punched David Levi in the hallway. Meanwhile, a friend from Madrid, Spanish pro Javier ‘anguila’ Etayo, had bubbled off the final table of a 6-handed event.

Day 21: Pappa Johnny Road – The official end of the third week mark of the WSOP was not without any side drama not to mention — drunken girls roaming around the Amazon Ballroom and the Rio’s hallways. I also breakdown the game plan that different pros have when deciding what events to play in the WSOP.

Days 22-24: OFF

Day 25: Phil Ivey Beats Supercomputer for Bracelet Ocho – Phil Ivey is the real fucking deal after he beat a supercoputer heads-up for his 8th bracelet. Ivey also collected an unknown sum (worth millions I’m told) in prop bets. One thing is for sure, humans prevailed over the machines in this battle as Ivey proved that he is truly superhuman.

Day 26: Dispatches from the Razz Event – Swollen Testicles, Ivey’s Hoodie, and Vigorous Confusion – Razz is never fun to watch, but one good story to come out of this event was the Phil Ivey hoodie story involving Mickey Doft.

Day 27: Kassela Wins Dos, Sinking Norwegian Queen, and Ivey’s Bracelet Ceremony – Frank Kassela distanced himself from the rest of the pack when he won his second bracelet inside of a month. And the pavilion was a buzz during Ivey’s bracelet ceremony, meanwhile, Annette Obrestad came up short in an attempt make a final table American WSOP debut.

Day 28: About My Very Tortured Friend, Phil Hellmuth – I couldn’t believe that I was going to write about Phil Hellmuth again, but I did trying to fully understand what it’s like to be the tortured soul.

Day 29: Redemption Songs, Part II: Gavin Smith and Dean Hamrick – Bracelets were won by two people seeking redemption. Las Vegas is a city where a lot of people are looking to exorcise past demons, but very few people get an actual shot at doing so.

Day 30: The Sun Wields Mercy; Gavin Smith Wins First Bracelet – Breakthrough day for Gavin Smith as he won his first bracelet.

Day 31: TOC Hoopla, Flashmob of Brazilians, and Erik Seidel Goes for Number Nine…. Number Nine… Number Nine… – It was TOC day at the Rio, and I sound off on all of the controversy surrounding the event from the voting to players trying to big-time the event thereby changing the schedule of the event. I also gave my suggestions for three different versions of the TOC.

Day 32: Le Boucherie, Ripple In Still Water, and TOC Day 2 – The donkanments have turned into something that would resemble a butcher shop, meanwhile, the TOC seems like it’s more of nuisance than a celebration as the middle of the fifth week of the WSOP becomes a dead zone.

Day 33: You Are What You Eat and Watch What You Tweet – Food and social media are among the topics of discussion. Ah, I also three everyone a bone and included an installment of Last 5 Pros I Pissed Next To…

Day 34-38: OFF

Day 39 – Main Event Day 1A: The Seekers – The Main Event is off and running and I pay homage to the courageous souls who said, “I don’t give a fuck!” and plopped down $10,000 in pursuit of a dream.

Day 40 – Main Event Day 1B: Great Expectations – Annette Obrestad’s first WSOP Main Event and all of the hoopla surrounding the 21-year old Norwegian wunderkind’s first appearance on US soil is the subject of my musings. I also wondered if she could ever live up to the hype and hysteria that we created for her in the media? It also made me question how much of an impact that we the media have in potentially setting up certain pros to fail?

Day 41 – Main Event Day 1C: The Odium of Hellmuthstein – Ah, the spectacle of the Phil Hellmuth Entrance. If you hate him you can skip this one. If you really hate him, you’ll end up reading it twice.

Day 42 – Main Event Day 1D: The Unluckiest Champion in the World – Robert Varkonyi took his seat in the Main Event, but without the pomp and circumstance of other former champions. I examine the story of the unluckiest champion in the world.

Day 43 – Day 2A: Moneymaker – The Shadow of a Dream – I love comparing Chris Moneymaker to Jay Gatsby. While Robert Varkonyi chases Moneymaker’s shadow, Moneymaker has to constantly chase his own shadow. Will he ever win a second bracelet or does it not even matter because after all, he’s Chris Moneymaker?

Day 44 – Day 2B: The Last of the Mohicans – I was wicked hungover after getting hustled in bowling the night before. I phoned it in for this piece. Don’t even bother reading it. My apologies.

Day 45: OFF – Media Day

Day 46 – Main Event Day 3: Johnny Fucking Chan, the Butcher Shop, and Here Come the Scandis – Johnny Fucking Chan made a run and I got to proudly write “fucking” instead of bleeping out his infamous nickname. The field continued to thin itself out on Day 3 while a couple of Scandi sleeper cells were activated and sprung into action.

Day 47 – Main Event Day 4: I Want to Take You Higher – Inspired by a Sly and the Family Stone song, I riff about the ghosts wandering around the Amazon Ballroom, brutal casualties of the killing fields.

Day 48 – Main Event Day 5: Fookin’ Bonkers, Scandi Ambush, and Disco Inferno – Tony Dunst began the day as the leader while most of the Amazon Ballroom began to empty out as the field was thinned to just 204. The Scandis continued their assault while a Dutch pro named Fokke Buekers became everyone’s darling. Meanwhile, California’s Breeze Zuckerman became the Last Woman Standing in the Main Event.

Day 49 – Main Event Day 6: Never Mind the Mizrachis, Here Come the Scandis – The Scandi sleeper cell was in full effect as everyone remaining in the Main Event was jockeying for a spot during the homestretch of the November Nine. Meanwhile, all four Mizrachi brothers cashed in the Main Event, but Robert and the Grinder could not replicate their 50K Players’ Championship feat with both of them advancing to the final table.

Day 50 – Main Event Day 7: Shine A Light – With 27 players remaining, the next superstar was sitting in front of me. I reflect on previous Main Events specifically on the first hand that I can recall watching from the rail that each former champion played leading up to the final table.

Day 51 – Main Event Day 8: Meet the November Nine – The Grinder advanced to the final table after a marathon November Nine bubble.

* * * * *
FYI… 2010 Main Event Semi-Live Blog Links: Day 1A – Day 1B – Day 1C – Day 1D – Day 2A – Day 2B – Day 3 - Day 4 – Day 5 – Day 6 – Day 7 – Day 8

That’s it for now. Thanks for following along this summer. See ya in November.

Also, if you liked what you read, then I encourage you to purchase a copy of my book, Lost Vegas: The Redneck Riviera, Existentialist Conversations with Strippers, and the World Series of Poker.

Tags: 2010 WSOP | amazon | november-nine | oracle | pokerstars | russian | topics | Vegas | villain | World Series of Poker | world-series

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Varkonyi will always be lost in the shadow of Moneymaker
I have always felt a tinge of sorrow for Robert Varkonyi. He totally missed the boat and won the last Main Event in 2002 before the poker boom. Even after he had won, his moment of glory was upstaged by Phil Hellmuth’s bold wager to shave his head if Varkonyi won (after Varoknyi sent him packing on a sick beat — Q-10 vs. A-K). I guess that incident set the tone for his championship.

Do you recall the 2003 WSOP broadcasts from The Horseshoe? Varkonyi had a “coach” with him and he still couldn’t make it to Day 2. One of the saddest moments in WSOP broadcast history was watching Varkonyi do the walk of shame out of the Horseshoe and onto sullen Fremont Street with his motley crew of an entourage (mostly math geeks and one guy who looked like he slept in the bus station next to the Plaza).

In subsequent years, the poker media and forum denizens has taken a few shots at Varkonyi, mostly unwarranted. During my first WSOP, one of the ESPN camera guys was busting on Varkonyi because he was bringing Starbucks to a friend of his at the featured TV table. At that point, I soon understood the tumultuous poker world — one day you’re the champ, and the next, you’re fetching coffee for a friend at the TV table.

Yeah, the times are a changin’.

Varoknyi seems like a nice guy, a bit abrasive at times, which is to be expected for the unluckiest champion in the world. Compared to most of the douchenozzles who we fluff up on a daily basis, Varkonyi is a nice guy, which is why I even feel more empathy for his situation.

I always likened his tragic story to this — imagine you’re Robert Varkonyi and you get invited to a party. It’s pretty cool and you catch a decent buzz but decide to leave early because you want to go home and catch Saturday Night Live. But as soon as you go home, the party picks up a notch, shit several notches: your buddy from college shows up with a kilo of uncut Peruvian snowflake, three kegs of Fat Tire, and the entire Swedish Bikini Team. An orgy of epic proportions ensues, they film it all, and everyone gets famous and rich while you’re bummed out that SNL ended up being a repeat.

To complicate matters for Varkonyi, his wife Olga is a pretty decent player herself. I’ve seen her go deep in WSOP events before along with a few events at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City. Nothing is more emasculating then getting pissed on for having a spouse who is better at poker than you — especially when you have a banner hanging up in the corner of the Amazon Ballroom.

Speaking of which — here’s another sad Varkonyi story from a couple of years ago. He was trying to enter the Amazon Ballroom (at a time when spectators were banned from the room due to space constrictions) when an overzelaous security guard refused him entry. Varkonyi didn’t argue with him and humbly waited. When someone passed by (I can’t recall who — a player, media member, or staff) and noticed Varkonyi waiting to enter, the person tapped the security guard on the shoulder and told him to take a peek inside and look up — which he did and he saw Varkonyi’s banner starring back at him. The guard apologized and let Varkonyi inside.

These days, Varkonyi gets stopped in the hallways of the Rio in a case of mistaken identity. They think he’s Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler. They run up to him and make annoying chainsw-simulation sounds.

Like I said, he’s the unluckiest champion in the world.

And let’s add more salt to his already gaping wound — it took over 2 hours for me to realize that he was sitting right in front of me at one of the tertiary feature tables. Varkonyi is easy to miss because he blended in very well. He wore a very plain looking outfit (sneakers, jeans, white polo shirt, and a NY Yankees hat) which is why it was easy to overlook him. At the same time, he didn’t arrange an elaborate entrance.

Varkonyi was logoless. A few years back he had a small endorsement with a secondary online site, but after the UIEGA that deal fizzled out. These days, Varkonyi is just playing for himself. He’s a man without an endorsement contract mainly because he’s ignored by most of the media.ESPN sent out a crew to shoot a few seconds of b-roll, but aside from that brief instance, they ignored Varkonyi and focused on different players on Day 1D.

Varkonyi’s wife bust out early and she wandered over to the rail to support her husband. She didn’t move the rest of the night as Varkonyi finished up Day 1D with 41,025 in chips. The only other time that Varkonyi cashed in the Main Event was a semi-deep run in 2007 when he finished in 177th place. Last summer, he lost to Tom McEvoy heads-up in the WSOP Champions Invitational and missed out on the red Corvette.

This has been the summer of redemption for some players such as Dean Hamrick and The Grinder. Perhaps we can add Robert Varkonyi to that list? I know that I’m getting a little too ahead of myself here, after all we’re still half-way through level 5 of a tournament that will run for another week. However, I gotta say that on Day 2B, I’ll be pulling for the unluckiest underdog in poker — Robert Varkonyi.

Photo credit: Mean Gene

Tags: 2010 main event | amazon | Chainsaw | ept | horseshoe | media | night | party | pokerstars | security | starbucks | time | Tom McEvoy | unluckiest | varkonyi

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Supposedly, Phil Ivey was going to “big time” the TOC and blow it off to play real poker instead. With millions in prop bets on the line, you can’t blame Ivey for wanting to focus on bracelet events instead of a glorified made-for-TV freeroll. Ivey’s potential snub of the TOC, despite being the top vote getter, worried officials. Would more pros would skip out if Ivey bailed?

In the parlance of Sportscenter speak, “This is Phil Ivey’s universe… we’re just paying rent.”

The TOC was rescheduled at the last minute — instead of one day of action playing from 27 to 9, the TOC split into two four-level segments (starting at noon on Sunday and continuing at noon on Monday). The final table is scheduled for July 4th (day before the Main Event). Whoever is left at the end of Day 2 will return next week.

The last minute schedule change was more accommodating for the TOC players (especially Ivey) so everyone could play in bracelet events. In fact, some of the Day 2 and 3 restarts were pushed back as well. As a result, everyone who was invited had played without any issues.

The concept of the current TOC rubs me the wrong way because two players in the field (sponsor exemptions Andrew Barton and Elky) are not bracelet winners. If you want to run this event, just don’t call it Tournament of Champions because it is misleading, or as Benjo would say… it’s booshit. I have no beef if the sponsor exemption goes to a bracelet winner who didn’t get voted in, because at least, they met the “champions” criteria.

Here’s my suggestion about three similar events that satisfies everyone’s needs…

1. The Real TOC. Have a yearly tournament with only Main Event champs, 50K winners, and WSOP-Europe Main Event winners. The winner gets a motorized scooter and the chance to pick the format of the tournament the next year (HORSE, NL, PLO/8, Razz, etc.).

2. Bracelet Invitational. Hold a special event during the November Nine festivities for every player who had won a bracelet over summer, including the WSOP-E. This is similar to the PGA’s Player’s Championship (where you must win an event on the PGA to qualify to the season ending event). The winner of the Bracelet Invitational gets a year’s supply of beef jerky and a $1 million cash bonus.

3. All-Star Game. Four table SNG. Let the fans pick any player they want for this “TOP 40″ made-for-TV event. Everyone is happy. The fans feel special because they were a part of the selection process. The players are happy because they have a shot a face time on TV without having to wade through a week of donkey dung. And the TV people are happy because they have a product with lots of familiar faces that will attract viewers and advertisers other than online poker rooms.

These three different events meets the needs of three separate entities: the TOC pays homage to the champions of yesteryear, the Bracelet Invitational honors the current bracelet winners, and the All-Star Game lets the public watch their favorite pros.

* * * * *
I arrived at the Rio before noon, which is something I had not been doing much of this year, opting to come in a little later and staying later. It was sort of strange walking into the Amazon Ballroom and seeing Doyle sitting on his scooter and chatting with Mile Sexton. The topic: sports betting, which was kinda cool to hear what they were bragging about, and what bad beats they recently endured. Dan Harrington joined the circle and I headed to my seat in the press box. I could hear the voluminous musings of Mike Matusow from the other side of the room. He was trying to get odds that a twenty-something would win the event (Cada, Eastgate, or Elky).

The fans were eventually let into the amusement park and they wandered around like little kids in Disney World taking photos with Goofy and Pluto. Most of the TOC players were mingling around the TV stage trying to figure out their seating assignments. The three table tournament would be scattered across the Amazon ballroom in three of the four corners of the room instead of in the same spot. The featured table was used, but not the secondary beef jerky final table. Instead, the tertiary tables in front of the dual press boxes on opposite sides of the room were the locations of the other two tables.

“Have you covered a tournament when all tables involved were this far apart?” wondered my British colleague Howard.

“And have you ever seen pros this bored with a million on the line?” asked Snoopy. “They’re rather quiet, not saying much, paying more attention to their iPhones and scratching their balls.”

The spectators quickly grabbed seats inside the stadium final table area. The early birds also camped out near available spots on the various rails of the other two tables. They all had cameras. Some had two. Different shapes and sizes from disposables to iPhones. One foreign guy toted around a video camera and was shooting footage of Jesus healing two lepers in the hallway, before one of the security guards busted him.

The TOC brought out the best and the worst of the Amazon Ballroom with hungover media reps rushing into work an hour earlier (I consider myself an insider and I found out about the change in schedule less than 18 hours before start time). Agents were slithering around the press box. Lots of flashes going off from the clueless spectators. And everyone was wondering where the fuck was Phil Hellmuth?

Actually, when cards went in the air, only Hellmuth, Huck Seed, and Howard Lederer were not at their respective tables. Hellmuth is… well, Hellmuth, and he was not going to show up on time. It’s his shtick — he arrives late with the cameras awaiting his tardy arrival. At this instance, Hellmuth arrived late and headed right to the TV table. He was shocked that he wasn’t at that table. An embarrassed Hellmuth quickly exited the set and rushed over to the other side of the room with a Starbucks in hand.

Huck Seed marches to his own beat. Who knows if he overslept, or didn’t get word about the change in the start time (originally it was 1pm and he arrived at 12:43pm). When Huck took his seat, Ivey instantly gave him shit.

The Lederer’s absence whipped a few people in a frenzy, even Michalski who showed up at the Rio early because he has this theory (more like a forced wish) that the DOJ is going to pop Lederer and Jesus during the WSOP and make them do a perp walk. Michalski wants to be here when that happens. Most media reps will drop anything to see a specific pro try to win a bracelet, but Michalski just wants pics of pros in handcuffs.

Alas, the DOJ didn’t bust Lederer (or Jesus) during the $50,000 Players’ Championship, and they certainly didn’t do anything at the TOC. Lederer finally arrived and quietly took his seat at the featured TV table which included his sister, Annie Duke, and her nemesis Daniel Negreanu. Those two have never liked one another. One of the first ever threads I read on the old RGP boards was a spat involving Negreanu and Duke, where he accused her of having smelly feet. That was right after 9/11 when I was grinding it out at the underground card rooms in NYC and I had yet to start blogging on Tao of Poker. Almost a decade later, the two still have some bad blood, so much so that the denizens of 2+2 started their own sweat thread titled Negreanu sitting next to Annie Duke in TOC.

Duke pretty much ignored Negreanu, and chose to chill out with a shitfaced Scotty Ngyuen — the lesser of two evils in her eyes. And yes, Scotty was three sheets to the wind. One of my sources informed me that Nguyen has been tipping cocktail servers to bring him bottles of O’Douls (non-alcoholic beer) but with all of the non-beer pour out and replaced by Nguyen’s beverage of choice — Michelob. Yep, this is the same Scotty Nguyen who made a mockery of the 50K HORSE the year that he won it, and then vowed to never drink on TV to avoid embarrassing his family further. I dunno who he was fooling, aside from himself.

While Scotty was getting sloppy (at 1pm mind you — and not at the tail end of a twelve hour session), Andrew Barton sat at the table in front of my press box. He was the “sponsored exemption” and one of the only two non-bracelet winners in the TOC (Elky was the other). He went from watching his tablemates on TV, to sitting across from them. I guess he was living the dream that so many of you have — playing against the best of the best with Johnny “Fucking” Chan to your left and an intimidating Jesus sitting across from you.

Due to the Donkulus running inside the Pavilion, the 1pm Deep Stack tournament was moved to the blue section of Amazon Ballroom. For the first time this summer, we had a slew of amateurs inside Amazon. Any of the real donkeys would have been playing in the Donkulus, which means the blue section was filled with what Benjo called “donks in training.” Baby donks, or the area of the cafeteria in high school where all of the freshmen hung out. Thought it was an interesting contrast to the TOC running in the other three corners of the room. Fans were four and five deep on the rail for Ivey’s table. The Stadium seating at the TV table was filled up along with standing room only up in the beef jerky lounge.

Five players busted out on Day 1, or rather, in the first four levels. POY leader John Juanda, was the first to bust out, and he was followed by Greg Raymer, Barry Shulman, Phil Ivey, and Sammy Farha. Ha, the joke was on the WSOP. Even after the schedule was changed to accommodate Ivey, he was among the first bustouts (in all fairness, it was a bad beat).

* * * * *
Bouncin’ Round the Room on Day 31…

It was a hectic weekend day with two final tables, the TOC, and a Donkulus. Both events with scheduled final tables still had to play down. The re-start for Day 2 of the Mixed Game and Day 3 of PLO/8 were both delayed due to the TOC.

Event #45 Donkament Day 3 and Final Table: Alex Outhred survived two days in the killing fields, but he was among the first causalities on Day 3. Cash game specialist Thomas Bichon (one of the French Team PokerStars Pros with Arnaud Mattern) fell short of the final table in 11th place. Ray Coburn was the only player among the final nine that stood out. I recall that he cashed in a couple of EPT events many moons ago.

A Brazilian advanced to the final table, Thaigo “TheDecano” Nishijimajust, and I love how that name sounds — very Shakespearean — heroic, yet tragic. Whenever a Brazilian has a shot at a bracelet, Maridu blows a vuvuzela and every Brazilian within in a 420 miles radius rushes to the Amazon Ballroom as the rail becomes washed in a sea of yellow and green. I dig the Brazilians; they always bring their own booze and have ass-shaking samba ringtones on their mobile phones.

Alas, TheDecano busted in third place and the flash mob of Brazilians quickly dispersed. Ray Cobourn had to settle for second, while Jesse Rockowitz took down the bracelet.

Event #46 PLO/8 Day 3 and Final Table: 18. 23. 14. 13. 2. 17. 39. Nope, that’s not Hurley’s numbers from Lost, nor last night’s Powerball numbers. Those are Chainsaw Kessler’s seven cashes this summer. He was once in fierce contention for the POY race, but he needs a bracelet victory and then some to catch up to John Juanda and Frank Kassela. At the least, he went deep enough to get another food comp.

The final table was a motley crew: Erik Seidel (consummate pro), Leif Force (a former-pro disc golfer which is a clever term for ‘hippie’), Chris Bell (one of Gavin Smith’s former drinking buddies), Perry Green (1981 Main Event runner-up who lost heads-up to Stu Ungar), Dan Shak (hedge fund manager and Beth Shak’s ex-husband who’s fat alimony checks are paying for her voracious appetite for designer shoes and purses), Rob Hollink (Dutch pro who was the reason why Brandon Schaefer didn’t win two EPT events in 2005), and how could we forget about Devilfish Ulliot (dirt dick).

I have probably written thousands of words about Devilfish’s penchant for young women (who are barely legal and we’re talking within days of that danger zone), but at this point it’s become one of those “cliches” that beat poker writers make fun of during breaks at our anger management meetings. The ultimate cliche is a hack writer writing about the Devilfish cliche, which I’m doing… and I’ll stop that right now.

Seidel had a pretty decent afternoon as the end of Day 1 chipleader in the TOC. His good juju spilled over into the PLO/8 event. Even though he was one of the shorties, Seidel grinded his way to an average stack at the final table. Seidel is a member of the Ocho Club with Phil Ivey. They are doing what they can to keep Men the Master out (not that they are discriminating, they just don’t respect cheaters), so they are trying to win nine bracelets as fast as they can. Only four men have won more bracelets than Seidel — Phil Hellmuth (11), Doyle Brunson (10), Johnny Chan (10), and Johnny Moss (10).

With six to go, Seidel was third in chips. Leif Force busted out in 5th, and Siedel ad slipped to fourth in chips. He could not get anything going at that point and fizzled out in 5th place. Devilfih was eliminated in surprising third place (another deep run for the Brits), meanwhile a heads up match was set between Chris Bell and Dan Shak. When the dust settled, it was the North Carolina boy, Chris Bell, who emerged with the bracelet. I wonder if Erick Lindgren still backs Chris Bell, because if he does, Lindgren just had a fantastic weekend with both of his horses winning bracelets with victories from Bell and Gavin Smith.

Photos courtesy of Harper & Benjo.

Tags: bracelet | british | mobile | nyc | pokerstars | security | summer | TOC | Vegas

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

I didn’t see who was driving the silver Mercedes, but Gavin Smith sat in the passenger seat. At least, I thought it was him. Not too many people are sporting the classy fedora look in these Jersey Shore-fashion-influenced masses these days at the Rio. By process of elimination, it had to be Smith.

Gavin Smith was heading to the final table of a Mixed hold’em event and “dapper” is a word to prefectly describe his new look. He wore a “smart” jacket, dress shirt, spectacles, and an old school hat — which replaced his former ratty backwards Full Tilt cap. Smith would begin the final table second in chips (only tailing by the slimmest of margins) and the amateur bookies in the press box were labeling Smith the odds-on-favorite to win his first bracelet before cards even went in the air.

ESPN3 was taping the event and for the first time in a few weeks, the final table stadium had a slicker feel and a more serious tone with all of the camera equipment and production staff running around. In that regard, Smith held an even bigger edge over his opponents. He’s not camera shy in the least and has spent his fair share of time underneath the bright lights of a televised table.

The final table stadium area was moderately filled with spectators at the onset of play. The majority of Smith’s friends were playing in other events at the Rio, but Chris Bell (who was also playing in the PLO/8 event) and Layne Flack stopped by to sweat from time to time. Flack was in usual rare form — rowdy, obnoxious, hysterical, and most likely crocked to the tits. Andy Black and Miami John (also playing in PLO/8) made token cameos during breaks, and Black still looks like he’s been living at a halfway house the last four weeks.

Even Pokerati’s own Toothless Bob wandered into the stadium seating to check out the festivities. Toothless Bob and Michalski go way back to the underground Dallas days, but he was AWOL for a few days. That sort of disappearing act happens from time to time at the WSOP. You get used to seeing one person every day and then they vanish into thin air. Toothless Bob finally re-emerged just in time to sweat Gavin Smith.

While I wandered around the rail, I overheard a few conversations including the one guy int he entire Amazon Ballroom who did not have a working mobile phone. He was pestering random players, “Can you let me make a phone call for $1?” My favorite fans of the day were the trio of Brazilians in green and yellow soccer jerseys toting around oversized cocktails and a vuvuzela.

My view most of the final table from the beef jerky lounge
Within the first hour of play at the final table, Smith quickly went to work. One player busted out as Smith surged over $1 million in chips. His closest opponent, Danny “The Hurricane” Hannawa, had almost half his stack. Smith jumped out to an early lead, but could he keep up the pressure?

Over the afternoon, Smith failed to pad his his 1 million stack and he even slipped back below 1M. He was still ahead with the lead as WSOP-Circuit guru Dwyte Pilgrim hit the rail in 8th and Dan Idema went out in 7th. But with six to go, Smith ran into a little trouble as Timothy Finne seized the lead.

After Jamie Rosen busted in 5th place, Smith was near the bottom of the foursome. He battled back and after Michael Michnik hit the rail in 4th, he chipped up and found himself in the lead.

With three to go, Timothy “highlandfox” Finne posed the biggest threat to Gavin Smith, but he was knocked out in third place, setting up a heads-up battle between Smith and Danny Hannawa. Smith was ahead in chips 2.1 million to 1.7 million. Only one person, aptly nicknamed “The Hurricane” stood in the way of first place money and the bracelet.

During a round of NL, Smith extended his lead to 2-1 over Hannawa. However, it would take him a few more hours before he could finish off his opponent. While most of the free world followed along with Smith’s progress via the internet and Twitter, many of Smith’s friends — new and old — flocked to the final table area of the Amazon Ballroom. They wanted to witness the beloved Smith win a bracelet in person. He did not disappoint them.

Old Gavin Smith
Smith etched his name into the history books and proved that a sober, focused, and disciplined self is one tough son of a bitch to beat. Congrats to Gavin for turning things around.

* * * * *
Bouncin’ Round the Room on Day 30…

Man, I can’t believe that the WSOP has been going for longer than a lunar month. Wow, so many of my peers have that thousand yard stare. Others look like zombies or extras from Invasion of the Body Snatchers. They look like my friends, but something else is driving the bus if you know what I mean. The end of week two is when people start to hit the wall. By the end of week three, everyone has succumbed to the Vegas malaise. By week four, you either turn it around and catch a much needed second wind before the Main Event, or you go south and turn into a mindless zombie.

Event #46 $5K PLO 8 Day 2: Barry Greenstein and James “Flushy” Dempsey were among the leaders at the onset of Day 2, but both failed to make it to Day 3. At some point during Day 2, Chainsaw Kessler and everyone’s favorite middle-aged ginger, Dan Heimiller, held the overall lead.

When action was paused at the end of Day 2, 21 players remained with Russian Sergey Altbregin atop the leaderboard. A couple of familiar faces are still left: Chainsaw, Devilfsh, Heimiller, Andy Black, Dan Shak, Leif Force, Rob Hollink, Miami John, and a short-stacked Erik Seidel.

Event #45 Donkament Day 2: Saturdays are always packed at the Rio’s convention center as the WSOP caters to the weekend warrior’s and amateurs who are taking their shot at the big time. This weekend featured a donkament and another donkulus! Friday’s donkament attracted over 3,000 players (3,097 to be exact) and around 400 lucky donks survived the killing fields on Day 1 and returned for a race for the money. Will “The Thrill” Farilla ended Day 1 as one of the leaders and he began Day 2 in the hot seat.

I noticed that DonkeyBomber was still alive in the donkament only because his wild and wacky pants screamed out to me from all the way across the room. You can see those pants in the thickest of fogs. British pro Sam Trickett, who already has a runner-up performance this summer, jumped out to the lead before the dinner break with around 200 players to go.

DonkeyBomber got as far as 128th place before he busted out. Man, these donkaments are rough…playing for almost two days and doing better than a min-cash. Then again, if you can final table a donkament and take it down — you get a sweet score for a minimal investment.

Day 2 ended with 36 players remaining, and Sam Trickett at the top of the heap. Can he pull off bracelet #6 for the Brits? If he can’t do it, perhaps Stevie Chidwick can do it? The young Brit is not far behind in chips. Americans Alex Outhred and Dutch Boyd is also still alive with three tables to go. Outhred is seeking bracelet numero uno, while Boyd is seeking his third career bracelet, and his second of the 2010 WSOP.

Photos courtesy of Harper & Benjo.

Tags: 2010 WSOP | amazon | black | bracelet | dallas | final | foursome | gavin-smith | internet | press | russian | wsop

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Watching Razz puts me in a foul mood, even though I returned to Vegas with a slight tan and in much better headspace after the mushrooms time away from the grind. I don’t mind Razz when I’m winning (and watching my opponents slide into the depths of uber-tilt), but nothing is more demoralizing for a poker player than having four to a Wheel and… brick… brick… brick… fuck.

The result is always the same: swollen testicles. And to be equally fair to my female readers… swollen vagi.

Sweating Razz tournaments from the rail are for the truly brave, who are either hopped up on the strongest anti-psychotic drugs, or they must be hardcore sadists who thrive on watching people inflict pain to one another. Whenever I watch a Razz tournament, I’m filled with vigorous confusion. Even though I’m not playing, I still get an uncomfortable feeling in my groin area.

The Mickey Doft/Phil Ivey Hoodie story is probably one of my favorites at the WSOP. Mickey is one of the best floor reporters to ever don the Poker News logo. He’s all smiles and a good kid from Florida who has no vices save for one — Razz. In a vacuum of degeneracy, the kid is a true saint. He’s also a Razz freak and was looking forward to playing only one event this year — Razz.

There’s a Phil Ivey connection to Mickey that is sort of important. As Monday bled into Tuesday, the temperatures dipped in the Amazon Ballroom during his final table of HORSE. Even the great magnificent Ivey was prone to the drastic change in temps. He was cold peeled off a c-note and asked someone in his entourage to buy him a hoodie at the gift store. Ivey wore it for a while, then took it off and eventually left it behind after he won his 8th bracelet. Mickey snagged the Ivey hoodie and guarded it like it was the Shroud of Turin.

The Ivey hoodie wasn’t the only time that I’ve seen a Poker News reporter swoop in and gobble up leftovers from a well-known pro. At the 2007 WSOP-Europe in London, Jamie Gold ordered satay chicken kabob but he busted out before he could even finish it. His plate sat idle for an hour before Snoopy finally mustered up enough courage, gave into temptation, and gobbled up Jamie Gold’s kabob.

Much like Gold’s kabob in London, Phil Ivey’s abandoned hoodie was up for grabs. Mickey snagged it and decided to wear it for Day 2 of the Razz event. Yes, he’s hoping that Ivey’s run good rubs off on him. I asked Mickey if he found any $25,000 Bellagio chips. He shrugged his shoulders. If he did, he’d be foolish to tell me.

Mickey survived Day 1 even though he drew the Grinder, David Chui, and Jen Harman at his table. He held his own, and even busted the Grinder. On Day 2, Mickey found himself at a table with David “Gunslinger” Bach and Alex “KGB” Kravchenko. Unfortunately for Mickey, he met his fate when he busted on in a three way hand that also sent DonkeyBomber to the rail. With both of my players busto, I focused on the circus on the rail.

The Razz rail was ripe for photo hounds, since a couple of familiar-TV personalities were still alive. During one of the breaks, Fossilman posed for a picture, and I wondered if the fan who took it was cognizant that Fossilman’s banner was hanging behind them in the background. Daniel Negreanu did not wait for the break to accommodate a photo request. He sauntered over to the rail and happily obliged to take a few photos with a group of adoring fans. After covering the circuit for almost six years, I’ve noticed that Negreanu and Fossilman are probably the best when dealing with the public. It seems so effortless, even though they give up so much of their spare time on breaks even though you get the feeling that every once in a while, they’d like to simply relax. That’s why I don’t have an issue with pros who walk the back hallways on breaks in order to avoid the masses. After all, they are at work and entitled for a bit of peace and quiet.

The infamous Archie Karas made it to Day 2 of Razz. Tom Sexton was on the rail keeping an eye on him. I kept pestering Tom and asking him who backed Karas.

“A mystery man,” said Sexton with a wink. “I can’t tell you who, but let’s just say that a group of guys were fighting over who gets to put Archie in this event. You know, Razz is his best game. At one time, he was the best in the world. It’s easy for him to get staking.”

A horse is a horse is a horse, and Archie was one of the many horses in the Razz event, but he failed to live up to his billing and busted out way before the money bubble broke. Even as the field dwindled down, there was still enough star power (Jen Harman, Negreanu, Joe Hachem) to keep the rail buzzing. Linda Johnson emerged as one of the leaders shortly after the dinner break.

Theresa Viganola, the wife of avid Tao reader Tony V., also went deep into the night. She cashed in 27th place. Other notables who cashed included JovialGent (38th), Greg Raymer (37th), Matt Glantz (34th), Negreanu (29th), Joe Hachem (22nd), David Chui (20th), and Linda Johnson (16th).

With 15 players to go, Melville Lewis holds the chiplead. Also still alive are Stuart Rutter, Chris Bjorin, Frank Kassela, Jen Harman, and everyone’s favorite Russian banker Vladimir Schemelev.

The Brits are supposed to win five bracelets this year, well at least that’s the bet that I have. The British Empire might be slogging their underachieving World Cup squad, but their sons in Las Vegas are cleaning up with four bracelets already. And then there’s Stuart Rutter lurking near the top as he sniffs out number five. Snoopy mentioned Rutter as one of the Brits to watch this summer, which means he’s as good as a pick to win the bracelet. When Day 2 of Razz ended, Rutter was sitting third in chips.

Can Harman make another final table this year? And if she does, can she overcome the big stacks and find the killer instinct to close win her third bracelet? She has several near misses with a runner-up and two third place finishes. Maybe she’s due?

Tune in on Wednesday to find out who will conquer the sadists and become the reigning Razz champion. The winner gets a gold bracelet, $214,085 in cash, and a bucket of ice to cool down their inflamed genitals.

* * * * *
Bouncin’ Round the Room on Day 26…

Only one final table on a relatively slow day. The TV table area and adjacent beef jerky final table was off limits while ESPN’s crew prepped for a special NHL charity event.

Event #39 1.5K NL Shootout Day 2: A bit of a ruckus in the afternoon when an Eastern European Eurodonk had words with Jesse Martin after he busted. The floor supervisor separated the two and issued a one-round penalty to the Eurodonk. When Martin was at the payout table, the classless Eurodonk did a casual flyby telling him that he’d “be outside.” That happened in front of the floor supervisor who did not appreciate the threatening gesture. He gave the player a penalty for a second round. Never a dull day inside the Amazon Ballroom.

Annette15 – 13 spots away from her first US-based bracelet
Day 2 began with 14 tables and they played down to the final 14. Day 3 will begin with slight controversy that includes two tables of seven players playing a MTT format until they get down to a final shootout table of nine. Many of the players were miffed that they were not getting the proper reward for winning two shootout tables. Alas, that’s what happens when you get an odd number.

Anyway, with 14 to go, JC Tran is in the hunt and Annette Obrestad is still alive. As Change100 said, “If Annette has a shot at a bracelet in 2010, well, then this is it. No pressure, of course.”

Event #36 Donkulus Day 3: With three tables to go, Ryan D’Angelo and Hungarian pro Peter Traply were among the notables remaining. Alas, Traply busted in 14th and ended his quest for a second bracelet, while D’Angelo missed the final table with an 11th place exit. Scott Montgomery, the Canadian Rain Man, advanced to his first final table since the initial November Nine.

Event #38 10K PLH Championship Day 3 and Final Table: The day began behind the eight ball with three tables to go. Chainsaw Kessler was attempting to go deep and secured himself better than a min-cash. Plenty of names were still lurking including the always yummy Sandra Naujoks, who sadly busted in 15th place. Kessler didn’t last longer than 14th place and POY leader John Juanda breathed a sigh of relief. If Kessler won this event, he would at least tied Juanda in the POY voting. Kessler is currently tied for 13th place overall. So according to BJ’s number crunching, Kessler needs a min-cash plus a bracelet victory to seize first place in POY. Chainsaw has something to shoot for.

When it got down to twelve players, a couple of young guns were lurking including Sam Stein, Dani Stern, and Tom Marchese. Alas, Stein bubbled off the final table in 10th place denying a potential rematch between himself and Marchese. The two had battled during the PokerStars NAPT Venetian’s Main Event.

The final table was set with Marchese as the chipleader, along with Petter Jetten, Stern and Blair Rodman (author of Kill Phil). The final table went fast. At one point Valdemar Kwaysser had accumulated over 50% of the chips in play and he quickly picked off the rest of the final table. Kwaysser won the inaugural event on the LAPT and he took down the PLH Championship bracelet for Hungary, much to the dismay of a unit of soused Germans on the rail sweating Konstantin Bucherl. The unruly Germans were the source of a migraine for tournament staff and the media, before they were booted by security.

Cliche of the Day: Change100 shared today’s Cliche of the Day starring Chainsaw Kessler. Supposedly, Chainsaw driving home last night and realized that he lost $75 in free slot play and was irked. The rest of the table gave him shit over a meager $75 (including the fact it was… slots). Amnon Filipi quickly rushed to Chainsaw’s defense.

“Come on guys,” Amnon said. “It’s seventy-five free dollars.”

“I was so upset when I got home, that I couldn’t sleep,” explained Chainsaw. “So, I watched my favorite show… Pawn Stars.”

Photos courtesy of Harper & Benjo.

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