By Pauly
San Francisco, CA

In case you were wondering, and I know many of you degenerates are always looking for excuses to gamble, here’s the latest odds for the 2011 WSOP Main Event final table, otherwise known as the November Nine…

2011 November Nine Odds
Martin Staszko 4/1
Eoghan Odea 9/2
Ben Lamb 5/1
Phil Collins 5/1
Matt Giannetti 13/2
Pius Heinz 10/1
Badih Bounahra 12/1
Anton Makievskyi 12/1
Samuel Holden 15/1

** Odds courtesy of The Camel and Oddschecker.com

2011 November Nine Seating Assignments:
Seat 1: Matt Giannetti
Seat 2: Badih Bounahra
Seat 3: Eoghan O’Dea
Seat 4: Phil Collins
Seat 5: Anton Makievskyi
Seat 6: Samuel Holden
Seat 7: Pius Heinz
Seat 8: Ben Lamb
Seat 9: Martin Staszko

November Nine Chip Counts:
1. Martin Staszko – 40,175,000
2. Eoghan O’Dea – 33,925,000
3. Matt Giannetti – 24,750,000
4. Phil Collins – 23,875,000
5. Ben Lamb – 20,875,000
6. Badih Bounahra – 19,700,000
7. Pius Heinz – 16,425,000
8. Anton Makievskyi – 13,825,000
9. Sam Holden – 12,375,000

November Nine – Final Table Payouts
1st – $8,711,956
2nd – $5,430,928
3rd – $4,019,635
4th – $3,011,661
5th – $2,268,909
6th – $1,720,396
7th – $1,313,851
8th – $1,009,910
9th – $782,115

This is the first year that Las Vegas casinos allow proposition wagering on the World Series of Poker. Sports betting on poker is not a precise science yet because oddmakers and gamblers have a very small set of numbers to worth with. This is not like professional football in which oddmakers have models and algorithms to consult in addition to the old fashioned “eye test” to see if a team can legitimately cover a point spread on both paper and in real life. Poker is not like MMA or boxing, and you can’t just look at Puis Heinz and say he won’t be able to handle Anton Makievskyi.

So what do you look for? Stack sizes? Betting the chip leader isn’t always the best strategy. It’s only panned out once in the last three final tables.

The luck factor adds difficulty into making a sound decision. You’re essentially betting on the guy who puts himself in the best situation to get lucky — and often times luck is not coming from behind to win a hand or hitting all your draws, but rather, avoiding misfortune by winning all of your coinflips and evading suckouts at advantageous moments.

You’re also looking for value and a player who will pay off something close to what he’s really worth if goes deep and wins it all.

Will the major betting syndicates get in on this racket? I doubt they’ll make a major play because of the uncontrollable variables which makes it tough to minimize their risk. Rather, the majority of action will be wagered by hardcore poker fans and the curious tourist that happens to be in Vegas this weekend. He/she probably watched a few episodes of the WSOP on ESPN and decided to drop $25 on a player.

The WSOP Main Event is not like the Superbowl when amateur bettors flock to the windows to place bets on random things like the coinflip or the length of the national anthem. If the November Nine odds lures in a few drunks on The Strip, they’d probably place bets on a whim will go with familiar names like Phil Collins or Ben Lamb. It’s a pick driven by psychology. The European names are just too weird for anyone to pronounce, especially with a few Irish car bombs pumping through their system. Based on that assumption (drunks don’t like complicated names), if anyone wants to bet a longshot, it’ll be Sam Holden due to the simplicity of his name.

Ben Lamb is overvalued because everyone and his mother who is easily swayed by “awards” will take into account his most-recent Player of the Year victory. Lamb and Phil Hellmuth were neck-and-neck going into the WSOP-Europe, but Lamb finally locked up the title with a strong performance in Cannes. Numbers/awards aside, Lamb certainly played well enough across the entire summer to deserve the POY honor, but he could have won a Nobel Prize and the Westminster Dog Show and it still wouldn’t alter the randomness of the hands he’ll see at the final table and how he’ll choose to play them.

The chip leader and most popular guy have been historically overvalued. But, the long shots should be much higher in excess of +1500 and closer to +2000. That’s why you have to analyze the guys in the middle. They have the potential for most value if they win the Main Event. With that said, I like Matt Giannetti at +575 and love him of the line moves northward of 600.

* * *

2010 November Nine Odds:
Jonathan Duhamel +180
Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi +250
John Dolan +250
Joseph “subiime” Cheong +350
Matthew Jarvis +700
John Racener +700
Soi Nguyen +1200
Filippo Candio +1200
Jason Senti +2000

In 2010, the overall favorite and chip leader Jonathan Duhamel won the Main Event — the only favorite to ever do so. His odds were listed at +180 and he beat John Racener (+700) heads-up. The bookies gave the popular “Grinder” the second favorite at +250.

The Grinder embarked on a remarkable run at the 2010 WSOP and edged out Frank Kasella as Player of the Year, which was anchored by his victory in the 50K Players’ Championship. The Grinder eventually finished the Main Event in 5th place. His real odds were much higher, but don’t forget the bookies adjust lines to accommodate their positions after the original lines are released. The +250 they set for the Grinder didn’t equate to what place they thought he’d finish. The +250 line was in place protect themselves just in case the most popular guy won and they’d be on the hook for almost twice as much cash. Similar thing happened with Phil Ivey in 2009.

Last year, I bet on Joe “subiime” Cheong at +350. I felt that he offered the best value for his price. Cheong finished in a disappointing third place. If he didn’t imploded on the infamous hand that sunk his Main Event dreams, who knows what could have happened.

John Racener at +700 ended up being a sound wager because the bubblegum chewing Racener lost to Duhamel heads-up. He was listed as the 6th favorite (or 4th longshot if you want to look at it in those terms). The year before, Joe Cada was in a similar spot and took down the Main Event.

* * *

2009 November Nine Odds:
Darvin Moon +225
Eric Buchman +350
Phil Ivey +350
Happy Shulman +500
Steven Begleiter +500
Joe Cada +1000
Kevin Schaffel +1200
James Akenhead +1200
Antoine Saout +1500

Phil Ivey’s numbers were tweaked because he’s Phil Fucking Ivey and everyone with a pulse put down a bet on him. I bet on him at crappy odds because he’s Phil Fucking Ivey. He should have been listed much higher, but so much money was put down on Ivey that the bookies wanted to minimize their losses just in case he pulled off a victory. Alas, the living legend never got any momentum going and despite the pro-Ivey crowd, he busted in 5th place. Seconds after his elimination, the majority of the Penn and Teller Theatre emptied and energy level fizzled out to a faint whimper.

The Luddite logger Darvin Moon was listed as 2/1 because he held an overwhelming chip lead and the poker gods seemed to have blessed him during his journey to the final table. Moon found himself pitted heads-up against the baby-faced kid from Michigan Joe Cada. Cada getting 10/1 odds would’ve paid off handsomely if you had the balls to pull the trigger on the unknown player. Alas, it wasn’t one of the chip leaders like Moon or Buchman who prevailed. Nor was it the consummate professional in Phil Ivey. Nope, it was one of the random guys at the back of the pack.

* * *

2008 November Nine Odds:
Dennis Phillips +425
Ivan Demidov +425
Scott Montgomery +475
Peter Eastgate +525
Ylon Schwartz +800
David Rheem +850
Darus Suharto +900
Craig Marquis +950
Kelly Kim +2500

In the inaugural November Nine the books erred on the side of caution because the November Nine has never happened before, so no one knew what to expect. The big question marks surrounded the layoff — would it benefit some players more so than others? And more importantly, how would that affect the betting odds?

Dennis Phillips was the people’s choice. He had the “aww shucks” attitude from the moment the spotlight got turned onto him, which is a rare form of charm mostly found in prairie statement politicians and door-to-door insurance salesmen. The fact that he was also the chip leader tweaked his numbers. Don’t forget when someone who is not a savvy bettor wants action, they usually go with what is familiar to them. Hence, why the public loved betting on Phillips.

Chino Rheem was the “pro’s favorite” that year and most of the people associated with the poker industry put their money on Chino because based on time logged at the live tables, he had the best chance to win. Besides, he also owed the most money to everyone else in poker, which is why everyone was rooting for him. The higher he finished, the better the chances all of his debt collectors would get paid.

The 4th highest favorite, Peter Eastgate, won the championship and became the youngest player to do so in the process — smashing Phil Hellmuth’s record. It’s fitting that five years after the Moneymaker Effect, a Scandi who barely shaves, took down the WSOP Main Event.

* * *
So what does all of this mean? Absolutely nothing.

But if you like small sample sizes…. since the inception of the November Nine, only one favorite (Jonathan Duhamel) won the Main Event. Your best bet is someone in the middle of the pack like Joe Cada (2009) or Peter Eastgate (2008). That’s why I like Matt Gianetti at +575 or 13/2 at online sportsbooks according to The Camel. Besides, Giannetti won a WPT event on my birthday, so I take that as a positive sign.

I’ve already placed wagers on O’Dea (safe bet) and Gianetti (value play).

I know I haven’t specifically spoken about Eoghan O’Dea, but I like the Irishman’s style of play and more importantly, he’s a second generation gambler. Poker is in his blood. His father is one of the godfathers of Irish poker Don O’Dea. It’s hard to bet against royalty and someone who’s been breathing poker since he popped out of his momma’s womb.

That’s it for now. Consult your local bookie, online sportsbook, or check the betting windows in Vegas for the latest odds. Get your bets in before Sunday! Good luck.

The November Nine kicks off semi-live with hole cards on ESPN2 at 3:30pm ET. You can also view it online at ESPN3.

Tags: 2011 | birthday | classic tao | full tilt | las vegas | lost vegas | michigan | moth | news | Pai Gow | Podcast | Tao of Pokerati

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

I had a dream that I was in a random hotel room somewhere and a maid was pounding on my door, except it wasn’t a dream, it was reality, just a few hours ago. My head was pounding and I was disoriented because I was in a random hotel room and couldn’t figure out what day of the week it was or even the actual date. On the night stand was a plethora of orange and white pills, a couple of Gold Coast chips, and a sports betting ticket from the Rio. Apparently I had bet on the Colorado Rockies and had no idea if that game already happened, or if it was yet to happen.

Did I mention about the woman who barely spoke English who was pounding on my door like a Swat Team with a battering ram trying to bust up a mobile meth lab?

I had one of those Vegas nights.

It’s not a night what I would consider and epic adventure, but it wasn’t exactly a normal night either. It fell somewhere in between. Alas, it’s one of those nights that happens to us at least once a week. To quote my buddy Otis, “This is what we do.”

In this instance, I really don’t know how to tell you this story about my Monday, other than to stop from the top.

* * *
I woke up in a fog. My house was empty. My French roomies were AWOL. Benjo took off for a weekend trip to Death Valley. Vincent the video guy had crashed at the Cosmo. And my girlfriend was still in the City of Angels after going home to visit her old man for Father’s Day.

I had knocked myself out the night before to catch up on sleep. When I’m at the WSOP, I push myself to the brink of exhaustion. I can’t stop. It’s just how I am. Alas, the addicts life applies to everything I do. I have one speed — fast. I go balls to the wall when it comes to working and partying. Vegas is dangerous because the two aspects of my life blend into each other.

I have chronic insomnia and when you’re plugged into Vegas, it’s difficult to unplug yourself. I can’t explain it other than the energy swirling around this city is not only toxic, it does everything in its power to keep you from powering down. Luckily my girlfrined left a jar of Xanax in the medicine cabinet. I ate the equivalent of 1.5 Xannie bars to make sure I stayed asleep. It worked too well because when my alarm buzzed, I was caught inside the Xannie morning fog.

I showered, waited in my empty house until I was coherent enough to drive, and then headed to a local cafe where the waitresses don’t know me by name, but know what I like to eat whenever I come in. The fed me as I zoned out and sifted through that morning’s twitter static. I had that “Awwww, fuck….” reaction when I realized that… 1) I never finished my Tao of Poker recap from the night before, and 2) I forgot I had an interview with a documentary film crew set for noon.

I wolfed down breakfast, sped to the Rio, and walked into an empty Amazon Ballroom. It was not noon yet and the room was eerily quiet. I knew that withing two hours the entire room would be buzzing with various restarts. A couple of suits held a meeting in the corner. I ignored them and they ignored me as a random tourist wandered in and snapped cell phone pics of empty tables.

My buddy Friedman is one of the associate producers for Boom, a Jay Rosenkrantz and Taylor Caby’s documentary about the poker boom and subsequent fallout from Black Friday. They asked to interview me and I kinda forgot they blocked off two hours of my time. I was dragging serious ass so I did what anyone would do in that situation — I broke off half of an Adderall and swallowed it down with overpriced bottle water.

The interview went great. The director Ryan seemed pleased with some of my answers. I have no idea what they’ll use, but assumed that most of it would end up on the cutting room floor. At the least, I wanted to help them tell the real story about the poker boom. I was just one of the million cogs in the massive poker machine, but they wanted to hear my tweaked view on the last few years. I kinda joked with them that it would be incredibly cool (and fucked up) if they were actually undercover agents for the DOJ and FBI.

I wandered back downstairs to the pressbox and attempted to crank out Day 20′s recap. Unfortunately, I got caught in that rut where everyone who stopped by was preventing me from writing. The constant bombardment of questions involving rumors that Benjo had quit had gotten old. I had been under siege for a week and couldn’t take it any more. I snapped because all those legit questions and concerns was preventing me from doing my work. I rushed out of the pressbox in a huff and hid inside the press room, where I cranked out Day 20′s recap.

Snoopy, one of my older friends in poker and one of my favorite scribed from the UK, stopped by to check up on my well being. He finally arrived into town and had that “fresh” and “eager” look to him. Meanwhile, I was on my 15th day in a row without a day off. Even though I took off a couple of days to see Phish in Ohio near the beginning of the series, I was up partying for two straight days — so even though I had a break from poker — my body didn’t get a break. I had been running ragged for three weeks straight. That’s why I desperately needed sleep and forced myself to rest for at least eight hours the night before. The only downside of all that rest was that I was going to be overflowing with abundant energy. Little did I know that would be my downfall.

With all of my work done, it was finally time to check out the actual tournament. The Stud 8 championship was playing down to the final table and the field was stack with plenty of familiar faces including Phil Hellmuth gunning for bracelet #12. I told myself I wouldn’t care until he actually made the final table. But the Poker Brat was inching closer and closer to me actually giving a shit.

Benjo pinged me and said he was flying back to France in the morning and wanted to meet up for a quick goodbye drink later that night. He was on his way back from Death Valley and I knew one drink was not going to suffice. I made a wise decision and booked a room at the Gold Coast for the night. Due to my staggering Pai Gow losses, I get a couple of free a month. The one shitty thing about my girlfriend heading back to LA for the weekend meant that I had to rent a car and drive myself to and from work. I super responsible when it comes to operating a vehicle and I won’t drink or dabble in any pharmaceuticals if I get behind the wheel. As a result, I was dead sober the last few days (and utterly miserable, obviously, because I was unable to dull the pain of dealing with assholes and fucktards). I welcomed the opportunity to get shitfaced and not worrying about driving home.

I checked into my room at the Gold Coast. They gave me one of the top floors — a smoking floor at my request — and when I stepped off the elevator the entire floor reeked of weed… and it wasn’t me.

I returned to the Rio and wandered through the Pavilion. I noticed a huge crowd gathered around the cash game section. Bob was standing on a chair and I asked him what was up. “Huge pot with Farha,” he said. “At least $200K.”

With people six and seven deep on the rail and a security guard blocking the entrance, I pulled a veteran move and walked around to the other side. I flashed my badge to the other security guard and muttered something like, “This is official business.” He didn’t blink and I walked right up to the $100/$200 PLO table as an random Euro with greasy long hair, hipster jeans, and white shoes was raking in the pot and pulling back a couple of hundred dollar bricks. Farha sat across from him shaking his head in disgust.

I headed into the Amazon Ballroom and the final table of the Stud 8 was set (Ted Forrest, Phil Hellmuth, Al Eslami, Joe Tehan, Russian chess writer/poker scribe Mikhail Savinov, David Benyamine, John Racener, and Eric Rodawig). Hellmuth had made it and was gunning for #12.

Photo by WhoJedi
Regardless if I liked/hated Hellmuth, I had to be there if he won the bracelet. I rooted against the Poker Brat to bust early so I wouldn’t have to wait around for the outcome. Selfish, I know, but I didn’t really care about being an impartial member of the media. I only wished for an early death because I didn’t want to miss Benjo’s last night in town. If he was truly quitting poker media, it was going to be one hell of a bender. Normally, I tell my friends to fuck off because work always took precedent in the summers, but in this instance, I was very conflicted.

If I had to cover a final table that included Hellmuth, there was no way I was going to do that sober. With a hotel across the street secured, I said hello to my dear friend Mr. Percosett. We’ve had lots of fun times together and he makes any dull situation extraordinary. I was cooking on Addys and Percs, which is the equivalent of eating chocolate-dipped bacon — it tastes so fucking good at the time, but in the end it will catch up to you and you’ll end up like bloated Elvis — a career pill popper who croaked in the bathroom and found face down, ass up after choking on his own vomit.

Fuck Elvis, I thought. I can dodge bullets just like my pal Phil Hemlluth. With the warm fuzzies exploding through my body as I hung out at the final table and shifted back and forth from the press area and hiding my press badge and embedding myself in the audience. I found a contingency of Russians sitting in the corner, including my buddy Ilya, who was sitting with his fellow countryman. Ilya gave me the straight dope on his friend and colleague Mikhail Savinov. What I liked about Savinov was his graphic t-shirt with a silhouette of Bob Dylan. Savinov also sported Chuck Klosterman glasses and looked more like a hipster riding the L train to Williamsburg, than one of the unknown (yet Dangerous) Russians who invaded the WSOP this summer.

I was supposed to meet Benjo at 11pm at the Gold Coast at our usual spot where our friends hang out (or hide out) after a long day of working at the Rio. At that point, six players were still left including Hellmuth. I decided to take off and would monitor the situation via Twitter and my CrackBerry. My friends Shirley and Halli came to get me in the pressbox. Shirley was all smiles after she chopped a single table HORSE satellite for the 10K Championship (set for the next day). Halli is one of her good friends and travel companions. Our common friends like to joke that they are lesbians because making fun of lesbians is always fun. They are not lovers, but sometimes I like to beat a joke to death, like those dead horses they whip the hell out of and then grind up the meat for burgers in the Poker Kitchen.

I headed to the Gold Coast with my fake-lesbian friends and found Benjo sitting at the bar in between KevMath and AlCantHang. Talk about a motley crew that sounded like the opening to a bad ethnic joke — “So I walk into a bar and see KevMath, AlCantHang, and an angry Frenchman…”

The booze began to flow. I ate more Percosetts and that’s when the memory became a little — foggy. I watched KevMath play video Keno. That’s been his latest vice and we recorded a Tao of Pokerati episode (stay tuned for that epic recording) in which KevMath explained his simple, and profitable system to destroying Keno. The gang at The Micros poked fun at Erik Seidel being a cyborg (Seiborg), but after watching KevMath interact with the video poker/Keno machine, I was convinced he was a real cyborg. It’s true KevMath is half-man, half-machine. I saw it with my own eyes. No wonder he never sleeps. He might be the only one I know who sleeps less than me.

I also watched in astonishment as WhoJedi employed KevMath’s Keno System and walked away $500 richer. This shit works. We’re going to publish a book (I get to write the introduction) as soon as I introduce KevMath to my buddy Professional Keno Player Neil Fontenot and they hammer out the final draft.

I got word that Hellmuth was about to be heads-up against Eric Rodawig. I smoked a joint in the parking lot and hit up the 24-our store inside the Rio. I wandered into the press area and got made fun of by the Poker Cougar.

“You must be high and have the munchies,” she said.

“Is the bag cookies and the Chunky bar the dead give away?”

“Well that, and you smell like a skunk.”

Hellmuth was down 3-1 in chips when heads-up started. The match didn’t last very long and Rodawig prevailed. The entire crowd gave Hellmuth a warm ovation as he shook hands with the new champion and rushed out of the Mothership. I did the same and returned to the Gold Coast with WhoJedi. We joked that we’d find Timtern playing Pai Gow, but when we walked into the casino, we spotted him at the end of the craps table.

As I got closer, Chip Bitch magically appeared. I was still ten feet away and could smell the booze emanating from his mouth. He gave me an awkward, drunken half-hug. He was half in the bag when the roller at the end of the table tossed the dice and it danced across the felt. Craps out.

“Fuccccccccck,” bemoaned Timtern as he pointed at a wobbling Chip Bitch. “That fucker cost me $300!”

“Time for Pai Gow,” I said and pointed to an empty table.

At this point, it was a few minutes before 4am. We had the entire table to ourselves — myself, Timtern, WhoJedi, ChipBitch, and Homer. Apparently, Chip Bitch knew one of the Pai Gow dealers, an elderly, saucy Asian woman with decades of experience dealing to schwilly idiots.

“How you doing?” she asked, like a loving aunt.

“Great!” screamed Chip Bitch. “I fucked a stripper the other night.”

“Shut up!” the dealer scolded him, obviously not approving of his use of profanity. “So, how much did that cost you?”

Zing. She knew how to handle us and dished the shit right back at us.

Whenever Homer, who is from the U.K., spoke to the dealer said something like, “You talk funny.”

“That’s because he’s drunk,” I muttered. “And he’s from Australia.”

Somewhere along the way, Homer and WhoJedi spread the rumor (which became fact by the end of the night), that they were long lost brothers from Madagascar. This might sound incredibly stupid and childish while you’re reading this, but if you’re crocked to the tits on rum and pharmies, you’d find it absolutely hysterical.

When Chip Bitch tried to hit on the dealer, she scolded him, “My son is older than you. I’m 61.”

“61?” slurred Chip Bitch. “How about 61 going on 69!”

Oh lord. We were destined to get 86′d. If we weren’t spewing chips, they would have kicked us out hours earlier. Especially after Chip Bitch screamed “If I lose this hand, I’ll suck my own cock!”

At that point the saucy dealer would beg Timtern to smack Chip Bitch every time he cursed.

“Tim,” she begged, “Hit him hard.”

We created a special low-hand bonus. If you drew a 9-high Pai Gow, then everyone at the table paid you $5. If you got a 10-high Pai Gow, then you collected $1 from everyone at the table. Over the course of four plus hours, the low bonus hit only once when Homer squeezed out an abysmal 10-low.

The oddest thing we saw at the Gold Coast at 5am (and believe me there’s tons of weird shit to see at that bewitching hour) was the lanky Asian man who wandered around all of the gaming tables with his arms folded. He constantly sweated our table and preferred to stand right behind WhoJedi. He was visibly irked and rightfully so. WhoJedi had to say something to the pitposs and asked them to run off our only railbird. We had been loud, raucous, and belligerent — easily the loudest gamblers in the pits — and everyone wanted nothing to do with us, that is, except the weird Asian guy with the crossed arms. When the coffee stand opened up at 6am, I saw him starring at the assorted pastries in the display window — with his arms crossed and giving the muffins the same blank stare he gave us.

At one point, we all shipped a huge bet after the dealer busted with a Jack-high Pai Gow.

“This is an easy game,” proclaimed WhoJedi.

“No it isn’t,” snapped our dealer. I knew what was up. She was a local and a total degen Pai Gow player herself. She only dealt Pai Gow to cover her massive losses. Deep down, she must have really hated our inebriated asses.

At some point, Chip Bitch knocked over Timtern’s vodka-Red Bull and the floor handed us a towel to wipe down the table and clean up the cards. Their patience was growing thin.

By then, everything out of Chip Bitch’s mouth was quote worthy and/or an incendiary f-bomb. But we finally reached the tipping point when a dealer in training sat down and asked us how we all knew each other.

“We’re all brothers,” I said with a straight face. “All from the same mother. Different father’s, obviously.”

“Yep, same momma,” added Chip Bitch. “We’ve all tasted the same pubes on the way out.”

The female pit boss was in stitches. She couldn’t stop laughing, but when she finally regained composure, she cut him off. She pointed to the haggard cocktail server and shook her head. We got cut off for an hour.

At that point, I was falling asleep and actually nodded off for a few seconds at the table. I had two choices — suck it up or eat more Adderall. I opted to eat an apple fritter and a big assed iced tea at the coffee stand. That perked me up a bit and kept me going until the buffet opened up at 7am.

Somehow, Timtern finagled us a couple of food comps for the buffet. I really think we got them because the pit boss wanted to get rid of us. Duran Duran’s Hungry Like the Wolf blasted over the casino’s sound system. I told everyone it was a sign to end the gambling session and go eat a shitty buffet. Half the group protested –out one-hour penalty was about to be up.

“Only ten more minutes until we can drink again!”

Thank God AlCantHang wasn’t feeling well and went to bed early. Otherwise, one of us would have died.

Alas, we gave up on the pits and shuffled toward the buffet, like a menacing hurricane about to reach landfall. We sorted out the comps at the cashier and cheered when we saw that they had a special — $1 PBR. As the famous movie quote from Blue Velvet goes, “Heineken? Fuck that shit. Pabst Blue Ribbon!

I warned the hostess, “We’re schwasted. Please seat us next to the crabbiest, grumpiest, bitchiest table of old people in the buffet.”

“You just described everyone in here,” she said without missing a beat.

I pulled out a $5 bill and handed it to her. “You fucking rock.”

We were seated as close to the food as possible and drew scathing looks from the early bird octogenarians. They frowned every time we hooted and hollered. We filled our plates with horrendous greasy breakfast food stuffs. I would never eat the Gold Coast buffet while sober, but while cooking on a pharmie cocktail, stoned to the tits on a strain called Hulk Kush, and rum pumping through my system, I didn’t think twice as I devoured a mound of bacon and a biscuit so fucking hard, it could be used as a doorstop.

Why? As Otis would say, “This is what we do.”

I don’t remember anything after the plate of bacon.

I had a dream that I was in a random hotel room somewhere and a maid was pounding on my door, except it wasn’t a dream, it was reality, just a few hours ago. My head was pounding and I was disoriented because I was in a random hotel room and couldn’t figure out what day of the week it was or even the actual date. On the night stand was a plethora of orange and white pills, a couple of Gold Coast chips, and a sports betting ticket from the Rio. Apparently I had bet on the Colorado Rockies and had no idea if that game already happened, or if it was yet to happen.

Tags: Degens | erik seidel | gambling | lost vegas | philosophy | Poker News | politics | sports | tao of fear

Ali vs. Frazier. Tunney vs. Dempsey. Tom vs. Jerry. If the first fight was a good one, it’s only a matter of time before the screaming, bloodthirsty fans start clamoring for more.

It’s been nearly eight years since Chris Moneymaker took the poker world in his amateur hands and turned it into his own personal sock puppet. By now, there is no need to recount what Moneymaker’s 2003 WSOP main event win did for the game. However, the people behind the World Series of Poker are asking a fun question: “What would’ve happened if Moneymaker had finished second?” It’s frankly a scary thought that we shouldn’t dwell on for too long.

More fun to think about, however, is the upcoming made-for-television rematch series the WSOP is putting on this summer. As it ruminates on the “what-if” question, the WSOP is going to put Moneymaker and 2003 runner-up Sammy Farha heads-up again.

Moneymaker and Farha will face each other again on June 2 in a best two out of three match. In the first game, the stacks will be exactly as they were when the two men played for real. That time, Moneymaker had a 5,490,000 to 2,900,000 lead over Farha. In the second match, the players will have reversed starting stacks. If a third match is necessary, Moneymaker and Farha will begin the match with equal stacks.

Moneymaker told the WOSP, “Even though I’m agreeing to run it again against Sammy, I have been assured they can’t take away my title if my bluffs don’t work as well this time.”

The WSOP will also host a rematch between Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth, as well as a third match that will be decided by fans. A vote of the people will decide which of the following heads-up battles will get a second shot.

1988: Johnny Chan vs. Erik Seidel

2004: Greg Raymer vs. David Williams

2006: Jamie Gold vs. Paul Wasicka

2010: Jonathan Duhamel vs. John Racener

If you can’t make it to Vegas to watch on June 2, it will all be on ESPN July 26.

Tags: begin-the-match | erik seidel | farha | frazier-tunney | game | john racener | johnny-chan | match | moneymaker | Vegas | World Series of Poker | world-series | wsop

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

Happy hump day. I hope you get laid today. If not, rub one out for me. In the meantime, here’s a couple of nuggets of poker news to keep you distracted this afternoon….

WSOP News: The WSOP announced they will be getting into the Rematch business. Yes, they’re hosting three re-matches featuring some of the most historical heads-up battles at the Main Event. The top billing goes to Chris Moneymaker/Sammy Farha. The other headliner is Johnny “Fucking” Chan/Phil Hellmuth. The third match will be determined by (Facebook) fans by voting (on Facebook): Seidel/Chan, Jonathan Duhamel/John Racener, Jamie Gold/Paul Wasicka, and Greg Raymer/David Williams. I’m bitter that they did not included the infamous T.J. Clouiter vs. Jesus matchup or Hugh Vincent vs. Russ “Pig in a Poke” Hamilton. (WSOP.com)

Business News: shares of bwin.party (a newly formed junta after Bwin merged with Party Gaming) tumbled in London trading after German politics proposed a special gambler tax in excess of 16%. H/T to Kid Dynamite for the article. Disclosure: I do not own any shares of Party Gaming. (Bloomberg)

Pop Culture: HDouble penned one of my favorite posts of all-time is The Poker Wisdom of The Dude. Well, Hank returned to his roots with another epic investigation into The Poker Wisdom of Omar and The Wire (The Cards Speak)

International Tax Laws: What would the infamous Trailer Park Boys say about having to pay taxes on poker winnings? “Fuck that, eh!” Luckily we have an expert, Gaming Counsel, to break down the intricacies of Canadian tax law. GC shared his assessment of this important topic if you’re a Canadian poker pro…. Taxation of gambling winnings in Canada. (Pokerati)

Poker Cinema: I wish I had Shamus a professor in college…I’d actually go to class more. If you dig cinema and have an affinity for the classic Robert Altman flick California Split, then take a peek at California Split and First Impressions. (Hard-Boiled Poker)

Arms Race: The pissing content continues! And thus begins the over-saturation of High Roller events. Los hombres sounded off on the new trend in a post titled The WPT Has a Bad Idea? (Wicked Chops Poker)

Gambling Lit: The literati chimed in about March Madness… In Praise of Distraction. (The New Yorker)

That’ it for. You know the drill. NGTFOOMO!

Tags: business | business-news | cards | facebook | gaming | gaming-counsel | infamous | Link Dump | london | lost vegas | poker | Poker News | poker-wisdom | Vegas | wpt

The following blog post comes from Chris Moneymaker and was written in two parts: one before he started the NBC Heads-Up Championship, and one after he finished runner-up for $300,000.

Before

We had our draw last night. In the first round, I drew John Racener. This is probably the best event of the year outside of the main event, because of the simple fact that I love playing Heads-Up, and this is such a star-studded field. It’s a really tough draw any person you get. I’m happy I got Racener. It should be a fun match. I pretty much know how he’s going to play, so I have my game plan going in and I feel very confident that I will move forward. It’s definitely going to be a long match, I believe. I think he’s going to be really patient and wait for me to make a mistake. I’m not going to push action too much, but I’m going to try and push him around a little bit. It should be probably the longest match of the day unless something really weird happens.

This tournament is a little bit different than most other Heads-Up events throughout the year as it’s made for TV, so the blind structures move faster than what you would normally see in a Heads-Up event. Some Heads-Up event matches can last 2-3 hours, while a long match here is probably an hour long. Most matches are designed to last 30 minutes or so. So, you don’t see a whole lot of play here, but you just have to adjust your strategy and play a little bit more aggressively and look for spots to put your money in. You’ve got to pick up information quickly.

The good thing is in this field is you’re going to know who the players are, and you have either played with them in the past or know someone who has. So, like with Racener, I will have information already on my opponent before I sit down to play.

You can use that information to sort of get a baseline of how you’re going to play against your Heads-Up opponent and use that as a starting strategy, which I’ve done with John. I know that going in, he likes to control pots. He likes to play in position. When the money goes in, he’s going to have a big hand and other than that, he’s going to try to keep the pots small and play really controlled small pots.

My goal is to make him uncomfortable, try to push him, put a ton of pressure on him, make him play pots he doesn’t want to play, and ultimately grind him down. When all the money goes in, he might have the best hand, but I will have quite a few outs, and I’ll have a pretty sizable chip weight I believe. My plan is to keep grinding him down, and he’s going to have to double through me several times to keep in the match. At least that’s the plan going in. I will see how it goes.

In the middle

Well I am back after the NBC Heads-Up event with some updates. The first match against Racener was pretty back and forth for the first two levels, and I held a slight chip lead when the big hand developed.

John limped his button, and I checked a 3-5. The flop fell 2 4 6. After I check-raised him on the flop, he moved all-in. I really felt at this point that he was holding a set of twos or a 4-6 type hand. Obviously, my money is going in the middle here with the nuts, and I was pleased to see that he only held A-6. This is about as good as it gets, and I was happy to be a huge favorite to advance.

Advancing was great but my next match loomed large. I was pitted against the winner of the Phil ivey vs. Daniel “jungleman12″ Gates match. Neither of these two players are who you want to see sitting across from you at a poker table.

I ended up playing Jungleman12. Going in, I knew this match would be completely different than my Round 1 match. Daniel is a heads-up specialist, and I knew he would be putting tons of pressure on me.

There are two ways to combat the pressure from him: either be more aggressive, or make hands and let him hang himself. I have a lot of experience playing top-notch heads-up players, so I felt confident I could play well here.

In the match I got off to an early lead and found he was not nearly as aggressive as I had imagined. I made two super-light calls in the match that were both correct. These two calls probably slowed him down and made him think twice before running bluffs on me.

Once I saw he was done bluffing, I had a good idea his big bets were going to be for value, so I folded a pretty large hand later where I think he had it. After about 30 minutes, he was visibly frustrated, and I held a little better than 2-1 chip advantage. The blinds were starting to get high, and I decided to go for the knock-out blow.

I re-raised him preflop with an ace-ten and he shipped all-in. I know at this point I am behind here. He has not gotten out of line at all and wouldn’t here knowing I will call pretty light.

Even though I know I am behind, there was enough in the pot to warrant a call. Also, against an opponent as good as Daniel, you need to take chances when you have the knock-out blow available. Sure enough, he flipped up AK and I needed to get lucky. The ten came and I advanced. I don’t like getting my money in really bad like that ever, but against a super opponent, sometimes it happens. I was just pleased to be moving on to face Doyle Brunson.

Tags: chris-moneymaker | game | heads | john racener | knock | match | middle | money | point | pokerstars | year

Ever since turning his world upside down and becoming the every-man ambassador to the poker world, Chris Moneymaker has been something of a household name. Even some eight years after his jaw-dropping 2003 WSOP Main Event win, Moneymaker continues to surface in the highest profile of places. Now he’s done it again with a runner-up finish in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Moneymaker tore through a star-studded field to get heads-up against the positively-on-fire-rushing Erik Seidel for the championship. To make it there, Moneymaker had to defeat a member of the 2010 November Nine (John Racener), one of the hottest online nosebleeders in the game (Daniel Cates), the godfather of the game (Doyle Brunson), and the 2010 WSOP Main Event champ (Jonathan Duhamel).

Moneymaker’s heads-up opponent Seidel was probably the last person Moneymaker wanted to see. Seidel has kicked off a career year in which he’s simply crushed the big buy-in events for hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars in winnings. Seidel took Moneymaker in the first two games of the best of three series. Moneymaker picked up $300,000 for his runner-up finish.

Moneymaker is on form this year. He’s less than two months removed from deep run and 11th place finish at the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure where he won $130,000.

We’re in touch with Chris and he’s in the process of writing up a blog post to let us know what was going on in his head during the event. In the meantime, congrats, Chris on a another great performance.

Tags: chris | daniel-cates | doyle-brunson | erik seidel | event | poker | pokerstars | stars-caribbean | team pokerstars pro

Bringing the World Series of Poker November 9 back to the Rio in Las Vegas each year takes millions of dollars and gratuitous amounts of media coverage. But bringing them to Foxwoods to compete in a $15,000 freeroll requires a lot of old-fashioned elbow grease and quality marketing from Bernard Lee.

Last week Lee became the first person to reunite the November 9 after the WSOP Main Event final table. Stars of the show was Team PokerStars Pro and WSOP champ Jonathan Duhamel.One might suspect that bringing nine people together would be easy, but in that case, one would be wrong.

“It was the equivalent of planning a birthday party for nine of the most high-profile people in the industry,” Lee said. And evidence of this nonuple birthday party was all over Lee’s hotel room. A color-coded batch of flight itineraries decorated his door, player and media contact information littered his desk, and his Blackberry suffered a barrage of texts, e-mails and calls, making it buzz violently all over his nightstand. But this was only the tip of the bureaucratic iceberg that was needed to bring the November 9 to Foxwoods. “I started this process six months ago,” Lee said.

Reunited: November 9 players include PokerStars’ Jonathan Duhamel, middle of back row

But the makings of a man capable of putting together such an event began years ago. After receiving his B.A. and M.A. in Biology from Harvard, Lee earned his MBA at Babson College. From there, he went on to a successful career in marketing medical products around the globe. While this may seem enough for one lifetime, Lee encountered something in 2005 that would change his life. That something was a PokerStars qualifier seat to the 2005 WSOP Main Event. The cost? 1000 FPPs.

Lee’s charismatic demeanor and 13th-place finish, worth a cool $400,000, skyrocketed him into poker stardom. It was an event that he won’t soon forget. “It was a surreal experience,” he explained, “I just couldn’t believe that day after day after day I was still in it.” But even if he does forget it, his journey was documented by numerous media outlets, including Lee himself. An eight-part, first-person account of Lee’s experience, later christened the “Dogger 9 archive,” was published on the PokerStars Blog. “It was such a cathartic experience,” said Lee. “And 27 pages single-spaced later, I was finished.”

His memoir starts out simple but strong: “It turned out to be the week of my life,” writes Lee. He then goes on to provide one of the most in depth and personal accounts of a World Series run ever written. In it, he documents his mental exhaustion mixed with the awe of slowly making his way deeper and deeper into the world’s most prestigious poker tournament. “My strategy was simple: get through each day. I remember leaving the hotel room, (looking back) into it and saying ‘Just come back still being in this thing,” said Lee. “It never dawned on me that I had a shot at winning it.”

And when it came to the actual tournament, Lee had a solid tactic. Never risk your tournament life with the worst hand. “I never went in the underdog in a situation for my entire (tournament) life,” said Lee. On Day 6, Lee even laid down Queens and Kings pre-flop when he knew he was beat. He chronicles the inner-workings of these tremendous laydowns in Part 6 of the Dogger 9 archives. Lee continued his philosophy of getting it in with the best but, unfortunately, it didn’t always work out.

In his final hand, Lee went all in against Aaron Kanter on a [k][6][3] flop. Kanter called and showed [q][6], an underdog to Lee’s king. The turn was a jack, but the river was a brutal, unforgiving six. “To win a tournament some people say, ‘Oh, you have to be lucky, you have to hit that one outer,’” said Lee. “I actually look at it another way. You have to avoid getting unlucky.” But unlucky he got, and Dogger 9′s WSOP saga came to an end. But as one door closed, another opened.

Many people took note of Lee’s written account. After the WSOP, Lee was contacted by the Boston Herald and they asked the Boston local if he was interested in writing a poker column for them. He was. ESPN also took note of the Dogger 9 stories on the PokerStars Blog and asked Lee if he was interested in writing for them. He was. And the offers kept on coming. “PokerNews Daily only chose a few writers when they first started. They asked Mike Sexton, Annie Duke, myself,” said Lee. “I was very, very honored that they included me in that short list.”

Bernard Lee

Then, in 2007, Lee premiered ‘The Bernard Lee Poker Show’, a show where he invites poker professionals to discuss poker strategy and news. He also signs off with the motto that led him deep into the 2005 WSOP: May you always go in with the best cards, and may you never get unlucky. ‘The Bernard Lee Poker Show’ has also had all 27 members of the November 9. This “access and ability to talk and be friends with them” Lee says, is what helped him bring them to Foxwoods.

“The beauty is that they’re all good guys,” said Lee. “And it’s fun when you have such good guys. You got the headline of this whole thing, Michael Mizrachi… he’s a gentleman; he’s sincere. He’s had his ups and his down and he really appreciates it. You got Jonathan Duhamel, a champ who feels like he’s the luckiest guy in the world. You got John Racener who’s been my friend for a while. I had him on my radio in 2007 and I announced to the world that this kid was going to do something one day. You got two quiet kids, Joseph Cheong and John Dolan, online kids who are just really nice guys. Filippo Candio who’s just a ball of fire. Cuong “Soi” Nguyen, who I think he and I get along pretty well because we’re somewhat similar ages, both Asian backgrounds, both working guys. You got Matthew Jarvis and Jason Senti who both have their personality come out on the table. Jarvis with his sunglasses and Senti loves to talk. They’re fun.”

And they were all brought back to compete against each other one more time. In addition to the November 9, there were 18 Foxwoods qualifiers and 3 guest players, consisting of Bernard Lee, Lon McEachern and Kasey Thompson. The friendly event was filled with prop bets, jokes and poker talk.

Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel couldn’t repeat his legendary run and finished 5th. Duhamel got it all-in with [ac][jc] against Ben Hopkins [5s][5c]. The flop, [jh][ah][4d], fell heavily in Duhamel’s favor. It appeared that his WSOP run good had yet to run out. That is, until a [5d] hit on the river giving Hopkins the set. Although his 5th-place finish won him $1,000, he lost something else: a prop bet against Matthew Jarvis. Since Jarvis finished 2nd , thus outlasting Duhamel, the Team PokerStars Pro will now have to wear a Vancouver Canucks jersey for three events during this year’s WSOP. A steep price for a die-hard Montreal Canadiens fan like Duhamel.

But the player who took the $5,000 first prize and outlasted all November 9 players was an amateur by the name of Ben Hopkins. He ended the tournament when his [ad][qc] held up against Jarvis’ [kd][jd].

And how about Bernard Lee? He showed the November 9 that he was more than just their host. “They didn’t see me as a player necessarily, because they see me as this Foxwoods spokesperson,” Lee said. “But hopefully making the final table and finishing sixth among these guys gets me a little respect for them.” And if that doesn’t garner their respect, then Lee’s $1.7 million in live tournament earnings and three World Poker Final titles might.

With all this under Lee’s belt, one can only wonder what’s next for him. “Is there anything after this? Isn’t this everything,” laughed Lee. “But I always have stuff up my sleeve.” When it comes to poker, Lee hopes to win what every poker players desires most, a World Series of Poker bracelet, but when it comes to media, Lee loves every second of his job. “I love our ESPN Inside Deal show,” said Lee. “I absolutely love being the Foxwoods spokesperson. I get to do a lot of things in the world of poker that I really enjoy.”

Tags: bernard | biology | daily | dogger | las vegas | life | montreal | personality | poker | PokerStars news | Vegas | world-series | wsop

6.35pm: Dinner break
The remaining 29 players are now all on a 75 minute dinner break.

6.34pm: Seidel moving up the gears
Erik Seidel is touching the 300,000 mark after moving his aggression up a notch or two. Firstly, he was sat in the big blind and facing an early position raise to 10,000 from overnight chip leader, Ryan Fair. Seidel three-bet to 28,000 only for Fair to four-bet to 45,700. Seidel was having none of it though and put in a decisive five-bet to 103,000. Fair slid his cards into the muck.

The very next hand Seidel was in the small blind and three-bet to 25,000 after the button opened with a min raise to 8,000. This raise was good enough to take that pot down too. — MC

6.29pm: Sneaky Seidel picks up a small one
Erik Seidel just won a small pot from Jason Mercier after opening his range wide and trying to hit a hidden monster. Mecier opened for 8,000 from middle position and Seidel called in the cut-off. Mercier fired 8,300 at the flop and Seidel made the call. Neither player put any further chips in on the [7c] turn or the [qh] river.

Seidel’s [5d][2d] took the pot. — RD

6.23pm: Pot control by Arieh
Josh Arieh is up to 250,000 after winning a pot against Team PokerStars Pro Max Lykov. Arieh raised from under-the-gun and was called by both players in the blinds. The flop came [2h][qh][9c] and Arieh c-bet for 17,800. He only found a caller in Lykov from the small blind. The turn came [7d] and both players checked to the [7s] river. Lykov led for 23,000 and Areih called with [kh][qc], which was good against Lykov’s [td][ts]. The Russian drops a little to 260,000 chips. — MC

6.20pm: Pre-break snapshot
Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier is the current chip leader with 680,000. Vanessa Rousso and John Racener have zero chips now (if you’re new to poker that means they’re out…). — RD

Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso is out

6.10pm: Heimiller bust
Dan Heimiller is out. The cards were being swept away by the dealer but it looked as though Heimiller was very short and shoved from the button with pocket nines. Erik Seidel was in the big blind and made the call with queen-ten and hit a ten on the turn. – MC

6pm: Akery knocks out Jaka
Faraz Jaka likes a gamble it seems. These last few days we’ve seen his chip stacks swing all over the place. He was on over 300,000 a short while ago but now, after taking a 200,000 plus flip against Brit Rob Akery, he is out. Akery raised from the small blind to 8,000 and Jaka three-bet to 27,000 from the big. Akery moved a large stack of blue 5,000 chips across the line to put Jaka all-in. He obliged.

Jaka: [ah][jd]
Akery: [8c][8h]

The board turned a gusthot draw for Jaka but he failed to connect and Akery raked in the chips. He’s up to 330,000 now. “Wow,” mouthed Akery as Jaka walked away. — RD

5.45pm: Sunar busts to Molson
Surindar Sunar is out after Will Molson rivered a flush on him. Sunar had let his stack get very short when he called a Molson under-the-gun min raise whilst sat in the small blind. The flop came [ah][kd][4h] and Sunar checked to face a bet that was enough to put him all-in. He had 18,500 left and thought for a good few minutes before calling with [kc][qh]. Molson turned over the flush drawing [th][9h] and the board ran out [ac][5h]. “Unlucky and good call”, said Molson before Sunar made his exit. — MC

Surinder Sunar won’t be adding to his lengthy list of live cashes

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 2,000-4,000, ANTE 400

5.32pm: Mercier monster the end for Maceiras
Jason Mercier has joined Tom Marchese as a monster 500,000 stack after dumping out fellow Team PokerStars Pro Juan Maceiras.

The Spaniard had started the hand with around 200,000 and had opened for 8,000 under-the-gun. Mercier three-bet to 19,000 and Maceiras tested the water out with a four-bet to around 40,000 (it may have been 45,000). Mercier clicked it back and Maceiras moved all-in for the remainder of his stack. Mercier made the call fearing the worst. As it turned out his [qh][qs] was crushing Maceiras’ pocket sevens. No help on the flop and Mercier raked in a 400,000 pot to take him up to half-a-million. Just a few seats to his right – past Eric Seidel and short stack Surinder Sunar – is Tom Marchese who has a similar amount of chips. That could get very messy. — RD

Mercier feeling at home with his usual monster stack

5.28pm: Jaka takes another scalp
Faraz Jaka has taken out another player to move to over 300,000 chips. He opened to 6,500 from the hijack before Max Lykov three-bet to 16,000 from the cut-off and Tony Gregg four-bet to 38,300 from the button. Jaka sat there for a while before five-betting to 106,000. This prompted a quick fold from Lykov but a quick all-in from Gregg for less than 150,000. Jaka made the call to create a showdown.

Jaka: [ad][qh]
Gregg: [9h][9c]

The board ran [js][2s][qd][7s][3h] to pair Jaka’s queen and eliminate Gregg. — MC

5.15pm: Because Fernandez Khan
Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez is up to around 460,000 chips after winning a monster pot and eliminating Hafiz Khan. There was an early position raise to 10,000 that Freddy Deeb three-bet to 42,000 from the hijack before Fernandez moved all-in for 210,900 from the small blind. Khan was in the big blind and his eyes opened wide when he looked at his cards. He too moved all-in. The original raiser folded and Deeb open folded ace-queen.

Fernandez: [kh][ks]
Khan: [qd][qc]

The board ran [jc][ah][2d][9s][7h] to end the tournament for Khan. — MC

Kings good for Leo Fernandez

5.10pm: Metaal rocks on
This is a six-bet shove that Kyle Julius will be thinking about for some time. Was it the best idea to make that final move into Govert Metaal, who had perhaps been playing a little tighter than most?

Julius had opened the pot from early position and Metaal had three-bet to 15,000. Julius opted for a four-bet to 27,400 and his Dutch opponent waited but a short while before coming back over the top for just over 50,000 total.

Kyle Julius

“How much you got back?” asked Julius, craning his neck to get a proper look at Metaal’s stash. He had around 100,000. Julius moved in and Metaal was only too happy to make the call with [ah][ad] leaving the American drawing thin and a little frustrated with [as][qd]. The board ran out [jc][4d][ac][9d][9h] for Metaal to rake in a monster 300,000 pot. Julius had him covered but was left short.

Govert Metaal’s five-bet induced the shove

One player that obviously didn’t like the move was Phillip Gruissem who looked up at myself and my German colleague, smiled and shook his head. — RD

* Kyle Julius is now out.

5pm: Lodden lost
Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden is out. He got the last of his chips in with deuces but failed to overcome Faraz Jaka and his pocket sixes. — MC

4.50pm: Reiman clear at the top
We don’t have the hand details but Tyler Reiman has just eliminated Masa Kagawa to move clear at the top of the field with 550,000 chips. — MC

4.42pm: Busted flush draws
Dan Heimiller would’ve been a happy man if his flush draw came in versus Tom Bedell but it didn’t and he’s dropped to 90,000 in chips. Bedell raised from the hijack and Heimiller defended from the big blind to see the [9h][8c][kc] flop. Bedell c-bet for 8,000 and Heimiller check-raised to 22,000. Bedell tanked for two minutes and called. The turn came [ah] and Bedell bet 28,500 when checked to him. Heimiller called before both checked the [4d] river. Heimiller claimed to have missed his flush draw and so had Bedell but he had a pair with his [jc][9c] and that was enough to claim the pot. — MC

4.32pm: Players are returning to their seats
Play is due to restart in two minutes. We’re down to the final 45 players, around a third of the starting field. Only a third of those remaining will make the money with 16th place paying out $55,490 and a massive $1,072,890 for first. — RD

Team PokerStars Pro Nacho Barbero rails Max Lykov on a break from World Cup duty

PokerStars Blog reporting team in the Bahamas (in order of sandwich consumption): Marc Convey (a finely balanced BLT) and Rick Dacey (a melted cheese monstrosity).

Tags: bahamas | button | cards | dealer | ept | faraz-jaka | german | john racener | metaal | money | pca | poker | Tony G | water

4.20pm: End of level
That’s the second break of the day. Our remaing 45 players have 15 minutes in which to do some stretches, type some tweets and slug some coffee. — RD

4.19pm: John Racener to a double-up
WSOP main event runner-up John Racener has just doubled up through Rob Akery. They were in the blinds and all the chips went in pre-flop with Racener holding [ts][td] to Akery’s [as][6c]. The board ran [9c][4c][2d][4s][8h] to push Racener’s stack up to 100,000 and drop Akery down to 150,000. — MC

4.15pm: Quiet table, big stacks
At one of the quieter tables of this high roller tournament Daniel Alaei is up to 300,000, last year’s PCA main event runner-up Tyler Reiman has 380,000 while Matt Affleck is now on 240,000 after scooping a pot away from Masa Kagawa.

Affleck had bet 25,000 into a [9s][9d][ks][ad] board and the Japanese businessman released his hand. Kagawa has cashed in a couple of high roller events in the past so certainly showed be ruled out of making the money here. — RD

Masa Kagawa loves a high roller event

4.05pm: Metaal finishes the job
Govert Metaal took a lot of Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem’s chips a while back and now he’s taken the rest. Hachem was low when he shoved with [as][5s] and was looked up by Metaal holding [th][9h]. The board ran [9c][kc][3d][4s][jc] to finish Hachem’s PCA adventure for this year. — MC

3.55pm: Lykov battles Rousso
There are no friends or teammates at the poker table. Max Lykov may be a member of Team PokerStars Pro but he’s happy to battle Vanessa Rousso, just like he did Jason Mercier a short while ago. He was more successful this time around.

Rousso opened the pot with a raise 6,000 from the hijack and was called by Lykov on the button to go to a [jd][5d][7h] flop. Rousso continued for 8,000 and was called. The turn came [2c] and Rousso fired again for 13,000. She was called again. She slowed to a check on the [2s] river and faced a 27,000 bet from the Russian. She tanked for ages, took off her glasses, stared at her opponent, scratched her head and finally made the call. Lykov tabled [js][td] for two-pair and the pot as Rousso mucked. Lykov up to 260,000 whereas Rousso drops to 80,000. — MC

Max Lykov is grinding out a big stack

3.42pm: Lykov picks up some more
Max Lykov has grabbed another chunk of chips after Faraz Jaka made a bit of a move on a [qs][3h][kd][js] board. Jaka had checked the turn from the small blind, Lykov had bet 11,500 from the big and Vanessa Rousso called on the button.

Jaka then raised to what looked like 30,000 (to my bleary eyes anyway). Lykov made the call, Rousso folded to leave herself with 130,000. Both Lykov and Jaka checked the [7h] river with Jaka’s pocket tens losing out to Lykov’s [k][t]. — RD

3.32pm: Hachem hanging on
Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem is down to 33,000 chips after losing out on a pot to Dutch millionaire Govert Metaal. Hachem raised from mid-position and was called by both blind players. The flop came [7d][ts][5s] and Hachem made a pot-sized c-bet for 20,000. Metaal called from the small blind. The turn came [jh] and both players checked, and did the same on the [9c] river. Hachem tabled [as][ks] for ace-high but lost out to the Dutchman’s [7c][7s] for a set. — MC

3.25pm: Lest we forget
Players that have fallen by the wayside today include Team PokerStars Pros Alex Kravchenko, Sandra Naujoks, Joe Cada, Alex Gomes and Humberto Brenes, as well as the likes of high stakes cash players Luke Schwartz and Harry Kaczka. — RD

Brenes won $200,000 for a fifth place finsih in the Super High Roller

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,200-2,400, ANTE 200

3.19pm: Pro battle
Team PokerStars Pros Max Lykov and Jason Mercier just did the button versus big blind thing with Mercier coming out on top. Lykov raised to 4,500 from the button and called when Mercier three-bet to 4,500 from the big blind. The flop came [ad][2d][3h] and Mercier led for 9,600. Call. The [ah][9c] turn and river were checked down and Mercier tabled [8d][8c]. Lykov mucked to drop to 250,000 whereas Mercier climbs to 120,000. — MC

3.11pm: Gruissem’s turn to double
Shortly after doubling Joe Hachem up, Phillip Gruissem has just got it all-in with Matt Woodward to break the 100,000 barrier. Gruissem had four-bet shoved with big slick which held firm against Woodward’s ace-queen. — RD

3.08pm: Hachem doubles through Gruissem
Former World Champ Joe Hachem has just doubled through Phillip Gruissem. The German had opened from the hijack for 4,500 and Hachem had shoved from the cut-off for 32,000. Gruissem made the call.

Gruissem: [as][8c]
Hachem: [jc][9c]

Hachem made top two on the [4d][9d][jd] flop leaving Gruissem drawing thin. An ace on the river did little to help him. He’s down to 62,000 whil Hachem jumps to 68,000. Average chip count is over 130,000 now. — RD

Joe Hachem scored a vital double up

2.57pm: All pre-flop aggression
Tyler Reiman is up to 340,000 chips after scooping a 130,000 pot where all the action happened pre-flop. Reiman raised from mid-position before Matt Affleck three-bet to 13,500 from the hijack and Daniel Alaei four-bet to 32,000 from the small blind. Reiman had a bit more aggression in him and five-bet to 57,000 and that was enough to scare off Affleck but not Alaei who made the call.

No more chips made it into the middle as both players were happy the [kd][as][ks][qs][3h] board all the way down. Reiman tabled [ac][qc] and Alaei mucked to drop to 195,000 chips. — MC

Tyler Reiman is looking for more PCA success

2.44pm: Kaczka got Mercier’d
Harry Kaczka has been taken out of the high roller equation by Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier. Kaczka held king-ten to Mercier’s ace-jack and all the chips went in pre-flop. Mercier flopped an ace and it stayed good through the board. The man from Florida is up to 120,000 now. — MC

2.39pm: Deeb turbo muck
Freddy Deeb opened for 5,000 of his 45,000 stack and could not have flicked his cards away faster when a three-bet from Team PokerStars Juan Maceiras was levelled at him. The high stakes pro is down to 20 big blinds and will be looking for sweet spots to get it in. Maceiras continues to climb. — RD

Juan Maceiras: picking on Deeb?

2.35pm: Marchese sets in Schwarz
Luke Schwarz is down to a little over 20,000 and is not the big stack that he’s happy playing with. The action passed to Tom Marchese in the small blind and he set Schwarz all-in. The Brit passed and Marchese showed [kh][tc].– RD

2.30pm: Lodden back to starting stack
Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden is back to his 50,000 starting stack after doubling through Darren Elias. Lodden was in the cut-off with [kc][ks] and Elias was in the big blind with [qh][qc]. As you can imagine all the chips went in pre-flop and the board ran [th][5s][2d][2s][as]. Lodden said, “Thank you,” to his opponent as he stacked up. — MC

Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden

2.20pm: Play restarts
We have 67 players left in this $25,000 buy-in event. Double ups and bust outs all to come. — RD

Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso

PokerStars Blog reporting team in the Bahamas (in order of length stare): Rick Dacey (1,000 yard stare) and Marc Convey (as far as the closest masseuse).

Tags: cards | florida | german | hijack | japanese | joe cada | john racener | mercier | pca | pokerstars | river | russian | tyler-reiman | vanessa-rousso

Team PokerStars Pro is nearly synonymous with world champions. From the very beginning, Team Pro has been home to the WSOP main event winners. So, when Jonathan Duhamel stood from his seat at the Penn and Teller theater as the world champion, there wasn’t much doubt what was going to happen next.

Though you might have assumed so by now, this morning PokerStars made it official: Duhamel, the 2010 WSOP main event winner, is the newest member of Team Pro.

If you’re just catching up, Duhamel won nearly $9 million last November after besting the November Nine in Las Vegas and currently stands as one poker’s most important ambassadors to the world.

Duhamel playing in the 2011 PCA

Duhamel faced countless opponents in his long march to the World Series of Poker final table and the heads-up battle that would decide the 2010 world champion, but none so insistent and unforgiving as the expectation he foisted upon himself. He said at every turn that he would not be happy unless he was wearing the gold bracelet. Within a few days in November, Duhamel put a muzzle on that nagging compulsion when he became the first Canadian to win the WSOP Main Event. After entering the second night of November Nine play with a better than 6-1 chip lead over American John Racener, Duhamel made quick work of his opponent and claimed the bracelet in fewer than 50 hands.

“It’s a dream come true,” Duhamel said.

The man from Quebec may have pushed himself unfairly hard, but it was not without some help in the pushing. Duhamel’s victory made him an immediate nationwide hero, the first man from Canada to ever win poker’s biggest championship. For the past decade, Canada’s first father of poker, Daniel Negreanu, was the undisputed king of Canadian card playing, but even he was never able to claim a Main Event victory. In an age of poker that welcomes players from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, there is still only one person from each country who can be the nation’s first WSOP champion, and Canada was not going to let Duhamel forget it.

He’s now setting out to be the best representative he can be for PokerStars and his country.

“I want to be playing the biggest tournaments in the world,” Duhamel said. “I’m going to do my best to pull off another big score.”

Welcome to the Team, Jonathan.

Tags: afghanistan | country | daniel-negreanu | duhamel | gold | john racener | poker | pokerstars | quebec | Vegas | World Series of Poker | world-series | wsop | zimbabwe