We started out nearly eleven hours ago with 76 hopefuls entering the Casino Canberra poker room in their quest for ANZPT glory. We had previous ANZPT champions, Australian poker legends and several young guns in contention. But after a day full of psychological warfare, we are left with just fifteen men standing.

They’re a happy bunch and will sleep well tonight knowing they are a minimum of $4,690 wealthier. Some will be more than satisfied with that, but there are a few others who want nothing more than to go all the way to claim the title and $73,700 first place prize.

Along the way today there was plenty of roadkill, with the biggest of them all falling in the opening minutes of the day.

Team PokerStars Pro Tony Hachem was in dire need of a quick double up and when he looked down and found the pocket rockets it seemed like a perfect opportunity. However a cruel river gave his opponents trips and Hachem departed.

Other high profile casualties included ANZPT Adelaide champion Octavian Voegele, ANZPT Sydney winner Michael Kanaan, day one chip leaders Scott Kerr and Leo Boxell, Rennie Carnevale, Michael Guzzardi, Sal Fazzino and ANZ Player of the Year contenders Oliver Grujic, Sebastian Pagana and Graeme Putt.

It left the door open for reigning Aussie Millions champion David Gorr as the only player in the current POTY top ten to remain in contention. Gorr battled for long periods today on a short stack, and had to survive some intense duels with the ultra-aggressive James Broom, but Gorr managed to make it through the day and can now finish as high as second in the rankings with a good result tomorrow.

As players approached the money stage, the likes of Luke Edwards, Jarred Graham and Germany’s Khiem Nguyen moved through the field to grab the chip lead. Nguyen was particularly impressive as he picked the right spots to throw jabs and accumulate. When he eliminated David Steele he shot into the chip lead and never relinquished that position as he enters the final day of play as our chip leader.

When George Moussa’s courageous run came to an end in devastating fashion at the hands of a creative Tristan Bain, the bubble had burst and we were in the money. Here’s the redraw for play tomorrow:

Table 5
Seat 1: Tristan Bain (Australia) – 263,300
Seat 2: Xiuming “Sammy” Huang (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) – 191,400
Seat 3: Brett Chalhoub (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) – 119,700
Seat 4: James Broom (Australia) – 203,700
Seat 5: Tony Kambouroglou (Australia) – 255,000
Seat 8: Luke Edwards (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) – 233,200
Seat 9: Gioreio Graziani (Australia) – 187,800

Table 6
Seat 1: Jarred Graham (Australia) – 95,500
Seat 2: Naz Sibaei (Australia) – 35,500
Seat 3: Khiem Nguyen (Germany) – 325,600
Seat 4: Andrew Watson (Australia) (PokerStars Player) – 233,900
Seat 5: Leigh Warne (Australia) – 311,600
Seat 6: Mario Ljubicic (Australia) – 39,300
Seat 8: David Gorr (Australia) – 112,500
Seat 9: Takahiro Morooka (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) – 77,700

We’ll recommence play at 12:15pm tomorrow (GMT+10) and play all the way down until a new ANZPT champion is crowned. Looking at the lineup, it’s set to be a stellar final table and should provide plenty of great highlights from the nation’s capital. Until then, enjoy your Sunday evening and we’ll see you tomorrow!

Tags: aussie-millions | australian | brett-chalhoub | chip | david-gorr | james-broom | jarred-graham | khiem-nguyen | money | qualifier | rio | stars-qualifier | top-ten

9:10pm: Maklouf picked off

Last year’s ANZPT Canberra runner up, John Maklouf has put in a great repeat performance but fallen just short of reaching the cash.

He was the short stack of the field with just 21,800 in chips which he committed with [as][6c]. Toothpick Tony made the call with [kd][5s] and connected on the board of [kh][9d][tc][qd][4h].

On a nearby table, Lee Holtzapffel was also eliminated to leave ourselves with 19 players remaining.

8:55pm: Play resumes

The 21 remaining players are back on the felt with six more eliminations required until we reach the money and the end of the day’s play.

At the end of the last level Khiem Nguyen reclaimed his spot on top of the chip count leaderboard with the elimination of David Steele. Nguyen holds 350,000 to be well out in front.

Tags: elimination | holtzapffel | khiem-nguyen | leave-ourselves | maklouf | money | pokerstars | reach-the-money | short-stack | toothpick-tony

8:45pm: Ten-minute break

8:25pm: Edwards survives four barrels from Graham

Jarred Graham had been running over his table but he just hit a roadblock in the form of Luke Edwards. It started with Graham min-raising to 6,000 and Edwards calling on the button. Brett Chalhoub came along in the big blind to see a flop of [6c][as][9c].

Action checked to Graham who bet 13,500. Edwards made the call as Chalhoub got out of the way. On the [qh] turn, Graham bet again for 24,400 and Edwards made the call as a big pot was brewing.

The river fell the [td] and Graham released another barrel worth a hefty 36,200. Edwards shrugged and declared a call as Graham tabled [ah][9s] for two pair, but he’d been rivered as Edwards showed [ac][tc]. Graham slips to 150,000 with Edwards pushing 200,000.

Luke Edwards heading towards another ANZPT cash

8:05pm: Gorr and Vandersluis double; Kerr busto

The short stacks aren’t going easily here as we have two more double ups to report.

Andrew Watson’s wealth didn’t last long as he ran his ace-king into the [as][ah] of Aussie Millions champion David Gorr. The board fell [tc][qd][4h][3s][8d] to give Gorr a big double up to 145,000. Watson is back down to 135,000.

Meanwhile overnight chip leader Scott Kerr is on the ropes after being crippled in unfortunate fashion against Roy Vandersluis. The chips were in preflop with Kerr’s [ah][ks] appearing set for a chop when Vandersluis opened the same hand – [ac][kc]. That is, until the board ran out [4s][5c][jd][8c][3c] to give Vandersluis a flush to double to 77,000.

Kerr was crippled to just 8,000 chips which he lost moments later as our day one chip leader was eliminated.

8:00pm: A couple of doubles

Roy Vandersluis has found a much-needed double up when he open shoved for 15,700 with [as][ts] and John Maklouf made the call with [qc][qd]. Vandersluis got some help when the board ran out [jd][3c][2c][ad][jc] to spike his ace and double to 37,000. Maklouf is down to 40,000.

On a nearby table James Broom and Andrew Watson went to war preflop in a cutoff versus small blind battle. Broom went with [ah][js] but Watson held a dominant [ac][ks] which held on the [7d][ad][7h][3c][kc] board. Broom is back down to 110,000 with Watson now looking strong on 203,000.

7:55pm: Morooka coolers the Toothpick

A cooler of a hand has seen the short-stacked Te Wiremu Mcgarvey run into two monster hands as Takahiro Morooka doubled up through Toothpick Tony.

Morooka opened with a raise which Mcgarvey flat called, before Toothpick put in the three-bet. Morooka flat-called as Mcgarvey called all in for his last chips.

The flop landed [8c][ts][2h] and Toothpick bet 14,000 into the side pot. However Morooka wasn’t going anywhere as he moved all in for 48,700. Toothpick called it off with [kh][kc] but Morooka held the rockets with his [as][ac]. Meanwhile things weren’t looking good for Mcgarvey with his pocket nines.

The turn was the [8d] and river the [7h] to see Mcgarvey eliminated and Morooka more than doubling up to 147,000. Toothpick slips to 80,000.

7:45pm: Level up, blinds 1,500-3,000, ante 300

7:40pm: Double for Maklouf

Te Wiremu Mcgarvey opened with a raise to 5,000 before John Maklouf moved all in for a total of 31,700. Mcgarvey made the call with [as][jc] to be racing with Maklouf’s [7c][7h].

The board fell [qc][qd][2h][6c][9s] to leave Maklouf’s pair in front for a double up to 65,000. Mcgarvey slips to 25,000.

7:30pm: Holtzapffel sets up Boxell

Leo Boxell’s mighty run in the ANZPT Canberra Main Event has come to an end. The fan favourite made the call when Lee Holtzapffel pushed all in on a flop of [6h][jh][7h]. Boxell opened [js][ts] for top pair but Holtzapffel had flopped a set with his [7s][7d].

The turn was the [as] and the river [qc] to double up Holtzapffel to around 70,000 chips. Boxell was left with just a few hundred in chips which disappeared moments later as Boxell hit the rail.

Lee Holtzapffel is pretty happy to double up through Leo Boxell

7:25pm: Bain flushes Davey

Tristan Bain has jumped up with the tournament chip leaders in a massive clash with Peter Davey. The chips were in on the turn with the board reading [jh][ah][qs][7h]. Davey pushed with [9h][6h] but Bain insta-called with [qh][4h].

The river was the [9d] and after a countdown of chips, Bain just had him covered to eliminate Davey and jump Bain up to nearly 200,000 chips.

7:15pm: Nice call by Broom

We only saw the action on the river, but obviously Leo Boxell’s story wasn’t quite convincing enough as James Broom made a pretty heroic call. The board read [td][7d][qh][3d][2h] and Boxell tossed out 18,000 into the middle, but Broom made the call.

Boxell opened [9s][8s] for a missed straight draw as Broom’s light call with [jc][7c] was a beauty. Broom is back up to 200,000 with Boxell back down to 50,000.

7:05pm: Moussa takes out a shorty

We’ve lost our first player post-dinner as George Moussa has taken care of one of the short stacks of the field. Moussa made the call when his opponent moved all in for 8,700. Moussa showed [kh][tc] and was in dominant shape against [qs][ts].

The short-stacked player had already stood from his chair and put on his jacket in preparation of the bad news, which indeed arrived on the [ac][3h][jc][jd][qh] board. Moussa makes a straight to move up to 160,000.

7:00pm: Boxell pulls the stop and go

“Not a bad recovery from 12,000,” chuckled Leo Boxell after raking in another pot. From the small blind, he’d called the raise from Lee Holtzapffel to 9,300 from under the gun. They saw a [jc][9h][8c] flop and Boxell immediately moved all in to put Holtzapffel to a decision for his tournament life.

Holtzapffel thought for a long time before folding as Boxell gets himself back to 80,000.

6:45pm: Play resumes

The 32 players have returned from dinner with only a hunger for more chips! Jarred Graham is out in front with Khiem Nguyen, Mario Ljubicic and James Broom the next best.

We’ll be continuing this evening until we reach the money for our final fifteen players.

Tags: board | edwards | graham | maklouf | mcgarvey | money | rio | toothpick | vandersluis

Canberra is a city with a lot of culture. Some of the country’s finest museums and galleries are found in the nation’s capital. Those who appreciate artistic genius will be more that satisfied here. And they will probably also enjoy the work of art which is able to be created in the Casino Canberra this afternoon. They often say that No Limit Holdem is an art, and that will be on display today in its finest form as 76 players return to the felt for Day 2 of the PokerStars.net ANZPT Canberra Main Event.

The goal will be to reach the money, but we may not quite get that far today. It will be close, but the rate of eliminations in this tournament has been pretty slow, so if that continues, we may be in for a lengthy day.

2009 ANZPT Queensland Scott Kerr will enter with the biggest stack in the room, with Aussie poker legend Leo Boxell, Aussie Millions champ David Gorr, previous ANZPT Season 3 champs Octavian Voegele and Michael Kanaan and Team PokerStars Pro Tony Hachem all still in contention.

Cards will be in the air from 12:15pm so stay tuned!

Tags: 2011 | afternoon | artistic-genius | aussie-millions | country | enjoy-the-work | michael-kanaan | money | pokerstars | scott-kerr | team pokerstars pro | tournament | work

Canberra is a city with a lot of culture. Some of the country’s finest museums and galleries are found in the nation’s capital. Those who appreciate artistic genius will be more that satisfied here. And they will probably also enjoy the work of art which is able to be created in the Casino Canberra this afternoon. They often say that No Limit Holdem is an art, and that will be on display today in its finest form as 76 players return to the felt for Day 2 of the PokerStars.net ANZPT Canberra Main Event.

The goal will be to reach the money, but we may not quite get that far today. It will be close, but the rate of eliminations in this tournament has been pretty slow, so if that continues, we may be in for a lengthy day.

2009 ANZPT Queensland Scott Kerr will enter with the biggest stack in the room, with Aussie poker legend Leo Boxell, Aussie Millions champ David Gorr, previous ANZPT Season 3 champs Octavian Voegele and Michael Kanaan and Team PokerStars Pro Tony Hachem all still in contention.

Cards will be in the air from 12:15pm so stay tuned!

Tags: 2011 | afternoon | artistic-genius | aussie-millions | enjoy-the-work | michael-kanaan | money | pokerstars | reach-the-money | scott-kerr | team pokerstars pro | tournament | work

3:05pm: Spoke too soon

“Manny, are you all in?” came the cry across the room.

“Yeah…but I’ve got aces!” replied Manny Rodrigues to his mate as he stood from his chair following an all-in clash with Stephen Quon.

Of course, as soon as one says something like that, the poker Gods prick their ears and strike down with furious anger. And so it happened.

Quon held pocket kings and there was a roar of horror when the board ran out [4h][4d][4c][9d][kc]. Quon spiked the two-outer river to double through to 45,000 with Rodrigues licking his wounds as he’s down to just 6,000.

2:50pm: Prize pool information

The official numbers are in and the prize pool for the ANZPT Canberra Main Event has been announced. We have a total of 134 entrants to create a prize pool of $268,000. The top 15 players will finish in the money with a minimum pay day of $4,690. Reaching the final table will be worth $8,040 while first place will take home $73,700.

2:40pm: “I was either right or wrong”

Tony Hachem raised things up to 450 on the button before Ben McLean three-bet to 1,100 from the big blind. Hachem almost beat him into the pot with a call to see the flop of [as][4d][4s].

McLean checked it over to Hachem who bet 1,300. McLean made a quick call as the [2s] hit the turn. Action was check-check before the [kh] appeared on the river. McLean led out with a bet of 2,600 to send Hachem deep into the tank.

“Sorry boys,” sighed Hachem as he deliberated for several minutes before flashing the [kc] and folding. McLean showed [8c][8s].

“I knew it!” exclaimed Hachem. “I was either right or I was wrong. If I was right, I look like a genius,” he added as both players now sit with around 21,000 chips.

2:30pm: Play resumes

The players are back from their first break and the cards are in the air. We didn’t lose any players in the first two levels of play so our starting field of 73 players are all still alive and kicking.

Tags: 2011 | across-the-room | cards | checked-it-over | manny-rodrigues | money | right-or-wrong | rio | spiked-the-two | two-outer-river

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Photo by Wolynski
In creation stories, God waved his finger at the void and declared, “Ala peanut butter sandwiches.” And viola! The world was created. It wasn’t an easy task and took the Big Cheese six days before He decided his work was done on Earth. If you know your scripture, you know that on the seventh day, God rested.

I have no proof if the story checks out, but everyone religious person I know takes off at least one day a week to worship their Creator. Too bad poker players at the WSOP don’t take off every seven days to worship Benny Binion by wearing a cowboy hat and heading to downtown Las Vegas to pay homage to the man who created what is known as the postmodern poker industry.

Nope, the WSOP is a 24-hour operation for seven straight weeks. In the age of the internet providing lightning quick information and the skewed entitlement of the international public which desires a 24/7 bombardment of a news cycle, it’s impossible to tell dig up complete stories and instead, tiny nuggets of info are released. This is not an issue indigenous to poker, if anything it’s more rampant in mainstream media as well. Hence, the insatiable demand of the public forces news organizations to focus on edible bits of information as the lines between jouranlism and entertainment are blurred.

Luckily, I don’t have too many problems with that arduous task. You good folks tune in here to get my take on the daily happenings. The Tao is the filter to which you’d like to see the world — whether it’s an intense bright white lifting the darkness, or a blurry psychotropic surreal journey of spending almost every waking second inside a casino for seven weeks straight.

I did that once, staying inside a casino for several weeks straight, and I’ll never do it again because it nearly killed me and seriously damaged my brain. I know some pros who will say the same thing. It’s not about being “jaded”, rather the main goal is to stay sane in a city of compromising vales. If you spend too much time inside a casino, you will either… 1) lose all your money, or 2) go you become a lunatic, frothing at the mouth, otherwise known as a zombie.

Welcome to the zombie apocalypse. You’re only hope is to go batshit crazy before your bankroll runs out. Otherwise, you’re completely fucked after the “vampire squids” suck every single cent of cash out of your pocket. Thanks to Matt Taibbi for the term “vampire squids” to describe Goldman Sachs, which I’m going to borrow for this piece and use to describe the casino fat cats.

If the vampires don’t get you, the vultures will.

When you arrived on flight #2103 from Chicago’s O’Hare airport, you don’t see the vultures circling above. It’s not that they are visible, it’s just you’re usually in a frame of mind which prevents you from seeing anything tragically wrong in Sin City. After all, this is America’s playground, right? A safe haven to frolic and re-live old glory days with a small percentage that you’ll go home a winner.

But if you had kids and knew a local playground was crawling with pedophiles, kidnappers, Scientologists, and other shady characters of ill repute, there’s no way you’d every let your loved ones step foot onto that playground. That’s absurd, right? Yet I see some of the most intelligent men and women in the world disembark at the airport and step right into a black hole where vampire squids and vultures are waiting to steal all your money and rip apart meaty chunks of your soul.

The honeymoon is over. Week 7 of the 2011 WSOP has come and gone. I got two days of rest. I’m the lucky one, while others continued to slug it out day for a week straight. I hope those brave souls last another week before Lost Vegas swallows them up.

I took the weekend off and had pre-written something in my head on my flight back to Vegas, however, the moment I stepped back into the Amazon Ballroom, I deleted my pre-draft. Why? The Devil.

I heard the Devil was lurking around the Rio last week and despite a few confirmed sightings from my friends, I didn’t see him. It’s not that I didn’t believe them — I couldn’t see him for whatever reasons. The Devil chose not to present himself. He has the powers of invisibility and can make the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up. But something happened to me over the weekend that slightly altered my chemical makeup with a few traces still left in my system. As a result, whenever I step back into Las Vegas, it’s like walking around in the darkness with night-vision goggles because you see shit you never would have seen otherwise.

The Devil.

He stood in the middle of the Amazon Ballroom and took a few steps toward my direction. The moment he saw me, he whirled around. He knew what was up — that a few sips of special tea rejuvenated my powers to peek into the souls of all beings — human and otherworldly. Instead of a confrontation, the Devil disappeared into the crowd, but not before I gave KevMath a panicked look in my eyes and pointed in his direction.

“It’s the Devil, Kevin,” I whispered. “Stay the fuck out of his way.”

The Devil is a project manager. He has his own army of agents which were dispersed way before Las Vegas even became the Las Vegas we know about. The Devil pops in and out checking up on the progress of his attempt to turn good people to the dark side. Much like a vampire needs blood to survive, the Devil and his agents need fresh, new souls to maintain their nourishment. If they don’t eat with regularity, they will eventually die.

The only way to win this battle between light and dark is to not fall prey to all of the temptations Las Vegas offers around every corner. The lure you with curiosity, greed, and depravity. Sometimes, something as simple as a day off could do wonders to strengthen your soul and you will have enough energy to rebuke the tantalizing advances of the Devil’s agents. The vampires and vultures prey on the weak and feeble, and after a week straight at the WSOP, the Amazon Ballroom becomes a fertile feeding ground.

* * * *
Last summer, the Brits got off to a raging start and the WSOP had a taste of the British Invasion led by a group of young, brash twenty-somethings, many of whom had received their poker education via the virtual world. The young Brits brimming with confidence and their pockets bulging over with Pound notes with the Queen’s royal image stamped on the front, flew out to Las Vegas for the first time. Go west, young Brits and conquer foreign lands in the name of the Queen. Or something like that.

With fewer and fewer Europeans and Scandis willing to risk massive tax obligations on their WSOP winnings, the Brits didn’t have to slash and burn their way through Scandi-heavy fields like they do on some EPT stops. Simply put, the Brits arrived last year and kicked some ass. They have the medals, aka the bracelets, to prove their valiant bravery on the battlefield.

And many of them are back and brought some new friends along for the ride. Since last Friday, a pair of twenty-somthing Brits won bracelets. On Friday, Jake Cody took down a bracelet the largest ever prize pool for a Heads-Up tournament. On Monday night, his childhood friend Matt Perrins equaled his feat. Perrins shipped Event #9, $1,500 NL 2-7 Single Draw bested a field of 275 players to win a game he claimed to have never played before. He pulled a Johnny Bax. Back in 2005, Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy had never played Seven-card Stud before he bought into the tournament — and he promptly won it — after a quick tutorial before game time. A similar story happened to Jen Harman many moons ago when she received a quick tutorial outside the old poker room at Binion’s Horseshoe.

When I hear stories about people playing a game for the first time — and winning a bracelet — it almost sounds too good to be true and something the press would make up to induce more donks into pissing away their money in games they’ve never played before. But it’s unfair to the players involved. Sure, they might not know how the intricacies of the game — but they are skilled card players (notice the emphasis on card) and they have an amazing knack for learning quickly on the fly. Alas, not too many players can learn something fast and become an expert. That puts them in the same category of geniuses, savants, and aliens.

Maybe we should do a alien DNA test on Matt Perrins to make sure he’s terrestrial. I’d hate to think most of the WSOP bracelet winners are non-human, but if you spent any time inside the Rio or Pavilion, you almost wonder if half the people in the room are really from this world?

Between alien hybrids running rampant inside the Rio and the Devil agents trying to lure weak souls into the back of their unmarked vans, you probably should get some rest. One week of the WSOP is complete and with six more to go, you’re going to have to use every ounce of energy to ward off the British invasion, alien hybrids, vampire squids, and the Devil.

Tags: amazon | america | creator | devil | greed | money | news | people | poker-industry | press | rio | Vegas | virtual | work | wsop

9:50pm: Level up, blinds 30,000-60,000, ante 5,000

9:45pm: More Mah

More chips and momentum for Kwan Mah as Haifeng Xue is looking a little frustrated.
Xue opened to 120,000 on the button before Mah three-bet an additional 345,000 from the big blind. Xue called and they saw a flop of [jc][qs][7c].

Mah led out for 600,000 and Xue looked interested but he eventually let it go. Mah now has a 2-to-1 chip lead with 4.4 million to 2.2 million.

9:30pm: Mah moves them all in

After Haifeng Xue got the early advantage in this heads-up match, Kwan Mah has struck back with our first all in.

Xue opened to 120,000 on the button and Mah called to see a [9s][7d][9c] flop. Mah decided to lead out for 150,000 but Xue responded with a raise to 380,000. Mah called and the turn was the [3d]. Mah checked it over to Xue who bet 325,000 but Mah check-raised all in! It was around 2.3 million more and Xue sat in the tank for several minutes before making a reluctant fold.

Neither of these players likes to be pushed around but it’s Mah who moves ahead with 4.1 million to Xue’s 2.5 million.

Kwan Mah has one eye on the Red Dragon trophy!

9:20pm: We’re heads up for the title!

After a quick pause for photos, the players are back and ready to play for the title. Here are the chip counts:

Kwan Mah: 3,352,000
Haifeng Xue: 3,212,000

It’s neck and neck! The players are really deep but these two have shown plenty of aggression throughout the tournament so it may not be a long contest (famous last words!)

9:00pm: Conrad Coetzer eliminated in 3rd place

Conrad Coetzer looked in control in this three-way battle but when he needed a little luck he just couldn’t find it as he becomes our 3rd place finisher.

Coetzer opened with a raise to 90,000 from the button before Kwan Mah three-bet another 180,000 from the small blind. Coetzer called and they saw a flop of [3h][kh][8c].

Mah led out for 400,000 before Coetzer moved all in. Mah made the call and we had ourselves one hell of a big pot!

Coetzer: [ah][9h]
Mah: [ks][jd]

Coetzer had a flush draw and overcard, but he couldn’t shake Mah’s top pair. The turn [jc] improved Mah to two pair and the river [kd] was the nail in the coffin for the South Africa. Coetzer is out in 3rd place for HK$402,300 and suddenly we are heads up!

The players are taking a quick break to setup for heads-up play.

Conrad Coetzer eliminated in 3rd place

8:45pm: Xue straight back to work

The dinner break hasn’t put a stop to the momentum of our chip leader Haifeng Xue. Kwan Mah started things off with a raise to 95,000 from the small blind and Xue defended his big blind to see a flop of [td][js][jd].

Both players checked and the turn brought the [qs]. Mah led out for 150,000 but Xue doubled the price to 300,000. A frustrated Mah let it go and our chip leader showed [kc][9s] for the straight. He’s up to 3.5 million chips.

8:35pm: Play resumes

The three remaining players are back in action following the dinner break and the cards are in the air!

The PokerStars Macau Poker Room is actually pumping this event with four events running simultaneously. The Bounty side event has just made the money, an APPT Melbourne satellite has just kicked off and the High Rollers event is down to the final table, with Nick Wong and Neil Arce still in contention. It’s all happening here in Macau!

Tags: 2011 | after-haifeng | button | checked-it-over | chip | conrad-coetzer | events | haifeng | money | pokerstars | pokerstars macau | price | river

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

I sat in the mostly empty media room, which is not my usual spot because I prefer to work in the pressbox on the floor of the Amazon Ballroom. The media room is sorta like the library because it’s much quieter than being on the floor, where all the action is, but I had too much work to catch up on and too many distractions in the pressbox.

I retreated to the media room and one by one, as random colleagues passed me and made some sort of snarky comment about me sweating a big bet — because why would I be inside the media room unless I wanted to watch a sporting event big screen TV? Over the first week of the WSOP, the TV had been tuned to French Open tennis, the Stanley Cup Finals, and the NBA Finals. Last year at this time, the TV would have shown World Cup soccer games.

I sat in the media room and pecked away at my laptop, while my friends shot me strange and judgmental glances when they noticed women’s softball flickering on the big screen.

“I got money on Alabama,” I blurted out.

I thought my bluff was obvious because anyone who bets on women sports is a total degen, especially college softball. Alas, my reputation proceeds me; I’m someone who will bet on (almost) everything. If you sincerely doubt that assertion, well then, I’m willing to bet money on it.

But one thing is for sure, ever since I arrived in Las Vegas, I spent more time starring at the big board in the sportsbook than at the poker table. At the point of the sporting season, both the NHL and NBA are in their respective final championships. I had props on both the Vancouver Canucks (hockey) and Dallas Mavericks (basketball). One was heavy chalk and the other was an value dog.

I rarely bet on hockey, but I’ve been dabbling in goal totals during the playoffs. I turned a profit betting on the OVER in the last Vancouver series, but in the finals against Boston, I bet the UNDER in game one. Talk about free money — the line was 5.5 — and Vancouver skated to a 1-0 victory with a goal in the final minute of regulation to seal the victory.

Without Phil Ivey betting on NBA games, which had become the story in previous WSOPs, I never got a chance to write a flowery post on the genius of Ivey the sportsbettor, and instead wrote a few pieces on Ivey the litigant. I guess I had to rely on my own deviant sportsbetting to make up for the lack of Ivey/hoops content.

I shit the bed on Game 1. That’s all you need to know, but I made an adjustment for Game 2 and went with my gut and made a +175 moneyline bet on the Mavs, which took balls especially with the game in Miami. The practical side of me also bet the Mavs getting 4.5 points. As the game reached the middle of the 4th quarter, it appeared both beats were toast with the Mavs down 15. Slightly tilted and steaming, I left the Amazon Ballroom and took a walk into the casino in search of something to eat. I ended up at the sportsbook deli. Upon my arrival, I could hear raucous screaming. I glanced at the score — the Mavs were only down 4 points. What the fuck? They unleashed a comeback, one of the most impressive in NBA final history, after Miami went inexcusably cold. The Mavs eventually tied the game and then Dirk took matters into his own hands.

The end of the game was as memorable and exhilarating as I’ve seen in some time. The Mavs prevailed and the anti-Heat sentiment ran rampant in the sportsbook. Pandemonium broke out in the sportsbook. I’ve never seen so many happy bettors. I tweet’d that I sucked out with a two-outer and you all know how much that feels when you get lucky at the poker tables, so multiply that feeling by a couple hundred giddy bettors.

One guy was so pumped about the Mavs comeback and subsequent victory that he ran around the sportsbook chanting Salt-N-Peppa’s anthem Push It.

“Push it good!” he screamed. “Push it real good!”

That’s the kind of absurd behavior you only see in Las Vegas. Any other place on the planet, you’d get locked up for public intoxication or dragged off to a mental institution for singing Salt-N-Peppa songs in public.

* * *

Speaking of rowdy and public intoxication, the Brits invaded the final table of the WSOP once again. The first half of the 2010 WSOP belong to the Brits and some of that run good continued with Jake Cody’s appearance at the final table of the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship.

Cody bested a field of 128 players and won $882K for first place, a hefty chunk of the $3 million prize pool. He advanced all the way to the Final Four and only Gus Hansen stood in his way of making a final table. Hansen was on fire in heads-up tournaments. He had won a bracelet in the $10K HU event at 2010 WSOP-E. Entering the Final Four, the Great Dane had a 12 match heads-up winning streak. Hansen seemed unbeatable… until Jake Cody took a seat across from him.

The British contingency is small, but loud and rowdy. It was almost watching an English Premier league match with lots of soccer chants. They even chanted the name of the head of security Tony, who had tossed a couple of their drunk asses out of the Amazon Ballroom during different final tables in 2010. Alas, what we heard in the Hansen match was just a preview of what was to come.

Gus Hansen was dismantled by Cody and Hansen’s winning streak was stopped dead in its tracks at 12. Cody advanced, much to the delight of his mates on the rail.

The finals were set between Yevgeniy “JovialGent” Timoshenko and Jake Cody. One kid was a baby-faced online phenom, while the other could pass for the emo kid in high school cafeteria who smoked clove cigarettes.

The Brits were out in force and the later it got, more and more alcohol seeped deep into their bloodstream. The chants got louder, rowdier, raunchier, and occurred at a much higher frequency. After a while, organized chants fell to the wayside and Cody’s supporters blurted out random things. Ironically Cody is probably the exact opposite of his boisterous rail — if anything he’s genial, laconic, and rather soft spoken.

“I try to tune them out,” he later explained.

Luckily one of my colleagues, Homer, is British and he acted as a translator for the bulk of the North American media.

He explained some of the chants Cody’s supporters unleashed, “Barmy Army is the official name of England cricket supporters club and their signature chant.”

Timoshenko’s supporters tried to rally with their own chants, but they were obviously not as organized as the Brits. In fact, the Brits were out-snarked the Yanks and took a few shots below the belt when they taunt Americans who got their money stuck in Full Tilt.

When the Yanks attempted a chant of “No Bracelet! No World Cup!”, the Brits counterattacked with “We cashed out from Full Tilt!!”

What a fucking brilliant way to tilt the rail.

Although Cody did his best to tune out the boisterous rail, Timoshenko noted, “I’ve been to soccer matches less rowdy than this.”

Then again, most European matches prohibit the sales of liquor. If booze sales get banned at the final table in future events, you can blame Cody’s mates for that drastic measure.

But at the least, the Amazon Ballroom came alive on Friday night capping a week of utter weirdness at the 2011 WSOP. Another young Brit made a final table and won a bracelet.

Meanwhile, Jake Cody joined an elite club of only three members — Poker’s Triple Crown — which includes a WSOP bracelet and victories on both the WPT (London) and EPT (Daueville). The other two members? Roland de Wolfe and Gavin Griffin.

Photo courtesy of WSOP.com.

Tags: 2010 WSOP | 2011 | boston | british | genius | lapt | las vegas | media | money | north | time | tournaments | Vegas | wpt

2:40pm: Play resumes

The players are back with nine tables in action as we start to get close to the money stage of the tournament. The top 50 players will be paid today with a minimum cash worth HK$20,100.

Korea’s Baek Seung Heon jumped to the top of the leaderboard late in that last level although there are several players who are quickly accumulating big stacks, with South African Conrad Coetzer, Australia’s Jessica Shi-ling Ngu and Hong Kong’s Justin Chan all looking threatening.

It looks like we’ve lost our PokerStars Team Online Pro Yu-Reng Peng, however PokerStars Team Asia Pro Celian Lin is still alive but she’s looking for a double up with a stack of about 38,000.

Tags: 2011 | australia | conrad-coetzer | leaderboard | money | pokerstars | pokerstars macau | seung-heon | several-players | still-alive | the-leaderboard | tournament