blonde poker forum

Greetings.  :hello:

Play is due to commence at 12pm Las Vegas time, which I believe is 8pm UK time.

This is the Interactive Thread - for no-frills no-chat no-pictures information, there's the At A Glance thread:  http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=22740 (http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=22740)

Good Luck Jen & snoops - this is gonna be SPECIAL!

Let's hope some blondes or Brits run well.

what a comp this is gonna be, these updates will be fantastic.

can we get a list of brits running in this so i can pick my 3 to follow

i hope the td doesnt have a sence of humour and put a certain MR PI,DN,RV an MG on the same table

I know Stuart Fox, Pete Haslam and Nick Gibson are all over there playing the earlier comps and satelites but may buy in even if no joy through the sats. Can you let me know if they are in pls?

ta

Pete Haslem got through via one of the sats

cheers

:hello:

I have a hunch one Praz Bansi, an early bustee in the Manchester GUKPT, may yet find himself in Vegas for this......

Can you please keep an Eye out for the DTD's Micheal Greco and Kev Oconnell please

I see JP Kelly won a seat in an early satelite - i think he will do well.

Good luck with the updates Jen & Snoops.....

gl guys keep an eye out for any mancs over there plz

Hi guys
Could you wish my good friend Don Mullis all the best as he should be playing.
(http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:qNAAoaFAcSl7GM:http://www.georgesmart.com/mullis.jpg)

Just look for the table w/ all the action, Don is a very nice and fun guy

Hello snoops, can u please follow a good friend of mine, STEVE ZOINE, he came 2nd to TJ at the 2005 wsop $5k nolimit event

table49, seat 7

thanks

I agree Brian, Don is one of the nicest and most genuine guys you could ever meet. I just rang him but unfortunately he wont be playing as hes too busy at one of his dealerships.

he is one of the "good" guys in poker

And in life. Hes bought a couple of dealerships in Florida,anywhere near you? I know its a big place ;D but just wondered

Well, we're here, in the Bellagio, in Las Vegas, trying not to trip up the rest of the press as we cement ourselves to the outer wall of the Fontana Lounge, in which will soon be played what is probably the best tournament in the world... the $25k WPT Championship.  It's luxurious, the tables pristine, the stacks very deep, the wireless Coming Any Minute, the WPT press ladies Lindsay and Beatrice helpful and we're generally excited to be covering this event.

In parallel you have the UK's Manchester GUKPT continuing through the weekend, while this will just go on and on, until someone is left as Champion, joining a select group of people who have won multiple million dollars in one tournament.

Been looking forward to this - and a day 'adjusting' to the climate (nice) the time (8 hours earlier than London) and the surroundings (what can I say, there's a chocolate fountain here) has left us feeling as ready as we've ever been. 

20 minutes  is counting down on the TV screens.

Ill try and find out and let you know, I know he has a few in Charlotte NC too

Good Luck Jen & snoops!

Would it be possible to get GB and Ireland players that are playin today?

I am temporarily braving the balcony outside the Fontana Lounge on which I've discovered power points, until everything settles down in the main room.  An advantage of this (which I have traded for the sociablility of talking to other people, sadly) is the prime view of the Bellagio midday fountain display.  Here's a picture, along with the Eiffel Tower (restaurant) of Paris, Paris, on which the terrace looks out.  Silly, undoubtedly - it's a replica Eiffel Tower on a grandiose hotel on a street of grandiose hotels and a water display on an artificial lake in the Nevada Desert.  Impressive, yes - it's a replica Eiffel Tower on a grandiose hotel on a street of grandiose hotels and a water display on an artificial lake in the Nevada Desert.

I know u 2 are not having any fun at all being there in VEGAS ;popcorn; ;dewi;


 ;slavedriver;

You sure you are not at Grosvenor Walsall? Looks familiar. To my eyes.

Great stuff, good luck to the brits, europeans.

 :hello: Jen & Snoops

 :hello: Jen, and  :hello: Sloppy

Really looking forward to tis update, but I feel it is only fair to warn you:

Dana has raised the bar(I mistyped in "bare" there, Freudian ?) regarding norkage  ::)

All the very best of luck from one of your greatest supporters  ;hattip;

We have Shuffled Up and Dealt.  Just prior to this, pretty timely, start, I caught Barney Boatman and Paul Alterman relaxing outside.  Barney got all the food, apparently, but just before I took the picture said to his neighbour, "You can hold my banana."  This was Paul's reaction.

Howdy all. I'm also here and posting via the extortionate vodafone card.

Benjo, the French media dude, has a key for the wifi though, so all being well, my next post will come from the wireless Internet access and we can get this show on the road.

Subtext - I long to be in Manchester with Dana and Floppy.

Praz is on his way now, will be landing soon

He was deciding whether to go during the dinner break last night with me and Chilli, we couldnt decide, so he flipped a coin best out of 3 and lost.

Then Nick Slade said he would do the official one, best out of 3, he won, Praz left the casino, cab back from Manchester to London and first flight out this morning. Now thats sick.

Last time he rushed to a tournament, and arrived just in time was in Bolton, and we all know what happened there........

Good luck, do something ffs!!!  Aspades 8c

Does JP have the week off school then?

Good luck Jen and snoops, not that I am at all jealous!!

which other Brits do we know are playing besides those few already mentioned?

BREAKING NEWS - WIRELESS POST BELOW

Welcome one and all to the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Today’s event will be the small matter of a $25,000 freezeout with 90 minute levels and a 50,000 starting stack (“crapshoot!” I hear you cry) and your trusted blonde poker team will be in the thick of it all week, delivering live updates on the action… as it happens.

That is if we get online. At the time of writing (19.39), we’re around 20 minutes away from kick-off (although I predict a late start as hardly any of the players appear to have arrived) and are currently awaiting a code for the wireless Internet access.

A lovely piece of norkage seems to be in charge of that task, but I think she’s currently pre-occupied, so my breath isn’t being held. However, it does offer me the opportunity to retell a tale of Beagle stupidity encountered on my arrival in Vegas.

As we alighted the plane (I’ve stolen that phrase from the voice from the tube), I noticed that my neighbour had left her cardigan on the seat. So, being the good Samaritan that I am (or, more honestly, a leach hoping for a reward), I picked up the cardigan and made my way to the baggage reclaim with the good will intention of hunting the young lady down to fulfil my good deed.

Baggage claim wasn’t around the corner, and after a long walk and a shuttle ride, we eventually arrived. It was at this point that I realised that I’d been carrying a musky blanket around with me, not my neighbour’s cardigan. So, instead of being a good Samaritan, I ended up looking like nothing more than a mere mentalist, waltzing around Vegas airport like some tramp.

I also probably came across as somewhat of a thief, casually walking past the flight attendants with my booty in hand as I departed the plane. I am truly thankful that they didn’t see fit to call security, who could easily have met me at the exit and whisked me off to the slammer (okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration).

Most crucially, I am immensely relieved that I didn’t approach the lady and her husband (who I did indeed spot at baggage reclaim), as she would have deemed me to be a right weirdo as I handed over a random blanket simultaneously commenting, “Don’t mention it.”

The blanket is currently sitting in my hotel room. We have become quite attached after our journey.

Some of those taking part....

http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/chip_counts/7083?viewall=true

Do the blinds start 25-50?

 wow wee....sounds and looks FANTASTIC !!!!


 (maybe next year  ;kev; )

Snoopy and blanket, photographed earlier today.

(http://www.coli.uni-saarland.de/~eric/fotos/wohnheim/flur-snoopy_linus.jpg)

Okey cokey, I've done my rounds and here are the players I spotted.

Miami John Cernuto
Alan Smurfit
Liz Lieu
Barry Greenstein
David Pham
Ross Boatman
Harry Demetriou
Shane Schledger
Hoyt Corkins
Jamie Gold
Paul Alterman
Peter Gould
Jani Sointula
Johnny Lodden
Brian Townsend
Jennifer Harman
TJ Cloutier
Joe Bartholdi
Juha Helppi
Any Black
Phil Ivey
Padraig Parkinson
Scott Fischman
Kenna James
Ben Roberts
Martin Wendt
Jesse Jones
Bruce Yamron
Barny Boatman
Peter Haslam

We're in the first level, having shuffled up and dealt at a nearly spot-on-time midday (coinciding with the Bellagio fountains doing their ridiculous lake-in-a-desert show to the American National Anthem).  The sound of many, many tournament chips being riffled and won and lost in small increments is muted by the thick Bellagio carpets and drapery, while here's the view looking up, and down from my seat:

Must be half term.

Will Vanessa Rousso be playing?
She, IIRC, finished 7th in this event last year, so I reckon she will be out to do better.

[/quote]

Do the blinds start 25-50?
[/quote]

No - 50/100.  Got into an interesting discussion once about what difference it made to have, say, 20k in chips and blinds starting 50/100 as opposed to 10k in chips with starting blinds of 25/50.  Sure, you have the same number of bb per starting stack, but it's dependent on whether the blinds go up in the same relative increments whether they affect the stacks in exactly the same way.

Anyway, even at 50/100 there is a quite ludicrous amount of play in this tournament - and they're not going to be forced to play for 14 hours at a go - we've been quoted the very reasonable end hour of 9pm.  The city's only just waking up on a Saturday night... ;)

See john gale has lost 20k already lol he sure likes to gamble

 :hello: Jen & Snoops - looking forward to the next few days updates.

My prediction

Phil Helmuth to be 4 hours late in arriving.

My 3 to win

Roland DeW.
Jonny L.
Andy B.

My 3 picks...

J Lodden
W Thorrson
J V Alystane

And here are four of our British representatives (yes, I'm taking Black) now, all looking pretty confident to tell you the truth.

(1) Alan Smurfit
(2) Barny Boatman
(3) Ben Roberts & Andy Black

just hope no one sucks out on him ;scarymoment;

Yes, Vanessa Rousso is here (are you a fan  ;)) as are these Mateyboys... David Pham and Jamie Gold, the latter won some small comp apparently.

Here's your friend - a seat + table number, by the way, guarantees our complete accuracy in following anyone through this tournament.  Once spotted, we'll track them like little black-and-yellow hawks...

lol na dont think ure playin this event

 rotflmfao

thank u thank u thank u

That's not that exact same fecking t-shirt again, is it?

Las Vegas

(http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=22739.0;attach=13998)

Monte Carlo

(http://www.blondepoker.com/files/images/DSCN1285_0.JPG)

Dublin

(http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=22230.0;attach=13436;image)

Yes, here she is, playing today in characteristic disguise hat/glasses/headphones combination (I wonder if one can nowadays buy some kind of all-in-one head accessory)...  An excellent result last year and we'll know if she can top it in about a week.

One more Brit (unfortunately not sharing a table with Ram, Phil and Ariston's buddy Danny) is the self proclaimed (I think) Mr Cool himself, Marc Goodwin.

Call them guns, pft! I could break him in two with just one bicep.  ;snoopy'sguns;

any chance of top 10 chip leaders plz? thx

Alan Smurfit is Irish......

You would be better off asking Andy if he is Irish or British.... though, I pretty sure he would say Irish.




Don't worry about it though, all you french make the same mistake.

stuck in Florida, sucks, Steve will do well for me though

My picks to make the final (or at least Day Four):

Phil Ivey (pictured)
Padraig Parkinson
Roland de Wolfe
JP Kelly  (I get a bonus pick in the form of JP, who qualified effortlessly for this event in between picking up five figures in the cash games and playing video games, apparently)

Talking about the fountains, they truly have to be seen to be believed. A cracking display of grandeur as the fountains explode to a piece of classical music.

Good free advertising for Caesars Palace in the background mind you.

I've asked him before, he says he's happy to be taken by either. I think it was a clear reflection of that 'Don't give a shit' attitude that everyone loves about him.

Just look a that Eminem shirt for example, he must have the World's smallest wardrobe, not like tikay's walk-in one at Sky.

It must be his lucky t-shirt

Ask Alan Smufit what its like to represent Britain

you'd get a quizicle look!!

British, Irish, same thing.  ;hide; ;scarymoment; ;hide; ;scarymoment; ;hide; ;scarymoment;

maybe it's his only shirt.

Someone placate him with a Joe Beevers picture please.

Joe Beevers is out of season.


I am an Ed Pellegrini kind of guy now.

Howdy poker fans, play has restarted in Manchester, we've got no fountains, chocolate or otherwise, but we've got Floppy on the case...

Updates are here - http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=22743.150 (http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=22743.150)

I knew it was too good to be true - wifi's gone down.

But, back to the comp, here's John Gale in pensive mood after almost halfing his stack.

A quick once over informs me that he is down to 27k.

Here's Padraig Parkinson, in one of the rare moments he is sat in his seat, at the table, the right way round.  When he's not busy passing (like in this picture) he's standing around behind his seat, chatting with us (oh the stories from the Irish Open just keep pouring in - so hope I can find an appropriate moment to tell you about those).  When I first noticed him, he said, "Welcome to Ireland!"  Early confusion, he'll be fine.  He also just pointed out an ENORMOUS hand on his table, which I will tell you about in about a minute...

Bad news for JP Kelly fans, the newly illegal (in America, anyhow) is down to just 4k after an unfortunate set over set encounter.

JP raised it up to 250 pre-flop with Queens, two people smooth called behind him and the big blind made it 1,250 with Kings.

JP called.

K-Q-5 Flop

Bet, raise, re-raise, re-re-raise, push (JP making the final push).

No miracle quads.

"He's one of two fish on the table, anyone else and I could have got away from it."

 

Attention was drawn to table Parkinson as this monster of a hand went down just before the first break:

So, we have threeway action on the turn.  Padraig quietly announces that a bet of 41,000 has been made on his table. 
The board reads 9c Ahrt Jh 6h.  Amazingly, there is interest, to the tune of all-in from all three players at this point.  Padraig guesses, quite correctly, that the lady to his left has just hit the nuts.  She apparently managed to spill beer on the table ("I love it when someone spills beer on the table and it isn't me," adds Parkinson) but looked pretty calm as her opponents showed Ad Ac and Js Jd respectively (incredibly).
"No pair!" she predictably requests, and the river brings a Kc to a bit of a shriek of delight, as she now has 130k+.

Her name:  Anna Wrobelski, a 21-year-old who qualified for this event by winning one at this festival earlier in the week.

Pictured:  The gent next to Phil Ivey who held the Aces, while standing up, the owner of the busted Jacks, now OUT.
Also, the chip leader, who said, "Don't take a picture of me with beer, I'll look like an alcoholic."  Just at that moment, the waitress brought her another one and she seemed to relent, "Two beers is OK."  Pictures on Interactive thread (must be signed in to see them)...
Bonus photo:  The winning hand, and some ludicrous piles of chips.

Also stuggling is Peter Haslam (we've decided to call him Birmingham Pete seeing that he's next door to John Cernuto).

Birmingham Pete's currently on 40k after his flopped set was outdone by a Turned straight.

Still plenty of time, even JP can come back from 4k with this structure.

Paul Alterman is treading water with 50k.

"Won a bit, lost a bit, not really had anything worth playing."

anna won a prelim event for like 300k and the seat, she is a rags to $$$$$$ story, was broke a few weeks ago

Marc Goodwin is finding life strange but rewarding at this WPT Championship final.

Currently on 70k, he first rivered a flush in a truly bizarre hand:

Raise and two calls (inc Marc) pre-flop.

9d 4s Td Flop

Caller bet 1k, OR makes it 2k and Marc re-raised to 4k. Both players call.

Turn = 8c

Caller bets 1k again, OR makes it 2k (again) and Marc ruins the cycle by smooth calling.

River = 2d

Both check and fold to Marc's 13k bet with Ad Kd.

"The guy who'd been betting 1k each time had a set of Fours and the original raiser had Aces. Wierd hand or what?!"

Marc also won another pot after limp raising under-the-gun with Aces. The guy called the 3.5k pre-flop re-raise (which isn't small change pre-flop) and bet 4k on the Flop and Turn of a 6c 7d 8d 2d board before folding to Marc's 7k bet on the 4d River with the nut flush.

Joe Rafferty, who is definitely Irish (I think), is up to 61k. Not played too many hands, but he River a flush one hand.

"I think I overbet the River though," he added afterwards.

Hi. Any news on lodden and Kris85???

He is for sure... Had a good run in the recent irish open

Any news on the Golf?  ;D

compared to who?

Did you check smurfits birth cert yet?

 ;m3boy;



any chance of this been turned off, generally

'Warning - while you were typing a new reply has been posted. You may wish to review your post'


It's just annoying, especially when you have to click it 2 or 3 times cause new posts are going up  ;m3boy;

Go to your profile and switch it off then. ;)

touché
that was my round-a-bout way of asking if that was possible.

Thanks.

Sorry, sounds rude, I only read the last line. It can be annoying I'll admit.

Johnny Lodden has 68,000 (pictured, back lit from the huge windows, tough to get pictures round that side of the room).  I would have thought this type of event would suit him - didn't notice he was here or he'd have made the tip list...

A $25,000 buy-in event and people are not only betting 1K into at least a 12K pot but min-raising that bet to 2K.

*shakes head and tuts*

Steve Zoine -- 73.5k
Marcel Luske -- 49.5k
Eli Elezra -- 52k
Tom Franklin -- 56.5k
John Cernuto -- 37.5k
David Williams -- 80k
Jess Jones -- 51.5k
Marc Goodwin -- 80k
Joe Bartholdi -- 84.5k
Vanessa Rousso -- 59k
Peter Haslam -- 49.5k
Kenna James -- 51k
Johnny Lodden -- 70.5k
JP Kelly -- 4k
Harry Demetriou -- 89.5k
John Hennigan -- 20k
Kristy Gazes -- 53k
Juha Helppi -- 58k
David Pham -- 45.5k
Barry Greenstein -- 43.5k
John Myung -- 57.5k
Jennifer Harman -- 56k
Scott Fischman -- 53k
Christian Grundtvig -- 68k
TJ Cloutier -- 32.2k
Dan Harrington -- 70k
Joe Rafferty -- 58k
Ross Boatman -- 44.5k

Other counts:

John Gale    23,650
Dan Alspach  46,575
Ram Vaswani  50,650
John Juanda   60,800
Gavin Simms   53,200
Noah Boeken  35,600
Martin Wendt  53,800
Barney Boatman  65,000
Andy Black      61,850

Hi u 2 lucky people you.  Have you seen any sign of Praz?

Dwayne Moyers is OUT.

Eliminated at the hands of early chip leader Anna Wrobelski.

With the board reading 4h Tc 6h 3h 2d, Dwayne pushed in for his last 10k saying "Oh, I like you in the process."

"I've got a set," announces Anna as she reveals her Deuces to take down the pot and take out yet another player.

When it's all looking slow (blinds are currently 100/200) you can always count on Phil Hellmuth to be doing or at least saying something.  Here's one I saw earlier:
He raises in early position to 1,200.  The big blind calls (Phil: "You were thinking about raising?  What, have you got a pair of Eights?") His guess was amusing considering how the board cards came - to start with:  8c 4s 5d  His opponent bet out, and Hellmuth called, muttering something about A-K.
Turn:  8s  Now Phil faced a 3k bet, saying, "Chance to be a hero Hellmuth..." and called.  No one talks about themselves in the third person with such self-assurance in England.  It's great to watch.
River:  8d  Matey bet 5k and Phil announced, "Call!" before the chip landed on the central area of the felt.  He was shown Ks Qh; his Jd Jc were good.

Would you like me to speak in the 3rd person from now on?

HornswaggleU thinks this would be a great idea...

John Hennigan is OUT. Didn't catch the hand, but I saw him leaving the table with a pile of chips sailing the other way, which is never the best of signs.

Barney Boatman increases his stack by a good 13k or so:  saw him check-raising a 3k bet to 10k on a 4h 3s 4d 9s board.  He received a slow call - in contrast he announced "all-in" for his 40k or so on the Js river almost immediately.  This time he didn't face a long decision, but picked it up there in a matter of seconds.

Steve Zoine -- 73.5k


thats my boy

Spotted Martin Wendt splitting a pot with Eli Eslami, Kings v Jacks but the board dealing a cruel 3-4-5-6-7 for a shared straight.

Also present on that table is Dutchman Noah Boeken.

How's Harry D getting on?

He's not on the Day 1A player list (now that would just be masochistic) and so far he's not made it into the tournament area.  It's not in the actual card room, however, so there is a chance he's in there.   What a story, I am full of admiration for his gambling spirit - we'll be following him with the thumbs-up of good luck tomorrow. 

Oh, and if you ever flip a coin twice for something you were going to flip for once, you were never in two minds about the decision in the first place :)

Isaac Haxton has the clock called on him, faced with a 3k River bet from Vanessa Rousso on a board of 8s 5c Js 8h 6h.

Isaac finally makes a very good call with Ac Ks to take the pot.

A contemplative as ever John Juanda, sandwiched between Dan Alspach and Ram Vaswani with 59,500 in chips.

Please excuse the quality of the photos, but no flash photography is allowed in the cardroom which is a real pain when snapping the outer and rather more shadowed tables, especially when the players are as visually pleasing and Sandinavia's Liz Lieu. Yum yum.

ps. For what it's worth, she's got 54.5k, but who cares, right?!

Photos:  Andy Black
Neigbours Sorel Mizzi (remember him from the Irish Open final? Can't see if he's still wearing the Monte Carlo Bay slippers - one of the Snoopy breed of clothing nickers clearly) and Lyle Berman, mid-discussion of their side betting options..."So it's $1,000 red or black..."

David Sklansky (51k) and some norkage. Oops, how did that slip in there.  ;ashamed;

DC has a massive chip lead in that little comp on the other side of the pond, go DCDCDC DCDCDCDCDC

Reigning champion Joe Bartholdi, doing similarly well this year with 75,000 in chips.

According to Jen, signs are that the win may have gone to his head.

can you ask the young lady with the 2 beers who took down the monster pot with the flush via the 2 sets if she has a date for bB4 if she hasnt does she want one

Two minds? Think he was in about ten, pacing around deciding what to do.  I personally dont think you should mess with the pound coin tossing, fate deciding route.  One lot No the other lot YES (all first to three of course lol).  In the end, think he knew he was going, just needed a little push.  He will do something too I reckon, americans suit him!   ;goodluck;

His father Joe snr was cardroom manager at the Stratosphere a couple of years ago, nice guy

Halfway through the second 15 minute break - one a level.  Seems reasonable.  Anna Wrobelski's stack getting attention from the dealers as we all get a clear view of the leader in comparison to the others.

Harry D?

Good to see Snoop Dogg has turned up, he is what the poker world needs.

.... Allinfashizzle!

Managed to grab Joe Rafferty during the break - not sure what he's doing in this piccy, but he looks happy.

Joe's currently on 53k, although he did take a 15k hit with top two pair versus trips before clawing back 5.

Something's tickled these two, I sure hope it's not each other hands, but either way, Donnach O'Dea and Padraig Parkinson sure are having a splendid time, Guinness or not.

Caught Roland de Wolfe on the way in, told me he was on around 60k. Casual as ever - is there anyone less confident than this lad at the moment?

JP Kelly has doubled up to 10k (13k really, but he lost 3k moments after).

All-in for Kc Qc for 4,850 after there'd been an under-the-gun raise and two flat calls ("the dead money made my mind up for me"), he was not called by the initial raiser, but more surprisingly, the first caller, who flipped over Td Tc.

Nice Jc 7c 9c Flop and although the Tens had an out for a straight flush (the ten of clubs would make it impossible for JP to make his Royal), it didn't arrive and JP shoots up to a much more playable 13,000.

well i d say ul but to lose nearly all of 50k stack with 2nd trips is careless realy  too early in a big tourny  but   gl i hope he come back

As soon as Ivey left the room (the Fontana lounge, as it's more commonly known), he was swamped by fans who jumped him in the casino area, demanding photos and requesting autographs.

I think it took him 20 minutes to reach that toilet seat, and even then there was probably a knock from the neighbouring cubicle asking for a hand shake.

Ross Boatman is on 53k. He did have his head below water for a while, but he managed to get back above his starting stack after raising pre-flop with 8s 6s (yep, those infamous suited gappers). He called a bet on the 9-8-4 rainbow flop before raising the 8 Turn. 6 on the River and Ross's final bet was called. Mateyboy accidentally exposed a 7, so Ross reckons he had something like T-7, which I suppose would make sense.

I take it this is tongue in cheek.

have you had a chance to ask anna about bB4 yet?

"Hurrah!" said Jon Raab.

Mad Turk only ever gets it all in with the stone cold nuts.

Anything else would be kind of crazy.

Board = Kd 9d 8h 7h

Rick Barstow checks, Phil Ivey bets 3k, Barstow raises to 10k, Ivey re-raises to 27k, Barstow calls.

River = 5c

Barstow moves all-in for around 22k Ivey calls instantly.

I don't think anyone was surprised to see both players reveal the nuts.

chop chop

;kc;

In "other"   news from across the pond, Dave Colclough is havin a day/////   and I will give him the "I told u that you were due for a big comp stuff"//////   to bad he may have picked the wrong comp ;scarymoment;


Dave has 536k, which is between 1/5 and 1/6 of all the chips in play. He took 40k off Greek Jack (who has 205k) pushing him off Jacks with Tens, "I should've moved-in against him preflop," said Jack.

Great updates as always.
You have som info on Lodden and Kristian Kjøndal??

If the truths known JP knew he should have folded too

Second Room Discovered

In the Bellagio poker room, a handful of WPT tournament tables are scattered between the medium to enormous cash games.  Sorry it took two levels to find them (they're about a mile down the hall) but here are a few counts wanted from earlier:

John Duthie    82,675.  I asked him what had happened early (expecting some swashbuckling big pots recounted by the EPT figurehead) but he just said, "I've been playing really tight.  You have to in these comps.  Amazingly tight, actually."  Well, that extra 32k must have come from somewhere, I'll see if he's more forthcoming in the next break.  He also cashed in this event last year.

Roland de Wolfe  55,750  Writing small notes all the time.
Gavin Smith         40.900
Kris85 (Kristian Kjondal)  41,475
Victor Ramdin      50,150
Abe Korotki         60,000  (Asked for his chip count by his wife, who added, "He's got a WSOP win, now for the WPT...Room full of allstars)

Harry Demetriou is up to 71k after 3 bets 750 (pre-flop), 1k (on the 5h-2d-7s flop) and 3k (on the 7c Turn) were all flat called by Burt Boutin's Pocket Sixes. Ace on the River and both check, Harry taking the pot with Kings.

Is Harry D sponsored by martins poker?

boutin is one of the craziest players in the world, and i dont mean the way he plays his cards!!!

According to the sheet (and praying that they haven't moved), these two are Frank Flowers and Gevork Kasabyan.

Looked like Kasabyan was in the cut off, but either way, all the money went in on an A-Q-7 flop, a running battle that was destined to explode with Frank's A-7 no match for Gevork's Queens, the latter holding up on the 6 Turn and 6 River.

Bit of a cooler that will leave Frank singing the butcher's blues, but I'm sure he's had his fair share of processed beats.

Hallelujah - a player list!

Here were your starting runners for Day 1A:

Elia   Ahmadian
Danny   Alaei
Dennis   Almasy
Dan   Alspach
Gregory   Alston
Paul   Alterman
Timothy   Anders
Rene   Angelil
Richard   Anthony
Anthony   Argila
Josh   Arieh
Doa Kim   Bac
Greg   Baird
Tom   Barkas
Robert   Barnes
Rick   Barstow
Joe   Bartholdi
Jim   Bechtel
Paul   Begum
Eric   Beller
Brad   Berman
Lyle   Berman
Chris   Bjorin
Andrew   Black
Ross   Boatman
Barney   Boatman
Noah   Boeken
Wayne   Boich
Emeline   Boich
Alex   Bolotin
Jon   Bonetti
Justin   Bonomo
Burt   Boutin
Steve   Brecher
Chad   Brown
Blake   Buffington
Jeff   Cabanillas
Erik   Cajelais
Rhynie   Campbell
Kyle   Carlston
Cory   Carroll
Nick   Cassavetes
John   Cernuto
Wei Kai   Chang
Tim   Chauser
Neila   Chriss
Scott   Clements
Tj   Cloutier
Rock   Cloutier
Hoylt   Corkins
Bruce   Corman
Tony   Cousineau
Steve   Crockett
Ricky   Cummings
Alan   Cutler
Jimmy   D' Ambrosio
Richard   Dabal
Fred   David
Raymond   Davis
Quirt   Davis
Alfred   De Carlos
Martin   Deknijff
Harry   Demitriou
Sandor   Demjan
Eric   Deregt
Roland   Dewolfe
David   Dicken
Ben   Doud
Veronica   Dunn
Steve   Dunning
John   Duthie
Jason   Eakes
Mark   Edwards
Eli   Elezra
Eli   Eslami
Terricita   Evanowski
Will   Failla
Ron   Faltinsky
Ray   Faltinsky
Bob   Feduniak
Maureen   Feduniak
Amnon   Filippi
Scott   Fischman
Alan   Fixel
Frank   Flowers
Stuart   Fox
Tom   Franklin
Erik   Friberg
Jon   Friedberg
Stan   Fulton
Bill   Gaffney
John   Gale
Tor   Gammelgard
Pierre   Garand
Kristy   Gazes
Roland   Gentner
Matthew   Glantz
Alan   Goehring
Jamie   Gold
Marc   Goodwin
Ari   Goott
Peter   Gould
Steven   Graham
Barry   Greenstein
David   Grey
Edward   Gross
Christian   Grundtvig
Jared   Hamby
Pat   Hamner
Nick   Hanna
Edward   Hansen
Thor   Hansen
John   Hanson
Adeeb   Harb
Jason   Hardage
Jennifer   Harman
Daniel   Harrington
John   Harris
Richard   Harroch
Peter   Haslam
Gary   Haubelt
Isaac   Haxton
Jay   Heimowitz
Phil   Hellmuth
Bradley   Helm
Juha   Helppi
John   Hennigan
Eric   Hershler
Jerry   Humphrey Ii
Scott   Idsinga
Phil   Ivey
Alex   Jacob
Kenna   James
Euna   Jee
Marco   Johnson
Greg   Johnson
Berry   Johnston
Jesse   Jones
Sir Robert Dean   Jones
Jeremy   Joseph
Cliff   Josephy
John   Juanda
Tad   Jurgens
Marc   Karam
Jack   Karban
Gevork   Kasabyan
Eugene   Katchalov
Cary   Katz
Ted   Kearly
Matt   Keikoan
Charles   Kelley
John   Kelly
Chris   Kennedy
Kian   Kiarash
David   Kim
Chris   King
Harold   Kirkpatrick
Kristian   Kjondal
Abraham   Korotki
Paul   Kraus
Christian   Kruel
Guy   Laliberte
David   Lambard
Mike   Landers
Grant   Lang
Krishna   Lawrence
Ted   Lawson
Tuan   Le
Tom   Lee
Paul   Lee
Doug   Lee
Agis   Leontakianakos
Jason   Lester
David   Levi
Paul   Lieu
Liz   Lieu
Joao   Lima
Jonathan   Little
J J   Liu
Johnny   Lodden
Scott   Lundberg
Marcel   Luske
Moto Yuki   Mabuchi
Scott   Machninch
James   Mackey
Douglas   Mackinnon
Jeff   Madsen
Doron   Malinasky
Steve   Mandelbaum
Anthony   Marks
George   Marlow
Robert   Mathews
Davidson   Matthew
Philip   Matthews
Scott   Mayfield
Jim   Mc Crink
Tom   Mc Evoy
Steven   Mclaughlin
Andrew   Micali
Jeppe   Mikkelsen
Jake   Minter
Robert   Mizrachi
Sorel   Mizzi
Herb   Montalbano
Jordan   Morgan
Abraham   Mosseri
Dwayne   Moyers
Peter   Muller
Yohannes   Muruz
John   Myung
Amir   Nasseri
John   Nathan
Robert   Nehrayan
Tuan   Nguyen
Men   Nguyen
Binh Quoc   Nguyen
Tai   Nguyen
Harry   Noel
Don   Odea
Anders   Osterstrom
Chuck   Pacheco
Padre   Parkinson
Rajendra   Patel
David   Peat
Justin   Pechie
Rehne   Pedersen
Ralph   Perry
David   Pham
Loi   Phan
Billy   Pilossoph
David   Plastik
Tom   Pniak
Vincent   Procopio
Joseph   Pulliam
Daniel   Quach
Joseph   Rafferty
Annand   Ramdin
Brian   Rast
Ben   Roberts
Anthony   Romanelli
Mark   Rose
Vanessa   Rousso
Ben   Sabrin
Omar   Saeed
Francois   Safieddine
Rich   Salomon
Antonio   Salorio
Chris   Santora
Kevin   Saul
Alan   Schein
Shane   Schleger
Thomas   Schneider
Noah   Schwartz
Aaron   Scott
Joe   Sebok
Charlie   Sewell
Daniel   Shak
John   Shipley
Shannon   Shorr
Barry   Shulman
Joseph   Simmons
Steve   Simmons
Gavin   Simms
Nek-Pal   Singh
David   Sklansky
Cody   Slaubaugh
Gavin   Smith
John   Smith
Alan   Smurfit
Jani   Sointula
David   Stroj
Mark   Stubbs
Joe   Tehan
Roy   Thung
Brian   Townsend
Vadin   Trincher
Eliseo   Trujillo
Soren   Turkewitsch
James   Van Alstyne
Ram   Vaswani
Cindy   Violette
Haralabos   Voulgaris
Manousos   Vourkoutiotis
Andreas   Walnum
Robeert   Wazelle
Adam   Weinraub
Martin   Wendt
Louis   Werman
Tim   West
Tom   West
Keith   William
David   Williams
Matthew   Wolf
Danny   Wong
Carl   Wong
Michael   Woo
Dustin   Woolf
Anna   Wroblewski
Michael   Xu
Bruce   Yamron
Justin   Young
Hertzel   Zalewski
Alvin   Zeidenfeld
Steven   Zoine

what do u mean with that pal my english a bit  shory of that  can u explain   thanks

Didn't Harry lose a bet to Martin DeKniff and he has to wear Martin's Poker gear until he wins an event?

Chipcounts on Lodden, Kristian Kjøndal and Thor Hansen please.
Ty Ty, Great updates..

It means you werent being serious

Shane Schleger is OUT.

Kings into Aces, helpless 4-J-3-T-5 board.

Took it well, to his credit.

No worries, coming up soon.

ok thanks, you? are u going to BB4?

Hello everybody,

Pictured below is Snoopy at the McCahrran airport, holding the now infamous blanket, during what will be remembered simply as the "Blanket incident".

Dude is looking quite sad, I should say.

Alan Fixel doubles up, all in for 17,700 preflop with Qc Qh vs. the Aspades Kh of Matthew Davidson.  The board brought Ad 3d Qd 8c 9d - no hole card diamond means 35k for Fixel in that race we've seen so many times it's branded on the backs of our eyelids.

bb4?

Two tables' full counts, with only one identity gap as a player's been moved:

Alan Schein  92,050
Justin Young  63,900
Alex Jacob      6,575
David Pham    47,000
Joe Sebok      42,325

Bruce Corman  69,200
Alan Fixel         36,000
Matthew Davidson  44,350
Barry Greenstein  33,625

Ari Goott         65,200
Wayne Boich    45,900
Harry Noel         OUT  (Outdraw by Hellmuth - he had Aces vs. Phil's flopped top pair and gutshot.  The gutshot got him; Hellmuth, to be fair, ackowledged that he'd just lucked out)
Robert Barnes   57,600
Phil Hellmuth     60,150
Jason Lester     37,250
Andrew Micali    65,700
Cory Carroll       44,450
Chris King          48,800
John Myung      79,300

blonde bash 4 next week at luton

David Williams -- 30k
Marcel Luske -- 63.5k
John Gale -- 22.5k
Jennifer Harman -- 48k
Phil Hellmuth -- 49k
Paul Alterman -- 56k
Joe Rafferty -- 54.5k
Dan Harrington -- 63.5k
David Sklansky -- 58k
Barry Greenstein -- 33k
David Pham -- 46.5k
Peter Haslam -- 68k
Ross Boatman -- 54.5k
Shane Schleger -- out
Jon Bonetti -- 60.5k
Blake Buffington -- 54.5k
Liz Lieu -- 51.5k
Shannon Shorr -- 94k
Johnny Lodden -- 74.5k
Ben Roberts -- 33k
Andy Black -- 57.5k
Sorel Mizzi -- 51k
Steve Zoine -- 70.5k
Alan Smurfit -- 41.5k
Barny Boatman -- 104k
Noah Boeken -- 47.5k
Martin Wendt -- 41.5k
Bruce Yamron -- 117k
Hoyt Corkins -- 82.5k
Martin de Kjniff -- 37k
Jamie Gold -- 85k
Dan Alspach -- 39k
Donnacha O'Dea -- 45.5k
Gavin Simms -- 50k
John Juanda -- 57k
Ram Vaswani -- 93.5k
Tuan Le -- 43.5k
Maureen Feduniak -- 74k
Terricta Evanowski -- 29k
Anders Osterstrom -- 42.5k
Joseph Simmons -- 46.5k
Eli Eslami -- 20.5k

no m8  too busy with work and i m going to vegas on 10th may  so i ll stay in a bit   

Blinds are currently 100 and 200 with a rubbing ante of 25.

there are 281 players remaining.

Thor Hansen     72,800
Johnny Lodden  77,900
Kristian Kjøndal  in the other room (break in 5 mins not enough time to get there).

steve zoine and mr cool

And Irish Updates, seeing as they're all nicely nearby:

Padraig Parkinson  67,750  (don't let his self-deprecating sidetracking fool you, I reckon he's got as good a shot at this as anyone)
Andy Black          58,500
Joe Rafferty         44,750

Check out this dude, Alex Jacob, if only he had as much chips as hair - on just 7.5k at the moment.

Steve Zoine -- 83k
Marc Goodwin -- 127k

Your good vibes must be working.

Another break now, Jen and I are just gonna grab a quick snack. Back soon.

wonder if he was going to shovel his stack in irrespective of the river.




this guy is such a good player, shame about the mop

Steve Zoine -- 70.5k


this kid is going deep ;D

John Gale -- 22.5k

must have been sucked out on ;ifm;

but really, good luck to Mr. Gale :respect: ;slavedriver; ;all-in;

We're back, and the new blinds are 200 and 400 with a running ante of 50.

The average stack is till about a billion though.

John Gale has doubled up. There was a raise to 700, a call and an all-in for 7 from John.

The original raiser folded but the caller swiftly shoved in a 10k chip.

A-Q v 8-8

K-6-6-Q-K board.

Any news on Brian townsend cheers

 I think he was the 1st out, or at least one of the 1st out

During the break I deviated towards the sandwich shop instead, leaving Snoopy to settle for ice-cream after waiting for half of it.  Here's a virtual doughnut to make up for it.  The little things at Bellagio cost a reasonable whack - $10 sandwiches, $5 cherry cokes... well that's what you get if you want someone to come round every half hour and indent a cursive capital 'B' in your standing ashtrays.

cheers, he'll be gutted as in his blog he says hes lost about 500k in the last few days

That's only about 20p at the exchange rate though, isn't it?

And tell Snoopy that ice-cream doesn't constitute a meal.  ;tk;

Thor Hansen -- 66.5k

And here's Thor again, pictured at Monte Carlo a week or two back.

(http://www.samcci.comics.org/thor/thor.gif)

What brian townsend says about the trny:

     Bleh out before first break
Just got busted from the tourny. I ran top two pair into bottom set twice within the first hour. First hand Andrew Black limped UTG and called in the small blindwith K7o, bb checked and we took the flop 3 handed. Flop was K74r and I led for 300. The big blind called and Andrew raised to 800 total. I reraised to 2800, folding out the big blind and Andrew called. Turn came T I bet 4800 Andrew called. River came 2 completeing no flushes, I checked Andrew bet 10K and I called. I don't know how I feel about the call as on the river I really only beat 65, but I have never played with Andrew and I am not going to make a huge fold like that in a tourny.

Next big hand happened 5 min later and at this point I was down to 30K in chips. It was folded to lyle berman on the button who made it 300. I reraised with A9 of diamonds to 1100. He called. Flop came A53 with a flush draw. I checked and called 2200. Turn brought a 9 not completing the flush. I checked he bet 6K I made it 15K and he called. River came K of spades and I pushed my remaining 12K into the middle. He thought a bit and called with pocket 3's.

2nd hand there was no getting away from, first hand I really thought I was beat but I couldn't fold against an unkown in a tourny.

Yes, spotted him during level 1 when I was taking note of the faces I recognised, but he soon departed at the hands of Lyle Berman, 2 pair versus set, although he was down to 15k at the time.

Dan Harrington -- 58k

The mysterious and almost noir Alan Goehring -- 92.5k

David Williams and Marcel Luske -- 42k & 53.5k

And here's David at the weekends.

(http://www.shaveblog.com/uploaded_images/imalady-722754.jpg)

Are there any requests that we have yet to respond to?

David Williams has" allegedly" starred in a few movies

Could you borrow the mic from the TD and give the players a rendition of "Ice Ice Baby" please

I thought he played a little "foottyyy"

oh sorry, he sucked a little "footttyy"

oe maybe it was a little xxxxxxxxxx

I think he went all in whilst holding a big pair

Quick Brit check (and yes, I AM taking Black  ;sark;)

Andy Black -- 58.5k
Gavin Simms -- 74k
Paul Alterman -- 58k
Barny Boatman -- 93.5k
Roland de Wolfe -- 49.5k
Ram Vaswani -- 55k
Peter Haslam -- 57k
Ross Boatman -- 69.5k
Marc Goodwin -- 129k
Ben Roberts -- 43k

Discussing the finer art of checking in the dark.

Early leader Anna Wrobleski has continued upwards - it looks like her stack is topping 160,000 at this point.  But with others like Goodwin getting up towards the 130k mark (I don't think there are any actually threatening to overtake yet) she can't just rest on her laurels.  She just called someone down, check calling the turn and river, when the board was King high, disjointed, with no flush possible.  The river call was around 6k, however, which she quickly announced she'd made with "Ace high."  Ahrt Qc, to be exact.  Which won - her opponent clearly didn't think that would be the hand to call his river bluff (he held Q-T).
She says, "Don't you hate it that I keep doing the right thing?  They said I was a calling station..."

Pictured here next to Padraig Parkinson.

If my High Stakes Poker memory serves me correct, this is Daniel Alaei, who had 121k before clashing with Kristy Gazes, the Aussie Millions' finalist calling 14.5k with a Jack (she accidentally flashed a card at the end) on an 8h Jc 5c Qc board.

Both checked the Qh River only for Daniel to take it down with 8c 7c.

Top Table Pictures:

It might look like this table has odd perspective, making the others look small and far away, and that's because they're up on a stage in the corner (I can just picture a TV Table set up there at some point).  I thought it was out of bounds (see how all this filming has conditioned us) but it isn't - up there are Stuart Fox (35,500), Peter Gould (82,000) and Jani Sointula (66,300) among others.

Jeff Cabinillas, who I believe won a WSOP bracelet last year, has a decent chance of adding a WPT title to his list of accolades, is running well with 96k.

Maybe not a bracelet holder, but a millionaire nonetheless (although I doubt he got all of that million after the dreaded Scanide tax), Swede Eric Fryberg is quite low at the moment with 30k, although, in truth, you can be on 5k and still have room to maneuver.

did you remember to ask anna about bB4 its this coming weekend

yeap , beat Hellmuth heads up in the $5k no limit, very nice guy, he showed Hellmuth some Bluffs that sent him into "Crazy Hellmuth Land"

Vanessa Rousso (82k) and Kenna James (47k), the former of the two just this moment involved in a pot that earned her an extra 12k.

JJ Liu    34,000  Her glasses let her see in 3D.

So, any nutters staying with us throughout the night?

only if you ask anna about bB4 lol

yeah ill be wit u all night (not in that way!) ;tracet;

Us nocternal beings don know wot to do wit our selves.  ;D

Vanessa Rousso is partly to blame for Erik Friberg's dwindling chips, saw this hand while passing...  Vanessa flat called (blinds 200/400) as did Paul Kraus, the small blind made up and big blind Friberg raised a further 1,600.  Vanessa called as did Paul.
Flop:  Qc 8s Td  Erik bet out 4k, Vanessa flat called and the third player got out of the way.
Turn:  9s   (I couldn't see what was bet here, so better not just make it up)
River:  Kc check-check pretty fast and Vanessa showed the 8d 8c, insisting that her opponent's cards be shown.  I think there was some kind of A-x, where x was not, clearly, a Jack.

 :dontask: i'm here also...got nuttin better to do  :dontask:

Pictured below is Rene Angelil, husband of Celine Dion who seems to spend her life performing in Vegas these days - well, two birds with one stone I guess if the hubby loves his poker.

Anyhow, he's playing today and has just won a nice pot with 6h 6c.

Not sure what happened, nope, hold on, it's all coming back to me now.

With the board reading Qh Kc 5d 6s Jh board, Rene bet 5k bet. Meanwhile, his opponent in seat three, who appeared to be thinking twice, eventually made the call but soon mucked upon seeing Rene's trips.

Looks like he's on around 40-50k.

its only 10pm here in Florida

Alex Jacob, who was shortstacked for most of the day, is now OUT.

Meanwhile, the enigmatic Gavin Smith has joined the table Alex leaves behind, and is now seated next door to Barry Greenstein.

Lying Dutchman Marcel Luske:  Do not adjust your sets, this picture shows the man disobeying the laws of physics, lying rope-trick-style backwards as the cards are dealt.
He has 58,000 while young Dutch player Noah Boeken has 44,300 (pictured below).

Board reads 8s Jd Kh Jh 5s

Chad Brown bets out 8k into an 18k pot and Captain Tom Franklin folds, albeit after a brief dwell.

We're now moving into a 15 minute break.

Greg Johnson is OUT

Tens v A-K

A-6-3-9-3 board

Billy Pilossoph the beneficiary.

Another break - when they get back the blinds will be 300/600 ante 75.

250 players remaining... one or two levels only left today - they're going for less of a marathon feel and more of a succession of gentle jogs.

Looking around the room, John Pham has disappeared from the table right in front of us and I see no sign of Cyndy Violette, who tends to stand out in front of a crowd.

Lodden, Kjøndal and Thor Hansen updates please.

Chad Brown is OUT, moving all in with Queens on a 4c 8c 5s, he ran into the Aces of Marc Goodwin which ultimately held up on the Jc and 3d Turn and River.

You're doing a fine job, boy and girl. Just to spam you in the direction of tomorrow's GUKPT Manchester Final Table, starting 5pm GMT over on the appropriate yet-to-be-started thread. Could be extremely exciting extremely quickly, as everyone except Dave Colclough and Barry Neville is short as that dwarf guy in the wrestling...

Bye!

Tom McEvoy -- 55k
Johnny Lodden -- 99k
Vanessa Rousso -- 94.5k
Kenna James -- 27k
Isaac Haxton -- 101.5k
Eric Friberg -- 4k
Robert Wazelle -- 51.5k
Rene Angelil -- 42k
Chad Brown -- 33k to out
Billy Pilossoph -- 119.5k
Eli Elezri -- 23.5k
John Myung -- 68k
Ari Goot -- 86k
John Shipley -- 71.5k
Captain Tom Franklin -- 52k
Jennifer Harman -- 53k
Paul Alterman -- 52k
Marc Goodwin -- 170.5k
John Gale -- 26.5k
Cliff Josephy -- 57.5k
Scott Fischman -- 16.5k
Christian Grundtvig -- 73.5k
Juha Helppi -- 80k
Rock Cloutier -- 52.5k
TJ Cloutier -- 27.5k
Kristy Gazes -- 82.5k

Great job upaters (as per), I'm off to bed and look forward to reading all about what has transpired in the morning.

My pick is Barny Boatman, would love him to final and perhaps win. Man is a legend, about time some old school talent won one of these things.

Some others -

Padraig Parkinson  64,000 (saying he was doing 'less than us' which I could only assume meant 'working very hard, but not quite as hard as you.'  I was wrong; he meant nothing was happening, and as for his 60k+ - "I am good, I should have more than that."
Anna Wrobelski   182,000
Phil Ivey               42,400
David Sklansky       37,150
JJ Liu                   23,550
Roland de Wolfe    59,800
Marcel Luske        117,000
Jesse Jones           70,000
Pete Haslam          40,000
David Williams        17,225
Steve Zoine          89,000
Harry Demetriou    30,000
Johnny Lodden      100,000
Dan Harrington       72,400
Joe Rafferty           22,800
Ross Boatman        56,000
Alan Schein          127,000
Justin Young        110,000
Joe Sebok             92,500
Bruce Corman        75,250
Barry Greenstein     25,050

Stuart Fox has received a 20 minute ban for contesting a ruling and directing the word 'bullshit' to another player.

According to Stuart, he was forced to reimburse the first pot after the break because the button was in the wrong place.

The cards had been mucked and the second hand was ready for the off, but the blinds, who had missed the first hand, had returned to spot the error.

The button was moved back and Stuart had to give back the antes and two blinds he'd won.

Not happy with this, Stu argued the toss, pretty much saying it was bullshit and swiftly received his 20 minute ban.

toodle pip

don't you mean, TJ 'Rock' Cloutier?!  ;D

As if they could hear you, they've just moved Kristian Kjøndal from the room down the hallway to the table right in front of us.  So here's a picture.  His chips:  under 13k, however.

That sucks.  It sounds like not only had action taken place, the whole hand had finished.  Angleshooting blinds and a really harsh penalty for a word that wasn't even the F-bomb...

John Juanda is OUT, all-in with Aspades 3h versus 5s 4s on a 5h 6s 3s board.

Rather emphatic 2s on the Turn.

Academic Th River.

This appears to be the last level of the day.  We hear there is even another satellite kicking off tonight at 10pm - just enough time to bag'n'tag and then the last last-minuters get a shot at the event.  It seems a bit odd that there's the possibility of a much larger field playing Day One B, but since they're just playing a set number of levels I guess it doesn't matter for the tournament as a whole.  I can't imagine that you'd be too fresh if you played a satellite (well structured, for $2,500) and then had to dive pretty much straight into the main event at noon the next day.

Whilst David Gray's running well with 97.5k, the former World Champ is enduring life in slow motion at the moment with 52k, not much movement at all. However, he's not dead in the water just yet, with this structure, the players have plenty of time.

Are you a poker mouse or a poker man?

6-way pot

Flop = 2c Qc Kh

The wonderfully named Haralabos Voulgaris bets 1.8k, Cliff Josephy and Jennifer Harman call, everyone else folds.

Turn = 5d

Haralobos bets 4k, both players fold.

Haraloabos Voulgaris -- 72k
Cliff Josephy -- 64.5k
Jennifer Harman -- 68.5k

With just 15 minutes left of today's play, a few counts from the Row We Left Behind:

Gavin Smith    80k 
Jamie Gold     105k
Maureen Feduniak  29.5k
John Duthie   14k
Victor Ramdin  12.8k
Dan Alspach   65.5k
Ram Vaswani  45.6k
Liz Lieu          45k
Gavin Simms    105k
Martin Wendt  20.5k
Barney Boatman  81k
Noah Boeken    48k
Tim Anders      36.5k
Sorel Mizzi        105k
Andy Black        33k
Stuart Fox        48k
Peter Gould      95k
Jani Sointula      72k

At this point, rather unexpecteldly, with 15 mins left on the clock, the TD says, "Hold up dealers at the end of your hand...we are going to draw for the number of hands to be played til the end of the day...since last year's champ is still in it, we're going to let him draw..."

Joe draws Three More Hands, and that will be the End Of The Day.  Unusual.

A brisk scour of the room informs me that this motley crew are all challenging for the chip lead:

Anna Wroblewski -- 224,000
John Smith -- 171,000
Marc Goodwin -- 170,000
Shannon Shorr -- 153,000
Eric Hershler -- 142.500
Paul Lee -- 142,000

(http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=22739.0;attach=14015;image)

They've just made the best announcement of the day.  Media get to go to the buffet for free.  I no longer care that we're only getting one meal a day, because it's going to be really nice, and really enormous.  Awesome.

Most of the tables, incidentally, are done with their final hands, and everyone is heading off with the minimum of fuss.  My battery is on 3% and I think it might die at any moment, so I'll just pre-empt that with a ;stickaforkinme;

Music to my bad beat infested ears.

 ;stickaforkinme;

 ;popcorn; Thx u2 enjoyed following that  ;popcorn;

Go Jamie Gold.
 ;whistle;

That is just bizarre.

Only in America....

Thanks Jen, snoops, a great read. Just 5 day to go then!

Just caught up Great updates!!!

Jen, Snoops, just caught up.  Top job again.  Cheers.

just caught up with this..top stuff as usual..and did I read that right, Jamie Gold with 105k chippies?...Who ever said lightning can't strike twice was quite clearly wrong ;)

It's what they always do at the Bellagio at the end of the days play...

The reason?

With 10 minutes to go, someone has 2 hands to face before he has to post the big blind. So he dwells up on both hands and saves the big blind.

This way, dwelling up is pointless.

An excellent solution.

Any news on the Gecko?