WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E Day 1 - At A Glance

[Djinn]

Well, it's still the night of the 23rd here in Las Vegas, operating in Pacific Time, but we're already in the Rio in spirit, ready to bring you as live an update as possible from the sprawling horde assembled in the Convention Centre.  Our first LV update will be this most pricey and prestigious of World Series events, the Hold'em, Omaha 8/b, Razz, Stud and Stud 8/b - limit poker at its most comprehensive and expensive.  Will there be more entrants than last year?  Who will be playing?  Will we be able to notice differences in the enormous stacks until midway through Day Two?  Join Snoopy, Homer and myself in rotation during the next five days and find out...12pm LV, 8pm London time.

This is the no-pics, no replies thread for this update...for full interactivity, you want http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=24972.0

[snoopy1239]

Well, I've just had a quick check, and as expected they are indeed starting with a massive 100k in chips with the denominations as such:

Pink = 25k
Blue = 5k
Yellow = 1k
Light Blue = 500
Dark Blue = 100


As expected, plenty of stars, of which I quickly noted the names of as I endured a quick sprint around the crowd-infested cardroom...

Kirk Morrison
Dewey Tomko
Mike Wattel
Ralph Perry
Gavin Smith
Minh Ly
Mike Matusow
Erik Seidel
Ralph Peryy
Captain Tom Franklin
Lyle Berman
Erik Lindgren
Daniel Negreanu
Marco Traniello
Josh Arieh
Steve Zolotow
Annie Duke
Bill Gazes
Victor Ramdin
Sam Farha
David Gray
Sam Grizzle
Doyle Brunson
Annie Duke
Mickey Appleman
Justin Bonomo
Tony G
Mike Sexton
David Benyamine
Greg Raymer
Jennifer Harman
John Kabbaj
John Duthie
Chris Ferguson
John Juanda
Jani Sointula
Barry Greenstein
Phil Ivey
TJ Cloutier
Alex Kravchenko
Scotty Nguyen
David Singer
David Oppenheim
Pat Bueno
Jeff Lisandro
Max Pescatori
William Chen
Jack Lester
Jon Hennigan
Noah Jefferson
Andy Bloch
David Chui
Andy Black
Jim Betchel
Chip Reese
Bruno Fitoussi

[Djinn]

They don't seem to be heading for a totally timely start... the twenty tables which look to have been earmarked for H.O.R.S.E (i.e. have those ludicrously large stacks on them) are still mostly empty, and I think they are taking a "wait and see who shows up" attitude.  We hope at least 16 tables' worth of players turn up, as our accreditation doesn't allow us to wander freely between the tables once there are 15 or fewer.  Either way, though, it seems a sedate start to today, and I don't foresee crowds five-deep standing on the rail watching them play 25-50 blinds Razz...

[Djinn]

Actually, the structure, although pretty good, is remarked upon by Negreanu in his Cardplayer blog - it's different to last year and he foresees about a third of the field dropping early (Day One).  The starting levels:

Hold'em 600-1200
Omaha HL 600-1200
Razz 800-1600
Stud 800-1600
Stud H/L 800-1600

So I was exaggerating just now.  But not by a lot. 

[Djinn]

O


Right at the end of the row we find Isabelle Mercier!  And, she's right in the middle of a hand...

The board:  , and her opponent is just calling her in-position bet.
River:     Bet-call and it's showdown...

Isabelle shows: 
Against: 

And she's not delighted as this means a three-quarter for her, as they tie the nut low while her two pair is beaten by 8-8-8...  She's still smiling, though, and it's early early days yet.

[Djinn]

TJ Cloutier (pictured) picks up a pot from Phil Ivey, uncalled on a board of ...  His table is no picnic - in fact the announcements in the Tournament Area are still half-heartedly encouraging people to register for this event as it's, "A nice soft field...still half an hour to sign up, if you're hanging around the Convention Centre with nothing to do... just $50,000 and you too could join this tournament..."

[snoopy1239]

It's not easy collating hands, due to a combination of ensuring you know what game it is and having the time to follow both the action AND the cards, but I thought I quickly jot down a few random hands witnessed, just to show you how the betting is going.

The first two are from the Omaha Hi-Lo, as we crept onto Razz.

O

Flop =

Cyndy Violette bets 600 and receives two callers, one of whom is David Chui.

Turn =

Cyndy bets 1,200, both players fold.


On another table, two former Main Event winners clash.

Board =

Johnny Chan bets 1,200, Jim Betchell makes it 2,400 and Chan calls.

River =

Chan bets 1,200, Betchell calls.

Betchell =

Chan =

Split pot, Chan taking the most with the nut flush high and half of the A-2-3-4-6 low.

R

Lindgren = ? ? ?

Mateyboy = ? ? ?

Lindgren bets the River, Mateyboy fold, showing in the process.

[Djinn]

Table Draw!!

20
Andy Bloch
Robert Williamson
Neal Friets
Thomas Schneider
Harry Thomas
Jack Zwerner
Noah Jefferson

19
Daniel Harmetz
Chad Brown
David Chiu
Cynthia Violette
Tuan Le
Eli Elezra
Andy Black

18
Sam Grizzle
Sammy Farha
David Grey
Bari Sklar
Daniel Shak
Bill Gazes
Chris Reslock

17
Howard Lederer
Brandon Adams
Chip Reese
Bruno Fitoussi
Luke Neely
Jim Bechtel
Vladimir Troyanovskiy

16
Kirk Morrison
Ali Eslami
David Singer
TJ Cloutier
Mike Sexton
Dewey Tomko
Phil Ivey

15
John Kabbaj
Bradley Helm
Gus Hansen
Alexander Kravchenko
Gregory Mascio
Suk Sung
Jessee Jones

14
Mark Tenner
Rafael Perry
Thomas Weideman
Amnon Filippi
Patrik Antonius
Ted Lawson
Mike Wattel

13
Meikle Partin
Bart Hanson
Patrick Pezzin
Jason Lester
John Hennigan
Gabe Kaplan
David Benyamine

12
Roy Thung
Rafi Amit
Tony Cousineau
Benjamin Lin
David Williams
Rob Hollink

11
John Duthie
David Sklansky
John D'Agostino
Sherkhan Farnood
Greg Raymer
Jennifer Traniello
Robert Mizrachi

10
Charles Kaelin
Scotty Nguyen
Lyle Berman
Charles Lehr
David Levi
Kristy Gazes

9
Chris Ferguson
John Hanson
Greg Mueller
Mickey Appleman
John Juanda
Robert Feduniak
Joseph Tehan

8
Jani Sointula
Allen Cunningham
Hasan Habib
Nicholas Schulman
Allen Kessler
Barry Greenstein

7
Todd Brunson
Tony G
Matthew Hawrilenko
Phil Laak
William Edler
Doyle Brunson
Justin Bonomo

6
Mike Matusow
Darrell Dicken
Chau Giang
Thor Hansen
Jeffrey King
Bon Phan

5
Nikolaos Frangos
Erick Lindgren
Ariel Schneller
John Cover
Daniel Negreanu
Marco Traniello
Shih-Ping Sun

4
Bill Chen
Jerri Thomas
Max Pescatori
Thien Phan
Mark Gregorich
Jeffrey Lisandro
Ted Forrest

3
Stephen Wolff
Mark Vos
Jerrod Ankenman
Thomas Franklin
Erik Seidel
Maureen Feduniak
Abraham Mosseri

2
Patrick Bueno
Soheil Shamseddin
David Oppenheim
Isabelle Mercier
Michael Mizrachi
James Owens
Raymond Dehkarghani

1
Annie Duke
Josh Arieh
Steve Zolotow
Tad Jurgens
Gavin Smith
Minh Ly
Annand Ramdin

Just as I got to the end of typing this list, I noticed a felt-tip pen mark on the front which told me, and now you, that this is "Incomplete" - perhaps some of the members of the audience have taken up the TD's challenge and signed up spur-of-the-moment style...

[snoopy1239]

S

As I was watching Jeff Lisandro (? ? ) fold to a bet from Andy Bloch (? ? ), three Europeans (and neighbours, incidentally) in Alex Kravchenko, John Kabbaj and Gus Hansen all crossed swords.

Kabbaj = ? ? ?

Hansen = ? ? ?

Kravchenko = ? ? ?

Kabbaj bets 1.6k, the other two call.

The final card is dealt face down. Kabbaj checks, Hansen bets 1.6k, Kravchenko calls and Kabbaj folds.

Bracelet winner and Russian citizen, Alex Kravchenko, takes the pot with () () ()

[snoopy1239]

Whilst we find more hands, photographs and whatnot, here are a handful (well, a big hand really) of blondepedia entries to keep you entertained.

Simply click their name to see the entry.

Dewey Tomko
Gavin Smith
Mike Matusow
Erik Seidel
Captain Tom Franklin
Erick Lingren
Daniel Negreanu
Victor Ramdin
Doyle Brunson
Justin Bonomo
David Benyamine
Greg Raymer
Jennifer Harman
John Duthie
Chris Ferguson
Barry Greenstein
Phil Ivey
TJ Cloutier
Scotty Nguyen
Jeff Lisandro
Max Pescatori
Andy Bloch
Andy Black
Jim Betchel

[Djinn]

PRIZE BREAKDOWN:

Total monies contributed by the final count of 148 players:  $7,104,000

1  $2,276,832
2  $1,278,720
3   $852,480
4   $586,080
5   $444,000
6   $337,440
7   $259,296
8   $188,256
9   $131,424
10  $131,424
11  $117,216
12  $117,216
13  $103,008
14  $103,008
15   $88,800
16   $88,800

[snoopy1239]

We experienced some downtime there due to host problems, but we're back now. Apologies for the delay.

For a selection of photos, please visit the Interactive thread.

[snoopy1239]

Here is the current top ten courtesy of worldseriesofpoker.com:

1st  Sam Farha -- $155,000
2nd  Soheil Shamseddin -- $154,000
3rd  Barry Greenstein -- $140,000
4th  Joe Tehan -- $139,000
5th  Eli Elezra -- $137,000
6th  Andy Bloch -- $136,000
7th  Phil Hellmuth Jr. -- $132,000
8th  Doyle Brunson -- $130,000
9th  Isabelle Mercier -- $128,000
10th  David Grey -- $120,000

[snoopy1239]

O

Johnny Chan has lost a chunk on a 4-4-A-K-J board, his opponent scooping with Aces full, so I can only assume Chan had the 2-3 and a decent high hand.

----------

O

4-way pot.

Board =

Bueno bets 2k and is called in two places by Soheil Shamseddin and another player who I believe is James Owens.

Bueno =

Shamseddin =

Owens =

If my Omaha is up to scratch, that means Owens and Bueno split it (nut low and full house), whilst Shamseddin and his paltry two pair receive a big fat nothing.

[snoopy1239]

Courtesy of worldseriesofpoker.com (who, of course, I am obliged to credit)

1st  Soheil Shamseddin -- $154,000
2nd  Joe Tehan -- $143,000
3rd  Barry Greenstein -- $140,000
4th  Eli Elezra -- $137,000
5th  Andy Bloch -- $136,000
6th  Sam Farha -- $132,000
7th  Phil Hellmuth Jr. -- $132,000
8th  Erik Seidel -- $130,000
9th  Doyle Brunson -- $130,000
10th  Isabelle Mercier -- $128,000