WSOP MAIN EVENT: DAY 1A - At A Glance

[snoopy1239]

Play commences at 12pm (8pm UK time).

Updates will be hourly.

[Djinn]

The crowds are swarming towards their tables, and with the punctuality you can count on (at least there's that) I believe that we won't be starting too far behind schedule.  While waiting for the players to take their seats (among them Ian Woodley and Iwan Jones, whose goal, predictably but perfectly sensibly is, "To make day two") I went into the Expo - the huge room next to the Amazon in which overnight a huge selection of vendors, hawkers, advertisers, girls in small clothes and general randoms convened to overwhelm the players upon their arrival.  There's no avoiding it - the hall is cordoned off and everyone has to walk past Psychic Hanna's, dozens of stalls selling dealer buttons and T-shirts, and people handing out flyers for every conceivable marketing niche for the WSOP.  Greg Raymer was trying to get through the room without being forcefed Phil Hellmuth's energy drink while the geriatric player blocking the path in front was stopped in his tracks by a girl in a sparkly bikini appearing on a stage and dancing to that song from The Producers.  And there's an indoor mini basketball court and giant inflatable bottle of Jim Beam (pictured).

Within ten minutes the sea of people will have calmed, and we'll get to work spotting your picks and generally absorbing the atmosphere, the better to reproduce it in concentrated form once an hour.

[snoopy1239]

Wowzer, if ever there was a reason why not to go to the gym, then this is it, a quick trundle around the 1,300 packed cardroom being enough to make even Mr Motivator wince and complain of a stitch. However, I can't complain too much, having receiving plenty of brief rests as I stopped to chat to the many homegrown players we have hurled into this year's World Series. One of those was Julian Gardener, looking a little worse for wears and perhaps regretting a late night out that I'm sure he reluctantly (ahem) experienced.

Others that may well have experienced the odd drink or two would perhaps have been the Dusk Till Dawn crew, their inevitable 'get-together' (or, more accurately, piss-up) at the Palms' cheeky Playboy Club surely producing the odd hang over or two (or three, or four - well, however members are in the team actually).

The very first table I hunted down was indeed Richard Ashby's, but whilst his seat remained vacant, just a few tables down, a celebrity was present, Michael 'Don't Call Me Beppe' Greco seated right on the edge of the cardroom. As you can see from the photo, he wasn't quite his bubbly chirpy self, which either meant he was entirely focused on the task at hand, or indeed had decided against the night in with slippers and hot cocoa in favour of a more fun-filled escapade through Vegas. He wouldn't be the only one, everyone here's looks hung over!

The final DTDer that I managed to find was Dave Colclough, who I'm sure I couldn't see on the initial player list (which, incidentally, has more pages than Bleak House). Dave was certainly looking serious; cap lowered, shades in places, ipod beating away - if anyone's going to beat Dave this week, I feel the last person it'll be is himself.

But the Dusk Till Dawn boys weren't the only men (and women) flying the flag, a whole heap of Brits spotted as I trawled the seemingly endless sea of tables. Here are just a few of those players:

Des Wilson
Teddy Sheringham
Willie Tann
Ian Woodley
Mel Judah
Marty Smyth
Richard Rudling-Smith
Dave Gregory
Nik Persaud
Joe Beevers
Gala's McDonald
Kathreen Hatree
Thomas Dunwoody
Mickey Wernick
Peter Gould
Luke Patten
Mohammed Hassan
Dave Ulliott
Steve Davis
Mark Teltscher
Andrew Andreou
Jeff Buffenbarger
Iwan Jones
Dave Mobbs
Ben Callinan
Jac Arama

Also:

Bertrand Grospellier
Kristian Kjondal
Jani Sointula
Andreas Hagen
Thomas Wahlroos
Marcel Luske

I also searched for some of those names highlighted by you guys, but the Mayo Mob and Mark Forester all seem to have morphed into someone else, unless, and this is possibly the more likely explanation, the Table and Seats you gave me were somehow incorrect. Either way, I'll continue to keep an eye out for them and let you know if I unearth those poker needles from the Rio haystack.

Not unexpectedly, there have been a shortage of hands witnessed, maybe due to the 20k stack and very generous 2 hour clock, but I did witness my first Mateyboy squared encounter, Midlander Dave Mobbs looking on as two of his Table mates crossed swords, the younger of the two feeling obliged to say "Great, f***ed first hand" as his 3-4 on a 2-J-5-6-A paid off a Turned flush.

One hand that DID involve a Brit, was the button vs. small blind confrontation between an American player and last year's 12th place finished John Magill, the Irishman holding K-6 vs. Mateyboy's A-K on a 3-8-K-6-2 board. What I was asking myself was - if Mateyboy had A-K on the button, did John call a pe-flop raise with K-6. If so, he's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy.

Anyhow, I'd better end this gigantic sludge of 1st hour waffle before I cause too many people to slip into comas, but what I will say as I finish is that although the online industry has taken a hit prior to this year's World Series, there are some things that never change. One being the hustle and bustle of the World Series, and the other being the shoddy standard of play, some of the eye-opening hands I've already witnessed surely accounting for the 5 or so tables that have already broken.

Has an update ever started with the word 'Wowzer' before? I do hope not.

Full chip count on the way...
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And hello from me:

The organisation is pretty tight, with the hundreds of tables riffling their chips (20k this year) in what looks very much like order.  The usual gaps around the tables wait for their Iveys, Hellmuths or late sleepers, while whenever a Legend enters the room, an announcement is made.  "Give a hand for Texas Dolly, double champion of the World Series..." at which point the room ever so briefly stops compulsively playing with their stacks and claps whichever Legend just arrived.  Pretty impressive round of applause, actually.

My story of level One has to be that of Des Fitzpatrick, pictured with the black Equal Chance T-shirt on.  He's blurry because he was that second springing from his chair and heading out of the arena.  I assumed the midday desperation for a hotdog had overcome yet another player, but no, he was actually heading out of the building.  It appears that he'd made Day Two of a Venetian comp, which he'd assumed was a one-dayer and now found himself returning to with 40 players left.  "I can miss a level or two," he remarked, casually - multitabling in two different casinos isn't something I've seen before.

Neighbours!  Besides Mickey and Thomas I found the wide-awake-club Jani Sointula and Willie Tann, and Ian Woodley and Mel Judah, who look to be having a fine old time already, and the first two-hour level isn't over yet.

One hand I saw a garish orange chip (5k - a quarter of a stack) getting tossed in on the river on a board by a becowboyhatted Matey, called.  He said, "Flush," turning over the .  It was good.  "Tilt," explained Hatmatey - "These are free chips, y'all come get 'em."

[snoopy1239]

Venturing into the cardroom for the second time, I made a concerted effort to hunt down some of the requested players. If he’s 60-ish with greyish hair and glasses, then I’ve certainly found Simon Stocken, who still has around his starting stack. The same can be said about Jac Arama, who was indeed seated in Table 1, Seat 1 (on Day 1) like he claimed the other day. Then again, with his funky glasses, you could line up all the poker players in the world and still spot Jac.

Conor Tate is also here, as reserved as always but seemingly delighted to hear that he had support and was grateful for the good luck message. Continuing the trend of the previous paragraph, the Irishman, who finished 12th a couple of years ago, still has around his starting stack.

A couple of players, however, I’m still having trouble locating, Danny McHugh of the Mayo Mob being one of them. Unless he’s lost all his hair, grown a beard and put on 5 stone, then he certainly isn’t in Seat 1 on Table 208, which, incidentally, is being infested by a Woodley/Judah combo.

One observation that has been made today, is the severe lack of PokerStars' shirts, many perhaps deciding to keep the 10k and spend it on something less costly. “I know three people who qualified on there,” commented the Gutshot’s Barry Martin, “but not one of them has turned up.”

What has remained constant though is the sense of fun at the World Series, Jeff Madsen being a prime example of this as he dons a Jester’s outfit, albeit with a face like a dog chewing on a wasp on a nettle. I thought Jester’s were meant to be jovial!

Someone who looks similarly dejected is Michael Greco, but although I assumed that it was due to a alcohol induced hangover, it’s merely fatigue, the clunkiness of the World Series starting to get to the Eastender down, Beppe being present in Vegas for quite a while now. When asked on his progress so far in this event, the response was a simple one… “Nothing”. “That’ll make a good report,” I replied. “Just nothing,” said Greco treating me with an additional word.

In what has become a tough task, I did manage to witness a hand involving two players I recognise, Austrian highroller Markus Golser and Midlander Mohammed Hassan locking horns early doors. The board read , and the action was on Golser, but as the high roller threw 3k onto the felt, he was beaten into the pot by Hassan, who then checked the River. Golser slowed down and checked behind him, and it was lucky he did, as Hassan was sitting pretty with the rather nutty and making a cheeky trap-check on the River. No big payday come the final card, but the Brit still climbs to 25k for a nice tidy start.

Other players I passed were Andy Black, who looked rather less engulfing and upbeat than normal, Dave Mobbs, who has risen to 30k after “hitting trips and making a lot of re-raises with good hands” and Teddy Sheringham, who along with Tony Cascarino, is flying the European flag for the footy players.

But before I trot back off into the poker oblivion, here’s an amusing conversation I had with New Zealand’s James Honeybone:

James: Hey, were you in Poland?
Me: Yeah, that was me, your name’s Honeybone, right?
James: Yeah.
Me: James Honeybone from New Zealand?
James: Spot on.
Me: Oh, I’ve still got it. You’ve come along way again?
James: Yeah, tend to have to travel for my poker coming from New Zealand.
Me: You should go the whole hog and pop over to England for a game. That’s gotta be further away than any country.
James: Yeah, I’d certainly come for the birds at least, don’t you think?
Me: Well, only if you mean the ones in the trees.
James: Ha.
Me: (panicking) I’m not saying you’ve got a bird fetish or anything.

Oh, the bizarre conversations you can have with people you’ve only met once. Only at WSOP!
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We've reached the first break!  People everywhere - I didn't have a whole conversation with anyone, but you do get that incredible Bad Beat Corridor.  A fairly big chunk of tables has broken already, and if you tune in to the dealers only, "Seat open!" rings out more often than you'd expect (if you'd never been to the WSOP before).  And it's not all Aces outdrawn by AK either - I saw at least 10k go in on a nine-high flop called by someone with AA - the mover had K-T off.  Seat open.

Rudders is being railed (sort of) by Jon Raab who is wisely refraining from setting non-accredited foot in the tournament ring - he's gone for the single tables.  High roller Raab, as he's now known...he's sat two to the left of Hendon Mobster Joe Beevers.  Speaking of the Hendons, I spotted Ram Vaswani in the room earlier today - still not seen him sat at a table yet, but will keep looking.  He looks like he's walking about a foot above the ground after his bracelet win hours ago...

Pictured in the bottom trio are Players Expressing Mild Surprise:
Richard Rudling-Smith
Peter Gould
Richard Ashby

[Djinn]

Another Legend announced upon arrival was rattlesnake hat man himself (I just don't get tired of this photo) Amarillo Slim.  Just now the TV cameras found him too, so I watched a hand just to help form a crowd.  There must have been a misdeal or some kind of hold up, and when the hand started it didn't get too far - the button called the 200 (blinds 100/200) and small blind Slim raised it to 700.  The big blind folded and the button limper gave it up too...
"Lucky misdeal," said Slim, "You just turned that Ace-King into two red Aces."  As he accepts the pot he deliberately flashes the at the table and the cameras...

Devilfish is down to just 7,700 - he just lost a couple of thousand re-raising preflop to 2,200 after there'd been a raise to 700 and a caller.  The button now thinks and calls the 2,200, the initial raiser passes but a caller in the middle comes along for the ride.  On a flop, it checks round, but on the turn the first player to act bets out 3k which is enough to see off the Devilfish who accidentally flips his as he throws it away.  He doesn't look delighted.

Also Spotted:
Liz Lieu
Barry Greenstein
Mark Vos (reading a magazine)  22k
Des Wilson  22,750

Both Mickey Wernick and Rudders' tables have been broken - the players are reconfiguring at an alarming rate.  I wonder who has all the chips?  Here are ten selected near the top by worldseriesofpoker.com:

Nestor Martinez -- 93,500   
Julian Gardner   -- 52,000   
Dustin 'Neverwin' Woolf -- 50,000   
Barry Greenstein -- 48,000   
Morgan Machina   -- 41,000   
Tom Schneider -- 35,000   
Joe Tehan -- 34,000   
Michael Mizrachi -- 32,000   
Mike Sexton -- 31,500
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospelier -- 31,000

Pictured along with Amarillo:  Thomas Wahlroos (15,800), Jac Arama

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Hi, folks, the Beagle here. Before I begin my unquestionably amusing (cough) anecdotathon of World Series’ progress, I feel urged to vomit out the following chip counts before they become horridly out of date. So here they are:

Dave Mobbs – 29.5k
Mickey Wernick – 25.5k
Richard Ashby – 26.5k
Katherine Hartree – 23.5k
Tony Cascarino – 20.5k
Mark Teltscher – 16.5k
Kristian Kjondal – 17.5k
John Magill – 28.5k
Johnny Lodden – 37.5k
Thang Nguyen – 22.5k
Des Wilson – 22k
Ben Callinan – 26.5k
Ian McDonald – 21k
Jeff Buffenbarger – 23k
Thomas Wahlroos – 16k
Mel Judah – 19.5k
Ian Woodley – 18k
Peter Gould – 23k
Willie Tann – 21k
Andreas Hagen – 25k
Richard Rudling-Smith – 18.5k
Thomas Dunwoodie – 19k

Of course, there’s always one that ruins my chippy count, and as I headed backed to the press room, I noticed a dead-pan Richard Rudling-Smith throwing 4k into the middle, his eyes firmly fixed upon his opponent in Seat 1, who was receiving the full Rudders staredown.

After a long pause, Mateyboy made the call on a board and, as expected, checked the River, which induced, as expected, an all-in from Rudders (about 12k) which, in turn, and, guess what, as expected, led to a fold from Seat 1.

After some extreme searching, I think I’ve found Simon Stocken and have hopefully pictured the correct chap in the photo below. If this, and I do pray, is him, then he’s running well with 26k, although he seemed more interested in the fellow in Seat 9 who was receiving a double massage, one from the official pretty masseuse, the other from the big greasy poker player who was sat next door. Tough choice.

Meanwhile, I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. “Hi there,” said a young man with a clipboard. “Would you do me a favour and take a photo of Mickey Appleman while we film you?” Knowing it was an odd request but being someone who always finds it difficult to refuse, I stood just in front of their TV camera and, like the lemon that I am, hovered my camera in the face of a player who I believe represents the dark, reckless, alcoholic side of Bjorn Borg.

I waited for what felt like an eternity, but heard nothing, thinking that I’d better not turn around in case they’re still filming me – then I’d look like a right plum in this (ahem) spontaneous unstaged moment. Anyhow, there comes a point when you have to concede, so I turned around to see that they’d already finished filming and had moved on. Hmm, so I ended up looking like a ‘right plum’ anyhow… as always.

Camera waving aside, I did manage to prise some useful information from the jam-packed Rio cardroom, noticing that Dave Colclough’s neighbour, Abe Mosseri has a massive 75k in chips and was perhaps the new chip leader, although I wouldn’t bet on it as there’s always someone with something even more ridiculous (can I say ridiculouse?).

“Is he the chip leader,” asks Eli Elezra. “I have no idea,” I answered, “I’d have to check a fair few tables.” “Is that the most you’ve seen though?” asks Dave. “Yep, so far, and (pointing to Dave’s stack), that’s the smallest.” Dave wasn’t amused.

Irishman John Magill is still flying high with 28.5k, but, as agreed by the man himself, still has a fair way to go to echo last year’s performance. “I’ve earned the 8.5k in bits. One hand (which I reported on a previous post), I called a raise with K-6,” said Magill. “But, when in Rome…” Lol, couldn’t have said it better.

Apart from that, I haven’t spotted too much in the way of vast excitement, the only thing really getting my blood circulating being the scattering of norkage blessing the arena, in particular Liz Lieu who just made a big fold to an all-in on a board after smooth calling a 6.5k Turn bet. Naturally, she took an absolute age on her decisions so as to attract the attention of the bloggers and cameramen, although she already had that sewn up with that cheeky low cut cleavage displaying dress. Yum!

[Djinn]

Joe Beevers is up to around 40k, helped considerably by this odd hand, which started with his calling a raise to 800 on the button with , along with two others.  On a 6-8-J two-diamond flop he found in front of him a bet of 1,600, a raise to 3,200 and a call, and jumped on the bandwagon, flat calling too.  The turn brought an Ace, and a second diamond, and a series of checks to him prompted Mr. Beevers to bet 10 whole k, winning that pretty decent pot for him.

He's also come up with a few figures for player numbers (I think it was a good bet to underestimate the number of total runners in the Main Event this year) - it looks like around 5,000 are registered currently, with the fourth added-on start day being the lowest stocked so far.  There is speculation that players are waiting until the last possible minute, in order to get in on the final day, but I can't imagine there will be thousands even with the (still ongoing) megasatellites.

The neighbouring seat to Mel Judah, pictured earlier as supporting Ian Woodley, now has the distinctive hair of Alex Jacob floating above it - I am inclined to fear the worst considering that table balancing doesn't happen so much as players get filled in as the tables break every few minutes.  Interestingly, the break order of the tables was announced as having been posted up for all to see any time - so you know in advance if you're likely to be bounced around like a pinball.

Mike Sexton  28,200
Jeff Madsen  6,400

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I guess seeing that Keith alluded to it, I might as well start with Eli Elezra who has indeed been eliminated. In fact, I was the only one who obtained this information, and kindly passed it on to the Pokernews team to retell. It was kinda amusing, he approached me in a seemingly innocent way as if to 'socialise', but I could tell he was after the hand details like a blood thirsty wolf. Of course, being the giving chap I am, I told him that Eli ran T-6 into A-T into an A-T-6 board, which is absolutely true,  but I never told him that Dave was the assassin - lost in translation I guess, but unlike Bill Murray and his Japanese friends, we were actually speaking the same language.

Speaking of Dave, here are his, and the other DTDers current chip counts:

Dave Colclough -- 19,000
Michael Greco -- 23,500
Richard Ashby -- 24,000

In other news, Jac Arama has 24k, Andy Black 34k, and Peter Gould 35k. The latter of those was part of the reason why we're no longer in the presence of Ian Wooldey, the Cockney rogue conceding most of his chips to the chipped up Gould when he made a move with just a pair of Fives. Pretty tough to make a set of Sevens fold. His stack near demolished, Woodley then ran A-Q into Kings and was doggy dinner. Nevertheless, we kept it in the county with fellow Brit Gould left smiling, although it's hard not to smile when you're wearing a shirt like that. Actually, I think he's dressed down today.

A table back, there's a swarm of cameras watching Johnny Chan, who is accompanied by Corey Zeitman (who I believe appeared momentarily on High Stakes Poker) and Raymond Davis, who ran close to finalling the recent WPT Final. While Corey and Raymond have 34,500 and 14,500 respectively, Chan is severely struggling with 5,500. For someone so rich though, you'd think he'd bin the Chav hat.

There were a few interesting announcements, the first rising more than just a rye smile from the Rio cardroom, the announcer informing everyone that the first Royal Flush of the day would receive, and wait for it, this is big... a 40 minute massage. Wooooo! Party time. Who needs 12 million! "Second prize was an 80 minute massage," added a tongue in cheek Joe Beevers, although I think he was assuming Barry Neville was offering his services.

The other announcement was regarding a slightly more serious matter, media coordinator Nolan Dalla proudly announcing the winner of the recent charity event, Brendan Moran, I believe his name was, and that he had kindly donated every single penny (or cent, rather) of it to charity. Fair enough, I hear you say, but what if you'd just won 200k like Brendan did? Would you hand over the lot? Fair dos if he's not a billionaire.

Back to the poker though, and Welshman Iwan Jones has been watching too much of Julian Thew, yoyo-in up and down as if loop the looping on the New York New York rollercoaster. At one point, his stack had near halved after losing 3 of Aces, Queens, Tens and Eights, the bullets possibly losing him the most after running into a flopped set of Sixes and paying off a smallish River bet. But fear not, as Buzz has been flapping those wings like mad and zoomed up to 23k via, in his own words, "the second nuts (queen high flush) which was paid off by A-K". To infinity (or maybe 30k for the moment) and beyond!

Meanwhile, other do-gooders include Julian Gardner (43k), Andy Black (34k) and Teddy Sheringham (23k), all content with their current progress. A player that the rail wants to do well (well, when I say rail, I mean just Dean Sanders) is Nik Persaud, who Sanders has a certain investment in. "Can you find out how many chips Nik's got, mate?" asks Sanders. "Why, you nipping?" "No, trying to get my nip back more like (referring to Monte Carlo where Dean cashed)."

Finally, I managed to catch yet another hand between two recognisable faces (yes, two in one day, I'm as amazed as you!), Annand 'Victor' Ramdin faced with a 2k bet from Thang Nguyen on a board, eventually folding and saying "I had a pair, I thought he might have a missed flush draw, or maybe a set of fours. Perhaps he hit a ten." Hmm, really decisive there, but I doubt he cares, he still has 45k.

Back soon!

[snoopy1239]

Poker might be the topic of the day, but I, and many of you I’m sure, will agree, that the really subject matter on such an illustrious occasion is the norkage. So, with this in mind, off I trotted (or should that be trut?) to the exhibition room where all the tottie seem to lurk. Unfortunately, on entering, I was met with a disappointing combination of gimmicky stalls and hordes of men, the girls nowhere to be seen. At that point, it suddenly dawned on me that the lack of eye candy was due to the Bill they passed on online gaming, the resulting factor being no models fronting online cardrooms at the World Series. If ever there was a reason why the passing of that bill was a crime, then this is it, and I feel I should start a petition pronto.

Back to the world of big sweaty greasy animals, the break rekindled a fatigued crowd, the players returning revitalised and raring to go. Andy Black in particular has come back firing on all cylinders, one hand I joined being a 4k pot with Black, utg+1, up against the button. Not 100% sure how it went pre-flop, but I can only assume that Black raised, MB re-raised, and Black called.

Anyhow, both players checked the , until the Turn where Black’s 2k raise was re-raised to 6k. Black smooth called and checked again on the River, Mateyboy, one of the few this year donning the big tent of a Pokerstars’ hockey jersey, opting to bet out 8k after a long dwell. In contrast, the Irishman called instantly, flipping over a flush ( ) and scooping in the pot. Black now up to 52.5k.

While an Irishman’s stack increases, a New Zealander’s decreases, so much in fact that James Honeybone is out. Encountering a pissed off giant in the corridor, James retold his tale of woe: “Can’t believe it, would you call a raise with 8-7? I had K-Q and made it 1,400, only for him to call an extra 10k and then hit an 8-K-8 Flop. He bet, I moved all-in and that was it. Complete joke.” Ah well, another heart broken, just a few thousand more to go.

Meanwhile, I spotted Corey Zeitman involved in a hand, not necessary a fascinating confrontation, but one that did help me learn a bit more about his character. He’d raised pre-flop, checked-called the Flop and check-folded the Turn of a nine high board, but what was most interesting was the speech play performed, knowing full well that he’d be folding. “Have you got Jacks,” asks Corey at the Turn. “Can you guys help me out here and let me know how he’s been playing. I’ve got A-K” “Will you show if I fold,? the chatterbox continues, to which the response is: “If you call the Turn and then my bet on the River, I promise I’ll show.” Got to admire the wit of that reply, top work!

Finally, Luke Patten, who has been a ghost on the UK circuit this year, is making an appearance on Day 1, although down to 14k here after reluctantyl (even shook his head as he shoved his chips in) calling a 2k bet on the River of an and being shown A-J. Oh well, he can always lean over a nab Barry Greenstein's book if he requires assistance.
______________________________________
I discovered some more Brits hiding in the middle of the room (even when the field is half its starting size this still happens, like finding another orange smartie when you thought they were all gone) –

Luke Patten  15,500
Rick Wildman  9,200
Des Fitzpatrick  11,300  (back from the Venetian where he finished 21st – his halved stack isn’t due to blinding out or playing maniacally – he got KK vs. AA the second hand after he returned, and feels fairly fortunate to have only lost what he did).

Also Myles Phago (pictured in the red Poker Verdict shirt), who just now had the clock called on him as he faced an 8k all-in from the unknown woman pictured below.  The pot was around that size, and the board stood:  .  A full hands-behind-head, sighing think, a count-out, and an eventual pass – I think I saw something which may have been a spade – flush draw?

*aside*  One stand which has made it out of the Expo and right outside the entrance to the tournament area (which now has a big queue of people waiting to be spectators filling it) is for Pokerwater – the new healthy alternative to filling yourself with mildly medicinal tasting caffeine which always ends with an energy slump.  The people launching this product (for which they’ve chosen the unexpected image of a donkey holding a pair of Aces) seem very enthusiastic, so hold your breath for the arrival of said vibrant pink drink (with Goji, a superfood from Tibet) in the UK soon.

OUT are Marcel Luske and, it looks like, the Devilfish (pictured pretending to look at his watch).

---------------------------------------------


Hello, Floppy here, I'm making the tag for Jen, so she can get some sleep in time to play tomorrow. Here's the last time I was involved in a tag team successfully



Jen is already preparing. Look she even has her own POKER WATER! (With 36 Herbs, Vitamins and Minerals!)

[Djinn]

As the players went onto to the dinner break, I blasted into Speedy Gonzales mode to grab the following chip counts before the inevitable onslaught of poker rhinos raced out for their half time meal:

Jan Boubli – 14k
Andy Black – 59k
Ben Johnson – 24k
Iwan Jones – 30k
Raymond Davis – 43k
Mark Teltscher – 22.5k
Michael Mizrachi – 22.5k
Peter Willers Jepsen – 28k
Joe Tehan – 28.5k
Joe Awada – 49k
Richard Rudling-Smith – 20k
Marty Smyth – 13.5k
Mike Sexton – 28.5k
Tobey Maguire – 11k
Mohammed Hassan – 34.5k
Willie Tann – 8k
Henning Granstad – 30.5k
Michael Greco – 31k
Alex Jacob – 9k
Julian Gardner – 70.5k
Mickey Wernick – 33.5k
Annand Ramdin – 42.5k
Katherine Hartree – 19k
Blair Rodman – 42.5k
Barry Greenstein – 46k

Amidst those chippy counts, you’ll notice a slight increase in the stack of Dusk Till Dawn’s Michael Greco; he hasn’t played too many big hands, but the one he did win saw his A-Q hit a Queen high flop, Mateyboy calling his bets right up to the River.

It’s not all good news though for DTD, Dave Colclough missing and presumed lost. I subsequently asked big chipper Abe Mosseri if his blonde haired neighbour had departed, and he unfortunately confirmed the worst.

Joining El Blondie in the showers (crikey, this will be a horrific image) is Thomas Dunwoodie – he was eliminated by former bracelet winner Joe Awada who is now Billy Big Balls with just under 50k. The hand in question was a testicle crunching set over set affair which saw the Geordie playing the side games in double quick time.

In more dust biting news, we’re a celebrity down in Steve ‘The Nugget’ Davis, his Tens all-in pre-flop ran into Aces saw his miscue and left to head off to the rail after a ‘no bloomin ten’ board.

Good to see Richard Rudling-Smith taking this tournament by storm, his 20,325 showing that he’s really been climbing like a trooper. But whilst my tongue in cheek comment will surely earn me a slap later on, 20,325 is still highly acceptable considering (1) the huge amount of players that we’ve already lost and (2) the lack of hands Rudders has been receiving, his only recent holding being Tens which Rivered a full house. Don’t ask him about those Kings and the Ace high Flop though…

Finally, a post wouldn’t be complete without some Mateyboy squared action, so how about a taste of Mateyboy cubed?! The three-way pot was already 50k+ with a wibbly wobbly board, but it needed more, so in steps Mateygirl with a 30k more, just to bump it up some more. One guy folded, but another called, pretty quickly too, only to be shown . Mateyboy and his was sent packing sharpish as the young lady scooped the monster pot.

Before I grab a Pepsi, please do check out the rare find pictured below – an inverted double stacker. Unbelievable.

------------

Pictured:

Luke Patten demonstrating the patented (no pun intended) Hellmuth Freeze
Hellmuth demonstrating it (NOT playing today)
Michael Greco
Conor 'Sealey' Tate

[snoopy1239]

After a welcome lunchbreak, the players retook their seats ready for this evening's feast of poker action, but whilst the players got settled and I gradually rambled around what is a huge room, it quickly became evident that a few big names had dropped, Johnny Chan, John D'Agostino and Amarillo Slim all nowhere to be seen. Similarly, Antonio 'The Magician' Esfandiari has done a disappearing act, but in slightly different circumstances, his chips being blinded away throughout the day after failing to turn up. Apparently this isn't that unusual for the pro's, Gutshot's David Lloyd informing me that Ted Forrest once failed to appear at the Bellagio WPT, but still made it through to Day where he doubled up first hand!

The stars might not be bothering, but us Brits are plugging away like our lives depended on it, Iwan Jones, Michael Greco, Willie Tann, Peter Gould, Mickey Wernick, Nik Persaud, just to name a few. Actually, one of those, Willie 'The Dice' Tann was very close to enjoying an early bath with his rubber duck, down to 4.5k and seemingly on his way out. However, a recent fleeting glance and the man's back up to 24k. Reluctant to reveal his secrets, I asked Table companion Peter Gould how Wille made the jump, to which he replied, "He made a move, fortunately not again me." "Made a move, goes without saying," I added.

Meanwhile, a few more Brits are still fighting, Richard Wild (11.5k), Dave Mobbs (50k), Andy Black (90k), Simon Stocken (29.5k) flying the flag like nobody's business. I couldn't see our footy players turned poker nuts though, Teddy Sheringham and Tony Cascarino either out or hiding in the toilets.

I did notice Ian McDonald running well, he's on 50k and looking very steady indeed. He put his cracking start down to a pair of Jacks holding up on a raggy Flop against a flush draw, so he's had his moment of heart-in-mouthness. He also informed me that he got it all-in preflop with the American Airlines on Level 1 with Mickey Wernick, Ian expecting Mickey to be facing a Kings v Aces cooler. Unfortunately for Ian, it was the only other possibility, Mickey splitting the pot with the Gala man with the other two Bullets.

Not English, but Welsh, so just about scrapes in, is Iwan Jones. He's got some good news for his fans as he retells his "I'm now on 43k" tale: "I called an early position raise from the small blind with Jacks and flat-called a 2.6k bet on a Ten high Flop. We both checked the Queen Turn, only for the River to bring an 8. I bet 8k with my straight and, although after a dwell, was called by 7-5 of clubs."

Meanwhile, the blinds are 200 and 400 and, in honour of floppy's Monte Python gag, the running antes are kicking in. Oh yes, and we're once again blessed with the presence of stars, both Tobey Maguire (who induced an "Oh my God, it's Spiderman" from some middle-aged woman on the rail) and fellow industry worker and world famous director, George Lucas.



--------------------------------------------

Stumbling around the convention centre, I greet people with the line, "Gah, it's like a Convention Centre in here!"

I run into Peter Gould who is now on 35k, just as Willie Tann (who got us into the cafe quickly using his platinum card and also told us of the exit of Jani Sointula who apparently pushed with 9-3 on the button before the break and got called by A-9) was having his 4k bet on the turn of a board raised from 4k to 11k. Wille ending up mucking after a minutes' thought.
 
Wandering further down the room, I spot the Carlos Mortensen influenced stack building skills of Mark Vos (pictured) who has close to 85k if I use the Goulding-Hall scale of calculation. DTD's Michael Greco meanwhile is on 34k, but while I was asking him, my Bravestar's "Ears of the Wolf" went as I heard an announced, "All-in and a call," from the table behind me.

With about 25k in the pot it was vs

Flop:



"Oooooooh!" go the table.

Turn:



"OOOOOOOhhhhhhh."

River:



"OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." And the cameras and another reporters flock around, and the two players chop up the pot and shake hands, unaware they are the stars of a "Mateyboy Squared" moment.

On my way back to the pressroom I spot Julian Gardner, who has amassed a large amount of chips, raising to 1600 utg, the guy two to his left, let's call him er....ZZTopeyboy makes it 7k with only 11.5k back. Passed back to Julian who sets ZZTopeyboy in, and 'ZZ', or 'Z' as I call him, agonises for ages, asking, "Do you have a pair?" thus giving away he has Ace King before eventually passing having put in 40ish% of his stack.

[snoopy1239]

We’ve reached that time of the Day where faces are becoming weary, spectators have lost interest and the room has developed an overriding scent of B.O.

However, like the Trojans they are, the Brits are swiping away the fatigue and fumes and courageously battling the hundreds of poker players in their bid to become 2007 World Champion. Still in the frame for this title are a number of homegrown talents, one of whom is Teddy Sheringham, earlier presumed out, but now refound with a 15k stack after evading blogger city by moving tables.

Two players causing mayhem amongst the Antes-Up/blondepoker blogging cliques are Andy Black (90k) and John Magill (73k), both Northern Irish and both being claimed by my good self as a UK citizen. “Bring it home for the UK, John” I intentionally exclaimed in front of Mike ‘Lucky Blind’ Lacey. “Oy, they’re Irish,” he demanded. “Look, I’m desperate, I’m claiming them." Coincidentally, at this exact moment, an American at the table asked John where he was from, which expectedly elicited a “Don’t answer” look from Mike to me. Of course, it’s all good humoured, and blonde will be supporting both players, whether they consider themselves Irish or British. We’re all fish in the poker aquarium.

Someone who is definitely a Brit is Hendon Mobber Joe Beevers, once again enjoying a solid start to a WSOP tournament with 51k. As I watched momentarily on his table, I witnessed a player all-in with Sevens vs. A-Q. After the raggy Flop, the player hesitantly punched the air in delight, clearly overjoyed at surviving the all-in but simultaneously knowing that it wouldn’t be good etiquette to do what he truly wanted – which was to jump up on the table, swing his trousers around his head and shout “Woooohooooo, I am a golden god”. However, I could see how tense he was, and this is on full display when anyone is all-in – nobody wants to go out, this is the biggie and it’s broken heart time if they do.

One man to be the recipient of a broken heart is Iwan Jones. After exceeding the 40k mark, he got it in with 8-7s (he called a pre-flop raise) on a 7-5-2-8 board but was chagrined to see his fortunate opponent make a set of Nines on the River. Details courtesy of Huck Seed, a man, who, incidentally, was rumoured to have been furious at the late start. Seems like a Jekyll and Hyde character that chap.

Other Brits still in include Katherine Hartree (looking bored and dismayed with her paltry 14k stack), Jac Arama (chatting away as usual up in the corner of the room) and Dusk Till Dawner, Michael Greco, being patient with his 31k single column of chips. One American that has been hit after a promising start is bracelet winner and Kill Phil author, Blair Rodman – once on 40k+, his stack has been more than halved, which is disappointing to me as I was hoping to use a puntastic “Blair Rich Project” headline that was carelessly missed earlier on.

A few final rumours from the hopefully reliable Beagle vine: Doyle Brunson, who evaded my line of sight by selfishly hogging the feature table, is now out, so is Thomas Whalroos who has vanished. I also hear that Devilfish is seated next to Annand Ramdin, with EPT Baden winner, Thang Nguyen, just a couple of seats down. Sounds like a tough table.

To finish, check out the bacteria conscious chap pictured in the first attached photo. Does he remind you of this guy with them gloves?...



-----------------------------------------------


Julian Gardner is on 95k now, his stacks all in a line like the colourful towers of New York New York. Micky Wernick is also moving on up, 45k at the last count. A nasty hand occured whilst I was counting his chips though. On the turn of a board, a young Pokerstars player had his 3k or 4k bet re-raised all-in which would be for most of his stack. He eventually made the call with only to find himself up against and the board failed to pair leaving him nursing a 3k stack.

Peter Jepsen (pictured) is quietly getting on, though his lovely girlfriend Freeda is certainly turning a few heads as she follows him around holding a Victoria's Secret bag.

Rudders is really having to grind on his 19k. He keeps getting stuck with difficult decisions and no place to make moves.

Finally, tonight's looky-likey. Benjo and Antonio Estfandiari.

[snoopy1239]

Well, I searched long and hard, and there’s no sign of Dave Colclough, nor can I spot Roy Brindley who also seems to have bitten the dust early doors. One player who is definitely in is Andy Black, stacked up with 150k and up there with the chip leaders, if not THE current chip leader. Also fairing well is Julian Gardner, who leapt out of the starting block like Keanu Reeves chasing a personality. He’s not flying quite so high at the moment, but is still in the very midst of that chasing pack with around 95k.

Neil Rudders is still plugging away with 28k, as is Joe Beevers on 40k, although he did just lose a big pot to a young American, 30k in the pot, the board reading Ahearts and facing a 15k all-in. Beevers folded that hand, but still seems to be in confident spirits. As is 'Swimming With The Devilfish' author Des Wilson, who eagerly summoned me to retell a tale of joy in which he doubled back up this starting stack, his A-Ts surviving an all-in against A-K, a heart on the Turn saving the writer’s bacon.

There are some tough tables out there, and you only need to look as far as Table Tann for evidence, his opponents including Conor Tate (18.5k) and Peter Gould (13k). Willie seems to be in control though after his early collapse, The Dice Man stacking up a 47.5k as I joined the action.

Speaking of tough, maybe this is Johnny Lodden’s year, although he’s going to have to get passed table opponents Bertrand Grospellier (28k) and the currently very chatty Minh Ly (50k). The Lodden seems to have several orange 5k chips, but he conceals them with his hands making it nigh on impossible to see. Still, I’d say he has at least 50k.

Current top 10 according to worldseriesofpoker.com, although I did ask Andy Black directly what he had and he answered 150k.

1st  Randall Amiel -- $159,000
2nd  Adam Weiss -- $148,000
3rd  Cyrus Farzad -- $145,000
4th  Timten Olivier -- $141,000
5th  Andy Black -- $120,000
6th  Brock 'tsoprano' Parker -- $115,000
7th  Adam Richardson -- $114,000
8th  Alan King -- $100,000
9th  Gary Deardorff -- $91,000
10th  Mike Giordano -- $90,000

Others that have left their original seats and need to be located to confirm exit:

Michael Greco
Devilfish
Marcel Luske

---------------------------------------

It's easy to lose track of time in the main room, I think I've wandered for about 40 minutes looking left right and centre.

In a raised, 3-way pot, I see the small blind check it to the c on a   board the cut-off who bets 1,500. The button calls and the small blind check/raises to 6,000. The cut-off original raiser passes and the button moves all-in, the small blind calls.

Button:



Small blind:



Turn:



River:





Wandering over to the outer reaches, I saw Liz Lieu nursing an 18k stack whilst Micky Wernick was in a 3-way raised pot. One of his opponents took it down with a 10k bet on the board.

Bumped into to Scott O'Reilly who goes by the name 'Mongy' on blonde though he says he has never posted. He and his mates thought he was playing tomorrow and he turned up late, having been blinded down to 18.5k, that hasn't matter since he's up to around 45k, which also roughly what Henning Granstad is on.

Joe Awada limp calls a raise from one of the blinds. The blind checks the flop, Joe bets 3,500 and gets a call. On the turn, the blind checks again and Joe bets 7400, now the blind moves in for 36k more and Joe has the clock called on him and he mucks, albeit reluctantly.

Blue Gloves Man, who Snoops referred to as 'The Undertaker' is out, his losing to .

Barry Greenstein is up to 90k, telling stories of high stakes games to his attentive table.

Finally, a mateyboy moment. One guy check/raises all-in on a board with and another calls with . There's major fist pumpage from the latter on the turn, but the river has the dealer separating all the chips in the middle.

[snoopy1239]

Recent chip counts:

Katherine Hartree -- 34k
Joe Tehan -- 26k
Mike Sexton (pictured) -- 13k
Henning Grantsad -- 40k
Kenny Tran -- 38.5k
Huck Seed -- 37k
John Magill -- 64k
Mark Teltscher -- 36.5k
Conor Tate -- 32k
Tann -- 57.5k
Lars Bonding -- 56.5k
Stephen Wolff -- 13k
Ian McDonald -- 65k
Thang Duc Nguyen -- 25.5k
Julian Gardner -- 130k
Minh Ly -- 57k
Des Fitzpatrick -- 18k
Johnny Lodden -- 62k
Bertrand Grospellier -- 17.5k
Richard Rudling-Smith -- 33k
Des Wilson -- 18.5k
Barry Greenstein -- 73k
Joe Beevers -- 31.5k
Mickey Wernick -- 19.5k
Annand Ramdin (pictured) -- 34.5k
Mark Vos -- 67k
Scott O'Reilly -- 42k
Andy Black -- 110k
Ben Johnson (pictured) -- 32k

No sign of:

Jeff Buffenbarger
Luke Patten
Peter Gould
Dave Mobbs
Gu Lalliberte
Alex Jacob
Mickey Appleman
Ben Callinan

Jac Arama wins a 4-way pot, betting 5k on the end of a with and being called in one place.

Joe Tehan wins a small pot off Huck Seed, his enough against Huck's on a board.

Saw a big Mateyboy squared pot, poor lad being outdrawn with A-J vs. 8-6 on an 8-J-5 board. 8 on the River.

Jeff Madsen made an excellent River call with A-4 on a T-T-4-6-Q rainbow board.

Currently 640 players remaining on 64 tables. 40,218 average stack.

[snoopy1239]

Inevitably, as the day draws to a close (they recently announced that this would be the last level), the play begins to tighten up, the majority of players keen to brag to their friends, "I made Day 2!". I fully expect professionals such as Huck Seed, Barry Greenstein, Mark Vos and co to take advantage of this vulnerability, raising a lot of pots and putting people for decisions for all their chips.

In the meantime, Andy Black and Julian Gardner are both running strong, the latter particularly so after somehow accruing a 193k stack. A real chip-getter and with the experience to boot, Julian could be a dark horse this year amid the discussions regarding the skills of Cunningham, Ivey, Hellmuth and co. With Roland de Wolfe and Ram doing so well, we often forget about Julian but, in my opinion anyhow, he's just as lethal.

Whilst I concern myself with the missing figures of Mickey Wernick and Lucy Lieu (for completely different reasons), I bump into Craig 'I KNOW IT' Wildman on the rail, a well liked Midlander now a valued member of the jonnytexaspoker team. At this point, I spotted Mike Lacey standing behind John Magil, who's up to 94k, so had to run up to protect my man. My tongue in cheek suggestion that we wrap a British flag around him wasn't popular with the Antes Up man who said, "For the last time, he's Irish!" I think I got the message now, but I'm just so desperate for British players, we're way too low at the moment. On the same table, Lars Bonding is on 80k after winning a pot with 9-6 on a T-9-6-K-K board (bet he loved that River).

With Nik Persaud on 9k, Richard Rudling-Smith on 14k (but looking tired), I can't help but notice that Mel Judah is no more, my Beagle sense informing me that he ran Kings into Aces for the third consecutive year, two of which have been button versus blind. Neverends says the spirit of a certain recently discipline blondeite.

Observations:

Huck Seed has the world's longest body.
Mateyboy is doing particularly well this year.
There are some really dumb players, the announcer asking if "anyone knows this man, he's lost his table".

Current top 10 courtesy of worldseriesofpoker.com:

1st  John Dutchak -- $218,000
2nd  Timten Olivier -- $212,000
3rd  Julian Gardner -- $196,000
4th  Steve Miranda -- $165,000
5th  Adam Weiss -- $149,000
6th  Todd Crosswell -- $140,000
7th  Cyrus Farzad -- $137,000
8th  Scott Watkins -- $124,000
9th  Randall Amiel -- $119,000
10th Adam Richardson -- $116,000

-------------------------------------

I spotted Paul Parker who was watching the Actionjeff (I think), Min Ly, Johnny Lodden, Elky table (pic1) which is easily the toughest of the fifty or so remaining tables. When Actionjeff made what looked like a 13.5k bet on the river (pic2) of a board, Min Ly thought for a while before calling and was shown the . Paul was then telling me a story about the millions that Min Ly won years ago when suddenly I heard a shout behind me. Rudders was OUT. J-7 on a J-7-3-J-A board versus A-J. All the money in on the flop.

Missing, presumed OUT:

Mel Judah
Nik Persaud
Micky Wernick
Peter Gould

Willie Tann held up seven fingers, each finger representing 10k I'm guessing. Not bad, considering he was down to around 4k early doors. A few reporters are hovering around Tobey Maguire likes flies, he's quite short now. Also short is early pacemaker Mark Vos who still has a big stack but mostly of smaller denominations, though he got some back with against on a board, the higher three pair winning.

Finally here's Henning Granstad knocking out a short-stack, but is that a distant cousin of Red-Dog also on the table? (pic3)

Speaking of look-a-likes, here is a young Neil Channing (with about 10% Harry Potter) (pic4)

[snoopy1239]

With only 15 minutes left, I made a quick dash around the cardroom obtaining chip counts on any face I recognised:

Des Wilson -- 12,000
Lars Bonding -- 106,000
John Magill -- 98,000
Jac Arama -- 73,500
Conor Tate -- 79,500
Willie Tann -- 39,500
Minh Ly -- 40,000
Johnny Lodden -- 60,500
Bertrand Grospellier -- 10,500
Joe Beevers -- 97,500
Huck Seed -- 53k
Raymond Davis -- 56,500
Rick Wild -- 11,500
Scott O'Reilley -- 72,000
Anyd Black -- 59,500
Tobey Maguire -- 12,000
Julian Gardner -- 140,000
Ian McDonald -- 91,000
Can Hua -- 51,000
Jeff Madsen -- 70,000
Barry Greenstein -- 91,000
Ricky Rodriguez-- 80,000

The last of those gave me his name as I peered at his chips. "What's you name?" I asked. "Ricky," he replied. "Ricky Martin?" "Yep, no Ricky Rodriguez." "Hehe, you said Martin at first." "Ah, I though you meant 'as in Ricky Martin'." "I have to take down some American players, we're running out of Europeans." "I'm Mexican, perhaps you can blog Mexicans when the Europeans run out." "By the looks of it, that won't be too long."

Although everyone looks like zombies and are just folding their way to Day 2, a few of the short-stacks are gambling, an amusing example being when a chap moved in from the small blind only to be called by A-2. The shortstacker flipped over 7-2 off and proceeded to hit a 2-J-K-7-2 board. "I'm sorry, buddy!" he exclaimed as he reeled in his 13k pot to draw closer to Day 1 survival. "That's the first bluff I've made," he added amusingly. Not often you encounter kicker problems all-in with 7-2.

Another big hand saw Mateyboy all-in on a , his speech play, which included, "Hey, you've got a rolex, I've got a rolex, we'll be all right whatever happens" prising a call out of his opponent, whose was no match for the victor's .

Richard Wild looked mighty pissed, he called a pre-flop raise with Kings, got it all-in on a Queen high Flop against Q-J, but lost out to runner runner straight. Not a happy chappy.

As I looked at the clock winding down, I had awake nightmares (if that's possible) of David Bowie from Labyrinth prancing over in his tights and twirling the clock back to 5 hours. Shudder.

Top 10 courtesy of worldseriesofpoker.com

1st  Timten Olivier -- $260,000
2nd  John Dutchak -- $218,000
3rd  Steve Austin -- $200,000
4th  Adam Weiss -- $165,000
5th  Adam Richardson -- $156,000
6th  Cyrus Farzad -- $152,000
7th  Julian Gardner -- $143,700
8th  Scott Watkins -- $135,000
9th  Todd Crosswell -- $131,000
10th  Steve Jacobs -- $131,000

Missing presumed lost (unconfirmed):

Michael Mizrachi
Richard Ashby
Blair Rodman
Victor Ramdin
David Grey
Mark Vos
Teddy Sheringham
Jan Boubli
Mohammed Hassan

Finally, a few piccies of some of the players still remaining:

(1) Des Wilson
(2) Jac Arama
(3) Barry Greenstein
(4) Scott O'Reilly
(5) Minh Ly
(6) Rick Wild

-------------------------

Play has ended for the day. The 450 remaining players or so, whoop with delight like they've just made the 2nd round of the X-Factor or something. It's seems like a victory, but in the end, for most of them it means nothing.

Mike Sexton has gone I think, but EPT Warsaw champion Peter Jepsen is around with 65k, while Barry Greenstein has yet to have to sign his book for someone. He had a big stack of those 5k orange chips which will put him close to 100k. Jeff Madsen is still in, he maybe the courtyard jester at the moment, but he still has a shot at being the king.

Finally, we've found some relatives of Red-Dog! Crazy, huh?

Here's Rojo-Dog, Shades-Dog and Borat-Dog.