WSOP 2009. Info, Chip Counts, & & stuff. Feed your wild side.

[tikay]

In-the-Money Finishers --

 

·        Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Daniel Alaei, Philip Tom, Howard Lederer, Todd Brunson, and Ralph Perry.

 

·        Howard Lederer’s 40 WSOP cashes now places him 18th on the all-time list.

 

·        The defending champion from 2009 was Rob Hollink, from Groningen, Holland.  He entered this event but did not cash.

 

[tikay]

Odds and Ends --

 

·        This is the 22nd of 33 tournaments completed thus far at this year’s WSOP, with greater than a $1 million prize pool.   

 

·        All 57 tournaments on the 2009 WSOP schedule (plus WSOP-Europe) are categorized as “gold bracelet” events.  However, this is also known as a World Championship event.  Starting last year, all $10,000+ buy-in tournaments were designated as official World Championships.  There are ten such events.

 

·        The official WSOP gold bracelet ceremony takes place on the day following the winner’s victory.  The ceremony takes place on at center stage of the main tournament room and begins during the break of the noon tournament.  The ceremony usually starts around 2:20 pm.  The national anthem of the winner’s nation is played.  The entire presentation is open to public and media.  Video and photography is permitted by both media and the public.

 

·        Even though winner Greg Mueller has roots in two countries – Canada and Germany, he selected the Canadian national anthem to be played.  Hence, “O Canada” will be heard and Mueller’s ceremony.

 

[tikay]

The Event --

 

·        The $10,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em world championship attracted 185 entries.  The total prize pool amounted to $1,739,000.  The top 18 finishers collected prize money.

 

·        The tournament was played over three consecutive days.

 

·        The End of Day One chip leader was Jennifer Harman, from Las Vegas, NV.  She ended up finishing in 12th place.

 

·        Kenny Hsiung was the chip leader coming into the final table.  He ended up finishing ninth.

 

·        Mueller came into the final table ranked sixth out of nine players.  But the chips stacks were largely even between the top six players.  He seized the chip lead about mid-way through the 11-hour finale.

 

·        The decisive hand of the tournament took place when Mueller made a straight flush against Chad Brown, who presumably had the nut flush (his cards were not shown).  Mueller and Brown went back and forth with a flurry of raises and re-raises before Brown surrendered his chip lead to Mueller – a fatal mistake from which he could recover. 

 

·        When play became heads-up between Mueller and runner up Pat Pezzin, the two players realized they shared at least one common trait – they were both Canadian.  “It’s going to be ‘O Canada’ for sure,” Mueller beamed to his fellow countryman and rival.

 

[tikay]

WSOP Statistics –

 

·        Through the conclusion of Event #33, the 2009 WSOP has attracted 32,142 entries.  $64,117,613 in total prize money has been awarded to winners.

 

·        Through Event #33 – the nationalities of WSOP gold bracelet winners reads as follows:

 

United States – 23

United Kingdom – 2

Canada – 2

Russian Federation – 1

Finland – 1

Australia – 1

Sweden – 1

Mexico – 1

 

Note:  Last year 19 of the 59 gold bracelet events were won by non-Americans (32 percent).  In, 2007, the number was 15 of 55 (29 percent).  In 2006, the number was 5 of 45 (11 percent).

 

·        Event #33 winner Greg Mueller is to be classified as a professional player.  He has played professionally for several years and is a regular on the poker tournament circuit.  Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard (excluding Event #1 – Casino Employees) currently reads:

 

            Professionals --            22 wins(Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey-1, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb, Ville Wahlbeck, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker-1, Jeffrey Lisandro, Daniel Alaei, Brock Parker-2, John-Paul Kelly, Jeff Carris, Nick Schulman, Phil Ivey-2, Pete Vilandos, Tomas Alenius, Roland de Wolfe, J.C. Tran, James Van Alstyne, Angel, Guillen, Greg Mueller)              Amateurs --      5 wins(Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson, Zac Fellows, Michael Eise)              Semi-Pros --     4 wins            (Vitaly Lunkin, Brian Lemke, Lisa Hamilton, Leo Wolpert)  ·        Nine of the 33 winners this year (27 percent) were previous gold bracelet winners.  There have been two double winners in 2009 -- Brock Parker and Phil Ivey.

 

·        Through the conclusion of Event 33, the WSOP “Player of the Year” standings reads as follows (with point totals):

 

255 – Ville Wahlbeck

225 – Phil Ivey

220 – Brock Parker

220 – James Van Alstyne

175 – Pete “the Greek” Vilandos

160 – Steve Sung

155 – Daniel Negreanu

150 – Jeffrey Lisandro

150 – Rami Boukai

147 – Jason Mercier
         

[The_nun]

On finally winning his first WSOP gold bracelet after coming so close numerous times:  “It’s like huge eight lifted off my shoulders.  I had nightmares, even heads-up. so happy right now.”

Wow it really did give him nightmares.

[tikay]

On finally winning his first WSOP gold bracelet after coming so close numerous times:  “It’s like huge eight lifted off my shoulders.  I had nightmares, even heads-up. so happy right now.”

Wow it really did give him nightmares.

Good spot Maureen! I'm so glad peeps actually read all this stuff. Makes it worthwhile, in a weird way. Except Evil-Pie, who is just a pedant.

[Colchester Kev]

Winner Quotes (Greg Mueller) –

 

·        On finally winning his first WSOP gold bracelet after coming so close numerous times:  “It’s like huge eight lifted off my shoulders.  I was starting to think I was a

Yeah, it must have weighed him down a bit

[pokerfan]

[tikay]

NOTABLE NUMBERS THRU WSOP EVENT#33

 

Total Entrants – 32,136
 

Total Prize Pool – $64,293,644
 

71 & Counting – 71 different locations around the globe have had at least one entrant at this year’s World Series of Poker. (see attached excel spreadsheet breakdown)
 

USA: The U.S. leads with 26,329 entrants or 81.9% of entrants thus far.
 

Battle of the Bracelets: USA has captured 75% of the bracelets awarded to date (21 of 28), as the below bracelet leaderboard shows:
 

COUNTRY
 GOLD BRACELET COUNT
 
USA
 21
 
United Kingdom
 2
 
Russia
 1
 
Finland
 1
 
Australia
 1
 
Canada
 1
 
Sweden
 1
 

 

 

God Save The Queen? The United Kingdom , with 2.3% of entrants thus far, has captured 2 gold bracelets, or 7.1% of the bracelets awarded. 
 

Top 5 Countries: After the U.S. (26,329) and Canada (1,698), the United Kingdom has the most entrants (761) followed by Germany (422) & Russia (327).
 

Double-Double: Both John “Brock” Parker and Phil Ivey have captured two bracelets in 2009.  That means Parker and Ivey have captured more bracelets than 69 other countries playing here this year.
 

Skill But No Thrill: Some of the biggest names in poker have come close to adding to their bracelet count, reaching the final table of an event. Johnny Chan (10 bracelets; 5th place finish); Erik Seidel (8 bracelets; 7th place finish) John Juanda (4 bracelets; 4th place finish) and Daniel Negreanu (4 bracelets; 2nd and 4th place finish) continually prove they have the skill.
 

In Baseball Terms: A .300 hitter in baseball is considered special.  The below chart details those who are cashing at the WSOP at a similar clip:
 

NAME
 CASHES
 EVENTS ENTERED
 CASH PERCENTAGE
 
Howard Boyd
 4
 12
 0.333
 
Fabrice Soulier
 4
 12
 0.333
 
Anthony Cousineau
 4
 12
 0.333
 
Barry Greenstein
 4
 13
 0.307
 
Roland DeWolfe
 4
 13
 0.307
 
John Monnette
 3
 10
 0.30
 

 

(Minimum 10 events; through Event #28)

 

Honorable Mentions: Ville Wahlbeck (cashes in 4 of 5 events entered; 80%), Darryl Fish (cashes in 5 of 8 events entered; 62.5%) and David Baker (cashes in 5 of 8 events entered; 62.5%) have all proven their mettle as well.
 

You Can’t Win Unless You Enter: These folks have entered the most events at the WSOP, through 28 events:
 

NAME
 EVENTS ENTERED
 
John Juanda
 19
 
Nikolay Evdakov
 18
 
Andrew Black
 18
 
Sergey Rybachenko
 18
 
Chris Ferguson
 17
 
Michael Mizrachi
 17
 
Roland Isra
 17
 
George Lind
 17
 
Andy Bloch
 17
 
David Singer
 17
 

 

Show Me The Money: The Top 10 Money Leaderboard includes eight bracelet winners and two others who cashed in the $40K buy-in event: (through Event#28)
 

NAME
 MONEY EARNED
 
Vitaly Lunkin
 $1,907,667
 
Isaac Haxton
 $1,171,870
 
Pete Vilandos
 $1,080,538
 
Steve Sung
 $883,379
 
Ville Wahlbeck
 $849,793
 
John “Brock” Parker
 $776,442
 
Grey Raymer
 $774,927
 
Brian Lemke
 $692,690
 
Travis Johnson
 $666,853
 
Anthony Harb
 $571,472
 

 

www.wsop.com

[tikay]

That enboldened list of "Celebs" pretty much whooshed me totally, no idea who most of them are.

In particular, "Cedric the Entertainer" intrigues.......Who? What?

And note the breathtaking elevation of Tiffany Michelle's status. The list of Poker Pros is fairly exclusive - Lederer, Hellmuth, Bloch, & Seidel. And Tiffany Michelle. WTF?

List of confirmed celebrities to participate in bold below.  Remember, this event is an open event.  Anyone age 21 or over can enter and participate.

 

MORE BIG NAME STARS COME OUT TO PLAY AT THE 3RD ANNUAL

 ANTE UP FOR AFRICA CELEBRITY-CHARITY POKER TOURNAMENT

 

Las Vegas, NV (June 18, 2009)- Stars Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Brad Garrett, Mekhi Phifer, and top poker professional Phil Hellmuth have joined the growing list of celebrities who plan to play in the Ante Up For Africa charity tournament July 2 at the 40th annual World Series of Poker.

 

Some of Hollywood 's biggest stars are expected to go all in for the 3rd Ante Up For Africa (AUFA) Celebrity-Charity poker tournament.

 

Annually, the largest celebrity poker tournament in Las Vegas , the event is accessible for the public to play with their favorite stars or watch as spectators. A full house of celebrities will join Academy Award Nominee, Don Cheadle and “Celebrity Apprentice Star” and WSOP Bracelet winner Annie Duke at the event taking place during the 2009 WORLD SERIES OF POKER® (WSOP) at Rio in Las Vegas on Thursday, July 2 at 2 PM.

 

This No-Limit Hold’em poker tournament has an entry fee of $5,000 and provides entrants the opportunity to walk away with a six-figure payday. The event allows players to rub elbows with top Hollywood stars, athletes and poker professionals while contributing to a great cause.

Celebrities and athletes will join poker’s most notable players to raise public awareness and funds to support the victims of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur , Sudan .

 

Among those confirmed to participate, subject to availability, are Cheadle, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Brad Garrett, Cedric The Entertainer, Charles Barkley, Danny Masterson, Hank Azaria, Herschel Walker, Jason Alexander, Kenny Smith, Marlon Wayans, Montel Williams, Reggie Miller, Tia Carrere, Sarah Silverman, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Cheryl Hines, Mekhi Phifer, Rob Schneider; Poker Professionals Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Tiffany Michelle, Erik Seidel and Phil Hellmuth with more to be confirmed.
 

The tournament will feature a fast-paced structure designed to complete the competition within five hours. Seating for the tournament is open to anyone age 21 or older.  Players can register in person at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas , or online through June 18, 2009 at www.worldseriesofpoker.com under the registration tab.

 

This event, as is every World Series of Poker tournament, is open to the public for viewing and admission is free.  The event will take place in the famed Amazon Ballroom in the Rio Convention Center , just one day prior to the start of the WSOP Main Event, the game’s most prestigious poker event.

 

Cheadle, an accomplished poker player, and Duke, who has more than $4 million in tournament winnings, are committed to raising both public awareness about the tragedy in Darfur and funds to aid its victims.  As the world’s richest sporting event, the WSOP awarded more than $180 million in 2008 and attracted participants from a record 124 nations.

 

In the previous events, many of the in the money finishers volunteered to donate half of their winnings to the charity. Proceeds from the event will go to the ENOUGH Project and Refugees Unternational, organizations whose goals include raising public awareness and providing aid to the survivors of Darfur .

 

[boldie]

That enboldened list of "Celebs" pretty much whooshed me totally, no idea who most of them are.

In particular, "Cedric the Entertainer" intrigues.......Who? What?

Legend! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedric_the_Entertainer

He's been in that many bad movies, it's unreal.

Quite an impressive list of celebs actually...proper big names on there. (quite a few comics for some reason)

[tikay]

I think the way Harrahs have organised this year's WSOP is extraordinary. Communication is all, it's key, & it's been staggeringly good. I loathe PR peeps (creeps?) with a vengeance, but Harrah's have been faultless.

But I think Harrahs made a boo-boo - a BIG boo-boo - with this Hall of Fame thing.

Within minutes of it being announced, Party Poker were issuing forth reams & reams of "Vote for Mike Sexton, he's a God of Poker". And he might well be, too. But Party had a vested interest, because they employ Mr Sexton. Harldy an impartial view, then, & it particularely irks me when we get pressure-spammed by those with a vested interest. It's wholly improper, in my view. The "Vote Sexton" campaign by Party Poker has continued unabated, & I have countless unopened e-Mails on the matter. Sorry Lushy, too much gushy, thank you. 

And now, God help us, the mighty PR machine of 'Stars has whirred into action. They are making the case for Tom McEvoy to be the nominated Hall of Famer, the man who Harrah's will "enshrine". So you have to guess who Tom works for......

This is all wrong. It's a sham, it's hardcore puff. In fact, it's a farce.


Bleurgh.....


Tom McEvoy, one of the longest standing members of Team PokerStars Pro, has
stood the test of time in the poker industry and would be one of the most
deserving players to be nominated to the 2009 Poker Hall of Fame. McEvoy
first made his mark in the poker community in 1983 when he won two bracelets
at the WSOP including the Main Event for $540,000. Since then, McEvoy has
shown his consistency as a winning poker pro, tacking on three additional
WSOP bracelets for Limit Hold’em, Omaha and Razz, 30 tournament titles,
hundreds of cashes and most recently taking down the 2009 WSOP Champions
Invitational.

“Being voted to the Poker Hall of Fame this year would be the best moment in
my career by far,” says McEvoy, “It would be better than winning four WSOP
bracelets, the Champions Invitational, and even the Main Event!”

Over the past 30 years, McEvoy has earned a list of accomplishments worthy
of the Hall of Fame including:
•    1983 Main Event Champion 
•    2009 Champions Invitational Winner
•    Four total WSOP bracelet’s (1983 Limit Hold ’Em, 1983 Main Event, 1986
Limit RAZZ, 1992 Limit Omaha)
•    40 total cashes
•    20 total final tables
•    209 live tournament cashes in North America
•    30 career tournament titles

As one of the few poker players that have sustained a long career in poker,
long after this initial poker win, McEvoy has influenced poker players away
from the table as well. The 30-year industry veteran has authored 13 top
poker books and was one of the first advocates to ban smoking during live
poker events.

Greg Raymer, 2004 WSOP World Champion, opined, “Tom has participated in
every stage of poker’s evolution–on the felt, online, from WSOP to EPT. He
has chronicled it and taught us all how to play better poker—and most
importantly he’s still winning! I can’t imagine a professional more
deserving of the Poker Hall of Fame this year than Tom.”

In the 2009 Champions Invitational, McEvoy knocked out 2002 WSOP Champion,
Robert Varkonyi, to win the Binion Cup and a stunning 1970 red Corvette.
McEvoy bested a field of 19 past world champions including Amarillo Slim,
Doyle Brunson and fellow Team PokerStars Pros Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer, Chris
Moneymaker and reigning champion Peter Eastgate.

[tikay]

......the 30-year industry veteran has authored 13 top poker books.....

 
Authored? Authored? Eh?

Do they mean writted? Or even wroted?

[boldie]

“It would be better than winning four WSOP
bracelets, the Champions Invitational, and even the Main Event!”

liar.

[tikay]

“It would be better than winning four WSOP
bracelets, the Champions Invitational, and even the Main Event!”

liar.

One concurs.