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

[Djinn]

Mmm.  Beef jerky>bracelet.  I sort of tuned out after the first bit of this.

[tikay]

Mmm.  Beef jerky>bracelet.  I sort of tuned out after the first bit of this.

It gets worse. Here's a Beef Jerky handbag. I can see you with one of these. Not.

[Djinn]

I can see me with one of those for about 5 minutes...

[tikay]

And here's a Hardcore Jerky Website. Jedediahs Jerky.

WARNING - contains various Jerky fetishes, including "Jeds Jerky Club". Sacrilege. Jack Link's Jerky Rules. Feed Your Wild Side.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.jedsjerky.com/blog/images/turkey-jerky-300x201.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.jedsjerky.com/blog/&usg=__g2QpNSnXO-XLmLX5c325T-dcSdA=&h=201&w=300&sz=23&hl=en&start=68&um=1&tbnid=xlLx04IzgZs1KM:&tbnh=78&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbeef%2Bjerky%2Bgoods%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D60%26um%3D1

[redsimon]

Thang Luu, the guy who won event #3 PLO/8, also won the same event last year and came 2nd in it in 2007.

How about that for consistency ?

That really is something, eh? 2-1-1 on the bounce. And he says he's not a Tourney player, he prefers to grind $80 - $160 Limit.

That would appear to make a very strong argument for PLO/8 being the most skillful game of all.

Do you think that it is purely coincidence that his other favourite game is Padooki(Badoogi) ?

Limit O8 not PLO8 is what he was playing...

[tikay]

Thang Luu, the guy who won event #3 PLO/8, also won the same event last year and came 2nd in it in 2007.

How about that for consistency ?

That really is something, eh? 2-1-1 on the bounce. And he says he's not a Tourney player, he prefers to grind $80 - $160 Limit.

That would appear to make a very strong argument for PLO/8 being the most skillful game of all.

Do you think that it is purely coincidence that his other favourite game is Padooki(Badoogi) ?

I had a mull about this Ralph - a possible interpretation is that Hi-Lo requires a particular skillest, & that most players play it incredibly badly, thus making it easier for a truly skilled Hi-Lo practioner to do well?

Either way, a stunning treble for Thang Luu.

[tikay]

A whole bunch of stuff in from the WSOP today, I'll try & Post in it the right order.....


These are the Event # 2 Facts & Figures, Bits & Bobs, this was the $40k jobbie. Rare to see a Press Release describing a player as "bombastic".......

Official Report
Event #2
Special 40th Annual No-Limit Hold’em Championship
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In:  $40,000
Number of Entries:  201
Total Net Prize Pool:  $7,718,400
Number of Places Paid:  27
First Place Prize:  $1,891,018
May 28-31, 2009


Tournament Highlights:

The Winner

•    The 2009 World Series of Poker Special 40th Anniversary Championship
is Vitaly Lunkin, from Moscow, Russia.

•    Lunkin is a 38 year-year-old business manager and poker player.  His
first occasion to cash in a poker tournament was in 2003.  Aside from
attending the WSOP the previous two years, most of Lunkin’s past poker
success has taken place in Russia.

•    This was Lunkin’s second WSOP-gold bracelet victory.  At the 2008
WSOP, Lunkin won the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em championship
(Event #39), where he pocketed $628,417.

•    Incredibly, the two WSOP events won by Lunkin were very different.
Last year’s victory came in a massive field of 2,706 players.  This
year’s title came in what must be considered the toughest No-Limit
Hold’em tournament in history.  The mega-sized buy-in ($40,000)
mandated that just about every player in the field of 201 was at a
world-class level.

•    Lunkin is married and has two children.

•    Lunkin has been playing poker since 2001.

•    “This was the most difficult tournament of my life,” Lunkin said
through a Russian translator in a post-tournament interview.

•    “When I was young, we did not have poker,” Vitaly said about growing
up in the former Soviet Union.  When asked about his reaction to
coming to Las Vegas and winning more money in the past two years than
most people earn in a lifetime, Vitaly was quite diplomatic.  “I think
we don’t have this barrier (between our countries) anymore.  “Poker is
one of the things that helped our countries come together.”

•    Lunkin collected $1,891,018 for first place.  He was also awarded
his second WSOP gold bracelet

•    Lunkin’s victory came on the same day another player won his second
WSOP gold bracelet.  In an event which concluded about an hour
earlier, Thang Luu won the $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low title, after
winning the same event last year.

•    The massive cash prize for first place at nearly $1.9 million
rocketed Lunkin into 34th place on the all-time WSOP money winner’s
list, one spot ahead of Chris Moneymaker.  He now has $2,534,032 in
three WSOP cashes.


The Players

•    The final table was comprised of players from three different
nations – The Netherlands, Russia, and the United States.

•    Only one former WSOP Main Event champion made it to the final table,
Greg “Fossilman” Raymer (2004).

•    Only three former WSOP gold bracelet winners made it to the final
table, Ted Forrest (5 wins), Vitaly Lunkin (1 win), and Greg Raymer (1
win).

•    The runner up was Isaac Haxton, from Las Vegas, NV.  Haxton started
heads-up play against his Russian adversary as chip leader, but was
unable to close out the victory.  His nickname is “Ike.”  Haxton, who
holds a degree in philosophy from Brown University, now has nine WSOP
cashes and three final table appearances.  He cashed three times last
year.  However, this was Haxton’s biggest poker win, as $1,168,565 was
paid to the second-place finisher.

•    The third-place finisher was 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg
Raymer.  He was the chip leader during much of the 11-hour finale.
When Raymer was eliminated late in the event, he received a rousing
standing ovation.  Raymer waved gracefully to the crowd as a true
champion, obviously disappointed with the final result, but proving
once again that he can play No-Limit Hold’em with the best in the
world.

•    The final table was a memorable experience for Raymer.  While
engaged in one of the toughest final table battles of his life, Raymer
was simultaneously entered in the “Champions Invitational,” which was
being played in an adjacent area.  The “Champions Invitational” was a
competition of all the former living WSOP Main Event winners.  Raymer
was gradually blinded down while he remained at the final table.  When
Raymer busted out at about 11 pm, he transferred to the other
tournament, only to bust out on the very first hand.  It was still an
impressive performance by the former patent attorney from North
Carolina.  Raymer’s cut of the prize pool amounted to $774,927.

•    The fourth-place finisher was Dani Stern, from New York, NY (Note:
Name is pronounced “Donny”).  He cashed in last year’s No-Limit
Heads-Up championship.

•    The fifth-place finisher was Justin Bonomo, From Las Vegas, NV.
Bonomo has joined the ranks of those players considered to be among
the best of the game who have yet to win a gold bracelet.  Bonomo was
the runner up in the $5,000 buy-in Mixed Hold’em event at last year’s
WSOP.  He also won the WSOP Circuit championship (gold ring) two
months ago at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

•    The sixth-place finisher was Alec Torelli, from Orange County, ,

•    The seventh-place finisher was Alexander “Lex” Veldhuis, a.k.a.
“RaSZi,” from Rotterdam, Holland.

•    The eighth-place finisher was Noah Schwartz, from Miami Beach, FL.

•    The ninth-place finisher was Ted Forrest, from Las Vegas, NV.  His
bid for a sixth-gold bracelet came up short, as he was eliminated
about 35 minutes into play at the final table.

•    Finishing in tenth place was the bombastic Lithuanian-born Antanas
Guaga, a.k.a. “Tony G.”

•    Former WSOP gold bracelet winner Keith Lehr finished in 11th place.

•    Three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner David Chiu finished in 21st place.

•    Former WSOP gold bracelet winner David Pham finished in 24th place.

•    The unfortunate 28th-place finisher (the “bubble”) was Niel Chriss,
from New York, NY.  The difference in 28th and 27th place was $71,858.

•    Among the 201 entrants were former WSOP champions – Greg Raymer, Joe
Hachem, Doyle Brunson, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Chris Moneymaker, and
Johnny Chan.


Odds and Ends

•    The tournament began with WSOP President and Commissioner Jeffrey
Pollack and WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel placed at center
stage.  Effel revealed to the crowd how the Special 40th Anniversary
No-Limit Hold’em Championship was initially created.  Effel stated
that he and his wife Alicia were sitting down to dinner at their Las
Vegas home several months ago when Effel asked what the WSOP might do
to commemorate the tournament’s 40-year anniversary.  Alicia Effel
contemplated the idea and suggested a new $40,000 buy-in No-Limit
Hold’em championship might be added to the schedule.  This was taken
to Jeffrey Pollack and summarily approved by the WSOP Players Advisory
Council.

•    Pollack introduced the defending 2008 WSOP Main Event champion,
Peter Eastgate, who received a warm ovation from the crowd, and was
bestowed with the “Shuffle Up and Deal” honors.  Pollack said of
Eastgate’s championship reign:  “He has served with a quiet dignity
and style that has done the WSOP proud.  He is a terrific champion.”

•    Prior to the start of the event, the tournament room was filled with
popular music from the year 1970.  Since this is the 40th anniversary
of the WSOP, much of the music and memories that his year’s series
will flashback to the earlier era.  The three songs played as
background music prior to the start were “American Woman” by The Guess
Who, “Instant Karma” by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band, and
“Cecilia” by Simon and Garfunkel.

•    The event was filmed by ESPN.  This is one of four primary
broadcasts on this year’s WSOP schedule which will air in the next few
months.

•    A massive crowd filled the Amazon Ballroom and ESPN stage area from
start to finish.  Crowd were even larger due to the “Champions
Invitational,” which started on the day the 40th Annual No-Limit
Hold’em Championship ended.

•    In ESPN’s customary post-tournament interview with Norman Chad
asking questions, Vitaly Lunkin used a translator.  However, the first
question was memorable.  Chad asked Lunkin (in English) how he felt to
win his first WSOP gold bracelet.  Unfazed by the question he did not
understand, Lunkin rattled off several lines in Russian.  After a
long-winded answer that few members of the audience understood, Chad
deadpanned. “So, it was a good thing?”  Chad’s response brought more
laugher to a good-natured finale.

•    There were nearly a dozen Russian supporters cheering for Lunkin at
the final table.  Members of the Russian poker team (www.jokerteam.ru)
were out in full force, waving Russian flags and singing songs which
helped inspire Lunkin’s victory.

•    On the day following his victory, Lunkin is/was honored at the
official WSOP gold bracelet ceremony.  The national anthem of Russia
was played inside the tournament room – a WSOP first.

•    Vitaly Lunkin is one of only three Russians to win WSOP gold
bracelets.  The others are Alexander Kravechenko and Ralph Perry.

•    The debate is now on as to which Russian player is the best – with
Vitaly Lunkin, Alexander Kravchenko, and Ivan Demidov (last year’s
WSOP Main Event runner up) as the likely three top choices.


The Event

•    This was the first-ever $40,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em
Championship.  The $40,000 figure was selected in accordance with the
WSOP’s 40th anniversary which is taking place this year.

•    This was the largest prize pool in WSOP history for any non-Main
Event tournament.  The total prize pool amounted to a whopping
$7,718,400.

•    Most observers (and the winner) considered this event to be the
toughest No-Limit Hold’em tournament ever held.  While huge
tournaments such as WSOP Main Events require unmatched stamina, skill,
and even some luck, this tournament required a completely different
skill set.

•    Mega buy-in poker tournaments have been held sporadically in recent
years.  But none has attracted nearly as many players nor has created
anywhere close to the size of the prize pool.

•    Six players of the 201 won their buy-ins via satellites.

•    The tournament was played over a four-day period.  This was due to a
structure which allowed players a great amount of play.  Virtually
everyone in the tournament complimented the structure and conduct of
the tournament.

•    The tournament began with 201 entries, surpassing many estimates of
a modest turnout.  Day One lasted 13 hours and ended with 89
survivors.

•    The End Day One chip leader was Bruno Fitoussi, from Paris, France.
Many eyes were also on the second-place survivor, 2003 WSOP champion
Chris Moneymaker.  However, neither Fitoussi nor Moneymaker made it
into-the-money.

•    Players reached the prize money (27th place) late on Day Two.  Day
three began with 23 players.

•    Day Three was relatively short, lasting only about six hours.  The
23 survivors played down to the final nine.

•    On Day Four, Isaac Haxton arrived at the final table on as the chip
leader.  After several hours of tribulation, he ended up with the chip
lead over Vitaly Lunkin when heads-up play began.  But after about 90
minutes of trading chips back and forth, Lunkin prevailed.

•    The final table lasted 167 hands and lasted 11 hours and 10 minutes.

•    The final hand came when Vitaly Lunkin won with pocket aces.

[tikay]

And the actual result, sans waffle.

2009 World Series of Poker         
Final Results         
Event #   2      
Buy In   $40,000       
Date   31-May-09      
Game   No Limit Hold'em      
Number of Entries   201      
Net Prize Pool   $7,718,400      
First Place Prize   $1,891,012       
Players to Cash   27      
         
In the Money Finishers:         
         
Name   Prize   City   State/Country
Lunkin, Vitaly   $1,891,018   Moscow   Russia
Haxton, Isaac   $1,168,565   Las Vegas   NV
Raymer, Greg   $774,927   Releigh   NC
Stern, Dani   $548,315   New York   NY
Bonomo, Justin   $413,165   Las Vegas   NV
Torelli, Alec   $329,730   Orange County   
Veldhuis, Alexander   $277,939   Rotterdam   The Netherlands
Schwartz, Noah   $246,834   Bay Harbor   FL
Forrest, Ted   $230,317   Las Vegas   NV
Guaga, Antanas "Tony G"    $172,120   Melbourne   Australia
Lehr, Keith   $172,120   Shreveport   LA
Marafioti, Matthew   $172,120   Toronto   ON, Canada
Townsend, Brian   $128,665   Santa Barbara   
Rast, Brian   $128,665   Las Vegas   NV
Baker, David   $128,665   Rochester Hills   MI
Doshi, Suresh   $96,171   Las Vegas   NV
Hamagami, Clark   $96,171   Vancouver   BC, Canada
Glantz, Matthew   $96,171   Lafayette Hill   PA
Black, Andrew   $71,858   Dublin   United Kingdom
Channing, Neil   $71,858   Maide Vale   United Kingdom
Chiu, David   $71,858   Rowland Heights   
Kassela, Frank   $71,858   Rossville   TN
Robl, Andrew   $71,858   Las Vegas   NV
Pham, David   $71,858   Cerritos   
Mizzi, Sorel   $71,858   Toronto   ON, Canada
Tran, Justin   $71,858   Sacramento   
Rousso, Vanessa   $71,858   Las Vegas   NV

[tikay]

And here is a very happy Mr Lunkin.

[tikay]

Final Table Set at World Series of Poker® Champions Invitational

Ten Legends of Poker to Compete for Binion Cup at 40th Annual WSOP

 

LAS VEGAS (June 1, 2009) – The most prestigious final table in World Series of Poker® history will be seated at 3:00 PM this afternoon in front of ESPN cameras, when 10 former WSOP Main Event champions compete for the game’s ultimate bragging rights.

 

The winner of the WSOP Champions Invitational, a non-bracelet event designed to celebrate the 40-year history of poker’s longest-running tournament, receives a vintage and fully restored Chevrolet Corvette from 1970 – the year the WSOP began. The winner also takes home the Binion Cup, a trophy named for poker’s first family and the founders of the WSOP.

 

“The Champions Invitational has brought together the greatest names in the game of poker,” said WSOP President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. “Every poker player and fan on the planet is anxious to see who will become the ‘champion of champions’ later this afternoon.”

 

Twenty former WSOP Main Event champions began play yesterday in the event. The final 10 competitors are:

 

Seat 1: Berry Johnston : Oklahoma native and Poker Hall of Fame inductee Berry Johnston has more WSOP Main Event cashes than any other player. He has made more than 30 WSOP final tables, holds five bracelets and won the WSOP Main Event in 1986.

Seat 2: Carlos Mortensen: Carlos Mortensen, known as “El Matador,” is the current chip leader with a chip stack of 42,375. Mortensen, who has lived around the world but currently makes his home in the United States , won the WSOP Main Event in 2001.

Seat 3: Peter Eastgate: 2008 Main Event champion Peter Eastgate hails from Denmark . One of the original “November Nine,” he became the youngest ever to win the title, at age 22, receiving more than $9.1 million. Known as “Icegate,” he comes to the final table sixth in chips, with 18,425.

Seat 4: Robert Varkonyi: Robert Varkonyi, who hails from Great Neck, NY, outlasted many of poker’s most formidable players to become the 2002 Main Event champion. Varkonyi enters the final table eighth in chips, with 13,450.

Seat 5: Tom McEvoy: A former accountant turned professional poker player, Tom McEvoy has four WSOP gold bracelets, including the one for winning the 1983 Main Event championship. He has 37 career WSOP cashes and 18 final table appearances.  McEvoy is second in chips, with 31,000, going into the final table.

Seat 6: Huck Seed: A Montana native, Huck Seed won the WSOP Main Event in 1996; he has since won a total of four WSOP bracelets. Seed recently won the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. He goes into the final table with 15,400 in chips.

Seat 7:  Dan Harrington:  “Action” Dan Harrington, winner of the 1995 WSOP Main Event, is known for his strategic thinking and problem-solving skills. The former attorney is also the former Massachusetts State Chess Champion and the former World Cup of Backgammon Champion. Harrington goes into the final table with 19,500 in chips.

Seat 8: Phil Hellmuth: Known as the “Poker Brat,” Phil Hellmuth is the 1989 Main Event Champion. Holding records in WSOP cashes and bracelets, he is the most accomplished poker player in WSOP history. He is the short-stack at the table, with 1,125 in chips.

Seat 9: Jim Bechtel: Jim Bechtel is from Coolidge , Ariz. He took home the WSOP Main Event title in 1993; in all, Bechtel has collected 20 cashes in WSOP events and comes to the final table third in chips, with 30,475.

Seat 10: Doyle “ Texas Dolly” Brunson: Doyle Brunson was the WSOP World Champion in 1976 and 1977 and has 10 bracelets to his name. A true living legend, Brunson has inspired countless budding poker players, many of whom are seated with him today. He enters the final table fourth in chips, with 20,250.

[tikay]

2009 World Series of Poker Presented by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada

Official Report 
World Champions Invitational
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In:  By Invite
Number of Entries:  20
First Place Prize:  Classic 1970 Corvette
May 31-- June 1, 2009


Tournament Highlights:

The Winner

•   The winner of the World Champions Invitational is Tom McEvoy, from Las Vegas, NV.

•   McEvoy won the 1983 world championship.  He holds four WSOP gold bracelets.  Those victories came in -- Limit Hold’em (1983), the Main Event (1983), Limit Razz (1986), and Limit Omaha (1992).

•   McEvoy currently has 38 WSOP in-the-money finishes.  This ranks 20th on the all-time list (tied with three other players).  McEvoy’s career WSOP earnings now total $1,284,611.  He has accrued more than $2 million in lifetime earnings for all tournaments combined.

•   McEvoy is perhaps best known as the first champion ever to win his way into the Main Event via a satellite.  Prior to 1982, all tournament entrants had to pay the required entry fee, which amounted to $10,000.  However, satellites allowed players to get a seat in the Main Event for about one-tenth the cost (or less, as mega-satellites were later introduced).   

•   McEvoy has authored 12 books, mostly on poker strategy.

•   McEvoy is originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He worked as an accountant before turning pro in 1978. 

•   McEvoy is 64-years-old.  He has three grown children.

•   McEvoy was instrumental in the fight to make poker rooms “smoke free,” during a debate which took place in many casinos and poker rooms during the late 1990s.  McEvoy is also a tireless advocate of poker player rights and protecting honesty and integrity in the game.

•   “I told all my friends that I wanted to win this tournament more than anyone else,” McEvoy stated in a post-tournament interview.  “I think I have been losing some respect because I have not won in some time, and I wanted this to regain that respect.”

•   Prior to this win, McEvoy’s last major tournament victory came in March 2005, at the Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, . 

•   McEvoy added:  “This is the toughest field I have ever played against.

•   McEvoy was awarded the first-ever “Binion Cup,” named in honor of the Binion Family, who founded the WSOP forty years ago.  Following the victory, poker patriarch Jack Binion was on hand along with WSOP President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack to present the cup to McEvoy. 

•   McEvoy also received a classic red 1970 Corvette, with a rare 454 engine.  The automobile, in pristine condition, was previously part of the Imperial Palace Auto Collection.  The car is fully restored in showroom condition and has zero miles.  The car was selected because of its rarity, universal appeal, and connection to the first year of the WSOP which was held in 1970.  McEvoy stated he intends to keep the car, which is certainly priceless, both for its collectability and far more meaningful association with this victory.

•   McEvoy was visibly emotional about his win.  He clearly understood the historical ramifications of this, the first event of its kind, playing against a stellar field.  McEvoy was quite candid about what he wants next – which is induction into this year’s class of the Poker Hall of Fame.  McEvoy hopes his lifetime of poker accomplishments, capped by his victory over the greatest collection of champions ever, may earn him a few extra votes this year.   


The Players

•   The WSOP Main Event has been won by 34 different players.  There are 25 living champions.  The World Champions Invitational attracted 20 of the former Main Event winners including:

1972 – “Amarillo Slim” Preston
1976/1977 – Doyle Brunson
1983 – Tom McEvoy
1986 – Berry Johnston
1987/1988 – Johnny Chan
1989 – Phil Hellmuth
1991 – Brad Daugherty
1993 – Jim Bechtel
1995 – Dan Harrington
1996 – Huck Seed
1998 – Scotty Nguyen
2000 – Chris “Jesus” Ferguson
2001 – Carlos Morstensen
2002 – Robert Varkonyi
2003 – Chris Moneymaker
2004 – Greg “Fossilman” Raymer
2005 – Joe Hachem
2006 – Jamie Gold
2007 – Jerry Yang
2008 – Peter Eastgate

•   This is the largest collection of WSOP current and former world champions ever in history.  There were 19 former champions entered in last year’s Main Event, but this tournament had twenty. 

•   All living WSOP champions were invited to participate. 

•   When the champions were introduced at the final table, which included ten players, 1976 and 1977 world champion Doyle Brunson received the loudest ovation.  While the capacity crowd cheered for all the champions, Brunson alone received an extended standing ovation.

•   The runner up was Robert Varkonyi, the 2002 world champion.  Varkonyi received nothing for finishing second.  But in many ways he was still a winner by outlasting so many of his peers.  Varkonyi played outstanding poker over 17 hours and will certainly gain the public’s admiration and respect when the championship finale is shown on an ESPN broadcast later this year.   

•   “This was a great experience – such a great honor to play with the champions,” Varkonyi stated afterward.  “I had a lot of fun.  I hope we do it again sometime.  I would like to get another shot.”

•   Interestingly, 2002 was the first year the WSOP used a device where player hole cards could be seen.  Varkonyi’s win was the first WSOP event which used the new technology.  Although the 2002 victory is occasionally rebroadcast on ESPN, Varkonyi’s play in this event is actually likely to be seen by more viewers when the show airs in the next few months.

•   Winner Tom McEvoy was highly-complimentary of Varkonyi.  He also noted that he believed Varkonyi wanted to win the event more than anyone else, other than himself.

•   Finishing in third place was 1995 world champion Dan Harrington.  At the final table, he wore a cap identical to the hat he wore at the final table of the 2004 Main Event – his trademark green Boston Red Sox cap.  Harrington, proud of his Boston roots and Irish heritage used the same hat in cover shots for his widely acclaimed poker book series, “Harrington on Hold’em.”

•   1993 world champion Jim Bechtel finished fourth.

•   2001 world champion Carlos Mortensen finished fifth.

•   1996 world champion Huck Seed finished sixth.

•   1986 world champion Berry Johnston finished seventh.

•   1976 and 1977 world champion Doyle Brunson finished eighth.

•   Defending WSOP champion Peter Eastgate finished in ninth place.

•   1989 world champion Phil Hellmuth was the first finalist to be eliminated.  He came to the final table severely short-stacked, and busted out on the first hand.

•   One of the most bizarre scenes of the event took place on Day One.  2004 world champion Greg “Fossilman” Raymer – who was entered in this event -- was also playing at the final table of the $40,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship,” which was played on an adjacent stage.  Raymer concentrated primarily on the final table.  However, he joined the Champions Invitational at various break times.  Raymer is most certainly the first featured player in history ever to participate in two televised poker tournaments played simultaneously.


Odds and Ends

•   The tournament began with WSOP President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack standing at center stage.  He introduced each champion, who went up onstage and received a rousing ovation from the crowd of more than 2,000 gathered inside the Rio’s Amazon Room, the primary site of the 2009 WSOP.  The crush of media and fans rivaled anything previously seen in the 40-year history of the WSOP.   

•   The winner of this event was designated “The Champion of Champions.”

•   Prior to the start of play, all champions gathered for a historic group photo.  This is likely to be the most widely-circulated photo of the year in poker, aside from the WSOP Main Event champion to be crowned later this year.  Previous efforts to corral multiple champions into group shots have been difficult, since they rarely gather in one spot at the same time.  The most compelling group shots taken in WSOP history were the inaugural 1970 group photo taken of the legends at Binion’s Horseshoe.  Another 1995 group photo was taken which included about a dozen former champions.  This photo that was taken, which included 19 former champions, includes the most in history.   

•   The event was filmed from start to finish by ESPN.  This was the second of four primary broadcasts on this year’s WSOP schedule which will air in the next few months.

•   During the dinner break on Day Two, two living poker legends – Doyle Brunson and “Amarillo Slim” Preston held a scooter race in the hallway at the Rio.  Bringing back fond memories of former World Series’ the two senior gamblers made a sizable wager as to which player could go fastest on a motorized scooter.  The race attracted a huge crowd.  ESPN filed the race which will be broadcast later.

•   Following his victory, winner Tom McEvoy walked over to his newly-won prize, the candy-apple red 1970 Corvette.  He sat in the front seat along with Jack Binion and tipped his hat to the crowd and the cameras. 

•   While most tournament winners are usually exhausted from long multiple days of stress and fatigue, McEvoy was vigorously enthusiastic during the entire post-tournament procession.  He stated, “You can keep me here all night.  I am enjoying every single minute of this!”


The Event

•   This was the first-ever and only tournament of this kind ever held at the WSOP.  There was no entry fee.

•   Despite no cash or gold bracelet being at stake, given the length of time the competition lasted, it was clear that virtually all the players took the match very seriously.  The tournament lasted about 17 hours – much longer than expected than an event with a starting field size of 20 players.

•   Players started the event with 10,000 in chips.  The competition was a two-day event.  Ten players were eliminated on the first day.  Ten players made it to the final table.

•   Because this event was an invitational (meaning it was not open to all players and had no entry fee), the results are not included in official WSOP records.

•   When heads-up play began, Tom McEvoy held about a 3 to 1 edge over Robert Varkonyi.  The final hand took place when McEvoy won the last pot of the night, with a higher flush than Varkonyi. 

•   The tournament officially began on May 31st at 5:05 pm.  The tournament officially ended on Monday, June 2nd at 1:36 am.


WSOP Statistics

•   Through the conclusion of Event #3, the 2009 WSOP has attracted 1,985 entries.  $9,361,170 in prize money has been awarded to winners.

[tikay]

Cripes, he was a young man when I started out in poker. Clearly, there's life in the old dog yet.

[tikay]

Winners of a few bob here.

[Dingdell]

I wonder how many packets of jerky you have to sell to cover the costs of the sponsorship? Obv more popular over there...

[Claw75]

I wonder how many packets of jerky you have to sell to cover the costs of the sponsorship? Obv more popular over there...

they've got £1.69 more out of me than they would have got without the sponsorship!