WSOP 2010 Thread. Feed your wild side revisited

[TightEnd]

Event 31

Konstantin Puchkov Takes the H.O.R.S.E. Bracelet in Event #31 ($256,820)
 

After another marathon Day 3 in the Amazon Room, Konstantin Puchkov has sent the spectators home for the night, winning the bracelet in Event #31 in one lonely corner of the otherwise empty room. This $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event began with a pack of 827 runners on Wednesday, and it finally culminated with a Russian victory tonight -- fittingly enough, by a man who drives horses with names like "Royal Fush" and "Freeroll" back home.

The final day of the tournament began with 24 players still with a shot at kissing the bracelet, but the early knockouts came fast. Jon "PearlJammer" Turner, Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy, Johannes Steindl, Allen Kessler, and Chip Jett were all deprived of a final table berth, and it took just a couple hours of action to set our final table of eight.

After that quick trip down to eight, the rest of the battle became arduous and tiring. It took about six hours to play down to a heads-up pairing between Puchkov and Al Barbieri, and another three and a half hours of heads-up dueling to crown a champion.

Barbieri and Puchkov exchanged body blows for round after round of poker, and Barbieri nearly had his first bracelet in his grips in the early stages of the fight. Puchkov hung tough, though, and, long after the clock had struck five, he finally took "Sugar Bear"'s final chip, ending the tournament as the last man standing.

So then, congratulations to Konstantin Puchkov and his Russian pals for their bracelet here tonight.

[TightEnd]

Event 32, Men the Master comes close again...............


Official Report
Event #32
Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $5,000
Number of Entries: 568
Total Net Prize Pool: $2,669,600
Number of Places Paid: 54
First Place Prize: $667,433
June 17-19, 2010
TOURNAMENT HEADLINES
Jeffrey Papola Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet in Event 32
WSOP Winner in a New York State-of-Mind after Defeating Men "the Master"
Days after Finishing Second, Papola Makes another Final Table and Wins
Pace University Law School Student Collects $667,433 in Prize Money
Papola -- $1 Million in Winnings at 2010 WSOP…so Far
Men “the Master” Nguyen Denied Eighth Gold Bracelet – Finishes Second
Through 32 Events -- WSOP Attendance up 9 Percent over Last Year

OVERVIEW

Jeffrey Papola was the winner of the $5,000 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship at the 2010 World Series of Poker. This marked his first career WSOP gold bracelet victory. Papola came within a razor thin margin of achieving his first WSOP victory only three days ago when he finished second in the $2,500 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship (Event #26). He earned $391,068 for that noble effort. Then, after just a few hours of sleep, he entered this tournament and managed to top that performance with a thrilling victory. First place paid $667,433, plus the most coveted prize in poker.
Men "the Master" Nguyen started three-handed play with a big chip lead, but ran bad late and finished as the runner up. Nguyen came close to winning what would have been an eighth career gold bracelet. Instead, he departed with a bittersweet second-place finish, which paid $360,906. As he departed the final table area, the third of a million payout seemed to be the last thing on “the Master’s” mind.
The $5,000 buy-in short-handed tournament drew a strong field of 568 players. The top 54 finishers collected prize money. Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Men "the Master" Nguyen (2nd), Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott (19th), Matthew Graham (26th), Toto Leonidas (46th), Eric Baldwin (50th), and David Singer (54th-tie). No doubt, Jeffrey Papola is a name to watch closely for the remainder of this year’s WSOP -- and in the months and years ahead. With this victory, he has already earned more than $1 million in his short tournament career, and appears headed towards bigger rewards in the future.

THE CHAMPION – JEFFREY PAPOLA
The $5,000 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em champion (Event #32) is Jeffrey Papola, from New York, NY.
Papola is 25-years-old.
Papola is in his third year of Law School at Pace University, in White Plains, New York.
Papola earned his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University, with a double major – economics and political science.
Papola began playing poker at the age of 18, when he was a student at Rutgers.
This was the fourth year Papola has attended the WSOP.
Papola admitted he had some horrible runs in previous WSOP years. “I was, like, 0 for 50,” he joked after winning his first gold bracelet.
Papola’s first WSOP cash was actually a 90th place finish in the 2008 WSOP Main Event. He also cashed in last year’s Main Event, finishing in 249th place.
Incredibly, Papola entered the $2,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em tournament a week ago and finished second. He then rested a few hours and entered this tournament, a $5,000 Six-Handed No-Limit competition. Three days later, he was the champion.
Papola’s 1-2 finish in Six-Handed events is a WSOP first.
With this victory, Papola becomes a bona fide candidate for the 2010 WSOP “Player of the Year.” He states he is now motivated to play in more upcoming tournaments.
A few hours following his win, Papola flew back to New York City. He said he expects to come back to the WSOP in another week or so.
Papola collected $667,433 for first place.
According to official records, Papola now has one win, two final table appearances, and four in-the-money finishes at the WSOP. His career WSOP earnings now total $1,155,797.

WINNER QUOTES
On experiencing one of the most incredible weeks imaginable, with a first- and second-place showing in two tournaments: “Interestingly enough, I flew in here the day of the Six-max. I got in just as the tournament was starting. It was noon, and by 2 pm I was here playing. I ended up getting second in that tournament. Within 10 hours, I was playing in this tournament. So, I have been playing for six straight days. I have not had more than 12 hours of rest at a time. It feels really good. It’s exactly the story I was writing in my head.”
On coming in second-place in the previous Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em tournament: “I was really depressed afterward, despite getting the big payout. So, to come back and get here with a win feels amazing. I was the early chip leader and then I lost it when I was heads up against Men. Then, I came back and even though I doubled Men up twice, I still managed to win. So, it feels amazing to come out with a win after that.”
On attending law school and his future plans: “I’m not exactly sure what I want to do with it. I have learned a lot of things (in school). But as far as practicing law, I do not see myself being able to do that, because I really do not like the 9 to 5 thing. That’s one reason I was so drawn to poker. I’m learning things that will help me in business and in life….it’s to give my life some balance. If I were not in law school, I would probably be playing poker 80 hours a week, and I prefer to do something apart from just play poker.”
On gaining experience playing online poker, which helped him later in live tournaments: “When I was an undergraduate, I played like 80 hours a week. Even though I am 25, I feel like a seasoned veteran. That’s kind of old for an online player (laughing).”
Obviously, there is a huge difference between playing online and then sitting here waiting for Men the Master to make his decision, and he’s staring at me for 10 minutes. Online, you just click a button and make a bluff and you don’t have to worry about someone at the WSOP staring me down. Of course, it is a lot more difficult and there is a lot more pressure, especially at the World Series. But, it’s still the same game and tournament poker is something I excel at, so it’s kind of the same thing with some added dynamics.”

THE FINAL TABLE
The final table consisted of two former WSOP gold bracelet winners – Men “the Master” Nguyen (7 wins) and Erick Lindgren (1 win).
Three different nations were represented at the final table – Canada, France, and the United States.
The final table began six-handed.
The runner up was Men “the Master” Nguyen, the poker icon from Bell Gardens, . He was shooting for WSOP gold bracelet number eight, which would have put him in a tie with Johnny Moss and Erik Seidel. Instead, he had to settle for a bittersweet payout amounting to $412,746. With first- and second-place finishes, Nguyen is now in the running for “Player of the Year” honors.
The third-place finisher was Mark Radoja, from Ariss, Ontario (Canada). He now has eight WSOP in-the-money finishes, including a cash in the 2008 Main Event. Radoja earned his biggest payout ever in this tournament, collecting $262,902 in prize money.
The fourth-place finisher was Bruno Launais, from Mauguio, France. He is a 23-year-old poker pro, who previously made a final table at EPT Deauville. This marked Launais’ second time to cash at this year’s WSOP, which paid the tidy sum of $173,123.
The fifth-place finisher was Orlando De La Cruz, from Folsom, . He cashed for the first time ever at the WSOP – worth a nice payout totaling $117,595.
The sixth-place finisher was former gold bracelet winner Erick Lindgren, from Las Vegas, NV. He busted out with pocket queens against Men Nguyen’s pocket kings. Lindgren won the Mixed Hold’em event in 2008 and now has 25 career cashes at the WSOP. Sixth place paid $82,303.
The final table officially began at 8:00 pm and ended at 5:15 am. The final table clocked in at 9 hours and 15 minutes.

OTHER IN-THE-MONEY FINISHERS
The top 54 finishers collected prize money. Aside from Nguyen and Lindgren who made the final table together, former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott (19th), Matthew Graham (26th), Toto Leonidas (46th), Eric Baldwin (50th), and David Singer (54th-tie).
With his second-place finish, Men “the Master” Nguyen now has 68 career cashes. This ranks second on the all-time cashes list, nine behind the leader Phil Hellmuth (with 77).
Craig Marquis finished in 54th place. He final tabled the 2008 WSOP Main Event.
Place 54 was split between two players -- Marquis and David Singer, who each received $5,086.
The defending champion was Matthew Hawrilenko, from Boston, MA. He did not cash this year.

ODDS AND ENDS
This is the 860th gold bracelet event in World Series of Poker history. Note: This figure includes every official WSOP event played, including tournaments during the early years when there were no actual gold bracelets awarded. It also includes the 11 gold bracelets awarded at WSOP Europe (to date).
The final table was played on the ESPN Main Stage. The finale drew a large crowd of spectators.
The official WSOP gold bracelet ceremony takes place on the day following the winner’s victory (or some hours later when the tournament runs past midnight). The ceremony takes place inside The Pavilion, which is the expansive main tournament room hosting all noon starts this year. The ceremony begins at the conclusion of the first break of the noon tournament, usually 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 are permitted by both public and members of the media.
Papola requested that the national anthem of United States be played at his WSOP gold bracelet ceremony – which will take place when he returns to the WSOP a week after his victory.

EVENT HISTORY

Six-Handed poker started out as an online game. The variant proved so popular that many poker sites now offer just as many Six-Handed games as full ring games.
Six-Handed cash games and tournaments are not commonly offered at most brick and mortar casinos. The games and tournaments require just as many tables, dealers, and resources as a standard nine-handed set-up. But in Six-Handed play, the number of players (and takeout) is reduced by a third. The WSOP believes the game merits gold bracelet status since it requires a different skill set from conventional games, and has proven to be very popular worldwide.
Six-Handed Hold'em emphasizes short-handed poker skills. Rather than a full table of nine players, each table is played six-handed (or less, as players bust out). This generally requires competitors to play cards out of the standard range of starting-hand requirements. It also makes post-flop skill paramount to victory. The game is included on the WSOP schedule in an effort to test as diverse a range of poker skills as possible.
Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em made its WSOP debut in 2005. Three Six-Handed events were included on the 2006 schedule. Last year, there was only one Six-Handed event. Former champions from these events include Isaac "The General" Galazan, Dutch Boyd, Bill Chen, Jeff Madsen, Jason Warner, Ralph E. Porter, Ken Aldridge, and Matt Hawrilenko.
Last year, this was the final gold bracelet tournament before the start of the Main Event. With so many players in town for the biggest poker tournament of the year, this tournament attracted a huge field of 928 players. It was one of the very few non-Main Event, non-mega-buy-in tournaments to generate a $1 million top prize for the winner.

TOURNAMENT PLAY
The tournament was played over three consecutive days, from June 17-19, 2010.
Jeffrey Papola was the chip leader when final table began.
The heads-up match between Jeffrey Papola and Men “the Master” Nguyen went about 4.5 hours.
The final hand of the tournament came when blinds and antes were high and Papola enjoyed about a 5-to-4 chip lead. Nguyen moved all-in with . Papola called and tabled . The final board ran out Ah. The pair of jacks was the winning hand.
Papola is to be classified as a semi-pro. He has played poker full-time in the past, but currently attends law school.

[TightEnd]

Event 33 and 2 Brits hit the final


Official Report
Event #33
Pot-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha
Buy-In: $2,500
Number of Entries: 482
Total Net Prize Pool: $1,108,600
Number of Places Paid: 45
First Place Prize: $260,552
June 17-19, 2010
TOURNAMENT HEADLINES
Victory for Velador
Luis Velador Wins Second WSOP Gold Bracelet
Southern California Poker Pro Collects $260,552 in Prize Money
Former WSOP Winners Finish 1-2 as Luis Velador Defeats David Chiu
Through 33 WSOP Events -- WSOP Attendance Up Over Last Year
.
OVERVIEW

Luis Velador (a.k.a. Jose-Luis Velador) was the winner of the $2,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha championship at the 2010 World Series of Poker. This marked his second career WSOP gold bracelet victory. Velador won his first WSOP victory in 2008 when he came out on top in a $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event.
Velador is a 46-year-old poker pro from Corona, . He topped a highly-competitive field of 482 players. Velador collected $260,552 for first place. With this victory, Velador now has nine career cashes and $903,073 in combined WSOP earnings. Both times he made it to the final table of a WSOP tournament, he ended up as the champion.
The runner up was another former gold bracelet winner, four-time champ David Chiu. The Las Vegas poker pro played a solid game, but could not overcome a 4-to-1 chip disadvantage when heads-up play began. The top 45 finishers collected prize money. Aside from Velador and Chiu, who made it to the final table, former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Burt Boutin (10th), Joshua Tieman (11th), Phil Ivey (12th), John Kabbaj (17th), Steve Zolotow (33rd), Jeffrey Lisandro (42nd), and Chris Reslock (43rd). Phil Ivey’s 12th-place finish was his third cash this year. This finish places him in the top 25 all-time in WSOP career cashes. He is currently tied with Allen Cunningham for 23rd place. Both players now have 41 cashes. Steve Zolotow’s 33rd-place finish gives him 40 for his career, which places him in 25th place all-time. Mickey Appleman falls to 26th-place. Jeffrey Lisandro, the 2009 “Player of the Year,” cashed for the second time at this year’s WSOP.

THE CHAMPION – LUIS VELADOR
The $2,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha champion (Event #33) is Luis Velador, from Corona, . Prior to moving to Corona, Velador lived in Lake Elsinore, .
Velador is a 46-year-old poker pro.
Velador has been playing professionally for 13 years. He plays live cash games, tournaments, and online poker.
Velador was born in the Puerto Vallarta area of Mexico. He is one of the few Mexican-born winners in WSOP history. Victor Perches was the first ever from Mexico to win a gold bracelet in 2006.
Velador is listed in some tournament results as “Jose-Luis Velador.” However, he prefers to be known as Luis Velador.
Velador won his first gold bracelet in 2008. He won a $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em competition and collected $574,734 for first place. At the time, Velador had only played in three WSOP events. He had cashed in all three when he won his victory.
When Velador won in 2008, his final table performance was as dominant as had ever been seen at the WSOP. From start to finish during the five-hour final table, Velador held at least a 2-to-1 chip advantage over his nearest adversary. Most of the time, he had every opponent at the table covered by a 5- or 6- to 1 margin. This victory was not as easy. However, Velador did dominate the later stages of the finale.
The first two WSOP events Velador entered were the 2006 and 2007 Main Events. He cashed in both.
Prior to becoming a poker pro, Velador worked as a tile setter.
Today, Velador concentrates mostly on middle-limit cash games, ranging from $10-20 up to $40-80 limits. He prefers playing mixed games. He has played daily at the Bicycle Club Casino in the past, but now plays mostly at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.
Velador collected $260,552 for first place.
According to official records, Luis Velador (a.k.a. Jose-Luis Velador) now has two wins, two final table appearances, and nine in-the-money finishes at the WSOP.

WINNER QUOTES
On how he became a pro player: “The first few years, I was down to my last dollar a few times. I went busted. Then, I got better and some friends helped me to play and I became a pro.”
On his final table strategy: “I got hit by the deck, late. My strategy was basically to push. I was showing some really good hands, and it worked.”
On poker getting tougher as the years pass: “It’s getting tougher. No question about it. There are so many kids who can play very well. There are so many good players out there. The field is better than the pros. We (the pros) have a shot, but the field is usually going to beat us.”
On winning his second WSOP gold bracelet: “It means a lot to me. I mean, any bracelet is always going to mean a lot – especially beating so many tough players. This was a very tough final table.”
On the hand where he busted Phil Ivey in 12th place: “It was Pot-Limit Omaha. I was dealt J-J-x-x. He had A-A-x-x. The flop came J-4-4 (giving Velador a full house). I checked. He bet out. I raised all-in. He thought about it for a long time and called. That’s how he got busted.”
On what he plans to do with his second gold bracelet: “Tomorrow is my wife’s birthday. I promised I was going to bring her the bracelet. That’s what I’m going to do.”

THE FINAL TABLE
The final table consisted of three former WSOP gold bracelet winners – Luis Velador (1 win), Rob Hollink (1 win), and Dave Chui (4 wins).
Three different nations were represented at the final table – Great Britain, Holland, and the United States.
The final table began nine-handed.
Former WSOP gold bracelet winners finished 1-2-3 in this tournament. This is the first time former winners have taken the top three spots this year.
The runner up was David Chiu, from Las Vegas, NV. Chiu is a four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner. His previous victories came in Omaha High-Low Split (2005), Seven-Card Stud (2000), Limit Hold’em (1998), and Limit Hold’em (1996). Chiu collected $160,902 and now has $2.8 million in career WSOP earnings.
The third-place finisher was former gold bracelet winner Rob Hollink, from Groningen, Holland. He won the $10,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em championship in 2007. At the time, he was the first Dutch WSOP champion. With this finish, Hollink now has 23 career cashes. He received $116,358.
The fourth-place finisher was Craig Gray, from Portland, OR. This was his highest of 12 WSOP cashes, which paid $85,029.
The fifth-place finisher was Kevin MacPhee, from Coeur d’Alene, ID. This was his best WSOP finish to date, worth $62,791. MacPhee previously won an EPT championship in Berlin.
The sixth-place finisher was Annand “Victor” Ramdin, from New York, NY. Ramdin cashed for the 16th time in his WSOP career. This was his highest finish, to date – which paid $46,860. Ramdin has many big cashes elsewhere in his poker career, although a gold bracelet victory remains the most elusive of feats. Ramdin is heavily involved in charitable work in his native Guyana.
The seventh-place finisher was James Mitchell, from London, England. Mitchell, a 21-year-old poker pro cashed for the second time at this year’s series. He collected $35,331.
The eighth-place finisher was Gavin Cochrane, from Welwyn, England. This was his first time to cash at the WSOP. He collected $26,905.
The ninth-place finisher was Matt Sterling, from Brownstown, IN. He is a 28-year-old professional poker player. This marked his ninth time to cash at the WSOP, which now includes two final table appearances. Sterling won a WSOP Circuit gold ring at Harrah’s Rincon two years ago. He collected $20,697 for a fine effort.
The final table officially began at 2:30 pm and ended at 11:30 pm. The final table clocked in at 9 hours.

OTHER IN-THE-MONEY FINISHERS

The top 45 finishers collected prize money. Aside from David Chiu who made it to the final table, former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Burt Boutin (10th), Joshua Tieman (11th), Phil Ivey (12th), John Kabbaj (17th), Steve Zolotow (33rd), Jeffrey Lisandro (42nd), and Chris Reslock (43rd).
With his third-place finish in this event, David Chiu now has 51 career in-the-money finishes, which currently ranks 11th on the all-time list.
Phil Ivey’s 12th-place finish was his third cash this year. This finish places him in the top 25 all-time in WSOP career cashes. He is currently tied with Allen Cunningham for 23rd place – as both players now have 41 cashes.
Steve Zolotow’s 33rd-place finish gives him 40 for his career, which places him in 25th place all-time. Mickey Appleman falls to 26th-place.
Jeffrey Lisandro, the 2009 “Player of the Year,” cashed for the second time at this year’s WSOP.
The defending champion was Rami Boukai, from San Diego, . He entered this year’s tournament but did not cash.

[TightEnd]

Congratulations to Harold Angle, Event #34 Champion ($487,994)
 

The Seniors Championship has come to an end with 78 year-old Harold Angle outlasting a record field of 3,142 to take down the gold bracelet and nearly half a million dollar first-place prize. The day started with 23 players on the march to a winner. Eliminations came fast and furious, with ten players busting within the first two hours. Among those eliminated was 2007 Player of the Year, Tom Schneider, who was the sole notable name remaining in the field. After a few more eliminations, the final table was set.

It was at the final table that John Woo built up a large chip stack and seemed to be in control of the table. He made some tremendous calls that stunned the crowd and allowed him to make it all the way to the final three players alongside Mike Minetti and Harold Angle.

Angle played a solid, aggressive game to build a stack of his own and was nearly even with Woo when a hand that changed the tournament developed. Woo held pocket queens and was up against the ten-jack of Angle, who had flopped two pair. Woo couldn't improve and Angle doubled to over 8 million while both Woo and Minetti were left with less than a million apeice.

Woo never managed to recover from his loss to Angle and was eliminated in third place. Heads-up play began with Angle holding a commanding 9-1 chip lead over Minetti. The two jockeyed back and forth for over an hour, with Minetti managing to double up early on; however, Angle's dominant chip lead proved too much to overcome. Minetti was dispatched when Angle's king-jack flopped a king and defeated Minetti's pocket jacks.

Even though he has been playing poker for over 60 years, the Seniors Championship was Angle's first major tournament and first WSOP event. The Sun City, Florida resident will take home nearly half a million dollars and a WSOP gold bracelet.

Congratulations to Harold Angle, Event #34 Champion!

[TightEnd]

Ayaz Mahmood and Ernst Schmejkal are currently contesting the final of the Heads Up Championship Event 35, 256 runners

Chris Moorman got to the round of 16, Darren Woods to the round of 32

 

[TightEnd]

Event 36 $1,000 NLHE has just completed two day ones


Day 1b report

After eight and a half levels of play, we're ready to conclude for the evening as our survivors from each Day 1 get ready to meet tomorrow when they will get into the money and work their way to a final table.

Today's field was predictably smaller than yesterday's. Of the 1,119 who signed up for play today, 165 will play tomorrow. They'll be joining 290 additional players for a field of about 455.

Those who didn't make the cut today include Shannon Elizabeth, James Akenhead, David Bach, Victor Ramdin, Men Nguyen, Chino Rheem,David Singer, Ylon Schwartz, George Lind, Gavin Griffin, Michael Mizrachi, Jimmy Fricke, Antonio Esfandiari and Allek Kessler.

That's not to downplay those who have had successful days. Players bagging their chips for the night include chip-leader Ryan D'Angelo (67,875), Svetlana Gromenkova (34,925), Eric "gpokerg" Wasserson (30,000), Antoine Saout (27,000), Ari Engel (24,900).

The money bubble will pop when we reach 324 players, and it shouldn't take too much time to do so. After that, it'll be a drive to the final table and a bracelet worth a whopping $481,760.

[TightEnd]

Event #37: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.


That brings an end to a long ten levels of play here today in Event #37 of the 2010 World Series of Poker. Our 219 hopefuls have been reduced to just 25 of the finest mixed game players in the world, who will return tomorrow to decide who will be victorious and capture that elusive gold WSOP bracelet.

It will be an exciting day as we have several big name pros still in this field, headlined of course by the immortal Phil Ivey who will have the attention of the world as he goes for bracelet number eight. He's been in cruise control for most of this event so far, and will be looking to step it up a gear tomorrow.

He will be joined by the likes of David Benyamine, Bill Chen, David Singer, Scott Seiver, Jeff Lisandro, Chad Brown and Dan Heimiller, just to name a few. However they will all be chasing John Juanda who continues his fantastic form as he surged late to grab the chip lead with 393,000 chips, narrowly ahead of David Baker and Ryan Hughes.



High powered field left in this

the top 10 of the 24 are

Top Chip Counts
1    John Juanda    393,000
2    David Baker    373,000
3    Ryan Hughes    354,000
4    Daniel Makowsky    312,000
5    Kenneth Aldridge 257,000
6    Brent Wheeler    256,000
7    Phil Ivey        200,000
8    Jeff Lisandro    193,000
9    Mitch Schock    189,000
10    Dan Heimiller    180,000


jettisons impartiality for a moment....gogogogo Juanda....impartiality hat back on, good luck to all of them

[TightEnd]

Event 38 is the $10k PL Championship

The chip bags are out on the tables, and that must mean that, like the stacks of the survivors, Day 1 is likewise in the bag.

A field of 268 turned up for today's Championship Event, just about the same size as last year's field. Last year's champion, John Kabbaj was in the house to try and defend his bracelet, seated with the 2008 champion Nenad Medic. Neither of the previous two champs would survive this opening day, though, and their names are just two on a laundry list of notable eliminations.

Tom Dwan came and went quickly, as did Eric Froehlich, Vanessa Rousso, Chino Rheem, Freddy Deeb, Erick Lindgren, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, and too many other notable notables to name here.

Steve O'Dwyer managed to build himself a big stack early on before a couple cases of bad timing put him out the door midway through the day. The last beneficiary of O'Dwyer's downward trend was Tom Marchese when his pocket kings held against O'Dwyer's ace-king to steal all of his chips and secure the overall lead in the room. Marchese with chips is a dangerous thing, and he oppressed his table mates for the remaining few levels of the night. He ended the day with a commanding lead over the field, and Marchese's finishing count of 334,600 should be safe for a while tomorrow too.


Top Chip Counts
1    Tom Marchese    334,600
2    Martin Kabrhel    203,000
3    Sirous Jamshidi    185,000
4    Dan Smith            174,000
5    Dani Stern            160,000
6    John Duthie    155,000
7    Mikael Thuritz    122,000
8    Antony Lellouche 108,000
9    Blair Rodman    97,000
10    Noah Boeken    94,000

[TightEnd]

A summary of British cashers in Events 30-38 so far


Obviously the Brits have had a great series, 4 bracelets, 3 runners up spots, assorted finals and I will try and do a comprehensive list one day

In the meantime



Event 30

1 Mike Ellis $530,000
11 Neil Chaniing $33,000
38 Jonathan Weeks $11,000
52 Jamie Roberts $11,000
193 Matthew Pudney $3,199
232 David Tighe $2,900

Event 31

None


Event 32

19 David Ulliott $21,000
31 William Dorey $14,000
48 Thomas Laumer $11,000


Event 33

7 James Mitchell $35,000
8 Gavin Cochrane $27,000
13 Tristan McDonald $13,500
17 John Kabbaj $10,000
27 Ross Boatman $8,000

Event 34

None


Event 35

15 Chris Moorman $38,000
29 Darren Woods $17,000


So, not a bad weekend for Brits in Vegas....gogogo all of the many Brits, blondes and BritBlondes in the remaining fortnight in Vegas


More funking on the way one hopes

[TightEnd]

more from Andy Ward (Secrets of the Amateurs blog) who if you remember is tracking the wsop performance of certain groups of players


Another WSOP Update

Past the half-way mark now and the pace is beginning to tell. Various reports I'm hearing suggest that it's more fractious out there by the day, and I doubt it's going to ease off soon. Anyhoo, it's been a fairly quiet week for our WSOP trackees. Euro pros are a comfortable $1m up thanks to Flushy's second big score, this one an eye-watering $300k for second in the $10k Omaha 8. Maximum respect ! Moorman and Elky have also chipped in with decent scores to keep them ticking over nicely. 2+2ers are about $200k down, not too much going on there. TV pros, however, continue to dig themselves deeper and deeper, with the sole exception of Men Nguyen. Men is heads up in the $5K 6-max as I write, guaranteed $410k and gunning for $250k more ftw. A win would pull the TV pros back to $500k down.

Without Men it would be a complete trainwreck for this group ; not one of the other 19 is in profit and some of the stats make gruesome reading. We will, however, wait for the rest of the series before laughing too loud. One more interesting factor to relate is that only 2 of my 60 chosen players have failed to show - and they're both Danish, Eastgate and Jorgensen. Dr Pauly suggested on a recent 2+2 podcast that a lot of Scandis aren't showing because of tax issues which I could believe.

[TightEnd]

http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/28331/snoopy/Last-Gasps/


Worth a look. The boy writes well

[TightEnd]

Here we go then, update time

2010 World Series of Poker
Event #36: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em


Currently 19 of 3102 are left

Top Chip Counts
1    John Clancy    380,000
2    Jeff Frye            340,000
3    Mick Carlson    330,000
4    Luther Lewis    330,000
5    Richard Florestan 320,000
6    Ryan D'Angelo    310,000
7    Scott Montgomery 240,000
8    Edin Pasillas    200,000
9    Thomas Fuller    200,000
10    Adam Richardson 147,000


Cashes in this for: Neil Channing, Andrew Teng, Michael Piper and Liv Boeree

[TightEnd]

Event 37 $3,000 HORSE

5 left and what a final 5 it is

Top Chip Counts
1    Bill Chen    1,200,000
2    John Juanda 910,000
3    Jeffrey Lisandro 700,000
4    Phil Ivey    400,000
5    Kenneth Aldridge 365,000

With apologies to Mr Aldridge, but go the other four lol

[TightEnd]

2010 World Series of Poker
Event #38: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship

33 of 268 left

Top Chip Counts
1    Clement Thumy    570,000
2    Nikolai Yakovenko 520,000
3    Samuel Stein    468,000
4    Sandra Naujoks    397,000
5    Peter Jetten    385,000
6    Alexander Kuzmin 375,000
7    Marc Inizan    372,000
8    Vitaly Lunkin    366,000
9    Nathan Doudney 358,000
10    Blair Rodman    303,000

Matusow and Tom Marchese still in

[TightEnd]

Event #39: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout


At the start of the day, 1,400 players packed the Pavilion Room with one simple objective; win your table.

We saw big names like Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren, Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier come and go quickly. Kathy Liebert, Jennifer Harman and Hal Lubarsky survived long enough to get heads up, but none of them could finish the job.

Still, some familiar faces have guaranteed themselves $5,632 and a chance to increase that prize on Day 2.

They include, but are not limited to, Fatima de Melo, Victor Ramdin, Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Robert Mizrachi, Ylon Schwartz, Terrence Chan, Adam Schoenfeld, Tony “Bond18” Dunst and Annette Obrestad.


Also through Paul Foltyn, Jeff Kimber who have cashed now