Main Event Day 6 Recap
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Phil Hellmuth has left the building
79 players returned to the Rio Sunday afternoon and by day's end, the final nine tables had shrunk to the final three. 27 players will return tomorrow to determine who will be the "November Nine."
The Buzz:The one-round penalty Phil Hellmuth received at the conclusion of Day 5 was overturned at the start of play today. Hellmuth met with Harrah's executives and WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, claiming that he was beefing up his "Poker Brat" act for the cameras. They bought it, and let him off with a severe warning. Had Hellmuth sat out his entire penalty, he would have lost 81,000 in blinds and antes, or approximately 11% of his remaining stack.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Tiffany Michelle has almost ten million in play money
The Back Story:Tiffany Michelle is making an incredible run and hopes to become the first woman in over 13 years (and the second woman ever) to make the final table of the WSOP Main Event. Tiffany boasted one of the biggest stacks all day and along with Mike Matusow, the only remaining "name" professional, commanded the majority of the media attention. Matusow, however ended his Main Event run shortly after the dinner break with a 30th place finish.
Sight of the Day: After Phil Hellmuth busted out in 45th place, hordes of tourists streamed out of the final table area, leaving the Amazon Room relatively deserted for the remainder of the day.
Quote of the Day: "ESPN has spiritual people from all over the world praying for Tiffany. It would make for great TV if she made the final table," said Flipchip.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Mike Matusow was the last remaining poker professional
Day 6 Eliminations: Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Peter Neff, Andrew Rosskamm, Felix Osterland, Craig Stein, Mauro Lupo, Kido Pham, Jonathan Plens, Jason Glass, Chris Crilly, Nhan Le, Adam 'Roothlus' Levy, Aaron Keay, Allen Kennedy, Alfredo Fernandez, Mark Ketteringham, Alan Gould, Alex Outhred, Rafael Caiaffa, Eric Bamer, Jeremy Joseph, Jeremy Gaubert, Justin Sadauskas, David Saab, Mark Owens, Thomas Keller, Geert Jans, Brian Tatum, Victor Ramdin, Larry Wright, Chris Zapf, Justin Scott, Suresh Prabhu, Sean Davis, Terry Lade, James McManus, Daniel Buzgon, David Benefield, Jamal Sawaqdeh, Keith Hawkins, Lisa Parsons, Mark Wilds, Matt Matros, and Bob Whalen.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Dennis Phillips is the Day 6 chip leader with just under 12 million
Big Stacks: Brandon Cantu jumped out to over 10 million to take the chip lead early in the day after making a full house against Nikolay Losev only to lose almost all of it on an ill-timed bluff against Craig Marquis. Marquis ended the day with 11.5 million, while Dennis Phillips is the leader with 11.9 million. Tiffany Michelle ended the day third in chips with a shade under 10 million.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Craig Marquis is second on the leader board with eleven and a half million
World Series of Poker: A Penalty Delayed?
I was at the ESPN final table last night when the Day Five play ended and Phil Hellmuth was given a one orbit penalty for player abuse. Details of the incident are everywhere, I will only add that I am not convinced Phil did more than he ever does and, in fact, he pointed out to the floor supervisor at one point that: "You guys don't put me at the television table to be quiet."
However, I have a problem with penalties that are accessed beginning with the next day's play. If a player is going to sit out a round of play based on his or her actions; then shouldn't the players who were at the table when the infraction took place benefit from the penalty? I mean Phil will be giving up 81,000 chips [30K/15K blinds, 4K ante] to eight players who were not at his table when the penalty was given.
Let's not even deal with the increased blinds since the penalty was given or the fact that no penalty was considered until the offended player loudly complained to the floor staff. By the way, the other player, Cristian Dragomir, should have also been warned for his behavior but in the shadow of a full Hellmuth rant, it may have been hard to see his rule bending behavior.
I will suggest to the Tournament Director's Association that if a player is given an "overnight" penalty and if there is also a seat/table redraw for the following day that those penalized blinds and antes be removed from play and the player simply is dealt out of the hands. This causes some issues with the blinds but free chips, as is the current solution, seems a not well considered remedy.
Main Event Day 5 Recap
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Tiffany Michele, fifth in chips with 3,438,000
189 players returned to the Rio on Saturday afternoon, still in the hunt for the $9.1 million first place prize. Play was halted after four levels with 79 players remaining.
The Buzz: Today was the day that previously unknown and unaffiliated players started showing up to play with logos for online poker sites and energy drinks plastered onto their shirts and caps.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth side-by-side at the ESPN feature table
The Backstory: Phil Hellmuth is the only former Main Event champion remaining in the field. Late in the day, he was moved to the ESPN Featured Table, joining Mike Matusow, who spent the duration of Day 5 playing under the glare of the TV lights. A huge crowd gathered in the bleachers to watch these two legendary trash-talkers match wits. Just when it looked like it was going to be a boring matchup, Hellmuth imploded on the last hand so much so that TD Steve Frezer had to issue him a one orbit penalty which he will serve at the start of Day 6.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Once thriving with WSOP poker players, now a big empty place
Sight of the Day: Once a sea of poker tables, most of the Amazon Room was broken down today, signaling that this year's WSOP is nearly at an end.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Mike Matusow, feature table color commentator
Quote of the Day: "I shifted gears at the right time baby! I feel GOOD!" bellowed Mike Matusow after doubling up with 10c-5c against Sean Davis' Ad-Kd when a 5 hit the flop.
Big Dogs:Three of the biggest marquee names remaining in the tournament, Gus Hansen, Chip Jett, and Hoyt Corkins busted out in rapid succession, finishing in 160th, 161st, and 162nd places respectively. Allen Cunningham and Jeff Madsen were soon to follow. Phil Hellmuth is still in it but slipped to under 900K to end the day.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Robert "Action Bob" Hwang when he had chips and a chair
Day 5 Eliminations: Shawn "Sheiky" Sheikhan, Kara Scott, Jeff Madsen, Allen Cunningham, Jeremiah Smith, Jon Friedberg, Gus Hansen, Lou Esposito, Ben Roberts, Hoyt Corkins, Chip Jett, Chad Layne, Alexander Kostritsyn, Mark Vos and Robert "Action Bob" Hwang.
Big Stacks: Brandon Cantu remained near the top of the pack for most of Day 5, as did James McManus (not the poker author, but a quiet young man from Ireland). Tiffany Michele also made huge strides today, and ended the day near the top of the leaderboard with 3.8 million. Mark Ketteringham ended the day as the overall leader.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Mark Ketteringham finished the day as the chip leader with 5.8 million
World Series of Poker: The Remaining Schedule
After a somewhat abrupt suspension of play last night at 189 players, the Main Event of the World Series should play out something like this over the next three days:
Thursday Day 3: 1308 played down to 474
Friday Day 4: 474 played down to 189
Saturday Day 5: 189 playing to 81 or 72 (or less)
Sunday Day 6: 81 or 72 playing down to 27
Monday Day 7: 27 playing down to November Nine
November: Final Table
Today is the critical day, with a full five levels scheduled the field will definitely go under 100. Trying to anticipate the pace of play is a skill developed by good tournament directors but about as accurate as predicting the weather (we had lightening last night in Las Vegas; 90 degrees at midnight and lightening). The key to today's decision is a balance between the number of remaining players and the stack sizes. When the field is full of stacks of similar sizes, play takes longer; when there are a good number of short stacks, play is quicker.
Because the staff has the option of stopping play at any time, we know they definitely want to make tomorrow (Day Six) a reasonable length day getting down to 27 but even with this in mind, no one would be surprised if a fast pace lowers todays field to 63 or even 54 and then on Sunday we go for a final two tables at 18.
This is all about managing the pace of an unpredictable game at ten or twenty different tables. What we do know is that Monday evening or early Tuesday morning, we will have nine players left standing.
Main Event Day 4 Recap
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Kara Scott survives Day 4
Day 4 of the $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Main Event championship was underway at the Rio Casino. 474 players began the day and when it was all over 189 remained.
The Buzz: The field was thinned even more. Action progressed so fast that Jack Effel ended play one level early.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Tiffany Michele returns for Day 5
The Backstory: As the last batch of pros busted out, the few that remained got most of the media attention including Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, and Gus Hansen.
The Ladies: Tiffany Michele knocked out Hevad "Rain" Khan as she advanced to Day 5. EPT hostess Kara Scott also made it. Sadly, Evelyn Ng busted out.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Phil Hellmuth devours fish at WSOP
Sight of the Day: Phil Hellmuth took time out to feast on the fish.
Quote of the Day: "Idiot from Northern Europe calls a raise with 5-7!" screamed Phil Hellmuth.Yes, the poker brat went on tilt when he lost a pot to an opponent from Scandinavia.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Mike Matusow and Gus Hansen discuss the entropy of poker
Big Dogs: Johnny Chan busted out early in the afternoon. Phil Hellmuth was in trouble early on but doubled up. Mike the Mouth and Gus Hansen were at the same table and the two were engaged in lots of banter, some trash talk, but both looked like they were having fun.
Day 4 Eliminations: Johnny Chan, Elky, Maya Geller-Antonius, Hasan Habib, Bill Blanda, Magnus Petersson, Chris Bjorin, PearlJammer, Evelyn Ng, Thierry van den Berg, Tracey Nguyen, RainKhan, Tino Lechich, Van Nguyen, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, Mike Souza, and Alan Jaffray, Pat Poels, Carmel Petresco, Thayer Rasmussen, Jani Vilmunen, Iggy, Johnny Bax, Iwan Jones, Frankie O'Dell, Adam Schoenfeld, TMay420, Dave Colclough, Mike Wattel, Jean-Robert Bellande, Kirill Gerasimov, Robert Mizrachi, Jason Lester
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Jeremy Joseph, Day 4 chip leader
Big Stacks: Brandon Cantu was second in chips most of the day. Jeremy Joseph took over the lead early and never looked back. He was the first player past the 2M and 3M mark.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Brandu Cantu has over a million and a half in play money
World Series of Poker: Survivor’s Prayer List
Let's be honest, there are WSOP officials on their knees every morning praying that at least one BIG name player makes it to the November final table. Nevermind what they say in public, ESPN programmers are burning incense and killing chickens hoping that someone everyone knows makes it to the final nine.
I heard a veteran poker writer say the other day that if a big name pro gets as close as Scotty Nguyen did last year, they would drag him away from the table so he can't donk off his chips and miss the monster TV event.
So who is still around to fulfill this fantasy?
Dag Martin Mikkelsen 931000
Alexander Kostritsyn 887000
Matt Matros 822500
Jon Turner 726500
Shawn Sheikhan 724000
Brandon Cantu 710000
Jeff Kimber 632500
Phil Hellmuth 475000
Victor Ramdin 471000
Mark Vos 468000
Hoyt Corkins 439500
Mike Matusow 438500
Evelyn Ng 414500
Thayer Rasmussen 394000
Allen Cunningham 386500
Gus Hansen 355000
Jeff Madsen 349000
Hevad Khan 338500
Alex Outhred 326000
Hasan Habib 326000
Chip Jett 318500
Thomas Keller 294000
Johnny Chan 252000
Kido Pham 228500
Ben Roberts 200450
Bertrand Grospellier 181500
Thierry van den Berg 170500
Kirill Gerasimov 146500
Dave Colclough 140000
Robert Mizrachi 138000
Jean-Robert Bellande 124500
Steve Billirakis 124000
Jason Lester 100000
Mike Wattel 89000
Cliff Josephy 59000
OK, I skipped a couple of potential "stars" and I gave Hevad Khan a bold he may not deserve. But you know that the prayers all begin with: "Please Lord, Phil or Mikey or Gus..."
Main Event Day 3 Recap - Money Bubble Breaks!
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
All-in and a call during the hand-to-hand race to the money
The $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Main Event championship finally reached the third day of action. It would be the first time that all of the remaining players were in the same room. 1,307 players began Day 3. Just before midnight, the money bubble broke. The top 666 players would win at least $21,230 in prize money.
The Buzz: Everyone wondered if the money bubble would break by the end of Day 3, so much so that every was betting on the exact time. At the dinner break, less than 750 players remained. Eliminations were happening at a rapid pace before they slowed down as the money bubble approached. Official time of money bubble burst... 11:25pm.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Steve Chung is the 2008 WSOP money bubble boy
The Backstory: The big stacks started to develop and the big named pros all started to drop out. Those who remained garnered the majority of the media attention. Former champions Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan went deep and both cashed.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Jeremiah Smith relaxing behind a mountain of chips
Sight of the Day: Jeremiah Smith sat over a castle of chips as he took the chip lead late in the day and became the first player to pass the one million chip mark.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Jack Effel gives players the good news
Quote of the Day: "Congratulations, you all made the money!" said Jack Effel when the money bubble finally broke.
Celebrities: Aussie cricket god Shane Warne ended his run at the WSOP when he busted out on Day 3. Also out was country singer Andy Grigs and Heidi Northcutt (who is Jose Canseco's girlfriend). But famous poker blogger Iggy made the money in his first ever WSOP main event.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Andy Grigs left us on Day 3
Day 3 Eliminations: Chris Moneymaker, Jen Harman, Patrik Antonius, Noah Boeken, Giagbet, Arnold Spee, Russell Rosenblum, Liv Boeree, YellowSub, Heidi Northcott, Barny Boatman, Anthony Rivera, Scott Clements, Erik Seidel, Paul McKinney, Mandy Baker, John D'Agostino, Will Durkee, Matt Sexton, Brandon Schaefer, Tony Hachem, Tex Barch, Matt Glantz, Phil Gordon, Andy Griggs, Steve Z, Eric Morris, Josh Prager, Dennis Waterman, Juan Maceiras, Richard Ashby, Shane Warne, Toto Leonidas, and Anahit Galajian.
Big Stacks: Jeremy Joseph, Jeremiah Smith, Sigurd Eskeland,Alberto Font, Robert Georato, and Karle Wilson.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Jeremy Joseph, Day 3 chip leader
World Series of Poker: Top Ten on Day 3
Some of the early conversations today were about how one player had a 2-to-1 chiplead on the entire field. Brian Schaedlich begins play with 801,000, which is not a 2-1 lead since the counts are all in from yesterday, but I thought it might be interesting to track our top ten for the entire day. I will try to catch them at least twice during the day to see just how much a chiplead means on Day Three of the WSOP Main Event.
Here are the top ten starting stacks for today with 1,307 players remaining:
Brian Schaedlich 801,000
Peter Biebel 531,000
Alex Outhred 486,800
Raja Kattamuri 411,100
Hunter Frey 397,000
Jeremiah Smith 386,000
Steven Goosen 362,100
Patrick Fortin 355,900
Reagan Silber 355,500
Kellen Hunter 354,100
At 5 PM, two levels in, the original top ten now with 852 players still in the field:
Brian Schaedlich 398,000 (801,000 starting stack) down by half
Peter Biebel 290,000 (531,000) down
Alex Outhred 465,000 (486,800) slightly down
Raja Kattamuri 450,000 (411,100) up
Hunter Frey 295,000 (397,000) down
Jeremiah Smith 601,500 (386,000) way up
Steven Goosen 240,000 (362,100) down
Patrick Fortin 520,000 (355,900) way up
Reagan Silber 332,000 (355,500) slightly down
Kellen Hunter 385,000 (354,100) slightly up
World Series of Poker: Playing Down to Nine 2008 vs. 2007
When the Main Event resumes today for Day 3, there will be 1308 players left standing. Lots of reports expressed surprise at the pace of both Day 2's. But compared to 2007, we still have a long way to go.
Here is how '07 played down:
Day 3: 797 played down to 337
Day 4: 337 played down to 112
Day 5: 112 played to 36
Day 6: 36 played down to 9
Day 0: Day Off
Day 7: Final Table
Those who were here last July remember some very late nights on Days 4, 5 & 6. But the schedulers have noted that problem and added one full day to the 2008 Final (Summer) Week.
Thursday Day 3: 1308 playing down to xxx
Friday Day 4: xxx playing down to yyy
Saturday Day 5: yyy playing to zz or zzz
Sunday Day 6: zz or zzz playing down to 36
Monday Day 7: 36 playing down to November Nine
November: Final Table
The Plan remains in place to play five 2 hour levels each day or less as needed to reach the final table. As of now only Day Six or Seven seem in any jeopardy of needing extended time, which is normal for any large field tournament.
Main Event Day 2B Recap
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Two Time WSOP Main Event Champion Johnny Chan returns for Day 3
Wednesday at the Rio Casino featured the second flight of Day 2 of the World Series of Poker main event championship. There was a record number of Day 2 runners with 2,678 entrants. When the day was over, almost two thousand players were eliminated. What a massive wipe out!
The Buzz: With the record-setting field, every possible area was used for the restart of Day 2B. The areas used included the poker room, the hallway in front of Buzio's, the Tropical Room, the Brasilia Room, and the Amazon Room. By dinner, all of the remaining players had been confined to the Amazon Room.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Phil Hellmuth returns on Day 3 in his quest for WSOP bracelet #12
Quote of the Day: "All in and a call? Another donkey down," said Benjo, a writer from the French press, commenting on the rapid pace of eliminations.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Gary Clark
Sight of the Day: Gary Clark made spectators, players, and dealers alike turn their heads because they thought they saw McLovin from the film Super Bad. The Irish McLovin look-a-like advanced to Day 3.
Celebrities: Andy Griggs, Sully Erna, Shannon Elizabeth, and the famous poker blogger Iggy were in the mix.
Day 2B Eliminations:Bryan Micon, Liz Lieu, David Singer, Amir Vahedi, Burt Boutin
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Carmel Petresco among Day 2B chip leaders
Big Stacks: Just before midnight Carmel Petresco made a run an jumped into the Top 10 in chips. Alex Outhred, Peter Biebel, Raja Kattamuri , Victor Ramdin, and Reagan Silber ended the day among the leaders.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Alex Outhred, Day 2B chip leader with 486,800
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