Poker News

In Mother Russia, Pot Limit Omaha beats you!

Besides WSOP and WSOPE final tablist Ivan Demidov, we don’t hear a great deal about Russian poker players – the game lost its sport status recently and it means that the poker industry in Russia has suffered horribly.

Harrison Gimbel, Barry Shulman Among PCA Day 4 Leaders

A total of 62 players remain out of the 1,529 who began the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event. A host of brand name players survived Day 3, including 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event winner Barry Shulman.

Day 3 played out on Friday from the Atlantis Resort and Casino, just across the harbor from Nassau in the Bahamas. One of the final eliminations of the day was Amnon Filippi, who shoved all-in over the top of a raise by Bryce Yockey. His opponent came along and Filippi showed pocket eights against Yockey’s K-Q of spades, setting up a classic race situation. The flop came king-high, propelling Yockey into the lead, and a running 10-3 didn’t help Filippi’s cause. His 67th place finish was worth $33,000 in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament.

Shulman, whose son Jeff Shulman reached the final table of the 2009 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas, sent Greg Dyer packing during the last level of play and crossed the one-million chip threshold. He finished with nearly 1.7 million, with the entire field trailing Harrison Gimbel’s tally of 2.6 million. Gimbel trumped former Bodog pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo in one hand after Bonomo check-called a bet of 25,000 on a flop of Q-4-6 with two hearts. The turn was the deuce of spades, leading to another check-call from Bonomo, this time for 41,000. The river was the three of hearts and Bonomo checked. Gimbel fired out a bet of 70,000 and Bonomo called, only to see his opponent flip up Q-J for top pair.

Eliminated in 91st place in the Bahamas was 2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine member and Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey. Ivey doubled up Bill Gazes with A-Q against Gazes’ K-J when a king hit on the river. Ivey had Gazes covered by a minuscule 2,000 chips and Ivey hit the rails on the next hand. Ivey, considered by many to be the world’s premier all-around player, added another $23,500 to his bankroll for his efforts in Nassau.

Two women remain among the 62 Day 3 survivors, Amanda Baker and Liz Lieu. Lieu owns a stack of 536,000 entering the fourth day of play in the 2010 PCA Main Event and will head to Table 7, where her competition will include Shulman. Meanwhile, Baker will come armed with 1.3 million chips and be seated at Table 6, which also features Gimbel, Eric “EFro” Froehlich, and Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar.

Here are the top ten chip stacks entering Day 4 on Saturday:

1. Harrison Gimbel - 2,625,000
2. Matthew Haugen - 2,149,000
3. Ryan D'Angelo - 2,092,000
4. Praz Bansi - 2,003,000
5. Barry Shulman - 1,655,000
6. Eric “EFro” Froehlich - 1,331,000
7. Amanda Baker - 1,306,000
8. James Tolbert - 1,284,000
9. John Duthie - 1,210,000
10. Kent Emil Lundmark - 1,158,000

Notable names remaining in the 2010 PCA field, along with their chip counts, include:

Jeff Madsen - 930,000
Robert Mizrachi - 876,000
Amit “amak316” Makhija - 800,000
Aaron “aejones” Jones - 651,000
Alex Brenes - 559,000
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 544,000
Liz Lieu - 536,000
Wayne Bentley - 509,000
Dean Hamrick - 433,000
Bill Gazes - 288,000
Johnny Lodden - 286,000
Peter “Nordberg” Feldman - 221,000
Huck Seed - 216,000

Among those whose 2010 PCA Main Event title hopes were dashed on Friday included Daniel Negreanu, 2008 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Dennis Phillips, Victor Ramdin, Dario Minieri, Russian sensation Ivan Demidov, Vicky Coren, Luis Medina, ESPN baseball analyst Orel Hershiser, and PokerStars poker pro Steven Paul-Ambrose.

At the time of writing on Saturday, players remaining in the Bahamas poker tournament were in Level 23 and blinds were 12,000-24,000 with a 3,000 ante. All Day 4 runners were assured a payout of at least $38,000.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest PCA coverage.

Praz Bansi Leads PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Entering Day 3

Like Wayne Bentley on Day 1A, Praz Bansi owns a commanding chip lead in the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) after Day 2. His stack of 960,800 chips is 260,000 more than the next closest competitor.

It’s not as if Bansi had a cakewalk through Day 2 on Thursday, either. At one point during play, his tablemates included Team PokerStars Pro member and “High Stakes Poker” player Dario Minieri, former Bodog pro and live tournament aficionado Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, PokerStars Sunday 500 winner Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar, and 2008 European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final winner Glen Chorny. That was just his first taste of tough competition.

After surviving the first Table of Doom, Bansi was relegated to an equally talented group of opponents. This time, his company included 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member and top all-around player Phil Ivey, former EPT Dortmund final table member Nicolas Levi, and Ivan Demidov, who made the feature table of the WSOP Las Vegas and WSOP Europe Main Events in 2008. Despite the tough go at it on Thursday, Bansi persevered. He’s fresh off a $594,000 cash for taking third in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event.

Bentley, who held a healthy edge over the rest of the merged Day 2 field, ended with 602,500 chips, good for third overall. One of the final eliminations of the day went to Team PokerStars Pro’s Vanessa Rousso, who picked up A-K and pushed over the top of an opponent’s raise. However, her adversary held pocket aces and Rousso could not catch up. Several hands earlier, Rousso tripled up with pocket fours against A-K and A-Q.

The brutal beat of the day in the 2010 PCA Main Event went to Barry Greenstein, who committed all of his chips with pocket aces, but ultimately fell to 4-6 of spades. The board gave his opponent a straight and that was all she wrote for the three-time bracelet winner, as Greenstein signed his copy of his book, “Ace on the River,” and headed for the exits. Absolute Poker pro Freddy Deeb suffered a similar fate, pushing his chips in with pocket aces and falling to pocket tens when the flop came 8-9-10. Deeb reached the final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago in October, earning $278,000.

Here are the top ten chip stacks as play enters Day 3 in the 2010 PCA Main Event:

1. Praz Bansi - 960,800
2. Marc Etienne Mclaughlin - 702,400
3. Wayne Bentley - 602,500
4. Nasr El Nasr - 528,300
5. Daniel Ades - 501,400
6. Eric “EFro” Froehlich - 467,500
7. Matthew Haugen - 456,400
8. Kenny “Hixx” Hicks - 455,500
9. Matt “mattg1983” Graham - 428,900
10. Danny Suied - 420,000

Other notable players remaining in the field of 275, along with their end of Day 2 chip counts, include:

Dario Minieri - 389,200
Amnon Filippi - 386,300
Amit “amak316” Makhija - 292,600
Vadim Trincher - 290,900
Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo - 262,500
Ivan Demidov - 259,300
Phil Ivey - 227,400
Paul Wasicka - 224,800
Carlos Mortensen - 185,500
Craig Marquis - 176,600
Kathy Liebert - 171,800
Barry Shulman - 150,200
Liz Lieu - 136,800
Victor Ramdin - 110,100
Huck Seed - 107,100
Orel Hershiser - 79,000
Nick Binger - 57,900
Steven Paul-Ambrose - 49,300

Despite boasting a larger field than in 2009, the 2010 PCA will only dole out $2.2 million to its winner; last year, Poorya Nazari banked $10,000 for winning the Bahamas EPT tournament. A flatter payout structure will see the top four finishers earn at least $1 million, with the top eight making more than $200,000. In total, 224 players out of the record-setting 1,529 who started will take home cash.

The money bubble will burst today from the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas, with players claiming their share of the $14.8 million prize pool. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the 2010 PCA Main Event.

Kevin Saul, Amnon Filippi Among PCA Day 1A Leaders

Day 1A of the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) played out on Tuesday, with 668 players taking to the felts inside the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. Wayne Bentley, a PokerStars qualifier from Britain, leads the way with 329,500 chips.

Bentley nearly amassed 11 times the starting stack of 30,000 in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament after eight levels of play. He held pocket aces and eliminated a player with pocket kings within the first few minutes of Day 1A, doubling his stack to 60,000, and he never looked back. Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu issued the traditional “Shuffle up and deal” command moments earlier. At the end of Day 1A, 430 players remained in the hunt.

Bentley sits comfortably in front of the second place stack of Amnon Filippi, who held a pile of 220,100 chips at the end of Day 1A. The accomplished poker pro was nearly 50,000 chips ahead of online poker pro Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul, the winner of the 2007 installment of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Bellagio Cup for $1.3 million. Last year, Saul finished eighth in the PCA Main Event for $234,000, outlasting all but seven of the 1,347 players who entered.

Team PokerStars Sports Stars will be out in full force on Wednesday for Day 1B, as German tennis legend Boris Becker, Swedish NHL star Mats Sundin, Dutch hockey pro Fatima De Melo, baseball commentator Orel Hershiser, and U.K. football legend Teddy Sheringham will all take to the felts. Also entering on Day 1B is Mike Kosowski, the winner of Season 1 of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.” Kosowski earned $1 million after defeating Negreanu heads-up in the finale of the poker game show last month.

2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Eric Buchman sits in sixth place after Day 1A with 159,100 chips. The PokerStars sponsored player finished fourth in the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament in Las Vegas in November, adding $2.5 million to his net worth. The event was ultimately won by Joe Cada, who will take to the felts for Day 1B today. Joining him will be pros like Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Humberto Brenes, and Victor Ramdin. Also playing is rapper Nelly, who has become somewhat of a staple on the poker circuit in recent months.

Here were the top ten chip stacks in the Bahamas after the smoke had cleared on Day 1A of the 2010 PCA Main Event:

1. Wayne Bentley - 329,500
2. Amnon Filippi - 220,100
3. Kevin Saul - 175,500
4. Eric Froehlich - 166,000
5. Dustin Dorrance-Bowman - 163,700
6. Eric Buchman - 159,100
7. Garðar Geir Hauksson - 138,900
8. Jacob Avital - 137,700
9. Christian Schwarz - 133,200
10. Rafal Michalowski - 129,300

The PCA is a stop on both the European Poker Tour (EPT) and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) and, as such, has attracted a global field. Still remaining after Day 1A are players from the United States, United Kingdom, Iceland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Ukraine, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, Mexico, Turks and Caicos, Russia, Finland, Argentina, France, Norway, Switzerland, Slovakia, Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Czech Republic, Ireland, Belgium, New Zealand, Romania, Australia, Slovenia, Greece, Costa Rica, Austria, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Curiously absent is a representative from the host nation, the Bahamas.

Last year’s champion, Poorya Nazari, hails from Canada and nearly tripled his stack on Day 1A. Notable players who survived the first starting day, along with their chip counts, include:

Dennis Phillips – 113,000
Dario Minieri – 109,800
Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar – 106,400
Poorya Nazari – 89,300
Barry Greenstein – 89,200
Jeff Madsen – 79,400
John Duthie – 60,100
Marcel Luske – 55,600
Gavin Smith – 54,000
Jean-Robert Bellande – 53,900
Kevin Schaffel – 53,200
Bernard Lee – 46,800
Amit “amak316” Makhija – 42,000
Steven Paul-Ambrose – 37,900
“Miami” John Cernuto – 36,500
Chris “moorman1” Moorman – 34,700
Ivan Demidov – 27,600
Tom McEvoy – 19,900
Huck Seed – 16,000
Jeff “yellowsub” Williams – 13,100

Play wrapped up in Level 8, when blinds were 400-800 with a 100-chip ante. Day 1B will encompass the same eight levels before the field merges for Day 2 on Thursday.

2009 WSOP Europe Air Dates Announced

Fans of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe won’t have to wait long for the tournament series to air on ESPN. The first episode kicks off on Sunday, January 31st at 11:00pm ET and a total of 10 hours will air.

The opening episode will be one of two recapping the Caesars Cup, a made-for-television tournament that featured Team Europe taking on Team Americas. The former ultimately crushed the Americas squad four matches to one, with the stars of poker turning out to compete on behalf of their continents. Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu captained the Americas squad, which also featured DoylesRoom namesake Doyle Brunson, 2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Huck Seed, 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event winner John Juanda, Big Game player Jennifer Harman, and Barry Greenstein, who was a last-minute replacement for Chris Ferguson.

The American squad held a total of 45 gold bracelets and more than $50 million in career earnings. Their foes: Team Europe, led by 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion and Betfair pro Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad. Her group of young guns included 2008 WSOP Main Event winner Peter Eastgate, Italian poker sensation Dario Minieri, 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure victor Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Power Poker front man Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, and Betfair qualifier John Harvey, a 47 year-old pipe inspector from Scotland.

On March 1st, the second of two hours dedicated to the Caesars Cup will air on ESPN. The festivities kick off at Midnight ET and serve as the run-up to the WSOP Europe Main Event, which will begin on February 7th. The £10,000 buy-in tournament drew a crowd of 334 runners and featured one of the toughest final tables ever assembled in WSOP Europe history. Two members of the November Nine – James Akenhead and Antoine Saout – reached the feature table in London, a feat accomplished in 2008 by Ivan Demidov.

Also at the WSOP Europe Main Event final table was Negreanu, the face of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge,” who took fifth in the same event in 2008. Joining Negreanu was Barry Shulman, whose son, Jeff Shulman, reached the final table of the Main Event in Las Vegas. The duo was seeking to make poker history as the first father/son team to win poker’s most coveted bracelets in the same year. The final table lasted 16 and a half hours and the entire WSOP Europe schedule panned out at the Casino at the Empire in London.

Here is the schedule for the 2009 WSOP Europe Caesars Cup and Main Event on ESPN. All times are Eastern and each episode runs for one hour:

Sunday, January 31st: 11:00pm (Caesars Cup)
Monday, February 1st: 12:00am (Caesars Cup)
Sunday, February 7th: 10:00pm (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Sunday, February 7th: 11:00pm (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Monday, February 8th: 12:00am (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Sunday, February 14th: 11:00pm (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Monday, February 15th: 12:00am (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Monday, February 15th: 1:00am (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Sunday, February 28th: 9:00pm (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Sunday, February 28th: 10:00pm (WSOP Europe Main Event)

Poker PROductions filmed WSOP Europe for ESPN. The same company also brings poker television staples like NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” to life. Last August, ESPN and the WSOP reached an agreement to keep the tournament series on the cable station until April 2018. The WSOP attracts a total viewing audience of more than 80 million people each year and at least 32 hours of coverage will air annually.

WSOP Europe air dates outside of the United States will likely be announced soon.

Vadim Kursevich wins latest Russian Poker Tour event

Vadim Kursevich has won the latest stop on the PokerStars sponsored Russian Poker Tour. With poker still banned in Russia, the event was held in Kiev, Ukraine and attracted a top quality field including Alex Kravchenko, Ivan Demidov, Alexander Dovzhenko, WCOOP bracelet winner Vadim Markushevsky, and ET Kyiv champion Maxim Lykov.

Jeffrey Pollack Resigns from Harrah’s, WSOP

In breaking news from Las Vegas, World Series of Poker (WSOP) Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack has resigned from his post at the WSOP and Harrah’s, according to the Associated Press and his Twitter feed. Today, Friday, November 13th, is Pollack’s last day on the job.

Pollack told the news service on Friday, “It’s bittersweet, but I’m leaving with just great memories and a really nice sense of it being a great run. More than anything else, I’m just appreciative of the opportunity to have been part of the WSOP.” The WSOP entered its 40th year in 2009, with Michigan pro Joe Cada having been crowned its latest champion earlier this week. The youngster became the youngest WSOP Main Event winner ever at age 21 and defeated Maryland logger Darvin Moon heads-up. Cada will celebrate his 22nd birthday next week.

The Associated Press reported, “Series spokesman Seth Palansky said there were no immediate intentions to replace Pollack.” Back in May, Pollack teamed with former Party Gaming CEO Mitch Garber to lead Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment, the casino giant’s newly-formed online arm. Pollack was slated to be its President and Harrah’s CEO Gary Loveman commented in a press release announcing the launch, “As the world’s largest gaming company, Harrah’s is taking a proactive approach toward international and interactive expansion. It is important we position ourselves to explore new markets as well as new technologies with our best in class brands.”

Pollack was instrumental in growing the WSOP since 2005. The annual festivities from Las Vegas picked up shop and moved from Binion’s in the Downtown area to the Harrah’s-owned Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino off the Strip. 2005 saw Australian Joe Hachem take down the $10,000 buy-in Main Event to the tune of $7.5 million. A total of 5,619 players entered, a number that would swell to 8,773 in 2006, the year that Hollywood agent Jamie Gold claimed victory.

Pollack told the Associated Press that his next career move remains up in the air: “I really wanted to see this year through, see this series through. I’m leaving on an absolute high note.” No indication was given to media on-hand at the Rio last weekend that Pollack was departing, as the Commissioner seemed in high spirits. Pollack awarded Mike Sexton his Poker Hall of Fame trophy in a ceremony held during Saturday’s play in the Main Event that saw the field trimmed from nine players to two, Cada and Moon.

Under Pollack’s leadership, the WSOP brand hopped “The Pond” for WSOP Europe. The festivities began in 2007, with Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad becoming the youngest bracelet winner ever by taking down the Main Event, defeating fellow Betfair pro John “Kunkuwap” Tabatabai heads-up. The inaugural Main Event drew 362 entrants. In 2008, Full Tilt Poker pro John Juanda took down the title, defeating Russian poker players Stanislav Alekhin and Ivan Demidov. In 2009, Barry Shulman, father of WSOP November Nine member Jeff Shulman, claimed victory in the WSOP Europe feature tournament. A total of 57 events in Las Vegas and four more in Europe were held this year.

Palansky told Poker News Daily, “We appreciate Jeffrey’s contributions over the past four years and wish him the best in the future. The World Series of Poker remains the market leader with this year’s tournament exceeding all expectations and we are well positioned for the future. There is no intention at this time to replace the Commissioner role.”

Pollack also held positions with the NBA and NASCAR and is the half-brother of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. On his Twitter page, Pollack boasted on Friday, “Thank you for allowing me to be part of the #WSOP these last few years. I will always be a fan and friend to the poker community.”

2009 WSOP Main Event Finale on ESPN Attracts 2.1 Million Viewers

The finale of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, which saw Michigan native Joe Cada triumph over the nine-handed feature table, drew 2.1 million viewers for a 1.8 coverage rating.

Last year’s final table, which featured PokerStars’ Peter Eastgate defeating Russian sensation Ivan Demidov, generated a 1.9 rating, meaning that the figure dipped slightly in 2009. Many had expected ratings to increase dramatically given the presence of Phil Ivey, a seven-time WSOP bracelet winner who had already captured two pieces of hardware in 2009. However, the opposite ultimately proved to be true. The 1.8 rating represented 1.8 million households tuned into the extravaganza, which aired on Tuesday night and ended with Cada becoming the youngest WSOP Main Event champion in history.

Last year, ratings for the finale jumped by 50% compared to 2007. The 2008 WSOP Main Event marked the first installment of the November Nine, the label given to the nine survivors in the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament. Its conclusion was pushed back from July to November in order to coincide with its television airing on ESPN and to force discussion of who would win rather than how a player emerged victorious.

The 2009 November Nine assembled at the Rio in Las Vegas on Saturday, November 7th for a 17 and a half hour marathon to play down to two. Then, Cada and Darvin Moon battled heads-up on Monday, November 9th beginning at 10:00pm PT and the event aired on ESPN 24 hours later in a near-real time broadcast. Norman Chad and Lon McEachern once again provided play-by-play, with the former ardently rooting on Ivey, his perennial pick to win the Main Event; Ivey went out in seventh place.

The news was not all grim from ESPN. A statement released by the cable station today read in part, “ESPN’s 15-week schedule of World Series of Poker coverage in 2009 included 31 telecasts averaging a 1.0 rating, even with last year. However, averages for households (1,024,901) and viewership (1,228,008) increased nine and seven percent, respectively, from 2008 and the important Male 25-54 demographic saw a 13 percent jump from 2008.” Jack Link’s Beef Jerky served as the presenting sponsor of the 2009 WSOP on ESPN, with a Wild Card hand brought to you by the foodstuff airing during each episode.

ESPN’s coverage of the final table ran for two and a half hours, 30 minutes more than a typical showing. Poker fans recording the episode on their Tivos or DVRs did not catch heads-up play, as their devices cut out after the two-hour mark. As expected, this ignited a stir in the industry and among readers of Poker News Daily. Poker enthusiast Art Manville commented, “This was a travesty and I really don’t know how ESPN could screw up so bad. After months of watching and waiting for the final table, we get screwed out of the ending as our DVR cut off. The least they can do is show the entire replay ASAP.” ESPN’s George McNeilly told Poker News Daily that encore presentations will continue to air on the family of networks.

According to ESPN’s website, the festivities were scheduled to air from 9:00pm ET to 11:30pm ET on November 10th. An ESPN representative told Poker News Daily on Wednesday how the network was responding to viewer complaints: “We went late to serve the sports fans tuned into the much-anticipated event that has been on their calendars for a long time. We regret that those Tivo’ing it were unable to see the ending, but we’ll be replaying it in the weeks to come.”

ESPN has held the broadcast rights to the WSOP since 2002 and, in August, inked a deal to retain the tournament series through April of 2018.

WSOP 2009 Main Event Results

After 57 tournaments in Las Vegas, four more held in London, and a grand total of 157 days (counting the delay to the November Nine), the 2009 World Series of Poker has come to an end. While there are many things that will be memorable about this year’s schedule, perhaps the best way to look back at the 2009 WSOP is by the numbers.

One of the biggest statistics comes from our new world champion’s age. After last year’s winner, Peter Eastgate, ended the nearly 20-year reign of Phil Hellmuth as the youngest ever, it only took one year for Joe Cada to knock Eastgate off the top of the rankings for the Las Vegas event. Cada should be able to hold this record for some time; at 21 years, 11 months, and 21 days old, he passed up Eastgate by 340 days (this does not take into account Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad’s win at a day under 19 in the inaugural WSOP Europe).

All totaled, the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table was the longest in WSOP history. On Saturday, the nine men played for 14 hours and 55 minutes before determining the final two players. On Monday night, Cada and runner up Darvin Moon came back and battled for another two hours and 21 minutes before determining a champion. The grand total of 17 hours and 16 minutes eclipses the previous record of 14 hours and 30 minutes, set at the 2005 WSOP Main Event final table won by Joe Hachem.

A total of 276 hands were dealt during final table play on Saturday night alone, ensuring another record would be set in total hands played. During last year’s final table, 274 hands were played before Eastgate recorded the championship. Moon and Cada went nearly 90 hands to amass a grand total of 363, and a new record, before Cada was able to grab the championship this year.

James Akenhead, who traveled from England to battle it out at the WSOP Main Event final table, did not receive any additional money for finishing in ninth place. He did, however, seal his name in history along with Antoine Saout as only the second and third players to final table both the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas and the WSOP Europe in London in the same year. In 2008, Ivan Demidov pulled off the trick (finishing in third in London and the runner up in Las Vegas); Akenhead (ninth in both) and Saout (seventh in London, third in Las Vegas) were able to add their names to that list this year.

While many in the Penn and Teller Theater were rooting for Phil Ivey to take the Main Event title, the acclaimed pro does have something to hold onto from his 2009 run. With the seventh place prize of $1,404,014 and his other two bracelet wins, the man considered by many to be the finest poker player in the world increased his lifetime tournament earnings to $12,236,714. This leaves the Full Tilt Poker pro only slightly over $190,000 behind fellow top professional and PokerStars sponsored player Daniel Negreanu for the most money earned in a career.

Finally, the WSOP crossed an important threshold. With the $174,013,315 in prize pools paid out to winners this year, the WSOP crossed the $1 billion mark in prize pools in its history. In the past four years, there has been approximately $685 million in prize pools generated; in the years from 1970 to 2005, only $354 million was generated. The grand total of prize pools in the history of the WSOP now stands at $1,041,266,592.

With the end of the tournament early this morning in the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the 2009 WSOP has come to a close. Fret not, though, as it is only roughly 200 days until the cards will fly again.

WSOP on ESPN Ratings up 11% in 2009

On Tuesday night, action from the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) will continue on cable station ESPN. “The Worldwide Leader in Sports” has seen a ratings boom in 2009 down the stretch, with the Main Event final table on tap for November 10th.

According to ESPN officials, through 11 weeks of coverage of the 2009 WSOP, its broadcasts have delivered a 0.91 average household coverage rating, up 11% from last year, when the average rating was 0.82. ESPN coverage of the 2009 WSOP began on July 28th, when the network aired the brand new $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP. ESPN then went on to feature the WSOP Champions Invitational, a 20-person freeroll consisting of former Main Event winners, and the Ante Up for Africa charity gala, which included actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

Last week, coverage of Day 5 of the Main Event was featured during the 9:00pm ET hour, followed by Day 6 at 10:00pm ET. Each episode lasted for one hour and the first garnered a 0.88 rating. The second hour began with a rap by Prahlad Friedman and had a feature table that included 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider. That episode generated a 1.17 rating, the second highest of the season. Last Tuesday marked the first week that the WSOP on ESPN moved to a 9:00pm ET kickoff, as it had previously started one hour earlier at 8:00pm ET. The Main Event final table will air on Tuesday, November 10th at 9:00pm ET and run for two-and-a-half hours.

Key for ESPN’s advertisers, which include online poker rooms PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker as well as Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, are two demographics. Males age 18 to 49 have tuned into the 2009 WSOP on ESPN in droves, rising 12% from the number that watched the 2008 broadcast. Among males age 25 to 54, the number of viewers is up 16% in 2009. PokerStars sponsors the “Straight from the Pros” segment as well as the program’s on-screen chip counts, while Full Tilt Poker sponsors the “Deal Me In” strategy segment during WSOP on ESPN broadcasts. Ultimate Bet has also been spotted airing commercials on the cable station. The site is fresh off the conclusion of its annual Aruba Poker Classic, which saw Brandon Hall and Robert Mizrachi chop heads-up.

Last year marked the first that the final table of the prestigious $10,000 buy-in Main Event was delayed until November in order to coincide with its broadcast on ESPN. As a result, ratings mushroomed by 50% for the final table airing. At the end of the day, Peter Eastgate bested Ivan Demidov in front of a packed house at the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio and banked $9.1 million.

This year, another schedule change has the poker world talking. Play will resume in the Main Event final table on November 7th at 12:00 Noon PT and continue until two players remain. Then, the pair will play heads-up beginning on November 9th at 10:00pm PT to determine a winner. The gap in between will allow time for media interviews and further study by the heads-up participants of each other’s tendencies.

While WSOP on ESPN coverage has focused on players like Eastgate, Joe Hachem, Dennis Phillips, and Betrand “Elky” Grospellier, the following nine players will take to the felts in November:

1. Darvin Moon (Oakland, Maryland) – 58,930,000
2. Eric Buchman (Valley Stream, New York) – 34,800,000
3. Steven Begleiter (Chappaqua, New York) – 29,885,000
4. Jeff Shulman (Las Vegas, Nevada) – 19,580,000
5. Joe Cada (Shelby Township, Michigan) – 13,215,000
6. Kevin Schaffel (Coral Springs, Florida) – 12,390,000
7. Phil Ivey (Las Vegas, Nevada) – 9,765,000
8. Antoine Saout (Paris, France) – 9,500,000
9. James Akenhead (London, England) – 6,800,000

Check out the WSOP on ESPN every Tuesday at 9:00pm ET.

ESPN Inside Deal Welcomes Phil Ivey, Steven Begleiter

This week, “Inside Deal,” which airs on ESPN.com, welcomes two of the 2009 November Nine, Phil Ivey and Steven Begleiter, both Full Tilt Poker pros. “Inside Deal” is released every Tuesday.

The show began with a recap of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event, which saw November Niners Antoine Saout and James Akenhead reach the final table. Last year, Ivan Demidov became the first player to make the feature tables of the WSOP Main Events in Las Vegas and London, prompting “Inside Deal” host Bernard Lee to comment, “I previously said that I never thought Ivan Demidov’s performance making the WSOP final table and making the WSOP Europe final table would ever happen again in the same year.” Sure enough, two players proved Lee wrong this year.

“Inside Deal” then recapped three legal battles raging in the industry, headlined by the closure of Pitbull Poker, a Flash Poker Network site, amid superuser allegations. In addition, Lary “pokergirl z” Kennedy and Greg Omotoy have sued Full Tilt Poker over bot use, while funds destined for internet gamblers in Maryland were seized from six bank accounts by the Federal Government. On the latter, Lee remarked, “Players must be able to trust that their virtual money is safe. If not and they can’t turn this money into cold, hard cash at any moment, the money is pointless.”

Begleiter then joined Lee and “Inside Deal” host Laura Lane donning Full Tilt Poker and 1-800-WIRELESS logos. He’s seen fellow November Niners excel since play concluded in July, including Kevin Schaffel finishing as the runner-up to Prahlad Friedman in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker in August; Begleiter finished ninth. Begleiter noted, “I’m rooting for these guys. We’re all going to be linked forever and as time goes on and we’ve had this joint success, it raises the profile of the table.”

An exclusive interview with Phil Ivey then aired. In it, Poker Edge host Phil Gordon asked the November Nine member about his recent success. Ivey explained, “I was very prepared and I was on a very good schedule. I was very in tune with poker.” On what makes him a force to be reckoned with at the tables, Ivey remarked, “There’s no perfect way to play against me because I make a lot of adjustments. I’m pretty good at adjusting to what my opponent is doing and I think that’s why I’ve had a lot of success heads-up.”

According to Wicked Chops Poker, Ivey placed a $20,000 bet with Andy Bloch at 200:1 odds that he’d take down the Main Event. The bet was made when 2,500 players remained and may soon pay off to the tune of $4 million. Ivey would not discuss his various Main Event prop bets with Gordon, saying that he wasn’t comfortable talking about them on camera.

Begleiter once again took center stage and commented on the similarities between the poker world and his profession in the financial industry: “Understanding risk, understanding limits, and understanding your bankroll matter when you make a [decision] at the felts or [a decision about] your IRA.” He revealed that he folded pocket kings pre-flop on Day 1 to a 5bet (his opponent showed aces) and flopped a flush on Day 5 to double up. On Day 7, he was all-in with A-Q and cracked pocket kings to vault him into the November Nine.

Begleiter earned his $10,000 WSOP Main Event seat from a recurring home game and owes league members 20% of his earnings, a figure that currently stands at nearly $250,000. Begleiter’s league boasts a buy-in of $300, $60 of which is reserved for a year-end prize pool; the other $240 is allocated for that week’s game. The 27 player league has played out three seasons, with Begleiter winning seven of 36 games, recording one final table title and one regular season championship.

Check out the rest of “Inside Deal” by visiting ESPN.com.

Barry Shulman Wins WSOP Europe Main Event

Shulman (pictured), who won his first bracelet at the 2001 World Series of Poker in the $1,500 seven card stud hi-lo event, conquered the highly talented final table, beating Canadian poker superstar and fan favorite Daniel Negreanu in the heads-up battle.

Negreanu, who was in the WSOP Europe final table last year as well, had many chances for winnings his first WSOPE bracelet, fifth overall, but Shulman had better luck and eventually managed to turn the tables.

In the first big hand Negreanu held a 5:3 chip lead when shulman called all-in after flopping a flush draw with A-5 of hearts. Negreanu turned over pocket aces on the Kd-8h-6h board, but the turn filled Shulman’s flush and shulman jumped to 3:1 lead.

Negreanu fought back and took the lead again when he was dealt Q-J and players saw jack-high board. Negreanu bet out and was suprised when Shulman moved all-in. After several minutes in tank, Negreanu finally called and saw that he was against pocket aces. The turn gave Negreanu lead when he spiked a jack, but the final card crushed the Canadian as Shulman found one of the remaining two aces.

In the final hand both held a pocket pair, Negreanu had fours and Shulman tens. A ten on the flop all but sealed the tournament and after two blanks, Shulman was crowned the new WSOP Europe main event champion.

Last year November nine member and eventual WSOP runner-up Ivan Demidov made the final table of the WSOPE, but this year two members of the November Nine reached the final table! Antoine Saout and James Akenhead made the final table, but their tournament didn’t last long, as Akenhead was eliminated first in 9th place and Saout soon after in 7th place.

In November another Shulman, Barry’s son Jeff, can make history, as it would be a stunning feat if father and son could win both the WSOP Europe and the WSOP Las Vegas main events during the same year.

The final table was packed with talent as besides Shulman and Negreanu, four other WSOP bracelet winners played in the final. Matt Hawrilenko (8th), Chris Bjorin (6th), Jason Mercier (4th), the dominant chipleader going into the final table, and Praz Bansi (3rd) had all tasted the WSOP gold before.

Here are the final results of the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event:

1. Barry Shulman - £801,603
2. Daniel Negreanu - £495,589
3. Praz Bansi - £360,887
4. Jason Mercier - £267,267
5. Markus Ristola - £200,367
6. Chris Bjorin - £150,267
7. Antoine Saout - £114,228
8. Matt Hawrilenko - £87,074
9. James Akenhead - £66,533

Sources: WSOPE, pokernewsdaily

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Barry Shulman Wins WSOP Europe Main Event

Antoine Saout, James Akenhead Reach WSOP Europe Main Event Final Table

Not one, but two members of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine made the final table of the WSOP Europe Main Event. Last year, Ivan Demidov accomplished the feat. This year, Antoine Saout and James Akenhead will battle for the top prize.

Akenhead nearly found his first gold WSOP bracelet in 2008, but took second in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament and cashed for $520,000. In that event, his opponent, Grant Hinkle, was all-in holding just 10-4 against Akenhead’s A-K. However, Hinkle made four tens in the hand and became one-half of only the second set of brothers ever to win WSOP bracelets and the first to do so in the same year. Akenhead is in his backyard for the WSOP Europe festivities, as he makes his home in London. He sits with the second largest chip stack entering final table play with 1.4 million, trailing only Team PokerStars Pro member Jason Mercier’s hefty total of 3.2 million.

Saout owns the sixth largest chip stack in the WSOP Europe Main Event at 701,000. The Frenchmen is also a member of the November Nine and sponsored pro of Everest Poker. Interestingly enough, he won a $50 satellite to claim his WSOP Main Event seat. Last November, he finished sixth in a Spanish Poker Tour event in Marbella for €5,800 and promptly reached another final table in Castellon in June for €780. Saout and Akenhead are the only two non-Americans at the final table of the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas. Saout will take to the felts in Seat 8 on Thursday in London.

The November Nine has another tie to the final table, as CardPlayer Founder Barry Shulman owns the fourth largest chip stack in London at 1.1 million. He is the father of November Nine member and CardPlayer Editor Jeff Shulman, who infamously threatened to throw away the WSOP Main Event bracelet should he win it. The younger Shulman owns the third largest chip stack entering the final table at the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio in November.

Daniel Negreanu finished fifth in last year’s WSOP Europe Main Event and scooped £217,200. Now, he’ll seek his first WSOP Europe bracelet in this year’s feature tournament. Incredibly, Negreanu reached the final table in back-to-back WSOP Europe Main Events in London, but is the tournament’s short stack entering today’s finale. Negreanu, a Poker Hall of Fame nominee and four-time bracelet winner, recorded eight cashes during the 2009 WSOP, including a pair of six-figure scores in the World Championship of Omaha High-Low Eight or Better and Six-Handed Limit Hold’em.

Mercier is the chip leader entering the final table in London. The card-carrying member of Team PokerStars Pro hails from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and won a bracelet this year in a $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event for $237,000. Mercier defeated online poker pro Steven “PiKappRaider” Burkholder in that event, which attracted 809 players. In May, Mercier won a tournament during the quarterly Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) for $86,000. Mercier sent six of the final 15 eliminated players to the rail on Wednesday to build his massive chip lead.

The final table kicks off today at 2:00pm local time. Here’s a look at the remaining players and their chip stacks:

1. Jason Mercier - 3,198,000
2. James Akenhead - 1,398,000
3. Praz Bansi - 1,160,000
4. Barry Shulman - 1,090,000
5. Markus Ristola - 784,000
6. Antoine Saout - 701,000
7. Matt Hawrilenko - 674,000
8. Chris Bjorin - 518,000
9. Daniel Negreanu - 438,000

The prizes up for grabs for the nine WSOP Europe Main Event final table members are as follows:

1st Place: £801,603
2nd Place: £495,589
3rd Place: £360,887
4th Place: £267,267
5th Place: £200,367
6th Place: £150,267
7th Place: £114,228
8th Place: £87,074
9th Place: £66,533

November Niners, superstars fill dream WSOPE final

Featuring two members of the November Nine and the father of a third, one of poker's hottest young players and one of the game's most enduring superstars, plus three more previous WSOP bracelet winners, Thursday's final nine at the Casino at the Empire appears to be an instant classic.

Ivan Demidov shocked the poker world making the final table of the 2008 WSOPE main event just a few short months after booking his seat in the WSOP's first November Nine.

Now, British pro James Akenhead and French Everest Poker qualifier Antoine Saout have matched that feat.

"Just to make the World Series final in Vegas is obviously massive," Akenhead told PokerListings. "Now, to make this final as well, for Antoine and I both, it's unbelievable."

In a strange twist of fate, the father of fellow 2009 November Niner Jeff Shulman is also in the final nine in London.

But Barry Shulman, and the entire group, will all be looking up at chip leader Jason Mercier when play begins Thursday.

While he started the day Wednesday near the bottom of the final 36, Mercier quickly ascended to the top of the chip counts and will bring a rather healthy lead to the final nine.

Having collected more than $3.3 million in live tournament earnings, an EPT title and a WSOP bracelet in less than two years as a pro, Mercier certainly qualifies as one of poker's brightest new stars and told PokerListings his confidence is at an all time high.

"I'm feeling really confident," he said. "I have about double what second has right now, but I've done this before and blown it, so I just have to come in here tomorrow ready to go to work and hopefully win it."

Despite being found at the bottom of the current leader board, Mercier's toughest competition at the final table could come from one of the game's biggest stars.

With more than $11 million in career live tournament earnings, fellow Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu sits third on poker's all time money winners list.

He made fifth in this very event last year and says his enduring success is a testament to hard work.

"When I started out I always saw guys who would rest on their laurels," Negreanu said.

"To achieve that lofty status and maintain it, you have to always work on your game and try to improve. If you don't, you'll end up just one of those has-beens that people laugh at.

"I take it seriously, I want to win and I want to be the best."

To win this particular event, Negreanu will also have to get through WSOP bracelet winners Matt Hawrilenko, Chris Bjorin and Praz Bansi.

"At this level, it's down to whoever makes the least mistakes and runs good," said Bansi. "Everyone knows what they are doing at this stage."

The only wild card at this star-studded final table is Finn Markus Ristola, who has about $100,000 in career live tournament earnings, including a cash in the first event at this WSOPE.

For all the action from the 2009 WSOPE main event final table, including chip counts, photos and live updates, click through to PokerListings' Live Tournaments page beginning at 12 p.m. BST Thursday.

-With files from Rod Stirzaker

Visit PokerListings.com

Matt Hawrilenko Leads WSOP Europe Main Event Entering Day 4

Two days of play remain in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event and, perched atop the leaderboard entering Wednesday’s battle is Matt Hawrilenko, a 27 year-old poker pro who goes by “Hoss-TBF” online.

Hawrilenko took down a $1 million first place prize for winning Event #56 of the 2009 WSOP in Las Vegas, a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event. He triumphed over a final table that included Matt Waxman and Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and owns 701,500 chips in London, the only player to eclipse the 700,000-chip plateau. Hawrilenko already has three WSOP final tables in 2009 and has quickly become one of the most feared names on the circuit. Hot on his heels is CardPlayer Magazine founder Barry Shulman, father of WSOP November Nine member Jeff Shulman. The latter was featured heavily in last night’s coverage of the 2009 Main Event on ESPN and was seated at the feature table.

Speaking of the November Nine, two of its members remain in the hunt to repeat Ivan Demidov’s miraculous feat last year. In 2008, Demidov made the final table of both the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas and the WSOP Europe Main Event in London. Antoine Saout, who hails from France, sits with the 24th largest chip stack (202,000), while England’s James Akenhead boasts the 30th biggest tally (153,500). The nine final table members in Las Vegas will take to felts on November 7th, when they’ll return to play down to two. Then, the action resumes late in the day on November 9th to determine a winner. The tournament’s finale will air on cable station ESPN on Tuesday, November 10th.

Also still in the hunt is Doyle Brunson, who was sixth in chips entering play on Tuesday. Brunson has trailed off a bit to own the 21st largest stack out of 36 remaining players. He owns 10 WSOP bracelets, tied with Johnny Chan for second most overall; the duo trails Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth’s 11. Brunson has been shut out of the winner’s circle since 2005 and will look to make a run entering the play down day in the WSOP Europe Main Event. Brunson has 246,500 chips and joining him at Table 1 today are Jason Mercier, 2009 Poker Hall of Fame nominee Men “The Master” Nguyen, and Shulman, among others.

Here are the Top 10 chip stacks remaining in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event:

1. Matt Hawrilenko – 701,500
2. Steven Fung – 648,000
3. Praz Bassi – 471,000
4. Arnauld Mattern – 469,500
5. Barry Shulman – 452,500
6. John Kabbaj – 448,500
7. Peter Gould – 409,000
8. Shandoi Demjan – 367,500
9. Keith Hawkins – 330,500
10. Eric Liu – 330,500

The rest of the field is as follows:

11. Ram Vaswarni – 322,000
12. Daniel Negreanu – 314,500
13. Chris Bjorin – 306,500
14. Thomas Bichon – 305,000
15. Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 285,000
16. Saar Wilf – 273,500
17. Teddy Sheringham – 272,500
18. Andre Akkari – 272,000
19. Tommy Pavlicek – 266,500
20. Anthony Cousineau – 257,000
21. Doyle Brunson – 246,500
22. Christian Harder – 243,000
23. Craig Burgess – 232,500
24. Antoine Saout – 202,000
25. Michael Fasco – 200,500
26. Elizabeth Lieu – 193,500
27. Markus Ristola – 157,000
28. Konstantin Buecherl – 156,500
29. Steve Zolotow – 156,500
30. James Akenhead – 153,500
31. Christian Kruel – 140,000
32. Jason Mercier – 125,000
33. Oyvind Riisem – 113,500
34. Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott – 80,000
35. David Docherty – 71,500
36. Men Nguyen – 63,000

The field will be chopped to nine today and the action is already underway from the Casino at the Empire. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WSOP Europe coverage.

Poker Community Offers WSOP November Nine Predictions

We’ve reached the midway point in the four-month break until the start of World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine festivities, but the anticipation for the big event has yet to slow down.  With big performances from Kevin Schaffel and Steven Begleiter at the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Legends of Poker, Joe “jcada99″ Cada’s standout run in several PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) events, and Jeff Shulman’s recent announcement that the one and only Phil Hellmuth will be serving as his poker coach, these nine men have kept themselves at the forefront of poker news.

So who will win the 2009 WSOP Main Event?  Poker News Daily sought the insight of some of the other players who made incredible runs at this year’s Main Event as well as a couple of our own writers who spent the summer keeping a very close eye on the action.  You’ll be surprised to read just how many of them did not opt for fan favorite Phil Ivey.

One player who is more than familiar with most of the November Nine is 12th place finisher in this year’s Main Event and Ultimate Bet sponsored pro Billy “Patrolman35″ Kopp.  The young online poker pro logged several hours with most of the players, including a stint where he was seated on Ivey’s direct right.  However, Kopp suggests that Ivey is not the one that viewers should be keeping their eye on:

“I think the man to look out for is Kevin Schaffel,” Kopp predicted. “Throughout the eight days that I played in the Main Event, this guy impressed me the most.  I was at several of his tables for an extended period of time and this was the one guy who really gave me trouble.  I am not sure if he was just getting some outstanding short-term luck and letting the cards speak or if he truly was playing exquisite poker. I am going to go with the latter, especially after his recent runner-up performance at [the WPT Legends of Poker]…I wish everyone much luck at the final table, as I have played with most of them at some point in the tournament.  However, I really applaud Kevin and the performance he put on, at least while I was there.  I am anxious to see some of the hands we got tangled in on television in a couple of weeks.”

Kopp is referring to Schaffel’s big score last month, when he made the final table of the WPT event and held his own against the likes of Toto Leonidas, online pros Todd Terry and Sam Stein, and the event’s champion, Prahlad Friedman.  Many are comparing his performance to Ivan Demidov’s runner-up finish at the Main Event of the WSOP Europe in 2008.  Last year, Demidov established himself as one of the frontrunners to win the Main Event with his performance and it appears that Schaffel is cementing a similar reputation.

Another online pro with plenty of insight into the minds of the November Nine is 22 year-old Nick “fu_15″ Maimone, who came in 14th in this year’s Main Event.  He is less certain than Kopp about his pick, but offered his thoughts nonetheless.

“It is complicated,” Maimone explained.  “I expect the coaching factor could highly influence the outcome of the Main Event.  However, the best players are, in this order, Phil Ivey, James Akenhead, and Joe Cada.  Although the chips are not in their favor, one of them will win.”  Those three are short on chips, especially Ivey and Akenhead, who are seventh and ninth on the leaderboard, respectively.  Ivey may be short on chips, but Maimone still believes the skill differential will make a huge difference come competition time: “Antoine Saout is decent and so is Eric Buchman, but the other four do not even come close in terms of skill.  I hope Ivey or Akenhead wins, but honestly I think Ivey will.”

Maimone is in the minority of the people we polled about their predictions though and he was the only one who picked the seven-time WSOP bracelet winner.  The writers here at Poker News Daily weighed in with their picks as well and, while they all conceded Ivey was likely the most skilled player at the table, they each went with a different horse to win the big race.

Brett Collson, who moonlighted as a reporter for PocketFivesLive.com in addition to his Poker News Daily duties during the Main Event, went with the lone internet pro at the table as his choice.  “We’ve seen short stacks excel at the Main Event final table in the past and I foresee it happening again this year,” Collson theorized.  “While Ivey might be the popular pick, Joe Cada’s cool demeanor and relentless aggression could create problems for the leaders from the get-go. He has plenty of chips to make some moves and is my pick to become the youngest Main Event winner ever in November.”

Staff Writer Earl Burton elected to go with the other November Niner to make a name for himself at the Legends of Poker event, Steven Begleiter.  “I have a feeling that everyone and their brother is going to pick Phil Ivey, but, to be honest, I think he is too short-stacked to have a tremendous impact,” said Burton.  He discounted the current chip leader from the mix as well.

“I believe that Darvin Moon is just happy to be where he is.  I believe that he is going to succumb to ‘Dennis Phillips Syndrome’ and forget what got him there.  I am going to go with Steven Begleiter, who just completed an excellent run at the Legends of Poker, to win the final table.  You can put Jeff Shulman in there as a potential dark horse contender.”

While Burton offered reasons why several of the players may or may not excel, our own Dan Cypra went with the straightforward, pick the chip leader approach, which makes plenty of sense considering Moon’s massive lead.  “It’s hard to ignore Darvin Moon, who has nearly double the chips of the next closest player,” Cypra pointed out.  “It’s reminiscent of Jamie Gold in the 2006 Main Event and Moon is my pick to win the 2009 version. While Ivey may be poker’s darling, the chip lead of Moon cannot be ignored.”

If you haven’t noticed, that is five different opinions and five different picks.  If this informal poll tells us anything, it is that the Main Event race is still wide-open, with each player bringing something to the table that the rest of their opponents lack.  Only time will tell who, if anyone, picked correctly, so until November all we can do is sit, wait, and keep coming up with reasons why our pick is going to be the one to take it down.

Ivan Demidov Discusses Russian Poker Ban

Russia’s most famous export since vodka and the AK-47 talks to Bluff Europe about the recent rulings against poker in his home country. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting WSOP 2008 runner-up Ivan Demidov…

Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren Struggle on ESPN WSOP Coverage

In Tuesday night’s broadcast of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on ESPN, Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren struggled in front of a national viewing audience as Days 1C and 1D of the Main Event unfolded. This article contains language that may not be suitable for all audiences.

Daniel Negreanu and Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth were featured during the first hour of coverage on ESPN, which tracked Day 1C of the 2009 WSOP Main Event. Negreanu, plagued by sinus problems, was seated at the feature table, while Hellmuth found himself at Table Two. Hellmuth arrived in typical grand fashion, dressed as Emperor Hellmuth and flanked by scantily-clad women, drummers, and a throng of poker fans armed with cameras. ESPN announcer Norman Chad quipped, “If Tom Brady came to the Super Bowl like this, the NFL would shut down, but we embrace this.”

Even Negreanu took notice of Hellmuth’s entrance, telling his tablemates, “[Hellmuth] loves to show us his nipples. If you watch ESPN, you’ll notice that there are a lot of nipple shots. He’s either meditating with his tiny nipples or doing something.” ESPN recapped Lindgren and Negreanu’s Player of the Year competition, where poker pros could pick any partner except for Phil Ivey and compete based on Player of the Year Points. Barry Greenstein selected Jeffrey Lisandro, who promptly won three bracelets during the 2009 festivities. Negreanu and Lindgren noted that they stood to lose around $1 million as a result of the bets.

Chad and fellow ESPN commentator Lon McEachern dubbed Hellmuth “Pokerus Bratus” and “Hellmuthicus.” The 11-time bracelet winner lived up to his reputation after teeing off on tablemates early on. An opponent who made three kings after calling a raise with K-8 when Hellmuth had jacks received the brunt of the anger. Hellmuth lamented, “What the fuck? Calling a fricking raise with K-8?” Hellmuth then spouted four expletives in a row followed by the word “man.” He sat back down and vented, “Fucking moron players.” No penalty was shown despite a stricter player conduct rule.

2008 WSOP November Nine member Dennis Phillips brought an entourage of look-a-likes with him, including David Tucker, who was charged with blowing a portable truck horn every time Phillips scooped a pot. Also in the field was “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, who was sent to the rails early on. Chad exclaimed, “Annie, you’re fired” when the Ultimate Bet face was ousted from the $10,000 buy-in tournament.

The “Straight from the Pros” segment featured Team PokerStars Pro member Joe Hachem squaring off against Steve Dannenmann on Day 5 of the 2005 Main Event. Dannenmann flopped a set in the hand, while Hachem flopped the nut flush draw. After Dannenmann put in a check-raise, Hachem folded, which he called “the biggest laydown of my life.” ESPN viewers then watched Negreanu get trumped during the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the hole cards of one player are unknown.

Meanwhile, Hellmuth and an opponent each bet $20 that they had the best hand. In the end, Hellmuth showed A-Q, while his opponent flipped over pocket fours. The money was given to a friend on the rail to “buy drinks,” an activity Hellmuth deemed worthy of another $40 contribution. Then, Hellmuth learned the crew was from Aruba, the site of the annual Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic, and tossed another $100 their way. The situation quickly turned dark. Hellmuth ran into a rivered flush, which caused him to lament, “Is this some kind of fucking joke? I can’t even fucking believe what I’m seeing.” Again, no penalty was assessed.

Day 1D of the 2009 WSOP Main Event featured 2008 Player of the Year Erick Lindgren. Joining Lindgren at the feature table was Joe Hardie, the former owner of the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. Also in the field on Day 1D, which saw more than 500 players turned away, were “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” winner Lou Diamond Phillips and third place finisher John Salley. Others playing included Ray Romano, Ivan Demidov, J.C. Tran, Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello, Chad Brown, Vanessa Rousso, Jordan Farmar, Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and 2006 Player of the Year Jeff Madsen.

Lindgren’s tentative play at the feature table was the theme of the second episode. Chad explained, “I hope the tape of this telecast is destroyed before Lindgren sees it. It’ll set him back 15 years.” The Wild Card Hand featured four-way action to the turn on an A-J-7-8 board with two diamonds. Serge Pouliott bet out 450 and the action folded around to Lindgren, who made the call. The river was the four of hearts. Lindgren checked, Pouliott bet 825, and Lindgren called. Pouliott turned over A-Q, out-kicking Lindgren’s A-6 of diamonds. The Full Tilt-sponsored “Deal Me In” featured Lindgren breaking down a hand that transpired during Day 1 of the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

Day 2 of the 2009 WSOP Main Event will air next Tuesday on ESPN at 8:00pm ET and runs for two hours.

November Niner leads WPT Legends final

"It's just been unbelievable," said Schaffel, who appears to have matched Ivan Demidov's feat of making the WSOPE main event final table while awaiting his shot at a WSOP Main Event title last year.

"I just came off one of the worst streaks of my poker career starting in January and for these two things to happen back to back it's almost impossible to even dream of.

"I can't wait to get in to my next tournament and see if I can make another final table."

Fellow November Niner Steven Begleiter actually held the lead through the first two days at the Bicycle Casino in L.A., but could not hold on busting in ninth place.

Now sitting in the driver's seat, Schaffel says he's squarely focused on the task at hand and not November.

"Obviously this is what I'm going to be doing tomorrow and November is November," he said. "Plus, November is such a different story because I'm [sixth in chips] and three or four people have big chip leads over me. The whole dynamic of the table is going to be different.

"Here I can - not bully people - but be a little more aggressive against the shorter stacks because they can't knock me out in one hand like five others can do at the Main Event."

Getting a win here at Legends will be no easy task for Schaffel, who has a final table in a $5k at Legends in 2007 on his resume.

Coming off a second place finish at the Borgata Winter Open main event this year, Veteran pro Todd Terry is just 10k short of Schaffel's 2,219,000 chip stack and is feeling great about his game.

"I feel good about the decisions I'm making and the plays I'm making," he said. "It's really exciting. I've been playing WPT's for a while now and I've had terrible luck in them. I've never even cashed in one, so to be going into the final table just about tied for the chip lead is pretty awesome."

Right behind the two chip leaders sits Prahlad Friedman, who, in addition two deep runs at the 2006 and 2009 WSOP Main Event, is a veteran of the highest stakes cash games online.

Considering the top heavy payout structure at the Bike, Friedman said he will head into his first WPT final table focused on winning.

"I'm trying to make money, that's my job," he said. "So I'm not thinking I finally made a WPT final table. I'm just happy I've got a chance to win a million and that's what I'm focused on.

"All the money's in first so that's what I'm going to be playing for."

Mike Krescanko, who has two WSOP Stud final tables and a host of small cashes on his rap sheet, is next on the leaderboard.

Sam Stein, who made ninth at the WPT Bellagio Cup this summer, sits right behind Krescasnko.

"It's nice to get on TV," Stein said. "It would have been nice to go back to back on TV - people would certainly notice that - but whatever. I'm still happy. Even though I'm fifth in chips I'm definitely trying to win. It's the only thing on my mind."

Rounding out the final six is the venerable Toto Leonidas.

The Full Tilt pro has over $3 million in career earnings, but joins the entire group in making their first WPT final table appearance.

"I've been longing to get to a final table at the WPT," he said. "I've blown up in a lot of WPT tournaments before. I've been close a couple of times, so this feels pretty good."

The action will get underway at 4 p.m. PT with a $1,009,000 first place prize on the line.

PokerListings will have comprehensive live updates throughout on or Live Tournaments page.

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Russians descend on EPT Kyiv

The EPT season was set to start in Moscow, Russia this month before the Russian Ministry of Youth, Sport and Tourism passed an order July 20 removing poker's status as a sport in Russia.

Four designated gambling zones were established on Russia soil July 1, effectively closing more than 500 casinos and slot machine halls in the capital.

Poker had been on a list of official sports in Russia drafted back in 2007 and as a result, cardrooms were allowed to continue operating.

Several casinos then jumped on board running under the guise they were poker-only establishments, forcing the Russian government to act and PokerStars to move its event to Kyiv.

Russian Team PokerStars Pro Alexander Kravchenko was one of the scant 129 players who showed up in Kyiv for Day 1a of the €5,000 PokerStars EPT Kyiv Sports Poker Championship and he said his government's move came as no surprise.

"It was not a surprise for me," he said. "I expected it because when Russia declared poker a sport, a lot of casinos carried on with their activities under cover."

For now, the 2007 WSOP Main Event final tablist says he expects poker will be forced to stay in the designated zones and he'll have to ply his trade away from home.

"I don't think the situation will change," he said. "The Russian government has allocated special places for playing poker in separate cities, similar to Las Vegas."

The designated gambling zones are all at least 1,000 kilometers from Moscow and since casino construction is not even close to completion, the rest of the Russian poker community appears to have its passports ready as well.

A whopping 54 of the 129 Day 1a starters in Kyiv were Russian.

Poker had seen a huge boom in Russia after Kravchenko and fellow Russian Ivan Demidov made the final table of the World Series Poker Main Event in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Demidov also made the final table of the WSOP Europe Main Event along with fellow Russian Stanislav Alekhin, while Alexander Kostritsin won the 2008 Aussie Millions.

Catching the wave from the boom, PokerStars launched the Russian Poker Tour in 2008 with stops in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

2008 WSOP bracelet winner Vitaly Lunkin won the RPT Main Event in Moscow this past May besting a field of 207.

He went on to win the 2009 WSOP $40k 40th anniversary event and final table both the $10k Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship and the $50k H.O.R.S.E. this summer.

Now it appears the Russian poker boom has been stalled, on home soil at least.

"I have been traveling a lot for last two years, playing everywhere in poker tournaments," Kravchenko said. "Now I just think I will travel even more."

A total of 93 players survived Day 1a in Kyiv and a field of approximately 170 is expected for Day 1b Wednesday.

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Vitaly Lunkin - Poker Player Profile

With his runner up finish in the 2009 WSOP, Ivan Demidov may have cemented Russia’s place among the best pokering nations of the world, but Vitaly Lunkin is providing some staunch support to even further that claim. Getting his start in strategic games such as backgammon and Renju, Lunkin was introduced to poker by a friend and his never looked back. After dominating the competition on his home soil, Vitaly took his act on the road in 2006, cashing in the World Series of Poker Main Event for $15K. In 2008, Lunkin won his first bracelet in the $1500 No Limit Hold’em event for $630K.

By 2009, Vitaly Lunkin was already a respected poker professional, but just in case anybody doubted him, he won his second WSOP event, taking down the $40K 40th Annual No Limit Hold’em for a staggering $1.8 million. With the win, Lunkin pushed his career live poker earnings up over $3 million, good for third place on the Russian All Time Money List.

Vitaly Lunkin currently resides in Moscow where he works as a professional poker trainer and coach.

ESPN Inside Deal Welcomes Dennis Phillips

This week’s edition of the ESPN poker show “Inside Deal,” which airs on ESPN.com, featured 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Dennis Phillips and a revealing phone conversation with WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack.

The show opened in its usual witty style, with “Inside Deal” Host Laura Lane trying to find Phillips to commence taping. ESPN employees and co-host Bernard Lee were all dressed like the former truck salesman, donning red St. Louis Cardinals hats and white collared shirts complete with logos. “Inside Deal,” which is sponsored by PokerStars.net, began its 40 minute show by discussing new legislation introduced by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) to regulate online games of skill like poker in the United States. Poker News Daily was sourced on the story, with Lee commenting, “This is a revised bill that Senator Menendez introduced in 2008. The previous bill focused on just skill games. This specifically focuses on online poker.” The bill is numbered S 1597.

Discussion on “Inside Deal” then turned to the recent sale of the World Poker Tour (WPT) to Gamynia Limited. Lee gave his take on what the sale of the hallmark tournament series means for players: “For the Tour, time will tell. For the 2009-2010 season, there won’t be too many changes.” Lee then noted that legalized and regulated online poker in the United States would mean a dramatic increase in qualifiers for WPT events. “Inside Deal” broke down the results of its sponsor’s weekly online poker major, the Sunday Million, and discussed the death of PokerListings founder Andreas Oscarsson.

Pollack called in for “Inside Deal’s” first telephone interview. He gave a preview of the 2009 WSOP Europe festivities, which kick off on September 19th from London. Pollack explained a potential solution for the sellout of Day 1D of the 2009 WSOP, which left more than 500 players shut out of the game’s most prestigious tournament: “We’re going to continue to have pre-registration open months in advance. I think we’re going to allow players to select their start date for the Main Event until a certain point. After that, we’re going to select their start date so the days are properly balanced.” Among those left out in the cold on Day 1D were Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius, Poker Hall of Fame member T.J. Cloutier, and five-time WSOP bracelet winner Ted Forrest.

Phillips joined the show to talk about his interactions with members of the 2009 WSOP November Nine and his experience at National Poker Week in Washington, DC. On the latter effort, which was organized by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), Phillips recalled, “I honestly believe there will be a compromise between the two [internet gambling bills in the House and Senate]. They will come together with something. My hope is that in the next 12 to 18 months, this farce of a law they have will be amended.”

Phillips divulged the secrets to his deep runs in the 2008 and 2009 Main Events, where he finished 3rd and 45th, respectively, and relived throwing out the first pitch at a Cardinals baseball game. On November Nine member and CardPlayer Editor Jeff Shulman, who has threatened to throw out the bracelet should he win the Main Event, Phillips commented, “Even if he felt it, to come out and publicly state it is horrible. It’s repulsive to me that he’d consider throwing it away.”

ESPN Poker Editor Andrew Feldman then joined the “Inside Deal” set in Bristol, Connecticut to review Sexy Poker for the Nintendo Wii, which resembles a game of strip poker. Discussion of the game was a segue for forecasting technological breakthroughs in the game, with Lee suggesting that tournament officials mic up every player at a final table and use interactive cameras to divulge tells. Feldman also discussed World Team Poker, whose first match-up pits Phil Hellmuth’s Team USA against Men “The Master” Nguyen’s Team Vietnam. Phillips recalled Danes rooting for Peter Eastgate and Russians cheering for Ivan Demidov during the 2008 WSOP Main Event final table as examples of how team poker may have a bright future.

An unaired exit interview with Dan Harrington following his elimination from the WSOP Champions Invitational aired and Lee broke down Eastgate’s one-outer against Scott Montgomery during last year’s Main Event finale. New episodes of “Inside Deal” are released every Tuesday on ESPN.com.

EPT Moscow cancelled?

The Russian Ministry of Youth, Sport and Tourism passed an order July 20 removing poker's status as a sport.

"We have made a change in the Russian list of sports, approved by the order of the Russian State physical training and sport committee on January 1, 2004," Russian Youth, Sport and Toursim Minister Vitaly Mutko said in a release. "We have stricken poker off the list."

According to the Ministry, this means anyone involved in any game of poker outside of specifically designated gambling zones could face prosecution.

Four designated gambling zones were established in Russia July 1, but all are at least 1,000 kilometers from Moscow, effectively closing more than 500 casinos and slot machine halls in the Russian capital.

Poker appeared to be exempt from the initial gambling ban because it was on a list of official sports in Russia drafted back in 2007 and several casinos continued to operate as card rooms after July 1.

However, Mutko now claims that was a mistake and has taken poker off the list.

"The decision to include poker on the official list of sports should be taken by special Ministry commission, but not by the chief of Russian State Physical Training and Sport Committee," Mutko said. "What's more, the decision should be registered by the Justice Ministry, which wasn't done."

The PokerStars European Poker Tour had planned to kick off its sixth season with a stop in Moscow August 17-23, but Monday's decision may leave the event in peril.

Officials at PokerStars and the European Poker Tour have yet to respond to queries regarding the status of the event.

The four designated gambling zones include Kaliningrad, the Primorsky region, the Altai region in Siberia and the cities of Krasnodar and Rostov, although construction at these sites is reportedly in the early stages and could be months or years from completion.

Poker has seen a huge boom in Russia since Russians Alexander Kravchenko and Ivan Demidov made the final table of the World Series Poker Main Event in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

PokerStars launched the Russian Poker Tour in 2008 with stops in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

2008 WSOP bracelet winner Vitaly Lunkin won the RPT Main Event in Moscow this past May, going on the win the 2009 WSOP $40k 40th anniversary event this summer.

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Ivey, Dwan headline Hall of Fame nominee list

This year, for the first-time ever, the public was invited into the nomination process and asked to vote on WSOP.com for the player they believed most deserving of the honor.

Voting was open from May 29th to July 2nd, and now after a month of collecting votes, WSOP.com has released the names of the top 10 most-nominated players.

The nominees are (in alphabetical order):

• Tom Dwan
• Barry Greenstein
• Dan Harrington
• Phil Ivey
• Tom McEvoy
• Men Nguyen
• Scotty Nguyen
• Daniel Negreanu
• Erik Seidel
• Mike Sexton

Once these nominations have been vetted by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council, a final list of candidates will be compiled.

The final vote will then be done by the 15 living members of the Hall of Fame along with a 15-person media panel, with the chosen player or players announced at an induction ceremony in concert with the WSOP Main Event Final Table in November.

In total, over 41 different names received multiple nominations during the public process including:

• Patrik Antonius
• Humberto Brenes
• Mike Caro
• Norman Chad
• Allen Cunningham
• Ivan Demidov
• Eric Drache
• Annie Duke
• John Duthie
• Sam Farha
• Chris Ferguson
• Ted Forrest
• Andy Glazer
• Bertrand Grospellier
• Gus Hansen
• Jennifer Harman-Traniello
• Jay Heimowitz
• Rob Hollink
• Jesper Hougaard
• Phil Laak
• Howard Lederer
• Marcel Luske
• Mike Matusow
• Chris Moneymaker
• Luca Pagano
• Greg Raymer
• Matt Savage
• David Sklansky

To be considered, a poker player must have the following qualifications:

• Must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
• Played for high stakes
• Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers
• Stood the test of time
• Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.

All of the above names remain eligible for future consideration.

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Nominees Announced for Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009

Public nominations for the 2009 Poker Hall of Fame class closed on July 2nd. One week later during the off-day of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, the Top 10 nominees were announced.

The criteria for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame are as follows: “A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition, played for high stakes, played consistently well, gained the respect of peers, [and] stood the test of time. For non-players, [they must] contribute to the overall growth and success of the game of poker with indelible positive and lasting results.” The 2008 class included three-time WSOP bracelet winner Dewey Tomko, who first recorded a cash in poker’s most prestigious tournament series 30 years ago. Inducted along with Tomko was hole card camera inventor and WSOP bracelet winner Henry Orenstein.

Two players that online poker sites fiercely lobbied for lead this year’s nominating class: Mike Sexton and Tom McEvoy. Sexton earned a WSOP bracelet 20 years ago by virtue of taking down a $1,500 buy-in Limit Seven Card Stud High-Low event for $104,000. He is going on his eighth season as voice of the World Poker Tour (WPT) alongside Vince Van Patten. Sexton’s easy-to-understand analysis of the game led many of today’s top players to try their hand.

The Poker News Daily Guest Columnist is an ambassador and Card Room Manager for PartyPoker. Site spokesman Warren Lush told Poker News Daily, “I’m absolutely delighted to see Sexton on the list. He showed he’s the ambassador of poker by helping rectify the problems on Day 1D of the Main Event. Sometimes when you have public votes, they can go any way.”

PokerStars lobbied for McEvoy to be inducted. The four-time WSOP bracelet winner recently took down the Champions Invitational, a tournament that will be beamed into households across the United States on ESPN. McEvoy won the 1983 WSOP Main Event, defeating a challenging final table that included Doyle Brunson and Rod Peate. He has over 20 Top 10 finishes in WSOP tournaments and authored a bevy of poker literature including “How to Win No Limit Hold’em Tournaments” and “Championship Hold’em.”

Others who will be considered for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame include Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Barry Greenstein, “Action” Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, and Erik Seidel. Of that esteemed group, Seidel leads the way with eight WSOP bracelets and Scotty Nguyen owns the most career WSOP earnings at $4.7 million. Now, the fate of the Top 10 nominees lies in the hands of 15 media personnel and 15 living members of the Poker Hall of Fame. I am proud to be one of the group that will select the 2009 induction class.

A total of 41 players and personalities received nominations and are still eligible to be inducted in future years. Among those receiving votes, but falling outside of the Top 10, were poker authors Mike Caro and David Sklansky. Caro has seven WSOP in the money finishes to his name spread out over a 26 year period. He’s the author of “Mike Caro’s Book of Poker Tells” and “Caro’s Fundamental Secrets of Winning Poker.” Sklansky authored such poker gems as “Theory of Poker,” “Tournament Poker for Advanced Players,” and “No Limit Hold’em: Theory and Practice.” He also owns three WSOP bracelets.

Others receiving votes included Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius, ESPN commentator Norman Chad, 2008 WSOP November Nine member Ivan Demidov, “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke, European Poker Tour (EPT) Founder John Duthie, 2003 WSOP Main Event Champion Chris Moneymaker, and popular tournament director Matt Savage. In addition, the public also cast votes for Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, and Stu Ungar, who are already enshrined in the Poker Hall of Fame.

The Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009 will be inducted in November during the final table of the WSOP Main Event.

Troy Weber Holds Commanding Chip Lead after Day 1D of WSOP Main Event

While Day 1D of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event might best be remembered for disarray, it was an industrial salesman from Indiana who swayed the attention of the poker world for at least a moment. Troy Weber, 38, finished the day as the commanding chip leader with 353,000 and was the only player to break the 200,000 chip mark through all four starting days.

Weber held the chip lead late in the evening and managed to add significantly to his advantage by winning a massive pot with just minutes remaining on the clock. The player seated directly to his left had built a stack of 150,000 and the two went to battle for the largest pot of the tournament to date. On a flop of J-8-3 with two hearts, the other player bet 7,000 and Weber check-called. Weber checked again when another eight hit the turn and his opponent bet 11,000. Weber raised to 30,000 and his opponent quickly moved all-in. Weber thought for several minutes before deciding to call. A large crowd gathered as the players revealed their hands:

Weber:
Opponent:

Weber’s trip eights were out in front and he earned the pot when the nine of diamonds landed on the river. Weber now holds one of the largest end of Day One stacks in WSOP history.

Reigning World Champion Peter Eastgate played on Day 1D and took center stage at the ESPN secondary table, where he stayed until the conclusion of play. Eastgate will take 44,725 chips into Day 2. Other former Main Event Champions to take to the felts on Day 1D were Bobby Baldwin and Robert Varkonyi, both of whom survived the day.

The man who took second to Eastgate in last year’s WSOP Main Event, Ivan Demidov, was eliminated. Joining him on the rail were his girlfriend and established poker pro Lika Gerasimova along with Dario Minieri, Huck Seed, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Mark Seif, Jeff Madsen, Steve Sung, and Daniel Alaei.

Notable celebrities who played on Day 1D included Ray Romano (actor), Jordan Farmar (Los Angeles Lakers basketball player), Marlon Wayans (actor and comedian), John Salley (former NBA basketball star), Lou Diamond Phillips (winner of “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here”), Joseph Kahn, and Sully Erna (musician). Farmar, Wayans, and Phillips survived the day.

The highest-ranked former WSOP gold bracelet winner from Day 1D is Josh Arieh, who hails from Atlanta, Georgia. Arieh, who took third in the 2004 WSOP Main Event for $2.5 million, bagged up 135,700 when play concluded. He doubled his 30,000 starting stack early in the day when he made the nut flush against an opponent’s second nut flush. From there, Arieh coasted to land among the chip leaders.

Here’s a look at how some other notable pros finished on Day 1D:

J.C. Tran – 139,975
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier – 127,475
Kirk Morrison – 96,000
Phil Ivey – 84,025
David Benyamine 81,700
Kenny Tran – 65,600
Jen Harman – 61,125
Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott – 59,000
Lee Markholt – 57,350
Tom “durrrr” Dwan – 24,100
Erick Lindgren – 20,450

Players who survived Day 1D will return on July 8th at Noon and merge with the survivors of Day 1C. Tuesday’s Day 2A will combine those that advanced from Days 1A and 1B. Players will take their seats at Noon on Tuesday and play five two-hour levels. Those that make it through will return on July 10 for Day 3, which will combine all of the players in the Main Event for the first time.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for continuing coverage of the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

It’s time! WSOP Main Event starts now

The Main Event is a monster of a tournament with four day 1s scheduled, each with 3,000 seats available for one easy payment of $10,000. Day 1A starts today at noon, with Day 1B starting tomorrow.

Day 1C and D start on the two days to follow. Each day is scheduled for 5 blind levels, with each level lasting 120 min. The first Day 2 (Day 2A), seating the remaining players from Day 1A and B, starts at noon on July 7th.

Day 2B will see the remaining players from Day 1C and D take to the felt for their second 10-hour session. After Day 2B completes, all players still with chips have one day off, during which the media tournament takes the center stage.

If you manage to make it to Day 3, you're looking at a non-stop marathon of poker, playing five levels of poker per day all the way through to Day 8. Day 8 finishes only when the field has played down to the infamous nine-player final table.

The final table will take place at some point between November 7th and 10th, concluding only when a new World Champion is crowned.

Last year's Main Event drew a field of 6,844 players, amassing a prize pool worth $64,333,600.

A lucky 666 players made it into the money including Men "The Master" Nguyen, Vanessa Rousso, Robert Mizrachi, Hasan Habib, Johnny Chan, Evelyn Ng, Gus Hansen, Mark Vos, David Benefield, Adam Levy, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow (30th) and Brandon Cantu (20th).

In the end it was Peter Eastgate who defeated Ivan Demidov heads up for a first-place prize of $9,152,416 and a place in poker history.

Here at PokerListings.com, we take The Main Event mighty seriously. Bookmark our tournament page for live updates, news, blogs and video from the floor of the Rio.

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No chance for rebuys at 2009 WSOP

There isn't a single rebuy event at the 2009 WSOP.

The closest thing to a rebuy event this year is the $3k Triple Chance No-Limit Hold'em event, which began Sunday with a field of more than 800 players.

Eliminating the rebuy tournaments has sparked much debate around the 2009 WSOP.

"They should have kept the rebuy events," said Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, who didn't buy in for the Triple Chance event.

The Triple Chance format has been used before for Pot-Limit Omaha events but this event marks the first time it's been used for No-Limit Hold'em.

Players get 9,000 in chips total but can choose to access the chips in increments of 3,000 up until the cutoff point. Entrants are given an initial 3,000 chips and have two special rebuy chips that they can turn in at any time for an additional 3,000 per chip.

This format adds a new dimension of strategy, as players can choose to get all 9,000 chips right at the beginning, or sit at 3,000 and save the Triple Chance chips as protection against bad beats.

"It's a fun thing," said Daniel Negreanu during a break. "For one thing it adds skill to the event, because it offers people a chance to decide how they want to play their stacks, a little bit more like simulating the cash game in a sense."

"It's kind of a unique structure. We have so many events, 57 bracelet events, so it's kind of fun to throw one in there like that."

Negreanu was one of the biggest names to advocate the elimination of the rebuy events for 2009.

"I was a big proponent of getting rid of the rebuy events," Negreanu said. "For a world championship event, everyone should be on equal footing. Everyone in an event should have an equal chance based not on how rich they are."

The event has drawn an all-star lineup, including Erick Lindgren, who spent the afternoon multi-tabling between Triple Chance and $50k H.O.R.S.E.

Other entrants include John Juanda, Antonio Esfandiari, Ivan Demidov, Mike Sexton, Jeffrey Lisandro, Eli Elezra, Jason Mercier and many others.

Negreanu spoke out against the rebuy events before this year's WSOP, with the philosophy that players shouldn't be able to "buy" a bracelet by pouring big money into a rebuy events.

Matusow is amongst the contingent that disagrees.

"Not having the rebuy ruins some of the events," Matusow said.

The $3k Triple Chance No-Limit Hold'em event will continue for two more days culminating in a final table on Tuesday night that will award a WSOP bracelet.

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Eastgate and Demidov to face off in an historic WSOP re-match

Peter Eastgate, the winner of the 2008 WSOP Main Event is to face runner and fellow Poker Stars pro Ivan Demidov in a one off online re-match. The ‘Phoenix From The Flames’ style recreation takes place on Poker Stars at 11pm UK time on 26th June with the stack sizes, blinds and antes exactly the same as they were when they went to heads up play last year.

Peter Traply (Belabacsi) Wins WSOP $5,000 No Limit Holdem Shootout

A total of 280 players took to the field in the $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Shootout (Event #41) at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP). In the end, Hungarian poker player Peter Traply, who goes by the name Belabacsi online, took home the bracelet and $348,000.

Traply became the first Hungarian ever to take home a bracelet from the annual tournament series in Las Vegas. He is just a few weeks removed from taking eighth in the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final, banking €170,000. Following his landmark win, Traply told WSOP officials what his bracelet may mean to the game of poker in his homeland: “In Hungary, the poker is growing very fast. There is a poker boom right now. And, I think it will be bigger after I won my bracelet.”

Nasr El Nasr was all-in pre-flop at the five-handed final table holding pocket threes, but ran into Traply’s pocket eights. The board ran out 10-10-5-J-7, sending El Nasr to the rails $82,000 richer for his efforts in his first WSOP cash. He wound up on the short stack after his pocket aces were cracked by the 9-10 suited of Andrew Lichtenberger, who flopped top pair and a flush draw. The turn brought Lichtenberger two pair, besting the German’s pocket rockets and marking a watershed moment at the final table.

Ousted in fourth place from the $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Shootout was Danny Wong. Lichtenberger checked the action on a board of 10-2-2-7 to Wong, who promptly pushed. Lichtenberger called, turning over pocket aces. Wong showed A-10 for two pair and was drawing to two outs. The river came a deuce, sealing Wong’s exit and $105,000 payday. Wong’s last three WSOP in the money finishes have all been from final tables, including a fourth place showing in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament last year for $217,000.

Departing in third place was Maxim Lykov. The Russian, who affectionately goes by the nickname “Decay” in the poker world, picked an inopportune time to push all-in with A-10. Lichtenberger’s run of cards continued, as he called and turned over pocket jacks. No card above nine came on the board and Lykov was sent packing, his bank account boosted by $145,000. It was Lykov’s first in the money finish of his WSOP career. Russian poker has received a boom due to Ivan Demidov’s runner-up finish during the 2008 WSOP Main Event to Peter Eastgate and the launch of the Russian Poker Tour, sponsored by PokerStars.

It didn’t take long for fireworks heads-up between Lichtenberger and Traply. The latter called for his tournament life pre-flop holding pocket sixes against Lichtenberger’s A-Q of diamonds. The race was on, with an ace hitting the flop to propel Lichtenberger into the lead and potentially end the 41st tournament of the 2009 WSOP. However, the turn came a six, giving Traply a set. The river was a harmless deuce and Traply doubled up. However, his chip lead was short-lived, as a series of double ups by Lichtenberger catapulted him back into contention.

In the end, both players woke up with monster hands heads-up. Lichtenberger was all-in pre-flop with A-J and found himself dominated by Traply’s A-K. Both hit top pair on an ace-high flop, but running queens on the turn and river preserved Hungary’s first WSOP bracelet of all-time. Lichtenberger and Traply each recorded their first WSOP final table showings.

Here were the results from Event #41 of the 2009 WSOP, the $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Shootout:

1. Peter Traply - $348,755
2. Andrew Lichtenberger - $215,402
3. Maxim Lykov - $145,062
4. Danny Wong - $105,609
5. Nasr El Nasr - $82,697

The event was ripe with poker talent, as David “The Dragon” Pham, 2009 dual bracelet winner Phil Ivey, Peter “Nordberg” Feldman, and Hendon Mob member Barney Boatman all finished in the top ten.