Poker News

Daniel Alaei Claims Third Bracelet; Huck Seed Wins TOC

With the World Series of Poker Main Event just hours away, Sunday was originally intended to be a quiet day at the Rio Hotel and Casino. But with constant schedule changes to the Tournament of Champions and two events adding an extra day of play, it turned out to be a rather eventful day in the Amazon Room as two of poker’s most talented players walked away with titles at the day’s conclusion.

Poker pro Daniel Alaei won his third career bracelet and a prize of $780,599 by winning the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship. Alaei bested 346 players, a field that included Tom Dwan, Phil Hellmuth and Jason Mercier, all of whom busted just before the final table. An extra day was added to the event, as the final table wasn’t reached until after midnight the day before, so players recharged their batteries and returned at 4:00 p.m. to play down to a winner.

Much of the day was led by France’s Ludovic Lacay, who entered second in chips but was able to chip up despite not eliminating a player at the final table. At the dinner break, Lacay had more than twice the chips of Alaei, who was in second, but he lost the lead with four players remaining. Ville Mattila got his chips in on a flop of 10h-9h-6c with Js-Jc-6s-6s against Lacay’s flush and straight draws. Mattila’s hand held up to give him the lead, but it wouldn’t last for long.

Minutes later, Mattila and Alaei wound up in a preflop raising war that saw nearly 5 million chips end up in the pot before their hands were revealed. Alaei was all in with As-Ah-Kc-7h against Mattila’s Jc-7c-9d-5s, and after the board came Qh-8h-8c-3s-Ac Alaei took over the chip lead, with Mattila now second, Lacay third and Miguel Proulx fourth.

It took a couple more hours for the next player to hit the rail, but Daniel Alaei found a great spot to eliminate Lacay. The short-stacked Frenchman moved all in with Ks-Jh-9d-2s but was in rough shape against the Ah-Kc-Qd-Js of Alaei. Lacay’s hand failed to improve and he collected $262,208 for his fourth place finish.

Mattila was the next to go, running aces into Alaei’s trip kings to send him on his way in third place. That gave Alaei a substantial lead over Proulx, who won the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha Event earlier in the summer. His attempt at bracelet #2 would fall short, as he got his last chips in with Ac-Kh-10h-2h against Alaei’s 7s-6c-5s-5h, and Alaei would make a set of fives on the flop to eliminate Proulx in second and give him bracelet number three.

Alaei’s first WSOP win came in the $5,000 buy-in Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball event in 2007. He won gold bracelet number two last year in the $10,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split championship.

1. Daniel Alaei — $780,599
2. Miguel Proulx — $482,265
3. Ville Mattila — $354,218
4. Ludovic Lacay — $262,208
5. Trevor Uyesugi — $195,631
6. Stephen Pierson — $147,138
7. Dmitry Stelmak — $111,524
8. Alexander Kravchenko — $85,180
9. Matthew Wheat — $65,578

The WSOP Tournament of Champions finally decided on a day to play down to a winner on Sunday and a large crowd gathered to watch the biggest names take to the felt in the Amazon Room. Mike Matusow began the day with the chip lead but most of them went to Daniel Negreanu, who flopped a set of kings against Matusow’s top pair, sending “The Mouth” out in 16th. Negreanu led the way going into the final table, with Johnny Chan, Joe Hachem and Huck Seed all lurking.

After several hours of play and the stacks growing shallower by the minute, Negreanu, Hachem and Chan had fallen and Howard Lederer was heads up with Seed for the title. The short-stacked Lederer moved all in with Qc-8c and Seed made the call with As-2s. Seed made a pair on the flop and used it to claim his first TOC title and the $500,000 prize.

1. Huck Seed — $500,000
2. Howard Lederer — $250,000
3. Johnny Chan — $100,000
4. Joe Hachem — $25,000
5. Barry Greenstein — $25,000
6. Daniel Negreanu — $25,000
7. Jennifer Harman — $25,000
8. Annie Duke — $25,000
9. TJ Cloutier — $25,000

Two more prelims will play down to a winner on Monday as the $1,000 No Limit Hold ‘em Event #54 and the $2,500 No Limit Hold ‘em Event #56 will crown champions. Online superstar David “DPeters17″ Peters takes the chip lead into the final day of Event #54, eyeing a first place prize of $570,960, while PokerStars Team Pro Salvatore Bonavena leads Event #56, which has a reward of $825,976. Both final tables will begin at 3:00 p.m. local time.

And, of course, the highly anticipated Day 1a of the Main Event will get underway at Noon Pacific Time on Monday. Another late schedule change was made by Harrah’s, as players will take to the felts for 4 1/2 levels on Days 1 and 2, adding an extra hour of play to each day. Everyone who advances on Days 1a and 1c will play on Day 2a, and Days 1b and 1d will form Day 2b.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for continuous updates from the 2010 WSOP Main Event!

Independence Day Weekend In Las Vegas From Poker In Twitter

Whether it was for the various parties going on, the fireworks or the start of the World Series of Poker Championship Event on Monday, the Independence Day weekend brought all the pros to Las Vegas. The Twitterverse was abuzz with their activities as they worked towards the biggest day of the poker year.

One of the big events over the weekend was the Doyle’s Room party held at the Blush nightclub. UB.com’s Bryan Devonshire had an adventure prior to arriving at the Blush bash, tweeting, “Last night on my way to Doyle’s party I set my phone in a margarita. It doesn’t work anymore.” The Brunson family turned out to be great hosts for the party as Pamela Brunson chirped Sunday morning, “Got in @ 6am from Doyle’s room Blush party and after party @Surrender. I don’t remember WHY I used to enjoy doing that! I’m POOPED!” Even Doyle was stung by the party atmosphere when he recounted his night:  “I’m trying to recover from the Doyle’s Room party at Blush. I’m not going to drink anymore except for an occasional beer until New Years Eve!”

The Fourth of July celebrations saw many of the players hitting various spots around Sin City. “Happy Fourth of July,” Justin “BoostedJ” Smith tweeted on Sunday. “Steak dinner at aria then going to club bank at Bellagio. Should be awesome night…Vegas is packed for the weekend!” Allen Kessler seemingly made a tour of the city when he Tweeted his schedule for the day:  “3 parties tonite. First @fkassela bbq, then @twoplustwoforum forum party at aria, now at bluff party at sapphire.”

Some went for a more low-key Independence Day celebration. Tiffany Michelle included a Twitpic of her activities, adding, “What better way to spend the 4th than in the pool with your girlfriends?” Lacey Jones was reflective when she tweeted her thoughts to her followers, “If there is anything I love w my whole heart it’s our Troops. Thank you to all the men & women who have served our country proud. Happy 4th!” Finally, Kara Scott missed some of the action when she tweeted, “Watching fireworks in a cab. Can juuuuust about see through the gaps in the buildings as we drive past.”

For some over the Independence Day weekend, poker took center stage over the parties and fireworks. The “Ante Up For Africa” charity poker tournament at the WSOP had many on Twitter talking, including eventual champion Phil Gordon. “129,000 in prize money going to a worthy cause,” Phil tweeted after his win and his donation of the first place bounty. “That and a big hug from runner up Shannon Elizabeth made this a great day!” For her part, Shannon Elizabeth was pleased with her performance when she chirped, “So happy! I just got 2nd in Ante Up For Africa! I had lots of lucky hands today-& was so fun!” Annie Duke issued her heartfelt thanks to those who participated when she tweeted, “Great day for @Anteupforafrica. Raised nearly $300K. Thank you so much to everyone who played.”

In one of the more comical exchanges following Gordon’s win in the charity event, fellow Full Tilt Poker members Rafe Furst and Andy Bloch took turns razzing Gordon. After Furst offered his congratulations (“Congrats @PhilNoLimits in your first WSOP tournament win at Ante Up for Africa!”), Bloch jabbed at Gordon’s WSOP record by tweeting, “Does it count as a bracelet?” Furst stuck the knife in a bit deeper when he replied, “I think we should make him an honorary one.”

The WSOP Tournament of Champions wrapped up play on Sunday night and the Twitterscape was buzzing with activity. “Gave it my best in the TOC,” Duke tweeted upon finishing ninth. “Short stacked all day and got my money in as good as I could hope for. Thanks @WSOP for the freeroll.” Jennifer Harman was playful with her exit Tweet, saying, “I’m out 7th. The last hour I feel like I played like a goof ball. Next tourney Main Event.” Daniel Negreanu enjoyed his stay at the TOC final table, although he reported, “Just busted to Hachem. AA vs 55 flop came 652. Oh well, it was a fun tournament but in the end my cards ran out of gas.”

Once Huck Seed and Howard Lederer reached heads up play, Duke began to pay more attention to the play. Although she tried to stick with the action (“Still rooting @HowardHLederer on in TOC. No sleep till he wins!”), Duke eventually gave up, tweeting, “I’m giving up. I need to sleep. Hoping I wake up to find that @HowardHLederer won the TOC. If not Huck is a great back up! Go Bub and Huck!”

Lederer was quite prolific with his tweets as he reported the action. “Just got head up with Huck,” tweeted Howard. “I have 468 to his 342. Given his HU record, I feel like a small dog.” Howard did well for himself, forcing the action for almost two hours before busting out in second place. “Disappointed,” Lederer tweeted at the conclusion. “Huck played great and deserved to win. Thanks much to Harrah’s for the freeroll and the voters for opportunity.”

One of the things that was going on outside of the tables was players noticing the structure of this year’s Championship Event. Andy Bloch was on the case when he chirped, “Warning: when choosing main event starting day, day 1b plays on 2b and day 1c plays on 2a. WSOP has done an appalling job getting word out.” After reviewing the structure of play for the early part of the Main Event, Bloch noted, “Just looked at the main event structure sheet. Playing only 4 levels days 1-5 with a 90 minute dinner break after level 2? Seriously? To the people who decided to have dinner breaks at 4:20: what were you smoking?”

This launched further discussion from Allen Kessler and Pamela Brunson. “Wow I just found out day1a main event players can be in the event 10 days and still not cash,” Kessler tweeted. “Only playing 4 levels/day should be looked at.” Brunson thanked Bloch for his warning, tweeting, “Wow…..that’s stupid! Thanks for tweeting to let us know. I need to recheck my appointments!”

On the lighter side of poker in Twitter, it seems that Joe Reitman might need to start wearing a name tag around the Rio. “Guy on a rascal said ‘Jeff can u sign my hat?,” Reitman tweeted after once again being confused with Jeff Shulman. “Had to tell him ‘I’m not Jeff.’ He was disappointed. Could have lied. But he was on a rascal.” The always endearing Vicky Coren noted upon her arrival in Las Vegas, “Passing the blackjack area, I’d know I was in Vegas with my eyes shut. ‘Please translate for Mr. Wong: the cards must STAY ON THE TABLE.’” Finally, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin reminisced about his Fourth of July memories:  “Next year I want lawn chairs, coolers, and fireworks in the front yard. Some of my best memories are running around trees with sparklers.”

Seed Flowers In WSOP Tournament of Champions

Mike Matusow entered the day with a healthy chip lead and it was expected Matusow would have received a boon from watching Tom Dwan's bracelet bid crash and burn the evening before.

Having booked extensive action against "durrrr", Dwan's failure to win a bracelet saved Matusow an expensive liability, but he proved unable to use this to spur him on to victory - dropping out as one of the first eliminations of the day.

Daniel Negreanu was Matusow's main tormenter - crippling then eliminating his fellow high-stakes player with pocket kings both times.

This provided a springboard for Negreanu to enter the final table as the chip leader - but a day of large chip swings saw Negreanu also crash out in 6th spot, following the dismissals of TJ Cloutier, Annie Duke and Jennifer Harman.

"In the end my cards ran out of gas," said a slightly disappointed Negreanu following his dismissal.

With Barry Greenstein and Joe Hachem next to bust, we were left with Johnny Chan, Huck Seed and Howard Lederer contending the title.

With three WSOP Main Event titles, 16 bracelets and a wealth of hard-earned experience between the three, it was always going to be an absorbing contest and so it proved with no man willing to cede ground.

Eventually though something had to give, and that something was 10-time bracelet-winner Johnny Chan, paving the way for a Lederer/Seed face-off.

Once the obligatory dollar bricks had been deposited on the felt, Lederer and Seed tore into each other, eventually Seed coming through to secure the title and claim his place in history.

"“There were a lot of great players in this event," said Seed following his hard-fought victory. 

"It was fun to compete.  It was like a reunion of the old school players.”

Phil Gordon Wins WSOP Ante Up for Africa Event

In a relatively subdued atmosphere compared to previous cycles, the Ante Up for Africa event at the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) drew 83 players. The $5,000 charity poker tournament benefiting victims of the crisis in Darfur raised nearly $300,000.

Ante Up for Africa founders Don Cheadle and Annie Duke were the first two down the red carpet, stopping at each of the dozens of media outlets in attendance to relay why they founded the charity along with Norman Epstein. Actor Ben Affleck, one of the tournament’s leading celebrities, did not walk the red carpet due to a migraine and instead went directly to the tournament room. Among those media outlets reporting on Affleck and others in attendance were Fox 5 Las Vegas, Celebrity Update, and 888.

“Everybody Loves Raymond” actor Brad Garrett followed Duke and Cheadle down the red carpet around 1:00pm at the Rio in Las Vegas. At one point, the extremely tall actor stood behind the much shorter Jennifer Harman, holding her shoulders while delivering an Oscar acceptance speech as if the Full Tilt pro were a small trophy.

Other celebrities who took time to speak with the media included boxing legend Evander Holyfield, Carbon Poker pro Shannon Elizabeth, Pittsburgh Steelers great Jerome Bettis, comedian David Alan Grier, and talk show host Montel Williams. Pros lending their thoughts included Andy Bloch, Greg Raymer, and Rafe Furst.

With Affleck sidelined from the red carpet, fellow actor Matt Damon took up the reigns. In an exclusive video interview, Damon told Poker News Daily how he became involved with the movie “Rounders,” which turned many in the industry on to the game: “Harvey Weinstein had the script at Miramax and said, ‘I have this really great script.’ I was doing ‘Saving Private Ryan’ at the time and he sent it over to England. I read it and thought, ‘This is fantastic.’ It’s this crazy little subculture that nobody ever talks about.” Damon did not rule out the possibility of a follow-up to “Rounders,” which has been rumored to be in the works.

In the end, it was Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Gordon coming out on top in the Ante Up for Africa tournament, defeating Elizabeth heads-up. The “American Pie” actress and runner-up candidly told WSOP officials following the gala, “I wish the rest of my WSOP had gone the way this tournament went.” 2009 WSOP Main Event November Niner Phil Ivey hustled through the red carpet and did not take many interviews. Notably absent was UB.com’s Phil Hellmuth, who finished 15th in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship that took place concurrently.

Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Erik Seidel did not walk the red carpet, although all three participated in the event. Seidel finished in fifth place after his 8-5 could not draw out on Gordon’s Q-10. Gordon flopped top pair on a 10-high board and never looked back. Ferguson bubbled the final table, also exiting at the hands of Gordon. This time, “Jesus” held pocket twos, which failed to outrace Gordon’s K-Q of diamonds.

Gordon donated his $130,000 first place payday to Ante Up for Africa in a highly generous gesture. Gordon got the best of Elizabeth with Q-3 against K-10 after flopping a queen to seal the win. The tournament marked Elizabeth’s first in the money finish in a WSOP event in three years. Here were the final results from the 2010 running of the Ante Up for Africa event:

1. Phil Gordon – $130,641
2. Shannon Elizabeth – $80,737
3. Alex Filatov – $56,516
4. Carter “BdyBldngpkrplyr” Phillips – $41,166
5. Erik Seidel – $30,287
6. Jerome Bettis – $22,624
7. Barry Hartheimer – $18,146
8. Kyle Carlston – $15,125
9. Claire Renaut – $12,998

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest headlines from the 2010 WSOP.

Image courtesy WSOP.com

WSOP TOC: Mike Matusow leading, Huck Seed as second

Mike “The Mouth” Matusow finished the second day of the WSOP Tournament of Champions in a great way: in chiplead. The loudmouth collected exactly 85,500 chips which is a bit more than Huck Seed’s 73k.  

-Matusow won the Tournament of Champions in 2005 and was third in 2006. 

A few big names were eliminated during the day - for example Doyle Brunson, Joe Cada and Mike Sexton had to leave the tournament table.

Below all the remaining 17 players and their exact chipstacks:

1. Mike Matusow          85,500
2. Huck Seed         73,000
3. Johnny Chan         68,600
4. Scotty Nguyen         64,700
5. Joe Hachem             64,300
6. Erik Seidel         58,900
7. Allen Cunningham     58,900
8. Phil Hellmuth         44,100
9. Annie Duke         42,600
10. Daniel Negreanu     39,900
11. TJ Cloutier         38,800
12. Jennifer Harman     34,200
13. Howard Lederer         30,800
14. Chris Ferguson         30,100
15. Barry Greenstein     29,900
16. Antonio Esfandiari     24,400
17. Bertrand Grospellier     21,400

There are also some changes in the tournament schedule as the tournament has proceeded much slower than expected: still 17 players are competing for the $500,000 dollar main prize, although according to the estimates we should already know the finalists.

Originally it was meant to be that the nine finalists would return to the table on 4th of July, but since there are still this many players left, the tournament will continue already on July 3rd.

However, the Ante Up for Africa tournament can still mix the schedules, so it remains to be seen when we finally know the winner of this year’s TOC…   

Source: PokerNews and TheHendonMob

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WSOP TOC: Mike Matusow leading, Huck Seed as second

Sigurd Eskeland Captures First World Series of Poker Bracelet

Norway’s Sigurd Eskeland earned his first ever World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet on Tuesday morning, defeating Steve Sung heads-up in the $2,500 Mixed Event.  The former school teacher won $260,497 in his third career WSOP cash.

The Mixed Event features eight different games: No Limit Hold’em, Fixed Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha 8/b, Razz, Stud, Stud 8/b, and 2-7 Triple Draw.  Day 3 began with 20 players still remaining and Eskeland had a ways to go, sitting in 12th place.  Aside from the chip leader, Nikolai Yakovenko, who had 310,000 chips, it was a fairly tightly grouped field.

Eskeland waited patiently through several eliminations before surging into the chip lead thanks to a series of double-ups.  After eliminating Alex Wice in third place, Eskeland went into heads-up play with a 2-to-1 chip advantage over Sung.  He expanded his lead quickly, but after about 40 minutes, Sung had pulled to even and looked like he was poised to make a run at the bracelet when he took the lead shortly thereafter.

Sung’s lead didn’t last long, though, and just over two hours into the heads-up match, he had all of his chips in the middle in a No Limit Hold’em round with Qd-Qs against Eskeland’s Ac-9s.  The flop was harmless – 3d-9c-4c – and it looked like Sung still just needed to dodge an ace to double-up.  The Jc on the turn gave Eskeland a flush draw, though, and the river was heartbreaker for Sung: 2c.  That brought Eskeland a flush and the title.

2010 WSOP Event #48 $2,500 Mixed – Final Table Results

1. Sigurd Eskeland – $260,497
2. Steve Sung – $160,952
3. Alexander Wice – $102,314
4. Nikolai Yakovenko – $73,776
5. Stephen Su – $54,032
6. Scott Seiver – $40,175
7. Jared Jaffee – $30,319
8. Kirill Rabtsov – $23,223

Elsewhere around the Rio, the Tournament of Champions (TOC) wrapped up Day 2, albeit behind schedule.  The plan was to play Day 1 last Sunday and Day 2 on Monday, at which point the final nine players would be determined.  Play would then resume on July 4th.  However, after Monday’s action, there were still 17 players left.  Therefore, WSOP officials decided to bring everyone back on July 3rd to play down to the final table, which will still be played on July 4th.  The schedule may be modified even further, though.  There are two events taking place on July 3rd – the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament and the $25,000 Six-Max – so there is a chance that one or more of the TOC players will already be playing in an event.  If that is the case, the TOC will resume on July 4th at 9:00am so that there is enough time to determine a champion.  Here is a look at the current standings:

1. Mike Matusow – 85,500
2. Huck Seed – 73,000
3. Johnny Chan – 68,600
4. Scotty Nguyen – 64,700
5. Joe Hachem – 64,300
6. Erik Seidel – 58,900
7. Allen Cunningham – 58,900
8. Phil Hellmuth – 44,100
9. Annie Duke – 42,600
10. Daniel Negreanu – 39,900
11. T.J. Cloutier – 38,800
12. Jennifer Harman – 34,200
13. Howard Lederer – 30,800
14. Chris Ferguson – 30,100
15. Barry Greenstein – 29,900
16. Antonio Esfandiari – 24,400
17. Bertrand Grospellier – 21,400

There were three other tournaments running on a busy day at the Rio on Monday.  Event #47, $1,000 No Limit Hold’em, completed its second day with just 33 of the original 3,128 players remaining.  Manuel Davidian tops the field with 889,000 chips, 176,000 more than his next closest competitor, Adam White.  Of note is recent bracelet winner Scott Montgomery, who in 24th place is gunning for his second win of the 2010 WSOP.  Here is what the top ten looks like:

1. Manuel Davidian – $889,000
2. Adam White – $713,000
3. Jason Riesenberg – $635,000
4. Owen Crowe – $607,000
5. Justin Young – $449,000
6. Laurence Stein – $442,000
7. Paulus Valkenburg – $439,000
8. Pekka Ikonen – $435,000
9. Shawn Busse – $432,000
10. Olivier Busquet – $377,000

Event #49, $1,500 No Limit Hold’em, is entering its second day with 315 of 2,543 players remaining, so the field is still 45 players away from the money.  Giuseppe Zarbo leads the chase to the $609,493 first prize with 156,500 chips.  Other players of note are still alive, including George “Jorj95″ Lind III (96,400), David “The Dragon” Pham (83,300), J.P. Kelly (61,600), Mark Gregorich (55,600), Shane Schleger (54,800), Liv Boeree (43,400), Roland de Wolfe (38,400), Matt Matros (36,600), and Andy Bloch (35,000).  Play will resume at 2:30pm local time.

Finally, Event #50, $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha, also concluded its first day.  Almost half of the original 460-player field is still alive, so it is a long way until the cash bubble bursts.  Kevin Schaffel, a member of last year’s November Nine, leads all players with 178,900 chips.  Also among the leaders are Jarred Solomon, who just made the final table of the $2,500 Mixed Hold’em event, 2005 Main Event final tablist and this year’s $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha champ John “Tex” Barch, 2010 $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8/b runner-up Dan Shak, and inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event champ Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad.  First place pays over $500,000.  The players will be back at 3:00pm local time to continue their quest for a bracelet.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for more updates from the 2010 World Series of Poker.

WSOP Tournament of Champions continues - Ivey, Juanda and Farha out

The WSOP Tournament of Champions started yesterday. 20 poker professionals chosen by a public vote and seven other players who qualified in the tournament started the chase for the million dollar prize pot.

The first day already demanded five big names - John Juanda, Barry Shulman, Greg Raymer, Sam Farha and even Phil Ivey himself were all eliminated from the tournament.

The tournament lead, instead, was taken by Erik Seidel (72,075), Johnny Chan (71,325) and Mike Matusow (70,575).

Below all the remaining players and their chips:

So who will eventually be the champion of this ultimate high-level tournament?

The tournament continues today and then on the 4th of July, and the whole event will be broadcasted as a part of ESPN’s WSOP 2010 TV-broadcasts.

Source: PokerNews

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WSOP Tournament of Champions continues - Ivey, Juanda and Farha out

Gavin Smith Wins First World Series of Poker Bracelet

In the $2,500 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Mixed Event – featuring levels that alternate between Limit Hold’em and No Limit Hold’em – nine players came back on Saturday afternoon to determine a champion. Jarred Solomon held a slim lead over Full Tilt Poker’s Gavin Smith when play began, with WSOP Circuit terror Dwyte Pilgrim sitting on the short stack. Starting with Limit Hold’em, the players wasted little time in getting down to business.

Within the first three hours, three players were dispatched from the event. Pilgrim could never get any traction to make a drive at a WSOP bracelet, departing the final table in eighth place. 2007 British Columbia Poker Championship victor Daniel Idema, who came to the felt as the second shortest stack, was also a victim of the early action before leaving the event in seventh place.

Solomon was felted prior to the dinner break by Danny Hannawa and finished in sixth place. After dinner, Hannawa held a 240,000-chip lead over Timothy Finne, Jamie Rosen, Smith, and Michael Michnik. With the game changed to No Limit, several players became more aggressive, attempting to be the last man standing.

Hannawa dumped Rosen in fifth place, at which time Smith took over play. The Canadian aggressively took chips from Michnik and, in a key hand, assumed the chip lead from Hannawa when Smith, holding A-Q, flopped a queen and Hannawa couldn’t beat him. He continued to pound the pot with bets as the game switched to Limit, when he was able to vanquish Michnik in fourth.

After Hannawa was able to defeat Michnik at the end of the Limit level, heads-up play began in No Limit with Smith holding a 400,000-chip edge over Hannawa. After decimating Hannawa with a pair of eights on a 4-2-8-K-10 board, Smith saw fortune fall his way on the final hand. Hannawa committed the remainder of his chips holding a 10-8. After Smith called with his suited A-Q and the board ran A-K-2-J-J, he dropped the “best player to never win a bracelet” tag from his name by winning Event #44:

1. Gavin Smith (Las Vegas, NV) – $268,238
2. Danny Hannawa (Farmington Hills, MI) – $166,050
3. Timothy Finne (Fanwood, NJ) – $110,324
4. Michael Michnik (Hollywood, FL) – $81,871
5. Jamie Rosen (Las Vegas, NV) – $61,441
6. Jarred Solomon (Johannesburg, South Africa) – $46,562
7. Daniel Idema (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) – $35,601
8. Dwyte Pilgrim (Brooklyn, NY) – $27,438
9. Mike Santoro (Egg Harbor, NJ) – $21,304

In Event #45, another $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, 35 players will return on Sunday afternoon to determine a champion. Sam Trickett, who was the runner-up to Jason DeWitt in the $5,000 No Limit event, holds the chip lead with several notable names in the mix behind him. 2010 WSOP bracelet winner Dutch Boyd sits in fifth, with Paul “X-22” Magriel, Alex Outhred, and Tim “tmay420” West just off the top 10.

Twenty-one players will return for Day 3 in the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event, which will probably run deep into Monday morning to determine a champion. Sergey Altbregin leads the tournament when the cards fly this afternoon, but a host of top pros are still in the mix. In second place is David “DevilFish” Ulliott, with Dan Shak and Chris Bell also in the top five. A blast from the past in the top 10 is Leif Force, who is known for his 11th place finish in the 2006 WSOP Main Event. Add in other pros such as Rob Hollink, Dan Heimiller, Allen Kessler, Andy Black, “Miami” John Cernuto, and Erik Seidel and the final day of this tournament will be one to watch.

Two tournaments opened up play on Saturday, with the first Day 1 of the latest $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event pulling in 1,759 entries. 310 players survived the carnage on Saturday to come back for Day Two on Monday. The final size of the field will be determined with the second Day 1 taking place on Sunday.

In Day One of the $2,500 Mixed Event, 453 players stepped up to test themselves against one of the toughest formats in poker. 192 will come back for Day 2 today, with Jared Jaffee holding the overnight chip lead. $50,000 Player’s Championship winner Michael Mizrachi is in fifth place, with other stars of the game such as Luca Pagano, Brandon Cantu, Steve Billirakis, Dario Alito, Alex Kravchenko, Scott Seiver, Andrew Robl, and 2010 double bracelet winner Frank Kassela all in the top 20.

While these tournaments all are featuring a great deal of star power, they will be dwarfed by the only tournament that starts today. The WSOP Tournament of Champions, which features 27 of the biggest names in the poker world, opens up play Sunday at Noon PT.

It looks to be a battle of the online poker rooms, as nine members of the Full Tilt Poker stable (Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, John Juanda, Seidel, Jennifer Harman, Huck Seed, Howard Lederer and Mike Matusow) will hit the felt against six PokerStars pros (Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Joe Cada, and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier). Team UB sends its most prominent representatives in Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, while Doyle Brunson represents DoylesRoom. Defending Tournament of Champions titleholder Mike Sexton will carry the PartyPoker banner as he attempts to repeat.

It all makes for one of the busiest Sundays during the run of this year’s World Series of Poker.

June 25th – Daily Deal

Today’s Topics: 2010 WSOP Update, Survivor and the Women in Poker Hall of Fame Nominees.

Happy Friday! On today’s edition of the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily, we’ll take a look back at a busy day in the two thousand ten World Series of Poker. Also, we’ll figure out whether a poker player may be on the newest cycle of Survivor and review the Women in Poker Hall of Fame nominees. It’s all straight ahead on the Daily Deal!

Well there was almost huge news from the Rio as another top pro made a final table. This time it was Phil Hellmuth looking for bracelet number twelve as he made the final table of Event number forty one, which was the fifteen hundred dollar omaha eight or better tournament. As you might know, all eleven of Hellmuth’s bracelets are in No Limit Hold’em, but he wasn’t able to go the distance and finished a very impressive seventh place. The winner of this one turned out to be Steve Jelinek who became the fifth person from the UK to win a bracelet in the 2010 WSOP.

According to a rumor, poker players will make their return to the popular CBS reality series Survivor next season. Survivor: Nicaragua, which is in the midst of filming, will apparently feature a high-stakes poker player. Who that is has yet to be determined. A mystery poster on TwoPlusTwo who goes by the name “HeyIzDro” first reported the news, saying that producers had called him to gauge his interest. He initially turned down the offer in order to play in the World Series of Poker, but later notified readers that he was headed to Nicaragua to film.

Posters broke down players they’d like to see on the show, including Tom Dwan,Jamie Gold, and Huck Seed. Those who have been relatively absent from the WSOP and are possibilities to appear are Johnny Chan, Peter Eastgate, Prahlad Friedman, Patrik Antonius, and Clonie Gowen. Survivor: Nicaragua will air later this year on CBS.

Finally, seven ladies have received nominations to be enshrined in the Women in Poker Hall of Fame.

Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman, Kathy Liebert, J.J. Liu, Phyllis Caro, Nani Dollison, and Betty Carey.

The general public can visit Women In Poker Hall of Fame dot com before July fifteenth to vote. Two players will be inducted into the Hall in August.
Finally, don’t forget to sign up for UB.com through Poker News Daily before July thirtieth, deposit, and rack up one Status Point. When you do, you’ll be automatically entered into a freeroll on August fifteenth. The winner of the freeroll heads to sunny, warm Las Vegas in November to watch the final table of the Main Event play out. Plus, everyone who makes the freeroll’s final table gets seats to the UB.com two hundred thousand dollar guaranteed Sunday Major.

Two more prize packages for the Main Event final table will be given out in points races held in June and July. Whoever amasses the most number of Status Points each month will head to Sin City to soak up the November Nine and witness poker history. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see one player take down what is expected to be a top prize of between eight and nine million dollars.

I’m Sean Gibson. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you again on Monday.

Frank Kassela, Scott Montgomery Win WSOP Bracelets

Wednesday was a busy day at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), one that began with Phil Ivey being awarded his eighth career bracelet and ended with three more players collecting hardware of their own. Events 36, 39, and 40 crowned winners in the Amazon Room, with a pair of familiar faces standing on top at the end of the night.

Full Tilt Poker pro Scott Montgomery picked up his first piece of WSOP hardware on Wednesday by winning the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Event #36. Montgomery, who was a member of the original WSOP November Nine in 2008, bested a field of 3,102 players to win the gold bracelet.

Montgomery admittedly ran hot just to reach the final table on Tuesday and his scorching run of cards continued on the final day. He began the final table eighth in chips, but his aggression fueled him to the top of the leaderboard and ultimately the $481,760 first prize. Montgomery took a huge chip lead into heads-up play against Mick Carlson and sent the Indiana native to the rail in just 15 minutes. On the final hand, a short-stacked Carlson moved all-in with Kd-2s and Montgomery called with Ad-7h. The board didn’t help Carlson and he earned $297,996 for his runner-up finish.

Montgomery, meanwhile, became the fourth Canadian to win a bracelet at the 2010 WSOP, joining Miguel Proulx, Aadam Daya, and Pascal Lefrancois. He eclipsed the $4,000,000 mark in career live tournament earnings.

1. Scott Montgomery – $481,760
2. Mick Carlson – $297,996
3. Adam Richardson – $210,892
4. Daniel Fuhs – $152,655
5. Sebastien Roy – $111,783
6. John Dolan – $82,804
7. Peter Dufek – $62,033
8. Timothy Beeman – $46,985
9. Michael Michnik – $35,986

Frank Kassela, Maxwell Troy, Vladimir Schmelev, Jennifer Harman, and Stuart Rutter all made repeat appearances at a final table when the $2,500 Seven Card Razz event reached its final eight players Wednesday evening. After 12 grueling hours of play, Kassela defeated Troy for the title, becoming the first player to win two bracelets in 2010.

Kassela, a father of five from Memphis, Tennessee, earned $214,084 in prize money, but battled from start to finish getting there. Kassela worked with a short stack for most of the tournament, crawling his way up the pay ladder before going on a rush early on Wednesday and entering the final table third in chips. From there, Kassela picked his spots wisely and overcame a 2:1 chip disadvantage to defeat Troy for the victory.

1. Frank Kassela – $214,085
2. Maxwell Troy – $132,229
3. Melville Lewis – $85,284
4. Vladimir Schmelev – $61,795
5. Mikko Pispala – $45,433
6. Jennifer Harman – $33,890
7. Stuart Rutter – $25,646
8. Chris Bjorin – $19,686

The $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout played from 14 players down to one on Wednesday and, with notables Annette Obrestad and J.C. Tran vying for the title, gained a fair amount of interest going into the final day. Obrestad built a giant stack early on, but lost a pair of coin flips to cripple her and she eventually followed Tran to the rail before the final table was formed.

Jeff King eliminated Justin Scott in ninth place, propelling him to a chip lead that he would hang onto for most of the night. However, it was a 21 year-old pro from California that stepped up and claimed victory on Wednesday. Steven Kelly dominated in the late stages of the final table and took a significant chip lead into heads-up play against King. Then, at around 1:40am local time, King moved all-in for his last 1.5 million chips with Ks-Qd and Kelly made the call with Ah-9d. The board ran out Js-9c-3s-2c-3h and Kelly was instantly $381,922 wealthier.

1. Steven Kelly – $381,922
2. Jeff King – $236,819
3. Derric Haynie – $161,117
4. Dustin Dirksen – $112,214
5. Reagan Leman – $78,361
6. Brett Shaffer – $56,446
7. Paul Varano – $40,887
8. Michael Cooper – $30,119
9. Justin Scott – $22,575

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the continuous updates from the 2010 WSOP.

WSOP Event #40: Frank Kassela the first to win two bracelets this year

In last year’s WSOP even four players managed to win two or more bracelets. Greg ‘FBT’ Mueller (Events 33 and 50), Brock Parker (Events 14 and 19) and Phil Ivey (Events 8 and 25) won two bracelets each whereas Jeffrey Lisandro managed to grab stunning three bracelets (Events 16, 37 and 44).

This year we had to wait for 40 events until the first double champion; namely Frank Kassela just won the WSOP Event #40 / $2,500 Seven Card Razz - and at the same time already his second bracelet during this year’s WSOP (the first came from Event #15).

Kassela earned over 214,000 dollars from his victory; below are the final results of the event (altogether 365 entries):

1. Frank Kassela $214,085
2. Maxwell Troy $132,229
3. Melville Lewis $85,284
4. Vladimir Shchemelev $61,795
5. Mikko Pispala $45,433
6. Jennifer Harman $33,890
7. Stuart Rutter $25,646
8. Chris Bjorin $19,686

Source: Pokernews and TheHendonMob

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

WSOP Event #40: Frank Kassela the first to win two bracelets this year

2010 Women in Poker Hall of Fame Nominees Announced

The Women In Poker Hall of Fame has announced the names of seven ladies nominated for induction in 2010, of which two will be enshrined during ceremonies in September.

The Women in Poker Hall of Fame, founded by the Ladies International Poker Series and sponsored by CardPlayer Magazine, is designed to honor women who have acquired prominence and made contributions to the poker world. The Hall, which  inducted its charter members in 2008, also recognizes those who have contributed significantly to promoting women in poker through their involvement in the gaming industry.

The qualifications for women to be named to the Hall are quite rigorous. Potential candidates must meet three criteria to be considered by voters:  a candidate must have been active as a player or industry leader for a minimum of 15 years. The lady, whether a player or an industry leader, must have contributed to the world of poker in some significant way. This person can qualify by either winning major poker tournaments or making significant contributions to the industry. Finally, a person must be a proponent of women’s poker. Even is she does not play in women’s events, she must support them.

With these criteria, popular female players who have made waves recently, including  PokerStars’ Vanessa Rousso, Full Tilt Poker’s Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, Vanessa Selbst, and UB.com’s Liv Boeree, are not eligible for the Hall yet. “They will have their time to shine in the near future,” stated Women in Poker Hall of Fame Board Member Karina Jett. “The criteria set by the Board ensures inductees are well established players or industry professionals.”

The seven women who have been nominated feature representatives from every era in  the history of the game. “Some of these candidates are better known than others, but they are all worthy of induction,” said Lupe Soto, the Hall’s Founder. The seven women who have been nominated for induction are led off by Poker News Daily’s guest columnist Annie Duke.

Duke has been one of the top female players in the game for nearly two decades. The current National Heads-Up Poker Championship titleholder, she has earned over $4.2 million dollars in her career. In addition to being an excellent player, Duke has also been at the forefront of the poker community, advocating in the halls of Congress on several key issues.

Duke is joined by Jennifer Harman, the only woman to have won two open World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and a fixture in some of the biggest cash games in the world. Harman has used her poker success to drive attention to several charitable causes, including the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and has earned over $2.3 million in tournament earnings during her career.

Kathy Liebert is another contemporary of Duke and Harman who has had a successful career in poker. Liebert is the all-time leading money winner among women with well over $5.6 million in earnings. She was the first woman to win a $1 million first prize in a poker tournament when she captured the 2002 PartyPoker Million.

Joanne “J.J.” Liu has quietly made her impact on the poker world. While playing in some of the most difficult cash games around the world, Liu has also been a formidable foe in the tournament arena. A graduate of Bradley University, she has earned over $2.1 million from tournament poker, including a third place finish in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event and a seventh place finish in a $2,500 Six-Handed Limit Hold’em event at this year’s WSOP.

Involved in poker since 1979, Phyllis Caro has been a part of nearly every aspect of the poker world. Working her way up from being a dealer, Caro has become one of the preeminent women in the gaming industry. Today, she works as the Director of Poker Operations at Hollywood Park in California. She has also assisted her husband Mike Caro with some of his best known works.

Nani Dollison is one of only three women – 2008 Women in Poker Hall of Fame charter members Barbara Enright and Susie Isaacs are the other two – who have won the Ladies’ Championship at the WSOP twice in their career. One of the most aggressive players on the felt, Dollison has earned almost $800,000 in her poker career and has played in venues that span the globe.

One of the pioneers for women in poker is Betty Carey. She was considered one of the most feared players – male or female – in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She consistently battled against some of the legends of the game, including “Amarillo” Slim Preston, Johnny Moss, and Doyle Brunson, and more than held her own. She was one of the first women to play in the WSOP and is someone whom all the nominees above have to thank for blazing the trail.

Out of this exceptional list, only two will earn nominations. The voting process is open to the public at the Women in Poker Hall of Fame website until July 15th, with the two players elected to the Hall announced in August.

Magnificent Montgomery - Day 27 WSOP Recap

It was a breakthrough day for one Scott Montgomery, who tallied his first WSOP bracelet win, while Frank Kassela snagged his second bracelet of the summer in $2.5k Razz.

In a strange turn of events the Rio also suffered a blackout around 2:00 a.m. which saw the lights go out in the entire Amazon Room and Pavilion Room.

Here's a look around the Rio on Day 27 of the 2010 WSOP:

Event 36 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em

Scott Montgomery already had an impressive WSOP resume, but now the 28-year-old Canadian has a gold bracelet all his own.

Montogomery broke through for his first career WSOP bracelet win, outlasting the field of 3,102 players and cashing for a first-place prize of $481,760.

The win brings Montgomery's career WSOP winnings total to more than $3.5 million, mostly thanks to his 2008 WSOP Main Event final table.

Svletlana Gromenkova was amongst the notables in the money, finishing 33rd.

Event 39 - $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em Shootout

The final table was a slugfest in the $1.5k Shootout, and it was relatively unknown Steve Kelly coming away with the bracelet victory and first-prize cash of $382,725.

Kelly had only cashed once in a WSOP event so to say it was a big score for him was an understatement.

1,397 players came out for the event, with Annette Obrestad appearing primed to make a final table run.

Luck didn't shine on the 21-year-old phenom near the final table bubble however, and Obrestad took an 11th place finish. She will have to wait another day to book her first WSOP final table appearance.

Event 40 - $2.5k 7-card Razz

The bracelet and first-place prize of $214,085 went to Frank Kassela, who outlasted the field of 365 players for the win. It was Kassela's second bracelet of the summer which should put him in contention for the 2010 Player of the Year.

Although the day began with some big names chasing WSOP glory, including arguably the best female poker player in the world Jennifer Harman and upstart Russian Vladimir Schmelev they were all relegated to the rail before getting even a sniff of the bracelet.

Heads-up proved to be a brutal marathan affair that eventually saw Kassela emerge unscathed at nearly 5 a.m.

Event 41 - $1.5k Pot-Limit Omaha Eight or Better Hi-Lo

157 of the original 847 entrants survived to play on Day 2, and the money bubble broke today at 80 players.

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson was amongst those making the payout structure, sneaking in just past the bubble with a 75th place finish.

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow also made a nice showing, finishing 40th.

Ryan Karp will head into Day 3 with the chip lead but big-time players Phil Hellmuth and Barry Greenstein are also in the running.

Play was originally scheduled to go down to a final table Wednesday, but instead 15 players will come back tomorrow as play resumes at 2:30 p.m.

Event 42 - $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em

It was another big turnout for another $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em event, as 2,521 rounders registered for this event.

The vast majority of that number was eliminated on Day 1, as we played all the way down to 297 players.

270 places get paid in this tournament, so the money bubble will come early in the day Thursday when play resumes at 2:30 p.m.

Tom Dwan, Humberto Brenes, Carter Phillips and Dan Skolovy are amongst the notables coming back for Day 2.

Event 43 - $10k H.O.R.S.E. Championship

We're almost done with this year's slate of $10k Championship event, with just three more to play in the 2010 WSOP.

$10k H.O.R.S.E. began Wednesday, and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson made a quick move to the top of the leader board, where he stayed much of the day.

241 players came out for Day 1, including Marco Traniello, Annie Duke, Ted Forrest and Jeffrey Lisandro who all made it to Day 2.

A total of 169 players including Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Scott Seiver and Matt Glantz will come back for Day 2 as we continue to whittle down to the money in this event.

Play resumes at 3 p.m. Thursday.

For a full account of how today played out at the World Series of Poker, click through to PokerListings WSOP coverage.

WSOP Live!

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Kwaysser Shines Bright In WSOP Universe: Day 26 Recap

Here's how the day developed.

Event 36 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em

A relatively quick day played out in the $1k NLHE - 38 players were whittled down to the final nine players in efficient fashion.

Sebastien Roy was the man who dealt with the conditions best and he will return as chip leader tomorrow.

2008 Main Event finalist Scott Montgomery also made the last nine players and he will pose a big threat when they resume at 2.30 p.m. tomorrow.

Event 38 - $10k Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship

26 players returned to contend the latest Championship bracelet and a tough battle ensued - a boisterous rail cheering on what was a very accomplished line-up at the final table.

An attritional day's play saw Dani Stern and Sam Stein fall along the way and eventually PokerListings blogger Matt Marafioti faced off heads-up against Hungarian Valdemar Kwaysser.

It was Kwaysser who eventually came out on top with the bracelet win and $617,214 in prize money.

Kwaysser was modest about his PLHE skills, saying "I don't know much about Pot-Limit Hold'em. I noticed people respect my raises a lot because there are no antes involved."

Event 39 - $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em Shootout

140 players returned to battle their way through 14 tough tables and by the time the 14 winners were decided late in the evening, Annette Obrestad and J.C. Tran were the marquee names left standing.

The remaining players will return tomorrow at 2.30 p.m. to play down to the bracelet.

$381,922 is the first prize awaiting the winner.

Event 40 - $2.5k 7-Card Razz

An exciting day of Razz played out today with many big names battling it out for the privilege of making it through to this tough Razz final.

By the time the chips were bagged and tagged, many of those had fallen although English pro Stuart Rutter, respected high-stakes player Jennifer Harman and seasoned veteran Chris Bjorin all remain in the hunt with 15 players left.

Melville Lewis is the man best-placed to pick up the bracelet however, positioned at the top of the leaderboard come the end of play.

They will return tomorrow at 3.30 to lowball their their way to the bracelet.

Event 41 - $1.5k Pot-Limit Omaha/8

A bumper field of 847 convened to fight for this Omaha/8 bracelet and when all was said and done, just 171 made it through to day 2.

Amongst the bigger names in contention were Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow and it should be an intriguing tussle when they return at 2.30 p.m. tomorrow.

For an in-depth look at how Day 26 of the World Series of Poker played out along with blogs, news and videos, click through to PokerListings WSOP 2010 coverage.

WSOP Live!

Check out PokerListings' WSOP Live! The most star studded and entertaining daily WSOP recap in the industry:

Ivey Seals Historic Eighth Bracelet: Day 25 Recap

One of those bracelets was won by the biggest draw in poker, Phil Ivey.

Here's how this bombastic day of drama played out.

Event 35 - $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship

Ayaz Mahmood topped a field of 256 for his first WSOP bracelet and was the only player to go a perfect 9-0 during the heads up tournament.

His best of three format final matches lasted almost 11 hours and the two players didn’t even utilize the third match as Mahmood was able to sweep his German opponent Ernst Schmejkal for the victory. WSOP tournament officials had to add one extra day of competition after last night’s matches went late.

Mahmood, a self-proclaimed PLO specialist, earned $625,674 for his victory while Schmejkal walked with $387k.

Event 36 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em

451 players returned in what was ultimately a vain attempt to play down to the final table.

By the time 10 levels were in the bag, they had only managed to dust off 413 of the contenders, 38 players still remaining in the hunt at the close.

When they return at 2.30 p.m. tomorrow, John Clancy will be at the summit of the leaderboard, with players such as Svetlana Gromenkova and Scott Montgomery hoping to claw their way into contention for the bracelet and $481,760 1st prize.

Event 37 - $3k HORSE

There was no taking your eyes off this roster of superstars with an incredible line-up that yielded a mesmeric final table with Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Chad Brown, Bill Chen and David Baker amongst others in its ranks.

After an expectedly tough day's play, finally it was Phil Ivey and Bill Chen who faced off heads-up. Chen had been in charge of the final table from the middle stages, but Ivey managed to soar into the ascendency, ripping pot after pot out of Chen's hands and finally bulldozing his way to first place, his eighth bracelet and who knows how much in side-bets.

"I never doubt myself," said Ivey following his win against such a strong field.

Ivey collected $329,840 for the victory and adds yet another page to the mythology surrounding perhaps the best player in history.

Event 39 - $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em Shootout

A bumper field of 1,400 turned up to fight it out for the shootout and by the time the day was done, exactly 90% of them were finished with the 140 winners of their tables ready to return tomorrow and do it all again.

Many big name stars made it through, including Terence Chan, Adam Levy, Robert Mizrachi, J.C. Tran and Annette Obrestad.

They'll all be back at 2.30 p.m. tomorrow to take arms once more.

Event 38 - $10k Pot-Limit Hold'em

A total of 268 players entered the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship Event.  However, only 122 players made it to play Day 2. 

By the end of the night, players reached the money with 27 players getting paid a guarenteed $21,665.

Players return tomorrow at 3:00 pm for Day 3 where they will play all out for the bracelet.

Event 40 - $2.5k 7-card Razz

365 players paid the registration desk $2.5k to enter the Razz and 160 of them managed to navigate their way through the day.

It was an unrelenting battle at the felt and when the chips were bagged and tagged at the end of the day, David Chiu, Katja Thater, Tom McEvoy, Jennifer Harman, Stu Rutter and Hasan Habib were all in the top ten chip counts.

Some great players will return to duke it out for WSOP glory when they return tomorrow.

For a full account of how today played out at the World Series of Poker, click through to PokerListings WSOP coverage.

WSOP Live!

Check out PokerListings' WSOP Live! The most star studded and entertaining daily WSOP recap in the industry:

Halfway through the 2010 World Series of Poker by Mike Sexton

As of this writing, the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a little over half over.  As for me, I’ve played in six events and will probably play another six or so.  To date, I have one cash – a 10th place finish in the $10,000 Omaha Eight or Better tournament – for nearly $35,000 and that puts me in the plus column at the WSOP by about $10,000.  Ironically, the two guys who knocked me out in the two $10,000 buy-in events I played in went on to win bracelets!  Congratulations to Frank Kassela, who won the $10,000 Eight or Better Stud tournament, and Sammy Farha, who captured the $10,000 Omaha Eight or Better bracelet.  Obviously, they took good care of my chips.

I live in California now, so I’m commuting back and forth to the WSOP this year.  I’m taking this week off to relax and spend time with my son, Ty (22 months old).  I love being with him and want to spend Father’s Day at home.  I’ll get back to the WSOP on Tuesday, June 22nd.

As for my upcoming schedule, I’m going to play in two Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better tournaments this week and then next Sunday (June 27th), I’ll play in the WSOP Tournament of Champions. I’ll probably play in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament as well as two or three more events in addition to the Main Event.

I’m excited about the WSOP Tournament of Champions (a $1,000,000 freeroll for 27 players) because it’s where I have an opportunity to defend my title!  I won this event in 2006, the last time it was played.  I look forward to finally getting a chance to defend my title.

The WSOP Tournament of Champions is supposedly poker’s All-Star event.  It is a made-for-television event that is guaranteed to have an amazing final table.  The three former WSOP Tournament of Champions winners (Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, and myself) were awarded exemptions as well as the reigning WSOP champion, Joe Cada, and WSOP European, champion Barry Shulman.  Two qualifiers, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier and Andrew Barton, are in, as are 20 players voted in by the public.

They announced the 20 top vote getters for the WSOP Tournament of Champions this week and there were virtually no changes from the first ballot that was publicized a couple of months ago.  Here is the list of players (in order of finish) that were voted into the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions: Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, Johnny Chan, Scotty Nguyen, Barry Greenstein, John Juanda, Erik Seidel, Jennifer Harman, Huck Seed, Dan Harrington, T.J. Cloutier, Sammy Farha, Howard Lederer, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, and Antonio Esfandiari.

I congratulate the 20 players that were voted in, but honestly, I feel that a couple of deserving people were left off the list.  Two guys that I feel should be in that aren’t are Carlos Mortensen and David Chiu.  Mortensen is a multiple WSOP bracelet winner and a two-time World Poker Tour (WPT) champion.  He’s also the only player in the world who has won the Main Event at the WSOP and the Main Event of the World Poker Tour – a feat we may not see duplicated in our lifetime.

Chiu has won four WSOP bracelets and, like Mortensen, has a WPT World Championship title to his credit.  In addition, and perhaps most significant to this event, is that Chiu won the inaugural Tournament of Champions in 1999 (an event that I created).  Another player I believe deserves to play in the WSOP Tournament of Champions is Poker Hall of Famer and seven-time bracelet champion Billy Baxter.

I know some internet pros and young players feel slighted that none of them were voted into this event.  Even “if” they are better players than a number of players voted in – which I don’t disagree with – I don’t feel they deserve to be in poker’s All-Star game just yet.  They need to pay their dues over time and let their credentials speak for them.  In time, they’ll get their chance to play in this prestigious event.

There is a lot of buzz at the WSOP about the side bets a number of the top pros have on winning bracelets, cross-booking each other, etc.  I think these bets create an exciting atmosphere.  I’m also guessing that WSOP officials are happy about them because it gets the top players to literally play every event on the schedule.  And any time you have Phil Ivey and other top players playing in all of your tournaments, you have to love it.

I was pretty much exhausted and drained after playing in only a half-dozen events and am enjoying a little R & R.  I know how tough it is to play in all of the tournaments like a number of players are doing.  Those guys (and a few gals) are playing multiple events every day and are up until 3:00am many nights – and take it from me, it’s a grind.  It’s not easy to cash, let alone win, at the WSOP.

Playing 12-hour days so many days in a row is brutal on your body.   It also gets very cold in there in the wee hours in the morning.  I salute all those who play so many events and wish them luck in their quest to add to their bracelet count.

Let me take a moment to pay tribute to the foreign players and how well they do at the WSOP.  England is having its best WSOP ever and those Russians are really tough.  Although outnumbered significantly, there seems to be a number of them that show up in the money in every event!

I’ve been coming to the WSOP since 1984 and I can assure you that overall, the competition is much tougher today than yesteryear.  There are so many terrific young players as well as good foreign players out there.  Anyone who plays at the WSOP and goes home with a profit should be proud of themselves.  And to those lucky enough to win a bracelet, pat yourself on the back and enjoy it.  Trust me, they’re not easy to get.

Matt Keikoan Captures Second Bracelet, Miguel Proulx Wins First At WSOP

A busy Thursday at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw one of the most underrated players in the game capture his second bracelet and the crowning of a fresh face from north of the border.

In Event #28, the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament, 12 players from the original starting field of 596 returned for play on Thursday afternoon to determine a champion. The survivors of two days of battle reflected the international nature of the WSOP, with five Americans, two Frenchmen, two Germans, and Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, and Canada also represented among the players. Canada’s Miguel Proulx was at the head of the field with a chip count of 877,000, but he faced a serious challenge from France’s Patrick Hanoteau.

The action at the table started as soon as the cards hit the air, with the final table determined in slightly under two hours. Once Matthew Reid, top professional grinder Joe Serock, and Dilyan Kovachev were eliminated short of the final table, Hanoteau was able to seize a slim 1,000 chip lead over Proulx. Hanoteau would not enjoy his chip lead for long, however.

Once the final table began, Hanoteau became a victim of tough cards and tougher players. After turning the straight against Tommy Le’s set, Hanoteau was a victim of the river when Le filled up his boat, doubling up Le. He then doubled up actor Michael Greco and Karl Gal in a ten-minute span, chopping his chip stack down to 115,000. He would depart the tournament soon afterward in ninth place.

Hanoteau was the only player to depart before the dinner break, with Le assuming the lead of the tournament with eight players remaining. After the players came back, the action ratcheted up as Le fell victim to the same circumstances as Hanoteau, departing in eighth at the hands of Proulx. The Canadian continued to apply the pressure to the final table, eliminating four of the remaining players to reach the heads-up fight against L.J. Klein.

Klein held an approximate one million chip lead over Proulx at the start of heads-up play, but over the span of the 45-minute heads-up match, Proulx was able to assume the lead. On the final hand, Proulx was able to trap Klein into committing his chips while Proulx held the nut flush. After the three days of play, Proulx walked away with his first WSOP bracelet and the third bracelet for Canada.

1. Miguel Proulx (St. Charles, Quebec) $313,311
2. L. J. Klein (Golden, CO) $195,147
3. Michael Greco (London, United Kingdom) $129,691
4. Stephane Tayar (St. Mande, France) $96,243
5. Joerg Engels (Cologne, Germany) $72,227
6. Karl Gal (Munchen, Germany) $54,736
7. Trevor Pope (Gainesville, FL) $41,850
8. Tommy Le (Tustin, CA) $32,254
9. Patrick Hanoteau (Chauconin, France) $25,044

The marquee event on Thursday was the finale of the $10,000 Limit Hold’em World Championship. Thirteen players returned to the felt Thursday afternoon from the 171 players who began the tournament to determine the champion. There were no weak players in sight, with Kyle Ray and Daniel Idema leading a field that included Jameson Painter, Player’s Championship bracelet holder Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, David Chiu, Brock Parker, and Matt Keikoan.

After two hours of play, the remainder of the field made the final table with the elimination of David Baker (eleventh) and Anh Van Nguyen (tenth) as the unfortunate bubble players. Painter held a 300,000 chip advantage over Ray when the final table started, but Idema was able to seize the lead over the duo at the dinner break. When the players came back to the table, Keikoan began his drive to take his second bracelet.

After an hour of play, Keikoan surpassed the chip leaders and continued to apply pressure. He eliminated Painter in fourth place and dispatched Ray in third to reach heads-up competition against Idema. After an hour of heads-up action, Keikoan lost his chip lead, as Idema worked his way to a 3:1 advantage. Keikoan was able to reverse his fortunes over the next hour, however, and the duo continued to swap the chip lead as the final table worked into the early hours of Friday.

After a five-hour heads-up fight, Keikoan was able to seize the advantage and eliminate Idema. After being crippled, Idema tabled an innocuous 4-2 and Keikoan showed a suited A-7; the board brought no miracles for Idema and gave Matt Keikoan his second WSOP bracelet.

1. Matt Keikoan (San Rafael, CA) $425,969
2. Daniel Idema (Vancouver, British Columbia) $263,243
3. Kyle Ray (Fayetteville, GA) $190,701
4. Jameson Painter (Las Vegas, NV) $140,760
5. Brock Parker (Silver Springs, MD) $105,782
6. Zvi Groysman (Thornhill, Ontario) $80,884
7. Simon Morris (Victoria, Austria) $62,897
8. Michael Mizrachi (Miramar, FL) $49,732
9. David Chiu (Las Vegas, NV) $39,959

Four other events were in action inside the Rio on Thursday, with several top pros in the hunt for WSOP bracelets. In Event #30, the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, Christopher Gonzales heads the 21 players remaining in the battle. Top pros Neil “Bad Beat” Channing and Jean “Prince” Gaspard are lurking in the middle of the pack, both looking for their first WSOP bracelet.

The $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament has 24 players remaining, with Russia’s Konstantin Puchkov leading the remaining field. There are plenty of challengers for Puchkov, with several notable names in hot pursuit. Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, Robert Mizrachi, Allen Kessler, Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri, James Van Alstyne, and Chip Jett are all involved in what should be an exciting final table.

Event #32, the $5,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em event, finished Day Two with 116 runners remaining from its 568 starters. Christian “charder30” Harder is the chip leader over Tony Dunst, but none other than Phil Ivey is holding down eighth place when play continues today. Also still on the front page of the leaderboard are Isaac Haxton, Jennifer Harman, Chad Brown, and Men “The Master” Nguyen.

The $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha mixed game drew 482 players for its Day One action. Justin Smith holds an approximate 45,000 chip lead over Tyler Patterson, but what is most impressive is that Ivey is also in this event. He currently sits in 35th place, but will probably have to make a decision early as to whether to pursue the Event #32 bracelet or play for this one. Also in the mix in Event #33 are Andrew Black, Ross Boatman, Rob Hollink, and defending WSOP Player of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro.

Two tournaments will be initiating play on Friday, the $1,000 Seniors (50 and over) No Limit tournament and the $10,000 Heads-Up World Championship. The latter should be a pro-laden field, as it is capped at 256 players and offers an excellent opportunity at a bracelet. Even if the Heads-Up tournament weren’t occurring, there is still plenty of action for the railbirds at the Rio as the World Series of Poker rolls on.

Lacey Jones Joins Full Tilt Poker

Although she is not listed as a pro or friend of the site, former Absolute Poker diva Lacey Jones has joined the ranks of Full Tilt Poker. A Tweet from Jones’ management agency, Poker Royalty, read, “Congrats to Poker Royalty client @laceyjones on her new sponsorship with Full Tilt Poker.”

Prior to the start of the ongoing 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Jones parted ways with the USA-friendly site Absolute Poker, which makes its home on the CEREUS Network. By June 12th, the mystery of where Jones would land was solved, as she turned out to the tournament series donning Full Tilt colors. Jones Tweeted her excitement with her newfound logo: “Can’t even begin to explain the joy I feel putting on a Full Tilt Poker patch.”

On May 21st, Jones issued a rather cryptic 109-character message that simply read, “Today is a new chapter of my life and I’ve never been more excited!!! Get ready for some big things everyone!” The poker hostess, player, and model is one of the game’s top ambassadors, having appeared in a wide variety of mainstream commercials, including spots for Sony, Panasonic, Chrysler, and Coors Light. Her looks, paired with her charm, have helped propel her to the top of the poker industry.

Jones had a major presence during the finale of the 2009 WSOP Main Event last November, conducting interviews onstage for the assembled crowd with the game’s top players and also providing coverage of bust outs. In 2006, she finished 75th in the Ladies No Limit Hold’em Championship at the WSOP for $2,000. This year, she took 41st in that event for $4,100, outlasting poker pros like UB.com’s Liv Boeree, “Amazing Race” contestant Maria Ho, and Bluff Magazine’s Jessica Welman.

One day following her announcement that she had joined the ranks of Full Tilt Poker, Jones indicated that she received a considerable amount of support from her friends and family: “Just getting my day started… lol. Thank you everyone for all the love and support. I couldn’t be happier right now.” The Tweet was time stamped in the late afternoon.

On June 15th, Jones, never one to be shy on Twitter or any other outlet, gave a play-by-play rundown of a dining experience at Garduno’s at the Palms: “Why must the weirdest guy ever sit next 2 me when I eat alone at the bar @ Garduno’s? OK to mace him if he doesn’t stop hitting on me?” She added, “And he just asked me if it was 6:40am or pm. No joke.” In addition to her role with the WSOP, Jones has taken on hostess duties for the U.S. Poker Bowl and Borgata Poker Open.

Jones does not appear as a sponsored pro of Full Tilt Poker, a list that includes high-stakes cash game pro Eli Elezra, 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event champ Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, and poker funny man Robert Williamson III. Full Tilt’s Team pros include 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions vote-leader Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event champ John Juanda. Full Tilt Poker happily accepts players from the United States.

Poker Royalty recently saw six of its clients voted in by the general public to play in this year’s WSOP Tournament of Champions: Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Harman, Scotty Nguyen, and Antonio Esfandiari. The group of six will face off against 21 other players in a $1 million freeroll on June 27th. Other Poker Royalty clients include Dwan and David Chiu.

Several Full Tilt pros have struck gold at the 2010 WSOP already, including Praz Bansi and Richard Ashby. We look forward to Jones continuing her success on poker’s biggest stage between now and July 17th.

WSOP Tournament of Champions: Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu Lead Voting

After over 350,000 votes submitted by fans of the game, the field for the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournament of Champions is set. Voting closed on Tuesday at Midnight ET and the tournament kicks off in 11 days from the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino with 27 players.

Phil Ivey, considered by many to be the game’s top all-around player, sat atop the leaderboard when all was said and done with 16,267 votes cast. He edged out four-time bracelet winner and PokerStars front man Daniel Negreanu by a scant 28 votes. Negreanu recorded 16,239 votes out of the 355,000 cast by players, fans, and members of the poker media, or about 4.5%.

Voters could select up to 20 names and only bracelet winners were eligible. Negreanu and Ivey have combined for 11 bracelets and over $8 million in career WSOP earnings. The two were about 2,500 votes ahead of 10-time bracelet winner Doyle Brunson, the Godfather of Poker. “Texas Dolly,” the namesake of the popular Cake Poker Network site DoylesRoom, received 13,796 votes and won back-to-back Main Events in 1976 and 1977.

UB.com pro and poker bad boy Phil Hellmuth finished in fourth in the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions voting at 12,673. Hellmuth owns the record for number of bracelets won at 11 and became the youngest Main Event winner ever in 1989 at age 24. His record stood for 19 years until Peter Eastgate shattered it by two years. Then, Joe Cada won poker’s biggest tournament at age 21 to become the current record holder.

A pair of Full Tilt Poker pros landed in fifth and sixth place. Chris Ferguson garnered 11,585 Tournament of Champions votes, just ahead of Allen Cunningham, who received 10,486. Ferguson and Cunningham each own five WSOP bracelets, although the former has logged 20 more in the money finishes, 61 to 41. Ferguson won the 2000 Main Event, while Cunningham finished fourth in 2006 for $3.6 million and was egged on by ESPN commentator Norman Chad’s cries of, “It’s Allen Cunningham!”

Former Main Event champion Johnny Chan took seventh in the voting with 10,434, the final player to eclipse the 10,000 mark. Chan is a 10-time bracelet winner, tied with Brunson for the second most overall, and won back-to-back Main Events in 1987 and 1988 before finishing as the runner-up to Hellmuth in 1989. The married father of six formerly served as the face of his own online poker site, Chan Poker, which vanished in 2008.

The field of 20 voted in by the general poker playing public represents the “Old Guard of Poker,” lacking any internet players or players from Europe. Here are the top 20 vote getters along with the number each received:

1. Phil Ivey – 16,267
2. Daniel Negreanu – 16,239
3. Doyle Brunson – 13,796
4. Phil Hellmuth – 12,673
5. Chris Ferguson – 11,585
6. Allen Cunningham – 10,486
7. Johnny Chan – 10,434
8. Scotty Nguyen – 9,834
9. Barry Greenstein – 9,806
10. John Juanda – 8,835
11. Erik Seidel – 8,802
12. Jennifer Harman – 8,206
13. Huck Seed – 8,180
14. Dan Harrington – 7,342
15. T.J. Cloutier – 6,281
16. Sammy Farha – 6,085
17. Howard Lederer – 5,596
18. Greg Raymer – 5,404
19. Joe Hachem – 5,272
20. Antonio Esfandiari – 5,129

Five players received automatic invites by virtue of winning past editions of the Tournament of Champions: UB.com pro Annie Duke, World Poker Tour (WPT) Host Mike Sexton, and Mike Matusow. Also claiming automatic bids were Cada and Barry Shulman, the reigning champs of the WSOP and WSOP Europe Main Events, respectively. Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier took down a sit and go qualifier put on by the WSOP Academy, while U.K. player Andrew Barton won his way in through the WSOP’s for-profit online poker site.

A total of $1 million will be up for grabs, with the Tournament of Champions’ winner banking $500,000.

Madhouse: WSOP Day 20 Recap

The big-name pros were left wanting as William Haydon, David Warga and Jeff Tebben all snagged WSOP bracelets.

In addition Event 31 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. and Event 30 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em kicked off to really pack the Pavilion Room with players.

Here's a look at what went down on Wednesday:

Event 26 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max

A total of 15 players entered the final day of Event 26 but it took more than 12 hours to find a winner.

Noted pro Erik Cajelais was eliminated in the early stages while Justin "BoostedJ" Smith busted just one player away from the final table of six.

In the end relatively unknown Californian William Haydon won the tournament and scored a massive $630,000 pay day.

Event 24 - $1k No-Limit Hold-em

After four grueling days of poker, event 24, a $1,000 No-Limit event, ended today. The small buy in brought in a massive field of 3,289 players but only one was lucky enough to grind his way through the field to be crowned the winner.

Jeff Tebben defeated JD McNamara heads up in a match that took about an hour from start to finish but that appeared to be the easy part. At one point during the final table, Tebben found himself in last place with hardly any chips. A bit of luck with some skill sprinkled on top turned everything around and ended up with Tebben taking home the bracelet as well as $503,389.

Event 27 - $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo

Day 3 of the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo event started with 23 players and had the potentially to be a very, very long final table.

Instead David Warga outlasted everyone in 11 hours of play. Warga beat noted players like David Levi and Karina Jett to win his second WSOP bracelet for $208,682.

If the name Warga sounds familiar that's because he won the Casino Employees Event in 2002.

Event 30 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em

$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em events are always popular at the WSOP and Event 30 was no exception.

A total of 2,394 players bought into Day 1 of the tournament including big name pros like Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Tilly, Kara Scott, Joe Sebok and John Juanda all looking to build a huge stack.

Unfortunately they were all amongst the 2,106 players who busted on Day 1.

PokerListings blogger Matt Stout finished as one of the chip leaders with nearly 74,000 chips. Carlos Mortensen, Neil Channing and Darryl Fish were also among the chip leaders.

The money bubble will certainly burst tomorrow as the top 243 players will get paid. The goal is to go all the way to a final table of nine.

Action resumes at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Event 28 - $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha

Day 2 of the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha saw 102 runners play down to just 12.

Michael Binger, T.J. Cloutier, John Shipley, Sandra Naujoks and Chau Giang were amongst the players to fall on Day 2.

The final day of Event 28 will play out with a relatively unknown group although Joe Serock, Tommy Le and Michael Greco are short-stacked.

Day 3 will kick off at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

Event 29 - $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship

The $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship went late into the night as the players trudged their way through day 2.

The story in this event is more about who isn't going to be here tomorrow than who is. Early on there were high expectations from players such as Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, and several others. In the end, none of them would survive to make day three.

Instead it's $50,000 HORSE Event winner Mike "The Grinder" Mizrachi that the handicappers have their eyes on with 250,000 chips.  A few other notables making into day three are: David Baker, Brock Parker, David Chiu.

Action will recommence at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

Event 31 - $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.

Event 31, the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament kicked off today and drew 828 players.

"This is the softest H.O.R.S.E. event I've ever seen in my life. It's ridiculous!" Greg Mueller was overheard saying. He may be right as it's clearly one of the biggest HORSE tournaments the WSOP has ever seen.

A sea of unknowns speckled with familiar faces flooded the Amazon Room at 5pm. By the 3am quitting time, only about 270 players were left standing; an impressive number of bustouts to say the least.

Ming Reslock's 50,000 chips are good for the lead. She's followed closely by Jesse Rios and James Van Alstyne.

Play resumes tomorrow at 3pm.

For more information on how this action-packed day played out at the series, click through to the PokerListings WSOP page.

WSOP Live!

Check out PokerListings' WSOP Live! The most star studded and entertaining daily WSOP recap in the industry:

Tournament of Champions Field Set

The WSOP has released the names of the 20 players voted in by fans for the 2010 TOC.

Most of the names on the list aren't too surprising, with Phil Ivey edging out Daniel Negreanu as the No. 1 voted player on the ballot.

Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson round out the top five vote-getters, from 355,081 total votes cast.

Fan voting was available on WSOP.com from March 15 to June 15, with fans choosing from a ballot of 50 of poker's top players.

The top 20 vote-getters from that ballot, along with five automatic qualifiers and two sponsor-exemption qualifiers, will receive an invite to the 2010 TOC, set to kick off June 27.

In the event that a player cannot accept the invite, the player with the next-highest vote total will move up the list.

Former TOC champions Annie Duke, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow and Mike Sexton receive automatic invites to the 2010 TOC, along with Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, who won a sponsor-expemption spot with his win in the WSOP Academy tournament.

England's Andrew Barton also qualified for a sponsor-exemption spot, winning an online qualifier on WSOP.com in the UK.

The total prize pool is $1 million, with $500k going to the champion.

Here's the list of the 27 players invited to the 2010 Tournament of Champions, for complete vote totals check out www.wsop.com.

Top 20 Vote Winners:

Phil Ivey
Daniel Negreanu
Doyle Brunson
Phil Hellmuth
Chirs Ferguson
Allen Cunningham
Johnny Chan
Scotty Nguyen
Barry Greenstein
John Juanda
Erik Seidel
Jennifer Harman
Huck Seed
Dan Harrington
T.J. Cloutier
Sammy Farha
Howard Lederer
Greg Raymer
Joe Hachem
Antonio Esfandiari

Automatic Qualifiers:

Annie Duke - 2004 TOC CHAMPION
Mike Matusow - 2005 TOC CHAMPION
Mike Sexton - 2006 TOC CHAMPION
Joe Cada - 2009 WSOP MAIN EVENT CHAMP
Barry Shulman - 2009 WSOP EUROPE MAIN EVENT CHAMPION
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier - WSOP ACADEMY PLAYOFF WINNER
Andrew Barton - WSOP.COM UK QUALIFIER

Annie Duke Kicks off the 2010 WSOP

Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. Tell us how you’re feeling headed into the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas?

Annie Duke: I’m feeling pretty good. I really want another bracelet, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m physically good and mentally ready. I have a big confidence boost from the way my year started and I think I have a really good mindset.

PND: How are you preparing for the tournament series?

Annie Duke: I just go and do it. The way I live my life is a constant preparation for it. A lot of people will go on a health kick during the WSOP, but I’m always working out and eating healthy. It’s such a long haul that being physically healthy is the most important factor of success.

PND: How do you think women will fare in this year’s WSOP?

Annie Duke: The best chance will be in the Champions Invitational. I’ll be in it and Jennifer Harman will probably be in the top 20 too. That’s going to be the best chance for a woman to win. However, the numbers are against it. I’d like to see women win bracelets, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Women are 3% of the field in many events.

PND: You’re an automatic entry into the WSOP Tournament of Champions since you won the event in 2004. Who else would you like to see in the field?

Annie Duke: I definitely want to see my brother (Howard Lederer) and Erik Seidel in it for sure. Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, and Daniel Negreanu should be in it. Having a legacy is important to be in that event. Other people might look at it and say that people who are hot right now should be in it, but the title is Tournament of Champions.

PND: You recently anchored a charity poker tournament for After School All-Stars. How did the event go?

Annie Duke: I was really happy with it. Brad Garrett came out for it and so did Ali Nejad. David “Chino” Rheem made the final table and we had some good pros there. One of my students from the WSOP Academy came in second. Matt Savage came out and played and Tiffany Michelle was there too. The charity was over the moon in terms of being happy, so I was excited to support that cause. It’s an awesome foundation. UB.com was incredibly supportive of the event and donated a $10,000 WSOP Main Event seat.

PND: Your Twitter feed was filled with comments about the finales of “American Idol” and “Lost.” Give us your thoughts.

Annie Duke: I was definitely disappointed by the “Lost” finale. The ending really made me mad because it didn’t answer any questions. I get it: the island was real. All of those events happened. What is the island, though? You still don’t know. You don’t know what the smoke monster was. It didn’t answer anything about the parallel universe. Why was it about their personal journeys if they were all just there to show Jack the door?

It certainly didn’t explain why the plane crashed there. It didn’t explain why they had to come back to the island. Why did they start time traveling? What they did was wrap up one character’s story.

PND: We’re sure you watched the National Heads-Up Poker Championship play out on NBC. What are your thoughts on how you played now that you’ve seen the hole cards?

Annie Duke: I was very happy with how I played against Dennis Phillips. In the beginning, I made some missteps, but I knew that before I watched. I think I adjusted very well. With Erik Seidel, it’s what I expected. On the whole, I played better than him in the first match, but not as much as he outdid me in the second match. He played amazingly well in the second match.

Given the way he was playing, there was only one way to counter that, which was to let the blinds get high and play some pushy poker. In the third match, my Q-9 push was an auto-push and I got lucky there. In the second and third matches, I really was never connecting with the board. That makes a big difference against someone as good as Erik. If neither of us is connecting with the board, he’s clearly going to win.

PND: What makes Erik Seidel such a top-notch player?

Annie Duke: One of my strengths is playing in position heads-up. He’s so good out of position. He’s so good at taking your position away. I didn’t play anyone before him that took my position away from me. He was doing things like check-calling and leading he river and it’s hard to defend against that.

I started limping the button more and keeping the pots a lot smaller. I also started making my plays later. I made the play with 8-4 and the re-raise play with A-9. I had to find those spots where I could get the last raise in and didn’t feel like he could bluff me. Had I connected with the board, it would have been a different story.

PND: You’re leading a few classes at the Rio as part of the WSOP Academy. Tell our readers what they can expect.

Annie Duke: I’m doing a ladies’ session and a two-day WSOP primer. We’ll be talking about pre-flop strategies and spending a lot of time on all-in situations, meaning how do you decide whether to push all-in and call all-ins. Those situations come up all the time in tournaments. That’s so important to understanding how to win in tournaments.

June 9th – Daily Deal

On today’s Daily Deal, the final seat to the Tournament of Champions is dished out, France issues its first online gaming licenses, we update you on the latest from the WSOP, and a lucky PND reporter interviews UB’s Samantha Ryan.

Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.

The final World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions sponsorship exemption will be awarded to the last man or woman standing from a nine-handed sit and go to be held on Thursday. The WSOP Academy selected eight popular poker pros and a high-profile poker actor, none of whom was eligible for the TOC voting because they haven’t won a bracelet yet. The lucky nine include internet prodigy Tom Dwan, EPT San Remo Champion Liv Boeree, and pros like Michael Mizrachi, Sorel Mizzi, and Andy Bloch. Academy Award winning actor Don Cheadle, whose Ante up for Africa tournaments have made him well known in the poker community was also invited.

As promised, the French gaming authority ARJEL issued its first online gaming licenses in time for the two thousand and ten world cup. Many operators are free to offer sports and horse betting, but those wishing to offer poker and so-called “circle” games must wait a few more weeks. Unibet, Everest, and bwin are celebrating their new licenses, while industry heavyweights Microgaming and Party Gaming must keep the champagne on ice for a while longer. There is hope, though, according to ARJEL president Jean Vilotte:

“There are several reasons that these applications are still under review, including the need for additional information from the applicants. The fact that these companies were not a part of the first issuance of licenses does not prejudge any decision on their application.”

From here in Las Vegas the action continues at the two thousand and ten World Series of Poker. Event number twelve wrapped up with former Stox Poker instructor Matt Matros taking down the fifteen hundred dollar Limit Holdem event for his first bracelet. Event number thirteen, which is a one thousand dollar no limit hold’em event, is down to the final table today. The winner of that event will take in almost a half million bucks. Event fourteen, a deuce to seven draw lowball tournament, was won by Las Vegas pro Yan Chen who bested 250 participants.

Event number fifteen had a star studded final table for the Seven Card Stud Hi – Low world championship. Names at the final table included Dario Minieri, John Juanda, Steve Zolotow and Jennifer Harman. After play was done, Tennessee native Frank Kassela won the title and the near four hundred and fifty thousand dollar first place prize.

Many are hoping that 2010 is the year of the woman here at the world series of poker, and while many follow Annette Obrestad’s first Vegas invasion, others are more interested in the adventures of Samantha Ryan, UB’s latest sponsored pro. Dan Cypra, one of our editors here at Poker News Daily, had the difficult task of calling the adult star for a Q and A, in which Ryan told us how she first got into poker:

“I started playing when I was in real estate, which was the last professional job I had before the adult industry. The guys I was in real estate with were also blackjack players and were making excuses to go to Las Vegas every weekend. I was sweating them and that’s when I got the itch. They taught me how to play and I started beating them. Four years ago, I started playing online.”

Cypra wanted to add in after the interview, quote:

“Best… job… ever.”

Good for Dan! Anyways, thanks for joining me on The Daily Deal. Be sure to check out Poker News Daily for the latest in poker news and find a new episode of this show every Monday through Friday. We’ll also have updates from the Rio and interviews with the biggest names in poker, so be sure to check that out. In the meantime, play in some satellites so you can join us here at the Rio!

Frank Kassela Wins WSOP Seven Card Stud High-Low Championship

Memphis, Tennessee transplant Frank Kassela defeated a star studded final table in Event #15 of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP), the $10,000 Seven Card Stud High-Low Split Eight or Better Championship. Kassela collected $447,000 for his efforts and, more importantly, his first WSOP bracelet.

Kassela finished 22nd in last year’s $40,000 commemorative No Limit Hold’em event for $71,000 and is a 42 year-old married father of five. He told WSOP officials following his bracelet win on Tuesday, “Stud High-Low is about the slow accumulation of chips. You’re not going to get as many chips quickly as you are in Pot Limit Omaha (and other games). It’s a building process. It requires patience.” He began taking the game seriously 10 years ago.

Kassela made two pair in the final hand heads-up against acclaimed tournament pro Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, who banked $276,000 for his troubles. Event #15 marked Kessler’s third WSOP final table and first since 2006, when he finished fourth in a $5,000 Seven Card Stud tournament. Kessler and the other 169 players who registered built the largest Seven Card Stud High-Low Split prize pool in WSOP history, passing the previous record by $56,000. The event marked just the third time a prize pool for any Seven Card Stud High-Low Split event had ever reached seven-figures.

Kassela will receive his bracelet at 2:20pm PT this afternoon inside the Rio Pavilion. Third place went to Full Tilt Poker pro Jennifer Harman, who walked away with $173,000. Harman passed $1.6 million in career WSOP earnings and was eliminated after Kessler made a pair of fours on his final card. Here were the final results from the Seven Card Stud High-Low Split Eight or Better Championship. Sixteen players finished in the money:

1. Frank Kassela – $447,446
2. Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler – $276,486
3. Jennifer Harman – $173,159
4. Steve Zolotow – $125,379
5. John Juanda – $97,989
6. Kirill Rabtsov – $78,142
7. Vladimir Schmelev – $63,457
8. Dario Minieri – $52,366
9. Gary Benson – $43,833
10. George “Jorj95” Lind – $43,833
11. Sergey Altbregin – $37,297
12. Alessio Isaia – $37,297
13. Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson – $32,439
14. Christopher George – $32,439
15. Blair Rodman – $28,221
16. Toto Leonidas – $28,221

The story of the 2010 WSOP has to be Russia’s Vladimir Schmelev. Yes, brothers Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and Robert Mizrachi making the final table of the Player’s Championship together was memorable, but Schmelev has been a one-man wrecking crew in Stud events so far. Schmelev finished second to “The Grinder” in the Player’s Championship for $963,000 and promptly took seventh in the Seven Card Stud World Championship for $56,000. Tuesday marked his third WSOP final table in as many cashes.

David Baker knocked off Daniel Duong in 10th place to set up Wednesday’s nine-handed finale in Event #13, the second open $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament on the WSOP schedule. Baker held A-Q, which quickly fell behind Duong’s 10-8 of hearts when the flop came 10-3-4. However, Baker hit an ace on the river to save the day and end play for the evening at the Rio in Las Vegas. Here’s how the final table will stack up when play resumes this afternoon at 2:30pm PT:

1. David Baker – 2,553,000
2. Matthew Vance – 1,731,000
3. Steven Gee – 1,540,000
4. Nicholas “Salamander” Heather – 993,000
5. Kyung Han – 613,000
6. Daniel Thomas – 602,000
7. Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby – 423,000
8. Mats Gavatin – 393,000
9. Jeffrey kidwhowon Gross – 281,000

Notable names that finished in the top 100 of Event #13 included:

32. Andy Black – $10,923
34. Ylon Schwartz – $10,923
51. Chris Karagulleyan – $7,364
73. Victor Ramdin – $4,380
84. John “The Razor” Phan – $3,750
86. Shaun Deeb – $3,750
88. Vitaly Lunkin – $3,750

Two events kick off today at the 2010 WSOP:

12:00pm PT
Event #18: Limit Hold’em
$2,000 buy-in

5:00pm PT
Event #19: 2-7 Draw Lowball World Championship
$10,000 buy-in

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the 2010 WSOP.

No Chainsaw Massacre as Kassela Wins First WSOP Bracelet

"I feel terrific," said Kassela following his win. "I couldn't feel better."

A final table rich in talent had gathered to play to the winner and Player of the Year candidate Vladimir Schmelev was joined by Dario Minieri, John Juanda, Steve Zolotow, Jennifer Harman and Allen "The Chainsaw" Kessler creating a formidable line-up.

Amongst these marquee names, Kassela was not strongly fancied to collect the WSOP bracelet, but he defied the odds to hold off the challenge from Allen Kessler heads-up.

High-stakes cash player Jennifer Harman is often mooted as the best female player in the world, playing the biggest stakes cash games with great success over the years.

Harman has two bracelets in her trophy cabinet but the last was in 2002 and she will have had high hopes of adding a third to her collection here. It looked for some time like she may be making a run at winning number three but ultimately she fell just short, running out third.

The Chainsaw was the man to do the damage, sawing through her stack, and Harman was upset at the manner of her departure, throwing a water bottle at a chair, heard saying that she "misplayed the hand and is going to be thinking about it a long time."

Kessler was unable to use the knockout as as a springboard to build momentum however. With a chip deficit to the similarly-named Kassela, Kessler never turned it round, succumbing in 2nd place for $276,486.

Kassela meanwhile shot his way through to his first bracelet and suggested patience was at the heart of the strategy that led to his Championship win.

"Stud Hi-Lo is just a lot about the slow accumulation of chips," he said. "You're not going to make the kind of swing that you would in PLO or No-Limit Hold'em. It's more of a building process and patience."

With files from Geoff Fisk

Marathon Poker - WSOP Day 11 Recap

Kassela was crowned as the new $10k Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo champion after a long, grueling final table, that didn't end until 4:15 a.m.

Day 11 also saw a star-studded lineup hit the felt for Day 1 of the $5k No-Limit Hold'em event, a final table set in the second $1k event of the WSOP and the $1.5k Six-Handed No-Limit event fall short of a final table.

Here's a closer look at what went  down:

Event 15 - $10k 7-stud Hi-Lo Championship

Event 15 began with 18 players all in the hunt of a shiny new WSOP bracelet.

It was a marathon event that took place over 13 hours. Noted pros John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, Dario Minieri and Toto Leonidas all fell short of WSOP glory.

In the end it was veteran grinder Frank Kassela who proved to be unbeatable.

He defeated Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler to take down the bracelet and $447,446. Despite over $1 million in lifetime tournament earnings it was Kassela's first victory at the WSOP.

Event 13 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em

The huge original field of 3,042 is down to a final table, as 56 players began Day 3 and played down to the final nine.

Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby made it through to the final nine, along with chip leader David Baker and Ireland's Nicholas Heather.

Notable players Andy Black, Burt Boutin and Ylon Schwartz all hit the rail before reaching the final table.

The final table starts at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Event 16 - $1.5k Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em

This event was originally scheduled to play to a final table Tuesday, but instead we'll return with 16 players and play to a bracelet Wednesday.

Mark Seif, Lee Childs and JP Kelly were all eliminated on Day 2.

The chip leader heading into Day 3 is American Carter Phillips, and of the final 16 players, 14 are from the U.S.

Switzerland's Samuel Gerber and Russia's Mikhail Lakhitov are the only non-U.S. players remaining.

Play resumes at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Event 17 - $5k No-Limit Hold'em

The Pavilion Room was host to the most star-studded event of the day, with many of poker's finest joining the field of 792 players.

Day 1 played down to 225 players, with many big names coming back for Day 2. First place will pay out over $800,000.

Chino Rheem, Antonio Esfandiari, Shannon Elizabeth, Phil Hellmuth, Jason Mercier and Tony G are just several of the big names coming back for Day 2, with play beginning at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

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Yan Chen Wins WSOP $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball; Juanda, Harman, Minieri Highlight $10,000 Stud Hi-Lo Split 8 or Better Championship Field

Events at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) that don’t feature No Limit Hold’em are generally ignored by the general public, and even much of the poker community. Even at the WSOP, final tables of such events are often relegated to an area off of the main stage. But the great thing about them is that we are usually introduced to excellent players we were not previously familiar with. Such is the case with 2010 WSOP Event #14, $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball, won by Yan Chen. For his win, Chen took home $92,817 and, of course, the coveted gold bracelet.

Chen does not have a long, illustrious history at the WSOP, but in recent years, he has done quite well. In 2008, he just missed a final table, placing 11th in a $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event. Last year, he had several strong finishes: 3rd in $2,500 2-7 Lowball, 5th in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Championship, and 24th in $2,500 Razz. Last night’s victory, however, was his first at the WSOP.

Nick Binger, brother of 2006 WSOP Main Event third place finisher Michael Binger, went into the final table as the chip leader, but ran into trouble, watching both Chen and Mike Wattel pull away from the field. Wattel is another one of those players that the general poker public knows nothing about, but he is far from an unknown to regulars. He is a specialist in just about anything that isn’t No Limit Hold’em. Wattel has 23 WSOP cashes, most of them in tournaments involving Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Stud Hi-Lo, Razz, and Mixed events. He has one bracelet, in a $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event in 1999, as well 12 other final tables appearances. So, if he cashes, the odds are good that he is making a final table.

Chen entered heads-up play with a 620,000 to 505,000 chip advantage over Wattel. The lead flip-flopped a couple of times during the first hour, but after that, Chen took over and didn’t look back. Eventually, Wattel had to make a move, pushing all-in with Q-J against Chen’s T-8. Lowball is the name of the game and Chen had the lowest hand, so it was all over for Wattel as Chen won his first bracelet.

2010 WSOP $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball Final Table Results

1. Yan Chen – $92,817
2. Mike Wattel – $57,375
3. Nick Binger – $37,857
4. Derric Haynie – $25,839
5. Todd Bui – $18,096
6. James Bord – $12,997
7. Alexander Kravchenko – $9,568

Elsewhere at the 2010 WSOP on Monday, Day 2 ended in Event #13, $1,000 No Limit Hold’em, with the field whittled down to 56 from the 3,042 that started over the weekend. Matthew Vance leads the largely unknown group of remaining players with 547,000 chips. The only other player with more than a half million is Christopher Brammer with 518,000. Here is what the top ten looks like as play enters Day 3:

1. Matthew Vance – 547,000
2. Christopher Brammer – 518,000
3. Mats Gavatin – 453,000
4. Daniel Carter – 417,000
5. Carl “colson10″ Olson – 325,000
6. Philip Sparta – 280,000
7. Kyung Han – 259,000
8. Jeremy Defrande – 247,000
9. Jasper Wetemans – 228,000
10. Duane Blanchard – 218,000

The $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split 8 or Better Championship, Event #15, also completed its second day, with 18 of 170 players left fighting for the $447,446 first prize. Tennessee’s Frank Kassela, already with a 10th place finish in $1,500 Limit Hold’em this year, is the chip leader with 515,000. Notables still remaining include Team Full Tilt members John Juanda (6th) and Jennifer Harman (13th), Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri (15th), Team PokerStars Online member George “Jorj95″ Lind (18th), Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler (8th), Blair Rodman (11th), Chip Jett (14th), and Toto Leonidas (16th). Also of note is Vladimir Schmelev, who is trying to make his third final table of the WSOP. The complete rundown of the remaining players is as follows:

1. Frank Kassela – $515,000
2. Sergey Altbregin – $497,000
3. Kirill Rabtsov – $388,000
4. Alessio Isaia – $382,000
5. Marco Johnson – $379,000
6. John Juanda – $368,000
7. Christopher George – $317,000
8. Allen Kessler – $316,000
9. Steve Zolotow – $301,000
10.Gary Benson – $300,000
11. Blair Rodman – $284,000
12. Vladimir Schmelev – $275,000
13. Jennifer Harman Traniello – $197,000
14. Chip Jett – $178,000
15. Dario Minieri – $139,000
16. Toto Leonidas – $112,000
17. Alexander Dovzhenko – $80,000
18. George Lind – $76,000

It was a busy day at the WSOP on Monday, as there was one more tournament in action. Event #16, $1,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em, began with 1,663 players and, as has been the case in several events so far, eliminations were fast and furious. By the end of the day, the remaining 146 players were already in the money. Roger Teska is the chip leader by a fairly substantial amount with 221,000 chips, almost 50% more than his nearest competitor. The top ten in this event:

1. Roger Teska – $221,000
2. Kevin Iacofano – $149,200
3. Dorlan Schick – $139,600
4. Timothy Adams – $138,900
5. Sanghyon Cheong – $126,300
6. Anthony Licastro – $119,000
7. David “Doc Sands” Sands – $117,800
8. Francois Billard – $117,000
9. Mark Flowers – $112,700
10. Blake Slade – $106,700

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for continued updates from the 2010 World Series of Poker.

Kassela Kills: WSOP Day 10 Recap

By the end of the day Frank Kassela had grabbed the chip lead in the Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship, American Yan Chen won a WSOP bracelet and the money bubble burst on Day 2 of the $1k No-Limit Hold'em.

Here's a more detailed look at what went down Monday at the 2010 WSOP:

Event #16 - $1.5k Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em

One of the trends  we've seen so far at the 2010 WSOP has tournaments coming close to making the money on the first day.

This $1.5k Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event burst the bubble on Day 1, with the original field of 1,663 whittled down to an astounding 149.

2007 Main Event champion Jerry Yang is still in the hunt in a rare public appearance, along with other notables such as Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri, Eric Buchman and Mark Seif.

Day 2 begins Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.

Event #13 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em

We saw this event go deep into the money, as players advancing from Day 1a and 1b came back Monday.

The original field of 3,042 is down to 56, with David Baker, Burt Boutin and Andy Black amongst the remaining notables.

Day 3 commences at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, and play is scheduled to go down to a final table of nine.

 Event #14 - $1.5k 2-7 Draw Lowball No-Limit

Yan Chen took down his first career WSOP bracelet, outlasting Arizona-native Mike Wattel in the heads-up finale.

Chen takes the bracelet from a starting field of 250 players, and takes home $92,817 for the first-place finish.

Nick Binger and Alexander Kravchenko also made the final table but finished short of the bracelet.

Event #15 - $10k Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship

A field of all-stars began Day 2 of the Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship, drawing the attention of many spectators in the Amazon Room.

Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Eli Elezra, Erik Seidel and Jennifer Harman were all in the field when play kicked off, and it was a viewer's delight with top pros hanging in throughout the day.

Of the 107 players who started the day only 18 players survived to see Day 3. Still two places away from the money in the event.

Frank Kassela finished with the chip lead with 515,000 chips but John Juanda, Marco Johnson and Steve Zolotow are all in the top 10.

Play continues at 3 p.m. on Tuesday and will play all the way down to a winner.

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Tom “Durrrr” Dwan’s Bracelet Near Miss and Matros’s Hold’em Performance – Yesterday at the WSOP

Taking second place in a World Series of Poker (WSOP) event would be slightly disappointing for any poker player, but $381,000 in cold hard cash might console most of them. For Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who finished second in Event #11: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em on Sunday, it was all about the bracelet. Dwan, one of the best nosebleed stakes cash game players in the world, regularly wins and loses pots bigger than his second place haul, so he may be excused for not being ecstatic. But this year, Dwan has a plethora of bracelet bets with various other high-stakes pros and should he actually win one, it would be “his biggest day ever.”

On the final hand of play, Dwan moved all-in with Qd-6c and the man who stole his thunder, Simon Watt, immediately called with 9d-9c. When the board ran 8c-Ac-As-Ad-Kh, Dwan gave Watt a curt handshake and headed straight for the exit. For his victory, Watt takes home $614,248 and a gold bracelet. Here’s how the final table played out:

1. Simon Watt – $614,248
2. Tom Dwan – $381,885
3. David Randall – $270,299
4. Austin McCormick – $194,939
5. Jason Young – $142,346
6. Michael Smith – $105,185
7. Marvin Rettenmaier – $78,681
8. Kyle Winter -$59,547
9. Eric Ladny – $45,603

Also playing down to a winner on Sunday was Event #12: $1,500 Limit Hold’em. When all was said and done, poker writer Matt Matros emerged victorious to the tune of $189,870 and his first WSOP bracelet. Prior to this win, Matros was best known for his third place finish in the 2004 World Poker Tour (WPT) Bellagio Five Star World Poker Classic for $704,000. Matros claimed victory last night when his Qh-8d outdrew runner-up finisher Ahmad Abghari’s Ac-Tc, sending Abghari to the rail with $117,272. The final table rundown can be found below:

1. Matt Matros – $189,870
2. Ahmad Abghari – $117,272
3. Terrence Chan – $83,185
4. Georgios Kapalas – $59,838
5. Adrian Dresel-velasquez – $43,647
6. Jason Potter – $32,281
7. Jameson Painter – $24,198
8. Roberto Truijurs – $18,385
9. Mark Burford $14,149

Saturday and Sunday marked Day 1A and Day 1B of Event #13: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em, which will see Day 2 kick off later today at 2:30pm PT. 566 players remain, with 324 slated to make the money. The eventual winner will bag $472,479. Heading into the afternoon, the top chip counts look like this:

1. Andre Black – 90,275
2. Pedro Reis – 78.550
3. Michael Lederer – 77,350
4. Narinder Singh Khasria – 76,000
5. Marcello Delgrosso – 68,300
6. Jack Schanbacher – 63,150
7. David Baker – 60,950
8. Matthew Vance – 60,475
9. Jonathan Tare – 57,450
10. Steven McLoughlin – 56,600

Meanwhile, the final table is set for Event #14: $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball, which is to play out later today. Sitting atop the remaining field is Nicholas Binger, who holds a commanding chip lead of 309,500. Next best is Derric Haynie with 189,000, followed by Yan Chen with 182,500. The rest of the final table is rounded out by Mike Wattel (146,000), Alexander Kravchenko (144,500), James Bord (83,800), and Todd Bui (68,500). Top prize for the event is $92,817.

Getting underway yesterday was Event #15: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better World Championship, which is scheduled to finish up on Tuesday. Out in front of the 112 players left after Day 1 is Marco Johnson with 121,500. Other notable stacks include Phil Ivey (109,800), Jennifer Harman (93,500), Eli Elezra (78,900), and Gus Hansen (76,700). Play will resume at 2:30pm PT this afternoon.

There’s just one event on tap today at the World Series of Poker, but it’s a juicy one. Event #16: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed is scheduled to start at Noon PT.

Durrrr Pipped at Post: 2010 WSOP Day 10 Re-cap

The buzz around the Rio was all about Tom "durrrr" Dwan's assault on a bracelet, although there was another bracelet handed out in the $1.5k Limit and a further $10k Stud/8 Championship, stock full of marquee names, also played out.

There's lots to bring you up to date with, and here it is:

Event 11 - $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em

When 2,563 players registered to play this tournament, who would have thought that Tom "durrrr" Dwan would have been amongst the last few players left in contention?

With just 21 players returning today, and durrrr holding the chip lead, there were quite a few big-name pros biting their fingers nervously at the prospect of Dwan winning a bracelet.

Multiple bracelet bets had been booked by Dwan against the likes of Eli Elezra, Huck Seed and many other high stakes poker players. 3-1 must have seemed like a very attractive price before they saw durrrr terrorising his final table with a big stack.

Dwan managed to fight his way through to heads-up against New Zealander Simon Watt, but Watt held a sizeable chip advantage. Despite the millions in sidebets Dwan had riding on the bracelet, he was unable to turn this deficit round, eventually succumbing, enabling a smiling Watt to win his first WSOP bracelet.

"It would have been crazy enough to just be playing the final table, but playing durrrr heads-up? It doesn't get any better than that," said Watt, who collected $614,218 for the victory.

Mike Matusow chipped in with his own opinion. "They're going to put you on the wall at Binion's. 'Here's Simon - he stopped every High Stakes gambler from going broke.'"

Event 12 - $1.5k Limit Hold'em

Thirteen players returned in the Limit to contest the bracelet, with Terence Chan the biggest name remaining in the tournament. Chan came in in third spot in the chip counts, but was unable to finish any higher, bowing out just before the  heads-up.

Matthew Matros and Ahmad Abghan were left to fight it out for the bracelet and after a war of attrition, it was Matros who sealed the deal, collecting $189,870 for the win, as well as the WSOP gold whilst Abghan had to settle for $117,272 for 2nd place.

Event 13 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em

Day 1b of the $1k played out with hopes that a big field would arrive at the Rio to shake things up. The 1,050 entrants for the second day was a little disappointing but still combined their entry fees with Day 1a's to create a prizepool of almost $3 million.

Just 168 players made it through the day, with players like Ylon Shwartz and Davidi Kitai numbered in their ranks.

They will hook up with the 278 who made it through Day 1a, meaning 446 will return tomorrow at 3 p.m. to take their shot at glory. They will have to displace Irishman Andy Black from his dominant position at the top of the leaderboard if they are to win a bracelet here however.

Event 14 - $1.5k 2-7 No Limit Draw

The field for this less popular poker variant was always rich with pro talent, so it was no surprise to see the end-of-day leaderboard contain at least a couple of big name stars.

Come the close of play, the 67 returning players had been cut down to a final-table sized eight players, with Nick Binger the clear chip leader and Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko also chasing the bracelet.

They will return tomorrow at 3 p.m. to lowball their way through to the bracelet.

Event 15 - $10k Stud/8 Championship

Another championship event meant a number of things - a smaller but more talented field, a large prize pool and a host of poker superstars.

The 170 stars on show chopped and scooped their way through the day and the big story when the chip counts were tallied at the close of play was the presence of that iconic poker figure, Phil Ivey, near the summit of the leaderboard.

They'll return tomorrow at 3 p.m. and with players like Jennifer Harman, Barry Greenstein and Max Pescatori still in contention, Ivey won't be able to rest on his laurels if he has designs on another bracelet.

It should be an incredible tournament.

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