Day 15

Day 15 was another relatively quiet one at the World Series, with just two final tables being played out and a couple of continuing or new events.

First, in the $5000 No Limit Hold’em, it was quite a star-studded final table. Karga Holt started as chipleader, and Britain’s best hope in the event, Stuart Fox, entered the bracelet race fourth in chips (the other Brit to make it high up in the standings, Ross Boatman, was eliminated in tenth).

Bracelet winner Maciek Gracz was first to go, running his pocket nines into James Mackey’s pocket queens. Next, Stuart Fox eliminated Tex Barch (who made the main event final table in 2005) and European Jan Sorensen was busted by Michael Binger (who made the main event final table in 2006) when Sorensen’s aces refused to hold up against Binger’s tens.

Mackey then eliminated WPT winner Nick Schulman, extending his lead. Karga Holt, who had been apparently card dead for the whole final table, made a move with a weak hand and ran into Michael Binger’s big pair. Holt was eliminated in fifth.

We went from four players to one extremely quickly. First, William McMahon was eliminated after big stack Mackey called him with a marginal hand and sucked out. Then, Mackey eliminated Michael Binger, winning a coinflip holding A-Q against Binger’s pocket tens. Finally, Brit Stuart Fox’s hopes of a bracelet were dashed, after Mackey again sucked out, this time holding 10-2 against Fox’s K-4.

Mackey, who is a 21 year old ginger internet player (credentials sure to earn him respect among his peers), was crowned the champion of the event and took the bracelet and $730,740 to his native Missouri.

In the $1500 Pot Limit Omaha, just 23 players returned for another quick finale. Johnny Chan, who was shooting for his record-tying eleventh bracelet , was one of the early eliminations after he moved in on a complete bluff. Scott Clements, 2006 bracelet winner and the chip leader going into today, flopped the nut straight plus redraws in a massive three way pot, and was able to eliminate two players at once going into the final table.

Irishman Andy Black, who is having a frustrating series of near-misses so far, extended that record by busting out next, in seventh place. At this point, Clements had the biggest chip stack by far and it was only a matter of time before he won the event. He busted the fourth, third and second place finishers in just six hands. Eric ‘Rizen’ Lynch finished second to Clements, who took the bracelet and $194,206 for his efforts.

The $3000 Stud Eight or Better event, continuing from yesterday, saw the field pared down to the final table. The slow pace of play combined with a relatively fast structure was a source of frustration for many players, but it didn’t stop a tough looking final eight being assembled. Leading the pack is high-stakes professional Eli Elezra, who is followed by Scotty Nguyen, David Sklansky, Dutch Boyd and Thor Hansen among others. With such a star-studded and talented table, it’s a shame that the event won’t be broadcast along with the myriad of No Limit Hold’em final tables being shown on the internet and ESPN this year.

Two new events started up today. The first was the $5000 HORSE event, which saw less than half the field eliminated before play stopped at 2am. ‘Outgoing’ Sam Grizzle leads the pack into day 2, ahead of Toto Leonidas, Daniel Alaei, and 2007 bracelet winner Chris Reslock. Also still in the field is InsidePoker columnist Marc Goodwin.

The second event was the more popular $2000 No Limit Hold’em, which saw many Europeans enter. Ross Boatman, coming off a tenth place finish in the $5000 No Limit Hold’em event, is high in the standings – sitting rather ironically in tenth position. Praz Bansi is also up there, with just over 72,000 in chips, as is poker writer Rolf Slotboom, with 41,000. 1619 entrants were whittled down to 130 remaining players, who will return tomorrow to battle it out for the final table positions.

That’s it from me for this World Series. I’m leaving you in the capable hands of our editor Alun Bowden, who’ll keep you up to date with the bustouts, blowups, and bracelets in the next few weeks. I’m playing one more event before returning home to Edinburgh, where there are no public cash games, no well-structured tournaments, no 24 hour Subway restaurants and no players club comps. I’m going to miss it here in Vegas!

Day 14

Day 14 saw two of the best known players in the world make a run for a bracelet.

At the $1500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout final table, Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren were hoping to earn their fourth and first bracelets respectively. However, both were to falter on their way to the top.

Lindgren was first to go, moving all-in with A-7 on a J-9-5-A board. His opponent called with A-9 for two pair and sent him to the rail in a disappointing eighth place. Negreanu actually built up quite a significant lead and eliminated four players on the way to the final three. At that point, most of the crowd were rooting for Negreanu and treating the tournament almost like a foregone conclusion.

However Negreanu was to double up Don Baruch twice, with Baruch becoming his nemesis at the final table, winning another large pot soon after. However it was Jared Davis that eliminated Negreanu, holding pocket fives against Negreanu’s A-8. The fives held up and Negreanu left in third place.

Florida resident Baruch, with over a 3-1 lead going into the heads up stage, slowly chipped away at Davis’ remaining stack and finally finished him off with K-Q against Davis’ A-5 when a queen flopped. Baruch earned $264,107 for the win, as well as the coveted gold bracelet.

Three events were to start up today. The first was the $5000 No Limit Hold’em, which saw 640 players whittled down to just 87 in a fast paced tournament. Internet Dustins dominate the standings, with Dustin ‘Neverwin’ Woolf and Dustin ‘John Smiley’ Dirksen both in the top ten. Also high in the standings are WSOP final tabler Tex Barch, 2007 bracelet winner Allen Cunningham, and Hendon Mobster Ross Boatman. Boatman claims he has not seen any big hands so far, so we can only assume he’s stolen a lot of pots.

The second new event was the $1500 Pot Limit Omaha, somewhat dryly referred to by some as the World Championship of Short Stacked Omaha (with just 3000 starting chips and 25-50 blinds, it doesn’t take long to get the money into the middle). 576 players entered, and these had been whittled down to just 23 after the first day’s play! Irishman Padraig Parkinson was an early (and loud) elimination, as was Sam Farha (often regarded as one of the best Omaha players in the world).

Remaining in the hunt for almost $200k in first prize money are chip leader Scott Clements, who won a bracelet in Omaha Eight or Better last year, European Andy Black, Eric ‘Rizen’ Lynch, and Johnny Chan, who has about as good a chance as any to equal Phil Hellmuth’s eleven bracelet record set just a few days ago. Chan has 116,000 chips to Clements’ 248,000, but in a game as ‘high variance’ (read: crapshooty) as Omaha, anything can happen.

Lastly, in a relatively small and quiet tournament for the WSOP, 236 players took seats in the $3000 Stud Eight or Better tournament. They battled it out until 118 players remained. Among the leaders going into the second day are entertaining Dutchman Marcel Luske, World Champ Scotty Nguyen, and Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow.

Can Matusow save himself from his usual blowups and win his third bracelet? Can Johnny Chan equal Hellmuth’s record? Find out here tomorrow.

Day 12 & 13

Days 12 and 13 saw relative unknowns establish their names and take their turn in the spotlight.

In the $5000 Limit Hold'em, a world champion was crowned in the shape of Saro Getzoyan, a software developer from Massachusetts. Getzoyan was able to pick up a monster pot on the way to the heads up stage, by picking up aces at precisely the right time (his opponent had kings and was not surprisingly crippled on the hand). He started off the heads up battle with a 2-1 lead over his opponent Geoff Sanford, and finally finished him off after flopping top pair against Sanford's middle pair.

Day 12 also saw the final table of the Ladies' event, in which German Katja Thater was able to build up a decent chip lead in the early going. She eliminated both Julie Dang in ninth and fellow professional Vanessa Selbst in eighth. However, one mistake was all it took to cripple Thater, as she overplayed pocket tens, running into Sally Anne Boyer's pocket kings. She was eventually eliminated in fifth, a position that is sure to be a disappointment. No doubt that we'll see Thater again in the future though.

The event eventually reached a climax when Sally Anne Boyer, a recent graduate of the World Series of Poker Academy (an instructional course featuring Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer and Joe Navarro as lecturers), chipped away at Anne Heft's chip lead and eventually delivered the coup de grace with K-2, hitting a deuce on the river against Heft's K-10. She took home a bracelet, a very bling Corum watch, and $262,077 in prize money with a tear in her eye.

In the $2500 No Limit Hold'em, Mike Matusow made it close to the money and Humberto Brenes made his third final table of this year's series. British player John Shipley also cashed, finishing in 39th place. Frenchman Bertrand Grospellier threw his chips away with 3-2s, and was eliminated in ninth. Brenes was eventually eliminated in seventh place, after his A-K failed to improve against Devin Porter's pocket nines.

John 'The Razor' Phan dominated the final table, but ran into trouble in the heads up stage against Francois Safieddine. Safieddine built up an almost three to one chip lead on Phan, during which time he called the clock on Phan more than once - a move which is often considered bad etiquette amongst professionals. However, it brought no bad karma for Safieddine as on the final hand he moved all-in with pocket fours, and rivered a four against Phan's pocket aces to win the bracelet and $521,785 in prize money.

The $2000 Stud Eight or Better event also saw big names depart early, including John Juanda, Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson, and InsidePoker favourite Ted Forrest. It was mostly unknown players that made the final table, with one exception - 2004 Main Event Champion Greg Raymer, who has long professed that Stud 8 is his best game. Fossilman entered the final table third in chips and moved to the chip lead, eliminating three players in the process. However, he lost a few significant pots and was crippled by Ryan Hughes, eventually eliminated in a heartbreaking fourth place.

Hughes was to go on to win the event, making four tens against second place finisher Min Lee's three fours on the final hand. He took $176,358 in addition to the bracelet back to Phoenix, Arizona.

The last event taking place on Day 13 was a breath of fresh air for the World Series. A quick event, the $1500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout, saw 900 players cut down to ninety and then nine in just a few hours. Both Barry Greenstein and his son Joe Sebok made the second round, as did WPT announcer Vince Van Patten and Erik Seidel, but all were eliminated before the third round was set.

The final table is a breath of fresh air and sees friends Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren go at it, along with seven others. All players will start with an equal number of chips and will battle it out for what is expected to be about a quarter of a million dollars in first place prize money, as well as the coveted bracelet, which would be Negreanu's fourth and Lindgren's first.

Some of you have asked who my picks for the main event are and how big I think the field will be. Well, while I doubt this year's event will eclipse that of 2006 due to the US' ridiculous legislation and the confusion surrounding it, I would not be surprised to see over 7,000 players sign up. It's hard to pick players to do well in such a massive field, and the main event will always be somewhat of a lottery.

However, a few players like Allen Cunningham, Greg Raymer, Phil Hellmuth, Humberto Brenes, and Marco Traniello have shown real promise so far in this series. All of them have demonstrated that they have a style that works well in large-field no limit tournaments, and I would not be surprised to see them make it deep in the main event.

Day 11

Day 11 was a record breaking day in the history of the World Series of Poker.

In the second $1500 No Limit Hold'em event of the Series, Phil Hellmuth entered the final table second in chips, and with hopes of winning his eleventh bracelet. First to go was Taylor Douglas, who ran his Q-10 into his opponent's A-Q, followed by Ut Nguyen, Frenchman Fabrice Soulier, David Simon and Scott Clements.

Going into the four-handed action, Hellmuth had a significant lead, mainly due to one hand in which he caught a straight against Rick Fuller (also the hand to eliminate Soulier). The shortest stack, Morgan Machina, was busted in a rare family pot as all three opponents called in an attempt to eliminate him. Andy Philacheck's pair of aces was good enough to do the job.

Shortly thereafter, Hellmuth eliminated Rick Fuller holding top pair, leaving him heads up with Andy Philacheck with a huge lead. Ironically for someone like Hellmuth who is well known for complaining about bad beats, he would win the last hand with a suckout.

All in with A-3 against Philacheck's A-10, Hellmuth caught a three on the flop to bust his opponent and win his eleventh gold bracelet, which was presented to him by both Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson.

This is the second record Phil has extended this year - he now has the highest number of cashes in the World Series as well as the most bracelets. Could he be the greatest tournament Hold'em player of all time?

A second final table also played out today, in the $2500 HORSE. Robert Mizrachi, Chris Bjorin, and 2007 bracelet winner Tom Schneider all made it to the final eight. Schneider was a short stack but was able to triple up early and eliminate a player. Mizrachi was not so lucky, eliminated in sixth place by Bjorin.

Schneider was then eliminated in the next Seven Card Stud section, after pushing his pair and open-ended straight draw all the way to the river, and being picked off by James Richburg's pair of kings. He finished fourth but gained the respect of many of his peers. Bjorin went next, falling in the Hold'em section.

Richburg, who had won a bracelet in Razz last year, then started the heads up with a fairly significant lead, and was able to cripple Walter Browne in the Razz section. Richburg ended up winning holding a perfect six low against Browne's ten. He took the bracelet and $239,503 for his efforts.

In Day 2 of the $5000 Limit Hold'em World Championship, Doyle Brunson's hopes of equalling Phil Hellmuth's bracelet record were dashed when he was eliminated before the money. The final table consists of mostly unknowns, and will see $333,379 in prize money as well as the coveted bracelet awarded.

In the Ladies event, last year's champion Mary Jones took a tough beat when holding pocket aces and was unable to recover, finishing in 16th place. Katja Thater, Europe's best-known hope in this event, made the final table with 340,000 in chips.

Vanessa Selbst also made the final table and chases the leader, Frauke Ritter von Sporschill (now there's a tongue twister for you) who has 523,000. The final table will play out tomorrow afternoon.
Lastly, two new events kicked off today.

In the $2500 No Limit Hold'em, Greg 'FBT' Mueller, Bertrand 'Elky' Grospelier, and Mike Matusow are amongst the leaders. 99 players will duke it out tomorrow for the final table positions.

In the $2000 Stud Hi/Lo, 2004 World Champion Greg Raymer, double bracelet winner Jeff Madsen, and Perry Friedman lead the field into Day 2. 136 of the 340 players remain and will battle it out for 8 final table places tomorrow.

Keep an eye on insidepokermag.co.uk for the results!

Day 9

Day 9 was an exciting one for those of us observing the World Series of Poker.

All eyes were on the final table of the $5000 World Championship of Pot Limit Hold'em. Last year's champion Jason Lester took on Gavin Griffin, Jeffrey Lisandro, Humberto Brenes, and the ever-dangerous Allen Cunningham in an attempt to get his hands on another bracelet and almost half a million dollars in first prize money.

Lisandro, the chip leader going into the final table, eliminated the first player before hitting a wall, doubling up Jason Lester and Humberto Brenes but never losing the chip lead. He then took out Gavin Griffin holding a flush draw and straight draw against Griffin's ace-high.

Cunningham then vaulted to the chip lead by eliminating a player, then winning a massive pot against Jeff Lisandro with a flush. Lisandro was unfazed however, and in a thrilling hand knocked out two players including Jason Lester simultaneously - his QQ standing up against Lester's AK and the third player's pocket sevens.

Shortly afterwards Humberto Brenes was eliminated after making a move with 10-9 and running into Cunningham's A-Q. This gave Cunningham a slight chip lead for the heads up duel, which he was able to extend after a long fought-out battle. He finally eliminated Lisandro with K-9 against Lisandro's Queens, after catching a King on the turn.

Cunningham took home his fifth bracelet, and further cemented his reputation as one of the top tournament players of today. Even Phil Hellmuth felt the need to bow down to Allen as he claimed that he was only a quarter of the way to the 20 bracelet target he had set for himself.

Speaking of Phil Hellmuth, he is well on his way to a possible record-breaking eleventh bracelet, sitting second in chips going into the final table of the $1500 No Limit Hold'em. The final table doesn't have many well-known faces with the exception of Hellmuth and Frenchman Fabrice Soulier, but it's sure to be one of the most closely watched events tomorrow.

In the $2500 HORSE event, Day 2 saw the field play down to 20 players. Despite an encouraging first day, David Williams fell short, finishing 31st for $6923. Here's hoping it will be the first cash of many. Going into the third day, Darrell 'Gigabet' Dicken, John Gale, Chris Bjorin, and Robert Mizrachi are all still in the running, but trail Californian Ali Eslami and his monster 200,000 stack.

The $5000 Limit Hold'em World Championship also started today, and rivalled the $5000 rebuy Pot Limit Omaha for star-quality at the tables. Doyle Brunson, despite arriving late, was able to build up almost 50,000 in chips to take through to day 2, just behind European chipleader Thomas Wahlroos. If Hellmuth isn't able to take the eleventh bracelet record, Brunson might!

Lastly, an event which is considered by many as a novelty in the World Series, the $1000 Ladies No Limit Hold'em. Many of the better known female professionals -Annie Duke, Cyndy Violette, Jennifer Harman and so on - shun the event, preferring to play the bigger buy-in open events on a level playing field. However that didn't stop 1286 ladies taking a seat in the event, all vying for the bracelet and some serious cash.

The fairer sex duked it out until the money, with big names Katrina Jett, Jennifer Tilly, and Clonie Gowen all falling before the bubble. Going into the second day, German Katja Thater is amongst the leaders as is last year's winner Mary Jones. There's little doubt that it will be an interesting day 2 as 64 ladies battle it out for a seat at what will probably be the best-dressed final table of the year.

Will Hellmuth win his eleventh bracelet? Will Brunson retain a big stack in the limit Hold'em? Will the ladies quit playing poker and go shopping instead? Stay tuned to insidepokermag.co.uk to find out.

Day 7, 8 & 9

This year’s World Series of Poker has been running for over a week now, and has been breaking records every step of the way: no less than eight events were taking place over Days 7 and 8, each crowning a champion – some a World Champion – but all awarding the coveted World Series of Poker bracelet.

In the $1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys, Michael Chu, an enthusiastic amateur from Los Angeles, flattened the opposition at the final table to take the bracelet and the huge $585,744 first prize. He fought through some tough opponents, including Maciek ‘Michael’ Gracz and Amir Vahedi, without making a single rebuy or add-on. This was Chu’s first cash at any WSOP and he has no plans to quit his day job.

The $1,500 Omaha 8 or better final table saw Russian businessman Alex Kravchenko take the title and $228,446. First day chip leader Jordan Morgan was one of the first to go, exiting in seventh place. At the heads up-stage, Kravchenko had close to a 2-to-1 lead over Bryan Devonshire, and was able to eliminate him fairly quickly after making trip fours against Devonshire’s Aces up. It’s hard to imagine a more emotionless winner than Kravchenko; he has a true poker face and maintained it even when presented with the bracelet.

In the $2,000 no-limit hold’em, controversial online player Justin Bonomo entered the final table as chip leader, but ran into trouble in the middle stages, going all-in holding Kings against his opponent’s Aces. He was eliminated shortly afterwards after getting his money in with K-10 and losing a coin flip against Will Durkee. Durkee went on to take the bracelet after hitting a straight against runner-up Todd Terry. Durkee earned $566,916 for his efforts – his fourth WSOP cash.

Days 7 and 8 saw two seven-card stud events running in succession. First was the $5,000 World Championship, a star-studded field that was pared down to a final table including Europeans Theo Jorgenson and Marco Traniello, pros Ted Lawson, Phil Ivey, Chris Reslock, and David Oppenheim, and two amateurs.

Oppenheim led the field going into the final table but it was Reslock who was the deserving victor – he fought back from being the third-shortest stack, knocking out four players before going into a titanic battle with Ivey and Oppenheim. The final hand saw Ivey and Reslock lock horns, Ivey holding two pair and Reslock a set of tens.

It’s unlikely there will be a tougher final table at this year’s World Series, and World Champion Reslock was modestly elated with his win and the $258,453 prize money. ‘The cards went my way, but I played well’, he said.

The $1,500 stud, a short two-day event, ended up going on until the early hours of Sunday morning, with German Michael Keiner taking the bracelet home to Europe after beating both Barry Greenstein and 2004 World Champion, Greg Raymer, at the final table. Keiner is well-respected on the European circuit and this is sure to be a popular victory. The win earned Keiner $146,987.

In the $1,500 short-handed hold’em event, a final table of mostly unknowns battled it out for $481,697 in first place prize money. Jason Warner, the chip leader going into the final table, was able to stave off the competition and took home the bracelet.

Going into Day 9, no less than three events are in progress. In the $5,000 pot-limit hold’em, the final table was decided and includes Jason Lester, Allen Cunningham, Gavin Griffin, Humberto Brenes (who is having an excellent series by anyone’s standards, but will have to overcome a significant chip deficit), and leader Jeffrey Lisandro, who has almost 1,000,000 in chips.

In the $1,500 no-limit hold’em, Phil Hellmuth extended the record that he broke just a few days ago by cashing for a 59th time. Despite what people say about Hellmuth, it’s difficult to argue with his record in hold’em tournaments. Frenchman Fabrice Soulier is one of the leaders going into Day 2 and joins Hellmuth, Bertrand ‘Elky’ Grospellier, and Joe Bartholdi.

The next event is the $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. – the first H.O.R.S.E. event leading up to the huge $50,000 World Championship of H.O.R.S.E. later in the Series. Understandably, there were many big names in the field, but that didn’t stop some amateurs taking a shot. ‘Playing Razz, I capped it on Fifth Street with a made 8 against a guy with a King and a 9 showing,’ said David Williams, ‘he made a 7 on the river and I bricked.’ Williams was visibly frustrated with his current World Series performance during our chat, but was apparently able to recover – he is now one of the leaders going into Day 2, and has almost 20,000 in chips. Joining him at the top are stud World Champion Chris Reslock, Cindy Violette, Layne Flack and Steve Zolotow. Europeans Andy Black and John Gale also made it to Day 2.

I’m sure many of you are bored with simply reading about results, and some of you have asked: ‘What is it actually like to be at the Rio during the World Series?’ To be brutally honest, the feeling inside the Amazon Room and the surrounding areas of the Pavilion is of organised chaos. Dealers and floor people vary widely in their knowledge of the game, interpretation of the rules, and skill. There is no computerised list system for the cash games or satellites, so instead staff scream out available seats and tables to each other, and keep track of waiting lists on a whiteboard.

It’s understandably difficult to run events for so many people without making compromises, but the 2007 Series lacks some of the class, dignity and sportsmanship that brings out the best in poker. There are sponsors for everything – from the bracelets to the surveillance systems. What used to be a top restaurant is now a $2 buffet – a pasteurised and inoffensive affair designed to accommodate as many people as possible. If it weren’t for the huge amount of money up for grabs, the TV exposure and the weak opposition, very few knowledgeable players would be at the Rio. WSOP alternatives being held at the Venetian and Binion’s are doing extraordinarily well, as are cash games at other plush poker rooms like the MGM Grand and Caesars Palace.

Day 5

Day 4 of the World Series of Poker had a whopping five bracelet events running simultaneously. However, Day 5 was not to be outdone. I see your five events, and raise you one more, it said! Six tournaments in total, so little time – I will be brief.

First, the Pot Limit Hold’em final table. It was a star-studded field, with online pro Eric Lynch, bracelet winner Jon Friedberg, WPT Season 4 Player of the Year Gavin Smith, and European Marco Traniello sitting down with a few less famous faces to duke it out for the cash. First to go was Traniello, who moved all-in with A-K and was called by Smith’s pocket jacks. He didn’t improve, and left in ninth place, his twelfth cash in the past three years (more than any other player in this timeframe).

Smith went on a tear, eliminating Jeff Langdon and Eric Lynch before slowing down a little. Bruce Van Horn (who finished second to Huck Seed in the 1998 main event) was eliminated by Jon Friedberg; Thomas Savitsky was knocked out by William Hill (no, not that one), then Hill was sent to the rail by Mike Spegal, leaving him heads up with Gavin Smith.

Spegal chipped away at Smith, eventually ending the tournament holding A-10s against Smith’s pocket fives. The board came with three spades to give Spegal the bracelet and $252,290. Spegal was celebrating his ninth wedding anniversary that night, and his wife was there in the stands cheering him on as he held the money aloft. In the Limit Hold’em event, the remaining 90 players fought it out for the final table spots. With no European presence left in the field and no famous names, it’s likely that this bracelet will be won quietly. Gary Stycznsky leads the final table with a massive 817,000 chips, with short-stacked Peter O’Donnell in last place with just 55,000 – less than two big bets at the stakes of 15000/30000.

A second final table was also playing out today, in the $2500 Mixed Hi/Lo. John Phan was the first to go, eliminated by Annie Duke. David Benyamine went in sixth place, after he ran into chip leader Tom Schneider’s three aces. Chris Bell went shortly after, with Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson following in fourth. Annie Duke, the first female player to make a final table in 2007, left in third place after desperately battling to catch up to leader Schneider in the Omaha 8 level.

Heads up between Tom Schneider and Ed Tonnellier was also to be decided in Omaha 8, as Schneider scooped a huge pot, giving him a 543 to 1 chip lead! Tonnellier doubled up a few times before being finally eliminated – Schneider taking home $214,347 and the Series’ fifth gold bracelet.

The $1000 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys was also due to start today, and provided spectators with more than the usual entertainment for the early stages of a tournament. There were frequent all-ins and it was clear that some players were simply blowing off steam – Layne Flack rebought twelve times, for example. After the smoke cleared, 1814 rebuys by 844 players had swelled the prize pool to over $2.5 million!

At the end of the first day, there are some fairly famous names at the top of the leaderboard. Sorel Mizzi sits at the top, with 240,000 in chips (a profit of 238,000 on the starting stacks of 2000), as is followed closely by Michael Binger (who made the final table of the 2006 main event), Amir Vahedi, Gavin Griffin, and Michael Gracz.

In the pro-filled Pot Limit Omaha tournament, several Europeans cashed including Ram Vaswani, Ben Grundy, and Robin Keston. Andy Black was busted in eleventh place, and perennial Omaha final-tabler Robert Williamson barely missed out, finishing in tenth. However it was Devilfish did the Brits proud by making it to the final table with a bunch of chips, 1,300,000 to be exact. It’s his tournament to lose – his opponents include Humberto ‘The Shark’ Brenes, John Juanda, Minh Ly, Robin Keston, and second in chips Eric Cajelais. Is he worried? No. ‘These guys don’t know how to spell Omaha’, he said, taking a leaf out of fellow UltimateBet pro Phil Hellmuth’s book. Can Dave Colclough’s nomination for ‘most overrated player in Britain’ win his second bracelet? We’ll find out tomorrow when the final table is played out.

The last event to be played today was the $1500 Omaha Eight or Better, which started play in the outdoor overflow tent. Us Brits may be used to worse, but in Las Vegas a slight breeze is considered ‘bad weather’. There was constant whinging from the players and tournament directors almost stopped play altogether – the tournament was eventually moved indoors after some space was cleared.

At the end of the day, Jordan Morgan (who had a great run at the 2006 US Poker Championship) is top of the leaderboard and Russian Kirill Gerasimov is also running well. Day 2 will be played out tomorrow and will whittle the field down to the usual final table.

Tomorrow is expected to be a quieter day, with only one new event (the $2000 No Limit Hold’em) starting up. For some it will be a welcome break, but for others the urge to get back into action will be too much. There are smaller alternatives at the Venetian and Binions, and the cash games will also undoubtedly be busy. Stay tuned for more news, here at insidepokermag.co.uk.

Day 4

If Day 3 was a hectic one at the Rio in Las Vegas, Day 4 was insane! No less than five events were scheduled simultaneously, alongside constantly-running satellites and cash games – the final table of the $1500 No Limit Hold’em, which would award the Series’ second bracelet, the second day of the $1500 Pot Limit Hold’em, which would cut the field down to the final table, the second day of the $2500 Mixed Hi/Lo, which would do the same, the $1500 Limit Hold’em event, which would see 910 players fight it out for 90 money places, and the $5000 Pot Limit Omaha rebuy event – a pro favourite.

In the $1500 No Limit Hold’em, German Andreas Krause was to double up after hitting a wheel, crippling Matt Vengrin who was eliminated shortly thereafter. Krause then eliminated Bart Hanson himself, holding pocket queens against Hanson’s A-10. All of a sudden, he was third in chips and with a real chance to win... but after just a few hands he was on the rail, after moving in with K-10 and being called by A-10.

Long-time chipleader Alex Jacob was eliminated in third place by Ciaran O’Leary, which gave him a truly humongous 5:1 lead over heads-up opponent Paul Evans. It took just two hands for O’Leary to take the title, $727,012 in prize money, and the 2007 series second bracelet.

Meanwhile, Annie Duke, sporting a Rachel-from-Friends-esque new hairdo, was busy accumulating chips in the Mixed Hi/Lo. 32 players made the money, with pro Mike Matusow being one of the unlucky ones to miss out. Online player Tom Schneider leads the field going into the final table, with Duke slightly behind. Joining them at the final table are pros Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson, David Benyamine, and John Phan.

In the Pot Limit Hold’em, one of the early eliminations was Freddy Deeb. Simply by looking at Deeb you could guess he would be quickly knocked out – he looked angry and tired from the minute he sat down. Meanwhile Gavin Smith went on a tear, and was able to accumulate 480,000 in chips for the final table. Italian pro and husband to Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello, was also able to make the final table, with 277,000 in chips. Joining them are Jon Friedberg, and online pro Eric ‘Rizen’ Lynch.

I myself was playing in the $1500 Limit Hold’em event. I had hoped that the addition of the $5000 Pot Limit Omaha with rebuys would distract most of the big name pros, and my prayers were answered. Every table in the Omaha event contained at least two recognisable faces – Mike Sexton and Doyle Brunson at one table, David Benyamine, Jennifer Harman, Gus Hansen and more at others. However the limit event was still populated with a few pros – Phil Ivey took the time to enter, as did Andy Bloch and Kathy Liebert, who led the field for most of the day but was thankfully eliminated before the money.

How did I get on, I hear you cry? Well, although I hit a couple of big hands, I was rarely able to get paid off – early on I flopped the nut straight on a two flush board, only for the turn to come with a club that paired the board, and the river with another club – although thankfully nobody had a club. Later I flopped quads and was able to extract one bet out of my opponent, when the river gave them a pair. The rest of the time I spent missing every flop, or running hands like pocket kings into an opponent’s 9-7 offsuit and his turned two pair. I was eventually eliminated in about 350th place, and went to a bar where a round cost $25 to ease the pain.

Tomorrow sees the final table of the $1500 Pot Limit Hold’em and the $2500 Mixed Hi/Lo, Day 2 of the Limit Hold’em event in which the 90 players in the money will battle it out for the final table positions, Day 2 of the $5000 Pot Limit Omaha, and the start of the $1000 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys. It should be another busy day at the Rio!

Day 3

3 June was a busy day at the Rio, with no less than four events running at the same time. The first bracelet was to be decided in the $5,000 World Championship of Mixed Hold’em, the first big No Limit event was to be pared down to the final few players, and two new events were due to begin – event 4, $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em, and event 5, the $2500 Mixed Hi/Lo (half Stud 8 and half Omaha 8).

The Pot Limit event got off to a furious start, with 781 players vying for the first place prize of over $250k. Current world champion Jamie Gold was one of the first to go, getting his chips in with top two pair on an all-hearts flop, and running into a flush. Europeans traditionally do well in Pot Limit events at the World Series, as the format is not particularly popular in North America (with No Limit and Limit by far the most dominant). However, few Europeans have been able to do well so far, with Padraig Parkinson, Andy Black, and Devilfish already eliminated. 51 players made it to day two of the event, but only one big European name, Italian Marco Traniello, was up there with the leaders.

Light relief was provided by Chip Jett, who took a seat in the event and was promptly eliminated, only to be challenged by a latecomer that he was sitting in his seat. It turned out that Chip was in the right seat, at the right table, but on the wrong day – his event starts tomorrow!

Meanwhile, in the $1500 No Limit event, there was controversy when some players discovered that they had lost chips overnight. Apparently, players counted stacks and signed them off at the end of the night, but Rio staff subsequently coloured up the smaller chips. Somewhere along the line a mistake was made and several players ended up with fewer chips – with one player, Ryan Fair, even losing the chiplead at his table. The mistake was rectified fairly quickly and play continued.

Roland De Wolfe, amongst the chipleaders on day 1, was unable to significantly increase his chips and never caught a break, finishing in 107th place and winning $5115. The final table was eventually decided, with German Andreas Krause sat in between leaders Alex Jacob and Paul Evans, nursing a stack of just twelve big blinds. Hopes that a European will win the event are slim, but not non-existent.

While all this was happening, a world champion of Mixed Hold’em was decided. Steve Billirakis, at 21 years old and 10 days, becomes the youngest World Series of Poker titleholder in history. The event was decided in Limit Hold’em, with Billirakis grinding second place finisher Greg Mueller down, and finally finishing him off with K-2 against Mueller’s 5-4s. Billirakis is a quiet young man, but had predicted in his interview with ESPN that he was going to win. When asked by presenter Norman Chad about it, he coolly answered ‘What was I supposed to say? I think I’ll finish second?’

Tomorrow sees the start of the $1500 Limit Hold’em event (in which yours truly will be playing) and the $5000 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys. With any luck, the pros will take a shot at the Omaha, leaving me alone with the fishes. Keep an eye on insidepokermag.co.uk for the updates.

Days 1&2

If you’re a poker player, the World Series of Poker is the ultimate. The Pavilion at the Rio truly has to be seen to be believed. It has a atmosphere almost spiritual in nature – something that makes you say to yourself ‘This was worth all the hard work. I have finally arrived.’

Of course, this isn’t everyone’s first experience the World Series, and for the many professionals taking a seat in the inaugural World Championship of Mixed Hold’em, a 3-day, $5000 tournament alternating between Limit and No Limit forms of the game, this experience was nothing new. Take Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, and Johnny Chan, for example, who were all sat at the same table (nominated the ‘Tough Table of the Day’ by the daily WSOP newsletter) – none of the three were even slightly fazed by the bright lights, incessant clacking of chips, and ever-present cameras. These three had come to win.

The pros may not have been intimidated by the atmosphere, but they were disappointed with the new style cards introduced by Harrah’s and the United States Playing Card Company, known as ‘Poker Peek’. Complaints were rife, and mostly focused on the fact that the nines and sixes were difficult to tell apart, and the digits too small. Within three hours the cards were changed to the more traditional Kem cards used throughout Las Vegas – but there were rumours that a player had already departed the field before this time, thinking he had a full house, aces full of nines, but flipping over a measly A-6 for trip aces with a bad kicker.

We also saw the World Series’ first Royal Flush. In a hand between European professional Mikael Thuritz and Jimmy Tran, the flop came A-K-Q of diamonds, and Mikael moved all-in. Jimmy called immediately, flashing the J-10 of diamonds. Mikael dejectedly showed two black kings, and stood up from the table.

Many British players, including WPT winner and former InsidePoker columnist Roland de Wolfe, Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliot, and EPT London winner Mark Teltscher, turned up for the event, but not many were successful. Devilfish was eliminated after he was crippled by Mike Matusow, then threw his last chips in with pocket tens, losing to an opponent’s two pair. De Wolfe was also eliminated by the end of the day.

While the Mixed Hold’em event was playing out, the lines were forming for Event 3, the first No Limit Hold’em tournament of the year. With literally hundreds of eager players in the queue, the average wait was over three hours. Many professionals, having already signed a release form, sent minions to register on their behalf – others, even those who had had the foresight to preregister online, stood staring at the ceiling waiting for their turn.

The crush of players, lengthy queues, and eventual start of the $1500 No Limit tourney delayed the start of the second day of the Mixed Hold’em event, which saw 97 players remaining from the 451 runners fighting it out for 45 money spots. Greg ‘Full Blown Tilt’ Mueller, who had led the field for most of day 1, was able to increase his stack steadily, becoming the first player to cross the 300,000 chips mark, and secured his place in the money.

From Day 1’s table of doom, only Johnny Chan was to make it to the second day, finishing in 31st place. Brit Mark Teltscher fared a little better, making it to 29th place. The field eventually pared down to the final table of nine players, who will take a seat tomorrow to battle it out for the $536,287 first prize. Many of the finalists are relative unknowns, something not too unusual for the WSOP these days, but notable exceptions are WPT winner Steve Paul Ambrose, in second chip position, and Greg Mueller, in third. Short stacks John Younger and Jon Turner have their work cut out for them if they’re to make it to the big money paying positions.

Meanwhile, the $1500 No Limit Hold’em event, which also started late, was breaking records with just short of 3000 players registered. If there were doubts over whether the legal situation in the USA were to hurt this year’s event, they were quashed pretty quickly.

The action got off to a fast and furious start, with Devilfish, American Pie star Shannon Elizabeth, and Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson all quickly eliminated. Phil Hellmuth departed shortly afterwards, after getting all his money in with pocket Kings only for his opponent to make quad Jacks. In the meantime, Brit Roland de Wolfe was busy accumulating a huge stack. By the time the money bubble burst late in the evening, he had accumulated approximately 140,000 chips (from a starting stack of just 3000), and is in second place behind young American pro Alex Jacob in the chip standings. He’s in a great position to take a shot at the first place prize of $727,012 and his first bracelet.

Tomorrow is a busy day, seeing the crowning of the first World Champion of Mixed Hold’em, the second day of the busy $1500 event, and the start of both the $1500 Pot Limit Hold’em (an event in which Europeans traditionally do well) and the $2500 Mixed Hi/Lo, consisting of half Stud Eight or Better and half Omaha Eight or Better. With four events on the go, there will be a lot happening. Keep an eye on the site for all the latest news.