June 2005 Archives

Jarl "Virus1975" Lindholt takes 2nd place in $2000 NL Hold'em Event.

Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf takes fourth.

(scroll down for a minute-by-minute account and pictures of the whole day)

4:41pm--While Neverwin picks up another pot with ace-high, I thought I'd offer a hastily-taken picture of his jogging suit, since some readers of his forum had been asking about it.

4:44pm--And so what about Virus1975. He must be card dead. He's played one hand and picked up the blinds and antes.

4:49pm--Neverwin makes it 37K to go. Ko announces raise from big blind and makes it 70K more to go. Neverwin, glasses moved off his eys and onto his head, stares for a while and mucks. Time to slow it down a bit.

4:54pm--Incidentally, what with all the jogging suits and all-ins, I neglected to mention the blinds are now at 6K/12K

4:57pm--Neverwin still the chip leader with more than 580K in chips. Jarl has around around 450K.

5:02pm--J.C Tran can't seem to lose. His all-in with K5 off just ran down Alan Purdy's A8 of clubs.

5:06pm--J.C. Tran just knocked out Alan Purdy in seventh place.

5:09pm--It's been a foul day for the Brits. Two of their representatives have already been dispatched. As I type, Tony Rila moves all in with A9 and gets called by Lawrence Gosney's A5. Flop comes down Q62.5.8. Just like that, the Brits' Lawrence (of Leeds) Gosney knocks out a player. Rila leaves in sixth place.

5:15pm--Neverwin still the chip-leader with 600K in chips. Virus1975 has in the 400K range.

5:16pm--Neverwin comes in for a raise and gets re-raised by J.C. Tran. Neverwin lays it down. I see a battle brewing.

5:21pm--I'm pleased to say we've finally seen Virus1975 in a hand past the flop. Of course, it went no further. He bet out and took it down.

6:29pm--Update: J.C. Tran can't lose. A5 vs. Lawrence's AK. Two fives on flop and Tran is still alive. I've lost count of the all-ins he has won.

6:32pm--J.C. Tran moves all in for 76K . Virus1975 calls. KJ vs. K8. Virus1975 flops the nut flush and suddenly the room gets quieter. The loudest railbirds in the room can now go to the bar. We're down to four players. Update: J.C. Tran, apparently, can lose.

6:36pm--

Shack: 350K

Lawrence: 580K

Neverwin: 740K

Virus1975: 480K

6:47pm--The departure of J.C Tran has slowed down the game a bit. A small pot here and a small pot there. No big swings so speak of.

6:58pm--Neverwin put in a raise to 35K. Ho made it 115K to go. Neverwin pushed all in and Ho folded.

Concentration

6:15pm--Horrific beat. Gosney raises to 40K. Neverwin makes it 148k. Gosney moves all in. Neverwin calls. Gosney shows 22. Neverwin shows KK. Board puts out three clubs. Gosney has deuce of clubs. Turn is another club and Neverwin is snapped off. Gosney now has 1.2 million. Neverwin reduced to 250K.

After watching thousands of hands and seeing countless bustouts, I'll admit, it all starts to run together. Tonight has been one of those nights that stands out from the maelstrom of activity.

Three PokerStars players have made final tables in the past two days.

Just moments ago, PokerStars's player Dan Schmiech defeated Gabe "Mr. Kotter" Kaplan at the final table of the $5000 Limit Hold'em event to win a WSOP bracelet. Schmiech, from Houston, now has his sights set on the main event for which he won an entry on PokerStars.com

The title makes it sound worse than it actually is. Sure, there is enough frustration and short handedness to go around, but today it is a little more pronounced.

As the $5000 Limit Hold'em event winds down on the ESPN TV stage, the outer tables have turned to two games that take different kinds of skill.

In the back of the room, the $5000 No-Limit Short Handed event is running strong. After days and days of climbing over chairs and crawling under velvet ropes to see the action, it's nice to have a little room to move and watch.

The freeedom brought me within view of Noah "Exclusive" Boeken, PokerStars' John Gale, and European Poker Tour creator John Duthie, who have all survived the first six hours of play today.

A few days ago, you read here that Wil Wheaton joined Team PokerStars. If you've found yourself asking, "What is Team PokerStars?" here is your answer.

Team PokerStars is a group of veteran and up-and-coming poker players who travel the United States and world playing in the biggest poker tournaments they can find. Among them, they hold a number of World Series of Poker bracelets, including three world championship titles. PokerStars considers these players to be representative of poker's best and great ambassadors for the game.

Click here to learn more.

It's only been a few weeks since I sat on the River Thames with some of the world's greatest poker players for a taping of the PokerStars.com World Cup of Poker. Since then, I've slipped into a rhythm here at the World Series of Poker. Somehow, things haven't changed a great deal. In just the past few days, I've seen Team Norway's Anders Berg and Team Costa Rica's Terrence Chan and Alex Brenes.

Today, we see another World Cup of Poker player at the WSOP. This one has made a final table.

Sigi Stockinger of Team Austria is competing against some of the biggest names in poker. Hellmuth, Ivey, Williamson. Sunar. The event was an expensive one. $5000 Pot-Limit Omaha with rebuys. At this writing, Stockinger is still alive with eight players remaining at the final table [Update: Sigi took sixth place.]

The rest of the room is full of players. The $5000 Limit Event is in its second day. A $2000 No Limit Hold'em event began today. The week is starting to get rolling here. It all leads up to the Main Event which begins in one week.

Keep it here for all your PokerStars player updates.

After a Sunday full of final tables and long hours, Monday is a rebuilding day. It begins with the $5000 Limit Hold'em event. Since limit events are built for long, grinding days, I thought this might be a good time for a couple of reader-based posts.

First, if you're headed out to Vegas to play in the WSOP and have never played in a big live tournament before, you might be wondering about protocol here at the Rio. If you have any questions at all about the WSOP or the Rio, send them to "blog at pokerstars.com" (you know, put in the @ sign). I'll answer as many questions as I can in an upcoming post.

Second, I spent some time tracking down PokerStars players playing in the limit event today. You've seen some of them here before. Others you haven't. A couple of them, I've never seen. I don't want to bother the new folks while they're playing. How many of them do you know? Send me an e-mail at "blog at pokerstars.com."

For all the things the online poker world has given the game, it lacks one simple thing. In the ethereal online realm, there are no real characters like John Bonetti. For that, many a dealer and fellow player would likely exhale in sublime relief. But for the folks who love poker as much for the characters it generates as the money it brings in, there are few people who can rival Bonetti for the sheer number of stories and profanities he provides.

On Phil Hellmuth's nine WSOP bracelets: "What are they? Eight inches long? He could string them all together and wear them as a headband."

On Sexton's World Poker Tour commentary, Bonetti said Sexton has a full six months to figure out how the players should've played their hands..."And then he still needs Vince Van Patten to help him figure it out."

While most people who have encountered Bonetti will have a horrible story to tell, there are those who tell a different story. There are those who tell stories of Bonetti's backing them in tournaments and taking them under his wing in hard times. There are those who claim to know a heart underneath the ugliness. There are those who say Bonetti is a good man. And, oddly, I think they mean it.

As the evening wound to a close, PokerStars' Dan Goldman pulled from his pocket something that any WSOP player would recognize. Just a bit bigger than an index card, with a black strip across the back, it was impossible to mistake. Goldman pulled the ticket from his pocket and handed it to Bonetti. The man who is not unfamiliar with backing players stood and received his free buy-in to the World Series of Poker Main Event. Unlike Bonetti, PokerStars won't be sweating the veteran and taking him to the woodshed if he misplays J2 under the gun.

Bonetti reacts as he's handed his WSOP main event ticket

Ultimately, the abuse in the Palma Room had to end. After all, there was a little tournament going on in the next room. Surely, Bonetti could find someone to abuse there.

For a man who has built his reputation on vicious verbal attacks, it was little surprise he called this evening of brutality, "the happiest day of his life."

The room is inordinately pretty today. The WSOP is hosting its ladies tournament in the back of the tournament room. At the same time, a NL Hold'em final table is being taped for ESPN and $5000 PL Omaha rebuy event is just starting ($5K with rebuys sounds really expensive, no?).

There's a point at which being card dead just becomes silly. Terrence Chan found that point tonight.

Card dead for hours, Chan found himself shortstacked on the bubble. Not being the type of guy to try to "just hold to the money" Chan looked for any opportunity to play.

The thing about the World Series of Poker is, as crowded as it gets, and friendly as everyone can seem, as much support as you think you have, it is--by definition--an individual effort. When you bust, when your chips disappear in a flurry of cracked aces or set-over-set beats, there is rarely--if ever--someone to hold out their hand and pull you back into your seat.

Last Saturday here at the WSOP, I was relegated to writing about the nearby Gold Coast's stage show (which I have avoided at all costs, but think about constantly because the marquee is just across the street from my window at the Rio). There wasn't much to write about last weekend. Today, I feared the same. But much to my delight, two of PokerStars' more famous faces are still competing today in the $2500 PL Hold'em event.

John Gale and Terrence Chan, who both suffered a series of unfortunate beats to be knocked out of thier last events, are back in action today. More than 400 people started the event. With 136 remaining, our boys still have chips.

I suppose we've all had these days. You have a lot of chips, you have a good chance at taking it down, and you go card dead. It can happen to the best of us. And it happened to a world champion today.

Live updates at the bottom of this post all day as Greg Fossilman Raymer fights for another bracelet

2:55pm--Respect for the Fossilman. Pre-flop raise drives everybody out. That's the way it is with these TV tournaments, though. People like to sick around for a little bit and get some time. The TD just announced, "There is a similar version of this game in which you see a flop..."

2:59pm--Good luck for me. The $2500 NL event is going on today, as well. I can't cover both events. Fortunately I have a good view of a couple of PokerStars players, including William "Brett Favre" Jensen.

3:10pm-- After 25 minutes, the crowd roared. People came running to see what happened. What was it? We saw a flop. Finally. The upshot of all of it was Raymer took a big pot off the Devilfish. We'd didn't the Fish's cards, but he must've had nothing to Raymer's flopped pair, because he mucked when Raymer called.

3:24pm-- Mark Seif just flopped big against Fossilman, got all-in, and Raymer called. Seif doubles through and take the chip lead, but just barely.

3:27pm-- Nguyen calls a Raymer raise. Flop is 984 with three spades. Raymer bets out, Nguyen folds.

3:39pm--Devilfish busts in ninth place after moving all in from the button with A7. Webber Kang called from the big blind with AQ and busted the Fish. Down to eight.

3:46pm--Fossilman raises in early position, Webber Kang, fresh off busting Devilfish, moves all in froom the button for more than half of Greg's stack. Greg mucks.

3:57pm-- Greg limps from small blind. Seif checks in the big. 974 of diamonds on the flop. Raymer checks. Seif bets. Greg calls. Turn is ace of dimaonds. Check Check. River is six of diamonds. Greg checks. Seif bets out 21K. Greg calls. Seif shows the eight of diamonds. Greg mucks.

4:09pm-- Rassi gets all with 88 after Seif raise. Kang moves all in with AK. Seif folds. Board: 656.K.T. Rassi eliminated in eighth place.


4:45pm--It's tightened up a little bit since the break. I suspect the action will pick up shortly.

5:04pm-- Minh, bouyed by a massive double-up after rivering a flush against Peter Lee, is now the chip leader and not messing around. That not messing around includes having the courage to re-raise Fossilman.

5:12pm-- Peter Lee just took a BIG pot off Mark Seif. Lee raises on the button wih JJ. Seif re-raised in the big blind with KJ. Lee pushed all in and Seif called. Peter and Minh are your big stacks now. Seems Fossilman has gone card dead. He's spalshing around a bit, but not hitting much.

5:21pm-- Shortstacked Steve Carter just busted. Down to six players.

5:33pm--The chip lead has been bouncing around the table but not landing in Greg's seat. Knowing the range of hands I've seen Greg play in the past couple of days, the only thing I can deduce is that he's picking up 64o or 83o every hand.

5:37pm-- Gazes gets all in with AK vs. Fossilman's 77. Pot is almost $500K. Greg has about half his stack invested in the pot. Board: QJ3.A.K. Gazes doubles up off Fossilman. Our man is shortstacked now.

5:41pm-- Greg moves all in for $140. He gets called by Webber Kang. Raymer has 33 to Kang's AJo. Board: J69Q4. Raymer eliminated.

I hadn't eaten in almost 48 hours (save a few Pringles and a couple of Nutter Butters) when my cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I was face-first in the Rio's seafood buffet and spooning wasabi into a vat of soy sauce. I flipped my phone open, ignoring the food I was about to spill on another hungry Vegas tourist.

"Hey, it's Wil."

That's the call I'd been waiting for.

When John Gale stepped into the tournament area today, he was relaxed. He was eighth out of nine in chips and had little to prove. The lower money levels weren't much compared to the hundreds of thousands he already won this year. His eyes--and I'd venture to say his heart--were set on only one thing: a World Series of Poker bracelet.

2:24pm-- Player introductions are beginning.

Seat 1: Joe Sebok ($159K) He's Barry Greenstein's son and has been playing red hot for the past two days. Not to mention, he's a nice guy.

Seat 2: Cyndy Violette ($206) She needs no introduction. She's also the chip leader.

Seat 3: Steven Liu ($193)

Seat 4: Brian Wilson ($193) Real estate investor

Seat 5: Derek Leforte ($36K)

Seat 6: Allen Cunningham ($131K)

Seat 7: John Gale ($64K)

Seat 8: Tony Cousineau ($95K)

Seat 9: Burt Boutin ($116K) Stockbroker

2:56pm-- Blinds are $1500/$3000.

2:58pm-- John's not afraid to play. He just came in on the second hand for a raise to $9000 and took down the blinds.

3:03pm-- Everybody limps to Gale in big blind and he checks his option. The flop is no good for him and he folds to a post-flop bet.

3:07pm-- Burt Boutin is out, leaving eight players at the final table.

3:13pm-- No action for John Gale. Seems like the first trip around the table has been a little cold in the card arena.

3:20pm-- Gale is in the big blind and calls a min-raise from his nemesis, Lucky Liu. Flop comes out K44 with two spades. Gale leads into it for 8K. Liu calls. Turn doesn't seem to help Gale. He checks it, Lui bets, Gale lays it down. The pot cost him about $14K.

3:24-- Gale makes it 9K from the cut off. Looks like Tony Cousineau makes it a lot more on the button. Gale doesn't seem to like his hand as much anymore. He thinks for a minute or two, sighs, steals a glance at Cousineau, and folds his hand.

3:31pm-- Gale raises it up and goes heads up with Cyndy Violette. Q75 two hearts. Gale gets 22K in and Cyndy raises him all in. Gale calls. Gale has AJ hearts versus KQ. Gale needs an ace or heart. Turn is another queen. Gale's outs are now just hearts that aren't a five or king. BOOM. Ten of hearts spikes on the river and Gale doubles up.

3:48pm-- Gale comes in for 9K and picks up the blinds.

3:51pm-- Gale in big blind versus Sebok. Both checked flop of J54. Turn is six of hearts. Here comes Gale. Bets out 12K. Sebok either doesn't like where he is or is doing an amazing acting job. Woops...acting. Genius. He bets the pot. He gives Gale a little eyebrow raise. Gale goes into the tank, re-emerges, and mucks. He has about 53K in chips.

3:57pm-- Cunningham raises in the cutoff. Gale makes it 20K to go from the button. Cunningham folds and Gale takes it down.

4:05pm-- Gale in big blind re-raises Leforte who sits on the button. Leforte lays it down and smiles. Steal much?

4:10pm-- After a misdeal in which Gale had a good hand in the small blind, Sebok raises in EP. Gale re-raises from the small blind, Sebk-re-raises, and Gale is all in. AK versus AK. Bah. Split pot.

4:30pm--Break.

4:33pm-- John has 73K in chips. Blinds are $2/$4 so he still has some room to play.

4:34pm-- John raises, Liu re-raises, Gale all in. AQ Vs AQ. Split pot.

4:57pm-- Yeah, things are moving a little slowly here. Gale finally got involved in a small pot, which he took down on an AKK8 board.

5:06pm-- Gale raises 3x the big blin and takes the blinds. (Yawn...not sure exactly what it is here today, but after a tournament that went really fast yesterday, today it is tight as the lid of a jar of jelly that's been in the fridge for two years).

5:09pm-- Gale has 84K in chips and comes in for a raise in early position. Violette calls from the button. Leforte re-raises from the big blind and takes it down.

5:11pm-- Here comes Gale under the gun (looks like a call). He's raised by Sebok and owuld have to call 12K more. He folds.

5:18pm-- Liu raises under the gun. Gale calls. Flop comes out Q22. Liu checks, Gales moves in. Liu folds.

5:25pm-- Joe Sebok's AJ just ran int chip-leader Brian Wilson's AK after an ace on the flop. Sebok, who played really well this week busted in eighth place.

5:38pm-- Gale and Lui are tangling again. Big pot developing. Gale all in on AJx flop. Liu is thinking about it. If Gale isn't on a rabid bluff, it looks like he has the best of it. Liu is counting out his chips. he can call. John has AK. Liu has QJ. Turn is three of spades. No tens, queens or jacks and Gale doubles up. King on the river and Gale doubles up.

5:42pm-- So, that last hand was the culmination of two days of tangling between Gale and Liu. Gale considers Liu a maniac and has just been waiting for the time to take some stacks. Thee guys have fought more that two kids in a room with one Tonka truck (in fact they just got involved again). Right now, Gale has the bet of it. Liu has 54K. Gale now has 220K, which puts him second in chips behind Brian Wilson.

5:50pm-- Cyndy Violette got all her money in and club draw and didn't get there. She's gone in 7th place, handing her chips to Allen Cunningham and putting him in the top three chip-holders.

6:01pm-- The Gale/Liu battle has ended. Gale and Liu got all of Liu's chips in the middle on a flop of KJT with two spades. Gale holds A6 spades, Liu has QJ. Gale turned his spade for the nut flush and busted Liu in sixth place.

6:05pm--Break

6:34-- Back from break. Gale has 268K in chips. That puts him second or third in the remaining five.

6:40pm-- Big pot developing between Gale and Cunningham. Gale check-raised Cunningham on a seven high board. Cunningham called and Gale picked up a big pot.

6:49pm-- Gale just scrapped with chip-leader Brian Wilson and folded to a check-raises on a KQx board.

6:56pm-- Seems Gentleman John Gale has found a new scrapping partner. Allen Cunningham is being forced to lay down hands to Gale's re-raises. In the past few minutes, Gale has either become a card rack or decided to ramp up his aggression a bit.

7:08pm-- I'm going to be interested to learn whether Gale is hitting well against Allen Cunningham or has a good enough read to make the number of plays he's making against the WSOP bracelet-holder. Gale has hit his stride and his opponents seem to be a little more tenative against him. All but Cunningham who hasn't been afraid to bet or raise into Gale. So far, it hasn't worked out for Cunningham. Gale now holds the chip lead.

7:24pm-- A heartbreaking runner-runner flush just knocked Tony Cousineau out on fifth place. We're down to four players.

7:29pm--Chip counts: Brian 393K, Derek: 200K+, Allen 206K, John 382K

7:39pm-- In lieu of any substantial action, this note: Derek and John came into this final table as the two lowest chips counts. Both have battled their way to four-handed action.

7:57pm-- Gale just picked up another good sized pot from Cunningham. The board was paired and had a four flush on it. Cunningham couldn't find a way to call.

8:09pm-- Dinner break until 9:30pm PDT.

9:40pm-- Back from break. Play resuming.

9:55pm--Gale just made Brian Wilson lay down a hand after a massive pot hand already built. Gale has moved into the chip lead.

9:59pm-- Gale now has 522K in chips...around half the chips in play

10:06pm--Allen Cunningham just busted in fourth place and gave his chips to Brian Wilson. Gale sill has the lead, but it's going to be quite a battle between Gale and Wilson if Derek doesn't do something quickly.

10:18pm-- With T88 on the board, Brian Wilson bet into Gale three times, including when another eight and seven came on the turn and river. Gale held the ten. Wilson held 75 and lost the pot. Gale's increased his lead a little more.

10:35pm-- Derek just busted out, getting in with K9 vs. Wilson's A6. That leaves us heads up, Brian Wilson vs. PokerStars' John Gale.

10:52pm-- Alright...so here we go. Gale is ready to go. He's got about a 7:6 lead on Brian Wilson. The difference in prize money is $204K for second to $370K for first. Here we go.

10:57pm--On the first hand Wilson led into Gale's check on the flop (64K) and turn (8). The deuce on the river put three spades on board, Gale led out and took down the pot.

11:00pm-- Gale raises out of big blind and gets a call from Wilson. They check down the raggedy board and Gale's AK is good.

11:07pm: Gale has a 3:1 chip lead after taking a number of small pots off Wilson.

11:11pm-- Big pot. Both players held a pair and a flush draw. Wilson bet big into Gale and gale called with his paired ace and flush draw. Both players missed the draw and checked the river. Gale's pair was bigger. For the moment, he has Wilson on the ropes.

11:13pm-- With 1.3 million chips in play, Gale has eclipsed the one million chip mark.

11:15pm-- Wilson comes in for a raise, Gale announces re-raise. Wilson pushes all-in. Gale call immediately. Wilson has 66 to Gale's AJ. Coin flip. Flop comes out 847. Wilson looks good until jack hits on turn. Wilson needs one of two sixes or one of four fives and a five spikes on the river to double up Wilson. We're back to playing again.

11:20pm: Wilson raises, Gale re-raises, Wilson pushes all in and Gale calls. Wilson has pocket fours to Gale's pocket tens. Flop spikes a four and Wilson moves into the chip lead.

11:25pm: This ain't over. Gale's behind, but only by a little. He has more than 500K in chips.

11:35pm-- So, we needed a break. The past few hands have been...well, out of hand. Gale has stepped outside, centered himself, and has returned to the table. After a 600K swing in two hands, centering one's self can't be easy to do, but Gale says he's ready to play. So, we resume.

11:49pm: Chip count nearly even.

11:59: All in preflop: Gale's KJ vs Brian Wilson AQ. Gale doesn't improve. After a long hard battle, John Gale takes second in the $5K Pot-Limit Hold'em Event.

Poker Pages Mike Paulle calls Terrence Chan an internet genius. That's likely true. Beyond that, he's one helluva poker player. For those unfamiliair with Terrence, he's a very successful online player who went pro in the past twelve months. He also was one of the Costa Rican team that took a second world title in the PokerStars.com World Cup of Poker. He suffered a horrible set-over-set beat at the end of play on Monday. Today, he's in recovery mode. His first major victory was getting all-in with AQ suited in hearts versus PokerStars Caribbean Adventure final tabler Nenad Medic's 55. Terrence made two hearts on the flop and a third on the turn to nearly double up.

4:01pm--Terrence started the day with 19,300 and has worked his way back up to around 32,000 in chips. His table, like most tables, is full of faces. Clonie Gowen, Ted Lawson, Amir Vahedi, and Allen Cunningham all sit around Terrence now. The blinds sit at 600/1200 with around 35 players remianing.

4:22pm--If bad luck were a book of matches, Terrence Chan could've burned down the Rio. After getting beat set-over-set yesterday, his AK ran into AA this afternoon. That knocked him down to a short stack. Moments ago, his QQ ran into KK and Terrence Chan busted just ten short of the money.

The $5000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event on Monday was a bigger buy-in with an understandably smaller field. And it was a field to behold. It seemed every table hosted a champion. Making it through to day two of the three-day event would prove to be more than a challenge.

With all of that in mind, I'm pleased to say some well-known PokerStars players have fought their way into the second day.

If you've read this blog before, you've heard of Terrence Chan. This past May, Chan and his Costa Rican teammates took down a second championship in the World Cup of Poker.

Terrence played strong all day long. He looked fresh and relaxed. Earlier in the day, we'd talked about how awful it would be to go to bed out of the money, on a shortstack, but still in the tournament. I knew he wanted big chips going into day two. So when he came in for a raise and was called by only the big blind, I wasn't shocked when Terrence came into the pot strong on a 69T flop. I was shocked when I caught a glimpse of the big blind's cards: TT. Before I had time to hope Terrence had a hand he could lay down, a big part of his stack was in the pot. He turned over 99 and was defeated in the hand set over set. Still, Terrence continued to play strong and goes into day two with 19,300 in chips. That's below average, but not so much that he's in panic mode yet. The blinds tomorrow begin at only 400/800, so Terrence still has room to play.


Terrence Chan

Then there's PokerStars Caribbean Adventure winner John Gale. He's been sitting at a tough table all night long, featuring Devilfish, Jouhn Juanda, Barry Greenstein(and Greenstein's son), Anthony Cousineau, et al.

I caught Gale in the lobby and he told me he actually prefers playing against the seasoned pros because they know how and when to lay down a hand. For Gale, it seems to be working. He has an impressive 45,700 in chips and looks happy to be playing.


John Gale

Forty-seven players remain in this three-day event. The plan is to play down to the final table on Tuesday. Play begins at 2pm PDT.

Be sure to see the post below this one for PokerStars player Eric "erbloore" Bloore's final table appearance here at the WSOP

It's a big buy-in event here at the WSOP. Five thousand bucks gets you a seat among the biggest names in poker. A few players of PokerStars or European Poker Tour note are in the contest today. We're still a long way from the money, so here are a few pictures until things get really serious.

Sure, he only had four thousand in chips left. Sure, he had to get all in with JT58 doubled suited. Sure, he had to catch his five and eight to beat a guy with aces. And sure, it took a double bust-out on the other table (resulting in a trademark Phil Hellmuth profanity-laced, chair-kicking, donkey-calling blow-up), but Eric "erbloore" Bloore did it. He made the final table in the $1500 PL Omaha contest.

The good players will tell you that it's all about focus. Hour upon hour of looking at the same damned cards, enduring the muscle tension and constant jabbering of the guy in the one-seat. It can take its toll. And then there are the distractions. They are everywhere.

Allow me to offer a...for instance...

During a key hand for Noah "Exclusive" Boeken at the $2500 Limit Event final table, a chihuahua ended up in the media area and eventually in the arms of the tournament director (see above). A dog lover myself, I was distracted. Then Men "The Master" showed up and got on the microphone and left just as quickly as he arrived. What's more, there have been three events running today with PokerStars players in every one.

Talk about distracting.

See, most of the general public is so used to having everything boiled down to one table on TV. While it's nice to have a digest of sorts, sometimes paying attention to the distractions can offer a vision of the future.

Huh?

Well, consider this.

Noah "Exclusive" Boeken

That's Noah Boeken, the 24 year-old Dutchman who made the final table of the WSOP $2500 Limit Hold'em (see the post below this one for more on that). If you live in America, you haven't seen him on TV before. Regardless, I don't think I'm out of line in calling him a rising star. He won the European Poker Tour Scandinavian Open and is well-known online as Exclusive.

Greg "Chosen Kid" Debora

And then there is the "Chosen Kid" Greg Debora. Not only does he crush the online games, he nearly made the final TV table at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. What's more, he reportedly played a homegame single table tournament featuring names like Arieh, Lindgren, et al and took it down.

Eric "erbloore" Bloore

I met PokerStars player Eric Bloore today. His big stack of chips in the PL Omaha tournament drew my attention. As the day and night wore on (now going on twelve hours) he continued to build chips and as of this moment 11:50PM PDT, he's down to the final 17 players, still has a decent amount of chips, and sits among names like Hellmuth, Jesus, and Greenstein. Bloore is in the money and eying the final table.

It's around this time I realize that it's the distractions that make all of this interesting. It's the young kids, the guys playing against the big names, and, yes, even the chihuahuas that make all of this more than fun to watch. Bring on the distractions at the WSOP. Why? Because it is not an outlandish propsition that the distractions "As seen at the WSOP" could someday be the stars "As seen on TV."

Updates below

Be sure to see all the posts below, including PokerStars player Brett Favre's cash in yesterday's event

At 6pm, the sun still hangs high in the sky over the Nevada mountains. Giant cranes sit dormant, sky-hugging towers under construction left unattended for the weekend. The Gold Coast Casino will have another showing of Forever Plaid tonight, curiously (if you believe the marquee) "the best reviewed show of 2005." The sky is as clear as one could ask, and the Vegas nightlife is yet to crawl from the shadows.

And hundreds of people have no idea what the outside looks like.



Now in its third week, the World Series of Poker still grinds at the Rio. The giant room is divided into quadrants. One corner hosts 24-hour satellites that range (depending on the day and interest) from $50 to $1000. Another corner is home to the cash games where players are playing everything from $1/$2 NL Hold'em to $25/$50 PL Omaha O8. Players sit, screaming for cocktails, hording bricks of hundreds and begrudgingly counting them out a thousand bucks at a time after a big loss.

The remaining two corners are dedicated to WSOP tournament play. Depending on the day and game, the rail flucuates between unbearably crowded and curiously sparse. Last night's marathon Stud Hi-Lo final table drew a crowd only when play got heads up. The Limit Hold'em Shoot-out final table lasted more than 12 hours before some sort of deal was struck between the final two players and ended in a flurry of betting and folding.

Today, the rail is again full as the big names have again arrived to compete in today's Limit Hold'em event. Our own William "Brett Favre" Jensen had the uneviable postion of being seated directly between Howard Lederer and Daniel Negreanu. Jensen held on for about six hours before succumbing.

Overheard...

In just a few days on the ground here, I've heard and overheard a lot. Most of what I've heard is unprintable here, but some of the elevator talk has been entertaining.

An "F" for a bad beat--A tattooed gentlemen saw my media badge and launched into his only bad beat story of the tournament. AQ on a AQ2 board. His opponent draws runner-runner for a full house with T2. "And then," he said, "I said the f-word and got a ten minute penalty and was blinded off for ten minutes." Hearing a muscled-up tattooed guy say "F-word" made me laugh. I guess he learned his lesson. If you're on your way out to the WSOP, know that while you can get by with a lot here, the f-word is verboten. Say it and you get penalized.

A bachelor party bad beat--"Damn, it's hot in here." The guy in the elevator was sweatinng bullets through his shaved scalp. It looked like he'd been shopping. Someone asked him if he'd been running. "Just running around. My cousin is getting married. We had booked a room at the Mirage for a bachelor party," he said. "But one of my cousin's friends saw us at the hotel." I'm not sure how this story ended, but I have to imagine it didn't end well.

Legal-ese--A man in a wrinkled shirt leaned against the mirrored elevators walls and sighed. A woman asked if he was on his way to donate some more money to the pit. "The Rio got all my money a long time ago." The woman suggested he divorce himself from he casino pit. "Divorce," he mused, closing his bloodshot eyes. "I think I need an order of protection."

***

There's the Staurday night update. I'll be keeping an eye out for our Stars players over the weekend. Hopefully we can score another bracelet for the home team.

If the felt were the gridiron and William "Brett Favre" Jensen were up against a real defensive line, that line would've been called "The Queens."



Jensen, a PokerStars standout and roommate to a WSOP bracelet-holder, came to play in the second round of the $1500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout. In the first hour, he ran over his table, amassing a chip-lead and powerful table image. If I could've found someone to take me up on it, I would've laid down cash that Jensen would win his table and move on to the final 13.

But when the table got three-handed, something happened. Russian tennis star turned poker player Yevgeny Kafelnikov woke up with a pair of queen on a queen-high board. The Russian was shortstacked and Jensen, holding the case queen, played Kafelnikov for all his chips.

A short time later, Jensen again made top pair with a queen in the hole and got all his chips in the middle. His opponent held ace-king and paired up on the river to sack Favre for good.

Nonetheless, Jensen had a great showing today and promises to show up again very soon.

***

In other news...

Brett Jungblut came back from a big chip deficit to win his table and advance to the final 13.

PokerStars' John Gale offered a piece of advice for all travelers headed out to the WSOP: Travelers checks are no good at the WSOP registration desk at the Rio. If you come with travelers checks, be prepared to make a very, very long walk to the casino cage to cash them. If you're not yet here, that may not seem like a big deal. But after you make the death march from casino to card room once, you'll understand. I'm developing a blister after just two days.

Saturday is a limit hold'em event here at the WSOP. I certainly hope it is more exciting than the conclusion of the Limit Hold'em Shootout event. That final table has been going on all day and threatens to spill into the year 2006.

That's it for Friday. See you back here on Saturday with all your PokerStars news.

Something about shootouts gives me an ulcer. Not a bad one. Just the kind that makes my stomach hurt a little and convinces me life isn't fair. At first, there is that sense of "I only have to make it through nine other players to make it into the money." Then comes the realization that you might as well be playing at a final table where only first place pays. In short, there is a certain talent to it that I'm sure I don't possess.

PokerStars player William "Brett Favre" Jensen has that talent. On a day when many of the big names in the poker world were winning their table, Jensen outlasted, outwitted, and outplayed his table to move on to the second round.


William "Brett Favre" Jensen eying his bounty after winning in round one

Many other PokerStars standouts ran unlucky today. One gentleman (who I came to know as a the very friendly John Greathouse) was heads up with Brett Jungblut and on two all-in hands lost to Jungblut. The match-up was A7 vs QJ both times. The QJ was victorious both times.

As I stood watching Noah "Exclusive" Boeken (European Poker Tour winner and Stars standout) in a marathon heads up battle with Mel Judah, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure winner John Gale came up to chat.


John Gale, three-handed with Mike Matusow and David "The Dragon" Pham

Gale has not been faring well in tournaments but has been killing in the cash games recently. Today, during three-handed play with Mike Matusow and David "The Dragon" Pham, Gale's queens lost to The Dragon's JT when Pham flopped two pair. Pham ended up taking the rest of Matusow's chips and eventually defeated Gale heads-up.

Gale was hungry. He hadn't eaten all day. Still, ever the good businessman, he was thinking about setting up a booth in the back of the tournament area where he would charge players $25 to listen to their bad beat stories. I could almost guarantee you he could pay for an entry into the Main Event after just a couple of days.

Today, Isabelle Mercier got seated and defeated at what Poker Pages Mike Paulle deemed the "Table of Death," featuring such names as Lindgren, Harman, Watkinson, Arieh, and Hilger.

WSOP champ Greg Raymer made it through half his table but was defeated out of the money as well.


Greg Raymer eyes his opponent

PokerStars' Tom McEvoy made it heads-up at his table but couldn't make it happen today, either. Anders "Donald" Berg played at the longest-lasting table today, as well, but finished midway through the field.


Tom McEvoy


Anders Berg

So, tonight, we pin our hopes on the Herculean William "Brett Favre" Jensen. He's a big man with a big night in front of him. I'll let you know how it turns out.

In the meantime, I'm headed back to the tournament area to see if Gale has set up his Bad Beat Booth yet. If I can get a piece of the action, I just might be able to afford to play a little bit.

PokerStars' Steve Zoine just misses $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em bracelet

Poker journalist and one-time WSOP main event final tabler Jim McManus once wrote about facing T.J. Cloutier for the first time. The man's size, snarl, and growl can set the toughest of souls on their heels. McManus at one point told the crowd he learned everything he knew from reading Cloutier's book.

Tonight, it was a different story, but a parallel remained.


Three handed at the final table

Steve Zoine, one of PokerStars W$ buy-ins to the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em event, found himself facing two grizzled veterans in the form of Cloutier and John Bonetti. Zoine, a solid player but relative neophyte, entered three-way play as the chip-leader and maintained his lead going into heads-up play with Cloutier.

The only poker book Zoine has ever read? I don't think I need to tell you.


Heads up with T.J.

After some back and forth play, Zoine lost his lead and gave Cloutier a massive chip-lead when Cloutier flopped a straight against what I believe was a set (sorry, bathroom break pulled me away from the action).

And so it came to a Tale of Two Suck-Outs.

The first came in the form of Zoine getting all-in with AJ versus Cloutier's pair of kings. The flop was no help, but Zoine turned an ace, doubled up, and got within reach.

The players sparred for some time and eventually went to a 15-minute break with little more action. Then on the first hand after the break, Zoine raised pre-flop, faced a massive raise from Cloutier, then pushed all-in. Cloutier called almost instantly with A5. Zoine flipped over AK.

Zoine figured to be the chip leader when the hand was over. But I watched from a few feet away as the dealer laid out 689 on the flop. Zoine turned to his buddies in the stands and his look was impossible to mistake. It was a look of anguish and near resignation.

He knew what was coming.

It didn't come on the turn, but the seven fell on the river to fill Cloutier's gutshot and give him his sixth WSOP bracelet.

Zoine still cashed his biggest tournament win ever--more than $350,000. When I left him just a bit ago, he was on his way to cash out. With the sting of the bad beat radiating in his cheeks, he still looked happy.

I guess I would be, too.

Nice job, Steve. See you in the Main Event.

In other news...

PokerStars' own Tom McEvoy and Evelyn Ng both cashed in today's $1500 Limit Hold'em Shoot-Out. Not a bad day for PokerStars, I'd say.



So ends this Thursday at the WSOP. The blog is just getting its feet wet. I figure by the weekend, we'll be all wet and swimming for the Main Event.

More on Friday.

Another PokerStars player hits a final table; One of PokerStars own is in the money; and an introduction from Las Vegas

The media credential maven fanned herself as she handed over my hall pass.

"It's hot in here today," she mused.

I took my credentials that give me inside-the-rail access, looked at my long sleeves, and agreed with her. I should be wearing my Pig'N Pancake t-shirt today, I thought. It's hot and I could go for a big stack of flapjacks.

The action inside the rail was hotter. I could sweat pancakes while sweating the action.

It's official folks. For the next month, the Official PokerStars Blog will be brought to you from sunny Las Vegas. I've only been on the ground a couple of hours, but thought we should get this thing moving. Over the next several weeks, you can expect daily (actually probably several times daily) updates right here.

I need to be on the tournament floor right now, but thought we'd start this thing off with a few photos of some of the more important pieces of PokerStars news going on today.


$5000 No-Limit Hold'em final table

First and foremost, PokerStars player Steve Zoine is still playing in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Event. Six players remain [Update: Four players remain and Steve has a lot of chips]. Steve bought in with his W$ and now figures to cash big. More on his status later tonight.


Steve Zoine

Next up, PokerStars' Isabelle Mercier is showing well today in the $1500 Limit Hold'em Shoot-out. When I left her a few minutes ago, her starting table was down to three players. First place at the table vaults her into the money. [Update: She didn't make it, and that makes me sad]


Isabelle Mercier

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that my fellow PokerStars marketing man Rich Korbin has made it into the top 20 of the $1000 Stud Hi-Lo event. His stack was sitting just below average last I looked, but I'm not worried, as Rich already holds a WSOP bracelet. [Update: Rich busted out short of the final table, but made us proud today]


Rich Korbin in the middle of a hand

I have to get back out on the tourney floor. Hopefully I'll have some good news for all our players later tonight.

Be sure to bookmark this site and come back often for all your PokerStars news from the World Series of Poker.

It was a long weekend in Vegas and some friends were sitting in a $2/$4 limit game. I hadn't seen some of these guys in months, so I sat down around 2am. After about 30 minutes, for lack of a better phrase, I remembered what I had forgotten.

As a player who pokes around in various poker limits, I sometimes forget there is a difference between $30/$60 and $2/$4. With all respect to Jesse May, a man for whom I hold no small amount of admiration, there is a difference greater than the color of the chips. In short, there is something to be said about winning at low-limit poker versus winning at medium or high limits.

Lee Jones says it best.

Perhaps it would've benefitted me to review a tried and true classic in the realm of poker writing. Lee Jones' Winning Low-Limit Hold'em is the first book every low-limit player should read.

I discovered today that Jones is about to release the third edition of his book.

"The five years since the second edition of Winning Low-Limit Hold'em came out have seen the greatest changes in the game of poker since the draw was invented around the Civil War," Jones said. "It was simply time to do a new edition."

To the skeptics who sometimes avoid new editions: take notice. Jones' strategy section has gone through a major overhaul. Jones consulted with poker pros Barry Tanenbaum and Terrence Chan to improve both the the organization and the advice.

"They helped me clarify the ideas in many areas and corrected some suboptimal thinking on my part in others," Jones said.

What's more, the book now reflects the huge online hold'em business (including micro-limit games). As most of you are aware, Jones is the Poker Room Manager for PokerStars.com and is no stranger to the business. There is a large chapter devoted to the mechanics of playing online and strategy adjustments for online play are mentioned throughout.

The third edition also features three brand new chapters devoted to no-limit hold'em sit and go's. The first chapter covers the basic mechanics of a S&G and how all-in's and side pots work. The second chapter is the meat of the material, covering strategy from the first hand that's dealt to heads-up play. The third chapter covers some miscellaneous but important S&G topics.

Jones suggests in these chapters something that many players have found to be true: One might be able to make more money on a fixed bankroll playing S&Gs than one can playing limit hold'em.

"I believe that the no-limit hold'em sit-and-go material is groundbreaking," Jones said. "To my knowledge, there is nothing like it in print."

Lastly, the new edition has undergone some nice superficial changes, with a new cover design and some generous comments from Greg Raymer and Antonio Esfandiari.

PokerStars is getting in on the action. Now all shipments of Jones' book from the PokerStars.com Frequent Player Point store will come in the form of the third edition and, as always, will be signed by Lee Jones himself.

If you're a low-limit player and have yet to read Jones' book,