June 2006 Archives

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(Other event coverage can be found in updates as well)

Because of TV production necessities, play got started about an hour late. Now things are up and running and ready to go. Here's how they stack up as they start play.

Eric "Rizen" Lynch--455,000
Rocky Enciso--247,000
Rafe Furst--222,000
John Juanda--147,000
Burt Boutin--140,000
Can Kim Hua--122,000
Richard Chase--95,000
Alan Gilbert--88,000
George Bronstein--15,700

3:21pm--We've had the first bust-out already. Once short-stacked, Alan Gilbert has no stack and is gone in 9th place.

3:22pm--While we're waiting for the hot action to get rolling, I thought I'd share this with you. Rizen has already established himself as a hella good poker player. Now, he's making no secret of his status as a family man. People are already talking about the clean-cut father who considers poker his job, but always puts his family first. Witness: Rizen with family in tow, just before his ESPN interview.

3:24pm--John Juanda has been eliminated in 8th place.

3:31pm--In case you're checking other sites and freaked out when you saw Rizen had lost half his stack, don't worry. It must have been a typo. Rizen has barely played a pot yet and his stack is intact.

3:52pm--Well, we almost lost Burt Boutin. he got his A2 in against AQ, but spiked his deuce.

3:55pm--While we're on a break, how about an update on other events?

Funniest public address announcment of the day: "Norm McDonald, you still have chips. Norm McDonald, you still have chips. Table 28!"



In other news, Michael Goodman just stopped me to tell me about getting all his chips in with a straight versus a set in Event #5. By the time the river hit, Goodman held a straight flush to his opponent's...QUADS. Nice hand, sir.

In Event #5, Team PokerStars' Vanessa Rousso is looking good (and so is her chip stack).




4:04pm--At the first break, Rizen is still in command:

Eric Lynch--$455,000
Can Kim Hua--$412,000
Rafe Furst--$200,000
Rocky Enciso--$167,000
Burt Boutin--$145,000
George Bronstein--$130,000
Richard Chase--$85,000

4:19pm--Well, here's the bad news. Just back from break and Rizen has doubled up George Bronstein with A9 vs AK. It was a stumble, but Rizen still has well enough chips to play the game that got him where he is today. Rizen wasn't being all that reckless. He'd come in for a standard raise and Bronstein jammed. It wasn't much more for Rizen to call, so he did.

4:55pm--The lack of Rizen updates is indicative of the lack of Rizen action. With the exception of call-folding to a raise from Burt Boutin, Rizen hasn't been in action much. The only action beyond that was Rizen's wife getting booted from the tournament area. Nothing scandalous. Rizen's 17-month-old son is here to see his daddy compete, but the casino frowns on toddlers. Me, I think the kid is adorable. But, I'm not running the show here.

5:01pm--We're about to lose Rick Chase. He's down to so little he won't be able to post the blinds.

5:30pm--Just so you're aware, new media rules preclude me from typing at table-side, so I'm running back and forth from the tournament to the computer. Rizen is still playing pretty tight. He's got some sweaters in the stands. Since I last came back, Rick Chase busted and Rafe Furst scored an insane double-up against Can Kim Hua. Dang it if Rafe didn't have aces against Hua's HAMMER (72o). The hand played out about as odd as you could ever want. Two sevens on the flop put Rafe tragically behind until an ace spiked on the river.

Rizen doesn't hold the chip lead anymore, but he's getting respect at the table. Now, it's just up to him to exploit the respect he's getting.

5:46pm--A 15 minute break in Rizen's event allowed me to walk through today's short-handed event. There's some insanely good poker going on in there. I ran into Joe Hachem, who has about three times the average stack right now. The most fun table right now hosts Isabelle Mercier, Terrence Chan, and Daniel Negreanu. Negreanu has spent the day busting people and building a wall of chips big enough to stretch the Canadian border.

6:04pm--How about some pictures of our guy and what he's playing for?



6:09pm--Rizen is currently second in chips, behind Rafe Furst who has been on a bit of a rush. Still, the way the chips are stacked, it is anyone's game.

6:22pm--Can Kim Hua is gone in fifth place. Rocky Enciso just doubled through Burt Boutin. And on the Rizen front...well, you know in movies when they say, "It's quiet...too quiet" and then the monster comes in? Well, it's quiet.

Too quiet.

6:30pm--And in walks the monster. HUGE hand for Rizen.

6:31pm--Okay, let me preface this by saying Rizen sucked out...but it wasn't a donley suck out. Boutin moved in from the button. Rockey and Rizen called from the blinds. When the flop came down K74...the fireworks started. Every bit of the money went in. Rizen had 74 for bottom two. Rocky had K7 for top two. Then...holy canoli...

A four spiked on the river.

6:34pm--Wow. Poker. See, with the blinds the way they are right now, everybody (except maybe Rocky) knows Rizen had to get his money in there. No question. Yeah, he got unlucky and then very lucky. But, as they say, that's poker.

6:36pm--Oh, yeah. And in case you didn't figure it out, Burt Boutin is gone in firth place and Rizen has the chip lead again.

6:39pm--Well, the suckouts are coming. Bronstein just turned a set of sixes against Rizen's nines.

6:56pm--Well, that was tense. In a battle of the blinds, RIzen came in for a raise, Rafe came back over the top, and Rizen pushed all in. Rafe took five minutes to fold. In that time, I sweated off about two pounds and gew three more gray hairs in my beard. I would think that hand moved Rizen into the chip lead again.

7:18pm--BOOM.

Rizen's AK vs George's TT, all in pre-flop. The door card is an ace and that's all she wrote.

7:20pm--Well, this is shaping up to be quite a little match. As predicted, Rizen opened up when it got four handed. Prior to this big double-up, Rizen had doubled up Rafe. Now, it's pretty clear, RIzen is the chip leader. Heads up with Rafe? Well, I guess we'll see.

7:37pm--As we head into the dinner break, George Bronstein has been eliminated in fourth place. When we return at 9pm, Rizen will take on Rafe and Rocky...

How about that...Rizen vs. Rafe vs. Rocky.

RRRRRRR!

7:50pm--So, what does it feel like to hit a two-outer on the river to keep fighting for a bracelet?

How about this?

The face of a man who just hit a two outer

9:26pm--The worst split pot in the history of man. Rafe all-in against Rizen. Rizen holds AK to Rafe's A8. Board comes JT6...6...J. Railbirds coule be heard to say the tournament was already over. Instead, we're still three handed.

9:43pm--It was the hand of the tournament so far, I think, although we never saw the opponents' cards. Rizen potted it from the button, Rafe re-potted it from the small blind, and Rizen called. The flop was little-little-little and Rafe moved all-in. Rizen mucked.

9:45pm--(relating to above) Okay, maybe not the hand tournament, but it was certainly a hand that Rizen may wish he had played differently. Or not. He's the genius, I'm not. Still, he's not dominating this thing anymore.

9:47pm--Rafe now has 2/3 of the chips in play.

9:51pm--Rizen is out. After facing a raise from Rocky, Lynch moved all in with A7. He mighta been good, but Rafe woke up with AK and Rocky called with KQ. Rocky ended up making two pair and Rizen is out, cashing for $104,544.

Poker is a rough game. You look back at it and Rizen was lucky to have survived when he his his two-outer earlier. However, Rafe got lucky to chop the pot with Rizen in the AK vs A8 hand. If Rizenn wins that pot, chances are he would've quickly dispatched Rocky. Now, it's not to be.

Still, Rizen deserves a worldwide round of applause for this accomplishment. I know he has to be exhausted.

Thanks for making it fun, Rizen.

This is going to be one of those days that is hard to keep track of. So, just so you're along for the ride with me, here's what I'll be covering:

Event #3 Final Table

PokerStars phenom Eric "Rizen" Lynch is the chip leader of Event #3, $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em. He will be playing on the ESPN TV table in the following line-up:

Eric Lynch--455,000
Rocky Enciso--247,000
Rafe Furst--222,000
John Juanda--147,000
Burt Boutin--140,000
Can Kim Hua--122,000
Richard Chase--95,000
Alan Gilbert--88,000
George Bronstein--15,700

I just saw Eric walk into his ESPN interview. He looked fresh, happy, and content to have his family in tow.

Event #4-- $1,500 Limit Hold'em

Team PokerStars Vanessa Rousso has made Day 2 of this event. We'll be keeping an eye on her as well.

Event #5-- $2,500 Six-Handed NL Hold'em

PokerStars has more than 40 players playing in this event today, including none other than comedian Norm McDonald. I'm looking forward to watching this event play out. The competition is as tough as it can be. Here is a list of players playing in today's event:

777toome
Astrolux85
Beatiful Man
BeL0WaB0Ve
Blessed
Brandon78
Buckohfive
copi
-db-
faithless
FossilMan
gank
jimbo322
JoeHachem
JohnSmiley1
kenny05
LucaPagano
LuckyLady519
mrrain
NoMercy
PHAT EDDIE
PickyTooth
pologuy64
quietman
Rizen
Rook
SamENole
Sdouble
shaniac
skeemer1
stevejpa
stevesbets
strassa2
suckoutqueen
The Shrike
ThreeBet
TorontoToro
Unassigned
USDLAW
Vandiesel
vogman42
wchen
WhenPigsFly

Good luck to all of them.

WSOP Event #3 Final Table Results

1. Rafe Furst--$345,984
2. Rocky Enciso--$180,508
3. Eric "Rizen" Lynch--$104,544
4. George Bronstein--$75,252
5. Burt Boutin--$60,169
6. Can Kim Hua--$52,648
7. Richard Chase--$45,127
8. John Juanda--$37,606
9. Alan Gilbert--$33,854

PokerStars Blog Coverage

Event #3: An Event with Teeth

Event #3: Pot Limit Hold On!

Event #3: Rizen to the Occasion

Event #3: In the Money

Event #3: Day 2 Updates

Event #3: Rizen enters final table with chip lead

Event #3: Final Table play-by-play

Event #3: Rizen takes third place

There was a man with an adult son nearly in tears after realizing he'd just made his first final table. There was another man so set on making the final table, he laid down pocket queens pre-flop. It was the kind of anxiety and tension you'd expect on the TV bubble of a World Series of Poker event.

Eric "Rizen" Lynch barely cracked a smile.

"There's a long way to go," he said, with a matter-of-fact tone that was almost unsettling.

There are people in the game I would describe as "robotic." Ivey, Juanda, to be sure. But, Rizen is no robot. There is humanity in his eyes that lets you know he has an appreciation for what he has just accomplished.

As I wrote just yesterday, Lynch is a guy who just six months ago was a working stiff like the rest of us. Sure, he played online poker, but he had a family to support. Still, there was something that told him he had what can only be described as "it."

Lest you think I'm simply and unfairly touting the accomplishments of a PokerStars player, just consider his accomplishments in the past month. He took first place outright in the PokerStars Sunday Million. Then, just a few weeks later, he traveled to the World Series of Poker for his first events--first events EVER. Just three days into playing the WSOP, he's headed to international television as the chip leader in the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em event.

Of course, Rizen refused to accept accolades as he filled out his biography form for ESPN and bagged nearly 1/3 of the chips in play. Even when asked the most stupid question ever, "How does it feel?" he only offers the slightest hint of a shrug. "Long way to go," he says.
I know Rizen has a lot of fans out there who are supporting him on his blog. After watching him play for the last two days, you can count me among the people rooting for Rizen to take it down on Friday afternoon.

Play begins at 2pm. The PokerStars Blog will be on the story from beginning to end.

Good luck tomorrow, Eric.

WSOP Event #2 Final Table Results:

1. Brandon Cantu-$757,839
2. Phong Ly- $416,816
3. Drew Rubin-$226,597
4. Lee Padilla-$176,579
5. Brent "Astrolux85" Roberts-$151,570
6. Don Zewin $126,940
7. Ron Stanley-$107,614
8. Mark Swartz-$88,668
9. Carlos Mortensen-$71,617

PokerStars Coverage

PokerStars Blog hits the WSOP
World Series of Poker Event #2 begins
Underestimations on the number of WSOP Event #2 entrants
Event #2 Mini Update
Event #2 Dinner break
In the groove (a look at some oddities)
Day 1 Late night updates
Day 2 Updates

(Click refresh for periodic updates)

The second day of Event #3 ($1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em) is beginning. There's tons of action in the room today, but for now, I'm going to focus on the PokerStars players still battling in Event #3:

-db-
Rizen
Victor Ramdin
Bryan Micon
vogman42

I'll be posting updates here throughout the day.

2:10pm--Something was very wrong. When it is time to wake up, my cell phone is supposed to scream with a shrill siren. There was noise coming from the phone, but it was no siren It was a half-ring. I shook the cobwebs from my head and looked at the clock. It read 9:30am. My poker-addled brain started doing math and decided to believe I needed to add three hours to the clock.

12:30! I slept until 12:30?!

No, no I didn't. It was 9:30am and I was getting the modern version of a telegram. Someone from Austin (and I think I know who you are...) had scored my personal cell phone number and was informing me that Eric "vogman42" Vogelstein was playing under the radar.

So, now we'll be watching vogman42 as well. Good luck, sir.

2:20pm--A cursory look at the new seating assignments has Rizen and vogman42 sitting right next to each other. A big hand developed and ended badly for -db- (opponent was Rafe Furst). No fear though, as -db- still has chips. Ramdin started the day by knocking a player out.

3:25pm--I've been out collecting photos of our remaining players in Event #3. Pictures coming soon.

3:33pm--How about some photos? Rob Gracie, crack photographer, has been hard at work for us. Thanks, Rob.

3:50pm--Well, we must bid goodbye to Bryan Micon. I'll let Micon fill everybody in on his own about the details of his departure. Last thing I need is his crew getting on my back about messing up the hands. Suffice it to say...he lost a pot early on with a superior pre-flop hand and a ton of outs on the flop. Then, after stealing blinds as often as he could to stay alive, he finally got blinded down to the point where he had to put his remaining cash in blind. Turned out he had J7 against -db-'s 44 and the big blind's AJ. No seven on board and Micon bounced in 40th place. Not a bad day of work, I'd say. See you next time (tomorrow?), Micon.

3:56pm--I'm also pleased to report that -db- found his PokerStars shirt. It's hidden under a St. Louis Cardinals hoodie, but he's on the right page. He's also down to the final four tables of Event #3, which is a pretty laudable accomplishment as well.

4:20pm--The players have taken a short break. A glance at the chip stacks make it appear as though the following is true.

-db- : Slightly below average stack
Victor Ramdin: Above average stack
Rizen: Average stack
Eric Vogelstein: Average stack

5:05pm--This event has, quite frankly, moved faster than I thought it would. We're nearing the time when the players will consolidate to three tables. However, as we start moving toward the bigger money, play is tightening up a bit. All four of our competitors are still fighting hard.

5:30pm--Down to three tables.

5:55pm--The battles are starting to begin. Victor Ramdin is sitting on a huge stack and is trying to take control of his table. Some people are backing down. Others, like John Juanda are not. This should be a fun evening.

6:00pm--Eric Vogelstein is a little peeved. Or maybe more than a little. I missed the exact genesis of the fight, but it looks like Vogman42 thought he was the big bling and posted. Problem is, Dewey Tomko and the big blind both acted on the action. Vogman42 ended up losing the chips he posted in a decision that was a little more than heated.

6:03pm--Well, here's some bad luck. -db- was in the big blind when one player came in for a raise and another jammed for enough to cover -db-. Our man called with AK, as did the original raiser. The jammer had A7. A seven on the flop and turn sent -db- out in 24th place.

6:09pm--Bah. That's all I have to say. No good luck for Victor Ramdin who has just doubled up one player with JJ vs KQ Then doubled up another player with AK vs 99. Ramdin is still alive, but his once monster chip stack is shrinking.

6:22pm--Eviscerated. That was the word one fellow blogger used to describe what's happening to Victor Ramdin. At one point, Ramdin had control of the event with a monster $210,000 chip stack. Now, he is near the felt after having just doubled up another opponent with AQ vs 99.

In other news, Vogman42 and Rizen are holding on tight.

6:28pm--And by tight (see above), I mean "Well, not so tight anymore."

Vogman42, shortstacked, made what appeared to be a blind steal attempt with a suited face card. He ended up losing his stack against a pair of threes. Nice run, though, bud.

6:44pm--Here in just a bit, all the players are going to be heading to a dinner break. When they return, they are going to fight down to the final nine players. Still in the hunt as of this moment...Victor Ramdin and Rizen. We'll be back with you in a bit.

6:45pm--Um...check that. Once a dominant force in this event, a series of un-won races and shortstacked moves, Victor Ramdin has departed the field. Now, we PokerStars fans pin our hopes on the man from Kanas...Rizen.

Can we eat before Rizen makes his next move?

8:54pm--We, in fact, got to eat (me for the first time in 30 hours). And Rizen is still in action. Down to two tables, Rizen is surrounded by ESPN cameras and fighting to make the final table. Let's do it, man.


9:26pm--One word: Weeeeeee! (Sorry about that). With 17 player remaining and the blinds looking a bit punitive, Rizen's face gave nothing away. He was in the big blind against Matthew Hilger and another player. On a flop of A96, Rizen fired out after the small blind checked. Hilger folded, but the other opponent came over the top. Rizen put in the rest of his chips. It was brutal. Rizen held pocket nines to his opponent's...pocket sixes. Rizen now has an impressive stack. I'm not counting any chickens here, but the final table isn't far away.

10:45pm--We are now eleven-handed and Rizen has risen to the top. The set over set hand was, as Rizen described it, "probably the biggest hand of the tournament." When we lose two more players, it is TV table time.

11:50pm--With ten players left in the event, the table is as tight as Dan Rather's rusty bolts. Rizen has been relatively inactive, save one mistep against Rafe Furst that ended in Furst doubling up. Still, Rizen has a ton a chips and save some very bad luck, it seems sure he'll make it to tomorrow.

12:10pm--Eric "Rizen" Lynch has just made the final TV table of the WSOP Event #3 with the chip lead (not to mention nearly 1/3 of the chips in play). More to follow.

Well, once again, I've been remiss. But dang it, I'm not going to take full blame for this one. Apparently, -db- has been playing in Event #3 all day long and has a nice-sized stack going into the second day. Why didn't I spot him? Well, the guy wasn't wearing his PokerStars shirt. That makes some folks hard to spot. So, my apologies to -db-. I guess, to be fair, I should've recognized the guy.

Now, put on a shirt tomorrow, bud.

It's been a good day for PokerStars players overall. Going into tomorrow, the following players will be playing under the PokerStars banner (chip counts are approximate).

Remaining players: 70
Average stack: $23,600

-db- : 48,000
Victor Ramdin: 41,000
Eric "Rizen" Lynch: 28,000
Micon: 21,000

Play resumes at 2pm on Thursday.

If you missed any of the Event #3 coverage from today, feel free to check out these previous posts:

Event #3: An Event with Teeth

Event #3: Pot Limit Hold On!

Event #3: Rizen to the Occasion

Event #3: In the Money

At the 11pm hour passes, the players in the World Series of Poker Event #3 are in the money. Three players competing under the PokerStars banner will be cashing tonight. Victor Ramdin, Eric "Rizen" Lynch, and Micon are among the 90+ players who will be playing for another hour or so.

For more on Rizen, check out the post just below this one. When I first started writing it, Rizen was getting a tad short. Now, he's doubled up (and then some) and has more than 30,000 in chips. Ramdin has more chips than I can count at the moment. His stacks are 40 chips tall and built into columns too deep for me to get an accurate count. Suffice it to say, he's above average. Micon's stack could be a little bigger, but he still has some room to move.

Also, although he's not playing for PokerStars today, special congratulations are in order for Brandon Schaefer. I met Brandon about a year and a half ago when he won the European Poker Tour French Open as a PokerStars FPP qualifier. Tonight, he's cashing in first WSOP event. Nice work, Brandon.

As a guy who spent ten years with a professional mission to not care about one person more than another, I find my sensibilities in a state of flux. For those who aren't aware, I worked as a news reporter for a decade before jumping headlong into poker coverage. In my old job, favoritism was more than a no-no. It was verboten. These days, I have the privilege, if you will, to root for PokerStars players. As Event #3 inches toward the money (99 get paid), I feel good that I can root for one of the good up-and-coming players in the game.

Maybe you don't know him. I mean, before the dinner break, there were names I'd mentioned here before. Jason Strasser was still in. So was ElkY. It appears they are now gone. Victor Ramdin, thankfully, is still battling his table. For the moment, however, I feel like I want to tell you a little more about Eric 'Rizen' Lynch.

Because Rizen has chosen to chronicle his exploits on his blog, I've been following his progress from regular dude to poker phenom for a little while. I've long been a big poker blog reader. Many of the blogs (a lot like the one I write for) are regular working stiffs like me who like to play poker. Rizen, however, has found a way to pull me into world that is far beyond what my ability allows.

After reading his blog for the past several months, I can't say I was at all surprised when Rizen took down the PokerStars Sunday Million a few weeks ago. Even better, Rizen provided a play-by-play commentary of the final table replay. I found it beyond entertaining.

So, I knew Rizen was on his way out to Vegas to play and I'd been looking forward to meeting him. Finally, I got the chance today. It was brief, but for a good reason. Rizen is on his way (given no bust-out has happened since I sat down to write this) to cashing in Event #3 of the WSOP.

I don't know what it is exactly. I mean, I'm fans of some of the big-name poker pros. But there's something about this guy who just six months ago wrote, "I'm a 27-year-old software engineer from Kansas City, Kansas who also happens to spend a lot of time playing online poker."

Now, he's routinely winning thousands of dollars in online tournaments and he's out here in Vegas fighting against the toughest pros in the business.

When I left Rizen a little while ago, his stack wasn't huge, but he was still in. Here's to hoping that he's still around when I walk back in the room.

Day 2 of the World Series of Poker Event #2 has been underway for about an hour and a half now. PokerStars players Greg "Fossilman" Raymer and Vaughan "sickboy6" Machado are making their way through the field. Machado started the day with about half the average stack but has managed to stay alive by picking off raises with all-in moves. He's rarely had to show down a hand, but when he did, he did it with style. Pocket aces turned into quad aces and kept sickboy6 in the hunt.

As of this moment (3:35pm), there are 81 players remaining in the field. Every remaining player is guaranteed $7,578. I'll keep this thread open for updates throughout the day on our two remaining runners.

4:00pm--Welcome to the world of bittersweet updates. Greg "Fossilman" Raymer has cashed in his first 2006 WSOP event. That is, of course, a good thing. The bad thing is, he's cashing his winner's slip now. Read: Raymer is out.

4:13pm--Well, I've always had faith in Greg Raymer's ability to put a great read on his opponent. He did it this time, pulling a decent stop-and-go from the big blind. Raymer was actually ahead with his A5 on a 446 board against his opponent's K3. Then the board ran out runner-runner diamonds to give his opponent the flush and knock Raymer out in 63rd place.

4:20pm--Vaughan "sickboy6" Machado just confused me. Actually, he just varied his style a bit and left me wondering. With what appeared to be about 30K in his stack, Marchado raised in late position for around 1/3 of his stack. Another late position opponent came over the top--enough to put Marchado all in. After some thought, Marchado mucked...either giving up a steal attempt or reading his opponent for a bigger hand. Ace-jack? Baby pair? We will never know. Regardless, Marchado is still alive and shooting for the bigger money.

4:29pm--You ever have those moments as a parent (or, if you will, a pet owner) where you look up and the baby/dog is missing. Well, sickboy6 is no dog (or baby, for that matter), but he did, as they say in South Carolina, go missing on me for a few minutes. After getting shortstacked, Marchado apparently doubled up wit A3 vs QQ and was promptly moved in an ill-timed table consolidation. That is to say, Marchado is back alive and into a new pay grade.




5:39pm--You just gotta like a guy that calls himself sickboy. Ever-smiling and apparently having a grand old time, Marchado is down to the final five tables in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Event. Play has slowed down a bit and the money gets bigger. Marchado just said, "I was up to 60,000 but got caught stealing the blinds." From a distance, you wouldn't take Marchado as a thief. To show how much I know, I'd be giving the guy respect if I were playing against him. Not to say he doesn't deserve respect (recall his quad aces from earlier this afternoon), but it's obvious Marchado isn't just hanging around and waiting to get blinded off. He now sits at about 40,000 in chips...and is still smiling.


6:11pm--Would you believe Marchado even smiled when he busted out. Yeah, the sickboy is gone, through no fault of his own. Short-stacked, he picked up pocket queens and jammed in the rest of his chips. Thing is, a player behind him had pocket aces. And that, as they say, was all she wrote.

For 37th place, Marchado earns $9,094.

Congratulations to both Raymer and Marchado for making it deep in this first open event of the World Series of Poker.

There was a day when a 1,200 player field would be considered flush with dead money. The solid pros would look at it and think, "If only every tournament could be so juicy."

So, today, there are more than 120 tables and, in another age, this might be considered a juicy field. However, when you compare Event #3 with Event #2, today's event looks like a shark tank. Whether it is the nature of Pot-Limit versus No-Limit or the fact that today's field is just stacked with top players, there is no way I would want to spend even $1,500 to play in this event.

And yet, there are more than 40 PokerStars players (W$ buy-ins and the like) battling with all the pot-limit goodness they can. I suspect today's field of players won't thin nearly as fast as yesterday's. Nonetheless, we're just getting started and about to enter the first break. Until the action starts getting hot, here are some pictures from the first couple hours of play.

Well, it's Wednesday (right?), so it must be Pot-Limit Hold'em! At this moment, Event #3 of the World Series of Poker is kicking off. Today will play host to a $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em event. We will also be following the second day of Event #2 (starting at 2pm Vegas time).

Here is a tenative list of the PokerStars players in today's field.

Allways Look
Astrolux85
Beatiful Man
Blessed
Brandon78
Buckohfive
check_kills
czarjem
-db-
dirkdigler
gaamblor
gank
jimbo322
JoeHachem
kjust
LucaPagano
LuckyLady519
LURPED
micon
Money800
NoMercy
normiesdad
nycpokerguy9
pearljam1012
Pet Monster
pokerfriend
Reddog133
Rizen
Rook
SamENole
Sdouble
shaniac
sirio11
SiVTEC
skeemer1
stevesbets
strassa2
The Shrike
TorontoToro
twin-caracas
Unassigned
Vandiesel
Vanessa4l
WhenPigsFly

Click here for WSOP EVENT #2 Day 2 Updates
----
After fourteen hours of poker, it's time to call a cease-fire until Wednesday afternoon. With fewer than 125 players remaining in Event #2, PokerStars still has some chip-slingers in the hunt. Most notably, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer sits on a $40,400 stack. Also note, Vaughan "sickboy6" Machado (a PokerStars W$ entry) is still playing with $15,300. The average stack going into tomorrow is aound $34,000. Play resumes in this event at 2pm Wednesday. Also, don't forget, more than 40 PokerStars players will be playing in Event #3 ($1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em) on Wednesday, as well.

If you missed any of the coverage from today, feel free to look back on these entries.

PokerStars Blog hits the WSOP
World Series of Poker Event #2 begins
Underestimations on the number of WSOP Event #2 entrants
Event #2 Mini Update
Event #2 Dinner break
In the groove (a look at some oddities)
Late night updates

With a cheer that echoed over the Nevada mountains, 270 players from the 2776-player event became the first people to cash in an open event of the 2006 WSOP.

It came with no small amount of trepidation. Fellow blogger Craig Cunningham just told me he met two people who made it into the money with no more than three chips in their hand. Even better, one of those players mucked aces pre-flop in his bid to make it into the money.

The team from PokerStars has a number of people who survived to make it into the cash. Isabelle Mercier, Greg Raymer, Vaughan "sickboy6" Machado, Jason "strassa2" Strasser, and several other people flying the PokerStars flag are now playing to make it to the big cash.

(UPDATE)

We're about to play two more levels before breaking for the night (and by we, I mean the people playing cards--not me). Here are some chip counts from PokerStars players I've been watching tonight:

Jason "strassa2" Strasser: 26,000
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer: 35,000
Vaughan "sickboy6" Machado: 7,000
Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier 12,000
Bruce Yamron (a PokerStars friend): 10,000 (down from a high of 20,000 after getting cracked set under set)

When the next level begins, players will be playing at 600/1200 with a 200 ante.

12:00am: Well, as tends to happen in the poker world, things have taken a turn for the worse. Isabelle Mercier, who had narrowly survived a bubble bust-out, has now exited the tournament. Greg Raymer, who was cruising with one of the larger stacks, has apparently doubled up someone. Raymer's stack now sits a little above 10,000. However, with the morning hours comes faith. Jason "strass2" Strasser is no slough to be sure. The Duke University student has played online and in Europe for some time. However, this is the first year he's been old enough to play in the WSOP. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out, then, that this is Strasser's first WSOP event EVER. So, it's gotta be nice to have a nice stack and a good potential to make Day 2 of this event, eh?

12:44am--With one level left to play this morning, I'm pleased to report that Greg Raymer is feeling much better. Tuan Le came in for a raise from late position and Raymer (in the blinds with about 16K in his stack) pushed all in. Le thought for a while before calling.

Funny thing: Raymer had just said a few minutes earlier, he didn't want to go into tomorrow short-stacked. He said he'd rather play tomorrow's event than go into Day 2 of Event #2 with a short stack. Maybe that made Le's decision to call with A3 event easier. What's more, Le was ahead of Raymer's QJ.

However, as Raymer said, "If it took you that long to call, I know I'm not that far behind."

A jack on the turn doubled Raymer up and gave him the chips to keep playing his game.

1:11am--The reporting of good news, I've decided, is akin to talking about a rush. Or talking about Fight Club. Just as surely as Raymer doubled up, he got cut in half and is basically back where he started before the Le double-up. In other bad news, it appears Jason Strasser has headed to the tournament payout line. Still, for his first WSOP event ever, it's quite an accomplishment to make the top 170 out of 2776. Nice work, Jason.

1:23am--Okay. Let me begin by saying that this is in no way good news (see previous update). That said, Greg Raymer just flopped a set against Eric Froelich's AK and doubled up. Now, Raymer is better off than he was AFTER the Le double-up. That is all.

If you've never been to the World Series of Poker, or if you've only experienced the pre-Rio years, the madness that surrounds an event of this size (the only bigger one was last year's main event), would likely surprise you. Nearly-naked women are around every corner and make every effort to shove their respective products in your hands. Wads of cash are tossed about like hot potatoes. Miracle four-outers seem to hit at a freqency that makes them seem less like miracles and more like the mass-produced efforts of sweatshop workers.

And yet, for anyone who was here last year, it all seems--if I can say this without losing my Reality Club membership--normal. After about ten minutes, the circus that surrounds this huge event is like wallpaper in your parents' house. It may be loud and sometimes obnoxious, but, after a while, you stop noticing it. After all, this is not about the circus. This is not about the lion-tamers and the recently-tamed. This is about the cards, the chips, and the millions that will be won and lost over the next six weeks.

Still, you can't help but notice the little eccentricities in the room. There's the goth guy with spikes sticking from his wrists. There is a Milwaukee's Best tent set up to look like a combination of a man's play room and a garage. There is a girl hawking credit cards with Chris Moneymaker's picture on them.

It's almost enough to draw one's attention away from the fact that Event #2 of the WSOP drew more than 500 alternates. That's right. This event drew 2776 people--more than any other WSOP event except the 2005 main event. That is, in a word, incredible. The winner of this event is going to take home more than $700,000 for a $1,500 buy-in. There have been greater returns on an investment, but rarely do investments involve so much fun.

***

As the hour grows late (at least late for a guy who usually wakes up on the east coast), I find myself fascinated with the solution to last year's bathroom woes. The lines for the men's room last year were insane. This year, Harrah's has brought in what some people are calling porta-johns. In fact, they are more like...I dunno. Charter buses? Trailer homes? Neither is correct. I can only attest that they are nicer than most rest rooms a man will find in a time of need.

***

It's now time to head back into the tournament room and see how much closer we are to the money. With such big sums at stake for the final table players, I think even a 270th place finish might be disappointing for some folks. However, with six weeks and more than 40 events to go, any win is a good win.

Until a little later, here are some snaps of people proudly flying the PokerStars flag.

Indeed, it's 8pm on the west coast and 11pm on the east coast. That's not to mention the sun is about to come up in western Europe. Here at the World Series of Poker, however, we're in the middle of the day. Players are returning from their dinner break to start battling to stay alive until the money.

If you're just logging on, however, here's where we have been so far today:

PokerStars Blog hits the WSOP
World Series of Poker Event #2 begins
Underestimations
Mini Update
Dinner break

I have been remiss as a blogger can be. All of this talk today of the thousands of people playing in the first open event, and not one--not one!--mention of Team PokerStars' Isabelle Mercier.

As it turns out, the lovely poker pro has been in a bit of a disguise today. She's been heard to lament, "Nobody recognizes me."

Consider my oversight rectified.

In other news, the official numbers are in and they are big. The total number of runners in Event #2 of the WSOP: 2776. The top 270 players will get paid.

Confirmed to still be alive in today's event: Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, Micon, Jason "strassa2" Strasser, and a few others who have yet to give up their true identities.

A little more than 450 players remain. Players are currently on a dinner break and will resume play shortly after 8pm.

We'll be back then, too.

Finally, we have reached what seems to be something resembling normalcy. Event #2 of the World Series of Poker has thinned out enough to allow some cash games, satellites, and side tournaments to run. Make no mistake, though. The field is still huge and finding your friendly neighborhood poker players is no easy task.

While it is a duty I do not relish, I do need to report some exits. Chris Moneymaker and Alex Jacob have departed. This quote does not come from Jacob, but someone who knows him:

"Some donkey made a terrible call. Alex had 15 outs twice, but didn't get there."

Scottjf8, apparently a popular guy (if my referral logs are any indication), also is readying himself for a trip home to see his baby. With a stack of around 800, the blinds forced him to jam in early position with a pair of red kings. A late position opponent called with AQ. The board ran out four clubs to give his opponent a flush. No worries, though,as scottjf8 will be back for the main event.

In good news, Jason "strassa2" Strasser has been riding his normal rollercoaster and at the last break had around 11,500 in chips at the 100/200 level. Greg Raymer has also been busting players and staying in the game.

I'm going back out to look for my many needles still in the haystack.

As I elbowed my way through the crowds, poker hostesses, schwag vendors, and looky-loos, I ran into a friend. As he munched on a plate of french fries, he said, "I think I'm almost in."

Two blind levels had passed and my friend was alternate #378 (or somewhere in that neighborhood). And, yes, he was "almost in."

The early word (no relation to the early bird) was that the event was capped at 2,200, including alternates. The field has obviously grown much, much larger. It now appears, three hours into the event, we have finally reached the cap. Exactly what that cap is still remains to be reported.

The degree of "needle in the haystack" searching is more than I can properly express. It took me three trips through the room to find the ever-recognizable Terrence Chan. As it turned out, he was sitting near the rail, but not yet on it. Knowing Terrence, he won't be on the rail any time soon. For those who don't know him, Terrence went deep in several events last year and looks to do even better this year.

In the early going, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer cracked an opponent's ace's with trip-nines. As reported earlier, Steve Paul-Ambrose made an early exit. Scottjf8 was quick to report he was short-stacked, but happy to have his picture taken earlier. Other PokerStars players and W$ entries sat among the throngs, raking as many pots as they could find.

Below the din, you can hear the whispers.

"Greg Raymer is at my table. Seriously."
They are words hastily spoken into cell phones or spoken softly as players have one last smoke before the cards go in the air.

"There's Moneymaker."
Above the din, the announcement comes. This event, the 2006 WSOP Event #2, a $1,500 no-limit hold'em affair, is the biggest non-main event ever. The official numbers are still to come, but every table is full and the alternates are pacing the hallways like lions at the tail end of a two-month hunger strike.

To be sure, the room is stacked. Pick a poker pro and it is likely he or she is here. It seems nothing can keep people away. The threat of being the 199th alternate and entering the tournament at the 100/200 level with 1,500 in chips is not stopping people. And nothing is stopping the chips from moving. Before I had time to take the first picture I saw quad queens crack pocket aces.

And, I'm sad to report, the first Team PokerStars departure was none other than Steve Paul-Ambrose. Through a smile he said something about his opponent holding 4-5 suited in clubs.

This figures to be a very long day. Although it is a three day event, weeding through this 2,200 player field (enough to make room for tomorrow's event) means we'll be here late tonight.

To get things started, here are a few pictures of Team PokerStars players from around the room. I'll be back with more later.

Dear readers,

I won't say it slipped my mind, because it didn't. The subject was on the tip of my tongue (now planted firmly in my cheek) so many times, but I never felt like the time was the right to bring it up. There were other things going on. The World Cup of Poker was basking in the limelight. Plus, I never caught the look in your eye--the one that says you're ready to listen. Now, at this late hour, perhaps it's a little late to tell you that I have moved into a hotel and will be spending the forseeable future with a few thousand other people who are a lot like me.

Don't forget to feed the dog,
Otis

Okay, okay. It's early and I'm feeling a little loopy. It's 9:30am in Las Vegas and there is a man growling in the hotel room next to mine. I have little doubt he is one of the 2200 people registered in Event #2 of the World Series of Poker. I have little doubt he is going through some primal morning ritual that will prepare him for the long day ahead.

In all seriousness, new rules and regulations about press coverage of the World Series of Poker made me unsure whether the PokerStars Blog would be able to provide coverage of the WSOP this year. However, after a walkthrough of the WSOP tournament area last night, it appears all is well.

And well it should be. All night last night, I heard players grousing because they showed up late and were too late to register for the Event #2 ($1500 No-Limit Hold'em). If the numbers I've heard are correct, Harrah's capped the buy-ins at 2,200 people (including alternates).

I played in this very event last year. I remember the crowd's excitement as the first open event of the year kicked off. By the dinner break, the more than 2,200 players had dwindled to less than five hundred. To be sure, the carnage was quick and relatively painless.

As you may be aware, PokerStars has allowed it players to buy into selected WSOP events with their W$. These players, along with the other members of Team PokerStars, will be my focus for the forseeable future. That is, if a PokerStars player is playing in an event, it will be my mission to make sure you know how they are doing.

Today, the following PokerStars players will be fighting it out against a couple thousand other hopefuls:

ACESEDAI
ahh_snap
Allways Look
Astrolux85
Axinar
Beatiful Man
bebopalula
BeL0WaB0Ve
Blessed
BodogAri
Brandon78
Brett Favre
BTSMOOTH
Buckohfive
Bxf6
croth8
-db-
dirkdigler
DirtyTowel
eddy81
ElkY
Enecoman
Floyd1479
FossilMan
gaamblor
gank
gromalomus
gyndok
Hovanky
isuck123
jethro
jimbo322
JoeHachem
Johnster
KarlSpakler
KFKYF
LucaPagano
LuckyLady519
matt20
mattg1983
meggo7
micon
mm-nh
Money800
muck3
NoMercy
nycpokerguy9
oldcoyote1
OzGary
paulstl
Pet Monster
PickyTooth
pokerfriend
pokertrip
pologuy64
Quagmire79
Rich_Fish
Richfngr
Rizen
RomeRose
SamENole
Sandrine
scgolfer
scottjf8
shaniac
Sickboy6
sirio11
SiVTEC
skeemer1
solid808
Soonline
soundgarden4
stevejpa
stevesbets
strassa2
t soprano
TigerScream
TorontoToro
twin-caracas
Unassigned
USDLAW
Vandiesel
Vanessa4l
vogman42
WhenPigsFly
xmrstyle

The action kicks off at noon Vegas time. I'll be back with pictures and hopefully a story or two shortly after we get started.

Oh, and, seriously, don't forget to feed the dog.

Four times a year, PokerStars likes to offer a bigger buy-in to its players in the Sunday Million. This weekend was the second time for the $1,050 buy-in event, and it did not disappoint. The players didn't cut a deal and the winner walked away with more than $260,000! Here are this week's final table results.

PokerStars Sunday Million Final Table Results

1. FlopSpanker (London, United Kingdom) $262,151.50
2. chaos183 (Vienna, Austria) $161,974.50
3. Bry23 (Marlborough, MA) $98,355.60
4. ulk3g (Roma, Italy) $76,108.50
5. 10Gunman (Norway) $63,098.50
6. TORPEDOS (San Jose, Costa Rica) $50,218.60
7. mullett (Houston, TX) $38,379.50
8. Erland (Denmark) $28,622.00
9. ROXY24 (Brantford, ON, Canada) $18,214.00

2006 WSOP Coverage and Results and Coverage

Main Event Coverage


PokerStars Main Event Winners

WSOP PokerStars Photo Gallery

Player Profiles

Day 1A Coverage

Day 1B Coverage

Day 1C Coverage

Day 1D Coverage

Day 2A Coverage

Day 2B Coverage

Day 3 Coverage

Day 4 Coverage

Day 5 Coverage

Day 6 Wrap-up

Day 7 Wrap-up

Final Table Wrap-up

2006 WSOP Team Blog

2006 WSOP Payout Structure

Preliminary Event Coverage

Event #2 ($1,500 NL Hold'em)

Event #3 ($1,500 PL Hold'em)

Event #4 ($1,500 Hold'em)

Event #5 ($2,500 Short-Handed NL Hold'em)

Event #6 ($2,000 NL Hold'em)


Event #7 ($1,500 Limit Hold'em

Event #8 ($2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo)

Event #9 ($5,000 NL Hold'em)

Event #10 ($1,500 Seven-Card Stud)

Event #11 ($5,000 Omaha Hi-Lo)

Event #12 ($1,500 Limit Hold'em)

Event #13 ($2,500 No-Limit Holdem)

Event #14 ($1,000 rebuy)

Event #15 ($1,000 Ladies event)

Event #16 ($10,000 PL Omaha)

Event #17 ($1,000 NL Hold'em)

Event #18 ($2,000 PL Hold'em)

Event #19 ($1,000 Seniors event)

Event #20 ($50,000 HORSE)

Event #21 ($2,500 short-handed)

Event #22 ($2,000 no-limit hold'em)

Event #23 ($3,000 Limit Hold'em)

Event #24 ($3,000 Omaha 8/b)

Event #25 ($2,000 NL Hold'em Shootout)

Event #26 ($1,500 PL Omaha)

Event #27 ($1,500 NL Hold'em)

Event #28 ($5000 7-card Stud)

Event #29 ($2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em)

Event #30 ($5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shorthanded)

Event #31 ($2,000 NL Hold'em)

Event #32 ($5,000 PL Hold'em)

Event #33 ($1,500 Razz)

Event #34 ($1,000 NL Hold'em rebuy)

Event #35 ($1,000 7-stud hi-lo)

Event #36 ($1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout)

Event #37 ($1,500 No-Limit Hold'em)

Event #38 ($5,000 NL 2-7 Lowball re-buy)

Other Coverage

2006 WORLD SERIES OF POKER PRIMER

PokerStars 2006 WSOP Goody Bags
PokerStars has a sweet pad

Bluffed by a pro

Faces of the World Series: djslash

Faces of the World Series: Assani Fisher and dananddan

Barry Tanenbaum gives advice for free

Everything you need to know about Joe (Hachem)

Scenes from a hospitality suite (Barry Greenstein and Wil Wheaton on HORSE)

Thoughts from a hospitality suite (in search of the Internets)

Inside the PokerStars Hospitality Suite with Wil Wheaton

Oh, Mercy Mercy Me (language lessons with Isabelle Mercier)

What a Long Strange Trip It's Been (a conversation with Jon "pokertrip" Friedberg)

Being Barry Greenstein

Caught Beneath the Landslide in a Champagne Supernova

El juego insano (inside the WSOP cash games with Fossilman)

Under Pressure: The Main Event Looms

Inviting John Duthie to Play Pai Gow

Barry Greenstein: Poker player, father, golfer

Please see the links below for an index of live final coverage of the PokerStars World Cup of Poker III

PokerStars World Cup of Poker III Heat 1
PokerStars World Cup of Poker III Heat 2
PokerStars World Cup of Poker III Heat 3
PokerStars World Cup of Poker III Heat 4
PokerStars World Cup of Poker III Heat 5
PokerStars World Cup of Poker III Final Updates
PokerStars World Cup of Poker III Champions

PokerStars World Cup of Poker III Photo Gallery
PokerStars World Cup of Poker III Bios

Poland were the favourite team of many neutrals following this event, a group of friends from small town Poland, who knew each other by being active in their country's small poker community. They had a smile on their faces, a drink in their hands, as they keenly followed each and every hand of this poker tournament. Nice lads, yes, but excellent poker players too. Their team never won a heat to reach the final, yet played consistently well, earned their points through five top four finishes, and then put in a great performance at the final table. Many neutrals might also claim the best team won.

Team Poland's supporters, always ready to cheer their team from the stands.
Team USA will be disappointed to be runners up, they too played well, and their captain's exciting, aggressive, poker style won them many chips. And perhaps his team mates would not be surprised when the cards were turned over in that final hand, and he showed 6 3 offsuit? Perhaps another player would fold A6 to an all-in re-raise, but Team Poland's player judged it right.

Poland's Philip Hilm said, "None of these guys have played a big tournament before but they were very consistent and performed well. Everyone made a contribution but it took a great final call by Jacek to clinch victory. The USA were playing very aggressively and he read the situation perfectly."

It's been a great tournament here in Barcelona. I never did get to go to the beach, so sorry, still no picture of me in my bikini. I can go to a beach any day of the week, but I'm never again going to get my photo taken by the team who claimed the World Cup of Poker 2006. Congratulations Team Poland!


Team Poland the winners of the World Cup of Poker 2006

The PokerStars World Cup of Poker has been televised by BAFTA award winning TV production company Sunset&Vine for future broadcast. I hope you'll be able to view this exciting poker tournament on TV soon. This blogger's signing off now. Just a few quick 'thank yous' before I go. Thanks to Neal Stoddart for the photos, Steve C for spreadsheet adding up stuff, Drew for desperate airport IT support, Brad and Howard for great blogging advice, and Mark/Matt/PokerStars for letting me come to Barcelona and take over the blog for a few days. It was brilliant.

6.31pm The WCP final is about to begin, about 30 minutes later than scheduled, but have you ever known a poker tournament that starts on time? Team Captains have selected who will start for their countries. Taking their seats at the final table now are:

USA - Dave Smith
Canada - Isabelle Mercier
Israel - Aliza Broude
Poland - Philip Hilm

Isabelle Mercier plays for Team Canada

6.37pm The WCP Final begins. The players have 25,000 starting chips and blinds are 50 100 so there'll be a lot of play.

7.10pm The blinds go up to 100/200. Not much movement of the chips as yet, current chip counts:

USA - 27,900
Poland - 25,000
Israel - 24,300
Canada - 22,600

7.26pm Biggest pot of the tournament so far goes to Isabelle Mercier. I missed the early stages of the hand, but she re-raised all-in on a 10 high flop. Dave from Team USA folded. The Team Canada player took the 9,500 pot.

7.31pm A big pot goes to Poland. Philip bets 300 on a flop of K J 6. Isabelle calls. The turn is a 7, the Polish player checks. Isabelle bets 1200. The Team Poland player immediately re-raises another 2500. Isabelle calls. The river is a 4. Philip bets 1500. Isabelle calls, and mucks when Philip shows J 7 for two pair.


Dave Smith starts the game for Team USA

7.52pm At the end of level 2 three teams decide to make changes. Team Poland bring on Andrzej Skawinski, Israel bring to the table Teddy Tuil, and Canada replace Isabelle Mercier with Captain Aaron Haw. Doctor Dave of Team USA is the only player remaining of those who started the final.


Aliza Broude of Team Israel, replaced at the end of Level 2

7.55pm Current chip counts:

Poland - 39,200
Canada - 25,650
Israel - 21,800
USA - 13,350

Blinds are now 150 300.

7.59pm Team USA's Dave and Poland's Andrzej see a flop, it's 8 7 4, two clubs. The Polish player checks, Dave bets 1200 the Pole calls. The turn is a King, both players check. The river is an 8, Dave bets 3000, Andrzej raises 8000. Dave makes a great call, he shows Q 7. The Polish player was bluffing with 9 5. Dave takes the 9,500 pot.

8.02pm Team USA win another big pots. A raise of 800 from Poland was called by Israel and the USA. On a 4 2 9 flop Dave bets and wins a pot of around 6000. Team USA coming back into the game.

8.07pm Dave Smith of the USA takes down a 19,500 pot from Team Poland. Andrzej of Poland tried to bluff the pot, but was called by Dave who held 8s and 7s for two pair.

8.13pm Teddy Tuil of Israel raises to 800, Aaron from Canada calls. On the flop of 8 10 J the Canadian bets 900, Teddy re-raises 2400. Aaron quickly folds. As the 5000 pot is pushed to the Israeli player he shows an 8.

8.17pm On the river, with a board of low cards Teddy Tuil and Andrzej from Poland raise and reraise. The young Pole makes a good call. Teddy had 5 8 and had hit a 5. Team Poland's player held 9s and took the 8,300 pot.


Andrzej Skawinski of Team Poland

8.23pm Israel's Teddy Tuil raises to 600, he's called by the Polish player. The flop was 5 9 2, two clubs. Andrzej checks, Teddy bets 2000. The Pole re-raises to 6,000. He's called by Teddy Tuil. The turn is a 7. Andrzej bets 8000, setting the Israel player all-in. Teddy Tuil considers for a minute, then calls. He turns over A 5, just a pair of fives. Andrzej shows 5 7 for two pair. The river doesn't help Teddy and Team Israel are out of the tournament. Andrzej comment on the hand, "I think he thinks I was bluffing, as I bluffed him in the hand earlier."


Teddy Tuil for Team Israel, smiling before Israel's 4th place exit in the WCP final

8.35pm Players are now on a dinner break. When they return Team USA will be forced to replace their player Dave Smith who has played the maximum 90 minutes for his team.

9.36pm Play is about to resume, I'll have chip counts for you in a moment. I just had a chat with Teddy Tuil, Israel's player who went out in the last hand before the break. "Was it a bad call?" He asked me. I respect Teddy greatly, and his play in Heat 2 was outstanding, it is hard for me to comment. Teddy pointed out, "If he hadn't hit he would have made the same play." It is true that when Teddy comitted most of his chips on the flop he was ahead... "Anyway, we did our best" Teddy said.

9.45pm Blinds are 200 400 after the dinner break. Chip counts are:

Poland - 44,300
USA - 30,100
Canada - 25,600
4th Israel

Tom McEvoy in shades is Team USA's new player.


Tom McEvoy takes charge of Team USA's chips

10.01pm Aaron of Canada raise to 1,200. Tom McEvoy calls. On the flop of J 6 3 Aaron checks. Tom bets 1,500. The Canadian player calls. The turn is a 5, which doesn't look like a meaningful card. Aaron bets 2500, Tom-reraises to 7,500. Aaron folds quickly. The USA wins a 15,400 pot.

10.11pm A big pot involving Canada and Poland. Andrzej of Team Poland raises to 1200, the Canadian player calls. The flop is 7 8 5. Poland checks, Aaron the Canadian player bets 1200. The Pole calls. The turn is a 5. Andrzej checks, Aaaron bets 3,100, he's quickly re-raised 8,000 by the Polish player. The Canadian calls. The river is a 9. A check by Poland. A 5000 bet by Canada. Andrzej calls. Aaron shows 6 8 for a straight. Andrzej has three 5s. A pot of over 20,000 for Team Canada.


Aaron Haw Team Canada's captain.

10.18pm At the end of level 4 there are two team changes. Jacek Ladny now plays for Poland, Christopher Comely replaces Canada's Captain.

Chip Counts are:

Canada - 44,400
USA - 31,900
Poland - 21,700
4th Israel

Blinds are up to 300 600.

10.23pm I missed the earlier betting details, but Tom McEvoy sets Poland's Jacek Ladny all in with the cards showing K 6 Q 7. Jacek calls. Tom has a queen, just second pair. The Polish player has K 7. He hits another King on the river for a full house. Team Poland double up, they're on around 40,000 chips now.

10.29pm A raise of 1,600 by Tom McEvoy, Canada's player calls. K 3 A the flop. Ryan checks for Canada. Team USA's player bets 2500. It's called by Ryan. The turn a Queen of hearts. Canada bets 4,000. Tom goes all-in for 9,800. Canada folds, the pot goes to the USA.

10.33pm On a flop of Q 3 3 there's a bet by Poland, a re-raise by Canada. Canada are all-in. Poland calls. Christopher Canada's player holds K Q. Poland's Jacek turns over A A. No improvement for Team Canada. They're out of the WCP final in 3rd place.

Approximate chip counts, we're now heads up:

Poland - 75,000
USA - 25,000
3rd Canada
4th Israel

10.46pm On a flop of 9 Q K, Jacek's bet of 1000 is called by Tom. The turn an Ace. Both players check. The river an 8. Tom McEvoy bets 2000, Poland calls. Tom shows 10 Jack, he flopped the straight. Jacek mucks.

10.49pm Blinds about to go up to 400 800. Here's current chip positions:

Poland - 67,100
USA - 32,900

10.50pm Team USA replace Tom McEvoy with Joe Harwell their captain.

10.56pm Joe calls on the small blind, Jacek raises 2,200. Joe calls. The flop is 7 4 3. Jacek bets 3,000, Joe re-raises to 7,000. Jacek folds. USA takes the pot.

11.01pm. We have a winner. Joe of Team USA calls on the small blind, Jacek of Poland raises 2,000. Joe re-raises all-in. The Pole has the USA player covered, Jacek takes only a moment to call. The Polish player turns over Ace 6 of spades. Joe of Team USA shows 6 3. The 6 in Jacek's hand not good for him. The flop of 5 Q 4, with two spades, gives both players something. A straight draw for Joe, a flush draw for Jacek. The turn a 9, the river a 4, no flush or straight hits, Jacek wins it with his Ace.

Team Poland celebrate their victory in the World Cup of Poker 2006.

Team Captains have considered their teams, and from their 5 available players selected the 3 players that will represent their countries in the World Cup of Poker Final today.

Team Canada

Canada's captain has picked himself. Trevor Diks who won Heat 4 has, a little surprisingly, been dropped. Team Canada's players in the final are :

Aaron Haw
Christopher Ryan Comely
Isabelle Mercier

Team Canada. Top row, from left: Michael Croft, Trevor Diks, Aaron Haw Bottom row: Isabelle Mercier, Christopher Comely
Team USA

No surprises in Team USA's selections. To play today:

Tom McEvoy
Joe Harwell
Dave Smith


Team USA. Top row: Phil Myers, Tom McEvoy, Michael Elbert Bottom row: Dave Smith, Joe Harwell

Team Poland

Team Poland's captain is 'on the bench' and he's picked:

Jacek Ladny
Philip Hilm
Andrzej Skawinski


Team Poland. Top row: Jacek Ladny, Andrzej Skawinski, Philip Hilm Bottom Row: Marcin Meinardi, Marcin Doliwa
Team Israel

Perhaps a surprising choice for Team Israel is Aliza Broude, she never had chips in Heat 4, but they trust in her today. Captain Martin Segal selects:

Teddy Tuil
Aliza Broude
Boaz Lavie


Team Israel. Top row: Klemi Hagag, Teddy Tuil, Boaz Lavie Bottom row: Aliza Broude, Martin Segal

The Teams of Canada, USA, Israel and Poland will all have one thing on their mind today; will the casino buffet have that nice lobster again..? Sorry. I was trying to joke about this, but the truth is all the teams in Barcelona are serious about this event, about wanting to win. They're probably not that bothered about the buffet truth be told, although the lobster was very good. I spoke to a few of the eliminated teams yesterday, and none of them will be playing a Sit and Go as the final table plays. The World Cup of Poker means the world to everyone here, even though the rest of the poker community might be more interested in some silly soccer cup.

Each team has five players who have each done their best to play outstanding poker and win points for their country. Now only three of their number will take a seat at the final table. Each country's captain must select his three best players, and decide how and when to use them in an intriguing tag team tournament. The tactics involved in this game will add an interesting dimension to this event.

If you're not familiar with the tag team format I'll do my best to explain it. The captains must select three players, and substitute the starting player before the end of level 3. The new player will sit down and take over their team's chips, and can be substituted again any time before the end of level 6. Each player can be used for a maximum of 1 hour 30 minutes; so a captain could play someone for the first hour of the game, then bring them back for half an hour later in the game. Three players from each team must be used. These tactical decisions will not be easy for the captains, but it should make it an interesting game for spectators.

My only experience of Tag Team tournaments is when my boyfriend partnered PokerStars blogger Howard Swains in a game. Howard lost all the pairs chips in the very first hand he played, Howard must understand the pressures of playing for a team more than most. I'm sure he shouldn't worry, these things happen, and there's never any shame in going out playing good poker, and with the best hand. Howard had Jack Ten, I'm not sure he'd hit the flop...

I hope no one today make a mistake that costs their team, and there are some great players starting in todays final. If they play Jack Ten at all I'm sure they'll play it right.

Here's a reminder of what the teams can win today. All this prize money is provided by PokerStars. Hope they know they're paying my mini-bar bill too...

1st prize - $100,000 ($20,000 per player)
2nd - $50,000 ($10,000 per player)
3rd - $30,000 ($6,000 per player)
4th - $20,000 ($4,000 per player)

What these players are all hoping to win is the first place trophy. On admiring this Israel's captain, Martin, pointed out that he hopes they get the stand too, as this light's up the cut glass trophy. I hope so too.

This might make a nice table lamp for someone...

Here's a recap of the teams playing. I'll bring you further team news as soon as I get it.

Team Canada

With 3 wins in the heats for Canada player selection could be easy for Team Canada, expect winners Isabelle Mercier, Trevor Diks, and Christopher Comely to play for Canada. I don't think Canada's captain Aaron Haw will pick himself to play.

Team USA

The USA had a 1st and 2nd in Heats 1 and 2, with players Joe Harwell and Dave Smith doing well for their teams. I'd expect these two to be picked for the USA. Joe Harwell possibly wins the 'most agressive player of the week' award, he's an exciting player to watch. Dave, the winner in Heat 2 is a more solid player, he won't make any mistakes. I'd be surprised if Team USA didn't pick Tom McEvoy as their third choice, it's hard to turn down the chance to field a former World Champion.

Team Poland

Team Poland didn't win any heats but had top 4 finishes in all games. With all players putting in impressive performances it's hard to pick who Team Poland will field today. I'd expect Philip Hilm to play, the experienced pro played well in Heat 5 yesterday, without actually needing to win the heat. It's likely Marcin Meinardi the captain will also pick himself. Jacek Ladny showed a lot of class in his heat, and was unlucky to play with Isabelle Mercier on his left and Tom McEvoy on his right, this perhaps stifled his play.

Team Israel

Team Israel have Teddy Tuil's experience to call upon, he dominated his heat and was unlucky to finish second. The wily Israeli must be one of the best players of this tournament. Youngster Klemi Hagag may be a surprise choice for Israel, the teenager played well and beat every player in the competition - in the freeroll tournament on the first day. I'm still not sure how he's going to get his poker table prize back to Israel. Boaz Lavie is a top online player, but we've seen little of his poker skills in this event as he was out first in Heat 3. Team Israel may hope Boaz shows us more of his skills today, but Captain Martin Segal may pick himself instead.

Team Canada won Heat 5 of the WCP making a remarkable 3 wins in the 5 heats for the Canadian Team, they must be confident of their chances in tomorrow's Tag Team final.

Christopher Comely, the winner of Heat 5 of the WCP

Here's the final points table after 5 heats of poker. Congratulations to the top 4 teams who will progress to the final - Canada, Poland, USA and Israel.

 TEAM        Heat 1     Heat 2     Heat 3     Heat 4     Heat 5  Points
1 Canada       8th         5th         1st        1st      1st       51
2 Poland       4th         3rd         3rd        4th      2nd       44 
3 USA          2nd         1st         4th        8th      4th       42  
4 Israel       3rd         2nd         7th        3rd      7th       34  
5 Brazil       1st         7th         6th        6th      3rd       32   
6 England      7th         4th         2nd        5th      6th       24      
7 Ireland      5th         6th         8th        2nd      8th       22  
8 Iceland      8th         4th         5th        7th      5th       21

There'll be more coverage of the WCP tomorrow on PokerStars blog, it begins at 6pm CET, that's 12 ET.

4.12pm The final heat of the WCP begins. I'll bring you all the news as it happens. Blinds are 50 100 for 30 minutes, players start on 5000 chips.

The players of Heat 5

4.36pm The first team secure their place in the WCP final.... Ireland's Niall McNamara goes all in with top two pair on the flop, Queens and 9s, but there are three spades there too. Brynjar from Team Iceland holds a flush and calls. The Irish player is out in 8th place. This result also guarantees that Canada are assured of a top 4 finish. Ireland finish on 22 points and won't be in the final.


Niall McNamara of Team Ireland, first out in Heat 5

4.38pm Isabelle Mercier's happily asking what time the final starts tomorrow. Her captain must have told her she's picked to play...

4.43pm Team England's Derek is all-in with AK vs Team Brazil's AT. The board is J Q 5 4 T. A straight on the river for the English player, a double up for this player who knows he has to gamble a little to finish top 2 in this game.

4.49pm Team England very shortstacked now, having lost a pot to Team Iceland. Derek looks to be on around 2000 chips.

4.58pm No significant movements of chips. The Team Canada player, with nothing now to play for, seems to be having fun. He bluffs a big pot and shows 2 3os.

5.08pm Derek from Team England goes all-in with a flush draw and overcards on a raggy flop. He holds KJ of clubs. He's called by Team Iceland's player who holds 99. Derek hits a Jack on the river to stay in the game. Looks like he has about 6000 chips now...

5.12pm This is a fun game. The Icelandic and Canadian players have nothing to play for and are bossing the table. Team England know that only a win will do. The tactics in this game are intriguing... Hope to have chip counts for you in a minute.

Here's your chip counts:

Iceland - 13,050
Poland - 7,620
England - 4,750
Brazil - 4,560
USA - 3,980
Canada - 3,060
Israel - 2,980
8th Ireland

5.33pm Derek from Team England is all-in with QK, top pair on a King high flop. He's called by Team Canada's Christopher, who has T 4, and a heart flush draw. The turn gives the Canadian the flush. Team England hand over 2,360 chips to the Canadians. Derek's still in it, but needs a double up soon.

5.37pm Ireal's Martin Segal goes all in for 2040 chips. He's called by Poland's Philip Help. Philip has AQ. Martin has AA. Nothing special on the board, but Martin's smiling at a double up.

5.44pm England are all-in again. Derek has 99 this time. The Icelandic player with a big pile of chips calls with 34os. The flop is 5 6 8 - giving the Icelandic player an open ended straight draw. Team England look concerned... But survive, and Derek gets his double up.


Derek 'Purr of Aces' Morris - Team England

6.08pm Players are back from a break. Here are their chip counts:

Iceland - 10,120
Canada - 7,120
England - 6,460
Israel - 4,480
Brazil - 4,160
Poland - 4,080
USA - 3,280
8th Ireland

6.32pm It's all gone a bit quiet here. The only loudness I can report is our tournament director's matching lime green tie and handkerchief. The watching fans content themselves with rearranging their team flags over the hoardings. As Team England's Derek raises and takes the blinds he motions for his team mates to cheer. They oblige with a, "Come on England!". Let's hope there's a few cheers of genuine excitement soon.

7.01pm USA's Christopher goes all-in for 1600. He's called by Derek of Team England, and also Philip Helm of Poland. The flop is 6 J A. Derek and Philip check. The turn another Ace. Derek and Philip check again. On the river another Jack. The player's check again. The all-in US player shows A3, a full house. Derek shows KK. The USA takes the pot.

7.11pm Iceland's Brynjar bets, Brazil raise all-in, to 5,400. It's 4,000 to the Iceland player to call. He does so - with T 7 os. Brazil holds K Q of clubs. A Queen on the turn and Team Brazil shout, "Thank you Iceland!" as they celebrate the double up.

7.16pm Martin from Israel goes all in with his last 1,500 chips. He's called by the Canada and England players. The board is K 5 2 T 6. The other players check it down. Martin shows AK. The Canadian player turns over 5 6, for two pair. Israel are out in 7th place. Teddy Tuil, wandering around looking upset says, "What a river."


Martin Segal of Team Israel out in 7th place

I believe Israel can still qualify, but they're relying on Brazil to go out soon...

7.21pm Teacher John from England stops by my table, "Write this quote. England's looking low but we're still confident in the man. he's doing the business."

7.25pm Derek goes all-in on the small blind with just a few chips left. He's called by the Polish player in the big blind. The Pole has 2 6. Derek likes the look of that, he has Q6. The flop 4 5 K. The turn a 10. The river a 3. An unlikely straight wins the pot for Poland. Team England (and this English Blogger) very disappointed.

7.34pm Iceland's Brynjar is out of the tournament. He goes all in and is called by Poland's Philip with 99. Brynjar has 65 and hits nothing, he's out. Just 4 teams left now.


Brynjar Valdimmarsson of Team Iceland

7.40pm Here's what these recent eliminations mean. Team's Canada, USA, and Poland are through to the WCP final. The last place will go to either Brazil or Israel. Brazil need to finish 1st or 2nd in this game. Israel are hoping they don't.

7.46pm Team USA's Phil goes all in with A9, he's called by Team Poland's Philip with AJ. The better hand wins and Team USA are out in 4th place. They're in the final tomorrow regardless.


Phil Myers of Team USA

7.53pm Players are on a dinner break, the only player of the 3 remaining with anything more than pride to play for is Raul Oliveira of Team Brazil. He must finish 1st or 2nd to overtake Team Israel and win a place in tomorrow's final.


Raul Oliveira of Team Brazil

8.00pm Chip counts are :

Canada - 21,000
Brazil - 9,800
Poland - 9,200


9.00pm Back after the break. Here's how the points are as it stands, 3 teams have points still to be decided in this heat. Canada and Poland are still playing, but know they have enough points to reach the final. 1st place awards 15 points, 2nd is 12 points, 3rd is 9. So Brazil need 1st or 2nd to put out Israel out of the top 4 places.

Canada 36 (still playing)
USA 42
Israel 34
Poland 32 (still playing)
Brazil 23 (still playing)
England 24
Ireland 22
Iceland 21

9.14pm Team Brazil are very nervous. Raul must not go out first of the three remaining players if they hope to reach the final, but he's gone all-in in 2 of the last 3 hands. His opponents folded both times. Canada and Poland lead in chips and Brazil's last all in was for just 6,400 chips. Team Brazil's player is determined to fight, and not be blinded away.

9.21pm Philip from Poland calls on the small blind. Brazil's Raul goes all-in - yet again. This time Philip calls. The Polish player has A 8. Raul has A T, his team mates hope for a double-up... The cards are 4 5 Q A 3. Brazil win the pot, and stay in the game. Team Israel don't look happy.



Philip Hilm of Team Poland


9.33pm On the button Canada raise to 2,200. Raul from Brazil looks at his cards and announces all-in, about 6,000 more. The Canadian calls and shows AJ. The Brazilian is trailing with A9. Team Brazil and Team Israel watch anxiously as the cards are dealt. Q 10 2 6 6. Brazil are out in 3rd place, and out of the World Cup of Poker.

The Israel team are shouting and laughing, they're in the final.

9.41pm Team Canada win Heat 5 of the World Cup of Poker, making it 3 wins out of the 5 heats. On a 10 high flop Poland bet, Canada raised, Poland went all-in. Philip of Poland had 10 8, Christopher called with 10 9. Canada's better kicker played and it won them this heat. I'll bring you the final team standings soon. Canada, USA, Poland and Israel will be the 4 teams in tomorrow's final.



Christopher Comely of Team Canada, the winner of Heat 5

Here are the players lining up to play Heat 5, the vital final heat which will decide who'll reach the cash prizes and chance of glory in tomorrow's final. A lot of teams decided to 'save the best till last' and field their strongest players in this game. It's sure to be an interesting heat.

Team Ireland - Niall McNamara

Niall is the top TLB qualifier for Ireland, although he chose not to take the team captaincy. A strong tournament competitor, who has live as well as online experience. He and his brother qualified for last years EPT Monte Carlo event through PokerStars.

Team Canada - Christopher Comely

Team Canada's player is a TLB qualifier for Team Canada. 'TheRedBaron' is his online name, he's a 28 year old poker pro. He has a lot of live and online experienc and his team mates tell me they think he will do very well for them today. It is a mathematical near impossibility for Team Canada not to qualify for tomorrow's final. Christopher may well want to put in a good performance to ensure he's one of the three Canadian players chosen to play the tag team event.

Team Brazil - Raul Oliveira

Raul is Brazil's celebrity player and the most highly rated player in his country. Now a tournament pro, previously a backgammon champion. He's no stranger to high pressure tournaments, his previous cash finishes include $73,230 in the Five-Star World Poker Classic $25k event.

Team USA - Phil Myers

USA's FPP qualifier is 'yellownape' on PokerStars. He's from Charlotte, North Carolina and enjoying this trip to Barcelona with his girlfriend, Linda. He's no stranger to pressure, several of USA North Carolina's qualifying matches came down to them and he was a key player. His team mates claim he's, "A rock solid player, if anything goes wrong we know he can come right back. We have tremendous confidence in him." With Team USA almost sure of qualification, Phil might be hoping to have an easy game today.

Team Poland - Philip Hilm

Team Poland's celebrity player is 35 year old Philip Hilm. Although his family background is Polish he's now based in Denmark. Philip was the 3rd place finisher in the EPT Copenhagen, winning 716,636 Kr. Two years ago Philip made a living selling coffee machines, but discovered he could earn much more money playing poker online. Just a month after taking up the game he started playing full time and making a living at online poker. He is highly confident in big buy in live events and his first ever live game was the 2005 WSOP. Team Poland are hoping that this experienced player will bring home the points they need today.

Team Israel - Martin Segal

Team Israel's captain is a civil engineer from Haifa in Israel. He's a highly experienced tournament player. Poker isn't the only game he's played as he's played bridge to a professional standard for 35 years. 'Martingales' qualified for the 2005 EPT Grand Final in a PokerStars satellite, I'm sure this big game experience will stand him in good stead. He lists computer programming and mathematics as his hobbies, and has 2 daughters and a 4 year old granddaughter. He took up online poker because it's a game that's, 'at once close to home and at the same time international.' I hope he's enjoying meeting the many teams from around the world at the WCP. When I mentioned that the top four teams will win cash prizes, Martin shook his head and said, "No, no, no, we want the cup!"

Team Iceland - Bryndjar Valdimarsson

Iceland's player knows that his team can't qualify, but still aims to finish well for Iceland of course. Bryndjar is one of Iceland's more experienced players. He's a Snooker and pool club owner who's been playing poker for 23 years. He has five children back home in Iceland.

Team England - Derek Morris

Derek 'Purr of Aces' Morris knows he has everything to do for Team England today. 'Purr' is a bookmakers assistant at various race tracks, and a keen sports fan who's hobbies include carp fishing, golf and horse racing. Derek was captain of the England team in last year's WCP when England reached the last 8 also. As well as this TLB qualifier having a great online tournament record he tells me he's won many live tournaments at his local casino, and is 'confident' of his live play. Derek has a 13 year old daughter Emily. He flew out to Barcelona on Father's Day, and here's a picture of the card she made to wish him luck. Derek says, "I would love to win this for my daughter."

A lucky card for 'Purr of Aces'?

It's the final heat of the World Cup of Poker today. The eight teams here in Barcelona have now spent four long days together, and now know each other very well. It's likely they'd be able to tell you which of their number is the best cash game player, who's a whizz at Omaha; perhaps they'd also need to know the weakest at heads up, or who'd be good to spot you ten Euros when the cash machine doesn't work? Each team has a Captain of course, and most will also know their team clown, or who's the best mentor to any of their less experienced players, and now all of them have had to find a designated mathematician.

As each player was eliminated yesterday, and the adjusted points totals written on the printed sheet on the casino wall, a crowd of players would always gather and ponder what these numbers meant to them. Most teams had someone with a piece of paper and pen, Hugo for Brazil, Tony for England, they both showed me theirs and discussed their calculations. These vital scraps of paper might not look very important, but those scribbled numbers mean everything.

As Hugo discussed his decided formula for calculating Team Brazils chances of a top four finish I didn't have my dictaphone handy. From memory it went something like this, "If we finish 1st and Poland finish 7th or 8th, and Israel don't finish in the top 3... Or if we finish 2nd but Poland don't win, and Canada outdraw's USA's aces with an inside straight on the river, and England don't get back in the game with a Michael Owen hat-trick..."

I may have got the details not quite right, but I do know that it's still very open. Teams Canada and the USA are likely to play cautiously in this heat. It needs to go badly wrong for them to fail to reach Saturday's game; where every player will win cash, and the title of Champions of the World Cup of Poker. Other teams know they have to score top points, and are likely to start the game in aggressive style. A few teams are looking for top points in this game, and also relying on other results to go their way.

Only Team Iceland are completely out of the running, with not even the 15 points of a win enough to help them reach the top 4 places. Brynjar Valdimmarsson, Iceland's player will feel less pressure than any other player today, but I'm sure he'll still want to do well for team pride. There was some jokey remarks at the bar about buying Brynjar a drink or two in the hopes he might support some other team. I'd like to point out that I have nearly three years experience in PokerStars collusion prevention team - any such tactics will be stamped on!

One thing my love of sport makes me sure of is that upsets can, and do happen. It's what makes any sport exciting. The underdog can surprise with a win, the leading team can make mistakes and find unexpected defeat. 'The only certainty is that nothing is certain,' and all that... That was Pliny, a Roman guy, not me. He must have had a bad beat or two when he came up with that one.

As I report to you today from this final heat, it's important to understand that every player's finishing position in today's heat will have a meaning for every other team. Team Mathematicians will be hard at work today, and I'll try to bring you their thoughts on the results, as well as stories of hands, and who's playing great poker for their team.

The Canadian Team are very happy tonight. Isabelle Mercier won Heat 3 earlier today, and just now team mate Trevor Diks beat Ireland to seal top points in Heat 4. He certainly played like a 'Super Genius Mouse' today. (See his player profile for an explanation of that.)

Canada celebrate their win

Someone who's clever at maths informs me that as long as Team Canada don't finish last in tomorrows heat, they will have reached the final.

Other teams are still scratching their heads and considering, 'Ifs and buts' to work out which postion they need to finish to make the top 4. Here's the table so you can do those 'Ifs and buts' yourself for your own team. One things for sure it's going to be a very exciting day tomorrow in Heat 5, the game which will decide who reaches the final of WCP 2006.

 TEAM        Heat 1     Heat 2     Heat 3     Heat 4     Heat 5  Points
4 Canada       8th         5th         1st        1st               36
1 USA          2nd         1st         4th        8th               35
2 Poland       4th         3rd         3rd        4th               32    
3 Israel       3rd         2nd         7th        3rd               32  
5 Brazil       1st         7th         6th        6th               23   
6 England      7th         4th         2nd        5th               21      
7 Ireland      5th         6th         8th        2nd               21  
8 Iceland      8th         4th         5th        7th               16

Remember it's the top 4 teams that go through to the final, and if there's a tie for points it's based on highest finishing positions.

Points up for grabs in the final heat tomorrow:

1st - 15
2nd - 12
3rd - 9
4th - 7
5th - 5
6th - 3
7th - 2
8th - 1


Trevor Diks, Team Canada's winner of Heat 4

7.06pm Heat 4 of the WCP begins.

The players of Heat 4

7.44pm A quiet first blind level, with not much play, then just as we go up to 70 140 we lose our first player. A raise preflop is called by Team USA's Michael Elbert. The flop is A 10 3, a bet by Team Brazil is re-raised by the USA player. I didn't see all the action but it seems Michael was bluffing, and went all-in with 10 8. He ran into the Brazilian's AK. Team USA finish 8th in Heat 4.


Michael Elbero of the USA - out in 8th place

8.05pm Chip count time:

Brazil 9,150
Canada 7,900
Iceland 5,390
Ireland 5,210
Poland 4,850
England 4,660
Israel 2,840
8th USA

8.22pm Dawn from Ireland just won a 2,800 pot from Team Brazil. Some wary betting on a Jack high board. On showdown Ireland had 10s and Brazil 9s.

8.38pm Team Poland only have 1250 chips. An all-in bet from Marcin Meindardi, but no one calls.

8.40pm A dinner break now. Play resumes in an hour.

9.40pm Play resumes after the break.

Chip counts:

Ireland 10,110
Brazil 8,950
Canada 7,100
Iceland 5,790
England 4,560
Israel 2,140
Poland 1,350
8th USA

9.46pm An all-in already...Israel all in with AA, called by Ireland with JJ. The aces hold up and Aliza doubles up.

9.56pm Poland's Marcin goes all-in for 1200 on the button. Iceland in the small blind goes all-in also. England in the big blind folds. Marcin has 8 4. Halldor has A Q. A 4 on the flop means Poland get a much needed double up.

10.01pm Team Poland's player goes all-in twice more, winning the blinds each time. He's now up to about 4000 chips.

10.19pm Blinds are now 200 400. There's been no significant hands for quite a bit. Something interesting usually happens when I leave the table and sit down at the computer...

10.23pm No, that didn't work. I'd better head back.

10.28pm Brazil's Jose Arenstein raises to 800. Dawn from Ireland re-raises to 1600. The Brazilian calls. The flop is 2 5 K, two hearts. Jose checks. Dawn bets 3000. Jose folds.

10.31pm Iceland's all-in bet is called by the Team Brazil player. Halldor has 44, the Brazilian KQ of clubs. The Team Brazil player hits a flush draw on the flop, but nothing more. Team Iceland double up.

10.34pm Halldo seems to like 44. He goes all-in again with this hand, he's called by Poland's Marcin who has 88. Halldo probably doesn't like 44 any more. He lost. A much needed double up for Poland.

10.44pm Aliza of Israel raises to 1200, she's called by Canada's Trevor. The flop is K T 7. Canada bets 2000, Aliza calls all-in. She has KJ. Trevor has TJ. Aliza doubles up.

10.47pm Iceland's Halldo goes all-in. He's called by Brazil's Jose Arenstein who shows AA. Halldo's KJ doesn't outdraw the aces. Halldo is our 7th place finisher.


Halldor Sverrisson of Iceland is 7th.

10.52pm Here's the latest chip counts:

Ireland 10,300
Brazil 7,900
Canada 7,400
Israel 6,400
Poland 5,800
England 2,200
7th Iceland
8th USA

10.59pm Team Canada's Trevor raises to 1800. John from Team England goes all-in. It folds round to the Canadian, it's just 1000 more to him. He calls. John has AQ, Trevor A9. The AQ wins and Team England win the chips.

11.13pm Jose Arenstein is making a few moves, showing bluffs. He's won pots from Team England and Team Israel in this way. The confident high stakes cash game player is playing well for Team Brazil.

11.23pm Team Poland are up and down in their seats, ever ready with their flag. Their player is all-in again. He has 3100 chips. Jose of Brazil calls. Marcin has QJ, Jose has 77. A Jack on the turn, a cheer from Team Poland and Marcin 'Pit Bull' Meinardi lives to fight another day.

11.32pm The players are on a break. Anthony Holden briefly hijacks PokerStars blog, to re-write my post from Heat 1. Of course he didn't call Kruel's KK all-in bet with his AK. The Brazilian player was lurking in the big blind with the monster hand. Sorry Tony! If you want to write any more hands...? Then I can get to the bar.

11.40pm Blinds up to 400 800 now. Here are the latest chip counts:

Ireland 13,600
Brazil 7,500
Poland 6,800
Canada 5,800
England 3,800
Israel 2,500
7th Iceland
8th USA

11.48pm Jose from Team Brazil raises to 2000. Israel's Aliza goes all-in. Just 500 more to the Brazilian who calls. Aliza has AK of diamonds, Jose has 77. A 7 on the flop to give Jose a set, but also two diamonds to give Aliza a flush draw. She hits the flush on the river and survives the all-in.

11.53pm England's John is all-in with A6, called by Team Brazil's player with AK. A 6 on the flop and Team England are still in the tournament.

11.55pm Brazil's Jose is out. I missed the betting details, but his 99 tangled with Dawn's KJ. The Irish player hit a flush and Team Brazil finish 6th.


Team Brazil's Jose Arenstein finished 6th

12.17am Blinds are now 600 1200, you'd expect there to be some action. There are just raises and folds so far. John, the Maths teacher from Hull lost chips when he raised to 2400, was re-raised by Dawn and folded. Team mate Andy shouted, "Show!" But neither Dawn nor John obliged.

12.24am Aliza from Israel goes all in on the button. She's called by Canada in the small blind. He has AQ, Aliza has QT. The flop of K J A gives Aliza a straight. The turn's a Q to give Trevor two pair, but the river's a 4. Aliza stays in the tournament.

12.28am Another all-in survived. This time the shortstacked Canadian player is in with AJ. Dawn on the big blind calls with J4. The Canadian doubles up, but still has very few chips.

12.34am Well just a few hands to report... English John calls Team Canada's all-in bet with AQ. The Canadian hits a set with his 10 10 leaving John with next to no chips. He goes all-in blind next hand and finds AA. He wins, but is all-in again next hand. He's ahead again with A8, but Trevor from Canada hits a flush, and sends the England player out in 5th place. A few players gather and consider points. It's likely England now need a 1st or 2nd place in Heat 5 to reach the final. Tony tells me the England Team are leaving to get drunk, then remarks, "I'm drunk already."


John Loftus of Team England is 5th
12.44am Chips:

Ireland 13,800
Israel 11,800
Poland 8,400
Canada 6,000

Blinds are 800 1600

12.55am Israel takes the chiplead. Aliza re-raises Dawn's 3200 bet. Dawn folds.

12.57am I missed the details, but hear the crowd and see Canada is all-in with AK vs Aliza's AJ. Team's Israel and Canada shout for the cards they want, there's a King on the flop, a straight draw for Aliza... The AK holds up and Canada win the chips.

1.03am Team Poland's Marcin goes all in with AJ, Team Canada calls with KK. The KK wins it and the Polish player is out 4th. Poland are still in good shape to make the final. A lot of teams will be hoping for Dawn's Ireland to take top points in this Heat, Ireland on 9 points really need a win to stand any chance at all of a top 4 finish.


Marcin Meindardi is in 4th place for Poland

1.12am Players are on a break.

As it stands now these are the team's points. To be decided this heat are the points awarded to the 3 remaining teams, Israel, Ireland and Canada. These teams will recieve 1st - 15 points, 2nd - 12 points or 3rd - 9. Please bear this in mind when you look at the points at present, which are :

USA - 35
Poland - 32
Brazil - 23
Israel - 23 (+ Heat 4 points, to be determined)
Canada - 21 (+ Heat 4 points, to be determined)
England - 21
Iceland - 16
Ireland - 9 (+ Heat 4 points, to be determined)

In the event of a tie on points highest finishing positions will be used to determine placings.

The top 4 teams reach the final, there's still some hope for all teams in tomorrow's final game.

1.24am Chip positions are:

Canada - 21,300
Ireland - 10,600
Israel - 8,200

Blinds are now 1000 2000.

1.33am Aliza getting low on chips went all in with A8, called by Team Canada with J9. The Ace high is enough to double Aliza up. It's all fairly even now, the Canadian chipleader but not by much.

1.39am Aliza raises and is re-raised by Trevor from Canada. She's put half her chips in, has to call really. She shows 10 8 of diamonds. The Canadian turns over AA. The Teams watching go crazy, Teddy Tuil shouts, "The best hand to crack aces!" Other members of Team Israel shout, "Straight!" The flop is 10 3 4. More screams for a "ten!" from Team Israel, keen to get top points in the heat. The turn is a 9, the river nothing useful for Aliza. Team Israel finish 3rd, they get 9 points for Heat 4.


Aliza of Team Israel

1.45am Bad news for Team Iceland, it's now mathematically impossible for them to finish in the top 4 and reach the final.

1.48am Chip counts:

Canada - 23,400
Ireland - 16,600

1.53am Blinds are now a hefty 1500 3000.

Our Heads up players -


Dawn Marshall of Team Ireland


Trevor Diks of Team Canada

2.01am We have a winner of Heat 4. Dawn goes all-in and is called by Trevor. Dawn turns over J9, the Canadian has AQ. The board doesn't help Team Ireland, they finish 2nd. Team Canada have had a great day, 2 wins in 2 heats. They're pretty much guaranteed a place in Saturday's final.

Christopher Comely who plays tomorrow for Team Canada said, "You mean going all-in blind the first hand isn't the best strategy?"

Here's the line up for Heat 4 of the WCP.

Team Ireland - Dawn Marshall

Dawn is a complementary therapist from the small village, Newtowncunningham, in County Donegal. She says she's played cards of one sort or another as long as she's lived, but since she discovered Hold'em poker 4 years ago she's played nothing else. She plays locally in many pub and club games, but says this her first TV game is 'massive' for her.

Team Canada - Trevor Diks

Trevor claims he's here to have fun. Team Canada's FPP qualifier has only played one live game before this event, and he said with a smile, "that didn't go so well..." His PokerStars name 'algernonned' is taken from the novel "Flowers for Algernon." Trevor tells me, "Algernon is a mouse who goes from normal mousiness to super genius mouse, and then back down again. I picked it because my ability to play poker seems to oscillate between pretty good and..." I'm afraid I can't use the rest of the quote as it's not politically correct! I'm sure you get the idea. It will be interesting to see if Trevor plays like a 'Super Genius Mouse' for Team Canada today.

Trevor Diks in Super Genius Mouse mode

Team Brazil - Jose Arenstein

Team Brazil's FPP qualifier is a 26 year old poker pro, apparently he's more a cash game player than a tournament expert, but Team Brazil seem confident of his chances tonight.

Team USA - Michael Elbert

Michael is Team USA's FPP qualifier. As he's just 20 he's never played in a casino before. He's enjoying the fact that he's of the legal age to play poker and drink here in Europe! Apparently he's been taking a lot of money from the locals at the casino's cash tables. Team USA's Dave told me "He's very happy to be here. He's like a kid in a candy store."

Team Poland - Marcin Meinardi

Poland's TLB qualifier is a software developer. His team mates say he's the most experienced player in their team, as he's organised tourneys for many years in Poland. They say he has an, "Unpredictable style" and they all find him very hard to play against. Oh, and most importantly, "He's got a nice dog too".

Team Israel - Aliza Broude

Israel's TLB qualifier should be a strong competitor. She's been playing poker since the 70s. She's now based in Tel Aviv but lived in South Africa for 27 years, and owned a poker club there. Her team mates seem confident of her chances tonight and describe her as, 'a fighter'. Her biggest tourney win to date is $55,000.

Team Iceland - Halldor Sverrisson

Iceland's TLB is apparently the strongest member of their team. He has good experience in major tournaments, having played in 3 EPT events after qualifying through PokerStars satellites. Although he didn't cash in any of these events he has an excellent record in online tourneys, his team mates confidently agreed, "He's going to win."

Team England - John Loftus

John is a 23 year old Maths teacher from Hull. Apparently the teachers at his school St Mary's College, have been a great help in covering his classes this week so he could get to play in Barcelona. John said he entered the qualifier, "to pass the time after I got back from a holiday. I never imagined it would lead to something like this!" He has some live experience as he plays regularly at his local casino, but says, "I can't do all those fancy chip tricks." He's not so worried about the game today, "I'm just excited!"

Isabelle Mercier beat England Captain Andrew Booker to win Canada 15 points in the 3rd round of the WCP. The top 4 places qualify for the final. No team is out of the running yet. Updated table is below. Round 4 is about to begin, it's an exciting tournament here in Barcelona.

 TEAM        Heat 1     Heat 2     Heat 3     Heat 4     Heat 5  Points
1 USA          2nd         1st         4th                          34
2 Poland       4th         3rd         3rd                          25    
3 Israel       3rd         2nd         7th                          23  
4 Canada       8th         5th         1st                          21
5 Brazil       1st         7th         6th                          20   
6 England      7th         4th         2nd                          16      
7 Iceland      8th         4th         5th                          14
8 Ireland      5th         6th         8th                          9  

Isabelle Mercier wins Heat 3 for Team Canada

3.36pm Heat 3 is about to begin again, the heat played to 3 levels on Wednesday, the 6 remaining players return today to continue the game. Scroll to bottom of post for the latest news from the tournament.

Wednesday June 21st:

10.05pm - Heat 3 of the WCP begins, playing 3 levels tonight then resuming tomorrow afternoon.

Heat 3 of the WCP

10.31pm - We have an all-in already in these early stages of heat 3. Team Ireland's Paul Redmon re-raised Tom McEvoy on a flop of K 8 x, 2 clubs. Tom held AK, Paul had 87 of clubs, a pair and a flush draw. No help for Paul on the turn and river left him very shortstacked. Tom won a big pot.

10.52pm - Short of chips Team Ireland's Paul Redmon goes all in. He's called by Isabelle Mercier who holds A8. Paul has KJ, and Isabelle hits 2 pair on the flop. Team Ireland's player is out early in 8th place.


Paul Redmon of Team Ireland the 8th place finisher

12.07am - Chip Counts at the end of level 1:

USA - 9050
Iceland - 8150
Canada - 6470
Poland - 6330
England - 4630
Israel - 2930
Brazil - 2440
8th Ireland

Blinds are now 100 200.

12.21am - We've lost another player. Short-stacked Team Israel player Boaz Lavie went all-in, he was called by Tom McEvoy. The Team USA player had JJ, Boaz had A9. The Jacks held up and the Israeli player finishes in 7th place.


Boaz Lavie of Team Israel finished in 7th place

12.35am - Isabelle is raising and re-raising a lot, it seems the players of Heat 3 are going to play more poker in these early stages. We've lost 2 already, in the previous two heats the play was much more cautious at this stage. It seems very different this game.

12.45am - Chip Counts as play finishes for today. The game will resume at 3.30pm Spanish time.

USA - 9880
Poland - 9430
Iceland - 7450
Canada - 6170
England - 3930
Brazil - 3140
7th Israel
8th Ireland

More from the WCP tomorrow. I wonder if I'll have time to find the beach..?

Thursday June 22nd:

3.40pm Team Brazil's Hugo de Carvalho pushes all-in in the first hand of the resumed tournament. Isabelle Mercier calls with AK, Hugo holds pocket 4s. An Ace on the flop is good news for the Team Canada player, Isabelle takes a 3000+ pot. But it's bad news for Brazil who finish 6th in this heat.


Hugo de Cavalho, 6th for Brazil

3.46pm Isabelle Mercier is raising nearly every hand, no different from yesterday. A spy watching the game in the TV van told me... Do players read this? Ok, can't say...

3.54pm The last couple of hands Isabelle has raised, been called, bet out when an ace hit and the other player's folded. This hand played a little differently. Isabelle raises to 600, she's called by Poland's Jacek. The flop is 5 2 Q rainbow, both players check. The turn is an Ace. Isabelle bets 800, Jacek considers, then calls. The river is another Queen. Jacek checks, Isabelle bets 1600. Jacek calls. Isabelle mucks without showing. Poland wins the hand.

4.12pm Jacek from Team Poland raise to 1000, Isabelle Mercier on the small blind calls. The flop is 8 10 J, 2 clubs. Isabelle bets 1000, the Polish player raises 2000. Isabelle considers for a moment, then she moves all-in. Team Poland's player thinks for a couple of minutes. Isabelle's chips are counted, it's 4260 for the Pole to call. Jacek announces, "Call". Isabelle turns over AJ, the Polish player JQ. They both have top pair, nothing changes on the turn and river. A big pot for Team Canada.

4.18pm The blinds raise to 200 400.

4.20pm Poland raise to 1500. Andrew from Team England has a little think, then goes all-in. It's 2700 more to Jacek from Poland. He calls. Andrew has 44, Jacek KQ. A flop of 6 4 2 is great news for Team England. Another 6 on the turn makes a full house. Great news for Team England who desperately need points today. And no, this English blogger wasn't really grinning. I have to be impartial.

4.27pm Poland double up. Jacek is shortstacked, his all-in bet is called by Iceland's Thorkell. Jacek has AQ suited. Thorkell AJ. The Polish player's better kicker earns him the chips when the board hits neither player.

4.34pm USA's Tom McEvoy raises to 1200. Andrew from England goes all-in - 4000 more to Tom. Tom folds, England wins the pot.

4.39pm Tom raises to 1300 this time. Isabelle thinks, looks at Tom quizzically and calls with a smile. She checks before the flop is dealt. The flop is A K 2. Tom checks as well. Isabelle impatiently checks the turn too, it's a 3. Tom checks as well. Isabelle laughs, "Why don't you bet?" She quickly bets the river, I didn't see the card. Not sure Isabelle did either... Tom shows 99 and folds. Isabelle seems to be having fun playing for Team Canada.

4.49pm As the TV crew try to fix something technical we get some chip counts:

Canada - 9800
USA - 7500
England - 5200
Poland - 4600
Iceland - 2800
6th Brazil
7th Israel
8th Ireland

5.05pm In the blinds Canada and England see a flop. 8 4 K and 2 spades. Isabelle bets 700, Andrew of Team England moves all-in. Isabelle folds.

5.06pm Isabelle raises to 1500, the shortstacked Icelandic player on the big blind moves all-in. Isabelle has A3, Thorkell has 78. The Iceland player hits a 7, he doubles up.

5.18pm Isabelle raises, and is re-raised by English Andrew. He's all-in for 7300. Isabelle thinks long and hard, then calls. She has 66. Andrew has A9. Team England cheer when they see the flop of K 9 8 - a pair for Andrew. Turn and river a 8 and King. England win a significant pot. A few people mutter about Isabelle's call with such a low pair...


Andrew Booker of Team England

5.20pm Tom McEvoy with not many chips left goes all-in with AQ, Iceland calls with 55. A Queen on the turn and Team USA's Dave just told me, "I liked seeing that Queen."

5.36pm Players return after a short break, blinds go up to 400 800. Here's some chip counts:

England - 18,500
USA - 11,400
Canada - 3,900
Poland - 3,900
Iceland - 2300
6th Brazil
7th Israel
8th Ireland

5.41pm Isabelle moves all-in. Everybody folds.

5.42pm Isabelle moves all-in. Everybody folds. (Yes, I did mean to repeat myself.)

5.44pm Iceland all-in, Isabelle also goes all-in. Everyone else folds. 56 of diamonds for Iceland. A 10 of spades for Isabelle. Isabelle hits a flush and the Icelandic player is out.


Team Iceland's Thorkell Thordarson, who goes out in 5th place.

5.51pm Poland's Jacek goes all-in. He's called by Tom McEvoy on the big blind. Poland have A3, Tom has KT. The flop if K 4 6, the Pole thinks he's out... The turn a 5, the river a 2. A straight for Jacek, and he sits back down again.

5.58pm The Team PokerStars players go up against each other in an exciting hand in the blinds. Isabelle and Tom see a flop of Q 3 J. Tom McEvoy goes all-in, Isabelle thinks hard, she can't seem to decide what to do. It's 4,700 to her. She eventually calls, but didn't want to see Tom's cards - he has Q T. She has K J. The turn is a King, and Isabelle has two pair. Tom McEvoy is unlucky, and out in 4th place.


Tom McEvvoy finishes in 4th place.

6.09pm Poland raise to 4000, Andy the English player goes all-in. Jacek is pot comitted, he has to call really. He has 10 9 of diamonds, Andrew has A7 of spades. A flush on the turn for the Team England player ends the tournament for Jacek. It's likely to be an interesting heads up between Isabelle Mercier and Andrew Booker.


Team Poland's Jacek Ladny. He is Heat 3's 3rd place finisher.

6.17pm Blinds go up to 600 1200. Chipcounts are:

England 28,700
Canada 11,300

6.19pm Isabelle raises, Andy goes all-in. Isabelle quickly calls. Isabelle has AJ, Andrew has 99. It looks like Isabelle is out of the tournament, but an Ace on the river saves her. She is now chip leader with 22,600.


Isabelle Mercier for Team Canada

6.26pm England's Captain 'Andy134' raises again and takes the blinds. It's turned into a cagey heads up match between two confident, experienced players. It seems that Tony Holden's wish for Andy to play a, 'Captain's Innings' may be about to come true. Andy commented that he had, 'a better arse than Isabelle' earlier. It's hard to judge from here. And I'm not sure that would help either of them with the poker in any case...

6.30pm A raise from Isabelle called by Andrew. Some betting on the river, I missed the board I'm afraid, but Isabelle took a large pot holding AJ.

6.34pm No raise preflop, the players see a flop of 10 9 4. Isabelle checks, Andy goes all-in for 8,400. Isabelle calls, she looks confident with top pair, and 7 10. But Andrew has 9 4 and two pair. He's looking to double up... But another 10 on the river and he's out. Isabelle Mercier wins Heat 3 of the WCP for Team Canada.

We've completed 2 rounds of the WCP, and yesterday we started the 3rd of the 5 heats in this competition. We're nearly half way to deciding which teams will play the WCP final. Just 4 of our 8 teams in Barcelona will play in this tag team game on Saturday - with the chance to win $100,000 for their team, and a shiny trophy, but most importantly the honour of claiming their country has the best team of poker players in the game.

The World Cup of Poker trophy

We now have points on the table. Not a prettily drawn table admittedly. I could whine and say that I spent ages back home creating a snazzy little table (with flag graphics and everything...!) only to find the limitations of our blogging software meant I couldn't use it. But of course I won't whine. I'm a professional poker blogger now. No one would ever know I'm really just a Support email-answerer who got lucky, and was sent to Spain because the proper journalist was writing about some other World Cup. (Soccer)

Here's how my less-than-pretty table looks after 2 heats:

 TEAM        Heat 1     Heat 2     Heat 3     Heat 4     Heat 5  Points
1 USA          2nd         1st                                     27
2 Israel       3rd         2nd                                     21  
3 Brazil       1st         7th                                     17   
4 Poland       4th         3rd                                     16    
5 Iceland      7th         4th                                      9      
6 Ireland      5th         6th                                      8    
7 Canada       8th         5th                                      6
8 England      6th         8th                                      4

Luckily the teams don't care how the points are presented to them, all that matters are the numbers in that final column. Around a few teams there's a mood of quiet desperation now, other teams are full of confidence. Players stop at my table to check out the scores, or chat about what these numbers mean to them. They find themselves willing for certain teams to win, and others to lose. Of course all this figuring out who to root for doesn't actually change a thing, the only thing in their control is doing their best to play great poker, to try to gain maximum points for their team.

Team USA top the table at present. Other teams tell me they want the USA to continue their good run, they feel a 15 point top place finish for the USA in Heat 3 will open up the race for the other 3 final places. Of course there's nothing malicious in it, yet still many teams are hoping teams with middling points will go out early on today. No one wants any other team to gain ground.

Team USA seem happy and relaxed. I spoke to Dave Smith of Team USA last night after his impressive Heat 2 win. He tells me Team USA have already decided which of their 3 players will play the tag team game if (should that be 'when?') they make Saturday's final. He also pointed out that at the close of day 2, Team USA's Tom McEvoy held the Heat 3 chip-lead. Team USA are counting on Tom's experience to gain them a top 4 finish in this heat.

PokerStars blog has received many messages of congratulations for Doctor Dave. Many new mums whose babies this pediatric physician has helped to deliver are getting up for night-time feeds, and also checking Team USA's progress on this blog.

More baby news for you... Team Iceland's Birgir Gudmundsson was last night desperately trying to get a flight home, his new baby is on the way. Hope he gets home safe and sound to partner Arna.

All the player's here are keen for me to post pictures of their family, pets and homes. Or else to say, 'Hi' to friends or colleagues. I wish I could oblige them all... Team Poland pointed out I hadn't had a picture of anyone in Team Poland on the blog before. Here's one to make it up to them.


Team Poland in the crowd

Perhaps it's because this competition cost not a cent to anyone to enter, that it feels like it's more about people than money. It's quite unlike most other poker games I've come across, where money is all that matters. Perhaps it's because PokerStars has paid the bill for 40 players, and their guests too, to fly from anywhere in the world just to be here? PokerStars has also provided the whole of the $200,000 prize pool. All the player's here won their places through skill at poker, it wasn't about having a big bankroll, or paying a competition fee.

I know that lots of these players have family and friends back home wanting Dad or Mum, or sister or brother, to make them proud. And I know it's hard for anyone who feels they may have let the side down. Team England are bottom of the WCP standings right now, and I do feel for their players. Both Anthony Holden and Robert Fairs were unlucky in different ways, as many other players in the games have been. Even though players must know they did nothing wrong, you can tell they feel unhappy that it was their ill-luck that cost their team points.

I was busy one dinner break and had to turn down an interview with Anthony Holden, my all time favourite poker writer, this was because I was trying to track down a Brazilian FPP qualifier, who was otherwise going to be just a name on the team sheet. I want to write about everyone, I want to put faces and quotes to those names. The very best bit of this job is the chance to introduce players to blog readers. Poker about people. Yes, I do like that...

My attempts to meet and write about everyone has meant I've still found no time for the beach. However some progress has been made - I've seen the beach now! As I was running to get a sandwich I discovered it's just a short walk from the casino. I expect you're unlikely to see that photo of me in my bikini, but I'm happy that it's because I'll be bringing you photos and news of the people it's really about. In a few days one of these eight teams will hold the World Cup of Poker. I'm hoping they'll have a beach party to celebrate.

Here's the players set to start in Heat 3 of the WCP. This could be described as 'The Heat of Death' as it features two Team PokerStars players, highly rated Team England Captain, 'Andy1343', and one of the best player's Team Israel can field, in Boaz Lavie.

Team Ireland - Paul Redmon

Paul is Team Ireland's second TLB qualifier, and according to his team mates, 'He's a very funny guy, and a great live tournament player.' Paul has a picture of his son Ben at the table as he plays, and he'd really like me to post the pic on this blog. If I had a scanner handy mid tournament I'd oblige. I'll see what I can do for tomorrow...

Team Canada - Isabelle Mercier

Team PokerStars player, Isabelle 'No Mercy' Mercier needs little introduction. She's played for PokerStars for two years now, and has proved she's not just a pretty face at the poker tables. See the photo in the Heat 2 Update for proof of this.

Isabelle Mercier enjoying the freeroll on Monday night

Team Brazil - Hugo de Carvalho

Unlike many of our FPP qualifiers Team Brazil's Hugo has a lot of live experience. 30 year old 'SouFlamengo' has an international background, he's lived for 5 years in the US, a sister in Madrid, and his Portuguese parents live in Switzerland! He has a 7 year old, and a newborn baby back home in Brazil. He has a great deal of live tourney experience and ranks as the number 1 player in his state. He tells me he's also made several online final tables this year,

Team USA - Tom McEvoy

Team PokerStars player Tom McEvoy needs little introduction. WSOP winner in 1983, he's written twelve poker books, and on top of all that he's an all round nice guy. Team USA were expecting Greg Raymer to play, but they tell me they're very happy to have Tom as a Team USA player.

Team Poland - Jacek Ladny

Jacek is an investor in the stock exchange, he unusually claims to have more experience in live casino play than in online games. He seems confident about his chances in tonights game, but points out that, "Without luck you can't win anything."

Team Israel - Boaz Lavie

Boaz won 7 out of 8 of Team Israel's games in the heads up heats of WCP. This tough tournament competitor also has a lot of experience of big tournaments, having qualified for 5 European Poker Tour events through PokerStars satellites. This 31 year old professional writer from Ramat Gan in Israel, is hoping to have something to write home about after tonights game...

Team Iceland - Thorkell Thordarson

Iceland's 22 year old FPP qualifier from Reyjevik has only been playing 10 months, but hopes to learn a lot at the WCP about this 'fascinating game'.

Team England - Andrew Booker

England Team Captain, 'Andy134' is described by team mate Rob, as being 'On the verge of genius'. They also describe him as their 'Secret weapon'. Andy says it must be a good secret, he doesn't know what it is himself. If he gets heads up with Tom McEvoy he won't be daunted, he's already beaten him online in a TLB winners game. He told me earlier, "I have a better arse than Isabelle". I'm not sure whether that will be an asset in tonight's tournament. Team England are currently 'bottom' of the WCP team standings, Tony Holden said, 'We're looking for a captain's innings from Andrew tonight'.

Dave Smith of Team USA wins Heat 2 of the World Cup of Poker. The physician from North Carolina beat Teddy Tuil heads up. Team USA was 2nd yesterday, so they top the current WCP table with 27 points. Israel are 2nd, Brazil 3rd.

Team USA's Dave Smith holds aloft his winning hand, and the picture of his daughter that was at the table throughout his game.


Here's how the teams stand at the end of Heat 2.

   TEAM      Heat 1     Heat 2     Heat 3     Heat 4     Heat 5     Points
1 USA          2nd         1st                                         27
2 Israel       3rd         2nd                                         21  
3 Brazil       1st         7th                                         17   
4 Poland       4th         3rd                                         16    
5 Iceland      7th         4th                                          9      
6 Ireland      5th         6th                                          8    
7 Canada       8th         5th                                          6
8 England      6th         8th                                          4

A reminder of how the points are awarded:

1st place - 15 points
2nd place - 12 points
3rd place - 9 points
4th place - 7 points
5th place - 5 points
6th place - 3 points
7th place - 2 points
8th place - 1 point

3.50pm The tournament is about to start, each player has 5,000 chips. Starting blinds are 50 100. Scroll to the bottom of this post for the latest updates.

The players of Heat 2 of the WCP
4.01pm The usual timid start from everyone. Team Poland gave a cheer and a shout as Andrzej raised for the second time to win the blinds. "That's two in a row!" they shout. Yes, Team Poland increase their stack by 150 x 2. Go Poland...

4.08pm Teddy Tuil for Israel takes an early chip lead, winning a 3,700 pot with his AJ, an ace on the flop. Iceland's Birgir Gudmundsson had the losing hand.

4.26pm No significant news from the tournament, but Isabelle Mercier has just arrived, and she's showing off the PokerStars logo on the *ahem* posterior of her jeans. I'll try to get a photo of her bottom soon.

4.42pm Teddy Tuil is dominating in these early stages. He's playing a lot of hands and apparently bullying the less experienced players at the table.

5.02pm A member of the production team gets the crowd to cheer for their teams, as the tournament is on a short break and chips are counted. I may be biased, but I think Team England fans gave the loudest cheer.

5.06pm Chip counts at the end of level 2 are:

Ireland - 6,880
Israel - 6,220
Brazil - 5,860
Canada - 5,840
Poland - 5,550
USA - 4,050
England - 3,840
Iceland - 2,360

Blinds are now up to 100 200.

5.41pm There's very little to report here, tournament director Gerard's commentry on the hands is mainly a monotonous 'X takes the blinds'. One time Poland's Andrzej Skawinski 'took the blinds' and showed he 8 9. Not much else to say as yet. If it's anything like yesterday, it will liven up quite soon.

5.52pm Players are on a short break. I spoke to Andrzej from Poland who said, 'No one wants to go out first.' He bemoaned the fact he hadn't had any hands and said the only time he bluffed a flop he got reraised and had to fold. Meanwhile the news for Isabelle Mercier fans is that she was admiring the back of her new jeans in the TV monitors during the break. She wasn't the only one.

6.03pm Play is about to get underway again. Here's some chip counts, not much has changed:

Ireland - 7,870
Israel - 6,820
USA - 5,000
Brazil - 4,660
Canada - 4,490
Iceland - 4,150
England - 3,540
Poland - 3,450

I'm waiting for Aces vs Kings, we need some action soon surely. Blinds are now 150 300.

6.23pm Brazil's Armando Perrone raises to 1000, USA's Dave Smith quickly announces all-in. He has just over 6000 chips. It folds round to Armando again, he has a long, long, think then says, 'I call." The players turn over their cards, they both have AK, neither suited. Split pot. The crowd groan.


Armando Perrone of Brazil

6.32pm I bring you... Isabelle's butt.


Team Canada, Isabelle, and her very nice back jean pocket.

6.35pm Blinds are now up to 200 400.

6.42pm England's Robert Fair's announces all-in. USA's Dave asks for a chip count, Robert has just under 2000 chips. Dave calls and shows 77. Robert's happily ahead with JJ, and hoping to double up. The flop is 5 8 9 giving the USA player a straight draw. The turn's an Ace, and the young England player covers his face with his hands, nhardly daring to see the next card. John Duthie announces the river, it's a 6. And a straight on the river sends the unlucky England player out in 8th place. He shakes hands with everyone at the table before he leaves to be consoled by his team mates.


England's Robert Fairs can't bear to see the river.

6.56pm Team USA's Dave Smith announces a raise to 1500. Brazil's Armando is shortstacked on the Big Blind, and forced to call, he has just 300 chips more. He holds J 6, and he didn't want to see the USA player's pocket Jacks. The flop is 9 Q K. A ten will split the pot and keep the Brazilian in the game. The turn a King, which makes no difference. The river a 10, which means the split pot, and a relieved Armando and Team Brazil.

7.08pm Team Brazil's Armando Perrone announces all-in, he has just 600 chips. He's called by Teddy Tuil and from the big blind Canada's Mike Croft also calls. The flop is A 2 10, Teddy and Mike check. The turn is a 7, they check again. A small bet from the Canadian on the river signals he has a hand. Teddy folds. Armando had J 10, but the Team Canada player shows 2 3 for two pair. Armando is out. Team Brazil finish in 7th place in Heat 2.

7.22pm Latest chip counts:

Israel 9,700
Iceland 9,000
Poland 7,800
Ireland 5,200
Canada 5,100
USA 3,200

The blinds up to 300 600 for the next 30 minutes.

7.33pm Three players see a flop, the players of Ireland, Israel and Iceland. All the I's... The flop is 8 5 4 rainbow. Ireland checks. Teddy Tuil of Israel nonchalently bets out, as he has been doing all night long, pretty much whatever the flop. The Icelandic player thinks long and hard. He announces, 'all-in.' Teddy, perhaps not too surprisingly folds. Team Iceland takes dowm a 7200 chip pot.

7.42pm A battle in the blinds. Poland's Andrzej Skawinski and Team Ireland's Noel Pearce see a flop of 9 7 2, with two hearts. The Polish player bets 600, the Irish player calls. The turn is a 6 of hearts. Andrzej checks. Noel bets 1200. Team Poland's player now moves all-in. Noel folds. This win gives Andrzej around 10,000 chips.


Noel Pearce of Team Ireland.

7.51pm Noel Pearce of Team Ireland goes all-in from the small blind. "Sugar" Teddy of Israel calls with AQ. And Ace on the turn sends the Irish player out in 6th place.

7.52pm Next hand the shortstacked USA player goes all-in. He's called by Team Iceland's Birgir in the big blind. Dave Smith of the USA has AK, Birgir holds K5. Nothing for either player on the board, so Team USA double up. Still shortstacked, Dave will hope to double up soon.


Dave Smith of Team USA, doubles up but still shortstacked.

8.01pm In the last hand before the break there's a raise from the Icelandic player. Mike Croft of Team Canada goes all-in for 3200. It's 2000 more to the Iceland player, who has a big pile of chips. Team Iceland's Birgir calls and shows A5. The Canadian looks happy to see this, he has AJ. When all the cards are dealt the Canadian player takes the chips. He needed that.

8.10pm Latest chip counts:

Poland - 10,500
Iceland - 10,100
Canada - 6,900
USA - 6,400
Israel - 6,100
6th Ireland
7th Brazil
8th England

Blinds 400 800. As I type this Teddy Tuil goes all-in, everyone folds. Those blinds are worth having now. Expect plenty more all-ins.

8.22pm Mike Croft of Canada goes all-in for 5300 chips. He's called by Birgir from Iceland who shows 9 9. The Canadian has K 10. The nines hold up and Team Canada lose their player. Just 4 left.


Mike Croft the Canadian player goes out in 5th place.

8.27pm Teddy Tuil doubles up, calling the Polish player's all-in bet with A 9. The Poland player has 3 3 but the Israeli hits a 9.

8.32pm A big hand for Dave the doctor from Team USA. Iceland's Birger raises to 2,000, Dave re-raises 4400 more. It's Iceland's AK vs the USA's QQ. The Queens win the hand, and a big pile of chips for the USA player.

8.37pm Iceland's Birgir all-in with J 10. He's called by Teddy with AK. He's happy to see a flop of 9 10 Queen. Iceland's pair puts him ahead, and he thinks he's staying in the tournament. But a Jack on the river gives "Sugar" Teddy a sweet straight, and Birgir finishes in 4th place.


Birgir of Team Iceland, now out in 4th place.

8.45pm With 3 players left, there's now a dinner break. Chips are as follows:

Israel - 25,600
USA - 10,400
Poland - 4,000
4th Iceland
5th Canada
6th Ireland
7th Brazil
8th England

Blinds will go to 600 1200, expect a feast of all-in action after our Barcelona buffet break.

9.55pm Heat 2 resumes after the break, and Poland's Andrzej Skawinski goes all-in first hand. He's called by Teddy Tuil with A8. Poland's player trails with K 7. Andrzej doesn't hit, and is our 3rd place finisher. He'll win Team Poland a respectable 9 points.


Andrzej Skawinski the Polish player who finished 3rd in Heat 2.

It's now heads up between Team Israel's Teddy Tuil our cheap leader, against the relatively inexperienced Team USA player.

10.05pm A big hand for Team USA, a flurry of betting on a Q 5 x flop, with 2 clubs, sees Teddy all-in. Dave calls the reraise. Teddy is ahead with two pair, Queens and 5s. Dave has just a club flush draw, he needs another club to stay in the tournament - and hits this on the turn. Teddy can still win the hand with another Queen or 5, but it's a 3 on the river and the USA player doubles up.

10.15pm No more all-ins for a while, Teddy and Dave are playing cautiously, seeing flops. I'd say Teddy is edging ahead further, betting a lot of flops and forcing the USA player to fold, perhaps his experience is showing here. He's using his chip lead well.

10.23pm It seems to be an intriguing heads up match... If only we could see those guy's cards. Teddy is by far the more aggressive player, but perhaps Dave has realised this. A few perfunctory bets by the Israeli on uninteresting boards have been re-raised by Dave. He's taken the chip lead.

10.27pm. Dave raises preflop, and is re-raised all in by Teddy. Dave calls and shows A9. Team Israel's player has pocket 6's. Another 6 on the flop means Teddy stays in the game.

10.32pm Teddy loses most of his chips when his all-in with KJ is called by the USA player's AK.

10.36pm Teddy Tuil has just few chips now, both players see a flop of 7 8 6. Dave checks, Teddy goes all-in. Dave calls. Teddy has 7 5 - a pair 7s. Dave has 8 J - a pair of 8s. Teddy needs a 7 or a 5 to stay in the tournament... It doesn't happen. Team USA celebrate as winners of Heat 2 of the WCP.

The next Heat of the WCP will begin in just a few minutes. I'll bring you player profiles, as well as the team standings after 2 heats of play as soon as possible.

Well done to Team USA, with a 1st and 2nd place finish in the first two games of the WCP.

Here's who's playing in Heat 2 of the WCP. There's a lot of inexperienced player's in this heat. You'd expect Israel's Teddy Tuil to be favourite, but this is poker and anything can happen. Did I tell you about that 989 to 1 shot against me..? Sorry.

Team Ireland - Noel Pearce

Noel is a computer guy from Cork. He took up poker four years ago after seeing the poker documentary, 'Million Dollar Deal.' There's not a million dollar's at stake today, but here is Noel playing on TV himself.

Team Canada - Mike Croft

FPP qualifier Mike is a 26 year old Mechanical Engineer from Calgary. He's been playing online for just a year, but has played home game poker for a decade before that. Michael is marrying his fiancee in August, and he's hoping she'll send me photos of their two dogs, Apollo and Banff. Team Poland had a dog picture yesterday, hey, I want to see everybody's dogs! Mike says he doesn't feel any pressure, but felt more nervous watching his team mate play yesterday. I'm sure his relaxed attitude will stand him in good stead today.

Team Brazil - Armando Perrone

Brazil's TLB qualifier is 'quaribravo' on PokerStars. He was Brazil's captain in last year's WCP, which he feels is useful experience for this heat. An engineer by trade, Armando is married with 3 children and lives in Sao Paulo. He's never played in a casino before, but does have live experience. His biggest previous win was $4000 in an online tournament. He's hoping to keep Brazil at the top of the WCP standings, and take home $100,000 for Team Brazil at the final.

Team USA - Dave Smith

The USA Team FPP qualifier is a physician who works in a pediatric intensive care department. He has 4 children, and he's here with his wife, Cynthia. It seems it was quite a task for him to organise things so he could play. He commented that he's very grateful to his colleagues back home, and his children's grandparents for helping him get to play the WCP. He's played poker for just 2 years, and as I spoke to him he said, "And now here I am sitting next to Tom McEvoy, pretending to know this game!" We'll find out how much Dave knows soon. Before the game he told me he wasn't at all nervous, "just revved up."

Team Poland - Andrzej Skawinski

Andrzej is 'skaand' on PokerStars, and qualified as the player with the second highest TLB points for his country. He's a student pharmacist, and I met him before the tournament at the bar, where it's apparent his studies have taught him a glass of wine has poker nerves minimizing chemicals. He has little live tournament experience as he lives in a small town with no casino, but he plays when he visits friends in Warsaw. He claims his best game is heads up, so be prepared for a win if Team Poland make the last 2 of Heat 2.

Team Israel - Teddy Tuil

Team Israel's celebrity player is a tough tournament competitor with many years of poker experience. 'Sugar' Teddy was runner up to John Duthie's in the 'Poker Million' in 2000, winning 'just' the £100,000 2nd prize, not the cool £1,000,000. Now John Duthie as TV producer of the WCP will likely call hands as Teddy plays. A quote from 'Sugar' Teddy when asked what he could change in the poker world. He said: "That Poker be considered a sport like any other sport." I hope the WCP is helping to make that wish come true.

Teddy Tuil ready to play for Team Israel


Team Iceland - Birgir Gudmundsson

Iceland's Birgir is a 28 year old IT student from Reykjavík, now based in Denmark for his studies. He's been playing poker online for nearly 2 years, but has no live experience before this trip, and says his biggest win before this was a modest $50. A keen golfer, he plays on the Iclandic Tour and has a handicap of 3.5. He has an 8 year old son, and he and his partner Arna are expecting another baby soon.

Team England - Robert Fairs

Robert is a 20 year old politics student from Chesterfield in Derbyshire. Although he's only played poker live twice before he has another kind of live playing experience with his band 'The Deirdres'. UK readers may want to look out for an appearance by Rob's band on TV old-stuff show, 'Antiques Roadshow'. Apparently, the band has nothing to do with old-stuff, but they asked, and, "Michael Aspel said yes." Rob's poker strategy is to not look at his cards, claiming, "That just gets in the way. It confuses me."


Robert Fairs, wearing Deirdre's glasses

Heats 2 and 3 of the World Cup of Poker will be played today, I'll be reporting on these tournaments for you here at PokerStars blog. It's going to be a busy day, there's likely to be around ten hours of poker played at the Casino de Barcelona later. The tourist districts of Barcelona are a short Metro ride away from our hotel and the casino, but I'm not going to have chance to take that ride today. Sorry, no pictures of me at the beach in my bikini! I haven't even seen the beach yet, but Barcelona is famous for it's architecture, there's much to admire in the residential streets near the casino which are decorated with many fine sculptures. I'm sure the WCP teams would agree with me, that beaches and tourist things are all well and good, but this visit to Spain is all about the poker. I know I wouldn't miss a minute of this exciting tournament. Who needs beaches!?

A Barcelona poker face. I think he's bluffing...

Which reminds me of a recent visit to a beach with poker friends, someone soon suggested a game. A pack of cards were found and we used pebbles on the beach as chips. I bet and someone said, 'all-in'. I looked at his stack of pebbles, asked for a pebble count. He considered his pile of pebbles stacked high on the pebbly beach. This enterprising poker friend then claimed every pebble on the beach as his stack. This took some counting. He had me covered, I folded. Well, would you play Ace Jack to an all-in 20 million pebble re-raise?

Sorry, back to the WCP... Today's tournament will be played with proper chips, and won't be held on the beach. Heat 3 looks like it could be an interesting game, with Isabelle Mercier for Canada and Tom McEvoy for the USA.

I hope the poker goes well for Isabelle, because it's been an unlucky visit to Barcelona for her so far. On her first day she lost her player bag containing her team colours, and also lost her way back to the hotel after a night out team mates. But now is all well again. Her bag has now been found, but PokerStars put an emergency seamstress on standby, ready to embroider her name on a team mate's top, and adjust it to fit her slight frame. Well Pokerstars certainly wouldn't want Isabelle Mercier to play topless...


Isabelle lost her top. So did this guy...

The mixture of celebrity players, noted online players, and less experienced FPP qualifiers, seems to have created a camaraderie within each team. Each team has developed a unique character. Team Brazil are assured, relaxed, confident. Team England are always willing to share a joke, like a laugh and a drink or two. Team Israel appear thoughtful and ever serious. Team Ireland are a touch eccentric, with big hearts and plenty of energy...

However the teams approach this competition, they all have one thing on their minds. They don't speak of it, but you can see it in the pre-game nerves, in the bluster of team banter, in the way they avoid obvious friendship with the other teams - they all want to win this. It's what they're all here for.

Tony Holden pointed out to me, that despite his decades of poker experience, this is a very different kind game from the ones he's used to. He found playing for a team quite different to playing for himself. I asked Teddy Tuil about this too, and he agreed. I thought my mouse might expire from exhaustion as I scrolled though an online list of "Sugar" Teddy's tournament wins, but even highly experienced players must feel pressure like never before in these games. It's different. No one's playing for themselves. No one can't just shrug off a bad performance and simply move onto the next game. Every player cares to do well for their team, and might also consider that there's a bigger 'team' back home watching their progress. To play for your country means you can make many people proud or many disappointed. 16 players today will be thinking that as they look at their cards and count their chips.

Brazil's Christian Kruel beat the USA's Joe Harwell in the first heat of the Poker World Cup in Barcelona. The USA player's aggressive style made it a quick contest, a preflop all-in from the US player was quickly called by the Brazilian with AQ suited. Joe had 4 6 os, Ace high was enough to win Brazil the first game.

Team Points after Heat 1 are as follows:

1st Brazil 15
2nd USA 12
3rd Israel 9
4th Poland 7
5th Ireland 5
6th England 3
7th Iceland 2
8th Canada 1

There's plenty still to play for for all the teams, and there'll be more action from the WCP tomorrow. Heats 2 and 3 at 3.30pm and 9.30pm local time, 10.30am and 4.30pm ET. Heat 3 should be a tough game with Isabelle Mercier playing for Canada and Tom McEvoy for the USA. I hope you'll visit PokerStars blog again soon.

Christian Kruel with winning hand.

A reminder of the points at stake in this first game of the WCP -

Points Awarded -

1st place - 15 points
2nd place - 12 points
3rd place - 9 points
4th place - 7 points
5th place - 5 points
6th place - 3 points
7th place - 2 points
8th place - 1 point

The players of Heat 1 of the WCP
Scroll down to the bottom ofthis post for updates on key hands as they happen.

4.20pm - The tournament has just got under way with John Duthie explaining the rules, and advising the player's to 'forget nerves, you're just playing cards'.

4.38pm - A cagey start with few hands played. Anthony Holden for England is just ahead as chipleader.


Anthony Holden of Team England

5.13pm - The first all-in of the tournament. Brazil's Christian Kruel raises pre-flop, Klemi from Israel calls from the small blind. He checks the flop, Christian bets and Klemi re-raises all in. The Brazilian captain calls and turns over KK. Klemi is trailing, he shows QJ. Another Jack on the turn is the lucky card that keeps the Israeli player in the tournament.

5.21pm - A raise from Iceland player Gustav, is quickly re-raised by Marcin from Poland. A second later and Gustav calls. It's Gustav's KK vs Marcin's AA. An ace on the flop, and a quick double up for the Polish player.

5.32pm

Klemi Hagag is the chipleader at the end of level 2. Here are the current chip counts -

Israel - 13,060
Poland - 8,600
England - 4,160
Ireland - 3,460
Canada - 3,250
USA - 2,730
Iceland - 2,610
Brazil - 2,230

5.47pm - Poland are now shortstacked. Marcin and Joe from the USA both check an Ace high flop. The turn is an eight and Marcin bets out. Joe calls. Marcin goes all-in on the river and Joe instantly calls. Marcin shows a set of eights, but Joe shows AA for three aces.


Play towards the end of level 3

6.24pm - The players are back from a break at the end of level 3. The blinds are now 100, 200.

Current chip counts are:

Israel - 12,420
USA - 8,760
Brazil - 5,160
England - 4,260
Iceland - 2,710
Poland - 2,270
Canada - 2,250
Ireland - 2,160

6.38pm - We've lost our first player. Canada's Aaron Haw finishes 8th. He lost two hands in quick succession. Unlucky in the first hand his 2000 chip all-in was called by Ireland's Daniel Bolton, who had around 1000. Daniel held K 10 and Aaron A 10, but an unlucky King on the flop, left Aaron feeling pressure to go all-in next hand. His all-in was called by two players, Joe from the US and Gustaf from Iceland. The betting on the flop between these two wouldn't give Canada much hope, and Joe's two pair was enough to beat Aaron's pocket 3's and put him out of the tournament.

6.46pm - Iceland's Gustaf Bjornsson is out in 7th place. His preflop all-in bet was called by Ireland's Daniel Bolton. Guftaf turned over 77 and Daniel QJ. A Queen on the flop, a Jack on the river, and Iceland will gain just 2 points for their 7th place finish in Heat 1.

6.52pm - It seems that every time I sit down to write up a hand another player goes out of the tourney! This time it's Anthony Holden from Team England, who is raised 1300 by America on his right. Holden goes all-in for 5,400 and is astonishingly called by Brazil's Christian Kruel in the big blind. The Brazil player has KK and Anthony AK; the pocket King's hold up, and the England team finish in 6th place. Derek 'Purr of Aces' Morris's comment on the hand, 'One of those things, it plays itself'. Then another long gulp of his pint.

7.09pm - Marcin from Poland goes all-in with 1900 chips. The Ireland player calls and shows 67, Marcin has K6 and a King on the flop helps him double up. With the blinds now 200 400 a few players are reduced to desperate all-in moves. Team Poland are glad to survive that one.

7.14pm - Daniel Bolton's 4100 chip all-in is called by Joe from the USA. Daniel has 22, Joe K8. 8xx on the flop, a King on the turn. Daniel needs a 2 to stay in the tournament. No 2 to help Ireland, who are out in 5th place.

7.29pm - Poland all in again, and called by Joe from the US. Marcin from Poland has 99, Joe AJ of diamonds. An Ace and two diamonds on the flop, and the nut flush on the turn. Poland finish 4th, and the US win a 12,500 pot.

7.37pm - Only 3 teams remain, and these are the current chip counts.

USA - 24,300
Brazil - 10,400
Israel - 5,300
4th Poland
5th Ireland
6th England
7th Iceland
8th Canada

7.47pm - It's fast and furious action here, just as I was typing 'Good news for Team Israel', following a much needed double up - they go and get knocked out. Sorry Irael fans... Klemi raises all-in, and Brazil's Christian Kruel calls with pocket tens. The Israeli teenager has J8, he hits an 8 but nothing more. Israel out 3rd. It's now heads up between Brazil and the USA.


Joe Harwell



Christian Kruel

8.02pm - There's some debate here about how many hands of heads up play we had before this game was all over. It was either 3, or perhaps 4. It was too fast for this blogger to catch the action. I heard a roar from the crowd and got there just in time to see the cards left on the table, and two players walking away, one happy, one very disappointed. It seems Joe Harwell of the USA went all in. Christian Kruel of Team Brazil called. Joe had 46os, Kruel had AQ of spades. The flop was 10 10 2, the turn a King, the river a 2. The Brazilian player's Ace high won him the hand, and this the first heat of the WCP.

Here's an introduction to the players who'll play today in our first game of WCP 2006. Five of the eight players starting today are team captains, all hoping to get their team's off to a good start in the tournament.

Team Ireland - Daniel Bolton

Ireland's Captain is a semi-pro poker player, although the phrase 'part-time bum' was mentioned in affectionate ribbing from his team mates. Daniel accepted this job description with good grace and a smile. He's brought along his World Cup lion team mascot, re-named 'K-Dog' in honour of his friend. This friend told him to say he'd 'learned everything he knew about the game from him.' Hmmm... Daniel himself seems like a modest type, but he won 8 out of 8 of the qualifying games for Team Ireland. He's the only player with an unbeaten record in the WCP tournament. But will Daniel claim 15 points for Ireland today to continue that impressive run?

Daniel and K-Dog

Team Canada - Aaron Haw

Another captain decides to play in Heat 1. When asked why he selected himself he suggested it was because no one else in the team wanted to go first! This Edmonton based player, claims he has nparticularar tactic for the game, he's going to, 'wing it'. But this online poker pro has an impressive record in PokerStars tournaments, where he plays as 'HooBangin'. If he wins this with his 'wing it' philosophy Team Canada will be flying high in the WCP rankings.

Team Brazil - Christian Kruel

Brazil's captain, is a highly esteemed player in Brazil, where he's done much to promote the game in his country, through his website www.clubedopoker.com As he chatted with him and his team mates at the bar, he and team mate 'Raul Oliveira' had a little argument. 'You're the best player in Brazil!' 'No, you are!'

The Brazilian's do appear to be very confident, pointing out that they have a strong experienced team. They didn't dispute my remark that their chances might be as good as favourite's Brazil in the soccer World Cup. Christian claimed he was going to go for a win - he knows no other way to play.

Team USA - Joe Harwell

USA Team Captain, Joe, has run his own real estate business since leaving college. Joe's only been playing 4 years but has plenty of live tournament experience, playing 3 events of last years WSOP. Joe is one of the top US players in PokerStars TLB rankings, rated the 4th best US player for 2005, and 6th placed in the world. He describes his game as, 'Tight aggressive, but sometimes more loose' and bemoans the fact that as chipleader at a WSOP event he lost with AA to Phil Helmuth's 10 8 and never recovered his position. If he gets dealt AA in the WCP will he win this time around?


Joe with girlfriend Meredith

Team Poland - Marcin Doliwa

Marcin, is a software tester by profession, and has little live experience as he was once a dealer at his local casino, and is banned from playing now for 9 years.


Marcin's dog

He said his friends used to mock him for being a tight player, but now his game has changed a lot. He claims the Polish team have an advantage in this tournament, as they know each other and player together a lot. Team spirit is strong in Team Poland, will that help them to win WCP 2006?

Team Israel - Klemi Hagag

Team Israel's FPP qualifier is just 18 and a half, and took up poker when he saw Greg Raymer's WSOP performance on TV. He's from Holon, near Tel Aviv, and will be joining the army in 3 months time. I wonder if he'll have a story to tell his new friends? Klemi was the proud winner of the freeroll last night, he won a poker table. Wonder how he's going to get that back to Israel?


Klemi proud after last night's win

Team Iceland - Gustaf Bjornsson

Iceland's celebrity player Gustaf, wanted to finish in the top 3 in this heat, having decided the tournament structure meant taking a risk for the higher points was the best strategy. He's only played poker for 2 years, and been an online poker pro for the last year. He claims he chose this profession because, 'the pay is good.' Will Iceland win first prize and $20,000 each in this game?

Team England - Anthony Holden

London based journalist and respected author of poker classic, 'Big Deal' is the inspiration to many a poker dreamer. Long before the days of teenage online pros and poker TV explaining hand rankings a dozen tmes a night, Tony decided to quit his day job to play cards. And if you want to know what happened next, you'll have to read his book... If you don't have a copy just ask a few of your poker buddies and you'll find one, it's as essential to any decent poker library as 'Super System' or 'Theory of..' and a much easier read than Sklansky or Brunson as they never went into details about tactics in last longer bets when the stakes are a bottle of Bollinger.

Now Tony is penning a sequel, which has to be called, 'Bigger Deal', of course, and he's playing a lot of good poker in the process. There'll be plenty for him to write about as he recently won a WSOP seat in a PokerStars media tournament; but I wonder what he will have to write about the WCP and his England team?

46 five player teams from 39 countries competed in online heads-up no-limit hold'em matches, knowing that just 8 teams would fly to Barcelona for the televised final heats. USA-North Carolina, Brazil, England, Iceland, Ireland, Canada-Alberta, Israel and Brazil are the teams that proved themselves the best - they have come to Spain to play the 2006 Poker World Cup. Costa Rica won the 2004 and 2005 WCP events, sadly they didn't get the chance to try for a WCP hat-trick.

Each team has five members, each comprises the two best online tournament players for each country, determined by placings in the PokerStars tournament leader board for 2005. Another two team members won places in online heads-up heats. Finally a player on each team has been selected by PokerStars, chosen as an ambassador of poker for their country; these poker professional's skills and experience will no doubt be a valuable asset to their team.

Heads up games were the starting point for many team members, now the structure of the tournament changes; each team of five must present a player to join a single table eight-handed tournament. Five heats of 8 players means everybody plays, with each player's finishing position in their heat determining the points their country receives.

This is how the points are awarded -

1st place - 15 points
2nd place - 12 points
3rd place - 9 points
4th place - 7 points
5th place - 5 points
6th place - 3 points
7th place - 2 points
8th place - 1 point

As the 5 heats are played we'll be sure to keep you up to date with the team standings, as well as live tournament updates.

When the 5 heats have been played, the 4 teams with the most points will qualify for the final game. The 4 teams with the least points will be eliminated. They'll have to watch from the sidelines, perhaps if they're lucky their team will still be playing in the football World Cup, which is shown on the casino's big screens, not far from the poker action.

From heads-up games, to 8 handed games, then the final will be a short-handed 4 player tournament. The WCP certainly tests the versatility of it's players.

In the final tournament each captain will be challenged to make strategic decisions, judging which of their team's players will play in the tag team tournament. Two substitutions are allowed in this game, the captains must change players before the end of the third level, and again before level 6 is over.

Tag team games are tough on the players, each player must be determined to increase their team's stack, and not make mistakes that will cost their team chips. There's pressure on the team captains too - they must try to choose the right players at the right time, maximizing their country's chances of success with good decision making.

And what are we playing for at the WCP? Of course there's a lot of pride at stake! When country take on country, when all involved are determined to do their best for the good of the team, yes, pride is a big part of it. But the celebration party might go even better if the winner's know their prize money will more than pay for all the champagne they can drink.

The prizes are as follows -

1st prize - $100,000 ($20,000 per player)
2nd - $50,000 ($10,000 per player)
3rd - $30,000 ($6,000 per player)
4th - $20,000 ($4,000 per player)

Tonight the team captains were asked to nominate which player would play in each heat. Their decisions were presented at the same time, to ensure no team had information that could be used to gain a tactical advantage.

The heats are as follows. Player profiles and news from each team coming soon.

June 20th - Heat 1
Ireland - Daniel Bolton
Canada - Aaron Haw
Brazil - Christian Kruel
USA - Joe Harwell
Poland - Marcin Doliwa
Israel - Klemi Hagag
Iceland - Gustaf Bjornsson
England - Tony Holden

June 21st - Heat 2
Ireland - Noel Pearce
Canada - Mike Croft
Brazil - Armando Perrone
USA - Dave Smith
Poland - Andrzej Skawinski
Israel - Teddy Tuil
Iceland - Birgir Gudmundsson
England - robert fairs

June 21st - Heat 3
Ireland - Paul Redmon
Canada - Isabelle Mercier
Brazil - Hugo de Carvalho
USA - Tom McEvoy
Poland - Jacek Ladny
Israel - Boaz Lavie
Iceland - 'Thorkell Thordarson'
England - Andrew Booker

June 22nd - Heat 4
Ireland - Dawn Marshall
Canada - Trevor Diks
Brazil - Jose Arenstein
USA - Michael Elbert
Poland - Marcin Meinardi
Israel - Aliza Broude
Iceland - Halldor Sverrisson
England - John Loftus

June 23rd - Heat 5
Ireland - Niall McNamara
Canada - Christopher Comely
Brazil - Raul Oliveira
USA - Phil Myers
Poland - Philip Hilm
Israel - Martin Segal
Iceland - Brynjar Valdimarsson
England - Derek Morris

June 24th - Tag Team Final

Visit PokerStars blog tomorrow to read live updates from WCP Heat 1.

I'm Jo, the newest member of PokerStars 'Team Blog' and I'm going to be updating you on all the World Cup of Poker action in Barcelona.

My usual role at PokerStars is in the London office Support Team, a job with a great bunch of guys (yes, I am the only girl!) helping player's with password changes, as well as constantly reminding them it's 'two from the hand, three from the board' in Omaha. I'm also a 'Poker Specialist', unfortunately this doesn't mean I win any of our office games, it does mean interesting shifts where I play 'poker detective', reviewing hands for collusion and monitoring our games to ensure PokerStars upholds it's reputation as the site with the highest standards of security.

After a busy weekend at work, I find myself flying into the Spanish sun this Monday morning. Does that sound back to front to you? It feels like it to me... And I don't usually pack a bikini when I head to the office on a Monday morning.

Gran Casino at night
It's cloudy but hot in Barcelona, and I've had little time to see the sights, nor have many of our players who've flown in today from eight different corners of the world. Instead they were gathering for a team building wine and tapas reception hosted by PokerStars. Most of the teams had never met before today, but either the wine or the tapas (I'll let you judge) seemed to ease their shyness, and soon I overheard numerous poker tales exchanged, and happy chats about their homelands. I noted one exchange between two US Team players who discovered they lived practically around the corner from each other. Useful if they have a space seat to fill in their home game.



The toughest table in the freeroll? John Duthie, "Sugar" Teddy Tuil and Tom McEvoy
Tomorrow the tourney proper begins, but tonight the teams play for fun in a freeroll tournament. Perhaps this will be the first taste of casino action for some? Yet all these players are here on merit, having earned their place through skilled play. As, one newcomer to live games pointed out to me, 'Well, poker is poker.' And no one I spoke to seemed at all fazed by the idea of playing under the TV lights, or taking on name players like Isabelle Mercier and Tom McEvoy.

Thirty nine teams wanted to play on TV, and make their country proud, just these eight made it:

USA-North Carolina
Brazil
England
Iceland
Ireland
Canada-Alberta
Israel
Poland

As I watched the teams play tonight I could see that these players knowledge of the game made any language differences unimportant. When an unlucky card hit the river it didn't matter if the swear word was Spanish, Icelandic or Polish, these guys speak 'poker', it's a universal language.

The idea of poker as team sport excites me, and I hope that it does you too!
Maybe this is because my country is football crazy with 3 matches of the soccer World Cup ever day right now? Maybe it's the exciting David vs Goliath prospect of underdog Iceland taking on the might of the USA? Maybe I'm dreaming of some exciting Ryder-cup-esque USA vs England heads-up game?

I like that the WCP is about poker players wanting to win, not by grinding out a good hourly rate, not about winning to make money back from a hand that was lost hours ago... It's more about pride than money. Every poker player I spoke to was determined to do well for their team, for their country.

PokerStars is leading the way here, I think, it's something innovative and brave... Yes, sending a humble support email answerer to Barcelona to write about the poker! But I also think it's an interesting challenge that PokerStars is determined to make poker work as a team sport. Will it work? Yes, I think so. Eight teams dream of lifting the WCP trophy. The best team sport is about will to win, all these 40 players want to hold that trophy. Just one team will succeed. No deals in this tournament. Well, can you imagine chopping that cup in two..? I hope you'll join me on PokerStars blog to find out which team will taste victory, and maybe even more wine and tapas, they seemed to like that.

The past few days have been a sleepless whirlwind for the United Kingdom's Dale "Daleroxxu" Philip. What began as a World Cup trip to Germany over the weekend ended in a sleepless Sunday night that saw the blogger winning the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker.

Still worn out from watching three World Cup matches, Philip settled in to battle more than 2200 of the world's best blogging poker players.

"I had to imagine that if the 2200+ entrants were prepared to write about their poker exploits regularly in their blogs, then they were the type of player that analyzes and tries to improve their game, and that the tournament
would be difficult," Philip said.

As he worked his way through the field, Philip started to realize his prediction was spot on. "All I'll say is that I've never been re-raised so much in my life. I had to stay very patient and disciplined for the most part."

As level after level passed and hours went by, Philip started setting goals for himself.

"My target was to reach the prizes (starting at 54th) comfortably then take it from there. I didn't think winning was realistic until we were maybe five-handed."

Indeed, Philip had made his way through hundreds and hundreds of people and was sitting at the final table. He was already guaranteed a $1,500 World Series of Poker Seat. However, if he placed first, everything would change.

"Heads up was the first time I've felt so nervous in a game of poker," Philip said. "The difference between first and second place being $10,500 was what got me shaking. I mean, that's a huge difference and a lot of money to me!"

Suddenly, the guy who had been playing draw poker and Omaha for years was playing for a bigger prize than he ever had before. Sure, he'd spent four weeks crushing low-limit no-limit games in Las Vegas earlier in the year. But, now he was playing for a seat in the most prestigous poker event in the world.

"Thanks to PokerStar's FPP store I have read a lot of books this year," Philip said. "Sklansky's books, Dan Harrington's books, and Kill Phill have all had an influence on my play."

Philip has been known to make his living playing cards, but he has some IT technical experience on which to fall back. "I'm really unsure as to what I want to be doing with my future but as I'm young, free and single there's nothing stopping me from taking whatever opportunities come my way," he said.

Philip admits, he has been a bit lazy about his blogging recently. Now, that can all change.

"A trip to the WSOP should give me plenty of poker to be talking about soon," he said.

Congratulations to Dale "Daleroxxu" Philip for winning this year's World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

The 2006 Le Mans 24 Hours ended in heartbreak for the Aston Martin Racing team. After leading the GT1 class for most of the race, the team couldn't deliver the victory that looked to be on the cards and had to settle for second place.

The lead DBR9 driven by Pedro Lamy, Stephane Ortelli and Stephane Sarrazin suffered a clutch problem in the 21st hour, forcing it to pit for lengthy repairs. The pitstop lasted 45 minutes and resulted in car 009 dropping down to fifth in class, much to the disappointment of the thousands of Aston Martin Racing fans in the record 230,000 crowd.

The team's other DBR9, which started on pole position, was another favourite for honours, but its chances of victory diminished when it suffered a cracked oil pipe on lap four. Tomas Enge, Darren Turner and Andrea Piccini staged a fabulous fight back to move from 48th to 10th overall, and second in GT1.

There was also a strong performance by the Team Modena DBR9. The David Brabham, Nelson Piquet and Antonio Garcia car finished ninth overall and fourth in GT1.

George Howard-Chappell, Team Principal, Aston Martin Racing: "It's very disappointing to be leading at the 21-hour mark, only to have victory snatched away from us. This is the second successive year that this has happened and, to be honest, I'm fed up with it.

"Without the massive resources normally associated with being a full Works team, we constantly have to punch above our weight. We put in a fantastic team performance this weekend and we had a great battle with the Corvettes. But, whichever way you dress it up, we're not happy to finish second."


David Richards, Chairman of Aston Martin Racing: "We have a sense of deja vu about this result. For the second year in a row we've had the speed to win the race, but not for 24 hours. We're disappointed, but it will be only few days before we start looking ahead to next year's race."


DBR9 007
2nd in GT1 (+ 5 laps), 6th overall, 350 laps

After a frenetic start to the race, which saw the Safety Car deployed on only lap four, car 007 sustained a damaged oil pipe as Darren Turner brought it into the pitlane. The resultant repair work cost the car six laps, a deficit that it could not recover. The car ran faultlessly for the remainder of the race, except for a puncture in the middle of the night, and second in class/sixth overall was an impressive recovery.

Tomas Enge: "We could have won this race, so I don't get any satisfaction from finishing second. I'm proud of my qualifying record here, but it's only the race that counts. We came here to win."

Darren Turner: "It's good to have got the car to the end of the race and to be on the podium. But what happened at the start was a big disappointment and we were always playing catch-up from there."

Andrea Piccini: "It feels good to finish my first Le Mans 24 Hours on the podium. Le Mans is Le Mans, and it was already great to be here with Aston Martin Racing. To be on the podium feels great."


DBR9 009
DBR9 009: 5th in GT1 (+14 laps), 10th overall, 341 laps

The car ran faultlessly until the final three hours. Early on, the car ran second in class, before taking the lead at midnight. The first sign of trouble was when Stephane Ortelli had gear selection problems with three hours of the race remaining. The clutch needed replacing a lap later, which dropped it back to fifth and the drivers then nursed the car home.

Pedro Lamy: "We were leading for a long time and it was a real shame that we had the problem with the clutch. We knew then that we could not win, which was very frustrating. In a 24-hour race, sometimes you are lucky and sometimes you are not. We were unlucky."

Stephane Sarrazin: "Until the problem with the clutch, the car was really good to drive. It was fast on old and new tyres, and we could push hard. I'm very sad not to win because we had the speed to do so."

Stephane Ortelli: "I am in love with Le Mans, and when you are in love you get sometimes get upset. In my opinion we were the strongest team and had the strongest car in the GT1 race, so it's a really frustrating situation not to win. But we have nothing to regret: we did a great job as a team and just stopped too early. We shouldn't forget the positives."

Ten hours is a long time to do anything. However, when your poker bankroll is increased by thousands and thousands of dollars, it all seems worth it. This week's Sunday Million lasted nearly ten hours and when it finished, nine people walked away with five-figure paydays. Here are the final table results.

PokerStars Sunday Million Results
(based on finishing order and a four-way deal that left $20,000 for first place)

1. PHARLAP 2 (Mentor, OH) $110,714.40
2. copi (Schwechat, Austria) $86,677.76
3. lausfloh (Neusiedl am See, Austria) $81,855.94
4. sixpiece24 (Blacksburg, VA) $69,751.89
5. jochan (New York, NY) $34,000.00
6. bovenzifarha (Olney, MD) $26,500.00
7. Bangbillion (Oslo, Norway) $20,500.00
8. 3232 (Baton Rouge, LA) $15,500.00
9. Chabacano (Mystic, CT) $10,000.00

After nearly seven hours of play and battle among the world's toughest bloggers, we have a winner in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker.

Congratulations to Daleroxxu for besting the field and winning a seat in the World Series of Poker main event.

Here's how the rest of the prize-winners finished.


1st -- World Series of Poker Main Event package (valued at $12,000)

1. Daleroxxu (Read the interview with Daleroxxu)

2nd-9th -- $1,500 World Series of Poker entry

2. ZbjaffeZ
3. thelivewire
4. max1090
5. Tomstra
6. glyphic
7. cashdaddy69
8. HoodedMan
9. silenthedges

10th place -- $1,000 online heads-up match with Team PokerStars' Wil Wheaton

10. Manero

11th-20th -- $370 seat in the PokerStars WSOP 150-Seat Guaranteed tournament

11. TheOutfit217
12. dkpw
13. PhenomPoker
14. doubleuwhy
15. hacker59
16. TheRempel
17. khanwoman
18. Milo Damon
19. ctwxman
20. JimmyTheCrab


21st-40th -- 4GB iPod Nano

21. Puffn420
22. irishluck82
23. kmkfan2003
24. seamus j
25. Slaxalot
26. yestbay1
27. elrobobo
28. pjs24
29. tobytobey
30. manrico86
31. Saber Snap
32. Randy72560
33. nukejuggler
34. FWJay
35. JulieOh
36. Ankhorahil
37. psandman
38. Zacchaeus
39. adamkeith
40. NWsixer

41st-50th -- $215 Seat in Sunday Million

41. vanish222
42. Tbone19
43. Petrescumari
44. sonicpuke
45. KingJackman
46. Vagabond
47. LatesJ
48. mgoalie01
49. brs847
50. HKornfeld

51st-54th -- PokerStars Letterman's Jacket

51. BEWYZ
52. HAWKHILL7
53. pologuy64
54. Saddlepoint

At 4pm, more than 2000 of the best blogging poker players in the world will be fighting in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. My role with PokerStars precludes my participation in the event (in which I would be sure to fold myself to the bubble). Thus, I've assigned myself the task of keeping tabs on WBCOOP as it unfolds. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail at blog@pokerstars.com if you take the head off one of the bounties or something else comes up that seems blog-worthy. Good luck to everyone. Remember, you're fighting for the following prizes:


2nd-9th -- $1,500 World Series of Poker entry
10th place -- $1,000 online heads-up match with Team PokerStars' Wil Wheaton
11th-20th -- $370 seat in the PokerStars WSOP 150-Seat Guaranteed tournament
21st-40th -- 4GB iPod Nano
41st-50th -- $215 Seat in Sunday Million
51st-54th -- PokerStars Letterman's Jacket

4:00pm-- The cards are in the air. Good luck, all!

4:05pm-- 50 players down in the first five minutes? What is this? A freeroll?

4:11pm--In case you missed it, here are the bounty prizes:

ADB DaVoice -- (aka Rick Charles) Known in the poker world as The Voice of Poker, Charles is a longtime radio man with a passion for poker. Charles was one of the original PokerStars players. He also hosted PokerStars Radio during the 2005 World Championship of Online Poker.

Bounty: Entry into PokerStars $370 buy-in 150 WSOP Seat Guaranteed event on July 16.

FellKnight -- RGP regular and king of the Rampage betting system, the Canadian military man is about to take the plunge into pro poker play.

Bounty: Entry into PokerStars $370 buy-in 150 WSOP Seat Guaranteed event on July 16.

Guinness -- (aka The BlogFather), the man who inspired just about every existing poker blog on the Internet. Reclusive and secretive, most people aren't sure if he is a sober housewife, a little person from the Midwest, or a fulltime professional poker player.

Bounty: Entry into PokerStars $370 buy-in 150 WSOP Seat Guaranteed event on July 16.

Up4Poker -- (aka The LuckBox) Known widely for his ability to suck out on the best hand. He recently declared, "Just make sure you get in behind, because if I have outs, you're going down. I'm The Luckbox. And don't you forget it!"

Bounty: Entry into PokerStars $370 buy-in 150 WSOP Seat Guaranteed event on July 16.

WilWheaton -- Member of Team PokerStars and host of the weekly PokerStars WWdN Invitational series. Wheaton is a lifelong actor, writer, and poker player. Look for him online at PokerStars and in Las Vegas during the 2006 World Series of Poker.

Bounty: PokerStars hat, shirt, and fleece.

4:14pm-- Some news from the PokerStars news wire:

A chip and a chair story is beginning with one player who reports:

"I was down from 2000 chips to 30 chips, and now come back to earth at 810." - doctorsabe

In other news, xxanity pulled his first royal flush ever.

4:18pm--The Luckbox (Up4Poker) is in full effect. Known for his ability to suck out, he got his money in with pocket tens vs a set of sixes. No doubt, a ten on the river. The bounty, friends, is still available.

4:38pm--400 players gone in 40 minutes. Moving fast, fast, fast.

4:40pm-- In other comeback kid news, MsBrownEyes has rebounded from 500 to more than 2000.

4:56pm--The winner of last year's WBCOOP, easywind, has drifteed off into the breeze. He's out.

5:00pm-- A the break, we have 1498 players remaining. Your current leader is silenthedges

5:20pm--Bounty gone. phenompoker just took out ADBDaVoice to win a seat in the $370 PokerStars 150 WSOP Seat Guaranteed Event.

5:26pm-- FellKnight has been knocked out. We're working to find who to award the bounty to.

5:35pm-- Word on the street was Wil Wheaton was about to give up the ghost and his bounty. Instead, he sucked out for the win.

5:46pm-- Wil Wheaton apparently does not want to give up his bounty. He's now moved his stack up to better than average.

5:50pm--Bounty gone. Guinness is taken out by smaily. Smaily gets a seat in the $370 PokerStars 150 WSOP Seat Guaranteed

5:58pm-- Hey look! PokerStars Caribbean Adventure winner stevejpa is playing in WBCOOP! And he has chips!

6:00pm-- This just in. DIAMONDxxx was the lucky player to knock out FellKnght and win a seat in the $370 PokerStars 150 WSOP Seat Guaranteed

6:02pm-- The Luckbox (Up4Poker) lives up to his name, surviving an all in with A8 vs. AT. No bounty awarded on him yet.

6:03pm--At the break, TheRempel is your chip leader.

6:16pm--Magus978 just took out Wil Wheaton to win a PokerStars hat, fleece, and shirt.

6:23pm--The bounties are gone. Hallos just took out Up4Poker to win a seat in the $370 PokerStars 150 WSOP Seat Guaranteed.

6:39pm-- In other news, it appears the winner of the PokerStars-sponsored 2005 World Poker Blogger Tour in event is still in contention. Everybody watch out for glyphic. He's a monster.

7:00pm---- Now we must bid goodbye to stevejpa who just lost to AlwaysAware with AKs vs pocket kings. That hand crippled him. He was out on the next hand with A5 vs 77.

7:12pm-- Well, here we are at the break and TheRempel maintains the chip lead. With a little more than 100 players left in the event, it looks like we'll get to the prizes in the next hour. Good luck to the remaining players.

7:56pm--Looks like Blogger has woken up. We're nearing the bubble. Good luck to everyone!

8:05pm-- We've made it to the prizes.

51st-54th -- PokerStars Letterman's Jacket

51. BEWYZ
52. HAWKHILL7
53. pologuy64
54. Saddlepoint

8:13pm-- At the break...we have a new chip leader: Manero

8:24pm--

41st-50th -- $215 Seat in Sunday Million

41. vanish222
42. Tbone19
43. Petrescumari
44. sonicpuke
45. KingJackman
46. Vagabond
47. LatesJ
48. mgoalie01
49. brs847
50. HKornfeld

8:34pm--It's iPod Nano prize time and everybody is excited. Dropping like flies.

8:50pm

21st-40th -- 4GB iPod Nano

21. Puffn420
22. irishluck82
23. kmkfan2003
24. seamus j
25. Slaxalot
26. yestbay1
27. elrobobo
28. pjs24
29. tobytobey
30. manrico86
31. Saber Snap
32. Randy72560
33. nukejuggler
34. FWJay
35. JulieOh
36. Ankhorahil
37. psandman
38. Zacchaeus
39. adamkeith
40. NWsixer

9:23pm--Almost to the final table. At the break, thelivewire is your chip leader.

11th-20th -- $370 seat in the PokerStars WSOP 150-Seat Guaranteed tournament

11. TheOutfit217
12. dkpw
13. PhenomPoker
14. doubleuwhy
15. hacker59
16. TheRempel
17. khanwoman
18. Milo Damon
19. ctwxman
20. JimmyTheCrab

9:32pm--Final table

10th place -- $1,000 online heads-up match with Team PokerStars' Wil Wheaton

10. Manero

10:18pm--With four players remaining and the difference prize money a very big reality, the play has tightened up. Who is going to win this thing?

2nd-9th -- $1,500 World Series of Poker entry

2. ZbjaffeZ
3. thelivewire
4. max1090
5. Tomstra
6. glyphic
7. cashdaddy69
8. HoodedMan
9. silenthedges

10:39pm-- We have a winner!

1st -- World Series of Poker Main Event package (valued at $12,000)

1. Daleroxxu

After a stellar run in the early going, a PokerStars Aston Martin Racing car has suffered a setback at Le Mans.

Here are the cars' positions as of 1599 hrs.

DBR9 007: 2nd in GT1 (+ 5 laps), 5th overall, 317 laps

DBR9 009: 4th in GT1 (+11 laps), 8th overall, 312 laps

Drama has struck Aston Martin Racing at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The DBR9 of Pedro Lamy, Stephane Ortelli and Stephane Sarrazin - which has led the GT1 class for more than 13 hours - has been hit by a technical problem and has dropped down the order.

A clutch failure in the 20th hour, while Ortelli was behind the wheel, resulted in the car losing 45 minutes in the pit garage while a new clutch assembly was installed. It rejoined the race in fourth place in GT1, 11 laps behind the leader.
The team's other DBR9, driven by Tomas Enge, Darren Turner and Andrea Piccini, has inherited second place in GT1 as a result of the drama and it is six laps behind the GT1 class leader.

George Howard-Chappell, Team Principal, said, "The clutch of car 009 was slipping and we have no option other than to replace it. Obviously, it is very disappointing and we won't know the exact cause of the problem until we take a closer look after the race."

Stephane Ortelli said, "When I took over the car, it was running fine. But I then began having problems downshifting because I got wheelspin and within a lap the clutch had gone completely."

Here are the Aston Martin Racing positions as of 2300 hrs:

Car 009: 2nd in GT1, (+26s), 10th overall, 86 laps

Car 007: 10th in GT1 (+ 6 laps), 23rd overall, 80 laps

Aston Martin Racing made good progress from hours three to six at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Both DBR9s ran faultlessly and moved steadily up the overall leader board.
Stephane Sarrazin drove a double stint in car 009, which remains second in class. Tomas Enge drove two stints in car 007, which sits 10th in GT1, before handing over to Stephane Ortelli.

Driver Stephane Sarrazin said, "The car was really good throughout my stint. I was able to continue with a good pace, although I was held up in traffic quite a lot. The only problem I had was when a stone got caught under my throttle pedal, resulting in it staying open on one lap at the chicane. But so far so good."

Tomas Enge said, "As a result of our problems earlier in the race, it is not possible for us to fight with the leaders at the moment. The car is performing well and the only thing we can do is drive flat-out for the whole race and see where that gets us. Maximum attack!"

(Update)

Here are the cars' positions at 0200 hrs:

DBR9 009: 1st in GT1, 5th overall, 132 laps

DBR9 007: 7th in GT1 (+ 6 laps), 14th overall, 126 laps

Aston Martin Racing's drivers are dialled into the darkness at Le Mans, where both DBR9s have made good progress in the last three hours. Car 009 has taken the lead of the GT1 class and lies fifth overall; car 007, which suffered a cracked oil pipe in the first hour, lies seventh in class and has climbed from 23rd to 14th overall.

Stephane Ortelli (009): "The car feels very good to drive and we can see how competitive we are relative to the opposition. In my stint, I drove as consistently as possible and was quite cautious in the traffic. There is still a long way to go."

Andrea Piccini (007): "It was definitely a stint of two halves for me. The first one was great: the car was handling well and I had very little traffic; the second one was very hard because I was always surrounded by slower cars, which made it harder to maintain consistent lap times. Still, I managed to make good progress up the order and we are going well."

Following PokerStars and Aston Martin Racing's outstanding performance on Thursday, in which its DBR9s qualified first and second in class for the Le Mans 24 Hours, the team is making its final preparations for this afternoon's race start.

Both cars have been re-built since qualifying, and the team used Saturday morning's 45-minute warm-up session to check them over. The drivers and engineers then finalized their strategies and car set-ups for the race, before agreeing that Darren Turner and Pedro Lamy would start the race in cars 007 and 009 respectively.

"I'm happy with the cars," said Aston Martin Racing team principal George Howard-Chappell. "We spotted something on the data of car 007 during the warm-up, so we've decided to make a precautionary engine change prior to the race; otherwise everything is running smoothly.

"We're expecting the race to be very tough because we have some serious competition out there, and I'm not just talking about the yellow cars. It will definitely be a race rather than an endurance run, so we expect it to be run at a very fast pace.

"It's great to see so many Aston Martin fans in the crowd, and I hope we can give them something to cheer about on Sunday afternoon."

With no on-track running on Friday, all six drivers had busy schedules. They attended partner functions in the morning and spent more than an hour signing autographs at the Aston Martin Racing merchandising stand in the afternoon, before playing several hands of poker at the PokerStars.com stand.
"I've played poker before," said Stephane Sarrazin, "so I enjoyed it a lot. Let's just say there was a big difference between those of us that had previously played, and those that hadn't!"
In the evening, they attended the official driver parade in Le Mans town centre. It was a spectacular cavalcade of all the drivers in the race, and the Aston Martin Racing drivers received one of the biggest receptions.

"Aston Martin is very popular with the fans," said Tomas Enge, who took a record fifth consecutive pole position on Thursday, beating the long-standing record of Le Mans legend Jacky Ickx, "This year was very special because there were lots of people congratulating me on my pole position record and I was presented with a trophy by the ACO, which meant a lot. Let's now go and finish the job in the race."

The race kicks off at 5pm local time, which is one-hour later than usual, due to clashes with the football World Cup.

It's summer bonus season at PokerStars. Whether you're making your first deposit or adding money to your account, PokerStars has a bonus for you. Ready to beef up your bankroll? If you are a first-time depositor, PokerStars will give you a 100% bonus up to $50 from now until June 30, if you use the bonus code "FirstJune2006."

PokerStars is also offering all of its players -- even those who have just made their first deposit -- a 20% deposit bonus up to $120 from now until June 20.

You can find all the details on the PokerStars Deposit Bonus page.

Just a few days remain until the world's bloggers will compete in the biggest blogger freeroll on the planet. The PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker is this Sunday at 4:00pm ET. The stakes are high. The online scribes will be competing for more than $37,000 worth of prizes, including a seat in the 2006 World Series of Poker main event.

To make the event even more interesting, PokerStars has just placed bounties on the heads of five well-known bloggers and personalities.

ADB DaVoice -- (aka Rick Charles) Known in the poker world as The Voice of Poker, Charles is a longtime radio man with a passion for poker. Charles was one of the original PokerStars players. He also hosted PokerStars Radio during the 2005 World Championship of Online Poker.

Bounty: Entry into PokerStars $370 buy-in 150 WSOP Seat Guaranteed event on July 16.

FellKnight -- RGP regular and king of the Rampage betting system, the Canadian military man is about to take the plunge into pro poker play.

Bounty: Entry into PokerStars $370 buy-in 150 WSOP Seat Guaranteed event on July 16.

Guinness -- (aka The BlogFather), the man who inspired just about every existing poker blog on the Internet. Reclusive and secretive, most people aren't sure if he is a sober housewife, a little person from the Midwest, or a fulltime professional poker player.

Bounty: Entry into PokerStars $370 buy-in 150 WSOP Seat Guaranteed event on July 16.

Up4Poker -- (aka The LuckBox) Known widely for his ability to suck out on the best hand. He recently declared, "Just make sure you get in behind, because if I have outs, you're going down. I'm The Luckbox. And don't you forget it!"

Bounty: Entry into PokerStars $370 buy-in 150 WSOP Seat Guaranteed event on July 16.

WilWheaton -- Member of Team PokerStars and host of the weekly PokerStars WWdN Invitational series. Wheaton is a lifelong actor, writer, and poker player. Look for him online at PokerStars and in Las Vegas during the 2006 World Series of Poker.

Bounty: PokerStars hat, shirt, and fleece.

Registration for the big event is closing soon, so if you're a blogger and want to play, get signed up before it is too late.

See you on Sunday!

Stronghold lived up to his name in the PokerStars Sunday Million. Twice during final table play, a deal emerged that made it look like the players would chop up the money before play was finished. Both times, Stronghold held strong. When it was over, Denmark's Stronghold had outlasted more than 4800 players to take first place outright. For his efforts, he earned a massive $158,000. Congratulations to all the players!

PokerStars Sunday Million Results

1. Stronghold (Vejle, Denmark) $158,000.00
2. MoonKenny (Karlstad, Sweden) $88,000.00
3. scottjf8 (Waterford, MI) $52,000.00
4. Vick Is God (New Haven, CT) $40,000.00
5. HoldumGod (Oakdale, MN) $32,500.00
6. alcswab (Lyndhurst, OH) $25,000.00
7. casinocasino (Richmond Hill, ON, Canada) $19,500.00
8. Numie (Old Bethpage, NY) $15,000.00
9. pokergrl55 (Somerville, MA) $9,000.00

There is more to PokerStars Tournament Leader Board than prestige and a chance to play heads up with some of the world champions on Team PokerStars. A couple of TLB players found that out today when they won free trips to the World Series of Poker main event.

PokerStars awarded two WSOP seats and packages in a contest among the top 100 on the TLB for the month of May. In a tournament that last lasted nearly four hours, Crazyhug and PhantomRay came out on top. Now, they will be joining the hundreds of other PokerStars players who have qualified for the WSOP main event.

Next month, PokerStars will award six more seats to the TLB players. On July 9, PokerStars will put up two more seats for a contest among the top 100 TLB players for the month of June. Then, on July 16, the top 150 TLB players for the year 2006 will play for four seats in the WSOP.

It just goes to show, you never you know what spoils yours success at the table will produce.

Congrats again to Crazyhug and PhantomRay for winning the seats today. See you guys in Vegas!

I was looking back at some players' trip reports from the 2003 World Series. It's amusing to look back at that year. For a while, people were predicting a 700-player field in the main event of the WSOP. By the time the cards were in the air, there were more than 800 players playing and the tournament director was accepting alternates. By that time the predictions for 2004 had started. There was a good chance, people mused, that the starting field in 2004 would be more than 1,100 strong.

And then Team PokerStars member Chris Moneymaker went and changed everything. When he won the 2003 WSOP, he had started in a field of 839 players. The Moneymaker Revolution took all the predictions and blew them out of the water. The 2004 WSOP, won by Team PokerStars' Greg Raymer, drew nearly 2,600 entries.

But right now, 2003 is on my mind. Why? Because in the past few days, the number of PokerStars qualifiers for the 2006 WSOP eclipsed the total number of entries for the whole of the 2003 main event. As of this moment, 880 PokerStars players have qualified for the main event of the 2006 WSOP. More than a month and half remains before the big event.

There are some big WSOP events coming up at PokerStars in the coming weeks. This weekend, the top 100 Tournament Leader Board players will play for two free seats to the WSOP. That's not to mention the huge 150-seat guaranteed event coming on July 16.

All told, this is going to be one huge, huge summer.

Care to come along?

The PokerStars Sunday Million final table pitted a group of Nordic players versus a group of Americans and one player from the U.K. When it was down to two players, it fell to a contest between a Dane and a man from Florida. They cut a quick deal to lessen the blow of finishing second and then went back to attacking each other. The back and forth battle ended with Boca Raton's hirs 10 finishing in first place. Here are the final table results.

PokerStars Sunday Million Results
(listed in order of finish and based on two-way deal that left $20,000 for first place)

1. hirs10 (Boca Raton, FL) $120,000.00
2. Jane Smith (Odense S, Denmark) $130,614.00
3. quzzo (Gothenburg, Sweden) $52,650.00
4. 23Titan (Lake Elmo, MN) $42,120.00
5. ladyluck22 (Thornton Cleveleys, United Kingdom) $32,643.00
6. youngluck (Gardena, CA) $26,325.00
7. skjetten (Skjetten, Norway) $20,533.50
8. 1badpokerman (Montrose, CO) $15,268.50
9. BobCore (Oslo, Norway) $9,477.00

It has been happening every Sunday for the past few months at PokerStars. The most talented online poker enthusiasts and professionals get together to compete in the biggest weekly poker tournament around.

Well--no surprise--the fun continues this weekend. Once again, PokerStars will guarantee a $1 million prize pool in the Sunday 4:30pm no-limit hold'em event. This week, the buy-in is a very reasonable $215. Satellites to the event are running all the time under the Tourney/Satellites tab. The top finishers have been routinely walking away with six-figure paydays, so there's no reason to not take a shot.

See you there!