Author: elizabeth

Day 5 of the 2011 World Series of Poker was the first day that all of the players are guaranteed a cash finish, and the action on Day 46 of the WSOP was vicious, with only 142 players still standing at the end of the day. 378 players had started out the day, and the chips switched hands over and over again until the leaders list saw some rearranging. There are now five players above the four million mark, with another seven right behind with over three million. Many familiar names top the list of those still standing, but on Day 5, we’ve had to say goodbye to yet more of our favourite players.

Max Heinzelmann, who started the day in tenth place after taking Shaun Deeb’s chips on a bad beat in Day 3, made yet another noteworthy hand on Saturday, although this time, he was on the wrong end of it. Heinzelmann held pocket aces (AsAh) against David Bach’s pocket kings (KsKd). Heinzelmann went all in pre-flop, but the flop didn’t help him with the Q, 7, 4 all in diamonds. The turn showed a 6h, not helping either player, but the river’s 3d gave Bach an unlikely flush and knocked Heinzelmann out of the game in 151st place, helping to vault Bach into the lead position, where he would sit at the end of the day with 4,706,000 chips.

Other well-known players who hit the rail today (and their final positions in this year’s main event) include Freddy Deeb (358), John Cernuto (345), Jon “Pearljammer Turner (344), Carter King (247), Peter Jetten (244), Kevin Saul (216), Daniel Negreanu (211), Matt Stout (186), Joe Tehan (185), Mark Newhouse (182), and Garry Gates (173). Robert Iler of The Sopranos fame was the last celebrity playing in the event after The Simpsons creator Sam Simon left the field yesterday. Iler walked away with $40,654 and finished in position 275.

Behind Bach in the fight for first place are Pius Heinz (4,699,000), Kyle Johnson (4,654,000), Phil Collins (not the drummer/vocalist from Genesis) at 4,109,000, and Ben Lamb (4,032,000), who is only about 30 spots away from taking Phil Hellmuth’s position in the lead of the Player of the Year race. It looks like this year’s PoY will come down to the seven events in WSOP Europe later this year. Also in the running for this year’s bracelet (in truth, everyone is still in the running, regardless of the size of their stacks) are Aleksandr Mozhnyakov, who held the chip lead earlier in the tournament and has managed to stay pretty high in the list throughout; Sebastian Ruthenberg, everyone’s favourite unflappable German who is keeping his healthy position with 3,354,000 chips; Lars Bonding (3,352,000); and Bryan Devonshire (3,292,000).

One familiar name from the list of chip leaders that you won’t be seeing anymore this year is Manoj Viswanathan, who held an impressive amount of chips going into Day 5 and lost them all, mostly to David Barter, who ended up busting Viswanathan after whittling down his stacks. Viswanathan’s dethroning reminds players and spectators alike that having a lead doesn’t always mean having a win– the chips can change hands in a second, and only one person can walk away with the bracelet and $8.7 million prize.

Finally, the point that everyone has been waiting for in the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event is here– the bubble has burst, and all of the remaining players have now entered the realm of the money finish. Since game play started on Friday, not only were the 853 players who made it this far whittled down, with 159 of them leaving without having anything to show for their time and effort, but the players with cash finishes moved quickly through five levels of pay amounts before the day was over.

The bubble boy distinction this year went to Reza Kashani of Irvine, CA– he was the last person to hit the rail without taking home money. According to World Series of Poker tradition, he will have free entry into the main event next year, something for which he’s probably very grateful (or he will be when the sting of this year wears off), given that he bought his way in to the WSOP this year. Also in the unfortunate minority of the day who leave empty-handed are Phil Hellmuth and Berry Johnston. 378 players remain, one of them Ben Lamb in 21st place with 1,268,000, who will take the lead spot in the Player of the Year race away from Phil Hellmuth if he manages to finish in the top 138. After the Main Event finishes, only the seven WSOP Europe events remain to determine the Player of the Year. Hellmuth, who was determined to capture a twelfth bracelet this year but failed, doesn’t seem worried about Lamb’s position right on his tail– he spent the rest of the day getting full spa treatment at the Aria Hotels Spa, then went to dinner and a movie with Mike Matusow.

Manoj Viswanathan captured the most chips at the end of Day 4, becoming the only player so far in the Main Event to amass over two million chips. He sits comfortable with 2,115,000, while Sam Barnhart is not far behind him with 1,925,000. Rounding out the rest of the top nine are Pius Heinz (1,887,000), Stephane Albertini (1,867,000), Daryl Jace (1,849,000), Lars Bonding (1,813,000), Kyle Johnson (1,761,000), Matthew Kay (1,756,000), and Mazin Khoury (1,707,000). Resting in tenth place is German Max Heinzelmann, who made news the day before by taking Shaun Deeb’s chips on a bad beat.

Other noteworthy players still in the running are Bryan Devonshire, JP Kelly, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Peter Feldman, Mark Newhouse, and Amanda Musumeci, all with over a million chips each. Joe Tehan, Joseph Cheong, Eli Elezra, Kevin Saul, Sorel Mizzi, Allen Cunningham, and Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro have over 500k chips, as does Daniel Negreanu, who turned the 35k in chips he had at one point into over 600k by the close of Day 4.

The Main event of the 2011 World Series of Poker is slowly drawing to a close. One of the 378 players who remain will be the next champion, but it’s still anyone’s guess who that winner will be. There’s a lot of great talent still in the game and more still yet to be discovered– tune in tomorrow for the next installment in the WSOP 2011 saga.

As predicted, the rail was humming today with all the eliminations as the starting field of 1,864 players was cut down to 852. 693 of the players remaining will make the money as the action picks up again on Friday, but the money bubble comes at a high price– the added pressure often causes players to choke and play a sloppier game than they have before, as the WSOP bracelet now feels so close that the players can almost taste it.

Leading the pack at the end of Day 3 are Patrick Poirier (don’t worry– no one else has heard of him either) with 1,328,000, Darryl Jace, with 1,282,500, Chris Kwon (944,500), David Barter (917,500), Scott Smith (896,500), and Sebastian Ruthenberg, who is sitting at 889,000 and looking for a second WSOP bracelet. Day 2a leader Aleksandr Mozhnyakov sits in tenth place with 813,000.

Former champions Phil Hellmuth and Robert Varkonyi, the 1989 and 2001 Main Event winners, respectively, are still in the running, although both are a bit short-stacked; Hellmuth is holding on to 71,000 chips while Varkonyi has 168,000. Both players are considerably behind the players leading in chips, the top two of whom have over a million chips. Also still in the game are Isabelle Mercier (79,000), Ted Forrest (73,500), Rafe Furst (69,500), Lee Childs (67,000), Humberto Brenes (65,000), and Randal “RandALLin” Flowers (43,000).

Plenty of other familiar faces didn’t even make it far enough to end the day below average: tv stars Jason Alexander and Brad Garrett both hit the rail today, along with former Main Event champions Tom McEvoy, Huck Seed, and Joe Cada. Norwegian Wunderkind Annette Obrestad, who garnered a lot of attention years ago when she won a tournament without looking at her cards (save for once, on an all-in), tweeted that the bad cards she was being dealt were responsible for her small stack going into Day 3. Obrestad was eliminated shortly after the dinner break today. Jason Mercier, Greg Mueller, Matt Matros, Dan Shak, Noah Boeken, Galen Hall, Justin Bonomo, Carlos Mortensen, Sam Stein, Patrik Antonius, Matt Savage, and Ryan D’Angelo all hit the rail today, clearing out some significant talent in one day of play.

One of the most notable moments of Day 3 came when Las Vegas pro Shaun Deeb began his last hand of the 2011 World Series of Poker. Deeb was sitting on pocket Aces and was playing with two other players– one of them German Max Heinzelmann, with whom Deeb had played extensively online. He read the German and placed a five bet to bait his opponent into a six bet (the original raiser folded after four). Deeb raised again, and Heinzelmann went all in. Deeb called. The German was holding A6. The flop came down 10-6-K, and the turn brought the Q, making Deebs two pair look good. The river brought another 6, though, and Heinzelmann’s trip 6s took the pot. As though Deeb’s day wasn’t bad enough after losing a 430k pot on a bad beat, he returned to his hotel and found his laptop stolen. Some days you win, and, as Shaun Deeb has shown us, some days you lose… a lot.

Poker players and fans around the world have been waiting to see what would come of the Main Event of the 2011 World Series of Poker, and so far, the action hasn’t been disappointing. With about 1,875 players set to return on Thursday after a one-day recess (there is no poker action at the WSOP on Wednesday, July 13), the rest of the tournament should be just as impressive as it has been so far.

Ben Lamb vaulted into the chip lead today with over a half-million chips, making him the first player this year to hit the 500k mark. He is followed by Kevin Saul, who rests at 542,200– Day 2a chip leader Aleksander Mozhnyakov has been pushed into third place. Lamb knocked out two of his opponents and added to his considerable stack in what was a remarkable hand that’s indicative of Lamb’s luck so far this tournament. Lamb held 8s5s, while his opponents had Kd4d and Ad5s. The flop (on which the small and big blind both went all-in), was 5d6d8d, giving the small blind a king-high flush and the big blind a pair of fives and a chance for an ace-high flush draw. Lamb needed some luck on his side in order to make his hand work, and when the 5c hit the turn, things looked much better for him. His full house remained the highest hand at the table after a Kc came on the river, bringing his total chips over 400k.

Day 2b saw no shortage of poker stars moving on to Day 3– Ryan D’Angelo closed the day with 462,300 chips, while Patrik Antonius made an impressive show with 361,000. Sam Simon, best known for creating The Simpsons, is still alive with a healthy 317,900, while Tony Hachem and Jeff Madsen ended Day 2b with 245,100 and 231,500 chips, respectively. Perhaps the most impressive comeback today belonged to Erick Lindgren, who started the day with less than 4,000 chips and ended it with just over 170k. Andy Frankenberger, Paul Wasicka, Matt Jarvis, J.C. Tran and David “The Devilfish” Ulliott were not so lucky; they were all sent to the rail during Day 2b and will not be seeing any more action at this year’s Main Event.

Historically speaking, a player’s standing at the end of Day 2 has little bearing on whether or not they eventually win; that’s a factor of how the cards fall and how each player handles the action. Last year’s champion, Jonathan Duhamel, started Day 3 in 889th place, while previous winners have made similar comebacks– 2009 winner Joe Cada was in position 99 going into Day 3, while 2008 winner Peter Eastgate was at position 484. None of the 2006-2010 chip leaders at the end of Day 2 have managed to finish above 40th place, interestingly enough, though we will have to wait to see whether Ben Lamb and Aleksander Mozhnyakov will be able to break that trend. There are still a lot of big names and incredible players left in the 2011 WSOP Main Event, so it’s still anyone’s game.

Even though the 2011 World Series of Poker is quickly drawing to a close, the large live tournaments of the season are far from over. Some of the best events of the year are yet to come, and we can expect to see a lot of different players shine throughout the rest of the summer and early fall of this year.

Italian Poker Tour

IPT San Remo – 28 July-1 August, 2011

The Italian Poker Tour continues with a stop in San Remo, Italy, where last year’s winner, Marcello Caponnetto, walked away with €170,000. Players can buy-in at Casino Sanremo starting two hours before the event begins, or you can try your luck now with one of the many online qualifiers at PokerStars.

IPT Nova Gorica – 1-5 September, 2011

This event, held in Nova Gorica, Slovenia, is very similar to the San Remo event, but with a more relaxed dress code. Last year’s winner took home 200,000 euro, and the 2011 event promises a greater turnout, not only for the Main Event, but for the live qualifiers that lead up to it.

European Poker Tour

EPT Tallinn – 2-7 August, 2011

Season 8 of the European Poker Tour kicks off in Tallinn, Estonia this year. Unlike many poker events, in which players must be 18 to play, the inaugural event of the newest season of the EPT has a minimum age of 21, due to Estonian laws. Last year, the EPT Tallinn title went to Kevin Stani of Norway, who won the €400,000 first place prize. Like many other players, Stani won his entry in a qualifying satellite.

EPT Barcelona/Estrellas Poker Tour Final – 27 August – 1 September, 2011

Season 8 of the European Poker Tour’s stop in Barcelona promises to be big– last year, the event saw over 750 entrants, creating a prize pool of almost €4 million. The increased field has made last year’s event the biggest poker tournament that Spain has ever seen, and poker players looking for this kind of intensity will not be disappointed in Season 8.

EPT London – 30 September – 6 October, 2011

This classic event on the European Poker Tour ends just in time for players to hop on a plane to France to become part of the action at WSOP Europe, a well-timed maneuver if ever there was one. The EPT and WSOPE events are arranged perfectly to keep all the big names in poker in Europe for a month. Players need to be registered with the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in order to participate, and PokerStars has a series of satellite tournaments for those who want an alternative to forking out the ₤5,000 buy-in.

EPT San Remo – 21-27 October, 2011

Since its first year as a part of the European Poker Tour, the San Remo event has quickly become one of the biggest pots in not only the EPT but live competitive poker today. Past EPT San Remo winners include Jason Mercier and Liv Boeree; Mercier won over €800k, while Boeree won around €1.25 million. As with all EPT events, qualifiers are through PokerStars.

Latin American Poker Tour

LAPT Punta del Este – 3-7 August, 2011

The Latin American Poker Tour heads to Punta del Este, Uruguay in early August and kicks off this leg of the tournament in style with a welcome party at the Mantra Casino on the 3rd, then follows it up with another party at Nogaro Casino on the 6th. This event has low buy-ins, compared to the other poker tournaments currently out there, although players can also qualify online.

Grosvenor UK Poker Tour

Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Leg 4: Luton – 14-21 August, 2011

The side events for this leg of the GUKPT involve a series of freezeouts with low buy-ins (all are ₤500 or under), while the main event is standard No-Limit Hold’em.

GUKPT Goliath at the Ricoh Arena – 24-28 August, 2011

If you have time for only one European event this year, you might want to consider this mammoth event from the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour for two reasons: the event has a buy-in of only ₤100 as part of their drive to break European records for tournament attendance, and 25% of all buy-ins goes to Marie Curie Cancer Care, which provides nurses and hospice workers to the terminally ill.

Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Leg 5: Coventry – 9-16 October, 2011

The GUKPT officials have curious timing, as they scheduled this event to coincide with WSOP Europe, but there will likely be very little overlap between the two tournaments. Grosvenor is the small pond in this scenario where many of the big fish will be leaving to pursue bigger pots and stronger competition.

Asian Poker Tour

APT Asian Series – 17-23 August, 2011

The Asian Poker Tour Asian Series is in the Phillipines this year, and the Main Event has a buy-in of 50,000 Phillipine pesos (a little over $1,000). There are also a large number of qualifiers for the APT events; you can learn more about the tournament at theasianpokertour.com.

World Series of Poker Europe

WSOP Europe – 7-20 October, 2011

This two week event will be counted in the Player of the Year race, so expect to see more faces from the United States than ever before, especially from the leaders in the PoY race, as missing this tournament could cost them the title. Unlike the regular WSOP, which offers a large number of poker types, the WSOPE is really just focused on Hold’em and Omaha, with no other forms of poker making an appearance this year.

There are eight events in this year’s WSOPE, including the unnumbered Ladies Event, which once again does not offer a bracelet. The other events are: €2,860 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em, €1,090 No Limit Hold’em, €5.3k Pot Limit Omaha, €3.2k No Limit Hold’em Shootout, €10.4K No Limit Hold’em (Split Format), €1,620 Six-Handed Pot Limit Omaha, and the €10.4K Main Event Championship.

During Day 2a of the 2011 World Series of Poker, we all learned an important lesson about friendship, perseverance, and making sure you double-check your schedule.

The Poker Brat finished Day 1C with a small stack, but a stack of almost 12k nonetheless– given the way that Phil Hellmuth plays and how badly he wants another bracelet (especially another Main Event), we all know that as long as he has some chips left, he has a shot. All eyes were on Hellmuth, who is currently leading the WSOP 2011 Player of the Year race, waiting to see how he would play on Day 2a… and then he didn’t show.

Other players sat by and watched as Hellmuth’s $11,800 was eaten away by blinds, but Mike Matusow had his friend’s back. First, he tried calling Hellmuth’s cell phone. It was turned off. He tried ringing the room, but the hotel had a “do not disturb.” The Mouth managed to get them to ring the room anyway, but there was no answer. Finally, while tweeting “@phil_hellmuth is such an idiot hes getting blinded off has 5k left” and “how can anyone be this dumb,” Matusow somehow convinced hotel security to break into Phil Hellmuth’s room. Hellmuth’s response was this: “Security broke into my room, I’m like, ‘What’s going on?!?’ Sguard says, ‘You’re playing in the World Series of Poker today.'” After racing to the event (reportedly going 75 on side roads to get there), Hellmuth further tweeted that he thought that he played on Day 2b on Tuesday, and that it had never occurred to him that he might play on Monday. This is a lesson to all you future players: make sure you know which day you play.

There is a greater lesson to be learned from this, one about good sportsmanship and friendship. Matusow himself said it best: “@phil_hellmuth yea I had them break in you idiot least you know who your friends are.”

Hellmuth went on to play some excellent poker today, taking his under 7k stack and turning it into 64,900 by the end of the day. While the chip leaders of Day 2a– Aleksandr Mozhnyakov (478,600), Tuan Vo (434,500), Guillaume Darcourt (410,500), and Stephane Albertini (400,100)– are clearly so far ahead of Hellmuth that they likely aren’t too worried about him, Hellmuth has shown the dedication and resolve to make this work for him. At this point, a certain amount of Hellmuth’s success will come down to luck.

A lot of big names were sent packing today, including Ram Vaswani, Dan Harrington (so his M-Theory didn’t work out this time), Marcel Luske, Phil Gordon, Victoria Coren, and Johnny Chan, who has already snagged multiple bracelets off the main event in the past. Other players managed to strengthen their position, and some of the players moving up in the ranks include Sebastian Ruthenberg (currently at 16 with 289,400), Jason Alexander (at 70 with 167k), Eli Elezra, who bagged an extra 40k to end the day at 160k, Americans Shane Abbott (resting at 239,000 in position 29), and Brendan Taylor (in position 10 with 313.5k) and Italian Biagio Morciano, who gained over 100k to close the day in position 12 with around 307k.

Day 1a leader Fred Berger had managed to hold on to his stack of about 200k, but didn’t move much during Day 2a, closing out today’s action with 205k. Likewise, Daniel Negreanu has gained less than 10k and is keeping steady at around 114k. Norwegian Wunderkind Annette Obrestad finished out the day with a substantial loss of around 220k, leaving her short-stacked at 90,500 going into the third day on Thursday.

The 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event has drawn 6,865 entrants, far more than estimates were at the start of the event. The top 693 players will have a money finish, but the real question on everyone’s mind doesn’t seem to be the almost nine million dollars at stake for first place, but rather who will nab Player of the Year (the real question on the spectators’ minds, at any rate– the players are certainly gunning for the bracelet).

Day 1D drew not only a large number of entrants, making the 2011 WSOP Main Event the third-largest of all time, but it also drew some well-known names, including Nelly (the rap artist of “Hot in Herre” fame), Jennifer Tilly, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Tom Marchese, John Juanda, Tom “durrr” Dwan, Frank Kassela, Will Reynolds, and Antonio Esfandiari, all of whom hit the rail and won’t be returning for Day 2B, when the chip leaders from Days 1B and 1D go against one another for further elimination.

Mory Little is the chip leader for Day 1D with 179,450 chips, and he is followed by Ben Mintz, with 176,875, Roj Vohra, with 167,450, Anthony Miller (166,000), Dax Mellon (161,325), and Antony Lellouche (155,200). Kevin Song, who was the cheap leader at the end of Day 1C, has now moved from fifth place in chips among the remaining entrants to ninth place, as the top four players today all had a higher total at the end of play. Other notable poker players still in the running after the final first day of the World Series of Poker 2011 Main Event include Lyle Berman (127,575), who is looking for the fourth bracelet of his career, Alexandre Gomes (100,650), who is in pursuit of his second, Todd Brunson (48,625), one-time bracelet winner and son of poker legend Doyle Brunson, Phil Laak (45,700), also pursuing his second bracelet, Huck Seed (42,600), chasing after his fifth WSOP victory, and Vanessa Rousso (65,375) and Noah Boeken (78,675), both looking to change their WSOP records of a series of money finishes by winning the coveted Main Event gold bracelet.

As far as the Player of the Year race is concerned, no real developments have taken place here on the last Day 1 of play. Players get a minimum of 25 points for participation in the event (25 for finishing in the bottom 50%, 50 points for being in the top 21-49%, 75 for being in the top 20, and then between 100 and 500 points for being in the top 9. Since Phil Hellmuth has a 51 point lead over Ben Lamb, who’s following him in the Player of the Year rankings, Lamb could move into first place if Hellmuth is eliminated in the bottom 50% of players and Lamb makes the top 9– poker player or not, you have to admit that those don’t seem like terribly good odds. The Player of the Year race will ultimately depend not only on how the individual players in the running perform in the remaining days of the Main Event, but also on how and when their opponents drop out of the running. Hellmuth seems to have the title in a lock, but it will all come down to whether he can make his short stack (around 11,000 of chips) work for him tomorrow.