Poker Blog

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.

Now that the hum of the rest of the 2011 World Series of Poker has come to a halt, as all but the Main Event are completed, we can focus on what’s going on in the No-Limit Hold’em Championship on this, Day 1C of the action.

The third of the four starting days of this event saw a bigger turnout than the first two days combined; while Day 1A had 897 entrants and Day 1b had 985, today’s turnout was a whopping 2,181, making all the naysayers who previously spoke of the drastic decrease in play this year rethink their theories. The turnout on Day 1D has always been the largest of all, and over 2,000 players are already registered for the final first day of the Main Event. Most previous estimates said that this year’s WSOP would have more than 5,000 but less than 6,000 entrants, but with 6,000 guaranteed, we’re now looking towards the elusive 7,000 mark.

All eyes were on Phil Hellmuth tonight, even though the day was full of other players who have won a Main Event bracelet before (Chris Moneymaker, Bobby Baldwin, Scotty Nguyen, Dan Harrington, Joe Cada, and Jonathan Duhamel were all in attendance; Moneymaker was the only one sent to the rail today). Hellmuth’s entrances to the Main Event have been legendary in past years, when he’s appeared dressed as Julius Caesar and surrounded by a harem, a NASCAR driver, General Patton, and a mixed martial arts outfit, complete with fighter’s robe. This year, however, he merely wore a suit and had an ESPN microphone, as he’s been filming some pieces for the network.

Hellmuth gets attention not only because of his flashy entrances, or because he won his first WSOP Main Event bracelet over 20 years ago. Hellmuth is also in the running for Player of the Year, despite constant disappointment that he hasn’t been able to nab another bracelet this year (he already has 11, more than any other player, but he’s been looking for a twelfth). He leads the race, but the Main Event could turn everything around, depending on how he plays. Hellmuth had a frustrating day as his chip stack dropped to around 5,000; he was able to regain a little ground and get back up to 11k, but he’ll still be struggling to catch up to the other players on Day 2.

Jonathan Duhamel, last year’s Main Event winner, ended the day with around 41k chips, which still puts him considerably behind today’s leaders, Kevin Song (163,325), and Christopher McClung (162,375). Both of the Day 1C chips leaders are behind Day 1A leaders Fred Berger (209,500) and Shane Sigsbee (182,600) in chips. On Day 2A, the remaining players from Days 1A and 1C will combine (for a considerable field, as 1,471 players survived Day 1C).

Other noteworthy players today included Boston Celtics basketballer Paul Pierce, the comedic pairings of Ray Romano and Brad Garrett, Audley Harrison, a former Olympic boxer, Shane Warne, who is a legend in Australia for his cricket playing, and Hungarian model Krisztina Polgar. Perhaps the most interesting entry, however, came from the 91 year old grandmother of Shaun Deeb, one Mrs. Ellen Deeb, who was a crowd favourite as soon as she sat down.

Day 39 saw the close of the two last preliminary events of the 2011 World Series of Poker, after both events were carried over for an extra day after interruption from the hard stop rule the night before. This day also saw the second Day 1 of the main event, which showed some strong action and created more developments in the Player of the Year race. Here are the results for Day 39:

Event 56: $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em

After Event 56 was ended, due to the hard stop rule, with only three players left in the game, many people were wondering at the wisdom of this rule, which has reared its ugly head time and again during the 2011 season. Despite a halt in play while he had the lead, Alexander (Hasan) Anter went on to keep his chip lead and win the bracelet, knocking the two American players out of the competition after only two hours of play on the unscheduled fourth day of play in the $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em competition. Anter’s win is noteworthy not just because he knocked Andy Philachack and Nemer Haddad to win first place and become not only the first Swede to win a WSOP bracelet, but also the first Scandinavian, but also because he managed to win with a royal flush, another first in WSOP bracelet history (it’s possible that another bracelet’s final hand was won with a royal flush, but it does seem that Anter really is the first to do so).

Event 57: $5K Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better

The 2011 bracelet for the last preliminary event went to Nick Binger, who really worked his way to a much-deserved win. It seemed as though everything that could possibly go wrong for Binger did throughout his trip to the WSOP this year. He made a huge investment in the tournament this year, entering dozens of events, only to have two small cashes and a lot of hitting the rail, and after being slammed to the rail on the last event for which he’d registered, he got up, dusted himself off, and then ran as fast as he could to enter one last event– Event 57, the one that he would eventually win. While Binger had a healthy stack during the second and third days of play, his table placement was fierce; while David Bach, who came in second, had a strong chip lead over the other players at his table going into Day 3, Binger was sitting right in the middle in number of chips at his table. Binger worked for it, though, and made it to the final table, after eliminating the likes of Padraig Parkinson, Lee Watkinson, and David “Doc” Sands. The hard stop rule stopped the heads-up play between he and Back late in the evening, but Binger pushed forward on Friday to win his first bracelet and the $397,073 first place prize.

Event 58: $10K No-Limit Hold’em Championship

Ben Lamb is likely very excited about the way that Day 1B of the main event has played out– he’s come one step closer to the Player of the Year award. Although we have yet to see how Phil Hellmuth does in the last event, Lamb’s second place spot seems a very good leaping point to overtake Hellmuth’s lead in the PoY race, especially since Lamb came in as the chip leader in his first day of the last event of the 2011 season. Scoring higher than Hellmuth in the No-Limit Hold’em Championship is the only chance that any of the players vying for Player of the Year have for overtaking him for the coveted title. In any other year, Lamb’s performance thus far would have made him a sure bet for the position, but Hellmuth, who has won more WSOP bracelets than any other player (11 to date) has had a performance just as good during this year’s World Series of Poker.

Event 56: $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em

Try as they might, the 42 players remaining in the $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em just couldn’t play down to winners, and the hard stop rule once more interrupted final table play at the 2011 World Series of Poker. The rule, which was put into effect in 2011 to prevent games from running over, has been the subject of a great deal of criticism and was, during the $10K HORSE event, even booed by the spectators. This event becomes one of many that was stopped during the final table when only a few (three, in this case) players were left. Critics say that the hard stop rule has its place, but that place is during the first couple of days of an event, not during the final table, as it can greatly disrupt the momentum of the players.

The final table has been whittled down to Hasan Anter, the chip leader with 8,385,000 chips, and Nemer Haddad and Andy Philachack, both of whom have around 3.4 million chips. James Boyle also drew some attention for his conduct during a hand with Smith and Nathan; it was Boyle’s turn to bid, and he refused to look at his hand until he made sure that the server who had brought his drink had given him the correct change. Other players called the clock on him, and Boyle folded after glancing at his cards, making the rest of the table wonder why he couldn’t have done that in the first place.

Event 57: $5K Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better

David Bach, who started Day 3 at a fortunate table that allowed him to drastically increase his chip count, and Nick Binger, who started the day with a table that was considerably more even in chip distribution, are now head-to-head at the final table of Event 57. Per the hard stop rule, play will stop for today and begin again tomorrow, causing yet more people to complain about the questionable nature of this rule. Binger closes the day with 3,230,000 chips, while Bach isn’t far behind with 2,055,000; this game could still belong to either player. The two players, one a 2009 bracelet winner and the other still wondering what it feels like to win one, will come back tomorrow to continue head-to-head play and finish off the last preliminary event of the season. Given that tomorrow’s game could be over in a matter of minutes, one really has to question the efficacy of the hard-stop rule in this case.

Event 58: $10K No-Limit Hold’em Championship

Day 1A of the main event has drawn 897 entrants, with many more to be expected during the next three days, as players have a choice of starting their game any day Thursday-Sunday. The initial flock of Day 1A has been culled to 556, an elimination nowhere as steep as we’ve seen in other events thus far this year.

Some big name players have hit the rail already: Doyle Brunson, Greg Raymer, and Jerry Yang, who have all won bracelets for the main event before, as well as Vanessa Selbst, Chip Jett, and Randy Lew. Plenty of professionals are still in the running for this event, however– Annette Obrestad, Jason Alexander, Sebastian Ruthenberg, and Mickey Appleman, to name a few. Fred Berger is the chip leader at the end of Day 1A with 209,500 chips, and he is followed by Shame Sigsbee with 182,600 and Kyle Burnside at 159,050.

Two events that have garnered a lot of attention in this year’s World Series of Poker have finally drawn to a close, and everyone is excited about the main event, which will determine who wins the coveted Player of the Year title. This year, Phil Hellmuth, Ben Lamb, and Brian Rast lead the race, but as George Lind twittered, “I can still pass Hellmuth if I just win the main event.” Although Lind is being facetious (we think), he has a point– the Player of the Year race is still close enough that it will ultimately be determined by how the main event plays out. Here are today’s results:

Event 54: $1K No-Limit Hold’em

Max Lykov started the final day of play in the $1K No-Limit Hold’em event with the chip lead, and he didn’t lose it for even a second, making him the winner of the $648,880 prize and the bracelet for the event. Lykov’s win in this event also puts him on the board for the Player of the Year race, as this event was heavily weighted in the PoY scoring due to its large number of entrants. Lykov personally knocked out the majority of his opponents at the final table, starting with Sebastien Roy and ending with Dror Michaelo, who came in second. Michaelo went all-in pre-flop on the last hand of the game with K5 in his pocket, and Lykov called with AK; when the flop came down AQQ, it looked like it was all over for Michaelo– and it was.

Event 55: $50K Poker Player’s Championship

Event 55 went to a surprise winner: with the other contenders at the table, Brian Rast had been somehow overlooked as a strong contender for the bracelet, but he won it nonetheless. The real surprise of Rast’s win, however, comes with the story that he tells about how he ended up at the final table for the $50K Poker Player’s Championship in the first place. A chance encounter with Antonio Esfandiari brought Rast to the WSOP this year, after Esfandiari was so insistent that Rast play in the $1.5K Pot-Limit Hold’em Tournament that day that he even staked Rast’s play. After winning that event, Rast had enough to buy in to the Poker Player’s Championship, which he did.

Phil Hellmuth, who came in second in the event, already holds 11 WSOP bracelets, all in Hold’em poker, and he played aggressively and had an advantage for most of the game. He ultimately lost when he went all-in while hoping for a flush/straight draw and Rast held the highest possible straight in the game.

Event 56: $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em

The competition for Event 56 has now been whittled down to 42 players, and Ben Volpe, yesterday’s leader, was sent to the rail towards the end of the evening. Gavin Smith, who has already nabbed a WSOP bracelet and a World Poker Tour title, has the lead, but James Boyle, Ryan Goindoo, Matt Lawrence, and Hasan Anter are all close behind as we head into the third day of play in this event.

Event 57: $5K Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better

This last preliminary event has seen its entrants whittled down to the final 25; tomorrow they will try to play down to winners, but with some steep competition, that may not be possible. Nick Schulman is the chip leader today with 772,000 chips, and he has a healthy position at his first table tomorrow. Still left at one of the three tables are Allen Kessler, with 568,000 chips, Phil Laak (319,000), Nick Binger (303,000), David Bach (310,000), Lee Watkinson (111,000), and David Sands (110,000). Kessler, Sands, and Laak are all at the table with Schulman at the start of play tomorrow, while Bach’s fortunate placement at Table 3 leaves him starting tomorrow with a 2-1 chip lead over the rest of his table.