Shannon Elizabeth Starting to Look Like a Poker Player (<--Not a Compliment)

Shannon Elizabeth, who once famously went down in four-way action, has been in Melbourne, Australia for the 2007 Victorian Poker Championship and from the photos we saw of her at the Crown Casino the actress is looking more and more like a poker player and less like the chick we wanted to bang in American Pie.

We're not saying there's anything wrong with that, we're just saying.

You can expect to see/hear more about Elizabeth as her new poker movie Deal starring Burt Reynolds (who's just 3 years younger than Doyle Brunson, who we swear played heads-up against Moses) hits movie theaters in the U.S. on September 28. Check out the trailer for the film after the jump.

Also, to make up for Shannon Elizabeth not looking so hot in Melbourne, we thought we'd share some photos of Melbourne's Sarita Stella looking hot in Ralph magazine. It's the least we can do. If you're curious how she looks as a blonde, you're in luck.

Completely unrelated, Laura Vandervoort is our new hero.

Poker Player Shot in Home Game Robbery

Two guys held up a home poker game outside Indianapolis this morning, shooting one of the players after he argued with the robbers.

So stupid, arguing with robbers.

Anyway, we're running our $5k max buy-in home game this week on Wednesday night. Here's the address for newcomers: 254 Peachtree St SW, Atlanta, GA. We expect a huge turn out. Lots of cash.

You're Probably Smarter than this Guy

You hear about the golfer who started a fire that burned 20 acres just by trying to hit out of the rough? Yeh we neither. But the video below more or less re-enacts what happened with a little help from a molotov cocktail and a whole of lot of stupidity. Speaking of, be sure to catch up on recent Webisodes of High Stakes Golf at RawVegas.tv. We'd tell you that Gavin Smith is on fire, but you know better. The only thing that is burning is a hole in his wallet.

Video found at WithLeather.com.

Deanna Dozier Should be Famous for Something

We sort of forgot to post something about Deanna Dozier during the 2007 WSOP Main Event but we weren't really so much there covering the action at the poker tables early on as we were covering our bodies in baby oil and doing the naked slip and slide on the plastic sheets in our Caesars suite (photos coming soon as part of our epic six-part WSOP report, as soon as it makes the legal rounds).

Deanna, for those who don't know, which is likely most, is a poker playing actress who is not yet famous for either playing poker or roles in movies but she should be if being ridiculously cuddly cute counts for anything. But we know it doesn't. You have to be a skanky tubby ho to be famous these days. And if not that, a skanky skinny ho. And if not that, a skanky drunken cokehead ho. Somewhere here there's a common denominator--not sure what it is--but any serious aspiring actress should consider it if she wants to be famous.

Anyway, below are some of the photos we have of Deanna from the WSOP Main Event. We can't tell if they're really flattering or not. You decide. Better yet, check out this painfully sweet photo of Deanna taken by one of the PokerListings guys and lie to your mom and say she's the nice girl you met in Vegas this summer.

Also, for WSOP coverage of Deanna, check out page 1 and page 2 from this Gutshot.com report. Word has it that you should also expect to see lots of Deanna when ESPN airs coverage of the Main Event.

Finally, for proof that Deanna is an actress and looks just as nice as a brunette, go here.

WPA Releases Ethics Code--Poker Is Forever Changed

In a move sure to change poker forever, the WPA has released an ethics code designed to create basic behavioral and procedural standards for poker tournaments.

The code is broken down into six sections:

• General Provisions
• Relationships Among Players
• Relationships Between Players and Dealers
• Player-Management Relationships
• External Relationships
• Relationships Between The Three or Four People Who Actually Give a Shit and Will Follow These Provisions

Ok, we made that last one up. But if you're out of hammers to beat against your head, or gasoline to light yourself on fire, read more about this exciting development here.

All right, it's a slow news week.

Neteller's $94 Million Payout to US Customers Starts Tomorrow

Well the sky never did quite fall.

Beginning tomorrow, US online gamblers who have had their Neteller accounts frozen since January of this year will be able to log in and request withdrawal of their funds.

Neteller will be sending out an email to all of its US customers but be wise and type in the URL to the Neteller site yourself because no doubt shit-ass phishers will be spamming inboxes soon, if not already.

With this news, we've decided to to bypass attending the World Series of Poker Europe in London and instead we'll be spending our cold cash on that diving holiday in the Maldives we've been promising ourselves. Hard decision for us picking between a week of getting pissed on or sunny paradise. Too bad the current/first wives can't join us but they have kids to take care of.

Read more about the Neteller payout news here and here.

NeverwinPoker.com Bought by PokerNews.com, WickedChopsPoker.com Isn't Not for Sale

Just when you think you're best friends with Tony G., he fails to let you in on the news that PokerNews.com has purchased NeverwinPoker.com. Word has it the price was chump change and Micon has already blown the money on GFEs, tacky visors, cheap sunglasses and oversized warm-ups.

Read about the deal over at NWP, including news about an apparent heads-up match between Neverwin and Tony G for a bigger piece of the site.

In related news, rumors that another poker news site that rhymes with MokerFistings has made an offer to buy WickedChopsPoker.com are nothing but that. WCP is absolutely not for sale, under no conditions whatsoever, no ifs, ands or butts. Except we think we meant to say we'd sell out in a heartbeat. Yep, that's what we meant to say.

Keeley Hazell . . . in Clothes? As a Simspons Character?

It's always a strange sight seeing Keeley Hazell in clothes, and it's even stranger when she's wearing a potato-sack-like dress and even stranger-er when she's standing next to a Simpsons-ized version of herself and even stranger-er-er that we're staring lustfully at the cardboard cutout's boobs and not Keeley's.

Phil Laak and That Other Guy Win Poker Match Against Computer

Phil Laak and Ali Eslami beat Polaris, the poker playing computer program designed by really smart guys from Canada who are just like really smart guys from America just not as smart, in the first ever man-versus-machine poker championship. Read all about it here, here and here, but not here.

In other equally exciting news, the Coos County Conservation District's annual fall flower bulb sale is now underway.

Steve Forte Is Probably Going to Jail or Worse

You can wipe that shit-ass grin off your face now Steve Forte.

Details are now coming out about his arrest, and it doesn't look so good for the one-time casino game protection expert hired by the biggest casinos in the world.

Allegedly, Steve Forte and a group of co-conspirators set up a number of private, high stakes poker games at the Borgata to cheat other players. According to a news story today in the Press of Atlantic City, the operation worked as follows:

The scam artists used strategically placed surveillance cameras to peek at the players’ hands. The information was secretly relayed to an accomplice who wore an undetectable radio receiver in his ear. Computer programs and marked playing cards also were used by the cheaters to enhance their chances of winning.

Shit. These are private, big cash games in the AC in New Fucking Jersey we're talking about. We watched Sopranos. Chances are Forte was either working with made men or screwing them over. Either way, jail may be the least of his problems now.

Lucky for the Borgata's reputation, apparently the scam had nothing to do with the $5,000 buy-in poker tournament held there when the bust occurred.

"To the best of my knowledge, they weren't targeting our tournament," said Dave Coskey, Borgata's vice president of marketing. "It was off the gaming floor. It wasn't affecting our gaming at all."

Authorities won't say how they cracked the case, according to the article, but the investigation could venture into other cities like Las Vegas.

Baby.

In related news, Atlantic City is a total shit hole.

Phil Hellmuth, Phil Hellmuth's Ego Will Not Be On Surreal Life 7

Last week, a SI.com article here suggested that Phil Hellmuth would join the cast of Surreal Life 7 along with Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Carrot Top, Miss Cleo, Dabney Coleman, and Nikki McKibbin.

Then, this site, this site, and damn it, even this one reported on it as true.

Well, unfortunately it's not.

Phil Hellmuth will not be on Surreal Life 7. According to sources, he wasn't ever even contacted to be on Surreal Life 7. So let's dispel that rumor right now.

Having said all of this, in the photo at right, Nikki McKibbin dispels the rumor that she does not have breasts, because it's very clear in the photo at right that she does in fact have breasts. We also can confirm that Nikki McKibbon fucks. Not because any of the Entities have actually slept with her, but instead because she has a kid, which kind of tipped us off.

On that note, you can hire Wicked Chops Poker to be your personal detectives by emailing us at [email protected]. We can solve any case. Especially if it involves finding breasts.

Keeley Hazell is the Breast Actress in the World

It's been awhile since we had anything to say about Keeley Hazell, but we just got word that the film she appears in, Cashback, is now showing in select theaters in the U.S.

This is Keeley Hazell's first role in a film, other than her sex tape.

Cashback was originally released as a short film and was redone as a feature length after it was nominated for an Oscar in 2006. Written and directed by Sean Ellis, who you don't know, the film focuses in on a young man suffering from insomnia after a painful break up. To cope, he decides to moonlight as a stock boy at a grocery store where he . . . anyway, Keeley is seen in her undies and not much else in the below trailer about 1:40 in.

After the jump, two screen grabs of Keeley Hazell from the film you won't see in the clip below. WARNING: She's topless in the photos so if you're at the office and not your own boss you should probably click on this link instead.

Phil Laak Playing Poker Against a Machine Not Named Mizrachi

Poker pros Phil Laak and Ali Eslami are in the midst of a two days heads-up match for $50,000 against a machine not named Michael Mizrachi, who is a machine, at the annual conference of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence in Vancouver, a city north of Seattle.

Cana-nerds at the University of Alberta have developed a poker playing computer named Polaris and have apparently improved upon the science behind a program Laak defeated two years ago by employing more game theory into the equation to account for changing gears during play. To take luck out of the equation as much as possible, Laak and Eslami are playing against Polaris in separate rooms, and their games are mirror images of one another, with Eslami getting the cards that Polaris received in its hands against Laak, and vice versa.

At the end of Day 1 action in this first ever Man-Machine Poker Championship, Polaris has the edge, winning the second session of play after coming to a draw earlier in the day. Someone over at the University of Alberta is live blogging the event, which really brings to life the excitement of two guys sitting in a room playing a computer for ten hours. Go check out the blog here and if you enjoy this kind of stuff, definitely check out this exciting YouTube video.

If you're into boring crap instead, like 50 second videos of hot chicks in little white shorts shaking their goods while putting lip gloss on, check out the below.

Friday Night Parting Shot: Katharine McPhee

Maybe 2007 WSOP World Champion Jerry Yang is on to something here with this God guy.

Just the other day a video of Katharine McPhee doing her gloriously hot Vegas magazine shoot divinely appeared on a desk at the RawVegas.tv office.

Today, that video of Katharine McPhee is up on the site, which you can either watch there or by clicking play below.

For further proof that there's a God, and some really good personal trainers, check out the photos of Katharine McPhee after the jump below.

Jerry Yang, Poker's New Squeaky Clean Ambassador

The Yin and Yang of World Series of Poker Champions.

So the era of Jamie Gold as the WSOP Main Event champ is over, which sucks for us because we don't expect Jerry Yang, the Ajax of poker, to give us any real good material to write about over the next 12 months, at least not like our favorite Malibu blowhard did. Sure Jerry Yang, a God-loving, clean-living, charity-giving, father of six immigrant from Laos, has a truly compelling story, one that is the ultimate manifestation of the American dream--kind of like Tuan Lam's tale of immigrating from Vietnam is except totally different because Lam finished second and lives in Canada. But what can we expect from our new champion as a storyline after the initial media honeymoon is over? Will he balk on giving to the charities he promised? Not likely. Will he produce a new show called "The Hottest Hmong in America?" with a website that says "You Hot Hmong You" every time you visit it? That would be awesome. Will he stiff the WSOP dealers out of a big tip? Wait, he did stiff the dealers out of a big tip? Anyway, lots of people other than us are talking about Yang and below are the best reads we've found so far on the game's new de facto ambassador. Check 'em out. :: Jeff Haney on how the new face of championship poker came from unlikely origins, gained fame lightning fast and plans to give away part of his winning - Las Vegas Sun :: Jerry Yang, the (Poker) World Needs You Now - Lou Krief's Blog :: Can Yang Save Poker's Face? - Casino City Times :: WSOP Epilogue: A Leap of Faith - Tao of Poker :: How to Catch an Animal With a Havahart Trap - wikiHow UPDATE: Stiff the dealer link fixed above. Be sure to also read the piece 2007 WSOP POY Tom Schneider wrote on tipping.

Denise Pernula and Half Naked Girls at Las Vegas Pool Parties Makes for a Good Show

Concepting the final nine episodes of the Sopranos. Easy stuff. The whole season basically writes itself. Now developing a show for RawVegas.tv that stars Denise Pernula in a bathing suit surrounded by morally loose, half-naked girls on ecstasy shaking their asses at Las Vegas pool parties. That's the kind of material only true creative geniuses can dream up.

Below you can check out the debut webisode of "Denise's Endless Summer" shot on location at the Hard Rock Hotel's Rehab pool party, our favorite place to get arrested on Sundays. Pay particular attention to the girl doing her thing just about 4 starting exactly at 2:42 minutes in. Damn if she isn't the Anna Pavlova of pool-side ass shaking.

Finally, after the jump below is a photo of Tiffany Selby, the Playboy Playmate for July 2007. Why? Because we happen to notice that the bathing suit she's wearing in the pic looks just like the one Denise Pernula is wearing in the video. We also noticed that she's fantastically hot and fun to look at.

New Stupid Poker Criminals Hall of Fame Inductee: Terrence Davis

It's been awhile since we've inducted someone into hallowed halls of our Stupid Poker Criminals Hall of Fame.

We almost inducted Steve Forte yesterday, but the alleged casino cheat with the shit-ass-grin is actually pretty smart.

For the SPCHoF, we like them really dumb. Chris Shilts kind of dumb. Or Deadbeat Dayne Baverman. Or Steve McCewan and Cindy Streets dumb. Or better yet, Greg Hogan, Jr. Now he was a dumb one.

And fitting the bill perfectly is Terrence Davis, a 36-year-old father of two who really is as dumb as he looks in the photo to the right. Davis was arrested yesterday for leaving his boys, ages 3 and 7, in a running vehicle while he played poker at St. Johns Greyhound Park just outside Jacksonville. The police were called to the scene after someone saw the pair in the car and security then paged Davis in the poker room where he said he had only played four or five hands. According to news reports, Davis was charged with child neglect and is being held on a $2,000 bond.

Now sure, we often say that your kids should never get in the way of you playing poker but you don't leave the rugrats in a running vehicle outside a casino. Be a responsible father like Brad Pitt and Anne Heche's ex Coley Lafoon and leave them with the nanny, and if you don't have a nanny, see if the neighbors will watch the little ones for an hour or day or week or two.

For the news story about Terrence Davis, go here.

For what babies look like after they eat a lemon, go here.

UPDATE: The Florida Times Union just ran a story on Davis that includes his version of the events. Read it here.

Big-Boobed Booth Babes at the 2007 WSOP Gaming Life Expo

For the latest webisode of "Toke With Wicked Chops Poker," we had RawVegas.tv's resident hottie Denise Pernula ask more than a handful of the booth babes at the 2007 WSOP Gaming Life Expo if they knew what poker terms such as "flop the nuts," "suck out" and "chasing a backdoor straight" meant.

Watch the video below to see the girls giggle, strippers dance and one Indian hottie all but admit she's had the nuts flopped on her recently. Literally.

Card Cheating Expert Steve Forte Caught Cheating at Cards, Allegedly

Steve Forte, a famous slight of hand expert hired by major casinos around the world to thwart cheaters, was arrested in Atlantic City during a $5k buy-in poker tournament at the Borgata last June in what was possibly some high-tech ploy involving observing hole cards during a live video feed.

According to KLAS TV's I-Team, gaming agents staged a raid on the Borgata and arrested four people, including Forte.

By one account, they stormed a hotel room and found it packed with electronic equipment. According to one source, gaming control initially believed the suspects had tapped into a live video feed generated by the hole card cameras that allow TV audiences to see a player's down cards in games of Texas Hold 'em, information that presumably could be relayed to a confederate playing in the tournament.

A spokesperson from Boyd Gaming, which runs the Borgata with MGM Mirage, counters the idea that the tournament was compromised, saying "the scheme did target high-end poker players, but off the floor . . . the security systems of the Borgata were never compromised, nor was the tournament. Customers were targeted but not the games."

Confused? Yep, it makes no sense. And apparently law enforcement officials are hush-hush on what actually went down.

Neteller Escapes Prosecution By Forking Over $136 Million, US Customers to Get Money Back Soon

Looks like the entities will be heading off to the beach house in the Maldives soon.

Announced today, Neteller has signed an agreement with the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York that requires it to admit to criminal wrongdoings, forfeit $136 million to the US, be monitored for 18 months and "fully implement procedures and controls to prevent illegal transactions between internet gambling merchants and persons located in the US," among other things. In return, the USAO will defer all criminal prosecution against the British-based online payment processor.

Neteller has also agreed to return the $94 million it had been holding for/from US customers and will begin accepting withdrawal requests from US customers by no later than July 30, 2007. The exact date will be communicated via email and through the Neteller website.

For Neteller's full press release on the agreement, after the jump below.

For past stories on the Neteller shakedown, go here.

For Naomi Millbank-Smith's take on the agreement, if talking about her new 34 FFs (seen above) counts as such, go here.

Jerry Yang is the 2007 WSOP Main Event Champion

After surviving a final table that could best be described as "long," and "grueling," and "really fucking long," Jerry Yang has won the 2007 WSOP Main Event.

At around 4 am PDT, Yang rivered a straight against Tuan Lam, a Canadian, to claim the title.

The 39-year-old father of many who was a refugee from Laos and currently works as a shrink and social worker, whatever that is, in Temecula, California, took control of the final table from the outset, which is a fancy way of saying "the first hand," and played the role of table captain well as he took out seven of the eight players at the final table.

At the championship ceremony, Yang reiterated that he would be giving 10% of his winnings to something called "charity." We quickly google'd the word on our new iPhone and discovered the meaning. If by chance you then read any reports of a small contingent of people hollering "Whyyyyyyyyy???" and fainting in the audience, that was us.

For the win, Yang banks $8.25 million, 10% of which he is inexplicably giving to charity. Tuan Lam will take home $4.8 million, all of which we hope he keeps for himself to squander on meaningless material things. 62-year-old Raymond Rahme, of Johannesburg, South Africa, took third and just over $3 million.

Rounding out the final table were:

4th Place - Alex Kravchenko, 36, of Moscow, Russia, $1,852,721
5th Place - Jon Kalmar, 34, of Chorley, Lancashire (UK), $1,255,069
6th Place - Hevad “Rain” Khan, 22, of Poughkeepsie, NY, $956,243
7th Place - Lee Childs, 35, of Reston, VA, $705,229
8th Place - Lee Watkinson, 40, of Cheney, WA, $585,699
9th Place - Philip Hilm, 31, of Cambridge (UK), $525,934.

* Photo courtesy of IMAGEMASTERS.

Jerry Yang's God Apparently More Legitimate Than Hevad Khan's God*

Sorry for the lack of updates the past couple hours. We had to pull a Fredo.

The Jerry Yang wrecking ball continued to be in full effect, as he eliminated Hevad Khan. However he took his first hit after Alexander Kravchenko doubled through him.

Then our pick to win, Raymond Rahme, took out this year's Rhett Butler, Jon Kalmer. So we're down to four.

Approximate chip counts are Jerry Yang at 65M, Raymond Rahme at 29M, Tuan Lam at 16.5M, and Alexander Kravchenko at 16.5M.

* Wicked Chops Poker does not claim to know Hevad Kahn's religious beliefs or affiliations, nor do we claim to know Jerry Yang's, other than he does in fact believe in God. Khan and Yang could very well believe in the same God. Or maybe they believe, like Joan Osbourne, that God is one of us. We just don't know. So just like that song from Asia, only time will tell.

Jerry Yang Believes in God

Jerry Yang has begun praising God after each hand he wins. If Hevad "Rain" Khan gets hot, will he praise Allah? Developing...

Jerry Yang Is Unstoppable, Busts Lee Childs

On one of the first hands of final table play, Lee Childs folded pocket Queens to a Jerry Yang all-in with a seven-high flop.

Just a few minutes ago, Yang re-raised Childs all-in with J-8. This time Childs called, holding K-J. Yang turned an eight, and Childs busts out in seventh place. Yang now has over 62M.

Jerry Yang has become this year's Jamie Gold. Don't fuck with him.

Jerry Yang Busts Lee Watkinson After Watkinson Makes a Very Donk Move

Pre-flop, Lee Watkinson re-raises Jerry Yang all-in. Yang deliberates for about five minutes as they count out Watkinson's chips, then makes the call.

Watkinson only holds A-7. Yang has A-9.

The board doesn't help Watkinson and the one pro at the table is now out after making a very amateur move. Watkinson should've none the one man at the table likely to call a re-raise all-in with A-9 would be Yang. Horrible.

Yang now has about 55M.

Philip Hilm Has Busted Out

Philip Hilm, who about one hour ago held the chip lead at the 2007 WSOP, has just busted out at the hands of Jerry Yang.

On the turn with a board of Kd-Jd-5c-2h, Hilm was all-in with 8d-5d. Yang called with A-K.

The river didn't help Hilm, and Yang now has 44.8M, more than twice that of Tuan Lam.

The 2007 WSOP Main Event Final Table Is Underway

We hate people. So to avoid the crowds inside the Rio's Amazon Room, we're watching the 2007 WSOP Main Event final table in the media room via laptop on ESPN.com's PPV. Not much to report early, our connection blows. The early mover, up about 1.5M, is Jerry Yang, who if he wins, our headline will be, "Win for Yang!" (instead of Yin for Yang). Ok maybe not. Fuck off.

UPDATE: Yang just won a monster off of Lee Childs and is now around 20M. A monster pot. Not a literal monster. A literal monster though would be much cooler.

UPDATE UPDATE: Jerry Yang is playing table captain now and has just taken over the chip lead.

Lacey Jones is Really Pretty

It's a shame that photos of our favorite poker playin' model/actress/WSOP reporter Lacey Jones can't cure cancer, kill terrorists or save the final table of the 2007 World Series of Poker from being a snooze fest. If they did, we'd post the hell out of them and we'd be heroes and they would build statues in our honor and name streets in shady parts of towns after us.

But again, they don't do any of that.

They do make for a good post though.

Bodog Betting Odds on 2007 WSOP Final Table

The lackluster 2007 WSOP Main Event final table is just hours away.

Last year, we (and just about everyone) tagged Allen Cunningham as the winner, one of our first "wrong" predictions. Serves us right. Jamie Gold supplied us with five previous days of evidence that should've told us picking against him was a bad idea. We named Richard Lee as our darkhorse.

This year, we don't really care so much or know enough about anyone who is playing to make predictions. Fortunately and in the spirit of Richard Lee, we have Bodog to set some lines for us.

Their prohibitive favorite is chipleader Philip Hilm, set at 14/5 odds. Tuan Lam and Lee Watkinson follow at 7/2.

If we had to pick a favorite, we'd probably go with 62 year-old Raymond Rahme (7/1), just because it'd be a fitting end to this year's Main Event. In fact, it almost seems like destiny.

Get full Bodog lines after the jump and bet on the WSOP final table here.

Maria Ho Is Cute, Makes For a Good Interview

In our latest preview webisode of The TOKE, we sent out a crew to interview Maria Ho, the last woman standing at the 2007 WSOP Main Event. She opens up about what she's going to do with her new cash ($237,865), why women don't have better results in the Main Event and what it's like being a "ho."

Raw Vegas Video.

Scotty Nguyen Had a Wild 47 Minutes

Andrew Feldman of ESPN Poker Club fame has an excellent article today on Scotty Nguyen's final hour in the 2007 WSOP Main Event.

Early Monday morning, Nguyen took the chip lead, stacked over 17M. By 1:11am, Nguyen was eliminated in 11th place, done in by consecutive sets, greatly diminishing the overall appeal of the final table.

Nguyen was clearly the crowd favorite, telling them afterwards:

"But the most important thing is I want to thank the fans. Without you guys, we wouldn't have Scotty Nguyen. We're disappointed, but let me tell you, you guys gave me all I need."

Read the full article here.

The 2007 WSOP Main Event Final Table Is Lacking in Luster

Two days ago, it was looking promising.

Remaining were some of the game's biggest names: Hansen, Mortensen, Edler, Brenes, Nguyen (Scotty), Seed, Lamas.

We had celeb star power: Maguire, Simon, Sully.

We had great nicknames: Nordberg, Deep Dicken, Fucking Varkonyi, Scarf-Wearing Euro.

Today...we don't have much to show for it.

The 2007 WSOP Main Event final table is set, and given what it could've been, it isn't much.

Of the well-known pros, the only survivor is Lee Watkinson. A great player, respected, well-liked guy for sure, but not quite the stature of Dan Harrington, Mike Matusow, and Allen Cunningham we've had the past couple of years.

That's not to say a new star like Greg Raymer, David Williams, Josh Arieh, "Salty" Joe Hachem, or Paul Wasicka won't be born. The record clearly shows that someone from this year's final table will emerge as a force down the road. Of note, respected Internet pro Hevad  "Rain" Khan is the kind of outrageous personality that, if he can last long enough for significant TV time, will have people talking.

And we suppose that it is interesting that the final table has two guy's named Lee, none of which are Asian, and two Asians, none of which are named Lee. But that's about all we got.

The chip leader heading into final table play is Philip Hilm from Denmark, stacked at 22,070,000. He has three cashes in his career totaling $157,415. Hilm is trailed by Tuan Lam of Ontario, Canada. Lam has two previous tournament cashes totaling just over 10 grand. He's stacked at 21,315,000.

The aforementioned Watkinson is sixth overall, bringing 9,925,000 to final table play. And Rain Khan is seventh, stacked at 9,205,000. Both clearly have some work to do.

Today is an off-day. Final table plays begins Tuesday at noon.

Get the rest of the final table chip counts after the jump, or hit Poker News. For more information about each final table player, visit Poker Pages.

Another Pro Goes Down

One of the most respected no limit cash game players in the world and man who claimed Carmel Petresco for arm-candy, Daniel Alaei has just busted from the 2007 WSOP Main Event.

Alaei was eliminated in 25th place, banking $333,490.

This leaves three big name pros: Bill Edler, Lee Watkinson, and Scotty Nguyen, as well as Kenny Tran (5th place finisher in this year's $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event).

FIVE MINUTES LATER UPDATE: Bill Edler busted in 23rd place.

Who Is Lee Childs?

Not sure. But he is the chipleader at the 2007 WSOP Main Event. Childs is currently the only player stacked over 10M, with 11,680,000 in chips.

Scotty Nguyen is still in but is short-stacked, with 1.4M. Bill Edler and Lee Watkinson are around 4.5M. Daniel Alaei is around 2M.

Only 36 Remain in the 2007 WSOP Main Event

With Day 5 done, only 36 remain in the 2007 WSOP Main Event. Play starts up at noon today and will wrap when we're down to nine. Tomorrow's an off day. The final table is Tuesday.

The chip leaders are David Tran and Philip Hilm, stacked at 10,300,000 and 10,000,000, respectively.

The "name pros" remaining are Bill Edler (2,680,000), Lee Watkinson (3,550,000), Daniel Alaei (1,995,000), and Scotty Nguyen (1,960,000).

Get full chip counts here.

A Woman Will Not Win the 2007 WSOP Main Event

Continuing their absolute dominance of poker's greatest prize, it appears as if a woman will not win the 2007 WSOP Main Event.

Maria Ho, a woman, was eliminated in 38th place late last night, banking $237,865. With the woman Ho's exit, no more women remain in the field.

If it's a consolation, $237,865 will buy Ho a lot of pretty shoes, purses, and sexy lingerie.

Huck Seed Doesn't Win 2007 WSOP Main Event + The Big Names Who Are Still Left

We've been picking Huck Seed to win a big event since the life of this "blog." So far, it hasn't happened. But the 1996 Main Event champ made a deep run this year, just recently eliminated in 73rd place, banking $130,288.

With under 70 players remaining, some "name pros" who still have a shot include: Lee Watkinson, Scotty Nguyen, Bill Edler, Daniel Alaei, Julian Gardner, John Spadavecchia, Kirk Morrison, and Gus Hansen.

UPDATE: Some of the big names are falling off now. Julian Gardner is out in 64th. Gas Hansen was eliminated in 61st. And John Spadavecchia is done in 60th.

Edler and Alaei are both short-stacked.

Oh Yeah, Humberto Brenes Is Still Alive

Listen, we are sometimes a little hard on Humberto Brenes. It's possible we often place the words "insufferably annoying" before his name. Not sure why, because we secretly like his "Humbbbbeeeeerrrrrtoooo!" all-in's and possibly do that on occasion during the WCP Weekly home game.

But like we begrudgingly gave Robert Fucking Varkonyi his due (sort of) yesterday, we'd be remiss not to mention that Brenes has made yet another deep run in the WSOP Main Event.

He's got almost $5M in career tournament earnings. He finished 36th in last year's WSOP ME. He finished 41st in 2003. He finished 25th in 2000. 26th in 1990. 4th in 1988. He has two WSOP bracelets.

Brenes is currently stacked over 1.3M. He's making another run. So what the hell, let's give it up for...HUMBERRRRRTOOOO!

FIVE MINUTES LATER UPDATE: Humberto Brenes busted right about as we hit "publish" on this post. Thanks for nothing, Humberto.

It's All Up to Maria Ho

With the elimination of housewife Kelly Jo McGlothlin (95th place), Maria Ho, a woman, is now the only woman remaining in the 2007 WSOP field.

Ho is stacked at 1,115,000.

Other recent eliminations include unclassifiable Dario Minieri, as well as Lorenzo Lamas and Isaac Haxton.

We're now under 100 players remaining.

UPDATE: Mario Ho has signed on with Bodog. Pre-Bodog Ho pic after the jump.

2007 WSOP Day 5: Early Movers

Some big movers early on in Day 5:

:: Avi Cohen is the new chip leader, approaching 5M.

:: Gus Hansen has moved up around 1.5M.

:: Huck Seed is approaching 2M.

:: Bill Edler doubled up and is over 900k.

:: Daniel Alaei is over a mil, stacked at 1,100,000.

:: And scarf-wearing Dario Minieri is down to 900k.

Women Continue Their Dominance of WSOP Main Event

For the 37th straight year, women continue to dominate the field in the WSOP Main Event.

In fact, with 112 players remaining, there are no less than 2 woman left in the 2007 WSOP Main Event field: Kelly Jo McGlothlin, a woman, and Maria Ho (at right), a woman.

This impressive showing comes on the heels of Sabyl Cohen's remarkable 56th place finish last year, and Tiffany Williamson's miraculous 15th place finish in 2005.

There is a debate among poker media whether or not to bump this impressive tally up to three woman, as many are still unsure how to classify scarf-wearing Dario Minieri.

Stay tuned as we track Ho and McGlothlin's historic progress.

* Image from Poker Pages.

A Bunch of Foreigners Doing Well at 2007 WSOP

Day 4 has wrapped with 112 players remaining. Holding on to the chip lead is Dag Martin Mikkelsen (Stavanger, Norway) with 3,740,000. He's followed by Charis Anastasiou (Limassol, Cyprus) who is stacked at 2,672,000.

Among the top 25 chip leaders include Alex Kravchenko (Moscow, Russia), Richard Harris (U.K.), Tuan Lam (Ontario, Canada), Sven Heinecker (Hamburg, Germany), Nicolas Atlan (Paris, France), Julian Gardner (Manchester, England), Phillip Yeh (Sweden), Steffan Mattsson (Umea, Sweden), Hoa Nguyen (originally from Asia), Gus Hansen (Copenhagen, Denmark), and Josh Evans (Allen, Texas).

And let's not forget about the diminutive scarf wearer, Dario Minieri, who is still strong at 1,400,000.

Of the American contingent still big stacked, we have Lee Watkinson (1,860,000), past WSOP ME champ and WCP fave Huck Seed (1,546,000), John Spadavecchia (1,428,000), Kirk Morrison (1,393,000), Daniel Alaei (1,219,000), technically not American but WCP fave and former champ Scotty Nguyen (1,175,000), Lorenzo Lamas (860,000), Isaac Haxton (804,000), and Jared Hamby (645,000).

Get full chip counts here.

Dag Martin Mikkelsen Has Three Million Chips

Safe to say no one is running away with the WSOP this year like Jamie Gold did in 2006.

Someone finally crossed the three million chip barrier: Dag Martin Mikkelsen. Hevad "Rain" Khan is second overall with 2.5M.

Some big names still in and doing well include Huck Seed (1,600,000), Lee Watkinson (1,507,000), Kirk Morrison (1,370,000), Isaac Haxton (1,209,000), Scotty Nguyen (1,030,000), and Gus Hansen (1M).

Breaking: Apocalypse Avoided, Varkonyi Busts

We had to see it with our own eyes to know for sure that we, as a race, are safe.

And we did.

Robert Fucking Varkonyi just busted from the 2007 WSOP Main Event.

Sleep well, planet Earth. Sleep well.

* At the same time as Varkonyi's bust, Peter Feldman doubled up. What does this mean? We don't know...yet. But it could mean something.

Five Former Main Event Champs Still Alive

Not that we care about this kind of shit, but five former WSOP Main Event champs are still alive with about 225 players remaining: Carlos Mortensen, Huck Seed, Robert Fucking Varkonyi, Berry Johnston, and Scotty Nguyen.

That's all we got. So watch this promo of High Stakes Golf where Erick Lindgren, Daniel Negreanu, Shawn Sheikhan, and Gavin Smith wager a ton of money against each other on...golf.

Tobey Maguire Looks Like a Lemur, Busts Out

At right is one of the only photos of Tobey Maguire from the 2007 WSOP Main Event where he isn't covering his face. And for what it's worth, if we didn't know that was Tobey Maguire, and we saw this guy in a dark alley, we'd fucking run. Fast.

As one of poker's biggest and best celeb player, Maguire once again refused to be photographed or interviewed during his WSOP run. He turned down the opportunity to be at the ESPN featured table with Sully Erna. He tried to dodge every photograph, even as his deep run increasingly became a legitimate news story. He also turned down requests (via his publicist) for interviews.

It's unfortunate for poker, as Maguire's celebrity and skills could bring the game a bundle of positive media attention and credibility.

He busted out in 292 place, banking $39,445. Godsmack singer Sully Erna just busted as well, earning his second straight Main Event cash.

In related news, Lemurs make up the infraorder Lemuriformes and are members of a class of primates known as prosimians . This type of primate was considered the evolutionary predecessor of simians: monkeys and apes, however this classification is not phylogenetically 'valid'. Three of the four prosimians are in the suborder Strepsirrhini, which is not the same suborder as monkeys and apes, suborder Haplorrhini. The term "lemur" is derived from the Latin word lemures, meaning "spirits of the night," and likely refers to the large, reflective eyes which many of the nocturnal lemur species have. The term is generically used for the members of the four lemuriform families, but it is also the genus of one of the lemuriform species, the Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta). The two so-called flying lemur species are not lemurs, nor are they even primates.

2007 WSOP Main Event: A Euro Who Wears Scarves Is Chip Leader

There are 337 players remaining going into Day 4 of the 2007 WSOP Main Event. Leading the way is this guy to the right, Dario Minieri. Right now you're probably thinking to yourself, "Hmm, this guy has gotta be from Europe. Or San Franscico (Cuba District). Or possibly Midtown Atlanta. Or according to a google search the Entities really hope their wives don't stumble upon, Davie Village in Vancouver, Greenwich Village in NYC, or um, Boystown in Chicago.

Anyway, for those of you who thought "European," you are correct. Minieri hails (Caesar) from Rome, Italy. He's stacked at 2,398,000. The next closest in the field is Jeff Weiss, stacked at 1,533,000.

Plenty of big names are still around. Our favorite table (29) of Day 4 includes Peter "Nordberg" Feldman (284,000), Carlos Mortensen (284,000), and Darrell "Deep" Dicken (215,000).

Other notables include at table 30, Atlantan Matthew Hilger (310,000); at table 33 Tobey Maguire (131,000); Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon (172,000) is at table 36; at table 37 is Gus Hansen (1,044,000); international man of mystery Tinten Oliver (115,000) is at table 41; at table 44 is Humberto Brenes (210,000); Hasan Habib is at table 53 (127,000); at table 59 are Daniel Alaei (299,000) and Scotty Nguyen (321,000); 62 is another killer table with "The American Dream" Bill Edler (673,000), Robert Fucking Varkonyi (424,000), and Jared Hamby (379,000); old-timers Berry Johnston (203,000), Tuna Lund (68,000), and Billy Baxter (105,00) are at table 65; Jason Lester (439,000) is at table 69; Howard Stern's love-child Isaac Haxton (791,000) is at table 70; Huck Seed (544,000) is at table 72; and at table 75 are Lorenzo Lamas (454,000) and Thor Hansen (342,000).

* Image from Poker Pages.

Like the Movie Fast and Furious, Bust-Outs Are Fast and Furious After Bubble Bursts + Will ESPN Put Tobey Maguire at the Featured Table?

What a painful headline that was.

Took awhile, but the bubble finally burst for the 2007 WSOP Main Event. Everyone remaining will bring home at least $20k. Some early bust-outs since the bubble burst included Gavin Smith and Tony Hachem.

Not a pre-bubble bust or post-bubble burst for that matter is one Robert Fucking Varkonyi. Listen, we've been a bit rough on this guy for awhile. So we'll give him his due, at least for a day (likely our last day on Earth, mind you), and give him a cool sounding name, aka, Robert Fucking Varkonyi.

Other notables that made it to the money include David Williams' mom Shirley, who is still alive with around 150k. Both Tobey Maguire, who is still pulling his shielding face from camera crap from two years ago, and Sully Erna from Godsmack, who has impressively cashed in two straight Main Events.

The big question now is: Will ESPN make Tobey and Sully's the featured table?

Maguire has an agreement with ESPN that he will NOT be put on camera unless he makes a deep run into the tournament. With this cashing and his pairing with another celeb in Sully, now would be a good time to pull the trigger. What a boost for poker to have a major A-list (and respected) player in Maguire to be featured along with well-known rocker Erna.

Big stacks big names right now include overall chip leader Robert Nehorayan (1M), Huck Seed (676k), Gus Hansen (670k), Peter "Nordberg" Feldman (585k), Darrell "Deep" Dicken (550k), Carlos Mortensen (510k), and Bill Edler (410k).

2007 WSOP Day 2b: Big Name Survivors and The Potential End of the World

While we're still a long way from a final table, everyone's hope that some "name pros" make the final table this year is at least looking good, so far.

Day 2b wrapped with many notable names in solid chip position...as well as one person with potential apocalyptic ramifications. 

Leading everyone into Day 3 is wild-and-crazy-guy Hevad "Rain" Kahn, stacked at 580,000. Kahn has two cashes already at this year's WSOP.

Following Kahn are the likes of Gus Hansen (530,000), Bill Edler (510,000), Fabrice Soulier (340,000), Lorenzo Lamas (320,000), Carlos Mortensen (260,000), not-sore-on-the-eyes Maria Ho (260,000), Ted Forrest (255,000), Darrell "Deep" Dicken (250,000), the spectacularly breasted J.C. Tran (at right, 212,000), Peter "Nordberg" Feldman (180,000), Daniel Alaei (177,000), Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (150,000), and Gavin Smith (150,000).

Unfortunately for mankind, also stacked at 150,000 is Robert Varkonyi. The 2002 WSOP ME champ makes it to Day 3 for the second time in his poker "career." Last year we detailed the apocolypic ramifications of a strong Varkonyi performance, and with continuing Middle East turmoils, the general rise of radical fundamentalism, and Katja Thater, a woman, winning a bracelet this year, things are looking even bleaker for our general survival as a species right now.

We'll keep you abreast like J.C. Tran of the situation throughout the day.

Get full Day 2b chip counts here.

Iggy's Guinness and Poker Hacked, Deleted

What the f' happened to bonus code Iggy's blog, dammit?

Iggy's famed Party Poker Blog, Guinness and Poker, appears to have been hacked and deleted.

That's beyond not cool.

Developing...