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Hey, while we're talking about Russ Hamilton, (not surprisingly) Mike Matusow had some things to say. Matusow is kind of like a (degenerate gambling version of) fine wine...the dude is getting better (and more entertaining) with age.
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Mike Matusow is busting out and finally speaking about Russ Hamilton cheating him.
The guys on the Hardcore Poker Show landed an interview with Mike Matusow where The Mouth unloaded on Russ Hamilton.
To sum it up:
We'll make this super quick since we need to start gearing up for the 2008 WSOP Main Event final table. Ten played down to six at the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals, an ironic name for a tournament that's taking place during the WSOP Main Event final table conclusion.
It's a solid final table. Jonathan Jaffe, who has been at or near the chip lead the entire tournament, takes the big stack to final table play with 4,131,000. More importantly, after probably thinking, "I've been at or near the chip lead this whole damn tournament. Who do I have to fuck to win the Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day around here?"...well, he won the Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day. Whew for him. Watch his reaction below or here.
In second overall is David "The Dragon" Pham* with 2,038,000. While The Dragon** has made something like 147 WPT final tables, he's still looking for his first title.
Joining him at the final table are Jonathan Little (2,021,000), Charles Marchese (1,718,000), Jack Schanbacher (1,592,000), and Mike Matusow (816,000).
Get full chip counts he--wait, just reread the last paragraph.
* Not a real dragon.
** Not a real dragon.
Since there are some big names remaining (including one of our favorite nicknames and one we just retired), we'll go ahead and report that only 10 are left at the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals although we know your attention is likely focused elsewhere.
Mike Matusow not only holds the chip lead, stacked at 1,857,000, but he also won his first Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day (video below). Now Mike can enjoy delicious almonds for a year-- a healthy food alternative for a guy who cleaned up, dieted, and has turned his life around. It's a classic win-win situation right there.
Jonathan Jaffe, who has been at or near the top of the chip lead the entire tournament, is stacked second overall with 1,780,000. Also still alive are Jonathan Little (1,407,000) and David "The Dragon" Pham* (1,242,000).
Get a full recap here.
* Not a real dragon.
Day 3 ended at the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals with 33 players remaining and some big names atop the leaderboard.
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, whose nickname we're retiring with this post because in order to have a nickname people outside of the media actually have to call you that on occasion, closed strong ending up second overall in chips with 1,076,000. He only slightly trails yesterday's chip leader Jonathan Jaffe, who is stacked at 1,100,000.
A couple of other strong closers yesterday were Jonathan Little (477,000) and the still sober Gavin Smith (375,000). Both sit with above average chip stacks.
Other notables remaining include the vastly underrated/Marxist-Lenonist-looking Alex Bolotin (435,500), Phil Ivey (225,500), Bill Gazes (214,500), David "The Dragon" Pham* ** (192,000), half-man, half-amazing Freddy Deeb (154,500), and Kevin Saul (93,000).
Daniel Negreanu just missed making it to Day 4, finishing in 35th, but with this cash, ties the record for most all-time WPT-in-the-monies at 17. He now shares the record with Erik Seidel, Barry Greenstein, and Lee Markholt-Watkinson.
Follow the action today (if you're not following WSOP Main Event final table play) here.
* Not a real dragon.
** Never retiring that nickname. Ever.
Ashley Dupre looking hot and not like a dude on the beach somewhere.
:: State-sanctioned online poker closer to a reality in California? [link]
:: What's that Nat Arem kid up to hiring a web developer to work in Costa Rica? [link]
:: 2008 WSOP Main Event Delayed Final Table Chip LeaderTM Dennis Phillips doesn't want any of that Internet money to wear his hat backwards. [link]
:: In backasswards news, the Lottery Commission in West Virginia declares poker tournament legal. [link]
:: Our favorite sex-educator/web-cam-diddler Jenny Woo has some advice for The Last Woman StandingTM Tiffany Michelle. [link]
:: Guardian writer Charlie Brooker is on to our formula. [link]
:: Texas Hold'em on the iPhone is all the rage. [link]
:: Mike "The Mouth" Matusow calls out the increasingly unlikable David Singer during HORSE game on Full Tilt Poker. [link]
:: The Wicked Chops Poker forum is back up and running. Got something to share? Post it there. [link]
We're too lazy to go back and see exactly what we've said in the past about Ashley Dupre, aka Ashley Youmans, aka Eliot Spitzer's hooker named Kristen, but we're pretty sure it had something to do with how we never know what to make of her. Sometimes the girl's hot, other times not even close, and sometimes she kinda looks like a dude. Well, you can file the below photos of her in a bikini under "hot." Maybe not gubernatorial-sacrificing-ly hot. But about as close as we've seen her come.
Check out our Ashley Dupre mega link for some old photos of her. Got photos to share post them under "Hot Girls" in the forum.
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow (foreground, wearing trademark cap and glasses) is running well in the 2008 WSOP Main Event.
Quick update...at dinner break poker pro Brandon Cantu held the chip lead as the only player stacked over 10M (10.7 to be exact).
Our pick to win it, David "Chino" Rheem, is fifth overall with 6.8M. The Last Woman StandingTM, Tiffany Michelle is sixth overall with just over 6.7M. And Mike "The Mouth" Matusow is stacked over 3.5M.
Only 35 remain and they're play down to 27.
Phil Hellmuth during happier times at the 2008 WSOP.
The 2008 WSOP Main Event has suddenly become much less interesting, as Phil Hellmuth's ego's impressive run for bracelet #12 and world championship #2 has come to an end. Phil Hellmuth's ego has been eliminated in 45th place.
The biggest name now left in the field is Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, who has run his stack up to 3.2M. Nikolay Losev has regained the chip lead with just over 10M.
This isn't cool. At all.
In what we can only assume is an all out assualt on the Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker, there are currently two gingers in the top 10 chip counts. In fact, James McManus (above) is chip leader at post time stacked at 3.4M. The other ginger in the top 10 is Mark Vos, a ginger, with just over 2M. Fortunately for all involved that still have a soul, Super Ginger has been eliminated.
Of the hot girls going deep and contending for The Last Woman StandingTM, Tiffany Michelle, a woman, still leads the pack stacked at 1.7M. Kara Scott, a woman, is at 345,000. In all, a surprisingly high total of five women remain. For this late in any tournament the WSOP Main Event, that's gotta be some sort of record. Probably smashes whatever the old record is, actually.
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow is currently at the featured table with 660,000. Also at 660,000 is Allen Cunningham. Our pick (now to win it) David "Chino" Rheem is at 1,880,000. Cristian Dragomir The Fragrance is still doing well with 2,150,000. Shawn "Bad for Poker" Sheikhan has 1,710,000. And still in the hunt for bracelet #12 is Phil Hellmuth with 610,000.
And we are pleased to report that Deng Dong is still alive with 240,000.
Only 144 remain. Get full chip counts here.
Things are looking good for those hoping for a star-studded final table. Then again, we saw this last year, and it didn't quite work out that way.
Regardless, the remaining 195 names in the 2008 WSOP Main Event have plenty of potential.
Leading the pack is the Mormony named (and new Davidson Matthew Club member) Jeremy Joseph with 3.1M. He's followed by Cristian Dragomir, who might actually be a fragrance, with 2,065,000. In third overall is our pick to go deep, David "Chino" Rheem, with 2M. We've been known for our wicked predicting chops, but our Rheem call may be the coup de gras for us if he keeps this going.
Big named big stacks abound, which is really "good for pokerTM." Some of those keeping The Year of the ProTM alive include (all unofficial chip counts for now) Brandon Cantu (1,580,000), Shawn "Bad for Poker" Sheikhan (1,500,000), Alex Outhred (1,500,000), Mark Vos, a ginger (1,373,000), Gus Hansen (1,360,000), Victor Ramdin (1,350,000), Allen Cunningham (1,270,000), Matt Matros (1,120,000), Jeff Madsen (770,000), Chip Jett (620,000, Phil Hellmuth (570,000), Mike "The Mouth" Matusow (550,000), and Hoyt Corkins (330,000).
Hot girls Tiffany Michelle and Kara Scott are still going deep with 909,000 and 355,000 respectively.
And Deng Dong still remains with 425,000.
Cards flyTM again sometime tomorrow.
Get full (and continually updated) chip counts here.
Evy Ng is among the over 1% of hot girls remaining in the 2008 WSOP Main Event.
Strange things are happening over at the 2008 WSOP Main Event.
A bevy of hot babes have made it to the money (Evy Ng, Carmel Petresco, Tiffany Michelle, Kara Scott, Maya Antonius), all vying for the title of The Last Woman StandingTM. Like over 1% of the remaining field is a hot girl, which may not sound like a lot, but when you consider that typically 1% of the remaining field are women, the fact that 1% of the remaining field are hot women has to be unprecedented.
The guy who started the day as chip leader, Brian Schaedlich, finished the day with just 22,000.
And two guys who have very Mormony names, Jeremy Joseph (1,458,000) and FOWCP Jeremiah Smith (1,079,500), are the chip leaders. Surprised that Jebadiah Young isn't third.
A one time chip leader deep into last year's WSOP, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, is among the big stacks again this year with 931,000.
Only 447 remain. As usual, once the bubble broke, the bust-outs followed at a rapid pace. Our pick to go deep, David Rheem, is still alive and well with 707,500.
And lots of pros have decided to make a last stand to defend the honor of The Year of the ProTM. Included in the big name big stack pile are Shawn Sheikhan (724000), Brandon Cantu (710000), Phil Hellmuth (475,000), Mark Vos, a ginger (468,000), Hoyt Corkins (439,500), Mike "The Mouth" Matusow (438,500), Allen Cunningham (386,500), Gus Hansen (355,000), Hevad Khan (338,500), and Alex Outhred (326,000).
Get full chip counts here.
Todd "Dan Druff" Witteles (bottom left) among the many "name pros" eliminated on Day 1B.
All right, seriously y'all, where the fuck are you?
Apparently you're all waiting to play Day's 1C and 1D, because you're not here. Only 1,158 registered today.
And when the fantastic WorldSeriesofPoker.com's list of "10 Top Notables" includes Tony Hachem, Neil Channing, and Barney Boatman (as of post time), you know it's slim pickings for big names.
Unfortunately, as noted earlier many of the top pros playing today have since departed. That list continues to grow as a steamed Greg Raymer busted and bolted, canceling all of his media gigs on his way out. Joining him on the rail include Kenny Tran, 2006 Main Event champ Jamie Gold, Orel Hershiser, Peter "Nordberg" Feldman, and Scott Fischman.
Going into the last break of the night, some guy named Brian Schaedlich is big stacked with 107,000. Other notable big name pros "Keeping the Dream AliveTM" for The Year of the ProTM include Patrik Antonius (82,000), Hoyt Corkins (70,000), Robert Mizrachi (70,000), and a still-at-the-featured-table Erick Lindgren (66,700).
In related news, we've learned there are just over 5,400 people confirmed registered runners for the 2008 WSOP Main Event as of post time. With satellites running around the clock and many people still traveling here this weekend, there is still an outside shot of besting last year's total. Although that's still fairly unlikely.
However, as we witnessed just an hour or so ago, that didn't stop Mike "The Mouth" Matusow from making a $10k wager with Phil Gordon on a 7,500 +/- entrant prop bet. Matusow, who is not known for being an astute prop better, is the one taking the over. Good luck with that. Listen for some play-by-play action of this with one of the Entities on ESPN.com's Poker Edge radio show in a couple of days.
And finally in unrelated news, Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth was seen in the Rio Amazon Room holding hands with Derek Hough, so guess they're still a couple and out in the open about it, which is great news for the .0001% of our readers who give a shit.
David Benyamine (above, front center) battled a stacked final table to win his first bracelet earlier today.
Working off some general fog from the Gnarls Barkley concert at Mandalay Bay beach so we're light on the preamble for this WSOP update. However, of note, the sitarist for opening act Thievery Corporation is a dead ringer for Dutch Boyd. Seriously could've been him. Dutch, do you have wicked sitar chops that we're unaware of?
:: Event #35 ($1,500 No Limit Hold'em) - Here's a final table that would've been infinitely more interesting if Bryan Micon out lasted another six eliminations to join the remaining nine (get Micon's latest Degenerate Report here). Aaron Kanter, he of 2005 WSOP final table fame, made a run from short-stack to finish third, which pretty much constitutes the "big story" on this one. Jesper Hougaard started the day as chip leader and ended the day as chip leader, winning his first bracelet and banking $610,304. Get full results here.
:: Event #35 ($10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo) - David Benyamine is having a helluva month. Aside from waking up next to Erica Schoenberg every morning, Benyamine banked almost $1.5M on Full Tilt Poker last month. Today he added another $535,687 to his bankroll after taking down the World Championship of Omaha Hi/Lo. Benyamine defeated Greg Jamison heads-up for the title. The win vaults Benyamine to second overall in the 2008 World Series of Poker Player of the Year standings, trailing Jacobo Fernadez by two points. Toto Leonidas finished fourth, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow fifth. Get full payouts here.
:: Event #36 ($2,000 Pot Limit Hold'em) - Michael Binger will have to wait a little longer for his first WSOP bracelet. After holding the chip lead for most of Event #36, the cashing machine just missed another final table, bowing out in 11th. Instead the exceedingly pretentiously named Jan Christoph Von Halle will start final table play with the chip lead, stacked at 485,000. He's followed by 2007 WSOP Main Event final table-ist Lee Watkinson-Markholt with 357,000. Watkinson-Markholt is going for his second bracelet. In fourth overall is Ayaz Mahmood, who let's just say we'd watch his every move like a fucking hawk if he sat next to us on a flight. Why doesn't he have any carry-on luggage? Why only a book? He's been in the bathroom an awfully long time. Whew ok he sat back down and is now buckling his seat belt. First pays out $$244,583. Get full chip counts here.
:: Event #37 ($1,500 No Limit Hold'em) - Another mega-field, with 2,720 entrants paying out a first place prize of $631,656. Only 218 survived to Day 2. Michael Polcari takes the chip lead into action today with 130,000. Making his own push for 2008 WSOP Player of the Year honors is Barry Greenstein, who started off strong and is stacked at 89,600. Get full chip counts here.
Get live World Series of Poker coverage and more in-depth WSOP blogs at Poker Listings.
Before recapping the 47 tournaments going on concurrently right now, here's some suggested weekend browsing. Visit our favorite cougar for her interview with PokerRoad.com's Joe Sebok (here). Hilarious true story on Astroglide from Kid Dynamite (here). Great pics of 2008 WSOP winners at LasVegasVegas.com (here). Interesting read on the latest UIGEA news at Pokerati (here). And head over to PokerListings.com for their daily WSOP video recap.
:: Event #34 ($1,500 Pot Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys) - It's been five years since Layne Flack (at right, earlier at this year's WSOP) captured his fifth WSOP bracelet. Both Flack and Ted Forrest entered final table play with a shot to enter poker elite status by becoming only one of ten people to capture their sixth. While Forrest flourished early but faltered to fifth, Flack went on the attack to finish first. Flack appeared super focused, went hyper-aggressive after Forrest was eliminated, and defeated Daniel Makowsky heads-up for the title. Along with his sixth bracelet, Flack banked $577,725, more than making up for the 20+ rebuys he made in the event. Get full final table payouts here.
:: Event #35 (#1,500 Seven Card Stud) - Trust us, you really don't care. Results here.
:: Event #36 ($1,500 No Limit Hold'em) - The mega-field of 2,447 made it down to a final table early this morning. Making his first final table at the 2008 WSOP as chip leader after two previous cashes is Jesper Hougaard with 1,582,000. Danny Wong is third overall with 1,105,000. And the 2005 WSOP final table-ist who made the donk move that knocked Greg Raymer out, Aaron Kanter, is short-stacked with 165,000. NWP's Bryan Micon had a strong showing, finishing 15th. Get full final table stacks here.
:: Event #37 ($10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo) - Of the 235 who started only 18 remain, and they'll play it down to a winner today. Ram Vaswani starts the day as big stack with 569,000. Last year Phil Hellmuth told us that Mike Matusow is the best Omaha Hi/Lo player in the world, and he's living up to that rep stacked second overall with 396,000. Other notable unmarketable big names remaining include Chau Giang (384,000), David Benyamine (378,000), David Chiu (372,000), and Berry Johnston (338,000). Get full chip counts here.
:: Event #38 ($2,000 Pot Limit Hold'em) - Not many people mention Michael Binger as a "Best Without a Bracelet" guy, but his run since making the 2006 WSOP final table is just sick. He cashed eight times at the WSOP in 2007. He already has three cashes and a final table this year. And he's currently the big stack in Event #38 with 146,100. He's followed by Ayaz Mahmood with 97,600. Get the full final 63 who will play down to the final table today (and a $244,583 first prize) here.
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The 2008 World Series of Poker has been going on for almost two weeks. Lots of action. Tired...interest waning. Then watched this video. Suddenly awake. Recharged. Let's go.
:: Event #18 ($10,000 2-7 Lowball w/ Rebuys) - The Deuce-to-Seven list of winners is a "who's who" of poker greats. So how the hell does Full Tilt Poker pro Mike "The Mouth" Matusow get to add his name to that list? Mike defeated a star-studded final table, out-dueling a final four that included Erick Lindgren, Barry Greenstein, and Jeffrey Lisandro to pick up his third bracelet and $537,862. Get full payouts here. Photo of Mike "The Mouth" Matusow after the win from the Poker Prof here.
:: Event #19 ($1,500 Pot Limit Omaha) - Like Big Brown winning the Triple Crown, this one is a "foregone conclusion." Vanessa Selbst, a wom--, a woma--, ugh, a woman, to borrow a phrase from Dr. Pauly, has a "redunkulous" chip lead. Selbst is stacked at 1,047,000. The closest competitor, Jamie Pickering, has 329,000. A bunch of people you've never heard of and who aren't winning the bracelet anyway follow. See their names here.
:: Event #20 ($2,000 Limit Hold'em) - The big story here is "Can Daniel Negreanu win his fourth bracelet?" Cause there's really not that much intrigue after that. Daniel seems primed and ready and as we wrote yesterday, is running hot right now. Get full chip counts here.
:: Event #21 ($5,000 NLH) - Day 1 saw 731 entrants whittle down to 121. Some dude named Alex Melnikow is the chip leader, stacked at 248,800. A surprising lack of big names are among the big stacks, with a few exceptions including the wildly marketable Hasan Habib (140,200), Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (103,100), this insufferably annoying Humberto Brenes (101,000), Anna Wroblewski, a woman, (100,000), and Dmitri "Where You Been Lately" Nobles (100,000). Gavin Smith, who we hope will help us starting finding some hot railbirds with THOs for pics, also remains with 25,500. Get full chip counts here.
:: Event #22 ($3,000 H.O.R.S.E) - The last tournament of the day brought in a respectable 414 runners. Only 160 remained at the end of play. Alexander Jung leads the way, stacked at 51,000. Lots of big names follow, including Todd Brunson (41,000), Kevin 'BeL0WaB0Ve' Saul (38,600), get this...wait for it...Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth (34,500), Steve Zolotow (30,000), James Mackey, a ginger (30,000), and Phil Ivey (28,000). Get full chip counts here.
2008 WSOP Band of Bloggers: Get full recaps and payouts from WorldSeriesofPoker.com here. Get Dr. Pauly's take on WSOP happenings here. Gary Wise has some thoughts here. Please please don't forget Pokerati here. And get Poker Prof's recap and more photos here.
We didn't do a full update yesterday from the WSOP, mostly because one development truly left us horrified. We didn't know how to report it. Because it surely had to have been made up. Seriously, who does what we are about to report? What kind of a person would do this? Definitely not anybody we know, that's for sure.
:: Event #14 ($10,000 Seven Card Stud) - We spent a good portion of the day yesterday trying to verify this story because it seemed like something out of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. A very bad Jerry Bruckheimer movie with no explosions. But apparently it's true. Eric Brooks won his first WSOP bracelet (and making his first cash too) in Event #14, the Seven Card Stud World Championship. He subsequently then GAVE ALL OF THE PRIZE MONEY--$415,856 TO BE EXACT--TO CHARITY. Read that last sentence again. Is he flipping crazy? Aren't there laws that prevent mentally deranged people from doing shit like this? We're not sure what this country is coming to, but we are sure it's a place we don't want to be. Full results here.
:: Event #15 ($1,000 Ladies Only) - Read about Glum Girl Svetlana Gromenkova and her thrilling victory here.
:: Event #16 ($2,000 Limit Omaha Hi-Low) - Chalk up yet another Omaha final table to The Intense Stare of Scott Clements. However, do not chalk up another bracelet. He finished seventh, banking $36,232. Instead, the tourney was taken down by Justin Guarini Andrew Brown. This is Brown's first WSOP bracelet, banking $226,483 and denying Ted Forrest, who finished second, his sixth. Get full results here.
:: Event #17 ($1,500 NLH Shoot-Out) - "Friends and family" final table won by Jason Young. Full results here.
:: Event #18 ($10,000 2-7 Lowball w/ Rebuys) - Always a "who's who" event with big names galore. Full Tilt Poker pro Erick Lindgren, who could easily run away with 2008 World Series of Poker Player of the Year honors, takes a massive chip to the final table, stacked at 1,104,000. He's followed by Barry Greenstein (541,000), super skinny Mike Matusow (520,000), Jeffrey Lisandro (461,000), David Benyamine (410,000), Tony G (394,000), and last year's POY, Tom Schneider (162,000). First place pays $537,682. Get final table updates starting at 3pm PST here.
:: Event #19 ($1,500 Pot Limit Omaha) - Fast play in this one, as 759 entered and only 46 remain. Vanessa Selbst, a woma--, a woma--, ugh, a woman, is big stacked with 203,600. Other big name big stacks include Nam Le (59,500) and Chau Giang (58,300). Get full chip counts here.
:: Event #20 ($2,000 Limit Hold'em) - The last tourney of the day saw 479 enter. Play concluded with 125 remaining. The chip leader is Daniel Makowsky, stacked at 49,200. World renown cougar and WCP guest blogger Michele Lewis was eliminated towards the end of the day, but gave us some "big ups" (her words) in this interview with hottie Tiffany Michelle. Also in the event but eliminated was NWP's Bryan Micon. Watch his latest Degenerate Update below. Get full Event #20 chip counts here.
2008 WSOP Band of Bloggers: Get full recaps and payouts from WorldSeriesofPoker.com here. Get Dr. Pauly's take on WSOP happenings here. Gary Wise has some thoughts here. Please please don't forget Pokerati here. And get Poker Prof's recap and more photos here.
With the WPT Bay 101 done and the next big stop on the tour more than a week away, many of the top pros headed back to Las Vegas this weekend to play the $10,000 buy-in main event of the 2008 Wynn Classic at the Wynn Las Vegas.
Only in its second year, the poker tournament quickly earned "classic" status last year when Scott Fischman, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Johnny Chan, Ted Lawson, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow and Chau Giang all were among the final nine competing for the $750,000 first place prize.
This year will likely see another pro-loaded final table, as 183 players started play yesterday with most of the field consisting of big namers including The Mouth, The Grinder, David "The Dragon" Pham*, Gavin Griffin, Mike Sexton, Layne Flack, Gavin Smith, Eli Elezra, Dutch Boyd, Darrell "Gigabet" Dicken, Cliff Josephy, Toto Leonidas, Max Pescatori, Justin Bonomo, and Brandon Cantu, hot off his WPT Bay 101 win.
Also among the field, Rick Salomon, who made it to Day 2 today but may have a hard time focusing at the tables knowing his estranged wife is riding the Klock in Berlin right now.
According to CardPlayer and PokerListings, who are both covering the event, the end of Day 1 chip leader was Mike Matusow with 107,700 and Roy Winston is close behind at 104,550. Blair Hinkle, who was a one-time chip leader at both Bay 101 and the LA Poker Classic and who we're gonna go out on a limb and say he's probably more of a Passover than Easter kind of guy, is also among the top five, stacked at 73,200.
Get live Wynn Classic updates from Matt Showell here.
Get stretching exercises from a hot Japanese girl here.
* Not a real dragon.
The so-called "shooting stars" fared much better in Day 1b play at the WPT Bay 101 main event, as 11 survived the action (compared with 5 for Day 1a).
Day 1b ended with Blair Hinkle as chip leader, stacked at 170,800. You may remember Hinkle as the man who briefly led the WPT LAPC last month.
Hinkle is followed by Clonie Gowen, a woman, with 163,300. And following the woman Clonie Gowen is 2007 NBC National Heads-Up Poker champ Paul Wasicka with 140,600.
Of the so-called "shooting stars" that survived Day 1b, last year's WPT Bay 101 champ Ted Forrest leads the way with 118,600. Other so-called "shooting stars" include Isabelle Mercier (61,200), "Salty" Joe Hachem (aka Adnan Ghalib) (52,600), Phil Laak (47,000), Erick Lindgren (42,700), Jennifer Harman (40,800), Barry Greenstein (38,900), Mike "The Mouth" Matusow (33,500), Cyndy Violette, a woman (29,300), Allen Cunningham (19,700), and Scotty Nguyen (7,200).
Also remaining at the WPT Bay 101 is our pick to win it, 2008 Canadian Open Poker Championship champ Huck Seed (28,200).
As of "press time," the Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day had not yet been named.
Get full chip counts here.
Looks like Gavin Smith is one helluva poker instructor.
Two nights before the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship began, Gavin Smith held a heads-up poker clinic for Orel Hershiser. While the ex-Dodger Cy Young Award winner had some general poker ring game background, he wasn't as skilled in heads-up play.
Apparently Orel is a fast learner.
After impressive wins today against Allen Cunningham and half-man, half-amazing Freddy Deeb, Hershiser finds himself as this year's Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth: that is, the unlikely quarter-finalist.
Hershiser will face Andy Bloch for a spot in the semis.
Phil Ivey continues his strong run of late. After capturing the WPT LAPC just a few days ago, Ivey now faces Gus Hansen in the day's most anticipated match.
The two other quarter-final match-ups are Jonathan Little vs. two-time National Heads-Up runner-up Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. And our pick to win yet again, Huck Seed, who takes on David Benyamine.
Orel Hershiser learns heads-up poker from Gavin Smith video
Full NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship bracket results
Orel Hershiser NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship red carpet video
This probably came out a year ago, but we don't watch "My Life on the D-List" with Kathy Griffin. And going by the old rule that, "if we just saw it, then it technically qualifies as breaking news to us," then we are proud to first report that Mike "the Mouth" Matusow made a [recent?] appearance on Kathy Griffin's "My Life on the D-List."
Mike takes Kathy on an obviously staged blind date. In between staring at Kathy's boobs (respect) and A.D.D.'ing up, Mike managed to leave a great impression on Kathy.
Says Kathy: "He emotionally is about four."
Says Mike: "I'm a complete moron."
Matusow appears not to have been able to close the deal, which is really no knock on him anyway, since the date was obviously staged. Having said this, any of us Entities would've totally closed the deal, staged or not. Fire in the hole!
At the end, a "paparazzi" shows up, and by "paparazzi" we mean Card Player's Rich Belsky, who also doubles as Mike's agent.
Watch the clip here.
Because you can only talk about poker so much . . . Click Here
We sort of have this thing for Keeley Hazell and ...
We're kind of digging the snorgtees girls. You should buy their shirts. Check 'em out.
