2009 WSOP: Shuffle Up and Deal

Watch Shuffle Up and Deal with Pollack and Hellmuth on RawVegas.tv

The 2009 World Series of Pokeris officially underway with the casino employees event. Commish Jeffrey Pollack and Phil Hellmuth kicked it off with the above shuffle up and deal.

Funny side story, but really only funny if you're an Entity or honorary Entity Eric Newby (our faithful producer of The TOKE). We had this following convo right before the vid went up:

Newby: "Not really much to edit. I'll probably just post as is, eh?"
Entity: "Ok, I'll just make up to watch for 'something shocking' at the 2:12 mark."
Newby: "Lemme check what's at 2:12 first just in case, eh?"
Entity: "Actually, that's kind of shocking, what he says. It's just like high school."
Newby: "Pretty sick call there, eh?"*

* Gratuitous use of "ehs" might not have happened.

We Know Who Annie Duke Was Yelling at on Celebrity Apprentice

In case you missed it, before the whole Hitler and blowjob comments happened, on this past week's Celebrity Apprentice, Annie Duke just laid the fuck into somebody on the phone who was helping Natalie Gulbis get Phil Hellmuth to contribute to her charity. Instead of Annie's.

Lots of speculation on who it was (Hellmuth even addressed it on the Hardcore Poker Show today here). While there has been a lot of speculation as to what poker industry insider it was, we actually know.

It's one of these five below. Vote for who you think it is in our comments section. And by the way, the voice was altered on the phone in the episode, so no real clues there.

We will randomly select one of the correct answers for a Wicked Chops t-shirt.

1. Jamie Horowitz (ESPN)
2. Brian Balsbaugh (Poker Royalty)
3. Jeffrey Pollack(WSOP/Harrah's)
4. Steve Lipscomb(WPT)
5. Ty Stewart(WSOP/Harrah's)

Vote away...

UPDATE: Not announcing the winner yet, as we may have something in the works with this...developing...

UPDATE II: The big reveal and winner announced Tuesday, April 28.

Vadim Trincher Running Good, Leads World Poker Tour Championship Day 1A

We're no math wizards, but somewhere around a week or so ago Vadim Trincher won the WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic. He banked over $731,000 and won a seat into the WPT Championship, which began Saturday.

Trincher is still running good, as he ended Day 1A of the aforementioned WPT Championship as chip leader, stacked at 309,725.

This is a mega-deep-stack event, as everyone starts with 100,000 in chips. That makes it even more surprising that Phil Hellmuth showed up late (he twittered that he was at Antonio Esfandiari's VIP cabana) and then busted about 15 minutes after he arrived.

Other Day 1A big stacks include second overall in chips (seriously? really?) Johnny Chan (291,675), Burt Boutin (281,000), and Shaun Deeb (269,900).

Only 19 people from the starting 126 busted, with notables including Kevin Saul and Daniel Alaei.

Get full chip counts here.

Huck Seed, 7 Others Advance at NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship

Our perennial pick to win it all, Huck Seed, has become the first/only person to cash in all five NBC National Heads Up Poker Championships by...cashing at the 2009 NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship.

Seed will face last minute scratch entry David Oppenheim in the quarterfinals. Oppenheim replaced Layne Flack and has made the most of it by registering his first quarterfinals appearance.

Also making his first quarterfinals appearance is Daniel Negreanu. In a lock to be the featured table, he'll take on Vanessa Rousso, a woman, who went to Duke.

Phil Hellmuth got a measure of revenge for last year's loss to Tom "Durrrr" Dwan by pretty much pwning him this go around. Hellmuth will face arguably the hottest guy on the circuit right now (performance-wise), Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier.

And in the final quarterfinals match, David Williams will face Sam Farha.

Below is an interview with Huck Seed from the draw party Thursday night. It seems like Huck might have cracked the code on how to be successful at HU poker. Maybe Seth Rogan was right in Pineapple Express. Weed does make everything better.

Watch Huck Seed at the 2009 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship on RawVegas.tv

Phil Hellmuth Speaks on the UltimateBet Scandal

Let's kick off the first of our NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship red carpet coverage with Phil Hellmuth. We weren't planning on "going there" regarding asking about Russ Hamilton and the UltimateBet cheating scandal, but after mentioning golfing with Layne Flack for a Golf Magazine story, well, it kind of opened the door...

Watch Phil Hellmuth on the Russ Hamilton Ultimate Bet Scandal on RawVegas.tv

Phil Hellmuth "Bale Out" Remix

We asked for it, and thanks to the good people at the Hardcore Poker Show for making a Phil Hellmuth "Bale Out" Remix.

Christian Bale Blow-Up Remix Needs to Be Done For Phil Hellmuth

Ok, we thought the "I'm Not Your Friend" remix was the greatest remix in the history of remixes.

But that was before RevoLucian's Christian Bale blow-up remix, "Bale Out,"  (based on his tirade to a DP on the new Terminator movie set) dropped today.

Can somebody who knows how to remix shit do one of these for all of Phil Hellmuth's blow-ups? A whole bunch of audio clips to start with are here. "You are a moron/Stupid northern Europeans...Northern, Northern Europeans/I can dodge bullets baby...baby...baby." Seriously, have at it.

Listen to RevoLucian's remix below for inspiration.

 

UltimateBet Awards Phil Hellmuth Pot on Losing Hand

 
UltimateBet's Phil Hellmuth has seen better days.

All right now, how many times do we have to say, "Quit playing on UB and Absolute Poker"? How many times?

Just when you think UB has bottomed out, another scandal. And this one involves their biggest star.

As first reported at pokerati here, Phil Hellmuth was involved in a pot during a $200/400 limit hold'em game where he held the losing hand yet was shipped the virtual cash.

The player on the losing end, DOUBLEBALLER, contacted customer support and eventually got his money back, but not before UB sustained another black eye on yet another software glitch.

While it's widely believed inside the industry that Hellmuth has had absolutely no involvement in any of the UB cheating scandals, this certainly won't help his rep to the masses.

Read more here and watch the hand play out here.

Is It Phil Hellmuth's Time to Capture First WPT Title?

Phil Hellmuth dominated Day 1A play, but unfortunately THO Girl was nowhere to be found.

Guess Phil Hellmuth wasn't one of the many who got too hungover from the Poker Royalty five-year anniversary party, as he dominated Day 1A play at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Poker Classic.

With a field of 203 entrants, Hellmuth finished play as chip leader, stacked at 188,150. He's followed by Gary Gibbs with 169,075.

Apparently you don't want to get on Clonie Gowen's bad side. After smacking Full Tilt founders with a $40M lawsuit, Clonie has continued her year-end spite-fest (we love us some spite) by ending Day 1A third overall in chips with 162,550. Our nominee for comeback player of the year, Kido Pham, is fourth at 153,000.

Tons of big names remain. Get full chip counts here.

Weekend Poker News Link Dump

With the full Entity West Coast migration complete and recovery from Thanksgiving underway, let's catch up on some not just poker news from around the so-called "Internet." Back to full strength on Monday...

:: Can't forget we're just a day away from the 60 Minutes online poker hatchet job. [link]

:: With that in mind, here's Nat Arem's hierarchy of poker cheating. [link]

:: Players are criticizing the WSOP final table broadcast, but ratings were up 47% from last year. [link]

:: Phil Hellmuth's clothing line probably won't sell well in Northern Europe. [link]

:: Daniel Negreanu continues his big year, besting 690 to win the BC Poker Championship. [link]

And a final "thankful for..." before we become ingrateful for the next 360 days or so: Stripper 101 classes to teach girlfriends/fiances/wives how to swing from a pole.

Watch Fawnia's Move of the Week on RawVegas.tv

Caption This

Another Poker-Themed Stage Show in Las Vegas Announced. . . Seriously

Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Hellmuth's ego and others to star in new poker-themed stage show at The Venetian.

And to think we thought All In: The Poker Musical was both the beginning and end of poker-themed productions in Las Vegas.

Nope, here comes another, this time from the folks at The Venetian, who just announced it will introduce this fall the "first ever live, interactive poker-themed stage show" called The Real Deal! The show, which is a Vegas-style game show of sorts with prizes, will star poker pros Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Hellmuth's ego, Gavin Smith, Edward James Olmos Eli Elezra, Jennifer Harman, a woman, Phil Laak, Scotty Nguyen, Todd Brunson and Antonio Esfandiari, who magically continues to make himself relevant somehow in the poker world.

Excerpt below from press release explaining how the show will work:

The Real Deal! will empower the audience to participate both on-stage and from their seats through the use of wireless touch screen devices. The Real Deal! will use a revolutionary multi-player platform with interactive content in conjunction with technology from TimePlay Entertainment, Inc. Playing both against and alongside the pros, audience members will earn points to vie for prizes ranging from The Real Deal! logo'd merchandise to spectacular home electronics and more, including a chance to win a $1 million grand prize.

.......

The large collection of prizes will be awarded to individuals based on their game performance, such as their play of the virtual "ninth hand." However, there will be many other random winning moments! For example, audience members will be able to wager on simple instances that will occur during play, such as the suit of cards dealt on the flop. Every show, audience members will also have the chance to draw for a Royal Flush and win ONE MILLION DOLLARS.

An elimination process will result in the chip-leading pro, the final surviving amateur, and the point leader from the play-along audience, on stage for a three-handed finale.

While we wait for someone to dumb this down for us, check out the show's website here.

Unrelatedly, watch RawVegas.tv's new video hostess Brittney Palmer in action here.

Phil Hellmuth on His Blow-Up Against The Fragrance and 45th Place Finish in the 2008 WSOP Main Event

We caught up with an admittedly "bitter" Phil Hellmuth right after his bust-out from the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

In a very raw vlog, Hellmuth discusses his blow-up with Cristian Dragomir The Fragrance and why he feels like he should not be out of the tourney just yet.

VIDEO: Phil Hellmuth on busting out of the 2008 WSOP Main Event

Phil Hellmuth's Ego Exits the 2008 WSOP Main Event

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.

2008 WSOP Day 5: Gingers Flame Out, Hot Girl Goes Deep, Hellmuth Blow Up

Cristian Dragomir The Fragrance (above center) put Phil Hellmuth on mega-tilt, earning the Poker Brat a one-orbit penalty.

What a day at the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

With a ton of notable names coming into play today, the hype/anticipation levels were high. Plus, a bunch of gingers were in contention, as well as some hot girls going deep, and our random pick to win it from the beginning, David "Chino" Rheem, meaning we would have no shortage of stuff to make fun of cover.

When play wrapped, some dude we never heard of whose names sounds like an uppity Brit but is actually an Asian from LA, Mark Ketteringham, ended as chip leader stacked at 5.7M.*

Ketteringham is followed by Andrew Brokos (4,080,000) and our favorite hot girl going deep, Tiffany Michelle, with (3,800,000). Michelle is looking really, really good this year...to win the coveted The Last Woman Standing^TM title, which really is what the girls are playing for...because it's certainly not the Main Event title...because...seriously...have you looked at the history of WSOP results? Are women even trying in the Main Event? Are they even entering it?

In great news for anyone who has a soul, many of the top gingers bowed out of the field today. On the last hand of the night, Mark Vos, a ginger, ran his A-K into Dennis Phillips' A-A, sending what is likely the best hope for gingers around the world to the rail.

Also on the last hand at the featured table, Phil Hellmuth finally had a Hellmuthian Moment (phrase credit: Dr. Pauly) against Cristian Dragomir The Fragrance. Dragomir raised pre-flop, Hellmuth popped him back, and Dragomir made the call. The flop came 10 high, Hellmuth checked and The Fragrance fired. Hellmuth mucked A-K face up. Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, sitting next to Hellmuth, begged The Fragrance to show. The Fragrance turned over 10-4. Hellmuth went ballistic, calling The Fragrance an "idot" and "the worst player in history" (what do you expect, he's a scent!). Hellmuth continued the tirade and was smacked with a one orbit penalty that will take effect when play begins tomorrow.

Anyway that was exhausting to type, so just know that only 79 remain, our pick to win it is still hanging strong with 2.3M, and you can get full chip counts here.

* All chip counts unofficial at post time.

Good For Poker(TM)

In what can only be described as "good for poker^TM," Shawn "Bad for Poker" Sheikhan has been eliminated from the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

That loud "whew" you just heard was Matt Maranz and the rest of the ESPN crew, knowing they won't have to put him on TV and do the "Shawn Sheikhan Story."

At the break, a different kind of red terror, Nikolay Losev, is the chip leader with 3,500,000.

Poker hottie Tiffany Michelle is sixth overall now with 3M. Cristian Dragomir The Fragrance is at 2,850,000. Our pick to win it David "Chino" Rheem is at 1,850,000. And Phil Hellmuth is back up to 1,280,000.

Get full chip counts here.

Uh Oh

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 Standing^TM, 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.

2008 WSOP Day 4 Wrap: Pros, Gingers, and Hot Girls Go Deep

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 poker^TM." Some of those keeping The Year of the Pro^TM 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 fly^TM again sometime tomorrow.

Get full (and continually updated) chip counts here.

2008 WSOP Update: Two Guys with 1800's Mormon Sounding Names Over a Mil

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 Standing^TM. 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 Pro^TM. 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.

2008 WSOP Update: The Year of the Pro(TM) Back In Jeopardy as Phil Hellmuth, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi Do Not Win Bracelets

The Grinder failed to rack up his first WSOP bracelet last night.

Uh oh.

:: Event #50 ($10,000 Pot Limit Omaha) - Errr. Eeee. Hmm. Well, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi entered final table play as chip leader, but he couldn't pull through that first WSOP bracelet, eventually falling in third. Instead, Marty Smith, who is not even a pro, took the title, his first bracelet, and $859,549. Even worse, and this is truly scary, Marty Smith is...ugh...a ginger. Get full payouts here.

:: Event #51 ($1,500 H.O.R.S.E.) - After Grinder not winning a bracelet, all eyes were on Phil Hellmuth. Could Hellmuth keep hope alive for The Year of the Pro^TM at the 2008 WSOP? It was such a main storyline that nobody was even paying attention to the fact that Phil was going for his 12th bracelet. Didn't even cross anyone's mind. It was all about The Year of the Pro^TM. But following in the steps of The Grinder, Hellmuth finished third. Instead, James Schaaf took his first bracelet, banking $256,412. Get full payouts here.

:: Event #52 ($1,500 No Limit Hold'em) - There is still hope though. Three guys we consider pros by any measurable standard, Matt Matros, David Daneshgar, and Dan Heimiller, who happens to be THIS GINGER, enter final table play stacked second, fourth, and sixth respectively. If Heimiller pulls out his second bracelet, will that make this The Year of the Ginger? (patent pending) They all trail chip leader Corwin Cole (not a pro). Get full final table chip counts here.

:: Event #53 ($1,500 Limit Hold'em Shoot-Out) - A field of 823 whittled down to 72, paying out first $278,180. Some pros still alive and fighting to ensure this year is their year include Jean-Robert Bellande, Hoyt Corkins and Kenna James (see their brokeback moment here), and David Bach. Get 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. Please please don't forget Pokerati here. And get Poker Prof's recap and more photos here.

2008 WSOP Update: Grinder Goes for First; Hellmuth Takes Aim at 12th

Phil Hellmuth (above) is in the hunt for bracelet #12 again.

Just one more tournament before the Main Event begins. After the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran bagged his first WSOP bracelet yesterday, all eyes will be on Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi this afternoon. With the Grinder in contention for bracelet #1 today, it might be time to consider a new official moniker for the 2008 World Series of Poker: The Year of the Best Without a Bracelet^TM. Although that title is a little complicated, as to be the best without a bracelet you also must be a pro, so actually it just lends more support to it being The Year of the Pro^TM. Interesting...VERY...interesting.

:: Event #50 ($10,000 Pot Limit Omaha) - As mentioned, the story here is if Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi can capture his first bracelet. He'll bring the big stack to the final table with 1,767,000. Grinder is followed by non-pro Brandon Moran with 1,286,000. Get final table chip counts here.

:: Event #51 ($1,500 H.O.R.S.E.) - It was an up and down day for Phil Hellmuth. Or perhaps even a rollercoaster. Despite some ups and downs, Hellmuth finished the day as big stack with 287,500. Pretty sure we don't need to explain the implications of a Hellmuth win, not only for his bracelet count but for a little thing we like to call/trademark The Year of the Pro^TM. Hellmuth is followed by James Schaaf, who is not to be confused with Snarf, with 236,500. Some other big names of the 20 remaining include no one. Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #52 ($1,500 No Limit Hold'em) - The last mega-field tourney before the Main Event had 2693 entrants with 228 remaining at the end of the day. Keith Carberry will take the chip lead to Day 1 with 203,000. Get full chip counts here.

For another good, insightful look at yesterday's action, read Dr. Pauly here.

2008 WSOP Band of Bloggers: Get full recaps and payouts from WorldSeriesofPoker.com here. Get Dr. Pauly's take on WSOP happenings here. Please please don't forget Pokerati here. And get Poker Prof's recap and more photos here.

2008 WSOP Update: J.C. Tran Goes After First Bracelet (Again); Phil Hellmuth Takes Aim at Number 12

While most of the attention was on the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, some big names were making their mark on other 2008 WSOP tournaments this weekend.

:: Event #48 ($2,000 No Limit Hold'em) - Unfortunately none of those big names were in this one. Brazalian Alexandre Gomes took this won down, banking $770,540 and his first bracelet. Get full payouts results.

:: Event #49 ($1,500 No Limit Hold'em) - The mega-field of 2,718 is down to its final nine. Rasmus Nielsen is the chip leader, stacked at 2,998,000. The spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran (above) once again goes for bracelet number one, entering the final table second overall in chips with 1,438,000. Joe Pelton, who a couple years ago had a cool girlfriend but we haven't heard much from since, is third with 1,093,000. Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #50 ($10,000 Pot Limit Omaha) - Nice turn-out as 381 signed up, creating a first place prize of $859,532. Josh Arieh just killed it on Day 1, ending play as big stack with 343,700. He's followed by Guillaume Patry with 226,400. Some other big name big stacks include David Williams (142,900), David Singer (128,200), Nenad Medic (101,800), and The Intense Stare of Scott Clements (88,600). Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #51 ($1,500 H.O.R.S.E.) - All the big names who went all Big Brown in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. entered this one. In total, 803 runners signed up creating a first place prize of $256,412. Phil Hellmuth ended the day as chip leader, stacked at 46,400. He's closely followed by "Salty" Joe Hachem (37,500) and Lorenzo Lamas (36,700). Get full chip counts here.

Get full J.C. Tran photo spread here.

2008 WSOP Update: James Mackey, A Ginger, Leads $50k H.O.R.S.E; Erik Seidel Goes for 9th Bracelet Again

David Benyamine (above right), continues his assault on 2008 WSOP POY honors as he's among the chip leaders in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event.

After a few days of downtime, the hype/action/buzz returned to the 2008 WSOP yesterday with the start of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. The Rio Amazon Room was packed with newly arrived so-called poker "media,"
railbirds, fanboys, and industry types. Action for the H.O.R.S.E. event picks up again today at 3pm.

:: Event #42 ($1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold'em) - Whatever.

:: Event #43 ($1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo) - The big story here is that Erik Seidel is making his second run at bracelet #9 this year. Seidel is stacked second overall with 340,000. He only trails Jon Maren (377,000), who you've likely discerned then must be the chip leader. Also in contention is Casey Kastle (188,000), who joins Shannon Shorr as the two dudes on the circuit with the best hot porn star sounding names. Let's just say if we saw a DVD called "Girl-Girl-Guy Threesomes Galore! (43)" starring Casey Kastle, Shannon Shorr, and Brock Parker, we probably wouldn't even do a double-take. Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #44 ($1,000 No Limit Hold'em w/ Rebuys) - 115 remain of the original 879, and with all the rebuys, first place with pay $693,444. Jamel Maistriaux ended Day 1 as chip leader, stacked at 169,300. Big name big stacks remaining include Mark Seif (133,000), Joe Tehan, whose name sounds too much like "Tehran" for our liking (108,200), and the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran (54,900). Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #45 ($50,000 H.O.R.S.E) - The big one. The event everyone was waiting for and the title the pros most want to claim. Each table is stacked with a who's who of poker greats. Surely the event will continue the trend this year that we exclusively trademarked as The Year of the Pro^TM. Frightening the competition with fearlessness that could only be accomplished by someone lacking a soul is James "mig dot com" Mackey, a ginger, with 214,000. With 140 of the initial 148 remaining, and with virtually every person in the field someone that you've heard of, it'd be, as Dr. Pauly would say, "redunkulous" to list all the notables. But we will mention that Phil Hellmuth, seen here talking about the bad WSOP he's having right before the event began, was one of the eight eliminated on Day 1. Also, the four pros most likely to claim 2008 WSOP POY honors (and solidify this year as the Year of the Pro), Erick Lindgren, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, and David Benyamine, are all above averaged stacked going into Day 2. Get full chip counts here.

After the jump, a photo of the fantastically stacked and looking-better-than-ever Isabelle Mercier next to Dario Minieri. Mercier seriously looks like that hot teacher everyone wanted to bang in 9th grade and Dario like the student who gets a little too nervous around her. Also after the jump is possibly the best photo we've ever taken of Tom Schneider.

Phil Hellmuth Not Making Any Excuses

Poker pro Phil Hellmuth is back to making video blogs, and we forgot how much we liked them. Good honest stuff.

While he's cashed twice at the 2008 WSOP and made one final table, he's still not happy with his overall performance, but he's not making any excuses for about it either. For now at least.

Phil Hellmuth 2008 WSOP vlog

All In: The Poker Musical Announced, Told You We Weren't Making This Sh*t Up

When we first broke the news yesterday that Phil Hellmuth and the WSOP we're doing a poker musical called "All In: The Poker Musical," no one really believed it, with people on the WCP forum and other forums immediately calling it a level. Or at least hoping it was.

Well, like we said, you can't make shit like this up.

Just minutes ago, Harrahs and the WSOP officially sent out the press release for what is being billed as the world's first poker musical, which will debut during the WSOP Main Event on July 3, with shows open to the public on July 4 and 5 at the Rio.

Check out the full press release here.

Talk it up on the WCP forum here.

Read what Hellmuth actually said about it on his blog back in April here.

Read what we said about it yesterday here.

Breaking: Phil Hellmuth, Phil Hellmuth's Ego and WSOP Team Up for First Ever Poker Musical

After hearing some talk around the Rio about a Phil Hellmuth-themed poker musical and thinking there's absolutely no way it could be for real, an advanced draft of the press release confirming it just landed on our laps. And now there's a website up for it.

Yep, proving once again that nothing can out jump the shark quite like poker can, the World Series of Poker, along with Phil Hellmuth and Phil Hellmuth's Ego, have teamed up with Las Vegas show producer Tim Molyneux to present the first, and hopefully last, ever poker musical entitled "All In: The Poker Musical."

Seriously. We're not making this shit up.

A preview concert featuring songs from the musical will be held at the Rio on July 3, the first day of the Main Event, for poker "VIPs, luminaries and media." A limited engagement open to the public will be presented at the Masquerade Theatre at the Rio on July 4 and July 5. Tickets are going for $29.95 and up. Seriously.

Quoting directly from the release, and we're not making this shit up, the story of the musical "revolves around the final nine players at the Main Event of the World Series of Poker and, just like the real WSOP, these players come from all walks of life. These clearly identifiable characters sing songs that are interlaced with poker analogies, quotes, and situations that also apply to the game of life."

For example, and again we're not making this shit up, a source of ours says that one of the characters is based on Hellmuth and sings songs like:

"I can dodge bullets baby, but I can’t dodge you."

Really. You can't make this stuff up.

Some sweet press release quotes from Hellmuth and Pollack after the jump . . .

Talk it up on the new WCP poker forum on the Hellmuth poker musical thread (with link to musical's website).

2008 WSOP Update: OMGClayAiken Grabs First Bracelet; J.C. Tran Goes for His Again

The spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran (above) goes for his first WSOP bracelet today at 2pm PST.

It was an interesting day of 2008 World Series of Poker action, as Event #31 ($2,500 No Limit Hold'em Six-Handed) left many happy to be there and this unfortunate photo was taken which just isn't funny at all. On with the updates.

:: Event #27 ($1,500 No Limit Hold'em) - Vitaly Lunkin won this "friends and family" final table, banking $628,417. If you just really love poker that much and gotta know the rest of what happened, get full results here.

:: Event #28 ($5,000 Pot Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys) - In yet another star-studded final table, online poker superstar Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond took down the title, earning his first of what is sure to be a few WSOP bracelets and banking, as Dr. Pauly would say, a "redunkulous" $817,781. Galfond defeated another online specialist, Adam "the_houdini" Hourani, for the title, going 100 hands deep heads-up. David Benyamine took third earning three million five hundred thousand glazed doughnuts $316,307. Poker legend Johnny Chan, who has gone from oranges to bananas, missed out on his record-tying 11th bracelet, finishing fourth and earning $246,874. John Juanda came in sixth ($154,296), Daniel Negreanu, who has mad respect for OMGClayAiken's game, was seventh ($123,437), and the always impressive Phil Hellmuth was eighth ($100,292).

:: Event #29 ($3,000 No Limit Hold'em) - Matthew Vengrin, who you may not remember from the final table of last year's Event #3 final table, is chip leader stacked at 1,007,500. Also in the mix is unheralded Alex Bolotin, who has nearly $1M in WSOP earnings, with 534,000 in chips; David Singer, who is going for his second bracelet at this year's WSOP, with 515,000; and John "The Razor" Phan, who while he doesn't have a bracelet yet, his mom is still probably very proud of him, with 396,500.

:: Event #30 ($10,000 Limit Hold'em) - 218 entered this one, playing down to the final table last night. Aaron Katz, who won a bracelet in 2004 and was never heard from again, is heard from again as chip leader, stacked at 1,232,000. The real story here are two guys looking to shed the "Best Without a Bracelet" moniker, as both Andy Bloch (370,000), and the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran (247,000), are in the mix. The short-stack is a guy named Brock Parker, who must either be a super-hero or a porn star. Get full chip counts here. Follow final table action at 2pm PST 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.

* The photo above is of J.C. Tran masquerading by the name Tanya Robinson, super-sexy British model. Get the full sized pic after the jump and the full lingerie shoot here.

2008 WSOP Update: Kenny Tran, Barry Greenstein, Max Pescatori Win Weekend Bracelets, Chan Goes for 11, Hellmuth for 12

 
Shannon Elizabeth (above) is among the millions of poker players not included in this WSOP update.

The Entities decided to take it a little easy this weekend, but only because we love you. As we've all learned through our respective marriages, the best way to make someone grow fonder of you is through a steady diet of ignoring them and neglect. And here you are thinking to yourself, "I thought it was through bringing them flowers, listening to their problems, and being a strong emotional rock of support." And that's why you're a pussy.

:: Event #24 ($2,500 Pot Limit Omaha/Hold'em) - Listen, we know sometimes people have no control over what their nicknames are, but there's nothing cool about being called "The Italian Pirate." However that didn't stop Max Pescatori from denying Allen Cunningham a WSOP bracelet for the 47th consecutive year. Pescatori banks his second bracelet and $246,471. Get full results here.

:: Event #25 ($10,000 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up) - Many people consider Kenny Tran the best no limit hold'em cash player in the world. He doesn't play many WSOP events, but the ones he does, he does well. Tran won his first bracelet over the weekend by beating, as Dr. Pauly would say, a "redunkulous" field in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up World Championship at the WSOP. The win brings Tran $539,056. Vanessa Selbst, a woman, finished third. We've spotted Selbst at various cash games googling her name, and we think it might've been her confirming with this comment that she does have a hot girlfriend.

:: Event #26 ($1,500 Razz) - Barry Greenstein is the absolutely most perfect person in the world to win a Razz tournament. Razz is generally detested by most players and Greenstein often doesn't look like he's enjoying playing poker at all (even though it's quite the opposite). For the win, Greenstein banks $97,389 and his third bracelet. Archie Karas, yes this guy, came in seventh. Get full results here.

:: Event #27 ($1,500 No Limit Hold'em) - Over 2,700 entered and 17 remain. And it's an absolutely "friend and family" final 17. Get chip counts here.

:: Event #28 ($5,000 Pot Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys) - Big name final table on this one. Online poker legend Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond is the chip leader stacked at 1,393,000. The final table also includes David Benyamine (1,041,000), John Juanda (694,000), going for a record tying 11th WSOP bracelet Johnny Chan (624,000), Daniel Negreanu (460,000), and going for a record 12th WSOP bracelet Phil Hellmuth (119,000). First pays $817,781 and final table play begins at 3pm PST.

2008 WSOP Update: Hellmuth Eyes 64th WSOP Cash

The $2,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event is done for the night, and 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth (above) is among the 180 or so players who will be returning to the tables tomorrow at 2pm.

Hellmuth is stacked at 47,500 (last report), and will be gunning for his ridiculous 64th WSOP cash and his 12th bracelet.

The chipleader at the end of the day may or may not be Dustin Dirksen, stacked at or around 172,000. Other pros still in include Barry Greenstein, Tim Phan, Allen Le, Jared "The Waco Kid" Hamby and the not very athletic Bill Gazes.

Our favorite Brazilian chica who doesn't model for Victoria's Secret Maridu is stacked just over $50,000.

Get updated chips counts while we're sleeping here.

Click thumbnails below for more hot photos of Hellmuth (and yes it's her again) below. . .

Poker Pro Phil Hellmuth on Milwaukee’s Best Light Cans

Score one for pushing poker into the mainstream.

Wisconsin native Phil Hellmuth will be appearing on special-edition Milwaukee's Best Light cans (one of which at right). The series will launch on May 30th, the first day of the 2008 WSOP.

As part of the campaign, each can will have an entry code inside specially marked packages. Then you enter the code at www.MilBest.com for a chance to win a bunch of prizes, the tops of which is private lessons from the Poker Brat and a trip for four to the 2009 WSOP.

If you're just dying for more info than that, read here or go to Phil Hellmuth's blog here where he reveals that, "This is one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me."

* Special thanks to The Mantuary for the heads-up on the story.

Poker News Looking 'Sexiest' with Megan Fox

Megan Fox, the tattooedly hot actress from Transformers who is bizarrely banging that dude who dated Donna on the show 90210 which your parents' parents used to watch back in the 20th century, has been voted FHM's Sexiest Woman of 2008. The perennially pretty Jessica Alba and our favorite top dropper Keeley Hazell finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively. A bunch of other chicks you'd toss your girlfriend aside for round out the top 100. Check out the list here. Check out Fox looking stunningly hot in various states of undress below. One of the pics btw is of a short Mexican cop on the Sunsent Strip ... see if you can figure out which one it is.

Some sort of newsy poker links for you . . .

:: We aren't the only really goodlooking guys surprised that Doyle Brunson is a blogger (Click here and here)

:: Apparently Phil Hellmuth can't see too well into Guy Laliberte's soul (Click here)

:: We aren't the only poker news-ers who write about Shannon Elizabeth on Dancing with the Stars (Click here)

:: If you live wherever it is WTVY News 4 airs, you should play this poker tournament to support our troops (Click here)

:: License plate poker . . . genius! (Click here)

:: Who dunnit? Poker pro son is suspect in poker pro's father murder (Click here)

:: Friendly poker games won't be legal anytime soon in that state with the palmetto tree and Islamic-y looking crescent moon silhouette logo people annoyingly like to wear all around the south (Click here)

:: Maine's Governor John Baldacci hates charity poker games (Click here)

Doyle Brunson Beer Pong Video

Just days ahead of the $25,000 buy-in WPT World Championship at the Bellagio, some of the biggest names in the game met up with poker legend Doyle Brunson at Hog & Heifers in Las Vegas for a little friendly Beer Pong competition set up by jane-of-all-trades Lara Miller. Among the pros there to lob the pongs while getting soused on the High Life included Todd Brunson, Jen Harman, Hoyt Corkins (at right), Phil Hellmuth, Gank Jungblut, and Marco Traniello.

RawVegas.tv was there to cover the action as Doyle and teammate Hoyt took on his son Todd and some poker dude from Montana. See how they fared in the video below although the screen grab above of Corkins after the match looking totally shit-faced is a bit of a spoiler. By the way, is there a movement to make Beer Pong an Olympic sport? If our Eskimo neighbors to the north were able to get shuffleboarding a rock on ice with a kitchen broom in there, no reason why we shouldn't be giving out gold medals for a skilled sport like Beer Pong.

Watch video on RawVegas.tv here.

Read Jeff Haney's account in the Las Vegas Sun here.

The Wicked Chops Poker Awards - Part II

Yesterday we introduced the first part of the possibly first annual Wicked Chops Poker Awards. As promised, today = Part II (which is so important we use Roman numerals instead of just the number "2").

Best Breasts in Poker: J.C. Tran. Listen, we have no idea where the "J.C. Tran has spectacular breasts..." thing came from. Couldn't think of anything else to say about the guy and it randomly popped up and the rest is history. Having said that, look at J.C. Tran's spectacular breasts (at right). Those are without one single doubt the best breasts in poker. Yes, Lacey Jones is the hottest girl in poker, but have you seen J.C.'s breasts? How can you even make an argument that someone has better breasts? You can't. It'd be like arguing against Lionel Hutz. You're winning that one every time, son.

Worst Name of a Potential Cellmate if You're Sent to Prison: Hoyt Corkins. The thought of being "hoyt corkin'd" is utterly terrifying.

Best 2+2 Thread of All-Time: The Sklansky/Hawbaker Dramabomb. It was bound to happen. Rumors swirled about some kind of Sklansky/Hawbaker relationship at last year's WSOP (watch the Brandi Hawbaker interview about it). Then it died down. Went away. Then in late February it just blew the f' up (read the 2+2 thread here), culminating in 2+2 banning any known Brandi Hawbaker associates (and the NWP crew) and Sklansky "alluding" to throwing acid on Brandi's face. This one had it all. In fact, we feel safe in saying that we may never see a poker forum thread involving a 60 year-old dude who keeps a vibrator in his glove compartment and hints at throwing acid on a hot girl's face again. Probably.

Best Neverwin Poker Thread: Justin Smith Rolls Bryan Micon. The sheer creativity in this one wins out over the never-ending supply of messed up NWP threads. After Bryan "King of the Degenerates" Micon got rolled for about $12k by Justin Smith, he turned the fuck-you-machine on full-throttle. Micon wouldn't rest until he got paid back. Be it recording countless phone conversation and putting them online, or releasing one digit of Justin Smith's SSN every hour until he got paid back, this one was constant entertainment. Watch Micon's RawVegas.tv interview on the pwning here.

2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Done: Wasicka, Forrest, Hellmuth, Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth Do Not Advance

It was a bad opening day for previous NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship champs.

2005 winner Phil Hellmuth (above) took a devastating beat on hand number three against online pro Tom "durrr" Dwan. Hellmuth, holding pocket aces, called a re-raise all in by Dwan, who held tens. A ten hit on the turn, sending Hellmuth to the rail.

2006 winner Ted Forrest was gunned down by Orel Hershiser. The former Dodgers pitcher had just received heads-up lessons from Gavin Smith and Bill Edler the night before (footage of this will be up on RawVegas.tv on Sunday). Guess it worked.

Last year's champ Paul Wasicka was taken down by half-man, half-amazing Freddy Deeb.

And Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth lost to Andy Bloch. So it's back to Dancing with the Stars for Shannon Elizabeth.

Phil Ivey, fresh of his WPT LAPC win, advanced to the second round, where he'll face Johnny Chan (who confirmed to us that he does not have a handicap sticker on his car).

Other compelling Round of 32 match-ups include: Gavin Smith vs. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen vs. Gus Hansen, Jerry Yang vs. Phil Laak, Scott Fischman vs. Jamie Gold, Erick Lindgren vs. Doyle Brunson, and our pick to win it yet again, Huck Seed vs. Brian Townsend.

Eighth Time's a Charm: Phil Ivey Wins WPT LA Poker Classic

This one kind of felt inevitable.

Phil Ivey finally won his first WPT title.

Although it didn't look good at first. Ivey lost a big pot early in final table action, telling Kimberly Lansing:

"I was just really frustrated, the seven other times I've made [a WPT final table]...I actually felt when I first sat down and lost that big hand [against Charles 'no chance' Moore], I thought, 'Here we go again.'"

But Ivey tightened up and started building his stack again. After Phil Hellmuth and Scott Montgomery were eliminated, Ivey won a 3.14 million dollar pot off Nam Le, gaining back the chip lead. He later knocked Nam out when he spiked a three on the river to make a set and crack Nam's aces.

When it got to heads-up play, Ivey had a near 5-to-1 chip advantage over eventual runner-up Quinn Do. Ivey busted Quinn with a full house (aces full of eights), banking $1,596,100 for the win, which should pad his FTP bankroll nicely.

Get the full final table recap here.

WPT LAPC: Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Nam Le Battle for Title

It would be hard to reasonably ask for a better WPT final table than this.

The 2008 WPT LAPC has three of poker's toughest tournament players gunning for the title. Leading the way as big stack is Phil Ivey with 4,100,000. This is Ivey's record-setting eigth WPT final table. However, he has yet to win a WPT title. However however, even if he doesn't win this one, he did manage to capture yesterday's Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day. And that's a year's supply of almonds right there.

Ivey is followed by Scott "r_a_y" Montgomery with 2,680,000.

In third overall is 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth (2,380,000). This is Hellmuth's third WPT final table.

Rounding out the final six are Charles "no chance" Moore (1,510,000), Quinn Do (1,450,000), and three-time WPT final table-ist (and one-time winner) Nam Le (1,180,000).

Jennifer Tilly Can Join Us at the Beach Now, Phil Hellmuth Can't, He's Leading at LAPC

Jennifer Tilly, a woman, has busted from the WPT LA Poker Classic in 12th place, good enough for a $61,610 cash. On the final hand, the barely stacked but big racked Tilly reraised Phil Hellmuth all in and then this and that happened on the board and she lost all her chips. Yeh, great story we know. Phil Hellmuth is now the chip leader with 2,750,000 and his counter-Phil, Ivey, is second with 1,920,000. Scott Montgomery, an ice manufacturer rep or something from Canada, is in third with 1,415,000. There are 11 players left competing for the $1.6 million first place prize. It's 73 degrees where we are right now, still breezy, the sun is going down and reggae is playing. After the jump, two more photos of J Tilly dressed as a cowboy at the LAPC . . .

Blair "blur5f6" Hinkle Leads the Phils after First Break at the WPT LA Poker Classic

Blair "blur5f6" Hinkle of Kansas City, Missouri went into the first break today at the WPT LA Poker Classic as the chip leader with 1,659,000 in chips. The 22-year-old from Kansas City is apparently a decent online poker player, recently taking down a Full Tilt $216 buy-in tourney for $146,288. He's amassed over $215k from MTTs on the site.

Both Phils, Hellmuth and Ivey, trail close behind with 1,589,000 and 1,457,000, respectively. In fourth is Michael Watson, who has just over a million.

Stacked below average but still among the final 14 players is Quinn Do (855,000), Theo Tran (853,000), Jennifer Tilly, a woman (841,000) and Nam Le (604,000).

Among the busted, David Singer, who finished in 18th for $48,840.

In related news, it's 80 degrees, sunny skies and breezy in Hermosa.

UPDATE: Holy Canuck! Scott Montgomery of Ottawa, Canada, who plays online as "r_a_y" for one reason or another, has taken the chip lead, nearly stacked at 2 million. He's seated right next to Phil Hellmuth, who's second in chips, and the two have been verbally sparring throughout the day. Blair Hinkle, the kid above, took a $500k or so chip dive.

Check out our favorite girl with a web cam Kimberly Lansing interviewing Scott Montgomery here. To say Kimberly looks especially pretty/cute/hot (take your pick) today would be an understatement.

WPT LAPC: Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Nam Le Lead the Way

A WPT dream final table is shaping up at the LAPC, which probably means that it won't happen [insert Debbie Downer music]. A healthy dose of skepticism is always a good thing, right?

However, if this WPT dream final table does happen, the Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker promise you this: a minimum of 2 Entities will be in LA to pseudo-cover it.* That's how big it'll be.

With 18 remaining at the end of Day 4, Phil Ivey is the chip leader, stacked at 1,543,000. He's followed by relatively unknown but solid online pro Blair Hinkle (1,541,000). And he's followed by 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth (1,399,000). And he's followed by past WPT champ Nam Le (1,254,000).

Also still in, although not big stacked (however, still very big racked) is Jennifer Tilly (417,000), as well as David Singer (285,000).

Get full chip counts from the WPT site here.

In related news, at press time the Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day had not yet been picked. We mention this because we know that you are really, really curious. Not to ruin the surprise, but we're guessing it'll be Phil Hellmuth. If we're right, expect a post bragging about how we were right. If we're wrong, nothing.

*Editor's Note: Already happening regardless. Empty promise.

WPT LAPC: Ivey, Tilly, Singer, and Glum Girl Svetlana Among Chip Leaders

While other early chip leaders have rode the proverbial rollercoaster, Phil Ivey has managed to remain at or near the chip lead for yet another day at the 2008 WPT LA Poker Classic.

Ivey ended Day 3 play stacked at 656,000. He trails only Kyle Burnside, who ended the day at 781,000.

Only 58 players remain from the starting field of 665. Following Ivey as the third overall big stack is big racked Jennifer Tilly with 569,000. She's followed by Day 1 chip leader David Singer with 561,000.

Other notables include but are surely not limited to: Glum Girl Svetlana Gromenkova (292,000), 2006 LAPC winner Alan Goehring - 284,000, Nam Le - 180,000, Toto Leonidas - 146,000, Phil Hellmuth - 100,000, and last year's LAPC champ Eric Hershler - 90,000.

2004 LAPC winner Antonio Esfandiari was eliminated three from the money.

With so many big names remaining, and with the WPT's recent history of big name flame-outs as we get to the TV table, we're sure to see a final table consisting of Yury Parad, Mike Hamparsomian, Pete de Best, Hassan Kamoei, David Stroj, and Jeff Chotikul. No offense to Yury Parad, Mike Hamparsomian, Pete de Best, Hassan Kamoei, David Stroj, and Jeff Chotikul.

Get full chip counts from the WPT site here.

And in honor of Ben Affleck, who once won the California State Poker Championship in Commerce Casino where the LAPC is held, here's the surprisingly very funny I'm F*cking Ben Affleck video.

WPT LAPC: Singer, Esfandiari, and Wroblewski (a Woman), Day 1 Chip Leaders, Vinnie Vinh + Jerry Yang Out...Will We Ever Hear from Them Again?

Day 1 of the 2008 WPT LAPC ended with 450 of the original 665 players remaining. Hats off to the WPT for keeping all numbers divisible by "5" this year. As faithful readers of this site know, we hate math, so the more that numbers can be dumbed-down for us the better.

Some big names top the leaderboard. The unofficial* chip count leader at the end of Day 1 is David Singer, stacked at 137,400. He's followed by Antonio Esfandiari, who is stepping up after being named the new face of the WPT. Antonio brings 119,000 to Day 2 play. At third overall is Anna Wroblewski, a woman, with 116,550.

So many big names remain it would take a much more boring site that actually cares about listing them all to list them all, but some highlights include: Justin Bonomo (77,125), Action Dan Harrington (72,500), Montel Williams (59,000), David Williams (57,000), Phil Hellmuth (49,575), Johnny Chan (44,925), Phil Ivey (44,025), Vanessa Rousso who went to Duke (44,000), the insufferably annoying Humberto Brenes (40,300), star of Meerkat Manor Jeff Madsen (39,000), Todd Brunson (38,000), Lakers owner Jerry H. Buss (37,700), Survivor China's Jean-Robert Bellande (34,000), Mike Sexton (33,000), 2007 NBC Heads-Up champ Paul Wasicka (31,875), and that should be more than enough for now.

Not making it to Day 2 include Vinnie Vinh, Vinnie Vinh's chair, Jerry Yang (apparently he wasn't praying hard enough this time), and Obama '08 supporter Daniel Negreanu. Question, would Daniel support celeb favorite Bam Obama if he knew the Presidential hopeful was not only swiping words from Deval Patrick, but was also plagiarizing Rocky Balboa?

And finally, not making an appearance at this year's LAPC is Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth, as Shannon Elizabeth is busy getting in super-hot shape for Dancing with the Stars.

Get full chip counts and reporting from the fantastic WPT website.

* Official.

WPT LA Poker Classic: Vinnie Vinh Still Alive, Glum Girl is Here, Benyamine Looking Slim(mer), Negreanu Backing Barack

So we made it to the Commerce today after a night of relatively moderate bedlam that kicked off at the Library Alehouse in Santa Monica and somehow ended up with us at a Laurel Canyon mansion this morning with a group of Venice Beach trust fund hippies who graffiti'd are SUV rental with Obama stickers.

We'll save that story however for our forthcoming 4-part series entitled "How We Spent the Friday Night Before the WPT LA Poker Classic."

For now, the word from the Commerce is that the action got underway almost 3 5 7 plus hours ago and we're finally getting around to writing something and we don't have much to say besides that pretty much every poker player you know this side of the Atlantic is here including Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Jamie Gold, John Phan, Carlos Mortensen, Are You Really Reading this List?, Paul Wasicka, Vannessa "Went to Duke" Rousso, Grover Cleveland, Layne Flack, Phil Laak, Josh Arieh, Rhahaeid Skaoodo, David Plastik, Barry Greenstein, Dan Harrington, Erick Lindgren, Mother Teresa, Eric Mizrachi, Scott Clements, Haralabos Voulgaris, Still Reading This?, David Williams, Freddy Deeb, We Wonder What We Should Eat for Dinner, Gavin Smith, David Singer, Lee Watkinson, Perhaps We'll Go to Panchos Tonight, Tom Schneider, Mark Seif, This Is Getting Tiring, Chau Giang, Tim Phan and Erick Seidel.

In total, 665 players started today, down considerably from last year's 791, and the total prize pool is $6,374,400, with first place set to take home $1,596,100. In 2007, Eric Hershler walked away with $2,429,970.

Of note . . .

Finally a Poker Movie that May Not Suck

The trailer for The Grand, Zak Penn's Waiting for Guffman-like mockumentary on the poker world that doesn't star Keeley Hazell, has just been released. And it looks like we finally may have the first poker movie since Rounders that doesn't suck.

Well, besides The 40 Year-Old Virgin.

To watch the trailer, check out the film's website at TheGrandTheMovie.com or Yahoo movies here.

As a refresher, the film, which we first wrote almost two years ago, stars Woody Harrelson as One Eyed Jack, a degenerate poker player who attempts to save his dead dad's hotel-casino from a real estate developer by taking down the world's most famous high stakes tournament, the Grand Championship of Poker.

Joining Harrelson in the cast are enigmatic German director Werner Herzog, Gabe Kaplan, Shannon Elizabeth, Michael "David St. Hubbins" McKean, Dennis Farina, Chris Parnell and a bunch of past Celebrity Poker Showdown-ers including Cheryl Hines, David Cross, Ray Romano, and Richard Kind.

A number of poker pros make cameos including Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth's gargantuan size ego.

The Grand first premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last April and was one of the festival's hottest tickets. It hits theaters nationwide on March 21, 2008.

The Ten Most Wicked Stories of 2007 - Part I

Recovering from a major post-Holiday binger, we're a little late getting to our semi-annual "Biggest Stories of the Year" post. We're taking a slightly different approach this year, and every subsequent every-other-year from here on out, as the stories won't necessarily be the "biggest" of the year as they will be the most "wicked." Or put another way, these are the stories that we liked the most, and from feedback from readers, link throughs, and overall traffic, others seemed to have liked the most. Very scientific.

We'll post the results two-at-a-time because it reminds us of how many girls we used to have sex with each night when we were single.

And for the record, some stories just missing the top 10 include Jamie Gold and Crispin "Don't Call Me Bruce" Leyser settling their lawsuit, the Brandi Hawbaker/David Sklansky relationship, Barney Frank introducing repeal of the UIGEA legislation (and other efforts to overturn the Act), David "The Dragon" Pham* winning Card Player's POY, and Annette Obrestad, a woman, winning the WSOPE Main Event.

10) Pamela Anderson Bangs, Marries Dude to Pay Off Poker Debt, Then Divorces Him. What would any Wicked Chops list be without a hot chick with big boobs? While Pam isn't our favorite poker playing cougar, she's certainly up there. Pam, who has been into poker for awhile, reportedly rang up a $250k poker debt while in Vegas co-headlining a magic act with Hans Klok. To pay it off, she did what any smart girl would do, she banged a dude. We had to dock Pam some points for having to resort to scumbag Rick Solomon to pay off said debt, but she gets a few extra points back for (possibly) mucking Solomon soon thereafter. This relationship was also a boon for sexually transmitted diseases everywhere. Hep, meet Herp. Herp, hep. Good times. Read our first post on it here, and some more news on it here and here.

9) Phil Hellmuth Crashes His Car, Face, Body, Ego Remain Unscathed. After winning his record-setting 11th bracelet at the 2007 WSOP, Phil Hellmuth crashed his race car into a barrier while filming a promotional bit for Ultimate Bet. The crash made headlines not only in the usual suspects of poker forums, but was even discussed on msnbc.com, ESPN News, totalfark, and other pop culture sites. Naturally, some thought it was a publicity stunt which, for the record, we know it was not, but can certainly see why it was viewed that way. Read more about it here and here, watch exclusive footage from RawVegas.tv of the crash below, and Hellmuth's thoughts on the post-crash aftermath here.

* Not a real dragon. 

People Got Drunk at Phil Hellmuth's Holiday Party

This past Tuesday night, Phil Hellmuth threw a big birthday/holiday party in a Palms fantasy suite. If we were retarded, we'd say it looked "off the chain" or "off the hook" or "was the bomb." The dude with that thing on his chin from Anthrax played, and apparently, plenty of booze was available.

Having some fun at the party included party tour guide Gavin Smith, recent Five-Diamond $5k runner-up finisher Sully Erna, Roland de Wolfe, and Jamie Gold (who provides one of the night's best lines about 3:45 in). Watch below or here.

Don't Tase Me, Bro! Phil Hellmuth at Beauty and the Bet Charity Fundraiser

Some thing are just funny. Like Phil Hellmuth interviewing the CEO of Taser International on his charity poker tournament at the Palms. The event, called Beauty and the Bet, was held to benefit fallen police officers. And if we can editorialize for a moment, it's one of the best kind of charity fund-raisers imaginable, as it incorporated two things which should be required by law to be part of any philanthropic endeavor: poker and hot girls with big boobs.

Watch the video below or here. Watch Phil Hellmuth vlogs here. Read the USA Today article Hellmuth references in the video here.

Gus Hansen Day 2a Chip Leader at 2007 WSOPE Main Event

Jennifer Harman to Gus Hansen: "You know you've busted every player at this table..."* That pretty much sums up the Great Dane's 2a at the 2007 WSOPE. Hansen went on a tear, busting Greg Raymer, Ram Vaswani, and a bunch of others on his climb to chip leader status. Hansen ended the day stacked at 349,400. He's followed by Day 1a chip leader Janne Lamsa (253,800). Other big stacks include woman Annie Duke (191,700), the Arabic Alien Huseyin Yilmaz (143,500), Erick Lindgren (108,800), David Colclough (105,800), and Farzad Bonyadi (102300). The day's wildest ride belongs to Phil Hellmuth. Starting the Day 2a as one of the chip leaders, Hellmuth took a few big hits and was crippled (figuratively) when he flopped second set. Short-stacked, he managed to stay alive, ending the day just over 10k. Read some of his rants along the way here, here, and here. Get full Day 2a chip counts here. Day 2b just got underway so getting live reporting for all of the action here. * As reported by PokerNews.com.

Like Poker, Rap is a Fad But Poker Rap . . . Now That Has Staying Power

Ok, so we're going to post the "All In" rap video that Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan and Layne Flack filmed at the Rio during the WSOP this summer, and if you haven't seen it, you're going to watch it and say, "Oh no, is Johnny Chan really lip-synching rap lyrics while bobbing his head up and down at the table worse than an Iraqi kid doing 50 Cent's 'In Da Club' on the streets of Baghdad?" Or maybe not exactly that but the feeling you'll get is kind of like when you saw Kareem Abdul Jabbar doing a cameo on Diff'rent Strokes and you'd say "Oh no, is he really trying to act?" And you were like only in 1st grade and still knew it was a bad idea. A really bad idea.

As a suggestion, we think your time would be better served googling and youtube-ing Korean hottie Hyori Lee than watching the Hellmuth, Chan and Flack "All In" rap video. But what do we know.

Thanks to our favorite PokerListings-er Owen Laukkanen for the heads-up on the video.

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.

Phil Hellmuth Admits to Not Wearing Helmet, Seatbelt in Crash

Before Phil Hellmuth flamed out of the Main Event yesterday before the dinner break, he chatted on video about his race car crash the day before. Hear what he has to say below or head over to RawVegas.tv to watch the video.

After the jump more photos of Phil Hellmuth's totaled race car.