Australia's Channel 9 News Thinks They All Look The Same

So we're a little late on this one, but apparently the Aussie's must not see very many darkly skinned people other than the Aborigenese.

How else can this be explained? (as reported by the Daily Telegraph)

"Scouring the Channel 9 affiliated Crown Casino for tennis talent for a story about players staying in the hotel, producers claimed to have collared an interview with American Davis Cup hero James Blake.

Only problem was it was another US sports star, poker champ Phil Ivey, also in town for a major tournament."

Hey look, it's a black guy! Must be James Blake! Or possibly Wesley Snipes!

Seriously do Ivey and Blake even remotely look the same? We look more like James Blake than Phil Ivey.

In somewhat related news, Phil Ivey has a milli riding on the Super Bowl. Listen here.

David Benyamine, Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey Accept Tom "Durrr" Dwan's $1M Challenge

This million dollar heads up challenge could end up being Durrr's second worst idea ever.

So it's popping up here, here, and here that David Benyamine, Patrik Antonius, and Phil Ivey have all accepted Tom "Durrr" Dwan's $1M heads up challenge.

For a recap, as first reported by Bluff Magazine here, Durrr said:

“I’m making this heads-up challenge to the world. Anyone can accept. Four tables, minimum of $200/$400, and I’ll put up $1.5 million to their $500,000. We play 50,000 hands minimum and if they end up a dollar after rake they keep the side money or whatever. So basically, if you and I played and you won a dollar, you would get my $1.5 million and if I won a dollar I would win your $500,000.

“So I’m giving a million dollars free if anyone thinks they can do it.”

 

No shocker that Ivey jumped all over that, even though he usually plays two tables at a time versus Durrr's four. Not surprised that Antonius and Benymaine (reportedly) have though. Ivey had the best line regarding the challenge so far, saying on Tuesdays with Ivey:

 

"I've never posted a challenge because I just assume everyone knows I'll play anyone in any game."

 

Ivey said it's possible at these stakes you could lose $5 to $10 mil. Should be fun. We'll keep you posted.

Phil Ivey Killed It on Full Tilt Poker in 2008

Phil Ivey's wallet got a lot fatter on Full Tilt last year...

Despite supposedly busting his bankroll back in February, Phil Ivey ended the year as the biggest cash game winner on Full Tilt in 2008, banking over $7.4M.

He's followed by Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond(seems like he should get a NBC Heads-Up invite this year) with $6.97M. Also clocking in the top 10 were Tom "durrrr" Dwan($5.36M), David Benyamine($2.93M), and another rumored busto player, Patrik Antonius($1.90M).

Padding everyone's bankroll was the biggest loser, lady marmelade, bleeding $6.6M. Others in the top 10 cash game losers were Steve Sung(-$1.01M) and John Juanda (-$988,000).

View the full list here.

Michael Phelps and Phil Ivey Partying in Las Vegas Over New Year's

All right. Ok. Now we get it. Poker player/swimmer Michael Phelps probably wasn't a stud growing up. As in, if it wasn't for that swimming hobby of his, he might not of been the coolest guy. No shame in that, but it is what it is.

So he's really relishing being cool right now. And he should. Because with 8 gold medals on his belt after the 2008 Summer Olympics, Phelps is doing one of the best, "Yeah I have 8 gold medals and $100 mil coming my way the next few years, so suck my d--- world! Yo DJ, pump A Milli again so I can grind on my hot Asian girlfriend..." that we've ever seen.

Over New Year's, Phelps was seen (yet again) in Vegas partying this time with Phil Ivey. Phelps already seemed to have some wicked poker chops before hanging with Ivey et. al., so if he's getting any tips (likely at a ridiculous hourly rate), watch out 2009 WSOP (if he plays, as predicted upon here).

View the full Phelps/Vegas gallery here.

Phil Ivey Leads WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals

WPT events have been filling Phil Ivey's wallet this year.

While most of the poker world is looking ahead to the WSOP Main Event final table on Sunday, the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals just concluded its two Day 1's, ending up with a stellar 412 entrants and $1,120,310 first prize.

Jason Potter (this guy) and Phil Ivey (this guy)* are atop the leaderboard, both stacked just over 183,000.

Plenty of big names among the big stacks. They include but are certainly not limited to Kevin Saul (135,350), Jonathan Little (131,400), the still running good Gavin Smith (124,325), and David "The Dragon" Pham** (109,200).

Get full chip counts here.

* It's cool, we voted for Obama.
** Not a real dragon.

Only 159 People Show Up For Day 1A of WSOPE Main Event

If a few thousand Euros can show up for the U.S. American World Series of Poker Main Event, how the hell do only 159 people register for Day 1A of the WSOPE championship? Did Germany invade Poland again? Is there a call to arms we're not aware of? Where is everyone?

Of those who did show, plenty of big names are among early big stacks. Justin "BoostedJ" Smith ended Day 1A as chip leader, stacked at 150,000. On his "march to second"^TM overall, Andy Bloch is third overall at 90,175. November Nine^TM hostage Scott Montgomery (80,000), Andy Black (78,000), Brandon Adams (72,000), and Mike Matusow (71,550) are also among early leaders.

Not among those with chips is Phil Ivey, which is not good news for Phil Ivey. As you may remember, Ivey, who likes to gamble, had some bracelet prop bets that's reportedly going to cost him at least $700k-ish. What is good news for Ivey is he cleared $500k on FTP recently, so as long as he didn't bet on the Georgia Bulldogs for the first half line of tonight's game he should be OK. Way to get your team prepared, Mark Richt.

Get full chip counts here.

Phil Ivey Does Not Win WSOPE Event #2

Looks like Phil Ivey, who likes to gamble, has one last chance to win his WSOP bracelet prop bets.

Ivey was up and down all day at the Event #2 (£2,500 H.O.R.S.E.) final table. He eventually bowed out in sixth place, banking £13,750.

Looked like Howard Lederer would cruise to victory as he held the chip lead for awhile, but he was knocked out in third overall, adding £30,250 to his already ridiculous bankroll.

The final two ended up very "friends and family" considering the big names that final tabled, with Sherkhan Farnood winning the bracelet (£76,999) and Ivo Donev taking second (£48,125).

In related news, 100 signed up for Event #3 (£5,000 Pot Limit Omaha), and 45 survived to Day 2. Jason Mercier is the overnight chip leader stacked at 209,800. He's followed by Shaun Deeb (190,700). Plenty of big names remain, including Neil Channing (128,000), David Williams (122,400), Phil Laak (111,400), Andy Bloch (109,200), Sorel Mizzi (105,000), and Alex Kravchenko (104,100).

Get full chip counts here.

Phil Ivey Still Drawing Live for His WSOP Bracelet Prop Bet

Phil Ivey has more on the line than his £2,500 entry fee in WSOPE Event #2.

Phil Ivey, who likes to gamble, made some big prop bets this year with a number of players (Daniel Negreanu for around $200k, Eli Elezra for around $500k) this year. He came up short at the 2008 World Series of Poker. After the WSOP wrapped, he allegedly told everyone that WSOPE bracelets were part of the bet. Fair enough.

Things are still looking good for Ivey in Event #2 (£2,500 H.O.R.S.E.) of the WSOPE. Yesterday he was chip leader for a good part of the day. Play stopped with 11 remaining, and Ivey was mid-stacked. Only 10 remaining now, and he's fourth overall with around 114,000.

The current top three big stacks are Howard Lederer (208,500), Yuval Bronshtein (133,500), and Jeffrey Lisandro (125,000).

In related news, Phil Hellmuth busted in 12th.

Get full chip counts here.

Phil Ivey Busted, Busted

ESPN busted Phil Ivey (um, above center) for coming back from break during the 2008 WSOP Main Event with a new logo on.

Earlier today, Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey had what some may call a "heated exchange" with the ESPN crew.

Ivey left for the first break from the "side" feature table wearing Full Tilt and PPA patches. When he came back, he had a PokerRoad patch on. Because he was seated at a featured table, ESPN asked him to remove his PokerRoad patch for continuity reasons.

While we didn't hear Ivey's response in full, it went something like (with apologies to Kid Dynamite) "DYKWTFIA!!!" He ended up wearing the PokerRoad patch after the encounter, meaning that: Ivey > ESPN.

In related news, Phil Ivey has departed us from the Main Event. Victor Ramdin is currently big stacked with 107,000. And get those full chip counts here.

We're In The Money

Mike Wattel played the role of bubble boy in the 2008 WSOP H.O.R.S.E. event, busting in 17th place. There's been a number of knock-outs since then, including Doyle Brunson in 16th and Andy Bloch in 15th (earning both $124,320).

At dinner break, 13 remain. Erick Lindgren is chip leader, stacked at 1,790,000. Our perennial pick to win it, Huck Seed, is third with 1,460,000. Scotty Nguyen, Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, and Daniel Negreanu are all alive, giving The Year of the Pro^TM a last gasp shot at still being The Year of the Pro^TM.

Get full chip counts here.

Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey Meet Barack Obama

As alluded to in his previous video blog, Daniel Negreanu jetted off to LA yesterday with Phil Ivey for a fundraiser dinner with Barack "Bam" Obama.

Obama, who is on the record saying he does play poker, recognized the two, but they didn't get into a convo about the UIGEA. As Negreanu put it, he probably has "bigger fish to fry."

Then, Phil Ivey, who likes to gamble, laid 10-1 odds to Daniel that Obama would pick Hillary Clinton to be his VP. Negreanu gets the field. If we were Daniel, we'd be feeling pretty good about our chances on this one.

VIDEO: Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey meet Barack Obama

Daniel Negreanu Off to LA for Private Dinner with . . . ?

Before getting the shake down from The Palms security while filming his latest video blog, Daniel Negreanu said he was taking some time off from the 2008 WSOP and was flying off to Los Angeles today with a friend, who we'll refer to as Phil Ivey in this post, for a "very special din din." For some reason, he said he can't talk about it right now but said it was with the one person he'd want to meet and have dinner with the most.

Hmmm, wonder who it could be?

Not at all related, we read today that poker-playing, presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama, a Muslim, is hosting two big celebrity-filled events in LA today including a $2,300-per-person reception and a VIP dinner for donors giving $28,500 per couple to the DNC Victory fund.


Sign up today for the new Wicked Chops Poker Forum. It's 100% creepy old dudes free.

The Degenerate Update: Vanessa Selbst Takes on Neverwin; Phil Ivey's McLaren Up for Auction; Sklansky Banned from ESPN?

Kind of a slow week for "degenerosity," but the latest Degenerate Report from NWP covers the gamut of filthy gambling rumors floating around the Rio in Las Vegas. Joining Bryan Micon this week is Event #41 10th place finisher Todd "DanDruff" Witteles. The NWP guys are balling at the 2008 WSOP with 8 cashes between them.

VIDEO: Neverwinpoker.com's 2008 WSOP Degenerate Report

2008 WSOP Update: Our Favorite Scarf-Wearing Euro Wins First Bracelet; Chris "Jesus" Ferguson Goes for His Sixth

While our photog was getting busted and Phil Ivey and Jerry Buss were chatting it up, there was actually some great poker going on at the Rio last night. Update time...

:: Event #31 ($2,500 No Limit Hold'em Six-Handed) - Our favorite scarf-wearing Euro, Dario Minieri (photo), took this one down. He beat Seth Fischer heads-up for the title, winning his first bracelet and banking $528,418. In what probably contains no irony at all, Dario's winning heads-up hand was pocket Queens. Not that Dario goes that way, even though most Euros are definitely more sexually "open" than U.S. Americans. In fact, we'd wager that that little guy probably bags more chicks than KFC. Mostly because European girls are more sexually "open" than just about anywhere else in the world, and that includes girls who grew up in Florida. So actually why are we ripping on Euros? They hardly work, their money is worth more than ours, and they're doing it like all the time. Bastards. This is a poker blog, right? Get full chip counts here.

Rest of the update after the jump . . .

Not Sure What Phil Ivey and Jerry Buss Are Discussing

We have no idea what Phil Ivey, who is rumored to have bet a bundle of cash on the LA Lakers to win the NBA championship series (along with a bunch of other players), was saying to LA Lakers owner Jerry Buss in the above photo taken last night in the Amazon Room at the Rio Las Vegas.

However, their combined income probably exceeds the GDP of many small countries, so they could probably give two shits about any joke we'd make about it any way. Money is cool like that.

Look for another post on Jerry Buss and his hot railbird shortly...

Phil Ivey Might've Lost A Lot of Money Tonight

Phil Ivey (above) might've emptied his wallet when the Lakers lost tonight.

As we reported last week, Phil Ivey, who likes to gamble, had a vested interest in the LA Lakers vs. Boston Celtics NBA Championship series.

The rumor all over the Rio Amazon Room floor was that Ivey had $2 million dollars riding on the Lakers to defeat the Celtics (pictures of Ivey watching the game while playing poker here and actually courtside at a game here).

However today there is talk that it was a futures wager of $500,000 to win $2,000,000. Who knows. Ivey is to throwing cash around what the SEC is to college football. He's simply the best at it.

What we do know is that last time Ivey was supposedly down a lot of cash, he won the WPT LA Poker Classic. So watch what Ivey does in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event next week.

More photos of Ivey watching the game tonight during the Stud/8 World Championship after the jump.

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.

Poker Pro Daniel Negreanu Wins Fourth WSOP Bracelet

It's been quite a WSOP-winning dry spell for the man who many consider the best all-around tourney player in the game.

Daniel Negreanu captured 2004 WSOP Player of the Year honors when he won an event and made, to borrow a phrase from Dr. Pauly, a "redunkulous" five final tables.

Since then, he's made a few final tables but no bracelets.

That changed early morning when Negreanu took down Event #20 ($2,000 Limit Hold'em).

While Negreanu banked $207k for the win, the story many are talking about is the side bet he has with Phil Ivey and Ted Forrest. While we're still unclear on the terms with Forrest, Ivey, who likes to gamble, had a $200k-per-bracelet bet with Negreanu for the 2008 WSOP. We told you Negreanu was running hot.

A bunch of guys you never heard of finished 2-9. Get payouts here.

Relatedly:

- Learn how to play poker like Daniel Negreanu at Poker VT here.
- Watch Daniel's video blog before he took down the final table here.
- More pics of the win from the Poker Prof here.

Daniel Negreanu vs. Patrik Antonius High Stakes Golf Match

Finally got the video of Daniel Negreanu and Patrik Antonius' high stakes golf match. After going down large early, Negreanu stormed back, scooping many of the back 9 holes en route to banking some $160k or so from Antonius (and a side bet with Phil Ivey, who likes to gamble).

VIDEO: Daniel Negreanu vs. Patrik Antonius high stakes golf

In somewhat related news, cyber-sweat Daniel in the Event #20 final table, where he's currently the chip leader, here.

Poker News Made Better with Ana Beatriz Barros in GQ Italy

• Poker pro Patrik Antonius calls out Durrr and other top online-ers on his blog for some heads-up action. (link)

• Cautionary tale - watch your back the next time you leave a casino with some winnings and make sure your mommy isn't interviewed by the local daily 'cause she'll make you sound like a wuss. (link)

• Yeh we think the son did it too. (link)

• Playboy bra and panties dropper Jennicide is all the rage with World of Warcraft-ers too. (link)

• Who you got? Man vs. Machine II coming to the Rio. (link)

• TV Poker Marathon on GSN this Father's Day . . . relatedly will the kid in Texas who sends snake a Father's Day card every year please cut it out. (link)

• FOWCP and journalist extraordinaire Michael Kaplan gets schooled in online poker by Alan Sass. (link)

• The schedule for Season 5 of the European Poker Tour, aka the poker tour that gives us an excuse to post photos of a bunch of hot European chicks with names we can't pronounced, has been officially announced. (link)

• The story about Phil Ivey watching the Lakers game from the tournament floor, in French. (link)

Click photos below of Brazil's sexiest, Ana Beatriz Barros, in the Italian GQ.

2008 WSOP Update: Mike "The Mouth" Matusow Takes a Deuce; Daniel Negreanu Goes for Fourth Bracelet

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.

Phil Ivey Likes to Gamble

You may know this already, but Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey kind of likes to gamble.

It's one of the reasons why he's one of our favorite guys on the circuit.

Word on the street Amazon Poker Room floor (and this is still somewhat unsubstantiated so far so take it for what it's worth) is that Ivey has $2M riding on the Lakers to win the NBA Finals.

As seen above, Ivey was playing the $2,000 Limit event last night, sometimes playing and raising hands without looking at his cards as he watched the NBA Championship game on the flat screen.

For more on Phil Ivey liking to gamble, watch Phil Ivey play Craps for a million on the Life of Ivey on PokerRoad.com.

All photos courtesy of the one French guy we dig, Benjo.

2008 WSOP Update: Vinnie Vinh Doesn't Win; Erik Seidel Goes for Number 9

Plenty of other World Series of Poker tourneys to recap other than Phil Tom, father of Absolute Poker founder Scott Tom, winning Event #11 (read here). Let's get going.

:: Event #12 ($1,500 Limit Hold'em) - Whether for the train-wreck potential or the redemption story, kind of hard not to root for Vinnie Vinh. Or his chair. Vinnie stuck it out and played this one through himself, and ended up with a third place finish cashing just shy of a hundred grand. Jimmy Schultz took eventually took it down, banking $257,049 and scoring his first bracelet. Get full results here.

:: Event #13 ($2,500 NLH) - One of those "friends and family" final tables. Get chip counts here.

:: Event #14 ($10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship) - This one was shaping up to be a huge final table but fizzled a little. David Oppenheim is the chip leader, stacked at 508,000. While short-stacked with 273,000 Erik Seidel will gun for his ninth WSOP bracelet. Just missing the final table were Phil Ivey (ninth) and Daniel Negreanu (eleventh). Watch Daniel give his thoughts deep into the tourney here. Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #15 ($1,000 Ladies Event) - Best to read some of our "real-time" updates here and here, but Shavonne Mitchell, a woman, is the overnight chip leader with 94,000. Some notables remaining include Olga Varkonyi, a woman, (83,800), Evelyn Ng, a woman, (55,300), Glum Girl Svetlana Gromenkova, a woman, (48,000), Van Nguyen, a woman, (45,200), Kathy Liebert, a woman, (22,500), and Amanda Leatherman, a woman, (11,500).

Event #16 ($2,000 Omaha Hi/Lo) - The last tournament of the day had 551 entrants. Only 178 remained when play concluded. Lots of big names are among the chip leaders. The top chip counts are Marc Goodwin (33,500), Barry Greenstein (27,000), Jimmy "gobboboy" Fricke (27,000), Men "The Master" Nguyen (26,000), The Intense Stare of Scott Clements (25,800), Dutch Boyd (25,300), David Williams (22,600), Victor Ramdin (22,000), David Chiu (22,000), "Miami" John Cernuto (20,000), Ed Fernandez (18,000), and John Juanda (16,500). 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.

Liv Boeree, Maria Ho and Some Other Girls Playing Poker at the 2008 WSOP, Plus an Update

Above is head-banging poker hottie Liv Boeree and the last chick standing at the 2007 WSOP Main Event Maria Ho playing at the 2008 World Series of Poker. Liv, a woman, was in the field yesterday for Event No. 2 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em and mentioned that she "went deep and got it in ahead and that's what matters." So we guess that means she's out. Maria Ho, also a woman, is playing today in Event No. 4 - $5k Mixed Hold'em.

Updating you on the action from the floor of the WSOP, there are three events underway today at the Rio, including Day 2 of the $1,500 NLH event. 180 players remain from the nearly 4000 who started Event No. 2 and Ginikachukwu Izuogu (<- no way that's a real name) is out front with 305,000 in chips, David Bach (6th at 2007 LAPC) is in second with 288,000 in chips and Ryan D'Angelo is third with 237,000. Notables still in include Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Theo Tran, Kenny Tran, Shaniac, Aaron Kanter, Arnold Spee, and Terrence Chan. They have to play down to the final 9 before action stops so we're guessing they'll still be going when we wake up tomorrow afternoon.

Both Event No. 3 ($1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em) and Event No. 4 ($5k Mixed Hold'em) started today with the former drawing a decent 713 entrants and already down to 198. David Singer leads the pro heavy field last we checked. Get the latest chip counts here.

Event No. 4 was the late start today and had 333 players enter, with most of the field consisting of players who busted early from Event No. 3. Brit pro Ben Grundy holds the early chip lead with 32,000, and big names over 20k in chips already include Bill Chen, Ralph Perry, Bill Edler, Berry Johnston, Eric Froelich, and Phil Ivey.

Okay, this is really tiring. Time for a nap.

WSOP updates here. If you speak French, maybe here.

Random photos of some random girls and Mrs. Patrik Antonius (center pic) playing poker at the 2008 WSOP below.

WSOP News Flash – Marcel Luske Seen Wearing Jeans

(Post by Michele Lewis, a woman. Read more from Michele on her blog michelelewis.com.)

Inside the WSOP Amazon Ballroom is serious business for players such as Patrik "not a hot chick" Antonius (right photo); however, step into the hallways and you will find a WSOP - Wanderer Seeking Out Pros for a light, to change 100 for a Krispy Kreme donut and whine a bad beat story to people that are looking for a light to curb the desire to buy a Krispy Kreme donut and hide from the players they owe money that whine bad beat stories. Whew, what a run-on.

Not WSOPing, I bumped into Marcel Luske who (looking suave but not Gerado Rico suave) was wearing jeans instead of a suit. Normally, I would post something really important like “Today I saw a guy wearing jeans at the WSOP” or “ I saw Phil Ivey wearing a Full Tilt hat” but this was a rare moment in poker. I had just posted Jeffrey Pollack and Luske were not wearing matching suits on Friday. Which was poker sarcasm because poker sarcasm is allowed on WCP as opposed to other sites where poker sarcasm is not allowed.

Turns out...

Doyle Brunson Opens the 2008 WSOP and Cougar Accepts WCP Invite

It was no surprise when WCP asked “a woman” to write on their site but it was quite the shocker when they chose “a woman” who hadn’t undressed for money. Nonetheless, it was a quick affirmative as I knew I would have full access to their private jet and yacht. We debated… In the Cage with a Cougar, Five Minutes with a Cougar, The Cougar’s Roar and settled on The Cougar Corner.

They call me the Cougar for at least two of the following reasons:

1. It’s an inside joke.
2. I married a man 392 days my junior.
3. It makes the 1/3 of WCP married to a Cougar feel better.
4. Cougar halts at the border of offensiveness and my husband scares them.
5. I attended Cougar classes here.

However, last night between their beer bongs, SEXT* messages (to their current and first wives) and casino streaking, they couldn’t decide what exactly qualified one as a Cougar. Did she hunt or just prefer younger men? Should Cougars be at least 40 years-old with relations averaging a ten year age difference? Did a Cougar need to be a fan of the Chippendale dancers?

In Cougar summary, it doesn’t matter because they’ve branded me with the nickname and now, since several people addressed me as Cougar yesterday at the 2008 WSOP, I guess it’s “Time to Say Goodbye” to nickname numero uno…the Black Widow.

Hump to the jump for WSOP updates.

Phil Ivey Courtside at Lakers Game Will Qualify as Poker News Today

As the Entities watched the LA Lakers win a thriller against the Utah Mormons last night, we noticed a familar face screaming "Are you kidding me???!!!" at the refs with around two-and-a-half to go: poker pro Phil Ivey.

Apparently we weren't the only ones who noticed Ivey (seen above, sitting as 20,000 other stand), as Pocket 5's (here) and 2+2 (here) have some threads on it.

The big question is how did Ivey get the courtside tix? While our answers range from, "Who really cares?" to "Seriously, who really cares?" the common theories are that high-stakes player/friend Jerry Buss gave them to him, as he's been known to do, or that the Laker's owner is paying off a prop bet debt to him with the choice seats.

In related news, can somebody get the "Are you kidding me?" up on YouTube? Thanks.

Phil Ivey Makes David Blaine Eat Glass for $10,000

David Blaine creeps us the fuck out.

Sure, we may be a little jealous that he gets to bang super-models like Josie Moran (above), Mallory Snyder, Manon von Gerkan, Lonneke Engel, and even Fionna Apple, who is probably killer in the sack.

And his "magic" isn't so much "magic." It's more like an extreme version of Jackass.

But for whatever reason, magicians/illusionists seem to pull mad tail. And David Blaine is obviously no exception. Even though he's creepy and is friends with Michael Jackson.

Preamble out of the way, Blaine apparently is friends with none other than poker player Phil Ivey. As most of you know, Ivey loves to make extreme prop bets. So last night at TAO in New York, Ivey popped this one on the magician: eat some glass for 10 dimes.

And according to contactmusic.com:

"So Blaine broke a large glass and then ate every shard, much to the horror of fellow diners.
And the star's representative confirmed that the stunt was genuine..."

Read the full article here.

Photos of Josie Moran and one of Mallory Snyder (far right) that magically get bigger when you click them below . . .

Jennifer Harman Must Be More Threatening Than We Give Her Credit For...

Apparently many poker pros decided to show up to the  2^nd Annual Jennifer Harman SPCA Charity Poker Tournament in Las Vegas because of the threat of bodily harm. From Jennifer Harman.

Both Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein alluded to the not-so-thinly veiled threats by Harman as their primary reason for attending the event. However, the prospects of bodily harm turned out to be a good thing for Ivey, as he adopted a sweet little kitty!!!*

Watch the 2^nd Annual Jennifer Harman SPCA Charity Poker Tournament red carpet

* Last time "sweet little kitty" will ever be written on this site unless we're using it as slang for vag.

WPT World Poker Challenge Final Table Is Boring

With only 10 remaining, the WPT World Poker Challenge was shaping up for an all-timer final table, as Phil Ivey, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Chau Giang, and David "The Dragon" Pham* were all in contention.

Then, disaster struck.

During play, a monkey showed up carrying an Ebola-like contagious virus called Motaba. The monkey was brought to the U.S. Americas to be sold illegally in the underground pet trade market. The monkey began spitting on everyone's faces, infecting them all. Will the virus kill humanity? And just how far will the U.S. American government go to stop it's spread???

Wait, turning off Outbreak...

Phil Ivey was eliminated in 10th ($46,832), Chau Giang in 8th ($65,565), and The Grinder in 7th ($74,931), leaving only David "The Dragon" Pham** as a "name" at the final table.

Pham is stacked at 406,000, fourth overall. He trails the big-boned big-stack Jason Potter (1,156,000). No word yet if Potter is the Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day, but if so, wethinks that year supply of almonds may be just as important of a prize as the first place money.

The rest of the televised final table includes: Lee Markholt (1,137,000), Bryan Devonshire (674,000), Zach Hyman (285,000), and Jeff DeWitt (249,000).

Get live final table blogging from the WPT website at 5pm PST here.

* Not a real dragon.

** Not a real dragon.

WPT World Poker Challenge: Jason Potter, Jordan Rich (a Ginger), Phil Ivey, The Grinder Lead With 27 Remaining

With Day 2 done at the WPT World Poker Challenge, Jason Potter (at right), the big-boned kid with the big-game who got robbed Down Under earlier this year when his big-appetite led to a late night stroll for a burger, is the big-stack with 357,700.

He's followed by Jordan Rich, a ginger, with 327,900. Rich was actually interviewed yesterday by WCP fave Kimberly Lansing, but the beautiful WPT babe failed to ask him the hard-hitting ginger-related questions that we suggested. Kimberly, we love ya like Jason Potter loves late night hamburgers, but the U.S. American poker playing public wants to know this stuff. Give the people what they want! Watch the interview here.

Some other big names are among the remaining 27, including Phil Ivey (286,100), Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (255,900), David "The Dragon" Pham* (195,100), Chau Giang (159,800), and Erik Seidel (138,600).

Get full chip counts from the WPT here.

* Not a real dragon.

Phil Ivey Leads Yet Another WPT Day 1

Only 261 players showed for the WPT's World Poker Challenge, indicating that many of the world's finest were not up for the challenge (nyuck, nyuck).

As has been a trend recently, and by "recently" we mean the last six or so years, Phil Ivey finds himself atop the leaderboard after Day 1 play, stacked at 179,900. Ivey won last month's LA Poker Classic.

He's closely followed by Eli Elezra with 178,800. In third overall is Jordan Rich, a ginger, with 131,300. While a fixture on the circuit since 2004, Rich exploded like a red fire-ball on the scene last December with a fifth place finish at the WPT Bellagio Five-Diamond Classic. Since then, Rich, a ginger, has racked up almost another $100k in tournament earnings, including two first place finishes in prelim LAPC events.

On a side note, if we worked with the WPT's awesome live tournament reporter Kimberly Lansing, we'd have her ask Rich if being a ginger gives him a competitive advantage since the other players would have a hard time reading him because gingers have no soul. (cough cough)

Other big stacks remaining include but are certainly not limited to Hasan Habib (110,300), Bill Edler (93,300), Erik Seidel (88,100), Erick Lindgren (81,900), Peter "Nordberg" Feldman (60,300), and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (52,800).

Other big-name-not-so-big-stacks remaining include David "The Dragon" Pham* (50,200), this guy who looks like he just escaped from prison (39,300), Ted Forrest (36,900), and our perennial pick to win it, Huck Seed (33,500).

Get full chip counts from the WPT here and video updates here.

Also, quick happy birthday to FOWCP Joe Sebok.

* Not a real dragon.

Watch the below vid, btw.

Poker Blog Round-Up: Men Caught Cheating, Laak Favorited, Poker Writer Dies Young, Something In Spanish + More

This is the first of our new series of poker blog round-ups at Wicked Chops Poker in which we send people to other blogs to get their poker news fix. Yep, we're all about link love here at Wicked Chops Poker. Link love and laziness.

:: Shocking! Men "The Master" Nguyen accused of cheating in LA, this time by none other than Justin Bonomo (Click here)

:: Phil Laak allowed to start WPT Invitational on Day 2, David Singer nits, Shaniac picks (Click here)

:: Gutshot WSOP reporter Barron Vangor Toth, a favorite of ours, sadly dies at age 34, Pokerati Dan obits (Click here)

:: David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth are dumb and dumber, grumps Gary Carson (Click here and here)

:: Phil Ivey channels his inner Yang after big win, bestows Red Bull+Poker (Click here)

:: Las diferentes dimensiones del póquer, escribe David Williams, tacos Poquer-Red (Click here)

The girl in the photo, that's Grace Park. See more of her here.

Got a poker blog and a story, shoot us an e-mail.

Huck Seed Does Not Win Heads-Up Poker Championship (Again); Orel Hershiser Strikes Out Too

First, we'll get this out of the way: the Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker will continue picking Huck Seed to win major events until Huck Seed wins a major event.

With that said, Huck Seed did not win the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Huck was eliminated in the semi-finals by Andy Bloch. The two battled closely for awhile. Bloch seized a slight lead and when got their money in pre-flop. Huck held 9-9. Bloch A-Q. An ace hit on the river and Bloch advanced to the finals.

In the other semi-final match, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson defeated Phil Ivey. This makes Ferguson's third Heads-Up Poker Championship final table.

Earlier in the day, Orel Hershiser was taken out by the aforementioned Bloch.

Finals are going on right now...check back shortly for results. 

2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship: Orel Hershiser Fans Two More, Advances to Quarters Along with Phil Ivey and Our Pick to Win, Huck Seed; Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth Still Eliminated

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

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.

Holy Crap, Glum Girl Smiled

In what may be the biggest story at the 2008 WPT LA Poker Classic today, Svetlana Gromenkova has cracked a smile.

Perhaps it's because she's still in on Day 3 with 79 players left and sitting above average in chips.

In related big news at the LAPC, although nowhere near as big, Phil Ivey has been at or near the top of the chip count all day and last we checked is stacked at 550,000. Antonio Esfandiari, the new face of the World Poker Tour and the 2004 LAPC champion, is also among the leaders with 395,000 (scratch that...he just took a $238k hit). Others near the top of the chip count include Daniel Fuhs (352,000), Theo Tran (274,000) and the insufferably annoying Humberto Brenes (231,000). Of note, both last year's LAPC champion, Eric Hershler, and the 2006 LAPC champion, Alan Goehring, are still in, with 94,000 and 88,000, respectively.

Be sure to check out BJ Nemeth's comment to this post, which gives some great Nemethian insight on Ivey's WPT successes and failures over the years.

By the way, rumors that we aren't actually at the LA Poker Classic today and are instead playing beach volleyball with the McMurray sisters from Birmingham who are visiting their cousins in Hermosa for the week are categorically untrue, if categorically somehow means "partially."

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WPT LAPC: Ivey, Esfandiari, Tilly Among Day 2 Chip Leaders

Maybe allegedly blowing his entire Full Tilt Poker bankroll was exactly the motivation Phil Ivey needed to start dominating tournament play again.

Or maybe not. But Ivey has pwned the early stages of many-a-tournament over the past year and hasn't captured a victory, much to the dismay of his many fans.

After two days, Ivey has put himself in position again to make a run at that elusive first WPT title, ending play stacked at 279,000 (fourth overall). Having made six seven WPT final tables (BJ Nemeth, please confirm), Ivey is certainly deserving of a WPT crown. Kind of like how Tilda Swinton was deserving of that Best Supporting Actress win last night for her role in Michael Clayton. Seriously, a Ginger playing a non-Ginger? Someone without a soul playing someone who has a soul? That, our friends, is some serious acting.

Moving on, all LAPC'ers are chasing Daniel Fuhs, who brings the big stack of 397,100 to Day 3 play.

Among the chip leaders include recently named face of the WPT Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari (do people still call him that?), with 245,000. Other big stacks included the big racked Jennifery Tilly (218,700), Haralabos Voulgaris (203,900), Theo Tran (177,500), Mark Seif (145,800), last year's LAPC winner Eric Hershler (129,600), Svetlana Gromenkova, a woman (128,000), Action Dan Harrington (122,700), Anna Wroblewski, a woman (115,000), Toto Leonidas (112,300), David Singer (109,500), Kenna James (104,300), and Mark Newhouse (99,300).

Get full chip counts here.

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 . . .

2008 Aussie Millions: Some Guy Named Phil Ivey Day 1B Chip Leader

One thing is for sure: Phil Ivey has been taking early level play in major events seriously lately.

Ivey led the World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic All-Star Spectacular (WPTDBFDWPCASS) back in December before flaming out just short of the money. And if we searched hard enough, we could find another example or two of this as well but effort effort effort blah blah blah.

Phil Ivey crushed yet another first few levels of play of a major event, ending Day 1b of the 2008 Aussie Millions Day as chip leader, stacked at 163,330.

The leaderboard is filled with big names, including: Jeffrey Lisandro (138,400) Max Pescatori (137,600), "Salty" Joe Hachem (111,400), Kevin "BeL0WaB0Ve" Saul (79,700), Erick Lindgren (78,600), and Peter "Nordberg" Feldman (61,200).

Day 1c starts in a few hours.

Get full chip counts and live coverage at Poker News here.

Erick Lindgren's Golfing Prop Bet Video

"That was the sickest day of my life." - Erick Lindgren, July 27, 2007

Erick Lindgren's $340k prop bet is now up on RawVegas.tv. Or just watch it below. "Part II - The Aftermath" airs tomorrow.

EXCLUSIVE: Erick Lindgren Wins $340k Prop Bet

72 holes. 14 hours. 100 degree heat. 1 winner.

Erick Lindgren took down his $340k golf prop bet at Bear's Best golf course.

After starting the day at 5:45am ("I had to run to catch up with him on the first hole. I wasn't even ready yet." said his caddy), Lindgren made it through his first two rounds with relative ease. However, he started grinding towards the end of his third round. But after shooting a 48 on his final front nine and being at 69 after 13, the buy-outs began. Gavin Smith, who was originally in for $100k, bought out for $60k. Chris Bell and others bought out as well. Ivey remained on the hook for his full amount.

Catch a brief recap of the action on The TOKE on RawVegas.tv below and coverage of the entire day's play tomorrow afternoon.

Photo of Diora Baird because she is not Erick Lindgren after 72 holes of golf.

Watch the teaser video to hear Erick and others on the course talk about the bet.

Phil Ivey Does Not Win the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown

Ok, you'd think that if you've made seven short-handed final tables, and you're the best poker player in the world, that just by dumb luck you'd have won one of them by now, right?

Guess not. Going into final table play of the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown as the chip leader, Phil Ivey busted out in fifth place, banking $129,684, or as Phil likes to call it, "butt-wiping money."

Going out first was Burt from Sesame Street. Burt busted on the second hand of final table play. Burt banks $100,865 for his efforts.

Also not winning this tournament was Day 2 + 3 chip leader Darrell "Gigabet" "Deep" Dicken. He went out in third and collected $259,369.

Well at least did the fantastically name-alliterated Cory Carroll win? Nope. Second. $561,369.

That leaves us with Richard Kirsch and Jonathan Little. And rather than struggle for a few minutes to come up with some sort of snarky comment on each, like how dudes whose names are Jon but insist on going by Jonathan bug the hell out of us, we'll just say that Jonathan Little won this thing, taking home $1,066,295 and his first WPT title.

In more entertaining, watch UFC fighter Forrest Griffen kick this guy in the leg: