2009 WSOP Round-Up: Bonomo Still Crushing $40k; Annie Duke Among Event #3 Chip Leaders

As Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis and Vanessa Rousso, a woman, play in the $40k, on-lookers demonstrated the official "I'm standing here with my arms-folded" look of the 2009 WSOP.

:: Event #2 ($40,000 NLH):After his dinner break vlog, Justin Bonomo continued to crush, ending Day 2 as chip leader, stacked at 2,678,000. Right behind him is Ted Forrest with 2,586,000. Rounding out the top 5 big stacks are David 'WhooooKidd' Baker (2,367,000), Greg Raymer (2,287,000),  and "Please stop referring to me as Evy's bf" Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis (2,103,000). Just like high school, many of the marquee names have busted. Chris Moneymaker took a quick tumble, missing the money by about 10 spots. Making the money but making exits shortly thereafter were Vanessa Rousso, a woman, the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran, and David "The Dragon" Pham*, all of whom happen to be on the Wicked Chops ESPN WSOP Fantasy team. Thanks for nothing. Only 24 remain. Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #3 ($1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo): A record-setting field of 918 entered play and 197 remain for Day 2. Big names still alive include Annie Duke, a going for bracelet #12 Phil Hellmuth, Lee Watkinson-Markholt, Brandon Cantu, Todd Brunson, and Jon "Pearljammer" Turner. Despite looking quite stunning in our previous post, Gavin Smith busted before play concluded. Get a more robust recap here.

For additional WSOP coverage, visit FOWCP sites: TaoPoker| Pokerati.com| Benjo| PokerListings| LasVegasVegas| AlCantHang| PokerRoad

* Not a real dragon.

2009 WSOP Event #2 ($40k NLH) Recap: Chris Moneymaker Among Chip Leaders

Given The Economy^TM, an impressive showing of 201 pros forked over $40,000 for 2009 WSOP Event #2, creating a first place prize of $1,891,012.

By the end of the day, 88 remained.

Bruno Fitoussi closed out Day 1 play as chip leader, stacked at 812,500. Fitoussi is a high-stakes player who finished second to half-man, half-amazing Freddy Deeb at the 2007 WSOP $50k H.O.R.S.E. event.

Second overall is Chris Moneymaker with 805,000. Suffice to say, if Moneymaker can make a deep run (something we were a year off maybe on predicting, as we tabbed last year as his John Daly-esque resurgence), that would be good for poker. Justin Bonomo is third overall with 738,000. It's just like high school. Evy Ng's boyfriend Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis is fourth with 646,500. And Kyle 'krisqueen' Wilson is fifth, stacked at 611,500.

Other notable big stacks include Brian Townsend (609,000), Michael "Glambert" DeMichele (519,500), Andy Black (449,500), Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond (443,000), Sorel Mizzi (431,000), Mark Seif (411,500), Ted Forrest (401,500), and Isaac Haxton (392,500).

On a side note, Haxton gets an honorary mention into our Top 5 New Poker Pro looks post. Thanks to FOWCP BJ Nemeth for the at left pic and notice. That Haxton kid cleans up well.

Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran, and Huck Seed are all still alive as well. Get full chip counts here.

This Guy Is Really Short-Stacked

 

Poker pro Brett Richey is really short on chips. Really short. On chips. He's among the many short stacks right now in the $40k event. Also among the short stacks are Phil Laak (55,000), Shawn Buchanan (37,000), and Michael Binger (28,000). With dinner break approaching, we're sure they'll really try to grow their stacks and survive into Day 2.

Not short are chip leaders Antonio Esfandiari (395,000) and Justin Bonomo (330,000). Get full chip counts at wsop.com here.

2009 WSOP: $40k Buy-In Update

There is nothing funny about the above photo.

A respectable 201 players entered 2009 WSOP Event #2 ($40,000 NLH), creating a first place prize of $1,891,012.

In probably the first "wtf" moment of the Series, Phil Laak was the early chip leaders. Then in not so shocking news, he lost just about all of his chips and is under the starting stack level.

Current chip leaders as of about 4:30pm PT include Ted Forrest (310,000), Antonio Esfandiari (no, seriously) (302,000), Justin Bonomo (275,000), and Jeffrey Lisandro (270,000).

Get full chip counts and updates at wsop.com here.

Matthew Woodward Maintains Chip Lead at EPT Grand Final, Annette Obrestad Makes Charge

At post time this morning, Matthew Woodward has built on his overnight chip lead at the EPT Grand Final. He is currently stacked at 2,800,000.

Only 18 players remain. Unless you live near a fjord you probably don't know/don't care about the rest, except for perhaps Annette Obrestad, a woman, who is currently stackd at 1,400,000.

Follow the action live here.

Annette Obrestad, A Woman, Among EPT Grand Final Day 2 Chip Leaders; Phil Laak Still Alive (!)

Vanessa Claudio, a woman, is not among the many female chip leaders at the EPT Grand Final. However, she IS among the hottest girls we've ever seen come out of Mexico. Granted, that list is like five girls deep, but still, we'd gladly self-inflict ourselves with the swine flu for a romp with Claudio...if we were single. Love you honeys! View more Vanessa Claudio in Max Magazine here.

Some big stories are developing in Monte Carlo at the EPT Grand Final: 1) Can Annette Obrestad, a woman, capture her second major live tournament title in two years? 2) Can Sandra Naujoks, a woman, capture her second EPT title? 3) Did Phil Laak really make it to Day 3 of a major event? How did that happen? Phil Laak? 4) Seriously though, Phil Laak?

Of the 935 starting field, 149 remain after Day 2 wrapped. Marc Naaldenis overall chip leader, stacked at 770,000. Among other chip leaders are the aforementioned Annette Obrestad, a woman (600,000), the aforementioned Naujoks, also a woman (280,000), Ilari "ziigmund" Sahamies (200,000), Sorel Mizzi (170,000), Alexander Kravchenko(157,000), seriously wtf Phil Laak (150,000), Dennis Phillips (135,000), J.J. Liu, a woman (130,000), and "Salty" Joe Hachem (130,000).

Also still alive going into Day 3 is Phil Laak. Wait, what?

Get full chip counts here.

Phil Laak.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko Wins WPT Championship; ElkY Secures Player of the Year Honors

Yevgeniy Timoshenko with a brown wig? Maybe? Or Ukrainian model Olga Kurylenko?

As expected, Yevgeniy Timoshenko ran away from the field and captured the WPT Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Timoshenko caught our eye earlier in the tournament, although not necessarily for his poker skills. But the Russian Ukrainian a woman who now resides in Washington State has been killing it online for years. Now, he adds the WPT's top prize and another $2.1M+ to his bankroll.

Timoshenko defeated Ran Azor heads-up for the title, ensuring Joe Bartholdi's status as the most random WPT Championship winner for at least another year.

ElkY Grospellier finished third, wrapping up WPT Player of the Year honors and adding another $776,245 to his tournament earnings.

Christian Harder finished fourth ($571,965), followed by "Good for" Shannon Shorr ($408,550), and Scotty Nguyen ($285,985).

Get a full recap of the evening and interview with Timoshenko here.

WPT Championship: Handicapping The Final Table

The WPT Championship final table is set.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko. Early on Day 2 of the event, we asked the WPT team if Yevgeniy Timoshenko, a woman, was a chick, because of this picture. Later we did a post on him. Come to find out the dude is SOLID. Most think he's the real deal. Plus, he's got the Russian thing going for him. After Slumdog Millionaire, Vivek Rajkumar's run, and Anoop Desai's early front-runner status on American Idol, we thought it was the Year of the Indian^TM. But then Anoop flamed out, killing that theory. In poker, it's clearly the Year of the Russian^TM, even if said Russian actually lives in Seattle. Whatever. Timoshenko is big stacked at 13,300,000. He's got the mojo. We've got him listed at 1:1.

Christian Harder. Who? What? Harder is second overall in chips with 7,425,000. He's played solid all week. Third place feels right. 6:1 odds.

ElkY Grospellier. ElkY could grab WPT Player of the Year honors with a fourth place finish, which we think he'll do, because he'll finish second. No non-Russian is hotter in poker right now. EklY is currently third overall with 5,955,000. Odds of winning: 3:1.

Scotty Nguyen. Nobody has more primetime poker experience at this final table than Nguyen. He's played great poker all week. He's been focused. It would be no shocker for him to make a run at this title, despite having a ways to go to catch up. A win would actually make Scotty tournament poker's all-time money winner, so there's some extra incentive if he cares about that kind of thing (like a Phil Hellmuth would, for example). Nguyen is fourth overall going into final table play with 3,275,000. Odds of winning: 5:1 just because he's Scotty Nguyen, baby.

Ran Azor: Who? What? Azor is fifth overall with 2,525,000. Odds of winning: 47:1.

Shannon Shorr: The common sentiment among most people upon hearing Shorr, the guy with the hot porn star sounding girl's name, made the final table has been, "Good for Shannon." The dude has been one of poker's most consistent performers and has been doing it the right way (except for this incident): building his bankroll on his own, no backers, still going to school, and just doing his thing. However, Shorr kind of has that "happy to be here" vibe. He's way short, with 1,130,000, although hopefully he'll cling on to a fifth place finish to milk just a little more TV time and maybe nab himself a deal with one of the online poker sites out there. Odds of winning: 10:1.

Final table play starts at 4pm PST.

WPT Championship: Scotty Nguyen Adds Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of The Day To List of Accomplishments

A total of 32 poker titles. Five WSOP bracelets. One WPT title. One $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. title. One WSOP Main Event title. And now, finally, Scotty Nguyen can add a Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day to his long list of accomplishments.

With just 10 remaining, Nguyen holds the chip lead at the WPT Championship, stacked at 5,880,000. If Nguyen wins this tourney, he'll end up just a few hundred grand behind Jamie Gold as the all-time poker tournament money winner.

Nguyen is followed by Yevgeniy Timoshenko, a woman, with 5,105,000.

Also remaining is porn star Shannon Shorr with 3,155,000. Shorr has been one of the most consistent players on the circuit for the past few years, is always near the top of various Player of the Year standings, yet receives practically no pub. A WPT TV final table appearance at this championship would definitely change that...if people still watched the WPT on TV.

We keed. We keed.

Also still alive is ElkY Grospellier with 1,965,000. We get it ElkY, you're good. Enough already. Leave some tournament money for everyone else.

Full chip counts here.

WPT Championship: Eugene Katchalov Leads After Day 4

Day 4 is in the books at the WPT Championship. The field is down to 24 and Eugene Katchalov of Russia Brooklyn leads them all, stacked at 4,294,000.

Close behind him and third overall in chips is Victor/Victoria Yevgeniy Timoshenko with 2,613,000. Some of the big names remaining include Scotty Nguyen (1,823,000), half-man, half-amazing Freddy Deeb (1,575,000), Jeff Madsen (1,265,000), damn-this-guy-is-good ElkY Grospellier (1,230,000), damn-this-guy-is-good-too-and-has-a-hot-porn-star-name Shannon Shorr (1,200,000), Jennifer Harman, a woman (821,000),and Joe Sebok Zach Hyman Hyman Roth Matt Hyman (433,000).

Get full chip counts here.

WPT Championship: Steve Billirakis Leads Day 3, Phil Ivey Lurking

Day 3 has wrapped at the WPT Championship with Steve Billirakis as the chip leader, stacked at 1,722,000. Billirakis you might remember as the youngest WSOP bracelet winner in history. Or you may not remember him. Either way, he's chip leader. Fuck off.

Billirakis is followed by Joe Sebok Zach Hyman Hyman Roth Matt Hyman with 1,663,000. Mark Seif is third for now until he gets too aggressive and spews off his 1,315,000 in chips. Nenad Medic will probably final table as he's fourth overall with 1,306,000. And David Singer is fifth with 1,116,000.

Only 62 remain. Plenty of notables, including but not limited to Phil Ivey (1,036,000), Jennifer Harman (828,000), Jeff Madsen (712,000), Scotty Nguyen (557,000), ElkY (378,000), Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (338,000), and Mike Matusow (272,000).

Get full chip counts here.

In related news, for those of you in Vegas, you've noticed it's gotten really hot this week, which means the pools are kicking, which means hot girls in bikinis (see below).

Watch SpyOnVegas.com Hot 100 Launch Party with Arianny Celeste on RawVegas.tv

WPT Championship: Jean Noel Thorel Leads After Day 2

The WPT Championship played down to 168 on Day 2, and when the dust cleared (<--kidding about that phrase), Jean Noel Thorel, who we know nothing about other than he looks like this and he has a French-sounding name so he's probably a frog. Thorel is stacked at 743,500. He's followed by the still hot Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier with 678,300. ElkY is to 2008-2009 tournament poker what the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran (125,500) was to tournament poker from 2006-2008.

Among the top 10 big stacks are also Steve Billirakis (672,400), Dan Heimiller, a ginger (655,700), Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke (583,800), and Jeff Madsen (479,200) who is on his way towards getting a million dollars again (go about 2:45 in here).

Plenty of big names still remain. Some might say that the field is "littered" with big names. Some might say. Get full chip counts here.

Layne Flack With A Douchebag Comment In 3, 2, 1...

In the above video, Layne Flackshatters the world record for making a douchebag comment to start an interview, previously held by Pauly Shorewhen he said, "It's the weee-zelll...owwwww...glaze your do-nuts..." in 1993 on Mtv. Seriously, we go back and forth between not being able to remotely tolerate the guy to having the utmost respect for him as Flack clearly does not give a sliver of a fuck what people are writing/saying about him.

In related news, Justin Young is currently the chip leader at the WPT Championship. Absolute must to check out the worldpokertour.com site for continuing updates here. Their crew does the best job in poker...

Daniel Fuhs Closes Day 1B of WPT Championship as Chip Leader

J.C. Tran's spectacular breasts are among the Day 1B chip leaders at the WPT Championship. View more of his latest photoshoot here.

Good turnout for Day 1B of the WPT Championship, as 211 entered. Today the fields combine, with 301 of the registered 337 remaining.

Daniel Fuhs closed out Day 1B as chip leader, stacked at 254,200. Other big named big stacks include Steve Billirakis (232,450), the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran (218,300), and half-man, half-amazing Freddy Deeb (210,425).

Notable eliminations include Clonie Gowen, a woman, and Allen Cunningham. Get full combined field chip counts here.

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.

Lee Markholt/Watkinson Gunning for Second WPT Title

It'll be a short day at the WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic. Only 10 remain, with play starting at noon EST and wrapping when the six-man TV final table is set.

Among those still alive is Lee Markholt/Watkinson, who is second overall in chips with 1,314,000. He only trails Lenny Cortellino with 1,520,000. In related news, has anybody born after 2000 been named Lenny? That name has pretty much been retired, right?

Amnon Filipi (1,248,000) and Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler (394,000) are also still alive.

Get full chip counts and recaps here.

WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic Isn't What It Used to Be

Only 259 players showed for the 2009 WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic (or basically the same number of tweets David Williams does in an hour).

This means the event will only pay out $731,079 for first. Why does this matter? It doesn't, really. But Foxwoods was home to the first ever WPT million dollar top prize. And just last year, Erik Seidel won $992,890 for taking the title.

So why the decline? First, you gotta blame The Economy^TM. Second, pros freaking hate Foxwoods. And third, the Bellagio prelim events are going on, and a lot of West Coast based pros are hitting that instead (see previous sentence as to one of the main reasons why).

Anyway, at the beginning of Day 2 play, the aforementioned David Williams is chip leader, stacked at 195,000. Hoyt Corkins isn't far behind with 164,000. And overnight chip leader Ken Adams is stacked at 145,000.

Also among the big stacks are Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler (117,000), Jonathan Little (95,000), Steve Brecher (93,000), Mike Matusow (85,000), and Dan Heimiller, a ginger (84,000).

Get full chip counts and live reporting here.

UPDATE: Ryan Fisler ended Day 2 as chip leader with 422,000. David Williams is stacked at 314,300. Also alive are Barry Greenstein 151,200, Hoyt Corkins (144,400), Mike Matusow (93,800), Steve Brecher, who if he wins we say gets to take the nickname "Back To Back" from Layne Flack (68,500), and Jonathan Little (64,600). Only 59 remain.

 

The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Tournament Hates Women

Two years ago, J.J. Liu, a woman, almost became the first woman to win a WPT open tournament by almost capturing the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star event. Then last year, Jennifer Harman, a woman, almost became the first woman to win a WPT title by almost capturing the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star event.

This year, it was Kathy Liebert, a woman's turn.

Liebert was chip leader with only three remaining. But after a grueling heads-up match (eventually breaking the record for most hands played all-time at a WPT final table), Liebert, one of the all-time greatest female players, succumbed to middle-of-the-road pro Steve Brecher. Draw your own conclusions about it all if you'd [ here ].

For the win, Brecher banked $1,025,500. Liebert took $550,000 for second.

Get full payouts here.

Kathy Liebert, A Woman, Goes For First WPT Title (For The Sixth Time)

Unless someone at the final table is blind and only got there through sympathy votes and we're not aware of it, the only real storyline we're following at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star now is if Kathy Liebert, a woman, can win her first WPT title and become the first woman to ever capture a World Poker Tour title.*

This is Liebert's sixth WPT final table. Phil Ivey got the monkey off his back last year at the LAPC, will Kathy do the same this year?

She'll be third in chips entering play, stacked at 1,180,000. She trails overall big stack Tony Behari (2,046,000) and Steve Brecher (2,016,000) who is making his second WPT final table and we guess some people consider a "name" pro but let's face it, who gives a shit.

Get full chip counts here.

* For all of you dorks who keep pointing out non-open WPT events, we're talking about open WPT events.

In wildly unrelated news, below scientiests discover the world's first sexual predator.

Paleontologists Discover Skeleton Of Nature’s First Sexual Predator

A Bunch of Non-Stars Lead WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars

They're in the money at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars, with a friends and family^TM leader board going into Day 3 play. Only four so-called "shooting stars" remain.

Michael Kamran has the chip lead, stacked at 570,500. He's followed by Tony Behari (553,000) and Chris Moore (539,500).

Notables still alive include Kathy Liebert (385,000), Paul Wasicka (297,000), Steve Brecher (151,500), Hoyt Corkins (124,500), the hotter than a really spicy dish of Indian food Vivek Rajkumar (124,000), and Joe Sebok (116,500).

Get full chip counts here.

Huck Seed Wins NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship

Huck Seed is clearly the breast heads up poker player alive.

Huck Seed made relatively short work of Vanessa Rousso, a woman, who went to Duke, to win the NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship.

This was clearly just Seed's time. After four straight deep runs in the event (and four WCP endorsed picks to win it all), Seed finally came through and won it all, defeating Rousso 2-0.

Despite the two matches to nil defeat, to Rousso's credit, she had without a doubt the hardest route to get to the finals, having to defeat Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Paul Wasicka, Daniel Negreanu, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospillier, and the fact that she's a woman.

For the win, Seed will bank $500,000. He becomes the third WSOP Main Event winner to capture a NBC Heads Up title, joining his ex-best friend Phil Hellmuth and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson.

Seed now has an 18-4 overall NBC Heads-Up record, giving him the second greatest record in everything ever, just behind the United States in wars (18-0-2).

Huck Seed, One Other Advance to NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship Final

Well this couldn't have gone any better for GoDaddy.com.

A couple of days after GoDaddy.com named her as a new spokesmodel for their company, Vanessa Rousso, a woman, who went to Duke, has advanced to the final of the NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship.

The fix is in. There is no other explanation.

(kidding, kidding)

No seriously though, is the fix in?

Anyway, Rousso defeated Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier to become the first female to make it to a NBC Heads Up final table.

In way less shocking news, Huck Seed, our pick to win it all, made the finals as well, defeating Sam Farha to get there.

Huck Seed, Three Others Advance to NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship Semifinal

While Huck Seed (expectedly) advanced to another NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship semi-final, the real story to everyone else will probably be Vanessa Rousso, a woman, who went to Duke, did as well.

Safe to say that as bad as Layne Flack's year has been, Rousso has been the equivalent on the good side. First, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Then the GoDaddy.com commercial (view again below). And now a semi-final run that will surely be the lead storyline when NBC starts editing this all together.

Unlike Shannon Elizabeth's run two years ago, it's kind of hard to call Rousso's advancement a fluke. She's defeated Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and most recently Daniel Negreanu to get to the final four^TM. Now, she'll face the tour's hottest player, Bertrand Grospellier, for a spot in the finals.

On the other side of the bracket, Huck Seed will go against Sam Farha. Matches are expected to begin around 3:30 PST.

Watch Vanessa Rousso New GoDaddy.com Girl on RawVegas.tv

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

Huck Seed, 31 Others Advance in NBC National Heads Poker Championship

Round 1 of the 2009 NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship is done. Some notes:

:: Obviously the big story of the day was Layne Flack's DUI no-show. His 2009 so far is the equivalent to Baumer's epic meltdown at the U.S. Nationals. Not good.

:: One story we actually will follow sort of is Vanessa Rousso's "journey." Her profiles was "raised" a bit with the SI Swimsuit pic, and she's actually very relevant for this tournament because of the GoDaddy.com commercial. After beating Doyle Brunson in Round 1, if she can tackle Phil Ivey today and make a deep run, Rousso could be the epicenter of talk for this year's tourney.

:: While it probably won't get much T.V. coverage, one of the more interesting matches today is Ilari "ziigmund" Sahamies v. Bertrand Grospellier. Sahamies because he's not only nuts but one of the best online poker players in the world today, and Grospellier because he's one of the best live tournament players in the world today.

:: The other really interesting match is the other online superstar, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, who takes on Barry Greenstein.

:: Jerry Yang actually won (!) his first round match and plays John Phan.

:: And finally, of course, our pick to win it all, Huck Seed, won again, and will go up against Gus Hansen in what would be a compelling match if Seed ever showed some personality.

Get all of the match-ups here.

The Entities Who Comprise Wicked Chops Poker Didn't Last Long in the WPT Invitational

A year's supply of steak was wasted just so Jose Canseco could wear that outfit. Photo Credit: World Poker Tour

Let's just say that the Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker have had much, much better outings than what happened at the WPT Invitational on Saturday.

Usually when the Entities go out and play any event, after the inevitable bedlam ensues, at least 1/3 of said Entities cracks "the money" or "the final table." Without the requisite exaggeration, this happens about 90% of the time.

What happens 0% of the time is having all Entities gone with about the first 25% of the field.

So there really is a first time for everything.

Some random notes:

:: Ricki Lake, who looks way better at 40 than she did at 30, is more or less responsible for crippling Snake, leading to his eventual ouster.

:: Not that we weren't going to already, but Samm Levine sold us on seeing Inglorious Basterds.

:: For whatever reason, wearing nothing but leather isn't totally bizarre looking on Jose Canseco.

:: People really love them some William Hung.

:: Derek Hough and Shannon Elizabeth are still dating.

:: And for the .01% of our readers who watch The Bachelor, Chris Harrison says that about 99% of what's on Reality Steve's blog is "totally fabricated."

Final six play it out today. Keep track of it here.

Chris Karagulleyan Guns For Second WPT Title in Just Seven Years

Those of you watching Season 1 of the World Poker Tour on Fox Sports recently or who have memories on par with elephants are probably familiar with Chris Karagulleyan. He was the guy in the suit with the facial ticks who won the second ever WPT event back in 2002.

Those of you not watching Season 1 of the World Poker Tour on Fox Sports recently or who have memories on par with trout have no idea who Chris Karagulleyan is, because after he won the second ever WPT event back in 2002, he pretty much went the way of Temp Hutter and was never heard from again.

In fact, Karagulleyan is one of the charter members of the Temp Hutter Club. However, he may be playing himself off that list today. [copy + paste] Karagulleyan brings the chip lead to the LAPC final table, stacked at 4,080,000.

[copy + paste] Karagulleyan is followed by Mike Sowers with 2,405,000. Joining them and making his first ever WPT final table is Chris "Jesus" Ferguson with 1,565,000.

Get full chip counts and reports (and follow the final table action starting at 4PM PST) here.

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson Leads LAPC With 20 Remaining

As many of you know, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson didn't play World Poker Tour events for years, as he and a group of other (mostly) FTP'ers filed a pretty ridiculous lawsuit against Lipscomb & Co.

The parties settled said suit, and now Full Tilt more or less covers the production costs of WPT broadcasts. Maybe the Israelis and Palestinians could learn something from FTP and the WPT.

Maybe.

Ferguson, who is arguably one of the best no-limit hold'em tournament players alive and already makes more money than most of the highest paid athletes do in a year, is looking to add another milli plus to his sizable warchest, as he ended Day 4 of the LAPC as chip leader, stacked at 1,721,000.

Ferguson is followed by Payman Arjang with 1,488,000, and Chris Karagulleyan with 1,146,000.

Other notables remaining include Nick Schulman (850,000), Mike Sowers (626,000), Nordberg (423,000), and Teddy "The Iceman" Monroe (264,000).

Get full chip counts here.

Daniel Negreanu, Jeff Madsen, Bertrand Grospellier Among LAPC Day 1 Chip Leader

The LAPC Main Event got underway yesterday with 695 entrants, making the total prize pool just shy of the $7M Jamie Gold decided to skip out on to play his charity tourney (fyi, seats are still available, go here to sign up).

Lots of big name big stack among the 412 survivors. Not included among them is overall chip leader Kasey Nam with 141,000. He's followed though by Daniel Negreanu (128,000, more on him in a moment), Jeff Madsen (112,500), and Bertrand Grospellier (86,000). Nick Schulman (79,000) and defending champ Phil Ivey (75,000) are also among the people you probably have heard of and care about with fairly large stacks.

There are about 407 other people we haven't listed still alive, so get their chip counts here.

Matt "Allinat420" Stout Does Not Win WSOP-C Tunica

Ok, so maybe it wasn't inevitable.

Despite dominating play throughout the tournament and having more than 2x the chips of his nearest competitor at the WSOP-C Tunica final table, Matt "Allinat420" Stout did not walk away with the title.

The win instead went to Kai Landry of Biloxi, Mississippi. Kai banks $183,974 for his first major cashing plus an entry into the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

David Dao finished second, and the aforementioned Stout burned out in third.

Get full final table results and payouts here.

Gavin Smith, Captain POB Among WSOP-C Tunica Day 1 Survivors

Stating the obvious (again) here, but these WSOP Circuit events aren't what they used to be.

Back when the WSOP-C's began, ESPN cameras followed. Top pros played in them. Winning one had at least a little bit of prestige.

Now, not so much.

The first WSOP-C stop of 2009 kicked off yesterday at Harrah's Tunica. $5k entry, 154 entrants.

Like the movie The Fast and the Furious, play was fast and furious^TM (man we haven't used that one in a long time...feels good), as only 27 remained by the end of Day 1. David Dao will enter Day 2 as the chip leader, stacked at 291,700. Online pro Matt 'Allinat420' Stout is second with 255,500.

Other notables remaining include Gavin Smith, "Captain POB" Tom Franklin, Jordan Morgan, and Kathy Liebert, a woman.

Bill Edler Among Chips Leaders at Borgata Winter Poker Open

After Grant "U2KILLERS" Coombs' elimination from the Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event (read about it here), the air kind of went out of our Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event tourney reporting balloon.

So we'll make this quick: Carl Pion is chip leader, stacked at 4,720,000. He's followed by Bill Edler with 3,894,000.

In all, 27 remain, and they'll play down to the final table today. Follow the action here.

Grant "U2KILLERS" Coombs Still Alive at Borgata Winter Poker Open

Like Tomer Benvenisti (what happened to that guy) at an all you can eat buffet, it was utter carnage during Day 2 of the Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event. 

Despite the deep stacks, the field dropped from 719 to 172. However, they are still 100 away from the money bubble. 

Still alive is WCP Reader Appreciation winner, Grant "U2KILLERS" Coombs. Although he hasn't see TT, JJ, QQ, KK, or AA in two days of play, he's still sitting with 28 big blinds at 233,000. Read his Day 2 recap here. 

Some big stacks include Frankie Flowers (847,500) and David "Bakes" Baker (798,000). Bill Edler is also still alive but we don't have his chip count. We blame that on the Russians.

Get a full tourney recap here.

UPDATE: The money bubble burst and Grant "U2KILLERS" Coombs has officially cashed, turning his WCP freeroll win into a minimum $4,882 payout. With 100 remaining, Coombs is stacked around 500,000.

UPDATE II: Coombs just got knocked out after the money bubble burst. He got all in preflop with KK vs. TT, and a ten hit on the flop. Brutal. Live poker is rigged.

Still an impressive showing, doing WCP proud.

Grant "U2KILLERS" Coombs Among Day 1B Borgata Winter Poker Open Big Stacks

WCP Reader Appreciation Freeroll winner Grant Coombs, at right, chatting it up with Hevad Khan.

Grant "U2KILLERS" Coombs is killing it at the Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event, ending Day 1B play among the chip leaders stacked at 159,000.

Also still alive with around 38,000 is the hottest girl in poker, Lacey Jones.

The 420 people that survived Day 1B will join the 284 from Day 1A for...math math math...uh, a pretty large Day 2.

Get full recaps here.

UPDATE: Read some great hand recounts from Grant on his Card Runners blog here.

UPDATE II: More than halfway through Day 2, Coombs has 350k.

WPT Southern Poker Championship Final Table is Blah

Pretty sure this is the biggest Friends & Family^TM final table in WPT history. Let's just get this out of the way, here are the remaining six: Soheil Shamseddin (3,061,000), Allen Carter (1,673,000), Hilbert Shirey (1,353,000), Tyler Smith (1,271,000), Bobby Suer (651,000), Chuck Kim (386,000).

Some might say the bigger story is who didn't make the TV final table. Although that's barely a story either. Just missing out in 7th place is SI Swimsuit "model" Vanessa Rousso, who went to Duke. Thanks to reader Kevmath for sending us the link confirming it is a paid Poker Stars ad/spread (no shocker there).

Another woman, Jena Delk, finished 11th. That wife-beater wearing ginger Justin Smith finished 13th. And Hevad Khan was 14th.

Get full results here.

A Bunch of Friends and Family Lead WPT Southern Poker Championship But Whatever Vanessa Rousso Talks About the SI Swimsuit Issue

The WPT Southern Poker Championship is in the money with a leaderboard that can best be described as "anti-star-studded." Or would that be unstar-studded? Or would that be dim lightbulb-studded? Anyone?

The friends and family dim lightbulb-studded top five are: Allen Carter (776,000), Tyler Smith (695,000), Stewart Yancik (619,000), Florian Langmann (603,000), Soheil Shamseddin (560,000).

Also still alive (although short-stacked) is Vanessa Rousso, who went to Duke. Although for SEO purposes we may be extending that to "SI Swimsuit Model Vanessa Rousso, who went to Duke." She caught up with Amanda Leatherman and confirms that: 1) she will be in the SI Swimsuit edition for sure, 2) it comes out in late February, 3) she has no idea what the pics look like yet, and 4) she's wearing half of a wetsuit top and bikini bottom in one and a light blue bikini in the other.

So there you have it. Get full chip counts here.

 

Poker News Link Dump Brought to You By Kim Cloutier

We unfairly rip on America's cap. We actually love Canada. Good people up there. One thing Canadians also don't get enough credit for is being a land filled with hot girls. Heck, we've been to Edmonton and even there the ratio of hot to not-hot girls was off-the-charts. So in honor of PCA Caribbean Adventure winner (and Canadian) Poorya Nazari, we bring you Kim Cloutier. Easily one of Canada's finest. View more here.

:: As noted above, Poorya Nazari wins PCA Main Event, banking three million f'in dollars. Obviously he doesn't train with Mats Sundin. But perhaps now he should consider changing his name from "Poorya" now to "Richya." Eh? Eh? Yeah that was horrible. But you fucking laughed and you know it. [link]

:: In other tournament news, Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott wins the Irish Poker Championship, banking €33,000. Good to see Devilfish winning something, since he's voteless in the "Best Poker Song" debate. [link]

:: Tiltware files motion to dismiss Clonie Gowen lawsuit. [link]

:: The Best Damn Poker Show Season 2 (aka The Giant UB Ad Buy) begins today. [link

:: Speaking of UB, Annie Duke writes about getting back in poker after six months off (if you missed her, you'll see plenty of her when the Celebrity Apprentice kicks off March 1). And Annie, the dinner bet is still on. [link]

Chino Rheem Wins WPT Copy+Paste Title

Looks like we were slightly off on which major tournament Chino Rheem was going to win.

Chino Rheem is running good.

After a poker career that for years wasn't too bad, wasn't too good, Chino has figured it out in 2008. He final tabled two WSOP tourneys (including the Main Event), and now, after never even having one World Poker Tour cash in his name, he has won the WPT Copy+Paste title.

Chino beat Justin Young heads-up for the win, banking $1,538,730. Young takes home $936,760.

Of note, Chino was NOT wearing a Poker Stars patch. Why? They dropped him. Chino had the biggest and most vocal support group at the final table and plenty of friends in the pro ranks, but behind the scenes he hasn't been worth the hassle for Stars, apparently. Like we always say though, can you really ever be mad at a guy named Chino?

The rest of the final table payouts were: Evan McNiff ($540,440), Steve Sung ($396,206), Amnon Filippi ($288,235), and Hoyt Corkins ($216,175).

Chino Rheem, Hoyt Corkins, Amnon Filippi Gun for WPT Copy+Paste Title

The WPT has once of its most pro-packed final tables in awhile at the Copy+Paste.

All six remaining players are full-time pros, and most of those are people you've actually heard of before too.

Leading the way is Steve Sung, stacked at 5,885,000. Sung has $1.4M in career earnings and a second place finish at the WPT Bay 101 event earlier this year.

He's followed by Evan McNiff with 4,805,000. McNiff is the only member of the McNiff/de Knijff combo to make the final table. He has five in-the-monies this year, including three cashes at the 2008 WSOP.

The rest of the final table includes former November Nine^TM hostage Chino Rheem (4,240,000) (note to Amanda Leatherman...do NOT ask him how he feels about being knocked out if he doesn't win the event...don't do it), Amnon Filippi (2,750,000), Justin Young (2,410,000), and Hoyt Corkins (2,295,000).

Follow the final table action later today here.

Clonie Gowen, A Woman, Among Chip Leaders at WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Poker Classic

Clonie Gowen is having one helluva year, for a woman.

She's got two six figure wins under her belt in 2008, for a woman.

She's got a $40 mil lawsuit in the works that kicks the crap out of just about any divorce settlement, for a woman.

And she's killing it at the ridiculously long-named (copy+paste) WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Poker Classic, for a woman.

At the end of Day 2, Gowen is among the big stacks, for a woman, sitting fourth overall with 405,000. She trails Justin Young, who is stacked at 550,000.

Other big named big stacks include but are certainly not limited to the suddenly resurgent Kido Pham (400,000), Antonio Esfandiari (336,000), David Benyamine (335,000), Phil Hellmuth (335,000), Tuan Le (310,000), creepy as fuck Rene Angelil (283,500), and Dutch Boyd (275,000).

Get full chip counts 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.

Jonathan Little Wins Second WPT Title

Nothing else going on so not sure why it took so long to get to this, but Jonathan Little won his second WPT title by capturing the Foxwoods World Poker Finals.

Little defeated Jonathan Jaffe heads-up for the title. For the win, Jonathan Little banked $1,120,310. Jaffe took home $670,636.

In related news, David "The Dragon" Pham* failed to capture yet another WPT title after making something like his 197th final table.

The rest of the final table payouts went Charles Marchese ($337,256), the aforementioned David "The Dragon" Pham** ($240,344), Jack Schanbacher ($182,196), Mike Matusow ($124,048).

* Not a real dragon.
** Not a real dragon.

Peter Eastgate Wins 2008 WSOP Main Event; At 22, Becomes Youngest Champion

More to come throughout the day but Peter Eastgate defeated Ivan Demidov to win the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

On the final hand, Eastgate turned a wheel, Demidov hit two pair, all the money went in, and that was that.

At 22 years-old, Eastgate now becomes the youngest Main Event champion in history, breaking Phil Hellmuth's record.

For the win, Eastgate banks $9,152,416. Demidov will take home $5,809,595.

UPDATE: Interview below with Eastgate.

Hey! Over Here! We Have a Final Table Too!

We'll make this super quick since we need to start gearing up for the 2008 WSOP Main Event final table. Ten played down to six at the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals, an ironic name for a tournament that's taking place during the WSOP Main Event final table conclusion.

It's a solid final table. Jonathan Jaffe, who has been at or near the chip lead the entire tournament, takes the big stack to final table play with 4,131,000. More importantly, after probably thinking, "I've been at or near the chip lead this whole damn tournament. Who do I have to fuck to win the Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day around here?"...well, he won the Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day. Whew for him. Watch his reaction below or here.

In second overall is David "The Dragon" Pham* with 2,038,000. While The Dragon** has made something like 147 WPT final tables, he's still looking for his first title.

Joining him at the final table are Jonathan Little (2,021,000), Charles Marchese (1,718,000), Jack Schanbacher (1,592,000), and Mike Matusow (816,000).

Get full chip counts he--wait, just reread the last paragraph.

* Not a real dragon.
** Not a real dragon.

Hey! Hey Look Over Here! WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals Down to 10

Since there are some big names remaining (including one of our favorite nicknames and one we just retired), we'll go ahead and report that only 10 are left at the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals although we know your attention is likely focused elsewhere.

Mike Matusow not only holds the chip lead, stacked at 1,857,000, but he also won his first Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day (video below). Now Mike can enjoy delicious almonds for a year-- a healthy food alternative for a guy who cleaned up, dieted, and has turned his life around. It's a classic win-win situation right there.

Jonathan Jaffe, who has been at or near the top of the chip lead the entire tournament, is stacked second overall with 1,780,000. Also still alive are Jonathan Little (1,407,000) and David "The Dragon" Pham* (1,242,000).

Get a full recap here.

* Not a real dragon.

Chino Rheem Will Not Win the 2008 WSOP Main Event

Well, it was still a sick call.

When we picked "David" Chino Rheem to make a deep run in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, most people (like Andrew Feldman at ESPN.com) thought, "who"?

6,800+ eliminations later, Chino, the most experienced pro in the field, was knocked out of the 2008 WSOP Main Event in seventh place. Chino's A-K was sucked out on by Peter Eastgate's A-Q.

But thanks for making us look smarter than we really are, Chino.

Actually, we're pretty f'in smart, so thanks for validating that.

At the dinner break, the chip stacks are: Ivan Demidov 30,725,000, Peter Eastgate 27,175,000, the back in contention Dennis Phillips 26,950,000, Ylon Schwartz 20,475,000, Scott Montgomery 20,300,000, and Darus Suharto 10,600,000.

Dennis Phillips Is Shell-Shocked

Has anyone down there seen Dennis Phillips' chip lead?

Somewhere, difficult to tell in this photo but in the stadium seating behind the final table, there are about 200 white-shirt-wearing, St. Louis Cardinals ball capped Dennis Phillips fans. Outside the Penn & Teller theater, there are probably 100 more.

All are there, of course, were brought there by Dennis Phillips.

So it kind of sucks for him that he's gone from chip leader to near short-stack, dropping to around 4M in chips.

Phillips lost a monster pot to Ivan Demidov, and has continued to slip. The once vocal Phillips minions (who we spoke with many, all good, friendly people) have gone silent.

That party Phillips promised for all if he won looks highly improbable now.

Phillips in general looks shell-shocked and a little lost. Maybe he's feeling the pressure of not having to disappoint so many supporters out there.

Follow the action here or with Dr. Pauly here.

UPDATE: Ok as soon as we posted this Phillips doubled up through Chino Rheem and is now stacked at 9M. Chino is down to around 6M.

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow Makes a Charge at WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals; WCP Retires His Nickname With This Post

Day 3 ended at the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals with 33 players remaining and some big names atop the leaderboard.

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, whose nickname we're retiring with this post because in order to have a nickname people outside of the media actually have to call you that on occasion, closed strong ending up second overall in chips with 1,076,000. He only slightly trails yesterday's chip leader Jonathan Jaffe, who is stacked at 1,100,000.

A couple of other strong closers yesterday were Jonathan Little (477,000) and the still sober Gavin Smith (375,000). Both sit with above average chip stacks.

Other notables remaining include the vastly underrated/Marxist-Lenonist-looking Alex Bolotin (435,500), Phil Ivey (225,500), Bill Gazes (214,500), David "The Dragon" Pham* ** (192,000), half-man, half-amazing Freddy Deeb (154,500), and Kevin Saul (93,000).

Daniel Negreanu just missed making it to Day 4, finishing in 35th, but with this cash, ties the record for most all-time WPT-in-the-monies at 17. He now shares the record with Erik Seidel, Barry Greenstein, and Lee Markholt-Watkinson.

Follow the action today (if you're not following WSOP Main Event final table play) here.

* Not a real dragon.
** Never retiring that nickname. Ever.

Jonathan Jaffe Leads WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals

Play has just gotten underway for Day 3 of the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals.

Currently, 90 of the starting 412 remain. Jonathan Jaffe holds the chip lead, stacked at 491,000.

Other notables still in the field include a bunch of bolded names such as half-man, half-amazing Freddy Deeb (258,400), Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (239,800), Toto Leonidas (214,200), Kevin Saul (199,700), Phil Ivey (187,900), Gavin Smith (187,800), David "The Dragon" Pham* (123,200), Glum Girl Svetlana Gromenkova (120,700), pwner of Foxwoods tourneys Raj Patel (119,300), Erik Seidel (114,000), Bill Gazes (101,400), Daniel Negreanu (98,000), Jason Potter (90,000), Jonathan Little (85,900), Michael Binger (84,500), and what the hell why not Jason Mercier (51,000).

Follow the action here.

In unrelated news, this.

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.