It was a complicated event for most players, as the 8-game mixed tournament combined eight games in rotation to offer the field the most diverse poker game available. Event 48 brought those games – limit holdem, Omaha-8, 7-card razz, 7-card stud, stud-8, no-limit holdem, PLO, and deuce to 7 triple draw lowball – to the 2010 World Series of Poker with a $2,500 buy-in, and experienced players did not hesitate to step up for the challenge.The field was comprised of 453 players, which resulted in a $1,041,900 prize pool for the top 48 players, though the figure of $260,497 awaited the winner only.
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Yesterday was simply crazy with seven events. Technically, that makes Day 21, with its six events, a little less chaotic, though it didn’t feel that way. The Pavilion and Amazon Ballrooms were large enough to handle all of the players, and all tournament staff was on deck, but many members of the media were struggling to figure out which event was where, who was playing which event, and even what day it was. Admittedly, the exhaustion may be setting in a bit for some.Day 21 didn’t even mark the halfway point through the 2010 World Series of Poker, so technically, the fun was still getting started. Many players were still making their way to Las Vegas, and the fans who are watching the action from around the world feared not, as much more poker was to be played this summer. And
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Outside of the Main Event, the most popular tournament for players at the 2009 World Series of Poker was the $1,000 buy-in no-limit holdem “stimulus special,” the cheapest open tournament offered at the WSOP in quite some time. Its popularity let WSOP officials know there was a need for this type of tournament on a regular basis, so each weekend of the 2010 WSOP offers a $1K event with two starting days. The second one started on Saturday, June 5.The first starting day of the $1K NLHE event brought in 1,922 players, and the second added another 1,120, making for a complete registration number of 3,042. The prize pool was complete at $2,737,800, allowing for payments to 324 players and setting up the winner to receive $472,479. The
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With the continuous late nights like we’ve seen at the World Series of Poker, it’s easier and easier to see why a reported 80 percent of poker players take some kind of performance enhancing drug to battle the long nights, according to a recent university study. The coffee, energy drinks, shots, or anything else most of these poker players (not to mention the media) could get their hands on was certainly flowing during the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better World Championship, which finally finished at 4:30 a.m.This event was another example of remarkable things happening when much of the rest of the world is sleeping. The final table featured four previous bracelet winners, and nearly every name that made it to the final eight was a recognizable one. One of those names, Vladimir Shchmelev, is quickly adding his name to the list of one of the “recognizable ones.” Shchmelev made his third final table of the year, putting him barely ahead of Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi for early top candidate as WSOP Player of the Year. Remarkably, Shchmelev has made the final table in all events that are deemed “World Championship” events by the WSOP, because they have a buy-in of $10,000, or more. That accomplishment alone, three world championship final tables in one year, puts him in rarefied territory as the only man in WSOP to accomplish that feat. Making it more remarkable is that he did it just 12 days into the series.In the official wrap-up for the event, Nolan Dalla pointed out that many news outlets have been spelling Shchmelev’s name wrong. It’s my guess if he keeps making final appearance at this clip his name will soon be as easy to spell as Brunson, Negreanu, or Ivey.Despite Shchmelev, and the other big names including John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, Steve Zolotow, and Dario Minieri, being at the final table, it was business owner Frank Kassela who took down the championship. Generally the popular names bring out a big crowd, but because they were playing stud hi-lo, many spectators opted for a bed. According to Dalla, it is “because people have a hard time following hi-lo games, and many people don’t often know the rules.” Still, a fairly healthy gathering circled the feature table throughout the night, and early morning hours, when Frank Kassela finally outdueled Allan “Chainsaw” Kessler. K♦-K♥There is plenty of ac
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It was less than three hours into day eight of the World Series of Poker, but that didn’t stop the drama. Tournament directors had a tough decision regarding the $1,500 Pot Limit Holdem event. Ten levels had just completed, which is generally when tournaments wrap-up and continue the next day, except during the final table. However, they were down to just 65 players, which was just two before the remaining players made the money.
When it was announced they would be ending the tournament for the evening, many of the players disagreed, wondering why they couldn’t just finish knowing if they are going back for the next day and are officially in the money. Additionally, many questioned how angry the two short stacks, William Smith and Davis Aalvik, would be considering they would most likely have to wait all night just to bust out early the next day.
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Players who enjoy Deuce to 7 triple draw lowball generally vary their poker games regularly. They relish in learning new games and strategies, while many players stick to holdem, for example. Event 7 was set up with a $2,500 buy-in, which meant that most of the players in the tournament would be well-versed in the game, and recognizable faces would be aplenty.
All in all, the field consisted of 291 players when they gathered on June 1 for the first day of action, and they were competing for pieces of the $669,300 prize pool. Only 30 players would cash in the tournament, but the first place winner was set to receive $180,730.
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Immediately upon arriving at the Rio you could already tell it was going to be a zoo. On top of Las Vegas expecting one of their better Memorial Day weekends in recent history, it was also the start of Event #3, the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem tournament. The tournament has a lot of other names to other poker players and members of the media, including but not limited to: “donkfest,” “donkament,” and “lottery.” A $1,000 ticket is a pretty expensive lottery drawing, but when you consider it’s the cheapest buy-in offered in all of the open events, it is understandable why it gets that stigma.The event is massive. Today was the first day of the two day event and saw nearly 4,000 people sign up, before registration was closed. Registration for the event continues through tomorrow, with early estimates predicting a total well over 8,000, which would put it in the top three of the biggest WSOP events in history. Last year’s winner Steve Sung earned $771,106 which had 6,017 runners.The $1,000 may be a cheap buy-in, relatively speaking, but that didn’t mean a lot of the bigger names didn’t find their way into it. “Amarillo Slim” Preston, Humberto Brenes, Shaun Deeb, Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, and Jean-Robert Bellande are just a few of the popular players to pony up the 1k. For some, like Bellande, 1k isn’t exactly small change, as it has been very well documented of late that he is busto, as evidenced by his Twitter name, “BrokeLivingJRB.” Bellande’s plan to get un-busto during the WSOP has started off poorly, as he was eliminated before the first break of Day 1a when his bottom two pair was no match for the top two pair of an unknown player. Bellande was hoping he was going to be participating in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, but was unable to get backed, despite trying up to the last minute. One of Bellande’s Twitter followers showed his “support” by pointing out that he didn’t start the WSOP $50,000 in the hole.A♥-A♠As tournaments break down, tournament directors like to put featured tables in good sight for the media and the spectators. Today while setting up one of these sections close to where I am camped out, WSOP Media Director and author Nolan Dalla tells members of the media about an issue they are having. Dalla wants both the media and the spectators to have a good view of the main table, but pointed out that the media having a good view was of the most importance. Additionally, the barrier that separates the main tables from the others are filled with sponsors who have paid thousands of dollars to have those displays, so if you move them even slightly from where these companies expected them to be then there is some red tape to go through, which Dalla acknowledged. Eventually, a compromise of some sort was decided, with very little housekeeping having to be done, which of course makes everyone happy. Media row was quick to agree that Dalla knows what he is doing. Dalla has earned a level of respect that very few people in poker have earned, and it’s because he’s quick to involve everyone in a decision, when he could very easily deem it an “executive” decision, and do whatever he wants. Still, that didn’t stop a few members of media row from cracking some jokes, saying, “Six years and they almost got it right,” and “I’m sure they’ll have it right around 2016.” Oh well.A♠-K♠It didn’t take long for Rio to pull out the big, um, “guns.” As I walked down the massive halls towards the poker action, I spotted the first scantily clad woman handing out (and hanging out) cards. Last year I was skunked, not once being approached by any of these women, but this year started out much different. One of these ladies stepped directly in my path, even as I attempted to move over. She handed me a card good for one drink to one of the clubs in the Rio, and then pointed me into the direction of the “Bad Beat Bar” which was formerly known, albeit briefly, as the “man cave.” In a hurry I bypassed the offer, instead opting to find my seat on media row. However, about an hour later I ventured into the “Bad Beat Bar,” and it’s easy to see why they had to pull out the big guns on only day two of the tournament. Nobody was in there, except me, and another scantily clad female behind the bar.I eventually intend to ask why they hand out fliers to some people while ignoring others, but first I decided to do some spy work of my own. After about ten minutes of watching them work from a nearby bench, I couldn’t figure it out. One second they would ignore a 20-something year old guy in favor of an 80 year old, but then in the next batch of people they were ignoring almost everybody, including Erick Lindgren. I figured if Erick Lindgren was getting ignored by the hired help, then I should stop complaining about it. Still, this is not over.K♥-K♦The WSOP Academy has a number of events planned over the course of the next few weeks, but have already run into some technical difficulties. John, a man who works with the WSOP Academy but opted not to tell me what his official position is for whatever reason, said that they were having “audio-visual” troubles, so the event that was supposed to be starting at noon would be rescheduled tentatively for 4:00 pm. This particular event was a free seminar, and the special guest was going to be mindset guru Sam Chauhan.Chauhan has been associated with the poker world for a number of years, but has recently gained even more popularity with his work with poker players Antonio Esfandiari, Josh Arieh, and Mark Seif, among others. Chauhan, as John told me, is also getting more into poker as a player, planning to play “a number of events.” It will be fun to see if he can use his own advice at the poker table that he has taught others to do for the past few years.Despite his issues, John was nice enough to show me one of the seminars taking place in another room. These seminars cost $2,000, but last a couple of days with different trainers focusing on different aspects of tournament play. At that point they were working on “late stage tournament strategy” while recreating different situations. No noticeable faces immediately jumped to me. As I was getting to peer in on something that costs $2,000, I wasn’t permitted to take pictures, and after a few minutes Jeff told me it was time to go.Tonight the $500 Casino Employees event will try to wrap up, but it’s most likely they will have to finish up tomorrow. Also tomorrow is day 3 of the Poker Players Championship and the start of the Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better with a $1,500 buy-in.
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I know all the stuff going on with PokerStar's SCOOP series is pretty exciting, especially with the huge main event coming this Sunday, but wouldn't it be nice to leave the house once in a while?Even better, I know the upcoming anticipation of the World Series of Poker has you pretty excited, especially with every online poker site right now trying to get you there, but wouldn't it be nice to leave the COUNTRY once in a while?Sure it would, and PokerStars agrees and wants to help you get there.PokerStars has about as many poker tours across the world as it does sponsored players (such as Daniel Negreanu, who seemingly appears on TV every 7.6 seconds), and many of them are either just starting or in full swing.The Asia Poker Tour's fourth season begins in a week, with the Grand Casino Lisboa in Macau.The Grand Final of the Latin America Poker Tour approaches later this year in Argentina, but the next event on the LAPT is in Peru between June 1-5.There's also the United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour in Nottingham this Wednesday for the next leg of the tour's first season.
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PokerWorks and Party Poker want to send you to the World Series of Poker this year in Las Vegas and to make that happen; they have teamed up to give away a dream package to the 2010 WSOP! Get ready to do battle on the green felt from May 1st through May 31st, when you jump in the ring to fight to earn your place in the June 10th Main Event FreeRoll! Reign victorious in this FreeRoll and you will win the grand prize of a WSOP dream package that includes: your $10k WSOP Main Event buy-in, $1,500 for hotel accommodations and $2,500 in cash to spend any way you choose! On top of that, there will be $2000 cash added to the prize pool to be awarded to other finishing positions according to Party Pokers standard payout structure.
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