Tao of Poker

WPT Doyle Brunson North America Classic - Day 2

Before I begin, I must apologize for spreading horrible rumors! I inncorrectly blogged that Richard Brodie was eliminated last night. He made it to Day 2 and I'm gonna be rooting him on a lot today. Thanks to the Quiet Lion who left a nice comment on my blog telling me that he's still alive.

Last night after I completed my work for the day, I played at the Bellagio. I sat down for two hours at a $8/$16 table that included one guy in a wheelchair who could not see the flop because he had horrible eye sight. The dealer had to read out the cards to him every time. Aother guy was so drunk that he spilled drinks on the felt not once, not twice, but thrice! Then there was the hot chick who was nipping out the entire time. That's enough to get anyone on tilt. I sat next to the "cool guy toughster" who sported a barb wire tattoo and wore shades at the table. He looked like a total idiot but was actually a nice guy. Always get to know the person sitting to your left. Ask plenty of questions if you can. The better profile you can come up with, the better your chances of knowing if you have a fish, a maniac, or a rock sitting next to you.

I won $30, barely 2 big bets. I won my very first hand when I post with A-7 at the cutoff. I flopped two pair. I walked away after my A-A miraculously held up in early position. The flop had a Queen and I got two callers. The turn was a Queen and put a flush draw out there. One guy bet out. I put him on trip Queens but prayed he was jamming his flush draw. I raised, another guy folded, and the original bettor re-raised me. I considered mucking and called. The river was a blank and he bet out. I glanced at the rock hard nipples of the red head sitting across from me while she sipped on a vodka tonic and said, "Fuck it!"

I tossed out three red Bellagio chips and a blue one. I flipped over my Aces and the guy showed A-6 of hearts and said, "Great call!" He only had Ace high had a busted flush draw. I played one more hand and then racked up my chips.

When I got home, I fired up Poker Stars and played in a $10 MTT. I took 160th out of 680+. Thanks to Joanne who sweated me. Grubby came home mid-way after a rough night at Sunset Station. He saw me bluff my chips away when I had a short stack and made a move to steal the blinds with 10-2o. I ran into A-A in the blinds. That always happens to me it seems.

Here's the end of Day 1 chip count courtesy of the awesome folks at Poker Wire:

1 Chau Giang $ 208,900
2 Joe Rutledge $ 178,425
3 Arthur Rhea $ 110,025
4 Mike Gracz $ 100,925
5 Abraham "Avi" Gray $ 99,150
6 Bob Rahimi $ 97,375
7 Lew Fleming $ 95,725
8 Kevin Hong $ 95,675
9 Howard Weston $ 93,575
10 Layne Flack $ 92,550
11 Harold Singer $ 89,125
12 Reza Payvar $ 88,800
13 Scott Lundberg $ 86,050
14 Jean-Robert Bellande $ 86,025
15 Larry Etherington $ 84,700
16 Mike Matusow $ 83,025
17 Anthony Reategui $ 80,475
18 David Oppenheim $ 80,150
19 Joe Clapper $ 76,975
20 Darrell Dicken $ 76,775
21 Sam Rashid $ 76,750
22 Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson $ 76,475
23 Massoud Nikjouian $ 75,650
24 Jan Sorensen $ 73,850
25 Craig Hartman $ 73,250
26 David Kim $ 72,400
27 Jim McCrink $ 71,600
28 Damon Ahmadi $ 69,550
29 Seth Entwisle $ 67,150
30 Matthew Zambanini $ 66,800
31 Tex Barch $ 65,425
32 Philip Gurian $ 63,500
33 Neal Matthews $ 63,475
34 Andy Miller $ 62,375
35 Johnny Chan $ 62,275
36 Amir Nasseri $ 61,875
37 Bill Edler $ 61,600
38 Eskimo Clark $ 60,000
39 Wayne Lewis $ 59,725
40 Jay Cullen $ 59,275
41 Jason Gray $ 58,750
42 David Rubin $ 58,625
43 Can Kim Hua $ 58,500
44 Vasilis Lazarou $ 57,725
45 Evelyn Ng $ 56,625
46 Young Phan $ 56,500
47 William Thorson $ 55,825
48 James 'Capo' Caporuscio $ 55,050
49 Shane Shleger $ 53,975
50 Stan Wasserkrug $ 52,125
51 Mark Cole $ 51,550
52 Tom Lock $ 51,450
53 Erick Lindgren $ 50,725
54 Mark Chapic $ 50,575
55 Rodeen Talebi $ 50,000
56 Chad Moore $ 49,375
57 Kelly Zoudo $ 49,350
58 Minh Nguyen $ 49,275
59 Joseph Sanders $ 49,100
60 Lyle Berman $ 48,725
61 Barry Greenstein $ 46,925
62 Robert Mizrachi $ 46,500
63 Marco Traniello $ 46,325
64 Adam Richardson $ 45,850
65 Sean McCabe $ 45,300
66 Jordan Morgan $ 45,075
67 Howard Golden $ 44,925
68 Refugio Quintero $ 44,775
69 William Kerkaert $ 44,525
70 Adam Slutsky $ 44,375
71 Brett Zimmerman $ 43,975
72 Stephen Vansickle $ 43,625
73 Ernie Scherer $ 43,050
74 Bob Feduniak $ 42,450
75 Daniel Holm $ 42,425
76 Al Stonum $ 42,000
77 Steve Rassi $ 40,500
78 Chuck Pacheco $ 40,300
79 Bob Stupak $ 40,250
80 Tom McCormick $ 40,200
81 Mike Epstein $ 39,850
82 Herbert Montalbano $ 39,825
83 Mel Weiner $ 38,975
84 Eric Weiner $ 38,975
85 Gavin Smith $ 38,575
86 Tony Grand $ 38,000
87 Eric Kesselman $ 37,750
88 Howard Lederer $ 37,400
89 Jerry Burgess Jr. $ 37,275
90 Dan Alspach $ 37,175
91 Ron Turner $ 36,850
92 Davood Mehrmand $ 36,275
93 Jeff Brock $ 35,800
94 Meng La $ 35,750
95 Michael 'The Grinder' Mizrachi $ 35,700
96 Franco Brunetti $ 35,500
97 Jesse Jones $ 35,325
98 Tom Werthmann $ 35,225
99 Alex Brenes $ 34,375
100 Ron Faltinsky $ 34,200
101 TJ Cloutier $ 34,150
102 Captain' Tom Franklin $ 34,075
103 Andy Bloch $ 33,575
104 Harry Demetriou $ 32,800
105 Randy Lorensen $ 32,525
106 Tim Anders $ 32,500
107 Daniel Negreanu $ 32,375
108 Anthony George $ 32,350
109 Gus Hansen $ 32,325
110 John Hanson $ 32,225
111 Khanh Hua $ 32,050
112 David 'Devilfish' Ulliott $ 31,825
113 Richard 'Quiet Lion' Brodie $ 31,675
114 Alvin Zeidenfeld $ 31,525
115 Daniel Shiff $ 31,500
116 Arturo Diaz $ 31,150
117 Max Pescatori $ 31,000
118 Joe Cassidy $ 30,975
119 Alan Smurfit $ 30,725
120 Don Barton $ 30,725
121 David 'The Dragon' Pham $ 30,300
122 Bob Plonowski $ 30,175
123 Mel Judah $ 29,950
124 Robert Ozman $ 29,650
125 Robert Anastasopoulos $ 29,350
126 Lee Salem $ 29,225
127 Jake Minter $ 28,975
128 Lee Watkinson $ 28,825
129 Bill Heupel $ 28,425
130 John Pires $ 28,325
131 Wayne Boich $ 28,300
132 Minh Ly $ 28,150
133 Arnold Spee $ 27,975
134 John Myung $ 27,875
135 Alan Goehring $ 27,750
136 Abraham Tannous $ 27,400
137 Chad Brown $ 27,125
138 Daniel Clarin $ 26,850
139 Ben Gilbert $ 26,750
140 David Lloyd $ 26,675
141 Lonnie Mason $ 26,575
142 Jason Lester $ 26,300
143 Kent Goulding $ 26,150
144 Shane Douglas $ 26,025
145 Kathy Liebert $ 25,525
146 Charles McClink $ 25,000
147 Mark Gregorich $ 24,975
148 Nicholas Candela $ 24,675
149 Kristy Gazes $ 24,375
150 Blair Rodman $ 23,700
151 Neil Channing $ 23,675
152 Vinny Landrum $ 23,100
153 Vadim Trincher $ 23,050
154 Kevin 'The Man' Chan $ 23,000
155 Gerald Rhoads $ 22,575
156 Don Zewin $ 21,925
157 Jim McManus $ 21,600
158 Walter Chambers $ 21,450
159 Chris Ball $ 20,475
160 Josh Arieh $ 20,400
161 Men 'The Master' Nguyen $ 20,350
162 Seymour Guiberson $ 20,125
163 Mark Muchnik $ 19,975
164 Victor Ramdin $ 19,675
165 Richard Tatalovich $ 19,500
166 Gary Friedlander $ 19,475
167 Matt Lefkowitz $ 19,375
168 Mohammad Fathipour $ 19,025
169 Jennifer Harman $ 18,925
170 David Williams $ 18,900
171 Darren Walther $ 18,850
172 Steve Brecher $ 18,200
173 Chad Layne $ 18,150
174 Mickey 'Mouse' Mills $ 18,100
175 Mario Quijano $ 18,025
176 Michael Tate $ 17,900
177 Anthony Salinas $ 17,825
178 Adam Smith $ 17,750
179 Ronald Adams $ 17,725
180 Steven Silva $ 17,675
181 Freddy Deeb $ 17,425
182 Jorge Arias $ 17,325
183 Tony Lucci $ 17,075
184 Bryan Kim $ 16,900
185 Lee Markholt $ 16,375
186 Chris McCormack $ 15,900
187 Alan Boston $ 15,675
188 Phil Immergluck $ 15,550
189 Eric Mizrachi $ 15,175
190 Matt Zoorob $ 15,000
191 Vincenzo Beatrice $ 14,475
192 "Minneapolis" Jim Meehan $ 14,075
193 David Rabbani $ 13,350
194 Philippe Rouas $ 12,950
195 Jeff Rine $ 12,900
196 Steve Rosen $ 12,850
197 Anatole Parthes $ 12,600
198 JW Young $ 12,300
199 Bob Wenzl $ 12,225
200 David Bertolucci $ 12,175
201 Surinder Sunar $ 12,000
202 Stan Jablonski $ 11,775
203 Dan Woodward $ 11,625
204 Dan Harrington $ 11,475
205 Doyle Brunson $ 10,775
206 Jens Sjogren $ 10,275
207 Damon Ramirez $ 10,000
208 Thomas Rau $ 9,900
209 Nam Le $ 9,800
210 Daniel Alaei $ 7,850
211 Harley Hall $ 7,800
212 Bill Seber $ 6,450
213 Peter Falting $ 3,125

Yes, Chau "I Love Poker!" Giang is the chip leader. Doyle Brunson is going to have to make some moves because he's one of the short stacks. Day 2 begins at Noon with 213 players trying to win the first place prize of $1 million. Here are some tables that are going to be fun to watch today:

Table 55: Kevin "The Man" Chan, Tex Barch, Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen, David Kim, and Rodeen Talebi
Table 56: Jean-Robert Bellande, "Captain" Tom Franklin, Lyle Berman, Marco Traniello, and Gavin Smith
Table 57: Eskimo Clark, "Minneapolis" Jim Meehan, Blair Rodman, and Kathy Liebert
Table 61: Chad Brown, Doyle Brunson, Minh Nguyen, and Dan Harrington

Stay tuned for more action. In the meantime, go check out Flipchip and Curits K's pictures: here and here.

***** Live Blogging Updates *****

4:20pm... Here are some pictures that I took today:


Welcome!


Nice shirt!


Eye on the clock


The Fontana Room


Johnny Fuckin' Chan
5:03pm... Sorry for the lack of updates. The air card I'm using is kinda slow inside the Fontana Room so I'm out on the patio and every 30 minutes the water show goes off! Johnny Chan just walked past me and now he's smoking a cigar.

5:15pm... Here's the skinny. Chau Giang is still the chipleader. There are 105 players remaining. Richard Brodie, Mike Matusow, Lyle Berman, David The Dragon Pham, Josh Arieh, Marco Traniello, Jen Harman, Howard Lederer, Tex Barch, Mel Judah, Max Pescatori, Jean-Robert Bellande, Minh Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, David Williams, Devilfish, Erick Lindgren, Joe Cassidy, "Minneapolis" Jim Meehan, Evelyn Ng, Andy Bloch, Capt. Tom Franklin, and Doyle Brunson have all been eliminated. Max told me about his hand. He had a short stack and someone push all-in in front of him with a weak ace. Max had A-10 and moved all in. Eskimo Clark called with A-A!! Ouch.

5:23pm... Jen Harman, Doyle Brunson, and Daniel Negreanu are all in Bobby's Room playing in the Big Game.

5:40pm... Break is over. 104 players left. Average stack is about 80K. Chau Giang is the chipleader and Minh Ly is a close second. Right now we are on Level 9. Blinds are $800/$1600 with a $200 antes.

6:00pm... We reached the money bubble. 101 players remain.

6:14pm... We're in the money! Jesus saves the day by knocking out Kent Goulding in 101st place on the bubble. There was a possibilty that we'd be sitting here for hours during a hand-to-hand play.

6:20pm... Back by popular demand!

Last 5 Pros I Took a Piss Next To:
1. Minh Ly
2. Gavin Smith
3. Layne Flack
4. Gus Hansen
5. Lee Watkinson

7:45pm... I got comped the buffet, courtesy of the Bellagio. The sushi rocks.

7:54pm... 77 players remaining.Chau Giang is the chip leader with $295K. Steve Brecher has about $265K and Jesus has $225K. NYC's Shane Schleger was knocked out in 92nd place.

8:01pm... Bad Blood is in the house!! He's in town for a few days and he's hanging out with the media now in press row.

8:30pm... Kristy Gazes and Surinder Sunar have both been eliminated.

8:47pm... 68 players remaining. Players are going on a dinner break and will be back at 10pm. Then they will play 2 more levels before play is stopped around 1am. Since Bad Blood is in town, we will be heading to a strip club with Grubby. So I will be leaving my post here at the Fontana Room to get drunk and grope strippers. If you want updates, visit Poker Wire for chip counts or read BJ's updates at Card Player. I shall be back tomorrow. I will post a Day 2 update on Las Vegas and Poker Blog sometime later tonight, after I get that stripper's perfume off of my clothes.

4:20am... Back from Sin. Anyway, there are 39 players remaining. Here's the end of Day 2 chip count courtesy of Poker Wire:

1 Ernie Scherer $ 675,000
2 Gavin Smith $ 497,500
3 Tony Grand $ 457,000
4 Mike Gracz $ 402,500
5 Dan Harrington $ 375,000
6 Young Phan $ 362,500
7 Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson $ 359,000
8 Joe Clapper $ 323,000
9 Khanh Hua $ 287,000
10 Steve Brecher $ 276,500
11 Barry Greenstein $ 244,000
12 Thomas Lock $ 241,500
13 Jeff Brock $ 233,000
14 Darrell Dicken $ 230,000
15 Massoud Nikjouian $ 228,500
16 Jan Sorensen $ 223,000
17 Abraham 'Avi' Gray $ 223,000
18 Thom Werthmann $ 220,000
19 Don Barton $ 218,500
20 Toe Sanders $ 198,500
21 Minh Ly $ 195,000
22 Kathy Liebert $ 190,500
23 Sam Rashid $ 190,500
24 Davood Mehrmand $ 187,000
25 Arnold Spee $ 168,000
26 Bill Edler $ 154,500
27 Craig Hartman $ 144,000
28 Gus Hansen $ 143,500
29 Scott Lundberg $ 132,500
30 Neal Matthews $ 108,000
31 Don Zewin $ 92,000
32 Mark Cole $ 80,000
33 Bob Feduniak $ 78,000
34 Wayne Lewis $ 70,500
35 Jim McManus $ 57,000
36 Danny Shiff $ 55,000
37 Rodeen Talebi $ 55,000
38 Eskimo Clark $ 53,000
39 Matt Lefkowitz $ 42,000

Play resumes at Noon on Wednesday. See you then.