Event #32 $5K Omaha 8 or Better -- Event #31 $5K NL Short-Handed Event Day 2 -- Event #30 $1,500 Razz Day 2 -- Event #29 $2K NL Final Table

There are a slew of tiny pre-teen girls here at the Rio Casino for a huge National Dance Competition. They're a cross between Jon Benet Ramsey look-a-likes and those cheerleaders from the ultra-erotic Kirsten Dunst vehicle Bring It On!

Personally Las Vegas is no place for little girls running rampant through the casino. There are deviants on three-day benders stumbling through the corridors who are clutching watered-down glasses of scotch. There are hordes of grizzled gamblers chomping on stogies older than the little ones. There are degenerates with serious cash flow problems roaming the hallways. The situation here is an Amber Alert waiting to happen.

In a groggy haze, I barely made it through the front door to the convention center, only to find myself seconds away from trampling a couple of girls practicing their steps. Just a few days ago, geeky researchers with pocket protectors and starched shirts were bumping into each other and they have been replaced by perky cheerleader-wannabes. I'm positive that's not what Benny Binion envisioned would be occurring right next door to the most prestigious poker tournament in the world.

Moving on...

Insanity continues with four tournaments going on right now, including three final tables. Yeah, there will be three bracelet winners going home tonight. ESPN is scrambling to try to tape some of the Short-handed NL event, especially because there are a ton of top names let over versus the originally scheduled televised $2K NL event which has a bunch of no-names. I feel sorry for them that they are getting blown off by ESPN. They'll get some coverage, but just a few snippets of air time compared to what the suits want to see... which is a possible final table with Jesus and Doyle, who's chasing his 10th bracelet.

Here are the tournaments that I will be covering today:

1. Event #29 $2K NL Final Table
2. Event #30 $1,500 Razz Day 2 = Red font
3. Event #31 $5K NL Short-Handed Event Day 2 = Green font
4. Event #32 $5K Omaha 8 or Better = Blue font

The Razz event started with 291 players. The prize pool is $401,580 and they are down to 24 players. The $2K NL event began with 1072 players two days ago. The prize pool is $1,972,480 and we're down to a final table. The $5K NL Short-handed event began with 301 players. The prize pool is $1,414,700 and action began today with 25 players.

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

2:00pm... Razz Day 2 update: Jen Creason (from Poker Wire), Vinny Vinh, Marco Traniello, and Randy Holland are all still left. Jen went on a rush late last night and begins today 12th in chips. Action resumes at 3pm today.

2:45pm... $5K NL Short-handed update: Play began today with 25 players. Kiril Gerasimov, Derek Leforte, John Duthie, Don Mulis, Daniel Larsson, Matt Hawrilenko, John Juanda, John Kabbaj, Evan Soffer, and Ken Lennaard have all been eliminated already today. Here is who is left: Doyle Brunson, Jesus, Johnny World Hennigan, Layne Flack, Jason Lester, Men the Master, Scotty Nguyen, and Minh Ly.

3:30pm... $2K NL FInal Table update: Here's who is at the final table, including chip counts:

Seat 1: Carlo Citrone (Newcastle, England) $151K
Seat 2: Shack Ko (Naperville, IL) $287K
Seat 3: Lawrence Gosney (Leeds, England) $323K
Seat 4: Bjorn Isberg (Stockholm, Sweden) $166K
Seat 5: Tony Rila (Las Vegas, NV) $305K
Seat 6: Dustin Woolf (Los Angeles, CA) $270K
Seat 7: J.C. Tran (Sacramento, CA)$47K
Seat 8: Alan Purdy (England) $165K
Seat 9: Jarl Lindholt (Aarhus, Denmark) $437K

The media table has been moved out to the floor of the Rio while ESPN's second unit is taping the $2K event. The TV table is reserved for the Short-handed event.

4:08pm... $2K NL Final Table update: Bjorn Isberg was elimianted by Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf in 9th place. Isberg was all in with preflop with Big Slick versus Woolf's pocket Jacks. Carlo Citro folded the Hilton Sisters face up which would have won. The board was all rags and Woolf's J-J held up. Isberg won $39,450 for 9th place.

4:13pm... $2K Final Table update: JC Tran doubled up against Shack Ko. JC Tran pushed with Bog Slick and Shack called with 7-7. Shack flopped a set but JC Tran caught a runner runner straight to double up.

4:18pm... $5K Short-handed update: Johnny World Hennigan is in toruble after he doubled up Jesus a while ago and Jason Lester just now. Johnny World had the Hilton Sisters against Lester's A-K. Johnny World was doomed when a King flopped.

4:20pm... $5K Short-handed update: Johnny World hennigan was knocke out in 15th. Al Stonum took 14th place.

4:27pm... $2K NL Final Table update: Carlo Citrone finsihed in 8th place after he was shorts tacked and moved all in with 8-6o. Unfortunately, he ran into Tony Rila's pocket Aces. Citrone won $59,175 for his work.

4:45pm... $2K NL Final Table update: Tony Rila doubled up Shack Ko when he pushed all in on a flop of: 5-3-5. Shack reluctanty called and showed 9-9. He was ahead of Rila's A-J. On the turn Rila picked up a flush draw, but he didn't catch that or any of his overcards.

4:28pm... Razz update: Jen Creason was issued a 10 minute penalty for dropping an "f-bomb" at the table. She was all in against some guy and let "fuck" slip out. Since she didn't get knocked out, the guy who lost the hand wanted a pentaly put on her. During a penalty, a player is not allowed to sit at the table and the deal posts their antes.

4:58pm... $5K Short-handed update: Ferit Gabrielslson was knocked out by Doyle Brunson in 13th place. The action is down to two tables.

5:00pm... $2K NL Final Table update: JC Tran and his short stack moved all in with K-5 against Alan Purdy's Ac-8c. JC Tran caught some of the flop when a 5 hit and doubled up against Purdy.

5:05pm... $2K NL Final Table update: Alan Purdy lost another hand to JC Tran. They were both all in preflop. Purdy had A-10 and JC Tran showed A-Q. Purdy won $78,900 for 7th place.

5:05pm... $2K NL Final Table update: Alan Purdy lost another hand to JC Tran. They were both all in preflop. Purdy had A-10 and JC Tran showed A-Q. Purdy won $78,900 for 7th place.

5:11pm... $2K Final Table update: Tony Rila was shortstacked and moved all in with Ah-9h. Lawrence Grosnky called with A-5o. He caugth a 5 on the turn and knocked out Tony Rila in 6th place. He won $98,625 for his efforts.

5:15pm... Razz update: Jen Creason is living every media person's dream. She covers every event for Poker Wire and she almost made a final table at a WSOP event. She was just knocked out in 15th place. Great job, Jen for making it as far as you did!

5:35pm... $5K Short-handed update: Brad Booth raise don the button and Doyle Brunson moved all inf rom the big blind. Booth contemplated a call while the camera crews rushed over. He evntually called and showed 6-6. Doyle flipped over A-8. Doyle flopped top two pair and his hand held up. Doyle doubled up against Booth.

5:40pm... $5K Short-handed update: Brad Booth was eliminated in 12th place when he ran into Paul Kraus's Hilton Sisters.

5:45pm... Bouncin Round the Room: "The female railbirds are getting hotter," one member of the media whispered to me. Indeed. The quality of hotness is increasing every day. By the way, within a 30 foot radius, there are three tournaments going on. Razz and NL Short-handed are down to two tables and the final table of the $2K event is in front of me.

6:00pm... $2K NL Final Table update: JC Tran is on a roll. He had A-Q and moved all in preflop. Lars Lindholt called with Ac-Kc. JC Tran flopped a Queen and doubled up. Oliver from Poker News was quoted as saying, "JC Tran with another suckout." Otis blogged, "JC Tran can't lose."

6:06pm... $2K NL Final Table update: JC Tran and Big Slick pushed all in against Lawrence Gosney's 6-6. Men the Master came over and told the other railbird that Gosney was a 51.5% favroite to win. Gosney flopped a set, which silenced Tran's boisterous railbirds. Gosney doubled up and it left Tran with next to no chips.

6:10pm... $2K NL Final Table update: JC Tran still hangs on after he moved all in and flopped pair.

6:11pm... $5K Short-handed update: Jesus was crippled by Arthur Arzen. Jesus was the chipleader for a while and now he's one of the shortest stacks. Jesus had K-J and Arzen had pushed all in preflop with Q-10. Arzen hit a lucky flop when a Queen spiked. On the other table, Doyle Brunson doubled up with the Hilton Sisters. That event is on a short break.

6:20pm... $2K NL Final Table update: JC Tran was dominated and moved all in again and caught a card on the river to double up against Jarl Lindholt. He won't die.

6:30pm... $2K NL Final Table update: JC Tran moved all in with A-5 against Lawrence Grosney's Big Slick. Guess what JC Tran flopped? Yes, he flopped trips. An amazing run.

6:33pm... $2K NL Final Table update: The JC Tran show is now over. He had Jarl Lindholt dominated with K-J to K-8. Of course Jarl flopped a flush and knocked out JC Tran in 5th place. JC won $118,350.

6:36pm... $5K NL Short-handed update: Arthur Azen doubled up against chipleader Layne Flack when his pocket aces held up against Layne's K-10. Doyle is now the chipleader. Jesus and his small stack was just busted by Scotty Nguyen. He finished in 11th place.

6:45pm... $5K NL Short-handed update: Paul Kraus was elimianted in 10th place by Doyle Brunson who flopped two pair with K-J and slowplayed them. Action is down to 9 players with Texas Dolly sitting on top of a huge mountain of chips.

7:04pm... $5K NL Short-handed update: I caught a wild hand where Men the Master showed me his hole cards as I was standing behind him. Minh Ly raised all in. Doyle Brunson thought about it for a few seconds and called. Men the Master agonzied over his possible call. "If my hand hits, I win a huge pot," he said to everyone within earshot. He picked up his cards and showed it to both me and Scotty Nguyen who got up from his seat at the adjacent table to sweat. Men the Master counted up all his chips and thought for a minute before he folded Big Slick face up! Minh Ly showed Hilton Sisters and Doyle Brunson flipped over A-J. Minh Ly flopped a set and Doyle's stack took a big hit. And he's down to under $150K.

Scotty Nguyen told me he had about $130K in chips.

7:15pm... $2K NL Final Table update: I found out why Dustin Woolf is nicknamed "Neverwin". He raised preflop and LAwrence Gosney reraised. Neverwin moved all in with K-K and Gosney called with 2-2. The flop was all clubs... and Gosney held the 2 of clubs. He caught a four flush on the turn and doubled up against Neverwin, who's sporting a snazzy jumpsuit with "Neverwin" on the back.

7:20pm... Razz Final Table update: We reached a final table. Here are seating assignments and chip counts:

Seat 1: Larry Cesareo (Albuquerque, New Mexico) $39,000
Seat 2: Mick Wernick (Birmingham, England) $41K
Seat 3: Bruno Fitoussi (Paris, France) $72.5K
Seat 4: Mike Wattel (Phoenix, AZ) $70K
Seat 5: Hassan Kamoei (India, CA) $11.5K
Seat 6: Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri South Philly, PA) $70K
Seat 7: Archie Karas (Las Vegas, NV) $79K
Seat 8: O'Neil Longson (Salt Lake City, Utah) $44K

8:30pm... Bouncin Round the Room: An hour ago some guy walked up to the media area in the middle of the floor at the Rio and asked me, "How's the Redneck Riviera?" I didn't know him but he reads my blog! Pretty cool, huh? I also met Debbie, who had been reading my blog and a lot of our blogs for almost two years. She's here covering the WSOP starting tomorrow. Always cool to meet fans. She also asked about the Redneck Riviera!

Otis and I decided upon the liquid dinner and hit the bar. In true fashion he hit quads again at the video poker machine. He's the dinner break quads monster.

8:45pm... $5K Short-handed update: Steve Rosen was knocked out in 7th place, Men the Master came in 8th place and Arthur Arzen took 9th place. We've reached a final table which will start at 9:30pm and be taped by ESPN. Here who remains:

Seat 1: Scotty Nguyen (Las Vegas, NV) $254K
Seat 2: Doyle Bruson (Las Vegas, NV) $309K
Seat 3: Minh Ly (Vietnam) $305K
Seat 4: Layne Flack (Las Vegas, NV) $350K
Seat 5: Jason Lester (Miami, FL) $119K
Seat 6: Ayaz Mahmood (Houston, TX) $169K

In case you were wondering, in the writer's pool, I picked last (since I won the last one) and took Scotty Nguyen. Jay Greenspan went with Minh Ly. BJ from Cardplayer has been on a cold streak in 30 events, he has yet to pick a winner. Tonight he likes his chances of winning his first Writer's Pool with his pick, Doyle Brunson.

9:01pm... $2K NL Final Table update: Neverwin just won a pot. He was all in with K-Q against Shack Ko's pocket 8's. I turned to Heather from Poker Wire and said, "I'll bet you $1 that a king or a queen flops." She wouldn't take my action. The flop had both a king and a queen and it was all diamonds. Shack had a 8 of diamonds and had outs, but didn't catch any. So Neverwin sometimes wins.

9:30pm... $2K NL Final Table Update: Neverwin was sent to the rail by Shack Ko. Neverwin could not win with A-K against Shack's 9-9. Dustin "Neverwin" Wolfe won $138,075 for 4th place.

9:45pm... Razz Final Table update: Larry Cesareo was eliminated in 7th place and Hassan Kamoei finished in 8th place.

9:50pm... $5K Omaha Hi/Lo update: I went over to check up on Shirley who's palying in the event. At dinner break she was shortstack. When I went to sweat her, she went all in and won her hand. She's sitting to the left of Minneapolis Jim Meehan. Also at her table is Vinny Vinh and Huck Seed. Daniel Negreanu, Amir Vahedi, Cyndy Violette, and Phil Hellmuth have all been eliminated.

10:00pm... $5K Short-handed Final Table update: Action is underway. Doyle Brunson got the loudest applause... it was a standing ovation. He's trying to win his 10th bracelet. There are at least 18 gold bracelets at this final table. Layne Flack's lady friend is sitting in front of me.

10:10pm... Razz update: Mick Wernick was knocked out in 6th place.

10:16pm... $5K NL Final Table update: We had a race between Jason Lester's A-K and Scotty Nguyen's pocket sevens. Lester was still behind, but picked up some more outs with a helpful flop of Q-J-8... all spades. The turn and river did not help Lester and he was the first play elimianted from the final table. He won $67,905 for 6th place. Scotty Nguyen moved into the chip lead.

10:22pm... $5K NL Final Table update: Tonight may be Layne Flack's night. He went heads up with Ayaz Mahmood preflop. Mahmood had the Hilton Sisters while Layne showed pocket aces. Layne flopped an ace and caught qaud Aces on the river to move into the chip lead. Ayaz Mahmood finished in 5th place and won $82,055. On two consecutive hands, two players were eliminated. We're down to 4 players.

10:38pm... $5K NL Final Table update: Doyle Brunson moved into the chiplead after he took a big pot from Layne Flack who flopped top two pair. On a flop of K-J-8, Doyle had A-8 with bottom pair and called Flack's bet. Doyle caught trips on the turn to win the pot.

10:58pm... $5K Final Table update: During a break, Doyle and Layne stayed at the table and played a couple of hands of Chinese Poker.

11:00pm... $2K NL Final Table update: We're down to heads up play after Shack Ko was elimianted by Lawrence Gosney. Shack pushed all in with Ad-5d against Gosney's A-Q. Shack took home $157,800 for 3rd place.

11:30pm... $2K NL Final Table update: Jarl Lindholt moved all in with 9-8o and Lawrence Gosney called with Ad-Qd. The flop was Js-10d-5d. Gosney had a nut flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. Lindholt had an open ended staright draw. On the river, Gosney caught his Broadway straight to win his first WSOP bracelet. Jarl Lindholt finsihed in second place and $258,000. Lawrence Gosney won $483,195.


2005 $2K NL WSOP Champion: Lawrence Gosney
Congrats Lawrence!

11:45pm... $5K Omaha Hi/Lo update: 90+ players are left. Howard Lederer and Annie Duke are both still alive. Shirley Rosario went on a rush. She had just $200 and built up her stack to over $3K! And all this with Minneapolis Jim Meehan pounding Heineken's while sitting next to her. The following players have been busted: Max Pescatori, Mark Gregorich, Sammy Farha, Captain Tom Franklin, Eskimo, Mel Judah, Toto Leonidas, Thor Hansen, and Chau Giang.

11:50am... Razz Final Table update: Mike Wattel was eliminated in 5th place. He won $24,900 and made his second final table at this year's WSOP.

1:05am... $5K Omaha update: Shirley Rosario is out. She built up her stack to about $7K after she scooped a pot against Howard Lederer. But she missed a couple of big draws and ended up giving away most of her chips to Minneaplois Jim Meehan. She finished somewhere in 75th place. Also elimianted are Annie Duke, Huck Seed, Miami John Cernuto, Eli Elezra, Jesus, Berry Johnston, and Kathy Liebert.

1:17am... $5K Short-handed Final Table update: Doyle Brunson moved all in with pocket Kings against Layne Flack's A-Q. Doyle flopped a set when a King fell and he caught a full boat on the river to double up against Layne. Doyle Brunson moved into the chip lead.

1:20am... $5K Short-handed Final Table update: Laybe Flack got some of his chips back when he doubled up with 8-6o against Doyle's A-4. As I said earlier, Layne Flack's girlfriend was sitting inf ront of me and she's been turning around to ask questions like chip counts and pay out structure... all technical stuff. Anyway, Grubby is sitting in the crowd, and I had no idea he was here. I get a text message that read, "Stop flirting and get back to work!" Totally busted.

1:48pm... $5K Short-handed Final Table update: Layne Flack moved all in with the HIlton Sisters. Doyle called with A-Q. Layne Flack's Hiltons held up and he doubled up against Doyle.

2:03am... $5K Short-handed Final Table update: Doyle Brunson raised ont he button and Minh Ly and Layne Flack both called. The flop was 10c-9h-3s and Layne Flack moved all in. Brunson called and Ly folded. Flack showed Kc-10d and Brunson flipped over Kd-9c. Brunson was behind until he caught a 9 on the turn. Layne Flack's hand did not improve and he was eliminated in fourth place, He won $99,030.

2:21am... $5K Short-handed Final Table update: Archie Karas was shortstacked and was knocked out by O'Neil Longson. Karas won $30,120 for 4th place.

3:22am... $5K Short-handed Final Table update: Scotty Nguyen was short stacked and moved all in with Q-J against Minh Ly's pocket fives. Scotty didn't catch any cards and he was elimianted in 3rd place. Scotty Nguyen won $106,105. Doyle has almost a $800K chip lead over Minh.

3:50 am... $5K Short-handed Final Table update: Doyle Brunson moved all in. Minh Ly called with K-Q. Doyle showed 10-3. Doyle flopped a 3 and his hand held up. Doyle Brunson won his 10th WSOP bracelet! He won $367,800. For second place Minh Ly won $203,715.


2005 WSOP $5K NL Short-Handed Champion: Doyle Brunson
Doyle Brunson is the fuckin' man. This is just another argument why he's the best damn poker player who ever lived.

That's all I have to say tonight.

Event #31 $5K NL Short-Handed Event -- Event #30 $1,500 Razz -- Event #29 $2K NL Day 2 -- Event #28 $5K Limit Final Table

I thought someone was trying to break into my apartment. I heard screaming and loud banging up against my front door. I woke up and jumped out of bed. I grabbed the first thing I could find... my laptop... and I was ready to smash it over the head of any intruder who dared entered my sanctuary. When I ran into the living room/kitchen area I didn't see anyone. I put down the laptop and grabbed an empty bottle of beer. I found a new weapon and I was prepped for a possible home invasion.

I heard another loud "Thud!" against my front door. I reluctantly peeked through the blinds and saw a black guy lying on the ground and another guy kicking and punching him. The loud noises where the guy's head getting bashed up against my front door. The noise stopped and I heard the assiliant run away. I thought about calling the front desk to complain. It was 9:04am and I had only been to sleep for a couple of hours. I picked up the phone and told the girl who answered the phone about the fight. They said they would call the police. I tried to go back to sleep. They guy who got his ass kicked had a friend who came by a few minutes later to help him up.

"I'm gotta end this shit now. I can't have people getting a beat down at my parties," he said.

And as the cop car rolled up, they disappeared. I starred at my fake stucco ceiling trying to fall back asleep. Things had been slow at the Redneck Riviera, until last night.

Moving on...

I taped an interview with an Austin radio show called Texas Hold'em Radio, that focuses on poker. Matt Stephans is the host and due to technical problems I only appeared on one segment. It was fun and I'm enjoying doing little side projects, specifically Sean's podcast... the Lord Admiral Card Club.

I'm exhausted and today is going to be a busy day. I'm covering 4 tournaments today including Razz, which features bloggers Felicia Lee and Tanya, along with Jen from Poker Wire and Mike Sexton.

Today's tournaments include:

Event #28 $5K Limit Final Table
Event #29 $2K NL Day 2
Event #30 $1,500 Razz
Event #31 $5K NL Short-Handed Event

There were 269 players in the $5K Limit event with a prize pool of $1,264,300. The prize pool for the $2K NL event is $1,972,480 with 1072 players buying in. Last year's defending Razz champion T.J. Cloutier is playing in a another event. There are 301 players in the $5K NL Short-handed event.

****** Live Blogging Update ******

2:30pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: Here are the final table seat assignments and chip counts:

Seat 1: Joe Sebok (San Francisco, CA) $184K
Seat 2: Annie Duke (Portland, OR) $150K
Seat 3: James Kwon (Chicago, IL) $227K
Seat 4: Gabe Kaplan (Los Angeles, CA)$209K
Seat 5: Dan Schmiech (Houston, TX) $219K
Seat 6: Young Phan (Irvine, CA) $144K
Seat 7: Luke Neely (Austin, TX) $94K
Seat 8: Jeff Shulman (Las Vegas, NV)$38K
Seat 9: Greg "FBT" Mueller (Vancouver, BC) $89K

In the writer's pool.... BJ took Young Phan. I picked Mr. Kotter aka Gabe Kaplan. Heather took Joe Sebok. Jay "Big Shot" Greenspan went with Annie Duke. By the way, Heather is one of the nicest people that I get to work with every day in press row.

3:00pm... $2K NL Day 2 update: 45 players started playing today. Here who is left: Rohit Chopra, Michel Abecassis, Ronnie Jackson, Alan Purdy, Brandon Wong, Jarl Lindholt, J.C. Tran, Benjamin Lin, Morgan Machina, Ryan Larson, Barry Greenstein, Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf, Jeffrey Greenstein, L. Gosney, Marcello Del Grosso, Patrick O'Connor, Hyung "Shack" Ko , Scotty Brown, Humberto Brenes, Kendall Fukumoto, Tony Rila, Jim "Krazy Kanuck" Worth, Rob Hollink, Chris Karagulleyan, Jim Pedrotti, Warren Karp, Lance Turner, Bjorn Isberg, Mike Johnson, Carlo Citrone, Steven L. Hipes, Michael Barns, Danny Noam, Kathy Kolberg, Jonny Popper, Chad Brown, Henry Kim, Chuck McCormick, Paul Kroh, Devinfish Ulliott, Matthew Piggott, David Rubin, Richard Pace, Brian Gelbano, and Douglas Carli.

3:25pm... Razz update: Not much to report. Tanya has about $2K in chips and she described her game as "Up and down, like a yo-yo. But a good yo-yo." Felicis has about $800 left and Jen from Pokerwire is up to about $1750. Phil Ivey is sitting at the table next to me and he's getting a massage. I spotted Andy Bloch, Ted Forrest, Jean Gaspard, Doyle Brunson, and Cowboy Hoyt Corkins. Felicia ripped into me right away from the first moment I saw her. She is sitting at one of the closest tables to press row. Felicia said she was going to get sick by staring at my bald spot. She's a class act isn't she? I'm tired so I had very little patience today. I put on a hat to appease the poker queen. Now she has no excuses for busting out early.

3:31pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: With a shortstack, Jeff Shulman doubled up with pocket aces against Young Phan's A-3. Shulman now has $80K in chips

4:03pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: Greg Mueller was the first player elimianted from the final table. On the flop if Ks-7c-4s, Phan bet out, Mueller raised, Phan reraised, and Mueller called the rest of his chips and he was all in. Phan flipped over 8-8 and Mueller showed 9-9. Mueller was in the lead until Phan caught a runner-runner straight to knock him out. Greg Mueller won $25,285 for 9th place. James Kwon continued to be the chipleader.

4:10pm... Razz update: Phil Ivey is both out. Felicia is down to $500. Tanya now has $3200 and is running over her table.

4:15pm... $5K NL Shorthaned update: Howard Lederer, John D'Agostino, and Daniel Negreanu have been eliminated. Chip Jett is one of the chipleaders. Johnny World, Scotty Nguyen, Jesus, Allen Cunningham, John Juanada, Layne Flack, Erik Seidel, Erick Lindgren, TJ Cloutier, Doyle Brunson, Harry Demetriou, and Phil Hellmuth are still left. I spotted Daniel Negreanu in the cash game area.

4:30pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: Mr. Kotter put a wicked bad beat on Young Phan. Gabe Kaplan had 10-3 and flopped bottom pair. Phan had A-3 and flopped bottom pair with a top kicker. The river was a ten, and Mr. Kotter's three outer sent Young Phan home in 8th place. He won $37,930.

4:55pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: Annie Duke and her As-Qs caught a runner runner flush to knock out Jeff Shulman. He flopped top pair with KJ. Jeff Shulman was elimianted in 7th place and won $50,570.

5:00pm... Razz update: Felicia is still short stacked. She started out with A-2-3-4 and caught brick, brick, brick and lost a big pot. Jen Creason is cruising. She has $3300. Tanya had about $3000+. Oliver Tse from Poker News has been elimianted.

5:05pm... $2K NL Day 2 update: The Devilfish, Humberto, and Chad Brown have been eliminated. They are down to 27 players and Barry Greenstein lost a big pot.

6:07pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: Welcome Back, Mr. Kotter. Gabe Kaplan doubled up three times in the last fifteen minutes. He survived all in attempts each time and is still alive.

6:40pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: Joe Sebok is on a rush. He scopped a big pot and moved into the chip lead.

6:45pm... Razz update: I bumped into Dave Nunley in the hallway while he was on break in his Razz event. I also met his wife who was sweating him. Dave qualified on Full Tilt and I met him a few days ago when he was hanging out with Kim from Lips Tour. He's got $1600 left and had Marcel Luske at his table. Daniel Negreanu is sitting there now. Jen Creason has $3000 in chips. Felicia busted out.

6:50pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I spotted Antion Esfiandari brushing his teeth in the Men's Room. I also have a new list for you guys...

Last 5 Professional Poker Players I Took a Piss Next to...
1. David Williams
2. Tom McEvoy
3. Men the Master
4. Bret "Gank" Jungblutt
5. Phil Gordon

By the way, I'm starting to loathe tourists. They block up the aisle and slow down traffic when I'm trying to run from one side of the poker room to the other.

6:52pm... $5K NL Shorthanded update: Phil Hellmuth, John Bonetti, and TJ Cloutier are all out.

6:55pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: Luke Neely was short stacked and busted by Annie Duke. He finished in 6th place and won $63,215.

7:30pm... All tournament players are on a dinner break. I grabbed a double cheeseburger at the deli near the sports book. Yummy. Time for me to catch up on freelance work. Be back soon.

8:55pm... Razz update: Jen Creason is at a crazy table. She has Johnny Chan, Kristy Gazes, and her fiancee Andy Boch there. Before Johnny Chan sat down, Phil Gordon was playing at her table as well.

9:20pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: Annie Duke doubled up on two hands, once against Gabe Kaplan and the other against James Kwon. She had Hiltons on the last one agianst pocket Jacks.

9:25pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: Joe Sebok's pocket Kings doubled up against Gabe Kaplan's Big Slick.

9:32pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: Joe Sebok was knocked out in 5th place by Annie Duke. Joe had pocket 3's to Annie's K-7. Annie flopped a King and Joe's hand failed to improve. Joe Sebok won $75,860.

So how about some random pictures that Flipchip took today? Don't forget to visit his 2005 World Series of Poker photo gallery.


Layne Flack's big stack


Behind the scenes during at the TV table


Minneapolis Jim Meehan agonizes over a call while Tom McEvoy watches


What's on Daniel's iPod?
10:34pm... Razz update: 72 players left. I saw Felicia. She told me that she was knocked out int he bottom 1/3 of the field. She suspected that Tany busted sometime after the second break and before dinner. Jen Creason knocked Johnny Chan out a few minutes ago. Jen might be the first player to knock out a 10 time WSOP bracelet winner.

10:39pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: Gabe Kaplan took over the chip lead ($640K) after he won a monster pot from James Kwon who only has $200K remaining.

10:48pm... $5K Limit Final Table update: Annie Duke was shortstacked and moved all in preflop with QJ. Dan Schmiech called with A-2 and his hand held up to eliminate Annnie Duke, who won $88,500 for fourth place.

12:33am... $5K Limit Final Table update: James Kwon moved all in with AJ. Dan Schmiech called with Ah-5h and caught some of the flop with a pair of fives. Kwon's hand did not improve and he was elimianted in 3rd place. He won $113,785. Dan Schmiech has a 2 to 1 chip lead over Gabe Kaplan.

We have reached heads up play.

12:35am... Bouncin Round the Room: I'm tired, exhausted, overworked, eating horribly, drinking too much, and I starting to get a little bummed out about some personal things. During the last break, I went for a walk and on my way back, I found myself in the long corridor connecting the casino to the convention center where the WSOP was being played. The hallway was empty aand I had my head down. At the last moment I looked up and saw the angelic Isabelle Mercier sauntering my way. She cracked a smile and as I caught a wiff of her tantilizing perfume I uttered, "Bon soir."

She said the same thing back to me as her smile widened twofold. I kept walking and all of a sudden forgot about my problems.

12:54am... $5K Short-handed update: Texas Dolly has a huge stack! Look out, kids. Here is who's left: Doyle Brunson, Lane Flack, Jason Lester, John Hennigan, Men "The Master" Nguyen, John Kabbaj, Kiril Gerasimov, Scotty Nguyen, John Juanda, Allen Cunningham, Chris Ferguson, Chip Reese, and David Singer.

12:56am... $2K NL Day 2 update: We're down to a final table. Here's who will return tomorrow: Carlo Citrone, Hyung Shack Ko, L Gosney, Bjorn Isberg, Tony Rila, Dustin Woolf, J.C. Tran, Alan Purdy, and Jarl Lindholt.

1:00am... $5K Limit Final Table update: We have a winner! Gabe Kaplan was eliminated in second place. He won $222,515. Dan Schmiech won his first bracelet and $404,585.


2005 $5K Limit Hold'em champion: Dan Schmiech

Hump Day Pimp Day: Radio Free Pauly & Other Stuff

I taped my interview with Sean on Saturday live from the Rio for the Lord Admiral Card Club Radio Show and Podcast. If you don't know by now, it's the best podcast dedicated to poker in the universe. Over the last few months, I've become a huge cult figure in Canada. I'm happy to be a part of their amazing show.

Sean and Brent are working hard every week to get their podcast done (for free) so stop by and show your support.

You can download the MP3 of this week's show... Episode 32: Here. (Right click and Save As)
You can download the MP3 of last week's show... Episode 31: Here.

We discuss the third week of WSOP action including my first attempt at a WSOP event and the odds of certain players winning the main event.

The also posted a Golden Nugget, which includes a few mini-excerpts of recordings I did while I was playing in Event #22. You can download those nuggets... Here.

If you want to catch up and listen to previous episodes, please visit their archives over at Brainscat. Stop by their site and download the extra nuggets. Thanks again to Sean and Stacks for having me on.

******

Pimps Up

I've had a fun time chatting with Sherry from Let's Poker. She's a poker novice and provides a fresh account of the WSOP. Check out her stuff.

Dan from Pokerati always has unique content. He's been trying his own version of a podcast. Take a peek.

Otis appears and disappears for hours on end. I assume he's hard at work on his Poker Stars Blog. One of the best things about covering the WSOP is getting to see Otis everyday.

Don't forget to take a peek at Flipchip's 2005 World Series of Poker photo gallery. Also the Poker Prof is hard at work at the vast database of 2005 World Series of Poker tournament results. I also like his WSOP Quick Stats.

******

Foxy Pauly

I've also been cranking out a ton of poker articles for Fox Sports. If you haven't read any of them, check them out. Here are the last few:

1. Better Than an Oscar
2. Johnny Chan Wins 10th Bracelet
3. Son Rise
4. A Guy Named Charlie
5. First Impressions

Yeah, my press badge now reads "Fox News" and I get some interesting looks from time to time. I dunno if it's impressive or intimidating. Dan and I considered crossing out what the WSOP media department wrote on our badges and adding "Playboy" or "Rolling Stone" or even "High Times" which would be a fuckin' hoot!

*****

Truckin'

If you are reading this site for the first time, I also publish a monthly literary blog-zine. It's called Truckin' and I just put out the latest issue. If you like short stories, then Truckin' is the blog for you to read. And yeah, my pen name is Tenzin McGrupp.

June 2005, Vol. 4, Issue 6

1. Existentialist Conversations with Strippers, Part III by Tenzin McGrupp
I shrugged my shoulders and looked up into the desert sky. I smiled because I found myself on the bitter end of karmic payback for attending a strip club on Easter Sunday... More

2. Rainy Days and Sunny Ways by Dan Keston
Every time I travel, I come face to face with one eternal truth: getting away from your friends, family, dog, job, and the address where the post office sends your bills is great, but no matter how far you go, there is no place, however distant, that enables you to get away from yourself... More

3. Lap of Luxury by Grubby
Me, f'rinstance. I'm my own mutt, I play by my own rules. I'm a canine Jack Kerouac... More

4. How To Fuck a Donkey by Daddy
Before we go any further I think it is important that everyone know the proper way to fuck a donkey. There are several approaches, but none more efficient than this one. I prefer to call this the "Backdoor Cut" approach, but it is also known in parts of Appalachia as "Slapjacking," "Mule Greasing," and "The Old Rough n' Tumble"... More

5. Timmy by Bob Respert
Becoming the largest bookie in a state where sports betting was illegal wasn't easy. If you start at a young age and immerse yourself in the degenerate lifestyle it helps. More importantly though, you need to make nice-nice with plenty of unsavory people... More

6. Master by Kasia Klyne
I had never felt so uninhibited in my life, and I was amazed at the things I had been willing to do for him...More

Yes, I can't believe but this rag turned three years old this month! This issue represents an excellent collection of writers including two new writers; Kasia Klyne and Dan Keston. Bob Respert returns along Grubby and Daddy who are representing the poker bloggers. And I'm back with Part III of my strippers project.

I ask that if you like these stories, then please do me and the rest of the writers a huge favor: Tell your friends about your favorite stories. It takes a few seconds to pass along the URL. I certainly appreciate your support. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you know anyone who is interested in being added to the mailing list.

Event #29 $2,000 NL Day 1 -- Event #28 $5,000 Limit Hold'em Day 2 -- Event #27 $5,000 PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table

Yesterday was supposed to have a day off but I came in to cover the Final Table of the Ladies Event, which Jen Tilly ended up winning. Oh, be sure to read my recap on Fox Sports called Better Than an Oscar.

Fox Sports has been running a ton of my articles in the last ten days. Good job, guys. If you are reading my blog for the first time, I have been doing live blogging here. I contribute event recaps on Lasvegasvegas.com and Poker Player Newspaper. I also provide the majority of WSOP content for Fox Sports.

Yesterday evening I took off with some fellow media types and bloggers (Jay, Daryn, Foiled Coup, Amy, Jen, John, BJ, Otis, and Dan) to hit happy hour at a local establishment that featured $2 appetizers. For 10 people the tab was only $124 and that included tip and drinks! Man, in NYC that tab would have been over $1K.

Afterwards, Otis and Dan dragged me out to the MGM to play some poker. I wanted to stay in and write, but I sensed Otis wanted to get the hell out of the Rio so I came with. The MGM was crowded with those Red Hat Society ladies who wore purple dresses and red hats. I thought I was tripping after seeing all those weird geriatrics in exotic red hats humping slot machines.

Dan sat in a $1/$2 NL game. I snagged a $4/$8 limit seat and Otis sat down at a very loose $6/$12 table. After I got my ass kicked at $4/8, Otis suggested I sit at his table because some donkey with more tattoos than IQ points was capping bets preflop with junk. I sat down next to him and he'd show me his hands while I waited for the blinds to come around to me. With 10-7s he river'd Otis' pocket Jacks with trip sevens. Ouch. I lost a medium pot to some old lady and won a big one at that table when I flopped a set. When the table broke up, Otis and I were seated at the same $1/2 NL table.

At that table, I scooped a huge pot, worth over $700. I was up about $50 at the time. It was late and I wanted to get home. It was the last hand of the night for me and I found KK UTG. I bet $15 and got 6 callers including Otis. The flop: 7-6-3 with two spades. I fired out $100 and got two callers including an overweight red hat lady and an asian guy with a mole that had a beard which resembled one of ZZ Top's facial hair. Seriosuly, the hair from his mole almost reached the felt. It was scary. Anyway, on the turn an 9 fell and I moved all in for about $150 or the rest of my stack. The lady folded and encouraged mole man to call. That pissed me off and I snapped at her and motioned to the dealer to cut out that crap. The dealer gave her and the rest of the table a warning. I knew he was on a flush draw and I didn't want any callers. He took five minutes and eventually called. I flipped over pocket Kings and he didn't turn over his hand. When the river was a baby rag (no spade), he mucked and the dealer pushed the monster pot my way. I never saw his cards and I assumed he had just a draw. As I stacked up my chips the lady said something like, "You're leaving with all my money?" If she wasn't such an inbred turd with a big mouth, then I might have stayed. That table was filled with big fish. If I lost that pot to a suckout, I would have been livid that she goaded him into calling.

That big pot unstuck me since I arrived in Las Vegas. My cash bankroll took a hit since I moved here. I am now up a cool $100. I'm still down online and overall for the month, but heck, I'll take the nice win at the MGM.

"Aren't you glad you came out?" said Otis while he walked with me to the cashier.

He was right. I had a great time yesterday. I'm starting to enjoy myself more here. When I left Otis was still in that game and Dan was sititng at a blackjack table with a couple of hot chicks.

Moving on...

I just bumped into Hank987 and his lovely wife. He is out here for a few days and came by the Rio to say hi. If you don't know, he's an avid reader of my poker blog and we've hung out at Foxwoods before. He took 3rd in a big Foxwoods NL tournament a few months ago and part of those winning paid for this trip along with his son's summer hockey camp. You can read about his Foxwoods final table: here. He's watching the final table of the PLO w/ Reuys event.

So I shall be covering three tournaments today, including a fun final table.

1. Event #27 $5,000 PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table = Green font
2. Event #28 $5,000 Limit Hold'em Day 2 = Blue font
3. Event #29 $2,000 NL Day 1

The final table started with 134 players forking over 229 rebuys and add-ons for a prize pool of $1,765,568.

****** Live Blogging Update ******

3:00pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Here who's at today's exciting final table. The suits at ESPN must be jizzing in their pants at this final table. They don't even need Levitra to get an erection for these guys:

1 E.C. Cohen (Paris, France) $130K
2 Robert Williamson III (Dallas, TX) $153K
3 Allen Cunningham (Marina Del Ray, CA) $202K
4 Davood Mehrmand (Germany) $125K
5 Surrinder Sunar (Wolver Hampton, England) $96K
6 Phil Ivey (Las Vegas, NV) $494K
7 Phil Hellmuth (Palo Alto, CA) $114K
8 Eddy Scharf (Cologne) $150K
9 Richard St. Peter (Sault Ste. Marie, MI) $162K
10 Sigi Stockinger (Austria) $213K

The action is tough in the writer's pool. We have a record number of 7 participants. The pool is over $700. Just kidding. It's not that high. Some of us are on salary. Here's who has who in today's Media Pool:

Jen = Robert Williamson
Andy = Allen Cuningham
Heather = Davood Mehrman
Pauly = Surinder Sunar
BJ = Phil Hellmuth
Nolan = Eddy Sharf
Jay = Sigi Stockinger

4:15pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Usually final TV tables are 9 handed here at the WSOP. The tables only have 9 hole cameras. Richard St. Peter was the first player was eliminated. Phil Ivey sent him home in 10th place. On a flop of Jc-6c-5s, St. Peter moved all in with Ac-As-7s-3h. Phil Ivey called with Jh-Qc-9h-8h. Ivey was behind and caught two pair when the Qs fell on the turn. St. Peter picked up a flush draw but it didn't hit and he finished in 10th place. Phil Ivey added to his big stack.

4:50pm... PLO w/ Rebuys final table update: Davood Mehrmand knocked out E.C. Cohen. On the flop of: Qh-Jd-2s E.C. COhen moved all in with Jh-9c-6c-2h. Mehrmand called with Ad-As-Qs-3s. Davood Mehrmand caught trip aces on the river and scooped the pot. E.C. Cohen finished in 9th place and won $52,555.

5:20pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I ran over to the Full Tilt Suite for a free beer, cheese and crackers.

I heard that some cheaters are buying the black WSOP chips in the gift shop (retail value = 54 cents) and adding them to their stacks. The floor manager pulled out a few already in the second day of the limit event.

John from Poker News told me he caught a media fight in the hallway between a European film crew and one of the kids at Card Player. Damn, I missed it.

The rumors are over. Gus Hansen has arrived in Las Vegas. Here is proof.

By the way, Tony G is sitting one seat away from me in press row.

5:35pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Johhny Chan's record is safe for now. Phil Hellmuth was elimianted in 8th place. Phil Hellmuth check raised Williamson on a flop of Kh-Qh-7c. Both were all in. Hellmuth had Ah-Kd-Qd-Qs and Williamson showed Kc-Ks-5s-5h. Hellmuth's hand did not improve and he went home in 8th place without his 10th bracelet. He won $70,075.

5:45pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: In the biggest pot of the tournament, Phil Ivey knocked out Sigi Stockinger and Eddy Scharf. All three players moved all in on the flop of Qs-8s-2d. Scharf had a set of twos. Sigi had a set of Queens and Ivey had the nut flush draw. Ivey caught his flush on the turn and kncoked out both players. Phil Ivey now has almost $1 million in chips and has more than twice as much as Williamson. Eduard Scharf went home in 7th with $88,280. Sigi Stockinger was knocked out in 6th Place and won $105,935.

6:00pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Surinder Sunar was knocked out by Allen Cunningham when Cunningham flopped a straight. My pick Surinder finished in 5th Place and won $122,635.

6:30pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Allen Cuningham's attempt to win his second WSOP bracelet this year came to a halt when he was eliminated by Phil Ivey. On a flop of Qd-10d-4d, Cunningham moved all in with As-Qh-Qs-5h and a set of Queens. Ivey flipped over Ac-Kd-Qc-6d for a flush. His hand held up and Allen Cunningham finished in fourth place. He won $140,150. Three players are left and Phil Ivey is running over the table.

9:03pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I headed over to In & Out Burger with BJ and Jay. I opted to avoid cocktails at dinner since I had been drinking steadily thanks to the folks at the Full Tilt Suite. For the record, the other major online sites do not have a hospitality suite here at the Rio. I'm a whore for free beers (I tip the bartender $1) and free cheese.

I spotted both Felicia and Tanya here. They will be playing in the Razz event tomorrow.

9:10pm... $2K NL Day 1 update: 144 players are left out of 1072 entrants. The Devilfish knocked out Erick Lindgren.

10:07pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Phil IVey blew his 3 to 1 chip advantage as Robert Williamson moved into the chip lead over the last few hours. Action is still three way and momentum has swung Williamson's way.

11:00pm... Bouncin Round the Room: While the final table went on a break, I spotted Phil Ivey and one of his friends gambling on whether or not they could toss a piece of rolled up paper into a trash can. They were betting $1K a shot. His friend missed the first. He was way short. Ivey stepped up and he had the distance but missed left.

11:05pm... $5K Limit Hold'em. Mr. Kotter is on a roll after he kncoked out two players. With 17 palyers remaining he's in the middle of the pack. James Kwon is the chipleader. Annie Duke, Amir Vahedi, Gabe Kaplan, Young Phan, Joe Sebok, and Jim Miller are all still left.

11:35pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: After about two more hours of three way play, Williamson coughed up the lead. Phil Ivey got the chip lead back, while Davood Mehrmand quietly jumped into second place.

11:52pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I was in the hallway chatting with Otis and Dan when I spotted Amir Vahedi smoking a cigar. I asked him how many chips he had left.

"Enough," he responded. He asked to see a copy of Card Player Magazine that I had in my hand. He wanted to see the Player of the Year standings. He looked disappointed to see his name in 6th.

"By the end of tonight, I'll be back in the Top 3," he assured me.

1:00am... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Phil Ivey just knocked out Davood Mehrmand in 3rd place. Davood flopped an open ended straight draw and Ivey just had top pair. Davood's hand failed to improve. Mehrmand hung on and played tough for several hours. He was up against two tough players... Robert Williamson is considered one of the best PLO players in the world and Phil Ivey is one of the best cash game players in the world. Davood won $194,210 for his efforts. Phil Ivey has over a $900K chip lead.

1:19am... Erick Lindgren photo of the day... for April.

1:34am... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Robert Williamson just doubled up against Phil Ivey. Williamson's Ace high flush was better than Ivey's King high flush.

1:45pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: After winning a big pot the hand before, Phil Ivey flopped a straight. Robert Williamson was all in and he had only two outs to help him. Unfortunately, he could not catch any of them. Robert won $353,115 for his runner up finish. Phil Ivey won $635,603 and his fifth WSOP bracelet.


2005 $5K PLO w/ Rebuys Champion: Phil Ivey

Congrats Phil!

Event #28 $5,000 Limit Hold'em -- Event #27 $5,000 PLO w/ Rebuys Day 2 -- Event #26 $1,000 Ladies Event Final Table

I should be sleeping and dreaming about leggy lingerie models downing shots of tequila with me at a beachside bar in Virgin Gorda. Alas, I'm back in press row at the Rio with the rest of media folks ready to cover the conclusion of the Ladies Final Table. The powers to be stopped play around 4:10am earlier this morning and now action resumes at the TV table. ESPN's second unit is taping this for the archives. I dunno when it will be aired.

Monday was supposed to be a blow off day where I was going to try to pick up strippers at the spa are at the Redneck Riviera or catch up on writing. After last night's crazy schedule where I covered four tournaments and three final tables, I was anticipating a day off. Nope. No such luck.

I got about three hours of sleep after staying up until the wee hours crafting two final table updates and an article for Fox Sports while most of you were sleeping or on their way to work. Ah, I'll catch up on sleep after the main event.

To make matters worse, I haven't been reading my favorite poker blogs (I'm an admitted skimmer these days... please for the love of Buddha stop posting hand histories or bad beats) or my daily newspapers or my gossip rags like I'm used to. I've also stopped reading my former internet crush's blog. I haven't seen her nipples in weeks. I've been living in a bubble here. At least I get to leave the Rio. Otis and Jay Greenspan technically live upstairs and I dunno if they have stepped outside in weeks. Plus I'm getting a heavy amount of email from new readers, bloggers, spammers, and shills alike which has been backing up over the last three weeks. If I haven't answered your email... please understand than I have less than twenty minutes a day to sort through it all. Oh and if you have a new blog and want a link up, you'll have to wait until after the WSOP before I can even begin to tweak my blogroll.

However, make sure you go read my brother Derek's poker blog. He's been posting quality content out there since he's gotten back from Vegas. I chatted with Iggy today and he said that Derek is posting his best stuff to date. I agree.

And you have to go visit the blog of the Boy Genius. He has serious self esteem issues and if he doesn't see a spike in traffic, he bitches and moans about it. Yes he's a special needs blogger, so go stop by and stroke his ego on the day after his birthday.

Day 2 of the PLO w/ Rebuys is going on with some big names still alive in that event. Plus Day 1 of the $5K Limit event started. My coverage on both will be light. I'm only here today to cover the Ladies event and to snag a few free cocktails from the Full Tilt Suite.

****** Live Blogging Update *******

3:41pm... Ladies Event Final Table update: Here's who is left:

Seat 1: Jennifer Tilly (Harbor City, CA) $ 449.6K
Seat 2: Ann Le (California) $ 88.6K
Seat 3: Cecilia de Mortensen (Madrid, Spain) $ 36.3K
Seat 4: Carolyn Ancheta (Washington State) $ 31.5K

4:00pm... Ladies Final Table update: Both Cecilia Mortensen and Carolyn Ancheta doubled up against Jen Tilly in early action.

4:10pm... Ladies Event Final Table update: Cecilia de Mortensen was knocked out by Ann Le in 4th place. Cecilia had 99 but Ann Le flopped the Wheel with A-3 on a board of 4-2-5. Cecilia de Mortensen won $38,220 for her efforts.

4:16pm... Ladies Event Final Table update: Jen Tilly called Carolyn Ancheta's all in bet. Carolyn had KJ and Jen showed A7. The flop was A-8-7 and Carolyn's hand failed to improve. She won $43,680 for third place. We reached heads up play!

Here are some random pictures of today's final table courtesy of Flipchip. Don't forget to go visit his 2005 WSOP Photo Gallery. I have seen plenty of these images posted/stolen/borrowed on other poker blogs and websites without proper credit given to him. The Poker Prof and Flipchip and myself don't mind if you want to use his photos. In fact we're all flattered. But please give Lasvegasvegas.com credit for their hard work and providing many of you free masturbation material.


Carolyn Ancheta and Ann Le


Cecilia de Mortensen and Jen Tilly

Here are some scenes from the PLO Day 2 event:


4:43pm... Ladies Final Table update: Jen Tilly won her first bracelet. She pushed all in with A7 versus Ann Le's KJ. Congrats to Jen. "This is better than an Oscar. I'm hooked on poker. I'm not going to stop playing until I lose all my money," she said during her acceptance speech.


2005 WSOP Ladies Champion: Jen Tilly10:00pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Day 2 update: Action is down to two tables. Doyle has been knocked out. Here's who remains: Ram Vaswani (chipleader), Toto Leonidas, Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey, Avi Freedman, Phil Hellmuth, Robert Williamson III, E.C. Cohen, Bruno Jais, Edgar Skjervold, Joel Mick, Sigi Stockinger, Tony G, Ross Boatman, Richard St. Peter, Surinder Sunar, Eddy Scharf, Davood Mehrmand, and Mickey Appleman.

Phil Hellmuth is looking to make his first final table at this year's WSOP.

Congrats to Johnny Chan!!!


While all of you were sleeping, Johnny Chan made history and won his 10th WSOP bracelet. Read all about the long, strange trip below in the Sunday Live Blogging recap along with the four other events I covered.

A full recap was posted over at Fox Sports. Take a peek at the article I wrote called Johnny Chan Makes World Series of Poker History with 10th Bracelet.

WSOP iPod: Phil Hellmuth

I bumped into Phil Hellmuth a few minutes before the John Bonetti roast here at the Rio. Phil is a tough guy to get one-on-one time with. I was going to ask a few other players before Phil, but since he was their, I siezed the moment. I got up the courage and said, "Fuck it!" and stopped Phil

I asked for an interview. He seemed uninterested. I told him it was just a single question interview, specifically, "What's on you iPod?"

He was about to walk away and stopped in his tracks and perked up.

"Sure," he said.

He told me that his 15 year-old son uploaded a lot of rap and hip hop onto his iPod. He likes 1980s music and said he enjoyed some of the rap. I thought he was fucking with me but he insisted that he dug it. He also said he purchases the "Top 100 Songs" from iTunes so he can figure out what people like these days.

What's on Phil Hellmuth's iPod?
1. Jay-Z
2. 50 Cent
3. Jay-Zee with Linkin Park
4. Nirvana
5. Styx

Event #27 $5,000 PLO w/ Rebuys --- Event #26 $1,000 Ladies Event -- Event #25 $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em Day 2 -- Event #24 $2,500 NL Final Table

What the hell am I doing up before 11am on a Sunday in Las Vegas? Ah, it's the Ladies Event here at the World Series of Poker. Time to put on some clean clothes, slick back the hair, splash on a little cologne, and bust out the camera to take pictures of my favorite female poker players in action. Heck, today is so special even Mike Palle showered.

I forgot to tell you that I ran in Duggle Bogey! Yeah, I met me another blogger here at the Rio.

Tanya is playing along with Jen from Poker Wire. I didn't see Shirley yet, but I'm sure I'll spot her. I've spotted Clonie Gowen, Liz Lieu, Cyndy Violette, Kathy Leibert, and NYC's own Karen Janowsky. Yeah, women from all over the world have converged upon Las Vegas in pursuit of a bracelet. This is the first year the event was moved to a No Limit format.

Here is a quick photo gallery of pictures from the Ladies Event courtesy of Flipchip. Don't forget to check out his 2005 World Series of Poker photo gallery.


Jen from Poker Wire


Tanya


Shirley the Poker Babe in action


Isabelle "When I dream, I dream of Mean Gene" Mercier


Two-Time WSOP Ladies Champion: Susie Isaacs


Liz Lieu


The Wives: Karina Jett & Cecilia Mortensen


Jen Tilly


Kathy Leibert's side peek


Cyndy Violette


Random Blonde (Editor's note: her name is Lacey!)

You can click on the pictures to enlarge. If you want to use any of the images, be sure to give proper credit to Flipchip and Lasvegasvegas.com. Now I need to go grab an eye-opener cocktail and wake up Otis.

OK so today is an insane day. Four tournaments. Three final tables. Mass hysteria. Here is what I'm covering today:

Event #24 $2,500 NL Final Table
Event #25 $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em Day 2 = Blue font
Event #26 $1,000 NL Ladies Event = Red font
Event #27 $5,000 PLO w/ Rebuys = Green font

Man, I'm super swamped today.

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

12:20pm... Ladies Event update: I'm pretty sure that Jen from Poker Wire is no longer a fan of the Hilton Sisters. She was busted when she a flopped a set with pocket Queens. She ran into someone who flopped a set with pocket aces. Ouch! She's out. Tanya is looking good. She's the table chipleader. With Jd-10d she flopped trips with a board of 10-10-6. She caught a full house on the turn when a Jack fell and a club flush was filled in by the river. She came out betting on the river, got raised, she re-raised, and someone moved all in on her. Tanya happily called and won with a bigger full house. The gal she knocked out had pocket 6's and slow played her flopped boat. Oooomph! Tanya knocked her out.

1:13pm... Ladies Event update: It's break time and Tanya has about $2600 in chips. She said that she was surprised that the field has not been thinned out as much as she anticipated. Alot of weak-tight players out there and everyone seems to be playing tenative. I found Shirley and she's got $6000! She got action on her pocket Kings and moved all in ona flop wit a Queen. KQ and QJ called her. I found out that Clonie Gowen was elimnated early when her KK ran into pocket aces.

1:49pm... Ladies Event update: How about a chip count?

Shirley Rosario: $4700
Tanya Peck: $3100
Isabelle Mercier: $1600

A couple of railbirds saw me walk up to Isabelle to ask for a chipcout. When I walked passed them, they joked, "What happened? No double kiss from Isabelle?" Yeah, they've been reading my blog! Pretty cool, huh? Of course, I'm gonna lie to Otis and tell him that Isabelle gave me multiple double kisses.


Isabelle's derriere
2:22pm... Ladies Event update: How about a chip count?

Shirley Rosario: $2800
Tanya Peck: $7600
Isabelle Mercier: $1100
Liz Lieu: $3500

Shriley ran into Patty's pocket Kings and lost a big pot. Tanya doubled up against a friend of hers who sat down at the table with a big stack.

2:33pm... Ladies Event update: Last year's ladies event attracted only 201 players. This year we have a whopping 601 participants. I think the NL format got more players in. First place will pay out $158K. Top 54 spots will make the money.

So the railbird who read my poker blog is named Kim and she's part of Lips Tour, which is the Ladies International Poker Series. It's a poker tour for women, both online and in live venues.

Kim introdcued me to Lupe who was knocked out after she flopped a full house with the big blind special. She lost to a higher boat on the turn. Anyway, both are great ladies and now I'm giving them a shout out. The following the WSOP circuit and their group participates in all of the ladies events.

2:59pm... Ladies Event update: How about a chip count?

Shirley Rosario: $1000
Tanya Peck: $8400
Isabelle Mercier: $900
Liz Lieu: $3200
Kathy Leibert: $12K

Kathy was just moved to Shirley's table with a monster stack. There are about 199 players remaining.

Here's a quote from Felicia: "Go tell Tanya I said to go win this one, then stand up and give a speech about how demeaning women's events are, and how they should be banned!"

3:15pm... Ladies Event update: Tanya was just knocked out by a river suckout. Tanya had about $8000 in chips and I think her KK lost to AQ. The flop was Q-x-x and pocket jacks folded to Tanya and the lady with AQ who moved all in. She caught an ace on the river and in a classless move was hootin' and hollerin' with her railbirds instead of realizing she just let rip a serious suckout. Tanya didn't say anything and quietly leftthe table. She should have went off into a Hellmuthian rant, but she's got class. I don't even think the suckout queen bothered to shake her hand because she was celebrating excessively.

Here's a chip count:

Karina Jett: $3625
Shirley Rosario: $3600
Kathy Leibert: $8000

Shirley's AK doubled up against A-10. Kathy Leibert's big stack took a bad beat when her KK ran into JJ and someone caught a two outer on the river. Isabelle Mercier and her short stack were eliminated.

3:35pm... PL Hold'em Day 2 update: Today's action starts with 20 players. I think there's going to be a final table for this event today... which makes 3 final tables that I will be covering. Yikes. Here is who's left: Ashok Surapaneni, Frank Kassela, Hartmann, Unabomber, Mark Muchnik, Stuart Fox, Ivo Donev, Mimi Tran, Jerri Thomas, Humberto Brenes, Richard Harroch, Johnny Chan, Darrel Dicken, T J Eisenman, Michael Keiner, Paul Wolfe, Richard Osborne, Joe Monro, Terrance Chan, and Trang (Tracy) Phan. SOme quality names, eh?

3:40pm... $2,500 NL Final Table update: ESPN is taping this event. Here's the final table plus chip counts:

Seat 1: Joe Zappia (Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada) $247K
Seat 2: Larry Watson (Las Vegas, NV) $59K
Seat 3: Glynn Beebe (Ausitn, TX) $242K
Seat 4: Mayen Grigorian (Northridge, CA) $112K
Seat 5: KJ Jordan (Myrtle Beach, SC) $368K
Seat 6: Lars Bonding (Aarhus, Denmark) $818K
Seat 7: Jason "Chip Burner" Tate (Brentwood, TN) $391K
Seat 8: Farzad Bonyadi (Los Angeles, CA) $315K
Seat 9: Robert Doyle (W. Palm Beach, FL) $87K

Actions tarted a little late. This is virtually a table of no-names.

4:20pm... Ladies Event update: Shirley Roasario was knocked out with pocket tens. The flop was 8-x-x and she ran into pocket eights! She finsihed about 120 place.

4:45pm... $2,500 NL Final Table update: Larry Watson was the first player eliminated from the final table. Joe Zappia moved all in with A-10 and Larry Watson had pocket 8's. Zappia flopped a ten and his hand held up. Larry Watson was finsihed in 9th place and won $48,575.

5:00pm... $5K PLO w/ Rebuys update: I spotted Phil Hellmuth arriving at least an hour and a half late to his event. He just doubled up. Max Pescatori is out and opted not to rebuy. Scotty Nguyen, David Williams, Eril Seidel, Hassan Habib, and Devilfish are all sitting at the same table about five feet from where I'm sitting with Otis.

5:10pm... $2,500 PLH Day 2 update: We're down to 12 players. Paul Wolfe and Darrel Dicken were both knocked out by Humberto Brenes who now had about $315K.

5:30pm... $2,500 NL Final Table update: K.J. Jordan pushed all in with Kd-Qd. Lars Bonding called with pocket fives. On the turn, Jordan picked up a flush draw, but it missed on the river. K.J. Jordan was eliminated in 8th place and won $72,865.

5:47pm... $2,500 NL Final Table update: Robert Doyle doubled up with AK against Joe Zappia's AQ. On the next hand, Mayen Grigorian doubled up against Lars Bonding.

6:10pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I chatted with Jan Sorensen's manager Klaus, who happens to be Gus Hansen's manager as well. I flat out asked him where the Geat Dane Gus Hansen was hiding. He told me that Gus was not going to show up before the main event and was currently in Denmark playing golf and drinking with his buddies. I wandered over to the Full Tilt hospitality suite, grabbed a free beer, and chatted with Perry Friedman for a while. He told me that his wife was still in the ladies event and that she qualified for a main event seat online via a Full Tilt free roll. Michelle, the lovely PR director, handed me an invite to a Full Tilt bash next week at La Bete (which is at the Wynn). I spotted Clonie Gowen sitting next to Doyle Brunson in the PLO w/ rebuys event.

6:35pm... PLH Final Table update: We've reached a final table after Terrance Chan and Stuart Fox were knocked out. Here are seating assignments and chip counts:

Seat 1: Jerri Thomas (Hamilton, OH) $64K
Seat 2: Tony Hartmann (Minneapolis, MN) $195K
Seat 3: Richard Osborne (Martinez, CA) $55K
Seat 4: Johnny Chan (Las Vegas, NV) $70K
Seat 5: Ivo Donev (Austria) $50K
Seat 6: Frank Kassela (Germantown, TN) $169K
Seat 7: Richard Harrich (San Francisco, CA) $75K
Seat 8: Humberto Brenes (Costa Rica) $127K
Seat 9: Phil Laak (Dublin, Irleand) $83K
Seat 10: Ashok Surapaneni (Las Vegas, NV) $173K

Yes, the second final table for today has begun. And Johnny Chan, minus his lucky orange, is gunning for his 10th bracelet. I noticed that Doyle, Johnny, and Chau Giang are all wearing "Doyle's Room" golf shirts.

7:20pm... $2,500 NL Final Table: The action slowed down a little bit and Lars Bonding has slowly given away some of his chips, despite the fact he still has more than one million. Jason "Chip Burner" Tate and his J-10 was knocked out by Joe Zappia with As-6s. Zappia ended up winning with ace high. "Chip Burner" was knocked out in 7th place and he won $97,150.

8:15pm... Bouncin Round the Room. Aside from the Ladies Event, all three other tournaments are on their dinner break, which were extended so everyone can attend the John Bonetti roast across the hall. Bonetti is Felicia's least favorite player and my only John Bonetti memory was watching Ron Rose rip Bonetti's page out of his book at the WPBT breakfast meet and greet before the first ever blogger's tourney. I hit up the buffet with Jay Greenspan and Dan from Pokerati. I thought the Swedish Meatballs were tasty. They had bacon wrapped scallops, crab stuffed mushrooms, and some sort of gourmet pork chops. I hit the bar and listened to Mike Sexton roast Bonetti. He told a few funny stories. Max Shapiro had a good one about seeing Bonetti playing video poker and cursing, "I'm getting cold decked by a fuckin' video poker machine!"

Clonie Gowen bummed a cigarette off of Dan and I ran over here to blog about the meatballs. On my way back, I spotted Antonio playing in a $25/$50 cash game and he had railbird six deep watching his table. I couldn't get close enough to see who else were there.

Dan told me, "most surreal night at the world series ever."

Yeah, it's been strange. I wish I had a few hits of liquid sunshine. By the way, every time I see Scotty Nguyen, he's with a different girl. "All you can eat!" as Men the Master would say.

8:20pm... PLH Final Table update: Ivo Donev was eliminated in 10th and he won $11,730. Phil Laak double dup with pocket aces against Ashok Surapaneni's Big Slick. Johnny Chan crippled Humberto Brenes when his AK didn't improve against Chan's 66. Humberton Brenes finished in 9th place after he was busted by Richard Osbourne. Humberto won $19,550. Ashok Surapaneni moved all in with A-10 against Frank Kassela's Hilton Sisters. Surapaneni didn't catch any cards and he was knocked out in 8th place. He won $29,325.

8:55pm... PLH Final Table update: With seven players remaining, Frank Kassela is the chipleader. Jay Greenspan and I were amused with Phil Laak's table antics. At one point after he won a pot, he offered to show his cards for $4. Johnny Chan said he would and he flipped over AK. He then pestered Chan for the money. Chan's smallest bill was a five and Laak gave him change. This table is far more exciting than the "taped final table" and I will be shifting my coverage to that. Fuck, if Chan wins his 10th bracelet, I wanna witness it.

9:25pm... $2,500 NL Final Table Update: Joe Zappia was all in preflop against Robert Doyle. Classic conforntation with Zappia's Ac-Kh versus Doyle's JJ. The flop was all rags and Zappia caught an ace on the turn. In dramatic fashion, Doyle spiked a Jack on the river to make a set. He knocked out Joe Zappia in 6th place. He won $121,440.

9:37pm... PLH Final Table update: Robert Osborne likes pocet nines. He moved in with them on two consecutive hands. The first one he was seriously shortstacked and Phil Laak called with 8-7o. He flopped a 7 with an ace high on the board. Laak caught an eight on the turn to take the lead. On the river, an ace fell which paired the board and gave the lead back to Osborne. On the next hand, he double dup against Rich Harrich's Big Slick.

9:41pm... $2,500 NL Final Table Update: Mayen Grigorian's short stack was elimated by Lars Bonding's big stack when he caught a flush on the river. For fith place, Mayen won $145,730. We're down to four players.

9:50pm... Ladies Event update: I'm pretty sure we're almost in the money and we're down to the final six tables. Jen Tilly is still alive.

9:56pm... PLH Final Table update: Phil Hellmuth came over to talk smack with Phil Laak and Johnny Chan. He knows that Chan has a shot at his 10th bracelet tonight and was trying to get him on tilt. Phil Laak rushed to Chan's rescue and tooled on Hellmuth. He said, "If it weren't for luck you'd win every time, right Phil?" The folks on the rail burst out with laughter and Phil quietly returned to his game.

10:18pm... $2,500 NL Final Table update: Robert Doyle was shortstacked and moved all in with 7-5o. Bonyadi called with Kc-10h. Doyle flopped a pair, but Bonyadi caught a King on the turn to take the lead. DOyle was knocked out when his hand did no timprove on the river. He finised in fourth place and won $170,015.

10:40pm... PLH Final Table update: Is this going to be Johnny Chan's night? Richard Harroch and his short stack moved all in with AJ. Chan called with 44. Harroch outflopped Chan with J-8-5. On the turn, Chan picked up a gutshot straight draw. On the river a 6 spiked and Chan eliminated Harroch in 7th place. On the next hand Richard Osbourne went all in with 22. Johnny Chan called with Kc-10c. Although Chan flopped a King, Osbourne flopped a set. His hand held up and he doubled up against Johnny Chan.

10:47pm... PLH Final Table: Phil Laak has his shoes off and his hoodie is half on and half off. He knocked out Tony Hartmann in 6th Place. Laak flopped a set with pocket tens and Hartmann moved all in with the Hilton Sisters. Hartmann's hand failed to improve and he was elimianted. Hartmann won $48,175. Johnny Chan is currently third in chips out of five remaining players.

11:00pm... PLH FInal Table: Phil Laak had a tough decision to make. He was second in chips and Robert Osbourne moved all in. Laak had "The Kournikova" a.k.a. KQo. He eventually called saying, "If I win it's a great call. If I lose, I still have chips."

Osbounre showed Ah-Th and flopped an ace with two hearts.

"This is what 4% feels like," added Laak to his running commentary of the hand. When another ace fell on the turn, he was drawing dead.

Johnny Chan said, "Zero."

Laak agreed, "This is what zero percent feels like."

11:07pm... PLH Final Table update: Jerri Thomas was eliminated by Richard Osbourne in fifth place. She was shortstack most of the final table and held on. She pushed with A8 and was called by Osbourne's A-10, which held up. Jerri won $58,560. The audience at the final TV table has cleared out. Everyone is watching Johnny Chan try to win his 10th bracelet. He's the best player at his table, but he's only 3rd in chips with 4 players left.

11:10pm... PLH Final Table update: Phil Laak won a big hand preflop and he offered to show his hand to the other players for $4. He extended toe offer to the rail. Jon from Pokerlistings.com and I both chipped in $2 each and the Unabomber showed us Ac-Jc. That was the best $2 I spent all day.

11:22pm... PLH Final Table update: Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson stopped by the rail to check on Chan's progress. If Johnny Chan wins, he'll hold the record for most WSOP bracelets. ESPN producers stepped in and sent the players on a break until Midnight. Johnny Chan is chasing history, they would like to televise the moment, especially since the ever voluble Phil Laak (who's an admitted TV whore) is also at the table. Hopefully, the current TV event ($2,500 NL) will end soon since they are down to three players and one with a short stack. I liken this situation to a blowout in a college basketball game and they cut away from the main game to show a more exciting and competitive game. It's also like seeing ABC air a shitty Monday Night Football game because they made the scheulde six months in advance and had no idea that their matchup would not be as interesting as other games. ESPN's hard on for No Limit events fucked them tonight. They almost deserve the headache they have for blowing off a Pot Limit Hold'em event in favor of No Limit. Seriosuly, this is one big clusterfuck. Three final tables. Four tournamnets. A John Bonetti Roast. And I haven't had a cocktail in hours.

11:50pm... $2,500 NL Final Table update: We're now heads up after Glynn Beebe was knocked out by Lars Bonding. Beebe has J-9o and Bonding had pocket tens which held up. He takes home $194,305 for third.

12:01am... Ladies Event update: According to Amy Calistri, the Ladies Event is down to 13 players. Jen Tilly is still alive and she's looking pretty good. If you don't know, Jen Tilly and Phil Laak are an item. Yeah, she's Unabomber's gal. How weird would it be if they both made a final table... at the same time?

12:26am... PLH Final Table update: Robert Osbourne raised UTG to $42K. Johnny Chan went over the top for $60K more. The blinds folded and Osbourne thought for a while. He mucked Jacks and showed. Johnny Chan took down a huge pot.

12:30am... PLH Final Table update: Johnny raised preflop. Frank Kassela reraised. Johnny Chan moved all in with the Hilton Sisters. Kassela called with pocket aces. Chan slowly counted out his chips. He was covered by Kassela. The flop was: K-K-Q. The railbirds went a little crazy. I was in shock. The turn and river were were blanks and Johnny Chan cracked aces with the Hiltons! I guess I owe him a Pauly Painting. Johnny Chan moved into the chiplead.

12:34am... PLH Final Table update: Frank Kassela was elminated by Phil Laak in 4th place. Kassela won $68,425. Johnny Chan has a $400K chiplead over Phil Laak.

12:51am... PLH FInal Table update: Phil Laak knocked out Richard Osbourne in 3rd place. Laak raised and Osbourne re-raised all in. Laak took forever to make a decision. He kept running the math over and over in his head. Phil Laak eventually called with K-T. He got no help until the river. He uttered, "This is what 6% feels like." Then a ten spiked. The railbirds went a little crazy. Laak fell on the floor and Osbourne looked shocked. Jen Tilly ran over and gave Laak a kiss. Osbourne won $78,200 for his excellent work at the final table. We reached heads up and Johnny Chan has the chip lead.

1:00am... ESPN made an executive decision to halt the heads up play until the $2,500 NL event is over. They will then move the match to the official TV table so they can get better coverage including the usage of hole cams. Phil Laak and Johnny Chan ae on a break until further notice.

ESPN interviewed Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson. Both guys are still playing in the PLO w/ Rebuys event. Phil was yapping about how he never roots against anyone because he does not believe in negative things and expending negative energy. He spoke for several minutes about his philospohy and the interview took a really deep tone. Doyle just stood there with a shit eating grin on his face. When they asked him what he thought about Chan possibly breaking and setting a record he said, "I'm rooting for Johnny. He's my friend and he's a great player."

On my way over to the store in the casino I spotted a guy runing at full speed toawards me in one of the long hallways leading up to the main casino floor. He looked like the Unabomber and as he got closer, I realized it was him! He was running full out with a bottle of water in his hand. I assumed he was rushing back to sweat his girlfriend Jen Tilly in the Ladies event.

1:30am... Ladies Final Table update: Seven players are left and Jen Tilly has the chip lead. Here's who is also left: Theresa Chan, Angel Wood, Carolyn Ancheta, Cecilia de Mortensen, Ann Lee, and Susan Carpenter. Beth Shak finished in 8th place, Janice Newman took 9th place, and Wendy Rosen was eliminated in 10th place.

1:40am... Bouncin Round the Room: I've been drinking a lot of water today. Alas, I've been pissing a lot too.

Last 5 Professional Poker Players I took a Piss Next to...
1. Jesus Ferguson
2. Greg "Fossilman" Raymer
3. Howard Lederer
4. Paul Darden
5. Hoyt Corkins

1:45am... PLO w/ Rebuys update: I haven't mentioned this event in a while. They are down to 52 players on 6 tables. Scotty Nguyen, Clonie, John Ohan, Devilfish, Hellmuth, Doyle, Lederer, Cyndy Violette, Seidel, Ram Vaswani, Robert Williamson, Evgeny Kafelnikov, and Phil Ivey are still alive.

2:01am... $2,500 NL Final Table update: After two hours of heads up play, we have a winner! Farzad Bonyadi won his third bracelet after he eliminated Lars Bonding's Q-10 in second place with K-6. Bonyadi flopped a King and his hand held up. Bonding won $156,400 for his efforts. Farzad Bonyadi won $303,025. Congrats to Farzad Bonyadi.

Now it's time to see if Johnny Chan can make history.

2:55am... PLH Final Table update: Johnny Chan made history tonight. He won his 10th WSOP bracelet and became the first player in history to achieve the honor. On the 16th hand of heads up play, Phil Laak raised to $30K. Johnny Chan reraised to $92K. Laak agonized over the call and eventually moved all in. He flipped over K-J. Johnny Chan showed... the Hilton Sisters! Although Laak flopped a Jack, his hand did not improve. Johnny Chan embraced his son after he won. His son showed the "lucky orange" which Johnny placed on the table. I got to sit in the front row to witness this amazing feat.


2005 $2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em Champion: Johnny Chan
4:20am... Ladies Event Final Table: Here's who is left: Jennifer Tilly $450K, Ann Le $89K, Cecilia de Mortensen $36K, and Carolyn Ancheta $32K. Play will resume at 3pm on Monday on ESPN's TV table. I have no final decision whether or not it will be taped. However, I expect at least the "second unit" to be shooting some footage and if it's at the final table, perhaps the hole cams will be utilized.

Angel Word came in fifth place and won $32,81. Jen Tilly's 77 cracked Teresa Chan's Hilton Sisters when Jen caught a runner-runner straight to bust her. Susan Carpenter finished in 7th place and won $21,840. Her AQ lost to QJ.

ESPN gave the option to the ladies of quitting for the night but some of them declined and wanted to play through. It wasn't until it got 4 way that the remaining players agreed at around 4:15am to stop play and come back Monday afternoon.