Las Vegas, NV
Five levels today according to Jack Effel. Some players are pissed, but not all of them. I heard the rumor about 15 hours ago and it's true.
Today's field is much larger than the initial two flights. The hallways were crowded with players and fans and supporters. It finally looked like the Main Event.
As you already figured out, the Main Event is so big that it's hard to keep track of people (even with Twitter). I have a handful of players (both amateurs, pros, and friends) who I keep tabs on during the tournament. Today's Tao of Poker's featured players? John "Schecky" Caldwell, Liz Lieu (in a sexy pink outfit) and Action Bob from the Borgata. Nolan Dalla called the legendary Action Bob, "the tightest player in the tournament."
Otis is already on tilt. There's a guy that he refers to as The Devil. He sends Otis on mega-tilt.
Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) spoke for a few minutes before he uttered "Shuffle up and deal."
After Frank spoke, the Devil jumped up and slammed two cymbals four times. The floor staff rushed over and gave him a warning for excessive celebration. He's now into the SCMODS system and has been yellow-carded.
Cards went in the air at 12:09pm. The almighty Phil Hellmuth will be arriving in a chariot around 1:30pm with 11 muses and 100 girls following around him.
1:01pm... 1,600?
Bluff is reporting that 1,566 runners today. Brasilia is definitely being used today along with most of the tables in the cash game section.
The buzz in the hallways is about Phil Hellmuth. He always has a grand yet late entrance. Some media reps refuse to cover his hijinks. I think it's absurd, but this is show business. Hellmuth is one of the most successful businessmen in poker and his entrance proves why. He knows how to create buzz and he knows that the popularity of future Main Events (along with the future of online poker) is driven by the TV exposure on ESPN. Yes, I'm awaiting the Hellmuthian arrival.
The Dennis Phillips clones returned with red hats and white oxford shirts. I even think that I heard the truck horn.
According to Change100, someone is holding a stash of dank nugs in the Blue section. In the words of Clonie Gowen, "It smells like a skunk."
And the Indian headdress guy is here. I was told that he was one of Commissioner Pollack's stalkers. As luck would have it, both the Indian and the Devil are sitting at the same table. ESPN cameras are hovering on that table.
The Devil? I heard a story that he registered and un-registered no less than four times in order to secure his favorite seat. One floor guy told me that he wandered through the Amazon Ballroom one night when it was empty and walked around feeling the backs of the chairs. I guess he was scooping out the vibrations. I have no idea. He's the Devil for fuck's sake. Anyway, the Devil ended up at Table 88 Seat 8. 888. That's a very special number in many Asian cultures.
2:01pm... Hellmuthian Entrance
Hearing rumblings that the current count 5,670 including today and some of tomorrow's entrants. That number should swell to over 6,000. Get t hose hedge bets in now!
Liz Lieu gave me a hug and one of the Poker News floor reporters ran over and asked if he could smell the last remnants of Liz's perfume on my lapel. She's sitting right in front of the press box much to the delight of F-Train. We've given him a bib to keep the drool off of his laptop. I have one myself. I told the Poker Diva that she looked sensational (as always in a tight pink outfit and red highlights in her hair) and she suggested that the allure was her "knee high boots." Hubba Hubba.
Jamie Gold is already down to 13K. The former champ took a hit early on in the Brasilia Ballroom.
Schecky is sitting at Table 50 right on the corner to accommodate his huge legion of fans on the rail. He spent a few moments in front of ESPN cameras. Someone asked who he was and he said, "Chris Moneydingle." He's had lots of people stop by and check on his progress including a bevy of photographers. Someone on the rail asked me who he was and I said that he was one of the Blowfish in Hoootie and the Blowfish. Anyway, Schecky lost a couple of small pots already but only slipped to 23K.
I wandered out into the densely packed hallway and watched the leggy models line up . They wore white togish dresses with UB patches. They each stood arms length and awaited the stately arrival of Phil Hellmuth, God's Greatest Gift to Poker. It was a mad frenzy in the hallway as security guards pushed people back. Media. Spectators. Citizen paparazzi. Executives. Cameras. Cameras. Everyone was buzzing with anticipation. Most of the people wanted to see how big of douchebag Hellmuth was going to be, while eager fans couldn't wait for the pomp and circumstance. In short, everyone was anticipating the first glimpse of Hellmuth.
One lady was so confused that she thought all the hinjinks were for Phil Ivey. I politely corrected her and told her that Ivey usually sneaks in the back door.
"This was all set up to promote the greatest living hold'em player of all time... Phil Hellmuth."
"Oh? That asshole?" she snickered and walked off elbowing one of the models.
I heard that Hellmuth was to arrive on a chariot, but he was carried in on a sedan chair by four guys dressed as ancient Roman slaves as he burst into the convention center. 11 hot chicks adorned in body paint followed behind as his muses, each of which designated one of his 11 bracelets.
As
Hellmuth eventually took the stage as someone in the crowd screamed, "Idiot!"
I reminded my friends in the press box that Julius Caesar was eventually stabbed to death by his colleagues. All Hail, Hellmuth.
3:00pm... The Grand Entrance
Here's the RawVegas video of Hellmuth being Hellmuth...
Thanks to the hombres at Wicked Chops Poker.
At this point, we're thirty minutes into Level 2. Things appeared to calm down a bit after all the Hellmuth excitement. There was some buzz in the far end of the room, but that was someone who got quad jacks and won $100 worth of beef jerky.
Terrence Chan is sitting in front of the press box. He's among the early chip leaders and sporting an apple near his stack. An apple a day keeps the donkey away.
4:01pm... Danny Boy Dunzo
Chipleaders: The Devil, Some French douchebag that Benjo can't stand, and an internet kid who can't stop four-betting with air who never had sex
Recent Eliminations: Danny Negreanu, The Maven, and Evy Ng
Shorties: Jamie Gold and Neil "Bad Beat" Channing
We're at the end of Level 2 and a couple of well know pros hit the rail. Daniel Negreanu's stint at the featured TV table was shorter than short. He barely had time to mug for the cameras before Danny Boy was busto. His fellow Canuck, Evy Ng, is out as well and they're both probably playing video games together.
The bobbular Lacey Jones has three Frenchies at her table and two of them are drooling Winamx qualifiers. Benjo has no idea who they are because they're a bunch of internet Eurodonks, but if any of them ask Lacey out on a date, he's gonna be pissed off and put his Gauloise cigarette out in their eye sockets. That's how they roll in Lille.
Celebirty Death Watch? Jamie Gold and UK cash game guru (and Snoopy's boos) Neil Channing are on life support.
Rare sightings? Isabelle Mercier playing in the Main Event... her first tournament aside from Ante Up for Africa.
"The most interesting thing is seeing David Sklanasky reading an actual newspaper," said Katkin. I asked him if Sklanasky was checking the personals.
4:20pm... "Smoke 'em if you got 'em!"
Today's smoke break is brought to you by... PokerStars!
5:01pm... Senter's Wish
Chipleaders: Jeff Lisandro, Yan Chen, The Devil
Recent Eliminations: 2008 November Niner Chino Rheem and 2009 bracelet winner Matt Graham
Shorties: Jamie Gold and Liv Boeree
Everyone's spicy Brazilian dish, Maridu, was moved to fellow Team PokerStars Pros Joe Hachem's table. She's got around 55K after she sniffed out a bluff from Hachem.
Schecky slipped to 21K. He has a soft table, but has been unable to take advantage of it. I stopped sweating him because there's a smelly guy also on the rail who is sweating someone at the adjacent table. I can't stand the foul odor. Foreign travelers in Nevada during the summer? Atrocious.
Liz Lieu is sitting on 30K or so. ESPN is filming Terrance Chan's table. He's chipping up and racing past 60K. His buddy Thomas Koo is also in today's field and sitting on 30K or so. Rizen is down to under 20K.
Matt Clark told me a touching story about 55-year old Kent Senter. He's a blue collared guy from Pittsburgh, PA. He used to unload trucks for a living until he suffered an accident. When the doctors administered an MRI, they discovered that he had Multiple Myeloma otherwise known as the Jimmy V Disease. Senter's doctors gave him six months to live. One of the tings he always wanted to do was play in the WSOP. Senter got his wish courtesy of PokerStars. Right now, ESPN's cameras were filming a few hands that he played. Senter has around 20K. He took a couple of beats early on but compared to his struggles with cancer, his rough patch at the onset of the Main Event is a cake walk.
6:01pm... Bored Boobs
Chipleaders: Jeff Lisandro, Yan Chen, ZeeJustin
Recent Eliminations: Durrrr's dad, William Rockwell and Jacobo Fernandez
Shorties: Jamie Gold and Liv Boeree
I wandered around (or dare I say, bounced around the room) and here's what I saw...
Liz Lieu finished off a Caesar Salad.
A couple of lazy media reps played online poker in the press box.
Schecky is not quite plush and was around to 24K until he took two massive hits. He had flopped a straight and lost to a runner-runner flush. Shortly after he ran Aces into A-Q. The flop? Q-Q-x. Ooooooooooooomph. He's now short-stacked Schecky.
A very bored Lacey Jones was doing chip tricks and studying her opponents. Smelly Italians on the rail taking pics of her boobs. When she's not looking, the old French guy sitting next to her is sneaking a peak at her sensational cleavage every other hand.
Antonio Traver was also bored and had his arms crossed. He seemed more interested in what was on one of the TVs.
Action Bob is seated with Jon Little. Action Bob slipped to 12K. At the table next to him is Joe Hachem and Maridu.
Tom McEvoy and a healthier looking Maimi John Cernuto are seated at the same table.
7:01pm... 1,696 and Schecky & LaceyJones = BUSTO
Chipleaders: Jeff Lisandro, Yan Chen, Mark Naaldan
Recent Eliminations: John Caldwell, AC grinder ActionBob, Jamie Gold and LaceyJones
Shorties: Annie Duke and Matt Savage
There are 1,698 runners on Day 1C. Day 1D is rumored to be sold out with tables in Buzio's seafood restaurant if need be.
Action Bob busted out before the dinner break. He was short and could not mount a comeback. LaceyJones also hit the rail. As soon as I left her table, she busted.
And poor poor Schecky. He made a run and got back up to 33K before he ran Kings into Aces.
Scotty Nguyen is here and walking back and forth in front of the press box. He took a seat at Antonio Tarver's table. AlCantHang noted that he has a beer in front of him. If Scotty fucks off too much, Tarver will bury him.
Rare sighting? I think I saw Brandon Schaeffer in field.
Yep, it's chow time. Wow, our first legit dinner break instead of eating around 4:30 with the geriatrics the last two days! Action will resume around 8:20pm local time. When players return they will play 2 more levels.
9:01pm... Two More Levels
Chipleaders: Jeff Lisandro, Hevad Khan, Yan Chen, Mark Naaldan
Shorties: Annie Duke and Matt Savage
Pinky, a friend of mine from London, is playing today. I totally forgot. I have a small piece of him and he was up to 38K at the break.
The clock lists that 594 places will get paid, which means they are approaching 6,000 players.
John Juanda is getting a massage, as per usual. He sitting in Seat 1 at Terrance Chan's table.
Our favorite mulleted an bling encrusted Scotty Nguyen returned from break with a Michelob Ultra.
10:01pm... Brasilia Tales
Chipleaders: Jeff Lisandro, Hevad Khan
Shorties: Annie Duke and Antonio Tarver
I went into the Brasilia Room to sweat Pinky. He had an Aussie to his right and Gabe Thaler to his left.
Since the Main Event spill over shares the area with satellites, I had to dodge a few broke dicks who were desperately trying to win their seat in the Main Event. It just reeks of losers over there. I knew one guy who I tried to avoid as he made a beeline for me. He asked me to stake him into one sat. I refused and then he asked to borrow $200. I ducked underneath the ropes into the playing area so he wouldn't follow me.
Erica Schoenberg and Chainsaw were both near the rail. Erica fumbled around on her iPod while Chainsaw looked bored off his ass. Sarne Lightman is sitting at a table with James Van Alstyne and Steve Dannenmann. Van Alstyne is one of the short stacks.
Don Peters told me about one guy who had a shirt that read "Slavery Gets Shit Done." The floor staff made him put another shirt on to cover up the one that some people might find offensive. It's a full moon tonight, right?
11:01pm... Getting Tired
Chipleaders: Jeff Lisandro, Hevad Khan, Igor Borukhov
Shorties: Marcel Luske, Alex Jacob
Recent Eliminations: Eric Liu, Annie Duke, Chad Batista, Antonio Tarver, former champion Tom McEvoy, David Singer, the lovely Erica Schoenberg, 2009 bracelet winner Brandon Cantu
Liz Lieu has been having problems with her phone which has been slowing down her tweets.
I got word that there is over 6,000 players in the Main Event with 2,400 runners on the lost for tomorrow. They might get a few hundred more walk ups tomorrow. Yikes. Talk about a heullva Day 2B.
As Michalski said, it looks like people are tired, especially Dan Harrington. This was the part of the night that Day 1A and Day 1b players did not experience.
The rail has thinned out a bit and Scotty Nguyen is still cackling with a beer in front of him. Same shit. Different year.
Sorry for the lack of meat in this update, I was out taping a few episodes of Tao of Pokerati.
12:01pm... After Midnight Edition
Chipleaders: Jeff Lisandro, Hevad Khan, Igor Borukhov
Shorties: Marcel Luske, Alex Jacob
Recent Eliminations: Marcel Luske, Liv Boeree, Alex Jacob, JJ Liu, Abe
Mosseri, Frank Kassela, Matt Savage, Brett Richey, Matt Matros
Irish pro Don O'Dea moved to Pinky's table. He's still alive with 35K or so. My horse might advance to Day 2. He has to survive just thirty more minutes.
The hallways are sparse aside from me passing a priest and Eskimo Clark within minutes of each other. Otis tweet'd that he spotted a priest in the hallway. We suspect that he was conducting an exorcism for the Devil.
The Devil has been short the last hour or so, but he's been hanging on.
There area handful of poker window's sleeping on benches in the hallway. Haven't seen that yet this year.
In Lime Tossing News...
Sunday Lime Tossing Results: Otis +120, Pauly +40It was a tough battle. I stepped up first and tossed a lime that landed in the $200 grid, but skidded out. My second toss landed in the $40 grid for a mark. Otis went too far right on his first throw, but he nailed a $120 grid on his second. I won $20 on Saturday to pull even, but Otis regained the lead with a strong Sunday night performance.
Overall: Otis +80, Pauly -80
12:40am... That's a Wrap! Day 1C Complete
Players are tagging and bagging their chips. They survived five levels and advanced to Day 2B. Terminally ill Kent Senter was among the players who made it.
Stay tuned for official info and a recap.
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
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