Tao of Poker: Dr. Pauly's WSOP Poker Blog and Sports Betting Discourses

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

We only started ten minutes late today. Some players were slack with filling out their bio sheets for ESPN. 64 players returned and only 27 will advance to Day 8. There's a few familiar and popular pros left in the field (like that Phil Ivey and Joe Sebok character) while the unknowns are on the verge of becoming household names.

Today also features a couple of big pay jumps. 63rd place will win over 100K while 36th place jumps to a quarter of a million. Play should slow down as we reach the final four tables. There is no set time limit today. Last year, this point of the tournament lasted less than twelve hours and had more returning players. The stacks are a bit bigger this year, so I'm expecting a longer day.

Plenty of the online sportsbooks released their odds and as expected Phil Ivey was listed at 5/1 to win it all.

Here's the starting tables... this list will be almost useless after the first elimination because they will break a table when they reach 63.

Table 1
Seat 1: Steven Begleiter - 6,315,000
Seat 2: Craig Boyd - 650,000
Seat 3: Ryan Fair - 2,940,000
Seat 4: Ian Tavelli - 1,985,000
Seat 5: James Akenhead - 1,655,000
Seat 6: Hung Pham - 1,006,000
Seat 7: Mark Ader - 1,610,000
Seat 8: Warren Zackey - 1,400,000
Seat 9: Adam York - 3,515,000

Table 2
Seat 1: Darvin Moon - 9,745,000
Seat 2: George Caragiorgas - 2,670,000
Seat 3: Jimmy Calderaro - 1,810,000
Seat 4: Ben Jensen - 1,553,000
Seat 5: Thai Tran - 2,495,000
Seat 6: Joseph Ward - 2,575,000
Seat 7: Jordan Smith - 830,000
Seat 8: Adam Bilzerian - 3,305,000

Table 3
Seat 1: Happy Shulman - 4,745,000
Seat 2: Scott Cook - 3,095,000
Seat 3: Jonathan Tamayo - 2,680,000
Seat 4: Leo Margets - 3,650,000
Seat 5: Jason Brice - 2,825,000
Seat 6: Grayson Ramage - 1,215,000
Seat 7: Andrew 'Chewey' Lichtenberger - 3,190,000
Seat 8: Scott Bohlman - 865,000

Table 4
Seat 1: Ludovic Lacay - 5,965,000
Seat 2: Marco Mattes - 3,470,000
Seat 3: Scott Sitron - 1,330,000
Seat 4: Christopher Bach - 2,765,000
Seat 5: Manuel Labandeira - 765,000
Seat 6: Tommy Vedes - 5,430,000
Seat 7: Fabrice Soulier - 3,025,000
Seat 8: Phil Ivey - 6,345,000

Table 5
Seat 1: Marc McLaughlin - 2,895,000
Seat 2: Hieu Luu - 4,755,000
Seat 3: Kevin Schaffel - 3,685,000
Seat 4: Billy Kopp - 8,245,000
Seat 5: Tom 'DonkeyBomber' Schneider - 2,895,000
Seat 6: Charlie Elias - 4,190,000
Seat 7: Blair Rodman - 2,130,000
Seat 8: Luis Nargentino - 3,825,000

Table 6
Seat 1: Miika Puumalainen - 3,200,000
Seat 2: Francois Balmigere - 2,025,000
Seat 3: Dennis Phillips - 2,305,000
Seat 4: Joseph Cada - 3,880,000
Seat 5: Steve Sanders - 3,360,000
Seat 6: Joe Sebok - 1,000,000
Seat 7: Nick Maimone - 4,900,000

Table 7
Seat 1: Antoine Saout - 5,195,000
Seat 2: Bradley Craig - 2,445,000
Seat 3: Montagna Corrado - 860,000
Seat 4: Jeff Duvall - 3,935,000
Seat 5: Michael Jansen - 820,000
Seat 6: Gabriel Vezina - 1,250,000
Seat 7: Prahlad Friedman - 840,000
Seat 8: Eugene Katchalov - 3,300,000

Featured TV Table:
Seat 1: Martin Lapostolle - 940,000
Seat 2: Eric Buchman - 2,495,000
Seat 3: Antonio Esfandiari - 5,610,000
Seat 4: Ben Lamb - 4,975,000
Seat 5: Jamie Robbins - 2,895,000
Seat 6: Jesse Haabak - 3,345,000
Seat 7: John Martin - 3,080,000
Seat 8: George Saca - 3,020,000

* * * * *
1:11pm... Joe Sebok Eliminated.... Down to 55

Chipleaders: Ludovic Lacay and Darvin Moon
Players Remaining: 55

Prahlad Friedman was the first player to bust out today. He was one of the shortstacks and hit the road within the first ten minutes of play. George Saca went out next in 63rd place.

The DonkeyBomber and Joe Sebok were seated at tables right next to each other so I can keep an eye on both. All of Sebok's friends were nearby and cheered on their hero... until he lost half his stack. He busted out soon after in 56th place to a hearty cheer from the crowd.

Fabrice Soulier drew a tough table with fellow Frenchman Ludovic Lacay and Phil Ivey. Fabrice's girlfriend was so nervous that she did not sleep last night. Sometimes, you forget that the friends and family of the players are not professionals and are unable to handle the high stress that accompanies a deep Main Event run. Even Barr Greenstein looked a little on edge while he sweated Sebok... and he does this for a living. On the contray, AngryJulie is always excited and hyper when her husband DonkeyBomber drags a pot.

Today is Bastille Day, so expect that the Frenchies to do well as they draw inspiration from their special holiday. Lacay is up to over 8M after he took a 2M pot early on. And Fabrice is holding his own against Ivey and Lacay.

The following players won $108,047:
55 Craig Boyd
56 Joe Sebok
57 John Martin
58 Scott Bohlman
59 Miika Puumalainen
60 Benjamin Jensen
61 Mark Ader
62 Michael Jansen
63 George Saca

The following player won $90,344...
64 Prahlad Friedman

Apologies to Scott Bohlman for flubbing his name via Twitter. Scott took a tough beat when his pocket tens were snapped off by Lucky Chewy's A-7.

* * * * *
2:10pm... The DonkeyBomber Wins and AngryJulie Perks Up

Chip Leaders: Billy Kopp and Darvin Moon
Recent Eliminations:
Players Remaining: 54

Phil Ivey is still in the Top 5 in chips with around 7M. Ludovic Lacay is up to 7M.

DonkeyBomber said that he was feeling sick until he won a huge pot and AngryJulie exploded on the rail with an orgasmic shriek. I was sitting in the press box almost 100 yards away from the action but I knew that he had won the pot because of AngryJulie's jubilant cheer that echoed throughout the entire Amazon Ballroom. He doubled up but then lost a pot quickly after. He's hovering around 4M.

The Poker Kitchen was closed yesterday and in the middle of being dismantled. It sot of looks like a grocery store in New Orleans post-Katrina that had been looted. Lots of empty boxes. I heard that Eskimo Clark moved in there with all of the other broke dick players who went busto during the WSOP. Some people have set up tents in there and it's become known as Pollackville.

In the hallways, most of the stands have been taken down. They are in the middle of packing up the Cardoza book that was hawking Mike Matusow's new book. The free wine tasting and the political entities have already hit the road days earlier.

The Milwaukee's Beast girls are still in the hallways handing out free gear , but not free beer. Lame. One girl in her milk maiden light blue Alice in Wonderland outfit was leaning over a speaker and an old guy wandered up from behind utterly speechless. He almost had a heart attack while he locked in on her booty.

* * * * *
3:15pm... B-52... DonkeyBomber Eliminated in 52nd Place

Chip Leaders: Billy Kopp, Darvin Moon. Phil Ivey, Ludovic Lacay
Recent Eliminations: DonkeyBomber
Players Remaining: 49

DonkeyBomber lost a couple of pots before the break. AngryJulie went to fetch him a pizza so he could snack on his break. The railbirds are an integral part of the team in some cases, like a Nascar pit crew.

Bomber was short and made a stand with A-7. A French-Canuck called with 9-9. AngryJulie stood on the rail with an obstructed view and could not see the hands. "Do you have the pair or A-7?" she shouted.

"I have the Ace," mumbled DonkeyBomber.

"That's OK. I like it."

The flop missed DonkeyBomber but he turned a seven to pick up a few outs. His Main Event came to an official close when he whiffed on the river. The DonkeyBomber was nevermore. A dejected AngryJulie fought back cheers as she joined in with a shower of applause. DonkeyBomber somberly walked over to the payout desk as his named was announced over the PA system, "The 2007 Player of the Year Tom Schneider from Scottsdale, Arizona was eliminated in 52nd place."

"I'm proud of you!" shouted AngryJulie.

The two were followed by a camera crew as they walked through the vast emptiness of the Amazon Ballroom. At one point, they stopped and embraced for several seconds amidst the dimly lit room as a delicate clattering of chips echoed in the background. He disappeared into the crowd $138,568 richer, but he'll tell you that this is the worst day of his life.

* * * * *
4:20pm... 46 to Go

Chip Leaders: Billy Kopp, Darvin Moon, Phil Ivey, and Ludovic Lacay
Recent Eliminations: Fabrice Soulier
Players Remaining: 46

Fabrice Soulier is out and mentioned, "I feel very sad."

The dreaded slow down has begun...

So here's my media fantasy picks that I randomly selected getting numbers generated by AlCantHang and Otis correlating to their position in chips at the start of the day. I took eight of their numbers and added Ludovic...

1 Darvin Moon
5 Ludovic Lacay
7 Tommy Vedes
9 Ben Lamb
14 Jeff Duvall
18 Leo Margets
20 Marco Matte
24 Eugene Katchalov
26 Andrew Chewey Lichtenberger

As always, today's 4:20 smoke break is brought to you by... PokerStars and FantasySportsLive!

* * * * *
5:20pm... Dennis Phillips Eliminated

Chip Leaders: Billy Kopp, Darvin Moon, Phil Ivey, and Tommy Vedes

You won't hear the truck horn anymore. And the clones? They'll disappear. Dennis Phillips is out. The November Niner was trying to repeat... but that quest came to a halt. He received a warm applause when his name was announced. With his elimination, that's one less "familiar" face that it the rail.

All hopes are on Ivey and Esfiandari. Oh, and the chipleader Billy Kopp...

Billy Kopp & Ivey
Photo by MeanGene

The following players won $178,857:
37 Martin Lapostolle
38 Gabriel Mezina
39 Eugene Katchalov
40 Scott Cook
41 Adam York
42 Jeff Duvall
43 Montagna Corrado
44 Manuel Labandeira
45 Dennis Phillips

The following players won $138,568:
46 Hung Pham
47 Adam Bilzerian
48 Hieu Luu
49 Fabrice Soulier
50 Bradley Craig
51 Thai Tran
52 Tom Schneider
53 Charlie Elias
54 Steve Sanders

* * * * *
6:20pm... 34... Ivey = 2nd Chips

Chip Leaders: Billy Kopp, Phil Ivey, and Antoine Saou
Recent Eliminations: Christopher Bach in 36th place
Players Remaining: 34

We've reached the $250K mark in prize money with four tables to go. Min payout is now $253,941. Next money jump is at 27 and it's $352,832.

Ah, the unknown Frenchie Antoine Saou leapfrogged into the Top 5 in chips, while Ludovic Lacay slipped to 4.2M.

Ivey up to 11M while his fans on the rail are screaming "Ivey! Ivey! Ivey!" every time he wins a pot.

The other overlooked pro Blair Rodman has around 1M, while Antonio Esfandiari is up to 5M on the featured table.

Chewy is down to 4M.

The last Brit standing, James Ankhead is under 5M, while Happy Shulman is up over 7M and making grumpy comments at his table. The hombres at Wicked Chops Poker have the scoop.

New Yorker Tommy Vedes is in the Top 10 in chips and sporting a Poker Battle logo.

Pauly's Randomly Generated November 9 Picks: 6 Alive... Darvin Moon, Ludovic Lacay, Tommy Vedes, Ben Lamb, Leo Margets, Marco Matte, and Chewey

There's a major discussion right now about the length of tonight. Ivey has been arguing to play five levels, when there's talk about stopping at 27 like originally scheduled. Stay tuned for that drama.
* * * * *
7:20pm... 29 to Go; Dinner Break

Chip Leaders: Billy Kopp, Phil Ivey, Antoine Saou, and Tommy Vedes
Players Remaining: 29

The eliminations happened at such a fast pace that there were quick discussions and back hallway meetings among the cabal of suits to determine the fate of the rest of the night. A quick decision was made... players are heading on dinner break and will play down to 27 when they return. Then, that's it.

Pauly's Randomly Generated November 9 Picks: 6 Alive... Darvin Moon, Ludovic Lacay, Tommy Vedes, Ben Lamb, Leo Margets, Marco Matte, and Chewey

The following players won $253,941:
30 Marc McLaughlin
31 Ryan Fair
32 Scott Sitron
33 Jason Brice
34 Blair Rodman
35 Grayson Ramage
36 Christopher Bach

Ivey's still near the top, while Antonio Esfiandari, Leo Margets, and Chewy are bringing up the rear.

* * * * *
9:20pm... 28 to Go

Chip Leaders: Billy Kopp, Phil Ivey, Antoine Saou, Happy Shulman, and Tommy Vedes
Recent Eliminations: Luis Nargentino
Players Remaining: 28

Luis Nargentino from Queens busted from Phil Ivey's table. Down to 28. One more bustout and we're done for the evening.

* * * * *
9:20pm... The Slowdown

28 players remaining. Top 5 in chips? Billy Kopp, Darvin Moon, Steven Begleiter, Phil Ivey, Jeff Shulman

Durrrr even mentioned on a 2+2 thread that he'll have to pay up 1M to Phil Ivey if he wins the Main Event. Supposedly, he was getting 100-1 odds.

Anyway, we reached the dreaded slow down. There were three all ins involving short stacks, but they all doubled up including Antonio Esfiandari at the TV table with Aces versus Jacks.

* * * * *
10:30pm... Down to 27; Day 7 Complete

Wow, I spoke too soon. Joe Ward headed to the rail in 28th place on one of the last hands of the round before a scheduled break. With his elimination, we're down to 27 players and action will resume tomorrow at noon where we'll play down to the final 9... the November Nine.

The following players won $253,941:
28 Joe Ward
29 Luis Nargentino

Thanks for following along. Stay tuned for official information including chip counts.

End of Day 7 - Chip Counts:
Darvin Moon - 20.16M
Billy Kopp - 15.97M
Steven Begleiter - 11.885M
Phil Ivey - 11.35M
Kevin Schaffel - 11.245M
Antoine Saout - 11.135M
Jeff Shulman - 10.17M
Eric Buchman - 10.005M
Jamie Robbins - 9795M
Ben Lamb - 941M
James Akenhead - 8615M
Joseph Cada - 6565M
James Calderaro - 6475M
Andrew Lichtenberger - 5625M
Ludovic Lacay - 561M
Warren Zackey - 5.485M
Marco Mattes - 5.285M
Tommy Vedes - 5.07M
Jordan Smith - 4.51M
Antonio Esfandiari - 4.47M
Ian Tavelli - 4.385M
Jonathan Tamayo - 3.3M
Jesse Haabak - 2.75M
George Caragiorgas - 1.615M
Nick Maimone - 1.545M
Leo Margets - 1.53M
Francois Balmigere - 1.44M