Alex Gonzales Blog

Day 2’s of a No-Limit Hold’em tournament at the World Series of Poker usually fly by and Friday was no different as the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em (Event 24) brought 270 in-the-money players to play down to a final table that turned out to be a night of bragging on who had the deepest stack in the tournament. But the biggest stack of them all belonged to Andy “BKiCe” Seth who won a huge pot near the end of play to shift the momentum his way going into the final day among 18 other players.

In the first 30 minutes of play, 32 players were knocked out as the short stacks began to try and make a quick turnaround. One of those thirty-two bustouts was none other than crowd favorite, Humberto Brenes. With 15,000 in chips left, Brenes shoved all-in and the action folded around to Douglas Faulkner who isolated the table by raising all-in as well as the two went heads up. Entertaining in every sense of the word, Brenes stood up from his seat like he normally does and began shouting things to the dealer and the felt.

“Here comes the shark”, yelled Brenes as he held his card protector shark and swooped it down at the table making crunching noises. He soon flipped over his J J and was up against Faulkner’s A K, but when the board came 2 K 7 7 7, the shark infested waters here in the Amazon got less crowded as Brenes was sent home.

With Brenes out there had to be bad luck for another pro in the field. Unfortunately for Nam Le it was his turn when he moved all-in with 5 5 against his opponent’s A K. A K spiked on the flop and that was all she wrote for Le as he made a quick exit.

For the next three hours, 150 players would be eliminated in an all-in fest that saw one more big name be eliminated on a hand right before the dinner break. On a last minute effort to pick up a nice sized pot, Joe Sebok pushed all in for his remaining chips with his Q J but luck once again ran out for Sebok when his opponent rolled over A Q and when the board ran out, so did Sebok.

As dinner came and went, play slowed down as the sugar highs of earlier took their toll on the players as they cruised along at a nice pace picking up chips along the way. At least one notable player who was taking charge of the pots and keeping his stack in order was David Chicotsky. In a huge hand, Chicotsky moved all-in in the small blind on a flop of T 7 J with his pocket K K and was quickly called by an opponent and his A J. The board ran out and “The Maven” chipped up all the way to 90,000 to sit pretty going into the late night ahead.

As play hit the home stretch into the wee hours of the morning, the players grew tired as not much action took place. Closing in on 1am, only two players were eliminated in the last 90 minutes, including Chicosky who’s A K couldn’t crack Alan Jaffray’s pocket K K. In a sign of good-will, Chicotsky got up and went around to shake everyone’s hand at the table in which his classy act matched his classy dress attire which consisted of a designer sport coat and designer jeans.

The pot of the night went Seth’s way as he got involved in what was the biggest in the tournament so far. From the small blind, Seth made the call. Ernst Hermans raised it up to 30,000 and Seth reraised it to 106,000 to go and Hermans pushed all in to which Seth made the quick call.

Seth showed K K and Hermans turned over A-J. The board ran out 7 7 3 4 6 and Hermans stack took a huge hit while Seth jumped to the chip leader as he now sits on 1.25million in chips and looking for a final table spot going into Day 3.

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When people call Phil Ivey, “The Michael Jordan of Poker“, the title has its limits and some pretty big shoes to fill, but if you know of Ivey’s stats in recent years you’ll come to understand why he’d have that title attached to him. Day 2 of the $2,500 Omaha/Stud 8 or Better (Event 25) started with 155 players who were some of the best split pot players in the world, but by the end of a very long day, Jon “PearlJammer” Turner would best Ivey’s dominance as he went on a huge late night to finish as the chip leader going into tomorrow’s final day.

155 players returned on Day 2 to maximize their buy-in hoping their investment would lead to a WSOP bracelet.

Leaving the party early was Jeff Lisandro, who had been running hot the last week with a few cashes and a bracelet in Seven-card Stud in Event 16. Holding a flush and straight draw, Lisandro threw in his remaining 3,600 in chips and couldn’t catch either as he was the first to go, but as a common occurance seen here at the WSOP, Lisandro was seen a few minutes when later getting ready for the 5pm start of the $5,000 Omaha 8 or Better (Event 27).

As the hours progressed through the early levels of Day 2 it became apparent that two names stuck out the most were Ivey and Chad Brown as the two combined to rake in the most chips a Omaha/Stud split game has seen in a while.

Creating a volcano of chips right away was in no doubt Ivey. Within the first two hours of the start time, Ivey managed to gain 40,000 in chips to bring his stack to near over 80,000. Many people around the Brasillia room took notice as Ivey kept raking them in. In an early Omaha pot that cemented his run in the beginning was when Ivey three-bet from the small blind after a preflop raise. His opponent made the call and they saw a flop of Q Q 3. Ivey bet out and was called. He bet again when a 9 hit on the turn and then fired one last time when the 7 came on the river. His opponent mucked annoyingly and threw his cards into the muck.

Coming back for another day of chopped pots was Brown who came into yesterday’s event sick as a dog and was one of the short stacks halfway through the first few levels of Day 1 and then miraculously put together a streak that turned him into the comeback kid of the event. Now entering Day 2, Brown looked much better and his skin tone sported a healthy fleshy pink as he sat down for a more comfortable night of poker.

Getting into a Stud pot with his buddy Gavin Smith, Brown bet out subsequently on fifth, sixth, and seventh streets with his board of 3 J 2 5. Smith hesitated for a second and made the call on each with his board showing 6 A Q 9. When Brown flipped over his J J 7 for a set of Jacks, Smith questioned his best hand and mucked. The two exchanged a smile as Brown’s stack of 108,000 got close to Ivey’s 128,000 going into the dinner break.

With the first half of the night over, the chip leads began to change as Ivey, Wong, and experienced Stud player Dutch Boyd switched spots back and forth as they battled for the chip lead. Boyd was the first one to oust Wong from the #1 spot when he picked up 50,000 when on his board of 5 T J 5, he fired out and forced his opponent to fold his board of 6 A 6 Q.

With that one hand, Boyd jumped out ahead to 138,000 to help him comfortably cruise through the rest of the night.

As play winded down the evening, the big stacks of Ivey, Boyd and Steve Wong continued to dominate the field, but as the clock struck 2am in the Brasillia room, something changed. Ivey went limp, Wong seemed overwhelmed and Boyd just faded into the middle somewhere.

They all were on the receiving end of Turner’s monsterous run at the end that put him at an almost 2-1 chip lead above tournament stud Carlos Mortensen to end the night. Pot after pot, Turner took them down easily as a frustrated Ivey could only sit and watch as his cards were beat every single time.

But Turner would have to wait till tomorrow to see himself at the final table as the players were moving at a snails pace towards the end and play was officially stopped at 3am. But 14 will return tomorrow for a tough day where a final table will be set and a bracelet will be rewarded.

Top ten chip counts going into the final day:

1. Jon Turner - 465,000
2. Carlos Mortensen - 280,000
3. Frank Debus - 250,000
4. Eric Buchman - 240,000
5. Steve Wong - 235,000
6. Dutch Boyd - 225,000
7. Blair Rodman - 210,000
8. Matt Kelly - 160,000
9. Phil Ivey - 150,000
10. Mark Scott - 148,000

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The key in keeping a true poker aficionado happy in today’s modern game is to offer them a pallet of events that can keep them satisfied until they bust out of one tournament and then head to the next one.

Thursday’s Day 1 of the $2,500 Omaha/Seven-card Stud 8-or-better(Event 25) did just that as another split game came to the World Series of Poker. After eight levels of play, a seemingly pale Chad Brown fought through the pain of sickness and came back from a dismal start to finish among the chip leaders going into Day 2.

Rumored to be suffering from food poisoning, Brown made his entrance into the tournament a bit late and not looking so good. By the end of level 2 his chip stack had dwindled down to below 3,000. Looking uncomfortable at times, Brown slowly played through the pain and began to put on a comeback through the rest of the night to finish strong on a day where 376 split gamers showed up ready to make their mark on their own WSOP.

Attracting lovers of the split game, one player who arrived thirty minutes before everyone else was Justin Young. An early bust in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em (Event 24) brought Young across the hallway to the Brasilia room ready for action. 1-11 so far in the Series, Young was hoping his Seven-card Stud game would compliment his weaker Omaha play and put him ahead of a field stacked with other pros.

“My Stud game is much better than my Omaha game. I’ve grown up playing Stud and Stud Hi-Lo, but there are a lot of very good split game players here tonight so I’m just going to throw my hat into the ring and see what happens”, said Young.

While young pros like Young were trying to make back the money they spent in a tournament they busted in, an older gentleman sat patiently waiting for his shot at playing a split game he’s been playing recreationally for years. Under the lights of one table sat Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss.

“They play this format sometimes at Commerce Casino”, said Buss. “I’d say both games I’m equally experienced in, but I’m not good enough to aspire to make a final table or anything, I just play for fun.”

With the cards in the air at 5 pm and the slow style of Omaha and Stud poker taking its time, the first player wasn’t eliminated until almost four hours in. As forecasted with this type of game there were many floor calls and arguing amongst the players over chopped pots, mis-deals, and actions out of turn. The great relief came from what was on the TVs that were scattered throughout the room - Game 4 of the Lakers against the Orlando Magic in the NBA finals.

The entire Brasilia room, filled with some of poker’s greatest - including Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Chris Ferguson, Erick Lindgren and recent 2009 WSOP sensation Brock Parker, erupted with cheer after Derek Fisher made a game-tying three pointer.

“I got the Magic tonight”, said Jeff Lisandro, who recently took home his 2nd WSOP bracelet a few days ago in Seven-card Stud. “I got them outright to win”.

While the Orlando Magic lost the game for Lisandro, his entry into the event proved to be his bet bet of the night. Seizing the chip lead after level two, Lisandro began to lose the chips he so dearly gathered, but made a late run halfway through level 5 to bring his stack back up to par. With a board of 5 K 5 T, Lisandro check-called fourth and fifth streets against Joe Serock and his board of 8 7 9 J. Both checking sixth and seventh street, Lisandro showed his 4 4 T in the hole and it was apparently enough for Serock to muck the rest of his cards and give Lisandro a huge pot to bring his stack back to a strong one.

As the night dragged between the highs and lows of Event 25, many names kept their composure of a rough start to continue on to Day 2 including - Gavin Smith, Jason Mercier, Mel Judah, Lisandro, and Thomas Bihl - but one of the names people were waiting for fireworks from was Parker.

Parker has been the hottest thing since sliced bread around here the last few days and entered today’s event fresh off his bracelet win last night and four days since his other big victory over Daniel Negreanu. But tonight, the WSOP Gods put out the fire of Parker’s hot streak who just bled chips all night as he couldn’t quite catch a hand in his favor and soon busted a few hours before play ended.

The WSOP Gods did however watch out for Brown who will cruise into Day 2 with a lot of chips as he sits near the top of the leaderboard along with Dustin Sitar, Jon Turner, and Mark Scott who lead the field going into Day 2

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Dawning a cool, sleek designer hat entering into the $1,500 Seven-card Stud (Event 16) final table, Jeff Lisandro remembered what his past experience taught him by dominating the other seven players to take home his second World Series of Poker bracelet.

No stranger to a final table, Lisandro worked every aspect of every hand and pushed the action when he could and got away from hands he couldn’t catch. With another Stud bracelet added to his resume, Lisandro can undeniably be considered one of the world’s top experts in Seven-card Stud.

BluffMagazine.com had a chance to catch up with Lisandro after the big win:

How does it feel to win it again?

It feels good. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but it feels good to get a second one.

What do you do with two bracelets anyway?

They’re very personal. I’ll give them away to the two most important people in my life.

With a dominating chip lead going into the final table and never letting it go, did you feel you were going to win it?

I was pretty confident. I was reading the game really well and everyone was showing me a lot of respect by laying down hands, but when I showed a few bluffs they began to call me more. What worked in my favor was when they did make the calls, I was lucky enough to win the showdowns with big hands.

You went heads up for the bracelet last time with Nick Frangos who was at the final table again with you. Did you feel like it maybe it was going to come down to you two again?

Well, it would have been great to get heads up with Nicky. He wouldn’t have been a bad guy to lose to this time.

You can now be considered a Stud expert in the world. Do you agree with that statement?

Well, it’s just one of my games. It just worked out that I’ve won some Stud tournaments. Maybe it is my best game, but it’s just a game where you can play a lot of hands unlike No-Limit Hold’em where it can come down to just one hand and it’s over.

Now everyone knows about your side bet with yourself and Barry Greenstein vs. Negreanu and Lindgren. How important for you is this win to get back at Negreanu’s WSOP success so far?

Well, it’s a massive side bet going. I just put myself in a good position for it. I put myself in a spot where I have to do well and continue to try and play as much as possible. It’s really pushing the limits for the four of us.

How much is the bet?

It’s a six-figure sum.

You play a lot now wearing that very nice designer hat on. With your big win, are you going to buy some more hats with the money?

No way. This is my lucky hat. I’m going to keep this one until it falls apart.

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A favorite pastime for many players at the World Series of Poker are the different varieties of games that one can play like Seven-card Stud. Viewed by many as one of the only true classic poker games still left at the WSOP, 97 players entered Day 2 looking for a shot at making the final table of Event #16($1,500 Seven Card Stud) where Jeffrey Lisandro, a 2007 Seven-card Stud bracelet winner, accumulated plenty of chips at a steady pace and came out ahead to lead the remaining 8 players into the final table with 334,000 in chips.

Despite being a Limit game, the action surprisingly went quick as 25 players were lost within the first 90 minutes of play.

What made things go even quicker were players like Jason Mercier who wasted no time going after the short stacks. Recent winner of Event #5 ($1,500 Pot Limit Omaha), Mercier got the day started by winning a huge pot when his board of Q  9 J A matched up with his A J K in the hole good for two pair.

While the action may have picked up from yesterday’s Day 1, it might have gone a little too fast for some. About an hour into the event, Sam Grizzle got into a feud  over a hand involving John Juanda who held 4 4 2 in the hole for a set of fours matched on the board while Grizzle held Q Q T for Queens and Ten’s on his matched board.

According to Grizzle, Juanda called him an “idiot”, while Grizzle defiantly stated that he responded by calling him a “moron”. The dealer called over the tournament director who gave Grizzle a five hand penalty for calling Juanda a “moron”. This sent Grizzle into an uproar that he got a penalty and Juanda didn’t. What made things worse was about 10 minutes later the dealer forgot to keep track of how many hands were played while Grizzle cooled down on the rail. This added another layer of frustration for Grizzle who was still visibly upset over the incident as he took his seat again.

While name calling was going on over on Table 189, Dutch Boyd was quickly building his stack hand by hand at another table. After Boyd made a quick jump in his chip count when his Aces and threes beat his opponent’s flush and straight draws, Boyd found himself quickly in another pot a few hands later when his K J T found a 9 on the river to make a King-high straight.

As players got closer to the bubble, play tightened up considerably as the dinner break was near. The bubble soon bursted right before break when Craig Kauffman busted in 41st place which drew applause from the rest of the field as after a long day and a half of Stud, the remaining 40 players were now in-the-money.

One of the bigger threats going late into the night was Juanda. The 4-time bracelet winner got tangled up in a monster pot involving Boyd.  On Boyd’s board of T 8 A, he bet out and was raised by Juanda and his board of 3 9 2 . Boyd quickly tossed a three bet out there and Juanda raised with Boyd calling behind him. With a 6 on sixth street, Boyd check-called Juanda’s 8. The showdown revealed Juanda’s 9 9 8 for a full house, nines full of eights. The hand turned out to be a huge momentum swing for Juanda who chipped up to 138,000 which put him among the chip leaders the rest of the night.

A name that the WSOP Stud games have seen around for a long time is Lisandro, who got into it with one pot involving Boyd. Lisandro’s board read J 8 8 4 while Boyd’s read A 7 5 8. Lisandro fired out bets on sixth and seventh street with Boyd calling each time. In a defiant reveal of his cards, Lisandro slammed down his A 6 6 much to the surprise of everyone at the table. Boyd took one look and mucked his cards.

Dipping past midnight, the Stud action grew lighter and lighter as players traded stacks back and forth just wanting to make the final table of 8 going into Day 3. With recent eliminations of Mercier, John Cernuto and 2008 Seven-card Stud bracelet winner Mike Rocco, the folds and check-downs to seventh street grew at a more frequent pace.

When the final eight was reached at 3 am, it was Lisandro and his experience that stole the show on this Day 2. He quietly made his plays and stayed close to the chip lead for most of the night until a late morning run that put him on top of the rest.

If Lisandro wants to capture another bracelet the road might be a bit tougher this year as Juanda, and two-time Seven-card Stud bracelet winner Rodney Pardy, whose nephew Eric Pardy is also at the final table, try to keep it in the family and go for more WSOP gold.

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With the 2009 World Series of Poker almost two weeks old, the grind of tournament play has officially set in as players have come into Friday’s Event #13 ($2,500 No-Limit Hold’em) with worn out thoughts and stretched out bankrolls as they battled through a long day of bad beats and suck-outs on the river to end up with 180 players moving to Day 2  from the starting field of 1,088.

Event #13 started just like any other tournament at the WSOP. By noon the cards were in the air and any player who had enough moxy in their pockets to pony up the $2,500 buy-in took their seat among amateurs and pros alike to battle it out for a piece of the $2.5 million dollar prize pool.

Some of the only excitement seen all day from players in Event #13 came in the beginning when Phil Ivey was presented with his sixth bracelet in what turned into a standing ovation from the field and a cheerful celebration that echoed through the Amazon room loud and clear.

But where did Ivey go right after his historic 6th bracelet? Right across the room to take his seat in Event #13 on a quest for another bracelet in 2009.

As Ivey showed up early in Level 2, action was already on him. On a board of A 5 3 T 4 and 6,500 in the pot, Almiria Skripchenko checked over to Ivey who fired out 5,225. Skripchenko went into the tank probably thinking about who she was actually up against. She soon mucked her hand and Ivey scooped the pot which brought his stack to 16,225.

A sure sign that the poker table felt like the grind of a 9-5 job was seen at Table 5 where online phenom Shaun Deeb and recent WPT Championship 8th place finisher Justin Young wanted some work-related stress relief and started playing a guessing game with random people as they walked by. The fun caught up with them about an hour later as both got themselves into a pot where Deeb opened up with a 1,025 raise and Brandon Schaefer made the call behind him. Young then reraised to 4,100 and Deeb and Shaefer both called with their tournament life on the line.

All three flipped over their cards to reveal Deeb with A K, Young with A K and Shaefer with A A.  The flop came 7 7 2. A 3 on the turn brought no relief and didn’t get much better as a T spiked on the river sending Deeb home,  Young with a crippled stack of only 12,500, and Shaefer with a very nice triple up to keep him in the game and going strong.

While the young pros had their fun grinding out another WSOP tournament, a few of the older pros in the field didn’t even make it to the dinner break. Jerry Yang, Mark Seif, David “Devilfish” Ulliot, Daniel Alaei, and Joe Bartholdi were all eliminated.

“I’ll be back tomorrow for the $5k”, stated Ulliot as he walked away from the table after his pocket sevens couldn’t crack the table chip leader’s pocket queens. “I had pocket sevens against his Queens. He raised my big blind. He could of had anything with his stack pushing people around. I had to.”

With Levels 7-10 the pace stayed the same as many of the players just wanted to make Day 2.

One of the biggest pots raked all day came during the last few levels of play as Roland De Wolfe found himself  in a big hand on a board of 9 5 4 2. After a raise from his opponent, Wolfe, knowing tomorrow was the start of Event #15($5,000 N0-Limit Hold’em), gambled his 9 8 by moving all in against his opponent’s better flush draw of K Q, but when a 8 fell on the river, Wolfe took the huge 65,000 pot and just shrugged his shoulders and was heard saying, “Gamble”.

While many top names are still in contention for tomorrow’s Day 2 action, the one player that will be watched the closest is Ivey. It will be curious to see how other players perform against the six-time bracelet as they know he can grind out a WSOP tournament like no other.

Stay tuned as play continues Saturday at 2 pm PT when the remaining 180 players return.

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With the first real mixed game at the 2009 World Series of Poker, Day 2 of Event #10 ($2,500 Pot Limit Omaha/Hold’em) started off with 99 players contending for a bracelet, but as play wore down into the wee hours of the morning, Daniel “amichiaKK” Makowsky came out ahead of the pack with 561,000 in chips to head into Day 3 with hungry players such as Hevad Khan and Cornel Cimpan.

If there’s a type of event that poker purists love, it’s the mixed game. For any player who busted in Day 1, their hopes were saved as Event #12(World Championship Mixed Event) started across the hallway, but the few that made it to Day 2 had to mix up some big pots against some of poker’s biggest names.

Right away, all the eyes were focused on Table 84 where mixed-game masters collided as Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and Daniel Negreanu sat down to begin the day

From under the gun, ElkY raised it to 2,300 with Mizrachi and Negreanu making the call behind him. The flop came down 4 2 3. Negreanu bet out 8,000 and ElkY raised it up to 26,000. Mizrachi folded around back to Negreanu who thought for a minute. He looked around and casually showed the table A-5 and mucked the rest of his Omaha cards.

As the hours progressed, a new chip leader emerged in Khan who held the lead going into the dinner break. In a hand involving Jamie Pickering, a flop came down 6-5-10. Pickering made it 9,000 to go and Khan made the call. With a 9 on the turn, both players checked. Khan bet 23,000 when a 2 spiked on the river with Pickering making the call. When Khan showed his cards he revealed 8 7 6 5 for a straight on the turn card. Pickering mucked his cards and Khan rose to become the dominant chip leader for a while.

But another player who was playing strong all day was Amnon Fillipi who on an interesting hand took the overall chip lead in the event. On a flop of 7 8 Q Bjorn Verbakel checked over to Filippi who bet out 10,000. Verbakel raised him to 30,000 and Filipi answered back by firing a 96,800 reraise. Verbakel paused for a long while and asked, “Will you show if I fold?” Filippi replied, “Not all four”. After sending his cards into the muck, Verbakel was allowed to flip over any two cards of choice and he turned over Filippi’s A A. Verbakel’s surprised look on his face said it all as Filippi began to stack his chips.

It wasn’t all about big pots and chip leads as today’s event grew some constant confusion as well. For much of the day, dealers and floormen kept a close eye on the levels and blind structure mostly due to a bad clock. It became harder and harder as the night went on to actually know what game had which blind structure. Dealers were forced to read a structure sheet in their well that would tell them exactly where they were at.

With constant stop and go action, players began to get frustrated. In one hand, Filippi went all in on a flop of 8 5 3 and Paul Parker went into the tank for a while. Getting impatient, Gary Do eventually called the clock on Parker who then made the call. Filippi turned over 8-8 for top set while Parker had K-K. With a blank T on the turn, the river spiked another K for Parker. This sent Filippi in a furious rage over Do’s call of the clock. He believed Do forced him into a bad call by calling the clock which eventually ended his night early. A floorman soon stepped in between Filippi and Do and ushered a very angry Filippi to the payout counter.

But as play neared 3a.m., Makowsky, who finished 2nd last year in Event #34(Pot Limit Omaha w/rebuys) found himself making a late tournament run to end up on top of a very tired 18 players who ended up making it into Day 3.

Play will resume tomorrow at 1pmPT.

Here are the top 10 chip counts going into Day 3:

1. Daniel “amichiaKK” Makowsky - 561,000
2. Rami Boukai - 508,000
3. Ben Grundy - 275,000
4. Paul Parker - 215,000
5. Surinder Sunar - 213,000
6. Najib Bennani - 207,000
7. Jamie Rosen - 178,000
8. Jonas Entin - 177,000
9. Gary Do - 166,000
10. Jan Collado - 161,000

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John Monnete sat in the middle of the pack for the most of the day, then shifted gears and picked up some pots to take the lead.

There are many events at the World Series of Poker that get overlooked, but that might just be what the big name pros like about Event #8 ($2,500 No-Limit Deuce to Seven Draw). Coming into Day 2, 35 players were back for another day of drawing to the best hand, but the one drawing their low cards the best was John Monnette, who finished the day with 259,000 in chips and will cruise into a tough final table that will include five-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey.

It didn’t take long for the remaining 35 players to get into the mix, as often in lowball draw games, the exciting action usually takes place when the cards aren’t even on the felt. This was evident early on when Phil Hellmuth and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow got stuck at the same table together.

After joking around with Hellmuth about the lack of bracelets in non-Hold’em events, Matusow raised Hellmuth’s big blind to 2,400. Hellmuth drew one card while Matusow drew 3. After they both checked the draw, Matusow turned over K-Q-T-7-2 which was apparently good enough for the pot as Hellmuth showed a pair of nines and mucked his cards.

But it was Hellmuth who would have the last laugh as a few minutes later Matusow made a raise to 2,400. Yan Chen then re-raised to 8,000 to which Matusow called. After both stood pat, Matusow pushed all in for 23,000, but Chen called and flipped over 8-7-6-5-2 to Matusow’s surprise as he quickly mucked his hand and the left the table.

With Matusow gone, one had to wonder if the love/hate relationship between the two was actually connected in some odd way when Hellmuth soon busted a few hands later when his 9-8-5-3 drew dead to Ralph Zimmerman’s 8-high. Hellmuth grabbed his things quickly and made a rough exit without making eye contact with anyone.

The day’s events weren’t all about Hellmuth and Matusow. The other big story during play was the stoppage of the clock before Level 11. The floorman announced that the bubble must be popped before the clock could resume and enter Level 12 with a dinner break soon after.

Players were getting agitated and went to great lengths to try anyway they can to break the bubble at 21.

“Hey Erick, can you be bought?”, shouted Ivey from another table to Erick Lindgren.

Flack, who was across the way at table 153, heard this offer and quickly came over to Ivey’s table.

“Hey Phil, if me and you get heads up, what do you think?”, Flack asked.

“For you, $300,000 if we get heads up”, responded Ivey. Flack had a nice laugh until Ivey thought for a second.

“Wait, what’s first place get?”, asked Ivey.

Everyone soon had their wish as Daniel Alaei bubbled and made the remaining 21 players left at least $4,094 richer.

With play continuing on, the players were one-by-one were eliminated until only seven made up Thursday’s final table.

Monnette sat most of the day somewhere in the middle but picked up a few key pots that quietly put him in the lead. With some WSOP cashes under his belt in previous years, Monnette knows that a final table with Ivey is going to be tough.

“Phil’s a tough a player, but you can’t be scared. I’m going to come in here playing the game I love, so I’m going to see what happens”, said Monnette.

Play resumes tomorrow at 2 pm PT.

WSOP Event #8 ($2,500 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw) Final Table Chip Counts

1. John Monnette - 259,000
2. Ralph Zimmerman - 238,000
3. Yan Chen - 159,000
4. Elia Ahmadian - 136,900
5. Eric Kesselman - 119,400
6. Phil Ivey - 106,300
7. Rodeen Talebi - 94,500

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When people run hot at the World Series of Poker they tend to fizzle out the next year they play and make a comeback in a few years or so, but that’s not the case for Tom Schneider.

Being a CPA and Chief Operating Officer, Schneider went into the 2007 WSOP hoping his love of poker would bring him some luck and fortune, but the fortune turned into more than he expected as he came out of the WSOP with two bracelets, another event cash and the WSOP Player of the Year.

He wasn’t done there. In 2008, the mixed-game specialist came into the WSOP with his hot streak still alive and managed to cash in 5 events, almost taking home WSOP Player of the Year honors a second time.

BluffMagazine.com caught up with Schneider and discussed his outlook on this year’s WSOP and what to expect.

You had a huge year in 07′ winning WSOP Player of the Year, and you came back strong with 5 cashes in 08′. What do you see happening for yourself this year?

Well, I hope to win two bracelets again this year. I know it’s very hard to do. But actually, I would just like to have a good showing. All you can do is make good decisions and hopefully the cards will behave for you in tournaments. If I feel I can make some final tables, then I’d consider it a success.

You seem to be very comfortable here when you’re playing. Do you feel you have a certain comfort level when you play at the WSOP?

I’m very comfortable at the WSOP because of the different variety of tournaments they offer. For me, I like to play a lot of mixed-games like Deuce to Seven Triple Draw Lowball.

You play and cash in many mixed events. What is it about your mixed-game technique that makes you successful in these events?

Probably because I play more aggressive than most people in tournaments. I might bust out early in some events, but I’m also able to accumulate chips. In a lot of split-pot tournaments, many players are too passive and only want to bet the nuts and things like that.

Do you feel with successes at the WSOP like yours and more recently, Thang Luu’s 2nd bracelet, that mixed events will someday be as popular as No-Limit?

Yeah. I noticed people are playing more mixed games as of late. Players like that you can’t go broke in one hand. No-Limit breaks their bankrolls unlike fixed limit games where you won’t see too much of that going on.

What would you like to see more of at the WSOP? Is there anything you were disappointed with this year?

Well, one thing I admire about the WSOP is Harrahs, the sponsors, and people like Jeffrey (Pollack). They really listen to players and I think the tournaments have improved dramatically along with the scheduling.

But I guess the one thing that I’m really disappointed in is the lack of TV coverage for some of the games that the average person might play. The only chance someone has at getting on TV is with the Main Event.

So you think the producers only want to show the big name players and that’s it?

Yeah. A lot of  the average players play in these events to be seen on TV. When it’s not being televised the numbers are down. It used to be an option for a player to make more money being on TV, but nowadays it’s reserved for the Main Event. It certainly hasn’t done anything for me.

Now before you turned professional poker player, you came from a business background in money management. How has your bankroll evolved since you started out?

It’s probably not a whole lot different, but a lot of my bankroll has been invested into businesses, which can be a mistake at times. Most people lose their money by playing it, I do the opposite and invest it hoping one day it will pay off. My bankroll management is exactly the opposite of what you should be doing.

You’ve been playing a lot of big buy-in events online. When you play live and see a young online player at your table, are there any strategies you incorporate?

I think there’s things you can do to take advantage of online players. You know there’s going to be spots in their mentality when they feel they have to shove with any two cards they got, so you can do things to them to induce them to call the bet and be hopeful your two cards hold up.

Now that you’re an author, do people seek advice from you?

I get a reasonable number of players asking me for help whether it’s to help coach them or to just call them up and talk.

So now that we know what you expect for yourself during this WSOP, what do you want to accomplish for your own self in 2009?

I think I’d like to take better care of myself in 2009. I’ve gained a lot of weight and gotten out of shape. I want to take care more of my mental and physical health. As poker players, we have no excuse to be out of shape. We make our own schedules, play any tournaments we want. There should be no excuses.

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Building his chip stack like Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland, is dominant chip leader Jason Mercier.

A new week at the 2009 World Series of Poker has marked yet another start of a tournament with Event #5 ($1,500 Pot Limit Omaha). With 809 players pounding out crazy hand after crazy hand, Jason Mercier benefited the most by easily picking off pot after pot  and creating one of the most impressive looking stack of chips seen so far going into Day 2 as the chip leader with 227,000.

The craziness of Omaha was just what a player like Mercier could feast on and he did just that. Going into Day 2 with a stack like that has high hopes for Mercier as his confidence will be at an all time high as he eyes bracelet #1.

“It feels really good”, said Mercier as he was bagging up his chips ready to go home.

“I’m pretty sure I have a big chip lead over the next person, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow where I’m going to just keep putting pressure on guys and keep accumulating chips”, added Mercier.

With a chip stack like Mercier, that means a flood of players must have been giving their chips away. By 3pm, close to half of the players were sent to the rail with no slowing down in sight. The action never let up and just seven hours into the event only 198 players remained in what looked like a mistake on the tournament clock.

When the night was over, the bubble popped at 82 which meant the remaining 81 in-the-money players will be going into Day 2 with at least with a WSOP cash.

The quick busting field came of a bit of a surprise to some who had never seen it before.

“Is this it? (the remaining field). I thought this was Day 1″ , shouted a railbird who just stepped into the Amazon Room. A floorman quickly responded, “Nope, Day 1, sir”

The Pot Limit Omaha action resumes tomorrow at 2pm as the remaining 81 players play down to a final table.

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It's back to back bracelets for Thang Luu who's been dominating the Hi-Lo game at the WSOP

Coming into the final day of Event #3 ($1,500 Omaha 8-or-better) at the 2009 World Series of Poker there was a bit of anticipation in the air. The final 19 players that started the day were ready to conclude the biggest Omaha 8-or-better tournament in history with a first place prize of $263,135.

Despite the fact that $40,000 buy-in event was being filmed by ESPN right behind them along with the Champions Invitational also nearby, the remaining nine players that made up the Omaha final table took their seats and kept their focus and determination one one of poker’s greatest prize - a 2009 WSOP bracelet.

Ming Reslock started the bustouts when she took out two players with a flop of T T 7. With Reslock holding Q J T 8, a J hit the turn giving her a full house with no qualifying low hand for either William Seal or Edgar Cheng. The two were sent home in 17th ($9,989) and 16th place ($9,989) respectively.

One player who found himself in a familiar spot once again was Thang Luu. In one hand Luu got into it with Robert Price after the flop came down Q 9 3. Price checked his hand over to Luu who bet out and Price quickly raised. Luu thought for a minute and then made the call. The turn came 5 and Price bet out with Luu calling behind him. Same as before, the river brought a J and Price bet and Luu called. When the hand was over, Luu revealed a queen high straight. This was the hand that would carry him along  the way to some of the more tough decisions he had to make to get another seat at a hi-lo final table for a third straight year, something that’s rarely been done in WSOP history.

With the once chip leader of Day 2 Sebastian Ruthenberg out in 10th place ($16,829), the final 9 reached the final table after a long, grueling two days of Omaha.

After about an hour the first player eliminated at the final table was Senovio Ramirez in 9th place ($16,829) . Exactly one hand later, Deeb busted out. His pocket aces didn’t hold up to Luu’s two pair and he was sent home in 8th place($27,029)

Jim Geary, young star Jordan “Octavian_C” Rich, Pascal Leyo, and Robert Price busted before their merits could be appreciated because on this day, there was only one player on everyone’s mind, and his name was Luu.

When the table got five-handed was when the experience of reaching hi-lo final tables paid off for Luu. He began his science of breaking down his opponents one by one. The callers came and the chips began to fall off the stacks of those once chip leaders.

A perfect example came when play was down to three. Reslock check-called Luu all the way down to the river on a few pots. With Reslock’s stack dwindling by the minute, the focus for Luu turned to the other remaining player in the event, Ed Smith. Smith entered Day 3 as chip leader and was poised to spoil Luu’s party with his patience and maturity when it comes to  the hi-low game.

But as soon as it got down to heads up between him and Luu, it was only a matter of time before the highs hit Luu and the lows drowned Smith.

At one point, Smith looked over to his supporters cheering him on along the rail and just shook his head in disbelief as Luu’s skill began to seep through the table and run Smith’s stack dry. It was all Luu needed as his top pair of queens overpowered Smith’s pair of nines to crush the bracelet hopes of Smith as he took down Event #3 for the second consecutive year.

“It’s different this time”, said Luu. “It’s the second one, you know - back to back”, responded Luu when asked if the feeling was the same as last year.

Luu has become only the second player in WSOP history to finish in the top 2 in the same event three years in a row - his second place finish in 2007, his bracelet win in 2008, and now his huge win here in 2009.

The final results from Event #3(Omaha Hi-Low/8-or-better) were:

1. Thang Luu - $263,135
2. Ed Smith - $162,110
3. Ming Reslock - $106,373
4. Robert Price - $73,405
5. Pascal Leyo - $53,293
6. Jordan Rich - $40,612
7. Jim Geary - $32,404
8. Freddy Deeb - $27,029
9. Senovio Ramirez - $23,520

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Winning a World Series of Poker bracelet in an Omaha Hi-Lo event is a huge accomplishment in itself, but if you’re Thang Luu, another big win might rewrite the WSOP record books once and for all.

Not many players have won a bracelet in Omaha Hi-Lo and have come back strong the next year to cash in the same event, but that’s what Luu has done so far and he’s not done yet.

With the start of Day 2 of Event #3 (Omaha Hi-Lo) Luu came into the day as the chip leader with 77,000 in chips and cruised slowly until he made a lightning bolt  run at the end of the night to bring his stack to 410,000 going into Day 3, second only to Ed Smith’s 433,000.

He was all ready to go before the cards even hit the air, only this time his comfort zone had been expanded for a more relaxed style of play which suits Omaha poker to the tee.

“It’s different because last year I was down to 5,000 in chips. This year I got more chips and I’m more comfortable playing”, said Luu. “I can play everything. It doesn’t matter what I have. It all just depends on the blinds and antes”, said Luu.

Halfway through Day 2 came a hand where Luu found himself holding the wheel for the Hi-Lo pot. Frustrated, a player in seat 6 mucked his hand and told Luu he was donkey for being lucky all the time. Luu responded by saying, “That’s a donkey, yeah. Holding the wheel is a donkey alright.”

As the field of players wound down one could sense the tension building over the slow style of Omaha poker, leaving dealers to make floor calls to settle down the frustrated and impatient players.

One such call included a busted muck attempt by Andy Bloch who made a forward motion with his cards, but when the dealer reached for them, Bloch pulled them back, causing nothing but confusion. After some deliberation, Bloch was allowed to play his hand since he was the big blind and had nothing to gain from it.

If the day seemed to be waning on the players, about an hour later, an announcement was made that players must play down to the final table or 3 am. The news received an audible groan from the field, but on the bright side, they were all in the money by this point including Eli Elezra, Annie Duke, Freddy Deeb, Erick Lindgren, and Flack.

But in the end, it was Luu who was the story of the WSOP today. Asked if he was he predicting another WSOP bracelet tomorrow, one word said it all, “Yes”.

WSOP Event #3 ($1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo) Top 10 Chip Counts

1. Ed Smith - 433,000
2. Thang Luu - 410,000
3. Robert Price - 387,000
4. Lee Mougous - 337,000
5. Jim Geary - 300,000
6. Richard Toth - 292,000
7. Senovio Ramirez - 270,000
8. Freddy Deeb - 266,000
9. Micah Brooks - 233,000
10. Sebastian Ruthenberg - 185,000

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With the 2009 World Series of Poker under way in its first week, there’s already been a record broken. Friday’s Day 1 of Event #3($1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo/8-or-better) topped out at 918 players, almost 100 more than in 2008 - which makes it the biggest Omaha Hi-Low event in WSOP history with a nice $1,253,070 prize pool and a sleek $230,930 for the first place finisher.

The common player today might not be familiar with this style of Omaha, but from seeing the enthusiasm today from the truest of poker players who ponied up the $1,500 to play, they absolutely love this event.

A day after the start of the big $40,000 buy-in extravaganza, the $1,500 event offered a lower buy-in, but at the same time it created a long and sometimes complicated day of split pots for many, but of course with the complexity of this style of Omaha, the split pots that did occur were much to the liking of the field that came out in droves to play.

One player who fits the mold of the kind of  player Omaha Hi-Lo brings in was Randy Kaas. He’s been coming to the WSOP since 2006 and only plays Omaha Hi-Lo events.

“It’s different. I like it because it’s more intricate than other games out there. I’ll be coming to the WSOP every weekend this year just for these type of events”, explained Kaas.

And it wasn’t hard to notice Kass either. He started his event by showing up wearing a giant white chef’s hat with his kitchen utensils company represented on the front of it. “I get a lot of questions about my hat”, exclaimed Kaas. And he was right, because after a seat opened up next to Kaas, none other than Chad Brown found his new home at table 87 and the very second he sat next to Kaas, he just stared in amazement at his giant chef’s hat and began to laugh - in a nice way of course.

Now with the low buy-in, the recreational players came out of the woodwork for this event, but what was surprising were the number of huge poker stars that showed up to play.

“It sucks to go from a $40,000 no-limit game to a $1,500 Fixed Limit game, but you can’t think of it like that. You have to show up and play”, explained Shannon Shorr.

As play started,  the faces became more evident amongst the tables. The bracelet winner from this event in 2008, Thang Luu, was spotted, along with currnet Bluff Magazine Player of the Year, John Phan. Then once Level 2 hit, the biggest names in the game began their Omaha hopes and dreams for 2009. The likes of Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Daniel Negreanu, Hoyt Corkins, and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson were among the many big name pros who also ventured out to the Rio for the low-buy in event.

After a lengthy, but interesting day of Omaha, the 918 players got wittled down to 197. Those select few who split-potted their way to Day 2 will be back tomorrow for another long, slow, but entertaining day of crazy Omaha Hi-Lo action.

Follow all the Live Updates for this event via WorldSeriesofPoker.com.

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Being the commissioner of the world’s longest-running, largest, richest and most prestigious poker event in the world isn’t meant to be a cakewalk for most people, but if you’re Jeffrey Pollack the cake is even sweeter everytime the World Series of Poker begins its annual tournament.

Since 2005, Pollack has been instituting his own style into the WSOP where he’s been steadily increasing its popularity not just in the United States, but throughout the world.

Using his past experience as a Director of Broadcasting and New Media for NASCAR’s digital entertainment, Pollack has brought his innovative, tech-savvy spirit to each and every WSOP he’s commissioned since he first got on board.

BluffMagazine.com caught up with Pollack on Day 1 of the WSOP for an exclusive Q&A about another exciting summer of poker and his insider’s take on all those Obama haters protesting outside Caesers Palace this past week:

We’re in the 40th year of the WSOP. How special is it to be a part of something so significant?

It’s an honor. We take our stewardship of the WSOP brand very seriously. We’ve worked hard over the last 4 years to grow this event and I think we did a good job in doing that. It’s a great moment to put the light on the history, tradition, and heritage of the WSOP. We got some good events related to the 40th year so it’s going to be a good summer.

Looking back on history, what changes have you seen that have impacted the Series the most?

There have been a lot. The $50,000 HORSE event was something really special and our delayed final table was a complete game changer for us. Our improvements of the schedule year after year have been meaningful along with our refinement of the overall player experience at the WSOP.

With the economy the way it is, were you guys persuaded by the crisis in any way to offer certain events, like the Stimulus Special?

As far as the schedule goes, we made a conscience decision not to program the World Series of Poker around the recession. We decided to pick up where we left off from last summer which was our best event ever. We wanted to move forward with the broadest pallet of poker events on the planet and create that spectacle we’re responsible for.

So last night you had a chance to meet President Obama. How did that come up and how did it go?

It was great. I was invited by our head of Government Affairs, Jan Jones. We presented him with an embroidered WSOP jacket and I invited him to visit the WSOP and it was just a great opportunity.

Do you think Obama is a big poker fan? Did he like the jacket?

He was excited. Rumor has it that he plays. He didn’t want to confirm or deny that for me.

He probably would never confirm that?

Yeah.

Now there were a bunch of protesters outside Caesers Palace yesterday regarding his recent comments about Las Vegas. Do you believe his comments will directly affect the business here in the city?

He didn’t address his comments last night, but the fact that he showed up says a lot.

The Champions Invitational is going to be a great event. It’s going to be good to see most of them in the same room, but maybe not Russ Hamilton. If he did show up…

He won’t show up.

But if he did…

He won’t show up.

In recent years, the WSOP has offered charity events to help its brand improve and stay close to the community. With the Ante Up for Africa on this year’s schedule again, why is it important for the WSOP to host tournaments like these?

I think it’s incumbent upon any global sports property to have a meaningful community relations plank. The Nevada Cancer Institute is our official community relations partner. We have a three year standing relationship with Ante Up for Africa. Plus, we’re going to further integrate Bad Beat on Cancer into the WSOP. In the end, you need to give back.

You’re on Twitter a lot reporting on the WSOP. So how has the technology improved over the years to better communicate your WSOP messages to the fan base?

Over the years? Forget it. How about the last 12 months? Last year I was struggling to just hack together a blog every week or so. Now, I’ve been liberated by the freedom of Twitter so that I can report on what’s happening in real time and it’s just much more natural. It’s a brilliant, brilliant technology.

So with technology improving and everything in place, how much bigger can it get?

We want to grow, but we want to continue to be the best. If we can continue to be the best, then we’ll be the best.

And finally, what’s left for Jeffrey Pollack out there? What more do you want to accomplish?

All I’m focused on right now is having the best possible WSOP this year and continuing to humbly making contributions to this great brand.

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