This week featured the release of the World Poker Tour Season XI schedule for fall 2012, and the $25,000 WPT Championship event for Season X began at Bellagio. The WPT will feature five US stops and six international events through the end of 2012. With just a week to go until the largest event on the poker calendar, the World Series of Poker unveiled new gold bracelets for 2012 that were designed by Jason of Beverly Hills. The BLUFF Player of the Year race saw John Dolan move up to sixth place and the Power Rankings saw David Sands rejoin the top 20. There should be a lot more movement in the standings next week after the conclusions of the WSOP Circuit main event in New Orleans on Monday, and the WPT $25,000 Championship event on Saturday.

WPT Unveils First Half of Season XI Schedule and Season X Finale Begins

The World Poker Tour has announced 11 tournaments on the Season XI schedule for fall 2012. The five US stops will feature a new televised main event at Parx Casino (near Philadelphia, PA), the Legends of Poker, the Borgata Poker Open, a return to Florida for the Jacksonville bestbet Fall Series, and the Five Diamond World Poker Classic to end the year at Bellagio. The international leg of the tour will begin with the Season XI kick-off event, the Merit Cyprus Classic. The Grand Prix de Paris will feature a televised main event, and other international stops will take place in Malta, Prague, Copenhagen and Mazagan, Morocco.

The $25,000 WPT Championship event began on Saturday and there were 100 players in the field when play began. Registration will remain open through the end of level 12, so players have until 5 p.m. on Day 3 to enter the televised event. Official prize pool information will be available at that time. You can catch daily recaps of the event on BluffMagazine.com throughout the week.

WSOP Reveals New Bracelet Design for 2012, Platinum Bracelet for Winner of Big One for One Drop Event

The World Series of Poker has revealed the new design for open event bracelets that will be awarded in 2012. They were created by famous jeweler Jason Arasheben, better known as Jason of Beverly Hills. Arasheben has also designed the championship rings for the 2009 and 2010 Los Angeles Lakers and the 2011 Green Bay Packers.

The jewelry company also designed the first ever platinum WSOP bracelet to award to the winner of the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop event. The Main Event bracelet will feature each suit in the deck in either rubies or black diamonds. In terms of sheer mass, it weighs in at over 160 grams of 14 karat gold and over 35 carats of flawless diamonds. “The Main Event bracelet is the granddaddy of them all,” said Arasheben. “You can’t really put an exact figure on that, but I’ll put it this way: it’s a six-figure bracelet.”

BLUFF Races Experience the Calm Before the Summer Storm

This week saw a lull in major tournament action before the WSOP, but things will heat up next week when winners emerge at the WSOP Circuit New Orleans main event and then the WPT World Championship. There was some movement on the charts, with John Dolan moving up to sixth place in the 2012 BLUFF Player of the Year race, and David Sands rejoined the top 20 in the BLUFF Poker Player Power Rankings.

Eric Baldwin Wins Prelims at Bellagio and Adam Weinraub Wins a Prelim at Commerce Casino

Notable tournament results were posted this week by Eric Baldwin in the Five Star World Poker Classic at Bellagio and Adam Weinraub in the Cal State Poker Championship at Commerce Casino. Baldwin posted two firsts, two ninths, and a fifteenth place showing for more than $30,000. Weinraub made a heads-up deal in a $1,070 event to win $16,000, and he also snagged a seat in the $2,080 buy-in Main Event that will crown a champion late Sunday.

The Latest on Internet Legislation in The Fight

You can get updates on the news concerning online poker legislation this week in The Fight. Positive steps have been taken on the intrastate level in Delaware and Mississippi this week, but the most encouraging news came out of Illinois. Where Senate President John Cullerton, a Democrat, introduced legislation authorizing intrastate and interstate Internet gambling (HB4148) . “[T]he state could organize the first major poker pool, garner worldwide popularity, and position itself as a ‘hub’ for multi-state and international iGaming,” said Cullerton.

Steve O'Dwyer is off to a strong start in the WPT Championship, taking the chip lead into Day 2.

One season ends as another begins, as the closing event of Season X of the World Poker Tour officially kicked off the Summer for poker players. The WPT Championship, the biggest buy-in of the season at $25,000, did not see many players sent to the rail on Day 1.

Just five of the 103 entrants went through their stack of 100,000 before the end of Level 4. Three former WPT Champions were among that group, including Sean Jazayeri and Phil Laak. Darren Elias made two final tables during Season X but he would not make a third in this event, while Heather Sue Mercer, one of three women to enter the field so far, failed to make it through Day 1. Erik Seidel had an unusually early exit in this big buy-in event, and joined the small group of casualties as well.

Steve O’Dwyer claimed the overnight chip lead with 231,750, followed closely by Masa Kagawa, Tyler Smith, Guillaume Darcourt, and Vanessa Selbst. Defending champion Scott Seiver has yet to register for the event, but registration is open through all of Day 2 and up to the beginning of Day 3. Farzad Bonyadi, the runner-up last year in this event, is off to a strong start as well with 185,000.

The 103 entries on Day 1 is down from 195 entries on Day 1 last year; there would eventually be 220 players who registered for the WPT Championship in 2011. With the SCOOP Main Event beginning on Sunday, there are a number of players who are out of the country playing the last event of that series. If they make Day 2 of any of those events, they won’t be able to play, but those who bust out on Sunday have the option of registering until Monday at 12 pm PT.

Day 2 will have four more 90 minute levels, the same schedule as Day 1. WPT Player of the Year leader Will Failla made it through the day, as did Joe Serock, Daniel Buzgon, and Vitor Coelho, though Coelho is the shortest stack remaining with 25,000. While those players in the top 5 all still have a chance at WPT Player of the year, Elias’ hope for the award ended with his elimination.

Play will resume at 12 pm PT Sunday. Here’s the unofficial top 10 after Day 1 of the WPT Championship.

1. Steve O’Dwyer – 231,750
2. Masa Kagawa – 228,675
3. Tyler Smith – 221,600
4. Guillaume Darcourt – 215,250
5. Vanessa Selbst – 207,425
6. Joe Serock – 197,000
7. Michael Mizrachi – 194, 875
8. Justin Young – 190,000
9. Isaac Haxton – 189,500
10. Farzad Bonyadi – 185,000

The final event of the landmark tenth season of the World Poker Tour isn’t quite finished yet, but the WPT is already looking ahead to an even bigger Season XI. Just a couple of days before the start of the WPT Championship at Bellagio, the tour revealed the fall portion of next season’s schedule, which includes some new stops and some old stomping grounds getting bumped from the list of stops.

The past few seasons, the WPT Spanish Championship in Barcelona kicked off the season, but this year, the WPT Merit Cyprus Classic will be doing the honors. The Merit-Grand Casino in Cyprus will serve as the launching point for Season XI with a $4,400 buy-in Main Event. The Cyprus event will feature a re-entry component, as will every event on the Season XI schedule, save for the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio in December.

The Five Diamond is one of several events returning to the schedule, along with the Legends of Poker at the Bike (August 24-29), the Grand Prix de Paris (September 10-15), WPT Malta (September 16-20), the Borgata Poker Open (September 16-21), Jacksonville bestbet Fall Series (November 9-13), and WPT Prague (December 3-9). While those events make a triumphant return, Barcelona and Amneville are off the schedule, as is the Foxwoods World Poker Finals. This is the first time in the tour’s history that the Connecticut casino will not have a WPT stop on the calendar.

The first half of Season XI will feature some new events. Stateside, the East Coasters may not be making a trek to Foxwoods, but they will have a chance to play at the new Parx Open Poker Classic at the Parx Casino near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That event kicks off the US schedule and will be filmed for television. The new international stops on the tour include a trip to Copenhagen in and Mazagan, Morocco in November. The Mazagan event is replacing the previous Moroccan stop on the schedule, WPT Marrakech.

“World Poker Tour is committed to extending its global reach,” said Steve Heller, WPT CEO. “Not only will Season XI feature new stops in the US and abroad, but World Poker Tour is also widely expanding our Regional and National Series to deliver the WPT experience to as many players and fans as possible.”

The Regional and National schedules are indeed expanding. The first half of the season will feature nine regional events at casinos across the US and four National series tournaments in Madrid, Mazagan, Venice, and Barcelona.

Here is a look at the complete schedule for the first half of Season XI of the World Poker Tour. A detailed schedule can be found on the official WPT site. Televised events are denoted with (TV), while non-televised events are denoted with (NTV):

8/4-8/9: WPT Merit Cyprus Classic (NTV) – $4,400 buy-in w/ re-entry

8/10-8/15: WPT Parx Open Poker Classic (TV) – $3,500 buy-in w/ re-entry

8/24-8/29: Legends of Poker at the Bike (TV) – $3,700 buy-in w/ re-entry

9/10-9/15: WPT Grand Prix de Paris (TV) – €7,500 buy-in w/ re-entry

9/16-9/20: WPT Malta (NTV) – €3,300 buy-in w/ re-entry

9/16-9/21: Borgata Poker Open (TV) – $3,500 buy-in w/ re-entry

11/9-11/13: Jacksonville bestbet Fall Series (NTV) – $3,500 buy-in w/ re-entry

11/12-11/17: WPT Copenhagen (NTV) – 26,250DKK buy-in w/ re-entry

11/26-12/1: WPT Mazagan (NTV) – €3,500 buy-in w/ re-entry

12/3-12/9: WPT Prague (NTV) – €3,300 buy-in (10% withheld) w/ re-entry

12/17-12/22: Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio (TV) – $10,000 buy-in, no re-entry

The poker world is full of facts, figures, stats and records. With so many numbers being crunched day in and day out, sometimes it is tough to see what they all add up to. That is why BLUFF brings you some of the more interesting numbers related to the big tournaments, big stories, and big personalities in the poker world. Some are factual, some are fun, some are both. In this edition, we take a look at the penultimate WPT stop of the year, the Jacksonville bestbet Open , by the numbers:

2 Number of open events played by WPT host Vince Van Patten. Yes, Van Patten has played in the WPT Invitational in the past like his fellow WPT on camera personalities, the only time he played in an open event was the LA Poker Classic one year. He decided to take a shot in Jacksonville, but busted Day 1A and opted not to re-enter. Van Patten’s co-worker, Tony Dunst, fared much better, making the final table and finishing in fifth place.

3 Number of players at the final table making their second final table appearance of Season X. Will Failla was looking to follow up his Legends of Poker win with a second title, while Daniel Buzgon and Darren Elias were reunited after taking third and fifth respectively in the Borgata Poker Open Main Event.

6 Number of players under the age of 21 in the field at the event. Florida is one of the only places in the US that allows 18+ gambling. The WPT always offers a last longer for the under 21 year old set, but for the first time it was really a contest with five of the six making Day 2 and two of the six making the money. Robert Gorodetsky made it all the way to 17th place before busting and collecting a custom surfboard.

8 Number of days Joe Serock got to relish being the WPT Player of the Year frontrunner before Will Failla took his lead back. Failla was in the driver’s seat for over 250 days after taking first at Legends of Poker in LA then finishing 11th at the Borgata Poker Open. He lost the lead after Serock logged his second third place finish at Seminole Hard Rock, but took it back just a week later.

16 Number of cashes so far this year for Jacksonville fourth place finisher Daniel Buzgon. The New Jersey poker pro has been a cashing machine this year, but his final table appearance in Florida was his biggest cash so far at $94,624. The rest have been for less than $25,000, but he has still raked in a more than respectable $173,000 in winnings this year.

17 Percentage chance that Matt Marafioti and his pocket sevens would prevail in a four way all-in that was one of the most talked about hands of the tournament. Marafioti was up against pocket aces, pocket kings, pocket queens, and David Paredes claimed to fold ace-king suited, but Marafioti managed to turn a seven to take the pot and more than quintuple up.

57 Number of days the Jacksonville bestbet Poker Room was open before a WPT event graced its felt. The previous Jacksonville event was held at the Orange Park Kennel Club, which includes a poker room within the greyhound track facility. The new room, which is located in a building that used to be a Garden Ridge store, is owned and operated by the same group, but is located closer to the heart of Jacksonville.

5,000 Dollars in the buy-in for this WPT event. It is the only US event on the Season X schedule to feature such a buy-in level. All of the other events were either $3,500 buy-ins with re-entries or $10,000. The tournament also featured a re-entry option and easily surpassed the $1 million guarantee with a $1.5 million prize pool and 320 entries.

1,222,676 Career earnings for the latest WPT Champ Shawn Cunix. His $400,000 win in Jacksonville pushed him into million-dollar territory. While Cunix is technically a recreational player and his career is actually that of an entrepeneur in Ohio, he has a long list of results including a previous WPT final table appearance at Festa al Lago at Bellagio in 2009, where he finished in sixth.

1,873,219 Earnings since January 1st, 2011 for current BLUFF cover boy Will Failla. In the past 16 months, Failla has racked up as much in earnings as he did between 2005 and 2010. The Thrill has been unstoppable the past two years, and his confidence is at an all-time high. On Day 1 of the Jacksonville event he assured he would take his POY lead back. He also guaranteed he’d make the money at the WPT Championship when it gets underway at the Bellagio in two weeks.

Cunix started the day as chip leader and ended as a WPT champ

Shawn Cunix always tries to teach his kids that with a passion for something, anything is possible. The recreational player has always been a family man. In fact, he played this event with his arm in a sling because he saved his son from an oncoming four wheeler. Now he has followed up saving his son’s life with an important life lesson: having passion does pay off and, in this instance, it pays over $400,000.

Cunix came into the final table of the World Poker Tour’s Jacksonville bestbet Open as the chip leader and came out the champion thanks to aggressive play, a couple of lucky spots, and, of course, passion. When the final table first got underway, Cunix only increased his lead while most of the other players at the table struggled to pick up chips.

Will Failla was the first player to hit the rail. He got short early, then flopped a big draw against Cunix’s top pair. They got it all-in and Failla whiffed, exiting in sixth place. From that point, the current WPT Player of the Year frontrunner could only watch and wait to see where Daniel Buzgon finished, as he could tie Failla with a second and take the lead with a win.

Buzgon would not catch Failla in the race though. After Tony Dunst exited in fifth place, Buzgon followed. The New Jersey poker pro managed to double up a couple of times after starting the day as the table’s short stack, but his luck ran out when his KQ couldn’t best James Calderaro’s AJ.

Three-handed, Cunix saw his chip lead dissipate as Darren Elias started winning pot after pot. The pro looked poised to take down his first major title, but a spell of bad luck and cold decks ended in a lost coinfip that sent Elias to the rail in third place.

That left Calderaro and Cunix heads-up for the title with Calderaro holding the chip lead. Cunix quickly erased the deficit though and eventually pulled out to a lead of his own. In the end, Calderaro ended up in all-in or fold mode when he got it all-in preflop holding JT to Cunix’s pocket treys. Cunix flopped a set, Calderaro couldn’t draw out, and the match ended with a Cunix victory.

The win is the biggest score of Cunix’s career and all he wanted to do to celebrate was get home to his wife and kids so the entire family can revel in Dad’s success.

The WPT has one more event before Season X wraps up for good. The $25,000 WPT Championship at Bellagio gets underway in just a couple of weeks, kicking off on May 19th.

Here are the final table results from the WPT Jacksonville event:

1st: Shawn Cunix – $400,600 (includes $25,500 WPT World Championship seat)
2nd: James Calderaro – $236,560
3rd: Darren Elias – $147,850
4th: Daniel Buzgon – $94,624
5th: Tony Dunst – $66,532
6th: Will Failla – $54,704

Elias started the day second to last in chips, but rallied to make the final table

It is rare for a player to make two World Poker Tour final tables in a season, so what is happening in Jacksonville on Wednesday is really remarkable when you think about it, as there will be three players making their second WPT final table appearance of Season X.

Will Failla is the one grabbing the headlines as he regained control of the WPT Player of the Year race by locking up at least a sixth place finish in this event. He is actually not the only one at the final table who can still take the lead though. If Failla finishes fifth or sixth in Jacksonville, Borgata Poker Open third place finisher Daniel Buzgon can take the lead or tie for the lead if he pulls out a win.

You’ve also got Darren Elias in the mix at this final table, who final tabled the Borgata Poker Open this season, finishing in fifth place. While these three have experience on their side, they are a little short on chips. Buzgon will be the short stack at the table with 570,000, Elias is fifth in chips with 1,280,000, and Failla is the best off with 1,535,000, good for third in the counts.

This final table has another history maker at it too, as Tony Dunst joins Mike Sexton as the second member of the WPT broadcast team to make a final table. Dunst was supposed to be in the booth doing commentary on the live stream of this event, but instead James Dempsey and Darryll Fish will be calling the action while Dunst, who is fourth in chips with 1,310,000, will be trying to best Sexton’s sixth place finish at Bay 101 back in 2011.

Shawn Cunix may not be making his second WPT final table of the season, but the chip leader is making his second career WPT final appearance in Jacksonville. Cunix will begin the day with 2.7 million chips, many of which previously belonged to Matt Marafioti, who finished in ninth place. In one of the more talked about hands of the day, Marafioti moved all-in for more than three times the size of the pot on an A92 board holding A-Q only to run into Cunix’s 2-2 for bottom set.

Rounding out the final table line-up is James Calderaro, who is the only player with more than 2 million chips. This is his first WPT final table appearance.

These final six were part of the 16 players who started Day 4 of the Jacksonville bestbet Open. The players who failed to survive to the televised final table included Marafioti and Byron Kaverman, who bubbled the final table in seventh place.

Here are the chip counts and seat assignments for Wednesday’s final table. When play resumes, blinds will be at 15,000/30,000 ante 5,000:

Seat 1: James Calderaro – 2,110,000
Seat 2: Daniel Buzgon – 570,000
Seat 3: Will Failla – 1,535,000
Seat 4: Tony Dunst – 1,315,000
Seat 5: Shawn Cunix – 2,770,000
Seat 6: Darren Elias – 1,280,000

Failla is eight eliminations away from retaking the WPT POY lead

At the end of Day 1A of the World Poker Tour’s Jacksonville bestbet Open Main Event, Will Failla called his shot. He said he was taking his WPT Player of the Year lead back from Joe Serock, which would require an eighth place finish or better in the Florida event. Well, it looks like Failla wasn’t kidding around, because he is chip leader with just 16 players remaining in the field.

Day 3 of the event got underway outside of the money bubble with 55 players remaining, but over the span of one level, the field quickly got down near 36 players. Along the way, players like Andy Frankenberger, Danny Shiff, and Taylor von Kriegenbergh all hit the rail empty-handed.

Before the bubble could even get started, it was over. Right as Brian Haas busted in 38th place on one table, James Dempsey was busting in 37th on another. Dempsey started the day near the top of the counts, but had a rough day at the tables, culminating in being on the wrong end of a coin flip against Matt Schulte to exit just shy of the money.

Once the bubble burst, the eliminations continued with the exits of Brian Hastings (35th), Allen Kessler (34th), Darryll Fish (24th), Matt Giannetti (22nd), Fred Goldberg (20th), and Robert Gorodetsky, who earned a surfboard in addition to his $16,263 payday since he was the last player under the age of 21 left in the field.

When play ended Failla was on top. Failla clashed with the start of day chip leader Farid Jattin on a couple of occasions, including a million-chip pot that sent Failla up to the top of the counts. He finished the day with 1,360,000, which puts him just in front of Peter Campo, who bagged up 1,269,000. Daniel Buzgon rounds out the top three with 900,000, which is all the more impressive considering he came back from dinner break with just over 100,000 chips and the blinds at 3,000/6,000.

Some of the other notables still alive in the field include Byron Kaverman (815,000), Matt Marafioti (617,000), Tony Dunst (459,000), James Calderaro (423,000), and Darren Elias (262,000). Play will reusme at 2pm ET on Tuesday and will continue until the six-handed final table is set. When play resumes, blinds will be at 5,000/10,000 ante 1,000.

Here is a look at the top ten chip counts from the end of Day 3:

1. Will Failla – 1,360,000
2. Peter Campo – 1,269,000
3. Daniel Buzgon – 900,000
4. Byron Kaverman – 815,000
5. David Tuthill – 687,000
6. Amelio Amato – 666,000
7. Farid Jattin – 618,000
8. Matt Marafioti – 617,000
9. Shawn Cunix – 555,000
10. Tony Dunst – 459,000

Last week, Joe Serock took control of the World Poker Tour Player of the Year race with his third place finish in the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown. However, now the ball might not be in Serock’s court much longer. There are only 55 players left in the WPT’s Jacksonville bestbet Open $5,000 Main Event and there are more than a couple players in the field who can overtake Serock with a final table appearance.

One of those players is James Dempsey and he spent Day 2 of the event working his way up the counts. Dempsey began with an above average stack and steadily won chips throughout the day, ending with 404,500, which is enough to put him in the top five chip counts. Dempsey can tie for the lead with Serock with a sixth place showing. Will Failla is another player who can make up ground in Florida. He only needs a seventh or better to retake the lead. Failla is not too far behind Dempsey in the counts, having ended the day with 355,000. Others with potential to make an impact on the race include Fred Goldberg, Matt Giannetti, Dan Buzgon, and Darren Elias, who began Day 2 action as chip leader.

Elias started the day on top of the 160 Day 2 players and he ended the day in a similar spot. Elias is second in chips with 636,000 and trails only chip leader Farrid Jattin, who finished with 718,000. Jattin eliminated Day 1B chip leader Amine Chabane midway through the day to jump to the top spot and held on to the chip lead the remainder of the day. Chabane was just one of a long list of casualties that also included Mike Sexton, Matthew Waxman, Matt Stout, Shannon Shorr, WPT Jacksonville winner Tony Ruberto, Lisa Hamilton, Abbey Daniels, John Racener, and Jonathan Little.

On Day 3, the final 55 players should burst the 36-person money bubble. A min cash in this event is worth $9,610 and the winner will be taking home $400,600 worth of the $1.5 million prize pool. Some of the notables still in contention include Byron Kaverman, Brian Hastings, Darryll Fish, Tony Dunst, Matt Marafioti, Allen Kessler, Taylor von Kriegenbergh, and Andy Frankenberger.

Day 3 is set to get underway at 2pm ET on Monday. Here are the top ten unofficial chip counts from the end of Day 2:

1. Farid Jattin – 718,000
2. Darren Elias – 636,000
3. Shawn Cunix – 411,000
4. James Dempsey – 404,500
5. David Tuthill – 381,000
6. Peter Campo – 341,500
7. Will Failla – 335,000
8. Byron Kaverman – 292,000
9. Barrty Hutter – 275,000
10. Matt Giannetti – 274,500

Marafioti finished second at the HPT event in Vegas just two weeks ago

For the second day in a row, a crop of hopefuls turned up at bestbet Jacksonville to take their shot in the World Poker Tour’s $5,000 buy-in bestbet Open Main Event. Many of the faces were familiar ones, as they were among the 63 people who busted on Day 1A. Thankfully for them, a re-entry option allowed them to take a second shot at WPT glory.

Matt Marafioti is one of the players who benefited from re-entering. After quintupling up in a massive hand yesterday only to bust just a couple of orbits later, Marafioti decided to give it another go on Saturday. After registering late, Marafioti began the day at a table packed with pros, but the tough line-up didn’t stop him from doubling up early. From there he only built his stack more, ultimately ending Day 1B action with 113,200.

That puts Marafioti near the top of the counts, but the player who ended Day 1B action on top is Amine Chabaney, who ended with 193,500 from the 30,000-chip starting stack. Brandon Barnes, a 19 year old taking advantage of the 18+ age requirement in this event also had a strong day, ending with 145,600, which is good enough for third in the counts. Past WPT winners Mike Scarborough and Matt Giannetti had good days as well, ending with 114,400 and 111,200 respectively.

There were 195 players in the Day 1B field, bringing the total field size in the event to 320 entrants. The casino has yet to release prize pool and payout information, but the stop did easily best the $1 million guarantee and the prize pool will be in excess of $1.5 million.

Of the 195 Day 1B players, approximately 100 survived the day, including David Diaz, Brian Hastings, Curt Kohlberg, Matthew Waxman, Andy Frankenberger, Matt Brady, Shannon Shorr, and Matt Stout. There were around 30 players who played on Day 1A and decided to take another shot on Day 1B.

Like Day 1A, approximately half the field hit the rail over the course of nine levels of action. The long list of eliminated players includes Jamie Gold, Chris Klodnicki, John Dolan, Lauren Kling, Phil Collins, Amnon Filippi, Hoyt Corkins, Harrison Gimbel, and Gigi Gagne.

The approximately 163 Day 1 survivors will be under one roof on Sunday for Day 2 action starting at 2pm ET. Here is a look at the unofficial top ten from the end of play on Day 1B:

1. Amine Chabaney – 193,500
2. David Jackson – 150,000
3. Brandon Barnes – 145,600
4. Ralph Robinson – 138,000
5. Brian Haas – 119,200
6. Mike Scarborough – 114,400
7. Matt Marafioti – 113,200
8. Matt Giannetti – 111,200
9. David Diaz – 108,000
10. Byron Kaverman – 108,000

Elias already made a WPT final table earlier this year at Borgata

There may be plenty of big names in Europe for the EPT’s Grand Final, but for those players who preferred to stay on American soil, the World Poker Tour offered some alternative programming in the form of the WPT bestbet Jacksonville Open. The $5,000 buy-in event is the first televised WPT Main Event in Jacksonville and features another first for the tour. The event is a re-entry event, but unlike the other re-entry events this year, in this tournament players could play both Day 1A and Day 1B and select which stack they wanted to take into Day 2 action.

One player who won’t need to be returning for Day 1B on Saturday is Darren Elias. The East Coast poker pro ended Day 1A at the top of the counts with 213,600 from the 30,000 chip starting stack. Elias doubled his stack early when he busted Steven Merrifield, but he really picked up steam during the last hour of play and is the only player of the 62 Day 1A survivors to end with more than 200,000 chips.

David Paredes also chipped up late in the day and did so after dodging a bullet in a hand that was the most talked about of the day. Paredes was part of a hand that featured a four way all-in that nearly saw Paredes make it five-way. Facing an opening raise and a call from a player and Raj Vohra, an all-in from an extremely short Matt Marafioti and a reshove from Eli Berg, Paredes called with AK. Then the initial raiser called. Vohra decided to pump things up and reraised. Paredes managed to get away from his hand and fold only to watch as the four other players turned up pocket aces, pocket kings, pocket queens, and pocket sevens. Vohra’s aces won most of the chips and sent two players home, but Marafioti’s sevens spiked a set to give him the main pot. Marafioti ended up busting a short while later, while Paredes’ smart fold kept him alive and helped him bag up 170,300 chips to end the day.

Marafioti was part of the half of the 125-person Day 1A field that failed to make it through the day. Matthew Waxman, Hoyt Corins, Harrison Gimbel, Jason Koon, Shannon Shorr, and Vince Van Patten, who was playing in only his second WPT event outside of the WPT Invitational, all hit the rail over the course of the day as well.

By day’s end there were 62 survivors including Elias, Paredes, Darryll Fish (140,800), Will Failla (132,600), James Dempsey (114,300), Jonathan Little (78,800), Taylor von Kriegenbergh (66,200), Lisa Hamilton (41,800), and the current WPT Player of the Year frontrunner Joe Serock (40,000).

On Saturday, the busted players will get a second shot to build a stack and several new players will be taking to the felt as well. While the Day 1A survivors sit back and relax, the Day 1B crew will get things underway at 12pm ET.

Here are the top ten unofficial chip counts from the end of Day 1A:

1. Darren Elias – 213,600
2.  David Paredes – 170,300
3. Darryll Fish – 140,800
4.  Robert Gorodetsky – 139,600
5. Will Failla – 132,600
6. James Dempsey – 114,300
7.  BJ McBrayer – 112,900
8.  David Tuthill – 90,000
9. Andrew Barta – 81,300
10.  Tim Miles – 80,000

The poker world is full of facts, figures, stats and records. With so many numbers being crunched day in and day out, sometimes it is tough to see what they all add up to. That is why BLUFF brings you some of the more interesting numbers related to the big tournaments, big stories, and big personalities in the poker world. Some are factual, some are fun, some are both. In this edition, we take a look at the WPT’s latest trip to the Sunshine State and the 2012 Seminole Hard Rock Showdown by the numbers:

0 Number of women at the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Main Event final table. In the four times the WPT has played a Main Event in Florida, this is the only time a woman has not made the final table. Abbey Daniels finished fourth at last year’s Seminole Hard Rock Showdown, Lisa Hamilton finished third in last fall’s WP Jacksonville event, and two months ago Gigi Gagne was runner-up at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open. No women even cashed in this event.

3 Number of WPT Seminole Hard Rock cashes for Justin Zaki. Zaki is the only player to have cashed in all three WPT Seminole Hard Rock events. He finished third at last year’s Seminole Hard Rock Showdown, finished 21st at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open, and took 15th here. All told, Zaki has earned $457,717 at the Seminole Hard Rock over the past year.

9 Number of players in WPT history who have final tabled the same event in consecutive years. None of them managed to win the same event twice. Of that group, only Scotty Nguyen and now Tommy Vedes were able to pick up the title the second time around. Vedes’ redemption is especially notable because he is also only the thrid player in WPT history to begin play as the short stack at the final table and go on to win the title.

14 Career WPT cashes for Jimmy Tran. Even though he is 20th on the WPT all-time cash list, Tran still hasn’t made a WPT final table. This was one of his closest efforts, as he finished in 10th place. Tran took 11th at Festa al Lago in Season VII, 10th at the WPT Championship in Season V, and 12th at the WPT Championship in Season I. His closest call came at the World Poker Open in Tunica in Season VI when he finished in eighth place.

36 Percentage of chips in play Joe Serock possessed when the final table began. Serock’s chip lead was a substantial one, as he began with more than twice as many chips as everyone else at the table. Even with the big lead though, Serock was unable to pull off the win and had to settle for his second sonsecutive third place finish.

50 Percent of players at the final table going back-to-back in something. Joe Serock made back-to-back US WPT final tables, finishing third at Bay 101 and third at Seminole. Sharon Levin made back-to-back Seminole Hard Rock final tables after taking fourth in the Lucky Hearts Poker Open. Tommy Vedes made back-to-back Seminole Hard Rock Showdown appearances, finishing sixth last year and taking it down this time around.

290 Number of players in this year’s Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Main Event.  The number is a steep decline from the 433 who took part in last year’s event. There is no clear cut explanation behind the 33% decline in attendance, but a few factors might have contributed. Last year, this was the first major event after Black Friday when it was still very unclear what poker’s future held. This year the event also competed against a strong series of European events that drew many American players overseas the past week.

1800 Points Joe Serock holds in the WPT Player of the Year race. For the first time since August, someone besides Will Failla is leading the WPT POY contest. Serock’s two third place finishes give him a 150 point lead in the contest with two events to go. Though Serock has the lead, the race is actually more wide open than you would think. With two events left on the schedule, there are a host of players who can move into pole position with a final table appearance at Jacksonville or a top ten finish at the WPT Championship.

25,056 Minimum payday for cashing in the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Main Event. Unlike other $10,000 buy-in tournaments which often only pay out around $14,000 or $15,000 for a min cash, this event offered a much higher return on investment. As a result, the money bubble was a relatively long affair. Getting the field from 29 to 28 took a couple of hours and hand for hand action went on for an hour or so as well before Allie Prescott bubbled in 28th place.

2,215,955 Career WPT earnings for Tommy Vedes. With his second title, Vedes moves to 35th on the all-time money list. He also joins an elite group. Vedes is just the 17th player to earn multiple WPT titles.  It has been over a year since a player has picked up a second title. The last player to do so was Antonio Esfandiari when he won the Five Diamond World Poker Classic in December 2010.

Vedes is the 14th two-time WPT Champion

It is rare for someone to win two World Poker Tour titles. It is even rarer for someone to make the same WPT final table twice. Only once has someone returned to the same WPT final table and won it the second time around. Only two times in the tour’s ten years has the shortest stack at the final table gone on to take the title.

To accomplish one of these feats is impressive, but Tommy Vedes managed to accomplish all of them on Monday night as he battled from the short stack to win his second WPT title and redemption at this year’s Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Main Event.

Last year, Vedes was the guy at the final table with experience on his side, but he exited in a disappointing sixth place. This year, he would not let history repeat itself. Vedes came in and doubled early, winning a coinflip against Kyle Bowker that left Bowker short on chips and pushed Vedes into seven-figure territory. Bowker put together a rally, but it wasn’t enough and he exited in sixth place at the hands of Joe Serock.

Serock looked like the man to beat going into this final table. He is fresh off a third place finish at Bay 101 last month and had twice as many chips as his competitors going into the final table. He only continued to build that stack during the early goings of final table action. The other players like Vedes and John Dolan would chip up, but Serock’s lead was too wide.

Vedes made more progress up the counts when he busted Sharon Levin in fifth place and he became a contender with a real shot after eliminating Craig Bergeron in fourth place. Bergeron open shipped pocket sixes right into Vedes pocket queens to push him past the two-million chip mark.

Serock’s lead started to shrink during three-handed action and, with a single coinflip, he saw himself go from chip leader to short stack. Serock four bet all-in with sixes against Dolan’s AJ. Dolan outflopped Serock and picked up the double to the chip lead, then he would finish Serock off not too long after. Dolan basically put Serock all-in preflop, but technically Serock’s final few chips didn’t go in until after the 833 flop. Dolan called with K8 for top pair and Serock looked like he’d double back to the lead with his pocket queens. Dolan managed to spike a king on the turn though and Serock once again finished in third place.

The good news for Serock is that the back-to-back third place showings are enough to take the lead from Will Failla in the WPT Player of the Year race with just two events to go before the season wraps up.

Busting Serock gave Dolan the noticeable chip advantage going into heads-up action and it appeared like he was going to chip Vedes down to a second place showing. Vedes put together a rally though, first flopping a flush and doubling against Dolan’s top pair, then doubling again when his top pair bigger kicker held up against Dolan’s top pair with a gutshot.

That second double gave Vedes the lead and, from there, he couldn’t be stopped. On the final hand of play, the two got it all-in preflop with Dolan holding K6 to Vedes’ A[10d]. Even though the KJ6 flop gave Dolan top and bottom pair, Vedes with the Q on the turn to improve to a straight. The river 4 made it official: Vedes was the latest two-time champion with $779,520 and story for the record books to show for it.

The WPT only gets a couple of days off before it is back and action in Jacksonville on Friday for Day 1A of the $5,000 buy-in BestBet Open.

Here are the final table results from the 2012 Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Main Event:

1st: Tommy Vedes – $779,520 (includes $25,500 WPT Championship seat)
2nd: John Dolan – $459,360
3rd: Joe Serock – $306,240
4th: Craig Bergeron – $212,976
5th: Sharon Levin – $158,688
6th: Kyle Bowker – $122,496

Serock's now a contender in a couple of POY races

A little over a month ago, Joe Serock had a shot at a World Poker Tour title at the Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event. He came up short, finishing in third place while two recreational players battled it out for a title. Now, Serock has another shot at the trophy and this time he is armed with a mountain of chips.

Serock not only has the chip lead heading into the final table of the WPT’s Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Main Event, he also has twice as many chips as his next closest competitor. That is certainly the good news for Serock, who can move as high as third in the BLUFF Player of the Year race with a win on Monday. The bad news is that he is at a tough final table packed with some impressive poker talent.

For example, the short stack at the table is also a pro with a WPT title and something to prove in this event. Tommy Vedes may have half as many chips as the rest of the field with his 590,000-chip stack, but with last year’s sixth place finish in this event looming over him, he is looking to improve with his second visit to the final table. You also have former November Niner John Dolan in the line-up. Dolan has spent the entire tournament near the top of the counts and the Florida native will begin the final table second in chips with 1,454,000 to Serock’s 3,137,000.

Poker pros Craig Bergeron and Kyle Bowker are also in the mix and making their WPT final table debuts. Bergeron will begin action with 1,235,000 while Bowker has slightly less than that with 1,070,000. Sharon Levin has experience at Seminole final tables before. He finished fourth in the Lucky Hearts Poker Open in Florida back in February and is looking to do even better this time around. He bagged up 1,216,000.

These six players were the lucky few who survived Day 5 action at the Seminole Hard Rock. Play began with 15 players with the field quickly losing last year’s third place finisher in this event, Justin Zaki (15th) and Foxwoods final tablist Eli Berg (14th). Robert Georato began the day second in chips with over a million, but he also fell short of the final table, busting in 12th place. Ravi Raghavan exited in 11th when Bergeron’s pocket kings cracked his pocket aces and Jimmy Tran posted a tenth place finish, narrowly missing out on his first-ever WPT final table.

Fred Goldberg’s exit in eighth place eliminated one of the two players who could catch Will Failla in the WPT Player of the Year race. Serock can still take the lead in the contest with a fourth place finish or higher on Monday. The honor of final table bubble boy went to Jess Yawitz, whose seventh place finish wrapped up action for the day.

The Seminole Hard Rock Showdown final table will get underway at 4pm ET tomorrow with the livestream with hole cards on a 30-minute delay starting at 4:30pm on WPT.com. Here are the final table chip counts and seat assignments:

Seat 1: Craig Bergeron – 1,235,000
Seat 2: Tommy Vedes – 590,000
Seat 3: Sharon Levin – 1,216,000
Seat 4: Kyle Bowker – 1,070,000
Seat 5: John Dolan – 1,454,000
Seat 6: Joe Serock – 3,137,000

Goldberg can take the lead in the WPT POY race with a fifth place finish or better

The tenth season of the World Poker Tour is wrapping up, which means the WPT Player of the Year race is nearing its conclusion. Will Failla took an early lead with his win at Legends of Poker and deep run at Borgata, but now there are two players among the fifteen left in the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown who can catch Failla and nab the lead with just two events left in the season.

One of those players who can pass Failla in the race is also the chip leader at the end of Day 4 of action. Joe Serock began the day second in chips and ended the day on top with 1,061,000. Fred Goldberg is the other player who can catch Failla, but he is in slightly worse shape with 617,000. Goldberg’s stack is still above average, but he has a tough field to contend with and nine eliminations to go before the final table is set.

Goldberg is closer now than he was when he started the day though. When Day 4 play began, there were 32 contenders and the money bubble hadn’t even burst yet. Ashton Griffin and the last woman standing in the field, Joanne Dorin, exited before the money bubble, and it was Allie Prescott’s elimination in 28th place that ensured the remaining 27 players a payday of at least $25,056. Prescott ran nines into Jason Koon’s jacks to miss out on the money. Koon wouldn’t last too much longer than Prescott.  Daryl Jace (26th), Koon (21st), start of day chip leader Bill Brown (20th), and Zach Clark (16th) were some of the players who made the money but failed to survive the day.

The final fifteen includes a number of familiar faces including two players aiming to make back-to-back Seminole Hard Rock Showdown final table appearances. Last year’s sixth place finisher Tommy Vedes and last year’s third place finisher Justin Zaki are still in the hunt, but Zaki will return on Sunday last in chips with 204,000. Vedes isn’t faring too much better with 378,000.

Some of the other players still kicking around in the field include Kyle Bowker (980,000), John Dolan (900,000), Ravi Raghavan (672,000), Craig Bergeron (650,000), Jimmy Tran (593,000), and David Paredes (307,000). Keep an eye on Robert Georato too. He almost finished with the chip lead, bagging up just 6,000 chips less than Serock. Georato’s 1,054,000 chips mean he is the only other player in seven figure territory headed into Day 5.

Day 5 will whittle the field down from 15 to the six who make the televised final table. Play begins at 12pm ET with blinds at 6,000/12,000 ante 2,000 and will continue until the final table is set.

Here are the top ten chip counts from the end of Day 4 of the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown:

1. Joe Serock – 1,061,000
2. Robert Georato – 1,054,000
3. Kyle Bowker – 980,000
4. John Dolan – 900,000
5. Ravi Raghavan – 672,000
6. Craig Bergeron – 650,000
7. Fred Goldberg – 617,000
8. Jimmy Tran – 593,000
9.  Jess Yawitz – 542,000
10. Tommy Vedes – 378,000

Serock is hoping to be back in front of the WPT cameras come Monday

Day 3 of the World Poker Tour’s Seminole Hard Rock Showdown was that make or break day of the tournament that separated those who showed up and those who showed up for the event and those who showed up to win. With just 32 players left in the field, the event is really starting to take shape and some of the contenders for the title are Joe Serock, John Dolan, and Ravi Raghavan.

The three youngsters spent the last chunk of Day 3 action battling for the chip lead. It is a spot Dolan is familiar with, as he has had a big stack every since Day 1. Dolan once again couldn’t quite finish with the chip lead though. Instead, he is third in chips with 685,500. Raghavan is right behind him in the counts with 667,500, while Serock finished one spot ahead of Dolan with 702,000. Serock is used to WPT success lately, as he final tabled the Bay 101 Main Event just one month ago.

The three pros came in second, third, and fourth in the counts, but it was unknown Bill Brown who ended the day on top, bagging up 772,500. Brown, like Dolan, has been sitting near the top of the counts from the jump and continues to cruise.

There are several other recognizable names remaining in the field as well, including Fred Goldberg (607,000), Allie Prescott (337,500), Jason Koon (254,500), Zach Clark (153,000), Tommy Vedes (140,500), Jimmy Tran (125,000), and Ashton Griffin (34,500).

Of the 32 players still in the field, five are going to walk away with nothing, while the remaining 27 will all earn a payday of at least $25,056. Day 3 action began with 102 players and all the players who busted today won’t be taking home a payday either. The long list of eliminated players includes Matt Giannetti, Lauren Kling, Keith Ferrera, Matt Waxman, Tristan Wade, Tuan Le, Thayer Rasmussen, Dan O’Brien, Jonathan Little, Joe Elpayaa, and Hoyt Corkins.

With 32 players left and five levels on the schedule for tomorrow, the field will likely get very close to the final table, even though the televised table will not play down to a winner until Monday.

Here are the top ten chip counts from the end of Day 3 of the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown:

1. Bill Brown – 772,500
2. Joe Serock – 702,000
3. John Dolan – 685,500
4. Ravi Raghavan – 667,500
5. Fred Goldberg – 607,000
6. Craig Bergeron – 454,000
7. Kyle Bowker – 406,500
8. Allie Prescott – 337,500
9. Daryl Jace – 325,000
10. Clyde Hinton – 313,000