Seven days ago Joe Cada sat across from Darvin Moon in pursuit of a world championship at the WSOP Main Event. Monday night he sat ringside at Madison Square Garden for World Wrestling Entertainment’s Monday Night Raw along with his agent Dan Frank and fellow Team PokerStars member Dennis Phillips for a Main Event of a different kind.

Towards the end of the two-hour episode RAW the three appeared behind the announcer’s table. Cada is slowly adjusting to life as world champ and the chance to be at Madison Square Garden was, apparently, too good to pass up.

“Life has gotten real interesting all of a sudden. Tonight I was ringside at WWE Monday Night Raw, tomorrow I’m taping with David Letterman and I’ll be playing in a cash game backstage with the Late Show production crew, capping it off with seats on the glass for the New York Ranger game,” said Cada. “I highly recommend playing poker for a living and shipping the Main Event. I’m very grateful”

Cada will be appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman Tuesday along with Phillips.

This time next week poker fans will know who the 2009 World Champion is. But before poker fans get to the last player standing there is the little matter of meeting the November Nine. Tuesday night’s ESPN broadcast will help them do just that.

The final broadcast from the summer’s action at the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event will take viewers from 18 players down to the November Nine. The first of Tuesday’s two one-hour episodes airs at 9 pm ET with the second episode airing immediately after.

And if that’s not enough poker on the World Wide Leader there is also a feature on November Niner Phil Ivey as he takes ESPN’s E:60 cameras, and ESPN the Magazine writer Chad Millman, around the world on a poker and craps playing adventure.

The e:60 will air on ESPN at 7 pm ET.

The coming week might seem a little bit Christmas for many poker fans and now BLUFF Media is hoping to play the part of Santa Claus.

With the World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table set to get underway this Saturday BLUFF is proud to announce they will be broadcasting live audio from the first hand until a new World Champion has been crowned early Tuesday morning.

The live audio broadcast will be available at BluffMagazine.com and will be hosted by 2008 BLUFF Magazine Online Player of the Year David “TheMaven” Chicotsky. Joining the founder of TheMavenVT in the broadcast booth will be a wide-ranging selection of respected professional poker players including Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth.

“We’re excited to be able to bring poker fans the type of coverage they’ve come to expect,” said Eric Morris, BLUFF Publisher. “With the likes of Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth in the booth it’s sure to be a broadcast for the ages.”

Along with the audio poker fans wll be given graphic displays throughout the final table showing up-to-the-minute chip counts and statistical information. The broadcast gets underway at Noon PT on Saturday and will continue until play stops when play reaches heads-up. The broadcast will resume on Monday at 10 pm PT when the final two players sit down to play to a winner.

“I’m thrilled to have been asked by Bluff to be the voice of the November Nine broadcast,” said Chicotsky. ”This is poker’s premier event and I’m looking forward to being a part of it. Working alongside Annie and Phil is sure to be a blast.”

Other pros expected to join Chicotsky include Jonathan Little, Ari Engel and Bryan Micon.

The 2009 November Nine

Tuesday night’s episodes of the World Series of Poker Main Event on ESPN will continue to introduce poker fans to the November Nine.

Tuesday’s first one hour episode begins with 27 players left in the tournament including BLUFF contributor Antonio Esfandiari and Maryland logger Darvin Moon. Also featured in this episode is the last woman standing Leo Margets who hopes to continue her run at becoming only the second woman to ever make the final table.

The second hour will begin with 23 players left in the tournament including Phil Ivey and Jeff Shulman as well as Billy Kopp and Steven Begleiter.

ESPN’s coverage of the 2009 WSOP Main Event continues each Tuesday until November 10 when the two episodes from the November Nine will air and a new world champion will be crowned.

BluffMagazine.com is helping poker fans get excited for the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event final table with the launch of a new video player and exclusive content from the 2009 WSOP.

The video player, which is sponsored by UltimateBet, will give fans the chance to see the 24 final tables which were broadcast by BLUFF Media in an edited format complete with all bustouts and heads-up battles.

“Between now and November 7 we’ll add a new final table each day,” said Eric Morris, BLUFF Magazine publisher. “On top of that we’ll be adding all the interviews from the 2009 WSOP as well.”

Fans will be able to see the final table of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, the $10,000 Heads Up World Championship and both of Phil Ivey’s bracelet wins. Also available will be a Phil Hellmuth channel featuring the footage from his historic 11th bracelet win in 2007.

On the day Ivey and the rest of the November Nine regroup to determine a new world champion fans will be able to tune into BLUFF’s live audio broadcast from tableside. Fans will also be given live chip counts and graphics throughout the final table.

“Our radio coverage of the November Nine will give hardcore poker fans the chance to step inside the ropes for poker’s biggest event,” said Morris.

To check out the new video player for yourself visit http://www.bluffmagazine.com/videoplayer.asp

Welcome to the BLUFF Daily Buzz, where we scour the entire internet for all the latest news in and around the world of poker. If it involves chips and cards, or people known to associate with chips and cards, we’re there.

Schwartz nearly misses World Open V

The Ghost of Sandwich Past visited Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz this week and almost resulted in the British pro being denied his seat in the PartyPoker World Open V.

The young pro arrived at the Palm Beach Casino in Mayfair, UK, only to be told that the casino’s computer system had him flagged as banned for the incident earlier this month in which Schwartz refused to pay for a sandwich at the Hilton Metropole, site of the European Poker Tour’s London stop. According to our friends at Bluff Europe, Schwartz was told that “he is banned from every casino in the United Kingdom.” Then he “went mental at reception which didn’t help matters.”

Eventually the casino management agreed to let Schwartz play his heat on the condition that he be escorted by the tournament supervisors to make sure he behaved himself. Apparently he successfully channeled his rage, though, as he took down his heat against James Akenhead and Yevgeniy Timoshenko, among others, to win a seat in the finals. That sets up the possibility of a matchup against Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, who can also make the final by winning his heat. Such a final would have the potential to go down as the most cringeworthy ever shown on television, given Schwartz’s reputation for abusing his opponents (and Dwan in particular).

“We hope that Luke will be able to take his seat at the final table, but we have no guarantees as yet,” said a PartyPoker spokesperson. “In retrospect, perhaps Luke should have paid for the egg sandwich at the EPT –- imagine if the casino ban costs him the chance of winning the $250,000 first prize? He could end up with serious egg on his face.”

(Luke Schwartz Lands in Trouble Again at World open V - Bluff Europe)

Texas Dolly wants YOU

Doyle Brunson is looking for a few good poker players - and for the next one he’s searching close to home. The 10-time WSOP bracelet winner has already named four players of his Brunson 10, the exclusive all-star team of young poker players that he considers to be the best players in the world under 25 years old. Now he’s turning to the cash tables at Doyle’s Room to find the fifth member of the squad.

Brunson, longtime collaborator Mike Caro, and recently minted member of the Brunson 10, Chris Moorman, will be playing at the Doyle’s Room $5/$10 and $10/$20 tables daily on a mission to meet talented young players who have what it takes to join Moorman, Zach Clark, Amit Makhija, and Alec Torelli as members of the team.

“There’s been big interest from folks out there interested in becoming part of The Brunson 10,” said Brunson, the two-time WSOP Main Event champ. “While I play frequently in tournaments and cash games at my poker room, I thought having a specific block of time would be a real good way for me to get the best players to the tables and get to know them on a personal level while we play some cards. It’s almost like an audition process for The Brunson 10 with the opportunity to make some big money along the way.”

If you think you’ve got what it takes to impress the two-time WSOP Main Event champion, you can find at the tables highlighted in blue under the Ring Games tab on Doyle’s Room every weekday at 7 p.m. ET.

Another tourney, another Russian champion

Is anyone else starting to think it was a bad idea to introduce poker to the guys who invaded us in Red Dawn?

Vladimir Geshkebein joined Ivan Demidov, Vitaly Lunkin, and Alexander Kravchenko in the “Russians most likely to stack you” club this Sunday when he won the PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam. Geshkebein beat Finland’s veteran Juha Helppi in the final to take home the $120,000 first place prize of the inaugural event. Along his way to the final Geshkebein also dispatched PKR pro James Sudworth, online qualifier Brahim Hajji, and relative unknown Alex Keating.

If you you weren’t already aware of Geshkebein before, don’t expect that your introduction to him will be the last time you hear his name. He already did Mike McDermott one better by beating Johnny Chan heads-up in this year’s APPT Macau High Roller event for more than $266K.

(Vladimir Geshkebein wins PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam - Bluff Europe)

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!

It’s Tuesday and that means a new episode of ESPN Inside Deal is ready for you to watch. Hosts Laura Lane and Bernard Lee welcome Team PokerStars Pro and pre-November-Nine Main Event final tablist Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan to the show. Khan visits the network’s Bristol, Conn., studios to talk about his 2007 Main Event experience, transitioning from strategy games like Starcraft to online poker, and what he thinks of this year’s November Nine. You can get your fill of ESPN poker goodness here. More Khan here.

Main Event! Get your Main Event right here!

Speaking of ESPN, tonight’s the night for new episodes of the WSOP Main Event on the cable network.

Two new hours of coverage begin at 9 p.m. ET and it looks like there should be plenty of action. The feature table will sport the likes of defending champion (and recent EPT London runner-up) Peter Eastgate, his November Nine tablemate Dennis Phillips, 2005 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Hachem, and two-time bracelet winner J.C. Tran. Meanwhile the secondary table will be the scene of Phil Ivey’s push toward the November Nine, as well as the place to spot Antonio Esfandiari, Kenny Tran, and the top player in the Bluff Power Rankings, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier.

On the WSOP broadcast on ESPN on Tuesday night Kent Senter tugged at the heartstrings of every American watching and now the poker community will have a chance to make a difference in the Senter family’s lives.

Fighting Multiple Myelome Cancer, Kent’s dream was to play in the WSOP Main Event. His wife Patty reached out to Bluff Magazine seeking help in making it happen and through PokerStars Kent, Patty and their two children, flew to Las Vegas where Kent played in the Main Event making it all the way to Day 2 before running into the buzzsaw that was Bertrand Grospellier.

“I’m so grateful and there’s no way to thank everyone for what they’ve done,” said Patty Senter, “PokerStars and Bluff have gone above and beyond and anything they could have possibly done for us, they have. A ‘random act of kindness’ doesn’t even describe what these generous people have done. This is something we will never forget and are forever grateful.”

Saturday, September 12 online poker players are being encouraged to enter a $10 w/rebuys benefit tournament that will help Kent and his family escape from the debt caused by the mounting medical bills. Bluff Magazine is matching all donations up to $1,000. Prizes, including a WCOOP Main Event buy-in, are being provided by both PokerStars and Bluff Magazine.

Tournament Details

Date & Time: September 12, 2009: 8:00PM EST
Tournament Name: Kent Senter Benefit Tournament
Register for the event in the Tourney / Private tab
Structure: $10 buy-in with $10 rebuys for the first hour

Prizes:

PokerStars and Bluff Magazine have come together to put together a great prize package for tournament participants:

1st place: Buy-in to the PokerStars WCOOP Main Event
2nd Place: Seat to a WSOP Academy provided by Bluff Magazine. 
3rd Place: PokerStars tournament credit voucher for $1000
4th Place: PokerStars tournament credit voucher for $500
5th Place: PokerStars tournament credit voucher for $300
6th Place: PokerStars tournament credit voucher for $200

All players who reach the final table will also receive a free year subscription to Bluff Magazine and Fight magazine courtesy of Bluff.

Online poker room UltimateBet.com announced yesterday that it has added Billy “Patrolman35″ Kopp to its stable of sponsored pros. Kopp, a 23-year-old student at the University of Kentucky, has enjoyed success both online and in major land-based tournaments, winning over $2.6 million in a few short years thanks to his trademark loose-aggressive style.

The last $896,000 or so of that total came from Kopp’s most recent score in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, where he finished in 12th place. On the final day of play this July, Kopp looked to be well on his way to becoming one of the November Nine. He had knocked out two former Main Event champions, Peter Eastgate and Joe Hachem, and with just twelve players left and the big blind worth 240,000 he had over 20,000,000 in his stack. Then he found himself on the wrong end of a cold deck at one of the worst points any poker player can imagine.

On his final hand Kopp opened for 600,000 in early position holding 5 3, and only Darvin Moon, who had Kopp covered by a little under eight big blinds, called from the small blind. The flop of K 9 2 gave Kopp a flush, and when Moon checked Kopp bet out 750,000. Moon called and the turn was the 2; again he checked. Kopp bet 2,000,000 and then Moon check-raised to 12,000,000; when Kopp moved all-in Moon called without hesitation holding Q J for the bigger flush, ending Kopp’s run in an instant and propelling Moon into a dominant chip lead.

Kopp may have been drawing dead when he three-bet all-in on the turn, but his overall WSOP performance, which featured a final table and an 11th-place finish in preliminary events, gave him outs to a sponsorship. That draw came home Tuesday with the announcement from UB that he would be joining the ranks of the site’s sponsored pros. Poker fans can now play with Kopp on UB under the name billy_kopp, or follow him on Twitter as patrolman35.

Phil Ivey has the fourth largest chip stack heading into the Day 8 of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Darvin Moon is doing his best to establish himself as a threat as the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event nears the November Nine pause. The 45 year old hovered in the top ten of the leaderboard until the final 15 minutes of play when he put a 5 million chip difference between himself and Billy Kopp to take the overall for the second day in a row.

But even with 20,160,000 in chips Moon isn’t even close to threat of the player whose name still strikes fear into nearly every remaining player; Phil Ivey.

“I’m going to hide in a corner when I get up against him,” admitted Moon. ”Everybody that’s made it this far has way more card experience than me. If Phil Ivey is on my left and even looks at me, I’m mucking.”

Ivey finished the night fourth in chips with 11,350,000 after cresting as high as 15,000,000 during Day 7 play. With 27 players remaining the goal for Ivey on Wednesday will be to make the November Nine and give himself a chance at the ever elusive World Championship bracelet.

While Moon might be nervous facing Ivey, 23 year old Kopp feels that he’s on top of his game and is ready for whatever challenges Wednesday brings.

“I’m not really intimidated by anybody. It’s my ballgame,” said Kopp. “I feel like when a good players gets good cards and runs well at the same time there’s no stopping him.”

Dennis Phillips‘ impressive run at a second final table appearance was cut short on Day 7 in one of the most painful ways possible. Getting all his money in with A K against the A K of Francois Balmigere gave Phillips reason to believe he’d be continuing on. The cards though didn’t cooperate and Balmigere made a flush to send last November’s third place finisher home in 45th.

The day started with 64 players and in the three levels leading up to the dinner break the fast play of previous days continued. Twenty-five players saw their tournament end before the players broke for 90 minutes. Another well known pro, Joe Sebok, also couldn’t survive another day as a short stack and he was sent home with $108,047 for a 56th place finish. Also sent home during the first three levels were Fabrice Soulier, Prahlad Friedman, Tom Schneider and Blair Rodman.

One player well known to poker fans that did survive was Antonio Esfandiari. He’ll return to Day 8 with a less than average stack of 4,470,000. His chip stack took a roller coaster ride throughout the day and he was as high as third in chips.

And despite starting the day with a short stack the last female player left in the field, Leo Margets, still has a shot at becoming the first female member of the November Nine. The Spanish TV hostess finished the day with 1,530,000, the second smallest stack. She is ahead of only Balmigere who bagged up 1,440,000.

Action resumes at Noon PT on Wednesday and will continue until the 2009 November Nine have been determined. Tournament officials are preparing for a long day and if the last level of the night Tuesday, which saw only two players ousted, is any indication the action may take as much as nine levels to wrap up.

BluffMagazine.com has all the live updates and chip counts as the day progresses.

Antonio Esfandiari had a solid day on Monday and plans on doing his best on Tuesday to make a November Nine run possible.

Poker fans had a little bit of good news and a little bit of bad news on Monday, Day 6 of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event. Which do you want first?

The bad news is that some of the most well known players in the field were sent home and denied a shot at the limelight that comes with being in the November Nine. The good news though is that two big names made huge strides on Monday to finish in the top ten in chips and with 64 players remaining are in good shape for an even deeper run.

Seeing their Main Event end in disappointing fashion were JC Tran, Theo Tran, Jordan Morgan, David Benyamine, Hac Dang and the current #1 ranked tournament player in the world, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. If that list of top pros has poker fans disappointed they need not worry - both Phil Ivey and Antonio Esfandiari had very strong days and each finished near the top of the leaderboard.

“Determination and will. I have both and I’m going to get there,” said Esfandiari of what it’s going to take for him to make an even deeper run.

Other well known players still in the mix are 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider, Fabrice Soulier, original November Niner Dennis Phillips and Prahlad Friedman. Making the most of a short stack the entire day was Joe Sebok who finished with exactly 1,000,000 in chips.

“I don’t even know what’s going on in this tournament anymore. I should have been a hundred times in a hundred different ways,” laughed Sebok, who was down as low as 125,000 on Monday. “If you can’t be patient, if you can not work a short stack, if you can not deal with some of your issues in the poker world when it comes to that stuff in the Main Event at the World Series of Poker you have no business being here.”

The last two remaining world champions both saw their respective runs come to an end on Monday. Joe Hachem busted in 103rd spot for $40,288 and defending champion Peter Eastgate finished 78th for $68,979. Eastgate moved all-in preflop with A J and got called by both Dennis Phillips and Billy Kopp. The board ran out A 4 6 J 3 giving Eastgate two pair but Kopp showed 8 8 for a completed flush.

“Obviously this exceeds all expectations, but you still feel some disappointment when you bust out,” said Eastgate. “That’s how it goes in poker sometimes. I can’t be disappointed though having won last year.”

Sitting atop the leaderboard at the end of the night was Darvin Moon. The logger from Maryland finished with 9,745,000. He’s joined in the top five by Billy Kopp (8,245,000), Ivey (6,345,000), Steven Begleiter (6,315,000) and Ludovic Lacay (5,965,000).

“It’s easy to play when you get hands like I was getting. To run like this is a dream. To get pocket aces and flop trips on a rainbow flop - you check it and people bet into you,” said Moon at the end of the night. ”The first 5 hours I didn’t get a hand. I had pocket kings one time and a guy pushed over the top of me for three quarters of a million and I mucked them. He’s got to have pocket Aces there, what else can he have?”

“That’s just my style, I play tight. When I get’em I bet and when I don’t I fold.”

The title of Last Woman Standing was awarded to Leo Margets of Barcelona after Nichoel Peppe was eliminated in 75th place. Margets is excited to have gotten this for and takes pride in being the last female player still playing for poker’s biggest prize.

“Yeah it is my first Main Event, but I’ve played the best poker I can and I’ve been super consitent and I’ve actually never played so good,” said Margets. ”At least it has been working, because sometimes you can play good and it doesn’t work and in this tournament it’s been working. I can really see the results and it’s very satisfying.”

Day 7 gets underway again at Noon PT and play will continue until 27 players remain. BluffMagazine.com will have the live updates and chip counts to let you follow the action live.

Warren Zackey has a mountain of chips heading into Day 6 of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Day 5 at the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event could be renamed “Moving Day”.

The day started with 407 players with an average stack of 473,000 (or nearly 60 big blinds each) but in only three two-hour levels 222 players were sent to the rail leaving only 185 to return for Day 6 on Monday. Leading the way is South African Warren Zackey with 4,977,000 but he’s hardly running away with it at this point. His plan for Day 6 is to not get overly active and only play strong hands.

“I got trip queens, player pushed all-in, I called. I flopped a straight with my kings and doubled up again. I had aces, got re-raised so I shoved and I then I knocked two people out,” said Zackey, who is part of the South African poker boom having been swept up in the rising popularity of the game after Raymond Rahme made the 2007 Main Event final table.

Zackey’s closest competitor is Kaspar Cordes. The Danish-born poker pro finished the day with 4,295,000 and is the only other player to finish above the 4,000,000 chip mark. Bernhard Perner (3,220,000), Darvin Moon (3,218,000) and 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider (3,168,000) round out the top five.

And while all of those players took advantage of a wild day to increase their chip stack there were two high profile players in the room who weren’t quite as fortunate. Bertrand Grospellier and Ludovic Lacay, who had been a big part of the story the last two days, each finished the day with only a moderate increase over their starting stack.

Grospellier, seated at the ESPN feature table for the entire day, finished with 1,400,000, 147,000 more than he started the day with. Lacay had some swings during the day but eventually wound up with 1,685,000 an uptick of 77,000.

Phil Ivey also had an up and down day but the double bracelet winner still managed to finish with 1,380,000 and he told ESPN cameras at the end of the night that he was looking forward to Day 6.

The day started with three former Main Event winners but only reigning champ Peter Eastgate and 2005 champ Joe Hachem made it through the day as Dan Harrington wa eliminated during the second level of the day. Eastgate has a strong shot at another title run after bagging up 927,000 chips at the end of the night while Hachem has 540,000. Harrington’s co-author on his popular poker books, Bill Robertie, was also eliminated during the day.

Eastgate isn’t the only charter member of the November Nine to still be in contention for a return trip. Dennis Phillips played at Table 4 for the better part of the day and survived what may have been the most volatile table in the room. Phillips, who still has his day job, isn’t surprised to see two final tablists still in this deep.

“Oh, absolutely the experience has helped us. We’ve been through it before,” said Phillips who finished with  It’s the little things - not worrying about the TV cameras, all the people running around, the crowd right up close to you on the rail. All these little things.”

The rapid pace of eliminations meant one player had their Main Event dream snuffed out every 1 minute 36 seconds. If that pace continues on Monday play will wrap up midway through the second level. Day 6 will get underway at Noon PT and BluffMagazine has all your live updates and chip counts as play continues. Players will continue to play on Day 6 until only 63 players remain.

Ludovic Lacay came within one pot at the end of the night of being the chip leader heading into Day 5. He'll start the day second in chips.

One of the shortest days in recent World Series of Poker Main Event history was action-packed despite players battling through only three levels of play, including the painfully slow hand-for-hand segment, and after play wrapped up for the night it was little known Matt Affleck sitting pretty atop the leaderboard.

Affleck wrapped up the night with 1,819,000 and he finds himself 211,000 ahead of Frenchman Ludovic Lacay who bagged up 1,608,000. Lacay actually held the chip lead before dropping nearly 280,000 in one of the final hands of the night.

The only other American in the top ten is Blair Hinkle. The 2008 WSOP bracelet winer spent the last half of the day playing at the same table as Lacay and managed to avoid tangling too much with the then chipleader. Hinkle also lost a six figure pot as the night was drawing to a close making a river call only to see his opponent turn over the nuts.

“It was hard for me to put him on the ace. I thought he had a missed flush draw or something. Mistake by me, no big deal. I still have plenty of chips,” said Hinkle, who despite the mistake believes his strong day gives him more than enough chips to be aggressive as play continues . ”Basically, in the second level I went on this huge heater and pretty won nearly every pot. I have plenty of chips.”

But long before the chipleaders took over the spotlight the news of the day was built around the bubble and the inevitable bursting to put 648 players into the money. After the first level of play there were only 659 players remaining and it took nearly a full two hours 11 players to hit the rail. Kia Hamadani was the final player eliminated before everybody else was in the money. As the bubble boy Hamadani was awarded with a free buy-in to the 2010 WSOP Main Event courtesy of sponsor Jack Link’s Beef Jerky.

The pace of eliminations following the bubble was staggering. The night ended with 407 players remaining meaning 241 players were ousted from the tournament in a span of 150 minutes. Not long after the bubble burst Phil Hellmuth was eliminated in 436th place, walking away with yet another WSOP cash but short of his ultimate goal, another Main Event bracelet. The Poker Brat earned $25,027 for his performance.

And while one Phil was walking out the door the other, Phil Ivey, was slowly climbing the leaderboard. When all was said and done Ivey was bagging up 1,276,000 - good enough for 15th place and only one spot ahead of Day 3 chipleader Bertrand Grospellier who finished with 1,253,000.

Other notable players eliminated on Saturday were Mike Sexton, Erik Seidel, Greg Mueller and Kelly Kim. The elimination of Kim means only two members of the 2008 November Nine are still in contention for another final table appearance. Dennis Phillips (414,000) and defending World Champion Peter Eastgate (397,000) are both below the average chip stack of 473,000.

Tournament officials have yet to decide how many levels or eliminations Day 5 (Sunday) will see. Action resumes at 12 pm PT and live updates and chip counts are available at BluffMagazine.com.

Bertrand Grospellier will return for Day 4 with a mountain of chips knowing every player in the room now fears the #1 ranked player in the world even more.

The 2009 World Series of Poker underwent a minor transformation on Friday. Rather than a showcase of the world’s best poker players it was two Frenchmen who grabbed control, dominated the action and took center stage during Day 3 of the Main Event.

Ludovic Lacay and Bertrand Grospellier built their stacks up early and when it came time for somebody to break the 1 million chip mark, it was either Lacay or Grospellier who crested it first - depending on which story you want to believe. Either way the top of the leaderboard is heavy on French players as Grospellier leads with 1,380,500 and Lacay sits in second with 925,000.

“It was a really good day. In the begining it was really slow. People were trying to put moves on me. I slept pretty well. I had a very good day. I’m happy about it,” said Grosepllier, who sits at the the BLUFF Power Rankings. ”I also had some hands and people tried to push me off my hands when I flopped. People tried to push me off me hands when I had a set. I had some good timing. I was trying to push some people around. I knew that they were weak and wanted to play in the tournament. So I tried to push them around and adapt.”

Elky started his day off with an elimination. On a king-high flop Grospellier bet enough to put Kent Senter all-in. After taking some time to think over the decision Senter decided to call and tabled pocket tens. Grospellier showed pocket jacks and Senter, despite calling for a ten on the turn or river, was unable to make a set and his tournament was over.

But he wasn’t just picking on amateur fodder throughout the day. Early on Grospellier was seated at a table with Phil Ivey. Rather than engage in a battle of the big stacks the current #1 ranked player in the world did his best to avoid clashes with Ivey.

 ”Ivey is probably the best player in the world and I respect his game very much. I was going to play my hands and if I had a big hand I was going to play it. I wasn’t trying to go out of my way to play pots with Ivey,” admitted Grospellier. ”I tried not to get involved with too many pots with him, but I have to play my game. I wasn’t going to play a big pot with him without a big hand because there was no point for that.”

While the rise of the two Frenchman was the big story on Friday there was a big name making moves and if it continues over the duration of the Series the entire poker world will know about it. Trust us.

Phil Hellmuth got as high as sixth in chips early in the day but when play broke for the night he had fallen to 210,000. Average stack is in the neighborhood of 250,000.

And then there’s the original cast of the November Nine making a run. Dennis Phillips wound up with 460,000, Kelly Kim 320,000 and defending World Champion Peter Eastgate is also still alive with 310,000. Phillips believes his experience last year is paying huge dividends as he makes his way through another monster field.

“It’s almost like a homecoming. I wasn’t nervous, I was on the feature table and I felt at home, said Phillips. ”Other people were worried about the cameras and this and that and I got to just play poker. It was great, having that experience was absolutely fabulous.”

It’s helped him so much he’s actually had a better start to the 2009 Main Event than he did to the 2008 tournament.

“I am (doing) much better, want to see me dance a jig? I’m about ready to.”

The pace of play was something to be seen. When cards went in the air shortly after Noon PT there 2,044 players seated in the Amazon and Brazilia rooms. When play finished for the night there were 810 players remaining after five levels of play.

Among the players who were eliminated on Friday were Jason Alexander, Greg Raymer, Josh Arieh, John Juanda, Nam Le and former world champion Carlos Mortensen.

The speed of play was much faster than expected and tournament officials are considering stopping play on Saturday after the completion of four levels or when the remaining field reaches 400 players, whichever comes first. A decision is expected early Saturdday.

Action resumes at Noon PT and live updates and chip counts are available at BluffMagazine.com.

Thanks to a huge hand late in the evening Amir Lehavot is the Day 3 Chip Leader at the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event.

If recent World Series of Poker Main Events are any indication than the chipleader after each of the Day 1’s had better enjoy his or 15 minutes of fame. Apparently Troy Weber isn’t much of a history buff. The 38 year old started Day 2b as the chip leader and, thanks to his large head start on the rest of the field, sat there through all four levels of play and finished the day there with 435,000 chips.

“I really didn’t have a strategy going in, just like (Day 1d). Whatever the table allowed me to get away with, I took advantage of it,” said Weber. “There were some big stacks at my table and I had to tread lightly.”

But he’s not even the chipleader. Thanks to a huge last level Amir Lehavot sits atop the leaderboard with 610,000. With all remaining players through nine levels of play Lehavot holds a lead of 175,000 over Weber and the rest of the field. Heading into the final level of the night Lehavot had around 350,000 before a key hand turned his fortunes around.

“I just had a huge hand half an hour ago. I had about 350,000 and another big stack at the table had about 250,000. Most of my chips I won just in that one hand. I just got moved to a new table and I had pocket 3s and made a small raise. He min-raised me. I flopped a set, we got it all in and he had top pair.”

And while Lehavot and his huge lead on the rest of the field continues to be the story there were a number of top players who decided to make some noise of their own. Phil Ivey started the day with 84,025 and as each level passed he built his stack higher and higher, finishing the night with 350,000.

The other Phil in the room on Wednesday was none other than Julius Caesar himself, Phil Hellmuth. Devoid of a grandiose entrance Hellmuth was seated at the ESPN feature table the entire day and was extremely active and even scored a key double up during the first few minutes of play. He finished the day with 142,900.

“If you’re gonna win, you have to trust your instincts,” said Hellmuth. “I’m completely relaxed. I haven’t been completely relaxed ever in the Main Event in the last ten years. Right now I’ll do anything as far as making a play.”

Other players making waves on Wednesday included Justin Bonomo, Bertrand “eLKy” Grospellier and Kenny Tran. Bonomo started the day with just north of 100,000 and after some early swings he wound up in the top 25 with 190,000. Grospellier climbed the leaderboard all day long and wound up with 200,000. Tran nearly quadrupled his starting stack of 65,600 to finish with 249,000.

It was almost a day of bad news for reigning World Champion Peter Eastgate. He struggled throughout the day and the death watch began as early as the first level of the day. Down to just over 8,000 in chips towards the end of the evening Eastgate wound up with 90,000 and heads into Day 3 with an above average chip stack.

Thursday is an off day at the WSOP with action getting back underway Friday at Noon PT.

Photographic evidence of Eric Cloutier's monster chip stack after Day 2a.

Okay, no kidding around this time and no clerical errors. Former professional hockey player Eric Cloutier has the chip lead in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Cloutier went on a monster rush on Day 2b to finish as the unofficial overnight chipleader. The 34-year-old bagged up 383,000 chips at the end of the night.

“I think the first level I didn’t play many hands, I think I got up to 30,000. Then I went back down to about 9,000 and got lucky on a pair of sevens and a seven came on the river. I had about 35,000 chips at the begining of Level 8,” said Cloutier. “In one hand I made a weak beat on the end, he raised me and then I moved all-in. He called me with ace-high and I had a pair of twos and that put me up over 60,000. Then after that it went aces, kings, queens - I got a lot of good hands.”

Cloutier was incorrectly credited with being the Day 1a chipleader after he filled out his chip count slip illegibly. Rather than 150,750 Cloutier finished his first day with only 15,750. The error was noticed by Harrah’s staff after Day 1c when his slip was pulled to verify the chip count. But after Day 2a there’s little doubt that Cloutier is, at the very least, near the top of the leaderboard.

“It’s my fault because I wrote my chip count 15,025 and then I went to write my section next to it, which was orange (section). And I kind of crossed it out. So it looked like 150,000 chips,” admitted Cloutier. ”Funny story is that when I woke up the next day I had about 30 text messages from Canada, Brazil, Louisiana saying congratulations. I was like ‘WHy?’ Then I got to the tenth text from my friend in Canada that said I was the chip leader. I went to Antonio Esfandiari’s room to look on the computer and there I was as chip leader. So I called Jack (Effel) to tell him I’m not the chip leader.”

“But I am today.”

Day 2a saw the surviving players from Day 1a and Day 1b combined into a field 1,476 players. By the end of the night amidst all of those players two good friends climbed the leaderboard and each ended up in the top twenty in chips. Greg “FBT” Mueller finished with 287,000 and Kyle Wilson had 307,000. If not for each of them losing a 60,000 pot at the end of the night they may both have actually wound up in the top five.

“I was chipping away early and I made a key bluff early in the day. That propelled my up to 45,000 or 50,000 as opposed to being down at around 15,000,” said Mueller. “A key hand for me was when I flopped a flush draw. I played it small until I hit the flush and then I played it huge. He put his money in drawing dead and that was 40,000 so that put me right over the hump and gave me the position to zig and zag a little bit.”

Wilson’s day wasn’t as steady but he still found a way to end up with a formidable stack.

“It was a really up and down day for me. I played pretty wild today. I was up to 100,00 right away and then down to 25,000 in the second level today. Then I caught fire a little bit and went on a sick run the last level. I went from 120,000 to 306,000 in the last level,” said Wilson.

Having two players from the same home town make a deep run is something Wilson’s already thinking about.

“I think it’s going to be two White Rock (B.C.) guys making a November Nine run. I can see it,” said Wilson.

“(Kyle) has done well in the Main Event before and I’ve seemed to struggle a little bit,” said Mueller. “So this is pretty sick.”

Playing five levels of play the field was whittled down to 630 players. The Day 2b field, which will start with 2,964 players, will play only four levels on Wednesday so that the entire field will have played nine levels. After a day off on Thursday action will resume on Friday with all remaining players playing at the same time for the first time this year.

There was a number of prominent names sent packing on Tuesday. Just after the dinner break the Amazon Room got a little bit quieter as Mike “the Mouth” Matusow saw his Main Event run come a slow, painful death. Coming into the day Matusow had only 37,875 and after being card dead the better part of the day Matusow put his tournament life on the line with K Q against the pocket kings of his opponent.

“That’s a microcosm of my entire Series,” Matusow said as he exited the Amazon Room without cashing in the Main Event for the third time in four years. “I never had a hand all day. I was beyond card dead.”

Minutes later the room got even quieter as Gavin Smith busted out. The class clown of the poker world couldn’t win a race with A Q against a pair of eights. Other high profile players who were sent to the rail on Tuesday included Gus Hansen, Sandra Naujoks, Johnny Chan, Phil Laak, Tony G, Barry Greenstein, Todd Brunson and 1972 World Champion Amarillo Slim.

Day 2b gets underway at Noon PT and Live Updates and Chip Counts are available at BluffMagazine.com.