Its just a house of cards.

The biggest on-line poker news to come along in a while is happening at PokerStars.com. The online poker site is holding a free Online Poker Blogger Championship on October 23rd '05 at 4:00pm EST. The big news about this online freeroll No-limit Hold'em Championship Tournament is the prize structure. The winner will receive a $12,000 package to the 2006 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, a WPT sanctioned event. Now's your chance for a shot at poker stardom, all filmed for later TV broadcast and the best thing about winning this one is you are the latest WPT millionaire. Not a bad deal for a freeroll tournament. The entrants into the October online event are limited to active bloggers that have maintained a blog for at least sixty days. Complete details for this tournament are available at PokerStars.com.

So even if you don't win the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure you still have a chance at some nice stuff. Maybe one of the 24" Dell Flatpanel LCD Displays going to the next five finishers, or be one of the next ten finishers and get your own XBox 360. The next twenty players will receive one of the new 4 gig iPod nanos. If you're a blogger and want to play in an online freeroll Championship tournament with fellow bloggers for some nice prizes, then stop by PokerStars.com.

2005 Harrah's WSOPC LIPS event winner, Dorothy Canada.

Back to the real world, a LIPS (Ladies International Poker Series) Tournament is scheduled for this weekend at Sam's Town Las Vegas beginning at 10:00am on Saturday and Sunday morning. The entries are limited to a maximum of seventy players. Details are available at LipsTour.com.

Did you know an all-new, robust interactive coming tournament scheldule has been released and is available at PokerPlayerNewspaper.com. Users have the ability to input data into the tournament schedule for the convenience of everyone. Poker Player Newspaper is your single source of data for details of poker tournaments complete with a calendar that is populated by the users.

An interesting article about the World Poker Tour was in the MSN news Thursday. The WPT has entered into negotiations with the Travel Channel to broadcast the Professional Poker Tour (PPT) event series. The Travel Channel already broadcast the WPT regular tournament series. The WPT organization recently sued the Travel Channel and its parent, the Discovery TV network, for interfering with negotiations between WPT and a Cable Network other than the Discovery Network. Apparently the "other company" backed out of the deal. When will the PPT find a home? A note about the WPT and the PPT events; we, the media, are forbidden to photograph the final table after the first player has been eliminated and we cannot photograph the winner. Now, you know why we don't offer our trademark champion's photograph of WPT event winners with all of their loot.

The PPT final table at the Mirage.

Posted by flipchipro at 4:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Post to follow... in the mean time... massive prizes await.

Posted by pokerprof at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Golden Nugget Resort in downtown Las Vegas.

Texas based Landry's Restaurants, Inc. closed the deal Tuesday for the purchase of the Golden Nugget properties in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada. The reported purchase price of $325 million was paid to the Poster Finacial Group, Golden Nugget owners of record for the last two years. The Nevada Gaming Commission approved the sale after less than an hour of questioning Laundry's Chairman, Tilman Fertitta.

During the Commission meeting, Tilman outlined the company's plan to revitalize downtown Las Vegas by adding a high rise hotel tower to the existing 1900 room hotel, an oft heard promise from previous visionaries. He also said the casino will be remodeled and enlarged, the entertainment will be expanded to include more offerings and the number of restaurants would be increased. I don’t find the addition of more restaurants much of a surprise; I’m thinking they will add something along the lines of steak and seafood, maybe.

I see this as a good move for downtown. Maybe the restaurant chain can pull off a little miracle and reinvent downtown Las Vegas. They certainly have the deep pockets to undertake a project of this magnitude. To breathe life back into downtown will require a great deal more than a tall stack of hotel rooms, some more slot machines and food joints. The Landry's Restaurant people have taken on a daunting challenge; but, they are probably up to the task. Some of the commission members appeared to agree that the optimistic plan was doable. Probably because of Landry's Chairman, Tilman Fertitta.

Does the Tilman Fertitta's name ring a bell with you? No?...Well, he's that "Fertitta," he's a cousin to the Las Vegas Fertitta family, owners of Station Casinos; so Tilman comes into the deal with considerable Las Vegas knowledge at his disposal. He knows enough arithmetic of casino ownership that he said one successful casino operation requires 40 successful restaurants to produce the same profit.

Fertitta said the Laughlin Golden Nugget on the Colorado River in Southern Nevada will get an additional hotel tower, an increase in casino floor space and overall remodel of the property. The plan calls for dramatic improvements in the downtown Las Vegas Golden Nugget to be completed in 2006. The new Golden Nugget owners plan to market their casino properties through their database of more than fifty million restaurant customers. Fertitta said the company has a perfect track record of growing every business they have purchased.

The daily operation of the two properties will continue under the existing management teams. The Landry people coming to downtown Las Vegas can be a good thing, a very good thing.

The second largest poker tournament ever staged in Las Vegas, a $250,000 Freeroll, with more than 2,700 players was held recently at Fertitta family owned Texas Station Casino in North Las Vegas.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall Poker Room.

Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall on the Boulder Strip.

Located on the Boulder Strip, Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Hall offers a full complement of games, shopping and services. The off-strip signature property belongs to Boyd Gaming Corporation (Boyd Gaming owns 18 properties including the Borgata), and represents the first major Las Vegas casino project to be directed toward the local Las Vegas market. Tourist quickly found and liked Sam's Town old style air of friendliness and hospitatility; so, Sam's Town on Boulder Highway has been expanding almost continuously since it opened in 1978. The latest on-going project includes the recently completed remodel of all of the hotel guest rooms. The 646 room hotel offers oversized standard rooms outfitted in early 19th century Southwest decor. Three levels of suite up to a luxury apartment style two bedroom complete the accommodations. The hotel tower surrounds a fully enclosed, glass roofed atrium that features a live tree forest, meandering brook and a dynamic waterfall. Aptly named the Mystic Falls Indoor Park, it is a great place to enjoy a drink or just some quiet time away from the gaming. A free laser light and water show, Sunset Stampede, begins every evening at 6:00 pm and goes hourly until 10:00 pm.

Sam's Town Poker Room.

Sam's Town includes shops sure to please everyone. A full service salon and day spa, Jon Ric International, offers guests a range of services from a simple hair cut to a complete makeover. Sheplers Western Wear is considered to be the place to find everything in southwest clothing and accessories. Whether you need a pair of Levis' or some alligator boots, Sheplers is the place. The Logo Shop and Ethyl M Candies are also located around the glass-roofed atrium.

An eighteen screen theater provides all the latest from Hollywood in state-of-the-art luxurious surroundings with full THX certified digital sound systems. Live entertainment is offered in the Sam's Town Live! Showroom. Nightly entertainment is offered at Roxy's Saloon with live bands and a dance floor. The basement houses the Bowling Center with 55 modern lanes, automatic scoring, separate snack bar, cocktail lounge, childcare center and meeting rooms.

Sam's Town restaurants offering steaks and seafood, traditional Mexican and Italian menus provide the guest with a choice of fine dining. The Firelight Buffet features rotisserie specialties in an open, spacious dining room. Standard coffee shop fare is available twenty-four hours at the Fresh Harvest Cafe. A food court provides a selection of fast food burgers, pizza and oriental specialties.

Dick Gatewood, Manager of Sam's Town Poker Room.

The casino is full service with all of your favorite table games, bingo, keno and one of the world's largest collections of modern slot machines. A player's club offers the frequent visitor discounts on rooms, food and merchandise. The race and sports book is a spacious operation offering the sports bettor a full range of proposition wagers, personal viewing screens and a convenient snack bar.

Sam's Town Poker Room is a comfortable, non-smoking nine table room located just outside the Race and Sports Book. The poker operations are under the direction of Dick Gatewood, long-time Poker Room Manager at Sam's Town. Dick has more than twenty years in the poker industry and he is a poker player, too. He understands the details of the business and the needs of the players. Dick listens and responds to player's wants and comforts.

Easy parking and a short walk from the parking garage make access to the room very convenient. $4 food comps are offered for 3 hours of play and they may be used at most food outlets in Sam's Town. A bad beat jackpot promotion is offered with details available in the room.

Sam's Town Poker Room provides a comfortable traditional setting for the poker player.

The room is currently spreading $2-$4 Seven Card Stud. $4-$8 Texas Hold'em, $4-$8 Hi/Lo Omaha and $1-$2 blinds $100-$300 buy-in No-limit Texas Hold'em. The room is known for offering action at the lower limit levels. No-limit Texas Hold'em tournaments are offered Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at 7:00 pm. The buy-in is $40 + $5 with $20 rebuys the first hour and a $20 add-on at the end of the hour. Registration begins at 4:00 pm and seating is limited. A $6000 freeroll tournament is held every month for players qualifying by playing fifty hours during the month. Additional tournaments are offered throughout the year and some include a free poker cruise going to the winner. Check with the poker room for all the details of upcoming tournaments.

Frequent room promotions offer poker players an opportunity to collect merchandise. A poker room jacket promotion is planned for October, with players receiving a logo jacket just for playing in the room. Complete details are available at the poker room.

The indoor park at Sam's Town has a meandering brook.

The poker room at Sam's Town has a long history of offering fast action low-limit games to please everyone from the novice to the local pro. The poker room will spread most any game if there are enough players. It is not unusual to glance around the room and see the "Big Game," Doyle's game, at the back corner table. The players will all be well known professionals and the pots will be more money than your house cost.

Sam's Town Poker Room offers poker players a friendly atmosphere in a comfortable setting designed to make your poker playing experience pleasurable. Take some time and visit the best poker room off the Las Vegas Strip. You can telephone the room direct at 702.454.8092.

Sam's Town Poker Room is very poker blogger friendly, the first ever 2004 WPBT Annual Holiday Tournament was held at Sam's Town with poker professional Max Pescatori finishing second to blogger, Felicia Lee, the winner of the event.

A view of the hotel throught the trees of the indoor park.

Posted by flipchipro at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Robert Williamson III faces Phil Ivey heads-up in event #27, $5,000 Pot-limit Omaha with rebuys.

Another Tuesday night with two hours of the 2005 World Series of Poker on ESPN television. Tonight we get to see the final table of the $2,500 buy-in No-limit Hold'em event #24 in the first hour and then we return to the action at Rio Resorts in Las Vegas for the final table of the $5,000 buy-in w/rebuys Pot-limit Omaha. Two hours of big league poker from the mother of all tournaments, the WSOP.

The No-limit Hold'em event #24 attracted a crowd of 1056 players and built a prize pool of $2,428,800. The final table nine are listed with seat number, hometown and chip count:

Seat 1: Joe Zappia (Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada) $247,000
Seat 2: Larry Watson (Las Vegas, NV) $59,000
Seat 3: Glynn Beebe (Austin, TX) $242,000
Seat 4: Mayen Grigorian (Northridge, CA) $112,000
Seat 5: K.J. Jordan (Myrtle Beach, SC) $368,000
Seat 6: Lars Bonding (Aarhus, Denmark) $818,000
Seat 7: Jason "Chip Burner" Tate (Brentwood, TN) $391,000
Seat 8: Farzad Bonyadi (Los Angeles, CA) $315,000
Seat 9: Robert Doyle (W. Palm Beach, FL) $87,000

Phill Hellmuth on his way to event #27's final table.

Read Dr. Pauly's wrap up of the final table for event #24 at LasVegasVegas.com. Check out Dr. Pauly's live blogged final table action at Tao of Poker and get all the details of event #24 as it happened including all the stuff you won't see in the allotted hour of television. A complete list of finishers in the event are available at Poker Player Newspaper.

The evening's second hour of the 2005 WSOP features event #27, a $5,000 buy-in w/rebuys Pot-limit Omaha. The event attracted 134 players buying an additional 224 rebuys to create a prize pool of $1,765,568. Read Dr. Pauly's wrap up of the star studded final table for event #27 at LasVegasVegas.com. Check out Dr. Pauly's live blogged final table action at Tao of Poker and get all the details of event #27 as it happened including all the stuff you won't see in the allotted hour of television. A complete list of finishers in the event are available at Poker Player Newspaper.

Final table of event #24, $2,500 buy-in No-limit Hold'em.

The nine players making the final table for event #27 includes Phil Hellmuth going for his tenth WSOP gold bracelet and Phil Ivey seeking WSOP bracelet #5. Robert Williamson III and Allen Cunningham made the final table. The players are listed by seat number with hometowns and chip counts:

Seat 1: E.C. Cohen (Paris, France) $130,000
Seat 2: Robert Williamson III (Dallas, TX) $153,000
Seat 3: Allen Cunningham (Marina Del Ray, CA) $202,000
Seat 4: Davood Mehrmand (Germany) $125,000
Seat 5: Surinder Sunar (Wolver Hampton, England) $96,000
Seat 6: Phil Ivey (Las Vegas, NV) $494,000
Seat 7: Phil Hellmuth (Palo Alto, CA) $114,000
Seat 8: Eddy Scharf (Cologne) $150,000
Seat 9: Richard St. Peter (Sault Ste. Marie, MI) $162,000
Seat 10: Sigi Stockinger (Linz, Austria) $213,000

The first hour is listed as beginning at 8:00 pm East Coast time but check your TV listings for times in your area. Some great poker of the biggest poker tournament ever from the poker capitol of the world, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The winning final hand of the $2,500 buy-in No-limit Hold'em event #24.

Posted by flipchipro at 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A quiet week...guess everyone was conserving energy for the Boathouse! Be sure to check out DoubleAs on bluffing with the best hand, HDouble on poker mastery, and Bill's post on why online poker is definitely not rigged.

Another license plate seen outside of the 2005 WSOP.

Posted by at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

J. Santos' Muck It cartoon.

Posted by flipchipro at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seen parked in valet at the Horseshoe during the 2005 WSOP final table downtown.

I have been spending the last few days reading the backlog of poker related books. The Poker Prof has also been going through the stacks of books authored by well known and not so well known poker players, dealers and almost anyone that has ever played a hand of poker. He recently completed Tales from the Tilt Boys and posted the book review below. Every week we get another poker book to review.

I thought about writing a book on the game and getting my piece of the profits; but, I am having trouble coming up with a suitable title. Maybe I should leave the writing to the professionals. This week's Nines covers some of the rejected titles for my as-yet unwritten poker book. This week's Nines...

Top Nine rejected titles for a poker book.

9. The Big Book of Five Card Draw
8. Play Poker, Lose Weight.
7. War and Poker.
6. Honest Poker Players I Have Known.
5. The Complete Children's Guide to Poker.
4. Don't Quit Your Day Job.
3. Lassie Eats Cheaters.
2. Become a Poker Pro in Ten Easy Minutes.
1. Debbie Does Poker!

Seen parked at the Rio during the 2005 WSOP.

Posted by flipchipro at 4:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm sure many are familier with the Tiltboys. If you're not their site is a must read. They are indeed experts on Tilt. In a nutshell if you enjoy their site you'll enjoy the book.

"Tales From the Tiltboys" is an edited version The book is basically divided into two sections, the first 13 chapters introducing the cast of characters though poster-board snippet's of e-mail's, conversations and forum (RPG) posts. The result is a somewhat fun-house mirror slanted view of the Tiltboys that accentuates their most intriguing traits: Diceboy's luck and Space Man's memory are all painted with a caricature stoke. These portraits of life-in-the-fast-lane gamblers are mostly entertaining. The latter half of the book's chapters are various trips and group experiences, including a Las Vegas trip.

It's funny...laugh. Out loud funny in some cases and humor ranges from the slap-stick circle game to the sarcasm of a ticked off math guru explaining why the solution (which worked) was vastly inferior to his elegent equations (which also worked). There is plenty of good material even the most demanding of critics will appreciate.

As a whole these glimpses chronicle the stories and shared experience of a group of very smart, very wild and very close friends. For an instant the reader is made a part of the always entertaining world of the Tiltboys where the religion is Roshambo [see also: Sex Stigmas Out].

It's a permanent addition to my collection and a recommended read for anyone looking for some great humor, all centered around gambling and poker.

As a side note to this, I do believe some bloggers might give some Tiltboys a run for their money when it comes to wild times.

You should be reading:
Pokerati: The Texas Hold'em Blog
Joe Speaker - Obituarium
Bill Rini - Poker Cheating expert.
April - This Is Not a Poker Blog

Posted by pokerprof at 7:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Complete the story with all the details on Dr. Pauly's Online Poker blog. Read his trademark play by play account of the final table.

The 2005 WPT Borgata Open final table.

The final table of the Borgata Open concluded today at the exquisite Borgata Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was a special moment for me because I finally got to cover a World Poker Tour final table. After four days the field of 515 players was dwindled down to six players after a brutal 18 hour session to end Day 3. Last year's winner Daniel Negreanu was eliminated on the first day.

Here's who made the final table including chip counts:

Seat 1: Robert "Action Bob" Hwang (Clark, NJ) $1,795,000
Seat 2: David Singer (Mamaroneck, NY) $3,200,000
Seat 3: Al Ardebili (Jersey City, NJ) $1,425,000
Seat 4: Kathy Liebert (Las Vegas, NV) $1,045,000
Seat 5: John D'Agostino (Seymour, CT) $2,295,000
Seat 6: Richard Festejo (Margate, NJ) $540,000

Kathy Liebert has won one WSOP bracelet and made two WPT final tables (not including Ladies' Night). She's looking for her first WPT victory. More importantly, no female has ever won a regular WPT event. Also making the final table were pros John D'Agostino and David Singer. In 2003, David Singer made the final table in the main event at the WSOP and made one final table at this year's WSOP. Plus any table is going to be fun if you have a guy named Action Bob at it! Robert "Action Bob" Hwang from RGP fame had plenty of railbirds. Richard Festejo is the local favorite and lives in nearby Margate, New Jersey.

The prize pool was over $5 million. Here are the final table payouts:

1st: $1,498,650
2nd: $799,280
3rd: $427,115
4th: $349,685
5th: $299,730
6th: $249,775

Al Ardebelli, winner of the 2005 WPT Borgata Open is congratulated by Courtney Friel.

John D'Agostino was involved in an early pot with Ricardo Festejo. D'Agostino raised and Festejo moved all in over the top. John reluctantly called with K-10. Ricardo Festejo showed A-K and led the entire way. An ace fell on the river and Festejo picked up a $1 million pot.

In the first hour, Kathy Liebert had two big hands, A-A and K-K, but no one paid her off.

David Singer flopped a set with 10-10. However, Ricardo Festejo had a straight and a flush draw on a board of 10d-Jd-3h-9h with Qh-Jh. Both players were all in. The river was an 8 and Ricardo Festejo doubled up again when he caught his straight. At the end of the first hour of play, John D'Agostino was the chip leader with over $ 2.2 million in chips. David Singer was not far behind with $2.1 and Kathy Liebert was the shortstack with $1 million.

Al Ardebelli, winner of the 2005 WPT Borgata Open with Mike Sexton, Courtney Friel and Vince Van Patten.

The second hour of play slowed down until Kathy Liebert moved all in with A-Q. John D'Agostino called with J-J. Al Ardebili said he folded a Queen, but it didn't matter because Kathy flopped an ace. The turn and river didn't help John D'Agostino and Kathy doubled up. Her stack grew to $1.4 million.

By the end of the second hour, Robert "Action Bob" Hwang was the chipleader with $2.5 million. Richard Festejo was not far behind with $2.3 million. Al Ardebili was the short stack with $1 million. He moved all in with 3c-3s and David Singer called with Js-9h. Al flopped a set. On the turn David picked up a straight draw but the river didn't help him. The case 3 fell and Al Ardebili hit quad 3s. He doubled up and David Singer became the short stack.

Open seat at the 2005 WPT Borgata Open Championship final table.

On Hand 73, David Singer was eliminated in 6th place by Action Bob. Singer had A-8 and Action Bob showed 6-6. David Singer could catch any of his over cards and he was knocked out. He won $249,775. A new WPT record was set for the most hands played before the first elimination. The previous record was 52 hands which occurred at the Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles last month.

Kathy Liebert moved all in with A-8. John D'Agostino called with K-Q. Kathy flopped an ace and turned two pair when an 8 hit. She doubled up and had $1.5 million in chips. Al Ardebili and Action Bob both had $2.4 million in chips.

Richard Festejo doubled up against Action Bob. Festejo had 5-5 and Action Bob showed Qs-Js. Both players moved all in on the flop of 4c-4s-8s. Action Bob didn't catch a flush or an over card and Festejo doubled up. Action Bob and John D'Agostino were all in preflop. Action Bob was short stacked and had 10h-9s while John D'Agostino showed 10-10. They both flopped straight draws on a board of J-9-8. The turn and river didn't help Robert "Action Bob" Hwang. He was knocked out in 5th place and won $299,730. Ricardo Festejo emerged as the clear chip leader with over $4 million. Kathy Liebert was the short stack with $1.5 million.

John D'Agostino was knocked out in 4th place by Ricardo Festejo. Both players were all in on a flop of Q-3-4. Festejo had Q-8 and D'Agostino had Q-2. The turn and river didn't help D'Agostino and he won $349,685. Festejo amassed a huge chip lead. He had over 85% of the chips in play.

Courtney Friel shows the WPT chipset at the 2005 WPT Borgata Open.

Al Ardebili doubled up against Ricardo Festejo. Ardebili had Q-Q and his Hilton Sisters held up against A-J. Kathy Liebert said she folded A-J. With a short stack, Kathy Liebert moved all in with A-7. Al Ardebili called with Qs-10s. He flopped a ten and a flush draw. Kathy's hand did not improve and she was eliminated in 3rd place. She played excellent poker for four days and held on with a short stack at the final table. She won $427,115 for third place.

Both players were about even in chips. On the first hand of heads up play, Al Ardebili raised to $600K. Richard Festejo did not hesitate and he pushed all in. Ardebili eventually folded and Festejo took the chip lead. Then I witnessed one of the craziest hands since I started covering poker tournaments. On a board of K-7-2, Ardebili checked, Festejo bet $1 million, and Ardebelli moved all in. Festejo thought for several minutes and called with A-2. It was an unbelievable call! Ardebelli showed 3d-2s and was dominated until a 3 spiked on the turn to give him two pair. Festejo still had outs but the river didn't help him. He doubled up Ardebelli. Festego's stack dropped to $1.1 million to Ardebelli's $9.2 million.

After four hands of heads up play, we had a new WPT champion. Al Ardebelli won $1,498,650 and a seat in the WPT Championships at the Bellagio. Richardo Festejo won $799,280 for second place. Richardo Festejo moved all in with 8h-7h. Al Ardebili showed Ah-9c. The flop was: K-5-2. The turn was a 5 and the river was 6. Al Ardebili won the WPT Borgata Open win Ace high. Congrats to Al and Ricardo! Both players won satellites to get into this event. And Kathy Liebert made history with the highest finish ever by a female on the WPT.

Dr. Pauly hard at work.

Complete the story with all the details on Dr. Pauly's Online Poker blog, his special take on the play by play and the stories you won't see on the TV version of the final table action.

Posted by Dr. Pauly at 1:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Follow all the action on Dr. Pauly's Online Poker blog with play by play updates and on the spot photos from the World Poker Tour Borgata Open.

Day 3 of the WPT Borgata Poker Open.

Day Three of the World Poker Tour Borgata Open in Atlantic City began with 62 players. The top 45 players would win prize money. Franklin Caldwell started the day as the chipleader with over $485K in chips. Several top pros were still in the hunt for the $1.5 million first place prize including Barry Greenstien, Josh Arieh, Kathy Liebert, Evelyn Ng, Erick Lindgren, Clonie Gowen, Mike Matusow, John D'Agostino, David "The Dragon" Pham, Surinder Sunar, David Singer, Denis Ethier, David Levi, and Chris "Armenian Express" Grigorian. In addition, Tex Barch and Steve Dannemann both survived Day Two, which meant that three players who made the final table at the 2005 WSOP main event were all still alive.

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow started jawing with players before the cards were in the air. He walked over to WSOP main event runner-up Steve Dannemann and yelled, "You ruined my life!" That got a chuckle from all anyone within earshot.

Mike Matusow and Barry Greenstien playing in the World Poker Tour Borgata Open

The eliminations went fast early on as play approached the money bubble. WSOP bracelet winner Dennis Ethier was busted by David Singer. Chris Grigorian was eliminated when his A-K lost to J-J. Steve Dannemann was also knocked out. Mike Matusow was busted by Barry Greenstien when Barry flopped trips with 10-4 and Matusow flopped top pair with A-9. All the money went in on the turn. Unfortunately, Frtiz Stoner was eliminated on the bubble in 46th place. Here's the payout list: 1st: $1,498,650 2nd: $799,280 3rd: $427,115 4th: $349,685 5th: $299,730 6th: $249,775 7th: $199,820 8th: $149,865 9th: $99,910 10th-12th: $64,942 13th-15th: $49,955 16th-18th: $34,969 19th-27th: $24,978 28th-36th: $14,987 37th-45th: $12,489

A couple of pros doubled up early. Erick Lindgren survived an all in with J-J versus Wooying Lin's 9-9. And Kathy Liebert's A-A held up against A-J. The big story for Day Three involved the excellent play from the remaining female pros which I nicknamed the Three Queens. At one point, Kathy Liebert, Evelyn Ng, and Clonie Gowen all were seated at the same table.

Clonie Gowen playing in the World Poker Tour Borgata Open

David Levi was knocked out in 45th place when his K-K lost to Robert Hwang's A-A. Clonie Gowen knocked out Josh Arieh in 41st place. Josh had 9s-3s and moved all in on the flop with a flush draw. Clonie's A-A held up. Barry Greenstien was eliminated in 38th place when he moved all in from the big blind with Ks-5s. Wooying Ling's 7-7 held up.

Kathy Liebert doubled up and her stack hovered around $500K. She continued to play excellent poker. Unfortunately, Clonie Gowen was knocked out in 31st place when her A-10 lost to A-Q. Tex Barch, who took third at this year's WSOP Main Event, busted out in 30th place. Tex had A-Q but lost to Wooying's K-9 when two Kings flopped. Erick Lindgren was eliminated in 29th place by Greg Fondacaro when his A-J could not win against 8-8. David Singer passed the million mark in chips when he knocked out Luke Chung in 25th place. He joined John D'Agostino as one of the chip leaders.

After dinner break, a bunch of players went out. Steve Rosen was eliminated in 22nd place. Schreiber busted in 21st place. Robert Chasen was knocked out in 20th place when his A-K lost a coinflip to Richard Festejo's 8-8. John D'Agastino knocked out Dee Franklin Caldwell in 19th place while his stack grew to over $2 million.

Kathy Liebert continued her stellar play while she was seeking her third appearance at a WPT TV table. She busted Tom Coan in 18th place. Coan won $34,969. Surinder Sunar doubled up twice with a short stack to stay alive. With A-9, he caught a lucky card on the river to double up against David Singer's 8-8. Sunar doubled up again a few hands later when his J-J held up against 8-8.

Tom Martelli's Q-J was knocked out in 17th place by Evelyn Ng's K-5. David The Dragon Pham busted out in 16th place by Wooying Lin. Pham had 7-6s against Lin's A-J. Pham won $34,969. Surinder Sunar and his A-K were eliminated in 15th place by Al Ardebili's K-K. Karlo Lopez was knocked out in 14th place by John D'Agostino. With K-J, Lopez flopped top pair and moved all in but D'Agastino flopped a set. Both Sunar and Lopez won $49,955.

Evelyn Ng had a severe shortstack and doubled up against Al Ardebili with K-K. She then doubled up with A-K against Greg Fandacaro's Q-Q and moved out of the basement. John D'Agastino went on a rush and increased his stack to over $3 million in chips after he knocked out Carmine Tirone in 13th place. Trione flopped top pair, top kicker with A-10, but D'Agastino had the Hilton Sisters. Tirone won $49,955.

Evelyn Ng finished 11th in the Event

Robert Chasen's Q-J was busted by Wooying Lin's A-Q. Chasen took 12th place and won $64,942. Kathy Liebert was the shortstack and in trouble. Evy Ng was eliminated in 11th place by David Singer. Her A-9 could not beat Singer's 4-4. Wooying Lin was knocked out in 10th place by David Singer. With a Queen on the flop, both players moved all in. Singer had A-Q while Lin showed Q-9. Lin won $64,942.

Sid Miller was knocked out by Robert "Action Bob" Hwang in 9th place. Miller had A-Q versus Hwang's J-10. Hwang flopped trips and that's all she wrote for Miller, who won $99,110 for 9th place.

The action slowed down to a very slow pace. John D'Agastino lost a big pot to David Singer when he missed a straight draw. Singer had Q-Q and took over the chip lead. A few hands later, Kathy Liebert doubled up with A-A versus Al Ardebili's J-J. She moved up to 4th in chips.

Erick Lindgren playing in the World Poker Tour Borgata Open

After a lull in the action, David Singer knocked out Greg Fandacaro. Singer had 3-3 and flopped a set. Greg Fandacaro showed A-7 and pushed all in with the nut flush draw. He caught running aces for trips, but that gave Singer a full house. Singer is the chipleader. Greg Fandacaro won $149,865 for 7th place. I can put my impending suicide on hold. David Singer is the chipleader with over $3 million. JC Tran was the shortstack with $320K.

At 4:50am, JC Tran was eliminated in 7th place in a three way pot. He had Q-Q. Al Ardebili showed A-A. And John D'Agostino said "I should fold this," and called anyway with Ac-Jc. He flopped the nut flush draw but his hand did not hold up. Al Ardebili won the main pot and side pot and JC Tran was busted with the Hilton Sisters. Tran won $199,820.
Final Table Chip Counts:
1 David Singer $ 3,200,000
2 John D'Agostino $ 2,295,000
3 Robert 'Action Bob' Hwang $ 1,795,000
4 Al Ardebili $ 1,425,000
5 Kathy Liebert $ 1,045,000
6 Richard Festejo $ 540,000
The final table will start at 5pm local time.

Posted by Dr. Pauly at 4:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)