Check out Dr. Pauly's Bloggers in Las Vegas: The Short Film.-Flipchip

Hope everyone had a great poker-filled Thanksgiving. While you're feasting off of leftover turkey for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, check out these quality posts from the past week -

• Absinthe's Troubles - The Joy of Sets
  
• Up for Poker - The Luckbox Speaks
  
• The Poker Life - The Fundamental Theorem Of Losing As It Relates To Poker
  
• Poker Cats - Robbery
  
• Infant Days Sleepless Nights - Guide To Tilting The Field (v 1.01) [BTW Chilly, if you really want to tilt me, tell me Phil Gordon was just there but you didn't mention it because you didn't think I'd be interested}
  
• Pokerati - Meanwhile, in Florida...
  

Posted by at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Amir Vahedi wins the Ultimate Poker Challenge III Championship at the Plaza Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. Going into Tuesday's final table with an imposing chip lead and then playing mistake free poker allowed Amir to stay atop the field of fifty-five. The final hand was a fitting end to the run of cards Amir had enjoyed on his way to the championship. Pre-flop Amir raised $34K from the button and Chip Jett re-raised all-in for $74K. Amir immediately called and turned over two red Kings to Chip's Ad,5s. The flop was Q,7,6 with two spades giving Chip another couple of outs with runner-runner spades for the flush or a straight. He also had a straight flush draw. The turn showed 10 of clubs and Chip was down to one out, only an Ace could save him. The river brought the Jack of clubs and the tournament was over. Amir Vahedi was the champion. Amir takes home $181,390 in cash and the diamond/gold Ultiamte Poker Challenge III bracelet. Chip Jett received $106,700 for second place. Bill Elder was eliminated in the third spot and paid $58,685. Doug Carli finished fourth and takes $42,680 while Luke Neeloy goes home with $37,345 for fifth place. Blair Rodman, Ultimate Poker Challenge II second place finisher made it to sixth and picked up $32,010 while short stack Thomas Koral was the first player eliminated from the final table, receiving $26,675 for seventh place.

The first event of the Fourth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic began at noon on Tuesday at the Bellagio Resort on the Las Vegas Strip. All of the tournaments for the Five Diamond event are No-limit Hold'em. Tuesday's event #1, a $1,500 + $70 buy-in contest attracted 370 entrants and built a prize pool of $538,350. The winner is slated to receive $199,870 from the prize money and a $25,000 + $500 entry into the 2006 WPT Championship at the Bellagio. The field had been cut to 83 after almost six hours of play. Included in the remaining field are well known professionals David Williams, Tony Ma, Chad Layne and Scotty Nguyen. The play will continue until nine players remain or they reach 2 AM. The final table will be played on Wednesday with a 3 PM starting time.

The Wednesday event #2 is a $2,000 + $80 No-limit Hold'em tournament with a noon start time. The Five Diamond World Poker Classic tournament area is located in the Fontana Room.

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

Poker tournaments are filling the calendar in Las Vegas. The Ultimate Poker Challenge at the downtown Plaza Hotel and Casino is down to its final day of play on Tuesday when the 7 surviving players from the starting field of 55 begin the final table at 2:00 PM. Professional Amir Vahedi comes to the contest with the most chips, $598,000, giving him more than a 2-1 advantage over Chip Jett, second in the chip count with $259,000. Blair Rodman starts the day with $168,000 while Doug Carli begins with $164,000. Bill Elder is holding $160,000 and Luke Neeloy has accummulated $143,000 of the play money. The short stack of $63,000 belongs to Thomas Koral. The event pays ten places with the winner receiving $181,390 from the $533,500 prize pool.

Jason Cotray of New York City went out on the bubble in eleventh place and will be returning home with none of the prize money. Jason is primarily an online player and has been a student of the game for about three years. Considering his lack of live tournament poker experience Jason made a very good showing for himself in a field crowded with poker's super stars. The defending champion of the Ultimate Poker Challenge II Championship, Andy Bloch, was eliminated on the final table bubble going out in the eight spot after Chip Jett called Andy's all-in and showed pocket Aces to beat Andy's Kings. Andy takes home a token $21,340 from the half mil prize pool. Andy doubled when he pushed all-in with Q,J of spades and was called by Blair Rodman holding pocket 6's. Andy furthur enticed Blair by adding his Ultimate Poker Challenge Championship diamond/gold bracelet to the pot. The flop of 6s,4s,3s gave Blair a set and Andy a flush draw; but, the turn brought the 8 of spades and Andy's jewelry was safe. Blair's only shot at wearing a championship bracelet is to win the championship.

Tuesday is the first day of the Bellagio's Fourth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic. The event will run through December 16th and offer no-limit hold'em tournaments daily with buy-ins from $1,500 up to the $15,000 WPT sanctioned Championship. Satellites have already begun and will continue throughout the event. The Five Diamond World Poker Classic is a great time to visit Las Vegas and play in one of the most prestigious poker tournaments of the year. Even if you don't play bring the camera and a sharpie pin for autographs because its a poker fan paradise with everyone that's anyone in the world of poker gathered at the Bellagio Resort. The Bellagio is wearing its festive holiday look and presents the visitor with a dazzling display of holiday extravagance.

The following schedule for the Five Diamond World Poker Classic can help you with your travel plans. Don't forget that the number one reason for visiting Las Vegas is shopping so bring money and allow plenty of time. Las Vegas is the city that invented adult themed playgrounds so make this holiday season a truly memorable one.

*Champion receives $25,000 + $500 entry (non-negotiable, non-refundable, and non-transferable) into the 2006 WPT at Bellagio.
**Super Satellite will award as many entries as possible.

Posted by flipchipro at 3:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Ultimate Poker Challenge at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas began the Championship with 55 players entered in the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold'em event. Many of poker's well known professional community were vying for some of the $533,500 prize pool. Play continued today for approximately 13 hours until 28 players remained from the starting field.

When the cards flew at about 12:30 PST Sunday the professional laden field included previous WSOP World Champions Phil Hellmuth and Scotty Nguyen. WPT Championship winner Martin de Knijff was joined by Barry Greenstein, David Williams and Kido Pham, none of whom survived the day. Neither did Phil Hellmuth; but, Scotty Nguyen will be returning on Monday at noon when play is resumed.

Players that will be there for the second round are chip leader, Patrik Antonius with $241,400. Chip Jett, Men 'Master' Nguyen, Amir Vahedi, Michael 'the Grinder' Mizrachi, Layne Flack, Captain' Tom Franklin, Ted Forrest, John Pham and the sole surviving lady, Kristy Gazes. The 2004 Ultimate Poker Challenge defending champion, Andy Bloch, will begin the second day of play fifth on the chip count list at $78,400.

The play on Monday will continue until 9 remain to fill the final table roster. The championship final table will be played on Tuesday and filmed for later broadcast on national television throught the syndicated Ultimate Poker Challenge Series. I wandered around the tournament area today watching the poker, visiting with players and old friends. Shot some photos of the event and have ioncluded a mini gallery in the continue reading section below.

Additional scenes from the 2005 Ultimate Poker Challenge Championship Event.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by flipchipro at 6:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Monaco FullTilt Invitational finally came to an end early this morning after the select seven played for almost eleven hours. Phil Ivey takes home the $600,000 first place money. John Juanda finished second. The event was Phil's second win in two days after having won the Monte Carlo Millions Championship on Wednesday. He will be coming home from Europe with $1,600,000 in earnings and has once again established himself as one of poker's all-time great tournament players.

Fox Sports Network broadcast the FullTilt Invitational live beginning this afternoon at 3 Pm here in Las Vegas and finally dealing the last hand at a few minutes before 2 AM. Almost eleven hours of poker and close to my estimate for completion of the tournament (I thought midnight due to the short field). So, how was this live, full length screening of a major poker tournament? I had promised myself I would make an effort to watch the whole thing or at least be close at hand, just like covering a tournament live, something I do a lot of. How much did I actually watch? I was there from the go and watched until Matusow was eliminated. The Prof came by and watched for about ten minutes, then mumbled something that included multi-use of the word "boring" and "what were they thinking?," then he suddenly left.

I switched to the Denver/Dallas NFL game and watched most of the half before I wandered off to drive across Las Vegas to visit with some of the family. Left there and cruised the strip, stopping at the Mirage Resort to stroll through the holiday crowds and decorations. A side trip to the Carnegie Deli in the Mirage produced a take out bag stuffed with a Woody Allen and a large piece of cherry cheesecake (I quickly tire of roast turkey). Heading for the parking garage I spent some quality time watching the fish in the Mirage aquarium behind the hotel front desk. Drove down the strip for awhile and finally dropped off the food at home and continued on to Sam's Town where I played in the Thursday night tournament (only won one pot all night, eliminated when my pocket Aces were cracked by a big slick hitting two flop Kings during the third hour of play). Played live poker for another hour then returned home to enjoy a leisurely meal, watched a movie, and then watched the news for about another hour. Tuned in the Fox Sports Network and there was five players remaining. Watched for about an hour, got bored and watched an episode of M*A*S*H. Returned to the poker tournament in time to see chip leader John Juanda lose most of his lead to Phil Ivey and then a couple of hands later John lost all his chips. Tournament finally over.

What's my opinion of live television broadcast of major Poker Tournaments? Too many too's. Too slow, too boring, even with Matusow and Hellmuth--too quiet, too predictable, too loooooong (eleven hours? Could have been hours longer!). And did I mention the total absence of fans? Whose idea was that? Would you enjoy watching a ball game that had no fans? Perhaps tournament poker will find a way to play the game that favors the skilled professional player while fitting nicely into a three hour broadcast, just like the NFL...and if this solution proves too elusive? There is still valid reason for live television broadcast of major poker tournaments. They can replace baseball as the television sport we most like to sleep through.

Las Vegas shopping hits the big-times tomorrow. Don't be shutout! Cash out the stocks and bonds, have the credit card limits raised, second mortgage the house and get to Las Vegas before all the seven figure gifts are snapped up by the early birds.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Thanksgiving Day is just another working holiday in Las Vegas. Many of the people I know work in the gaming industry and none of them will be home for the traditional turkey day feast. Instead, they are providing the thousands of tourist packed into town for the holiday a wonderful, fun time. Great food, good spirits, luxurious accommodations, continuous partying and plenty of big time tournament poker are more than enough reasons to come to Vegas for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

The tournament poker is happening at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas. The Ultimate Poker Challenge, the highly rated poker TV series, is here for the third season. Everyday at high noon you can sit down with locals, tourist and professionals to play for a spot on national TV. And you can do it all for a low $500 + $50 buy-in into any of the daily events. The remaining four events will be filmed for later broadcast on national television. There is no cheaper ticket to poker stardom than the Ultimate poker Challenge. The tournament area is in the Plaza's large poker room so if you've always wanted to play on TV then stop by the Plaza Hotel before noon on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, bring $550 and your "A" game and maybe I"ll be shooting a winner's photo of you.

All of us at LasVegasVegas.com and the Poker Prof's Blog wish everyone a safe and fun Thanksgiving Holiday. If you can't get to Vegas you can still watch some big-time poker tournament action Live, courtesy of Fox Sports Network. The FullTilt.net Invitational is being telecast live direct from Monaco. With final table personalities Mike Matusow, John Juanda, Gus hansen, Phil Ivey, David "Devilfish" Ulliott, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth it promises to be a great show. Be sure to check your local listing since times vary and some areas may have a tape delay.

Posted by flipchipro at 7:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since the upcoming trip to Vegas is the topic on everyone's mind, we'll start with Vegas-related items. First off, PokerStars is really sweetening the prize pool for the WPBT tourney. Be sure to show your thanks. Secondly, Pauly has proposed a Blogger Prision Pact. It's one of those things that you hope you'll never need, but knowing this group, it's likely that we will at some point. Finally, many of us will be hitting the limit HE tables while in Vegas. ScurvyDog has some advice on protecting our hands in those games. It's a long post, but a must-read. Print it out and take it with you on the plane if you must.

Somewhat Vegas-related, CJ has been on a tourney rush lately. Hopefully he's gotten it out of his system so the rest of us will stand a chance in December. Otherwise, who's up for skipping the tourney and just hitting the bar instead? Okay, anyone besides Al?

Tilt was the topic on a lot of minds this past week, resulting in great posts from Otis, Mourn, and HDouble. Other minds were focused on finding the wisdom in the works of Paula Abdul-Jalib - certaintly no easy task, but Bill does well.

Posted by at 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The World Series of Poker Circuit Event at Paris/Bally's ended early Tuesday evening when Kido Pham eliminated J.C. Tran to end the heads-up play and win the championship. Kido received $453,456, a gold and diamond WSOP Circuit Championship ring and credentials into poker's big leagues. Kido has been playing major tournament poker for less than two years and has made four final tables including the championship event at the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship held in October, 2004 at the Bellagio. Pham finished in second place and collected $496,000. He made another final table at the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown Championship played at the Bellagio in May, 2005 where Pham finished 4th and received $182,964. Tuesday evening he came to win and in his single-minded pursuit of the championship he played some of the best poker of his career while the luck factor was distributed evenly around the table.

J.C.Tran finished second after about an hour of heads-up play when Pham checked the flop of 6,A,K while holding an A,8o. Tran had raised preflop, then had to call a reraise from Kido. Tran checked the flop behind Pham and the turn brought a Jack. Pham bet and Tran called. The river was another Jack. Pham went all-in after asking for a chip count and J.C. Tran now had to make the big decision to fold and leave himself very short or call with his K,Qo and hope for the best. After much deliberation and study J.C. Tran said call and Pham turned over his top pair to end the tournament. J.C. Tran received $251,920 for second place.

Lee Wilkenson was eliminated in third and got paid $138,556. Former WSOP World Champion Scotty Nguyen went out in fourth place collecting $100,468. The 2005 WSOP Champion, Joseph Hachem, finished in the fifth spot and takes $88,172 back to Australia. John Smith collected $75,576 for sixth, Steve Hudak was seventh for a $62,980 payday and my pick to win it all, Doug Lee, received $50,384 when he was the first player eliminated from the table going out in eight. Doug said the deck was so cold for him he could feel it across the table.

The post game interview with winner Kido Pham was an interesting look into poker's latest rising star. When asked about what his parents back in Vietnam would think of his big win he said his Asian family's mind set doesn't approve of gambling and they would prefer he pursued another line of work. He described the rapid improvements in his game by comparing the final tables he has made. In the first tournament he said he was in awe of all the professionals and felt intimidated by their reputations, a factor that led to stupid mistakes. The second final table saw a much improved Kido no longer overwhelmed by the pros; but, unfortunately he acted too cocky and again a distraction forced fatal mistakes. The Kido Pham that came to play in the Paris/Bally's WSOP Circuit Event Championship was an improved and refined version, one that was mentally prepared to take on the best and, if the luck broke even, to beat them. That's exactly what Kido did. Congratulations to Kido Pham.

Posted by flipchipro at 3:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The first time I saw Doug Lee was at the Rio earliest this year when the WSOP Circuit made a stop in March. He was playing in the Championship event on the first day and I was photographing the action at the tables. During a break he introduced himself, told me he had traveled from Canada for the tournament and ask if I would get some shots of him playing, a common request. I always try to accommodate the players and from experience I know to get some photos quickly because some are will be out in short order. Most I never see again and I thought Doug would be just another 'good' poker player that without an extraordinary amount of good luck had no outs for making any money in this poker pro rich WSOP Circuit event. Doug made it through the first day, the second day, even survived the third day when the final table was decided. Doug came into a tough final table with a collection of some of poker's 'baddest' players. Jennifer Harmon, Jean Robert Bellande, Tony Ma, Gabriel Thaler and Phil Ivey. Late into the final day the only thing that stood between Doug Lee and the championship was Jennifer Harman, a poker player so good many think she knows magic. But no magic this day. When all of the hold'em, fold'em and deal'n was done Doug Lee of Calgary, Canada was walking away with a cool $695,970 and the Championship. I didn't see Doug again until the 2005 WSOP when he returned to Rio in Las Vegas and made a final table in WSOP Event #12, Pot-limit Omaha w/rebuys. He finished 8th and collected $34,690 from another WSOP prize pool.

Monday at Bally's the 27 players remaining in the begin play at a little after 2 PM and continued until 9 remained. Doug Lee ($66,900) came into the day in the 7th chip count spot, chasing noted professionals in 5th place Minh Ly ($82,800), 4th place Max Pescatori ($89,700), and 2nd place J.C. Tran ($118,600). Chip leader, Raed Abu Kartomy, had $161,500 in play money. The short stack belonged to Matthew Davidson ($6,000). When 10 players remained Joseph Hachem, Max Pescatori and Minh Ly got into a hand with all three all-in. Joseph Hachem took over the chip lead and ended the day of play when his pocket Kings held up and he eliminated both Max and Minh. After more than 9 hours, of the 27 players that started the day, 8 players remained seated with chips and the 2005 WSOP Champion, Joseph Hachem, in his first Las Vegas appearance is sitting atop the leader board going into the final round on Tuesday holding $285,000 of the play money. Kido Pham is close behind with $254,500 and Doug Lee is third in the chip race with $189,000. Next in line Steven Hudak ($145,000), John Smith ($144,000) and Lee Watkinson ($128,500). J.C. Tran is seventh with $97,500 separated by a single $1K chip from the short stack, Scotty Nguyen ($96,500).

The final table of the Paris/Bally's 2005 WSOP Circuit Event has a group of high caliber, proven tournament players. Two of poker's bluebloods, Scotty Nguyen and Joseph Hachem, have won five WSOP Championship bracelets including two of the platinum Main Event Championship variety. Another of the players, Lee Watkinson, has never had a major win, but has been to the bank with more than $1.75 million in tournament winnings for the last couple of years. A former WSOP Circuit Championship winner, Doug Lee, is seated with a good chip count. This final table promises to be another battle of the best.

Jennifer Harman went out in the eleventh spot after a severe card drought sucked up most of her short stack with antes and blinds. She finally went all-in and was called by Doug Lee. For the second time this year the two were all-in against each other in a WSOP Circuit Championship event. Both times the come has favored Doug and twice the lone remaining female has had to walk away. Eventually Jennifer is going to take down one of the majors just like she takes down the toughest of the big-cash players.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The third day of the World Series of Poker Circuit Championship at Paris/Bally's is scheduled for Monday at 2:00 PM in the Pacific Ballroom on the second floor of Bally's. The championship event began on Saturday with a crowd of 134 players paying the $10,000 buy-in and hoping to make the final TV broadcast table. WSOP Circuit's exclusive broadcast partner, ESPN, is on hand to film the final two days for a later national telecast

Among the remaining players are some well known names from the world of professional poker. J.C. Tran is sitting in the second chip count spot behind chip leader Raed Abukartomy. Raed hails from Huntington Beach, California and had two money finishes at the California State Championship this year. Rising pro star Max Pescatori is in good position in the chip count at number four followed closely by the always tough Ming Ly. The defending champion from the WSOP Circuit Championship at the Rio last year, Canadian Doug Lee, is firmly in the center of the pack with 1998 WSOP World Champion Scotty Nguyen. Hoyt Corkins, Paul X22 Magriel and David Pham are continuing their march to the final table. Joseph Hachem of Melborne, Australia, the 2005 WSOP Champion and winner of $7.5 million in cash, remains in the mix. Jennifer Harman is the lone surviving lady in the field.

This poker star studded field will begin play at 2 PM and the action promises to be first rate. Tuesday's play will continue until we are down to the final table nine. Stop by the WSOP Circuit at Bally's and become a part of poker history as another WSOP champion is crowned on Tuesday evening. The winner will receive $453,456. Read the Paris/Bally's poker rooms review below, then stop by the resorts to play your favorite game.

Read the official World Series of Poker Circuit daily reports direct from the tournament floor at Paris/Bally's by the Director of Media Relations, Nolan Dalla, over at PokerPlayerNewspaper.com.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Paris/Bally's Resort located in the heart of the Las Vegas strip combines one of the original super properties with a contemporary romantic Paris-themed casino. Bally's was the first Las Vegas casino project to go over a hundred million dollars, coming in for around one hundred ten million. Everything about the original property was done on a grand scale to compete with Caesar's Palace, the long-standing benchmark of Las Vegas luxury. The casino showcased beautifully painted vaulted ceilings in the huge casino. Even the coffee shop was above standard with white table cloths and real silver. Another Las Vegas first could be found on the lower level of Bally's, the first ever enclosed shopping mall in a Las Vegas Strip resort.

The Paris side of the conjoined hotel twins became a Las Vegas landmark before it was completed in 1999. The replica Eiffel Tower rises above the Las Vegas Strip to a height of fifty stories. From the observation deck at the top you can see a huge Egyptian Pyramid, Dancing fountains in Italy, a Roman Palace, a tropical island with an erupting volcano, a sailing ship and crew of playmates sinking into the sea and even a mountain range that Wynn built. Inside the Paris the resort is a Las Vegas version of the other Paris that includes not only the tower but an Arc de Triomphe and Louve. The hotel has 2,916 guest rooms offering the visitor the latest in luxurious accommodations.

Bally's has 2,814 oversize guest rooms and suites. The casino occupies 70,000 square feet and is filled with more than a hundred table games that's sure to include all of your favorites. The casino is also home to 2,100 of the latest slot machines. The Paris/Bally's Resort is located within an easy stroll to all of the major strip resorts.

The poker room located in Bally's has been in operation since opening August 1, 2004. Poker operations at Bally's and the Paris are the responsibility of Chris Eggers, Director of Specialty Gaming. The 10 table room is located in the central area of the casino close to hotel registration and the passageway to the Paris. The room is spacious, the tables are large, the lighting is subdued to a focus on the table surface and the seating was chosen with the player's comfort in mind. A sit-down bar is conveniently located adjacent to the room providing players easy access to rest and relax away from the poker table. Drink service to the tables is constant and quick with the bar just a couple of steps away. Big screen TV's are located around the room so you don't miss any of the sports action. Bally's has set up four poker tables in the sports book that are available through the NFL football season. The tables are opened on Sundays from 10:00 AM until the last NFL game of the day. Play poker while you are surrounded by all the NFL Sunday action.

Bally's poker room spreads the following games: Limit Hold'em $2-$4 up to $10-$20, No-limit Hold'em $1-$2 with a $100-$200 buy-in or $2-$5 with a $200-$500 buy-in, $1-$5 Stud, $2-$4 Pineapple and Crazy Pineapple plus $4-$8 Omaha 8 or better. No-limit Hold'em tournaments are offered Monday thru Friday at 11:00 AM. The buy-in is $50 + $5 with no rebuys or add-ons. Sign-up for the daily events begins at 10:00am and seating is limited to 50 players so come early since many of the tournaments are a sell out. Contact Bally's Poker Room direct at 702.967.4483 for all the details.

The Paris Poker Room opened September 2, 2005 in an open area in the center of the casino. The room features 9 tables arranged under a canopy outside a bar reminiscent of a Paris street scene. A steady stream of foot traffic flows alongside the room, adding to the open-air sidewalk feel. The Paris Poker Room has just completed installation of new tables with a large WSOP logo on each end of the felt, just like the 2005 WSOP tables.

The Paris poker Room offers Limit Hold'em $3-$6 up to $10-$20 or higher on demand, $1-2 No-limit Hold'em with a $100-$200 buy-in and $2-$5 with a $200-$500 buy-in, $1-$5 Stud, $3-$6 Pineapple and Crazy Pineapple and $4-$8 Omaha 8 or Better. The Paris Poker Room offers poker lessons 24 hours a day. You can phone the Paris Poker Room direct at 702.946.2426 for complete details.

The Paris/Bally's Resort offers a wide range of entertainment choices, restaurants to please everyone, two distinctly different poker rooms and acres of casino games. Players staying in either of the hotels and playing in the poker room are offered a casino rate for their rooms that can result in considerable savings over the standard rate. The food comp policy for the poker rooms is currently being worked out by Harrah's and will be standardized throughout all of the poker rooms in the different Harrah's Resorts. Harrah's is planning to introduce a single progressive bad beat jackpot that will include all Harrah's poker rooms in Las Vegas. Phone the resort's toll-free hotline for WSOP Poker Tournament details and information at 1.800.468.UWIN.

Paris/Bally's Resorts
3645 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109-4307
702.967.4403 or toll-free 1.800.7BALLYS

Posted by flipchipro at 5:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Nick Schulman wins Foxwoods!

The final table of the WPT World Poker Finals was held Friday at Foxwoods, the largest casino in the world, which is nestled in the hills of Western Connecticut. That was the site where history was made when Nick "Takeover" Schulman became the youngest player to ever win a WPT title. He outlasted a field of 783 players and beat out a final table that featured some top pros such as BIll Gazes, Allen Cunningham, and WPT founder Lyle Berman.

Here are some quick stats:
Entrants: 783
Buy-in: $10,000
Chipleader: Nick Schulman $3.5M
Average Stack: $1.3M

Chip Counts:
1. Nick Schulman (New York City) $3.502M
2. Anthony "Tony" Licastro (Long Valley, New Jersey) $1.412M
3. Allen Cunningham (Las Vegas, NV) $795K
4. Lenny Cortellino (Lewiston, Maine) $773K
5. Bill Gazes (Old Westbury, NY) $693K
6. Lyle Berman (Las Vegas, NV) $659K

Payouts:
1st $2,142,000 + $25K Seat in the WPT Championships at the Bellagio
2nd $1,035,000
3rd $759,000
4th $483,000
5th $345,000
6th $276,000

Lyle Berman with Mike Sexton

When the final table began, Nick Schulman had more than a 2 to 1 chiplead over second place Tony Licastro. He is just 21 and had a huge run late in Day 4 to take over the chip lead. Both Bill Gazes and Allen Cunningham have been at WPT final tables. Lenny Cortellino won a $5K event last week and won the World Poker Finals Player of the Year. Tony Licastro cashed in a WSOP event this year and also finished 11th at the WSOP Circuit in San Diego.

Cards are in the air at 4:25pm. In less than three and a half hours, Nick Schulman would go onto to win his first WPT event. Early on Allen Cunningham made a run picking up a few small pots uncontested and reached the million dollar mark. On the 14th hand, we had our first elimination when Tony Licastro moved all in preflop with 10-10 and Lenny Cortellino called with 8-8. They both flopped sets! Alas stack grew to over $2.1M in chips.

Behind the scenes at Foxwoods

Bill Gazes eventually doubled up against Tony Licastro when his K-K held up against Q-Q. Bill moved up to around a million in chips, but he still trailed the chipleader, Nick who sat on $3.6M. Nick would add some more chips when he busted Lyle Berman in 5th place. Nick had A-K against Berman's A-J. Lyle Berman's hand did not improve and he was eliminated. He won $345K for 5th place. At that point, Nick Schulman had over a 4 to 1 advantage over second place. And he still had $1M chips more than the other three remaining players combined.

With a shortstack, Allen Cunningham moved all in preflop for $970K with J-10 against Nick Schulman's K-K. Cunningham's hand did not improve and he finished in 4th place winning $483K. With three players remain and Nick has well over $5 million in chips. In less than 40 hands, three players were eliminated.

Bill Gazes was the shortstack but doubled up when his 3-3 held up against Tony Liscastro's Ah-Jh. Tony turned a nut flush draw, but it didn't hit. Bill moved up to $945K. Tony slipped to $850K. And Nick ha all the remainder of the chips. A few orbits later, Bill Gazes moved all in with A-A and Tony Licastro called with K-10. Tony flopped a miracle straight when 9-Q-J fell. Bill's aces got cracked and he doubled up Tony. Bill 's stack dropped to $1.1 million and Tony had about the same.

In one of the biggest pot of the day, Nick Schulman raised and Tony Licastro moved all in for over the top of Nick for $1M with A-9. Nick called with A-5s. Tony's hand held up and he doubled up against Nick. Tony has $2.1 to Nick's $4.3M. That was the first big hand that Nick lost at the final table. He had stayed out of trouble and avoided playing big pots and won several small ones until he doubled up Tony.

Nick Schulman eventually busted Bill Gazes in 3rd place. Bill had K-8 and Nick flipped over A-Q. Nick flopped an ace and his hand held up. Bill Gazes won $759K for third place.

Here are some pictures of the money presentation:

Nick had about a 2 to 1 chip lead over Tony Licastro the two began heads up play. On hand #89 and on the fourth hand of heads up play Nick Schulman beat Tony Licastro and picked up his first WPT victory. Nick turned a flush against Tony Licastro's two pair to knock him out in second place. Tony won $1,035,000 for second place and Nick took home $2,142,000 and a $25K Seat in the WPT Championships at the Bellagio next April. Congrats to Nick!

Nick "Takeover" Schulman: 2005 Foxwoods World Poker Finals Champion

See ya in mid-December for the WPT Five DIamond Classic at the Bellagio.

Posted by Dr. Pauly at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dr. Pauly is live blogging all the action at Foxwoods Casino where the World Poker Finals 2005 Championship Event is playing the final table. The championship event attracted a crowd of 783 players and collected a prize pool of $7,855,000. The winner will receive $2,167,000.

Dr. Pauly provides the best poker tournament live blog reports to be found on the Internet, period. You always get all the player stats, plenty of photos and a generous helping of his unique take on the tournament, players, fans and everything else that goes into a big poker production. Dr. Pauly is sitting ringside at Foxwoods so click on over to TaoPoker.com and join the fans for today's final Championship table.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm keeping incredibly busy of late with programming and data entry, especially for Poker Player Newspaper which now has over 100,000 pages of content, according to Google. many new card rooms and poker tournament listings have been added, with more coming in every day especially now that people can submit poker tournaments for inclusion in the database. This is true for the Las Vegas Poker Tournament listings and tournament calendar as well. The Ultimate Poker Challenge started yesterday at the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas, and that combined with the ongoing Paris/Bally's World Series of Poker Circuit Event are a time consuming handful. I rarely have a chance to play poker and of late I've been playing low limit 7 Card Stud. I hope to play in Wil's tournament this Friday, Pauly's on Saturday and Bill's on Sunday. The three tournaments are fun and playing in them is a great opportunity to meet some of the many characters in the community.

On the subject of characters in the community Sean from Lord Admiral the Poker Podcat was in town and we had a chance to do an in person interview, Sean and I kibitzed over dinner. (BG, April not a peep! Either of you.) Anyways you'll hear about it on Lord Admiral this week.

In theory later today I'll have a chance to hang with Dan for a bit.

Finally watch Al and Bill's blogs for WPBT updates.

Posted by pokerprof at 3:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Six Japanese tourist came to Las Vegas seeking the excitement and thrills only found in the world's city of entertainment. Tuesday evening shortly after sundown the group was high atop the tallest structure west of the Mississippi strapped into a seat in a wheeled car on the tracks of an oversize slant board ride called the X-Scream. This cardiac arrest inducing thrill ride on the top of the Strastosphere Tower then tilted over the edge of the of the upper deck and the car shot down the incline, finally stopping 27 feet beyond the edge, giving the riders the experience of falling more than eight hundred feet to the ground below. The ride then raises the tiltable track back to level and the riders are safely returned to the tower's deck to do it a second time; at least, that's how it's supposed to work. This group got the ride of their lives when, at about the same time they were headed for the edge of the tower, an errant driver hundreds of feet below crashed a car into a major electrical transformer and plunged the Stratosphere Tower and the rides into darkness.

The six riders on the X-Scream were at the outermost end of the tracks almost thirty feet over the edge of the tower hundreds of feet in the air when the lights went out and there they stayed for the next hour and a half. Temperatures drop quickly in the desert after sundown and the unlucky six spent the next ninety minutes coping with the dropping temps and the winds. The X-Scream has a manual over ride that allows the operators to return the riders to the deck should a power failure occur but apparently this option was not available. They remained in their perch dangling hundreds of feet in the cold air until power was restored. The group was finally rescued and taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The X-Scream thrill ride is now shut down for inspection and testing following the mishap. Officials want to know why the operators failed to retrieve the stranded riders using the manual recovery system. This is the second incidence of riders being stuck in Stratosphere thrill rides while hanging over the edge of the tower. Last April two young cousins were stranded on the Insanity ride after high winds triggered a safety shutdown. The two were left dangling almost nine hundred feet in the air and more than sixty feet from the edge for more than eighty minutes. The two girls had to cope with wind gusts of more than sixty miles an hour while strapped into the extreme thrill ride. Come to Vegas for the ride of your life! And you thought hitting an inside straight dumps the adrenalin.

Posted by flipchipro at 7:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Day 4 of the WPT World Poker Finals resumed in the Sunset Ballroom at Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut. The day started with 31 players and action would not stop until six players remained. 783 players overall bought in for $10,000. The prize pool was over $7.8 million with $2.1 million going to first place.

End of Day 3 chipleader: Samir Shakhtoor

Lenny Cortellino ended Day 3 as the chipleader with $589K which was more than double the average stack. Allen Cunningham, who made a WPT final table in Paris, was not too far behind in second place. WPT creator and founder Lyle Berman was in 3rd place followed by Samir Shakhtoor and Bill Gazes. Other notable pros remaining included Eric Haber, Minh Nguyen, Abraham 'Avi' Gray, Erik Seidel, and Pete Giordano.


Erik Seidel was the first player eliminated when his A-2 lost to Loi Phan's 7-7. Seidel took 31st place and won $20,700. Bill Gazes and Allen Cunningham won a few big pots early and maintained their deep stacks after they eliminated a few players in the first few levels. Bill Gazes' pocket Kings held up against Mark Zulkiewicz's A-9. He also busted Avi Gray's K-Q with A-Q. Allen Cunningham busted Benjamin Kim when his 10-10 held up to Kim's Big Slick. Kim flopped an ace, but Cunningham caught a 10 on the river to send Kim to the rail.

When action dropped to 20 players and the players redrew for seats for the final two tables, Samir Shakhtoor was the chipleader with $860K. Bill Gazes and Allen Cunningham were both within striking distance.

Allen "The Terminator" Cunningham

Allen Cunningham busted another player when he sent Loi Phan to the rail in 18th place. Cunningham had the Hilton Sisters which held up against Phan's 7-7. Samir Shakhtoor was the first player to real over $1 million in chips and still held to the chip lead through the dinner break.

Allen Cunningham lived up to his reputation as the Terminator when he knocked out Tom Schreiber in 14th place. Schreiber moved all in with 9-7o and lost to Allen Cunningham's 10-2o when Cunningham flopped two pair with "The Brunson."

Minh Nguyen and his Golden Buddha

Lyle Berman with Oklahoma Johnny Hale

The final table bubble boy was Josh Ewing, who finished in 11th place. He had 8-8 and ran into Nick Schulman's A-A. Ewing won $103,500 for 11th place. Nick Schulman took over the chiplead with $1.59 million with a slight lead over Samir Shakhtoor.

The remaining ten players redrew for seats. Steve Jacobs' was the first player busted at the final table. His A-K ran into Lenny Cortellino's A-A and Jacobs was knocked out in 10th place. He won $117,300.

The Final Table

Over the next hour, Samir Shakhtoor moved back into the chip lead with $1.6M to Nick Schulman's $1.5M until Nick Schulman busted Avdo Djokovic in 9th place. Avdo Djokovic's Q-J lost a race against Nick Schulman's 3-3. Avdo Djokovic won $138,000 for 9th place. Nick Schulman moved back into the chiplead with $1.85M.

We've reached the TV bubble after Minh Nguyen was knocked out by Nick Schulman in 8th place. Nguyen held 10-10 to Schulman's 8-8, but Schulman turned a set to bust Nguyen. He won $172,800 as the young Schulman added to his chip lead.

In one of the most a decisive hands of the final table, Anthony Licastro doubled up against Samir Shakhtoor when he won a race with K-Q against 8-8. Samir's stack took a big hit. He had been the chipleader for most of the day. Samir was eventually knocked out when he lost his second coin flip in a row. Nick Schulman knocked out Samir Shakhtoor in 6th place when his 10-10 held up against Samir's A-Q. Samir won $207,000 for 7th place. He went from 2nd in chips (with 7 remaining) to being the dreaded "Bubble Boy."

When the dust setttled, the young gun Nick Schulman emerged as the new chipleader late in the day. On Friday he is going to have some tough competition with WPT creator and "Big Game" regular Lyle Berman, Allen Cunningham, and Bill Gazes.

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

Seat 1: Lyle Berman $659K
Seat 2: Nick Schulman $3.502M
Seat 3: Anthony Licastro $1.412M
Seat 4: Lenny Cortellino $773K
Seat 5: Allen Cunningham $795K
Seat 6: Bill Gazes $693K

Play will resume at 4pm on Friday. Stop by the Tao of Poker for live blogging updates of the final table.

Posted by Dr. Pauly at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dr. Pauly is live blogging all the action at Foxwoods Casino where the World Poker Finals 2005 is into its fourth day. The championship event attracted a crowd of 783 players and collected a prize pool of $7,855,000. The winner will receive $2,167,000.

Dr. Pauly provides the best poker tournament live blog reports to be found on the Internet, period. You always get all the stats, plenty of photos and a generous helping of his unique take on the tournament, players, fans and everything else that goes into a big poker production. Dr. Pauly is sitting ringside at Foxwoods so click on over to TaoPoker.com and join the crowd.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dr. Pauly is live blogging the World Poker Finals direct from Foxwoods. Read his Day #3 Report below and check out his live reports beginning around Noon Eastern Time at TaoPoker.com.-Flipchip

In three weeks, bloggers will descend upon Las Vegas. Will the Strip run out of SoCo? Will the Imperial Palace bar post record earnings in the 4th quarter? Will the dealers at the MGM Grand continue to remember me? Will you make it to the Excalibur for the Storming of the Castle, Pt. 2? To be sure, head on over to UpForPoker and sign up for the texting chain Otis has started. It's the next best thing to everyone holding hands kindergarten style as we roam from casino to casino.

After you've done that, check out Maigrey's posts on angle-shooting, and an amazing introspective from PokerGeek.

Posted by at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dr. Pauly is live blogging the World Poker Finals direct from Foxwoods. Check out his live reports beginning around Noon Eastern Time on TaoPoker.com.-Flipchip

Action resumed at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut for Day 3 of the main event of the World Poker Finals. After the first round was broken up into two days, the entire field of the remaining 240 players combined at the start of Day 3.

WPT founder and creator Lyle Berman

Here are some quick stats:

Entrants: 783
Buy in: $10,000
Remaining Players: 240
First Round Overall Chipleader: Lyle Berman with $153K
Prize Pool: $7.855 million
First Place: $2.167 million
Money Winners: Top 120
Current Level: Level 8 blinds $400/800 with $100 antes
Average Stack: $32,625

There were several top pros still remaining like WPT founder and creator Lyle Berman, Mark Seif, Amir Vahedi, Andrew Black, Spiro Mitrokostas, Abraham 'Avi' Gray, Chip Jett, Erik Seidel, Steven Zoine, Minh Nguyen, Hasan Habib, Jean Gaspard, Allen Cunningham, Young Phan, Chris Karagulleyan, John Myung, Timothy Sweeney, David Levi, Arnold Spee, Ted Forrest, Steve Brecher, Paul McKinney, Julian Gardner, Cliff "Johnny Bax" Josephy, John D'Agostino, Bill Gazes, Tab Duchateau, Dan Heimiller, Marsha Waggoner, David Benyamine, Farzad Bonyadi, Jeff Calkins, Richard Festejo, Minneapolis Jim Meehan, and Donna Blevins.

When the first round ended, here was the Top 5 in chips:

1 Lyle Berman $153,300
2 Loi Van Phan $122,500
3 Mark Seif $107,600
4 Thomas Fuller $103,200
5 Benjamin Kim $95,400

I arrived downstairs at the Sunset Ballroom fairly early where the tournament was being held and I ran into an unshaven Minneapolis Jim Meehan. He was in the middle of his usual breakfast, a half-smoked cigarette and he slowly sipped on a Heineken while he scanned the list of remaining players and chip counts. He was the severe shot stack and did not expect to last very long, especially since he had Chip Jett, David Benyamine, and Thomas Fuller at his table. Fuller ended Day 1B as one of the chipleaders. Unfortunately for Jim, he was one of the first players eliminated on Day 3.

John D'Agastino was an early casualty too. He busted when A-J lost to 4-4. Also knocked out early was Ted Forrest when his Q-J and lost a coin flip to 10-10. Johnny Bax, David Benyamine, Ricardo Festejo, and Dan Heimiller were also sent to the rail.

Day 3 in the Sunset Ballroom

Kathy Liebert made a rush early on with A-Q on two big hands. She doubled up against Ronnie Bardah when she cracked A-K with A-Q. She flopped a Queen and picked up $80K in chips. A few hands later, she found A-Q again. This time she eliminated Ronnie Bardah's A-J.

Lyle Berman lost the chip lead, but still maintained a big stack. Loi Phan emerged as the chip leader on Day 3. As the play reached the bubble and dinner break, plenty of other players were eliminated. Jeff Calkins was busted when his J-J ran into Q-Q. David Levi was knocked out when he ran into A-A. Jean Gaspard was sent to the rail when his 10-10 lost a race to A-K. Bernard Lee, Steve Zolotow, and Steve Brecher were all eliminated.

By mid-afternoon, Lenny Cortellino emerged as the chipleader with over $235K with Lyle Berman not too far behind. Paul McKinney, the oldest player to ever win a WSOP bracelet, had a short stack most of the day. He doubled up with A-J against A-K when he flopped a Jack and turned trips. He was playing at a table with plenty of players who were younger than his grandchildren.

John Myung was knocked out by Kathy Liebert. He was shortstacked and moved all in with A-8. Kathy called with 10-9 and flopped a 10 to send Myung to the rail. That was one tough table with Myung, Liebert, Bill Gazes, and Mark Seif all sitting right next to each other. When play reached the bubble, the room grew tense. Mark Seif cracked Aces with pocket Jacks when he rivered a straight against Matthew Szymaszek.

By the time the dinner break rolled around, 121 players still remained. As soon as the players returned from dinner, Chip Jett moved all in. He only had $300 which covered his ante. He had J-J but lost to Q-5. He went home as the "bubble boy" as the remaining 120 player breathed a sigh of relief for finishing into the money.

WPT Foxwoods Payouts (Top 120):
1st $2,142,000
2nd $1,035,000
3rd $759,000
4th $483,000
5th $345,000
6th $276,000
7th $207,000
8th $172,800
9th $138,000
10th $117,300
11th $103,500
12th $96,600
13th $89,700
14th $82,800
15th $75,900
16th $69,000
17th $62,100
18th $55,200
19th $48,300
20th $41,300
21-25 $34,500
26-30 $27,600
31-35 $20,700
36-40 $17,200
41-50 $14,000
51-70 $12,000
71-120 $11,000

After the money bubble, plenty of players went out quickly. Paul McKinney was eliminated in 113th place by Minh Nguyen when his 10-10 ran into Nguyen's A-A.

In one of the most decisive hands of the tournament, Kathy Liebert was knocked out by Bill Gazes. Kathy had A-K. Bill had K-K. There was a short stack who moved all in with A-Q. Kathy raised, and Bill Gazes re-raised. Kathy moved all in with A-K and Gazes called with K-K. Since the short stack had one of her outs, it didn't look good. Kathy's hand did not improve and she was eliminated in 108th place. Bill Gazes took over the chip lead and never looked back.

Without a doubt, the Hand of the Day had to be when Ilya Liviz who defended his blind with The Hammer! Alex Jacob raised on the button with 2-4o. The flop was 7-2-3. On the turn an 8 fell. Liviz bet and Jacob moved all in over the top. Liviz quickly called. Both player sheepishly showed their monsters... 7-2o vs. 4-2o. The river didn't help Jacob and Liviz doubled up winning a pot worth at least $160K. Behold the Hammer!

Bill Gazes emerged as one of the chipleaders on Day 3

Marsha Waggoner was eliminated in 95th place when her A-Q lost to Eugene Ji's K-K. Arnold Spee, Amir Vahedi, Farzad Bonyadi, Jack Disandro, and online qualifier Amanda Baker were also busted. Mark Seif was knocked out in 93rd place by Bill Gazes who added to his chip lead. He reached the half million mark.

The eliminations continued when Amir Vahedi, Farzad Bonyadi, Jack Disandro, online qualifier Amanda Baker, Bill Edler, Jason Zausmer, Spiro Mitrokostas were all knocked out. Joanne Liu had the disctinction of being the last female eliminated.

Bill Gazes lost the chip lead to Loi Phan but they both were well over $500K. At Gazes table were Lyle Berman and Young Phan, who got eliminated on a brutal beat by Samir Shakhtoor. Phan flopped a set with pocket twos on a board of J-8-2. There were two diamonds out there. Shakhtoor had 5d-6d and bet around $12.5K. Young Phan doubled his bet with a raise. Samir Shaktoor moved all in for all of his chips, around $300K. Phan quickly called. Shaktoor caught his flush on the turn and he eliminated Phan. Shaktoor's stack was just under $500K.

"I guess I'll go home and fuck my dog," Phan said matter of factly as he walked off after that vicious beat. That is, without a doubt, the quote of the tournament and gets my vote as Top 10 Poker Quotes of 2005.

Hasan Habib was busted when J-J ran into Steve Jacobs' pocket Kings. Minh Nguyen busted Steve Diamantes. Tom McCormick, Tom Coan, and Glyn 'Ratchet' Banks were also out as play reached Midnight. Bill Gazes and Samir Shaktoor shared the chiplead with about $600K each.

Just before the action ended for the night, Andy Black was eliminated in 36th place when his 3-3 ran into 10-10. Play stopped at 2 AM with 31 players remaining and Allen Cunningham one of the chip leaders. Action will resume at Noon on Wednesday and won't stop until there are 6 players left.

Pictures and a list of the money winners appear after the jump.

Here are some random pictures from Day 3:

Here's who was eliminated on Day 3 and made the money:

The following players won $11K:
120 - Christopher Loveland
119 - Daniel Sommer
118 - Andrew Wallach
117 - Matt Smith
116 - Frank Cruess-Callaghan
115 - Anthony Nader
114 - Mike Pascullo
113 - Paul McKinney
112 - Mike Ramsey
111 - Eric Hutchens
110 - Ken Myers
109 - Joe Peruti
108 - Kathy Liebert
107 - Mark Awalt
106 - Massoud Nikjouian
105 - Ronald Kirk
104 - Frank Meaney
103 - Richard Cairo
102 - Ralph "Rep" Porter
101 - Ryan Buckholtz
100 - Anthony Camillery
99 - Kyle Bowker
98 - Mark Ader
97 - Roy Thung
96 - Walter Williams
95 - Marsha Waggoner
94 - Chris Karagulleyan
93 - Mark Seif
92 - Sam Haddad
91 - Arnold Spee
90 - Donna Blevins
89 - Jerry Young
88 - Andrew A.K. Kelsall
87 - Dean Hamrick
86 - Jeffrey Henry
85 - Howard Elfant
84 - Wayne Burgess
83 - Jerome Saunders
82 - Peter Campo
81 - Wililam Krackomberger
80 - Stafford Woodley Jr
79 - Amir Vahedi
78 - Temp Hutter
77 - John Disandro
76 - Steven Dilliard
75 - Farzad Bonyadi
74 - Robert Wittman
73 - Brian Batt
72 - Amanda Baker
71 - Williamd Edler

The following players won $12K:
70 - Spiro Mitrokostas
69 - Scott Wilson
68 - James Campbell
67 - Jason Zausmer
66 - Mark Carlson
65 - Michael Mella
64 - Hyon Kim
63 - Erik Cajelais
62 - David Thompson
61 - John Sousa
60 - Carmen Menechella
59 - Thomas Fuller
58 - Joanne J.J. Liu
57 - Michael Menard
56 - John Lakatosh
55 - Mohammad Berenjinatuaj
54 - Daniel Yanofski
53 - David Scharf
52 - Barry Berger
51 - Willie Tann

The following players won $14K:
50 - Sean Michael Scott
49 - Young Phan
48 - Hasan Habib
47 - Stephen Diamantas
46 - Tom McCormick
45 - Glyn Banks
44 - Tom Coan
43 - Chris Barbeisch
42 - Marco Savoni
41 - Mike May

The following players won $17,200:
40 - Jason Decker
39 - Vinny Lambiase
38 - Matthew Sahagian
37 - Eugene Ji
36 - Andrew Black

The following players won $20,700:
35 - Jeff Paquette
34 - Steve Wong
33 - Ilya Livis
32 - Ed Pelham

Posted by Dr. Pauly at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dr. Pauly is live blogging the World Poker Finals direct from Foxwoods. Check out his live reports beginning around Noon Eastern Time on TaoPoker.com.-Flipchip

ESPN will broadcast two hours of the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event Day #7, the final day and the final table. Every one of the nine players will go home with no less than a million dollars and one will become the 2005 World Poker Champion and become a multi-millionaire seven and a half times over. Tonight is it for the 2005 WSOP held last summer at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas and Binion's downtown. The show tonight documents the last time the WSOP Championship will be held at the only home it has ever known, Binion's Hotel and Gambling Hall, formerly Binion's Horseshoe.

This final day was live blogged by Dr. Pauly telling everything as it happened and just like he saw it. The final table lasted more than ten hours longer than tonight's two hours so read the details only available from Pauly. I shot more than four hundred images of the event which are in the WSOP Photo Gallery. Read Pauly's final table blog at TaoPoker.com for all the details that didn't make it into the show.

Tonight's Final Table players with seat number and chip counts:

1. Aaron Kanter $10,700,000
2. Tex Barch $9,330,000
3. Andrew Black $8,140,000
4. Mike Matusow $7,410,000
5. Steve Dannenmann $5,460,000
6. Joseph Hachem $5,420,000
7. Daniel Bergsdorf $5,270,000
8. Scott Lazar $3,370,000
9. Brad Kondracki $1,180,000

Read Dr. Pauly's Wrap-up of the 2005 WSOP final table championship on the Poker Prof's Blog then read my final report of the Main Event on the Poker Prof's Blog. They provide a complete recap of one of poker's most historic days.

All the action is scheduled to begin at 8 PM EST followed by the second and last hour of the 2005 WSOP at 9 PM. Check your local listings for ESPN broadcast times in your area.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today was the start and finish of the WSOP Circuit event #6, $500 + $50 buy-in Pot-limit Omaha with rebuys. Event #6 began at noon on Monday with 43 entries and sold an additional 97 rebuys to build a prize pool of $67,900. Pot-limit Omaha is generally considered to be a poker game that favors the specialized players and the fields for Pot-limit Omaha usually have a higher concentration of professionals. Event #6 was no exception. Event #6 had some of poker's well known players sitting at the final table. The final table includes Las Vegas professional's Max Pescatori, Michael Mizrachi and Chad Layne plus the chip leader, Vitale Shafran of Chicago, Illinois. Five players will go home with money today.

Max Pescatori went out on the bubble in sixth place, leaving empty-handed. The final table appearances by Max in Omaha tournaments attest to his level of expertise in the game. Max was also seeking his third WSOP Circuit championship ring; he already has two of them in his trophy case. Next to leave and the first to take away some of the prize money was Ryan Hughes receiving $6,111. Jason Stern soon followed in fourth place taking $7,469. Chad Layne, the Grinder and Vitale played close to the felt and the two professionals, Chad and Michael, were more interested in the WSOP points that come with a win than the money or ring. The points are used to determine the invite list to WSOP Freeroll events and the WSOP Player of the Year.

Chad Layne departed the final table in third place after blinding away his chips and then losing the small stake all-in. He leaves with $10,185 for the day. Vitale Shafran and Michael Mizrachi played heads up poker for less than half an hour with chip counts being about equal. Michael made a King high diamond flush and went all in, got called by Vitale who showed an Ace high diamond. The next hand Michael was all in for the blind and finished in second place. Vitale Shafan received $27,160 to take back to Chicago plus the gold WSOP Circuit Championship ring. Michael picks up an extra $16,975 for first runner-up.

Event # 5 of the WSOP Circuit Event at Paris/Bally's played out the final table on Monday afternoon. The winner of the $500 + $50 buy-in No-limit Hold'em tournament was Ryan Gentry collecting the $40,664 first place money after winning the last hand of the tournament and eliminating Douglas Carli. Douglas collects $22,364 from the prize pool. Rolando Ng left in third place and takes away $11,436. Champion Ryan Gentry received a gold WSOP Circuit championship ring to go with the money. The event attracted 262 entrants and offered a prize pool of $127,070. The top 27 finishers received enough to show a profit for the day.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The WPT World Poker Finals concluded it's first round of play at Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut as Day 2 came to an end. Over 2/3 of the field has been eliminated and sitting at the front of the pack as one of the chip leaders is Lyle Berman, founder of the World Poker Tour. With 783 players buying into the $10,000 event, the field was so large this year that tournament organizers broke up the first round into two flights. The first was played on Monday and the second on Tuesday.

Andy Bloch's new clean shaven look

This year's World Poker Finals has over $7.8 million in prize money up for grabs. The top 120 players win prize money. Second place is guaranteed at least $1 million. First place wins $2.14 million and a $25,000 entry into the WPT Championships to be held at the Bellagio in April of 2006.

WPT Foxwoods World Poker Final Payout List: 1st: $2,142,000
2nd: $1,035,000
3rd: $759,000
4th: $483,000
5th: $345,000
6th: $276,000
7th: $207,000
8th: $172,800
9th: $138,000
10th: $117,300
11th: $103,500
12th: $96,600
13th: $89,700
14th: $82,800
15th: $75,900
16th: $69,000
17th: $62,100
18th: $55,200
19th: $48,300
20th: $41,300
21st-25th: $34,500
26th-30th: $27,600
31st-35th: $20,700
36th-40th: $17,200
41st-50th: $14,000
51st-70th: $12,000
71st-120th: $11,000

Last year's champion Tuan Le was eliminated early on Day 1. Some notable bustouts on the first day included: Liz Lieu, Mike Caro, Evelyn Ng, John Phan, Mike Gracz, Brad Daugherty, Lee Watkinson, Denis Ethier, Olga Varkonyi, Robert Varkonyi, Alan Goehring, Jim McManus, David Singer, Tony Ma, Brian Haveson, Amnon Filippi, Jean-Robert Bellande, Joe Sebok, Ted Lawson, Melissa Hayden, J.C. Tran, and Johnny World Hennigan.

Notable bustouts on Day 2 included: John Juanda, Greg Raymer, Chris Fargis, Paul Darden, Matt Matros, Syracuse Chris Tsiprailidis, Tim Pham, Nam Le, Carl Olsen, Clonie Gowen, Tex Barch, Victor Ramdin, Fabrice Soulier, Rich "The Quiet Lion" Brodie, Jason Lester, Vinny Vinh, Andy Bloch, Gavin Smith, David The Dragon Pham, Mark Gregorich, Tony Cousineau, Kenny Tan, Dewey Tomko, Pat Poehls, and Men The Master Nguyen.

Around 240 players survived the first round. That list included players such as: Lyle Berman, Mark Seif, Andrew Black, Allen Cunningham, Young Phan, Chris Karagulleyan, David Levi, Steve Zolotow, Arnold Spee, Steve Brecher, Julian Gardner, Kathy Liebert, David Benyamine, Farzad Bonyadi, Richardo Festejo, Donna Blevins, Amir Vahedi, Hasan Habib, Erik Seidel, Chip Jett, Minh Nguyen, Steve Zoine, Ted Forrest, John Myung, Jean "Prince" Gaspard, Dan Heimiller, Paul McKinney, Tab Duchateau, Marsha Waggoner, John D'Agostino, Johnny Bax, Bill Gazes, and Minneapolis Jim Meehan.

Players started with $10K in chips with 90 minute levels. John Juanda was one of the first players eliminated on Day 2. Juanda flopped a set of Jacks, but ran into a guy who flopped a set of aces. One of the biggest stories was Paul McKinney surviving the first round. He was the oldest player to ever win a WSOP bracelet earlier this year when he won the Senior's event. At 81, he's routinely beating out playrrs who are almost 1/4 his age.

The always entertaining Minneapolis Jim Mehan had a rollercoaster of a day. He was down to his last $600 in chips when he went on a run and built up his stack back to around $10K. But everyone is still talking about Lyle Berman's amazing first day. When the field combines on Day 3, he'll be one of the chip leaders along wiith Mark Seif, Loi Phan, and Amir Vahedi.

Here are some random photos from Day:

WSOP Senior's Champ Paul McKinney shows off his bracelet

Minneapolis Jim lamenting over his short stack

Did anyone proofread the logo?

You can visit the Tao of Poker where I live blogged Tuesday's action and will return on Wednesday for Day 3 of the World Poker Finals.

Posted by Dr. Pauly at 2:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've read the Prof's list of suggestions for what to get for a poker fanatic. Everything from a deck of cards to a WSOP gold championship bracelet. Las Vegas is now the number one destination for shopping and provides holiday shoppers with a range of malls from the factory outlets through the ultra-exclusive brand name stores in the exclusive Las Vegas Strip malls where you can max out the family credit cards for the next century. Shopping has replaced gambling as the number one reason to visit Las Vegas giving visitors two great ways to go broke.

The holidays are a great time to visit Las Vegas. The resorts go all out with the decorations and I've already heard Christmas carols being piped throughout the casinos. The employees are getting into their festive holiday outfits. The free drinks include eggnog with plenty of spirits. So, what are you waiting for? Send the kids to the grandparents, cash out your bank account and come on down.

I've made a list of reasons to do your holiday shopping in Las Vegas. This week's Nines...

9. World's only complete collection of Tom McEvoy's poker books.
8. Gift wrapped cocktail girls.
7. Those cool shirts with blinking lights.
6. Lowest price anywhere for silicone by the cup.
5. Vegas hooker gift certificates.
4. Bargain price on a book of Circus-Circus Buffet passes.
3. Only mall food court where Elvis ask you, "Do you want fries with that?"
2. Only place to get an operation making you into Elvis.
1. You don't have to waste time shopping, you lost your gift buying money gambling!

Posted by flipchipro at 6:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday at the World Series of Poker Circuit Event at Paris/Bally's saw the crowning of two more champions. Tournament #3, $1,000 + $60 buy-in No-limit Hold'em, played its final table and finished in less than four hours. Elliot Howze won the event and collected $65,621 in prize money and received a WSOP Circuit gold championship ring. Las Vegas Pro, Jimmy Tran was first runner up and banks $36,191 for his second place finish. Constantinos Maniatis was third and takes away $19,885.

The second event was the LIPS Tour Ladies No-limit Hold'em tournament that began at 10 AM and continued until a one player had all the chips. It took almost twelve hours of play to declare a winner. The ladies came to play and win. A good turnout produced 169 entries paying the entry fee of $200 + $30. The heads up play began Sunday evening with chip leader, Jing Xia at one end and Nicole Schachrovsky at the other after Nicole eliminated Kandi Kroon in third place. Kandi goes home with an additional $3,129 for her day's work. The heads up play quickly came to an end when Nicole went all-in with a Q,Jo and was called by Jing's K,3o. The flop came 10,9,2 and Jing's King was in the lead. The turn brought a Five and the river was a Four. Jing's King ruled supreme and Jing reigns as the latest LIPS Tour Ladies Champion, Jing received $10,325, a large heavy leaded cut crystal trophy and a WSOP Circuit Event gold championship necklace. Nicole takes down the $5,694 second place money.

Event #5 began on Sunday at noon. The tournament, a $500 + $50 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em contest, started with 262 entrants. The prize pool of $127,070 will pay the winner $40,664 and payout to 27 places. Late this evening the players reached the magic 27 number and everyone left will receive some prize money. The final table will be played on Monday.

Monday's scheduled event will be a $500 + $50 Pot-limit Omaha with rebuys. The action starts at high noon in the Pacific Ballroom on the second floor of Bally's Casino. Satellites continue to play everyday and single table satellites starting at $50 begin when ten people buy seats. Stop by Paris/Bally's and check out all the WSOP Tournament action. Come to watch and stay to play. Maybe you'll be the next multi-millionaire at the 2006 WSOP Main Event all because you stopped at Bally's WSOP Circuit event and took the first step.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Event #2 of the World Series of Poker Circuit tournament stop at Paris/Bally's played the final table this afternoon and evening. The $500 + $50 buy-in Limit Hold'em tournament attracted 154 entrants for the first day of play on Friday. Mark Hight of Tulsa, Oklahoma came to the final table with $24,800 in chips, less than half of the chip leader stacks of play money. Keith Bardett of Simi Valley, California was the chip leader with $59,000. Heads up play began between Mark and Keith late Saturday afternoon after Pablo Gonzales of Elko, Nevada was eliminated in third place taking away $7,469. Mark and Keith traded blinds and antes until Mark finally caught a nod from Lady Luck and went on a catch-every-flop run to take all of Keith's chips. The final hand saw Keith go all-in with big slick and Mark quickly calling and showing 4,8 of diamonds. The flop brought 8,6,2 rainbow giving Mark the lead with a pair of eights. Keith had to catch an Ace or King without Mark improving. The turn brought a Jack and the river gave Mark two pair with a four. Game over.

Keith received $13,594 for his second place finish. Mark goes back to OK with an additional $24,646, a gold WSOP Circuit championship ring plus bragging rights to a WSOP title.

The crowds attending the 2005 Paris/Bally's WSOP Circuit Series tournament are surprisingly large considering these early events are small buy-in and don't appeal to the professional crowd. Event #3 began play Saturday in the Pacific Ballroom on the second floor of Bally's at high noon. The $1,000 + $60 No-Limit Hold'em event had 205 players and a prize pool of $198,850. Sitting among the 71 players with chips and chairs after almost five hours of play was Rene Angelil. Rene has been frequenting the WSOP events and his Tournament game is definitely improving and he is consistently outlasting most of the field.

Playing in the satellite area was X-22, Paul Magriel. At the same table was Mark Hanna, Mike Matusow's "whole world" singing partner from the first two days of the World Series of Poker 2005 Tournament of Champions at Caesar's Palace last week. Mark finished just shy of making the TOC final table. Satellites are run daily with single table events going as quickly as there are ten players. Super Satellites take place at 3 PM and 9 PM nightly with a $230 buy-In and $200 re-buys. A great way to get into the big one for a bargain price if you're good enough.

Event #4, the LIPS Ladies Tournament is scheduled for Sunday and welcomes all lady players with $200 + $30 buy-in money to participate in the No-limit Hold'em contest. The starting time is 10 AM. Event #5 begins at noon on Sunday and is a $500 + $50 buy-in No-limit Hold'em tournament. The action continues day and night through November 29th at Bally's located in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earlier today I had a long conversation about what to get a poker player for Christmas (yes, the recipient is a Christian... at least around this time of year). Since most every player will already own have a pro chip set, plastic playing cards and a library filled with poker books, what is left for our gift list for the poker fanatic?

1. Something useful: Wilson Turbo Texas Hold'em I've had a chance to play with version 6 of this venerable poker tutor and it definitely helps you to discover weaknesses in your game, even useful to the above average player. The program is clean and has a couple of very cool features including a hand probability checker which is a great training aid.

2. Something Entertaining: Phil Gordon's: Final Table Poker DVD
is a WPT episode with a lesson plan and one of the players is the professor. It's as well done as anything I've seen in terms of tutorial DVD's and is entertainingly watchable. It has two sound-tracks, a 'beginner' and a 'regular'. The beginner track is really beginner, with a capitol 'B'; however, Phil's voice over might still impart some tiny morsel of wisdom that's been overlooked. The regular level has a mixture of strategy and tactics that is well worth the listening time.

3. Something Telling: Mike Caro wrote the book on tells and it's a worth while read. But everyone has already read it, you say? All the more reason to get a copy, especially if you know someone that hasn't read it. They will become aware of the unconscious signals they might be sending. Some of this information is on the MCU Website including a number of available poker tell videos.

4. Something Unique: No better place then eBay to find cool, unique gifts. Tons of poker collectables and memorabilia, from WPT wall clocks to an actual vintage WSOP chip.

5. Something Uber: How about a genuine WSOP bracelet? When we originally posted this WSOP bracelets for sale article back in 2004 there were two, now only one remains for sale. This one is from the 1999 WSOP and is available at a Las Vegas loan and pawn shop.
The listed price remains at $2795; but, the pwners might decide not to sell the gold bracelet with WSOP's fame growing by the day.

6. The Ultimate: Give the poker player you know the ultimate in the form of an all-expense paid trip for a week to the poker Capitol of the Universe, Las Vegas, Nevada. Includes airfare, hotel, rental car and food. Schedule it to coincide with one of the many major poker touranments held in Las Vegas. Throw in a few playing lessons from a known professional.

7. Ultimate Deluxe includes 'The Ultimate' listed above and will be scheduled for next summer and includes a $10K buy-in into the 2006 WSOP Main Event.

Posted by pokerprof at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The World Series of Poker has moved across the strip from the just completed Tournament of Champions at Caesar's Palace to the first event of the WSOP Circuit series at Bally's. The Pacific Ballroom on the second floor of Bally's provides the tournament with a spacious room that can accommodate more than five hundred players. The room is easy to find by following the signs to escalator in the front (closest to the Strip) of Bally's Casino. Today's event #1, a $300 + $30 buy-in No- limit Hold'em contest began at noon with 476 players. The prize pool of $138,516 will pay $41,555 to the winner. The field had been trimmed down to 39 players at 9:00 Thursday evening.

Friday's scheduled event is a $500 + $50 limit Hold'em tournament. The cards will be in the air at noon for this one. These early tournaments are an excellent opportunity for the less experienced players to log tournament time in a World Series of Poker event at a bargain price. The tournaments are run by the same crews that run the entire WSOP series of tournament. The events are staged following the same guidelines and rules as the big buy-in events so you can get a feel for the WSOP tournament structure, the flow of play at the tables and as a bonus, the level of competition will be higher. Players that develop their tournament game at WSOP events, even low-dollar buy-in events, find the transistion to the bigger buy-in events goes more smoothly and success comes more quickly.

The World Series of Poker Circuit at the Paris/Bally's Casino located in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip will hold 13 events ending with the final table of the $10,000 Championship event on Tuesday, Novenmber 22nd. The ESPN film crew will be at the tournament to turn the four day championship event into a TV show for national broadcast. The fourth event of the Bally's WSOP Circuit stop will be a $200 + $30 buy-in LIPS ladies No-Limit Hold'em tournament that will start play at 10:00 on Sunday, November 13th. The early turn out for the WSOP Circuit tournament is good with players crowding into the tournament area and filling the poker rooms for Bally's and the Paris. Come to Vegas this three day weekend and play some WSOP Tournament poker. A salute and a heartfelt thanks to my fellow Veterans on this day.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Mike Matusow came to win the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions and present the "new" Mike to the standing room only capacity crowd. He brought his best poker game and props that provided the crowd with laugh breaks from the very serious poker game they were watching (serious professional poker can be a bit boring and even take on the silence of a chess game in a library). ESPN came to make a TV sports show and lucky for them Mike was at the top of his form. During the more than ten hours of play he provided ESPN with the opportunity to can enough footage to do multiple shows.

Phil Hellmuth holds nine WSOP tournament bracelets including the main event championship in 1989. He has continued to win tournaments and more than $4.5 million in cash. Phil has also spent his time earning his nickname, "Brat." The Tournament of Champions saw a stoic Phil, an almost totally quiet player sitting inside a non-descript wind breaker with the collar up, wearing two PH logo hats pointing in opposite directions and of course, he was behind his trademark mirrored glasses. Phil's iPod was attached to a large, studio quality headset that never came off. He sat through the first two days of play with very little movement, only the minimum needed to look and fold, playing very few hands. When he did play he typically came away with the large pot he had masterfully assembled. The chip lead came to him late on the first day and stayed until the second half of the final table on the third day.

No interaction with other players, fans, or whatever; Phil was in his created, isolated world for the first two days and he used the time to play super poker taking the lead and never looking back. Tuesday comes the third day final table where headsets or any other listening devices that aren't hearing aids are forbidden. Phil's headset comes off and for the first time in the Tournament of Champions he is exposed to the sounds of the table, Phil's iPod has been replaced with iMike. Second place finisher, Hoyt Corkins wears high tech ear plugs.

At the start of the final table after the player introductions some gift giving took place. Steve Dannenmann gave Mike Matusow a small world glode like he uses to protect his cards, except Mike's is slightly larger. During the first two days of the tournament Mike would pick up Steve's small globe and cup it in his hands while singing,"He's got the whole world in his hands." That's also the explanation for the presence of the globe in the photos of Mike at the final table.

Mike and Steve then presented Phil with an early Christmas present, which Phil opened at the table with a degree of caution and trepidation. Inside was a small stuffed Donkey. The donkey is in reference to Phil's habit of labeling most everyone else as "donkey poker" players. Phil held the stuffed jackjass up and even smiled. The ice was certainly cracking. Mike then told an original joke about wanting to be Phil Hellmuth illustrating his story with more props. When he mentioned Phil's trademarked sunglasses he donned his own version of laser glasses (see photo). Mike's punch line being, no matter what he tried he continued to be Mike Matusow. The ice was broken. Phil began to react and reply to Mike's antics, just the opposite of the first two days when he ignored everything around him. At one point after having lost most of his chips and then a come back rush, Phil took the microphone emphasize to the crowd and the TV cameras that he never, never, ever gives up.

Mike, whom had earlier declared war on Phil then declared double-war on Phil. This war declaration was returned by Phil declaring triple-war on Mike and the two continued to declare escalating declarations until it finally reached the "dreaded-triple-dog-dare" level. Intently watching the table was Phil Hellmuth's father in the VIP front row behind Phil. Mike's mother is usually in the audience when Mike makes a final table and was on his side of the room. I wonder if they were there as parents or handlers?

The heads up play between Mike Matusow and Hoyt Corkins was one hard fought poker battle with the lead going back and fourth. Analysis of some of the plays will show how involved and to what degree of depth these two were playing. Moments after Mike won the event with his K,9d Hoyt stood up, removed the earplugs and walked over. He said, "I just don't have the endurance any more to play this long."

I noticed that Phil's jacket and caps had a stylized "PH" logo that immediately made me think of the other "HP" stylized logo for a famous Hogwarts student. Now we know what happened to Potter. Harry grows up to be very tall, learns to play poker like a wizard, changes his name, moves to California, buys an iPod and has his own line of sunglasses.

The ESPN showing of the World Series of Poker 2005 Tournament of Champions will cover three hours of broadcast time scheduled for 1-4pm EST on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2005. This one you can't miss so get the Christmas shopping done early, give the kids their presents and tune in for what will be remember as the greatest final table of 2005 and among the top greatest all-time poker tournaments. Read the official final table report from the Director of Media Relations for the World Series of Poker, Nolan Dalla, over at PokerPlayerNewspaper.com. Complete order of finish and payouts are available at PokerPlayerNewspaper.com.

Don't forget to svisit our Photo gallery for all the action of this year's World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions' Photo Gallery.

Posted by flipchipro at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[Check out the Photos from the WSOP: Tournament of Champions and the tournament results(PPNP)] -Prof

Mike Matusow is the World Series of Poker 2005 Tournament of Champions' Champion! Mike outlasted a field of 119 WSOP Champions to win this prestigious tournament and he picked up $1,000,000 in first place money.

The final table that began on Tuesday afternoon finally found its champion almost twelve hours later on an early Wednesday morning. This bunch of poker's toughest was invited to come play in a $2,000,000 freeroll and they all came expecting to leave as the champion. I was there for all three days and know first hand how badly each player wanted to win. All of the best players and biggest egos came expecting to leave as the champion. I got to witness some top flight poker that would go for long periods with no major mistake, textbook perfect poker.

The final table was a dream team affair with each end anchored by two outspoken tough-as-they-come professionals, Phil Hellmuth opposite Mike Matusow. Claiming some of the real estate between the two was the usually quiet, but equally tough playing Hoyt Corkins and that's the final three list. Hellmuth was the first to go after they played three way for over three hours. Mike and Hoyt then went heads with Mike having an approximate 2-3 chip advantage; which, he gave to Hoyt in one hand. Was there a trademark Matusow Meltdown? Was there probably going to be a timeout for the guy that holds the WSOP timeout record? Not tonight, a new and improved Mike Matusow came to play this table. Mike never lost his sense of wanting to win this tournament and he still had about forty percent of the total chips. He not only wanted to win this one, he needed this win to cap a roller coaster year in his life. Mike truly has been on an emotional ride that went from the low point of his life to tonight's new upper benchmark. He got paid a million dollars and owns the bragging rights of being the best of the best poker players. This win was a very strong moment in Mike's so overcome with emotions he was often speechless, a rare thing for "the Mouth." I was there for his low point and I was there this early morning for the highest point.

This will be the most interesting poker show you will see this year. Mike not only plays like a pro, he entertains the crowd like a pro. He kept the table and the audience laughing, booing and clapping for most of the night. This show is scheduled for Christmas Eve, December 24, 2005 on ESPN, the broadcast home of they WSOP. I will post additional articles for this, the most entertaining final table of 2005.

Congratulations Mike, you were definitely the best on this night.

Posted by flipchipro at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Check out the Poker Geek's WPT dream table and this robot video (non poker, but very funny)

Written higlights from this past week include Bad Blood on losing, Absinthe on Infection Points, and Beck from Steal the Blinds on calculating drawing odds.

Proving that a poker blogger with material and MS Paint is a dangerously funny combination is Res Ispa Poker where the recent entries are often accompanied by visual aids. These are can't miss, if only to admire the skill in working with stick figures.

Finally, congrats to Alan for winning the WWdn Donegal Invitational, Sir for winning the first Saturdays with Dr. Pauly tourney, and CJ and -EV for winning the first Six Gun Shoot Out satellite. Bloggers rule.

Posted by at 5:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posts from Monday's Day #2 of the World Series of Poker 2005 Tournament of Champions follows this post. Read the WSOP's official report from Director of Media, Nolan Dalla, for day #1 of the WSOP TOC on PokerPlayerNewspaper.com.-FlipChip

Tonights two hours of 2005 World Series of Poker on ESPN two hours of day #6, the first day of play in Benny's Bullpin on the second floor of the Horseshoe, the downtown landmark and the only place the WSOP Championship has ever been played. The remaining twenty-seven players that survived the first five days of the $10,000 Championship event from the record field of 5,619 starters closed this chapter of the WSOP. They are the last to play in a WSOP event at the downtown casino, now Binion's.

Tonight's cast of characters will feature some of poker's best known characters:

Mike Matusow coming in as the chip leader at $5.14 million.

Poker superstar Phil Ivey second in chips with $4.635 million.

2004 WSOP Champion Greg Raymer $3.84 million.

Ultra limit specialist Minh Ly with $2.05 million.

The only remaining female player, Tiffany Williamsen, holding $1.125 million.

The two hours of broadcast play tonight will see the field cut down to the final table nine. The first player out tonight will receive $304,680 from the $52,818,610 prize pool. Follow all the action of day #6 of the WSOP Main Event with Dr. Pauly's TaoPoker.com Live Blog direct from the floor of the Horseshoe. Get in on all the action, including Mike "the Mouth" Matusow once again dropping the F*** Bomb and getting a time out, of this historic poker event, all the stuff that wouldn't fit into tonight's TV hour of broadcast. Dr. Pauly was there and recording it as it happened. His WSOP day #6 Wrap-Up can be found here on the Poker’s Prof Blog. Take the time and peruse the 2005 WSOP Photo Gallery containing over a thousand photos from the record shattering tournament.

Tonight's ESPN WSOP broadcast is two hours of great poker from the biggest event in poker. The complete order of finish from the Main Event and all of the 2005 WSOP events is available at PokerPlayerNewspaper.com.

Tonight’s first hour of play begins is scheduled to begin at 8:00pm on the East Coast. Check your local cable schedules for times in your area and tune in to witness poker history being made for the last time at the downtown Horseshoe.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The stage is set for Tuesday's final table of the World Series of Poker 2005 Tournament of Champions at Caesar's Palace. Yesterday I posted how the final table could become one of the more interesting television poker shows on the season. This one is filmed by ESPN, exclusive broadcast partner of the WSOP, for broadcast on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 2005. I listed the three very vocal players that remained at the time, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow and Jean Robert Bellande, since these players draw ratings because they are great poker players and they are entertainers. Like them or hate them doesn't seem to matter, we continue to watch them to see what they are going to do or say next. Unfortunately, Jean Robert was eliminated and didn't make the final table; but, Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth will be there.

In a repeat of day #2, Phil Hellmuth comes into the table with $281,500 and a 3-2 chip lead over Mike Matusow, second on the chip list at $179,000. David Levi is the short stack at $41,000. The final table players are listed with seat assignment, hometown and chip count. Play gets underway on Tuesday at 2:00pm PST.

Phil Hellmuth (4) Palo Alto, CA $281,500

Mike Matusow(9) Las Vegas, NV $179,000

Brandon Adams (7) New Orleans, LA $135,500

Tony Bloom (8) London, England $130,000

Steve Dannenmann (1) Severn, MD $122,000

Keith Sexton (6) Dayton, OH $95,500

Hoyt Corkins (5) Gleenwood, AL $95,000

Grant Lang (2) Brookfield, CT $61,500

David Levi (3) Las Vegas, NV $41,000

Posted by flipchipro at 5:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Poker's legendary Doyle Brunson, two time World Series of Poker Champion and the owner of a record ten WSOP bracelets. How could you possibly have a Tournament of Champions if you don't include Doyle Brunson? You certainly couldn't crown an undisputed Champion if Texas Dolly isn't in one of the seats.

Doyle plays a brutal, chip vanishing (yours, not his) level of poker that is orders of magnitude above the average 'good' player. Even though the years are catching up and his health has declined he continues to endure the hours of stress and extreme fatigue that comes with major tournament poker play while bulldozing the young card wizards as if they were nothing more than grade schoolers at recess. When he made it into Day #2 of the 2005 WSOP Tournament of Champions and then outlasted most everyone to make the ten handed final table no one was very surprised, it's what we expect Doyle to do. Even being the short stack today didn't change much, there isn't a player out there that's ever shared a table with Doyle that doesn't know that he is one dangerous man with any amount of chips.

When Doyle was eliminated in the ten spot by Brandon Adams (Doyle had an Ace and outs to the river) someone said, "Doyle is the Bubble Boy." Yes, Doyle did go out on the bubble, but calling hin the Bubble Boy justs sounds wrong.

Posted by flipchipro at 12:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The 30 finalist for day #2 of the World Series of Poker 2005 Tournament of Champions began play today at noon. The top two chip stacks belonged to Hellmuth and Matusow. Each were at separate tables until the group was finally trimmed down to one table of ten players. Phil Hellmuth came into today's play as the chip leader with a slight edge over Mike Matusow. As expected from a crowd of poker egos there was plenty of adrenalin and testosterone flowing in the room on this day.

Mike Matusow was holding J,Qo when Mark Hanna pushes his remaining chips into the pot. Mike has Mark way out-chipped so quickly calls. Mark turns over big slick and we'e off to the races. The flop brings 4,J,8 rainbow, so there will be no runner-runner flush. Mike has grabbed the early lead with his pair of Jacks leaving Mark hoping he catches one of his few outs. He must pair either of his overcards and no more Jacks or Queens. The turn is a 9 giving Mike a draw at the nut straight. The river is a...that's right, an Ace giving Mark the higher pair and the win. Mark also got to double-up his chips from Mike's stack. Race over.

A Matusow meltdown? Hardly...

Mike continued to play solid "A" game poker and he will be at the final table on Tuesday with guaranteed prize money. Mark didn't make the final table, didn't get past Hellmuth and didn't collect any money.

Posted by flipchipro at 7:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Tournament of Champions began a three day run at Caesar's Palace with 114 invited players taking their seat. The tournament is a $2,000,000 Invitational Freeroll for those players that have earned points on the WSOP Circuit Series or the final table nine from the 2005 WSOP Main Event even some players are there by special invitation, but all are accomplished poker players.

The $2,000,000 prize pool will be divided among the final table nine with the winner becoming WSOP poker's latest millionaire. The payout schedule:

1. $1,000,000
2. $325,000
3. $250,000
4. $150,000
5. $100,000
6. $75,000
7. $50,000
8. $25,000
9. $25,000

The three days of the WSOP Tournament of Champions will be filmed by the WSOP's broadcast partner, ESPN, for broadcast on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2005. Considering the large amount of talent in the room this poker show could be one of the more entertaining offerings of the year. The players that draw a crowd and the TV ratings were playing around the room. Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth and Jean Robert Bellande would make one interesting final table. Doyle Brunson's white hat could be spotted from anywhere in the room, so could the black hat belonging to Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. WSOP ten bracelet man, Johnny Chan, adds another WSOP World Champion to the mix. Tony Ma and David Levi were holding their own at another table. The young guns were well represented with Mike Mizrachi, David Williams, Scott Fischman, and Antonio Esfandiari. Jennifer Harmon was the only female left in the tournament after the early elimination of Mimi Tran. All the way from Ireland, fifth place at the 2005 WSOP Main Event, Andy Black, another WSOP millionaire. Allen Cunningham, the first player to earn a million at the 2005 WSOP, playing his solid game of poker. Everywhere you look in the room there are the familiar faces of the top professionals in the sport.

The action continues on Monday at noon with the surviving 30 players. The chip leader going into day #2 will be Phil Hellmuth followed closely by Mike Matusow. Monday's Tournament of Champions could be a day of big time poker worth watching. I included a mini gallery of photos of today's tournament action in the continue reading section below.

2005 WSOP Tournament of Champions Day #1...

Posted by flipchipro at 5:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I played live poker last night at one of the Las Vegas casinos and the table conversation got around to bird flu. Most of the players at the table believed the threat level of this problem could be even higher for Las Vegas. Vegas locals know that welcoming 40 million visitors a year from all around the world exposes us to whatever was at their last stops. Airliners loaded with tourist fly into the Las Vegas airport from everywhere around the globe, including places where the deadly flu strain in birds has been discovered.

A couple of last night's poker players firmly believe the flu scare is nothing more than fearmongering by an embattled Administration's spin doctors trying to redirect America's attention elsewhere. The broadcast media is now providing a steady barrage of bird flu news with attention grabbing daily sound bites, "Your upcoming weekend weather report, Plus... Bird flu is going to kill you by Friday! Details at Six."

The thought that a deadly strain of flu now infecting people and could become a world wide pandemic killing millions is damn scary. Given that human deaths from bird flu amount to approximately 0.000000000001% of the world's population quickly becomes a mute point if you'e the "1." The U.N.'s top avian flu scientist said at a press conference that 5million-150 million people could die. the U.N. quickly backed off from the 150 million number saying they believed the high number might be closer to 7.5 million. Surfing around I noticed that the entrepreneurs are already working the pandemic sidelines. Check out the Google ads at the bottom of this page.

I am concerned about the flu threat, perceived or otherwise. I got a flu shot, bought some of those Saturday Night Special masks and stored a truckload of flu medicines within easy reach. I have made check lists of everything I should do, even a list of ways to know if you may have been exposed to bird flu. This week's Nines...

9. You've seen Hitchcock's The Birds movie 32 times.
8. You found an empty NyQuill bottle in the bottom of your parrot's cage.
7. Quote the raven, "Cough! Cough!...Never...Cough! Cough! Cough!... More...Cough! Sniffle."
6. Why the chicken crossed the road jokes are no longer funny.
5. You live downwind of a KFC joint.
4. All of your hair is morphing into feathers.
3. Every meal, you insist on a side of earthworms.
2. You wake up knowing which came first with the chicken and the egg.
1. Everything you eat tastes like chicken!

Posted by flipchipro at 9:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I stopped by the Paris/Bally's resorts today to preview the facility that will host the upcoming World Series of Poker Circuit tournament scheduled to begin on Wednesday, November 9th. The event will be held in the second floor Pacific Ballroom, a large space that will contain 65 poker tables. Both the Paris and Bally's regular poker rooms will add another 19 tables for overage and ring games. The early events have a low buy-in so I expect a large turn out. The $10K Championship event spread over four days is a major drawing card for the professional poker community.

Caesars Palace will be opening their new, luxurious 30 table poker room sometime around mid-December and street talk expects the room to be a popular stop for the higher limit folks including the Las Vegas professional poker crowd. Caesar's Palace will become one of the premier stops on the WSOP Tournament Series. I remember the old Caesars poker Room that was located in the addition that housed the cavernous Sports Book and the Omni Theater. The room was on the first level with a large kids arcade above on the open air second floor. It was a great arrangement for dads with kids. They could play in the poker room while the kids lost a fortune one quarter at a time.

Coming to Vegas for the weekend stop by Caesars for the WSOP Tournament of Champions. An invitational tournament of 2005 WSOP champions and select event finishers. It's a $2 Million Freeroll that may include 2005 WSOP Champion, Joseph Hachem. Andy Black, finished fifth in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, may put in an appearance after taking $1.75 million back to Ireland. Andy is featured in an article in in the latest issue of Tricycle magazine. If you have an opportunity, read the article, and check out the accompanying photos of Andy playing in the main event at the 2005 WSOP. I shot the photos.

I'm enjoying these clockless days of leisure. The lack of hours and minutes is probably my most favorite thing about Las Vegas, the ability to live without time constrants. Eat what you want whenever you're hungry, shop when you please, play poker anytime, or do nothing at all, sleep all day and stay awake all night. That's the Las Vegas professional poker player's schedule. That's the best thing about being a local, you just don't worry much about the clock.

Posted by flipchipro at 12:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The tournament poker scene as outlined in yesterday's post didn't include the WSOP Tournament of Champions scheduled for November 6-8 at Caesar's Palace. The top nine finishers from the 2005 WSOP Main Event along with top top finishers from 2005 WSOP Circuit Series will be competing in the $@ million freeroll. I have it on the calendar but forget to include it in my Las Vegas tournament's post for the month of November.

I continue to rant about the prize money poker players receive when they survive into the pay positions. My bitch is the well known fact that players are playing for their money with no added prize money from sponsors or tournament organizers. This fact alone would not be enough to go off on, but, it gets worse. The players also have to pay out of that prize pool a substantial fee to the tournament organizers so they will be allowed to play and the "lucky" final table players will be on national TV while receiving no share directly or indirectly of the broadcast revenues. Anyone have any idea how much revenue is produced when you have the number one show on a major cable network? Not difficult info to find with a web search. The bottom line here is the players are not even receiving the full value of their own money used to build the prize pool.

A similar situation in another sport would have professional basketball players each paying into a common prize pool, and then subtracting the expenses of renting a forum and hiring refs and all the other expenses while the television networks continue to televise the games and reap the revenues. I know it is bad practice to compare poker and anything else. Poker is reporting it is now the third most watched sport on television and that's what is creating the problem. When poker tournament were played for the players, a small crowd of fans and non-existent video coverage until the final events days playing for the buy-in money was more than enough. Even having the house cut and then another cut for the dealers and staff it was more than enough to play for the championship and the jewelry. Along comes the Internet with virtual poker rooms that mimic live casino poker rooms. The online poker crowd was a natural for a prime time poker tournament TV show. This was especially true because of the new hole card cameras, professional video production sets staffed by a crack production crew. Big time poker had finally joined other televised sports that produce big ad revenues for networks. Like other televised sports the poker industry has become flush with cash. It is this very cash that allows other sports to pay the players big bucks, win or lose. Forgot to add to the above comparison that the nuvo Bling Bling-less roundball guys won't get a salary either, just like in big time tournament poker, they're only playing for some of their original out-of-pocket buy-in money, less expenses.

How do we fix this apparent unequitable money situation that exist in the major tournament poker industry? How would we do this without some governing body making up a book full of rules that are basically self-serving and the body would be well funded by receiving its cut of the money; but, this money includes some of the broadcast revenue cash as a direct benefit from the presence of the Poker Association, or League, or Federation, or whatever this negotiating body chooses to call itself. I don't think the governing body should ever have the power to sanction players. Poker is a professional sport that welcomes and accords amateur players with the same opportunities as the pros. I don't ever see professional players receiving salaries like team sports but I can see substantial additions to prize pools of sanctioned events providing many more players some level of pay and offering even more money to the top finishers. Of course the players will be allowed to get a small share of the broadcast revenue through sponsorship money by displaying their sponsor's recognizable logo on camera. We could begin implementing a very limited proof of concept version with some money added (enough to substantially increase the number of places paid. Of course with money added, a rule would have to be added that the tournament must be played to a conclusion realizing a single champion. I am aware that some televised invitation only events do include big added money.

In other stuff around Las Vegas the undocumented news appears to be on target about Daniel Negreanu's split from the Wynn, at least for now. I'm not surprised about this. Daniel is over at the Wynn while the big game is across the strip at the Bellagio. Daniel has always struck me as the type that needs to be in the thick of it with the best. I've heard talk on the strip that there exist a dealer-less poker table designed for live casino poker rooms. The rumors say invited testers have been amazed at the functionality of the table which relies on the latest RFD technology to replace the dealer with a computer controlled machine. This would certainly make some forms of cheating impossible; but, I'm sure the old cheat will be replaced with an even more insidious digital cheat. Technology guarantees that.

Posted by flipchipro at 4:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

UPDATE:Daniel commented on this in his forums.
Be sure to check oddjacks Wynn picks on oddjack.com your source for gambling news and snarkyness.
UPDATE: This is confirmed. Daniel had a 6 month contract and is "now persuing other interests." Straight from the Wynn poker room(702.770.3094 [direct number for the poker room]). -Prof

I heard earlier today that Daniel Negreanu is, "...as of this week he is no longer with them (the Wynn)." This newsflash comes from a 100% reliable source. Very interesting...

Posted by pokerprof at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My days of leisure will come to an end next week when the WSOP Circuit Series stops at Bally's/Paris Casino. Both Bally's and the Paris Casino are owned by Harrah's Entertainment, the owner of the World Series of Poker and the WSOP Circuit Tournament Series. The first of the tournament's 13 events will begin on Wednesday, November 02, 2005 and continue until a Champion is crowned in the $10,000, four day Championship event's final table on November 22, just two days before Thanksgiving. The first event, No-limit Hold'em, will have a $300 + $30 buy-in. The low but-in for some of the events means there's a tournament to fit almost any playing bankroll. Consider coming for this one and play some big-time tournament poker with names and faces you recognize from TV. A great way to get into the spirit of the holidays, maybe win some serious money and if you catch all of your all-ins you will be showing off your gold WSOP Circuit Champion's ring. Never a better time than now to come to Las Vegas; we're having perfect weather, you can see all that neon, eat great food anytime day or night and best of all, you will be playing in a World Series of Poker event. And that's not all, read on.

The Ultimate Poker Challenge played downtown at the Plaza starts on Wednesday, November 16th, and continue everyday through the 29th so you have two choices for tournaments. Either will get you on television if you make a final table. And there's still more. Another poker event begins tomorrow, Wednesday, November 02, 2005 at the downtown Golden Nugget Casino. The advance press release from the event's organizers, Game Show Network, said it is not really a Poker Tournament, but will be more like a high stakes poker game. Leave it to those innovative folks over at GSN to come up with an improvement on TV Poker.

November is an exciting poker month in Las Vegas so I'll be busy photographing and documenting the wonderful world of tournament poker. A cast of characters that couldn't be better if they had been hand picked from central casting keeps the job interesting. Over the last few years the sport has undergone another rebuild in its evolution and quantum-jumped to the current plateau where players become television stars, sign huge sponsorship contracts, fly in private jets, hang out with Hollywood stars and have fan clubs. Play the game better than most and you can join the club. Now you only need to learn one poker variation, No-limit Hold'em, and you will not have enough time to play all the available big tournaments.

Follow the poker tournaments for a few months and you'll notice that the bulk of major tournament poker players are middle-age, middle skill level people that often play a game that involves more hope than knack; but, without this dedicated cadre of players tournament poker would not be such a big deal. Sometimes an unknown player will rise to the top of the chip count and then garner a smile from Lady Luck with a couple of miracle river cards to win it all and that's a very good thing. That's exactly the reason why we all keep coming back to play, because it proves that on any given day...

Better start planning that November Vegas trip. Maybe I'll be taking your photo holding your winning cards. if you still need more resaon to come play then visit the Photo Gallery.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Four days left in the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event and tonight we spend the last two days at the Rio Resort. This evening's first hour of WSOP on ESPN is dedicated to Day #4, the second hour we will watch day #5. The last two days of play at the Rio will par the field to 27 players by the end of Day #5. Those 27 with a chip and a chair get to make the journey downtown to the casino that poker legend Benny Binion built, Binion's Horseshoe. The 27 finalist from the starting field of 5,619 will be the very last poker players to do battle in a WSOP Main Event at the downtown landmark.

Day #4 begins with 185 players in the hunt for the seven and a half million dollars plus the diamond and platinum World Championship bracelet. The defending 2004 champion, Greg Raymer, comes into the first hour tonight with the chip lead.

Dr. Pauly was there every minute sitting ringside live blogging all the happenings; so, if you want the details as they occurred, all the stuff that wouldn't fit into the TV hour, all dished up with a generous helping of Pauly's uncensored gritty style then read his Day #4 live blog of the 2005 WSOP Main Event. After watching the ESPN show and reading the live blog then go to our own Pauly Recap of Day #4 for more insider reading.

Day #5 starts with the 58 survivors from day #4. Play is obviously cautious since the rewards of surviving this day will be one of the 27 golden tickets for a seat at the Horseshoe. Read Dr. Pauly's live blog of Day #5 for all the details you're missing if you just watch the TV show and don't forget Pauly's Day #5 Recap. The money for both of tonight's shows has already become some serious change with 185th place paying $39,175 and 58th place receiving $145,875. The least amount any of the 27 finalists left after tonight can leave with is $304,680. Amazing how big the individual prize money becomes when the prize pool is $52,818,610. Go to PokerPlayerNewspaper.com for the complete list of finishers and the prize money for all of the 560 paid places of the 2005 WSOP Main Event.

Turn in for tonight's broadcast and enjoy some great poker from the Mother of all Poker Tournaments, the World Series of Poker from the city center of the poker universe, Las Vegas.

Don't forget the Poker Prof's New Las Vegas Blog for your up-to-the-minute daily dose of what's happening here in Las Vegas as seen by the blog's Editor, Dr. Pauly, and contributing editor, R.C. Clark. The blog will offer weekly features about everything Las Vegas and have a site data base that, just like Las Vegas, will never be complete; but will become the most complete wikisource of information for Las Vegas out there, anywhere.

Posted by flipchipro at 4:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)