photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Most of the WSOP talk this week has been orbiting around Phil Ivey, poker's Superstar. Can he come from the back of the pack and charge to the lead to go heads-up with one of the other eight players? Chips and luck averaging out of a two-handed contest would make Ivey the favorite to take poker's biggest prize. That outcome would let it be known that a "King of Poker" had been crowned at a Coronation of Elimination in Las Vegas, the WSOP at the Rio All-Suite Resort. Hail! King Phil I.

Ivey fans are reminded that ESPN's award-winning primetime newsmagazine E:60 tonight at 7 PM ET will be taking a close look at professional poker superstar Phil Ivey. If you just can't get enough of poker's elusive king then grab a copy of ESPN The Magazine for the suitable-for-framing photo of Phil Ivey on the cover.

Tune into ESPN Sports TV tonight at 9 PM ET for two hours of WSOP Main Event March-to-the-Nine poker show. Viewers will finally get to meet the November Nine as the great tournament begins the evening with 18 players and concludes at the nine. Expect plenty of coverage of Phil Ivey.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Tune in tonight to ESPN at 9 PM ET for the exciting conclusion of the race to the WSOP November Nine. The final table will be set at the end of tonight's two hours of top flight poker. Poker Pro Phil Ivey stands apart from the field with thousands of hours of major tournament play and 7 WSOP bracelets. Poker pro Jeff Shulman has no WSOP bracelets but he has twice as many chips as Ivey. Chip leader Darvin Moon enjoying his first ever visit to Las Vegas has three times as many chips as Shulman.

Given a few early breaks Phil Ivey might walk away with the big poker prize. Given the huge chip lead of Darvin Moon, he is favored to join the expanding ranks of unknowns scooping the poker's holy grail. Only a couple of weeks remain before we know the winner of the 2009 WSOP Main Event World Championship of Poker. Don't forget today's Noon ET installment of ESPN.com's Inside Deal featuring Kevin Schaffel.

A November Nine group photo and individual images of the field of nine after the jump. Click any photo for a gallery image. Use this link to the Photo Gallery.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Kevin Schaffel will be featured on Tuesday's ESPN.com's 30 minute ESPN Inside Deal poker show at Noon ET. The Coral Springs, Florida poker pro will be interviewed by the Inside Deal crew about his preparations for the November final table and how he has made almost a half million since the summer WSOP Main Event's four month break. Fans can e-mail their questions for Kevin Schaffel to insidedeal@espn.com.

Sitting in the sixth spot on the leader board with 12,390,000 in play money, Kevin Schaffel will be in seat 4 to the left of Phil Ivey when the next WSOP "Shuffle Up and Deal" commands goes out. Bodog odds makers have him in the bottom three as a 12/1 shot to win the event. Fans can view previous episodes of ESPN Inside Deal with this link.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Two hours of 2009 WSOP Main Event poker tonight on ESPN Sports. Tune in to ESPN at 8PM ET for two hours of exciting poker. The original 6,494 players swapping $10,000 in cash for a seat in the game has been cut to just 64 runners with chips. They are deep into the prize money with a guarantee of $90,344 for tonight's first outer. And all that $10,000 entry money collected? It's now in a giant prize pool totaling $61,043,600 + Interest.

By the end of tonight's second hour the field will be reduced to 27 players each guaranteed at least $352,832. One in every three of the 27 remaining players will become a millionaire in a few days. Leo Margets is the sole female survivor in the field of 26 men as she presses to become the first woman at a WSOP Main Event final table since 1995 when Barbara Enright finished 5th.

More photos from the 2009 WSOP Main Event's final days on the shrinking tournament floor located within the Rio All-Suite Resort...after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Tuesdays are WSOP days on ESPN beginning at Noon ET with ESPN.com's Inside Deal. Tuesday's 30-minutes will be spent with November Nine finalist, Joseph Cada, and his poker coach, Greg Raymer, 2004 WSOP Main Event Champion. Stop by on Tuesday at Noon to meet this young poker phenom. Submit your questions for Cada and Raymer via e-mail to insidedeal@espn.com.

For a college dropout that turned 21 last year, Joe Cada, isn't doing too bad. His first foray into the mine field of a WSOP Main Event has already earned him $1,263,602 plus a November Nine finalist seat with a shot at a total of $8,546,435 and a very rare gold bracelet. On the leader board Cada is fifth with 13,215,000 in play money, more than enough for a ride to the top.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

We continue our journey to the 2009 World Series of Poker final table coming up in November. Tonight, at 8PM ET, we find four of poker's biggest names seated around the ESPN feature table. JC Tran, Peter Eastgate, Dennis Phillips, and Joseph Hachem remain in the hunt for the November Nine seats. Around the outer tables we see Phil Ivey, Elky Grospellier, Kenny Tran, and Antonio Esfandiari playing their best game as they pursue tournament poker's greatest prize, the WSOP Main Event Championship.

Two hours of top flight poker tonight on ESPN at 8PM ET. Schedules vary so check listings in your locale for exact times. Tune in to follow your favorite players in their quest to win a bracelet and millions of dollars in cash.

More Flipchip photos after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Going into tonight's episode, ESPN at 8 PM ET, of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event finds 230 players remaining from the 6,494 that began the contest many days ago. Plenty of interesting players and a small group of the sport's superstars have chips and chairs. Seven bracelet man, Phil Ivey, continues to play mistake free poker as he sets his sights on one of the November Nine berths. Last year's November Nine alumni, Dennis Phillips, hopes his quest for a repeat appearance at the 2009 November final table is realized.

2005 Main Event champion, Joseph Hachem, holds court around the ESPN feature table along with 2008 Main Event champion, Peter Eastgate. 2007 WSOP Player of the year winner, Tom Schneider, stakes his claim to some of the prize pool and looks for more. Jeff Shulman shows the crowd he's much more than a another pretty face as he stacks chips. And finally, the unknown chip leader, Darvin Moon, continues to add chips to his already towering stacks. Don't miss a single minute of this year's best televised big-time poker action, the 2009 WSOP, all on the ESPN Sports Network.

More of Flipchip's 2009 WSOP Main Event photos after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Steve Begleiter is one fortunate poker player with good positioning at the 2009 WSOP Main Event scheduled for November 7 - 10 at the Rio resort in Las Vegas. Now's your opportunity to meet the man courtesy of ESPN Sports. ESPN.com's new half hour poker show, ESPN Inside Deal, features Begleiter on this Tuesday's show, Oct 6 at Noon ET.

Steve Begleiter is a former high ranking Bear Sterns executive and will be taking questions via e-mail with this link. He's number three in chips and expected to make a good showing. Begleiter entered the Main Event with a buy-in won from a poker league in Westchester, NY.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Tune in at 8 PM ET tonight for another two hours of original programming from the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event played over the summer at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas. This week expect to see a lot of Phil Ivey, poker's superstar and the man many consider to be the most talented playing the game today.

A slimmed down field is getting close to the money this week and stacks are becoming enormous as the remains of the 6,494 starting field tries to become one of the final 648 players that will receive some of the prize pool. Former Main Event champions remaining in the crowd are Bobby Baldwin, Dan Harrington, Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Joseph Hachem, and defending 2008 champion Peter Eastgate. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips and 2008 third place finisher, Dennis Phillips, continue to play deeper into the event.

When the November Nine reconvenes in November they will decide which player goes home with $8.5 million and a very rare Main Event Championship Bracelet. Tune in tonight for more great poker from the 2009 WSOP Main Event. Additional photos after the jump.

photo flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

A few more Flipchip photos from the 2009 WSOP Main Event played at the Rio Resort Las Vegas. The second hour this week's ESPN TV two hour broadcast of the Main Event could be called the Aussie Poker Hour. 2009 WSOP Player of the Year, Jeffrey Lisandro, shares space at the Espn TV feature table with 2005 Main Event Champion, Joseph Hachem.

Both players call Australia home and both have demonstrated exceptional game talent. Lisandro leaves this year's WSOP with three bracelets and three quarters of a million dollars. Hachem has one bracelet worth seven and a half million dollars. The field is talent rich with big names and former WSOP Main Event champions playing deep into the event.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Taking a page out of Annie Duke on "Celebrity Apprentice," professional poker players (and Best Friends Forever) Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle team up to compete in the 15th season of "The Amazing Race."

Ho came in 38/6358 in the 2007 World Series of Poker main event, while Michelle came in 17/6844 in 2008's WSOP.

Ho and Michelle will use their poker skills to outwit fellow contestants on the race-around-the-world show to claim the ultimate prize $1 million.

"The Amazing Race" premieres Sept. 27 on CBS.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

WSOP fans either love or hate Phil Hellmuth. There's no middle ground with this guy even though his table manners have definitely improved in the last few years. Verbal outbursts, temper tamtrums, rants against fellow players, and outrageous self promotion stunts are fewer and without the intensity that earned him the "Poker Brat" tag. Has Hellmuth matured or are we seeing the effects of evolving WSOP rule changes that demand better sportsmanship while imposing heavy handed penalties to those that don't comply? Me thinks it's the new rules that have produced the stoic Hellmuth.

Like him or not his poker accomplishments are the benchmark by which others are compared. A record eleven WSOP bracelets including a world championship in the 1989 Main Event. Hellmuth also holds the record for most WSOP cashes. He's bagged over $10 million in prize money and was the youngest player to win a Main Event, a record that lasted until Peter Eastgate grabbed the 2008 championship breaking Hellmuith's record after 19 years.

Don't forget to tune in this week's ESPN 2009 WSOP Main Event with two more hours of never before aired poker from the summer event at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas. It all begins at 8 PM ET on the ESPN sports network. Check local listings for broadcast times in your area.

More Flipchip photos from the 2009 WSOP Main Event after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

ESPN coverage of the 2009 World Series of Poker continues Tuesday night at 8 PM. Two more hours of the play from Day 1. Four days of Day 1 was required to accommodate the 6,494 entrants taking a $10,000 shot at a prize pool totaling more than $61 million. Tonight's two hours of 2009 WSOP poker offers a look into the many poker faces that have come to Las Vegas to play in the big poker show during the summer of 2009 at the Rio Resort.

More of Flipchip's WSOP First Day photos after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The Las Vegas Sun is reporting the MGM Mirage based in Las Vegas is being sued by stockholders claiming they were provided false information about the company's financial health in an effort to mislead investors. Multiple law firms announced they were seeking legal action to provide relief to stock purchasers during a period between August, 2007 and March, 2009.

Also named in the suit are former MGM Mirage CEO Terry Lanni, current CEO Jim Murrem, CFO Dan D'Arrigo, and CityCenter Chief Bobby Baldwin. Bobby Baldwin is thew 1978 World Series of Poker Main Event champion and regular in the "Big Game." The high limit poker salon located in the poker room at the Bellagio Resort is named Bobby's Room.

Read the full story...

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The wait is finally over and now everyone that couldn't make the trek to Las Vegas for the live version of the 2009 WSOP Main Event will have the opportunity to be at the tables for all the action. Click the TV over to ESPN at 8 PM ET tonight for two hours of non-stop action direct from the floor of the WSOP poker room at the Rio Resort.

Tonight's episodes will be shown at other times this week so check the TV listings in your area and don't miss a minute of Day 1 and 2 of the World Series of Poker Main Event. These players are in the hunt for a piece of the $61 million prize including the $8.5 million going to the eventual winner scheduled to be crowned in November. It all begins tonight on ESPN.

More of Flipchip's favorite WSOP ME photos after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

We start with an explanation for the lack of posts this week on the Poker Prof's Blog. Unfortunately, Flipchip was reminded that he's only human after all, and he spent a few days visiting with a covey of nurses and a gaggle of doctors during his recent hospital stay. Although at the time it appeared to be a routine emergency, it actually turned out to be much less. Due to the CYA requirement as a result of greedy lawyers the doctors decided to keep him for a few extra days just in case.

Without further ado we offer the latest batch of Flipchip images from the 2009 WSOP. All of the photos were shot during the Up for Africa charity poker tournament at the Rio Resort during the WSOP.

Ante Up For Africa, a non-profit organization founded by Academy Award® nominee Don Cheadle, World Series of Poker champion Annie Duke and Norman Epstein, raised $600,000 this year and have collected a total of $2.5 million during their three years of existence.

Flip wishes to thank all those that expressed concern during his recent medical adventure and says you can tell the guys to throw the dirt back into the hole, we won't be needing it...yet.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Tuesday night means 2009 World Series of Poker on ESPN Sports TV. Grab the snacks and a few brews and settle back for two hours of poker as played by former WSOP Main Event champions. Everyone playing in tonight's offering has at least one WSOP Championship bracelet. This is the crème de la crème of WSOP poker.

What better way to study how the champions play? They are playing for a shiny red no-mileage 1970 Corvette Stingray, the Binion Cup trophy, and a year's worth of bragging rights as the WSOP Champion of Champions so don't miss this special poker event. Tonight you will see episode's #3 & #4 from the 2009 WSOP ESPN coverage beginning at 8 PM ET on the ESPN sports network. Check local listings for exact times in your area.

Many more Flipchip photos featuring former WSOP Main Event Champions playing in the 2009 WSOP Champions Invitational event are waiting after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Tuesday night is WSOP poker night on ESPN Sports TV. Beginning at 8 PM ET July 28th get set for two hours of 2009 WSOP Poker every week until the November final table. Shows 1 & 2 kick off the action with the final table of the 2009 WSOP 40th Anniversary $40,000 NLHE Championship. The winner, Vitaly Lunkin, received almost $1.9 million in cash and a WSOP Championship Bracelet. Second place went to Isaac Haxton along with $1,168,655 in prize money.

More Flipchip photos featuring former WSOP Main Event Champion playing in the $40K event after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 8 of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event welcomed 27 players to do battle commencing at High Noon across the felt for the nine seats of the November Final Table. Those 9 lucky players would leave the Amazon Room at the Rio Resort as members of the nouveau riche, all millionaires after each received $1,263,602 for 9th place.

Considering the amount of money at stake it was again assumed the players would show caution and restraint, playing far into the wee hours of the next day. Some thought we could still be there twenty four hours later recording a slow grind toward poker immortality. No one believed it would be over in time to catch the 11 o'clock news. There was no fear among this crowd of poker warriors. Aggression ruled on the day and "All-in and a Call" was the oft-heard battle cry.

More Flipchip photos from Day 8 after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 7 finds 64 players returning to the tables for the semi final round of play. When this day ends we will have the 27 finalist set to play for a seat at the November Final table. The chip stacks are millions huge and a slowing of play is assumed as the play began to smell the fame and fortune awaiting the November Nine. Slow play just never happened this day and the 64 went at each other as if there was no tomorrow and for many there wasn't. This bunch didn't hesitate to push their stack in so eliminations continued at a furious pace.

More Flipchip photos from Day 5 after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The battle of the online poker giants has ended with one victor for the Guinness World Record of most amount of players in a single poker tournament.

Full Tilt achieved their max of 50,000 players, beating Poker Stars' record by 15,000 players. That $5 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed tournament begins today at 12:05 p.m. PT.

Not to be outdone on their own record, moments after Full Tilt announced their intent, Stars whipped up another Guinness-breaker tournament in an effort to retain their title. And it paid off. Originally uncapped, they cut off the tourney at 65,000 players, perhaps with concerns too many players in a single tournament might crash their server. That $1 buy-in, $130,000 guaranteed tournament begins today at 11:10 p.m. PT.

There's still a chance to enter the Stars tourney to be part of history. Because players can unregister, occasionally you'll see the tally drop to 64,999. Have the table open, and as soon as it does, click that Register button as fast as you can.

As for us, we were sucked into registering for both tourneys. Both didn't have any entry fees and have a 100 percent overlay, always a plus. The better overlay is on Full Tilt, as they matched $5 for every $5 buy-in, paying out 7,500 places. That's more than the 6,494 players that entered this year's Main Event at the World Series of Poker. First place in the tournament will receive $45,000.

Not a bad payday for 5 bucks.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 6 welcomes the remaining 185 runners from the once huge field of 6,494 players that began the event a couple of weeks ago. Today the group will be reduced to 64 by the time five full 2 hour levels of play are completed a few minutes before 1 AM. Everyone remaining is guaranteed of taking home at least $90,344 in cash for 64th place while 63rd and up will get a minimum of $108,047 or more. Flipchip was there recording the images of poker history in the making and shares some of his Day 6 favorites.

More Flipchip photos from Day 5 after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 5 photos direct from the tournament floor at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas. Flipchip has been recording the images of this year's historic 2009 World Series of Poker and shares another group of his favorites for those that can't make the journey to Las Vegas. Almost as good as being there. 407 players began Day 5 and in only three levels, 6 hours of play, the number was cut to 107.

More Flipchip photos from Day 5 after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 4 began with 789 hopefuls and ended with 407 finalists, all in the money. Day 4 was the shortest Main Event day to date after the fall out rate swelled as the players made the money and then shifted gears to began accumulating chips for a big finish. Many of the fearless young Internet players continued an agressive style of shoving more often than not.

More Flipchip photos from Day 3 after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 3 of the World Series of Poker was the first day all the players remaining in the tournament played together in different rooms with all hoping to make the final room. Play began with 2,044 players taking the deal and when day 3 ended there were 789 remaining. Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier was the end of day chip leader with 1,380,500 followed by Frenchman Ludovic Lacay holding 896,000.

More Flipchip photos from day 3 after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 2 is now complete after the second of two flights completed late Wednesday night with 1,436 players remaining. Day 2A left 608 players with chips making a total of 2,044 players returning on Friday for Day 3, the first time all the Main Event players will play together.

The 2009 WSOP Main Event drew 6,494 players and collected a prize pool totaling $61,043,600. The winner and 2009 World Champion of Poker will walk away with $8,546,435 in cash plus the unique white gold and diamond championship bracelet. The top 648 finishers will receive prize money. All of the November Nine finalist will become WSOP millionaires.

The total entrants could have been hundreds more if the distribution of players had been equal during the four Day 1's. It is estimated that between 500 and one thousand potential players were turned away on Day 1D after the cap was reached. WSOP Boss, Jeffrey Pollack, promised the disappointed shutouts that the problem would be addressed and resolved before the 2010 WSOP next summer.

All of today's photos were shot on the tournament floor on Day 2B. Many more Day 2B photos after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Flipchip's favorite photos from Day 2A of the 2009 WSOP. 1,478 players from Day 1A and 1B are combined for the first of two Day 2's of play. Of the 1,478 players only 607 made it through to play Day 3 on Friday. The over all chip leader at the end of the day was Andrew Gaw. The average chip stack is just over 97K.

More Day 2A photos after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 1D of the 2009 WSOP the big story was not the people playing in the event; instead, it was the people not playing in the event. As advertised for days/weeks/months, when the capacity cutoff (308 tables-2,809 seats) was reached, registration would close for the 2009 WSOP Main Event and that's exactly what happened. Poker players are noted for procrastinating and this very trait left hundreds milling about in the corridors mumbling and grumbling about being shutout.

WSOP Poker Commish, Jeffrey Pollack, held a hasty news conference and apologized to the disgruntled late comers, then assured them this will not happen again in the future. How he plans to alter the average poker player's space/time continuum remains a mystery. Perhaps a schedule that does not include the 4th of July?

More Day 1D photos after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 1C of the 2009 WSOP recorded an increase in players from the previous day's low of 873 to 1,696 on Sunday. It would appear that most poker players would rather spend the 4th of July holiday doing something other than playing poker. Perhaps we will see a different set of Day 1's next year that will address the uneven distribution of player fields.

The large Day 1C field prompted tournament officials to play an additional level (5 total vs 4 total for days 1 A and B) to avoid a conflict of not being able to seat everyone on Day 2B.

More photos after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

More Flipchip photos from the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event Day 1B. A smaller turnout marks the second day of round #1 with 873 players entered into Saturday's field. Keep in mind that two days of first day play remain so the overall numbers should dramatically increase and this flight was played on the 4th of July. Sunday's flight #3 is predicted to be much larger and Monday's final Day 1 could be a sellout.

More photos of Day 1B action after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

A few favorite photos from Day 1A of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event. The Friday Noon start of the Main Event attracted 1,116 hopefuls putting up $10K each for an opportunity to win poker's biggest prize, poker immortality.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Matt Hawrilenko only needed four hands of heads-up play to defeat Josh Brikis and claim the final gold WSOP bracelet of the summer. Hawrilenko became the latest 2009 WSOP millionaire after receiving the winner's purse totaling $1,003,163.

Josh Brikis completed the tournament in second place to take down a very respectable $619,609. Faraz Jaka was eliminated in third for $400,526 in cash. The event attracted a field of 928 players and paid the top 90 finishers.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Want to own a piece of poker history? How about the main event TV table used when Greg Raymer won in 2004, Joe Hachem in 2005, and Jamie Gold in 2006? That's right, the very table where many of poker's elite traded chips in their quest to become a part of poker history.

Check out the auction on eBay for this historic poker table. According to the auction details you'll receive a table cover signed by Jamie Gold when he took down the record $12 million purse in 2006 for a WSOP Main Event.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Carsten Joh topped a field of 2781 poker players to capture his first WSOP bracelet and $664,426 in cash. The German native played a conservative game during most of the Monday's final table as he slowly accumulated enough chips to remain in the contest. His game plan worked well as he avoided the traps while those around him fell victim to their aggressive play. Heads-up found Joh facing a tough Andrew Chen holding almost the same number of chips; but, this was to be Joh's day of fame. He caught the cards needed in critical hands to finally defeat Chen.

Andrew Chen was obviously disappointed to come so far and get so close to the WSOP gold, then be denied the win in the final hands. Of course, the $412,632 payday will help to keep his spirits up for another day at the WSOP poker tables. Third place and $272,405 goes to David Walasinski.

The event begin with a sell-out crowd of 2,781 players building a prize pool of $3,796,065 distributed to the last 297 players to be eliminated.

The 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event is scheduled to kick off on Noon Friday with the first of four Day 1's. Many are predicting a record crowd for this year's championship event. Will you be one of them?

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Greg Mueller became the fourth player in this year's WSOP to win two events and take down two gold bracelets. Heads up he faced another 2009 player going for double gold, Marc Naalden. In the end it was the more experienced Muelller that finally held all the chips and scored the repeat. Greg Mueller also received $194,854 in cash to add to his earlier win in 2009 WSOP Event #33.

Marc Naalden received takes home $120,614 as runner-up. Millie Shiu hit the gate in third to collect $77,138 in cash.The event attracted a field of 572 runners including many of poker's biggest names. The top 64 finishers walked away with cash.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Brandon Cantu takes a gold bracelet for his playing abilities in Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 8-or-Better plus a nice chunk of change, $228,867.On Day 1 Brandon was just 1 in 762 hopefuls taking the felt at the 2009 World Series of Poker;r and, this was no pushover crowd. Many of the poker biggest pros and Omaha specialists were in the mix.

When the final two players met heads-up across the final table it was Brandon Cantu facing seasoned professional Lee Watkinson for the gold. In the initial going it appeared that Cantu was on the short list to leave the building, actually falling behind to the tune of 6 - 1. He then staged one of the classic WSOP comebacks and took down his first bracelet of 2009 giving him a total of two.

Lee Watkinson just missed taking the match and probably will spend some private time contemplating how very close he came before the cards turned against him. While he's sulking he can enjoy the benefits of the $141,873 collected for second. Jocqmin Mathieu completed the top three for $92,946 in cash.

The event pulled in 762 Omana fanatics and built another WSOP million dollar prize pool, $1,040,130 to be exact, paid out to the last 72 lucky players.

photo by jonathan • www.Jonathanboncek.com

Bahador Ahmadi claimed the 47th gold bracelet awarded at the 2009 World Series of Poker at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas. Playing the same game that got him to the final table proved to be good enough for the win. Ahmadi took advantage of the ultra-aggresive play style of his heads-up opponent, John Guiness, to call when he was in the lead and lay down when he wasn't. The careful play resulted in Ahmadi taking most of McGuiness' chips during the Limit session and then easily calling the all-in bet of McGuiness on the first hand of No-Limit for the win.

Bahador Ahmadi now has an additional $278,104 to add to his play bank and a WSOP bracelet to impress friends and family. John McGuiness left the building with $172,227 in cash for his piece of work. Third place and $112,967 in cash was claimed by Ylon Schwartz after his luck ran out and he hit the rail.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Georgetown University graduate, Derek Raymond, won $229,192 in cash and collected a gold WSOP bracelet for his three days of work at the 2009 World Series of Poker. In the stands was a pack of his friends and his father to witness the accomplishment. Derek Raymond held on to his cool demeanor and steady play after going heads-up with veteran Las Vegas poker pro and Omaha specialist, Mark Tenner. The match could have gone either way as the two juggled the chip lead between them; but, it was Raymond that caught the eye of Lady Luck and received the right cards at the right time.

Mark Tenner had a nice $141,647 payday for his time at the table. Scott Bohlman received $93,199 for third. The event began with 424 players racing for a piece of the $975,200 prize pool. Those players collecting some of that money had too finish 45th or better.

When I asked Derek's father about his son's achievement he proudly replied, "I didn't know he majored in poker."

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

It all came down to the final hand at last night's event #45 final table and what a hand it was. John Kabbaj held pocket Aces while his heads-up opponent, poker veteran Kirill Gerasimov, had pocket Kings. Both players couldn't get the chips into the pot fast enough with Kirill being covered by John. When the dealing was done and the river card was in its final resting place the winner and new Pot Limit Hold'Em World Champion was John Kabbaj.

Kabbaj collected $633,335 and the all important bracelet, his first. Kirill Gerasimov picked up $391,369 for the thew bad beat that knocked him out in second place. Eric 'basebaldy' Baldwin hit the rail in third and left with $183,638 in his pockets.

The event attracted a field of 275 players and paid the top 27.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by jonathan • www.Jonathanboncek.com

Jeffrey Lisandro came to the 2009 WSOP with one gold WSOP bracelet he won in 2007 in the $2,000 Seven-Card Stud event. Even if he doesn't play another 2009 event (highly unlikely) Lisandro will be leaving with four bracelets. He pulled off the triple early Wednesday evening when he was the last player with chips in event #44 $2,500 Seven Card Razz. Jeffrey Lisandro becomes the first player to win three events in one year since Phil Ivey bagged a turkey in 2002.

Jeffrey collected $188,370 to go along with the third 2009 WSOP bracelet. Michael Craig takes home $116,405 for second place and Ryan Fisler picks up $76,261 for third. The event registered 315 players and paid out a $724,500 prize pool to the top 32 finishers.

Congratulations to Jeffrey Lisandro for adding an amazing poker feat to the WSOP history book.

photo by jonathan • www.Jonathanboncek.com

Michael Davis had to out think, outplay, and outlast a record field of 2,707 senior poker players vying for a piece of record prize pool totaling $2,463,370. The top 270 finishers received some of the money. Davis apparently had a game plan that he followed to play a steady game and make it into the money, then secure a seat at the final table, and finally push hard for the win. The plan worked and Davis now has a cherished WSOP World Champion bracelet plus $437,358 in walk around money.

Second place finisher, Scott Buller, relinquished the final table chip lead he enjoyed for most of the day on the first hand of heads-up when Davis doubled through. A few minutes later Buller was shaking the hand of the new champion. Scott Buller's second place finish fattened his play bank by $268,507. Barry Bounds left with $179,210 after being eliminated in the third spot.

Congratulations to all the seniors that participated in this historic event and especially those players making the money. A special congrats to the latest WSOP World Champion, Michael Davis.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Jerrod Ankenman used his limit game skills to take the advantage and all of Sergey Altbregin chips during heads-up play Tuesday evening at the 2009 WSOP. Going into the one-on-one the two were about even in chips before Ankenman called on his limit "A" game to defeat Altbregin. Jerrod Ankenman has finished second in two previous WSOP limit championships and refused to be a bridesmaid for a third time. On this night he finally collected the golden bracelet and $241,637.

Sergey Altbregin collected $149,342 for second place while third place finisher, Chris Klodnicki, settled for $97,897. The event attracted a field of 412 players and paid the top 40 finishers.

Jerrod Ankenman and fellow poker player Bill Chen co-authored the how-to book, The Mathematics of Poker. Chen was in the stands when his friend won his first WSOP bracelet.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Matt Graham can now brag about being a World Champion poker player after a marathon heads-up match with Russian, Vitaly Lunkin. While both players continued their agfgressive style of play to the end it was Graham that finally walked away with the $679,379 for the winner plus the World Champion WSOP bracelet. Matt Graham was severly short stacked before logging three double-ups in a row to get back in contention and then divine the cards he needed to engineer the win.

Vitaly Lunkin collected $ 419,832 for second place that he can add to the $1,891,012 he collected for winning the $40,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'Em 40th Anniversary Event #2. Van Marcus was the third place finisher for a cash haul of $278,409. The $10,000 Buy-In World Championship event attracted 295 poker players.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Ray Foley joins the club of poker players with a gold WSOP champion bracelet. He followed his game plan and pressed the advantage to hold off the other eight players at the final table of WSOP Event #39. $1,500 Buy-In No-Limit Hold'Em. Along with the jewelry Ray collected $657,969 in cash for his victory.

Brandon Cantu hung tough to beat all of the 2715 players entered in the event except one. Brandon received $403,951 in cash for second place. Wei Mu goes home with $269,609 in his pocket for third place. Congratulations to all the 270 players that made it into the money and especially Ray Foley for the big win.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Limit Hold'em was once the staple of most Las Vegas poker rooms, far and away as the favorite among the average lower limit players. Then came the Internet poker rooms, Moneymaker, Raymer, and a hoard of newbies playing the WSOP game, No-Limit Hold'Em. Soon, Limit Hold'Em was becoming as hard to fins as the stud games it replaced, but there are still some great Limit Hold'Em players out there. Sunday evening nine of them were gathered around a WSOP final table at the Rio in Las Vegas.

When the dealing was done it was Marc Naalden standing alone with all the chips to take the second WSOP gold bracelet ever to a Dutch player (Rob Hollink won the other one in 2008, also in Limit Hold'Em). Marc collected $190,770 plus the coveted gold bling.

Steven Cowley finished second for $117,902 and Ian Johns received $77,576. The event began with 446 players chasing one of the 45 in-the-money finishes. Congratulations to Marc Naalden for making poker history at the 2009 WSOP. And remember, if someone with a Dutch accent invites you to play limit hold'em tell them you'd rather not.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Jordan Smith proved he can play with the big boys (and girls) after overcoming a mega field of 1,695 runners to win event #23, $2,000 No-Limit Hold'Em. It took over seven hours of final table play before Smith had all the chips and his first WSOP bracelet. Many of the media called this the most evenly stacked final table of the 2009 WSOP. It also included two women, Almira Skripchenko and Lourence Grondin.

Jordan Smith collected $586,212 for the win plus the all important WSOP bracelet. Ken Lennaard was first runner up and received the second place money totaling $360,439. Laurence Grodin completed the top three to pocket $237,537 in cash.

Event #36 pulled in 1,695 players and paid out a prize pool of $3,084,900 to the top 172 finishers.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by jonathan • www.Jonathanboncek.com

Richard Austin is the latest 2009 WSOP Champion after winning Event #35, $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha, Friday evening at the Rio Resort Las Vegas. Austin's final table play was steady and calculating, stay out of the traps and add small pots to his chip stacks seemed to be the game plan. At least that's the way it was until the table got down to three handed and the plan suddenly shifted gears when Richard managed to put both of the other players all-in. He caught what he needed to win the hand for the double elimination and a victory in the event. The elusive gold WSOP Bracelet was his along with $409,484 in cash.

The two other two players eliminated at the same time claimed the second and third place money with Sorel Mizzi taking 2nd Place and $253,048 while Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy received $166,771 for 3rd. Event #35 began with 363 runners and pid the top 36 finishers.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

It had to happen sooner or later, another Baldwin winning a WSOP gold bracelet. I don't know if the newest WSOP Champion, Eric Baldwin, has any ties to the Hollywood Baldwins; but, if the movie bunch can act as well as Eric can play poker they're destined to win an Academy Award.

The young Mr. Baldwin defeated a 2,095 player field of entrants that was liberally salted with an abundance of strong professionals. For his feat he will now be sporting a gold and diamond WSOP bracelet and making a $521,932 deposit in his bank account.

Second place went to a very tough Jonas Klausen along with $322,371 in cash. Jonas played tough all day giving the impression he could beat anything but the cards. James Taylor grabbed the third spot and pocketed $213,046 for his fine showing.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The latest WSOP World Champion is Greg 'FBT' Mueller. Taking all day and half the night to play the final table of Event #33 $10,000 World Championship Limit Hold'em, Mueller appeared to just get stronger as the solid 12 hours of play rolled along. The $10,000 event attracted an "A-list" field of poker professionals vying for the World Championship Limit Hold'Em title so taking down the Championship was no easy task even with a small field of 185 entrants.

Mueller collected $460,836 and a WSOP World Champion gold bracelet. Pat Pezzin went home with $285,196 while Chad Brown finished third and picked up $188,855. The prize pool was distributed among the top 18 finishers including Jennifer Harman, generally recognized as the best limit hold'em player in poker today. Harman received $41,040 for her 12th place exit.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

One of the 2009 WSOP gold bracelet will be making a run for the border when the newest WSOP Champion, Angel Guillen, heads home to Mexico. He will also be hauling a large sack of money after Wedneday's win in WSOP Event #32 $2,000 No Limit Hold'Em which netted Angel $530,548 in cash. Add the latest haul to the second place money, $312,800, he won in Event #13 for a grand total of $843,348, so far. Considering his ability to catch cards in critical hands will probably add more to his cash cache.

Finland's own Mika Paasonen finished second after coming to the final table as the chip leader; but, he couldn't keep pace with the smokin' young Mexican and watched his chips move steadily across the table during the five hours of heads-up play. Paasonen returns to Europe with $326,203. James Boyes collected $214,974 for third.

The event began with 1,534 players and paid out $2,791,880 to the top 171 finishers.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

James van Alstyne can now add a WSOP title to his poker accomplishments. The soft spoken van Alstyne is no longer one of the best poker players without a WSOP bracelet. Playing the mixed game H.O.R.S.E. well is considered to be the true test for an all-around poker pro and that's exactly how James van Alstyne played this day. This was not his first 2009 WSOP H.O.R.S.E. event to play well. He also finished second in event #21, $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. less than a week ago. James collected $247,033 in cash and his first WSOP bracelet.

Tad Jurgens finished second to receive $152,654 in cash and Mitch Schock went out third with $100,165. The event began with a field of 770 poker players of which 72 got paid.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

JC Tran tried on the second WSOP bracelet of his professional poker career after winning Event #30 $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha. The always tough Tran even came back from a massive chip deficit after Jean-Philippe Leandro doubled through Tran during the early play. Staying with his game plan of aggression and table control allowed Tran to again regain the chip lead and go into the heads-up play with Jeff Kimber enjoying a 2-1 lead.

JC Tran has already cashed in two events this year and now he adds an additional $235,685 to the play bank plus a gold WSOP bracelet to his arm. He won his first WSOP gold during the 2008 WSOP. Jeff Kimber takes home $145,656 for his second place finish while Jean-Philippe Leandro settled for third and $95,837. Ross Boatman of Hendon Mob fame went out in fourth to pocket $66,936. The event attracted 436 players and offered a prize pool of $1,002,800 paid out to the top 45 runners.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo courtesy filipe pacheco

Leo Wolpert is not only the latest WSOP Champion, he's a WSOP World Champion. Outlasting a field of 255 other players Wolpert was responsible for the exit of 9 of those others in the $10,000 Buy-In Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'Em World Championship. Leo didn't have an easy walk-through-the-park on his way to collecting a coveted WSOP gold bracelet and $625,682 in cash since he had to face with the likes of Dustin Wolfe, Jamin Stokes, and EPT founder John Duthie.

Coming back from a 0-1 deficit in the best of thee final matches with John Duthie the young Leo Wolpert never looked back in games 2 and 3. He made short work of Duthie in the second match and then the two played through 191 hands in the deciding final before Wolpert finally put Duthie away to take the title.

John Duthie pocketed $386,636 in cash for second place. Jamin Stokes collected $214,289 as did Nathan Doudney to complete the final four. The event offered a total prize pool of $2,406,400 paid out to the top 17 finishers.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Mike Eise had to keep his chips and his chair as the field of 2,614 were eliminated all eliminated the first two days of play except the final table nine. Mike then had to play the best poker of his life during the six hours of the final table and he also needed a little luck. He got the luck and won all of his all-ins while playing mistake free poker all the way to the final hand. He was rewarded with a coveted gold WSOP bracelet and $639,331 in cash.

The day belonged to Eisa but Jeff Chang got a nice piece of the action with his $329,494 payday. Rico Ramirez was finally eliminated in third place and pocketed $261,963. The event attracted a field of 2,641 players and paid the 270 top runners.

Congratulations to Mike Eise for winning his first WSOP title.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Roland De Wolfe became only the second poker player in history to complete poker's Triple Crown. He has won a title in the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour, and the European Poker Tour. For his victory Sunday evening in the 2009 WSOP Event #27, $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 8-or-better, Roland received his first WSOP bracelet and $246,616.

Brett Richey collected $152,618 after going out in second place and Scott Clements scooped $101,063 for third. The event attracted a field of 198 runners and paid out a prize pool of $903,600 to the top 18 finishers. Congratulations to Roland de Wolfe for his rare accomplishment. He also was the second UK player to collect gold at this year's WSOP

photo by jonathan • www.Jonathanboncek.com

Tomas Alenius outlasted a field of 643 poker players at the 2009 WSOP on Sunday evening to garner his first WSOP title and bracelet. He also received $197,488 in cash to make his journey back home to Sweden a most pleasant experience. When the final table was down to three evenly matched players were soon cut to two when Al Barbieri took an early exit in third and Thomas found himself facing facing Jason Tam's 3-1 chip advantage. Just over an hour of heads-up play ended when Alenius eliminated Tam to take the title.

Jason Tam received $122,000 for second place and Al "Sugar Bear"Barbieri received $80,072 for his third place showing. Congratulations to all the in-the-money finishers and especially Thomas Alenius for a great WSOP victory.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Poker Superstar, Phil Ivey, is now the owner of 7 WSOP Champion bracelets after winning Event #25 $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8-or-better. It's also his second bracelet of the 2009 World Series of Poker after having won Event #8 $2,500 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw. Ivey defeated a tough Ming Lee in heads-up play after Carlos Mortensen, 2001 Main Event Winner, was eliminated in third place.

Phil Ivey collected $220,538 for the win. Ming Lee received #136,292 for second place and Carlos Mortensen will be packing $89,342 when he returns home to Spain. Will this be the end of Ivey's rush? Probably not, it appears he creates his own good luck by playing better than his opponents.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Panayote "Pete" Vilandos took on Andy Seth heads-up at the feature table and wasted no time in defeating Seth. After about ten minutes of heads-up play Seth was all-in and called by Vilandos then eliminated in second place.

Pete Vilandos picked up his second WSOP gold and $607,256 in cash for his first place victory. Andy Seth received the second place $372,855 money for his three days of play. Michael Greco was eliminated in third place and collected $284,855.

The event begin with a field of 2,506 players and a prize pool of $3,420,690 paid out to the final 270 players.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by jonathan • www.Jonathanboncek.com

We've all known that Nick Schulman is one of the great tournament poker players and now he finally has proof conclucive of his talent. Nick has a gold WSOP World Championship bracelet he won early Friday evening at the 2009 WSOP in Event 23, $10,000 World Championship No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw. He also collected $279,742 in cash to go along with the jewelry and World Championship title.

Ville Wahlbeck received $172,864 for first runner up and Steve Sung collected $1122,042 for third. The final table was packed with professionals including John Juanda - 4th, Archie Karas - 5th, David Benyamine - 7th, and Michael Binger coming in 8th.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Jeffrey Callis held tough throughout the final table of event #22 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout. He rarely went to a showdown and came away empty handed, much to the chargrin of other players. Jeffrey continued to add to his chip stack and eliminate players until there was no one left. He had all the chips and a gold WSOP bracelet, $313,673 in cash, and a 2009 WSOP title.

facing a 3-1 chip deficiency going into heads-up, Jason Somerville was quickly eliminated in second place to claim his $194,004 from the prize pool of $1,363,635. Andrew Margolis rounded out the top three and collected #124,158. The event attracted a field of 1,000 hopefuls.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

John-Paul Kelly is now $194,434 richer and he has a shiny new WSOP bracelet to boot. His three day journey to poker stardom wasn't exactly a walk through the park, instead it was a hard fought battle with 633 other poker players all seeking the same elusive title. The field was heavy with well know professionals and the final table included well know pro Eric Seidel; but, after the final all-in heads-up hand was dealt John-Paul was the champion.

Marc Tschirch claimed $120,102 for his second place finish while Jason DeWitt grabbed the $78,826 show money. Eric Seidel left in the seventh spot and collected $24,919 on his way to the exit.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Brock Parker made it official Wednesday evening that he's going for the gold at the 2009 WSOP. After three days of intense play the soft spoken player from Silver Springs, Maryland ended any doubts of his poker abilities when he won Event #19 - $2,500 Six-handed No Limit Hold'em. Brock collected $552,745 in cash to add to the $223,697he won in Event #14 for a grand total of $776,442 and two WSOP bracelets.

Joe Serock hung tough but just couldn't make up ground on the steaming Brock and got out in second place with $341,783. Russell Crane pocketed $220,633 for his third place finish. The event attracted 1,068 entrants and paid out a prize pool of $2,456,400 the top 108 finishers.

The only question that remains, "How many bracelets will Brock Parker win or how long will his streak continue?" Congratulations to Brock Parker for making poker history as a double winner at the 2009 WSOP.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Daniel Alaei can not only claim to be a world champion poker player but he can show you the proof. He's wearing it on his wrist, a WSOP gold bracelet. Grinding his way through a star studded field of 179 player for the past three days paid off when the final all-in showdown went his way Tuesday night and he claimed the title for event #18, $10,000 World Championship Omaha Hi/Lo 8-or-better.

Alaei received $445,898 in cash plus the elusive gold and diamond bling. Scott Clements finished in second place and received $275,946 for his efforts. Ben Boyd took third and left with $182,730. Crowd favorite Daniel Negreanu made it to fourth place and collected $130,401 walk around money.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

In her first ever live poker tournament Lisa Hamilton came away with $195,390 and one of poker's most valued collectables, a gold World Series of Poker bracelet. Going into heads-up play Hamilton had an almost 3 to 1 chip lead which she used to end the match in two hands. The final table of nine ladies was over and gone in less than four hours. Lisa Hamilton will be taking all that money and bling back home to Hawaii.

Lori Bender finished second for $120,575 and Mari Lou Morelli completed the top three to receive $78,132. The ladies only event seated 1,060 entrants while collecting a prize pool of $964,600 paid out to the first 117 finishers. Congratulations to Lisa Hamilton for her victory and all the ladies that carried away some of that cash.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Brian Lemke started tough and played even tougher Monday night at the 2009 WSOP final table of Event #15, $5,000 No Limit Hold'em. Facing a serious chip deficiency didn't seem to phase Lemke during the heads-up at the final table with opponent, Fabian Quoss. Lemke stayed calm and cool as he slowly chipped away at Quoss' stacks. Finally, the two were all in and Quoss had to settle for second place when Lemke made a straight.

A shiny new WSOP gold bracelet plus $692,658 in cash went to Brian Lemke. Fabian Quosss collected $427,912 for second place and Thomas "Thunder" Keller received $280,852 for third. The event attracted 655 entrants and offered a prize pool of $3,078,500 to the top 63 finishers.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Jeffrey Lisandro picked up his second gold WSOP bracelet after winning event #15, a $1,500 buy-in Seven Stud tournament. It's the same event he won in 2007 to claim his first WSOP bracelet. Although Lisandro spends much of his time at his home in Santa Barbara, California he calls Salerno, Italy his real home. In addition to the bracelet Jeff Lisandro collected $124,975 for the win.

Second place went to Rod Pardy, Sr. from Seattle along with $77,230 in cash. Third place was scooped by Steven Stencil for a payday of $50,626.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

It was a done deal, the winner had been decided and everyone was waiting for Daniel Negreanu to take Brock's few remaining chips. It should have been so easy, after all, Negreanu had mountains of chips, tons of heavy duty experience and a player reputation that makes poker legends tremble. But Brock Parker didn't tremble, not once...guess he didn't read kid poker's book. Instead, Brock doubled up and doubled up and doubled up again. Like a short order miracle the reversal of fortunes continued until Brock Parker had all the chips and a great come from behind victory.

Brock Parker received $222,688 in cash and the gold bracelet for being the final survivor of the 367 players that started three days ago. Daniel received $138,280 and another "Oh,so close." Third place finisher, Tommi Horkko, enjoyed a nice payday of $89,660 in cash.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Daniel Negreanu with most of the chips

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Brock Parker was short-stacked, tied and almost quartered, then the cards turned

Posted by flipchipro at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

photo by jonathan • www.Jonathanboncek.com

Keven Stammen won his first WSOP bracelet on Sunday night. Kevin is no stranger to the World Series of Poker having put together four cashes during the 2008 WSOP. Topping a field of 1088 players vying for a piece of the $2,502,400 prize pool proved to be his greatest poker accomplishment to date.

Second place and $312,800 goes to Angel Guillen. Shawn Glines went out in third place and received $202,694 in cash. The top 118 finishers received money.

Congratulations to Kevin 'Stamdogg' Stammen for his victory.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Sitting at his second final table of the week, Ville Wahlbeck charged through the ranks of the 194 players taking a shot at a World Championship. This time he outlasted them all and picked up a gold bracelet and $492,375 in cash to add to his $153,000 collected for third place in the World Championship Seven-Stud event. Wahlbeck is from Helsinki, Finland and a regular on the European Poker Tour.

Well known poker pro David Chiu finished second taking $304,176 and Scott Dorin completed the top three to receive $199,940 show money.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Anthony Harb was the last man standing (actually, he was sitting behind all the chips) of the 1646 that signed up and took a seat in the 11th event of the 2009 World Series of Poker happening now at the Rio Resort Las Vegas. Showing the strain of three long days of play that saw an all-star field fall by the wayside, Harb stayed true to his game plan to play mistake free poker. It worked and now he's looking at a half million dollar plus payday. He also picked up a bracelet.

Peter Rho outlasted all but one players in his latest adventure at the 2009 WSOP and received $350,019 from the $2,995,720 prize pool paid out to the 171 top finishers. Jim Geary picked up $230,670 for third.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Rami Boukai played his best game to win the the $2,500 PLH/PLO event and claim his first WSOP bracelet. The final table took hours of play before determining a champion. When the cards settled for the last time in the heads-up match between Rami Boukai and Najib Bennani it was Boukai that would take home the golden bracelet and $244,862 in cash.

Najib Bennani had to settle for second place money, $151,335. The prize pool collected from the 453 entrants was $1,014,900 paid out to the first 45 finishers.

For those keeping score, the 2009 WSOP has fielded 13,804 players and paid out #24,180,105 in prize money through the first 10 events. Two prizes have exceeded $1 million, 1st place in Event #2 collected $1,891,018 and second place in the same event was $1,168,565.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Ken Aldridge is $428,259 richer this morning after outlasting 1458 other players in the $1.5K Six-handed NLHE event at the 2009 World Series of Poker at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas. After three days of long hours at the tables the match came down to heads-up between Ken Aldridge and Carman Cavella that lasted more than three hours before Aldridge fianlly claimed his first WSOP bracelet.

Carman Cavella collected $264,814 as first runner-up. Peter Gould took third place and pockets $170,953. The prize pool totaled $1,991,535 for the top 144 finishers.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Travis Johnson, a self proclaimed member of the "Moneymaker Effect," took $340 from his $3K playing bank and turned it into $666,853 and a gold bracelet after winning a satellite at the WSOP. The North Hills, California banker outlasted a field of 2,791 players to claim the victory in Event 7 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em.

Steve Karp finished second to receive $414,116 in cash while Mike Ciotola picked up $273,385 for show. The event amassed a prize pool of $$3,809,715 paid out to the top 297 finishers

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Phil Ivey coninued to demonstrate his prowess at major tournament poker by taking down the bracelet and $96,361 in cash. Ivey used caution and patients to his advantage, while very obviously playing for the gold bracelet.

John Monnette finished second and collected $59,587 while Yan Chen completed the top three to receive $38,892 show money. The event attracted a field of 147 players for the $2,500 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw. Congratulations to Phil Ivey for his latest triumph.

A player profile plus an exclusive interview with Phil Ivey immediately following his win conducted by Nolan Dalla, WSOP Media Director, after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

At the age of 74 years young Freddie Ellis became the 2009 World Series of Poker Seven Card Stud World Champion. Ellis had to outlast poker pro Eric Drache during a marathon heads-up session that played into the wee hours of the morning. Freddie Ellis collected his first gold WSOP bracelet and $373,751 from the $1,134,800 prize pool.

Eric Drache was playing for his first WSOP bracelet but had to take $231,014 sans bracelet. Third place went to Ville Whalberg along with $152,915 in cash. Congratulations to Freddie Ellis for his hard played victory.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Jason Mercier outlasted a field of 809 players in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Event #5 of the 2009 World Series of Poker at the Rio Las Vegas to win his first WSOP bracelet and $237,415 in cash. Second place finisher, Steven "PiKappRaider" Burkholder, had to settle for $146,748 when his trip Jacks were bested by Mercier's Jacks full.

Kevin Iacofano received $96,128 for his third place finish. The $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event offered a prize pool of $1,104,285.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Getting to the top of the pile when 6,012 poker players are vying to do the same thing involves a good deal of skill and enough luck to win the all of the all-ins. That's exactly what Steve Sung
did when he finished atop the leader board in event #4, the $1,000 "Stimulus Special" No-Limit Hold'Em tournament that set a record for number of entrants in a non-WSOP Main Event.

Second place and $473,106 went to Peter "the Greek" Vilandos of Houston, Texas. James Matz III collected $313,826 from the $5,410,800 prize pool.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

One thing about the 2009 WSOP Champions Invitational tournament was the quality of poker talent represented by the field of former WSOP Main Event winners. Every table was a table of death with this high powered group. When the cards were all on the table it was 1983 WSOP Main Event winner Tom McEvoy with all the chips and the title. Robert Varkonyi finished second in the blue-ribbon event.

Tom McEvoy said about the event, "This is the toughest field I have ever played against," possibly the poker understatement of the year. Congratulations to Tom for winning the 1970 red Corvette from the Imperial Palace Auto Collection. The rare American sports car has a 454 ci engine and has been completely restored with zero miles on the odometer.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Two gold WSOP bracelets found new owners today at the 2009 World Series of Poker at the Rio Resort Las Vegas. Both bracelets are special entries in poker's rich history.

The first bracelet went to the defending champion of the 2008 WSOP Omaha Hi/Lo $1,500 buy-in event and now the 2009 WSOP Omaha Hi/Lo $1,500 buy-in champion, Thang Luu. This last time a defending champion repeated was in 1988 when Johnny Chan scored a Main Event double. In addition, Luu finished second in the 2007 WSOP Omaha Hi/Lo $2K buy-in.

A second gold WSOP bracelet heads for Russia after Vitaly Lunkin outlasted the talent rich field of players in the $40,000 buy-in Ho-Limit Hold'Em 40th anniversary event. Vitaly also struck cash and will ferry out almost $2 million in cash. Will there be a 2nd annual $40,0000 event next year?

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

2,998 poker players entered Event #4, $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em, at the 2009 World Series of Poker with Saturday's 1A group down to 375 at quitting time. Few of poker's elite made the Day 1 cut. Sunday is already a sell-out unless the WSOP staff can locate more tables; but, no matter, this will be the largest field ever for a non-Main Event poker tournament.

Hurry on down to the Rio Las Vegas and watch poker history in the making where everyday brings enough drama for a lifetime and there's plenty of stress, too.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Friday's Event #3 of the 2009 World Series of Poker set a new record for being the largest Omaha Hi/Lo tournament in history. A prize pool of $1,253,070 was gathered from the 918 players paying the $1,500 buy-in for the event.

The previous record was the 2008 $1,500 buy-in Omaha Hi/Lo event which attracted 833 entrants seeking a piece of the $1,137,045 prize pool. Defending 2008 champion, Thang Luu, finished Day #1 as the chip leader with 73,600 in play money.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Andrew Cohen, an employee of the N9NE Steakhouse at the Palms Las Vegas, took down the first gold WSOP bracelet of the 2009 tournament. Two days of marathon play reduced the field of 866 to this moment when Cohen's pocket sixes held up and he was the champion. Andrew Cohen received $83,778 in cash, a Corum watch and the gold WSOP bracelet, the greatest prize in all of poker.

Casey Kuhn finished second for $51,778 and Grant Yasui completed the top three to receive $33,923. Stephanie Donahue of the Normandie Casino in LA was the last women to be eliminated.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

2009 World Series of Poker Event #2, $40,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em attracted a poker pro rich field of 201 players and collected a WSOP record $7,718,400. The largest prize pool ever for a non-Main Event. The winner of the event will collect $1,718,000 in cash, a Corum watch and the coveted gold WSOP bracelet.

Day #1 saw the field reduced to 89 players including 4 former WSOP Main Event Champions. The top 27 finishers will receive cash. Bruno Fitoussi finished Day #1 as the chip leader with $812, 500.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

It's officially open, the 2009 World Series of Poker got under way at Noon Wednesday as 860 entrants filled up more than half the seats in the cavernous Amazon Room at the Rio Resort Las Vegas for the year's first WSOP event. The Casino Employee tournament started by Benny Binion to show appreciation to the people that make Las Vegas the greatest vacation destination on the planet. The A few photos from the start of the 2009 WSOP Event #1.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

A few photos direct from the tournament floor of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) located at the Rio Resort Las Vegas. They were taken shortly after Midnight this morning. The satellites are in full swing with players filling seats in hopes of winning their entry into the fifty-plus events. There's a satellite to fit every budget so get to the big poker show at the Rio and stake your claim.

Event #1 gets under way today at Noon and entry is limited to casino employees. This tournament has become a long term tradition originally staged by the Godfather of the WSOP, Benny Binion.

Stop by daily for updates illustrated with plenty of Flipchip photos of the biggest poker show on the planet.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

2009 will mark the fortieth anniversary of the World Series of Poker. It was 1970 when Benny Binion invited a half dozen of the world's best poker players to come and play in a game of high stakes poker and decide by vote the world's best poker player. Poker legend Johnny Moss won the very first title that was decided by a vote of his 5 peers that year and then went on to win two more world champion poker player titles after the freeze out format was adopted in 1971. Benny Binion's son, Jack Binion, is credited with naming the new freeze-out format poker tournament the "World Series of Poker."

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The only three time Main Event champion that won all three titles was the poker genesis, Stuey "The KId" Ungar. Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Stu Ungar are the only WSOP champions to chalk up back-to-back titles. Phil Hellmuth is in a class unto himself with a number of WSOP records - most bracelets, most final tables, most cashes, and for almost twenty years he held the record for youngest player (24) to win a Main Event. Peter Eastgate eclipsed Hellmuth's youth record last year when he won the Series first 'Main Event in November' at the young age of 22.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

In 1970 there were six players invited to play in the Championship game, in 2006 8,773 poker players made their way to the WSOP poker room at the Rio Resort for the main event. The World Series of Poker moved to the Rio Resort from Binion's Horseshoe in 2005, returning downtown for one last time to play the Main Event final table won by Joseph Hachem, the last WSOP Main Event Champion crowned at the downtown Horseshoe. Jamie Gold collected the record WSOP winner's purse of $12 million in 2006.

photo courtesy WSOP

What's new and better this year? Past performance indicates the 2009 WSOP will be the best yet. A $40,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament (event #2) has been added to celebrate the 40th anniversary. ESPN360 will stream live broadcasts online of 24 final tables. The official name of the 2009 WSOP is World Series of Poker Presented by Jack Link's Beef Jerky. "PokerPalooza! Part trade show, part carnival, all fun!" says the Harrah's promo.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

With Las Vegas daytime temperatures hitting triple digits the poker rooms around town are seeing increased business as poker players from around the world begin to make their way to the summer's big poker show, the 2009 World Series of Poker. This is the mother of all poker tournaments, the original poker tournament, and the WSOP is turning forty this year.

Celebrations for the 40th ruby anniversary will be centered around a $40K Buy-In No-Limit Hold'em tournament event #2, Noon, May 28 and continuing for 4 days. Expect to see a large contention of professionals vying for this one. Of course, there will be plenty of dead money in the prize pool. What better place to be seen while chasing a fortune in prize money than the 2009 WSOP. An abundance of fame comes attached to this bracelet. I wonder if the diamonds will be supplemented by a few rubies?

Once again I will be a part of the Poker News team providing live coverage from the floor of the World Series of Poker's huge poker room located in the Rio Hotel and Casino's Pavillion expo center. Following last year's Main Event split schedule ratings success, the 2009 $10K Main Event will begin play in July and end with a final table in November.

Stay tuned for updates to the rapidly approaching 2009 WSOP, the poker event of the year.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Original RC Clark/LasVegasVegas News post

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Just a couple weeks and already the 2009 World Series of Poker will be upon us.

The WSOP runs May 27 through July 15 and this year marks the 40th anniversary.

On weekends between May 30 and June 28, Harrah's will host exclusive strategy seminars with Doyle Brunson and Mike Caro. Meet and greets with Brunson and Caro will also take place July 2 through July 5.

No reservations required, just show up at the Rio.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

This year's 40th anniversary World Series of Poker final table will once again be delayed.

We're a fan of poker as a stamina sport, but apparently Harrah's (which owns WSOP) crunched the numbers and found delaying profitable, so we have it again.

The $10,000-buy-in main event will also again run through the July 4th holiday, which in Las Vegas, isn't that big (in fact, there are barely any fireworks, at least not as many as New Year's Eve).

The WSOP main event starts July 3 with multiple first and second days, then dwindles to the final table on July 15.

Then ESPN will swarm the 9 remaining players (maybe they'll do a reality show this time) as they cover what they're up to in the months-long intermission.

The players will regroup on Nov. 7, and play will continue until there's one winner.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

All In Energy drink has inked a multi-year sponsorship agreement with the World Series of Poker®. For those that don't know, the principals of the drink company are WSOP 10 bracelet winner Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, Clonie Gowen, Scotty Nguyen, and Layne Flack plus dozens of other poker pros.

All In energy drinkers can get an invite to the ALL IN Invitational Tournament held at the Rio® All Suites & Hotel during the WSOP. Your on-line purchases of All In energy drink and purified water will be tabulated and the top 1,000 plus players will be seated in the $100,000 guaranteed freeroll. For more information go to www.allinenergy.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Gaming Expo (G2E) is in town and packing them in at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Industry movers and shakers from around the world are in Las Vegas to decide what casinos and gambling games will look like in the upcoming years. This is the big one that displays the gaming industry manufacturers' wares for the buyers to see and play.

The WSOP has set up a poker room and holds two poker tournaments a day with a select professional play and WSOP TD, Jack Effel, running the show. Our visit to the G2E on Wednesday found a lot of interested attendees watching the WSOP action. The PokerPro booth with the dealerless tables had also drawn a large crowd.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

History was made at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas, when 23-year old Peter Eastgate from Denmark won the 2008 WSOP Main Event Championship. The young Scandi broke Phil Hellmuth's 19-year old record when he beat Ivan Demidov heads up for the victory. Peter Eastgate won $9,152,416, while Demidov collected $5,809,595 for second place.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Action was paused once Dennis Phillips busted out in third place. The final two returned on Monday night for the showdown. Before cards went in the air, there was a Player of the Year ceremony honoring Erick Lindgren for his sensational overall performance at the 2008 WSOP. Everyone's favorite FullTilt pro finally won his first bracelet in $5,000 Limit/No Limit Hold'em. He cashed five times at the 2008 WSOP and made three final tables overall including a fourth place finish in $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball and a valiant third place finish in $50,000 H.O.R.S.E.. In case you were wondering, Lindgren also had a 10th and 18th place finish this summer.

"This is awesome. I can't believe all of you are here to watch poker!" joked Lindgren. "One of my best friends, Daniel Negreanu, have won this award. It's truly an honor."

More after the jump...

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by the flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The November Nine was finally upon us! After a 117 day layoff, the final able of the 2008 WSOP Main Event resumed play. The location was shifted to the Penn & Teller Theatre at the Rio where the final table set up was reconstructed on the main stage. The audience was packed with media reps from all over the world and plenty of spectators that included friends and family of the November Nine.

photos by the flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Dennis Phillips had the largest contingency. He had over 350 people fly in from St. Louis. They all dressed just like Phillips and sported a white oxford shirt (with plenty of logos) and a red St. Louis Cardinals baseball hat.

photos by the flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Some of the biggest names in poker where in attendance including Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, Phil Gordon, Barry Greenstien, The Grinder, Johnny Bax, and Chris Moneymaker.

Action was scheduled to start at 10:23am and there was a short delay. The 2007 WSOP champion Jerry Yang kicked off the festivities by saying, "Shuffle up and deal."

More after the jump....

photos by the flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by the flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

We are hours away from the legendary call to "Shuffle Up and Deal!" The call to begin play after the longest layoff in WSOP history should come at approximately 10:20 AM PST Sunday morning. The November Nine will look at the hole cards and the battle will begin for the top prize in all of poker, the World Championship of Poker. Along with the title the winner will receive $9,152,416 in cash and the fabled WSOP Championship Bracelet.

For the web's best updates live from the final table in the Penn & Teller Theater click here for Dr. Pauly's Blog Tao of Poker. Another good source of quick information is available at PokerNews Live Reporting. You'll also get Flipchip photos of the action. For the best in Final Table Recaps this is as far as you need to go. Dr. Pauly will keep you up to date on all the action on and off the final table in his special style you've come to favor and of course there will be plenty of Flipchip's in-your-face images from the event.

Watch the final table in the fastest turn around ever for a WSOP event on Tuesday, November 11th, at 9-11 PM ET. Within hours, almost live, of the final river hitting the board ESPN will bring you two hours of final table play leading to the crowning of the 2008 World Series of Poker's wortld poker player champion. Don't miss a minute of this highly anticipated finale.

For those wanting a refresher and a player guide to the 2008 WSOP Final Table check out our 2008 WSOP Final Table Nine Guide

Need more good stuff to read from the WSOP then click for Dr. Pauly's latest WSOP final table post and comment.

Can't get enough of WSOP poker? Use the following links for easy access to Dr.Pauly's daily Recaps of the WSOP Main Event.

Main Event Day 1A Recap

Main Event Day 1B Recap

Main Event Day 1C Recap

Main Event Day 1D Recap

Main Event Day 2A Recap

Main Event Day 2B Recap

Main Event Day 3 Recap

Main Event Day 4 Recap

Main Event Day 5 Recap

Main Event Day 6 Recap

Main Event Day 7 Recap

A table of the updated final table prize payouts are available after the jump.

photos by the flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by the flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Sunday, November 9th, is the day all of us poker freaks have been waiting to arrive for the past 137 days. The longest break in WSOP Main Event history will finally end at 10 AM Sunday morning in the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas. The nine remaining poker players from the 6844 that started the event back in July will take their seats and do battle for the $32 million at stake.

We have compiled a list of the players including seat assignment, chip count, bio, and a morning line for each. Our pick for all the marbles is Dennis Phillips, the chip leader. Who will be playing heads-up? Dennis Phillips and David "Chino" Rheems are our picks to square off for the $9.2 million first place money and bracelet.

Meet the November Nine after the jump.

photos by the flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Tonight at 9 PM ET on ESPN2 - two hours of original programming from the 2008 World Series of Poker™. This is the last installments before the final table reconvenes in two weeks following the 117 day break. Twenty-seven players are all that's left from the 6844 that started the event two weeks earlier. Tonight's action will see the number reduced to the final table nine.

Tune in for televised poker at its' best. Watch as the stress of playing for millions of dollars takes a heavy toll on the players. Catch the moment of defeat when the final river card deflates and a player's dreams of poker immotality are gone in an instant. The adrenalin is running high, chips are flying and one wrong decision can cost a player millions in cash.

The action gets under way at 9 PM ET on the ESPN Sports Network; but as always, check local listings for exact times in your area. Next week's two hours of WSOP poker will be a review of the upcoming final table. More Flipchip photos from Day 7 of the Main Event after the jump.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The final two days of the 2008 WSOP are almost here. Soon we will finally know who is the 2008 World Champion of Poker. It all begins on Sunday, November 9th, at 10 AM PST. The November Nine will take their seats at the final table at the Rio All-Suite Resort and commence play. They will continue until only two players remain, then they will adjourn until Monday November 10th.

Heads-up play will begin at 10 PM on Monday and continue until the final all-in and a call that determines the champion. The players are vying for $32 million in cash and one diamond encrusted platinum bracelet, the most coveted prize in all of poker.

The final table is set to take place in the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio Resort. Even if you can't make it to the live show you'll still be treated to a same day showing of all the action from each day on the ESPN Sports network and you'll see it up close in HD.

Stop by later for this weeks mini-gallery of Flipchip photos from Day 7 of the Main Event. WSOP poker on ESPN will premier another two hours of original programming from Day 7 at 9 PM ET on Tuesday evening. Mark it down because you don't want to miss this weeks WSOP poker action - the players are few, the stacks are huge and the stakes are astronomical.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Seventeen days remain before the final table of the 2008 WSOP Main Event will reconvene on November 9th. Nine players will battle over the course of two days for their share of the more than $32 million that remains in the prize pool. The winner will walk away with a cool $9.1 million in cash and poker's most elusive treasure, the championship Bracelet. Six of the nine players will become instant multi-millionaires. The first player out goes home with $900 thousand in cash.

Tune into ESPN tonight for the latest 2 hour installment of the WSOP Main Event Day 6 from the Rio Resort in Las Vegas. Check out the mega stacks of chips in front of the lucky dogs. Watch for the moment of anguish when players realize their quest for immortality ended at the river. Follow Tiffany Michelle as she becomes the last woman with chips and a chair while many of the male hopefuls flameout and fall back to reality. Oh well, maybe the 2009 WSOP will be their time to win all of their all-ins.

The two hours of WSOP poker tonight begin at 9 PM/ET. As always, be sure to check out local listing for exact times in your area. More Flipchip photos after the jump. All of today's photos were taken during Day 6 of the 2008 WSOP Main Event and include the final table nine.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

More Flipchip photos from Day 5 of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Personal favorites, well known faces, pretty faces, group shots, and the cavernous WSOP poker room at the Rio, almost empty at the close of Day 5.

Photos continue after the jump.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

ESPN continues the countdown to the November final table of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. With more than $9 million going to the winner what are the November Nine doing to improve their chances of taking home the prize? What would you do? Hire a playing coach? Read everything on the subject of playing major tournament poker? Study game films? Play major tournament poker? All of the above?

The wait is almost over with only three more Tuesday night WSOP shows remaining before we know which players spent their time wisely and came prepared to win. While we're waiting for the big finale make it a point to tune into ESPN's original WSOP poker programming tonight.

The two hours of WSOP poker tonight begin at a new time, 9 PM/ET. As always, be sure to check out local listing for exact times in your area. More Flipchip photos after the jump. All of today's photos were taken during day 5 of the Main Event.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Another Tuesday night means two hours of 2008 WSOP Main Event poker on ESPN Sports TV. Tune in tonight at 8:00 PM ET for the start of the big poker show on ESPN2. Be sure to check listings for exact times in your viewing area. As we count off the weeks leading to the November 9 final table of the Main Event check out a new group of Flipchip photos taken last summer on the tournament floor at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas.

All photos were taken on Day #4 of the 2008 Main Event. More after the jump.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Start the week with a dozen unpublished poker faces from the 2008 Main Event. All of today's Flipchip photos were taken on Day 3 at the Rio resort in Las Vegas. Player's chip stacks are becoming large as the checks are consolidated following the mass of player eliminations.

More photos after the jump.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

PokerStars is offering a chance to win a piece of the November 9.

The November 9, of course, is the World Series of Poker's final table comprising the nine remaining players that will duke it out on Nov. 9.

Stars has invested in six of the players, and will be hosting a $100,000 freeroll (500 FPP required for entry) for each player every Sunday beginning Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. ET.

In addition, if you make it to the top 100, you'll receive 0.01% of that player's eventual winnings from the final table.

Freeroll schedule (all begin 4 p.m. ET):

Oct. 5: David "Chino" Rheem
Oct. 12: Darus Suharto
Oct. 19: Ylon Schwartz
Oct. 26: Peter Eastgate
Nov. 2: Ivan Demidov
Nov. 9: Dennis Phillips

Let's see... every player is guaranteed to take away $900,670. So if you make the top 100 in any of the six tournaments, you'll receive an extra $90.07.

First place to this year's WSOP winner is $9,119,517, so if you're in the top 100 for that player's tourney, you'll get $919.52 extra.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Another two hours of original programming from the ESPN crew from the Rio Resort in Las Vegas. The almost record field of 6,844 players is getting down to a manageable number as players bust out at a rapid pace. The growing chip stacks have become formidable weapons of mass elimination wielded by the lucky holders. Short stacked players are typically faced with an all-in when aggressively pursuing a pot. By the end of Day 2B 842 players will remain to join the 466 that survived Day 2A for a total of 1308 players returning to play Day 3.

Grab a seat, stack up the snacks, open a cool one and sit back for tonight's offering on ESPN2. The show starts at 8:00 pm EST but you'll want to check local listings for exact times in your area and of course, it's in ESPN Hi-Def so you'll have the best seat in the house.

More Flipchip photos captured during Day 2B of the 2008 WSOP Main Event after the jump.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Another selection of Flipchip Poker Face photos from the 2008 WSOP Main Event. All of these poker players were captured on day 2A. All had survived their Day 1 and were back for the second go-around. Most of them are not household names and you'll probably never see them on the TV poker shows; but, they are all poker players and they are playing in the most famous poker tournament in the world, the World Series of Poker Main Event. The $10,000 buy-in grand daddy of all poker tournaments has grown from the few poker crazies that showed up in 1970 to the almost seven thousand that crowded the Rio Resort Pavilion this past summer.
Only one of today's poker faces survived all of the rounds to make the final table. David Rheems will return in November to play the coveted final table that offers the winner incredible riches, fame, immortality and the most important prize of all, the WSOP World Poker Championship Bracelet.

More photos after the jump.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Another batch of Flipchip photos from the 2008 WSOP held at the Rio resort in Las Vegas this past summer. Today's offering features group photos from Day 2A. Some of the surviving players are beginning to amass large stacks of chips and many of the "poker faces" are starting to show the fatigue of long hours at the tables over the past five weeks.

Day two is a pivotal point that gives the survivors confidence and hope of making the money list. The fall out rate accelerates as the larger chip stacks come into play, especially late in the day when most of these photos were taken. Stop by over the weekend for more of Flipchip's poker faces from the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

More photos after the jump.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

A selection of Flipchip poker face photos from the 2008 WSOP Main Event at the Rio Resort Las Vegas. All of the images were taken on Day 1D of the Main Event. A small sampling from the nearly seven thousand players that paid $10,000 for the privilege to play in the historic event, all hoping to make a little history of their own.

More Flipchip poker faces after the jump.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Tuesday brings the next two hours of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. As always it starts at 8 pm EST on ESPN and as always, check local listing for times in your area. With 6844 players paying the $10K for a seat the first day of the Main Event was spread over four days which resulted in two Day 2's. In fact, the players were not combined until we were a week into the event.

Tuesday night expect to see a continuation of last week's Day 1 action. As usual, many of the professional players were scheduled for Day 1 play on Day 1 C and D. Settle in Tuesday with a load of snacks and brews for another two hours of poker from the most exciting poker tournament on the planet, the WSOP at the Rio resort in Las Vegas.

Another dozen Flipchip photos direct from the 2008 WSOP Main Event after the jump.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Its the event we've all been waiting for. The first two hours of the scheduled twenty-two hours of coverage of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Beginning tonight at 8 pm EST on ESPN (check schedules in your area for exact times) will be the granddaddy of all poker tournaments, the $10,000 WSOP No-Limit Hold'em World Championship. Every Tuesday we'll get two hours of the 2008 Main Event until November 11 when the final table is finally played and a 2008 Champion is crowned.

Dr. Pauly's daily recap for Day 1A and Day 1B is a must read for tonight's TV poker show. A selection of Flipchip photos from the 2008 WSOP main event Day 1A and 1B after the jump.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Are you ready for poker? This is the last two hour episode before next week's start of the marathon coverage of the 2008 WSOP Main Event lasting until we finally play the final table in November. Tuesday evening at 8:00 pm EST (check local listing for times in your area) will bring the $10K Pot Limit Omaha World Championship into the comfort of your home. This final table features poker professionals Kiddo Pham and Robert Mizrachi doing battle with seven other not so well known but just as tough hopefuls.

A starting field of 381 players contributed to the $3,581,400 prize pool that pays 36 places. The winner will walk away with $859,549 in cash and one gold WSOP bracelet. The following list is a little program to help you keep track of the final table players with their seat assignments, hometowns, and chip counts.

Seat 1 - Kido Pham - Dallas, TX - 1,080,000
Seat 2 - Brandon Moran - Chicago, IL - 1,286,000
Seat 3 - Peter Jetten - Toronto, Canada - 492,000
Seat 4 - Michael Mizrachi - Las Vegas, NV - 1,767,000
Seat 5 - Billy Argyros - Melbourne, Australia - 729,000
Seat 6 - Greg Hurst - Tazewell, TN - 637,000
Seat 7 - Tom Hanlon - Dublin, Ireland - 192,000
Seat 8 - Marty Smyth - Belfast, Ireland - 1,068,000
Seat 9 - Richard Harroch - San Francisco, CA - 372,000

More Flipchip photos after the jump. All photos were taken during the three days of play of WSOP event #50, $10K Pot Limit Omaha World Championship.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

If two hours of poker on ESPN tonight isn't enough to get the adrenalin flowing then maybe these images will help. More of Flipchip's favorite poker faces from the 2008 WSOP. The second installment of views from the tournament floor, up close and personal. I hope to replicate the views a player has from a seat in the Big Poker Show, so whether you were at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas, or not, you can experience a few photos of the view.

All of today's poker faces were photographed on day 1 of the 2008 WSOP Event #1. A dozen photos after the jump...

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

When does a world championship poker event not determine the best poker player in the world? When its the WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship. Of course, we all know this is the true race for the best poker player in the world and you don't have to go much farther than the roll call of previous H.O.R.S.E. champions for proof. In the inaugural 2006 event the player considered by many to be the best all-around poke player was winner Chip Reese. The 2007 event crowned poker professional Freddy Deeb as the champion.

Even though the two hours of coverage for $50K H.O.R.S.E. event is over shadowed by the $10K Main Event's twenty-two hours of television it remains the event that the pros consider the most difficult to win. As the name "H.O.R.S.E." implies players must be masters of five vastly different poker games - Hold'em, Omaha, Razz, Stud and Eight or better. To survive the five grueling days of intense competition requires in-depth multi-game knowledge combined with endurance. This is especially true when considering the field is composed of professional poker's who's who. The final table seat roster and chip counts with the number of WSOP bracelets each player has won shown in parenthesis:

Seat 1: Matt Glantz 1,445,000
Seat 2: Huck Seed 1,200,000 (4)
Seat 3: Patrick Bueno 695,000
Seat 4: Lyle Berman 1,430,000 (3)
Seat 5: Scotty Nguyen 3,535,000 (5)
Seat 6: Barry Greenstein 1,955,000 (3)
Seat 7: Michael DeMichele 905,000
Seat 8: Erick Lindgren 3,680,000 (1)

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

A blue ribbon panel of poker players take a seat Tuesday night on ESPN at 8 PM EST. This bunch has a collection of 16 WSOP bracelets (includes the one Scotty wins for this event). Be sure to check local listing in your area for exact times of Tuesday's two hours of WSOP poker from ESPN Sports.

H.O.R.S.E.is one of my favorites to photograph with the star studded fields and a high dollar prize pool guaranteeing a prevailing air of excitement. One hundred forty-eight players began the event vying for a massive $7,104,000 prize pool. Tuesday's final table eight are playing for more than $5.25 million of the purse with the winner taking home $1,989,120 and the very special gold bracelet. This final table took 314 hands spread out over 13 hours of play to complete. You'll be seeing two hours gleaned from the actual 13 hours of the marathon final table.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

A selection of Flipchip photos from the five days of the event are waiting after the jump...

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Tuesday night is poker night on ESPN. Even when the world's attention is turned into synchronized swimming, badminton, saber dueling and BB gun shooting some of you would rather be watching a few card players doing battle for a large pile of money. This week's, Tuesday August 12th, 2 hour installment, episodes 7 & 8, of exclusive coverage of the 2008 WSOP offers WSOP Event #5, $1,000 Buy-In No-Limit Hold'em with rebuys.

With a prize pool of $2,894,094 at stake the 766 starting players did a total of 2,258 rebuys. The top 72 players get paid at least $8,103. The winner takes home $636,736 and a gold bracelet. The Day 1 crowd included many well known pros including a number of past WSOP Main Event champions. By the end of the second day the crowd had been reduced to the final table nine, a final table without a single WSOP ME Champion.

The action begins Tuesday at 8:00 PM EST on ESPN; but, be sure to check local TV listings for exact times in your area. Take a break from the "other" sporting event happening in China and enjoy some high stakes poker. Another dozen Flipchip photos from the three days of the event after the jump...

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

I'm continuing work with the 2008 WSOP images so today's offering is more photos from the Big Poker Show. Most are up-close moments of concentration from some familiar faces and some not so familiar faces. This gives me an opportunity to display some of my favorite shots from the 47 days of big-time poker at the Rio resort in Las Vegas. All photos were taken at the 2008 WSOP at the Rio Resort Las Vegas.

Another dozen pics after the jump...

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Prepare yourself for another two hours of poker from the 2008 WSOP at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas. This weeks offering of installment #3 features Event #4 - $5,000 Buy-In Mixed Hold'em. For those that don't know the mix its alternating levels of Limit and No-Limit Hold'em. Listed by starting chip count with seat number in parenthesis, Tuesday night's final table will showcase - (3) David "Chino" Rheem 885,000 - (6) David Williams 678,500 - (7) Justin Bonomo 517,500 - (9) Erick Lindgren 345,000 - (1) Howard Lederer 324,500 - (2) Roland de Wolfe 194,000 - (8) Andrew Robl 162,000 - (5) Isaac Haxton 115,500 - (4) Pat Pezzin 108,500.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The event attracted 332 hopefuls vying for a prize pool of $1,560,400. The winner will receive $374,505 and a coveted gold bracelet. With the likes of Howard Lederer, David Williams, and Erick Lindgren this final table promises to be a tough road for the eventual champion.

Erick Lindgren is often referred to as the world's best poker player without a WSOP bracelet; but, that all changes on this night. As the saying goes, "Every dog has its day," and this day belongs to E-Dog. Even though Justin Bonomo began heads-up play with a 1,983,000 to 1,340,000 chip advantage he couldn't overcome the hard charging Lindgren and had to settle for second place and $230,159.

More photos after the jump of some of the well known players that didn't make the final table

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The first 2008 WSOP Flipchip Photo Gallery is finally available. The 54 winners of the events can be seen in living color and hi-rez quality. For your convenience we've included the amount of prize money carted away by each of the 54 bracelet winners.

As always, all of the photos in the Flipchip Photo Galleries are available and offered per our Creative Commons License. Click the handy link above and check out the 2008 WSOP Champions. We'll be adding the final championship photo of the 2008 Main Event Champion on November 11th.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Sorting and cataloging the thousands of image shot during the 47 days of the 2008 WSOP is a mind numbing chore that requires hundreds of hours. I'm reliving the 55 events frame-by-frame so thought it would be appropriate to offer up some of my favorites gleaned from the mass. As expected from an old chauvinistic photographer, my choices trend toward the small percentage of females that take a seat at the tables.

I've selected a dozen or so images to spice up tonight's WSOP Poker Fest on ESPN. While you're watching the guys shove chips back and forth check out the ladies. Many more Flipchip WSOP photos will follow in the upcoming weeks.

Another dozen photos after the jump...

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

WSOP Episode #2 premiers Tuesday evening on ESPN at 8 PM EST. Times vary depending on your location so be sure to check local listings for the exact schedule in your area. A record field for this first $1,500 buy-in No-Limirt Hold'em event finally topped out with 3,929 players to make it the largest non main event live poker tournament ever. It also set a record for the largest prize pool for a $1,500 buy-in event without rebuys at $5,363,085. Tuesday night's final table nine will take home $2,906,436 from the record setting purse.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Tuesday's final table is not just another table full of poker hopefuls wishing for a miracle. Included on the list of nine is the 2000 WSOP Main Event World Champion Chris "Jesus" Ferguson looking from under the black hat to win his sixth WSOP gold bracelet. Under the other black hat at the final table is well known poker pro David Bach seeking his first WSOP gold. Poker millionaire Theo Tran will be there trying to strike the mother lode and carry away his first WSOP golden bracelet.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

This final table will go to the heads-up play for all the marbles after Jesus is eliminated in the third spot leaving a couple of relatively unknown players, Grant Hinkle and James Akenhead. For more than two hours the two tip toed around each other with neither willing to do much gambling. The first bet at the pot often takes it down with few hands going past the turn card.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The four day event finally comes down to the final hand and a most fitting finish to the biggest non main event poker tournament. With Akenhead all-in and covered by Grant Hinkle's call the showdown reveals Hinkle's hole cards of 10-4 of diamonds to Akenhead's favored Big Slick. The flop comes 10,4,10 giving Hinkle a full house and Akenhead a migraine headache. His only out is a miracle of runner-runner Aces or Kings. All his hopes are dashed when the fourth 10 comes on the turn to give Hinkle quads for the win and Akenhead second place.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Grant Hinkle takes home $831,462 and the bracelet. James Akenhead received $520,219 for his bad beat second place finish. Chris Ferguson drives away in his red Ferrari with $388,287 and Theo Tran takes $327,148 for his fourth place. David Bach collected $117,987 after going out in eight place.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Are you ready for some poker? The first installment from the 2008 World Series of Poker premiers tonight on ESPN at 8 PM EST. Join hosts Norm Chad and Lon McEachern as they provide the running commentary for the first of 17 weeks of WSOP poker. That's over thirty hours from the most exciting poker tournament in the world, the WSOP.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Tonight's episode will feature the $10,000 Buy-in Pot-Limit Hold'em World Championship from the Rio Resort in Las Vegas. A total of 352 players vying for a prize pool of $3,308,800 in this first event of the 2008 WSOP. Supplement tonights viewing experience with Dr. Pauly's final table recap of the event right here on the Poker Prof's Poker Blog.

Set up the laptop, grab some brews, surround yourself with snacks and settle in for an evening of poker from the 2008 WSOP. This is great training for the soon to be here 2008 NFL pre-season games. So, are you ready for some football...and poker, too? The 17 consecutive weeks of Tuesday night WSOP poker on ESPN will take us to the November 9 same day coverage of the 2008 Main Event final tablewhen the November Nine will be competing for more than $9 million.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, David "Chino" Rheem could be resolving an outstanding arrest warrant from Hollywood, Florida while the remaining eight 2008 Main Event finalist are vying for the $9 million. Rheem failed to show up in court for a misdemeanor trespassing charge from 2003. He also has prior felony convictions from Broward County Florida dating back 8 years.

So what does this have to do with the November final table? Nothing I hope. David Rheem is the early favorite to take it all and he is also the only recognizable player among the 2008 November Nine. Promoting this group will, at best, be difficult and to have David out would make it impossible..."Tune in November 9th to watch all the excitement of eight people you never heard of and aren't likely to hear from again going nose-to-nose for the title of World's Best Poker Player."

Following closely on the heels of the Tiffany Michele greed fest over the Poker News logos and the Ultimate Bet superuser cheating scam makes this latest revelation even more difficult to handle. Not exactly the publicity needed from the biggest spectacle in poker to provide a positive spin for the efforts to legalize online poker rooms. Does this mean next years WSOP entry form will come with a background check? Anyone want to venture an over/under on the number of felony convictions among this year's other 6,843 main event players?

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The WSOP main event has reached the money. Cashing in the WSOP is a prestigious moment in any poker player's life. At the 2008 WSOP, the top 666 players won prize money.

Here's some quick stats:

Number of Entries: 6,844
Net Prize Pool: $64,333,600
First Place Prize: $9,119,517
Total Spots Paid Out: 666
Players Remaining: 79

So far through Day 5, places 80-666 won prize money.

Check out the first 587 money winners after the jump

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Having spent the last 47 days camping out in the Amazon Room at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas I filled my notebook with a long list of trivial happenings, sights, overheard comments, facts, rumors, miracles, controversy, bad beats, obscene piles of money, dead money, four dollar coffee, insanity, and images. In fact, more than thirty thousand images. That's almost one third of the life expectancy of a pro digital camera shutter.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

I thought this year's Big Poker Show was well organized and managed by the Harrah's WSOP staff, guess they are learning from past mistakes. The "no excessive celebration" rule kept the player crowd at bay and at times the Amazon Room was as quiet as a golf tournament when Woods is putting for the win. This brings up an interesting question, what footage will ESPN use to pimp the 2008 WSOP TV series? Considering the committee created drought of any spontaneous jubilation could mean we'll be watching yawn-fest 2008 promos this time next year.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

When is the "decision of the floor is final" rule not really a rule or final? When the decision is directed toward one of poker's elite stars that can speed dial the Poker Commish and demand a reversal. Such was the case when Hellmuth was assessed a one orbit sit out penalty for excessively berating a fellow player after suffering a bad beat. Turns out, as Hellmuth explained, he was just beefing up his bad boy image for the ESPN cameras. I wonder if a "no excessive whinning" rule should be added to the don't-do-it list? Probably yes, if the WSOP corporate owner's pursuit of sanitizing the event is carried to completion.

Most of us know the root cause for excessive anything at the poker show...money. Chomp, chomp, chomping sharks ala Humberto Brenes or Crazy Man impressions from Rain Khan may have been a bit over the top last year; but, they certainly attracted the attention of the ESPN cameras and that guarantees airtime for sponsor logos and that delivers bonus money to the player. And that brings us to what will probably be the biggest story to come out of this year's WSOP. The last day feud between Tiffany Michele and her original sponsor and employer, Poker News, plus the untouchables at Ultimate Bet.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The young lady is alleged to have entered into an agreement to pimp Ultimate Bet unbeknown to Poker News. Ultimate Bet apparently was out-biding the other online rooms in their efforts to convince the online poker community that the dirty rotten scoundrels that absconded with zillions taken from unsuspecting players in a cheating scheme were now nothing more than a bad memory. Why else would such big names as the Poker Man himself identify with known cheats?

Apparently without consulting anyone at Poker News Tiffany showed up on day 6 all decked out in Ultimate Bet logos from top to toes. As an event photographer for Poker News it became apparent a shot of her that included visible Poker News logos was going to be difficult. The damage had been done and as we all know its not nice to fool with the G. All sides will probably lawyer up to decide this one in the courts. Anyone have an over/under on the amount Tiffany will end up with from the $334,534 she won for 17th place? Depending on the claimed damages to Poker News she could possible end up owing money.

For much more detailed and way better researched information click over to Dr. Pauly's Tao of Poker. Read the Official Statement from Poker News Here.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

It was the moment that everyone was waiting for. After 46 days of the World Series of Poker, the $10,000 Main Event championship played down from 27 to the final nine. Those lucky nine players were dubbed The November Nine since the final table will not be played out until November.

The Buzz: Action on Day 7 of the Main Event started out with 27 players and was complete when nine players remained. The November nine includes... Dennis Phillips, Craig Marquis, Ylon Schwartz, Scott Montgomery, Darus Suharto, David 'Chino' Rheem, Ivan Demidov, Kelly Kim, and Peter Eastgate. Sadly, Dean Hamrick bubbled off the final table in 10th place.

The Back Story: In the age of poker agents and endorsement deals, one of the subplots involved what online site would each player wear.... Poker Stars, Full Tilt, or Ultimate Bet.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Sight of the Day: Joe Bishop had several festive friends on the rail who bought him an expensive bottle of Dom Perignon which he shared with his tablemates and the players on the featured TV table.

Quote of the day: "Year of the pros? This is more like the year of the marginal pro," said Shane 'Shaniac' Schelger.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 7 Eliminations: Joe Bishop, Chris Klodnicki, Nicholas Sliwinski, Gert Andersen, Owen 'ocrowe' Crowe, Anthony Scherer, Tiffany 'Hot Chips' Michelle, Jason Riesenberg, Albert Kim, Brandon Cantu, Paul Snead, Judet Toni Cristian, Tim Loecke, Aaron Gordon, Niklas Flisberg, Phi Nguyen, and Michael Carroll.

That's it for now. The 2008 WSOP Main Event is currently on hiatus until November.

Stay tuned for some Flipchip photos of the November Nine.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

79 players returned to the Rio Sunday afternoon and by day's end, the final nine tables had shrunk to the final three. 27 players will return tomorrow to determine who will be the "November Nine."

The Buzz:The one-round penalty Phil Hellmuth received at the conclusion of Day 5 was overturned at the start of play today. Hellmuth met with Harrah's executives and WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, claiming that he was beefing up his "Poker Brat" act for the cameras. They bought it, and let him off with a severe warning. Had Hellmuth sat out his entire penalty, he would have lost 81,000 in blinds and antes, or approximately 11% of his remaining stack.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The Back Story:Tiffany Michelle is making an incredible run and hopes to become the first woman in over 13 years (and the second woman ever) to make the final table of the WSOP Main Event. Tiffany boasted one of the biggest stacks all day and along with Mike Matusow, the only remaining "name" professional, commanded the majority of the media attention. Matusow, however ended his Main Event run shortly after the dinner break with a 30th place finish.

Sight of the Day: After Phil Hellmuth busted out in 45th place, hordes of tourists streamed out of the final table area, leaving the Amazon Room relatively deserted for the remainder of the day.

Quote of the Day: "ESPN has spiritual people from all over the world praying for Tiffany. It would make for great TV if she made the final table," said Flipchip.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 6 Eliminations: Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Peter Neff, Andrew Rosskamm, Felix Osterland, Craig Stein, Mauro Lupo, Kido Pham, Jonathan Plens, Jason Glass, Chris Crilly, Nhan Le, Adam 'Roothlus' Levy, Aaron Keay, Allen Kennedy, Alfredo Fernandez, Mark Ketteringham, Alan Gould, Alex Outhred, Rafael Caiaffa, Eric Bamer, Jeremy Joseph, Jeremy Gaubert, Justin Sadauskas, David Saab, Mark Owens, Thomas Keller, Geert Jans, Brian Tatum, Victor Ramdin, Larry Wright, Chris Zapf, Justin Scott, Suresh Prabhu, Sean Davis, Terry Lade, James McManus, Daniel Buzgon, David Benefield, Jamal Sawaqdeh, Keith Hawkins, Lisa Parsons, Mark Wilds, Matt Matros, and Bob Whalen.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Big Stacks: Brandon Cantu jumped out to over 10 million to take the chip lead early in the day after making a full house against Nikolay Losev only to lose almost all of it on an ill-timed bluff against Craig Marquis. Marquis ended the day with 11.5 million, while Dennis Phillips is the leader with 11.9 million. Tiffany Michelle ended the day third in chips with a shade under 10 million.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

189 players returned to the Rio on Saturday afternoon, still in the hunt for the $9.1 million first place prize. Play was halted after four levels with 79 players remaining.

The Buzz: Today was the day that previously unknown and unaffiliated players started showing up to play with logos for online poker sites and energy drinks plastered onto their shirts and caps.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The Backstory: Phil Hellmuth is the only former Main Event champion remaining in the field. Late in the day, he was moved to the ESPN Featured Table, joining Mike Matusow, who spent the duration of Day 5 playing under the glare of the TV lights. A huge crowd gathered in the bleachers to watch these two legendary trash-talkers match wits. Just when it looked like it was going to be a boring matchup, Hellmuth imploded on the last hand so much so that TD Steve Frezer had to issue him a one orbit penalty which he will serve at the start of Day 6.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Sight of the Day: Once a sea of poker tables, most of the Amazon Room was broken down today, signaling that this year's WSOP is nearly at an end.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Quote of the Day: "I shifted gears at the right time baby! I feel GOOD!" bellowed Mike Matusow after doubling up with 10c-5c against Sean Davis' Ad-Kd when a 5 hit the flop.

Big Dogs:Three of the biggest marquee names remaining in the tournament, Gus Hansen, Chip Jett, and Hoyt Corkins busted out in rapid succession, finishing in 160th, 161st, and 162nd places respectively. Allen Cunningham and Jeff Madsen were soon to follow. Phil Hellmuth is still in it but slipped to under 900K to end the day.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 5 Eliminations: Shawn "Sheiky" Sheikhan, Kara Scott, Jeff Madsen, Allen Cunningham, Jeremiah Smith, Jon Friedberg, Gus Hansen, Lou Esposito, Ben Roberts, Hoyt Corkins, Chip Jett, Chad Layne, Alexander Kostritsyn, Mark Vos and Robert "Action Bob" Hwang.

Big Stacks: Brandon Cantu remained near the top of the pack for most of Day 5, as did James McManus (not the poker author, but a quiet young man from Ireland). Tiffany Michele also made huge strides today, and ended the day near the top of the leaderboard with 3.8 million. Mark Ketteringham ended the day as the overall leader.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 4 of the $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Main Event championship was underway at the Rio Casino. 474 players began the day and when it was all over 189 remained.

The Buzz: The field was thinned even more. Action progressed so fast that Jack Effel ended play one level early.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The Backstory: As the last batch of pros busted out, the few that remained got most of the media attention including Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, and Gus Hansen.

The Ladies: Tiffany Michele knocked out Hevad "Rain" Khan as she advanced to Day 5. EPT hostess Kara Scott also made it. Sadly, Evelyn Ng busted out.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Sight of the Day: Phil Hellmuth took time out to feast on the fish.

Quote of the Day: "Idiot from Northern Europe calls a raise with 5-7!" screamed Phil Hellmuth.Yes, the poker brat went on tilt when he lost a pot to an opponent from Scandinavia.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Big Dogs: Johnny Chan busted out early in the afternoon. Phil Hellmuth was in trouble early on but doubled up. Mike the Mouth and Gus Hansen were at the same table and the two were engaged in lots of banter, some trash talk, but both looked like they were having fun.

Day 4 Eliminations: Johnny Chan, Elky, Maya Geller-Antonius, Hasan Habib, Bill Blanda, Magnus Petersson, Chris Bjorin, PearlJammer, Evelyn Ng, Thierry van den Berg, Tracey Nguyen, RainKhan, Tino Lechich, Van Nguyen, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, Mike Souza, and Alan Jaffray, Pat Poels, Carmel Petresco, Thayer Rasmussen, Jani Vilmunen, Iggy, Johnny Bax, Iwan Jones, Frankie O'Dell, Adam Schoenfeld, TMay420, Dave Colclough, Mike Wattel, Jean-Robert Bellande, Kirill Gerasimov, Robert Mizrachi, Jason Lester

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Big Stacks: Brandon Cantu was second in chips most of the day. Jeremy Joseph took over the lead early and never looked back. He was the first player past the 2M and 3M mark.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Main Event championship finally reached the third day of action. It would be the first time that all of the remaining players were in the same room. 1,307 players began Day 3. Just before midnight, the money bubble broke. The top 666 players would win at least $21,230 in prize money.

The Buzz: Everyone wondered if the money bubble would break by the end of Day 3, so much so that every was betting on the exact time. At the dinner break, less than 750 players remained. Eliminations were happening at a rapid pace before they slowed down as the money bubble approached. Official time of money bubble burst... 11:25pm.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The Backstory: The big stacks started to develop and the big named pros all started to drop out. Those who remained garnered the majority of the media attention. Former champions Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan went deep and both cashed.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Sight of the Day: Jeremiah Smith sat over a castle of chips as he took the chip lead late in the day and became the first player to pass the one million chip mark.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Quote of the Day: "Congratulations, you all made the money!" said Jack Effel when the money bubble finally broke.

Celebrities: Aussie cricket god Shane Warne ended his run at the WSOP when he busted out on Day 3. Also out was country singer Andy Grigs and Heidi Northcutt (who is Jose Canseco's girlfriend). But famous poker blogger Iggy made the money in his first ever WSOP main event.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 3 Eliminations: Chris Moneymaker, Jen Harman, Patrik Antonius, Noah Boeken, Giagbet, Arnold Spee, Russell Rosenblum, Liv Boeree, YellowSub, Heidi Northcott, Barny Boatman, Anthony Rivera, Scott Clements, Erik Seidel, Paul McKinney, Mandy Baker, John D'Agostino, Will Durkee, Matt Sexton, Brandon Schaefer, Tony Hachem, Tex Barch, Matt Glantz, Phil Gordon, Andy Griggs, Steve Z, Eric Morris, Josh Prager, Dennis Waterman, Juan Maceiras, Richard Ashby, Shane Warne, Toto Leonidas, and Anahit Galajian.

Big Stacks: Jeremy Joseph, Jeremiah Smith, Sigurd Eskeland,Alberto Font, Robert Georato, and Karle Wilson.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Wednesday at the Rio Casino featured the second flight of Day 2 of the World Series of Poker main event championship. There was a record number of Day 2 runners with 2,678 entrants. When the day was over, almost two thousand players were eliminated. What a massive wipe out!

The Buzz: With the record-setting field, every possible area was used for the restart of Day 2B. The areas used included the poker room, the hallway in front of Buzio's, the Tropical Room, the Brasilia Room, and the Amazon Room. By dinner, all of the remaining players had been confined to the Amazon Room.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Quote of the Day: "All in and a call? Another donkey down," said Benjo, a writer from the French press, commenting on the rapid pace of eliminations.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Sight of the Day: Gary Clark made spectators, players, and dealers alike turn their heads because they thought they saw McLovin from the film Super Bad. The Irish McLovin look-a-like advanced to Day 3.

Celebrities: Andy Griggs, Sully Erna, Shannon Elizabeth, and the famous poker blogger Iggy were in the mix.

Day 2B Eliminations:Bryan Micon, Liz Lieu, David Singer, Amir Vahedi, Burt Boutin

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Big Stacks: Just before midnight Carmel Petresco made a run an jumped into the Top 10 in chips. Alex Outhred, Peter Biebel, Raja Kattamuri , Victor Ramdin, and Reagan Silber ended the day among the leaders.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Day 2 of the 2008 WSOP was split into two flights. Day 2A kicked off on Tuesday with 1,252 players returning to battle it out in the Amazon Room. When it was over, less than 500 players remained. Day 2B starts on Wednesday at Noon.

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The Buzz: As much as Day 2A was underway, most of the chatter was about what happened away from the tables at the PokerStars Party at Rain from the night before. 2008 WSOP bracelet winner Dario Minieri and Isabelle Mercier were lip locking at the bar and having a blast.

Quote of the Day: Madeline Ungar, Stu Ungar's widow, started Day 2A with "Shuffle up and deal!" But before she started the day, she spoke to the crowd for a few moments about a new foundation she started in Stu's name. She said that there's not a day that goes by where someone doesn't bring up a Stuey Ungar story. She also said that it's almost ten years since he passed away.

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The Celebrities: "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Ray Romano ran Kings into Aces and got crippled before he was moved to the featured TV table. Ray hung on with a short stack but eventually busted. French actress Alexia Portal also hit the rail early on Day 2A. Aussie cricket legend Shane Warne had a decent stack for most of the day.

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Sight of the Day: The first of many big stacks started to develop late in Day 2. Guys like Brian Schaedlich, Jeremiah Smith, and Hunter Frey were all past the 400K mark by Midnight and rushing towards 500K.

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Day 2A Eliminations: Erick Lindgren, Barry Greenstein, Billy Baxter, Jesse Jones, Shaun Deeb, Cathy Liebert, Billy the Croc, Ted Lawson, Trond Eidsvig, Robert Varkonyi, Alex Bolotin, Gabe Thaler, Sweet Svetlana, Scotty Nguyen, Alexia Portal, Perry Friedman, John Myung, Greg "FBT" Mueller, The Eggman Thomas Wahlroos, Lee Markholt, Harry Demetriou, Barry Shulman, John Shipley, Paul Wasicka, David Grey, Susie Isaacs, Steve Brecher, Michael Criag, Mark Karam, Ray Romano, Johnny World Hennigan, Vicky Coren, Sverre Sundbo, Nick Schulman, Ciaran O'Leary, Dan Schmiech, Haralabos Voulgaris, and Julian Gardner.

Big Stacks: Brian Schaedlich was one of the first players to pass the half a million chip mark. Also with lots of chip? Jeremiah Smith, Hunter Frey, and Brandon Adams.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Monday was an off-day for the WSOP with no event play scheduled other than the daily tournaments. The Pokernews WSOP crew held it's annual freeroll in the Amazon room at the Rio and that was about the most excitement of the day; but, that all changes on Tuesday at Noon. The remaining players from Day 1A and 1B are combined into a crowd of 1,251 players taking a seat for Day 2A.

The overall chip leader in today's contest is Mark Garner from Day 1A with 194,900. Second in chips is Day 1B chip leader Ben Samoff with 177,500. Two former WSOP main Event Champions, Robert Varkonyi 2002 and Scotty Nguyen 1998,l survived their Day 1 play and will be the only former world champions playing Day 2A.

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More random facts from the 2008 WSOP main event follows. Day 1 A and B players totaled 2,455 and included 56 females or approximately 2.23% proving once again that most females would rather be doing anything else. Erick Lindgren was declared 2008 WSOP Player of the Year which means he will have a billboard size portrait hung on the wall of the Amazon Room. Poker players from 104 countries entered events at this year's WSOP. This is the fourth year the Big Poker Show has been played at the Rio Resort.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The fourth and final flight of Day 1 for the 2008 WSOP Main Event kicked off on Sunday. It was the busiest flight of the opening round with 2,461 runners partaking in the hectic festivities.

The Buzz: After lots of negative speculation, the final numbers were released. 6.844 total runners bought into the 2008 WSOP Main Event. $9.1 million would go to the winner and the top 666 players would get paid prize money.

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Quote of the Day: "We're here as friends of poker. Two years ago under a Republican controlled Congress, they took your right to play poker on the internet away. With your help, we're going to change that wrong law," said Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) as he spoke to the crowd before Day 1D started.

Sight of the Day: The entire Amazon Room was filled along with the Tropical Room (former used for satellites), the Brasilia Room, the poker room, and even the hallway in front of Buzio's restaurant held tables.

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Celebrities: Two UFC fighters Chuck Lidell and Forrest Griffin were in the mix along with Sam SImon (The Simpsons), Jen Tilly, golfer Paul Azinger, and former baseball players David Wells and Jose Canseco,

Day 1d Eliminations: Phil Ivey, DonkeyBomber, Jesus, Mario Ho, Jen Tilly, Grant Levy, Chainsaw Kessler, Vinny Vinh, Eskimo, Andy Bloch, Patrick Bruel, Phil Tom, Jose Canseco, Noel Furlong, Paul Wolfe, Scott Lazar, David Williams, Joe Pelton, Forrest Griffin, George Danzer, Chuck Liddell, Sam Simon, Annie Duke, John Murphy, Shaniac, CK Hua, Eugene Todd, Fabrice Soulier, Cyndy Violette, Layne Flack, Melissa Hayden, and Ray Davis.

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Big Stacks: Pros Victor Ramdin, Carlos Mortensen, and David Oppenheim all had big stacks at one point after the dinner break.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The WSOP Main Event was in full swing at the Rio. The third flight of Day 1c attracted 1,928 runners.

The Buzz: Although Harrah's tried to hide the exact number of the main event, word got out that the number finally passed 6,000 and last year's number. Day 1c was the largest flight to date and helped pushed the over all totals.

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Sight of the Day: Garry Gates lost a prop bet to Evelyn Ng in Guitar Hero. He had to dress up in a toga and fan her and feed her grapes for 30 minutes.

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Hotties in the Field: Lacey Jones, Evelyn Ng, Kara Scott, Isabelle Mercier, Michele Lewis, Tiffany Michelle, and Liz Lieu were all playing on Day 1c.

Day 1c Eliminations: Marcel Luske, Andre Akkari, Tony G, David Plastik, Paul Darden, Jonathan Kalmar, TJ Cloutier, Kirk Morrison, Mark Gregorich, JC Tran, Bryan Devonshire, Steve Paul-Ambrose, Kevin O'Donnell, Anthony Lellouche, Marco Traniello, Bart Hanson, Joe Tehan, Sam Khouiss, David Chiu, Jesper Hougaard, Issac Haxton, ZeeJustin, Matt McCullough, Jeffrey Lisandro, Gavin Griffin, Vivek Rajkumar, Dmitri Nobles, Joe Reitman, Mimi Tran, Terrence Chan, Edward Moncada, Joe Commisso Scott Seiver, Mike Sexton, Daniel Alaei, Davidi Kitai and the Italian Pirate Max Pescatori.

Big Stacks: David Singer, Evelyn Ng, Brad Booth, Kara Scott, and Henning Granstad.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The 2008 WSOP Main Event continued with Day 1B which featured only 1,158 runners. The 2007 WSOP Champion Jerry Yang kicked off festivities by uttering the famous words, "Shuffle up and deal!"

The Buzz: It was the Fourth of July and as America celebrated a birthday, the second flight of Day 1 of the 39th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event was underway. Andy Griggs, a country western singer, sang the National Anthem and thanked current and former members of the military for their dedicated service.

The Back Story: Everyone speculated about the impending low numbers for the Main Event. Yesterday everyone was confident that they would break last year's record. But after Friday's lackluster turnout, everyone is wondering if it will reach 6,000.

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Sight of the Day: Since it was Independence Day, the staff handed out miniature American flags in addition to various flags of other nations. The German players picked up German flags, while the Canadians had theirs and so on...

Quote of the Day: "Yes, America is indeed the 'land of the free'. You're just not free to play online poker," said MeanGene about the hypocrisy of the Fourth of July.

The Celebrities: Australian cricket god Shane Warne, boxer Jeff Fenech, and former major league baseball player Orel Hershiser were among the celebrity players in Day 1b.

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The Eliminations: Greg 'Fossilman' Raymer, Daniel Negreanu, Andy Black, Ted Forrest, Tom McEvoy, Jamie Gold, Kristy Gazes, Kenna James, Olga Varkonyi, WIlliam Thorson, DanDruff, and Ross Boatman, Nordberg, Orel Hershiser, Kenny Tran, and Dewey Tomko failed to advance to Day 2.

The Big Stacks: Marc Karam, Mike "SirWatts" Watson, and Patrik Antonius all had big stacks when Day 1b ended.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The 39th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event kicked off at the Rio Casino. The $10,000 buy in event attracted players from all over the world who converged on poker's Mecca for the most prestigious poker tournament in the world. Day 1 was split up into four flights. 1,297 players bought into Day 1A which is up 10 entrants from last year's number.

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The Buzz: Everyone was wondering if the Main Event numbers would be down. The small field on Day 1a worried some, while others still have high hopes that the weekend flights will attract more runners. No official numbers have been released but there are signs suggesting that this year's mark will fall short of last year's mark.

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Celebrity Players: Jason Alexander (aka George Costanza), Mekhi Phifer, and Ray Romano were all in the field on Day 1.

Quote of the Day: "Shuffle up and deal!" said the famous words to begin this year's event

Sight of the Day: The legendary Wayne Newton kicked off festivities followed by the UNLV marching band performing 'Viva Las Vegas'.

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Day 1a Eliminations: Gavin Smith, Erica Schoenberg, Mekhi Phifer, Dan Harrington, Jason Alexander, Shawn Rice, Tuan Lam, David 'The Dragon' Pham, Freddy Deeb, Devilfish, David Benyamine, Young Phan, Phil 'OMGClayAiken' Galfond, Chad Brown, Ralph Perry, Joe Sebok, Juha Helppi, Roland de Wolfe, Berry Johnston, Jon Little, Josh Arieh, Jeff 'YellowSub' Williams, Miami John Cernuto, JJ Liu, Tony Ma, Bob Feduniak, Roy Winston, Katja Thater, Taylor 'Green Plastic' Caby, Lyle Berman, Raymond Rahme, Jan Von Halle, Shirley Rosario, Maureen Feduniak, Vanessa Selbst, John Gale, and Tom 'Durrrrr' Dwan.

End of Day 1a Big Stacks: Brandon Adams, Jon "PearlJammer" Turner, and Mark Vos.

Approximately 657 players advanced to Day 2.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Mike Matusow is the player that has best demonstrated the skills and attitude required to become the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion. From my casual observations through the viewfinder I've detected a major change in the attitude and demeanor of the sometimes caustic "Mike the Mouth." Matusow has never been one to hide his feelings at a poker table and this has more than once proven to be his Achilles heel; but, this year there appears to be a new downsized Mike that gained a lot of self confidence and maturity while losing a lot of weight.

He has played with a focused determination to win and it has paid off with a 2008 WSOP bracelet in event #18. Mike has always been overloaded with natural talent for the game and is considered to be one of the great Omaha players; so, if everything comes together and he remains committed to the "new Mike" we could see him in the winners circle come November. Of course, he must survive the next couple of weeks to become one of the final table nine. Barring an unforeseen run of bad luck Mike Matusow could very well be the next WSOP World Champion.

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A field of 823 players entered the final event before Thursday start of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. The two day affair saw all but 75 players eliminated on day 1 with the lucky survivors returning Wednesday at 2:00 pm and playing until there was only one to take the final gold bracelet of the 2008 WSOP (FYI: the Main Event bracelet is platinum). After more than 17 hours of tough poker the winner was decided a little after 7 this morning when Matt Graham made a miraculous come-back from near disaster to defeat Jean Robert Bellande in heads-up play and take the gold bracelet plus $278,180 in cash. Jean Robert Bellande received $173,564 for second place while Joe De Niro completed the top three to receive $107,845 for third place.

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Jean Robert Bellande of the Survivor Show fame was at the final table and as expected the outspoken poker pro insured the game was never boring. 1996 WSOP World Champion Huck Seed was seen at the rail conferring with Jean-Robert during the all-night poker fest. Bellande took charge of the table and the chips and then the cards turned to favor Graham. This is Matt Graham's first WSOP bracelet and title.

Congratulations to Matt Graham for hanging tough and taking down Event #53 at the 2008 World Series of Poker. The first day of the Main Event will be getting underway today at Noon. Don't forget to stop by the WSOP Lifestyles exhibition opening at 11:00 am today in the Rio Pavilion.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

James Schaaf will be heading back to Torrance, California with a WSOP gold bracelet and $256,412 in cash for his first ever venture into big-time World Series of Poker poker. The bracelet on Schaaf's arm had Phil Hellmuth name all over it when the "Poker Brat" made the final table with a big pile of chips; but, missed winning bracelet #12 when he went out in the third spot. Both James Schaaf and second place finisher Tommy Hang breathed a collective sigh of relief watching the intimidating Hellmuth head to the rail.

After having been almost eliminating and finding himself down to a chip and a chair Shaaf caught a few breaks and rebuilt his chip stacks to go into the heads-up play with 880K to Hang's 1.5 million in play money. A few more lucky breaks and mistake free poker saw Shaaf pull ahead and finally eliminate the always tough Tommy Hang. Hang received $158,933 for second and Hellmuth collected $93,168 for his $1,500 investment. Phil Hellmuth's last opportunity to claim a 12th bracelet this year will be the $10K Main Event which gets under way with day 1A on Thursday.

Congratulations to James Schaaf for his first WSOP bracelet and cash.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The final 2008 WSOP World Championship before the Main Event is now in the record book and we have a winner from down under. Australian Marty Smyth collected the gold bracelet and $859,532 in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship. He outlasted a field of 381 Omaha players to take down WSOP event #50. He defeated Peter Jetten in heads-up play when the river produced a club to give him the winning club flush. It took a few moments for Smyth to realized he had won after he overlooked the club draw in all the excitement.

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As expected anytime there is an Aussie in the thick of it the crowd was consuming copious amounts of brew and loudly demonstrating their support for a fellow countryman...anyone remember when Joe Hachem won the main event in 2005? Peter Jetten enjoyed a nice payday for second place when he received $528,257. Poker super star Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi finished in third place for $331,279. Michael had his own cheering section that shouted their approval when he would take down a pot.

Congratulations to Marty Smyth.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Poker Pro JC Tran joined the exclusive club of WSOP gold bracelet owners when he capped the field of 2,718 starters in event #49, $1,500 No Limit Hold'em. Tran came to the final table in the #2 spot on the chip count list with 1,438,00 making him a 2-1 underdog behind chip leader Rasmus Nielsen holding 2,998,000 in play money. The two would play heads-up for the gold and cash after the elimination of the seven other final table players.

During the heads-up Tran took charge of the game and although he was holding 2.3 million to Neisen's 5.9 million he aggressively and surgically moved the chips to his stack. In the end his A,Q paired when a Queen came on the flop and Nielsen was down to needing a miracle. There was no miracle on this day and JC Tran had his first WSOP win.

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JC Tran takes down his first WSOP solid gold bracelet plus a very nice $631,170 in cash. Rasmus Nielsen heads across the pond with his $389,557 for second place and John Conroy leaves with the third place money of $278,255.

JC Tran said to watch for him at the Main Event final table and I promised I will be there with the camera to document his win. Congratulations to JC Tran for winning his first WSOP bracelet.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Scotty Nguyen is the poker champion of the world! After more than twelve hours of play the 1998 WSOP Main Event Champion finally defeated the last remaining player between him and the championship. Demonstrating his fierce competitive nature the Viet Nam native showed his opponents the way to the door. With his handy long neck beer, sans label, and his distinctive laugh the former world champion became the newest all-around poker world champion and will have his name engraved on the David "Chip" Reese Trophy along with the late Chip Reese (2006) and defending champion, Freddy Deeb (2007).

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Jeff Pollack, WSOP Commissioner, summed it up quite nicely when he said, "Scotty may be know as the Prince of Poker, but tonight he played like a King." This is Scoty's fifth WSOP title and definitely the most prestigious. Most of the professional poker community consider this event to be the real Poker World Championship since players must show skill in five popular forms of poker.

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Scotty Nguyen takes home $1,989,120 plus the special WSOP gold and diamond bracelet for outlasting a blue ribbon field of 148 poker players. Second place finisher, 22-year-old Michael DeMichele, collected $1,243,200 for his five days of work. Erick Lindgren received $781,440 for third place. Matt Glantz was paid $568,320 for fourth, Lyle berman gets $444,000 for fifth, Barry Greenstein has an extra $355,200 for his charities after finishing sixth, former WSOP world champion Huck Seed is $284,160 richer with the seventh place money, and Patrick Bueno left in eight place taking $230,880.

Congratulations to Scotty Nguyen for showing the world that poker is definitely a game of skill when played by professionals.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Alexandre Gomes made history when he took the final all-in pot of WSOP event #48 to become the $2,000 No Limit Hold'em champion. It's the first WSOP gold bracelet won by a Brasillian. Second place finisher Marco Johnson couldn't contain the aggresive style of the Gomes and watched his chips and hopes march across the table in an orderly fashion until the final all-in. Holding Q,J of spades Johnson immediately called Gomes' all-in bet only to find the kid from Brasil holding A,K of spades. The turn brought an Ace and Johnson was drawing dead. Alexandre Gomes supporters immediately raised the Brasillian flag and surrounded their new poker hero.

Alexandre Gomes will head back home to South America with the first ever poker gold and $770,540 in first place prize money for topping the huge field of 2317 players. Marco Johnson collected $491,273 for second place and Ryan D'Angelo takes away $326,812 for third. Well known Russian pro Kirill Gerasimov finished sixth and received $177,111.

Congratulations to Alexandre Gomes for making poker history.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Ryan Hughes should have been home two days ago, instead he's spending Saturday night at the 2008 WSOP collecting his second WSOP bracelet for Seven Card Stud Hi/Low. He won his first bracelet last year in another Seven Card Stud Hi/Low WSOP event. Ryan once again displayed his poker savvy with an aggressive, mistake-free game to overtake early chip leader Ron Long and cruise into the victory lane.

Ryan Hughes collects $183,368 to go with the second piece of WSOP jewelry after topping the 544 player field. Ron Long picks up $113,240 for second and Thomas Hunt takes home $68,686 for third. Noted poker pro and two-plus-two author David Slansky made the final table, going out in the eight spot for $19,306.

Congratulations to Ryan Hughes for his win and his second WSOP gold bracelet.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Joe Commisso and Richard Lyndaker played heads-up No-Limit Hold'em at the ESPN360 feature table of the 2008 WSOP on Saturday night for more than six hours. The six handed final table took needed only three hours to shed four of the six players and the marathon two way battle that followed required 209 hands to finally eliminate Richard Lyndaker in second place and crown Joe Commisso champion of the 2008 NLHE Six-Handed Event #46.

Joe Commisso collected the largest prize yet for this year's WSOP, $911,855 and the gold bracelet. Richard Lyndaker takes down $570,551 for second place. Edward Ochana received $368,891 for his third place effort.

Congratulations to Joe Commisso for outlasting the 805 players in the 2008 WSOP $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Six-handed Event #46.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Without a doubt this was the loudest crowd of fans to date for a 2008 WSOP feature final table event. The cheering for the heads-up play for the bracelet was heard all the way to the Rio's Masquerade Village. Crazed fans wearing gold crowns and carry hatchets filled the stands behind their poker hero, Rene Mouritsen. On the other side of the stands was an equally fired up crowd of backers for Max Greenwood. The two groups would engage in yelling contest every hand, they also engaged in some off-table prop betting with hand fulls of cash that reached upwards to $25K...and who said live poker was dull and boring?

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In the final tally it was the young player from Toronto that ruled the day and the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em w/Rebuys event. The final hand saw both players holding a Jack and making top pair with a J,4,5 flop. Greenwood checked, Rene Mouritsen bet out, and Greenwood raised it to a half million. Mouritsen went under the hood for a few seconds and declared all-in. Greenwood immediately called, turning over his Jack with an Ace kicker. A dejected Mouritsen flipped up his Jack with a King kicker and that's how it ended.

Max Greenwood goes back to Canada with $693,444 plus the coveted gold WSOP bracelet while Rene Mouritsen will head across the pond to Denmark with his $445,523 second place bounty. Another Dane, Albert Iversen, takes downt he $267,314 for his third place finish.

Congratulations to Max Greenwood for making a great comeback to win the 2008 WSOP $1,000 No Limit Hold'em w/Rebuys Championship.

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Eric Seidel was looking for his ninth WSOP bracelet Thursday evening but soon found himself out in fourth place in this quickly moving event. This was one of the shorter final table playing sessions at this year's WSOP, somewhat unusual for a pot-limit split game. Event #43 was taken down by first time bracelet winner Martin Klaser playing at his very first WSOP final table. Martin continued to play a brutally aggressive game of raises and re-raises to methodically intimidate and eliminate the other players.

Martin Klaser goes home with the gold and $216,249 in cash. Second place finisher, Casey Kastle, walks away with $137,985 and Michael Fetter receives $83,538 for third. Eric Seidel collected $68,304 on his way to the rail.

Congratulations to Martin Klaser for winning the 2008 WSOP $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event.