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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Professional poker player, author, and celebrity David Sklansky had a home invasion early this morning.

Sklansky was asleep in bed at 3 a.m. when at least one robber broke into his house and bedroom. And he seemed to have a gun.

Sklansky is okay now, according to a message he posted on his popular poker site 2+2. "They knew their job and I never saw their faces," he wrote. Then he added, appearing to joke, "One of the PLO [pot-limit Omaha] 8/B players was almost certainly behind it."

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.

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.

The death rumors of the Excalibur poker room are greatly exaggerated.

Last August, we posted an RIP sendoff to the Castle because they'd exchanged its regular poker tables with PokerTek e-tables and had laid off all its dealers.

The field trial for the e-tables began March 19 by the Nevada Gaming Commission, and if it lasted longer than 4 months, the casino could terminate its agreement.

Which, on June 19, is exactly what Excalibur did. "MGM Mirage officials said they found that players prefer live dealers to automatic tables."

So... as of July 5, the 12 e-tables will be no more, and on July 10, the Excalibur will return to regular poker tables!

And not only that, but they're in the process of contacting all the dealers they laid off to offer their jobs back!

Now if the 1-3 and 2-6 spread limit games and the Wheel also come back (and maybe even the small free buffet), we will make a triumphant return to the Excal.

As for the e-tables, they will most likely move to another Strip casino.

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

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

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

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.