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ESPN WSOP Coverage Begins
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Monday, July 21, 2008
If you were starting to feel withdrawal symptoms after such a packed summer of poker, you wouldn't be the only one – but no-one needs to worry because help is at hand.
Starting from tomorrow evening, fans can revisit their favorite moments from this summer's World Series of Poker, this time not from the Rio, but from their living rooms. Beginning at 8 p.m. on Tuesday July 22nd, the ESPN coverage of this year's 55 events will be spread over 17 weeks, totaling a satisfying 33 hours of play, and that's before the final table in November.
This year's WSOP was one for the pros and one for the records. 77% of this year's bracelets were won by professionals and records broken included personal ones for example Erick Lindgren getting his first bracelet, or universal ones such as a record number of championship events, the first sibling team to take bracelets, and some of the largest events ever.
The bulk of the series will be aired over the coming months with the beginning of main event play being aired in the run up to the final table play. November 10th will see heads-up play which will be aired the following evening. Lon McEachem and Norman Chad will be on hand as they were last year for commentary and insight.
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Further setbacks for A&B compensation from USA
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Monday, July 21, 2008
The dispute between Antigua & Barbuda and the USA over the US online gaming ban isn't new, but it has found its way back into the headlines as yet another deadline for solving the issue has been done away with.
July 11th was supposed to be the day that the two parties would finally come to an agreement regarding the issues bought up by the US ban on online gaming and the compensation that the Antigua & Barbuda are eligible for as a result of that ban.
Last year, the World Trade Organization came down in support of Antigua & Barbuda, and concluded that the island nation could impose retaliatory sanctions on the US of $21 million per annum. The original sum that Antigua & Barbuda was claiming was closer to the $3.5 billion mark, and it was only after WTO intervention that the smaller sum was reached. Since then, talks have been underway, with US representatives visiting the island to try to solve the problem. As yet, with talks still underway, no sanctions have been put in place.
At this point, it is down to direct talks between the two sides, but sources revealed that it may be a further 3 months before a solution is reached.
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World Poker Tour moves to Fox Sports Network
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Friday, July 18, 2008
In 2003 the World Poker Tour first aired on the Travel Channel and no-one could have predicted the success it would experience over the coming years. Now, its 7th season will be seen in a new location, the third of its life, FOX Sports Network which finds its way into 80 million US homes.
The official announcement has not yet come, but sources have revealed that World Poker Tour Enterprises and FOX Sports Network have come to an agreement which will see the seventh series of the tour aired on Sunday nights as some point in the prime time spot. Each of the 26 episodes will be one hour long, and the series will start with the Bellagio Cup which will take up the first two episodes.
Hosts Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten who have been with the show since its stylized studio beginnings on the Travel Show, and through its short time with Game Show Network, will be moving again, along with the show to FOX Sports Network. Fox Sports Network are no newcomers to poker having already played host to Poker Challenge, Learn From the Pros, and Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker, amongst others, but to date the WPT will be by far the largest poker brand seen on the network. Series' two to five of the WPT will still be aired on the Travel Channel, whilst rights to air season 6 are reserved by the Game Show Network for the next four years.
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If You Can't Beat Them, Tax Them
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Friday, July 18, 2008
Its type has been seen before, but maybe this time HR 6501, or the Investing in our Human Resources Act of 2008 as it is more pleasantly called, may go a little further. Democratic Congressman James McDermott first introduced a bill in 2007 to go along side Republican Barney Frank's Internet Gambling Regulation Enforcement Act. It was introduced under the new name on Wednesday.
The Idea of McDermott's bill is that between $8 billion and $42 billion of unregulated internet gambling revenue is being missed out on by the US government; money that could be put to good causes. As such, the new bill if passed would take $40 billion over a decade, raised from internet gambling federal taxes and allocate it to education and job-training for foster care participants and assistance in the same areas for people working in declining areas of industry.
The initial response of the Poker Player Alliance seems to be a positive one. Executive Director of the PPA, John Pappa stated that "McDermott is on the tax writing committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and he's been an advocate for extracting revenue from internet gambling. The PPA hasn't had an opportunity to review his proposal thoroughly, but we like the out-of-the-box thinking to be able to connect the benefits of legislation to a worthy cause."
Clearly, the success of such a bill relies entirely on the successful passing of a bill that allows for the taxation and regulation of internet gambling, such as Barney Frank's bill which was introduced in April 2007 and to date has 48 co-sponsors.
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EGBA Up The Odds
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Thursday, July 17, 2008
The European Gaming and Betting Association who monitor and regulate European-licensed operators of online gaming and poker sites have released new and more advanced criteria for fair gaming, player protection and responsible gaming that supports the already in place EU licensing jurisdictions.
In total, sites wanting EGBA membership will be required to adhere to over 170 technical points dealing with the full spectrum of fair play issues including underage and problem gaming, zero tolerance for fraud, fast consumer pay-out, ethical marketing practices, and responsible gaming measures. All EGBA member sites undergo annual audit carried out by eCogra, who will take any failures to conform to the regulations very seriously, and pass them onto the EGBA licensing body.
With ongoing changes being placed onto the internet gaming world, it is considered essential for self-regulation practices to remain abreast of the regulations and requirements for both the individual's safety but also for the general good of the industry.
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World Poker Association Head Makes Membership More Attractive
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Jesse Jones, World Poker Association Founder and Chairman has taken steps this week to address the changing needs of the WPA's 1400 members.
The non-profit organization was established to represent the needs of, and further cause of poker tournament poker. Amongst other issues, the organization considers it to be a "travesty that tournament poker players for the most part do not share the revenue generated by their participation in events". As such the World Poker Association is dedicated to changing this reality to one in which the players directly benefit from the television and sponsorship generated proceeds of the tournaments they partake in. In addition to this, the WPA intends to be the voice piece of the tournament players in terms of getting the rules the players want passed and accepted. In general it could be said, that the WPA will be acting as a poker player union; dedicated to work on the players behalf for their further benefit.
The changes that have been instigated this week are as follows:
• Lifetime membership to be awarded to all WPA founding members.
• Associate Member rate to be reduced to $50.
• Reintroduction of the Affiliate category.
• Friend category for individual supporters to be reinstated at $20.
• One-time membership rate – no need for annual renewal of membership.
Many of these changes are a return to original policy that had been dropped along the way, and are likely to increase membership of the association.
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Final Nine for November Finale
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008
It's been wonderful, it's been heart-wrenching, there's been laughs, and indeed a few tears, but at 3.30 am this morning it all came to an end – at least until November.
54 events, tens of thousands of entrants, $180,666.773 in prize money, and today was no disappointment as the final table to be played in November was formed.
A Russian, 2 Canadians, a Dane and 5 Americans sounds like the beginning of a joke, but in fact this was the ensemble left standing when Dean Hamrick was eliminated in 10th place at a little before 3.30 am; and if you think there's a mishmash of nationalities, just wait to hear about the professions. Within the final 9 there is student, a chess player, and a salesman, the later of which Dennis Phillips, who is a regular at his local casino, is leading the way with 26,295,000. A lead that will set records as being the longest held chip lead, seeing as it will be his for 117 days.
The final elimination wasn't an easy one and took the best part of three hours of play. To suffer most from the combat, after Hamrick of course, was Craig Marquis at whose hand the bubble boy was born. Anyway, Marquis made it through, all be it with the second from lowest chip count of the nine. The chip counts and seating positions for when the players reconvene on the 9th of November with 21 minutes and 50 seconds remaining of level 33 are:
1. Dennis Phillips - 26,295,000
2. Craig Marquis - 10,210,000
3. Ylon Schwartz - 12,525,000
4. Scott Montgomery - 19,690,000
5. Darus Suharto - 12,520,000
6. David 'Chino' Rheem - 10,230,000
7. Ivan Demidov - 24,400,000
8. Kelly Kim - 2,620,000
9. Peter Eastgate - 18,375,000
So for now, so long and farewell from the Rio; congratulations to all this year's winners, and here's looking forward to November.
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Day 6 Shocks and Surprises
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Monday, July 14, 2008
It was a fantastic day for the WSOP and a fantastic day for the sport of poker. If there was ever a testimony to players' potential and the sheer possibilities presented by tournament play, yesterday's Day 6 of the WSOP $10,000 World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold'em event was it.
Although many big names had fallen along the way to Day 6, there were still plenty of well known and well loved characters amongst the 79 remaining players who started play at noon yesterday. When play drew to an end at a little before midnight there were but a handful of professionals left in the game.
Probably biggest of the big to fall was Phil Hellmuth, who went out in 45th place with $154,401. Hellmuth's table mate from day 5, Mike Matusow was also a surprising loss for the day, missing out on 7th day play by just 3 positions – he went out in 30th place. Hellmuth started the day in some controversy after last night's one-orbit penalty was overruled this morning as being "excessive". It didn't help him however, as four and half hours into play, Hellmuth found himself all in with Ah, Qd against Andrew Rosskamm's Jh, Jc. The flop came out, Kd, 4h, 3h, followed by a 10h flop. Hellmuth was very much still in the running, but a 2s river saw the end of his hopes of a 12th WSOP bracelet, and another World Championship title.
Still in the field for day 7 is Brandon Cantu, David Rheem, Phi Nguyen, Owen Crowe, Scott Montgomery, and the last lady standing, Tiffany Michelle. Cantu had the chip lead for large chunks of the day, but following dinner he lost his momentum, and fell down the pack. At the time of writing the official chip counts aren't yet available, but it seems that Craig Marquis and Dennis Phillips are virtually neck and neck at the head of the pack with over 11.5 million, and Tiffany Michelle is taking third place with around 9.8 million. None of these leading three have ever won a major tournament.
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East Coast Calling
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Sunday, July 13, 2008
It's not that we're being disloyal to the World Series of Poker, but after so many weeks of taking all of our attention, it does seem a little unfaithful to turn our eyes in other directions, but with only 79 players remaining in the Main Event, eyes must be cast to new horizons, and new opportunities must be spied.
The Bellagio Cup IV is already under way in Vegas, with today being the third and final of the three first days of the $15,000 buy-in WPT Championship; the TV final table of which will be held on the 17th of July. Looking past this however, a new dawn is rising, as details are released of the 16-day 6th annual Borgata Poker Open series. Beginning on September 3rd, the series will run through to September 18th, ending with their $10,000 WPT Championship Event at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.
Shrouded in speculation, the WPT Borgata Poker Open will for the first time this year offer a guaranteed prize pool for their Championship event of $5,000,000 – making it the most sizeable pool ever to be guaranteed in a land-based casino tournament.
The whole series will consist of more than 40 events, spanning No Limit and Limit Hold'em, Seven Card Stud, and Ladies events; and will be hosted between the Poker Room of the Borgata Hotel Casino $ Spa, and the Borgata Event Centre. Online registration can be done between August 18th and 28th, whilst on-site registration commences on September 1st.
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After a good night's sleep…
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Saturday, July 12, 2008
There are a number of things that the World Series of Poker is not associated with and it's fair to say that early nights is most definitely amongst them.
None-the-less as players reconvene for day 5 of Main Event play in the Amazon Room, none can say that lack of sleep has effected their judgment. Play proceeded at lightening speed yesterday in the half-way day of this section of the Main Event. The cards hit the felt a little later than scheduled, at 1 p.m., and by the end of the 19th level 189 players had been reached and play was halted till tomorrow.
It was Jonny Chan and Phil Hellmuth who grabbed the most attention at the beginning of the day, both hoping to break records – however Chan went out early, in just the second level, whilst Hellmuth in the ESPN limelight finished mid field with 500,000 and all the attention still focused on him for the coming days.
Due to the speed of play, organizers decided before the dinner break that play would end when 189 were reached or just one more level after the dinner break – which ever came first. When play reconvened at 9.40 it took just another hour to get down to the magic number. All in all, these were some of the casualties along the way: Brian Schaedlich, Hevad “Rain” Khan, Robert Mizrachi, Kirill Gerasimov, Jean Robert-Bellande, Steve Billirakis Mike Wattel, Dave Colclough, Tim West, , Frankie O’Dell, Billy Pilossoph, Jason Sagle, Cliff Josephy, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Devin Porter, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, Ray Henson, Chris Bjorin, Hasan Habib, Pat Poels, Jon Turner Evelyn Ng and Adam Schoenfeld.
The new top 10 going into day 5, with 23 year old Jeremy Joseph still holding onto his chip lead, is as follows:
Jeremy Joseph: 2,187,000
Nikolay Losev: 2,110,000
Cristian Dragomir: 2,065,000
Brandon Cantu: 1,981,000
Davor Lanini: 1,958,000
David Rheem: 1,851,000
Andrew Rosskamm: 1,764,000
James McManus: 1,761,000
Geoffrey Herzog: 1,695,000
Albert Kim: 1,688,000
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Day 3 Main Event Round Up
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Friday, July 11, 2008
When bubbles burst they usually pop, but not so yesterday, when a distinguishable roar could be heard as the money bubble was burst at a little after 11.30 p.m.
When play begins today, only 474 of the original 6,844 entrants, will return; having seen a whopping 833 go yesterday. Of those 833 though, 192 didn't get their WSOP bubble burst, because they feel inside the 666 and thus walked away with cash finishes. Today, even the first to leave will take with them $27,020.
Anyway, back to yesterday – at 10.30 p.m. the 675 players still in went to hand-for-hand action, and around an hour later, the unlucky Steve Chung emerged as the bubble boy, whilst everyone else gave out a cheer of relief. Not to feel too bad for Chung however, who enjoyed a 38th place cash finish in one of the Hold'em tournaments earlier in the month; whilst he didn't gain much in the Main Event, he didn't loose much either – he was awarded with the $10,000 buy-in for next year's event.
Of the faces that fell today with no compensation there were some big surprises; Scott Clements, Jennifer Harman, Erik Seidel, Phil Gordon, John D’Agostino, Alex Kravchenko, Toto Leonidas, Noah Boeken, Chris Moneymaker, Barny Boatman, Steve Zolotow, Jason Strasser, and Nenad Medic, all went out without a penny. Those cashing out in the first prize-band also contained some shocks – these early leavers included Men “The Master” Nguyen, Pat Pezzin, Jason Gray, Vanessa Rousso, Brandon Adams, Bill Gazes, Thor Hansen, Farzad Rouhani, Bob Slezak, and Chau Giang.
Still in and kicking are Mike Matusow, Jean-Robert Bellande, Allen Cunningham, Evelyn Ng, Jeff Madsen, Brandon Cantu, Hoyt Corkins, Adam Levy, Jon Friedberg, Victor Ramdin and of course Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth, to name a few. Brian Schaedlich, former chip leader will be returning to the tables today with one of the shortest stacks in the room, at only 22,000 whilst the chip leader board is dominated by relatively inexperienced players. Jeremy Joseph is leading by a mile with 1,458,000 with Jeremiah Smith and his chip count of 1,079,500 and Mark Ketteringham with 950,000, following him in 2nd and 3rd positions.
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One WSOP Draws to an End - Another Begins
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Monday, July 7, 2008
When it comes to Vegas, theatrics is part of the games, and a part that Phil Hellmuth well and truly embraced yesterday as he rocked up for the fourth and final first day of the WSOP Main Event kitted out in army uniform with no less than 11 stars on his shoulders – one for each of his bracelets. The theatrics didn't stop there as his side kick, also kitted out to the nines, Mark Kroon turned up with eleven ladies on his arm, also garbed up in army uniform. Hellmuth's arrival was at the end of level one; by the time registration closed at the end of level four, there were over 2,400 players on the floor – making this year's Main Event larger than last year’s, which in turn of course makes the prizes that much greater; this years first place winner will take $9,119,517, as opposed to the $8,250,000 won last year.
Although the entrances weren't as dramatic, Hellmuth wasn't the only big name in yesterday's field. Doyle Brunson, Michael Mizrachi and last year's champ Jerry Yang, were also present and accounted for – although none of these appear in the top 10 for the day. Chip leader from day 1d is Steve Austin with 149,000.
Today there will be no play, but not-to-worry, there's other good news; the 2008-2009 season WSOP circuit schedule has been announced. Subject to change, this is the official schedule, starting in October in Indiana and running through to May in New Orleans:
WSOP 2008-09 CIRCUIT
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DATE |
LOCATION |
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October 2nd - October 14th, 2008 |
CAESARS INDIANA |
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October 24th - November 2nd, 2008 |
HORSESHOE HAMMOND, Chicago area |
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November 6th - November 16th, 2008 |
HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE, Nevada |
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December 5th - December 18th, 2008 |
HARRAH’S ATLANTIC CITY |
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January 20th - February 9th, 2009 |
HARRAH’S TUNICA, Mississippi |
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February 12th - February 25th, 2009 |
HORSESHOE COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa |
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March 4th - March 14th, 2009 |
CAESARS ATLANTIC CITY |
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March 19th - March 29th, 2009 |
HARRAH’S RINCON, San Diego |
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April 12th - April 29th, 2009 |
CAESARS PALACE, Las Vegas |
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May 8th - May 20th, 2009 |
HARRAH’S NEW ORLEANS |
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WSOP Main Event’s Biggest Day Yet
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Sunday, July 6, 2008
Organizers allowed for up to 3,000 players to register on each of the four day ones of the 2008 WSOP Main Event – yesterday was the day that came closest to that number with 1,928.
The nearly 2,000 participants covered the spectrum of experience, with absolute amateurs rubbing shoulders with the likes of Chris Moneymaker and Joe Hachem – neither of which you would want to find yourself at a table with.
Mike Matusow was the centre of ESPN attention, and made it through easily to day 2 as did David Singer, Evelyn Ng, Brad Booth, Nenad Medic and Jeff Madsen. Less successful were Mike Gracz, Max Pescatori, Gavin Griffin, Daniel Alaei, Justin Bonomo, J.C. Tran, Jeff Lisandro, T.J. Cloutier, Chad Batista, Vivek Rajkumar, Dmitri Nobles, Amit Makhija, Tony G and Marcel Luske, none of whom will be returning on Tuesday.
At the end of day 1C, relative new comer Henning Granstad took the chip leader position with 225,000 making him overall chip leader, beating day 1a winner Mark Garner by a little over 30,000.
Tomorrow will most likely exceed the numbers of today's field and with registration open till around 4.30 p.m., many will be taking advantage of this last opportunity to take part in this year's Main Event. 1,800 participants are pre-registered and predictions are that tomorrow's numbers will make this year's event larger than last year's of 6,358.
Play begins later today for day 1d, the last of the first days, at 12 noon.
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WSOP Main Event Doesn't Disappoint
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Saturday, July 5, 2008
It's been a roller coaster WSOP up till now, and it looks like the Main Event is living up to the rest of the tournament's reputation.
Day 1 saw a surprisingly low field of 1,297 players start the day, and 636 finish it, with some surprising events along the way. Finishing the day on top was Mark Garner, who took 25th place and nearly half a million dollars in this event 2 years ago, but his ascent wasn't predictable; he only took the top slot towards the end of the night. On the "famous but not for poker" side of things, there were appearances from Brad May, Jack Haley, Mekhi Phifer and Ray Romano, with only the latter making it through to day 2.
Back in the Amazon Room yesterday for day 1b, the surprises just kept on coming. Eliminated at the first hurdle were Greg Raymer, Daniel Negreanu, Lee Watkinson, Ted Forrest, and Kenny Tran, along with 536 others of the 1,157 who turned up at 12 p.m. Ben Sarnoff who has never taken part in the WSOP Main Event before is leading from his day with 177,000 whilst Brian Schaedlich, a $130 satellite qualifier, isn't far behind with 156,000. Not to be outdone, there are some poker stars of note in the top 10, including seasoned player, 29 year old Robert Mizrachi. Erick Lindgren made it only into the top 20 with a chip count of 93,325. Mark Garner remains overall chip leader with his 194,900.
Today, with play already underway there's still time to register; at 12 noon there were 5 empty tables in the Amazon Room waiting for those latecomers who are welcome to register up until the end of the 2nd level. Faces already in, playing, and spotted today include Issac Haxton, Matt McCullough, Shawn Buchanan, Mike Wattel, Michael Gracz, James Akenhead, David Sklansky, Arnold Spee, Ayaz Mahmood, Jason Somerville, J.C. Tran, Isabelle Mercier, Joe Tehan, Jameson Painter, and Dmitri Nobles, although Shawn Buchanan didn't last long, going out within half an hour of play and Michael Gracz went out around 45 minutes later. If this is anything to go by, Day 1c is going to be great!
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Good Morning Las Vegas
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
A good day for Marty Smyth, a less good one for Phil Hellmuth; let's see what's been going on in the last 24 hours in Sin City, and what we have to look forward to.
Day 34 is dawning, and 72 of the original 800 plus field of the $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout will return for day 2 of play at 2 p.m. Included in the returning field are Jean-Robert Bellande, Hoyt Corkins, and Kenna James.
At the same time, the final of the final No-Limit Hold'em $1,500 events will reconvene. Corwin Cole is leading the final 9 with 1,625,000 with Matt Matros snapping at his heals with 1,447,000.
Yesterday saw the end of the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event # 51, for which 20 people convened for the beginning of play after an inconclusive day 2. Following the epic day 2, day 3 turned out to be much quicker and it was James Schaaf who prevailed, putting Phil Hellmuth's hopes of a 12th bracelet to bed.
Also concluded yesterday was event #50 the $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha. Despite appearances at the beginning of play that the bracelet was Michael Mizrachi's for the taking, he actually took the third place prize leaving Marty Smyth and Peter Jetten in heads-up play. It was the newcomer Marty Smyth who took the 1st place prize of $859,549, his first bracelet, and his second cash finish both of his career and of this tournament.
With the last of the events before the main event under way, we are very much in last leg of this year's WSOP - and what a WSOP it has been!
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Monday 29th June WSOP Recap
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Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A good day for Marty Smyth, a less good one for Phil Hellmuth; let's see what's been going on in the last 24 hours in Sin City, and what we have to look forward to.
Day 34 is dawning, and 72 of the original 800 plus field of the $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout will return for day 2 of play at 2 p.m. Included in the returning field are Jean-Robert Bellande, Hoyt Corkins, and Kenna James.
At the same time, the final of the final No-Limit Hold'em $1,500 events will reconvene. Corwin Cole is leading the final 9 with 1,625,000 with Matt Matros snapping at his heals with 1,447,000.
Yesterday saw the end of the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event # 51, for which 20 people convened for the beginning of play after an inconclusive day 2. Following the epic day 2, day 3 turned out to be much quicker and it was James Schaaf who prevailed, putting Phil Hellmuth's hopes of a 12th bracelet to bed.
Also concluded yesterday was event #50 the $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha. Despite appearances at the beginning of play that the bracelet was Michael Mizrachi's for the taking, he actually took the third place prize leaving Marty Smyth and Peter Jetten in heads-up play. It was the newcomer Marty Smyth who took the 1st place prize of $859,549, his first bracelet, and his second cash finish both of his career and of this tournament.
With the last of the events before the main event under way, we are very much in last leg of this year's WSOP - and what a WSOP it has been!
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