WSOP Blog

Poker: Jonathan Little in second at WPT Legends of Poker

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:06:40 +0000

The World Poker Tour (WPT) began its Championship Event on Friday, Aug. 20. When the event began, 462 participants were involved but that number has been whittled down quickly.

Jonathan Little, best known as the Pokerstrategy.com video producer was leading the pack up until the very end of day two. He was overtaken by Andrew Frankenberger who now has a stack of 1,958,000 chips. Jonathan’s stack is hovering at 1,314,000 in chips. Both are very popular in the online poker room.

As Day 4 began tensions are high as the tournament will once again cut out huge amounts of participants. They will play Aug. 25 until there are only six people competing.

Jonathan Little has taken home two WPT titles in 2007 and 2008, and is hopeful of his chances in this series. However, there are a few competitors with chip counts close enough to steal a victory. Steve Reitzfeld has 1.2 million chips which is a mere 114,000 chip difference from Jonathan. John Smith and Tom Braband are also close behind.

Some famous players have already been knocked out of the tournament like Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Jennifer Tilly.

The excitement is thick as the players gear up for another day in the tournament. Each of the remaining players is already guaranteed a prize of over ten thousand dollars and the hope of even more cash is on the line.

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I know I suck, but at least I’m back

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:37:17 +0000

Title says it all. Some personal problems and an increase in responsibilities took me away from blogging for a bit, but I’m going to try to do better. Blah, I know, you’ve heard that before, but it is what it is. A fvw random collected thoughts:

- number one worst thing about the Seniors event: everyone arrives in their own car. I had to park at the Paris because there were no closer parking spots.

- My favorite quote from WSOP ever; a year ago, I was walking down a nearly abandoned hallway whose only other occupant was a shrivelled octegenarian. As I walked towards him, he uncorked his cell phone, dialed a number, put the phone to his ear, waited for an answer and then exclaimed “Honey! I’m still alive!” I love gallows humor.

- David Benyamine is looking like a real force for Player of the Year. he just took his first ever bracelet, giving him his third final table of the series and he’s planning on playing every event he can from here on out. Right now, the only guy who’s even close is Jacobo Hernandez, pretty amazing considering Jacobo hasn’t take a bracelet yet.

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World Series of Poker Review, July 16 and July 17: Poker

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:11:44 +0000

The 7th day of the World Series of Poker Main Event was marked on 16th July. Only 21 players survived to make it to Day 8 even though with the hopes of becoming the next world champion, 78 players started the day.

For a very exciting final table, there are still quite a few notable poker pros in the field. Some of the pros are anticipating the chance of making the November Nine, include Scott Clements, David Baker, Matt Affleck, Jason Senti, Michael Mizrachi, Adam Levy, John Racene and William Thorson.

To make it through day 7, there were a few pros that were not as lucky, while still in the hunt for the bracelet are all of these well-known players. Josh Brikis, Jacobo Fernandez, Tony Dunst and David Benyamine are included in the list of the unfortunate players.

In order to see who would be this year’s November, in the 2010 WSOP Main Event play, July 17th saw an astonishing 17 straight hours of poker.

With 65.9 Million chips heading into the Main Event final table, the chip lead is held by the lucky entrant, jonathan duhamel. Seat number and chip count, here is the list of the lucky nine players, who will come back in November to Las Vegas to play for the first place prize of $8.9 Million.

Seat 1: Jason Senti — 7,625,000

Seat 2: Joseph Cheong — 23,525,000

Seat 3: John Dolan — 46,250,000

Seat 4: Jonathan Duhamel — 65,975,000

Seat 5: Michael Mizrachi — 14,450,000

Seat 6: Matthew Jarvis — 16,700,000

Seat 7: John Racener — 19,050,000

Seat 8: Filippo Candio — 16,400,000

Seat 9: Soi Nguyen — 9,650,000

At this year’s World Series of poker, Michael Mizrachi has a chance to cap off an amazing run. The $50,000 buy-in Players Championship tournament, has already won by “The Grinder” in June and from this year’s WSOP, he has the chance to win two of the most prestigious titles.

I am sure remaining players would like the first place prize of $8.9 Million much more, although $811,000 payday is guaranteed for all of the remaining players. Over the next few months, it will be interesting to learn the stories of each of these poker players, as a new world champion is awaited eagerly by the poker world.

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Poker: World Series of Poker Review, July 13 and 14

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:29:47 +0000

Players returned to the World Series of Poker Main Event for day 3 on Monday, after they had a day off on Sunday. In this year’s Main Event, day 3 was the first time that all of the players were not in different poker rooms, but in the same room at the same time. Day 3 had lots of action, similar to the other days of the WSOP. The success of two-time Main Event champion Johnny Chan is one of the more compelling stories from this year’s Main Event. On day 3, with 636,000 chips, Chan ended his day and he was among the chip leaders at the end of the day.

Another chip leader after day 3 was Jim Collopy. When his opponent shoved all in preflop with A3 against his pocket kings, he was able to win a huge pot. Collopy’s kings enabled him and held up to amass a chip stack well over 600k. Robert Mizrachi, Eric Baldwin, Alexander , Shannon Shorr, Jean-Robert Bellande , Kostritsyn, Steve Billirakis, Lauren Kling, Scott Clements, Johnny Lodden and Barry Shulman, reigning WSOP Europe main event champion, were the other notable players who were able to survive day 3.

There were a few poker pros, which were unlucky and they hit the rail early, while there were many poker pros, who continued to have a successful Main Event. Roland de Wolfe, Chad Batista, Erik Seidel, Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, Jon Turner, Prahlad Friedman, David Williams and Kenny Tran were some of the notable poker players included. Joe Cada, defending champion was also included in this group. When Cada’s AQ was unable to beat his opponent’s pocket 10s, he was eliminated on day 3. For Cada, the 2010 World Series of Poker was rather disappointing and he was unable to cash in a single event.

During the Main Event, on Day 4 Tuesday, the money bubble finally burst. With the hopes of continuing their quest to become a world champion, 1,205 players started day 4. At the Main Event, in the end only 747 players are now able to say they made the money. David Sands, Matt Savage, Annie Duke, Barry Shulman, Matt Graham, Adam Junglen, Erica Schoenberg and Barry Greenstein were some of the notable players who were eliminated just before the money. While those players who were able to survive day 4 and were unlucky and unable to make the money these players were Alexander Kostritsyn, Scott Clements, Adam Levy, Shannon Shorr, Scotty Nguyen, Jesper Hougaard and Hasan Habib. Tony Dunst who has 1.546 Million chips is the current chip leader.

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WSOP Main Event Review July 5

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 10:04:05 +0000

The long anticipated Main Event got under way yesterday at the World Series of Poker. A $10,000 No Limit Hold’em event that is expected to draw well over 4,000 players to play poker and it is the biggest, most prestigious poker tournament in the world. This year’s main event is going to be broken down into four separate day 1s. The first of these day 1s drew 1,125 players, which was whittled down to roughly 800 players, who will return on Friday for day 2A.

There were not too many notable poker pros amongst the chip leaders on the first day of competition. Perhaps the most well known player among the chip leaders is Michale Mizrachi. Mizrachi is continuing a strong World Series of Poker with his fine performance on day 1 of the main event.

Rather than having more notable players at the top of the leader board, day 1A has been known for the players that were eliminated. Former WSOP Main Event champ Greg Raymer busted out early when his pair of queens and flush draw lost to a flopped set of 10s. Raymer was not the only high profile victim today, other notable pros to make an early exit include Nick Shulman, Chino Rheem and Victor Ramdin.

Day 1 play will continue for the rest of the week with day 1B through 1D. Day 2A will commence on Friday and will consist of players from day 1A and 1C.

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WSOP: July 1 Recap

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:40:39 +0000

If June 30th was a calm day at the World Series of Poker then July 1st was just the opposite. With 5 tournaments happening simultaneously this was one of the busiest days at this year’s World Series of Poker. Of those 5 tournaments only one champion was crowned, this was in event #51 ($3,000 No Limit Hold’em Triple Chance).

Ryan Welch, a long time internet poker pro, finally won his first live tournament, which happened to be the $3,000 No Limit Hold’em Triple Chance tournament at the WSOP. Welch won a 3 hour heads up match against fellow internet pro Jon Eaton to take down the title. For his efforts Welch will receive $559,000 bringing his lifetime winnings to just under $2 Million.

While there was only one tournament that wrapped up today two others continued towards their respective final tables. Event #52 ($25,000 No Limit Hold’em 6 Handed) continued with its second day of play. Famous poker pro Daniel Negreanu was one of the chip leaders after day one. Negreanu has had a relatively disappointing Series so far, and he would love a deep run in this high profile event.

Event #53 is also entering its second day of competition. 548 players have signed up for this $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Shooutout tourney. First place will receive $185,000 when the final table happens on July 2nd. Event #54 ($1,000 No Limit Hold’em) and event #55 $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship both got started today. Play will continue through the weekend with each tournament ending on July 4th and July 3rd respectively.

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World Series of Poker Recap of June 25 – June 27: Poker

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:23:14 +0000

The World Series of Poker, at this past weekend was one of the busiest of the summer. over the weekend, 5 new champions were crowned including the prestigious $10,000 HORSE Championship which routinely showcases the world’s top poker players. Here are a few of the highlights.

Event #42 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em

With 2,521 players registering for the chance to become a poker world champion, this tournament featured another enormous player pool. Online poker sportsbook star, Dean Hamrick who has come close to poker glory before, was the winner in the end. In 2008, poker online star, Hamrick finished 10th in the Main Event, and in 2009 Hamrick made the final table of another No Limit event where he finished 5th. This year Hamrick finally took home more than $604,000 and his first bracelet.

Event #43 – $10,000 HORSE Championship

$10,000 HORSE Championship is one of the more prestigious events each year at the World Series of Poker. Top poker professionals from around the world., are drawn to this event regularly. While this year’s HORSE event was no different in that regard a relative unknown in the poker community, Ian Gordon, walked away with the first place bracelet. Gordon was not a heavy favorite to win this event, with only $4,345 in career winnings. However, Marco Taniello Gordon was able to win his first WSOP bracelet and take home $611,000, after surviving a tough final table that included Carlos Mortensen, and Marco Taniello Gordon and Nick Schulman.

Event #44 – $2,500 Mixed Hold’em

The $2,500 Mixed Hold’em tournament, always a fun event, allows players to showcase their talents in both No Limit Hold’em and Limit Hold’em. At a high level in both disciplines, which is exactly, what poker pro Gavin Smith can now claim, not many players can perform. Smith can also take his name off of the list of notable poker pros who have never won a WSOP bracelet. Gavin Smith now has his first bracelet to show off as well, after besting a field of 507 players and winning $268,000.

Event #45 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em

No Limit Hold’em events, Event #45 were another of the massive field that the World Series of Poker has become famous. California native Jesse Rockowitz finally took home the bracelet and over $700,000 in cash after several days of play. . This is Rockowitz’s 7th career cash in a major event and 2nd of this year’s series. $13,000 was his largest previous cash.

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WSOP Recap June 22 – Poker

admin — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 09:44:43 +0000

At the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, NV, June 22nd, 2010 saw one of the games most notable players add to his growing reputation. Phil Ivey outlasted the stiff competition, and took home his 8th World Series bracelet, in event #37, a $3,000 HORSE tourney. By winning his 8th World Series tournament Ivey now trails only players such as Johnny Moss (9 bracelets), Doyle Brunson and Jonny Chan (10 bracelets), and Phil Hellmuth (11 bracelets) on the all time leader board. Phil Ivey will almost certainly become the all time leader during his career, if he continues this level of play. In this $3,000 HORSE event Ivey took on a pretty tough final table, and was able to beat players such as Bill Chen, John Juanda, Jeffrey Lisandro and Chad Brown. Phil, for his efforts, will take home $329,000

On the 22nd, another world champion was crowned as well. Valdemar Kwaysser, for his first career bracelet, and third cash of this series beat a field of 268 players. Kwaysser entered the final day 11th in chips but managed to beat notable players Amnon Filippi, Sandra Naujoks, Allen Kessler and Amit Makhija. With more than $617,000 for winning this tournament, Kwaysser will walk away.

There was a ton of other action today at the WSOP, in addition to these final tables. Still being contested are Events 39 and 40, a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout and $2,500 Seven Card Razz event respectively. The No limit Shootout has a staggering prize pool of $1.89 Million while the Seven Card Razz tourney has a more modest $839,000 prize pool. On June 23rd, both events are scheduled to finish. Event #41, a $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better, also got under way today. To the bracelet winner, this event will pay $245,000, and will run for 3 days.

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Poker: WSOP Recap, June 19

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:55:24 +0000

June 19th, 2010 was another action packed day at the World Series of Poker. Event #32 and #33 wrapped up their action and crowned two more World Series of Poker champions. Event #32, a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six Handed tourney, was won by Jeffrey Papola. This was Papola’s second chance at a bracelet in just 4 days.

Earlier in the week he was heads up against online sportsbook poker favorite, Will Haydon in the $2,500 buy-in version of the same event. However, this time Papola was able to beat his opponent, Men Nguyen, in a heads up match that lasted just over 4 hours. Other notable poker pro Erick Lindgren was also at this final table, and finished 6th for $82,000. Papola will take home $667,000 for beating a field of 568 players.

The other event that held its final table on June 19th was event #33, which is a $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha tournament. This event, which drew a field of 482 poker players, was won by Jose Luis Velador. This is actually Velador’s second WSOP bracelet. He won one back in 2008 in a no limit event. Velador will be taking home $260,000 for his efforts along with that second gold bracelet.

Event #36, a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event, and Event #37, a $3,000 HORSE event, got underway on the 19th as well. Event #36 is expected to be a huge field, and actually has two day 1’s. Day 1A was on the 19th while Day 1B is on the 20th. The final table will be held on June 22nd. This is one of the few $1,000 buy-in events making it possible for more recreational players to afford the buy-in. Event #37 will hold its final table on June 21.

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Psychology of Poker – Book Review

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:03:53 +0000

I just finished reading the “Psychology of Poker,” by Alan Schoonmaker. As an avid online and offline poker player and poker blogger, I read as many books as I can on the topic of poker. In my opinion, this is one of the greatest books ever written. This book really focuses on the psychology of the game and why players play like they do and why you play like you do. This book does not cover or basic skills.

The greatest thing about this book is that it skips the basics and focuses on the finer more subtle parts of the game. In my opinion, these are the things you need to know to be a champion. The book is full of original content and is written in a clear and concise fashion. The book is easy to understand and even though the author dives into some complex issues. I also like the chapter that discusses how to make strategic adjustments based on the types of players you are playing. The author has a Ph.D. in psychology and this is great because he is not like every other poker strategy expert, he gives you advice based on quantifiable scientific evidence.

The one drawback of the book is that it basically ignores the topic of online play. As online poker continues to become more popular, I am afraid this book will become less relevant.

In closing, I highly recommend this book for the intermediate to expert level poker player. What you learn will definitely improve your game.

Dan Keller is a poker fanatic and maintains a popular Poker Blog and also runs a Free Blog Directory site that lists all types of blogs, including poker.

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