2008 WSOP : Shuffle Up And Deal ...

[Kramer]

Play opened at the 39th annual world series of poker yesterday
with nearly 1,300 players hoping to make it through the 10 hour day of no limit texas hold em against both high profile
and unknown and sports / celebrity players who could come out of no where to be the ultimate champion.

Its the dream of every poker player to come here and play

Las Vegas Icon Wayne Newton ordered the saying
Shuffle up and deal...

The field is so large , first round is spread over four days so it will take a while to break down the first round ...

Each seat cost $ 10,000 so that's about $ $13,000,000 total.
Prize structure to be determined later ...

About 10% of entrants will will some money...

Each player will be issued $ 20,000 in chips which has no monetary value ,
just how one
"stacks up" against another ...

The tourney gets down to fnal 9 player July 14th ...


Updates to follow :

[Wellahiya]

any Mallers that will play the ME?

[Kramer]

Poker is Fun... For Ev-ery-one

It has been said many times that the only thing that you need to play poker is your mind. At this year's World Series of Poker there have been players of varying age ranges and physical conditions playing at the tables.


We have had players up to 91 years of age, players in wheelchairs, blind players, players missing limbs, and even a quadriplegic at the tables this year. Harrah's has been very accommodating to all players, regardless of need, and should be applauded for their efforts for making the World Series truly open to everyone

Truly a World Series
On this Fourth of July holiday, we began today with a singing of the national anthem. Afterwards, it was noted that while poker is an especially American endeavor, this year's World Series of Poker has brought together players from a whopping 104 different countries


Playing with Purpose


Players come to the World Series of Poker for many different reasons. Some want to rub elbows with the pros; some want to feed their inner action junkie; some want to chase fortune and glory. Roger "Hank" Henry didn't come to the World Series for any of those reasons. He came in memory of his wife Mary. Last year, Roger and Mary, residents of Sierra Vista, Arizona, promised each other that they would play in the 2008 Main Event.


They worked on their game throughout the course of the year, mainly playing with the Sierra Vista Poker Group in their hometown. Everything was proceeding according to plan, but then tragedy struck -- Mary passed away in March.

Roger, with the support of his two grown sons John and Tom, decided to honor his promise to his wife and play in the Main Event anyway. He is seated today at Blue #9, dressed (appropriately enough) in a bright blue hat and t-shirt.



A photo of Roger and Mary, taken when they visited Florida last year, is standing on the rail behind his chips, a visible reminder to everyone at the table that there are many things in life that are far more important than some poker tournament that takes place every summer in the middle of the desert. Roger currently has about 16,500 chips

Youngest Player in the Field is Youngest Player to be Eliminated
Maybe it wasn't such a great 21st birthday after all. Andrew Schoepfer, the player who turned 21 today, is out of the Main Event. His last 3,000 chips went in the middle while he was holding
AH,10H
James McBeth, whose 40th birthday is today, called with
9H,9C
and it was off to the races. Schoepfer didn't improve, proving once again that experience always triumphs over youth. We imagine he'll spend the rest of his birthday drunk and surrounded by naked strippers (and being carded everywhere he goes).

Greg Mueller is in for the long haul. If he needs to stay at a table and play for 14 days straight he will. He's come prepared for it anyway as in a pile in front of him he has: a packet of Starburst, Skittles (sour & original), Twizzlers, Mentos, Gum, a watch, a set of keys, lollies, money in a clip, sunglasses, an MP3 player and of course a few all-important poker chips.





Event #54 -- World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold'em Day 1A

Number of players Day 1A: 1,297, Remaining 636
Notes from the WSOP on Day 1A:

The tournament began in the area confined to the Amazon Ballroom. The number of tables (155) was enough to accommodate all the players registered on Day One.

The first elimination of this year's Main Event took place about five minutes into play. Barry Clancy, from Fort Worth, Texas was dealt pocket aces. The other player was dealt pocket jacks. After an inconsequential flop of 6-3-2, the player with the pocket jacks re-raised all-in.



Clancy called with the pocket aces. The turn was a blank. The river was – a jack. The WSOP had officially dealt out its first bad beat of the year. The first royal flush of the 2008 WSOP was dealt at approximately 3:15 on Day 1-A, about three hours into play.

The only major celebrity to survive Day One was actor Ray Romano. This was the second straight year the popular performer has played in the WSOP Main Event. "You bond with people at your table," Romano answered when asked what he likes about playing poker. Romano also revealed that he re-read Doyle Brunson's classic Super/System the night before he played.

Forty-five minutes into Level 1, a new dealer pushed into Blue #1. The players in the blinds had posted 25 and 50, prompting the dealer to ask them to post 50 and 100. Imagine nine players looking somewhat stunned, then all simultaneously turning to look at the tournament clock to confirm that yes, the blinds have been 50 and 100 for the whole level. "Whoops," said Jamie Gold. "We've been playing our own game over here


12:02 pm
The directive to "Shuffle Up and Deal" has been announced, and the Main Event begins! It was given by none other than "Mr. Las Vegas" Wayne Newton, who also sang the song Viva Las Vegas with the UNLV marching band. This could only happen in Vegas.

12:41 pm
This year seats for 3,000 players per day will be made available for Days 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D. The goal is to just survive the first five levels of play in order to make the cut. All levels will last 120 minutes and each player will begin with $20,000 in chips. Adjustments may be made to the number of levels played each day. Dinner breaks will take place after 3 levels and last 90 minutes. Blinds will be as follows:




Level 1 = $50 to $100 blinds
Level 2 = $100 to $200 blinds
Level 3 = $150 to $300 blinds
Level 4 = $150 to $300 blinds, ante $25
Level 5 = $200 to $400 blinds, ante $50
And don't forget, this year when we get to the final table on July 14th, action will stop and resume on November 9th until 2 are left. Then the next day November 10th, those two will play heads up until there is a champion.

2:01 pm
Some of the faces seen so far on Day 1A are David Benyamine, Erica Schoenburg, Paul Wasicka, Eric Froehlich, Event #54 H.O.R.S.E. champion Scotty Nguyen and Josh Arieh. T.J. Cloutier was there but he will play on another day. He was just wishing luck to other players that he knows. The spectators are jammed pack for this event. If you are planning on walking to the Amazon room in the RIO, bring comfortable shoes and something non-alcoholic to drink while you're waiting in line to get in.



2:57 pm
Svetlana Gromenkova who won the Ladies Event this year is at the tables and doing well at this early point in the day. On one hand she went all-in with pocket J's against another player who had 10 8 after 10 8 7 hit the board. Her luck is continuing from other events as a 7 came on the turn, giving her a larger two pair and a bigger stack to continue with. Also at the tables is Tom Durr, Jason Alexander from the Seinfeld TV series, Roy Winston, Shannon Shorr, Roy Winston, David "Devilfish" Ulliott, Maureen Feduniak, Blair Hinkle who won a bracelet earlier in the series and Chris Reslock.




John Gale was an early bustout after an all-in move with A J 2 J on the table. John was holding A Q, but unfortunately he was against Svetlana Gromenkova who was holding pocket 2's, giving her a full house and the remainder of John's chips.



3:58 pm
David Benyamine was the latest to leave after losing an all in move with A J with J 8 3 A 8 on the table. The other player had pocket A's giving him a full house (A's/8's). Rich Zhu also went to the rail after being busted as well. At this point tables are actually beginning to break because of the high rate of departure for losing players.




4:42 pm
Ray Romano from "Everybody Loves Raymond" is also playing at the tables on Day 1A. At last word, Ray had about 40K in chips. Some of the busts that have taken place include David "Devilfish" Ulliott when his pocket 9's were overcome by another player holding pocket Q's that turned into a set, David Pham, James Mackey, Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, Vanessa Selbst and Eli Elezra.



5:37 pm
Roy Winston was busted after losing an all-in move to an Ace kicker. Jason Alexander went to the rail after his pocket A's were overcome by another player with A 2 with a board of 9 3 4 5. (Ouch!)




6:48 pm
Added to the list of the fallen are Dan Harrington, Lyle Berman, Katja Thater, Jan Von Halle, Maureen Feduniak after her pocket A's were cracked wide open by another player brandishing a set of 5's and Young Phan.




9:24 pm
After the 90 minute lunch break, it was time to get back to business. Action continued at Level 4 for the field. Tuan Lam is no longer in the Main Event as his all-in with K Q was met with A K by another player. With no help from the board, it was lights out for Lam. Following Lam were Abe Moserri, Gavin Smith, Shawn Rice, Bob Feduniak, Chad Brown, Jimmy Tran and Eric Froehlich.






10:12 pm
Vince Van Patten, co-host of the World Poker Tour, has been doing well so far on Day 1A, holding his own and winning nice pots. But Juha Helppi and Roland De Wolfe had their chances ended and are now railbirds. Roland went all-in with pocket Q's, only to be called with pocket A's. It was estimated that there are about 820 left in the field. The stats are not out yet, but when they are we will put them on the Day 1A page for you.




11:05 pm
Busts continue with Jamie Pickering going out after his all-in with A 3 lost out to another player holding A 4, Kevin Saul when his K J was outdone by another holding K Q and J.J. Liu who was eliminated by a set of 5's.




11:56 pm
Josh Arieh had to hit the rail when another player who paired their Jack card motivated Josh to muck his cards and quietly leave the table. John "Miami" Cernuto went all-in with pocket Kings to another player with A K. All was good...until an Ace came up on the river, sending John packing and out of the Main Event.




12:37 am
Top players so far are Patrick Fortin with 145,000 chips, Stefan Mattsson with 139,000 and Brandon Adams with 132,000. Alam Smurfit is also no longer in the Main Event after his all-in preflop move with A 5 was beat down with two pair (A's and 10's) of another player. Adam Katz had his paired Queens overruled by a pair of Kings, and had to leave the table. They were followed by Steve Sung, Berry Johnston, Mehki Phifer, Erica Schoenberg and Jonathan Little.



1:20 am
At this time, tournament officials will call it a day and 627 players who survived will take a rest until Day 2. Some who made the cut include Kido Pham 120,650, David Rheem 111,375, Svetlana Gromenkova 94,125, Chau Giang 87,625 (he was reported as busted but that was not accurate), Nick Schulman 69,000, Zachary Schwartz 68,975, Jamie Rosen 68,800, Hasan Habib 68,300, Weikai Chang 67,900, Harry Demetriou 59,150, Tex Barch 59,125, John Hennigan 51,875 and Chris Reslock 49,325. Officially there were 1,297 players that took to the Main Event on Day 1A.



Top 9 players with chip counts from Day 1A:
Mark Garner -- 194,900
Brandon Adams -- 176,450
Kellen Hunter -- 155,200
Stefan Mattsson -- 154,275
Patrick Fortin -- 145,275
Jeff Frerichs -- 138,025
Soren Peterson -- 135,475
Adam Hudson -- 127,750
Wayne Brown -- 124,575



Event #54 -- World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold'em Day 1B

Number of players Day 1A: 1,297, Remaining 636
12:00 pm
Day 1B has now begun. In another update which was just made official, tournament pro and gold bracelet winner Erick Lindgren is the 2008 WSOP "Player of the Year."

To recap the overview for Day 1B, the breaks, goal for level play, blinds and starting chips will be the same as on Day 1A.



12:15 pm
Country music star Andy Griggs sang the US national anthem in true patriotic fashion on July 4th for the players. And it was 2007 Main Event champion Jerry Yang that gave the directive to "Shuffle Up and Deal!", kicking off Day 1B of the Main Event. Yang will not be playing today, but will return on Sunday to defend his title.



1:47 pm
Seen on the floor today are 2004 Main Event champion Greg Raymer, 2006 Main Event champion Jamie Gold, Barney Boatman, Greg Mueller, baseball pitching legend Orel Hershisher, Tony Hachem, Tom McEvoy, Vanessa Rousso, Alex Kravchenko, David Levi and Kristy Gazes. Painfully, Andy Black was one of the first casualties of the day. After getting hit several hands early on, Andy went all-in with what he had and showed pocket J's after a flop of 7 5 3. Another player revealed 7 5, and when another 5 came up on the river for a full house, it was time for Andy to comtemplate entering Event #55 as he was no longer in this one.



Jamie Gold seemed to be looking for some of the 2006 pixie dust that might be leftover as he began to lose hands and the pots to go with them. On one hand with Gold holding pocket 2 3 and the board showing 2 3 10 10 J, a player made a big raise on the river and Gold called. The other player turned over pocket J's and scooped up the chips with a full house. Needless to say, Gold was not amused.





2:35 pm
Erick Lindgren is currently at the ESPN table and doing well so far. At this year's WSOP, he not only received the title of "Player of the Year", but won his first bracelet, and made the final table for two other events. Stephen Ladowsky busted a player bad when on a table showing 10 9 8 9 K, another player holding pocket K's moved all his chips to the middle. Ladowsky called and turned over pocket 9's for four of a kind, and dragged all those chips to his side of the table.




Ted Forrest was just eliminated after another player made an Ace high flush.
Daniel Negreanu also got busted after an all-in move with a set of 6's was overcome by another player who made a set of 9's.
Seems the opposite of things he writes about in his articles ...




3:44 pm
Also in the field are Bruno Fitoussi, Patrick Antonius, Ram Vaswani, Lee Watkinson, Steve Zolotow, Theo Tran, Pat Pezzin and Nancy Todd Tyner. Dewey Tomko ended up busting out after another player made a higher straight than the one Dewey had. Play is now at Level 2 with blinds at 100/200.




4:16 pm
2004 Main Event champion Greg Raymer was eliminated from the competition just now. He went all-in with Q 8 with 8 5 5 on the board. His opponent produced pocket J's from which gave him a bigger pair than Raymer. Scott Fischman also busted out.


5:17 pm
At this time Patrick Antonius is the chip leader for Day 1B with 78,000 chips. He is followed by Michael Watson 62,000, Rael Paez 60,800, Johnney Caruso 60,100 and Aliaksandr Yalouskikih 59,200 rounding out the top 5. Remember the blind player Hal Lubarsky that participated last year in the Main Event? Well he is back and doing well on Day 1B. He recently turned his pocket 2's into a full house, cracking his opponents pocket A's and bringing up his chip total to just over 42,000.



Kenny Tran was not so lucky and is just another railbird after busting out. His A J could not survive the flush that was made by another player. David Levi also went to the sidelines after his set of 5's were crushed by another player who made a set of 8's.

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by eekchac

any Mallers that will play the ME?

i think seanie mac is...but he isnt in las vegas playing it...he is in the ghetto in philadelphia playing it on playstation

[Ricky Tan]

Originally Posted by revnecro1273

i think seanie mac is...but he isnt in las vegas playing it...he is in the ghetto in philadelphia playing it on playstation

check the serial number

[Kramer]

Sat, 05 Jul 2008

615 Players Survive Day 1b Play
The official chip counts have been released for the Day 1b session, and have been updated in the "Chip Counts" section. 615 players from an initial starting pack of 1,158 have made it through to Day 2am where they will be merged with the 636 survivors from the Day 1a session. San Francisco's Ben Sarnoff led the way among all Day 1b players, amassing a 177,500 chip stack. The top ten among all Day 1b players is as follows: Ben Sarnoff 177,500 Brian Schaedlich 160,725 Robert Mizrachi 142,400 Nick Caltabiano 127,700 Liya Gerasimova 111,050 Robert Eckstut 110,275 Alex Balandin 109,925 Coco Valerice 106,727 Michael Watson 104,425 Gilles Smadja 101,450


Steve Wong Gets Early Lesson
Steve Wong is not happy after quickly learning about one of the WSOP tournament rules. Wong was standing near his seat when the cards were being dealt. The tournament rules stipulate that you must be within reach of your chair when the dealer finishes dealing all cards or else your hand is declared dead. Wong was upset at the ruling as he was standing very close to where his chair was, but the dealer enforced the rule and Wong's hand was pulled into the muck


John Kalmar Seeking Another Final Table
John Kalmar is a name that would sound familiar to most poker fans out there but perhaps you can't quite place where you've heard it. Well if you think back to last year's WSOP Main Event and the final table then you'd be able to picture a entertaining British guy mixing it up with Lee Watkinson, Tuan Lam and Jerry Yang for the ultimate prize in poker.


Last year Kalmar actually didn't want to play the Main Event, and planned to leave early to go back to England, but managed to win a seat in the last mega-satellite to gain his Main Event seat and went on to finish fifth for over $1.25 million. Since last year's result, John has had only a few small WPT cashes but is back again this year to try for back-to-back final tables and the chance to go a few places better. John will be a player to watch throughout today's play.


Huck Seed Eliminated
BOARD : 3S , 7S ,7C , QC
Miranda bet out for 6,000 on the turn and Huck Seed moved all in for an additional 16,000. Chris went into the tank before eventually making the call
SEED turned 7H, 9H
CHRIS 7D , ACE D
RIVER 2 H
Ace 7 elminated his 9 , 7

[Gerk]

Just checked the updates

Notable players eliminated so far

Phl Ivey
Phil Laak
Chris Ferguson
Jennifer Tilley
Todd Brunson
David Williams
Annie Duke
Michael Mizrachi
Jose Canseco
Andy Bloch

[revnecro1273]

jose canseco...LOL...man cant that guy just go away

[smitch124]

Phil Hellmuth still around??

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by smitch124

Phil Hellmuth still around??

yeah he survived his day 1...all decked out in a general's outfit and was driven in on a jeep with ub soldierettes...LOL

[smitch124]

too bad he's had some really bad beats early in the last few ME's, love to see him implode...

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by smitch124

too bad he's had some really bad beats early in the last few ME's, love to see him implode...

later rounds would be better for the bad beats and implosion for him...the deeper it gets the better, because he is seeing light at the end of the tunnel for a possible big finish...would infuriate him even more during those stages

[smitch124]

lol, true. Well we know he always has the best hand, so will have to be a bad beat when he goes out

[Gerk]

New noteable players eliminated

Scotty Nguyen
Paul Wasicka
Erick Lindgren
Kathy Leibert
Barry Greenstein
Ray Romano

[Chicago RED]

Originally Posted by revnecro1273

yeah he survived his day 1...all decked out in a general's outfit and was driven in on a jeep with ub soldierettes...LOL

At least he did not crash another race car lol.