Entries from July, 2009
New Full Tilt Poker software upgrade available
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
By the time this post gets out to the internet, most on Full Tilt will know there is a new software push out there for our players. If you haven’t launched FTP today then get on it, I’ll be here when you get back.
This is not your usual new software upgrade that you’ve come to expect. You aren’t getting a few tweaks to the system, new games and levels, or even the occasional bug fix (flashback to my old programming days). This time around you are getting completely new software that is evident the moment you launch. You’ll notice the difference right off the bat with the initial login screen. The changes keep coming from the moment you login. You’ll have three choices for your lobby view. Basic view, standard view, and classic view.
I will hightlight those and other features after the jump:
Popularity: 21% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail
2009 World Series of Poker – $40,000 Championship Broadcast
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
As ESPN begins broadcasting the 2009 World Series of Poker, I will be going through my post from then as well as my notes to bring you my thoughts before/during/after the episode. You can find the entire 2009 WSOP ESPN Broadcast schedule here. Comments welcome.
Last night brought us the first ESPN broadcast of the 2009 World Series of Poker with the $40,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship. It was the first “open” event of the WSOP and eased everyone into the series. 201 players player bought in creating the largest non-Main Event prizepool in history. It was one of the toughest fields you will ever see in a poker tournament.
I was interested to see what portions of the event ESPN would put on the air and was mildly surprised that none of the early action was shown other than cutaway shots. There was plenty of action before the final table which would have made for some great TV. I was specifically interested to see if they would show the bustout of Mike Matusow. He had a rough day between cards and coolers then busted out of the $40k and Omaha/8 tournaments within minutes.
Full Tilt pro Andy Black started his series well with a 19th place finished and Tony G was the final table bubble boy. Full Tilt was represented at the final table by Ted Forrest and eventual winner Vitaly Lunkin. Watching the replay last night brought up something I’ve seen several times over the last few years and cannot explain.
Why do others question the play of 5-time bracelet winner Ted Forrest? Noah “McLovin” Schwartz did just that on Forrest’s final hand of the table. Since I began covering live tournaments, many times I’ve seen players at the table with Forrest question and critique moves by the legend. Every where from the Borgata to the Rio I’ve seen this occur and can only surmise that he is mixing up his play enough to confuse others at the table.
Vitaly Lunkin was a quiet force at the final table, rarely going showing down his cards until play was 4 or 5-handed. Catching big pocket pairs heads up certainly didn’t hurt his chances. This was the first Full Tilt bracelet in the first open event of the series.
Next on the broadcast schedule is the World Series of Poker Champions Invitational. This freeroll brought together Main Event winners from past to battle for the inaugural Binion’s Cup and a sweet old red Corvette Stingray.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Vitaly Lunkin, WSOP
World Series of Poker – Should it go old school?
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
After spending two straight months covering the World Series of Poker, it was interesting to see a lot of those non-NLHE games drawing big crowds and how they played out. The world of poker is not limited strictly to go ol’ No Limit Texas Hold’em (Cadillac of Poker not withstanding). I was able to witness all varieties of Stud and Omaha games, there were two HORSE tournaments, an 8-game mix event and throwing a little Deuce to Seven Lowball.
Blogger “Tuscaloosa” Johnny brings us a guest post and asks the question of whether the WSOP should go back to even more old school events. I first started looking at some of the old events in the middle of the series this year after doing some research of Full Tilt pro Berry Johnston. He won his first bracelet in an event called “Match Play” which held no meaning for me. I asked around to some of the historians and was unable to get a absolute answer to what the format for “match play” would be. The most popular answer were either an early form of Heads Up tournaments or a Shootout Tournament. Still waiting on the final answer.
The odds are very long we’ll see a “Match Play” event but “Tuscaloosa” Johnny brings up some games from the past and the chances we’ll ever see it again.
Enjoy.
Should the WSOP go old school?
By Johnny Kampis
Five-Card Stud or Mixed Doubles, anyone? The history of the World Series of Poker is littered with bygone events – some games that are practically prehistoric by current standards.
Let’s look at some of the events the Series used to have that haven’t been played either recently or in a long time and my own personal odds that tournament organizers would ever bring them back.
Popularity: 19% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Tuscaloosa Johnny, WSOP
Big Money Sunday – July 26th
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
It certainly hasn’t been an easy week since I returned from the World Series of Poker but it’s mostly technical in nature. Foremost being my laptop taking a literal dump all over the place. That gave me an opportunity to unwind from the craziness which was very much needed. But Big Money Sunday rolls around again and we’re back in business. It’s been awhile since I’ve covered the full slate of Full Tilt’s Sunday night majors and I’m glad that nothing has really changed. The four tournaments I followed pulled in just south of 20,000 players and $1,900,000 in prize money.
I was not surprised to see the numbers are still huge especially in the $200k Double Deuce. You wouldn’t have been alone if you though that the draw would eventually lessen for the smaller buyin tournament but it’s holding with huge numbers. The Sunday majors went well beyond their guarantees with large fields stars all around. After spending two months in Las Vegas, I did manage to forget some of the insanity on the virtual rails as the tournaments narrowed to just a few tables. I’m not sure I would survive with the chat option turned on if I made it that far. Naturally I don’t have to worry about that with my skills.
I may have to start tracking some of the best comments but I’m pretty sure I’m not seeing any of the brilliant minds in poker. That doesn’t stop them from voicing opinions on just about every play or speculating wildly on every hole card. I think next week I’ll bring some of the best from the rail.
During the Sunday night majors, I’m always looking out for the top players and red letter pros. I’m not sure how the last few months of the Double Deuce have gone but we almost had a big name at this final table. Garrett “GBecks” Beckman, former FTOPS winner, was near the top of the leaderboard through the later parts of the tournament. He unfortunately ran his AA smack dab into a four-deuce.
Red Letter pro and Cardrunner instructor Mike McDonald (picture above) was our big name runner this weekend. He fought his way through the 1,300 plus entrants in the Sunday Brawl to make the final table where he ended up 5th. Starting next week we’ll bring you another twist as I tackle the $750k Satellite Challenge with fellow bloggers.
Final table and payout numbers after the jump:
Popularity: 19% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Big Money Sunday, Bloggers on the Rail
2009 PPA National Poker Week
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
When I first began writing this post I had a disclaimer at the top stating that my non-US readers could probably go right by and ignore it. Then I realized that writing about the process of keeping access to online poker in the United States is important to players across the entire world.
While covering the 2009 World Series of Poker, there was an important press conference held by the Poker Players Alliance in the Rio prior to the Seniors Event. John Pappas, Executive Director of the PPA, was joined by former Senator Alfonse D’Amato and U.S. Representative Shelley Berkely who spoke about the current developments in the U.S. Congress in the battle of online poker.
The PPA also announced the creation of National Poker Week in Washington, DC. It was scheduled to begin after the 2009 World Series of Poker November Nine formed, a time when the poker world is focused. The activities began yesterday with updates from PPA and today began the big push. People from across the country spent the afternoon meeting with their congressional representatives to lobby for the game they love and the freedom to play it online. They were joined by many big poker names including Andy Bloch, Greg Raymer, and Annie Duke.
They also launched an online petition which will be presented to U.S. President Obama on Wednesday, July22nd. Full Tilt encourage all players to sign the petition and contact their Senator/House Representative to voice your feelings. Full Tilt is also helping to encourage this participation by offering a $10,000 freeroll to any player who uses the PPA website to send their thoughts. Freeroll information can be found here on the PPA website.
Please click the links below, sign the petition, email Members of Congress, fight for your game. Also below is a video from Congressman Barney Frank concerning National Poker Week.
Poker Players Alliance
Poker is Not a Crime – Poker Petition
National Poker Week
Popularity: 22% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Andy Bloch, Bloggers on the Rail, PPA
2009 World Series of Poker – Deep Breath
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
It seems the entire poker world sat back and took a really deep breath on Thursday, still holding it after all this time. Yes, it’s true that one on of the biggest names in poker battled through nearly 6,500 players to make the final table of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event. Phily Ivey will now find himself the center of attention for the next few months as every poker outlet and ESPN look to capitalize on his participation.
Just about the exact opposite kind of thing Ivey would be looking for. But he’s getting exactly what he set out to do. Phil Ivey came into this tournament from Day 1 looking to win it all. I’ll certainly be bringing you more details as we creep closer to November.
Until then I’m finally starting to come out of the WSOP fog. 120 degree temperatures, severe laptop hardware issues on the final day, travel nightmares, and post-WSOP celebrations left a gaping hole where my poker soul once resided. It took a few days with the creature comforts from home to get my mojo back.
I’ll be back all week with forgotten stories from throughout the series, one that never quite made it to these pages but worth the time. I’ll also be previewing the November Nine with my thoughts from actually being in front of each at some point during the Main Event. I’ll even try out my hand at a little handicapping, purely for entertainment sake.
That all starts tomorrow, I think today I get back on the Full Tilt tables for a little low level donkey-crushing button-mashing.
Popularity: 22% [?]
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Phil Ivey, WSOP
2009 World Series of Poker – November Nine Set
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
You would be hard pressed to find a single person in the Amazon Room or across the poker world that did not want to see Phil Ivey make the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event final table. He’s gone and completed that task after so many close calls over the years.
If there is one way to describe Ivey’s day it would be “grinding”. He caught a pocket jacks twice in the early going, losing both and knocking down his chip stack. The rest of the day he spent picking his spots and playing poker while others seemed to panic and make bad moves. He picked off Jamie Robbins with a preflop all-in AT but there were no other major swings.
The rest of the field contains three other Full Tilt sponsored players in James Akenhead, Steve Begleiter, and Eric Buchman.
I will return tomorrow with profiles and more stories from Day 8.
Seat 1 – Darvin Moon – 58,930,000
Seat 2 – James Akenhead – 6,800,000
Seat 3 – Phil Ivey – 9,765,000
Seat 4 – Kevin Schaffel – 12,390,000
Seat 5 – Steven Begleiter – 29,885,000
Seat 6 – Eric Buchman – 34,800,000
Seat 7 – Joe Cada – 13,215,000
Seat 8 – Antoine Saout – 9,500,000
Seat 9 – Jeff Shulman – 19,580,000
Update: We’ve begun profiling and handicapping the 2009 November Nine. Links below.
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 1
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 2
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 3
Popularity: 30% [?]
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Eric Buchman, James Akenhead, Steve Begleiter, WSOP
2009 World Series of Poker Day 49 – Main Event Day 8 Live Blog
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
12:00pm:
It’s our final day sitting in the Amazon Room and bound to be the longest of the entire series. The stakes for the players are daunting, 9 of the remaining 27 will be guaranteed at least $1,000,000 and 3 months of publicity and scrutiny. One of these players will be crowned the new World Series of Poker Champion and over $8,000,000.
Most predictions have us playing out at least 6 levels of play before we know who those players will be. That will take us into the very early morning. Phil Ivey himself said he thinks it will take 8 levels of play. Things will get loopy here before we are done.
There are few that would say they would love to see Phil Ivey make the final 9 players, as the WCP boys say, it’s good for poker. The amount of interest and publicity generated for the game would go be tremendous. He will start the day on the ESPN feature table in front of a packed audience. Fellow red letter Full Tilt pro James Akenhead will be sitting at the outer table looking to join his teammate.
As happens in these situations, Full Tilt also will also following a few new names throughout the day. Andrew Lichtenberger, Marco Mattes, Steve Begleiter, Eric Buchman, and Warren Zackey.
The instructions have been handed out and cards are in the air. Look for regular updates throughout the day. Starting chip counts after the jump.
1:00pm:
Surely I won’t jinx this but we lost 3 players during that first hour including the last woman in the field Leo Margets. There seems to be little action other than those bustout hands. Phil Ivey doubled up one player, Nick Maimone, with a dominating hand that didn’t hold up. All the money went in pre-flop with Ivey holding JJ and Maimone Q5 soooted.
Other than those hands, the Full Tilt players are feeling everything out and still hanging in there.
Eliminations this hour:
25 – Francois Balmigere – $352,832
26 – Jesse Haabak – $352,832
27 – Leo Margets – $352,832
2:15pm:
Players are heading off on their first break of the day. Ivey and Akenhead took some hits, Akenhead battled back, Steve Begleiter knocks out a favorite, and things are getting testy.
When this episode of the 2009 World Series of Poker is broadcast, there will be a new name filling the internet with his lucksakery. Nick Maimone pulled a rabbit out of his hat against Phil Ivey then turned around and hit another double up with a two outer. On a Q84 board, he insta-called Jordan Smith’s all-in with the almighty baby pair of sevens. He was up against Smith’s pocket tens but we all know what happens. A black seven on the turn for another suckout.
Phil Ivey double up another shortstack, once again with pocket jacks. This time his opponent held more the a naked queen, holding two of the ladies. It was a monster stack but it was another hit to the favorite. James Akenhead has took a beating early this hour but battled back from a low of 3 million back up to 10 million.
The only elimination of the hour came at the expense of Antonio Esfandiari, one of the few famous faces left in the field. He collects $352,832 but would rather be playing in November. I’m sure the ESPN gang feels the same way.
Some unofficial chip counts at the first break:
Steven Begleiter – 15,200,000
Eric Buchman – 12,000,000
James Akenhead – 10,000,000
Andrew Lichtenberger – 8,400,000
Phil Ivey – 6,300,000
Warren Zackey – 4,100,000
Marco Mattes – 795,000
3:30pm:
Nick Maimone continues to run like god. This should make for some great TV and even better fodder for the forums. The player who got him money in bad against Phil Ivey has been hitting big hands and bigger flops as the day progresses. The lastest victim of Maimone was George Caragiorgas who had the misfortune of running into his pocket Kings, flopped set and turned quads. Maimone may never fold a hand again the rest of this tournament.
Ivey and Akenhead continue to struggle and it will be a grind from here on out. We’ve just lost out 9th player of the day getting us down to the final two tables. Steve Begleiter and his posse are making quite a bit of noise at the secondary table and has moved to third place in chips with 1,600,000.
The clock has been paused as they re-draw for the final 18. Players will also now see a jump in pay to $500,577 for 16th to 18th.
Unofficial chip counts midway through the level:
Steven Begleiter – 16,600,000
Eric Buchman – 16,000,000
James Akenhead – 9,600,000
Andrew Lichtenberger – 6,650,000
Phil Ivey – 5,435,000
Eliminations this hour:
19 – Tommy Vedes – $352,832
20 – George Caragiorgas – $352,832
21 – Jonathan Tamayo – $352,832
22 – Warren Zackey – $352,832
23 – Marco Mattes – $352,832
4:45pm:
Players are heading off on their second break of the day at the end of Level 31 and there was a lot of action as the clock ran down. We lost Andrew Lichtenberg early in the hour then things slowed down. Pots were being shipped around with very few all-ins. On the last hand of the level we had all-in and calls on both tables.
On the feature table Steve Begleiter knocked out Ian Tavelli when they both got the chips in the middle after a ragged flop, unfortunately for Tavelli his pocket 9’s were way behind the kings which held up. On the secondary table Ludovic Lacay and Jeff Shulman were all-in preflop racing with 77 versus AKo. The flopped king was enough to knockout our 16th player.
All four remaining Full Tilt players find themselves sitting at the ESPN feature table. Phil Ivey (6,800,000), James Akenhead (10,100,000), Eric Buchman (16,000,000), and Steve Begleiter (27,890,000) who appears to have the chip lead at this time.
3 players dropped this level leaving us just 6 eliminations from the November Nine. There has also been a bump in the payouts with 13th through 15th receiving $633,022.
16 – Ludovic Lacay – $500,577
17 – Ian Tavelli – $500,577
18 – Andrew Lichtenberg – $500,577
For seven weeks the Amazon Room was full of donkeys and lemurs, sharks and fish
On the last day it’s just a small bright light in the corner
6:00pm:
My wish for everyone to see monster lucksack Nick Maimone at the final table has not come true. The broadcast will show you some of the action but 3 months of analyzing his play would be worth it. He became a victim of his own actions when he snapped-called all his chips with two overs and a gutshot draw, with one of his overs no good. If there was to describe it faster than “snap-call” I would try. He couldn’t wait to get his chips in the middle. Full Tilt sponsored player Eric Buchman had top pair with a open end straight draw which turned into trip on the turn and a straight on the river. Maimone is out of the event but takes away $633,022 and the knowledge he’ll be the talk of the forums for months to come.
With that hand, Full Tilt now occupies the top two spots on the leaderboard with Phil Ivey and James Akenhead still very much in contention. That was the only player we lost during the first hour of Level 32. Below are the unofficial chip counts for the four remaining Full Tilt players.
Steven Begleiter – 28,400,000
Eric Buchman – 25,280,000
James Akenhead – 9,460,000
Phil Ivey – 6,540,000
Elimination this hour:
15 – Nick Maimone – $633,022
Eric Buchman has been making moves all day and goes to dinner close to the chip lead
7:00pm:
We’ve finished the 3rd level of play for the evening and the players are heading off on their dinner break. 14 players still remaining after 6 hours of play and things have definitely slowed down. We still have four Tilters in the field with Steve Begleiter and Eric Buchman still leading the field, James Akenhead climbing the leaderboard until a pre-break hit, and Phil Ivey lurking in the background.
I’d love to tell stories about Ivey pushing the other players around and making big moves but he’s simply been playing a patience game with his stack. In a tournament that he’s seen so many players disregarding their chipstack in relation to the blinds with overbets and calls, Ivey has been taking his time and picking spots to grab pots. While he’s in the bottom half of the leaderboard, no one is counting him out.
Unofficial chip counts:
Steven Begleiter – 26,400,000
Eric Buchman – 25,950,000
Phil Ivey – 7,100,000
James Akenhead – 2,600,000
Eliminations this hour:
NONE!
9:30pm:
The talk during dinner break was how quickly we would lose somebody coming back from the dinner break, belly full of food and confidence. We came close to a knockout almost immediately when shortstack Jamie Robbins three-bet allin straight into aces. Robbins tens were toast up until the 5%-er ten hit the river. The room erupted and we continued on with 14 players.
In a very “Dewey Defeats Truman” moment, a colleague pointed out an Associated Press story on ESPN.com which oddly enough states that Phil Ivey has been eliminated from the 2009 World Series of Poker. Screenprint on the left.
“Among those eliminated on Wednesday was Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, who was one of only two prior World Series of Poker tournament winners left as play began Wednesday, along with seven-time gold bracelet winner Phil Ivey.”
Odd considering I am currently watching him play on the ESPN table at the moment. I’m sure the article will be corrected, removed, annihilated before long.
Before the end of this level’s first hour we did find ourselves with two knockouts leaving just 3 away from the November Nine. We’ll also see a new bump in payouts with $896,730 for 10th through 12th.
13 – James Calderaro – $633,022
14 – Ben Lamb – $633,022
Unofficial Full Tilt chip counts:
Eric Buchman – 35,980,000
Steven Begleiter – 27,730,000
Phil Ivey – 8,400,000
James Akenhead – 6,150,000
10:00pm:
Well that certainly didn’t take very long. Within 30 minutes of my last update we dropped two people in a hurry. On the secondary feature table, Billy Kopp put 80BBs in the middle drawing completely dead. He was involved in the hand with Darvin Moon who felted him with QJd versus 53d on an all diamond flop. No card could save him and he was gone from the side stage before the river.
Almost immediately after Phil Ivey called the all-in of Jamie Robbins. Ivey’s ATh help up against Robbins’ KQo to suddenly get us looking for one more elimination to form the November Nine. Both tables will now combine to play 10-handed until that person is gone.
Full Tilt is represented by four players. Phil Ivey, Steve Begleiter, Eric Buchman, and James Akenhead guarantee Tilt will have at least 3 faces when the final table is played. Akenhead enters 10-handed play as the shortstack.
Chip counts for the final 10:
Darvin Moon – 44,300,000
Eric Buchman – 36,780,000
Steven Begleiter – 26,495,000
Jeff Shulman – 17,900,000
Jordan Smith – 15,430,000
Joseph Cada – 13,400,000
Kevin Schaffel – 13,080,000
Phil Ivey – 10,210,000
Antoine Saout – 10,200,000
James Akenhead – 5,100,000
10:45pm:
Unbelievable! Just like that we lost Jordan Smith (his aces versus Darvin Moon’s set) and we have our November Nine.
Phil Ivey makes the final table!
I’ll be back tomorrow with a complete rundown after everything settles down.
Popularity: 24% [?]
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Eric Buchman, James Akenhead, Phil Ivey, Steve Begleiter, WSOP
2009 World Series of Poker Day 48 – Main Event Day 7 Live Blog
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
The room continues to shrink, the day starts with 7 tables
12:30pm
Day 7 starts with just 1% of the starting field and will play down to three tables. The makeup of the November Nine final table which be much clearer when we stagger from the Amazon Room sometime between now and sunrise tomorrow. Will the chip leader survive the day? Will we have a table with some of the biggest names or will they struggle against the unpredictable amateurs? Will Leo Margets become the first woman to make the Main Event final table since Barbara Enright?
There are three members of Team Full Tilt in the small field as Jack Effel issues the daily command. Phil Ivey will look to continue his heater as he begins the day third in chips with 6,345,000. He’s in a dangerous position for the field to be comfortable, he even seems chipper today. Next on the list is Fabrice Soulier with 3,025,000 and James Akenhead with 1,655,000. That leaves us represented by the U.S, France and the U.K. There are several other players sporting the red and white patches and I will work on getting their information.
With the first elimination of the day occurring before the seats were even warmed up, it was Prahlad Friedman’s short day, we are now down to 7 full tables and a new pay jump. 55th through 63rd will be the first players to be paid six digits, $108,047.
Play was underway but the clock has been stopped to break a table. It’s all very quiet so far, a few small claps here and there but no fireworks. You can find the starting chip counts after the jump. I’ll be here all day bringing you near live updates.
1:30pm:
My dark thoughts of working in the Amazon Room until dawn my have been a little dramatic. It might still be a very long day/night/morning but the first hour brought a boatload of bustouts. We lost nearly an entire table in 60 minutes but one those did not make the media table happy. Friend of many, Joe Sebok was eliminated in 56th spot after running his shortstack A9 into a big stack AQ. 55 players remain at the bottom of the hour leaving us just two knockouts away from going down to six tables and up another payout jump.
Phil Ivey has been stack up and up, pushing over the 7.1Million mark with what PokerNews.com described as a “hero call”. Ace high was good enough for a monster pot sure to be seen on the ESPN rebroadcast. Fabrice Soulier and James Akenhead are sitting the same, but newly patched up Michael Hansen enjoyed his Day 7 for approximately 20 minutes. Tom “Donkey Bomber” Schneider has recently doubled up to the joy of his wife Judy who has a voice that can be heard back in Texas.
2:30pm:
The players are now heading off on their first break of the day and we are down to 6 full tables. The players still seem to be feeling out each other and protecting their stacks. Four of the shortest stacks to start the day have been eliminated. Chip leader to start Darvin Moon (~10,000,000) has been moved down to second as Billy Kopp surged past him with over 14,000,000 in chips.
Phil Ivey is still moving along and continues to actively increase his stack and stay in position for a Championship run while Fabrice Soulier has taken some hits and dropped down to just north of 1,300,000. Recently patched up newcombers Charlie Elias and Hieu Luu will come back from break with over 3,000,000. Luu has spent most of that level trading blows with Tom “Donkey Bomber” Schneider. Yesterday he was seen sporting a “I’m a Lucky Donk” t-shirt.
When the broke down to 6 tables, the payout levels once again jumped. Places 46th to 54th will receive $138,568.
Eliminations during that level:
55 – Craig Boyd – $108,047
56 – Joe Sebok – $108,047
57 – John Martin – $108,047
58 – Scott Bohlman – $108,047
59 – Miika Puumalainen – $108,047
60 – Benjamin Jensen – $108,047
61 – Mark Ader – $108,047
62 – Michael Jansen – $108,047
63 – George Saca – $108,047
64 – Prahlad Friedman – $90,344
You can read the rest of the live blog after the jump:
Popularity: 22% [?]
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Phil Ivey, WSOP
2009 World Series of Poker Day 47 – Main Event Day 6 Live Blog
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Day 6 of the 2009 World Series of Poker kicked off just a few moments past noon and we already know that the days of getting away from the Amazon Room early are a thing of the past. Jack Effel announced to the room that we will be playing 5 levels today, no matter the number of players remaining. That means the 185 players starting the day will 10 full hours of poker to make it through to Day 7. With breaks that will take them close to 12:30am.
With the shrinking field the media access (the non-ESPN variety) has been restricted to a cattle chute along the rail between the spectators and tables. It will make covering the day rather difficult but I will tough it out for you my faithful reader.
There are quite a few Full Tilt pros alive and well for a Championship bracelet including Phil Ivey who stormed back at the end of the day to finish up with 1,380,000 chips. There are two former WSOP Champs also in contention. Defending champ Peter Eastgate starts with 927,000 and Joe Hachen with 540,000. Friend-of-the-blog Tom “Donkey Bomber” Schneider is in the top 5 and will be on the ESPN feature for the day. Phil Ivey and David Benyamine will begin the day on the same table, no a feature table by a weird change.
I will post the complete starting list after the jump and continue to move it to the bottom to keep the live blog uncluttered. Here are a few Team Full Tilt members and other notables:
Tom “Donkey Bomber” Schneider – 3,168,000
James Akenhead – 2,692,000
Fabrice Soulier – 1,663,000
Phil Ivey – 1,380,000
Blair Hinkle – 1,284,000
Jordan Morgan – 1,202,000
Joe Sebok – 992,000
Peter Eastgate – 927,000
David Benyamine – 764,000
Joe Hachem – 540,000
1:00pm: They may not have set a hard number that would end play for the day, but we continue on a torrid pace of knockouts even at this stage of the game. 15 players were sent to the rail in the first 30 minutes of play alone. That includes Team Full Tilt member Jordan “iMsoLucky0” Morgan. By the time I hit the publish button on this update, a full 20 players have been dropped. Fabrice Soulier seemed to be making the most noise for Team Full Tilt but it’s still early.
Players busting at this point will receive $36,626. The next pay jump to $40,288 occurs with 162nd place.
In another sign that we are winding things down, the much used and much dreaded Poker Kitchen has been shutdown for the series. It wasn’t the greatest food in the world, in fact you could consider yourself lucky if you received mediocre fare, but it was quick access to sustenance when it was needed most.
In Dream Team Poker news, friends and fellow bloggers Dr. Pauly and Dan “Pokerati” Michalski made the final 3 tables. They are in the money and look to be the favorite to win the overall team championship.
You can read the rest of the live blog after the jump.
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Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, WSOP
