Poker From The Rail
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Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
History was made yesterday, just not in the way I was expecting. The heads up match between Mike Sexton and Chris Viox did not last long with the deficit being too much to make up. The lights around the mothership had barely warmed up before the match was over and Voix was the last player standing. Later in the night we had a chance to see a big win in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship with a stacked final table including Barry Greenstein, Nick Schulman, Justin “BoostedJ” Smith, and Isaac Haxton.
The real history made yesterday involved the Seniors Event which drew the biggest tournament field with one starting day. 3,752 quinquagenarian’s and over (look it up) filled the hallways and tables to grind out their championship. The field was so big the WSOP was forced to seat players at special tables far up the Rio hallway near the casino and all other events/restarts were pushed back to accommodate the field.
While I often downplay the significance (in my mind) of these non-open events, I spoke with a player last night after they were done and I was moved slightly off my position. He said, “We’re mostly just a bunch of fun old guys who just want to play some poker.” Can’t argue with that.
The picture above is among my favorites of the WSOP to date. Erick Lindgren standing among the Seniors field looking for his father Richard. He was able to track him down, chat for a bit and then move on to his next event.
There are some big names sticking around in the 10-Game Mix event with online guru (and fan favorite) Shaun “tedsfishfry” Deeb leading the field. Most players have nothing but positive things to say about this format where they must show skill across many games. For those unaware, here is the 10-Game Mix rotation:
No Limit Hold’em, Razz, Limit Hold’em, Badugi (Limit), 7-Card Stud, 2-7 Draw (No Limit), Omaha/8, Pot Limit Omaha, 2-7 Triple Draw (Limit), and 7-Card Stud/8.
I’m not sure whether the champion of this event can be crowned the best all-around player or just someone who manages to dodge their worst played games. We do know that Shaun Deeb has a history of doing well in the big mix cash games, time to see if it translates to his first WSOP bracelet.
1 – Shaun Deeb – 321,700
2 – Brian Haveson – 288,000
3 – Travis Pearson – 258,100
4 – Jason Stern – 220,000
5 – Septimiu Popescu – 217,300
6 – David Benefield – 211,300
7 – Tad Jurgens – 161,000
8 – Don McNamara – 156,000
9 – Roland Israelashvili – 149,000
10 – Daniel Makowsky – 141,200
Other Notables: John D’Agostino (124,600), Matt Vengrin (110,300), David Whitis (1 and certainly a typo in the spreadsheet)
Continuing the theme of big time online players, Ben “benba” Lamb leads the Pot Limit Omaha event followed by Paul “paulgees81″ Volpe, Christian “charder30″ Harder, and Tom “SBRounder” West among others. The never dull, always blasting away 4-card bingo version of the game cruised right along losing nearly 80% of the field on Day 1. If things hold true to form, this event should reach it’s final table 9 before calling it a night at the “hard stop”.
1 – Ben “benba” Lamb – 169,800
2 – Joseph Ressler – 139,300
3 – Paul “paulgees81″ Volpe – 125,200
4 – Mohamad Kowssarie – 124,800
5 – Arthur Morris – 124,300
6 – Brian Roberts – 117,000
7 – Emmanuel Sebag – 103,800
8 – John Patgorski – 102,300
9 – Jeffrey Lisandro – 94,100
10 – Frank Peelen – 91,100
Other Notables: Tex Barch (89,800), Christian “charder30″ Harder (84,100), Brett Richey (69,600), Brock Parker (60,900), Noah Schwartz (56,100), Bill Chen (47,800), Dan Heimiller (36,200), Tom “SBRounder” West (35,100), Erick Lindgren (30,700), John Juanda (29,800), John Racener (29,700)
Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Christian Harder, Erick Lindgren, Shaun Deeb, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Gavin Smith visits with Erick Lindgren during the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship
“It seems all Juanda does is make final tables.“ Quoting myself when I didn’t go too far out on a limb putting John Juanda on my Players to Watch list before the series kicked off. After winning the Deuce-to-Seven Championship earlier in the week, Juanda found himself at another final table in the 8-Game Mix tournament. After riding a short stack for a long time, he departed in 6th at a table which included Eric Buchman, Brent “Bhanks11″ Hanks, John Racener, and eventual winner John Monette. This was just his second cash of the summer but both went well.
The 5pm tournament yesterday featured an all-star field in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship. As rock solid a crew as you will see in a tournament outside the Player’s Championship and not a soft spot to be seen. Player’s jokingly call this tournament “Min-Bet Championship” but that doesn’t stop them from turning out. A whopping 106 of the starting 152 players return with legends scattered from top to bottom of the chip count leaderboard. Daniel Negreanu leads the way looking to join Juanda with his 5th career bracelet but will have plenty of competition throughout the long day from the likes of Barry Greenstein, Carlos Mortensen, David “Bakes” Baker, Josh Arieh, and Erik Seidel.
They will attempt to play down to the final table but more likely to hit the 10 level “hard stop” rule. Top chip counts and other notables below.
1 – Daniel Negreanu – 118,800
2 – Josh Arieh – 107,500
3 – Mike Pickett – 103,100
4 – Mikhail Smirnov – 95,100
5 – Shawn Buchanan – 92,000
6 – Erik Cajelais – 87,000
7 – Matthew Gallin – 84,500
8 – Carlos Mortensen – 76,600
9 – Mikail Tulchinskiy – 75,900
10 – Maria Ho – 75,700
Other Notables: Barry Greenstein (74,400), Jeff Shulman (66,700), Isaac Haxton (66,300), Alessio Isaia (66,000), Dan Kelly (64,400), Justin “BoostedJ” Smith (64,000), Nick Schulman (61,600), Eric Froehlich (59,700), Erick Lindgren (52,500)
While a lot of the big guns are firing away in the Limit Championship, there are still quite a few interesting players in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low tournament worth tracking. 23 players return for the final day including 2010 WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela, ESPN’s Norm Chad, WPT’s (and legend) Mike Sexton, and Kirill Gerasimov. Three strong female players (Kristy Gazes, Karina Jett, and Ming Reslock) are in the field looking to end the long WSOP drought for women.
When asked if this tournament will declare a winner before 10 levels, the WSOP Magic 8-ball said “doubtful”.
Remember to keep an eye out on our @FullTiltPoker twitter and Facebook page for updates during the day. The Fantasy WSOP contest is also up and running for non-US players, get in the game and challenge your favorite pros.
Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Gavin Smith, John Juanda, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
I’m naturally biased when it comes to watching certain players, my attention drifts to those sporting the red and white Full Tilt Poker patch. Yesterday I was kept hopping around both huge poker rooms and today we have the possibility of a long stay in the Rio. This Phil Ivey guy seems to be heating up now that we have moved into the backend of the schedule. He began yesterday sitting deep in both of the Day 2 restarts as well as registered for the $10,000 Heads Up World Championship.
His best shot at the start of the day seemed to be the $5,000 NLH 6-handed tournament where he was sitting with a top ten stack. Unfortunately he would get frisky with TPGK and get it all in versus aces. That pot would have vaulted him into the chip lead on the money bubble but instead he was free to concentrate on his other two events. It turns out he wouldn’t need much time in his first Heads Up match versus Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, he won on just the second hand of play and his second round opponent turned out to be Victor Ramdin who was also playing in the Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha tournament with Ivey. Ramdin met the same fate as Mizrachi, quick and clinical. The $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha event was the last of the evening for Ivey who pushed his way into the final day. He begins the day sitting 9th of the final 14 with Full Tilt’s Jose-Luis Velador in the lead, Rob Hollink and David Chui also in contention.
$2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha top ten chip counts:
1 – Jose-Luis Velador – 455,000
2 – David Chui – 451,000
3 – Rob Hollink – 423,000
4 – Matt Sterling – 280,000
5 – Joshua Tieman – 277,000
6 – Victor Ramdin – 262,000
7 – Craig Gray – 248,000
8 – Kevin MacPhee – 247,000
9 – Phil Ivey – 207,000
10 – Tristan McDonald – 196,000
While Ivey couldn’t make it through to the final table in the $5,000 NLH 6-handed tournament, fellow Full Tilt pro Erick Lindgren will add to the excitement as he will try for his second career WSOP bracelet in this tournament. He comes in 2nd among the 12 returning players but anything can happen in this game. Darren “darrenelias” Elias will try to translate his online success (over $1,000,000 in career online tournament earnings) into a live tournament victory. The last man standing will collect over $667,000 for the effort.
$5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-handed top ten chip counts:
1 – Mark Radoja – 1,493,000
2 – Erick Lindgren – 1,165,000
3 – Lucas Greenwood – 925,000
4 – Bruno Launais – 873,000
5 – Taylor McFarland – 848,000
6 – Darren “darrenelias” Elias – 841,000
7 – Paul Sheng – 712,000
8 – Anthony Roux – 668,000
9 – Jeffrey Papola – 598,000
10 – Orlando Delacruz – 300,000
The Seniors Championship drew a record field of 3,142 that filled most of the Pavilion and Amazon Rooms. 450 players return for Day 2 with Tom “DonkeyBomber” Schneider leading the pack followed by Full Tilt’s Eddy Scharf. Enough jokes were made about the tournament but it was a great day if you could manage to avoid being run over but the various carts in the hallway. Today will also bring a new $1,000 NLH tournament as well as a $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. at 5pm.
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Erick Lindgren, Phil Ivey, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
It was an oddly quiet week in the Rio this week with a few rare day with only one new event and some without a final table. That all changed as the week closed out when we found ourselves with 6 or 7 tournaments running at the same time. Richard Ashby became the second Full Tilt pro to win a bracelet at the 2010 WSOP and can be seen above collecting it from Tournament Director Jack Effel.
There was the always present controversy surrounding the annual Ladies Event but that didn’t stop them from coming in with a huge field. There were a few $10,000 Championship events which drew small, strong fields for the battle and big prizepool. During the Limit Hold’em Championship we had a few pros who were sweating the action during the Celtics/Lakers NBA Championship game, certainly with big money on the line. Mike Matusow is also pictured below sweating a prop bet with David Benyamine concerning the number of entrants.
After the jump you can find the rest of Heather B’s pictures from Week 3 at the 2010 World Series of Poker including a few new shots of the latest Perry Friedman “Parade of Hats”.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Annette Obrestad, Bloggers on the Rail, Cyndy Violette, David Benefield, David Benyamine, Erick Lindgren, Howard Lederer, Karina Jett, Lacey Jones, Mike Matusow, Nick Schulman, Perry Friedman, Phil Ivey, Pictures of the Week, Richard Ashby, Roland de Wolfe, Svetlana Gromenkova, Tom Dwan, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Phil Ivey and Erick Lindgren sweat the Celtics/Lakers game during $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship
It was bound to catch up with us, with a relatively slow few days we saw this day on the horizon that will keep us jumping all day. Between the Pavilion and Amazon Rooms we will be tracking 7 different events including a new $1,500 NLHE tournament which already looks to have a huge field before the end of the first level. Among those 7 events we will have 3 new WSOP champions, 2 events on a restart, and 2 brand new tournaments. There will not be a dull moment between now and sometime early in the morning.
We’re sure to have another lengthy final table with another limit split-pot game. The $1,500 Stud/8 event was only able to get itself down to 23 players which will need play all the way down to a winner. With the size of the stacks I wouldn’t expect another 7am finish but it will be a race against the sun. Max Troy will begin the day with the chip lead but there are plenty of names behind that are capable of catching him like David Levi, Blair Rodman, Allen Bari, Brandon Cantu, and Full Tilt’s Karina Jett. They will return at 3pm to begin their marathon day.
Less likely to make us wait until sunrise to claim a champion will be the $2,500 NLHE 6-handed tournament with 15 players remaining and still plenty of action event late night Day 2. Team Full Tilt is situated nicely with 3 of the returning 15 participants in Erik Cajelais, Justin “Boosted J” Smith, and Eddy Scharf. The way this tournament played out I was surprised they didn’t nail the final table 6 before the end of play. The 6-handed format provided plenty of action no matter which table I was watching. They will also return at 3pm to start their final run.
$2,500 NLHE 6-handed top ten stacks:
1 – Steve Cowley – 1,279,000
2 – Martins Adeniya – 823,000
3 – Jeffrey Papola – 797,000
4 – Bill Haydon – 776,000
5 – Joe Baldwin – 707,000
6 – Justing “Boosted J” Smith – 641,000
7 – Jarred Solomon – 542,000
8 – Javier Etayo – 505,000
9 – Erik Cajelais – 345,000
10 – Andrey Danilyuk – 335,000
The $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha Day 1 did not disappoint as only 102 of the original 596 starting players will return for Day 2. They are just 48 eliminations from the money and my bold prediction for the day is they will reach at least 18 players by end of day if not the final table. Loren Klein comes in as the chip leader but Full Tilt’s Richard Ashby is sitting just behind looking for his second bracelet of the 2010 WSOP and help solidify this as the “Year of the Brits“.
The $10,000 Limit Hold’em World Championship played out on the other end of the spectrum. 107 of the starting 171 return owing it to the incredibly deep stacks, limit structures, and a inherent better skill involved in these $10,000 tournaments. The returning field is stacked top to bottom with outstanding players not the least is Russian Vladimir Shchemelev who has final tabled every 5-digit buyin events. 2009 Player of the Year Jeff Lisandro leads the pack but that can change quickly, for full chip counts to begin the day you can hit the official WSOP site.
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Erick Lindgren, Erik Cajelais, Karina Jett, Phil Ivey, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
The crutch of a weak writer is a post with nothing but photos. Luckily we have access to some of the best in the room and I make no claim to be anything other than a hack. The first week of the WSOP is in the books so we thought we would share some of our favorite pics from the the last 7 days worth of tournaments.
The picture to the right is easily my favorite of the summer. New Full Tilt pro Annette Obrestad was making her long awaited debut mid-week and instantly found herself an entertaining table. EPT San Remo champion Liv Boeree was sitting a few seats to her left with poker multi-tasker and twitter phenom Joe Sebok to her immediate right. As the attention was focused on Obrestad, Sebok couldn’t help but photobomb (I believe that is what the kids are calling it) one of the shots. It didn’t take long for this image to get blasted all over the internet.
Click image for larger view
Perry Friedman is also one to never disappoint. Last year he spent the WSOP wearing a “grill” and cornrows in his hair. This year he said he was keeping it a little easier since it became an issue getting the Full Tilt logo reshaved in his head on a regular basis. For this series he bought himself a boatload of silly hats which would change with each event. If a player busts him from the event, the hat is used as a bounty to memorialize the knockout. When asked how many hats he brought along he said, “Probably around fifteen but I only want to give away two.” You heard it hear first, Perry Friedman would like to win 13 bracelets this year. Jester hat, chicken hat, dreadlock hat, and a putting green. Unfortunately he has already gone over his allotted budget of two bounties.
Finally, Andy Black does not seem amused but it probably had more to do with the $10,000 Stud Championship.
You can find the rest of WSOP Week 1 in pictures after the jump:
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Amanda Baker, Andrew Lichtenberger, Annette Obrestad, Bloggers on the Rail, Eli Elezra, Erica Schoenberg, Erick Lindgren, Gavin Smith, Huck Seed, James Akenhead, John Juanda, Perry Friedman, Praz Bansi, Steve Zolotow, Tom Dwan, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
With all the excitement of the Day 1d sell out, massive amounts of Ante Up for Africa pictures, and trying to track down our players scattered amongst a sea of over 2,800 players I just never had the time to share with you the pictures from Day 1c. I will quickly remedy that as well as bring you some of the best photos from yesterday.
Enjoy.
More pics after the jump:
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Craig Marquis, David Oppenheim, Erica Schoenberg, Erick Lindgren, Jeff Madsen, Kelly Kim, Lynette Chan, Maya Antonius, Mike Stout, Phil Ivey, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Another week has gone by at the 2009 World Series of Poker and things are starting to ramp up. Full Tilt was unable to add to it’s collection of WSOP bracelets but FTP blogger Michael Craig and pro Vitaly Lunkin both put in second place showings. The week started with the NHL Stanley Cup coming to the Amazon Room and ending with the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. kick off. The schedule was lighter than the first three weeks but there was plenty of action to capture.
I present to you the week in pictures from the Full Tilt angle.
The first is by far my favorite photo from the 2009 World Series of Poker. Photographer extraordinaire BJ Nemeth has been capturing some incredible images this year. This photo was taken from atop the bracelet ceremony stage as Phil Ivey picked up his 7th World Series of Poker bracelet. It illustrates the massive amount of players, fans, and media Ivey draws to any event. Click to enlarge and enjoy. More images after the jump.
Photo credit: BJ Nemeth
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Amanda Baker, Bloggers on the Rail, Chau Giang, Erick Lindgren, Erik Cajelais, Howard Lederer, Kristy Gazes, Phil Ivey, Pictures of the Week, Rafe Furst, Scott Clements, Steve Zolotow
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
In my other life as a completely unprofessional blogger (I am semi-pro at best in this space), I always take the stand that posting nothing but pictures on your site is just the crutch of a weak blogger. Words are hard, pretty picture keep the masses coming back. However, pictures can have the great effect of enhancing a story and I’ve been getting some top shelf images sent my way via Images Masters. Each Friday I’ll share with you some of the best images available.
All images credited to IMDPI.
Pictures after the jump, click to enlarge.
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Allen Cunningham, Amanda Baker, Bloggers on the Rail, Chris Ferguson, Eli Elezra, Erica Schoenberg, Erick Lindgren, Jeff Madsen, Jerry Yang, Michael Craig, Phil Ivey, Pictures of the Week, Vitaly Lunkin, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Team Full Tilt member Erick Lindgren has organized a charity poker game to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in memory of Mindy Trinidad. The tournament is a great chance to throw chips around with some of your favorite pros and raise money to fight this terrible disease. The game kicks off Wednesday at 19:00ET with the juice going to the charity.
There is another charity game being organized by fellow Full Tilt blogger Michael Craig benefitting the Relay for Life on Sunday, December 21st at 18:00ET. Michael has the details up in this post.
Finally, there is a great chance to play live with your favorite pros at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in another tournament benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on December 12th.
Full details after the jump.
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The opinions expressed by this blog and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of Full Tilt Poker. Full Tilt Poker is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the author of this blog nor any content contained herein.
