Poker From The Rail
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Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
With the 2011 WSOP on the horizon, Jennifer Harman invited a bunch of her friends to the Peppermill Resort and Casino in Reno for her annual Poker Throwdown to benefit the NSPCA. I was honored to be on the invite list where I was able to play a few fun hands with Robert Williamson III, talk with Annie Duke about her upcoming FS+G project (more on that later), and help raising money for a great charity.
680 players registered for the tournament with more than $115,000 raised on the day and it was a fun time. There were plenty of great players, celebrities, and friends in attendance. While sitting around the poker room I asked Full Tilt Academy producer Lizzy Harrison if she would like to write up a trip report and she obliged.
2011 Jennifer Harman Poker Throwdown
by Lizzy Harrison
Years ago, when Jen Harman ended a long-term relationship, she retained a high-profile attorney. She didn’t want the house and couldn’t care less about most of the stuff in it. What she wanted was custody of the four pups they’d adopted as a couple. Jen ended up with three of them.
I’ve heard Jen say, on numerous occasions, that rescue dogs are the only way to go. Jen is one to put her money where her mouth is and, for the past five years, she has hosted a charity poker tournament to raise money for the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA).
This year the tournament was held at the Peppermill in Reno, Nevada. I was invited to attend as a “celebrity” which made me feel pretty damn cool. My responsibilities included having my picture taken with an adorable 2-year pit mix, a 10-month old lab mix born with only 3 legs and a couple of pygmy goats. I was scared to hold the rabbit and I’m not sure why.
A whopping 680 players turned out for the $330 buy-in tournament and many of them were quite high profile. Of course Jen and her husband Marco were there, as were other top poker players like Andy Bloch, Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, and Robert Williamson III. Real celebrity guests included Lou Diamond Phillips of “La Bamba” fame, Mekhi Phifer, and lots of Olympic snowboarders. World Series of Poker main event champions Jamie Gold and Jerry Yang were also in attendance.
At $50/rebuy almost everyone could afford to get back in when they lost their stack. Those would couldn’t were bought back in by other players that wanted to donate more to the NSPCA. Alex Outhred was on the mic and with his encouragement no respectable tournament participant could sneak out before the rebuy period ended. Over $110,000 was raised for the NSPCA.
With a Ketel OJ in hand I sat down to play. I’d just finished breakfast with my hubby, AlCantHang, and Kevmath and I was ready. The breakfast special that day was prime rib and eggs, and if I’d known I was going to be drinking all day I would have ordered that. Alas, I am a girl, and as one I ordered a chocolate croissant. Note to all readers: a chocolate croissant is not enough food to eat before playing poker and drinking for hours.
The actual tournament went pretty quickly. Within a few hours there were less than 100 players left and I had my game face on. By then I had moved to a new table and Jamie Gold was to my left. Luckily, I watched his Main Event win years back, so I knew exactly how he plays. I was carefully getting ready to trap the main event champion in a huge pot to propel me to the final table. Then JJ Liu hit a gutshot on me and I was out in 69th place.
Andy Bloch and 2007 WSOP Main Event winner Jerry Yang came to Reno to support the cause
Yang went on to final table the tournament
Actor Lou Diamond Phillips shows the camera exactly how many chips he has remaining
Daniel Negreanu shows actress Julie Benz some of the finer points of the game
Tags: AlCantHang, Andy Bloch, Annie Duke, Bloggers on the Rail, Daniel Negreanu, Guest Posts, Jennifer Harman, Jerry Yang, Lizzie Harrison
Posted by admin | Filed under Heads Up
Erik Seidel’s journey to the final in photos
Round 1 – Allen Cunningham
Round 2 – Jennifer Harman
Round 3 – Phil Gordon
Quarter-Final – Vanessa Selbst
Semi-Final – Andrew Robl
Final – Chris Moneymaker
Tags: allen cunning, Allen Cunningham, andrew robl, championship, Chris Moneymaker, Erik Seidel, heads up, Jennifer Harman, nbc, Phil Gordon, poker final
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
This week’s list is not necessarily a “Top 5″ list as I will barely mention the durrrr Challenge 2 which everyone seems to be following (for good reason) but more a little Hall of Fame action followed by a few videos. The entire list could be composed solely of poker related videos but decided the 2010 Hall of Fame nominees and Jen Harman news worthy of a mention.
Dwan is down nearly $700,000 to Dan “jungleman12″ Cates, most of the top players in the world have taken up their place in Europe, and Blair Hinkle won the WSOP Circuit Event in some place called “Council Bluffs” (appropriate name). Just a few of the things that did not make the list this week.
1. The 2010 Poker Hall of Fame nominees were released and include 4 members of Team Full Tilt.
2. Jennifer Harman will be inducted to the Women in Poker Hall of Fame along with Kathy Liebert and Billie Brown.
3. Tom “durrrr” Dwan joins This Week in Poker to discuss the durrrr Challenge 2 and his WSOP bracelet prop bets.
4. ABC’s Nightline aired a story about online poker that wasn’t 6 minutes of taking pot shots.
5. Phil Ivey spends 3 solid minutes in front of the camera for a proper interview.
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Chris Ferguson, durrrr, durrrr Challenge, Erik Seidel, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Annette Obrestad showed up a week after the first event this year, coming in with expectations higher than most of the players. She was disappointed with her start but then managed a few smaller cashes to get things moving in the right direction. Today will be her first big shot at pairing her WSOP-E Main Event bracelet with some WSOP jewelry. There are just 13 players standing between her and that goal.
Throughout the long series, Annette was having a rough going with the large, small buy-in luckfests where she would need to get deep in order to show her chops. In the larger buy-in events she was just getting unlucky. Turns out it would take a full-ring shootout format for her to begin crushing souls. In her first round match she was up early and dispatched her opponents with little pain. According to Obrestad, her second round table was much tougher and would be one of the last to finish. In the end she would find herself heads up with Dutch field hockey player Fatima Moreira de Melo but ended things quickly at that point. Now she comes into the final day with 13 other players in a standard MTT format, playing down until there is only one posing for the pictures. The biggest name in her way 2-time bracelet winner J.C. Tran. Play kicks off at 2:30pm.
The other bracelet awarded today will be in the $2,500 Razz (gut-punch) tournament. Howard Lederer always has something interesting to say about this tournament and yesterday was no different. Not much of it is re-printable on a public site. There was much cursing as this field made it close to the money and the loudest were those coming just short of the cash. 15 players remain going for the title including Full Tilt’s Jennifer Harman and Artie Cobb, Frank Kassela is looking for his second bracelet of the year.
$2,500 Razz top ten chip counts:
1 – Melville Lewis – 504,000
2 – Mikko Pispala – 458,000
3 – Stuart Rutter – 295,000
4 – Maxwell Troy – 258,000
5 – Chris Bjorin – 163,000
6 – Nick Helm – 145,000
7 – Frank Kassela – 144,000
8 – Daniel Ospina – 136,000
9 – Thomas Tiller – 128,000
10 – Jennifer Harman – 108,000
Day 1 of the Pot Limit Omaha/8 went true to form as nearly 700 of the starting 847 were knocked from the event in a blaze of gambling glory. 4-card bingo with the added qualifying low makes for some fast and furious action. 157 grinders will return today trying to play down to the final table 9, my prediction is they get there early. Among those who survived the carnage were Mike Matusow, Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Ben Lamb, Ryan “ryanbluf” Karp, and Darryl “DFish” Fish. They start Day 2 at 3pm this afternoon.
We are also being treated to a flash back of the days when the Amazon Room is packed from one end to the other to begin the day. With a $1,500 NLH tournament starting at noon and the ever increasing 1pm Deepstack field we have a packed house in both poker rooms. The tables are being broken at the normal break neck speed for these kinds of events and I’ve already seen crying in the hallways. Let that be a bankroll management lesson to you guys, don’t throw your last $1,500 at a tournament where Mother Variance will love destroying your dreams of glory. This afternoon will also feature another Championship event, this time the $10,000 HORSE tournament with a small, tough field. 194 players entered last year with Ville Wahlbeck winning his first bracelet.
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Annette Obrestad, Bloggers on the Rail, Jennifer Harman, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Jennifer Harman at the $10,000 Stud/8 World Championship final table
(Photographer/WSOPphotos.com)
After walking in the door of the Amazon Room yesterday and getting some writing done I decided to chat up my fellow members in the pressbox. On paper it looked like a rare slow day at the WSOP but we had 18 players returning at 3:30pm to play out the $10,000 Stud/8 World Championship. The event had yet to reach the money after two days of play, it was a split-pot stud game, the stacks were deep and the players were all world class. I was taking an unofficial poll to judge how long we thought the day would run. I set the line at 5am with most taking the over.
The event restarted with a great chance for Full Tilt to pick up it’s second WSOP bracelet of the series with 6 of the final 18 wearing the red and white patches. John Juanda, Jen Harman, Steve Zolotow, Chip Jett, Toto Leonidas, and Alessio Isaia were all sitting with chips looking for a win. All would make the money except for Chip Jett and the final table would feature three of those.
3 of 8 were great odds for Tilt, then it kept getting better until it was Harman, Juanda, and Zolotow battling it out with Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler and Frank Kassela. That’s when the tournament hit the air breaks bringing the action to a virtual standstill. Each player would take their turn holding the chiplead as the occasional big pot would be formed only to be chopped right down the middle. Kessler was the first of them to find himself all-in but would survive, grind, and build the stack back up. It became a special kind of torture for everyone except those five sitting at the table. The small crowd around the table slowly built with Harman’s husband Marco Traniello’s appearance, “yuvee04″ Bronhstein stopped by to rail Kessler, Shaun Deeb was checking out the action, and there was a dog chilling in the corner.
Things get odd in the Amazon Room after 1am.
Even though it was looking great for Team Full Tilt, things eventually went sideways. Juanda then Zolotow then Harman were all sent to the rail in disappointing fashion leaving the long-suffering, infamous (self-anointed) nit Allen Kessler heads up with Frank Kassela. The poker world was split down the middle when we finally had a winner in Tennessee grinder Kassela. Kessler had to settle for second place and over $275,000.
For the record, the correct bet was under 5am but it certainly felt like later.
Day 13 features two new events, two bracelets, and one big restart. Both of the tournaments starting today will throw us a nice curve by running games which do not feature No Limit Hold’em. First up at noon is a $2,000 Limit Hold’em tournament followed up by the $10,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven World Championship at 5pm. Neither of these events drew over 1,000 players last year but the fields were stacked with some of the best players in the world.
The $5,000 NLHE tournament featured a special field of top class players which was smaller but much more dangerous. There were few tables which didn’t feature a lineup that would scare the chips out of the average grinder. One especially interesting table right up against the rail drew a crowd 10 fans deep. Around the horn we had Shannon Elizabeth, Dan Heimiller, Chris Ferguson, JJ Lui, David Williams, Brandon Adams, Ashton Griffin, and Alex Bolotin. The poor unknown gentleman in Seat 1 must be wondering what he did to piss off the poker gods. 225 players return today with 72 making the money.
The WSOP will crown two new champions today in the $1,000 NLHE and $1,500 NLHE 6-max tournaments. The $1,000 NLHE Event #13 surprisingly played down to it’s final table on schedule and will feature Full Tilt pro Jared “WacoKidd” Hamby. The 6-max event was a different story, they were only able to eliminate enough of the field to bring back 19 players who will need to work their way to a champion before their day is complete.
Event #13 final table chip counts:
1 – David Baker – 2,553,000
2 – Matt Vance – 1,731,000
3 – Steven Gee – 1,540,000
4 – Nicholas Heather – 993,000
5 – Kyung Han – 613,000
6 – Daniel Thomas – 602,000
7 – Jaren “WacoKidd” Hamby – 423,000
8 – Mats Gavatin – 393,000
9 – Jeff Gross – 281,000
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Chip Jett, Jennifer Harman, John Juanda, Steve Zolotow, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
After a few short hours we find ourselves back in the Amazon Room for more poker. Yesterday’s exciting final table was just one day in a long series, tournaments go on with new champions to be crowned. After the craziness of the Event #11 final table, it will be one of the slower days on the schedule with just one final table, one new event, and two restarts. Tables are spread throughout the Pavilion and the Amazon Room with the first of our 6-handed tournaments of the summer.
Nick Binger begins the day as the chip leader at the No Limit Deuce to Seven final table that also features Russian Alexander Kravchenko shooting for his second WSOP bracelet. Chino Rheem spent most of Day 2 with a big chip lead but dusted off in fine style with several tough beats and some “loopy” behavior. Mike Wattel is also looking for his second bracelet at this table and this cash already guarantees he will shoot over the $1,000,000 make in career WSOP earnings.
The major restart of the day is the $10,000 Stud/8 World Championship which drew a 170 player field eclipsing the numbers from last year. Several Full Tilt pros will figure prominently at the start of play with Phil Ivey leading the way, Jennifer Harman and Richard Ashby are also in the top ten chip stacks. Defending champ and 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Lisandro is sitting in the middle of the pack and we expect a lot of movement in the field as they are scheduled to play down from the final table from the returning 107.
As expected, there are few soft spots but we will also be keeping an eye on a few players such as Gus Hansen, David Bach, Bob Lauria, Max Pescatori, “yuvee04″ Bronshtein, Phil Hellmuth and Erik Seidel. You can find the full restart chip counts here.
$10,000 Stud/8 World Championship top ten chip counts:
1 – Marco Johnson – 121,500
2 – Alexander Dovzhenko – 116,600
3 – Phil Ivey – 109,800
4 – Christopher George – 103,500
5 – Sirious Jamshidi – 103,100
6 – Jennifer Harman – 93,500
7 – Fransisco Hernandez – 89,000
8 – Barry Greenstein – 88,700
9 – Richard Ashby – 87,300
10 – Kirill Rabtsov – 82,200
The second $1,000 NLHE event of the WSOP will combine their Day 1 flights with just 566 players with a shot at the bracelet. Over 3,000 began this small buyin tournament but only 324 will make the money at the end. Somehow this tournament will send nearly 560 people to the rail as the schedule shows they will attempt to play to the final table. A quick look through the field shows a few notables such as Ylon Schwartz, David “Bakes” Baker, David Plastik, Dan “Allindanny1″ Suied, and Kelly Kim.
Today’s 6-handed Event #16 is already sporting an impressive field full of young guns and big names. The format fits the aggressive style of the newer players but also those who can pick their spots to mix it up. With this as the only new event of the day, we will have plenty of time to run the floor to catch the action.
We are also throwing out occasional updates 140 characters at a time on Twitter. You can follow us on Twitter here.
Day 10 pictures after the jump:
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey, WSOP
Posted by Dave McCarthy | Filed under Bloggers Corner
Before I started blogging here at Poker from the Rail, Full Tilt gave me some data about their web traffic so that I’d have a better idea of what everyone likes to read. This included a list of all the google searches that led people to Poker from the Rail or Michael Craig’s blog. Here’s what I learned from some of the weirder search terms:
Team Full Tilt’s youngest pro is not only smart, handsome and charming – he might be immortal:
tom dwan girlfriend, pics of durrrr’s girlfriend, tom dwan roommate, tom dwan boyfrnd, tom dwan lamborghini, is tom dwan a vampire?
*
Durrrr isn’t the only Team Full Tilt pro fans are personally interested in:
gus hansen ladies man, patrik antonius girlfriend, what does jennifer harman look for in a guy, erick lindgren on women, how tall is mike matusow, phil ivey naked fish
*
Maybe Full Tilt should create some new avatars:
cartoon cleavage, ftp and porn, women with whips, full tilt sex, images of women with whips, my first girlfriend movie
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Poker is not an easy game (for most people):
i suck at poker, you suck at poker, is phil ivey a donk, i am the lord of poker
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Full Tilt’s blogs: a great source of information if you cross paths with a Mediterranean gypsy, fall ill, wind up in Hell, return to earth for an apocalyptic showdown with Good, and then have to reclaim your possessions in probate court:
how to lift italian curses, pictuer of a sick man liing in bed, 666lucifer.com, its the world gonna end on 212?, contesting wills
Tags: Gus Hansen, Jennifer Harman, Mike Matusow, Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Each year before the World Series of Poker Main Event, the poker elite, pro athletes, celebrities, movies stars, and recording artists descend upon the Amazon Room to play poker in the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament. They were here to raise both money and awareness for the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. The tournament was hosted by poker legend Annie Duke and Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle.
Some of the celebrities making an appearance were Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Alexander, Brad Garrett, Sarah Silverman, Jennifer Tilly, and rapper Nelly. Athletes Marlon Shirley, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Mike Tyson were also battling it out. Of course all the top poker pros donated their time and money to the cause.
I’ve posted a few pictures from the day for your entertainment.
Mike Matusow and Chau Giang kid around during the tournament
Good Will Hunting co-stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck hang with Marco Traniello before the tournament began
WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack meets with Don Cheadle
More photos after the jump:
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Chau Giang, Chris Ferguson, David Singer, Don Cheadle, Jeffrey Pollack, Jennifer Harman, Joe Reitman, Marco Traniello, Marlon Shirley, Mike Matusow, Phil Gordon, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
We’ve put another week of the 2009 World Series of Poker in the books with more craziness. The crowds continue to storm the hallways of the Amazon Room looking for a table and a chance. The crazies are starting to make their way onto the scene, pros and amateurs are mingling together with a common goal, chip runners stay busy 24 hours a day.
While all this is going on, the good folks at Image Masters continue to provide us with some great action shots during the tournaments. Every morning I receive pictures from the day before that I use to enhance the stories I try to bring the readers. I hope they’ve added to the experience.
Today I bring you some photos from Week 2 of the 2009 World Series of Poker without my ramblings. A small taste of what we have available, look for a full gallery coming in the next few days. All pictures courtesy of Image Masters.
Pictures after the jump, click to enlarge:
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Andy Black, Beth Shak, Bloggers on the Rail, David Chiu, Erica Schoenberg, Erik Seidel, Howard Lederer, Huck Seed, Jennifer Harman, John Cernuto, John Juanda, Katrina Jett, Perry Friedman, Phil Ivey, Pictures of the Week, Svetlana Gromenkova, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
The last chance for a Full Tilt red letter pro to final table the WPT World Championship rested on the shoulders of Jennifer Harman. Unfortunately she busted before they halted play for the day in 11th place. Ross Boatman also ran deep for the Hendon Mod, Jeff Madsen made the final two tables but David Grey busted early in they day.
Poker legend Scotty Nguyen goes into the day with a chip lead. He is looking for his 7th WPT television table and second WPT victory.
While no big name Full Tilt pros will be sitting at the final table, that doesn’t mean we don’t have a few video interviews / snippets left for your enjoyment. After the jump you can see Mike Matusow all fired up and Andy Bloch going through nailing a straight flush.
After the jump.
Tags: AlCantHang, Andy Bloch, Bloggers on the Rail, Jennifer Harman, Mike Matusow, WPT
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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.
