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 AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
There are very few “slow” days around the Rio once the WSOP kicks off but today we have another one. Using the word slow is probably not the correct word but this is the second day running where we will not see a new huge field tournament or big restart. This does not mean we will not see some great action. The $10,000 Stud/8 World Championship will award nearly $450,000 and a bracelet to one of the top players in the game, the $1,000 has some great names returning today, the 6-max tournament made money on Day 1 and they will plow on throughout today.
As predicted by your (humble) blogger, the $10,000 Stud/8 World Championship not only finished the day well short of the final table, they are still two eliminations from making the money. Quality of the field, size of the stacks, and the joy of a split stud game gave the players all the room in the world to determine their champion with the structure barely forcing the action. Not shocking with those parameters we have Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler sitting in the middle of the field still looking for his first WSOP bracelet. Full Tilt has our representatives looking good for their shot also with John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, Steve Zolotow, Chip Jett, and Toto Leonidas.
It took nearly 30 minutes of hand-for-hand play before the $1,000 NLHE Event #13 burst the money bubble but then they blasted through the field at a wonderful rate. The cashier line was long and impressive for the first hour after they were in the money, 56 players remain in the second small buyin event of the WSOP with a mix of pros and “joes”. East Coast grinder Matt Vance leads the field followed by Andy Black, Jared “TheWacoKid” Hamby, Dan “Allindanny1″ Suied, and Ylon Schwartz. The plan is to play down the final 9 with the winner crowned tomorrow.
Event #16 returns for Day 2 with a group players who pushed their way into the money on just the first day. Combine a smaller buyin tournament with 6-max format and you have a recipe for a group with a lot of gamble in them. The tournament staff needed to be on their game to keep seats full while busting tables at a frenetic pace. Tracking players became a game itself. 146 players return to play down to their final table 6 over ten levels, I predict an early night for those folks. Online monster David “Doc Sands” Sands will start with a top ten chipstack and looking for his second final table of the 2010 WSOP. Also returning are 2007 WSOP Main Event champion Jerry Yang, Jordan “iMsoLucky0” Morgan, Eddy Scharf, Matt Hawrilenko, Lee Childs, Hoyt Corkins, Manny Patel, Mark Seif, Bryan Micon, and Eric Buchman.
The only new event of the day is a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament which last year produced one of my favorite stories of the 2009 World Series of Poker. Brian Lemke was the winner last year and had full support of the poker media. Lemke’s cousin Justin Shronk was a beloved member of the small group of people who cover tournaments and passed away shortly before the 2009 WSOP. Lemke dedicated his win to Shronk and is back today to defend his title. Early numbers seem to indicate the field will be slightly larger than the 655 who played last year.
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Jerry Yang, John Juanda, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Perry Friedman rocks the Full Tilt Poker “grill” to go with his corn rows
I’ve generally stuck to doing a “Week in Pictures” during the preliminary events of the WSOP but I now realize that I’ll be getting more photos than I know what to do with now that we’ve come to the Main Event. So now we’re going to switch up to daily posts as long as we continue to get quality images.
Day 1a started with 1,116 and finished with 821 players. A good number of Team Full Tilt survived to see Day 2.
More photos after the jump:
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Allen Cunningham, Beth Shak, Bloggers on the Rail, Eli Elezra, Erik Cajelais, Gavin Smith, Greg Mueller, Jerry Yang, Jon Turner, Michael Gracz, Perry Friedman, Roland de Wolfe, WSOP
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 The All-In-Uit | Filed under Bloggers Corner
If you were trying to work out whether poker and Christianity are compatible, you’d be forgiven for being completely confused. Between the right-wing UIGEA-toting political zealots and the Jerry Yangs of this world, even I’m not sure whether I should pray for my soul, or the ability to read souls.
Luckily for our inquisitive readers out there, I can happily say I undertook a post-graduate course in Theology. I may not have completed said course, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a bash at the question – surely the fact that I didn’t complete Introduction to the New Testament won’t have that much of an impact.
Tags: Jerry Yang
Posted by One Angry Monkey | Filed under Reader Mail
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a Panamanian bloodsucking grill-toothed wombat? No, wait. It’s just some good old-fashioned Reader Mail. We apologize to anyone who was looking forward to petting the wombat, but what the hell were you expecting? Go visit a fucking zoo. At any rate, on to the madness – email us at pokerfromtherail@fulltiltpoker.com with any questions, comments, or funny animal names that you’ve made up yourself.
Tags: Jerry Yang, Online Poker
Posted by Big Donkey | Filed under Bloggers Corner
Poker’s royalty turned out in force at Pure in Caesars Palace last night for the annual tradition that is the National Heads-Up Poker Championship draw party. For the uninitiated, this is Poker’s version of the Ocsars – well maybe, the People’s Choice Awards – but whatever. The thing is, this is the night where the game’s top players gather together to find out who they’ll be facing in the first round of what has become one the game’s most prestigious events.
Tags: Jerry Yang, Phil Ivey
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