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

Rafe Furst playing in Event #38 $2,000 Limit Hold’em. Furst was a rare site in the early portions of the WSOP but has begun picking up steam.  He would go on to finish just short of the final two tables in 19th place.

Kristy Gazes and Amanda “Mandy B” Baker playing in Event #39 $1,500 No Limit Hold’em.  Gazes had a tough run to fall short of the money but Baker would end the day with her second cash of the WSOP.

Full Tilt pros Steve Zolotow and Chau Giang play in the Pot Limit Omaha World Championship.  Neither would figure in the final payouts but other Tilters were up and down the board.  Josh Arieh (7th) , Chau Giang (11th), Howard Lederer (12th), Marcus Golser (20th), and Erick Lindgren (27th) would all finish in the money.  Vitaly Lunkin lost a heads up battle with Matt Graham for his second bracelet of the year.

Phil Ivey facing off with Erik Cajelais in Event #41 $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout.  Ivey had an excellent chance at his third bracelet of the year.  He needed to win a 6-handed Round 2 table and 5-handed final table but was unable to overcome some early troubles in the second round. Barney Boatman, David “The Dragon” Pham and Ivey finished 6th, 7th, and 8th respectively.

These two pictures side by side give you a little feeling of what it must be like to be sitting at the table with Ivey and subject to his stare downs.

Howard Lederer takes some time during the Mixed Hold’em event to sign some autographs for fans on the rail.  Lederer has 3 cashes during the 2009 World Series of Poker to date.  Five Full Tilt pros cashed in the tournament but unable to make the final table.  Allen Cunningham, Eric Froehlich, Andy Bloch, Eli Elezra, and Jeff Madsen.

Erick Lindgren playing in the Seven Card Stud Hi-Low World Championship.  Lindgren did not make the money in this event but he has 4 cashes in the 2009 World Series of Poker.

If a cage match broke out in the center of the Amazon Room, good money would go on both Scott Clements and Erik Cajelais.  Both big guns rarely find anyone willing to start chirping at them from across the table.  Some might even fear approaching them.  Throw in former hockey player Greg “FBT” Mueller and we would have the start of a good tag team match.  Cajelais has yet to cash during this year’s WSOP but Clements has two final tables finishing 2nd and 3rd.

The NHL Stanley Cup came to the World Series of Poker this week.  Their hockey awards were taking place across the street and the NHL held a charity poker game in the Amazon Room.  WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack is also the half-brother of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.  The Stanley Cup was brought to the bracelet presentation area and drew a huge crowd.

The “feature” table was converted for the NHL Charity Shootout Tournament from the standard green felt to a hockey rink.  The dealer button was replaced by a hockey puck.  Current and former NHL players battled against poker pros for their great charities.  Philadelphia Flyer (hometown of your humble blogger) Scotty Hartnell defeated Robert Luongo heads up to win this inaugural event.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2009 World Series of Poker – Week 4 in Pictures

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It’s Friday so that means it’s time for the Week in Pictures.  These are just some of the collection that did not make any posts during the week but are worthy of your time

View of the final table of Event #27 Pot Limit Omaha/8.  Three Full Tilt members were present but Roland De Wolfe would defeat Omaha-guru Scott Clements for the title.

More pictures after the jump:

Perry Friedman and John Juanda would find themselves seated next to each other to start the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event #21.  Juanda and Ivey have the unofficial lead in the massage therapist challenge.  Neither Juanda or Friedman would cash in this event.  Gavin Smith would go the furthest for Team Full Tilt just missing the final table. Blogger CK31 would take her Battle of the Blogger tournament prize and ride it to a 39th place finish in the money.

Lee Watkinson playing in Event #24. One of the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournaments where the big guns are generally looking to double up or prepare for the big 5pm game.  Watkinson has one cash during the 2009 WSOP for just over $22,000.

Jon “Pearljammer” Turner starting in the $2,500 Omaha/Stud Hi-Low tournament.  Turner would make the final table which was loaded with names like Phil Ivey, Carlos Mortensen, and Dutch Boyd. Ivey would get the glory at the end of the day winning his 2nd WSOP bracelet in 2009.

Richard “Quiet Lion” Brodie did not make his appearance at the 2009 World Series of Poker until early this week.  Wasting very little time, he entered the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Event #26 and came just one spot from making his first WSOP final table.  He finished 10th for a cool $13,000 and change.

At yet another Full Tilt stacked final table, Roland De Wolfe overcame all others including Scott Clements (above) and Andy Black.  It always seems Clements is ready to come over the table and take your chips personally.  De Wolfe appears to be eyeing up the bracelet, which he would collect at the end of the tournament.

Kelly Kim plays in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament (Event #28).  Kim would cash in the tournament, his first cash since finishing 8th in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Coming into the 2009 World Series of Poker many thought this would be the year Vivek Rajkumar made a huge splash, your humble author included.  Rajkumar has collected nearly $2,000,000 in tournament earnings since September.  Unfortunately Rajkumar has found himself on the wrong end of coolers and bad beats with no cashes in the series so far this year.

Hendon Mobster Ross Boatman made the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha final table as well as John Juanda.  Boatman started with the chip lead but would leave the tournament is 4th place.  Also in the picture is eventual winner J.C. Tran.

French favorite Fabrice Soulier playing in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament.  Soulier would go on to make the final table and finish in 7th.  To date he has 5 cashes during the 2009 World Series of Poker.  Blogger Lana “LJ” Maier would make another deep run and represent well.  She finished just short of the final table.

Team Full Tilt members Josh Arieh and Steve Zolotow playing in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em World Championship.  The tournament would eventually be won by fellow Team Full Tilt member Greg “FBT” Mueller after a long, grueling final table.

Allen Cunningham is another Full Tilt pro who made a late appearance at the series this year.  He is playing in Event #34 $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament which he would go on to finish in the money.

Nick Schulman considers his action during the No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw World Championship final table.  Schulman would go on to win after handling a very tough table that included John Juanda, David Benyamine, Michael Binger, Archie Karas and Ville Wahlbeck.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2009 World Series of Poker – Week 3 in Pictures

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Category	Steve Zolotow	Jon Turner	Survey Says
Career Earnings	More than $1.7 million	Just under $400K (live tournaments only)	This isn’t quite fair, since according to the bio up on Full Tilt, Turner has made more than a million in online tournaments. But we can’t start amending meaningless rules at this stage of the game; it just wouldn’t be fair to those who’ve already been hampered by this phenomenon. Stevie Z takes down the first category and is off to the early lead.
Major Titles	Two WSOP bracelets	None	Turner is such a good tourney player that I have no doubts he’ll top Zolotow’s WSOP bracelet total one of these days. Until then, this one has to go to big Z. He leads 2-0.
Tournament Play	Established tournament veteran.	Hot shot young gun looking to take the tourney circuit by force.	This one’s really a tough call. I’d usually go with the established vet over the young gun on this one, but Turner has so much talent and plays a much tighter style than most of his online brethren I just feel like he’s going to do some really big things one day. So I’m going to pull an about face here and go with my instinct, which is telling me Turner is the guy here. The score now stands at 2-1 in favor of Steve.
Cash Game Play	Born and raised on cash game play and honed his skills at the world-famous Mayfair Club.	Not known as much of a cash game guy, but I’m sure he still holds his own.	It’s a funny thing, with most of these old pro versus young pro matches I’ve found that the old pro is a better tourney player while the young gun is a better cash game guy. But that’s clearly not the case here. Zolotow is a guy who honed his chops playing in the cash games, while Turner is more or less a straight tourney grinder. Life can be a funny, funny thing – oh well. You look for the patterns, think you find them, and as soon as you do they’re gone. Wacky! At any rate, this round goes to Z – he leads 3-1.
Playing Style	Old school TAG	New school TAG	Turner is an anomaly in that not too many big time online guys have cultivated a successful tight aggressive (TAG) style on their way to the top. And while these two TAG-tards might approach the game in a similar manner, I’m still more liable to go with the online guy on this one (if only to keep this a close match). Let’s give this one to Turner and hope he can make a real match out of this.
Nickname	Stevie Z, or The Bald Eagle (my preference)	PearlJammed	Talk about something being over before it even started. I mean, it’s cool that Turner’s nickname (and online handle) stems from his love of the band Pearl Jam (those of evil gnome, butt on fries fame), but come on – The Bald Eagle? Classic, just absolutely a gem. I’d give anything to have a nickname as cool as that. “Hey You” seems to be catching on, but that’s really not by my choice. At any rate, this one goes to Steve, who has effectively sealed a victory in this match and leads 4-2.
Outside Poker	Not too much, although he does own several bars across the country.	Also not too much. Who needs a life when poker provides so much pleasure?	You gotta hand it to these hardcore poker players; they sure are committed to their craft (and not much else). This category has to go to The Bald Eagle though; if there’s one thing America needs, its more places to get hammered.

So there you have it, Zolotow takes down Turner by a score of 5-2. This match feels like it should’ve had a closer final score, but hey, those are the breaks. Check back next week for more madness and mayhem as we continue the march from 64 players all the way down to one.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

Heads Up: Steve Zolotow Versus Jon Turner

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