Posted by Big Donkey | Filed under The Week at FTP
It’s that time of year again – the days are longer, the weather is warmer (or really friggin’ hot, depending on where you are), and poker is again the name of the game in Sin City.
With just over a month until the first event of the 2008 WSOP, the game’s biggest names are already gathering in Vegas. For some, it’s a chance to return home and rest up before the six-week poker orgy that is the 54-event series. For others, it’s a chance to sharpen up their games and build their bankrolls in preparation for the upcoming madness. And, for just about everyone, it’s a chance to play the World Poker Tour’s $25K World Championship at the Bellagio.
545 players started the event, and 421 of them will return for the start of Day 2 today. Four Full Tilt Poker pros are currently camped near the top of the leaderboard, with Kenny Tran and Robert Mizrachi holding down third and fourth places, and Jordan Morgan and David Benyamine sitting in sixth and seventh.
Team Full Tilter Erik Seidel, who is currently leading the Player of the Year points race, will start the day in 85th position while Phil Ivey is lurking in 107th spot. Ivey needs to finish this event in fourth place or better to claim the Player of the Year title. Two other notable Team Full Tilter’s in today’s field are Howard “the Professor” Lederer and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, who are each playing in their first WPT event since 2006.
Chris, Howard, Phil Gordon, Andy Bloch and Annie Duke have all boycotted WPT events since filing suit against the tour over issues related to the player release form used by the WPT. Tour officials announced a settlement of the lawsuit Saturday and Chris and Howard immediately celebrated by buying their way into the Bellagio event.
We’re sure the WPT is as pleased to see them as we are.
There are few things likely to grab a railbird’s attention than someone sitting with a seven-figure bankroll at an online table. Especially when that player is a red pro playing $1K/$2K Limit Hold ‘em.
So, it’s no surprise that Markus Golser was the fan favorite last week when he re-bought into a match with Hoss_TBF for a cool $1 million. Golser’s massive re-buy followed what many of us would likely classify as a horrendous run, dropping 10 consecutive $20K buy-ins to Hoff. That’s $200K, in case you lost count.
Did the big stack pay off for the Austrian pro? Not so much – he still ended the session down more than $200,000, but if nothing else, he gave the rail something to chatter about for awhile.
Sometimes you get dogged by the competition and other times, you get to do the dogging. But as long as you’re playing poker for a good cause, Jen Harman doesn’t care.
Last weekend, 274 of Jen’s friends turned out at the Venetian to play poker and support her second-annual Nevada SPCA Fundraiser. Players like Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey and Gavin Smith all turned out to support Jen’s pet project and raise money for the state’s no-kill shelters. If that wasn’t enough, Jen helped raise additional funds for her furry friends by holding a charity auction where players and fans could bid on tons of cool poker and sports memorabilia, including one lucky man who bought Doyle Brunson’s trademark Stetson right off Texas Dolly’s head.
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