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Jaffrey, Jaffray, and Jeff... hmmm

Date: Wed, Jun 11, 2008 Internet Live Tournament



Okay, stick with me for just a moment. This is Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, poker pro and one of only two ladies who still remain in Event 19 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha. (Thanks Shamus for pointing this out. )

That wouldn't have given me much cause for alarm, had it not been for also finding the name Alan Jaffray listed among the players to have already been eliminated from the same event. This coming on the heels of that same said "Alan" appearing in a dress on Day One of the LADIES ONLY Event, and the controversy which surrounded that event. Which "he" writes of over here http://jnala.livejournal.com/431274.html. And I covered in an earlier post. All that was okay until I finally took a look at the picture shown below of Mr. Jaffray and then sent it to my buddy JR, with my comments.






To which JR replied with an email including the photo to the left next to the photo below saying, "isn't it funny how much he looks like this guy.........








Jeff Shulman, of CardPlayer magazine....."

And I'm left suddenly stunned and a little weirded out by it all.

Regards,

cheer_dad

A Hump Day WSOP Update

Date: Wed, Jun 11, 2008 Internet Live Tournament

Event 15 - $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em World Championship crowned its winner, Svetlana Gromenkova last night. She claims the bracelet and $244,702. Congratulations Svetlana! Let me also pause to say that I fully support continuing on with the TRADITION of the Ladies Event, despite Alan Jaffray showing up dressed as a lady and trying to play in the tournament, go here http://jnala.livejournal.com/ to see for yourself. You may have to scroll down to the June 8th, 2008 post in order to see "him" in all his glory (shudder.) Let's not pretend that he was doing this because he felt that his basic civil liberties were being violated. Read deep enough in the comments and you'll find a post by "undersupervised" http://jnala.livejournal.com/430861.html?thread=747533#t747533 which expresses my thoughts on the issue, quite well. But like me, this poster felt like the odd man out, as judged by all the comments to the contrary of our opinions. I couldn't help (as usual) voicing my opinion as well! Suddenly, Aerosmith's "Dude Looks Like a Lady" comes to mind. Then, frighteningly after that The Kinks, "LOLA!" AHHH, moving right along. Okay, one more... "that's not a Sheila!" The real CRAZY thing is the fact that Mr. Alan Jaffray finished 5th in the WSOP Event #5, $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys for a whopping $164,963 payday. According to his site, he's played in "15 WSOP events total in my life, and I've made two final tables. Wouldn't mind keeping up that ratio. :)" Go figure...

Event 16 - $2,000 Omaha Hi/Lo has a winner too. Andrew Brown bested the field of 553 to take home the bracelet and the $226,483, of course. You gotta give him his due on this, as the 25-year old had to go heads up against Ted Forrest for quite some time to lay claim to the title! Congratulations Andrew!

Event 17 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout is in the history books now as well. Jason Young came out on top of the 1,000 total entrants, pocketing the $335,565, and accessorizing with the gold bracelet. Congratulations Jason!

Event 18 - $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw w/ Rebuys is down to the final 9, and play will resume later today. This event was very PRO-HEAVY from the get go, but there's definitely STAR POWER in this final table. My boy Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren could make bracelet #2 in this one, as he currently holds a healthy chip lead entering into the final day of play, at 1,100,000 in chips. The closest competitor is Mike Matusow in 2nd with 540,000 in chips! The other 7 easily recognizables are: Jeffrey Lisandro, Barry Greenstein, Tony 'G' Guoga, David Benyamine, and Tom Schneider. But let me say it again... "GO E-DOG!!!"

Event 19 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha went from 759 players to 46 in Day 1! According to the bloggers of the event MarcC and Shamus, "...that works out to more than 70 players per level!" I haven't seen an Omaha game that wild since, the last time I played over at Shuman's!

Event 20 - $2,000 Limit Hold'em has whittled down the pack from 480 to 125 players. Still lots of poker to be played. Notably Daniel Negreanu is currently in 4th place with 32,200 (17,000 off the leader Daniel Makowsky.) This is still anyone's game.

Event 21 - $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em and Event 22 - $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. will get under way at Noon PDT today. Stay tuned...

As always... thanks for all the fantastic reporting and writing going on by the fine folks over at PokerNews, http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/. I'm just recapping and giving my take on it all; they're doing all the WORK. Thanks!

In other poker news, this time far from the Vegas glitz and glamour, a handful of the NDPT contingent got together in the basement of cheer_dad last night while the lovely Big Red was playing host upstairs to a "ladies only" event of her own, a "Candle Lite" party. (Kinda like TupperWare or Home Interiors, only not...) But in the basement the game was a familiar NLHE. Just a simple little cash game, but I for one had fun. I know, it's ALWAYS more fun when you're winning. I was getting cards though. Heck, even I can't argue that one, I mean you all saw me hit more than a couple straights and flushes. And how about those friggin' QUAD KINGS! I'm doing my happy dance right now, and showing my "Oh Face." I more than doubled up for the night. Hope you all had a good time! Of course, I did so well there that I'll likely find myself card dead on Friday at the Yanok's tournament night (2 games) and the following night back at my house for NDPT Tournament #8 of the year. So c'mon guys take it easy on me. : )

Regards,

cheer_dad

What a crock...

Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 Internet Live Tournament

I'm finding that there are other stories within the series to be told. Click on over to the Poker Grump's blog http://pokergrump.blogspot.com/2008/06/something-fishy-is-going-on-in-wsop.html and read all about the man who would be queen, or at least has too much time on his hands. Seriously, go read it for yourself. The small remainder of my rant will lack meaning otherwise.

There's always some liberal idiot in the crowd, trying to stir something up, when most everyone else is sitting back just thinking, "stop being such a dick!"

Sorry, some things just really irritate me.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Interesting to note WSOP Event #11

Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 Internet Live Tournament

Head on over to Shamus' blog for a very interesting post about WSOP Event #11, regarding a deal that was reached by the final 3 players! I guess I'd never really thought about this aspect in the Series, but I guess it makes sense. Go read all about it.
http://hardboiledpoker.blogspot.com/2008/06/2008-wsop-day-10-lets-make-deal.html

Regards,

cheer_dad

Continuing the WSOP coverage

Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 Internet Live Tournament

Event 14 - $10,000 Seven-Card Stud World Championship is over and Eric Brooks outlasted the 157 players to lay claim to the $415,856 and the bracelet. According to http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-14-10000-seven-card-stud-wc/payouts/ "this is Brooks' first professional cash in a major tournament. Brooks will donate his entire winnings to the Decision Education Foundation, whose mission it is to teach the science of decision making to youth in grades K through 12." Congratulations Eric on the win, and on your generosity! Erik Seidel who I mentioned earlier on the blog, made it to 5th place and a $92,825 payout.

Event 15 - $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em World Championship is down to the final 9 and will recommence at 2:00pm PDT. The last notable that was left in this event was "First Lady of Poker" Linda Johnson, but she unfortunately went out in 23rd place, for a $5,848 payout.

Event 16 - $2,000 Omaha Hi/Lo is down to the final two tables (18 players) and play will start back up again later today. Among the hopeful contenders remaining are Scott Clements and Ted Forrest, each being one of the four players left with over 200,000 in chips. A $226,483 payday awaits.

Event 17 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout. WOW, this one went friggin' LATE... or Early. No matter how you slice it almost 19 hours of poker play is a LONG TIME! My hats off to snoopy1239 and danafish the bloggers who covered the action, and will continue to do so at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-17-1500-nlhe-shootout/. The original 1,000 starters are now down to the final 10. Having bested their respective tables, each will now start off with 300,000 in starting chips. Go gets some sleep!

Event 18 - $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw w/ Rebuys will resume today at 3:00pm PDT with 39 of the initial 85 remaining. Top prize in this one is a $537,862 and will payout the top 14, the bottom of which is $26,025. The field is absolutely littered with pros. Really. Too many to name, but of the 39, there are only 14 names which I don't immediately recognize. Look for yourself, http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-18-5000-nl-2-7-draw-rebuys/chip-counts/day2/.

On tap to start today are Events #19 $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha and #20 $2,000 Limit Hold'em.

Stay tuned...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Okay, maybe I'm obsessive about the WSOP

Date: Mon, Jun 9, 2008 Internet Live Tournament

Event 13 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em... we have a winner: Duncan "Pumper" Bell and he takes home the $666,697 and the bracelet! Congratulations Mr. Bell! You'll recall that I mentioned that there was a player from Fairmont, WV named Steve Merrifield. Although he didn't win the event, he DID make it to 2nd place. Unfortunately, his pocket 10's ran smack dab into pocket Aces!!! Ouch! Sorry Steve, but hopefully the $428,949 cushions the blow just a bit. We look forward to seeing again in the future. Hey with a little extra cashflow, we might even see you again in another WSOP event in the near future. Congratulations to the both of them!!! And thanks MeanGene for the excellent coverage. Don't forget to read all about it over at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/.

Event 14 - $10,000 Seven-Card Stud World Championship is currently down to the final 5. The only recognizable pro still in the running for the top prize is Erik Seidel, but to get there, he's going to need a double-up very , very soon. Hang in there Erik!

Sadly, Evelyn Ng went out in 48th place in Event 15 - $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em World Championship. I was rooting for her! Good luck through the remainder of the series! As of now, only 23 of the original 1,190 ladies remain.

Event 16 - $2,000 Omaha Hi/Lo still has 81 of the original 553 players left. There's still plenty of poker to be played before morning... : )

Event 17 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout and Event 18 $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw w/ Rebuys are far from over and there's much too much still to happen. We'll just have to wait on those.

Back here on the homefront, Cole and I returned from the baseball game and went for a quick swim in the pool. Ahhh, now that was relaxing. Unfortunately tomorrow it's back to the old grind. How can I possibly be expected to focus on work while the Series continues to roll along? We'll see what tomorrow brings us.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Monday morning WSOP.

Date: Mon, Jun 9, 2008 Internet Live Tournament

Event 11 - $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout has come to a close. Phil Tom found himself at the top of the heap earning the $477,990 and a WSOP bracelet. Recall that I mentioned that Greg Mueller remained in this race, and although he didn't get to the top he didn't go away empty handed in 2nd place, winning $298,638. Regardless, the big congratulations goes to to Phil Tom!

Event 12 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em has come to a close. Jimmy Shultz bested the field of 880 and took it down. He earned the bracelet and the $257,105. Congratulations are in order! Also, worth mentioning is Vinny Vinh's 3rd place finish and his $99,099 payday. Erick Lindgren unfortunately just missed a final table appearance in this event, exiting in 10th place for $14,774. Well at least this'll cover his Main Event buyin and maybe couple of buffet meal tickets. : )

Event 13 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em gets back underway today at 2:00pm, having thinned the herd down to its final 9. Of great interest to me is the presence of the man in Seat 2, Steve Merrifield who hails from Fairmont, West "by-god" Virginia. With 1,109,000 chips remaining he is one of only 4 players left who is over the 1 Million chip mark. Steve we've never met you but know this that the members of the NDPT here in the Mountain State will all be pulling for you! Good Luck! The bracelet and $666,777 remain to be claimed.

Event 14 - $10,000 Seven-Card Stud World Championship made it down to the final 8 when Phil Ivey bubbled in 9th. The top prize remains to be won, $415,856. Notable Erik Seidel still remains in the running but is short stacked, compared to most of the field. Currently in the chip lead is David Oppenheim with 508,000 in chips.

Event 15 - $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em World Championship enters Day 2 today at 2:00pm PDT. Of the original 1,190 only 61 players remain. Still recognizable in the remaining field are Evelyn Ng and Kathy Liebert. A $244,702 payday awaits some lucky lady!

Event 16 - $2,000 Omaha Hi/Lo gets day 2 started today at 3:00pm PDT. They are down to 169 of the original 553 in this event. Still among the hopeful for this one are Josh Arieh, David Williams, Scott Clements, Dutch Boyd, David Chiu, and Barry Greenstein, among others.

Event 17 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout gets under way today at Noon PDT.

Event 18 - $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw w/ Rebuys starts up at 5:00pm PDT.

Stay tuned for additional updates but as always head over to http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/. Those bloggers are doing the job I only wish I could do. : )

I on the other hand have been taking care of an oil change on my truck, fixing the chemical levels in the pool, mowing the lawn and sweating my ass off, in the 95+ degree heat here at home. One of our last 2 baseball games is scheduled for tonight, more sun, more sweat...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Weekend WSOP update, and Shuman recap

Date: Sun, Jun 8, 2008 Internet Live Tournament

Somewhere along the line I neglected to report anything about Event 9 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Six-Handed. Sorry kids, it wasn't intentional. The field of 1,236 was finally narrowed down to its last man standing and Rep Porter walked away with the WSOP bracelet and $372,929. Congratulations!

Event 10 - $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better reached its final yesterday as well and found Farzad Rouhani on top. He pocketed the $232,911 for his trouble along with the WSOP bracelet. Others recognizable in the field were John Cernuto, Michael Mizrachi, and Hoyt Corkins among others.

Event 11 - $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout is still underway. Only the final table remains, with six players battling it out. We'll have to continue watching this one. The only real notable still in the running is Greg Mueller. We'll have to wait and see.

Event 12 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em has entered Day 3 with only 18 of the original 880 remaining. Currently Vinny Vinh is at the top of the pack, with over 330,000 in chips. But Erick Lindgren is still in the running on this one too. Obviously I'd like to see him pick up another bracelet! Whoever finally takes it down will have the $257,105 waiting for them.

Event 13 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em is still under way and will work its way down to the final 9 before calling it a night. Still among the field are Theo Tran, Lee Watkinson, and Liz Lieu (yum.)

Event 14 - $10,000 Seven-Card Stud World Championship has whittled the original 158 down to 72 as of the time I'm writing this. Only the top 10 will get paid for their time and effort. Still in the running... Daniel Negreanu, Cyndi Violette, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Greg Raymer, David Benyamine, Annie Duke, Phil Ivey, and Scotty Nguyen. Okay so there's still a lot of 'em.

Event 15 - $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em World Championship. Only 3 1/2 rounds into the event and the field of 1,190 has already been thinned down to 550. These ladies mean business!

Event 16 - $2,000 Omaha Hi/Lo doesn't get under way until 5:00pm PDT, but is expected to be a very popular event. For coverage of this and all the other events please point your browser to http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/. Or I'll have it out here eventually to the faithful among you.

As promised I want to go over some of the details of the game at Shuman's house. I think, without a doubt that the BIG WINNER of the night was none other than Steve "All-In" Allman, who cashed out for a whopping $365 having bought in 2 times during the night ($20 each.) I caused one of those feltings during an Omaha hand. Unfortunately, for Steve we both flopped a full house, I just happened to have the BIGGER one, with Q's full of 10's! If I recall I really only hit 2 good hands the whole time, but in this crowd and the pots they play. That can be enough. I more than tripled up which is a big accomplishment for me in the cash game. The other hand that I recall was a hold'em hand that bot me really kick started. From late position I looked down at Kh-10h. I ended up trying to limp, but got raised by the guy after me, to $2 total. Most others jumped out, but I decided ehhh, I'll give it a shot this time. All night I'd been seeing raises from a lot of guys with absolute trash hands. I had no way of knowing whether this was good or bad. Anyway, the flop came out Ah Jh 4c. I checked it, and it goes back to the intial bettor. He bets out a meager $3. I do a quick count of my outs. Nut flush draw, gut shot straight draw, AND the elusive Royal draw among that as well! The thing that made it really interesting is that he was so excited about his hand, that he thought he'd shoved everyone out and flipped over his SET of JACKS at that point. I said regardless I'm making the call. The turn was a blank... BUT again, he only bet $3. The River showed me the heart I needed. I shove all in... and he still calls!!! Whatever, ship it! He was a little miffed at me for a while, saying I should have told him I saw his hand, and should have let him take back his bet. AHHH, NO! Sorry, thank you, come again. Big Red also had a helluva night! She cashed out for like $125 after buying in for a total of $40. I'm sure there were bigger winners than the two of us, but for once it was nice to have a good/quick session at the tables. JR commented later about the night telling all about Steve's incredible run of luck. He said they played on until 4:00am at which time, Allman treated JR and Russell to breakfast. JR, said he'd never seen anything like Steve's run of cards, and the beat downs he was putting on people. Congrats Steve, now I'll expect you to lose some of that back this weekend. : )

Hope to see many of you this weekend for NDPT Tournament #8! As always the WSOP recaps will continue.

Regards,

cheer_dad

The post that I almost never got to make! (WSOP content)

Date: Sat, Jun 7, 2008 Internet Live Tournament

Event 7 - $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em is now in the record books. Matt Keikoan laid claim to the elusive WSOP bracelet and oh yeah $550,601 in cash. He came out on top after 3 hard days of play against a field of 1,592 total players. Congratulations Matt!

Event 8 - $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event was taken down by relative unknown and 22-year-old Anthony Rivera. Of course he's only unknown to the tournament world, having typically favored the cash game world primarily at Bellagio and the Commerce Casino. The final table was no walk in the park as Rivera faced off against 4 former WSOP bracelet winners. The young man is to be congratulated and has a right to enjoy both the new piece of jewelry and the $483,688 pay day. Congratulations Anthony!

Event 10 - $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better narrowed the field down to the final 8 players before they called it a "night." I say that because I was reading about it before I left for Cole's baseball practice this morning at 9:00am EST. Sheesh, that's grueling. 388 players began the saga. A top prize of $232,911 will await one of the lucky few tomorrow/today (whatever.) Easily recognizables among the hopeful are Michael Mizrachi and John Cernuto. Hang in there guys!

Event 11 - $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Shootout Day one ended last night narrowing the field to 36 of the original 360. Recall that these are 6-handed tables which play down to last man standing at the table and then recombine. Action picks back up today. Shamus and shorton will continue to "blog" it up for us over at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-11-5000-nlhe-shootout/ so stay tuned.

Event 12 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em thinned the herd down to 179 of the original 880 on Day 1. As you can tell I'm a little behind in posting today, as Big Red has had me working my fingers to the bone today, and sweating my ass off in this 95+ degree heat here in West by-god Virginia. (pant pant.) Day 2 has already gotten started. Notables still in it to win it include Marco Traniello (Jennifer really has brought him over to the dark side,) Vinny Vinh, Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren, and Marcel Luske. C'mon "E-Dog go for TWO!!!

Event 13 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em is under way, but very early on, so it's pointless for me to speculate at this point... but I'll keep you posted. MeanGene is covering this one.

Event 14 - $10,000 Seven-Card Stud World Championship doesn't fire up until tomorrow, but this will bring out some of the legends of the game. Stay tuned for that one.

BUT, as for me I'm leaving for the evening to head out to eat and have a few drinks with my wife, and JR and Nikki, plus whomever happens along. There's a lot of other stuff I wanna talk about and update you on, but for now this'll have to do. Honest, I've been trying to get this post out ALL DAY LONG, but the damn "honey-do" list has been the bane of my existence today. I'll update tomorrow, I promise letting you in on the poker action from last night, NOT as you might think, in Las Vegas... but instead bringing you closer to home. I'm referring to the Shuman game which... well there's just A LOT to recap. I'll post it up. I'll cover a few hands that I was involved in, and some of the goings on that made it a GREAT NIGHT.

Thanks for stopping by, but for now, call me out-of-here!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Still more WSOP 2008

Date: Fri, Jun 6, 2008 Internet Live Tournament

Event 5 - $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em w/ Re-buys came to an end in the early morning hours, when Michael Banducci laid claim to a WSOP bracelet. The final heads up hand show-down pitted his AJos against the dominated A5os of Jeff Williams. Not that it was needed but Banducci spiked a Jack on the flop and took it down. For his time and trouble Banducci pockets $636,736. Congratulations! Some of the recognizable pros to take home a few modest bucks from the event finishing in the top 72 (payout) were Clonie Gowen, Daniel Negreanu, Nenad Medic, John Juanda, Lee Watkinson and Mark Vos. Thanks go out to MeanGene and Pojo for their fine reporting of the event via http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-5-1000-nlhe-rebuys/day3/.

On to Event 6 - $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better (which actually came to a close a little before Event 5) Thang Luu bested the field of 833 players to attain his first WSOP bracelet and incidentally this was his 4th WSOP final table appearance. In addition to the jewelry Luu adds a cool $243,356 to his bankroll. Thanks to compncards and TassieDevil for their coverage during the event, which you can read all about at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-6-1500-omaha-hi-lo/. And Congratulations to Thang Luu!

Day 2 of Event 7 - $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em has come to an end as the field has been narrowed down to the final 9 players. Action will resume at 3:00pm PDT, and one the line will be the top spot payout of $550,601 plus the bling-bling of course. Among the final 9, you'll likely recognize the names Theo Tran and J.C. Tran. For the blow-by-blow rundown of how the field went from 1,592 down to the final table... and later down to an eventual winner, head over to http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-7-2000-no-limit-holdem/.

Event 8 - $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event just a few minutes ago ended its day and will resume at 4:00pm PDT, after whittling the original 192 players down to the final 8. The current chipleader is Matt Glantz leading the field by a few hundred thousand, and is the only player over the 1 million chip mark. You'll recognize some of the other names among this final table as well: James "mig.com" Mackey, Sam Farha, Michael DeMichele, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Eli Elezra, Anthony Rivera, and Jeff Madsen. Still at stake... the coveted bracelet and the top prize payout of $483,688. Other notable cashouts of the field include Gus Hansen, Johnny Chan, Lee Watkinson, and Doyle Brunson.

Event 9 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Six-Handed is done for the day, having narrowed the field down to 72 of the original 1,236. Matt Matros currently holds a slim lead with 153,000 in chips. Top prize will payout $372,929, when this one is over.

Event 10 - $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better is also done for the day, with 120 of the initial 388 players remaining. Still among the hopeful: John Cernuto, Todd Brunson, Greg Raymer, Allen Cunningham, Bryon Devonshire, Scott Clements, and Howard Lederer among others.

On tap to begin today are Events #11 $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Shootout, and #12 $1,500 Limit Hold'em. We shall see, what we shall see. Keep up on all the action at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/. But as always I'll be trolling through it all and giving you my take. I know, I give till it hurts.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Erick Lindgren takes the bracelet, and other WSOP goings on

Date: Thu, Jun 5, 2008 Internet Live Tournament


Erick Lindgren (E-Dog) wins his FIRST ever WSOP bracelet!!! A little after 1AM Erick finally bested the field of 332 players to lay claim to $374,505 and the elusive WSOP bracelet in Event #4 $5,000 Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No Limit.) He and Justin Bonomo went heads up for approximately 40 hands before Erick was able to get Justin all-in. Justin had unfortunately made 2-pair (5's and 4's) but the same 4h on the turn had given Erick the straight. I started to post a "Go E-Dog!" earlier in the evening to the ShoutBox out on Pokernews.com while watching Shamus and shorton work their fingers to the bone, but then I thought better of it. No sense in jinxing it for him! But in the end congratulations E-Dog! It's been a long time coming, relish the victory! But why stop there...so many events yet to come.


Others easily recognized in the payout 36, included Roland (Hungry Like) de Wolfe, Howard Lederer, David Williams, Andy Bloch, Phil Laak, Michael Craig, and oh look honey that god-like Patrik Antonius made money in another one!


Event #3 $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em wrapped up last night at about the same time, with David Singer pocketing the $214,131 and laying claim to his first WSOP bracelet as well. In the final heads-up play Singer railed Jacobo Fernandez when he rivered the straight with his Q-4s to Jacobo's flopped 2-pair 7's and 3's. Congratulations David!


Event #5 $1,000 NLHE w/Re-buys finished up Day 2 last night and only the final table remains to be played out today, picking back up at a slightly delayed 3pm PDT. The final table of this event lacks the star-power of the other events in my mind. Not to diminish their standing or the win yet to come for one of the lucky nine, but the most recognizable names have already (again in my mind) been taken out, although they did cash in the event: the lovely and talented Clonie Gowen claimed 15th place and $28,940 for her trouble, and prior to that Daniel Negreanu, Nenad Medic (Event #1 winner), and John Juanda to name just a few. Rest assured when the bracelet is awarded though I'll congratulate them just the same. After all winning one of these events is a feat worthy of respect.


Event #6 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better is STILL being played down to the final 9 (currently at 15.) That's some die hard poker folks! I'll continue to follow the action on this and let you know there's a winner, but again, this one doesn't have a lot of familiar faces either. Still, there is a top prize of $243,356 to be claimed.


Event #7 $2,000 NLHE will resume today, with the remaining 152 of the original 1,593 battling down to the final table.


Event #8 $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event will as well resume later today where the remaining 94 of 192 will reduce down to an eventual final table. Still among the hopeful for this one are Gus Hansen, Johnny Chan, Phil Ivey, Gavin Smith, Mike Sexton, Greg Raymer, Marcel Luske, Doyle Brunson, okay... there's a lot of pros! Okay a couple of the ladies remain too Vanessa Rousso and Katja Thater. : P


Two other events get underway today #9 $1,500 NLHE Six-handed, and #10 $2,500 Omaha/7-Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better. I'll keep you posted. Of course that'll all be dependent upon the fine folks doing the REAL WORK over at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/. Thanks to you all.


Regards,


cheer_dad

Today's Poker Roadmap, and Obama & Hillary too

Date: Wed, Jun 4, 2008 Internet Live Tournament

Event #3 $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em and Event #4 $5,000 Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No Limit) will both resume today for the televised final tables. Event #3 wound its way down from 713 players to the final 9 and gets under was at 2:00pm PST, and Event #4 which began at 332 players will start back up at 3:00pm PST. Needless to say two more bracelets will likely be awarded somewhere through the evening/early morning hours. Event #3's winner will bring home $214,131, while, Event #4 boasts a $374,505 top prize. Neither, anything to sneeze at.

Event #5 $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em w/ Re-buys and Event #6 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better will continue on with their Day 2 installments. Event #5 doesn't yet list the total number or remaining numbers of players, but does however show a whopping $636,736 1st place prize. Event #6 is down to 205 of the original 833 starters, with a $243,356 top spot.

Also, getting under way today at Noon PST is Event #7 $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em, and then at 5:00pm PST Event #8 the $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event.

In other non-poker news, if anyone cares about anything else. Barack Obama is now the official "presumptive" victor in seizing the Democratic nomination for a little race being run for the United States presidency. Hillary Clinton says she's not out according to this CNN article http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/04/democrats.wednesday/index.html?eref=rss_topstories, but then again, Bill did not have sex with that woman either... Go figure.

According to another CNN article http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/04/election.runningmates/index.html?eref=rss_topstories Obama's got quite a laundry list of potential running mates from which to choose, and of course among them is Hillary. Question, has an assassination attempt ever been made against the President by the VP? I don't mean to suggest harm on anyone, but wow that would seem to me to be quite the powder keg! I also, cannot come out in whole-hearted support of either Barack, Hillary or for that matter John. I keep waiting for another mystery candidate to be picked from behind Door #1. Right now I feel a bit like Monty Hall has just shown me the goats behind all the other doors.

Anyway stay tuned (my few faithful blog visitors ) I'll keep you informed of the goings on, or at least point you in the direction of the real journalism going on out there on the web.

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP Event #2 winner Grant Hinkle

Date: Wed, Jun 4, 2008 Internet Live Tournament


Read all about it over at PokerNews http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-2-1500-nlhe/id49651.htm#no49651, that Grant Hinkle has won WSOP 2008 Event #2 ($1,500 NLHE) and lays claim to the coveted bracelet (not to mention the $831,462.) To top it all off Hinkle took it down when he got his opponent (James Akenhead) all-in. Akenhead had a monster AKos, to Hinkle's 10-4s. The flop destroyed that though, when it came 10-4-10! And then the capper of a turn... the final 10 in the deck! Quad 10's! And with that another event goes down in the history books.


Congratulations to Grant Hinkle!


Regards,


cheer_dad

The pace continues

Date: Tue, Jun 3, 2008 Internet Live Tournament

The break-neck pace continues in the heart of Vegas, as the WSOP 2008 continues. Events 2-6 are now ALL running so the madness factor ramps up. Shamus continues to cover Event #4, and now another of my favorite bloggers has joined the fracas as well, one Gene Bromberg a.k.a "MeanGene." http://genebromberg.com He is currently covering Event #5 $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em w/ Re-buys Day 1. I'm just now getting sat down for the evening to enjoy catching up on all the goings-on, via the Live Reporting courtesy of the folks over at PokerNews.com, BUT so far here are the things which have caught my attention in the Live Reporting area http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-5-1000-nlhe-rebuys/:

"5 hours 14 minutes ago Posted by Pojo Mike 'The Mouth' Matusow. The Mouth Proves Useful. Though many players have been insulted and annoyed with Mike "The Mouth" Matusow's loud voice, there's one player at his table who especially appreciated it today. After seemingly being rivered by another opponent, a player who was all in grabbed his gear and headed away from the table. No one seemed to notice his departure, as he was nearly three tables away when Matusow had to yell, "Hey!" at the top of his lungs. The player turned around and Matusow yelled "It was a ten on the river, not a nine!" The player started walking back towards his seat to find his winnings waiting for him."

"4 hours 5 minutes ago Posted by MeanGene Reinforce the Legs on Table #12. That's the table Sorel Mizzi, Mark Vos, Steve Sung, and Adam Glassman are playing at. The players at that table have made 58 rebuys. Sung personally made 23. Which means that there are A LOT of chips on that table--a table that isn't scheduled to break for rather a long time. Whoever manages to win most of the chips at that table is going to have a monster stack."

"1 hour 30 minutes ago Posted by PojoThe Mouth's Loss. Mike "The Mouth" Matusow and Ted Forrest became involved in a series of bickerings last year, the result of which being a prop bet that involved Matusow losing a significant amount of weight. The wager? Mike needed to go from 241 pounds to under 181 pounds within a certain amount of time. If he could do it, he would net $100,000. For four days during the bet Mike was on a lemonade and cayenne pepper diet. Mike is here playing in today's event and is a very sleek 179 pounds, two pounds under the prop bet goal. Mike appears to be playing well, looks to be in great shape, and as always, is talking quite a bit."

There's a lot more out there to love, this is just what I came across. MeanGene and Pojo you're doing a great job. Thanks much!!!

On the subject of Mike "The Mouth" Matusow though, WOW! Congratulations Mike not only on winning the prop bet for $100K but on losing the weight as well. This weight loss plan blows Jenny Craig out of the water. All the battle of the bulge really needed all this time was merely big fat wads of CASH! I wish you well in sustaining. I urge you all to check out the coverage (of each event) for yourself, because it includes some great pictures as well.

I also just noticed that Event #6 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better is being covered by some familiar blogger names as well, F-train and TassieDevil. I'll check back on this one in the morning to see all that's happened. I wish these writers and players well, but on this side of country it approaches cheer_dad's beddy-bye time! Good night all.

Regards,

cheer_dad