WSOP Pool

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

In future renewals of this, maybe a bonus for bracelets would be in order -- money is simple and intuitive, but it does tend to water down the effects of the lesser events a bit much. Not a strong position here, though. *shurg*

Well I like the money because it rewards you for having guys that do good in bigger events. However, I will award a "bracelets trophy" for whoever ends up with the most bracelets.

[Barkeep49]

I like this scoring system since it does give a greater reward to bracelet winners but also rewards those who fight through bigger groups. With the intorduction of the HORSE event that could have a disproprionate effect on the end standings, so perhaps we'll want to rethink. But for now I like this system, but it's easier for me to say that of course being higher up in the standings

[Jas_lov]

In the events going on today, Matusow is 4th in chips at the final table in the $2500 NL event if anyone picked him.

The $1,000 NL rebuy event has 66 players left. Victor Ramdin, Miami John Cernuto, Barry Greenstein, Phil Gordon, John Juanda, Ted Forrest, Greg Raymer, and many more notables are still alive.

The first $10,000 buyin starts today which is PL Omaha. This should be another big event for our pool. Expect the usual names to thrive- Phil Ivey, Sam Farha, Robert Williamson, Chau Giang although he's still alive in the 1,000 rebuy. Europeans are generally better at Omaha so they may have good numbers in this event.

[Lathum]

C'mon Mouth!!!

[kcchief19]

I've been considering this since Quiksand made the suggestion. I think money is the best overall way to measure success -- my only thought about bracelets I've come up with that I like is that maybe you award double points for a bracelet.

As it is, if you hit a main event finalist you're almost guaranteed a win. Our scoring system doesn't reward bracelets and it definitely favors the bigger money events. Of course, maybe that's part of the strategy -- tyring to pick players who you think might hit one big score.

Of course, we're not alone -- the World Series of Poker Player of the Year Standings make even less sense than our system.

[sabotai]

56 to go in the $10k Pot Limit Omaha event. A lot of big names are still in it. (Actually less, since the chip count at CardPlayer is 2 hours old)

[kcchief19]

Are you sure? Their blog posted at 6:50 pm (less than an hour ago) showed they had just started the dinner break and had 108 left. Or is that 56 players until they money?

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

Are you sure? Their blog posted at 6:50 pm (less than an hour ago) showed they had just started the dinner break and had 108 left. Or is that 56 players until they money?

I have no idea anymore. Their Chip Count list had 56 left, but I saw the dinner break entry too. And then the last Chip Count I saw had 62 on it (with the one in 63rd on saying "busted")

[kcchief19]

Ah. Now I get it. CardPlayer doesn't have or run chip counts for everyone -- I think they focus on the pros and the chip leaders. Up at the very top of their chip counts it lists how many players are remaining in the field. That's usually more than they have chip counts for.

Regardless, I'm somewhat surprised how quickly this field has thinned out. I would have figured with large stacks and top players it would be more disciplined and tighter play. Maybe it's the nature of Omaha, since you're probably going to play more pots.

[kcchief19]

In the Ladies event, reigning champ Jennifer Tilly justed busted out ... of the tournament. Somewhat surprisingly, a lot of big names are already on the rail. The largest chip count for someone I've heard of is freakin' Mimi Rogers. Kathy Liebert is alive and kicking. Cyndy Violette is out, as are Lady Grinder and Cecillia Mortenson and somone who must be Feddy Deeb's wife.

I saw Annie Duke listed earlier, but now I don't see her on the chip count.
Lots of actresses playing. Shannon Elizabeth's out, but I think Mena Suvari is still in. I think pretty much every woman who has ever appeared on Celebrity Poker Showdown as in the field.

[Jas_lov]

Allen Cunningham's bracelet win in the $1,000 rebuy event should stir up some points for many. He won $650,000.

The only names I recognize at the final table in the pot limit omaha 10k are Hasan Habib, Lee Watkinson, and Mickey Appleman.

A $1,000 event kicked off today and Gavin Smith is currently 10th, Carlos Mortensen 23rd, and Ted Forrest is barely hanging on in 35th. You can imagine with only $1,000 in starting chips this tournament went by super quick and they may even play down to the final table tonight.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

QuikSand (non-bracelet)
Subby
Malificent
Primelord
Cyndy Violette (female)
Chris Ferguson
Scotty Nguyen (ME Winner)
Men Nguyen
Sam Farha
Greg Raymer

It's cool you decided to use a novelty entry for this...

It's even cooler that you're going to get some points for it.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

It's cool you decided to use a novelty entry for this...

It's even cooler that you're going to get some points for it.

Even cooler for you, I imagine

Give 'em hell out there. We are all rooting for you.

[Barkeep49]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

It's cool you decided to use a novelty entry for this...

It's even cooler that you're going to get some points for it.

Yeah it is pretty cool that he's going to get some points off of you. Just imagine if you win the thing; then maybe he'd get some ME points off of you too!

[larrymcg421]

Event 12 - $1,500 Limit HE

Joe Sebok 4.784

(IS this really it?)

Event 13 - $2,500 NLHE

Mike Matusow 89.010
Erick Lindgren 19.286
Scott Fischman 8.901
Men Nguyen 7.418

Event 14 - $1,000 NLHE Rebuy

Allen Cunningham 625.830
Kenna James 16.225
John Juanda 11.589
Nam Le 11.589
Michael Gracz 11.589
Kathy Liebert 8.113
Phil Gordon 4.636
Humberto Brenes 4.636
Victor Ramdin 4.636

Event 15 - Ladies $1,000 NLHE

No points scored in this event.

[larrymcg421]

Barkeep49 1454.19
Honolulu Blue 1242.33
sabotai 1190.678
TazFTW 1093.448
hoopsguy 1055.322
QuikSand 1043.776
Radii 991.831
kcchief19 961.49
Tyrith 912.377
JonInMiddleGA 897.797
Chubby 894.209
rockboy70 851.839
TroyF 848.091
dixieflatline 833.667
larrymcg421 809.463
Desmond 616.285
Vegas Vic 614.228
AnalBumCover 515.497
Maple Leafs 464.629
Lathum 462.204
albionmoonlight 440.899
Jas_lov 415.119
digamma 403.256
Subby 314.764
timmynausea 92.175

[Honolulu Blue]

Thank you for the timely updates, Larry.

Well, the run at the top lasted for two whole days, and I only fell to second. Not bad. Humberto's cashed four times already, and #5 is coming in the event QS dominated. Not too soon, I hope; the last time I checked, he was the #3 chip stack with 18 to go. No, I didn't expect that.

Anyway, HORSE starts today. That one should be stocked with pros - including a good portion of the guys (and gals) we picked. I'm hoping for a big field and a win by one of my horses. It would also help if someone told Mr. Ivey there was a big cash game going on somewhere else.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by Honolulu Blue

Thank you for the timely updates, Larry.

Well, the run at the top lasted for two whole days, and I only fell to second. Not bad. Humberto's cashed four times already, and #5 is coming in the event QS dominated. Not too soon, I hope; the last time I checked, he was the #3 chip stack with 18 to go. No, I didn't expect that.

Anyway, HORSE starts today. That one should be stocked with pros - including a good portion of the guys (and gals) we picked. I'm hoping for a big field and a win by one of my horses. It would also help if someone told Mr. Ivey there was a big cash game going on somewhere else.

Maybe Andy Beal will come back to town...

[Honolulu Blue]

My horsies in the HORSE tourney (midway through day 1):

Kathy & Humberto - Scratched (didn't play). Humberto, of course, is excused because he was at the final table in another event.
Layne - Pulled up lame near the starting gate and was eased. He's one of the five players that are gone.
Sammy, Marcel, Daniel, and Greg - Way back in the pack. 18k, 19k, 21k and 25k in chips, respectively. The structure is very forgiving, but I prefer having lots of chips to few, and I'm sure they do too.
Phil H. - 46k in chips. Not bad, but not ideal either.
Jesus - 52k in chips. The man can turn water to wine, heal the sick, use a card as a deadly missile, and dance with the best of them. I'm not too worried. Yet.
John J. - 58k in chips. There are too many guys ahead of him, but there's lots of time and lots of chips.

Overall I don't like my position very much and hope the damage can be minimized (go Gabe go! You laugh, but he's got more chips than any of my guys). But all of them have pulled off some miracles before, so I'm not writing them off just yet.

[larrymcg421]

Heh...


"I will run through the Amazon Room buck naked if Phil Hellmuth wins this tournament." - Mike Matusow, about Phil Hellmuth's chances to win the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event


"You're now my second-favorite pick to win the tournament." - Greg Raymer to Phil Hellmuth moments later

[larrymcg421]

All 10 of my picks are still alive in this tourney, but none are higher than 27th (out of 128 remaining).

Annie Duke - 27th place with 81,800
Jennifer Harman - 30th with 79,800
John Juanda - 37th place with 70,500
Phil Ivey - 43rd with 65,000
Chris Ferguson - 45th with 64,100
Phil Hellmuth - 57th with 57,100
Doyle Brunson - 59th with 54,000
John Hennigan - 81st with 41,200
Howard Lederer - 86th with 37,500
Gus Hansen - 94th with 32,500

[larrymcg421]

With 39 people left in the HORSE event, here are the picked players left, their current chip rank, and who picked them.

Ted Forrest (2nd) - Barkeep49, Jas_lov, Maple Leafs, QuikSand, rockboy70, Vegas Vic, Tyrith
Gavin Smith (3rd) - hoopsguy, Maple Leafs, Subby, dixieflatline, digamma, Jas_lov
TJ Cloutier (6th) - JonInMiddleGA
Allen Cunningham (8th) - Barkeep49, hoopsguy, QuikSand, Radii, sabotai
Phil Ivey (10th) - Chubby, Desmond, digamma, dixieflatline, hoopsguy, Jas_lov, JonInMiddleGA, kcchief19, larrymcg421, Maple Leafs, QuikSand, Radii, TazFTW, TroyF, Tyrith, Vegas Vic, Barkeep49, rockboy70, sabotai, Lathum
Barry Greenstein (14th) - digamma, dixieflatline, hoopsguy, Jas_lov, Radii
Freddy Deeb (14th) - timmynausea
Josh Arieh (16th) - Lathum
Erik Seidel (22nd) - Chubby, kcchief19, Radii, Vegas Vic, timmynausea
Howard Lederer (23rd) - Desmond, larrymcg421, rockboy70, timmynausea, kcchief19
Doyle Brunson (24th) - Chubby, kcchief19, larrymcg421
Victor Ramdin (34th) - dixieflatline
Erick Lindgren (36th) Barkeep49, dixieflatline, Jas_lov, Maple Leafs, TazFTW, Vegas Vic
Tuan Le (37th) - AnalBumCover, kccheif

[Honolulu Blue]

No one left for me.

I've gotta hope for a big score somewhere down the line.

[timmynausea]

I'm gonna need Freddy Deeb to pull this out.

Edit: Checking updates now, all three of my guys still alive as of last night are now out. Deeb, Lederer and Seidel put up a good fight but failed to cash.

[larrymcg421]

Deeb already busted. Here is the remaining seat arrangement:

1 - Phil Ivey
2 - Allen Cunningham
3 - Patrik Antonius
4 - David Singer
5 - Andy Bloch
6 - Tom Hufnagle
7 - Robert Williamson III
8 - Matt Hawrilenko

1 - Ted Forrest
2 - Cuong Do
3 - Jim Bechtel
4 - Empty
5 - Empty
6 - Barry Greenstein
7 - Rafael Perry
8 - Doyle Brunson

1 - Joe Cassidy
2 - Chip Reese
3 - Dewey Tomko
4 - Gavin Smith
5 - Roy Thung
6 - Roger McDow
7 - T.J. Cloutier
8 - David Levi

[Jas_lov]

Down to the final 10. Joe Cassidy 13th, Barry Greenstein 12th, Gavin Smith 11th all received $205,920.

Chip Reese is the chip leader, Jim Bechtel, Doyle Brunson, Andy Bloch, David Singer, Phil Ivey, T.J. Cloutier, Dewey Tomko, Patrick Antonious, and Robert Williamson are all still alive and I think they are still playing as I write this post! That is one long night. Should be a great final table and we'll get to see Chip Reese a little bit more.

[kcchief19]

With 10 left, it likes like the only pool picks remaining are Ivey, Brunson and Cloutier. Ivey's finish doesn't matter much, since it seems like most of the field picked Ivey. If you don't have Ivey, you're behing the eight-ball right now.

Cloutier and Brunson are the wildcards. JiMGA is the only one with Cloutier, so he's going to gain some big ground. If either of those two finish in the top two, the guys who took them will vault to the top of the standings.

The payout structure in this tourney is brutal ... only the top 16 money. Greenstein and Smith also made the money.

[dixieflatline]

Just when I got my hopes up:

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

With 39 people left in the HORSE event, here are the picked players left, their current chip rank, and who picked them.

Gavin Smith (3rd) - hoopsguy, Maple Leafs, Subby, dixieflatline, digamma, Jas_lov
Phil Ivey (10th) - Chubby, Desmond, digamma, dixieflatline, hoopsguy, Jas_lov, JonInMiddleGA, kcchief19, larrymcg421, Maple Leafs, QuikSand, Radii, TazFTW, TroyF, Tyrith, Vegas Vic, Barkeep49, rockboy70, sabotai, Lathum
Barry Greenstein (14th) - digamma, dixieflatline, hoopsguy, Jas_lov, Radii

Victor Ramdin (34th) - dixieflatline
Erick Lindgren (36th) Barkeep49, dixieflatline, Jas_lov, Maple Leafs, TazFTW, Vegas Vic

And then only Ivey gets to final table. The crazy thing is I was looking at this event in particular during the 3 minutes I spent when I made my picks. Every player on my list had to be someone I thought could win this event. At least I got some money from Barry and Gavin Smith.

[Jas_lov]

Robert Williamson III is out in 10th. The final table is...

Seating For Final Table

1- Jim Bechtel $841,000

2- Doyle Brunson $1,227,000

3- Chip Reese $1,756,000

4- Dewey Tomko $438,000

5- Andy Bloch $934,000

6- T.J. Cloutier $351,000

7- David Singer $745,000

8- Patrik Antonius $13,000

9- Phil Ivey $885,000

Patrick Antonious doesn't have much of a chance with only 1 or 2 BBs left. It's unfortunate because it would have been awesome seeing him going up against the older generation in Doyle, Chip, Tomko, Cloutier.

[Barkeep49]

I think it's great to see Brunson make this event as the second chip leader. Shows his greatness.

[hoopsguy]

dixie, I feel your pain.

Cunningham - busts in 17th, no money
Smith and Greenstein - money, but not final table
So I've got Ivey and root like hell against Doyle and TJ like the rest of us without those guys.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

dixie, I feel your pain.

Cunningham - busts in 17th, no money
Smith and Greenstein - money, but not final table
So I've got Ivey and root like hell against Doyle and TJ like the rest of us without those guys.

I dont' have Doyle or TJ, but I won't be rooting against em. Hell, I hope Doyle wins the damned thing.

[Chubby]

Go Ivey and Doyle!!!

[Chubby]

any updates?

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Chubby

any updates?

Final table starts in 90 minutes.

[Chubby]

Cool,go Phil and Doyle

[larrymcg421]

Yeah they were playing forever yesterday. Have to let them get some sleep.

I'm encouraged that the final table will be NLHE. That bodes well for both of my picks, Phil and Doyle. I'm not encouraged that the only two other people that have both Phil and Doyle are ahead of me in the standings.

[Honolulu Blue]

Doyle went out 8th, TJ in 5th, and Lord Ivey in 3rd. It's Andy Bloch vs. Chip Reese for the biggest prize pool outside the main event.

HORSE was not good to me, to put it mildly. I'll be lucky to find myself in the middle of the pack at the next update. But I was ahead for two whole days, and I'll always savor that memory.

[larrymcg421]

Event 16 - $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha

Barry Greenstein 20.492
Daniel Negreanu 12.295

Event 17 - $1,000 NLHE

John Phan 289.389
Humberto Brenes 74.715
Carlos Mortensen 38.936
Victor Ramdin 5.262
Quiksand 5.262
David Williams 3.157
Gavin Smith 1.578

Event 18 - $2,000 PLHE

Men Nguyen 3.221

Event 19 - $1,000 NLHE Seniors

No points scored in this event.

Event 20 - $50,000 HORSE

Phil Ivey 617.760
TJ Cloutier 480.480
Doyle Brunson 274.560
Gavin Smith 205.920
Barry Greenstein 205.920

[Toddzilla]

Chip Reese wins the $50K HORSE event

[larrymcg421]

hoopsguy 2119.287
Barkeep49 2084.245
JonInMiddleGA 1996.037
kcchief19 1905.041
dixieflatline 1893.82
Radii 1848.298
sabotai 1820.733
Chubby 1798.824
TazFTW 1726.724
larrymcg421 1701.783
QuikSand 1673.831
Tyrith 1542.432
rockboy70 1481.894
TroyF 1481.367
digamma 1467.221
Jas_lov 1466.789
Honolulu Blue 1329.34
Maple Leafs 1302.182
Vegas Vic 1283.219
Desmond 1246.34
Lathum 1095.48
AnalBumCover 808.107
Subby 537.732
albionmoonlight 449.382
timmynausea 92.175

[Barkeep49]

I love being in second place and all but are you sure that's right? I don't get how I could have rocketed up so high. It doesn't seem like some of my players have done anything.

[larrymcg421]

Your points are mostly coming from three players:

Allen Cunningham - 627.58
Phil Hellmuth - 441.78
Phil Ivey - 846.516

And actually, you were 1st in the last update. You fell to 2nd in this one because hoops also had Ivey and scored with Greenstein.

[Barkeep49]

Ok thanks. I had missed the last update actually. I hadn't realized Phil H was doing so well. That explains the "missing" points.

[Barkeep49]

After this I went over to Card Player to see what all the Poker Brat had done so well in, and basically it was just his second place finish, as he had two other low cashes and that was it. So I guess I was aware of how he was doing, just not the extent of how big that one second place finish was.

[Jas_lov]

Well barkeep Allen Cunningham and Phil Hellmuth are at it again for you. Allen is currently 4th in the Omaha H/L 8 O/B $3,000 entry. Phil Hellmuth is 22nd out of the 47 left in that tournament. Huck Seed is also 3rd in that tournament. Top 36 cash.

Limit Holdem $3,000 entry has 35 players still alive including Carlos Mortensen in 6th who is having maybe the best world series so far besides William Chen who has already won 2 bracelets. I beleive Mortensen has made 2 final tables already.

[larrymcg421]

Final table for Omaha 8/B

Phil's gonna get another shot at #10. It would be pretty cool if his 10th was also his first non-hold em victory.



Seat 1 - Phil Hellmuth - $158,000
Seat 2 - Martin Corpuz - $76,000
Seat 3 - Peter Costa - $108,000
Seat 4 - Scott Clements - $244,000
Seat 5 - Thor Hansen - $86,000
Seat 6 - Alex Limjoco - $116,000
Seat 7 - Steve Ladowsky - $97,000
Seat 8 - Brent Carter - $49,000
Seat 9 - Ronald Matsuura - $120,000

[SirFozzie]

Fun hand from today's $1500 NL Holdem event

With the board showing 9h8s7h , three players move all-in and one player, holding 6h5s, folds. All three players turn over J-10 meaning that 4 players flopped a straight. The player who folded 5-6 is clearly very happy with his play, while all the others seem entertained as they chop the pot.

[SirFozzie]

Interesting....

Players File Antitrust Lawsuit Against World Poker
Seeks to Open Up Competition and End WPT's Control of Player's Likenesses

Seven poker players have joined together and filed a lawsuit against World Poker Tour Enterprises today claiming that the company behind the World Poker Tour has violated antitrust laws by demanding players sign away the rights to their likeliness before taking part in WPT events.

The lawsuit also claims that WPTE and casinos that host WPT tournaments have unlawfully conspired to eliminate competition and opportunities for the World’s top poker players because casinos that host WPT events are not allowed to host other large-scale tournaments for broadcast.

Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, Andy Bloch, Phil Gordon and past World Series of Poker champions Chris Ferguson, Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem, filed the lawsuit in Federal court in Los Angeles Wednesday, July 19.

“We have seven players here standing up without a union, and they’re standing up for all the players,” said Jeffrey Kessler, lead lawyer for the players. “It is about setting up a fair system and the players here are prepared to back up this case until a fair system is set up.”

Image and Intellect

At the root of the lawsuit is the release form that all players who compete in WPT sponsored events must sign. The form gives WPTE the right to use the likeliness of the players in any way WPTE chooses for free. No matter how WPTE uses player’s images, players receive no monetary compensation.

The release gives WPTE the rights to use player’s images and likenesses in everything from books to video games, which it has done.

“This is about the control of your own name and likeness and in poker that’s all we have,” Lederer said. “You could find yourself endorsing products you don’t believe in. I should be able to make that decision, I don’t a want the WPT deciding for me.”

All the players involved in this suit have contracts with other companies that already gives the companies exclusive rights to their names, images and intellectual property rights. For example, Ferguson has a contract with Activision to exclusively appear in the “World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions” video game.

He says if he signed the release form to play in a WPT event, it would violate the contract that he has with Activision and all the other companies that he has chosen to work with. All the players involved with this suit believe this.

“I’ve been trying very hard to get a fair release,” Ferguson said. “Sometimes this release conflicts with deals you already have.”

Therefore, the seven players have not been participating in WPT events. As people who make their living playing poker, they claim that the release stops them from playing in some of the biggest and most lucrative tournaments in the world.

“We all want to play, but we can’t play right now because of the nature of the release,” Gordon said. “We want to compete in the biggest and best tournaments in the world.”

The lawsuit seeks to have this practice stopped, seeks compensation for the players, and asks that all the releases previously signed by the players be voided.

A Question of Fair Competition

The lawsuit notes that at least 11 casinos that host WPT events have signed written agreements not to compete with each other. The contract is set to expire in 2009. Because of this contract, the casinos are prohibited from hosting any non-WPT tournaments. This contract applies to all the properties in a casino chain, as well.

The suit claims that this eliminates competition between the casinos. If the casinos were able to compete with each other, everything from tournament structure and prize pools would naturally change to make it better for the players, the players say.

Because of the popularity of the WPT and the WSOP in recent years, many of the WPT casinos have been approached by outside companies to host other high-stakes poker tournaments.

The suit claims that because of this agreement, tournament poker players have less opportunities to ply their trade because, through the exclusive contract, WPTE has artificially restrained the number of televised high stakes poker tournaments that can enter the marketplace.

The contract -- and the nature of WPTE’s filming schedule -- also affects the quality of poker that’s being played and broadcast because WPTE has the final say in how the blind structure of the tournament will take place, said Duke.

She pointed to how the blind structure of WPT events are changed once the final table is decided, and then it’s changed again once play goes to heads-up.

Before the final table, blinds are 90 minutes, which is standard for most high-stakes poker tournaments. Once the final table is established, blinds go up every hour and once it gets down to two players, blinds go up every hour “when two people might be playing for a $1 million,” Duke said. “It takes the skill out of the game just when the money really matters.”

Since the lawsuit was only filed today, WPTE has yet to see it and won't comment on the lawsuit until then.

[SirFozzie]

Interesting, poor Layne Flack is playing in three events today.

He arrived late in the NL Shootout event (basically a series of single table tournaments, with the winner advancing to a new table)

He won there to advance to the 3rd round.. that made him late for his two other events which he is trying to play simultaneously: ($5,000 buy in) Seven Card Stud and ($1500 buy in) Pot Limit Holdem.

er.. someone want to tell him you don't HAVE to play in every event?