Event #29 $2,000 NL Day 1 -- Event #28 $5,000 Limit Hold'em Day 2 -- Event #27 $5,000 PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table

Yesterday was supposed to have a day off but I came in to cover the Final Table of the Ladies Event, which Jen Tilly ended up winning. Oh, be sure to read my recap on Fox Sports called Better Than an Oscar.

Fox Sports has been running a ton of my articles in the last ten days. Good job, guys. If you are reading my blog for the first time, I have been doing live blogging here. I contribute event recaps on Lasvegasvegas.com and Poker Player Newspaper. I also provide the majority of WSOP content for Fox Sports.

Yesterday evening I took off with some fellow media types and bloggers (Jay, Daryn, Foiled Coup, Amy, Jen, John, BJ, Otis, and Dan) to hit happy hour at a local establishment that featured $2 appetizers. For 10 people the tab was only $124 and that included tip and drinks! Man, in NYC that tab would have been over $1K.

Afterwards, Otis and Dan dragged me out to the MGM to play some poker. I wanted to stay in and write, but I sensed Otis wanted to get the hell out of the Rio so I came with. The MGM was crowded with those Red Hat Society ladies who wore purple dresses and red hats. I thought I was tripping after seeing all those weird geriatrics in exotic red hats humping slot machines.

Dan sat in a $1/$2 NL game. I snagged a $4/$8 limit seat and Otis sat down at a very loose $6/$12 table. After I got my ass kicked at $4/8, Otis suggested I sit at his table because some donkey with more tattoos than IQ points was capping bets preflop with junk. I sat down next to him and he'd show me his hands while I waited for the blinds to come around to me. With 10-7s he river'd Otis' pocket Jacks with trip sevens. Ouch. I lost a medium pot to some old lady and won a big one at that table when I flopped a set. When the table broke up, Otis and I were seated at the same $1/2 NL table.

At that table, I scooped a huge pot, worth over $700. I was up about $50 at the time. It was late and I wanted to get home. It was the last hand of the night for me and I found KK UTG. I bet $15 and got 6 callers including Otis. The flop: 7-6-3 with two spades. I fired out $100 and got two callers including an overweight red hat lady and an asian guy with a mole that had a beard which resembled one of ZZ Top's facial hair. Seriosuly, the hair from his mole almost reached the felt. It was scary. Anyway, on the turn an 9 fell and I moved all in for about $150 or the rest of my stack. The lady folded and encouraged mole man to call. That pissed me off and I snapped at her and motioned to the dealer to cut out that crap. The dealer gave her and the rest of the table a warning. I knew he was on a flush draw and I didn't want any callers. He took five minutes and eventually called. I flipped over pocket Kings and he didn't turn over his hand. When the river was a baby rag (no spade), he mucked and the dealer pushed the monster pot my way. I never saw his cards and I assumed he had just a draw. As I stacked up my chips the lady said something like, "You're leaving with all my money?" If she wasn't such an inbred turd with a big mouth, then I might have stayed. That table was filled with big fish. If I lost that pot to a suckout, I would have been livid that she goaded him into calling.

That big pot unstuck me since I arrived in Las Vegas. My cash bankroll took a hit since I moved here. I am now up a cool $100. I'm still down online and overall for the month, but heck, I'll take the nice win at the MGM.

"Aren't you glad you came out?" said Otis while he walked with me to the cashier.

He was right. I had a great time yesterday. I'm starting to enjoy myself more here. When I left Otis was still in that game and Dan was sititng at a blackjack table with a couple of hot chicks.

Moving on...

I just bumped into Hank987 and his lovely wife. He is out here for a few days and came by the Rio to say hi. If you don't know, he's an avid reader of my poker blog and we've hung out at Foxwoods before. He took 3rd in a big Foxwoods NL tournament a few months ago and part of those winning paid for this trip along with his son's summer hockey camp. You can read about his Foxwoods final table: here. He's watching the final table of the PLO w/ Reuys event.

So I shall be covering three tournaments today, including a fun final table.

1. Event #27 $5,000 PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table = Green font
2. Event #28 $5,000 Limit Hold'em Day 2 = Blue font
3. Event #29 $2,000 NL Day 1

The final table started with 134 players forking over 229 rebuys and add-ons for a prize pool of $1,765,568.

****** Live Blogging Update ******

3:00pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Here who's at today's exciting final table. The suits at ESPN must be jizzing in their pants at this final table. They don't even need Levitra to get an erection for these guys:

1 E.C. Cohen (Paris, France) $130K
2 Robert Williamson III (Dallas, TX) $153K
3 Allen Cunningham (Marina Del Ray, CA) $202K
4 Davood Mehrmand (Germany) $125K
5 Surrinder Sunar (Wolver Hampton, England) $96K
6 Phil Ivey (Las Vegas, NV) $494K
7 Phil Hellmuth (Palo Alto, CA) $114K
8 Eddy Scharf (Cologne) $150K
9 Richard St. Peter (Sault Ste. Marie, MI) $162K
10 Sigi Stockinger (Austria) $213K

The action is tough in the writer's pool. We have a record number of 7 participants. The pool is over $700. Just kidding. It's not that high. Some of us are on salary. Here's who has who in today's Media Pool:

Jen = Robert Williamson
Andy = Allen Cuningham
Heather = Davood Mehrman
Pauly = Surinder Sunar
BJ = Phil Hellmuth
Nolan = Eddy Sharf
Jay = Sigi Stockinger

4:15pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Usually final TV tables are 9 handed here at the WSOP. The tables only have 9 hole cameras. Richard St. Peter was the first player was eliminated. Phil Ivey sent him home in 10th place. On a flop of Jc-6c-5s, St. Peter moved all in with Ac-As-7s-3h. Phil Ivey called with Jh-Qc-9h-8h. Ivey was behind and caught two pair when the Qs fell on the turn. St. Peter picked up a flush draw but it didn't hit and he finished in 10th place. Phil Ivey added to his big stack.

4:50pm... PLO w/ Rebuys final table update: Davood Mehrmand knocked out E.C. Cohen. On the flop of: Qh-Jd-2s E.C. COhen moved all in with Jh-9c-6c-2h. Mehrmand called with Ad-As-Qs-3s. Davood Mehrmand caught trip aces on the river and scooped the pot. E.C. Cohen finished in 9th place and won $52,555.

5:20pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I ran over to the Full Tilt Suite for a free beer, cheese and crackers.

I heard that some cheaters are buying the black WSOP chips in the gift shop (retail value = 54 cents) and adding them to their stacks. The floor manager pulled out a few already in the second day of the limit event.

John from Poker News told me he caught a media fight in the hallway between a European film crew and one of the kids at Card Player. Damn, I missed it.

The rumors are over. Gus Hansen has arrived in Las Vegas. Here is proof.

By the way, Tony G is sitting one seat away from me in press row.

5:35pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Johhny Chan's record is safe for now. Phil Hellmuth was elimianted in 8th place. Phil Hellmuth check raised Williamson on a flop of Kh-Qh-7c. Both were all in. Hellmuth had Ah-Kd-Qd-Qs and Williamson showed Kc-Ks-5s-5h. Hellmuth's hand did not improve and he went home in 8th place without his 10th bracelet. He won $70,075.

5:45pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: In the biggest pot of the tournament, Phil Ivey knocked out Sigi Stockinger and Eddy Scharf. All three players moved all in on the flop of Qs-8s-2d. Scharf had a set of twos. Sigi had a set of Queens and Ivey had the nut flush draw. Ivey caught his flush on the turn and kncoked out both players. Phil Ivey now has almost $1 million in chips and has more than twice as much as Williamson. Eduard Scharf went home in 7th with $88,280. Sigi Stockinger was knocked out in 6th Place and won $105,935.

6:00pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Surinder Sunar was knocked out by Allen Cunningham when Cunningham flopped a straight. My pick Surinder finished in 5th Place and won $122,635.

6:30pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Allen Cuningham's attempt to win his second WSOP bracelet this year came to a halt when he was eliminated by Phil Ivey. On a flop of Qd-10d-4d, Cunningham moved all in with As-Qh-Qs-5h and a set of Queens. Ivey flipped over Ac-Kd-Qc-6d for a flush. His hand held up and Allen Cunningham finished in fourth place. He won $140,150. Three players are left and Phil Ivey is running over the table.

9:03pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I headed over to In & Out Burger with BJ and Jay. I opted to avoid cocktails at dinner since I had been drinking steadily thanks to the folks at the Full Tilt Suite. For the record, the other major online sites do not have a hospitality suite here at the Rio. I'm a whore for free beers (I tip the bartender $1) and free cheese.

I spotted both Felicia and Tanya here. They will be playing in the Razz event tomorrow.

9:10pm... $2K NL Day 1 update: 144 players are left out of 1072 entrants. The Devilfish knocked out Erick Lindgren.

10:07pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Phil IVey blew his 3 to 1 chip advantage as Robert Williamson moved into the chip lead over the last few hours. Action is still three way and momentum has swung Williamson's way.

11:00pm... Bouncin Round the Room: While the final table went on a break, I spotted Phil Ivey and one of his friends gambling on whether or not they could toss a piece of rolled up paper into a trash can. They were betting $1K a shot. His friend missed the first. He was way short. Ivey stepped up and he had the distance but missed left.

11:05pm... $5K Limit Hold'em. Mr. Kotter is on a roll after he kncoked out two players. With 17 palyers remaining he's in the middle of the pack. James Kwon is the chipleader. Annie Duke, Amir Vahedi, Gabe Kaplan, Young Phan, Joe Sebok, and Jim Miller are all still left.

11:35pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: After about two more hours of three way play, Williamson coughed up the lead. Phil Ivey got the chip lead back, while Davood Mehrmand quietly jumped into second place.

11:52pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I was in the hallway chatting with Otis and Dan when I spotted Amir Vahedi smoking a cigar. I asked him how many chips he had left.

"Enough," he responded. He asked to see a copy of Card Player Magazine that I had in my hand. He wanted to see the Player of the Year standings. He looked disappointed to see his name in 6th.

"By the end of tonight, I'll be back in the Top 3," he assured me.

1:00am... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Phil Ivey just knocked out Davood Mehrmand in 3rd place. Davood flopped an open ended straight draw and Ivey just had top pair. Davood's hand failed to improve. Mehrmand hung on and played tough for several hours. He was up against two tough players... Robert Williamson is considered one of the best PLO players in the world and Phil Ivey is one of the best cash game players in the world. Davood won $194,210 for his efforts. Phil Ivey has over a $900K chip lead.

1:19am... Erick Lindgren photo of the day... for April.

1:34am... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: Robert Williamson just doubled up against Phil Ivey. Williamson's Ace high flush was better than Ivey's King high flush.

1:45pm... PLO w/ Rebuys Final Table update: After winning a big pot the hand before, Phil Ivey flopped a straight. Robert Williamson was all in and he had only two outs to help him. Unfortunately, he could not catch any of them. Robert won $353,115 for his runner up finish. Phil Ivey won $635,603 and his fifth WSOP bracelet.


2005 $5K PLO w/ Rebuys Champion: Phil Ivey

Congrats Phil!