Day 5 World Series of Poker Main Event

This is it. Three more days to go. Today is my last day here at the Rio Casino. And you know what? I can wait to get the hell out of here and get to Binion's Horseshoe. After being in the same place for six weeks straight, I've gone mental a few times and been on the verge of quitting and getting fired a half of a dozen times. The Las Vegas demons nearly got to me, but thankfully I've survived from a little help from my friends.

In the end, this is definitely one of the most amazing experiences of my life... and I've done some living too. Without a doubt, I have to thank the Poker Prof over at Lasvegasvegas.com for hiring me to cover the most prestigious tournament in the history of poker, as well as making me a partner in his organization. This is just the beginning of some special here. And I'll be happy to take you along on this wild ride.

The action will play down to 27 players. I can be here for 3 hours or 13 hours. I'm sure you'll be refreshing your browser to find out.

Thanks to everyone for the positive comments and emails. Wow. I'm blown away at the sheer volume of responses. I can recall when only a handful of people read my poker blog. I can count them on one hand: my brother, Senor, Iggy, Mr. Decker and Jerry. Now, I'm approaching 250K hits a day and I have a wager with someone that it will go over that today.

Some Quick Pimpage

Sign up for the Charlie Tuttle Tournament on Poker Stars ASAP!

Go read my latest article on Fox Sports about my "Day 4" Recap. They titled it: Big Mouth.

Don't forget to listen to the latest podcast over at Lord Admiral Radio.

Flipchip takes the best photos here at the WSOP. Check out his 2005 WSOP Photo Gallery.

The Poker Prof is hard at work developing a kick ass data base for 2005 WSOP Tournament Results.

Congrats to Double As for making the money in yesterday's $1500 NL event. Great job!

Don't forget to read Wil Wheaton's recaps of his time in Las Vegas.

CJ has been posting some great audio clips of Me and Otis. Check those out at Up for Poker.

Lastly, go read Al Cant Hang's Las Vegas trip reports.

Moving on...

I'm rooting for John Juanda today. I'd love to see Fossilman, Mike Matusow and Phil Ivey make a final table too... but I'm pulling for Juanda. Like Spaceman wrote on his blog... John Juanda was one of the first players to rally behind Charlie Tuttle. He called him up when Felicia asked him and he never asked for anything in return. That gets him my support today.

We'll also see if Tifanny Williamson can becme the second female ever to make a final table. Barbara Enright was the only one and Annie Duke took 10th once. She's been one of the Cinderella stories this year and let's see how that pans out.

Will Mike Matusow implode today? Will he lose his mud and go on tilt? How much shit will he talk today? I'll be following that closely.

Can Fossilman come from behind to win? Will Phil Ivey win his seventh bracelet? All before his 30th birthday? How about Irishman Andy Black? Or will someone we never heard of before prevail?

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

12:13pm... Cards in the air! We have one hour left in Level 21. Antes are $2K. Blinds are $8K/$16K.

12:14pm... Featured Table update: Of course, there's a big name here...

Seat 1: Karlo Lopez $607K
Seat 2: Michael Kessler $986K
Seat 3: Tom Sartori $1.2M
Seat 4: James Butt $716K
Seat 5: Greg Raymer $766K
Seat 7: Radu Butan $762K
Seat 8: Shawn Sheikhan $983K

12:25pm... Action is slow and tentative.

12:29pm... Phil Hellmuth arrived and entered the playing area. Mike Matusow stood up and yelled out, "Ladies and Gentlemen! My good friend and World Series of Poker CHampion... Mr. Phil Hellmuth!" I'd like to lock those two in a room and let them play heads up for three days straight. I wonder who would draw blood first? Who would cry first?

12:30pm... Going on a walk. Trying to snag some material for Bouncin Round the Room... stay tuned.

12:35pm... WSOP Stats: Men the Master now is tied with Phil Hellmuth for most WSOP cashes with 50. Berry Johnston is second with 49.

12:43pm... Recent Bustouts: Yakov was domianted pre flop and Lindholt lost a coin flip. This is officially confirmed, since I witnessed both of them.

The following players won $145,875:
58 Jarl Lindholt
57 Yakov Hirsch

12:55pm... Bouncin Round the Room: The Swedish girls are back sitting in front of us at press row! One of them is sweating her boyfriend. I went over to the gift shop to buy ginger ale and/or a candybar. I ended up getting a $2.50 bottle of iced tea. Damn criminals. I've been raped in food and beverage prices for the last six weeks. The girl behind the counter there is a cutie. She looks like a better looking version of Tara Reid. Of course she's sober, younger, has real boobs, is a real blonde, and actually has some spunkiness. I have this penchant for California stoner girls.

I spotted Men the Master hanging out. The railbirds were shouting out, "All you can eat!" Yeah the railbirds are five and six deep and the stands at the feature table are packed. I'm running into media types that I have never seen before. I won't name names but one of them in particular is a total idiot and jerkoff. During one of our 2am production meetings with ESPN, he talked the entire time and acted like he knew what he was saying and doing... like he was running the show. But we were all looking at each other and thinking, "Who is this fucking guy?"

He had us cracking up when he said, "Since I got here two days ago, this is what we have been doing..." in response to the floor crackdown. Jen from Poker Wire quickly shouted out, "Two days? Weve been here for six weeks!" As she pointed to BJ and myself. Yeah he's one of the reasons why we lost floor access. Inbred dipshit. You can kick him in the junk if you want for me.

1:05pm... Recent Bustout: Minh Ly is sitting right next to media row. He knocked out one guy. My notes are sloppy. I can't read the hand. 55 players left.

56 Larry Prugh

1:14pm... Players are on a 15 minute break.

1:15pm... Featured Table udpate: Greg Raymer has $1M. He;s talking to Otis right behind me now. He played only one hand the last hour... the Hilton Sisters. Mike Paulle told Raymer than he's been getting hate mail because he wrote that "Raymer is a luckbox!" Raymer replied, "Did you put a smiley face behind it? That's the only way they can tell you are joking."

I must say that I met Raymer for the first time at Foxwoods last November and he's been extremely respectful towards the media. Felicia introduced us. Raymer is really a nice guy. Sounds like a boring label, but it's true. I've never seen him turn down an autograph or a picture requests. On breaks, he's spending the time with the public instead of relaxing and taking his time for himself. He's a true champion.

1:33pm... Featured Table update: Pat Hayden is now in Seat 6. I shook his hand and wished him luck. We chatted briefly.

1:34pm... We are at Level 23. Antes are $3K. Blinds are $10K/$20K. Cards are back in the air.

1:41pm... Mark Forrester from the UK is out. I asked TK from Blonde Poker about him. "I know nothing about him. He was very polite when he was knocked out, so I knew he was British."

1:45pm... Featured Table update: The guy with the funniest name in the tournament is out. James Butt was eliminated when his Hiltons ran into pocket aces.

1:55pm... Recent Bustouts:

He won $145,875:
55 Mark Forrestor

These folks won $173,880:
54 James Butt
53 Nick Gibson
52 Rod Pardey
51 Derek Dix

2:03pm... A few bustouts the last few minutes. Too busy running around to post specific hands. I know that Matusow busted Derek Dix on a river bad beat when he spiked a King.

2:04pm... Andy Black won a huge hand with A-K. He tripled up. There was a lot of yelling and Otis yelled, "Sounds like the Irish are coming back!"

2:05pm... Wil sent me a hilarious email:

Hey Doc,

I just took second in a PokerStars 10+1 SNG. Line of the night came from one of my opponents:

Him: How did you get from the WSOP to a ten dollar pokerstars SNG?

Me: I drove about 225 miles down Interstate 15.

I ended up taking second. I got all my money in with A6 vs. T9 . . . and he made a set of tens.

Good times, though, and not the point of this e-mail: the point of this e-mail is to tell you that I'm still reading your updates. Don't blog like a pussy.

Wil rules and he's been keeping me sane during the WSOP with amazing advice on writing, blogging, and staying sane in the middle of a huge project while being away from home.

2:11pm... Featured Table update: Michael Kessler and his A-10 cracked Stillman's 2-2 when he flopped an ace. Joe Stillman from Staten Island is out in 50th place.

2:15pm... Recent bustouts:

They get $173,880:
50 Joe Stilmman
49 Hung La

2:19pm... Featured table update: Patrick Hayden has $110K. Raymer has $1.1M.

2:20pm... Bouncin Round the Room: How about some random thought bouncin round my head? Mike Paulle has been calling me "The MAO of Pauly." It's hotter than fuck in here today. I'm already sweating my ass off. Despite the hotness in here, one of the Swedish girls is nipping out.

2:27pm.. Featured Table Update: Greg Raymer and his A-K busted NYC firefighter Pat Hayden's Js-7s. Raymer rivered an ace after Hayden flopped a seven. A spectacular run for Hayden even though he was busted in 48th place. Raymer has 1.25M. When Jack Effel annoucned Hayden's name and mentioned he was a NYC firefighter, the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

2:32pm... Ted Lawson's wife made us cookies for press row! Thanks so much. They are super yummy. I'm waiting for someone to buy us a bottle of vodka. I know that Tanya sent me a few bucks yesterday for beer money. Thanks Sweetie. She rules!

2:44pm... Kevin Kaikko is out. Here's the updated bust out list for today:

The following players won $145,875:
58 Jarl Lindholt
57 Yakov Hirsch
56 Larry Prugh
55 Mark Forrestor

These folks won $173,880:
54 James Butt
53 Nick Gibson
52 Rod Pardey
51 Derek Dix
50 Joe Stilmman
49 Hung La
48 Patrick Hayden
47 Kevin Kaikko
46 David Richardson

2:48pm... Mike Matusow is over $4M in chips. I saw one of the craziest hands so far this year. With 6-2o, Matusow re-raised Bonyadi preflop. He caught bottom pair and kept betting out all the way to the river. In the process he crippled Bonyadi, who folded on the river. Matusow happily showed 6-2o to a chorus of "Ooohs" and "Aaaahs!" Mike is on a run.

2:50pm... "Why I do not publish mass chip counts" by Dr. Pauly.

1. If I do one chip count for a specific person, you'll pester me the rest of the day and I don't have time to do that. I'm blogging for free, but I'm getting paid by Lasvegasvegas.com, Poker Player Newspaper, and Fox Sports to write for them. I'm multi-tasking writing freelance bits for the Big Boys and other sites while trying to pick up Swedish chicks. Priorities man! And chip counts are at the bottom of my list.

2. Chip counts are obsolete once they are posted. By the time it takes to get it, post, then publish it, someone can lose half their stack. You are online junkies and it's impossible to get an accurate chip count in real time.

3. The only chip counts that matter from here on out are the FINAL TABLE CHIP COUNTS. I refuse to post any until then.

4. I mention chip counts if a player tells me specifically how much they have. I don't like posting info that is second or third hand. If Greg Raymer says, "I got $1.2M, Pauly." Then I do it.

5. Asking for chip counts now is like asking for a score in a basketball game in the middle of the third qaurter.

6. ESPN and the Harrah's limits time out to the floor to all media. So getting chip counts is a pain in the arse.

7. Go to Pokerwire.com. They work hard and that's the reason they are here.

3:04pm... Lee Watkinson is out in 45th. David Richardson was busted in 46th place.

3:06pm... Featured Table update: With over $2.1M Tiffany Willaimson joined the feature TV table.

3:08pm... We are playing down to 27 players tonight. Here are payouts for the rest of the tourney:

1st $7.5M
2nd $4.25M
3rd $2.5M
4th $2M
5th $1.75M
6th $1.5M
7th $1.3M
8th $1.15M
9th $1M
10 - 12 $600K
13 - 15 $400K
16 - 18 $350K
19 - 27 $304,680
28 - 36 $274,090
37 - 45 $235,390

3:21pm... 13 minutes left in this level.

3:29pm... Kenna James is out in 44th.

3:30pm... CJ posted the latest version of The Pauly & Otis Show. Take a peek. Thanks CJ!

3:35pm... Players are on a break. 43 left. Fossilman told me he think he has $1.46M in chips.

3:55pm... Cards are back in the air. Phil Ivey told me he has $3.3M in chips. He's 2nd. Mike Matusow said he has $4.2M. He's the leader. We're at Level 24. Blinds are $12K/$24. Blinds are $4K.

4:00pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I wandered out to the bathroom. I saw the Penguins hanging out with Andy Black. There were 12-14 guys dressed up like nuns. I wish I took my camera with me. Freaky. I would have lost my mud if I was on acid at the time and caught that sight. Anyway...

Last 5 Pros I Took a Piss Next to...
1. Minh Ly (2x today)
2. Mike Matusow
3. John Juanda
4. Dustin "Ugly Jumpsuit" Woolf
5. Kenna James

Today it was "Red Jumpsuit Day" for Dustin Woolf. I like Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf, but brother, for the love of God, lose the jumpsuits. You look like an extra from a rap video circa 1992. Are you down with OPP? All he's missing is the MC Hammer like posse and gold teeth.

4:10pm... Adam Friedman is out in 43rd place. Here are the updated bustouts:

These players won: $235,390
45 Lee Watkinson
44 Kenna James
43 Adam Friedman

4:20pm... Flipchip is on his way. Pictures to be posted soon.

4:32pm... Featured Table update: I watched one of the longest hands of the tournament involving Sean Sheikhan and Tiffany Williamson. Sean raised preflop, Tiffany re-rasied in the LB and Sean moved all in. Tiffany took almost ten minutes to think about the call. Again, this was all preflop. She stood up and walked around and stared Sean down. FInally a clock was called on her and her hand was declared dead. I also discovered that Sean was the guy who won $25K off of Sammy Farha the other day making coinflips!

4:33pm... Running into Aces! Raymi Sanchez is out when his K-K ran into Andy Black's pocket Aces. So is Farzad Bonyadi after his Big Slick ran into A-A. Ouch. 40 players left.

4:42pm... Featured Table update: Greg Raymer doubled up a short stack when his K-10 lost to J-J. Greg has $1.1M left. Tiffany has about $1.5M Sean Sheikhan has over $3M.

4:50pm... Tony Abesamis is out in 40th. 39 players left. We're 1 hour and 5 mins until the next break.

5:00pm... Recent Bustouts:

They following players won $235,390:
42 Raymi Sanchez
41 Farzad Bonyadi
40 Tony Abesamis
39 Franklin Caldwell

5:05pm... Featured table update: Tim Phan is at the featured table now. BJ eyed out the chip counts. Raymer has about $1.2M. Tiffany has $1.3M. Tim Phan has $2.2M. Sean Sheikhan has $2.3M.

5:06pm... Johnny Chan sighting in press row!

5:15pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I spotted Amy Calistri doing a live radio show up front. I bumped into the Bluff girls (see above photo) out front handing out free copies of their magazine. There's a vast difefrence in between the girls that Bluff and Card Player hire. The chicks at the Card Player booth actually know a few things about poker. The Bluff girls just smile and giggle. I spotted Cyndy Violette playing cash games. At a different table, Dan from Pokerati was playing $1-2 NL. I wish I could be playing right now, but I'm here covering the action ring side.

5:20pm... According to Otis' excellent math skills, $1.47M is the average stack size. There are 38 players left.

5:30pm... Terry Burt is out in 38th place. There are 37 players remaining. We are 21 minutes to the break.

5:35pm... I've been sweating Phil Ivey's table. John Juanda has about $550K and Phil Ivey had $3.6M but took a small hit when he lost to 10-10. Adny Black has $1.7M

5:44pm... Featured Table update: Greg Raymer has about $1.3M and Tiffany told us she has $2.1M.

5:55pm... I made a mistake. There is a 30 minute break now... not dinner like I blogged before. During the break the $1K chips will be raced off and colored up.

6:25pm... Mike Lucky Blind Lacey gave me an update on the Irish players. Connor Tate has $2M. He hit quad threes with A-3. Andy Black has $1.9M.

6:30pm... Players have returned from their break. We are at Level 25. The antes are $5K. Blinds are $15/$30K. Mike Matusow told me he had over $4M. Greg raymer menioned to me that he had $1.3. John Juanda was sitting near by and sipping soup. He has $420K. Phil Ivey has $3.3M according to a member of his entourage.

6:37pm... Mike Matusow's stack took a huge hit. He's down to $2M now.

6:40pm... Featured Table update: Raymer doubled up against Tiffany Williamson... K-K vs. A-J. UTG bet, she raised and Raymer moved all in preflop. UTG folded and she took 7 minutes to make a decision and eventually called. She missed the flop, turn, and river and Raymer went from $1.3M to almost $2.8M. Sean said he mucked A-Q. Interesting call. Too bad she made a bad decision that could cost her the tournament. As they shipped Raymer the pot, the crowd went wild.

6:49pm... Featured Table update: Tiffany moved in with A-7 against Sean's Hilton Sisters. She flopped an ace and doubled up. She's got $1.2M now. The action at the feature table has now picked up.

6:41pm... Andy Black and his A-A busted Roland Israelashvici in 37th place. The Irish fans went crazy and began cheering boisterously! Here is an update of bustouts:

The following players won $145,875:
58 Jarl Lindholt
57 Yakov Hirsch
56 Larry Prugh
55 Mark Forrestor

These folks won $173,880:
54 James Butt
53 Nick Gibson
52 Rod Pardey
51 Derek Dix
50 Joe Stilmman
49 Hung La
48 Patrick Hayden
47 Kevin Kaikko
46 David Richardson

These players won: $235,390
45 Lee Watkinson
44 Kenna James
43 Adam Friedman
42 Raymi Sanchez
41 Farzad Bonyadi
40 Tony Abesamis
39 Franklin Caldwell
38 Terry Burt
37 Roland Israelashvici

The following players won: $274,090
36 Will "Mr. Lucky" O'Brien
35 Steve Marx

7:00pm... Man, we're down to 34 players after Phil Ivey's K-Q busted Steve Marx's A-10. Marx flopped a ten, but Ivey caught a Queen on the turn.

7:05pm... More excitement at the Featured Table. Tim Phan was doubled through when his A-K lost a coin flip to Tom Sartori's 9-9. Raymer is the table chipleader with $2.6

7:08pm... Mad broke this story for me. There was a lot of confusion. I got the exact story. She said that Andy Black was crying. One of the players made a mistake and thought players were on a dinner break. He was short stacked. Andy lobbied the other players to wait until the player got back before they resumed play. The other players refused. He attempted to stall and one of the players called a clock on him. And that got Andy all upset. John Juanda's stack is slim.

7:17pm... Bing Wang is out in 34th. Joe Hachem and his A-A knocked out Karlo Lopez's Hilton Sisters in 33rd.

7:30pm... Jen from Poker Wire is busting her little butt to provide the entire media chip counts. Amazing work she's doing. Unfortunately, by the time she collects the data and it goes on the web, it's outdated. But she's doing her best. Anyway with 32 players left, the average stack is $1.75M.

7:40pm... Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf was busted when his Big Slick suited lost to pocket tens. Woolf flopped two pair but Aaron Kantor spiked a ten on the turn. His railbirds went a little crazy. Neverwin couldn't do it today. Maybe he'll trade in those ugly jumpsuits.

7:45pm... John Juanda is out in 31st.

7:47pm... I was on the rail when Phil Ivey doubled up Oskar Silow and his short stack. He had A-K and Oskar had pocket Jacks. Oskar flopped a set and started screaming. The ever laconic Phil Ivey rolled his eyes like, "Act like a professional."

7:50pm... If we lose a player before the dinner break, we will not take a break, just a short break and we will play through.

7:58pm... Greg Raymer busted Radu Butan (London, Ontario) on his 28th birthday of all days. He took 30th place after Raymer rivered him. No dinner break now, I am assuming.

8:05pm... There's been a pissing match between Harrah's staff and ESPN. They have been arguing about a lot of things which are not specifically important to you as readers.

8:13pm... Russ "The Muscle" Salazar was busted in 29th place. We have 28 players remaining.

8:16pm... Featured Table update: Michael Kessler's A-K cracked Tim Phan's Hilton Sisters when he spiked an ace on the turn.

8:22pm... Featured Table update: The dealer made a mistake and Shawn had been verbally abusing her for a while. He made some nasty remarks and she called the floor manager over because she was sick of it. She removed for another dealer. She walked off in tears. I won't mention her name but I know her and she's a great dealer. She made a simple mistake. One of the ESPN producers explained the incident to TD Johnny Grooms and said that he'd give Sean a penalty for verbally abusing the dealer like that. Shawn got off with a warning and he went over to apologize.

8:28pm... This level is over. Players will take a 15 minute break. When they get back, it will be Level 26. The antes are $5K and the blinds are $20K/$40K.

8:40pm... Greg Raymer said he has $3.1M in chips.

8:45pm... Otis set the O/U for the next bustout at 35 minutes. I took the under. 9:22pm is the cut off time. Sherry wanted me to link her up! There you go. Mean Gene sent me an email at the break. I haven't blogged any pictures of Isabelle Mercier for him in a while.

8:55pm... I'm on tilt. I usually recharge myself at dinner break with a few cocktails at the bar. Not for me today, so now I'm dragging ass. 26 more minutes or I lose a prop bet with Otis!

9:13pm... Play has slowed down. There is nothing to report. How can I spice up the most boring 30 minutes of the day?

9:23pm... I lost the prop bet with Otis. D'oh!

9:40pm... While I was on the phone with Wil Wheaton talking about burritos, Burt Rice busted out in 28th place! We're done. Thank goodness. I have to do laundry and I'm out of underwear. We have a "meeting" tonight with Nolan Dalla. More to come.

9:45pm... Raymer now has $3.8M in chips.