The World Series of Poker Main Event Day 1C

I didn't get much sleep again. The natives were a little rowdy at the Redneck Riviera. A decent portion of the people in my building unit are construction workers and they get paid on Friday. So Friday nights means two things: binge drinking and hookers.

The drunks were hootin' and hollerin' last night. Too much damn country music. Plus the ladies of the night were roving around the complex doing the infamous "hooker walk" which happens a lot when you have an irritated crotch.

I'm still a little sad that I've been working so damn much that I haven't been able to chat with my favorite stripper who lives upstairs. She said she wanted to go see Star Wars with me. Eat your heart out Geek! I've seen her kids playing around in the dumpster with the malnourished inbred pot-bellied kids who live in the building unit next door, but no strippers in sight.

I went for the Rio breakfast buffet this morning. I got a $10 off coupon for playing in the $1500 event a few weeks ago. My brother is a big buffet guy, but I'm not. I was so hungry that I decided that I would stuff myself. I made some cool things. I snagged a plate of hashbrowns and went over to the "Mexican food" section and topped it with salsa and melted cheese and wrapped it up in a pancake. I also made my own bacon, cheese, and sausage biscuits.

I bumped into a faithful reader of my blog from Staten Island, NY. His name was Petey Pizza. He looked like Big Pussy from The Sopranos. He owns three pizza places in Brooklyn and Staten Island. His son, Frankie Pizza, was knocked out yesterday by Carmel. Anyway, he said his friends run a new card room in Staten Island. When I told him it was a hike to get there (plus I don't want to take the damn ferry) he told me, "I'll send a car for you!"

Even mobbed up guys read my blog.

I also ran into another fan. His name is Lonnie Boeding from Kansas City. He won a seat last September. He's been looking for me for about a week. We finally ran into each other. Great guy. And I'll be keeping tabs on him as well as another fan I ran into yesterday named Eric Ellisen from Florida. I also bumped inton Isaac Galazan near the Expo. He won a bracelet four weeks ago and is playing today. I'll be tracking the progress of all three guys along with a few Full Tilt guys like Marcel Luske and Andy Bloch.

Moving on...

****** Live Blogging Updates ******

10:57am... As Doyle Brunson entered the poker room and made his way to his seat, the crowd (including dealers, media, players, and railbirds) gave Texas Dolly a thunderous applause. I got a few goose bumps. You don't see that too often. The entire room was on it's feet.

11:05am... Madeline Ungar and Stephanie Ungar are here this morning to address the crowd. Stephanie said the infamous words, "Shuffle up and deal!"

11:10am... Featured Table update: I saw Marcel Luske this morning and he told me he would be at the feature table. Also there is Noah Boeken. Apparently, Noah and Marcel both inked deals with Full Tilt. I guess Noah is no longer "Exclusive" anymore. If you don't know Marcel mentors Noah, who is also from Holland. Marcel's publicist told me that a Dutch magazine is following Marcel around for a week. They want to interview me about the Charlie Tuttle story at some point later today.

11:43am... Mike Matusow Implosion Watch: Mike was yapping about twenty minutes in and jawing with his table mates. He's about ten tables away and you can hear his shrill voice above the clatter of chips. Mike Paulle said, "Mike's already in a bad mood?" A few minutes later he was assesed a ten minute penalty by the tournament director for dropping an "F-bomb" and then got a second one for saying it again. And then a third. And a fourth. He's in the box for 40 minutes! It reminded me of a scene out of Breakfast Club when Judd Nelson's character Bender got detention for 2 months for mouthing off to the principal. "You mess with the bull... you get the horns!"

12:45pm... I found everyone who I knew. Eric won a pot off of Robert Williamson III after he flopped a set and check-raised him. Lonnie was a little nervous to start but he's settled down since and he's comfortable now. Isaac Galzan lost a hand when he flopped trip aces. He lost to a higher kicker. He also got a 10 minute penalty for dropping the F-bomb. He was joking around with another guy at the table and let it slip. No one at the table was offended and they all didn't want him out. Unfortunately, the rules are strictly enforced here and he had to leave for ten minutes. Chris from 21 Outs Twice is doing great. He's got $13K in chips and picked up $3K on the first hand with A-A.


Loyal Tao of Poker Readers: Eric and Lonnie
12:50pm... Chops told me he saw James Woods catch runner-runner quads 3's!

1:01pm... Faces in the Crowd: Shannon Sharpe is a huge fuckin' dude. Here's here. Some other notable people I spotted include: Hoyt Corkins, Chau Giang, John Juanda, Tom McEvoy, Minneapolis Jim Meehan, Phil Ivey, Andy Bloch, TJ Cloutier, Capt. Tom Franklin, James Woods, Howard Lederer, Doyle Brunson, Mel Judah, and Chip Jett.

1:13pm... Bouncin Round the Room: It's break time (30 minutes due to the bathroom situation) and I went out into the hallway to try to get some good quotes. Nothing overly exciting but here's a few...

From a guy talking to his friends: "I flopped a fuckin' nut flush with the fuckin' A-Q of diamonds and lost to a fuckin' runner runner qauds. I fuckin' played (the hand) fast and the fuckin' donkey still fuckin' called me all the way down with pocket twos. No fuckin' diamonds in his hand either. I fuckin' got $3500 left."

Overheard near the bathroom: "Pocket aces have already been cracked three times at my table. It's just like Party Poker."

2:10pm... Been working on a freelance article. Sorry for the lack of updates. Nothing really goes down until after dinner break anyway. The feature table action has been slow. Marcel seems like he's conserving energy.

2:20pm... Back to updating some people I've been keeping an eye on. Eric isn't doing too hot. He ran into sets of aces twice when he flopped sets! But he's hanging on. Isaac Galzan was down to $6K and grinded his way back to even by winning several small pots. Lonnie is even as well and his nerves have settled down. Chris has over $14K in chips.

2:30pm... Bouncin Round the Room: There are almost 2000 players today. Add dealers, cocktail servers, massage therapists, media types, railbirds, and Rio staff, this place is packed and it's pretty hot in here. One guy is fanning himself with an Oriental style fan. Another guy is reading a poker book. I tried to see which one, but couldn't get close enough. Another guy is reading a copy of Poker Player Newspaper. There are hundreds of media folks wandering around and I have to ask, "What the fuck are they doing?" I have never heard of any of thse sites or organizations. I know that Bluff Magazine paid some big buck printing up t-shirts and handing them out to hot chicks. Two of them were assigned to si in the front row of the stands here at the TV table. Yeah, Otis and I can see two smoking hot blondes across the way. I wonder how much TV time they'll actually get?

2:47pm... Recent Eliminations: TJ Cloutier and Minh Nguyen are both out.

3:15pm... Players are on a break and the temperature drops 5-10 degrees in here. For all you Phil Ivey fans (like Sara), I randomly caught him walking out into the hallway. He told me he won a huge pot with J-J vs. A-K. He's got about $30K in chips now. It seems that ESPN doesn't liek Marcel's feature table. They are keeping him and kicking everyone else off. New blood for Marcel to feast on.

4:00pm... Here are a few updates on players I've been following... Eric has about 5K. Lonnie is up to $13K. Isaac Galzan took a huge hit when some guy caught a straight on him when he flopped top pair. Chris is up to $15K.

4:20pm... Some of Flipchip's kick ass photos from today:


Phil & Doyle


Today's Celebs: James Woods & Shannon Sharpe


Pimp Daddy & the Rose Lady
Don't forget to stop by Flip Chip's 2005 World Series of Poker Photo Gallery!

4:45pm... Recent Eliminations: Sad news for all you Eric fans. He was just busted. He had his A-A cracked. Eric was shorttstacked. He raised preflop and was flat called. On the flop there was a King high and me moved all in only to be called by K-10. The guy caught a ten on the river and Eric was busted. Isaac Galazan is also busted when his two pair ran into a set.

5:00pm... We have official numbers!

5619 players
Prize Pool: $52.8 Million
1st = $7,500,000
2nd = $4,250,000
3rd = $2,500,000
4th = $2,000,000
5th = $1,750,000
6th = $1,500,000
7th = $1,300,000
8th = $1,150,000
9th = $1,000,000
10-12 = $600,000
13-15 = $400,000
16-18 = $350,000
19-27 = $304,680
28-36 = $274,090
37-45 = $235,390
46-54 = $173,880
55-63 = $145,875
84-72 = $124,835
73-81 = $107,950
82-90 = $91,950
91-100 = $77,710
101-140 = $54,965
141-170 = $46,245
171-200 = $39,075
201-230 = $33,197
231-260 = $28,375
261-300 = $24,365
201-350 = $21,070
351-400 = $18,335
401-450 = $16,055
451-500 = $14,135
501-560 = $12,500
All final table players will win at least $1M!

5:08pm... Recent Eliminations: Andy Bloch and Tracey Phan

5:55pm... Recent Eliminations: Doyle Brunson is out. He was shortstacked and pushed with K-J. He lost a coinflip and was busted. Amother standing ovation happened as he left the poker room. Mel Judah was also busted. I saw Mark Seif in the hallway and he was busted as well.

6:35pm... Recent Eliminations: Joe Sebok is out.

8:35pm... Players are back from their break. There are 128 tables remaining. I hit the bar on my break and drowned my sorrows in a few cocktails with Otis.

8:38pm... Recent Eliminations: COwboy Hoyt Corkins was knocked out. On the first hand after the break, James Woods was knocked out. He recieved a light applause as he walked away. My hat goes off to the guy who used to nail Heather Graham a.k.a. "Roller Girl".

9:10pm... I wandered over to see how Chris was doing. He has $30K in chips. Lonnie slipped to about $8K.

9:15pm... Featured Table update: The suits at ESPN switched the table again. However, Marcel still remains! Simon "Aces" Trumper was moved to his table.

9:20pm... Recent Eliminations: Ram Vaswani from Hendon Mob fame and my buddy Vinny Vinh have been knocked out.

9:30pm... Boring Sunday... at least four members of the media agree that today is a little slow, borderline on boring. Aside from the early Matusow F-bomb the only other story involved Anna Benson who dropped an F-bomb herself and was told that was the only word she could not say at the table. She proceeded to let rip as many curse words as possible to test the rule. She even pitched out the word "cocksucker."

9:44pm... Mike Matusow Quote of the Day: "Tounament poker is a joke. Whoever gets most lucky is the next superstar."

9:50pm... Recent Eliminations: Jim Betchel and Tom McEvoy have been busted.

10:45pm... Updated Payouts! I added a compelte pay out list above. Check it out.

10:50pm... Mike Matusow is on a roll. he cracked Hilton Sisters with pocket threes after he flopped a set.

11:00p... Recent Eliminations: Anna Benson is out and Chau Giang's Hilton's were cracked by 6-7.

11:45pm... The action this evening has been somnolent, at best. Only the garrulous musings of Mike Matusow are keeping us awake in press row.

12:30pm... Recent Eliminations: Lonnie Boeding was busted. He had a short stack and moved all in woth pocket sevens. He ran into A-9 and the guy flopped a 9. He was eliminated.

1:00am... Recent Eliminations: John D'Agostino, Simon "Aces" Trumper, Edward Moncada, Shannon Sharpe, Kristy Gazes, John Phan, Thor Hansen, Tony Ma, and Robert Williamson III.

2:20am... Action is done for today and will resume tomorrow at Noon.