The Muck


Saturday, November 10 2012
2012 11 05 - 2012 11 11
  • JUN 06

    All Mucked Up: 2012 World Series of Poker Day 10 Live Blog

    PokerNews Staff

    2012 WSOP

    Are there any celebrities playing in a World Series of Poker event? What are the crazy prop bets being made, and who's making them? We aim to answer all that and more in All Mucked Up. It's a live blog of all the stuff you want to know besides hand histories and bad beats. Well, we might add a few in here, everyone loves a good bad beat story — unless it happened to you.

    Ready to Go

    This morning while we were getting ready for the PokerNews Podcast, we spotted Annette Obrestad coming out of registration. She stopped by PokerNews HQ to say hi. She's ready to roll today, so if you're at her table in Event #14, then you better watch out!

    Team PokerNews recording today's podcast:

    Make Yourself at Home

    While walking through the 10k Heads Up tournament area we saw Antonio Esfandiari making himself at home right at the table. Esfandiari had his lunch set up on the table in the middle and had slipped his sandals off to get comfy. Hopefully the match lasts long enough for him to finish his meal.

    Seen on the Rail

    The final table of the $1,500 Re-Entry has gotten under way here in the Amazon room. We walked by to see if there were any pros on the rail and we saw Faraz Jaka sitting in the front row.

    We also saw Brent Hanks on break from the $2,500 Shootout and he gave us a little lesson about Pileated Woodpeckers, which are the largest woodpeckers in North America.

    $1,500 Re-Entry Final Table
    $1,500 Re-Entry Final Table

    Hat of the Day

    Today we caught Daniel Weinman in Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout wearing a Patrick Star hat from the Nickelodeon cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants.

    Daniel Weinman and his Patrick Star hat
    Daniel Weinman and his Patrick Star hat

    We'll be sure to keep adding more and more hats as we come across them.

    Celebrity Look Alike Spotted

    We caught this player in Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout as well. We weren't able to catch his name but we thought he looked a little bit like someone we knew. If you've ever seen Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, we thought this gentleman looked a bit like Scott "Big Cat" Pfaff.

    Unknown player and Scott "Big Cat" Pfaff
    Unknown player and Scott "Big Cat" Pfaff

    You be the judge.

    Tough Table Draws

    We caught two rather tough table draws today that we would not want to be a part of. The first was in Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout. The table was headlined not only by Daniel Negreanu, but also at the table was Jason Mercier and Tommy Vedes. Considering the table is a shootout, only one will survive, and we expect it to be one of those three.

    The second tough table we saw today was in Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold'em. Sitting down at this table means sitting down with Michael Mizrachi, Matt Glantz, JC Tran, Issac Haxton, and the current chip leader, Eric Buchman. Trust us, this is not a poker table you want to be sitting at.

    We'll be sure to keep you updated on any other killer table draws through the rest of the series. But to keep an eye on these tables, or any other, make sure you check out our live reporting blog.

    Cutest Couples: WSOP 2012

    Both Jennifer Harman and Marco Traniello are deep in Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold'em. There are only 135 players left and both members of one of poker's most notable couples are still alive and kicking. We'll try to catch up with the both of them later and see how they'd feel if they went heads-up for the bracelet.

    The Liv Boeree v. Doyle Brunson Epic Scooter Race Is On!

    We caught up with Liv Boeree today and we asked her about the tweets between her and Doyle Brunson regarding the epic scooter race we talked about the other day.

    "100 percent i'm serious," Boeree said. "If I see him I genuinely will race him. I would like my ankle to get a bit better first, because there will be some dirty driving going on but I definitely will race him."

    Liv told us that she thinks she will definitely win in a race against Doyle. We don't know yet if the two will put any bets on the race, but it's hard to bet against either on. Doyle has experience on his side, but Liv has youth and agression on hers. If the scooter race does go down then we'll be sure to get a video of it for you.

    Star Studded Stud Game

    The $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better has some big names and we’ll be hanging around to get reactions from them. Among those playing are JohnnyBax, Bryan Devonshire, PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu, and ESPN commentator Norman Chad.

    Hawaiian Shirts Are All the Rage

    We caught Men 'The Master' Nguyen wearing one of the most flamboyant Hawaiian shirts we've seen all series so far. We snapped a picture and moved on to Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout where we caught another player wearing a Hawaiian shirt. We didn't catch his name.

    Men 'The Master' Nguyen and Shootout Player: Who Wore It Better?
    Men 'The Master' Nguyen and Shootout Player: Who Wore It Better?

    What we want to know is who you think wore it better!

    Poll

    Who Wore Their Hawaiian Shirt Better?
    View results

    Doyle In The Building

    It was just announced that Doyle Brunson is in the building for his first event of the 2012 WSOP. His arrival was met with a round of applause from players, fans, and the Rio staff. He's playing the $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better.

    Prior to his arrival, we chased down Doyle as he scooted his way through the Brasilia room. He was exchanging fist bumps with Phil Ivey and Mike Matusow before making a beeline to the TV for the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, game.

    Who’s Doyle rooting for in tonight’s match up?

    “Oklahoma,” Doyle said emphatically.

    And his pick in the Eastern Finals?

    “Boston! And Oklahoma to win it all!”

    Oklahoma ended up winning the game and the series and will face the winner of the Heat v. Celtic series in the NBA finals.

    What Song Tilts You Most?

    It's no secret that the music in the Rio is tilting. From the PokerNews office we hear the same five songs on repeat throughout the entire day, including Justin Beiber's “Boyfriend” and Gotye's “Somebody That I Used To Know.” We know that listening to the same five songs over and over can be tilting so we asked pros what song tilt's them the most.

    “I don't usually listen to anything they play here,” Bryn Kenney said. “It's too tilting for me to listen to any of it. Usually I just pull out my phone and listen to something on there.”

    We also talked to Ylon Schwartz who said he tries to ignore the music they play in the hallways. “I don't usually listen to it,” Schwartz said. “But I guess if they played an excess of Celine Dion that would be pretty tilting.”

    Finally we caught up with Liv Boeree and asked her what song they play tilts her the most. “That one song, 'Hey I just met you!'” she sang to us. “'And this is crazy! So here's my number. So call me maybe.” Liv was talking about Carly Rae Jespen's song, “Call Me Maybe.” We'll try to catch up with some other pros and get their responses. Until then, here's hoping the Rio finds a new set list.

    The Cool Kids Table

    Walking through the Rio Poker Kitchen at dinner break we saw several tables filled with an assortment of poker pro cliques. It resembled a High School lunch hall, where you could tell who the “cool” kids were.

    One table had Doyle and Todd Brunson along with Andy Bloch, and Matt Savage. Seated at an adjacent table were Huck Seed and Paul Volpe. A few tables away were Xian Liu, Scott Seiver, and Andrew Robl. And nestled in a corner were married couple Jennifer Harmon and Marco Traniello enjoying soup.

    As we made our way around the hall, feeling like the new kid in school, we were greeted by Stud player Ivan Schertzer on break from the $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better. Ivan final tabled two WSOP Stud events in 2006 and 2009.

    What was Schertzer's fondest memories of his final table runs?
    "Crippling Johnny Chan in the 2006 stud event."

    We'll be keep an eye Ivan as he hopes to make another final table and maybe the third time will the charm for the Miami lawyer.

    Bombardment Of F-Bombs in the Brasilia

    Courtesy of Pokerlistings.com
    Courtesy of Pokerlistings.com

    Bracelet winner Burt Boutin just busted from Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout and quickly exited the Brasilia room, but not before unleashing a profanity laden tirade.

    It went a little something like this: F**k! F**k. F*****k! F**king f**k me. F**king, f*****k!

    Tagged with the moniker “Red Bull Burt,” for his propensity to consume the energy drink at the tables, Boutin is known for his nervous energetic behavior.

    Name the Pro

    Seat 1- David Singer, Seat 2- John Racener, Seat 3-Eli Elezra, Seat 4-Johnny Bax, Seat 6- Alan Cunningham, Seat 7- Men The Master, Seat8- ?
    Seat 1- David Singer, Seat 2- John Racener, Seat 3-Eli Elezra, Seat 4-Johnny Bax, Seat 6- Alan Cunningham, Seat 7- Men The Master, Seat8- ?

    We came across this star studded table in Event #15: $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better. We labeled many of the pros in the picture above, but wanted to see if you guys can guess who’s in seat-8.

    Poll

    Who's in seat-8?

    Please login to paticipate in this poll.

    View results

    Who's Drawing Thinner?

    We over heard bracelet winner and Stud specialist Cory Zeidman debating with a tablemate about who's skinnier, poker legend Stu Ungar, at the time the above picture was taken, or Chino Rheem? Laughs broke out at the table but we didn’t get any definitive answers. So we figured we’d leave it up to the Muck faithful to decide.

    Poll

    Who's Drawing Thinner?
    View results

    We encourage everyone to get involved with "The Muck." See something you think is Muck worthy? Send it to themuck@pokernews.com. We accept all media including photos and videos.

  • JUN 05

    All Mucked Up: 2012 World Series of Poker Day 9 Live Blog

    PokerNews Staff , 1

    2012 World Series of Poker

    Are there any celebrities playing in a World Series of Poker event? What are the crazy prop bets being made, and who's making them? We aim to answer all that and more in All Mucked Up. It's a live blog of all the stuff you want to know besides hand histories and bad beats. Well, we might add a few in here, everyone loves a good bad beat story — unless it happened to you.

    Stacked Field For Event #12: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em

    Players checking out their seat draws
    Players checking out their seat draws

    Looks like we're going to have a stacked field for the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em event today. So far we've seen Jason Mercier, Justin Bonomo, Issac Haxton, Betrand 'ElKy' Grospellier, Doc Sands, Eric Froehlich, Victor Ramdin, Peter Jetten and many more.

    Also supposedly in the house is Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom. A face we haven't seen yet at the World Series of Poker.

    Since the field is so stacked we talked to pros to see who they wouldn't want to play in the first round of heads-up matches.

    Tom Marchese said he wouldn't want to play Phil Hellmuth. "It wouldn't be that fun," Marchese said. "I wouldn't be able to get my pocket 10's all-in on the first hand."

    We talked to last year's $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Holdd'em Bracelet Winner Jake Cody. "I wouldn't want to play Matt Perrins," Cody said. "He knows all my tells. He just knows how I play too well."

    Jason Koon was also in the field today getting ready for a match. "I wouldn't want to play someone I don't want to look at for too long," Koon said.

    "Don't worry, it won't be too long," Sam Trickett joked.

    "Sam Trickett," Koon replied as his answer to our question.

    Andrew Robl and Peter Jetten were standing on the rail waiting to be drawn for a match.

    "I wouldn't want to play Peter," Andrew said. "He's good, scary, and he knows all my tells."

    "I'm going to be unoriginal and say Andrew," Peter answered. "He's a gangster and just doesn't care about money. I fear people like that."

    Randy 'Nanonoko' Lew is the last player we spoke to this morning.

    "I wouldn't want to play Isildur," Lew said. "He's really good at cash games. It's scary. I think this is a tournament structure that he can adjust well too."

    Be sure to keep an eye out on the live reporting blog so you can see all the excitement from today's tournament.

    Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom

    Viktor Blom is in the Rio today for the Event #12: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em. His first opponent in the tournament is recent bracelet winner Andy Bloch. We'll be sure to keep an eye on his progress throughout the day.

    World Champion Sweat

    How does it feel to have an Olympic world champion swimmer sweat you? Just ask Josh Birkis and Jeff Gross. Check out these tweets from Michael Phelps:

    Poll of the Day

    Poll

    Who would you rather play heads-up?
    View results

    Fashion Faux Pas

    We couldn't decide what was worse, Giorgio Medici's paisley shirt or Viktor Blom's sagging pants.

    Giorgio Medici's paisley shirt and Viktor Blom's sagging pants.
    Giorgio Medici's paisley shirt and Viktor Blom's sagging pants.

    Epic Scooter Races

    We reported Saturday that Liv Boeree had broken her ankle at her party on Friday night. We'll there's been some interesting new developments, including a scooter and Doyle Brunson. Check it out:

    To which Doyle responded:

    If the Mario Kart style scooter match actually does take place, we'll be sure to get Liv and Doyle some banana peels, green shells, and mushrooms.

    What To Do? What To Do?

    With the players in Event #12: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em on break, we caught up with a couple of them to see how they are going to spend time until their next match.

    "I'm would usually go home," said Eric Froehlich who just beat Ronald Crabtree to move on to the next round. "I only live three blocks away, but I really don't want to deal with two valets right now with just 40 minutes left. So instead of that i'm just gonna go watch Scott Seiver ship this tournament." Earlier in the day Froehlich came up with an interesting suggestion for the World Series of Poker on how to deals with byes and play-in matches. You can see that and all the hands and play from the day on the live reporting blog.

    We also caught up with Erik Seidel earlier who had a bye in the first round and we wanted to see how he was going to spend the extra time between his matches.

    "I think I'm gonna go see a movie actually," Seidel said. We thought he was kidding so we asked if he was serious. "No, I'm really gonna go see a movie."

    Nanonoko: The Kobayashi of the Poker World

    Apparently Randy 'Nanonoko' Lew had some kind competitive eating contest last night. We caught up with Lew on break from the $10,000 heads-up to hear more about it.

    Here's the aftermath via twitter:

    The Late Starters

    We spoke to Andrew ‘LuckyChewy’ Lichtenberger right before he began Event #12 $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em.

    “I got a by in the first round which is nice. I have Markus Gonsalves right now, but I don’t care who I see at the final table. Maybe there are some players whose games I know well, but I just don’t think about that kind of stuff right before I play. Obviously I hope they’re not tough, but I’ll just play whoever I play”

    We also got Chewy’s reaction to the aforementioned music in the hallway.

    “Yeah I’ve heard it, it drives me nuts. I wish they wouldn’t play that type of crappy, pop music here or in restaurants or wherever I go. The songs repeat so often”.

    We also bumped into Bertrand ‘Elky’ Grospellier, arriving right on the hour for his first Heads Up match of the day to find out who he wouldn’t want to meet at the final table.

    “This is the toughest tournament yet; almost every player is a great player. I think Victor Blom would be tough to come up against because he’s good heads-up. I think Isaac Haxton is strong heads-up too. There are no easy opponents”

    On The Rail of Event #12

    We snapped a couple photos of the rail of Event #12: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em. There's hundreds of railbirds out there right now.

    Rail of the $10,000 heads-up.
    Rail of the $10,000 heads-up.

    Jean-Robert Bellande Will Play One Drop

    For the past few days we've been following Jean-Robert Bellandes tweets hinting that he would be playing in the One Drop $1 Million Buy-In event. Well today he confirmed it via twitter:

    Now the only question is, how did BrokeLivingJRB get a million bucks?

    Squeak and the Funny Hat

    We caught our second funny hat of the series today:

    Squeak
    Squeak

    We asked the man for his name. "You'll have to figure that out for yourself," the man replied.

    But Jonathan Aguiar who was also at the table kindly told us just to call the man "Squeak." We'll be sure to let you know if we see any more funny hats in the coming days.

    Who Wore It Better: Spaceman Edition

    These players went to drastic lengths to cut down on giving off any tells during Event #12 $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em.

    Starbust Hoodie and Andrew Rosskram
    Starbust Hoodie and Andrew Rosskram

    Poll

    Who Wore It Better?
    View results

    Where is Hellmuth?

    Many people were wondering where Phil Hellmuth was for today's Event #12: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em as he wasn't registered in any other tournaments, and wasn't tweeting any reason he wouldn't have played it. Well about an hour ago via twitter we finally found out where Hellmuth was:

    Moral of the story, don't play poker all night the day before a tournament.

    The Post-River Game

    With round 3 of Event #12 $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em fast approaching, we met up with some pro’s to find out what they do in their off time during the World Series of Poker.

    First pro that we met was Justin Bonomo, wandering through the Amazon room, checking out the Limit event.

    “I’m trying to decide whether to double dip today and playing this Limit event. It’s going to run for a few days so I’m weighing up my options”. Justin told us.

    Justin is somewhat unimpressed when the writer informs him he has 3% of a horse in the $1500 Limit event.

    “That’s cool man” He say’s, politely.

    Changing the subject, we ask Justin what he does on his down time during the series.

    “I don’t love nightclubs, I’m not into that scene. I love to eat, I’m into restaurants and good food. My favorite place is Picassos in the Bellagio”

    We asked Justin what four poker players he would bring out for dinner and why.

    “I have to go with my best friends on this one. I would take out Isaac Haxton, Scott Seiver and Steve O’Dwyer. I can’t decide who else to bring, I think someone’s going to be pissed if I leave them out”.

    “Last meal that I had with poker players was a home cooked meal actually, I ate with Brian Roberts, Emil Patel and some other close friends. We cooked fish.”

    On his return to the Rio for his next Heads Up match, Antonio Esfandiari told us about his favorite club in Vegas, and who he would bring if he booked a table for just four people.

    “My favorite club is Marquee at Cosmopolitan” Antonio began. “As for people, I would bring Phil Laak”.

    No surprises there, Antonio and Phil’s friendship is well documented both at and away from the table.

    “I would bring Brian Rast, Jeff Gross and… Probably John Tabatabai. You know who he is right?”.

    You Always Know the First Timers

    Check out this funny tweet Shaun Deeb made while playing Event #13 $1500 Limit Hold'em.

    Who wore it better?

    We spotted Bryan Devonshire and two other players sporting similar hats.

    Player A, Bryan Devonshire, Player B
    Player A, Bryan Devonshire, Player B

    Poll

    Who Wore It Better
    View results

    Who is Isildur1?

    Ok, so we know who Isildur1 is by now. Last year, PokerStars signed young Swedish pro ‘Victor Blom’, who had long been assumed to be the No-Limit and PLO phenom that regularly beat up the biggest online games. But does anyone actually know the real Isildur1? Does anyone really know anything about him?

    We tried to catch up with Victor right before he sat down for round 2 of Event #12 $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em. He was talking to some friends outside the Brazilia room when we walked up and asked him if we could have a short interview. He seemed unsteady for a moment as he planned his sentence in English before politely informing us “I don’t do interviews”.

    The talk on the rail is that Victor has been refusing interviews at PokerStar’s request. They probably understand that nothing has changed since 2009, and Isildur’s biggest marketing tool is his mystery and peoples sense of awe in his presence.

    After he busted out of Event #12 there was a drastic decline in railbird activity in the Rio.

    Lone railbird at round 4 of the HU 10k
    Lone railbird at round 4 of the HU 10k

    Blom’s World Series of Poker debut made for one of the most exciting days of the series yet, and we hope he’s back sooner rather than later.

    Jared Bleznick’s Heads Up Challenge updated.

    For those of you who don’t know, the PLO Heads Up specialist issued a challenge to this year’s bracelet winners.

    We passed by Andy Bloch’s $1,500 Limit Hold’em table to ask if he would take up Bleznick on his challenge. Bloch is just coming off his first bracelet win in Seven Card Stud.

    “I think I’d do it, Bloch said. “For how much?”

    Bleznick hasn’t said what stakes he’d wants to play for, but we’ll be on the lookout for Jared to get an answer.

    Just Two Tables For Nanonoko

    We saw this tweet from Randy ‘Nanonoko’ Lew while he was playing Event #13 $1500 Limit Hold'em. Unsurprising, that the world’s most famous multi tabler isn’t able to stay busy playing just the one game at a time.

    Vanessa Rousso's Full House

    We’ve been reporting on the goings on in PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso’s new house here in Vegas. Maria Ho and fellow PokerStars pros Vanessa Selbst and Liv Boeree are staying there as well for the duration of the WSOP. Check out PokerNews’ own Lynn Gilmartin’s tour of the new pad (Warning: Girls in Bikinis).

    Check out Tiffany Michelle's tweet of the girls spinning the wheels of steel.

    Elvis Is In The Building

    Elvis The Dealer
    Elvis The Dealer

    We ran into Elvis in the Rio Pavilion. Elvis the dealer—that is (his name tag reads Elvis as well). We asked him what’s been the biggest cash game he’s dealt since the start of the WSOP.

    “Action Jackson. He completed a 24hr session and was up around $1million.”

    We didn’t recognize the name and asked for more details.

    “He’s the guy with the cigar,” said Elvis. “They were playing Pot-Limit Omaha. He took them all down. He was running real good.”

    The cigar description immediately made us think of the white haired “mystery man” that we be spotted playing nosebleed stakes ($500-$1000 PLO) against Patrick Antonius , Andrew Robl, and Ashton Griffin.

    We can’t say for certain it’s the same person, but according to Elvis, it’s the same guy.

    Monnette Ships A Bracelet

    We caught up with John Monnette for a quick chat, shortly after his win in Event #10 $5,000 Seven Card Stud.

    Any plans to celebrate?

    I’m not sure, probably gonna take it easy tonight.

    Are you aware of Jared Bleznick’s challenge?

    He really tweeted that? He won’t play me heads up. We know each other from online. He’s so arrogant (said jokingly).

    If you could pick one song to be played at your bracelet ceremony, what would it be?

    Oh man, that’s a good question. Probably something stupid...like “Know when to fold’em." (Kenny Rogers: The Gambler)

    How does it feel to win when PokerStars pro Jason Mercier has you on his Poker Fantasy Draft?

    I texted Jason last night and told him as long as he’s rooting for me I know I got a good chance to win.

    We encourage everyone to get involved with "The Muck." See something you think is Muck worthy? Send it to themuck@pokernews.com. We accept all media including photos and videos.

  • JUN 04

    World Series of Poker Acquires New Chairs: An In-depth Review

    Samuel Cosby

    If you're sitting for long hours at a time, besides a comfortable outfit, and comfortable room temperature, there's one thing that you definitely need — a comfortable place to put your bottom. The World Series of Poker can't control what you wear, and the staff does its best to keep the temperature comfortable (it's still a little cold in there guys), but the one thing they have complete control over is what you're sitting on. On Monday, a slew of expensive, new chairs were brought into the Rio, giving players a more comfortable place to rest while they're playing for gold.

    The brand new MTS/Burgess Collection has replaced the old, oval back leather chairs that have adorned the room since 2005. The new chairs are firm, but provide a good cushion for sitting. They also offer the flexibility to lean back quite a way without falling down. This was not the case for Allen Bari though. Tournament reporter Eric Ramsey told us that he enjoys the chairs very much for that reason alone. “I've seen Allen Bari almost fall down four or five times already, that was great,” Ramsey said.

    According to the MTS Seating website, the chairs should provide the “perfect balance of functionality,” and an “uncommon design sensibility.” The patterned burgundy color is a nice change from the bland tan color that the chairs formerly had.

    There are still no arm rests and the back is still quite stiff as most chairs are before you break them in a bit. Some players argue that they could've used a massage chair, while others complain that the dealers still get the best seat in the house.

    Recent bracelet winner Andy Bloch was very happy about the new chairs though. “I love them,” Bloch said. “I've been saying for a long time that we needed new chairs and that with the rake from just one tournament we could get some. They are more comfortable, studier, that have a higher back, they are cleaner, and of course, they're new. We've been sitting on the same chairs for six or seven years now.”

    Several of the older model chairs seem to have rips, tears and wobbles, the new chairs are definitely an improvement from that. Also, after sitting on the old chairs for too long, you can get a little pain in your bottom from sitting where the cushioning has worn out.

    We also caught Eugene Katchalov relaxing on the new chairs, and testing them out, so we wanted to get his opinion. “I guess these are new, yeah,” Eugene said. “They seem alright. They seem to be more comfortable than last year.”

    Team PokerStars Pro David Williams also seemed to like the new chairs:

    As an extended bonus, the new chairs are eco friendly as marked on the bottom of the chairs that are printed with soy ink, can stack up to 14 chairs high, and they also meet all requirements for flammability.

    Final grade for the new chairs: 7.9 stars out of ten. Players seem very happy about the decision for new chairs. The chairs are studier, nonflammable, and ecofriendly making them are a much welcomed sight in the Rio, but there are still improvements that could be made, including armrests, soft padding for the back, and maybe even some sort of bottom heating device.

  • JUN 04

    All Mucked Up: 2012 World Series of Poker Day 8 Live Blog

    PokerNews Staff

    WSOP 2012

    You want to know everything that's happening at the 2012 World Series of Poker and we're going to do our best to keep you in the know. Here we'll answer the hard-hitting questions like, "Are there any celebrities in the field?" Check back often, you never know what you'll find.

    The Morning Grind, Day 9

    We caught up with Matt Glantz on his way out of Starbucks too see what his morning grind is like and how he prepares for long tournament days.

    "I don't usually do much," Matt said. "I usually have stuff to do in the morning, family stuff or work stuff. And today i'm doing some stuff with the media. I'm going to be on the Dennis Phillips radio show."

    We asked Matt if he has anything special for breakfast before a tournament, or if he has a special workout. "I'm not really a breakfast guy," Glantz replied. "But I liked to go to the gym and hop on the treadmill if I can."

    We also saw that Matt was carrying a Starbucks cup with him, so we wanted to see if he was drinking anything special. "Black iced tea," he said. Glantz will return today for Event #10: $5,000 Seven Card Stud, but told us that he was one of the shortest stacks in the field.

    All Quiet on the Western Rail

    We went to check out the rail for Event #6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Mix-Maxed event only to find that there was hardly anyone there. There were only 10 seats in the Thunderdome filled up and everyone was quiet as Joseph Cheong and Aubin Cazals unbagged their chips.

    Even Cheong and Cazals were even quiet as they whispered to each other across the table. No one is drinking, clapping, or cheering when someone drags a pot.

    It must be a Monday.

    The players are stating at 4000/8000 levels with a 1000 ante and over 3,000,000 chips each, so this is set to be a long match up. We'll be sure to catch up and see if the rail is any livelier later.

    New Chairs in The House

    If you are familiar with the Rio and the World Series of Poker set up, you will remember these old beat up chairs:

    Yesterday over 800 new chairs were delivered to the Amazon room. We managed to get a few pictures so you could take a look at them:

    We'll be sure to get a few reactions from players about the new chairs to see how they're liking them.

    What's On Your Head?

    We saw this hat today while wandering through the Amazon Room in the Event #9: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry restart.

    The hat belongs to Kennii Nguyen. When we asked him if he was wearing the hat for any special reason, Nguyen simply replied, "I love the hat. And people can see what hands I win with."

    Are These The Biggest Games You Have?

    We talked with Live Game Supervisor Michael Bickford today about the giant $500/$1000 cash game that sprung up in the Rio Sunday.

    "Usually on weekends the games get pretty big," Bickford said. "So far this year, that's the biggest one."

    We also asked Bickford what the biggest game ever played in the Rio was. "Last year we had a $1000/$2000 Pot-Limit Omaha game. All I can really say is that every year PLO is getting bigger, there is more and more games, and more and more players."

    3bet Poker Clothing Hopes to Be the New Face of Poker Clothing

    With Full Tilt out of the mix and many players playing unsponsored and patchless, 3bet Poker Clothing hopes to open up a new market for poker players. We found 3bet Clothing had a table set up in the Rio today, so we went to find out what the deal was.

    "We've been doing this for about 6 months," an employee told us. "We're based in Los Angeles."

    The booth is not selling any products, because it would create competition for the World Series of Poker brand clothes, so they are just raising awareness about the brand.

    The company also sponsors several pros such as Jonathan Little, Brian Rast and John 'The Razor' Phan, who are also co-owners.

    Currently 3bet is also running several promotions linked to their mailing list and to twitter. One lucky person on their mailing list will receive $500 cash, another will receive a one hour coaching lesson from Jonathan Little. Also, anyone who has a tweet mentioning @3betclothing has a chance to win a free hat.

    The 3bet table is set up just outside the Brasilia Room so if you're in the area make sure to check it out or you can check out 3bet Poker Clothing's Website.

    Who Wore it Best?

    Poll

    Who wore it best?
    View results

    Prop Bets And Bad Beats From The Dealer Break Room

    We caught up with some dealers in the break room to see if there were any interesting prop bets going on.

    "Yesterday I saw a guy get bet $150 dollars to get up and do the worm," one dealer said. "The guy was like 375 pounds though, so it was pretty fun to watch."

    We also asked the dealers about any bad beats they've dealt.

    "The worst one I've seen so far, I dealt three diamonds out on the flop and three people flopped a flush. And I deal a lot of aces vs kings, and set over sets."

    What's In Your Cup?

    We stopped by the Rio's only cash bar right outside the Pavilion room to see if any pro's ever stop by and what drinks are the most popular.

    "Scotty Nguyen stops by sometimes," one of the bartenders said. "Beers are the most popular, but when people start getting crazy they all like to do Jäger bombs."

    The bar is most popular between the hours of 8 P.M. and 2 A.M. at the late hours of the night. If we catch any pros stopping by the bar, we'll be sure to see what they're drinking.

    Bad Beat Stories We Didn't Want To Hear

    As we were roaming the Amazon room searching for some stories, a player approached us and asked if we were poker media. We told him we were.

    "I have a good story for you," the man tells us with a mediterranean accent. "You want to hear this."

    The man takes out his ID card and insists that we take down his name letter-perfect. He even pronounces it for us, incase this makes the evening news.

    "Flam-inio Mal-a-guti," he enunciated for us. "Ok so I was playing and I had AK, both diamonds"

    At this point the writer was confused, but dutifully scribbled down the details of the story.

    "Flop comes AA2 and another player moves in on me. I call of course and he shows A7. Turn comes a Queen I believe."

    At this point the master story teller pauses dramatically and gives the writer a knowing look, as if to say 'This is where it gets outrageous.'

    "The river comes... a seven."

    After a long pause to take it all in we breathlessly thank the man and scurry back to PokerNews HQ to write up the scoop.

    "Good S**t eh?" He calls after us, through the Amazon room.

    Floor!

    We missed drama unfold, but we saw what might be the most interesting floor call so far at the World Series of Poker. Here's the story from Todd Brunson's twitter:

    Drawing Thin Day 8

    We met up with David ‘Raptor’ Benefield in the hallway outside Event #11 $1500 Pot-Limit Omaha to discuss how he likes to stay fit during the series.

    “Well exercise is important, so we played some flag football last night. Myself, Hac Dang, Jason Koon and a ton of other poker players”.

    “I’m staying at Durrrr’s house so there are loads of us around. Durrrr isn’t there though, he’s in Macau still”.

    “I played basketball with Jason Mercier and Aaron Jones last week too; I think we’ll do that a lot. I’ve also been to the gym a few times”

    We asked Raptor what kind of food he ate as well.

    “I try to eat clean all the time so nothing different. Let me think, I eat shakes in the morning, nuts and beef jerky. A lot of people get All American Dave’s food and that looks really good, I might try that. It’s so ridiculous that he’s not allowed deliver to the casino now though”

    Return of the Mystery Man

    While wandering through the 'poker kitchen' in the Rio we spotted the big cash player, 'Larry', from yesterdays game. The media shy PLO player was playing 500/1000 PLO with Patrik Antonius, Ashton 'Ashman' Griffin and Andrew Robl from early in the day until late in the evening before going broke.

    Thought to be 'Cadillac1944' online, the mystery high staker politely refused our request of an interview, and yesterday requested that we don't take any pictures of him and post them online. With him back in the building, we may see some big cash action go down this evening in the Pavilion room. We will keep you posted as to who is playing in the games.

    On Break in Event #10: $5,000 Seven Card Stud

    We caught a couple players sitting and standing around the T.V. near the event watching the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs Game. Among them was Huck Seed, Mike Sexton, Nacho Barbero, Cyndy Violette, and Annie Duke.

    Duke and Sexton were talking about how Duke's daughter wanted to audition for the X-Factor. Seed and Barbero were both trying to watch the game.

    Then Duke and Violette began to talk about each other's daughters. Violette told Duke that her poker book is the only one that her daughter will read. Duke then offered to give her a signed copy from her car.

    Violette was standing in front of the T.V. in a way that no one could see the game, and finally Seed said, "Cyndy you're pretty and everything, but you're not that pretty." Violette was confused at first, but finally realized she was standing right in front of the television and moved.

    We'll be sure to see what other kind of interactions the pros have during their breaks here at the World Series of Poker.

    Timex on the Jared Bleznick challenge

    We spoke to Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald on dinner break from Event #11 $1500 Pot-Limit Omaha about how he was doing today.

    “I’m actually doing really well; I think I’m in good shape. I just lost a big pot but everything’s going well”.

    We asked Mike about Jared Bleznick’s tweeted challenge from before the World Series began, shown below, and whether he would take Jared on if he won the PLO event today.

    Mike Told us:

    “No way. He’s one of the best in the world at Heads Up PLO cash”.

    “Honestly, I’m not that good at PLO. In a tournament like today, I think I have a good edge, because I can apply tournament concepts so well and adapt them for PLO. It’s not because I’m necessarily great at PLO”.

    “I think whoever wins the 10k Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em tomorrow should play him though. I think that person is likely to, and whoever wins the HORSE will be likely to”.

    Timex went on to tell us about why Jared put the bet up, and what games he might take the bet in.

    “Most people that win bracelets aren’t going to be that good at Heads Up cash” Mike told us. “Jared is counting on that. I think if I won the 10k Heads Up then I could play him, but I think I'd still pass”.

    “I’m not that good at Heads Up Hold’em either, but I think if I had some time I could learn it. I think I could get to his level. I also think 10% juice is too much to give up when playing Heads Up Hold’em.”

    “I’m probably not playing the 10k Heads Up tomorrow, but if it was and I won I most likely wouldn't play Jared. It’s a cool challenge though, and I’m going to follow it to see who takes it up”.

    We’re going to be following it too, and get some other players reactions to the Jared Bleznick challenge.

    Return of the Mystery Man, Part 2

    Players are on dinner break, so we took a stroll through the cash games to see what was going on. Yesterday we reported a $500-$1000 Pot-Limit Omaha game that included, Patrick Antonius, Andrew Robl, and a “mystery man.”

    The “mystery man," armed with his trademark cigar, was just seen sitting alone at a cash game table. Is he waiting on another big game? Stay tuned for updates.

    Return of the Mystery Man, Part 3

    We spoke to a big name player in one of today’s 25/50/100 PLO games in the Pavilion room. He told us he overheard ‘Larry’ talking with Ben ‘Ben86’ Tollerene about playing some Heads Up later on in the Rio. Rumour has it that Ben56 will be giving ‘Larry’ back 15% on his losses and that the game will go down this evening once ‘Larry’ picks up some money.

    We’ll make sure to get you the latest scoop when we have it.

    JRB Slowroll?

    On Saturday, Jean-Robert Bellande tweeted that he’d be making a “sic” announcement regarding the One-Drop.

    The announcement never came, but he tweeted yesterday to expect a statement tomorrow.

    Just as the dinner break concluded we had a quick chat with Jean-Robert Bellande as he was taking his seat in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament.

    When asked if we can count on an announcement tomorrow, JRB replied, “Probably.”

    People have taken to twitter wanting answers.

    Will he be playing in the One Drop? We can't say for sure, but we'll keep you posted.

    JRB and Raptor on Jared Bleznick’s Challenge

    We’re getting more reactions to Bleznick’s challenge. We asked JRB if he would accept.

    “That’s a good question…certainly not in PLO," said Bellande.

    Jared is a heads up PLO specialist, but Bellande would consider it if concessions were made.

    “Providing he coughs up five cards, said Bellande.

    He’s referring to a heads-up match in 2010 when Bleznick allowed JRB five hole cards. In Pot-Limit Omaha players are dealt only four. You can view the YouTube video where JRB recall the game.

    We asked David, “Raptor,” Benefield as well. He's up for the challenge.

    “I’m playing the 10k No-Limit Hold’em Heads Up tomorrow and I think I would play him if I won that,” Raptor told us. “I would definitely take it with 10% back. I think Jared’s really good at PLO and really good at mixed games, but you can’t challenge people to any one of ten games giving 10% back and expect that to be a good bet.”

    When asked what he thought of JRB’s chances?

    “I heard about Jared spotting JRB an extra card at PLO too. I don’t think that’s as bad, I think JRB might not be very good at PLO.”

    Who Ya Got?

    Players were huddled by the TV in the Brasilia room, watching game five of the Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs. Among those watching was high stakes pro, Chau Giang.

    We asked him if he’s got any bets on the series.

    “Not on this game. I’m a big fan of Boston. Boston is my favorite," said Giang, while wearing a ball cap with a shamrock on it.

    Giang does have action on the Eastern Conference Finals.

    “If Boston wins I’ll get 20k."

    Let's Order Chinese Tonight

    It seems we always find something interesting when cruising the Rio cash games during break. We spotted PokerStars pro Barry Greenstein and Phil Hellmuth playing Chinese Poker at a $100/point with a minimum $500 buy-in.

    Hellmuth Canned

    Revenge is a dish best served cold for poker pro Chris Tryba. The Boston native knocked out Phil Hellmuth from Event 11: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha. Tryba’s {k-}{k-}{q-}{9-} beat Phil’s {a-}{a-}{9-}{x-} all in pre-flop after a {k-} flopped.

    Chris has been waiting eight years to return the favor. "The Poker Brat" knocked out Tryba in the 2004 Foxwoods Main Event, No-Limit Hold’em tournament on a bad beat.

    “I was at a table with Allan Cunningham, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Jeff Schulman, and Bob Stupak. I was crushing the table," said Tryba. “I raised with kings and Hellmuth flatted from the blinds. The flop came k56 or whatever.”

    According to Tryba, Hellmuth led out on all streets; Chris called him down only to lose to a rivered gut-shot. Chris said he lost all momentum after that hand.

    “Phil was all pumped and excited and did this whole dance. It really affected me.”

    When asked how he felt after returning the favor to Hellmuth, Tryba replied “F**k him!”

    Big Names With Big Stacks

    There’s 51 left in the $1,500 re-entry, No-Limit Hold'em tournament and the railbirds are chirping on one particular table. Two-time bracelet winner Brian Rast, Ari 'Bodog Ari' Engel, Bryan 'theczar19' Piccioli, and PokerStars pro Jonathan Duhamel are battling for the $781,398 first prize.

    Brian Rast
    Brian Rast

    Bodog Ari
    Bodog Ari

    Bryan Piccioli
    Bryan Piccioli

    Duhamel
    Duhamel

    Return of the “Mystery Man” part 4

    Ben 'Ben86' Tollerene was spotted at 1:23 am, playing $500-$1000 Pot-Limit Omaha, heads up against ‘Larry.’ There’s no telling how long the game will go.

    More Prop Bets

    We’re always on the lookout for prop bets and we happened to find one. PaulGees81 took a short break in his heads up cash game to take one on.

    The bet? To sink a water bottle from a distance of about 30 feet into a trash can. It only took Paul two attempts to sink one. The bet was $100 at 9-1.

    Double Cash for Nick Schulman

    The money bubble in the $5,000 Seven Card Stud Event broke just before 3 am. It was Freddie Ellis who fell short of the money. Ellis won a bracelet in the same event back in 2009.

    Freddie Ellis after bubbling
    Freddie Ellis after bubbling

    Nick Schulman managed to squeak through despite being short on chips.
    “I’m so excited to cash with only 1.4 big bets,” said Schulman.

    In addition to locking up the min cash, Nick picked up some extra money by outlasting a friend.

    “I won a 20k last longer bet,” said Schulman. He declined to reveal the identity of his friend.

    We encourage everyone to get involved with "The Muck." See something you think is Muck worthy? Send it to themuck@pokernews.com. We accept all media including photos and videos.

  • JUN 03

    Dealing Up a Storm

    Chris Weldon

    As the dinner break on Day 7 of the WSOP draws near, all eyes are on the cash games in the Pavilion room where Patrik Antonius, Ashton Griffin and Andrew Robl are battling it out at $500/1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. After a slow start to the Series’ legendary cash games, it seems to really have kicked off these last few hours. Antonius, conspicuous by his absence this last week, seems to be a big catalyst for this action; The railbirds are now flocking to the big PLO game, and spirits are high around the table.

    One person who is not having such a fun time on this sultry Vegas Sunday is well known Cash grinder Dany Georges. The PokerNews team met up with Georges shortly after 6:00 PM today to hear his story.

    “We’re playing the $10/25 No-Limit and I’m involved in a hand with another player in Seat 3,” Dany explains. “There’s eight thousand dollars in the pot and Seat 3 moves in on me, so I have about four thousand to call all in.

    “While I’m deciding, the actual dealer calls time on me,” Says Georges. “I looked around to see who called time on me and I see that it’s the dealer. I just went berserk, I flipped out."

    At this point in the interview, Dany’s voice was quivering and you can see the real frustration he is feeling. He has been very enthusiastic to do this interview with us and you get the sense he wants someone hear his story.

    “First, I lost all focus. There’s eight or 10 thousand in the pot, so I went crazy and mucked my hand because I lost focus, I didn’t want to make the wrong call. Then I called the floor.

    “Everybody at the table was going crazy. Some people were laughing, but not laughing in a bad way, just because they had never seen anything like this before,” he continued.

    We asked Dany what the floor did about it once he calmed down and spoke to them.

    “The floor tells [the dealer] 'well, just don’t do that again.' So then I called the higher floor manager and he said, 'I assure you, all our dealers are well trained, we train them for two months.' How can I argue with the guy at this point?”

    We asked Dany why he thought this happened, if he had any history with the dealer or if he thought he had been taking a long time on subsequent hands.

    “No, no, I’m the nicest poker player you’ll ever meet; a lot of people know me, you can ask around. It was the first hand I played. I had been sitting for an hour and I was just mucking hands. There was no issue with how long I was taking.

    “I understand if they are busy and they don’t have enough dealers, but this was a big game. There was 10 thousand dollars in the pot. If they have a less experienced dealer, then they should be dealing in the smaller games.

    “I’m just disappointed because there was no discipline from the floor manager, or from the floor manager’s manager. They all protect each other."

    Hopefully Georges can get back into the swing of things in the coming days and regain his focus. For now he seems pretty adamant that something needs to be done about this.

    “This is the [World Series of Poker]. They are supposed to have the best dealers.”

  • JUN 03

    All Mucked Up: 2012 World Series of Poker Day 7 Live Blog

    PokerNews Staff

    2012 WSOP

    You want to know everything that's happening at the 2012 World Series of Poker and we're going to do our best to keep you in the know. Here we'll answer the hard-hitting questions like, "Are there any celebrities in the field?" Check back often, you never know what you'll find.

    Morning Grind

    The foot traffic in the Rio is picking up as players prepare to start day seven of the WSOP. We spotted a few this morning getting ready for Event #9, Day 1b, $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Re-entry.

    Lock Pro, Chris Moorman, will be firing a second shell today after a short run in day 1a.

    “Gonna try to make it past the antes this time,” said Moorman.

    Doug Lang and Matt Sterling were spotted having a pre-game meal at Starbucks in preparation for day 1b as well. Both players were pumped to get another crack in the re-entry tournament.

    “Oh yeah, can’t wait to get it going again today,” said Lang.

    Final Four

    Joseph Cheong (pictured on the right) and Hugo Lemaire (pictured on the left) are heads-up in Event 6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Mixed Max. They’re at the feature table, which will be streamed live. Four players remain. First place is $480,564.

    We spoke to Hugo moments before he took his seat for the start of the match. We asked him what he does to mentally prepare himself.

    “I chill with friends,” said Lemaire. “I don’t put pressure on myself and just try to have fun.”

    On the other table, Warwick Mirzikinian and Aubin Cazals, are squaring off. The winner of that match will face the winner of the Cheong/Lemaire match.

    Patrick Antonius Spotted

    We found Patrick Antonius in the Pavilion. He was seated at a dormant cash game table, with JC Tran, Nam Lee and Michael, “The Grinder," Mizrachi.

    We asked Patrick was his plans were for the day.

    “Just cash today, no tournaments.”

    Patrick has his sights set on some of the bigger buy-in tournaments.

    “I’ll be playing the Main Event (Event 61: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event), the $50K (Event 45: $50,000 Poker Players Championship), and the One Drop (Event 55: $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop)."

    The Finnish pro expressed some reservations though about the $1 million dollar buy-in tournament.

    “Investors need to solve the tax issues with the One-Drop."

    Patrick declined to elaborate on the pending tax issues.

    "Actually, I better not talk about that right now."

    Patrick Antonius update

    Looks like Patrick found a live cash game. Here he is seated at a $500-$1000 Pot Limit-Omaha table.

    Andrew Robl is playing as well.

    According to a bystander, there’s around $2million dollars on the table.

    Get Your Vegan On

    We caught up with Cindy Violette, railing a friend in Event 8: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better.

    The stud specialist will be in today’s $5,000 Seven Card Stud tournament.
    “I’m really excited for it, said Violette. “It’s my specialty.”

    Violette is scaling back her tournament schedule this summer. She’ll be busy with the opening of her new restaurant, Violette’s Vegan.

    “We’re gonna be opening in August. It’s gonna have a drive-thru and an indoor seating area too.”

    When asked what will make her place stand out, the pro answered, its gonna be “fresh food…fast.”

    Deja Vu All Over Again

    According to tweets by Doc Sands and PokerStars pro Jason Mercier, Will Failla was allowed to re-enter day 1b for the second time today, after busting earlier. Event 9: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry is a two day re-entry event, but only one entry per day. Stay tuned, as we’ll do our best to get a reaction from Failla.

    Hanging Tough

    It was reported yesterday that PokerStars pro Liv Boeree injured her ankle at Vanessa Rousso’s house warming party Friday night. We passed by Rousso's table in Event #9 and asked how Liv was doing.

    “She’s doing better. She’s on crutches today.”

    Sure enough, we found the PokerStars pro seated at her Event #9 table with her crutches.

    Antonius' Table Drawing Crowds

    The crowd continues to grow at Patrick Antonius’ high stakes Pot-Limit Omaha game. We just found out that Ashton Griffin and Chance Kornuth have also been playing in the game.

    Drawing Thin, Day 7

    We spotted Jennifer Harmon speaking with a masseuse in the halls on a break from Event #10 $5000 Seven Card Stud. We know Jen likes to keep in shape, so we wanted to ask her about how she fares during the World Series, what she eats, how she gets exercise.

    “The truth is I have no time to exercise” She said simply. “When all this starts everyone just forgets about exercise, everyone has to”.

    “I mean, the best you can do is eat good, which is doable, and sleep good, which is pretty much impossible” Laughed Harmon. “It’s just a grind”

    “In the morning I have a Berry juice usually, I don’t drink coffee. I eat much healthier normally, and I go to the gym between 5 and 7 times a week. During the WSOP I just don’t go at all”.

    We spotted Annie Duke in the Stud event and wanted to see what Jennifer thought about Annie, and what she was up to these days.

    “Annie’s actually at my table. I don’t want to comment on what she does away from the table though” Said Jennifer, diplomatically.

    Railbird Heaven

    Playing in the same 500-1000 PLO game as Patrik Antonius, Ashton ‘Ashman’ Griffin and Andrew Robl tonight is a mystery gentleman who goes by the name ‘Larry’. At his request, we won’t post any pictures of him in this blog. However, as mentioned above, these games are drawing big crowds, and speculation is rampant as to who this older gentleman is.

    We ventured into the crowds of railbirds to find out more.

    “I think he’s Cadillac1944 online. He’s some huge whale that lost millions on Full Tilt playing the big games”

    One railbird on Two Plus Two mentioned that he loves speaking to the rail. He said he knows he doesn’t have an edge in the game, but just loves to play. It is speculated that Cadillac’s money comes from oil. Perhaps this Audi’s Texas license plate from the car park belongs to him?

    We will keep you updated on any new developments in the big PLO game as the night goes on. Who knows, they might play until tomorrow? It's happened before.

    The Re-Re-Entry Fiasco

    Earlier today Jason Mercier tweeted that Will Failla had entered Event #9B $1500 No-Limit Hold'em twice. He followed this up a few hours later tweeting that 11 players had actually been allowed to re-enter twice on day two of the event.

    This is directly against the rules of Event 10, but many players didn’t seem to know that. Will Failla tweeted an apology after he busted, claiming that he thought you could re-enter within the first 4 levels.

    WSOP responded quickly, conditionally agreeing that any player who was busted by one of the eleven re-re-entries would be refunded their enter fee. You can’t say fairer than that!

    Post-River Play: On the Strip

    Photo Courtesy of Bloomu
    Photo Courtesy of Bloomu

    With a lull in the action as we wait for Event #6 $5000 No-Limit Hold'em Mixed Max Heads up Final table to begin, we walked around the halls to see who was around.

    We met up with Barry Greenstein on his break to find out where he likes to do on the weekend, and what his favorite bar is in Vegas during the WSOP.

    “I don’t drink at all. I guess that doesn’t mean I don’t go to bars though. I like the Fontana bar in the Bellagio. They used to have tournaments there. It’s really nice”

    We asked Vanessa Selbst the same question as she took a break from playing cash in the Pavilion room.

    “I really like Surrender, it’s at the encore”

    Finally, we bumped into Huck Seed and Allen Cunningham chatting in the hallways on their break from the stud event. We steered the conversation in the way of popular clubs and venues during the WSOP.

    “I wonder what venue would pay me to say I go there?” Joked Huck. “I really like Insert Coins”

    Allen interjects “I dunno. The machines in Insert Coins never work for me”

    “I think it’s great” continues Huck. “It’s just a bar based on old video games, there’s not many places like that”.

    “I also like Beauty Bar, downtown too. It’s good the first Friday of every month, but I missed it this month. We’ll have to wait until next month”.

    “Great question by the way” Laughs Huck, as he returns to his event and we part ways.

    Better Late than Never

    Wandering through the Amazon room, one table is very noticeable compared to the others.

    While the entire tournament is contained within the ‘Tan’ area, this table is set-aside in the ‘Orange’ arena since it hosts the late registrations. Also, unlike the other tables, photographers and railbirds surround this table. What sets this table apart the most though is the host of huge names sitting around it.

    These players can’t be happy that they’ve drawn the worst table in the whole field. Seen above are Huck Seed, Jason Mercier, Phil Hellmuth, Todd Brunsen and David Williams.

    We bet if anyone was looking for some extra prop bet action this summer, this would be the table they would hang around.

    Creative Railbirds

    With the other final table player decided hours before, Event 6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Mixed-Max Heads up battle between Aubin Cazals and Warwick Mirzikinian was dragging on for everybody. These creative railbirds found a fun way to stay amused - making balloon animals… Looks like a Frog to me?

    Joseph Cheung is currently still running in Event 9: $1500 No-Limit Hold'em Re-entry, so the Heads up final table between him and Aubin Cazals will likely be postponed until tomorrow at 9am. You have to feel sorry for whoever has to get up to cover that game.

    Prop Bet Day 7

    Apparently 25-50-100 PLO isn’t enough action for the players in the Rio cash game. Luis Velador reportedly just bet an unknown grey-sweatered player in the PLO game that he couldn’t throw a water bottle into a bin about 25 feet away.

    Velador gave our hooded hero 7-1 on the bet. Grey-sweater, who is sitting in seat 9 in the high limit cash game section in the Pavilion room, wanted to put up 500 but Ben Lamb took half his action to make the bet 7k – 1k. Grey-sweater (pictured below next to JC Tran) made the shot in one and shipped the bounty.

    The Witching Hour: A Monster Pot

    Right on the stroke of 12, after a several hour long session in the high limit area in the Pavilion, Ashton ‘Ashman’ Griffin stacks our mystery player ‘Larry’, thought to be Cadillac1944 online, for a 6 figure pot.

    After a long, tense hand between Ashman, ‘Larry’ and Ben Lamb, Ashman scoops the pot comprising of a handful of chips and a huge bundle of cash bricks. Ashman is pictured below with a smile on his face, and the huge wads of cash resting in front of him.

    We will see if the game breaks in the next few hours. Hopefully we will see this mystery man on the felt again sooner rather than later – he has created the most side action we have seen so far this year.

    End of Days

    With Event #9B $1500 No-Limit Hold'em finished up for the day, Event 6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Mixed-Max Final Table postponed until tomorrow and Event #10 $5000 Seven Card Stud’s atmosphere tense and serious, most of the fun and action can be found in the Pavilion room on the Sunday night shift.

    Vanessa Selbst just tweeted a picture of her chip stack, with the following message.

    With Ashman and Vanessa having already booked big wins, we spoke to JC Tran as he looks to do the same.

    “I’m playing in the 25-50-100 PLO game with Vanessa” JC Told us. “It’s a good game, it’s been good, but I hope the games get better as summer goes on. The bigger game (500-1000 PLO) looks good, yeah”

    We asked JC who he would like to see join the cash game frenzy in the coming weeks.

    “I don’t care. Someone drunk and rich would be great. Yeah someone really rich” Said JC with a mischievous smile.

    We encourage everyone to get involved with "The Muck." See something you think is Muck worthy? Send it to themuck@pokernews.com. We accept all media including photos and videos.

  • JUN 02

    On the Felt with PokerNews: Lee Davy and Kristy Arnett

    Samuel Cosby

    Kristy Arnett

    Two of our very own PokerNews reporters Lee 'chingster23' Davy and Kristy Arnett are still alive in Event #9: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry. We were able to catch up with them on their dinner break.

    Lee Davy

    Who have you played with today?

    I played with Kathy Liebert, Mathew Franklin, Brent Hanks, Shane Schleger, Lauren Kling, J.J. Liu (who looked like she was going to a wedding), David Singer and Marco Traniello.

    Who gave you the most problems at the table?

    None of them really gave me any problems. I thought that David Singer would, because he had a lot of chips, but he was pretty quiet.

    Tell us about an interesting hand you played in the tournament so far.

    Kathy Liebert was in the big blind, and I raised preflop, she called. The flop came {K-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}{8-}, and I bet and she check raised me. The turn was a {Q-}, and she bet out 500 or 600. I called. The river was another {Q-} and she bet 1,500. And I was thinking, she's only betting sets and missed flush draws this big, and I figure there are more missed flush draws than sets, so I called and she showed {9-Diamonds}{8-Diamonds}. I was so proud of myself too. I went outside all excited so I could tell John Eames and the boys, and they all called me a donkey and said I should've folded on the turn.

    How many chips do you have now?

    I was up to 7,500 quick, but I just got dead from there. I've got about 6,000 now.

    Who do you think will last longer? You or Kristy

    How many chips has Kristy got? Me!

    Lee proceeded to tell us an interesting story about Kristy from last night at his cash game.

    I was playing $1/$3 here, and Kristy walks up behind me wearing this black dress, she was talking to her husband who was playing too. One of the guys at the table says to another guy to move over so he can see. Then the big guy goes, “You know who that is right?” And the guy says, “Yeah, that's Maria Ho.” And the big guy just goes, yep, that's Maria Ho.”

    Lee followed this story with another story about Kathy Liebert.

    I was at the table, and I was eating carrots, and Kathy looks at me and goes, “Are you trying to be healthy?” And I didn't say anything. And she goes, “You do realize you're touching the chips, then eating the carrots right?” And I just said, “Yeah! I used to eat ice cream off the floor when I was younger too.”

    Kristy Arnett

    Who have you played with today?

    Aaron Steury, who I used to play underground cash games with back in Fort Wayne from before we were 18, and he was younger than me. Amanda Musumeci. My table was really good, I got to play a lot of hands and get off to a good start. When I moved I played with Matt Affleck, Mark Rodoja, Ryan D'Angelo, and David Steicke, who busted really quick. My table is tough right now, but I'm playing tight and picking good spots.

    Tell us about a hand you played today.

    I was in early position, and I raised to 450, and I got flatted by Jesse Martin. The flop came down {3-Hearts}{6-Clubs}{7-Diamonds}. I was first to act, and I continuation bet 600. And I got called. The turn was another {3-Clubs} and I bet 1,100, and he called again. Then the river was a {q-Diamonds}. I had played with him before, and he knew I played a lot of cash games. I knew he was either going to call or fold whatever I bet, so I shipped the river for 6,000 trying to level him. I didn't think he had aces or kings because he would've three bet me preflop. And I knew that if I shoved the river it would polarize my range. I just wanted to level him, but it didn't work. He was probably wondering what the heck I was doing. There was more thought to it though than, oh I have a full house, I'm gonna ship.

    Did Lee Davy tell you about the guy who thought you were Maria Ho?

    Yeah, he wrote a really funny post about it on Facebook. I get that sometimes.

    Who do you think is going to last longer? You or Lee?

    Me, obviously. Just kidding. I don't know. I'm felling good, and playing good, so I think I'm going to last a bit longer. And doesn't he have a short stack?

    To keep up with the progress of Davy, Arnett, or anyone else, check into the live blog to see full coverage of Event #9.

  • JUN 02

    All Mucked Up: 2012 World Series of Poker Day 6 Live Blog

    PokerNews Staff

    2012 WSOP

    You want to know everything that's happening at the 2012 World Series of Poker and we're going to do our best to keep you in the know. Here we'll answer the hard-hitting questions like, "Are there any celebrities in the field?" Check back often, you never know what you'll find.

    Early Birds

    Usually the Rio hallways are scarce before 11:30 am but today it's a little different. Event #9A kicks off and will fill up most of the tables spread across Brasilia, Pavilion, and the Amazon room. This is a re-entry $1,500 event which is drawing in all sorts of players. Some of the early birds we saw were Ryan Welch, Isaac Haxton, Darvin Moon, David Benyamine, Andreas Hoivold and Darryll Fish.

    We also asked the players what their morning rituals are before a big tournament like todays.

    “I just eat oatmeal before a tournament” Said Benyamine. “I never drink coffee. I don’t know if it would affect my performance in any way, I just never drink it anyway.”

    Andreas Hoivold was in good spirits and seemed under no time pressure. When asked about his morning ritual he confessed he doesn’t have one.

    “I don’t do anything specific. I just get up early, go on my computer and check my emails like normal,” said Hoivold. “Actually I drink coconut water every morning before a tournament, that’s my ritual. I don’t think coffee is a good idea.”

    Hoivold went on to discuss his lifestyle during the WSOP.

    “I don’t exercise as much as I should during the series. Actually a few years ago I tried harder, I went to the gym a lot of days and tried to keep it up,” he said with a laugh. “I didn’t feel tired, but I felt it negatively affected my performance. I looked at my results and they weren’t as good, so I don’t try as hard anymore.”

    Party of the Year?

    Last night some of the ladies of poker hosted the ultimate housewarming party for Vanessa Rousso to kick off the 2012 WSOP. Must have been some party — Liv Boeree rolled her ankle and someone else broke an arm!

    To the Left

    We spoke to some pros right before Event #9A $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Re-buy began and asked them who they didn’t want to see to their left today.

    Jason Koon said, without hesitation “Andrew Lichtenberger.”

    Brent Hanks was less worried about the quality of his opponent saying “I don’t want to sit next to Dan O’Brien, because he’s probably going to smell like shit.”

    Andrew Badecker mentioned that he had been hanging out with Vanessa Selbst the night before and had played a final table with her for Event #2 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em.

    “I don’t want Vanessa to my left because she’s always so tough. I don’t want any sick euro guys either, someone like Anton Wigg.”

    Team Mercier

    After Ashton ‘Ashman’ Griffin gave us his poker dream basketball team yesterday, which drafted Jason Mercier, we wanted to get Jason’s response and see who he would like to have on his own team. We met up with him just outside late registration for Event #9A: No-Limit Hold'em Re-entry.

    “I would have Kyle Julius without doubt. He’s a good player. I would have Olivier Busquet too, he’s really good.”

    Mercier went on to say “I played with AeJones (Aaron Jones) yesterday too actually, and I think he’d be a good pick out of the guys I know.”

    When asked about any props he had going Jason said “I don’t have anything new, I know Daniel (Negreanu) is free-rolling me in the Omaha 8, and I have some other stuff I set up before the series. Nothing new right now though.”

    In keeping with the theme of late arrivals and sports, We spoke to Jonathan Duhamel and asked him who he likes in tonight’s Devils vs Kings Stanley Cup game.

    “I like LA, I want them to win and I think they’re the best team. Hopefully I won’t get a chance to watch it, because I’ll be deep in the tournament, but if I do I’ll be betting on the Kings. I like they way to play, I like that they have a bunch of kids”.

    Where'd All the Good Players Go?

    While walking through the Pavilion room we spotted Allen Kessler who was chatty today. He said " They are sending all the good players to my table, what's up with that?." Looking closer we saw Jason Mercier and Matthew Waxman seated at his table.

    A few second later we saw this tweet from Allen Kessler

    Crazy Hand

    Summer Roomies

    Everyone knows that the most exciting part of going to Vegas isn’t the poker, the casinos or the bracelets; It’s the poker house. For six weeks every year all the younger pros love nothing more than to rent a huge house and live like overgrown kids, gambling and drinking, playing pranks and making some new friends.

    We asked around the Rio today to see who was living with who, what kind of banter was going around the house, and what they expected from the rest of the summer.

    “I’m staying at LuckyChewy’s house” Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald told us. “There’s Tony ‘Bond18’ Dunst, Steve ‘Zugwat’ Silverman, Aaron ‘AeJones’ Jones, Dan ‘KingDan’ Smith and Jimmie "AlusivPnkBny" Guinther.”

    “I only got here yesterday, but if it’s anything like last year it’s going to be a lot of fun. Last year, me and AeJones had a bet about who was the best human. We didn’t base it on anything rational, like charity or anything, we just played games of scrabble and foosball, had arm wrestles and that type of stuff. In the end, I had to concede that he was the better human.”

    We asked Timex about any bets that he had going so far this year.

    “Well, I just got in last night to play today so I don’t have too much going, but I’m in a 25k fantasy draw with a lot of guys. Sorel Mizzi is my team captain and people like KingDan have some action. It will make for a good sweat.”

    When asked about his roommate situation, Andrew ‘LuckyChewy’ Lichtenberger said “The house is going to be a lot of fun this summer. The AeJones – Timex bet last summer was a lot of fun, but I usually stay out of the gambling and bets. The poker is enough gambling for me.”

    We’ll make sure to catch up with Mike and Andrew later in the series to hear about any new developments in the Lucky Chewy household.

    Also around the Rio on break we saw Brian ‘Stinger’ Hastings. When asked about his roommates he said “You probably don’t know any of them. I’m living with Michael Berra, Scott ‘iRockHoes’ Augustine and Joe Ward. I think Cole South, Taylor Caby and Andrew Wiggins are going to come out and live with us later in summer too. They’re always fun, but are more focused on their new fantasy betting project ‘Draft Day’ at the moment.”

    “John Tomayo is staying too. I most excited about that. He’s just a crazy, Asian guy. I know there’s going to be a lot of pranks going down once he arrives.”

    The party house lifestyle isn’t suitable for all pros however. Isaac ‘Ike’ Haxton was in a quiet mood, and simply said that he was staying in a nice house with his wife for the duration of the series.

    Tilted

    For many online players, the WSOP is the one time every year they venture away from the virtual felt to play live poker. We asked a few well-known grinders what tilted them most about playing live.

    Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald and Andrew ‘LuckyChewy’ Lichtenberger are two of the worlds most respected online players in their fields. While both love coming out the WSOP every year, they can’t help but feel frustrated with certain aspects of a live game.

    “Bad beat stories tilt me. People telling stories you just don’t want to hear. You would swear other players in the game have never had a bad beat” Lichtenberger told us.

    “I hate when people go off on dealers too” continues LuckyChewy. “They get frustrated and take it out on the staff, who do a great job. It tilts me because it’s not pleasant to be around, but also because it slows the game way down. The live game is slow enough as it is”.

    People who slow the game down affect Timex similarly, but for him the biggest drawback to playing live is actually traveling. As a tournament grinder, it’s often not enough to go to your local casino, and traveling around the world to follow the WPT and WSOP is important.

    “I just hate having to leave my home” Says Mike, talking about his hometown of London, Ontario. “When I play online I chose my hours, but when I want to play a big live tournament, its much less flexible”.

    Timex might not even have left Canada this summer, if he didn’t want a ‘best human’ rematch with AeJones so much.

    Speaking to Vanessa Selbst shortly after she busted Event 9 $1500 No-Limit Hold’em Re-buy, she agreed that people being mean to dealers was the most tilting thing about playing live. Andrew Robl, just finishing a session of 25/50/100 PLO in the Pavilion room, joined in the conversation to agree with Vanessa, but to say that people who took time over simple decisions made his blood boil the most.

    “I hate when people take 20 seconds per decision” Says Robl. “Sometimes, someone will take a minute to make a decision, and then turn over cards where you know it was actually a simple decision for them”.

    Hard to feel too sorry for Andrew when his opponents in the big PLO games are playing for what a lot of people consider an annual salary.

    Not surprisingly, Randy ‘Nanonoko’ Lew is another player who finds live poker somewhat tedious. For anyone who doesn’t know, Nananoko is arguable the best online multi-tabler of all time. Earlier this year, he set a Guinness world record by playing just under 25,000 hands in 8 hours, playing between 25-40 tables, and turning a profit. In comparison, in the WSOP Randy’s likely to play about 30-50 hands per hour.

    Randy told us “I really can’t stand when people take 20 seconds for a decision. I actually really like playing live tournaments, and I love the WSOP, but this is a big downside. Nothing else bothers me”.

    Prop Bets: Day 6

    Photo courtesy of CS Monitor
    Photo courtesy of CS Monitor

    We spent some time wandering around the Rio today, trying to gauge what people thought Jason Mercier’s chances were of winning any bet he might put up on dunking a basketball in a month.

    The first person we spoke to was Olivier Busquet who seemed surprised when he heard what Mercier was putting up action for.

    “100k? At even odds? I’ve played with Jason a lot, I’ve seen him run full speed and I’ve seen him jump. Is this a regulation basketball?”

    “I would put Jason at 1/8 or 1/10 to do it. I think it depends how much he bets too. If he bets 10k I think he has no chance. If he bets 100k then he might really dedicate himself to it. He could hire a coach and work on his vertical. Maybe then he would be 1/6 or so.”

    A quick scan of the lobby and we found just the man we wanted to speak to. Something of an authority on prop bets, Antonio Esfandiari and his friends were enthusiastic to discuss Jason’s prospects.

    “How tall is Jason? I’m not big into sports, but I think if Jason is willing to put up 100k then he must know something,” mused Esfandiari. “I don’t think I would want any of that action though”.

    We told Antonio that Jason is about 6 foot, and that Allen Kessler tweeted the prop.

    “Allen Kessler?? Well now I kind of want any side of the bet Kessler has. He doesn’t make bad bets, ever. Maybe I could take a little bit of that 100k”

    Aaron ‘AeJones’ Jones spoke to us on his break today. He said “I think Jason is a little out of shape, and a little out of practice. Has he ever dunked? If he has, when he was younger, then maybe he could do it. If he hasn’t then I don’t think he can, and I play with him all the time”.

    Poll

    Do you think Mercier can dunk?
    View results

    Jean-Robert In For One Drop?

    Jean-Robert Bellande sent out an interesting tweet today about the million dollar buy-in event at this years World Series of Poker.

    We'll try to catch up with Jean-Robert later to give you the scoop.

    Matt Waxman on Achtung

    We caught up with Matt Waxman to see who he thought the best Achtung players were. Here's what he had to say:

    Now What Do I Do?

    One of our PokerNews live reporters passed on some dialogue from Andy Bloch after he won his first bracelet in Event #7: $1,500 Seven Card Stud.

    Apparently Bloch was talking to his girlfriend and said, "Now what do I do?"

    Before today, many players had labeled Block as the best player to never win a bracelet. "Now nobody is gonna talk about me," Bloch commented. Don't worry Andy, we're sure people will be buzzing about this win for a few days at least.

    This is the Jack Ten Off Suit of Food

    We heard some dealers commenting on the food in the dealer break room earlier.

    "This is jack ten off suit of food," one dealer said. "Marginal at best."
    "That broccoli looks more like the ten deuce," another said. "Old and withered."

    Where is Everybody?

    The Rio is unusually quiet tonight with many pros either playing in their tournaments, playing cash games elsewhere, at home sleeping off a long week, or out partying.

    We took a look around the live action area to see if any pros were playing any big games. Currently Ben Lamb and Sam Trickett are locked up in a $25/50 Pot-Limit Omaha Game. We also caught Victor Ramdin playing in a $75/$150 Omaha 8-or-Better limit cash game.

    We'll keep an eye out and see if any other pros join in on the action.

    No Dunking For Mercier

    We caught up with Jason Mercier on the break of Event #9: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry to talk about the 100k dunking bet we read about on Twitter earlier today.

    "No, there's no bet," Mercier said. "It was kind of a joke and just got out of hand. It was more me talking down to Matt Waxman saying that he was a nit and wouldn't put up money."

    But Mercier still thinks that given the time and the effort, he could dunk the ball.

    "In like a month, I could do it," Mercier said. "I dunked once in high school, and I could do it with a kickball," he said.

    Apparently, things were never really too serious, but Allen Kessler took it to twitter anyways. "I didn't say I would do it, but I said if I did, I would book it for like 100k in action."

    And just for clarification, Mercier told us he was 6'0''.

    Boeree's Broken Ankle

    Apparently at her crazy party last night, Liv Boeree broke her ankle doing somersaults. Here are the tweets regarding the incident:

    We'll try to catch up with Liv later to see if it's affecting her play at all.

    On Break with Gavin Griffin

    We caught up with Gavin Griffin on break in Event #8: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better to see how he spends his break time.

    "Generally, I'll update my chip count on twitter," Griffin said. "I'll call my wife too. I like to walk around too because it gets the blood flowing. You get kind of lazy when you just sit there for two hours. You get in this sort of lull in energy, so it's good to get up and get the blood flowing. Sometimes i'll walk all the way down to the sports book and back."

    We asked what Gavin thought about the amount of time given to players on break as well.

    "Twenty minute breaks are kind of silly, especially when there's only 40 players left," Griffin said. "They should cut them down to 15 minutes for day twos, unless they can find a way to line them up with the no-limit tournaments."

    Finally we asked Griffin how he prepares for his day two in tournaments.

    "I usually just try to get a good night sleep," Griffin said. "In no-limit tournaments, I try to do some research on the players at my table before hand, but in omaha hi-low it's a bit more difficult because you're not going to find much info on them."

    Griffin plans to play more events next week ending with Event #16: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed on June 7 after which he plans to spend some time at home. Griffin is current tied for the lead in chips with Allen Bari in Event #8 with only 39 players remaining.

    To keep an eye on Gavin's progress, be sure to check out the live blog for the Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better.

    The Day's Over: How Do You Relax?

    We caught up with Brian Rast after Day 1a of Event #9: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry ended to see how relaxes after a long day of grinding.

    "I usually just hang out with my wife," Rast said. "Usually we just go in the jacuzzi and stuff like that."

    We also asked Rast how he prepares for day two of a tournament. "I just try to get enough sleep. I like to work out in the morning before the tournament starts," he said.

    Finally, we asked Rast what his workout and diet before a tournament usually consists of. "I just try to get in some cardio, or racket ball. I workout with a trainer. I try to eat healthy in general. I get food from All American Dave's. If I get in a workout in the morning I usually have a protein shake."

    Rast is still alive in Event #9 with roughly 70,000 chips.

    Does It Hurt?

    We finally caught up with Liv Boeree who was sitting down after busting from Event #9: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry to talk to her a bit about her injury. We asked her if she thought that it was affecting her play at all.

    "I have no idea yet," Boeree said. "I think I played fine today. I just got it in in a couple standard spots and ended up losing a coin flip. It hurts. The last few levels it was hurting a lot, and I didn't have any pain killers. I don't think it's been affecting my play."

    Boeree said that she planned to re-enter tomorrow once she's got a hold of some pain killers.

    Horror Stories From The Dealer Break Room

    We overheard two dealers trading horror stories while we were walking through the dealer break room.

    "One time, this guy handed me a $25 chip as a tip, and I accidentally put it in the rake," One dealer said.
    "I've been dealing satellites all day. One satellite went for three hours because I kept doubling up the short stacks. The guys just didn't want to bust," another dealer said.

    The poor guy didn't even get a tip after all was said and done.

    We encourage everyone to get involved with "The Muck." See something you think is Muck worthy? Send it to themuck@pokernews.com. We accept all media including photos and videos.

  • JUN 02

    The World Series of Double Dipping

    Rich Ryan

    At the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, it takes roughly 40 seconds to walk from the Amazon Room to the Brasilia Room. It’s a 35-second trip across the hall from the Brasilia Room to the heart of the Pavilion Room. And, if you go the back way, past the dealer break room, you can make it from the Pavilion Room back to the Amazon Room in less than 30 seconds.

    Of course, if you’re running, like Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey, and Daniel Negreanu are, then you can probably make each trip in less than 20 seconds.

    When sharing a plate of mozzarella sticks with friends, it's taboo to double dip. But, at the World Series of Poker, it’s become a norm. With fantasy poker, bracelet bets, and cross-bookings abound, players feel the need to squeeze every ounce out of the schedule — even if that means playing two tournaments at the same time. Tom Dwan is one of the pioneers of live multi-tabling. In 2010, when he famously booked massive amounts of action on bracelet bets, he could be seen sprinting around the Rio daily. This small hand, captured by Eric Ramsey, is a perfect example of how dedicated Dwan was to playing as many hands as possible.

    On Thursday, Ivey and Mercier were sitting at the same table in Event 6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Mixed Max. After their final break of the day, the dealer was getting ready to pitch the cards, when both Mercier and Ivey came sprinting back to the table at the same time. The pair had been in the Amazon Room grinding Event 7: $1,500 Seven Card Stud.

    Mercier mumbled something to Ivey about not being able to win a pot in stud, but Ivey was more focused on the playlist on his iPod. When Mercier was finished telling his story, Ivey responded with a very short tale of his own. It was Mercier’s turn to half-listen, and he did so while sweating his cards, mucking, and then whipping out his iPhone.

    I’m still uncertain as to whether or not they heard each other. Nevertheless, according to Mr. Mercier’s Twitter account, the two have a yearlong bet against one another.

    Negreanu was also live multi-tabling on Thursday, but, unlike Ivey and Mercier who busted from both of the events they were playing, Kid Poker made the final table of Event 5: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em and made Day 2 of Event #6 as well.

    The question still remains: is live multi-tabling a good idea? Is it profitable? It’s hard to argue against the likes of Mercier, Ivey, and Negreanu — the three men have a combined 14 WSOP bracelets and nearly $40 million in career tournament earnings — but it has to be extremely difficult to put forth a full effort when you’re running back and forth from tournament to tournament. Likewise, the WSOP is a long grind, and live multi-tabling can only make it more grueling. On a recent episode of the Strategy With Kristy Podcast, Eric Froehlich told Kristy Arnett that he would never double dip because he feels like he’d be giving up too much equity.

    It all comes down to the side action — if the bracelet bets are big enough, then increasing your volume is probably worth running around like a maniac. Likewise, when these players grind out a marathon cash session, they don’t take a twenty-minute break every two hours. They grind, and grind, and grind, and then grind some more. There’s no stopping them.

    It’s rumored that during Ivey’s 2009 Main Event run, he played in the big game at The Bellagio nearly every night after bagging and tagging. Apparently there was a French whale in town, and the game was too profitable to miss. Perhaps that’s why he forgot to recheck his cards, and folded the winning flush during a showdown with Jordan Smith.

    Whether it’s profitable or not, live multi-tabling is here to stay. So if you plan on traversing the hallways of the Rio during the next few weeks, be mindful of where you step. One of the world’s top poker players just might come barreling into you while literally trying to chase down their next bracelet.

    Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

  • JUN 01

    All Mucked Up: 2012 World Series of Poker Day 5 Live Blog

    PokerNews Staff , 1

    2012 WSOP

    You want to know everything that's happening at the 2012 World Series of Poker and we're going to do our best to keep you in the know. Here we'll answer the hard-hitting questions like, "Are there any celebrities in the field?" Check back often, you never know what you'll find.

    PokerNews Podcast

    Our day started off with Allen Bari coming into the Rio to record the PokerNews Podcast. He came in complaining that he needed some chapstick, which one of our kind bloggers eventually got him. We have to give it to him though he was right on time this morning.

    Tournament Warm Ups

    We caught recent bracelet winner Leif Force with his girlfriend in Starbucks this morning, but oddly enough he wasn't drinking coffee. "No caffeine," Force said. We asked him if he has a special diet, or if he eats anything special. "Just fruit and coconut juice," Force said.

    So we asked Leif what he does to warm up for tournaments and how he tries to stay focused. "I play cash games through and after the tournament," Force said. "During the one hour breaks in the heads-up I was playing pot-limit omaha, $5/$10 in the live area."

    Force said the next time we'll see him in a tournament is in Friday's Event #8: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better, which will begin at 1200 PDT (2000 BST).

    On the Lot with the WSOP Valet Team

    We talked to the World Series of Poker Valet Team today to see who drives the nicest cars and who are the best tippers.

    The valet team has seven members working nearly 24 hours a day, a team member told us. There are 120 spots on the lot that are constantly filled.

    We asked the team member what his favorite car to drive was. "Definitely the Fisker," he said.

    We also asked them who their favorite player was in the valet area. "Scotty Nguyen definitely," the team member said. "He talks to all of us like we were family, and I like the way he calls me baby."

    The team unfortunately couldn't tell us who drives what kind of car though or who is the biggest stiff on the tip due to company policy. We'll be sure to keep an eye out on the parking lot though as pros are constantly coming in and out between tournaments and during break.

    Whioutfit of the Day

    We caught Brandon Garrity registering for Event #9A No-Limit Hold'em Re-entry wearing a little white on white. On the complete other end of the fashion spectrum we caught Phil "USCPhildo" Collins in the hall outside of the Amazon Room looking pretty snazzy in a suit.

    Drawing Thin, Day 5

    We caught up with Chad Brown in the hallway to see what he does to stay in shape and how he adjusts his diet for the World Series of Poker.

    "I make sure to have my morning coffee and a protein shake," Brown said. "If I don't get a chance to go to the gym, then I make sure that I get a couple of push ups in to get my blood flowing.

    Brown is a firm believer in caffeine before a tournament too. "Studies have shown that students improve their test results with caffeine," Brown said.

    We wanted to get a sense of Brown's diet and workout plans as well. "The key is not to have simple carbs and sugars," Brown said. "If you do that, then you feel alert for a little while and then you crash. I always make sure to have complex cards and proteins and then I feel well rested through the day."

    Brown said that it's a little difficult to keep up with his workout regiment while being at the series, but he always tries to get as much in as possible. "Usually I make sure I do cardio at least five times a week and weight training three times a week. Things get a bit clouded during the world series, but I make sure to get in as much as I can."

    Prop Bets, Day 5

    Allen Kessler tweeted about a prop bet between Will Failla and Mike Leah. Apparently the two men bet on how many players would be showing up to today's Event #8: Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better.

    If you were to walk into the Brasilia room today, it would be easy to see who won.

    Sexton on Diet, Fitness, and Double Dipping

    We caught Mike Sexton in the Poker Kitchen today and we wanted to give him a shakedown after his double cash Thursday. Sexton was eating a personal cheese pizza from Pizza Hut and drinking a Pepsi, so we thought it would be good to see what Sexton's typical diet was like.

    "I'm not the healthiest eater in the world," Sexton said. "If i'm running late, and I want to get something to eat, I'll go and get fast food." We wanted to get a sense of whether of not Sexton kept up with a fitness routine as well. "I have a membership at the Life Time Fitness club, and I wanted to start going every day or every other day, but I just haven't had the time. I've been putting in too many hours," Sexton said.

    Finally, we wanted to get Sexton's thoughts on double dipping, since yesterday he was playing Event #3: Heads-up No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha and Event #4: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better.

    "I only did it because I knew there would be breaks between the matches," Sexton said. "I wanted to enter the stud, and I thought the the matches on the second day weren't until 3PM. I've probably cashed more in the stud event than any other player at the series."

    Sexton also said that it was in part because he didn't know if he wash going to win his heads up matches. "I just figured that at least if I got knocked out I could play in the stud event," Sexton said. "But I didn't get knocked out in the fourth or fifth round, but the stud tournament kept me busy between the breaks. It really worked out well for me. I was only blinded for a little bit in the stud."

    Who Wore it Better?

    The Micros t-shirt craze has hit the Rio.

    Poll

    Who Wore it Better?
    View results

    Overheard on the Event #5: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em Rail: The Eames Railbirds

    There is some great banter going on between John Eames and his railbirds. Here are a few gems we picked up while sitting on the rail.

    "Ah, John Eames, come to have a word with the common people."
    "No, he's come to throw hundred dollar bills at us!"

    "Just wait the commentator is about to do some magic right now. He's going to pull a rabbit out of his hat."
    "It would be better if he could pull Chris Ferguson out of his hat."

    After Eames lost a pot holding {2-}{2-}

    "I told him to show a deuce and he just went f****** crazy!"

    Finally, Prop Bets Day Five, Part 2: The Eames vs Daniel Bet.

    Some of the railbirds wanted to know who had more money in their wallet, Eames or Negreanu. Negreanu just pointed at Eames and said, "I'll bet on him."

    A Game Within a Game

    While walking around the Pavilion Room we saw Eli Elezra and Robert Mizrachi sitting next to each other in the Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better tournament. When we got a little closer we saw they were playing Chinese Poker on an iPad during hands.

    More from the Eames Rail: Eames Goes Busto

    We thought it would be a good idea to catch back up with the Eames rail. Just as we were walking in, a player was eliminated, Eames moved up the pay ladder, and the Eames rail began to cheer joyfully.

    "We just went from Pizza to steak!" could be heard throughout the Amazon room.
    "We'll be drinking a bit more expensive beer tonight!"

    Some of the John Eames railbirds had shirts made up for final table. We made sure to get a picture of the shirt.

    “See if you can get Daniel to wear this Eames,” one of the railbirds said as he tossed the shirt over to Eames.
    “I look pretty good in what I'm wearing now,” Daniel said.

    Some of the other spectators were complaining about not being able to see any of the cards on the screen above the final table.

    "Maybe we could get some graphics or something," someone said.
    "I'm more interested in cards with flames on them," an Eames railbird said. "Maybe they could get like moving pictures, and they could be medieval themed. You know, like the two of gargoyles that would look at you and stuff, or the four of dragons that breathes fire on screen."
    "They should just play with nudie cards to make it interesting," another railbird said.

    Finally, Eames was eliminated in 8th place for $18,529.

    "I can't believe I turned down listening to the air conditioner alone in my room to come out to this," One of the birds said.

    Action has calmed down in the Amazon room after Eames' elimination, so if you want to catch more action from Event #5, you'll have to check out the live reporting blog.

    Jimmy Fricke on the rail of Event #5: Pot Limit Hold'em Final Table

    In the hour before his Omaha 8 game began, Jimmy Fricke was spotted on the rail for the final table of Event #5, getting behind CardRunner pro Bryan ‘PrimordialAA’ Pellegrino. Jimmy doesn’t have any action booked on Pellegrino but "plays a lot of ‘Heroes of Newerth’ online with him."

    Jimmy’s a very receptive guy, but be careful to get his name right when you speak. As man walked past and greeted him with “What’s up Frippy?” Jimmy sarcastically remarked “That was pretty close, and he said it with enough confidence that I can’t be mad”.

    Bad Beat Stories From The Dealer Break Room

    We caught up with some Rio dealers who were hanging out in the break room and we asked them about some of the baddest beats they've ever dealt. The first dealer we spoke to told us about a pot he dealt in a $5/$10 Omaha cash game.

    "There was a preflop raise and both players were in for $180 each. The flop came out {8-}{3-}{J-}. The first player, guy in seat five, bet out for $600. The guy in seat nine raised to $1200. The turn came a {K-Clubs}. The guy in seat five goes all in for over $3,000, and the guy in seat 9 called pretty quick. The river came down {7-}. Seat 5 had a set of Jacks, and seat 9 had turned a set of Kings. That pot was over $8,000."

    "I can top that," another dealer said. "I was dealing a $5/$10 No-limit cash game, both players get all the money in before the flop. There's over $10,000 in the pot. The first guy had {A-}{J-}, the other guy had {K-}{K-}. The flop comes down {J-}{K-}{7-}. The turn is a {J-}. The river is a {J-}."

    There is currently around 1,200 dealers working at the Rio, so there must be a tons of bad beat stories floating around. We'll be sure to add more as wel hear them.

    How Are the Sales?

    We spoke with an employee, who asked that we didn't include her name, at the Cardoza Publishing booth today to see how book sales are going and to see if there are any pros buying books.

    "We usually sell about 20 books a day," the employee said. "The most popular, I would say, are Ed Miller's books and the Harrington collection."

    At the booth, the Ed Miller books, Playing the Player and How to Read Hands at No-Limit Hold'em go for $50 each, and each of the Harrington on Hold'em books goes for $32.

    We asked the employee if there are any pros who come by and buy books too.

    "Yesterday there was a pro who came by and bought a book," the employee said. "I can't think of his name, but he was kind of a short stocky guy, with tight curly hair wearing an Aria hat. Barry Greenstein also comes by every day to check in and see how his book is doing."

    We asked the employee if Barry has ever bought a copy of Ace on the River to give to the player he knocks out, and she said no.

    Next Saturday, June 9, Ed Miller will be at the Cardoza Publishing booth in the Rio signing autographed copies of his book, so be sure to be there.

    Ashton Griffin: On Basketball and Prop Bets

    We caught Ashton Griffin watching the NBA Finals: Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics Game #3. We wanted to see if he had any money on the game and if he had any prop bets going on for this years World Series of Poker.

    "No money on the game," Griffin said. "But I'm rooting for Boston, because I don't like the Miami fans. I'm from Florida."

    We asked him what he thought about Jason Mercier, since Mercier sports his Heat t-shirts and jerseys on a daily basis.

    "I know he has a lot of money on the series," Griffin said. "Me and him have always got along, so I'm rooting for him, but I'd like to see Boston take it to game seven, because they are the only team that I think has a chance to beat San Antonio."

    We asked Griffin if he had any prop bets going on for this years series as well. "Nothing crazy," he said. "I'm just a grinder now."

    Finally, we asked Ashton which poker players he would pick to be on his basketball team if he had one.
    "Aaron Jones is pretty good, and I hear he has a good shot," he said. "I'd probably take Mercier too. And Jason Koon is really big and strong looking so I'd take him too."

    5k Mixed Max Bubble

    Event #6 No-Limit Hold'em Mixed Max is down to the final 45 players and that means we are hand for hand here until the bubble is burst. It can get kind of boring waiting around for other tables to finish so some players are filling that time by playing games. We caught Kyle Julius wearing a groutfit and playing Whale Trail.

    Aaron "aejones" Jones and Olivier Busquet Talk Basketball

    Since Ashton Griffin talked up how good a basketball player Aaron Jones was, we had to ask him about it. We also asked who he'd pick for his fantasy poker basketball team, and here's what he and Olivier Busquet had to say.

    Santana tosses a "no-no"

    Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter in New York Met's history today to the delight of several poker pros.

    LG's Favorite Destinations

    Lynn Gilmartin pictured on the right
    Lynn Gilmartin pictured on the right

    We asked, PokerNews' own, Lynn Gilmartin, what her top three favorite tournament stops are around the globe. The jetsetter just returned two days ago from covering the PokerStars.net LAPT in Uruguay.

    "Queeenstown, New Zealand," said Gilmartin. "The ski resort is amazing. Melbourne, for the Aussie Millions, and Berlin, for the Pokerstars.net EPT."

    Make sure to tune in to PokerNews.com for the latest on LG as she'll be covering the WSOP.

    If They Didn't Play Poker

    Imagine a parallel universe…a world where poker didn’t exist. What occupations would the pros pursue?

    “Pool player, “ said PokerStars pro Victor Ramdim.

    “Something with music, said Marvin Rettenmaier. “I sing, play guitar, and piano. I would want to be like P Diddy.”

    “Become part of a movement for a new form of media, said Olivier Busquet. “Too much of it is corporate controlled. I would like to challenge the status quo.”

    Stay tuned, as we’ll be posting the reactions of other pros during the WSOP.

    Plan B

    Did you bust a tournament? Looking for something to do? There’s plenty of action to be had at the Rio cash games. We spotted a few notables playing tonight.

    Teddy, "The Iceman" Monroe, was spotted at a $20/$40 Limit Hold'em game.

    Cindy Violette, grinding a $50/$100 Stud-8 game.

    PokerStars pro David Williams, was waiting for a $10/$20 No-Limit Hold'em game to start.

    WPT champ Dwyte Pilgrim was seated at a $5/$10 No-Limit Hold'em game.

    Midnight Run

    The clock struck midnight when we caught up with Robert Iler. Rob was taking a break from the cash games. He played A.J. on the HBO show The Sopranos.

    What cash game are you playing?

    Just some 1-3 (No-Limit Hold'em) right now. I’m saving my money for the events (WSOP).

    How the cash games going for you?

    Great! I haven’t walked away a loser yet so far.

    How's the WSOP going for you?

    Made a run in the 1500 the other day but went out on a bad beat.

    What happened?

    It was the last hand before break. I look at my first hole card and it’s a deuce. I was like, cool, as long the next one isn’t a deuce I was gonna hang with Antonio (Antonio Esfandiari), since we live in the same building. Sure enough the next card was a deuce. So, under-the-gun raised. I called. Flop comes {10-}{5-Diamonds}{2-Diamonds}. I bet out 800. Guy raises to 2600 and I re-raise to 5400. We get it all-in for 15k stacks effective. He turns over {j-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}. Turn is an {a-} and the river is a {3-Diamonds}

    Watch for Rob on Saturday. He plans on playing Event #9, No-Limit Hold-em Re-Entry.

    Last Call

    Need a drink after a bad beat? There’s a bar located in the hallway of the Amazon room, which is open all night. We spoke to the bartender, Hal, to see if any notables stopped by the watering hole today.

    “Phil Hellmuth stopped by earlier and had some Glenlivet,” said Hal. He stops by “every once in awhile for a shot.”

    We encourage everyone to get involved with "The Muck." See something you think is Muck worthy? Send it to themuck@pokernews.com. We accept all media including photos and videos.

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