The Muck
Card Guards
Bernard Lee
George Lind III
Maverick Movie
Off the Felt
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JUN 25
Dan Shak Sues Ex-Wife, Beth Shak, Over 1,200 Pair Designer Shoe Collection
According to a report from The New York Post, hedge fund manager and poker player Dan Shak is suing ex-wife Beth Shak for allegedly not disclosing her collection of designer shoes during their divorce proceedings. Dan Shak claims the collection was hidden in a "secret room" and the Post reports that because of the value of the shoe collection, Dan Shak could be entitled to "hundreds of thousands more in their divorce settlement."
“I’m shaking my head over this whole thing,” Beth told the Post. “He is saying he didn’t know the closet in our master bedroom existed.”
According to the suit, “In the summer of 2011, Daniel became aware that Beth owned and failed to disclose an extensive . . . collection of Christian Louboutin shoes . . . and other high-end designer shoes and bags." Dan Shak is attempting to get the court to account for all of the shoes, a collection he estimates to be at $1 million.
Last year, Beth and her shoes were featured on the Today Show, where she claims she has shoes she doesn't remember buying and had to give away some shoes to make room for new pairs.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
*Photo courtesy of Dispatch.com
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JUN 24
All Mucked Up: 2012 World Series of Poker Day 28 Live Blog
All Mucked Up is a live blog of all the stuff you want to know at the 2012 World Series of Poker, 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. Check back often for polls, soundbites, celebrity sightings, and who knows what else!
May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor
Bright and early this morning we dropped into the Rio sportsbook to get the odds for he big final days today. First we'll take a look at the notables in Event #42: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better
Jeff Lisandro 3/1
Brandon Guss 24/1
Timothy Frazin 24/1
Allen Bari 22/1
Perry Friedman 4/1
Daniel Ratgan 14/1
Oleksii Kovalchuk 10/1
Bryan Devonshire 8/1
Yural Bronshtein 7/1
Dale Philips 15/1
Tim Burt 17/1
Mark Gregorich 15/1
Wing Wong 20/1
Norman Chad 13/2
Michael Krescanko 7/1
Thomas Schneider 5/1
George Danzer 13/2And with an outside chance
Charles Kassin 90/1
Anthony Bellino 70/1Also available in the Rio sportsbook are odd for Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em. There are still plenty of runners, so we'll just list the favorites and notables below.
John Kelly 8/1
Jackquiline Glazier 5/1
Dylan Hortin 8/1
Joseph Chaplin 5/1
Elio Fox 17/2
Greg Otrander 10/1
Peter Nguyen 12/1
Kevin Schaffel 13/1Also worth a mention are Morten Mortensen at 12/1 for his great name and Shannon Shorr at 40/1 for his nice tweet.
Shout out to all the members of the poker media that work so hard covering these #WSOP tournaments!
June 22 2012FollowCash Game Watch: Day 28
Some of the big name pros have been skipping the events the last few days to check out the big cash games, including Phil Hellmuth:
Although I missed a WSOP tourney (Saturday) to play "Roll your own" Chinese poker 24 hrs straight w @ShaunDeeb, I did have a lot of fun!
June 24 2012FollowToday we have a heads up from Doyle Brunsen that a huge game might be going down. We'll keep our ears to the ground and try to bring you the scoop about where the game is at, who's playing and what game they'll be playing just as soon as we find out..
Supposed to be a giant cash game today. Thinking about skipping 50K tourney. #whattodo?
June 24 2012FollowCelebrity Look-Alike
And we're off! The first look-alike of the day is in. We've featured this player before in a 'Who Wore It Better?' between himself and Elky. Today we realized who he looks like - Sickboy from the 1996 British classic Trainspotting. What do you think?
The Card Protector Chronicles
The Card Protector Chronicles has been gotten a lot of positive feedback in the last few days (with a sample size of one person), so we cast our eyes about the Amazon room and the overspill from Event #44: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em to see what we could find. Surprise, surprise word has leaked out that we're on the look out for Card Protectors and people are anxiously eyeing us as we walk by, making sure their little mascots are in plain view.
First up is 'The Rare Chiposaurus', a name this man has given to his prehistoric mascot, and one he was excited to get printed on PokerNews.
Here we have a furry mouse, a slightly unorthodox card protector in that it's a small teddy bear, but effective none the less.
This man took a patriotic stance and went with a carved wooden eagle.
Finally we have the Bear card protector, and not the first Bear we've seen this series. This man was prepared and made sure his Bear was facing us for when he took the picture - getting sneaky pics is getting tougher and tougher by the day in the Rio!
Stay tuned for more sweet card protectors.
Another Victim!
Anyone who's spent significant time in the Rio knows all about the aggressive tactics of the hall-side vendors. Dan O'Brien's tweet about the oxygen bar is getting a lot of love on twitter today!
Sports Sunday
The NBA and NHL seasons are over and the NFL season is still a few months away, but the Euro Cup and MLB are in full swing. We came across several players representing their sports team today.
Italy beat England on penalties in today's quarterfinal match. That's the sixth time in England's history they've been knocked out of a international tournament via penalties.
Matt Affleck
Fashion Faux-Pas: Day 28
Check out this retina burning outfit from the field of Event #44: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em. The more you study the picture the more you can see where the bloke was coming from – I mean, he’s got the blue, the orange and the white on each individual item of clothing, but there’s just too much going on for it to be a comfortable combination.
COLOR OVERLOADH.O.R.S.E. Play
We caught up with WPT commentator Mike Sexton, as he was getting ready for the start of today’s Event 45: $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Although Event 45 is an Eight Game Mix, we rattled off some names to Sexton and asked him he would rather play them in the basketball game HORSE or the card game.
I’m Just A Girl: Part 3
In this series we ask female poker players the lame lines they’re subjected to at the table by their male tablemates. We caught up with Cherish Andrews and Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck.
Andrews is coming off a fourth place finish in WSOP Event #31, earning $210,083. What lame lines does she hear?
“I get, ‘Oh, did your boyfriend teach you poker?’” Also, “well at least my chips are going to a cute girl like you.”
There are some advantages however.
“In the lower buy-ins, like the 1k and 1.5K events most people don’t recognize me so they don’t know I can play,” Andrews said.
How about Maridu?
“I’ve had a lot of douche bags this year,” Mayrinck said. “I had one guy yell at me when I took a pot off of him on the bubble.”
When asked if she gets guys hitting on her at the table, Mayrinck replied, “They know not to go there with me.”
The Big Papa
Thankfully, The Godfather Of Poker has not made good on his threat of not playing the 50k today in favor of some cash games. He just turned up to the Amazon room on the stroke of 5pm and is getting a lot of attention, delaying him from beginning the event. The event organisers were asking people to let Doyle Brunson get to his seat, and ushering people away, but in typical appreciative fashion Brunson said ‘Don’t be ridiculous’ and kept signing autographs until the crowd had dissipated.
The Amazon room is more packed than we've seen yet this summer. At the time of writing we can't even get near the rail, but now that the players have sat down and the cards are up in the air we're going to go on the prowl with our trusty Nikon and snap some pics of some of the tougher table draws.
Doyle Is Here But...
We just saw this tweet from Matt Glantz again talking about the mystery big cash game going on in town... sounds like something our readers might want to hear about! We'll try catch Matt on break from the 50k 8-Game and shake him down for information!
Just received text from a friend who is skipping the 50k due to an enormous cash game in town... 'Just sent in 150k bluff guy rebluffed me'
June 24 2012FollowThe 50k Eight-Game Mix
This is it, the one we've all been waiting for. The rail is fittingly dense for the highest buy in event of the World Series so far. We'll try to cover it as throughly as we can tonight. We'll get you started with a few interesting table draws.
First up we have Mike Matusow, Bertrand 'Elky' Grospellier and Huck Seed all at one table. That combination is sure to bring about some interesting table talk.
Elsewhere, Viktor 'Isilur1' Blom has been seated next to Scott Seiver. Seiver has consistently brought out the talkative side in all his tables so far, but may not know where to start with the silent assassin that is Isildur1. We'll keep an eye on that table and see how the atmosphere is. We'll also be giving generous odds on Seiver drinking shots with Blom before the night is out, so swing by the PokerNews office if you want to take us up on that.
Finally, we saw this interesting match between Brian 'Stinger' Hastings and Doyle Brunson brewing. This is a true old school vs new school encounter, although, as always, there's no guarantee the old schools knows the new schools name...
Norman Chad In Beast Mode In WSOP Event #42
ESPN commentator Norman Chad is currently the chip leader of Event 42: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better. There are 11 players left fighting for the $228,014 prize and the bracelet. We caught up with Chad at break.
Norman ChadWhat are your feelings right now, so close to the final table?
I’m thrilled. I came in 12th last year and I count that as a final table (laughs).
Would this be your first “real” WSOP final table?
It would be my first final table anywhere in the world.
Of the two games in this event which do you feel you’re better in?
Almost equal, maybe Stud a little more than Omaha, it’s the only two games I really play and am good at it.
If you were to win the $228,014 payday how much of that would go to the ex-wives?
They don’t speak to me. They all left me a long time ago, there’s no alimony, they were all happy just to get out of there as quickly as possible, so it’s all mine.
Chad is also getting plenty of twitter love as well.
@NormanChad update: 22 left in #wsop42 Jeff Lisandro chip ldr 355k, Norman in ........ 3rd! w/ 224k. Resume 2pm folo http://t.co/ELZhqlgx
June 24 2012FollowGus Hansen Spotted In Poker Players Championship
Gus Hansen in $50,000 Poker Player ChampionshipThis is Gus Hansen’s first appearance in this year’s WSOP. Apparently, Hansen doesn't roll out of bed for anything less than a $50,000 buy-in. We’ll be sure to keep tabs on him throughout the day.
Naoya Kihara - The Japanese Champion
Naoya Kihara recently won his first bracelet in Event #34: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Six Handed. What's he doing now? Well Kihara has decided to enter Event #45: $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
Naoya Kihara - Event #34 Winner$50,000 is a lot of money to risk on one tournament, so Kihara must be trying to prove that he has what it takes to hang with the big boys. We don't know if he is playing backed, or if he satellited into the event, but we'll try to catch up with him on break to see if he can give us some insight. We do know that Kihara has a lot of confidence in his game, stating that he was the best Japanese player after winning Event #34. Currently, he is seated with Gus Hansen and Mike Sexton, so this tournament will be a true test of his skills.
Sounds From The Rail - The Brits
As you may have read, the British rails are the rowdiest. They sing, they drink out of shoes, they get kicked out. We wanted to give you a little taste of what it's like to be on the rail with the Brits, who are currently supporting JP Kelly in Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em.
Sitting on the rail in support of Kelly is James Akenhead and Jake Cody. We'll try to catch up with Kelly now as he's dinner break to see if he has anything good to say about his amazing rail.
Fashion Patrol
Joan Rivers would have a field day with these two.
Player A on left. Player B on right.Eighty-Sixed
The rail has really quieted down after the dinner break in Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em. We got a chance to talk to a couple of security guards down here at the rail who gave us the low down on what happened.
"We didn't ask anyone to leave but one gentleman," he told us. "And he is no longer allowed at the Rio or any of the other 11 properties."
We asked the security guards what the man had done to get eighty-sixed. "He was just being loud, belligerent, screaming during hands," they told us. "We had to escort him out the other day, and that's it. You only get one warning." We talked briefly about the origins of the term eighty-sixed yesterday.
We asked them how often they actually eighty-six people from the casino. "Hardly ever," he told us. "In fact, this might be the first time i've ever had to do it."
We asked if they also asked the rest of the rail to leave as well. "No, we only asked one gentleman to leave," he told us. "But when you remove the ring leader, the rest will follow."
There is no more fun and games on the rail of Event #41.
Chris Moorman, Throwing His Own Party
Chris Moorman is one of the few Brits left on the rail in Event #41. At his feet were two trays of just about 20 drinks, which we assume was meant for the majority of the rail who just left:
Moorman aims to get "Chocolate Wasted" tonight with all those drinks.Moorman, and two other Brits, seem to be trying to finish off the drinks by themselves. We'll see if they can do it, and catch up with Moorman when we can to see how he's feeling.
Who Is Uncle Ron: Day 28
Uncle Ron strikes again. Mason Hinkle, the younger brother of poker playing siblings Grant and Blair Hinkle, was spotted today in the Brasilia room, decked out in patriotic attire.
Uncle Ron also insisted on a custom picture.
"Let me take a picture of you while you're taking a picture of me," Uncle Ron said.
We obliged.
Prop Bets: Day 28
We caught up with Maria 'Maridu' Mayrinck while she was taking a break in the hallway earlier today. She let us in on a little prop bet she made with a friend.
"Well, I was playing in the $1,000, and I was doing alright, I flopped quads once and had a bunch of chips, but I was out by level three," she explained. "So I went over and was talking with my friend, and he wanted me to play in the $235 deep stack with him, just for fun. So I was like of course yeah. And we made a $1,000 last loner to sweeten the deal a little bit and he was out in the first level.
"And me, I was just sitting there playing like a maniac. Oh
? Raise! Oh reraise? Rereraise. And all of a sudden I had a bunch of chips, and I looked up at the prize pool and it's 50k for first place! So then I decided, I could actually win this. It's time to get serious."Mayrinck may not be having the best series, but if she ships the Rio Deepstack, she may be able to get a little something going for her. We'll update you on her progress when we find her again.
While The Man Is Away, The Girls Will Play
We just spotted Maya Antonius in Event #44: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em. Maya is the wife of lady killer Patrik Antonius, who is currently mixing it up in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
Maya Antonius in Event #44When we last saw her, Maya was alive with a healthy stack in the event, and we'll be sure to keep an eye on her in case she makes a deep run.
Poker is Boring!
We got a hold of this one on twitter, but apparently, tournament poker is no fun for Gus Hansen who was seen taking a nap on the floor in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
ZzzZzzzZzzThis is the first event that we've seen Hansen play this year, so maybe he's just not in shape for tournament poker anymore. Either way, we hope that he's at least keeping his shoes on at the table. No one wants to smell those Gus.
A Good Show For The Ladies
Jackie Glazier is currently heads-up in Event #41: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em, and while the brits may have left, Glazier's rail is electric. They are extremely supportive and cheering loudly, cheers that can be heard through the whole Amazon room.
Jackie Glazier and Greg OstranderGlazier currently has a commanding chip lead and is an odds on favorite to become the first woman to win an open event since Vanessa Selbst in 2008. Her rail has been singing songs such as "Hey Jackie, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind. Hey Jackie!!"
On the other side of the table, Greg Ostrander's rail is much more passive. They are quiet, only cheering ocassionally, and not with the force or passion of Glazier's rail.
We'll try to get an interview with Glazier should she win the event, and with the momentum she has from being the chip leader and her rail, it may not be long until we see our next woman bracelet holder. The two players have decided to bag and tag for the night, so we'll most likely catch up with the winner of Event #41 tomorrow.
We encourage everyone to get involved with "The Muck." See something you think is Muck worthy? Send it to the muck@pokernews.com. We accept all media including photos and videos.
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JUN 24
First Five With First-Time Bracelet Winner Ronnie Bardah
We caught up with first-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Ronnie Bardah moments after he won Event #40: $2,500 Limit Hold'em — Six-Handed. The Massachusetts native pocketed $182,088 for the win.
What was your first thought after you won?
It didn’t hit me till I stopped crying.
Who’s the first person you’re going to call?
My dad. He’s in Boston.
What was your first thought when you saw the Rio sports book had you at 20-1 today?
I’ll show them — 20-1!
What’s the first thing you’re going to do to celebrate?
Going home to shower, relax. It’s my friend's birthday today, so we’re gonna go out later. I’ll be buying a bottle and pour it over his head. [Laughs]
What was the biggest turning point heads up?
I ran like God. I was hitting trips, flushes, and straights. I also outplayed him in a couple of pots. The big hand was the
.Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
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JUN 23
First Five with 2012 World Series of Poker Bracelet Winner Jan-Peter Jachtmann
Jan-Peter Jachtmann managed to surpass 293 players and take home the gold bracelet in Event #39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. Jachtmann is a magazine publisher in Germany where he publishes the largest German print poker publication. This is his first bracelet, and for his win he took home $661,000. Jachtmann has been playing the game for over 20 years and started off playing seven card stud. We were able to catch up with Jachtmann right after his win to get some of his first thoughts on winning a bracelet.
Can you share with us some of the first thoughts that went through your head after winning a bracelet?
The first thought was just like, “Wow. I made it!” You know because I mean I had to hit it. Because I had a straight draw, and I had to hit it, but the ace came and I just thought, “Wow.” And then I thought... I think I have to sleep one night and wake up tomorrow, because for me it is still just unreal. I'm happy but I kind of just have to convince myself that it's real. I am happy. I was happy before when I reached the final table. But this is just unreal.
What's one of the first things that you're going to do as a bracelet winner?
Tomorrow I have to fly home to Germany. But before that, I'm going to meet with some friends and party, definitely. We're going to have a party tonight somewhere in Vegas. I definitely will spend a lot of money because I just want to party.
What's the first thing that you're going to buy as a bracelet winner?
I won't really buy anything. I'm not a poor guy. Certainly it's a lot of money. More than I've ever won. Before I won, I think $550,000 in all of the time that I've played. Part of the money will just be used as a bankroll. I don't want to blow it all up. I have my house. I have my car. I don't need anything. I won't buy something big. I'm happy to have it, and we'll see what comes.Who is the first person that you're going to call and tell about your win?
Actually, I'm glad that everybody watched it online. So they know. Actually, me and my girlfriend, we just split up, so I won't call her. I can't call her actually. Maybe I can. Maybe she is waiting, I don't know. It's a problem a little bit. But I will actually call my mother, she is didn't see so she will probably say, “Whoa, what happened?” The people, my poker friends, and my family, they already know what happened.
What was the first time in the tournament where you really thought to yourself, “Hey, I can win this?”
I thought that I could win it after I had a lot of chips, when I almost had the chip lead then I won the pot against Sammy Farha.
Jachtmann also said that he plans to play in the World Series of Poker Europe in Cannes as his next tournament destination.
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JUN 23
All Mucked Up: 2012 World Series of Poker Day 27 Live Blog
All Mucked Up is a live blog of all the stuff you want to know at the 2012 World Series of Poker, 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. Check back often for polls, soundbites, celebrity sightings, and who knows what else!
May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor
Another morning means another stroll down to the Rio sportsbook where we gathered the odds for the two events who will be playing down to a winner today. Event #39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha has Andrew Brown leading the way currently, and he's going off at 3/2 odds. Trailing Brown is Sammy Farha going for 7/2, and near the bottom of the pack is Jason Mercier, who was going off at 8/1.
Jason Mercier – 8/1
John Kabbaj – 24/1
Sammy Farha – 7/2
Andy Seth – 8/1
Jan-Peter Jachtmann – 9/2
Micah Smith – 23/1
Ville Wahlbeck – 20/1
Nikolai Yakovenko – 9/1
Benjamin Sage – 4/1
Steven Silverman – 7/1
Joe Kushner – 8/1
Adam Kornuth – 8/1
Andrew Brown – 3/2The other event finishing off today is Event #40: $2,500 Limit Hold'em Six Handed. Only ten players remain in the event including Terrence Chan going for an absurd 2/1, and Sorel Mizzi who was going off at 3/1. Mizzi and Chan are second and third in chips respectively.
Hans Minocha - 13/2
Marco Johnson - 18/1
Rep Porter - 13/1
Joep van den Bijgaart - 7/2
Ronnie Bradah - 20/1
Sorel Mizzi - 3/1
Chad Brown - 8/1
Terrence Chan - 2/1
Vincent Gironda - 7/5
Brent Wheeler - 7/1To keep tabs on any players that you may have bet on, make sure you check out our live reporting blog for up to the minute updates.
The Card Protector Chronicles - Day 27:We're 27 days in to the World Series of Poker and we're just getting started. So far we've seen a bunch of ridiculous card protectors and it only keeps getting better. We've got a new batch for you today straight from Event #43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em.
The first card protector we saw this morning was this donkey, who appears to be smoking a pipe of some sort. We wonder what that is supposed to imply.
Immediately after finding the donkey, we stumbled across the creepiest little frog. Now, this is the second frog we've seen already, but there's something about the eyes on this one that just make us cringe.
It went from amphibian to reptile, as next we found a man using a gold alligator as a card protector.
The last one was the best, and is pretty self explanatory, but it boggles our mind why someone would want to use a cooking dog as a card protector.
We'll be sure to update with more and more ridiculous card protectors as the World Series of Poker goes on as there is sure to be plenty more.
All Dogs Go To... The Rail?
Jason Mercier is currently deep in Event #39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. On the rail is his fiance who also brought along their little dog.
Mercier's Fiance and DogThis isn't the first instance of having a dog in the Rio. Earlier in the series, Liv Boeree had brought her dog to a tournament as well. We're not exactly sure if this violates any rules, but we'll try to find out.
Keeping Cool in the Amazon Room
It's no secret that temperature fluctuation is one of the biggest problems for a poker player. Sometimes it's too cold, sometimes it's too hot. How is a poker player supposed to deal with that?!
Well, we think we may have found the answer. Or at least this man did:
The man with the personal fanSimple as that. The man brought his own personal fan into the Rio to help keep himself cool. Now, all he needs is a blanket, so when it get's too cold, he can bundle himself up.
Former November Niners Making a Splash
Former November Niners from the past 5 years have really been making a splash at the 2012 World Series of Poker. Among them, Ylon Schwartz won his first bracelet, Dennis Phillips came second in the seniors' event, Phil Ivey has made five final tables, Joe Cada was heads-up for a bracelet, and much more.
Today, we caught John Racener (2010) and Scott Montgomery (2008) seated right next to each other in Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em.
John Racener and Scott MontgomeryMoments after we snapped this photo, Montgomery doubled up through Racener.
It's been great seeing all the former November Niners making big splashes once again, and surely, we will see more of them make even more deep runs.
Fashionista of the Day
We saw this stylish gentleman in Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em wearing a purple jacket and matching scarf.
His outfit sort of reminded us of Grimace, a McDonalds character, so we had to take a picture.
GrimaceA Lesson On Old School, With Doyle Brunson
You may have heard the term "eighty-sixed" before, but did you ever know where the expression came from? Doyle Brunson gave a lesson today on where the term comes from and what it actually means. Check out his tweet:
Everybody understands what getting 86ed is getting barred from a casino. The term comes from the "old days". 8 miles out, 6 ft down.#badboys
June 23 2012FollowOverheard in Brasilia
"Are you Erik Seidel's kid?"
"Not That I know of."
"Well you look like him."
To the man's credit, the kid really did look like he could be related to Erik SeidelProp Bets: Day 27
Weeks ago we told you about a prop bet between Allen Kessler and Matt Savage. Well turns out Matt Savage ended up losing that bet and was forced to wear an "Allen 'Chainsaw' Kessler" t-shirt yesterday. We weren't able to get a pic of Savage in the t-shirt, but Allen was wearing one himself today:
Allen "Chainsaw" KesslerFashionista of the Day: Part 2
We caught this gentleman in Event #43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em wearing shades, a clean white dress shirt, and a pink scarf.
We also thought he was quite fashionable today, so we decided to see who you thought the most fashionable player was today. Let us know in the poll below.
Cash Game Watch: Day 27
We heard rumors of a big cash game down in the Rio snake pit, and boy were the rumors true. Currently, Brian Rast, Sammy Farha and four others are playing a 100/200/400 game of PLO in the Rio snake pit. Rast looks to have close to $150,000 in front of him while Sammy has somewhere around $40,000. The pots are big, and the money is flying, so if you want to see some action, come check out the rail at the Rio snake pit.
What's On Your Head: Day 27
It had been a while since we'd seen a worthy hat. Of course, Kennii Nguyen is still alive in Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em, but we wanted to find something new. Something with a story behind it.
Sir, I think it's time to invest in a new hat.We missed a majority of the conversation about the hat, but from what we can gather, the man was telling the table how he was almost mauled by a bear, or some other animal, while wearing the hat. Of course now, after surviving an animal attack, the hat has become his lucky one.
Whether it's true, or a lie, it's an interesting story at least.
Strategy Tips With Ylon Schwartz
We caught up with recent bracelet winner Ylon Schwartz to ask for some basic strategy tips and mistakes that he constantly sees players making. This is what he had to say:
“There is probably too much limping going on,” Schwartz said. “There's too much cold calling in call positions. To amateurs, position is pretty much irrelevant.
“What I mean is that, there is a lot of calling against early position raisers with marginal hands,” Schwartz continued. “There is a lack of observance in relation to what's going on at the table. The people who are playing are sort of out of touch with reality. They have no clue what's going on around them.”
We'll keep trying to catch up with pros and provide you with tips and tricks from some of the best in the business.
Evening Grind
We spotted David Tuchman at Starbucks in the Rio. In addition to providing play-by-play for WSOP final table online streams, Tuchman covers the NFL and NASCAR for SKY Sports as well.
Tuchman had just finished the play-by-play for event #39. It was overheard he had predicted the heads up match could last as little as 20 minutes. He was close. It was over in three hands.
We asked him what his plans were for the rest of the WSOP.
“I’ll be here the rest of the way," Tuchman said. “I’ll be playing the Main Event.”
We’ll be keeping up with Tuchman throughout the series. He’s spoken to us before, providing insight to the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout final table.
White Suit Saturday
The Rio staff is decked out in white suits today. The WSOP, “White Suits Of Poker,” tradition started a few years ago.
We asked Rio floor manager, Bob Smith, why the white suits?
“Pimping ain’t easy! It’s fun. It creates controversy,” Smith jokingly said.
Cash Game Watch: Part 2
Karina Jett was waiting on a $50/$100 Stud 8/b seat to open when she indulged us in a story in her earlier session.
“This dealer was yelling at the table,” a shocked Jett said. “Then a player yells back, ‘we’re not at your home, I am not your husband and these (pointing at his tablemates) are not your children!’”
It was reported earlier that Sammy Farha was in a 100/200/400 game of PLO with Brian Rast, but it appears Farha is not playing at the moment. JC Tran is at the table however. We’ll be keeping tabs to report any developments.
Playing To The Beat
Cory Wilkins on left. Mike Saulnier in center.Cory Wilkins may not see the action at his table but he’s in perfect harmony with the beat on the felt. With the assistance from his friend, Mike Saulnier, Wilkins is playing in his first WSOP event.
“I act as his eyes,” Saulnier said. “I tell him what cards he has and when the action is on him.”
When asked if he’s given insight into the dynamics of the table, Wilkins said, “There’s a fine line. I don’t wanna have any ethical situations come up.”
“Say seat one makes a big bet and he’s shuffling his chips in a certain way, I don’t tell Cory that," Saulnier said.
Blind since birth, Wilkins can still detect tendencies and behavior at the felt.
“I can pick up on things like that, I can hear the way people shuffle their chips,” Wilkins said.
“He’s a sophisticated player with a tremendous memory," Saulnier said. “He remembers details of hands from six months ago.”
A San Diego native, Wilkins started playing poker six years ago and for the last seven months has been playing fulltime. Wilkins is also an accomplished musician and the recipient of three LA Music Awards including, Rock Album of the Year for San Diego Summer, Breakthrough Album of the Year, and Male Vocalist of the Year.
Celebrity Look-Alike
This player in Event 42: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better reminded us of former pitching great Greg Maddux.
Pitcher Greg MadduxWhat do you guys think?
QQQQ>JJJJ
It’s past 1:00am here in the Rio, and although the halls are bare we came upon this scene at the QuadJacks radio booth.
Just a few feet away are four males having a drink at the Blue Moon bar, but they have yet to make a move at the ladies. Seems like they’re more interested in exchanging bad beat tales. C’mon guys, ante up and play!
Hairdo Of The Night
We spotted this guy on the rail. That's one nice fro sir.
Does It Help?
We spotted this lady in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event. Some players will go to great lengths to hide any physical tells they may give off, even at the expense of comfort.
We encourage everyone to get involved with "The Muck." See something you think is Muck worthy? Send it to the muck@pokernews.com. We accept all media including photos and videos.
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JUN 22
All Mucked Up: 2012 World Series of Poker Day 26 Live Blog
All Mucked Up is a live blog of all the stuff you want to know at the 2012 World Series of Poker, 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. Check back often for polls, soundbites, celebrity sightings, and who knows what else!
May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor
We took a walk down to the sportsbook this morning to take a look at the odds for the only tournament finishing up today. Event #38: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. The worst odds belong to chip leader Jeffrey Manza with 7/2 with Marcus Gurley going for 30/1. Also still in the field is Blair Hinkle going at 15/2, Theo Tran going for 12/1, and Miguel Proulx going at 20/1
Jeffrey Manza: 7/2
Dung Nguyen: 7/2
Matthew Pierce: 7/1
Blair Hinkle: 15/2
Kristijonas Andrulis: 15/2
Zachary Korik: 15/2
Mihails Morozovs: 19/2
Michael Borovetz: 10/1
David Pham: 10/1
Bahman Jahanguiri: 12/1
Theo Tran: 12/1
Tyler Patterson: 20/1
Blake Cahail: 12/1
Jesse Wilke: 12/1
Jason Lester: 15/1
Scott Clements: 10/1
Bastian Fischer: 18/1
Miguel Proulx: 20/1
Jia Liu: 20/1
Ricky Crandell: 22/1
Marcus Gurley: 30/1Once the odds were posted, Tyler Patterson tweeted about his odds:
Rio sportsbook has me at 20/1 to win a bracelet today. I'm 12 of 21 remaining. Almost 30bbs. Seems like a beatable line to me, load up
June 22 2012FollowWe can't tell you who to bet on, but the Rio had a new message posted today for bettors: Poker players involved in the final table cannot wager on the event.
Roached
Vanessa Rousso finally revealed her costume today for the bet she lost a few days ago. Here's what we found:
So it's official...I'm a cockroach for the day! Losing bets to @liv_boeree is always good for a laugh! http://t.co/7dyLOOsY
June 22 2012Follow
Vanessa Rousso in her cockroach suit.We'll try and grab a few pics of her today, and ask a little more about the bet she lost.
"I didn't think anything could cheer me up today"
Vanessa Rousso, Liv Boeree and Maria Ho were seen coming out of the tournament registration area this morning. Rousso, of course, was holding up her end of the bargain by coming fulled decked out in roach gear.
When we approached Rousso, she did a little dance for us in the roach suit. Walking down the hallways on his way back to registration, was Nick Binger.
"I didn't think anything could cheer me up today," Binger said as he saw Rousso and smiled.
Rousso is being a good sport about the whole ordeal though as she obliged media interviews and cameramen alike. Should be a fun day in the Rio with Rousso in a roach suit. Hopefully, with the series just starting to get exciting, more prop bets will ensue and we'll be able to bring you even more fun and games between the players.
Boeree, Ho, and Rousso in Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'emCracking the Urinal - A Doyle Brunson Tale
For those of you who may have missed the uproar of #RealIveyTweets, we found a couple more gems today between David 'Doc' Sands, and Doyle Brunson. Here they are:
To which Texas Dolly replied:
We'll be sure to share if we see any more good #RealIveyTweets.
On Break in the Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em
We were able to catch up quickly with Annette Obrestad who was on break in Event #41. We talked to her briefly about the field in Event #41 and some tips for an amateur playing the event.
How does this field compare to a $1,500 field?
I just late regged, but so far my table is pretty soft. I don't know how it would compare to a $1,500 event though because I haven't really played many of those. They are just so early, it's hard to get out of bed for them.
What are some tips you could give to an amateur who is playing in an event like this?
Take it easy. Play tight. You can't win a tournament in the first couple of hours. Also, don't try too hard. I see so many people with top pair, and they overplay their hand or just won't fold.
Are there any events that you're looking forward to?
I think there is a 5k coming up, and that should be pretty fun. I haven't really looked at the schedule too much. I try to take it just one day at a time. Other than that, the main event of course.
We'll try to catch up with some more pros when we find them and we'll let you know what they say right here in All Mucked Up.
Who is Uncle Ron?
Among poker playing siblings, the Mizrachi brothers are obviously the most well known. A lesser known group of poker playing siblings are the Hinkle brothers. Both Grant and Blair Hinkle have World Series of Poker bracelets. In 2008, Grant took first place in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event, winning $831,279. Blair followed up by winning a $1,500 No-Limit event later in the same year for $507,613.
The lesser known Hinkle is their younger brother Mason Hinkle. We caught Mason on the rail of Event #38: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em today, and he was decked out in some "special" attire. Mason was in full character as Uncle Ron to support his brother Blair on the rail.
Mason Hinkle or Uncle Ron"I'm Uncle Ron," Mason said. "I'm Blair's brother, and his uncle, if that makes any sense. This is my rail bird outfit. I've got long socks, short shorts, and even a little camera so I can update the family back at home."
The outfit was purchased at a thrift store, Mason told us. Apparently, Uncle Ron has been giving Blair tips between hands as well.
"We've come up a with a little strategy," Uncle Ron/Mason said. "Call people. Don't let anybody bluff you. Just call them."
Uncle Ron also gave us a little tidbit about his other brother, Grant.
"My nemesis is Grant Mister Fish. He's always trying to cramp my style at the Monday night home games."
We asked Mason to drop the Uncle Ron act just momentarily and give us a little bit about what it's like to have two bracelet winning brothers.
"After they both won in 2008, I really started to get involved. They taught me a lot of their ways and really helped me out. I could only play online because I was just 18 at the time."
We asked him what it was like to be the only brother without a bracelet. "Actually, I'm not the only brother without a bracelet. We have an older brother who doesn't have one either. He doesn't play as much, just small stakes cash games, but we try to live vicariously through Blair and Grant."
Mason told us that he is going to play an event on Sunday, the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em, and that he would be wearing an even more spectacular costume, so stay on the look out for that.
Pius, Pius Heinz!!!
2011 Main Event Champion Pius Heinz is in the building for his first tournament of the 2012 World Series of Poker. Currently he's hanging out in the Brasilia room playing in Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em with over 12,000 chips.
We'll be keeping a close eye on Heinz's progress as he plays in his first event since last year's Main Event.
What's On Your Head: Day 26
We caught this gentleman in Event #42: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better wearing a rather interesting straw hat. The hat in question had two alligators on it, coupled with pictures of big poker moments, for example; Jonathan Duhamel winning the main event in 2010. On the pictures were what we assume to be witty captions, but we couldn't get close enough to see them:
We're sure that this wont be the last of the weird hats to show up, but it's up there as one of the weirdest.
The "Other David Baker"
After a heated heads up battle with Greg Mueller, David Baker became the second player named David Baker to win a bracelet this summer by capturing the title in Event #37: $2,500 Eight Game Mix earlier today. Just days ago, David 'Bakes' Baker became the first of the pair by capturing his bracelet in Event #32: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E.
Plenty of folks have already taken to twitter to make light of the situation. Here's what 'Bakes' girlfriend Maridu Mayrinck had to say:
The only thing that we have to say is this, "Watch out Phils, the David Bakers are coming for you."
The Old Guard
We spotted two old boys from the golden age of High Stakes Poker, Sammy Farha and Joe Hachem, in the Amazon room today.
Farha, who's playing day two of the Event #39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, is making only his second appearance at the World Series Of Poker this year. PLO is Sammy preferred game, presumably because of the huge amount of gambling it involves. Sammy, shown below without his signature unlit cigarette, was once quoted on High Stakes Poker as saying "If you want to win big, you have to gamble" after winning All-In Pre-Flop with KK vs AA. He can come by PokerNews HQ to make that gamble any time.
This is the first time we've seen the Australian Joe Hachem this series. Hachem, one of poker's most likable personalities, is playing Event #42: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better. We'll try catch up with him in the next few days to see how he is doing.
Outfit Of The Day: Day 26
The Bear, Not GandalfCheck out this guy playing in Event #42: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better. Tough to stare that down in a big pot...
The Card Protector Chronicles: Day 26
Right after dinner break, we did our rounds through the Brasilia room keeping an eye out for any interesting card protectors. We weren't disappointed. Check out this guy's Lizard, which he leaves just far enough on to the table to tilt his opponents, but not so far as to incur a penalty from the floor...
Next we see this character's Turtle sitting atop a small pile of sky-blue chips. The Turtle is more of a mascot then a card protector as it doesn't seem to be leaving its lofty throne when the hero has cards in play - perhaps its official title should be sky-blue chip protector.
We caught this gentlemen right in the middle of a turbo-muck. Up on top of his chips you can see a Luxor key-ring which he uses to protect his cards. The keyring looks like it lights up like the real Luxor, we're not sure yet if it's an angle to wind up opponents or if the light up feature goes un-utilized during play.
Last but not least: This man isn't short of mascots or other run-good accessories. On top of his chips he has a golden bull, and right in front he has what appears to be a Mini-Faberge Egg.
We'll keep snooping around, seeing what objects people use to protect their cards or cheer them on during the series, so stay tuned.
Who's Classier?
We saw these two guys out in the field for Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em. The first gentleman put on his favorite yellow, Titleist polo and matching yellow beret this morning, packed his clubs in the trunk of the car and on the way to the golf course had a huge personality change and decided he wanted to play the the 3k No-Limit event in the Rio today instead of eighteen holes!
The second man wasn't perturbed by the general trend and decided that, if he was going to sit in one spot and sweat small, unsuited, unconnected cards for hours at a time today, we was going to enjoy a glass of Merlot to take the sting out of things.
Castle Building
Check out the castle Jason Mercier is building in Event #39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha . You can always rely on Mercier to keep building higher and higher, so assuming he doesn't bust, we'll check back later to see what shape it's taking.
Good #ForTheGame
We caught up with some of the biggest names in poker this evening to try and get their reaction to this weeks news: Rafael Nadal joining team PokerStars.
"It's exciting for me" Bertrand 'Elky' Grospellier told us "because he's one of the biggest athletes out there. It has to be good for poker. I'm excited to meet him and hopefully I will get the chance to play with him".
Brian 'Stinger' Hastings shared much the same sentiments
"It's so awesome for the game. Hopefully it will get a lot of positive press, at least in Spain and hopefully in the world. He has such a good image"
David Williams agreed too.
"It's incredible for poker. He's one of the biggest names in the mainstream and hopefully it will open people's eyes to the nature of the game and that poker is for everyone. It's also great to have poker in the mainstream press for something positive so I think a lot of good will come of it".
Finally, one of our muck reporters tweeted Lex Veldhuis to ask him what he thought and if he might trade poker lessons for tennis lessons. This could come in handy if he makes that tennis prop bet he's been talking about the last while.
Playing Good, Running Better
Terrance Chan is considered to be one of the greatest Limit Hold'em players of all time, but sometimes that isn't enough and you have to get lucky to get the big score. He just took the chip lead in Event #40: $2,500 Limit Hold'em after this hand versus Sorel Mizzi.
A Case Of Mistaken Identity
Earlier in the series Mickey 'MementMori' Petersen told us that people mistook other blonde haired/bespectacled young men for him all the time.
"I saw on twitter one day some kid write 'I just busted MementMori'. But I wasn't even playing an event that day. It happens all the time, damn imposters"
We've been keeping a sharp eye out for any Petersen impersonators, and are posting them here to raise awareness. These men are not to be trusted. If you see any more, please, please contact the relevant authorities (PokerNews) immediately.
Amazon Atmosphere
When it gets late at the end of every day, we seem to find ourselves hanging around Scott Seiver's table more than any other. Tonight his table is again the most boisterous, sending laughter rippling across an other wise lethargic Amazon room.
We strolled by to check out what was going on and saw the majority of the table drinking beers and urging the waitress to quickly bring out more.
"What's the fastest beer you can get me?" One grinder asked, before being told they were all the same.
One man spilled his beer all over the table and called suspiciously to the floor:
"Water spill here".
Before trying to dry it with his shirt..
We encourage everyone to get involved with "The Muck." See something you think is Muck worthy? Send it to the muck@pokernews.com. We accept all media including photos and videos.
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JUN 22
Five First With 2012 World Series of Poker Bracelet Winner Craig McCorkell
On the that night will be remembered for one of the most active rails in the history of the World Series Of Poker, we got London boy Craig McCorkell's First Five right after he won a bracelet in Event #36: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout.
What was your first thought when you won the bracelet?Oh, man. Just incredible happiness. I wished that my girlfriend was here. She’s flying in tomorrow. I’m excited about that.
Who was the first person you called?
I called my girlfriend already, right after I won. She’s been incredibly supportive. It’s a alternative lifestyle that a poker player lives you know?
What’s the first thing you’re going to do to celebrate?
I don’t know, we might wait to celebrate tomorrow. I know a few of the lads have had a couple of beers [laughing] so they might be up for heading out. But I really don’t know what we’ll do.
What was the first turning point in the tournament?
There were no real turning points. I played tight and solid at the start of the day. Because I play cash a lot online, I thought I had the biggest edge three to four-handed, so I waited until then to open up my game. I think I play best heads-up, so I waited until then to make my moves.
What’s the first thing you’re going to buy?
Actually I do know. We’re going to get a dog. It’s going to have to be pure breed now. My favorite dogs? I like King Charles Cavaliers. I like shih tzus too. We’ll have to see.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
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JUN 22
@AsianSpa Blogs: Dealing with Tragedy and Loss
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of PokerNews.
This is the toughest blog I have ever written. While I was playing a $2/$5 no-limit hold'em game Saturday mid-morning at the WSOP and planning on playing the noon event, I received the worst news anyone can. I got a call from my dad saying my brother was on his way home from the office and was involved in a car accident. I asked how he was. My dad gave me the news that will rock you to the core — he said he didn’t make it. I told them I would catch the next flight out and hung up. It all became a complete blur.
I remember just throwing the chips in my backpack and wandered to the hall thinking how this could be happening. I called a close friend and asked if she could find me a flight ASAP to Chicago because it was an emergency. She told me to catch U.S. Airways 2:42 p.m. departure which was a direct flight and emailed me the boarding pass to my phone. It was already 1:20 p.m., so I grabbed a cab and left with only my backpack for the trip. The cabbie dropped me off at passenger pick up which was so much faster and I was able to make the flight. I was in Chicago at 8:20.
My brother was the president and leader of our families trading business and was the one who kept everything going. He was a great son, a great brother, a great boss, and a great husband to my sister-in-law. I am not sure what I am going to do at this point, but I am staying in Chicago for the time being.
As you all are aware, I am pretty harsh and sometimes crude with my Twitter persona, but it does feel great receiving the amount of DMs I received. I have some of the best people on Twitter on our #TeamSpa™ Team. Thank you to everyone who reached out, it meant a lot.
I am not giving up Twitter or poker but I have to step up and try to fill in the best I can here and help fill the void and keep everything going. We have 15 employees and they along with their families count on us. I thought I was done with a “real” job when I sold the spa a few years ago, but life can change in the blink of an eye.
Live your life and remember to always say goodbye, you might not get the chance again! I was lucky enough to have spoken to my brother only they day before and he said, “be good TruthSpeaker,” and chuckled as he hung up the phone. I smiled and didn’t even think about it at the time, but that’s the last thing my brother will ever say to me.
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JUN 21
All Mucked Up: 2012 World Series of Poker Day 25 Live Blog
All Mucked Up is a live blog of all the stuff you want to know at the 2012 World Series of Poker, 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. Check back often for polls, soundbites, celebrity sightings, and who knows what else!
May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor: Day 25
Here’s what the odds are on today’s final table today of Event 36: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, according to the Rio sports book:
Craig Mccorkell @ 4/1
Jeremiah Fitzpatrick @ 4/1
Antonio Esfandiari @ 4/1
Roberto Romanello @ 4/1
Joe Tehan @ 4/1
Athanasios Polychronopoulos @ 4/1
Sardor Gaziev @ 4/1
Alessandro Longobardi @ 4/1
Jonathan Lane @ 4/1
Thiago Nishijima @ 4/1Due to this tournament being a shootout all players have similar chip counts, thus the odds are the same for all players.
David Tuchman's Thoughts On Shootout Final Table
Event 36: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout is under way. Antonio Esfandiari and Joe Tehan are two of the bigger names featured at this final table. David Tuchman will be in the commentator booth calling the action. We caught up with Tuchman to get his thoughts.
“All eyes are on Antonio (Esfandiari),” Tuchman said. This final table will have a “different dynamic” with all the players having “virtually having the same amount of chips.”
Tuchman says “the pay jumps from 9th to 1st” will make for an interesting final table. “I like the shootout structure. There’s not the same ICM considerations as there would be at a freezeout final table, but you still take it into consideration.”
Amit “amak316” Makhija will be joining Tuchman in the commentator booth as well. We’ll do our best to catch up with amak316 to get his thoughts on the action.
Like A Boss
Eric Baldwin has made a prediction for the winner of the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event. Check out his tweet:
We spotted this player yesterday, but now others are noticing him as well. It's hard not to when u bring, what appears to be, a diamond encrusted chalis to the felt.
Sick Rail Bro
Thiago NishijimaBrazilian poker pro Thiago Nishijima is currently at the $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout final table and he has fellow countryman Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari in his rail.
Andre Akkari seated at Nishijima's railWe asked Akkari if he gave Nishijima any tips before the start of the match.
“I haven’t talked to him, he got here late (laughs), Akkari said. “He’s really good. He’s already won a WCOOP bracelet. He has more than $2million in winnings.”
Rafael Nadal Joins Team PokerStars
If you haven’t heard, superstar tennis player Rafael Nadal has joined Team PokerStars. We'll be getting reactions from the pros on PokerStars' latest addition.
We’ve reported that Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari has been playing a lot of tennis lately. We spoke to him to get his reaction.
“I never talked to him, but he’s an idol,” Akkari said. “ He’s amazing.”
Here's some tweets from other Team PokerStars Pros:
Welcome to pokerstars @RafaelNadal ! Pretty exciting stuff. I look forward to meeting u on the felt!
June 21 2012FollowWelcome to @PokerStars #NadalPoker i am 100% to play both w you, poker and tenis, as doubles of course! Kkkkk
June 21 2012FollowAmak316's Analysis Of Shootout Final Table
As reported earlier Amit “amak316” Makhija is doing commentary for the final table of Event 36: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout. We spoke to amak316 at the break to get his thoughts on the play thus far.
“Interesting so far. It’s only been two hours. Players are feeling each other out. John (Jonathan Lane) has the big chip lead and the others are grouped together. John is not using his chip lead like he should. He’s not as aggressive as he could be. It’s surprising with John and Jeremiah (Fitzpatrick) having the most chips since they’re the most inexperienced players (at the final table). John’s gotta be the favorite at this point. Antonio (Esfandiari) is playing well too."
World Cup Poker
There’s an international flavor to today’s final table of the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout tournament. Craig McCorkell, from the UK, has one of the loudest rails, which includes Chris Moorman. They’ve been chanting and cheering with every pot that McCorkell scoops. Not to be outdone, Brazilian Thiago Nishijima’s rail is just as loud. The atmosphere would make one think it’s a World Cup soccer match.
Thiago Nishijima
Moorman pictured in center
McCorkell's rail
Tweet pic from Team PokerStars Pro Andre AkkariSights In The Amazons
Moseying through the Amazon we ran into some interesting sights in Event 38: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em.
You have something on your chin sir.
I'll be your Huckleberry.
We're building castles.
God Save The Queen
The party continues for the British rail in Event 36: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout. We were there just as Craig McCorkell doubled up when his
held versus Alessandro Longobardi’s 
. Here are some reaction shots to go along with evidence of the alcohol infused celebration.
We’re being treated to England’s finest football chants in the stands of the Final Table. Some lyrics include:
“Go on Corky, go on corky”
“We’re all going to Stoney’s, we’re all going to Stoney’s, La Da Da Da – Hey!”
“Craig McCorkell is our friend, is our friend, is our friend, Craig McCorkell is our friend, Da Da Dada”
There’s a lot of heckling of Antonio Esfandiari going on too. At one point, in the middle of an “Antonio, woah” chant, Antonio stood up and yelled back “Is that all you’ve got?”, to which one spectator called “For my next trick, I’ll pull a rabbit from my a*se!”
This spurred on a volley of abuse directed Antonio’s way:
“Are you a dealer in disguise, are you a dealer, you a dealer, are you a dealer in disguise?”
“He’s got a visor on his head, on his head, on his head”
“We’re playing tennis in the morning, we’re playing tennis in the morning…”
You get the idea…Trouble At Final Table
Security have taken a hard line with the English railbirds at the final table of Event 36: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout. The security came up to the stands and started to remove some of the spectators, and proceeded to escort them from the Amazon room and check their passports. The noise has been reaching a crescendo just before security got involved. Here are some photo’s of Security intervening and arguing with the fans.
We caught up with some of the fans, who seemed very sober and coherent, just after their friends had been told to leave. Here’s what they had to say.
“They didn’t tell us what we had done wrong. We’re just cheering and stamping, we were told this afternoon that it was encouraged.”
“One of our mates is pretty drunk, but it’s not against the rules, he was just singing and dancing”
“I think it’s ridiculous. They’re not letting anyone bring beer up here now [Author can confirm this is true]. We’re just trying to improve the atmosphere but they aren’t used to it at all, and they’re scared what could happen”
“We can’t even see the hole cards, what are we meant to do just sit here in silence? It would be pretty boring to sit here for eight hours. I’m surprised they’re like this, we didn’t break any rules”
Who Wore It Better?
Antonio Esfandiari's visor is getting a lot of attention this evening. We saw this other Visor on the far side of the amazon room and wanted to know which you thought was sweeter.
Sweet License Plates
It’s been a while since we’ve featured a cool poker license plate in the muck, and there is a reason for that: It’s just too hot to go outside! However, with things a little slow during Dinner break of the 10k PLO, we carefully picked out our thinnest, whitest t-shirts and walked the outline of the car park in search of some gems: Today, we got lucky. Check out these poker related cars.
The First Amendment
The WSOP railbird rules have been changed this afternoon. Where as previously there were no specific rules about drinking alcohol out of shoes, the rest of this year is going to be different. When the announcer after the dinner break of the EVENT final table, we outlined some new rules as such:
“No throwing anything, no kicking anything, no destroying anything, no pouring beer into your shoe or your neighbor’s shoe”.
This rule has the potential to change the face of live poker as we know it.
The Optimal Angle
The other day we saw a man leaning in his chair at such an extreme angle that we had to post it here and question the man's sanity. Today we think we've found a man who found the right balance between relaxing in your chair, but not taking your life in your hands.
Props to Carlos Mortensen, shown here in the 6-max Limit Hold'em.
The Card Protector Chronicles
Check out today's wtf card protectors. The first is like the small monopoly dog figurine, and the second... looks like some sort of triple knut/oddly shaped knuckle duster. Well, whatever works...
Lets go F*cking Mental!!
The crowd went wild here in the Amazon room after Craig McCorkell doubled up in a big all in pot here at the final table of Event 36: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout before taking down the tournament two minutes later. We'll try to catch Craig for a First Five in a few minutes, for now enjoy this picture of the scenes here.
Mortensen's Frustration
Carlos Mortensen is never content with just stacking his chips by color or in even stacks and always wants to create something aesthetically pleasing. He probably finds the activity soothing, helping him stave off the dreaded monkey-tilt that so many players suffer from during the 7 week long World Series Of Poker.
However, despite his best efforts, in Event #40: $2,500 Limit Hold'em tonight he simply doesn't have enough chips to construct too interesting a stack. It looks as if that (and the fact that he's playing Limit Hold'em) has the tilt brewing...
Cash Game Watch
We swung by the Pavilion room at 1am tonight to check out the cash game action and see saw Brian 'Stinger' Hastings sitting playing PLO. Stinger played Event #39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha already today, but obviously hadn't had his fill of PLO for the day. We'll keep you posted on who else sits in the game, and how late it goes tonight.
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JUN 21
Five First With 2012 World Series of Poker Bracelet Winner Naoya Kihara
Wednesday night was a night of many firsts. Naoya Kihara was able to best a field of 419 players in Event #34: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha to take home his first bracelet. Kihara admitted that Wednesday was his first time playing pot-limit Omaha heads-up. His win marked the very first bracelet won by a Japanese native. We got a chance to catch up with Kihara moments after his win to get a get a few of his first thoughts.
When was the first moment that you realized you could win this tournament?
Actually, when Day 1 finished, I finished 12th in chips. Then there were only 72 players remaining, and I got 12th. At that time, I started to think a little bit about that.
Who is the first person you're going to call and tell?
I have not decided yet, but I need to make a call to my parents.
What's the first thing that you're going to buy?
Hmm. A watch I think. [Laughs]
Who was the first person that you hugged or high-fived after you won?
My girlfriend.
What is the first thing that you thought after you won?
'I want to sleep,' actually. I'm tired actually. I couldn't sleep a lot the last two days. I was too excited and I couldn't sleep at all, so I need to rest.
Naoya said that he was going to use his winnings to also start playing more live tournaments, and that his dream as a poker player is to become a sponsored player. He plans to play some more Omaha tournaments over the summer as well as the Main Event.
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