POKER TOURNAMENT UPDATE

4:00 pm 09.21.10

WPT BORGATA ODDS AND ENDS: 

- LITTLE AND MONKEY HANGING AROUND:  With 75 players left Little has chipped up a little bit and Monkey is at around 100k.  The two Texas Hold em poker pros are both under average and need to "do" more work but getting there.

- SEXTON TEXTING IN THE MONEY:  Host Mike Sexton who wasn't allowed to play in the first five seasons of the WPT, but has been since, won his first cash in this event.  Guess he doesn't need to go back to poker school afterall. No word yet on if he'd be allowed to commentate his first final table.  He's edging up to the leaders in chips.

-TWIT TWEETING:  Dan O'Brien who finished 9th at the Southern Poker Championship (last year) tweeted "186k going to 3/6k blind level.  108 left, 100 pay, $730k to first.  O yeah, flight to London out of NYC in 8 hours. We'll see bout that."  11 minutes later he busted out.  Beware,.. the Poker Gods apparently have twitter.

-MONKEY IN TRIPLICATE:  From Borgata Open Blog:  "With 103 players remaining (100 get paid) there was a 3-way all-in between Will 'Monkey' Souther, Ali Eslami, and defending champion Olivier Busquet.

Will was the shortest stack all-in pre-flop. Ali was the second-shortest stack and he..." shoved over the top "... except for one 500 chip he left on his cards. Olivier had them both covered.

On the flop of T 4 2, Ali tossed his last chip in, Olivier called, and the rolled over the hands. Will was ahead with pocket Kings. Ali held pocket queens, and Olivier held AK offsuit. The last two cards changed nothing and Will tripled up, Ali doubled collecting the side pot, and Olivier had to pay off everyone..."

JP KELLY ONE SPOT SHORT OF MAKING HISTORY AT WSOP-E:  By finishing runner-up, up and coming British poker star, JP Kelly didn't better Phil Ivey's youthful record for winning three bracelets and he is not the first man in a LONG time to defend a No Limit Texas Hold'em bracelet. 

 He had to settle for 82k (that's in pounds or quid) for second while Scott Shelley, an amateur from London proper, won 133k for first (also paid in pounds or quid).  Heads up was mercifully short for the guy on the microphone who had to alternate between saying Shelley and Kelly (sounds like twin girls who are dressed alike).   Shelley's pocket threes beat Kelly's QJ o/s to give him the title.

POKER TOURNAMENT UPDATE

09.21.10

BLOGGERS JONATHAN LITTLE AND POKER MONKEY RETURN FOR DAY 3 AT BORGATA POKER OPEN MAIN EVENT:  The WPT event is going to play down to the money.  Both have battled and played great to still be in the thick of things.  Monkey finished  137th with 84.5k in chips.  Little was at 138.9k good for 98th.   With 167 players left, they will play down to 27, so it promises to be a long day.  Go get 'em boys!

Chip-leader, you may ask?  Well, it's in Jersey so at some point during the tournament John D'Agostino is going to be the leader.  That point is now.  He has a huge stack of 681.2k.  Lars Bonding is in the top five with 521k.  Defending champion Olivier Busquet (pictured with his winnings last year) is hovering in the top 25 with over 250k. 

JASON MERCIER WINS WCOOP 1K TOURNAMENT.  The field was only 3122 players and he ran like it was butter and he was the hot knife.  The kid is sicko.  After making a chop three handed, guaranteeing himself over 375k, Mercier went on to take down the title win an extra 60k plus the WCOOP bracelet.  Chad Brown made the final table and local GCP friend Jacob Naquin (pictured) went deep.  Not sure if Naquin made the money after returning for day 2 or going out on the proverbial bubble.  Also, in the WCOOP, Raise Once, rumored to be Phil Ivey won the 25k High Roller No Limit Heads-Up event.

BACK TO BACK?  Olivier Busquet isn't the only returning champion in the thick of things.  Over at the WSOP-Europe JP Kelly, an Englishman, is seeking to become one of only five or so players to repeat as champion.  He is the headliner on the final table and is sitting third in chips.  He also is seeking to unseat Phil Ivey as the youngest three bracelet winner ever.

GENERAL POKER UPDATE

09.20.10

MONKEY TOP 30 IN CHIPS AT BORGATA POKER OPEN MAIN EVENT:  With 641 players out of 1042 runners returning it's still early, but Will "Don't Call Me Corey" Souther is in the top 20 with 108k after the 2nd of two day 1s.  Bernard Lee (120k) and Lisa Hamilton (pictured), a bracelet winner from last years WSOP is just ahead with 115k.  Check out Monkey's blog under the online poker room ad to your right, for his interactions with everybody's favorite villainess from the Eastgate's Main Event Tiffany Michelle.

NEGREANU'S TOP FIVE YOUNG POKER PROS.  Seems the parameters for his list are focused on being good and being telegenic.  Sounds like he's describing himself.  That being said, all five are REALLY good.  Four of the five are the same as many would pick, though perhaps some would reserve judgment on Viktor Blom. 

Tom Dwan, Jason Mercier, and Anette Obrestad are the other conventional picks, but Negreanu goes a bit off book by naming Bill Reynolds as number four.  Also, the commentary and possible subtext in his Anette Obrestad assessment is interesting considering his recent row with Annie Duke.  Shaun Deeb makes the just missed list, but go over to Cardplayer to read the full blog post.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW BLOGGER SCOTTY CLARK:  You should enjoy his blog which is  a mix of media and all things poker.  We have many visitors to our site from St. Louis and many of us travel there for a poker tournament or two, so it's fitting we get a point of view from "the Lou."  Foremost for his inclusion is that his blog is an entertaining romp and has been on our radar for some time.  Check it out and enjoy.  You'll see him on the left side of our columns, but here's a direct link to his blog. 

LISANDRO JOINS LAAK IN WINNING WSOPE BRACELET.  Jeffrey Lisandro may still be on the heater he enjoyed last summer.  He's added his fourth WSOP bracelet in two years which puts him in rare company.  When you factor in the variety of games he's won them in (Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, Razz and now Pot Limit Omaha), he's definitely moving into another echelon of pretty elite company.  And yes, Phil Laak overcame a large chip deficit to win event 1. 

WORLD POKER UPDATE

09.17.10

THREE HANDED IN WORLD SERIES OF POKER EUROPE:  Event #1 Six Handed No Limit Tournament Drew 244 entries and a prize pool of 610k (pounds).  Right now, Phil "Unabomber" Laak, Chris Bjorin and Canadian Big Stack Andrew Pantling are playing it out for the 170k (pounds) first prize.   Laak has had a rollercoaster couple of months, first not sleeping for almost five days while playing poker, than almost dying in an ATV accident and now at another final table.  Maybe that's the key to winning, don't sleep for a week, get in a wreck (the first two usually go hand in hand), and then crush Euro-donks.

Notables that also made the money in event one include a who's who of English poker players like Praz Bansi, Chris Moorman, and Liv Boeree.  Wonder if it being played in London can help explain why so many English players cashed?  Next up is Event #2:  Pot Limit Omaha with a 5,250k (pounds) buy-in. 

CUT AND PASTE FROM PPA NEWSLETTER, "WORLD'S TOP POKER PROS JOIN PPA IN TAKE A STAND AGAINST COMMERCE CASINO...."

"The PPA, along with more than 120 top professional players and over 9,000 poker player advocates, have signed a letter asking Commerce Casino to support federal licensing and regulation of online poker as proposed in H.R. 2267, which passed out of the House Financial Service Committee by a 41-22 bipartisan vote in July. The PPA has grave concerns that Commerce Casino, located in California, has turned its back on poker enthusiasts nationwide by putting profits ahead of players’ interest and aligning with those determined to BAN online poker.

The PPA is asking all poker players to visit www.playersbeforeprofits.com and sign the letter to Commerce Casino asking them to change their anti-online poker position. You can also tweet Commerce Casino (@CommerceCasino) and tell them to put players before profits! 

LOUISIANA FALL POKER CLASSIC STARTS TOMORROW.  Go to the Isle of Capris Lake Charles website for more details.

JONATAN LITTLE ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS ON CARDPLAYER.  His interviewer is a giant, btw.  Some of the questions include what pro would you have teach you any other game.  The first answer might surprise you, it did me.  Anyway, go here to see the video.

SHAUN DEEB WINS ANOTHER WCOOP BRACELET:  Deeb took down his second WCOOP bracelet with a win in the 1050 NLHE, $1 Million Guaranteed event 28.  Deeb beat 1,432 players and scooped the $243k first place prize.  This takes his lifetime winnings in online tournaments to over $4 million dollars.

GENERAL POKER UPDATE

09.13.10

HALL OF FAME VOTING TO CHANGE:  Across all sports Hall of Fames take pride in being exclusive clubs.  However, when there are a large number of worthy candidates and borderline onerous restrictions to entry sometimes you have to change things up.  The Poker Hall of Fame is doing just.  Now the sixteen living Poker Hall of Fame members and the 17 members of the media that do the voting will cast up to 10 points on as many as three candidates (no more than three but 10 points could be cast on one, but all 10 points must be used). 

From there the top two candidates who have the majority of votes get in.  Unlike Mike Sexton (pictured), last year, who needed 75% of the votes, this years class will only need 50%.  Candidates include:  Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Dan Harrington, Linda Johnson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Erik Seidel,  Tom McEvoy, and Scotty Nguyen.  Hard not to think that one day almost all of these folks will make the Hall of Fame.

OLD-ISH ONLINE NEWS:  

-GCP Blogger Shannon Shorr who likes to "BLUFFforRENT" won the Full Tilt Poker 1k poker tournament last Monday.  Shorr added another 122.5k to his account.  Josh Arieh finished third for 56.35k and Jared -"TheWacoKidd" Hambey was fourth for 44.1k. 

-Jeremy Gaubert (pictured) has a new website.  Go here for a looksie.  Have to say we like the logo.

-Deliverance Poker which promises to make sure you don't get screwed on the river is suing Michael Mizrachi.  Mizrachi was wearing Deliverance Poker gear at the World Series and then he wasn't.  They too have a cool logo although it's a little UB-ish.    

-Good article on Shaun "Don't Call it a Comeback" Deeb.  After winning Full Tilt Poker's 750k Guarantee Deeb talked about online poker with Elaine Chaivarlis and what it meant to get back into the winner's circle.

DECENT STORY ON THE 2003 MAIN EVENT THAT FUELED THE POKER BOOM:  Good story on where are the final talbers now and what have they been up to by Pokernews.  Some interesting numbers that reflect the poker boom in there.  Chris Moneymaker has won over 500k since he won the 2003 WSOP Main Event.  David Grey only 886k.  Granted Grey is more thought of as a cash game player but that was interesting, even moreso that Grey only had 627k in lifetime winnings coming into the event.  

When you count in the Main Event earnings Moneymaker has almost twice as much lifetime as Grey.  Likely Grey dwarfs that number in cash games, but considering how many poker telecasts he made after the World Series, it's interesting people are so harsh on Moneymaker but give Grey a pass.  Ninth place finisher David Singer trails only Dan Harrington in tournament winnings since 2003.  The only players to earn less than Moneymaker since then are Young Pak and Tomer Benvenisti (7th and 6th place respectively).

GENERAL POKER UPDATE

09.09.10

DON'T THINK WE GAVE THE MAN HIS DUE:  As excited as we were for two of our bloggers to chop it up three ways, we never got a photo up of the winner of the Gulf Coast Poker Championship Mark Rose. 

Have to admit we like the hat on the Poker Monkey far better (just kidding... uh, actually, not really).  Congrats to Mark, the Orlando pro who, according to Bluff Magazine's player database, has almost 500k in live cashes.  This was his first outright win.

ANOTHER ONE WE MISSED.  Congrats to Justin Allen AKA "Lockdowntex" who took first place in the 1k Winstar "The River Poker Series" recently.  Allen is a fixture on the regional circuit so congrats to him for adding another 60k to his bankroll.

THE CHEMIST TOP 25 IN CHIPS IN EVENT 9 WCOOP:  The World Championship of Online Poker's first two day event of this series has some local flavor with Jeremy Gaubert in the mix.  With players already in the money only 93 are left to vie for the title. 

Joe Cada, who you might have heard of, is 13th with over 200k in chips.  Jonathan Little endured another cooler in a recent series of them having his set run into a higher one.  Play resumes at 5 est.

MAN WINS BIG IN CASINO GETS RUN OVER AND KILLED IN ROBBERY AFTERWARDS:  Ever stand at the cage and watch some deviant cashing a ticket for pennies watching you pocket 1000s?  Ever get the feeling he's watching you a little too closely?  Well, be careful folks, sometimes they are read the l.a. times blog here.

PETER EASTGATE GONE FROM POKERSTARS?  Just saw a new commercial last night on the WSOP telecast bragging about him being a Pokerstars WSOP champion. 

Now he's gone?  The guy did retire, or semi-retire, but seems strange to feature him in a new advertising campaign only to quietly usher him out of the fold (so too, Hevad Kahn and Gavin Griffin).

GULF COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIP MAIN EVENT UPDATE

09.07.10

CONGRATS TO GCP BLOGGERS WILL SOUTHER AND KAI LANDRY! 

MARK ROSE OF ORLANDO, FL WON THE EVENT BUT A THREE WAY CHOP WAS AGREED TO THAT WAS FAIR TO ALL INVOLVED.  We were rooting from afar as we had some server issues again.  Kai ended up officially 2nd and Poker Monkey 3rd as they played it out for the seat, the sailboat, jewelry, pride and having nothing better to do.  Monkey lost with a straight to a bigger straight and Mark knocked out Kai when he won the coinflip with over cards to Kai's pocket sevens.  Chad Brown finished in the 4th place.  John Stanton of St. Petersburg, FL was fifth.  Mike Bradford, Jonathan Stanton, Ben Chan, and Ron Romano rounded out the final table in that order. 

GULF COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIP MAIN EVENT UPDATE

09.06.10

MAIN EVENT MORE MOORER:  Rusty Moorer of Crestview, MS returns to day two as the chip leader with 117k.  Neal harding of Louisville, KY is second with 116k.  Three from Florida follow them up with Mark Rose of Orlando in third with 103k, Jonathan Stanton of St. Pete in 4th with 101k and Michael Ferrell of Tallahassee, FL 5th with 99k. 

Kai Landry, (pictured and look for his newest blog coming here soon), is just outside the top 10 with 65k.  Chad Brown is still in the thick of things with 54k.  David Rozas of baton Rouge, LA has 51k and is in a virtual tie with Captain Tom Franklin of Gulfport, MS.  GCP blogger Jonathan Little is sitting a little over 41k.  Mohammed Moeini of Biloxi is at 34k.

Lots of rooting interests for us here as Ricky King of Bilxoi is also still alive at 27k.  Tim Kramer of Ocean Springs, MS is at 23k.  Curtis Terry of Metairie, LA has 18.6k and is just ahead of Bilxoians Larry Toncrey and The Poker Moneky each at 14k.  Jankiel Dychtwald of Covington, LA and Ronald Hines of D'Iberville, MS are also in the mix.

GULF COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE

09.05.10

EVENT 11 BLAND VICTORY:  Gary Bland of Edwardsville, Il won 23k for first place.  He bested Henry Gill of Baton Rouge (4th), Cronelius O'Sullivan of New Orleans (6th), Richard Woodward of Baton Rouge (7th), and Ron Lee of Long Beach, MS (8th) at the final table. 

EVENT 12 PLO BILL:  William Bryant of Bossier City, LA took first place and the nearly 10k that went with it.  Matthew Landson of Montgomery, AL and Galen Kester of Senatobia, MS finished second and third for almost 6k and almost 4k respectively.

EVENT 13 BARRY BLAZES TO VICTORY:

Barry Washington (pictured, way up top and you'd never guess he's from Oregon) beat Mohammed Moeini of Gulfport, MS (5th), Judy Rhodes of Houma, LA (6th pictured), and Tom Darce of Prairieville, LA (8th, also pictured) to win the event 13 sailboat and almost 20k.

GULF COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE

09.03.10

CONTINUING WITH OUR UPDATES OF THE WINNERS OF THE GCPC.  This go round a number of GCP.NET guys showed up in the results and on the bubble.  Great job guys.

EVENT 5 CHOPPING BROCCOLI:  Okay, so there was no Broccoli but we know from Will "The Poker Monkey" Souther's blog this tournament was also chopped.  Steven Marshall of Cumming, GA, who took a break from online poker, is credited for first place and a 22k payout. 

Herbie Crook of Pascagoula, MS credited for third place and 6.7k.  Robert Habisreitinger of Covington, LA was credited for 5th.  Barron Whipple and Poker Monkey also cashed (and chopped?).

EVENT 6 CHAMBERS LIMIT CHAMPION:  Walter Chambers won the Limit Hold'Em event.  The former circuit event champion (pictured) added a limit title to his resume and 5.6k for first.  Two Houstonians Kevin Kaylor and Joey Carlson came in second and third.  Douglas Saab of Trussville, AL and Daniel Carney of Long Beach, MS rounded out the top five.

EVENT 7 SOLE SURVIVOR THE POKER MONKEY:  Okay, this tournament was chopped too.  Course this was a survivor tournament and that's what a survivor tournament does.  The Poker Monkey ended up with the most chips and the Beau Rivage sailboat for first place. 

Mohammed Moeini (Gulfport, MS), Gerald Bergeron (Houma, LA), Tam Nguyen (Hammond, LA), Kerri Dorsey (Gautier, MS nice job Kerri), Charles Hayes (Biloxi, MS), and Mary Prats (Mandeville, LA) all made the cut.

GCP's own John "Price is Right" Price just missed out on the money and the chop that preceded the final 20.  Yes, we understand even the survivor tournament which is chopped by definition was chopped early.

EVENT 8 OMAHA HIGH LOW:  Jacob Viccellio of Pride,LA was credited with first place.  "Thunder Dan" Daniel Walsh of Powder Springs, GA credited for second.  Mark Wilds of Biloxi, MS made his obligatory appearance in the money in 4th.  Phillip Cornell of D'Iberville, MS was 6th and James Alello of Baton Rouge, LA 9th.

EVENT 9 QUICK WINS THE PLAYED OUT TOURNAMENT.  Fairly certain there was no chop in this event.  Jim "Sarge" Quick won just under 22k for first.  John Riola of Biloxi, MS 5k for fourth.  GCPer Jason Lipscomb of Ponchatoula, LA won 3.6k for 6th (great run Jason).  Tim Louie of Metaire, Briant Fontana of Slidell and Peter Barrell of Mandeville, were the three Lousianians first out at th final table.  Danny Doucet, Clint Schaffer, our own Gene D, and Bert Ladner were some of the big local names that cashed in this event.  Brian Heptinstall was THE bubble boy losing QQ to AJ all-in preflop. 

EVENT 10 YEAGER SHOTS.  Grady Yeager of Cape Coral, FL won the Seven Card Stud/Seven Card 8 or Better Mix.  Daniel Prejean of Port Allen, LA was second.  Soon to be a GCPer again Kai Landry of Biloxi, MS was third.  Kirk Flom of Gulfport, MS finished in the money in fourth. 

LUMBERJACK CONTEST... OR POKER TOURNAMENT UPDATE

09.01.10

SORRY WE ARE A LITTLE LATE WITH THE RESULTS OF THE GULF COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIP.  With all the chopping going on it's been hard to tell who has won what. 

This year the Beau added a survivor tournament to the mix but it turned out almost every tournament became a survivor tournament. We saw nooners being chopped not just at the final two or three players, or even at the final table, but at the final tableS.

We've received a number of complaints about the structure turning the tournaments into "craps fests" in the later stages and had a couple of players complain about being "harassed and hotboxed" into chops they didn't want to make.   So bare with us, the scores of the top few players in any of these events may not actually be as large as they won.

EVENT 1 NO HICK-UP:  Thomas Hicks of Bluffton, SC was credited for first place.   There was a chop of the 85k prize pool and it inovled Todd Skinner of Youngsville, LA, Frank Alpandinar of Baton Rouge, Brandon Spencer of Slidell, Rusty Moorer and Philip Walsh.

EVENT 2 RAMONA ROMPS IN FLORIDA TRIFECTA:  Ramona Szmurlo of Milton, FL was credited with victory and 6.8k in the ladies tournament.  Michelle Rusoo of Panama City Beach, FL was second and Chantale Cote of Destin, FL third.  Faith Giordano of New Orleans, LA and Maria Lopez of Biloxi, MS made the money and the final table.

EVENT 3 MORGAN TRIUMPHANT:  Timothy Morgan of Pompano Beach, FL was credited with the almost 35k first place prize.  Blake Pool of Mobile, AL second for just under 19k.  Cameron Ainsworth of Frogmore, LA 3rd for a little over 10k.  Denis Devenport of Kennner, LA 5th for almost 7.5k.  Leslie Roussell of Laurel, MS, Ed Bridges of Spanish Fort, AL, Kristen Deardoff, and Walter Chambers also cashed.

EVENT 4 CHARITY CASE:  John Robinson of Brookhaven, MS (pictured by Eric Harkins of Imagemasters) won the Gulf Coast Community Foundation Charity Event which donated proceeds to help Gulf Coasters. 

We commend the Beau, Johnny Grooms, and the rest of the fine tournament staff for making room on their schedule for a charity event.  Other tournament directors should follow their lead.  Robert Ray of Hurley, MS, Eric Kaplan of Biloxi, MS finished 3rd and 4th respectively with John Riola creeping into the money.