WSOP QUICK UPDATE

(06/02/09)

TOM MCEVOY WINS CHAMPION CUP.  When Wild Bill started playing poker he read a book McEvoy and TJ Cloutier wrote together.  Knew McEvoy had won a main event but he really hadn't done anything else and so his insight was kind of irrelevant.  How times have changed.  Amazing what a Corvette will do for an older man.  Robert Varkonyi finished second.  At no point in the tournament was he the favorite.

THE 1k DONKAMENT GOT TO TEN HANDED... AND THEY KEPT PLAYING.  Phil Hellmuth wasn't the short stack.  Dan Heimiller, who quietly goes about his business cashing in tournaments, is the chip leader.  He looks like a principal but plays like an internet kid.

STRIP POKER AT THE ROUND TABLES OF EXCALIBUR.  Guinevere will be your first dancer.  Ever played poker at Excalibur?  No? You are not alone.  It's a bit like playing on your computer, without the ability to surf the web, watch TV, or play in your underwear.  In an effort to get somebody to play poker on their computers the Excalibur is starting a Strip Poker tournament, where a player busts out means a dancer takes off clothes.  Playing in your underwear is probably even more frowned upon but if you like looking at other people in underwear you might get the chance.  "Player down, Panties too!"  Pokerati has more here.

WSOP QUICK UPDATE

(2:00 am-ish 06/02/09)

ROBERT VARKONYI AND TOM MCEVOY PLAYING HEADS UP IN CHAMPIONS CUP.  Action Dan Harrington out in third.  McEvoy with almost a 3 to 1 chip lead.  Jim Bechtel 4th.  Carlos Mortenson 5th, Huck Seed, 6th, Berry Johnston 7th, Doyle Brunson 8th, Peter Eastgate 9th, and Phill Hellmuth 10th.  Hellmuth played one hand on the final table.

CAPTAIN TOM BUSTED IN STIMULUS 1k DONKAMENT.  120 left.  Notables:  JC Tran sitting on 230k, Seve Sung 155.5k, and Lee Watkinson 80k.

SHORR AND GRAHAM DOING WELL IN POT LIMIT OMAHA (EVENT 5).  Matt Graham has 57k and Shorr 43k.  112 remain out of 809 entrants.  Jason Mercier current chip leader.

WSOP UPDATE (06/01/09)

...QUIZ TIME

THE RUSKIES ARE COMING, ARE HERE, OR LIVE NEXT DOOR?  Time to meet the neighbors.  Last year we said the Ruskies were coming.  After Ivan Demidov's performance at the WSOPE we said they were here.  Now they are getting comfortable and forgetting to return the tools they've borrowed. 

Vitaly Lunkin beat one of the greatest fields ever assembled to win his second WSOP bracelet.  Interneter Isaac Haxton, who loves the WNBA, came in second.  This is despite Haxton knocking Greg Raymer out three handed, when Raymer arguably overplayed a pair of fives (Haxton had a pocket pair of nines), to enter heads up play with a commanding chip lead.

Lunkin hit an early straight and Haxton called a big bet to even things up a bit.  Three hours later the Ruskie won the whole thing. Ironically, he held American Airlines.   Lunkin won 1.89 million and Haxton had to settle for 1.16 million.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU BUST OUT OF THE 40K AFTER A DEEP RUN AS A MAIN EVENT CHAMPION?  You bust out quickly in a freeroll.  Raymer hurried over to the champions tournament and overshoved (arguably) again, this time with A9.  Carlos Mortenson called with AK, and Raymer managed to bust out of two prestigious tournaments within 15 minutes of one another.  Raymer still gets 774k for his trouble and a picture with the other main event champions.  Chris Moneymaker bubbled the money in the 40k and then only let Jaime Gold beat him to the valet in the invite only.  Other recent champions Hachem and Jerry Yang also went out on day 1.  Peter Eastgate made it to day 2. 

WHAT CARRIES A BIGGER STIGMA IN POKER, BEING ACCUSED OF BEING A PEDOPHILE OR BEING ACCUSED OF BEING A CHEAT?   Neither one is proven.  The victim, a relative, dropped the charges in the pedophile case, and in the theft/cheating case no formal charges have been made.  The answer is cheating.  Russ Hamilton, worth his weight in silver bullion and in other things, was persona non gratia whereas Amarillo Slim, who always seemed to be embroiled in something played his free-roll.  Slim didn't make it to day two.  For those living under a rock, Russ Hamilton is the accused thief and Slim the once accused pedophile, and having a poker player accused as a pedophile was a black-eye for pedophiles everywhere. 

WHEN DO YOU PLAY DOWN TO TEN INSTEAD OF NINE?  As we've learned in years past it's when Phil Hellmuth is tenth in chips and a short stack.  ESPN loves them some Hellmuth and they'll make it a 10 handed final table if they have to just to get some.  Phil will be sipping some final table Cristal again, as the Champion Cup will be a10 handed one.  And yes, Phil is the shorty... again.

WHO SHOULD YOU BE ROOTING FOR AT THE CHAMPION CUP?  Robert Varkoyni is universally regarded as a bad main event champion and he could probably use the 1970 Corvette.  He's been needing to replace his 1969 Chevelle.  We love underdogs and at that table the underdog is easy to spot.  It's Varkoyni.  We once saw him in a $65 satellite and it was just as easy to spot. 

Or go with Doyle Brunson, who is fourth in chips wtih 20k, because he's Doyle Brunson.  Carlos Mortenson is the big stack with 42k, followed by Tom McEvoy at 31k, Jim Bechtel 30k, Brunson, Dan Harrington at 19.9k, Eastgate at 18.4k, Huck Seed 15.4k, Varkonyi at 13.4k, Berry Johnstone at 7.6k, and Phil Hellmuth at 1,125k,   You don't think Phil nursed his short stack to get some airtime do ya?

CAN YOU SUE A CASINO IF YOUR FENG SHUI IS BAD?  Yes.  They may even offer to settle for a couple of hundred grand.  The big question is, if you refuse the settlement can you win your court case?  Details here.  Oh yeah, they tell you what Feng Shui is too.

WHO IS THE LAST CHAMPION TO GO BACK TO BACK?  No Feng Shui issues for this guy.  For those that got it right, Thank you it's Thang Luu.  In 2007 he finished second in the 1.5k Omaha Hi/Lo.  In '08 he won it.  This year, he won it again.  It's like Chan at the Main Event except in reverse.  Chan went 1st, 1st, and 2nd in '87-'89.  Two ladies Susie Isaacs and Nani Dollison accomplished the same feat in between Chan and Luu.

WSOP UPDATE (05/31/09)

40K ALL STAR OR DEEP POCKETS TOURNAMENT:

HE'S BACK AND SO ARE THE GLASSES.  Greg "Fossilman" Raymer is near the top of the leaderboard at the final table.  He's also got a invite only tournament today  which he is either going to miss or get blinded out of.  Let's see bracelet and 40k final table or vintage 1970 Corvette freeroll.  Which one will he chose?   Raymer late last night weathered losing with AA twice and chopping with them and Ted Forrest's own AA.  He also got his QQ run down.  Main Event Champions can't ask for luck but had those hands held, Raymer would be dwarfing the table... chipstack wise.

KEITH LEHR "JET" TAKES 11TH PLACE IN THE 40K EVENT TAKING HOME OVER 170K: Keith played his heart out and got it in on a flip holding AQ vs Greg Raymers JJ...and he couldn't improve. It would have been cool to see him make the final table,,,  maybe we could have seen him do something crazy for TV...  ike tap a glass bottle on his glass eye when he's in the middle of a huge hand.  Word has it he likes to get in peoples heads by doing zanny things with his glass eye.  Wonder if anybody said, "Don't tap the glass eye."

NOT A MONEYMAKER.  Raymer's Pokerstars comrade, Chris Moneymaker busted out just before the money.  He managed to stay near the top of the chipstacks until the very end when he quickly went from penthouse to the outhouse.  We were rooting for him, it was a tough end to a great run.

NOAH SCHWARTZ, GULF COASTER, ON 40K FINAL TABLE.  Who is Noah?  Go to our Who's Who to find out.  You know, the guy who looks like McLovin.  Schwartz is one of many internet pros still alive.  In fact two+two, (nothing to do with animals on Noah's ark, but a lot to do with messageboard posters on his bandwagon), is in a tizzy about their own awesomeness at this years world series.  Go to the MTT thread to see their own POBs (pats on back--this definition for POB is relevant later).

THE DONKULUS* UPDATE:

LOCKDOWNTEX CONTINUES HEATER AT 1k BUY-IN EVENT.  Justin "Lockdowntex" Allen is in 6th place after day 1A sitting at 72k. The kid has been on fire lately winning the ME at Harrahs last year and then final tabling the ME several weeks ago in New Orleans.

DFISH TOP TEN OF THE DONKULUS* TOURNAMENT AFTER DAY 1A.  (*Tao of Poker dubbed the 1k stimulus donkament:  THE DONKULUS---makes sense).  I guess day 1b will be REDONKULUS.  Anyway, Daryll Fish, fresh off his California cash is running hot again.  One big hand, he lost AA to AA (when KK folded preflop) and the board gave his opponent a flush.  KK had him covered and hit a K so he would have come in third on the hand and been sent packing if KK had stayed in the hand.  After that freeroll he rallied.  Keep it up Fish.  Many other Gulf Coasters alive.

PAT ON BACK TO CAPTAIN TOM.  The Gulf Coast's own "Captain" Tom Franklin is sitting with around 60k to round out the Gulf Coast update. We're going to give ole Captain Tom a pass here as we should write something witty about his infamous incident where he was brutalized on message boards years ago...  Nah...  we're going to pass here and just give the Captain a POB.

WSOP UPDATE (05/30/09)

DAY 1 IS OVER IN THE 40K EVENT: Looks like there are several Gulf Coast Area players still shooting for this coveted gold bracelet and the 1.9 million that will come along with it. This update will focus on the players from the Gulf Coast area.

MONEYMAKER SITTING AT 2ND IN CHIPS: The man that started it all is sitting in 2nd place in chips right now with over 800k. We are going to go ahead and adopt Tunica/Memphis into our coverage...as hey...Mississippi is a Gulf Coast State. It would be something of a story if he were able to pull this one off...I wonder who will be the victim of the 2nd "Bluff of the Century?". There is still a long way to go yet.

KEITH LEHR "JET" GOES FOR HIS 2ND WSOP BRACELET: GeneD was in Bossier City, La this past week and noticed that Keith wasn't in the weekly 25-50 game on Wednesday at the Eldorado...that's because he had bigger fish to fry. Lehr sits with a little over 200k going into day 2 up from the starting stacks of 120k, and he also was the person to send last years Main Event champion, Peter Eastgate, to the rail. Lehr won his first bracelet in 2003 in a $3000.00 buy in Pot-Limit Hold-em event where he bested Chris "Jesus" Ferguson for the title. E-dog was also at that FT as well as Devilfish and Slidell, La's Fred Berger.

OTHER NOTABLES FROM THE COAST:

Alex Jacob from Florida has 357,000...Jason Mercier also of Florida has 331,000...Josh Arieh of Atlanta, Ga sitting at 339,000...Chance Walker of Dallas, TX has 174,000...Hoyt Corkins of Alabama has 104,000...David Benefield of Fort Worth, TX is at 70,000.

WSOP UPDATE (1:00 a.m.-ish 05/29/09)

BRIEF ANNOUNCEMENT AND ALMOST AS BRIEF APPEARANCE.  Peter Eastgate said, "Shuffle up and deal" to start off the tournament.  Last years main event champion got the honors today.  Then he got busted early in the 40k.  Also, busted were the fellow young guns that were featured on High Stakes Poker this year:  Tom Dwan and Dario Minieri.  Maybe a jinx?  Or maybe elves are just running bad this year.

40k GETS MORE THAN 200 BUT FIRST GETS LESS AS A RESULT OF IT.  Pokerati points out that the last two sign-ups will actually cost the winner money.  Read here for the weird math.  The last sign up was Phil Hellmuth who quickly built up a stack only to bluff off most of his chips late.

AREA PRO AND N.O. WINNERS WOES:  Kido Pham ran his AK into AJ.  Both flopped an Ace.  He got it all in, and a jack appeared on the turn--ouch.  N.O. Circuit Main Eventers and Deep Runners Dwyte Pilgrim and Shaun Deeb were early eliminations.   Michael Binger also learned nothing in the big easy and was an early railbird.  Jean Gaspard is still alive though.

THE LITTLE AND THE SHORRT OF IT.  Jonathan Little also out early.  The fact he's not listed on any of the chip counts as Fiery Justice and so many of his internet peers still are identified by their online i.d.s is probably a testament to how well regarded the kid is.  Shannon Shorr is hanging on...  short on chips.

MONEYMAKER AMONG EARLY CHIPLEADERS.  Michael DeMichele won a huge late pot to take an early lead.  Please check out his new look on Wicked Chops.  We have to wonder, did he lose a prop bet?  Moneymaker is not too far behind hanging around Justin Bonomo, Ted Forrest, Alex Jacob, and Isaac Haxton near the top of the leaderboard. 

SHOUT OUT TO MIN CASH BY ONLINE PLAYER "RO-RO" AT THE TURNING STONE IN NEW YORK.  It's one of the only places all those internet whiz kids under 21 can play live.  Sure he faced a slew of 3 and 4 bets by kids that looked barely out of their tweens.

WSOP UPDATE (05/28/09)

SCHEDULE UPDATES.  Guess what, we are merging our tournament schedule on the coast with the handy dandy little Tournament Calendar we put up yesterday.  We've already got some tournaments up there.  TDs get us your schedule and we'll update them too.

WSOP STARTED WITH PHIL HELLMUTH DOING THE SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL HONORS.  Obama was in town today and the best they could come up with was Phil Hellmuth? 

RUSS HAMILTON HANGS OVER MEDIA ROW?  No, it's not Mike Matasow's wish fulfillment it's signage.  Wicked Chops has the pic here.  Word is Russ will not be asked to play in the special champions of the main event tournament this year.  And we are fine with that, so why is there a giant picture of him hanging over the room taunting all the people he stole from?

BLUFF MAGAZINE RANKS STU UNGAR THIRD BEST MAIN EVENT CHAMPION EVER.  Seems there could be some debate about that.  He did win the Main Event three times (as well the now defunct SuperBowl of Poker).  Bluff on Stu here. 

40K BUY-IN EVENT STARTS TODAY.  Unfortunately, not enough backers and stakers to get TK in but we heard there are a couple guys from the coast that made it in.  We'll be following their progress.  Very excited about this event.

WORLD OF GAMBLING UPDATE(05/27/09)

WORLD SERIES OF POKER SCHEDULE.  It has started today and here is the schedule for the complete set of events.  And here is a handy dandy handy dandy little Tournament Calendar for all the Las Vegas Events in one place.  Start planning your trip now.

WSOP STARTS TODAY WITH A DEALERS TOURNAMENT.  The PokerBat has another dumb idea.  Make the pros deal to the dealers and offer up a Main Event seat to the Pro that deals best.  Read here for more.  If DaRock was playing we know he'd be a favorite.

A BLACK-EYE FOR MURDERERS EVERYWHERE.  Turns out this murderer was also a poker player.  Even worse his murdering might have been motivated by poker debts (or just being a dumbass in all regards).  He pled not guilty to murder, no word if he'll own up to being a fascist dictator-esque poker player like Annie Duke, though.  Read more here.  Or don't, this is the dbag who killed his parents for his inheritance. 

Of note, investigators say this guy, whose day job was real estate investor, was deep in debt.  The press seems to tie his debt to his second career as professional poker player...  which makes complete sense because it's not like too many real estate investors aren't in debt these days anyway (sarcasm).  Just like the Craigslist killer let's wait until the authorities authenticate poker debt as the motive and not just debt.

ESPN AND FAMOUS BLOGGERS RELEASE THEIR FANTASY PICKS FOR THIS YEARS WSOP.  First things first, is there such thing as a famous poker blogger?  Second things second, we like Daniel Negreanu's strategy in picking players.  Problem is we heard he's not normally good at picking these things.   Oh you want to see the list to form your own opinion?   Go to ESPN for Andrew Feldman's story.   GCP.Net might do a draft of our own soon.  Might, as in I might bake a cake tonight.  I'd like to eat one, but I probably won't do the baking. 

Glad to see locals done good, Shannon Shorr and Jonathan Little were picked.  In a private debate between the owners of GCP, harkening back to Shorr's snub at the NBC Heads-up Championship, this selection is noteworthy.  These so called experts didn't even pick Layne Flack despite his six bracelets which kind of validates one of the owner's opinion regarding the two.  Although, these guys are just opinionated bloggers too (albeit famous bloggers).  Shorr was picked in the top 24.  However, Chops of Wicked Chops did admit to picking him as much for his porn star nickname as his abilities.  So Shorr's pick probably means nothing.  But since the owner who is opinion is validated is writing this update, we'll say his pick in this fantasy draft does in fact prove he is one of the top 64 players in the world (...  even if it doesn't).  And Layne's nonpick means he's not one of the top 64 players in the world (... even if it doesn't).   

NOT SINCE ANNIE DUKE WAS A NAZI DAY... have we gotten so much feedback about an update.  Okay, we won't mess up a Saints name again.  It's Jeremy Shockey not Jason.  Honest Player and Reid G had the funnier responses, Chickenman_Pluck_U the least funny.  Thanks to all for keeping us on our toes.  And chickenman we have removed our heads from our own backsides, finished sometime around noon.  And no it did not require a specialist.

WORLD OF GAMBLING UPDATE(05/26/09)

IT'S A SLOW NEW DAY SO LET KEEP THINGS LIGHT.  Without much poker to focus on, with the start of the WSOP imminent, let's look at other things to gamble on in the news.  Word of warning there may be a subtle "ad"ish link in here too.  And by subtle we mean obvious.

YES FOLKS, IT'S ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL SOMEONE GETS HERPES.  Beer Pong is a game Doyle Brunson and other poker pros have played for charity.  Michael Phelps when he got busted for bong smoking was getting hustled on the beer pong table too.  One of the owners of this site when in his "Super" persona in college used to throw his car keys on the table vs. an opponents $20 in a version of beer pong.  Little did any of them know it cause herpes.  Or it doesn't.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Beer Pong Herpes Outbreak
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Gay Marriage

LONGEST CRAPS ROLL EVER!  They actually keep track of this and in AC a lady just set the Worlds Record.  She rolled four hours and 18 minutes.  154 rolls.  She beat the previous record by one hour and 12 minutes, which was set in Vegas 20 years ago.  Read here for more.

If you've never played craps or been to an online casino, you might want to try out the game there first.  When you play online casino you can wager much smaller amounts than you have to in a brick and mortar casino.  The games are also easier to learn when you play casino online.  Craps, blackjack, roulette and poker can all be learned for free at a casino online.

DIABETTING!  Gamble on one guys blood sugar levels.  Not joking.  Degens your latest addiction is here.

TIME TO GO TO REHAB.   Irony of ironies, Jason Shockey (okay, JEREMY SHOCKEY, not some mutant combo of ex-Gmen Jason Sehorn and Jeremy Shockey) passes out at Rehab.  TMZ has pictures and video of the Saint feeling it.  Dehydration is the official story.   Doesn't he know you are supposed to drink copious amounts of water when pill popping at a rave/club he is too old for.  See the pixels here.  Time to rethink the over/under of Saints wins this year too?

CORRECTION.  We fixed it down below but DFish did not win almost first place money for coming in 9th.  No he won $28,251 instead of $238,251.  Thanks to our attentive reader who pointed that out. Yes, we said reader.  Thanks mom.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!   ODDS AND ENDS (05/25/09)

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OF ARMED FORCES.  Sorry, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines, Border Patrol, and others for using the army green, but thanks to all of ya'll for your service.  Now go ATVing with some girls in bikinis.

MEMORIAL DAY MEANS SUMMER IS UPON US AND THAT MEANS BASEBALL..  If you are not close to baseball park, the only thing that keeps Major League baseball interesting during its decade long seasons is to put a wager down.  Lots of fun going to a ball game but not so much watching it on TBS.  We don't endorse sports betting (we don't disapprove of it either) but until football starts you might like to make your life more interesting by taking a wager or two on baseball.  Our only advice is not to bet on a tie.. 

FISH FINISHED 8TH.  Great job Darryl!   He pocketed $28,251 for his deep run at the California State Poker Championship.  Daniel Alaei finished 6th for $50,852.  Shane Rose wins the $327,714 first place prize besting Mario Esequerra in heads up play.  Matt Affleck and Ian Kim were third and fourth respectively.  No word on how Ben or Casey Affleck did, but the Aflac duck did cash.

POT CONTROL!  No it's not a Janet Jackson/Grateful Dead collaboration it's Brandon Jarrett's thoughts on PLO live tournaments.  Fresh off his final table in New Orleans, read his BLOG for more.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE!  Jason Lipscomb aka Juicy is back and he thinks Jack Effel deserves some recognition for the structures of the WSOP Circuit Events.  Read Juicey's thoughts here.

SHOUT OUT TO TEX.  Hey, just a heads up we are thinking about you.  Get well soon, and start beating up on the lunchboxes, donkfish, and donknuts even sooner!

CALIFORNIA STATE POKER CHAMPIONSHIP MAIN EVENT(05/24/09)

DARRYLL "DFish" FISH AT FINAL TABLE:

Las Vegas transplant and former Gulf Coaster makes it to the Final Table with 205k. The blinds are at 1k/3k/6k, and he is coming into the FT tied with another player as the 7th/8th in chips . I spoke to Fish last week and he had mentioned maybe heading to the Commerce to play in the Cali State Poker Championship...glad he decided to go. From what Matt Savage is saying on 2+2...Daniel Alaei is the "beast" that their all trying to deal with as he is sitting in the 2nd spot with over 500k. Matt comments about how several players were happy to have Daniel moved from their table as he was making some sick reads...THREAD HERE.

RUMOR CONTROL...IRS WATCHING GCP.Net???

It seems that Wild Bill and GeneD have been asked by several players about the IRS watching GCP.Net????  That would be a negative... funny how rumors spread;  there must have been some sort of a miscommunication/misperception as we think the IRS would have more important places to go to try to bust poker players for taxes on their winnings than here at GCP.Net. 

The story is that GeneD and his wife Julie were nailed for a score in 2007 by the IRS where they didn't receive a 10-99 from the Palms Casino in Vegas. Well, The Palms sure as hell remembered to send the info to the IRS. GeneD and Julie had forgotten about the winnings and have since settled up with the IRS.  GeneD was explaining to some players at a table recently about how he had to make a spreadsheet and make copies of all his tournament receipts from 2007 to send to the IRS to off-set the score...  Moral of the story...keep all your tournament receipts...  But don't sweat the IRS monitoring our site.

WORLD OF POKER UPDATE (05/22/09)

DURRRR CHALLENGED.  The hole gets deeper as Durrrr slips further behind Patrik Antonius.  With 30% of the Challenge completed Durrrr still has over 35k hands to come back.  The challenge thus far has taken 184 hours to play.  Antonius is $424,631 ahead.

LACTOSE IRREVERENCE.  Kai Landry fresh of his second tournament win, explains the vital role of a dairy product.  Read more at YOU'RE ENTERING A WORLD OF PAIN.

ANNIE DUKE TO HOST "SUCKING OUT ON THE RIVERS."  No it's not a plastic surgery exposition, it's a charity poker tournament to be hosted by Frank Marino, a Joan Rivers impersonator.  Additionally 20 other Joan Rivers impersonators will be playing in the event with bounties on their head.  May 27th at the Hard Rock Poker Lounge buy $200 with rebuys.

DA_PROFESSIONAL WINS THREE TOURNAMENTS ON FULLTILT ON ONE DAY.  On Sunday, the guy won the $200k rebuy for $71k, the 75k rebuy for $32k , and the 85k rebuy for $41k.  With fields of 540, 932, and 466 he had one hell of heater.  Total profit almost 144k.  

ESPN TV SCHEDULE RELEASED FOR WSOP.  Most events will be broadcast online either at Bluffmagazine.com on or ESPN360.com.  4 Events will get the ESPN television treatment.  Schedule here.

WORLD SERIES OF POKER UPDATE (05/21/09)

WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT CENTRAL:

JEAN GASPARD WINS THE WSOP CIRCUIT MAIN EVENT.  Okay maybe he didn't technically win it on the table, but he still won it via a chop between the top three players.  Gaspard continued his hot run from day two and chewed up the final table.

The final table was the culmination of a great player friendly tournament.  The structure rewarded better players and in many events the last men standing were the most deserving.  If I might make one more suggestion perhaps a little softening on the later rounds.  I know tournaments have to end but down to two tables in the $340 buy-in suddenly became a bit of a shove fest.  No harm in letting one or two tables go on for three to four more hours and not doubling the blinds WPT style.

Still, our congratulations to Tournament Director Steve Frezer for a terrific event.  Kurt, Bob, Phil and all the floor people did a first rate job.  Also, thanks to Nolan Dalla for recognizing the GCP bloggers in his write up of the events.  Anyway, let's get to yesterday's action.

On the first hand Gaspard cracked GCP favorite Dan Walsh's pocket Aces, by rivering a straight and that set a tone for the final table.  Next up, Gaspard rivered a full house to beat Kurt Scheer's turned nut flush. 

Kenny Milam, another GCP favorite, and a local player from the New Orleans area, got eliminated next when his Ace rag didn't improve when Billy Kopp played table patrolman with KK.  Justin "LockdownTex" Allen won the Winter Bayou Challenge a few short months ago, but his hopes of repeating were dashed when his AJ suited was called by Gaspard's pocket 4s. 

A story writing itself was the run of Anita Vasquez and Dan Walsh, the last and second to last players to sign up for the Main Event.  Vasquez won the very last single table satellite and made the most of it.  She shoved with Ace rag and got called down by two players with pocket pairs in the mood to check it down.  Christopher held KK to take the pot.

Walsh's story ended shortly thereafter when he shoved over the top of Ken Christopher.  Unfortunately, Walsh's 10s were way behind and Christopher's pocket Aces held.  Great run Dan!

Steven McCoy, three hours later, was the last player eliminated when Ken Christopher's AJ connected with two more Aces on the flop.   Then the chop discussions lasted through the break and the players came back with this breakdown:  

Gaspard took the ring, the Main Event buy-in + 1k in travel expenses, and $161,175,  Kopp got $123,837 and Ken Christopher $111,097.   Had they played it out 1st would have paid:  $211,722, 2nd: 127,832, and 3rd: $81,892.  Anybody else thinking the math doesn't quite work out?  Pokernews and Pokerpages have great write-ups.

WORLD SERIES OF POKER UPDATE (05/20/09)

WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT CENTRAL:

DAN WALSH AMASSES CHIPS IN THE WSOP CIRCUIT MAIN EVENT.  Dan eliminated Shaun Deeb as his rockets held vs. Deeb's preflop shove with AQ.  A couple of hands earlier Walsh flopped a set of threes vs. Deeb's AA to double up.

TEN HANDED CHIP COUNTS.  Jean Gaspard: 680,000, Billy Kopp $640,000, Dan "The Man" Walsh $570,000, Kenny Milam $385,000, Justin "LockdownTex" Allen $252,000, Kenneth Christopher $240,000, Kurt Scheer $130,000, Steven McCoy $190,000, Anita Vasquez $160,000, and Richard Kirsch hanging on with $90,000.  Once one more player is eliminated they'll stop play until tomorrow (or depending when you read this later today).

DREAM TEAM POKER COMING TO THE WORLD SERIES.  First they announced the made for TV special, inviting only past Main Event champions and now this.  It's in early July.  GCP may have to put a team or two together for this.  Taking applications now. Go here for more details.

WORLD OF POKER UPDATE (05/19/09)

WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT CENTRAL:

DAN WALSH COMING BACK IN THE MAIN EVENT.    With under 30 players left, Dan has steadily grown his stack.  Doubling up with a set of two against Shaun Deeb, he's also knocked out last years champ Nick Ceci and dragged a flurry of pots.  All this for a guy that was debating whether or not to buy in through most of level one. 

Shaun Deeb, Dwyte Pilgrim, and Matt Brady are all near the top of the leaderboard.  Wild Bill has a small recap of yesterday's action at DINE ON THE WHALES.

WILDER STYLE WINS LADY'S EVENT FOR LISA WILDER.  Demure secretary from Mobile, AL or secret poker shark?  Lisa Wilder has a wild side and a ladies championship to go with it.  She bested Annette Martin of Denham Springs, LA, Tabitha Michel an American from the United States, Sue "Molson" Tolson from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Amee Dave of New Orleans, and Trish Marks of Covington, LA at the final table.  Wilder won over 14k.

JASON GLADDEN TAKES SECOND IN POT LIMIT OMAHA EVENT.   Brent Keller of Horsham, PA won 14.5k for first, Gladden of Ocean Springs, MS won 8.7k for second and Thomas Randack of Wylie, TX won 5.8k for third.  With only 30 players only the top three got paid in the 1k buy-in. Love Shack Dave Gafford of Denham Springs also won a ring in event 17.

HEY JERKY, I'M SPONSORING YOU.  Jack Link's Beef Jerky is now the presenting sponsor of the WSOP.  A much better table food than Tiffany Michelle's cheese fries.

WORLD OF POKER UPDATE (05/17/09)

WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT CENTRAL:

EVENT 8:  Local Pro from Mobile, Al ...Ryan Lenaghan (Pic) snaps off over 7k in the $550 PLO event

EVENT 11:  Bobby "Spider" Henderson makes his first major score for over 4k

EVENT 13:  The 1k NLH event had a nice turnout with GCP'sd own Poker Money taking 6th for over 12k...next out was Dave "Loveshack Dave" Gafford from Baton Rouge, La going out 7th for over 10k...Mrs. Judy Rhodes from Houma, La takes home $3800 for 14th

EVENT 14: The PLO H_L/8 was taken down by Gulfport, MS native Keith Ezykowich (pic) for over $7800

EVENT 15:  There was a nice turnout for last Friday's $340 NL event and GCP's Kai "Cobra Kai" Landry gets first place and another circuit ring although its our understanding that there was a chop negotiated...Clint Schafer takes over 7k back to Baton Rouge for 6th place...GCP co-owner  "Wild Bill" takes 12th and $2100...The other co-owner of GCP...Gene "GeneD" Dudek brings up the rear with a 50th place finish for a min-cash. GeneD went out on a brutal beat to Mark Wilds you may read about in his blog to the right.

WORLD OF POKER UPDATE (05/15/09)

WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT CENTRAL:

ALEX WOOD CRUISES TO SECOND IN EVENT 10.  Alex, seen regularly in the Harrahs poker room banked over 11k, for his effort.  John "The Melon" Lallo of Fort Myers, FL took first and the 18.5k that went with it. 

Joining them were Scott Frost of Houston, TX, Aaron Cole of Mandeville, LA, Michael Hallen of Katy TX, Chris Hildebrandt of Slidell, LA, Curtis Terry of Metairie, LA and Kristopher Smithson of Arlington, TX who all made the final table.  It was like a Texas-Louisiana border war.  Blogger Kai Landry added another cash to his resume.

MIKE RAIMON BEATS "THE DANCER " TO WIN EVENT 9.  Raimon of Bradenton, FL beat John "The Dancer" Riola of Biloxi, MS in heads-up to finish of the six handed tournament.  1st and 2nd paid 24k and 15k.  TK Miles (picutred) finished 4th.  We will have a feature on TK soon.   Michael Anderson, Chris Morrison, and Johnathan Holsenback all of Texas also made the top 10. 

 OTHER NEWS.... 

THE WSOP IS NIGH.  A preview of the first half of the Series offerings at Bet & Win Poker.

HIGHSTAKES POKER EPISODE 11 AVAILABLE ONLINE.  Watch the action on your computer right now, right here. 

TOP 10 MAIN EVENT CHAMPIONS.  Gold, Varokoni, Yang, you know the usuals.  One blog's opinion:.  You probably will disagree.   Do so here.

VANESSA RUOSSO IS POKER'S LADY GAGA?  The PokerBat seems to think so right here.

WORLD OF POKER UPDATE (05/13/09)

OLD NEWS....  JOAN RIVERS WINS CELEBRITY APPRENTICE.  Annie Duke slowrolled in finale.  Local Matt Graham got two seconds of airtime in the finale as part of Annie's friends (or UB sponsered players).  Wild Bill's update here.

GCP GEAR IS HERE!  Here are some photos.  Get your hoodies and hats now.  Want to thank the Mighty Mac in Atlanta, and Ray and Byron from Houma for all the work they did in finalizing a very rough logo idea into something we think ended up being pretty cool.  We have your gear fellas.  For the rest of you readers, if you enjoy the site and want to help support it, by a ton of gear and give it to everybody you know!

WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT CENTRAL:

GCP BLOGGERS PAD THEIR STATS.  Monkey, Kai, Southpaw Rounder (twice), and the Honest Player all have cashes already.  Mene Gene goes into detail here.

NANCY BIRNBAUM BEATS THE FELLAS.  In event three of the New Orleans Circuit Event, Birnbaum pocketed 51k.  Tyler Smith had yet another final table coming in third.  Larry Price, who came in second in the fall's Main Event, took 6th.  Todd Wood of New Orleans finished second for 26k.

PATRICK D. PEERCY WINS 7.8K IN POT LIMIT OMAHA EVENT 4.  Preston Derden of Houston, TX 2nd (4.3k);   Corrie Wunstel of Baton Rouge 3rd (2.4k), Joe Nieten San Antonio, TX 4th (1.7k),  Preston Derde of Houston, TX 5th (1.5k),  Wayne LeBlanc of New Orleans 6th (1.3k), Elliot Howze of Pine Grove, LA 7th (1.09k),  Ali Jafari 8th and Thomas Pullens of Picayune, MS 9th.

FROM THE OUTHOUSE TO THE WHITE HOUSE, THE POOR HOUSE TO THE BIG HOUSE, JESSE JACKSON BEATS THE HOUSE IN EVENT 5.  He won 20k.  Joe Pepe of Slidell (10k), D.D. Winninger of Birmingham, AL (6.2k), John Sulilvan of Brunswick, OH (4.9k), and Chris Chevalier of Shreveport, LA (3.7k) completed the top 5.  Bobby Toye  and Matt Culberson of New Orleans added to their resumes with top 10 finishes.  Daniel Jimenez and Elisa Hourani joined them.

NL STRUCTURE and BAYOU POKER CHALLENGE SCHEDULE 

 WSOP CIRCUIT UPDATE AND MORE (05/10/09)

 PARTIAL UPDATE AS WE DON'T HAVE OFFICIAL RESULTS YET, BUT STACKED 2ND DAY FOR FRIENDS OF GCP OF THE FIRST $340 NOONER:

Well...Well...Well...sweat action is what we had...and sweating is what we did. 36 people returned on day 2 of the first nooner, and GCP's own Poker Monkey was in the top 5 in chips. Other notables...Jacob "Nocko" Naquin, Dan "Big Dan" Walsh, Timmy "Thomkat17" Thompson, Baron Whipple, Marshall Brown. Nocko and Big Dan make the final table with Nocko busting in 9th ...and Big Dan running KK into AA for 6th and a cool $7.5k. This on the heels of BD's great showing in the Beau ME.

When we left yesterday, Tom "Spoon" Witherspoon (pic) had a dominant chip lead with 3 players left in the 5pm Limit Omaha HI/LO-8. I saw that he was being vey patient, and I doubt if anyone caught him...but we all know how crazy this came can be.

WSOP CIRCUIT UPDATE AND MORE (05/08/09)

TODAY'S HARRAHS NEW ORLEANS CIRCUIT ACTION:

• NOON NO LIMIT                   $340  

• 5 PM  LIMIT OMAHA H/L   $340

• MEGA SAT                            $550

• 9 PM NO LIMIT                    $200

HIGH STAKES POKER UP.  The latest installment is online, you can watch it here.

COUPLE OF ANGLE SHOOTERS SUE OVER BAD BEAT JACKPOT IN LOS ANGELES.  Apparently, some numbskull said no purchase necessary in the marketing.  They point out to be eligible for the bad beat you do have to make a purchase.  Read more here. 

THINK THAT LAWSUIT IS WEIRD?  An Abbeville, LA woman is suing Wal-Mart because of a Nutria named Norman that ran up on her in the store.  Apparently, the employees knew about the small beaver with a rat tail looking creature, they did name it Norm afterall, and failed to warn the customers.  Read the details here.

DURRRR CHALLENGE UPDATE.  With 25% of the Hands played the kid is down over 400k to Patrik Antonius.  Read the update.

CELEBRITY APPRENTICE UPDATE.  It's Joan Rivers vs. Annie Duke in the finals.  Rivers toned down her rhetoric recently and said Duke may not be Hitler but she is the Bernie Madoff of poker.  As one of the faces of UB, there seems to be some sort of rationale for that insult. 

Though, it's hard to say Duke was the one who bilked people for millions, so hard nobody is saying it.  Maybe Rivers is doing her research though, in preparation for the finale this Sunday.  Wild Bill finally did last Sunday's recap check out DINE ON THE WHALES for more. 

BRANDON JARRET NOMINATED FOR POKER HUNK OF THE YEAR ON FACEBOOK.    Really?  People think that guy on the left is "hunky?"  Congrats Brandon.  To keep up, befriend (or friend?) us there.  We are Gcp Net.  If somebody starts a Poker Nutria of the year you might see some of the rest of us nominated for something.

ELKY  IS SICKO, NEGREANU IS EVERYWHERE UPDATE (05/07/09)

BETRAND "ELKY" GROSPELIER WINS WPT PLAYER OF THE YEAR.  He needed his performance in the WPT Championship to do it and he got the result by making the Championship final table.  

ELKY BREAKS SIT 'N GO RECORD.  Playing 62 tables for a profit of $23.60 in one hour Elky beat the old record by... we are not sure how much.  Nor are we sure why it's a record.  What we do know it's impressive he was able to log a profit despite timing out multiple times and that was one of the requirements of the "record."  Since it was a Pokerstars stunt you decide.  More here.

NEGREANU A MUTANT CARD PLAYER OPPONENT.  If he were an X-man he'd see into people's souls but his weakness would be his self-destructive desire to call just to see if he was right again.  Danny boy in the Wolverine movie is shown playing the Mutant Gambit aka Remy LeBeau in a New Orleans card game.  Unlike any ESPN telecast he did not have a speaking part.

CAMEOS DON'T STOP THERE FOR KID POKER.  He's also seen, shocker, playing poker in the new Katy Perry video.  Who's she?  She's pictured, and you may have heard she kissed a girl, she runs hot and cold, thinks ur so gay and is waking up in Vegas.   Here's the video.