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1:38 PM
Without a PokerRoomer left in the tournament field, it's a little hard to pick a player to root for. In our case, though, Erick Lindgren is a decent alternative, as billybillard spent much of Day 3 sitting to Lindgren's right, and had many great things to say about him.
billybillard and Erick Lindgren in action on Day 3
It'd be easy for pros with huge bankrolls to want to have little to do with online qualifiers playing in their first major live poker tournament, but billybillard said that not only was Lindgren completely approachable and talkative, but that he was actually calling for a 9 to keep billybillard alive on the bubble when his 99 was facing QQ and in need of major help.
billybillard was actually sandwiched between two Eri(c)ks for most of Day 3, as he had Lindgren to his left and Erik Seidel to his right.
Erick Lindgren to the left of him, Erik Seidel to the right.
If that was't bad enough, Gus Hansen was moved two to billybillard's right just before he busted, so our guy was stuck in quick a precarious position there for awhile!
So many of us here are pulling for Erick Lindgren, who's currently sitting in 6th place with 13 players left. Unlike a few pros (cough, Phil Ivey, cough) who can't be bothered to acknowledge many of the "peons" of the poker world, Lindgren definitely went out of his way to make billybillard feel welcome, so hats off to him.
11:49 AM
We're getting very close to the start of Day 5 here at the Bellagio Five Diamond Poker Classic, with 18 players returning for play today, their hopes of winning the title still intact.
Daniel Negreanu is poised to provide quite a show here today, as the perennial fan favorite is the chip leader going into Day 5, and likely to be his normal chirpy, entertaining self at the tables. He's also got what looks to be a good table draw, as the other big name players remaining in the field are all clustered at another table (David "Devilfish" Uliott, Todd Brunson, Raymond Davis, and Erick Lindgren).
As far as what's at stake, here are the payout for the remaining players in the field:
1st: $2,482,605
2nd: $1,252,640
3rd: $674,500
4th: $433,675
5th: $289,070
6th: $192,715
7th: $173,445
8th: $154,170
9th: $134,900
10th: $115,630
11th-15th: $96,355
16th-18th: $77,085
Action kicks off at noon, with an average chip count of 1,100,000 chips and blinds of 12,000/14,000 with a 3,000 ante.
9:08 AM
The team gathered last night for what has become a regular tradition at the events Team PokerRoom.com has attended, which is running a private tournament for team bragging rights. There are also usually some bounties and other prizes on the line as well, donated by PokerRoom and staff, in addition to the prize money from the buy-ins.
Caesar's Palace agreed to host the tournament, so everyone met last night and prepared to get down to some serious poker business, seeing how they'd stack up against our big money winner billybillard and if anyone could possibly shut "Suited" Nelson up and dethrone him as reigning champion from the last time the team gathered in Vegas.
Team members gathering at the table.
"Can you just deal the cards so we can shut up that tall guy with the hat who keeps talking trash?"
macker21 and his girlfriend Miranda discussing their strategy before the event.
Once the tournament got started, everything seemed to be going "Suited" Nelson's way early on, as he amassed a huge stack of chips with some timely rivers and his trademark suited connectors (and non-suited connectors, and non-suited non-connectors, and any hand with a 2 in it) and seemed primed to steamroll his way to yet another victory that we'd never hear the end of.
The top three spots paid, and Mr Bumbi exited in third, leaving macker21 and "Suited" Nelson heads up for the title. Nelson had done his very best to knock macker1 out earlier but had only managed to double him up a few times. Lo and behold, suddenly macker21 had the lead, and Nelson had to go deep into his bag of tricks, pulling out the intimidating stare:
In the end, though, even that wasn't enough, and macker21 prevailed, winning the first tournament of the evening.
A smiling, triumphant macker21
The team decided to run a second tournament, and this time it was macker21's girlfriend Miranda that got out to a big lead. Unlike "Suited" Nelson, though, she didn't choke and let the chips slide away, as she continued to steamroll her way through the field, knocking out player after player. Huempel was the last to fall, finishing second, leaving macker21 and Miranda to celebrate their sweep.
Coupled with fellow Canadian billybillard's cash in the Five Diamond Classic, it seems the Team PokerRoom.com members from Canada are on a roll here. It must be something in the water, eh?
Day 4 might as well have been called "Daniel Negreanu Day", as the popular and likable pro made a big move early on picking up chips and used his big stack to his advantage as play wore on, extending his lead even further. When the dust settled and the final 18 players remained to begin action on Day 5, the chip counts looked like this:
Daniel Negreanu: 2,279,000
Matthew Casterella: 1,686,000
Jordan Rich: 1,640,000
David "Devilfish" Ulliot: 1,579,000
Erick Lindgren: 1,571,000
John Monnette: 1,357,000
Bill Kontaratos: 1,285,000
Daniel Shiff: 1,280,000
Ryan Daut: 1,239,000
Kenneth Rosen: 1,112,000
Todd Brunson: 1,105,000
Raymond Davis: 1,100,000
Rodeen Talebi: 900,000
Ted Kearly: 627,000
Mark Muchnik: 348,000
Jimmy Tran: 322,000
Eugene Katchalov: 286,000
Peter Jetten: 204,000
While many big names bowed out in action today (including Gus Hansen and Huck Seed), there's plenty of star power remaining in the field, as the above chip counts attest to.
The tournament area was packed full of spectators today and tomorrow should be no different, especially with Negreanu sitting on a ton of chips and holding court for all to see.
5:11 PM
With much of the team up into the wee hours last night celebrating billybillard's excellent result having tea and crumpets into the wee hours of the morning, of course), only a few players managed to struggle over to Caesar's in time for the noon tournament.
While your humble blogger put in a pitiful showing in the $300 + $30 noon event, going out after three or four hours, Huempel was still alive and in thr running when we last checked. Good luck, sir, and hopefully bring home yet another cash for the team.
The team is scheduled to descend on Caesar's poker room in force at 7 PM for the private team tournament, so stay tuned for photos and reports later.
5:00 PM
We're down to 21 players in the Five Diamond Classic field, with Daniel Negreanu jostling for the chip lead with over 2,000,000 chips. He and Bill Kontaratos have been going back and forth as the chip leader, with Ryan Daut lurking not too far back in third.
Eliminations today include Gus Hansen (22nd), Huck Seed (24th), and Hoyt Corkins (36th). Other big names still alive include Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, Erick Lindgren, Raymond Davis, and Todd Brunson.
It may be an early night, as we're not sure just what the plan is. Typically they plan down to 2 or 3 tables (18-27 players), so that tomorrow they'll be certain to be able to play down to a final lineup for the TV final table on Tuesday. If they stick to that plan, play should wrap up for today fairly shortly.
10:42 AM
The last team member may be finished in the tournament, but that doesn't mean that the good times suddenly end. We'll be here reporting in the blog on the team's hijinks for the remainder of the trip, as well as keeping you updated on the action occuring in the Five Diamond Classic as they play down to a final winner.
The plan for the day is for most of the team to gather this morning and all go play in one of the weekly weekend noon tournaments at poker rooms around town, either at the Venetian or at Caesar's. Team PokerRoom has had quite a good track record of success in side events and cash games while on these trips, so hopefully that holds true here as well, and one of the team managed a big score in the tournament today.
Later on we're going to hit up Caesar's for a private tournament with just the team, with bounties on the head of staff members that all the players will be angling for. "Suited" Nelson has been talking lots of trash and claiming that he''ll easily defend his title as champion of the last private tournament we played at Caesar's during the Main Event, so we'll see if his poker chops can actually back up all that talk.
A pretty ridiculous stack of over $4,000 that we witnessed in the Bellagio $2/5 NL cash games yesterday. Not bad, especially considering that the max buy-in for the $2/5 game is $500.
10:23 AM
Lost in all the excitement and hubbub of keeping tabs on billybillard's successful run to the money was that a self-congratulatory pat on the back needs to go out to Team PokerRoom as a whole. The impressive track record of the team in live events in 2007 continued, as team members have now cashed at the 2007 WSOP Main Event, the WPT Legends tournament, the WPT North American Poker Championship at Niagara Falls, and at the 2007 Five Diamond Poker Classic at the Bellagio.
That's over well over $150,000 in prize money taken down by team members in just 2007, and in many cases players qualified for as little as a $50 + $4 ticket or a $7 + $1 ticket. It's especially impressive that the team has consistently gotten someone into the money at the WT events, as we typically only have 5 or 6 players competing in a field of 500-600 seasoned tournament pros, yet we've managed to get someone into the money, time and time again.
In the end it's a testament to PokerRoom itself, as far as not only a great place to play and qualify for major live events, but for honing the skills of players and producing some damn fine players, who may lack the experience of many of the seasoned pros at these event but whose poker skills and savvy more than mack up for that, allowing them to compete on a very equal footing.
So congrats to not just
Granted, the last Team PokerRoom.com member bowed out of action on Day 3, but it was hard to feel too down about that, as billybillard finished 65th for $28,905, and patiently managed to wring as much as he possibly could out of his short stack and the cards he was dealt.
(We'd also like to put in a quick word of thanks to the poker gods. You guys are the best, especially for that one-outer when billybillard was near the money bubble and nearly exited at 108th place. Sorry for all the bad stuff we've said about you in the past here in the blog.)
152 players started the day, and the money bubble was burst right before the second break of the day. Play would continue for a full five levels, with 44 players still standing at the end of the day. They'll return at noon on Day 4 to do it all over again, with all eyes firmly focused on the top prize of $2,482,605.
As far as stories on the day, most of the talk centered on Phil Ivey's implosion, as he went from chip leader to start the day to bustoville, population Phil, when he exited in 102nd place. Money bubbles were likely the last thing on Ivey's mind, but it was pretty interesting to ship all of those chips away (with many going to Hoyt Corkins) and not even make the money.
Jordan Rich was the chip leader when the day ended (1,238,000 chips), but Matthew Casterella and Gus Hansen were nipping closely at his heels. Other big names left in the field include Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Hoyt Corkins, Huck Seed, Todd Brunson, and Daniel Alaei.
"Do you know who I am? I'm billybillard. This is my ante. You can have it for now, but I'll be taking it right back."
7:39 PM
It's always a good night when the team gets to gather and celebrate yet another successful tournament showing by a Team PokerRoom.com, which is what we get to do tonight after billybillard managed to navigate his way to a big payday here at the Bellagio.
When asked about his plans for the money his first reponse was "Play more qualifiers for events like this," which is a pretty natural line of thought, given not only the great time he's had here in Vegas but his tournament result as well.
The first stop on the celebration train tonight is at Fix at the Bellagio, where the team is planning to gather, eat some good food, and plan out the rest of the evening. After that, well, who knows.
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