WSOP 2008 Blog
Gryzly's Pocket Aces Can't Bear Up
We've lost our first team member of the day, with Gryzly exiting shortly after the second break. Short-stacked, he found a great opportunity to double up when he was dealt pocket aces and got two callers when he shoved his few remaining chips in.
Getting too much action can be a bad thing, though, as an opponent with KQs called him and flopped a Q and turned another, with his trip Qs holding up to send Gryzly packing.
Gryzly gets no love from pocket rockets.
Divine Intervention
Yesterday was a great day for -NUTS6020-. Not only did he finish Day 1c with a stack of 21,250, but he also got to meet one of his poker heroes Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson.
-NUTS6020- approached the man they call Jesus outside the Amazon Room when he spotted him walking in the opposite direction. Ferguson was more than happy to stop and shake -NUTS6020-'s hand, have a chat, and even pose for a photo.
The perfect way to end to a great day for -NUTS6020-
dj_stiff Chasing All Sorts of ChampionChips
Not only is dj_stiff safely through through to Day 2 at the 2008 WSOP, but he's currently sitting in the top five of today's $500,000 guaranteed ChampionChip tournament at PokerRoom.com with just 70 players remaining.
We'll see if he can take down a win in one of PokerRoom's biggest tourneys and follow in billybillard's footsteps, who won an online finals yesterday while here in Vegas for the Main Event.
dj_stiff in action last night on Day 1c.
All Hands Still on Deck at the Second Break
So far so good here at the second break of Day 1d, as all Team members are still alive and kicking:
_f00bar_ 19,000
bettysogray 17,000
Maltee 27,000
bodhisattva4 26,400
billybillard 35,550
Bumi3 21,000
fanslau 10,050
MickeMusxxx 31,000
Gryzly 5,050
x crash154 13,200
Gryzly is the shortest stack of Team PokerRoom but still has time to pick his spots, as blinds are just 100/200 when they return for level 3. billybillard continues to chip up nicely and leads the team with about 36,000, with MickeMusxxx not far behind.
MickeMusxxx running well on Day 1d.
x crash154 geared up for battle at the tables.
No Wizard but...
Bit thin on the ground today with regards to comedy characters, no wizards anyway, but we did manged to find this chap at the felt.
Bumi3 Gets a Nice Double-Up
Bumi3 just found himself all-in with pocket queens pre-flop, but fortunately was up against pocket jacks and way ahead. Nothing crazy came on the board and our young German doubled-up about half an hour before the second break.
Bumi3 rocking out at the tables.
bodhisattva4 and Gryzly Sitting at a Juiced Table
Gryzly and bodhisattva4 have been sitting at former major league baseball player Jose Canseco's table today, soaking up some of the buzz and spotlight that's been focused on Canseco so far today.
Best known for his penchant for hitting home runs, fast cars, and fast women (and writing tell-all books about steroid use in baseball), this is the second straight year Canseco has played in the Main Event.
boddhisattva4 sitting to the right of Jose Canseco6,842 Entries for the 2008 Main Event
It looks like the total entries for the 2008 Main Event are 6,842. It was touch and go as to whether this year's edition would outdraw 2007, but a huge turnout on Day 1d made the difference.
Today has been a pretty packed house, with Main Event tables crammed into every spare nook and cranny. The hallways during breaks are pretty much a free-for-all with players and spectators jostling to get to the bathroom or grab a quick bite of food to eat.
Action in the main Amazon ballroom.
Update from the First Break on Day 1d
Team PokerRoom.com is doing well at the first break with all starters in strong positions after the first level.
Here are the chipstacks:
_f00bar_ 18,700
bettysogray 14,000
Maltee 23,000
bodhisattva4 20,700
billybillard 29,900
Bumi3 19,000
fanslau 18,400
MickeMusxxx 25,000
Gryzly 20,300
x crash154 19,600
billybillard is sitting on a nice stack of 29900 after pulling in a big pot when his pocket A's made a set on the turn.
MickeMusxxx also had a strong first 120 minutes with 25k and all the players were happy with their progress going into the second level.
The Longest Ever - Seen a Missing Penguin?
It's the longest ever WSOP due to the new blind structure and the adding of more levels so players get a little more action for their stacks. But here at blog central, if it's starting to drag a little, we think it's because we're missing mussorgsky's traditional WSOP thread :(. So packed with juicy info, we feel decidedly deficient without it. If someone can hunt our mussorgsky down and get him to put fingers to keyboard, please do!
billybillard Drags a Big Early Pot
All of the Team PokerRoom runners today are starting in the Brasilia room, which is a smaller room that is used this year for overflow tables. Which is good news as far as our coverage, as it's much easier to track the players and provide more updates. The bad news is that the tables in the Brasilia room will be broken first, at which point our guys will be scattered to the winds in the main Amazon ballroom.
We caught the tail end of billybillard scooping a huge pot in early action. We got to his table as the river was being dealt, with a ton of chips already in the middle. The board read 2 6 9 A 5, rainbow, and our man billybillard flipped out an orange 5,000 chip when action was on him. His opponent made the reluctant call, saying "You've got aces, right?" as he turned over pocket sixes for a set.
That's exactly what billybillard had, turning over pocket rockets for top set and scooping a big pot to put him up to about 35,000 chips.
Some Notable Players Out There Today
We got some serious movers and shakers for the team to take down today!
Johnny Chan, Dole Brunson, Annie Duke, Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer and Dario Minieri to name but a few.
And let's not forget mix master Hellmuth, he is rumored to be arriving later today in a tank! Let's hope his tank can avoid Hevad Khan's bulllllllllllldozer!
Day 1d at the Rio
We've got one more wild and crazy starting day to report here from the Rio, with the last starting day 1d just about to kick off with the shuffle up and deal announcement.
Here are the confirmed Team PokerRoom members in action today, although we may have a few late additions to add once we track everyone down:
_f00bar_
bettysogray
Maltee
bodhisattva4
billybillard
Bumi3
fanslau
MickeMusxxx
Romualdo777
Gryzly
_f00bar_ in action in the Brasilia room
Day 1c - A Rough Ride for the Team
Day 1c has been a day packed with both people and tension; there’s been quite a turn around of players and we’ve seen the some of the worse bad beats in the history of Team PokerRoom.com history (Akutya's one outer) as well as some astonishing recoveries.
It’s with great relief the 13 player who survived today’s clash head back to Mandalay Bay to get some rest, find new energy and to celebrate their remarkable performance.
The closest to "a dream come true"-experience of the day has to go to BEATME x, who spent all five levels at the ESPN featured televised table; rubbing shoulders with no other then previous WSOP winner Joe Hachem! His day started off in a splendid fashion, as last years winner Jerry Yang came around the ESPN table, shook everyone’s hand and wished them good luck. The competition and the TV-cameras at that table would give just about anyone the shivers, and rightfully so BEATME x was quite taken by the experience, but that didn’t stop him from pulling off at least one successful bluff on mr. Hachem! Man, I’m so envious I’d trade my left pinky toe for a moment like that!
And by the end of the day, we’re glad to see that AKplus and greatprducer are already taking on new challenges; this time around it’s a prop bet on a tennis game tomorrow between the two named contestants, with $1,000 in the pot. May the best man win!
We've brought you a few more video recordings from the day 1c, before we take on the excitement of day 1d in a few hours, please take a moment to get to know one of our fallen heroes a little bit better:
And Day 1c is in the Books
At the end of an incredibly hectic and busy Day 1c (with nearly 30 Team members in action), here are the surviving players that will move on to Day 2:
allypat7: 10,575
BEATME x: 49,275
bibaxxx: 21,275
dj_stiff: 38,975
EroticDon: 67,850
england5: 33,000
Githead: 43,625
KristapsK3: 16,825
monzie1: 32,500
-NUTS6020-: 21,250
skiebeast: 87,975
Stakeajake: 17,800
Wieringen: 38,000
We sadly lost got2btopdog, Puggy82, and AKplus during the last level, but getting 13 more players through to Day 2 isn't too shabby of a day.
Tune in tomorrow, same time, same place, for the last starting day of the 2008 Main Event when Day 1d kicks off.
allypat1 Going Strong
Team PokerRoom.com's sole female representitive allypat1 hails from Southend, an English town famous for having the world's longest pleasure pier.
So far on Day 1c she has been playing tough poker and approaching the end of the day she is going strong with a stack of 20k. During the dinner break I chatted with her about her progress in the tournament.
greatprducer to Keep Producing the Goods
It was sad to see Team PokerRoom.com's only Australian representative, greatprducer, bust out just before the final break. A favourite amongst players and staff, greatprducer has only played poker seriously for a around 6 months and the Main Event was his first major tourney.
Speaking after his bust in the Team PokerRoom.com suite, greatprducer said he was hoping to qualify for some more Team PokerRoom.com events and use all the experience he gained at the Main Event to take his game to a new level.
One Last Level in Day 1c
Day 1c is dragging towards its conclusion and we've got updated chip counts for remaining players as well as obits for those that left us last level.
AKplus: 7,300
allypat7: 19,000
BEATME x: 25,000
bibaxxx: 22,000
dj_stiff: 26,000
EroticDon: 32,000
england5: 25,000
Githead: 55,000
got2btopdog: 32,000
KristapsK3: 19,000
monzie1: 28,000
-NUTS6020-: 55,000
Puggy82: 29,000
skiebeast: 45,000
Stakeajake: 11,400
Wieringen: 37,000
It was a rough level on the Team as a whole as we had quite a few eliminations throughout the level, including greatprducer, chewie333, sicilian17, Stonedancer, ayliny, gbpoker, Edelfett1, naztyclown, and salvatori27. Kudos to all of the fallen warriors for not only making it to the Main Event but going very deep in action on Day 1c.
As far as movers and shakers during the level, -NUTS6020- made a huge move to eclipse the 50,000 mark, as did Githead (who picked up a lot of chips from sadly knocking out teammate chewie333) who moved up to 55,000, and skiebeast, who got as high as 75,000 before finishing the level at 45,000.
One more level is left in the day, with blinds now at 200/400 with 50 antes.
A smiling skiebeast.
-NUTS6020- after a very nice level.
Githead is looking to finish Day 1c on a high note.
gbpoker Can't Get it Going
gbpoker has unfortunately bowed out in late action here on Day 1c, unable to build any momentum throughout the day. His exact quote was "That was the most frustrating eight hours of poker in my life", as he said the few times he had premium hands he always ran into sets, flushes, etc.
Down to his last 3,500 chips, he made his stand in the BB with AQ and was up against pocket 9s. As per his luck all day, gbpoker couldn't hit an A or a Q and was eliminated.
gbpoker still smiling despite a frustrating day at the tables.
We caught gbpoker for a quick video interview at the dinner break, talking a bit about the challenges he was facing with his short stack.
Edelfett1.. Going.. Going.. Gone.
Edelfett1 has been low stacked since resuming from the dinner break and his 2008 WSOP Main Event has unfortunately come to an end. He got his remaining 4k in the middle with AJ but ran into KK and, despite hitting a J on the flop, was unable outdraw his opponent.
After 10 long hours in his first major live tournament Edelfett1 was a little disappointed not to make it through to Day 2, but still happy for the experience.
He said he was looking forward to having a few beers and maybe getting out on the strip tonight and letting his hair down.
1,928 Players on Day 1c
Official numbers are out for total entries on Day 1c: 1,928.
Day 1a saw 1,297 entries come out for the Main Event, with 1,158 on Day 1b. Today definitely crushed those turnouts and the Amazon and Brasilia rooms were both used for the first time, with a noticeable amount of additional traffic and hubbub throughout the day.
A similar turnout on Day 1d would put total entries for the 2008 WSOP at about 6,300, which is almost exactly what the 2007 WSOP drew.
naztyclown and ayliny Hit the Rails
We've got two more Team members who've sadly hit the rails. naztyclown was pretty short-stacked with 11,000 at the break and finally made his stand with AQs when the bully at the table with a big stack yet again tried to push him around. Unfortunately for naztyclown, his opponent who'd been playing pretty much any two cards actually had the goods this time with AK, and naztyclown couldn't spike a queen to stay alive.
ayliny kept running into coolers all day long, and his last two hands weren't any different. Most of his chips disappeared when he ran QQ into KK and the final killing blow came when his AJc couldn't hold up against A5o.
naztyclown in the hallway outside the Amazon room.
ayliny before too many coolers took him down
Video with Puggy82, billybillard, AKplus and gbpoker
As you've just been begging for more video interviews with the guys playing it out today, billybillard stepped up the plate and caught Puggy82 for some quick words. You'll also have the pleasure to see old Team friends AKplus and gbpoker interviewing each other. What a day!
Update from the Dinner Break
Team PokerRoom is sill holding strong with 27 runners in the mix at the dinner break on Day 1c. They've got 4 more hours to go to make it through to Day 2:
AKplus: 11,000
allypat7: 21,000
ayliny: 7,300
BEATME x: 30,000
bibaxxx: 32,000
chewie333: 9,200
dj_stiff: 32,000
Edelfett1: 12,000
EroticDon: 27,000
england5: 26,500
gbpoker: 5,000
Githead: 28,000
got2btopdog: 50,000
greatprducer: 7,800
KristapsK3: 22,000
monzie1: 33,000
naztyclown: 11,000
-NUTS6020-: 13,000
Puggy82: 32,000
salvatori27: 12,000
sicilian17: 32,000
skiebeast: 26,500
Stakeajake: 17,300
Stonedancer: 22,000
Wieringen: 37,000
As far as notable moves, got2btopdog went on a big rush last level to chip up to about 50,000, and Wieringen continues to build up his stack with about 37,000. BEATME x is more than holding his own with Joe Hachem on his left, and said that he'd won all 3 pots when he'd tangled with Hachem.
Blinds will be 150/300 with 25 antes when players return after the dinner break.
got2btopdog is the top dog among Team PokerRoom chip stacks at the dinner break.
Closing in on the Dinner Break Day 1c
We are approaching the dinner break and Team PokerRoom.com is doing well, the only casualty so far this level was Devilmat49, as we reported earlier.
The large volume of players on the floor and the constant breaking of tables has ensured that the Team PokerRoom.com staff have been busy chasing players across all corners of the Amazon and Brasilia rooms. Time for electronic tracking devices I say!
We will update shortly with all the details on how the players are doing and their dinner break chipstacks.
billybillard is a Busy, Busy (Degenerate) Man
As if it's not enough that billybillard is here in Vegas waiting to jump into action tomorrow on Day 1d, he found time today to play in a little poker tournament held on PokerRoom.com.
Yup, kiddos, that's right, our man billybillard took down a $26,500 trip package to the WSOPE in an online finals while here in Vegas waiting for his 2008 Main Event starting day. And all that was on top of quite a busy day yesterday relaxing and enjoying himself celebrating the 4th of July:
billybillard and TurnDawg55 witnessing firsthand how the crazy Americans celebrate the 4th of July.
Congrats on the online finals win, billybillard, and here's to hoping we have many more great reports of your success at the tables here in coming days.
Devilmat49 Bites the Dust
After being short stacked at the break, Devilmat49 has now been busted after his flopped straight ran into a flopped flush.
With 6c8c and a flop of 5s7s9s Devilmat49 pushed his 5k stack into the middle but he was pretty much drawing dead against his opponents flopped flush.
Earlier in the day Devilmat49 lost a big chunk of his stack when he called an all-in push holding KK and with J74 rainbow on the board. His opponent tabled 44 and the board ran out with no help.
Unfortunately it just didn't seem to be Devilmat49's day, but it was still a fantastic effort by the Frenchman who qualified for the Main Event through a freeroll and was able to play his first major live tournament in the biggest tournament of them all.
Akutya's Most Unpleasant Hand
Akutya stepped up to the plate with A,A
A, 10, x comes down on the flop, opponent after pre flop raises goes up over the top, Akutya calls it in a heart beat. Opponent flips over his hole cards revealing 10,10, Akutya in the lead. Turn brings nothing more to note, the river however brings... big drum roll... a 10, that's quads baby, and that's poker baby. Seriously unpleasant business.
Akutya just couldn't have played it any other way. to quote the man, he said he would have called it a 100 times over... very unlucky.
Updates at Level 2 of Day 1c
We've got two levels in the books today on Day 1c and here are the latest chip counts:
AKplus: 13,000
allypat7: 28,000
ayliny: 21,000
BEATME x: 31,000
bibaxxx: 21,000
chewie333: 17,000
Devilmat49: 5,200
dj_stiff: 47,000
EroticDon: 31,000
england5: 22,500
gbpoker: 20,000
Githead: 13,000
got2btopdog: 19,500
greatprducer: 16,000
Hadrian666: 13,100
monzie1: 23,500
naztyclown: 18,500
-NUTS6020-: 21,000
Puggy82: 24,000
salvatori27: 12,000
sicilian17: 25,000
skiebeast: 24,000
Stakeajake: 19,000
Wieringen: 29,500
Edelfett1: Unknown (table was broken and we haven't relocated him)
jmimi42: Unknown (table was broken and we haven't relocated him)
KristapsK3: Unknown (table was broken and we haven't relocated him)
Stonedancer: Unknown (table was broken and we haven't relocated him)
nammer4life: Out
monze1: Out
Akutya: Out
cedn15: Out
As previously reported, we lost monze1, cedn15, and Akutya during the last level. Devilmat49 was teetering on the brink after losing a huge hand but is still hanging in there with 5,200.
On the positive side, Wieringen made a nice move during the last level to get to nearly 30,000, as did dj_stiff, who's now leading the way for the Team with 47,500.
Blinds will be 150/300 when players return from the break.
monzie1 in action in the Brasilia room
naztyclown pondering a nazty move at the tables.
Wieringen with his poker face firmly on.
BEATME x Dueling with Joe Hachem
Sitting down on any table at the WSOP Main Event can be intimidating; just imagine if you arrived at your table and realized that not only you were on a ESPN Feature Table, but you were also seated next to former WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem.
That was how Day 1c started for Team PokerRoom.com player BEATME x, but the big stage does not seem to have intimidated the young Englishman and he has already been mixing it up with Hachem. At one stage BEATME x took a nice pot from Hachem when he forced a fold on the river with the two locked in a tense heads-up.
Stay tuned to PokerRoom.com as we keep you updated with BEATME x's progress.
Men Down: Akutya, cedn15, and monze1 Out
We've lost three more Team members in action here, with monze1, cedn15, and Akutya just hitting the rails. Akutya was very short-stacked at the first break and exited shortly after.
monze1 fell victim to big draws that didn't quite get there, as he lost some chips in the first level when his straight/flush draw couldn't hit, and then lost the rest of his chips when he held 78s on a board of 5s 6s 7x 7x, and his opponent check-raised him all-in. monze1 made the call with trips and the flush draw but was up against his opponent's flopped straight with 3 4 and monze1 couldn't hit one of his many outs on the river.
Akutya and cedn15 had very short stacks at the first break and couldn't recover, taking a stand but getting the worst of it.
Devilmat49 was also very short-stacked when we last made a pass through, as well as cedn15. Wieringen had chipped up to a bit over 20,000 and Puggy82 was up to 22,000 at last check.
Team PokerRoom Veteran AKplus
One of the many Team PokerRoom.com players taking their seats today is Toronto native AKplus, who is sitting on 13,500 after the second level.
This is Akplus' second WSOP Main Event with Team PokerRoom.com and for those who followed last year's event they might remember the sick beat he copped late on the first day.
Holding a seemingly unbeatable KK with the flop showing KT2 and over 20k in the pot, AKplus' opponent played right into him by pushing all in with only QQ. However, with the poker gods clearly against AK, his opponent hit consecutive runners to steal the pot with an unlikely straight.
The hand left AK crippled on only 5K and despite his best efforts to recover, the blindes and antes took their toll and his 2007 WSOP Main Event ended late on Day 1.
Despite admitting the bad beat took a little while to recover from, AK is back in town and hoping the 2008 WSOP Main Event will bring a little more luck.
AKplus' wife is also a regular on the Team PokerRoom.com trips and always a presence on the rail cheering her hubby on.
Following in Ak's footsteps, she is now also playing on PokerRoom.com with the nickname babymoore and, although she is not as experienced as AK, she is certainly no slouch on the tables, reportedly cleaning up here in Vegas in the cash games.
Aside from qualifying for the WSOP Main Event, AKlus was also previously leading the UK Race Trophy Event, but because he wanted to focus on the WSOP he wasn't able to compete in the final stages of the event and is likely to slide down a few spots in the rankings. He said he will certainly be back in the 5th 'Germany' Race Trophy Event and is looking to make it all the way to the 500k guaranteed Race Trophy Final in Vienna.
Check out all the action from the Race Trophy
Chip Counts At the First Break of Day 1c
Very crazy and hectic here at the Rio but here are the chip counts at the first break:
AKplus: 18,500
AKutya: 3,500
allypat7: 23,000
BEATME x: 15,500
bibaxxx: 22,000
cedn15: 4,000
chewie333: 17,500
Devilmat49: 23,000
dj_stiff: 22,000
Edelfett1: 20,000
EroticDon: 19,200
england5: 22,000
gbpoker: 15,000
Githead: 28,500
got2btopdog: 13,000
greatprducer: 16,000
Hadrian666: 20,000
jmimi42: 27,000
KristapsK3: 23,000
monze1: 12,000
monzie1: 25,000
naztyclown: 18,500
-NUTS6020-: 18,500
Puggy82: 15,500
salvatori27: 21,000
sicilian17: 18,500
skiebeast: 22,000
Stakeajake: 19,000
Stonedancer: 22,000
Wieringen: 19,000
nammer4life: Out
We'll hopefully have more details later but nammer4life unfortunately has hit the rails in early action. We've got another few Team members on short stacks, but most are hanging around their starting stacks and easing into action early on Day 1c.
Nammer???
It's hectic as hell here, but we could have some unconfirmed bad news. The WSOP Europe's star of the show, nammer4life's seat is currently sitting empty as the players go back to the table.
Shuffle Up and Deal on Day 1c
We've got a packed house on Day 1c and tons of Team PokerRoom members in action. Below is a preliminary list of players we've tracked down, but expect the list to grow in the next few hours as we track down more stragglers and late arrivals:
dj_stiff
AKplus
-NUTS6020-
monze1
Stakeajake
gbpoker
Githead
AKutya
KristapsK3
sicilian17
salvatori27
nammer4life
skiebeast
england5
jmimi42
BEATME x
Puggy82
allypat7
chewie333
cedn15
naztyclown
Hadrian666
Devilmat49
Edelfett1
monzie1
bibaxxx
got2btopdog
greatprducer
Stonedancer
Wieringen
EroticDon
Team PokerRoom.com on a Winning Streak - day1b
It’s happy faces and fireworks all around as Team PokerRoom.com finishes off another very successful day 1. As day 1b came to an end, yet another 11 members of the Team has made their way through, setting the total head count for day 2a at an impressive 22.
And it’s not only happy smiles among today’s winners, even among the busted members, such as TurnDawg55 and Kris_the_Wiz, there’s an overall positive feeling towards the overwhelming experience of being part of the Team PokerRoom.com WSOP 2008 experience.
Among the happy winners of the day we find TheBrain001, or "Bubble boy" as he calls himself, who puts it; "This time it's really my turn, I feel it. My track record for live event qualifiers has been just crazy, I came second in the WSOP Europe final I played last year (beaten to the package by fellow team member Nammer4Life), 3rd when I tried for the Aussie Millions and 3rd in the first WSOP final - until I finally won my seat. I only won one live event seat before, to the EPT through a live satellite in Bremen, but I busted in the first level after 55 minutes. This time though, I've reached day two with 65,000 chips. I love this trip, if I've known how much effort PokerRoom.com are putting into these live events, with parties, activities, support from the rail, even dental care, I would've tried even harder to get here."
Day 1b Is A Wrap
Day 1b just finished up, and it was a pretty strong finish for the Team:
pokerfiah: 77,750
belzebot22: 72,850
TheBrain001: 65,050
Hamburg 10: 56,000
Eole900: 33,650
darth V: 31,110
Selanne86: 27,075
thesheeep63: 20,100
ASTODRAKO 1: 19,375
AREZ_ONE: 15,200
While we don't have anyone over 100,000 like our man drohse last night, the top four from Day 1b are all sitting pretty with stacks above 50,000, and no one is seriously short-stacked going into Day 2.
As always, stay tuned tomorrow for live updates from here at the Rio for what promises to be a busy day with tons of Team PokerRoom members in action on Day 1c.
Kris_the_Wiz Busts Out
Sadly we’ve lost another… Kris_the_Wiz has dropped out of the WSOP 2008 in the shadows of full-time of Day 1b.
Low stacked and all-in pre-flop, Kris_the_Wiz had KQ and found a caller with AJ.
Both players hit on the flop with AQx showing,but with board running out with no more improvment Kris_the_Wiz was taken down by a higher pair.
But it’s not over there for Kris_the_Wiz, he fully intends to hit the cash game felt tomorrow bright and early, so watch out everyone, Kris_the_Wiz is looking for revenge!
looserman13 Loses His Battle
After a long, determined battle with a short stack, looserman13 has bowed out of the 2008 WSOP Main Event.
Down to a little over 2k and on the button, looserman13 pushed all of his stack into the middle preflop after a call from EP and a 1K raise from MP. EP called and MP folded and it was looserman13's A7 vs 22.
The flop then show 5c Jc 4c with no improvement for either player. The turn came Kh leaving looserman13 needing to hit a 6 outter to survive. The River then showed Td and the deuces held out to finish looserman13's tournament.
Talking to looserman13 as he left the Amazon room he said he just didn't get the cards he needed at the right times and rued the 4th level when his stacked dropped from 20k down to 4k leaving him in a precarious position for the last 120 minutes of play.
looserman13 fought hard during the last level to build his stack back up, but with his A7 unable to overcome 22 it just wasn't to be his day.
Congrats to looserman13 for his efforts over almost 12 long hours of poker and PokerRoom.com hopes he enjoys the rest of his trip with the team.
Tension Builds Up at the Last Level of Day 1b
As we’re into the 5th and last level of the day, it’s great to see that among the tired faces and last hour tensions there’s still a great spirit and a true winning feeling among the players.
Kris_the_Wiz from Finland is down to a measly 4,000 chips at the break, but doesn't let that fact get to his head.
"My luck always turns. If it doesn't this level, and I'm bust from the Main Event, then I'll hit the cash games table tomorrow. Where I will make a fortune."
That's the spirit! We caught Kris_the_Wiz at the dinner break, where he shared a few more thoughts with us:
Kris_the_Wiz, Finland
On another note, don’t miss the behind the scenes material from the blogs of Puggy82 or Pokah’s own Suze.
One Level to Go on Day 1b
Not to jinx things, but PokerRoom managed to sail through the last level intact, and have just one more level before the end of Day 1b:
pokerfiah: 80,000
belzebot22: 80,000
Eole900: 35,000
Selanne86: 35,000
Hamburg 10: 44,000
TheBrain001: 25,000
ASTODRAKO 1: 25,000
darth V: 20,000
thesheeep63: 17,000
AREZ_ONE: 11,000
looserman13: 5,000
Kris_the_Wiz: 4,000
ricko3112: out
TurnDawg55: out
admiral ph: out
dompoker59: out
As far as big hands, belzebot22 got a big double when he flopped a set with pocket nines and his opponent turned a set of 7s, with belzebot22 getting paid in a big way. thesheeep63 managed a double himself with JJ versus AJ, and Selanne86 chipped up to 35,000 when his opponent slowplayed top set and let Selanne86 river a bigger set.
Kris_the_Wiz ran into the cooler to beat all coolers when his full house ran into quads, leaving him with a very short stack.
Hamburg 10 Flying Under the Radar
Swiss player Team PokerRoom.com player Hamburg 10 has been quietly building a very nice stack in the far corner of the Amazon Room on Table Blue 11.
Nearing the 4th break Hamburg 10 is sitting on a very healthy 40k and working his way into a strong position with just over one level to go for the day.
Video with thesheeep63, ASTRODRAKO 1 and darth v!
Hot off from our PokerRoom.com refreshment suite and our lovely reporter Karolina, here's some dinner break interviews from some of your favorite Team PokerRoom.com heroes!
darth v, England
thesheeep63, Wales
ASTODRAKO 1, Greece
Counting Sheep
A quick tour around the room showed thesheeep63 pretty short with about 8-9K in chips, so be thinking good thoughts right now as he said if he got that low he'd be shoving pretty liberally looking for a double-up.
pokerfiah was still sitting on a very healthy stack and darth V had chipped up a good bit as well.
Edit: That didn't take long. thesheeep63 doubled-up while we were away and has close to 20,000 chips now. Lots of action in the short while we were away, as belzebot22 also doubled and is now on about 70,000 chips, and Selanne86 picked up some chips as well.
Eole900 is positioned well as Day 1b drags on.
7s Aren't Lucky for ricko3112
ricko3112 was very short stacked at the dinner break with just about 3,000 chips, and didn't have the luxury of waiting for a stellar hand with blinds of 150/300 and 25 antes.
He made his stand with a pair of sevens but ran into an opponent's QQ and couldn't hit his two-outer to stay alive. ricko3112 wasn't blessed with much in the way of cards throughout the day and made the most of what he was dealt.
Team PokerRoom.com Dominating Through to the Dinner Break
With no casualties during the third level, 12 Team PokerRoom.com players made it through to the dinner break on Day 1b with their 2008 WSOP dreams still intact.
pokerfiah: 70,000
TheBrain001: 36,000
belzebot22: 31,000
Eole900: 30,000
Hamburg 10: 30,000
ASTODRAKO 1: 28,000
AREZ_ONE: 25,000
darth V: 21,000
Selanne86: 19,000
Kris_the_Wiz: 18,000
looserman13: 16,000
thesheeep63: 14,000
ricko3112: 3,000
TurnDawg55: out
admiral ph: out
dompoker59: out
pokerfiah is still at the top of the pile with an impressive stack of 70,000. Speaking with him in the PokerRoom.com suite over a pizza he said he was happy with his progress and hoping to keep the momentum going right through the last two levels and into Day 2.
TheBrain001 is also doing well with 36,000 in chips and belzebot22 is not far behind with 31,000.
ricko3112 is down to only 3,000 so hopefully he can find some cards soon and make his move to get through to Day 2.
In an interesting side note, Team PokerRoom.com veteran bigwilson is currently well placed in a $300 satellite and looking like winning a ticket to the Main Event.
We will keep you posted on his progress.
Puggys EPIC Entrance...
1,158 Entries for Day 1b
The official numbers are in for total entries on Day 1b, and the results are less than overwhelming, with just 1,158 runners in action today.
The glass half-full crowd is still looking for a huge turnout on Saturday and Sunday, but with just 2,455 total entries over the first two starting days, it's going to take a tremendous showing on the last two starting days to get anywhere near the 7,000+ entries that some were promising for this year's event.
ricko3112 is one of 1,158 entrants on Day 1b
Warney Bowling Them Over
Cricketing god and all round Australian superhero Shane "Warney" Warne is doing well on his first day of play at the Main Event. Warney is sitting on a stack of around 33k after the 2nd level and is looking very comfortable in his new role as poker pro.
For those readers who may not be familiar with Warney, he is basically Australia's greatest ever sportsman and ladies man. Having recently retired from cricket and he is now trying his hand at poker, inspired by his good mate Joe Hachem.
Two Levels Down, Three to Go
Team PokerRoom held strong during the last level, with the 12 remaining players on the Team making it through to level 3:
pokerfiah: 49,000
TheBrain001: 33,000
belzebot22: 27,700
Hamburg 10: 25,000
Eole900: 23,500
AREZ_ONE: 18,000
ASTODRAKO 1: 17,000
Kris_the_Wiz: 17,000
thesheeep63: 16,000
darth V: 15,000
Selanne86: 13,500
ricko3112: 12,000
looserman13: 10,000
TurnDawg55: out
admiral ph: out
dompoker59: out
pokerfiah made the biggest move during the level, with TheBrain001 having a nice level as well. A few of the other players slipped back some but no one is dangerously short-stacked, as blinds are still just 150/300. They've got one more level to go before a long 90 minute dinner break, so hopefully the guys can sail through the level, grab some food, and come back ready to start grinding up their stacks.
pokerfiah was sad to see level 2 end.
Celebrity Look-A-Like Time
Yes it’s that time again folks when you’re in the main hall, look across a table and catch yourself saying to yourself “is that….?” So here we go:
dompoker59 Busted
French Team PokerRoom.com member dompoker59 has just busted out.
That makes it two Team PokerRoom.com members who have been sent to the rail from the evil 'Blue 14' table after admiral ph was busted there earlier in the day.
A Little of This, a Little of That
Just to catch up on some of the nuts and bolts details, all players in the Main Event start with 20,000 chips. Each level is 120 minutes long, and players get a 20 minute break after each level.
Players get a 90 minute break for dinner and play for the starting days (Day 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d) begins at noon and ends at midnight. They'll play five levels on each starting day, using the following structure:
LEVEL ANTE BLINDS
1 - $50-$100
2 - $100-$200
3 - $150-$300
4 $25 $150-$300
5 $50 $200-$400
As far as our blog coverage, we're not allowed to provide real-time chip counts or recaps of hands, so we'll be providing updates on chip stacks for players primarily from when they're on breaks.
Getting To Know... thesheeep63
The town of Neath in Southern Wales has a rich history that dates back to the Roman invasion of Britain in the 1st Century AD. The town also has a lot of Sheep; and it is for this reason that Team Pokerroom.com member and Neath native, thesheeep63, chose his nickname.
“I looked out the window and there was loads of sheep” explained thesheep63, “Here in Wales we’re outnumbered 4 to 1”.
thesheeep63 describes his playing style as determined, and he showed this determination by taking the long road to the WSOP Main Event; firstly winning a $500+$40 ticket in a freeroll and then using the ticket to buy-in into a WSOP Online Final and winning out against a tough field of players.
When I asked thesheep63 about his plans for the WSOP Main Event he said he was going to try to “chill out and take it easy” whilst “sussing out the table dynamics”. If he makes it to the Final Table he wants “crazy Gus Hansen” sitting there with him and he would love to beat the Great Dane in heads-up.
The first level of Day 1b was tough for the Welshman, but he managed to get through with a stack of 13k and is hoping build it back up during level 2.
TurnDawg55 Down
Ladies & Gents... We've lost our dear TurnDawg55.
Not long after losing a big pot versus an opponent with pocket aces, TurnDawg55 found himself tangling with exactly the same opponent -- who amazingly once again was sitting on pocket rockets.
His opponent raised to 600 pre-flop and TurnDawg55 looked down to find KK, and bumped it up to 2,000. His opponent re-raised enough to put TurnDawg55 all-in, and after mulling his options, TurnDawg55 finally made the call. He was too short-stacked to lay down kings in that spot and besides, what are the odds his nemesis would have aces?
Unfortunately that's exactly the hand his opponent hand -- pocket aces -- but wait, the poker gods had one final twist. The flop came K 6 3, all diamonds, so TurnDawg55 hit his miracle two-outer for top set and the lead, but his opponent held the A of diamonds, so TurnDawg55 still had to dodge some cards.
The turn was a diamond, giving his opponent a flush, and the river wasn't a king and didn't pair the board, sealing TurnDawg55's fate and sending him to the rails.
TurnDawg55 making the long slow walk down the hallway.
Tough break, TurnDawg55, and there's really no other way to play the hand. Sometimes the cards go your way and sometimes they don't, and today just didn't seem to be his day.
Chip Counts from the First Break of Day 1b
We just caught up with players at the first break and below are the chip counts for Team PokerRoom players on Day 1b:
belzebot22: 28,600
AREZ_ONE: 23,000
TheBrain001: 22,500
Selanne86: 22,000
pokerfiah: 21,000
Eole900: 21,000
ASTODRAKO 1: 21,000
Hamburg 10: 20,000
looserman13: 20,000
dompoker59: 20,000
darth V: 18,500
ricko3112: 17,000
Kris_the_Wiz: 16,800
thesheeep63: 13,000
TurnDawg55: 10,500
admiral ph: out
admiral ph sadly made his exit right before the 1st break, when he suffered a pretty bad beat. He was sitting on two pair on the flop and got an opponent with just AA to commit all of his chips, but the turn and river came running 4s to give his opponent a bigger two pair.
belzebot22 chipped up nicely (thanks to Jamie Gold) and doesn't seemed fazed at all by playing with a former Main Even winner. TurnDawg55 had a rough level but he was still upbeat at the break and ready to get back in there and start building up his stack again.
admiral ph and dompoker59 before admiral ph's brutal exit.
belzebot22 with Jamie Gold sitting two to his right.
Enter The Dragon
ASTODRAKO 1 , the only Greek member of PokerRoom.com's 2008 WSOP Main Event Team, is playing today in his first major live tournament.
Taking his nickname from his family name which means dragon, ASTODRAKO 1 has only been playing poker for four months and actually qualified for the 2008 WSOP Main Event whilst playing at an Internet cafe. Pretty amazing when you consider he qualified through the 100k Guaranteed Tournament which was an absolute marathon!
Having not played much live poker before the tournament ASTODRAKO 1 has been playing plenty of cash games during his time in Vegas to try and get the feel for playing at a live table. He reported that despite taking a little while to adjust to the atmosphere, he is now feeling very confident that he will do well in the Main Event.
When I had a chat to him about his strategy for today's play he put it pretty simply, "I play to win".
Notable Notes from the Tables
It looks like we'll have 16 players in action today, but possibly one more, as we thought Puggy82 would be in action today but we haven't yet tracked him down. Sounds easy enough in theory but a little difficult in practice when you're trying to sift through thousands and thousands of players, staff, and spectators.
Update: Puggy82 definitely isn't in action today.
As far as interesting stories, we've got two different tables where Team member are battling one another: dompoker59 and admiral ph (both Frenchmen) on Blue Table 14, and AstroDrako and looserman13 on Blue Table 2.
belzebot22 is sitting two to the left of former Main Event winner Jamie Gold. Other notable names in the field today include Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Humberto Brenes, Andy Black, Dewey Tomko, Tom McEvoy, and Greg Raymer.
As far as the breakdown of countries represented on Team PokerRoom today, it's a big day for France, which leads the way with four Team members in the mix today:
dompoker59: France
Eole900: France
looserman13: France
admiral ph: France
darth V: UK
thesheeep63: UK
pokerfiah: UK
TurnDawg55: Canada
Selanne86: Canada
belzebot22: Denmark
TheBrain001: Germany
AREZ_ONE: Switzerland
Hamburg 10: Switzerland
ASTODRAKO 1: Greece
Kris_the_Wiz: Finland
thesheeep63 surveying the action.
TurnDawg55 with his poker face on.
Team PokerRoom Players in Action on Day 1b
We're still missing the info on a few players we think who are out in the mix, but here's the list we have so far of Team members in the mix on Day 1b:
Kris_the_Wiz
TurnDawg55
darth V
thesheeep63
ASTODRAKO 1
pokerfiah
AREZ_ONE
dompoker59
Eole900
looserman13
admiral ph
Selanne86
belzebot22
TheBrain001
ricko3112
Selanne86 in action on Day 1b.
A Very Successful Day 1a For Team PokerRoom.com
With 11 of the 14 Team PokerRoom.com players navigating their way through the choppy seas of Day 1a action there are so many good stories tell.
However, it's hard to go past drohse who built his stack to a mammoth 135k by play's end, winning 40k on the last hand of the day with pocket A's.
drohse actually finished the day in the top ten in chips for Day 1a, a pretty impressive feat indeed:
Mark Garner 194,900
Brandon Adams 176,450
Kellen Hunter 155,200
Stefan Mattsson 154,275
Patrick Fortin 145,275
Jeff Frerichs 138,025
drohse 135,475
Adam Hudson 127,750
Wayne Brown 124,575
Todd Rebello 123,925
Then there is realpokermon who was dangerously short stacked for much of the day, but managed to climb back to a respectable 22k by the end of play to give himself every chance going into day 2.
All of the players seemed content with their efforts and excited about the prospect of getting back to the tables for Day 2a on Tuesday.
Stay tuned to PokerRoom.com tomorrow when Day 1b kicks off and more Team PokerRoom.com players take their seats at the 2008 WSOP Main Event.
One player to watch out for will be TurnDawg55 who we caught up with today during the dinner break to talk about his big day tomorrow.
Final Chip Count for Day 1a
It's hard to view Day 1a as anything other than a huge success for Team PokerRoom, with 11 of the 14 players who started the day surviving to move on to Day 2. Here are the chip counts of players to end the day:
drohse: 135,000
efroni1: 46,000
NeilMc: 36,000
Franek-62: 35,775
bigbalu67: 35,000
UpChitCreek: 30,000
janus1984: 20,400
J Carlisle: 22,000
---Grazy---: 24,600
realpokermon: 21,975
samy715: Unknown, but he had chips at last count right before the end of the level.
And a big round of applause for mr.vallentin, ashtyper, and DamnedToWin. They may have fallen in battle during action on Day 1a but they're still winners in our books and made a heck of a run just to get to the 2008 Main Event, something most poker players never achieve.
Interview with Wieringen and efroni1 by Harmonie Krieger
Check out the great interview Wieringen and efroni1 by Harmonie Krieger of Bluff
Interview with Wieringen and bigbalu67 by Harmonie Krieger
Check out the great interview with Wieringen and bigbalu67 by Harmonie Krieger of Bluff
One Hour Left in Day 1a
There's just about an hour left in Day 1a and Team PokerRoom is looking to finish the day on a high note. realpokermon managed a double up to get a bit healthier, sitting now on about 15,000, and bigbalu67 knocked out his nemesis on his left (Jack Haley, a former NBA player for the Lakers and Bulls) to win a big pot when his aces held up versus Haley's pocket tens.
Everyone else seems to be holding steady, although J Carlisle's stack seemed to have slipped a bit. Most seem happy enough to survive the day with their current stacks and move on to Day 2.
Video Interview with ---Grazy--- and Harmonie Krieger of Bluff
Make sure to check out the great interview between ---Grazy--- and Harmonie Krieger of Bluff
NeilMc Steals A Nice Pot
By the end of 4th level Englishman NeilMc moved his stack up to 34k, mainly on the back of one big pot.
Sitting on BB and facing a raise and a call preflop, NeilMc looked down at A4 off and bumped it to 4k. Both of his opponents went to the tank and eventually called.
A low flop then showed which didn't help NeilMc, but his instincts told him that his opponents had "Broadway hands" so he led out with a big 9K bet. Both players folded and NeilMc scooped up a nice pot of over 12K.
That Shut Him Up
Video with UpChitCreek - It's 54 Cards in the Deck!
At the dinner break, our Scotsman UpChitCreek reveled a quite disturbing incident that just occurred at his table!
Team PokerRoom Chugging Along with One More Level to Go
With just one more level to go in Day 1a, Team PokerRoom is still hanging on with 11 of the original 14 runners still in action:
drohse: 80,000
efroni1: 50,000
Franek-62: 42,000
bigbalu67: 37,000
NeilMc: 34,000
janus1984: 30,000
J Carlisle: 29,000
---Grazy---: 26,000
UpChitCreek: 25,000
samy715: 19,000
realpokermon: 7,500
drohse continued to build his stack throughout the level, making the most of his big hands. bigbalu67 also had a big level, more than doubling up when he finally got tired of being pushed around and bluffed his way to some chips. efroni1 also enjoyed the action during the last level, finishing up with a cool 50,000.
realpokermon was the only Team member to really take a hit during the level, running into trouble when he slowplayed his aces and misreading a board where he thought he had a flush draw in addition to an open-ended straight draw. He's still got chips, though, and a double or two will get him right back in the action.
Blinds are now 200/400 with 50 antes. There were 766 players left at the last break from a starting field of 1,297, so players haven't been shy about moving their chips around.
Video interview with McNeil by Puggy82
Please meet our star blogger Puggy82, who not only is ready to hit the WSOP Main Event tables tomorrow, but also lets us share his dinner break moment one on one with McNeil!
Dinner break video interviews with J Carlisle
Make sure to check out our latest video blog with J Carlise as he talks about his experience so far with Team PokerRoom in Vegas...
realpokermon on the Brink, drohse Drags Another Big Pot
The latest stroll around the room has some sad news to report with realpokermon down to just a few thousand chips after losing a big pot against an opponent with a set. J Carlisle is also down a bit since the last update.
Most of the others are holding steady, but bigbalu67 has chipped up some, and drohse just drug a big pot with a set of 6s versus an opponent with 10 10 who shoved all-in on a flop of 5 6 7, rainbow.
We'll have detailed chip counts in about twenty minutes when players are on break again.
Video Exclusive
We managed to pin some of the Team down for video interviews over dinner. Stay tuned to find out who.
Damn Aces: DamnedToWin Hits the Rails
We've lost another Team member, with DamnedToWin just exiting action. He was short stacked and found himself with A5 on a flop of A A x. Hard to get away from that one, especially when the person raising you is the chip leader who'd aggressively been playing tons of hands.
All of DamnedToWin's chips went into the middle with his trip aces but he found himself up against his opponent's AQ and got no help on the turn or river.
Not much you can do about that one, especially when short-stacked, so a tough way to end the evening for DamnedToWin, but well-played to get here and to last as long as he did when not blessed with great cards or great luck all day.
1,297 Entries on Day 1a
We've finally got the official word from Harrah's on the total entries for Day 1a, which turned out to be 1,297.
That's not exactly stellar news, and the unofficial rumors are that Harrah's is worried about the 2008 Main Event cracking the 6,000 player mark. Time will tell, although the writing seems to be on the wall as far as a huge turnout of 8,000+ players simply not in the cards for this year's WSOP Main Event.
efroni1 is one of the 1,297 players in action on Day 1a
All Smiles For DamnedToWin
Sitting on a stack of 15900 at the dinner break DamnedToWin is pretty happy with his progress so far. He hasn't been involved in too many big pots just yet and has been waiting for t