PokerListings Blog

The Rio Hotel is always choked with railbirds when the Main Event of the World Series of Poker is happening.

On our way back from dinner, the PokerListings team witnessed 2007 ME champ Jerry Yang navigating a swarm of well-wishers, autograph hounds and amateur paparazzi-types.

Yang wasn't the only one, either.

Some earnest young fellow caught sight of Isaac "LuvtheWNBA" Haxton and made his move.

"Isaac, can I get a picture?"

Now, we like Haxton as much as anyone. He's a nice guy and a good poker player. But we wouldn't have suspected he was the type to have to deal with autograph hounds and rabid railbirds.

Apparently we're wrong, and congratulations to Haxton for attaining that level of fame.

Let us just say though, that when guys like Haxton are getting swarmed by fans at the WSOP, the poker industry doesn't have anything to worry about.

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The WSOP Main Event is the biggest poker tournament in the world, with thousands of players flocking to the Rio with the same pipe dream: to be the next World Champ.

With such a massive field, it's inevitable that every year all sorts of players make it deep: loudmouths, card racks, nits, professionals, and of course overzealous, hooting, fist-pumping amateurs.

Each year new icons of poker are made; some you love, some you hate. And some you really love to hate.

With the start of the ME today, it's time to pay tribute to a few players who have played the role of WSOP ME heel over the last few years.

Who will emerge as the defacto villain this year? We'll soon see. In the interim, these five reign supreme:

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Despite the fact that Alex Bolotin is not a celebrity or big-name poker player he decided to win the 2009 Ante Up for Africa on Thursday night anyways.

The diminutive Bolotin played larger than life at the final table and outlasted players like Erik Seidel, Jennifer Harman and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson to win the first place prize of $177,730.

Shortly after his victory Bolotin announced that he would be giving 50% of his winnings to charity in honor of the event.

"I'm really excited to win," said Bolotin. "I definitely got lucky but you have to get lucky in these events. It was great meeting all the celebrities and poker legends in this tournament."

Because the event carried such a shallow structure the final table was a fast-paced event that was mostly all-ins and coin flip situations. Heads-up against Adam Richardson lasted exactly one hand.

That's not to say Bolotin is not a skilled player, however. The Brooklyn-based grinder has 14 WSOP cashes and last year made three final tables.

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Deciding to televise the final table of the Ante Up for Africa charity event may have been the smartest decision ESPN made this year.

The table is stacked with well-known pros including Jennifer Harman, Chris Ferguson, Erik Seidel, Phil Gordon, John Hennigan, Alex Bolotin, Rafe Furst, Matt Kay and Adam Richardson.

The nine players out-lasted 129 players including big name celebrities like Sarah Silverman, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to make it to the final table.

Harman, who was one of the short stacks to start the day, took the time to give some credit to the organizers.

"It is a really wild event," said Harman. "It's nice to see people come out and support the cause. It just shows that poker is a way of giving and we all really love that part of it."

Although most of the celebrities are gone Ferguson actually complimented their skill level earlier in the day.

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The third annual Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament took center stage at the WSOP today and a who's who of A-list celebs and poker stars hit the felt for the cause.

Beyond the cash prizes, all proceeds from the $5k buy-in event go to the ENOUGH project and Refugees International, charities that raise awareness and provide aid to the survivors of the crisis in Darfur.

Over $2 million has been raised in past events by the non-profit AUFA, founded in 2006 by Don Cheadle, Annie Duke and Norman Epstein, and by the size of this year's turnout that number should go up substantially.

Just a few of the more recognizable faces: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Nelly, Sarah Silverman, Jason Alexander and Cedric the Entertainer.

See below for the photo gallery from the red carpet and the tables.

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So I guess I inadvertently lied to you all in my last WSOP blog.

I said I would be back in action on Saturday unless I played the limit shootout on Friday, but out of the boredom derived from the mixed game players having their way with the WSOP schedule last week I decided to head over to the Venetian.

They're running another one of their highly popular Deep Stack Extravaganzas, and on Friday they spread a $2k NL event. I expected a decent turnout, but since it was such a big buy in (relative to most Venetian prelims) and it wasn't a WSOP event I thought there would be around 200-250 players.

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Every year, a handful of world-famous celebrities pony up the $10k to take a seat in the World Series of Poker Main Event.

As of yet, the results have been as expected. For the most part, squadoosh.

No celebs have ever really made a deep run in the Main Event (save Telly Savalas back in 1992) and most have packed up their belongings and left very early in the proceedings.

With the pool of celebrity players growing each year, though, it's likely only a matter of time before that changes.

So in honor of the Ante Up For Africa Celeb event today at the Rio, here's my list of the most likely celebrities to make it in to the money this year:

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Julie Schneider has been playing poker since she was 17 or 18 years old. Somewhere along the way, she met Tom Schneider and the two married.

Tom would eventually make a name for himself in the poker world by winning multiple WSOP bracelets as well as Player of the Year in 2007, but today it might be Julie's turn to shine.

She is at the final table of the $2,500 Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw event. It just happens to be her favorite game and she's proving that she has the skills to compete at the highest level.

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Since my first live tournament win at EPT San Remo in April 2008, nearly 15 months ago, I have been trying to do everything that I could to get sponsored by Pokerstars. Well, that day has finally come.

Everybody knows that it is very difficult for an American professional poker player to get a sponsorship nowadays. This is one of the reasons why this means so much to me.

I am very excited to be joining the Pokerstars team. I look forward to supporting the site and hope to continue to make final tables and win more titles, but now with the Pokerstars patch on!

It's been 10 brutal days of WSOP events since my last post. I played 11 events and bricked all of them.

I only made day 2 in the 2500 8 game mixed, in which I busted about 30 minutes into Day 2. I've taken some pretty horrendous beats in the last 11 events. The worst one was probably the 5k shootout in which I lost on the 2nd hand with 77 vs KK on a Q-T-7 board. Sigh.

Oh well, I got all my run bad out just in time for the main event. I can't wait to play it, really pumped about it.

I decided I'm going to play Day 1A because my best friend, Darko, is coming into town Friday night, so I'm going to want to chill and hang out with him during the 3 days off between day 1A and day 2A.

Main event shippage coming soon. Next blogpost will be after I play day 1.

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They sell a lot of poker-themed gear in the gift shop at the World Series of Poker.

But you'd have to travel to Japan to pick up this beauty, which we found on Engrish.com.

It reads in its entirety:

"Man Friend's Rule No, 1

NO GIRLS in the playing POKER GAME

When the playing poker game is done, the thing to call girl is a prohibition. It is because the game becomes not interesting." [sic times infinite]

With all due respect to the makers of the shirt, we beg to differ. The PokerListings home game would be far more interesting if we replaced Sevillano and Stirzaker with Liz Lieu and Liv Boeree.

But maybe that's just us.

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We are at the stage of the series where many online sites host outrageous parties with the aim being to out-do each other's plans for sheer exuberance.

Last night saw Ultimate Bet throw their hat into the ring, booking the whole of Studio 54 at the MGM casino.

We can't help but think they pulled it off too.

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Some poker players have absolutely no common sense. They might be brilliant on the felt but they have no clue how to do something as simple as open a door.

Here at the WSOP, the doors are solid wood. Hence they aren't see through. Yet people still barrel through them like a New Jersey frat boy pumped up on steroids.

We constantly see people getting slammed by these doors as inconsiderate fools fling them open. It's somewhat of a lottery when you go to open it. You never know when you're going to catch one in the face.

Earlier we saw someone with a nice cheeseburger and fries. They looked hungry. As he reached to open the door, some monkey who had probably just suffered a bad beat kicked the door open.

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Most people who had just plunked down $5,000 to play in a poker tournament would be too keyed up to sleep.

Not this guy.

Must have had a late night at the Ultimate Bet party, because he's out cold at his table. Like, needing to be woken up when the action's on him out.

So far his midday nap doesn't seem to be hurting his stack too much, and he's already outlasted Beth Shak at his table, but we can't help but think that this guy's $5k would have been better spent on a nice Sealy Posturepedic and a couple quality down pillows.

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With a mind-boggling three gold bracelets and a daunting 355 Player of the Year points, you'd think Jeffrey Lisandro would have the 2009 WSOP POY award sewn up by now.

You'd be wrong.

Granted, his rivals are fading fast. And you'd still be pretty stupid to bet against him. But it's not officially a done deal.

And, as we know in poker, stranger things have happened.

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It's that time of year again: World Series of Poker Main Event time. If that doesn't get your heart pumping, you're either dead or not a poker player.

The Main Event is a two-week-long poker super grind. With the thousands of tables comes millions of hands, storylines, brags, beats and of course a shit-ton of variance.

The Main Event is where names are made and fortunes are won. It's simply the biggest poker spectacle in the world.

If that isn't memorable enough on its own, I took the liberty of searching around and finding my top five most memorable WSOP ME hands.

In no particular order, we have:

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A few weeks ago, we told you about Doyle Brunson's retail therapy following his premature bustification in the $10,000 Mixed Event.

Dude bought a new Cadillac Escalade and Tweeted about it.

"New Escalade is beautiful, but maybe i'll get used to all the stuff on it," he wrote after taking delivery of the truck.

Then, a few days ago, a little of what we call foreshadowing:

"By the way, I loved my old Escalade but no comparison to my new one. It has 160 mph on the speedometer and it might really go that fast."

And then a few days later at the end of play on Day 2 of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, Brunson was caught apparently testing the limits of that speedometer.

"Still in with average chips. Todd is in 3rd place. got a freaking ticket coming home last night..Escalade runs too damn fast."

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With the recent invasion of Russian players at the WSOP, it's only natural there will be some breakdowns in communication and we just saw an example of that today.

It's a well-known rule at the WSOP that only English can be spoken at the table to prevent collusion between two players speaking a language the rest of the players at the table don't understand.

Russians, in particular, have been allegedly guilty of this several times.

In a recent hand in the $3,000 Triple Chance tournament, Andrew Scott found himself in between two Russians and after a seeing the flop he heard one of them say something to the other in Russian.

Scott asked the Russian on his left what he had said but the player didn't answer. Scott was perturbed by the hand and decided to call over the floor manager at this point.

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Yesterday, the WSOP caused a bit of a stir with their inclusion of the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" in John Kabbaj's bracelet ceremony.

Despite head-banging their way through the ceremony, both Kabbaj and WSOP commish Jeffrey Pollack expressed disappointment in the ceremony, with Pollack Tweeting an apology and announcing a re-do of the ceremony on Saturday.

So today was Saturday and thus a somber Jeffrey Pollack stood before the assembled and apologized for allowing so heinous an act.

Then the assembled stood and paid their respects to Jolly England with the regular instrumental version of "God Save the Queen" playing in the background. And everyone walked away with righteous indignation quelled.

Kabbaj, incidentally, didn't bother to show up for his Groundhog Day presentation.

Meanwhile, eclipsing the GodSavetheQueenaments was Canadian Bahador Ahmadi's bracelet presentation.

Ahmadi was born in Iran and as a show of solidarity with those struggling in the aftermath of the Iranian election, requested that the Iranian national anthem be played.

So they dug up the Iranian anthem and with Pollack careful to add that Ahmadi had requested it, they played the song and it was kind of cool.

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Let's take a moment to discuss one of the best if not THE best food on offer at the Rio.

The official sandwich purveyor of the World Series of Poker is a small sandwich chain called Capprioti's. Their sandwiches are some of the best that can be had in all of Las Vegas, let alone the Rio.

But there is one sandwich that stands out a cut above the rest. It is known as the "Bobbie". It is a sinister mix of freshly roasted turkey, moist stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mayonnaise all on a soft roll. It's not your run-of-the-mill sandwich.

If you're thinking it sounds strange you might be right, but if you're thinking that it sounds disgusting - well then, you couldn't be more wrong.

A virtual Thanksgiving dinner on a roll, the "Bobbie" is a sandwich that will leave you feeling full and reminiscent of family dinners from years past all at the same time.

If you ever find yourself at the Rio or at a Capriotti's elsewhere in the U.S., don't even bother looking at the menu.

Pick up one of these hefty sandwiches and prepare for the wild ride that only turkey, mayonnaise, stuffing, and cranberry sauce can bring you.

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If you're getting sick of the garish decor, jam-packed corridors and noise pollution that are some of the hallmarks of the Rio, you might consider sauntering down to the Rio's considerably more low-key neighbor, the Gold Coast.

Although the slower pace of the Gold Coast is not for all, jump in one of the cash games here and you will face off against an eclectic mix of characters.

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Every day at around 2 p.m., play stops at the 2009 World Series of Poker for a special bracelet presentation to honor those who've won events the night before.

The winner is brought up on stage, the bracelet is handed over and his or her national anthem is played.

Typically, the anthem is a staid instrumental arrangement played with very little personality.

For John Kabbaj's ceremony, however, it was the Sex Pistols'"God Save the Queen."

At first, reaction was mostly positive to this refreshing change of pace. Kabbaj and WSOP Commish Jeffrey Pollack were both seen to be rocking out on stage, fist-pumping and head-banging and generally enjoying the moment.

But then the grumbling started. People started muttering about the ceremony being disrespectful. Kabbaj thought it over and decided he was infuriated.

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With the WSOP choosing not to televise the $50k H.O.R.S.E event, many of the world's professional poker players have decided the event is simply not worth it.

Except for the odd exception, there are only two reasons a serious poker player plays the game: money and bragging rights.

While some players play for just one or the other, the majority of poker players play for both. They want the money, and the prestige that comes with it.

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With the event officially underway, there's good news and bad news for the $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E event:

The good: Almost every celebrity poker professional is in the event.

The Bad: Other than them, there's no one else.

From the very first hand, this might be the only event with more spectators on the rail than there are players at the tables.

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The fourth annual $50k HORSE tournament kicks off today at noon.

This ain't no $1,500 donkament, to win you can't be no one game wonder.

The $50k horse is the pro's tourney and winning it guarantees recognition as one of the best players in the world.

When the clock strikes noon today and the Amazon doors open you will see the best the poker world has to offer pouring in to the tournament room, all ready to do battle for the Chip Reese Trophy.

Last year Scotty Nguyen shipped it and, with the help of about 20 Michelobs, made a mockery of the tournament and the whole game of poker.

For poker's sake let's hope that doesn't happen again. But check out the highlight reel below.

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In the sea of WSOP poker players and poker tournaments, almost every major name in poker can be found at the Rio daily.

Some players, such as Phil Ivey and Nam Le are playing in multiple events at the same time. Nam Le made it deep in two events at once, literally running from one room to the next between hands.

Phil Ivey won two bracelets just over a week apart, Jeffrey Lisandro has won three this year, and countless other big names have gone deep in multiple events.

The question many people are asking now: where's Tom Dwan been?

Dwan has only played in a handful of events so far, cashing in none of them. He hasn't been reported to be playing any high-stakes cash games around town, and hasn't played online since the 19th.

Even though everyone needs time off from time to time, no one figured he'd choose to sit out both the WSOP (tourneys and side action) and his million-dollar Challenge (save one epic session) against Patrik Antonius.

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