2013 World Series of Poker Europe - LIVE 2013 WSOPE Coverage! - PokerListings.com

Elio Fox Edges Chris Moorman to Win 2011 WSOPE Main Event

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Elio Fox was the least known player at the 2011 WSOPE Main Event final table but that didn’t stop him from putting on a spectacular performance going wire-to-wire to win the European title.

Chris Moorman is one of the best online poker players in the world but even he didn’t last long against the surging Fox heads-up.

Moorman was also at a disadvantage as he entered heads-up play with a nearly 2-1 chip deficit.

Fox was absolutely relentless during the heads-up match and never gave Moorman a chance to breath. Fox rivered a flush early to win a massive pot and was firmly in the driver’s seat from that point on.

Finally Moorman was down to 2.1 million and needed to make a stand.

In the final hand of the tournament Fox bet 200,000, Moorman bet 430,000 and Fox jammed, easily covering Moorman.

Moorman made the call and both players revealed their hands:

Fox: A♦ T♠

Moorman: A♥ 7♠

The dealer prepared to put down a potentially tournament-ending board. The flop came 6♠ 4♠ 3♥, which kept Fox in the lead but gave Moorman a gut-shot straight draw.

The turn came 6♦ and Moorman now had a shot at chopping as well as winning the hand.

The river… 8♥!

Fox successfully faded all of Moorman’s outs and won the pot, the title and €1.4 million. Meanwhile Moorman will have to go another day without a major title but he does pick up €800,000.

In total Fox outlasted a field of 593 players and a final table that included Moorman, Jake Cody and Brian Roberts to win the biggest poker tournament in French history.

We had to laugh when we overheard his short answer to an ESPN reporter asking if he enjoyed the tournament.

“I always do. It’s a lot of fun.”

It is a lot of fun. Especially when you win €1.4 million.

That’s it for us in Cannes. Thanks for checking out our coverage and stay tuned for a news wrap of the event.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Kranich Krushed (3rd)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

German pro Moritz Kranich has officially busted from the 2011 WSOPE final table leaving Chris Moorman to face Elio Fox for the title.

Fox opened for 140,000 and Kranich shoved for his last 1.6 million. Moorman laid it down but Fox decided to make the call.

The players revealed their hands:

Fox: 9♦ 9♠

Kranich: 5♥ 4♥

Fox has been lucky a few times this tournament but this time he had his opponent crushed.

The dealer quickly ran out a 7♠ 6♦ 2♥ A♣ 4♠ board and the Kranich was sent packing. Kranich, who was chasing poker’s Triple Crown in this event as he already has EPT and WPT titles, ended up falling just short in third place. He picks up €550,000 for his efforts.

Meanwhile we’re down to heads-up with Moorman taking on Fox for the most prestigious poker title in Europe. Here are the chip counts as we enter heads-up:

Fox – 11 million Moorman – 6.7 million

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Roberts Robbed (4th)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Suddenly players are falling faster than the U.S. dollar.

Former 2 Months, $2 Million reality star Brian “flawless_victory” Roberts is the latest player to hit the rail as he got involved in a massive hand against Chris Moorman.

Moorman open-shoved from the small blind and Roberts, who had been severely beaten down in the last 30 minutes of play, decided to make the call with a lowly J♣ 8♥.

The English pro flipped Q♥ 4♥ and had a slight edge on Roberts. The dealer prepared to put out a potentially player-busting board.

The board came 8♠ 6♦ 7♦ and that gave Roberts the lead with a pair of eights. The 2♥ peeled off the deck as the turn. It appeared Roberts would double but instead the river fell 5♦ giving Moorman a straight and busting Roberts right out of the tournament.

Roberts picks up €400,000 for busting in fourth place, which is more than his entire team made in two months in the reality show he starred in. Not bad for five days work.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Blain Busts (5th)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Even the luck of the Irish couldn’t keep Dermot Blain from busting out of this tournament in fifth place.

In his final hand Blain opened for 175,000 from under the gun and action folded to Brian Roberts.

Roberts, who’s been the biggest mover over the last two hours, asked for a count (Blain had about 1.7 million at this point) and then decided to raise to 350,000.

Everyone else folded and Blain put all his chips in the middle. Roberts thought for a minute but than called with A♥ J♦. Blain flipped in K♠ Q♥ and was in a serious amount of trouble.

The board ran out A♣ Q♣ 2♦ 9♥ 2♣ and that was enough to send Blain back to Ireland. He picks up €275,000 for hitting the rail in fifth place.

Here are the updated chip counts:

Elio Fox – 7 million Brian Roberts – 5.3 million Chris Moorman – 3.2 million Mortiz Kranich – 2.1 million

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’ll say this about players at the 2011 WSOPE: They are a patient group.

For the last couple hours Elio Fox, Chris Moorman, Brian Roberts, Mortiz Kranich and Dermot Blain have been circling each other with none of them wanting to make a huge gaff.

Brian Roberts is the latest hot hand at the table and has done a great job of stealing blinds over the last hour chipping up to 3.6 million, good enough for second behind Fox’s 7 million.

The WSOPE Main Event has traditionally been a long affair and the 2008 edition featuring John Juanda was a beast of a tournament that ended up lasting 22-hours before Juanda finally scored the knockout blow in the early afternoon of the next day.

We’re hoping it doesn’t come to that but we’re fueled up on French coffee and Red Bulls so we’ll be with you every step of the way.

Here are the latest chip counts:

Elio Fox – 7 million Brian Roberts – 3.6 million Chris Moorman – 3.2 million Mortiz Kranich – 2.1 million Dermot Blain – 1.7 million

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Shawn Bombs (Sixth)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Shawn Buchanan was arguably the most experienced player at the final table today but that hasn’t saved him from hitting the rail in sixth place.

Elio Fox opened a pot for 120,000 and Dermot Blain moved all-in. Buchanan, who was just covered by Blain, decided to make the call and Fox, for once, got out of the way.

Buchanan had to like his odds as he flipped T♥ T♣ to Blain’s A♦ 4♣.

The flop came Q♦ 3♦ 2♦ and Buchanan was still ahead but Blain had about, oh, one million outs with diamonds, aces and fives all providing a way for him to take the lead.

Buchanan managed to fade Blain’s outs on the turn when it came 7♣ but the river brought the dreaded A♣.

Blain busts Buchanan in sixth place. The Canadian pro picks up €200,000, which will go quite well with the €207,624 he picked up for coming in second place in the 10k Split Event.

Here are the updated chip counts for the final table:

Elio Fox - 7.5 millionChris Moorman - 3.7 millionMortiz Kranich - 2.5 millionDermot Blain - 2.4 millionBrian Roberts - 1.8 million

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: The Final Push

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

All six players are back from dinner and it’s time to play this one out – short-handed style.

New York’s Elio Fox has been kicking the crap out of everyone at the final table tonight and we’ll see if his good fortune continues against the more established grinders like Shawn Buchanan and Chris Moorman.

Meanwhile Dermot Blain is in the hot seat with just one million chips left in his arsenal.

The blinds are getting cranked up to 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante so things could get very interesting over the next hour.

Here’s a look at the stacks as action recommences:

Elio Fox – 6.9 million Chris Moorman – 3 million Mortiz Kranich – 3 million Shawn Buchanan – 1.9 million Brian Roberts – 1.8 million Dermot Blain – 1 million

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Table for Six!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’ve made it through a few levels here at the final table of the 2011 WSOPE final table and players have just been given a 60-minute dinner break.

Surprisingly we’ve lost two of the players we expected to go very far at this final table in Jake Cody and Max Silver.

The relatively unknown Elio Fox, besides that whole Bellagio Cup VII business this summer, is absolutely pounding the table and now has nearly half the chips in play.

He can’t afford to slow down, however, as legendry online grinder Chris Moorman is second in chips with 3.08 million.

Check back in 60 minutes for more action from the Hotel Majestic in Cannes.

Here’s a look at the chip counts as we head for dinner:

Elio Fox – 6.9 million Chris Moorman – 3 million Moritz Kranich – 3 million Shawn Buchanan – 1.9 million Brian Roberts – 1.8 million Dermot Blain – 1 million

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Cody Crashes (7th)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Jake Cody is the unexpected seventh place finisher here at the 2011 WSOPE Final Table.

Cody, who was one of the bigger stacks at the start of the last level, but lost two huge pots to bounce right out of the tournament.

First Cody doubled up Dermot Blain when the short-stacked Irish pro jammed with A♥ A♦. Cody called with K♣ Q♦ and never got any help from the board to lose a substantial portion of his stack.

Maybe 15 minutes later Fox opened for 110,000 and Cody three-bet to 260,000.

Fox re-raised to 600,000 and that sent Cody into the tank for a couple minutes pondering his decision.

Eventually Cody moved all-in and Fox snap-called with T♥ T♣. Unfortunately it was a snap bad decision for Fox as Cody tabled J♥ J♦.

The Rochdale native was still nervous, however, as his tournament life was on the line.

The flop came 8♦ 7♣ 6♥ and Cody was still safe but Fox had picked up a straight draw. Things went from bad to worse when the 9♥ peeled off the turn.

Cody needed to hit one of the two remaining tens to spike the bigger straight and double up. It didn’t happen as the river was a meaningless 6♠.

No stranger to success Cody already has poker’s illustrious Triple Crown, which includes a WPT, WSOP and EPT victory. He won't be adding another WSOP bracelet in this one, however.

Cody picks up €150,000 for busting out in seventh place and now has nearly $3 million in lifetime tournament earnings.

Here are the stacks after Cody busted:

Elio Fox - 6.9 millionChris Moorman - 3 millionMortiz Kranich - 3 millionShawn Buchanan - 1.9 millionBrian Roberts - 1.8 millionDermot Blain - 1 million

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Action Slows

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It seems that at every final table there is a period where action slows and very few flops are seen.

We’ve apparently hit that portion of the evening as the last hour has been bereft of flops, bustouts, double ups and even interesting table talk.

Elio Fox continues to maintain his chip lead and currently has just over 4 million chips. Jake Cody is the latest player to take a run at the chip leader and is currently stacked with 3.09 mllion.

Mortiz Kranich and Chris Moorman are right in line with Cody, however, as they both have three million.

Meanwhile Irish pro Dermot Blain is in the danger zone with 550,000. The rest of the stacks are fairly even so it could be awhile before the chips start to fly.

You can’t really blame the players for being cautious right now as the blinds are 25,000/50,000 and the average stack has about 50 big blinds.

Here’s a look at the latest chip counts:

Elio Fox – 4 million Jake Cody – 3.09 million Chris Moorman – 3.08 million Mortiz Kranich – 3.01 million Brian Roberts – 2.3 million Shawn Buchanan – 1.6 million Dermot Blain – 550,000

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: The Plot Thickens

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’ve made it through another hour at the final table and the short stacks are holding on to their stacks like their life depended on it.

Two players managed to double up in the last hour and Elio Fox is still the man to beat with nearly 5 million chips.

German Mortiz Kranich has also been cranking up his play in the last while and is climbing the chip counts with over 3 million.

Here’s a look at the big hands over the last hour:

Buchanan Bucks Up

Shawn Buchanan entered play about 15 minutes late today because, according to him, his elevator was broken.

As a result it was understandable that he felt a bit behind the rest of the players today. Well, he just got lucky to catch up in a big way.

Dermot Blain opened for 90,000 and Buchanan simply shoved for 835,000. Blain thought for a minute but then called with J♥ J♦. It was the right choice as he was ahead of Buchanan’s A♣ 8♦.

The board came 8♥ 5♠ 4♥ 5♦… A♥!

The ace on the river gave Buchanan two-pair, which was enough to give the Canadian the double up.

Roberts Finds Flawless Double Through Moorman

Brian “flawless_victory” Roberts just picked up a much-needed double up from Chris Moorman.

Moorman opened for 85,000 and Roberts flatted. Fox, who seems to love being in almost every hand, popped it up to 260,000.

Action folded to Moorman who made a huge raise to 585,000. Roberts wasn’t going anywhere, however, and he shoved for 1.2 million. Fox immediately got the hell out of the hand and that sent Moorman into the tank.

Eventually the English pro called, only to find out he was crushed.

Roberts: A♥ A♠

Moorman: K♠ 9♥

The came board up blanks and Roberts doubled to 2.9 million while Moorman fell back down to 2 million.

Leaderboard

Here are the latest chip counts:

Elio Fox – 4.8 million Mortiz Kranich – 3 million Jake Cody – 2.8 million Brian Roberts – 2.5 million Chris Moorman – 1.7 million Shawn Buchanan – 1.7 million Dermot Blain – 1.7 million

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Silver Tarnished (8th)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Max Silver has not shown any reluctance to play big pots over the course of this tournament and it’s that style that just saw him go out in eighth place.

Chris Moorman bet 60,000 and Max Silver popped it up to 165,000 from the button. Moorman asked for a count and found out at that Silver had 356,000 behind and then moved in.

Silver called for his tournament life and threw down A♠ K♥. Moorman flipped J♣ J♥ and we had a classic race on our hands.

The board came Q♣ 9♦ 5♣ 3♥ 9♥ and that’s it for Silver. He finishes in eighth place and picks up €115,000.

Silver has had exceptional run here at the 2011 WSOPE and placed fourth in the Shootout event to take down €63,151.

Here’s how the chips looked after Silver’s elimination:

Elio Fox – 4.3 million Chris Moorman – 3.9 million Jake Cody – 2.6 million Dermot Blain – 2.4 million Brian Roberts – 2 million Moritz Kranich – 1.6 million Shawn Buchanan – 1 million

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: The Final Showdown

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Nearly 600 players, six marathon days, thousands of devastating bad beats and it all comes down to this.

Eight players enter but only one will walk away with €1.4 million and the title of World Series of Poker Europe Champion.

It’s one of the best final tables we’ve seen all year long with established pros Jake Cody, Chris Moorman, Moritz Kranich, Brian Roberts and Shawn Buchanan all looking to solidify their reputations as elite players.

Moorman, in particular, has been playing and running extremely well over the last few days and it just might be his time to shine. Moorman has millions of dollars in online and live tournament winnings but he’s yet to win a major title. He might change that today.

The other players may not be as well known but are compelling stories in their own right.

The chip leader, Elio Fox, is perhaps most well known for winning the non-WPT Bellagio Cup VII this summer for $669,692. The New Yorker has a chance to win more than twice that amount at this final table.

English poker pro Max Silver has been especially dominant over the last couple days and despite not having a major title is serious threat to take this thing down.

Jack Effel just announced the final shuffle and deal of this tournament and we are officially live from the WSOPE Main Event final table.

Here are the chip stacks entering the final table:

Elio Fox – 3.9 million Jake Cody – 2.6 million Dermot Blain – 2.4 million Chris Moorman – 2.2 million Brian Roberts – 2 million Max Silver – 1.8 million Mortiz Kranich – 1.6 million Shawn Buchanan – 1 million

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Moorman, Buchanan Highlight Final Table

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Day 4 at the 2011 WSOPE Main Event was one for the books.

The day began with 25 players all chasing the European poker dream including Erik Seidel, Shawn Buchanan, Jake Cody, John Duthie, Tony G and Arnaud Mattern.

Tony G, Duthie and Seidel hit the rail early but action seriously clogged up when we hit the final two tables.

It took over one hour to see the first elimination as there were multiple double ups.

Towards the end of the day, however, there were a flurry of eliminations and one massive hand between Patrik Antonius and online superstar Chris Moorman.

Antonius and Moorman got it all-in with the Finnish pro holding A-Q to Moorman’s A-7. Moorman hit a seven on the river to cripple Antonius.

Less than 10 minutes later Antonius hit the rail as he smashed A-T into Moorman’s AA.

Despite Antonius’ elimination, we’re left with a compelling final table that includes online grinder Chris Moorman, Triple Crown winner Jake Cody, Canadian poker giant Shawn Buchanan and former reality TV star Brian Roberts.

Tomorrow the final table begins at 13:45 CET and it should be a thrilling conclusion to the biggest tournament in WSOPE history.

Here’s a look at all eight players at the final table:

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Antonius Busts to Set Final Table

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

This might be a new record.

Four players busted in less than 15 minutes to set a final table here at the 2011 WSOPE Main Event.

Unfortunately the last player to bust was none other than Patrik Antonius, who was crippled in that huge hand versus Chris Moorman.

Patrik shoved his last 80,000 into the middle pre-flop and both Shawn Buchanan and Chris Moorman called.

The flop came Q♥ 7♥ 4♠ and Buchanan checked. Moorman bet 100,000 and Buchanan called, which brought around the J♣.

Once again Buchanan checked and this time Moorman bet 225,000. Buchanan finally folded and Antonius flipped over A♥ T♠ but was crushed by Moorman’s A♠ A♣. Antonius did have an inside straight draw the river finished with the 9♣ to eliminate the Finnish pro. Antonius did pick up €90,000 for coming in ninth.

Of course the reason Antonius was the ninth place finisher was because Elio Fox knocked out two players in the previous hand.

In the hand Arnaud Mattern opened for 60,000 pre-flop and Alex Dovzhenko shoved for his last 450,000. Action folded to recent hot-hand Elio Fox, who decided to re-shove.

Mattern immediately moved in as well and we had three players all-in with Fox covering both players. With over 1.4 million chips on the line the players revealed their cards:

Mattern: A♦ A♠Fox: T♠ T♣ Dovzhenko: A♥ K♠

Mattern, the only French player left in the tournament, had to like his odds with the pocket rockets.

That changed when the flop came T♦ 9♠ 6♦ giving Fox a set of tens. The turn came K♦ and the river finished with the 7♠ to knock both players out of the tournament and give Fox a massive pot. Dovzehnko finishes in 11th for €67,500 while Mattern takes €90,000 for coming in 10th thanks to his chip advantage.

We’re officially down to a final table of eight players so stay tuned for the last post and final table chip counts.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Sick Beat Cripples Patrik Antonius

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Oh wow.

Sometimes it’s not fun being a poker pro and Patrik Antonius just experienced that first hand.

Chris Moorman opened the pot for 50,000 and Antonius popped it up to 165,000.

Moorman shoved for 930,000. Antonius snap-called, much to Moorman’s surprise, as the U.K. pro tabled A♠ 7♣.

Antonius peeled over a superior A♥ Q♦ and stood a very good chance of knocking Moorman right out of the tournament.

The entire room was on their feet as the dealer prepared to put out the board.

The flop came 8♥ 6♠ 6♣ and Antonius was still in the lead with his better ace-high. The turn changed everything, however, as it was the 8♦ and that meant they were looking at a chop.

Poker is a game for sick people however and the river? Well that was the 7♣.

With two cards, Antonius went from winning a massive pot to losing almost everything. Antonius was left with only 80,000 and, barring a minor miracle, will be out of the tournament momentarily.

The action is fast and furious out there folks and we also had two eliminations in the last 10 minutes. Check them out here:

Fox Eliminates Guenegou (12th)

Elio Fox is on fire!

Shortly after eliminating Andy Moseley, Fox turned his attention to French player Thibaud Guenegou.

Guenegou shoved with Q♥ 8♦ and Fox called with pocket eights. The eights held and suddenly we’re down to just one French player in the tournament.

Guenegou picks up €67,500 for coming in 12th place.

Andy Attacked (13th)

Andrew Moseley lost a huge pot against Elio Fox with pocket deuces against K-Q and then several hands later busted to the same player.

Moseley shoved with A♠ 7♣ and had the misfortune of Fox calling him down with A♣ J♦

The board came up blanks and that was enough to relegate Moseley to the rail.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Down to 13

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The pace has picked up over the last hour on the penultimate day of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event.

We’ve seen three players hit the rail as Max Silver, Brian Roberts, Moritz Kranich and Jake Cody continue to battle at the top of the chip counts.

Silver is still the man to beat and has yet to give up the chip lead since he’s been at the final two tables.

Here’s a look at the three bustouts over the last hour:

Drummond Thumped by Roberts (16th)

We have our first casualty at the final two tables.

Michael Drummond moved in with a pair of sixes and Brian Roberts called him down with K♦ Q♦.

Unfortunately for Drummond there was a king and queen on the flop and that was more than enough to send him to the rail in 16th place. Drummond picks up €43,000 for his efforts.

Steve Moreau Leaves the Island (14th)

The French are down to just two players in the 2011 WSOPE Main Event

Shawn Buchanan opened for 50,000 and Steve Moreau shoved.

Action folded around to Buchanan who snap-called with A♣ K♦. He was in for a race as Moreau had 3♠ 3♥.

The board ran out A♠ Q♠ 4♥ T♠ T♦ and the flopped pair of aces were enough to give Buchanan the pot and eliminate Moreau. The French man picks up €53,000 for coming in 14th place.

Lehavot Falls in Three-Way Battle (15th)

Amir Lehavot, who took a pounding in the last level, open-shoved for his last 105,000 and Andrew Moseley re-shipped it for 256,000 more.

Brian Roberts had both players covered and decided to make the call. The players flipped over their cards:

Lehavot: 5-5

Moseley: A♣ J♠

Brian Roberts: QQ

Roberts had a chance to bust two players and move way up the chip counts.

As luck would have it Moseley would take the pot when the board came A♥ K♦ 8♥ T♥ Q♥.

Lehavot is out in 15th after a fantastic run here at the 2011 WSOPE.

Leaderboard

Here are the top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Max Silver - 3 millionBrian Roberts - 2 millionMoritz Kranich - 2 millionJake Cody - 1.6 millionShawn Buchanan - 1.6 millionDermot Blain - 1.3 millionPatrik Antonius - 1.2 millionChris Moorman - 1 millionThibaud Guenegou - 1 million

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Double Up Central

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We may be here for a while.

Just after switching to the special TV room for the final two tables play slowed down and players began to get very tentative.

Players finally began to warm-up mid-way through the level but that’s when the double ups started coming.

Over the last hour we’ve seen Thibaud Guenegou, Arnaud Mattern, Elio Fox and Jake Cody all double up or even triple up in Cody’s case.

Here’s a look at some of the key hands.

Jade Cody Triples

Rochdale’s Jake Cody has been one of the most active players at the table over the last hour of play and was rewarded with a triple up.

Patrik Antonius opened for 40,000 and Cody raised all-in for 272,000. Silver called and that sent Antonius deep into the tank.

After a few minutes Antonius called. Antonius and Silver ended up checking all the way down a board of J♦ T♥ 4♥ 8♥ J♠ board.

Cody was thrilled to throw down T♦ 8♦ and see both opponents muck. After the hand he moved up to over 800,000 chips. Meanwhile Antonius fell down to 850,000 while Silver is still flying high with just over 3.2 million chips.

Antonius Wins Big Pot off Buchanan

Patrik Antonius made up some of the chips he lost against Jake Cody by winning a sizable pot off Shawn Buchanan.

Both players completed to a flop of Q♠ 4♠ 2♣ and Antonius bet 50,000.

Buchanan called and the turn came 9♠. Once again Buchanan checked but Antonius fired 130k. “Buck” called and the river came 5♥.

For a final time Buchanan checked and Antonius threw 450k into the pot, which was enough to finally scare off Buchanan.

Mattern Doubles Through Lehavot

Arnaud Mattern is one of three French players with a shot at winning the first WSOPE Main Event and he just got a much-needed double up from Amir Lehavot.

Mattern got all-in with A♦ A♠ and unfortunately for Amir Lehavot he had K♣ K♥ and had to make the call.

The aces held up just fine and Team PokerStars Pro doubles up to just past 238,000.

Leaderboard

Here are the latest top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Max Silver – 3.2 million Chris Moorman – 2.4 million Brian Roberts – 1.4 million Patrik Antonius – 1.2 million Dermot Blain – 1.2 million Amir Lehavot – 1.1 million Mortiz Kranich – 1.1 million Elio Fox – 910,000 Thibaud Guenegou – 795,000 Alex Dovzhenko – 790,000

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: The Final Two Tables

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’re once again live from the Majestic Hotel, although our surroundings have changed considerably.

The final two tables of eight players each have moved to the prestigious Martha Room in the Majestic, which is currently being used as a hushed TV set for the ESPN crews.

The tension is high as seven players still need to bust for the final table to be set. With €1.4 million on the line, absolutely no one wants to go home at this point.

As Jack Effel announces the players, here are the final two table draws of the tournament:

Table 1:

Shawn Buchanan Steven Moreau Elio Fox Dermot Blain Chris Moorman Patrik Antonius Jake Cody Max Silver

Table 2:

Brian Roberts Andy Moseley Thibaud Guenegou Amir Lehavot Arnaud Mattern Moritz Kranich Alex Dovzhenko Michael Drummond

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Short Stack Slaughter

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The short stacks continue to fall in rapid succession here on Day 4 of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event.

John Duthie, John Eames and Jeremy Kottler have all been eliminated as Max Silver continues to pull away from the rest of the pack. Even former big stack Giussepe Sammartino has busted.

We’re officially down to 16 players and need just seven more before we have our final table of nine players.

Right now we wouldn’t bet against Max Silver, Chris Moorman, Amir Lehavot, Shawn Buchanan or Patrik Antonius as they’re all cruising.

Players were just given their 90-minute dinner break so check back in an hour and a half for more updates from the Hotel Majestic.

Here’s a look at the latest action:

Silver Stacking, Eames Leaving

John Eames started the day with 210,000 chips and made a valiant effort to stick around but finally fell at the hands of Max Silver.

Eames got in with K-T but Silver had him crushed with pocket queens. There were no surprises and busts out in 20thth place. After the hand Silver was up to 1.7 million chips and not done yet.

Welcome Back Kottler, Now Go Away

Jeremy Kottler entered the day with a decent stack but is one of the early casualties here on Day 4.

Kottler got it in with J-T against Shawn Buchanan’s A-9.

The board was a great sweat for both players as it came T-J-9 giving Kottler two-pair and Buchanan a pair of nines. The turn was an inconsequential seven while the river, well, you all know the title to Barry Greenstein’s book.

Indeed the A♠ fell on the river to eliminate Kottler in 19th place.

Max Silver

Silver Strikes Giuseppe for Massive Pot

Max Silver is taking no prisoners here on Day 4. He just won a massive pot off Italian Guiseppe Sammartino.

We joined the action on a K♠ T♠ 5♣ flop and Sammartino had just thrown 40,000 into the pot. Silver called and that brought the 7♣ turn. This time Sammartino checked but Silver bet 88,000. Sammartino check-raised to 241,000.

Silver eventually called and the river came 3♠. Both players checked and Sammartino said, “Queen-high.” Silver didn’t believe him and requested he show his hand. Sammartino flipped over Q♥ J♥ for queen-high. Silver had him beat with K♦ J♣.

Silver was up to 2.2 million after the hand.

Duthie Dusted

EPT founder John Duthie has had some deep runs in WSOP events over the years but he has yet to take down a bracelet.

He won’t be winning one in the event as he was just busted by Amir Lehavot.

Duthie was short-stacked to start the day and after shoving a few times with no callers, finally had to get it in with Q♣ 9♣.

Unfortunately that was the time that Amir Lehavot called with A♠ Q♠. As luck would have it Lehavot would flop the nut flush to bust Duthie without even needing to see the turn or the river.

Duthie falls in 18th place for €37,000

Sammartino Crashes Out in Epic Fashion

Not every elimination over the last hour was a short-stack and this hand between Max Silver and Italian Giuseppe Sammartino was downright nutty.

Silver and Sammartino got into a raising war pre-flop and ended up getting all the chips in the middle for a monster 2+ million pot.

The real surprise came when the players tabled their cards:

Sammartino: A♣ K♠

Silver: 2♥ 2♦

The board came J♥ 7♠ 6♦ 8♥ 3♥ and Silver amazingly busts Sammartino in 17th place with a lowly pair of ducks. After the hand Silver was up to 3.6 million and looks to be downright unstoppable in this tournament.

Leaderboard

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip leaders courtesy of www.wsop.com after the five bustouts:

Max Silver – 3.4 million Chris Moorman – 2 million Amir Lehavot – 1.8 million Shawn Buchanan – 1.4 million Patrik Antonius – 1.4 million Brian Roberts – 1.3 million Dermot Blain – 1.2 million Mortiz Kranich – 1.03 million Dario Sammartino – 1 million Alex Dovzhenko – 850,000

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: Seidel Slides Out

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Erik Seidel has been having such an exceptional year that it truly seems shocking when he busts out of a tournament.

Shocking or not, Seidel is out of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event.

Seidel was fairly short entering Day 4 and finally made his move with K-J unfortunately Alexander Dovzhenko called him down with A-J.

The board came up bricks and Seidel was sent packing. The all-time tournament winnings leader picks up €37,000 for coming in 21st place. Considering he's up over $6.4 million playing tournaments this year he'll probably be just fine.

In other news play is going incredibly fast in the early stages of the day and we’ve already have five eliminations. Chris Moorman looks to be the chip leader as we prepare to play through another level.

Here’s a look at the biggest action from the last hour:

Ktorza Gets Rolled

Philippe Ktorza came in as the shortest stack of the day so it’s not a giant surprise that he’s the first player to hit the rail.

Ktorza got it in with A-J against Jake Cody’s 7-7 and found neither an ace or a jack on the board.

After some early struggles, Jake Cody is up back up to nearly 500,000 after the hand.

Tony G

Eames Busts Tony G

The loudest player left in the tournament has been silenced.

Tony G was one of the first players to bust today as he lost a race with 5-5 against John Eame’s A-8.

It was no doubt a disappointment for the G to fall early here but considering he bet $20,000 on a 5-1 bet on even cashing in the tournament he’s got to be somewhat happy.

He picks up €37,000 for dropping in 24th place and an extra $100k for his bet.

Schafer Can Blame Blain

James Schafer entered the day as one of the middle stacks and he simply never got anything going on Day 4.

Schafter ended up shoving K-Q into Dermot Blaine’s A-J. No surprises on the board meant that Schafer was out of the tournament.

Tavares Tumbles

Brazilian poker pro Ricardo Tavares has hit the rail after getting into a bad spot against chip leader Max Silver.

We picked up the action on the turn of a Q♠ Q♣ 8♠ A♦ board. Tavares bet, Silver shoved, having him easily covered, and Tavares called in short order.

The cards:

Taveres: A♥ T♥

Silver: K♦ Q♥

Tavares shook his head as he realized how much trouble he was in. The river was a meaningless J♠ and it’s back to Brazil for Tavares. Silver meanwhile is turning into a monster in this tournament and he’s up to 2.3 million chips.

Leaderboard

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com after an intense first level:

Chris Moorman – 1.7 million Dario Sammartino – 1.7 million Amir Lehavot – 1.47 million Dermot Blain – 1.4 million Max Silver – 1.39 million Patrik Antonius – 1.3 million Mortiz Kranich – 1.1 million Steven Moreau – 842,000 Alex Dovzhenko – 800,000

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WSOPE Main Event Day 4: The Battle for the Final Table Begins

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Make it through today and you have a seat at the most prestigious final table in Europe.

That’s likely what many of the 25 remaining players are thinking as play begins on Day 4 of the 2011 WSOPE.

Yesterday was an action-packed blast that saw a field of 115 players reduced to 25 players in seven levels. Numerous players traded the chip lead back and forth and Barry Greenstein finally burst the money bubble in dramatic fashion.

The stakes are even higher today as busting now could mean the difference between €32,000 and €1.4 million.

Max Silver has the chip lead with 1.78 million but Chris Moorman has been an absolute beast in this event and is hot on his Silver’s heels with 1.76 million.

If you’re a poker fan the field is looking pretty great, actually, with Shawn Buchanan, Patrik Antonius, Jake Cody, John Duthie, Erik Seidel, Tony G and Arnaud Mattern all looking to take a seat at the final table.

Hope you’re ready for some red-hot European action because we just heard Jack Effel give the shuffle up and deal.

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts as we enter play:

Max Silver - 1.78 million Chris Moorman - 1.76 million Amir Lehavot - 1.39 million Shawn Buchanan - 1.2 million Dermot Blain - 1.2 million Jeremy Kottler - 943,000 Brian Roberts - 901,000 Elio Fox - 889,000 Andrew Moseley - 863,000 Giuseppe Sammartino - 838,000

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WSOPE Main Event Day 3: Moorman, Silver Top the Day

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It was a hell of a day at the Hotel Majestic in beautiful Cannes on Tuesday.

The day began with 115 players, led by Constant Rijkenberg and Hoyt Corkins, all looking to smash the money bubble, which started at 64 players left.

No one was playing slow, however, and Lari Sihvo, Robert Mizrachi, James Bord and Hans Winzeler all hit the rail early.

As expected action almost grinded to a halt during the bubble. For over an hour players clung to their chips in desperation.

Finally it was none other than Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein who would go out on the bubble. Greenstein got dirtied when he went all-in with A-J against Brian Roberts' K♥ J♥.

Roberts hit the flush and sent Greenstein packing without a cent. Despite the bad beat, Greenstein, as usual, signed a copy of his book for Roberts.

After the bubble burst the floodgates opened and Pierre Neuville, JC Alverado, Joao Barbosa and Rebecca Mordoff all busted in short order.

Former chip leaders Constant Rijkenberg and Hoyt Corkins also busted early in the money.

Interestingly we had three women in the final 40 players. Liv Boeree, Melanie Weisner and Maria Ho all looked primed for a deep run.

Unfortunately all three busted but Maria Ho replicated her feat from the 2007 WSOP Main Event and became the Last Woman Standing. She was one of the last eliminations of the night when she finished in 29th place.

She’s the first female player to earn the accolade on two continents.

When play finally wrapped at around 02:00 CET there were still 25 players with a shot at the ultimate European poker title.

Leading the way is Max Silver with 1.78 million but the always-dangerous Chris Moorman is right behind him with 1.76 million chips.

The field is full of sharks with Shawn Buchanan, Patrik Antonius, Moritz Kranich, Jake Cody, Erik Seidel, John Duthie and Erik Seidel all still holding chips.

Join us tomorrow at 14:00 CET as we go from 25 players to a final table of nine.

Before we go here's a look at the top 10 chip leaders:

Max Silver - 1.78 millionChris Moorman - 1.76 millionAmir Lehavot - 1.39 millionShawn Buchanan - 1.2 millionDermot Blain - 1.2 millionJeremy Kottler - 943,000Brian Roberts - 901,000Elio Fox - 889,000Andrew Moseley - 863,000Giuseppe Sammartino - 838,000

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WSOPE Main Event Day 3: Tony G Hit by Penalty

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Where ever Tony G goes it seems that controversy follows him and that was definitely the case in the last level.

The G got it all-in with red jacks against an opponent's A♠ Q♣.

The board came 8♠ 6♠ 3♠ 3♣… J♠.

Tony G gave a huge cheer at his rivered boat but the dealer apparently didn’t see it and mucked Tony G’s hand.

The PartyPoker Pro slammed his first on the table and started shouting at the dealer for mucking the winning hand.

By now the floor was on the case and half the spectators were surrounding the table.

The rest of the players at the table told Tony G not to sweat it as they had seen the winning hand.

WSOP TD Jack Effel came over at this point and gave Tony G the pot and a one-hand penalty for his behavior.

“I’m not going to let you be disruptive,” said Effel.

“I don’t deserve a one-hand penalty,” pleaded Tony G.

“Would you rather a one-round penalty?” responded Effel.

At this point Tony G headed to the rail and told everyone this was the first penalty he’d ever received at the WSOP.

First but not last?

Meanwhile Chris Moorman, Matt Waxman and Jake Cody continue to pound the rest of the field. Here are some of the most interesting hands from the last level:

Deeb Leaves

Freddy Deeb is the first big-name pro to fall at the feature table.

Deeb got it all-in with pocket fours on the turn of an 8-7-5-8-2 board only to have Chris Moorman snap him off with pocket kings.

The river bricked and the former WSOP $50k H.O.R.S.E. winner is out of the tournament. Meanwhile Chris Moorman is looking downright scary with nearly two million chips.

Hoyt Renfrew'ed

Corkins Crashes

If not for his name, appearance and overall manner, it would be possible to mistake Hoyt Corkins for a Scandinavian.

Despite his image, Corkins is one of the most aggressive players in all of poker and he’s been known to build a huge stack and dust it off in record time.

Corkins got all-in with pocket queens against Chris Moorman (who else?) with pocket jacks.

The American was in the lead all the way up to the river when the dealer threw down a tournament ending J♠.

Corkins is out of the tournament but comes away with €24,000 more than he had prior to today.

Leaderboard

Here are the top 10 chip leaders courtesy of www.wsop.com as we draw ever closer to the end of Day 3:

Chris Moorman – 1,650,000 Amir Lehavot – 1,505,000 Max Silver – 1,115,000 Michael Drummond – 940,000 Jake Cody – 825,000 Jeremy Kottler – 795,000 Brian Roberts – 790,000 Giuseppe Sammartino – 765,000 Matt Waxman – 735,000 Patrik Antonius – 650,000

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WSOPE Main Event Day 3: Lehavot Continues to Dominate

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

WSOP bracelet winner Amir Lehavot is having his way with the field right now and is currently up to 1.4 million chips.

Chris Moorman is doing his best to catch Lehavot but he’s now stuck with just one million.

With just 47 players left that final table is starting to seem more and more like a legitimate possibility.

Here’s a look at the latest action:

Waxman Hits the Double

Matt Waxman just survived a scary moment.

The WPT Grand Prix winner opened for 12,000 UTG and the player directly on his left called.

The player on the button popped it up to 31,000 and Waxman, who didn’t have a lot left behind, decided to call.

Surprisingly the player on Waxman’s left check-shoved. The player on the button folded and Waxman was forced to make a decision for his tournament life.

Eventually Waxman called and tabled J♥ J♦. His opponent showed A♣ Q♠. This was one race that Waxman had to win.

The board came K♣ 6♥ 5♦ 9♥ 2♦ and that was enough to double Waxman up to 159,000.

Now That’s a Coin Flip!

We just saw Russian Artem Litvinov get into a literal coin flip situation.

Litvinov bet pre-flop and Canadian Mike Leah open shoved for his last 41,000 chips. Litvinov didn’t know what to so he turned to his card protector, which appears to be a gold coin.

“This is a coin flip for me,” he explained. “So I’m going to flip a coin.”

And then he did.

We’re not sure if it was heads or tails but it prompted Litvinov to fold his hand. Leah could only laugh as he raked the pot in.

Shortly after that hand Leah got lucky with Q♠ 6♠ vs. Patrik Antonius’ A♦ 4♠ and doubled up to 91,000.

If Only This Was the Final Table

The feature table here at the WSOPE Main Event is currently the best we’ve seen it yet. Every single player is an established pro. Now seated are:

Chris Moorman Hoyt Corkins Freddy Deeb John Eames Jake Cody Melanie Weisner Maria Ho Giuseppe Sammartino

Leaderboard

Here are the top 10 chip leaders courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Amir Lehavot – 1,405,000 Michael Drummond – 1,100,000 Chris Moorman – 1,075,000 Giuseppe Sammartino – 705,000 Andrew Moseley – 705,000 Max Silver – 655,000 Patrik Antonius – 645,000 Brian Roberts – 580,000 Jake Cody – 490,000 Jeremy Kottler – 480,000

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WSOPE Main Event Day 3: The Real Game Begins

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Dinner is finished. The bubble has burst. There are 58 players left.

It’s time get serious in the 2011 WSOPE Main Event.

Amir Lehavot holds the chip lead with 990,000 chips but he’s got to be concerned by a surging Chris Moorman who is up to 810,000 and looking especially dangerous.

Any player who busts now picks up €20,000 but we’re about to hit another payout jump at 56 players left. Anyone who busts from that point on will receive a modest increase in payment to €21,475.

Of course first place is paying out €1.4 million so we’d suggest going for that if at all possible.

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com as we return from dinner break:

Amir Lehavot - 990,000Chris Moorman - 810,000Rifat Palevic - 800,000Max Silver - 710,000Melanie Weisner - 610,000Brian Roberts - 565,000Stephen Chidwick - 540,000Thibaud Guenegou - 480,000Michael Drummond - 445,000Tom Bedell - 418,000

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Greenstein is Bubble Boy at 2011 WSOPE Main Event

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

After a drawn out period of hand for hand battle we have our bubble boy and it’s none other than American legend Barry Greenstein.

During the almost hour-long bubble period we saw some serious movement on the leaderboard. We’ve got the details on said action, plus info on the Bear’s bubble hand below.

For now rest easy knowing that Patrik Antonius is among those who made it through to the money. Not that we ever doubted his ability.

In a related story the 60-odd remaining players are heading out on a 90-minute dinner break. Join us for more action when they return.

Bear Beat By Bubble

Barry Greenstein put up quite a fight and in the end got unlucky to out on the bubble.

The Bear open-shoved his last 25k or so with AJ and got looked up by Brian Roberts in the big blind with K♥ J♥.

The board ran out with three hearts and eliminated Greenstein one spot off the money.

Leaderboard

1 - Amir Lehavot - 990,000 2 - Chris Moorman - 810,000 3 - Rifat Palevic - 800,000 4 - Max Silver - 710,000 5 - Melanie Weisner - 610,000 6 - Brian Roberts - 565,000 7 - Stephen Chidwick - 540,000 8 - Thibaud Guenegou - 480,000 9 - Michael Drummond - 445,000 10 - Tom Bedell - 418,000

Monster Pot: Rijkenberg vs. Moorman

In the biggest hand of the tournament so far Chris Moorman has laid waste to the once glorious stack of Constant Rijkenberg.

With blinds of 2,500/5,000 Moorman opened to 12k from the hijack and Rijkenberg three-bet to 31k from the big blind. Moorman called and the flop came down J♠ 4♠ 4♦.

Chris Moorman now sits among the chip leaders headed into the dinner break.

Rijkenberg fired 25k and Moorman popped it to 56k. Rijkenberg called and the turn was the 5♦.

Rijlkenberg check-called 114,000 from Moorman and the river brought the 9♥. Rijkenberg checked one final time and Moorman took a few long minutes before pushing the rest of his stack barely an inch across the betting line.

Rijkenberg thought things over for some time before finally making the call.

Moorman turned over QQ and Rijkenberg mucked. With that hand Moorman is up over 800k while Rijkenberg is down under 200k.

Tavares with the Bubble Double

Ricardo Tavares was on the shortstack and doing his best to coast into the money before picking up pocket aces and scoring a much-needed double.

He got it in against former EPT winner Arnaud Mattern’s A-J and made his bullets hold up to stay alive and double his stack.

Mattern is still healthy.

Buchanan Working That Bubble

On one of the tougher tables in the room Triple Crown winner Jake Cody opened the action and got a call from recent WSOPE €10k Split Format runner-up Shawn Buchanan.

Freddy Deeb, still to act, cold-three-bet to 43,500 and Cody ducked out.

Buchanan sized up the stacks and announced all-in for roughly 180k. Deeb was on about 270k and decided to fold after a few moment’s thought.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 3: The Money Looms

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’ve made it through two levels here at the 2011 WSOPE and with 66 players left the money bubble is looming larger than ever.

Play has tightened up considerably over the last hour, as the next two players who bust from the event will receive absolutely nothing while everyone else is guaranteed at least twice the buy-in.

As soon as the next player busts we will switch to hand-for-hand play, which should crank up the tension even higher.

In the meantime WSOP bracelet winner Amir Lehavot has come out of nowhere to takeover the chip lead with 990,000 chips.

Here’s a look at the biggest action from the last hour:

James Dempsey

Deeb Dusts Dempsey

The always-talkative Freddy Deeb just busted WSOP bracelet winner James Dempsey.

Dempsey got it in with K♠ Q♠ and Deeb called him down with 8-8.

The board came up blanks and Dempsey is off to the beaches while Deeb is up to just over 300,000.

Tony G Gets AA

Tony G hasn’t even made the money and he’s having an incredible 2011 WSOPE Main Event.

The Lithuanian-born poker player placed a $20,000 bet on himself at 5-1 to make the money here in Cannes.

That means that even if Tony G takes a min-cash here, he will be taking down an extra $100k.

Things just got better for the loudest man in poker as he scored a huge double up on a A♠ 9♥ 8♥ 4♠ board. It seemed strange that Tony G was willing his tournament life just two spots from the money but it was easy to see why when Tom Bedell called.

Tony G: AA

Bedell: AK

Tony G had the stone-cold nuts and after a meaningless 3♠ river he was up to over 300,000 chips. It sure looks like Tony G is going to make the biggest min-cash in WSOPE history.

Antonius Wins Huge Pot

Poker geeks around the world must be getting excited because their man Patrik Antonius is primed for a deep run in this event.

Antonius just won a huge pot without having to show his hand.

We joined the action on the river of 7♥ 6♦ 5♦ J♦ T♥ board and Antonius had just thrown out a massive 150,000 stack that easily had Kunimaro Kojo covered.

Leaderboard

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Amir Lehavot – 990,000 Rifat Palevic – 800,000 Max Silver – 710,000 Constant Rijkenberg – 650,000 Melanie Weisner – 610,000 Brian Roberts – 530,000 Thibaud Guenegou – 480,000 Michael Drummond – 445,000 Stephen Chidwick – 430,000 Elio Fox – 410,000

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WSOPE Main Event Day 3: Rifat’s Back!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Sweden’s Rifat Palevic has been the runaway success story three days into the 2011 WSPOE Main Event and simply refuses to go away.

Over the last level Palevic fought back and once again took the chip lead from Dutch pro Constant Rijkenberg.

Despite having just a handful of major cashes over the last few years. Palevic is up to 770,000 chips and continues to be the dominant force in this tournament. The Swede simply refuses to slow his game down and could very well be the first player to cross the one million-chip mark.

Here’s a look at a few of the biggest hands from the last hour:

Greenstein Doubles

Barry Greenstein has been very quiet today as he entered play with a very short stack.

He just scored a double but his stack was already so small it remains to be seen if it will have a lasting impact.

Greenstein got all-in with A♠ T♦ against an opponent’s A♣ 4♠ and managed to have the hand hold up. He was up to just over 80,000 after the hand and looking for another quick double.

Weisner Watch

Melanie Weisner is kicking some serious ass out there today.

Weisner, who is known online as Callisto 5, has worked her way up to over 500,000 chips and is amongst today’s chip leaders.

While we were watching the action over the last hour we couldn’t help seeing her look at some baller watches on her iPhone.

Something tells us if she wins this thing she might have an expensive new timepiece on her wrist in no time.

From the Felt

“Don’t make me sweat like that buddy.”

-Freddy Deeb after pulling a massive bluff on Shawn Buchanan

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WSOPE Main Event Day 3: Field Slips Below 100

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

A total of 85 players remain in the race for European poker supremacy here at the Hotel Majestic in sunny Cannes.

Constant Rijkenberg made a nice recovery in the last hour but Andy Moseley, Elio Fox, Shawn Buchanan and Chris Moorman are surging.

Here’s the latest from the tournament floor:

Finnish Delight

Patrik Antonius is making a deep run in this tournament and a recent hand may very well help extend his appearance here.

We joined the action on the turn of a T♠ T♥ 4♠ 5♦ board and Patrik Antonius had just shoved his last 50,000 into the pot.

It was already a massive pot and his opponent went into the tank pondering his decision. Finally the player felt he had to call and tabled K♦ 4♦. Unfortunately for him Antonius threw down J♦ T♣ a monster trip tens.

The board finished with a meaningless 3♦ and Antonius boosted his stack up to 313,000.

Krakow Plowed

Israeli 888poker pro Matan Krakow has fallen to the rail after getting all-in with A♠ 7♦ and failing to out-race Constant Rijkenberg’s K♦ 2♦.

Krakow hits the rail well before the money while Rijkenberg appears to be making a quick recovery here in Cannes. He’s back up to nearly 500,000 chips after a disastrous start.

Robert Mizrachi

Mizrachi Robbed

Robert Mizrachi is the latest well-known pro to hit the rail here on Day 3.

Mizrachi got all-in with pocket eights but had the misfortune of slamming them into pocket aces.

Considering Robert’s brother Michael won €336k and a bracelet in the €10k Split Event it’s still been a pretty good WSOPE for the Mizrachi brothers.

Duthie Survives… For Now

EPT founder John Duthie just dodged an early exit from Day 3 of the 2011 WSOPE.

Duthie got all-in with pocket tens and was racing against an opponent’s A-Q. Duthie successfully faded any of his opponent’s outs and doubled up to approximately 134,000.

The Leeds-native will likely need to make another move soon as he’s still one of the smallest stacks at his table.

From the Felt

“Tony G is like an uncle but he’s kinda the last resort to look after your kids.”

-Mclean Karr joking about tablemate Tony G

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WSOPE Main Event Day 3: Rijkenberg Falters

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s been one level and Constant Rijkenberg has already nearly given up the chip lead.

The Dutch pro is certainly willing to play big pots and that willingness sometimes gets him into trouble. After losing several key pots early he’s down to approximately 398,000.

Meanwhile Erik Seidel, Melanie Weisner and Hans Winzeler have been moving up the chip counts rapidly. Weisner scored a massive double up when she hit a straight draw on the river to rake in a huge pot from Dmitry Motorov.

She’s up to 255,000 and suddenly looks very dangerous in this event.

Here’s a look at some of the other interesting action from the last level:

Rijkenberg Doubles Opponent in Weird Hand

Constant Rijkenberg just doubled up an opponent in a very unusual hand.

We joined the action on the turn of a J♣ 6♥ 4♣ T♥ board with about 40,000 chips in the pot.

Rijkenberg’s opponent bet 27,500 and the Dutch pro opted to make the call.

The river brought the 4♠ and that prompted an 114k all-in shove from Rijkenberg’s opponent.

This is where the hand got interesting. Rijkenberg asked “how much?” The other player apparently misheard Rijkenberg, thinking he said “call,” and began to flip over his hand.

The dealer shouted “NO!” at the player to warn him and the player quickly turned his hand back over.

No one said a word, but from where we were standing we thought we saw an ace. We’re not sure if Rijkenberg saw the same thing but eventually he decided to make the call.

The player showed A♠ J♠ and that was enough to scoop the pot. Rijkenberg is off to a poor start here on Day 3 and down to under 400k.

Sam Holden

November Nine MIA

In the past the WSOPE has been a tremendous asset for November Niners to practice up and even make some extra cash before their big showdown in Las Vegas.

It hasn’t really worked out that way this year as there isn’t even a single member of the WSOP Main Event final table still in the tournament today.

Sam Holden, Matt Gianetti, Phil Collins, Eoghan O’Dea, Anton Makiievskyi and Ben Lamb all busted in the event while we haven’t even seen Martin Staszko, Pius Heinz or Badih Bounahra at the WSOPE.

November Niners have traditionally done very well at the WSOPE Main Event. In 2008 Ivan Demidov made the final table while in 2009 both James Akenhead and Antoine Saout made an appearance at the final table.

Can I Sit Somewhere Else?

The WSOPE Main Event has always been a favorite of international poker pros and this year is no exception. The high percentage of professional poker players helps create some interesting table draws and there are some good ones out there today.

These are the ones that caught our eyes:

Table 2

Hoyt Corkins Chris Moorman Antony Lellouche Melanie Weisner John Eames Dmitry Motorov

Table 8

Freddy Deeb John Duthie Dan Smith Ramzi Jelassi Matan Krakow

Table 11

Shawn Buchanan Constant Rijkenberg Barry Greenstein Pierre Neuville

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WSOPE Main Event Day 3: The Money Day Begins

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s Day 3 of the 2011 WSOPE and to many players it’s the most important one of the entire tournament.

That’s right folks, it’s the money day. With 115 players entering play the money bubble is looming and 64 remaining. The bubble is all but guaranteed to burst today and a few good hands in the early stages could mean the difference between taking home nothing or €20,000.

We’ve just been given word that we’re in for the long haul tonight, as WSOP TD Jack Effel wants to get the field down to a more manageable size.

Players will go for seven levels today, which should take us to around 2:45 CET. Alternatively players will bag up their chips early if they can get down to 16 players, which seems unlikely.

Former EPT winner Constant Rijkenberg made a late charge to the top of the chip counts last night and finished as the supreme commander with 462,000.

There are quite a few interesting characters still in the mix, however, with Liv Boeree, Tony G, Chris Moorman, Robert Mizrachi and Freddy Deeb looking to prove their European poker chops.

Settle in kids, this one could go long.

You can find complete Day 2 chip counts in the tab aove but here are your top 10 chip counts to start the day:

Constant Rijkenberg – 462,800 Hoyt Corkins – 429,900 Rifat Palevic – 353,500 Jake Cody – 323,500 Giuseppe Sammartino – 305,900 Tom Bedell – 301,900 Andy Moseley – 301,400 Hyacinthe Bonnin – 296,000 Erik Seidel – 291,900 Shawn Buchanan – 291,400

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WSOPE Main Event Day 2: Rijkenberg Finishes on Top

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Former EPT winner Constant Rijkenberg made a last minute dash to the top of the chip counts on Day 2 of the 2011 WSOPE.

Rijkenberg blazed passed former chip leaders Rifat Palevic and Hoyt Corkins to finish with 462,800.

The day ended with 115 players still chasing the European World Series of Poker crown.

There are plenty of notable pros still in the field with Jake Cody, Shawn Buchanan, Mustapha Kanit, Victor Ramdin, Patrik Antonius, Brian Roberts, Chris Moorman, Liv Boeree, Tony G, Ramzi Jelassi, Juha Helppi, Robert Mizrachi, Freddy Deeb and Bryan Devonshire booking a seat in Day 3.

One of the biggest stories on Day 2 was the implosion of former top 10 chip leaders Tommy Vedes and Jamie Rosen. Both of the American pros found a way to burn through their 100,000+ in less than five levels.

Of course Vedes and Rosen were far from the only players to bust on Day 2 as 213 players hit the rail including Jennifer Harman, Jon Turner, Vanessa Rousso, Tristan Wade, Ben Lamb, Nick Binger, Chad Brown, Olivier Busquet, Emil Patel, Xuan Liu, Sandra Naujoks, John Racener and Yevgeniy Timoshenko.

We’ll go down to 8-handed tables tomorrow so there should be even more action than the last two days.

Play resumes at 12:00 CET tomorrow and we’ll be with you every step of the way as we draw ever closer to the richest final table in French history.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 2: Almost There

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

There’s not much time left on Day 2 of the Main Event and Hoyt Corkins and Rifat Palevic continue to lead the way.

With 116 players left it’s looking likely that we’ll end the day with just over 100 players. Patrik Antonius, Liv Boeree and James Bord have been making huge strides up the chip counts as they attempt to take a decent stack into Day 3.

Here’s a look at some of the latest action:

One Week, €1.4 Million?

We haven’t seen a lot of his big hands today but Brian “flawless_victory” Roberts is certainly making a deep run in this event.

You might remember Roberts from his starring role in the TV show 2 Months, $2 Million on the G4 network along with Dani Stern, Jay Rosenkrants and Emil Patel.

The show followed the four young grinders as they attempted to win $2 million playing online poker in two months.

Since then Stern placed fourth in the anniversary $40k tournament at the WSOP for $548k and Rosenkrants is producing the upcoming poker documentary titled, “Boom” but Roberts has remained relatively quiet.

He could certainly remedy that with a final table appearance in this event. He’s been amongst the top 20 chip leaders for most of the day so it’s not outside the realm of possibility.

Melanie Weisner

Weisner Rides Rockets to Double

Melanie Weisner, one of the few women left in this event, just scored a tournament-saving double up against Brian Roberts.

Roberts opened for 4,500 from UTG, the cutoff called and Weisner shoved for 38,500 from the big blind. It took a minute but Roberts, having Weisner easily covered, opted to make the call and the cutoff immediately got out of the way.

Weisner quickly flipped over A♠ A♦ and Roberts smiled as he showed K♠ K♦. Weisner faded any kings on the board and doubled up to over 80,000.

The Busterati

Ryan D’Angelo, Darren Elias, Jeff Lisandro, Sam Chartier, Emil Patel, Men Nguyen, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Beth Shak, Shannon Shorr, Nick Binger, Erik Cajelais, Jennifer Harman, John Racener and Xuan Liu have all been eliminated.

From the Felt

“It would be so sick to take his money and then show him the bluff.”

-Bryan Devonshire after one player said he would show his hand to an opponent for €100.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 2: The Final Lap

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’re officially one level away from putting the finishing touches on Day 2 of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event.

A total of 128 players remain in the hunt for WSOPE glory and the pressure is on as Day 3 is just a scant 90 minutes away.

Over the last level Rifat Palevic played a couple disastrous hands and Hoyt Corkins came out of nowhere to snatch the chip lead.

Victor Ramdin, Jake Cody, Chris Moorman, Brian Roberts, Barny Boatman and Tony G are also in the top 20 as we head into the final level.

Here’s a look at all the best action from the last hour:

Respecting Antonius

Ramzi Jelassi is showing Finnish poker pro Patrik Antonius a tremendous amount of respect.

He keeps guessing the Finn’s hands and always puts him on aces or better.

“Why do you always think I have the nuts?” said Antonius. “Most people think I have nothing.”

“I just respect your game,” joked Jelassi.

“You respect it too much,” said another player at the table.

At last count Jelassi and Antonius both hard nearly 200,000 chips.

What did we ever do to you Barny?

Boatman Down!

We’ve been covering these things for quite a few years now but we just had a brand new live reporting experience while following a table at the 2011 WSOPE Main Event.

Barny Boatman fell on us.

Yeah you heard that right, the famed Hendon Mobber was carrying his chips across the room to a new table, tripped on one of the floor light fixtures and crashed right into one of our tournament reporters.

Amazingly Boatman managed to fall without throwing his chips directly into the air.

“He was like the drunk guy who falls and doesn't spill a drop of beer,” joked Devonshire from a nearby table.

Boatman collected himself and proceeded to his table without further incident.

“Is your stack really that heavy?” shouted James Dempsey from across the room.

Ramdin Cracks Aces

Victor Ramdin just got extremely lucky.

The Team PokerStars Pro bet 3,000 pre-flop and had one caller but then another opponent in late position raised to 10,200.

Ramdin thought for a minute and then shoved 30,000 into the pot. The second player in immediately folded and Ramdin’s opponent thought for a minute before shoving.

Ramdin snap called and tabled K♠ K♥, only to have his opponent show him A♥ A♣. The 2006 WPT Foxwoods winner was in a world of hurt and would need some serious help from the board if he wanted to win the pot.

As luck would have it that’s exactly what he got when the flop came K♣ T♣ 9♦. The other player began heading for the exit as the board finished with the 7♥ and then the 3♥.

The other players looked on jealously as Ramdin stacked his new gigantic 270,000 stack.

“What?” said Ramdin. “You guys expected me to fold kings?”

From the Felt

“If the champion raises from the button, you just give it to him, no matter what.”

-James Dempsey joking about folding to a James Bord raise.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 2: Back to Business

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

All 166 players (or at least most of them) have returned from the dinner break and are once again looking to do some noise here at the 2011 WSOPE Main Event.

We’ll be going two more levels tonight so there is a distinct possibility we’ll be dipping under the 100-player mark tonight. The money begins at 64 players remaining so play will likely tighten up considerably when we get below 100 players.

No matter what happens the players who still have chips in this event are certainly survivors considering we started with 593 players.

We’re heading back out onto the tournament floor so get ready for more red-hot poker action coming at you.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 2: Palevic Continues to Crush

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Rifat Palevic continues to distance himself from the rest of the pack here on Day 2 of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event.

Palevic has been beating up on nearly everyone at his table, including Triple Crown winner Jake Cody, and is up to 555,000.

That looks to be twice the amount of the nearest competitor – most likely Constant Rijkenberg – who has about 250,000.

Brian Roberts, Barny Boatman, Patrik Antonius and Shawn Buchanan are also in the top 20 as we reach the dinner break.

The 166 players will now have an hour and a half to go acquire some food on the streets of Cannes and set their mind to making it to Day 3.

Check back here at 21:00 CET for more action straight from the heart of the Majestic Hotel in picturesque Cannes.

Here’s a look at some of the biggest hands from the last hour:

Ramzi Gets Respect

Swedish pro Ramzi Jelassi has had an impressive run at the 2011 WSOPE with a third place finish in the 5k PLO event for a €105k haul.

He’s been playing well in this event too and, as a result, he’s getting a lot of respect from the players at his table.

Jelassi opened for 2,600 from early position and the player on his left called but the cutoff popped it up to 7,200.

The raising wasn’t done as the small blind four-bet to 15,000. Jelassi thought for a minute, stared the player in the small blind down and then five-bet to 34,000.

Everyone insta-mucked, except for the player in the small blind, who thought for a minute but then mucked as well. Jelassi raked in a 40,000+ pot without even having to see a flop. Jelassi is up to over 150,000 chips.

Sandra Naujoks

Naujoks Goes

Sandra Naujoks had a good run in this event and built a large stack yesterday on a tough table that included Robert Mizrachi, Sorel Mizzi and Patrik Antonius.

Unfortunately that momentum hasn’t carried on to Day 2 and the German Team PokerStar is on the rail after shoving 55 into AA and QQ. The fives lost, as they tend to do in those situations.

Naujoks won EPT Dortmund in 2009 for $1.1 million but hasn’t yet to add another major title.

Freddy Gets Fresh

Freddy Deeb is always an entertaining player and that’s certainly the case in today’s event.

Deeb was on the big blind in a hand where everyone folded to the small blind. The small blind completed and Deeb made a standard 3X bet. That didn’t scare the small blind, however, as he raised to 11,000.

Deeb called and the flop came T♥ 9♣ 7♦. Both players checked and the turn came T♣. The other player bet 5,500 and Deeb raised to 16,000.

There was a call and the river finished with the 2♣. This time the small blind checked and Deeb, sensing weakness, moved in for the player’s last 75k.

The player thought for a few minutes but then threw his hands face up (8♥ 8♦) into the muck.

“I folded the best hand,” he said.

That wasn’t accurate, however, as Deeb flipped over A♦ J♣ as he was raking in the pot.

The frustrated player muttered to himself that he couldn’t make that call. Deeb continued to cheerfully stack his chips.

Deeb is up to 170,000 chips.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 2: Just 200 to Go

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Here’s some good news, if you’re one of the lucky players who still has chips in the 2011 WSOPE Main Event you only have to beat 198 more players to win the €1.4 million first place prize.

That probably sounds pretty good to chip leader Rifat Palevic right now as he’s amassed over 400,000 chips and not great to the short stacks who are primarily concerned with just surviving to the upcoming dinner break.

Brian Roberts, Barny Boatman, Shawn Buchanan and Ramzi Jelassi are also in the top 20 chip counts as we get over closer to the money bubble, which starts at 64 players left.

Here’s the latest from the tournament floor:

Cody Turns it Around

Jake Cody just went from the doghouse to the penthouse thanks to pocket aces.

Cody shoved with aces on a Q-5-6 flop and his opponent called with Q-8. Cody dodged any potential disasters on the turn and the river and doubled up to over 160,000.

The Rochdale, England, native was one of the biggest stories at the WSOP this summer when he won the heads-up event and became one of the few players to hold poker’s Triple Crown.

We have a feeling a WSOPE Main Event bracelet would go nicely with a triple crown.

Liv and Let Die

Liv Boeree just won a monster pot thanks to her opponent making a pretty questionable call.

We picked up the action on the turn of a 9♣ 7♣ 2♠ 8♠ board and Pierre Neuville had just bet 3,500. The player directly on his left, Julian Notre Dame, called but Liv Boeree bumped it up to 9,700.

Neuville folded but Notre Dame called. The river brought the A♠ and this prompted Notre Dame to bet 10,000.

Boeree thought for a minute and then pushed 30,000 into the middle, which was enough to put Notre Dame all in.

Notre Dame considered his options but eventually made the call flipping over… K♦ 8♦ for a pair of eights.

Boeree flipped over 6♣ 5♣ to easily win the pot with a straight and bust Notre Dame.

“I didn’t expect him to flip over that,” commented Boeree.

The English Team PokerStars Pro was up to nearly 100,000 after the hand.

Maria Ho

Ho-tastic

Maria Ho has been fighting from the short stack for the better part of a day but she’s doing an excellent job of staying alive.

Ho saw a flop of A♥ J♦ 6♥ against one other player and bet 3,200. Her opponent bet 7,200 and Ho made the call, which prompted the dealer to put out the 4♥ for the turn.

Ho checked but her opponent fired 7,500. She made the call and the river brought the 7♦ and both players checked. Ho flipped over A♣ K♦ and her opponent mucked.

The California pro is up to 55,000 chips.

Leah Doubles Through Brown

Mike Leah, also known as goleafsgoeh online, got all-in with A♦ 9♦ and things looked dire against Chad Brown and his pocket tens.

Fortunately for the Toronto Maple Leafs fan the board came 9♣ 9♣ 3♦ 6♦ J♣, which was enough to secure him the lucky double up.

After the hand Leah was up to 37k while Brown tumbled all the way down to 15,000 and is officially on life support.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 2: The Field Narrows

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

A couple levels into the Day 2 and we’ve lost nearly 100 players in the 2011 WSOPE Main Event.

A total of 235 are still alive in the Majestic Hotel poker room and apparently even a big stack can’t save you as Tommy Vedes, one of our overnight chip leaders, is out of the tournament after bleeding chips for most of the day.

We do have one hell of a feature table in front of us now with Bryan Devonshire, Ben Lamb, Jen Harman, Jon Turner and Brian Roberts all looking to out-play each other.

Here’s a look at the biggest hands and happenings from the last level:

Palevic Pounds Chan

Swede Rifat Palevic is making the most of his massive chip stack and just took a sizable pot off Johnny Chan.

Chan and Palevic got to the river of a A♠ 8♣ 6♣ T♦ 8♠ board with approximately 20,000 in the pot and Chan bet 7,000.

Palevic called and tabled A♦ Q♥, which had Chan’s A♥ J♦ beat. Palevic is up to 280,000 and looks to still hold the early chip lead.

Elimination Station

The bustouts are flying in the early stages of Day 2 of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event. So far Joel Nordkvist, Cornel Cimpan, Casey Kastle, Marco Traniello, Leo Margets, Ana Marquez and David Sands have all been eliminated.

Tristan Wade

Wade Wasted in Massive 3-Way Pot

Poker pro Tristan Wade is going to have to make do with just one bracelet at the 2011 WSOPE in Cannes.

Wade was short-stacked and open-shoved for 18,000 from late position and Gabriel Nassif called from the hi-jack.

Action folded to Mclean Karr in the small blind and he opted to re-raise to 27,050, mostly likely to isolate.

Unfortunatley for Karr, Nassif re-shoved for 57,000 more. That sent Karr deep into the tank as he pondered his options.

Finally Karr laid his hand down and was instantly rewarded as Nassif showed A♠ A♣. Meanwhile Wade flipped up a modest K♠ Q♠.

The board came A♦ J♣ 9♦ 7♠ 9♠ and Nassif’s set of aces was more than enough to win the pot. He moved up to 120,000 with the pot.

Meanwhile Wade is finished at the 2011 WSOPE.

Lellouche Flushes Medic

Antony Lellouche, one of the most aggressive French players we’ve ever seen, just won a monster pot off Nenad Medic.

Lellouche opened for 1,500 from under the gun and Hoyt Corkins called from the button and Nenad Medic called from the big blind.

The flop came K♠ Q♦ 7♦ and action was checked around. The turn brought the 5♦ and this prompted a 4,900 bet from Medic.

Lellouche called and Corkins got out of the way. The river came 9♠ and that prompted a 11,700 bet from Medic. Lellouche wasn’t going anywhere, however, and re-raised to 24,000.

Medic looked seriously agitated about his decision but after a couple minutes of thinking it over he called. Lellouche immediately showed him K♦ 4♦ which was enough to win the pot.

After the hand Lellouche moved up to 140,000 while Medic fell down to 23,000 and will need to make a move soon.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 2: Swedish Style

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Relatively unknown Swedish player Rifat Palevic has come out of nowhere to grab the chip lead with 230,000 in the early stages of Day 2.

The Swedes have been very prevalent at the WSOPE and there were five that went very deep in the 10k Split event.

Renowned for their aggressive nature at the poker table, don’t be surprised to see a few Swedes go deep in this event or perhaps make the final table.

Erik Friberg, Ramzi Jelassi, Robin Lundquist, Joel Nordkvist and Martin Jacobsen are still in this and if anyone can build a stack quickly it’s a motivated Scandinavian.

Here’s some other notable action from the last level of play:

Table of Near Death

Yesterday we had the pleasure of railing a truly deadly table that included Brian Devonshire, Robert Mizrachi, Sandra Naujoks, Sorel Mizzi, Brandon Cantu and Patrik Antonius.

It was delightful for poker fans and terrible for the other two random players at the table as the pros proceeded to annihilate the amateurs while bantering and betting with each other.

Today we don’t have any tables that are quite as interesting but Table 13 should provide some entertainment with Tristan Wade, John Racener, Maria Ho and Mclean Karr all sharing the felt.

Inizan Out

Winamax pro Marc Inizan is out of the tournament after slamming his K♦ J♥ into J♠ J♣.

The board did him no favors and the French pro was relegated to the rail in the early stages of Day 2.

On the plus side he has plenty of time to check out the beautiful beaches of Cannes.

We’ll be keeping a special eye on French players over the next few days as the host country is no doubt hoping to have a couple of its players at the final table.

Shawn Buchanan

Buchanan Snaps off Moorman

Canadian pro Shawn Buchanan came painfully short of a bracelet in the 10k Split event, finishing second to Michael Mizrachi, but is off to a good start in this tournament.

U.K. online legend Chris Moorman led out for 1,500 from early position and Buchanan called from the cutoff.

The flop came 8♠ 4♣ 2♥ and Moorman c-bet to 2,400. Once again Buchanan called, however, and the turn came J♦.

The J♦ peeled off the turn and Moorman refused to let off the gas paddle, throwing another 5,400 into the pot.

Buchanan called yet again and that brought the T♣ river. Both players checked and Moorman sheepishly said, “Ace-high.”

Buchanan had that beat with K♠ J♠ and he raked in a nice 15,000+ pot.

Bad Start for Busquet

It hasn’t been the most illustrious start for Olivier “livb” Busquet.

The legendary online pro and former WPT winner lost a race with A♦ K♠ against an all-in player with 8♥ 8♦.

Fortunately Busquet had him easily covered but he’s still down to 42,000, which is certainly the wrong direction to be going at this point.

JohnnyBax Fine, Thanks for Asking

Terrance Chan and Cliff “Johnnybax” Josephy were just having a discussion on the effects of Black Friday on Josephy and Eric “Sheets” Haber’s backing operation.

Known in the poker industry as one of the biggest backers of online players, Chan was inquiring as to how much money Josephy lost when the U.S. locked out Full Tilt and PokerStars.

“It’s not as bad as you might think,” he said. “I mean it was a one-time hit but we stopped bleeding money.”

“Now you just have kids asking for $10k buy-ins to live tournament,” joked Chan.

“Yeah exactly,” laughed Josephy. “Now we’re just bleeding money live. At least it’s easier to keep track of.”

From the Felt

“I didn’t realize you suck at poker. I thought you were good.”

-Will Failla needling an opponent after they sucked out

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WSOPE Main Event Day 2: The Real Battle Begins

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s Day 2 of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event and for the first time in this event all the remaining players are under one roof.

That means if you can navigate through today’s starting field of 328 players and build yourself a big stack then you’ll have a good chance to actually make the money in this event.

Speaking of money the payouts have just been announced and with over €5.6 million in the prizepool the 2011 WSOPE Main Event is officially the richest tournament in the history of the WSOPE.

First place will walk away with an astounding €1.4 million, which is slightly more than Annette Obrestad’s record-setting haul of £1 million in 2007.

Meanwhile American online pro Jamie Rosen looks to be the chip leader over both days with 162,700. There are plenty of big name pros in the top 50 however with Chris Moorman, Robert Mizrachi, Erik Friberg, Emil Patel, Ben Lamb and Carlos Mortensen all looking to do some damage.

Here’s a look at the top 10 biggest chip stacks as we start play:

Jamie Rosen – 162,700 Lari Sihvo – 144,725 Tommy Vedes – 142,775 Alexander Kostritsyn – 126,200 Antonio Palma – 125,000 Dermot Blain – 123,500 Chris Moorman – 121,775 Constant Rjkenberg – 121,500 Laurent Polito – 120,200 Mustapha Kanit – 117,700

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1b: Goodnight From Cannes

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Day 1b of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event has come to a close with 168 players booking a seat in Day 2 of the contest.

A total of 283 players entered the day and, when you add in the 310 players from Day 1a, we’re looking at the biggest WSOPE Main Event in history by a landslide. The previous record was 362 in 2007 and we’ve nearly doubled that number with a total of 593 players in this year’s event.

The prizepool contains over €5.6 million and the player that takes this thing down will be very rich indeed. The exact payout numbers will be released tomorrow but you can expect the winner to walk away with over €1 million.

Day 1b, while having less players than Day 1a, was an intriguing affair with big name pros Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen, Jonathan Duhamel, Jean-Robert Bellande, Tony G, Barry Greenstein, John Racener and Shannon Shorr all taking the felt.

Perhaps the highlight of the day was the too-sick-to-be-true table 15 that featured Robert Mizrachi, Brandon Cantu, Sandra Naujoks, Sorel Mizzi, Bryan Devonshire, Jani Sointula and Patrik Antonius at various times throughout the day.

Mostly the pros beat up on the random players seated at the table but they also took the time to engage in some enthusiastic gambling with each other on random facts. As they say, “Degen’s gonna degen.”

By the end of the day Michael Mizrachi, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Matt Gianett had all hit the rail.

Meanwhile Lari Sihvo looks to be the overall chip leader with 144,000 but Tommy Vedes (142,000), Alex Kostritsyn (126,000), Robert Mizrachi (117,000) and Mclean Karr (115,000 are all in the top 10.

The 168 players who survived will combine with the 126 from Day 1a to combine a Day 2 field of 294. Those players will reconvene tomorrow and attempt to get even closer to the money bubble, which should start at around 50-60 players left.

Play begins at 12:00 CET so be sure to have www.pokerlistings.com typed into your browser cause we’re going to be with you every step of the way.

Au Revoir!

Here are the top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Lari Sihvo – 133,725Tommy Vedes – 142,775Alex Kostritsyn – 126,200Antonio Palma – 125,000Constant Rijkenberg – 121,500Robert Mizrachi – 117,500Antony Lellouche – 117,100McLean Karr – 115,600Fabrizio Gonzales – 106,125Victor Ramdin – 103,200

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1b: No Go for Moutinho

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Erika Moutinho will not be replicating her feat of becoming the last woman standing here at the WSOPE in Cannes.

This summer Moutinho outlasted 6,836 players before finally busting in 29th place to become the last woman to fall in the WSOP Main Event.

Here in Cannes she didn’t quite make it past the first day as she got short-stacked and eventually shoved with A-K but got called with AA. She didn’t get enough help from the board and that sent her to the rail.

In case you’re wondering there are definitely a few women still in the event with Sandra Naujoks and Beth Shak attempting to build big stacks.

Here’s a look at some other stories from the last hour:

Devilfish Hooks Another

David “Devilfish” Ulliott is doing well today, despite an admittedly scarce amount of sleep last night.

Ulliott opened for 1,100 and an opponent shoved for 5,300. Ulliott called and the player showed 7♣ 7♦.

“I like it,” he said as he flipped over A♥ 7♥. “Oh no wait! I don’t like it. I thought it was A-8. I only got four hours of sleep last night.”

In the end it didn’t matter as there was an ace on the flop and that was enough to secure Devilfish the hand and bust the player.

Ulliott is up to 67,000.

Deeb with Advice for the Kids

Freddy Deeb has been cashing in poker tournaments since 1986 and he’s learned a few things over the years.

In a recent hand Deeb forced a fold out of 2010 Main Event third place finisher Filippo Candio on a A♠ Q♠ 9♣ 2♠ board.

Deeb had just bet 6,000 and Candio flipped his cards up slightly and then threw them into the muck.

“Don’t fold your hand like that, man,” advised Deeb. “Everyone keeps seeing your hand when you lift it up like that.”

Candio nodded but didn’t seem overly concerned. Over $3 million in poker winnings will likely do that to you.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1b: Poker is Fun (For Everyone)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Good old Table 15 continues to provide some of the most interesting table talk in the tournament today.

The table includes Robert Mizrachi, Brandon Cantu, Sandra Naujoks, Bryan Devonshire, Sorel Mizzi and Patrik Antonius.

The pros have been making life miserable for the rest of the players at the table and the other three seats have been home to a number of different players.

A game of “What does Johnny Lodden think?” broke out at the table during the last level where players wager on what one person at the table is thinking.

The various questions include how much Phil Ivey would have to be paid to spend three days in a tiny room, how many times a particular 50 Euro note had been passed around and how much money would it take for Jani Sointula to cut his hair.

As luck would have it Jani Sointula got seated at Table 15 during the last level and Patrik Antonius’ guess proved to be almost spot on (he guessed nine thousand Euros).

In other news there appear to be just under 200 players still in this event. Here’s a look at some of the other happenings on the tournament floor over the last hour:

The More You Know – Cannes Edition

Did you know it’s illegal for poker player’s to get massages?

Patrik Antonius was asking for a massage when Sorel Mizzi informed him that it’s illegal in French casinos.

Apparently the French think the masseuse could accidentally push a player while giving them a message and bump chips in the middle. We've also heard in France that you can never play 10-handed, can't seeded brackets for heads-up and, up until a few months ago, Hold'em was the only poker game allowed.

Spindler wants more.

Spindler Spinning Up

German Benny Spindler, who is hot off a victory in EPT London, is building quite a stack here in Cannes.

Spinder just called an opponent’s pre-flop raise to see a flop of 5♠ 5♣ 3♦. The other player bet 3,000 but Spindler raised to 6,000.

The player called and the turn came A♣. This time the Spindler’s opponent checked but Spindler fired 10,000 into the pot. The bet succeeded in getting a fold from the player and Spindler took down the pot.

Spindler’s been pots like that all day long and is up to 92,000 chips.

The Dizzy on Mizzi

Sorel Mizzi is the first big name pro to fall over on fabled Table 15.

Mizzi was one of the shorter stacks at the table and ended up getting all-in pre-flop against Robert Mizrachi and Sandra Naujoks.

Both the live players checked down a 9-6-3-6-9 board and Naujoks tabled T♦ T♥ which was enough to beat Mizrachi’s A♠ Q♠.

Mizzi didn’t bother showing his hand he just threw it into the muck and headed for the exit.

Naujoks was up to 90,000 after the hand and remains a serious threat in this tournament.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1b: The Drive to Stay Alive

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The 220 or so poker players still with chips on Day 1b have returned from their dinner break and will now set about making Day 2.

We’re going to play two more level before the surviving players will bag up their chips and return in the morning for more poker action.

If you’re a short stack, however, these next two levels are likely pretty damn intimidating at the moment.

The time will likely fly by for Robert Mizrachi, Tommy Vedes, Benny Spindler and Mclean Karr as they’re near the top of the chip counts.

More red-hot European poker action is coming at ya.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1b: Shuffle Out and Meal

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

After four levels of thrilling action at the beautiful Majestic Hotel in Cannes we’ve officially reached the dinner break.

Players will now go on a 90-minute dinner break and attempt to fuel up for the conclusion of the day where everyone will try to punch their ticket to Day 2.

You can register for this event up until the start of the next level so we should soon have complete numbers for this historic event. We’re already up to 260 players so we’ll easily be breaking records later tonight.

Meanwhile Robert Mizrachi still looks to be our early chip leader with 96,000. Tommy Vedes, Benny Spindler, Mclean Karr and James Dempsey are amongst the chip leaders.

Incredibly Patrik Antonius has wandered into the poker room and promptly taken a seat at our “table of death.” That table now includes Robert Mizrachi, Brandon Cantu, Sandra Naujoks, Sorel Mizzi, Bryan Devonshire and Patrik Antonius. Nice table draw, that one.

Check back in 90 minutes for more updates from what will be the biggest WSOPE Main Event ever held.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1b: Le Terrible Table

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

There are a number of tough tables here on Day 1b of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event but there is one table that looks like an episode of Poker After Dark.

The table, which is almost in the center of the poker room, includes sharks Robert Mizrachi, Brandon Cantu, Sandra Naujoks, Sorel Mizzi and Bryan Devonshire.

For the most part they’ve been taking turns destroying the hapless unknown players at their table over the first few levels.

Right now Mizrachi is winning the chip war but they all have a decent stack to work with. Here’s how it looks:

Robert Mizrachi: 96,000Sandra Naujoks: 54,000Brandon Cantu: 36,000Bryan Devonshire: 38,000 Sorel Mizzi: 22,000

We give a hearty "good luck" to the next player to take a seat at that table. They’re gonna need it.

Here’s a look at the notable action over the last hour:

ElkY’s WSOPE Dreams Dashed

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier is perhaps the best French tournament player in the world but he won’t be taking home a bracelet in the first WSOPE ever held in his home country.

ElkY got it in with 4♦ 4♣ against an opponent who held K♣ T♥

The flop came T♣ 6♣ 4♠, which gave ElkY a set of fours and the lead but also gave his opponent a pair of tens. This was significant because the turn brought the T♠. The river was a meaningless 6♠.

A disappointed ElkY slammed his fist on the table and headed for the exit.

Beware the Naujoks

German Team PokerStars Pro Sandra Naujoks is off to a fantastic start here at the 2011 WSOPE.

After winning a few significant pots early, Naujoks just knocked out a player when she turned a straight against his pocket kings. The chips went in on the river and Naujoks is up to nearly 60,000 chips.

No Third Bracelet for Billirakis

Steve “MrSmokey1” Billirakis has already had a very impressive WSOPE with a bracelet win in the 5k PLO event, which was good for 238,000 Euros.

Of course MrSwokey1 won his first bracelet four years ago and was no doubt hoping that it wouldn’t take quite as long to lock up his third. Unfortunately he’s gonna have to wait until 2012 because he’s gone.

He shoved with A-Q and a player called with A-7. A seven on the turn was enough to send Billirakis to the rail.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1b: Bord Gains Momentum

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Last year’s 2011 WSOPE Main Event winner James Bord is off to a great title defense.

He was just involved in a minor controversy where ended up winning a big pot.

Bord was heads-up against one other player to a flop of A♥ J♦ 6♦ and he made a standard bet.

The unidentified player dropped two 5,000 chips in the middle and Bord moved all-in for 15,000.

It was at this point the other player complained that he only meant to call when he threw the two 5k chips in the middle.

Of course Bord was upset because more than one chip generally means a raise if they don’t add up to a call.

The floor was called over at this point and Jack Effel ruled that the two chips in the middle would stand.

The other player thought for a minute and then threw his cards into the muck. Bord is up to over 40,000 chips.

Viktor Vanquished

Sometimes it feels like Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom are having a contest on who can bust out tournaments faster.

Right now it feels like they are both winning.

Viktor Blom straight up hung himself with A-T on a J-T-8 flop against a player who had A-J. Blom shoved for his last 10,000 chips, was called, and after an uneventful turn and river was promptly sent to the rail.

The young Scandinavian pro lasted two levels here on 1b of the 2011 WSOPE and will have to wait another day for his first major tournament score.

bigegypt Gets Bigger

Joseph “BigEgypt” Elpayaa just scored the all-important double up in a hand against recent bracelet winner Philippe Boucher.

Boucher got and Elpayaa got into a raising war pre-flop and eventually got all the chips in the middle. It was easy to see why when Elpayaa tabled KK to Boucher’s AA.

Elpayaa’s tournament life was on the line as his last 15,000 was in the middle and desperately needed some help from the board.

That’s just what he got when a king showed up on the flop. The set of kings held up and Elpayaa was back to his starting stack of 30,000. The hand occurred just after the break ended, a fact that Boucher was all too aware of.

“I wish I was a few minutes late,” he joked.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1b: Who Will Rise?

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s still very early on Day 1b of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event and we’re up to 260 entrants.

The chip counts are very volatile in the early stages of these things but Robert Mizrachi, Erik Cajelais, Mike “Timex” McDonald and Alexander Kostritsyn have managed to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the pack.

As a reminder we’ll be playing until about midnight tonight with a 90-minute dinner break coming after four levels.

That should give players enough time to build their starting stack of 30,000 into something truly meaningful.

Here’s a look at the best action over the last hour:

The Swingy Life of Isildur1

Viktor “Isildur1” Blom is renowned for going one of the biggest swings in online poker when he shot up to over $4 million in profit and then lost it all plus more to Brian Hastings.

Maybe the swings just follow Blom wherever he goes because he’s certainly having an up-and-down Day 1b.

He got all-in with pocket aces against pocket kings and looked primed to become one of the early chip leaders. Instead a king hit on the flop and Isildur1 was crippled to about 7,000 chips.

He left the table for a few minutes but then came back and played this hand.

Blom opened for 500 UTG and both the small blind and big blind called. The flop came 8s7♥ 7♣ and Blom led out for 1,050. The big blind folded but the small shoved on him. Blom called and flipped over T♣ T♥, which had his opponent’s 9♥ 9♠ crushed.

The turn and river bricked out and suddenly Blom is back up to 15,000.

“You’re back in this, boy,” commented Devilfish who is at the same table.

Where’s Kid Poker?

Don’t worry, kids, Daniel Negreanu is on his way.

According to Twitter Negreanu is a big fan of late registration and is currently enjoying a nice breakfast before entering the tournament.

The Canadian has a fantastic record in the WSOPE made event and made the final table TWICE, including a runner-up finish in the 2009 event. He’s not going to miss out on this one.

The better Mizrachi?

The Brothers Mizrachi

It’s turning into a very different day for Michael Mizrachi and Robert Mizrachi

Robert appears headed for a deep run in today’s contest as he just knocked out a player with aces and skyrocketed to over 50,000 chips.

Meanwhile Michael, well, he’s no longer in the tournament. He had aces as well but ended up falling to a player’s turned set of kings.

On the plus side Michael did take down €336,008 and a bracelet for winning the 10k Split event last night.

“If I could just fade luck, I’d win ‘em all,” joked Mizrachi to TD Jack Effel as he left.

Prince of Poker Arrives

Scotty Nguyen, who won the WSOP Main Event in 1998, has officially made his entrance into the 2011 WSOPE.

Wearing his usual white tracksuit and sunglasses, Nguyen took a seat at the feature table and immediately started chatting up the table in typical “Scotty” fashion.

Nguyen has five bracelets including the Main Event title in 1998 and the $50,000 Players Championship in 2008. He has never been particularly successful in the WSOPE and has yet to record his first cash in the series.

From the Felt

“I can’t believe I was the nit in that situation.”

-Sorel Mizzi

“Welcome to Europe.”

-Brian Devonshire

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1b: Confirmed – Biggest WSOPE Ever!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’ve made it through one level on WSOPE Main Event Day 1b and while there are several hundred players in the field it looks like we will come in a bit short of yesterday’s total.

Currently there are 250 players in the mix today, which is slightly under the 310 we got for Day 1a. Currently Majestic 2 isn’t even being utilized.

One thing is certain, however, this will be the biggest WSOPE Main Event ever held with over 500 runners. That easily trumps the 362 players that came out to play for the record-setting inaugural event in London in 2008.

It also means the eventual winner in this contest will be walking away with an enormous amount of cash. There is already €5.4 million in the prizepool and that number could grow even larger with a few more registrations.

Here’s a look at what’s been happening on the tournament floor over the last level:

Heads-Up to Main Event

All members from the final four of last night’s 10k Split have showed up to play today. Roger Hairabedian, Noach Schwartz, Shawn Buchanan and eventual winner Michael Mizrachi will all be looking to add even more cash to their considerable haul yesterday.

Last Woman Standing in Europe?

Erika Moutinho, who you might remember as the last woman standing in the 2011 WSOP Main Event, is in the field today.

It’s still very early but if Moutinho was somehow able to become the last woman with chips in this event she would become the first player to become the Last Woman Standing in the North American and European Main Events.

Famous Faces

Here are the star poker players that have decided to grace the red carpet of Cannes with their presence today:

Alexander Kostritsyn Dmitry Motorov Michael “Timex” McDonald Brian Adams Jani Sointula Mclean Karr Robert Mizrachi Sandra Naujoks Brian Devonshire Antony Lellouche Juha Helppi Davidi Kitai John Racener Beth Shak Jake Cody Ludovic Lacay Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier Jonathan Duhamel James Akenhead Brian Powell Ana Marquez Brian Hastings Victor Ramdin Amit Makhija Dan Shak David “Devilfish” Ulliott Viktor “Isildur1” Blom Erik Cajelais

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1b: Here Comes Day 1b

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s officially Day 1b of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event and if it’s anything like he first Day 1 of the tournament we’re going to have a monster of a tournament on our hands.

Yesterday a total of 310 players jammed their way into the poker room in search of WSOPE glory and created a prizepool of more than four millions Euros. Today that number is going to increase. By how much? Well, you’ll have to wait and find out.

There will be plenty of pros on hand today as we’ve already seen Benny Spindler, Sandra Noujoks, Sorel Mizzi and Jake Cody.

Ready. Set. Go!

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1a: Epic Day Comes to a Close

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Everyone thought this year’s WSOPE Main Event had the potential to trump previous years but very few expected it would be by this much.

Day 1a of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event drew a total of 310 runners from across the globe. Considering the biggest WSOPE Main Event only drew 362 in 2008 it’s almost a lock that we’re going to have the biggest Main Event ever held in Europe tomorrow.

There were major North American players such as Phil Hellmuth, Jason Mercier, Ben Lamb, Hoyt Corkins, Tristan Wade, Erik Seidel, Nick Binger, Vanessa Rousso and Jennifer Harman along with killer European players like Chris Moorman, Arnaud Mattern, Barney Boatman, Sam Holden, John Duthie, Martins Adeniya, Tobias Reinkemeier, Anton Makievskyi and Roberto Romanello.

Hellmuth was a particularly interesting story as he had one last chance to catch Ben Lamb in the Player of the Year and was even seated at the same table as Lamb.

Unfortunately for Hellmuth, it was once again Lamb who had the lasting power and Hellmuth went out early and finally conceded the POY race.

Former world champions Johnny Chan and Carlos Mortensen took turns as the chip leader but by the end of the day online pro Jamie Rosen had risen to the top of the chip counts with 162,700 chips.

Some of the other notable big stacks include Swede Erik Friberg (117,000), Dermot Blain (123,000) and Chris Moorman (121,000).

Check back tomorrow as Day 1b kicks of at 12:00 CET. Records will fall, you can count on it.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1a: Hellmuth Fizzles Early

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Phil Hellmuth came late and will be leaving early.

It appeared to be a torturous session for Hellmuth as he never got anything going at his table and had to watch his rival Ben Lamb build a massive stack.

Hellmuth finally got it in with K♥ 9♥ and Michael Telker called with A♣ 9♣. The board came J♠ 5♠ 4♦ 5♣ T♠ to effectively end Hellmuth’s 2011 WSOP.

The Poker Brat put in a decent performance at the inaugural WSOPE in Cannes finishing seventh in €2,500 Six-Max and then going deep but busting before the cash in 10k PLO.

By busting out of the tournament Hellmuth officially conceded the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year race to Ben Lamb as Lamb will receive a minimum of 100 points in the November Nine.

Hellmuth was gracious in defeated, however, and shook Lamb’s hand as he headed out of the poker room. With Hellmuth out of the way the sky is the limit for Lamb as he attempts to ride his giant stack deep into this event.

Here’s a look at some of the other highlights from the last hour of play:

Hax Cracks

Online pro Isaac Haxton is a threat in any poker tournament… except for this one.

Haxton got it all-in with A-J against an opponent’s A-K and the dealer threw down a K♠ 7♣ 5♦ flop.

Things were pretty dire for Haxton but improved somewhat when the turn came J♣.

The final nail came in the form of the 9♣ on the river, however. It’s on to the next one for Haxton.

The Thrill is On!

Will “The Thrill” Failla just knocked out two players in stunning fashion.

In the hand a player in early position shoved for a short stack of under 10,000 chips and the player directly on his left re-shoved.

One player folded Failla re-shipped it, covering both players. Everyone else got out of the way and at this point Failla turned to one of our tournament reporters and said, “I want to read about THIS hand on the Internet.”

The players revealed their hands and it was easy to see why Failla was so interested in the hand.

Failla: A♦ A♥

Player 1: K♥ Q♣

Player 2: 8♦ 8♠

The dealer didn’t hesitate as she quickly put out a 6♣ 5♣ 3♠ A♣ 5♥ board. The aces held for Failla and he’s up to about 40,000 chips.

From the Felt

“You don’t have to win this one too. You can leave something for the rest of us.”

-Nicholas Levi to recent bracelet winner Tristan Wade

Leaderboard

Here are the top 10 chip counts as we near the end of play courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Carlos Mortensen – 157,000 Johnny Chan – 150,000 Dermot Blain – 122,000 Emil Patel – 121,000 Mario Adinolfi – 117,000 Hoyt Corkins – 107,000 Sean Getzwiller – 99,000 Matan Krakow – 95,000 Kyle Cheong – 83,000 Ben Lamb – 80,000

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Mizrachi Defeats Buchanan to Win Second Bracelet

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It was Michael Mizrachi and Shawn Buchanan battling it out in the final heads-up match of this €10k Split Format event, the US versus Canada, with the Grinder denying Buchanan his first WSOP gold bracelet.

The Split Format, a brand new event at the WSOPE, saw play begin nine-handed on Day 1, move to six-max on Day 2, and go heads-up for the final 16 yesterday.

Mizrachi defeated a tough lineup of heads-up opponents to win his second WSOP bracelet, including Kent Lundmark, Brian Hasting, Roger Hairabedian and finally WPT winner Shawn Buchanan.

Mizrachi told us after his match with Bucky that he hit a lot of flops, including making quads on a 6-6-6 flop and getting the majority of his opponent’s stack out of him before Buchanan made what looked like an epic fold to Mizrachi’s river-shove.

In the end Mizrachi had luck on his side, getting it in preflop with A-T against A-J. A ten on the flop was all it took to decide this tournament and send Buchanan home in second.

Michael Mizrachi takes €336,008 and his second WSOP bracelet while Shawn Buchanan pockets €207,624 for his runner-up finish.

Click here for the full results from Event 5, €10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Split Format.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1a: Hellmuth Arrives

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

There was a great deal of buzz surrounding Phil Hellmuth’s entrance to WSOPE in Cannes considering the Poker Brat is well known for his over-the-top Main Event entrances that have included racecar, military and MMA themes in the past.

Even in London for the WSOPE Main Event he made special entrances including one with a Lady Gaga theme.

This year his entrance was late, as usual, but beyond that there was nothing special about it.

More interesting was the fact that he was immediately seated with Ben “Benba” Lamb.

Hellmuth and Lamb are in the middle of one of the most hotly contested WSOP Player of the Year races ever.

Lamb is in the lead right now thanks to the points that will come from his eventual finish in the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

The Poker Brat could make things really interesting, however, with a deep run or final table in this event. Of course Lamb would likely prefer it if he didn’t even make it through the day.

There weren’t a ton of notable hands or eliminations over the last hour (we blame it on the pasta and pizza) so here’s an updated list of the top 10 notable chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Johnny Chan – 135,000 Emil Patel – 112,000 Hoyt Corkins – 107,000 Erik Seidel – 96,000 Cliff Josephy – 84,000 Kyke Cheong – 93,000 Quentin Ettlin – 80,000 Ben Lamb – 79,000 Arnaud Mattern – 78,000 Carlos Mortensen – 76,000

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1a: A Second Helping of Action

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The 126 players who just went for dinner have returned from their break and are now set on building a massive stack before play concludes for the night.

Johnny Chan still looks to be our chip leader with over 100,000 chips and there’s a good chance he’s going to bully the crap out of his table for the rest of the evening.

Here’s a look at the top 10 notable stacks as play resumes courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Johnny Chan – 112,000 Ben Lamb – 88,000 Kyle Cheong – 83,000 Quentin Ettlin – 80,000 Carlos Mortensen – 76,000 Matan Krakow – 72,000 Arnaud Mattern – 67,000 Mark Radoja – 67,000 Scott Seiver – 60,000

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Mizrachi vs. Buchanan for the €10 Split Format Bracelet!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The final four has been reduced to two and it's American superstar Michael Mizrachi and Canadian tournament crusher Shawn Buchanan in the finals. Mizrachi is looking for his second bracelet, and Buchanan his first, as the two prepare to do battle in roughly 30 minutes time. Each of these players fought their way through two days of tournament poker, and a bracket of 16 heads-up players, to get here, and with €336,008 on the line for first neither of them will be giving up without a fight. Here are the chip counts going into the heads-up final: Michael Mizrachi - 2,397,000 Shawn Buchanan - 1,359,000 Read on for details on the two matches that just ended.Mizrachi Over Hairabedian Frenchmen Roger Hairabedian is out in third place, good for €112,092. Hairabedian fought a tough fight, and although the match went on for a handful of levels, it was decided quickly in two big hands. The pair were near even in chips when Mizrachi flopped bottom set on a K♣ 9♣ 3♣ board. The board finished out 5♦ 2♦ and Grinder got in bets on all three streets. Hairabedian had K♦ 5♥ and called him down all the way. Shortly after, Mizrachi opened from the button and got a call before seeing the flop come J-8-5 with two spades. Hairabedian donk-bet the flop, got a call, and the 4♦ hit the turn. Hairabedian fired again but this time Mizrachi raised. Hairabedian fired right back with an all-in and was snap-called by Grinder. 6♥ 7♣ was the nuts for Mizrachi and Hairabedian would need to boat up on the river with 5♣ 5♥. Fifth street was a trey and just like that Mizrachi is on the precipice of bracelet number two.Buchanan Over Schwartz

Noah Schwartz is out in fourth, good for the same €112,092 that went to Roger Hairabedian, and Shawn Buchanan is through to the finals.

Ending signifiantly earlier than the match described above, Buchanan was able to dispatch his opponent handily with a powerful one-two punch. The first blow came when Buchanan three-bet out of position and saw a 9♣ 9♥ 8♣ flop. Buchanan bet, got called, and watched the 7♣ hit the felt. After Buch checked, Schwartz took the lead with a bet of 88k.

The Canuck called and the 5♠ hit the river.

Buchanan checked again and Schwartz fired 230,000, roughly half his stack. Buchanan took his time but eventually made the call, tabling 9♥ T♥ after Schwartz fired his hand into the muck.

Schwartz wasted no time three-bet shoving his remaining chips in when he picked up A-5 off-suit. Buchanan was right there with pocket kings and they held up to end the match.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1a: Chan Breaks 100k

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Johnny Chan continues to steamroll is way to the top of the chip counts on Day 1a of the 2011 WSOPE.

Chan looks to be the first player to break the 100k mark and finished the last level with 112,000.

The former World Champion seems to be taking to France, as he’s been an absolute nightmare for everyone at his table.

Chan would be advised to watch his back, however, as 2011 November Niner Ben Lamb has been making huge strides over the last level and is up to 80,000 chips.

The 126 remaining players will now pour out onto the streets of Cannes in search of dinner. Players get a 90-minute dinner break so be sure to check back in an hour and a half for the best live updates this side of the Eiffel Tower.

Here’s the best action from the last hour:

Dwan Dives

Tom Dwan has officially been shut out at the 2011 WSOPE.

Dwan’s extended fall began midway through the last level when he lost a pivotal race against Team PokerStars Pro Chad Brown with T♦ T♥ versus Brown’s A♦ Q♠.

The board was very unfriendly to Dwan as it came A♥ Q♣ 9♦ 9♣ Q♥ to give Brown the 40,000+ pot.

Dwan was way down after that hand and in his final hand he saw a board of 9♠ 7♠ 5♠ A♦ T♣ against one player. Dwan had A♥ 5♥ and decided that was enough to ship his last 6,375 into middle.

Unfortunately for Dwan his opponent called with A♣ 9♣ and sent the New Jersey native packing.

Benyamine Loses Big to Chartier, Busts

David Benyamine just played a massive hand against Sam Chartier and ended up on the losing side.

In the hand Sam Chartier opened for 1,000 and Benyamine raised to 3,650. Chartier called and the flop came Q♠ 4♦ 2♥.

Benyamine continued his aggression by pouring 3,550 into the pot and Chartier called.

The turn peeled off 2♠ and Benyamine was betting yet again, this time for 7,050.

Chartier thought for a minute but finally made the call. That brought the 6♥ river. Finally Benyamine relented and checked. Chartier once again thought his decision through but eventually decided to follow suit and check.

Benyamine showed his bluff with 9♦ 8♦, which Chartier could easily beat with A♥ K♠.

“One more bet…” said Benyamine wistfully as he watched Chartier stack up his chips.

After the hand Benyamine was down to 15,000 and about 10 minutes later Nick Binger busted the Frenchman. Benyamine’s 2011 WSOPE is over.

The Eliminati

Sam Stein, Tyler Bonkowski, Eugene Katchalov, Roberto Romanello and David Williams have all been eliminated.

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Final Four in €10k Split Format Begins Now!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’re less than a level into the final day of the new €10k Split Format event here at the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe and before the night is done we will have a champion!

Although the field is short, just four players remain, it’s very long on talent.

Michael “Grinder” Mizrachi is one of the most recognizable faces in poker thanks to more than $11.4 million in winnings and wins on the WPT and WSOP. Mizrachi is facing off against Roger Hairabedian.

Hairabedian has over $2.7 million in earnings and recently made the final table of the Partouche Poker main event which will return here to Cannes in November to play down to a winner.

Roger Hairabedian – 1,262,000

Michael Mizrachi – 1,136,000

At the other end of the table are two North Americans. A Canadian, Shawn Buchanan is a WPT winner with just under $4 million in earnings. He’s up against US pro Noah Schwartz who’s made final tables on the WPT and WSOP, but has so far come up short of his first big win.

Noah Schwartz - 689,000

Shawn Buchanan - 670,000

Blinds begin at 3,000/6,000 with a 500 ante.

Check back soon. We’ll be updating this page with the results once the matches are complete.

Click here for a full rundown of everyone who has cashed in this event so far.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1a: Orient Express Steams into France

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’re down another level and the bustouts are slowly starting to trickle in.

Last we heard there were 310 players who started the day and the tournament board is telling us that we’re down to 269 players.

Johnny Chan emerged as one of the chip leaders in the last level and with nearly 90,000 chips he’s got a shot at becoming the first player to crack the 100,000 chip mark.

Arnaud Mattern (80,000), Mark Radoja (70,000), Olivier Busquet (54,000) and Maria Ho (46,000) are a few of the notables pros who have been big stacks in the early stages here.

Here’s the latest from the tournament floor.

The Jason Mercier Chinese Poker Game

Jason Mercier is once again recruiting fellow poker players for a game of Chinese Poker.

Mercier famously played Chinese Poker on his iPad through most of the 5k PLO event, despite the fact he was deep in the tournament and had a shot at the final table.

Apparently big buy-in tournaments just don’t provide enough action for the Florida native these days.

Today he was trying to get Sam Stein and Maria Ho in on the game and while Ho declined Stein opted to play.

At 25 Euros a point it’s going to remain interesting at Mercier’s table.

World Champions in the Field

There are two former WSOP World Champions in the field today with Johnny Chan (1987, 1988) and Carlos Mortensen (2001) both looking to become the first player to unite the North American and European titles.

Doyle Brunson (17th in 2009) and Jamie Gold (35th in 2008) are the only two world champions who have ever even cashed in the WSOPE Main Event.

Johnny Chan is doing a bit better today as he’s amassed 87,000 and looks to have the early chip lead while closer to the starting stack of 30,000 last time we checked.

Mark Teltscher Survives

One of the few poker players to own a Ferrari AND Lamborghini, Mark Teltscher just managed a double up.

Teltscher got the last of his chips in the middle on a 4♠ 3♦ 2♦ T♠ 6♠ board while holding 4♦ 4♣. His opponent called with K♥ 4♥ and Teltscher is back up to 15,000 chips.

He’s gotta win this thing just for gas money.

David Williams

David Williams with the Double

WSOP bracelet winner David Williams just came one card away from being one of the early casualties here on Day 1a of the 2011 WSOPE Main Event.

Williams was shot-stacked and shoved with J♥ Q♥ and an opponent called him down with 9♣ 9♠.

The board came 8♦ 4♦ 3♥ K♣… J♣!

Williams is given a reprieve on his trip to the rail thanks to the rivered pair of jacks and he’ll try and parlay his 10,000 stack into something useful.

Set Over Set for Phil Collins

As if 2011 November Niner Phil Collins didn’t have enough going for him already.

The online pro stands to make at least $782,115 in the North American Main Event this November but is also chipping up in the European version.

Collins was three-handed against Nick Binger and another player on a flop of 9♣ 8♠ 6♠ with about 2,000 in the pot and decided to bet 4,000.

The unidentified player at the table raised to 10,000 and Binger got out of the way. Collins thought for a minute and then announced he was all-in for about 20,000 more.

The player called only to have Collins table 9♦ 9♠ to his 6♦ 6♠.

The board finished with the Q♥ and the A♣ to give Collins the pot. Collins is up to over 50,000 chips.

T. Wade Gets Paid

Tristan Wade is having one hell of a WSOPE.

The young Floridian already bagged his first WSOP Bracelet in the Shootout event for €182,048 and he also cashed in the 6-Max event for €5,789.

Apparently his run is far from finished because he’s one some huge pots early in this event. He won a huge pot with a set of tens on a very scary board and then added another big one with two-pair.

The Orlando native is up to 72,000 and looks to be one of the early chip leaders.

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1a: Mercier Off to a Great Start

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’re through another hour of play here at the WSOPE Main Event and today’s field is holding strong with approximately 310 players.

It’s very early and players started with 30,000 chips but we’re starting to see some earlier eliminations. Majestic 2 is nearly empty as players continue to flow into the main poker room in Majestic 1.

Here’s a look at some of the interesting hands over the last hour:

Mercier Scores Early Double

At a stage in the tournament where most players are just trying slowly chip their way up, Jason Mercier just doubled his stack.

Mercier had the fortune of holding 7♥ 7♥ on a 9♥ 7♣ 4♠ 5♥ 5♦ board. Even better his opponent had 4-4 for lesser boat.

The other player bet, Mercier shoved and the player called for the last of his stack. The player seemed shocked by the turn of events and continued to sit in his chair for a few minutes as Mercier raked in his new chips.

After the hand Mercier was up to 42,000 and is likely one of our early chip leaders.

Stout Forced to Show All

Matt Stout just had an odd experience at the table. After a hand was finished, he had his cards propped up in front of him so that only he could see but the dealer thought he showed someone his cards so he took the cards out of Stout’s hands and showed everyone.

Stout was telling the story when Will Failla chimed in from another table with “Show one, show all, Matt.”

“Yeah but I didn’t think I counted as one,” responded Stout.

That’s Not a Table of Doom, This is a Table of Doom

Forget what we said about the other tables earlier today, there’s a table in Majestic 2 that would make a seasoned $1/$2 pro quake in their boots.

The table includes Eugene Katchalov, Chris Moorman, Ramzi Jelassi, Sam Stein and Olivier Busquet.

Pick your spots, gentleman.

From the Felt

“Is it too late for me to call with her hand?”

-Todd Terry, not in the hand, commenting on a Liv Boeree fold

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1a: Big Names, Huge Field

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

One hour into the 2011 WSOPE Main Event in Cannes and it is difficult to picture this event being remembered as anything other than an overwhelming success.

There are already over 300 players signed up for the event today and considering the tournament peaked with 362 in 2007 there’s a very good chance we’re going to see records fall in Europe this year.

Keep in mind we have another Day 1 scheduled for tomorrow so we could get some absolutely massive numbers by the time the final player is tallied.

The prizepool is already up to over €3 million so some lucky poker player will definitely be walking away with over €1 million at the end of this tournament.

Here’s a look at some early action in the Main Event:

Boeree Gets Opponent to Fold Kings

Liv Boeree out-played an opponent in dramatic fashion during the first hour of action here at the Hotel Majestic.

The unidentified player opened for a 250 bet from early position and Boeree popped it up to 500 from the small blind. Boeree’s opponent responded by raising it up to 2,500.

Boeree thought for a couple minutes, stared her opponent down, and five-bet to 5,600 total.

The player looked pained and eventually said, “First time I’ve ever done this in a tournament” as he mucked his cards.

“Kings?” asked Boeree.

The player nodded and Boeree decided to show him her hand – K♥ K♣. She’s now up to over 35,000.

“I’m not folding kings to you,” joked Olivier Busquet who is at the same table. “Just so you know.”

I Went to France and All I Got Was This Crappy Table Draw

There are a ton of players out there today but a lot of them are very good players. There are several tables that would likely strike fear into the heart of an amateur poker player. Here are two particularly bad tables that we noticed:

Table 17

Vanessa Rousso Joe Cheong Isaac Haxton

Table 23

Justin Bonomo Johnny Chan Erich Kollman

Trouble in durrrr-Land

This thing is literally one level old and Tom Dwan has already gotten himself into trouble. The noted online cash game player never seems to have the patient for the early stages of tournaments and that seems true today. The former Team Full Tilt pro is down to 17,000 after starting with 30,000.

Star Watch

The field is absolutely jammed with notable poker players. Here’s a look at the famous players we’ve already seen today:

Phil Collins Vanessa Rousso Barney Boatman Isaac Haxton Joe Cheong Lars Bonding Matt Stout Erich Kollman Jon Turner Justin Bonomo Terrence Chan Arnaud Mattern James Akenhead Tom Dwan Jon Aguiar Mel Judah Doc Sands Todd Terry Jeff Lisandro Bryn Kenney Ben Lamb Johnny Chan Ben Lamb Tristan Wade Erik Seidel Tristan Clemencon Sam Holden Andrew Robl Mike Watson Steve O’Dwyer Kevin Stammen Dan Smith Jason Mercier Maria Ho Jen Harman Will Failla Nicolas Levi Carlos Mortensen Eugene Katchalov Sam Stein Ramzi Jelassi Scott Seiver Nick Binger Randy Dorfman Dan Fleyshman Liv Boeree Praz Bansi David Williams Olivier Busquet

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WSOPE Main Event Day 1a: Bonjour!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The big one in France is finally upon us.

After a week of preliminary events the five-day €10,000 No-Limit Hold’em WSOPE Main Event begins today.

This is the only tournament at the WSOPE that will offer two starting days and 90-minute levels.

It’s one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world and Annette Obrestad, John Juanda and Barry Shulman have all won the event in years past. Last year James Bord outlasted 346 players to win the tournament.

Canadian poker superstar Daniel Negreanu has also made the final table twice.

This event also looks to be the last chance for Phil Hellmuth to catch Ben Lamb in this year’s hotly contested WSOP Player of the Year race.

Of course Ben Lamb, who has a seat in the 2011 November Nine, will also be playing this event and could snatch some points of his own.

The capacity here in Cannes far exceeds what was offered in London for the last four years so this could very well end up being the biggest Main Event ever held in Europe.

Jack Effel has just announced the shuffle up and deal (in French no less!) and we are officially live from the Majestic Casino Barrière and Le Croisette Casino Barrière

It all starts now.

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 3: Final Four Set

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It took a lot longer than our first round of heads-up but we are officially through Day 3.

At just before 24:00 CET Noah Schwartz finally landed the knockout blow on Dan Fleyshman.

That means the final four are officially Roger Hairabedian, Michael Mizrachi, Shawn Buchanan and Schwartz with the matches for tomorrow set as follows:

Roger Hairabedian (1.2 million chips)vs. Michael Mizrachi (1.02 million chips)

Shawn Buchanan (670,000 chips)vs.Noah Schwartz (679,000 chips)

There are of course a huge number of players who didn’t make it through including Brian Powell, Brian Hastings, Dan Fleyshman and Anatolii Ozhenilok who all busted in the last level. On the plus side they picked up €54,810.

Meanwhile Erik Seidel, Kent Lundmark, Bryn Kenney, Joel Nordkvist, Alexander Roumeliotis, Matt Waxman, Dmitry Motorov and Jason Mercier all fell in today’s first round to take home €26,618.

The final four players provide several compelling storylines for the conclusion of this event tomorrow.

Michael Mizrachi is one of the best tournament pros on the planet with over $11 million in tournament earnings. Shawn Buchanan has nearly $4 million and a WPT title. Noah Schwartz also has a WPT title and $1.5 million lifetime earnings. Finally Roger Hairabedian could do the host country proud by winning the first WSOPE event in Cannes for France.

All four players will return at 15:00 CET tomorrow and will play two more rounds of heads-up matches. The winner of the second round will take home a shiny new WSOP bracelet.

Here’s a look at how the night came to an end:

Brian Powell powered down.

Brian Powell (733,000) vs. Roger Hairabedian (528,000)

Kentucky native Brian Powell has been playing well all tournament and appeared destined to make an appearance in the final four.

Roger Hairabedian had other ideas, however, and Powell now finds himself firmly on the rail.

Hairabedian got slightly lucky to win a big pot against Powell in the last level and had been grinding him down ever since.

Powell finally took his stand with K♦ J♦ but Hairabedian had a monster A♦ K♠. To make matters worse for Powell, Hairabedian hit another ace on the flop and that was more than enough to eliminate Powell.

Hairabedian finished with 1.2 million chips.

Brian Hastings (572,000) vs. Michael Mizrachi (564,000)

Michael Mizrachi beat Brian Hastings in the first hour of heads-up play this round. Mizrachi busted Hastings with A♥ 7♥ vs. K♠ 3♠.

Mizrachi finished with 1.02 million chips.

Shawn Buchanan (460,000) vs. Anatolii Ozhenilok (210,000)

Anatolii Ozhenilok gave Shawn Buchanan all sorts of problems early but eventually the Canadian pro made a huge comeback and sent Ozenilok packing. Ozhenilok finally shipped it with A-3 and Buchanan called with A-J. There were no surprises and Buchanan is through to the other side.

Buchanan finished with 670,000.

Dan Fleyshman (431,000) vs. Noah Schwartz (248,000)

It took longer than any other match but Noah Schwartz has finally gotten the best of Dan Fleyshman.

The former Victory Poker CEO scored several key double ups to extend the match but finally got into a race he couldn’t win.

Fleyshman open-shoved with K♠ J♠ for about 120,000 and was dismayed to see Noah Schwarts call with K♣ Q♥.

“Come on jack,” said Fleyshman as the dealer prepared to put out the board.

The board came 9♣ 6♠ 3♥ 7♦ K♥, which was enough to eliminate Fleyshman. The two pros shook hands and Fleyshman wished Schwartz luck the rest of the way.

Schwartz finished with 679,000 chips.

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 3: Buchanan Breaks Through

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’re through another hour of play here in the €10K Split and we have one more player on the rail.

Anatolii Ozhenilok had a great run in this event, considering how short he was at certain points, but could not overcome Shawn Buchanan.

Just two hours in we’ve already easily eclipsed the length of the last heads-up round and Brian Powell and Roger Hairabedian in particular seem to be settling in for a long match.

Blinds are currently 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante. Here’s a look at all the biggest action from the last hour:

Brian Powell (733,000) vs. Roger Hairabedian (528,000)

French player Roger Hairabedian has officially turned the tables on Brian Powell.

After trading blows back and forth, Hairabedian finally found a double up when he turned a better two pair than Powell.

Hairabedian moved all-in with A-T on an A-7-5-T-5 board and Powell snap-called with A-7. It a bit of a beat for Powell but he still have enough chips to make a comeback.

Here’s how it’s currently looking:

Powell: 351,000

Hairabedian: 900,000

Brian Hastings (572,000) vs. Michael Mizrachi (564,000)

Michael Mizrachi beat Brian Hastings in the first hour of heads-up play this round. Mizrachi busted Hastings with A♥ 7♥ vs. K♠ 3♠.

Mizrachi finished with 1.02 million chips.

Shawn Buchanan (460,000) vs. Anatolii Ozhenilok (210,000)

It may have been a rocky start for Shawn Buchanan in his match against Anatolii Ozhenilok but the Canadian pro made a full recovery and ousted the Belarus player just moments ago.

Ozhenilok was taking a beating and finally got it in with A-3. Buchanan called him down with A-J and Ozhenilok was looking for a lot of help from the board.

It never came and Buchanan is officially through to the final four.

Buchanan finished with 670,000.

Dan Fleyshman (431,000) vs. Noah Schwartz (248,000)

Noah Schwartz has Dan Fleyshman on the ropes.

Schwartz has been strong from the onset of this match and over the last hour has been trying to find a good spot to make a stand.

Fleyshman has been in a couple times but he’s yet to get a call from Schwartz, who must be thinking, at least a little, about the next round.

Here are the stacks:

Fleyshman: 160,000

Schwartz: 524,000

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 3: Hastings Falls First

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We have our first casualty in the final four heads-up matches and it’s a surprising one.

Brian Hastings is the first player to hit the rail after getting into trouble early with Michael Mizrachi.

Three more matches remain, however, and every one of them has the potential to go long. Blinds are up to 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante.

Here’s a look at all the action from the last hour:

Brian Powell (733,000) vs. Roger Hairabedian (528,000)

Roger Hairabedian has been amazingly resilient in this tournament and he’s showing it once again against Day 2 overnight chip leader Brian Powell.

Despite being an hour into their match, the counts are virtually the same with Powell picking up a few more chips.

Here’s how it looks right now:

Powell: 770,000

Hairabedian: 490,000

Brian Hastings (572,000) vs. Michael Mizrachi (564,000)

Brian “Stinger 88” Hastings appeared destined for great things in this tournament after ousting a red-hot Erik Seidel but Michael Mizrachi has cut that dream short.

In the very early stages of the match Mizrachi won a huge pot with third pair and never looked back.

Hastings appeared to go extremely card-dead in the last part of the match and finally open-shoved for around 100,000 with K♠ 3♠. Mizrachi called him down with A♥ 7♥ and Hastings was down to a prayer.

Things went from to worse for Hastings when the flop came A♣ T♥ 8♥ and the K♥ turn sealed it. Mizrachi is through to the next round with the nut-flush.

Hastings picks up €54,810 for going as far as he did.

Mizrachi finishes with 1.02 million chips.

Shawn Buchanan (460,000) vs. Anatolii Ozhenilok (210,000)

Anatolii Ozhenilok is proving to be a problem for Shawn Buchanan.

The only player from Belarus in the final four, Ozhenilok refuses to bow to pressure from Buchanan and took the chip lead from Buchanan when he flopped a full house early.

Since than Buchanan managed to battle back but Ozhenilok doesn’t seem like he’s going anywhere any time soon.

Here are the current stacks:

Ozhenilok: 260,000

Buchanan: 410,000

Dan Fleyshman (431,000) vs. Noah Schwartz (248,000)

Noah Schwartz is slowing winning the battle against Dan Fleyshman.

Schwartz made a huge call on a very dangerous board to win a huge pot against Fleyshman and he’s been grinding him down ever since.

These are the current stacks:

Fleyshman: 320,000

Schwartz: 359,000

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 3: The Great Eight

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The final eight players in the 2011 WSOPE €10K Split event are once again returning to the poker room in the Majestic and we’ll see if we can’t find the final four players in record time.

The stacks seem to be somewhat more even so we’re thinking it might not go quite as quick but stranger things have happened.

The players who survive this round will return with their chip stacks to play two more rounds and decide who gets the first WSOP gold bracelet in this event.

Time is once again ticking down on the tournament clock, which means we are once again live from Majestic in Cannes.

Here’s a look at the heads-up matches as play begins:

Brian Powell (733,000) vs. Roger Hairabedian (528,000)

Brian Powell has been an unstoppable force in this tournament and he currently holds the chip lead with 733,000.

Meanwhile Roger Hairabedian is the last French player left in the tournament and will definitely have some support from the hometown crowd as he attempts to win his way into the final four.

Brian Hastings (572,000) vs. Michael Mizrachi (564,000)

This is the match that most of the long-time poker fans will be keeping a close eye on as Brian “Stinger 88” Hastings is renowned as one of the online cash game players in the world while Michael Mizrachi needs no introduction with a WSOP bracelet and $11 million in life tournament earnings.

Even better the pair are evenly matched in chips so we could see a long drawn-out battle between the two pros.

Shawn Buchanan (460,000) vs. Anatolii Ozhenilok (210,000)

Anatolii Ozhenilok has been on a miracle ride here in the later stages of the Split as he very nearly bubbled the event and walked away with nothing.

The Belarus native instead survived and then beat Joel Nordkvist despite a nearly 3-1 chip disadvantage.

Ozhenilok will once again have to battle back from a chip disadvantage and this time it will be against noted Canadian pro Shawn Buchanan who has nearly $4 million in lifetime tournament earnings.

Dan Fleyshman (431,000) vs. Noah Schwartz (248,000)

Much like Anatolii Ozhenilok, Dan Fleyshman has been on a crazy run here in the split and hit a one-outer to avoid becoming the bubble boy.

Fleyshman made short work of Alexander Roumeliotis heads-up and now has 431,000 chips.

He’ll now face noted WPT winner Noah Schwartz who managed to knock out Bryn Kenney with a flush in the previous round.

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 3: Absolute Chaos, Seidel Falls!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We expected the first level of heads-up to be action-packed but we never thought that every match would be complete in little more than one hour of play.

Within 10 minutes of the start we already had two eliminations and the hits just kept coming after that.

The remaining eight players will reconvene at 20:00 CET and go about setting the final four.

We’ll have the match-ups for you shortly. In the meantime be sure to check out one hell of a crazy level below:

Brian Powell (484,000) vs. Matt Waxman (249,000)

Chip leader Brian Powell proved to be too much for the always-talkative Matt Waxman.

Powell won a massive pot early when he hit trip aces and then put the nail in the coffin when he hit trip tens with K-T against Waxman’s A-2.

The Kentucky native is going to be a serious problem for his next opponent as his stack is absolutely massive.

Powell: 695,000

Erik Seidel (375,000) vs. Brian Hastings (197,000)

Brian “Stinger 88” Hastings pulled off one hell of a comeback and then got a little lucky to vanquish poker titan Erik Seidel.

Hastings started his session very aggressively and after two key shoves, had the chip lead. He continued to wear Seidel down until this transpired:

Seidel and Hastings saw a flop of 9♥ 5♠ 2♠ and Hastings bet 8,000. Seidel bumped it up to 24,000 and Hastings raised 45,000.

Seidel immediately announced he was all-in for the last of his 200k and Hastings thought for a couple seconds and made the call. Hastings tabled J♦ 9♦ to Seidel’s 5♥ 2♥.

The CardRunners instructor would need some help from the board if he wanted to topple Seidel and that’s exactly what he got when the turn came T♠ and more importantly the J♣ on the river.

Hastings pulls off one hell of an upset and will head to the next round with a huge chip stack.

Hastings: 572,000 chips

Grinder the Survivor.

Kent Lundmark (324,000) vs. Michael Mizrachi (240,000)

Michael Mizrachi might be seeing a very different tune right now if he hadn’t doubled on the very first hand with KK versus TT.

Indeed Mizrachi took the chip lead in that hand and never looked back.

Lundmark eventually got it in with a straight draw against Mizrachi’s ace-high and it was the Grinder’s hand who held up.

Mizrachi: 564,000 chips

Roger Hairabedian (321,000) vs. Dmitry Motorov (217,000)

The battle between Roger Hairabedian and Dmitry Motorov was one of the longest in the first round of heads-up matches but it was still only an hour of play.

Despite a valiant effort Motorov finally got it all in the middle with K-5 to Hairabedian’s TT.

The dimes held up and Hairabedian is through to the next round.

Hairabedian: 518,000

Jason Mercier (252,000) vs. Shawn Buchanan (208,000)

Shawn Buchanan vs. Jason Mercier was the longest match of this round and the only one that took more than an hour to complete.

The match had more twists and turns than the average Cannes back road and Mercier looked primed for victory when he got Buchanan all-in with K-J versus his own A-9.

Buchanan ended up flopping a straight and taking the chip lead.

The Canadian wasn’t done, however, as he would cripple Mercier several hands later by flopping another straight.

Finally Mercier got the last of his chips in with A-9, Buchanan called with J-9 and wouldn’t you know it he flopped another straight. Mercier is finishedand Buchanan is on to the next round.

Buchanan: 460,000

Alexander Roumeliotis (216,000) vs. Dan Fleyshman (215,000)

Chip wise this was the closest match of the round but that didn’t keep Dan Fleyshman from immediately taking over the game.

Roumeliotis ended up getting it all in with Q♣ T♠ and Fleyshman called with A♣ 8♣. After a dry board Fleyshman was through.

Fleyshman: 418,000

Noah Schwartz (175,000) vs. Bryn Kenney (73,000)

Bryn Kenney was severely short-stacked to start his heads-up match but he still got it in good against Noah Schwartz.

Kenney threw down with A♠ K♦ against Schwartz’ A♦ 3♦ but against all odds hit a flush on the turn landing Kenney on the rail.

Schwartz will still have his work cut out for him in the next round, however, as he’s one of the shorter stacks.

Schwartz: 248,000

Joel Nordkvist (148,000) vs. Anatolii Ozhenilok (62,000)

Anatolii Ozhenilok was the shortest stack to enter play today with only 62,000 chips but he still found a way to beat Scandi Joel Nordkvist.

Ozhenilok got Nordkvist down to 65,000 chips and then snap-called a Q-5 shove with pocket kings.

The board gave nothing to Nordkvist and Ozhenilok is the only player from Belarus that will be featured in the next round.

Ozhenilok: 210,000

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 3: How They All Match Up

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s Day 3 of the inaugural WSOPE €10K Split and after having played Nine-Handed on Day 1 and Six-Handed on Day 2 it’s time for some heads-up action.

The remaining 16 players were just randomly drawn into heads-up matches and let’s just say there are some very intriguing matches.

Unlike a Shootout tournament, players are bringing the stacks they’ve accumulated throughout the tournament so there was a chance we would get some very mismatched matches.

Jack Effel officially did the draw five minutes ago and here’s how it all stacks up:

Brian Powell (484,000) vs. Matt Waxman (249,000)Erik Seidel (375,000) vs. Brian Hastings (197,000)Kent Lundmark (324,000) vs. Michael Mizrachi (240,000)Roger Hairabedian (321,000) vs. Dmitry Motorov (217,000)Jason Mercier (252,000) vs. Shawn Buchanan (208,000)Alexander Roumeliotis (216,000) vs. Dan Fleyshman (215,000)Noah Schwartz (175,000) vs. Bryn Kenney (73,000)Joel Nordkvist (148,000) vs. Anatolii Ozhenilok (62,000)

There are obviously some great matches on display today but perhaps the most interesting are Erik Seidel vs. Brian Hastings, Jason Mercier vs. Shawn Buchanan and Noah Schwartz vs. Bryn Kenney.

Seidel had the second biggest stack of the night and considering the year he’s had, it’s safe to say no one wanted to draw him. Hastings is no slouch, however, and all that online heads-up experience will certainly be useful.

Jason Mercier and Shawn Buchanan are friends and Buchanan was joking around that Mercier was going to bust him on the bubble last night. It didn’t happen as Jon Aguiar hit the rail instead. One of them will be going home today, however.

Finally Noah Schwartz and Bryn Kenney are both online pros and Schwartz benefits from a serious chip advantage. We’ll see if Kenney can turn it around or if he’ll end up on the rail in short order.

Jack Effel just announced the shuffle up and deal so it’s time for the heads-up battles to begin. Updates are incoming.

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 2: Bubble Bursts, Bring on Heads-Up!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It took several hours but we have set the final 16 in the first WSOPE €10K Split event ever held.

In the end it was Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar who would make a tournament-ending mistake.

Aguiar bet 10,000 pre-flop and Kent Lundmark raised to 20,000. Aguiar called to see a flop of T♥ 7♣ 3♦. Aguiar checked, Lundmark bet 20,000 and Aguiar raised all-in for 120,000.

The trap had been laid, however, and Lundmark flipped over A♥ A♠. A despondent Aguiar showed J♦ J♣.

The turn came 8♣ and then river fell… 7♥!

An understandably disappointed Aguiar immediately got up and left the poker room at a record-breaking pace.

The remaining 16 players will be seeded into heads-up matches tomorrow with two rounds scheduled. The first one starts at 15:00 CET while the second takes place at 21:00 CET.

Keep in mind that this event is NOT a shootout and players will be bringing their current stacks to heads-up play tomorrow. That means there could be some very interesting match-ups with massive chip leaders taking on short stakes.

The draw will be announced just before the day starts.

Here are the chip stacks to end the day:

Brian Powell – 484,000Erik Seidel – 375,000Kent Lundmark – 324,000Roger Hairabedian – 321,000Jason Mercier – 252,000Matt Waxman – 249,000Michael Mizrachi – 240,000Dmitry Motorov – 217,000Alexander Roumeliotis – 216,000Dan Fleyshman – 215,000Shawn Buchanan – 208,000Brian Hastings – 197,000Noah Schwartz – 175,000Joel Nordkvist – 148,000Bryn Kenney – 73,000Anatolii Ozhenilok – 62,000

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 2: Schemelev Brings the Bubble

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Vladimir Schemelev has nine WSOP cashes to his name but he won’t be getting one in this event.

Schemelev was extremely short-stacked and got the last of his chips in the middle with Q♦ 8♦ and Matt Waxman called him down with 9♦ 9♠.

The Russian bricked the board and was sent to the rail. With Schemelev’s elimination the remaining 17 players are officially on one of the biggest bubbles in WSOPE history.

Any player that makes it into the final 16 will earn €26,831.

The player who busts in 17th, however, will earn €0.

It’s obvious that no one wants to go home now and we’ve had a total of four doubles ups since Schemelev busted.

Perhaps the most spectacular, however, was the very first one.

In the hand Dan Fleyshman was all in for his tournament life with pocket aces against Erik Seidel’s set of nines.

Those are already bad odds but even worse, for Fleyshman, was the fact someone had folded an ace. That means Fleyshman was down to one out – the case ace.

The turn gave Seidel a meaningless full house but the river… Well that brought the ace! That’s what we refer to as a one-outer in this business.

Since then Dmitry Motorov, Matt Waxman and Anatolii Ozhenilok have all produced double ups.

Cue Jason Mercier’s famous Twitter hashtag: #whenwillitend?

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 2: Three to Tango

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Two more players have bitten the dust here on the second day of the €10K Split event and that means we’re officially down to three tables.

We’re not sure what to expect, play might tighten up as the round of 16 has never been closer but we are playing Six-Handed and these players know how to crush a bubble.

As a reminder the round of 16 will be played out in heads-up matches and because this is not a shootout event, players will take whatever stacks they accumulate here to their one-on-one match tomorrow. Every player that makes it into the round of 16 will earn at least €26,831.

That bodes well for Brian Powell who has amassed 405,000 and not so well for players like Vladimir Shchemelev who has 76,000.

Here’s a look at how we got to three-handed play:

Chip Leader to Chipless

Dennis Bejedal entered Day 2 as the chip leader but, as you may have heard, there are swings in this game called No-Limit Hold’em and that’s especially true when it comes to Scandinavian players.

Bejedal got the last of his chips in the middle in a coin flip situation versus Brian Hastings. Bejedal held K♥ Q♥ to Hasting’s pocket jacks and it was off to the races.

Bejedal picked up a flush draw on the flop but that’s as close as he would get to beating Hastings. Bejedal hits the rail just short of the cash.

Fittoussi Falls

French poker legend Bruno Fittoussi made a fantastic run in this event but has reached the end of his journey.

Fittoussi was getting short-stacked towards the end of the last level and made a straight on a J♦ 9♥ 3♣ T♣ 5♣ board and decided to move the last of his chips in the middle on the river.

Unfortunately for Fittoussi, Joel Nordkvist had made the nut-flush with A♣ 4♣ and that spelled doom for Fittoussi.

Well, there’s still the Main Event.

Tweet Peek

Jason Mercier perfectly described the mood in the room with a recent Tweet:

“Have 194.5k. Still 18 left. We going to 2500/5k ... Getting tense in here”

@Jason Mercier

Leaderboad

Here are the 10 biggest stacks courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Brian Powell – 405,000 Roger Hairabedian – 400,000 Shwan Buchanan – 314,000 Erik Seidel – 300,000 Brian Hastings – 280,000 Alexander Roumeliotis – 262,000 Noah Schwartz – 220,000 Kent Lundmark – 208,000 Bryn Kenney – 185,000 Jason Mercier – 177,000

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 2: Powell Poker

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Brian Powell is putting on a show here on Day 2 of the €10K Split.

A noted online PLO player, Powell has 10 cashes at the WSOP but has made only one final table (although it was last year’s WSOPE Main Event, where he finished eighth).

Powell seems determined to make another WSOP final table as he’s been dominating a table that includes Erik Seidel, Michael Mizrachi and Bryn Kenney.

We just witness some impressive aggression from Powell versus Kenney.

Seidel opened for 6,500 from the button and Powell called from the small blind and Kenney pushed 23,500 from the big blind.

This prompted Powell to straight up shove for his 300k+ stack. Kenney had about 200k left behind and was suddenly making a decision for his tournament life.

Kenney thought for several minutes but in the end couldn’t make the call.

Powell flashed the T♦ as he mucked his hand and Kenney said, “I sure hope you had another one of those.”

The Kentucky-native only smiled as he raked in a 50k+ pot. Powell is up over 360,000 and looks to be our chip leader.

There were four eliminations in the last level, which means need four more to reach the round of 16.

Here are a few other substantial hands from the last hour:

Buchanan Sends Elpayaa El-packing

Former PCA final table finisher Joe Elpayaa was one of our chip leaders mid-way through the day but never really recovered from doubling up Jon Aguiar.

Elpayaa ended up getting it all in with A-8 against Shawn Buchanan’s pocket tens and despite hitting an eight on the flop, did not improve enough to survive.

Elimination Station

Shortly after Elpayaa’s elimination two more players were downed. Will “The Thrill” Failla found the rail when his J-T was dominated by Joel Nordkvist’s A-Q while Massimiliano Martinez was eliminated when he lost a race.

Leaderboard

Here are the top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Brian Powell – 362,000 Roger Hairabedian – 360,000 Michael Mizrachi – 315,000 Brian Hastings – 270,000 Shawn Buchanan – 265,000 Dmitry Motorov – 245,000 Noah Schwartz – 231,000 Ken Lundmark – 185,000 Dan Fleyshman – 182,000 Alexander Roumeliotis – 180,000

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 2: I Want to Bust You

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Action has slowed somewhat in the last level but words are flying faster than ever.

Matt Waxman has apparently taken a disliking to Jon Aguiar and they’ve been trading insults back and forth for the last hour.

This was our favorite exchange:

“Most people I don’t want to bust but I want to bust you,” said Waxman.

About five minutes later Aguiar responded:

“I hope you draw Seidel in the first round of heads-up,” Aguiar said.

“I want to play Seidel because he’s the best,” joked Waxman. “That’s why I play this game… to play the best.”

Aguiar had the last laugh, however, as he managed to land a huge double up through Joe Elpayaa some time later.

Aguiar was all-in with J♠ J♥ to Elpayaa’s A♠ Q♦ when the board ran out A♣ Q♠ J♣ 5♠ J♦.

It turns out quads beats two-pair every damn time. After the hand Aguiar was up to 135,000 and Waxman may get his chance to bust him yet.

We’re still stuck at 24 players and Erik Seidel continues to be a force near the top of the chip counts. Here’s a look at the best action from the last hour:

Mercier Hot Streak Continues

There’s no doubt Jason Mercier is a very, very good poker player.

The young Floridian has an EPT title, two WSOP bracelets, three high roller titles and more than $6.7 million in lifetime tournament earnings.

That said, Mercier’s has been known to run pretty well over the last couple years and we just witnessed another example of that.

Mercier ended up getting all his chips in the middle with pocket deuces against Massimiliano Martinez pocket nines.

Mercier ended up hitting a set of deuces to win the hand and is suddenly up to over 200,000 chips.

Leaderboard

Here’s how the top 10 shakedown after the last level of play. Chip counts are courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Brian Powell – 340,000 Kent Lundmark – 310,000 Erik Seidel – 282,000 Bryn Kenney – 275,000 Dan Fleyshmann – 235,000 Jason Mercier – 225,000 Roger Hairabedian – 206,000 Alexander Roumeliotis – 169,000 Matt Waxman – 160,000 Dennis Bejedal – 160,000

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 2: Champ Down!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Jonathan Duhamel made a relatively deep run in this tournament but has finally found a place on the rail.

In his final hand Duhamel made a standard opening bet, Michael Mizrachi raised and Duhamel threw the last of his 42,000 chips in the middle.

Mizrachi snap-called and tabled the almighty A♠ A♣. Duhamel sighed and flipped over his J♦ J♥.

The board came 7♥ 4♠ 2♥ A♦ 9♦ to eliminate the French Canadian in spectacular fashion.

In other news there are now 24 players left in this tournament and Erik Seidel is starting to dominate with 300,000 chips.

Here’s a look at the other big hands from the last hour:

LivB No Longer Lives

The field can rest a little easier knowing WPT winner Olivier “LivB” Busquet is out of the tournament.

Busquet got short and decided to open-shove for 36,000 from late position.

Swede Alexander Roumeliotis was directly on his left and thought for a minute before announcing a call. Everyone else got out of the way and the players flipped over their cards:

Busquet: 6♥ 6♣

Roumelioutis: 7♣ 7♦

The board was a rollercoaster 6♠ 5♣ 3♠… 7♥!... 5♠ and Roumelioutis took the pot with a bigger full house despite being in rough shape after the flop. Busquet said nothing and headed for the exit.

“You had no doubt after the flop, huh?” joked Brian Powell to Roumelioutis.

Seidel Demolishes Shak

Erik Seidel is starting to seperate himself from the rest of the back here in Event 5 and Dan Shak is the latest player to feel the wrath of Seidel.

In his final hand Shak got it all in with K-J against Seidel's pocket nines.

The board did absolutely no favors to Shak and Seidel ended up winning the hand with a full house. Seidel has already won over $6 million in live tournaments this year and there's a very good chance he'll be adding more in this event.

From the Felt

“Yum, yum, yum.”

-Michael Mizrachi after Noah Schwartz sat at his table with a big stack

Leaderboard

Here are the top 10 chip counts provided by www.wsop.com:

Erik Seidel – 294,000 Kent Lundmark – 294,000 Brian Powell – 280,000 Bryn Kenney – 198,000 Matt Waxman – 193,000 Roger Hairabedian – 187,000 Dan Fleyshman – 181,000 Brian Hastings – 161,000 Massimiliano Martinez – 159,000 Alexander Roumeliotis – 158,000

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 2: A Little More Action, Please

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The 29 remaining players have returned from their dinner break and will now set about finding the 16 players who will continue on to tomorrow’s heads-up matches.

There’s no telling how long we might be here tonight but Six-Max tends to be action-packed so it might go faster than you’d think. Any time before 4 a.m. would be great from our perspective.

Here are the top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com as we start up again:

Kent Lundmark – 294,000 Brian Powell – 273,000 Erik Seidel – 252,000 Bryn Kenney – 198,000 Roger Hairabedian – 187,000 Dan Fleyshman – 181,000 Brian Hastings – 161,000 Massimiliano Martinez – 159,000 Matt Waxman – 156,000 Michael Mizrachi – 148,000

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 2: Deeb Dusted in Sick Hand

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Freddy Deeb had a great start to Day 2 and appeared destined for great things in this tournament as he bantered with his opponents and accumulated chips. Unfortunately it only took one bad hand to send Deeb to the rail.

Deeb got it all-in with pocket aces to Brian Powell’s pocket kings and was primed to scoop a monster pot.

The poker gods had other ideas as a king hit on the flop.

“F*$@!” said an understandably disappointed Deeb.

The turn and river bricked out to eliminate Deeb. Powell’s offered his condolences, Deeb told Michael Mizrachi his bad beat story and then headed for the exit.

The 29 remaining players are now on a 60 minute dinner break. Here are the big hands from the last hour:

Tony G Gets an “F”

PartyPoker pro Tony G made two key mistakes in the last hour and they ended up costing him his tournament life.

In the first hand Tony G put some remarkable pressure on Matt Waxman but the WPT Grand Prix winner ended up calling him down with aces to scoop a huge pot.

Several hands later Tony G had the misfortune of getting it all in with pocket tens against Erik Seidel’s pair of jacks.

The board went Seidel’s way (as most of them have this year) and that was enough to bounce Tony G right out of the tournament.

Seidel, on the other hand, is approaching the chip lead with 250,000.

Rousso Busto

Vanesso Rousso just made a very decent read on an opponent and was rewarded with a seat on the rail.

Scandinavian pro Dennis Bejedal opened for 3,500 from the button and Rousso popped it up to 10,000 from the small blind.

Bejedal re-raised to just over 40,000, which was enough to cover Rousso.

With her tournament life on the line, Rousso went into the tank to ponder her decision.

Eventually Rousso came to a decision and emphatically shoved the last of her stack into the middle and threw down A♦ 7♦.

“Good call,” said Bejedal as he flipped over 8♠ 5♠.

Unfortunately for Rousso the board ran out K♥ 8♦ 2♣ K♣ Q♥ and the flopped pair of eights were enough to win the hand and bust the Team PokerStars Pro.

Leaderboard

Here are the latest top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 2: Breaking Dwan

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

One of these days Tom “durrrr” Dwan is going to win a major tournament.

Today is not that day.

Despite starting the day with one of the biggest stacks in the room, Dwan got into trouble with Freddy Deeb and never really recovered.

Brian Powell completed the small blind and Dwan made it 3,800 to play. Powell called and the pair saw a flop of A♣ 9♦ 8♠.

Once again Powell checked but Dwan C-bet 5,600. Powell responding by pushing 37k in the middle (enough to cover Dwan).

Dwan called and flipped over A♦ K♦ for aces while Powell showed T♦ 7♦ for the straight draw.

Powell got there when the turn came J♠. The river was a meaningless ace and Dwan headed for the exit. Powell is up to 160,000.

In other news we’re down to 37 players as action continues here in Cannes. Here’s look at what else happened in the last hour:

Hastings Stings Kitai

Brian “Stinger 88” Hastings has been playing some exceptional poker from his new home in Vancouver, Canada, and it appears his skills and luck have crossed the Atlantic with him.

Davidi Kitai shoved pre-flop with pocket jacks and Hastings called him down with A♥ Q♥ for a race.

It was a race that Hastings would eventually win as the CardRunners instructor found two hearts on the flop and another on the turn. The nut-flush was more than enough to eliminate the Belgian pro and Hastings is up to 150,000.

Leaderboard:

Here are the latest big stacks courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Dan Fleyshman – 210,900 Kent Lundmark – 168,000 Brian Hastings – 161,000 Brian Powell – 160,000 Bryn Kenney – 134,000 Dennis Bejedal – 132,000 Amir Lehavot – 131,000 Mattias Bergstrom – 118,000 Erik Seidel – 110,000 Freddy Deeb – 110,000

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 2: Hellmuth, Negreanu Bust

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It appears it’s moving day out there today as busted players are starting to file out of the poker room at a rapid pace.

Unfortunately for poker fans the two latest casualties are two of the biggest names in the game today.

Daniel Negreanu entered the day as one of the shorter stacks and couldn’t get anything going this morning.

We caught up with Negreanu’s table just as the Canadian pro had moved all his chips in the middle with pocket queens against an opponents A-9. The board came A♦ 9♥ 7♥ T♦ 8♣ and that was more than enough to send Kid Poker packing.

As @RealKidPoker Tweeted a few minutes later:

“Pretty gross end.”

It wasn’t long after that hand that Phil Hellmuth also took his leave of the event.

Hellmuth got it in with A♣ 9♣ against Winamax pro Davidi Kitai’s 8♣ 8♦ and was in for a race.

The board came Q♥ 4♥ 2♥ 3♠ 3♣ to plant Hellmuth firmly on the rail.

“How could 'I' win a f*$@ing race?” muttered Hellmuth to himself as he got up but then turned to Kitai and said, “Nice hand, buddy.”

Tony G couldn’t resist the chance to hassle his friend as Hellmuth left the room.

“You came all this way just to bust?” said Tony G. “This is high level poker, “Phil.” You gotta play the lower buy-in events.”

Hellmuth gave Tony G one look and then left the room without saying a word.

Here’s a look at what else happened over the last level:

Let's Host a Tournament for... ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

Businessman/poker player Dan Shak, who won $1.1 million in the 2010 Aussie $100k tournament, just had a pretty interesting discussion about super high buy-in events back when Daniel Negreanu was still at the table.

Shak was initially talking about the super high roller tournaments at the PCA and the Aussie Millions.

“The PCA $100k and the Aussie Millions $100k and $250k all take place in the same month,” said Shak. “Who has $450k just to play high rollers in one month?”

The table tended to agree and that was when the discussion shifted to the WSOP Big One that is supposed to take place this summer with a $1 million buy-in.

“I don’t even know if I’m going to play,” said Negreanu. “I only want to play it if they get around 30 players.”

Shak was bearish on the turnout for the tournament.

“I would take the under on 30 for sure,” said Shak. “They’ve already lost five players and generally people won’t be able to sell $800k of themselves.”

We’re assuming Shak was referring to former Full Tilt pros such as Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius and Tom Dwan who were initially going to play the tournament.

“I bet Guy [Laliberte] buys like five guys into the event if the numbers are embarrassing,” said Shak.

Elimination Station

Isaac Haxton, Peter Jetten and 2011 November Niner Matt Gianetti have all been eliminated. We’re officially down to 43 players as the action continues to race along here at the WSOPE in Cannes.

From the Felt

“I figured it out, you just have to put a lot of chips in the pot pre-flop. That’s how you win this game.”

-Freddy Deeb after taking down a pot

Leaderboard

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Dan Fleyshman – 210,000Freddy Deeb – 170,000Dennis Bejedal – 153,000Jason Mercier – 122,000Michael Mizrachi – 117,000Matt Waxman – 112,000Massimilliano Martinez – 111,500Bryn Kenney – 111,000 Kent Lundmark – 105,000 Joel Nordkvist – 99,100

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WSOPE €10K Split Day 2: Lamb Slaughtered

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’re only 60 minutes into Day 2 of the €10K Split and we’ve already seen Ben Lamb triple up and then bust in dramatic fashion.

Lamb first triple up with K-9 when he spiked a king on the flop against two other players but then took a pretty sick beat from Joe Elpayaa.

Lamb got all-in with pocket kings and Elpayaa called with pocket aces. Elpayaa went ahead and hit an ace on the turn, which guaranteed Lamb’s defeat.

The young pro must be slightly concerned by the fact Phil Hellmuth, who he’s racing for POY, is still in the event with a medium size stack.

Here’s a look at some of the other action from the last hour:

Dwan Meet Deeb

Freddy Deeb has been keeping young online players honest for years and it doesn’t look like he’ll stop any time soon.

Cash game killer Tom “durrrr” Dwan opened a pot for 2,100 from early position and Deeb three-bet to 7,500.

The flop came 9♦ 8♥ 8♣ and both players checked. The turn brought the 4♦ and Dwan checked but Deeb put 7,000 more into the pot.

Dwan check-raised to 15,600, which sent Deeb into the tank. After thinking for a minute or two, Deeb asked what Dwan had left behind. Deeb showed him the rest of his stack, which looked to be about 60,000.

The river fell K♠ and Dwan checked. Deeb stared him down for a moment and then announced he was all-in.

Dwan almost immediately mucked. Deeb is up to 170,000 while durrrr is down to 60,0000.

It’s Scary Out There

As expected this event drew one of the better fields we’ve ever seen as not every poker player has €10K to throw at a new event.

It’s definitely not a soft field as some of the world’s best players attempt to out-play each other in different variations of No-Limit Hold’em.

Every table is great today but here are a few of the ones we thought were especially impressive:

Table 74

Isaac Haxton

Will Failla

Mike “Timex” McDonald

Vanessa Rousso

Dennis Bejedal

Table 73

Randy Dorfman

Davidi Kitai

Jason Mercier

Jonathan Duhamel

Phil Hellmuth

Table 77

Erik Seidel

Freddy Deeb

Tom Dwan

Steve Billirakis

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WSOPE €10K Split: Day 2 Begins

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The 2011 WSOPE €10K Split attracted 126 of the best players in the world who were willing to risk €10K on an event that includes days of Nine-Handed, Six-Handed and Heads-Up.

Today we’re playing Six-Max, which means the action should crank up a notch as the remaining 72 players attempt to get into the heads-up round of 16 players.

Last night Swedish pro Dennis Bejedal came out of nowhere to take the chip lead of 153,000 chips.

Also in the top 10 were Tom Dwan (127,400), Freddy Deeb (121,000), Peter Jetten (101,800) and Brian Hastings (85,000).

WSOP TD Jack Effel has just announced the shuffle up and deal so without further ado we are officially live from Cannes.

Check back in 60 minutes for the best live updates this side of the Mediterranean Sea.

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Dwan, Mizrachi Take WSOPE €10K Split Day 1

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The Split Event here in the 2011 WSOPE event is one of the most unique events we’ve seen in years and poker pros responded in a big, big way.

As this was the first event with a similar format ever held there was no telling how many players it would bring, especially considering the €10K buy-in.

In the end a total of 126 pros were willing to take part in the experiment and created a €1.2 million prizepool.

As expected the event drew a plethora of poker superstars including Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Jason Mercier, Erik Seidel, Jeff Lisandro, Freddy Deeb, Phil Collins, Barry Greenstein and James Bord.

By the time the final level expired there were 72 players left and Michael Mizrachi (140k), Tom Dwan (127k), Freddy Deeb (121k) and Erik Seidel (94k) had established themselves as the players to watch in this event.

Join us at 3 p.m. tomorrow as we switch to 6-max and attempt to get to 16 players. After that, a round of heads-up matches awaits.

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Steve Billirakis Wins 2011 WSOPE €5,300 PLO

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Steve “MrSmokey1” Billirakis had to wait four years but for the second time in his life he is a WSOP champion.

Italian Michele Di Lauro may have been relatively close in chips entering heads-up play but the result never seemed to be in question as Billirakis dominated from the first hand.

As it turned out the first hand would have a game-changing impact on the heads-up match.

Both players made a full house on the river of T♥ 6♥ 6♣ 2♥ 9♠ but Billirakis had the bigger one (Sixes over Nines) and scooped a pot worth over one million chips.

Di Lauro only had 500,000 chips after the massive hand while Billirakis was flush with over 2.5 million.

Play continued for a few more minutes when this tournament-ending hand occurred:

Di Lauro opened for 46,000 and Billirakis raised to 130,000. Di Lauro called and the dealer put out a A♠ K♦ 7♣ flop.

Billirakis bet 70,000 and Di Lauro immediately moved in for the last of his stack. Billirakis called and the players flipped over their cards:

Di Lauro: A♥ J♥ 4♥ T♣

Billirakis: A♣ K♥ Q♦ 4♦

The Italian was in a world of hurt as Billirakis had him stomped with top two.

The entire room was in on its feet as the dealer threw down the 3♠ turn and the 9♣. Billirakis shook Di Lauro’s hand and gave a victorious fist pump.

Billirakis has won over $2 million since he became the youngest North American WSOP winner in history in 2007 but there’s no doubt this second bracelet has to be sweet. He takes down €238,140 for winning this thing while Di Lauro earns a €147,171 consolation prize.

Thanks for tuning in, we’ll be here all week.

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 3 – Ramzi Out on His Jelassi

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Swedish poker stud Ramzi Jelassi is the latest big name pro to wind up on the rail here in Cannes.

Well known in Europe, Jelassi has won over $1 million playing live tournaments but was still missing a WSOP Bracelet.

He came tantalizingly close tonight but in the end fell to a surging Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirakis.

A short-stacked Jelassi opened for 42,000 and Billirakis came in for a raise to 140,000. Jelassi called and the flop came A♦ 3♣ 2♦.

Billirakis immediately bet out 65,000 and Jelassi shoved for the last of his chips, which amounted to 120,000.

MrSmokey1 called and flipped A♠ A♥ 5♣ 9♠. Jelassi could only muster T♦ 9♦ 8♣ 8♦ and was really looking for another diamond.

Instead the board finished with the 4♣ and finally the K♣.

Jelassi takes down €105,937 for coming in third place. Jelassi’s elimination also means we are heads-up between Billirakis and Italian Michele Di Lauro.

Here are the stacks as we head into one-on-one war:

Billirakis: 1.6 million

Di Lauro: 1.1 million

Blinds are 10,000/20,000

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 3 – Trickett Kicks It

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Many poker fans considered Trickett the overwhelming favorite to win this contest considering he entered the final table as the chip leader and has been running extraordinarily hot this year.

It was not to be.

In his final hand a short-stacked Trickett bet 48,000 and Michele Di Lauro called. The flop came 7♠ 5♣ 2♦ and Trickett immediately moved all-in and Di Lauro made the call.

The players flipped over their cards:

Trickett: T♦ T♠ K♥ J♠

Di Lauro: Q♣ 7♥ 3♣ 2♥

Trickett would need some help from the board if he hoped to survive and it never came as the turn dropped A♣ and the river fell 9♦.

The English pro picks up €77,642 for coming in fourth place, which should go well with the $3.2 million he’s already won playing live tournaments in 2011.

Meanwhile Di Lauro is in danger of breaking the one million mark with 990,000.

Leaderboard

Here’s how things are looking three-handed. Chip counts are courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Steve Billirakis – 1.2 millionMichele Di Lauro – 990,000Ramzi Jelassi – 330,000

Blinds are 8,000/16,000

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 3 – MrSmokey1 Burns Bradpiece, Breaks $1 Million

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Jerome Bradpiece put in a valiant effort at a final table full of big name pros but his time with us is finally at an end.

Steve Billirakis opened for 25,000 and Bradpiece raised to 81,000, with not very much left behind.

Billirakis called and the flop came down K♣ 9♣ 2♠.

Bradpiece immediately moved all-in and Billirakis made a quick call. The players flipped over their hands:

Billirakis: J♦ T♣ 7♣ 3♦

Bradpiece: K♦ Q♣ T♦ 9♦

The board finished with the A♦ and then the A♣ to eliminate Bradpiece. The English pro picks up €57,912 for coming in fifth place.

Billirakis was up to 820,000 chips after the hand and wasn’t done as he would play a huge hand against Ramzi Jelassi about 10 minutes later.

Billirakis Takes Huge Pot From Jelassi

Swedish raising machine Ramzi Jelassi bet 33,000 pre-flip and Steve Billirakis made the call.

The dealer gave them a T♦ 6♦ 5♠ flop and both players checked. The turn brought the J♣ and Ramzi threw out a bet of 40,000.

Billirakis called and the river came 5♦ and Ramzi bet 65,000. Billirakis thought for a few minutes before moving two of his giant 5,000-chip stacks into the middle.

The raise was worth over 200,000 and Ramzi had a look in his eye that said he might raise or at least call.

Instead Ramzi threw his cards in the muck and joked, “Just once, I want to be the hero.”

After the hand Billirakis was up over 1 million chips while Jelassi fell to 560,000. Billirakis is the first player break the one million chip mark in this tournament.

Leaderboard

Here's how it all shakes down after the last hour of play. Chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Steve Billirakis - 1,030,000Michele De Lauro - 598,000Ramzi Jelassi - 504,000Sam Trickett - 360,000

Blinds are 6,000/12,000

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€10k Split Day 1 Nearing Halfway Point

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’re nearing the dinner break and the tournament clock tells us that so far 106 players have registered for this somewhat experimental €10k No-Limit Hold’em Split format tournament.

If you haven’t been following along simply scroll down the page for an easy-to-follow explanation of this tournament style.

Each player started with 30,000 in chips and some have fared better than others putting those bullets to work so far.

Move on Up

Right now it looks like Jason Mercier is in the lead, albeit somewhat of an empty statistic this early in an event.

Also faring well are Roberto Romanello, Dan Shak, David Benyamine, Sorel Mizzi and November Niner Ben Lamb.

Mercier is sitting on close to 60k and is followed in the upper echelons of the chip counts by Roberto Romanello, who made the final table of Event 2, and Randy Dorfman, who made the final table of the 2011 Aussie Millions main event.

A big part of Mercier’s lead is thanks to taking a large pot from Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman. Mercier three-bet Fleyshman in position and got a call. The two saw a flop of Q-T-2 with two diamonds and Mercier bet.

Mercier got paid on the flop, turn and river as the board finished out T-Q, no diamond.

Mercier tabled Q♥ 9♥ for the boat and rakes a sizable pot.

Not long after, Mercier busted Joao Barbosa in a sick set-over-set cooler. The money went in on the flop with middle set for Mercier and bottom set for Barbosa. Enough said.

Get Low

A few players have already gone broke in the opening levels of this tournament, including Steven Kelly, Antoine Saout and the aforementioned Barbosa.

Kelly got it in with a pair and a flush draw against Andrew Robl’s middle set and couldn’t catch the card he needed to stay alive. Robl is now up close to Mercier with roughly double the starting stack.

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 3 – Dinner is Done

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Players have returned from their dinner break and the quest for the €5,300 PLO bracelet is once again on.

With five players left we could be in for a late one here folks but at the same time this is PLO and anything can happen. Players are competing for the more than €500,000 that is still left in the prizepool.

Here’s a look at the chip stacks after the final dinner break of the tournament:

Michele Di Lauro – 785,000 Ramzi Jelassi – 635,000 Steve Billirakis – 615,000 Sam Trickett – 450,000 Jerome Bradpiece – 240,000

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 3 – Billirakis Finds Double in Bradpiece

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

English pro Jerome Bradpiece has been on a serious heater here at the final table but Steve Billirakis just cooled him down in a big way.

Bradpiece opened the pot for 25,000 and Billirakis three-bet to 90,000. Bradpiece thought for a minute but eventually made the call.

The flop came Q♠ 8♠ 4♣ and Bradpiece wasted no time putting in enough chips to put Billirakis’ tournament life on the line.

Billirakis called and flipped over A♣ A♥ T♥ 7♦ while Bradpiece showed 6♠ 6♥ 2♥ 2♠.

The board finished with the 8♣ and then the 3♦ to net Billirakis a double up. After the hand Billirakis moved up to 530,000 chips while Bradpiece fell below to 240,000.

And with that players are on their dinner break. Check back in 60 minutes for more updates from the heart of the Hotel Majestic in Cannes, France.

Here’s a look at the chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com at the dinner break:

Michele Di Lauro – 785,000 Ramzi Jelassi – 635,000 Steve Billirakis – 615,000 Sam Trickett – 450,000 Jerome Bradpiece – 240,000

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€10K Split Championship Starts Now!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The cards are now in the air in the much-anticipated €10k Split event, a new and very mysterious tournament debuting here in Cannes at the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe.

Before we get into the details of who’s here to play this tournament, we thought it only fair to explain the format.

Day 1 of this event plays out just like your regular, run-of-the-mill No-Limit Hold’em freezeout, with players battling to survive, build their stacks, and advance to Day 2.

Tomorrow we’ll redraw, but instead of full ring tables, we’ll be playing six-handed. Again, play continues normally, with survivors carrying whatever chips they’re able to get their hands on through to Day 3.

This is where it gets interesting.

On Day 3 we’ll be down to the final 16, and those players will be bracketed into eight heads-up matches. But, unlike a shootout where everyone starts each day with the same number of chips, this event will randomly draw matches and players will keep their existing stacks.

So, for example, the chip leader could be up against the shortest stack in the tournament, or two super shortstacks could be up against each other, meaning the winner will still be very short in their next heads-up match.

We’re going to speak with Tournament Director Jack Effel and a few of the players today so keep an eye out on our Poker News page for further explanation.

Star Search

So far 94 players have registered for this event, and almost all of them are stars in their own right.

Listing them all would be counter-productive, but the ones we’re really excited about include leading all-time tournament money-winner Erik Seidel, super-Swede Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and reigning world champion of poker Jon Duhamel.

We’ll get back to you with updates on the field when things really start to get rolling.

Abbreviated Coverage Today; Full Swing Tomorrow

Right now PokerListings.com is focusing on the final table of the €5k PLO event, which means we’ve only got the resources to give this €10k Split event a portion of our attention.

But after all, no one’s ever won an event like this on the first day.

So don’t worry, we’ll give you the nuts and bolts of this event, and pick up the serious, in-depth coverage tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 3 – Kollmann, Uspenskiy Crash

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Players are starting to bust out of the final table at a blistering pace.

Our latest two latest casualties are Austrian Erich Kollmann and Konstantin Uspenskiy who have bowed out in seventh and sixth respectively.

Kollmann was reeling after losing a big hand to Uspenskiy and it wasn’t long before he got it all in with Q♦ Q♠ J♥ 2♥ against Jerome Bradpiece’s T♠ T♣ 9♥ 4♣.

The board came J♦ 8♣ 7♠ 4♠ 3♣ and that was enough to send Kollman back to Austria (or more likely to his hotel room).

Kollmann picks up €33,922 for coming in seventh while Bradpiece, who’s been a strong player at the final table thus far, moves up to over 200,000 chips.

It wasn’t that long after Kollmann’s elimination that Konstantin Uspenskiy would also take a trip to the payout booth.

In his final hand Uspenskiy was facing a 16,000 pre-flop bet from Swede Ramzi Jelassi and opted to raise to 60,000.

Jelassi called and the flop came Q♣ Q♠ 6♠. The action was so fast we’re not sure who made the first move but suffice to say the chips got in the middle with Jelassi easily covering Uspenskiy.

The Russian showed A♦ K♥ K♦ 2♠ to Jelassi’s T♠ 8♣ 5♣ 7♠ and the board finished with the 8♦ and then the 4♦ to give Jelassi a straight and the pot.

Uspenskiy, who’s been surprisingly resilient in this event is finally out in sixth place and will receive €43,950 for his efforts.

Leaderboard

Here are the latest chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Ramzi Jelassi - 850,000Sam Trickett - 644,000Michele Di Lauro - 575,000Steve Billirakis - 338,000Jerome Bradpiece - 205,000

Blinds are 5,000/10,000

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 3 – November Niner Out in Ninth

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Let’s hope Eoghan O’Dea is saving his run-good for the big show in Vegas this November.

O’Dea, who is a member of the 2011 WSOP Main Event final table, was looking to warm-up by winning a bracelet here in Cannes but has been cast aside in the early stages of the final table.

The Irish pro was short-stacked to start the final table and finally got it in with A♠ Q♣ J♠ 7♥ on a A♣ 7♠ 6♦ flop.

Unfortunately for O’Dea, Sam Trickett called with A♦ Q♠ T♦ 8♠ and the board finished with the J♦ and the 5♦ to send O’Dea on his way.

O’Dea picks up €21,221 for coming in ninth place.

Here’s a look at the other interesting hands, including another elimination in the last hour of play:

Konstantin Doubles Through Chartier

Konstantin Uspenskiy appeared headed for an early exit at this final table but he just found some breathing room thanks to Sam Chartier.

Uspenskiy got it all in with a massive draw against Chartier’s set of tens and managed to get there on the turn.

The Russian and Canadian essentially traded places after the hand and it was Chartier who was desperate for a double.

Chartier Checks Out

Sam Chartier simply couldn’t overcome his chip deficit after losing that pivotal hand to Konstantin Uspenskiy.

In his final hand Chartier got it in with A♠ 5♠ 4♦ 8♠ against Jerome Bradpiece’s A♦ K♣ Q♦ 9♣.

The board came J♠ 9♦ 3♣ T♥ 6♠ and the last Canadian hope in this tournament is out of contention.

Chartier picks up €26,210 for coming in ninth place in this event.

Meanwhile Bradpiece moves up to 200,000 in chips after the hand.

Leaderboard

Here are the chip stacks after the two eliminations courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Sam Trickett – 835,000 Michele Di Lauro – 505,000 Ramzi Jelassi – 460,000 Steve Billirakis – 460,000 Jerome Bradpiece – 202,000 Erich Kollmann – 156,000 Konstantin Uspenskiy – 126,000

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 3 – Konstantin Falters

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Despite all the action last night, the start to the final table has been downright tentative with very few flops seen in the last hour.

Ramzi Jelassi, Erich Kollman and Steve Billirakis have been amongst the most active players although it’s mostly been small pots.

The one exception would be Michele Di Lauro’s double through Konstantin Uspenskiy.

Steve Billirakis opened for 12,000 and Di Lauro called but Uspenskiy raised to 57,000.

Both Billirakis and Di Lauro called and the flop came 7♣ 3♠ 2♥. Billirakis and Di Lauro checked but Uspenskiy bet pot. Billirakis folded but Di Lauro responded by re-potting all-in.

Konstantin, having Di Lauro covered by 25,000, decided to make the call. The players revealed their hands:

Di Lauro: Q♦ Q♣ 3♣ 3♥

Uspenskiy: A♦ 3♦ T♣ 4♣

The board finished with the A♠ and finally the 8♦ to give Di Lauro the pot and a double up. Uspenskiy fell down to just 28k and looked primed for an early exit but actually managed a double up against Steve Billirakis on the next hand.

Here’s a look at the latest chip counts after the first hour of play courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Sam Trickett – 695,000 Michele Di Lauro – 540,000 Steve Billirakis – 455,000 Ramzi Jelassi – 379,000 Erich Kollmann – 220,000 Jerome Bradpiece – 146,000 Eoghan O’Dea – 108,000 Sam Chartier – 99,500 Konstantin Uspenskiy – 61,000

Blinds are 3,000/6,000

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 3 – The Endgame Begins

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s Day 3 of the 2011 WSOPE €5,300 in sunny Cannes, France, and before the day is complete we will crown a new European PLO master.

It would be difficult to picture a more skilled final table as name pros Steve Billirakis, Ramzi Jelassi, Sam Chartier, Erich Kollman and November Niner Eoghan O’Dea are all looking for some WSOPE glory.

It’s obvious the lesser known Konstantin Uspenskiy, Michele Di Lauro and Jerome Bradpiece also have some skill to have made it so far in such a prestigious event.

That’s not even getting to England’s Sam Trickett who is on the mother of all heaters.

In 2011 Trickett has already won the Aussie $100k High Roller, finished second in the Aussie $250k Super High Roller and made the Partouche Poker Tour main event final table for more than $3 million in tournament winnings.

WSOP TD Jack Effel has just announced the shuffle up and deal so we are once again live from the 2011 WSOPE.

Here’s a look at the chip stacks as the players head into battle for the final time in the 2011 WSOPE €5,300 PLO event:

Sam Trickett – 713,500 Steve Billirakis – 459,500 Ramzi Jelassi – 379,500 Konstantin Uspenskiy – 359,500 Michele Di Lauro – 261,500 Erich Kollmann – 156,000 Jerome Bradpiece – 146,000 Eoghan O’Dea – 115,000 Sam Chartier – 109,500

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 2 – Trickett Tops Day 2

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It was an all out race on Day 2 of the 2011 €5,300 PLO event and Sam Trickett did his best Michael Schumacher impression.

Trickett navigated through a tricky field, avoided becoming one of the 40 eliminations in just over 10 hours of play and took the overall chip lead with 713,000.

Day 2 began with many eyes on Phil Hellmuth as the U.S. pro is attempting to pass Ben Lamb in the POY race and every cash here at the WSOPE counts.

Unfortunately for Hellmuth he was ousted in the early stages of the tournament and never got even a taste of the money.

Hellmuth certainly wasn’t the only player to go out early, however, as Mike “Timex” McDonald, David Williams and Shannon Shorr all fell short of the money.

The money bubble ended up being a relatively painless experience only lasting a few hands before Jason Mercier laid a bad beat on Alfredo Vega to send all 18 remaining players into the money.

David Benyamine, Elie Payan and the aforementioned Mercier would all collect cash for busting out of the tournament.

The final table is a compelling one with pros Steve Billirakis, Ramzi Jelassi, Erich Kollman, Eoghan O’Dea and Sam Chartier all looking to be crowned the European PLO champ.

Meanwhile our final table chip leader, Titan Poker pro Sam Trickett, has been a revelation on the poker circuit this year. He has over $3 million in winnings this year and could add another €238,140 for coming in first place in this tournament.

Action will resume at 15:00 CET tomorrow as Trickett makes his bid for his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Here’s a look at the final table chip counts and the last two eliminations that ended the day:

Kovalchuk Cooked in 10th

Oleksii Kovalchuk, and Ukrainian players in general, really impressed us this summer at the WSOP.

Kovalchuk won $689k this summer for taking down the $2,500 6-Max event and followed that victory up with another win at IPT Nova Gorica for $217k. He also made the final table of the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event (as did Sam Trickett!) so it’s safe to say the Ukrainian is on a roll.

Unfortunately that roll came just short of a final table finish here in the €5,300 PLO event in Cannes.

Kovalchuk got all-in with pocket kings in his hand against Ramzi Jelassi’s flopped set of queens. Kovalchuk couldn’t find any help from the turn or the river and he’s officially our 10th place finisher. He picks up €17,190 for his efforts.

Trickett Sends Callaghan Packing

Don’t get in Sam Trickett’s way.

The young pro has been on a serous heater over the last hour of play and he just gave David Callaghan his walking papers.

Callaghan made the right play and got the last of his chips in with aces against Trickett’s pair of kings but Trickett also had a couple hearts and as it turned out the board would bring three more.

The flush was enough to eliminate Callaghan. Callaghan does earn a €17,190 consolation prize for coming in 11th place.

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 2 – MrSmokey1 Clears the Room

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We just witnessed the biggest hand of the tournament and by the time the smoke had cleared Steve Billirakis had more than 500,000 chips in front of him and two players were no longer in the tournament.

Shawn Buchanan opened for 10,000 from UTG and Steve Billirakis called from the small blind.

The pre-flop betting was far from done, however, as Sean Dempsey bet pot from the big blind, Buchanan re-potted and Billirakis, having everyone covered, re-re-potted.

With close to 500,000 chips in the middle Dempsey and Buchanan were along for the ride. The players flipped over:

Buchanan: A♣ A♥ T♥ 6♥

Billirakis: K♣ K♥ 6♣ 4♥

Dempsey: K♠ 8♠ T♦ 6♦

We’ll let you work the odds out on that one in your own time but the entire room was on their feet as the dealer prepared to put out the board.

It came K♦ J♠ 9♣ 3♥ 2♦ and Billirakis earned the emphatic checkmark. Dempsey and Buchanan headed for the exit as Billirakis stacked up approximately 525,000.

In other news we’re down to 12 players in the event after an extremely action-packed level. Here’s what else happened over the last hour:

No Mercy for Mercier

Considering Jason Mercier already has two PLO bracelets he had to be one of the favorites heading into the final 18.

Unfortunately for Mercier he ran a pair of kings into Konstantin Uspenskiy’s pair of aces. Mercier’s gotten lucky a few times in this event but this was the one time it didn’t work out for the young Floridian.

Mercier picked up €17,190 for coming in 12th place but we’re guessing he made a fair bit of cash playing Chinese Poker on his iPad over the span of the tournament.

That Payout Booth is Busy

We’re loathe to use the phrase “fast and furious” but that certainly seems to fit the rate at which players are busting out of this event.

Dimitry Motorov had a strong run in this event but met his match in fellow Russian Konstantin Uspenskiy. Uspenskiy, who’s been playing well today, hit a full house to knock Motorov out of the tournament. Motorov picked up €14,147 for his efforts.

Motorov was barely gone when the last French player standing – Michel Abecassis – also took a trip to the rail. Abecassis also picked up €14k for making it this far.

Payan Feels the Pain

Elie Payan busted from the tournament in 17th place when Steve Billirakis rivered a flush against him.

You might remember Payan from this summer’s WSOP when he won one of the $1,500 PLO events for $292,825.

Right now the elimination must sting for Payan but it was an in impressive run for the WSOP bracelet winner and he does pick up €11,828 for his efforts here.

Leaderboard

Here are the top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Sam Trickett – 515,000 Steve Billirakis – 480,000 Konstantin Uspenskiy – 470,000 Michele Di Lauro – 220,000 Ramzi Jelassi – 190,000 Jerome Bradpiece – 160,000 Erich Kollmann – 145,000 David Callaghan – 140,000 Sam Chartier – 130,000 Eoghan O’Dea – 107,000

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 2 – Jelassi Implodes, Bubble Explodes

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

No Ramzi Jelassi did not bust on the bubble.

Instead the Swede dusted off more than half his stack as he continued to show some unbridled aggression over the last hour of play.

After doubling up Steve Billirakis and losing several other significant hands, Jelassi is suddenly down to 180,000 chips.

Check below to see how the bubble burst and other happenings over the last hour of play:

Mercier Sends Vega Packing on the Bubble

The bubble was relatively short this time around and everyone has Jason Mercier and his good fortune to thank for it.

Maybe five hands into hand-for-hand Mercier opened for 6,000 from late position. Alfredo Vega raised to 22,500 on the button and Mercier called.

The dealer laid down a Q♥ 4♦ 3♠ and Mercier wasted no time betting 49,500. Vega moved all-in and Mercier made a crying call. The players flipped over their cards:

Mercier: K♠ Q♠ 8♣ 6♣

Vega: A♦ A♥ Q♦ 4♠

The turn came 9♣ and it appeared Mercier was about to be crippled and hand-for-hand would continue for some time. Instead the river finished with the K♣ to give Mercier a better two-pair and the pot.

After the hand Mercier was up to 245,000. Vega is the last player to leave this event with zero return on his investment.

Benyamine Gets Trickett’ed

French pro David Benyamine would have made a very compelling story at the final table of this event but Sam Trickett had other plans.

No sooner had the bubble burst when Sam Trickett and David Benyamine got involved in a huge pot that saw 55,000 go into the middle pre-flop.

When the flop came A♣ 7♠ 3♣. Benyamine bet 50,000, Trickett raised pot and Benyamine moved all-in.

Trickett made the call with a flush draw against Benyamine’s top set of aces.

The turn brought another club and that was enough to relegate Benyamine to the rail.

On the plus side Benyamine is the 18th place finisher so he picks up €11,828

After Bubble Leaderboard

Here’s a look at the top 10 chips counts after the bubble burst according to www.wsop.com:

Konstantin Uspenskiy – 350,000 Steve Billirakis – 208,000 Ramzi Jelassi – 180,000 Michel Abecassis – 160,000 Oleksii Kovalchuk – 140,000 Erich Kollmann – 138,000 Eoghan O’Dea – 130,000 David Callaghan – 125,000 Jerome Bradpiece – 115,000 Elie Payan – 108,000

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 2 – Are You Ready to Ramzi?

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Ramzi Jelassi is looking more and more like an unstoppable force in this tournament.

Jelassi’s stack is quickly approaching skyscraper heights compared to his opponent’s chips.

In the last hour of play we’ve seen Jelassi win massive pots off Shawn Buchanan and Michael Abecassis.

Jelassi is starting to get a fair amount of walks as no one wants to mess with the biggest stack at the table.

At least check Jelassi had more than 400,000 and was threatening to outright break his table.

We’re also officially down to 20 players, which means we are just two players away from officially hitting the money.

Every player who makes it into the fabled final 18 will receive at least €11,828.

Mercier Shakes Shorr

Jason Mercier finally found a reason to look up from Chinese Poker on his iPad this tournament.

Alfredo Vegas opened for 4,800 from early position and Mercier called from the small blind. Shannon Shorr opted to put in a pot-sized raise from the big blind to 14,000.

Vegas folded but Mercier eventually decided to make the call.

The flop came Q♥ 8♦ 2♥ and Mercier immediately bet enough to put Shorr all in.

Shorr called and showed Q♣ Q♥ A♠ 4♣ while Mercier offered 6♣ 6♥ 7♥ 5♥.

Unfortunately for Shorr, Mercier spiked the K♥ to complete his flush. The river was a meaningless J♠ and that was enough to send Shorr packing. Mercier was up to 145,000 chips after the hand.

Back to the iPad.

Benyamine Bests Blain

Poker pro David Benyamine has been to war with Irish player Dermot Blain several times today and it was the Frenchman who finally dealt the killing blow.

Benyamine limped UTG and four players, including Blain in the big blind, called.

The flop came down 8♦ 6♣ 2♦ and Blain checked but Benyamine bet 12,000. Blain thought for a minute and then put 39,000 in the middle.

Benyamine pondered his decision and asked, “Why have we played all these big hands together?” to which Blain shrugged his shoulders.

“Alright fine, I’m all-in,” said Benyamine, having Blain covered.

Blain called immediately and showed A♦ K♠ 7♦ 9♠. Benyamine said, “I can beat that” as he flipped over 6♥ 6♦ 7♠ 3♦.

“Or maybe I can’t,” said Benyamine as he thought about Blain’s draw possibilities.

It was safe for Benyamine, however, as the board finished with the A♠ and then the 7♥. Blain was eliminated and Benyaminen rocketed up to 200,000.

The Busterati

Notables Sam Stein, David Williams, Gavin Cochrane, Francis Dubois and Mike Guttman have all been eliminated.

Leaderboard

Here are the top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

Ramzi Jelassi: 400,000 David Benyamine: 200,000 Erich Kollman: 176,000 Michael Abecassis: 170,000 Konstantin Uspenskiy: 170,000 Sam Trickett: 146,000 Jason Mercier: 145,000 Sam Chartier: 144,000 Jerome Bradpiece: 141,000 Oleksii Kovalchuk: 120,000

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 2 – Back to the Jungle

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

All 27 players have returned from their dinner break and will now turn their attention to grinding out some chips from their opponents.

It could be a late one here tonight as we’re scheduled to go past 3 a.m. if a final table is not reached earlier. With 27 players it will certainly be a challenge to reach a nine-player final table but we’ve certainly seen stranger things happen in the game of Pot-Limit Omaha.

Here’s a list of the top 10 chip counts from www.wsop.com before we get back into the thick of it:

Ramzi Jelassi: 335,000 Shawn Buchanan: 166,000 Konstantin Uspenskiy: 155,000 Steve Billirakis: 151,000 Shannon Shorr: 145,000 Erich Kollmann: 144,000 Oleksii Kovalchuk: 134,000 Eoghan O’Dea: 127,000 Sam Trickett: 120,000 Dermot Blain: 110,000

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WSOPE €5,300 PLO Day 2 – Jelassi Gets Nasty

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

After several hours of different chip leaders we now have one player who has leap-frogged into the lead.

Swede Ramzi Jelassi has been causing all sorts of problems over at his table and after knocking two opponents out is up to 250,000.

It couldn’t have come at a better time, either, as we’re down to just three tables and the cash is looming at 18 players left.

Jelassi isn’t very well known in the United States but he’s been a staple of the European Poker Circuit for years.

He has over 10 cashes on the EPT with over $1 million in live tournament earnings. Could Jelassi break into the poker mainstream with a win here? We’ll find out.

Players are now going on dinner break so be sure to check back in 60 minutes for more action straight from Cannes, France.

Here’s a look at the best action from the last hour:

Tristan Clemencon

Clemencon Crushed

Tristan Clemencon is regarded as one of the best young French players on the poker scene but sometimes skill can’t overcome luck.

A short stacked Clemencon opened a recent pot for 3,400 and everyone got out of the way except for the big blind, who called.

The flop came J♥ T♥ 6♥ and Clemencon immediately threw another 3,600 into the pot. His opponent raised pot, which ended up being his entire stack.

Clemencon had him covered, albeit just barely with 500 left behind, and decided to make the call.

“Flush?” asked Clemencon flipped over Q♥ 3♥ 8♣ 4♣ for the queen-flush.

His opponent shook his head as he showed Q♣ J♣ T♣ 2♥.

Clemencon looked primed for a double up but the board came 3♦ and then… T♦!

The young Frenchman immediately walked away from the table and punched the air in frustration at having his flush cracked by a rivered boat.

On the very next hand Clemencon got the last of his chips in the middle and lost to David Benyamine.

That’s poker, kids.

Billirakis Smokes Them Out

Steve “MrSmokey1” Billirakis has his name firmly engraved in the WSOP history books for becoming the youngest winner at the Series in 2007.

Although Annette Obrestad would break his record in Europe just a few months later, Billirakis still holds the record for youngest winner in North America.

Billirakis is hardly a one-hit wonder either as he’s won hundreds of thousands of dollars at the WSOP since winning his first bracelet.

More to the point, he’s starting to dominate this event.

Over the last level Billirakis has won huge hands against Dermot Blain and Elie Payan and is up to 150,000 chips.

Leaderboard

Here are the top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.wsop.com:

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