It took a few weeks and thousands of players but the 2010 WSOP has finally been narrowed down to a elite group of nine. The nine will play the final round of poker in November on television. Apparently, even today with the popularity of poker, main stream media still doesn’t get why anyone would want to watch all 57 events of the WSOP on TV; but hey, at least we get this final table.

Here’s the lineup:
Filippo Candio

Joseph Cheong

John Dolan

Jonathan Duhamel

Matthew Jarvis

Michael Mizrachi

Soi Nguyen

John Racener

Jason Senti

The final event of the WSOP consisted of good old fashioned No Limit Texas Holdem which, despite the numerous variations that exist in poker, remains the most popular way to play our favorite game of skill. Perhaps the popularity of Holdem was why there were over seven thousand entrants into this year’s events and 1,125 folks who handed over their $10,000 buy in for one last chance at gold.

The week long final event of the tournament cut down around 200 players at the end of every day. Early leaders quickly faded into non existence and major celebrity players didn’t make it to the final table. One of my personal old favorites and former champions, Greg Raymer left the competition on the very first day, in the very first plays. Poker is mostly a game of skill but the final game of the WSOP also reminds us that luck still plays a role in who wins the big one.

Michael Mizrachi seems to be having quite a tournament having already won the Player’s Championship. He’s my current favorite to win in November. As play ended for the four month break Jonathan Duhamel led the chip lead with 65,975,000 according to the WSOP homepage and Jason Sneti came in last place with 7,625,000.

We all know things could change quickly in the first round of play and I for one can’t wait for that final table to get underway.

Well, here are the results and rankings as research by me and based on the actual; resu;ts from this year’s tournaments and don’t include any ranking system. I’m taking in the results of this tournament only.

COUNTRY	BRACELETS	PRIZE MONEY (for bracelet winners only)
America	40	$19,652,046
United Kingdom	5	$1,681,160
Canada	4	$1,991,917
Hungary	2	$797,944
New Zealand	1	$614,248
Norway	1	$260,497
Russia	1	$256,820
France	1	$192,132
Vietnam	1	$71,424

Like the world cup there are some unexpected results. Perhaps the Americans thought they would get them all. Maybe the French thought one of their up and coming male players would represent their nation and perhaps Vietnam is stunned to be on the board. It’s been quite a race. There’s still one more bracelet and one more pot to go.

How will the final hours go? We’ll have to wait and see.

The $10,000 No Limit Hold ‘Em Championship is the final event of this year’s WSOP in Las Vegas and it’s been a great, controversial year. There were 7319 entrants and at the time of this writing almost half way through the final there is a “mere” 1980 entrants still in play. It’s been quite a roller coaster for many of the players from the amateurs to the pros. Here’s the high chip count as of July 12 in the evening.

1 Johnny Chan 580,000

2 Kevin Gates 515,000

3 Frank Kassela 450,000

4 Nicholas Rainey 440,000

5 Mikhail Shamalov 440,000

6 David Assouline 420,000

7 Alexander Kostritsyn 415,000

8 Joshua Appleby 408,000

9 Nikolay Losev 406,000

10 Matt Affleck 375,000

SOURCE: Poker News.net

So Johnny Chan huh? Most of us young poker enthusiasts remember him best for the scene including in that cult Poker classic “Rounders” when Matt Damon explains the perfection of his moves in a former 1988 WSOP heads up event. It’s nice to see the man who has ten bracelets and 42 money finishes climbing back up to the top. Let’s home he continues to hold his own until the end of the tournament on the 17^th of this month.

Kevin Gates is vying for top position and as I write keeps exchanging the top chip count with Chan. A few other celebrities are in the mix including Matt Affleck and poker newbee celeb Vanessa Selbst. Vanessa’s success in this final game gives me hope that another one of my WSOP predictions will come true. A female player wins the final event? That would be a great end to the controversial season.

Well just a few more days before we can conduct a full recap and start over analyzing all the individual moves  of our favorite games and hands and players. It should be fun.

Every time I turn around, or at least refresh my page, someone else has a poker pro sponsorship deal. Here are just the latest poker players to get that contract.

Shannon Elizabeth (the cute actress who is one awesome poker player) signed up with Carbon Poker this week. The deal includes her playing online exclusively at their casino, writing a blog for the company and represent them in tournaments.  When she isn’t appearing in cult classic like “American Pie” and “That 70s Show,” Elizabeth is playing her favorite game. She has a number of cash wins under her belt and came third at the NBC National Heads Up Event. Shannon Elizabeth is a coy player, great at bluffing and entertaining to watch.

PokerStars.net now has Vanessa Selbst (seven money finishes and one bracelet to her name) as a professional on their site. Selbst has been making her name lately winning the Main Event at Mohegan Sun earlier this year. Professional  poker player, Yale graduate and wannabe human rights lawyer Selbst is one of the younger female pro players at just 25 years old and she continues to take the poker world by storm. Definitely worth watching.

David Williams also signed up with the PokerStars folks  and will be meeting with the media in Vegas this week to confirm. He used to be associated with the Bodog team but after all their controversy he decided to leave. Williams has 17 money finishes as well as bracelet. He loves to play poker as well as Magic The Gathering.

Yup seems everyone is signing up with professional poker sites these days. But that’s okay. Sponsorship in the world of poker keeps the game in the spotlight and attracts new players.

Coming up this July 3^rd is the fourth annual charity event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.  Organized by poker professional Annie Duke and actor Don Cheadle, the event will help support relief efforts in Africa’s most hard hit regions such as the much talked about Darfur. The charity organizers work with the WSOP I marketing and coordinating the event.

The event is not officially a part of the 2010 WSOP Main Event, it is housed in the same hotel at the same time to help ensure maximum attendance. The combination of poker professional and Hollywood faces should encourage all large bankrollers to participate in the hope of both helping those less fortunate and enjoying some big payouts. The rumor is the winner of the tournament could walk away with six figures in earnings.

Online reports indicate that Annie Duke and Don Cheadle will definitely attend along with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Ray Romano, Phil Hellmuth and poker pro and commentator Phil Gordon. The event is set for this coming Saturday and the $5,000 buy in helps the group meet their giving goals. They have so far raised over three million dollars to help African communities.

Those wishing to attend the event can register anytime from now until the event begins. You must be at least 21 years old to enter.  Anyone who comes up with the buy in can take part. So if you have a spare five grand laying around, get down to Vegas and make a difference.

Yes people the poker tournament of the year is still going. Starting back in late may, it’s been over a month since the 2010 WSOP Main Event began and it’s been an interesting year to say the least. We’ve had some expected winners and some major surprises; not to mention the record breakers. Here are the results of the last twelve games.

There are only a few events to go and many of them are already in progress as I write this blog. A few folks have the holiday off but some will be playing through. Here’s a list of the events still in progress as the WSOP 2010 event begins to wind down.

After these guys get done with their game playing, there are just five more events left in this year’s tournaments. It’s been quite a year and it may take several weeks to understand the host of new players, the lost or gained skills of established players and how the controversies surrounding this year’s main event really played out.

All I can say is watch this space.



Event 25: Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better Championship. This one went to Sam Farha of Houston, Texas and gave him not only a bracelet but $488,237. This was a three day tournament with 212 entrants and a $10,000 buy in.

Event 26: Six Handed No Limit Holdem. William Haydon from the United States won this event against Jeffrey Papola of New York. Both men held aces but Haydon’s Jack beat Papola’s six of hearts and brought him a whopping $630,031 in prize money. There were 1,245 entrants with a buy in of $2,500.

Event 27: Seven Card Stud H-Low-8 or Better.  There was a $1,500 buy in and winner David Warga of Tempe who took home $208,682 as the last one standing of 208 competitors.

Event 28: Pot Limit Omaha. It was Miquel Proulx of Canada with a pair of Queens who took this victory back to his hometown of Quebec. He earned over $315,000 in prize money and came out on top over the 596 entrants.

Event 29: The Limit Holdem Championship. With a $10,000 buy in the event attracted 171 players. It was Matt Keikoan of California who took home the bracelet and a nice chunk of change ($425,969) with his Ace-Seven.

Event 30: No Limit Holdem. The $1,500 entrance fee attracted 2,394 players but it was clever play by Mike Ellis of London, England who came out on top. He won against his heads up opponent Christopher Gonzales who had a pair of aces. Ellis had an Ace-ten but made it work to the tune of $581,851.

Event 31: HORSE. Konstantin Puchkov of Moscow, Russia took home a cool quarter million dollars after winning this tournament against Al Barbieri.

Event 32: No Limit Holdem Six Handed. An almost winner in event 26, Jeffrey Papola took home his bracelet after winning against Men Nguyen with a pair of Jacks. The win gave him a hefty $667,443 as well as a shiny new bracelet.

Event 33: Pot Limit Holdem/Omaha. A $2,500 buy in didn’t put off American Luis Velador from winning $260,517 with a measly 7-6 hand. His opponent David Chiu couldn’t get it over him with an Ace-Ten pairing so good for him right?

Event 34: Seniors No Limit Holdem Championship. One for the retired folks, the Senior championship was won by Harold Angle of Florida. Angle beat out 3,142 players and his heads up opponent Michael Minetti. The win gave him a nice $487,994 to put in his savings account.

Event 35: Heads Up No Limit Holdem Championship. The $10,000 buy in fee didn’t dissuade 64 professionals taking the chance in this heads up challenge. It was  Ayaz Mahmood of the U.S. That took home the prizes in the form of a bracelet and $625,682.

Twenty events to go!

Everybody knows California is broke. Is that why they are looking to the state’s million strong online poker players as potential tax revenue? The proposed bill would bring legislation to the world of online poker for Californians and (as proponents argue) make the game safer. Of course, it will give this troubled state economy a much needed boost.

The proposed bill (Bill SB 1485) is being held up by numerous dissenters including the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. Many Native Americans in California feel the bill will encroach on their tribal profits. As many tribes rely heavily on the poker economy, competition could jeopardize health and human services programs on Californian reservations.

Some of the details of the bill in its current form include legal prosecution for those who try and play poker on illegal websites, 20 percent of gross poker income being turned over to the state, all poker players being 21 or older and the promotion of online California based poker sites. For many, the proposal is just too rigid. And of course, we all know this is coming about as a way to help the state make money not over any concern regarding poker playing.

I say the west coast folks should legalize marijuana and tax that rather than online poker. People will still buy pot. Kids will have much harder access to it as the illegal industry will fall by the wayside. With poker on the other hand, regulation and taxation will put a lot of players off and actually encourage players to try and cheat the system so they don’t have to pay taxes for practicing, and hopefully perfecting, a game of skill.

Many are still trying to get lawmakers to understand that poker is a skill game rather than a potential gambling revenue resource for fractured economies. I mean, would they tax and regulate the playing of online chess? Of course not.

Anyway, as it stands there are too many people grumbling about the bill in its current form for it to pass. More changes will be made and lawmakers will try again. I guess if at first you don’t succeed play another hand?

We’ll see what happens.

I love taking the results of the 2010 WSOP Main Event and viewing it as the poker Olympics. The WSOP site calls it the world rankings but I see it more as the number of gold medals each nation has so far and who look to take home the title of best nation. Or should I say nation with the best poker players?

Well, here are the results and rankings as researched on the WSOP home page.

It’s interesting that America has the most high ranked poker players. I mean it’s not like we have more people than the Chinese or more game playing history than the Europeans. Could having Sin City in your back yard really make that much of a difference? Or is it more likely professional poker is both encouraged and promoted in America as something to aspire to, a chance at a lucrative career and of course, getting to play cards all day.

I dunno, I think we have just experienced the democratization of card playing since the Old West and the stigma of playing cards seems to have left us as well. Perhaps the combination mixed in with a little American determination keeps us bringing home the gold. I’m not bragging people I’m just stating a fact.

There’s still time for the rest to catch up. Right?

Well…

I’m all in favor of the fans getting a say in the poker line up. The game of poker is so all about chance and skill that opinion doesn’t usually come into play. But for some of us, the professional poker players are celebrities in their own right, people that got famous for something other than looking pretty, being rich or being able to act or sing. Players are known by their skill and their fans are well aware of those abilities.

So when it was decided that the fans would vote for the players in this year’s WSOP Tournament of Champions to take place on June 27, 28 and July 4^th. It’s the only time the fans have a say and the fans have certainly spoken.

Thousands upon thousands of votes were cast and the results as publish on the WSOP home page are as follows:

Everyone in the top five received over ten thousand votes each. The race between first and second place between Ivey Negreanu was pretty tight. Phil Ivey received a total of 16, 267 votes and Daniel Negreanu received 16,239 votes. Both players must be pleased with their popularity and how the fans view their skills.

There are a lot of big names in this year’s tournament, making it hard for me to decide who I would like to see win the event. I mean, you are deciding who gets to go home with a million bucks. Well, that’s what will happen to the winner anyway.

The Tournament of Champions includes a few of the event’s previous winners including Annie Duke and Mike Sexton. There are two entrants included by sponsors. That means that 20 out of the 26 total players were chosen by you the poker fans of the world.

I just can’t wait to see how the cards fall.