Poker Blog & Poker Forum

Phil Hellmuth was that close to getting his WSOP bracelet number 12, but he missed again. Had he got there his bragging rights would only have got bigger. At one time he was at number 5 and soon he was knocked out in the 15th place. The event was the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em. Events like these are referred to as Donkaments because of the large field of mainly amateur players. With all the big names engaged in more prestigious events it was the perfect opportunity for Hellmuth.

Hellmuth went all in with 80,000 chips. Scott Vener took him on. The WSOP updates recorded this moment in the following dramatic manner. “The cameras were rolling and the rail was packed when Vener put in the chips and the two flipped up their cards. … Hellmuth was down to one card for his tournament life. His attempt at a record 12th bracelet would only continue with a nine or queen on the river.” The card turned out to be the three of diamonds and it was all over for Hellmuth.

Michele Lewis of Girl on Girl fame is reporting live from WSOP through her blogs. She described an altercation between Hellmuth and Chino Rheem. The affair ended with Hellmuth pointing to the number 11 embroidered boldly on his cap. Maybe he should stick to that cap forever.

Meanwhile the real poker pros are battling it out in the Seven Card Stud World Championship. The positions are changing faster than a woman’s mind. Two hours back the top ten read like the who’s who of poker, but two hours is a long time. At the time of writing the big names left in the fray included Vladimir Schmelev, Michael Mizrachi, Men Nguyen, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson and Jennifer Harman.

The Poker Players Championship was the first major event in WSOP 2010 and the brothers Mizrachi passed the test with flying colors. Though both brothers acquitted themselves well it was Michael who came out tops defeating Vladimir Schmelev in the heads up and winning over $1.55 million and his first WSOP gold bracelet. The enormity of his achievement can be judged from the fact that there were 54 bracelet holders in the field. This win means that Michael has to give up the unofficial title of being the best poker player not to have won a WSOP bracelet, but as he said he has no regrets on relinquishing that title. The Poker Players Championship also carries the Chip Reese’s Trophy, which perhaps is the best of the three things Michael has won. He said, “To win Chip Reese’s trophy is really special to me. I hope to be able to honor him in the way he deserves.”

Michael’s elder brother, Robert, had also made it to the final table but had been eliminated in the fifth position. Robert has won a gold bracelet in WSOP 2010 and now both brothers have one each. Robert won $341,428 for his effort in the Poker Players Championship. Their combined booty of $1.9 million is the highest ever by two siblings appearing together on the same WSOP final table. This is the third time that two siblings have been on the same WSOP final table. The first was in 1995 when the brother-sister duo of Annie Duke and Howard Lederer made it. The next pair was that of Ross Boatman and Barney Boatman in 2002.

This event showed why Michael is nicknamed The Grinder. He started WSOP under extreme pressure with the IRS dragging him to the racks and even putting his two homes on the auction block. But Michael was able to put his IRS worries behind him and focus on the task at hand. Soon after the heads up Schmelev secured a 3 to 1 chip advantage, but Michael kept clawing. After about 30 hands Michael drew level and then never looker back.

It has been reported that the financially down Michael had someone backing him and that person will obviously get a cut from the winnings. Let us hope that Mizrachi’s new accountant has done the legal work correctly so that he does not have to pay taxes on the monies that have not actually come to him though they may be standing against his name.

Controversial poker pro Justin Bonomo lives in Panorama Towers in Las Vegas. Panorama Towers consists of premier luxury high-rise condominiums and is a stone’s throw from the Rio, where the WSOP is being played out. Plenty of poker players reside in Panorama Towers during the period of the tournament.

There are many poker pros that have prop bets on themselves winning a bracelet at WSOP 2010. Bonomo is offering odds on any poker pro living in Panorama Towers winning a bracelet. In order to avoid any confusion he has made a list of 67 poker players. The list includes, in addition to himself, the likes of Barry Greenstein, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Brock Parker, Eric Froehlich, Jimmy Fricke and Lex Veldhuis. Bonomo has offered 10 to 1 that someone on the list will win a WSOP bracelet this year. When asked how he came up with the odds of 10 to 1, Bonomo said, “That’s what I thought I would have to give to get action on it. I ran simulations and assigned percentages to certain players and that’s how I came up with it.”

Bonomo’s calculations have been perfect because he has plenty of takers, even at his stipulation of a minimum of $1,000. The bets have closed before the inauguration of WSOP 2010. Bonomo is not revealing exactly how many wagers he has received or what he stands to lose in the worst case. All he says is, “I don’t like to talk numbers, but right now I could stand to lose a lot of money. Obviously, I think I’m a favorite and that’s why I made the bet, but there is a lot of money on the line.” Bonomo appeared on the poker scene in 2005. Though he has had 11 WSOP cashes, he has yet to win a bracelet.

Event #2, the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship is down to about half the original field with 54 players. Bonomo is still in at the 43rd position, while Greenstein is hanging on at the 53rd position. The total prize pool for this event has now been fixed at $5.568 million with the winner getting $1.559 million.

Online poker rooms are going all out to sign up poker babes. First Victory Poker signed up Sara Underwood. Then Bodog took on Amanda “Manderbutt” Musumeci. Now Ultimate Bet (UB) has done a sponsorship deal with porn star Samantha Ryan. Unlike the two poker babes named above, Samantha will not be a permanent brand ambassador for UB. She will be playing at WSOP 2010 under the UB clothing.

It is not known what connection Samantha has with poker, but she does have a link of sorts with UB and with WSOP. She is close to Tiffany Michelle who is on the regular Ultimate Bet team. Two years ago when Tiffany was the last woman standing at the WSOP Main Event Samantha and Maria Ho were seen together cheering for Tiffany.

Samantha, who Tweets under the name SammyRyRy, continuously chatters with Tiffany and a host of other poker babes. There are Tweets about Tiffany and Maria in the Amazing Race, about trying to win a date with Tiffany and Maria and team China winning the World Team Poker and even about more intimate subjects. But apparently Samantha does play poker in Las Vegas and claims to be good at beer pong. However, Samantha’s porn star resume is more spectacular. Apparently they have their own Oscar type awards known as AVNs in various categories and Samantha has won nominations in many of them.

But coming back to Samantha and UB and WSOP this was her Tweet on securing the deal. “Hey Tweeps! Please tell all ur friends to follow @ultimate_bet @RealAnnieDuke @TiffnyMichelle & me! And help me get to the main event!”

The 41st edition of the World Series of Poker went on stream yesterday at the Rio in Las Vegas. In all 57 events have been scheduled. The first event by tradition is the $500 Casino Employees Event, which began at noon on May 28.

The second event began at 5.00 PM on the same day. This is the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. This five day event is one of the most gruelling ones in the tournament. The format is different this year. Deuce-to-seven triple draw, pot-limit Omaha and no-limit Hold’em have been added to the standard HORSE rotation. The final table will be only no-limit Hold’em. This event will probably have the second largest prize of the tournament.

The second name of WSOP is controversy and it began on Day 1 itself. Lyle Berman, Robert Williamson III, Tony G, Todd Brunson, Barry Greenstein, Huck Seed, Amnon Filippi and Josh Arieh among others landed late. Arieh said that they were delayed because of the long queue at the registration. As per the rules they were allowed to enter only at the start of Level 2. In all there were 15 late entrants. They were put together on the same tables.

Phil Hellmuth is desperately trying for his 12th bracelet. Apparently he has hired a feng-shui expert who is telling him what to wear. That is the reason for his lemon green polo shirt underneath his usual jacket.

Information on the total entries, the prize pool and the leader board was not out at the time of writing. But Dan Shak was the first player to be eliminated. He got kicked out by another Dan, Dan Kelly.