Gonz's blog

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--It took over three hours to lose one player, but less than 15 minutes more to send the second guy home. Chris Bell is gone. His A-4 didn't hold up against Newhouse's A-9.

Bell finished 5th, and takes home $314,280. His what-you-talking-bout look, though, is worth so much more.

UPDATE: Things are really moving now. Anthony Argila (K-8) just busted thanks to Chris McCormack (K-5; he caught a five on the turn).

Argila is out in 4th place, good for $366,660.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--Finally. After more than three hours, we’ve dropped a player. Blaise Ingoglia is gone. He went bust when his A-Q didn’t hold up against Mark Newhouse’s J-8 (he made a straight on the river).

Ingoglia finished in 6th place, earning $261,901. Only five more players and 37 hours to go.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--I was all set to write about how we finally dropped a player. Then Chris Bell got extremely lucky. He moved in preflop with A-7 and got called by Mark Newhouse, who was holding A-J and who also had Bell covered. They ended up chopping the pot when a 10 came on the river, making both players an Ace-high straight.

UPDATE: Blaise Ingoglia just got lucky, too, and off of the same guy--Mark Newhouse. Ingoglia went all-in on the flop with 8-7 and a heart flush draw, and was called by Newhouse, who had an Ace-high straight draw and who also had Ingoglia covered. Once more, Newhouse couldn't get there; Ingoglia caught a heart on the river.

Still no one eliminated.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--We're underway. Some quick, random news and observations:

• Mike Gracz, Gavin Smith and Erick Lindgren are here. They're all friends with Chris Bell.

• Mark Newhouse has been wearing a hat the entire tournament, but he's sans cap tonight. That's bad for two reasons: 1.) You never change what's working for you. If you're winning with a hat, you wear a hat. 2.) He has a terribly dopey haircut. He looks like one of those Lego men.

• The Borgata Babes are back. One of them smiled at me. I'm sure of it.

• More prop bets: The over/under on Sklansky smiling this evening has just been set at "never." (I took the over.)

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--We're about 15 minutes away from the first hand of the TV table. The new WPT set for Season 5 is trippy--it's almost totally dark in here, except for the blue and white set lights and the glow from various televisions showing old highlights. It looks like they converted the Borgata Event Center into a teleportation chamber.

Anyway, here are the chip counts:

1 Mark Newhouse 7,025,000
2 Chris McCormack3,000,000
3 Chris Bell 1,260,000
4 Blaise Ingoglia 840,000
5 Anthony Argila 700,000
6 David Sklansky 665,000

One last thing: Jen, Spaceman and I threw all six names into a hat and drew two of them randomly. Whoever has the winner picks up $10 from each others.

Here are the picks:

Jen: Chris McCormack and Chris Bell.
Spaceman: David Sklansky and Blaise Ingoglia.
Gonz: Mark Newhouse and Anthony Argila.

I like my chances.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ—We’re back from dinner break. Athanasios Diakos is out. He finished in 8th place and won $157,141.

We’re down to seven players. One more until the TV table and quitting time.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ—Things were looking grim for David Sklansky. He started this level with just 252,000 chips. Most of the poker media here was eagerly anticipating his departure, drooling all over themselves in anticipation. (Most of them drool anyway, but this drool had purpose. They think he's arrogant because of these. Also, they don't like his slack face.)

The jackals will have to wait a little longer, though. Sklansky just doubled up thanks to Chris Bell.

As per usual, Sklansky responded by looking really happy and smiling wide (as seen here).

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--We’re down to 10 players. Mark Newhouse (pictured above), a high-stakes online limit player and Tilly's foil, is our chip leader. Here are the players at the Final Table, along with their starting chip counts:

1.) Mark Newhouse 2,920,000
2.) Athansios Diakos 2,260,000
3.) Chris Bell 1,850,000
4.) Chris McCormack 1,640,000
5.) Shawn Chaconas 1,240,000
6.) Blaise Ingoglia 940,000
7.) David Sklansky 540,000
8.) John Parker 430,000
9.) Louis Russo 407,000
10.)Anthony Argila 380,000

UPDATE: The chip counts above are what they started with at the final table. But right now Mark Newhouse is absolutley running over people. He just won a monster pot by cracking aces with pocket nines. The kid can't miss right now.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--Jennifer Tilly was playing well. She had a pretty good shot to win this thing given her chip count. Not anymore. Mark Newhouse (seen here on her immediate left) sent her home when he turned a gutshot straight.

Tilly finished in 15th place, good for $52,380. (Sorry, I know I'm late on all this, but my computer crashed about 17 times, and I'm blogging this from Jen's machine--Browning, that is, not Tilly.)

Just 12 players remain.

More on the Tilly hand, and what Matt Stout and a lot of others are describing as her "Donkey Call" after the break.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--We're down to two tables. Craig Stein, David Tran and Ronnie Ebanks are all gone.

Also, concerning my reporting: Dan, aren't you the guy who live-blogged a re-run?

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--I was supposed to play in the $500 NL event today, but last night was a mess, so I scrapped it. Once more, and this will surely shock you, we got a bit banged up.

Media Night at Angelinos in Atlantic City, courtesy of Gavin Smith and Bill Edler (at right, with our girl Jen Browning) was beyond debauched. Here are the highlights I’ve pieced together from the police reports I remember:

• During a phone conversation, I confused Bill with Phil. Phil? Bill? They sound so very similar.

• As per Dan’s instructions, we bought everyone a round of Tuaca. Probably a bad idea.

• The consensus was that we need a more manly drink than Tuaca. Peach Schnapps is now the official booze of PokerBlog.

• At some point, it was decided that my autobiography will be titled Word Bitch.

• I lost my rental car. (Again.)

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ—Good morning. We’ve already lost two people--John Phan and Bette Carswell. Just 25 players remain.

More importantly, we've all been displaced from the cushy hookup we had upstairs in the Ball Room (it was outfitted with couches, tables, drinks and, you know, room to breathe). While they build the stage for the Final Table, the tournament continues in the Borgata’s new poker room. It’s nice here, but cramped--at least in the area where the WPT is conducting its business. The media is huddled around a few empty poker tables; computers, notepads, wires, empty glasses and other flotsam fight for space. As do we all. I’m straddling the chip box right now. (Read into that what you will; I’m too tired to defend myself.)

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ—We’re done for the day here at the WPT Borgata Poker Open. The tournament wound down to 27 players (the predetermined finishing point for Day 3) when Chris Bell eliminated Russell Rossenblum.

Notables who remain: Barry Greenstein (19th chip position), John Phan (17th), David Tran (15th), David Sklansky (11th) and Jennifer Tilly (4th).

Speaking of poker, I’ll be playing in the $500 NL event tomorrow (and, naturally, blogging about it). Anyone who wants a piece of my action should send word immediately.

See you tomorrow.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--Took me less than an hour to get Jen from the airport, drop her off at Harrah's and make it back here to the Borgata. I may as well have been away for days. We're in the money now, but Mark Seif and Ariel Schneller aren't. They're both gone.

Seif got busted by Jennifer Tilly. Schneller was sent home by Chad Brown (can't wait to see his picture from that). Schneller, you may remember, was the chip leader. Then he became the bubble boy. Bad hour for him.

On another note, Jen is having difficulties checking in. They may have lost her reservation, which means that she may have to stay in my room. I'm just sayin'.

(Dan is fucking pissed really thrilled.)

UPDATE: Jen is all checked in. Also, Schneller is over here calling himself a donkey for losing the chip lead for "the fifth time" in his life.

"But now I'm a nobody for one more tournament," Schneller says.

I'd feel bad for him, but the kid is a total shit talker. First he said that "celebrity players" called him "the best they'd ever seen." Then, and much worse, he started ripping the Eagles, in Jersey, while they're winning.

I say enjoy the rail, Ivy League boy.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--Good morning. Fewer than 60 people remain. Last night, before I went home, Erick Lindgren and Men The Master busted. Notable names who survived to play today include Jennifer Tilly, Kathy Liebert, John Phan, Barry Greenstein, David Sklansky, Chad Brown and Mark Seif.

The chip leader (though not by much) is a kid who just graduated from Yale named Ariel Schneller. He cashed twice at this year’s WSOP.

Concerning PokerBlog related news, Jen Browning has made it to Cincinnati, and is on her way here (after stops in Reno, LA and Atlanta). She’s even on schedule, and her bags (she thinks) are on-board.

Amazing. The odds on that trip actually working out are incalculable. (See Chad Brown's reaction to the news, at right. Picture courtesy of PokerBlog friend Nick Valintone.)

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--Gavin Smith just stopped by the media holding pen to fart on Spaceman's head. True story.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--Tonight, PokerBlog gets into the Philadelphia sports radio racket. At 7:30 ET on SportsTalk 950 AM, I’ll be a guest on “The Poker Show with Chuck Darrow.”

You can listen here.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--We’re down below 140 players. Joe Brooks isn’t one of them. The local pro from Egg Harbor, who won the $2,500 NL event here at the Borgata, got bounced a little while ago. But he wasn’t felled by cards.

In today's Press of Atlantic City, there was a story about Brooks, two other local pros (Matt Stout and Matt Glantz), and Cyndy Violette. All four players were alive this morning. All four players are gone this afternoon.

“As soon as I saw the article, I knew we were screwed,” Joe Brooks says. “I’m going to that woman’s house.”

The story was written by Elaine Rose. I don’t think she’s loved.

“She’s the kiss of death,” Stout says.

I wonder if they'll put her in the bathroom like Eddie Mush.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--Got off to an awfully slow start this morning. I was still drunk very tired when I dragged my worthless ass out of bed and made the short drive from Harrah’s, where I’m staying, across the road to the Borgata.

The fog in my brain has yet to lift, and it’s hard to say exactly what happened last night, but here’s a good summary: We consumed alcohol.

Went out with a bunch of journos and WPT types. Over the course of the night, we ran into Layne Flack, who was, surprisingly, more banged up than me, and Jeff Madsen, who tried to get me to pick up an fat old woman (seen here, with me at her side). I declined. Also talked with TBR’s boy Gavin Smith, who ended up giving me a Cuban cigar.

That last line may or may not be a euphemism.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--Day 2 here at the WPT Borgata Poker Open. They started with 249 players today, but a number have already busted.

Casualties this afternoon include Joe Sebok, Cyndy Violette, Steve Zolotow and David Williams.

On a weather-related note, still no sign of the sun. God hates Jersey. Probably because of this.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--Dan keeps telling me that this is a great year to be a poker journalist, that things are happening. But, you know, what are the odds of Dan being right on something? Exactly.

That said, Dan was right about poker journalism, or at least that there are a lot of people who want to get into it. Among the approximately 20 media members covering the WPT Borgata Poker Open is a kid named Brendan Lowe. He’s part of a fine program, the University of Maryland’s Merill College of Journalism. Yes, I suspect that young Brendan, with his glasses and mop of hair (the look of a Washington Post reporter, to be sure), might end up covering D.C. politics. Or, failing that, some tournament in Vegas.

Brendan is here writing a story for the school paper about kids who (yup, you guessed it) want to drop out to play poker. Once more: The school paper paid for the junior to come down here, stay in a hotel and write about students who would rather play poker than go to class.

So Brendan has it all figured out. Well, almost. For whatever reason, he’s made nice with Jason Strasser, who attends rival Duke. I told Brendan he shouldn’t talk to Strasser. I even suggested that he punch Strasser in the face, just to let the Blue Devil know how the Terps get down. He refused.

Kids these days are pussies.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--The WPT recently released the payouts for the Borgata Poker Open:

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--Since I’m the Northeast Bureau Chief here at PokerBlog (my default title, methinks), I feel compelled to tell you about Paul McCaffrey. He’s a good Irish lad (just like me). He also lives in Boston, my current hood, and finished 16th in April’s New England Poker Classic.

McCaffrey is having a pretty good WPT here in A.C. He finished 20th in the $2,500 NL event and 9th in the $5,000 NL event. When I ran into him in the elevator between breaks, he said he was holding on and doing fine. Not long thereafter, I saw him in the hallway down in the casino below the convention/poker hall. Maybe 20 minutes had passed. Not a good 20 minutes, either.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--The first major casualty at the WPT Borgata Poker Open is Finnish pro Patrik Antonius. He went all-in with 7-7 pre-flop, but lost to K-J (his opponent made a better two pair, Aces and Jacks).

By the way, we’ve been talking about Dan’s snowboarder/herb-friendly hotel. Just thought I’d tell you that Fritz Stoner, a new favorite here at PokerBlog, is still alive. I dunno, it just seemed germane.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--There aren’t many innovators out there anymore. You can only slice bread once, you know?

That said, our friends here at the Borgata came up with an ingenious idea. Or, rather, they stole an ingenious idea. Either way, good for them for turning a boxing mainstay (the always engaging “Round Card Girl”) into what, we hope, will become a fixture at poker tournaments around the country: The Level Card Girls. With each increase in level here at the Borgata, the “Borgata Babes” as they’re known in-house, walk around the tournament floor holding cards indicating (yup, you guessed it) what level we’re currently on. Genius!

And Dan says I haven't offered any "real" content yet. Take that.

(Pictured from left to right Anna Casciole, Lisa Grossman, some asshole, Cinthya Arteta and Keiona Robbins. Thanks to my boy Spaceman for the photo.)

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--We’re through the first break here in not-so-sunny A.C. No casualties of note yet among the 540 entrants for this year’s WPT Borgata Poker Open. But there are some interesting tables:

• Michael “the Grinder” Mizrachi, Jen Tilly and J.C. Tran are seated together. Other news of note: The Grinder has an interesting MySpace page. I'm more of a Biggie fan, but whatever.

• Texas homeboy TJ Cloutier and David Sklansky are at the same table (possibly talking about Metamucil as well as strategy).

• Everyone’s favorite Liz Lieu is seated across from…uh…hold on, lost my train of thought… Damn you Liz Lieu!

• One of the toughest tables? Chris Bigler, Noli Fransisco and Michael Gracz.

• Finally, this one is for our (shudder) boss here at PokerBlog: Dallas’s Clonie Gowen is seated, unfortunately, directly to the right of Mark Seif. And, no, she hasn’t asked about you, Dan.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--Hello friends. I'm the new guy, and I suppose, because of that, there are initiation rites. But I didn’t expect the hazing to come so quickly. After all, I’m from Philly. I’ve spent a lot of time in Atlantic City. And, besides that, I flew in from Boston--just a short, easy flight. As I said to Dan when he asked me about my travel plans: “Don’t bother me about this, I’ve got the East Coast on lock.”

Yeah, not so much.