Lindy Librarian's blog

I hate spam and I would never solicit anyone to send spam but in this is really more like poker activism or perhaps simply Enlightened Governmental Expression.

The Republican Party in the U.S. has had this plank in their presidential platform for the last two elections.

"We support legislation prohibiting gambling over the Internet."

Now I know a lot of poker players who really want the government to get the hell out of our living rooms and our laptops but... they are not single issue voters and cannot bring themselves to vote for a democrat even though the republicans are against online poker. So there is a solution: TELL THEM!

The folks writing the 2008 republican party platform are soliciting input from voters and since email cannot be traced to a city, state or country... Everyone should feel free to let them know what you think on this issue.

It's easy, here's how to let them know you are watching:

* Go to this site to register.(you’ll receive an email with your password for the site).
* Click "Submit Text Entry" (at the top right) to submit a typed message.
* Write a short pro-poker message, choose a category, then click submit. It's that easy!

For any non-poker readers, there are lots of other topics to sound off about. I gave them a piece of my mind on stem cell research while I was there.

With the actual WSOP events nearly over and on hiatus, ESPN will begin broadcasting the 2008 World Series of Poker this week. Below is the U.S. based television schedule. ESPN affliates around the world will be picking all of part of this schedule, I will post those times and channels when they are released.

July 22 -- 8-10 p.m. $10,000 pot-limit hold 'em
July 29 -- 8-10 p.m. $1,500 no-limit hold 'em
Aug. 5 -- 8-10 p.m. $5,000 mixed hold 'em
Aug. 12 -- 8-10 p.m. $1,000 no-limit hold 'em with rebuys
Aug. 19 -- 8-10 p.m. $50,000 HORSE
Aug. 26 -- 8-10 p.m. $10,000 pot-limit Omaha
Sept. 2 -- 8-10 p.m. $10,000 no-limit hold 'em main event
Sept. 9 to Oct. 28 -- 9-11 p.m. $10,000 no-limit hold 'em main event
Nov. 4 -- 8-10 p.m. WSOP main event final table preview show
Nov. 11 -- 9-11 p.m. WSOP main event final table

After a somewhat abrupt suspension of play last night at 189 players, the Main Event of the World Series should play out something like this over the next three days:

Thursday Day 3: 1308 played down to 474
Friday Day 4: 474 played down to 189
Saturday Day 5: 189 playing to 81 or 72 (or less)
Sunday Day 6: 81 or 72 playing down to 27
Monday Day 7: 27 playing down to November Nine
November: Final Table

Today is the critical day, with a full five levels scheduled the field will definitely go under 100. Trying to anticipate the pace of play is a skill developed by good tournament directors but about as accurate as predicting the weather (we had lightening last night in Las Vegas; 90 degrees at midnight and lightening). The key to today's decision is a balance between the number of remaining players and the stack sizes. When the field is full of stacks of similar sizes, play takes longer; when there are a good number of short stacks, play is quicker.

Because the staff has the option of stopping play at any time, we know they definitely want to make tomorrow (Day Six) a reasonable length day getting down to 27 but even with this in mind, no one would be surprised if a fast pace lowers todays field to 63 or even 54 and then on Sunday we go for a final two tables at 18.

This is all about managing the pace of an unpredictable game at ten or twenty different tables. What we do know is that Monday evening or early Tuesday morning, we will have nine players left standing.

Some of the early conversations today were about how one player had a 2-to-1 chiplead on the entire field. Brian Schaedlich begins play with 801,000, which is not a 2-1 lead since the counts are all in from yesterday, he did hold a 2-to-1 lead on the Day 2A field. I thought it might be interesting to track our top ten for the entire day. I will try to catch them three times during the day to see just how much a chip lead means on Day Three of the WSOP Main Event.

Here are the top ten starting stacks at noon with 1,307 players remaining:

Brian Schaedlich 801,000
Peter Biebel 531,000
Alex Outhred 486,800
Raja Kattamuri 411,100
Hunter Frey 397,000
Jeremiah Smith 386,000
Steven Goosen 362,100
Patrick Fortin 355,900
Reagan Silber 355,500
Kellen Hunter 354,100

At 5 PM, two levels in, the original top ten now with 852 players still in the field:

The World Series of Poker Circuit schedule has been released for the 2008-2009 season. Slightly reduced from 12 to 10 stops the Circuit will begin in October of this year at Caesars Indiana. Last year there were two stops in New Orleans, Tunica and at Caesars Indiana; these have all been reduced to one stop only and a new event has been added for Harrah's Hammond.

Here is the new schedule:

2008-09 WORLD SERIES OF POKER CIRCUIT SCHEDULE

October 2 -- October 14, 2008
CAESARS INDIANA

October 24 -- November 2, 2008
HORSESHOE HAMMOND (Chicago area)

November 6 -- November 16, 2008
HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE (Nevada)

December 5 – December 18, 2008
HARRAH’S ATLANTIC CITY

January 20 – February 9, 2009
HARRAH’S TUNICA (Mississippi)

February 12 – February 25, 2009
HORSESHOE COUNCIL BLUFFS (Iowa)

March 4 – March 14, 2009
CAESARS ATLANTIC CITY

March 19 – March 29, 2009
HARRAH’S RINCON (San Diego)

April 12 – April 29, 2009
CAESARS PALACE (Las Vegas)

May 8 – May 20, 2009
HARRAH’S NEW ORLEANS

With a big finish on Day 1D, the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event has reached an official total of 2,471 entrants, which makes this the second largest poker tournament ever.

2006 WSOP Main Event: 8,773 entrants
2008 WSOP Main Event: 6,844 entrants
2007 WSOP Main Event: 6,358 entrants
2005 WSOP Main Event: 5,619 entrants
2004 WSOP Main Event: 2,576 entrants

TODAY: 2008 Day 1D: 2,461 entrants
2007 Day 1D: 1783 entrants

2008 Main Event Day 1C: 1928 entrants [4,383 three day total]
2007 Main Event Day 1C: 1743 entrants [4,575]

2008 Main Event Day 1B: 1158 entrants [2455 two day total]
2007 Main Event Day 1B: 1545 entrants [2832]

2008 Main Event Day 1A: 1297 entrants
2007 Main Event Day 1A: 1287 entrants

As expected Day 1C was a much bigger field than either 1A or 1B. Estimates for tomorrow's Day 1D are all over the board with many predictions of over 2,000*. To match last year's Main Event total the magic number is 1,985*.

Lots of name professionals are playing tomorrow and plenty of other players are coming in after spending the Fourth of July with family and friends. So, "close" will be the operational word tomorrow for all of those over/under wagers* on the total runners in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event.

TODAY: 2008 Main Event Day 1C: 1928 entrants [4,373 three day total]
2007 Main Event Day 1C: 1743 entrants [4,575]

2008 Main Event Day 1B: 1158 entrants [2455 two day total]
2007 Main Event Day 1B: 1545 entrants [2832]

2008 Main Event Day 1A: 1297 entrants
2007 Main Event Day 1A: 1287 entrants

2008 Day 1D: Sunday?*
2007 Day 1D: 1783 entrants

*Late/Early reports or Early/Late reports are that the field for Sunday is over 2200 and counting.

This year Day 1B was smaller than Day 1A, unlike 2007 when the field grew each successive day. But we still have two big fields to count on Days 1C & 1D.

In 2007 the final two days had much bigger fields and that is anticipated again this year; some early registration numbers indicate Saturday and Sunday will be much larger.

2008 Main Event Day 1B: 1158 entrants [2455]
2007 Main Event Day 1B: 1545 entrants [2832 two day total]

2008 Main Event Day 1A: 1297 entrants
2007 Main Event Day 1A: 1287 entrants

2008 Day 1C: Saturday?
2007 Day 1C: 1743 entrants

2008 Day 1D: Sunday?
2007 Day 1D: 1783 entrants

A lot of people seemed surprised that today (Day 1A) "only" had as many entrants as last year. Seems like a pretty good number for a Thursday and one full table ahead of last year.

2008 Main Event Day 1A: 1297 entrants
2007 Main Event Day 1A: 1287 entrants

A short week five to compare as we are now on the threshold of the Main Event. Fifty-three events are in the books or about to be and here are the numbers:

53 Preliminary Events:

25 events had increased entries
15 events had decreased entries
12 events were new tournaments or increased buy-ins
1 tie

Here are the week four comparisons:

2008 Event #48
$2,000 No Limit Hold'em
Number of Entrants: 2,319
2007 Entries: 2,038
(Big increase)

2008 Event #49
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Number of Entrants: 2,718
2007 Entries: 3,151
(down over 400 from the old record, but the event was capped so it had no chance of hitting 3,000)

2008 Event #50
$10,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Number of Entrants: 381
2007 Entries: 314
(a strong increase for a $10K event)

2008 Event #51
$1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
Number of Entrants: 803
2007 Entries: 730
(this was a $1,000 S.H.O.E. event last summer)

2008 Event #52
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Number of Entrants: 2,693
2007 Entries: new event
(an added 7th $1,500 NLHE event)

2008 Event #53
$1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout
Number of Entrants: 823
2007 Entries: capped at 720
(the cap was raised this year, so we’ll call this an “other”)

Next, I will be watching the four Day Ones of the Main Event to see where those numbers go.

Week Four Comparison
Week Three Comparison
Week Two Comparison
Week One Comparison

Through 47 events here is how the '08 Series is standing up to the '07 Series:

47 Events to Date:

23 events have increased entries
15 events have decreased
8 events were new tournaments or increased buy-ins
1 tie

Here are the week four comparisons:

2008 Event #38
$2,000 Pot Limit Hold'em
Number of Entrants: 605
2007 Entries: 599
(up a few still counts as UP!)

2008 Event #39
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Number of Entrants: 2,720
2007 Entries: 2,778
(down a few still counts as DOWN!)

As we wrap-up week three of the World Series, registration numbers for 37 events are in the books. Here are the comparisons 2007 to 2008.

37 Events to Date:

18 events have increased entries
13 events have decreased
3 events were new tournaments in 2008
2 events had increased buy-ins from $5k to $10K (entries were down)
1 event with capped registration in '08

2008 Event #25
$10,00 No Limit Hold'em Heads Up
Number of Entrants: 256
2007 Entries: 392
(event was capped at 256 this year)

2008 Event #26
$1,500 Seven Card Razz
Number of Entrants: 453
2007 Entries: 341
(a monster increase in Razz players)

2008 Event #27
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Number of Entrants: 2,706
2007 Entries: 2,628
($1,500 events holding up well)

Here are some more numbers through 30 events of the 2008 World Series of Poker. These come to us from the newly math-oriented WSOP media group.

Totals through thirty events:

* 24,642 entrants
* 821 average entrants per event
* $59,117,189 in total prize money awarded
* $1,970,573 average prize pool per event
* $439,545 average first place prize per event

* Most events entered this year:
o Thomas McCormick (23)
o Sirous Jamshidi (22)
o Amnon Filippi (21)
o Justin Bonomo (21)
o Phil Ivey (21)

“There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics.” . . . quote often attributed to Benjamin Disraeli

That being said here are some interesting numbers that have come down to us from the WSOP media office as we approach the mid-point (53.22%) of the Series. Some are interesting (22%), some are prophetic (12% or 78%) and a few are pure publicity hype (104%) or at least that is the opinion of some reporters (9 out of 11) in media row. Of course members of the poker media are at this point of the Series likely to be sleep deprived (56.8%) or simply depraved (23.4%).

Through 27 events, only one player has cashed six times to date – Nikolay Evdakov, from Moscow, Russia. Five-time-in-the-money finishers include Tom Schneider, Roland Isra, and Alex Jacob. All are in contention to challenge the record of eight for "Most WSOP Cashes in a Single Year," shared by four players -- Michael Binger ('07), Chad Brown ('07), Phil Hellmuth, Jr. ('06), and Humberto Brenes ('06).

The current "Player of the Year" standings shows Erick Lindgren on top of the points list with one gold bracelet win and four cashes. Vanessa Selbst, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein and Jacobo Fernandez are all very close (within the margin of error).

Through the 27th bracelet of this year's World Series of Poker, the "Professionals versus Amateurs" gold bracelet scoreboard reads:

Professionals – 21 wins
Amateurs -- 4 wins
Semi-Pros -- 2 wins

I had to include this last “stat” because I have heard the Shrink going on about what passes for a “professional” these days and I want him to put that post up soon (6 to 5, we get it within 48 hours).

How is the 2008 World Series of Poker holding up against last year?

So far it looks like the Series is still strong as we begin week three.

24 Events to Date:

12 events have increased entries
7 events have decreased
3 events were new tournaments in 2008
2 events had increased buy-ins from $5k to $10K (entries were down at the higher buy-in)

Here are the week two comparisons:

2008 Event #11
$5,000 No Limit Hold'em Shootout
Number of Entrants: 360
2007 Entries: this is a new event
(first time for a $5,000 Shootout)

2008 Event #12
$1,500 Limit Hold'em
Number of Entrants: 880
2007 Entries: 910
(a small decrease from last summer)

We have one week of the 2008 World Series of Poker behind us and some of the early questions have revolved around how 2008 would stack up against 2007. Has the economy, the gas prices and the fading poker boom taken its toll on the WSOP?

Well as far as the first week numbers go, the answer has to be a solid, definite 'wait and see'. Bolstered by nearly 4,000 players in the first $1,500 NLHE event, the first week has been close to or above the comparable event in 2007.

Here is how the first ten tournaments compared:

2008 Event #1
$10,000 Pot Limit Hold'em
Number of Entrants: 352
Number of 2007 entries: 398
(down but the 2007 event was a $5,000 buy-in)

2008 Event #2
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Number of Entrants: 3,929
2007 Entries 2,998
(previous record for non-main event registrations was 3,151)

2008 Event #3
$1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em
Number of Entrants: 713
2007 Entries: 781
(registrations off by about 10%)

New WSOP guidelines state that no event will go longer than 14 hours in any one day. Noon events are to end by 2 AM and Day Two restarts, usually at 2 PM should end by 4 AM. Well today will test that "guideline". Event #2 the record-setting (3,929) $1,500 NLHE comes back today with a combined field of 447 players, which in theory will play down to a final table of nine.

In all likelihood that will not happen today and the survivors will come back tomorrow a couple of hours early to play down to the final nine. The crunch will come after midnight tonight when tournament officials will have to look at the remaining field and somehow balance the need to shrink the field without making the players play all night.

This problem is inherent in events with multiple Day Ones. Tournament officials had to stop Day 1A early because they could not afford to have the money bubble burst on Day 1A, actually they had to estimate what the money bubble would be since Day 1B registrations were still open. They did a good job here. A total of 378 places will be paid and they are bringing back 447 players. Day 1A produced 225 players from a field of 2048 and Day 1B saw 223 players make it through from a smaller starting group of 1881.

That is actually cutting it a little close (447/378) but it just shows how the WSOP Tournament Director's staff really do know how to run the biggest events in the poker world. Nicely done, Ladies and Gentlemen.

The first No Limit Hold'em event of the 2008 World Series has just set a new record for entries. Last year one of the later $1,500 NLHE events had 3,151 players, which set the then record for most entries in a non-main event WSOP tournament. Just moments ago player #3152 entered today's Event #2: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em and we have a new record.

The total for Event #2 will not be known until tomorrow because there are two Day Ones for this event, which is another first: an event other than the $10,000 main event with multiple Day Ones. Clearly the WSOP staff anticipated this record when they added the second Day One and opened registration two days before the Series actually began. The plan seems to have worked with over 2,900 players registered by midnight last night and the record broken nearly an hour before cards are in the air.

The "no alternates" announcement several weeks ago has also gotten the players attention; more than one player in line last night cited that new rule as the reason for their early registration. Several players also were veterans of last year's enormous registration lines and they too seem to have learned a lesson.

With the record now broken, the prop bets seem to be hovering at around 2400 for the new record. Looking at the registration windows, I would take the over.

[UPDATE: The final total for Event #2 was 3,929.]
____________________________________________________

2008 Event #2
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Number of Entrants: 3,929

2007 Reigning Champion: CIARAN O’LEARY $727,012
2007 Entries 2,998
(the record 3,151 was set in Event #49 last year)

Another $1,000,000 Guarantee Event is underway this weekend at Party Poker. As the countdown to this Saturday’s $1 million guaranteed tournament continues, Party announced that 200 SEATS are up for grabs on Friday. In addition, seats will be available EVERY HOUR on Saturday morning in the build up to the main event.

The tournament takes place on Saturday 31st May at 12.45pm ET (5.45pm BST, 6.45pm CET), with a championship style blind structure. There are still many ways to qualify for the tournament on a daily basis, starting from as little as $1, with other options such as freerolls.

The $1 million guaranteed is the finale to ‘May Madness.’ Throughout the month of May, PartyPoker.com guaranteed the prize pool of EVERY TOURNAMENT run on the site meaning a staggering $12 million was up for grabs! Saturday’s tournament brings the promotion to a close. Blind levels for the $1 million guaranteed start at 25/50, with the starting chips 20,000 and blind levels every 20 minutes.

To view all the ways to qualify for Saturday’s showpiece; See the entire schedule here.

I've been collecting some bits and pieces about the World Series of Poker that begins next week. Time to pass them on to you.

Want to know where the professionals will be playing; I mean other than the ones who play every event, every day and sometimes two at a time. Here is the list of "Championship" events on the 2008 WSOP schedule:

* $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Hold’em, May 30-June 1
* $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event, June 4-6
* $10,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud, June 7-9
* $10,000 World Championship Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em, June 13-15
* $10,000 World Championship Limit Hold'em, June 15-17
* $10,000 World Championship Omaha 8 or better, June 19-21
* $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E., June 25-29
* $10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Omaha June 29-July 1
* $10,000 World Championship No-Limit Hold’em, July 3-14 and Nov. 9-10

Lots of talk on the internet forums about when poker "jumped the shark". I think I have another nomination for that moment. In August at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, you can enter a tournament with frequent flyer miles. Yes, Continental Airlines will hold a tournament with an entry of 50,000 frequent flyer miles. The winner will receive 21 Million miles.

I leave the frequent details to the press flyer:

To mark the 21st birthday of its OnePass® frequent flyer program, Continental Airlines announced that it has invited its top customers to participate in a Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament where they will bet frequent flyer miles to gamble on the chance to win the tournament's grand prize, 21 million OnePass miles. The four day event begins on Aug. 6, 2008, and will take place at the legendary Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The entry fee to participate in the tournament is 50,000 OnePass miles and registration is limited. Participants must book the event package with the Golden Nugget Casino.

What would the Fonz say?

A final table battle on the high seas takes place today aboard the Party Poker Millions Cruise VI. Germany’s Dominik Stopka enters as chip leader, but only by a single chip over Alexander Jung also from Germany. The final nine also include Sweden ’s 2008 PartyPoker Late Night Poker winner Andreas Jorbeck, Johannes Strassmann and Mika Paasonen. All have tasted recent success on the European circuit. Amongst those to miss out on the final table include Thomas Bihl, Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald, Florian Langmann and Christop Haller.

For a summary of all the final table action check the PartyPoker Blog.

Here are the final table players with beginning chip counts, we will add the finishers as they bust out down to the champion.

SEAT 1 – KENNETH GREGERSEN – Denmark - 44,000 9th place

SEAT 2 – RAYMOND ESTALL – UK - 187,000 5th

SEAT 3 – JOHANNES STRASSMANN – Germany - 182,000 7th

SEAT 4 – ALEXANDER JUNG – Germany - 326,000 CHAMPION

SEAT 5 – MIKA PAASONEN – Finland - 236,000 4th

SEAT 6 – DOMINIK STOPKA – Germany - 327,000 2nd

SEAT 7 – CORY ALBERTSON – United States - 90,000 3rd

SEAT 8 – PETER STEINLESBERGER – Austria - 132,000 8th

SEAT 9 – ANDREAS JORBECK – Sweden – 182,000 6th

In an unprecedented move, PartyPoker.com has slashed the charges for all single-table tournaments over $200 to a super-low flat fee of $10. No matter how high the stakes are above $200, the fee will be just $10 meaning there is huge value to be had for the bankroll, value that cannot be found elsewhere.

To celebrate this, PartyPoker.com has introduced a complete range of high-end STT’s with buy-in’s all the way up to $5,000. With a fee of just $10 this is great value and is simply not available at any other online poker room. For example, on a six seat $5,000 STT the typical saving is $190 and a ten seat $300 STT the saving is $10.

Check out the full list of tournaments today!

PARTYPOKER.COM – FLAT FEE STT’S

$5,000 + $10 6 seat Save $190
$5,000 + $10 2 seat Save $90
$2,000 + $10 10 seat Save $80
$2,000 + $10 6 seat Save $80
$2,000 + $10 2 seat Save $40
$1,000 + $10 10 seat Save $40
$1,000 + $10 6 seat Save $20
$1,000 + $10 2 seat Save $20
$500 + $10 10 seat Save $20
$500 + $10 6 seat Save $20
$500 + $10 2 seat Save $10
$300 + $10 10 seat Save $10
$300 + $10 6 seat Save $10
$300 + $10 2 seat Save $10
$200 + $10 10 seat Save $10
$300 + $10 6 seat Save $6

Along with the announcement of the delayed play for the WSOP main event final table, ESPN has also released the proposed schedule WSOP broadcast events. There was some conversation during yesterday's teleconference about an extended international broadcast schedule, particularly leading up to the main event final table. The two other notable changes from last year are:

- less coverage of the $50K HORSE event, the viewing audience appears not to be so interested in watching Razz, Stud or even Omaha. So there will be only two hours of this event;
- much more coverage of the main event leading up to the virtually live coverage of the final table in November.

The tentative schedule of TV coverage for this year's event is as follows; each listed show is scheduled for two hours:

• July 22 - Event 1: $10,000 pot-limit hold 'em
• July 29 - Event 2: $1,500 no-limit hold 'em
• Aug. 5 - Event 3: $1,500 pot-limit hold 'em or Event 4: $5,000 mixed hold 'em
• Aug. 12 - Event 5: $1,000 no-limit hold 'em with rebuys
• Aug. 19 - Event 45: $50,000 HORSE
• Aug. 26 - Event 50: $10,000 pot-limit Omaha
• Sept. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28 - Event 55: $10,000 no-limit hold 'em main event
• Nov. 4 - Event 55: WSOP main event final table preview show
• Nov. 11 - Event 55: WSOP main event final table

Japanese gambling laws are among the strictest in the world. So strict, in fact, that casinos are not even allowed to operate in the country of Japan. This has not stopped the second annual All Japan Poker Championship underway in Tokyo.

The tournament can be held because it does not make participants pay an entry fee and, in fact, no money is gambled at all. Poker tourneys that require an entry fee are illegal in Japan. The winner will get a bracelet and a $10,000 buy-in to the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas.

The tournament is so popular that there is even a Ladies and Senior tourney which take place before the Main Event on May 18th. Last year, Kunihiro Sakamoto won the Main Event, and the $10,000 buy-in to the WSOP, after outlasting a field that included over 2,000 people.

An estimated field of 400 players will gather in Manila next month for the first event of the 2008 Asian Poker Tour. The tournament is scheduled from May 27th to June 1st and carries a $1,000,000 guarantee. The tournament will have a $2,500 entry fee.

Well known tournament director, Matt Savage, has been lined up to run the event, which will be followed this year by events in Singapore, Macau and Seoul, South Korea. All four APT events for 2008 will be $1,000,000 guarantee tournaments.

Eight Hundred and Forty-One players started the European Poker Tour Championship two days ago and now 124 have survived to Day Three. Despite the dominance of Norwegian players at the very top of the leader board; there are many notable names still in the running. Here are the top 10 and other names you may know:

Oyvind Riisem Norway 441,400
Johnny Lodden Norway 380,300
Borge Dypvik Norway 296,000
Andreas Hagen Norway 276,800
Joe Hachem Australia 255,300
James Campbell USA 241,700
Luca Pagano Italy 229,000
Amit Makhija USA 219,100
Andreas Fluri Switzerland 205,900
Sorel Mizzi Canada 203,200
Benjamin Kang Germany 179,900
Freddy Deeb USA 153,300
Marcel Luske Holland 128,700
Antonio Esfandiari USA 121,400
Raymond Rahme South Africa 104,200
Eli Elezra USA 77,500
Jan Heitmann Germany 63,400
Surinder Sunar UK 51,600
Anna Wroblewski USA 51,200
Leonardo Fernandez Argentina 47,600
Alexander Kravchenko Russia 42,200
Ted Lawson USA 30,000
Mel Judah UK 19,300

Going into Day Four, the Magician leads the way.

Antonio Esfandiari USA 1,198,000
Robin Keston UK 916,000
Denes Kalo Hungary 642,000
Johnny Lodden Norway 623,000
Maxime Villemure Canada 600,000
Mostafa Belkhayate Morocco 523,000
Gerasimos Deres Sweden 494,500
Henrik Gwinner Denmark 487,000
David Shade Kruger USA 486,500
Thomas Boekhoff Germany 465,000
Luca Pagano Italy 279,500
Joe Hachem Australia 214,500
Freddy Deeb USA 140,500
Raymond Rahme South Africa 133,000

Yesterday at this time all the talk was about the Ted Forrest vs. Erik Seidel showdown at the Final Table of the 2008 Foxwood's Poker Classic. Well it was a classic but not the way most pre-game observers imagined. Ted Forrest was an early elimination when he was dealt two pocket pairs (99 and JJ) only to run into bigger pairs (KK and AA). The plot was not going to play out the way the "pro watchers" had planned.

In fact, Erik Seidel had a roller coaster ride to the victory but he eventually (12 hours and 229 hands) took down the title. Here is a bit of 'day after' mathematical analysis.

The players began the final table with these chip stacks:

Seat 1 - Erik Seidel - 3,280,000
Seat 2 - Frank Cieri - 403,000
Seat 3 - Robert Richardson - 526,000
Seat 4 - Ted Forrest - 2,347,000
Seat 5 - Andrew Barta - 1,522,000
Seat 6 - Adam Katz - 2,301,000

Percentage-wise it looked pretty obvious that the short stacks needed to move early and often to stay alive.

Erik Seidel - 31.6% of chips in play
Frank Cieri - 3.9%
Robert Richardson - 5.1%
Ted Forrest - 22.6%
Andrew Barta - 14.7%
Adam Katz - 22.2%

So they started the final table in these chip positions:

1 - Erik Seidel - 3,280,000
2 - Ted Forrest - 2,347,000
3 - Adam Katz - 2,301,000
4 - Andrew Barta - 1,522,000
5 - Robert Richardson - 526,000
6 - Frank Cieri - 403,000

....but they finished:

1 - Erik Seidel - 3,280,000 First Place
2 - Ted Forrest - 2,347,000 Sixth
3 - Adam Katz - 2,301,000 Fifth
4 - Andrew Barta - 1,522,000 Third
5 - Robert Richardson - 526,000 Second
6 - Frank Cieri - 403,000 Fourth

Anyone have Robert Richardson in the Heads Up finish?

Final money results for the 2008 Foxwood's Poker Classic Final Table:

1. Erik Seidel - $992,890
2. Robert Richardson - $558,792
3. Andrew Barta - $281,011
4. Frank Cieri - $200,261
5. Adam Katz - $151,811
6. Ted Forrest - $103,360

Erik Seidel also wins a seat in the WPT Champpionship at Bellagio later this month.

I am traveling today and at some hub airport out there somewhere I picked up a used copy of the International Edition of the Wall Street Journal and saw a full page ad about poker! The ad is linked to hearings today in Washington D.C. I am still traveling so I will give you what I have.

The ad was run by Prime Table Games, a Las Vegas company; the headline is Who Will Face the Issues? Here is a summary of the highights of the ad:

"It is well known that there are off-shore based Internet gaming operators who are engaged in deceptive practices with American consumers and international players, and there is no adequate system in place to ensure full and appropriate regulation," said Derek Webb, founder of Prime Table Games. "Congress needs to take action soon, or these practices will only get worse."

The House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology will be addressing issues involving Internet gaming on April 2 at 10 a.m. EDT. Prime Table Games' published statement encourages Congress to adopt specific regulatory strategies for consumer protection in Internet gaming.

These regulatory strategies include limitations on solicitations and incentives to gamble, such as bonuses and cash backs; prohibition of affiliate relationships; standard player verification procedures. Players also should be able to self-exclude from Internet gambling sites, and those requests should automatically apply to all sites.

In addition, Internet gambling debts should not be legally recoverable, and the site operator should bear the responsibility to ensure identity verification and that the player can afford to gamble at the level played. A player not paying gambling debts should automatically be placed on an exclusion list from all Internet gambling sites.

"Internet gaming, by its very nature, has great potential for abuse," said Webb. "Site operators also should pay fees towards problem gambling treatment and research."

PartyPoker is proud to announce that the third annual PartyPoker Poker Nations Cup will take place in Cardiff, Wales, between the 7th – 10th April. The team event features line-ups from Germany , Great Britain , Ireland , Sweden , Holland and the United States. The winning team will scoop $100,000 in this unique tournament that sees players pursuing personal and team glory, along with the honour of representing their home nation.

The tournament sees one PartyPoker.com VIP qualifier on each team playing alongside five world class poker professionals from the same participating nations. Each player pays a buy-in of $5,000 making a total prize pool of $280,000 ($100,000 added by PartyPoker). Over six heats, each player will compete once to score points for their team, and individual match winners scoop $20,000 for themselves for their efforts. All six teams will then compete in a “tag” final where each team captain’s judgement is vital, as it is up to them to make tactical substitutions and strategic “time outs.” The size of the team chip stacks for the tag final depend on the points gained by the players in the six heats. The triumphant nation will be the last with a player standing.

Defending champions Sweden will be again captained by Bo Sehlstedt and feature William Thorsson, Johan Storakers, Mats Rahm and last year’s hero Anders Henriksson. Joining them is an online qualifier with serious form in Johan Ocklind, who locked horns with the likes of Patrik Antonius, Tony G and Ilari Sahamies at the Scandinavian Poker Masters cash game last year. He got to sit down with $50,000 in the shark pool and handled himself admirably after qualifying online at PartyPoker.com.

The British team is captained by Roland de Wolfe and features reigning Poker Million champion Joe Beevers, 2008 Irish Open champion Neil Channing, format specialist Ian Frazer and the inimitable Surinder Sunar. Joining them is qualifier Francis Durbin. Captain for the past two years, Dave “The Devilfish” Ulliott is unavailable as he is in the United States . Ireland make a welcome return to the competition and are captained by legend Padraig Parkinson, joined by fellow Irish poker giant Donnacha O’Dea, 2007 Irish Open winner Marty Smith, WSOP bracelet holder Ciaran O’Leary and 2007 PartyPoker European Open champion Liam Flood. Darren O’Brien joins the team as the qualifier.

Team USA is captained by Robert Williamson III and will feature $12 million 2006 WSOP Main Event winner Jamie Gold, the one and only Freddy Deeb, the iconic Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson and Chad Brown . With there being no qualifier from the USA , captain Robert Williamson III has drafted in television host Montel Williams to make his European poker debut. Williams may be better known as a chat show host but he was the leading the WSOP Main Event for a period in 2007.

The German team is captained by Michael Keiner and the former plastic surgeon has moulded together a very strong team. Andreas Krause, one of the top European players last year is a key figure in the line-up as is Benjamin Kang, inaugural PartyPoker German Open winner Sebastian Ruthenberg and WSOP Europe bracelet winner Thomas “Buzzer” Bihl. Thomas Potzal is the qualifier joining this glittering role call of top pros. The Dutch team is captained by Marcel Luske and features Thierry Van der Berg, Eric Van der Berg and Daan Ruiter with Quirijn Van Der Peet the qualifier. Marcel still has one selection to make.

Last year Sweden triumphed over the USA in a rollercoaster tag-final, while the year before there was glory for Great Britain . PartyBets.com make Sweden 3/1 favourites to win again with the USA second favourites at 7/2, Great Britain at 9/2, Ireland at 5/1, Germany at 6/1 and Holland the outsiders at 13/2.

A PartyPoker spokesman said:

“The array of talent on display for the 2008 PartyPoker Poker Nations Cup is brilliant. Sweden have to be favourites to retain their title as their line-up of pros is unchanged and are used to the format and they are arguably strengthened by their online qualifier representative. That said, the USA will take some stopping with the likes of Gold, Ferguson Deeb and Brown on board while Great Britain boasts so many form players in their team. Ireland is a bit of a wildcard but there is little doubt that they have strength in depth in their side while Germany appear much stronger than previous years. The Dutch side led by Marcel have to be seen as the underdogs – the names don’t jump out as much at you as they do with the other line-ups.”