World Series Of Poker

At 10 PM on a Monday night in Las Vegas, two players got together to play some heads up poker. One was from Russia, the other from Denmark. All of the players with big followings of family, friends and fans had been knocked out the day before. This heads up match was going to take place in the 3,000 seat Penn & Teller theatre, which had been a good venue for the nine player final table but was potentially going to be a big empty hall for the late night heads up match.

As the up-close-to-the-stage bleachers were being seated with the remaining friends and family and the ESPN crew got their establishing shots and the Harrah's officials prepared for their last introductions of the very long 2008 World Series.... as all of that preparation went on up on the stage.... Down on media row, I stood there talking with Dr. Pauly, Brad Willis, Michael Craig and Jen Newell. It was about ten minutes before the scheduled start of the Final, no really, Final Table. We all stood there looking up into the vast balconies of the theatre and we shook our collective heads at the sight of the thousands of poker fans who had come out.

I don't know what this says about poker in general or whether the November Nine was a success or not. All I can say is that on a late Monday evening in November, with only two players remaining to play for the World Series of Poker main event championship. There were and are enough poker fans in Las Vegas to fill the theatre and categorically settle all the cynical over/under bets on the crowd size. I don't know how this will all play on ESPN tonight, but at the Rio last night, it was a pretty good show with a great audience.

One of our favorite statistics to follow at final tables is the comparison of how starting chip stacks compare to final finishing position. Here are the starting chip stacks for the November Nine. We will update the finishing positions as they occur.

#1 Dennis Phillips 26,295,000 3rd on hand #169
#2 Ivan Demidov 24,400,000 playing 2nd hand #274
#3 Scott Montgomery 19,690,000 5th on hand #119
#4 Peter Eastgate 18,375,000 playing Champion
#5 Ylon Schwartz 12,525,000 4th on hand #155
#6 Darus Suharto 12,520,000 6th Place on hand #105
#7 David Rheem 10,230,000 7th Place on hand #76
#8 Craig Marquis 10,210,000 9th Place on hand #52
#9 Kelly Kim 2,620,000 8th Place on hand #53

Yes, it is finally here!

Just a few quick notes from inside and outside the Penn & Teller theatre at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

-the place is packed! there are literally hundreds of fans in line for the seats still available;
-final table players have brought large contingents of family and friends;
-the most impressive group has to be the white shirted St. Louis Cardinal red hat wearing Dennis Phillips gang, which easily numbers over 300;
-the press box at the top of the theatre is really a good place to watch the whole scene, but there are really no good media seats in the house, because the main stage is set up for ESPN and the limited audience allowed in the three bleacher sections set up beside it;
-early professional sightings: Phil Gordon, Evelyn Ng, Barry Greenstien, Jerry Yang, Hevad Khan (all the final table players from 2008 were invited to attend);
-the crowd is very noisy, they have even given out those annoying bang sticks, not to mention cow bells and fog horns; this will not be your usual final table.

Cards are in the air at 11:10 AM local time (PST). Read no more today, if you want Tuesday's telecast to be a surprise.

The 2008 World Series of Poker Final Table is finally here. I want to go on record as repeating my first impressions of the delayed Main Event, I think and thought it as a bad idea. The promotion and hype of the "November Nine" never materialized. No one outside of poker knows this is about to happen and those in and around poker are not exactly enthused. Last Friday night at my regular home game, I gave the boys a short Main Event Final Table quiz.

1. When is the final table showing on ESPN?
2. When is the final table actually being played?
3. Name as many of the participants as you can.

Now my poker buddies read a blog or two; they damn well better read this one. They have been to major tournaments and know a fair amount about big circuit events. So they are average poker fans.

-All but one of the gang knew the ESPN show was this Tuesday.
-No one knew the Sunday-Monday actual play schedule.
-Several knew it was not being played Tuesday but when was anyone's guess.
-They did not know that live blogging was being allowed (so if you want Tuesday night to be a surprise, make this the last poker blog you read until then).
-As for the players? Dennis Phillips is chipleader; Chino Rheem is an L.A. pro; the Russian did good at WSOPE; and, er, umm...six other guys.

The final table begins Sunday morning at 10 AM local Las Vegas time. There will be a lot of live media present. They will continue play from where they stopped in July with the two hour levels and regular breaks until they are down to a heads up match.

The two remaining players start up again at 10 PM (yes that late!) on Monday night and play it out. The ESPN broadcast follows (nearly live) Tuesday evening.

Comments and complaints may be directed to whythehelldidtheydothis@harrahs.com

By the way, the staff of PokerBlog were surveyed and the results are:
Cranky Olde Coot - Against the delayed format.
Poker Shrink - For it and will be present at the final table.
Lindy Librarian - Wants to give it a chance.
Lenny - Will there be free food and booze?

As we get closer to the "nearly live" final table of the World Series of Poker, ESPN and other broadcast outlets are beginning to ramp up the promotional hype. Below is the final schedule for the 'first run' ESPN shows. Most other outlets around the world show the same schedule on a 12 to 48 hour delay. ESPN also shows the same episodes twice the following week.

Tuesday, October 28 at 9:00 PM ET –27 players to 18
Tuesday, October 28 at 10:00 PM ET –18 players to 9
Tuesday, November 4 at 10:00 PM ET –Final table preview show
Tuesday, November 11 at 8:00 PM ET –Final table preview show
Tuesday, November 11 at 9:00 PM ET –Final table
Tuesday, November 11 at 10:00 PM ET –Champion Crowned

As you probably know, the live schedule calls for the nine players to assemble on Sunday November 9th and play down to heads up. The two remaining players come back the evening of November 10th and play it out. Then ESPN will decide how much play goes in each of the final two shows. Remember "Heads Up" could last one hand or two hundred.

And what they are playing for:

First Place: $9,119,517
Second Place: $5,790,024
Third Place: $4,503,352
Fourth Place: $3,763,515
Fifth Place: $3,088,012
Sixth Place: $2,412,510
Seventh Place: $1,769,174
Eighth Place: $1,286,672
Ninth Place: $900,670*

*all nine players were paid $900,670 back in July; so the first bustout gets nothing; well actually he gets his share of the interest earned on the remaining prize pool since July.

As we getting closer and closer to the World Series of Poker main event final table. There are more and more betting odds being put out. Here are some of the more interesting from several different online gaming sites:

Here is the final table line-up with chip stacks and seating:

Seat 1: Dennis Phillips - 26,295,000
Seat 2: Craig Marquis - 10,210,000
Seat 3: Ylon Schwartz - 12,525,000
Seat 4: Scott Montgomery - 19,690,000
Seat 5: Darus Suharto - 12,520,000
Seat 6: David 'Chino' Rheem - 10,230,000
Seat 7: Ivan Demidov - 24,400,000
Seat 8: Kelly Kim - 2,620,000
Seat 9: Peter Eastgate - 18,375,000

Odds To Win:

Dennis Phillips - 3/1 (4.5/1 secondary site)
Scott Montgomery - 4/1 (5/1)
Ivan Demidov - 4.5/1 (4.9/1)
Peter Eastgate 5.5/1 (5.6/1)
David 'Chino' Rheem - 7.5/1 (10.5/1)
Ylon Schwartz - 8/1 (9.5/1)
Darus Suharto - 8.5/1 (11.5/1)
Craig Marquis - 10/1 (12/1)
Kelly Kim - 25/1 (40/1)
-not exactly chip for chip.

Odds on First Bustout

Dennis Phillips - 13/1
Ivan Demidov - 10/1
Peter Eastgate 6.5/1
Scott Montgomery - 6.5/1
Ylon Schwartz - 5/1
Darus Suharto - 5/1
Craig Marquis - 4/1
David 'Chino' Rheem - 3.5/1
Kelly Kim - 1.3/1
-after considering the short stack, someone really analyzed the playing styles; fast and aggressive can also mean crash and burn.

What will be the winning hand?
One Pair 2/3
High Card 9/4
Two Pair 3/2
-this is easy with just a bit of poker knowledge and a look at past final tables.

Well they did it again. The ESPN coverage of Day Five of the main event of the World Series of Poker has changed the events as they actually happened. I am referring to the last five minutes where they show Phil Hellmuth going "Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!" on Cristian Dragomir. They got the hand, they got about 50% of Phil's antics and all of Dragomir's reation. They missed the great sideshow with the audience taunting Phil and they missed Mike Matusow, who first laughs hysterically and then later tells Phil he is "way out of line" and he should stop.

I understand they have to edit something out but they completely ignored the penalty given to Phil for his behavior. It was a one orbit penalty, which would have meant over 80,000 of Phil's remaining stack of 720,000 would be blinded off before he was allowed to take this seat the next day. The penalty was a one orbit or nine hand infraction.

But overnight, after an early morning meeting with WSOP commissioner Jeffery Pollack and Tournament Director Jack Effel, the Hellmuth penalty was lifted. Now the Poker Shrink will tell you that the penalty should never have been given and I am not going to argue with him because he was at the feature table at the end of play on Day Five. My complaint is not with the penalty or the reversal of the penalty. I want to know why ESPN is ignoring it.

They had no problem listing Chino Rheem's police record during the show and mentioning Mike Matusow's now five year old run in with the law but a penalty given to albeit the biggest name in poker is not worth mentioning? So much for independent coverage of the Series. Just who is in who's back pocket here?

Day Four of the 2008 World Series of Poker main event runs on ESPN and other international channels for the first time tonight. The massive field is now under 500 players, all in one room and all in one section of the main room at the World Series. "Celebrity Coverage" is over and hopefully we will be seeing more poker and less fluff for the next four weeks.

One thing to look for now is how quickly ESPN is able to pick up coverage of the eventual "November Nine", thus far only David "Chino" Rheem has made an appearance and that was because he was moved to the ESPN feature table on Day One.

Here is the remaining "first run" schedule for the telecast:

October 7th: Day Four (474 players)
October 14th: Day Five (189 players)
October 21st: Day Six (79 players)
October 28th: Day Seven (27 players)
November 4th: ESPN Final Table preview show
November 11th: Nearly Live Final Table (9 players)

When I saw the Day 1A of the WSOP main event on ESPN last week something bothered me. Yeah, sure Norman Chad and the gang were beating on Scotty Nguyen again for his H.O.R.S.E. behavior. Norman (using my worst Chad voice): "That event is over, give it a rest, along with your tired ex-wife, dead-on-arrival, no longer funny, non-jokes."

But it was more than that, something just did not seem right about the "Scotty" aspect of the telecast. So I did some snooping and discovered; lo and behold that ESPN is not simply reporting the World Series of Poker; they are, in fact, creating coverage of events that did not actually happen.

How so you ask?

Well during that episode they have an interview with Scotty, which on its surface appears to be an explanation of his behavior during the $50K H.O.R.S.E. final table. Scotty talks about being pushed around by other players and needing to stand up for himself at the table and fight back or something to that effect. When they cut back to the coverage, Norman Chad says: "That didn't sound like much of an apology."

Well, there is a reason for that. A reason Norman and all the ESPN production staff know but chose not to reveal to the viewers. That particular interview with Scotty Nguyen was shot before the H.O.R.S.E. tournament. Scotty is not talking about his behavior during that event but, in fact, is referring to his play in last year's main event when he imploded and missed the final table. Some judicious and completely prejudicial editing makes it appear that Scotty is talking about the H.O.R.S.E. tournament from this year.

It didn't sound like an apology because it wasn't. Congratulations to ESPN for turning their coverage into something that Jerry Springer would be proud to air, since it fits his show's current tagline so well: "An hour of your life, you will never get back." Or perhaps the ESPN producers just misunderstood the famous Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce line:

"What doesn't happen in Vegas, doesn't have to stay in Vegas when it will sell some beer."

ESPN showed the 2008 WSOP $50K H.O.R.S.E. event for the first time yesterday. If you haven't seen it, there is a lot of controversy about the conduct of several of the players at this prestigious final table; most notable the talk is about eventual champion Scotty Nguyen. Here are just a few points to be considered when watching the event on television or pondering the state of poker as viewed through the lens of this tournament.

Most of the conversation centers around whether Scotty Nguyen was drunk, abusive and/or an ambassador for poker and a role model for the kids. Quite frankly, it is the opinion of this writer that anyone who pays $50,000 to enter a poker tournament can act any way they want. But beyond that there are some real issues:

ESPN gets to present the "facts" of any final table in any way their editing capabilities allow. This final table lasted nearly 15 hours and ended at 5 A.M. ESPN chose to focus on the bad behavior of several players at the final table. Their choice, they paid for the television rights.

PokerNews.com, who have the exclusive rights to get in close and report all of the WSOP final tables, made a decision to not report any of the player interaction in their live internet reporting. Again, a decision based on access.

Was Scotty drunk? I don't know, I couldn't get close enough to get a blood sample.

Does Scotty use his "alleged" drinking to verbally abuse players and put them on tilt? Duh! Yes and if Michael DeMichelle did not know that before the final table, he was simply unprepared to play at this level.

Did DeMichelle get out of line with this celebration after winning some early hands? Yes, but nearly everyone blamed that on his youth. Seems the poker world has agreed that "kids" get to be jerks until they are 25.

Did Scotty use Demichelle's behavior to try and tilt him? Again, yes; this is poker folks, if you can get an edge you do it.

Was Erick Lindgren the hero for his good behavior when they got down to the nasty stuff with three players remaining? No, that was his way of taking advantage of the situation. Any edge, any time; again its poker.

Should the WSOP staff have done something to modify Scotty's behavior? Look what happened a few weeks later when they tried to reign in Phil Hellmuth, the penalty was overruled by higher ups. The floor staff know which players get a 'bye' when it comes to rule enforcement.

It is clear that this was good television. Good for poker? Who knows? But it was good TV and afterall, despite all of the lip service to etiquette and good manners; eyeballs on the tube are what poker needs these days.

So we are about a month past the selection of the November Nine. Being wired into the poker media underground, I decided to remain completely inactive regarding the November WSOP final table and see what came to me. Until the last couple of days, the sum total was nearly nothing. Now we really shouldn't expect a four month blitz of news and interviews; I mean the Super Bowl and the World Cup combined can barely muster a month of meaningless news bytes. But many in the poker world feel the silence has been deafening.

Every player seems to have had a flurry of local newspapers, radio and television interviews; and slowly the various poker websites have begun their obligatory November Nine player pieces. We also expect ESPN to begin to amp up the noise once the early days of the main event begin showing in September.

But let's talk about the one simmering topic that has been making the rounds:

"The November Nine is going to be a flop because it is a table of nobodies."

First, the obvious---yes everyone involved was hoping that one or even two big names or at least recognizable names would make the final table. There were audible expletives muttered as first Hellmuth, then Matusow went out on Day Six and then the last hope, Tiffany Michele, went down in a blaze of sponsorship greed and harassment on Day Seven.

But let me pose a question and then direct you to some discussion on this whole idea of "The Unknown Nine". Outside of insiders in the poker world, the last four final tables have basically had one "known": Lee Watkinson (2007), Allen Cunningham (2006), Mike Matusow (2005), Dan Harrington (2004). Today, however, most of us "know" not just: Jerry Yang, Jamie Gold, Joe Hachem and Greg Raymer, but also Hevad Khan, Paul Wasicka, Steve Dannenmann, Raymond Rahme, Michael Binger, David Williams and perhaps a few more final tablists. So the question is:

"Are these nine players really unknowns?"

We invite you to join a discussion on this topic by clicking here.

Chipleader Dennis Phillips (26,295,000) is not the odds on favorite to win the WSOP Main Event, he is listed at 5/1 on PartyBets.

Ivan Demidov (24,400,000) with the second largest chipstack has been installed as the favourite to win the November World Series of Poker main event final table. Ivan currently is listed at 3.68/1.

Scott Montgomery (19,690,000) is offered at 6/1.

Peter Eastgate (13,750,000) is 7/1 to win at PartyBets, while David Rheem (10,230,000) is listed today at 9/1. Ylon Schwartz (15,525,000), Darus Suharto (15,2000,000)and Craig Marquis (10,210,000) are all 11/1.

And finally the chances of short stack Kelly Kim (2,620,000) taking down the $9 million prize are rated at 26/1.

Ivan Demidov 3.68*
Dennis Phillips 5.00*
Scott Montgomery 6.00
Peter Eastgate 7.00
David Rheem 9.00
Ylon Schwartz 11.00
Darus Suharto 11.00
Craig Marquis 11.00
Kelly Kim 26.00

*Demidov and Phillips opened as 4/1 co-favourites, apparently some early money came in on the Russian.

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

"And then there were nine."

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The World Series of Poker got down to the nine survivors; the final table; the November Nine. There were a lot of different reactions when that finally happened.

Relief that it was over.

A sense of being cheated because it wasn't really over.

The beginning of a long period of delayed gratification.

A cool celebration at the final table.

An unsatisfactory celebration because we had not a champion.

As you all know, I was for the delayed WSOP final table from the beginning but you also know I was pulling and praying for at least one "name" player to make the final nine; that did not happen. So we begin a long walk and wait until November. How will this all play out? Well at this point everyone has an opinion and no one has an answer.

This is just the first of many "9" posts.

Whatever your favorite four letter word is, today is the time to mutter it under your breath. No need to shout it out loud, no need to shake your fist and rant to the gods, just mutter it quietly and dream of what might have been. There will be no "big" name at the World Series final table in November. I know the odds were long on someone making it but yesterday they played down to 27 and lost Hellmuth and Matusow. Damn that would have been great. Four months of either of those guys would have been just amazing for poker.

Now the publicity machines will have to focus on the nine who survive today and try to create some interesting characters. Tiffany Michelle is the one player remaining who it might be possible to elevate to some real level of celebrity. Also in the mix are Brandon Cantu and Phi Nguyen both are "know professionals" to the poker world. But it was sad and painful when Matusow left the field in 30th place. The last chance at a truly big show for November was resting on his shoulders and, of course, he got nailed by a 3 outer; but the real bad beat was delivered not to Mike but to the Fall Final.

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.

Let's be honest, there are WSOP officials on their knees every morning praying that at least one BIG name player makes it to the November final table. Nevermind what they say in public, ESPN programmers are burning incense and killing chickens hoping that someone everyone knows makes it to the final nine.

I heard a veteran poker writer say the other day that if a big name pro gets as close as Scotty Nguyen did last year, they would drag him away from the table so he can't donk off his chips and miss the monster TV event.

So who is still around to fulfill this fantasy?

Dag Martin Mikkelsen 931000
Alexander Kostritsyn 887000
Matt Matros 822500
Jon Turner 726500
Shawn Sheikhan 724000
Brandon Cantu 710000
Jeff Kimber 632500
Phil Hellmuth 475000
Victor Ramdin 471000
Mark Vos 468000
Hoyt Corkins 439500
Mike Matusow 438500

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:

When the Main Event resumes today for Day 3, there will be 1308 players left standing. Lots of reports expressed surprise at the pace of both Day 2's. But compared to 2007, we still have a long way to go.

Here is how '07 played down:

Day 3: 797 played down to 337
Day 4: 337 played down to 112
Day 5: 112 played to 36
Day 6: 36 played down to 9
Day 0: Day Off
Day 7: Final Table

Those who were here last July remember some very late nights on Days 4, 5 & 6. But the schedulers have noted that problem and added one full day to the 2008 Final (Summer) Week.

Thursday Day 3: 1308 playing down to xxx
Friday Day 4: xxx playing down to yyy
Saturday Day 5: yyy playing to zz or zzz
Sunday Day 6: zz or zzz playing down to 36
Monday Day 7: 36 playing down to November Nine
November: Final Table

The Plan remains in place to play five 2 hour levels each day or less as needed to reach the final table. As of now only Day Six or Seven seem in any jeopardy of needing extended time, which is normal for any large field tournament.

I heard a lot of talk about Phil Hellmuth making "history" with his eleventh World Series of Poker win this summer. Now this is not an anti-Phil rant. It is a "Get a Clue" rant directed at anyone and everyone who thinks poker is "more than a card game."

For years I have had a problem with baseball nuts. You know them, they often say things like: "Baseball is more than a game." They will even go so far as you use James Earl Jone's voice. They are aging journalists who write books about "The Boys of Summer" or "America's Pasttime." Now these idiots are creeping into poker. So let me say this clearly. Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss and Jimmy the Greek are not historical figures.

Poker is a game It's Not History!

Just so we are clear. Here are a few examples.

The picture of Buzz Aldrin at the top of the post--that is history!
Lance Armstrong winning six bicycle races is not history.
The D-Day invasion on June 6th, 1944 is history.
Barry Bonds with or without drugs is not history.
Johnny Unitas, Mickey Mantle, Pele: all not history.
Jamie Gold-definitely not history.
This post and all of my other posts-never going to be history.

A bit of historical perspective-priceless.

That's all for today, go back to your sports page but check the front page for the history (unless you are reading a Rupert Murdoch owned paper).

A World Series of Poker "Bracelet" Quiz today. See how much you know about the top 'multiple bracelet' winners. For those of you who think you are WSOP history masters, skip down past the break and try to list the top bracelet winners in order--for the rest of us humans--I will ask you questions and give you hints as needed to fill in the arms to wear the bracelets.

#1: If you don't get this one, give up the quiz immediately. Who is the only player with 11 WSOP bracelets?

#2: Name the two players with 10 bracelets each. You need to get the first two questions correct to qualify for the fast money round.

There will be a hint for question #3.

#3: Who is the only player with 9 WSOP wins?

HINT: He won the very first main event.
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ANSWERS: 1-Phil Hellmuth Jr.; 2-Johnny Chan & Doyle Brunson; 3-Johnny Moss. You need at least 3 out of 4 to continue.

You know the feeling when you are doing your job the best you can and some half-wit does his job wrong just because he is too lazy or too clueless to do it right. This is a quote from the Cover Story on the WSOP Main Event from Gaming Online Magazine Sept./Oct. 2006, words and photos by Carl Friedmann.

"As the field whittled down at an astonishing rate, organizers had to scramble to somehow put the brakes on the event so it didn't culminate early. And in a move unseen in WSOP history, the day before the final table, August 9, was declared a day off."

Please note that Carl Friedmann, Editor of Gaming Online Magazine, must have been at the Rio as he is credited for both words and photos and the article has several photos taken at the final table. Therefore, I feel completely justified in saying that this is some of the worst reporting of facts I have seen since reading the last issue of CardPlayer.

Anyone, I repeat Anyone, who was at the Series this year during any part of the main event would only have had to ask anyone else in the media room or any player in the event or anyone remotely associated with the WSOP to know that there was no "astonishing rate" and there was no "putting on the brakes." In fact, just the opposite was true. The tournament directors pushed the players late into the night day after day, without tellling them their intentions to get a free day before the final table because ESPN wanted it. There was a near player revolt one night when it was announced that play would continue even though the published "players remaining" number had been reached.

This was common knowledge among everyone who was actually doing their job and paying even minimal attention to the progress of the Main Event. But apparently "making it up as you go" is the standard for some rags.