Wsop

Here are some of the words of wisdom I have overheard at the tables during the '08 World Series of Poker.

"Man I took those after my back surgery, how do you stay awake at the table?" "Who said I stay awake, this is only poker."

You get to meet so many different people at the Series:

"They have broken my table four times today; its not that I mind moving but you guys are nowhere near as cute as my last table."

In the different strokes for different folks category:

"I don't want to win the free massage, my wife would never understand."
"What does your wife do?"
"She dances in the Folies at the Tropicana."

The next four were all sung badly by two players at a 7 Stud table:

"Momma don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys."
"Momma don't let your babies grow up to be poker players."
"Momma don't let your babies grow up to be dealers."
"Momma don't let your babies grow up to be President."

Player busting out late on Day 2B:

"I woulda made money in any other event."

In fact he outlasted 4500+ players, which would have easily won every WSOP tournament, except of course, the Main Event.

At the World Series of Poker, you get to play against all those great professionals you see on television:

"I like Annie Duke on those days when she is Howard Lederer's sister but sometimes she acts like Phil Hellmuth is her brother."

This is my favorite, a guy with a good read but no follow thru.

"I hate it when I'm drawing dead . . . . how much did you bet?"

And finally, what we have all come to know as The Moneymaker Dream:

"If Jerry Yang can win this thing then so can I!"

I had several interesting conversations in the last 24 hours about the math involving entrants on the Day 2's of the Series. Surprisingly there is a wide range of opinions about these numbers.

The basic formula we are talking about is this:

Day 1A survivors + Day 1B survivors = Day 2A combined field
Day 1C survivors + Day 1D survivors = Day 2B combined field

Which works out in actual numbers to this:

636 + 615 = 1,251
1026 + 1352 = 2,378

This all comes about because the starting fields for Days 1A & 1B were much smaller than for Days 1C & 1D.

The question is: Are players at any disadvantage starting their Day 2 with a field of 1,250 or 2,378 and if so, why?

What surprised me is that some of the same "mathematical" reasoning goes into arguments that either of the two fields gives some hidden and unfair advantage to the players in that flight. Here are a few of the "facts" I have heard:

As I mentioned yesterday, this is the official Day Off for the 2008 Main Event. There is a $500 Casino Employees event and a Charity Media Tournament but the only real high or low-lite will be the WSOP News Conference, if anything comes out of that lovefest, we will report details later; otherwise--see you tomorrow for Day 2A of The Greatest Tournament in the World brought to you by Milwaukee's Best Lite.

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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.

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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

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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

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The beginning of the beginning of the end....

Fifty-One bracelets have been handed out; two more are ready to be presented today; the Player of the Year has been determined, congratulations to Erick Lindgren; the Ante Up for Africa event goes off today. Then, finally, we get to the Main Event and we answer most of the questions everyone has waited for.

Will we have more entries than last year?

Will the professionals somehow continue their dominance they have shown thru 53 preliminary events?

Will it all run as smooth as the tournaments have run so far? By the way, nice job to the WSOP staff this was truly a nicely run Series so far. Minor mistakes, quick fixes and overall solid and uniform floor decisions. Kudos to Tournament Director Jack Effel and his WSOP floor staff.

Another great move comes later this week, when the WSOP Media event is brought back with substantial prizes given to the favorite charities of the final table participants. A great solution to that on again off again event.

Then tomorrow we reach the 2008 World Series of Poker $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event. Four Day One flights, two Day Two flights and five more days to play down to the "November Nine" or the "Fall Final". Then all the WSOP eggs go into that ESPN/November basket and we all wait, watch, hope and pray. No matter who you favor in that mass of poker humanity, say a little prayer that at least one or two "names" make it to the final nine. Nothing could be better for poker than to see Scotty, Mike, Phil, Phil, Erick, Jennifer, Antonio, Gus, Daniel, Joe, Johnny** or heaven help us Doyle! make the final table.

It all starts tomorrow.

**Dewey, Cyndy, Bill, Gavin, Carlos, Chris, Doug, Liz, David, Tony, Lyle, Barry, Berry, Huck, Patrik, David, the other Phil and the other Phil, Greg, Layne, Chad, Isabelle, Todd, Freddy, T.J., Michael, Mike again, Ted, Gabe, Andy, Howard, John, John, John or John, Lee, Annie, Eli, Hoyt, Andy or even Jerry.

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

First and foremost, congratulations to Scotty Nguyen for taking down the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. and being the first player to hold the Chip Reese trophy. Scotty has an amazing track record over nearly 20 years of playing poker. His record, of course, includes the 1998 World Series of Poker main event championship and tournament earnings approaching Ten Million Dollars. Now Scotty adds to his legend, taking down the most prestigious tournament in professional poker.

But like so many great careers there is a dark side to Scotty's, one episode of which took place last summer at the 2007 WSOP main event. With twelve players remaining in the hunt for the final table nine, Scotty Nguyen was the chipleader and, as we all know, he did not make the final table. That crash and burn troubled Scotty for many months and will probably never be forgotten in poker lore.

Fast forward to this summer, the very next World Series of Poker main event and add to the mixture: the delayed final table. Combine these two events and I offered to you the "Scotty Nguyen Syndrome".

Syndrome: a predictable, characteristic pattern of behavior, action, etc., that tends to occur under certain circumstances

I don't know when it will hit and it will not affect all players at the same moment but somewhere around 18 players or 27 players; maybe even as high as 36 or even 45 players for some, it will appear. This is not just the World Series of Poker Final Table, no this is the "November Nine", the "Fall Final".

And as sure as it will be 108 degrees in Las Vegas, each an every player who survives to Day Six on July 13th and certainly to Day Seven on July 14th, each of those players will experience the "Scotty Nguyen Syndrome".

To get that close to four months of publicity and interviews and endorsements and fame and potential fortune and who knows what else... The "SNS" is going to massively effect play whenever it sets in. Players will get tight, really tight; decisions will take longer, a lot longer; tempers will shorten, in some cases really, really shorten; table talk, hand winning celebrations and anything resembling angle shooting will be scrutinized, analyzed and penalized? Floor decisions will be magnified out of all proportion, imagine giving a player a two round penalty on the bubble!

The final table bubble itself will be much bigger, extending out to at least 27 players. The media coverage will be more intense and more critical than ever before. And the players...? Well the players will not be themselves because they will be playing under the influence of the "Scotty Nguyen Syndrome".

Rumor has it that Corona will lessen but not alleviate the symptoms of the syndrome but there is a rebound effect if you excede a twelve pak in less than two full tournament levels. Perhaps Harrah's should supply extra massage staff for the final four tables or just rig cold showers above the tables like they do in hazardous material labs. And people say poker is not a sport.....

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!)

Day One of the $50,000 Hold'em, Omaha 8, Razz, Stud, Stud Eight or better tournament is in the books. Event #45 of the 2008 World Series of Poker is the fifty thousand dollar World Championship H.O.R.S.E. tournament, which is perhaps even more anticipated than the main event starting next week. The 50K HORSE is a very unique event at the World Series of Poker, here are some random observations from Day One of this truly unusual tournament.

For poker fans on site and the media, today is the best day of the World Series of Poker. I wonder about the thoughts behind today's schedule as far as player comfort but the who cares today will be fun.

At noon there is the second of the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em w/ rebuys event. As you probably know the professionals play these rebuy events very differently than the amateurs. The pros will show up with the cash for 20 or more rebuys and they play the early rounds to get money out on the table. Building a big stack can only be accomplished at an "action table", so the pros create action. In the early rebuy rounds you will see two things over and over: first, there will be lots of all-ins pre-flop and even more players pushing on the flop; second, you will see a lot of shell-shocked amateurs with one or two rebuys in their pocket being run down by the pros ready to indiscriminately gamble it up.

This is a fun two hours of rebuy poker madness, well maybe not so much fun for those spendthrift rookies with only a single rebuy. And today's event will be even more wild since about 150 or so of the top players will be throwing even more chips around because if they can't build a monster stack than they would rather bust out early because they have another appointment later this afternoon.

The size of the World Series of Poker has grown dramatically over the past decade. In 1999, the entire Series was 16 events. In 2002, for the first time, there were more than thirty separate tournaments. In both 2007 and 2008 the WSOP has offered 55 bracelet events. With the "poker boom" has come some conflicts between the desires of the professional players for a more diverse (non-Hold'em) schedule with higher buy-ins and the attempt to make the World Series truly open to all players. The focus of this "low end" diversity has become the $1500 No Limit Hold'em tournaments.

In 2007, there were six $1,500 No Limit Hold'em tournaments, which amounted to about one every Saturday. In 2008, there are seven of these events. But has the increase in "small buy-in" events worked for the WSOP. And, yes we notice, that $1,500 is not what most poker players on the planet consider "small", but that is fodder for another post.

Five of the seven $1,500 NLHE events have been played this year and to date the numbers compared to last year are up about 700 players in total. Perhaps more significantly, we are talking about events that have drawn in excess of 2300 players for each start. The only other WSOP events over 1,000 players this year have been the two $2,000 NLHE tournaments and the $1,000 Seniors event.

The $10,000 Omaha 8 or better is down to the final two tables and early this evening, we could have another (over)loaded final table. Here is where they stand at present, I will keep updating until the lure of being at the Rio watching my guy play becomes overwhelming.

Ten Handed -the final table technically begins at nine players but it appears they may keep playing rather than break for the traditional Final Table dinner, so I am off to the Rio to sweat the final nine.

1 Hieu "Tony" Ma
2 Jason Gray
3 Ram Vaswani
4 Toto Leonidas
5 Berry Johnston
6 David Chiu
7 Mike Matusow 5th place
8 David Benyamine Champion
9 Greg Jamison
10 Eugene Katchalov

X Ray Dehkharghani 18th place
X William McMahan 17th place
X Danny Dang 13th place
X Brent Carter 16th place
X Shun Uchida 11th place
X Pat Pezzin 14th place
X Chau Giang 12th place
X Stuart Paterson 15th place

“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).

Another packed final table goes off today in Event #28 $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha w/ rebuys. Johnny Chan is after bracelet number eleven and Phil Hellmuth, though short-stacked is in the hunt for number twelve. Add to that mix John Juanda, David Benyamine at another final table, Kirill Gerasimov, some kid named Daniel Negreanu, Phil Galfond enters as chipleader and local professional Brian Rast in second. This will be another of those special final tables.

Here is the line-up as they get ready to go at it later this afternoon.
[We are updating as players are eliminated, summary below]

2 AM: Phil Galfond's sixth WSOP cash is his biggest so far (by about $800,000), as is Adam Hourani's second WSOP cash (about $450K larger). Over 100 hands heads up were needed to settle the bracelet matter between these two well known internet players.

Phil Galfond (Madison, Wisconsin) -- 1st place
Adam Hourani (East Lansing, Michigan) -- 2nd place
David Benyamine (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 3rd place
Johnny Chan (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 4th place
Kirill Gerasimov (Moscow, Russia) -- 5th place
John Juanda (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 6th place
Daniel Negreanu (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 7th place
Phil Hellmuth (Palo Alto, California) -- 8th place
Brian Rast (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 9th place

David Benyamine 3rd place. David played his Aces strong but ran into a set of Queens.

Johnny Chan 4th place and the bid for an 11th bracelet is over.

Kirill Gerasimov 5th place.

John Juanda 6th place, Daniel Negreanu 7th place, Phil Hellmuth 8th place Late in level three, three superstars were sent to the rail.

Brian Rast 9th place It took nearly two full levels and lots of chips moving around the table before we lost our first player. Brian Rast, local professional known to many internet players as tsarast, got it in ahead but was run down on the river by the current chipleader: Johnny Chan.

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)

In a masterful performance at an epic final table, Mike Matusow took down the Deuce-to-Seven Lowball evening early this morning. The Poker Shrink was there for every hand at what truly was a final table for the ages. Tomorrow I will give you some details that you will find nowhere else; as many of you know I am working on Mike's biography and we spoke often during the twelve hour final table. In addition, we are going to get together after we both have had some sleep and then we will go over the entire final table from Mike's perspective. I will share some of that insight with you just as soon as Mike and I talk later today.

Until then congratulations Mike and good night or good morning from all of us here in the wee morning hours from Las Vegas.

[I apologize for the lingering promise of a follow-up article on Mike's win, but the truth is that the truth is so good, I am afraid it is going to have to wait for the final chapter of Mike's book.]

On this second Sunday of the 2008 World Series, a lot of attention will be focused on the final table of Event #12: $1,500 Limit Hold’em. Yes, Vinnie Vinh leads going into day three of this tournament but a lot more interest will be paid to the number two man on the leader board, Erick Lindgren. The speculation, of course, is whether Erick can land a second bracelet in less than a week.

A lot of casual observers might see such a double-barreled feat as the result of a good run of cards or just a very good player being overdue. Perhaps a closer look into at just what the first week or so of the Series really looks like to a poker professional like Erick Lindgren might be illuminating.

Friday May 30th, Event #1: $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em. Erick plays about eight hours before having his set of aces lose to another set with a bigger kicker.

Sunday June 1st, Event #2 Day 1B: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em. Erick is mostly card dead and goes out about mid-way in level three, still time for 18 holes before dusk.

Monday June 2nd, Event #4 (5 PM start): $5,000 Mixed Hold’em. Erick and ninety other players survive day one from a starting field of 332. With 8,400 chips. Erick Lindgren’s name is no where near the top of the leader board; not with the leader over 100,000.

No, I am not rethinking my position on moving the WSOP main event final table to November. I am for it, I have been for it since the first rumors last fall, I remain steadfast in the belief that this is a well thought out move to attract more fans to the Series and to insure continuing television coverage.

What I am hearing from players, both professional and otherwise, is that they are coming around to favor the "November Nine" idea. I certainly understand the initial reaction to such a big change. Lots of folks truly love this game and do not like it changing. I, myself, am not a traditionalist but for a truly moving statement about that aspect of the game, might I recommend an article by Amy Calistri.

As weeks have past and the whole idea has had time to be pondered and debated, more and more players are seeing the rationale for the move. Poker needs a boost and this just might do it. At nearly every table, this move comes up, more and more we hear positive remarks and a good deal of a 'wait and see' attitude. If it doesn't work then they just change it back next year. But it is worth the attempt and I applaud the WSOP staff for moving forward with this; just as I like to acknowledge them for making the summer of 2008 the year of "no tents at the Series". After all, not every experiment works.

I am not so fond of the label: "November Nine". It's just flat and doesn't evoke much. Now if they had asked me for a suggestion, need I point out who came up with Sequestrium last summer? I would have gone for: "The Fall Final". Emphasizes the event not the players and sounds just a bit like The Fall Classic.

The 2008 World Series of Poker is off to a great start but when we look back in a few years I predict this will be the year everyone remembers. Already several professionals have told me that they expect this year to be: "the last big year for poker." Why? Well there a number of reasons.

First and foremost, the World Series of Poker is still an American phenomenon. Sure 87 countries were represented at the 2007 WSOP but 95% of the players over the seven weeks of the Series come from the U.S. Right now the U.S. economy is having some hard times. Gas prices are high, prices are up and the dollar is down. This may well be the perfect storm for poker.

Next, the television contacts that have fueled the poker boom are in jeopardy. The WSOP move of the main event final table to November is about ratings on ESPN. If that doesn't work, the decline will be confirmed. In fact, we may know before November just how strong the Series is performing just by watching the registration numbers.

There are other factors. The UIGEA in the States, the continuing trade squabbles among the EU nations, the restricted access to online gaming throughout the Far East, but the highlight of any poker year remains the World Series of Poker. There is no tournament that compares. We may never go back to main events under 1,000 players but the days of 6,000, 7,000, 8,000; those may be gone forever or at least we are on the verge of the Poker Eclipse of 2008.

The summer of 2008 will be long remember as the watershed year of the poker boom. Stay tuned, I will update you on this theme throughout the summer with the numbers and the comments from both players and other insiders who will be living and playing at the Rio for the next seven weeks.

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.]
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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)

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

Has anyone ever won the World Series of Poker main event with pocket aces?

No. Well as far as we know because what Johnny Moss won with was not saved for posterity. But for the 35 winners we do know about, no one has won with pocket rockets.

Has anyone ever lost the WSOP main event with pocket aces?

Yes,in fact it has happened twice.

In 1979, Bobby Hoff had AA and lost to Hal Fowler's 7s6d.
In 2001, Dewey Tomko had AA and lost to Carlos Mortensen with KcQc.

Other notable final hands:

Greg Raymer (2004) and Jerry Yang (2007) both had pocket 8s on the final hand.

In both 1976 and 1977, Doyle Brunson's winning hand was 10-2.

Dan Harrington (1995) and Huck Seed (1996) won back-to-back with 9d8d.

In 1999, Noel Furlong held 55 and Alan Goehring had 66 but the fives won.

Bobby Baldwin (1978) and Tom McEvoy (1983) both won with pocket queens.

Sailor Roberts (1975) and Phil Hellmuth (1989) held 99 on their final hand.

And the worst starting hand to ever win?

Well we know a lot of the "final" hands involve big stacks calling with any two but that being acknowledged-in 1992, Hamid Dastmalchi held 8h4s and won the first prize of a million dollars.

OK, I admit it, I like to gamble, to bet, to wager. My sports betting habits are however a bit strange. I am bored by whether the Tigers will defeat the Falcons or if the Bruins can beat the spread against United.

I like prop bets! And when those aren't available I really like nonsense bets against the odds, like the lines on various aspects of the World Series of Poker that came out today. Here are a few of my favorites:

Number of Entrants in the Main Event:

Under 2000 33 - 1
2000-2499 250 - 1
2500-2999 200 - 1
3000-3499 125 - 1
3500-3999 80 - 1
4000-4499 40 - 1
4500-4999 25 - 1
5000-5499 11 - 1
5500-5999 6 - 1
6000-6499 5 - 1
6500-6999 7 - 2
7000-7499 4 - 1
7500-7999 5 - 1
8000-8499 13 - 2
8500-8999 9 - 1
9000+ 7 - 2

I gotta go with the favorite here, right around 6700.
The under 2,000 number must be in case of terrorist attack.
The over 9,000 folks have been drinking heavily.

To Make the Final Table of the Main Event:

Just my personal favorites here and a few "Necessary Notables".

Carlos Mortensen 100 - 1
Daniel Negreanu 100 - 1
Gus Hansen 100 - 1
Phil Hellmuth 100 - 1
Phil Ivey 100 - 1

There are many tournaments running in Las Vegas this summer either in competition with the World Series of Poker or in an attempt to pick up some lower limit tournament players who may be in town as fans or satellite players at the WSOP.

Here is an integrated list for all of these tournaments.

Thursday May 29th
12:00 PM World Series of Poker (Rio) $500 WPA Mega Satellite 1 Day
12:00 PM Deep Stack Extravaganza (Venetian) $330 NLHE (Casino Employees) 2 Day
2:00 PM Binion's Poker Classic $150 NLHE 1 Day

Friday May 30th
12:00 PM World Series of Poker (Rio) $10,000 Pot Limit Hold'em 3 Day
12:00 PM Deep Stack Extravaganza (Venetian) $540 NLHE 2 Day
2:00 PM Binion's Poker Classic $150 NLHE 1 Day

Saturday May 31st
12:00 PM World Series of Poker (Rio) $1,500 NLHE 4 Day
12:00 PM Deep Stack Extravaganza (Venetian) $540 NLHE 2 Day
4:00 PM Binion's Poker Classic $150 Pot Limit Hold'em 1 Day

June and July after the break.