WSOP 2011 Main Event Day 1 (A-D)

Although the first days of the main event are a wonderful and exciting affair for the thousands of players who cram into the Rio to play them, it's nothing that can't be handled in a single blog post, so here's a recap of the four day 1's:

Day 1 A

Players: 897
Remaining at end of day: 560
Biggest stack: Fred Berger - 210k
Notable eliminations: Doyle Brunson, Greg Raymer
Other notables: Matt Affleck (made deep runs last two years, cried, poor guy)

Day 1 B

Players: 985
Remaining at end of day: 600
Biggest stack: Ben Lamb (who else, hope he binks and takes POY) - 190k
Notable eliminations: Michael Mizrachi, Noah Schwartz
Other notables: None? Boring day...

Day 1 C

Players: 2,181 (!!)
Remaining at end of day: around 1,300
Biggest stack: Kevin Song - 163k (interesting that the biggest field has the smallest chip leader)
Notable eliminations: Ms. Ellen Deeb (91 year old grandmother of Shaun Deeb)
Other notables: Helmuth finishes on 12k

Day 1 C

Players: 2,802
Remaining at end of day: around 1,800
Biggest stack: Maynard Little - 180k
Notable eliminations: Tom Dwan, Antonio Esfandiari, David Williams
Other notables: Jamie 'best bluffer in the world' Gold (82k) Darvin Moon (48k)

WSOP 2011 Main Event Totals

Field: 6,865
First prize: $8,700,000
Total prize pool: $64,531,000
Places paid: 693
Min cash: $20k

We have our final numbers as the player tally reaches a line busting 6,865. Many people's predictions for the first post Black Friday WSOP Main Event were in the mid 5k's, so congratulations if you took the over. I thought they'd struggle to make it to 6k with the absence of the usual online qualifiers, but if would appear, for this year at least, that the WSOP will go on regardless.

There are other factors of course - that 'one final shot at a big score before I have to go get a job' outlook many have spoken of, the 'I have my $100k PokerStars bankroll sitting in my current account' crew and the 'Online whatdidyousay?' crowd.

That wraps up the day ones in a quick and easy format. Around 4,500 players remain and Day 2a starts today with around 2,000 players back at the felt to try to last another day with something resembling a stack.

Next update after the completion of Day 2b.

Links from day 1:

Wicked Chops Girls of the Main Event

Tao of Poker - Nice stats and general awesomeness, found this after my roundup above

Pokerati - DonkeyBomber's 2011 WSOP Wrap-Up

Pokernews - Live reporting

Bluff Magazine - Ongoing coverage

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WSOP Day 21 - Helmuth Denied

The final day of Event #33: $10,000 Stud 8 or Better Championship had a star studded final day with David Benyamine, Ted Forrest and Phil Helmuth all making the final table.

All eyes were on Helmuth as he battled his way through the final table to get heads up with eventual champion Eric Rodawig. Rodawig went into heads-up with a large chip lead and managed to deny Helmuth his 12th WSOP bracelet in the process of winning his first and $442k.

There is some good news for Helmuth as he now tops the WSOP Player of the Year standings, just edging out Sam Stein and John Juanda. He'll need to work hard to stay up near the top but he definitely has a shot, and he'll almost certainly care about this.

Event #32: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em also awarded a bracelet on day 21 and Kirk Caldwell was the man to take it down. Caldwell brings the tally of Canadian players to win a WSOP bracelet to four.

31 year old Caldwell won his entry to the $1,500 event by winning a local satellite tournament and this win is not only his first cash at the WSOP, but his first ever event. This is the stuff dreams are made of for amateur players and Caldwell seems deserving of the win - he's even offered to back the player he beat heads up for the seat into the WSOP Main Event. Some of the $668k prize money will be split between Caldwell's friends back home in Ontario as part of a deal they made for the tournament.

Let's hope some of the bigger media and reporting sites run with the story a little, as this is the kind of thing the WSOP needs!

It looks like the cash game action is picking up as a few high stakes regulars (Daniel Cates and Brian Hastings, among others) have Tweeted recently about the games. It looks like at least a 500/1k is running at the Rio. Check out WSOP Live Action to keep an eye on what's running.

The WSOP numbers in general continue to look healthy according to wsop.com. Total participation is up over 10% and prize money up over 8% compared to 2010. It's hard to compare turnouts and prizepools on a like-for-like basis as the schedules are a little different, but things certainly aren't as bad as some feared post Black Friday. It'll be worth checking back in a week or so to see if the numbers hold up, and we still have that mega barometer of poker economy health yet to come.

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WSOP Day 5, Black Friday in Mainstream Media (again)

Many a 'player to win their first bracelet in 2011' bet was off to a quick start with Eugene Katchalov winning Event #5: $1,500 Seven Card Stud and a not insignificant $122,909. I'm sure Katchalov would have been a popular pick (he went early in both of the drafts I participated in) so a few people will be paying up already. Katchalov is a NLHE specialist by trade, making the win that much more impressive. I might have to put him on my multiple bracelet in 2011 list...

The hugely popular Maria Ho made her first WSOP final table in Event #4: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em which is now down to 3 now after 4 started the final day. Allen Bari has a huge chip lead with over 9m chips to Ho and Sean LeFort's 2m each. It would be nice to see a woman take down a bracelet this earlier, especially if it's Maria!


Event #9: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball, a triple chance (players get two add on chips) event gets underway with a half decent 275 players in the field. Jimmy 'Gobboboy' Fricke and George Lind have enough chips to make the biggest stacks to end day one. Hopefully Jimmy can make a deep run, I'm a big fan of his work on Pokerroad and behind the scenes on the Pokerstars Big Game.

Interesting article on the Fox News website about the effect Black Friday has had on families who rely on online poker as the main source of household income. It;'s great to see a few more 'real' stories come out of Black Friday instead of the 'oh no, I can't buy another $2m apartment/Bentley/$50k watch' type stories. The stories in the upcoming BOOM documentary seem to focus on the same issues, which should get people thinking about some of the more heartwarming stories.

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BOOM - Poker Documentry Trailer

More great work from Ryan Firpo, Jay Rosenkrantz and Taylor Caby.

From what I understand there are a number of high stakes cash game players involved in the project, both in content and in financing.

You can see the trailer here:

They started producing/filming this before Black Friday, so my hat goes off to them for adjusting the content and coninuing with the project.

AP/UB File For Bankruptcy

Well, I can't say I'm surprised.

I never really played at either site, mostly because when I first tried back in 2007 I didn't really like the software and beyond that everything that was widely reported on various news sites and forums put me off for good. Other sites had great software, great games and great support, so there was no reason to play at either.

I really don't think people should have been playing there. I understand that many of the players may not have known, and not everyone reads ITH/2+2 or other sites they would have seen the news and details on but many people played there simply because it was soft and the games were better than they were elsewhere.

I don't believe that these people deserve to lose thier money in any way, because nobody does, but if you were educated on the matter (and you have to assume that most people with big balances were) then you really should have known better.

Sadly, for those with large balances trying to sell at ~15c on the dollar: I don't even think your funds there are worth that.

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US Players Starting To Get Money Back

Great news that PokerStars has started to pay out to US players who are no longer able to play on the site.

Reports are that withdrawals are processing with little or no problems.

This should ease some of the concern around smaller numbers at the WSOP this year and give lots of players hope that funds from other sites will be recovered.

I wonder what all the players with huge balances will do with the money? I'm sure we'll hear some great tales of degeneracy in the coming months.

Fingers crossed for those with money in Full Tilt and AP/UB.

This is a great boost to me personally as the majority of the players I back play on Stars (In addition to non-US facing sites) so while I still face some interesting transfer issues now that 'ship it to me online' is no longer an option I'm glad the money is back in safe hands.

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Online Poker Advertising

It's really weird seeing adverts from poker rooms like Sky Poker, Betfair and some other smaller sites on forums and other poker related sites. They were so much a part of the furniture that they really jump out at me, I'm so used to seeing the same banners and logos everywhere.

I guess if you remove the two biggest sites everyone else can afford to enter the market where advertising is concerned.

I wonder if we'll see a bunch more sites putting patches on players at the WSOP this year? Could be a nice opportunity for a site with a decent marketing budget to get some great exposure.

US Facing Poker Sites

I have received a number of emails in the last couple of days offering great deposit bonuses and other deals to encourage people to play at the poker sites still able to accept US players.

I'm not American so it makes no difference to me, but for anyone who is I'd strongly advise that you don't deposit on these sites. While some of the bigger sites have been able to cut deals to potentially release funds, I can't see the smaller sites negotiating the return of players money.

The sites emailing these offers really don't have your best interests at heart, as they'll get a percentage of your rake or a one off sign up bonus when you sign up and deposit through them.

They have nothing to lose, you do.

DOJ Gives Domain Names Back

Good news from the DOJ press release, looks like FTP and Stars are getting domain names back to facilitate the return of funds to US players.

The document suggests there was an agreement, looking forward to hearing what that was.

UB and AP not named, as much as I dislike the sites I'd prefer for people who have money there, however silly that might have been, to get it back.

Info from Kevmath on Twitter.

The Fallout and the Future

Over the last could of days I’ve read various blogs and forum posts about the ‘Poker Apocalypse’ and I agree with most of what’s being said. I think that in some cases people may be over reacting a bit (on Friday people were suggesting a worldwide shutdown was coming within 48 hours) but overall players and the poker media have been fairly objective and relatively calm given the situation.

However, the one thing I have to disagree with that I’ve seen written in a number of places is that the removal of PokerStars and Full Tilt from the market (temporary or otherwise) could be a good thing. I understand the angle people are coming from, if you remove the two biggest sites you remove the fact that they have somewhat of a monopoly on the market.

The problem is that these sites are where they are because they are good at what they do. I’m sure everyone has had their problems with support at these sites over the years, but they are generally very quick to respond and helpful when they do. These two sites have set the bar in almost every respect, from tournaments and cash games to new concepts like rush poker, multi entry tournaments and double or nothings. Their size, profitability and volume of players allows them to try new things, develop new concepts and invest in the software, support teams and players.

Also, it’s not like there is the pool of players knocking around online and they just so happen to pick FTP or Stars. In most cases it’s one of these two sites that actually got people online to play poker on the internet in the first place. They run TV shows as headline sponsors, they run adverts in traditional media, magazines, websites and they have done a great job of adopting social media.

They also do a great job of retaining players with their frequent player programmes and rakeback. While I’m still bitter at the fact that I don’t get rakeback at FTP, Stars has kept me playing there with frequent deposit bonuses, VIP instant rewards and FPP bonuses.

Let’s not forget that they have had competition in the US (and continue to do so in Europe and the rest of the world) and Doyles Room, Cake Poker and the like have failed to capture enough of the market to make them anywhere near as competitive.
It’s also important to note that they have always had major competition, each other. When FTP decided to try to break the world record for the number of entrants in a tournament, Stars decided to beat them the week after. When you’re lucky enough to make a feature or final table in a big live tournament you do have at least two options most of the time on who to represent.

I have no affiliation with these sites, don’t have an advertising interests and the reason I’m not talking about UB/AP is because I don’t play there, and haven’t since all the original superuser details came out.
I’m all for competition and healthy competition clearly has its advantages for players and the poker media, but let’s not get carried away with what we want to see in the future.

After all, nobody was complaining when they were still around.

PokerStars Big Game Canceled

I'm sure there will be more shows and other media axed as I said in my post a few days ago, but I've just read that the PokerStars Big Game might not be back and that makes me sad.

It's a real shame because it was a fantastic concept and I liked the range of players they had on. I really enjoy High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark but they do feature a lot of the same players. It was great to see some decent online high stakes pros mix it up with the old guard and the loose cannon.

I'm a huge Huff & Stapes fan and I have to admit I actually quite like Gobboboy too, so I'm gutted to see such talent come off TV so soon after it got going. Hopefully they'll land on their feet and find something else soon.

It's a sign of things to come unfortunately.