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WSOP Event #2: Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker storms day one

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Chris Moneymaker was the guy who did more than any other player to set off the online poker boom, winning the 2003 WSOP Main Event after qualifying for just $39 on PokerStars. Since then he has been desperate for another big WSOP win, and this might just be his time.

At the close of day one of the $40,000 No Limit Hold'em tournament, Moneymaker bagged up 805,000 in chips, just 7,000 or so behind leader Bruno Fitoussi. His rise up the chip ladder had not been down to some huge series of double ups, instead he increased his stack steadily, right up until the close of play when he was still re-raising and taking sizeable pots as a result.

Chris Moneymaker

While he must feel elated tonight - although knowing there's still a long, long way to go, with 89 of the 201 starters still in the hunt - Vanessa Rousso is delighted just to be in the table draw for tomorrow. She'd slid down to 60,000 or so and got all in with 8-8, which to her great relief was good on a board showing J-K-2-K-Q. With that she was bagging up just minutes later with 165,500 chips.

Finishing high in chips, just breaking the 600,000 barrier, is Team PokerStars Holland Pro player Lex Veldhuis, while Team PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer will be back with 213,000 (the chip average is 271,000), ahead of John Duthie, Humberto Brenes and Johaness Strassmann.

Greg Raymer

Those we lost include ElkY late on, Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, Barry Greenstein, Gavin Griffin, Ivan Demidov, Peter Eastgate and Dennis Phillips.

We'll have the full official chip counts up when we get them, but in the meantime reporting restrictions mean we can go with the unofficial top ten only:

Bruno Fitoussi, 812,500
Chris Moneymaker, Team PokerStars Pro, 805,000
Emil Patel, 615,000
Lex Veldhuis, Team PokerStars Holland Pro, 606,500
Justin Bonomo, 570,000
Michael DeMichele, 550,000
Kyle Wilson, 520,000
Brian Townsend, 512,000
Alan Sass, 440,000
Matthew Marafioti, 415,000

We'll be back for day two of this four-day event tomorrow, when we'll also be keeping an eye on the start of event #3, the Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better $1,500 event, which Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu has said he plans to enter.

Posted in $40K No Limit, 2009, 2009worldseriesofpoker, Pokerstars, World Series of Poker, chrismoneymaker | Comments Off

WSOP Event #2: Rousso chasing more high-roller success

Friday, May 29th, 2009

The last level was not a good one for Team PokerStars Pro. Ivan Demidov went, then Gavin Griffin, followed by Joe Hachem and finally Dennis Phillips. Thank goodness, then, for Vanessa Rousso who is ducking and diving to keep her stack healthy.

Only a few weeks ago in Monte Carlo, I reported on her stunning EPT €25,000 High Roller win, a result that showed her previous good results were no fluke. This event will take even more skill, courage and a bit of luck to take down. With blinds shooting up to 1,500-3,000 with 400 ante, there is no point in simply hanging around - and Rousso is certainly at her best when attacking. It's a dangerous tactic, of course, and her stack today has been up and down as a result.

Up to 177,000 in the first level from her 120,000 starting stack, her stack down again to 140,000 or so. While Lex Veldhuis and Chris Moneymaker continue to fight for the chip lead, Rousso sits ahead of the other Team Pro players Greg Raymer, John Duthie and Johannes Strassmann.

Vanessa Rousso

Rousso had shared the same felt as Ivan Demidov for most of the day, but he was unable to repeat the magic he found to final table the WSOP main event last year. His stack never got any forward momentum, and he finally bust when his A-K ran into the pocket kings of Eric Kesselman.

Hachem's exit was less of a clash of the big hands. He was down to his last 10,000 and made a stand from under the gun before the blinds came around to do more damage. Alas, he only held 8-10, and he never overtook Hasan Habib's A-7.

Top ten chip counts, mid way through level 9, blinds 1,500-3,000 (400). 111 players left:

Michael DeMichele, 690,000
Justin Bonomo, 570,000
Lex Veldhuis, Team PokerStars Holland Pro, 330,000
Antonia Esfandiari, 470,000
Emil Patel, 530,000
Kyle Wilson, 465,000
Chris Moneymaker, Team PokerStars Pro, 460,000
Alan Sass, 440,000
Ted Forrest, 380,000
Alex Jacob, 370,000

Posted in $40K No Limit, 2009, 2009worldseriesofpoker, Pokerstars, World Series of Poker, vanessarousso | Comments Off

WSOP Event #2: Moneymaker mission

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Chris Moneymaker has the look of a man who means business. In fairness, he's had that look from the moment he sat down on the WSOP main event final table six years ago before going on to take the $2.5 million title, all for an initial outlay of just $39 on PokerStars. He's been desperate to pick up another bracelet since then, and he's in good shape to have a run at it here.

As the remaining 150 players returned from dinner on day one of the $40,000 No Limit Hold'em event, the Team PokerStars Pro sat third in chips with 415,000. And much of it had to do with a man called Jesus.

Chris Moneymaker

On a board of [jd][9h][8s] Moneymaker bet 9,000. Fellow Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes called, but then Ferguson moved all in for 71,000. Moneymaker dwelled briefly but made the call, Brenes folded:

Ferguson: [10h][10s]
Moneymaker: [10c][jc]

Moneymaker had Jesus in a world of pain, and the turn and river blanked out to give him the pot. Soon after the return from dinner, he dropped 35,000 but is still in the chip-lead mix.

Top ten chips at the start of level 7, blinds 1,000-2,000 (300), 149 players left:

Antonia Esfandiari, 470,000
Justin Bonomo, 470,000
Matthew Glantz, 400,000
Chris Moneymaker, Team PokerStars Pro, 380,000
Bruno Fitoussi, 367,000
Andy Black, 343,000
Lex Veldhuis, Team PokerStars Holland Pro, 330,000
Mark Seif, 330,000
Isaac Haxton, 324,000
Ted Forrest, 315,000

******

By now many of you will be following the PokerStars Blog on Twitter. Today, and throughout the World Series, many of our Team Pro players will be updating their progress - or lack of - on their own Twitter page.

You follow Vanessa Rousso, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein and Peter Eastgate, while Terrence Chan is also Tweeting from the $40,000 event.

Posted in $40K No Limit, 2009, 2009worldseriesofpoker, Pokerstars, World Series of Poker, chrismoneymaker | Comments Off

WSOP Event #2: Lex flexes muscles

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Poker in Holland is on something of a roll at the moment. First Constant Rijkenberg won the PokerStars EPT San Remo event in April, then a week later Pieter de Korver won the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Now countryman Lex Veldhuis, a member of Team PokerStars Holland Pro, is making a serious move here, moving up to third in chips with 330,000.

He got there in a race against Shaun Deeb. The pair had tangled already, so you sensed there may be fireworks when Veldhuis made it 3,600 from the cut-off. Deeb obliged by re-raising to 12,100 from the small blind, and then the Dutchman made a monster all-in shove for more than 150,000 on top - called in an instant:

Veldhuis: [ad][kd]
Deeb: [4h][4c]

The board ran [qc][10h][2d][ac][9h], and Veldhuis, who had earlier busted Jonathan Little, shot up to 330,000.

Lex Veldhuis

Chip counts in Level 6, blinds 800-1,600 (200 ante). 157 players remain:

Antonio Esfandiari, 470,000
Frank Kassela, 340,000
Lex Veldhuis, Team PokerStars Holland Pro, 330,000
Justin Bonomo, 330,000
Matthew Glantz, 330,000
Kyle Wilson, 300,000
Mark Seif, 280,000
Tony G, 270,000
Doyle Brunson, 267,000
Chris Moneymaker, Team PokerStars Pro, 260,000

*****

While Chris Moneymaker mounts his charge, fellow Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstin is out, signing a copy of his book Ace on the River, and handing it to his nemesis Andy Black. Let's hope the Irishman has a sizeable book case - it's the second book he's got from Greenstein because he also busted him in the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final. "It may be the second book he's given me, but I much prefer having his chips," said Black.

In Monte Carlo, Black busted Moneymaker five minutes after knocking out Greenstein, and they share the same table again here. "I'm really hoping I do that again, too," said Black. Just then he open raised from the button, and Moneymaker on his big blind quipped: "You really are after these chips," before folding. Black showed [ks][js].

Players are now taking a 90-minute dinner break.

Posted in $40K No Limit, 2009, 2009worldseriesofpoker, Pokerstars, World Series of Poker, lexveldhuis | Comments Off

WSOP Event #2: The important numbers

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

WSOP bosses wanted a headline event to kickstart the 40th year, and with the $40,000 No Limit tournament they've got it. In all 201 players paid up generating a prize pool of $7,718,400. The top 27 will walk away with cash - and the winner will need a wheelbarrow to cart away $1,891,012. Of those 201 starters, we're down to 174 already, with Team PokerStars Pros Dario Minieri, Daniel Negreanu and Peter Eastgate among those looking for action elsewhere.

Daniel Negreanu

Negreanu shoved for 27,000 after the cut-off bet 2,500, but then Doug Lee joined the fun by pushing all-in from the big blind. The original raiser folded.

Negreanu: [ac][qs]
Lee: [3d][3s]

The flop came [qh][5s][4d] putting Negreanu ahead, but the [3c] on the turn was a disaster.

Eastgate went out when his A-K was beated by Charles Lehr's J-J - a jack on the river adding to the world champion's misery.

Prize payouts:

1 $1,891,012
2 $1,168,566
3 $774,927
4 $548,315
5 $413,166
6 $329,730
7 $277,940
8 $246,834
9 $230,317
10-12 $172,120
13-15 $128,666
16-18 $96,171
19-27 $71,858

We're under media reporting restrictions here that mean we can only produce the top ten chip counts once an hour. No more, no less (well we could do less but that would be a bit daft).

Top 10 chips after level 4, new blinds 600-1,200

Matthew Glantz, 310,000
Ted Forrest, 310,000
Antonio Esfandiari, 302,000
Scott Seiver, 300,000
Charles Lehr, 290,000
Justin Bonomo, 275,000
Jeff Lisandro, 270,000
Tony G, 260,000
Vivek Rajkumar, 255,000
Barry Schwartz, 252,000

Posted in $40K No Limit, 2009, 2009worldseriesofpoker, Pokerstars, World Series of Poker, danielnegreanu | Comments Off

WSOP Event #2: John Duthie gives Chan a close shave

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

John Duthie is a wiley old fox. Not content with having a successful TV career, he went on to create the hugely impressive PokerStars European Poker Tour. The only problem with that is he can not play in his own events, so has to watch jealously from the sidelines as his tournaments play out across the most delux venues in Europe. It's why he likes coming to Las Vegas so much - he can play in the WSOP.

John Duthie

Today the Team PokerStars Pro took his seat in the $40K No Limit event, knowing a deep run would add to his already bouyant bankroll - bolsted as it was recently when he came second in the PokerStars SCOOP $25K heads up event for $250,000. He has a tough table (well, let's face it they're all tough at this level) which includes Tony G, David Williams and Terrence "Unassigned" Chan, a former PokerStars executive who now plays out some of the biggest games going. In last month's SCOOP series he won back-to-back Limit Hold'em events, proving that cream does indeed rise to the top.

It was no great surprise that Duthie and Chan would tangle, and in the last pot of level 2 they got into a monster. We picked up the action on the river as the board showed [4d][2c][as][10s][js] and Duthie was tossing 50,000 (yes, 50,000) into an already bulging pot. It sent Chan into an involuntary "whoooaaaa" twitch. He thought, studied the board, and open folded A-K. "Good fold," said Duthie, showing his A-10 for two pair. "I knew he had A-K," he told me as he stacked his new loot - now up to 140,000. Chan, meanwhile, slips to 82,000.

Terrence Chan

Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso has also got off to a good start. She was up to 177,000 at one point before being hit by a rivered two outer to take her back to 132,000.

*******

It's not often we get to talk about male facial hair here on the blog. But let's be honest, there's a lot of it about. There's certainly a fine selection on table 83, where Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein sits with Chris Ferguson, Humberto Brenes and Andy Black - all with carefully-crafted beards or moustaches.

In fairness, Black's is not exactly well kept, it's more of a bushy monstrosity in which a small child could be lost for ever.

It certainly caught Mike Matusow's attention. "Have you decided to grow the beard until you next win a tournament?" he bellowed from across the room. "If so, it will soon be growing down to the floor." Much laughter all round.

Barry Greenstein

Posted in $40K No Limit, 2009, 2009worldseriesofpoker, Pokerstars, World Series of Poker, johnduthie | Comments Off

WSOP Event #2: Peter Eastgate gets us started

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Back in 1971, when Johnny Moss won the World Series of Poker, few could have imagined how the annual showcase would develop. Moss won $30,000 for his efforts, a nice chunk in change in those days but peanuts in comparison to the modern day. This is the 40th WSOP, and to celebrate the anniversary we're kicking off today with a special $40,000 no limit event - a buy in, you'll note, higher than Moss won for the main event.

Such high-roller showdowns bring out the cream of today's game, those with a bankroll deep and heavy enough to sustain what they would describe as a bad day at the office, and what many ordinary folk would describe as a year's wages.

Don't think for a minute that the "credit crunch" has hit poker - 195 players have booked in (and they're still taking registrations in level one) to take an expensive shot at this four-day event, each sitting down with 120,000 chips but facing blinds in level one at 200-400 with a 50 ante. It's deep, but not so deep you can't see the bottom.

Peter Eastgate

Among them is Team PokerStars Pro Peter Eastgate. The reigning WSOP champion, who won a breathtaking $9.1 million in November, is back to defend his crown. It was his honour to announce "shuffle up and deal" after WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack had praised his champion "style" - and unfurled the Eastgate banner in the Rio's Amazon Room. It's a huge photo with his name and year of victory underneath, taking its place next to all other previous winners in a series of shots that wrap around the room, all the way back to Moss.

Peter Eastgate with his winner's banner in the background

Joining Eastgate at the tables is the cream of Team PokerStars Pro, a glittering line up that reinforces the strength of the team. Sharing the same table are Eastgate and Barry Greenstein, while elsewhere we have Gavin Griffin, ElkY, Greg Raymer, Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, Humberto Brenes, Joe Hachem, Ivan Demidov, Dennis Phillips and Chris Moneymaker. Also here are two members of Team PokerStars Germany Pro: Florian Langmann and Johannes Strassmann, and Friend of PokerStars Bill Chen.

That's an impressive bunch and you can follow their progress right here on the PokerStars Blog. After yesterday's event #1 for casino employees, we're now bunkered down in media row overlooking the Amazon Room, where we'll be for the next seven weeks or so, bringing you all the action and news from behind the scenes of all remaining events.

Settle back and enjoy the ride.

Posted in $40K No Limit, 2009, 2009worldseriesofpoker, Pokerstars, World Series of Poker, petereastgate | Comments Off

2009 World Series of Poker

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

The 2009 World Series of Poker kicks off on Thursday, May 28 with the $40,000 No Limit Hold'em event. The PokerStars Blog will bring you coverage of this and all the prelim events in Las Vegas before the Main Event itself kicks off in July. See how you can win your seat to the WSOP Main Event right here on PokerStars.

Posted in 2009, 2009worldseriesofpoker, Pokerstars, World Series of Poker | Comments Off

PokerStars Blog readies for fifth year at World Series

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

It was 2005 when the PokerStars Blog first dipped its toes in the Amazon Ballroom madness.

For the first several weeks, PokerStars Team Blog consisted of...well...me. I sat with a scattering of people in a small closet at the end of the longest hallway in the Rio. Final table coverage of the preliminary events was easy. There were maybe five or six members of the media who actually sat around the table. More than a few of them were old school poker writers who had been around back when the Binions were still running the show. I remember one of the guys in the media closet struggling over a lead paragraph for half an hour. Finally, he stood up and walked out of the media room. He returned a few minutes later with a full bottle of scotch.

"I can't write unless I'm drinking," he said and proceeded to write his whole article without another word.

By the time the Main Event rolled around, we'd formed the first official Team Blog.

Howard Swains, Mad Harper, Brad Willis, James Hartigan circa 2005 (to be fair, none of us looks like that anymore)

People in the poker media still talk about that year. The few of us that were there who are still plugging away remember sitting in the back corner of Benny's Bullpen as Joe Hachem went on to win the 2005 Main Event. It was cramped, for sure, but nothing like what would happen over the next few years as hundreds of writers, photographers, and live bloggers came for the show.

The PokerStars Blog has been at the WSOP ever since. The Team Blog cast has changed many times (including this huge and awesome cast in 2006) and employed the best poker writers in the business. This year is no different.

For the fifth consecutive year, the PokerStars Blog will be covering the World Series. We'll have people in Las Vegas beginning with the very first event and offer expanded coverage for the Main Event.

By the end of this weekend, more than 800 people will have qualified for the World Series Main Event on PokerStars. We'll be there to cover every one of them and whoever manages to qualify between now and then.

Over the next week or so, we'll be taking a walk down World Series memory lane. Stick with us as we once again get ready to cover the biggest thing in poker.

Posted in 2009, 2009worldseriesofpoker, Pokerstars, World Series, World Series of Poker | Comments Off

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Archive for the ‘2009worldseriesofpoker’ Category

WSOP Event #2: Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker storms day one

WSOP Event #2: Rousso chasing more high-roller success

WSOP Event #2: Moneymaker mission

WSOP Event #2: Lex flexes muscles

WSOP Event #2: The important numbers

WSOP Event #2: John Duthie gives Chan a close shave

WSOP Event #2: Peter Eastgate gets us started

2009 World Series of Poker

PokerStars Blog readies for fifth year at World Series