The Poker Thread

Ladies and Gentlemen...

... Phil Hellmuth has just arrived to take his seat at the secondary featured table. Oh yeah, and he's wearing a remarkably short skirt.

Negreanu All In and Behind

Daniel Negreanu has been sliding down the board since play began, and we recently overheard the "All in," announcement from the microphone over on the featured table. Action is hard to catch at that table, but it appears Negreanu called a raise before the flop. When we walked up to the hand, the first three cards were already out on the table, showing . The unknown opponent led out with 4,200, and Negreanu moved all in for 6,075. His opponent considered for about thirty seconds before making the call.
Showdown
Negreanu: Opponent: The turn was the , and Negreanu's opponent let out a big, "Whoa!" Negreanu chuckled and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "A six? You're scared of a six?!" With one card separating him from the exit, Kid Poker watched a blank land on the river, ending his day and his WSOP for this year.

Chino Eliminated

David "Chino" Rheem was eliminated a short while ago when he ran into a full house from Jean-Robert Bellande. According to Bellande, he turned a set of queens and then rivered the boat.

Jamie Gold Out

Jamie Gold was all in preflop holding and racing with his opponent's . The flop came down , providing no light for Gold. The turn brought the and officially ended the previous Main Event winner's chances of going any further this year. The river completed the board with the .

It's Good to Be Lisandro

We picked this hand up on the flop with 1,500 already in the pot. The small blind bet 3,100 on a flop of and a player in middle position moved all in for a total of 6,875. Action moved to Jeff Lisandro in late position, who moved his big stack all in. The small blind tanked for nearly a minute before calling all in for his remaining 18,000 and the hands were shown. Small Blind: Middle Position: Lisandro: The turn brought the , putting the pocket jacks in front, but the lead wouldn't last as Lisandro spiked the on the river for Broadway, knocking both players out of the tournament. Lisandro now has a stack of 125,000.

Your Phil Hellmuth Update

We walked over to the secondary featured table to check on Phil Hellmuth, and we caught three consecutive hands with him involved. On the first hand, Hellmuth limped in under the gun, and the player to his left raised to 1,000. One more player plus Hellmuth called to see a three-handed flop. It came . Hellmuth and the other caller would fold to a bet of 2,100 from the raiser. Hellmuth flashed as he mucked. Not too exciting. Hellmuth 34,000 ***** On the next hand, Hellmuth called a preflop raise and the flop came . Hellmuth check-called a bet of 1,100, and the turn brought the . Hellmuth checked again, then insta-called when his opponent bet 3,600. Both men checked when the hit the river, and Hellmuth showed the winning . Hellmuth - 40,000 ***** On the third hand, a player under the gun limped in, and Hellmuth made a healthy raise to 2,200 from the small blind. That was enough to fold everyone out and win him the small pot. He's got 41,000 now.

Hellmuth Slips, Buddy

Before the flop, Phil Hellmuth raised to 1,200 from the cutoff seat. The small blind made the call, heads up to the flop. It showed up . The small blind checked and called a bet of 1,350 from Hellmuth, and the turn came the . After another check, Hellmuth fired a second bullet, 2,200 this time, and his opponent called once again. The river card was the , and this time the small blind led out with a healthy bet of 8,500. Hellmuth snap-mucked and started talking. It was difficult to make out his exact words, but the word "buddy" was in there more than a few times. The jist of the conversation was Phil saying, "I promise I'll have the chance to bust you." A spectator on the rail told Phil that there were only a few minutes left in the day. Phil replied with something to the effect of, "It doesn't matter. He's on a mission to have me bust him." ***** Just a few hands later, Hellmuth again opened the pot for 1,200, and again his 'buddy' called from the cutoff seat. The flop ran down , and Hellmuth led out with a bet of 1,800. His opponent raised to 5,300, and Hellmuth hemmed and hawed and called. The turn card came the , and Hellmuth passed the bet. His opponent made it 5,600, and Hellmuth put in the call. Both players checked the on the river. Hellmuth showed down for the flopped straight. But alas, his opponent had run down the four-flush with , sending Hellmuth spinning off into one of his world-famous tirades. He's back down around 25,000 just as play wraps up.

Minieri Shrinks to Nothing

It turns out that Dario Minieri could get smaller after all -- his stack has now in fact dwindled to absolutely nothing, after getting his last chips in with top pair on the flop against his opponent's flush draw. The flush duly came in, and Minieri duly headed back to the Shire, without that one bracelet to rule them all. Minieri: Mr. Opponent: Board:

durrrr Arrives

Tom 'durrrr' Dwan has taken his seat in the Miranda Room. After his dad failed yesterday, Dwan will be looking at registering his first cash at this WSOP, after playing a limited schedule.

Scott Montgomery Eliminated

One of the November Nine players will have to wait another year before repeating his final table performance. Scott Montgomery pushed his remaining few chips into the middle with on a board of . His only opponent in the hand made the call tabling for a flopped bottom set. The turn landed the to eliminate Montgomery's flush outs, but leave him with outs to a full house. When the river fell the , Montgomery headed to the rail for a less then perfect ending to his 2009 WSOP.

Ivey Makes Quads

Phil Ivey had his opponent all in preflop. Ivey held and his opponent held . The board ran out , making Ivey quad aces and busting his opponent. The ESPN camera crew caught the action and even asked the dealer to leave the board and hands out in the middle of the table for a few moments after so they could capture it. "What are we doing, let's go to the next hand." Ivey said as he raked in the chips. He nows has around 80,000.

Dwan-tastic

With around 3,000 in the pot on the board, Tom 'durrrr' Dwan fired out 1,850 when it was checked to him by three players. One player in the small blind made it 3,700 to go, and once it was folded to Dwan, he made the call. The turn landed the and when faced with a 4,000-chip bet, Dwan pushed the action to 25,000 total. His opponent moved all in and Dwan double-fist-pump-snap called. Dwan: Opponent: With Dwan holding the nut-straight with a flush-draw, the meaningless would land on the river to see Dwan shipped the pot to move to 71,000 as his opponent took a long walk home.

The Final Number Is... 6,494

As we approach the dinner break, Tournament Director Jack Effel has made the announcement regarding the total number of entrants for the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event -- 6,494 players. That means a prize pool of more than $61 million, with the top 648 places being paid. According to Effel, first prize nets a cool $8,548,435.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

With 6,494 players and a total prize pool of $61,043,600, all nine of those who make this year's Main Event final table will earn more than one million dollars, and those finishing 10th-18th will each earn over half a million. Here are the payouts for the top 18 spots: 1st -- $8,546,435 2nd -- $5,182,601 3rd -- $3,479,485 4th -- $2,502,787 5th -- $1,953,395 6th -- $1,587,133 7th -- $1,404,002 8th -- $1,300,228 9th -- $1,263,602 10th-12th -- $896,730 13th-15th -- $633,022 16th-18th -- $500,557 Click on the "Prizepool and Payouts" tab for full information on what the top 648 finishers will be receiving.

Demidov Hits the Rail

After a button raise of 1,200, small blind Ivan Demidov raised to 5,450 (only leaving 225 behind). Dwayne Stacey called from the big blind and the button folded. The flop came . Demidov would put his last 225 into the pot and was called by Stacey. Demidov showed but was in big trouble when Stacey tabled his . Ivan would need two running hearts or straight cards to win. The turn brought the leaving Demidov drawing dead. River was the . Meanwhile, Dwayne Stacey is sitting on a healthy stack of 82,000.

Ivey Pushes Over the Century Mark

There was about 5,000 chips in the pot on the flop of . Phil Ivey tossed out a bet of 2,500 from middle position and his opponent on the button raised to 6,000. Ivey then jacked the action back up to 20,000 and his opponent called. The turn brought the and Ivey moved all in, putting the pressure on the other player. After over four minutes under the microscope of the ESPN cameras, members of the media, and that piercing Ivey staredown, the player folded. Ivey is now at 105,000 chips.

Benyamine Breaches 100,000. Fischman Out

With Scott Fischman all in preflop, David Benyamine moved all in on board a for his last 15,800. The third player in the hand made the call with but Benyamine flipped for top set. Fischman exclaimed, "I have backdoor outs!" turning over . The turn was the and the river the , which caused Benyamine to stir a little. However he's now up to 100,000 now and chip leader on his table.

BOOM!

On one of the very first hands of the day, Mark Landgraf was crushed in dramatic fashion. According to Landgraf, this is how the hand went down. Landgraf's opponent, Alexander Yaroshetskiy, raised to 1,200 preflop and Landgraf called. The flop came down . Yaroshetskiy bet 5,000 into Landgraf and he called. The turn added another lady to the party with the . Yaroshetskiy fired out 10,000 and Landgraf called. The river brought the and Yaroshetskiy bet a hefty 20,000. Landgraf shoved and his opponent snap-called. Landgraf was happy to roll over for quad queens. Yaroshetskiy however, was holding a superior hand, , for the royal flush. The table erupted and one player even fell back out of his chair as he was leaning back in it. Yaroshetskiy is now up to 240,000 and Landgraf dropped all the way to 15,000.

Hansen KO'd Early

On a flop of , Norman Gautron bet out and Gus Hansen called. The turn brought the and Gautron bet again. Hansen raised and then Gautron moved all in. Hansen snap-called with for the Broadway straight. Gautron held pocket threes for bottom set. The river was a dagger to the heart of Hansen when the paired the board, sending him to the rail.

Set vs. Set. vs. Aces

At table 22 there was a three way all in after a flop of . Alex Barlow: Kirk Banks: Martin Raus: The board filled out with the and allowing Kirk Banks to triple up with a set of sevens. He is now at 68,700.

Mr. All In is All Out

Johnny Chan's 2009 Main Event ends just before 1pm on Day 2a. He was in the big blind, with action folding to small blind Matthew Woodward. Woodward limped in, then called the short-stacked Chan's all-in raise of 6,000. Chan showed down against Woodward's . The board rolled out to send Chan out the door. Woodward is up to 21,000.

Jennifer Tilly Eliminated

After a flop of Jennifer Tilly was all in with for two pair against the of her opponent. The turn was a blank in the , but the on the river counterfeited Tilly's two pair, eliminating her from the tournament.

Phil Laak Eliminated

Phil Laak got the rest of his chips in before the flop holding against his opponent's . No help for Laak on the board and he hit the rail.

The Wrong Man to Double Up

Ken Kelly opened with a button raise to 2,000, and Chris Ferguson made the call from the small blind. The flop showed up , and Ferguson led out with an overbet, firing 8,000 chips into the middle of the table. Kelly considered for just a minute before making the smooth call. On the turn, the drew another bet from Ferguson, 17,000 this time. Kelly moved all in, and Ferguson quickly called made the call to put his own tournament life in danger. Ferguson flipped over , and his opponent had nothing. "I didn't put you on a queen," he said, sheepishly tabling . The river was a meaningless , and Jesus earns himself a huge double up. He's sitting on 145,000 now.

Barry Greenstein Busto

Barry Greenstein got his remaining 10,825 in the pot before the flop holding , but ran into Eric Tomberlin's . The board ran out and Greenstein's Main Event came to an end. With that KO, Tomberlin is up to 85,000.

The Farha Yo-Yo Spins Up

Sammy Farha's still in this year's Main Event but he needed a river two-outer to do it. Farha was all in with against an opponent's . Things looked pretty grim for Farha after a flop of and a turn of , but Farha spiked the on the river to make a set of sevens and overtake his opponent's pair of aces. "Ooh, good card Sammy," said one of the other players. "That's not me, is it?" Farha replied with a grin. He's once again sitting behind 40,000 chips.

A World-Class Lay Down

We caught a hand between three unknown players in the orange section. After a round of preflop bets and raises, the player under-the-gun moved all in for his last 9,850. When the player in middle position re-shoved for a total of 51,425, action moved back to the small blind who went deep into the tank. "You've got to have aces," he said before mucking his face up. He was right, as the middle position player showed and the player under-the-gun showed the . When the board came , the aces made a better house and the player under-the-gun was eliminated while the small blind dodged some pretty big bullets.

Ship it to Ireland

A late position player raised to 2,000, the cutoff reraised to 4,200, Andy Black flat-called on the button and the initial raiser folded. The flop came down . The cutoff led out for 8,625, Black moved all in and the cutoff called. Black's pocket jacks led his opponent's . The turn was the and Black even spiked a set on the river with the for good measure and took down the pot, taking his stack up to 164,000.

Matusow Just Can't Catch a Break

Since it seems likely that we may not have the privilege of Mike "the Mouth" Matusow's table talk much longer, we stationed a reporter at his table to see what the talkative Matusow might have to say after dinner. "14 hours of play and I've won two pots at showdown," Matusow complained to Greg "FBT" Mueller. "And one of 'em was a limped pot that I won with three-four. Now that's impressive." Mueller laughed. "I'm serious," continued Matusow. "Two people limped. I was in the big blind and it checked the whole way down. The board was 7-10-J-3-5 and I won with three-four." Nobody else at Matusow's table is shedding many tears that his stack contains only 10,600 remaining chips.

Matusow Eliminated with the "Best Hand He's Had All Day"

We are down one colorful personality in the 2009 Main Event. Mike Matusow moved all in for about 6,000 from early position. Action folded to a player in late position who reraised to 15,000, clearing out everyone else in the hand. Matusow's was in big trouble against his opponent's and never improved. After his elimination, Matusow turned to Greg Mueller and said, "That was the best hand I've had all day."

Taxi!

After a series of raises a player was all in with against Andrew Black's . As ESPN arrived at the table, Black told the cameras that he got in a taxi two years ago, and it was his opponent that picked him up. The board fell giving Black a pair of aces, eliminating his opponent. As he got up to exit the tournament area, the former cab driver quipped, "I guess I should have asked for a bigger tip when I dropped you off." Andrew Black - 225,000

Dewey Tomko Eliminated

Dewey Tomko open-shoved for his remaining 17,000 and the small blind called. Tomko's was racing with , but his opponent flopped a set on the board to send Tomko home.

Kings Are Good for Farha

Four players, including Sammy Farha, limped into the pot and saw a flop of . Farha bet 3,000 and got one caller. The turn brought the and Farha bet 6,000. He got called again. When Farha bet 10,000 at the on the river, his opponent looked at the board and asked, "Are you trying to buy the pot?" Sammy just smiled and his opponent called. When Sammy tabled , his opponent visibly winced and mucked his cards.