A Nguyen Win!!!

Scotty Nguyen Wins Event 45 - $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship!!!

I'm on break from class and had to check in on the action, but according to http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-45-50000-h-o-r-s-e-world-championship/ Scotty has finally taken down the top prize bracelet, the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, the $1,989,120 cash prize and the admiration and envy of the Poker World.

Congratulations Scotty!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

The Monday Morning GRIND Continues

The battle wages on in Event 45 - $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship. 3 players continue to play even at this hour. This is Day 5 of this grueling event which tests the stamina of even the most seasoned of pros. Within poker's upper echelon "this" event is considered to be the greater measure of "who is the best" as opposed to the Main Event. Currently, Scotty Nguyen enjoys a commanding lead with a 10,085,000 chip stack, then Michael DeMichele with 3,040,000 and finally Erick Lindgren with 1,675,000. I would like to say that we'll be crowning a winner soon, but I'm not that foolish to make such an assertion. None of these men will be going down quietly. Top prize is $1,989,120, with second at $1,243,200, and finally 3rd at $781,440. ALL substantial wins, but there's still the matter of the shiny little trinket and the extreme bragging rights that go along with this event. Also according to "loganmark" of PokerNews.com, Erick Lindgren will take the lead in the Milwaukee's Best Light WSOP Player of the Year standings, as he is currently assured of finishing at least in 3rd place in Event #45. According to his post, although there are still a few POY eligible events yet to be played, it will be very tough for anyone to take it away from Lindgren. Way-to-go "E-Dog!" I've been saying all along that my loyalties were definitely being challenged by this event, because of the fact that both Scotty and Erick were both still in it. I still think it is far from over... and we'll just have to wait and see. Follow along with all the action being reported over at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-45-50000-h-o-r-s-e-world-championship/day5/. ***EDIT*** No sooner did I hit "Publish Post" and head back over to check the standings at PokerNews.com and I read that Erick Lindgren has been eliminated by Scotty Nguyen. Scotty now has over 12 million in chips. Go SCOTTY!

Event 48 - $2,000 No Limit Hold'em came to a close over 7 hours ago, when Alexandre Gomes finally bested the field of 2,317. He takes home the WSOP bracelet and a whopping $770,540. Congratulations. And from the sound of it Gomes and his fellow Brasilians are probably still celebrating!

Event 49 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em continues on at this hour as well. The field has been narrowed from its 2,718 initial entrants to a final 10, but its going to require one more casualty before the players get to call it a night. It could still be a while, as there has been little action for the last several hands, in which there have been very few flops even seen. Hang in there players! For that matter hang in there Pojo and Shamus who continue to provide bleary-eyed coverage.

Event 50 - $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship Day 1 came to a close a little over 3 hours ago with the field narrowed down to 87 players, of the original 381 who began. Only the top 36 will get paid in this one. Currently Josh Arieh enjoys the chip lead at 368,000, which is 151,000 more than his closest competitor. Day 2 will begin later today.

Event 51 - $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. narrowed its huge field of 803 players down to just 192 in a single day. Top prize will be $256,412 for this event. A number of familiar faces still remain in this event. which will get back underway later today.

Event 52 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em is the only event on tap to begin today. Then, tomorrow only one event is slated Event 53 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout. To be followed-up by the Grandaddy Event 54 which is the epic 39th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event which will begin its 1st of 4 Day 1's on Thursday. Stay tuned!

Time to get some work done...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Two more WSOP bracelets awarded, and NDPT #9 follow up

Event 45 - $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship will head into Day 5 today with only the final 8 remaining. This event promises plenty of excitement, with its All-Star cast of characters. I'm not even really sure who to be rooting for! The top three includes Erick Lindgren, Scotty Nguyen, and Barry Greenstein! I'm hoping E-Dog picks up his 2nd bracelet but at the same time Scotty is one of my favorites as well. But this thing is far from over though, and only time will tell, and I'm sure it'll be in to the wee hours of the morning. Hope you're all getting some sleep now, and getting ready for the war to come.

Event 46 - $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Six-handed on the other hand has come to an end and there we find Joe Commisso claiming the bracelet and the thus far the top payout in this year's WSOP of $911,855! Congratulations. According to PokerNews.com his heads up matchup against 2nd place finisher Richard Lyndaker went on for a whopping 209 hands.

Event 47 - $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Low has ended and Ryan Hughes walks away with the bracelet having bested the initial 544 entrants. He pockets $183,368 for his efforts, and this makes his 2nd WSOP bracelet. Congratulations.

Event 48 - $2,000 No Limit Hold'em returns for its Day 3 where the final 9 of the starting 2,317 will battle it out for the bracelet and a top prize payout of $770,540.

Event 49 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em will head into Day 2 today, with 215 players remaining from the starting 2,718 who began yesterday.

Event 50 - $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship and Event 51 - $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. will get under way today.

Back East, you'll recall that NDPT #9 was held last night, here at the home of cheer_dad. Turnout was lower than is normal but in the Summer months many other conflicting obligations tend to get in the way. A number of the NDPT membership has the baseball All-Stars season to contend with. And not to mention the fact that I didn't even announce this tournament until the day before! All things considered 19 players was still a pretty good turnout, and was enough so that the game can be counted in the NDPT Points Race!

Here's how the action played out, or at least who got paid:
1st Steve "All-In" Allman, 2nd Mike "hide the Jack Daniels" Westbrook, 3rd Brian Murray (a.k.a. cheer_dad), 4th Teresa "Big Red" Murray

And with 9 NDPT tournaments on the books so far, here's how we're looking in the points race:

1st Teresa Murray 129

2nd Brian Murray and Steve Allman tied with 121

4th Vince Post 106

5th Julie Wolfe 102

6th JR Ruble 101

7th Dan Rempel 76

8th Del Minturn 73

9th Matt Jackson 72

10th Eric Shuman and Dennis Rempel tied with 70

For the entire breakdown head over to http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=ptNl6_cpXDHlDaBaHIU7NVA&hl=en for the master list.

Big Red and I hope everyone had a great time last night. Next months tournament duties fall to the Wolfe-pack. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be able to make it to the games, while juggling baseball tournaments throughout the month. We have one scheduled for every weekend in July! See you all real soon.

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP, still going strong

Event 29 - $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em is in the books now as John Phan takes home the bracelet and $434,789, having outlasted the field of 716 players. Congratulations. David Singer was the only notable sponsored (Full Tilt) player which made it to the final table and ultimately finished in 5th place.

Event 30 - $10,000 Limit Hold'em World Championship came to an end when the 218 initial entrants were reduced to the last man standing Rob Hollink. Congratulations. He takes home the WSOP bracelet and the $496,931 top prize. Others recognizable at the final table included JC Tran who finished in 5th place, and Andy Block who took down 7th.

Event 31 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Six-handed has FINALLY reached a final table. The 1,012 have been whittled down to the final 6. Unfortunately, Scotty Nguyen was eliminated on the final table bubble. I really hate to see that, Scotty has become one of my favorite players if for no other reason than how gracious he was when I saw and met him in Las Vegas and snapped a very candid picture of a man exhausted/hot/and dying for a smoke. Despite it all, he hammed it up for the camera, and gave a signature, "It's me, baby!" He takes home 7th place prize of $50,508! Current chip leader is the "Harry Potter" of poker, Dario Minieri, with nearly more than half a million chip lead over his nearest competition. Play gets underway again today at 2:00pm PDT.

Event 32 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em has been survived by 166 of the initial 2,304 players. Among the posts from the Live Reporting over at PokerNews I found the following tidbit of information posted by loganmark, "Another Record Broken -- Another announcement was made after the players were "in the money." The players congratulated Phil Hellmuth on a record WSOP cash. As if holding a record eleven WSOP gold bracelets wasn't enough, Hellmuth currently enjoys the record for most WSOP cashes with 65." As if he wasn't already insufferable enough... ugggh. Alright, alright...sorry, Congratulations Phil.

Event 33 - $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low World Championship Day One has completed with 120 of the initial 261 remaining. There is still an absolute smorgasbord of pros in this event, and I would predict this to be an exciting event, one that the folks at ESPN should consider giving at least some final table air time.

Scheduled to begin today are Events 34 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha w/Rebuys and Event 35 - $1,500 Seven Card Stud. For all the latest and greatest in reporting be sure to head over to http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/. I'll give quickie recaps and obviously BIASED commentary for those who want the low-dose versions, and for those among you stuck behind an accursed proxy.

Regards,

cheer_dad

And then there were 337...

WSOP 2007 Main Event Day 3 has come to a close...and of the original starters, who ponied up the $10,000 buy in (in some fashion or other) only 337 remain! I'll tell you up front that I'm sponging content from Dr. Pauly and the Tao of Poker. If you want to read it all go there NOW! If you want my truncated take, and additional comments stick around. I really wish I was there to be covering it myself, but that's yet another unfulfilled dream, okay!?!

Recall that 621 places will be paid out in the Main Event. The BUBBLE BOY who went out in 622 place is John Sigan from Strongsville, Ohio. He will actually get to play in the Bubble Playoff later this afternoon, in an attempt to win his way into next year's Main Event. So, I guess I'm rooting for him. Always gotta support the UnderDog, and how bad can he be, he's from Ohio! : )

Jim Lucas (guy who played at The Wolfe's house) and won Game #1, is still in it, with 511,000 in chips. He's guaranteed at the least to come with over $40,000 now! Tear 'em up Jim...and bring some of it back to Parkersburg, WV on your next visit. I guarantee there'll be a game for you!

There are 337 players left. They all made the money and advanced to Day 4. They will return to the Rio on Friday at noon. The final table is set for Tuesday.

Note that Scotty Nguyen and Humberto Brenes are both still in it...both of whom VERY GRACIOUSLY posed for pictures for me while we were in Las Vegas. So, I'm pulling for these guys too. Of the other PROS that remain, to me Gus Hansen is most exciting. His wild playing style is incredibly entertaining and fascinating. Having him at a final table, would be exciting to watch! And hey how 'bout that Amazing Spider Man!!!

Some notable advancers to Day 4 include:

Gus Hansen, Huck Seed, Lee Watkinson, Maria Ho, Robert Varkonyi , Alex Kravchenko, Carlos Mortensen, Thor Hansen, Scotty Nguyen, Humberto Brenes, Daniel Alaei, Hasan Habib, Mimi Tran, and Tobey Maguire.

Some notable cashouts so far (again, not all, just ones that interest me) :

357 Robert Mizrachi $34,664
364 Pamela Brunson $34,664
459 Todd Brunson $29,883
559 Rolf Slotboom $20,320
565 Shawn Chaconas $20,320
592 Gavin Smith $20,320

Action get under way at NOON, Vegas time, today, maybe the blogs will have further updates tonight, on the action. Don't forget tonight is NDPT Event #7 at the Casa de Murray!!! Somewhere in the neighborhood of 23 players are supposed to be there tonight to play at 7:00pm. Big Red will be in defensive mode, as our BOUNTY for having taken down the top spot in Event #6 last month. Yes, she's still carrying my sorry @ss!

Enough about the WSOP and the NDPT...it's time to get back to it. Gotta earn some cash so I can blow it at the tables.

See you later tonight!

Regards,

cheer_dad