Introducing the November Nine

On November 6, 2010, nine surviving gladiators will do battle in the Rio Casino, Las Vegas one more time as they set their sights on bracelet gold and the chance to become the 2010 World Series of Poker Champion.

Whoever leaves with that mantle will also take home a mouth-watering nine million dollars as well as their name etched into WSOP history with the likes of Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Stu Ungar.

After two weeks and 78 hours of play at the WSOP felt, the following players were the last nine standing from an initial field of 7,319. They are guaranteed a minimum payday of $811,823.

The November Nine

Seat 1: Jason Senti -- 7,625,000

Hometown: St. Louis Park, MN (USA)
Age: 25
Profession: Poker Pro

Jason is a former electrical engineer turned poker pro who is currently an instructor at online tutorial site BlueFire Poker where he mentors under the alias 'PBJAxx'.

Jason plays mostly online, predominantly No Limit Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha. Live, he has just one other cash, a 32nd place finish in the 2009 $10,000 World Championship Heads-Up which earned him $17,987.

Jason is the short stack heading into the final.

Seat 2: Joseph Cheong -- 23,525,000

Hometown: La Mirada, CA (USA)
Age: 24
Profession: Poker Pro

Originally from Seoul, South Korea, Joseph is best known for his online prowess where he has excelled under the moniker 'subliime'. As well as winning an FTOPS event in May for $55,000, he also boasts six $100 tournament victories on PokerStars during just one month in 2009.

A psychology graduate from UC-San Diego, Joseph began playing in 2007 before turning pro and becoming one of the most dangerous players in the November Nine. He rarely frequents the live felt, but does possess a WSOP circuit victory after winning a $300 event in San Diego last March.

Seat 3: John Dolan -- 46,250,000

Hometown: Bonita Springs, FL (USA)
Age: 24
Profession: Poker Pro

Despite his age, John is perhaps one of the more experienced live players at the final table with six WSOP cashes to his name, the first of which was 91st in the 2007 Casino Employees event. In 2010, he cashed in three WSOP events including a final table where he finished sixth in a $1,000 freezeout for $82,804.

Born in New Jersey but now residing in Florida, John studied business at Florida State University but left before becoming a professional poker player and plying his trade at the virtual felt. His biggest win to date is a win in a Full Tilt $1,000 Monday event for $94,500.

John bought in directly for the WSOP Main Event.

Seat 4: Jonathan Duhamel -- 65,975,000

Hometown: Boucherville, Quebec (Canada)
Age: 22
Profession: Poker Pro

With five bracelets, Canada had a highly impressive World Series, but it could get even better as Jonathan looks to become the first ever Canadian Main Event Champion in history. With almost 20 million more than that of second placed John Dolan, Jonathan is the chip leader heading into the final after winning a gargantuan pot against Matt Affleck with two tables left.

The youngest player in the November Nine, Jonathan is mainly an online cash game player, but does make the occasional venture into the live scene. In December 2008 he bubbled the Prague EPT final table but took away €42,800 for his troubles. He also went deep in a WSOP event, finishing 15th in the $2,500 No Limit Hold'em Freezeout for $37,276.

Seat 5: Michael Mizrachi -- 14,450,000

Hometown: Miami, FL (USA)
Age: 29
Profession: Poker Pro

'The Grinder' is undoubtedly the most acclaimed player at the final table. With $9.6 million in live tournament winnings, he sits in 14th place in the all-time money list and will top the charts if he finishes in the top two in November. Michael was a formidable force during the mid 2000s where he captured two WPT titles: the 2005 L.A. Poker Classic and the 2006 Borgata Winter Open for $1,859,909 and $1,173,383 respectively.

Despite his success, Michael was facing financial difficulties heading into the 2010 World Series after being struck with a bill from the government for unpaid taxes amounting to $339,711. However, Michael proved both his talent and determination when he won the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event for $1,559,046.

Michael was a consistent short stack leading up to the final, but managed to survive to make his first ever Main Event final. Michael's three brothers also played the event, and all three cashed with older sibling Robert finishing in 116th.

Seat 6: Matthew Jarvis -- 16,700,000

Hometown: Surrey, BC (Canada)
Age: 25
Profession: Poker Pro/Student

Matthew is an online pro from Canada who was responsible for the bubble bursting when he eliminated Brandon Steven in 10th place with queens versus ace-king. This marks his first WSOP cash after entering, and falling short in five events prior.

A business student turned poker pro, Matthew plies his trade online and claims his biggest win to be just over the $100,000 mark. Matthew wasn't going to play the Main Event after his father, former pro golfer Norm Jarvis, contracted cancer. However, his father insisted he participated, and the decision proved lucrative as Matthew will be bringing home a minimum of $811,823.

Seat 7: John Racener -- 19,050,000

Hometown: Port Richey, FL (USA)
Age: 24
Profession: Poker Pro

Behind Michael Mizrachi, John is likely the best known player at the table having played the circuit for the last few years with considerable success. In total, he has a near two million dollars in live tournament winnings to his name, including $500,000 on the WSOP circuit where he won a main event in Atlantic City for $379,392.

At the World Series, John has cashed a total of eleven times including four in 2010. In previous Series, John has made two other final tables: sixth in a 2008 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud High-Low, and seventh in a 2009 Pot Limit Omaha High-Low, showing that he possesses skills in games outside of Hold'em.

John has been playing poker with his family for a number of years, but turned pro around four years ago. John's opening bankroll was $50, which he managed to turn into $30,000 within a year of playing online.

Seat 8: Filippo Candio -- 16,400,000

Hometown: Cagliari, Sardinia (Italy)
Age: 26
Profession: Poker Pro

Filippo is the only European in the November Nine, and if he wins, would become the first ever Italian player to become WSOP Main Event Champion.

Filippo has played the circuit sporadically, but mostly boasts results in his home nation with his most impressive being a win in the 2009 Campianato Italian in San Remo for €140,000.

Filippo is fluent in both Italian and English, and also speaks Latin after studying it at college where he specialised in classical literature. For a while, he considered going into law, but eventually turned to poker where he has obviously excelled. Before the Main Event, Filippo was sponsored by PokerStars, but began wearing Full Tilt patches as the week progressed.

Seat 9: Cuong Nguyen -- 9,650,000

Hometown: Santa Ana, CA (USA)
Age: 37
Profession: Sales (Medical Supplies)

At 37, Cuong is the oldest player at the poker table, but, ironically, the player with the least experience after admitting to rarely playing poker, either live or online. In fact, Cuong is the only amateur to have made it into the November Nine.

Cuong's day job is as a manager for a major company that makes and distributes products related to orthopedic surgery, and patients' recovery from surgery. As he got deeper into the event, he had to ring back to ensure that he could take the time off work to play the latter stages.

Cuong originally hails from South Vietnam, but moved his family to America when Saigon fell in 1975. He spent a few years in Pennsylvania, but later settled in Southern California where he currently resides.

Cuong is more commonly referred to as Soi (modified from Soy), as a result of his passion for Soy sauce as a child.

images courtesy of WSOP & Rob Gracie

Previous WSOP Reports:

Employee of the Month
Fairytale Endings
Must Be Nice
Make Mine a Double
Blonde on Blonde
Summer of Sam
Chuft to Bits
Under the Radar
Taking Notice
BBP Braced for WSOP Main Event
WSOP Main Event - Day 1A
WSOP Main Event - Day 1B
WSOP Main Event - Day 1C
WSOP Main Event - Day 1D
WSOP Main Event - Day 2A
WSOP Main Event - Day 2B
WSOP Main Event - Day 3
WSOP Main Event - Day 4
WSOP Main Event - Day 5
WSOP Main Event - Day 6
WSOP Main Event - Day 7
WSOP Main Event - Day 8

Vegas Blog:

May 23: My Old School Teacher
May 31: Welcome to America; Let the Institutionalising Begin
June 1: Pleasure & Pain
June 5: 100% British Beef
June 9: Alphabetti Spaghetti & Giant Meatballs
June 13: Colour Me Up
June 14: The Crying Game
June 20: Last Gasps
June 25: Dancing With the Devil
June 30: The End of a Streak
July 6: Tournament of Famous People
July 10: Running on Empty
July 15: An Excuse to Party
July 16: Food for Thought
July 25: Taxi From the Dark Side

Self-Blogging for Purple Belts

Over the last two months, I've been busy blogging on the happenings at this year's World Series of Poker, but now you too can join the (ahem) esteemed list of Black Belt Poker bloggers by becoming a blogger yourself.

In an offer exclusive to anyone who has ever attained Purple Belt status or higher, Black Belt Poker are giving members direct access to the blogging system so that they can upload their own blog onto the Black Belt Poker site.

If you have reached Purple Belt status or higher, then all you need to do is contact me at snoopy@blackbeltpoker.com and let me know that you wish to publish a blog on Black Belt Poker. Blogging is easy: armed with the url, simply log in to the self-blogging admin system and publish your blog using the step-by-step process provided. You can then post future blog entries whenever you please.

If your blog is of high content and receives good traffic and ratings, then we will link to your blog via the official BlackBeltNews Twitter source, as well as publish the occasional entry as an article in our 'articles' section.

As with any user-based content, there are of course some rules, all of which should be obvious and self-explanatory:

- Swearing is acceptable, but in moderation, and not directed towards individuals. Excessive swearing and use of particularly frowned upon words will not be accepted. Common sense is required.

- Don't publish derogatory comments towards Black Belt Poker, iPoker, or the members of the community.

- Don't post anything that can be deemed racist or discriminative based on religious background.

- You may post images, but nothing explicit or distasteful.

- Don't use the blog to advertise and avoid linking to other cardrooms, or sites that advertise other cardrooms. The occasional constructive link is allowed, but heavy spam will be immediately removed.

- As with all accounts on Black Belt Poker, you are personally responsible for the protection of your own log-in details.

- Severe misuse of the self-blogging system may result in removal of blogging privelages, or, in certain cases, the closing of accounts which would also means that the individual would be unable to spend any Belt Points earned.

That's the business side out of the way, all that's left for you to do is drop me an email and start blogging. And if you haven't yet attained Purple Belt, but would like to blog, then be sure to check out our rewards page to see how you can scale the ranks, and what benefits lie at each rung of the laddder.

Academy Announced

On Saturday, July 31, 2010, Black Belt Poker, in association with Bluff Europe Magazine, bring to you its latest Academy, a one-day mentorship at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London in which instructors will discuss the top of 'Accumulating Chips in Tournaments'.

As always, attendees will hear from the combined forces of Alex Rousso, Nik Persaud and 2008 Irish Open Champion Neil Channing, with the three mentors offering their extensive knowledge on a range of topics such as the loose-aggressive style and playing smallball poker.

The full schedule is as follows:

1.00 Intro: three money making tournament styles
1.15 The Tight-Aggressive style (TAG)
2.00 TAG workshop - students practise their skills
2.45 Short break with sandwiches
3.00 The Loose-Aggressive style (LAG)
3.45 LAG workshop - students practise their skills
4.15 Video hands from TV tournaments showing the styles in action
4.45 Short break
5.00 The smallball style
5.45 Smallball workshop - students practise their skills
6.30 Debate - the pros and cons of each style
7.00 Seminar ends

As part of the package, attendees will gain free entry into the Vic's £50+6 No Limit Hold'em Freezeout, held at 7.45pm on the evening of the Academy. As an exclusive to Academy attendees, Black Belt Poker will be offering a last-longer prize with the winner receiving four Skype sessions with a Black Belt Pro.

Last weekend, Jamie Burland became the Brighton UKIPT Champion for £65,400, whilst in April James Mitchell took home €600,000 when he became the 2010 Irish Open Champion. Both were former Graders and were subject to the teachings of the Black Belt Poker mentors, and now is your chance to hear the same words of wisdom they did.

If you would like to attend the Black Belt Poker/Bluff Academy, then reserve your seat now by sending a cheque for £199 to Black Belt Poker Limited, The Rotunda, 42/3 Gloucester Crescent, London, NW1 7DL. Places are capped at 30, so act quickly so as not to miss out on this great offer.

If you are an Orange Belt, then you can qualify for free in our monthly Orange Belt Freeroll. This month's event will take place on the Black Belt Poker skin at 8pm on Monday, July 26, 2010. If you are not currently an Orange Belt, but would like the opportunity to participate in future freerolls, then feel free to check out our rewards page to find out how you can work your way through the Belts.

For further information, please click here, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us at info@blackbeltpoker.com.

Vegas to Brighton: Jamie Burland Wins UKIPT

This weekend, Blue Belt Jamie Burland became the Brighton UKIPT champion, marking his biggest win to date. Having only recently returned from the World Series of Poker in Vegas, Jamie overcame a 259-thick field to take home the £65,400 first prize, as well as the customary silverware.

Hosted by the Rendezvous Casino, the Brighton leg was the fifth outing for the Tour, and the debut for the £1,000 buy-in after a fee of €1,000 was tried and tested in Killarney. Among the field was an array of talent, including Black Belt Poker co-founder Neil Channing who finished in 31st place for £1,700. He was joined by the likes of Julian Thew, Liam Flood, James Dempsey, Jake Cody, Vicky Coren and 2010 Irish Open James Mitchell.

For much of the tournament, Jamie was a silent assassin, never threatening the chip lead but quietly and surely scaling the ranks to ensure he was one of 13 to return for the third and final day. With two tables remaining, Jamie experienced a crucial double through, squeezing with aces preflop and leading a king high flop. His opponent moved all in with tens and Jamie immediately called before holding up on a blank turn and river.

After Anthony Lee was eliminated on the bubble by a fatigued Jon Spinks (4s-4d versus 6s-3s on an ensuing 2c-Ah-5h-7h-Ad board), Jamie found himself sitting in third with American tourist Bill Seber topping the charts after Andy Youens had boasted the chip lead at the start of the day:

Seat 1: Tomas Cibak - 549,000
Seat 2: Bill Seber - 850,000
Seat 3: Jamie Burland - 490,000
Seat 4: Waseem Ahmed - 241,000
Seat 5: William Beauchamp - 370,000
Seat 6: David Gant - 341,000
Seat 7: Andy Youens - 322,000
Seat 8: Jon Spinks - 430,000
Seat 9: Jonathan Campbell - 360,000

On the final table, Jamie was heavily supported by the Black Belt Poker faithful as fellow Blue Belts Simon Mairs, Owen Robinson and Kevin Williams all offered words of encouragement from the rail as well as ensuring that Jamie was greeted to a costly bar tab upon departure.

After Gant, Campbell and Youens exited in ninth to seventh respectively, Jamie took the scalp of sixth placed finisher Waseem Ahmed. With Seber raising to 75,000 from the button, Jamie moved all in from the small blind, only for Ahmed to call all-in from the big for 360,000. Seber folded and hands were revealed, Jamie in need of assistance with Ac-9s versus 5s-5c. However, on this occasion, Jamie's coin was buttered the right side as the board came Ah-Kd-7d-Kh-8s to award him both the pot, and the scalp.

Spinks and Beauchamp fell in fifth and fourth to leave us three-handed, at which point the Black Belt Poker pro triumphed in another crucial coin flip, Jamie once again out-gunning a pocket pair with his A-T defeating the 9-9 of Seber. A 63-year old Texan, Seber boasts over $500,000 in tournament winnings, although here he was forced to settle for third and a payday of £24,600.

Heads-up was an intriguing affair, the suited and booted hometown hero against the uber-aggressive foreigner, Tom Cibak of the Czech Republic proving a fearsome competitor throughout with his unrelenting penchant for three- and four-betting opponents into submission. Jamie, however, was a fierce competitor himself, and as the clock passed eleven, Jamie captured gold with Qh-4h standing up against Ts-8s all in on a Qs-7d-4s flop. The Td turn created more outs, but to no avail as the river bricked out to keep the title on home soil.

Overjoyed at victory, Jamie leapt from his chair with both hands clenched as the final card was dealt, before celebrating with his friends on the rail. To everyone watching, it was obvious how much this win meant to Jamie. After a few near misses, Jamie had finally captured that title he'd been looking for and you could see the emotion pouring from his face.

A Blue Belt on Black Belt Poker, Jamie was a product of the 2010 Grading process in which five players were promoted to Blue Belt with three enjoying Irish Open packages in which they were bought into the €3,500 Main Event. As a Blue Belt, Jamie is also open to Neil Channing's "occasional moments of madness", and so gratefully accepted when Neil offered to stake any Blue Belt on Black Belt Poker into the WSOP Main Event. Jamie performed admirably throughout, but ultimately came up short when he was eliminated at the tail end of Day 3.

Black Belt Poker will be looking to get an interview with the UKIPT's latest champion in the coming days, as well as hear his thoughts on some of those key hands. In the meantime, be sure to sign up to Black Belt Poker and see how you can scale the ranks to join Jamie as one of our Blue Belt sponsored pros. To open an account is easy: just download the cardroom software and follow the simple step-by-step process provided.

1st Jamie Burland -- £65,400
2nd Tomas Cibak -- £40,100
3rd Billy Sever -- £24,600
4th William Beauchamp -- £18,100
5th Jon Spinks -- £15,000
6th Wasseem Ahmed -- £12,400
7th Andrew Youens -- £9,850
8th Jonathan Campbell -- £7,750
9th David Gant -- £5,550

WSOP Main Event - Day 8

On Monday, July 5, the 2010 WSOP Main Event officially kicked-off in the Amazon Room with the Pavillion listening out nearby. Greg Raymer took on the "shuffle up and deal" honours, but was eliminated within the opening level. 27 players were less unfortunate, skipping through the poker mindfield and emerging from a 7,319 thick field to participate in the eighth and final day. 12 days on, and these gladiators of the felt were just one session of poker away from a seat in the November Nine.

For the final day, the players were sectioned off into one corner of the room, with the feature and secondary tables joined by an outer table that sat directly behind the stage, but attracted a similar crowd nonetheless. Redmond Lee was on the secondary table, seated across the felt from fan favourite Michael 'The Grinder' Mizrachi, whilst menacing Swede William Thorson lurked to his immediate left. Out of the three tables, this was the least foreboding with John Racener the initial captain with 10,470,000. Overnight chip leaders Joseph Cheong (24,490,000) and Soi Nguyen (23,100,000) - who each held over 10 percent of the chips in play - sat on the feature and outer tables respectively.

After 2010 commissioner Ty Stewart had addressed the players, and MMA fighter Kevin 'The Monster' Randleman announced those immortal words, the starting whistle blew and we were off, just one more day away from finding poker's next batch of millionaires. As with last year, the UK had just the sole survivor with Redmond Lee looking to turn a guaranteed $317,161 payday into something more substantial, plus the opportunity to return in four months time to battle it out for the gold bracelet. Sitting in 20th place with 3,315,000, he was by no means in a perfect spot, but could certainly put himself in contention with a timely double through.

It wasn't the best of starts for the 24-year old Brit. On the very first hand of the day, Redmond opened for 310,000 in late position only to be reraised to 650,000 by Michael Mizrachi in the small blind. After a brief pause, Redmond relinquished his hand and was shown pocket kings for his troubles, which I sensed may have been ahead. Despite this immediate setback, Redmond kept plugging away, and remained as plucky as he had done for the entire tournament. Not too long after, Brandon Steve raised to 425,000 in the cut-off and Redmond pushed for two million one seat along. Steve seemed tempted by the pot odds, but ultimately lay the hand down to enable Redmond to fight another day.

Sadly, that 'another day' would ultimately evade Redmond as his WSOP venture came to an end when he was eliminated in 21st place. After a period of inactivity - mainly due to the constrictions of his stack in relation to the blinds - Redmond shoved for 2,445,000 with pocket fours, but was looked up by Michiel Sijpkens who turned pocket tens onto the felt. A 7s-6d-Jd-Ac-Qd board later and Redmond was gone, understandably dejected to have not gone further, but consoled by the tax-free $317,161 he'd be taking back across the Atlantic.

As the day progressed, it was beginning to seem like a lack-lustre final table line-up was on the cards, made up entirely of unknown Internet kids looking like clones of one another with their logo-ed baseball caps and hoodies. At the start of Day 6, I outlined in my blog what I thought would be the perfect November Nine, yet two days on, only one of my selections remained in Michael Mizrachi.

The big guns hit the deck almost immediately, the ever-popular Johnny Lodden the first scalp in 27th. With Matt Affleck raising it up under the gun with Ac-Th, Lodden pushed all in for 1,470,000 on the button with 8h-8d, but was unable to survive on an ensuing Ks-Qs-2s-Tc-7s board. A couple of hours later, he was joined by fellow Scandinavian William Thorson, the Swede squeezing for 5,000,000 with Jd-Td but being picked off by caller John Racener who'd been trapping with Ks-Kd. The 2h-6d-Ad-2s-5c board teased, but ultimately changed nothing, and the Nordic ambush of this year's WSOP Main Event came to an end.

One seasoned pro who could potentially bring a touch of 'big name' familiarity to the final table was the underrated Scott Clements. With two bracelets and over four million in tournament winnings, Clements, along with Mizrachi, seemed capable of bringing the November Nine to a slightly wider audience, but his tournament came to an abrupt end when he exited in 18th for $396,967.

Michael Mizrachi lit the first spark raising it up to 485,000 in the hijack enabling Clements to push all in from the button for 4,905,000 with Ad-Qs. However, and to both players' chagrin, Matthew Jarvis reshoved from the big blind. After Mizrachi made the hesistant fold, Jarvis tabled As-Kc which dodged the three ladies on a subsequent Ac-7h-5c-6h-8s board. As I returned from the toilet, I spotted a lonely Clements approaching from the other direction along the Rio corridor. A passer by asked if he was still in. Clements shook his head. The random then asked another question, but no answer was forthcoming, Clements clearly devastated to have come close-but-no-cigar and certainly not in the mood to divulge the details with a stranger so soon after his demise. Even for a man of Clements' calibre and experience, this latest elimination would take a while to sink in.

After David Baker and Benjamin Statz fell in 17th and 16th respectively, the rail of the secondary feature table bore witness to the pot of the tournament. In what had started out as a preflop raising war with Jonathan Duhamel four-betting to 3,925,000 after an initial open of 550,000, and Matt Affleck, who had three-bet to 1,500,000, making the call, the two players saw a Td-9c-7h flop where Affleck led for 5,000,000. Duahmel called to see a Qd hit the turn. After his opponent had checked, Affleck moved all in for 11,600,000 and following five minutes of deliberation, Duhamel made what appeared to be a very reluctant call with Jh-Jc, only to find that he was indeed behind against Ac-As. But, the Poker Gods were smiling on Duhamel, as the river came a devastating 8d to send the crowd into a wild frenzy, and send Affleck hurtling to the rail. As the 42 million pot went sailing across the felt, Affleck could but drop his head into his cap and fight back the tears which threatened to fall any second. He was crushed, and so were his chances of making the November Nine.

As the next three players rattled off, and then bracelet winner Pascal LeFrancois dropped in 11th to whittle the field down to just one table, it looked as though we were just moments away from the summer's end, but little did we know that the November Nine bubble would take a near six hours to burst. After an emotionally exhausting battle which only saw the occasional showdown (one of which was an A-K versus A-K split pot between Brandon Steven and Matthew Jarvis), our November Nine were finally unearthed when Brandon Steven felt the splash of poker's most costly bubble to finish in 10th place for $635,011.

With the blinds at 250,000 and 500,000 with a running ante of 50,000, Steven found himself within touching distance of poker's most undesirable wooden spoon, his Ac-Ks in search of one of six outs against the Qs-Qc of Matthew Jarvis. The dealer rolled out a 4h-3d-Tc flop, and after a raggy 4c turn, the river brought a harmless 5h to award the pot to Jarvis. Despite his best efforts, Steven had fallen at the final hurdle and would be missing out on all the fun and financial gain that comes with being a member of the November Nine.

Jonathan Duhamel -- 65,975,000
John Dolan -- 46,250,000
Joseph Cheong -- 23,525,000
John Racener -- 19,050,000
Matthew Jarvis -- 16,700,000
Filippo Candio -- 16,400,000
Michael Mizrachi -- 14,450,000
Soi Nguyen -- 9,650,000
Jason Senti -- 7,625,000

And so, after 12 long, hard fought days, the WSOP Main Event has reached its final table with Jonathan Duhamel boasting the chip lead after eliminating poor Matt Affleck in an unforgettable hand. However, the big story of the day will be that of Michael Mizrachi, 'The Grinder' putting the icing on the cake of what has been a quite remarkable Series by becoming the MVP of the November Nine.

As the main character in his own riches to rags story, Mizrachi came in to the Series sharing the same hopes and dreams as everyone else, eager to put his recent financial ruin behind him and once again start scaling the poker ranks. Not only did he triumph in the Poker Players' Championship to snap up one of poker's most celebrated bracelets, but now he is also a November Niner and on the verge of not only completing a comeback for the ages, but also of placing himself in the very highest echelons of poker's greats. Along with his three brothers who also made the money, Mizrachi has made easy writing for the ESPN crew, and will no doubt dominate the coverage. Given his achievements, it will be richly deserved.

10th Brandon Steven -- $635,011
11th Pascal LeFrancois -- 635,011
12th Adam Levy -- $635,011
13th Duy Le -- $500,165
14th Hasan Habib -- $500,165
15th Matt Affleck -- $500,165
16th Benjamin Statz -- $396,967
17th David Baker -- $396,967
18th Scott Clements -- $396,967
19th Michiel Sijpkens -- $317,161
20th Patrick Eskandar -- $317,161
21st Redmond Lee -- $317,161
22nd William Thorson -- $317,161
23rd Robert Pisano -- $317,161
24th Ronnie Bardah -- $317,161
25th Mads Wissing -- $317,161
26th Matthew Bucaric -- $317,161
27th Johnny Lodden -- $317,161

48th James Fennell -- $168,556
111th JP Kelly -- $57,102
123rd Justin Tazelaar -- $57,102
147th Javed Abrahams -- $57,120
180th Jamie Brown -- $48,847
232nd Richard Ellis -- $48,847
239th Mark Teltscher -- $48,847
240th Praz Bansi -- $48,847
241st Neil McFayden -- $48,847
256th Jan Boye -- $41,967
267th Padraig Parkinson -- $41,967
281st John Kabbaj -- $41,967
285th Tomas MacNamara -- $41,967
332nd Susan Nordsen -- $36,463
370th Ben Blackmore -- $36,463
389th Mark Dalimore -- $31,647
422nd Richard Sinclair -- $31,647
501st Rory Rees Brennan -- $27,519
536th Roy Vandersluis -- $24,079
542nd Matthew Ireland -- $24,079
556th Darren Woods -- $24.079
572nd Simon Taylor -- $24,079
582nd George McKeever -- $24,079
591st Chris Bjorin -- $24,079
652nd Gregory Howard -- $21,327
656th Dan Carter -- $21,327
672nd Mel Judah -- $21,327
743rd Priyan de Mel -- $19,263

Previous WSOP Reports:

Employee of the Month
Fairytale Endings
Must Be Nice
Make Mine a Double
Blonde on Blonde
Summer of Sam
Chuft to Bits
Under the Radar
Taking Notice
BBP Braced for WSOP Main Event
WSOP Main Event - Day 1A
WSOP Main Event - Day 1B
WSOP Main Event - Day 1C
WSOP Main Event - Day 1D
WSOP Main Event - Day 2A
WSOP Main Event - Day 2B
WSOP Main Event - Day 3
WSOP Main Event - Day 4
WSOP Main Event - Day 5
WSOP Main Event - Day 6
WSOP Main Event - Day 7

Vegas Blog:

May 23: My Old School Teacher
May 31: Welcome to America; Let the Institutionalising Begin
June 1: Pleasure & Pain
June 5: 100% British Beef
June 9: Alphabetti Spaghetti & Giant Meatballs
June 13: Colour Me Up
June 14: The Crying Game
June 20: Last Gasps
June 25: Dancing With the Devil
June 30: The End of a Streak
July 6: Tournament of Famous People
July 10: Running on Empty
July 15: An Excuse to Party
July 16: For for Thought

WSOP Main Event - Day 7

The agents were running around frantically, desperately competing with each other in an attempt to 'patch up' a future November Niner. We were down to the last few tables, and each and every one of the remaining players could smell success just inches away. This was their opportunity for stardom, riches, and the most exciting few months of their lives, and nobody wanted to blow it.

Redmond Lee had taken the live route, building up his bankroll in the cash games before chopping up a satellite. He plays on a handful of sites, including Sky Poker, but for the last few days he'd been bearing the colours of PokerStars. In all, he seemed unfazed by the possibilities that lay ahead, taking everything in his stride as his girlfriend watched anxiously from the rail. But, in truth, this could be a day that potentially set aside the millionaires from the 'almosts'. As 80 gathered in one corner of the Amazon Room for the penultimate day of the summer, tensions were riding high and every decision would be a stressful one. On Day 7, a lot was at stake.

In the dying seconds of Day 6, Redmond had snuck his way up to 2,200,000 almost inexplicably, evading the gaze of the bloggers and somehow increasing his stack two-fold at precisely the right moment. When I caught up with him near the start of the day, he revealed the gory details with an elated smile: "This guy limped," he regaled with a raised eyebrow, "so I decided to limp as well from the button with A-3 of diamonds. The small blind called and big blind checked. The flop was 6-4-2 with two diamonds and the big blind led out for 100,000. The limper raised to 300,000 and I pushed all in. The big blind folded, but the limper called with 6-4 for two pair. I hit my hand and doubled through."

Today, Redmond had opted to keep his hands clean, avoid the big pots like the plague and just look for spots in which to take a pot down uncontested. At one point, he did drop down to 1,700,000, calling a raise of 125,000 in the small blind, checking down a 3d-9h-8s-Qc board before calling a bet of 350,000 from William Thorson who had come along for the ride in the big blind. Thorson showed 7h-5c, which was more than enough to take the pot.

However, the following level, Redmond finally found himself in one of those unavoidable all-in showdowns, his Qh-Qd coming up against the Ah-Kc of Gabe Costner after Costner had opened to 140,000 from under the gun, and Redmond moved all in for 1,950,000. With his tournament life hanging by a thread, Redmond managed to survive a 5h-6s-2d-9c-2h board to double up to just over four million in chips, which once again prevented him from being sucked into the danger zone.

For the next couple of levels, Redmond treaded water. Whilst the other tables were seeing more action than a Die Hard boxset, Redmond was just doing his utmost to keep his head above water, and for the most part was able to maintain a stack of around the 3,500,000 mark. He did experience one all-in, but it was a split pot, his As-Ks finding its way in against the Ah-Kh of Jakob Toestesen on a Kc-9h-7s flop. Neither player were able to make use of their respective backdoor flush draws so the pot was chopped up.

As midnight approached, the fall of Bryn Kenney brought play to a halt, and Redmond had made it into the final 27 of the 2010 WSOP Main Event, by no means comfortable in 20th place with 3,315,000, yet still in with a shot. Not everyone survived the day. Ireland's last man standing, James Fennell, finished in 48th for a highly admirable $168,556. Although he will undoubtedly be disappointed to have come so close, he can at least say he got it in ahead, his 8c-8d cruelly outdrawn by the 9s-7d of Theo Jorgensen on an ensuing 4s-7s-9h-As-Tc board.

Speaking of the Dane, Jorgensen was once chip leader, and one of the favourites to return to Vegas in November, but his sudden plight was perhaps a reflection of the unrelenting action that took place in the Amazon Room, players refusing to sit back and playing with a fearless attitude that has made the modern generation of players such a daunting prospect. Although it was John Racener who picked up the pieces with Ad-Qc improving against Ah-Kd all in on the flop of a 4c-6c-Ac-Qh-9h board, it was actually Cuong Nguyen who inflicted the most damage.

In what many will consider the pot of the tournament thus far, Brandon Steve raised to 225,000 from late position and received two callers in Jorgensen and Nguyen in the small and big blind. On the Kc-5h-9c flop, the action was checked around to Steve who led for 525,000. Jorgensen called, only for Nguyen to raise to 1,500,000. After Steve had folded, Jorgensen three-bet to 4,000,000, Nguyen pushed for 7,620,000 and Jorgensen made the call. On their backs, and Nguyen had his nose in front with Kh-Jc versus Ac-3c, and stayed in front on a Td turn and 3d river to win an epic pot worth 19,520,000, the biggest of the tournament. It was this hand that would ultimately lead to Jorgensen's demise, and allow Nguyen to finish the day second in chips 23,100,000.

Heading into the final day, it's Joseph Cheong who holds the chips lead with 24,490,000. Scott Clements is still there with 7,250,000, as is Michael Mizrachi on 6,300,000. Looking further down the list, William Thorson relenquished the chip lead to slip to 3,680,000, whilst Johnny Lodden is down to his last breaths with 1,560,000. But, as today's back and forth battle proved, anything can happen, and whilst Hasan Habib is the current short stack with 1,510,000, it's not implausible that he'll be chip leader by the end of the opening level. It's been one of those tournament, but for 18 players at least, the fun and frolics is about to come to an end.

Redmond Lee -- 3,315,000

48th James Fennell -- $168,556
111th JP Kelly -- $57,102
123rd Justin Tazelaar -- $57,102
147th Javed Abrahams -- $57,120
180th Jamie Brown -- $48,847
232nd Richard Ellis -- $48,847
239th Mark Teltscher -- $48,847
240th Praz Bansi -- $48,847
241st Neil McFayden -- $48,847
256th Jan Boye -- $41,967
267th Padraig Parkinson -- $41,967
281st John Kabbaj -- $41,967
285th Tomas MacNamara -- $41,967
332nd Susan Nordsen -- $36,463
370th Ben Blackmore -- $36,463
389th Mark Dalimore -- $31,647
422nd Richard Sinclair -- $31,647
501st Rory Rees Brennan -- $27,519
536th Roy Vandersluis -- $24,079
542nd Matthew Ireland -- $24,079
556th Darren Woods -- $24.079
572nd Simon Taylor -- $24,079
582nd George McKeever -- $24,079
591st Chris Bjorin -- $24,079
652nd Gregory Howard -- $21,327
656th Dan Carter -- $21,327
672nd Mel Judah -- $21,327
743rd Priyan de Mel -- $19,263

Previous WSOP Reports:

Employee of the Month
Fairytale Endings
Must Be Nice
Make Mine a Double
Blonde on Blonde
Summer of Sam
Chuft to Bits
Under the Radar
Taking Notice
BBP Braced for WSOP Main Event
WSOP Main Event - Day 1A
WSOP Main Event - Day 1B
WSOP Main Event - Day 1C
WSOP Main Event - Day 1D
WSOP Main Event - Day 2A
WSOP Main Event - Day 2B
WSOP Main Event - Day 3
WSOP Main Event - Day 4
WSOP Main Event - Day 5
WSOP Main Event - Day 6

Vegas Blog:

May 23: My Old School Teacher
May 31: Welcome to America; Let the Institutionalising Begin
June 1: Pleasure & Pain
June 5: 100% British Beef
June 9: Alphabetti Spaghetti & Giant Meatballs
June 13: Colour Me Up
June 14: The Crying Game
June 20: Last Gasps
June 25: Dancing With the Devil
June 30: The End of a Streak
July 6: Tournament of Famous People
July 10: Running on Empty
July 15: An Excuse to Party
July 16: For for Thought

WSOP Main Event - Day 6

The Amazon Room has foregone a transformation of late. Once an endless sea of tables heaving with thousands of salivating poker enthusiasts, just 20 or so tables have been sucked into one segment of the room as the remaining 205 combattants set their sights on a November Nine seat. As for the Pavillion - the room is as barren as the Nevada desert with the only semblance of what occurred over the last two months being the empty stage which played host to the bracelet ceremonies.

Five Brits entered the battlefield today, but when the smoke had cleared and the dust had settled, we were left with just the one lone soldier in Redmond Lee. Whilst all eyes were on established UK talents such as JP Kelly and Praz Bansi, Redmond quietly passed under the radar, his lack of mention in the mainstream updates not only highlighting a reserved persona, but also his ability to play the silent assassin and scale the ranks unnoticed.

I've only met Redmond a couple of times. He's a 24-year old online pro from, I believe, London, who almost participated in the inaugural Black Belt Poker Grading. He's a friendly, amicable lad, and when I crossed his path at the Sports Deli in the Rio, we had an interesting chat about his progress. Redmond revealed that he hadn't been involved in too many hands, and that the most crucial one was his triple through the day prior when he was down to half a million, his queens holding up against A-Q and A-T.

For most of Day 6, he was steadier than a spirit level, inching his starting stack of 998,000 to 1,500,000 where he spent much of the day. He seems to have evaded the big pots, and his only elimination was of Tony Brace, who moved all in for 97,000 with sixes. Redmond picked up pocket jacks and hit a third on the flop to virtually seal the deal.

"I don't know too much about my opponents," he revealed. "I played Bryn Kenney for a while and he's really good, made my life tricky. Jean-Robert Bellande makes some strange plays that you see some live players make. He's not bad or anything, just that there isn't always logic to what he does. He loves to talk and reminds me of Hellmuth. He called a 22 big blind shove with K-7 and spent the next 10 minutes trying to explain why he called. He's entertaining, though."

Just as the day was drawing to a close, Redmond increased his stack to 2,200,000. I didn't catch the hand, but the timing was perfect, his last ditch double through taking him out of the danger zone and in with a great shot of making a serious impact on this year's Main Event. He's still a step or two off the pace, but another double up and he'll be right up their in the chasing pack.

In all, though, it's been a disappointing showing from the Brits. JP Kelly, in particular, seemed to be picking up momentum at precisely the right moment, but today he just couldn't get going and was eliminated in a disappointing 111th place for $57,102 when his tens were out-gunned by Theo Jorgensen's A-J on an A-A-9-3-Q rainbow board.

The killer hand, however, came the level previous. I caught the action on the turn of an 8d-9h-Jh-Ad board. It looked as though JP had led, his neighbor raised, and JP called. On the Ts river, JP bet 500,000. "Sick," said his opponent holding his arms aloft. Judging by his reaction, I thought he was going to fold, but he ultimately made the call with Tc-7h for the flopped straight. JP mucked to leave himself with under 600,000. It was a deficit he was unable to recover from.

Also suffering an early exit was Jamie Brown, a high stakes pro who plays as high as $25/50 No Limit Hold'em. Jamie only plays tournaments at local festivals and the World Series, but nevetheless has won more money than most with two GUKPT finals, 14th in a WPT for $60,080, and 89th in the 2009 WSOP Main Event for $57,991.

Jamie was short for most of the event, but had a good Day 4 to bring himself into contention. On Day 5, he really started to excel. Many who have played him will know how dangerous he is. Yesterday he called a three-barrell king high bluff with pocket threes and, before that, he called a donk shove from a short stack in a five-way pot with a jack high flush draw. His opponent held 7-3 for a gutshot straight draw and Jamie's hand held up to knock him out. Of course, he's received the occasional spot of good fortune, and was lucky enough to win an A-K versus A-K encounter when he hit runner, runner for a diamond flush.

Unfortunately, Jamie couldn't better his feat from last year, finishing in 180th place for $48,847. On his final hand, he pushed all in with A-K and was called in two spots: Damien Luis and Pejmanpatric Eskandar. The board came Qc-Th-2s-3d-4h, but despite getting it in ahead, Jamie exited to the Ah-Qd of Luis whilst Eskandar just missed out with Kh-Qh.

The other two Brits playing Day 6 were Javed Abahams and Justin Tzelaar. Described as a "solid player" by Praz Bansi, Javed sung his swan song with As-Qs versus the Jd-9s of Alexander Kostritsyn on a jack high two spade flop. Both turn and river were blanks. Tzelaar, meanwhile, was equally unfortunate, his As-Qh unable to improve all in on a 3s-6s-2s flop against the Ts-Td of Meenaskshi Subramaniam. Once again, a lack of spades proved the UK's downfall.

And so, the November Nine beckons. With just 80 remaining, we're within touching distance of creating nine more millionaires. Current favourite to join that elite club is Theo Jorgensen with 9,295,000, but breathing down his neck is Michael Mizrachi on 7,535,000. We may have lost Johnny Chan, Phil Galfond and Juha Helppi, but if the wind blows the right way we can still unearth a star-studded final with Johnny Lodden, David Benyamine, William Thorson, Scott Clements and Jean-Robert Bellande all still alive.

Day 7 starts at 12pm. 27 will survive. The shit just got serious.

James Fennell -- 3,225,000
Redmond Lee -- 2,200,000

111th JP Kelly -- $57,102
123rd Justin Tazelaar -- $57,102
147th Javed Abrahams -- $57,120
180th Jamie Brown -- $48,847
232nd Richard Ellis -- $48,847
239th Mark Teltscher -- $48,847
240th Praz Bansi -- $48,847
241st Neil McFayden -- $48,847
256th Jan Boye -- $41,967
267th Padraig Parkinson -- $41,967
281st John Kabbaj -- $41,967
285th Tomas MacNamara -- $41,967
332nd Susan Nordsen -- $36,463
370th Ben Blackmore -- $36,463
389th Mark Dalimore -- $31,647
422nd Richard Sinclair -- $31,647
501st Rory Rees Brennan -- $27,519
536th Roy Vandersluis -- $24,079
542nd Matthew Ireland -- $24,079
556th Darren Woods -- $24.079
572nd Simon Taylor -- $24,079
582nd George McKeever -- $24,079
591st Chris Bjorin -- $24,079
652nd Gregory Howard -- $21,327
656th Dan Carter -- $21,327
672nd Mel Judah -- $21,327
743rd Priyan de Mel -- $19,263

Previous WSOP Reports:

Employee of the Month
Fairytale Endings
Must Be Nice
Make Mine a Double
Blonde on Blonde
Summer of Sam
Chuft to Bits
Under the Radar
Taking Notice
BBP Braced for WSOP Main Event
WSOP Main Event - Day 1A
WSOP Main Event - Day 1B
WSOP Main Event - Day 1C
WSOP Main Event - Day 1D
WSOP Main Event - Day 2A
WSOP Main Event - Day 2B

Vegas Blog:

May 23: My Old School Teacher
May 31: Welcome to America; Let the Institutionalising Begin
June 1: Pleasure & Pain
June 5: 100% British Beef
June 9: Alphabetti Spaghetti & Giant Meatballs
June 13: Colour Me Up
June 14: The Crying Game
June 20: Last Gasps
June 25: Dancing With the Devil
June 30: The End of a Streak
July 6: Tournament of Famous People
July 10: Running on Empty
July 15: An Excuse to Party
July 16: For for Thought

WSOP Main Event - Day 5

When they bring out the 'secondary media rail', you know we're at the business end, and with 574 remaining in this year's Main Event, the atmosphere in the Amazon Room was such that you could cut the tension with a toothpick, nevermind a knife.

Black Belt Poker's venture may have come to an abrupt and fruitless end, but there were still plenty of British blood pumping through the veins of the World Series with the likes of Jamie Brown, Mark Teltscher and John Kabbaj looking to inch a step closer, as well as some new faces that I haven't previously come across in Neil McFayden, Just Tazlerar, Richard Sinclair and Richard Ellis.

One player who you just can't take your eye off is Praz Bansi. He was seated in the centre of the room and thus not easy to access, but I was able to catch up with the Hit Squadder during an early break. "I'm not doing too bad," he reported. "I started with 660,000 but got up to 860,000 early on when I raised with Q-J and this old guy called from the big blind. We both checked the J-7-6 flop, but then he just shoved for 150,000 on the 5 turn. It was a big overbet, but he'd just lost a pot the hand before, so I called, and he had A-Q off and missed his ace."

"I moved table after that," he continued, "and when I arrived, they were kinda talking about me like I could play and was capable of being a bit crazy. When I got A-K I made a standard raise and this Internet kid three-bet to 46,000. I thought he could have any two so reraised to 88,000, but he made it 150,000. I then raised again to 280,000 and he shoved all in for 900,000. I thought about it for a while, but folded and he had tens, which put me back down to 550,000. I wasn't that keen on his play to be honest, but I couldn't see how he could be making this move without a big hand. I really didn't want to go out of the Main Event with A-K."

Praz won some pots to get up to 650,000, and then lost some to drop back down to 400,000. When the blinds hit 6,000 and 12,000 he found A-K and, with a player limit raising to 24,000, duly moved all in for his tournament life. The next player along flat-called from a stack of 1,000,000, and when the initial raiser called (leaving himself just 50,000 behind), Praz naturally feared the worst. On the queen high flop, the final 50,000 went in and cards were revealed, the prefop aggressor showing 4-4 and the caller with A-K. The pocket pair held and Praz was gone in rather bizarre fashion. "I can't believe he called the fours off," a stunned Praz commented during the break that immediately proceeded. "It just seemed like he'd had enough for some reason."

Praz wasn't the only British casualty. Before dinner we lost the likes of Mark Dalimore, Roy Vandersluis, Rory Rees Brennan, Darren Woods, Simon Taylor, and Susan Nordsen, the latter meaning the title of last woman standing would belong to another nation. We also saw the last of Ben Blackmore, a young UK pro from 'up north'. He was short all day, and when he finally found a hand, he ran headfirst into a monster. "I pushed with eights," he divulged, "but he'd limped with kings. He'd limped a few times before, so I had to get it in."

Also meeting his demise was Irish legend Padraig Parkinson. I railed the former finalist for around half an hour, but it was ultimately a bok. He did double through to 400,000, but as soon as I moved to the other side of the room, I saw him rising from his seat. I asked a PokerNews reporter for the story, and hr said that although they didn't catch the hand, he was crippled in one pot, and then got his last few chips in with 3-2 of all hands.

I had high hopes for Padraig after the early promise. I believe he doubled through within the opening levels with A-K versus A-8, and then had the same player all in with K-J versus A-K. As the cameras were mobilising, Padraig warned, "I'm very sorry, but I never lose here. I'm 98-0." A jack duly spiked the flop and Padraig added, "99-0." This put him up to 500,000, but sadly it just wasn't to be. The strange irony of it all was that Padraig played more days in 2010 than he did in 1999, but I guess that just shows once again the magnitude of the Main Event and how far the World Series has come.

Padraig was soon followed by a number of UK player, as the latter stages saw Neil McFayden, John Kabbaj, Richard Ellis, Justin Tazelaar and Jan Boye all bite dust, as well as Mark Teltscher who called a six-bet all-in with Kc-Kd, only to be cruelly outdrawn by Matthew Parvis's Ad-Qc on an ensuing As-5s-4s-4c-Jc board. Somehow, it seemed as though the Poker Gods were having their wicked way with the British contingent, and we were powerless to stop them

Of course, we did boast a handful of players whose force shield was in working order, James Fennell, Javed Abrahams, Redmond Lee and Jamie Brown all making it to the end of the day. Also surviving was JP Kelly who'd managed to exceed the million mark the night prior after calling an open with 9-9 and flopping a set against Q-Q. "They said I had exactly one million at the start of today," he confessed, "but that wasn't true. I made a mistake on the sheet and wrote 1,000,017. They obviously rounded this down because you can't have 17. What I meant to write was 1,017,000. " I guess even the best players make the occasional mistake.

JP admitted to getting "bashed up" today, and despite an uneventful start in which his only moment of excitement was a chopped pot with A-K versus A-K, he picked up the pace post-dinner to finish on 1,474,000 and perhaps the UK's best hope of success. With two bracelets under his belt, he certainly has the confidence.

As the day drew to a close, 205 received a bag, safe in the knowledge that they would be returning the next day with a guaranteed $48,847 in the bank. Some will be happier than others - Johnny Lodden in particular after tripling up from 90,000 to finish on 1,625,000 - and others will be less satisfied - early pace setter Jesper Hougaard returning with 289,000 - but the man who will sleep easiest will undoubtedly be Evan Lamprea. The Canadian finished the day as chip leader with 3,564,000 and is the man everyone will be chasing.

Official UK & Ireland counts:

James Fennell -- 2,011,000
JP Kelly -- 1,474,000
Javed Abrahams -- 1,005,000
Redmond Lee -- 998,000
Justin Tazelaar -- 994,000
Jamie Brown -- 832,000

232nd Richard Ellis -- $48,847
239th Mark Teltscher -- $48,847
240th Praz Bansi -- $48,847
241st Neil McFayden -- $48,847
256th Jan Boye -- $41,967
267th Padraig Parkinson -- $41,967
281st John Kabbaj -- $41,967
285th Tomas MacNamara -- $41,967
332nd Susan Nordsen -- $36,463
370th Ben Blackmore -- $36,463
389th Mark Dalimore -- $31,647
422nd Richard Sinclair -- $31,647
501st Rory Rees Brennan -- $27,519
536th Roy Vandersluis -- $24,079
542nd Matthew Ireland -- $24,079
556th Darren Woods -- $24.079
572nd Simon Taylor -- $24,079
582nd George McKeever -- $24,079
591st Chris Bjorin -- $24,079
652nd Gregory Howard -- $21,327
656th Dan Carter -- $21,327
672nd Mel Judah -- $21,327
743rd Priyan de Mel -- $19,263

Previous WSOP Reports:

Employee of the Month
Fairytale Endings
Must Be Nice
Make Mine a Double
Blonde on Blonde
Summer of Sam
Chuft to Bits
Under the Radar
Taking Notice
BBP Braced for WSOP Main Event
WSOP Main Event - Day 1A
WSOP Main Event - Day 1B
WSOP Main Event - Day 1C
WSOP Main Event - Day 1D
WSOP Main Event - Day 2A
WSOP Main Event - Day 2B

Vegas Blog:

May 23: My Old School Teacher
May 31: Welcome to America; Let the Institutionalising Begin
June 1: Pleasure & Pain
June 5: 100% British Beef
June 9: Alphabetti Spaghetti & Giant Meatballs
June 13: Colour Me Up
June 14: The Crying Game
June 20: Last Gasps
June 25: Dancing With the Devil
June 30: The End of a Streak
July 6: Tournament of Famous People
July 10: Running on Empty
July 15: An Excuse to Party

WSOP Main Event - Day 4

There aren't many tournaments where you can play over three days of poker and go home with nothing, but the World Series of Poker Main Event is anything but the norm. With 1203 returning for today's outing, 456 would be going home empty-handed, all their graft and hard-work out-done by one slip up, bad beat or cooler.

Whilst the 7,319 who started this event had been whittled down to the nitty girtty, so had the Black Belt Poker contingent, the 11 who handed $10,000 across the cashier now down to just two. Out of the pair, it was Warren Wooldridge who headed into the day with the best chances, his 255,800 starting stack comfortably above the average and only a double through away from becoming a major threat. Sadly, things didn't go to plan.

On just the second level of play, Warren defended the button with A-9 leading to a 9-7-2 flop where he check-raised the inevitable continuation bet to 25,000. His opponent called. The turn came a 5, and after Warren had put his man all in, a call was made and we had a showdown, Warren in dominating shape against an inferior 9-6. However, the Poker Gods had other ideas, and duly delivered an eight on the river for a gut-wrenching gutshot straight.

Down to 150,000, Warren eliminated a short stack with 8-8 versus K-J to jump up to 185,000, but soon found himself involved in a big pot with the aforementioned villain once again. This time, Warren was the man all in (although only just), his four-bet push with A-K suited called by T-T - albeit after a five minute dwell - and unable to improve on an uneventful board. Black Belt Poker's CEO was toast.

Having only made the decision to play the Main Event at the last minute, Warren put in a highly admirable performance to slice through almost 90 percent of the field, only missing out on the money by 150 spots. His venture had been a turbulent one, and although he enjoyed his fair share of good fortune along the way, he was unfortunate to come so close before being eliminated to a bad beat and a coin flip.

Black Belt Poker's other representative was Tristan McDonald, a man with perhaps one of the best pound for pound records in UK poker having twice finalled the Amsterdam Master Classics and finished sixth in the 2009 Cardiff GUKPT, as well a deep run in the 2007 WSOP Main Event. As Neil Channing once said, "Tristan McDonald is quite an amazing guy really. He doesn't look like much but he has cashed for $735,000 in 15 events over 10 years. I bet he only plays six events a year."

Despite his impressive record, Tristan was unable to add another notch to his database when he departed shortly after Warren. Finding himself down to "shoving territory" with 75,000, he made his move with A-Q, but, like Warren, was unable to unravel pockets tens which, once again, held up on a raggy board. The river thus marked the end of Black Belt Poker's assault on the 2010 World Series of Poker, an ambush that showcased many a talent, but ultimately fell short. Coin flipping, it would seem, just wasn't our speciality.

Although Black Belt Poker had little to cheer, the UK still maintained a presence, and whilst the bubble neared, a number of local talent was still in with a shout of making the money. Sadly, others were not so lucky, as the likes of Martin Green, Dave Colclough, Barny Boatman and Paul Jackson all missed out. John Shipley came close too, but he would eventually succumb to a nasty and unavoidable kings versus aces encounter.

The bubble itself was an inevitably intense affair, and when someone doubled through, there was a unified sigh that simmered through the room. However, and despite players clinging on like cats on the way to the vets, the money was eventually reached when Tim McDonald three-bet a 10,000 open to 30,000 with Q-Q. On the A-A-2 flop, he moved all in for his final 37,500, but was quickly called by A-2. "You wouldn't have two queens in there, would you?" McDonald asked the dealer, but no such miracle emerged, and the bubble was burst.

As the room cheered in delight, McDonald was brought up onto the stage where he received a nice warm round of applause, before being awarded the best wooden spoon around: a seat in next year's event. The true bubble, therefore, went to the bubble of the bubble, Angel Guillen, who hit the deck a couple of hands earlier when his aces were cruelly outdrawn by pocket jacks. If anyone had a long journey home, it would be the Mexican pro.

After the bubble, the words "all in and a call" began to ripple their way through the Amazon Room like dominos in a gale, players falling at a ferocious rate as they looked to double or bust. In the final 90 minutes, no fewer than 172 players hit the mat, including British hopes Chris Bjorin, Dan Carter, Gregory Howard, Mel Judah, and Priyan de Mel, the latter of whom exited with Ac-Tc versus Qh-Jh all in preflop with an ensuing Qc-4c-3h-5s-Ts board.

As the final whistle sounded, 574 surviving warriors exhaled a breath of relief, and thanked the heavens that they not only made the money, but would be returning for Day 5. With a gargantuan 1,546,000, it will be online titan Tony 'Bond18' Dunst who will commence proceedings as chip leader, whilst snapping at his heels like alligators with toothache will be Duy Lee and Garrett Adelstein with 1,460,000 and 1,440,000 respectively.

Day 5 should be a slobber knocker as we start munching through the business end of this year's Main Event. Hopes will be dashed, dreams will be lost, but by the end of the day, we should have a good idea of who the potential November Niners could be. Let's hope the Brits are among the contenders.

Official (known) UK & Ireland counts:

Redmond Lee -- 1,184,000
JP Kelly -- 1,000,000
Neil McFayden -- 871,000
Praz Bansi -- 660,000
Jamie Brown -- 572,000
Justin Tazelar -- 556,000
Mark Dalimore -- 539,000
Mark Teltscher -- 476,000
John Kabbaj -- 466,000
Jan Boye -- 423,000
Susan Nordsen -- 372,000
Roy Vandersluis -- 366,000
Rory Rees Brennan -- 366,000
James Fennell -- 344,000
Darren Woods -- 307,000
Konrad Molitor -- 196,000
Padraig Parkinson -- 185,000
Ben Blackmore -- 183,000
Richard Sinclair -- 169,000
Javed Abrahams -- 165,000
Tomas MacNamara -- 163,000
Richard Ellis -- 156,000
Simon Taylor -- 145,000
Rob Taylor -- 115,000
Matthew Ireland -- 103,000

Previous WSOP Reports:

Employee of the Month
Fairytale Endings
Must Be Nice
Make Mine a Double
Blonde on Blonde
Summer of Sam
Chuft to Bits
Under the Radar
Taking Notice
BBP Braced for WSOP Main Event
WSOP Main Event - Day 1A
WSOP Main Event - Day 1B
WSOP Main Event - Day 1C
WSOP Main Event - Day 1D
WSOP Main Event - Day 2A
WSOP Main Event - Day 2B
WSOP Main Event - Day 3

Vegas Blog:

May 23: My Old School Teacher
May 31: Welcome to America; Let the Institutionalising Begin
June 1: Pleasure & Pain
June 5: 100% British Beef
June 9: Alphabetti Spaghetti & Giant Meatballs
June 13: Colour Me Up
June 14: The Crying Game
June 20: Last Gasps
June 25: Dancing With the Devil
June 30: The End of a Streak
July 6: Tournament of Famous People
July 12: Running on Empty