There is a lot of excitement brewing as the WPT $25,000 World Championship Event nears completion. The Fontana Lounge in the Bellagio has been transformed into a full capacity poker television set. The final 6 players from the 195 players that originally entered, unbagged their chips and were ready to play around 4:00 pm. David Benyamine, Billy Baxter, Sawn Buchanan, Eric Baldwin, and John O’Shea were the lucky few who were able to avoid crippling beats to make it to the televised table.

John O’Shea was the first of the final six to hit the ropes. As action folded around, O’Shea tried to make a move in the small blind by pushing all in. Billy Baxter, in the big blind, made the call turning over As Td against the 6d 3s of O’Shea. The board ran bricks for O’Shea and he was sent home with $199,888 to add to his bankroll.

Billy Baxter was eliminated in 5th place when he moved in on the button with a little over 1.3 million in chips. Willams made the call showing Kh Th against the As Js of Baxter. The flop gave Williams broadway and Baxter two pair. Unfortunately for Baxter, he was not able to make a full house and he was sent home with $246,921.

David Benyamine was knocked out in 4th place taking home $329,228. Shawn Buchanan was defeated in 3rd place for $587,906. As Buchanan made his exit, so did half of fans in the stands. His large cheering section was disappointed and left gaping holes in the stands. However, it didn’t take long to fill in the gaps as word got out that play was down to the final two.

As play got down to the final two players, there was a lot of excitement in the stands. Willams’ mom gave him a big hug and told him that she was proud of him. The fanfare was pretty even between Willams and Baldwin. Whenever a player would rake in a pot, a loud roar of excitement and applause emulated from the stands.

Williams had a substantial chip lead against Baldwin when play got down to the final two. Williams had 15,654,000 in chips against Baldwin’s 3,855,000. At level 30 with 100,000/200,000 blinds with a 20,000 ante Baldwin would have to take control of a pot within the first few rounds. Baldwin started out playing an aggressive short stack pushing all in and avoiding a showdown with Williams to scoop up a few small pots.

In the end, it came down to Baldwin pushing for 4,765,000, and after a Williams thought nervously about it for a minute he made the call. Baldwin turned over Ah 5h and Williams tabled 2c 2d. The flop came Ad 7c 6s. The crowd went wild in behalf of Baldwin. The turn brought a 2h, which sent the other half of the crowd into a cheering frenzy. Williams had won, and the river 4c would be meaningless. Baldwin took home $1,034,715 and Willams took a win and $1,530,537.

Image copyright of the World Poker Tour 2010

John O’Shea & Billy Baxter

Welcome back to more exciting coverage of the $25,000 WPT World Championship Event at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Day 6 started out with 10 players left, and the plan was to play down to the final six players. Day 7 is going to be broadcast on television with the six remaining players. For this reason, the Fontana Lounge has been closed down while the stage is set up; play is taking place in the Bellagio poker room. Action for the day will start at Level 22 with 15,000/30,000 blinds and 4,000 ante.

The day started out a lot slower than play on Day 5 which ended after only 4 ½ hours. After the first break Cliff Josephy was the only one to leave the final table. When play got down to the final 9, John O’Shea was the chip leader with 4,100,000, and Phil Hellmuth was the short stack with a mere 508,000.

Nikolay Evdakov would be the 9th place finisher taking home $75,252 in winnings. John O’Shea raised under the gun to 110,000 and Phil Hellmuth called from the small blind. Nikolay Evadkov made an unexpected all in move from the big blind for his remaining 55,000. Both Hellmuth and O’Shea made the call. The side pot was checked down as the board ran 8c 8s 3h As Js. On the river, Hellmuth bet 150,000 to which O’Shea folded. Hellmuth showed Ks 4s for a rivered flush, and Evdakov turned over a Qh 2h.

Scotty Nguyen was the next player to go. After seven hours of play, Scotty Nguyen raised from middle position to 260,000 and David Benyamine made the call from the big blind. The board came out Jh Td 6d both players checks. When the 8h came on the turn Benyamine bet 350,000. Nguyen raised to 1,150,000 and Benyamine tanked before moving all in. Nguyen was at risk for his tournament life, and eventually made the call. Nguyen flipped over 8c 8d for a set, but Benyamine had a higher set of 10’s. The river bricked knocking Nguyen out in 8th place. He took home $105,823 in tournament winnings.

Phil Hellmuth would be the television bubble boy taking home $152,856 for a 7th place finish. He was a short stack with 505,000 in chips and moved all in under the gun. David Williams called from the button. Hellmuth showed Ks Td against Williams’ Ad Js. The board came 8c 7h 6s 6d 7s to knock Hellmuth out.

Tomorrow will be the televised table with the top six contenders. David Benyamine will be the chip leader going into Day 7 with 4,705,000. John O’Shea is the short stack with 1,200,000 in chips.

Scotty Nguyen & Phil Helmuth

Tony Cousineau had been the short stack for the last few days of play, but he was able to squeeze into the money with 60,000 in chips which was only three big blinds. He shipped it on the first hand of play with Ts 9h, and Nikolay Evdakov called with Ah 4c. The board ran out As Tc 5c Kc 8d to take Cousineau out in 18th place. Cousineau took home $47,033 for his efforts.

In a wicked turn of events, Faraz Jaka went from the chip leader going into Day 5 to out in 14th place. He lost a big pot early in the day, and then David Williams finished him off. Currently, he is still he leader in points for the WPT player of the year, but the matter is now out of his hands as Shawn Buchanan and Scotty Nguyen can beat him with a 1st place finish, and Phil Hellmuth can tie him with a 1st place finish.

J.J. Liu was the last woman standing, and during level 21 when the blinds were 12,000/24,000 with a 3,000 ante she made her move. She shoved for 213,000 on the button, and after some deliberation David Benyamine made the call from the small blind. Liu turned over Qc Qs against the 7c 7s of David Benyamine. The flop gave Benyamine some hope when an 8d 6s 5d flopped. The turn was the 9c that Benyamine needed to hit a straight, and Liu couldn’t catch back up. She took home a respectable $51,736 in winnings.

Day 6 will be exciting with the final table resuming play at 15,000/30,000 with a 4,000 ante. John O’Shea will be the chip leader with 3,174,000, and Phil Hellmuth will be the short stack at the table with 839,000. Here are the seating assignments and chip counts for the final table:

Seat 1. Scotty Nguyen – 2,637,000
Seat 2. Phil Hellmuth – 839,000
Seat 3. Nikolay Evdakov – 922,000
Seat 4. John O’Shea – 3,174,000
Seat 5. Billy Baxter – 2,429,000
Seat 6. Eric Baldwin – 2,130,000
Seat 7. David Williams – 2,454,000
Seat 8. David Benyamine – 2,561,000
Seat 9. Shawn Buchanan – 1,087,000
Seat 10. Cliff Josephy – 1,269,000

Day 4 started with 35 eager poker players and blinds at 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante. Shawn Buchanan had a strong chip lead with over 1.8 million in chips, and an impressive Heather Sue Mercer was second with 1.3 million in chips. Chris Moore and Tony Cousineau were not so prosperous with their accumulation of chips and would have to double up on Day 4 if they wanted a chance at first place money.

Early in the day, seasoned players David Benyamine and Carlos Mortensen battled against each other. Benyamine raised to 25,000 from mid position. Shawn Buchanan made the call from the button, Eric Baldwin called from the small blind, and Carlos Mortensen reraised from the big blind to 98,000. Benyamine made the call, and the other two players moved out of the way. The flop delivered a 9h 8h 3d to which Mortensen lead out for 134,000. Benyamine made the call. The turn was a 3s, and Mortensen moved all in putting Benyamine at risk. Benyamine snap called turning over 8c 8s for a full house. Mortensen showed Kc Kd and needed a king to hit the river to bust Benyamine. The river wasn’t a king. Benyamine doubled to over a million in chips leaving Mortensen with 115,000.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko will not be at the final table to defend his title. He was short in chips with just over 120,000 when he moved in under the gun. Josh Arieh gave him protection by moving in over the top. Everyone else got out of the way. Timoshenko turned over Qs Th against Arieh’s Kh Ks. The board ran out Ac Tc 2s 4s 5s giving Arieh the win.

Heather Sue Mercer found out that you can’t beat lucky. Mercer raised preflop to 40,000 from early position, and Faraz Jaka made a quick decision to raise 110,000. Mercer reraised 300,000 on top to which Jaka moved all in. Mercer made an effortless call and tabled aces. Jaka surprisingly turned over 3d 9s. As fate would have it the flop came 9c 8d 3s giving Jaka two pair. Unluckily for Mercer, she wasn’t able to recover and she was sent home just before the money.

Day 4 wrapped up when the money bubble burst at 18 players. Maroun Jazzar was the bubble boy and was eliminated by David Benyamine. Other eliminations for the day include James Guinther, Chris Moore, James Calderaro, David “Devilfish” Ulliott, and Brian Limke. Faraz Jaka is the chip leader heading into Day 5 with 3.1 million in chips. Here are the final 18 players who will return for Day 5 and their table assignments:

TABLE 1
1. Eric Baldwin
2. Shawn Buchanan
3. John O’Shea
4. J.J. Liu
5. David Benyamine
6. Phil Hellmuth
7. Cliff Josephy
8. Scotty Nguyen
9. Olivier Busquet

TABLE 2
1. Nikolay Evdakov
2. Robert Cooper
3. David Williams
4. Jason Lester
5. Josh Arieh
6. Billy Baxter
7. Faraz Jaka
8. Tony Cousineau
9. Matt Stout

Beth Shak has been stirring up a little bit of commotion. She has a television crew following her around for a German reality t.v. show. Apparently, the show is about rich and famous people. The crew has popped in and out to catch Shak in action at the poker tables. Unfortunately, Shak was eliminated from the tournament early in the day. She tried to make a move with Q Q on a board with overs. After jamming on the turn, she was insta called by her opponent Joshua Gould who had flopped a set of kings.

One lady who isn’t going home any time soon is Heather Sue Mercer. She seems to be quite an intimidating force at the table with her stone cold gaze and invisible tells. It is very hard to get a read on her. Ralph Perry found this out the hard way. He had raised on the button to 38,000 and Mercer in the small blind reraised to 100,000. Perry took a long time to consider before making it just over 300,000 total. Mercier moved all in putting Perry at risk for his chips. He made the call. Mercer turned over Ah Kd which dominated Perry’s As Js. The board ran out Ad Qd Ts 4c 5s to send Perry packing.

It is nice to know that even though there is a lot of money on the line at this event, that the players can still retain a sense of humor. Hellmuth has been wearing a Celtic looking green vest for the last two days. Dave “Devil Fish” Ulliott took noticed and asked Hellmuth, “Did your grandfather die and leave you some clothes?”

Not long after this comment, “Devil Fish” was put to a decision for all of his chips. On a Qd 8s Jd Th 3d board, “Devil Fish” made a bet of 175,000. Todd Terry wasted little time in putting “Devil Fish” all in. “Devil Fish” made the call sliding in his remaining 139,500 into the pot. Terry turned over Ac Kh against the 5d 6d of “Devil Fish” who hit a river flush for the win.

As Day 3 of the WPT World Championship drew to a close there were 35 players left. Every player that makes it to the money is guaranteed $47,033, and first place is a respectable $1,530,537.

Some of the players that did not survive Day 3 included John Juanda, Freddie Deeb, Justin Young, Shawn Cunix, Ralph Perry, and Lee Markholt. Players to look forward to hearing about at Day 4 include David Benyamine, Eric Baldwin, Carlos Mortensen, Faraz Jaka, Josh Arieh, and Yevgeniy Timoshenko.

Shawn Buchanan will be the chip leader going into Day 4 with 1,841,500. Heather Sue Mercer in second in chips with 1,364,500. Chris Moore and Tony Cousineau have some work to do tomorrow, as both players are sitting with less than 150,000 in chips. Stay tuned for more updates from the WPT $25,000 World Championship Event.

The top ten chip counts from the end of Day 3 are:

1. Shawn Buchanan – 1,841,000
2. Heather Sue Mercer – 1,364,000
3. Robert Cooper – 937,000
4. Matt Stout – 919,500
5. Billy Baxter – 887,500
6. Faraz Jaka – 856,000
7. Todd Terry – 817,500
8. Phil Hellmuth – 806,500
9. David Williams – 757,000
10. David Benyamine – 731,000

The WPT World Championship $25,000 buy-in is underway, and a long list of big time pros have whittled out of the woodwork to attend this prestigious event. Players such as Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harmon, and Gavin Smith registered for the event to play in Day 1.

At the start of Day 2 the tournament clock showed 170 players total. However, players had until 5:00 pm to get in on the action. Some of the players that wondered in for Day 2 included Andy Bloch, Daniel Alaei, David Williams, Hoyt Corkins, Tom Dwan, John Hennigan, Chris Ferguson, and Freddie Deeb. Phil Hellmuth also made his traditional late arrival during Day 2, but he left the trademark spectacle entrance at home. He must be waiting for the World Series of Poker where he has announced he will be showing up as a MMA fighter. It is never a dull moment with Hellmuth around.

Chris “Jesus” Ferguson didn’t get in much play time for his $25,000 investment. He hadn’t even played one orbit when Tommy Vedes raised from late position to 2,500. With one caller in front, Ferguson popped it to 11,000. Vedes made the call and the middle man got out of the way. The flop came 7 6 3 rainbow. Ferguson shot out a 16,000 bet, and Vedes moved all in. Ferguson was at a decision for all of his chips since Vedes had him covered. After some consideration, Ferguson made the call with K K. Vedes was behind with 9h 8h drawing to a straight. The turn was an A, and the river delivered the devastating 5h which gave Vedes the win.

Phil Hellmuth dodged a bullet today. On a 9d 7c 3h board Hellmuth put out a 12,000 bet. Kathy Liebert reraised to 30,000, and Hellmuth pushed in the rest of his stack for 89,000. Liebert made the call turning over a set of 7’s. Hellmuth rose out of his chair flipping over his A A. The turn was a 6h, but a miraculous Ac saved the poker brat from elimination by giving him a higher set. “I’ll admit, you outplayed me that time,” announced Hellmuth. In true ladylike fashion, Liebert retained a smile on her face even though she was left with only 10,000 in chips after the suckout.

Some of the players that were unable to fade bullets included Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Gavin Smith, Tom Dwan, and Jennifer Harmon. These players were eliminated during Day 2.

At the end of Day 2 only 98 players remain. The average chip stack is around 200,000 going into Day 3. Faraz Jaka is trying to keep a stronghold on the point lead, as he is the chip leader with 597,100 chips. Shawn Buchanan is right behind him with 596,600. Play for Day 3 will continue at noon tomorrow with new seating assignments for all of the players. Stay tuned for more updates of the WPT Bellagio $25,000 Championship.

Here are the top ten chip leaders at the end of Day 2:

Faraz Jaka – 597,100
Shawn Buchanan – 596,600
Justin Bonomo – 503,600
Joshua Gould – 502,900
Brandon Cantu – 489,000
Todd Terry – 475,600
Soheil Shamseddin – 472,000
Cody Slaubaugh – 416,300
John OShea – 398,300
David Williams – 363,000

The day started out with 117 players registered. However, registration does not close until 5:00 pm on Day 2. For players that decide to wait until the last possible moment to register, they will enter in at Level 9 with blinds 800/1600 with a 200 ante that will have them start at 62 big blinds. Players start with 100,000 in chips and two-hour levels.

As players started taking their seats, it was apparent that there was going to be some stiff competition lined out as the tournament progressed. Phil Ivey’s table is stacked with David Chiu, Hasan Habib, Kathy Liebert, Brock Parker, and Aaron Jones. Another table has Daniel Negreanu, Gavin Smith, and John Juanda.

Since this is a WPT Championship event, this is the last chance for players to pick up their player of the year points. According to the WPT website, there are 96 players that have a chance to take down the point leader, Faraz Jaka, if they do well in this event. There are 16 players who are close behind Jaka’s 1,300 points with 1,000 points. These players have a chance at besting Jaka if they can place 6th or higher in this event. Some of these players include, Carlos Mortensen, Christophe Savary, , McLean Karr, Olivier Busquet, Prahlad Friedman, Randal Flowers, and Tommy Vedes. That is quite a race!

As Day 1 drew to a close there were 137 players left of 161. Annette Obrestad was a big favorite to represent the women in this tournament, but she was eliminated shortly after the last level of the day. Antonio Esfandiari was also eliminated today when his set of kings ran into the club flush of Soheil Shamseddin.

There are a few expected entrances that have not shown up yet like Hoyt Corkins and Daniel Alaei. Phil Hellmuth has yet to show up, but this is not out of the ordinary for him since he has made it his trademark move to show up late with some spectacle behind him. It won’t be a question of if he will show up, but if he will be riding on horseback when he does.

At the end of Day 1, here are the top 5 highest and lowest remaining chip counts:

Shawn Buchanan 388,6000
Brain Lemke 298,825
David Benyamine 291,275
Yevgeniy Timoshenko 277,275
Soheil Shamseddin 244,000
Binh Nguyen 19,400
Lawrence Rieder 16,150
Curt Kohlberg 13,875
Cornel Cimpan 13,600
Andrew Robl 10,025

Expert no-limit tournament players do a great job of building their stack even when they have gone card dead. They use their stack size and position at the table to prey on timid players and do not necessarily rely on the cards they are dealt.

Expert poker players play their opponents as much as they play their cards. When you steal the blinds, you win enough chips to play one more orbit at the table. When you steal a pot after there has been a pre-flop raise, you win enough chips to play a few orbits, so you do not need to steal pots as frequently.

One of my favourite moves when I am in the big blind is to just call a pre-flop raise from somebody in late position, preferably the button. Most tournament players know the importance of stealing blinds, so if your opponent raises in late position, there is a good chance that they do not have a premium hand.

Statistics show that two thirds of the time they will not have improved their hand on the flop. Most players who have raised pre-flop will still bet after the flop, even if the flop did not help them. By check raising them on the flop, you will often take down the pot. You do not necessarily have to have a strong hand, but you are hoping that they do not either.

When you are successful, you will usually win enough chips to play three or four more orbits. There are obvious dangers to attempting this move, such as your opponent actually having a very strong hand or flopping a draw. You should only attempt this move against tight timid players who have demonstrated that they can fold a hand.

Another move that you can make against a late position raiser is to just come over the top and go all-in pre-flop. Again, you are hoping that they do not have a hand that they are willing to risk their entire stack on.

You are risking your stack based on the situation rather then the strength of your own cards. Unless you have a great read on your opponent, you do not want to attempt this move with junk hands like 72 off-suit. If you attempt to come over the top, try to do it with hands that still give you a shot at winning the pot if you are called.

Hands like small pocket pairs, suited connectors, or A-x always have a good shot at winning the hand when called, however your goal is to get your opponent to fold pre-flop. You want to try this move against players who will raise pre-flop with weak hands trying to win the blinds.

Do not attempt to come over the top of a player who has not played a hand in 20 minutes. The chances are they have a very strong hand and would be willing to call your all-in.

Both of these moves have obvious risks, but if you can learn to identify the spots when these moves will be successful, you will be able to build your stack without having a strong hand.

You do not have to worry about being blinded out because you will win larger pots than if you had just stolen the blinds. You do not want to attempt either move if you are very short stacked because the likelihood of your opponent calling you is much greater. Your goal is to get your opponent to fold.

It takes some trial and error to be able to add either of these moves to your arsenal until you are extremely confident that you will be successful. When you are, you will be able to go much deeper in tournaments, even when you are not getting good cards.

Last Thursday, a New Jersey State Senate committee became the first legislative body to advance a bill to license and regulate Internet gambling.

“We made it further than any other Internet gambling item in the U.S.,” said Joe Brennan Jr., chairman of the Interactive Media and Entertainment Gaming Association, which has focused on New Jersey as the best bet for Internet gambling at the legislative level this year.

The New Jersey Senate’s Wagering and Tourism Committee voted 3 to 1 to approve the bill, sponsored by Sen. Raymond Lesniak. The bill now advances for consideration by the full New Jersey Senate. The first step, however, is for a companion version of the bill to go through the committee process in the State Assembly.

The bill would allow Atlantic City casinos to host servers for Internet poker, as well as casino games, for New Jersey residents to play on.

Brennan believes, as Lesniak previously told PokerNews, that these bills will pass this year to make New Jersey the first state to offer licensed and regulated online poker to its residents.

New Jersey clearly has a large lead over the other states looking to get in on online poker.

California also recently had movement in its efforts to offer licensed and regulated Internet gambling. The state held a hearing in February to discuss the merits of intrastate Internet poker but never actually had official legislation with a sponsor until Rod Wright, leader of the Senate committee that oversees gambling, introduced SB 1485 late last month.

In Florida, Rep. Joseph Abruzzo showed that he was serious about his bill to license and regulate poker in Florida, called the Internet Poker Consumer Protection and Revenue Generation Act, by flying all the way to Prague to discuss his legislation with industry representatives last month at the i-Gaming Super Show.

The Poker Players Alliance challenged the constitutionality of Washington State’s law that makes it a felony to play poker on the Internet in front of the state’s Supreme Court on May 27. Lee Rousso, the PPA state director and a Washington resident made the challenge. Many other PPA members residing in the state rallied on the steps of the Supreme Court building.

“I thought our oral arguments were very good,” PPA executive director John Pappas said. “The lawyers on our side did a really good job and I thought the lawyers on the other side kind of bumbled through.”

It’s going to be a long wait to see if the law gets overturned, probably six to nine months according to Pappas.

“We might see some momentum building for the legislature to come back and repeal the law because public opinion of it is real low,” Pappas said. “It’s not an enforceable law as far as we can tell and there’s really no reason for it to be on the books.”

Another issue that is going to be a long wait is the domain seizures case in front of the Kentucky Supreme Court. The good news is that the court completely ignored desperate motions by the Commonwealth to run discovery on the issue of iMEGA’s standing and receive an extension. The next movement in the case should be the long-awaited decision on the merits of the seizure. iMEGA chairman Brennan doesn’t expect a decision in the case until at least September.

Since July 1st 2009, the day that all poker rooms and casinos were closed down, police have confirmed that illegal gambling operations have popped up in a vast number of areas, many of which are run by ordinary gambling patrons. The most recent underground casino to be closed was a site hosted in an apartment in western Moscow. The casino was operated by a British citizen and consisted of two poker tables, two roulette wheels, 10 gambling machines and a bar. It is estimated that the operator generated tens of millions of rubles throughout the existence of his casino.

Police officials blame their inability to successfully find and shut down these establishments on a lack of available resources and manpower. They confirm that the number of illegal operations are steadily on the rise, with no quick solution in sight. There has been no word from the Russian government on whether or not they will reverse their policy, which was put in place as a way of removing gambling away from major cities and towns and instead forcing gamblers to the four designated gambling zones, which were in need of more tourism. Dennis Tubbergen