Jerry Yang wins WSOP main event championship

Jerry Yang knocked out seven of his eight opponents at the final table on his way to the World Series of Poker main event championship and the $8.25 million dollar first prize.  Yang resides in Temecula, CA, with his wife and six kids after moving to the US from Laos when he was 19.  Yang just began playing poker two years ago and qualified for the event in a $225 tournament at the Pechanga casino near San Diego.

Canadian Tuan Lam finished in second place and earned $4,840,981 for his efforts.  He was eliminated after getting all in pre-flop with Ace Queen against Yang's pocket 8's.  Lam made a pair of queens on the flop, but Yang made a running straight to win the hand and the main event championship. 

The Final Table is Set at the 2007 WSOP Main Event

After 10 days of action and  6,349 eliminations, the final table is set at the 2007 World Series of Poker main event.  Many well-known pros made it deep in the main event, but only Lee Watkinson survived all the way to the final table.  Joining Watkinson at the final table is online poker legend Hevad Kahn, who is well known for multitabling over 20 tournaments at a time on Pokerstars.  Chip leader at the final table is Philip Hilm from Denmark, who only has 3 previous large tournament cashes.  1998 main event champion Scotty Nguyen made a great run in this year's tournament only to be eliminated in 11th place, just two people away from the final tv table.  The cards go in the air at noon on July 17 as the battle begins for the $8.25 million first prize.

The chip counts and seat assignments at the final table: 

Seat 1: Jon Kalmar – 20,320,000
Seat 2: Lee Childs – 13,240,000
Seat 3: Philip Hilm – 22,070,000
Seat 4: Jerry Yang – 8,450,000
Seat 5: Raymond Rahme – 16,320,000
Seat 6: Tuan Lam – 21,315,000
Seat 7: Alex Kravchenko – 6,570,000
Seat 8: Lee Watkinson – 9,925,000
Seat 9: Hevad Khan – 9,205,000

The Stars Come out to Shine in the Main Event of the 2007 WSOP 

Many famous faces anted up the $10,000 to try their luck in the 2007 WSOP main event.   Some celebs have picked up chips, while others busted out early.  Montell Williams was an early chipleader on day 1, only to see his stack shrink back to below average before the day was over.

One celebrity that was able to hang onto his big stack of chips was director of the hit movie Old School, Todd Phillips.   Phillips is currently more recognized for his classic bit part in Old School than for his poker exploits, but that may all change if he can continue his hot streak in the main event.  Phillips is no stranger to high stakes poker tournaments as he final tabled the WPT Legends of Poker in 2005.  WPT tournaments only televise a final table of six players, so it was a crucial point in the tournament when Phillips was all in pre flop against an oppenent who thought that he had Phillips dominated.  The opponent couldn't contain his excitement and screamed "Haaaaaaaaaah!" as he flipped over his pocket aces.

  Phillips immediately stood up and screamed, "Haaaaaaaaah Haaaaaaaaah," as he flipped over pocket aces of his own.  He then asked the table and the railbirds, "How ya like that for some Hollywood drama?"

Jason Alexander, known to most as George Castanza on Seinfeld, also had a good run in the main event before being eliminated during the second day.  I told him a check from Pepsi should be on the way for posing for this picture.   He said, "At least I'll make money some way from this tournament."

T he Main Event

Soon a new world champion of poker will be crowned as the main event is underway at the WSOP.  The $10,000 buy-in event is the largest poker tournament in the world and concludes 6 weeks of exciting WSOP action.  There have been great stories both at and away from the tables, many of which left people wondering if they should laugh or cry.   There have been crazy prop bets, ridiculously high stakes cash games, mysterious disappearances, health scares, and usual complaints against Harrah's.

Hell(muth) of a series

The biggest story at the tables during the preliminary events at the WSOP was Phil Hellmuth’s record breaking exploits.  First he passed TJ Cloutier for most all time WSOP cashes at 60 and then extended it to 61.  Next Hellmuth broke the three way tie with legends Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan for most all time WSOP bracelets by winning his 11^th in EVENT 16, a $1,500 NL hold’em event.  Chan and Brunson appeared at an impromptu press conference to congratulate Hellmuth on his accomplishment.  When not being interrupted by Hellmuth, Doyle made sure to point out that all of Hellmuth's wins have been in Hold'em tournaments, while he and Chan won bracelets in many different games.  Phil didn't seemed to mind the jab and vowed to win many many more.  Later in the series Hellmuth was inducted into the poker hall of fame alongside Barbara Enright at the press conference for the Ante up for Africa charity tournament.

High Stakes Cash Games

 The Rio and other casinos have seen many huge cash games as a result of players being in town for the WSOP.   Online legend Brian "sbrugby" Townsend, wrote in his blog about million dollar swings against Sammy Farha at the Bellagio early in the WSOP.  Then after the Ante up for Africa charity tournament, Hollywood legends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck joined former "New Kid on the Block" Donny Walhberg at one of the biggest cash games at the Rio.  Damon seemed to use some of the skills he picked up filming the classic poker movie Rounders to book a nice win, while Affleck reportedly donated to the table.

   
Harrah's Cares?

2007 has also brought the usual complaints against Harrah's directed at the way the WSOP has been managed.  The problems began almost immediately for Harrah's as event 1 was  plagued by ridiculously long lines and even more ridiculously hard to decipher playing cards.  Lines formed throughout the halls of the Rio of players wanting to register for tournaments.  Those that were lucky enough to make it through the lines had the misfortune of having to play with new decks of cards that Harrah's introduced for the 2007 WSOP.  The problem was that the cards were impossible to play with and many players couldn't decipher what they had in their hands let alone what was showing on the board.  The cards were quickly scrapped by Harrah's, but more problems soon came to light. 

Harrah's also received many complaints about the overflow tent setup outside, and the sequestered final tables.  Many players had to suffer through uncomfortable heat and questionable smells in the overflow tent setup outside of the Amazon room at the Rio.  Players in the tent had to deal with issues that others in the Amazon room didn't have to making it unfair to the players in the back.  Also, several final tables were broadcast on the internet by Bluff/Harrah's with an hour delay because the hole cards were being shown.  Because the hole cards were broadcast, the Nevada Gaming Commission stepped in and insisted that players be sequestered with only one guest or loved one inside of the mysterious tent.  If any player or fan needed to use the bathroom they were escorted by security to make sure that they didn't pick up any information along the way.  This hidden final table took away from the usual excitement and crowd involvement at WSOP final tables which irritated quite a few players.

Crazy Prop Bets 

The mix of players in town for the WSOP has brought about many of the most interesting prop bets in recent history.  Doyle Brunson won $400,000 from an unknown party when Phil Hellmuth won his 11th bracelet.  Phil Ivey wasn't as fortunate as he reportedly bet two million dollars at 5-1 odds that he would win a bracelet in 2007.  Unless he wins the main event, Ivey will have to add that 2 million to the $200,000 that he lost when he bet that Erick "Edog" Lindgren couldn't golf 4 consecutive rounds under 100 on one of the hottest days of the year in  while carrying his own bag walking the entire way.  Lindgren won the bet rather handily and reportedly took down over $300,000 in total for his impressive efforts.  There have also been rumors about Daniel Negraneu getting heavy odds to win a bracelet and same for Eli Elezra who won a bracelet in an early stud event.

 Who's in worse shape?

Paul "Eskimo" Clark and Vinny Vinh have both had interesting WSOPs so far to say the least.  “Eskimo” Clark is a diabetic vet who apparently doesn’t take good care of himself and has caused Harrah’s to pause three tournaments already for his health scares.  Once he had what was rumored to be a heart attack in the tent outside and twice he collapsed during the Razz event, but continued to play because he was the chipleader.  Vinh’s problems have been just as serious as he has failed to show up twice for day 2’s of tournaments in which he was very healthy in chips.  Vinh's behaviour and appearance has increased speculation that he has a serious drug problem.  The good news for Vinh is that even without showing up, his chips were able to outlast 40 other players in one tournament and 22 in another, landing him $22,000 and $21,000 respectively.  We are still awaiting the odds for a life last longer bet between Clark and Vinh.

 Event #18 - One Shot One Kill

Saro Getzoyan took two days off his new job as a software developer for a hedge fund to try his hand in the $5,000 Limit Hold'em event at the WSOP. He requested only two days because he just started three weeks ago, and he didn't want his bosses to know that he was playing in a $5,000 WSOP event.

Unfortunately for Getzoyan, his exploits will be hard to hide from his employers because he survived a very difficult final table to win the bracelet and the $333,379 first prize. It was the only WSOP tournament that Getzoyan planned to play this year and he still doesn't know if he is willing to ask the bosses for more time off to play in other events. We hope Getzoyan gets a few extra vacation days to take a shot at another bracelet and the WSOP player of the year honors.

Getzoyan has been playing poker for eight years, but got bored of it a few years ago and decided to limit the amount that he played.  He now only chooses to play in the highest limit hold'em poker tournaments in the world and instead focuses on spending more time with his family, friends, or working. When the Party Poker Million was cancelled for 2007, Getzoyan decided to play in the 5K tournament at the WSOP because it was the biggest  remaining limit hold'em tournament in the world. 

Geoff Sanford lost his heads up battle against Getzoyan, but collected $200,511 for his second place finish after seeing huge fluxations in his chipstack the entire final table.  Sanford used to work as an income tax auditor before turning pro, but luckily it was in Canada, so most of those at the WSOP don't have to worry about putting bad beats on him.  The final four was rounded out by the two Thors,  Thor Hansen (4th) and William Thorson (3rd).

Hellmuth looking for lucky number 11

Phil "poker brat" Hellmuth is second in chips heading into today's final table of the $1,500 NL Hold'em event at the WSOP. Hellmuth is looking to capture his 11th WSOP bracelet and break a 3-way tie for most career WSOP wins with legends Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan.

Bracelet number 11 won't be handed to Hellmuth as the final table features some tough players with healthy stacks.  Leading the table in chips is Rick Fuller with 1,779,000 compared to Hellmuth's 1,482,000.  Third in chips is Scott Clements with 1,232,000 who looks to add another WSOP bracelet to his impressive resume which already includes championships in both the WPT and WSOP.  Also at the final table are Morgan Machina, Fabrice Soulier,Ut Nguyen, David Simon, Andy Philachack, and Taylor Douglas.

 
June 3, 2007 -
The Get Lucky Strike?
I flew into Vegas on WSOP Eve and met up with a few friends staying a in a condo next to my hotel. We decided to go to the Rio to check out the scene and ended up bowling a couple of games and downing a few pitchers at the new Lucky Strike Lanes.

I was bowling pretty well and catching a little buzz, when suddenly a melee erupted on the other side of the lanes. I watched as security rushed over to the scene and finally got a clear view of the action - a scantily clad hooker attacking a very large man who looked big enough to be a professional wrestler. It took security over a minute to separate the two, and once they did, they escorted the hooker and her two co-workers out of the Lucky Strike. The giant man put his shirt back on and appeared to be crying after the humbling experience that turned into the perfect way to welcome me back to the WSOP.

Shuffle up and Delay
The next morning I got to the Rio about 15 minutes before the media check-in was scheduled to begin. I took my rightful spot at the end of the hour long line, but my spirits weren't dampened because I was excited to have official media credentials in 2007 after having been repeatedly denied access in 2006. I waited about an hour while Harrahs did their thing and eventually a guy called my name holding an official badge for pokulator.com.

I had a few questions about the media guidelines so I went into the room and asked the people at Harrahs. No one knew the answer for sure, but the consensus was that I was allowed to take pictures in the hallway outside of the tournament area, despite this being against the media guidelines that was asked to sign. I said "ok, thanks," and headed out the door to take pictures in the hallway of the huge lines that had formed of people waiting to register for the various tournaments. Rumors spread that people had been waiting in line for over 4 hours and they eventually had to delay the start of the casino employee tournament due to the huge lines.

If 6 was 9
Harrahs unveiled a revolutionary new card design for event 1 of the WSOP and it was an immediate problem for most of the players. Many players couldn't read the cards on the board let alone the cards in their own hands. The sixes and nines were extremely difficult to tell apart and players were standing much of the day to determine the suits of the board cards as well. After two hours the tournament director announced that the new decks would be replaced, but it would take a few days for the reinforcements to arrive. Score one for the players! Anyone looking for a new deck of cards that would help piss off a home game should stop by Harrahs' gift shop because they should have almost 30,000 slightly used decks available soon.

Bad Beat Blues
Jennifer Harmen busted out of the first tournament of the WSOP, the 5K mixed hold'em event, on a bad beat. As she walked out of the tournament area she was visually frustrated and was shaking her bottle of water as she walked. Eventually the water must have gotten too heavy for Harmen because she dumped it out on the tournament floor just before heading out the door.

A Fair Deal?
Things weren't so fair for Ryan Fair as he took his seat for day 2 of the $1,500 NL event. He removed his chips from his bag then counted, recounted, then counted again. He found that his stack was 38,000 short of his total of 154,400 from the night before. He realized that the mistake must have happened when his chips were colored up after he had already counted them. The tournament director asked him why he didn't recount after the color-up and he said, "it was late, i wasn't thinking about it, i had already counted them."

Other players at Fair's table soon came to his defense and testified that he did indeed have a monster stack of chips the night before and a much smaller stack beginning day 2. After 4 players at the table agreed that Fair was shorted, the tournament director decided to award Fair the extra 38,000 chips that he had earned the day before.

 
We can't come to the phone right now...
Don't bother calling Pokerlistings.com this week because the line will most likely be busy. Pokerlistings did the WSOP a favor by hiring a cute new tournament reporter named Lianna, and sent her off to arrange interviews with some players.

She ended up giving her cell phone number to a few pros in order to schedule interviews, but little did she know that her phone would soon be ringing off the hook, mostly by Raymond Davis and Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott. Devilfish called after 10 pm to suggest going to a show together, but somehow Lianna resisted.