Nenad Medic took down the first event of the 2008 World Series of Poker setting the tone for big name players dominating the large WSOP fields. Superstars Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow, David Benyamine, Kenny Tran, Phil Galfond, and many more recognizable names have joined Medic with bracelet wins including John Phan who has won two in 2008.

We had to leave Vegas after only three days and three nights trip report upcoming, but will return for the end of the H.O.R.S.E. event or the beginning of the main event.

In the meantime get your WSOP updates where we have been:

Dr. Pauly's Blog
Wicked Chops Poker
And if we spoke French Benjo's Blog

Everything is running smoothly at the 2008 World Series of Poker and no big stories have presented themselves yet, Im too hungover to write anything so we'll let the pictures do the talking.

Full Tilt Pro Lynette Chan made a rare live appearance in Event 2.

Former major league pitcher Orel Hershiser tried many different tactics snot rockets to prove that he fit in with the poker pros at the WSOP.

The lovely Kimberly Lansing skipped a gig at the MTV movie awards with pal Layla Kayleigh to play in Event 2.

I don't know what ESPN 360 is, but I like it. 

"It's not so much me as it's Roenick.  He's that good..."

Former NHL star Jeremy Roenick entered event 2, hopefully he dominates like he does in NHL '94 on Sega Genesis. EDIT: Just learned JR is still in the NHL - amazing considering he was a veteran in '94!

It's Back!!!

The 2008 World Series of Poker kicks off today at the Rio and many familiar faces will be battling for WSOP glory and the coveted gold bracelets.  Joining those familiar faces will be many young players playing in their first WSOP and internet specialists who haven't experienced a live WSOP event.

Many changes are in store for the players this year with the biggest being the 3 month delay before final table play in the Main Event.  Harrah's modified the schedule so that they could broadcast the final table almost live and give all the players more exposure leading up to the final table.  Only time will tell if this change is enough to revive interest in televised poker so for now we just have to sit back and see what surprises unfold at the 2008 WSOP.

Jeffrey Pollack, Orel Hershiser, and Doyle Brunson welcome in the 2008 WSOP. 

Shannon Elizebeth put down her dancing shoes long enough to play in the first event of the WSOP, but left in a hurry after busting out before the end of the first level.

Perry Friedman showed off his new 'do as the online poker rooms battled for most creative logo placement.

After busting from event #1 Doyle Brunson watched the Detroit Pistons play the Boston Celtics in the NBA playoffs.  Raymond Davis came by and told Doyle that he had lost $5K the night before when Sasha Vujacic hit a three after the game was already decided making the Lakers cover the spread and Doyle replied "well I lost $130K."

Rumors are swirling that Harrah's will announce a 117 day delay for the Final Table of the Main Event of the 2008 World Series of Poker.  This delay will allow ESPN to broadcast the Final Table action after only a two or three hour delay.  Harrah's hopes this almost live broadcast will create a championship sporting event atmosphere after ESPN and the media has a chance to hype up the players who made it to the final table.  Coaching, loans, insurance, sponsorships, and many other issues will come into play with this Final Table delay so it is sure to be controversial.  Stay tuned for more about the 2008 WSOP...

Amir Vahedi ended day 4 as the chip leader in the 2008 WPT Championship.  When Mark "Newhizzle" Newhouse and Scott Epstein were eliminated at different tables, play ended for the day and Vahedi, Gus Hansen, and Tom "Durrr" Dwan found themselves leading the pack.

Attendance is down at the $25,000 WPT championship this year drawing almost 100 less players than in 2007.  The field of 545 players who did show up to play for the $3.4 million first prize is full of talent, but the decline in numbers has to be alarming to the WPT, especially considering the rise of the EPT and other foreign poker tours.  

The field did include a few players who hadn’t played on tour in a few years due to their lawsuit against the WPT regarding the WPT’s release form.  Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Andy Bloch came to an agreement with the WPT out of court last week and subsequently signed the updated release form to take their shot at the WPT championship.  Howard Lederer seemed to be happy to be playing WPT tournaments again and joked around a lot with his table.

Tom “Durrr” Dwan lost a prop bet to his friend Alan “the Usher” Sass requiring him to wear a hat of Sass' choice throughout the tournament.  It didn’t seem to hold him back though as he entered day 2 as one of the chipleaders.

Due to the deep stacks, play was a little slow in the beginning, but one hand of note involved former WSOP and WPT champion Joe Hachem who amazingly folded his straight face up to Jordan “Imsolucky” Morgan.   He incredibly put Morgan on the only hand that could beat him, an  8 5, after Morgan Raised preflop and four bet him on the turn.   Before day 2 began Hachem told one player that he made a really really stupid laydown, but Daniel  Negreanu told him that he would have made the same play in a tournament but not in a cash game.

Phil Ivey won his first WPT Championship at the LA Poker Classic dominating a difficult final table that included poker heavyweights Phil Hellmuth and Nam Le. 

Less than one hundred players remain at the LAPC, but one of them is a star who may have arrived a little early for the Celebrity Invitational this weekend.

McLovin, from the movie Superbad has been stacking chips all tournament showing off his serious bling including an iced out Star of David.

Update - After ID'ing McLovin numerous times, Commerce security is convinced that he is the real McLovin and not former  WPT final tablist Noah Schwartz.

See the larger image here

One of the most respected players in the game, Shane "Shaniac" Schleger sat down with Pokulator last week for a quick Q&A session.  Shane is known for speaking his mind and not shying away from touchy topics so we talked about everything from drugs in poker, to online poker scandals, to relationships and life in general.

We caught last call with one of our favorites Mark "Newhizzle" Newhouse at the WPT Ceremony of Champions last night.  He showed us his impressive poker training regiment then proceeded to knock out opponents like he knocks down drinks.  

Heading into day 4 of the WPT Championship, Newhouse sits 9th in chips with 55 players remaining and will be looking to keep the momentum flowing all the way to the final table.