Jordan Morgan

One of the larger fields of the 2007 World Series of Poker participated in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event. 1,619 players started the day and they just made the money before play ended at 2 a.m. Making the money isn't the goal for most of the players, however, as they are after the nearly $600,000 first place money.

There are only a few big name players remaining in the field but that does not mean there isn't talent left in the pool. Jordan Morgan is among the chip leaders. Other players still in contention include Amnon Filippi, Ross Boatman, Julian Gardner, and pokerpages.com's own Rolf Slotboom. Play resumes at 2 p.m. Tune into pokerpages.com for all of the exciting action.

They have finally made the money and are going to play for 10 more minutes. There are several players over 100K including Jordan Morgan with 143K. He told me to say "Hi Mom!" Kazuki Ikeuchi is the only other player with that many chips... he maybe has a few more. Mark "NitroxBoss" Hope made the money... barely... he was down to less then 10K. Rolf "Morning Breath" Slotboom also made the money and Shannon Elizabeth has her first cash of the World Series although she too was very short when the bubble burst (she must have lost a big hand because she was up to 40-50K the last time I had looked).

This concludes our coverage for the evening. Tune in tomorrow at 2 p.m. for all of the exciting action.

Players are on a 15 minute break. They are 6 away from the money and will go hand for hand when they are 4 from the money.

James English raised to 12K and Jared Hamby re-raised all-in.  English, who had "WacoKidd" covered, said, "Man, I just know you have aces, but I call," and turned over K K .  Hamby grimaced and turned over A K .  The flop came J 9 4 , keeping English squarely ahead.  The Q turn made things a lot more interesting, as Hamby could win with a heart, ace, or ten.  But the Q river ended his hopes.  Jared Hamby is out, about 15 places before the money.

Attention future WSOP players: Is it that much trouble to shower before you come to sit down for hours and hours right next to other people?  I mean seriously.  No one should be forced to endure the body odor some of these guys are emitting.  And if there isn't a rule in the TDA book yet addressing this, there should be.  Maybe if four or more players at your table vote you a "stinker", then you have to go take a shower somewhere and change your clothes.

	Rolf "Morning Breath" Slotboom's stack

There are 180 players remaining, so less then 30 to the money, and like Michael said there are few name players remaining. That doesn't mean there aren't any, however. Still in the field are Jeff Shulman, Ross Boatman, Liz Lieu, Steve Dannenmann, Jordan Morgan, Amnon Filippi, Julian Gardner, and Shannon Elizabeth (yay!).

pokerpages.com's Rolf "Morning Breath" Slotboom is interesting to say the least. Anytime he wins a pot that has a yello $1,000 chip in it he sells it to someone for ten $100 chips so he can make an interesting stack creation. The result... he has many chips but it's truely hard to get an accurate count on his stack. I'd guess 15K or so.

I couldn't locate Don Todd so I'd have to assume he has been eliminated. Mark "NitroxBoss" Hope is still hanging in there with approximately 20K.

I just spent about twenty minutes walking the tables of this event, and I was astonished at how few of the players I recognized.  In a normal WPT or WSOP no-limit hold'em event, I would expect to recognize between 25%-35% of the field.  With 207 players remaining in this event, I counted exactly 19 players that I could name.  So this looks like a great tournament for an aspiring professional (or amateur player on a limited budget) to enter and have a better chance to go deep in.  Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that the field is soft - only that it lacks a lot of the big-time professionals in it.  This, most likely, is due to the fact that a lot of the top pros are playing the 5K HORSE event today instead.

There are 260 players left, who are on a 15-minute break. At this time, they are finally coloring up the green chips, so the stacks will be manageable when everyone resumes play.

Recognized pros remaining? Jordan Morgan, Shannon Elizabeth, Humberto Brenes, Freddy Deeb, Liz Lieu, Ken Einiger, and Amnon Filippi.

Rolf Slotboom is also still there with his hipster European sunglasses. He was chip-healthy for awhile but just lost 8400 when his A-K suited ran into his opponent's pocket 8's and didn't improve. He still has 15k and will be looking for a chance to double up.

	Don Todd

Phil Hellmuth is out and is playing Chinese poker with the Sheik and Robert Mizrachi. Mark "NitroxBoss" Hope came into the dinner break with 8500. He's built that up to 30K. A friend of mine, Marisa, from Florida wanted me to keep an eye on one of her home game friends, Don Todd. Don recently cashed in the limit hold'em event and bubbled the other day in the 5K NLHE tournament. Don is right about average right now at 20K.

	Amnon's interesting hat

The current chip leaders are people you probably have never heard of (well I haven't... so if you have... oops): Mike Guadano has 72K, John Gonong 65K, and Earl Plyler 64K. Notables that are doing well include Jordan Morgan with 45K, Julian Gardner with 40K, Humberto Brenes (who is having a great WSOP so far) with 35K, and Freddy Deeb with 25K. Amnon Filippi and his interesting hat are at around the 25K mark as well.

I witnessed a hand from Mark Seif (who is down to about 10K now) that kind of shows why his stack can fluctuate so much. After raising pre-flop and being called he bet enough to set his opponent in (about 5K total) on an 8 high flop. His opponent, obviously knew something about Seif, and called with AJ. Seif had KQ and when he did not hit a king of queen his opponent doubled up. Makes me think a bit of the song that goes "slow down you move too fast."

Players besides Hellmuth that have been eliminated include Chris Ferguson, Josh Arieh, Surindar Sunar, Antonio Esfandiari, Bill Gazes, Eric Froehlich, Mark Newhouse, Devilfish, and Gavin Smith.

Play has resumed.

Imagine you are playing in your first World Series of Poker event. You've worked hard the entire tournament, picking up small pot after small pot, and are in good shape at the dinner break. The blinds are going to be 300/600 and you have 20,000 in chips. Only one person at your table has more chips then you... he is young... and hyper-aggressive... and you just know in your heart that before it is all over all of his chips are going to be yours. You are going to cruise into the money and maybe even make the final table and win the bracelet. It's in the stars so to speak.

It is ten minutes after the break and the hyper aggressive player raises to 2,000. You look down and see a beauty. Two red kings. You think to yourself "here is where I am going to get his chips." How to do it though is the question. If you move all in he might fold. If you call then there's a chance an ace will flop and he'll push you off of your hand. You decide to make a reraise that will invite a reraise. You make it 5,000 to go. Without hesitation when it gets back to him he pushes all in. You know you have him. You know he's trying to push you around. You call. He turns over his cards. AKo. YES! You're a huge favorite. You only need to fade an ace.

The dealer puts out the flop. 852. Perfect. Now you're an even bigger favorite. No straight outs. No flush outs. Just the ace. The turn is a jack. One card away and you're going to be one of the tournament chip leaders. Everything you've ever dreamed of as a poker player is about to come true.

The river is an ace. You sit there numb. Frozen. You know you are out but you can't move. "F**k," you whisper under your breath, shaking your head. Looking at the board again to make sure what happened really did. The dealer is pushing the chips to that arrogant bastard across the table who is sitting there with a smug grin on his face, appearing sorry, but he really isn't. You walk away and start to call your wife to tell her your bad fortune but you can't do it. You're too mad. You go out to smoke a cigarette but even that won't do it, so you turn around and start to walk back down the hall.

The long walk down the hall seems to take forever but finally you reach your destination. You reach into your pocket and speak to the woman behind the bars. She smiles at you, unaware of what happened. "How can I help you," she asks.

You look at her, still not believing what happened. It's like a dream really. But it's not.

"Sign me up for tomorrow's tournament."

----------------

That was something I just witnessed and it speaks to the power this game has over us sometimes. We can be so helpless at times. We can only control the decisions we make, not the cards that come... but when that one, two, or three outer hits on the river to knock us out, we question everything about the game we love without realizing that there is nothing we can do about it... but to sign up for the next tournament and try again. No matter how much it hurts.

Players are on dinner break for 90 minutes.

	Jordan Morgan

Jordan Morgan has a baby face but man can he play some poker. Everytime I watch him he's pushing people out of a pot, making a big bet to put the pressure on his opponent, or picking off a bluff. He's among the chip leaders (if not the chip leader) in this event with almost 60K in chips.

OK so you have aces and get it all in on a 999 flop with someone who has 88. Someone folded an 8. How can you not win the entire pot? How about an ace on the turn. And a 9 on the river. I just witnessed that unlikely hand. How unlikely?

pokenum  -h ad as  - 8c 8s  -- 9d 9s 9c  / 8d
Holdem Hi: 946 enumerated boards containing 9s 9c 9d
cards  win   %win  lose  %lose  tie  %tie     EV
As Ad  944  99.79     0   0.00    2  0.21  0.999
8s 8c    0   0.00   944  99.79    2  0.21  0.001

That unlikely. Needless to say the young woman with 88 was ecstatic. I'm not sure I can say the same thing about the guy who had the aces.

	Rolf "Morning Breath" Slotboom

Rolf Slotboom places a box of Tic Tac's on top of his chips. I tried to pry out of him his reason for why he did this but he just smiled. One of his tablemates responded "it's because he has bad breath." So until Rolf tells me why he does this he is officially being dubbed Rolf "Morning Breath" Slotboom.

	It's getting hot in here... oh never mind... we don't want THAT

Someone's finally listened to the complaints and they have started to move players in from the Pavilion into the much cooler Amazon room. Let's see... go from 90 degree room to 65 degree room. I think I've figured out how people catch colds in Vegas. The players looked relieved, their faces were flush and beads of sweat were still dripping down many of their faces.

Phil Laak and Mark Seif are among the chip leaders with over 20K apiece. Hellmuth recently doubled up and has over 12K in chips now. Shannon Elizabeth is doing well thus far... she has over 15K. Some players that have been recently eliminated include Vanessa Rousso, Erik Seidel, Michael Mizrachi, Joe Sebok, Greg Mueller, and Isabelle Mercier.

When I saw Maureen Feduniak on the break I told her all it would take is one or two hands and she'd be right back in it. How's this for irony... on the first two hands after the break she doubled up twice on back to back hands against some poor soul who decided he wanted to be charitable. In the first hand Maureen pushed with 99 and he called with K8. The very next he pushed all in and she called with AK. He had A3 and was eliminated. Maureen now has 7800.

	Mark "NitroxBoss" Hope

Some players I've seen leave or been eliminated. Evelyn Ng, Tom McEvoy, Alex Jacob, Michael Banducci, and T.J. Cloutier. There are about 4 players with over 30K in chips right now from what I could see eyeballing stacks on the break. www.pokerschoolonline.com member Mark Hope is here and playing. He had about 6K when I checked in on him. Mark, who goes by the name of NitroxBoss at PSO, looks much meaner then he actually is.

Jeff Madsen, defending champion, is sitting with 6500 in chips.

Maureen Feduniak is sitting to the right of Rene Angelil. She told me she had 8k at the last break but is now down to 2k. Come back, Maureen!

Liz Lieu is in the house, and the railbirds (mostly men... hmmm...) are hovering and taking pics with their camera phones.

Devilfish Ulliott called a pre-flop raise that put him all in. He turned over the 9 7 , and he winced a little as his opponent turned over A K . The board came Q 10 7 Q 7 , and Devilfish doubled up with trip 7's. Calmly, he raked his chips and said, "That went perfectly, didn't it?"

Todd Witteles has been eliminated from the event, and he is angry. Much like Erick Lindgren earlier, Todd had trouble concentrating in the hot Poker Sauna (Pavilion tent), and though he was up to 11k, he lost when his Q's met up with his opponent's A's.

Todd's complaint is more than the heat or the smell in the Poker Sauna. He's angry that the cash games and satellites were allowed to go on in the air-conditioned Amazon Room while people who paid $2000 for this WSOP bracelet event were sent to the tent. Even when the dealers and floor staff were setting up before the tournament began, they should have realized the temperature problem and shut down the cash games for the sake of the tournament. Jack Effel reportedly told him that the cash games can't be played in the tent for security reasons, but Todd's point was that a $2000 buy-in tournament should take precedence over $4-$8 cash games.

Will Harrah's try to rectify this problem before other events' players are subjected to the ill-constructed, ill-ventilated, steamy Sauna?

	Steve Danneman

Steve Danneman recently raked in a healthy sized pot with K Q  when he raised first to act from the button and was called by the small blind and big blind (respect... gotta love it). The flop came J 7 7 . On the 3  turn the small blind led out 700 which was called by both the big blind and Danneman. The river was the 5 . The SB checked, the BB bet 1100 and Danneman called. The BB had a smaller flush and Danneman won the hand.

	Cash plays right?

Phil Hellmuth. First off, I love watching him as a poker player. He is without a doubt a great player and he's proven it time and time again. But I have to wonder what is the point of having two bricks of one hundred dollar bills lying out on the table in front of you.

	Mark Seif

Mark Seif is indeed sitting on a big stack right now. The player to his immediate right had a shark card protector so I asked him if he had stolen it from Humberto. "Yea, he's my uncle," he joked. I was just taking a picture of Seif but he seemed like he really wanted to be in the photo so I obliged. Here you go Humberto's nephew. :)

	Where is Paul "The Frog" Magriel when you need him?

And last but certainly not least... there are certain ways to guarantee getting your photo in my portion of the blog. One of those ways is to wear something ridiculous... like a huge baker's hat... or sunglasses so big that you look like you just dropped in from the set of "The Fly III"

Lindgren was walking out of the tent - eliminated from this event. And he looked quite unhappy, as he had already expressed earlier in the day that the tent was just too hot and uncomfortable. I'm sure it was a combination of things that led to his elimination, but I'll be surprised if he doesn't complain to Harrah's executives about the Poker Sauna.

Phil Hellmuth just moved all-in on a board of 8 K J . His opponent thought for a moment and called. Phil turned over K 6 , and the other player showed J 4 . The turn was a 9 and the river an 8 . Phil doubled up and crippled his opponent.

	Phil Hellmuth and Evelyn Ng

Play has resumed. A few photos for all of you.

I thought Phil Hellmuth was not going to be back until tomorrow's event so when I saw him sitting down, playing, and eating a sandwich I asked him if he was back early. "No," he said and then added "I was gone for 30 hours." I am sure he is trying to put some distance between himself and the others with another bracelet but he's got work in front of him if he's going to do that. He is seated next to Evelyn Ng who is fanning herself with her player receipt. Yes, it's that hot in there.

	Joshua VanDuyn

The other day I ran into Joshua VanDuyn who desperately wanted me to take his photo. I, of course, didn't... because I'm mean like that. Today when he wasn't looking, I did. I want to nickname Joshua "The Rooster" for obvious reasons.

	Jeff Madsen

Jeff Madsen won two bracelets and had two 3rd place finishes in last years World Series. Since then all he has managed is about 200K worth of cashes (still not pocket change). The defending champion in this event, Madsen is hoping to turn things around.

	Katja Thater

Katja Thater was in complete command at the final table of the women's NLHE event the other day and then ran into some hands and fell short of the bracelet. I've seen her deep in a few tournaments this year and from what I've seen she is a very aggressive, intelligent player. I expect to see her make it deep in an event before the year is out.

	Isabelle Mercier

Isabelle Mercier busted onto the poker scene a couple of years ago but has yet to score a substantial win (in fairness she did win a EPT event for 30K+). Her best payday was a 5th place finish in a NLHE event at last years World Series of Poker for 175K. Isabelle has been playing in a few events this year but has yet to cash and her last recorded cash was in October of 2006... so she is due.

Numbers have been posted, and there are 1,619 players and a $2,946,580 prize pool. Payouts will be as follows:

Players are on break.

Not to beat this into the ground, but I just made my first trek into the tent. Some days, it's been downright pleasant in there as far as temperature, if you can get over the moldy smell. But today, it's just hot and stuffy. Players, dealers, and even the floor staff are constantly wiping sweat from their brows and fanning themselves. No one is happy out there.

The biggest problem is that when players come to the Rio, they know that the Amazon Room is frigid. It must be below 65 degrees in there, and there always seems to be cold air blowing on you from somewhere. So players have been dressing in warm clothes - sweaters, jackets, long-sleeve shirts, even some scarves. Now, those who have been relegated to the tent are just miserable. It's not fair.

	Alex Outhred

In other news, Alex Outhred has been having a good year beginning last year with his 4th place finish at the WPT Mandalay Bay tournament in 2006, he got engaged to his long-time girlfriend, and he won $500,000 on the TV show, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Now, he's doing incredibly well at the 2007 WSOP. He finished 12th in the $2500 NLHE last week, and he's been going deep in a number of events.

Today, Alex got off to a rough start in this event. He lost a huge hand with two pair over two pair and was down to one lone 25 chip. But he kept his head in the game and is now back up to 7k. Now that's the way to do it!

	Rose

It's hot as hell in the Pavilion and the players are not happy. Especially Erick Lindgren who is half-jokingly going around to tables trying to stage a walk out. "It's unacceptable being asked to play in a barn," Lindgren said. I was in there for only 10 minutes... and it has to be at least 85-90 degrees in there. I'm with Lindgren... completely unacceptable. If you can't have decent playing conditions for the players then don't seat them out there. Putting players out there solely because you have that many players there without taking the conditions into consideration shows poor management skills in my opinion. I thought after a rough first week that the staff here had done a remarkable job turning things around, but this is a step in the wrong direction. Hopefully, they will realize this and do something about it.

	Allen Cunningham and Freddy Deeb

Onto better things... more players playing in this then I thought considering the $5,000 HORSE event starts at 5 p.m. Here's the who's who of who I saw (and I'm sure I missed some) on my first go round: Shannon Elizabeth, Maureen Feduniak. Vanessa Rousso, Gavin Smith, Phil Laak, Isabelle Mercier, T.J. Cloutier, Humberto Brenes, Amnon Filippi, Michael Banducci, William Thorson, Allen Cunningham, Freddy Deeb, Vanessa Selbst, John Murphy, Liz Lieu, Mark Newhouse, Devilfish, Rolf Slotboom (who told me to not tell anyone how shi--y he is playing... I'm sure he'll turn it around), Mark Vos, Erica Schoenberg, Mark Seif, J.C. Tran, the aforementioned Erick Lindgren, Jennifer Tilly (for all of 5 seconds, she was eliminated right as I walked past her table), Bill Gazes, Steve Danneman, David Plastik, Eric Froehlich, Eric Baldwin, Greg Mueller, Minh Nguyne (the previous 5 are all at the same table together... ouch), Todd Witteles, Erik Seidel, Lee Watkinson, Alex Outhred, Nam Le, Rob Hollink, Michael Mizrachi, and Evelyn Ng.

Pictures next update.

Play has started. I'll run out momentarily to see who's out there and snap a few photos. In the meantime... another week... another day off... and more random thoughts.

1) The "name" pro's have started to turn things around. After a rough start to the World Series they seem to have stepped up their game this week topped off by bracelets from Hellmuth and Cunningham. Perhaps I spoke too soon.

2) I played 3 $125 SNG's yesterday. If the play in these is anything like the play in the World Series or other professionale events (and I've seen some horrific play in certain spots) then I need to quit playing online and start playing live... like yesterday. I chopped two (although one was just a partial chop since I was outchipped 4:1 when it got heads up - he got $750 and I got $250, we gave 3rd the $120 cash) and took 4th in another. Ironically, the one sat I was dealt the best cards in (kings twice, queens once, and AK twice) was the one I took 4th in. First off the beginning play is terrible... people pushing all in with AT and 3's, calling raises out of position with A6o... things like that. Then people play soooooo tight once the blinds get to the 100/200 and 200/400 level (you start with 1000). It literally got to the point where I would fake look at my cards and push with any two when I knew the people left to act would fold. You shoulda seen some of the hands I had (I peeked after they all folded). So yea... sat's at the Rio = +EV. I know I shouldn't be tapping on the aquarium glass but hopefully none of those people are reading this.

3) Vegas is hot. I was talking to my Dad the other day and he said "but yea, it's a dry heat." I replied "like that f'in matters." It's like walking into a hair dryer most days here. The cool spell we had last week was an anomaly.

4) The temperature in the Amazon room... not so hot. If you don't bring a light jacket or a long sleeve shirt to play in the World Series, you're in for a surprise. 'Nuff said.

5) Poker players will bet on anything. I probably shouldn't repeat this story but I heard of a bet where poker players were betting who could stand the furthest away from a urinal and ummmm... piss. Needless to say they don't pay cleaning people nearly enough to have to deal with the mess that might have left.

6) I've heard of some celebrities being mentored by big name pro's and from what I've seen... it doesn't seem they are doing too good of a job teaching the game. Sometimes the best players don't make very good teachers. Which means if you're a celebrity and you really are serious about the game... look me up... I can guarantee I'll make you a better player. You hear that Shannon? ;)

7) Limit poker is boring to watch. The mother of a player was watching her son play as it neared the final table and said to her son when he came over "this is like watching paint dry." 'Nuff said.

8) I don't know what I am going to do with myself once the World Series is over... I kinda like this gig.

9) While I think I've done a good job thus far with my coverage, I think I can do better... be more creative... come up with better stories... so stay tuned for some different things coming up in the next few weeks.

10) A big thanks to all the great people I've met and become friends with over the past two weeks -- you are making this an unforgettable experience.

11) My friend and colleague, Al Spath, is having surgery today. He's always been one of the nicest people I have known and has done a lot for me. He is the glue that keeps www.pokerschoolonline.com together. My thoughts are with you Al.

That is all. As always, if there is something you want to talk about/discuss/have me cover, e-mail me at ajhendrix@hotmail.com. If you want me to follow someone please give me their table number. Enjoy the coverage!

	Jeff Madsen - 2006 Winner

Madsen was all of twenty-one years old when he was playing the World Series of Poker in 2006... and he accomplished what so many young, aspiring poker players dream of. Jeff Madsen finished at four final tables, taking home two World Series of Poker bracelets, and two third-place finishes. Such a performance, right out of the gate, is almost unheard of. Jeff's 2006 WSOP earnings amounted to more than $1 Million.

This event, the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em, was the event that last year got Jeff off to his rocketing start. Jeff won his first bracelet in this event, before going on to show the world he was really a player, and not just a one-hit wonder.

Will the event this year generate the same kind of success for its winner as it did for Jeff? Or, for that matter, will Jeff return to defend his title?

Coverage begins today at 12pm Noon Pacific.