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Jul. 11th, 2005 @ 08:36 am the wsop leaderboard
The Chip Counts after Day Two.

Thoughts on some of the few names that I recognize. I stopped commenting after 150.

6 Lee Watkinson 336,800 Chips

He's got just the right style for big fields, he has the stamina of youth, he has plenty of experience, and he's likely to be very hungry given his two second place finishes on the WPT last year.

9 Greg Raymer 318,700 Chips

Who's this guy? Another random no-name in the top ten. Stop cluttering the leaderboard.

14 Michael Mizrachi 294,800 Chips

What a phenomenal first year he has had, and as amazing as his actual results are he has flirted with winning tons more. Mizrachi was the chip leader with two tables left at the WPT final with $2.7M at the top, but he chose the wrong time to take sixes up against queens. I've already mentioned in my blog I think he's a spectacular player and nothing I've seen since has altered that opinion. I like his chances as much as anyone's.

42 Cliff Cantor 210,400 Chips

Old friend from my early days of no-limit. Great guy, creative player, like his chances.

43 Olga Varkonyi 209,500 Chips

2002 WSOP champ Robert Varkonyi's wife. Hard to imagine a better story than for her to win.

55 Farzad Bonyadi 200,100 Chips

I was going to pick him as my darkhorse to win it after day one but didn't get around to blogging it. I reiterate that now even though I never iterated. He's smart, owns an intimidating table presence, and very rarely makes mistakes.

63 Layne Flack 188,100 Chips

What can you say about Layne? A-game Layne may be the very best in tournament poker, but not only is there a B-game Layne, there is a Z-game Layne. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that he's bringing the great one because he's going to need it.

75 Justin Cuong Van 'J.C.' Tran 178,800 Chips

Another great underrecognized player. I have logged very little play time against him but his reputation among pros is very strong.

83 Sam Farha 173,600 Chips

More random no-names. ESPN will wet themselves if Sammy returns to the final table. He can do it.

113 Kenna James 152,800 Chips

Kenna can be very creative, but sometimes too creative. Hope it works to his advantage in this one.

121 Russ Hamilton 145,300 Chips

Aiming to become the only guy to win the WSOP a second time weighing less than half what he did the first time.

122 Paul Darden Jr. 144,000 Chips

Paul is hard to play against but I'm skeptical he can make it through a field this large because in my experience he has a habit of going too far with hands that are beaten.

130 John Juanda 141,100 Chips

John may be the favorite in every tournament he enters. Do not bet against this guy. Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrr!

OK, one comment after 150:

259 Phil Ivey 89,600 Chips

Of course. 90K is par and Ivey with par is like a normal person with the chip lead.
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From:[info]buxx45
Date: July 11th, 2005 03:44 pm (UTC)
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Am I the only one who chuckled at the guy who somehow allowed himself to go into day 3 with just over 3000 chips? Granted, if he takes home 12.5k, it's likely all profit.
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From:[info]extempore
Date: July 11th, 2005 03:46 pm (UTC)
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He was presumably trying to get into the money but for some reason they stopped play a few short of the money. Now he can bubble the next day and get the best of both worlds.
From:[info]callingstation
Date: July 11th, 2005 04:00 pm (UTC)

Raymer

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Heh, I bet all those people who said Raymer was lucky/overrated would feel a little silly if he won it again.
From:[info]hector31
Date: July 12th, 2005 03:32 am (UTC)

Re: Raymer

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Well Raymer *was* lucky like anyone who wins one of these things has to be. But a deep run this year would certainly validate his 2004 win nicely.

Of the last three winners, Moneymaker is the one I'd probably throw the fluke tag on. Varkoyni gets points for shaving Hellmuth's head, and the play of the wife this year.
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From:[info]thenewy2k
Date: July 11th, 2005 04:17 pm (UTC)

Bold Names

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I'm a tad confused as to why some of the names are bolded.
From:[info]callingstation
Date: July 11th, 2005 04:20 pm (UTC)

Re: Bold Names

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I see nothing bolded from that entry, unless it was edited.
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From:[info]extempore
Date: July 11th, 2005 04:32 pm (UTC)

Re: Bold Names

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It's because they write for card player. They do the same thing in the player of the year standings in the back of every issue.
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From:[info]rialtus
Date: July 11th, 2005 04:26 pm (UTC)
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I'm just amazed by #315 - Steve Allen. Geez, I thought he was drawing dead...
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From:[info]badblood44
Date: July 11th, 2005 04:59 pm (UTC)
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9 Greg Raymer 318,700 Chips

Who's this guy? Another random no-name in the top ten. Stop cluttering the leaderboard.


I think he's the guy that learned to play poker at pokerstars.net. Pretty sure he used to host that old game show "Match Game."
From:[info]easy_ee
Date: July 11th, 2005 05:07 pm (UTC)

Classic quote, Paul

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"Who's this guy? Another random no-name in the top ten. Stop cluttering the leaderboard."

One of my top 10 so far from any source.
From:[info]mdblakers
Date: July 11th, 2005 05:17 pm (UTC)
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What happened to Chip Reese? 300K to nothing in a few hours. If Dutch Boyd makes the final table do you think he'll pay back all the people he owes money too. My sleeper Hunter Pappas.
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From:[info]rjs
Date: July 11th, 2005 05:23 pm (UTC)

Dan?

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How has Harrington done? (I can't check CardPlayer from work).
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From:[info]jeffhawkins
Date: July 11th, 2005 05:32 pm (UTC)
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Nice to see Jason Lester in the top half of the board, maybe he'll make a run again.
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From:[info]emarkm
Date: July 11th, 2005 05:38 pm (UTC)

"I'm a Machine"

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The Grinder also has done quite well in the big Stars Sunday tourneys, with three final tables and a win where he negotiated a deal that was extremely favorable for him if I recall correctly.
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From:[info]walterzuey
Date: July 11th, 2005 06:31 pm (UTC)

Ivey Flailing

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"Ivey with par is like a normal person with the chip lead."

Since he seized the chip lead at the very beginning of day one, he has let 258 people pass him. Not much of a front runner.
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From:[info]nextlevelacq
Date: July 11th, 2005 06:39 pm (UTC)

Chip Reese

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I'm a little disappointed that Chip Reese didn't go a little further in the tournament. He was up to 315,000 in chips at one point. Supposedly, the way he went was that he had the nut flush on the turn and moved in, and was called by a set in which the board paired on the river. From what I have read he has won more money playing cash games than most players in the world. I think he deserves a little time in the spotlight for his success in the game. Unfortunately, the way T.V. poker is, more people have heard of Chris Moneymaker than Chip Reese.
From:[info]sleepycell
Date: July 11th, 2005 06:57 pm (UTC)

Grinda with provolone

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Anyone else find "the grinder" highly irritating?
I guess it's his whole posse that annoys me. A gang of hoodlums. Scary.

ESPN is starting the 2005 WSOP next week. 7/19. seems like a quick turnaround. Can't wait to watch each episode until my eyes bleed and my brain starts to drip out of my nostrils.
anyone know if they air the events in chronological order they were played in? anyone know if they are airing all the events?
and yes, i checked the espn website, Paul.
From:[info]leafsba
Date: July 11th, 2005 07:15 pm (UTC)

Ivey

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I'll take Ivey or Juanda at even money thank you.
I don't like the concept of saying a poker player is "due", but if ever it were the case, it'd be for these guys in NLHE $10K buy-in tourneys!
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From:[info]vbdave
Date: July 11th, 2005 07:54 pm (UTC)
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"121 Russ Hamilton 145,300 Chips

Aiming to become the only guy to win the WSOP a second time weighing less than half what he did the first time."

There's really no benefit for him being heavey this year is there? Not only the health reasons, but wasn't the year he won the 25th anniversary or something when the winner also got their weight in silver?
From:[info]beavis68
Date: July 11th, 2005 08:19 pm (UTC)
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Did Lee really drop to 70k in day 2 before building back up?

Must be some crazy play.
From:[info]classhandicappe
Date: July 11th, 2005 09:10 pm (UTC)
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Can you account for what you believe is Layne's inconsistent play?

Is it a style thing or is it actually a change in his mental state?

From the little that I have observed it seems that his style is more dependent on his reads of other players than for the average poker pro. If that observation is correct, it may have less to do with him having an "A", "B" and "Z" game and more related to the individual opponents he is matched up against (readability) and the randomness of making good guesses about his opponents cards.




From:[info]bigdmcgee
Date: July 11th, 2005 09:13 pm (UTC)

What, no Mouth commentary?

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Looks like Matusow won a huge pot too, 250,000, when it was in hand for hand, so he may be chip leader right now, or close to it.
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From:[info]boomer_89
Date: July 11th, 2005 10:41 pm (UTC)
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Do you think Lederer could win? Is he still in it?
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From:[info]nextlevelacq
Date: July 11th, 2005 10:55 pm (UTC)

PHIL IVEY

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Phil Ivey now has 300,000 chips. That is like a normal person having already won the freakin tournament!!
From:[info]son_of_iapetus
Date: July 11th, 2005 11:02 pm (UTC)

Wow

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According to cardplayer's most recent log, Paul's notables have hit the ground running.

Ivey has more than trippled up in the first couple hours of play to $300,000.

Flack has added close to 100K to his stack and has 283K.

Watkinson is sitting on 442K now!

Raymer is sitting on 437K.

Juanda has not quite trippled up, but is sitting on 400K.