Steve Glidden of Milan shows off the $400 in gift cards he received as champion of the Veterans Outreach Program’s no-limit hold’em tournament last weekend.

‘My legs are getting worse,’ says VOP champ Steve Glidden; strong local amateur player Barry Price is runner-up

Just moments after Saturday’s fundraising hold’em tournament for the Veterans Outreach Program, I knew we had witnessed the perfect outcome. The champion, a disabled veteran, would be putting his $400 gift card top prize to excellent use.

“I will use this toward building a ramp to my deck. My legs are getting worse,” said Steve Glidden, 42, of Milan. He’s not confined to a wheelchair yet, but his doctors say the ramp will become a necessity at some point as his mobility continues to diminish.

Glidden has been suffering increasing pain in both legs and loss of balance since 2007 when he was diagnosed with neuropathy. He made his way Saturday around the tournament area at Moline’s American Legion Post 246 using a cane.

Although he clearly was experiencing discomfort, he didn’t let the pain deter him from winning the tournament in exciting fashion. The $400 gift card he’ll use at Menard’s was just a bonus.

“I didn’t care if I won or lost,” he said. “I wanted to play today because the money raised will help local veterans.”
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On Saturday, Aug. 21, you’ve got a chance to have some fun and help a worthy cause at the same time by coming to the first-ever Veterans Outreach Program poker tournament!

The no-limit Texas hold’em event, to be held at American Legion Post 246, 1623 15th St. in Moline, is open to all players age 18 and older. Money raised will be used by the VOP for its job-placement services and other assistance it provides to local U.S. military vets and their families.

Action begins at 1 p.m., but players will be called to their seats at 12:50 p.m. The champion will receive a $400 gift card and all final-table competitors will win a prize.

Buy-in is $40, with one optional $20 rebuy. Registration opens at noon for walk-ins but seating is limited to the first 140 players. Don’t get shut out!

Tournament director is yours truly. It’s a gig my tournament team gladly accepted because of the chance to help our local veterans.

Players will appreciate that this is a deepstack event, with each competitor receiving 5,000 in chips and starting blinds of 25-50. That’s 100 big blinds to start — and you get another 5,000 chips for your rebuy, if you need them! Betting levels will be 20 minutes long and we’ll be trying to finish between 6:30-7:30.

You might also want to read my current LuckyDog Poker column offering strategy tips for playing a rebuy tournament with a tall starting stack. Just click here.

We’re putting out a special call for volunteer dealers. If we hit our 140-player target, we’ll need about 20 volunteers to do the dealing so the players can just concentrate on playing. We’ll hold a training session for all volunteers on how to deal tournament poker the evening before at Post 246 from 6-8 p.m. Please shoot me an e-mail at russ@luckydogpoker.com if you can help deal the tournament.

To pre-register or to volunteer as a non-playing dealer, contact Paul Herrera at 309-797-7950, at vopmoline@yahoo.com, or at the VOP office, 163 4th Ave., Moline.

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

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After nearly 18 hours of play, the 2010 World Series of Poker “November Nine” was determined early Sunday morning. These nine players will return to the Rio in early November to battle it out for the world championship, a first-place prize of nearly $9 million, and the most coveted bracelet in the game. From left, with chip counts in parenthesis, are Jason Senti (7,625,000), Joseph Cheong (23,525,000), John Dolan (46,250,000), Jonathan Duhamel (65,975,000), Michael Mizrachi (14,450,000), Matthew Jarvis (16,700,000), John Racener (19,050,000), Filippo Candio (16,400,000), and Soi Nguyen (9,650,000). (WSOP photo/Rob Gracie)

CANADIAN PRO ON TOP; MICHAEL MIZRACHI IN 7TH PLACE

A grueling day and night of poker left nine lucky players with smiles on their faces and a chance to become the 2010 world champion.

Six U.S. players made the “November Nine” about 6 a.m. Sunday PDT, but the chip leader was Jonathan Duhamel, a 22-year-old poker pro from Canada. Five other Canadians won gold bracelets during the 57 events of the 41st running of this year’s World Series.

The biggest name among U.S. players is Michael ‘The Grinder” Mizrachi, who is in 7th chip position and relatively short-stacked. But he has survived on less than average chips for two or three days and can’t be counted out. He won the huge $50,000 WSOP Players Championship to kick off things nearly two months ago.

The field late Saturday night was reduced to 10, but it took more than six hours to knock out that one, last player and send everyone home. The unlucky “bubble boy” was Brandon Steven of Wichita, Kan.

One player who will be watching Mizrachi closely at November’s final table is Frank Kassela, who was the prohibitive favorite to win the 2010 Player of the Year award when the main event started two weeks ago. Now, incredibly, he could be tied for that title by Mizrachi if “The Grinder” comes from behind and wins the bracelet.

It would be a spectacular finish to the event for Mizrachi and the vocal fans who cheered him on.

For tons of information about the final day of play, profiles of the “November Nine”, and a review of the record-breaking 2010 WSOP, click here for media director Nolan Dalla’s full report,
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Nobody wants to bust out on the bubble!

The 10 remaining players in the 2010 World Series of Poker’s main event still were battling at 4 a.m. Vegas time today (Sunday), trying to get down to the “November Nine”.

Reports from the tournament floor at the Rio indicated the players were tired and sleepy, having been at it since midday Saturday, but all were trying not to make a mistake and end up busting out on the bubble with millions of dollars at stake.

Jonathan Duhamel of Canada was in the chip lead as daylight approached, with John Dolan of the U.S. not far behind. Everyone else was short-stacked compared to those two, but they were playing so as to make the biggest final table in the game of poker.

Remarkably still alive was Michael Mizrachi (5th place), winner of this year’s WSOP Players Championship. He is by far the biggest name still in the tournament, with a loud (but also tired) crowd cheering him on. Mizrachi had been short-stacked with 15 players remaining last night, but managed to hang on to make the brink of the Final 9.

Once someone busts out 10th, the event will be put on hold until November when ESPN will telecast the action in near-real time.

Here are the chip counts as of 4 a.m. PDT:

1. Jonathan Duhamel 51,000,000
2. John Dolan 45,500,000
3. Joseph Cheong 27,350,000
4. John Racener 25,200,000
5. Michael Mizrachi 17,000,000
6. Soi Nguyen 15,000,000
7. Filippo Candio 12,600,000
8. Matthew Jarvis 11,575,000
9. Jason Senti 10,575,000
10.Brandon Steven 7,700,000

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UPDATE:

1. Jonathan Duhamel 29,400,000 — Boucherville, QC, Canada
2. Matthew Jarvis 29,000,000 — Surrey, BC, Canada
3. John Racener 21,700,000 — Port Richey, Fla.
4. Filippo Candio 21,000,000 — Cagliari, Italy
5. Matt Affleck 19,200,000 — Mill Creek, Wash.
6. Pascal LeFrancois 17,900,000 — Rosemere, QC, Canada
7. John Dolan 17,800,000 — Bonita Springs, Fla.
8. Jason Senti 14,500,000 — St. Louis Park, Minn.
9. Soi Nguyen 12,150,000 — Santa Ana, Calif.
10. Joseph Cheong 11,600,000 — La Mirada, Calif.
11. Brandon Steven 5,000,000 — Wichita, Kan.
12. Adam Levy 5,000,000 — Los Angeles, Cal.
13. Duy Le 4,500,000 — San Jose, Cal.
14. Michael Mizrachi 3,840,000 — Miami, Fla.
15. Hasan Habib 2,300,000 — Downey, Cal.

EARLIER STORY:

And then there were 27!

In one of the most unpredictable session imaginable, the field of the 2010 World Series main event was whittled down to 27 players late Friday, setting the stage for today’s showdown to reach the “November Nine.”

The chip leader going into today’s Day 8 action was Joseph Cheong of California, but at this stage in the game, nothing is written in stone. Pros can get busted and amateurs can surge in a heartbeat.

Sometime late tonight, the final nine will bag their chips one last time and begin the wait until November when they’ll return to the Rio to see who will claim the nearly $9 million top prize and the most coveted prize bracelet in all of poker.

For a look at the overnight leaderboard and a full report on Day 7 by WSOP media director Nolan Dalla, click here.
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Now it’s getting serious!

The Main Event of the World Series played down to 78 competitors on Thursday night, setting the stage for today’s Day 7.

The biggest story now, since Johnny Chan busted yesterday, is that Michael Mizrachi has climbed into second place. Mizrachi won the Players Championship to kick off this 41st version of the WSOP, and is now in position to possible close the Series with a victory.

Not only that, but Mizrachi is the only player in the field who can catch Frank Kassela in points for the title 2010 WSOP player of the year. To tie Kassela, though, he has to win the bracelet!

Play is scheduled to continue tonight until the field is whittled to 27. Then, sometime Saturday night, the “November Nine” will be determined.

Here are the Top 10 remaining players and their chip counts:

1. Theo Jorgensen 9,300,000
2. Michael Mizrachi 7,535,000
3. John Racener 7,200,000
4. Jonathan Driscoll 6,570,000
5. William Thorson 6,525,000
6. Matthew Jarvis 6,125,000
7. Edward Ochana 5,950,000
8. Alexander Kostritsyn 5,715,000
9. Cuong Nguyen 5,650,000
10.Joseph Cheong 5,555,000

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UPDATE:

Johnny Chan is out! The biggest star left in the field started Day 6 in 9th place but he lost a ton of chips with K-K vs. A-A, then just minutes before the day’s first break, he lost his remaining half-million chips with J-J vs. (you guessed it) A-A. And just like that, the former two-time main event champ was gone in 159th place! Somewhere inside the Rio, a program director for ESPN no doubt was headed for the bar to drown his misery. Meanwhile, Breeze Zuckerman had climbed to 83rd with 154 left.

As Day 6 of the World Series main event prepares to fire up today with 205 players remaining, most eyes are on two-time WSOP world champ Johnny Chan, who is looking solid in 9th place, and the last woman standing, Breeze Zuckerman, who played her first-ever poker tournament a mere 11 months ago.

Chan finished Day 5 on Wednesday with 2.5 million chips. He trails tournament leader Evan Lamprea of Ontario, Canada, by about a million chips and easily is the biggest name player left in the event.

There’s still a long way to go, but if Chan can win the tournament it would be his third world title (he won back-to-back in ‘87-’88) and his 11th overall gold bracelet, tying him for first place with Phil Hellmuth.

Zuckerman, who was born and raised in Israel and now lives in California, sits in 131st place with 738,000 chips. She is the last woman standing out of an estimated 216 females who played in the main event. The total field was 7,310 players; play continues through Saturday night when the “November Nine” final table will be determined.

Zuckerman’s previous biggest tournament was a $300 buy-in ladies event at the Legends of Poker where she lasted nine hours. This is her first WSOP event of any kind, and her success left her stunned.

“I am so overwhelmed right now, that it has not sunk in,” she told WSOP media director Nolan Dalla. “I don’t believe what’s going on. It’s going to take months for me to get what is going on here.”

To read the rest of Dalla’s interview with Zuckerman and get full details on the tourney’s status, click here.

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The WSOP main event money bubble burst shortly after dinner break Tuesday and, when Day 4 play ended later in the evening it was Tony Dunst of Las Vegas who sat atop the remaining 574 players still with a chance to be crowned poker’s champion for 2010.

Dunst has a stack of 1,546,000, but there are 22 players with a million or more chips including two-time main event champ Johnny Chan, who finished the day in 13th place.

Others in the million-chip club include Matt Affleck, Phil Galfond, Adam Levy, Theo Jorgensen and Team PokerStars Pro JP Kelly. Other players whose name you probably know still in the hunt include Jesper Hougaard, Hasan Habib, Scott Clements, Scotty Nguyen, Alexander Kostritsyn, and Shannon Shorr.

Among those cashing last night but knocked out include two of the game’s bigger stars — Allen Cunningham and Patrik Antonious. Also cashing but eliminated was Frank Kassela, who was the only multiple bracelet winner (2 victories) this year and now apparently is a lock to win WSOP player of the year honors.

Play resumes at noon Vegas time for Day 5, with the final November Nine to be determined sometime Saturday night.

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The money bubble will burst sometime tonight in the World Series of Poker main event. Just the final 747 players get paid, and today’s Day 4 action began with 1,204 players.

Although a player from Henderson, Nev., led the field after Day 3 on Monday, the biggest headline goes to Johnny Chan, two-time world champ and holder of 10 gold bracelets in all. Chan finished Day 3 in 9th place.

Two other former world champs didn’t fare as well on Monday. Joe Cada, last year’s winner, busted out as did Chris Moneymaker, whose victory in 2003 sparked the poker boom.

It’s still a little too early to get on the Chan bandwagon, similar to what many poker fans did last year when another of the game’s legends, Phil Ivey, made a deep run and wound up 7th at the final table. If Chan is still among the leaders after Wednesday’s action, then talk of a record third championship is appropriate.

For lots of details on Day 3 action, including an interview with Chan, click here for WSOP media director Nolan Dalla’s wrapup.

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After a day off Sunday, the 2,557 remaining players vying for poker’s biggest title will return to the felt Monday in the main event of the World Series of Poker.

Day 3 on Monday will mark the first time the tournament field will be in action at the same time, following four “Day 1’s” and two “Day 2’s” with split fields. Roughly two-thirds of the total starting field of 7,319 — the second-largest ever in a live poker tournament — still have a chance at the championship.

Only the top 747 will make the money, with the minimum payout being $19,263, or just about double the $10K buy-in. The money bubble won’t be reached until at least Tuesday. This year’s prize pool is about $68M, with the champ receiving about $9M.

Eliminations will continue daily through Saturday night, when the final table — this year’s “November Nine” — is determined. The tournament then will be suspended until November when the action resumes and the coveted bracelet is awarded.

Seven past main event champs remain alive this year heading into Day 3: Johnny Chan (1987 & 1988), Jim Bechtel (1993), Dan Harrington (1995), Scotty Nguyen (1998), Robert Varkonyi (2002), Chris Moneymaker (2003), and Joe Cada (2009). Chan was among the chip leaders. The only other final tablist from last year still alive besides Cada was Eric Buchman.

Click here for a full status report on the main event by WSOP media director Nolan Dalla.
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