World Series of Poker update

Day 6 at the World Series of Poker was rough for many of the players I was following.

First elimination was Joe Hachem. He couldn't get anything going on day 5 or 6 and ended up pushing all-in short-stacked with jack 9 suited. Joe was called by pocket 4's but his hand didn't improve and he finished 103rd.

Kenny Tran was struggling near the bottom stacks, doubling up occasionally but not staying far enough ahead of the blinds. He pushed with a suited ace, got called by pocket 8's, didn't improve and bust out in 86th place.

Also hitting the rail on day 6 were one-time chip monster Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier in 122nd, one-time chip leader Matt Affleck in 81st and last year's champ Peter Eastgate in 78th.

The story of the day was the rise and rise of Phil Ivey. He had sat in the middle of the pack for much of the tournament but by the end of day 6 he was in 3rd and looking very dangerous. Midway through day 7 he's still cruising along in 2nd place and the field has narrowed to just 29 players left in action.

Phil Ivey, the man to watch

World Series of Poker update

We're now midway through day 5 in the World Series of Poker and with 232 players remaining out of the 6494 starters, one of Assassinato's mates Matt Affleck currently leads the field.

The poker community would love for one of the big name pros to take down the Main Event and this year there are a number still in contention. Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier has been at the top of the leader board for the last few days and is currently in the top 20 while my boys Joe Hachem and Kenny Tran aren't far behind. Phil Ivey is also roughly midfield and has plenty of time to make a move.

From last year's Main Event, Dennis Phillips and defending champion Peter Eastgate are both still well in the hunt.

Eastgate vs Demidov: The Rematch

This morning I watched "Eastgate vs Demidov: The Rematch". In a Rocky-style build-up by PokerStars they created a rematch between the final two players in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov.

The heads-up battle would of course be hosted on PokerStars and to replicate the situation from the WSOP final table, the players would start with the same starting stacks that they began heads-up with last year.

Click here to watch the coverage of the match on the PokerStars blog.

Three big hands (2 in a row at the end) went Demidov's way to give him the win. First was Eastgate with pocket 5's against Demidov's king queen off, the latter catching a king on the flop. Then it was Eastgate with ace two suited against Demidov's ace king off, neither hand improving to give Demidov the pot and the chip lead. Then the final hand was Eastgate with pocket 4's against Demidov with pocket tens. Demidov led all the way and caught a ten on the river for a full-house.

Congratulations to Ivan Demidov for winning the match and picking up $10,000 for his charity of choice.

Ratings up for World Series of Poker

Following on from my last post about the World Series of Poker, here's an article about the television ratings for the changed format. Click on the title below to read the full story.

ESPN: Ratings up for World Series of Poker finale - International Herald Tribune

LAS VEGAS: Television ratings for this week's World Series of Poker final table were up about 50 percent from its broadcast last year, in part, because the show aired the same day play finished instead of months later, ESPN and tournament officials said Thursday.

The World Series of Poker said the number of viewers who watched 22-year-old Peter Eastgate win the main event and its $9.15 million prize was higher than the cable network's average for regular season major league baseball and NBA games last season.

ESPN says roughly 1.9 million households tuned in to watch the final table, compared with 1.25 million households in 2007.

The show's ratings were 18 percent higher than in 2003, when Chris Moneymaker won the tournament, World Series of Poker organizers said. Many poker followers point to Moneymaker's win as an amateur in the tournament as the beginning of a boom for the no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament. Participation in the event grew from then until 2006, but declined in 2007.

Peter Eastgate Becomes Youngest-ever ME Winner

I got together with a few friends from APL on Sunday to watch the final table of this year's World Series of Poker. I had only watched a couple of the early episodes but the preview show was quite thorough so I didn't feel like I've missed too much of the action. I'm sure I'll watch the rest of the lead-up in the next few days.

The final table package that ESPN put together was very entertaining. Congratulations to Peter Eastgate on his win and becoming the youngest player ever to win the title. He had a good run on the final table with a numbers of players trying to bluff him off strong hands at the wrong time and quickly took them out.

The set up of the final table in the Penn & Teller Theatre made for an awesome atmosphere with fans going nuts for the players they were supporting. It was no surprise to see Michael Buffer come out to introduce the heads-up battle ... lllllllllllet's get ready to rumble!!

Below is one of the articles about the win ... click on the title for the rest of the story.

2008 WSOP Main Event Day 9: Peter Eastgate Becomes Youngest-ever ME Winner | Poker News

After nearly four months of waiting, the final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event concluded last night in a battle of rising poker superstars. 27-year-old Ivan Demidov had already locked up the title of biggest Russian money winner in WSOP history, and was looking to become the first Russian Main Event champ after his third-place finish in the WSOP Europe Main Event in September. Peter Eastgate was looking to be the first Danish Main Event champ, and also had his sights set on the title of youngest Main Event champion ever, a title held by Phil Hellmuth for nearly twenty years. After a grueling back-and-forth, heads-up battle on the stage at the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio, Eastgate took the title in one last confrontation of big hands to lay claim to the bracelet and the $9,152,416 top prize.