When one looks at the entire WSOP schedule and sees so many $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournaments, it may seem like overkill and something that would be unable to draw interest after awhile. But it is exactly the opposite; as the Series goes on, the events become more popular. This was announced as sold out before the noon start time on Saturday, June 27, and there were players still angling to buy a seat. There was no shortage of interest in the relatively cheap buy-in NLHE events.

The final number of players in the field was 2,781, and the resulting prize pool was $3,796,065, which would be reserved for the last 297 players in the field. D Read the full post …

Party Poker has joined the swag of online rooms forming their own team of professionals, with a slight twist. Rather then cherry picking from the ranks of established pros and landing big names to represent the online room in live events, Party is looking to promote from within its own playing ranks. Thus in line with this strategy the site announced regular player Ian Frazer as the first in a team of pros that the large online room will be looking to assemble based off play on the site.   A PartyPoker.com spokesman said, "The sponsored player and grassroots team initiative will continue to grow with all VIPs reviewed for suitability. Read the full post …

It was back to the busy days at the World Series of Poker, with two final tables running at the same time as two new tournaments and two second day events. Clearly, the few slow days at the midway point were over, and the hustle and bustle of the WSOP was back in full swing.

Pot-limit hold’em players came to the felt at noon with $10K each in their hands and looking for a world championship title, while Omaha-8 players made their late afternoon start to get their hi-low fix. While first days of tournaments are exciting as the players take their seats and notable pros are recognized by the media and the railbirds, it was the second day events that played into the money and on toward the final table. T Read the full post …

The trend in recent years has been for live casinos to replace their dealer run poker tales with automated versions, where a computer took the place of the dealer and flat screen monitors took the place of real life cards and chips. One casino, at least, has decided to listen to complaints from their players and is removing the high tech poker tables to bring back their flesh and blood progenitors. The Excalibur Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has announced they will return to their traditional set up by July 5th.

He may be the godfather of Texas Hold’em, but Doyle Brunson, at least for the time being, is going to remain just one bracelet under Phil Hellmuth’s record-setting 11 WSOP bracelets. The Texas Dolly made the final table (his 24th overall) at the $10,000 seven-card stud eight-or-better world championship event, but was quickly eliminated in seventh place. Brunson remains tied for second overall on the WSOP bracelet list with Johnny Chan.

Here is a recap of the ten bracelets Brunson has one thus far in his career.

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