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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, November 7, 2009

9 players compete for World Series of Poker title


Associated Press

TEXAS HOLD 'EM AT A GLANCE

In no-limit Texas Hold 'em, the game played at the main event of the World Series of Poker, two cards are dealt down to each player, followed by a round of bets. Each player must either fold, match or bet more than the big blind — the mandatory bet put in by the player two spots to the left of the rotating dealer button. That includes the player in the small blind, which is half the big blind, one spot to the left of the button.

Once all players who have not folded put in the same amount of chips, three community cards called the flop are dealt face up. There is another round of bets, checks or raises. Next comes fourth street, or the turn card, followed by more betting. Finally, fifth street, or the river card, is turned up, and there is a final round of betting.

The player with the best five cards out of seven takes the pot.

The blinds go up and so do the antes — small mandatory bets for every player — as play goes on, raising the stakes and the pressure.

WORLD SERIES OF POKER

A glance at the World Series of Poker main event, which begins its final table on Saturday:

What: The 40th annual World Series of Poker main event, featuring no-limit Texas Hold 'em with a $10,000 buy-in. The main event is the final and most prestigious tournament of the series, one of 57 tournaments that began May 26 and awarded gold bracelets to its winners.

Where: Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas.

Who: Thousands of players, including defending champion Peter Eastgate.

Prize Money: First prize is $8.55 million from a total prize pool of $61 million. The top 10 percent of the field of 6,494 players won money, starting with $21,365 for 648th place.

Format: The field was split into four sections, each starting on a different day from July 3-6. Play each day ran about 10 hours, excluding breaks, though tournament officials adjusted play based on the number of entrants and the speed of the game. The fields remaining from the first two starting days were combined July 7, while those from the second two starting days played July 8. Those who survived July 7 and July 8 joined in one room July 10, playing each day until nine players remained.

Final table: Nine players begin Saturday and play until two players are left. A winner is determined after heads-up play begins Monday night.

Updates: Can be found at www.worldseriesofpoker.com

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LAS VEGAS — Nine cardplayers have returned to the World Series of Poker with their sights set on winning a gold bracelet and $8.55 million in the world's most prestigious gambling event.

The players returning to Las Vegas on Saturday had already turned a $10,000 buy-in into at least $1.26 million, and each came to the felt hoping for even greater returns.

Tournament officials regularly call the no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament poker's biggest stage, and they have transformed a theater at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino — normally used by magicians Penn and Teller — to give nearly 1,500 fans a fitting venue to watch its finale.

Dealers took pictures of themselves at the table with the crowd behind them, while plastic bags with the players' chips sat at the table waiting for them to take them out. The chips were bagged in July, immediately after the tournament whittled from a starting field of 6,494 players to its final table.

Among the returning players were amateur Darvin Moon, a 47-year-old self-employed logger from Oakland, Md., with about 30 percent of the chips in play.

He and the others would have to lose all their chips to be eliminated, or win them all to take the tournament.

Moon's opponents included six players who make a living playing poker, including one of the game's most recognizable players, 32-year-old Phil Ivey.

Ivey, who many argue is best all-around poker player alive today, began the day seventh in chips with 5 percent of the chips in play.

The other professionals were 30-year-old Eric Buchman from Hewlett, N.Y., 21-year-old Joe Cada from Shelby Township, Mich., 52-year-old Kevin Schaffel of Coral Springs, Fla., 25-year-old Antoine Saout of Saint Martin Des Champs, France, and 26-year-old James Akenhead of London.

Jeff Shulman, a 34-year-old from Las Vegas who finished seventh at the main event in 2000, is the president of Card Player Media; 47-year-old Steven Begleiter of Chappaqua, N.Y., is a former Bear Stearns Cos. executive who is now a partner in a private equity firm.