All Mucked Up: 2012 World Series of Poker Day 49 Live Blog

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Jul 15, 2012 13 min read Last updated Jul 16, 2012

All Mucked Up is a live blog of all the stuff you want to know at the 2012 World Series of Poker, besides hand histories and bad beats. Well, we might add a few in here, everyone loves a good bad beat story — unless it happened to you. Check back often for polls, soundbites, celebrity sightings, and who knows what else!

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There are only 97 players left in the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event so the Rio has been cleared out for the most part. Today at the Main Feature Table is Vanessa Selbst, who always makes for some interesting poker TV.

Selbst will begin the day relatively short stacked, but with her skills, she of course always has a chance to run even deeper into the tournament.

At the secondary feature table is Gavin Smith, Amnon Filippi, Yuval Bronshtein and A.J. Jejelowo which should provide for some very interesting table talk throughout the day from Smith and Filippi.

Players will play today down to 27 players, or even further depending on how fast play goes. If 27 players is not reached by the 5th level of play today, players will play even longer. Tournament staff has announced a shuffle up and deal, so cards are now in the air!

Be sure you check out the live reporting blog for all the tournament updates throughout the day.

Main Event Groutfit

It's been a while since we were able to bring you a groutfit, or a grey on grey outfit, but we finally found one here in the Main Event. This player decided it was in his best interest to great grey cargo sweats/pants + a grey sweater as well.

Sure took long to find one, but will bring you more if we find any.

Murderers Row

There is another set of feature tables under the banners of the past Main Event champions near the door in the Amazon Room. We've been calling this section murderers row because it always seems that the best players find their way to this section.

At the furthest table from the door is a table that features former chip leader Paul Volpe. Also at the table is Jeremy Ausmus who has eight cashes from this years World Series of Poker.

At the middle table sits one of the final four women (Susie Zhao was recently eliminated), Gaelle Baumann. Also at that table is David "ODB" Baker, who still has a shot at Player of the Year honors.

Then, at the closest table to the door sits Sam Holden, Elizabeth Hille and Erik Cajelais.

Cajelais may be the ripped one, but check out Sam Holden showing off his muscles to the table. This should make for some interesting TV.

How To Win WSOP POY

Interestingly, Greg Merson, who currently sits in sixth place on the 2012 World Series of Poker Player of the Year Leaderboard, is only 87.75 points behind the current leader, Phil Ivey, who racked up 568.70 points this summer. As we understand it, even if Merson falls short of the final table and busts today, he will earn 75 points for his deep run, which means he’d be just 12.75 from the lead. With that said, a final table appearance would put Merson in the top spot headed into the World Series of Poker Europe.

In order for David “ODB” Baker, who currently sits in seventh place, to overtake Phil Ivey on the 2012 WSOP Player of the Year Leaderboard, he’ll need to finish seventh or higher. Likewise, Vanessa Selbst would have to finish fifth or higher to overtake Ivey, and that’s provided Baker doesn’t finish seventh or better. There’s

Here’s a look at the current WSOP POY standings:

Current 2012 WSOP Player of the Year Standings

Also, here’s a look at how WSOP POY points will be awarded for the Main Event:

2012 WSOP Player of the Year Points

There are even more players in the mix for 2012 WSOP POY, and we'll be bringing you various updates and scenarios throughout the day.

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On Break With Amit "Amak" Makhija

We were able to catch up with Amit "Amak" Makhija on break deep on day 6 of the Main Event. Makhija is known mainly for his online play, but he also has a runner-up finish in a WPT event from 2008. We wanted to get some of his thoughts about being so deep in one of the worlds most prestigious tournaments so we grabbed him for a quick interview.

How did you come into the day? What was your mentality going into Day 6 of the Main Event?
At the start of the day I just wanted to make it through. We are so close, just one day away from the November Nine, and I really want to be a part of that.

How were you chip wise when you started the day?
I was very short at the start of the day. We started with the blinds at 20,000/40,000 and I only had 1.4 million which was not that much relative to the blinds. Fortunately for me I had a good level and I'm already up to 3.6 million.

How's your table image? What about the players at your table? Anyone you're worried about?
I've actually been showing down a lot of good hands, so I think I have a really good table image developed. People should be giving me credit for my hands since I have that image. I'm not scared of anyone at the table. I like the table image that I have.

How are you feeling about running so deep in the Main Event?
I'm super excited. Actually, at the start of the day I was really nervous. I mean, I've done this before. I've played in 10k WPT events and i've had races there too, but it was never like this. I just had a flip {AxQx} versus 7x7x, and I was up walking around the table and pacing around. It's much different than a WPT event. When I first started watching poker, this was always my dream. This is every poker players dream to be deep in the Main Event.

Makhija is definitely a player to keep your eye on as he is one of the best, most accomplished players left in the field with a good stack and a chance to run it up.

The Dream Lives

We witnessed Ben Yu sweating his friend Leo Wolpert in the Amazon room. His screams for a “diamond on the river,” drew the attention of the ESPN camera crews. The diamond did hit on the river, causing Yu to jump up and down with elation. We caught up with Yu on break for a quick chat.

We saw you yesterday railing Scott Abrams yesterday and now Wolpert today. Do you have a piece of them in the Main Event?

Yes, they’re roommates. I would still root for them even if I didn’t have any action.

Girl Power: Day 6

Five women started day six of the Main Event and only two remain, Elisabeth Hille (5,125,000) and Gaelle Baumann (3,600,000). Despite their impressive runs there will be no day seven for Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst, Marcia Topp, and Susie Zhao.

Here's Topp being interviewed by ESPN shortly after busting the Main Event.

They Might Have To Change The Name of the Book to Holden on Hold'em

Sam Holden has doubled up twice in the last level, putting him in a good spot with over 4 million chips. With those two double ups, Holden now has a chance at making the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event for two years in a row, and he would be the first player to do so since Dan Harrington in 2003 and 2004.

Last year, Holden placed 9th in the Main Event, earning himself $782,115, which is only a fraction of the $8 million he could've won. If Holden makes the final table once again, it will be a second chance at becoming the Main Event champion, a shot that most people never get, and only a select few get once.

We talked to Holden very briefly to see what he was feeling about the opportunity to once again make a run at the title.

“I think it would be amazing,” Holden said. “I feel really lucky of course. I just hope I can make it.”

Sarah Grant just got an interview with Holden as well, here's a picture:

We'll be sure to post the video as soon as it's up.

Gold Coaching Pays Off

We caught up with Jamie Gold just outside of the Amazon room. He was sweating his student, Andrew Flaherty, who busted in 75th in the Main Event for $88,070. Flaherty won his seat through a tournament, “Big Slick in KC,” hosted by Gold in Kansas City.

“I hosted a charity event in KC. Last time we had Paul Rudd, Jason Sudekis, Kevin Pollak, Johnny Knoxville, and John Hamm,” Gold said. “ Andrew (Flaherty) played in the event and won his seat and got coaching from me as well.”

Tales From The Rail

Of the 6598 entries only 58 remain in Event: 61: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event. One of those still fighting for the bracelet and the $8,527,982 payday is Florida native,Jonathan Schoder. He’s currently 17th in chips with 4,395,000. Schoder’s rail, anchored by his brother, Chris Schoder, has been one of the more vocal cheering sectons in the Amazon, especially after Jonathan’s big call in a hand shortly before the dinner break.

We caught up with his rail for a quick chat.

When asked how it feels to be sweating Schoder this deep in the tournament, they replied, “It’s incredible, amazing!”

This is Schoder’s first WSOP Main Event appearance.

“He just turned 22 on Monday, he couldn’t play last year,” Chris Schoder said. Chris explained how his brother’s birthday fell one day after the 2011 Main Event started.

One of the biggest turning points for Schoder was on the money bubble on day 4.

“He had AA and I told him to just fold, and make sure ‘you get the cash’ but he said he was gonna play for the win and not just the cash,” Chris said.

Schoder’s Aces held up and now he’s in contention for a bracelet. When the tournament gets this deep it's always interesting to hear about players that aren’t household names. We’ll be sure to keep tabs on Schoder and keep the Muck faithful updated.

Main Event Prop Bets

We received word that many high-stake pros are placing wagers on whether a player of 40 years of age or older will win the 2012 Main Event. The line is 10-1 against a 40+ year-old winning. Of the 55 players left, 11 are 40+ years of age.

Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein says it’s one of the most interesting wagers he’s come across.

“It’s such a polarizing bet. All the players over the age of 40 said the line is ridiculous and all the players under 40 say ‘no way’,” Greenstein said. “I’ve never seen bets where people on both sides were that comfortable (with their wager) since the last presidential campaign."

The last four main event winners were all under the age of 25.

“The under 40 crowd says a 40+ year old will never build up enough of a stack to win,” Greenstein said.

There is a wild card however.

“Doyle (Brunson) is betting on the under 40 (year-old players),” Greenstein said.

Some of the notables placing bets include Mike Sexton and Brian Hastings. We’ve heard some action seekers are betting as much as $30,000.

We've done our best to compile a list of as many of the remaining players as possible with their ages. Here's what we've found, but we warn you, there could be errors:

Paul Siem - 41
Steven Gee - 57
Lasell King - 25
Leo Wolpert - 29
Gwennael Grandmougin - 27
Jordan Batt - 34
Daniel Strelitz - 22
Danny Wong - 27
Jeremy Ausmus - 32
Jan Heitmann - 35
Jacob Balsiger - 21
Robert Corcione - 34
Taylor Paur - 23
Erik Hellman - 22
Gaelle Baumann - 28
Shahriar Assareh - 58
Percy Mahatan - 32
Charles Coultas - 26
Nicco Maag - 28
Kyle Keranen - 30
Robert Buckenmayer - 67
Jonathan Schoder - 22
Greg Merson - 25
Jesse Sylvia - 26
Robert Salaburu - 27
Paul Volpe - 30
Jean Malherbe - 28
Elisabeth Hille - 26
Fabrizio Gonzalez - 24
Webber Kang - 31
Michael Esposito - 58
Yuval Bronshtein - 27
Wilfried Harig - 25
Tristan Clemencon - 22
Roland Israelashvili - 54
Amit Makhija - 27
Niels van Alphen - 22
Andras Koroknai - 30
David Balkin - 36
Amnon Filippi - 43
Amit Zulkowitz - 32
Omar Saeed - 36
Jordi Martinezalonso - 35
Scott Abrams - 25
Marc Ladouceur - 29
Tomas Samol - 28
Marty Zabib - 37
Russell Thomas - 24

There are also plenty of bets on whether a woman will make the final table in this year's Main Event. The line is 6-1 against a woman making the final table. The only woman ever to do so was Barbara Enright. Five women started day six, including Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst, but only two remain, Gaelle Baumann and Elisabeth Hille.

HU4Rollz

As far as we know none of the bracelet winners have taken Jared Bleznick up on his offer to play them heads up in any game and give 10% back, but today we learned of a new HU4Rollz challenge being issued. Matt Marafioti, according to his twitter, seems pretty intent on playing Yev Timoshenko in a No-Limit battle to the death.

Marafioti, who busted the Main Event yesterday, has been on a tirade on twitter since, railing against anyone and everyone, Timoshenko included. He even had some malicious tweets directed at PokerNews for their inclusion of his polka dot shorts near the start of July!

Marafioti and Timoshenko have their own disagreements outside poker, but this is all about ego massaging. Both players have been back and forth on twitter, with Timoshenko initially trying to get a % of his losses back, before seemingly agreeing to play tomorrow based on this tweet by Justin ‘stealthmunk’ Schwartz.

The game and stakes is unknown as of yet, with Timoshenko wanting to play a mix of No-Limit Hold'em and PLO and Marafioti wanting to stick to NLHE. Stakes of $200/400$ where stacks would likely be at least $40,0000 deep have been suggested by Timoshenko. It seems clear that both players don't want to sell action, as to do so would be seen as cowardly. Once again the high stakes poker world is a playground.

Tales From The Rail: Part 2

We took a walk around the Amazon room to see who was railing the final five tables of the Main Event. We saw Ben Yu who is still pulling for Scott Abrams who has just won a giant all in. Yu has a piece of Abrams, so the sweat is on. Yu can add any money Abrams makes him to his own cash in the Main yesterday!

Elsewhere, we saw two of this years bracelet winners on the rail for friends!

We saw Michael Gathy consoling Jean Malherbe, the last of the belgians to bust the Main Event. Malherbe had a rail of four belgian grinders, who will now go home disappointed. Gathy hasn't had too disappointing a summer though, winning a bracelet in Event #21 $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em.

Finally, we caught up withTimothy 'TimOthee' Adams who's on the rail for Greg Merson. Adams has a swap going with Merson, who he believes to the best player left in the field.

"I think Merson's the best left. He thinks on a completely different level, the way he analyses spots is so innovative. We've played together for years, we battled our way up from 1-2 online together. He could be one of the best No-Limit Hold'em players in the world right now, but nobody had heard of him before he won a bracelet this year [Greg won the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max event]."

Adams had been sitting next to Gaelle Baumann all day yesterday, and gave us his opinion on the controversial decision that occurred late last night.

"I felt very bad for Gaelle. I mean, it was an honest mistake, but I still feel bad for Gaelle, especially since she had pocket kings. We're deep in a tournament and even though the guy made an honest mistake, it's still a mistake and you would expect it to stand."

"I really enjoy the Main Event. It's kind of surreal now that everything's ending here at the Rio. I busted out late last night and I was a little lost after my hand. There were so many railers in the Amazon room, but the place is empty otherwise, it feels strange. I'm ok now but busting the Main is not a nice feeling."

Timothy offers us a beer before we leave, which we dutifully decline. There are more stories to be told - Stay Tuned!

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