ESPN and the 2010 WSOP

Watched some of the coverage of that North American Poker Tour Venetian last night on ESPN2. Kind of drifted in and out during the first hour, though I did see the final hands of that $25,000 “High Roller” Bounty Shootout event won by Ashton Griffin. I was on my way home from the Venetian by that point (back in February), and so hadn’t really followed too much of how that had gone down at the time.

Enjoyed seeing my bud Marc Hodge (with whom I helped cover the first round of the High Roller event) sitting there in the front row sweating his bud Brett Richey. Lots of camera time for Marc last night as he sat there with Bryan Micon.

Also watched some of the Main Event final table, although had to hit the sack before it was done. I do want to go back and see those last couple of hands, though, which saw Tom Marchese end up taking it down against Sam Stein. Some might recall how Stein -- chip leader for the entire final table up until that point -- made two curious calls against Marchese to end the tourney. Read here for details of that somewhat surprising finish to the event.

I’ll echo F-Train’s positive assessment of last week’s NAPT coverage by ESPN, adding another kudos for what I saw of it last night. Fun stuff, and hopefully the tour will gather some momentum via these episodes and continue to thrive. The next couple of weeks (May 3 and May 10) will feature coverage of the NAPT Mohegan Sun. Then the following week (May 17) there will be two more hours devoted to the High Roller event from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, also dubbed a “NAPT” event.

That’ll take us right up until the WSOP essentially. Speaking of, there was news last week of ESPN’s plans for their 2010 WSOP coverage. Looks like they’ll be following the pattern of recent years by forgoing most of the preliminary events and almost exclusively concentrating on the Main Event.

According to Poker News Daily, ESPN will start airing WSOP stuff on July 20, just days after we all go home from the Rio. After a 2009 WSOP recap show that week, it looks like the plan is next to show the final table from the $50,000 buy-in “Poker Player’s Championship” event (Event No. 2) on July 27. Then the following week (August 3) will come the final table of that WSOP “Tournament of Champions” -- that “all-star” game for which voting continues over on the WSOP site.

And that’ll be it as far as non-Main Event coverage goes. From August 10 right up until November, ESPN will once again take us though all of the days of the ME, leading up to the “November Nine.”

For the last couple of years, whenever the new ESPN sked has been announced, I’ve written posts here offering some opinions regarding the shift in coverage away from preliminary bracelet events and the increasing emphasis on the Main Event. Those posts -- “ESPN’s 2008 WSOP Schedule -- The Main Event (Mainly)” & “On ESPN’s Coverage of the WSOP” -- both express a desire to see more than just the Main Event (and just no-limit hold’em). But they also show some enthusiasm, too, over the expansion of the coverage each year in terms of total hours.

This time around I find myself having become more acclimated to the current focus on the ME as far as ESPN goes. Thus am I not really pining so much to go back to 2004-2005 when we got to see all of those preliminary events (even Razz!). I suppose I’ve also pretty much accepted the November Nine, too, an idea which I didn’t like initially and still think mucks way too much with how the tourney should be played.

But given all the current legal machinations going on with regard to online poker, as well as other uncertainties regarding the game’s future, I think I’m mostly done with lamenting the lack of this or that kind of coverage, and am simply glad to see coverage at all.

’Cos really, it is easy to see that ESPN’s continued involvement with the WSOP -- and its adding things like the NAPT to their poker offerings -- is ultimately very good for poker. For those who play and for those who write about it, too.

NAPT Debuts on ESPN2

Watched some of that NAPT Venetian $25,000 “High Roller” Bounty Shootout event on ESPN2 last night. Only saw the first hour before I had to hit the sack, but I recorded the rest. It appeared they were devoting both hours to the first round of that event -- i.e., the seven seven-handed tables, the winners of which met a couple of days later at the final table. Looks like next Monday there will be a couple more hours devoted to the NAPT Venetian -- one hour showing the Shootout final table, then one showing the Main Event final table.

Wasn’t sure what they were going to do with the three hours for the High Rollers, but it didn’t surprise me to see ESPN2 showing all of this first round action, given all of the big names among the field. I helped cover both “flights” that first day -- the afternoon one (which was shown during the first hour) and then the evening one (second hour). Wrote a little about how that long day went here.

From what I saw of that first hour, the coverage of the three simultaneous tables was pretty good, although necessarily a bit choppy (and, of course, dominated by the all-ins). That feature table match in which Hoyt Corkins eventually outlasted John Duthie to win actually took about seven hours, with Duthie pretty much dominating Corkins during the couple of hours of heads up, only for the cowboy to get very lucky to hit a runner-runner hand to survive, then beat the Brit. Didn’t necessarily see that narrative develop quite that way during the show last night, given the need to edit down.

I kind of wonder how the show went for those who weren’t already familiar with how those tables had played out. Seemed like ESPN did a decent job with the graphics updating the number of bounties folks had captured and chip counts on each of the tables, but my sense was all of the back-and-forthing probably made the show seem a bit different from your usual poker tourney show.

There was a piece over on PokerNews a few days ago by Matthew Parvis in which he pointed out how the “High Roller” event at the recently-completed NAPT Mohegan Sun (also a $25,000 buy-in) had seen a dip in the number of entrants (from 49 to 35), and that the future of that event may be in doubt moving forward. Of course, the Main Event there drew a healthy 716 players, following up on the NAPT Venetian having attracted 872 to its Main Event (both $5,000 buy-ins).

As Parvis notes, online qualifiers are helping big time here, and while I like the prospects of the NAPT moving forward, I think its continued success hinges greatly on that part of the equation remaining unchanged. In other words, looking at the World Poker Tour and WSOP-Circuit events and their respective struggles with declining fields, it seems clear the NAPT probably needs those online qualifiers to keep flourishing.

We still await word on future NAPT events. I am sure some are in the works, though I’ve no guess when the announcement of those stops may come. I am not sure whether the looming deadline for banks and financial institutions to start enforcing the final regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (on June 1) is necessarily a factor here, but I suppose it could be.

Obviously the UIGEA being enforced might prove something of a fly in the ointment for the NAPT, but I do hope it doesn’t overly affect the tour’s growth.

WPT vs. NAPT, Round 1

They’ve completed four days of play at the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic. Going into today’s play, there are 22 players left from the original field of 745 players, with 2001 WSOP Main Event champion Carlos “The Matador” Mortensen on top followed by Mark “Newhizzle” Newhouse.

I was impressed to hear that the $10,000 buy-in event attracted that many entrants -- up from last year’s 696 (won by Cornel Cimpan). There was a lot of wondering whether or not the NAPT Venetian Main Event, which concluded last Wednesday (Feb. 24) would perhaps hurt the turnout for the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, which began last Friday (Feb. 26). There might have been a few folks who decided to skip the latter after playing the former, but in terms of the overall turnout there doesn’t seem to have been a major effect.

It would be interesting to see just how many of the 872 who played in the NAPT Venetian event then made the trip over to L.A. for the WPT event. I don’t have a list of all of the WPT entrants, and so cannot say for certain how many played in both.

A total of 128 players cashed at the NAPT Venetian, while the top 72 spots pay at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic. Looks like none of the remaining 22 players at the WPT made the money at the Venetian, although looking down the list I see six players who cashed in both events. They are:

Steven Goosen: NAPT, 127th, $7,232; WPT, 40th, $33,614

Steven Karp: NAPT, 93rd, $9,643; WPT, 27th, $45,773

Lauren Kling: NAPT, 104th, $8,839; WPT, 63rd, $23,602

Brett Richey: NAPT, 95th, $9,643; WPT, 26th, $45,773

Vanessa Rousso: NAPT, 25th, $18,080; WPT, 59th, 23,602

Jon “PearlJammer” Turner: NAPT, 126th, $7,232; WPT, 67th, $18,595.

It should be added that Brett Richey also won his first round table at the $25,000 Bounty Shootout event at the NAPT Venetian, going on to finish sixth at the final table there. With the bounties, Richey ultimately earned $90,000 at that event. Also, Hoyt Corkins, who also won his first table at the $25K and ended up finishing runner-up at the final table (earning $100,000 total), additionally cashed at the WPT Main Event this week, finishing 60th ($23,602).

No surprise to see the proven Turner show up at the cashier’s cage again. While I was gone last week, I received a copy of Jon Turner’s new book in the mail, Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time: Volume 2, co-authored with Eric “Rizen” Lynch and Jon “Apestyles” Van Fleet. I very much liked the first volume, which was well written and nicely laid out, and full of clear explanations of particular tourney hands. So I’m looking forward to this second one which concentrates on how to play once you’ve reached the money, final table play, heads-up play, among other topics.

I think Rousso’s double-cash also further proves her mettle in no-limit hold’em tourneys. Last year could be considered a breakthrough year for her, finishing second in the NBC National Heads-Up Championship in March, then winning the €25,000 High Roller Championship at EPT Monte Carlo in May. Those wins helped her claim over $1.3 million in tourney winnings last year, the most of any woman player. It appears 2010 has begun relatively well, too, for the Team PokerStars pro.

Will be following how it all plays out at the L.A. Poker Classic over the next couple of days. Check the WPT site for your updates. The question of whether the circuit can handle both the NAPT and WPT seems to have been answered for now following this first pairing of events. Once the NAPT adds more events, though, it will be interesting to see how well the circuit can sustain two major tours here in the U.S.

NAPT Venetian Postscript

Made it back home safely yesterday afternoon. Quick flight, it seemed. Still amazes me how common it is for folks to wake up in one place and later that afternoon be 2,000 miles away. I’m simple that way. Easily amazed.

Got home and was very glad to be back with Vera and enjoy a quiet evening together. Had every intention to sit up and watch some Olympics -- which I’ve lost track of over the past week -- but zonked out by nine o’clock and slept ten straight hours. Needed that after averaging four or so over the last few nights.

Had kind of an interesting postscript to that final table of the NAPT Venetian event I was discussing last post. After watching Sam Stein enjoy the chip lead for the entire final table, Tom Marchese grabbed it away from him in a surprising hand during heads up, and then won the tourney shortly thereafter in a hand that involved another curious call from Stein.

You can see yesterday’s post for details of those last hands. If you do, you’ll see a comment from someone who viewed the NAPT.com streaming broadcast of the final table noting how Stein did not intend to show his hand in the one in which Marchese took over the chip lead. Rather, after he’d mucked face down, the dealer had flipped it over -- that’s when we all saw it on the overhead monitor and the announcer confirmed that yes, Stein called the all-in bet with just fourth pair.

Those NAPT live broadcasts -- like the EPT ones -- are terrific fun for poker players. You get to see all of the hands at final tables (sans hole cards, of course). They also often will start showing action once the tourney gets down to three tables or so, with a feature table and secondary tables, if logistics allow it. For example, I don’t believe the NAPT Venetian Main Event was covered until that final table, but I know at EPT Kyiv they started broadcasting with at least three tables left.

As I mention in my response to the comment, we weren’t watching the NAPT.com stream Wednesday night. The images projected above the table were those being shot by the crew taking footage for the eventual ESPN2 broadcast of this Main Event final table, set to air on April 26th. And even though we were sitting just a few feet away from the table, those cameramen, constantly rotating around the table, were between us and the action, thereby obscuring from us the fact that the dealer had flipped Stein’s hand. Will definitely make watching that final table more interesting -- and we’ve only a couple of months to wait!

Two other items to share before signing off today. That episode of Lou Krieger’s podcast “Keep Flopping Aces” on which I appeared (2/18/10) is now available for download either via iTunes or from the Rounders website. I’m writing up some of the latter half of the conversation for a Betfair piece that should appear soon, perhaps today if I can manage it. (EDIT [added 2/27/10]: The interview on Betfair is now posted -- click here to read.)

Also, I might be turning up briefly on the next episode of ESPN’s Inside Deal in a segment where people ask questions of Daniel Negreanu. Show host Andrew Feldman rounded up a few of us Wednesday night to participate, and I came up with a question to ask. Dunno if it’ll be used or not, but I’ll be keeping an eye on the Inside Deal page to see if perhaps it was.

Great fun to travel and especially to reconnect with the many poker people with whom I’ve gotten to work, as well as those working for other media outlets that I worked alongside. Big thanks again to Brad, Jen, and Joe for a fun week, to Macon Marc Hodge with whom I got to work one night, to Donnie, F-Train, and all the PokerNews guys, to Mad Harper and Garry Gates of the NAPT, and to everyone else for all of the added support.

But it’s good to be home, too. Think I’ll be sticking within my usual 25-mile radius of activity here for the next few weeks. Have a good weekend all.

As were the photos in yesterday's post, the one above is by Joe Giron. Check out his website for more cool poker & music pics.

Travel Report, NAPT Venetian: Day 5

Am sitting in McCarran Airport, readying for return home. Got a big cup of coffee here that is too hot to drink just yet, so I thought I’d file a quick report while I wait.

Yesterday’s final table had some excitement, primarily provided by the eventual runner-up Sam Stein. A.k.a. the “Wrecking Ball.” Or, for those with an affinity for alliteration, “Steamroller.”

Chip leader coming in, Stein made quick work of the short stacks, including hitting a couple of unlikely hands that gave the impression he might well be invicible. Was during that stretch that poker blogger Thomas “GnightMoon” Fuller (Bad Moon Rising) went out in sixth after a helluva run. Indeed, given the swiftness of Stein’s handiwork, it looked like we might be enjoying a short night of it.

The bustouts slowed down as we approached the dinner break, however, and it would end up being close to midnight before we had our winner. Got down to Stein and Tom Marchese -- both a couple of 22-year-olds -- for heads up, with Stein enjoying a big lead. They fought for a while, then came two relatively strange hands in quick succession and suddenly Marchese was the winner.

In both hands, the players had gotten to the river and Marchese had bet, with Stein left to decide whether to call. The first time, Marchese was all in, and the pot comprised something like 3/4 of the chips in play. The board read , and Stein thought for about 15 seconds before calling with just . Marchese only had for top pair, but he was good.

Writing up that one, I had to double- and triple-check with everyone that I had seen the cards correctly. Stein’s hand had been shown briefly and was called out by the announcer. (We were additionally wondering why he showed.) Was one of those head-scratcher hands that can prove a bit challenging for the person trying to report it -- something I wrote about last summer in a post titled “Seeing is Believing.” Did he really just call with fourth pair? He had.

And then he did it again. He did! We all saw it.

In the next one the board read and betting on previous streets had gotten Stein down to a small stack. This time he tanked for some time, then called with . Marchese flipped over pocket tens for a set on the end, and suddenly we were done. Marchese had won the trophy, and the $827,648 that went along with it.

A couple of us immediately evoked the Poker Grump, champion of the deuce-four. I said I thought a good explanation for the call was that Stein must read Grump’s blog.

Actually, the story behind those last couple of calls would be interesting to learn. But even if one is sitting just a few feet away, able to observe every card and bet, there is a lot that happens in a poker tournament that no one sitting to the side can ever possibly see or report.

Hung out a bit afterwards with Otis, Jen, F-Train, and Joe Giron, our photographer (those are his pictures in this post, by the way), and managed to snooze about four hours or so before checking out and getting a cab. I realized when I walked through the doors of the Venetian out onto the sidewalk that I hadn’t left the place since I’d arrived last Friday.

Was a good week for the NAPT Venetian and I’m glad and grateful for having had the opportunity to help out with the PokerStars blog in the chronicling of it. Go back over there today to read Otis & Jen’s report on that $25,000 Bounty Shootout final table.

Meanwhile, I’m gonna see if that coffee has cooled down now. See you on the other side.

Travel Report, NAPT Venetian: Day 4

“So, have you found the meaning yet?”

Asked of me by F-Train a couple of days ago as we criss-crossed between the tables at the North American Poker Tour Venetian Main Event. Don’t ask me which day it was. I’ve now reentered that familiar, what-day-is-this-what-does-the-sun-look-like-again zone one gets to know when reporting on these multi-day affairs.

F-Train’s question alluded back to some half-joking, half-serious something I’d said to him before about the need to find meaning. I thought a moment, then came up with a reply.

“I have,” I said with a grin. “But it’s private and no one would really understand it.”

F-Train got the joke contained in my non-answer, and with a chuckle we moved on in our separate searches for hands. And whatever else.

Yesterday I was pulled off the Main Event to go cover the first round of the $25,000 Bounty Shootout, an interesting change of pace. Day began early with some morning prep followed by the walk down to the Bellini Room where the event was to take place.

There I would find a stark contrast to the clamorous din of the first three days of the Main Event, mostly staged in an area sandwiched between the poker room, casino, and sportsbook. None of that traffic and noise for me yesterday, as I settled into the relatively tranquil conference room, here transformed into a television set, with cameras, boom mics, and the lot.

The first table was done in something like two-and-a-half hours, with Scott Seiver managing to knock out all six of his opponents, including two on one hand. The one-time WSOP bracelet winner (2008, $5,000 NLHE) earned $5,000 for each of the bounties, and another $75,000 for moving on to Thursday’s final.

At the neighboring table, Jennifer Tilly took a sizable lead early on, but would end up slipping and ultimately succumbing to Faraz Jaka who went on to defeat Annie Duke heads up. I covered Jaka in that Event No. 56 at last year’s WSOP, the $5,000 NLHE short-handed event won by Matt Hawrilenko in which Jaka finished third. A couple of weeks after that, Jaka made runner-up at the WPT Bellagio Cup which has been airing on the Fox Sports Network a lot here lately. I’ll take him as a favorite in the final.

The third afternoon table lasted about twice as long as the other two, with heads up between Hoyt Corkins and John Duthie extending for more than two hours. Corkins led most of the way, but Duthie had the advantage when Corkins sucked out a runner-runner flush to retake most of the chips, finishing off Duthie shortly thereafter.

Took about seven hours altogether to get through that first flight, leaving less than an hour break before the second group of four tables got underway. None of those saw a Seiver-like massacre, with each extending deep into the night. Finally, about six-and-a-half hours after they’d begun, the last winner -- Brett Richey -- moved through to the final to join Seiver, Jaka, Joe Cassidy, Ashton Griffin, and Peter Eastgate.

Had another hour or more of scribblin’ to take care of before I got out of there, interrupted somewhat from time to time by a friendly security guard asking all about the event. Was pretty tuckered when all was said and done, but got some rest and am once again looking forward to rejoining the Main Event coverage for today’s final table.

We’ll find out tonight which of the 872 players who entered the NAPT Venetian Main Event will leave the hero of the story, the one whom, in a way, it will have been all about. And everyone else will find his or her meaning in the sucker as well.

Dunno how long things will go tonight and I fly in the morning, so I’ll check back in here when I can. Meanwhile, you can see how it all turns out over at the PokerStars blog.

Travel Report, NAPT Venetian: Day 3

Long, long day yesterday, it turned out. Didn’t get out of there ’til 2:30 a.m. or thereabouts, as we tracked the field going from 147 down to 24 in the Main Event. For a general recap of the day, you can read my wrap-up and/or peruse the Day 3 live blog.

They made it down to the money somewhat quickly. About an hour to get down to 129, then another half-hour as hand-for-hand took about a half-dozen hands or so. A rapid exodus followed, but things slowed down big time once we reached 60-odd players left. Was noticing the average stacks creeping up toward the 60 big blinds level then, which helped explain the slowdown, I think.

Players also took a lot of time with decisions, something Benjo -- who follows tours regularly -- told me has become a trend of sorts over the last year or so. “First level of tournament, the button raises for 3x and the big blind thinks and thinks and thinks,” said Benjo, indicating how the brooding seems to happen with every decision, no matter how (relatively) routine or standard.

As we waited for more eliminations, I asked Benjo about his progress translating into French Dr. Pauly’s forthcoming Lost Vegas, which sounds like has been a fun but challenging task for him thus far. Lots of vocabulary for which the French equivalent is a bit elusive, it sounds like. I’m sure Benjo will figure out how to say “pharmies” in a way that successfully captures intended connotations.

A couple of other extracurricular items from yesterday to share. Brad and I had a long discussion about the future with the entrepreneurial (and friendly) Teddy “the Ice Man” Monroe. I say “conversation,” although I’ll admit I didn’t contribute much. I’m a listener, see. A learner. I also focus far too much on the near term, whereas the Ice Man is thinking big, with multiple projects currently, and plans for several more.

Joe Sebok happened by and we gabbed a bit as well. He’s in for the High Rollers $25,000 Bounty event that happens today. I’ll be covering that one with Macon Marc. Seven sit-n-gos, all with seven players each. Winners move on to a final table on Thursday. Plus, everyone gets a $5,000 bounty for eliminating another player. And PokerStars.net is kicking in an extra $100,000 to the player who collects the most bounties overall.

The line-up for the event is nuts. Gonna be like seven episodes of “Poker After Dark” going on all around me today. In addition to Sebok we will be seeing Justin Bonomo, Joe Cada, Annie Duke, Peter Eastgate, Antonio Esfandiari, Tony G, Phil Galfond, Barry Greenstein, Bertrand Grospellier, Joe Hachem, Isaac Haxton, Phil Hellmuth, John Hennigan, Phil Laak, Dario Minieri, Sorel Mizzi, Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, Greg Raymer, Andrew Robl, Vanessa Rousso, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, J.C. Tran, and David Williams. And that’s just half the field... many more big names among the rest, too.

Not sure at the moment of the exact schedule today just yet, but I do know there will be two “flights” -- one at 11 a.m. and the other 7 p.m. (PT). Check Brad’s post from yesterday for the table draws, and check out the NAPT site for live streaming television coverage today, too. The event will be filmed for ESPN2 as well, so that’ll come at some point down the road.

As I say, Marc and I will be on this sucker today, and so I better sign off and get prepared. ’Cos you know, the future... there’s a lot going on there. Better be ready. See you later over on the PokerStars blog.

Travel Report, NAPT Venetian: Day 2

Another day of professional tourney poker is in the books, as the NAPT Venetian completed its second day of play (of five). Was another smooth day both in terms of the play and over on the reporting side, and as the field continues to shrink the excitement continues to grow.

It appears 149 are returning for Day 3. Tourney is going to be played eight-handed from here on out, and so they’ll need 19 tables for today. And, of course, the final table will be eight-handed, following the format of the European Poker Tour (as the NAPT has in other respects, too).

Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger is the chip leader heading into today. He returns with over 600,000, a little down from the 700,000 or so he won in a single hand yesterday versus Lars Bonding. I got over in time to see the chips get counted down -- was an A-A vs. K-K situation in which LuckyChewy’s aces held. Andy “BKiCe” Seth and Steve “MrSmokey1” Billirakis are way up there. Men “the Master” Nguyen also has a lot of chips, as does Nam Le. Picking these things is a silly exercise, but if forced to choose a winner this far out, I’d take Le for the win.

There are three Team PokerStars pros with big stacks, too -- Vanessa Rousso, Bill Chen, and Greg Raymer. One other, 1983 WSOP champ Tom McEvoy, is still alive with the short stack he was nursing all day yesterday. I did manage to see him play a hand yesterday, one in which he had an even shorter stack all in and won. I expect he’ll probably keep folding for the first while today, too, as we are about 20 spots from the cash.

The day went by quickly -- or seemed, too, at least. A dinner break had been scheduled, but it was decided midway through the day to forgo it and push on through.

Ended up having to find a moment to run up to the second floor to Tintoretto, the little Italian bakery, and grabbing a yummy bruschetta with tomato, mozzarella & basil, an Italian sub, and a bunch of freshly-baked almond cookies I shared with my colleagues. There’s the canal, blurry as I’m racing past it.

After the night was over, we got word of a media tourney, and soon about 25-30 of us were gathered around four tables for the event. The Mathematics of Poker co-author Bill Chen was playing, too, sporting a fashionable pair of shorts. So was Bernard Lee, whose attire included a shirt with the Foxwoods logo, indicating his new gig as spokesperson.

There might have been a couple of other faces familiar outside of the media world, but I didn’t get to inspect the field too closely, as I somehow managed to be the first one out. No shinola! My streak of media tourney victories -- begun last August in Kyiv -- ends at one.

What happened? Picked up pocket aces on just the second hand and, well, they didn’t work out for me as well as they did for Lichtenberger. Ended up overplaying them like a true amateur. I wouldn’t say I got “married” to them. ’Cos, well, I never once had any loving feeling about the hand. But it was definitely a case of ’til death to us part.

Got two callers of my preflop raise, and after a 10-7-4 rainbow flop, I didn’t get the message when one of them called my oversized c-bet. Guess I hoped he, too, was overplaying, say, top pair, but if I had thought for just a moment longer, I’d have realized he had to have a set. Soon I was all in on the turn and drawing to just two outs. Silver lining -- got to bed early, and so am well rested for what could be a longish Day 3.

To try to guesstimate what we are looking at today... the plan is to play down to 24. They start today with the average stack at around 175,000 or a little over 43 big blinds. So we’re right about at that 40 BBs mark where F-Train notes “the number of chips in play catches up to the structure” -- i.e., the shipping of chips begins. (Actually, I think we’ve probably been in that neighborhood for a level or two now.)

So we might see a lot of eliminations early, especially once that cash bubble bursts (at 128). Looks like the blinds/antes move up relatively slowly over the next few levels, though, so things may well slow down as the day-slash-night proceeds. Check in over at the PokerStars blog to see how it goes.

Travel Report, NAPT Venetian: Day 1

Cool first day at the Venetian yesterday for the start of the NAPT event. My sense at day’s end was that most everyone -- players, tourney organizers, media -- felt it more than met expectations.

As you’ve probably read elsewhere, the turnout was huge, with 872 players altogether, making the prize pool somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 million. That meant 89 tables to start out. The Venetian Poker Room is already quite large, but only holds room for about 40 tables, so there were tables set up all around the perimeter, filling every space there between the Poker Room and the Race & Sports Book, Noodle Asia, and the Casino.

I made it down early to get acclimated, and was glad to see Mad Harper (whom I last saw about 6,000 miles away in Kyiv, Ukraine) who helped get me oriented, as she helps everyone do at these things. Also glad to meet up with Garry Gates soon afterwards, with whom I’d worked the last two summers at the WSOP.

Brad, California Jen, and Joe (our photographer) had ourselves a nice spot from which to work, and once we got set up we were on our feet a lot, making the long circuit in and out of the tables. Had some more fun reunions while making that trek, including with Benjo, Gary Wise, F-Train, and Donnie Peters (who, by the way, final tabled one of the preliminary events at the Venetian).

Incidentally, those jokes the last couple of posts about my new computer were partially true -- I am now writing on a MacBook Air which so far has worked like a charm. Still getting used to the basics, but as other Mac users have said time and again, the sucker is set up in a way that it generally isn’t too hard to figure out how to do what you want to do. The fast start ups and shut downs are pretty cool, too.

There was a little bit of talk here and there before things got going about the absent Team Full Tilt folks, but not a lot of attention to that story once the cards were in the air. Fact was there were plenty of big names there -- including a lot Full Tilt pros, just none of the toppermost guys (and gal). Much more interesting to focus on who was there than who was not.

For a quick overview of Day 1, you can check out Brad’s wrap-up post which also has links to the live blog. Also check out the PokerNews’ reports for further details of the day.

The stacks were -- as the “Deep Stack Extravaganza” name suggests -- mighty deep, starting at 30,000 with 50/100 blinds and with a very gradual schedule of increases. So aside from a few bits of drama early on (e.g., Daniel Negreanu doubled up on one of the day’s first hands), it was slow going poker-wise for the first couple of hours. But things soon picked up and by day’s end the field was down 510. The plan is to be down to 24 by the end of Day 3 (Monday), though, so we’re anticipating a couple of long ones today and tomorrow.

Phil Hellmuth arrived at the start of Level 5 -- the last possible moment, I believe -- and was soon gone after somewhat stubbornly running his pocket queens into Eric Levesque’s pocket aces. Enjoyed hearing about that hand from Kathy Liebert (who was at the Poker Brat’s table), although Cali Jen had already been there to report it on the PS blog.

Speaking of Liebert, Jen and I have begun a new “He Said/She Said” column over at Woman Poker Player, and in the first one we separately discussed the issue of women and sponsorships in poker. The idea was partly suggested by some recent debates about the issue in the poker media, debates which invariably involve Liebert, the most successful no-limit hold’em player among women who doesn’t currently have a sponsorship. We've both been getting some nice feedback on those articles -- here they are, if you are interested: He Said & She Said

Like I say, a nice start, and it’s only going to get more exciting as the tourney progresses. And I’m glad once again to be working with and alongside a bunch of talented and smart folks. Follow along over on the PokerStars blog for all of the latest.

Travel Report, NAPT Venetian: Arrival

Today’s the day. The second big North American Poker Tour event (NAPT) -- and first in the U.S. -- begins at noon at the Venetian. Lot of buzz surrounding this one, for various reasons, with many interested to see just what the turnout will be, who comes to play, and how it all plays out.

Flight out was routine, the nearly one-hour delay before departure the only notable diversion from the ordinary. I peripherally followed the progress of my two seatmates as they became fast friends, traded whisky shots, turned predictably rambunctious, then predictably sleepy. Meanwhile, I read two-thirds of Dashiell Hammett’s most insane novel, The Dain Curse. Had been awhile, and I'd forgotten just how nuts that one is.

Finally put the book down shortly after poor Eric Collinson went over the cliff, and ended up spending the last part of the trip listening to Here Come the Sonics. “Have love... whoa baby, will travel...”

Landed at McCarran around nine-ish, and the Poker Grump was there to meet me. He and I created a funny scene there outside of the secured area, both on our phones trying to describe to each other our locations, then realizing we were practically standing right in front of one another.

We rode to Venetian, and soon got me checked in. I hadn't eaten dinner, so we hit the Grand Lux Cafe where I enjoyed a plate of pasta and clams while the Poker Grump impressively demolished an oversized chocolate cake dessert. Was fun visiting and definitely nice to begin the trip hangin’ some with a bud.

I expect I’ll be seeing a lot of other familiar faces soon. I arrived too late last night for the partyin’ at Tao. Was too tired anyway, really, although I'd end up only sleeping a few hours before waking this morning. Body will catch up, clock-wise, about time I leave I expect.

I’ll get an idea in just a little bit what the next few days will be like. The Main Event, a $4,750+$250 tourney, gets underway at noon today, and it looks like according to the schedule the plan is to play down to 24 players by the end of Day 3 (Monday), then eight (Tuesday), then the final table plays out Wednesday. Meanwhile, there’s also a “High Roller Bounty Shootout” event with a $25,000+$600 buy-in taking place on Tues. and Thurs. I believe I’m gonna be helping with the first day of that, too, although as I say I’ll find out for sure in a little while.

You can get all the info about the NAPT Venetian schedule over at the tour’s website. Meanwhile, coverage has already begun over on the PokerStars blog, where Otis wrote up details of yesterday’s celebrity charity tourney and the party (see here).

Be sure to check in on the PS blog to follow the coverage of today’s action. Meanwhile, I need to spend some more time getting acclimated to my new computer.