WSOP 2010 time is near and PartyPoker is running regular satellites where you can win $14,000 WSOP 2010 packages.

You can qualify to the WSOP satellites via daily freerolls or you can buy-in directly for $750 every Friday and Sunday. One of the recent WSOP package winners is JonnyARUBA, and here is what he had to say.

Tell me how your WSOP satellite went. What route did you take? What were the key moments in the satellite?

I started off in an $80 sub-qualifier that had 34 entrants and 3 seats to the $750 main event qualifier. After placing top 3, I went on to the $750 that had one seat guaranteed. There were 18 players and only 1 package! The key moment was heads up after giving up a 3:1 chip lead and being down 2:1 at the time. I limped on the small blind with AK suited, he shoved all his chips in the middle and I called to see him turn over AQ off suit. AK held. I took over the chip lead and went on to win it a few hands later. The final hand I was dealt was 88 and the flop came 8-3-3 giving me a full house and eventually the package.

Tell me about your PartyPoker story. How did you get started playing with us? Why do you like to play at our tables?

I opened my account with PartyPoker over 5 years ago. I started off playing in the $10 sit and go’s and eventually (after a year or so of success) I moved up to the $100 sit and go’s and then began playing cash. I like the variety of tournaments and cash games that PartyPoker offers, but my main objective is to qualify for some of the big, live events that PartyPoker sponsors.

Could you tell me about your offline experience? Did you ever play one of big events like WSOP or WPT?

I qualified, online, for the 2008 PCA in the Bahamas. I ended up placing 140th of 1200 in the main event, losing a big chunk of my chips on a real bad beat and finished just out of the money. It was Barry Greenstein who knocked me out, so at least I went out in style. I then went on to play in a 1K side event while still down in the Bahamas and won it, taking down over 30K. That was my only live experience to date.

Any poker players you would love to meet and play against at WSOP and why?

As he is a fellow Canadian and Leaf fan, Daniel Negreanu is one of my most respected and admired players. I played the same table as him at the 2008 PCA in the Bahamas and thoroughly enjoyed that experience. I would love to stare across the felt at him again at this years WSOP.

What is your advice for players who want to emulate your success in the next Party tournament?

Know your game – poker is a game that has many different styles that can lead to success. You have to figure out which style works best for you and try to master that one. Once mastered, then go on to explore some of the other styles to see if they can help to compliment yours! And of course, when playing in the bigger tournaments, patience is a must!

Are you also going to be the one staring across the felt at Daniel Negreanu at the WSOP? Qualify to WSOP 2010 Main Event now at PartyPoker.

PartyPoker.com still has three runners:

Miika Puumalainen 2,894,000

Aaron Coulthard 901,000

Maurizio Saieva 837,000

Maurizio is a member of the Italian Poker Team and with only four Italians left in the event – three of them are on the same table today.

Miika starts on the ESPN feature table. Pictures and more information to follow later. All players receive bonuses for getting this far through the Leaderboard promotion!

Good luck everyone!

PartyPoker had 26 players still in the tournament and there was a definite air of nervous excitement in the Mike Sexton Suite this morning as the players arrived for breakfast. Our highest placed player was Miika from Finland who was in 12th position overall.

We also had Mike Sexton on 169,000 chips at the start of play. In total we had players starting with stacks as low as 26,800 and as high as 361,200. The short stacks would need to make a move because the blinds were starting at 600/1200 with a 200 ante. It was too expensive just to sit and wait for pocket aces.

No sooner had the guys gone off to take their seats then we had our first elimination of the day. Romain from France got his remaining chips in good with ace ten but was called by a player looking down at a pair of Jacks. The Jacks held up and we had our first casualty. “I will think about that hand for a long time” Romain told me as he headed for one of the massage chairs.

At the first break I was only aware of two further eliminations including Magnus from Sweden. Mike Sexton had chipped up to about 220,000 and Miika was still at about 350,000 chips. A couple of the guys had lost of chips with Petter from Norway crashing from over 220,000 to 50,000.

After the break I went back to the tournament room and quickly picked up on the rumour going around that Phil Ivey was now sat with renowned French player Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier. This table was attracting more than its fair share of railbirds, particularly as it was right next to the door.

On the next table I could see a quiet Phil Hellmuth who probably did not enjoy the fact that the attention was not all on him, but he was getting on with his business all the same.

Over at the TV feature table, There was a good old battle going on with 2005 Main event champion, Joe Hachem in the thick of all the best action.

Joe Hachem on the TV table

Just before the dinner break, one of my tips to go deep in this tournament, Katja from Norway came back into the suite and told me her WSOP dream was all over for another year. Katja never stops smiling even after busting out of the tournament but I’m sure she had a great time and will be back next year to try again.

As the players came back for the dinner break we worked out that we have either 11 or 12 players from the starting 26 still in the tournament. It is hard to keep track because some players come and tell us when they are out and others get the first cab back to the hotel.

Mike Sexton was now up to 330,000 chips and Miika was still hovering around the 370,000 mark. Other players had over 200,000 chips so I hope we see a good number of them make it through to day four and the money. As I write this we have just over 1 full level to go and there are 981 out of 6494 starting players left in the main event. The top 648 places will get paid.

That is it from me. I am about to jump on a plane and go back home after two enjoyable weeks in Las Vegas. I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Warren who will provide all the player updates and chips counts. Good luck to all our remaining players.

Jeremy Coleman

A record 2924 players took part in Day 2B and there were players and tables almost in every available bit of floor space. For the first hour of play today they did not let any spectators into the various tournament rooms. Rumour spread that this would continue all day which had many people concerned if they were supporting friends or family but the doors opened about 1pm.

PartyPoker had 35 players taking part today and we were hopeful that some of our guys would continue the good work done already and keep picking up the chips. It was therefore quite a surprise when one of our highest stacked players, Bodo Sbrzesny who started the day on over 100,000 chips, walked back into the suite after only an hour. Bodo managed to get his chips in good holding aces against an aggressive pre-flop raiser only to have his aces cracked when his opponent who had pocket queens spiked an unlikely queen on the river.

No sooner had I heard that cruel story then I saw fellow GrassRoots player, Ian Frazer marching down the corridor talking into his phone. Ian had obviously busted as well. Last I heard he went round to the Bellagio to get over his disappointment with some high stakes cash game action.

In the first level today we had a steady stream of guys who’s tournament was over. The good thing about the Mike Sexton Suite today was that Mike was there most of the day even though was not playing so he could offer some commiseration and I could offer a cold beer.

The Danish guys on the fuseball table

By the time we had played 2 levels and the players had their dinner break, over 900 players who sat down this morning were now out of the tournament. This made it easier for railbirds like me to move around as tables were collapsed and removed creating more space.

Over at the ESPN feature table, Phil Hellmuth was mixing it up with PartPoker player Daniel Vorbeck. Daniel told me that Phil was playing very well and picking up a lot of pots by scaring players off them. That sounds like Mr. Hellmuth.

As the afternoon wore on it was clear that we may not end the day with very many PartyPoker players and that proved to be true. By the time they bagged up the chips in the evening we had Ptter Hammer from Norway as a Day 2b chip leader with 229200 chips. There was also a new overall chip leader in Amir lehavot who was on a staggering 610,000 chips which is more than 175,000 more than his nearest rival.

PartyPoker players chip counts – end of Day 2B
Petter Hammer 229,200
Gustav Ekerot 147,400
Glenn Slater 161,900
Rasmus Hansen 145,800
Philip Boer 125,900
Todd Sisley 104400
Randy Armitage 64300
Jonas Gutteck 62800
Ludvik Sindiri Ludviksson 60400
Salvador Villaluz 37800
Fabian Quoss 28700
Jonathan Driscol out
Philip Green out
Stefan Kahlert out
Fredrick Andren out
Claus Anderson out
Anthony Lansdell out
Sebastian Panny out
Jack Powell out
Ricky Tang out
Ricardo Sibelo out
Marcos Palermo out
Ian Frazer out
Morten Christiansen out
Marlis Sawicki out
Joakim Noren Olsson out
Aaron Armstrong out
Bodo Sbrzesny out
Anthony Keogh out
Jonathan Karamalikis out
Jens Klaning out
francisco A out
Florian Langmann out
Jeppe Neilsen out
Paul Foltyn out

Tomorrow is a day off for players and staff alike but on Day 3 (Friday) we will have 26 PartyPoker players in the approx 2100 strong field all hoping to make it into day 4 when the bubble is expected and players will make the money. I’ll be back on Friday.
Jeremy Coleman

Day 2A was by far the smaller of the two scheduled Day 2’s with only 1476 players taking their seats this morning. These players made it through the smaller fields from days 1A and 1B. It was been confirmed that tomorrows Day 2B will be at maximum capacity at about 3000 players. Where will they all sit? I have no idea.

Anyway, back to today. Five 2 hour levels are planned for today because they only played four levels in Days 1 and B. I spent a lot more time in the main tournament room today trying to keep up with the 29 PartyPoker players who sat down to play. As I entered the room I heard plenty of “All in and a call” shouts from dealers all over the room. This was the signal for the official recorders to rush over and make a note of the hand in the anticipation that a players all in bet was going to lead to an early elimination if a short stacked player hit the rail.

I walked back to one of the featured ESPN tables to find Katja Svendsen from Norway sat with Chris Ferguson on her right and Roland de Wolfe on her left. This was a very tough spot but Katja proved that she was no pushover and I saw her pick up a few nice sized pots pre flop with some aggressive betting.

As the day wore on, the players that got eliminated were returning to the suite to tell us their stories and have a cold beer. Players have been very impressed by the suite we have here. I had one appreciative guy tell me today that he felt the food, the drink, the massage chairs and Wii we have laid on for all our players really make the WSOP experience that much more special because they have a private facility just for PartyPoker players.

By the time play ended after midnight and the chips were getting bagged up, we realised that one of our players had a very successful day. Young Finnish player Mikka Puumalainen was able to go to bed knowing he had amassed a cool 361,200 chips which placed him 4th for the day and only just behind day 2A chip leader Eric Cloutier who ended his day on 383,500 chips. I first met Miika at the Asian Poker Tour event in Manila in January and I played a sit & go with him so I know he is a very aggressive player who likes to control a table when the mood takes him. It looks like this has worked beautifully for him today. Well done Miika.

Also through to Day 3 are PartyPoker Ambassador Mike Sexton with 169,000 chips and Grassroots players Remy Biechel from France and Felipe Ramos from Brazil who ended the day on 56400 and 46300 chips respectively.

Felipe Ramos;still smiling despite busting out today.

Here are the complete chip counts for all ParyPoker players who got through Day 2A and can look forward to day 3.

Mikka Puumalainen 361200
Dennis Nikitorut 146900
Rory Rees Brennan 132400
Aaron Coulthard 127400
Christian Jeppsson 118300
Ales Kalan 118300
Allan Peers 101900
Andrey Martsev 97000
Ashley Cheung 96800
Jakob Karlsson 62800
Katja Svendsen 61400
Remy Biechel 56400
Magnus Cornmark 31600
Donne Romain 28500
Torsten Brinkmann 26800

Tomorrow we have 35 players starting Day 2B including two more of our grass roots players, Ian Frazer and Bodo Sbrzesny. Good luck to all the players.

Jeremy Coleman

The big news for Day 1 D was simply the amount of players trying to register themselves for the main event. The tournament organisers were expecting it to be busy, possibly even selling out but they surely could not have expected the scenes that greeted us yesterday as we arrived at The Rio at 10am. There were at least 300 people queuing past The Mike Sexton Suite all the way up to the registration desks. Some people had been waiting since about 3am, concerned that they would not get their seat.

After a lot of confusion and in some cases arguing, a total of 2809 players were allowed to sit down and take their seats in Day 1D. This was the maximum amount that could possibly squeeze into the rooms available and left over 800 very angry and disappointed players outside. Most got their buy-ins back if they won a seat in the satellites.

I know poker players sometimes like to make a dramatic entrance or feel that a certain starting day is special to them but because of the 4th of July holiday weekend it was a sure bet that Day 1D would be far more popular than the previous 3 starting days. What must make it annoying for the 800 unlucky players today is that Day 1B only had just over 870 players so there was plenty of room on that day.

With all that excitement over, the 2809 players got down to the business in hand (excuse the pun) which was to play some poker. I heard an interesting story as I walked past the ESPN feature table. Apparently the table that Phil Ivey was sat at had been invited to sit at the ESPN TV feature table and moved over to sit down when Mr Ivey decided he didn’t want to sit there so they all moved back again. The other guys were devastated because they can pick up sponsorship money and other privileges when they are lucky enough to reach the table.

Now that we have the total number of players we have the following facts for this years Main Event:

• Total Players 6494
• Total Prize Pool $61,043,600
• First Prize Approx $8,500,000
• Top 648 players will get paid.

This years November Nine will make a minimum of approx $1,000,000 each

By the time we got to the days end and the chips were being bagged up, we had a clear chip leader for the whole tournament. Troy Webber ended the day on more than double his nearest challenger today after taking down a sizeable pot when his trip 8’s held up against a player who had pocket queens. Partypoker had two players who finished the day on just over 100,000 chips. Grass roots player Bodo Sbrzesny and Fabian Quoss from Germany will go into Day 2B in a strong position.

Some notable results include the two guys who came first and second in last years main event. Last years winner, Peter Eastgate ended his day with a respectable 42000 chips whilst runner up Ivan Demidov’s tournament ended before the dinner break.

Tomorrow we start Day 2A with 1460 players all hoping to take another step closer to the final table.

Jeremy Coleman

I was with Ian and many other poker players like Tony G, Roland de Wolfe, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott and Nam Le at a birthday party in Blush at the Wynn until late. It would be fair to say that Ian felt as rough as I looked this morning. Despite that he picked up some nice pots early on but sunk back a bit as he ended the day with 17525 chips. So far we have had 3685 entrants and with tomorrow predicting over 2000 runners we should reach somewhere close to 6000 total players.

This is lower than everyone was expecting considering the record numbers on entrants who played in some of the early side events. Perhaps in the current economic climate, many players were comfortable with playing in a $1500 side event rather than the $10,000 main event.

Ricardo Sibelo had one of his poker dreams come true today when he was asked to sit on the ESPN feature table next to well known pro Daniel Negreanu. Ricardo came back at the first break and shared his good fortune with the other players all of whom were pleased for him but probably also a little jealous. I know I would have been. Ricardo didn’t let the bright lights of the cameras put him off his game because he got through today and will be back for Day 2B with 18200 chips to play with. Well Done Ricardo

The Chip counts for our players today is most impressive. Twenty one out of twenty nine players are still in the tournament and will be back on Wednesday for Day 2B. Yesterdays overall chip leader was Joseph Cada who managed to accumulate a very nice 187225 chips. Anyone starting with more than about 60,000 chips is in a very strong position for Day 2 but as the saying goes – as long as you have a chip and a chair. Good luck to them all.

Philip Boer 84825
Jack Powell 74425
Petter Hammer 67100
Jonathan Driscol 61400
Glenn Slater 59000
Rasmus Hansen 56675
Philip Green 52375
Fredrick Andren 47300
Salvador Villaluz 42450
Todd Sisley 37125
Anthony Lansdell 31150
Sebastian Panny 29300
Jonas Gutteck 25575
Ricky Tang 20725

Ricardo Sibelo 18200
Marcos Palermo 18175
Ian Frazer 17525
Morten Christiansen 16250
Marlis Sawicki 14550
Joakim Noren Olsson 14475
Aaron Armstrong 11325
Staffen Fogelberg out
David Normoyle out
Jan Zimmermann out
Claus Anderson out
Peiter Van Gils out
Stefan Kahlet out
Geradus Korse out
Sven Erik Kristiansen out

Day 1C

The Phil Hellmuth show rolled into town today. The rumour buzzed around quite quickly that Phil and his entourage would soon be arriving so I grabbed a camera and joined the waiting throng. There were lots of camera crews and photographers waiting and yet current WSOP main event champion Peter Eastgate managed to walk in the door and past all of them without anyone recognizing him.

Waiting for Phil’s arrival were about 100 beautiful girls dressed identically in roman style clothes. And finally he arrived. Dressed up as a roman gladiator he arrived being carried above the heads of other roman gladiators. The girls all lined up to welcome Phil into the building and threw rose petals at his feet like he was royalty. Phil was obviously loving every minute judging by the huge smile on his face.

I managed to get a couple a good shots as you can see.

I’m not sure that Phil’s sense of timing was all that great. He arrived almost 2 hours late and just 10 minutes before the first break of the day. I’m not sure if he was planning on staying dressed like that all day but I would imagine that toga would get pretty uncomfortable after a while.

Regards

The PartyPoker team

Day 1 B was a much quieter affair with only 873 players sitting down. This was possibly because it was 4th of July and a big holiday weekend here in the US. PartyPoker had 23 players starting their journey towards WSOP fame and fortune. For some it was the first time they have played in a big live tournament. One guy has made his way to Las Vegas for a cost of only $8 and won his way through to one of our weekly satellites where he won his $12,000 package.

The suite was busy again today as players enjoyed the great food and took the opportunity to relax during the breaks. Every now and again, we would see a famous face walk by and a ripple of excitement would run through the room as people rushed to take a look. As promised yesterday I managed to take a couple of photos of Scotty Nguyen and Antonio Esfandiari which we will attach to this post soon.

The main tournament room was still very busy despite the lower number of players playing today. Moving around the room in the early part of the afternoon I could see that most of our players were doing fine. The way the room is set up, I have to stay behind the rail and cannot walk around freely like I have done in previous smaller tournaments.

This makes it impossible to cover a lot of the play in any real detail because I am so far away from most of the players. I get to hear about the major hands that players were involved in when they come back to the suite during the breaks and start swapping stories about the big pots they were involved in and the bad beats they have witnessed.

We have players here from all over the world and although many players naturally talk to guys from their own country, there is also a great deal of team spirit among the group. The players and their guests have developed a real sense of camaraderie which we always see with PartyPoker players. That’s why they are the best group of players in poker.

When it came to bag up the chips I was surprised that we had lost so many of our players. Ten players managed to survive to see day 2.
Here are the chip counts for our PartyPoker players.

Jannick Wrang 82350
Katja Svendsen 64750
Ettore Di Leva 52750
Alexander Luber 51125
Charles Wale 46775
Ashley Cheung 44725
Ales Kalan 44350
Martin Raus 44250
Marcus Balmert 38650
Tom Ahlberg 5200
Erik Backlund out
Manuel Barbero Ballesteros out
Peter Andreas Bondeson out
Marco Cafolla out
Donne Rontin out
Jiri Hlavaty out
Vincent Konkuyt out
Felix Lambertz out
Dennis Nikitorut out
Patrick Smith out
Danilo Souza out
Jon Cudney out
Michael Zauner out

With only 4 levels each day we are expecting a larger percentage of players to make it through to Day 2 than previous years. Many of the PartyPoker players had a good start to their tournament and most of those that are still in finished with a higher stack than the 30,000 starting chips.

These are the chip counts for our players at the end of Day 1 A.

Torsten Brinkmann 74625
Christian Jeppsson 65475
Rory Rees Brennan 61900
mikka Puumalainen 61375
Felipe Ramos 59125
Jakob Karlsson 57175
Aaron Coulthard 52800
Jude Ainsworth 49825
magnus Cornmark 45375
Tobias Reinkemeier 42450
kristain Kverneland 35200
Matin Talebi 34300
Allan Peers 29500
Anders Vind 29150
Thomas Froslev out
Sarantis Prinopoulos out
Miguel Proulx out
Sander Van de Ruit out
Helmert van der Veld out
Nicolai Vivet out