Day 28

If yesterday was something of a sombre one for the WSOP, then it was a very brief lull. Today it sprang back into life. The $5,000 no-limit hold'em short handed event took place and once again the main hall was jam packed with star players. It was also a good day for British players with Ram Vaswani up near the top of chip leaders. A little further down that man Roland De Wolfe is also in contention and Joe Beevers has also made the money.

Brits have done well in the latter stages of the WSOP over the last couple of years, so although it's been a bit of an underwhelming performance by the UK crowd so far there is plenty of time to make a mark. There is usually a fresh influx of Brits as we get nearer the main event, and I'm hopeful there will be a few more big cashes before the end of this World Series.

But for me this is goodnight. This is my last WSOP blog before I hand over to Alex Narey for the final leg of this poker marathon. So what do I think so far? Well, it's not a classic WSOP. That is for certain. Hellmuth's eleventh bracelet was the undoubted highlight so far, but the H.O.R.S.E., which is still playing down to a finish as I type, has been a bit of an anti-climax. And there are probably too many events.

There is definitely the sense that some pros are just throwing money at this series in the effort to win a bracelet, and the boost to their marketing power that brings. Alongside them you have players who have saved up all year for their shot at glory. It makes at times for an uncomfortable mixture.

And then behind the scenes you have the WSOP organisers who just want to get through the events as quickly as possible. Some of the players are certainly not happy about the blind structures in certain events. For example the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha tournament had 3,000 starting chips and blinds starting at 50/100 with rebuys for the first three hours. It's hard to deny that is a pretty awful structure for a world series event.

But all complaints aside there is still nothing in the world that comes close to the WSOP. You could give people 10 chips and they would still come for that one shot at immortality. It just has that magical aura that no amount of crap food, queues for the toilets and irritating fat Americans can erase. It's still the pre-eminent event in the poker calendar, and I wouldn't have missed being here for the world.

Day 27

There was definitely an air of calm before the storm of the main event in a week’s time at the WSOP today. The fevered, tense atmosphere that prevailed for the opening few weeks has receeded and the general mood in the cavernous Amazon room seemed a little flat.

Although, to be fair, this was supposed to be a relatively quiet period in the WSOP schedule. This was the time when everyone was supposed to be whipping themselves up into a frenzy about the H.O.R.S.E. event, but that hysteria has not really manifested itself.

Today the remaining 21 players were whittled down to the final eight, and it was a disappointing day for Joe Public, Grey Raymer, Daniel Negreanu and Miake Matusow joined the rest of the big hitters on the sidelines today and the only major name in the last eight is Barry Greenstein.

I'm not for one second denying the quality of the players taking their seats at the TV table tomorrow, but a line up of Kenny Tran, John Hanson, Amnon Fillipi and Thor Hansen isn't getting the general public's juices flowing. With one notable exception, there is a serious absence of star power on the final table.

David Singer, Freedy Deeb and Bruno Fitoussi are the other players making up the final table, which unlike last year will remain in the H.O.R.S.E. format and won't revert to no-limit hold'em. Whoever wins will have every right to call themselves the true world champion, but I don't expect the crowds to be straining to get a glimpse of the action. Especially as tomorrow should see the return of a lot of big names in the $5,000 short-handed no-limit event, which is sure to cause some fireworks.

Away from the TV cameras, and just behind the main stage where the H.O.R.S.E. feature table was playing out yet another UK player was looking well poised for a shot at a bracelet. The seemingly unflappable Richard Redmond sat with a healthy stack in the $2,000 limit hold'em event with just 23 players remaining. But in three decisive hands, including running into Joe Sebok’s pocket aces, he lost most of his stack and eventually went out in 17th.

It continues to be an agonising display for the watching British fans, with a seemingly never ending list of tales of what might have been. But there are still another ten events to run, including the Brit friendly $10,000 pot-limit Omaha, before the main event. And I'm still optimistic we haven't seen the best of the Brits just yet.

Day 26

Success and failure are never more than a few seconds away in a poker tournament, and that cruel aspect of the game was all too apparent today for British legend Mickey Wernick.

After battling a huge field to make it to the last 40 in the senior’s event he picked up Aces in the big blind, called an all-in raise and lost to QJ. He then pushed with 99 and was called by AQ and AK, only to see an AQ2QK board.

He went out in 35th, and was clearly hugely disappointed. The British team spirit was clearly in evidence though as he was commiserated by Joe Beevers who had been watching from the rail. It was another tale of what might have been for the UK contingent.

But aside from partisan British interest, there was no doubt the real excitement was still in the H.O.R.S.E. event. With the action down to just five tables, the action moved to the front of the Rio room, with all the tables being filmed by ESPN. The feature table was on the main TV set, and included internet hotshot Justin Bonomo, Erick Lingdren, Eli Elezra and a small child. Sorry, I mean and the remarkably small Tim Phan.

Bizarrely the crowds watching the H.O.R.S.E. seemed much lower than in previous days, despite there now being far more chance to actually see what is going on. It may be due to the absence of a lot of the star names. Daniel Negreanu is still there, and Phil Hellmuth was there for most of the day, but there are a lot of relatively unknown players. Kenny Tran, Amnon Filippi and Pat Pezzin are not the sort of names most of us were dreaming about when picturing the final stages of this tournament. Luckily for the onlookers, and the TV cameras, Mike Matusow is still in contention with a healthy stack. He was still below his loudmouth best, but was still regularly singing and ranting away during the course of the day.

Other names of note in the final 21 are Barry Greenstein, Greg Raymer and High Stakes Poker presenter Gabe Kaplan. But with a lot of much less well known faces, it's unlikely to be the same star studded final table as last year. And you have to wonder if that will have a negative impact on the interest in next year's event.

A lot of the big name pros could instead be seen playing in the $2,000 limit hold’em event, which took place today. Almost all of them fell by the wayside, however, with Joe Sebok probably the most recognisable name left. There is good news for the Brits though, with Richard Redmond sitting on a healthy stack going into day two.

Also in action today was the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha hi-lo tournament, which played down to the final table. The most notable name in the final nine is US poker pro Chad Brown, who always looks immensely pleased with himself. Then again if you were a rich successful poker player, good looking and had Vanessa Rousso as your girlfriend you may be a bit smug too.

Day 25

Today the Amazon room was stuffed full of old men desperately trying to relive their glory days. Actually, that's a pretty accurate report for most days of the WSOP, so perhaps I should clarify by saying today was the World Championship Senior Event. Senior obviously has a slightly different meaning over here, as the minimum age requirement was 50, which seems almost on the sprightly side.

It certainly helped boost entries to a massive 1,882, which I’m sure was never a factor in choosing the age limit. The field included three former main event champions, and also Britain's own legend Mickey Wernick who was already in the money when play ended for the day. In fact he doubled up on his last hand to finish with a shortish 19,000 chips.

Elsewhere the H.O.R.S.E. event went from a gentle trot to a canter. The field was whittled down to just 52, with two thirds of the field now wondering why they ponied up $50,000 in the first place. And yes I promise to stop the horse related puns now. Sitting pretty at the top of the chip counts are a few unlikely faces in the shape of Allen Cunningham, and Justin 'Zee Justin' Bonomo - neither of whom are known for their mixed game play. Also in the top ten is some bloke called Ivey.

The H.O.R.S.E. has been attracting huge crowds throughout the first two days, with spectators often three-deep at the rail. The players must feel like exhibits in the zoo, sitting in a penned in area surrounded on all sides by gawping salad dodgers, but nobody seems in the slightest bit phased. Despite the huge amount of money at stake, Phil Ivey and Allen Cunningham seem to be having a 'who can look the most bored' side bet at times. Then again they are playing razz 20% of the time. Ivey is clearly winning for the record.

There was one other event being played today in the shape of the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha hi-lo. Due to the H.O.R.S.E. and seniors event, the Omaha hi-lo tournament took place in the grandly named Pavilion, which in reality is an air conditioned marquee outside the main event hall. Conditions inside the Pavilion have been less than ideal all tournament, with the organisers seemingly unable to reach a compromise between sweltering heat or freezing cold. Today they opted for the latter, prompting most players to wrap up as if they were going skiing.

Joe Hachem sat with his collar turned up, and one poor woman sitting underneath the air conditioning ducts had her coat pulled over her head to escape the freezing blasts.

Vicky Coren, who was playing in the event, suffered more than most and hurriedly dumped off her chips in an effort to get out into the warmth of outside. I spoke to her as she stood shivering in the 105 degree heat, shortly after her exit - her hands still as cold as ice cubes. 'I don't understand how anyone can play in those conditions' she said.

Finally, Erica Schoenberg didn’t manage to make it a golden year for female poker players, finishing third in the $1,500 no-limit final table that played out today behind the Wizard of Oz curtain that descends for the internet broadcasts. She admitted afterwards she never recovered mentally from a bad beat earlier on. At least she didn’t have arctic winds to contend with though, eh Vicky?

Day 24

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, but the wicked folks at the WSOP had other ideas. This was the day the big guns came out to play in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. The turnout was something of a disappointment, with only a handful more players than last year, but it was still something special to watch.

Each and every table was stacked full of some of the best players in the world. My favourite table was the one where Greg Raymer sat next to the diminutive Jennifer Harman. For some reason the sight of the two together amused me enormously.

But not everyone who could afford a shot took their seat. One amusing sight was Barry Greenstein leaning back in his seat to say to Jerry Buss (owner of the LA Lakers and high stakes cash game player): why is the richest man in the room watching from the rail?

The H.O.R.S.E. event is being played out in the centre of the Rio room, with the players penned in as if some form of circus sideshow. Sadly the circus wasn’t that entertaining on day one. The players bantered happily amongst themselves, but there were no Matusow histrionics or anyone playing to the crowds.

Play proceeded pretty slowly and only 40 or so players had been knocked out by the end of play. Sadly this included Brit hopeful John Kabbaj and InsidePoker cover star Andy Black. Most of the marquee names remain, however. And we’ll be back tomorrow with an update on the sights and sounds from the pen.

Away from the H.O.R.S.E. the $1,500 no-limit event played down to the final table, with two Brit hopefuls still in contention in the shape of Jeff Kimber and Karl Marenholz.

Sadly neither made the final table with Kimber exiting in 31st and Marenholz, resplendent in his cream hoodie with The Hitsquad emblazoned on the back, bowing out in 25th.

Both players should be massively proud of making their way through that monster field. And I’m sure that is not the last we will see of them this year. One interesting name on the final table of the $1,500 event is Erica Schoenberg, who has one of the largest stacks. Let’s she if she can make it two for the women at this year’s WSOP. We’ll be back with how she fared tomorrow.

Days 22 and 23

Money makes money so they say, and nobody knows this more than the winner of the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event. British hopes were dashed when Omaha cash game specialist Bulvinder Nirjan ended up finishing in eighth. But the Irish took the title in the shape of Alan Smurfit -the multi-millionaire owner of the K Club golf course in Ireland, and a well known face on the UK poker scene. Smurfit didn't need the money, but clearly desperately wanted the title as his five hour heads-up battle bore testament to.

Elsewhere David 'The Dragon' Pham fell short in his attempt to win a bracelet in the $3,000 limit event. It was also a bad day for the big names in the $5,000 Omaha hi-lo event.

Mike Matusow in particular had provided sterling entertainment, ranting, raving, striking unlikely prop bets and generally being his man-on-the edge-of-insanity like best. He sadly didn't make the final table, going out in 15th. Annie Duke and Todd Brunson exited from the same event in 13th and 14th respectively. The title was eventually won by John Guth, a 26-year-old professional poker player from Canada.

Saturday was light on pros, with most taking a rest day before the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event on Sunday. But the WSOP still found time to cram in yet another staggeringly well attended $1,500 no-limit event. These are really proving to be the success of the tournament in pure attendance terms. The five $1,500 events have had more players than the entire 2003 World Series. It's quite an amazing feat.

But my attention on Saturday was mainly focused on the $2,000 pot-limit event where it looked like we may have a Brit on the final table. Praz Bansi, sat with gold bracelet attached to his wrist, chatted amiably with the players as they were slowly whittled down to the final two tables. There was a good crowd of onlookers due to the presence of TJ Cloutier, but Praz seemed unfazed. His exit, however, was enough to make a grown man cry. Praz bet out on a queen high flop only to be reraised all-in and make the call. Praz had QJ his opponent had Q6. But a 6 on the turn was goodnight for the young Londoner.

For those that think a bad beat never gets to the pros then think again. Praz was clearly devastated to go out in such a cruel fashion. As he walked, shoulders slumped, away from the poker table, his girlfriend ran up the hallway to find him and tried to console him. They wandered outside into the searing 100 degree heat and Bansi looked distraught for a moment. I watched as he threw something into the waste bin with serious venom and then angrily removed the WSOP bracelet he wears at the table. I thought he was going to do the same with that for the moment, but he just calmly placed it in his trouser pocket. He will be back to win another soon enough - of that I am sure.

Day 21

OK. First things first. Whoever said this year's WSOP was going to be a write-off because of the US ban on online gambling was an idiot. Had they not seen the attendances on the last season of the WPT? The place is heaving, day-in and day-out. It remains to be seen how many of these players are people who won a main event package and decided to play side events instead, but I'd be amazed if there were less than 6,000 players at this year's big one. Hell, even my cab driver from last night is going to play.

Take today’s $1,500 no-limit event for example. They were queuing out the door at 11am, and almost 3,000 people signed up for what is the gazillionth no-limit hold’em crapshoot this year.

It has to be said the stud, and even the Omaha, events have not fared as well as the no-limit events, but this is still an overwhelming well populated series. The cash games are also rammed, and there are some really bizarre games being played. Today they were calling out names for a mixed game of 150/300 badugi triple draw.

Seriously, who is playing that? There is also a lot of Chinese poker being played with Barry Greenstein just one of the pros I’ve seen getting stuck in.

Back to the action on the tournament floor, and we’ll leave the $1,500 no-limit event until it’s down to a more manageable field size, to focus on the limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha tournaments.

The $3,000 limit hold'em event played down to the final table today, and despite a pro heavy filed the only notable name to get there was David 'The Dragon' Pham. Likewise the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event that promised so much with Johny Chan, David Williams, Devilfish, Ram Vaswani, Allen Cunningham and more on the final three tables delivered a pretty bland final table. Chiau Giang will take his seat tomorrow, but Erick Lingdren just missed out, going out on the bubble.

It was a disappointing end for the British pros too, with so many getting so close but not making it to the final table. There was a real buzz around the tables from the British spectators with a slew of UK players looking like making a charge at the bracelet. But one by one they fell by the wayside, with the best performances coming from Julian Gardner in 20th and that man Devilfish who finished 22nd. Gardner seemed to have taken it in his stride though, and was upbeat when I saw him at the bar in The Bellagio later that night.

Oh, and I’m sure you’re asking yourself. Did Daniel Negreanu win that bracelet? Well, sadly, no he didn’t. He went out in fifth. Somebody else won, but do you really care who it was? Most of the spectators in the Rio didn’t seem to as the TV stage evacuated as if somebody had let a stink bomb off when the applause for Negreanu finally died down. The bracelet was actually won by top pro Jeff Lisandro, a well respected cash game player who finished runner-up to Allen Cunningham in the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha event. Well played Jeff. We care, even if nobody else seemed to.

Day 20

If the word of the day yesterday was shambles, today it is disgruntled. Yes, the players are revolting. And they are also quite upset. Mike Matusow spent around 20 minutes today shouting to anyone who would listen how he the ‘unfair’ structures and rake meant he was getting, erm, serviced by the WSOP each day to the point where he found it difficult to walk.

At one stage he was suggesting to Tony G, who happily played along, that they should set up a rival World Series and charge no rake and have longer structures. It was all very amusing stuff, but in all honesty you get the feeling Matusow wouldn't really be anywhere else. 'I've never had so much fun losing money,' he said during the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha with rebuys tournament.

You could see why Mike was enjoying himself so much. It was an amazing first day. Every table was littered with star names. One table had John D‘Agostino, Minh Ly and Michael Mizrachi on it, while another had Andy Bloch, Robert Williamson III and David Williams all sat next to each other.

The format of the event, with 3,000 starting chips and starting blinds of 50/100 was always going to lead to some fevered action and chips were flying in from the start. Some players seemed to have a $5,000 Rio chip perched permanently in front of them as if to say: 'I'm ready to rebuy as much as it takes.' It led one player I spoke with to comment: 'They [the WSOP] are effectively saying to the big pros, here's your chance to buy yourself a bracelet.'

Most of the pros seemed to be having a blast though, and veteran Full Tilt pro Steve Zolotow was overheard telling organisers that the event was 'really fun'. Most importantly it proved to be a great event for British hopes with several players including Ram Vaswani, Julian Gardner, Marc Goodwin and Dave Colclough riding high at the end of the first day. Let's hope Colclough can put on a surge tomorrow, as he was still kicking himself over losing a big stack in the short handed event when I spoke with him today.

The final table of the short handed event was played out today behind the curtain that is erected for the one-hour delayed web broadcast tables. It was won by Hoyt Corkins who absolutely dominated the event. He entered the second day with the chip lead, and went to the final table with the biggest stack. By all accounts he put on something of a masterclass on the final table too. Well played that cowboy.

Elsewhere the $5,000 heads-up tournament played on to a less than thrilling climax as the final eight were decided. Most of the big names, including our own Roland De Wolfe fell by the wayside, and the only name of note left is Shannon Shorr. Of more interest was the seven-card-stud event where Daniel Negreanu finally got things going. Kid Poker has made it to the final table, so check back tomorrow to see how he got on. That’s all for now - next update on Friday.

Day 19

The event of the day was the newly minted heads-up championship, and the WSOP organisers celebrated by making it a total shambles. Actually that is not true, but there was something of the school play about today. The players turned up at the promised start time of 12pm to find seats still being sold. Which, this being a heads-up event, meant they had to wait until 1pm for the draw. Cue lots of irritated poker players.

Make that, lots of famous irritated poker players. You name em, they were there - from online whizzkid sbrugby to Doyle Brunson to Ivey to Patrik Antonius. Mike Matusow was telling anyone who would listen they had organised the delay on purpose to put him off his game, but others took it in better spirits. In particular form were the Irish duo of Andy Black and Pardraig Parkinson who could be found in Starbucks shouting loudly about nothing in particular in order to pass the hour.

When the players returned, they discovered 120 (yes that is one hundred and twenty) of them would get a bye to the next round. David Williams effectively got a bye with a first hand win. Williams held AhTh and his opponent KhJh. A Kc6h8h flop saw all the money fly into the middle and a heart on the turn sealed the shortest heads-up game of the day.

Williams then suffered a pretty bad beat in the third round losing to Tony G. Williams had AK and Tony G held K9, but the Aussie rivered a straight to knock Williams out.

The final 64 will play on tomorrow, and British hopes rest on the capable shoulders of Roland De Wolfe. Elsewhere in the Rio room the media's attention was on the final table of the $3,000 and a certain Mr Hellmuth. Despite a short stack, he managed to make it to the official final table, even though ESPN filmed the final ten just in case Hellmuth went out in tenth. He didn't, but there was to be no fairytale. He failed to make it to a twelfth bracelet, going out in sixth. The eventual winner of the event was Shankar Pillair, who beat the more telegenic Beth Shak in a very speedy heads-up confrontation.

There was another final table playing out today, with the final nine in the Razz tournament forced to take their seats outside the main final table arena, in something resembling the kids table at a party. Paul 'Eskimo' Clark was there despite his two collapses yesterday, and so was Aussie loudmouth Mark Vos. But the title was taken by German player Katja Thater, who came back from a very short stack on day two for a hard earned victory.

With the heads-up tourney taking place in short bursts there was a strangely empty feel to the massive tournament room for most of today making it feel even colder than normal. Seriously why the **** is it so cold in there? It’s 100 degrees outside and you need a scarf on inside. Yesterday I was literally shivering in a t-shirt and jeans. I swear it’s only so they can sell you $30 WSOP hoodies.

The only other event taking place today was the seven-card-stud, which took place in the tent outside - or pavilion if you want to use the official term. In keeping with the day’s shambles theme the organisers had numbered the tables wrongly so two sets of players attempted to take their seats simultaneously. It was eventually sorted out quite quickly and the usual slow drip of big names started to filter through as they got knocked out of the heads-up tourney. Sadly our Full Tilt qualifier failed to make it to day two. About 130 or so did, so we’ll check back in when it starts getting interesting.

Tomorrow is the final of the short handed event, with Hoyt Corkins going for the title. We'll bring you all the latest tomorrow morning on the cat in the hat, but until then it's goodnight from Vegas. And it’s goodnight from me. Good night.

Day 18

You haven't lived until you have seen Barry Greenstein sprinting across a cardroom. It was truly a sight to behold on day 18 of the WSOP as one of the world's best players attempted to play in both the Razz event and the six handed no-limit event simultaneously. He managed it only by hurtling from one table to the other, with a speed that surprised this onlooker. I grabbed him in-between tables and asked if he found it difficult to keep track. 'No, not at all,' Greenstein said. 'The only hard thing has been I haven't been getting any cards in either event.'

Greenstein eventually crashed out of the Razz event well before the money, but fared far better in the $2,500 six handed no-limit event that was absolutely rammed full of star players with every table featuring a household name. Most of them crashed out early on, but Greenstein was looking poised to make a real run at the title, until he suffered a harsh beat losing with A9 vs K9 just before the end of the day to go out in 47th.

Sadly one of those who made an untimely exit was InsidePoker favourite Dave Colclough who was looking well placed at one stage, when we caught up with him. ’I’m still here, which is better than most of my day ones at the WSOP,’ he said in typical modest style early in the day. By late afternoon he had accumulated a big stack, but then disaster struck as he lost a series of races to go from 80,000ish to around 18,000 just before the bubble. He did make it into the money, along with fellow Brit Ian Frazer, but it was a disappointing end to a day for him.

Another UK player who left today with mixed feelings was JP Kelly, who came back from a short stack in the last 50 of the $3,000 no-limit event to make it to the final two tables. He spent most of the afternoon on the same table as Phil Hellmuth, which was surrounded by onlookers and TV cameras, with the big man playing up to the crowds with his full range of theatrical overreactions. JP remained a phlegmatic figure under all this intense scrutiny and carefully worked his way up to a big stack. But eventually with blinds spiralling he reraised all-in over the top of Noah Schwartz who called. JP's AQ had run into AK and he made his exit in 16th place.

That man Hellmuth on the other hand continued his march towards an unlikely twelfth bracelet. He's a short stack at the final table of ten where there is one more elimination before the TV table is set.

The most extraordinary tale of the day, however, was not Hellmuth but Paul 'Eskimo' Clark. Playing in the razz event Clark, who had recently reportedly discharged himself from hospital after having a stroke, suffered two seizures at the table. The man who bears a striking resemblance to Hagrid from the Harry Potter movies collapsed at the table after going rigid and appearing to have a mini-stroke. Play was suspended while the medics tended to him and eventually he resumed play. Then amazingly it happened again. Even more surprising was that Clark continued to play and made tomorrow's final table along with Mark Vos and Men Nguyen.

But the best performance on the day in the Razz was the winner of the InsidePoker Five Star H.O.R.S.E. Classics freeroll Jonathan Woodfield who finished an amazing thirteenth. Woodfield won his seat through a freeroll on Full Tilt Poker and managed to turn that into a $5,800 payday to go with his Vegas holiday. It was a stunning performance from the amateur player, who outlasted such luminaries as Jennifer Harman, Annie Duke, Robert Williamson III and over 300 of the best Razz players in the world. Read the full report soon on Inside Poker.

Finally in the final of the $1,500 no-limit hold'em event, which was played out behind the curtains in the 'sequestered' area some bloke called David Stucke won. Nobody cared. See you tomorrow.

Day 16 & 17

Stepping into the Rio room for the first time last night I saw two very familiar faces at the final three tables of the $2,000 no-limit tournament: Ross Boatman and Praz Bansi. And there is no doubt that as this year's WSOP enters its third week that there is a bigger Brit contingent starting to arrive.

Sadly, neither ‘Rocky’ Ross or 2006 bracelet winner Praz made it to the final table, with Boatman exiting in 21st in what is proving an impressive – if frustrating – WSOP for him. He previously went out on the final table bubble of the $5,000 no-limit event, and as if struck by the same curse that fate befell Bansi this time, who finished in 10th place. But with a field of 1,691 that is still some effort. Ben Ponzio eventually took the honours, beating David Hewitt in a heads-up battle for the title. And no, I have little to no idea who they are either.

The UK players were also out in full effect for the $3,000 no-limit event, including our own Dave Colclough – who I said hello to while he was wolfing down a sandwich in a break – and a certain Mr Devilfish. By a stroke of luck he ended up on the same table as Phil Hellmuth. You will be pleased to know they were winding each other up in exactly the same manner as they do on TV. It wasn't the Fish's day, however, and although I didn't see his exit hand I did see him with some impressive arm candy in the Wynn later, so I'm sure he will find a way to console himself. The eleven-time bracelet winner on the other hand seemed to be on fire, and is well placed at the top of the chip counts to make a charge at an unlikely twelfth piece of bling.

While the Brits were involved in the no-limit action on the Saturday, up on the main stage the final table of the seven-card stud was being played out with a real all-star line-up. David Sklansky, Dutch Boyd, Eli Elezra and Scotty Nguyen were all there fighting it out, but in truth it was only ever going to be Elezra's night. The big man got off to a slow start, but soon found his groove and took control of proceedings. His characteristic and easy-going demeanour that won him so many fans on High Stakes Poker was evident, and by the time he got heads-up with Nguyen, the two were swigging beer and bantering like two guys at a home game.

If it wasn't for the TV cameras, there was no way of telling this was a serious tournament with the two players drinking each other's beers, messing up each other's chip stacks and generally pissing about like two drunk guys playing poker. If only all final tables were like this. Despite this, it was a lengthy battle, however, with the chip lead swinging back and forth until Elezra took a decisive lead in two big hands and pushed home the advantage to take the title. He had even more to smile about, as the rumours go that Elezra earned more from a side bet with Barry Greenstein than he did for finishing first.

Another massive field turned up for the latest $1,500 no-limit event. In total 2,135 players took their seats for a real cavalry charge of an event. The field was whittled down to just 135 by early Sunday morning, and by Sunday night they were down to the final nine. Nothing too exciting to report as the final table was full of relative unknowns. But that in essence is the heart of the WSOP - the chance for unknown players to be a hero for a day. Chip leader Seth Weinger looked elated to have made it to the last day, leaping up from his chair to hug his wife and telling anyone who would listen how much it meant to him.

Back to superstar watch, and the final table of the $5,000 H.O.R.S.E. was another belter with Phil Ivey, Robert Mizrachi and Bill Gazes all taking their seat in the last eight. Ivey was his usual nonchalant self, and the whole final table was played under a relatively flat atmosphere, failing to capture the attention of the smattering of poker fans gathered in the corner of the Rio room. Mizrachi went one place better than his sixth placed finish in this year's $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. event, and it was to prove yet another disappointment for Ivey who went out in fourth, leaving the title to New Yorker Ralph Schwartz. Who is, you guessed it, another unknown amateur.

Finally, there was a real buzz around the winner of the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event. Scott Clements, for it was he, totally dominated the final table, to the extent that he entered heads-up play with an over 10:1 chip lead. He looks like a man to keep an eye out for this year, with a fifth place in a $1,500 no-limit event under his belt as well. Having said that there is only one man to watch tomorrow and that is Phil Hellmuth, who just made an amazing 60th WSOP cash a couple of hours ago. Can he make another final table, and a chance at number 12? We'll let you know how he gets on.