It would appear Daniel Negreanu got carjacked the other day in Los Angeles.  His car and money was (allegedly) stolen by a group of guys when he stopped to ask for directions.

The car itself was a rental Dodge, and the money was said to be around $10K.   Daniel seems in comparitive good spirits following the event, although no doubt a little shaken up and annoyed by the whole experience.  We wish him well.

After 2 days of the inaugral event of the NAPT at The Venetian in Las Vegas there are 149 players remaining.  Here are the main leaders:

Andrew Lichtenberger (LuckyChewy)  618700  
Andy Seth (BKice) 602600 
Steve Billirakis (MrSmokey1)   591200 
Jason Dewitt   482900 
Mark Ketteringham   460000  
Tom Marchese   378500  
Men Nguyen (The Master)  378400  
Nam Le   364100
Dwyte Pilgrim   359000  
Jonathan Aguiar   327700 
Fabrice Soulier   321700  
Vanessa Rousso (LadyMaverick) 313600 
Steve O’Dwyer   307100   
Bill Chen  304200 
Danny Wong   296700 
John Cernuto   292500  
Greg Raymer (Fossilman) 242200   

Notable Others:
James Mackey (mig.com) 198800
Jimmy Fricke (Gobboboy) 90100
Jon Turner (Pearljammer) 85100
Blair Hinkle 68000

128 players get paid.  Here is the prize structure:

1 $ 827,648   
2 $ 522,306  
3 $ 309,366  
4 $ 241,064  
5 $ 184,816  
6 $ 144,639  
7 $ 104,461  
8 $ 60,266 
9-10 $ 44,195 
11-12 $ 34,151
13-14 $ 28,526 
15-16 $ 23,303
17-24 $ 20,089 
25-32 $ 18,080  
33-40 $ 16,071   
41-48 $ 14,866   
49-56 $ 13,660   
57-64 $ 12,857  
65-72 $ 12,053  
73-88 $ 11,250   
81-88 $ 10,446   
89-96 $ 9,643  
97-104 $ 8,839   
105-112 $ 8,035  
113-128 $ 7,232  

The NAPT (North Amercian Poker Tour) comprises of 3 events in this the first season.  The next event of the season takes place at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut between 7th April and 11th April.   If you fancy trying to qualify then signup to Pokerstars with a bonus of up to $600.

Popular poker pro Daniel Negreanu came back from being the shortstack at the start of the final table to take 2nd place in the WSOPE Main Event 2009.   He lost to Barry Shulman after a long heads-up battle with many chip swings. At one point Negreanu just needed for AA to hold against A5 of hearts for the championship. The chips went all-in (with Negreanu covering Shulman) on a flop containing 2 hearts, but before Negreanu could even contemplate adding a new bracelet to his collection a heart was delivered on the turn to double Shulman up. Many toos-and-fros followed but ultimately Shulman won with TT vs Negreanu’s 44.   Here are the final placings:

1 £ 801,603 Barry Shulman
2 £ 495,589 Daniel Negreanu
3 £ 360,887 Praz Bansi  
4 £ 267,267 Jason Mercier  
5 £ 200,367 Markus Ristola  
6 £ 150,267 Chris Bjorin  
7 £ 114,228 Antoine Saout  
8 £ 87,074 Matt Hawrilenko  
9 £ 66,533 James Akenhead

The EPT London, run and sponsored by PokerStars, starts in a couple of days time. On Wednesday 30th Sept to be precise. There is an interested schedule of events. It follows straight on from the WSOPE in London, so many of the big players, including those from America are over for this.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
12:00 £20,000 + £500  - High Roller - Day 1
14:00 £1,000 + £100 - No Limit - 6 Max - Day 1
20:00 £1,000 + £100 - PLH / PLO Freezeout - Day 1
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2009
12:00 £20,000 + £500 - High Roller - Day 2  
13:00 £1,000 + £100 - No Limit - 6 Max - Final Day
13:00 £1,000 + £100 - PLH / PLO Freezeout - Final Day
14:00 £1,000 + £100 - PLO Double Chance - 6 Max - Day 1
18:00 £2,000 + £150 - European 8 Game Championships - Day 1
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2009
12:00 £5,000 + £250 - Main Event Day 1A
12:00 £20,000 + £500 - High Roller - Final Table 
13:00 £1,000 + £100 - PLO Double Chance - 6 Max - Final Day
13:00 £2,000 + £150 - European 8 Game Championships - Final Day
17:00 £550 + £50 + 1 Re - Buy - Super Satellite to Main
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2009
12:00 £5,000 + £250 - Main Event Day 1B
20:00 £1,000 + £100 - PLO Hi-Lo - Double Chance - Day 1
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2009
12:00 £5,000+ £250 - Main Event Day 2
13:00 £1,000 + £100 - PLO Hi - Lo - Double Chance - Final Day
16:00 £2,500 + £200 - NL Freezeout - Day 1
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2009
12:00 £5,000 + £250 - Main Event - Day 3 
13:00 £2,500 + £200 - NL Freezeout - Final Day
14:00 £2,000 + £150 - PLO Double Chance Freezeout - Day 1
17:00 £200 + £20 - Ladies ONLY Event – 1 day event
20:00 £1,000 + £100 - NL Freezeout - Day 1
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2009
12:00 £5,000 + £250 - Main Event Day 4 
13:00 £1,000 + £100 - NL Freezeout - Final Day
13:00 £2,000 + £150 - PLO Freezeout - Day 2
14:00 £500 + £50 - 8 Game - Day 1
18:00 £1,500 + £100 - NL Freezeout – Day 1
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009
12:00 £5,000 + £250 - Main Event Day 5 - Final Table 
12:00 £2,000 + £150 - PLO Freezeout - Final Day
12:00 £500 + £50 - 8 Game - Final Day
12:00 £1,500 + £100 - NL Freezeout - Final Day
13:00 £500 + £50 - PLO Shootout - Cap 100
13:00 £500 + £50 - No Limit Shootout - Cap 100

The WSOPE Main Event in London has reached Day 3 with 94 players remaining, left competing for the £800,000 first prize ($1.27 million).

Amongst the 4 chip leaders are Doyle Brunson (10 time WSOP Winner),  Praz Bansi (WSOP Winner and GUKPT Winner), James Akenhead (2009 November Nine Player),  and Ian Munns (actual leader with a 528K chipstack).

Still alive and very much kicking are also Liz Lieu, Daniel Negreanu, Dave Devilfish, Annette Obrestad, Steve Zolotow, Ram Vaswani, Joe Beevers, Antonio Esfandiari, Todd Brunson, Men Nguyen, John Juanda, and many many other big names.   A whole host of big internet names are also still in such as Boosted J, and Jovial Gent.

The action is definately hotting up and tomorrow will see the bubble burst as they are playing down to 27, with 36 players getting paid

Poker Hall of Famers

Johnny Moss
Nick Dandolos (Nick the Greek)
Felton McCorquodale
Red Winn
Sid Wyman
James Butler Hickok
Edmond Hoyle
Blondie Forbes
Bill Boyd
Tom Abdo
Joe Bernstein
Murph Harrold
Red Hodges
Henry Green
Walter “Puggy” Pearson
Doyle Brunson
Jack Strauss
Fred Ferris
Benny Binion
David “Chip” Reese
Amarillo Slim Preston
Jack Keller
Julius Popwell
Roger Moore
Stu Ungar
Lyle Berman
Johnny Chan
Bobby Baldwin
Berry Johnston
Jack Binion
Crandell Addington
TJ Cloutier
Billy Baxter
Barbara Enright
Phil Hellmuth
Dewey Tomko
Henry Orenstein

2009 Nominees

Barry Greenstein
Dan Harrington
Tom McEvoy
Men Nguyen
Scotty Nguyen
Daniel Negreanu
Erik Seidel
Mike Sexton
Phil Ivey
Tom Dwan

Tom Dwan obviously has no chance (too new), and Phil Ivey very little chance (too young). The favorite might possible be Erik Seidel due to his number of WSOP bracelets (8), the highest number of anyone not already in the Poker Hall of Fame. Scotty could also be up there as he’s won the Main Event and the 50K HORSE, but more likely rivals to Seidel are the older guys like McEvoy and Harrington who have been influencial on the poker scene for a very long time.

The 2009 WSOP has definately been the series of multiple bracelets

Phil Ivey got 2
Jeff Lisandro got 3!
Greg ‘FBT’ Mueller got 2
and
Brock ‘t soprano’ Parker got 2

Jeff Lisandro has quite rightly been awarded as player of the series with his bracelets in Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, Razz, and even a deep run in the main event itself.

I think it is great testament to the fact that they are getting the structures correct. It isnt the lottery than some suggest, and the best players are getting through the fields to the final tables, and the bracelets. Obv a little luck helps, but essentially they’re hitting the nail on the head with the format

The number of entrants for the 50K HORSE was at an all time low this year, with just 95 players entering.   Perhaps this is reflective of the economic climate rubbing off a little on the poker world.   Even 11 time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth is not in the field, although he does have an excuse as he is in the final 30 or so players of the $1500 PLO event.

 The 95 entrants are:

1. Martin Vallo  
2. David Bach  
3. Steve ‘MrSmokey1′ Billirakis   
4. Bill Chen  
5. James Van Alstyne   
6. Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu  (PokerStars Pro) 
7. David Benyamine (High stakes cash player)  
8. Andy Black  
9. Chad Brown    
10. Jeff Lisandro   (3 bracelets this series)
11. Phil Ivey   (2 bracelets this time around
12. Scotty Nguyen (Last years winner) 
13. Jani Sointula   
14. Johnny Chan  (10 time WSOP bracelet winner)
15. John Hennigan  
16. Vitaly Lunkin (Winner of the 40K NLHE event)
17. Eli Elezra    (High Stakes cash player)
18. Patrik Antonius  (High stakes cash player) 
19. Nikolay Evdakov  
20. Erick Lindgren  (Full Tilt Pro)
21. Erik Sagstrom   
22. Cory Zeidman   
23. Todd Brunson 
24. Pat Bueno  
25. Michael Saltzburg   
26. David Oppenheim  
27. Freddy Deeb (2007 50K HORSE Winner)  
28. Rob Hollink   
29. Zac Fellows   
30. Howard “The Professor” Lederer    
31. Doyle Brunson  (10 time WSOP Bracelet winner)
32. Hasan Habib   
33. Jon ‘PearlJammer’ Turner  
34. Ralph Perry   
35. John Hanson   
36. Pat Pezzin   
37. Alexander Kravchenko  (WSOP ME Final tablist)
38. Abe Mosseri  
39. Allan Kessler  
40. Bryan Colin  
41. Gabe Kaplan  (Poker Commentator)
42. Barry Greenstein  (PokerStars Pro)
43. Scott Clements   (Full Tilt Pro)
44. Mike “The Mouth” Matusow   (Full Tilt Pro)
45. Justin ‘Boosted J’ Smith  (High stakes cash pro)
46. Annie Duke  (UB Pro)
47. John Monnette  
48  Nick Schulman  
49. Daniel Alaei  
50. Steve Sung   
51. David Grey  
52. Fabrice Souiler   
53. Chau Giang   
54. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson  (Former WSOP ME Winner) 
55. Dustin Sitar  
56. Joe Cassidy  
57. David Chiu   
58. Jerry Buss   
59. Erik Seidel  (Full Tilt Pro)
60. John Juanda   (Full Tilt Pro) 
61. Greg Mascio  
62. Brett Richey  
63. Kirill Rabtsov   
64. Thor Hansen   
65. Farzad Bonyadi  
66. Justin Bonomo  
67. Matt Hawrilenko   
68. Dan Shak   
69. Gus Hansen (Full Tilt Pro)
70. Jennifer Harman  (Full Tilt Pro)
71. Matt Glantz  
72. Max Pescatori  (Full Tilt Pro)
73. Ville Wahlbeck  
74. Mikhail Tulchinskiy    
75. Greg Raymer  (Former WSOP ME winner)
76. Jim Bechtel    
77. Mike Wattel   
78. Bruno Fitoussi  
79. Jason Gray   
80. Frank Kassela  
81. Alexander Kostritsyn   
82. Yuval Bronshtein  
83. Yoshio Nakano  
84. Huck Seed  (Formers WSOP ME winner)
85. Alexander Jung  
86. John Kabbaj  (Bracelet winner this year)
87. Steve Zolotow   
88. Andy Bloch   
89. Tony G 
90. Frank Cremen   
91. Ali Eslami  
92. David Singer   
93. Matthew Grapenthien   
94. Ray Dehkharghani  
95. Yan Chen

Amazingly Jeff Lisandro has now won 3 (yes, three!) WSOP Bracelets at the current series.   First he won event 16, the $1500 7-Card Stud event. Then he won event 37, the $10,000 Stud hi-lo.  And then after that he won event 44, the $2500 Razz event.  These 3 bracelets definately highlight him to the world as one of the best Stud players on the planet. 

Event 16 - Bracelet No.1 - Winning $124,959
Event 37 - Bracelet No.2 - Winning $431,656
Event 44 - Bracelet No.3 - Winning $188,370

There was just a big cock-up in the WSOP Event 40.  The players were on a break, and staff went around the tables to do some chipping up.   However they managed to chip up the yellow and blue chips the wrong way around, doh, and completely messed up the stacks at the tables.

About an hours play was lost whilst they corrected the mistakes, and some frustration grew amongst the players, who just had to sit around waiting.