Mitch Schock Finishes 29th Place
Mitch ran into a bad run of cards at the wrong time. He was really in a pinch in the final hands he played. Unfortunately he didn't have enough chips to get away from the final hand. The cameras were all over him at the end. He shook several of the other player's hands (who obviously had a lot of respect for him), then left the table yelled out, "Don't ever play poker!" with a big grin. Then he let out a big "arghhh" and ran across the room (with ESPN running after him) when they announced his name over the loudspeakers as the 29th place finisher...The whole room chuckled.

I know Mitch is EXTREMELY disappointed at the moment. I will let him come down before I speak to him and get some of his thoughts. I know for most of you reading this, you may be thinking, "How can you be disappointed about $329+ grand?". But getting this far in a tournament of this magnitude, the money seems like nothing compared to how much MORE money was so close.

Mitch played a masterful tournament and I have a feeling we're going to see him in more major tournaments in the next year. Congratulations Mitch.

Busted!!! 29th Overall
Well, Mitch Schock's amazing run at this year's Main Event. Mitch, being very short-stacked got to see a cheap flop with K-3 from the blinds. After flopping top pair, Mitch moves all-in and gets called by K-J. No miracle and his tournament is over. After playing it up for the ESPN cameras, Mitch heads to the cage to receive his $329,865.

He is bummed but proud of the way he played. Very well done Mitch and congratulations!!!!

Mitch takes a hit
Players are now on a 20min break. There are 30 players left, two tables of eight and two tables of seven. Mitch is sitting on a table with 8 players.

There is a lot of pressure with ESPN hovering with every flop.

A few minutes before the break, Mitch made a move on the river but got caught bluffing. His stack has been cut almost in half as a result. He is not seriously shortstacked but it may affect how he plays the next hand. I am nervous for him. It's tough watching from the sidelines, I am not sure what's worse, watching or playing, lol...

Mitch is an intense guy and as you can imagine he is steaming a little bit. Justin Sellers is on the sidelines (friend from Bismarck) and he told me he took care of the details of flying out Mitch's family, they are on their way. I just hope Mitch is still playing when they get here. I have my fingers crossed, the next level will be huge.

Okay back to the floor...

Mitch takes big hit
Mitch loses big hand and is down to 900,00. Contrary to what Cardplayer is reporting......Brook reports a different story from the floor. Mitch tried to make a move on a pot and his opponent held AK and hit the Ace on the river. Mitch bet into him for $400,000 and got called. Brook says Mitch flashed him his cards and it appeared to be a bluff and ran into AK with the guy spiking his card on the river.

Mitch is now in 25th position with 30 players remaining, but still has 900k left and with the blinds where they are at, he can still be patient and wait for a big hand.

All players on now on break and they will stop play for the day once 3 more players bust.....

Good laydown
There has been a lot of action at Mitch's table.

On one occasion, Mitch saw a free flop from the big blind and folded to his opponent's bet, who showed a flop set. Good thing he didn't pick that spot to make a play...

On another hand Mitch missed what could have been a big opportunity. He raised on the button with A-4 (125k) and the small blind called. The flop came 8-4-4 and Mitch bet 150k after his opponent checked. We were both thinking the other player might make a play back at him with that flop.

Mitch is playing tight and has taken down small pots to keep up his chip stack...

Meanwhile, players keep playing crazy pots, I saw a 7 million dollar pot a few moments ago.

Mitch is Steady
Hey folks, Brook back here. I made it. Quick trip and now I can witness the action first hand. I'll try to give you bits and pieces that you can't get from Card Player etc.

You can really feel the tension on the floor. Mitch is jovial (as usual), talking it up. At one point he got into a conversation with the chip leader at the table, critiquing his play. It was hilarious. Mitch is fun to watch in action.

You get the sense that something big could happen at anytime. I just watched Cunningham bluff the chip leader after the flop to show J-3d which he had raised 120k with preflop. I hope Mitch catches him if he tries that again, lol...

Okay back to floor I don't want to miss anything...

Mitch sitting 2 spots from Allen Cunningham
Well, Day 6 is under way and Mitch has drawn a seat 2 spots to the left of Allen Cunningham......

Today seems to be moving at a much more normal pace with only 1 player going out in the first hour, with the nut straight to the nut flush no less. Mitch has picked up a couple a small pots and has moved up to 19th overall with 1.8 million.

Brook is on the floor and will have updates throughout the day.

Brook reports a player to Mitch's immediate right has just busted in a fairly large pot. Mitch's table is now playing 7-handed...

Day #6 - 45 players remain
Mitch has now survived 5 grueling days of poker and if he plans on becoming the next world champ, he'll need to survive a few more. He heads into today sitting at about 1.7 million in chips and 22nd overall. Today's action will start at 2PM Central time and they will play from 45 down to 27 players.

Everyone left in the tourney is now guaranteed $247,000 with the top 12 becoming instant millionaires and the record first prize of $12 million to be handed out on Thursday.

League organize Brook Lyter is flying back out to Vegas to cover the event live and we should have some good blogs up later in the day with up-to-the minute updates. Stay tuned.....

Mitch is making a run at history!
Holy cow, folks, day 5 has been good for Mitch. He has been hanging around all day, getting timely double-ups and winning big pots at the right time to remain close to the chip average.

He is in currently among the final 6 tables, only 52 remain. Good luck Mitch!

Dinner Break - Day 4
Dinner break is here and we are already down to 214 players. Word is that they will play another 3 or 4 levels tonight....

Hang in there Mitch!

Still Alive and Thriving!
As Day #4 wears on, Mitch has been holding his own and is currently in 23rd overall place with 660,000 chips.....Mitch has had a pretty quiet day after starting the day in 21st and laying back early. He did lose a big pot after calling a player all-in with his Queens to the guys Big Slick. Mitch improved his hand by hitting trips, but his opponent sucked out by hitting the nut flush. Mitch said this hand would have put him over 700k. He has picked up some pots since then and is sitting well.

Not sure how far they will be playing down, the schedule again called for them to only play down to 300 players, but at last check, there were only 264 players remaining...

Mitch Schock among chip leaders!
After Day 3 of the Main Event, DPL/MPL's Mitch Schock is sitting in 21st with 449,500 chips....For those of you not familiar with Mitch, he started the Dakota Poker Tour about 2 years ago, a series of poker tournaments held throughout ND. Within the last year, Mitch has come onboard with Free Poker Network as our rep in Central/Western ND. Many of you will remember him as the emcee to our last championship events, the TOC and the Last Chance held at Hagge's in Mapleton, ND.

Mitch has had an up and down Main Event being almost out before the dinner break on the first day. He then went on to double up 3 times in an hour and has been building his stack ever since.

All of Day 3 was spent at one of the chip leaders tables and this is from the news on CardPlayer.com toward the end of yesterday....

With $12,000 in the pot, the flop falls A of Clubs, 10 of Hearts, 7 of Hearts. Dmitri Nobles bets $10,000, and Mitch Schock calls. Nobles looks at Schock and asks, "Are you on a flush draw?" Schock responds by telling him no. The turn is the 9diamond, and Nobles bets $30,000. Schock announces raise, and pushes $80,000 more forward. Nobles calls, and says, "We rumbling now, baby." The river is the 5heart, Nobles stands up and announces all-in. Schock has $92,000 more in front of him, and goes into the tank. As Schock goes into the tank Nobles announces, "He ate my snickers. I told you I was gonna get him back." Schock stands up and starts to strecth, and Nobles says, "Told you, you couldn't put me on a hand." After about three more minutes of verbal exchange between Schock and Nobles, Schock says, "Well gang.......I call." Both players act reluctant to flip over their cards, until Schock finally shows 9 of Clubs, 9 of Hearts. Nobles mucks his hand, and Schock jumps up into the air screaming, "That's what I'm talking about!" Nobles loses the chip lead and is now sitting with $534,500. Mitch Schock has $450,000.

Way to go Mitch!!! If he continues his run, Brook & I are looking to catch a return flight back to Vegas and cover him from the tourney floor.

Tough Day on Day 1d
Not a fun day of poker for me. I played on a very tough table, extremely tight and the deck was not hitting me at all...

The 2nd hand of the day one player doubled up with pocket Aces versus pocket Kings.

The first hand I played (AK) I lost to a flush on the river after flopping top pair and betting the pot on the flop and the turn. Then I lost a decent pot with pocket tens after a nice flop and got run down by AK (same player - the only bad player on the table).

So, within the first half hour I was down and played very tight after that. I struggled to pick up any big starting hands for the longest time, and didn't drag my first pot until almost 2 hours into the tournament! The rest of the day I hung on by occasionally stealing blinds waiting for a big pot.

Made it past the dinner break, but I had drifted down to only 3200 in chips and in the end, I put all my chips in with pocket Aces. I was very happy at the time to see Rockets AND get a loose call by the chip leader with K-10d. I should have doubled up, but it didn't happen with a flop of K-6-10..! Geez, gimme a break.

The good news is Mitch Schock made a very nice comeback and survived day 1 as the chip leader on his table. I think he is sitting around 37k, very nice!

Another player I ran into was Jeff Nehring from Williston. He won a seat through Bodog and was still alive after level 3, but I'm not sure if he finished the day.

Felted!!! - Brook's day is done.....
Sorry about the lack of updates folks but I had to get back to ND today and back to the real world. Again, I am sorry about the lack of coverage.

I just got off the phone with Pete and he told me that Brook had Aces cracked by K10 suited. Pete did say that Brook was short stacked and that this had happened shortly after the dinner break.

Hopefully I will have more details soon.

ACES CRACKED - JEREMY PUT TO THE FELT
I hate to report this, but Jeremy just busted out of the 2006 WSOP, ending the hopes of Minnesota Poker Leaguers and the good guys following the action from Ruttles in St. Peter...

Jeremy had pocket aces and got em cracked by a guy who re-raised him all-in with pocket tens.

It was a sick flop when a ten hit the board.

All you can do is get your chips in with the best hand and that is exactly what Jeremy did here, unfortunately he didn't have the chip stack to survive. The player with the tens had about 15k going into the hand.

Well, Jeremy is a bummed as you would expect. What a way to go out.

I am sure Jeremy will never forget the experience and no doubt he will have learned a lot from playing in this tournament. He is staying the rest of the week with his girlfriend and I'm sure they'll make the best of it.

Well, tomorrow I get my shot. My good friend Mitch Schock has been doing well in cash and tournament play and is registering late as we speak. He made 2 final tables in the $500 nightly tournament here at the Rio. I have been laying back, enjoying the pool and resting up for the grind match. I'll do my best to make it interesting! Sorry for the rest of the crew up to this point, no big success stories, but keep playing in the league and we'll keep sending 'em!

JEREMY BACK DOWN TO 6K
Jeremy just lost a big pot (roughly 6,000?). I am writing this update as Pete calls in the details from the floor. I think he had pocket nines but his opponent had Tens and ended up with a 4-card flush. The board was scary (A-5-A-2-Q), with 4 clubs. Jeremy tried winning the pot by betting the flop but was called. He called on the turn and both players checked the river. I think right now if I could give Jeremy any advice I would tell him to sit back and not panic, only play solid hands to non-scarry boards at this point and not risk losing chip position.

DUSTIN GULBRANDSON BUSTS
Well, Dustin's WSOP qwest has ended. It's never fun playing shortstacked, and with only a little over 3,200 in chips it can be scarry. Dustin had pocket Tens in middle position, but the player right behind him was holding the nuts, pocket aces. Dustin did pick up a few outs with the flop (a gutshot straight draw) but missed...That will do it for Dustin who I'm sure is disappointed. He gave it a nice run and outlasted nearly 1000 players. Over 2300 started today, and there were 1470 left when he busted.

Enjoy the rest of your trip Dustin!

JEREMY HELLER DOUBLES UP
Jeremy got the double up he needed at approx 9:05pm.

He raises 1200 preflop with pocket sixes. Player on button calls. The flop is 2-4-4, Jeremy bets 1200 and gets called. The turn is a 7 and Jeremy goes all in for his remaining 4025. The other player goes in the tank for a couple minutes and finally calls holding pocket fives! The river was a blank...Jeremy's back in the game with that crucial double up.

CHIP COUNT UPDATE - LEVEL 4
8:55PM Chip Counts:
Jeremy 7,000
Dustin 4,000

Blinds are 100/200 with 25 ante. Players have settled back in after the dinner break. They are about 45 minutes into the 4th level. Both players are at risk of busting with one big hand, but patience is the key here...

Dustin in particular needs the next hand he plays to hold up. Good luck players!

Found Dustin - Hanging On
We tracked down Dustin and he was moved to a remote corner where I couldn't spot him. Here's the synopsis of his 3rd level...

Dustin's table pictured below:
He made a nice jump when he caught Aces to one of Steve Dannemann's crew that held Kings. That had jumped him to 10k and shortly after he knocked out another player when his Queens held up against AK on a short stack. He had built his stack up to 12k and then ran into trouble with AK of hearts. There was an all-in for 4,200 which Dustin and another player called. The flop came with 3 low spades and the other caller bet out 2,000. Dustin folded and the guy showed AK of spades for the nut flush. Nice fold Dustin.

He is short-stacked now with only 3,175 at the dinner break but he is very optimistic that his cards will come. Well, dinner break is almost almost done, back to the action.

Dinner Time
Well folks, Level 3 has been a roller-coaster for our players..... by the time I got back to the tournament floor from my last update, both players had taken big hits to their stacks. Dustin's stack had shrunk from 10k back down to 6k and Jeremy's had fallen from 22k to around 6k as well.

Jeremy pulled me aside to share the following hand. He raised 1,000 pre-flop again with K-Q and got one caller again. The flop seemed fantastic for Jeremy but was also dangerous with K-Q-7 and two spades. The original caller checked to Jeremy and he fired out 1,500 with top two pair and got called. A blank on the turn brought another check and another bet, this time of 2,500 from Jeremy and again the guy called. Another spade hits on the river and again his opponent checks and Jeremy once again bets 2,500. This time he is check-raised, Jeremy calls and finds the guy has A-7 of spades for the nut flush and a big 30k pot. Jeremy has since moved "all-in" twice but didn't get any callers on his 10's or QQ's and made it to the dinner break with around 7k.

While I was talking with Jeremy, Dustin's table was broke down and all the players were relocated to other tables. I made a quick walk-thru but was not able to spot him on the remaining 160 tables. I'm hoping I just overlooked him but with his short stack I'm fearing the worst....

Players will now be on a dinner break for an hour and a half until 8:15 (10:15 back home) and are still scheduled to play 3 more levels after that. Stay tuned...

Onward & Upward
Quick update on Level 3 (100/200 blinds). Jeremy took down a good pot by raising preflop with suited KQ to 1,000. He got one caller and the flop came J-7-3 and bet 1,000 after the other guy checked. A blank on the turn went check-check. Another blank on the river and Jeremy's opponent fired out 3,500. Jeremy sensed a big bluff and called finding his K-high good to the guy's Q-high.

About halfway through the level and Jeremy has moved up to around 22k. Dustin has also improved his stack to around 10k, but I wasn't able to see how. The dinner break approaches....

Surviving - End of Level 2
Two Levels have now passed and both of our players are still holding their own...The players go on staggered breaks, meaning half the tables goes first, while the others start the next level, then they switch, meaning there is never a dull moment as there is always half the room playing. Imagine 2,000 players standing in line for a bathroom break!!

Jeremy was on the first break and gave me the following. About the time that Jennifer Tilly was busting out (pun intended) down the aisle from Jeremy, he was involved in a critical pot. Jeremy called the big blind of 100 with KJ from late position and went to the flop with only the small and the big blind. A flop of K-Q-7 brought a bet of 300 from the big blind. Jeremy, sensing weakness, raised it to 2,000. The small blind folded, and the big blind reluctantly called. A 5 on the turn seemed safe, but the big blind pushed his remaining 3,200 into the pot which had now grown to around 5,000. Jeremy called and found he was way ahead of the guy's K-8 but alas the river was an 8 and he got sucked out on for a big pot. Jeremy has picked up some small pots and his only premium hand so far has been Queens which took the pot preflop. His count on the break was still at 16,800 chips.

I managed to catch up with Dustin as he was leaving on his break (he was in the second group to break) and his count is sitting at an even 6,000 chips. He didn't see much for cards that level and was not very active, mostly just losing his blinds. He remains optimistic and is looking for his cards to turn around.

Level 3 is 100/200 and if they follow the same structure, all players will be on dinner break at the end of this level. Steve Danneman, runner-up last year, is currently sitting one table from Dustin and Mike "The Mouth " is on the ESPN feature table. I also noticed 2004 champ Greg Raymer seated right next to Mark "Big Daddy from Cincinnati" Hanna. Phil Laak, Jen Harmen, Josh Arieh and a handful of other big names are also starting today. Back to the action..

Climbing!!
UPDATE
Dustin Gulbrandson has climbed his was back to 9,000 in chips.

Keep grinding it out! Day 1C
The last two Free Poker Network Champions took there seats today at the Main Event of the WSOP.... Jermemy Heller, our MPL Champ, and Dustin Gulbrandson, our TOC Champ, have made it past the first level of day 1C. Jeremy's current chip count is 19,850 and Dustin is at 6,625.

I was able to see the big hand for Jeremy during the first level. Jeremy is first to act preflop and makes it 500 to go with the blinds at 25-50. He gets one caller from middle position. The flop brings and 6-K-10, two diamonds and Jeremy fires 2,000 and gets called. The turn brings a blank with a 3 of clubs and again Jeremy fires 2,000 into the pot and gets called. The river brings a 8 of hearts and Jeremy fires out 2,500 and gets called. Jeremy turns over K-10 of spades and the caller turns over A-K. Jeremy is off to great start.

I am not sure I have the cajones to fire out 500 with K-10 of spades in the first level of the WSOP Main Event. That must be why he is playing and I am writing about it.

Dustin has not fared as well during the first level. Dustin told me a guy ran down a runner-runner flush on him early in the level. He was playing A-10 from position and he flopped a 10 with the rest of the board showing under cards. The turn and the river were suited cards and it ended up costing Dustin about 3,000 in chips. Dustin lost a few more small pots during the level and was at one time down to 5000 in chips. He was able to crawl back to 6,625 at the break by making a check call with JJ in position.

Jim came back from the first break with 12,500 in chips and was looking forward to playing a long evening of poker... Blinds were at 50/100. The second hand back from the break Jim raised 350 from middle position with AK offsuit. Small blind called. Flop is apparently good for Jim, A-7-4. Jim's opponent fired out 1000, Jim reraised to 3000, opponent goes all in. Jim folded and later told me he was not going to bust out of the WSOP with one pair, at least early in the tournament...

After that, he really didn't make any significant gains up until the final hand of his tournament. Just before the break (end of level 2) Jim was sitting at 7200 when he made a play one seat from the button holding Q-10 spades. He raised 300 on a middle position limper. Blinds folded and limper called. Flop appears to be a delight, the 2nd nuts: A-7-4 spades (look familiar?). When the other player fired out 1500 on the flop, Jim raised to 3500 and his opponent moved in. Jim called, and was ahead at this point. The other player had A-K with the K of spades. The player said, "I got top pair with the nut draw". Jim was a nice favorite to win the hand, he needed to avoid one of 7 remaining spades in the deck with two cards to go, but the turn was the 8 of spades (can you believe it?) and that sent Jim to the rail.

What a bummer! Jim took the loss pretty well. I asked if he would change anything about the hands he played if he could go back and do it over, and he said, "No." He brought family and they plan on making it a fun weekend regardless.

I have a feeling we'll see Jim again in the big event.

Tomorrow is a day off for me, then we have Jeremy Heller (MPL Champ) and Dustin Gulbrandson (TOC Champ) going on Sunday (day 1c).

I'm going to have a bump or two and think about my media celebrity event report (which I got to play in). I took a bad beat from a famous actress...

End of Level 1 Update
Jim is sitting at 12,500. He told me he got paid off with a Full House thanks to a big blind special of Q7 off and flopped two 7's and turned a Q. The other hand of signifigance is came right before the break. Jim told me he made preflop raise with KJ off and kept on firing even when an ace fell on the river, bluffing his opponent. He dragged a nice 1,500 pot with that move. He obviously came to play ball...

Level 1 Update
Jim Nelson is settled in, the first level is almost over and he has 11k. Good start...

Spectators are NOT allowed until all the alternates are seated, which will probably take a few hours...Also, an announcement was made right before the beginning of the tournament that absolutely no dot com logos or advertisement can be worn. Dan Goldman of Poker Stars was busy running around covering up shirts with duck tape. Ridiculous.

2006 Main Event is underway!
Dakota Poker League champion Jim Nelson takes his seat....

Well folks, the one we've been waiting for is finally here. The first of four "Day 1"'s is upon us and our Dakota Poker League champion has drawn Table 16, Seat 2.

The place is jammed with spectators and as everyone gets settled in for a long day of poker, actor James Garner gets us started with the patented "Let's shuffle up and deal"!! All the tables are full and the announcement is made that they even have around 70 alternates waiting to take seats as players bust out. And that starts to happen very quickly as not more than 5 minutes into the first level, a big round of applause is given to the first victim. What a quick way to spend $10,000!!

Lot of pros appear to be playing the first day and the tournament director announces that we play 6 levels today, if there are 900 players or less, that will be the end of Day 1 for these players. If not, they will continue play until we reach the 900 person level, however long that takes. Remember, these players that make it past today will have to wait until Tuesday to start Day 2 because of the size of the field. With an estimated 2000 players each day, the total field is expected to be over 8000 players!!

Well back to the action and we'll have more updates and photos as the day goes on. Don't forgot, our MN champion Jeremy Heller and our TOC champion Dustin Gulbrandson both start on Sunday and league organizer Brook Lyter starts on Monday so stayed tuned.....

Brook Busts - Event #37 over for our crew
I get back into the room and check on Brook and he is all in under the gun for his last 1500. The blinds are currently 150/300 25 ante.

Brook is raised 3000 by a player 2 to his left. All other action folds and Brook reluctantly turns over Jacks and his opponent is holding Queens. The flop brought a few more outs with a gut shot oppurtunity and but to no avail. Brooks says he always regrets busting with jacks, but isn't sure if there was any other way he could play them shortstacked....

When Brook busted there were approximately 500 players left. The format of this tournament had the players starting with only 1500 in chips. We learned the pace of this tournament is very fast. They figured to get down to the money (top 270 players). In this tournament it's an understatement that you're doing well if you can survive day one.

Wasn't meant to be for our group today, but we'll look forward to the Main Event coming this weekend.

More details and tidbits from the WSOP coming later...

Pete Bushey Joins the Loser's Lounge
6:09pm
I must have cursed Pete with the last entry. No sooner had I returned to the Amazon room and Pete is walking towards the door.

Pete tells me he had about 1900 in chips when he makes a 800 dollar raise with pocket 8's from middle position, the BB raises to put Pete all in. Pete goes into the tank and calls. The BB turns over Queens and to add insult to injury the turn brings another Q and Pete's tournament was over. Pete is pretty bummed out, as are the other guys right now, but hey, we're in Las Vegas and you can imagine they'll all make the best of it. I think I heard the sound of a beer bottle opening.

Brook is still alive, but not thriving. Sitting around 1600 as we speak with about 45 minutes to go before the dinner break.

The final last chance winner falls
Tough day for the poker leaguers...

Nick Paulus came back after the last break and was gone shortly thereafter. His exit from the tournament happened while I was writing my last entry, so I was unable to get any details.

Pete Bushey made a minor comeback and was sitting at 2050 in chips. One hand that I was able to see was Pete moving all in for his last 575 from the cut off seat where all the action to that point had been folded. The button folded, SB folded, the BB thought for a while and mucked face up 82 diamonds and Pete showed a K2 off to help him gain some momentum. Brook is still hovering around 1800.

DEREK MELICHER BUSTS
Derek & Nick have been playing on the same table. Pretty crazy that 2 of our players drew the same table...They also ended up getting moved to the same table.

Derek's AQ hearts runs into pocket Kings. Derek flops an A and turns a Q only to have the dreaded K fall on the river...Ouch. That left Derek with 1,000 in chips and the very next hand he is dealt AK hearts. With 2 limpers in front of him he pushes all in and tries to act a little tiltish. One of the limpers takes his time and finaly calls. The caller turns of AJ spades. The flop is garbage and the turn is the same and the river brings the dreaded J and Derek's tournament was over.

More chip updates...

We are down to three shortstacked players. Blinds are 100-200 and 25 ante.

Brook 1800
Pete 1100
Nick 800

This will have to be the level of reckoning for our players.

Brook did have a high of 5200 chips during the last level. He told me he took 3 consecutive bad beats to lose chip position at his table. He lost about 1400 when a shortstacked player called all-in with A-10 to Brooks A-Q. A ten on the river stole the pot and that player then went on a tear, waking up to aces twice and building a stack up to 12k.

Level 3 & 4 - Rough
The tournament director announced there are a total of 2803 entries with a total prize pool over $3.8 million!!!!

1st Place - $765,226

Not a bad opportunity for our poker leaguers. Good luck men.

By the way, Pete has been moved 5 times in the first 3 levels!

BAD NEWS: Several players have busted.
BUST: Mitch Schock is also out of the tournament but I was uable to get any details...He cashed in last year's main event and hopefully he will qualify for this weekend.

BUST: Unfortunately they are dropping like flies, folks. Eugene Flohrs came back after the break and and woke up with KK and he made his move. Can you believe he runs into Aces! No miracle for Eugene, he doesn't get any help from the board and now he is crippled. The very next hand he receives big slick and throws the last of it in the middle. He gets called looked up by pocket 2's, and the dueces are his demise...

I can confirm Lyle did bust, I haven't had an opportunity to hear details about his day, so it looks as if Nick Paulus is the last survivior of the "Last Chance" winners. Good luck Nick.

Richard is also out and again no details.
Here are the approximate chip counts
Brook 4000
Nick 1500
Pete 650

2nd Level
2:12pm
I am scrambling to keep track of everyone. Imagine a room with 2000+ players and keeping tabs on 9 different players with all the re-seating that is usual in a fast paced tournament!

We are now at the end of the second level and we have officially lost our first player. Pat Moon busted out about half way through the 2nd level. I talked to him and he suffered with a short stack early after being called down with AK. He ended up moving in with A9, but ran into pocket Kings. Fortunately, Pat flopped and A and turned and A only to have a King fall on the river.

I can't find Lyle Preston, I am afraid he might have busted. His original table broke down. So for the time being we will hope for the best.

Here are the updated approximate chip counts:
Richard 1050
Brook 1900
Pete 725
Eugene 1500
Derek 1700
Nick Paulus also got moved and I have not been able to locate him
Mitch 850

All the alternates are in and things seem to be moving rapidly.

A lot of the big name pros are spread pretty thin.
 

We are off and running!
1:15pm
The event started promptly 12:01pm Vegas time. Unfortunately none of our player at this time are sitting at the same table with a named pro (that I recognize).

We have just finished the first level and all of our players are still alive.
Here are the approximate chip counts:

Pat Moon 800
Brook 1900
Richard 1300
Nick 1300
Derek 1000
Pete 1600
Eugene 1800
Lyle 1500
Mitch 1500

Some quick notes they are playing 11/table and the field is full. They are in the process of seating up to 350 alternates. This place is a madhouse.
More than 200 people have busted in the level.

Refreshed!!!
A quick trip to the pool and I am ready for some serious poker coverage.

Pool at the palms definitely does NOT suck!

Okay, time to head over to the Rio and find Dick, Pat, Nick, Lyle, and Eugene.

A quick night
A quick trip over to the Rio and back to pick up some tournament receipts. Notable faces seen. Johnnie Chan, the brother sister combination of Annie Duke and Howard Lederer, John Juanda, Paul Darden, Victor Ramden, Cindy Violette. On lighter note we saw David Singer kicking over an inflated beer can while talking on his cell phone. He must have found out that Brook was in town, lol. Brook was itching for some action so he stayed and played at the Palms while we went for a sweaty walk. Low and behold who is in the poker room, Chris Moneymaker. When we came back he was just taking a seat at Moneymakers table.

I have to cover 9 players tommorow so time for some shut eye.
Jason

Brook showed up around 2:30, says he was up almost $800, nice start!

Seat Assignments for Last Chance Winners
Well folks, our players are officially registered and ready to go...
Lyle Preston - Table #52, Seat #3
Richard Jones - Table #132, Seat #3
Nick Paulus - Table #29, Seat #8
Eugene Flohrs - Table #7, Seat #2
Patrick Moon - Table #150, Seat #3
(Pictured from left to right in the pic below)

Amazingly enough, with 2000 players expected, 1 of our players is sitting right next to our 2005 Dakota Poker League representative Derek Melicher, who is buying into this event after playing in the Main Event last year and building his bankroll over the past year. Here are the table and seat assignments for the other players of interest.

Brook Lyter - Table #130, Seat #7
Derek Melicher - Table #29, Seat #9
Pete Bushey - Table #47, Seat #7
Mitch Schock - Unknown at this time

Stay Tuned For WSOP Coverage!
Folks, we're getting pumped up for our trip to Las Vegas to participate in the 2006 World Series of Poker. We are dedicating this site to our blog. Check back often for updates, especially next week. Jason Drake will be taking photos and posting updates.

 Most of our staff and players will be flying out on Monday, July 24th. Pictured below (left) is last year's Dakota Poker League champ, Derek Melicher, playing in the 2005 WSOP.