THE WSOP DAILY SHUFFLE: JULY 6, 2012

Photo Caption: It took a full day of play to get the field from 27 to two in the $10,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em, but the group couldn't manage to lose just one more player.  Greg Merson (left) and Keith Lehr (right) will be back at the tables today for to determine a winner. (Photo by Joe Giron for PokerNews/WSOP)

DAILY HEADLINES

The WSOP National Championship takes center stage at the Rio

WSOP Circuit grinders and WSOP top performers unite for National Championship

The Orient Express Rolls into the World Series of Poker Station

Hold the Phone—Two Events Return for Extra Day of Action

A Bounty of Bracelet Winners in Unique Exhibition Event

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The WSOP National Championship Gets Underway

This week in World Series of Poker history will be remembered as one of the richest, what with large fields, seven figure paydays, and that little tournament called Big One for One Drop. The wealth of poker paydays isn’t over yet though. Today marks the start of another marquee event of the 2012 WSOP and, while it may not have a million-dollar price tag to pay, it does offer many a chance at a piece of a million dollars of freerolled cash in the WSOP National Championship.

We’ll have a better sense of the field come noon, but no matter who signs up, it is guaranteed to be a good crowd.  The invited players runs the gamut thanks to a unique combination of WSOP Circuit qualifiers, 100 of which were invited here on a freeroll, and 100 WSOP POY points qualifiers, who have the opportunity to buy into the event for $10,000.  With a million dollars added to the prize pool and the lure of the ESPN camera, we can expect the majority of the 200 invited players to be in attendance.
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Johnny Chan Makes a Fashionably Late Entrance

We haven’t seen much of Johnny Chan this World Series of Poker.  The decorated poker pro with ten gold bracelets to his name hadn’t been bracelet hunting for an 11th this summer, but for those wondering where the Orient Express is, never fear.  Chan made an appearance last night, signing up for the $10,000  No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Championship.

Unfortunately for Chan, he failed to survive the first day of play, but, on the bright side, the Main Event is just one day away.

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Bracelet Bounty Exhibition Starts at Noon

Poker players love a good bounty tournament.  Poker players also love gold bracelets. So, the new exhibition event which combines both bracelet winners and bounties is bound to be a big hit.  The $560 buy-in event will award any player who can bust a bracelet winner with a $500 chip in addition to their chips.

The winner of this one-day event won’t get a bracelet, but they will get to square off against plenty of bracelet winners and collect a more than modest payday.

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Hold the Phone—Two Bracelet Events Extend into a Fourth Day


You would think the action packed games of Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low wouldn’t have any problems thinning a field, but when big money and a gold bracelet are on the line players apparently can’t be too careful.  Both the $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low bracelet event and the $10,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em hit the hard stop times last night before getting down to a winner.

So, today instead of awarding no gold bracelets, the WSOP will be awarding two.  The winner of the Six-Handed event will either be Greg Merson or Keith Lehr.  The two have been battling heads-up for a while already and Merson will return with a 2-1 chip lead, but who knows how the momentum might shift after a night of rest.

The Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low event is even further from a champion with three contenders left.  Roch Cousineau of Canada currently leads, followed by Viacheslav Zhukov.  Chris Bell is the short stack of the bunch, but don’t count the North Carolina pro out. Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low is one of his best games and he already has one bracelet in the discipline to his credit.
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WSOP QUESTION OF THE DAY
 
Today’s Question of the Day:  All but one of the gold bracelets awarded in Las Vegas were handed out at the Binion’s Horseshoe or the Rio.  Who is the one player who didn’t win his bracelet at one of these two venues?
 
Answer coming in tomorrow’s WSOP Daily Shuffle.

Yesterday’s Question of the Day:  Who is the only poker player in history from the continent of Africa to win a WSOP gold bracelet?

Answer: Mark Vos of South Africa, who won a $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event in 2006.
 
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DAY 36:  THE WSOP TODAY – FRIDAY, JULY 6, 2012

10:00 AM

Today’s first tournament is a $550 buy-in MEGA-SATELLITE to the WSOP Main Event.

12:00 PM

The WSOP National Championship begins.  Registration in the invitational event is open through the first four levels.  With levels lasting 40 minutes, players will have until approximately 2:55pm to sign up.  Action takes place inside Brasilia and lasts for 15 levels.  This is a three-day event that will play today, tomorrow, and then pause action until July 11th when the final table will play out on the Amazon Main Stage in front of the ESPN television cameras.  Updates from the event will be available on WSOP.com.

The structure sheet for the National Championship is available here.

Noon also serves as the start time for the exhibition Bracelet Bounty Event.  This non-bracelet tournament is a one day event with 30 minute levels.  The buy-in is $560.  Players will be rewarded with a $500 chip for every gold bracelet winner they knock out of the field.  All gold bracelet winners will be identified and announced at the start of the event.
 
1:00 PM

EVENT #59, the massive $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event with 4,620 entrants, begins Day Two action.  There are 726 players remaining from the respective Day 1A and Day 1B fields.  They will combine under one roof for another full day of action. Alex Cordero currently leads the charge with 100,475 chips.  The top 468 finishers will make the money.  Action will take place in the Amazon Room.  Chip counts of the Day 1 survivors are available here

The second WSOP Main Event MEGA SATELLITE begins. The buy-in is $1,060.

EVENT #57, the $10,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship returns for an unscheduled fourth day of play.  Action is heads-up between Greg Merson and Keith Lehr, with Merson holding a 2-1 chip lead.  Play will take place on the Pavilion Stage and will be livestreamed on WSOP.com.

2:00 PM

EVENT #60, the $10,000 No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Championship, continues with Day Two action.  There are 54 players remaining from the starting field of 101.  The current chip leader is Konstantin Puchkov. Action will take place in the Amazon Room.  Chip counts from the end of the first day of play are available here

EVENT #58, the $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low event, returns for an unscheduled fourth day of play.  There are three players remaining in the event: chip leader Roch Cousineau, Viacheslav Zhukov, and a man who already has a bracelet in Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low, Chris Bell.  That event will take place on the Amazon Media Stage.

The first DAILY DEEP STACK NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM tournament begins. The entry fee is $235. Registration is open for four (30 minute) levels, plus one break – which means until about 4:20 pm.

2:20 PM

Today's bracelet ceremony will feature one winner, Event 54 Champion Will Jaffe of the United States.

4:00 PM

The third MEGA-SATELLITE begins. The entry fee is $550
 
6:00 PM

The second DEEP STACK NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM tournament begins. The entry fee is $185.  Registration is open for four (30 minute) levels, plus one break – which means until about 8:20 pm.

8:00 PM

The fourth and final WSOP Main Event MEGA SATELLITE of the day begins.  The buy-in is $2,080.

10:00 PM

The third and final DEEP STACK NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM tournament begins at 10 pm. The entry fee is $135. Registration is open for four (30 minute) levels, plus one break – which means until about 12:20 am.

3:00 AM

All WSOP gold bracelet tournaments end for the night.
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* Please note that all listed times are estimates and subject to change

-- by Jessica Welman