2012 WSOP Main Event Entrants, Prizepool and Payouts

The big one is under way. Here are the stats:

Buy-in: $10,000

Prizepool: $62,021,200

Entries: 6,598
Paid Places: 666

Place               Earnings

1st                   $8,527,982

2nd                  $5,292,889

3rd                   $3,797,558

4th                   $2,850,494

5th                   $2,154,616

6th                   $1,640,461

7th                   $1,257,790

8th                   $971,252

9th                   $754,798

10th-12th         $590,442

13th-15th         $465,159

16th-18th         $369,026

19th-27th         $294,601

28th-36th         $236,921

37th-45th         $191,646

46th-54th         $156,293

55th-63rd        $128,384

64th-72nd        $106,056

73rd-81st         $88,070

82nd-90th        $73,805

91st-99th         $62,021

For 2013 numbers click here

Big One for One Drop $1,000,000 Buy-In NLHM Event #55 WSOP 2012

I had to give mention to a little piece of history that took place a couple of days ago at this year's WSOP.

The biggest Buy In poker tournament ever took place with the required entry fee set at $1,000,000.

A total of 42 entrants put up the funds with a lot of staking actioned rumoured to be behind some of it.

The final nine players of the 48-player (max capacity) field will receive the following:

1st: $18,346,673 
2nd: $10,112,001
3rd: $4,352,000
4th: $2,645,333
5th: $1,834,666
6th: $1,621,333
7th: $1,408,000
8th: $1,237,333
9th: $1,109,333
Total $42,666,672 (Prize Pool)

The remaining $5.5m will be given to the One Drop Charity.

It was lots of fun as huge charity funds had been generated.

Guy Laliberte flips with Antonio while wearing comic noses

At the end of this amazing event Antonio Esfandiari took home a cool $18.3m for his efforts, securing the greatest 1st prize in poker history.

This propels him to the top of the all time winners:

June 2012 Review

We are half way through the year as June comes to an end.

I have just missed out on having my best month ever. I briefly hit +$6.2k for the month (including bonuses) only to go on a downswing during the last week of the month.

My record therefore month still stands at +£5,745 which I got a couple of years ago.

I have recorded ZOOM hands for the first time ever since fixing HEM.

I have had a pretty decent volume month where I recorded the most hands so far this year. I won at 2.63bb/100.


The final numbers for June are as follows:

170,431 Hands Played
25,066 VPPs

+$1,628 (Cash Game Winnings)
+$200 (Stellar Rewards)
+$200 (Supernova Bonus)
+$3,200 (FPP Cash Bonuses)
-$108 (Tourney Losses)
 --------------------------------------------------------------------
+$5,120 (Total Month) 


The Ytd numbers are as follows:

629,301 Hands Played
100,941 VPPs

+$3,648 - Jan
+$3,213 - Feb
+$2,023 - Mar
+$2,072 - Apr
+$3,642 - May
+$5,120 - June
--------------------------------------------------------------------
+$19,717 (Total YTD) 

I will be taking a fair bit of time off in July for a variety of reasons so volume will be very low.

GL Degens..!!

3 Time Supernova VIP

Its only taken 6 months, lol. Target is firmly set now at 200k VPPs now for 2012..!! That is 100k less than last year but I have been busy doing lots of non-poker real life stuff. However it looks like I will make more dollarz this year even though I will hit 1 less VPP milestone than last year.

Know Your Whale

Its great when that 'Yellow' tagged whale starts squeezing and you have a top 2% hand.

This pot was interesting in the sense of how I played it a bit differently due to the opening preflop raiser.

The OPR had a high 4bet stat but is quite tight in terms of VPIP. I elected to just call and not squeeze due to that fact and when he folds to the whales squeeze I am more than happy to jam here. The overcaller is a okay reg that know this guy is a whale and could be pretty wide here so I am not worried at all about him.

Nice to Finish Up

The longest grind day in ages saw me swing down to -$600 only to claw it all back and then some. I bagged over 2100 VPPs too for a decent hit on another bonus.

In other news England have been knocked out of another major football tournament via penalties again. In the end we were totally schooled by Italy even though they were unable to score in the 90 minutes plus extra time. Better luck next time..!!

2yr 'No Deposit' Anniversary

22nd June 2010 was the last time I made a deposit because I needed to.

I had just gone on my biggest downswing when I first tried 24 tabling. A huge bad run alongside bad play with so many tables meant I had to pad my bankroll.

2 years on and the only deposits that I have made are 'bonus deposits'.

Good bankroll management when moving up and down the leagues is essential to maintain this kind of position and I have done this well in the last 2yrs.

I remember briefly mentioning my lack of deposits the last time I met a pokerstars rep. The look of horror on his face was pretty hilarious. Maybe I should have kept that to myself.

Anyway, my target now is to never make a deposit ever again in my life apart from joining new sites, bonus deposits etc. These aren't real deposits but just cash flow.

June is now just over 2/3rds complete and is going well. It started off positively then I went on a downswing when I changed my ZOOM table mix from 4x50nl + 2x25nl to 4x50nl + 2x100nl. I lost over $1,000 but have made it all back plus more.

I am now for the first time this year doing okay after moving up. It is probably a week now and I am firmly established at ZOOM nl100 and am playing a mix of 3x nl100 + 3xnl50 tables. I have pretty much dropped normal tables and am exclusively playing ZOOM.

It is funny though to say 'moving up' to nl100 as I was an nl100 reg years ago who used to also play nl200 and nl400. It goes back to that bad run I had 2 years ago and the way games got tougher. I have worked hard on my game and think my game now is stronger than it has ever been.

This month I am on target to have my best month of the year and maybe my best month ever. Lets see what happens....

For the Love of LAG

Sometimes its good to let your hair down and just LAG it up for the hell of it. 3bet the s**t out of everyone, 4bet the 3bets n Jam ATC.

Not very profitable but dam it is fun. I got at least 5 abusive comments on the felt during this one session.

I was watching the England game and decided to drop down n splash a few chips around.

I Smelt a Rat

Sometimes moves just seem suspicious.

If you frequent around the live arena you can often pick tells from your poker opponents. Having read a lot of Mike Caro's stuff I spot some of these from time to time.

In the online game you cant stare at the villain and get a tell but there are timing tells to be had.

If you look at the following hand on paper it is pretty hard to figure out why I didn't go broke.

However, in the heat of battle this guy was giving off serious warning signs.

I have a tiny sample on the villain and he is playing 31/7 so he seems to be a fishy guy.

Hand Information

Game:	No Limit
Blind:	$0.50/ $1

Table Information

Seat1:	Player 1	($50)	Dealer
Seat2:	Player 2	($332.08)	Small Blind
Seat3:	Player 3	($106.01)	Big Blind
Seat4:	Player 4	($109.09)
Seat5:	Hero	($198.25)
Seat6:	Player 6	($98.50)
Seat7:	Player 7	($98.50)
Seat8:	Player 8	($62.01)
Seat9:	Player 9	($169.56)

Dealt to Hero

Preflop (Pot:1.50)

Player 4

FOLD

Hero

RAISE

$3

Player 6

FOLD

Player 7

FOLD

Player 8

FOLD

Player 9

CALL

$3

Player 1

FOLD

Player 2

RAISE

$5

Player 3

FOLD

Hero

CALL

$2

Player 9

CALL

$2

This tiny squeeze from the blinds will usually get no respect from me and will be immediately 4bet. However, the villain here had taken ages and I just smelt something fishy so decided to flat.

Flop   (Pot: $16.50)

Player 2

BET

$7

Hero

CALL

$7

Player 9

FOLD

This is a dream flop hitting my set and being deep with what seems like a fish. He tanks again forever and bets small into 2 players here.

This is a draw heavy board and 90% of the time I am raising here. I reckon that he probably has AA, KK or AK. I beat 2 of those hands but I want to try to drag along the 3rd player and then shove most turns. This is a highly risky play but I am so suspicious about his speed right about now.

Turn   (Pot: $30.50)

Player 2

CHECK

Hero

CHECK

Insta check here looks pretty fishy.

River   (Pot: $30.50)

Player 2

BET

$17

Hero

CALL

$17

I have to call but I am 95% sure I am beat here

Showdown:

Player 2  SHOWS

Hero  MUCKS

Player 2

wins the pot: $64.50

I guessed wrong with AA but the timing tells were so huge he really was face up.

Normal Shot Taking Pattern Resumed :(

I jumped up to NL100 ZOOM FR which is basically the highest ZOOM level that runs regularly. The NL200 and NL500 levels only occasionally run as there never seem to be enough players. The 6-max games seem to run more at those levels. Anyway as with all the shots I have taken this year the start has been pretty bad. I will persist though as I am witnessing enough bad play for me to be profitable at this level vs the field.