So close, and yet so far.

Tonight I hit two big tournamnets, the Party Million Guaranteed ($200+15), and the Pokerstars massive WSOP seat giveaway ($350+20). I finished 1457th in the Party Million which is my best finish there so far out of the two times I've played in it I think - still well away from the money (top 750 paid) but close. But made a much better run on Stars, where they were holding the largest WSOP satellite in history, and I believe the second largest online prize pool in poker history. 7377 entrants for a prize pool over $2.5M and 234 seats being given away. I ran all the way to finish in 500th place, inside the top ten percent but still a couple hundred spots away from a seat. A running log follows - after just busting out I don't have the patience to sit and clean this up, but might tomorrow:



sitting a little above average most of the way out. with ~2400 players remaining, I stacked a guy to jump a little above double average, just over t15k. my AKd connected on a great flop of Ac 6h 4d - with such a great candidate for a slowplay I was able to stack the guy who thought his A7o was good.

Few hands later, I lose a few chips making a move on the blinds. Holding A8o I raise from the button and am called by the small blind. The flop is a jumble of 4c 7s 3c, and we both check. The turn is an offsuit jack, and the small blind bets 300 in to a ~2000 pot. Sensing weakness I pop it to 1500, he thinks a second and calls. The river is the Td and he leads out for 300 again. I elect to call with my ace high - he held ATd and drags the pot with the ten on the river. While I was outkicked on the turn, I'm still happy with my ability to identify that he didn't have much of a hand, and I'm surprised he called me there with nothing but ace-ten high.

But then next hand am able to steal the blinds + antes from the cutoff with QJo to jump back to t13k. I then lose a little on AQo when I get two callers to my EP raise and fold to one of the caller's flop bet when I don't connect, and drop down just under t12k. Average stack at this point is 8695, 2121 players left right now out of the 7377 who started.

6:37pm - JTd gets to see a free flop from the big blind, and I drag a little pot when the flop comes 89J rainbow and I lead out for 1/3 pot. Next had I call from the small blind with K7o when its folded to me, and lead out on the flop and steal the blinds that way. Next hand from the button I make a standard raise with K7 suited this time, and take down the blinds again. Just over t14k, just 1950 players remaining.

6:47pm - the guy directlyto my left really doesn't like me stealing from him. After giving him a pass for two orbits I take a shot on the third and he calls. I drop down to t11,646 when I miss the flop and fold to his aggression on the turn. Two hands later I get KK in the cutoff and make my standard raise again - this time the small blind in the hand raises again and I push in an overbet, hoping he'll call with a wider range. He folds however, and I jump up over t15k again.

6:54pm - knowing once again the guy to my left is resteal happy, I again make my standard raise from the button, but this time with AQo. He re-raises and I just call. He leads on the uncordinated undercard flop, and I immediately put him all in. This is a very risky move - I've got him covered by a couple thousand chips, but I'm representing a big hand here and I'm pretty confident he's just trying another resteal play based on my past response to his resteals. Purely a read-dependant play here - he's shown a tendancy to aggressively resteal from me, and I've shown a tendancy to lay down to him. He's also shown that he can find a big fold to a re-raise. He thinks for a bit and then folds. I jump up to t21,566. We hit the next break (second or third?) just a couple hands later. There are 1556 player remaining on 173 tables. Average is t11,867, and blinds jump to 300/600 with a 30 ante after the break concludes.

7:09pm - I make a really bad, weak play with AJo and cost myself some chips. Player in MP open limps, the player behind min-raises, and I just cold call the 1200 from the button. The flop drops a king but otherwise small cards, and we end up checking the hand all the way down. I'm not sure why I didn't fire a bullet on the turn or river when it was checked to me - felt like a monster from the min-raise I guess, but if that's the case I probably shouldn't have called. the minraiser held ATo, the original limper pocket dueces, and the deuces hold up when no one else connects and we check it all the way down. Down just under 19k, but two hands later I am able to steal the blinds and antes and jump back just under t20k

7:20pm - my table broke a bit ago, and I get dropped directly to the right of the table chiplead in this one. not the best draw. I play my first hand with 33 from the button, cold-calling a MP minraise. the flop comes 882, and when he leads in to me for 600 I pop it to 2500. He folds, and I jump to t21,416. Currently 1240 people left, average stack is climbing rapidly with the latest blind jump, now just under t15k.

7:25pm - blinds jump to 400/800 with 40 ante. Players are dropping relatively quickly, given that an average chipstack now has an M of just 10. After being card dead at this table since I got here, I make a very marginal steal from CO+1 with K7o, but do take the blinds to jump back to t21,776.

7:29pm - the medium stack two to my right sniped my big blind last time, and has shown he's very aggressive open raising on other hands. Its folded to him on my BB, he pops it, and I immediately resteal with A3c. He folds to my resteal and I jump just over t24k. Next hand the bigstack to my left crushes someone's QQ with AQo when he builds a flush with his queen. He's now over t41k. We're inside 1100 players remaining.

7:31pm - I make a standard raise with 77 from MP and the bigstack cold calls behind me. The flop comes 4c 9d 5d and I lead for half the pot. he calls. the turn is the 4c, and he fires 4000 in to the 12k pot. I'm not exactly sure what to put him on here, and I find a fold after calling for more time. down just under t19k. Average is catching up to me

7:36pm - I make a mistake and it costs me plenty. UTG+1 makes a standard raise and its folded around to me in the SB. Holding AJo I raise enough to put him all in (he's got less than half my chips) and he instacalls. He turns over AKo and catches a king on the turn to boot. I drop down to just over t11k. Really not a good spot for the play I made there - the big stack was yet to act between us, and this was an early position raiser so he's representing more strength than someone who raised in later position.

7:38pm - A9o steals blinds + antes from the CO and I'm over t12.5k Average is closing in on t19k. I still have room to play poker, but I'm going to need to catch some cards and some luck. It would really help to get moved from this monster stack to my left.

7:45pm - i now have two massive stacks both positions to my left. both are over 45k, more than double average. I open push ATo from the button in to their deep stacks, hoping that the overbet might bring action from a weaker ace and certainly maximizes what little FE i've got. I steal the blinds and jump over t12.5k. Two hands later blinds go to 500/1000 with 50 ante.

7:47pm - I open push one of my favorite hands, 87d, from MP and steal blinds + antes. A marginal hand but one that does very well multi-way and is unlikely to be truly dominated if I'm called. I jump over t14k. Average stack is over 21k, currently 872 players left fighting for the 234 seats.

7:52pm - down to t12.5k. 828 players remaining, average stack of 22k. Now is the time to catch some cards and double through to some breathing room.

7:56pm - K6o gets a free flop in the BB, but i check it down to the river and my opponent hits his J3s on the river to drag the pot. Next hand I get A2c in the SB - the button just calls and I push over the top and both the BB and button fold, so I jump to t13,600. Very next hand I push A5c from the button and take the blinds + antes. Now over t15.5k. Bought myself a little bit of room with some marginal hands there. 754 players remain, average stack just shy of t25k.

8:04pm - I open-push AKo from UTG. Maybe should have just standard raised to try to take a flop and build a stack, but trying to build a stack takes a backseat to survival. I jump just over t17k. Next hand we go on break again. 711 players elft, with an average stack of almost t26k.

8:12pm - I make a close decision and fold AJo from the button in the face of a raise from MP.

8:20pm - KcKh in UTG+2. I make a raise to 6k leaving 10k behind. A late position player comes over the top - I instacall, and he flips AQo. The flop is 5s 8c Qc, and I'm screaming HOLD in to chat with Dross. The turn is a brutal Ace, but its also a club, so i've added club outs for the river: however the poker gods are kind and king me instead, so my three kings beat his two pair. I jump over t33k. Average is just over t29k, with 625 players remaining.

8:25pm - Another mistake - I open raise A2o from the CO in to a very shortstack and basically price myself in to calling when he pushes over the top. I guess i probably should have folded anyways, but getting 2:1 was tough to hit fold. He turns AQo and I drop down to t24k. I slap myself and soldier on. The problem there is with him having about 8k total, my standard raise basically prices myself in to calling if he comes over the top getting about 2:1. And I'm basically going to be in a coinflip at best and behind with only an overcard or even dominated. So its generally a no-win situation unless he's too tight and will inappropriately fold there.

8:30pm - I get saved. Aggressive player in MP pops it, and I'm ready to resteal in the BB with A9o. However, the small blind calls the raise. I think about going for a squeeze, but decide against it and lay it down. Turns out the MP player has AK and the SB TT, and I would have gone broke against MP's AK. 563 players are left, I'm just over t21k. Half of the remaining players are going to the WSOP, half are going home empty handed.

8:41pm - small blind completes and I check with JTo. we check it down and my jack high wins. Now at t22k. 526 players remaining, average over 35k. I need another double-through, but at least I have enough of a stack at this point to threaten most of my table.

8:50pm - AQo in the big blind. Button makes standard raise and I come over the top all-in. He calls and shows TT. He catches a ten on the flop which sucks really bad, but I get a jack as well for a gutshot straight. However I can't catch my coinflip-turned-four outer and finish in 500th place. Final hand posted here. A super deep run, but sadly absolutely nothing to show for five hours invested. Blah.

A very Fillmaff finish

Full Tilt $11,500 Guaranteed ($69+9, 331 entrants). Nothing to report of note along the way, except I had one major suckout (my T3s vs K5 on a flop of Td5s5c, caught the flush redraw on the turn but spiked a T on the river instead) and from there was top ten in chips most of the way from ~100 on in.

Entered the final table with a pretty good-sized chiplead. Stole the blinds first hand from the SB, then next hand won a very big pot with AQ to jump to a very good sized chiplead - about 1/3 of the chips in play, more than 2nd and 3rd combined.

Blinds at 1200/2400 with 300 ante, I make it 6k from the button with QJo and the big blind pushes for just under 22k. Getting 2:1 as a likely live underdog I call and he flips ATo. A good place to show off early that I'm willing to call when I raise, and be able to show down a decent hand. He hits an ace on the flop, i have a pair and gutshot on the turn but don't further improve and double him up.

With six remaining, I get no action on KK and take the blinds. Next hand I get 88 and make the same raise and get a caller on the button. Flop is good for me, T77, and I lead for half the pot and take it down.

Player to my left's 99 > AK and we're down to five. Next hand same player's KK > AJ and we're down to four. I'm now second in chips with 155k, player to my left with 226k.

Blinds at 2k/4k UTG short stack raises to 12k. With KQo I re-raise to 40k, enough to put him all-in. He folds and I jump in to the chiplead barely.

Got leapfrogged in chips badly on the last bubble when ThatsTheGame was on my left with the same sized stack (or slightly larger) and the two small stacks were on my right. He played it well and put pressure on me, and then had the cards and the stack to KO several players at the final table including #6, #5, #4 and #3. Despite my having a good stack, we jumped in to heads up and I was down over 2:1 in chips.

We chip back and forth a few hands. Pretty straightforward play. He was smart and appropriately aggressive.

K3 flopps top two pair. I do the crab dance and drag a decent pot, but not as big as it could have been when a scare card for him (three flush on board) hits the turn. He's still 2:1 lead though.

I end up getting my money in the middle for the first time heads up with the following hand: He calls from the small blind and I check with 87o. The flop comes 4-9-6 rainbow. He standard c-bets the flop, I raise to about 25k with 125k or so behind. he puts me all-in, and I call expecting to be about a 40%-60% dog - turns out he's holding56o and I'm in even better shape, about 46% to his 54%: three remaining fives, four tens, three eights, three sevens, for twelve outs twice. However its not my night, as the turn is a deuce and the river a three for added insult, giving him the 2-6 straight. As the master Fillmaff himself would say: "Second place, second place, disqualified for urinating on the table... second place..."

So second place finish for $3,654.24 (pic). First paid $5,709.75. Still a very nice cash and a nice night. It wasn't till i went and updated my Top Ten Finishes list that I realized this was my biggest ever cash. Big thanks to Poker Superstar Rizen for sweating my action - and all the mentoring along the way - as well as everyone sweating from 2+2.

Also not nearly as exciting, but wanted to write it up to have a public record: I also nearly cashed in a Party $109 $2k Added tournament during the middle stages of the Full Tilt tourney, but made a stupid move near hitting the money. Holding TT I decided it was a good idea to come over the top of an UTG min-raiser preflop, when I held a healthy enough stack to just call and take a flop with position - might be results oriented thinking, but I really felt like I'd made a mistake: blinds were 400/800 with a small ante and UTG minraises to 1600. I've got just below T10k, hovering about 2k below average stack with ~80 left (50 paid). The UTG minraise is used by so many players holding AA or KK I should have exercised a little caution, instead I just immediately pushed over the top and immediately regretted it when he flipped kings. I felt after that it was a case of "the chips I lost having so much more value than the chips I stood to gain" that it wasn't worth taking a likely coinflip there. His UTG minraise range is either hands that I'm crushing that he folds (and that I can probably outplay postflop if he doesn't hit a set) or overcards where I'm flipping (and that I can get away from if action indicates he hits the flop). Just would have been a good spot to play poker, instead of being overly aggressive.

Shameless brag post

Pokerstars 180-man SNG : I'm in the big blind. UTG+1 open pushes for about T750, big stack (showing JTs) just calls, SB pushes for another T1k on top, I push for another T2k on top, big stack calls. I call out "HOLD" once the hands are turned - until Quadzilla shows up on the flop and I can just sit back and wait for the chips from all three pots to slide my way.

UFC 61 predictions

Saturday brings us UFC 61 and the eagerly anticipated rubber match between Arlovski and Sylvia, and the second scheduled mauling of Ken Shamrock at the hands of Tito Ortiz. Full card predictions to follow per usual.

Frank Mir vs Dan Christison
Frank Mir -250
Dan Christison +230

Mir you should remember as the up-and-coming fighter whose career was derailed by a motorcycle accident. He returned to the ring in UFC 57, where he was demolished in the first round by Marcio Cruz in an upset I correctly called. At 30 years old, Christison is the definition of a mid-tier fighter midway towards the end of his career. He’s rolled off an impressive string of six wins in the past two years, including a undercard win against Brad Imes at UFN:4. Christison is big and strong and a standup fighter with some submissions as well. But Mir has strong jiu-jitsu and should be able to put Christison on the ground – Dan doesn’t have the best balance - and eventually submit him. The taller Christison has a definite advantage on the feet with his size and strength, but the larger you are the more vulnerable you are on the ground: simply put you’ve got more body to guard, its easier to pass your guard, its easier to get leverage on your legs or arms. This will be Mir’s ninth UFC appearance, in which he’s 6-2 and has only been out of the first round once, in a KO win over Wes Sims at UFC 46. This is a match made for Mir to win over a mid-level opponent with a decent record to hopefully propel him back towards the top of the (admittedly weak) UFC heavyweight division and put his career back on track. If Mir loses, his career is pretty much over, whereas a Christison loss isn’t going to affect his career much: he hasn’t beaten anyone of note and doesn’t have the skills to go up against Slyia or Arlovski. Mir by submission in the second round.

Yves Edwards vs Joe Stevenson
Yves Edwards -211
Joe Stevenson +191

Edwards is the founder of Thug-Jitsu and had been regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters anywhere, until he dropped two of his last three fights including the massive upset by Mark Hominick in UFC 58. Yves returned to Pride to fight a mediocre Seichi Ikemoto in April, in a fight where Yves looked mediocre at best and only was able to secure a decision over the .500 fighter. Stevenson is the veteran TUF’er with a 24-7 MMA record – he had ripped off an impressive nine wins in a row in the last three years, before getting his streak broken by Josh Neer on Ultimate Fight Night 4. This is an interesting fight – will we see Edwards recover from his recent downslide? Yves has gone very quickly from being regarded as one of the pound-for-pound best to a giant question mark. Or will we see Stevenson return to being one of the UFC’s hottest rising stars? Yves is 29 years old, about to turn 30. Stevenson is 24, with 31 fights. Stevenson is dropping down to 155 for this fight, his new weight class (the Hominick fight was his first at 155, where he dropped to after having success at 170 on TUF). This will be a big test for Stevenson, but if he can put Edwards away he’s got more to win than Edwards has to lose. This is not a significantly +EV line because Stevenson is very well known thanks to his TUF win, but I’ll have small action on Stevenson here. Stevenson by decision, primarily winning on the cards due to multiple takedowns.

Andrei Arlovski vs Tim Sylvia
Andrei Arlovski -247
Tim Sylvia +227

I’m really split on this fight. I don’t think I need to go in detail on either fighter – Arlovski is the Russian Sambo fighter who reeled off six straight UFC victories including a submission victory over Sylvia the first time they met. But his upset loss to Sylvia in their second meeting drops his MMA record to a less-than-impressive 9-4 record. Those who are MMA fans beyond the USA’s UFC know that neither Arlovski or Sylvia are considered anywhere near the best MMA heavyweights in the world: in fact they’re probably near the bottom of a top ten list behind guys like “Minotauro” Nogueira, Fedor, Emelianenko, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Josh Barnett, possibly even others. Until there is more extensive crossover in heavyweights between Pride, K1, and UFC, we’re going to see the best UFC heavyweights – who are a very small pool – keep fighting each other over and over again.

I think this line is pretty fairly set. I think Arlovski wins this fight about three times out of four. While Timmy did manage to drop him last time, Sylvia was knocked down first and had Arlovski not gotten overly aggressive trying to finish him, I think we would have seen Arlovski domination. I expect this fight to go a little slower than the previous two: but we’re still not getting out of the first round. Sylvia definitely has a puncher’s chance, but lighting won’t strike twice. Arlovski by first round KO around the four minute mark.

Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock
Tito Ortiz -500
Ken Shamrock +450

There are certainly a couple questions in this fight. Tito has returned very, very quickly from a serious knee injury. Its reported that his training camp is no where near as intense as its been in past fights, meaning we may see a similar fight to the Ortiz / Griffin fight which resulted in a dominant Tito first round and then two very close rounds to follow. Shamrock certainly doesn’t have the tools or the stamina to do much of anything to Tito – Tito has proven that he can take a big punch: watch him battle Randy Couture at UFC 44 or go toe-to-toe with Chuck Liddell for a full round in UFC 47. Shamrock is a long way from his prime fighting days. He hasn’t submitted anyone in five years, and in the last four years he’s 1-4 with his only win over a badly aging Kimo Leopoldo. In the same five year span, Ortiz is 7-2 with his only losses to two of the UFC’s best ever, the aforementioned fights against Couture in his prime and against Liddell as Chuck moved to the top of the mountain.

Shamrock certainly doesn’t have the tools to win this fight – he literally doesn’t even have a puncher’s chance. The true line on this fight should be closer to -1900 Ortiz, even if Tito is only 85%. I look for Tito to try to put this one away early: if he knows his conditioning and his knee are both not up to par, he’s going to try to ground and pound a quick victory. Shamrock has certainly proved over the years he can take a beating, so I’ll give him two rounds. Tito by TKO (stoppage by Big John) in the second round.

Jeff Monson vs Anthony Perosh
Jeff Monson -547
Anthony Perosh +497

Monson is a well-known world-class submission wrestler fighting with American Top Team. Monson is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt, and is a two-time Abu Dhabi Submission Fighting world champion among several other fighting honors. Monson has a 21-5 MMA record but hasn’t lost since he lost a decision to Forrest Griffin in the World Extreme Fighting Championships… in June of 2002. Perosh is an Australian fighter with a BJJ blackbelt and a 5-1 MMA record, primarily fights in Australia in a series called the Spartan Reality Fight Series. Perosh trains under Carlos Machado, and teaches alongside Elvis Sinosic at Sinosic-Perosh Martial Arts in Sydney Australia

This fight is an interesting breakdown. At the current odds, Monson is being predicted to win 85% of the time. Perosh has excellent ground skills and very strong jiu-jitsu, and has been competing in MMA for more than ten years, but hasn’t fought in MMA recently, focusing on pure grappling contests. If you’re interested you can see a clip of Perosh highlights from the Sinosic-Perosh website here. Its set to Kickstart My Heart – come on, how can you not like that. I’m not a fan of Monson – he’s delivered us a number of snooze-fests over the years especially the last bout vs Marcio Cruz in UFC 59. I think Perosh does have a slight chance here if his jiu-jitsu is as good as its reported, so I’m going to go with Perosh by submission (choke) in the second. Its certainly a longshot, but I’m going to play it.

Drew Fickett vs Kurt Pellegrino
Drew Fickett -146
Kurt Pellegrino +136

One of the more interesting bouts on the card overall. A classic newcomer vs veteran matchup. Fickett is 26-4 in MMA and trains with Arizona Combat Sports under Trevor Lally (Muay Thai) and Gustavo Dantas (BJJ). We saw Fickett lose to Nick Diaz in UFC:51, and then go 2-1 against a trio of Joshes in his last three UFC fights: submitting Neer and Koshcheck at UFN:1 and UFN:2 before getting submitted by Burkman in UFN:3. On the other hand, Pellegrino is an up-and-coming fighter with a strong wrestling and grappling background, with 7 amateur MMA wins before turning pro, where he won his first fight, lost his second in mid-2004, and has since reeled off five consecutive wins. Kurt has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Hermes Franca and a decorated resume including a Pan Ams gold medal, WEC North American champion, is a five-time Grapplers Quest superfight champion, and has qualified for the Abu Dhabi Submission Fighting Championships for 2007. Pelligrino is the hot fighter right now, and Fickett is coming off his first UFC loss. Both have significant motivation to win this fight, but my money is on the slight underdog and the significantly superior grappler. Pellegrino by submission setup by strikes in the second.

Gilbert Aldana vs Cheick Kongo
Gilbert Aldana +114
Cheick Kongo -124

Aldana is a Rage In The Cage superheavyweight champion with a 5-0 record in RITC. However, Aldana lost to Paul Buentello in his UFC debut in UFC:57 Kongo is a hard-striking Frenchman with a wealth of fighting experience (Muay Thai record of 18-1, free fight record of 29-2, MMA record of 7-2-1) but is in his octagon debut. Aldana did not impress me at all in UFC:57, so I’m going with the hard-hitting Frenchman here. Kongo by KO in the first round.

Josh Neer vs Josh Burkman
Josh Neer -112
Josh Burkman +102

Neer is a wrestler and Muay Thai fighter who trains under Pat Miletich and Miletich Martial Arts. Burkman is a Team Quest fighter who we’ve seen on the undercards of the previous two Ultimate Fight Nights (3+4), where he’s 1-1. Neer has a much more extensive MMA record, and fought on those same Ultimate Fight Nights with a 2-0 record there submitting Melvin Guillard and winning a unanimous decision over Joe Stevenson. Burkman and Neer do share a common opponent – Neer lost to Drew Ficket via rear naked choke in the first Ultimate Fight Night in August 2005. Burkman caught Ficket in a guillotine in the first round at UFN:3 in Janurary this year. That being said, the Miletich advantage should provide Neer enough of a preparation advantage to win this fight. Neer by submission in the third.

Units Transacted: feel free to cut these in half, etc

Frank Mir -250: 2.5 units to win 1 unit

Joe Stevenson +191 1 unit to win 1.9 units

Andrei Arlovski -247 2.47 units to win 1 unit

Tito Ortiz -500 20 units to win 4 units

Anthony Perosh +497 1 unit to win 4.97 units

Kurt Pellegrino +136 2 units to win 2.72 units

Cheick Kongo -124 3.72 units to win 3 units

Josh Neer -112 3.36 units to win 3 units

In the red with only a minor cash

Played a handful of tournaments tonight - the $22 buyin $40k Guaranteed on Party, a $109 level with 453 entries on Party, the $10k Guaranteed on Bodog, plus a couple random medium buyin tournaments on PokerStars and Full Tilt. Nearly cashed in the Party $109 tournament. I built a big stack in the middle, but was dropping below average with about 100 left, and ended up busting out in 75th (top 50 paid) with AK vs the overall chipleader's 24o (he was deep enough to call with anything, I guess) when he made a pair of fours on the flop. Meh. Win that hand and I'm in position for a profitable night.

After busting in the $109 I proceeded to cash in the Bodog $10k Guaranteed. I built a very nice stack early but lost a couple big hands and ended up squeeking in to the money in the bottom handful of players of the 35 that paid. I immediately tried to get aggressive to build a stack given the massively top-heavy Bodog payout structure, and ended up getting my money in the middle as a slight favorite in a coinflipholding A3h against my opponent's JTd. However it wasn't meant to be with both a Jack and a Ten on the flop, giving my opponent two pair, and a blank turn leaving me drawing dead. KO'd in 32rd, one ahead of internet poker legend TonySoprano who finished in 33rd. As always big thanks to Bodog for the juicy overlays, but unfortunately the bottom tier payout left me in the red on the night.

Hopefully time for more poker a couple nights this week, including another planned run this weekend to win a WSOP Main Event seat.

Rizen finishes third in WSOP $1500 PLHE

After suffering some sick sick beats, Rizen brings home $104,000 for third place in his first WSOP final table. A fantastic accomplishment for a fantastic player.

Otis has a wonderful writeup on the Pokerstars Blog - thanks for the great coverage, Otis.