bwin – the world's biggest online gaming platform

The bwin team always makes a huge splash at the WSOP and it's easier than ever to join the team yourself, with online finals, freerolls, and other promotions your ticket to Vegas with the bwin team.

For full details about joining the bwin Team for the WSOP (and other live events around the globe), simply click here.

ESPN is finally showing episodes about the WSOP 2009. As expected, the bwin Team is featured right away, most notably in a hand wit ha 3-way-Allin. Thanks to YouTube we can show you the action, which includes poker pro Jeffrey Lisandro.

bwin Team player Stefano del Beato gets his chips in with the best hand, his set is way ahead of his opponents. Jeffrey Lisandro is the only one with outs. Two of them ... at least thats what it looked like after the flop. Very unlucky for Del Beate (and his name actually means 'the blessed one').
Enough words, have a look yourself. The action starts at 9:20.

Unfortunately the clip ends right before the river. Just go on and watch the next clip.

But it gets even better. I'm sure everyone noticed that the bwin Team is prominently featured in every WSOP episode. And not just once. The WSOP visual (which can be seen a couple of times) shows -Rex Cramer-, talking to yours truly.
I captured a screenshot, but I'm pretty sure you already saw it yourself.
(as this was made for the German blog: Ich = me)

Once again it's time to say farewell to another amazing live event trip with the bwin Team, with the 2009 WSOP officially wrapped up and all the players and staff back home safe and sound. Not only was it a success at the tables (with ChipLieder85 cashing for more than $25,000 in the 2009 WSOP Main Event) but a great trip away from the poker tables as well, with the Team and friends living it up during their stay in Vegas with trips to Lake Mead, the Grand Canyon, Rehab at the Hard Rock, La Reve, Lavo, and much, much more.

The next big event on the schedule is the APT Macau, with qualifiers running now, so hopefully we'll see YOU there as the bwin Team embarks on yet another awesome adventure.

We'll leave you with the last three WSOP videos from the closing days of the last trip, which saw the Team living it up at Rehab at the Hard Rock and enjoying La Reve and a farewell dinner at one of Las Vegas' finest restaurants at the Wynn.

27 players became nine yesterday at the Rio, with the 2009 Main Event playing down to the final table nearly two weeks after play began. Below are the final nine players alive in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, who will return to Vegas in November to battle it out to see who will reign as champion:

Seat 1: Darvin Moon - 58,930,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead - 6,800,000
Seat 3: Phil Ivey - 9,765,000
Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel - 12,390,000
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter - 29,885,000
Seat 6: Eric Buchman - 34,800,000
Seat 7: Joe Cada - 13,215,000
Seat 8: Antoine Saout - 9,500,000
Seat 9: Jeff Shulman - 19,580,000

Phil Ivey is the obvious notable name in that list, as he's one of the world's best poker players (if not THE best) and he did what many thought unthinkable for a top pro: survive a huge Main Event field to make the final table. While Ivey may be well behind chip leader Darvin Moon when play resumes in November, he'll still be considered by many to be the favorite to win it all.

As far as other final tablers, both James Akenhead and Jeff Shulman have plenty of experience and cashes to their names, with Shulman making a return trip to the final table after final tabling the Main Event in 2000 as well.

It's all come down to today, with just 27 players still alive in the 2009 Main Event field, each dreaming of surviving the day to take a seat with the November Nine -- the final table of nine players who will return in November to decide who will be the 2009 Main Event champion.

Most pro poker players will tell you that the worst day of the year is when they bust out of the Main Event, and that dreaded day has already struck for 6,467 players in this year's Main Event, with just 27 players still in the mix and dreaming of a guaranteed $1 million payday if they make the final table, plus a shot at $8.5 million for winning it all.

The story at the moment continues to be Phil Ivey, who refuses to succumb to the sea of amateurs and is sitting 4th in chips overall. Fellow pro Antonio Esfandiari is still alive, with Darvin Moon holding the overall chip lead going into today's action. They'll play down to nine players today no matter what, so it could be a very long day of poker when action kicks off at noon.

Which of the 27 remaining players will join Peter Eastgate as a WSOP Main Event champ?

Below are the chip counts for all remaining players:

Table 1
Seat 1: Jesse Haabak - 2,750,000
Seat 2: Ian Tavelli - 4,385,000
Seat 3: James Calderaro - 6,475,000
Seat 4: Jonathan Tamayo - 3,300,000
Seat 5: Warren Zackey - 5,485,000
Seat 6: Eric Buchman - 10,005,000
Seat 7: Leo Margets - 1,530,000
Seat 8: Tommy Vedes - 5,070,000
Seat 9: James Akenhead - 8,615,000

Table 2
Seat 1: Phil Ivey - 11,350,000
Seat 2: Jeff Shulman - 10,170,000
Seat 3: George Caragiorgas - 1,615,000
Seat 4: Nick Maimone - 1,545,000
Seat 5: Andrew Lichtenberger - 5,625,000
Seat 6: Marco Mattes - 5,285,000
Seat 7: Joseph Cada - 6,565,000
Seat 8: Darvin Moon - 20,160,000
Seat 9: Jordan Smith - 4,510,000

Table 3
Seat 1: Jamie Robbins - 9,795,000
Seat 2: Antonio Esfandiari - 4,470,000
Seat 3: Francois Balmigere - 1,440,000
Seat 4: Ludovic Lacay - 5,610,000
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter - 11,885,000
Seat 6: Ben Lamb - 9,410,000
Seat 7: Antoine Saout - 11,135,000
Seat 8: Kevin Schaffel - 11,245,000
Seat 9: Billy Kopp - 15,970,000

It's Day 7 at the Main Event, and the field is down to just 64 players left. For players who selected Day 1a as their starting day, they've been battling it out at the tables since July 3rd, so it's been a long journey just to get to this point, with even more miles to go before they can rest.

He hasn't ever held the chip lead but most eyes are fixed on the always-dangerous Phil Ivey and his 6 million+ chip stack. Antonio Esfandiari has patiently grown his stack to 5.6 million as well, with last year's third place finisher Dennis Phillips still alive and sitting on just over 2 million chips.

Below are the table assignments and chip counts for all remaining players in action today when play kicks off at noon:

Table 1
Seat 1: Steven Begleiter - 6,315,000
Seat 2: Craig Boyd - 650,000
Seat 3: Ryan Fair - 2,940,000
Seat 4: Ian Tavelli - 1,985,000
Seat 5: James Akenhead - 1,655,000
Seat 6: Hung Pham - 1,006,000
Seat 7: Mark Ader - 1,610,000
Seat 8: Warren Zackey - 1,400,000
Seat 9: Adam York - 3,515,000

Table 2
Seat 1: Darvin Moon - 9,745,000
Seat 2: George Caragiorgas - 2,670,000
Seat 3: James Calderaro - 1,810,000
Seat 4: Benjamin Jensen - 1,553,000
Seat 5: Thai Tran - 2,495,000
Seat 6: Joseph Ward - 2,575,000
Seat 7: Jordan Smith - 830,000
Seat 8: Adam Bilzerian - 3,305,000

Table 3
Seat 1: Jeff Shulman - 4,745,000
Seat 2: Scott Cook - 3,095,000
Seat 3: Jonathan Tamayo - 2,680,000
Seat 4: Leo Margets - 3,650,000
Seat 5: Jason Brice - 2,825,000
Seat 6: Grayson Ramage - 1,215,000
Seat 7: Andrew Lichtenberger - 3,190,000
Seat 8: Scott Bohlman - 865,000

Table 4
Seat 1: Lacay Ludovic - 5,965,000
Seat 2: Marco Mattes - 3,470,000
Seat 3: Scott Sitron - 1,330,000
Seat 4: Christopher Bach - 2,765,000
Seat 5: Manuel Labandeira - 765,000
Seat 6: Tommy Vedes - 5,430,000
Seat 7: Fabrice Soulier - 3,025,000
Seat 8: Phil Ivey - 6,345,000

Table 5
Seat 1: Marc McLaughlin - 2,895,000
Seat 2: Hieu Luu - 4,755,000
Seat 3: Kevin Schaffel - 3,685,000
Seat 4: Billy Kopp - 8,245,000
Seat 5: Tom Schneider - 2,895,000
Seat 6: Charlie Elias - 4,190,000
Seat 7: Blair Rodman - 2,130,000
Seat 8: Luis Nargentino - 3,825,000

Table 6
Seat 1: Miika Puumalainen - 3,200,000
Seat 2: Francois Balmigere - 2,025,000
Seat 3: Dennis Phillips - 2,305,000
Seat 4: Joseph Cada - 3,880,000
Seat 5: Steve Sanders - 3,360,000
Seat 6: Joe Sebok - 1,000,000
Seat 7: Nick Maimone - 4,900,000

Table 7
Seat 1: Antoine Saout - 5,195,000
Seat 2: Bradley Craig - 2,445,000
Seat 3: Montagna Corrado - 860,000
Seat 4: Jeff Duvall - 3,935,000
Seat 5: Michael Jansen - 820,000
Seat 6: Gabriel Vezina - 1,250,000
Seat 7: Prahlad Friedman - 840,000
Seat 8: Eugene Katchalov - 3,300,000

Table 8
Seat 1: Lapostolle Martin - 940,000
Seat 2: Eric Buchman - 2,495,000
Seat 3: Antonio Esfandiari - 5,610,000
Seat 4: Ben Lamb - 4,975,000
Seat 5: Jamie Robbins - 2,895,000
Seat 6: Jesse Haabak - 3,345,000
Seat 7: John Martin - 3,080,000
Seat 8: George Saca - 3,020,000

Day 6 is underway here at the Main Event in Las Vegas, with 185 returning to action to start the day. It's still a long way to go to reach the final table, but with a field of 6,400 trimmed down to under 200 players, it's also not to early to start speculating about who just might end up at the final table, as the end is within sight for the players left in the field.

Here are the top ten chip counts at the beginning of play:

1. Warren Zackey: 4,872,000
2. Kaspar Cordes: 4,352,000
3. Darvin Moon: 3,218,000
4. Tom Schneider: 3,168,000
5. Bernie Perner: 3,012,000
6. Miika Puumalainen: 2,894,000
7. Matt Affleck: 2,882,000
8. Charlie Elias: 2,780,000
9. James Akenhead: 2,692,000
10. Steven Begleiter: 2,621,000

As far as other notable names still in the hunt, pros such as Phil Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari, Joe Sebok, David Benyamine, and Elky are all alive and kicking, as are former Main Event champs Joe Hachem and Peter Eastgate, as well as last year's third-place finisher Dennis Phillips.

While our last bwin Team member may have exited the 2009 Main Event with Chiplieder85 cashing for a tidy $25,027 yesterday, it doesn't mean that the fun is over. The Team has a private cabana reserved at the world famous Rehab pool at the Hard Rock Casino today, and a fantastic farewell dinner planned for tomorrow night as a last hurrah here in Vegas.

We'll also be checking in from time to time with the Main Event poker action at the Rio as well, so stay tuned here for more poker updates as well as to sneak a peak at the Team's adventures for the remaining days here in Las Vegas.

As far as a quick recap of some of the trip highlights so far, this is what you could experience yourself as part of the bwin Team for a live event such as the upcoming APT Macau, with links below to corresponding videos from each outing:

Welcome Dinner: Not only did the Team finally get to gather together and meet for the first time, but we did it in grand fashion with dinner and drinks at Wolfgang Puck's Postrios restaurant in the Venetian. After dinner it was off to a private booth and drinks and dancing at the Lavo nightclub in the Palazzo.

A Day at Red Rock Casino: The day began with a private poker tournament at Red Rock Casino, followed by lounging at the pool in a private cabana, bowling and dinner in the VIP suite at the bowling lanes, and finally a gigantic fireworks display by the pool to celebrate the 4th of July.

A Day at Lake Mead: The Team headed off by bus to the south to Lake Mead to enjoy jetskis, a private beach party, and a party boat with a slide for a day of sun and relaxation before getting back to the poker action at the Main Event.

The Grand Canyon: The Team embarked on another journey outside of Las Vegas, this time enjoying the view at the Grand Canyon and marveling at the Hoover Dam.

Our last bwin Team member has bowed out here in the Main Event, with Chiplieder85 bowing out in 440th place for $25,027. He was getting very short stacked and took his chances with K9 from the button but the BB woke up with AK and Chiplieder85 couldn't suck out to stay alive.

This is Chiplieder85's second cash as a member of the bwin Team, as he also cashed for $7,672 in a PLO side event at the 2009 Aussie Millions.

A big congrats not just to Chiplieder85 but to the entire bwin Team for their showing here in Las Vegas, as simply playing in the Main Event is an accomplishment that eludes many poker players their entire lives, and all the bwin Team members put in a great showing at the tables during their time here.

We've just added a bunch of new videos to the dedicated WSOP video page, including the below video from the Team outing to Lake Mead: