PCA

Poker Stars Caribbean Adventure

Atlantis Resort - Paradise Island - Bahamas
Photos & commentary from Jason Drake & Ryan Koffler

also: see cardplayer.com for reports & pokerstars.com's blog

We are now Head's up....

Hand 1: Brook takes Blinds and Antes

Hand 2: Steve raises to 200K and Brook calls. K 9s 7s on the Flop. Brook checks and Steve bets out 250K which is called. 5h comes on the turn. Brook checks, Steve checks. 3c falls on river. Brook checks, Steve bets 350K and takes the pot. They are both dead even now. maybe 1-200,000 separates their stacks...

Hand 3: No action

Hand 4: No action

Hand 5: No action

Hand 6: No action

Hand 7... FINAL HAND....

Brook bets 300K in the SB and Steve calls.... Js 9s 2d comes on the flop... Brook bets 300K..... Steve slowly raises to 1.2 million. Brook asks for a count and finds that he has just a few less chips then Steve. after about 8-10 minutes of thinking, grimmacing, and even Sexton asking if they were going to put a clock on him, Brook moves all-in. Steve looks pained and doesn't want to call but does so anyway quickly.

Brook shows KJ for top pair and Steve Qs10? for a straight draw and gutshot flush. The Turn is a Q giving Steve the lead with top pair.....only another J or a 10 on the river will win it for Brook.....the river comes a K giving brook 2 pair but Steve Straight.....it's over..... Brook has finished in 2nd place and will cash $681,500.

Brook looked distraught that Steve drew out on him. however, steve had done it 2 times earlier on the final table. Talking with Brook later he said that it was the first and time during the tournament that he had someone suck out on him, Otherwise all his races and hands held up.

Chip Count...

Steve: 2.285

David: 4.2

Brook: 830K

Start of level 4 (40,000 - 80,000 w/ 10,000)

Brook gets a good luck kiss from Kristi, "I need some cards baby..."

First hand of the level...

Brook raises UTG to 160K. Steve announces re-raise to 500K. Brook moves immediatly all-in... and he gets a call after a small visit to the tank by steve. Steve shows the 77 he knocked ozzy out with and brook shows KK. The board brings a 3rd K for brook. The board shows... K, 4, ?, 9, 3 (rainbow) and brook doubles up. Brook is now at 1.6 mil.

10 minutes later...

Singer raises to 200K... Brook Calls... 7 7 9 (2 diamonds) comes on the flop. Singer bets out 325K. Brook stares down Singer and moves all-in (915K total) Brook takes it down. Brook is now over 2 million.

soon after....

David and Steve get mixed up in a pot.....missed most of the details...

Steve moves all in and is called by singer (who covers him). Singer holds Ad9? and Steve holds Kd2d... Singer flops and A, along with 2 other diamonds, Turn is another Ace.... but the river is another Diamonds, snatching heads up play away from brook again.

5-10 minutes later....

Brook raises to 300K as SB. Steve calls, and singer folds. Flop comes 8, 6, 2 (rainbow).... Brook checks.....Steve bets 400K and Brook goes into a very dramatic acting sesson.....Brook milks him and finally JUST calls. Qc comes on the turn and Brook checks. Steve bets 500K and Brook moves all-in moments later for 755. Steve can't help but call....he's committed. Brook doubles up with Trip 8's. a 4s fell on the river. Steve held QJ.

About 10-15 minutes later...

Steve makes a large raise and Singer moves all-in and is called immediatly. Singer shows KK vs Steve's AQo.... Flop brings a Q for Steve.... Turn is an A for Steve and the river fills a full house for Steve. Queens Full. Singer is eliminated in 3rd.

In the meantime brook has taken a hit or two and the blinds have started to eat him up.

David raises to 125K on the Button. Brook and Steve both call. Flop comes Qc 9s 4h. It is checked around. 4c comes on the Turn and Brook leads with 400K. Steve calls. 6c comes on the river and Brook bets. Steve takes down the pot with a 700K bet that brook looks pained to have to fold to.

Brook is UTG and bets out 150K and gets (2) callers. 9s 4c 6d. Brook and Steve check. David Steals the pot with a bet of 325K.

About 15 minutes before level 3 ends...

Steve calls the blinds and Singer makes a raise to about 200K in the BB. Brook has already folded the button. Steve moves all-in within about a minute or 2. Singer calls relatively quickly. Steve shows K9o vs Singer's 109o. Singer is covered and Brook looks like he will definatly be heads up with Steve. The flop comes 8, 7, ? (rainbow). The turn is crap, but the River makes Singer's straight.... I believe it was the 6. Singer Doubles up. It was a 4 million dollar pot.

Level 3 starts....$1,000 chips are raced off (25,000-50,000 w/ 5,000)

Chip Count....Brook is Chip leader!!!

Steve: 2.345mil

Singer: 2.105mil

Brook: 2.8mil

Toward the end of Level 2

Brook UTG raises to 125K... Micheal (now the shortstack) raises to 300K. Brook calls and the flop comes Q 9 2 (rainbow). Brook checks, Mike bets 250K, Brook moves all-in..... to my suprise, and his buddy, he folds leaving him with only 300K left. Brook rakes in the pot.

The next hand Brook is sitting on BB. Micheal makes it 100K. Brook calls... Flop brings K 10 9 w/ 2 hearts. Brook checks, Micheal moves all-in and brook calls right away. Brook shows 2 pair, K's and 9's and Micheal shows AQo. Turn is a Q and River is a 4... Micheal is eliminated and they are down to 3 players.

20 minutes into Level 2 (15,000-30,000 w/ 3,000)

Anders raises UTG to 95K, and it is folded to Brook in the SB. He calls and BB folds. Qc 2c 6d falls on flop. Brook checks and Anders bets 150K, Brook asks for a count and moves in about a minute later, He has Anders covered. 5 minutes later he receives a call (805K). Anders shows KQ for top pair, and Brook flips over 2 Aces. 6 falls on turn followed by a 9 on the river. Pot= 1.75 million... Brook is now at 2.4 million in chips.

Last hand of Level 1...

Action folded to Singer who raises to 60K, Brook re-raises to 250K and receives an immediate call. Ks Jd 10c on the Flop. Singer checks, Brook leads with 100K.... Singer folds after a moment in the tank.... Players break.... Brook says he flopped the nut straight....we converse and conclude that the small bet of 100K looked suspicious enough to warrant a fold from singer.

Roughly 30 minutes in...

Chip count:

Steve: 2 mil

Singer: 2.4 mil

Brook: 700K

Micheal: 850K

Anders: 950K

Continued by Ryan Koffler, Fall 2005 DPL Champ.

Ryan is sitting in the front row about 10 feet from the final table.

I don't have any times because they started and stopped the clock so many times for makeup, new tapes, new batteries, and other technical problems, that it really wouldn't be relavant to the posts. For example... the first blind level of (1) hour actually took almost 2 hours to complete.

Start of Level 1 (10,000-20,000 w/ 2,000)

David Singer	$2,535,000	1	2
Steve Paul-Ambrose	$1,780,000	1	1
Anders Henriksson	$1,033,000	1	5
Brook Lyter	$875,000	1	3
Michael Higgins	$794,000	1	4
Aurangzeb Sheikh	$231,000	1	6

The FIRST HAND!!!

Micheal folds, Ozzy calls the BB, Steve raises to something like 100k, It is folded back to Ozzy who immediatly moves all-in, and is called within about 30 seconds from Steve.... Ozzy shows AA against Steve's 77....Flop brings a third 7 and Ozzy is eliminated.

2:00am

The people from Card Player just came over and asked Brook what pictured he wanted on the website. I think that it is finally sinking in that he made a final table on the WPT.

Now for the bad news: my flight is scheduled to leave tomorrow at 2pm. The computer we are on is actually my wife's, and she has to teach Tuesday morning at 8am. My wife has given me permission to stay and watch, however, the league calls and I am scheduled to do openings in Ortonville, MN. and LaMoure ND. If we can get the technical aspects taken care of, my chances of staying are greatly improved. However, with my apologies, I am leaning towards flying home with my wife. There is just too much responsibility at home. I want to say thanks for the support, and putting up with my amateur job of reporting. If things change I will let you know right away. If I don't stay, the people from Card Player and Poker Stars do a wonderful job on covering these tournaments. After being in their shoes for 3 days this is very hard work. Again thanks for the support and I will see you around the league this winter.

12:53am

Brook's chips are bagged and he is standing with 875k. That hit he took by singer hurt but another run of double ups and who knows what will happen on TV. For those of you that want all the details. Go to Card Player or Poker Stars.com those guys are real pros on reporting these tournaments. I think we are going to go and have a few cocktails. As far as what happens next the players have the day off and they will start play on the Dragon Patio Tuesday 10am. By the way, Brook is cashing a minimum of $177k for his accomplishment!

12:33am

Brook is going to be on TV. The 7th player busted out and play was stopped. The WPT crew is doing the chip count and Brook is filling out waiver forms. I will give the chip counts when I get them.

12:18am

I come back to the table and the board reads 9s, 3d, 2c. Brook and David Singer again are battling. David Singer singer bets 90k and Brook re-raises, making it 400k. Singer asks Brook how much he has left. Brook states about 900k. Singer announces all in. Singer has Brook covered. Brook thinks for a long time and mucks. With a board like that, it makes me wonder what each of them were holding. I will make sure and ask and post it at the end of the night. Update: Brook held pocket 10's and this was a tough lay down. He is pretty sure Singer had him beat with overpair and possibly trip 9's...

12:11am

We have lost another player only 7 remain. Brook is still in great shape. No I will not say anything about the TV table at this point.

11:52pm

Another one bites the dust and Brook is still in great shape. 8 players remain.

11:48pm

I know according to the form my chip updates may not be all that accurate my guess for his forth position is actually that, a guess. With the camera crews running around it gets really hard to count the big stack accurately.

11:43pm

Nine players remain and Brook is still in 4th position.

11:34pm

Brook is currently 4th at the final table in chips. I just know that he is one of 4 players that has red 10k chips in his stack. I will try and get an accurate count the next entry.

11:22pm

Brook on the first hand of the final table from late position makes it 100k to go. (I am sick of hitting all the 0's, I am going to post it like this from now on.) The chip leader David Singer, the only pro left, calls. The flop comes Qs, 8h, 10c. Singer checks and Brook fires out 200k. Singer tries to stare Brook down but our player is giving nothing away and Singer mucks his hand. Brook drags a 250k pot.

11:13pm

They are now down to 10 players the clock is stopped with 1 hr 17 min left. They will now redraw for the final table.

11:02pm

Level 18 has started the blinds are now $8,000/16,000 with $2,000 ante. The last level of the day.

10:47pm

1.266 million is where Brook stands at the end of level 17.

10:36pm

1.25 million in chips!!! That is tough to type let me tell you. Brook has just doubled up and that is where he sits right now. From the cut off seat he makes it $100,000 to go and the BB calls. The board comes 4s, Ac, 4c The BB checks and Brook fires another $100,000 his opponent states all in and Brook calls. The BB is holding AQ off suit and Brook is holding AK off suit. The turn shows a 10h and the river brings a 3h. Oh yeah, while Brook was counting his chips a player from the other table busted leaving 11 players.

10:22pm

Brook just gave back the $150,000 when he got caught try to represent an Ace and the short stack on the table was holding pocket Kings.

10:19pm

Brook drags about $150,000 pot from the BB. With the board showing Kc, Ks, 3c. Brook fires $100,000 his opponent in the cut off seat folds. Brook now has approximately $600,000 in chips.

10:12pm

Mike Sexton has just swung through the press area and said hello. No sign of Vince Van Patten yet. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that they let us move our laptops out to the playing area. That is why my updates have been quicker.

9:48pm

With an hour left to go in this level Brook is still maintaining with about $530,00 in chips. 12 players remain.

9:17pm

Level 17 starts with blinds at $6,000/12,000 and a $2,000 ante.

9:10pm

The Tournament director has informed us that we will play until 12:30am or down to 6 players which ever happens first. That means another 2 levels of play. Most of the other media don't think it is plausible that we will reach that tonight. But all of them are hoping for it. That means a day-off for everyone.

9:01pm

The end of level 16. Only 12 players remain. Average stack is just over $603,000.

8:46pm

Brook doubles up from the SB once again. Brook's set of 3' hold up against a flush draw and inside straight draw. Brook now has just shy of $800,000 chips.

This is getting crazy. Only 14 players remain!

8:29pm

Brook is in the SB with one player to his right just calling the BB. Brook makes a raise of $60,000 more to go. Wouldn't you know it, the player to his right is the same one that he has been jousting $100,000 bets with. This player makes a re-raise of $200,000. This puts Brook all in. He thinks about it for a little bit and pushes the rest of his stack into the middle. Brook has AK off suit and his nemesis is holding pocket 10's. The flop brings an Ace and I can start to breath again. The turn brings no help and the river brings a K and Brook doubles up to over $400,000 with 2 pair.

8:12pm

The field of players has been shaved by one and they are 16 players left.

8:10pm

Brook smooth calls a raise of $24,000 from the same player that he earlier made the $100,000 raise into. The flop comes Qc, Js, 2c. Brook's opponent checks and Brook fires out $40,000. The player on his right check raises for $200,000. Brook goes into the tank for a long time. He states to the table, "my favorite hand" and lays it down. I think to myself I wonder what his favorite hand is today. I have played with him enough to know that his favorite hand is like his underwear, he changes it almost on a daily basis. Later Brook tells me that he held KQ and that he could not call because of all the tournaments he has busted out holding that hand. He says its the first time in the entire tournament that he really lost his cool.

8:04pm

Brook is in the BB and is facing a standard raise of $24,000 dollars from a player in middle position. The player on the button has called the original raise. Brook clarifies with the dealer that the raise was $24,000 and then smoothly puts in a $100,000 raise. The player in middle position lays down and the player on the button lays down as well after a short time in the tank.

7:55pm

The main WPT production crew has shown up with the big cameras and started filming. I wonder how I would play with the big cameras on me? I am sure I would donk it off like I normally do. This is really getting exciting.

7:48pm

Play has stopped with an 1hr 12min. The tournament is now down to 18 players. They will redraw for the final 2 tables.

7:43pm

Brook is in the SB, the player on the button raises Brook to $24,000 and Brook announces raise. Brook makes a total bet of $74,000 raising the player on the button $50,000. The player on the button folds. I will have to ask what he was holding.

5:55pm

The Dinner break is here and I haven't eaten since breakfast. Brook is sitting at $315,000 in chips. Play will begin again at 7:25pm with the blinds at $4000/8000 and a $1,000 ante. 19 players are still alive and the average stack is just over $381,000.

5:48pm

Down to 19 players in the tournament. Brook's sitting at $323,000. Who knows what the rest of the night will bring. The gallery is growing larger and you can feel the tension on the felt building.

5:20pm

24 players remain and Brook is hovering with just over $300,000 in chips.

5:03pm

Play is stopped. With 27 players remaining they will redraw for the final 3 tables.

4:40pm

After that last double up Brook is moved to a different table. I am on the way to the media room when he catches my eye. As I get back to the table he is all in and showing pocket A's, his opponent, Steve Paul-Ambrose, the big stack on the table, is holding pocket Q's. Aces hold up and Brook is now sitting at $325,000.

4:30pm

Brook is under the gun and he makes it $25,000 to go and every one folds except the BB, he re-raises Brook to $60,000. Brook is left with $67,000 at this point and goes all in. The BB calls the extra $7,000. Brook has pocket J's and his opponent has pocket 10's. The flop come K,9,J giving Brook a set and me a huge sigh of relief. Brook doubles up to $145,000. It is very hard at this point in the tournament to stay objective when I am on the tournament floor. These big hands are gut wrenching.

4:21pm

30 players remain and Brook has reached the next payout level. He now stands to make $16,900

3:43pm

End of level 14. 31 players remain. A dry run of cards led to an eroded chip stack for Brook. He is left with $122,000 and the average stack is over $219,000. Brook tells me in an upbeat manner that all he needs to do is "double up" as he heads back to his table to start level 15.

2:23pm

The end of level 13 leaves 42 players left and Brook needs to outlast 12 players to make it to the next payout. If he does that he will put in his pocket no less than $16,900.(Editor's note: my grammar and syntax are not the best so please be easy on the critique!)

1:44pm

Brook just doubles up to $168,000. Brook had K's and and his opponent held 5's.

1:41pm

Wow- Brook keeps hanging around and all of sudden we are down to 48 players left. We have reached the next payout structure, $13,500.

12:33pm

The end of level 12 leaves Brook with 97,200 in chips. The blinds will now be $1,500/3,000 and $500 ante. The price of poker has just gone up!

Day 3

11:45am

The Sun is shining and Day 3 is here! Brook will play the last 30 minutes of level 12 and they will run off the $100 chips.

12:22am

End of Day 2

They have stopped play with 30 minutes left to go in level 12. It's been a LONG day...Brook is sitting with $83,900. He took a bit of hit when he got into a show down with player to his immediate right. Brook had Kings to Will Barr's Aces. The good news is that he only had to pay him off $19,000. Will Barr went on an unbelievable hot streak in this level, going from 19k to 250k! He had pocket aces 2 out of three hands and doubled up 3 or 4 times in a row. Amazing. Play starts again Noon and with 66 players remaining and the average stack at $109,696 who knows what can happen.

11:03pm

Level 11 has just completed and Brook is making his move. He is sitting at $100,200. Finally, at the 2nd to last level on day 2 he has about the average chip stack. He also made a little more money with 73 players remaining he is guaranteed to make $12,000. I wonder if he will stake me in a $30 dollar free roll.

8:59pm

The end of level 10 and Brook is still hanging on with $30,300. He is going to have to get some chips if he is to make the next payout level.

8:30pm

All the hootin and hollering by the players it is tough to hear the Tournament Director announce that there is 130 players left and that the players have made the money. Brook will bring home at least $10,700 and if he can survive another 50 players he could make $12,000.

8:24pm

Just when I think Brook will sit on his stack until he's in the money, he makes a move. There were 132 players left (tables going hand for hand) Brook is in middle position he makes a minimum raise of $3,200 which he later tells me was an "exotic steal". He told me his table image at the time was a "rock", meaning he was playing extremely tight. He felt a minimum raise would be very suspicious and that nobody would call. He was right, everyone looked at him funny, and the BB calls and immediately checks in the dark. The flop comes Ac, 9s, 6c. Brook goes all in. Keep in mind he needs only two players to bust and he makes $10,700. At this point I want to scream what the F@#$!! are you doing. The BB folds immediately and I let out a huge sigh of relief. He later tells me he flopped two pair - A-6. Unbelievable.

6:10pm

Time for dinner. Brook has survived level 9 and left himself in pretty good shape. He stands at $33,900 and with only 149 players left, the possibility of cashing out seems to be a real opportunity.

5:33pm

Level 9 had continued to erode Brook’s chips away, until about 20-25 minutes left before the Dinner break Brook has the button and moves all in with pocket 5’s when everyone else has folded. Brook pushed with about $8,000 chips and the SB and BB fold.

The very next hand from the cutoff seat Brook moves all in again after every one before him laid down. However, this time Brook gets a call from the player on the button and the SB and BB lay down. Brook turns over pocket 9’s and the player on the button shows AJ off . We are off to the races. The flop comes 7,7,6 rainbow the turn brings an 8 and the river shows a 10 and Brook has just got the double up he needed.

4:22pm

Playing in the Media event had me running back and forth to make sure I didn’t miss any action on Brook’s table. Level 8 was not a profitable one. Brook is still alive with $10,000 in chips and with the blinds going to $600/1,200 along with $200 in antes in level 9, Brook has advised me to stay close. The end may be near. With 190 players left, Ryan and Greg along with our significant others have formed a small cheering section and we keep encouraging him on.

3:45pm

If you can believe this I was asked to play in the Media Charity event. I firmly believe my free poker experience is why they chose me to play. My reputation and passion for free poker must precede me. Actually anybody with media credentials and a heart beat is invited to play. The top three players receive plaques commemorating the event and the winner gets to donate $500 to their favorite charity. I found myself suddenly thinking about what my favorite charity might be. I was soon shaken out of my delusions of philanthropy when I found myself seated with Greg Raymer and Wil Wheaton of Poker Stars. Yes that Wil Wheaton of movies and television. Stand By Me is one of my favorite movies and being a bit of a closet trekkie I was happy to be sitting at Wil’s table. However if I would have known that there was an open seat next to Evelyn Ng I would have bribed our tournament director. Play was loose in the tournament and the structure was a little different for all the non-poker playing media people. The first 2 levels were Limit Hold’em and then it went No-Limit after that. Being a man who loves to chase cards in a Limit Game I quickly found myself down $500 dollars. Since we only started with $2,000 in chips I was getting a short stack quick. Pocket 6’s was my eventual downfall when I moved all in against the chip leader. I believe he works for Card Player. He was holding 10s,7s and a 10 comes on the flop. The tournament was eventually won by Ms. Ng herself. I was grateful for the experience and hope to do it again someday.

2:37pm

At the end of level 7 Brook is still standing with $14,200 and the blinds will now be $400/800 with a $100 ante.

1:31pm

There have been lots of action in the first half hour at Brook’s table. Nick Schulman the player in Seat 7 and the original table chip leader for the table lost close to $45,000 in a pot to Aavel McCrae the player in seat 4. I am not sure what Nick was holding but with 2 Aces on the board and no draw possibilities. Aavel showed an AQ off giving him a set. Nick mucked his cards. He must have been trying to outplay his opponent. A few hands later Nick Schulman moves in his last chips with pocket 8’s and is called by KQ suited and a Q comes on the flop and Nick’s tournament is over. For the record the he donked off $49,900 in just over 25 minutes in the beginning level of Day 2.

12:45pm

Day 2 is upon us and here is what Brook’s table looks like when he sits down in the next few minutes:

Seat 1 Peter Gunnarson $21,100

Seat 2 Stephen Jones $9,100

Seat 3 Robert Oefinger $8,600

Seat 4 Aavel McCrae $45,400

Seat 5 N/A

Seat 6 Tracey Dell $15,900

Seat 7 Nick Schulman $49,900 (He won the WPT Foxwoods last year)

Seat 8 Daniel Shiek $8,700

Seat 9 William Barr $32,700

Seat 10 Brook with $15,300

Day 2 Today I'll be "getting my lobster on" and taking in some rest and relaxation on the beach. See ya later...

10:45pm

Play resumed for two more levels following the dinner break. Daniel Negreanu busted out. Brook maintained his stack but in the final level the cards went flat and his chip stack fell to 15,300 to finish the day. Brook is relieved but disappointed in how he finished the day. I told Brook, "Remember, you can't win the tournament on day 1, you can only lose..."

Hoyt Corkins had a nice chip stack going into the final level and ended up losing about 35k in one hand...According to Brook, Hoyt made what appeared to be a very bad play. A tight player to Brook's left was the beneficiary. The winning player showed A-K, giving him a pair of kings with top kicker. What seemed unusual was the amount of money Hoyt poured into this particular pot. There were a lot of onlookers and everyone at the table raised an eyebrow when Hoyt could not beat this hand and mucked. This was a big swing and he was left with 11k.

6:00pm

Dinner break. Brook is doing fine with 20,600 in chips. The chip leader on his table is currently Hoyt Corkins with around 38k. Several players on his table have now busted out.

Mike Matusow is sitting on a table next to Brook's and there are a lot of people on the rail watching. Watching Matusow's table is quite entertaining. The guy just does not shut up, true to his nickname "The Mouth". He does not have much of a chip stack to back it up, however. Not far into the final level Matusow busted out to the overall chip leader of the tournament for day 1.

5:20pm

Greg, playing short stacked, has run into more bad luck. Holding pocket 9's he runs into pocket Jacks. To his credit he did not go broke, but with only 1400 he is hanging on by a string. He is waiting for any decent hand to move with now as the blinds are at 100-200 with a 25 ante.

The antes and blinds have chewed up Greg (only 400 left) and the cards have been really cold. He finally moves in with the first face card (King) he sees. He doesn't catch and is eliminated.

Tough day for both the Minnesota & Dakota Poker League champs. Both players enjoyed the experience immensely and are still thrilled to be on vacation at the beautiful Atlantis Resort. We'll continue to report on the main tournament and root on Brook Lyter's tournament experience.

4:30pm

Greg Anderson took a devastating blow to his chip stack when he got rivered by a straight. Greg held A-K to his opponent's A-Q, who called Greg's raise of 600 pre-flop. The flop came 8-10-J rainbow. Greg fired out 1,000 and got called. The turn came an ace, putting Greg in great shape, since a Q would give Greg the nut straight. Greg bet 2,000 and his opponent re-raised all in for his remaining 5,700. Greg calls and is delighted when the cards are flipped over that he has made the right read. Unfortunately the river was a 9 and Greg suffered a devastating suck-out. The good news is he's still alive but left with 6,025. Folks, it is always tough to take a bad beat, but especially in an event of this magnitude. The prize pool is nearly $6 million. Greg is taking it in stride, however, and has vowed not to give up.

We've now made it to the break and Brook has built up his stack to 16,950. He recalls that today he has bluffed twice with 7-2o, and both times it did not work...lol.

2:59pm

Bad news for DPLers. Right before the end of the 2nd level we have our first casualty. Ryan Koffler has busted. With about 3 minutes left to go in the level and the blinds at 50-100, an aggressive player and chip leader to Ryan's immediate right raised to 400 holding pocket 10's. Ryan called with A-Qo. Ryan's stack was sitting at roughly 15k, his opponent already had 45k. Chris Moneymaker folded in the big blind. Flop came 9-10-Q rainbow, giving Ryan top pair, top kicker, but he was in big trouble with the other player hitting a set. Ryan bet 1,000 following a check and got called. The turn was an 8. Ryan called 1500 believing his opponent did not have a straight (and he was right!). An ace fell on the river, improving Ryan's hand to top 2-pair, but he was still behind. It was a scary board for both players. Ryan's opponent bet 2000 on the river card and Ryan's only chance to win was to make a bold bluff. This is exactly what he did, re-raising all in for his remaining 11,000...After a long deliberation of approximately 2 minutes, his opponent muttered, "you know what, I'm going to call". That ended Ryan's day earlier than he hoped. Despite that, he is in very good spirits and will enjoy the rest of his vacation.

Checking up on Greg Anderson (pictured left) he is fairing well at the end of the 2nd level, with 12,700 in chips.

The action heated up for Brook during the second level when he woke up to pocket Aces and made a typical opening raise of 300 and got Hoyt Corkins to re-raise 2000 from the big blind. Brook smooth called in an attempt to abstract more chips after the flop. The flop came Jc-5d-2d, and Hoyt fired out 5000. Brook went into the tank for about a minute before announcing, "all-in"...Hoyt himmed and hawed for at least two minutes, and finally laid down his hand, saying "he's got pocket J's"...After a moment, Hoyt asked, "could you beat Kings?" and Brook replied, "absolutely". At the end of the break Brook has 13,250.

1:15pm

At the end of the first level Ryan has 12,275 in chips, Greg has 11,475 and Brook has 9,775. I have to say that all of our players are settling in nicely and I expect a long day of covering poker. By the way when I was out at the pool earlier the temp was 75 degrees and the sun was shining.

January 5th
12:07pm

Well, it's the moment we've been waiting for...Lee Jones announces that around 730 players are participating in this event and estimated 1st place will be approximately $1.3 million. There are a lot of regular WPT players showing up last minute...Today's field includes Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Isabelle Mercier, Amir Vahedi, David Williams, John Phan, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Eric Siedel, Barry Greenstein, Chris Moneymaker, Hoyt Corkins and others...

Shortly after noon Greg Raymer announces "shuffle up and deal!" and with that the cards in the air. Our players have taken their seats. Greg Anderson is playing with Aaron Kanter, the 4^th place finisher at this years WSOP. Ryan Koffler is playing with the 2003 WSOP champion Chris Moneymaker (pictured right). Brook drew a table with Hoyt Corkins. Tough assignments for all of our players to say the least. With the blinds at 25-50 the DPL/MPL crew have now broken the ice...

January 4th 11:30pm

We have arrived!!! After a long day in the air we finally made it to Atlantis and the beautiful weather (86 degrees). After getting settled into our rooms we made our way down to the Poker Stars Welcoming Party. With some cold libations and gourmet food under our belt we mingled with the other players and the Poker Stars themselves (Pictured left: 2005 WSOP Champ Joseph Hachem with Brook, Greg & Ryan). We also had the chance to speak with Greg Raymer on his sorry mishap (bad beat) at this years WSOP. If you get the chance ask me about it when you see me during league play this spring. The man is a true Poker Ambassador. He even politely recalled when Brook and I met him in Bismarck this past March. He also gave Greg a couple of tips on reading opponents. Good stuff! After the party - and several cocktails later - we wandered our way to the poker room to play a little warmup sit-n-go, but the room is packed and the staff seem to be a little unorganized. So we called it a night.