The most obvious thing to learn is simply, how the game is played. You can pick up the rules (and customs) of the game just by watching. We all have to start somewhere and where better than the Formula One of Cards. Look a bit deeper and you’ll see how players maximize the potential of their (good) hole cards. Check out the early raises, reflecting the higher percentage of winning the pot. It may be Poker Rules Page One to you, but the WSOP shows you how you really make your money work for you. Sometimes the TV producers give you a heads up display on the screen as to what percentage each player has of winning the pot. Take a god hard look at these, and if you find yourself thinking, I’d have stayed in on that hand (when it shows a 12%) chance think again. ESPECIALLY if staying in would have rivered you a straight (respect the odds). Similarly Take note of rounds expert players folding (seemingly) strong hands listen to the to the commentators as they explain the psychology and reasoning, they know what they’re talking about. If you don’t have your own table character watch the pros at The World Series of Poker, as they are some of the finest tight and loose players in the game. Watch the way players play and work out what would work for you.

The next one is a great free tip for playing poker. This is something that is a lot easier to do when you’re off the table. Sit and quietly watch how those pros act when they’re playing. Because of the glass topped tables you’ll be able to know when they’re bluffing. Is there a twitch, a tell, do they look scared do they look overly confident. You may never have the chance to sit opposite them and bankrupt a pro working on his tell till the sun comes up, but in more general terms they will show you how to be “the Grey man” that’s an unreadable slate who could be holding the nuts of garbage. Look at their body language and the way they carry themselves, particularly when they are bluffing.

Once you’ve done your learning and feel that you’ve had enough schooling for one day, crack open a cold one, watch and enjoy some of the best games players on the planet ply their trade at the highest of high tables.

It’s been said many times before that this year’s WSOP was in danger of being a runt with Black Friday, causing some nay-sayers to claim that the 2011 WSOP would be thinned down as Poker players the world over would have the assets unavailable leading to Spartan tables on  the floors of the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. But it was a case of “No way Jose!” 2011 WSOP might just’ve been the best yet!

There was no excuse to not watch as  55 of the Bracelet Tables were streamed live (ish) on a five-minute delay via the internet on WSOP.com and the remainder (the $25K Heads Up, $50K Poker Players Championship and the Main Event) were streamed on ESPN3. Plenty watched as the average number of viewers watching the live WSOP Main Event was a stonking 416,000; a double digit increases over last year’s WSOP coverage on ESPN.

With so many mighty men of the cards in attendance it seems unfair to pick out just one of the stars, but one guy deserve it. Mr Ben Lamb. Lamb had a mythical run, at the 2011 World Series of Poker, with four in the money finishes, he also won a WSOP bracelet in the 361-player $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship and a prize of $814,436; he finished 2nd in the 685-player $3000 Pot Limit Omaha Event 31 pocketing a prize of $259,918, he finished 12th in the 474-player $10,000 No Limit Hold ‘em / Six Handed Championship Event 46 making $56,140 and finished 8th in the 128-player $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship Event 55 for a prize of $201,338.  Lamb won his first bracelet this year, but he’s hardly a dark horse, before that, he was runner up in a $3,000 PLO event and made the final table of the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship. He is the current leader in the 2011 World Series of Poker Player of the Year points standing, plus he’s certain of at least another $700k to add to the $1.3 million he’s already pocketed this summer, as one of the November Nine?

The big WSOP story is that we’re down to the last nine of the main event will get underway in November.  On that table there’ll be;  gong all-in for a full house.

• Seat 1 – Eoghan O’Dea
• Seat 2 – Martin Staszko
• Seat 3 – Ben (see above) Lamb
• Seat 4 – Phil (not the singer)  Collins
• Seat 5 – Pius Heinz
• Seat 6 – Anton Makiievskyi,
• Seat 7 – Samuel Holden
• Seat 8 – Badih Bounahra
• Seat 9 – Matt Giannetti.

If you have the desire to pick over the stats of WSOP2011, you should know that there have been 57 Bracelets awarded. Brian Rast continued the 11-year streak of someone winning multiple bracelets in the WSOP, (Ben Lamb has a chance to join him, if he picks up the most coveted of bracelets of all by winning the Main Event). Howard “Tahoe” Andrew made it 38 consecutive years played at the WSOP his is the longest streak of activity in WSOP history, as Tahoe has had a seat at every one since 1973.  Poker is truly an international joy, twenty-two of the bracelets winners were non-Americans this year, with the final nine showing just  how diverse the game has become. There were actually 105 different countries represented this year.

Stu Ungar

Stu Ungar won a local gin tournament at age 10 and dropped out of school to play gin rummy in the 1960s full time to help support his mother and sister after his father died, and began regularly winning. By 1976, he was regarded as one of the best players in New York.

The fresh faced Ungar destroyed anyone who challenged him including a professional gin player, Harry “Yonkie” Stein. Ungar beat Stein 86 games without losing once!

Ungar became a victim of his own success, soon no-one would play him at rummy, he was just too good, but poker offered up a whole new world.

Technically brilliant with cards Ungar had a genius-level IQ and eidetic memory which contributed to his card counting (and remembering) skills, so much so he was frequently banned from playing (blackjack) in casinos. With poker he was noted for his ultra-aggressive playing style and well-timed bluffs, but was also incredibly obnoxious to play against and was often down right rude to opponents.

Cocaine entered Ungar’s life at around the time his mother died in 1979. The drug was originally helpful, keeping Stuie up and at the table, wired and jittery but still winning.

In 1980 Ungar entered the World Series of Poker (WSOP) looking for some action, he claimed it was the first time he had ever played a Texas Hold’em Poker tournament. Ungar promptly won the main event, defeating Doyle Brunson to become the youngest champion in its history, and took the nickname The Kid along with the title.

Ungar won his second bracelet in 1981 in the $10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw event, defeating 1978 world champion Bobby Baldwin and took home $95,000 and in the 1983 WSOP, Ungar won his fourth bracelet and $110,000

When Ungar had money, was one of the most generous people to be around. He feely gave large amounts of money to friends on bad streak, associates on a losing run, chatty taxi drivers, random dealers, pit bosses, local strippers and even complete strangers.

But Ungar, was never “good” with money, he never had a bank account in his own name, had no concept of how a bank account even worked and paid for everything in cash. This child like attitude to currency was mirrored in his infantile enthusiasm for drugs.

A telling example is that during the third day of the WSOP main event in 1990, Ungar was found passed out on the floor of his hotel room from a drug overdose when he should have been at the table. Yet, he had such a bankroll at the table that even when the dealers kept taking his blinds Ungar still finished 9th in absentee.

By 1997 Ungar was drowning in debt, but received the $10,000 buy-in to the WSOP main event from fellow Poker Professional (and friend) Billy Baxter moments before the tournament started. And then went on to win the main event for the record-setting third time.

The comeback was short lived; around 1998 Ungar disappeared from the public view. He was slumming it in cheap hotels and was seen around various Las Vegas poker rooms begging for money. The money fed Stu’s new addiction, Crack.

On November 22nd Ungar was found dead with $800 cash on him, in a cheap motel room. The medical examiner concluded that he had died of a heart condition brought on by is incessant drug use.

Despite having won an estimated $30 million during his poker career, Ungar died with just $800 cash to his name, and a collection had to be raised to finance his funeral.

He was a genius with the cards, a winner at the tables, ill equipped for life away from the tables and ultimately offers a cautionary tale of obsession.

At the 2009 WSOP a one-off $40,000 tournament started the longest running poker festival in the world to celebrate the series’ 40^th anniversary. That particular event attracted 201 players and was eventually won by Vitaly Lunkin of Russia who netted $1,989,120.

This year Harrah’s, owner of the World Series of Poker, have introduced the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship which will see some of poker’s elite battle it out over eight different poker variants. The games to be played are fixed-limit Hold’em, fixed-limit Omaha hi/lo split, Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud hi/lo split, no-limit Hold’em, pot-limit Omaha and 2-7 Triple Draw. Games will rotate every eight hands although the final table will be solely no-limit Hold’em.

Harrah’s have decided to use this tournament to replace the $50,000 HORSE event which attracted only 95 entries last year, down from 148 in 2008. Much of the blame for the reduced figures must go down to the decision to not air the final table on ESPN so many of the player’s sponsors refused to buy their players into the tournament. This mistake will not be repeated in 2010 as the final table of the $50,000 event will be broadcast by ESPN who have the rights to the WSOP for the next couple of years. Tournament poker videos of the event should also be available.

Another new tournament that is sure to draw in the crowds, especially the internet tournament specialists, is Event #52 – the $25,000 6-max no-limit Hold’em tournament. Each of the players will start with 75,000 chips and play to blind intervals starting at 150/300/25, increase every hour. The short-handed format should generate a lot of action and the coverage of the event should boost ESPN’s viewing figures as thousands will tune in to see some super-aggressive poker.

It is the end of Day 7 for all of the 27 players remaining and the 11th total day for the tournament. The biggest news has to be the presence of Phil Ivey who is 4th in at the end of the day. He has put his large chip stack to work by punishing the rest of the field. It will be his first cash in the Main Event since being bounced on a bad beat by Chris Moneymaker in 2003, a hand that was immortalized as one of the best hands of the year. He has to be the odds on favorite to win the title as he is one of only a few professionals remaining. He is within firing distance of the chip leader, Darvin Moon, who has over 20 million in chips. Ivey sits with just over 11 million.

Another notable pro who is remaining in the tournament is Antonio Esfandiari. With a little over 4 million in chips is on the short end of the field. Esfandiari has seen little success in the WSOP and has a small fan base thanks to other televised poker events such as High Stakes Poker and the WPT. He has a very good skill set and can be dangerous at any point in a tournament so he is one to watch out for, but “The Magician” needs to have a few tricks up his sleeve to take down this bracelet.

After today, the ”November Nine” will be set, so look for updates on the tournament along with player profiles right here.

With only 27 players remaining, the pressure gets turned up and we will see what these guys are made of.  While most of the pros that have entered have since gone to the rail, two names are still glaring on the leader board.  Antonia Esfandiari (4,470,000) has never really had a truly great run of cards, but he seems to make the most of every hand that he is involved in.  He is grinding away and continues to survive.  His style of play is ideal in this type of tourney and while he may never get that monster stack, do not be surprised to see his name on the final table.

The one person that everyone has to fear at this point is Phil Ivey (11,350,000).  He is currently sitting in 4th place, but that doesn’t really matter.  As he has been having an incredible WSOP, the rest of the field must take notice and beware of any hand that they play with him.  He has a tendency to go early or go deep and deep is obviously the case here. Only one other player managed to get three bracelets this time around and Phil obviously has his heart set on being the second one to hold that honor this year.

While the rest of the players are going after the bracelet and the $8,546,435 that goes with it, Phil Ivey probably stands to make more in side bets were he to take down the Main Event.  Everyone knows he loves to gamble and the circuit that he hangs around in is not scared to throw out a $1,000,000 on anything.  You can rest assured that if Phil makes it to the final table, the gallery will be a star studded field of poker superstars with their hands in their wallets.

The overall leader of the tournament is an unknown player by the name of Darvin Moon (20,160,000).  He has never had a cash in the WSOP and has sure picked a great time to break his cherry.  At this point, all of the players are guaranteed well over $300,000 and once they get it down to two tables, the payouts start to increase significantly.

Unfortunately for Moon, he will have to sit across from Ivey when play resumes.  You can be assured that his eye balls will be popping out of their sockets when he sees that chip stack and make it is sole purpose in life to move it across to his side of the table.  How will Moon handle the pressure of being the big stack with one of the greatest poker players in the world on his table?  Only time will tell, but we should have that answer in about 24 hours.