Bodog Beat

This was the scene in the Amazon Room a couple of hours ago as the media listened for more spectacular quotes from Phil Hellmuth after a major disagreement at the 2007 World Series of Poker. (Bodog Beat Image)

A near mutiny was in the works today at the 2007 World Series of Poker. Players and tournament directors (TDs) were exchanging words over the amount of starting chips that players received for the $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball with Rebuys.

It all began when Daniel Negreanu showed up late to see that his stack had been blinded down to about 7,200 due to the blinds and antes being so high in this event. He wasn't happy about it but accepted his fate and sat down to start playing. A little while later, Barry Greenstein showed up to take his seat to find out that the TD had picked up his stack. At that point, the TD told him that he would seat him with a stack of 9,000 based on the rules in place for these situations.

As you can imagine, Daniel had quite a few objections to this. He was informed that because he didn't ask for a ruling when he sat down and played a hand with the stack in front of him, he has to play with that stack. This caused as close to pandemonium as we have seen at the 2007 WSOP. Players objecting and TD trying to explain. Eventually, the clock was stopped and Head TD Jack Effel was called at his house, where he was having a BBQ, to give a final ruling.

As it turns out, the impromptu 20 minute break ended up saving Phil Hellmuth's tournament life. For the same reason that Daniel's stack had been blinded down, Phil's stack was heading for rail as it waited for him to make his characteristic late arrival. Phil arrived during the break to find his stack down to 1,150. As you can imagine, he was livid; stalking the floor, discussing the situation with TDs and talking on the phone. However, he did calm down and ended up just rebuying a few hands after the clock started back up.

The problem with the whole situation is the players that pre-registered, as requested by Harrah's, were punished more than those who registered late. The pre-registrants were blinded off and the late registrants could buy in at any point with a stack no less than 8,200 (according to Rule #81, a photocopy of which was handed out to everyone who witnessed the spectacle). Harrah's ended up drawing the distinction that pre-registered players who showed up late were doing so intentionally, and the late registrants were not.

Some great quotes from the madness:

"Next time the players design the structure, not the CEO's" - Phil Hellmuth to Howard Lederer, who was on the Players Advisory Council that helped decide on tourney structures.

"I think section 4, paragraph 8 applies to this situation" - Jokingly said by Jeff Lisandro in an attempt to throw in his wit to the fray.

"Hitler had rules, too" - Andy Bloch during a five-minute long rant to Gary Wise of WorldSeriesofPoker.com which included Fourth of July references about independence from irrational rules.

On top of all of this, the power went out in the Rio casino and the restaurants are still closed. No AC and no lights for about 10 minutes. The AC also died in the Poker Tent, making it the Poker Sauna again. The players in the mega-satellites are being moved into the Amazon Room as we speak. Then the internet went down in the media room. Our guess is the heat is getting to the infrastructure as its been 115 degrees for about 5 days now in Vegas.

Anyway, we'll let you know more as it happens live from the 2007 World Series of Poker.