Another day of the Bodog Poker Open IV wrapped last night with Event #5 of both the Championship and Contender Series. In total, 199 players came out between the two events – 93 in the Championship and 106 in the Contender – and a total of $21,070 was paid out, including the $5,000 that bodog.com added to the Championship event prize pool. The big winners were online poker players 'Weslo18′ and 'papastacks.'

The BPO IV Championship Event #5 had 93 players with a $13,950 prize pool with $5,000 added by bodog.com making the total prize pool $18,950. First place also received T$500 for a chance to play in BPO IV Championship on Sunday, Nov 8th. Here is the final table breakdown:

1. Weslo18 – $5,685.00
2. DrDankRx23 – $3,790.00
3. gobirds – $2,274.00
4. Frank_Shades – $1,895.00
5. rjrat84 – $1,516.00
6. Troy111 – $1,231.75
7. The Maven – $1,042.25
8. VAFLZ - $852.75
9. vinnyb9 – $663.25

We'd also like to congratulate "vinnyb9″ for reaching multiple final tables so far in the BPO IV. So, congrats, and we hope to see you at the final table of the Championship.

The Contender Series Event #5 had 106 players with a total prize pool of $2,120. First place also received T$500 for a chance to play in the BPO IV Championship on Sunday, Nov. 8th, and places 2nd – 9th received T$50 for a chance to play in the Contender Series Finale on Nov. 8. Here is the final table breakdown:

1. papastacks – $636.00
2. lunarphase – $424.00
3. dukedaddiee – $252.28
4. iliketoplay – $169.60
5. perry_04 – $137.80
6. JHaas07 – $106.00
7. Jack0fAllTrades – $74.20
8. BOSTONRNDR – $55.12
9. Paldon – $36.00

The BPO IV continues tonight at 8:30pm ET with a $150 + $12 Limit Holdem event in the Championship Series that features $2,500 in added prize money. Next up for the Contender Series is a $15 + $1.50 Limit Holdem event at 9:15pm ET. For more details, visit the Bodog Poker Open overview page.

In preparation for the Bodog Poker Open IV Championship Event, Bodog Poker is offering a staggering number of ways for online poker players to qualify on the cheap for the tournament. Aside from awarding a T$500 seat to the winners of the Championship and Contender Series events all week, bodog.com will also be dedicating an entire day – Saturday, Nov. 7 – to qualify people into the BPO IV Championship.

Starting at the lowest level of buy-in available on Saturday ($1), the BPO IV Main Event Cheap Seat takes place at 1:40am and will award one seat to a Semifinal event, worth T$29. The next step up is the $5 + $.50 BPO IV Main Event Qualifier scheduled for 5:25pm and 10:05pm, both which offer two guaranteed T$29 seats into the BPO IV Main Event Semifinal. That Semifinal event is then set to take place at 8:05pm and guarantees one seat into the BPO IV Championship worth T$500.

On top of this ladder schedule, hopefuls will also have multiple chances to play in higher buy-in events that guarantee multiple seats to the BPO IV Championship. At 1:15pm, 4:15pm, 7:15pm and 10:15pm (all times Eastern) there will be a $69+$6 BPO IV 3 Seats to Main Event, which guarantees three T$500 seats into the Championship. For even more value, the $50 + $5 BPO IV 10 Seats to Main Event takes place at 6:15pm ET and guarantees ten T$500 seats for the BPO IV Championship.

Moving on into Sunday, Nov. 8, before the Championship event, Bodog will be hosting 12 different last chance qualifiers all with a $100+$9 buy-in, ranging from regular structure to turbo and super turbo. These events run between 11:15am ET – 3:02pm ET and guarantee at least one $T500 seat for the Championship per qualifier.

For more details, visit the Bodog Poker Open qualifying schedule and we'll see you at the BPO IV Championship Final Table on Sunday.

The first three days of the Bodog Poker Open IV are in the books and have already awarded $153,220 in prize money. The first three events of the parallel Championship and Contender Series drew in 1,449 online poker players vying to get a headstart on becoming the next poker superstar as the winner of the Bodog Poker Open IV Championship Event on Sunday, Nov. 8.

The first event of the BPO IV Championship Series was a $100+$9 No Limit Holdem event that pulled in 454 entrants. In addition to the $45,400 generated by these buy-ins, Bodog Poker added $15,000 to the prizepool to create a total purse of $60,400

Here is the final table breakdown:

1. 1ManCrew – $15,100.00
2. chiquita – $9,060.00
3. GeneHunter – $5,738.00
4. Dsalt – $4,228.00
5. slapdash – $3,322.00
6. elnino4444 – $2,718.00
7. nevertilt22 – $2,114.00
8. metalman66 – $1,328.80
9. troutman101 – $1,026.80

Contender Series Event #1 pulled in 413 players with a $7,500 guaranteed prizepool. Here are the results:

1. I_Have_AA_ – $1,875.00
2 . bwalk – $1,125.00
3. N8SK8S – $712.50
4. Southuga03 – $525.00
5. Jarrsts – $412.50
6. poker2606 – $337.50
7. SuperSlacker1 – $262.50
8. JHdaDoMiNaToR – $165.00
9. mrdodomr – $127.50

The BPO IV Event #2 had 137 players with a $34,250 prize pool plus $5,000 added by Bodog resulting in a $39,250 prize pool. Here is the final table breakdown:

1. jhkues – $11,775.00
2. mapsfly – $7,850.00
3. daisyxoxo – $4,670.75
4. vinnyb9 – $3,140.00
5. horningt12 – $2,551.25
6. Birdie34 – $1,962.50
7. streetsweeperX – $1,373.75
8. benthrb4 – $1,020.50
9. 011jp – $667.25

The Contender Series Event #2 had 162 players with a $4,050 prize pool. 1st place also received T$500 for a seat in the BPO IV ME and placed 2nd – 9th received T$50 each to play in the Contender Series ME. Here is the final table breakdown:

1. iliketoplay – $1,215.00
2. ILIVEOFFPOKER – $810
3. ninjas22 – $481.95
4. Dannenmann – $324
5. FullHouseMD – $263.25
6. amberbock05 – $202.5
7. vinnyb9 – $141.75
8. VegasMan11 – $105.3
9. lowrider85 – $68.85

BPO IV Championship Series Event #3 had 115 players with a $34,500 prize pool plus $5,000 added by Bodog making for a total prize pool of $39,500. Results:

1. graytambar -  $11,850.00
2. Sweet Cakes - $7,900.00
3. UWOkid87 - $4,700.50
4. horningt12 - $3,160.00
5. northkato - $2,567.50
6. Troy111 - $1,975.00
7. Kevin Blackwood - $1,382.50
8. Babalicious - $1,027.00
9. Balla686 - $671.50

The BPO IV Contender Series Event #3 had 168 participants with a prize pool of $2,520. Final table payouts:

1. account99 - $756
2. FLUSH634 - $504
3. darksword119 - $299.87
4. ulose145  - $201.6
5. mikes007 - $163.8
6. Joatmon928 - $126
7. fsugolf - $88.2
8. saint83  - $65.51
9. TheDespot - $42.84

Winners of each event also receive T$500 for a chance to play in the Bodog Poker Open Championship Event on Sunday, Nov. 8th. In the Contender Series, those who finish 2nd – 9th place are awarded T$50 to play in the Contender Series Championship, also scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 8. Check out the Bodog Poker Open schedule for more details and don't forget that all day Saturday will feature a full slate of BPO qualifiers for the Championship Event.

After eight levels of play during Day 1, which took place yesterday, there are now only 84 players remaining, including Bodog Poker pros David Williams and Justin Bonomo. Bonomo has found himself near the top of the leaderboard with, according to his Twitter (@JustinBonomo), 87,900 in chips, while Williams is just above average with 48,000 in chips, also according to his Twitter (@dwbodogpro). Also among those still in the field are Jimmy Fricke, Theo Tran, Dutch Boyd, Kelly Kim, Toto Leonidas, Brandon Cantu, John Phan, Alan Smurfit, Lee Markholt and a bunch more.

Play resumes at Noon today Vegas time and will continue until the final table is set. Players will all be chasing the $246,928 first-place prize as well as the 2009 Caesars Palace Classic trophy. Stay tuned for more updates and download Bodog Poker to get in on some poker tournament action of your own, or play against either Bonomo or Williams at their own online poker tables.

Vedes beat out Jason Lavallee in a 51-hand heads-up duel to capture the $1.2 million first-place, giving Lavallee $795,150 for second place. This is the first WPT final table for Vedes and caps a profitable summer for the American. He ran deep at the 2009 WSOP Main Event (19th for $352k), final tabled the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event (5th for $47k) and then cashed at both the WPT Cyprus event and EPT London. Not a bad year at all, one that may make him one of the "well-known" players if he keeps it up.

Here are the full final table placings and payouts for the WPT Festa al Lago:

1. Tommy Vedes – $1,218,225
2. Jason Lavallee – $795,150
3. Craig Crivello – $477,090
4. Freddy Deeb – $278,300
5. Jason Burt – $208,725
6. Shawn Cunix – $168,970

Download Bodog Poker now to get in on some online poker tournament action of your won. Take advantage of the generous overlays and guaranteeds that are part of the daily Bodog online poker tournament schedule.

So, with 245 players registering during Day 1 and 30 during Day 2, there was a grand total of 275 players all coughing up $15,000 to play and thereby generating a $4,001,250 prizepool and a $1,218,225 first-place prize. With Day 3 about to kick off at the Bellagio there are 98 players remaining and among those players is Bodog Poker Justin Bonomo. This is how he ended up the day according to his Twitter (and verified by the official chip counts):

197,500 end of day 2. Avg is 160k.

A man of few words that Bonomo. However, there is a video blog that contains more words that will be going up later today.

Anyway, among the top ten in chip counts as the day begins will be Mark Seif (2nd – 473k), Dutch Boyd (3rd – 453k), Chad 'lilholdem954′ Batista (4th – 425k) and David "The Dragon" Pham (7th – 365k). There are many other notable players still in the hunt but we'll wait until the field narrows down some more before listing them all out.

Stay tuned for more impossibly lazy updates from the WPT Festa al Lago and if you want a chance to play in a major international poker tournament, then check out the Bodog Flight Club promotion and it's generous prize packages.

While those may seem like innocuous questions, how about this sample Q & A:

Would you rather be Manascrewd or drawing dead?

Drawing dead for sure, because there is no false hope if you’re drawing dead.

Now, if any of you know that that means, then congratulations you're a step ahead of us. So, if you want to read more about Justin's thoughts on things like this, then check out the link below.

Off the Felt with Justin Bonomo

Download Bodog Poker and play with Justin at his own table now and make sure to follow all of his exploits on Twitter (@JustinBonomo).

To give a frame of reference, last year's event drew out 368 players and generated a prize pool of $5.35 million spread out over the 50 players who received payouts. The final table of that event featured pros Nam Le, Nenad Medic, Adam Levy and the eventual champion Bertand "elKy" Grospellier, who walked away with the $1,411,015 first-place prize.

Due to the EPT Warsaw event, Grospellier will not be returning to defend his title this year so we will be crowning a new champion. Who will that be? Therein lies the burning question. One player who made a deep run in last year's event and will be looking to improve his finish this year after bubbling the final table on a questionable hand (which became forum fodder for weeks/months to come) during his last trip is poker pro Joe Sebok.

He's off to a good start already, though, as according to his Twitter account he won a satellite into the event and will now be playing Festa al Lago "on the cheap."

Stay tuned for updates from the WPT Festa al Lago and if you want a chance to play in a major international poker tournament, then check out the Bodog Flight Club promotion and it's generous prize packages.

Tonight's episode picks up with only 64 players remaining, including poker pros Phil Ivey and Antonio Esfandiari, both of who are seated at the featured table, and the continued tracking of last woman standing Leo Margets as well of the emergence of the Maryland logger Darvin Moon, who is now part of the poker consciousness. Or will be for the next month or so.

These 2009 WSOP Main Event episodes will continue every Tuesday at 9pm ET until the November Nine congregate back in Vegas to play out the final table and down to the $8.5 million first-place prize.

Download Bodog Poker now to get in on some online poker tournament action of your own.

The Bodog regular has been killing it on the virtual felt of the Bodog Poker room since May of this year, banking more than $70,000 in tournament winnings, including this one. However, this is his biggest single cash to date on Bodog and his first $100k final table and win. So, congrats to 'northkato' for the win. We're sure we'll see him more often on the Bodog Poker leaderboards.

Here are the full final table results and payouts:

1. northkato – $25,000
2. yegonsk – $15,000
3. B Pars – $9,500
4. ftpbob2bob – $7,000
5. antesvante – $5,500
6. spilsner – $4,500
7. oakmoney – $3,500
8. 170mmachamp – $2,200
9. duke7777 – $1,700

If you want a chance to play for $25,000 every Sunday afternoon at 4pm in the $100k Guaranteed you can either pony up your $150+$12 buy-in and purchase a seat directly, OR you can get started on your way for as little as $1 or T$1 and turn that into big time money. The choice is yours and either way, what with the overlays and everything, there's tremendous value for your online poker tournament dollar in the Bodog Poker room.