Last Sunday, the WSOP main event began with day 1a where 1,066 participants signed up. Day 1b saw a further 2,114 players and Day 1c added a further 3,418 making a grand total of 6,598 total players for the 43rd WSOP main event.

The total prize pool is $62,021,200 and $8,527,982 will be pocketed by the winner and 666th position can expect to be paid $19,,227.. As at day 4, the bubble burst and no less than 4 players finished in 666th position, each taking a share of $4,806.75 each. As at day 5, there were just 282 players left, five of which were women. The top 10 chip holders at the end of day 5 are:

Kyle Keranen (USA) 6,935,000
Robert Salaburu (USA) 6,195,000
Taylor Paur (USA) 5,820,000
Erik Hellman (Sweden) 4,715,000
Wilfried Haerig (Germany) 4,505,000
Shahriar Assareh (USA) 4,395,000
Charles Coultas (USA) 4,015,000
Gaelle Baumann (France) 3,980,000
Fabrizio Gonzalez (Uruguay) 3,935,000
Nicco Maag (Germany) 3,895,000

In other news, Duke University have studied the area of the brain used for bluffing when playing poker. The temporal-parietal junction in the brain apparently reacts differently when playing online as opposed to playing face to face and it is this area of the brain that determines whether an opponent is worth bluffing or not.

In the world of fast paced online poker, 32Red Poker is the latest in a long line to take up the latest online craze of speed poker. Blaze poker can now be played at 32Red Poker and all the usual attributes of speed poker are available

Full Tilt Poker chief, Ray Bitar, has been released on bail. He managed to raise a $2.5 million bond and also agreed to post $2 million in property. His passport has been surrendered to stop him leaving the US.

A new mobile app released by Caesars Entertainment for the ipad, iphone and other smart phone devices, enables players to play holdem and omaha against other players, chat in real time and view your game stats. The app is called World Series of Poker Presented by EA and you can even win WSOP virtual rings and bracelets .

A tweet from James Barnes, who appears to be a lawyer, tweeted that the PokerStars action to acquire Full Tilt has "folded" was denied by PokerStars Communications Chief, Eric Hollreiser.
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