Jesse Martin Poker Tournament Updates

Jesse Matin Eliminated in 16th Place

Mar 29, '11

Jesse Martin got the last of his chips into the middle preflop from the UTG+1 and D.J. Blanchard made the call from the big blind. Their cards:

Martin: J 10
Blanchard: 8 8

Board: 6 4 2 A 7

Martin was eliminated on the hand in 16th place, just a few spots shy of the prize money.

Player Tags: Jesse Martin,   Duane Blanchard

Level 16 Recap

Jul 01, '07

There are currently 32 players left on 4 tables.

The most recent pro to hit the rail was Arnold Spee.  Spee had been short on chips and found himself butting heads with the current chip leader Taylor Douglas.  Spee managed to double his $78,000 through Douglas when he moved all in with A A, and got Douglas to call with A J, The board ran out 4 3 3 6 4, and Spee had about $170,000 in chips, which was still below the average, but considerably healthier.  Spee ran into Douglas again with the best of it a few hands later, but he was drawn out on, and was eliminated in 34th place earning $20,860.

Greg "FBT" Mueller has been very active at his table, often offering free advice to his opponents.  He has about an average chip stack at the moment.  Also still alive are Jesse Martin and Shaun Deeb.

The players are now on dinner break until 10:20 pm.
Notable Chip Counts

Marc Phan	482,000
Greg "FBT" Mueller	270,000

Player Tags: Arnold Spee,   Greg Mueller,   Jesse Martin,   Shaun Deeb

Level 14 Recap

Jul 01, '07

The fourteenth level of play has ended and there are fewer than 66 players remaining. Play tightened up slightly in the last level with fewer players risking all of their chips by pushing all in. Players have also become very aware of the pay jumps between eliminations. An unknown player was deciding whether or not to call an opponent's large raise and the opponent reminded him that the field was only two eliminations away from jumping a pay level. "Oh sh**, you're right," said the player and immediately folded his hand. The table laughed and the player said he was going to fold anyway.

Shannon Shorr is the most recent notable elimination. Greg "FBT" Mueller, Jesse Martin and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi are all still alive.

The tournament is on a 20 minute break at the end of the level. The break was extended to compensate for the time it would take tournament officials to color off the purple $500 chips.

Notable Chip Counts

Greg "FBT" Mueller	205,000
Arnold Spee	115,000
Jesse Martin	60,000
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi	36,000

Player Tags: Greg Mueller,   Michael Mizrachi,   Jesse Martin,   Shannon Shorr

Level 13 Recap

Jul 01, '07

Play continued at a furious pace in the 13th level and the field is down to 100. Notable eliminations in the last round include Chad Brown, Mike Gracz and 2006 Senior Event Champion Paul McKinney.

Gracz was eliminated shortly after losing a race for half his stack. Gracz raised to $12,000 preflop and the player in the seven seat reraises all in for $23,000. Gracz called and turned over A 10. The player in seat seven was ahead with Q Q. The flop came Q J 7 and Gracz was even further behind but picked up a gut shot straight draw. The turn brought the K and Gracz looked relieved. The player in seat seven pleaded for the dealer to pair the board and the river did just that, bringing the J. Gracz lost to his opponent's full house and was down to under $30,000 after the hand. Gracz was eliminated a few hands later.

Chad Brown was sent to the rail in the last level as well. Brown was all in with A K up against his opponent's A Q. A queen hit on the flop and Brown couldn't catch on the turn or the river.

Getting your aces cracked seems to be a common theme in this event and it happened to both Brad Berman and Shaun Deeb in seperate hands. Deeb bet out and was reraised all in by Jesse Martin who had about $40,000 behind him. Deeb had Martin well covered and instantly made the call showing A A. Martin realized he chose a bad time to push and showed 8 8. The flop came Q 8 5 and Martin was silent with two cards to come. Deeb simply shook his head and started counting out the right amount of chips to pay off Martin. The turn was the 3 and the river brought the 10. Martin doubled up to $86,000. On an adjacent table, Brad Berman was all in preflop against his opponent's pocket queens. The board came J 6 3 6 Q and the river gave Berman's opponent the pot. Berman tried to mask his frustration as he shipped $54,000 to his opponent.

Greg Mueller continued his roller coaster like journey in the last level and now sits with $115,000 in chips. The player in seat five raised all in from the small blind for $48,000 and Mueller had a decision for most of his chips. The two had tangled earlier in the day and you could sense Mueller wanted to snap him off. Mueller eventually called and turned up K 9. The player in seat five showed 5 5. The board came K 6 6 J J and Mueller was rewarded by eliminating a headache and picking up a large amount of chips. "I'm the wrong person to do that to" said Mueller. "I dont' get pushed around!"


Notable Chip Counts

Greg "FBT" Mueller	180,000
Shaun Deeb	130,000
Brad Berman	125,000
Shannon Shorr	75,000
Arnold Spee	38,000
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi	36,000

Player Tags: Michael Gracz,   Greg Mueller,   Bradley Berman,   Jesse Martin,   Shaun Deeb

Level 12 Recap

Jul 01, '07

The twelfth level of play has been completed and the players are now on a 15 minute break. In just an hour and a half the field has shrunk from 218 players down to 130. The pace of play is chaotic at best and players are busting out continuously. John Myung was eliminated in the 11th level of play after taking a crippling blow from an opponent at his table. Myung raised to $7,000 preflop and the player in the one seat popped it up to $35,000. Myung pushed all in with pocket queens and the player in seat one showed A-Q. An ace hit on the flop and Myung was left with just a few thousand. Myung was eliminated shortly after the hand.

Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi came into day two third in chips and after a level and a half is still amongst the chip leaders. The Grinder took a small hit at the very beginning of level 12 but has built his stack back up to $133,000. The player in the five seat at Mizrachi's table bet out $9,000 and Mizrachi called from the small blind. The player in seat two reraised all in for $15,200. The player in seat five and Mizrachi both made the call. The two players still with chips checked all the way down and the board showed 9 5 4 J 9. Mizrachi shrugged and called out "Ace high." The player in seat two showed A Q and the player in the five seat flipped over 7 7 to take down the large pot.

Jesse Martin caused some excitement in the last level, and managed to triple up in the process. Early on, Martin pushed all in for his last $10,000 preflop and was called by the player in seat three. Martin showed K K and the player in seat three held Q J. The board came K 7 5 3 10 and Martin doubled to $24,000. Later in the level, Martin was again in a decision for all of his chips. The player in seat two had pushed all in preflop and was called by the player in seat three. Martin went into the tank for a few minutes and during his deliberation the player in seat two was constantly making noise. The player in seat two called for a clock on Martin and the floorman began his count. When his clock ran out, the floorman began to announce that Martin's hand was dead and he yelled out "call." Martin turned over A Q, the player in seat three held 9 9 and the player in seat two Q J. The board came Q 10 5 3 3 and Martin tripled up to $70,500. "That's what you get!" said Martin to the player in seat two. "Making noise, so disrespectful. You always do that when I play with you. There isn't a player in this room who would do what you did."

Greg "FBT" Mueller has experienced a roller coaster of a day so far. Mueller's chip stack has been changing more often than Gavin Griffin's hairstyle. With the board showing 10 3 2 Mueller bet out $6,000. The player in seat four came back over the top all in. Mueller thought for a moment and then said, "I probably shouldn't do this but here we go" and showed K 10. The player in seat four turned over Q 3 and said, "I didn't put you on a hand." The turn was the 5 and the river was the 9 doubling Mueller up to $50,000. "Didn't put me on a hand? Yeah, I always limp under the gun with nothing. What are you talking about?" said Mueller, semi-berating his opponent. Later in the level, after building his stack to almost $70,000 Mueller pushed all in over another player's preflop raise. The player called with 9 9 and Mueller showed K J. The board bricked out for Mueller when it came A 5 2 2 A and Mueller had to ship $36,000 across the table. Mueller was able to climb back up to $60,000 a few hands later courtesy of Chad Brown and an unknown player at his table. Brown raised to $9,000 preflop and Mueller called from the small blind. The big blind called and the flop came Q J 8. Mueller open pushed all in for his last $30,000 and got no callers, picking up the preflop bets.

Player Tags: Greg Mueller,   Michael Mizrachi,   Gavin Griffin,   Jesse Martin

One Table

Jun 05, '07

There are 10 players remaining in event six, $1,500 Limit Hold 'Em. The players are down to the final table with one elimination remaining. Jesse Martin was eliminated in 12th place, earning $11,552. Martin was eliminated when he was all in with A3 against Hansu Chu who had 77. The board bricked out for Martin but brought a seven on the river for Chu just to make sure. Ken Dickensen busted in 11th place, earning $11,552 as well. Dickensen's J10 ran into Soheil Shamseddin's pocket nines and never improved. Gary Styczynski is our chip leader with over $700,000.

Player Tags: Gary Styczynski,   Jesse Martin,   Hansu Chu,   Soheil Shamseddin

One More Table To Go

Jun 05, '07

The field has gone from 910 all the way down to 16. There was a brief break in the action as tournament officials condensed the players down to two tables when there were 18 remaining. Following the re-draw Jesse Martin, David Sklansky and Hansu Chu (second in chips) are all seated at the same table. Our current chip leader is Brandon Wong with $370,000 and following in a close second is Hansu Chu with $330,000. The average chip stack at this point is $170,437.

Play has tightened since the last level as the idea of making a World Series of Poker final table is starting to become more realistic. David Sklansky was in the small blind and gave Hansu Chu a walk, to which Chu said to the table, "this is the hand I'm supposed to double up with!". Chu folded aces face up and Sklansky nodded his head in understanding.

Chu may actually be the only player who isn't tightening up, he has been involved in a majority of the pots at his table. Casey Peters was all in after the flop and the money was right for Chu who made the call with AJ. Peters had 66 and was amazed when they held up. As he collected his chips after doubling up Peters asked Chu, "Can we do that again? That really wasn't that much." Peters battled from $18,000 all the way up to $110,000 this level before taking a few hits and dropping back down to $30,000. A few hands later Peters and Chu continued to battle but this time the big stack reigned supreme. Peters raised and Chu re-raised, putting Peters all in. Peters made the call and turned over A2. Chu was holding JJ. The flop came K62, giving Peters a little hope. Turn card was the J taking all the mystery out of the river card (3) and Peters was eliminated in 15th place, good for $10,310.

Level 17 is set to begin following an hour dinner break. The players will return at 10 p.m.  and the limits are going up to $10,000-$20,000 so there should quite a few eliminations in this level. Play will continue tonight until the final table, consisting of only nine players.

Player Tags: David Sklansky,   Casey Peters,   Brandon Wong,   Jesse Martin,   Hansu Chu