John D'Agostino - Live Updates

Level 8 Update: Howard Lederer Triples Up

Jun 08, '09

Blinds: 600-1,200

Players Remaining: 133 out of 179

Chip Counts:

1. Chris Bjorin – 134,000
2. Scott Clements – 131,000
3. Phil Ivey – 88,000
4. Sam Farha – 76,000
5. Alex Kostritsyn – 74,000
6. Phil Hellmuth – 70,000
7. John Hennigan – 63,000
8. John Lester – 60,000
9. John Monnette – 60,000
10. Jeff Madsen – 58,000

Average Chip Count: 40,074

Notable Eliminations:

Gavin Smith
Greg Raymer

Big Hands:

Howard Lederer Triples Up

The professor was able to get the last of his short stack into the pot with A1029. Lederer was called by Ivey and another opponent. The board ran out A7376 and Lederer tripled up by scooping the main pot. Ivey and the other player split the side pot.

Jeff Madsen Scoops Against John D’Agostino

On board of 66Q74, Jeff Madsen made a river bet and was called by John D’Agostino. The birthday boy exposed the AKJ3 and D’Agostino mucked. Madsen scooped and is up to 70,000 in chips.

Mike Matusow Scoops Pot Vs. Daniel Negreanu

On a board of 63AA5, Mike Matusow bet and Negreanu went into the tank before saying that he didn’t see how he could fold. He eventually made the 4,800 chip call and Matusow exposed the 5A24 for aces full and a 2-4 low for the low. Matusow scooped the pot and is now up to about 40,000 in chips.

Left In The Deck:

The players have stopped action for the night and will resume at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

Player Tags: Daniel Negreanu,   John D'Agostino,   Howard Lederer,   Mike Matusow,   Jeff Madsen

John D'Agostino Eliminated

Nov 06, '08

Despite flopping quads earlier in the day, John D'Agostino has been eliminated from the tournament.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Player Tags: John D'Agostino

Jimmy Fricke Eliminated

Nov 06, '08

On an 8-8-5-5-K board Jimmy Fricke bets 6,100 and John D'Agostino reraises to 15,000. Even though Fricked suspects D'Agostino has quads, he moves all in. D'Agostino shows his quads and Fricke is eliminated from the tournament.

D'Agostino now has over 50,000 in chips. 

 

 

 

 

 

Player Tags: John D'Agostino

$10,000 Main Event - Lieu Doubles Up

Jul 09, '08

Blinds/Antes: 500-1,000 with a 100 ante

Players Left: 1,071 of 2,378

Chip Leaders:

Peter Biebel: 380,000
Alex Outhred: 315,000
Steve Lade: 290,000
Darryl Ronconi: 290,000
Evan Woodington: 265,000
Steve Chung: 260,000
Henning Granstad: 255,000
Mohamad Kowssarie: 250,000
Chad Layne: 240,000
Andy Wrtek: 230,000

Big Hands:

"Double Up Time"

On a flop of K97, Liz Lieu checked and the player in seat 8 bet 8,000. Liu raised (check-raise) all in for 20,000. Seat 8 tanked for a minute before making the call. Both players turned over their cards.

Lieu: KJ
Seat 8: AJ

Lieu got it in with top pair against ace-high, and the turn and river brought the 3 and the 4. Lieu's kings held up as she doubled up to just about 50,000 after the hand.

Bernard Lee Eliminated

On a board of J623, Bernard Lee bet 9,600 and the player in seat 9 raised to 30,000. Lee came over the top and moved all in for 70,000, seat 9 made the call. Lee turned over 52 for the flush, but seat 9 showed A7 for the ace-high flush. Lee wasn't quite drawing dead on the turn, he would need to catch the 4 on the river to make the straight flush and double through his opponent. The river brought the 10, and Bernard Lee was eliminated from the main event.  

Gordon Gets Bigger

On the flop of a board reading 643, action checked around to Phil Gordon in the cutoff, who made a large bet of 15,000. The player in the small blind thought for some time before moving all in. Gordon quickly pushed in a call, showing 44 and crushing his opponent's 33. The turn was the J, leading Gordon to call for another spade for the chop. The river instead brought the 5, sending the pot across the felt to Gordon and sending the player in the small blind home. Gordon was up over 165,000 after the hand.

A few hands later, Gordon lost a few of those chips when he and fellow pro John D'Agostino both called a short stacked player's raise all-in before the flop. D'Agostino and Gordon both checked down the entire board, which ran out QJ1022. The short stacked player, sitting in seat 6, flipped over AK for the flopped nut straight. D'Agostino and Gordon both mucked their cards. Even after the triple up, seat 6 sat behind only around 7,000 in chips.

Thunder Gets Rolled

The player in seat 8 raised to 3,300 from late position and action folded to Thomas "Thunder" Keller in the big blind. Keller asked his opponent what he had left (33,200). Keller then raised to 12,000 and seat 8 immediately moved all in for 21,200 more. Keller thought for a couple of seconds before making the call and turning over AQ. Seat 8 rolled over QQ, dominating Keller's hand. The flop brought the case queen as it fell Q84. Keller needed running aces to win the pot. But the turn brought the J, leaving Keller drawing dead. The A was an added kick to the groin, giving Keller a worthless two pair. Keller was down to 121,000 after the hand.

Billirakis Makes a Move, Takes a Hit

Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirakis limped under the gun along with 3 others and the flop came 1087. Action was checked to Billirakis who bet 3,500. Seat 7 then check-raised to 10,000. Billirakis had his opponent covered and eyed seat 7's chips. He eventually announced he was all in, putting his opponent to the ultimate test. The pressure definitely made seat 7 uncomfortable, as he adjusted in his seat and sighed while thinking what to do. After some deliberation, he said he called and Billirakis showed 92 for the open-ended straight draw and flush draw. Seat 7 slammed down 88 happily and pumped his fist. The turn brought the 10, sending seat 7 into a celebration-mode because he made a full house, leaving Billirakis drawing dead. The river was a meaningless 2 and Billirakis lost nearly 100,000 in the hand, dropping to around 115,000.

A Table Worth Watching

Talk about a fun table. Teddy "Iceman" Monroe has just joined the table already featuring Bryan Micon, who announced, "It'  the Iceman!" as Monroe took his seat.

Micon Knows What Cards You Have

Bryan Micon raised to 2,500 from late position and was called by the player in seat 2, who was in the big blind. On a flop of KQ2, the big blind checked to Micon, who fired out 2,300. Seat 2 thought it over and stared at Micon. Micon smiled back and the big blind cracked a smile as well. He eventually called and when the 7 hit on the turn the big blind instantly moved all in for 7,800 more. "So sick," Micon said. "I know exactly what you have." Micon mucked his cards and told his opponent that he had a pair. His opponent said he could beat that.

Bellande Ready To Push

After grabbing a stack of chips Jean-Robert Bellande eye-balled the under the gun player who had just limped into the pot. Bellande elected to just limp in as well, and when the flop came out there were 6 players who had done so. The flop came Q106 and the player in the big blind led out for 2,300. Action folded to Bellande who announced a raise and made it 10,000 more to go. Action folded around back to seat 3 who thought briefly before mucking. Bellande said that he had a hand this time. "I was going all in," he said. "I had middle pair with the flush draw and I was ready."

Player Tags: John D'Agostino,   Phil Gordon,   Thomas Keller,   Bernard Lee,   Liz Liu

$10,000 Main Event - Day 2B - Level 6 (Hour 2)

Jul 09, '08

Blinds: 300-600, 75 ante

Chip Leaders:
Henning Granstad - 242,950
Igor Ioffe - 195,000
David Stucke - 168,000
David Benefield - 160,000
Dylan Linde - 146,000
Bill Blanda - 145,000
Sami Rustom - 140,450
Steve Billirakis - 137,000
David Singer - 136,000

Other Notables:
Nenad Medic - 122,000
Brad Booth - 120,000
Gus Hansen - 117,000
Andrew Robl - 105,000
Ayaz Mahmood - 80,000
Shun Uchida - 80,000
Jan Sjavik - 79,000
Phil Hellmuth - 77,000
Jeff Madsen - 75,000
Evelyn Ng - 75,000
Phil Gordon - 73,000
Chris Moneymaker - 68,000
David Daneshgar - 62,000
Liz Lieu - 55,000
Tony Dunst - 55,000
Mike Matusow - 53,000
Rolf Slotboom - 50,000
Joe Hachem - 34,000
Matt Hawrilenko - 32,000
Minh Nguyen - 32,000
Amir Vahedi - 31,950
Kyle Kloeckner - 30,000
Cory Zeidman - 28,000
Ryan Daut - 24,000
Bill Chen -24,000
Howard Lederer - 24,000
Nick Binger - 22,000
Ryan Daut - 18,000
Allen Cunningham - 16,000
Michael Binger - 12,000
Shannon Elizabeth - 11,500
Jeff Shulman - 10,000

Eliminations:
Alex Jacob
Jerry Yang
Beth Shak
Brian Townsend
Danny Wong
Joe Awada

Big Hands and Storylines:

Amnon Filippi Eliminated

Ryan Hughes raised to 1,400 under the gun and three players in middle position called. Then Charles Large, on the button, moved in for 12,500. Amnon Filippi, who had been holding his chips in his hand since the start of his hand, moved in for about 4,200. Hughes called and the three other players folded. The three players showed their hands:

Hughes: 99
Filippi: AK
Large: AK

Interestingly, not only were Filippi and Large sharing outs, but one of the players who folded claimed to have had pocket nines. The board was even worse news for Filippi and Large: the 876 flop giving Hughes an open-ended straight draw in addition to his pair. The turn was the 4, giving Large a flush draw, but the 8 on the river ended the World Series hopes of both Large and Filippi. Hughes is now up to 73,000.

Duane Thompson Doubles Through Evelyn Ng

Duane Thompson was all-in on the button for 11,000 against Evelyn Ng in the small blind. Thompson showed A2 and was visibly pleased when Ng showed KQ. Thompson was audibly pleased too, saying, “I can’t believe I’m ahead.” The raggy board – 75325 – kept him ahead, and he doubled up to 24,000. Despite the hit, Ng still has 75,000.

D’Agostino Takes a Hit

John D’Agostino just lost a 60k pot when his A-K could not improve against his opponent’s pocket queens. D’Agostino, sitting directly across from Phil Gordon, is down to 55,000.

Yang's run comes to an end

The defending champion has been eliminated. Seated at the second featured table, Jerry Yang was shortstacked and in need of luck. He first ran A-2 into A-Q, but survived when the board brought two pair and only their aces played. Then he moved in with A-J and was called by A-9, but a nine came on the flop and Yang was eliminated. On his way out, he wished everyone at his table good luck and then received a nice applause from everyone in the Amazon Room.

Goldstein Can't Pull the Trigger

Ken Goldstein, the SpadeClub poker room manager, was on the button and called a raise to 1500 from a player in middle position. The flop came K53 and both players checked. The 5 paired the board on the turn, and again both players checked. The J on the river brought the flush into play, and another checks followed. "No pair," declared the other player. Goldstein couldn't show a winner at that point. When the other player showed 108, Goldstein mucked his hand. Goldstein had about 12,000 in chips after the hand.

Hansen off to Nice Start

Gus Hansen was in middle position and raised to 1625, which resulted in play being folded around to the big blind, who made the call. The flop came J54, and both players checked. The 10 fell on the turn, and the big blind came out with a 4000 bet. Hansen seemed uncertain whether to simply call, or push the player all-in for his remaining 21,000. He finally made the call, and the 2 on the river made a four-flush on board. It was enough of a scare card that both players checked. The big blind showed KJ for top pair, while Hansen held 1010 for a set spiked on the turn, and he collected the pot. Hansen has about 120,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Evelyn Ng,   Kenny Goldstein,   Gus Hansen,   John D'Agostino,   Amnon Filippi,   Jerry Yang

$10,000 Main Event - Cloutier Being Aggressive

Jul 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 100-200

Chip Leaders:

Rhett Butler: 63,000
Carl Henriksson: 62,000
John Strzemp: 58,600
Clonie Gowen: 58,300
Brad Booth: 56,000
Adam Zinn: 51,000
Bryan Devonshire: 49,500
Dmitri Nobles: 48,000
Matt Hawrilenko: 45,000
Jared Brintz: 42,000

Card Player Counts:

Rolf Slotboom: 32,000
Mike Matusow: 27,800
Isaac Haxton: 21,200
Mark Gregorich: 20,300
Marcel Luske: 19,800
Michael Binger: 18,100
Gavin Griffin: 6,500
Bertrand Grospellier: 3,500

Eliminations: Mike Sexton, Daniel Alaei, Max Pescatori, Dustin Woolf, Davidi Kitai

Big Hands:

Makhija Runs Into Bullets

Amit Makhija raised to 600 from the cutoff before the flop. Seat 9 called from the button and the player in seat 1 reraised to 1,700 from the small blind. Action came back to Makhija, who made the call. Seat 9 got out of the way and the flop came down J106. Seat 1 led out with 3,000 and Makhija made the call. The turn paired the board as the J hit the felt. Seat 1 thought for a long time before deciding to move all in for 10,200. Makhija took his own time to think, but he eventually called and showed 99. Seat 1 turned over AA and Makhija was in trouble. He needed to hit a two-outer to take the pot, but the 8 fell on the river and Makhija trasported almost half of his stack to seat 1. He started the hand with almost 27,000 in chips and ended it with just 12,000.

Le Gets Pushed Out

Nam Le raised to 650 before the flop from middle position. The player in seat 4 made the call from the hijack position and everyone else folded. The flop came down 10105 and Le fired a continuation bet of 800. Seat 4 immediately made his move as he pushed all in for 5,025 more. Le went in the tank as camera crews rushed over to the table. Le looked at his hand a couple of times and finally mucked. He was down to 28,000.

Cloutier Sends His Opponent's Ladies into the Muck

T.J. Cloutier raised to 600 from middle position preflop and seat 4 made the call from the button. The player in seat 6 also called from the big blind and everyone saw a flop of 1087. Cloutier fired 1,000 into the pot of 1,800 and the button called. The player in the big blind got out of the way and the 4 came on the turn. Cloutier kept up his aggression as he fired 3,000 into the pot. The button turned over his hand, QQ, and released it into the muck. "I'll let you win this hand," he told Cloutier. "Oh, you had me beat," Cloutier says as he showed the 10. Regardless, Cloutier raked in the pot and improved to 14,000 in chips.

Quack, Quack, Quack

In a limped four-way pot, the flop came J22. Action checked to the player in seat 6 who fired 600. John D'Agostino made the call and the other players folded. The turn brought the 5 and both players checked. When the 4 fell on the river, D'Agostino bet 1,500 and his opponent made the call. D'Agostino showed K2 for a set of ducks. His opponent mucked and D'Agostino's stack grew to about 40,000.

Medic Doubles Up

Nenad Medic raised to 600 preflop and was called by the player in the big blind. The flop came down 832. Medic bet 1,000 after the big blind checked. The big biind then check-raised to 2,500. Medic repopped to 6,000 and the big blind put Medic all in. Medic called and showed 83, ahead of his opponent's 99. The turn was the Q and the river was the 5 and Medic doubled up to around 24,000.

We Told You Not to Play With Sam Farha

A player in middle position raised to 700 and Farha made the call. The player on the button jumped in as well and the flop came down Q86. The initial bettor checked, as did Farha. The button then fired 1,100 into the pot. The initial bettor folded and Farha raised to 4,100. The button looked at Farha, frowned, nodded, looked at his hand and threw it into the muck. Farha was up to 45,000.

Online Poker LIve at the WSOP

The Brasilia Room has apparently been designated as the "online room." Players like Chad "lilhodem954" Batista, Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Jonathan "driverseati" Tamayo, David Benefield and Philip "uscphildo" Collins are all going to work there.

Chad Batista Hammered Down By Big Slick

After Batista raised to 550 preflop, another player pushed all in for 3,000. Batista made the call and showed QJ. His opponent turned over big slick, AK and hit the flop of K74. Batista needed running cards to win the pot, but the K on the turn sealed the deal and Batista was drawing dead. The meaningless river was the 6 and Batista dropped to around 9,000 in chips.

Collins Picked Off

Collins was involved in a hand where he bet 1,000 on a board of K746. He was called by the player in seat 2. When the J hit on the river, Collins fired 3,500 and seat 2 went into the tank. He eventually said that he couldn't put Collins on a real hand so he made the call. Collins showed 65 for a pair of sixes. Seat 2 showed K8 for top pair to rake in the pot. After the loss, Collins had around 20,000.

Teltscher Teaches Tiffany A Lesson

Brit Mark Teltscher was a match for Tiffany Michelle's aggression when he called every bet on ever street including 4,000 on the river. The board read A-A-K-7-2 and Teltscher went into the tank finally calling. Michelle looked a little downbeat. "You got an Ace?" she asked and went to muck her cards. Teltscher flipped over A-3 for trip aces and Michelle's bluff had gone badly awry. After the hand she was down to 34,000 and the Englishman was up to 26,000.

Player Tags: T.J. Cloutier,   Nam Le,   John D'Agostino,   Amit Makhija,   Philip Collins

$10,000 Main Event - Lieu Doubles Up

Jul 09, '08

Blinds/Antes: 500-1,000 with a 100 ante

Players Left: 1,071 of 2,378

Chip Leaders:

Peter Biebel: 380,000
Alex Outhred: 315,000
Steve Lade: 290,000
Darryl Ronconi: 290,000
Evan Woodington: 265,000
Steve Chung: 260,000
Henning Granstad: 255,000
Mohamad Kowssarie: 250,000
Chad Layne: 240,000
Andy Wrtek: 230,000

Big Hands:

"Double Up Time"

On a flop of K97, Liz Lieu checked and the player in seat 8 bet 8,000. Liu raised (check-raise) all in for 20,000. Seat 8 tanked for a minute before making the call. Both players turned over their cards.

Lieu: KJ
Seat 8: AJ

Lieu got it in with top pair against ace-high, and the turn and river brought the 3 and the 4. Lieu's kings held up as she doubled up to just about 50,000 after the hand.

Bernard Lee Eliminated

On a board of J623, Bernard Lee bet 9,600 and the player in seat 9 raised to 30,000. Lee came over the top and moved all in for 70,000, seat 9 made the call. Lee turned over 52 for the flush, but seat 9 showed A7 for the ace-high flush. Lee wasn't quite drawing dead on the turn, he would need to catch the 4 on the river to make the straight flush and double through his opponent. The river brought the 10, and Bernard Lee was eliminated from the main event.  

Gordon Gets Bigger

On the flop of a board reading 643, action checked around to Phil Gordon in the cutoff, who made a large bet of 15,000. The player in the small blind thought for some time before moving all in. Gordon quickly pushed in a call, showing 44 and crushing his opponent's 33. The turn was the J, leading Gordon to call for another spade for the chop. The river instead brought the 5, sending the pot across the felt to Gordon and sending the player in the small blind home. Gordon was up over 165,000 after the hand.

A few hands later, Gordon lost a few of those chips when he and fellow pro John D'Agostino both called a short stacked player's raise all-in before the flop. D'Agostino and Gordon both checked down the entire board, which ran out QJ1022. The short stacked player, sitting in seat 6, flipped over AK for the flopped nut straight. D'Agostino and Gordon both mucked their cards. Even after the triple up, seat 6 sat behind only around 7,000 in chips.

Thunder Gets Rolled

The player in seat 8 raised to 3,300 from late position and action folded to Thomas "Thunder" Keller in the big blind. Keller asked his opponent what he had left (33,200). Keller then raised to 12,000 and seat 8 immediately moved all in for 21,200 more. Keller thought for a couple of seconds before making the call and turning over AQ. Seat 8 rolled over QQ, dominating Keller's hand. The flop brought the case queen as it fell Q84. Keller needed running aces to win the pot. But the turn brought the J, leaving Keller drawing dead. The A was an added kick to the groin, giving Keller a worthless two pair. Keller was down to 121,000 after the hand.

Billirakis Makes a Move, Takes a Hit

Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirakis limped under the gun along with 3 others and the flop came 1087. Action was checked to Billirakis who bet 3,500. Seat 7 then check-raised to 10,000. Billirakis had his opponent covered and eyed seat 7's chips. He eventually announced he was all in, putting his opponent to the ultimate test. The pressure definitely made seat 7 uncomfortable, as he adjusted in his seat and sighed while thinking what to do. After some deliberation, he said he called and Billirakis showed 92 for the open-ended straight draw and flush draw. Seat 7 slammed down 88 happily and pumped his fist. The turn brought the 10, sending seat 7 into a celebration-mode because he made a full house, leaving Billirakis drawing dead. The river was a meaningless 2 and Billirakis lost nearly 100,000 in the hand, dropping to around 115,000.

A Table Worth Watching

Talk about a fun table. Teddy "Iceman" Monroe has just joined the table already featuring Bryan Micon, who announced, "It'  the Iceman!" as Monroe took his seat.

Micon Knows What Cards You Have

Bryan Micon raised to 2,500 from late position and was called by the player in seat 2, who was in the big blind. On a flop of KQ2, the big blind checked to Micon, who fired out 2,300. Seat 2 thought it over and stared at Micon. Micon smiled back and the big blind cracked a smile as well. He eventually called and when the 7 hit on the turn the big blind instantly moved all in for 7,800 more. "So sick," Micon said. "I know exactly what you have." Micon mucked his cards and told his opponent that he had a pair. His opponent said he could beat that.

Bellande Ready To Push

After grabbing a stack of chips Jean-Robert Bellande eye-balled the under the gun player who had just limped into the pot. Bellande elected to just limp in as well, and when the flop came out there were 6 players who had done so. The flop came Q106 and the player in the big blind led out for 2,300. Action folded to Bellande who announced a raise and made it 10,000 more to go. Action folded around back to seat 3 who thought briefly before mucking. Bellande said that he had a hand this time. "I was going all in," he said. "I had middle pair with the flush draw and I was ready."

Player Tags: John D'Agostino,   Phil Gordon,   Thomas Keller,   Bernard Lee,   Liz Liu

$10,000 Main Event - Day 2B - Level 6 (Hour 2)

Jul 09, '08

Blinds: 300-600, 75 ante

Chip Leaders:
Henning Granstad - 242,950
Igor Ioffe - 195,000
David Stucke - 168,000
David Benefield - 160,000
Dylan Linde - 146,000
Bill Blanda - 145,000
Sami Rustom - 140,450
Steve Billirakis - 137,000
David Singer - 136,000

Other Notables:
Nenad Medic - 122,000
Brad Booth - 120,000
Gus Hansen - 117,000
Andrew Robl - 105,000
Ayaz Mahmood - 80,000
Shun Uchida - 80,000
Jan Sjavik - 79,000
Phil Hellmuth - 77,000
Jeff Madsen - 75,000
Evelyn Ng - 75,000
Phil Gordon - 73,000
Chris Moneymaker - 68,000
David Daneshgar - 62,000
Liz Lieu - 55,000
Tony Dunst - 55,000
Mike Matusow - 53,000
Rolf Slotboom - 50,000
Joe Hachem - 34,000
Matt Hawrilenko - 32,000
Minh Nguyen - 32,000
Amir Vahedi - 31,950
Kyle Kloeckner - 30,000
Cory Zeidman - 28,000
Ryan Daut - 24,000
Bill Chen -24,000
Howard Lederer - 24,000
Nick Binger - 22,000
Ryan Daut - 18,000
Allen Cunningham - 16,000
Michael Binger - 12,000
Shannon Elizabeth - 11,500
Jeff Shulman - 10,000

Eliminations:
Alex Jacob
Jerry Yang
Beth Shak
Brian Townsend
Danny Wong
Joe Awada

Big Hands and Storylines:

Amnon Filippi Eliminated

Ryan Hughes raised to 1,400 under the gun and three players in middle position called. Then Charles Large, on the button, moved in for 12,500. Amnon Filippi, who had been holding his chips in his hand since the start of his hand, moved in for about 4,200. Hughes called and the three other players folded. The three players showed their hands:

Hughes: 99
Filippi: AK
Large: AK

Interestingly, not only were Filippi and Large sharing outs, but one of the players who folded claimed to have had pocket nines. The board was even worse news for Filippi and Large: the 876 flop giving Hughes an open-ended straight draw in addition to his pair. The turn was the 4, giving Large a flush draw, but the 8 on the river ended the World Series hopes of both Large and Filippi. Hughes is now up to 73,000.

Duane Thompson Doubles Through Evelyn Ng

Duane Thompson was all-in on the button for 11,000 against Evelyn Ng in the small blind. Thompson showed A2 and was visibly pleased when Ng showed KQ. Thompson was audibly pleased too, saying, “I can’t believe I’m ahead.” The raggy board – 75325 – kept him ahead, and he doubled up to 24,000. Despite the hit, Ng still has 75,000.

D’Agostino Takes a Hit

John D’Agostino just lost a 60k pot when his A-K could not improve against his opponent’s pocket queens. D’Agostino, sitting directly across from Phil Gordon, is down to 55,000.

Yang's run comes to an end

The defending champion has been eliminated. Seated at the second featured table, Jerry Yang was shortstacked and in need of luck. He first ran A-2 into A-Q, but survived when the board brought two pair and only their aces played. Then he moved in with A-J and was called by A-9, but a nine came on the flop and Yang was eliminated. On his way out, he wished everyone at his table good luck and then received a nice applause from everyone in the Amazon Room.

Goldstein Can't Pull the Trigger

Ken Goldstein, the SpadeClub poker room manager, was on the button and called a raise to 1500 from a player in middle position. The flop came K53 and both players checked. The 5 paired the board on the turn, and again both players checked. The J on the river brought the flush into play, and another checks followed. "No pair," declared the other player. Goldstein couldn't show a winner at that point. When the other player showed 108, Goldstein mucked his hand. Goldstein had about 12,000 in chips after the hand.

Hansen off to Nice Start

Gus Hansen was in middle position and raised to 1625, which resulted in play being folded around to the big blind, who made the call. The flop came J54, and both players checked. The 10 fell on the turn, and the big blind came out with a 4000 bet. Hansen seemed uncertain whether to simply call, or push the player all-in for his remaining 21,000. He finally made the call, and the 2 on the river made a four-flush on board. It was enough of a scare card that both players checked. The big blind showed KJ for top pair, while Hansen held 1010 for a set spiked on the turn, and he collected the pot. Hansen has about 120,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Evelyn Ng,   Kenny Goldstein,   Gus Hansen,   John D'Agostino,   Amnon Filippi,   Jerry Yang

$10,000 Main Event - Cloutier Being Aggressive

Jul 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 100-200

Chip Leaders:

Rhett Butler: 63,000
Carl Henriksson: 62,000
John Strzemp: 58,600
Clonie Gowen: 58,300
Brad Booth: 56,000
Adam Zinn: 51,000
Bryan Devonshire: 49,500
Dmitri Nobles: 48,000
Matt Hawrilenko: 45,000
Jared Brintz: 42,000

Card Player Counts:

Rolf Slotboom: 32,000
Mike Matusow: 27,800
Isaac Haxton: 21,200
Mark Gregorich: 20,300
Marcel Luske: 19,800
Michael Binger: 18,100
Gavin Griffin: 6,500
Bertrand Grospellier: 3,500

Eliminations: Mike Sexton, Daniel Alaei, Max Pescatori, Dustin Woolf, Davidi Kitai

Big Hands:

Makhija Runs Into Bullets

Amit Makhija raised to 600 from the cutoff before the flop. Seat 9 called from the button and the player in seat 1 reraised to 1,700 from the small blind. Action came back to Makhija, who made the call. Seat 9 got out of the way and the flop came down J106. Seat 1 led out with 3,000 and Makhija made the call. The turn paired the board as the J hit the felt. Seat 1 thought for a long time before deciding to move all in for 10,200. Makhija took his own time to think, but he eventually called and showed 99. Seat 1 turned over AA and Makhija was in trouble. He needed to hit a two-outer to take the pot, but the 8 fell on the river and Makhija trasported almost half of his stack to seat 1. He started the hand with almost 27,000 in chips and ended it with just 12,000.

Le Gets Pushed Out

Nam Le raised to 650 before the flop from middle position. The player in seat 4 made the call from the hijack position and everyone else folded. The flop came down 10105 and Le fired a continuation bet of 800. Seat 4 immediately made his move as he pushed all in for 5,025 more. Le went in the tank as camera crews rushed over to the table. Le looked at his hand a couple of times and finally mucked. He was down to 28,000.

Cloutier Sends His Opponent's Ladies into the Muck

T.J. Cloutier raised to 600 from middle position preflop and seat 4 made the call from the button. The player in seat 6 also called from the big blind and everyone saw a flop of 1087. Cloutier fired 1,000 into the pot of 1,800 and the button called. The player in the big blind got out of the way and the 4 came on the turn. Cloutier kept up his aggression as he fired 3,000 into the pot. The button turned over his hand, QQ, and released it into the muck. "I'll let you win this hand," he told Cloutier. "Oh, you had me beat," Cloutier says as he showed the 10. Regardless, Cloutier raked in the pot and improved to 14,000 in chips.

Quack, Quack, Quack

In a limped four-way pot, the flop came J22. Action checked to the player in seat 6 who fired 600. John D'Agostino made the call and the other players folded. The turn brought the 5 and both players checked. When the 4 fell on the river, D'Agostino bet 1,500 and his opponent made the call. D'Agostino showed K2 for a set of ducks. His opponent mucked and D'Agostino's stack grew to about 40,000.

Medic Doubles Up

Nenad Medic raised to 600 preflop and was called by the player in the big blind. The flop came down 832. Medic bet 1,000 after the big blind checked. The big biind then check-raised to 2,500. Medic repopped to 6,000 and the big blind put Medic all in. Medic called and showed 83, ahead of his opponent's 99. The turn was the Q and the river was the 5 and Medic doubled up to around 24,000.

We Told You Not to Play With Sam Farha

A player in middle position raised to 700 and Farha made the call. The player on the button jumped in as well and the flop came down Q86. The initial bettor checked, as did Farha. The button then fired 1,100 into the pot. The initial bettor folded and Farha raised to 4,100. The button looked at Farha, frowned, nodded, looked at his hand and threw it into the muck. Farha was up to 45,000.

Online Poker LIve at the WSOP

The Brasilia Room has apparently been designated as the "online room." Players like Chad "lilhodem954" Batista, Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Jonathan "driverseati" Tamayo, David Benefield and Philip "uscphildo" Collins are all going to work there.

Chad Batista Hammered Down By Big Slick

After Batista raised to 550 preflop, another player pushed all in for 3,000. Batista made the call and showed QJ. His opponent turned over big slick, AK and hit the flop of K74. Batista needed running cards to win the pot, but the K on the turn sealed the deal and Batista was drawing dead. The meaningless river was the 6 and Batista dropped to around 9,000 in chips.

Collins Picked Off

Collins was involved in a hand where he bet 1,000 on a board of K746. He was called by the player in seat 2. When the J hit on the river, Collins fired 3,500 and seat 2 went into the tank. He eventually said that he couldn't put Collins on a real hand so he made the call. Collins showed 65 for a pair of sixes. Seat 2 showed K8 for top pair to rake in the pot. After the loss, Collins had around 20,000.

Teltscher Teaches Tiffany A Lesson

Brit Mark Teltscher was a match for Tiffany Michelle's aggression when he called every bet on ever street including 4,000 on the river. The board read A-A-K-7-2 and Teltscher went into the tank finally calling. Michelle looked a little downbeat. "You got an Ace?" she asked and went to muck her cards. Teltscher flipped over A-3 for trip aces and Michelle's bluff had gone badly awry. After the hand she was down to 34,000 and the Englishman was up to 26,000.

Player Tags: T.J. Cloutier,   Nam Le,   John D'Agostino,   Amit Makhija,   Philip Collins

$10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - Level 15 - D'Agostino Out on Bubble

Jun 30, '08

Blinds: 2,500-5,000

Players Remaining: 36 of 381

Average Chip Stack: 211,700

Eliminations:

John D'Agostino - 37th place
Clonie Gowen - 38th place
Chris Pappas - 39th place
Gary Benson - 40th place

Hands and Storylines:

D'Agostino's aces get cracked -- hand-for-hand ends

It folded around to Magnus Petersson in the small blind and he raised to 15,000 and John D'Agostino reraised all in. Petersson called and when the two flipped over their hands D'Agostino was hoping to double up.

D'Agostino: AA85
Petersson: KKQ7
Board: 77248

Petersson flopped trips and knocked out D'Agostino, ending the long and painful hand-for-hand play.

Evdakov extends record, but draws others' ire

Nikolay Evdakov cashed in this event, giving him 10 cashes for this year's series. But he has been a short stack this entire level, and his methodical pace has irritated many others. Players were openly talking about his play just a few feet away and timing him to see how long he would take before acting. David Williams definitely doesn't consider him a contender in this event, saying he "stalls, waits for the nuts, doubles up and goes back into hiding."

Big stacks take bullying to the edge

On one hand during hand-for-hand play, Kido Pham announced that if the first two players folded he would raise in the dark. He already had the chips in his hand, and when it was his turn to act he raised to 12,000, just 7,000 more than the big blind. "I want to call a reraise," Pham said. But it never came to that; all the players folded. Pham quickly put his cards in the muck and collected the blinds.

Arieh tried something similar, but the result was different. He raised blind, but Julian Powell reraised. Arieh called the preflop raise, and then called on the flop when Powell moved the rest of his chips in.

Powell: AAJ3
Arieh: KT62
Board: 8427A

Arieh had a great chance to win, flopping a pair and a flush draw, but missed all his outs and doubled up another opponent.

Clonie gone in 39th

Clonie Gowen called all in with an overpair and a flush draw against Shawn Buchanan's top two pair. Buchanan turned a full house, leaving Gowen with just two outs on the river. The river was a blank, and Gowen missed out on cashing by two spots.

Williams picks up chips, then drops back down

David Williams was ecstatic when he knocked out Gary Benson with top two pair against top and bottom pair on the flop. He was over 100,000 chips for the first time in a long time and then won more hands to get over 150,000 chips. But during hand-for-hand play he gave many of them back when he called a 25,000 river bet with the board K97J6 and was shown Q8.

 

Player Tags: John D'Agostino,   Clonie Gowen,   David Williams,   Kido Pham,   Magnus Petersson,   European Report

$10,000 PLO - Day 2 - Dinner Break

Jun 30, '08

Note: Players are now on a sixty-minute dinner break and will return at around 7:30 pm to begin Level 15 with increased blinds of 2,500-5,000.

Blinds: 2,000-4,000

Players Left: 45

Chip Leaders:
Josh Arieh: 780,000
Michael Mizrachi: 490,000
Dario Alioto: 445,000
Peter Jetten: 415,000
Eddy Scharf: 286,000
Billy Argyros: 265,000
Brant Hale: 265,000
Richard Harroch: 245,000
Brandon Moran: 240,000
Shawn Buchanan: 218,000

Eliminations: Dale Pinchot, Rolf Slotboom, Nenad Medic, Tony G, Steve Sung

Big Hands:

John D'Agostino Doubles Through David Singer With Quads

David Singer raised to 8,000 from under the gun and John D'Agostino called from the button. The flop came Q92, and Singer bet 11,000. D'Agostino raised all in for 40,000 more and Singer called. They both turned oevr their cards.

D'Agostino: AKQQ
Singer: A652

D'Agostino flopped top set (queens) while Singer flopped a pair of deuces and the nut flush draw. The turn was the 5 and the river was the Q, giving D'Agostino quad queens and the win. D'Agostino raked the pot and doubled up that hand to just under 120,000.

Nenad Medic Eliminated by Jorge "Twin-Caracas" Arias

On a flop of Q106, Mickey "Mouse" Mills bet 16,000 and Nenad Medic called all in for 13,000. Jorge "Twin-Caracas" Arias called the 16,000 bet and the turn was the A. Both players checked the side pot and the river was the 6. Once again both players checked and Arias turned over QQJ7 for a full house (queens full of sixes). Mills and Medic both mucked their hands. Medic made his way to the rail as Arias raked the pot.

Tony G Eliminated by David Singer

Shortly after John D'Agostino doubled through him, David Singer got some of it back after eliminating Tony G from the tournamnet and pulling his chips over to his side of the table.

Singer raised to 8,000 from early position and Tony G and reraised the size of the pot (22,500). Singer called and the flop came 1083. Tony G bet his last 1,000 chip and Singer called.

Tony G: AAJ7
Singer: KKQJ

Tony G led on the flop with a pair of aces and a jack-high flush draw, Singer held pocket kings and a king-high flush draw. Both players had a gut-shot straight draw with a nine, Tony's to the jack and Singer's to the queen. The turn was the 9, giving both players their straight, Singer with the best hand. At this point Tony G was drawing to a chopped pot with a queen, otherwise he would be eliminated from the tournament. The river was the 8 and Tony G hit the rail.

Player Tags: Antanas Guoga,   Mickey Mills,   John D'Agostino,   David Singer,   Nenad Medic,   Arias Jorge

$10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - Level Ten

Jun 29, '08

Blinds: 800-1,600

Players Remaining: 86 of 381

Average Chip Stack: 88,600

Chip Leaders:

Josh Arieh - 343,700
Guillaume Patry - 217,000
Peter Jetten - 210,000
Michael Mizrachi - 200,000
Len Ashby - 187,000
Rino Mathis - 177,000
Billy Argyros - 150,000
David Williams - 150,000
Rob Hollink - 135,000
Nenad Medic - 115,000

Eliminations:

Tom Dwan
Lee Watkinson
Mats Rahmn

Hands and Storylines:

Leif's gamble doubles up Evdakov

With one player already all in, Nikolay Evdakov raised pot and had only a few thousand remaining. Leif Force was also in the pot, and knew that continuing with the hand was suspect at best. But he made the call anyway and covered his eyes as the dealer put out the flop. Evdakov moved all in, and Force took a peek, gave a look of disgust, and then called anyway. The hands were:

Evdakov: AA76
Force: KJ97
Short stack: A842
Board: Q849A

Evdakov's set of aces gave him the pot and at the end of play he had roughly 90,000 chips. Force was down to 70,000 chips after the hand, and lost most of them later in the level.

Dwan's reading ability lets him down, later ousted

Tom Dwan is known for his ability to make difficult calls few others would even consider. He tried to make such a play early on in level 10 and lost a pot as a result. The board was Q9A58 when Dwan's opponent bet 9,000 chips. Dwan thought it over and then made the call. His opponent showed A-K-Q-6 and Dwan was left shaking his head.After the hand he had about 15,000 chips.

Toward the end of the level, he put his remaining chips in preflop with A-K-9-8 double suited but was up against Jimmy Tran's A-A-9-3. The board was K-10-6-2-Q and Dwan was eliminated.

D'Agostino doubles through Clements

How it happened isn't known, but in the last hand of the level John D'Agostino doubled up through Scott Clements when his Q-9-8-6 rivered a straight against Clements's A-Q-10-6. The board on that hand was Q-10-7-9-6.

Player Tags: John D'Agostino,   Scott Clements,   Tom Dwan,   Leif Force,   Nikolay Evdakov

$10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - Level Nine

Jun 29, '08

Blinds: 600-1,200

Players Remaining: 99 of 381

Average Chip Stack: 77,000

Eliminations:

Terrence Chan
Andy Bloch
Thomas Wohlroos
Alex Kravchenko
Mel Judah

Hands and Storylines:

Lisandro's bold bet fails to work

After raising and then calling a reraise, Jeff Lisandro bet enough to put his opponent all in on a K98 flop. His opponent had under 9,000 left and the pot already had 55,000 in it, but he was extremely worried he was beat. He finally called with AAK8 and was ahead of Lisandro's TJQQ. The turn and river were K6 and Lisandro's opponent took down the pot with a full house.

Mizrachi doubles with straight

Michael Mizrachi was one of three players to put 8,500 into the pot and see a 864 flop. Mizrachi open pushed for 23,500 and one player called and the second folded, showing a pair of aces. Mizrachi held 9765 for a straight, and was way ahead of his opponent's K854. The turn and river were AK and Mizrachi had more than 70,000 after the hand.

Clemens river bet too much for D'Agostino

With the board T9378, John D'Agostino checked and Scott Clements bet 25,000. D'Agostino took a couple minutes to count his stack and debate calling, but ultimately folded. After the hand he had 55,000 chips, while Clements was up to 75,000.

Chan up to 80k

Johnny Chan bet 10,000 on the flop and then 25,000 on the turn on a board of K982. One of the two others in the hand called his flop bet, but he then folded on the turn. 

Judah's trips run into boat

Mel Judah bet 5,000 and was raised to 10,000 on a KQQ flop. He only had about 10,000 chips left and chose to put them in. But he saw he was drawing dead when Q-J-T-8 was up against A-K-Q-7. The turn and river were 6K and Judah headed for the exit.

Player Tags: Mel Judah,   John D'Agostino,   Michael Mizrachi,   Johnny Chan,   Jeffrey Lisandro,   Scott Clements

$10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - Level 15 - D'Agostino Out on Bubble

Jun 30, '08

Blinds: 2,500-5,000

Players Remaining: 36 of 381

Average Chip Stack: 211,700

Eliminations:

John D'Agostino - 37th place
Clonie Gowen - 38th place
Chris Pappas - 39th place
Gary Benson - 40th place

Hands and Storylines:

D'Agostino's aces get cracked -- hand-for-hand ends

It folded around to Magnus Petersson in the small blind and he raised to 15,000 and John D'Agostino reraised all in. Petersson called and when the two flipped over their hands D'Agostino was hoping to double up.

D'Agostino: AA85
Petersson: KKQ7
Board: 77248

Petersson flopped trips and knocked out D'Agostino, ending the long and painful hand-for-hand play.

Evdakov extends record, but draws others' ire

Nikolay Evdakov cashed in this event, giving him 10 cashes for this year's series. But he has been a short stack this entire level, and his methodical pace has irritated many others. Players were openly talking about his play just a few feet away and timing him to see how long he would take before acting. David Williams definitely doesn't consider him a contender in this event, saying he "stalls, waits for the nuts, doubles up and goes back into hiding."

Big stacks take bullying to the edge

On one hand during hand-for-hand play, Kido Pham announced that if the first two players folded he would raise in the dark. He already had the chips in his hand, and when it was his turn to act he raised to 12,000, just 7,000 more than the big blind. "I want to call a reraise," Pham said. But it never came to that; all the players folded. Pham quickly put his cards in the muck and collected the blinds.

Arieh tried something similar, but the result was different. He raised blind, but Julian Powell reraised. Arieh called the preflop raise, and then called on the flop when Powell moved the rest of his chips in.

Powell: AAJ3
Arieh: KT62
Board: 8427A

Arieh had a great chance to win, flopping a pair and a flush draw, but missed all his outs and doubled up another opponent.

Clonie gone in 39th

Clonie Gowen called all in with an overpair and a flush draw against Shawn Buchanan's top two pair. Buchanan turned a full house, leaving Gowen with just two outs on the river. The river was a blank, and Gowen missed out on cashing by two spots.

Williams picks up chips, then drops back down

David Williams was ecstatic when he knocked out Gary Benson with top two pair against top and bottom pair on the flop. He was over 100,000 chips for the first time in a long time and then won more hands to get over 150,000 chips. But during hand-for-hand play he gave many of them back when he called a 25,000 river bet with the board K97J6 and was shown Q8.

 

Player Tags: John D'Agostino,   Clonie Gowen,   David Williams,   Kido Pham,   Magnus Petersson,   European Report

$10,000 PLO - Day 2 - Dinner Break

Jun 30, '08

Note: Players are now on a sixty-minute dinner break and will return at around 7:30 pm to begin Level 15 with increased blinds of 2,500-5,000.

Blinds: 2,000-4,000

Players Left: 45

Chip Leaders:
Josh Arieh: 780,000
Michael Mizrachi: 490,000
Dario Alioto: 445,000
Peter Jetten: 415,000
Eddy Scharf: 286,000
Billy Argyros: 265,000
Brant Hale: 265,000
Richard Harroch: 245,000
Brandon Moran: 240,000
Shawn Buchanan: 218,000

Eliminations: Dale Pinchot, Rolf Slotboom, Nenad Medic, Tony G, Steve Sung

Big Hands:

John D'Agostino Doubles Through David Singer With Quads

David Singer raised to 8,000 from under the gun and John D'Agostino called from the button. The flop came Q92, and Singer bet 11,000. D'Agostino raised all in for 40,000 more and Singer called. They both turned oevr their cards.

D'Agostino: AKQQ
Singer: A652

D'Agostino flopped top set (queens) while Singer flopped a pair of deuces and the nut flush draw. The turn was the 5 and the river was the Q, giving D'Agostino quad queens and the win. D'Agostino raked the pot and doubled up that hand to just under 120,000.

Nenad Medic Eliminated by Jorge "Twin-Caracas" Arias

On a flop of Q106, Mickey "Mouse" Mills bet 16,000 and Nenad Medic called all in for 13,000. Jorge "Twin-Caracas" Arias called the 16,000 bet and the turn was the A. Both players checked the side pot and the river was the 6. Once again both players checked and Arias turned over QQJ7 for a full house (queens full of sixes). Mills and Medic both mucked their hands. Medic made his way to the rail as Arias raked the pot.

Tony G Eliminated by David Singer

Shortly after John D'Agostino doubled through him, David Singer got some of it back after eliminating Tony G from the tournamnet and pulling his chips over to his side of the table.

Singer raised to 8,000 from early position and Tony G and reraised the size of the pot (22,500). Singer called and the flop came 1083. Tony G bet his last 1,000 chip and Singer called.

Tony G: AAJ7
Singer: KKQJ

Tony G led on the flop with a pair of aces and a jack-high flush draw, Singer held pocket kings and a king-high flush draw. Both players had a gut-shot straight draw with a nine, Tony's to the jack and Singer's to the queen. The turn was the 9, giving both players their straight, Singer with the best hand. At this point Tony G was drawing to a chopped pot with a queen, otherwise he would be eliminated from the tournament. The river was the 8 and Tony G hit the rail.

Player Tags: Antanas Guoga,   Mickey Mills,   John D'Agostino,   David Singer,   Nenad Medic,   Arias Jorge

$10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - Level Ten

Jun 29, '08

Blinds: 800-1,600

Players Remaining: 86 of 381

Average Chip Stack: 88,600

Chip Leaders:

Josh Arieh - 343,700
Guillaume Patry - 217,000
Peter Jetten - 210,000
Michael Mizrachi - 200,000
Len Ashby - 187,000
Rino Mathis - 177,000
Billy Argyros - 150,000
David Williams - 150,000
Rob Hollink - 135,000
Nenad Medic - 115,000

Eliminations:

Tom Dwan
Lee Watkinson
Mats Rahmn

Hands and Storylines:

Leif's gamble doubles up Evdakov

With one player already all in, Nikolay Evdakov raised pot and had only a few thousand remaining. Leif Force was also in the pot, and knew that continuing with the hand was suspect at best. But he made the call anyway and covered his eyes as the dealer put out the flop. Evdakov moved all in, and Force took a peek, gave a look of disgust, and then called anyway. The hands were:

Evdakov: AA76
Force: KJ97
Short stack: A842
Board: Q849A

Evdakov's set of aces gave him the pot and at the end of play he had roughly 90,000 chips. Force was down to 70,000 chips after the hand, and lost most of them later in the level.

Dwan's reading ability lets him down, later ousted

Tom Dwan is known for his ability to make difficult calls few others would even consider. He tried to make such a play early on in level 10 and lost a pot as a result. The board was Q9A58 when Dwan's opponent bet 9,000 chips. Dwan thought it over and then made the call. His opponent showed A-K-Q-6 and Dwan was left shaking his head.After the hand he had about 15,000 chips.

Toward the end of the level, he put his remaining chips in preflop with A-K-9-8 double suited but was up against Jimmy Tran's A-A-9-3. The board was K-10-6-2-Q and Dwan was eliminated.

D'Agostino doubles through Clements

How it happened isn't known, but in the last hand of the level John D'Agostino doubled up through Scott Clements when his Q-9-8-6 rivered a straight against Clements's A-Q-10-6. The board on that hand was Q-10-7-9-6.

Player Tags: John D'Agostino,   Scott Clements,   Tom Dwan,   Leif Force,   Nikolay Evdakov

$10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - Level Nine

Jun 29, '08

Blinds: 600-1,200

Players Remaining: 99 of 381

Average Chip Stack: 77,000

Eliminations:

Terrence Chan
Andy Bloch
Thomas Wohlroos
Alex Kravchenko
Mel Judah

Hands and Storylines:

Lisandro's bold bet fails to work

After raising and then calling a reraise, Jeff Lisandro bet enough to put his opponent all in on a K98 flop. His opponent had under 9,000 left and the pot already had 55,000 in it, but he was extremely worried he was beat. He finally called with AAK8 and was ahead of Lisandro's TJQQ. The turn and river were K6 and Lisandro's opponent took down the pot with a full house.

Mizrachi doubles with straight

Michael Mizrachi was one of three players to put 8,500 into the pot and see a 864 flop. Mizrachi open pushed for 23,500 and one player called and the second folded, showing a pair of aces. Mizrachi held 9765 for a straight, and was way ahead of his opponent's K854. The turn and river were AK and Mizrachi had more than 70,000 after the hand.

Clemens river bet too much for D'Agostino

With the board T9378, John D'Agostino checked and Scott Clements bet 25,000. D'Agostino took a couple minutes to count his stack and debate calling, but ultimately folded. After the hand he had 55,000 chips, while Clements was up to 75,000.

Chan up to 80k

Johnny Chan bet 10,000 on the flop and then 25,000 on the turn on a board of K982. One of the two others in the hand called his flop bet, but he then folded on the turn. 

Judah's trips run into boat

Mel Judah bet 5,000 and was raised to 10,000 on a KQQ flop. He only had about 10,000 chips left and chose to put them in. But he saw he was drawing dead when Q-J-T-8 was up against A-K-Q-7. The turn and river were 6K and Judah headed for the exit.

Player Tags: Mel Judah,   John D'Agostino,   Michael Mizrachi,   Johnny Chan,   Jeffrey Lisandro,   Scott Clements

Levels 21 and 22- Hold'em and Omaha Eight or Better

Jun 25, '07

HOLD'EM

41 Stays Tough

Tony G busted out last level, and his replacement at table 41 was 2006 champion David "Chip" Reese.

D'Agostino Busts

With a board of J 8 4 4 2 T.J. Cloutier bet into the short-stacked John D'Agostino. D'Agostino barely had more than the $5,000 that Cloutier bet, and eventually decided to go all in.  Cloutier quickly called with A A, and D'Agostino mucked his hand. 

Levi Eliminated

David Levi was eliminated when he flopped a pair of tens holding 10-8.  Betting the whole way down, the board ended up reading 10-9-x-x-8, giving Levi two-pair.  Levi's opponent called his all-in on the river and revealed Q-J, for a rivered straight, winning the pot and sending Levi to the rail.

Carlos Mortonsen was also eliminated during the hold'em level.

OMAHA EIGHT OR BETTER

Violette Stayin Alive

Cyndy Violette flopped trip sixes and filled up with a king on the turn.  She got paid off with  her boat when Eli Elezra made a broadway straight on the river.

Buster Brown

Chad Brown was eliminated by Elezra's ten-high straight during the omaha eight or better level.  The board read 10 7 5 9 K, with Elezra holding the A 9 8 6.

Huckleberry Seed	197,000
Daniel Negreanu	180,000
Phil Hellmuth Jr	160,000
Ted Forrest	158,000
Chris Ferguson	150,000
John Hennigan	145,000
Kenny Tran	145,000
Greg "FBT" Mueller	140,000
Doyle Brunson	128,000
Erik Seidel	127,000
Gabe Kaplan	122,000
Chris Reslock	122,000
David Sklansky	120,000
Dewey Tomko	112,000
Joe Tehan	112,000
Scotty Nguyen	111,000
Steve Zolotow	85,000
Todd Brunson	85,000
Freddy Deeb	82,000
Michael Mizrachi	78,000
Jason Lester	78,000

Player Tags: David Reese,   David Levi,   Chad Brown,   John D'Agostino,   Cyndy Violette

Day One Over

Jun 20, '07

There are 51 players remaining in today's $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha w/ rebuys event and play has ended for the day. Play will resume tomorrow at 3 p.m. and will continue until there is a winner.

Play ended relatively early tonight, as tournament officials elected to end the night at the end of the level as opposed to the scheduled 2 a.m. During the final level of play there were six tables consisting of 56 players. The most dangerous table included Josh Arieh, Jeff Madsen, Ram Vaswani, Allen Cunningham, and David "Devilfish" Ulliot.

Notable eliminations include Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, John D'Agostino and Josh Arieh. On what would be the last hand of the night, Arieh raised preflop to $5,600 and was called by only Ram Vaswani. The flop came K 9 7 and Arieh pushed his last $10,000 into the middle. Vaswani instantly made the call. Arieh quickly turned over A A 4 2 and was looking to stop the bleeding he'd been experiencing since earlier in the day when his stack was almost $187,000. Vaswani showed Q J 10 3. The dealer put out the J on the turn and Arieh's frustrations continued. Arieh couldn't get out of the Amazon Room faster after seeing Vaswani complete his straight on the turn. The river was the 10 and Vaswani collected his chips as the last few seconds of the level ticked away.

Come back to CardPlayer.com tomorrow at 2 p.m. to follow the remaining 51 players and to see who takes home the World Series of Poker gold bracelet and $464,867.

Player Tags: David Ulliott,   Josh Arieh,   Allen Cunningham,   John D'Agostino,   Michael Mizrachi,   Ram Vaswani,   Jeff Madsen

Rebuy Period Over

Jun 20, '07

The rebuy period is officially over but the dust has yet to settle.  The tournament directors are currently extremely busy sorting out the final rebuys and add-ons permitted at the end of the level.  The official numbers and prize pool can be expected sometime in the next level.

 

Some pros are prospering and others floundering.  Andy Bloch, Johnny Chan, John Juanda, reigning champ Eric Froelich, John D’Agostino, and Noah Boeken all have healthy chipstacks.  Gavin Smith and Phil Ivey are also doing well, and had quite a bit of fun with each other in the last level.  After Ivey raised pre-flop, Smith complained that Ivey was always raising in his blinds.  Ivey replied that Smith was the only one who had enough money for Ivey to want to go after.  In this particular occasion it was one of the last hands before the break, Both players checked the flop and turn, leaving a board of K Q 6 6 7.  Smith bet $2,000 on the river, Ivey raised to $6,000, and Smith reluctantly made the call.  Ivey showed 10764, for runner-runner full house, and Smith mucked.

 

A couple of players who weren’t having the greatest time with each other were Eli Elezra, Sherkhan Farnood, and Mike Matusow.  Elezra and Farnood were playing very aggressively and accumulating chips, and Matusow was visibly frustrated by their play. 

 

There is one player who has found early success in this tournament with very little committed.  He was overheard telling his friend as he was going on break that he has already built his stack to $59,500, and yet he has only committed $3,000 to the prize pool (his buy in and one add-on).  However he declined to give his name when asked.  We tried asking another player at his table, who replied, “I don’t know, Luck Box?”  The dealer at the table showed that Randall Edmonson started the day in that player’s seat, but obviously that was a high action table, and who ended the level in that chair, didn’t necessarily start there.  So it remains to be seen whether this mystery player, who may or may not be Randall Edmonson will find continued success in this tournament, but he’s off to an okay start.  Rick Fuller has a similar prosperous story having turned only his initial $1,500 into $50,000 in tournament chips at the break.  Get the full details on how much money was spent on rebuys at his table in our Pro Blogs section.

Notable chip counts:

John Juanda	50,000
Johnny Chan	40,400
Humberto Brenes	35,000
Robert Williamson III	34,000
Andy Bloch	34,000
Andrew Black	32,000
Phil Ivey	29,000
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi	28,000
Scott Clements	26,300
John D'Agostino	24,000
Juha Helppi	23,500
Lee Watkinson	19,700
Rolf Slotboom	19,100
Scott Fischman	16,700
Greg Raymer	16,600
Michael Binger	16,000
Erik Seidel	15,500
John "The Razor" Phan	14,000
Max Pescatori	13,000
Kirk Morrison	13,000
William Thorsson	12,500
David Williams	12,500
David "Devilfish" Ulliott	12,100
Sammy Farha	12,000
Minh Ly	12,000
Daniel Alaei	12,000

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Andy Bloch,   John D'Agostino,   Mike Matusow,   Rick Fuller,   Eli Elezra,   Gavin Smith,   Johnny Chan,   Phil Ivey,   Noah Boeken,   Sherkhan Farnood,   Eric Froehlich

How Much?

Jun 20, '07

The official numbers have yet to be released, but the field looks to be just under 300 players. Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, and John Phan are among the pros who took their seats after the first level had finished.

 

John Phan and Michael Mizrachi ended up at John D’Agostino’s table and Mizrachi in particular is doing quite well, up well over $10,000. As certain players are getting deeper stacks, other players are tightening up their game.  Robert Williamson raised pre-flop to $375, Andy Bloch moved all in for $975 more, David Williams re-potted for $2,550 more, and Williamson grudgingly folded, announcing his Kings were crushed.  Williams confirmed that fact flipping up Aces, Bloch showed Q-Q-J-10, but failed to connect and was forced to rebuy.

 

Matusow has been in good spirits today, creating yet another catchy tune.  The opening line in the song is “How much is the rake in the rebuy?” set to the tune of “How Much is that Doggy in the Window.”  The subsequent couplets contain a few off-color phrases, Matusow taking advantage of the new liberal policies on cursing.  Erick Lindgren, having had quite enough of Matusow’s dulcet tones, called the floor to get a ruling on the questionable verses, but to no avail.

 Joe Hachem and Barry Greenstein are among the pros who enjoyed a profitable 2^nd level  But anything can happen with one full hour of rebuys left.

The field today is rich in European talent. A quick survey of the room found:

Ram Vaswani $11,500
Noah Boeken $18,000 (at a table with Clownie Gowan and Erik Lindgren)
Julian Gardiner $5,000
Rolf Slotboom $2,300
Padraig Parkinson $12,000 (at a table with Greg Raymer, Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott, and Max Pescatori)
Chris Bjorin $13,100
Andy Black $22,500
Jani Sointula $11,600
Donnacha O’Dea $15,000 (at a table with Adrian Walsh)
Eoaghan O’Dea $8,000 (at a table with Phil Ivey and Gavin Smith)
Ross Boatman $13,000 (at a table with brother Barny Boatman $18,700 and Dave Colclough on $13,000)

Read Padraig’s Pro Blog and stay locked on CardPlayer.com for what should be a fantastic afternoon of poker.

Player Tags: John Phan,   Erick Lindgren,   Barry Greenstein,   John D'Agostino,   Mike Matusow,   Michael Mizrachi,   Phil Ivey,   David Williams,   Joe Hachem,   Robert Williamson III

Series Home Game

Jun 20, '07

It’s a fun day for the professionals today in the Amazon Room.  With a smaller field, most of the players who follow the tournament circuit will recognize more players at each table.  The atmosphere today is like that of a home game, complete with bad calls, draw outs, and good-natured ribbing.

 

In today’s tournament there will be three levels of rebuys, which is one more level than usual in this type of rebuy tournament.  This new development has no doubt given several pros an even better reason to straggle in late to today’s tournament.  This is a frightening thought as some tables are excessively stacked with pro talent as it is.  Almost every time you turn around, a table that had three big pros at it, all of the sudden has six.

 

Table 22 is one such example:  They have been having fun from the get-go today.  At 12pm precisely Robert Williamson III, Andy Bloch, and Erik Seidel were trading barbs already.  In particular after about 30 minutes Seidel seemed to be getting the brunt of the abuse, already burning through several rebuys.  The table was soon filled out with Dewey Tomko and David Williams, only fueling Williamson’s fire.  Williamson doubled Tomko up early on a board of K-J-8-2-K.  Williamson called his all-in raise saying, “Full house, but yours is better right?”  Tomko then showed K-K-x-x, generating plenty of laughter; Williamson announced that he had 8-8-x-x.

 

Table 16 is another table that has kept the attitude light.  Erick Lindgren, Clonie Gowen, and Eric Cajelas sat there at “tipoff, ” but were soon joined by Noah Boeken and Humberto Brenes.  Lindgren complimented Brenes on his three final tables so far this year.  Also having fun were the players at table 40.  John D’Agostino, William Thorsson, Minh Ly, and Daniel Alaei make up the table.  Early on D’Agostino made a pot-sized bet on the turn and threateningly got out rebuy chips to suggest he was fully committed to the hand, prompting Thorsson to fold.  Thorsson simply told him, “Not yet.”  A few hands later D’Agostino called Thorsson’s all-in bet with a gutshot straight and nut flush draw, against Thorsson’s fives and fours.  “That’s a nice five,” D’Agostino remarked curtly, as the five on the turn closed off all of his outs.

 

We have recruited several terrific pros to follow in our Pro Blogs section.  Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for reports from Jordan Morgan, Sammy Farha, Rich Fuller, John D’Agostino, and Robert Williamson III.

Player Tags: Humberto Brenes,   Erik Seidel,   Erick Lindgren,   Andy Bloch,   John D'Agostino,   Dewey Tomko,   Clonie Gowen,   Daniel Alaei,   David Williams,   Noah Boeken,   Sam Farha,   William Thorson,   Erik Cajelais,   Jordan Morgan,   Robert Williamson III

Color Up Time

Jun 13, '07

Play is getting back underway as the $25 chips were just raced off the tables. 

 
Isabelle Mercier and John D’Agostino were not able to last to the color up, both succumbing to short stacks.

 
David “The Dragon” Pham and David Benyamine were benefactors of the poker gods late in the last level however. First Benyamine found himself all-in before the flop and in bad shape with A-J versus his opponent’s K-K, but Benyamine found a Ace on the flop and doubled up to nearly $80,000.

 
Pham was tapped by his opponent after an early position pre-flop raise, Pham called and was way ahead with KK versus his opponent’s 99. The board came 10 6 5 4 Q, and Pham raked in the chips.

 
Currently 180 players remain on 18 tables. 117 of those players will be eliminated out of the money.  Alex Jacob, John “Tex” Barch, and Mike Gracz are among the chip leaders. Howard Lederer and Pro Blogger Mike Sexton are down, but certainly not out.

 

Keep your browsers on CardPlayer.com for updates on the hour.

Player Tags: Michael Gracz,   David Pham,   John D'Agostino,   Howard Lederer,   David Benyamine,   Mike Sexton,   John Barch,   Isabelle Mercier,   Alex Jacob

The Studs

Jun 10, '07

We apologize for the extended coverage delays.  There were mass wireless internet problems throughout the Rio, but the problem looks like it has been fixed. 

While we were away, the players in the H.O.R.S.E. events started to drop like flies.  Despite the aggressive play and numerous bustouts, the player's moods are lighthearted and friendly.  David Grey has taken this opportunity to tell his table more than one story, frequently jumping to the next topic of conversation.  David Williams and John D'Agostino don't really seem to mind. 

There was another controversy brewing on table 37 where Darrell Dicken is seated.  The action was headsup after third street and when the dealer went to pitch the next two cards, he instead tried to flop them.  So he picked them up, laughing at his own mistake, and then pitched them to the two players.  It was then that both players noticed the possiblity that their cards were switched.  Some players at the table said it was accurate, while some were sure he mixed them up.  Either way, after some complaining and questioning, they played the cards as is, and the player in seat 6 won with Aces up. 

After turning his cards over, another problem arose.  Apparently there are some angle shooters at the WSOP, because yet another Ace was marked.  The card was removed and replaced. 

The next level they will play is Hold'em followed by Omaha Hi/Lo. 

Player Tags: John D'Agostino,   David Grey,   David Williams,   Darrell Dicken

On to Day Two

Jun 09, '07

Day one of the first H.O.R.S.E event of the 2007 World Series of Poker is over. 210 players will return tomorrow at 3 p.m. to battle down to a final table. There are still plenty of big names left in the field including Doyle Brunson, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, David Williams, Andy Bloch and Cyndy Violette.

The final level of the day was hold 'em with limits of $300-$600. Chips finally began to change hands at a consistent rate and more players began to get eliminated. Pat Poels, Shawn Sheikan and Alan Boston are no longer in the field, but I'm sure we haven't seen the last of them in this World Series.

Tables continued to break at a much quicker pace this last level and John D'Agostino found himself at the table of David Williams. When sitting down, Williams said to D'Agostino "Oh man, I wish there was more than 10 minutes left in the day." D'Agostino replied, "Uh uh, I'm not playin a single hand." Those two will have to wait until tomorrow to see who can last the longest.

Tournament officials made the announcement that play would end at about five minutes past 3 a.m. Following the announcement, Cyndy Violette jumped out of her chair and exclaimed, "Yay! Now I don't have to play in the ladies event!"

Come back tomorrow to CardPlayer.com to see what happens when the limits pick up and the field shrinks down.

Player Tags: Andy Bloch,   Patrick Poels,   Daniel Negreanu,   John D'Agostino,   Shawn Sheikhan,   Mike Matusow,   Doyle Brunson,   Cyndy Violette,   Alan Boston,   David Williams