Thomas Hunt III Poker Tournament Updates

$1,500 H.O.R.S.E. - End of Day 1

Jun 29, '08

Big Hands and Storylines:

An astounding 803 players entered today’s $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event, surpassing all expectations. Eliminations were hard to find in the first two or three levels, but the pace picked up in the second half of the day. By the conclusion of day 1, only 184 players were left with a chance of taking home the World Series bracelet.

A very familiar name sits atop the leaderboard: Phil Hellmuth concluded the day with an impressive 43,000 chips. Winning this event would give Hellmuth a 12^th bracelet, further distancing him from Brunson and Chan. In addition, this would be Hellmuth’s first World Series win in a non-hold’em event.

Other big names that Hellmuth will need to contend with to take the title down include:

Joe Hachem - 25,000
Thomas Hunt - 25,000
Victor Ramdin - 23,600
Chad Brown - 22,000
Keith Sexton - 22,000
Arash Ghaneian - 21,000
Michael Craig - 20,000
Esther Taylor - 20,000
Perry Friedman - 18,500

Average Stack: 13,100

Action will resume tomorrow at 3 p.m and play will continue until the final table is reached.

Here is one final hand from day 1 action:

Stakes:
Hold’em/Omaha:  300-500 blinds
Stud/Razz/Stud8:  100 ante, 200 bring in, 500-1,000 stakes

Hold’em

Matusow Gets An Unexpected Out

Mike Matusow raised from late position and was called by a player in the cutoff. The flop came down 1084. Matusow checked and the cutoff checked behind. The turn was the 2 and Matusow bet out. He was raised by the player in the one seat and he quickly called. The river was the 7 and both players checked without much thought. Matusow showed 75 for a pair of sevens. His opponent tabled A-Q and Matusow’s hand stood up despite missing both his straight and flush draws. That hand brought Mike Matusow up to 11,000 at day’s end. Matusow summed up his day succinctly when he said, “I couldn’t have played better and I couldn’t have felt worse.”

Player Tags: Mike Matusow,   Phil Hellmuth,   Victor Ramdin,   Arash Ghaneian,   Keith Sexton,   Perry Friedman,   Thomas Hunt III,   Michael Craig,   Esther Taylor

$1,500 Stud 8/b - Final Table - Isaia 4th ($50,122) / Hunt 3rd ($68,686)

Jun 28, '08

Ante: 3,000
Bring-In: 5,000
Completion: 15,000

Players Left: 2

Chip Counts:
Ryan Hughes: 1,082,000
Ron Long: 550,000

Eliminations:
Alessio Isaia Eliminated in 4th Place ($50,122)
Thomas Hunt Eliminated in 3rd Place ($68,686)

Big Hands:

Alessio Isaia Eliminated in 4th Place ($50,122)

Hughes brought it in with the 2 and Isaia completed with the 10. Hughes raised and Isaia called. Hughes checked the K on fourth street and Isaia bet the 6. Hughes paired his king on fifth street (K) while Isaia paired as well (6). Hughes took the betting lead back on fifth street and continued on sixth street as well.

Hughes: 2KK3 - K54
Isaia: 10669 - AA2

Hughes threw in a final bet on seventh street and Isaia called for the rest of his chips. Hughes turned over three kings and scooped the pot, Isaia showed aces up (aces and sixes). Alessio Isaia was eliminated in 4th place ($50,122).

Thomas Hunt Eliminated in 3rd Place ($68,686)

Against the chip leader Ryan Hughes, a short stacked Thomas Hunt got it all in with the 2 in the door. Hughes called the slight raise with the 3.

Hunt: 22104 - Q53
Hughes: 3Q2J - 843

All in on third street, the best hand Hunt could make by the river was pair of deuces (high) and a busted low draw. Hughes made a pair of threes to scoop the pot and eliminated Thomas Hunt in 3rd place ($68,686).

And Then There Were Two...
Thomas Hunt (3rd)  was eliminated just moments into Level 23 and Ryan Hughes led Ron Long into heads-up play.

Ryan Hughes: 1,317,000
Ron Long: 315,000

Player Tags: Ronald Long,   Ryan Hughes,   Thomas Hunt III,   Alessio Isaia

$1,500 Stud 8/b - Final Table - Ryan Hughes Up Over 1 Million

Jun 28, '08

Ante: 3,000
Bring-In: 5,000
Completion: 15,000

Players Left: 4

Chip Counts:
Ryan Hughes: 1,010,000
Ron Long: 265,000
Alessio Isaia: 220,000
Thomas Hunt: 140,00

Big Hands:

Play has slowed down considerably here over the past round while Ryan Hughes extends his chip lead to over 1 million. With a 4:1 chip lead over second place, all of the other players seem to be taking turns as the short stack, fighting for the
crumbs as Hughes continues to widen his lead.

Thomas Hunt Doubles Through Alessio Isaia

Thomas Hunt got it all in on fifth street and Alessio Isaia had him covered.

Hunt: 8A5Q - 853
Isaia: AJ86 - K22

All in on fifth street, Hunt made two pair (eights and fives) by seventh street and Isaia finished with just one pair of deuces. With no qualifying low hand either, Thomas Hunt scooped the pot and doubled up to about 125,000.

Player Tags: Ronald Long,   Ryan Hughes,   Thomas Hunt III,   Alessio Isaia

$1,500 Stud 8/b - Final Table - Jonas Klausen Eliminated in 5th Place ($39,355)

Jun 28, '08

Ante: 3,000
Bring-In: 3,000
Completion: 12,000

Players Left: 4

Chip Counts:
Ryan Hughes: 921,000
Alessio Isaia: 350,000
Ron Long: 260,000
Thomas Hunt: 101,000

Eliminations:
Jonas Klausen Eliminated in 5th place ($39,355)

Big Hands:

Ryan Hughes Chips Up to 900k

In one of the first hands of Level 21, Ryan Hughes took a six-figure pot off of Jonas Klausen and continued to bully the rest of table throughout the round. Soon after putting another 100k distance between himself and Klausen, Hughes went after him again, this time with dire consequences for Klausen and the rest of the table. 

Ryan Hughes brought it in with 2 and Jonas Klausen completed the bet with the A. Hughes raised and Klausen called. Klausen picked 3 on fourth street and bet out, Hughes called with the 4.


Klausen: 2476 - fold
Hughes: A398

Hughes bet out this time on fifth street and Klausen called. On sixth street Hughes bet out again, but this Klausen folded. Hughes took another big pot off of Klausen, this time putting his chip count over 900,000. A monster chip lead over the rest of the table.

Jonas Klasuen Eliminated in 5th Place ($39,355)

Jonas Klausen brought it in with the 3 and Ron Long called with the A. Long bet out with the J on fourth street and Klausen called with the K. Long bet out on fifth street as well with the 6 and Klausen raised with the Q. Long reraised and Klausen called all in.

Long: AJ68 - J62
Klausen: 3KQ8 - 842

All in on fifth street, Klausen turned over a pair of eights (high) and no low on seventh street. Long showed jacks up and scooped the pot. The one, two, and even three-time chip leader Jonas Klausen was finally eliminated in 5th place ($39,355).


 

Player Tags: Ronald Long,   Ryan Hughes,   Thomas Hunt III,   Jonas Klausen

$1,500 Stud 8/b - Final Table - Feldman 7th Place ($23,019) / D'Alessandro 6th Place ($30,444)

Jun 28, '08

Ante: 2,000
Bring-In: 3,000
Completion: 10,000

Players Left: 5

Chip Counts:
Ryan Hughes: 735,000
Jonas Klausen: 318,000
Alessandro Isaia: 210,000
Thomas Hunt: 200,000
Ron Long: 182,000

Eliminations:
Josh Feldman Eliminated in 7th place ($23,019)
Tim D'Alessandro Eliminated in 6th place ($30,444)

Big Hands:

Josh Feldman Eliminated in 7th Place ($23,019)
Jonas Klausen Regains Chip Lead

Josh Feldman (J) and Jonus Klasuen (A) got four bets in on third street. Klausen bet out first on fourth street (4) and Feldman raised (9). Klausen reraised (enough to put Feldman all in) and Feldman called all in.

Klausen: A428 - AKK
Feldman: J94Q - AJ9

Feldman started the hand with split jacks, making two pair (jacks and nines) on fourth street, which is where the money got in. Klausen started the hand with split aces and didn’t make two pair (aces and kings) until the river, either way Josh Feldman was eliminated in 7th place ($23,019) while Jonas Klausen regained the chip lead once again with just under 500,000.

Big Stacks Battle, Hughes Takes Lead Back From Klausen

In a big pot between the two biggest stacks at the table, Jonas Klausen came up short and Ryan Hughes once again stole the chip lead from Klausen. By the time the hand was over, Ryan Hughes was leading the pack with just under 550,000 while Jonas Klausen fell back down to just under 375,000.

Tim D'Alessandro Eliminated in 6th place ($30,444)

Thomas Hunt completed with the A and Tim D’Alessandro raised with 10. Hunt reraised and D’Alessandro made it four bets. Hunt called the raise and then bet out on fourth street with the K. D’Alessandro raised with the 7 and Hunt called. Hunt made one last bet on fifth street and D’Alessandro called all in.

Hunt: AK9A - AK9
D’Alessandro: 10733 - J1010

It was full house over full house with Tim D’Alessandro all in on fifth street and all out by seventh street. Tim D’Alessandro made tens full of threes while Thomas Hunt finished the hand with aces full of kings. Tim D’Alessandro was subsequently eliminate in 6th place ($30,444).

Player Tags: Ryan Hughes,   Thomas Hunt III,   Timothy D'Alessandro,   Jonas Klausen,   Joshua Feldman

$1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low - Level 11 Recap

Jun 27, '08

Limits: 200 ante, 300 low card, 1,000-2,000 limits

Players Remaining: 59 of 544

Average Chip Stack: 27,700

Eliminations:

Tony Guoga

Hands and Storylines:

See Phan crippled; see Phan triple up

After he lost a big pot with a pair of sevens and 7-6-5 low to Brenda Rizer's pair of aces and 7-6-4 low, John Phan was down to just 1,500 chips. He won a couple pots but was still in danger when he got all his chips into the middle against Craig Gray and monster chip leader Thomas Hunt. On each subsequent street Hunt bet and Gray called. Meanwhile, Phan asked for a four and caught one on fifth street and asked for a five and caught that on sixth street. Hunt had a low and Gray had two pair to chip the side pot, but Phan flipped over A-2 to make a wheel and scoop the main pot. After the hand Phan had over 10,000 chips.

Table shows Hellmuth respect

After a bring in, the next player to act raised to 1,000 with a jack showing. Marco Traniello raised to 2,000 with a king up, and then Hellmuth raised to 3,000 with a ten up. Hellmuth told to the table to get ready for an exciting hand and leaned in on his chair. But then both players folded. Traniello showed K-8 as he mucked and Hellmuth said, "What do think I have? There aren't many possibilities." He then showed two red aces and took the pot.

Tony G loses on seventh

Tony Guoga was shortstacked and moved all in with a pair of fives. His hand never improved and his opponent caught a second queen on seventh street to eliminate Guoga.

Player Tags: John Phan,   Antanas Guoga,   Phil Hellmuth,   Thomas Hunt III,   Craig Gray

$1,500 Stud 8/b - Final Table - Isaia 4th ($50,122) / Hunt 3rd ($68,686)

Jun 28, '08

Ante: 3,000
Bring-In: 5,000
Completion: 15,000

Players Left: 2

Chip Counts:
Ryan Hughes: 1,082,000
Ron Long: 550,000

Eliminations:
Alessio Isaia Eliminated in 4th Place ($50,122)
Thomas Hunt Eliminated in 3rd Place ($68,686)

Big Hands:

Alessio Isaia Eliminated in 4th Place ($50,122)

Hughes brought it in with the 2 and Isaia completed with the 10. Hughes raised and Isaia called. Hughes checked the K on fourth street and Isaia bet the 6. Hughes paired his king on fifth street (K) while Isaia paired as well (6). Hughes took the betting lead back on fifth street and continued on sixth street as well.

Hughes: 2KK3 - K54
Isaia: 10669 - AA2

Hughes threw in a final bet on seventh street and Isaia called for the rest of his chips. Hughes turned over three kings and scooped the pot, Isaia showed aces up (aces and sixes). Alessio Isaia was eliminated in 4th place ($50,122).

Thomas Hunt Eliminated in 3rd Place ($68,686)

Against the chip leader Ryan Hughes, a short stacked Thomas Hunt got it all in with the 2 in the door. Hughes called the slight raise with the 3.

Hunt: 22104 - Q53
Hughes: 3Q2J - 843

All in on third street, the best hand Hunt could make by the river was pair of deuces (high) and a busted low draw. Hughes made a pair of threes to scoop the pot and eliminated Thomas Hunt in 3rd place ($68,686).

And Then There Were Two...
Thomas Hunt (3rd)  was eliminated just moments into Level 23 and Ryan Hughes led Ron Long into heads-up play.

Ryan Hughes: 1,317,000
Ron Long: 315,000

Player Tags: Ronald Long,   Ryan Hughes,   Thomas Hunt III,   Alessio Isaia

$1,500 Stud 8/b - Final Table - Ryan Hughes Up Over 1 Million

Jun 28, '08

Ante: 3,000
Bring-In: 5,000
Completion: 15,000

Players Left: 4

Chip Counts:
Ryan Hughes: 1,010,000
Ron Long: 265,000
Alessio Isaia: 220,000
Thomas Hunt: 140,00

Big Hands:

Play has slowed down considerably here over the past round while Ryan Hughes extends his chip lead to over 1 million. With a 4:1 chip lead over second place, all of the other players seem to be taking turns as the short stack, fighting for the
crumbs as Hughes continues to widen his lead.

Thomas Hunt Doubles Through Alessio Isaia

Thomas Hunt got it all in on fifth street and Alessio Isaia had him covered.

Hunt: 8A5Q - 853
Isaia: AJ86 - K22

All in on fifth street, Hunt made two pair (eights and fives) by seventh street and Isaia finished with just one pair of deuces. With no qualifying low hand either, Thomas Hunt scooped the pot and doubled up to about 125,000.

Player Tags: Ronald Long,   Ryan Hughes,   Thomas Hunt III,   Alessio Isaia

$1,500 Stud 8/b - Final Table - Jonas Klausen Eliminated in 5th Place ($39,355)

Jun 28, '08

Ante: 3,000
Bring-In: 3,000
Completion: 12,000

Players Left: 4

Chip Counts:
Ryan Hughes: 921,000
Alessio Isaia: 350,000
Ron Long: 260,000
Thomas Hunt: 101,000

Eliminations:
Jonas Klausen Eliminated in 5th place ($39,355)

Big Hands:

Ryan Hughes Chips Up to 900k

In one of the first hands of Level 21, Ryan Hughes took a six-figure pot off of Jonas Klausen and continued to bully the rest of table throughout the round. Soon after putting another 100k distance between himself and Klausen, Hughes went after him again, this time with dire consequences for Klausen and the rest of the table. 

Ryan Hughes brought it in with 2 and Jonas Klausen completed the bet with the A. Hughes raised and Klausen called. Klausen picked 3 on fourth street and bet out, Hughes called with the 4.


Klausen: 2476 - fold
Hughes: A398

Hughes bet out this time on fifth street and Klausen called. On sixth street Hughes bet out again, but this Klausen folded. Hughes took another big pot off of Klausen, this time putting his chip count over 900,000. A monster chip lead over the rest of the table.

Jonas Klasuen Eliminated in 5th Place ($39,355)

Jonas Klausen brought it in with the 3 and Ron Long called with the A. Long bet out with the J on fourth street and Klausen called with the K. Long bet out on fifth street as well with the 6 and Klausen raised with the Q. Long reraised and Klausen called all in.

Long: AJ68 - J62
Klausen: 3KQ8 - 842

All in on fifth street, Klausen turned over a pair of eights (high) and no low on seventh street. Long showed jacks up and scooped the pot. The one, two, and even three-time chip leader Jonas Klausen was finally eliminated in 5th place ($39,355).


 

Player Tags: Ronald Long,   Ryan Hughes,   Thomas Hunt III,   Jonas Klausen

$1,500 Stud 8/b - Final Table - Feldman 7th Place ($23,019) / D'Alessandro 6th Place ($30,444)

Jun 28, '08

Ante: 2,000
Bring-In: 3,000
Completion: 10,000

Players Left: 5

Chip Counts:
Ryan Hughes: 735,000
Jonas Klausen: 318,000
Alessandro Isaia: 210,000
Thomas Hunt: 200,000
Ron Long: 182,000

Eliminations:
Josh Feldman Eliminated in 7th place ($23,019)
Tim D'Alessandro Eliminated in 6th place ($30,444)

Big Hands:

Josh Feldman Eliminated in 7th Place ($23,019)
Jonas Klausen Regains Chip Lead

Josh Feldman (J) and Jonus Klasuen (A) got four bets in on third street. Klausen bet out first on fourth street (4) and Feldman raised (9). Klausen reraised (enough to put Feldman all in) and Feldman called all in.

Klausen: A428 - AKK
Feldman: J94Q - AJ9

Feldman started the hand with split jacks, making two pair (jacks and nines) on fourth street, which is where the money got in. Klausen started the hand with split aces and didn’t make two pair (aces and kings) until the river, either way Josh Feldman was eliminated in 7th place ($23,019) while Jonas Klausen regained the chip lead once again with just under 500,000.

Big Stacks Battle, Hughes Takes Lead Back From Klausen

In a big pot between the two biggest stacks at the table, Jonas Klausen came up short and Ryan Hughes once again stole the chip lead from Klausen. By the time the hand was over, Ryan Hughes was leading the pack with just under 550,000 while Jonas Klausen fell back down to just under 375,000.

Tim D'Alessandro Eliminated in 6th place ($30,444)

Thomas Hunt completed with the A and Tim D’Alessandro raised with 10. Hunt reraised and D’Alessandro made it four bets. Hunt called the raise and then bet out on fourth street with the K. D’Alessandro raised with the 7 and Hunt called. Hunt made one last bet on fifth street and D’Alessandro called all in.

Hunt: AK9A - AK9
D’Alessandro: 10733 - J1010

It was full house over full house with Tim D’Alessandro all in on fifth street and all out by seventh street. Tim D’Alessandro made tens full of threes while Thomas Hunt finished the hand with aces full of kings. Tim D’Alessandro was subsequently eliminate in 6th place ($30,444).

Player Tags: Ryan Hughes,   Thomas Hunt III,   Timothy D'Alessandro,   Jonas Klausen,   Joshua Feldman

$1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low - Level 11 Recap

Jun 27, '08

Limits: 200 ante, 300 low card, 1,000-2,000 limits

Players Remaining: 59 of 544

Average Chip Stack: 27,700

Eliminations:

Tony Guoga

Hands and Storylines:

See Phan crippled; see Phan triple up

After he lost a big pot with a pair of sevens and 7-6-5 low to Brenda Rizer's pair of aces and 7-6-4 low, John Phan was down to just 1,500 chips. He won a couple pots but was still in danger when he got all his chips into the middle against Craig Gray and monster chip leader Thomas Hunt. On each subsequent street Hunt bet and Gray called. Meanwhile, Phan asked for a four and caught one on fifth street and asked for a five and caught that on sixth street. Hunt had a low and Gray had two pair to chip the side pot, but Phan flipped over A-2 to make a wheel and scoop the main pot. After the hand Phan had over 10,000 chips.

Table shows Hellmuth respect

After a bring in, the next player to act raised to 1,000 with a jack showing. Marco Traniello raised to 2,000 with a king up, and then Hellmuth raised to 3,000 with a ten up. Hellmuth told to the table to get ready for an exciting hand and leaned in on his chair. But then both players folded. Traniello showed K-8 as he mucked and Hellmuth said, "What do think I have? There aren't many possibilities." He then showed two red aces and took the pot.

Tony G loses on seventh

Tony Guoga was shortstacked and moved all in with a pair of fives. His hand never improved and his opponent caught a second queen on seventh street to eliminate Guoga.

Player Tags: John Phan,   Antanas Guoga,   Phil Hellmuth,   Thomas Hunt III,   Craig Gray