Chino Rheem Poker Tournament Updates

David "Chino" Rheem Takes a Big Hit

Oct 02, '10

David “Chino” Rheem was all in with K Q versus Tom Marchese and his pocket eights. The A 10 2 was dangerous but kept Marchese in the lead. However, Rheem took over on the Q turn, but such is the way of the cards, all was not over, as the river brought the 8 and left Rheem short-stacked.

Player Tags: Chino Rheem,   Thomas Marchese

Level One, Hour One: Raymer Crippled As Chips Fly Early

Jul 05, '10

Blinds: 50-100

Players Remaining:

Average Chip Count: 30,000

Notable Chip Counts:

Nick Schulman – 15,000
Greg Raymer – 1,200

Card Player Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman – 30,000
Allyn Jaffrey Shulman – 30,000
Adam Schoenfeld – 30,000
Lee Watkinson – 30,000
Shannon Shorr -30,000
Mark Gregorich – 30,000
Diego Cordovez – 30,000

Players Twitter Accounts:

Barry Shulman
Erik Seidel
Maria Ho
Chris Moorman
Greg Raymer
Beth Shak
Mike Caro
Jamie Rosen

Notable Eliminations:

None

Big Hands:

Raymer On Life Support

Picking up the action on the flop, the board read Q102. Greg Raymer moved all in for 23,225 and his opponent in seat 3 made the call.

Raymer: KQ
Seat 3: 1010

Raymer was drawing to a flush while his opponent had middle set. The turn was the 8 and the river was the 5 and Raymer was down to just 1,200 chips in the early going.

Rheem Loses Big Chunk Early

Chino Rheem raised to 250 from under the gun and three players made the call. The four players saw a flop of 942.

Rheem bet 650 and only two of his opponents made the call. The turn was the 6 and Rheem checked. One player bet 900 and was called by the other opponent. Rheem then popped it to 3,000 and both opponents made the call.

The river was the 7 and Rheem led out with 4,400. Only one opponent called but Rheem simply tapped the table as he was shown 44 for a set. Rheem was down to 22,000.

Schulman Cut In Half

Picking up the action on the flop of 774, Nick Schulman bet 1,150 and his opponent made the call.

The turn was the 6 and Schulman bet 3,500. His opponent made the call again and the river was the J.

Schulman bet 8,000 and his opponent sprung his trap as he raised to 20,200. Schulman thought for a bit before mucking his hand. His opponent tabled 66 and Schulman was down to 15,000.

Raymer Triples Up

After the under-the-gun player raised to 300, a middle position player called, and Greg Raymer movedl all-in for 1,025. Both opponents called and checked down a board of J2Q710.

“Please nobody say straight,” said Raymer has he flipped up 7c7s. Neither could beat it and he is up to 3,225.

Schulman Can’t Get Going

Nick Schulman’s stack dropped to 10,000 after betting every street on a board of 56289. He bet 400 on the flop, 1,100 on the turn, and 2,200 on the river.

His opponent check-raised to 6,300 and Schulman let it go.

Left In The Deck:

Rough Estimate

There are 120 tables in the Amazon Room going and there are 15 tables in the Pavillion. Those tables are breaking fast and soon all of the players will be playing in the Amazon Room. They will be playing 10-handed early on so we can estimate there are roughly 1,200 players in action on Day 1A.

Registration is open until the end of the second level and then we will be able to get an official count on the day.

Player Tags: Greg Raymer,   Chino Rheem,   Nick Schulman

Level 5 Update: Mercier Scoops Mizrachi

Jun 12, '10

Limits: 600-1,200

Players Remaining: 206 out of 212

Average Chip Count: 30,873

Card Player Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman – 27,000
Daniel Negreanu – 6,500
Shannon Shorr – 24,000
Mark Gregorich – 43,000
Todd Brunson – 19,500
Doyle Brunson – 20,000
Jennifer Harman – 46,000
Steve Zolotow – 41,000
Phil Hellmuth – 25,000

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. John Monnette – 56,000
2. Jeffrey Lisandro – 55,000
3. Tony G – 55,000
4. Tommy Vedes – 52,000
5. Yuval Bronstein – 52,000
6. Mike Sexton – 50,000
7. George Danzer – 48,000
8. Perry Friedman – 47,500
9. Jennifer Harman – 46,000
10. Andrew Brown – 44,000

Notable Eliminations:

Hoyt Corkins

Big Hands:

Mercier Scoops Mizrachi

Jason Mercier raised preflop and was called by Michael Mizrachi. Mizrachi checked and called a bet by Mercier on every street as the board ran out 7K582.

Mercier showed AJ64, good for the second nut low and an eight-high straight. Mizrachi mucked and Mercier scooped the whole pot.

Cassidy Victorious over Jesus

Chris Ferguson raised preflop and was called by Joe Cassidy, Brett Richey, and Ted Lawson.

The flop was 7KA and Ferguson bet after Lawson checked. Cassidy and Richey called and the turn came the Q. Ferguson and Richey checked to Cassidy, who bet and was called in two spots.

The 9 fell on the river and Cassidy bet when checked to and was only called by Ferguson. Cassidy showed the QJJ10, giving him the nuts and the pot. Cassidy is up to 43,000 with the pot.

Rheem Cripples Corkins

Hoyt corkins raised from under-the-gun and was called by Tony G in middle position and Chino Rheem in the big blind. The flop was 1099 and Rheem checked, Corkins bet, Tony G called, and Rheem check-raised. Corkins called and Tony G tossed his cards in.

The turn was the 9 and Corkins called a bet from Rheem. The river fell and was the 5 and Corkins called another bet from Rheem.

Rheem showed the 1010AQ and scooped the pot from Corkins. Just a few hands later, Corkins was seen exiting the tournament area and there were no chips left in front of his seat.

Aces Hold For Sagstrom

Erik Sagstro raised and was three-bet by Andy Bloch. Sagstrom made the call and the fop was QJ8. Sagstrom bet, Bloch raised and Sagstrom called.

The turn was the K and Sagstrom bet again. This time Bloch just called. The river was the 5 and Sagstrom bet one more time and was called by Bloch.

Sagstrom showed AAQ9 and Bloch mucked his hand, as he dropped to 25,500 in chips. Sagstrom climbed to 46,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins,   Joe Cassidy,   Erik Sagstrom,   Chino Rheem,   Jason Mercier

Day 1 in the Books

Jun 09, '10

After 10 levels of play, the 792 entrants in event no. 17, the $5,000 no-limit hold’em event, are now down to 225. The deeper structure seemed to favor the pros as many notable names have a big stack at the day’s end.

Chino Rheem (Pictured Right) and Jeff Williams are pacing the field and look to be towards the top of chip counts with 185,000 and 172,400, respectively. Antonio Esfandiari and Mike Gracz are also among the chip leaders with well over 120,000 each.

There were several other top flight pros that survived the day. Other notables include Brian Rast, Ted Lawson, Tony G, Phil Hellmuth, Isaac Baron, TJ Cloutier, Scott Clements, Marco Johnson, Shaun Deeb, Vivek Rajkumar, Joe Sebok, Jason Mercier, Perry Friedman, Nam Le, Vitaly Lunkin, Lee Markholt, Scott Fischman, Chau Giang, Sam Stein, Phil Ivey, Annette Obrestad, Andrew Lichtenberger, and Joe Cada. Last year’s winner, Brian Lemke, is also still alive.

Don’t forget to check out some of the twitter feeds from some of the players still remaining.

Antonio Esfandiari
Annette Obrestad
Eugene Todd
Justin “Boosted J” Smith
Mike Leah
Phil Hellmuth
Nenad Medic
Barry Greenstein
Joe Sebok
Phil Ivey
Eric Baldwin
Jonathan Little
Brent Roberts
Eric Haber"
Mike Watson

The players will come back on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. to play the second day of this event with the intention to reach the final table. Check back with Card Player for updates on this event and to see who is still alive to claim the $818,959 first place prize money.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Chino Rheem,   Joe Sebok,   Brian Rast,   Jeff Williams

Level 3 Update: Daniel Negreanu Eliminated

Dec 14, '09

Blinds: 100-200 with a 25 ante

Players Remaining: 261 out of 284 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1. Jon Turner — 180,000
2. Billy Kopp — 170,000
3. John Cernuto — 135,000
4. Cory Caroll — 125,000
5. David Benyamine — 119,000
6. James Mackey — 110,000
7. Antonio Esfandiari — 110,000
8. Isaac Baron — 105,000
9. Lee Markholt — 105,000
10. Faraz Jaka — 95,000

Card Player Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 74,000

Average Chip Count: 65,287

Notable Eliminations:

Daniel Negreanu
Chino Rheem

Big Hands:

Daniel Negreanu Eliminated

Daniel Negreanu (pictured left) and Billy Kopp got into a raising war preflop with one other opponent and two of the players found themselves all in. Their cards:

Negreanu: 10-10
Kopp: J-J
Opponent: K-K

Board: J-9-8

Kopp flopped a set and that was enough in the end to win the hand and grow his stack to 170,000. Negreanu was eliminated on the hand.

Barry Greenstein Makes a Full Boat

The board read Q8548 and 7,600 sat in the pot when Vadim Trincher bet out 7,000 and Barry Greenstein raised to 24,500 from early position. Greenstein held 1,300 after the raise and Trincher went into the tank before making the call. Greenstein turned over pocket fives and won the hand to grow his stack to 56,500. Trincher held a little less than 50,000 after the hand.

Chino Rheem Eliminated

Chino Rheem (pictured right) was all in for 50,000 on a flop of 753 and Darryl Fish had him covered. Their cards:

Rheem: 64
Fish: 33

Turn and River: 7 and 8

Rheem was eliminated on the hand and Fish now holds 150,000.

POY Watch

Card Player TV caught up with Cornel Cimpan earlier in the day and chatted with him about the 2009 POY race. Check out the video below.

Player Tags: Barry Greenstein,   Daniel Negreanu,   Vadim Trincher,   Chino Rheem,   Billy Kopp

Level 2 Update: Daniel Negreanu Upset

Dec 14, '09

Blinds: 100-200

Players Remaining: 236 out of 244 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1. John Cernuto — 135,000
2. Mike Watson — 110,000
3. Antonio Esfandiari — 105,000
4. Adam Geyer — 95,000
5. Evan McNiff — 95,000
6. Chad Batista — 95,000
7. James Mackey — 90,000
8. Jennifer Tilly — 90,000
9. Carter King — 80,000
10. Yevgeniy Timoshenko — 78,000

Card Player Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 68,000

Average Chip Count: 62,000

Notable Eliminations:

Jason Burt

Big Hands:

Chino Rheem’s Trips Boost Him Above Starting Stack

Mike McClain raised to 525 in early position and was called by Mohsin Charania and Chino Rheem in the blinds. The flop came down K42 and everyone checked.

The turn was the 8 and Rheem fired in a bet of 800. McClain called and Charania got out of the way. The river was the 8 and Rheem bet 2,200. McClain called and Rheem showed him 108 to scoop the pot with trips. The defending champion now has over 65,000 in chips.

Scott Montgomery Makes Sure He Gets Paid

The cutoff raised to 600 and Scott Montgomery called on the button. The flop came A89 and both players checked.

The turn was the 2 and the cutoff bet 1,000. Montgomery called and the river was the A. The cutoff checked and Montgomery put in a bet of 2,700.

His opponent thought for a few moments before making the call, however, his chips did not entirely cross the line. Montgomery paused to ask the dealer if it was an official call and once he receieved confirmation, he turned over the winning AJ for trip aces.

We’re not sure if Montgomery was afraid of an angle shoot, but either way, he now has a stack of 51,000.

Jason Mercier Headed South With His Stack

We’re not entirely sure of the preflop action, but it appeared as though Jason Mercier raised to 625 in the cutoff and Soheil Shamseddin reraised to 1,800 from the small blind. Benjamin Zamani then reraised to 5,925 and Mercier made the call.

Shamseddin folded and both players checked a flop of K103. The turn was the 6 and Zamani bet 7,000, getting a call from Mercier. The river was the 3 and both players checked.

Zamani showed A10 to take the pot and boost his stack to 68,000. Meanwhile, Mercier is down to 48,000.

Left In The Deck:

Negreanu Not Happy About Table Draw

There are currently three tables in the poker room and Daniel Negreanu is seated at one, clearly not happy about his table draw.

On his personal twitter account (RealKidPoker), Negreanu voiced his concerns.

“Wow Bellagio officially runs the worst tourney in the country now. Sign up after a guy and you get position on him at the table. Mind boggling. At my table Men and Scotty Nguyen and Elky. We all signed up together.”

Here’s a look at the rest of Negreanu’s lineup.

Seat 1: Billy Kopp
Seat 2: Men Nguyen
Seat 4: Scotty Nguyen
Seat 6: Daniel Negreanu
Seat 8: Bertrand “ElKy” Grospellier
Seat 9: Mike Leah
Seat 10: Russell Rosenblum

All three tables are pretty stacked with well-known professionals, but it doesn’t look like they will break anytime soon, thanks to the very slow structure and extremely deep stacks.

POY Watch:

Card Player TV spoke with current Player of the Year leader Eric Baldwin about his chances to take the overall crown, as well as his recent victory in the $1,000 rebuy tournament here at Bellagio.

Player Tags: Daniel Negreanu,   Michael McClain,   Chino Rheem,   Soheil Shamseddin,   Eric Baldwin,   Benjamin Zamani,   Scott Montgomery,   Jason Mercier

Level 11 Update: The Fat (Short Stacks) Is Trimmed

Oct 23, '09

Blinds: 1,200-2,400 with a 300 ante

Players Left: 84 of 275

Average Chip Count: 196,000

Chip Counts:

1. Dutch Boyd — 580,000
2. Jason Somerville — 557,000
3. Mark Seif — 473,200
4. Chad Batista — 425,000
5. Corwin Cole — 405,600
6. Richard Sciuto — 403,100
7. David Pham — 365,000
8. Mike Leah — 348,400
9. Steve McKoy — 325,500
10. Jonas Entin — 317,600

Notable Eliminations:

Scott Dorin
Justin Bonomo
Haralabos Voulgaris
Todd Brunson
Marco Johnson

Big Hands:

Scott Dorin First Out The Door

Scott “dorinvandy” Dorin was the first person eliminated on the day when his pocket eights ran into an opponent’s pocket aces. The board offered no help and Dorin was eliminated from the tournament. Dorin came into the day with 80,000 in chips.

Jonathan Little Crippled, Kido Pham Wins Race

Kido Pham (pictured left) raised in middle position and Jonathan Little reraised on the button. Pham moved all in for his last 74,500 and Little made the call with pocket tens.

Pham showed AK and won the race when the board rolled out king high. Little was left with just 12,000 or so and continues his back luck from yesterday when his pocket jacks were two-outed by an opponent’s pocket fives.

UPDATE Little got the rest of his money in soon after and again and again, doubling up a few times and now has over 100,000 in chips.

Phil Ivey Doubles Up, Wins Another

The ever so terrifying Phil Ivey (pictured right) is back in contention, after doubling through Jerry Humphrey and then taking a pot from Stephen Giufre to put his stack closer to the average at 155,000 in chips.

Straight Flush For Clements

On a flop of 654, Scott Clements checked and Chino Rheem bet 26,000. Clements called and the turn was the 9.

Both players checked and the river was the Q. Clements bet 65,000 and Rheem made the call. Clements showed 87 for the flopped straight flush and Rheem obviously mucked. After the hand, Clements was up to 355,000 while Rheem took a hit down to 80,000.

Player Tags: Phil Ivey,   Kido Pham,   Scott Clements,   Chino Rheem,   Jonathan Little,   Scott Dorin

Level 2 Hour 1 Update: Mercier Cracks Top Ten

Jul 05, '09

Blinds: 100-200

Chip Counts:

1. Yan Chen – 83,400
2. James Vanderhaa – 74,500
3. Andy Seth – 67,000
4. Kevin Tokimesa – 60,000
5. Lee Watkinson – 51,000
6. Jeff Lisandro – 50,500
7. Isabelle Mercier – 47,000
8. Gavin Griffin – 46,000
9. Terrence Chan – 46,000
10. Matt Savage – 43,000

CardPlayer Chip Counts:

Matt Matros – 25,000

Notable Eliminations:

None

Big Hands:

Mercy Is For The Weak

Picking up the action on the flop, the board read J49 and Isabelle Mercier bet 600 into a 1,500 pot. Her opponent made the call and the 8 dropped on the turn. Both players checked and the 3 completed the board on the river. Mercier bet 1,500 and her opponent called again.

Mercier then tabled KK and her opponent mucked. Mercier took in the pot and she was at 47,000.

Gellar Takes Two Bullets

Picking up the action on the river, the board showed 108487. Gellar called a bet of 4,500 from her opponent and was shown AA. Gellar could not beat it and mucked her hand and her stack dropped to just 15,000.

Kassela Falls In The River

With the board reading 985K, Frank Kassela checked from the small blind and his opponent bet 3,000. Kassela then raised to 10,000 and the call was made. The river brought the A and both players checked.

Kassela showed K9 for two pair but his opponent tabled AK for a better two pair on the river and took the pot. Kassela was down to 22,000.

Rheem Gets Accidentally Three-Bet

David “Chino” Rheem made it 600 from early position. It folded around to the button who tossed in a yellow chip and a black chip, which was 1,100. The dealer announced raise and the player on the button said it was not a raise, as he must have thought that he tossed in a blue and a black, which would have been enough for a call.

The dealer called for a floorperson and Jean Robert-Bellande claimed there was no need to and that it was a legal raise to 1,100. After it was ruled that it was indeed a raise to 1,100, it folded back to chino who sloppily tossed in a pile of chips, amounting to around 11,000.

“I know you didn’t mean to raise, but I’m not taking advantage of you,” said Rheem. “I’ve just got the best hand.” The player on the button folded and Rheem claimed that he had pocket nines.

Wasicka Sees Bad River Card, Makes Tough Fold

After some action preflop, Paul Wasicka takes a flop heads-up against his opponent. The flop was 985 and Wasicka bet 1,000 and was met with a raise to 2,100. Wasica made the call and both players checked when the 7 fell on the turn.

The river was the 10 and Wasicka checked again and now was faced with a bet of 4,500. Wasicka went into the tank and stayed there for four minutes or so. After checking and re-checking his cards, Wasicka picked up the orange chip that would be needed to make the call and then tossed his cards into the muck.

Bellande Fires One Shell and Gives Up

Jean-Robert Bellande raised to 1,000 out of the big blind after several people limped in, every limper called him and they saw the flop five ways. The flop fell A410 and Bellande bet 3,500. Everybody folded to the player on the button who called.

The turn was the 10 and both players checked. The river was the 7 and Bellande checked again. After a few moments of thought, the player on the button checked behind. Bellande announced that he did not have a pair and the button tabled AJ, good for top pair, and the pot.

Player Tags: Frank Kassela,   Isabelle Mercier,   Chino Rheem,   Maya Gellar-Antonius

Level 2 Update: Chino Rheem Eliminated

Jun 30, '09

Blinds: 75-150

Players Remaining: XXX out of XXX

Chip Counts:

1. Dennis Phillips – 46,000
2. Shaun Deeb – 30,000
3. Alexander Kostritsyn – 30,000
4. Daniel Alaei – 29,000
5. David Saab – 26,000
6. Ivan Demidov – 20,000
7. Justin Bonomo – 18,000
8. Gavin Griffin – 15,000
9. Erick Lindgren – 13,000
10. Tony Dunst – 13,000

Average Chip Count: 15,000

Notable Eliminations:

David “Chino” Rheem

Big Hands:

Ivan Demidov Catches a Bluff

On a board of KJ5K, last year’s main event runner-up bet 425. His opponent raised to 1,100 and Demidov called. The 10 hit on the river and Demidov checked. His opponent bet 2,025 and Demidov went into the tank. He eventually made the call and exposed the QQ, which was good against the A8 bluff of the other player. Demidov is now at 20,000 in chips.

Chino Rheem Eliminated

David Rheem bet 350 from the cutoff and Erick Lindgren raised to 1,000 from the button. Rheem called and the players were heads up. The flop came QQJ and the member of last year’s November Nine checked. Lindgren bet 1,000 and Rheem made the call. The J hit the turn and action was checked to a 4 on the river. Rheem checked and Lindgren bet 1,000. Rheem check raised to 3,100 and Lindgren bet enough to put Rheem all in. Rheem made the call and Lindgren exposed the AQ for queens full of jacks. Rheem mucked and was eliminated. Lindgren is still below the starting amount with 13,000 in chips.

Left in the Deck:

The players are now on a 20 minute break.

Player Tags: Erick Lindgren,   Chino Rheem,   Ivan Demidov

Level 12 Update: Defending Champ Ousted, Rheem Doubles Again

Jun 24, '09

Blinds: 1,500-3,000

Players Remaining: 62 out of 275

Chip Counts:

1. Michiel Brummelhuis – 400,000
2. Darryll Fish – 290,000
3. Jordan Smith – 246,000
4. Toto Leonidas – 218,000
5. Masaaki Kagawa – 216,000
6. Kirill Gerasimov – 205,000
7. Nam Le – 198,000
8. Davidi Kitai – 190,000
9. Isaac Haxton – 190,000
10. Michael Kamran – 185,000

Average Chip Count: 116,917

Notable Eliminations:

Nenad Medic
Juha Helppi
Carlos Mortensen

Big Hands:

Haxton Takes Monster Pot Off Toto

With the board showing K863 and already over 60,000 in the pot, Isaac Haxton checked to Toto Leonidas who bet out 22,000. Haxton thought briefly before pushing a long tower of “1,000” chips into the middle to make the call, building the pot to well over 100,000.

The river was the 5 and Haxton checked again. Leonidas eyed Haxton’s stack for awhile and then decided to check as well. Haxton then turned over QQ and Leonidas simply mucked his hand. Haxton took the huge pot and his stack improved to well over 200,000 in chips. Leonidas was down to 120,000.

Another Double Up For Rheem

The player on the button raised to 8,000 preflop. Action was next on Chino Rheem in the small blind and he immediately announced he was all in. The big blind folded and the button called. Rheem then turned over KJ and was trailing his opponent’s AQ. That all changed on the flop as it came down K87, giving Rheem top pair. He wasn’t in the clear yet though as his opponent had the nut flush draw. The turn was the J giving Rheem two pair but giving his opponent a Broadway draw. The river was the 3 and Rheem survived another all in and was around 80,000.

Medic Takes One Off Jacob, Then Goes Bust

Alex Jacob raised to 7,200 preflop from the button and Nenad Medic made the call from the big blind. The flop came down AQ2 and Medic checked. Jacob fired 11,000 and Medic made the call. The turn was the 7 and both players checked. The river was the 10 and Medic led out this time, betting 21,900. Jacob tanked for a long time and then announced a call. Medic turned over A10 and Jacob quietly mucked. He was down to just 50,000 while Medic was around 110,000.

A few moments later, Medic lost the majority of his stack when he ran into the pocket kings of his opponent. On the next hand, Medic moved his short stack into the middle and was called by J.C. Alvarado. Medic showed A-J and Alvarado turned over K-Q. Unfortunately for Medic, the flop came down J-10-9, giving Alvarado the straight. Medic failed to improve on the following streets and the defending champion of this event was eliminated.

Player Tags: Toto Leonidas,   Nenad Medic,   Chino Rheem,   Alex Jacob,   Isaac Haxton

Level 11 Update: Rheem Doubles Up Early

Jun 24, '09

Blinds: 1,200-2,400

Players Remaining: 71 out of 275

Chip Counts:

1. Michiel Brummelhuis – 400,000
2. Toto Leonidas – 241,100
3. Masaaki Kagawa – 216,000
4. Kirill Gerasimov – 213,200
5. Darryll Fish – 209,100
6. Davidi Kitai – 190,000
7. Kwang Lee – 182,400
8. Luke Staudenmaier – 182,000
9. Michael Kamran – 180,000
10. Tim Kamran – 180,000

Average Chip Count: 116,917

Notable Eliminations:

Burt Boutin
Lee Markholt
Marco Johnson

Big Hands:

Chino Rheem Quick To Business

Entering the day as the short stack, Chino Rheem wasted little time as he looked down at his hand from under the gun. He pushed his stack of 11,800 into the middle and Marco Johnson made the call. Rheem turned over A10, dominating Johnson’s A9. The flop came down 752 giving Johnson very little help to knock Rheem out. The 7 came on the turn and Johnson could only knock Rheem out by pairing his nine. The 6 fell on the river and Rheem’s hand was good as he doubled up to almost 24,000 while Johnson was down under 10,000 and would bust later in the level.

Don’t Feed The Fish

A player moved all in preflop and Darryll Fish was the only one to look him up. Fish showed A10 while his opponent was dominated with A2. The flop dropped KJ7, giving Fish’s opponent the nut flush draw. The 9 fell on the turn and Fish was still in the lead. The river card was the 6 and Fish held on to knock out his opponent and improve to 210,000 in chips.

Double Dragon: The Revenge Of Keith Lehr

Keith Lehr and David Pham were tangled in a hand where the flop came down J73. Lehr moved all in and Pham made the call.

Pham: K4
Lehr: KJ

Lehr held the lead with top pair and second kicker but Pham had plenty of outs as he had a diamond-flush draw. The turn brought the 8, giving Pham no help and the 6 on the river cemented the hand for Lehr. He doubled to 160,000 while Pham dropped to 98,000.

Player Tags: David Pham,   Chino Rheem,   Keith Lehr,   Marco Johnson,   Darryll Fish

Level 4 Udate: Pham Chips Up

Jun 15, '09

Blinds: 250-500

Players Remaining: 178 out of 185

Chip Counts

1. Shaun Deeb – 85,000
2. Dario Minieri – 63,000
3. Greg Mueller – 60,000
4. Lex Veldhuis – 60,000
5. Markus Golser – 56,000
6. David Oppenheim – 50,600
7. Michiel Brummelhuis – 50,000
8. Daniel Negreanu – 49,500
9. Maria Ho – 49,000
10. David Benyamine – 45,000

Average Stack: 30,833

Notable Eliminations:

Andy Bloch
Brett Richey
Jeff Lisandro

Big Hands:

The Dragon’s Fire

Five players including Sam Grizzle, Doyle Brunson, Chad Brown and David Pham, all called 500 preflop. The flop came down Q94 and the big blind fired 500 after David Pham checked from the small bling. Grizzle, Brunson and Brown all called and then Pham check-raised to 1,000. Everyone except Brunson called and the turn was the 2. Pham led out with 1,000 and everyone called. The river brought the 7 and Pham led out again with 1,000. Only Chad Brown looked him up and Pham turned over KQ for top pair and Brown mucked. Pham took the pot and he was over 40,000 while Brown was at 32,000.

Perry Doesn’t Care For Mad Geniuses

Action folded around to Mike Caro in the small blind and he raised to 1,000. Ralph Perry made the call from the big blind and the players saw a flop of JJ5. Caro checked and Perry bet 500. Caro made the call and the turn was the 3. Caro then led out for 1,000 but Perry would have none of that nonsense and raised to 2,000. Caro then gave up and mucked his hand. He was at 16,000 while Perry was at 33,000.

Rheem Leaks Chips

Chino Rheem raised to 1,000 preflop and Bill Edler three-bet to 1,500. Rheem made the call and the flop came A55. Rheem checked and Edler fired 500. Rheem check-raised to 1,000 and Edler called. The turn was the 2 and both players checked. The river was the 7 and Rheem checked again. Edler bet 1,000 and Rheem mucked his hand. He was down to just 17,000 while Edler was around 34,000.

Kaplan Pushes Ho and Lindgren Away

On a flop of K103, Gabe Kaplan bet 500 into a 2,500 pot and Mario Ho made the call. Erick Lindgren came along as well and the turn was the 8. Kaplan fired another bet, this one 1,000 and Ho mucked her hand. Lindgren followed suit and Kaplan took in the pot. He was around 40,000 while Ho was down to 45,000 and Lindgren was at 31,000.

Left In The Deck:

It was announced that 18 players will be paid. The final survivor of this tournament will earn $460,841 and a bracelet. Players have also gone on a one hour dinner break and will return around 10:40 p.m.

Player Tags: David Pham,   Erick Lindgren,   Doyle Brunson,   Mike Caro,   Gabe Kaplan,   Maria Ho,   Chino Rheem,   Ralph Perry

Level 3 Update: Elezra Doing Well

Jun 15, '09

Blinds: 200-400

Players Remaining: 183 out of 185

Chip Counts

1. Dario Minieri – 58,000
2. Shaun Deeb – 58,000
3. Markus Golser – 57,000
4. Sami Kelopuro – 50,000
5. Maria Ho – 49,000
6. Carlos Mortensen – 47,500
7. David Oppenheim – 46,000
8. Daniel Negreanu – 45,000
9. Dan Shak – 41,000
10. Lex Veldhuis – 41,000

Big Hands:

The Inner Darkness Of Hellmuth Prevails

The action folded around to Phil Hellmuth in late position and he raised to 800 preflop. One player came along for the ride and the players saw a flop. Before the dealer had the three cards in his hand to spread them onto the table, Hellmuth led out with 400 in the dark.

The flop then came down 543. Hellmuth’s opponent gave a slight grin and mucked his hand. Hellmuth raked in the pot and his stack was around 33,000 in chips.

Chino Excels

With more than 2,400 already in the pot and the board showing Q1025, Chino Rheem fired 800 into the pot and two players called him. Chino fired another bet after the river came down and his opponents lost their nerve and mucked. Rheem raked in the pot and he was around 33,000.

Eli Takes A Nice Pot

After the action was three-bet preflop, Eli Elezra and two other players saw a flop of KQ3. Action was checked to Elezra and he fired 400. His opponents both called and the turn brought the 2. Elezra fired 800 again into the pot and the player in seat 1 raised to 1,600. The player in seat 2 mucked and Elezra pushed right back, raising to 2,400. Seat 1 called and the river was the 3. Elezra fired another bet and his opponent mucked. Elezra tabled AQ and he raked in the pot, improving his chip stack to 38,000.

Player Tags: Phil Hellmuth,   Eli Elezra,   Chino Rheem