Kevin Saul Poker Tournament Updates

Day 1B -- Level 1

Jul 08, '11

NOTE: Levels are two hours in length and players are starting with 30,000 in chips. Registration will remain open until the end of the second level.

Players on Day 1B: Unknown

Blinds: 50-100

Notables Remaining:

Notables Eliminated This Level:

Anthony Yeh

Hands:

Bryan Colin Gets Lucky, Takes Early Chip Lead

It’s only the first level and each player has 300 big blinds at their disposal, but that won’t stop a cooler from happening.

Bryan Colin and another opponent got it all in preflop with Colin holding pocket kings and the other player holding pocket aces.

The board brought a king, and not only do we have an early casualty, but Colin is now up to just over 60,000 in chips.

Kevin Saul Scores An Early Knockout

Kevin Saul three-bet an early position raiser and his opponent made the call. The two players then found a way to get it all in on a flop of Q 6 2.

Saul showed pocket queens for top set and his opponent revealed A J for the nut flush draw. The turn and river fell 6 K and Saul’s boat prevailed over his opponent’s flush to give him a knockout and a new stack of 61,750.

The Grinder In Trouble Early

Over at the featured table on a board reading A 10 4 10, Mac Sohrabi bet and Michael Mizrachi put him all in. Sohrabi immediately called with A 10 for a full house and Mizrachi saw that he was drawing dead with J 10 for trips.

The inconsequential river was the Q, giving Mizrachi a second-best flush and sending his stack spiraling to just under 14,000.

Ashton Griffin Mounts a Comeback

Ashton Griffin had a rough start to his day and found himself with less than half of his starting stack, but recently, he was able to get it all in with a flopped set of jacks.

His opponent donated and now Griffin is back up to nearly the starting stack of 30,000.

Poker Tweets:

Card Player TV:

Player Tags: Michael Mizrachi,   Bryan Colin,   Kevin Saul

Poker Tweets -- Kevin Saul

Nov 14, '10

Check out this poker tweet from Kevin Saul.

Player Tags: Kevin Saul

Level 4 Update: ElkY Eliminated

Nov 13, '10

Blinds: 150-300

Players Remaining: 319 (Approximate)

Eliminations:

Nick Binger
Bertrand Grospellier
Jose Barbero
Carter Phillips
Mohsin Charania
Ryan Young
Jonathan Little

Big Hands:

Small Battles Adding Up

The small battles continue to take place at the active table 35. A recent hand saw Maria Ho bet 500 from the hijack on a 8 6 2 flop. Isaac Baron made the call from the cutoff and the 7 fell on the turn. Ho checked, Baron bet 2,200, and after some thought Ho mucked.

Ramdin vs. Rosen Again

Joe Bartholdi (cutoff), Jamie Rosen (small blind), and Victor Ramdin (big blind) all bought a 600-chip ticket to see a flop of K Q 2. They all checked and the turn fell 5. Ramdin bet 1,200 and Bartholdi mucked. Rosen made the call and the river fell 7. Ramdin bet 2,500 and Rosen made a reluctant call. He quickly mucked when Ramdin flipped over K 4 to win the hand.

Saul Grabs Some Quick Chips

Four players checked a limped flop of 10 9 9 and the 4 followed on the turn. Kevin Saul then opened the action for 500 from the small blind and Steve Sung mucked from the big blind. UTG made the call and the button mucked. The river brought the 9 and Saul fired out another 600. His opponent mucked and Saul added a couple thousand to his stack. He is still fighting to get back to a starting stack after a slow start.

Jason Senti Chips Up

There was a flop that read A 7 5 when Jason Senti bet 1,225 from the cutoff. The small blind made the call, leaving himself 9,000 behind, and then both players checked the 4 on the turn. The 3 fell on the river. The small blind checked and Senti fired out 2,100. The small blind hemmed and hawed for a few moments and tossed in the chips for a call. Senti flipped over 4 3 for the “Ugly two pair,” as he put it and grew his stack above where he started today with 30,000.

Poker Tweets

Player Tags: Victor Ramdin,   Maria Ho,   Kevin Saul,   Isaac Baron,   Jonathan Little,   Bertrand Grospellier,   Jamie Rosen,   Jason Senti

Poker Tweets -- Kevin Saul

Nov 14, '10

Check out this poker tweet from Kevin Saul.

Player Tags: Kevin Saul

Level 4 Update: ElkY Eliminated

Nov 13, '10

Blinds: 150-300

Players Remaining: 319 (Approximate)

Eliminations:

Nick Binger
Bertrand Grospellier
Jose Barbero
Carter Phillips
Mohsin Charania
Ryan Young
Jonathan Little

Big Hands:

Small Battles Adding Up

The small battles continue to take place at the active table 35. A recent hand saw Maria Ho bet 500 from the hijack on a 8 6 2 flop. Isaac Baron made the call from the cutoff and the 7 fell on the turn. Ho checked, Baron bet 2,200, and after some thought Ho mucked.

Ramdin vs. Rosen Again

Joe Bartholdi (cutoff), Jamie Rosen (small blind), and Victor Ramdin (big blind) all bought a 600-chip ticket to see a flop of K Q 2. They all checked and the turn fell 5. Ramdin bet 1,200 and Bartholdi mucked. Rosen made the call and the river fell 7. Ramdin bet 2,500 and Rosen made a reluctant call. He quickly mucked when Ramdin flipped over K 4 to win the hand.

Saul Grabs Some Quick Chips

Four players checked a limped flop of 10 9 9 and the 4 followed on the turn. Kevin Saul then opened the action for 500 from the small blind and Steve Sung mucked from the big blind. UTG made the call and the button mucked. The river brought the 9 and Saul fired out another 600. His opponent mucked and Saul added a couple thousand to his stack. He is still fighting to get back to a starting stack after a slow start.

Jason Senti Chips Up

There was a flop that read A 7 5 when Jason Senti bet 1,225 from the cutoff. The small blind made the call, leaving himself 9,000 behind, and then both players checked the 4 on the turn. The 3 fell on the river. The small blind checked and Senti fired out 2,100. The small blind hemmed and hawed for a few moments and tossed in the chips for a call. Senti flipped over 4 3 for the “Ugly two pair,” as he put it and grew his stack above where he started today with 30,000.

Poker Tweets

Player Tags: Victor Ramdin,   Maria Ho,   Kevin Saul,   Isaac Baron,   Jonathan Little,   Bertrand Grospellier,   Jamie Rosen,   Jason Senti

Kevin Saul Eliminated by David Paredes

Oct 26, '10

Kevin Saul was eliminated after he turned the nut flush. David Paredes made a set of queens on the turn and the board paired on the river to give Paredes the full house. Saul exited the tournament and Paredes grew his stack to 340,000.

He has cut his path to the chip lead the hard way today, eliminating three of the best players in the tournament in the process. He has now taken out Saul in addition to Vanessa Selbst and Jason Mercier.

Player Tags: Kevin Saul,   David Paredes

Poker Tweets -- Barry Greenstein, Kevin Saul and Jeff Madsen

Oct 25, '10

Here are some Poker Tweets.

Player Tags: Barry Greenstein,   Kevin Saul,   Jeff Madsen

Saul vs. Fish

Oct 25, '10

Kevin Saul bet 1,150 from the cutoff with a flop of 7 4 2 sitting on the table and Darryll Fish made the call UTG+1. Both players checked the 7 on the turn and the Q followed on the river. Saul bet 2,000 and Fish made the call. Saul revealed A Q and Fish mucked.

Player Tags: Kevin Saul,   Darryll Fish

Brown vs. Saul

Oct 25, '10

Kevin Saul raised to 350 preflop from the hijack and Chad Brown reraised to 800 from the button. Saul made the call and the flop fell 9 2 2. Both players checked and the 6 fell on the turn. Saul bet 1,200 and Brown made the call. The river fell 4 and Saul fired out 2,000. Brown mucked and Saul took down the pot.

Player Tags: Kevin Saul

Kevin Saul Eliminated by David Paredes

Oct 26, '10

Kevin Saul was eliminated after he turned the nut flush. David Paredes made a set of queens on the turn and the board paired on the river to give Paredes the full house. Saul exited the tournament and Paredes grew his stack to 340,000.

He has cut his path to the chip lead the hard way today, eliminating three of the best players in the tournament in the process. He has now taken out Saul in addition to Vanessa Selbst and Jason Mercier.

Player Tags: Kevin Saul,   David Paredes

Poker Tweets -- Barry Greenstein, Kevin Saul and Jeff Madsen

Oct 25, '10

Here are some Poker Tweets.

Player Tags: Barry Greenstein,   Kevin Saul,   Jeff Madsen

Saul vs. Fish

Oct 25, '10

Kevin Saul bet 1,150 from the cutoff with a flop of 7 4 2 sitting on the table and Darryll Fish made the call UTG+1. Both players checked the 7 on the turn and the Q followed on the river. Saul bet 2,000 and Fish made the call. Saul revealed A Q and Fish mucked.

Player Tags: Kevin Saul,   Darryll Fish

Brown vs. Saul

Oct 25, '10

Kevin Saul raised to 350 preflop from the hijack and Chad Brown reraised to 800 from the button. Saul made the call and the flop fell 9 2 2. Both players checked and the 6 fell on the turn. Saul bet 1,200 and Brown made the call. The river fell 4 and Saul fired out 2,000. Brown mucked and Saul took down the pot.

Player Tags: Kevin Saul

Level 12: Negreanu Shows The Cowboy Broadway

Jul 01, '10

Blinds: 2,000-4,000, Ante: 500

Players Remaining: 58 out of 191

Average Chip Count: 245,982

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Sam Trickett — 600,000
2. Jason Somerville — 515,000
3. Isaac Haxton — 506,000
4. Daniel Negreanu — 500,500
5. Philipp Gruissem — 390,100
6. Phil Ivey — 390,000
7. Jared Jaffee — 385,800
8. Armin Zoike — 340,000
9. Philippe D’Auteuil — 335,000
10. Scott Seiver — 305,000

Notable Eliminations:
Ivan Demidov
Kevin Saul

Big Hands:

Negreanu Takes the Cowboy to Broadway

Negreanu check-called Hoyt Corkins’ bet of 20,000 on a flop of AQ6, and the same pattern occurred when Corkins bet 35,000 on the 10 turn.

When the J landed on the river Negreanu led out for the first time in the hand, betting 55,000. Corkins tanked long and hard before having the clock called on him by tablemate Markus Golser.

Corkins eventually called and Negreanu showed AK for a rivered Broadway straight. Corkins mucked and said he flopped top two pair.

Corkins dropped to 220,000 in chips while Negreanu soared toward the top of the leaderboard with 511,000.

Saul Crippled By Bad Kicker

A raising war on a flop of 95Q put Brian Hodhod all in with Kevin Saul calling. Their hands:

Saul: Q10
Hodhod: KQ

Both players held a pair of queens but Hodhod’s kicker was best. The turn came 9 and the river 7 meant that Hodhod doubled to 205,000 and Saul was shot down to just 42,000, busting soon after.

Ivey Sends Demidov to the Rail

Phil Ivey raised to 11,000 and Mclean Karr, Ivan Demidov and Eugene Katchalov all called.

The flop ran 752 and action checked to Ivey. He fired 24,000 into the pot, Karr folded and Demidov raised to 59,000. Katchalov folded and Ivey pushed all in. Demidov made the call for his last 140,000 and his flopped set was no good. Their hands:

Ivey: 77
Demidov: 22

Ivey flopped top set and Demidov held bottom set. The turn brought the 9 and the K river wasn’t any help for Demidov. He was busted and Ivey’s stack grew to around 390,000.

Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins,   Daniel Negreanu,   Phil Ivey,   Kevin Saul,   Ivan Demidov,   Brian Hodhod

Level 4 Update: Money Details Coming Soon

Feb 26, '10

Blinds: 100-200 with a 25 ante

Players Remaining: 621 out of 744

Chip Counts:

1. Jon Luu — 110,000
2. Shawn Buchanan — 75,000
3. Jon Turner — 55,000
4. Mark Seif — 53,000
5. Daniel Negreanu — 52,000
6. Steven Levy — 50,000
7. J.C. Tran — 50,000
8. Lisa Hamilton — 49,000
9. Chris Klodnicki — 48,000
10. William James — 47,000

Average Chip Count: 23,691

Notable Eliminations:

Kevin Saul
Jeff Madsen
Al Barbieri
Andy Bloch

Big Hands:

Kevin Saul Eliminated With Set Over Set

Earlier, we reported that Kevin Saul ran his kings into the pocket aces of Jennifer Tilly. This level, his tournament came to an end when his set of fours ran into an opponent’s set of nines.

Guess it’s just one of those days for the WPT Champion.

Left In The Deck

Prop Bet Blunders

Joe Sebok, Jeff Madsen and Gavin Smith all made a ridiculous last longer bet where the first player out in this event would have to get the other two player’s faces tatooed on his body.

That honor went to Joe Sebok, who was eliminated earlier today when his pocket aces got cracked. The second player out, only had to get the face of the winner tattoed on his body. That player was Jeff Madsen, who must now find a way to buy out of the bet.

Gavin Smith, as the last man standing, will now have to decide whether or not to take pity on his friends, perhaps allowing them to get off with just a monetary penalty.

Player Tags: Gavin Smith,   Kevin Saul,   Joe Sebok,   Jeff Madsen

Level 2 Update: Lisa Hamilton Leads The Pack

Feb 26, '10

Blinds: 50-100

Players Remaining: 687 out of 702

Chip Counts:

1. Lisa Hamilton — 49,000
2. Will James — 42,000
3. Daniel Negreanu — 40,000
4. Jennifer Tilly — 39,500
5. Brent Roberts — 31,000
6. Scott Seiver — 31,000
7. Jimmy Fricke — 30,000
8. Jonathan Little — 30,000
9. David Plastik — 30,000
10. Sam Stein — 25,000

Average Chip Count: 20,480

Notable Eliminations: 20,436

Jared Hamby
Matt Hyman

Big Hands:

Jennifer Tilly Doubles Up Through Kevin Saul

Kevin Saul is now down to his last 9,500 after picking up pocket kings against Jennifer Tilly. Tilly showed pocket aces and they held when the board ran out J 4 3 9 2. She is now stacked with nearly 37,500.

Daniel Negreanu Doubles Up Early

Daniel Negreanu is now sitting with nearly 40,000 in chips after getting an opponent to committ his stack with pocket jacks.

Negreanu showed pocket kings and they held to put him near the top of the leader board.

Matt Hyman Eliminated by Carter King

Aces and kings are certainly flying today. Matt Hyman picked up pocket aces and was looking good against Carter King’s pocket kings, but a king on the flop ended his tournament.

Left In The Deck:

Stuck in the Tent

With the field at near capacity, some players have been forced to compete inside the air conditioned tents just outside of the casino. Players in the tent include Adam Levy, Faraz Jaka, Jeff Madsen, Peter Eastgate, Jason Potter, David Williams, Amit Makhija, Mark Seif and John Phan.

Player Tags: Daniel Negreanu,   Jennifer Tilly,   Kevin Saul,   Matt Hyman,   Carter King

Level 7 Update: Last Level of the Night

Jan 11, '10

Blinds: 400-800 with a 100 ante

Notable Eliminations:

John Duthie
Cornel Andrew Cimpan
Alexandre Gomes
Jani Sointula
Tommy Vedes

Big Hands:

New Chip Leader

Dmitry Stelmak is now stacked with a more than healthy 240,000 in chips. The bulk of the damage was done in two hands. On the first, he made a bigger full house than Justin “boostedJ” Smith to get started.

A few hands later, he eliminated John Duthie when he made aces up with A-6.

Chad Brown Doubles Through Mike Matusow

Chad Brown and Mike Matusow somehow found themselves in a preflop raising war. When it ended, Brown was all in holding AK against Matusow’s pocket tens.

The board fell 953A8 and Brown doubled up to 80,000 with his pair of aces. Matusow is still near average with 71,000.

Alexandre Gomes Hits the Rail

Team PokerStars Pro Alexandre Gomes is now out of the tournament thanks to a surging Kevin Saul.

Gomes held pocket sevens and was willing to risk the rest of his stack with them, but Saul’s pocket aces could not be denied, making a full house to send the Brazilian packing.

Left In The Deck:

Unofficial Field Count and Prizes

As has been the case with many of the tournaments at this year’s PCA, the official field sizes, prize pools and payouts must first be confirmed by PokerStars before they are released to the players and media.

Due to the late hour, that will have to be taken care of tomorrow morning. But we have received word, unofficially, that there were 84 players in this year’s field. A whopping 16 of them will make the money, with first place receiving somewhere in the neighborhood of $575,000. Min-cashers will make about $40,000 for their efforts.

Matt Marafioti Shows Up

Registration has been closed for some time now, but half way through the final level of the evening, Matt Marafioti had not shown up.

It turns out that Marafioti was just a few feet away, playing at the final two tables of the $5,000 no-limit hold’em event. After busting in 10th place, Marafioti raced over to the High Roller section and sat down with 36,000 of his original 50,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Mike Matusow,   Kevin Saul,   Alexandre Gomes,   Matthew Marafioti

Kevin Saul Takes Hit, Still Has Big Stack

Jan 07, '10

A player in middle position raised to 3,200 and Kevin Saul called in the big blind. The flop came J109 and both players checked.

The turn was the J and Saul bet 4,500. His opponent raised to 12,500 and Saul made the call. The river was the 6 and the player bet 12,800. Saul folded, but is still stacked with 193,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Kevin Saul

Level 5 Update: Day 1 Ends

Dec 14, '09

NOTE: Day 1 has come to an end and play will resume at noon PST tomorrow.

Blinds: 300-600 with a 50 ante

Players Remaining: 240 out of 292 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1. Darryll Fish — 220,000
2. Jon Turner — 215,000
3. David Woo — 205,000
4. Billy Kopp — 190,000
5. Antonio Esfandiari — 185,000
6. David Benyamine — 175,000
7. Joe Serock — 160,000
8. Cory Carroll — 155,000
9. Adam Geyer — 150,000
10. Soheil Shamseddin — 135,000

Card Player Chip Counts

Barry Shulman — busted

Average Chip Count: 73,000

Notable Eliminations:

Mohsin Charania
Paul Wasicka
Jeff Madsen
Chad Brown
Tuan Le
Mel Judah
Scott Montgomery

Big Hands:

Markus Gonsalves Doubles Up

A player in middle position raised to 1,050 preflop and Steve Brecher made the call on the button. Markus Gonsalves reraised to 5,400 from the small blind and middle position reraised to 10,625. Brecher mucked and Gonsalves moved all in for 53,825. His opponent made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Gonsalves: KK
Opponent: QQ

The board was dealt Q43K to give Gonsalves a set and the river changed nothing. Gonsalves doubled up on the hand and he now holds 110,000.

Kevin Saul gets Doubled Through

Kevin Saul (pictured left) raised to 1,600 preflop and the button reraised to 4,400. Saul made the call and the flop was dealt K66. Saul checked and the button bet 7,500. Saul check-raised an additional 12,000 and the button made the all-in call. Their cards:

Saul: K10
Opponent: AA

Turn and River: 9 and J

Saul lost the hand and after counting out the chips to double up his opponent he held 50,000.

Barry Shulman Eliminated

A flop of Q93 sat on the table when Barry Shulman (pictured right) bet 3,500 and Chris Moore made the call. Olav Sachsen raised to 13,500 and Shulman reraised to 23,500. Moore made the call and Sachsen mucked. The 4 fell on the turn and Shulman checked. Moore moved all in and Shulman made the all-in call for his final 21,000. Moore turned over J10 for an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw and Shulman showed 32 for bottom pair and a flush draw. The 8 fell on the river to give Moore a flush and Shulman was eliminated right before the end of day 2.

POY Update

All five of the top contenders in the POY race have made it through to day 2. Here is a look at how they faired during the first day of the tournament:

Soheil Shamseddin: 135,000
Yevgeniy Timoshenko: 125,000
Cornel Cimpan: 112,000
Eric Baldwin: 90,000
Jason Mercier: 55,000

Player Tags: Barry Shulman,   Kevin Saul,   Chris Moore,   Markus Gonsalves,   Olav Sachsen