Hour Four - Ben Ponzio Wins Event #25 ($599,467)
Jun 17, '07
Evan Schwartz Eliminated in Fourth Place ($165,008)
It was a battle of the blinds when Evan Schwartz moved all in from the small blind and Justin Rollo made the call from the big blind. Schwartz flipped over Q
3
while Rollo revealed pocket sixes. The board was dealt A
J 9 8 5 and Schwartz was eliminated in fourth place. He took home $165,008 in prize money.
Break!
The players then went on a ten minute break.
The Twilight Zone
After the break, the chip counts were extremely even for three handed play. Less than one big blind separated the final three players and it created a twilight zone atmosphere.
Seat two: Justin Rollo - $2,125,000
Seat five: Ben Ponzio - $2,190,000
Seat seven: David Hewitt - $2,160,000
Rollo Gets Rolled
Ben Ponzio quickly made an all-in call with pocket queens after Justin Rollo moved all in. Rollo rolled over A
3. The board brought J J 2 4 K and shipped Ponzio the chip lead. Rollo was crippled after the hand and he will be all in on the next hand when he is in the big blind. Ponzio was now the massive chip leader with over two-thirds of the chips left in play.
Justin Rollo Eliminated in Third Place ($244,566)
Justin Rollo moved all and Hewitt made the call. Rollo flipped over Q 5, while Hewitt showed K 10. The board came A 7 4 2 6. Rollo was eliminated in third place and he took home $244,566.
Heads-Up!
The unlikely heads-up match brought together two players who were on the brink of elimination earlier in the day. It also brought out the vocal chords of Hewitt, who now held a massive chip lead when things started.
The match began slowly despite the large chip lead of Ponzio. He had $5.3 million to the $1.2 million of Hewitt after 15 minutes of heads-up play. The blinds were kicked up to $60,000-$120,000 with a $15,000 ante. Hewitt held strong and the heads-up match continued over 30 hands before it got interesting.
Ben Ponzio Wins Event #25 ($599,467)
Player Tags: Ben Ponzio, Evan Schwartz, David Hewitt, Justin Rollo
Evan Schwartz Eliminated in Fourth Place ($$165,008)
Jun 17, '07
It was a battle of the blinds when Evan Schwartz moved all in from the small blind and Justin Rollo made the call from the big blind. Schwartz flipped over Q 3 while Rollo revealed pocket sixes. The board was dealt A J 9 8 5 and Schwartz was eliminated in fourth place. He took home $165,008 in prize money.
Player Tags: Evan Schwartz, Justin Rollo
Hour Three
Jun 17, '07
Break Time
The next couple minutes of action passed idly by, like a calm stretch on a river. The players then went on a 20 minute break. The blinds went up when they returned to $40,000-$80,000 with a $10,000 ante.
Chip Counts
Seat one: Evan Schwartz - $905,000
Seat two: Justin Rollo - $3,300,000
Seat five: Ben Ponzio - $1,075,000
Seat seven: David Hewitt - $1,095,000
Double Down
Rollo moved all in on a flop of 9 8 6 and Schwartz immediately calls with pocket sixes. Rollo showed 8 7 and the turn card was the 7. The river brought the 2 and Schwartz double up his chip stack.
A few hands later Ben Ponzio moved all in on a flop of 10 9 6 and Schwartz made the call. Schwartz quickly flipped over J 10 and Ponzio threw down A 9. The turn and river cards were dealt J 4. Ponzio hits his runner-runner flush to survive and double up.
Musical Chip Lead
The players were now trading the chip lead every coupled of hands. A lot of power poker is being played at this final table. Any player can go from rags to riches on any hand.
Chip Counts - Version 2.0
Seat one: Evan Schwartz - $1,230,000
Seat two: Justin Rollo - $1,640,000
Seat five: Ben Ponzio - $2,360,000
Seat seven: David Hewitt - $1,300,000
Player Tags: Ben Ponzio, Evan Schwartz, David Hewitt, Justin Rollo
Hour Two
Jun 17, '07
Leader Board
Seat one: Evan Schwartz - $2,170,000
Seat two: Justin Rollo - $850,000
Seat four: Adam Ross - $270,000
Seat five: Ben Ponzio - $650,000
Seat six: Danny Noam - $830,000
Seat seven: David Hewitt - $375,000
Seat nine: Travis Rice - $1,360,000
Price of Poker Increases
Action continued along seven handed uneventfully for the next dozen or so hands. The blinds were then kicked up again to $30,000-$60,000 with a $5,000 ante.
Adam Ross Eliminated in Seventh Place ($61,878)
Adam Ross pushed all in and Travis Rice made the call. Rice flipped over K 10. Ross showed down A 7. The board was rolled out K 10 3 3 2 and Ross was eliminated in seventh place. He took home $61,878 in prize money.
The Big Three
With action down to six handed, three players held the lions share of the chips. The table had been divided into the haves, and have not's. Rice , Justin Rollo, and Evan Schwartz represented the big three and they were all seated right next to each other.
Triples Alley
David Hewitt moved all in preflop and both Danny Noam and Justin Rollo made the call. The two live payers then check down a board of 6 5 4 10 8. Hewitt flipped up A 7 to take down the pot. Neither Noam (Q J) or Rollo (A 8) showed down enough strength to beat him out of the pot.
Danny Noam Eliminated in Sixth Place ($82,504)
Danny Noam was all in preflop with pocket eights against the As 10s that Schwartz held. The board was dealt Q 10 5 4 4 and Schwartz won the pot with tens up. Noam was eliminated in sixth place, and took home $82,504 in prize money.
Revised Leader Board
Seat one: Evan Schwartz - $1,240,000
Seat two: Justin Rollo - $1,350,000
Seat five: Ben Ponzio - $1,750,000
Seat seven: David Hewitt - $600,000
Seat nine: Travis Rice - 1$,540,000
Ground Rollo Double
Justin Rollo raised from the cut off and Rice reraised from the big blind. Rollo moved all in and Rice calls with pocket jacks. Rollo rolled over K Q. The board was rolled out A 10 4 Q 7 and Rollo paired up his queen. He doubled up through Rice on the hand.
Travis Rice Eliminated in Fifth Place ($111,970)
Travis Rice was all in on the short stack with 8 7, against the A 7 of David Hewitt. The board hit the table Q 10 3 7 5, and Hewitt took down the pot with his ace kicker. Rice was eliminated in fifth place. He took home $111,970 in prize money. The chip leader at the beginning of the day has fallen.
Player Tags: Danny Noam, Ben Ponzio, Evan Schwartz, Adam Ross, David Hewitt, Travis Rice, Justin Rollo
Danny Noam Eliminated in Sixth Place ($82,504)
Jun 17, '07
Danny Noam was all in preflop with pocket eights against the A 10 that Evan Schwartz held. The board was dealt Q 10 5 4 4 and Schwartz won the pot with tens up. Noam was eliminated in sixth place, and took home $82,504 in prize money.
Player Tags: Danny Noam, Evan Schwartz
Hour One
Jun 17, '07
Darryl Ronconi Eliminated in Ninth Place ($34,770)
Darryl Ronconi made it $100,000 to go and Travis Rice reraised from the big blind to $560,000. Ronconi moved all in and Rice called with K Q. Ronconi showed pocket jacks. Start your engines gentleman, we have a race. The board hits the table Q 8 2 6 7, and Rice paired up his queen to take down the pot. Ronconi was eliminated in ninth place, and took home $34,770.
Break Time
The players then went on a 20 minute break and will color up the chips when they return. Rice remained in the chip lead after the break with over $1.8 million. Blinds were kicked up to $20,000-$40,000 with a $5,000 ante.
The Thinker
Many players at the table were still passive at this point and many of them appeared to be deep in though, or bored. They looked like a modern lineup of Rodin’s famous sculpture, “The Thinker,” with their fists or hands on their chin, cheeks, or face.
Ken Einiger Eliminated in Eighth Place ($45,672)
Ken Einiger raised under the gun, and Evan Schwartz reraised to $235,000. Einiger called. The flop hit the board Q 6 6. Einiger bet $300,000 and Schwartz went into the tank for a minute or two before he moved all in. Einiger immediately called with A Q. Schwartz showed down A K. The turn card was dealt 4, and the river brought the K. Einiger was eliminated in eighth place, and he took home $45,672.
Player Tags: Evan Schwartz, Ken Einiger, Darryl Ronconi, Travis Rice
Einiger Hits Blackjack
Jun 16, '07
Only 13 players remain on the final two tables. With the bottom three chip stacks at or below $200,000 in chips and the blinds at $15,000 and $30,000, The final table should be decided in the next hour.
Ken Einger must have though he was at the blackjack tables when he eliminated Kazuki Ikeuchi. Ikeuchi pushed all in from early position with A6, and Einiger flat called with A10. David Daneshgar who folded from the big blind, announced when the hands were flipped that he folded A-10. The board ran out K-5-3-K-4, and Ikeuchi was eliminated in 16th place. Einiger now has over $900,000 in chips and is a force to be reckoned with.
An interesting story up until now in this tournament has been the run of friends Travis Rice and Eric Baldwin. Buddies of Player of the Year contender Jared Hamby, these two both recently made the final table of Event #2 at this year’s Bellagio Cup III. However that feat won’t be duplicated in this event as Baldwin lost a race for all of his chips to Evan Schwartz, A-K vs. J-J, busting in 15th place. Rice has worked his way among the chip leaders with over $700,000, so Hamby and Baldwin will have to cheer him from the rail.
Daneshgar was the most recent elimination, his 14th place finish netting him $23,720.
Player Tags: David Daneshgar, Evan Schwartz, Ken Einiger, Eric Baldwin, Travis Rice, Kazuki Ikeuchi
