Level 11 Update: Big Names Fall Early
Oct 30, '10
Blinds: 800-1,600 with a 200 ante
Players Remaining: 62 out of 272
Chip Counts:
1. Ben Klier — 350,000
2. Josh Arieh — 258,200
3. Byron Springer — 247,300
4. Gavin Smith — 245,800
5. Todd Freeman — 229,100
6. Kyle Bowker — 197,000
7. Besnik Ziba — 188,400
8. Ronald Lee — 187,100
9. Christopher Bonita — 184,400
10. Eli Berg — 177,200
Average Chip Count: 119,016
Notable Eliminations:
Erik Seidel
Chad Brown
Former WPT World Poker Finals Champion Mike Vela
Big Hands:
Erik Seidel Eliminated
Erik Seidel got the last of his chips into the middle with pocket queens and Nikolai Yakovenko woke up with pocket kings and made the call. The kings held and Seidel was eliminated.
Chad Brown Eliminated
There was 20,000 in the pot and a board that read K
10
4
2 sitting on the table when Chad Brown checked from the big blind. Ben Kiler bet 9,700 from the hijack and Borwn check-raised all in for 50,000. Klier made the call and they flipped over their cards:
Brown: K
10
Klier: A A
River: 4
Brown was eliminated on the hand, making for the second big name to fall in the early going today.
Mike Vela Eliminated
Back in the fall of 2007 Mike Vela won this WPT main event, but unfortunately that will not be the case again here in 2010. Vela was all in preflop and one opponent made the call. Their cards:
Vela: 9 9
Opponent: A Q
Board: J J 2 A 3
Vela was eliminated from the tournament by the ace on the turn.
Allen Kessler Doubles Up
Allen Kessler was all in preflop and one opponent called him down. Their cards:
Kessler: 10 10
Opponent: A 9
Board: K K Q 6 J
Kessler doubled up on the hand to survive.
Left In The Deck:
Table Pairings
Table 1: Allen Kessler, Kyle Bowker, Jason Somerville
Table 2: Erik Seidel, John Cernuto, Chris McCormick, Gavin Smith, Chad Brown, Barry Greenstein
Table 3: Josh Arieh, Thomas Marchese, David Peters
Table 4: Jason Mercier, Todd Terry
Table 5: Brock Parker, Jonathan Little, Hoyt Corkins, Sorel Mizzi
Table 6: Andrew Frankenberger, Keven Stammen, Mike Beasley, Darryll Fish, Ronald Lee
Table 7: Mohsin Charania, Christian Harder, Jonathan Aguiar, Howard Lederer
Player Tags: Erik Seidel, Josh Arieh, Michael Vela
Last year's champion will be unable to defend his title, as Mike Vela was eliminated shortly before the last break. 
On a flop of J
9
3
, a player in early position bets 600. WPT champion Mike Vela reraises to 1,600 and his opponent makes the call. 
and once again, the player in early position bets 2,600. Vela quickly announces a raise to 7,000 and his opponent goes into the tank. After about 30 seconds, Vela says, "Go away. You're behind." The player concedes his hand and Vela turns over J