Alex Jacob Poker Tournament Updates

Level Eight Hour One Update: Matros Caught

Jul 09, '10

Blinds: 400-800 with a 100 ante

Players Remaining: 1,800 out of 2,412

Card Player Chip Counts

Barry Shulman – 124,000
Allyn Jaffrey Shulman – 28,000
Steven A. Murphy – 27,000
Adam Schoenfeld – 23,500
Shannon Shorr – 133,000

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Dragan Galic – 332,000
2. Martijn Schirp – 254,000
3. Robert Mizrachi – 240,000
4. Cole South – 235,000
5. Yevgeiny Timoshenko – 218,000
6. Dwyen Ringbauer – 205,000
7. Jesper Hougaard – 200,000
8. Carter Gill – 187,000
9. Carter Phillips – 186,500
10. Michael Reed – 178,000

Notable Eliminations:

Di Dang
Max Pescatori

Big Hands

Matros Whiffs, Gets Caught

Action folded to Matt Matros in the small blind, who raised to 2,000. The big blind called and the flop ran 7102. Matros check-called the big blind’s bet of 3,000.

The turn was the 3 and Matros again check-called his opponent’s bet of 4,000.

The 4 fell on the river and Matros led this time, betting 5,900. His opponent tanked for a while and ultimately called. Their hands:

Matros: AJ
Opponent: A10

His opponent looked over Matros’s hand confused and said to the dealer, “He whiffed, right?” The dealer nodded. Matros was outflopped and lost a pretty sizeable pot. Even so, his stack was well above 100,000 after the hand.

Alex Jacob Gets All In, Chops

Alex Jacob got all in on a flop of K9J and both he and his opponent held the hand. Jacob held AK and his opponent had AK. The board finished with the J and 2 and Jacob chopped the pot.

He had around 57,000 after the hand.

Seidel Loses With Weak Pair

Seat 7 raised to 2,100 and Erik Seidel made the call from the big blind. The flop ran out 4A4 and Seidel checked to seat 7, who also checked.

On the 3 turn Seidel led for 2,500 and seat 7 thought for a while before calling. Both players checked the K river and Seidel announced, “I got a pair. Not a very big one,” and turned over 63 for two pair. His opponent flipped over A7 for a better two pair and raked the pot.

Seidel was down to 26,000 after the hand.

Veldhuis Surrenders The Double Up

Picking up the action with the board reading KJ85, a player moved all in for 34,900. Lex Veldhuis decided to make the call and the players showed their hands:

Veldhuis: A8
Opponent: 1010

Veldhuis had a pair of eights and was drawing to the nut flush while his opponent’s tens were ahead.

The river was the Q and Veldhuis could not score the knockout. He was down to 78,000.

Hastings Climbing

Picking up the action on a flop of 973, Brian Hastings fired 5,700 and he was called by one player.

The turn was the 3 and Hastings bet 15,000. His opponent made the call, putting himself all in. Hastings then tabled 77 for a full house. His opponent showed J9 for two pair.

The river was the 2 and Hastings scored the knockout.

Italian Pirate Sent Home

We were a little late to the action, but we caught Max Pescatori getting the last of his chips in against his opponent on a flop of 7-8-9.

Pescatori held pocket sevens, giving him a set, and was up against pocket jacks. The turn was a queen and the river was a 10 to give his opponent a straight and trump the set of Pescatori.

Pescatori’s WSOP comes to a close after two cashes for a just over $22,000 combined.

Todd Terry Doubles Through Farha

Todd Terry moved all-in under-the-gun for his last 9,400 and was called by Sammy Farha on the button. Farha showed KQ and Terry turned up A5.

The board came out 727510 and Terry’s ace-high was good for a double up to 21,000. Farha is at 165,000.

Jennicide Stacks Another

Jennifer Leigh raised from late position and the small blind moved all-in for 25,000. Leigh made the call and saw she was in good shape.

Leigh tabled KK and Leigh showed QQ. The board was safe for Leigh’s kings as it ran out J872K. Leigh rivered a set of kings to give her the pot, knock out her opponent and build her stack up to 150,000.

Urindanger Gone

Di “Urindanger” Dang got all of his chips in the middle in a classic coinflip situation with pocket jacks against his opponent’s A-K.

To make a long story short, a king hit the flop and Dang the high-stakes online phenom was sent home.

Player Tags: Erik Seidel,   Alex Jacob,   Lex Veldhuis,   Brian Hastings

Day 3 Begins at 3 p.m. PDT

Jul 04, '10

Day 3 begins this afternoon.

Just 47 players remain out of the 3,844 that began the tournament.

The average chip stack is 245,361

The next player eliminated will receive $9,064. First place will take home $570,960.

Poker pro Alex Jacob is still alive in the event. However, he currently sits with below the chip average.

Players will return with blinds at 5,000-10,000 with a 1,000 ante.

Action will resume at 3 p.m. PDT today and will conclude when a final table is reached.

Here is a look at the chip counts.

Stay tuned to Card Player for action from the Rio!

Player Tags: Alex Jacob

Day 2 Complete

Jul 04, '10

Day 2 is in the books.

Just 47 players remain out of the 3,844 that began the tournament.

The average chip stack is 245,361

The next player eliminated will receive $9,064. First place will take home $570,960.

Poker pro Alex Jacob is still alive in the event. However, he currently sits with below the chip average.

Action will resume at 3 p.m. PDT on Sunday and will conclude when a final table is reached.

Player Tags: Alex Jacob

Day 3 Begins at 3 p.m. PDT

Jul 04, '10

Day 3 begins this afternoon.

Just 47 players remain out of the 3,844 that began the tournament.

The average chip stack is 245,361

The next player eliminated will receive $9,064. First place will take home $570,960.

Poker pro Alex Jacob is still alive in the event. However, he currently sits with below the chip average.

Players will return with blinds at 5,000-10,000 with a 1,000 ante.

Action will resume at 3 p.m. PDT today and will conclude when a final table is reached.

Here is a look at the chip counts.

Stay tuned to Card Player for action from the Rio!

Player Tags: Alex Jacob

Day 2 Complete

Jul 04, '10

Day 2 is in the books.

Just 47 players remain out of the 3,844 that began the tournament.

The average chip stack is 245,361

The next player eliminated will receive $9,064. First place will take home $570,960.

Poker pro Alex Jacob is still alive in the event. However, he currently sits with below the chip average.

Action will resume at 3 p.m. PDT on Sunday and will conclude when a final table is reached.

Player Tags: Alex Jacob

Day 1A Ends

Jun 13, '10

Day 1A is in the books.

1,931 players started the day and now just 290 remain.

19,975 is the chip average for the remaining players from Day 1A

Notables eliminated on the first day included Kathy Liebert, Hevad Khan, Shannon Elizabeth, Eric Baldwin, Jeff Madsen, Dennis Phillips, Antonio Esfandiairi, Scott Montgomery and Matt Affleck.

Notables left include Alex Jacob, Jim McManus, Arnaud Mattern, Veronica Dabul and Jose Ignacio Barbero.

Play begins at noon Sunday for Day 1B.

Player Tags: Jim McManus,   Alex Jacob,   Arnaud Mattern

Level 6 Update: Sebok Grows Stack, Fricke and Shulman Bust

May 29, '10

Blinds: 100-200 with a 25 ante

Entrants: 3915

Card Player Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman – out
Adam Schoenfeld – 10,200

Notable Eliminations:

Barry Shulman
Alex Jacob
Matt Vengrin
Jimmy Fricke
Eric Lynch
Adam Junglen

Player’s Twitter Accounts:

Fabrice Soulier
Vanessa Rousso
Bryan Devonshire
Shaun Deeb
Jonathan Little

Big Hands:

Vanessa Rousso Running Hot

We caught up with the action on a flop of 7775 with 2,200 in the middle. Vanessa Rousso bet 1,100 from early position and her opponent made the call. The 10 hit the felt and the action went check-check. The 2 fell on the river and Rousso bet 3,500, prompting a muck from her opponent. Rousso exposed pocket fives for a flopped full house and is running extremely well. She is now at 24,000.

Alex Jacob Eliminated

With 3,500 in his stack, Alex Jacob bet 500 with pocket queens and an opponent then set him all in. Jacob made the call and was up against the A10 of the unknown. Jacob witnessed an ace on the flop and was sent home late on day 1A.

Sebok Fades the Draw, Wins a Big Pot

After a raise from middle position to 500 and a call, Joe Sebok called from the cutoff and the big blind called as well. All four players saw a flop of 1076. The original raiser checked and the next player moved all-in for just under 3,000. Joe Sebok then moved all-in over the top for about 10,000 more. The other two got out of the way and the hands were turned on their backs.

Sebok showed the JJ and was up against the AJ. The turn was the 8, giving them both a gut-shot straight draw, but Sebok faded the heart, ace, and nine when the 4 hit the river to give Sebok the entire pot and now has over 20,000 in chips.

Jimmy Fricke Eliminated

We got to the action a bit late, but Jimmy Fricke failed in his squeeze play attempt when he raised all in with top pair against a set and a flush draw. The set held and sent the previously healthy Fricke to the rail.

Barry Shulman Eliminated

With a stack of about 3,000, Barry Shulman raised to 500 from the cutoff. The player in the small blind took some time before putting out a big stack of yellow 1,000 chips. The big blind folded and Shulman made the quick call with the 99. The small blind tabled the A5 and drew out by hitting an ace on the flop. Shulman was sent home shortly before the dinner break.

Left in the Deck:

Players are on an 90 minute dinner break.

Joe Cada Still In

In case you are bored on the long dinner break, check out a recent video with defending Main Event champion Joe Cada, who is still in the field, on Card Player TV.

Player Tags: Barry Shulman,   Vanessa Rousso,   Joe Sebok,   Alex Jacob,   Joseph Cada

Level 5 Hour 1 Update: Alex Jacob, Tom McEvoy, Liv Boeree Eliminated

Jul 05, '09

Blinds: 200-400 with a 50 ante

Chip Counts:

1. Jeff Lisandro — 126,200
2. Andy Seth — 110,000
3. Tsai Chen — 95,700
4. Hevad Khan — 84,000
5. Lee Watkinson — 83,000
6. Amnon Filippi — 82,000
7. Joe Hachem — 81,000
8. Marc Naalden — 80,000
9. Yan Chen — 80,000
10. Justin Bonomo – 77,000

Card Player Chip Counts

Matt Matros – 27,000

Notable Eliminations:

Annie Duke
Eric Liu
Brandon Cantu
Erica Schoenberg
David Singer
Tom McEvoy
Liv Boeree
Alex Jacob

Big Hands

Alex Jacob Eliminated

Alex Jacob gets it all in before the flop in a three-way pot. The players in seats 5 and 6 continue to bet at the side pot.

The flop comes K33, seat 5 checks to seat 6 who bets 8,000. Seat 5 raises all in and seat 6 calls. Seat 5 shows KJ for top pair while seat 6 shows AA for the overpair. Jacob elects not to reveal his cards. The turn and river are the 5 and 4. Jacob mucks his cards and seat 6 rakes the pot with a pair of aces. Alex Jacob is eliminated from the tournament this hand.

Tom McEvoy Eliminated

On a flop of 632, Tom McEvoy gets it all in and is called in one spot.

McEvoy: 1010
Opponent: QQ

McEvoy gets it in behind with a smaller over pair than his opponent. The turn and river are the 6 and the 5, no help for the former champion who is eliminated here late on on Day 1c.

Three Players All In

Three players announced they were all in. One held the KK, another exposed the QQ and the third tabled the AK. The board ran out Q22A4, as the pocket queens tripled up, the ace-king won a large side pot the pocket kings lost a substantial chunk.

Liv Boeree Eliminated

On a flop of J1010, Liv Boeree gets it all in against one opponent.

Boeree: AA
Opponent: Q9

Boeree gets it in good with the overpair, but her opponent flops an open-ended straight draw. the turn is the 8, giving her opponent the straight. The river is the 7, and Liv Boeree is eliminated from the main event.

Matt Savage Doubles Up

The short stack of Matt Savage got the rest of his 2,750 stack into the middle with the A6 and was called by the AK of an opponent. The flop was no help for Savage as it came Q83. However, the 6 hit the turn giving Savage a pair of sixes and the lead. The 5 fell on the river and Savage doubled up to 4,500.

Player Tags: Tom McEvoy,   Alex Jacob,   Matt Savage,   Liv Boeree

Level 3 Hour 2 Update: Lisandro Rolling Through Day 1

Jul 05, '09

Blinds: 150-300

Chip Counts:

1. Jeff Lisandro – 125,000
2. Tsai Chen – 96,000
3. Hevad Khan – 94,000
4. Igor Borukhov – 84,000
5. Yan Chen – 80,500
6. Marc Naalden – 79,000
7. David Singer – 78,000
8. Andy Seth – 75,000
9. Suzie Lederer – 73,000
10. Paul Magriel – 68,700

Card Player Chip Counts:

Matt Matros – 24,500

Notable Eliminations:

Tom Dwan Sr.
Lacey Jones

Big Hands:

Griffin On The Good Side of The Flip, Eliminates Opponent

A player under-the-gun raised to 900 and there were a few callers. The action got to Gavin Griffin in the big blind who three-bet him and the under the gun caller instantly moved in the rest of his stack for about 10,000. The action folded back to Griffin who called instantly.

The two players were off to the races as Griffin showed AK and was up against the QQ. The board ran out 10J45Q giving Griffin the nut straight and the pot.

Alex Jacob Makes a Value Bet With the Worst Hand

From early position, Alex Jacob raised to 750 and the player directly to his left made the call. Everybody else got out of the way and the flop was 2210 and both players checked. The turn was the 5 and both players checked again.

The river was the A and Jacobs bet 1,000. His opponent sighed and tossed in the call. Jacobs turned over A6 and was out-kicked by his opponent who showed AJ.

Senior Durrrr Eliminated

Tom Dwan Sr., father of high stakes player Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, has been eliminated from the main event as his AK was all in preflop against his opponent’s AA.

The board bricked out for Dwan and he was sent home in the third level. Hopefully his son will have some pointers for him when he gets home.

Must Be Nice to be Named Jeff Lisandro

Jeff Lisandro was a part of a six-way limped pot. The flop came down K85 and action was checked to Lisandro. He bet 700 and the player in seat 1 called. Everyone else mucked and the turn was the 6. Lisandro firqed 2,100 and it was called again by seat 1. The river was the 2 and Lisandro thought long and hard on how much to bet.

He finally decided on 4,000 and the call was made. Lisandro then tabled 88 for a flopped set and seat 1 mucked. Lisandro took the pot and was around 90,000.

A little later on, the action is picked up on a flop of Q710. The small blind led out for 3,100 and is met with a raise all in of 7,400. Lisandro then puts out enough chips to put the original bettor all in.

The player then goes into the tank for several minutes. He pointed to the 7 and asked Lisandro if he had a set. After three minutes or so, he begrudgingly tossed in his chips. Lisandro turned up AA, but was behind both players as the original bettor had Q10 and the shorter all in player had QQ.

The turn was the J, giving Lisandro a straight draw and a flush draw and the river hit Lisandro square in the face as the K fell, giving Lisandro a straight and the pot. He now has crossed the 100,000 chip mark and very well could be the biggest stack in the room.

Deuce-Four Is Good

Isabelle Mercier limped in preflop along with four other players. The flop then fell 774 and the small blind led out with 800. Mercier and the button were the only callers. The turn was the K and all three players checked. They did the same when the Q fell on the river.

The small blind then showed 24 for two pair and Mercier mucked, as did the button. Mercier was still doing well with around 70,000.

“What A Game”

After a flop of K82, the small blind checked the action to Ylon Schwartz. He bet 1,025 and the small blind called. The turn was the 6 and action was checked again to Schwartz. He bet 2,425 and the small blind called again. The river was the A and Schwartz bet 5,025 after it was checked to him again.

The small blind called and Schwartz tabled AK for top two pair. The small blind then showed AK for the same hand and after all of those fireworks, the players chopped the pot. “What a game,” Schwartz commented after the hand. Schwartz was at 31,000.

The Magic Man Takes On The Prince

Scotty Nguyen raised to 900 from the button preflop and Antonio Tarver made the call from the small blind. The big blind mucked and the two players saw a flop of 743. Tarver led out with 1,500 and the action was on Nguyen. “You outflopped me, baby,” Nguyen told Tarver. He then mucked AQ face up and Tarver took the pot. Tarver was a little under 15,000 while Nguyen was at 47,000.

Watkinson With The Flush

After a flop of QQ5, the player in seat 2 bet 1,200 and Antonio Tarver mucked from the button. Lee Watkinson made the call from the big blind and the 7 fell on the turn. Both players checked and the 4 dropped on the river. Watkinson led out for 3,000 and seat 2 made the call.

Watkinson tabled 93 for a rivered flush and took the pot. He was at 63,000.

Left In The Deck:

The official number of entrants for day 1c has just been released. Today’s number is 1,697 players, bringing the total number of players for the main event is 3,686 so far, with one more day 1 to play. By comparison, day 1c last year brought 1,928 players to the Rio.

Players will be taking a 90 minute dinner break at the end of the level and will return at 8:15 to resume play.

Player Tags: Lee Watkinson,   Scotty Nguyen,   Jeffrey Lisandro,   Gavin Griffin,   Isabelle Mercier,   Ylon Schwartz,   Alex Jacob,   Antonio Tarver

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

Final Table Update: Down to Heads-Up

Jun 23, '09

Blinds: 50,000-100,000 with a 10,000 ante

Players Remaining: 2 out of 2,715

Chip Counts:

1. Brandon Cantu — 6,995,000
2. Ray Foley — 5,210,000

Average Chip Count: 6,108,750

Notable Eliminations:

4. Alex Jacob – $190,857
3. Wei Mu – $269,609

Elimination Hands:

Alex Jacob Eliminated in Fourth Place ($190,857)

Alex Jacob moved all in for 310,000 preflop from the small blind after he was nearly crippled doubling up Brandon Cantu. Ray Foley called from the big blind. Their cards:

Jacob: J9
Foley: A4

Board: K6472

Jacob was eliminated in fourth place.

Wei Mu Eliminated in Third Place ($269,609)

Brandon Cantu raised to 275,000 from the cutoff and Wei Mu made the call. The flop fell K43 and Cantu bet 350,000. Mu raised all in and Cantu made the call. Their cards:

Cantu: K10
Mu: K9

Turn and River: 65

Cantu won the hand to grow his stack to almost 7 million. Mu was eliminated in third place.

Player Tags: Ray Foley,   Alex Jacob,   Wei Mu,   Brandon Cantu

Final Table Update: Down to Four

Jun 23, '09

Blinds: 50,000-100,000 with a 10,000 ante

Players Remaining: 4 out of 2,715

Chip Counts:

1. Alex Jacob — 4,580,000
2. Ray Foley — 3,330,000
3. Wei Mu — 3,200,000
4. Brandon Cantu — 2,400,000

Average Chip Count: 3,054,375

Notable Eliminations:

6. Jonathan Markham – $114,514
5. Tyler Spaulding – $143,421

Elimination Hands:

Jonathan Markham Eliminated in Sixth Place ($114,514)

Jonathan Markham raised to 210,000 under the gun preflop and Wei Mu made the call. The flop fell AKJ and Mu checked. Markham bet 265,000 and Mu raised all in. Markham called and they flipped up their cards:

Markham: KK
Mu: Q10

Turn and River: 63

Markham fell to the straight of his opponent and he was eliminated in sixth place.

Tyler Spalding Eliminated in Fifth Place ($143,421)

Alex Jacob raised to 200,000 from the cutoff preflop and Tyler Spalding raised all in for 575,000. Jacob made the call and they flipped up their cards:

Jacob: 99
Spalding: J2

Board: 10763Q

Spalding was eliminated in fifth place while Jacob charged into the chip lead with 4,580,000.

Player Tags: Alex Jacob,   Wei Mu,   Jonathan Markham

Final Table Update: Down to Six

Jun 22, '09

Blinds: 30,000-60,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 6 out of 2,715

Chip Counts:

1. Brandon Cantu — 4,100,000
2. Tyler Spaulding — 1,985,000
3. Ray Foley — 1,835,000
4. Alex Jacob — 1,800,000
5. Wei Mu — 750,000
6. Jonathan Markham — 420,000

Average Chip Count: 1,527,187

Notable Eliminations:

8. Richard Lutes – $85,608
7. Chairud Vangchailued – $96,355

Elimination Hands:

Richard Lutes Eliminated in Eighth Place ($85,608)

Brandon Cantu checked a flop of A74 and Richard Lutes shoved all in for 500,000. Cantu made the call and they flipped up their cards:

Lutes: K10
Cantu: J10

Turn: 2

Cantu made an ace-high flush on the river and Lutes was drawing dead. Lutes was eliminated in eighth place and Cantu grew his stack to over 4 million.

Chairud Vangchailued Eliminated in Seventh Place ($96,355)

Chairud Vangchailued rasied to 120,000 and Tyler Spalding made the call. Alex Jacob moved all in for 800,000 and Vangchailued made the all-in call. Spalding mucked and the two players turned up their cards:

Vangchailued: QJ
Jacob: JJ

Board: KQJ85

Vangchailued was eliminated in seventh place and Jacob grew his stack to 1.8 million.

Player Tags: Alex Jacob,   Brandon Cantu,   Richard lutes,   Chairud Vangchailued

Level 10 Update: Fitoussi's Stack Grows

May 28, '09

Blinds: 2,000-4,000 with 500 ante

Players Remaining: 89 out of 201

Chip Counts:

1. Bruno Fitoussi – 812,500
2. Chris Moneymaker – 805,000
3. Emil Patel – 615,000
4. Lex Veldhuis – 606,500
5. Justin Bonomo – 570,000
6. Michael DeMichele – 550,000
7. Kyle Wilson – 520,000
8. Brian Townsend – 512,000
9. Alan Sass – 440,000
10. Matt Marafioti – 415,000

Average Chip Count: 271,011

Notable Eliminations:

Phil Laak
Phil Hellmuth
Nenad Medic
Vivek Rajkumar
Bertrand Grospellier

Big Hands:

Rousso Drops a Pot to Mizzi

On a board that read 54433 Sorel Mizzi fired 25,000 into the pot. Vanessa Rousso made the call and Mizzi tabled 99 and Rousso could not find a better hand, mucking her holding. She was down to around 138,000 while Mizzi improved to 312,000.

Raymer Tries a Switcheroo On The Magician

Antonio Esfandiari raised to 12,000 from the small blind and Greg Raymer made the call from the big blind. The flop came J84 and Esfandiari fired 25,000. Raymer tanked for a bit, then traded cards with Esfandiari. “If I could do this I would call,” he said. Then he mucked both hands, giving Esfandiari the pot. Raymer was down to 190,000 while Esfandiari was around 390,000 after the hand.

Later, Raymer improved his stack when his J10 was good enough on a board of J6A9A. His opponent flashed the 9 and Raymer picked up a pot.

Fitoussi Outflops Jacob

Alex Jacob fired 11,000 under the gun and Fitoussi repopped it to 27,000 from the button. Bill Chen folded his big blind and Jacob called. The flop came out Q107 and both players checked. The turn was the 3 and Jacob fired 40,000. Fitoussi called and the river was the K. Both players checked and Fitoussi showed AQ for top pair on the flop, besting Jacob’s pocket 99. Jacob was down to 295,000 while Fitoussi improved to 570,000.

Phil Busts Phil

Phil Ivey knocked out Phil Hellmuth when the Poker Brat moved in with ace-jack. Ivey tabled ace-king and the board ran out with a king, ending Hellmuth’s day.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Hellmuth,   Bruno Fitoussi,   Phil Ivey,   Greg Raymer,   Vanessa Rousso,   Alex Jacob,   Sorel Mizzi

Level 8 Update: Brunson Rivered

May 28, '09

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

Players Remaining: 120 out of 201

Chip Counts:
1. Michael DeMichele – 665,000
2. Lex Veldhuis – 530,000
3. Justin Bonomo – 450,000
4. Alan Sass – 450,000
5. Ted Forrest – 445,000
6. Antonio Esfandiari – 440,000
7. Chris Moneymaker – 386,000
8. Alex Jacob – 370,000
9. Bruno Fitoussi – 367,000
10. Isaac Haxton – 364,000

Average Chip Count: 201,000

Notable Eliminations:

Alex “Kadabra” Keating
Blake Cahail
Joe Hachem
Andy Bloch
Yevgeniy Timoshenko
Gavin Griffin
Steve Sung
Michael Binger
Bill Edler
Erick Lindgren
Doug Lee
Freddy Deeb
Kido Pham

Big Hands:

Texas Dolly Gets Rivered

With 13,000 in the pot, a flop of 865 hit the table. The player in seat 4 fired 11,000 and Brunson called. The turn brought the A and both players checked. The river brought the 10 and seat 4 checked again. Brunson pushed 22,000 into the pot and seat 4 countered with a raise to 100,000 total. Brunson called quickly and showed A8 for two pair, but his opponent showed A10 for a better two pair on the river. Brunson dropped to 210,000.

Zeidman and Lehmann With Perfect Tens

Corey Zeidman moved all in against Markus Lehmann. Both players tabled pocket 10s and both players were forced to chop the pot.

All Flash, No Finish as Magician Chops With DeMichele

In one of the biggest pots of the day, Antonio Esfandiari and Michael DeMichele tangled to the river. Esfandiari raised to 6,000 from the hijack and Freddy Deeb called from the button. Ali Eslami called and DeMichele joined from the blinds as well. The flop came K84 and Eslami led out with 16,000. DeMichele called and Esfandiari proceeded to pop it to 40,500. Deeb and Eslami, but DeMichele stuck around. The turn brought the 8 and DeMichele checked. Esfandiari blasted a bet of 81,200 and DeMichele called. The river came 5 and both players had enough madness as they checked. DeMichele showed KJ while Esfandiari tabled KJ for a monstrous chop. Esfandiari stood at 470,000 after the hand and DeMichele had 360,000.

Joe Hachem Busts

Joe Hachem pushed for his last 9,700 from early position and was called by Hasan Habib in the small blind. Habib showed A7 and Hachem was just happy to be drawing live with 108. The board came out 944K6 and Hachem failed to connect, busting shortly before the end of the level.

Seiver Pushes Elky Off His Hand, Takes Down Nice Pot

On a board of J925, Bertrand Grospellier fired 7,700 into the pot from the button. Scott Seiver popped it to 30,000 and Grospellier made the call. The river brought the 4 and Seiver pushed all in for 185,000. Grospellier thought about it briefly, but mucked his hand. Seiver took down a nice pot and improved his stack to 275,000 after the hand. Grospellier had 135,000.

Doug Lee Ousted By Alex Jacob

Doug Lee was just knocked out of the tournament when he ran into Alex Jacob’s two pair. Jacob increased his stack to 365,000.

Player Tags: Hasan Habib,   Antonio Esfandiari,   Doyle Brunson,   Cory Zeidman,   Doug Lee,   Markus Lehmann,   Joe Hachem,   Alex Jacob,   Bertrand Grospellier,   Scott Seiver,   Michael DeMichele

Fro No Mo

Jul 12, '08

The unmistakeable afro of Alex Jacob has just left the Fontana Lounge, busted late in the last level of play.

Jacob had a great summer of tournament play, cashing eight times at the World Series of Poker. But despite many chances, Jacob failed to make a final table or score a six-figure cash.

Player Tags: Alex Jacob