Robert Williamson III - Live Updates

Level 9 Update: Williamson Busts

Jun 17, '09

Blinds: 600-1,200

Players Remaining: 90 out of 362

Chip Counts:

1. Ralph Perry – 155,800
2. Jeff Lisandro – 150,000
3. Cliff Josephy – 140,000
4. Steve Sarrafzadeh – 132,000
5. Jesper Hougaard – 130,000
6. Mortiz Schmejkal – 126,000
7. Sorel Mizzi – 125,000
8. Tex Barch – 123,000
9. David Ulliott – 110,000
10. Bruno Fitoussi – 92,000

Average Chip Count: 55,000

Notable Eliminations:

Robert Williamson III
Kathy Liebert

Big Hands:

Williamson’s Heart Broken On The River

Preflop, Robert Williamson was all in and received two callers, including Sorel Mizzi. “I don’t even want to look,” Williamson announced as he turned his head away from the board. “It won’t make a bit of difference.”

The flop came down K98 and the player in seat 4 put out a bet. Mizzi mucked his hand and then the players turned over their hands.

Williamson: K9Q10
Seat 4: AAJ5

Williamson got a great flop and was in the lead. The turn was even better when the K gave him a full house. But Williamson should have kept his head turned away as the A was the death card for Williamson and he was eliminated.

Fitoussi Straightens Out His Opponent

On a board showing QJ96, Bruno Fitoussi bet 5,400 and his opponent in seat 4 made the call. The river brought the K and Fitoussi fired another shot, this one worth 12,000. His opponent tanked for a bit and then decided to make the call. Fitoussi turned over A10QJ for Broadway on the river. His opponent mucked and Fitoussi was at 85,000.

Clements Falters

Scott Clements raised to 7,200 preflop and his opponent in the big blind made the call, putting himself all in.

Clements: AA83
Big Blind: K987

Board: 1010657

Clements was ahead with the bullets for most of the way but his opponent hit the money card on the river as the 7 gave him a straight to crack Clements’ aces. Clements surrendered the pot and he was down to 34,000.

Benyamine Tangles With Hougaard

After David Ulliott called 1,200 from the hijack, Jesper Hougaard raised to 4,000 preflop from the cutoff and the button folded. David Benyamine was next to act in the small blind and he reraised to 9,500. Ulliott mucked and Hougaard made the call.

The flop came down 952 and the action was passive enough as both players checked. The 2 on the turn ignited a fuse as Benyamine fired 10,500. Hougaard then tanked for a few minutes and came back with two towers worth 50,000. Benyamine quickly released his hand and he was down to 40,000 while Hougaard improved to 128,000.

Player Tags: David Ulliott,   David Benyamine,   Bruno Fitoussi,   Scott Clements,   Robert Williamson III,   Sorel Mizzi,   Jesper Hougaard

Level 8 Update: Black Drops Some Chips Then Goes Bust

Jun 17, '09

Blinds: 500-1,000

Players Remaining: 99 out of 362

Chip Counts:

1. Cliff Josephy – 166,000
2. Jeff Lisandro – 142,000
3. Isaac Baron – 120,000
4. David Ulliott – 109,000
5. Sorel Mizzi – 100,000
6. Ralph Perry – 91,000
7. Tex Barch – 90,000
8. Jesper Hougaard – 85,000
9. Andrew Chen – 81,500
10. Nam Le – 76,000

Average Chip Count: 50,417

Notable Eliminations:

Ted Lawson
Michael Binger
Isaac Haxton
Greg Raymer
Andy Black

Big Hands:

Black Muscled Off Hand, Loses Half Of His Chips

In a three way pot totaling 6,000 Andrew Black and his two opponents saw a flop of KK3. The player in seat 1 led out with 6,000 and Black raised to 18,000 total. Seat 4 mucked and the action was back on seat 1. He then reached for two stacks and raised 30,000 more. Black went in the tank for a bit and eventually decided to cut his losses and muck his hand. He was down to just 14,000. He would later lose the rest of those chips and make his exit from the tournament.

Big Names, Small Pot

Robert Williamson III, Hoyt Corkins and Nikolay Evdakov each called 1,000 preflop. The flop then came down J97 and everyone checked. The turn brought the 2 and Williamson decided to lead out, firing 2,500 into the 4,000 pot. Evdakov mucked and Corkins followed suit. Williamson took the pot but was still quite short with 13,000. Evdakov was at 22,000 and Corkins was at 65,000.

Perry Wins As Clock Is Called On Opponent

After a flop of AQ9 hit the felt, the player in seat 6 fired 10,500 into the pot. All other players in the hand folded except for Ralph Perry. After a few minutes of thought, he raised to 35,000 total. The action was back on his opponent and he took a massive tank session. After more the six minutes, the clock was finally called and he had one minute to decide what to do with his holding. Not long after the clock was called, he released his hand and Perry took the pot, improving to 90,000.

Ride With The Devil

On a flop of Q72, David Ulliott moved all in and was called by Jesper Hougaard.

Hougaard: AQ87
Ulliott: KK107

Ulliott was trailing Hougaard’s two pair but the 5 on the turn gave him a flush and the 3 on the river offered no help to Hougaard. Ulliott was at 110,000 after the double while Hougaard was at 88,000.

Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins,   David Ulliott,   Andy Black,   Robert Williamson III,   Ralph Perry,   Jesper Hougaard,   Nikolay Evdakov

Level 10 Update

Mar 16, '09

Big Hands:

Robert Williamson III Eliminated

Robert Williamson III moved all in with pocket nines preflop and Wil Wilkinson called him down with pocket queens. The board ran out Q-9-4-10-7 and Williamson was eliminated. Wilkinson was awarded the $5,000 bounty for winning the set-over-set confrontation.

Layne Flack Eliminated

Layne Flack moved all in preflop with pocket queens and one opponent called him down with pocket aces. The board ran out K-6-6-10-7 to eliminate Flack in the closing minutes of the night.

Shawn Buchanan Eliminated on the Final Hand

Shawn Buchanan was not one of the bounty players today, but that didn’t stop him from becoming the first player in the tournament to profit from his trip to San Jose, California. Buchanan eliminated David Singer, Jamie Gold, and Marco Traniello on day 1A to make $15,000 in bounties. On the very last hand of the night Buchanan was all in with 109. Chad Brown called him down with K10. The board fell QJJ8A and Buchanan was eliminated on the final hand of play.

Player Tags: Chad Brown,   Layne Flack,   Shawn Buchanan,   Robert Williamson III

Robert Williamson III Eliminated

Feb 15, '09

Robert Williamson III was eliminated shortly after the return from dinner.
















 

Player Tags: Robert Williamson III

$50,000 H.O.R.S.E - Level 4

Jun 25, '08

Players are now on a 20 minute break

Blinds:
Hold'em: 600-1,200
Omaha 8: 600-1,200
Razz: 300 ante, 300 bring-in, 1,200 completion
Stud: 300 ante, 300 bring-in, 1,200 completion
Eight or Better: 300 ante, 300 bring-in, 1,200 completion

Chip Counts:
Ray Dehkharghani: 190,000
James Mackey: 185,000
Ralph Perry: 170,000
Shawn Sheikhan: 167,000
Chris Reslock: 152,000
Minh Ly: 152,000
Greg Mascio: 152,000
Steve Sung: 150,000
Rafi Amit: 150,000
Bill Chen: 148,000

Storylines:

The Drunken Fan

It's late, it's Vegas, and during the level a drunken spectator was thrilled to be able talk (yell) over the rail to Scotty Nguyen and express his admiration. Clearly excited to see poker's superstars in person, the man later noticed Tony G and began to tell Tony how great he is, to which Tony just smiled and gave two thumbs up. This made the drunk's night. Too bad he won't remember it in the morning...

Hold'em

Hansen Strong Out Of The Small Blind

David Williams raised and the player in seat 2 re-raised all preflop. Gus Hansen, sitting in the small blind, made the call and so did Williams. The flop came 1077, Hansen checked, David Williams checked and seat 2 bet out. Hansen quickly re-raised, Williams folded and seat 2 folded AK face up. Hansen didn't show and just raked his chips while talking about how he played the hand.

Friedman's Pair of Aces Beats Dwan

Perry Friedman bet and was called by Tom Dwan on every street of a A65108 board. Friedman flipped over A4 for a pair of aces, and it was good enough to take the pot.

Omaha 8

Mackey Takes One From Some Tough Competition

On a flop of A106 James Mackey checked and David Singer bet. Both Andy Bloch and Mackey made the call. The J came on the turn and Mackey checked again, allowing Singer to bet. Bloch made the call and Mackey said raise, then put in some more chips. Singer didn't hear Mackey say raise and the floor was called to the table. The dealer explained to the floorman that he did indeed hear Mackey say raise before he put his chips in, then he said it again while putting them in. The floorman said the raise stood and Singer and Bloch both made the call. The players checked the 3 river card and Mackey turned over AK4Q for the nut straight. When he saw Mackey's hand Bloch laughed and mucked. Singer also mucked and Mackey won a nice three-way pot again two of the better H.O.R.S.E players in the tournament. At the end of the level he sat with around 185,000 in chips.

Flack Scoops

Layne Flack raised from late position and was called by Hasan Habib, Justin Bonomo and John Cernuto. The flop came 973 and action was checked to Flack who bet out. Both Habib and Bonomo called, but Cernuto folded. The turn was the 10 and action was again checked to Flack who bet out. Both opponents made the call again and the river brought the 7. Action checked to Flack, he bet, Habib called and Bonomo folded.
Flack turned over 9-9-A-4, giving him a set of nines to scoop the entire pot.

Brown Missteps

The player in seat 2 bet the A108 flop and Chad Brown made the call. On the 2 turn card seat 2 bet and Brown raised. Both players checked the 4 river and Brown turned over A-8-4-6. His opponent showed A-10-5-7. There was some brief confusion as to who got what, but the dealer explained that Brown's opponent had the best two pair and low hand because Brown had not made a low hand.

Razz

Sheikhan Ready To Gamble

Shawn Sheikhan bet out on every street and was called by the player in seat 4. Their cards were:
Sheikhan: 4A23 (K-9-6)
Seat 4: 58J3 (A-4-8)

Sheikhan went ahead and bet blind after being dealt the final card. He showed a big hand - 6-low. Seat 4 paired his 8 on the end and Sheikhan took down a big pot.
After the hand Sheikhan told the table, "You guys want to gamble - I'll gamble."
Sheikhan had around 167,000 in chips.

Stud

Forrest Takes Monster Pot From Hellmuth

Ted Forrest bet every street and was called by Phil Hellmuth all the way down to seventh street. Hellmuth took off his sunglasses to look at his last down card. He put out a bet and started to put his shades back on but stopped dead in his tracks when Forrest raised him. A frustrated Hellmuth made the call and Forrest turned over his hand. Their cards were:
Forrest: QQ5A (Q-J-5)
Hellmuth: 764K (X-X-X)

Seeing Forrest's three queens, Hellmuth quietly slid his cards into the muck.

Stud 8

An Aggressive Galfond Bets Out Ivey and Williamson

Phil Galfond bet on fifth and sixth street and was called by Robert Williamson III and Phil Ivey. When Galfond led out on the end, Ivey mucked his hand and Williamson looked pained as he thought over his decision.
Galfond: AKQJ (X-X-X)
Ivey: 59QK
Williamson III: 82J9 (X-X-X)

Williamson eventually mucked, and Dwan started to infer about his friend Galfond's hand. Galfond smiled and the table laughed when he showed only one card - the 7.

Player Tags: Andy Bloch,   Hasan Habib,   Chad Brown,   Gus Hansen,   Ted Forrest,   Layne Flack,   Shawn Sheikhan,   Phil Hellmuth,   David Singer,   Phil Ivey,   Perry Friedman,   David Williams,   James Mackey,   Justin Bonomo,   Robert Williamson III,   Tom Dwan

$50K H.O.R.S.E. - Level 1

Jun 25, '08

Note: The players are on a scheduled twenty-minute break and will return around 7 pm to resume play in Level 2.

Blinds/Antes:
Hold'em-Omaha 8/b: 300-600
Razz-Stud-Stud 8/b: 100 ante, 200 bring-in, 600 completion

Players: 144

Chip Leaders:
Gus Hansen: 141,000
John Monnette: 131,000
James Mackey: 125,000
Ray Davis: 122,000
Isabelle Mercier: 120,000
T.J. Cloutier: 118,000
Tom McCormack: 117,000
Suk Sung: 116,000
Keith Sexton: 115,000
Perry Friedman: 114,000

Big Hands:

Table 13 - Dewey Tomko Sitting in Robert Williamson's Seat, Negreanu Gets Aggressive

Hold'em
Lucky # 13 is currently home to Ralph Perry, John Hennigan, Dewey Tomko, Phil Galfond, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, and Perry Friedman. However, it was eventually brought to the dealer's attention that Dewey Tomko was sitting in the wrong seat. After double checking the seat cards, Dewey Tomko was supposed to be sitting at Table 15-seat 3, not Table 13-seat 5. Tomko got up to find his right seat as Robert Williamson III sat down in his rightful seat at Table 13. Confusion or not, this didn't stop Daniel Negreanu from becoming extrememly aggressive during the first limit hold'em portion of Level 1.

Daniel Negreanu raised to 1,200 from the cutoff and Ralph Perry called from the small blind. The flop came AQ8, and both players checked. The turn was the 3 and Perry bet 1,200. Negreanu raised to 2,400 and Perry folded his hand after a minute in the tank. Negreanu raked this pot along with the next two pots after a series of uncontested raises.

Schulman Gives Half to Fitoussi

Omaha 8/b
Nick Schulman raised to 1,200 from the button and Bruno Fitoussi called from the big blind. The flop came AJ8, and Schulman bet 600, Fitoussi called. The turn was the A, Schulman fired 1,200 at the pot, Fitoussi called. The river was the 3, and once agin Schulman bet 1,200, Fitoussi called. They turn over their hands.

Schulman: A865
Fitoussi: KJ52
Schulman flopped two pair and turned the full house (aces full of eights) while Fitoussi flopped middle pair. Fitoussi made a qualifying low hand on the river and Schulman had to give him half the pot.

Harman Takes a Good Pot From Oppenheim on the River

Razz
Lyle Berman brought it in for 200 with the Q, Jen Harman completed the bet to 600 with the 2, David Oppenheim called the raise with the 2, and Berman folded.

Harman: 2938 - A75
Oppenheim: 274J-X-X-X

Harman bet the entire way with Oppenheim calling her down through the river. Harman turned over the 7-5-3-2-A low and raked the pot, Oppenheim mucked his hand.

Negreanu's Aggression Still Paying Off

Stud

Heading back to Table 13, it appeared as if Negreanu had not slowed down at all, completing the bring-in to 600 with the Q exposed. John Hennigan called the raise with the K, as did Ralph Perry with the A, and Robert Williamson with the 10.

Perry: A96 - fold
Hennigan: K1076 - X-X-X
Williamson: 105J9 - K108
Negreanu: Q983 - Q-X-X

Negreanu continued to bet the maximum through sixth street. Perry folded on fifth street while both Hennigan and Williamson called for a showdown. All three players checked the river and opened their hands in turn. Williamson turned over a busted straight draw and a pair of tens. Hennigan mucked and Negreanu turned over a pair of queens. Negreanu raked a huge pot for only having one pair.

Freddy Deeb Defending His Title

Stud 8/b

Deeb completed the bet to 600 with the 7and the player in seat 1 called the raise with the 4.

Deeb: 7852 - Q88
Seat 1: 4664 - X-X-X

Deeb took the betting lead from the start and continued to bet the entire way down. Seat 1 looked a little confused on the river as Abe Mosseri asked the table what game they were playing. "What game is this now? Stud Hi-Low?" Deeb said, "Why don't you be quiet, maybe the guy is playing the wrong game." Seat 1 called him down anyway, failing to improve his two pair on the river and Deeb turned over two more eights for trips. Seat 1 also failed to make a low hand, paying off the defending champ as Freddy raked another nice pot.

Player Tags: Daniel Negreanu,   Bruno Fitoussi,   Nick Schulman,   Robert Williamson III,   Freddy Deeb,   Ralph Perry

$10,000 World Championship Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better - Day 2 - Level 15 Recap

Jun 20, '08

Blinds: 3,000-6,000

Players Left:  35 of 235

Chip Leaders:
David Benyamine - 325,000
Greg Jamison - 305,000
Chau Giang - 300,000
Mike Matusow - 230,000
Toto Leonidas - 220,000
Ram Vaswani - 195,000
Danny Dang - 190,000
Bob Slezak - 190,000
Hieu Ma - 180,000
Pat Rao - 170,000

Average Stack: 134,300

Eliminations:
Robert Williamson III
Soheil Shamseddin

Big Hands and Storylines:

Crunch Time

We’re down to 35 players here in the Brasilia Room and with 27 places playing, play should start to tighten up not too long from now. Though the field is still littered with seasoned professionals who are looking for more than a 27^th place finish, short stacks who are unlikely to mount a deep run might start to play a bit more conservatively.

All Bets Are Off

Mike Matusow asked David Benyamine, seated directly behind him, how many chips he had. After Benyamine informed him that he had 325,000 in front of him, Matusow remarked, “You’ve got 100,000 more than me. I’ll take +130 for $10,000.” Benyamine’s response: “I don’t bet with broken men.”

Ouch.

And There’s Poker Too!

Robert Williamson III was eliminated in a three-way pot involving Mike Matusow and James Van Alstyne. Matusow and Van Alstyne split the pot and Williamson was left shaking his head in disappointment.

At the table across the aisle, Soheil Shamseddin was eliminated by Max Pescatori. On a board of QJ96A, Shamseddin showed QQ108 for a straight along with a set of queens, but he was outdone by the Italian’s A1082. Pescatori, conversing about Italy’s chances against Spain in Sunday’s Euro 2008 quarterfinals, is now up to 165,000.

Brunson on the Move

Not only has Doyle Brunson taken a new seat at the table of Max Pescatori, Brad Booth, and Berry Johnston, but his chips have been on the move as well. Brunson dropped almost half of his chips during the last level, falling from 250,000 all the way to 130,000.

Player Tags: Trai "Danny" Dang,   Toto Leonidas,   Bob Slezak,   Tony Ma,   Pat Rao,   Max Pescatori,   David Benyamine,   Mike Matusow,   Doyle Brunson,   Greg Jamison,   Ram Vaswani,   Chau Giang,   Robert Williamson III,   Soheil Shamseddin

$5000 Stud 8 or Better - Level 3

Jun 17, '08

Ante: 50
Bring In: 50
Limits: 200/400

Players Entered: 261

Big Hands:

Booth Can't Connect

Brad "Yukon" Booth was part of four-way action after the initial round of betting, showing the K. After the initial bring-in was raised to 200, Booth wento to 400, then had the player in seat 2 reraise to 600, showing the 5. Booth called and received the Q while his opponent received the 9. They continued to bet through sixth street, Booth eventually with KQJ7. After the final card was dealt, Booth bet 600 and was again raised to 1200. His opponent was showing 9875. Booth called, and learned his opponent had the 6 in the hole for a straight, and Booth mucked.

Lederer and Williamson III Chop

Four players played for 200, and on fourth street Robert Williamson III took the lead with 66 up. Howard Lederer was showing A9. The two other players called again and Williamson III was dealt a third six, the 6. Lederer drew the 2 and the two players were suddenly heads-up. Williamson III added the 5, Lederer the 7, and in the end they chopped with Williamson's trips good for high.

Todd Brunson Take it Down

It appeared that both Todd Brunson and Chris Ferguson were on low draws through fourth street. Brunson opened with the A2 while Ferguson had 23 showing. Brunson added the 8 on fifth street while Ferguson had the J. Both added another 400 to the pot, and Brunson was dealt the 3 to increase his low chances. Ferguson was counterfeited with the 2 and made the fold.

Schneider Takes a Hit

Tom Schneider opened things to 200 and was raised by seat 7 to 400 before calling. After fourth street Schneider showed KA while his opponent held A5. Schneider continued to call after getting the 8 on fifth street, and his opponent the 7. Sixth street didn't appear to help Schneider, getting the 3 while his opponent added the 8. But Schneider called a seventh street bet as well, to see his opponent held 432 in the hole for the A-5 straight.

There are a number of tough tables in the field, but table 25 may be the toughest with Todd Brunson, Eric Seidel, Erick Lindgren and Chris Ferguson all present.

Player Tags: Chris Ferguson,   Howard Lederer,   Todd Brunson,   Tom Schneider,   Robert Williamson III

Level Nine Recap - We're in the Money

Jun 16, '08

Blinds/Antes: 500-1,000-100

Players Remaining: 90 of 1,012

Average Chip Stack: 52,700

Chip Counts:

Alon Shahar - 230,000
Kyle Hoffman - 150,000
Eric Lucas - 143,000
Sebastian Ruthenberg - 126,000
Cory Albertson - 120,000
Justin Filtz - 103,000
Shankar Pillai - 94,000
Max Pescatori - 91,000
Dario Minieri - 90,000
Bill Chen - 80,000

Eliminations:

Robert Williamson III
Brandon Cantu
David 'Devilfish' Ulliott

Big Hands and Storylines:

Star-studded table is down to one

When just 109 players were left in the tournament, three of the more well known ones were at the same table: Brandon Cantu, Dario Minieri and Robert Williamson III. When 105 players were still in the tournament, only one of the three were still alive.

With just one person to go before the money bubble was broken, Robert Williamson III got all his chips into the pot on a flop of T92. Kyle Hoffman was right there with him and showed 99 for a set. Williamson was in disbelief as he turned over KK. Help didn't come on the turn and river and Williamson just missed out on what would have been his 21st career cash in the World Series.

Just a couple hands later, Minieri called an all in check raise by Brandon Cantu on a A-A-4-4 board. Minieri held A-3 for a full house, and had Cantu drawing dead with just a king.

Skomac sees his queens survive

Michael Skomac called off his chips with pocket queens against two opponents. He had one covered, but the other player had many more chips than him. Fortunately, both had A-K. The board came T-9-5-9-8 and he nearly tripled up to over 80,000 chips. David 'Devilfis' Ulliott folded pocket fives on the hand, and would have quadrupled up on the hand if he ever had been able to see the flop.

Player Tags: David Ulliott,   Robert Williamson III,   Dario Minieri,   Brandon Cantu,   Michael Skomac,   European Report

$5,000 PLO w/Rebuys - Hour Three - Rebuy Period Over

Jun 14, '08

Note: The rebuy period has officially ended with the completion of Level 3, and the players have taken a sixty-minute dinner break, returning at about 9:30 pm local time.

Blinds/Antes: 200-400

Players Left: 126 of 152

Chip Counts:
Jason Mercier: 124,000
Eric Cajelais: 111,000
Phil Ivey: 100,000
Gavin Smith: 97,000
Andy Black: 95,000
Robert Williamson III: 95,000
Josh Arieh: 85,000
Phil Galfond: 84,000
Jeff Williams: 79,000
Bill Gazes: 75,000
Average Stack: 12,063

Eliminations: Barney Boatman, Theo Tran, Toto Leonidas

Big Hands:

Seidel Triples Up, Negreanu Rebuys Again, Williamson Takes a Hit

After rebuying on the previous hand Negreanu raised to 1,000 with a fresh stack after Erik Seidel limped in from early position. Robert Williamson III (table chip leader with 163,000) called the raise from the small blind and so did Phil Hellmuth from the big blind. Seidel called the raise as well, and the flop came 1064. Negreanu bet 4,000 and Williamson raised to 14,000. Hellmuth folded and Seidel called. Negreanu moved all in for 19,000 total, Williamson and Seidel both called. The turn was the 9, and with Negreanu all in, Seidel moved all in for 15,450 for the the side pot. Williamson called and the river was the 5.

Negreanu: 8664
Seidel: J875
Williamson: KQ104

Negreanu had middle set when he moved all in on the flop, Williamson with top pair and Seidel with a few different straight draws. The turn made Seidel's straight to the ten and the river offered no additional help to any of the players. Negreanu goes broke, Williamson takes a big hit in chips and Seidel almost triples up to 92,000 after this hand. Negreanu rebuys with another double add-on. That's three add-ons in the span of four hands for Negreanu.

Lindgren Triples Up, Negreanu & Alaei Rebuy Again

The very next hand after Erik Seidel tripled up, Daniel Negreanu, Daniel Alaei and Erick Lindgren all see a flop (J95). Negreanu bet the pot and Alaei called. Lindgren moved all in and both Daniels called.

Lindgren: AJ96
Negreanu: 10953
Alaei: X-X-X-X

Negreanu had bottom pair and Lindgren had top two pair on the flop. Alaei's cards were unknown. Negreanu made two pair on the river, not good enough and Lindgren tripled up to roughly 82,000 after the hand. Both Negreanu and Alaei rebought with double add-ons.

Player Tags: Erik Seidel,   Daniel Negreanu,   Daniel Alaei,   Robert Williamson III

$5,000 Omaha Rebuy - Level 2

Jun 14, '08

Note: Players are now on their first twenty-minute break of the night and will return to Level 3 around 7:40 pm local time.

Blinds: 150/300

Players Left: 152

Chip Counts:
Phil Ivey: 104,000
Rob Hollink: 62,000
Josh Arieh: 56,000
Phil Galfond: 55,000
Phil Hellmuth: 49,000
Tom Dwan: 46,000
Ralph Perry: 45,000
David Benyamine: 45,000
Robert Williamson III: 44,000
Tony G: 41,000

Eliminations: Jordan Morgan, Tex Barch.

Big Hands:

"Clean-Up on Table 15..."

The chips continue to flow wild and free at stacked table 15. Alex Kravchenko was a late arrival to the table that also features Phil Hellmuth, Erick Lindgren, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, Robert Williamson III, Sirous Jamshidi and Daniel Alaei. Lindgren had Hellmuth shaking his head early in the second level, when four players called 500 to see the flop. The flop came AJ4, and play was checked to Hellmuth on the button who bet 2000. Lindgren, in the small blind, check-raised to 10,000 and play was folded back to Hellmuth who put Lindgren all-in for his remaining 4000 in chips. Lindgren laughed as he showed his hand, 5444, trips in his hand while hitting bottom set. Hellmuth held QJJ3 for middle set. The turn brought the 2, which provided a flush draw for Lindgren, and the river completed the prayer as the 7 appeared.
"I had to be 10-1 on that hand," said Hellmuth.
"I'll take the over on that," said Alaei.
"You're right," said Hellmuth. "I was probably 20-1."
"96 percent," chimed in Negreanu.
The table has been so popular that spectators have been ushered away on a couple of occasions as play continues.

Williamson Doubles Through Negreanu

On a flop of 1054, Negreanu bet 6000 and Williamson III raised all-in for 18,475. Negreanu called and showed AK105 for top two pair. Williamson III had 10976 for the flush draw and straight potential. The turn was the 2, and Williamson missed both his flush and straight possibilities, but nailed the 6 for two better pair on the river.

Erik Seidel Shows a Big Bluff

Daniel Negreanu limped from under the gun and Phil Hellmuth raised to 1,800 (pot) from the cutoff. Erick Lindgren called from the button and Erik Seidel repotted (3,800) from the small blind. Sirous Jamshidi folded the big blind and Negreanu, Hellmuth and Lindgren all made the call. The flop came AA10, and Seidel bet 2,000. Everyone folded and Seidel turned over 9-8-6-5 for a stone cold bluff. Everyone laughed as Seidel raked a considerbaly large pot with rags. After the hand Seidel is up to roughly 25,000 in chips.

Gazes Sees It Through

Bill Gazes wasn't up against what he expected, but still needed help. He got it. On a flop of K92, Gazes bet pot for 22,000. He was check-raised all-in for another 12,000. His opponent held AA82, while Gazes showed QQJJ. The 9 on the turn didn't change things, but Gazes spiked the Q on the river for a full house and swept the pot.

Negreanu Busted by Williamson, "Give Me a Double!"

On a flop of Q43, Robert Williamson III bet the pot (~20,000) and Negreanu called all in.

Williamson: 7654
Negreanu: AJ52

Williamson flopped a pair of fours and a straight draw while Negreanu just held overcards and a straight draw. The turn was the 6, giving Williamson the seven-high straight and Negreanu the six-high straight. The river was the 3 and Negreanu was out of cips...but not for long. He looked at the dealer and said, "Alright buddy, give me a double!" Refering of course to a double-add on. Negreanu rebuys while Williamson has roughly 62,000 after the hand.

Late Additions

Late additions to the field have included Andy Bloch, Gus Hansen, and Howard Lederer. Hansen has joined a table featuring Rafi Amit, Chad Brown, David Benyamine and defending champ Burt Boutin, while Lederer now sits with tournament chip leader Phil Ivey, Phil Laak, and Michael Binger.

Player Tags: Erik Seidel,   Erick Lindgren,   Bill Gazes,   Daniel Negreanu,   Phil Hellmuth,   Robert Williamson III

$5,000 PLO w/Rebuys - Hour One

Jun 14, '08

Blinds/Antes: 100-200

Players: 139 (Approx.)

Big Hands:

With all of the top pros condensed into one quadrent of the Amazon Room, the greatest concentration of pros in any WSOP event has to be at Table 15. According to Robert Williamson III, "I'll bet before the rebuys are over, we've had two hundred-thousand dollar pots on this table."

Table 15
Seat 1: Robert Williamson
Seat 2: Phil Hellmuth
Seat 3: Erick Lindgren
Seat 4: Erik Seidel
Seat 5: Sirous Jamshidi
Seat 6: Daniel Negreanu
Seat 7: Daniel Alaei
Seat 8: Alex Kravchenko

Phil Hellmuth Wins a Monster, Williamson and Jamshidi Go Digging

Erick Lindgren limped in from under the gun and Sirous Jamshidi limped from middle position. Daniel Negreanu called from the cutoff, Daniel Alaei called from the button and Robert Williamson III made a raise form the small blind. Phil Hellmuth reraised the size of the pot (3,800), Lindgren folded and Jamshidi, Alaei and Williamson called, Negreanu folded. The flop came 1095, and Williamson moved all in. Hellmuth raised all in and Jamshidi called all in. Three-way all in and Hellmuth had them both covered.

Williamson: 8554
Hellmuth: AKQJ
Jamshidi: AA93

Williamson flopped bottom set, Jamshidi held the overpair and Hellmuth was drawing to the nut straight. The turn was 6, no help, but the river was the K, giving Hellmuth the nut straight to the king. Hellmuth raked a monster pot while both Williamson and Jamshidi went digging for rebuys. After the hand Hellmuth had roughly 55,000 in chips.



The Ralph Reward

Kirill Gerasimov got it started, but it was Ralph Perry who cleaned up. Gerasimov raised preflop to 2000 and had a three callers before Phil Laak reraised all-in. Gerasimov, Michael Binger and Ralph Perry all followed suit, generating a pot of 49,000. Perry was all-in for 14,300 and appeared behind preflop with his cards 7643. Binger had called with the Q1098, while Laak and Gerasimov both held pocket aces, Laak with AA64, and Gerasimov with AA104. But it was the low-card Perry who was all over the flop that came K53. The 6 on the turn completed the straight while the 2 on the river completed the board. Laak, Binger and Gerasimov all rebought after the hand.


Grinder Loses Set Over Set, Opponent Makes Quads on River

On a flop of Q-J-8, Michael Mizrachi got it all in with a set of jacks against an opponent's set of eights. The case eight rivered and Mizrachi was forced to rebuy after his opponent sucked out with quads.

Booth Busted

Brad "Yukon" Booth opted to leave aftrer his massive draw failed to come home. On a flop of 9-8-4, Booth held J-10-7-6 with a flush draw. His opponent held A-7-7-6 for a low open-ender. A deuce on the turn set the stage for an ace on the river to bust Booth who decided against a rebuy.

Amit Rebuys Early

David Benyamine bet 3,000 on the turn with the board reading Q652. Rafi Amit raised to to 11,000 and Benyamine called. The river was the 9, Benyamine checked, then called an 8300-all-in bet from Amit. Benyamine held Q885 for two pair, and Amit mucked before rebuying.

Player Tags: Daniel Negreanu,   Phil Hellmuth,   Michael Mizrachi,   Robert Williamson III

$1,500 Pot Limit Omaha - Level 2 recap

Jun 10, '08

Note: Players are now on a 20-minute break.

Blinds: 50-100

Players entered: 759

 

Eliminations:

Victor Ramdin
Jeff Madsen
Scott Fischman
Paul 'Eskimo' Clark
Doug Lee
Lee Watkinson
Robert Williamson III

Big hands:

David Williams Struggling

After limping before the flop from middle position, David Williams faced a raise to 350 total from the player in the cut-off seat. Williams called, and the flop came 853. Williams checked, and his opponent followed through by betting 700. Williams folded and ended the hand with less than 1,500 in chips.

Big Pot for "BigJoe2003"

The player under the gun raised to 300, drew a call, then Joey "BigJoe2003" Michael raised to 1500. It was enough to get Vanessa Rousso to fold in the small blind, but the original raiser then pushed for 2575, the second player called, and Michael called as well, having both players covered. Michael held AA55, and when the board played out QQ966, his two pair of aces and queens was enough to scoop the pot. The original raiser held J10102, while the first caller held AK107.

Medic Needs No Help

Nenad Medic, gold bracelet winner of the first event of this year's world series, was the button and called to see a flop of K64. Seat 8 bet 'pot' for 1000 and Medic came over the top to put the player all-in. The player folded and Medic improved his chip stack to 5800.

Devilfish Has One Get Away

David "Devilfish" Ulliott was in the cut-off and raised to 550. Another player moved all-in which cost Ulliott just 375 more. Ulliott held AA109 and was up against 9883. His opponent spiked a set on the flop of Q85, and it held through the 4 on the turn and 6 on the river. The loss knocked Ulliott down to 4200 in chips.

Tomko Loses Half His Stack

Dewey Tomko was the lone caller for 1250 after the big blind threw in a reraise. The flop came 1062 and when the big blind bet 1500 Tomko released his hand, now down to 1300 in chips.

Williamson Goes Out

Robert Williamson III raised all in on a J5J flop and was called. Williamson flipped over A-Q-J-x for three jacks while his opponent held ATK3 for a flush draw. He caught his flush when the 7 came on the turn and the river didn't give Williamson a full house.

Boutin Doubles Up

Burt Boutin, who won a bracelet in pot-limit Omaha last year, moved all in on a 3JQ flop and was called by his opponent. The turn and river were 6 and Q respectively. Boutin flipped over QJ98 for a full house, while his opponent showed the Q and mucked his hand.

Player Tags: David Ulliott,   Dewey Tomko,   Burt Boutin,   David Williams,   Nenad Medic,   Robert Williamson III,   Joey bigjoe2003 Michael

Omaha 8 / Stud 8 Level 7

Jun 05, '08

Stud 8: 100 ante, 200 bring in, 500-1,000 limits
Omaha 8: 300-500 blinds, 500-1,000 limits

Players left: 144 of 388

Average chip stack: $13,472

Top 10 Chip counts:

Marco Johnson - 41,000
Craig Gray - 27,000
Gary Benson - 25,000
Scott Clements - 24,500
Steve Zolotow - 23,500
Hasan Habib - 20,500
Tony Mah - 19,000
Jeff Lisandro - 19,000
Gavin Griffin - 17,700
Alan Boston - 17.000

Players eliminated:

Robert Williamson III
Davidson Matthew
George Danzer
Mike Matusow

Hands:

Cassidy catches river to chop pot

With the board showing 5934, Joe Cassidy took his time before making the call. Then the 4 came on the river, and after his opponent bet out, Cassidy raised. His opponent called immediately and showed A2 for the wheel and nut low hand, while Cassidy flipped over 94 for the full house on the river and half the pot. However, overall it has been a difficult for Cassidy and he is now down to 7,000.

Williamson out after two-outer

After a tournament director had to be called over to straighten out a mistake, sixth street gave Robert Williamson III, who was already all in, a pair of aces and a lead over his opponent's pair of fours. But on seventh street his opponent caught a third four, and Williamson didn't catch an ace.

After battling for hours, Matthew out

Davidson Matthew had been short-stacked all night, and finally was eliminated early in level seven. Playing stud 8, Matthew was all in on fourth street with a pair of fours, but wa already up against two pair. Matthew's hand did not improve and within seconds of the dealer sending out the cards on seventh street, Matthew was out of the Amazon Room.

Habib among chip leaders

In a blind vs blind battle, Hasan Habib bet out after the flop came KQJ and his opponent quickly folded. After the hand, Habib had well over 20,000 chips.

Player Tags: Mike Matusow,   Joe Cassidy,   Robert Williamson III,   Davidson Matthew