Joe Awada Poker Tournament Updates

Level 16, Hour One: Dunst Takes Massive Pot

Jul 13, '10

Note: With 751 players remaining, the players have been sent off on an early 90-minute dinner break. The players will return at 8:30 p.m. and will be in hand-for-hand mode until the money bubble bursts at the 747 players mark.

Blinds: 2,500-5,000 with a 500 ante

Players Remaining: 751 out of 7,319

Average Chip Count: 292,370

Card Player Chip Counts

Adam Schoenfeld — 360,000
Jon Freidberg — 92,000
Shannon Shorr — 355,000
Matt Matros — 375,000
Andrew Brokos — 465,000

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Theo Jorgensen – 1,325,000
2. Duy Le – 1,320,000
3. Marijn Schirp – 1,275,000
4. Matt Affleck – 1,260,000
5. Josh Brikis – 1,200,000
6. Tony Dunst – 1,179,000
7. Bartolome Gomilaromero – 1,070,000
8. Matthew Brown – 1,060,000
9. Phil Galfond – 1,050,000
10. Ben Statz – 1,010,000

Notable Eliminations:

Joe Awada
Dan Harrington

Big Hands:

Back To The Grind

Picking up the action on the turn, the board read J755 and a player bet 25,000 into a pot of about 45,000.

Michael Mizrachi raised to about 65,000. The action was back on his opponent and he eventually mucked his hand. Mizrachi scored a nice pot and he was up to 180,000.

Joe Awada Eliminated

Joe Awada moved all in preflop and one player decided to look him up. Here were their cards:

Awada: 95
Opponent: A9

Awada was dominated but the flop looked promising as it came J87. Awada flopped a double gutter along with a flush draw. But the board offered no help on the turn or river as it came A and 9 respectively and Awada was out.

Harder Takes One

A player raised to 12,000 preflop and Christian Harder repopped to 36,500. His opponent called and the flop came down 653.

Both players checked and the turn was the 9. They checked again and they did the same when the Q fell on the river.

Harder then tabled 86 for top pair on the flop, which bettered his opponent’s AK. Harder took in the pot and he was up to 420,000.

Kenney Lets The Chips Fly

Bryn Kenney raised to 13,000 preflop and the player in the cutoff reraised to 37,500. Kenney made the call and the flop came down J109.

Kenney led out with 85,500 and his opponent mucked. Kenney then rubbed some salt in the wound as he tabled A5 for the stone-cold bluff.

Kenney raked in the pot and he was at 640,000.

Get Out Of His Way

Tony Dunst raised to 13,500 from the small blind and Isaac Krantz made the call from the big blind. The flop came down 1062 and Dunst led for 18,000.

Krantz raised to 41,000 and Dunst made the call. The turn was the 3 and Dunst checked. Krantz bet 100,000 and Dunst made the call. The river was the K and Dunst checked one more time.

Krantz moved all in, having Dunst covered. Dunst made the call and turned over K-10 for two pair and Krantz mucked. Dunst scored a massive pot and he was up with the big boys, holding a stack of 1.12 million.

Habib Finds Aces

Hasan Habib moved all in preflop and was called by one player. Here were their hands:

Habib: AA
Opponent: QQ

Habib was ahead and the flop increased his lead when it fell A97, giving him a set. The turn was the K to lock up the hand for Habib and the 6 completed the board on the river. Habib doubled to 295,000.

Shorr Drops One

Picking up the action after the flop fell 1087, a player fired 20,000 and Shannon Shorr made the call.

The turn was the 4 and Shorr checked. His opponent bet 40,000 and Shorr stuck around again. The river was the 4 and both players checked.

Shorr mucked when his opponent tabled pocket aces and his stack dropped to 355,000.

Player Tags: Hasan Habib,   Michael Mizrachi,   Joe Awada,   Shannon Shorr,   Bryn Kenney,   Christian Harder,   Tony Dunst

Level 8 Hour 2 Update: Brad Garrett Eliminated

Jul 07, '09

Blinds: 400-800 with a 100 ante

Players Remaining: 740 out of 1476

Chip Counts:

1. Samer Rahman – 322,000
2. Greg Mueller – 250,000
3. Andy Black – 182,000
4. Mike Sexton – 170,000
5. Chris Ferguson – 155,000
6. Tom Schneider – 141,000
7. Juha Helppi – 140,000
8. Jani Sointula – 135,000
9. Vitaly Lunkin – 132,000
10. Greg Raymer – 118,000

CardPlayer Chip Counts:

Ciaran O’Leary – 31,400

Average Chip Count Day 2A: 80,635

Notable Eliminations:

Jeff Williams
Brad Garrett

Big Hands:

Carlos Mortensen Out Kicked

Carlos Mortensen limped in from the cutoff and the button folded. The small blind called and the big blind checked. Three players saw a flop of A63 and both blinds checked to Mortensen. The former main event event champion bet 1,500 and the small blind called with 4-5 for an open ended straight draw. The big blind called with the A9 and Mortensen was trailing with the A77. The 3 hit the turn and both blinds checked once again. Mortensen quickly fired out a bet of 2,500 which was again quickly called by both blinds. The 3 fell on the river and Mortensen once again found action checked to him. He threw out a small bet of 3,500 which prompted the small blind to much his missed draw and the big blind called quickly. Mortensen found out the bad news after he exposed his A-7. Mortensen is down to 33,000.

Joe Awada Doubles Up Opponent

Joe Awada raised to 1,500 under the gun and action folded around to the small blind who went into the tank. With only 1,500 left in his stack, the small blind had just enough to make Awada’s call. He eventually called all in and tabled the J9 while Awada exposed the A7. The board ran out K649K and Awada’s opponent won with a pair of nines. Awada is down to 34,000.

Erik Seidel Doubles Up

Erik Seidel bet 8,000 after a flop of J82 and was called by an opponent. The Q hit the turn and Seidel moved all in. His opponent quickly called and tabled the KQ for top pair and flush draw. Seidel was ahead with his AA but needed to dodge many cards in order to double up. The 10 on the river was good news for Seidel as he doubled to 56,000.

Jim Bechtel Wins Another

Jim Bechtel checked on a board of 532 to his opponent on the button. The button threw out a bet of 7,000 and Bechtel called. The 3 hit the turn and the action went check-check. The K fell on the river and Bechtel checked for a third time. The button bet 10,000 and Bechtel thought about it briefly before making the call with the JJ, with no club. His opponent tabled the AQ and was no good as Bechtel picked off his bluff. Bechtel is now at 95,000.

Brad Garrett Eliminated

On a board of Q43A9 the cutoff bet 20,200 and Brad Garrett went into the tank in middle position. He went back and forth on his decision for a few minutes while a wall of people surrounded the table to watch his antics. He eventually made the all-in call and flipped over QJ. His opponent turned up Q9 amnd Garrett was eliminated from the tournament.

Left in the Deck

Before he was eliminated from the tournament Brad Garrett was making quite an impression during the evening’s play. The ESPN cameras were eating it up, and Garrett was able to produce a consistent line of chuckles from the players who were along for the ride with him at his table, including former world champion Berry Johnston. At one point, Garrett exclaimed, “Change the rhythm, everybody stand,” and his table played a hand standing up just to mix things up. His table is much quieter now and the ESPN cameras are no longer around after his absence.

Player Tags: Erik Seidel,   Carlos Mortensen,   Joe Awada,   Brad Garrett,   Jim Bechtel

$10,000 Main Event - Day 1C - Level 5, Hour 2

Jul 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 200/400/50

Day 1C Players Remaining: 1,071 of 1,928

Chip Leaders:

Henning Granstad - 228,000
Arnaud Mattern - 167,000
Howard Berchowitz - 161,000
David Baker - 159,000
Joe Marcal - 143,000
Russell Rosenblum - 141,000
Mike Souza - 136,000
Serj Markarian - 132,000
David Singer - 129,000
Andrew Tisler - 119,000

Notable Eliminations: David Plastik, Andre Akkari, Phil Collins, T.J. Cloutier, Marcel Luske, Sabyl Landrum.

Big Hands and Storylines:

Sklansky Clings to Life

It’s been a slow day for David Sklansky, and it hasn’t picked up any steam in the final level. He has been hovering around the 10,000 chip count for the past few hours, and couldn’t do anything with his blinds in a recent rotation. As big blind, he saw a player in middle position raise to 1050. Sklansky, already in for 400, made the call. After the flop came J87, he folded to a bet of 1,550. He then limped for another 400 the next hand as small blind, but dodged out of the way when the flop came 532. As it turned out, a player pushed all-in with the Q9, was called by a set of fives, then the board ran out JA for the running flush. Sklansky then folded his button and now sits at 9,500.

Binger and Singer in a Zinger of a Humdinger

In the blue section of the Amazon Room, one table became particularly stacked when Card Player P.O.Y. contender Michael Binger joined 2008 World Series of Poker bracelet winner David Singer’s table. The media hovered close by to capture any and all action between the two notable players. In one hand, Binger raised to a total of 1,100 from under the gun, and Singer called as the player next to act. All other players folded, and the flop came down 865. Binger continued his aggression by firing a bet of 1,800 into the pot, causing Singer to release his hand. Singer remained one of the tournament’s largest stacks with over 100,000 in chips, while Binger hovered around 35,000 throughout most of the level.

Jacob turns trips and collects more chips

With the board AQJJ, Alex Jacob bet 2,100 and was called immediately by his opponent. The river was the 7 and Jacob bet 4,600. This time his opponent took a moment to think it over. but he made the call in the end, and Jacob flipped over J10 to take the pot. After the hand Jacob has roughly 20,000 chips.

Awada dodges disaster

With the board 872, Joe Awada raised his opponent's bet of 2,000 to 5,000. His opponent reraised all in, and Awada was clearly frustrated with his situation. He folded J8 and after initially hesitating his opponent flipped over 88. But he can't feel too good about his fold; Awada has just 12,000 chips and is at risk of elimination any time he plays a hand.

When You're Hot . . .

A player in late position raised to 1200 and Brad Booth, on the button, made the call, as did the big blind. The flop came QJ9, and after the first two players checked Booth fired out 3500. The big blind called and the original raiser folded. The 3 fell on the turn, and the big blind checked. Booth, perhaps sensing a trap, checked behind. The river was the 10, creating a four-card straight on board. The big blind checked and Booth bet 5000. The big blind, obviously frustrated by the river, called and flipped over JJ for a set. That was suddenly in second place however, as Booth held 87 for the bottom end straight.

Player Tags: David Singer,   David Sklansky,   Joe Awada,   Brad Booth,   Michael Binger,   Alex Jacob

$1,500 No Limit Hold'em - Laak Taking Some Hits

Jun 30, '08

Blinds/Antes: 100-200

Players Left: 2,180 of 2,700

Chip Leaders:

Bryan Devonshire: 15,000
Phil Laak: 14,000
Grant Levy: 12,800
Erica Schoenberg: 12,000
Allen Le: 12,000
Tom Schneider: 11,500
Morgan Machina: 11,000
Chris Ferguson: 9,400
Benjamin Fineman: 7,900

Average Stack: 3,707

Big Hands:

Little K.O.'s Big Slick

Jonathan Little got an opponent all in and showed 88 and was up against AK. The flop came J28 to give Little trips. The turn came with the A and the river was the K, giving his opponent top two pair. It was not enough to overcome Little's set, however, and Little was up to 6,000.

Laak Getting Bombed On

Phil Laak was close to 20,000 in chips when the players returned from break. Since then, he has doubled up two people and has seen his stack cut in half.

Dave "Devil Fish" Ulliott was the first to double throught the "Unabomber." On a board that read K55Q-X, Ulliott showed QQ for a boat full of ladies. Ulliott improved his stack to 8,000 and Laak was not done doubling up his opponents.

Later in the hour, the player in seat 10 moved all in for 2,400 from the small blind, trying to steal Laak's big blind. Laak would have none of it, however, as he quickly called and turned over A8. His opponent was caught with his pants down as he showed J2. The flop was harmless as it came 1086. The Q gave Laak's opponent a gutshot straight draw on the turn. But it was the J on the river that did Laak in and lost another portion of his stack. Laak was around 9,000 after running through that gauntlet.

Jesus Doubles Up... Twice!

Chris Ferguson was moved to a table featuring Young Phan and Joe Awada. Almost immediately after getting there, the man known as "Jesus" went to work.

Ferguson was all in against a player in seat 7. Ferguson showed down QQ while his opponent showed 98. The board ran out QJ345 and Ferguson doubled to around 6,000. "I just wanted to get busted by somebody good," the player in seat 7 said. Unfortunately, he did not get the luxury as he had Ferguson covered by a couple hundred. The player would get eliminated a couple of hands later, though no one knows by who.

As for "Jesus," he was not done. Joe Awada limped in from the cutoff and action folded to Ferguson in the small blind. He made it 900 to go and Awada made the call. The flop came KQJ. Awada raised Ferguson's initial bet of 1,000 to 2,500 total. Ferguson moved all in and Awada made the call, tabling 98 for a monster of a drawing hand. Ferguson showed AK for top pair and top kicker, but also took away Awada's straight draw as a 10 would have given "Jesus" a bigger straight. But he still needed to dodge diamonds to stay alive. The turn was the 3 and the river was the 6 and Ferguson was over 10,000 with the double up.

Player Tags: Chris Ferguson,   Phil Laak,   Joe Awada,   Jonathan Little,   European Report

Event 49 - $1500 NLHE - Level 7

Jun 28, '08

Blinds: 300-600

Ante: 75

Players Remaining: 440

Average Stack: 18,532

Eliminations: J.J. Liu, Noah Boeken

Notable Hands:
Viva Vivek

The player in seat 4 raised to 2000 and Vivek Rajkumar reraised for an additional 3,500. Seat 4 made the call, and then shoved on the flop, which came 10107. Rajkumar instantly announced his call, and showed JJ. His opponent held only A4, and needed help badly to stay alive. The turn and river came 96, seat 4 was eliminated, and Rajkumar added a few more towers of chips to his stack.

Mueller Mauls Another

From early position, one player shoved all in for 3,375. Greg Mueller, sitting behind an imposing wall of chips, mulled things over for a moment before nonchalantly tossing in the call. There were no more takers on the action, and the two players flipped over their cards. Mueller was behind, but live, showing KQ against his opponent's AJ. Things steadily improved for Mueller, who got no help on the flop of 652, picked up outs for a flush on the turn, 8, and nailed his overcard on the river, the Q. The player left the table, the last of their chips absorbed by the steadily expanding spread of Mueller's stack.

Awada Makes A Mistake

On the river, with a board reading 552A6, Joe Awada check-called his opponent's bet of 4,000. His opponent showed AQ, and Awada unhappily tossed his cards into the muck.

Player Tags: Greg Mueller,   Joe Awada,   Vivek Rajkumar

$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Level Five Recap

Jun 28, '08

Blinds/Antes: 100-200-25

Players Remaining: 840 of 2,718

Average Chip Stack: 9,160

Hands and Storylines:

Awada doubles up through Liu

With the board J-J-3-8-9 and roughly 8,000 chips already in the pot, Joe Awada moved all in for 6,525. J.J. Liu thought for a few minutes. She separated the chips from her stack and counted out how many chips she would have remaining if she lost multiple times. Finally, she made the call and Joe Awada flipped over J-9 for a full house. After the hand Awada has 21,000 chips, while Liu was down to 12,000 chips.

Boeken doubles with flush

When Noah Boeken reraised all in and was called, he was understandably worried. But then he saw that his K10 was in a race against pocket nines, and though he didn't take the lead on the flop, he was optimistic when the flop came AQ3. He then took the pot when the 6 came on the turn and doubled up to 9,000 chips, just less than the average.

Rajkumar chips up

Vivek Rajkumar raised to 800 from late position and was called by the big blind. After the flop came K-J-10, Rajkumar bet 1,200 after his opponent checked. He took down the pot with the bet and was up to 14,000 chips after the hand. Earlier in the level he was given a warning when a player was upset he pulled his cards up and allowed others to see them when a player moved all in and another player had yet to act. On that hand Rajkumar folded queens and a player with pocket jacks doubled up through A-K on an A-J-x flop.

Player Tags: Joe Awada,   Noah Boeken,   Joanne Liu,   Vivek Rajkumar

End of Day 1A

Jul 06, '07

Joe Awada Eliminated

On a flop of A 8 7, Joe Awada pushed all in and got called by seat 8.  Awada showed 9 9, but was in trouble against A K.  The turn was the 5, giving Awada straight and flush outs, but the river was the 10 and he angrily slammed the table with his water bottle as he was eliminated.  More angry with himself than his opponent, Awada then graciously said goodbye to the table before exiting. 

Tobey Maguire Survives

With $4,000 in the pot and a flop of A 7 6.  The cutoff bet out $3,000 and Maguire took a second before reraising all in for an additional $5,200.  It appears as though Maguire caught his opponent bluffing because the cutoff folded instantly, giving Maguire some more breathing room. 

Zeidman Coolered

After seeing a cheap flop from the big blind, PokerStars qualifier Cory Zeidman bet $1,000 with a K 6 4 7 board and his opponent raised to $3,000.  Zeidman called and the 9 on the river Zeidman checked and his opponent bet $3,000.   Zeidman called and his opponent revealed the 6 6 for a set of sixes and Zeidman flipped up his K 6 for a big-blind special two pair on the flop. 

Ly Doubles

Minh Ly got in a raising war with Dane Lomas with a board of Q 9 2 6, eventually getting it all-in.  Ly held the A Q for top pair and the nut flush draw, but Lomas held the 10 6 for a made flush.  The river brought the 8 and Ly doubled up with the rivered nuts.

Black Busts

Andrew Black raised to $4,200 from the button and his opponent called from the cutoff. The flop brought the J 10 6 and both players checked. The 8 fell on the turn and the player in the cutoff checked.  Black bet $8,000 and his opponent called.  The 3 fell on the river and once again the player in  the cutoff checked.  Black bet $15,000 and his opponent quickly called with 7 7.   Black mucked his hand, clearly frustrated.  A few hands later he moved in on a flop of 4-3-3 holding 5-4, only to run into the A-A of an opponent.  After the turn and river bricked off Black was sent to the rail.

Player Tags: Minh Ly,   Cory Zeidman,   Joe Awada,   Tobey Maguire,   Andy Black

Players Staying Aggressive

Jun 08, '07

It only took two minutes to get down to the final 10 tables and only 15 minutes to get to the final 9.  On those 9 tables is two particularly stacked ones. 

Table 78 is lined with pros, including Eric "Sheets" Haber, Matt "SamENole" Smith, Matt Brady and Fred Goldberg.  Table 76 isn't far behind with Rep Porter, Joe Awada, Carl Olson and Matt "Choppy" Kay. 

There is a crowd of about 40 people lining the rail near J. C. Tran's table.  Although many are looking over to see Erik Seidel and "Miami" John Cernuto at there respective tables as well. 

During the level, Carl Olson was able to double through Rep Porter.  Porter called Olson's all in showing A8, but was dominated by Olson's AK.  The board came K76103, and Olson narrowly avoided chopping the pot to double up to around $53,000. 

We are also down to our last remaining female participant, Annette Nichols, who is sitting with $95,000. 

Player Tags: Erik Seidel,   Joe Awada,   Carl Olson,   Matt Brady,   Annette Nichols