Alan Boston Poker Tournament Updates

$10,000 Seven-Card Stud World Championship - Day 1 - Level 8 Recap

Jun 07, '08

Limit: 1,000/2,000, 200 ante, 300 bring in

Players Left:  81 of 158

Chip Leaders:
Chad Brown - 97,000
Daniel Negreanu - 82,000
Cyndy Violette - 65,000
Erik Seidel - 63,000
Alexander Kravchenko - 58,000
Greg Raymer - 54,600
Minh Ly - 54,000
Alan Boston - 53,000
David Williams - 52,500
David Benyamine - 52,000

Average Stack: 39,000

Eliminations:
Allen Kessler
Jen Harman
Mel Judah

Big Hands and Storylines:

Kravchenko Quietly Builds Big Stack

Despite a lack of fanfare, Alex Kravchenko has positioned himself as one of the chipleaders near the end of day 1. His latest accumulation came courtesy of busting out the player sitting to his left. Getting all of their chips in on 6^th street, the players showed:

Kravechenko: (K)(7)J7TT
Opponent: (J)(4)3JA9

Kravchenko was dealt the (K) on the end, leaving his opponent drawing to an ace or the case jack for his survival. Nothing good came, however, and Kravchenko raked in yet another pot, bringing his total chip count to about 60,000.

Negreanu’s Roll Continues

With a board showing 77A7, Daniel Negreanu bet 2,000 into his opponent on 7^th street, enough to put the gentleman all-in. His opponent pondered deeply over his board of AQJT. It was evident he had a straight, but he could not make up his mind whether or not Negreanu had a full house. In the end, with the pot laying him 6-to-1 odds, he made the call. Negreanu stated matter-of-factly, “I have a full house,” before flipping over (5)(5). His opponent exited the area without a word. With the day coming to an end, Negreanu has a supremely healthy stack of 82,000.

Masterful

Men Nguyen: JAQ5
John Duthie: K57T

The action picks up on 6^th street when Nguyen bets into Duthie and gets a quick call. Nguyen bets again on 7th and this time Duthie thinks longer about his decision. He convinces himself to call and then mucks when Nguyen shows (A)(J) for a quick two-pair. Duthie mucks his hand and claims that he had the nut-flush draw turn into two-pair on the river. Duthie is down to only 23,000 now, but Nguyen has a much more robust 46,000.

Player Tags: Erik Seidel,   Minh Ly,   Men Nguyen,   Mel Judah,   Daniel Negreanu,   David Benyamine,   Allen Kessler,   Jennifer Harman,   Cyndy Violette,   Alan Boston,   John Duthie,   Greg Raymer,   David Williams,   Alexander Kravchenko,   European Report

Omaha 8 / Stud 8 Level 8

Jun 05, '08

Play has ended for today and will begin tomorrow at 3 p.m.

Stud 8: 100 ante, 200 bring in, 600-1,200 limits
Omaha 8: 300-600 blinds, 600-1,200 limits

Players left: 110 of 388

Average chip stack: $17,636

Chip counts:

Bennett Greenstein - 41,000
Michael Mizrachi - 27,000
Marco Johnson - 35,000
Alan Boston - 33,000
John Cernuto - 32,000
Steve Zolotow - 30,000
Gary Benson - 30,000
Todd Brunson - 29,000

Players eliminated:

Jennifer Harman
Bart Hanson
Kristy Gazes
Max Pescatori
Chau Giang

Hands:

Mizrachi shocked to win pot

In stud 8, Michael Mizrachi raised and got just one caller. On fourth street, with Mizrachi showing 47 and his opponent showing 5A, Mizrachi raised after his opponent bet and then called a reraise. With the now quite large, Mizrach slowed down and just called on fifth and sixth street. On seventh street, Mizrach looked at his card and checked. He rolled his eyes in disappointment while his opponent looked at his card and checked. Mizrachi showed a pair of queens but a missed flush and low draw. Then his opponent laughed and mucked his cards. After the hand, Mizrachi had over 30,000 chips, and is currently among the chip leaders.

Corkins steals one from Boston

On every street Alan Boston bet and was called by Hoyt Corkins, and the pot quickly swelled up in size. At the showdown, Boston quickly flipped up his down cards to show three sevens, confident that it was the winning hand. However, on seventh street Hoyt Corkins had picked up three queens. Boston could only stare at the ceiling and shake his head, while Corkins admitted to the player in the next seat that hi-lo games aren't his strength. After the hand, though, Corkins was in good shape with 24,000 chips.

Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins,   Michael Mizrachi,   Alan Boston

On to Day Two

Jun 09, '07

Day one of the first H.O.R.S.E event of the 2007 World Series of Poker is over. 210 players will return tomorrow at 3 p.m. to battle down to a final table. There are still plenty of big names left in the field including Doyle Brunson, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, David Williams, Andy Bloch and Cyndy Violette.

The final level of the day was hold 'em with limits of $300-$600. Chips finally began to change hands at a consistent rate and more players began to get eliminated. Pat Poels, Shawn Sheikan and Alan Boston are no longer in the field, but I'm sure we haven't seen the last of them in this World Series.

Tables continued to break at a much quicker pace this last level and John D'Agostino found himself at the table of David Williams. When sitting down, Williams said to D'Agostino "Oh man, I wish there was more than 10 minutes left in the day." D'Agostino replied, "Uh uh, I'm not playin a single hand." Those two will have to wait until tomorrow to see who can last the longest.

Tournament officials made the announcement that play would end at about five minutes past 3 a.m. Following the announcement, Cyndy Violette jumped out of her chair and exclaimed, "Yay! Now I don't have to play in the ladies event!"

Come back tomorrow to CardPlayer.com to see what happens when the limits pick up and the field shrinks down.

Player Tags: Andy Bloch,   Patrick Poels,   Daniel Negreanu,   John D'Agostino,   Shawn Sheikhan,   Mike Matusow,   Doyle Brunson,   Cyndy Violette,   Alan Boston,   David Williams

Game Changes....Again

Jun 09, '07

The players have returned from dinner and completed the most recent level of Stud Hi-Low Eight or Better. The game has moved on to Hold 'Em and with the low limits there is a sense that some players are beginning to get antsy. Notable eliminations this round include Gavin Smith and Jennifer Harman.

At a table with Andy Bloch and Shawn Sheikan, Alan Boston was given a penalty following an altercation with a dealer. Boston, long know for both his stud playing ability and for being a class act, was forced to sit out for one round. The altercation arose as a result of the dealer not pointing out the low card and the dealer's dislike of Boston using his cell phone. Both Bloch and Sheikan agreed that the penalty was very subjective and probably didn't need to have happened. Bloch laughed and commented to Boston that, "you of all people get a penalty. Especially at this table. Sheik didn't even get a penalty." Sheikan smiled and laughed and play resumed when Boston returned without a hitch.

The blinds for the hold 'em round raised to $150-$300 and Eli Elezra wasted no time in adding to his dwindling chip stack. With the board showing 7447 the player in seat 4 bet out $300 and Elezra couldn't wait to bump it to $600. While the player in seat four contemplated the call, Elezra jokingly asked the dealer if he could show his opponent one card. This brought out  a chuckle from Mike Matusow and Perry Friedman, both seated at the table. The dealer shook his head no and the player in seat four folded. Elezra showed his hand anyways and turned over QQ.

Player Tags: Andy Bloch,   Shawn Sheikhan,   Mike Matusow,   Eli Elezra,   Perry Friedman,   Alan Boston

Into the Amazon...

Jun 08, '07

Of the 395 who entered the $1,500 Seven Card Stud even, only 328 remain. Eighty of those players were moved from the outdoor Player's Pavilion tent into the Amazon Room directly after they returned from dinner break, including stud heavy hitters David Williams, Alan Boston, Paul Darden and John Phan. 

Shawn Sheikhan went toe to toe with Ted Forrest after coming back from the dinner break.  In a multi-way pot for the first few streets, Sheikhan's betting dropped a bomb on the other three players and when the smoke cleared, only Ted Forrest remained.  After fifth street, Sheikhan's board read Q910 and Forrest's 747. Forrest bet $200 with his sevens, and Sheikhan called.  The K then fell for Sheikhan, while Forrest picked up the 8.    Forrest checked and called Sheikhan's bet, and the players were dealt their seventh card.  Forrest again checked, and called after Sheikhan bet.   Sheikhan revealed his holecards, (JJ10) for a king-high straight and Forrest mucked.  Sheikhan chuckled and said, "Now I finally win a hand against you and get it documented." Forrest quietly let the table know that Shiekhan had caught up with the worst hand.

Make sure to check back for more updates and Andy Bloch's Pro Blog here at Cardplayer.com.

Player Tags: John Phan,   Andy Bloch,   Ted Forrest,   Shawn Sheikhan,   Paul Darden,   Alan Boston,   David Williams

End of the Night Update

Jun 06, '07

The final hour of play in day one of the $5,000 Seven Card Stud event is over. More than 20 players were eliminated this hour, leaving less than 100 returning for day two. Play will resume tomorrow at 3 p.m. and continue until the final table.

With the antes and betting climbing, the action remained fast and furious. John Juanda found himself all in against Bill Edler who had aces up. Juanda was able to river a straight to stay alive and make to day two. Across the floor Negreanu was able to triple up when he was all in against two opponents. Negreanu found love on the river in the form of a fifth diamond and made a flush to add a nice amount of chips to his stack.

The field returning tomorrow is ridiculous. Pros and long time stud players like Paul "The Truth" Darden, Alan Boston, David Levi, John Hennigan, Allen Cunningham, Howard Lederer, John Juanda, Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein are just some of the top tier players returning tomorrow to continue to grind towards a 2007 World Series of Poker bracelet. Type CardPlayer.com into your browser tomorrow at 3 p.m. to hear from players in the event in the Pro Blogs section and to keep up on all the action with our updates.

Player Tags: Barry Greenstein,   David Levi,   John Juanda,   Allen Cunningham,   Daniel Negreanu,   Howard Lederer,   John Hennigan,   Paul Darden,   Phil Ivey,   Alan Boston