Norman MacDonald Poker Tournament Updates

Hour One Recap

Jul 12, '07

Play ended last night shortly after midnight with 797 players returning to begin day three. Play started today by completing the last 20 minutes of level 11 and continued right into level 12 with no break. The blinds are now $1,500-$3,000 with a $400 ante and are beginning to play a larger role in the tournament.

Currently, there are 716 players remaining, playing on only 80 tables. The average chip stack is $177,597 and there have already been many notable names eliminated. Gus Hansen is still the chip leader, as he was heading into the day. Hansen has been able to build his stack up to $670,000 in the early hours of day three despite being seated at the ESPN featured table with the likes of Carlos Mortensen and Gavin Smith.

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson is arguably one of the most recognized poker players on the planet and as a result has quite the following. Ferguson's recent elimination instigated a buzz amongst the remaining players and crowd. Sympathetic groans and disappointed comments were heard all around the Amazon room when tournament officials announced Ferguson's departure. Ferguson pushed all in from the small blind following a raise from the player in seat seven. Seat seven made the call and both players turned over their cards. ESPN cameras rushed the table to catch the action and Ferguson turned over A 5. The player in the seven seat showed Q Q and waited patiently for the flop. The board came 8 2 2 8 10 and Ferguson was sent to the rail out of the money. Players applauded as Ferguson left the tournament area and Ferguson's dream of repeating as champion will have to wait another year.

Isaac Haxton, known by many as the player who finished in second place at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and has a substantial amount of money tied up in Neteller, was able to double up to more than $160,000 in the first hour of day three. The player in seat two at Haxton's table pushed all in on the button and Haxton took only a moment before calling from the big blind. The player in seat two exposed 3 3 and Haxton showed A 8. The board came Q 8 4 6 K and Haxton took down the huge pot.

Tor Helness, hailing from Norway and qualifying on PokerStars, also took down a huge pot in the early hours and almost gave himself a heart attack in the process. Helness pushed all in with 9 9 and was called by the player in seat nine with A K. The tv cameras gathered, causing the dealer to pause for extended periods of time between dealing out the flop, turn and river. The flop came Q 3 2 and Helness could hardly stand the anticipation. The turn was the 6 and Helness only had to dodge one more card. The river brought the Q and Helness was able to finally double up to $135,000.

Card Player writer Craig Tapscott handled a request from a fan to meet Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi at table #6. Sorel was surprised to see the fan was Norm McDonald. Norm shared that he has watched Imper1um play online for quite some time. 
"What's your screen name," asked Mizzi. 
"I'm not telling YOU," said McDonald. 
They both laughed. Norm stepped back and continued to watch the Internet phenom dominate his table. Tapscott will be interviewing Sorel Mizzi all day on the breaks in our Pro Blogs section.

Player Tags: Chris Ferguson,   Gus Hansen,   Gavin Smith,   Tor Helness,   Norman MacDonald,   Sorel Mizzi,   Isaac Haxton

Hour 7 Update

Jul 07, '07

Roughly 1,020 players remain in Level 4 of Day 1B and the action has really started to pick up since the players have returned from dinner. While some of those players returned from dinner refreshed and in high spirits, others were still agonizing over their pre-dinner play during the last few minutes of Level 3.

Not So Funny…
Comedian Norm MacDonald was found rocking a www.poekrstars.com jersey today in the Amazon Room, but he was certainly not laughing after losing more than two-thirds of his stack at the dinner break. MacDonald had $46,000 in front of him when he looked down at pocket kings, and he made a sizable pre-flop raise with them. He got one caller at the table to a flop of A-rag-rag. His opponent checked and MacDonald made another big bet only to be check-raised all-in by his opponent. MacDonald had him covered by $14,000 and after a few minutes in the tank, MacDonald made the call. His opponent turned over A-rag  for top pair and the turn and river brought no help to MacDonald as had gone from $46,000 in chips down to $14,000 in a matter of minutes. MacDonald comments to one of Card Player’s reporters, “I don’t know how to play Kings.”, so make sure to check out Norm MacDonald’s Pro Blogs on CardPlayer.com to read about this hand and many others in the comedian’s own words. 

Kathy Liebert Eliminated
Kathy Liebert came back from dinner with a fairly decent stack only to lose most of her stack in a big pot right at the beginning of Level 4. With almost $20,000 already in the pot, the player in seat no. 9 fires $12,000 out on the river into a board of 9 6 5 4 7. Liebert makes the call with only a few thousand left behind it, and her opponent turns over 8 6 for the nine-high straight. Liebert throws her hand into the muck and begins to erratically shuffle her last few checks.  A few hands later and Liebert would push all-in with two callers behind her. One of her opponents would drop out of the side pot on the turn and Liebert would go heads-up to the river with the player in seat no. 3. The board was 7 7 4 6 K when Liebert turned over A 6 for a pair of sixes, but seat no. 3 showed A A for a pair of aces. Liebert was eliminated in the first half of Level 4.

Not All Bad News
It wasn’t all bad news for the pros in level 4 as once short-stacked Robert Mizrachi doubled up right before the halfway point. Mizrachi came in for $1,200 and the player in seat no. 7 made it $3,000 to go. Mizrachi called the raise and the flop came 5 4 2. Seat no. 7 bet out $6,000 on the flop and Mizrachi re-raised him all-in. Seat no. 7 called and turned over A A for the over pair while Mizrachi showed 5 5 for the set. The turn and river brought the 10 and the J, no help to seat no. 7 as Robert Mizrachi doubles up.

CardPlayer’s own Jeff Shulman was the next one to double up in Level 4, and not a minute too soon as Shulman was down to his last couple of thousand chips before he finally got a hand that he could push with. Shulman shoves all-in before the flop for his last $1,550 and got called down by the player in seat no. 10. Shulman turned over A 10 while his opponent showed A J. The board came K 4 2 7h 10, giving Shulman his three-outer on the river and doubling him up at the half-way mark of Level 4.

Hand of the Day
Only at the World Series of Poker can such a sick hand be considered commonplace, and here’s the craziest hand of the day. In a three-way pot on a flop of 7 5 3h, the player in seat no. 1 moved all-in from the short-stack for $2,800. The player in seat no. 2 raised to $6,000 behind him and the player in seat no. 3 made the call with the big-stack. The turn brought the K and seat no. 2 pushed all-in for $22,000 into a dry side pot. Seat no. 3 insta-called and an offsuit blank hit the river. Seat no. 3 turned over K X for the king-high flush while seat no. 2 showed 6 4 for the straight flush. Seat no. 1 turned over A X for the ace-high flush, but it was seat no. 3 who took both the side and the main pots with nut flush (straight flush).

Keep your browsers locked on CardPlayer.com for more updates and your favorite Pro Blogs.   

Player Tags: Robert Mizrachi,   Kathy Liebert,   Jeff Shulman,   Norman MacDonald

Midnight Train...possibly to Georgia

Jul 06, '07

The Field

Approximately 870 players of the 1545 that started the day remain. 

More Montel Madness

Montel Williams found himself involved in more massive pots this hour.  In a limped pot Williams and an opponent saw a flop of 6 5 3 before getting all the money in.  Williams held the 4 4 while his opponent tabled A A.  Williams hit a set with the 4 on the turn, but the 2 on the river gave both players a six-high straight for a chop   Williams called an opponents all-in with pocket tens only to find himself up against queens.   Fortunately for Williams, this opponent was short stacked and the loss he incurred after the board bricked off was minor.

Hachem Escapes Down Broadway

2005 main event champion Joe Hachem has had great success at the past two years of World Series of Poker.  Last year Hachem got off to a great start in the main event, and it seems he is destined to do the same today.  Hachem found himself in a nightmare situation, all-in preflop with A K against A A.  Fortunately for Hachem he caught the dream flop of Q J 10, giving him the nut straight.  The turn and river bricked off, and Hachem doubled up.  

Great Turn For Seiver

With a board of Q 6 2 Q J, PokerStars qualifier Scott Seiver bet $7,200.  This bet was approximately half the size of the pot, and it made his opponent think for quite a while.  He eventually called with K K, only to have Seiver quickly announce his A Q for trips.   Seiver raked the nearly $30,000 pot as he discussed the play of the hand with his opponent.

Grinz Makes a Sick Call, Gets No Love
Card Player's own John Grinzivich has been eliminated from the main event.  On a board of AQ6, Grinzivich checks, seat two bets $3,600 and is called by a player in seat four.  Grinz makes it $10,000 to go and seat two moves all in.  Seat four folds and Grinzivich goes into the tank.  He finally makes the call and shows AK, while seat two sheepishly shows J10.  Of course there is no justice as the turn brings the K giving seat two the nut straight.  Grinz misses his redraw when the river blanked and he was sent home.  Sorry Grinz, you put your money in with the best and we are proud of you.

Norm's Notes
On of the coolest things about the World Series of Poker is the accessibility of stars and poker pros. Norm Macdonald was eliminated earlier in the day, yet he is still here just hanging out.  He is talking with anyone that will listen, and his commentary on Montel Williams is pretty funny.  In case you were wondering, he was the best Weekend Update anchor for SNL.

Player Tags: Joe Hachem,   Norman MacDonald,   Scott Seiver,   John "Grinz" Grinzivich

Hour One Recap

Jul 12, '07

Play ended last night shortly after midnight with 797 players returning to begin day three. Play started today by completing the last 20 minutes of level 11 and continued right into level 12 with no break. The blinds are now $1,500-$3,000 with a $400 ante and are beginning to play a larger role in the tournament.

Currently, there are 716 players remaining, playing on only 80 tables. The average chip stack is $177,597 and there have already been many notable names eliminated. Gus Hansen is still the chip leader, as he was heading into the day. Hansen has been able to build his stack up to $670,000 in the early hours of day three despite being seated at the ESPN featured table with the likes of Carlos Mortensen and Gavin Smith.

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson is arguably one of the most recognized poker players on the planet and as a result has quite the following. Ferguson's recent elimination instigated a buzz amongst the remaining players and crowd. Sympathetic groans and disappointed comments were heard all around the Amazon room when tournament officials announced Ferguson's departure. Ferguson pushed all in from the small blind following a raise from the player in seat seven. Seat seven made the call and both players turned over their cards. ESPN cameras rushed the table to catch the action and Ferguson turned over A 5. The player in the seven seat showed Q Q and waited patiently for the flop. The board came 8 2 2 8 10 and Ferguson was sent to the rail out of the money. Players applauded as Ferguson left the tournament area and Ferguson's dream of repeating as champion will have to wait another year.

Isaac Haxton, known by many as the player who finished in second place at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and has a substantial amount of money tied up in Neteller, was able to double up to more than $160,000 in the first hour of day three. The player in seat two at Haxton's table pushed all in on the button and Haxton took only a moment before calling from the big blind. The player in seat two exposed 3 3 and Haxton showed A 8. The board came Q 8 4 6 K and Haxton took down the huge pot.

Tor Helness, hailing from Norway and qualifying on PokerStars, also took down a huge pot in the early hours and almost gave himself a heart attack in the process. Helness pushed all in with 9 9 and was called by the player in seat nine with A K. The tv cameras gathered, causing the dealer to pause for extended periods of time between dealing out the flop, turn and river. The flop came Q 3 2 and Helness could hardly stand the anticipation. The turn was the 6 and Helness only had to dodge one more card. The river brought the Q and Helness was able to finally double up to $135,000.

Card Player writer Craig Tapscott handled a request from a fan to meet Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi at table #6. Sorel was surprised to see the fan was Norm McDonald. Norm shared that he has watched Imper1um play online for quite some time. 
"What's your screen name," asked Mizzi. 
"I'm not telling YOU," said McDonald. 
They both laughed. Norm stepped back and continued to watch the Internet phenom dominate his table. Tapscott will be interviewing Sorel Mizzi all day on the breaks in our Pro Blogs section.

Player Tags: Chris Ferguson,   Gus Hansen,   Gavin Smith,   Tor Helness,   Norman MacDonald,   Sorel Mizzi,   Isaac Haxton

Hour 7 Update

Jul 07, '07

Roughly 1,020 players remain in Level 4 of Day 1B and the action has really started to pick up since the players have returned from dinner. While some of those players returned from dinner refreshed and in high spirits, others were still agonizing over their pre-dinner play during the last few minutes of Level 3.

Not So Funny…
Comedian Norm MacDonald was found rocking a www.poekrstars.com jersey today in the Amazon Room, but he was certainly not laughing after losing more than two-thirds of his stack at the dinner break. MacDonald had $46,000 in front of him when he looked down at pocket kings, and he made a sizable pre-flop raise with them. He got one caller at the table to a flop of A-rag-rag. His opponent checked and MacDonald made another big bet only to be check-raised all-in by his opponent. MacDonald had him covered by $14,000 and after a few minutes in the tank, MacDonald made the call. His opponent turned over A-rag  for top pair and the turn and river brought no help to MacDonald as had gone from $46,000 in chips down to $14,000 in a matter of minutes. MacDonald comments to one of Card Player’s reporters, “I don’t know how to play Kings.”, so make sure to check out Norm MacDonald’s Pro Blogs on CardPlayer.com to read about this hand and many others in the comedian’s own words. 

Kathy Liebert Eliminated
Kathy Liebert came back from dinner with a fairly decent stack only to lose most of her stack in a big pot right at the beginning of Level 4. With almost $20,000 already in the pot, the player in seat no. 9 fires $12,000 out on the river into a board of 9 6 5 4 7. Liebert makes the call with only a few thousand left behind it, and her opponent turns over 8 6 for the nine-high straight. Liebert throws her hand into the muck and begins to erratically shuffle her last few checks.  A few hands later and Liebert would push all-in with two callers behind her. One of her opponents would drop out of the side pot on the turn and Liebert would go heads-up to the river with the player in seat no. 3. The board was 7 7 4 6 K when Liebert turned over A 6 for a pair of sixes, but seat no. 3 showed A A for a pair of aces. Liebert was eliminated in the first half of Level 4.

Not All Bad News
It wasn’t all bad news for the pros in level 4 as once short-stacked Robert Mizrachi doubled up right before the halfway point. Mizrachi came in for $1,200 and the player in seat no. 7 made it $3,000 to go. Mizrachi called the raise and the flop came 5 4 2. Seat no. 7 bet out $6,000 on the flop and Mizrachi re-raised him all-in. Seat no. 7 called and turned over A A for the over pair while Mizrachi showed 5 5 for the set. The turn and river brought the 10 and the J, no help to seat no. 7 as Robert Mizrachi doubles up.

CardPlayer’s own Jeff Shulman was the next one to double up in Level 4, and not a minute too soon as Shulman was down to his last couple of thousand chips before he finally got a hand that he could push with. Shulman shoves all-in before the flop for his last $1,550 and got called down by the player in seat no. 10. Shulman turned over A 10 while his opponent showed A J. The board came K 4 2 7h 10, giving Shulman his three-outer on the river and doubling him up at the half-way mark of Level 4.

Hand of the Day
Only at the World Series of Poker can such a sick hand be considered commonplace, and here’s the craziest hand of the day. In a three-way pot on a flop of 7 5 3h, the player in seat no. 1 moved all-in from the short-stack for $2,800. The player in seat no. 2 raised to $6,000 behind him and the player in seat no. 3 made the call with the big-stack. The turn brought the K and seat no. 2 pushed all-in for $22,000 into a dry side pot. Seat no. 3 insta-called and an offsuit blank hit the river. Seat no. 3 turned over K X for the king-high flush while seat no. 2 showed 6 4 for the straight flush. Seat no. 1 turned over A X for the ace-high flush, but it was seat no. 3 who took both the side and the main pots with nut flush (straight flush).

Keep your browsers locked on CardPlayer.com for more updates and your favorite Pro Blogs.   

Player Tags: Robert Mizrachi,   Kathy Liebert,   Jeff Shulman,   Norman MacDonald

Midnight Train...possibly to Georgia

Jul 06, '07

The Field

Approximately 870 players of the 1545 that started the day remain. 

More Montel Madness

Montel Williams found himself involved in more massive pots this hour.  In a limped pot Williams and an opponent saw a flop of 6 5 3 before getting all the money in.  Williams held the 4 4 while his opponent tabled A A.  Williams hit a set with the 4 on the turn, but the 2 on the river gave both players a six-high straight for a chop   Williams called an opponents all-in with pocket tens only to find himself up against queens.   Fortunately for Williams, this opponent was short stacked and the loss he incurred after the board bricked off was minor.

Hachem Escapes Down Broadway

2005 main event champion Joe Hachem has had great success at the past two years of World Series of Poker.  Last year Hachem got off to a great start in the main event, and it seems he is destined to do the same today.  Hachem found himself in a nightmare situation, all-in preflop with A K against A A.  Fortunately for Hachem he caught the dream flop of Q J 10, giving him the nut straight.  The turn and river bricked off, and Hachem doubled up.  

Great Turn For Seiver

With a board of Q 6 2 Q J, PokerStars qualifier Scott Seiver bet $7,200.  This bet was approximately half the size of the pot, and it made his opponent think for quite a while.  He eventually called with K K, only to have Seiver quickly announce his A Q for trips.   Seiver raked the nearly $30,000 pot as he discussed the play of the hand with his opponent.

Grinz Makes a Sick Call, Gets No Love
Card Player's own John Grinzivich has been eliminated from the main event.  On a board of AQ6, Grinzivich checks, seat two bets $3,600 and is called by a player in seat four.  Grinz makes it $10,000 to go and seat two moves all in.  Seat four folds and Grinzivich goes into the tank.  He finally makes the call and shows AK, while seat two sheepishly shows J10.  Of course there is no justice as the turn brings the K giving seat two the nut straight.  Grinz misses his redraw when the river blanked and he was sent home.  Sorry Grinz, you put your money in with the best and we are proud of you.

Norm's Notes
On of the coolest things about the World Series of Poker is the accessibility of stars and poker pros. Norm Macdonald was eliminated earlier in the day, yet he is still here just hanging out.  He is talking with anyone that will listen, and his commentary on Montel Williams is pretty funny.  In case you were wondering, he was the best Weekend Update anchor for SNL.

Player Tags: Joe Hachem,   Norman MacDonald,   Scott Seiver,   John "Grinz" Grinzivich

Hour One Recap

Jun 17, '07

Stacked Tables

As predicted, the field is much smaller and more densely populated with pros.  Actor/Comedian Norm MacDonald  has made it out to his first event this year, and is sharing the table with Sorel Mizzi, Phil Laak and Minh Nguyen.  Other stacked tables include:

Table 16-
Humberto Brenes
Josh Arieh
Evelyn Ng
Andrew Black
Mark Vos

Table 52-
Mark Gregorich
Men "The Master" Nguyen
Jason Strasser

Table 59-
J.C. Tran
Darrell Dicken
Greg "FBT" Mueller

Table 225-
John Little
John Hennigan
Kirill Gerasimov

After only an hour of action, a few notable players have already been eliminated, including John Hennigan, Tony G, and J.J. Liu.  Make sure to check back for more hourly updates and the Pro Blogs of Evelyn Ng and Adam Schoenfeld.

Player Tags: Evelyn Ng,   Adam Schoenfeld,   Norman MacDonald