Michael Banducci Poker Tournament Updates

Michael Banducci Wins Event No. 5 ($636,736)

Jun 05, '08

Jeff Williams raised to 130,000 preflop and Michael Banducci reraised to 400,000. Williams moved all in and Banducci made the call. They then flipped up their cards:

Banducci: AJ
Williams: A5

Board: KJ2103

Banducci led from to start to finish with his dominating hand, and he won his first gold bracelet, along with $636,736. Williams finished in second place, and took home $406,330 for the runner-up finish. Banducci's band of supporters went ballistic as he clinched the bracelet and ended the tournament.

 

 

Player Tags: Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams

NLHE/Rebuy - Final Table - Peter Gould Eliminated in 3rd

Jun 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Left: 3

Chip Counts:

Peter Gould - 3rd Place ($245,993)

Big Hands:

Jeff Williams Doubles up a Third Time

Jeff Williams moved all in and Peter Gould made the call. They then fipped up their cards:

Williams: A9
Gould: 55

Board: 98793

Peter Gould Doubles Up

Three hands later Williams moved all in again, and this time Gould made an all-in call. They then revealed their hands:

Williams: K4
Gould: 55 (exact same hand as three hands prior)

Board: J108J9

Gould returned the favor to Williams and doubled up to survive.

Peter Gould Eliminated in Third Place ($245,993)

Michael Banducci raised to 100,000 preflop and Gould reraised to 480,000. Banducci moved all in and Gould made the all-in call. The two players then revealed their cards:

Gould: 1010
Banducci: 77

Board: J9725

Gould was eliminated in thrid place, and he took home $245,993 in prize money. For the second time of the summer an English man has come close to a bracelet and had it slip away.

Player Tags: Peter Gould,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams,   European Report

NLHE/Rebuy - Final Table - We All Live in a Yellow Submarine

Jun 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Left: 3

Chip Counts:

none

Big Hands:

Jeff "yellowsub86" Wiliams Doubles Up

Michael Banducci raised to 140,000 and Jeff Williams reraised all in for 740,000. Banducci made the call an they turned up their hands:

Williams: 33
Gould: AJ

Board: Q849Q

Williams doubled up on the hand to survive and he now has 1.5 million.

Jeff Williams Doubles Up Again

Williams opened a pot for 120,000 about 20 hands later and Gould reraised all in. Williams made an all-in call and they revealed their cards:

Williams: A9
Gould: A10

Board: 953K6

Williams doubled up once again, and action is still three handed.

Player Tags: Peter Gould,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams

NLHE/Rebuy - Final Table - Alan Jaffray (5th) and Lyric Duveyoung (4th) Both Eliminated

Jun 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Left: 3

Chip Counts:

Alan Jaffray - 5th Place ($164,963)
Lyric Duveyoung - 4th Place ($201,139)

Big Hands:

Alan Jaffray Eliminated in Fifth Place ($164,963)

Michael Banducci raised to 80,000 peflop and Alan Jaffray reraised to 220,000. Banducci reraised all in and Jaffray made the all-in call. The players then revealed their hands:

Banducci: QQ
Jaffray: AQ

Board: Q929A

Jaffray was eliminated on the hand, and he took home $164,963 in prize money.

Lyric Duveyoung Eliminated in Fourth Place ($201,139)

Peter Gould raised to 155,000 preflop and Lyric Duveyoung reraised all in for his last 590,000. Gould made the call and they turned up their hands:

Gould: K10
Duveyoung: QJ

Board: 1076K5

Duveyoung is eliminated in fourth place, and he will take home $201,139 in prize money.

Peter Gould Doubles Up

On the 100th hand of action at the final table, Peter Gould raised 140,000 and Jeff Williams reraised to 440,000. Gould reraised all in for an additional 950,000 and Williams made the call. The two players then revealed their cards:

Gould: K10
Williams: AQ

Board: 109844

Gould doubled up on the hand, while WIlliams was knocked down to the short stack at the table. He now has only 10 big blinds to work with.

Player Tags: Lyric Duveyoung,   Peter Gould,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams,   Alan Jaffray,   European Report

NLHE/Rebuys - Final Table - Anemic Action into Dinner

Jun 05, '08

Players Left: 6

Chip Counts:

None

Big Hands:

Ace-High vs. Queen-High One Time

Michael Banducci opened a pot for 50,000 preflop and Jeff Williams mad the call. The flop hit the table 1032 and both players checked. The turn brought the 4 and Williams checked. Banducci made it 60,000 to go and Williams made the call. The river fell 7 and Williams checked again. Banducci opened the action once again, this time for 95,000, and Williams made the call one last time. They turned up their hands and Banducci held Q-8. Williams turned up A9 and took down the pot with ace-high.

Crickets Chirping at the Table and Lions Roaring in the Stands

Still six handed at the final table at the 70-hand mark. As action wanes at the table, the stands continue to stir with incresing frequency. At this point, a healthy dose of anticipation and boredom fueling their cheers and jeers.

Alan Jaffray Doubles Up

Alan Jaffray was on the short stack at the table when he shoved all in preflop against Jeff Williams. Williams made the call and they turned up their hands:

Board: J103A5

Player Tags: Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams,   Alan Jaffray

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys - Day 2 - Level 18 Recap

Jun 04, '08

Note The players just finished a 20-minute break.

Blinds/Antes: 5,000/10,000 – 1,000 ante

Players Left:  11 of 776

Chip Leaders:
Alan Jaffray - 1,120,000
Michael Banducci - 740,000
Lyric Duveyoung - 700,000
Jamie “TheCronic420” Rosen - 630,000
Jeff “YellowSub86” Williams - 610,000
Phi Nguyen - 580,000
Peter Gould - 570,000
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 330,000
Steve Gross - 260,000
Randy “Randers” Haddox - 210,000
Michael Binger – 200,000

Eliminations:
Adam “Roothlus” Levy
Alan “The Usher” Sass

Big Hands and Storylines:

Banducci Rivers “Roothlus”

After a series of pre-flop raising, Adam “Roothlus” Levy and Michael Banducci got all of their chips in. Levy was in great shape with his AK against the KQ of Banducci. The flop was a welcome one for Levy: T85. The turn was the 4 however, giving Banducci a flush draw to go along with his queen outs. The 7 came on the river, making Banducci the flush and banishing Levy to the rail. After the hand Banducci raked in a pot of 750,000.

The River Bites Back

An orbit later, Michael Banducci gets his 6-6 all-in pre-flop against the A-K of Randall “Randers” Haddox. The flop – T54 – was benign, as was the Q on the turn. The A spiked on the river though, giving Haddox a pair of aces and winning him a 500k pot. After the hand, Banducci was again back to 500,000 in chips.

Jaffray Finally Loses One

From the small blind, Michael Binger moves all-in for his last 100,000 chips and gets a call from Alan Jaffray. Binger’s T6 was up against Jaffray’s A3.  The KQ9 flop gave Binger another four outs to count on, but it was one of his original outs – the T on the turn – that saved him. Binger doubled up to about 200,000, but is still one of the smallest stacks remaining.

Player Tags: Phi Nguyen,   Lyric Duveyoung,   Michael Binger,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Anonymous Player,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams,   Alan Jaffray,   Adam Levy,   Jamie Rosen

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys - Day 2 - Level 16 Recap

Jun 04, '08

Blinds/Antes: 3,000/6,000 – 500 ante

Players Left:  21 of 776

Chip Leaders:
Lyric Duveyoung - 740,000
Alan Jaffray - 575,000
Phi Nguyen – 400,000
Jeff “YellowSub86” Williams - 360,000
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 355,000
Peter Gould - 350,000
Michael Banducci - 300,000
Chris Moore - 240,000
Steve Gross - 235,000
Craig “MrCasino” Gray - 235,000
Clonie Gowen – 140,000

Eliminations:
Amit “amak316” Makhija
John Juanda
Nenad Medic
Kenneth Shelton
Daniel Negreanu

Big Hands and Storylines:

Not a Safe Seat in the House

Upon getting down to 27 players, the 4 tables were condensed and the players were re-seated at three new tables. Despite this change of scenery the competition remained as fierce as ever. The players at each of the tables included:

Table 5: Amit “amak316” Makhija, Jon “FatalError” Aguiar, Lyric Duveyoung, Michael Banducci, Alan “The Usher” Sass

Table 10: Michael Binger, Nenad Medic, John Juanda, Clonie Gowen, Name Le, Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet

Table 15: Jeff “YellowSub86” Williams, Ray “ExitOnly” Coburn, Jamie “TheCronic420” Rosen, Craig “MrCasino” Gray, Randy “Randers” Haddox, Daniel Negreanu

Gould Ousts Juanda

John Juanda raised to 14,000 from the cutoff, Peter Gould raised to 54,000 from the button, and, with only 130,000 chips remaining, Juanda opted only to call. The two saw a flop of Q76 and Juanda immediately pushed his remaining 90,000 chips all-in. Gould went into the tank, believing Juanda to have a strong hand. Ultimately Gould made the call and was relieved to his TT far ahead of Juanda’s AK. The turn and river were the 9 and Q, and Gould took a walk from the table to celebrate his win and calm his nerves. Gould now has 350,000 chips.

Banducci’s Bluff Goes Bad
On a flop of J63, Michael Banducci led a 55,000 bet into Alan Jaffray. Jaffray called and the dealer laid out the Q. Banducci pushed out a mountain of orange T5,000 chips, putting Jaffray to a decision for his remaining 130,000 chips. Jaffray leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, his smile belying his inner-turmoil. He finally mustered up the will to make the call and flipped up KJ. Banducci unabashedly showed his bluff: A7. The 5 appeared on the river and Jaffray’s stack soared to 575,000. Banducci’s mistimed bluff chopped his stack to 300,000.

Blind Battle Claims Negreanu

A button limper, Phil Nguyen in the small blind, and Daniel Negreanu saw a flop of J87. Nguyen bet out 15,000 and Negreanu called. The button folded and the two blinds watched the dealer flip up the J. Again Nguyen led out – this time for 30,000 – but Negreanu came over the top for 100,000 total. Nguyen quickly raised all-in for 50,000 more and Negreanu had no choice to call with T9, an open-ended straight-flush draw. Unfortunately for him, Nguyen had turned a full house with J8 and Negreanu was drawing to 2-outs. The river came Q and Nguyen more than doubled up to 400,000. Negreanu, left with 30,000 after the hand, busted a short time later when his A-2 ran into the A-K of Ray “ExitOnly” Coburn.

Player Tags: Phi Nguyen,   John Juanda,   Daniel Negreanu,   Clonie Gowen,   Lyric Duveyoung,   Nenad Medic,   Craig Gray,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Peter Gould,   Raymond Coburn,   Michael Banducci,   Amit Makhija,   Jeff Williams,   Alan Jaffray,   Kenneth Shelton

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys - Day 2 - Level 15 Recap

Jun 04, '08

Note: The players just returned from a 40-minute break

Blinds: 2,500/5,000 – 500 ante

Players Left:  29 of 776

Chip Leaders:
Lyric Duveyoung - 770,000
Michael Banducci - 540,000
Jeff “yellowsub86” Williams - 365,000
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 360,000
Clonie Gowen - 300,000
Peter Gould - 290,000
Craig “MrCasino” Gray - 230,000
Steve Gross - 230,000
Daniel Negreanu - 210,000
Nam Le - 200,000

Eliminations:
Alex Jacob
Carl Perazzola

Big Hands and Storylines:

Massive Pot Gives Us New Chip Leader

We have a new chipleader in the $1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys event. After a slew of pre-flop betting, Craig “MrCasino” Gray called Lyric Duveyoung’s all-in. The two tabled:

Gray: AK
Duveyoung: AA

The board – J6238 – yielded no miracles for Gray, and he was knocked down to a still respectable 230,000. Duveyoung, however, now tops the leaderboard with more than 700,000 chips.

Gray Gets Some Back

A few hands later, Craig Gray found himself in another big hand pre-flop, this time against Carl Perazzola. Gray found himself in much better shape here, his TT against Perazzola’s AJ. The board rolled out 73299 and Gray knocked out Perazzola, adding another 100,000 to his stack.

Van Fleet busts Jacob

Alex Jacob pushed his last ten big blinds all-in with A-6 and was called by Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet’s A-2 in the big blind. Jacob found his dominating position short-lived as both an ace and deuce flopped. When the turn and river blanked, Jacob found himself among the growing list of players eliminated on day 2 play.

Negreanu Lays It Down

Daniel Negreanu raised to 12,000 pre-flop from early position and got a caller in late position before Clonie Gowen bumped it up to 29,000 in the big blind. Negreanu tossed in a handful of orange chips to make the call and the two saw the flop heads-up. Clonie bet 40,000 on the 832 flop and Negreanu scrutinized her momentarily before making the call. Clonie moved all in for 50,000 on the A turn and Negreanu grimaced before making a difficult fold. Gowen surged past Negreanu on that hand: Gowen sits behind a stack of 300,000 while Negreanu has 220,000

Player Tags: Nam Le,   Daniel Negreanu,   Clonie Gowen,   Lyric Duveyoung,   Craig Gray,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Alex Jacob,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys - Day 1 - Level 10

Jun 03, '08

Blinds/Antes: 600/1,200 – 100 ante

Players Left:  106 of 776

Chip Leaders:
Amit Makhija - 150,000
Marco Johnson - 140,000
Zachary Clark - 120,000
Michael Banducci - 112,000
Phil Ivey - 107,000
Daniel Negreanu - 97,500
Alex Jacob - 77,000
Robert Cheung - 77,000
Jeff Madsen - 76,000
John Juanda - 72,000

Average Stack: 57,000

Eliminations:
Bill Gazes
Maria Mayrinck

Big Hands and Storylines:

Phil Hellmuth: Dealer Instructor

While most of the players remaining are interested in accumulating a big stack and winning hundreds of thousands of dollars, Phil Hellmuth has a much bigger concern: dealer technique. As the dealer shuffled the deck between hands, Hellmuth remarked that he was not following proper World Series of Poker dealing protocol, “It should be shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, cut.” Not content with simply telling the dealer how to do his job, Hellmuth proceeded to grab the deck and show him the proper technique. Unconvinced that the dealer was imbibing the Poker Brat’s wisdom, he suggested, “Let’s call the floor.” Mercifully, as Hellmuth sought out a floorman, John Juanda implored, “Just let him deal!” which settled Hellmuth down (as much as is possible) and allowed play to resume at the table.

Olson Busts Gazes

Bill Gazes got all-in before the flop against Carl “colson10” Olson. The two turned over their hands:

Gazes: AK
Olson: AQ

The flop was A97, keeping Olson on track for an appearance on day 2, but the Q on the turn crushed his hopes, and the 9 on the river was the nail in the coffin. Gazes lamented the fact that he has now played three straight tournaments late into day 1, only to be eliminated before the day’s conclusion. Carl Olson now has 70,000 chips.

Maridu Doubles Up, Crashes Out

With only 8,000 chips remaining, Maria Mayrinck moved all-in from under-the-gun. The UTG+1 player moved all-in behind her for nearly 50,000 and action folded around to Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson, who, after a bit of thought, folded A-Q face up. Mayrinck tabled A-8, noting that she had only looked at one of her cards, and her opponent showed J-J. The flop came A-8-7 and gave Mayrinck the lead. A queen on the turn mocked Johnson, but did nothing to diminish Mayrinck’s lead. The river was a blank and doubled Maridu up to 17,000. Her joy would not last long, however, as she would be eliminated by Johnson only one orbit later.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Bill Gazes,   Phil Ivey,   Carl Olson,   Jeff Madsen,   Michael Banducci,   Amit Makhija,   Marco Johnson,   Maria Mayrinck

Michael Banducci Wins Event No. 5 ($636,736)

Jun 05, '08

Jeff Williams raised to 130,000 preflop and Michael Banducci reraised to 400,000. Williams moved all in and Banducci made the call. They then flipped up their cards:

Banducci: AJ
Williams: A5

Board: KJ2103

Banducci led from to start to finish with his dominating hand, and he won his first gold bracelet, along with $636,736. Williams finished in second place, and took home $406,330 for the runner-up finish. Banducci's band of supporters went ballistic as he clinched the bracelet and ended the tournament.

 

 

Player Tags: Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams

NLHE/Rebuy - Final Table - Peter Gould Eliminated in 3rd

Jun 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Left: 3

Chip Counts:

Peter Gould - 3rd Place ($245,993)

Big Hands:

Jeff Williams Doubles up a Third Time

Jeff Williams moved all in and Peter Gould made the call. They then fipped up their cards:

Williams: A9
Gould: 55

Board: 98793

Peter Gould Doubles Up

Three hands later Williams moved all in again, and this time Gould made an all-in call. They then revealed their hands:

Williams: K4
Gould: 55 (exact same hand as three hands prior)

Board: J108J9

Gould returned the favor to Williams and doubled up to survive.

Peter Gould Eliminated in Third Place ($245,993)

Michael Banducci raised to 100,000 preflop and Gould reraised to 480,000. Banducci moved all in and Gould made the all-in call. The two players then revealed their cards:

Gould: 1010
Banducci: 77

Board: J9725

Gould was eliminated in thrid place, and he took home $245,993 in prize money. For the second time of the summer an English man has come close to a bracelet and had it slip away.

Player Tags: Peter Gould,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams,   European Report

NLHE/Rebuy - Final Table - We All Live in a Yellow Submarine

Jun 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Left: 3

Chip Counts:

none

Big Hands:

Jeff "yellowsub86" Wiliams Doubles Up

Michael Banducci raised to 140,000 and Jeff Williams reraised all in for 740,000. Banducci made the call an they turned up their hands:

Williams: 33
Gould: AJ

Board: Q849Q

Williams doubled up on the hand to survive and he now has 1.5 million.

Jeff Williams Doubles Up Again

Williams opened a pot for 120,000 about 20 hands later and Gould reraised all in. Williams made an all-in call and they revealed their cards:

Williams: A9
Gould: A10

Board: 953K6

Williams doubled up once again, and action is still three handed.

Player Tags: Peter Gould,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams

NLHE/Rebuy - Final Table - Alan Jaffray (5th) and Lyric Duveyoung (4th) Both Eliminated

Jun 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Left: 3

Chip Counts:

Alan Jaffray - 5th Place ($164,963)
Lyric Duveyoung - 4th Place ($201,139)

Big Hands:

Alan Jaffray Eliminated in Fifth Place ($164,963)

Michael Banducci raised to 80,000 peflop and Alan Jaffray reraised to 220,000. Banducci reraised all in and Jaffray made the all-in call. The players then revealed their hands:

Banducci: QQ
Jaffray: AQ

Board: Q929A

Jaffray was eliminated on the hand, and he took home $164,963 in prize money.

Lyric Duveyoung Eliminated in Fourth Place ($201,139)

Peter Gould raised to 155,000 preflop and Lyric Duveyoung reraised all in for his last 590,000. Gould made the call and they turned up their hands:

Gould: K10
Duveyoung: QJ

Board: 1076K5

Duveyoung is eliminated in fourth place, and he will take home $201,139 in prize money.

Peter Gould Doubles Up

On the 100th hand of action at the final table, Peter Gould raised 140,000 and Jeff Williams reraised to 440,000. Gould reraised all in for an additional 950,000 and Williams made the call. The two players then revealed their cards:

Gould: K10
Williams: AQ

Board: 109844

Gould doubled up on the hand, while WIlliams was knocked down to the short stack at the table. He now has only 10 big blinds to work with.

Player Tags: Lyric Duveyoung,   Peter Gould,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams,   Alan Jaffray,   European Report

NLHE/Rebuys - Final Table - Anemic Action into Dinner

Jun 05, '08

Players Left: 6

Chip Counts:

None

Big Hands:

Ace-High vs. Queen-High One Time

Michael Banducci opened a pot for 50,000 preflop and Jeff Williams mad the call. The flop hit the table 1032 and both players checked. The turn brought the 4 and Williams checked. Banducci made it 60,000 to go and Williams made the call. The river fell 7 and Williams checked again. Banducci opened the action once again, this time for 95,000, and Williams made the call one last time. They turned up their hands and Banducci held Q-8. Williams turned up A9 and took down the pot with ace-high.

Crickets Chirping at the Table and Lions Roaring in the Stands

Still six handed at the final table at the 70-hand mark. As action wanes at the table, the stands continue to stir with incresing frequency. At this point, a healthy dose of anticipation and boredom fueling their cheers and jeers.

Alan Jaffray Doubles Up

Alan Jaffray was on the short stack at the table when he shoved all in preflop against Jeff Williams. Williams made the call and they turned up their hands:

Board: J103A5

Player Tags: Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams,   Alan Jaffray

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys - Day 2 - Level 18 Recap

Jun 04, '08

Note The players just finished a 20-minute break.

Blinds/Antes: 5,000/10,000 – 1,000 ante

Players Left:  11 of 776

Chip Leaders:
Alan Jaffray - 1,120,000
Michael Banducci - 740,000
Lyric Duveyoung - 700,000
Jamie “TheCronic420” Rosen - 630,000
Jeff “YellowSub86” Williams - 610,000
Phi Nguyen - 580,000
Peter Gould - 570,000
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 330,000
Steve Gross - 260,000
Randy “Randers” Haddox - 210,000
Michael Binger – 200,000

Eliminations:
Adam “Roothlus” Levy
Alan “The Usher” Sass

Big Hands and Storylines:

Banducci Rivers “Roothlus”

After a series of pre-flop raising, Adam “Roothlus” Levy and Michael Banducci got all of their chips in. Levy was in great shape with his AK against the KQ of Banducci. The flop was a welcome one for Levy: T85. The turn was the 4 however, giving Banducci a flush draw to go along with his queen outs. The 7 came on the river, making Banducci the flush and banishing Levy to the rail. After the hand Banducci raked in a pot of 750,000.

The River Bites Back

An orbit later, Michael Banducci gets his 6-6 all-in pre-flop against the A-K of Randall “Randers” Haddox. The flop – T54 – was benign, as was the Q on the turn. The A spiked on the river though, giving Haddox a pair of aces and winning him a 500k pot. After the hand, Banducci was again back to 500,000 in chips.

Jaffray Finally Loses One

From the small blind, Michael Binger moves all-in for his last 100,000 chips and gets a call from Alan Jaffray. Binger’s T6 was up against Jaffray’s A3.  The KQ9 flop gave Binger another four outs to count on, but it was one of his original outs – the T on the turn – that saved him. Binger doubled up to about 200,000, but is still one of the smallest stacks remaining.

Player Tags: Phi Nguyen,   Lyric Duveyoung,   Michael Binger,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Anonymous Player,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams,   Alan Jaffray,   Adam Levy,   Jamie Rosen

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys - Day 2 - Level 16 Recap

Jun 04, '08

Blinds/Antes: 3,000/6,000 – 500 ante

Players Left:  21 of 776

Chip Leaders:
Lyric Duveyoung - 740,000
Alan Jaffray - 575,000
Phi Nguyen – 400,000
Jeff “YellowSub86” Williams - 360,000
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 355,000
Peter Gould - 350,000
Michael Banducci - 300,000
Chris Moore - 240,000
Steve Gross - 235,000
Craig “MrCasino” Gray - 235,000
Clonie Gowen – 140,000

Eliminations:
Amit “amak316” Makhija
John Juanda
Nenad Medic
Kenneth Shelton
Daniel Negreanu

Big Hands and Storylines:

Not a Safe Seat in the House

Upon getting down to 27 players, the 4 tables were condensed and the players were re-seated at three new tables. Despite this change of scenery the competition remained as fierce as ever. The players at each of the tables included:

Table 5: Amit “amak316” Makhija, Jon “FatalError” Aguiar, Lyric Duveyoung, Michael Banducci, Alan “The Usher” Sass

Table 10: Michael Binger, Nenad Medic, John Juanda, Clonie Gowen, Name Le, Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet

Table 15: Jeff “YellowSub86” Williams, Ray “ExitOnly” Coburn, Jamie “TheCronic420” Rosen, Craig “MrCasino” Gray, Randy “Randers” Haddox, Daniel Negreanu

Gould Ousts Juanda

John Juanda raised to 14,000 from the cutoff, Peter Gould raised to 54,000 from the button, and, with only 130,000 chips remaining, Juanda opted only to call. The two saw a flop of Q76 and Juanda immediately pushed his remaining 90,000 chips all-in. Gould went into the tank, believing Juanda to have a strong hand. Ultimately Gould made the call and was relieved to his TT far ahead of Juanda’s AK. The turn and river were the 9 and Q, and Gould took a walk from the table to celebrate his win and calm his nerves. Gould now has 350,000 chips.

Banducci’s Bluff Goes Bad
On a flop of J63, Michael Banducci led a 55,000 bet into Alan Jaffray. Jaffray called and the dealer laid out the Q. Banducci pushed out a mountain of orange T5,000 chips, putting Jaffray to a decision for his remaining 130,000 chips. Jaffray leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, his smile belying his inner-turmoil. He finally mustered up the will to make the call and flipped up KJ. Banducci unabashedly showed his bluff: A7. The 5 appeared on the river and Jaffray’s stack soared to 575,000. Banducci’s mistimed bluff chopped his stack to 300,000.

Blind Battle Claims Negreanu

A button limper, Phil Nguyen in the small blind, and Daniel Negreanu saw a flop of J87. Nguyen bet out 15,000 and Negreanu called. The button folded and the two blinds watched the dealer flip up the J. Again Nguyen led out – this time for 30,000 – but Negreanu came over the top for 100,000 total. Nguyen quickly raised all-in for 50,000 more and Negreanu had no choice to call with T9, an open-ended straight-flush draw. Unfortunately for him, Nguyen had turned a full house with J8 and Negreanu was drawing to 2-outs. The river came Q and Nguyen more than doubled up to 400,000. Negreanu, left with 30,000 after the hand, busted a short time later when his A-2 ran into the A-K of Ray “ExitOnly” Coburn.

Player Tags: Phi Nguyen,   John Juanda,   Daniel Negreanu,   Clonie Gowen,   Lyric Duveyoung,   Nenad Medic,   Craig Gray,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Peter Gould,   Raymond Coburn,   Michael Banducci,   Amit Makhija,   Jeff Williams,   Alan Jaffray,   Kenneth Shelton

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys - Day 2 - Level 15 Recap

Jun 04, '08

Note: The players just returned from a 40-minute break

Blinds: 2,500/5,000 – 500 ante

Players Left:  29 of 776

Chip Leaders:
Lyric Duveyoung - 770,000
Michael Banducci - 540,000
Jeff “yellowsub86” Williams - 365,000
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 360,000
Clonie Gowen - 300,000
Peter Gould - 290,000
Craig “MrCasino” Gray - 230,000
Steve Gross - 230,000
Daniel Negreanu - 210,000
Nam Le - 200,000

Eliminations:
Alex Jacob
Carl Perazzola

Big Hands and Storylines:

Massive Pot Gives Us New Chip Leader

We have a new chipleader in the $1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys event. After a slew of pre-flop betting, Craig “MrCasino” Gray called Lyric Duveyoung’s all-in. The two tabled:

Gray: AK
Duveyoung: AA

The board – J6238 – yielded no miracles for Gray, and he was knocked down to a still respectable 230,000. Duveyoung, however, now tops the leaderboard with more than 700,000 chips.

Gray Gets Some Back

A few hands later, Craig Gray found himself in another big hand pre-flop, this time against Carl Perazzola. Gray found himself in much better shape here, his TT against Perazzola’s AJ. The board rolled out 73299 and Gray knocked out Perazzola, adding another 100,000 to his stack.

Van Fleet busts Jacob

Alex Jacob pushed his last ten big blinds all-in with A-6 and was called by Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet’s A-2 in the big blind. Jacob found his dominating position short-lived as both an ace and deuce flopped. When the turn and river blanked, Jacob found himself among the growing list of players eliminated on day 2 play.

Negreanu Lays It Down

Daniel Negreanu raised to 12,000 pre-flop from early position and got a caller in late position before Clonie Gowen bumped it up to 29,000 in the big blind. Negreanu tossed in a handful of orange chips to make the call and the two saw the flop heads-up. Clonie bet 40,000 on the 832 flop and Negreanu scrutinized her momentarily before making the call. Clonie moved all in for 50,000 on the A turn and Negreanu grimaced before making a difficult fold. Gowen surged past Negreanu on that hand: Gowen sits behind a stack of 300,000 while Negreanu has 220,000

Player Tags: Nam Le,   Daniel Negreanu,   Clonie Gowen,   Lyric Duveyoung,   Craig Gray,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Alex Jacob,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys - Day 1 - Level 10

Jun 03, '08

Blinds/Antes: 600/1,200 – 100 ante

Players Left:  106 of 776

Chip Leaders:
Amit Makhija - 150,000
Marco Johnson - 140,000
Zachary Clark - 120,000
Michael Banducci - 112,000
Phil Ivey - 107,000
Daniel Negreanu - 97,500
Alex Jacob - 77,000
Robert Cheung - 77,000
Jeff Madsen - 76,000
John Juanda - 72,000

Average Stack: 57,000

Eliminations:
Bill Gazes
Maria Mayrinck

Big Hands and Storylines:

Phil Hellmuth: Dealer Instructor

While most of the players remaining are interested in accumulating a big stack and winning hundreds of thousands of dollars, Phil Hellmuth has a much bigger concern: dealer technique. As the dealer shuffled the deck between hands, Hellmuth remarked that he was not following proper World Series of Poker dealing protocol, “It should be shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, cut.” Not content with simply telling the dealer how to do his job, Hellmuth proceeded to grab the deck and show him the proper technique. Unconvinced that the dealer was imbibing the Poker Brat’s wisdom, he suggested, “Let’s call the floor.” Mercifully, as Hellmuth sought out a floorman, John Juanda implored, “Just let him deal!” which settled Hellmuth down (as much as is possible) and allowed play to resume at the table.

Olson Busts Gazes

Bill Gazes got all-in before the flop against Carl “colson10” Olson. The two turned over their hands:

Gazes: AK
Olson: AQ

The flop was A97, keeping Olson on track for an appearance on day 2, but the Q on the turn crushed his hopes, and the 9 on the river was the nail in the coffin. Gazes lamented the fact that he has now played three straight tournaments late into day 1, only to be eliminated before the day’s conclusion. Carl Olson now has 70,000 chips.

Maridu Doubles Up, Crashes Out

With only 8,000 chips remaining, Maria Mayrinck moved all-in from under-the-gun. The UTG+1 player moved all-in behind her for nearly 50,000 and action folded around to Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson, who, after a bit of thought, folded A-Q face up. Mayrinck tabled A-8, noting that she had only looked at one of her cards, and her opponent showed J-J. The flop came A-8-7 and gave Mayrinck the lead. A queen on the turn mocked Johnson, but did nothing to diminish Mayrinck’s lead. The river was a blank and doubled Maridu up to 17,000. Her joy would not last long, however, as she would be eliminated by Johnson only one orbit later.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Bill Gazes,   Phil Ivey,   Carl Olson,   Jeff Madsen,   Michael Banducci,   Amit Makhija,   Marco Johnson,   Maria Mayrinck

Michael Banducci Wins Event No. 5 ($636,736)

Jun 05, '08

Jeff Williams raised to 130,000 preflop and Michael Banducci reraised to 400,000. Williams moved all in and Banducci made the call. They then flipped up their cards:

Banducci: AJ
Williams: A5

Board: KJ2103

Banducci led from to start to finish with his dominating hand, and he won his first gold bracelet, along with $636,736. Williams finished in second place, and took home $406,330 for the runner-up finish. Banducci's band of supporters went ballistic as he clinched the bracelet and ended the tournament.

 

 

Player Tags: Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams

NLHE/Rebuy - Final Table - Peter Gould Eliminated in 3rd

Jun 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Left: 3

Chip Counts:

Peter Gould - 3rd Place ($245,993)

Big Hands:

Jeff Williams Doubles up a Third Time

Jeff Williams moved all in and Peter Gould made the call. They then fipped up their cards:

Williams: A9
Gould: 55

Board: 98793

Peter Gould Doubles Up

Three hands later Williams moved all in again, and this time Gould made an all-in call. They then revealed their hands:

Williams: K4
Gould: 55 (exact same hand as three hands prior)

Board: J108J9

Gould returned the favor to Williams and doubled up to survive.

Peter Gould Eliminated in Third Place ($245,993)

Michael Banducci raised to 100,000 preflop and Gould reraised to 480,000. Banducci moved all in and Gould made the all-in call. The two players then revealed their cards:

Gould: 1010
Banducci: 77

Board: J9725

Gould was eliminated in thrid place, and he took home $245,993 in prize money. For the second time of the summer an English man has come close to a bracelet and had it slip away.

Player Tags: Peter Gould,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams,   European Report

NLHE/Rebuy - Final Table - We All Live in a Yellow Submarine

Jun 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Left: 3

Chip Counts:

none

Big Hands:

Jeff "yellowsub86" Wiliams Doubles Up

Michael Banducci raised to 140,000 and Jeff Williams reraised all in for 740,000. Banducci made the call an they turned up their hands:

Williams: 33
Gould: AJ

Board: Q849Q

Williams doubled up on the hand to survive and he now has 1.5 million.

Jeff Williams Doubles Up Again

Williams opened a pot for 120,000 about 20 hands later and Gould reraised all in. Williams made an all-in call and they revealed their cards:

Williams: A9
Gould: A10

Board: 953K6

Williams doubled up once again, and action is still three handed.

Player Tags: Peter Gould,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams

NLHE/Rebuy - Final Table - Alan Jaffray (5th) and Lyric Duveyoung (4th) Both Eliminated

Jun 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Left: 3

Chip Counts:

Alan Jaffray - 5th Place ($164,963)
Lyric Duveyoung - 4th Place ($201,139)

Big Hands:

Alan Jaffray Eliminated in Fifth Place ($164,963)

Michael Banducci raised to 80,000 peflop and Alan Jaffray reraised to 220,000. Banducci reraised all in and Jaffray made the all-in call. The players then revealed their hands:

Banducci: QQ
Jaffray: AQ

Board: Q929A

Jaffray was eliminated on the hand, and he took home $164,963 in prize money.

Lyric Duveyoung Eliminated in Fourth Place ($201,139)

Peter Gould raised to 155,000 preflop and Lyric Duveyoung reraised all in for his last 590,000. Gould made the call and they turned up their hands:

Gould: K10
Duveyoung: QJ

Board: 1076K5

Duveyoung is eliminated in fourth place, and he will take home $201,139 in prize money.

Peter Gould Doubles Up

On the 100th hand of action at the final table, Peter Gould raised 140,000 and Jeff Williams reraised to 440,000. Gould reraised all in for an additional 950,000 and Williams made the call. The two players then revealed their cards:

Gould: K10
Williams: AQ

Board: 109844

Gould doubled up on the hand, while WIlliams was knocked down to the short stack at the table. He now has only 10 big blinds to work with.

Player Tags: Lyric Duveyoung,   Peter Gould,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams,   Alan Jaffray,   European Report

NLHE/Rebuys - Final Table - Anemic Action into Dinner

Jun 05, '08

Players Left: 6

Chip Counts:

None

Big Hands:

Ace-High vs. Queen-High One Time

Michael Banducci opened a pot for 50,000 preflop and Jeff Williams mad the call. The flop hit the table 1032 and both players checked. The turn brought the 4 and Williams checked. Banducci made it 60,000 to go and Williams made the call. The river fell 7 and Williams checked again. Banducci opened the action once again, this time for 95,000, and Williams made the call one last time. They turned up their hands and Banducci held Q-8. Williams turned up A9 and took down the pot with ace-high.

Crickets Chirping at the Table and Lions Roaring in the Stands

Still six handed at the final table at the 70-hand mark. As action wanes at the table, the stands continue to stir with incresing frequency. At this point, a healthy dose of anticipation and boredom fueling their cheers and jeers.

Alan Jaffray Doubles Up

Alan Jaffray was on the short stack at the table when he shoved all in preflop against Jeff Williams. Williams made the call and they turned up their hands:

Board: J103A5

Player Tags: Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams,   Alan Jaffray

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys - Day 2 - Level 18 Recap

Jun 04, '08

Note The players just finished a 20-minute break.

Blinds/Antes: 5,000/10,000 – 1,000 ante

Players Left:  11 of 776

Chip Leaders:
Alan Jaffray - 1,120,000
Michael Banducci - 740,000
Lyric Duveyoung - 700,000
Jamie “TheCronic420” Rosen - 630,000
Jeff “YellowSub86” Williams - 610,000
Phi Nguyen - 580,000
Peter Gould - 570,000
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 330,000
Steve Gross - 260,000
Randy “Randers” Haddox - 210,000
Michael Binger – 200,000

Eliminations:
Adam “Roothlus” Levy
Alan “The Usher” Sass

Big Hands and Storylines:

Banducci Rivers “Roothlus”

After a series of pre-flop raising, Adam “Roothlus” Levy and Michael Banducci got all of their chips in. Levy was in great shape with his AK against the KQ of Banducci. The flop was a welcome one for Levy: T85. The turn was the 4 however, giving Banducci a flush draw to go along with his queen outs. The 7 came on the river, making Banducci the flush and banishing Levy to the rail. After the hand Banducci raked in a pot of 750,000.

The River Bites Back

An orbit later, Michael Banducci gets his 6-6 all-in pre-flop against the A-K of Randall “Randers” Haddox. The flop – T54 – was benign, as was the Q on the turn. The A spiked on the river though, giving Haddox a pair of aces and winning him a 500k pot. After the hand, Banducci was again back to 500,000 in chips.

Jaffray Finally Loses One

From the small blind, Michael Binger moves all-in for his last 100,000 chips and gets a call from Alan Jaffray. Binger’s T6 was up against Jaffray’s A3.  The KQ9 flop gave Binger another four outs to count on, but it was one of his original outs – the T on the turn – that saved him. Binger doubled up to about 200,000, but is still one of the smallest stacks remaining.

Player Tags: Phi Nguyen,   Lyric Duveyoung,   Michael Binger,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Anonymous Player,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams,   Alan Jaffray,   Adam Levy,   Jamie Rosen

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys - Day 2 - Level 16 Recap

Jun 04, '08

Blinds/Antes: 3,000/6,000 – 500 ante

Players Left:  21 of 776

Chip Leaders:
Lyric Duveyoung - 740,000
Alan Jaffray - 575,000
Phi Nguyen – 400,000
Jeff “YellowSub86” Williams - 360,000
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 355,000
Peter Gould - 350,000
Michael Banducci - 300,000
Chris Moore - 240,000
Steve Gross - 235,000
Craig “MrCasino” Gray - 235,000
Clonie Gowen – 140,000

Eliminations:
Amit “amak316” Makhija
John Juanda
Nenad Medic
Kenneth Shelton
Daniel Negreanu

Big Hands and Storylines:

Not a Safe Seat in the House

Upon getting down to 27 players, the 4 tables were condensed and the players were re-seated at three new tables. Despite this change of scenery the competition remained as fierce as ever. The players at each of the tables included:

Table 5: Amit “amak316” Makhija, Jon “FatalError” Aguiar, Lyric Duveyoung, Michael Banducci, Alan “The Usher” Sass

Table 10: Michael Binger, Nenad Medic, John Juanda, Clonie Gowen, Name Le, Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet

Table 15: Jeff “YellowSub86” Williams, Ray “ExitOnly” Coburn, Jamie “TheCronic420” Rosen, Craig “MrCasino” Gray, Randy “Randers” Haddox, Daniel Negreanu

Gould Ousts Juanda

John Juanda raised to 14,000 from the cutoff, Peter Gould raised to 54,000 from the button, and, with only 130,000 chips remaining, Juanda opted only to call. The two saw a flop of Q76 and Juanda immediately pushed his remaining 90,000 chips all-in. Gould went into the tank, believing Juanda to have a strong hand. Ultimately Gould made the call and was relieved to his TT far ahead of Juanda’s AK. The turn and river were the 9 and Q, and Gould took a walk from the table to celebrate his win and calm his nerves. Gould now has 350,000 chips.

Banducci’s Bluff Goes Bad
On a flop of J63, Michael Banducci led a 55,000 bet into Alan Jaffray. Jaffray called and the dealer laid out the Q. Banducci pushed out a mountain of orange T5,000 chips, putting Jaffray to a decision for his remaining 130,000 chips. Jaffray leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, his smile belying his inner-turmoil. He finally mustered up the will to make the call and flipped up KJ. Banducci unabashedly showed his bluff: A7. The 5 appeared on the river and Jaffray’s stack soared to 575,000. Banducci’s mistimed bluff chopped his stack to 300,000.

Blind Battle Claims Negreanu

A button limper, Phil Nguyen in the small blind, and Daniel Negreanu saw a flop of J87. Nguyen bet out 15,000 and Negreanu called. The button folded and the two blinds watched the dealer flip up the J. Again Nguyen led out – this time for 30,000 – but Negreanu came over the top for 100,000 total. Nguyen quickly raised all-in for 50,000 more and Negreanu had no choice to call with T9, an open-ended straight-flush draw. Unfortunately for him, Nguyen had turned a full house with J8 and Negreanu was drawing to 2-outs. The river came Q and Nguyen more than doubled up to 400,000. Negreanu, left with 30,000 after the hand, busted a short time later when his A-2 ran into the A-K of Ray “ExitOnly” Coburn.

Player Tags: Phi Nguyen,   John Juanda,   Daniel Negreanu,   Clonie Gowen,   Lyric Duveyoung,   Nenad Medic,   Craig Gray,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Peter Gould,   Raymond Coburn,   Michael Banducci,   Amit Makhija,   Jeff Williams,   Alan Jaffray,   Kenneth Shelton

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys - Day 2 - Level 15 Recap

Jun 04, '08

Note: The players just returned from a 40-minute break

Blinds: 2,500/5,000 – 500 ante

Players Left:  29 of 776

Chip Leaders:
Lyric Duveyoung - 770,000
Michael Banducci - 540,000
Jeff “yellowsub86” Williams - 365,000
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 360,000
Clonie Gowen - 300,000
Peter Gould - 290,000
Craig “MrCasino” Gray - 230,000
Steve Gross - 230,000
Daniel Negreanu - 210,000
Nam Le - 200,000

Eliminations:
Alex Jacob
Carl Perazzola

Big Hands and Storylines:

Massive Pot Gives Us New Chip Leader

We have a new chipleader in the $1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys event. After a slew of pre-flop betting, Craig “MrCasino” Gray called Lyric Duveyoung’s all-in. The two tabled:

Gray: AK
Duveyoung: AA

The board – J6238 – yielded no miracles for Gray, and he was knocked down to a still respectable 230,000. Duveyoung, however, now tops the leaderboard with more than 700,000 chips.

Gray Gets Some Back

A few hands later, Craig Gray found himself in another big hand pre-flop, this time against Carl Perazzola. Gray found himself in much better shape here, his TT against Perazzola’s AJ. The board rolled out 73299 and Gray knocked out Perazzola, adding another 100,000 to his stack.

Van Fleet busts Jacob

Alex Jacob pushed his last ten big blinds all-in with A-6 and was called by Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet’s A-2 in the big blind. Jacob found his dominating position short-lived as both an ace and deuce flopped. When the turn and river blanked, Jacob found himself among the growing list of players eliminated on day 2 play.

Negreanu Lays It Down

Daniel Negreanu raised to 12,000 pre-flop from early position and got a caller in late position before Clonie Gowen bumped it up to 29,000 in the big blind. Negreanu tossed in a handful of orange chips to make the call and the two saw the flop heads-up. Clonie bet 40,000 on the 832 flop and Negreanu scrutinized her momentarily before making the call. Clonie moved all in for 50,000 on the A turn and Negreanu grimaced before making a difficult fold. Gowen surged past Negreanu on that hand: Gowen sits behind a stack of 300,000 while Negreanu has 220,000

Player Tags: Nam Le,   Daniel Negreanu,   Clonie Gowen,   Lyric Duveyoung,   Craig Gray,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Alex Jacob,   Michael Banducci,   Jeff Williams

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys - Day 1 - Level 10

Jun 03, '08

Blinds/Antes: 600/1,200 – 100 ante

Players Left:  106 of 776

Chip Leaders:
Amit Makhija - 150,000
Marco Johnson - 140,000
Zachary Clark - 120,000
Michael Banducci - 112,000
Phil Ivey - 107,000
Daniel Negreanu - 97,500
Alex Jacob - 77,000
Robert Cheung - 77,000
Jeff Madsen - 76,000
John Juanda - 72,000

Average Stack: 57,000

Eliminations:
Bill Gazes
Maria Mayrinck

Big Hands and Storylines:

Phil Hellmuth: Dealer Instructor

While most of the players remaining are interested in accumulating a big stack and winning hundreds of thousands of dollars, Phil Hellmuth has a much bigger concern: dealer technique. As the dealer shuffled the deck between hands, Hellmuth remarked that he was not following proper World Series of Poker dealing protocol, “It should be shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, cut.” Not content with simply telling the dealer how to do his job, Hellmuth proceeded to grab the deck and show him the proper technique. Unconvinced that the dealer was imbibing the Poker Brat’s wisdom, he suggested, “Let’s call the floor.” Mercifully, as Hellmuth sought out a floorman, John Juanda implored, “Just let him deal!” which settled Hellmuth down (as much as is possible) and allowed play to resume at the table.

Olson Busts Gazes

Bill Gazes got all-in before the flop against Carl “colson10” Olson. The two turned over their hands:

Gazes: AK
Olson: AQ

The flop was A97, keeping Olson on track for an appearance on day 2, but the Q on the turn crushed his hopes, and the 9 on the river was the nail in the coffin. Gazes lamented the fact that he has now played three straight tournaments late into day 1, only to be eliminated before the day’s conclusion. Carl Olson now has 70,000 chips.

Maridu Doubles Up, Crashes Out

With only 8,000 chips remaining, Maria Mayrinck moved all-in from under-the-gun. The UTG+1 player moved all-in behind her for nearly 50,000 and action folded around to Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson, who, after a bit of thought, folded A-Q face up. Mayrinck tabled A-8, noting that she had only looked at one of her cards, and her opponent showed J-J. The flop came A-8-7 and gave Mayrinck the lead. A queen on the turn mocked Johnson, but did nothing to diminish Mayrinck’s lead. The river was a blank and doubled Maridu up to 17,000. Her joy would not last long, however, as she would be eliminated by Johnson only one orbit later.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Bill Gazes,   Phil Ivey,   Carl Olson,   Jeff Madsen,   Michael Banducci,   Amit Makhija,   Marco Johnson,   Maria Mayrinck

Hour Two Log

Jun 08, '07

Fast Times at Amazon High

Michael Banducci was the next to hit the rail in fifth place. He was taken out by William Durkee who vaulted into the chip lead after the hand with $2,600,000. This completed a swing for Durkee over Justin Bonomo, who now resided in second place with $1,600,000.

Terry Doubles through Bonomo

Todd Terry then moved all in preflop and Bonomo made the call. Terry flipped over AJ and Bonomo turned over AK. The board was dealt QQJ43 and Terry doubled up through Bonomo with the jack on the flop.

Bonomo then picked up multiple pots with constant aggression to regain the chip lead:

William Durkee: $2,000,000
Justin Bonomo: $1,500,000
Hunter Frey: $1,200,000
Todd Terry: $8155,000

The Harder they Fall

Next, the two big stacks at the table got mixed up in a large hand. Justin Bonomo shows pocket kings and Durkee is all in for his tournament life. He flips over pocket aces though. The board helps neither player and Bonomo gets one of his legs knocked out. He holds only $485,000 after the hand and Durkee had emerged as the dominant chip leader with $3850,000. Bonomo would make his exit on the very next hand and action was down to three handed, scroll down to catch the hand.

Hunter Frey would fall next in third place, he was sent to the rail by the pocket nines of Todd Terry, scroll down to catch the hand.

William Durkee had a three-to-one chip advantage heading it to the final match-up:

William Durkee: $4,500,000
Todd Terry: $1,500,000

Player Tags: Justin Bonomo,   Todd Terry,   William Durkee V,   Michael Banducci

Michael Banducci Eliminated in 5th Place ($105,884)

Jun 08, '07

On a flop of 765 Michael Banducci calls the all in bet of William Durkee, which puts his tournament life on the line. Banducci flips over 65 for two pair, but it is not good enough to top the two pair of Durkee, who flips over 75. The turn and river cards are dealt 9K and Banducci is eliminated in fifth place. He will take home $105,884 in prize money.

Player Tags: William Durkee V,   Michael Banducci

Hour One Log

Jun 08, '07

During the first hour of play both Ronnie Hofman and Gil George made their exits in ninth and eighth place, respectively. Scroll down to check out their bust out hands. Hunter Frey and William Durkee then doubled up in succession. After this sequence the chip counts stood as follows:

Justin Bonomo: $1,300,000
Hunter Frey: $1,250,000
William Durkee: $950,000
Michael Banducci: $900,000
Todd Terry: $675,000
Stan Weiss: $600,000
Walter Browne: $300,000

Stan Weiss then snapped off a preflop raise with an all in reraise of his own. He had been quiet at the table up to this point and his move was given some respect. A hole cam would later reveal that he held only Q-9.

Walter Browne was the next to go home, and he was quickly followed by Weiss. Weiss was eliminated by Justin Bonomo. Scroll down to look at the bust out hands. The players then went on a fifteen minute break.

The approximate chip counts at that point were as follows:

Justin Bonomo: $2,000,000
William Durkee: $1,800,000
Michael Banducci: $1,000,000
Hunter Frey: $850,000
Todd Terry: $450,000

The players returned from break and the blinds were kicked up to $20,000-$40,000 with a $5,000 ante.

Player Tags: Justin Bonomo,   Stanley Weiss,   Todd Terry,   Walter Browne,   William Durkee V,   Michael Banducci,   Gil George,   Ronnie Hofman

Hunter Frey is the Man of the Hour

Jun 07, '07

Day two of this $2,000 No Limit Hold 'Em event is over. There are nine players returning tomorrow at 3 p.m. to battle for a place in history.

Hunter Frey has been the man of action this last hour and the size of his chip stack reflects that. He now has over $1,000,000 after eliminating Todd Sisley in 13th place and John Murphy in 12th place. Sisley was all in against Frey with pocket fives. Frey had pocket sevens and the board didn't help either player. Sisley is the 13th place finisher and he earned $22,431.

Frey was responsible for eliminating John Murphy as well. Frey bet out and Murphy pushed all in. Frey made the call and showed Murphy A-A. Understandably upset, Murphy reluctantly turned over K-10. The board came A-J-J-4-9 giving Frey the full house he didn't need and ended Murphy's tournament. Murphy walked away in 12th place with $22,431.

Jeff Anderson was eliminated in 11th place and earned $25,217. Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo is the current chip leader with just under $2,000,000. The ten remaining players will continue for one more elimination and the formation of the final table.

Partho "SpiderMan" Data was eliminated in 10th place by Todd Terry. Data had A-2 and Terry's pocket dueces held up. Data  was the last elimination of the day and pocketed $25,217.

The following nine players in order of chip counts comprise the final table: Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo, Hunter Frey, Michael Banducci, Todd Terry, Stan Weiss, Will Durkee, Gil George, Ronnie Hofman and Walter Browne.  Come back to CardPlayer.com to keep up on what goes down at the final table.

Player Tags: John Murphy,   Justin Bonomo,   Stanley Weiss,   Todd Terry,   Walter Browne,   William Durkee V,   Michael Banducci,   Jeffrey Anderson,   Gil George,   Ronnie Hofman

Six More to Go

Jun 07, '07

Level 17 went by fast and the players are now on a 15 minute break. The level couldn't have gone fast enough for Michael Banducci who let his stack slowly bleed before doubling up to $180,000. Banducci made a series of raises, all of which were met by his opponents pushing all in. After taking enough hits, Banducci pushed all in under the gun. His opponent in seat three called from the cutoff with A-A. Banducci was holding KJ and had a lot of work to do. The flop came J-x-x. The turn was a king and the river was another jack, allowing Banducci to finally add chips to his stack instead of giving them away.

Justin Bonomo was experiencing similar action at the other remaining table, but with a very large chip stack he was able to endure much better. Bonomo had been betting $42,000 before the flop and recieving a lot of all in raises. Following another bet of $42,000 from Bonomo, Roger McDow pushed all in. Bonomo finally caught a hand to call with and showed AQ. McDow turned over 1010 and was only slightly ahead. The dealer laid out K7582 and Bonomo caught runner runner to eliminated McDow in 16th place ($19,644).

Player Tags: Justin Bonomo,   Roger McDow,   Michael Banducci

Pocket Fives the Hand to Beat

Jun 07, '07

Level 17 just got underway and the blinds are rising to $8,000-$16,000. Level 16 started with 28 players and an average stack of $218,714. Level 17 will begin with only 22 players remaining.

Just 12 minutes into the level two players busted out and there was a redraw to form three tables. 28th place and 27th place were eliminated at the same time and there was a discrepency as to whom finished in which place. The floorman took on the painstaking task of trying to determine which player had more chips at the time of the bust outs. It turns out that there was less than $5,000 difference in the chip stacks and no certain way of telling who had more. The two players took the high road and in an effort to make the process easier decided to simply chop the difference in payouts. The difference between 28th place ($14,350) and 27th place ($16,858) was $2,508.

Paul Snead was the 24th place finisher when his king high flush ran into John Murphy's full house. Murphy took down the large pot and didn't hesitate to play the very next hand. First to act, Murphy limped into the pot for $1,200 and the player in seat nine called and the big blind checked. The flop came KQ4 and all three players checked. The turn was the 6 and again the players checked. The river was the J and again no betting. Murphy showed J-J and his two opponents mucked. Not able to get anyone to bite, Murphy now has over $500,000.

Michael Banducci, who has already cashed in this year's World Series, was able to build his stack to over $500,000 shortly before the beginning of level 17. The player in seat two, Brian Fitzpatrick, bet out $35,000. Banducci raised to $95,000 total and Fitzpatrick shoved all in for $89,000 more. Banducci called and showed the table 55. Fitzpatrick had A-K and the dealer ran the cards. The board came Q529J and Banducci took down the massive pot. Fitzpatrick was the 23rd place finisher, making him a nice $16,858.

Player Tags: John Murphy,   Paul Snead,   Michael Banducci,   Brian Fitzpatrick

Hour Two Log

Jun 08, '07

Fast Times at Amazon High

Michael Banducci was the next to hit the rail in fifth place. He was taken out by William Durkee who vaulted into the chip lead after the hand with $2,600,000. This completed a swing for Durkee over Justin Bonomo, who now resided in second place with $1,600,000.

Terry Doubles through Bonomo

Todd Terry then moved all in preflop and Bonomo made the call. Terry flipped over AJ and Bonomo turned over AK. The board was dealt QQJ43 and Terry doubled up through Bonomo with the jack on the flop.

Bonomo then picked up multiple pots with constant aggression to regain the chip lead:

William Durkee: $2,000,000
Justin Bonomo: $1,500,000
Hunter Frey: $1,200,000
Todd Terry: $8155,000

The Harder they Fall

Next, the two big stacks at the table got mixed up in a large hand. Justin Bonomo shows pocket kings and Durkee is all in for his tournament life. He flips over pocket aces though. The board helps neither player and Bonomo gets one of his legs knocked out. He holds only $485,000 after the hand and Durkee had emerged as the dominant chip leader with $3850,000. Bonomo would make his exit on the very next hand and action was down to three handed, scroll down to catch the hand.

Hunter Frey would fall next in third place, he was sent to the rail by the pocket nines of Todd Terry, scroll down to catch the hand.

William Durkee had a three-to-one chip advantage heading it to the final match-up:

William Durkee: $4,500,000
Todd Terry: $1,500,000

Player Tags: Justin Bonomo,   Todd Terry,   William Durkee V,   Michael Banducci

Michael Banducci Eliminated in 5th Place ($105,884)

Jun 08, '07

On a flop of 765 Michael Banducci calls the all in bet of William Durkee, which puts his tournament life on the line. Banducci flips over 65 for two pair, but it is not good enough to top the two pair of Durkee, who flips over 75. The turn and river cards are dealt 9K and Banducci is eliminated in fifth place. He will take home $105,884 in prize money.

Player Tags: William Durkee V,   Michael Banducci

Hour One Log

Jun 08, '07

During the first hour of play both Ronnie Hofman and Gil George made their exits in ninth and eighth place, respectively. Scroll down to check out their bust out hands. Hunter Frey and William Durkee then doubled up in succession. After this sequence the chip counts stood as follows:

Justin Bonomo: $1,300,000
Hunter Frey: $1,250,000
William Durkee: $950,000
Michael Banducci: $900,000
Todd Terry: $675,000
Stan Weiss: $600,000
Walter Browne: $300,000

Stan Weiss then snapped off a preflop raise with an all in reraise of his own. He had been quiet at the table up to this point and his move was given some respect. A hole cam would later reveal that he held only Q-9.

Walter Browne was the next to go home, and he was quickly followed by Weiss. Weiss was eliminated by Justin Bonomo. Scroll down to look at the bust out hands. The players then went on a fifteen minute break.

The approximate chip counts at that point were as follows:

Justin Bonomo: $2,000,000
William Durkee: $1,800,000
Michael Banducci: $1,000,000
Hunter Frey: $850,000
Todd Terry: $450,000

The players returned from break and the blinds were kicked up to $20,000-$40,000 with a $5,000 ante.

Player Tags: Justin Bonomo,   Stanley Weiss,   Todd Terry,   Walter Browne,   William Durkee V,   Michael Banducci,   Gil George,   Ronnie Hofman

Hunter Frey is the Man of the Hour

Jun 07, '07

Day two of this $2,000 No Limit Hold 'Em event is over. There are nine players returning tomorrow at 3 p.m. to battle for a place in history.

Hunter Frey has been the man of action this last hour and the size of his chip stack reflects that. He now has over $1,000,000 after eliminating Todd Sisley in 13th place and John Murphy in 12th place. Sisley was all in against Frey with pocket fives. Frey had pocket sevens and the board didn't help either player. Sisley is the 13th place finisher and he earned $22,431.

Frey was responsible for eliminating John Murphy as well. Frey bet out and Murphy pushed all in. Frey made the call and showed Murphy A-A. Understandably upset, Murphy reluctantly turned over K-10. The board came A-J-J-4-9 giving Frey the full house he didn't need and ended Murphy's tournament. Murphy walked away in 12th place with $22,431.

Jeff Anderson was eliminated in 11th place and earned $25,217. Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo is the current chip leader with just under $2,000,000. The ten remaining players will continue for one more elimination and the formation of the final table.

Partho "SpiderMan" Data was eliminated in 10th place by Todd Terry. Data had A-2 and Terry's pocket dueces held up. Data  was the last elimination of the day and pocketed $25,217.

The following nine players in order of chip counts comprise the final table: Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo, Hunter Frey, Michael Banducci, Todd Terry, Stan Weiss, Will Durkee, Gil George, Ronnie Hofman and Walter Browne.  Come back to CardPlayer.com to keep up on what goes down at the final table.

Player Tags: John Murphy,   Justin Bonomo,   Stanley Weiss,   Todd Terry,   Walter Browne,   William Durkee V,   Michael Banducci,   Jeffrey Anderson,   Gil George,   Ronnie Hofman

Six More to Go

Jun 07, '07

Level 17 went by fast and the players are now on a 15 minute break. The level couldn't have gone fast enough for Michael Banducci who let his stack slowly bleed before doubling up to $180,000. Banducci made a series of raises, all of which were met by his opponents pushing all in. After taking enough hits, Banducci pushed all in under the gun. His opponent in seat three called from the cutoff with A-A. Banducci was holding KJ and had a lot of work to do. The flop came J-x-x. The turn was a king and the river was another jack, allowing Banducci to finally add chips to his stack instead of giving them away.

Justin Bonomo was experiencing similar action at the other remaining table, but with a very large chip stack he was able to endure much better. Bonomo had been betting $42,000 before the flop and recieving a lot of all in raises. Following another bet of $42,000 from Bonomo, Roger McDow pushed all in. Bonomo finally caught a hand to call with and showed AQ. McDow turned over 1010 and was only slightly ahead. The dealer laid out K7582 and Bonomo caught runner runner to eliminated McDow in 16th place ($19,644).

Player Tags: Justin Bonomo,   Roger McDow,   Michael Banducci

Pocket Fives the Hand to Beat

Jun 07, '07

Level 17 just got underway and the blinds are rising to $8,000-$16,000. Level 16 started with 28 players and an average stack of $218,714. Level 17 will begin with only 22 players remaining.

Just 12 minutes into the level two players busted out and there was a redraw to form three tables. 28th place and 27th place were eliminated at the same time and there was a discrepency as to whom finished in which place. The floorman took on the painstaking task of trying to determine which player had more chips at the time of the bust outs. It turns out that there was less than $5,000 difference in the chip stacks and no certain way of telling who had more. The two players took the high road and in an effort to make the process easier decided to simply chop the difference in payouts. The difference between 28th place ($14,350) and 27th place ($16,858) was $2,508.

Paul Snead was the 24th place finisher when his king high flush ran into John Murphy's full house. Murphy took down the large pot and didn't hesitate to play the very next hand. First to act, Murphy limped into the pot for $1,200 and the player in seat nine called and the big blind checked. The flop came KQ4 and all three players checked. The turn was the 6 and again the players checked. The river was the J and again no betting. Murphy showed J-J and his two opponents mucked. Not able to get anyone to bite, Murphy now has over $500,000.

Michael Banducci, who has already cashed in this year's World Series, was able to build his stack to over $500,000 shortly before the beginning of level 17. The player in seat two, Brian Fitzpatrick, bet out $35,000. Banducci raised to $95,000 total and Fitzpatrick shoved all in for $89,000 more. Banducci called and showed the table 55. Fitzpatrick had A-K and the dealer ran the cards. The board came Q529J and Banducci took down the massive pot. Fitzpatrick was the 23rd place finisher, making him a nice $16,858.

Player Tags: John Murphy,   Paul Snead,   Michael Banducci,   Brian Fitzpatrick