Mike Leah Poker Tournament Updates

Level 1 Update

Mar 05, '11

Blinds: 50-100

Players Remaining: 245 out of 245

Chip Counts:

1. Adam Levy — 30,000
2. Yevgeniy Timoshenko — 30,000
3. Shan Schleger — 30,000
4. Maria Ho — 30,000
5. Tom McEvoy — 30,000
6. Mike Leah — 30,000
7. Mas Kagawa — 30,000
8. Shannon Shorr — 30,000
9. Ahn Van Nguyen — 30,000
10. Andre Akkarri — 30,000

Average Chip Count: 30,000

Notable Eliminations:

NONE

Big Hands:

Mike Leah Takes a Hit Early

A player in late position raised to 250 preflop and Mike Leah (cutoff) and two other players made the call. The flop fell 10 7 2 and the big blind bet 450. All three players made the call and the turn fell 3.

Leah bet 1,225 and both the button and the big blind mucked. Late position made the call and the two last players in the pot saw the 2 hit the table on the river. Late position bet 2,850 and Leah made the call. Late position flipped over pocket aces, which were enough to beat the pocket jacks of Leah, who’s stack is down to 20,000 after the hand.

Table Pairings

Table 26: Adam Levy, Joseph Cheong

Table 28: Shane Schleder, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Michael Kamran

Table 31: Dan O’Brien, Mohsin Charania, Matt Marafioti, Chris Moorman

Table 20: Bruce Buffer, Jonathan Plens, Mas Kagawa

Table 16: Tom McEvoy, Andre Akkarri

Table 15: David Sands, Ahn Van Nguyen

Table 7: Steve Brecher, Maria Ho, Shannon Shorr

Table 9: Scott Seiver, Shawn Buchanan

Player Tags: Mike Leah

Mike Leah Eliminated in 20th Place

Nov 15, '10

Mike Leah got the last of his chips into the middle preflop against Chris DeMaci and they flipped over their cards.

Leah held pocket queens and DeMaci had pocket aces. DeMaci flopped a set and that was it for Leah. He was eliminated in 20th place and he will take home $18,000 in prize money. DeMaci moved all the way up to 3.7 million after the hand.

Player Tags: Mike Leah,   Christopher DeMaci

Travis Pearson Eliminated By Mike Leah

Nov 15, '10

Jonathan Gagnon-Villanueve raised to 36,000 and Mike Leah reraised to 78,000 behind him. Travis Pearson then moved all in from the small blind and Gagnon-Villanueve folded.

Leah instantly called and tabled pocket aces. Pearson showed pocket jacks, but they failed to connect on a nine-high board. Both players counted down similar stacks and it was determined that Leah’s 358,000 count was just enough to cover Pearson, who is out of the tournament.

Player Tags: Travis Pearson,   Mike Leah

George Lind Survives

Nov 15, '10

George Lind raised to 23,000 from the cutoff and Mike Leah reraised to 57,000 from the button. Lind reraised all in for 351,000 and Leah made the call. Their cards:

Lind: A 9
Leah: 10 10

Board: Q 7 2 4 A

Lind doubled up on the hand to survive thanks to an ace on the river.

Player Tags: Mike Leah,   George Lind

Level 2 Update: Late Registration

Nov 13, '10

Blinds: 75-150

Players Remaining: 345 (Approximate)

Eliminations:

Greg Mueller
Darryll Fish

Big Hands:

Darryll Fish Eliminated

Darryll Fish moved all in for 425 preflop and one player in late position made the call. Their cards:

Fish: J 7
Opponent: A 9

Board: 6 5 2 K 7

The next hand Fish was all in preflop once again and this time the big blind made the call. Their cards:

Fish: Q Q
Big Blind: 9 4

Board: 6 4 3 8 9

The river fell like a dagger and Fish was eliminated from the tournament by the two pair of his opponent.

Ramdin vs. Rosen

A limped pot and a flop of A 10 10 sat on the table when Victor Ramdin bet 300 under the gun. Jamie Rosen made the check-call on the small blind and the 3 fell on the turn. Ramdin bet 800 and Rosen check called again. The river fell J and Ramdin opened the action again, this time for 3,000, but Rosen mucked his cards.

Leah Abandons Ship

There was 1,700 in the pot and a board of J 10 9 5 sat on the table when Mike Leah bet 1,100 from the big blind. The cutoff made the call and the button made an all-in call on a short stack. The 7 fell on the river and Leah checked. The cutoff fired out 2,625 and the button started to get out of his chair. Leah decided to muck and the cutoff flipped over 10 8. The cutoff mucked and exited the tournament area.

Left in the Deck

Just in Time

A few of the late arrivals that jumped into the tournament just before registration closed at the end of the break include Team PokerStars pro David Williams and John Hennigan.

Player Tags: Victor Ramdin,   Mike Leah,   Darryll Fish,   Jamie Rosen

Mike Leah Eliminated in 20th Place

Nov 15, '10

Mike Leah got the last of his chips into the middle preflop against Chris DeMaci and they flipped over their cards.

Leah held pocket queens and DeMaci had pocket aces. DeMaci flopped a set and that was it for Leah. He was eliminated in 20th place and he will take home $18,000 in prize money. DeMaci moved all the way up to 3.7 million after the hand.

Player Tags: Mike Leah,   Christopher DeMaci

Travis Pearson Eliminated By Mike Leah

Nov 15, '10

Jonathan Gagnon-Villanueve raised to 36,000 and Mike Leah reraised to 78,000 behind him. Travis Pearson then moved all in from the small blind and Gagnon-Villanueve folded.

Leah instantly called and tabled pocket aces. Pearson showed pocket jacks, but they failed to connect on a nine-high board. Both players counted down similar stacks and it was determined that Leah’s 358,000 count was just enough to cover Pearson, who is out of the tournament.

Player Tags: Travis Pearson,   Mike Leah

George Lind Survives

Nov 15, '10

George Lind raised to 23,000 from the cutoff and Mike Leah reraised to 57,000 from the button. Lind reraised all in for 351,000 and Leah made the call. Their cards:

Lind: A 9
Leah: 10 10

Board: Q 7 2 4 A

Lind doubled up on the hand to survive thanks to an ace on the river.

Player Tags: Mike Leah,   George Lind

Level 2 Update: Late Registration

Nov 13, '10

Blinds: 75-150

Players Remaining: 345 (Approximate)

Eliminations:

Greg Mueller
Darryll Fish

Big Hands:

Darryll Fish Eliminated

Darryll Fish moved all in for 425 preflop and one player in late position made the call. Their cards:

Fish: J 7
Opponent: A 9

Board: 6 5 2 K 7

The next hand Fish was all in preflop once again and this time the big blind made the call. Their cards:

Fish: Q Q
Big Blind: 9 4

Board: 6 4 3 8 9

The river fell like a dagger and Fish was eliminated from the tournament by the two pair of his opponent.

Ramdin vs. Rosen

A limped pot and a flop of A 10 10 sat on the table when Victor Ramdin bet 300 under the gun. Jamie Rosen made the check-call on the small blind and the 3 fell on the turn. Ramdin bet 800 and Rosen check called again. The river fell J and Ramdin opened the action again, this time for 3,000, but Rosen mucked his cards.

Leah Abandons Ship

There was 1,700 in the pot and a board of J 10 9 5 sat on the table when Mike Leah bet 1,100 from the big blind. The cutoff made the call and the button made an all-in call on a short stack. The 7 fell on the river and Leah checked. The cutoff fired out 2,625 and the button started to get out of his chair. Leah decided to muck and the cutoff flipped over 10 8. The cutoff mucked and exited the tournament area.

Left in the Deck

Just in Time

A few of the late arrivals that jumped into the tournament just before registration closed at the end of the break include Team PokerStars pro David Williams and John Hennigan.

Player Tags: Victor Ramdin,   Mike Leah,   Darryll Fish,   Jamie Rosen

Level 9 Update: Eric Baldwin Eliminated

Dec 15, '09

Blinds: 800-1,600 with a 100 ante

Players Remaining: 159 out of 329

Chip Counts:

1. Eric Hershler — 350,000
2. Danny Wong — 325,000
3. Brent Hanks — 300,000
4. Faraz Jaka — 295,000
5. Antonio Esfandiari — 260,000
6. Dave Ulliot — 250,000
7. Doyle Brunson — 247,000
8. Jon Turner — 240,000
9. John Juanda — 230,000
10. Shawn Buchanan — 220,000

Average Chip Count: 124,151

Notable Eliminations:

Eric Baldwin
Kathy Liebert
Justin Smith
Joe Cada
J.J. Liu
John Monnette

Big Hands:

Eric Baldwin Eliminated

On a flop of J42 Tom Dwan bet 15,800 and Eric Baldwin (picture right) raised to 37,000. Dwan made the call and the turn fell 4. Dwan checked and Baldwin moved all in for 60,000. Dwan made the call. Their cards:

Dwan: 74
Badlwin: AA

River: 6

Baldwin was eliminated on the hand and Dwan grew his stack to 300,000.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko Doubles Up

Yevgeniy Timoshenko was all in preflop for 48.6 million and John Juanda called him down. Their cards:

Timoshenko: AA
Juanda: AQ

Board: 1092J9

Timoshenko doubled up on the hand to survive in the tournament.

Eric Hershler Takes the Chip Lead

On a flop of KJ4 Eric Hershler (pictured right) bet 10,000 from the big blind and Darryll Fish raised an additional 16,200 from the hi-jack. Hershler called and the 9 fell on the turn. Hershler checked and Fish went into the tank before betting 38,800. Hershler made the call and the 6 fell on the river. Hershler checked, Fish bet 50,200, and Herhsler made the call. Fish turned over 22 and Hershler revealed K10. Hershler won the hand and he grew his stack to 350,000 to take the chip lead.

Left in the Deck

The official prize pool for the tournament has been released.

1st: $1,428,430
2nd: $952,290
3rd: $571,374
4th: $333,302
5th: $249,976
6th: $202,362
7th: $154,747
8th: $107,133
9th: $76,183
10th-12th: $57,137
13th-15th: $47,615
16th-18th: $38,092
19th-27th: $28,569

POY Watch

With Baldwin now out of the tournament and the final size of the field set, the final POY contenders left in the tournament know what to shoot for if they hope to pass Baldwin for the 2009 crown.

Here is a look at the top three point totals in the race:

Eric Baldwin: 6,994
Cornel Cimpan: 5,934
Yebgeniy Timoshenko: 5,509

POY Points to be Awarded at the Final Table of this event:

1: 1,980
2: 1,650
3: 1,320
4: 990
5: 825
6: 660

Cornel Cimpan needs a third-place finish or better here at Bellagio to pass Baldwin and Yevgeniy Timoshenko needs a second-place finish or better to pass Badlwin. Soheil Shamseddin and Mike Leah can’t pass Baldwin with a win but they can improve their final standings in the POY race.

Here is a look at where the remaining top 10 players in the POY race stand in chips in this event:

Yevgeniy Timoshenko: 95,000
Soheil Shamseddin: 90,000
Cornel Cimpan: 65,000
Mike Leah: 55,000

Player Tags: Cornel Andrew Cimpan,   Soheil Shamseddin,   Eric Baldwin,   Mike Leah,   Eric Hershler,   Darryll Fish

Mike Leah Eliminated by Kelly Kim

Oct 28, '09

We wandered over and saw that Mike Leah’s seat was open. When asked, Glen Chorny explained that his pocket nines ran into Kelly Kim’s pocket jacks and didn’t get any help from the board.

Leah is a Player of the Year candidate, but is quickly running out of time to make his run to the top of the leader board.

Player Tags: Kelly Kim,   Mike Leah

Level 14 Update: Somerville Gets Stronger

Oct 23, '09

Blinds: 3,000-6,000 with a 500 ante

Players Left: 45 of 275

Average Chip Count: 366,000

Chip Counts:

1. Jason Somerville — 915,000
2. Jason Lavallee — 870,000
3. Dee Luong — 800,000
4. Matt Stout — 790,000
5. Jonas Entin — 725,000
6. Dutch Boyd — 610,000
7. Scott Clements — 445,000
8. Andy Bloch — 430,000
9. Matthew Glantz — 360,000
10. Steve Brecher — 350,000

Notable Eliminations:

Adam Geyer
Alan Smurfit
Mike Leah

Big Hands:

Jason Somerville Crosses the 900,000 Mark

Jason Somerville raised on the button and the big blind reraised an additional 30,000. Somerville set him all in with pocket sevens and the big blinds called with KQ.

The board came Q96108 and Somerville’s backdoor straight took it down to send the opponent to the rail and put his stack at 915,000.

Adam Geyer Busts to Dee Luong

Adam Geyer (pictured right) raised to 14,000 and Dee Luong reraised and Geyer announced all in. Luong called with AK and was racing against Geyer’s pocket queens.

The board came down 822A5 and Luong’s pair of aces sent Geyer to the rail short of the money. Luong now has 800,000, well above her husband Prahlad Friedman who is still alive in this tournament.

Corwin Cole Chips Up Big

During the level, Corwin Cole (pictured left) busted a player with set over set to bring his stack to a very impressive 760,000.

Brandon Cantu Busts POY Candidate Mike Leah

On a flop of Js10h8s, Brandon Cantu was all in and covering Mike Leah, who made the call with Jd10d. Cantu showed KsQh for the up and down straight draw and it hit when the turn and river came 9h4c.

Cantu now sits with 545,000.

Player Tags: Dee Luong,   Jason Somerville,   Brandon Cantu,   Adam Geyer,   Mike Leah,   Corwin Cole

Mike Leah Eliminated

Oct 22, '08

Mike Leah got all of his chips into the middle with A-3 and David Levi called him down with 7-3. The board came out 5-3-rag-4-6 and Leah was knocked out of the tournament by a runner-runner straight.














 

Player Tags: David Levi,   Mike Leah

Mike Leah Takes a Terrible Beat

Oct 20, '08

Mike Leah got all of his chips into the middle preflop against Scott Zakheim. Their cards:

Leah: KK
Zakheim: JJ

Luke Priour revealed that he folded a jack.

Board: J10297

Leah was eliminated when the case jack hits the board and sends him out of the tournament.






 

Player Tags: Scott Zakheim,   Mike Leah

"A Little Squeeze?"

Oct 20, '08

Seat 2 raised to 2,500 preflop from the button and Mike Leah reraised to 6,600. Jason Young thought for a moment and then mucked. Seat 2 also mucked and Leah took down the hand to take his chip stack up to 28,000. "A little squeeze?" asked Young after the hand. "I had a big hand," said Leah as he collected his chips.

Player Tags: Jason Young,   Mike Leah

Mike Leah Doubles Up

Oct 20, '08

On a flop of K53, Mike Leah checks UTG+1 and seat 4 bets 1,625 right behind him UTG+2. The small blind folds and Leah raises to 4,500. Seat 4 reraises all in and Leah makes an all-in call, commiting all of his stack (9,025). They turn up their hands and Leah holds 64 to his opponents AK. The turn and river fall 99 and Leah doubles up on the hand. Leah now has over 18,000 and he is the chip leader for the tournament.





 

Player Tags: Mike Leah

Early Frustration for Leah

Oct 20, '08

Mike Leah has had a rough go of it during the first level of that day. His chip stack is beginning to dwindle and you can see he is a little perturbed. On a recent hand the board read A8J9K and his opponent in seat 1 bet 625. Leah shook his head and folded his hand from seat 3, shaking his head at the river card that fell on the table.













 

Player Tags: Mike Leah