Hoa Nguyen Poker Tournament Updates

Hour One Recap

Jul 15, '07

The first hour of play on day six is over and already the field has narrowed to 31 players. ESPN film crews are swarming the tournament area in an effort to catch every piece of action and the shuffling of personnel has given the tournament area the feel of a madhouse. A player can't so much as raise the blinds without a camera directly in his face watching every moment.

Tran Donates a Little
David Tran came into day six as the official chip leader by only $30,000 but has taken a few hits in the first hour and has slipped down the leaderboard. Tran got involved in a pot with Jeff Bryan and both players saw a flop of A Q 4. Tran led out with a bet of $285,000 and Bryan called. The turn was the 6 and this time Tran turned up the heat with a $625,000 bet. Bryan thought for a moment and declared that he was all in for $1,215,000 more. Tran eyed his opponent and mucked his hand. Bryan picked up almost a $1,000,000 in chips without ever having to show his hand.

Movin' On Up
Shortly before being moved to the ESPN featured table, Daniel Alaei raised to $165,000 under the gun. David Tran, Philip Hilm and Jeff Bryan all made the call. "This would be a good time to get aces" joked Ryan Elson who was in the big blind. Elson looked at his cards and said "I raise." Elson counted out the $165,000 he owed and then said "I'm all in." The raise was for $1,540,000. Alaei folded, as did Tran. Hilm called from the four seat and Bryan got out of the way. Elson turned over 10 10 and Hilm was holding 6 6. The flop came 8 5 4 and Elson stood out of his seat and started yelling to his fans on the rail. The turn was the 9 and Elson started yelling for paint on the river. The river brought the Q and Elson doubled to over $3,000,000. While Elson stacked his newly acquired chips, he was so happy after doubling up that he folded his small blind without ever looking at his cards.

Freeman Takes a Hit
Scott "SCTrojans" Freeman took a $3,000,000 hit in the first hour courtesy of Raymone Rahme. Freeman and Rahme were all in before the flop with Freeman showing pocket kings and Rahme holding pocket aces. The board bricked out for both players and Rahme's aces held up, giving him the almost $6,000,000 pot.

Kevin Kim Eliminated in 32nd Place ($285,678)
Paulo Loureiro raised to $200,000 from the button and Kevin Kim reraises all in from the small blind for $380,000 more. Louriero thought for a moment and called. Kim showed A K and Loureiro was holding A 9. The flop came J 9 8 and Louriero jumped into the lead. The turn was the Q and Kim picked up a few more outs. Any spade, ten or king would give Kim the pot and keep him alive. The river proved unkind for Kim when it brought the 6. Louriero took down the pot and Kim was eliminated in 32nd place.

Recent Eliminations
36th Place - Robin Bergren ($285,678)
35th Place - Allan King ($285,678)
34th Place - Hoa Nguyen ($285,678)
33rd Place - Christian Togsverd ($285,678)
32nd Place - Kevin Kim ($285,678)

Notables

Lee Watkinson	3,650,000
Daniel Alaei	2,900,000
Alex Kravchenko	1,430,000
Scotty Nguyen	1,400,000

Pokerstars Online Qualifiers

Hevad Khan	7,100,000
Jason Welch	1,525,000

pokerstars.com

Player Tags: Hoa Nguyen,   David Tran,   Robin Bergren,   Paulo Loureiro,   Kevin Kim,   Philip Hilm,   Jeff Bryan,   Christian Togsverd,   Allan King,   Raymond Rahme,   Ryan Elson,   Scott Freeman

261 Players Remain

Jul 13, '07

The field has narrowed to 261 and play shows no sign of slowing down. There are 21 players with more than $1,000,000 in chips and PokerStars Supernova Dario Minieri is still the chip leader but has dropped to $1,900,000.

Tran Builds His Stack
Kenny Tran came into day four amongst the chip leaders and with $1,350,000 in chips, is making a strong push for the final table. Tran raised to $25,000 preflop and his opponent in seat two called. The flop came A J 6 and both players checked. The turn was the J and again both players checked. The river brought the 10 and Tran looked ready to fire. After a few seconds Tran decides against it and checks. The player in seat two checks behind and both players turn over their cards. The player in seat two shows 8 8 and Tran was holding K K. Tran took down the small pot and continues to hold strong near the top of the field.

Pete Had DeBest Hand
After a single preflop raise, Randy Jacobsen pushed all in from middle position. Pete DeBest was in the small blind with around $700,000 and called. The initial raiser got out of the way and Jacobsen, who qualifed on PokerStars, turned over 9 9. DeBest turned over his cards and said, "look who woke up in the small blind with aces," showing A A. The board came 6 4 2 J Q and Jacobsen was sent to the rail. After counting his newly acquired chips, DeBest shrugged his shoulders and said, "$980,000. Aw, I wanted to be a millionaire."

Not Afraid of the Champ
Hoa Nguyen made a small preflop raise and was called by Carlos Mortensen, Main Event champion in 2001. The flop came J 5 4 and Nguyen led out with a $30,000 bet. Mortensen called and the turn was the K. Nguyen checked and Mortensen fired out $100,000. Nguyen reraised to $400,000 and Mortensen took a moment before calling. The river was the 7 and both players checked. Nguyen turned over J 4, having flopped two pair and Mortensen just mucked his hand and was left with less than $200,000.

Scotty Makes a New Friend
Scotty Nguyen has found a new friend at his table in the early hours of day four and has been nice enough to give him some of his chips. Nguyen made a large preflop raise and was called by his friend in the seven seat. The flop came 9 9 2 and Nguyen bet out $34,000. The player in seat seven had Nguyen covered and pushed all in for around $450,000. Nguyen went deep into the tank and recalled an earlier hand with the same player. "You bluffing me now because I bluffed you earlier?" asked Nguyen. "I wouldn't do that. You're my idol Scotty." joked the player in seat seven. Nguyen folded 7 7 face up in an effort to get his opponent to do the same. The player in seat seven folded his cards face down and Nguyen quickly reached out to grab them. Nguyen was obviously joking and didn't actually grab the cards and continued to probe his "friend" for information. "You had A-9 or some sh** like that. I thought we were friends baby, you tried to embarass me on national TV!"

Gus Hansen	1,180,000
Lee Watkinson	737,000
Huck Seed	650,000
Julian Gardner	630,000
Chad Brown	600,000
David Tran	580,000
Alex Kravchenko	550,000
Bill Edler	550,000
Daniel Alaei	520,000
Cliff Pappas	410,000
Scotty Nguyen	410,000
Thor Hansen	400,000
Nick Binger	400,000
Jason Lester	355,000
David Levi	350,000
Humberto Brenes	220,000
Bill Baxter	190,000

Pokerstars Online Qualifiers

Ryan Lawrence	1,325,000
Hevad Khan	1,180,000
Jeff Banghart	1,030,000
Jason Welch	690,000
Jason Sell	560,000
Karim Vegas	540,000
Robert Starkey	500,000
Andrew Gunderson	415,000
Zhuang Han	330,000
Marco Mills	300,000
Brian Tracy	250,000
Noah Schwartz	151,000

Player Tags: Scotty Nguyen,   Hoa Nguyen,   Dario Minieri,   Randy Jacobson

Hour One Recap

Jul 15, '07

The first hour of play on day six is over and already the field has narrowed to 31 players. ESPN film crews are swarming the tournament area in an effort to catch every piece of action and the shuffling of personnel has given the tournament area the feel of a madhouse. A player can't so much as raise the blinds without a camera directly in his face watching every moment.

Tran Donates a Little
David Tran came into day six as the official chip leader by only $30,000 but has taken a few hits in the first hour and has slipped down the leaderboard. Tran got involved in a pot with Jeff Bryan and both players saw a flop of A Q 4. Tran led out with a bet of $285,000 and Bryan called. The turn was the 6 and this time Tran turned up the heat with a $625,000 bet. Bryan thought for a moment and declared that he was all in for $1,215,000 more. Tran eyed his opponent and mucked his hand. Bryan picked up almost a $1,000,000 in chips without ever having to show his hand.

Movin' On Up
Shortly before being moved to the ESPN featured table, Daniel Alaei raised to $165,000 under the gun. David Tran, Philip Hilm and Jeff Bryan all made the call. "This would be a good time to get aces" joked Ryan Elson who was in the big blind. Elson looked at his cards and said "I raise." Elson counted out the $165,000 he owed and then said "I'm all in." The raise was for $1,540,000. Alaei folded, as did Tran. Hilm called from the four seat and Bryan got out of the way. Elson turned over 10 10 and Hilm was holding 6 6. The flop came 8 5 4 and Elson stood out of his seat and started yelling to his fans on the rail. The turn was the 9 and Elson started yelling for paint on the river. The river brought the Q and Elson doubled to over $3,000,000. While Elson stacked his newly acquired chips, he was so happy after doubling up that he folded his small blind without ever looking at his cards.

Freeman Takes a Hit
Scott "SCTrojans" Freeman took a $3,000,000 hit in the first hour courtesy of Raymone Rahme. Freeman and Rahme were all in before the flop with Freeman showing pocket kings and Rahme holding pocket aces. The board bricked out for both players and Rahme's aces held up, giving him the almost $6,000,000 pot.

Kevin Kim Eliminated in 32nd Place ($285,678)
Paulo Loureiro raised to $200,000 from the button and Kevin Kim reraises all in from the small blind for $380,000 more. Louriero thought for a moment and called. Kim showed A K and Loureiro was holding A 9. The flop came J 9 8 and Louriero jumped into the lead. The turn was the Q and Kim picked up a few more outs. Any spade, ten or king would give Kim the pot and keep him alive. The river proved unkind for Kim when it brought the 6. Louriero took down the pot and Kim was eliminated in 32nd place.

Recent Eliminations
36th Place - Robin Bergren ($285,678)
35th Place - Allan King ($285,678)
34th Place - Hoa Nguyen ($285,678)
33rd Place - Christian Togsverd ($285,678)
32nd Place - Kevin Kim ($285,678)

Notables

Lee Watkinson	3,650,000
Daniel Alaei	2,900,000
Alex Kravchenko	1,430,000
Scotty Nguyen	1,400,000

Pokerstars Online Qualifiers

Hevad Khan	7,100,000
Jason Welch	1,525,000

pokerstars.com

Player Tags: Hoa Nguyen,   David Tran,   Robin Bergren,   Paulo Loureiro,   Kevin Kim,   Philip Hilm,   Jeff Bryan,   Christian Togsverd,   Allan King,   Raymond Rahme,   Ryan Elson,   Scott Freeman

261 Players Remain

Jul 13, '07

The field has narrowed to 261 and play shows no sign of slowing down. There are 21 players with more than $1,000,000 in chips and PokerStars Supernova Dario Minieri is still the chip leader but has dropped to $1,900,000.

Tran Builds His Stack
Kenny Tran came into day four amongst the chip leaders and with $1,350,000 in chips, is making a strong push for the final table. Tran raised to $25,000 preflop and his opponent in seat two called. The flop came A J 6 and both players checked. The turn was the J and again both players checked. The river brought the 10 and Tran looked ready to fire. After a few seconds Tran decides against it and checks. The player in seat two checks behind and both players turn over their cards. The player in seat two shows 8 8 and Tran was holding K K. Tran took down the small pot and continues to hold strong near the top of the field.

Pete Had DeBest Hand
After a single preflop raise, Randy Jacobsen pushed all in from middle position. Pete DeBest was in the small blind with around $700,000 and called. The initial raiser got out of the way and Jacobsen, who qualifed on PokerStars, turned over 9 9. DeBest turned over his cards and said, "look who woke up in the small blind with aces," showing A A. The board came 6 4 2 J Q and Jacobsen was sent to the rail. After counting his newly acquired chips, DeBest shrugged his shoulders and said, "$980,000. Aw, I wanted to be a millionaire."

Not Afraid of the Champ
Hoa Nguyen made a small preflop raise and was called by Carlos Mortensen, Main Event champion in 2001. The flop came J 5 4 and Nguyen led out with a $30,000 bet. Mortensen called and the turn was the K. Nguyen checked and Mortensen fired out $100,000. Nguyen reraised to $400,000 and Mortensen took a moment before calling. The river was the 7 and both players checked. Nguyen turned over J 4, having flopped two pair and Mortensen just mucked his hand and was left with less than $200,000.

Scotty Makes a New Friend
Scotty Nguyen has found a new friend at his table in the early hours of day four and has been nice enough to give him some of his chips. Nguyen made a large preflop raise and was called by his friend in the seven seat. The flop came 9 9 2 and Nguyen bet out $34,000. The player in seat seven had Nguyen covered and pushed all in for around $450,000. Nguyen went deep into the tank and recalled an earlier hand with the same player. "You bluffing me now because I bluffed you earlier?" asked Nguyen. "I wouldn't do that. You're my idol Scotty." joked the player in seat seven. Nguyen folded 7 7 face up in an effort to get his opponent to do the same. The player in seat seven folded his cards face down and Nguyen quickly reached out to grab them. Nguyen was obviously joking and didn't actually grab the cards and continued to probe his "friend" for information. "You had A-9 or some sh** like that. I thought we were friends baby, you tried to embarass me on national TV!"

Gus Hansen	1,180,000
Lee Watkinson	737,000
Huck Seed	650,000
Julian Gardner	630,000
Chad Brown	600,000
David Tran	580,000
Alex Kravchenko	550,000
Bill Edler	550,000
Daniel Alaei	520,000
Cliff Pappas	410,000
Scotty Nguyen	410,000
Thor Hansen	400,000
Nick Binger	400,000
Jason Lester	355,000
David Levi	350,000
Humberto Brenes	220,000
Bill Baxter	190,000

Pokerstars Online Qualifiers

Ryan Lawrence	1,325,000
Hevad Khan	1,180,000
Jeff Banghart	1,030,000
Jason Welch	690,000
Jason Sell	560,000
Karim Vegas	540,000
Robert Starkey	500,000
Andrew Gunderson	415,000
Zhuang Han	330,000
Marco Mills	300,000
Brian Tracy	250,000
Noah Schwartz	151,000

Player Tags: Scotty Nguyen,   Hoa Nguyen,   Dario Minieri,   Randy Jacobson