Level 8 Hour 1 Update: Mike Matusow, Gavin Smith Eliminated
Jul 07, '09
Blinds: 400-800 with a 100 ante
Players Remaining: 828 out of 1476
Chip Counts:
1. Samer Rahman – 325,000
2. Greg Mueller – 275,000
3. Andy Black – 164,000
4. Chris Ferguson – 145,000
5. Tom Schneider – 140,000
6. Mike Sexton – 136,000
7. Jani Sointula – 135,000
8. Juha Helppi – 133,000
9. Vitaly Lunkin – 121,000
10. Greg Raymer – 118,000
CardPlayer Chip Counts:
Ciaran O’Leary – 33,400
Average Chip Count Day 2A: 66,595
Notable Eliminations:
Mike Gracz
Todd Brunson
Alex Kravchenko
Mike Matusow
Gavin Smith
Big Hands:
Mike Matusow Eliminated
Mike Matusow committed the last of his short stack (about 6,000) preflop from early position and was reraised by another opponent, who made it 15,000 to go. Everyone else at the table mucked and Matusow tabled the K
Q
but was up against the worst possible hand, the pocket kings of his opponent. The board bricked out for Matusow and he was sent to the rail a year after a deep run in the 2008 main event.
Jim Bechtel Doubles Up
Jim Bechtel saw a disaster flop of J107
and got all his money in. Bechtel was called quickly by an opponent who tabled the AA. Bechtel was way behind with the KJ and needed get lucky to survive. The turn was the 3, giving Bechtel a backdoor flush draw and a lot of extra outs to survive. One of them came as the 9 fell on the river, giving Bechtel a big double up to 71,000 chips.
Brad Garrett Knocks Out Opponent
TV star Brad Garrett held the AA and called the all in bet of another player with the 77. The all-in bet was for 19,700 after Garrett made it 1,600 preflop. The board ran out 6
53Q8 and Garrett eliminated his opponent, building his stack to 78,000.
Greg Mueller Building a Huge Stack
After the two-time bracelet winner from this summer made it 2,200 preflop, a player on the button moved all in for 10,200. The small blind smooth called and Mueller elected to call as well. Three players saw a flop of K54. The small blind checked to Mueller who wasn’t content with just checking it down. Mueller threw out a bet of 10,000 and the small blind folded. Mueller exposed the 89 for nine-high while the all-in player exposed the A10 for ace-high and the lead. The J hit the turn as Mueller still remained live to hit one of his cards. The pair got there as the 9 fell on the river. Mueller knocked out his opponent and is up to 275,000 in chips.
Gavin Smith Eliminated
Gavin Smith got the rest of his stack into the middle in a coin flip situation. Smith held the AQ and was up against the pocket eights of an unknown opponent. The flop came 765, giving Smith the nut flush draw to go along with his two overs, while his opponent flopped an open ended straight draw. The board bricked out for Smith as it came 7J, as he was sent to the rail late on day two.
Grant Levy Doubles Up
Grant Levy moved all in from middle position after a raising battle with the big blind. The big blind tabled the AK and was flipping against the QQ of Levy. The queens held as the board ran out 87396. Levy is now at 98,000 in chips.
Player Tags: Greg Mueller, Mike Matusow, Gavin Smith, Brad Garrett, Grant Levy, Jim Bechtel
Level 6 Hour 2 Update: Erik Seidel Doubles, Barry Greenstein Doesn't
Jul 07, '09
Blinds: 250-500 with a 50 ante
Day 2A Field: 1,476
Chip Counts:
1. Samer Rahman – 235,000
2. Coba Cao – 175,000
3. Andy Black – 160,000
4. Redmond Lee – 160,000
5. Chris Ferguson – 145,000
6. Fabrice Soulier – 143,000
7. Jim Bookstaff – 137,000
8. Nick Maimone – 130,000
9. Tom Schneider – 125,000
10. Craig Hopkins – 121,000
CardPlayer Chip Counts:
Todd Brunson – 38,000
Ciaran O’Leary – 33,400
Mike Matusow – 28,000
Notable Eliminations:
Raymond Davis
Barry Greenstein
Mark Newhouse
Big Hands:
The Ladies Hooked By Seidel
The player under the gun raised preflop and the action was on Erik Seidel. He moved all in for around 12,000 and he was called by the player under the gun.
Seidel: JJ
Opponent: QQ
Seidel was dominated, but the flop changed that rather quickly as it fell K6J. Seidel had the set and the lead. The turn was the 2 and the river was the A and Seidel doubled up to 25,000.
The Real Amarillo Slim Standing Tall
Amarillo Slim Preston was involved in a hand with one opponent and the flop came down KJ10. Both players checked and the turn was the K. Preston raised to almost 10,000 after his opponent had led out for 2,800. The raise was called and the river was 2.
Both players checked and Preston showed 1010 for a flopped set of tens. His opponent mucked and Preston was around 80,000.
Robin Hood Sent Packing
Barry Greenstein moved in for his last 10,000 preflop and Eric Tomberlin made the call. Greenstein showed down JJ, but was dominated by Tomberlin’s KK.
The board ran out 106410Q and Greenstein was shown the door.
Grant Levy Scores The K.O.
Grant Levy called his opponent’s all in bet and turned over AK. His opponent tabled QQ and the race was on. The flop came J74, giving both players a club draw with Levy’s being superior. The turn was the 3 and Levy locked up the hand. The river was the meaningless 3 and Levy was at 70,000.
Tom Schneider Folds To Rockets
The player in seat 5 raised to 1,200 and Tom Schneider made the call from the button. The big blind also came along and they all saw a flop of 1044. The big blind checked and seat 5 bet 2,500. Schneider called and the big blind mucked. The turn was the Q and seat 5 led out with 6,000. Schneider called again just in time for the ESPN cameras to arrive.
The river was the 2 and seat 5 fired 11,000. Schneider thought about it and then mucked his hand. “Come on, show the bluff,” Pamela Brunson said. “The cameras are all here to see it,” Schneider added. Seat 5 obliged to showing his hand, but it was no bluff as he turned over AA. Schneider was at 125,000.
Brad Garrett Takes A Pot
A player raised to 1,300 and Brad Garrett made the call from middle position. The button also called and the small blind did the same. The four players saw a flop of Q73 and the small blind bet 2,400. The original raiser folded and Garrett made it 5,000 to go. The small blind was the only caller and the turn was the 9. The small blind checked to Garrett who fired out 5,000. The small blind mucked and Garrett was at 44,000.
Shaun Deeb In A Gamblin’ Mood
Vitaly Lunkin raised to 1,400 preflop and two players called. The action was then on Shaun Deeb on the button and he raised to 6,200. The big blind then moved all in for 25,000. The action folded around to Deeb and he made the call. He tabled KJ, trailing the big blind’s A10.
The flop then fell J76 and Deeb was out in front. The turn was the Q giving the big blind a straight draw, but the river was the Q and Deeb got the knockout. He was at 75,000.
Player Tags: Erik Seidel, Barry Greenstein, Tom Schneider, Brad Garrett, Shaun Deeb, Grant Levy, Amarillo Slim
Some familiar faces have fallen early on day 2. They include Australian Grant levy and former November Niner Scott Montgomery.
3
3
10
9
Stewart Scott raised to 40,000 and Grant Levy moved all in for 450,000. Scott called and they flipped up their cards:
The flop read A