Steve Gross - Live Updates

Level 9 Update -- Field Stands at 275

Oct 22, '09

Blinds: 800-1,600 with a 200 ante

Players Left: 139 of 275 (Official)

Average Chip Count 118,705

Chip Leaders

Steve Gross — 405,000
Corwin Cole — 390,000
Chad Batista — 360,000
Jason Sommerville — 360,000
Chau Giang — 350,000
Mike Leah — 340,000
Markus Gonsalves — 320,000
Chino Rheem — 315,000
Justin Young — 290,000
Mark Seif — 270,000

Card Player Chip Counts

Mike Matusow — 210,000
Barry Shulman — 65,000
Jennifer Harman — Eliminated

Notable Eliminations:

Jennifer Harman
James Van Alstyne
Phil Hellmuth
Paul Wasicka
Hoyt Corkins
Isaac Haxton
Isaac Baron
Brian Rast
Beth Shak
Allen Cunningham
Nick Schulman
Men Nguyen
Matt Graham
Kenny Tran
Yevgeniy Timoshenko

Level Summary:

The official number of players in the tournament stands at 275 and the total prize pool is more than $4 million. The full payout structure has yet to be released, but it should be out soon.

There were 30 players that decided to skip the first day of play here at Bellagio enter the tournament on day 2. Two of the biggest names in the field that decided to take this approach have already busted out of the tournament. Phil Hellmuth entered the field during level 7, but before level 9 came to a close he was eliminated. Two hands where Hellmuth held A-K ultimately led to his demise. Both hands were coin flips and each time Hellmuth lost the flip. On Hellmuth’s final hand Dee Loung held pocket jacks to send him to the rail.

Kenny Tran jumped into play near the end of level 9 and he lasted only a few minutes after his stack was blinded down to 48,000. Tran moved all in preflop KQ and Steve Gross made the call with 77. The board fired out A22K7 and Tran was quickly eliminated by the full house of Gross. The hand took the chip stack of Gross up to 405,000, which is good for the chip lead with one level left on day 2.

One of the best hands of the level involved Justin Young. He opened a pot for a raise from early position and the button called. The flop fell 875 and Young led out for 6,500. His opponent made the call and the turn fell Q. Young bet 13,500 and the button called again. The river fell 2 and Young fired out 25,000. The button raised to 75,000 and Young went into the tank. He eventually made the call and his opponent instantly mucked. Young flipped over A10 as he collected the pot and grew his stack to 290,000.

Player Tags: Phil Hellmuth,   Justin Young,   Kenny Tran,   Lee Duong,   Steve Gross

Level 12 Update: Torelli Crosses Million Mark

Jul 16, '09

Blinds: 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante

Players Remaining: 67 out of 268

Chip Counts:

1. Alec Torelli — 1,100,000
2. Faraz Jaka — 660,000
3. Vivek Rajkumar — 510,000
4. Anthony Spinella — 490,000
5. Ray Henson — 460,000
6. Sam Stein — 455,000
7. Terry Fleischer — 448,000
8. Tommy Hang — 390,000
9. David Levi — 375,000
10. Cornel Andrew Cimpan — 365,000

Average Chip Count: 240,000

Notable Eliminations:

David Baker
Daniel Drescher
Tony Dunst
Owen Crowe
Surinder Sunar
Justin Filtz
Philippe Rouas
Steve Gross

Hand of the Level:

David Levi Doubles Up and Cripples Steve Gross

On a flop of A74, both David Levi and Steve Gross checked. The turn was the 2 and Levi checked. Gross bet 28,000 and Levi check-raised to 70,000.

Gross decided to call and the river was the 9. Levi moved all in for his last 81,000 and Gross called with A-4 for a slowplayed two pair. Unfortunately for the Online Player of the Year candidate, Levi showed down A7 for a better two pair.

After the hand, Gross was left with just 40,000 while Levi moved up to 375,000. Gross was eliminated shortly afterwards.

Player Tags: David Levi,   Steve Gross

Level 10 Update: Two Williams' With One Stone

May 30, '09

Blinds: 400-800 with 100 ante

Players Remaining: 376 out of 3,000

Notable Eliminations:

Jeff Williams
David Williams
James Mackey
Steve Gross

Big Hands:

First Round Knockout

David Williams raised to 2,000 on the very first hand of level 10. The player in seat 8 then came over the top, moving all in for his last 15,000, more than enough to cover Williams’ remaining 9,000. Williams made the call and showed A10. He was racing against his opponent’s 99. The board ran out Q626K, failing to help Williams and he was out.

Aguiar Wins Battle of the Blinds, Has Huge Stack

Action folded around to the player in seat 5 in the small blind. He completed the bet and Aguiar checked his option from the big blind. The players checked the flop and turn, which brought 864K. The river was the 8 and the small blind checked again. Aguiar decided to fire 1,100 and his opponent quickly mucked. Aguiar’s stack has ballooned to over 65,000.

Jeff Williams’ Sailboats Capsize in the River

Jeff Williams raised to 1,100 from middle position and action folded around to the big blind. He made it 4,000 total and Williams went in the tank. After much thought, he pushed in his remaining 13,000 into the middle. The big blind thought briefly and made the call, tabling AK. Williams showed 44 and it was the classic race situation. The flop came down 862, giving the big blind a higher flush draw. The turn was a blank with the 9 and Williams was set to take the huge pot. But the river brought the 7, giving his opponent the flush.

As the dealer counted the chips, Williams asked, “All of it?” Unfortunately for Williams, it was all of it as he was covered and he was knocked out of the tournament.

Sung Picking Up Some Chips

Steve Sung is trying to build his stack to a respectable size. He called 800 from the button and the blinds joined the action. The flop came 1094 and the blinds checked. Sung fired 1,300 and it was enough to take the pot.

Later, the player in seat 1 raised to 2,300 in late position and Sung repopped it to 6,000 total. Seat 1 mucked and Sung took in some more chips. His stack is around 22,000.

Aguiar Steamrolling Competition, Adds Steve Gross to Hit List

Steve Gross raised to 2,000 preflop and Jonathan Aguiar made the call. The flop came 763 and Aguiar bet 3,800. Gross popped it to 8,500 and Aguiar pushed his gigantic stack all in, putting Gross to a decision for all of his chips. Gross made the call and turned over J-7 for top pair on the board, but Aguiar tabled pocket nines for an overpair. The board gave no help to Gross as it ran out 210 and he made his way to the rail. Aguiar appears to be amongst the chip leaders with a sick stack of almost 80,000.

Player Tags: David Williams,   Steve Sung,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Steve Gross,   Jeff Williams

Level 9 Update: Jesus Fades Away

May 30, '09

Blinds: 300-600 with 75 ante

Players Remaining: 580 out of 3,000

Notable Eliminations:

Marco Traniello
Chris Ferguson
Craig Grey

Big Hands:

Jesus Can’t Connect and is Gone

Chris Ferguson moved all in and was called by the player in seat 6. She tabled AK and was leading Ferguson’s J10. The board ran out 73227 and Ferguson made his way to the exit.

Aguiar Drops a Pot, Stack Barely Feels a Thing

Action folded around to Jonathan Aguiar on the button and he eyed the big blind’s stack like a hungry lion after a zebra. After his evaluation, he raised it to 1,500. The small blind folded and the big blind made the call, refusing to be pushed around. The flop came Q53 and the big blind pounced, pushing all in for about 4,000. Aguiar saw this zebra was not ready to die and mucked his cards. Despite the loss, Aguiar’s stack sat at a healthy 35,000.

Not so Gross for Gross

As the player in seat 2 evaluated his hand and decided to push all in, Steve Gross all but hesitated to do the same. With a reaction that fast Gross flipped his hand showing pocket aces while his opponent showed 87. The board produced a flush possibility but failed to connect for seat 2 and he was eliminated. Gross improved his stack to roughly 20,000.

Williams With the Knockout

David Williams called his opponent’s all in bet, showing A9. His opponent showed a meager J2. The flop paired Williams’ 9 and the river piled on the A to give Williams two-pair and the hand. His stack was up to 14,600.

Mercier Busts One

The player in seat 9 moved all in and Jason Mercier made the call. He tabled A10 while seat 9 showed K-7 offsuit. The board ran out Q102J6 and Mercier busted his opponent, improving his stack to 24,500.

Left In The Deck:

Jason Mercier pushed all in against the player in seat 5. Seat 5 folded and Mercier took the pot. After the hand, Tom Franklin said, “That’s a good bet there, you scared everybody off. Isn’t your name Jason?” Mercier replied, “Yeah, how do you know my name?” Franklin replied, “You’re famous!” Mercier then countered, “Well, not in America.” Franklin shot back, “I didn’t say in America!”

Mercier than asked Franklin if his name was Tom. Franklin took off his hat, which reads “Captain Tom” and replied, “Obviously.” Mercier laughed and said, “I wasn’t looking at the hat, I promise.”

Player Tags: Tom Franklin,   Chris Ferguson,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Steve Gross,   Jason Mercier

Steve "gboro780" Gross Eliminated

Mar 16, '09

Steve Gross is the first casualty of the tournament, approximately one hour into play. There were multiple limpers into the pot preflop and Ed Perry raised it up to 300. Everyone called and saw a flop of J-7-4 with two hearts. Perry continued with a bet of 1,100 and Gross was the only called.

The turn was a five and Perry bet 2,500. Gross raised to 7,800 and Perry made the call. The river was a brick and Gross moved all in for about 19,000 in chips. Perry snap-called, tabling pocket aces and Gross could only show 65 for a busted straight and flush draw.

Needless to say, Perry is now the chip leader.

The field has grown to 99 players since the last update.

 

Player Tags: Steve Gross,   Ed Perry

NHLE/Rebuys - Steve Gross 9th place / Jamie Rosen 8th Place

Jun 05, '08

Blinds/Antes: 8,000-16,000 with a 2,000 ante

Players Left: 7

Eliminations:

Big Hands:

The first four hands of the night consisted of single raise steals while it was the fifth hand that brought us the first two eliminations. Peter Gould had the button when Steve Gross moved all in from the short stack for 104,000. Jamie Rosen re-shoved behind him for 421,000 and Lyric Duveyoung came over the top and moved all in behind them for a total of 605,000. It was a three-way all in and Duveyoung had them both covered.

Player Tags: Lyric Duveyoung,   Steve Gross,   Jamie Rosen