Alexander Kravchenko Poker Tournament Updates

Round Two: Hour Three -- Gus Hansen Advances and The Magician Vanishes

Jun 01, '11

Note: Three blind levels will be played each hour, as each is just 20 minutes long. The only difference in round 2 is that the blinds begin at 300-600.

Players Remaining: 34 out of 128

Starting Stacks: 150,000 broken up into three chances — meaning that the players started with 50,000 and had 100,000 additional on the side that they could add on at anytime before a hand. If their additional chips were not in play when a hand begins, those chips couldn’t be used to wager with.

Ongoing Matches:

Eric Froehlich vs. Scott Clements
Kenny Tran vs. John Juanda

Eliminations:

Alexander Kravchenko
Lex Veldhuis
Justin Smith
Eugene Katchalov
Antonio Esfandiari
Gregory Brooks

Key Hands:

Gus Hansen Advances

Gregory Brooks and Gus Hansen saw an unraised flop of K K 2 and then Hansen bet 3,000. Brooks raised to 8,000 and Hansen made the call.

The 5 was dealt on the turn and both players checked. The 8 fell on the river and Hansen bet 16,100. Brooks raised to 53,300 and then Hansen reraised all in. Brooks made the all-in call for his final 28,000 and then they flipped over their cards:

Hansen: K 8
Brooks: 5 5

Hansen advanced to the round of 32 after the hand and Brooks was eliminated.

Antonio Esfandiari Eliminated by Maxim Lykov

Maxim Lykov limped on the button for 3,000 and Antonio Esfandiari raised to 18,000. Lykov reraised all in and Esfandiari made the call to cover him. Their cards:

Lykov: A Q
Esfandiari: J J

Board: K 6 2 3 Q

Lykov won the hand to double up and he was forced to shove with a short stack a short time later with J-8. He was far behind the A-K of Lykov and he was eliminated on the hand.

Alexander Kravchenko Eliminated

Alexander Kravchenko got the last of his chips all in preflop from the button and Armitraj Singh made the call. Their cards:

Kravchenko: A 10
Singh: A J

Board: K 4 3 8 7

Kravchenko was eliminated on the hand and an excited Singh advanced to tomorrow.

Player Tags: Gus Hansen,   Antonio Esfandiari,   Alexander Kravchenko,   Maxim Lykov

Alexander Kravchenko Takes the Lead

Sep 29, '10

Team PokerStars pro Alexander Kravchenko and Gianni Direnzo got all of their chips into the middle on a 9 8 2 flop. Their cards:

Kravchenko: 8 8
Direnzo: A A

Turn and River: 2 and K

Kravchenko won the hand with his crazy eights and Direnzo was eliminated. Kravchenko now holds the chip lead with 66,000.

Player Tags: Alexander Kravchenko

Level 27: Kravchenko Falls in 8th ($85,180)

Jul 04, '10

Blinds: 25,000-50,000

Players Remaining: 6 out of 346

Average Chip Count: 1,730,000

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Ludovic Lacay — 3,200,000
2. Ville Mattila — 1,880,000
3. Trevor Uyesugi — 1,050,000
4. Miguel Proulx — 1,510,000
5. Daniel Alaei — 1,530,000
6. Stephen Pierson — 560,000

Notable Eliminations:
8th – Alexander Kravchenko
7th – Dmitry Stelmak

Big Hands:

Kravchenko Falls in 8th ($85,180)

Ville Mattila raised to 110,000 and Alexander Kravchenko the last of his 225,000 in from the big blind. Mattila called and they showed down:

Mattila: J764
Kravchenko: A988

Kravchenko was in the lead and stayed that way on a QQ3 flop. The turn was the 7, giving both players straight draws but keeping Kravchenko ahead. The 5 river was a bad card for the Russian, as it gave Mattila his straight and eliminated Kravchenko in 8th place. He made $85,180.

Alaei KOs Stelmak in 7th ($111,524)

Dmitry Stelmak opened for 175,000 and Daniel Alaei moved all in, having Stelmak covered. Stelmak called and saw he was behind. Their hands:

Stelmak: AKQ6
Alaei: AAQ9

The flop missed everyone, running J48, but the 7 on the turn gave Stelmak the flush draw. The river brought the 2 and Alaei’s aces held up to boot Stelmak in 7th place, for $111,524.

Player Tags: Alexander Kravchenko,   Ville Mattila,   Dmitry Stelmak,   Trevor Uyesugi

Level Eight: Last Level Of The Night

Jun 24, '10

Flop Games: 600-1,200 blinds
Stud Games: 300 ante, 300 bring-in, 1,200-2,400 limits

Players Remaining: 169 out of 241

Average Chip Stack: 42,781

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Sergey Altbregin – 133,000
2. Carlos Mortensen – 125,000
3. Scotty Nguyen – 110,000
4. Sebastian Ruttenberg – 110,000
5. Matt Glantz – 98,000
6. Mikael Thuritz – 98,000
7. Chris Ferguson – 97,000
8. Scott Seiver – 95,000
9. Greg Raymer – 91,000
10. Todd Brunson – 85,000

Notable Eliminations:

Phil Ivey
Tom Dwan

Big Hands:

Razz

Kravchenko Takes One

Alexander Kravchenko completed to 1,200 and one player called. Kravchenko bet 1,200 on fourth street and was called.

Kravchenko then led out for 2,400 on every street after and was called down. Kravchenko tabled an 8-5-4-3-2 and it was good to take down the pot.

He was at 40,000 after the hand.

Stud

Juanda Takes One Off Barbieri

John Juanda completed to 1,200 and Al Barbieri made the call. Barbieri then led out for 1,200 on fourth street and Juanda raised to 2,400. Barbieri called and Juanda bet 2,400 on fifth street.

Barbieri called and both players checked on sixth street. On seventh street, Juanda was showing A476 and bet another 2,400.

Barbieri finally had enough and mucked his hand. Juanda took it down and he was at 20,000.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Alexander Kravchenko,   Al Barbieri

Level Nine: Kravchenko Eliminated

Jun 21, '10

Blinds: 600-1,200

Players Remaining: 120 out of 268

Average Chip Count: 67,000

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Thomas Marchese – 334,600
2. Nikolai Yakovenko – 236,300
3. Sirous Jamshidi – 205,000
4. Dani Stern – 200,500
5. Burt Boutin – 190,000
6. Ashton Griffin – 182,000
7. Daniel Smith – 178,000
8. Martin Kabrhel – 176,100
9. John Duthie – 171,400
10. Noah Boeken – 136,400

Notable Eliminations:

Alexander Kravchenko
David Peters
Humberto Brenes
Andy Bloch
Jonathan Little

Big Hands:

Kravchenko Busts

Alexander Kravchenko had his last 21,000 in chips committed into the pot on a 1094 flop.

Daniel Smith made the call to put Kravchenko at risk and turned over K10 for top pair. Kravchenko showed K9 for middle pair and needed some help.

The turn was the J and the river was the 2, offering no aid to Kravchenko and he was eliminated.

Peters Shot Down

David Peters found himself all in preflop with QQ. Unfortunately for him, his opponent was holding AA.

The board ran out K52JK and Peters was shown the door early on day two.

Humberto Brenes Eliminated

A hand after being knocked down to his last 5,000 in chips, Humberto Brenes was all in holding AJ.

Pierre Neuville woke up with AA and Brenes was in desperate need of a miracle.

But the board ran out K628 and Brenes was eliminated.

Player Tags: Humberto Brenes,   Alexander Kravchenko,   David Peters,   Daniel Smith

Round 5 Hour 2 Update: Day 2 Complete

Jun 20, '10

Blinds: 5,000-10,000

Players Remaining: 8 out of 256

Round Five Starting Chip Stack: 480,000

Notable Eliminations:

Vivek Rajkumar — $38,424
Bertrand Grospellier — $38,424
Phil Gordon — $38,424
Gavin Smith — $38,424

Notable Advancements to Round Six:

Faraz Jaka
Vanessa Rousso
Kido Pham
Jason Somerville
Ludovic Lacay
Alexander Kostritsyn

Player Twitter Accounts:

Faraz Jaka
Ludovic Lacay

Big Hands:

Bertrand Grospellier Eliminated

Bertrand Grospellier was all in for just 55,000 and Ludovic Lacay made the call. Grospellier tabled the KQ and was slightly behind the A10 of Lacay. The board ran out A7596 and Grospellier was gone.

Vanessa Rousso Advances

Vanessa Rousso limped and Vivek Rajkumar moved all in for 100,000. Rousso called and exposed the A3 and was behind the A8 of Rajkumar. Rajkumar witnessed one of the worst flops possible when it came 542. Rajkumar had outs to chop but the turn and river bricked for him and he was out.

Alex Kravchenko Eliminated

Ernst Schmejkal bet 16,000 and Alexander Kravchenko moved all in. Schmejkal called to put Kravchenko at risk. Kravchenko exposed the KQ and had live cards versus the A10 of Schmejkal. However, The board ran out J64710 and Kravchenko was gone.

Player Tags: Alexander Kravchenko,   Vanessa Rousso,   Bertrand Grospellier,   Vivek Rajkumar,   Ludovic Lacay

Deeb Still Healthy

Jun 15, '10

Blinds: 250-500

Remaining Players: 168 of 171

Leaderboard:
1. Michael Mizrachi — 74,000
2. Andy Bloch — 58,000
3. Carlos Mortensen — 41,500
4. David Benyamine — 41,000
5. Doyle Brunson — 40,000
6. Ray Hensen — 39,600
7. Justin Bonomo — 38,000
8. Greg DeBora — 38,000
9. Shaun Deeb — 37,400
10. Tom Dwan — 37,000

CP Family Chip Counts

Barry Shulman — 29,500
Jen Harman — 22,100
Daniel Negreanu: 25,500

Notable Eliminations:

Howard Lederer

Big Hands:

Deeb Runs Into Kings

Seat 6 made it 1,000 pre-flop and Shaun Deeb re-raised to 1,500. Seats 3 and 6 called and the flop came 225.

Seat 3 bet, seat 6 raised, and Deeb re-raised. Everyone called, and the turn brought the 8. Seat 3 bet, seat 6 folded and Deeb raised. Seat 3 called and on the 3 river Deeb check-called.

Seat 3 showed KK and Deeb mucked. His stack was still healthy after the loss, with around 37,000 in chips.

Kravchenko Flushes Meinders

Entering the action after the turn on a board of 5K73, Alexander Kravchenko check-called a bet from Brian Meinders, runner-up in event No. 23.

On the 8 Kravchenko led out and got a call. He flipped over J10 for a flush and Meinders mucked.

Kravchenko had around 31,000 after the hand.

The Professor In Getting Short

Howard Lederer check-raised Erik Sagstrom’s bet on a flop of K63 and was called. Lederer then led out on the Q turn and Sagstrom put in a raise. Lederer called and again check-called Sagstrom on the Q river.

Sagstrom showed Q6 for a full house and The Professor dropped to 3,100 in chips. Sagstrom was up to 42,000 after the hand.

Player Tags: Alexander Kravchenko,   Shaun Deeb,   Brian Meinders

And there were 4

Jun 07, '10

Chip Counts:

1. Yan Chen — 475,000
2. Make Wattel — 380,000
3. Derric Hayne — 145,000
4. Nick Binger – 85,000

Kravchenko is The Day’s First Victim, Finishes in 7th Place ($9,568)

Alexander Kravchenko was all in for his last 35,000 and was called by chip leader Mike Wattel. Kravchenko drew one and Wattel stood pat. Their hands:

Wattel: J-7-6-5-4
Kravchenko: 9-8-4-3-4

Kravchenko paired his 4 and was eliminated in 7th place, taking $9,568 in prize money.
Meanwhile, Wattell saw his stack grow to 310,000.

James Bord Falls in 6th Place ($12,997)

James Bord pushed his last 100,000 in and was called by Yan Chen. Bord drew one and Chen stood pat. Their hands:

Bord: 6-5-4-3-3
Chen: 9-7-6-4-3

Chen held the 9-low, and Bord paired his 3. Chen’s stack rose to 423,000, busting Bord in 6th place.

Bui Bounced in 5th ($18,096)

Todd Bui moved all in for 38,000 from the small blind and Yan Chen called, standing pat. Bui drew one and they showed down:

Chen: 10-8-7-4-3
Bui: 10-6-3-2… Bui’s drew an ace and was eliminated in 5th place. Chen soared into the chip lead, with 470,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Michael Wattel,   Todd Bui,   Alexander Kravchenko,   Yan Chen,   James Bord

Level Nine: Ulliott Cripples Gerasimov

Jun 04, '10

Blinds: Bring-in 300, ante 500, Limits 1,500-3,000

Players Remaining: 85 out of 150

Average Chip Count: 52,941

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Michael Mizrachi – 191,900
2. Vladimir Schmelev – 147,000
3. Eric Buchman – 135,000
4. Ray Dehkharghani – 108,300
5. Doyle Brunson – 105,100
6. David Ulliott – 105,000
7. Alexander Kostritsyn – 99,400
8. Men Nguyen – 97,700
9. Edouard Mignot Bonnefous – 97,500
10. Todd Barlow – 96,100

Notable Eliminations:

Nick Frangos

Big Hands:

The Devil Takes Gerasimov For A Ride

David Ulliott completed to 1,500 and Kirill Gerasimov raised to 3,000. Ulliott made the call and then he led out again with 1,500 on fourth street.

Gerasimov raised to 3,000 again and Ulliott called. Gerasimov led out on fifth street with 3,000 and Ulliott raised to 6,000. Gerasimov made the call and called another bet of 3,000 on sixth street. Ulliott bet 3,000 on seventh street and Gerasimov made a reluctant call.

Ulliott tabled (A6J)AJ96 for two pair. Gerasimov had no pair showing and mucked his hole cards after Ulliott showed down.

Gerasimov was down to just 3,500 while Ulliott was up to 84,000.

Schmelev Can’t Win Three-Way Pot, Chris Amaral Eliminated

Chris Amaral was all in by fourth street, leaving Craig Neilan and Vladimir Schmelev to contest a side pot.

Neilan eventually found himself all in on sixth street and showed (KKJ)K337 for a full house.

“I’m drawing dead,” Amaral said as he showed rolled up sixes. Schmelev had rolled up nines and the river was not the case nine as he mucked his hand and Neilan nearly tripled up to 60,000.

Schmelev was still relatively healthy after the pot at 147,000.

Bach Masters Nguyen

We caught up with this hand on seventh street. David Bach bet 3,000 and Men Nguyen made the call.

Bach was showing A584 and turned over (JJA) for two pair. Nguyen was showing A4KQ but mucked his hole cards when Bach showed his hand.

Bach was up to 53,000 while Nguyen was at 67,000.

Kravchenko Doubles Up, Still Ailing

We caught up with this hand on seventh street. Alexander Kravchenko was all in against Cory Zeidman. Kravchenko was dealt JJKK33-X for kings up. Zeidman could not beat it and mucked his hand.

Kravchenko doubled up but he was still very low on chips with just 7,000.

Player Tags: Cory Zeidman,   Kirill Gerasimov,   Alexander Kravchenko,   Vladimir Shchemelev,   Chris Amaral

Level 1 Update: Clements Off To Good Start

Jun 03, '10

Limits: Bring-in 50, Ante 50, Stakes 200-400

Average Chip Count:

Big Hands:

Clements Clubs Lindgren

Both Scott Clements and Erick Lindgren checked the first four cards with Clements showing 7Q and Lindgren showing K4.

Lindgren checked when he got the 9 on the next street and Clements bet 400 when he got the 7. Lindgren called and got the 5 next, checking to Clements who checked his 3.

Both players checked the last card and Clements showed he was essentially playing his visible pair of sevens, and his down cards were AJ2. The pair was good, and Lindgren mucked, down to around 29,400 in chips while Clements was up a bit, at 30,600.

Trips Take One From Negreau

Daniel Negreanu bet every street against Alexander Kravchenko and the player in seat 3. Seat 3 got out of the way after 5th street, but Kravchenko check-called until Negreanu bet on the 7th street. Here, he check-raised to 800 and Negreanu called.

Negreanu: (X-X)-3A77-X
Kravchenko: (88)-5108Q – (5)

Kravchenko’s full house took a nice early pot, boosting his stack to around 32,500, while Negreanu’s dropped to around 27,500.

Scotty Gets Flushed

On fourth street, Barry Greenstein check-called a bet from Scotty Nguyen with his board reading (X-X)-5-J. Nguyen’s board resembled (X-X)-8-9.

Greenstein picked up the 2 on fifth and check-called another bet from Nguyen who caught the 7. Nguyen now led on sixth when he caught the J and Greenstein called, who caught the 4.

On the river, Nguyen now checked and Greenstein bet and Nguyen called. Greenstein revealed the 4-10-7 in the hole to make a flush and send him the pot.

Lisandro Chipping Up

Jeffrey Lisandro bet on every street as the player in seat 3 called through 5th street. Their cards were:
Lisandro: (X-X) A8Q
Seat 3: (X-X) 6J5

Lisandro bet here and seat 3 gave his hand up to last year’s WSOP player of the year. Lisandro had aroudn 32,000 after the hand.

Left In the Deck:

Maybe Scotty Nguyen is changing his ways a little bit. He usually enjoys an alcoholic beverage while playing, but today, he is sitting with an O’Douls in front of him.

Men “The Master” Imposture

The real Men “The Master” Nguyen has arrived at the event, but apparently there is an imposture out there. Allen Kessler walked up to The Master to tell him that there is a fake Twitter account for Nguyen, and the account is saying some “nasty things.”

Ever so coolly, The Master responded with “So what?” and walked away.

Player Tags: Scotty Nguyen,   Erick Lindgren,   Barry Greenstein,   Men Nguyen,   Daniel Negreanu,   Jeffrey Lisandro,   Alexander Kravchenko,   Scott Clements

Level Nine: Ulliott Cripples Gerasimov

Jun 04, '10

Blinds: Bring-in 300, ante 500, Limits 1,500-3,000

Players Remaining: 85 out of 150

Average Chip Count: 52,941

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Michael Mizrachi – 191,900
2. Vladimir Schmelev – 147,000
3. Eric Buchman – 135,000
4. Ray Dehkharghani – 108,300
5. Doyle Brunson – 105,100
6. David Ulliott – 105,000
7. Alexander Kostritsyn – 99,400
8. Men Nguyen – 97,700
9. Edouard Mignot Bonnefous – 97,500
10. Todd Barlow – 96,100

Notable Eliminations:

Nick Frangos

Big Hands:

The Devil Takes Gerasimov For A Ride

David Ulliott completed to 1,500 and Kirill Gerasimov raised to 3,000. Ulliott made the call and then he led out again with 1,500 on fourth street.

Gerasimov raised to 3,000 again and Ulliott called. Gerasimov led out on fifth street with 3,000 and Ulliott raised to 6,000. Gerasimov made the call and called another bet of 3,000 on sixth street. Ulliott bet 3,000 on seventh street and Gerasimov made a reluctant call.

Ulliott tabled (A6J)AJ96 for two pair. Gerasimov had no pair showing and mucked his hole cards after Ulliott showed down.

Gerasimov was down to just 3,500 while Ulliott was up to 84,000.

Schmelev Can’t Win Three-Way Pot, Chris Amaral Eliminated

Chris Amaral was all in by fourth street, leaving Craig Neilan and Vladimir Schmelev to contest a side pot.

Neilan eventually found himself all in on sixth street and showed (KKJ)K337 for a full house.

“I’m drawing dead,” Amaral said as he showed rolled up sixes. Schmelev had rolled up nines and the river was not the case nine as he mucked his hand and Neilan nearly tripled up to 60,000.

Schmelev was still relatively healthy after the pot at 147,000.

Bach Masters Nguyen

We caught up with this hand on seventh street. David Bach bet 3,000 and Men Nguyen made the call.

Bach was showing A584 and turned over (JJA) for two pair. Nguyen was showing A4KQ but mucked his hole cards when Bach showed his hand.

Bach was up to 53,000 while Nguyen was at 67,000.

Kravchenko Doubles Up, Still Ailing

We caught up with this hand on seventh street. Alexander Kravchenko was all in against Cory Zeidman. Kravchenko was dealt JJKK33-X for kings up. Zeidman could not beat it and mucked his hand.

Kravchenko doubled up but he was still very low on chips with just 7,000.

Player Tags: Cory Zeidman,   Kirill Gerasimov,   Alexander Kravchenko,   Vladimir Shchemelev,   Chris Amaral

Level 1 Update: Clements Off To Good Start

Jun 03, '10

Limits: Bring-in 50, Ante 50, Stakes 200-400

Average Chip Count:

Big Hands:

Clements Clubs Lindgren

Both Scott Clements and Erick Lindgren checked the first four cards with Clements showing 7Q and Lindgren showing K4.

Lindgren checked when he got the 9 on the next street and Clements bet 400 when he got the 7. Lindgren called and got the 5 next, checking to Clements who checked his 3.

Both players checked the last card and Clements showed he was essentially playing his visible pair of sevens, and his down cards were AJ2. The pair was good, and Lindgren mucked, down to around 29,400 in chips while Clements was up a bit, at 30,600.

Trips Take One From Negreau

Daniel Negreanu bet every street against Alexander Kravchenko and the player in seat 3. Seat 3 got out of the way after 5th street, but Kravchenko check-called until Negreanu bet on the 7th street. Here, he check-raised to 800 and Negreanu called.

Negreanu: (X-X)-3A77-X
Kravchenko: (88)-5108Q – (5)

Kravchenko’s full house took a nice early pot, boosting his stack to around 32,500, while Negreanu’s dropped to around 27,500.

Scotty Gets Flushed

On fourth street, Barry Greenstein check-called a bet from Scotty Nguyen with his board reading (X-X)-5-J. Nguyen’s board resembled (X-X)-8-9.

Greenstein picked up the 2 on fifth and check-called another bet from Nguyen who caught the 7. Nguyen now led on sixth when he caught the J and Greenstein called, who caught the 4.

On the river, Nguyen now checked and Greenstein bet and Nguyen called. Greenstein revealed the 4-10-7 in the hole to make a flush and send him the pot.

Lisandro Chipping Up

Jeffrey Lisandro bet on every street as the player in seat 3 called through 5th street. Their cards were:
Lisandro: (X-X) A8Q
Seat 3: (X-X) 6J5

Lisandro bet here and seat 3 gave his hand up to last year’s WSOP player of the year. Lisandro had aroudn 32,000 after the hand.

Left In the Deck:

Maybe Scotty Nguyen is changing his ways a little bit. He usually enjoys an alcoholic beverage while playing, but today, he is sitting with an O’Douls in front of him.

Men “The Master” Imposture

The real Men “The Master” Nguyen has arrived at the event, but apparently there is an imposture out there. Allen Kessler walked up to The Master to tell him that there is a fake Twitter account for Nguyen, and the account is saying some “nasty things.”

Ever so coolly, The Master responded with “So what?” and walked away.

Player Tags: Scotty Nguyen,   Erick Lindgren,   Barry Greenstein,   Men Nguyen,   Daniel Negreanu,   Jeffrey Lisandro,   Alexander Kravchenko,   Scott Clements