Pot-Limit Hold'em - Level 15
Jun 03, '08
Players returned after enjoying an extended 20-minute break as tournament officials used the chance to color up the chip stacks. There are 15 players remaining in the field.
Blinds: 3000/6000
Players left: 10
Eliminations: Eric Shanks, Scott Seiver, Philip Yeh, Douglas Carli, Brandon Schaefer.
Story Lines:
Work Before Play -- But Not Food
With a rash of player eliminations as the clock wound down in Level 15, players suddenly had a choice to make. They were down to 10-handed, with one more elimination needed before an official final table would be declared. The question was, do they continue playing, or break for dinner? The kitchen can take it as a vote of confidence that the players opted for the meal, which for one player can double as the Last Supper.
Big Hands:
The calm before the storm had players at ease, as for the first 40-45 minutes flops were harder to find than a quality sit-com. But that all changed with a series of all-ins and player eliminations in the waning minutes of Level 15.
Seiver Busts Out in a Flurry
Scott Seiver battled for the chip lead much of the event, and authored the first elimination of the level when his A
K bested the A
9 of Eric Shanks. Seiver hit the K
on the flop and never looked back, taking about 65,000 from Shanks who finished in 15th place.
Seiver had earlier been active stealing blinds, though twice folded to check -raises, but suffered his first blow when his raise to 16,000 from the button was met by a reraise from Joe Tehan in the big blind. Tehan went to 48,000, but this time Seiver resisted and fired back to the tune of 144,000. Tehan had 163,000 in chips remaining when the decision loomed, and elected to push all-in, drawing the call from Seiver. Seiver showed 6
6 while a relieved Tehan had QQ. The flop came 938, and the 10 on the turn gave Seiver additional outs, but the 10 on the river shipped the pot of over 400,000 to Tehan.
After busting Shanks, Seiver then dropped another pot of 155,000 when his 1010 was up against the all-in AK of Jacobo Fernandez. In his last stand, Seiver then pushed his final 40,000 into the center with A9 -- ironically the same hand that busted Shanks -- and Seiver fell to Russell Harriman who held A10. The flop of 1086 gave Seiver gut-shot straight possibilities, but the 5 turnand 4 river ended his event in stunning fashion
Yeh Crowned by King
Philip Yeh, second in chips to begin the day, was eliminated in 13th place. The initial damage came in a match-up with Robert Lipkin. After a flop of J86, Lipkin bet 24,000 when the 5 came on the turn. Yeh made the call, and the 10 came as the river. Yeh checked, Lipkin bet 20,000 and Yeh debated what to do with his remaining 48,000. In the end he folded and Lipkin showed the A5 for bottom pair.
Yeh was then eliminated when he pushed with 77 and ran into the AA of Zach King.
Two More Fall
Brandon Schaefer and Douglas Carli were the final two victims before 10-handed play was to begin. Carli persevered despite beginning the day with less than 10,000. Carli and Joe Tehan were two of the eight sub-10,000 shortstacks to begin the day, with Tehan now sitting comfortably among the final 10.
Player Tags: Joe Tehan, Brandon Schaefer, Robby Lipkin, Scott Seiver, Phil Yeh
Pot-Limit Hold'em - End of Day
Jun 02, '08
Blinds: 600/1200
Players Left: 63
Average Stack: $33,952
Chip Leaders:
Robert Workman - 146,800
Philip Yeh - 143,000
David Singer - 123,600
Bobby Law - 85,500
Scott Seiver - 71,200
Jacob Fernandez - 69,100
Ryan Fair - 67,700
Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri - 63,500
Justin Young - 63,200
Russell Harriman - 61,800
End of Day:
Philip Yeh made all the right moves to move among the chip leaders after Day 1 of the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em Event. Yet his best move may have been the one he made a year ago, when the native of Sweden decided to make Las Vegas his full time home.
”I still have my Swedish citizenship,” said the 22-year old product of Stenungsund, a city on the country’s west coast. “I came here a year ago, and live here now. Last year was my first World Series, I played five or six events.”
Significant was his 40th place finish in the main event, which means preparing for Day 2 of the $1,500 event won’t cost him any sleep.
Robert Workman, who has 146,800 in chips, leads Yeh who has 143,000. Yeh was buoyed just after the dinner break when he cracked pocket aces with pocket queens.
”I raised a little less than three times the blind, one from the cutoff, and the button smooth-called,” said Yeh. “The flop came queen, jack, deuce, with two spades, and I bet about two-thirds the pot. He reraised me, big, and I reraised again. He was pretty much committed. It was an 89,900 pot.”
David Singer has also topped the 100,000 mark, with a chip count of 123,600.
The 63 remaining players return for Day 2 beginning at 2 p.m. and will play until a final table of nine remains.
Player Tags: David Singer, Phil Yeh
Gray dodges and doubles