Joseph Elpayaa Poker Tournament Updates

Level 8 Update: Approaching 200

Nov 13, '10

Blinds: 400-800 with a 100 ante

Players Remaining: 210 (Approximate)

Eliminations:

Soheil Shamseddin
Vivek Rajkumar
Jon Turner

Big Hands

Elpayaa Wins a Close One

Joseph Elpayaa bet 2,000 preflop and the button made the call. The 8 3 3 6 board was checked down until Elpayaa bet 2,200. His opponent made the call and then both players checked the K on the river. The button flipped over A 10 but Elpayaa revealed A 6 to win the hand.

Frank Kassela Misses on a Semi Bluff

The hijack bet 2,300 and Frank Kassela made the call from the small blind. Both players checked the 10 9 6 on the flop and the A fell on the turn. The hijack bet 2,500 and Kassela raised to 5,500. The hijack made the call and the river fell 5. Both players checked again and Kassela flipped over Q J. His opponent showed down A Q to win the hand.

Poker Tweets

Left in the Deck

A Tough Table Develops

As tables have broken throughout the day and redistributed top player all over the tournament field a tough table has developed. That table is number 23 and the current lineup includes Allen Kessler, Ben Klier, Eric Hershler, Hafiz Khan, and Jon Eaton.

Player Tags: Frank Kassela,   Daniel Negreanu,   Jon Turner,   Joseph Elpayaa

Level 15 Update: Day 3 Ends

Oct 17, '10

NOTE: Day 3 has come to a close and there are 41 players still in the hunt at the WPT Festa al Lago $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event. Play will resume tomorrow at noon PST. Check back in at CardPlayer.com at that time for more live coverage of the event and videos from CardPlayer TV. Stay tuned for official chip counts and a recap of the day’s events.

Blinds: 2,500-5,000 with a 500 ante

Players Remaining: 41 out of 335

Chip Counts:

1. Steve O’Dwyer — 910,000
2. Randal Flowers — 795,000
3. Jeff Madsen — 750,000
4. Jason Koon — 705,000
5. Brandon Steven — 670,000
6. Ryan Goindoo — 650,000
7. Andreas Hoivold — 470,000
8. Jared Jaffee — 426,500
9. Daniel Alaei — 415,000
10. Michael Benvenuti — 400,000

Average Chip Count: 326,829

Notable Eliminations:

Steve Brecher
Men Nguyen
Joe Tehan
Gavin Smith

Big Hands:

Gavin Smith Eliminated in 48th Place ($12,896)

Jimmy Tran raised to 17,000 from the hijack and Gavin Smith reraised all in for 47,000 from the cutoff. The two players then revealed their cards after everyone else mucked:

Tran: A J
Smith: 7 7

Board: K 10 9 3 Q

Tran made a Broadway straight, which brought Smith’s tournament run to an end in 48th place. He was awarded $12,896 in prize money.

Owen Crowe Eliminated on the Money Bubble

Owen Crowe was on an extremely short stack when he decided to move all in preflop from late position and Gavin Smith reraised all in over the top of him from the cutoff. Their cards:

Crowe: Q 10
Smith: A K

Board: J 7 4 J 7

Crowe was eliminated on the money bubble after the hand.

Allen Kessler Doubles up Through the Chip Leader

Steve O’Dwyer raised to 13,000 from middle position preflop and Allen Kessler reraised to 50,000 from the hijack. O’Dwyer asked for a count and he was informed that Kessler held 61,000. O’Dwyer moved all in and Kessler made the all-in call. Their cards:

Kessler: A K
O’Dwyer: J J

Board: A 10 7 2 2

Kessler won the hand to double up to 230,000 and O’Dwyer took a hit down to 910,000.

Joe Elpayaa Doubles up on a Long Shot

Joe Elpayaa moved all in under the gun for 68,000 seat 6 made the call from the small blind. Their cards:

Elpayaa: A Q
Seat 6: 8 8

Board: 8 3 2 5 4

Elpayaa doubled up on the hand to survive with 140,000.

Poker Tweets

Player Tags: Jimmy Tran,   Gavin Smith,   Allen Kessler,   Owen Crowe,   Joseph Elpayaa,   Steve O'Dwyer

Final Table Update: Joseph Elpayaa Eliminated In 4th Place, Rutter 3rd

Jun 03, '10

Blinds: 15,000-30,000 with a 4,000 ante

Players Remaining: 2 out of 358

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Joshua Tieman – 7,719,000
2. Neil Channing – 1,281,000

Notable Eliminations:

4. Joseph Elpayaa — $125,387
3. Stuart Rutter — $273,153

Big Hands:

Joseph Elpayaa Eliminated In 4th Place ($125,387)

Joseph Elpayaa found himself all in against Joshua Tieman. Elpayaa turned over AJ and was trailing Tieman’s 1010.

The board ran out 763510 and Elpayaa made his exit in fourth place.

Stuart Rutter Eliminated In 3rd Place ($273,153)

Stuart Rutter raised to 68,000 from the button and Joshua Tieman raised to 185,000 from the big blind. Rutter then popped it to 500,000.

Tieman raised that bet to 2 million, to which Rutter replied, “all in.” Tieman made the call and turned over AQ, dominating Rutter’s A10.

The board ran out Q73A3 and Rutter was eliminated.

Player Tags: Joshua Tieman,   Joseph Elpayaa,   Stuart Rutter

Final Table to Kick Off at 2:30

Jun 03, '10

Neil Channing has won a title in Ireland and now is looking to add a WSOP bracelet to his collection of titles.

Channing headlines a final table that includes Joe Elpayaa, Stuart Rutter, Josh Tieman, Brent Hanks, and Nicolas Levi. The final six will be back in the Amazon room at 2:30 p.m. to fight for the $441,692 first place prize money and for somebody to win their first bracelet.

Stay tuned to Card Player for updates on the final table and to see who can win their third table to take home a bracelet.

Player Tags: Neil Channing,   Joseph Elpayaa,   Stuart Rutter

Level 17 Update: Master's Stack Grows

May 31, '10

Blinds: 3,000-6,000 with a 500 ante

Players Remaining: 77 out of 4,345

Average Chip Count: 146,460

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Drew Crawford – 640,000
2. Marc Goldman – 265,000
3. Andrew Youngblood – 215,000
4. Jeremiah Degreef – 170,000
5. Nancy Todd Tyner – 161,000
6. Terry Fleischer – 130,000
7. Adam Shuman – 130,000
8. Braxton Dunaway – 130,000
9. Zvi Groysman – 130,000
10. David Vanwert – 126,000

Notable Eliminations:

Lee Markholt – $3,988
Joe Elpayaa – $3,988

Big Hands:

The Master Finds Aces, a Voice, and a Double Up

It seemed like all of a sudden, Men “The Master” Nguyen had all of his chips in the middle preflop and was called by his opponent. His opponent had AK and Nguyen had AA. The board ran out 58329, giving Nguyen the pot and doubling him up to 205,000.

The double up came right as one of his Coronas were arriving to the table. “All you can eat baby,” said Nguyen as he was taking his drink from the waiter. Nguyen has been quite talkative since the newly acquired chips.

Lee Markholt Eliminated

Lee Markholt’s dwindling stack got into the middle with KJ and was up against his opponent’s AQ.

The board was 337910 and Markholt was eliminated.

Elpayaa Runs Into Rockets

Joe Elpayaa got almost all of his chips in the middle after a raising war preflop. Elpayaa turned over QQ and his opponent showed him AA

The board was queen-less for Elpayaa and he was crippled with less than 10,000. He was eliminated a few hands later and.

Chris Bjorin Eliminated

Chris Bjorin open shipped for 48,500 and was called by an opponent. Bjorin tabled the AJ and was up against the pocket nines of his opponent. Bjorin failed to improve and was eliminated.

Player Tags: Chris Bjorin,   Lee Markholt,   Joseph Elpayaa

Joe Elpayaa Eliminated in 16th Place ($38,092)

Dec 18, '09

The action folded around to John Juanda in the small blind and he put Joe Elpayaa all in for his last 425,000. Elpayaa called with pocket sevens and had to outrace Juanda’s A8.

The board came AJ2K3 and Elpayaa was eliminated. Juanda is now stacked with about 2.55 million.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Joseph Elpayaa

Jeremy Brown Eliminated in 19th Place ($28,569)

Dec 17, '09

Joe Elpayaa raised on the button and both Jeremy Brown (small blind) and Faraz Jaka (big blind) made the call. The flop was dealt KJ4 and Brown and Jaka checked. Elpayaa bet 110,000 and Brown raised all in. Jaka reraised all in over the top of Brown for 564,000 and Elpayaa went into the tank. He eventually mucked pocket aces face up. The two remaining players then fliped over their cards:

Brown: KQ
Jaka: KJ

Turn and River: 6 and 8

Brown was eliminated on the hand and Jaka grew his stack to 1,150,000.

Player Tags: Jeremy Brown,   Joseph Elpayaa,   Faraz Jaka

Joe Elpayaa Eliminated in 16th Place ($38,092)

Dec 18, '09

The action folded around to John Juanda in the small blind and he put Joe Elpayaa all in for his last 425,000. Elpayaa called with pocket sevens and had to outrace Juanda’s A8.

The board came AJ2K3 and Elpayaa was eliminated. Juanda is now stacked with about 2.55 million.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Joseph Elpayaa

Jeremy Brown Eliminated in 19th Place ($28,569)

Dec 17, '09

Joe Elpayaa raised on the button and both Jeremy Brown (small blind) and Faraz Jaka (big blind) made the call. The flop was dealt KJ4 and Brown and Jaka checked. Elpayaa bet 110,000 and Brown raised all in. Jaka reraised all in over the top of Brown for 564,000 and Elpayaa went into the tank. He eventually mucked pocket aces face up. The two remaining players then fliped over their cards:

Brown: KQ
Jaka: KJ

Turn and River: 6 and 8

Brown was eliminated on the hand and Jaka grew his stack to 1,150,000.

Player Tags: Jeremy Brown,   Joseph Elpayaa,   Faraz Jaka

Go Home Joe

Dec 09, '08

Joseph Elpayaa was back down to just under 9,000, but as soon as we walked away from him, he was gone. His nut flush draw never materialised and his opponent with top pair took his chips.

Player Tags: Joseph Elpayaa

Double Ups Galore

Nov 15, '08

Joe Elpayaa has been in search of a double up for most of the day. When the player in seat 6 raised to 850, it was the perfect time for Elpayaa to reraise all in for 2,225 with JJ.

Seat 6 called with AK and the cards were dealt:

108485

Elpayaa finally found what he was looking for and moves on up to 4,450. All he needs now is a couple more double ups to stand a chance of survival.

Ilari Sahamies was only sitting down five minutes when he discovered his pocket aces. All we know is his opponent didn't stand a chance when Sahamies hit a set on the turn and his opponent mucked. Sahamies sits on a healthy stack of 18,000 chips.

Player Tags: Joseph Elpayaa

Elpayaa Can't Get Paid

Nov 15, '08

Joe Elpayaa is down to 2,425 in chips. He just went all in and was called by the button who then shows AK. Elpayaa showed another variation of the monster hand, and the board fell A9266. Elpayaa couldn't catch a break and it's a chop chop. Anthony Lellouche is also on the table. He is in a better position however with 27,000 chips.

Player Tags: Joseph Elpayaa

Quicks Busts After Dinner

Oct 04, '08

Both Robert Firestone and Joe Elpayaa have fallen shortly in to play after the dinner break. Elpayaa had been on a short stack all day, and his frustration was showing at the tables, while Firestone met an untimely end to take him to the rail. He was all in preflop with A-Q, but Gualter Salles called him down with J-7 and spiked a 7 on the flop.














 

Player Tags: Robert Firestone,   Joseph Elpayaa,   Gualter Salles

Alan Smurfit Doubles Up

Oct 04, '08

With blinds at 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante Joe Elpayaa opens the pot for a standard raise under the gun. Johannes Strassmann reraises to 61,000 from middle position, leaving him 378,000 behind, and Alan Smurfit moves all in for 120,000 from the cutoff. Elpayaa folds and Strassmann makes the call. Their cards:

Strassmann: 1010
Smurfit: AA

Board: QJ763

Smurfit doubles up on the hand for the second time today through Strassmann, and he now has 240,000. Strassmann was knocked down to 319,000.






 

Player Tags: Alan Smurfit,   Johannes Strassmann,   Joseph Elpayaa