Randy Holland Poker Tournament Updates

$1,500 H.O.R.S.E. - Day 2 - Level 17 Recap

Jun 30, '08

Note: Play will end for the night at the conclusion of level 18

Stakes:
Hold’em/Omaha:  2,000-4,000 blinds
Stud/Razz/Stud8:  1,000 ante, 1,000 bring in, 4,000-8,000 stakes

Players Left:  26 of 803

Chip Leaders:
Phil Hellmuth - 190,000
Arash Ghaneian - 175,000
Matt Grapenthien - 125,000
Ed Tonnellier – 120,000
Art Young - 112,000
Jens Voertmann - 110,000
James Schaaf - 110,000
Randall Holland - 105,000
Phillip Penn Sr. - 99,000
Michael Scipione - 98,000
Edward Brogdon - 92,000

Average Stack: 92,650

Eliminations:
Alex Jacob
Allen Cunningham
Giovanni Rizzo

Big Hands and Storylines:

Stud

Hellmuth and Tonnellier Tangle Again

Ed Tonnellier: 7109K
Phil Hellmuth: 106AQ

“Omaha” Ed Tonnellier completed with the 7 and Hellmuth raised with the 10. Tonnellier put in a third bet and Hellmuth called. Tonnellier bet out on fourth street and was called by Hellmuth. Hellmuth was dealt an ace on fifth street and opted to check to Tonnellier, who bet. Hellmuth called. “OmahaEd” drew a king on sixth street and bet after Hellmuth checked. As Hellmuth sorted through his chips he asked, “You hit three kings?” Tonnellier replied, “If I hit three kings then why are you calling?” Hellmuth, never content to let anyone else get the last word in, said, “You might have aces. I hope you have aces,” before making the call. Hellmuth checked on seventh street, Tonnellier bet again, and Hellmuth folded. After the hand, Tonnellier showed his set of kings.

Hellmuth has 190,000 and Tonnellier has 120,000.

Ramdin Gets Hang’d

Tommy Hang: A6K3
Victor Ramdin: QK109

The action picks up on fourth street where Hang bets into Ramdin and garners a call. The action plays out the same on fifth street. Hang slows down on sixth street when Ramdin’s board shows four to a straight, and both players check. Both players check on seventh street as well, and Hang turns over an ace for a pair of aces. Ramdin can only muster a pair of queens, and the pot is Hang’s.

After the pot, Hang was up to 60,000 and Ramdin was on life support with only 12,000.

Omaha/8b

Keith Sexton Doubles Up

Keith Sexton got all in on the turn against Giovanni Rizzo. The board read AJ92 and the two turned over their cards:

Rizzo: AKK4
Sexton: AQ32

The river was the 3 and Sexton avoided Rizzo’s slew of outs. Sexton doubled up to 60,000. Rizzo was knocked down to 20,000 and would be eliminated a short time later.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Art Young,   Phillip Penn Sr.,   Matt Grapenthien,   Tommy Hang,   Allen Cunningham,   Ed Tonnellier,   Phil Hellmuth,   Victor Ramdin,   Arash Ghaneian,   Keith Sexton,   Alex Jacob,   Edward Brogdon,   Jens Voertmann,   Michael Scipione,   James Schaaf

$1,500 H.O.R.S.E. - Day 2 - Level 15 Recap

Jun 30, '08

Stakes:
Hold’em/Omaha:  1,300-2,500 blinds
Stud/Razz/Stud8:  500 ante, 700 bring in, 2,500-5,000 stakes

Players Left:  45 of 803

Chip Leaders:
Phillip Penn Sr. - 125,000
Steven Diano - 103,000
Arash Ghaneian - 100,000
Joe Bolnick - 87,400
Jason Dollinger - 83,000
Jens Voertmann - 82,000
Randall Holland - 81,500
Allen Cunningham - 78,000
Cliff Pappas – 75,000

Average Stack: 53,525

Eliminations:
David Gee
Greg Jamison
Michael Binger

Big Hands and Storylines:

Hold’em

Michael Binger vs. Phillip Penn Sr. - Part I

Phillip Penn Sr. raised to 5,000 from middle position and was re-raised by Michael Binger on his left. Penn made the call and they saw a flop of 633. Penn checked and Binger bet. Penn called. The turn was the J, and again Penn checked. Binger bet 5,000 and Penn check-raised him.  Binger called, and then called another bet on the K river. Penn Sr. turned over 66 for a flopped full house. Binger showed his AA and, infuriated with the recent development, stormed away from the table, hitting a chair in the process. Binger was down to only 10,000 after that hand.

Omaha/8b

Michael Binger vs. Phillip Penn Sr. – Part II: The Reckoning

A few hands later, with the game having switched to Omaha/8b, William Penn Sr. opened with a raised from middle position which was again re-raised by Binger, who had less than a big bet behind. The flop came 1092 and Penn check-called. Penn check-called a bet of Binger’s final 200 chips on the turn (K) and the two showed their cards:

Binger: AA87
Penn: A876

Binger, in good shape, stood up and awaited the river card. The dealer laid out an 8 and Binger stared at the board for a moment to make sure what he saw was accurate: Penn hit one of his few outs to make a straight. As could be predicted, Binger was not happy, and he stormed from the table once again, this time for good.

Those two hands have propelled Penn to the chip lead with 125,000.

“Let’s Go”

Action folded around to Esther Rossi in the small blind who completed the bet and Jan Suchanek told the dealer, “Let’s go.” The dealer scooped in the two players’ blinds... and then Suchanek threw in a raise. Apparently, Suchanek’s declaration of “Let’s go” was intended as the precursor to a raise and not an indication of a check. After some squabbling between Rossi and Suchanek with the dealer serving as a slightly biased arbiter (after all, nobody likes admitting to a mistake) the floor was called over. After what seemed like hours of explanation to the dealer of what had transpired, it was ruled that uttering the phrase “Let’s go” alone does not indicate a check and that the raise would stand.

After all of that was settled, there was some poker to be played. The dealer put out a flop of A106 and Rossi check-called a bet from Suchanek. Action went check-call again on the K turn, and then both players checked the 10 on the river. Suchanek showed A443 for a pair of aces and that was good enough to take down the pot. Rossi, with 48,000, still has a bit more chips than Suchanek, who has 30,000.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Phillip Penn Sr.,   Allen Cunningham,   Greg Jamison,   Arash Ghaneian,   David Gee,   Esther Rossi,   Cliff Pappas,   Steven Diano,   Michael Binger,   Jan Suchanek,   Jens Voertmann,   Joseph Bolnick,   Jason Dollinger

Short Break

Jun 27, '07

The players in today's $2,000 limit omaha eight-or-better tournament are on a short fifteen minute break following the completion of the second level. The official numbers for this tournament have been released and will be posted shortly. There will be 54 paid spots for this event with a first place prize of $240,057.

Sitting at a very dangerous table including Andy Bloch, Bill Gazes and Ron Faltinsky, Randy Holland has been able to pick his spots and build his stack to over $5,000. With the blinds at $50-$75, and with four limpers behind him, Holland raised to $150. All four limpers, including Andy Bloch, called and the flop came K 8 6. First to act, the player in seat four bet out $75. Seat five and Bloch called, but seat nine folded. Holland raised to two bets again and the three remaining players called. The turn was the 4 and the player in seat four threw out two bets. The player in seat five and Bloch both called and Holland raised to four bets ($300). Again, all three players called and the river was the 9. The action checked to Holland who bet $150. The players in seats four and five called and Bloch examined his cards. Bloch eventually called and Holland turned over his cards first. Holland showed A 9 6 2 for the nut flush and everyone else mucked their cards. Holland took down the pot and took the lead at his table.

Notable Chip Counts

Marcel Luske	7,000
Jeffrey Lisandro	5,200
Allen Cunningham	5,100
Annie Duke	5,000
Eric "Rizen" Lynch	4,925
Joe Tehan	4,800
Humberto Brenes	4,700
Captain Tom Franklin	4,700
"Minneapolis" Jim Meehan	4,700
Ron "Grumpy" Ware	4,500
"Omaha" Ed Tonnelier	4,500
Erik Seidel	4,400
Scott Clements	4,300
Davidson Matthew	4,300
Todd Brunson	4,200
Michael DeMichelle	4,200
Steve Zolotow	4,100
Robert Williamson III	4,000
Kathy Liebert	4,000
John "The Razor" Phan	4,000
Cyndy Violette	4,000
Brett "Gank" Jungblut	4,000
Bill Gazes	4,000
Scotty Nguyen	3,800
Prince of Docness	3,800
Mel Judah	3,800
David Sklansky	3,650
Tony G	3,600
Robert Mizrachi	3,500
Bill Chen	3,500
TJ Cloutier	3,450
Rafe Furst	3,450
Allen Kessler	3,200
Berry Johnston	3,050
Andy Bloch	3,000
"Miami" John Cernuto	3,000
Lee Watkinson	2,800
Sabyl Cohen	2,775
Victor Ramdin	1,425
Sherkhan Farnood	1,250

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Ron Faltinsky,   Andy Bloch,   Bill Gazes

Level 6 Update

Jun 25, '07

The players are going on a short break following the completion of level six. Just an hour shy of the dinner break, Amarillo Slim is still the chip leader with over $25,000. Not far behind him are Tom McEvoy and Randy Holland, both with around $10,000.

"Miami" John Cernuto has been eliminated from today's Seniors event and upon his elimination Cernuto walked directly over to the Mixed Hold 'Em area and resumed playing. Hand for hand play has begun in the Mixed Hold 'Em event and it appears that barring a disaster, Cernuto will at least cash in that event.

Men "The Master" Nguyen has finally been eliminated after his day filled with ups and downs. After having aces cracked earlier in the day and leaving him with very few chips, Nguyen was able to battle back and had a respectable stack several times throughout the day. On what would be his elimination hand, Nguyen pushed all in with J-10 on a flop of K-Q-3. His opponent called with pocket aces and Nguyen couldn't catch.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   John Cernuto,   Tom McEvoy,   Men Nguyen

Back to Business

Jun 06, '07

Play got back underway about 30 minutes late, and several of the chip leaders returned to their winning ways.  Jordan "Imsolucky0" Morgan has padded his chip lead.  John Phan and Todd Brunson have increased their stacks as well. 

Other bracelet winners haven't faired so well.  Randy Holland exited when his low draw failed to materialize.  Bill Chen saw his chips split between Thor Hansen and another player.

With plenty of pots being chopped look for the money to be quite a ways away.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Thor Hansen,   Todd Brunson,   Bill Chen,   Jordan Morgan

Randy Holland Eliminated in 9th Place ($46,110)

May 22, '07

Randy Holland limps from the small blind and Darrell Dicken raises $45,000 more from the big blind. Holland pushes all in and Dicken goes into the tank. After several minutes, Dicken makes the call and shows 1010. Holland turns over AK. The board bricks out for Holland (842Q4) and Dicken takes down the pot. Holland is the 9th place finisher and Dicken now has $1,053,000.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Darrell Dicken

Randy Holland Doubles Up

May 22, '07

Randy Holland moves all in for $264,000 from middle position, and Cory Carroll calls from the small blind.  Holland shows JJ and Carroll tables AQ.  The door card is the J and the rest of the board comes 7458.  Holland doubles up to over $550,000.  

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Cory Carroll

Dicken Starts to Pull Away

May 22, '07

Randy Holland, Darrell Dicken, Jon Little and Cory Carroll all limp into the pot. The flop comes J64. The action checks to Dicken who bets $62,000. Little raises $100,000 more. Dicken responds by reraising $200,000 more. Little eventually folds and he now has $375,000. Dicken continues to hold the chip lead and now has $1,400,000.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Darrell Dicken,   Cory Carroll,   Jonathan Little

Nam Le Eliminated in 12th Place

May 22, '07

Randy Holland bets $41,000 and Nam Le moves all in for $97,000. Nam shows AK and Holland flips over pocket queens. The board comes 10986J and Holland makes a queen-high straight to send Nam home in 12th place.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Nam Le

Tom Pniak Eliminated in 15th Place ($28,818)

May 22, '07

Randy Holland pushes all in from early position and is called by Tom Pniak. Holland shows 99 and Pniak turns over AK. The flop is trouble for Holland when it comes K1010. The turn is the 6 and the river bails out Holland when the 9 hits. Tom Pniak has been eliminated in 15th place, earning $28,818.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Tom Pniak

Davidson Matthew Eliminated in 16th Place ($23,056)

May 22, '07

Randy Holland limps in from early position and Cory Carroll bets out $40,000. Davidson Matthew pushes all in and Holland folds. Carroll makes the call and turns over QQ. Matthew has 55 and the board comes 8623A and Davidson Matthew is eliminated in 16th place, earning him $23,056.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Cory Carroll,   Davidson Matthew

Randy Holland Making a Move

May 20, '07

Holland, who has been very hot as of late winning a preliminary event a few days ago and making 11 final tables so far this year, has moved from about $90,000 chips to start the day to over $160,000.

Player Tags: Randy Holland

Randy Holland Eliminated in 9th Place ($46,110)

May 22, '07

Randy Holland limps from the small blind and Darrell Dicken raises $45,000 more from the big blind. Holland pushes all in and Dicken goes into the tank. After several minutes, Dicken makes the call and shows 1010. Holland turns over AK. The board bricks out for Holland (842Q4) and Dicken takes down the pot. Holland is the 9th place finisher and Dicken now has $1,053,000.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Darrell Dicken

Randy Holland Doubles Up

May 22, '07

Randy Holland moves all in for $264,000 from middle position, and Cory Carroll calls from the small blind.  Holland shows JJ and Carroll tables AQ.  The door card is the J and the rest of the board comes 7458.  Holland doubles up to over $550,000.  

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Cory Carroll

Dicken Starts to Pull Away

May 22, '07

Randy Holland, Darrell Dicken, Jon Little and Cory Carroll all limp into the pot. The flop comes J64. The action checks to Dicken who bets $62,000. Little raises $100,000 more. Dicken responds by reraising $200,000 more. Little eventually folds and he now has $375,000. Dicken continues to hold the chip lead and now has $1,400,000.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Darrell Dicken,   Cory Carroll,   Jonathan Little

Nam Le Eliminated in 12th Place

May 22, '07

Randy Holland bets $41,000 and Nam Le moves all in for $97,000. Nam shows AK and Holland flips over pocket queens. The board comes 10986J and Holland makes a queen-high straight to send Nam home in 12th place.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Nam Le

Tom Pniak Eliminated in 15th Place ($28,818)

May 22, '07

Randy Holland pushes all in from early position and is called by Tom Pniak. Holland shows 99 and Pniak turns over AK. The flop is trouble for Holland when it comes K1010. The turn is the 6 and the river bails out Holland when the 9 hits. Tom Pniak has been eliminated in 15th place, earning $28,818.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Tom Pniak

Davidson Matthew Eliminated in 16th Place ($23,056)

May 22, '07

Randy Holland limps in from early position and Cory Carroll bets out $40,000. Davidson Matthew pushes all in and Holland folds. Carroll makes the call and turns over QQ. Matthew has 55 and the board comes 8623A and Davidson Matthew is eliminated in 16th place, earning him $23,056.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Cory Carroll,   Davidson Matthew

Randy Holland Making a Move

May 20, '07

Holland, who has been very hot as of late winning a preliminary event a few days ago and making 11 final tables so far this year, has moved from about $90,000 chips to start the day to over $160,000.

Player Tags: Randy Holland