Andrew Brokos — 780,000
Josh Brikis — 1,200,000
Tony Dunst — 1,060,000
Tournament Leaderboard:
1. Theo Jorgensen — 3,200,000
2. Sanghyon Cheong — 2,870,000
3. Duy Le — 2,700,000
4. Matt Affleck — 2,450,000
5. Michael Skender — 2,450,000
6. Bryn Kenney — 2,220,000
7. Fokke Beukers — 2,015,000
8. Robert Pisano — 2,010,000
9. Alexander Kostritsyn — 1,990,000
10. Cuong Nguyen — 1,900,000
Notable Eliminations:
Will Failla
Shane Rose
Brent Hanks
Paul Varano
Big Hands:
Jean-Robert Bellande Doubles Up a Player
On a flop of 542, Jean-Robert Bellande checked. Larry Karambis bet 100,000. Bellande moved all in and Karambis called all in for 483,000. Karambis exposed the 99 while Bellande tabled the AJ. The turn and river bricked for Bellande and he doubled up his opponent. Bellande was down to 1,100,000 after the hand.
Paul Varano Eliminated
Paul Varano got his stack of 148,000 into the middle with the 109 and was up against Garrett Adelstein’s JJ. The board ran out J102410 and Adelstein busted his opponent. He was at 1,220,000 after the hand.
Bryn Kenney Eliminates a Player
Kenney bet 30,000 from the cutoff and Kelly Johnson raised to 60,000 from the small blind. Kenney made the call. The flop came K93 and Johnson bet 60,000. Kenney raised to 120,000. Johnson moved all in for 380,000 and Kenney called with the 99. Johnson tabled the KQ. The turn brought the 2 and the 3 fell on the river. Kenney took the hand and was at over 2,000,000 a couple hands later.
Shane Rose Eliminated
Shane Rose moved all in for 100,000 from early position and Javed Abrahams called. Rose tabled the 76 and Abrahams exposed the A10. The board ran out K52K2 and Rose was out. Abrahams was up to 750,000 after the hand.
Garrett Beckman Doubles Up
On a 9955 Garrett Beckman moved all in for 302,000. Ryan Dodge called with the QQ but was behind the AA of Beckman. The 9 on the river was safe for Beckman and he doubled to 1,480,000. Dodge was down to just 35,000.
Jean-Robert Bellande Eliminates a Player
Jean-Robert Bellande opened and Alper Sar shoved for 205,000. Bellande called with the K7. Sar exposed the AQ. The board ran out KJ98J and Bellande won the hand. Bellande was up to 1,360,000 after the hand.
Brent Hanks Eliminated
Brent Hanks five-bet shoved for 800,000 and John Racener called. Racener tabled the AA and was way ahead of the JJ of Hanks. The board ran out 8652K and Hanks was gone. Racener was up to 1,700,000 after the hand.
Will Failla Eliminated
Will Failla moved all in from the cutoff for 245,000 with the A10 and was called by the pocket aces of Jeffrey Chu. The board ran out 74299 and Failla was gone.
Elia Ahmadian Doubles Up
Elia Ahmadian was all in on a flop of A83 with the QQ for for 43,000. Dalton Mills called with the J8. The turn brought the 10 and the 9 fell on the river, giving Ahmadian the double up to 140,000.
Elia Ahmadian Eliminated in Seventh Place ($11,627)
Yan Chen raised to 9,000 from the small blind and Elia Ahmadian reraised to 28,000 total from the big blind. Chen made the call and he drew one card. Ahmadian stood pat and then Chen moved all in. Ahmadian made the all-in call and Chen turned up 9-8-4-3-2. Ahmadian revealed a ten-low and he was eliminated from the tournament in seventh place.
Phil Ivey Doubles Up
Phil Ivey raised to 12,000 from the small blind and Raphael Zimmerman moved all in from the big blind. Ivey made the call and both players elected to draw one card. They each revealed their hand before the draw card:
Ivey: 7-6-3-2
Zimmerman: 9-7-6-2
Ivey then drew an 8 to leave Zimmerman drawing dead. Ivey doubled up on the hand and he will be dangerous with chips at his disposal.
Raphael Zimmerman Eliminated in Sixth Place ($14,663)
Phil Ivey raised to 12,000 from the small blind and Raphael Zimmerman reraised a significant amount. Ivey then reraised all in and Zimmerman made the all-in call. Ivey stood pat and Zimmerman drew a card. Ivey turned up 8-7-5-4-3 and Zimmerman mucked his cards. Zimmerman was eliminated in sixth place, while Ivey took the chip lead with 400,000.
Rodeen Talebi Eliminated in Fifth Place ($19,346)
Rodeen Talebi moved all in for 50,500 and Yan Chen made the call. Both players stood pat and Talebi flipped over a J-10 low. Chen revealed a 9-8 low to win the hand and eliminated Talebi in fifth place.
Note: There was an unscheduled 10-minute break during this level for reasons that will be explained later in this update...
Blinds/Antes: 6,000/12,000 – 1,000 ante
Players Left:31 of 3929
Chip Leaders:
Theo Tran - 1,345,000
Aaron Coulthard - 1,150,000
Joshua Engerdahl - 1,080,000
Joe Rutledge - 860,000
Pia Jeppesen - 750,000
Matthew Kearney - 650,000
Melvin Jones - 590,000
Chris Ferguson - 506,000
James Akenhead - 502,000
Perry Friedman - 404,000
Average Stack: 380,000
Eliminations: Nadim Shabou Cesar Flores
David Robertson
Scott Montgomery
Big Hands and Storylines:
Raise, Raise, All-In, All-In
Maybe the late hour is starting to make players antsy: Perry Friedman opened the pot to 35,000, and Frank Sinopoli raised behind him to 90,000. The player to Sinopoli’s left, David Robertson, then moved his stack of about 75,000 into the pot, and after that Elia Ahmadian, one seat to Robertson’s left, shipped his last 100,000 into the middle. Friedman folded, but Sinopoli made the call and the players showed:
Ahmadian: AA
Robertson: AQ
Sinopoli: TT
The board came ragged: 76428 and Ahmadian’s rockets boosted him to 300,000. Sinopoli took a hit and is down to 200,000, and Robertson can finally get some sleep.
Engerdahl Takes Off
Josh Engerdahl raised three times the blinds from late position and Cesar Flores made a massive raise to 400,000. Action folded back around to Engerdahl who look dismayed as he called and turned over AK. He was in tremendous shape, however, as Flores was caught making a move with AJ. The board, Q88T4, didn’t change a thing and Engerdahl’s stack grew to 900,000. After the hand Flores told Engerdahl, “I put you on a steal.”
The very next hand Engerdahl continued his winning ways, tangling with fellow chip leader Pia Jeppesen. Engerdahl again raised from late position to 36,000 and was met by a raise to 105,000 from Jeppesen in the small blind. Undeterred, Engerdahl put in another raise to 300,000 total. Jeppesen did not think too long before folding her hand, conceding the pot. Engerdahl now sits near the chip lead with over a million.
Slow and Steady Nguyen Wins Race (Okay, Not Quite a Race)
Minh Nguyen tossed his final 150,000 chips into the middle from late position and was called by Evan McNiff. Nguyen’s A2 was in bad shape against McNiff’s JJ. The flop KQT left Nguyen drawing to only two outs. The 2 was about the best card McNiff could have hoped for on the turn, but the river was a killer: J. Minh Nguyen, despite not showing down very many hands today, is now up to 300,000.
Tran Busts Montgomery
Theo Tran got caught stealing against Scott Montgomery. Tran's T9 was in dire straits against Montgomery's pocket aces. The flop came with three hearts, however, and Montgomery, without the ace of hearts, was drawing close to dead. The turn and river gave Montgomery no aid, and he was eliminated in 30th place. Tran is now the clear chipleader with close to 1,400,000 chips. Wiedenhoeft Wins More Than He Bargained For
Steve Chu raised under-the-gun to 50,000 and Jeff Wiedenhoeft made it 100,000 to go from the button. Chu took the bait and re-raised all-in for 10,000 more. He was immediately called by Wiedenhoeft who flipped over AA, crushing Chu’s AQ. Wiedenhoeft’s aces held up on a board of KJ456, but the action was only beginning. While raking in his chips indiscriminately, Wiedenhoeft somehow managed to confuse the pot with neighbor Thomas Fuller’s chips. By the time Fuller returned from his seat, his stack was about 250,000 chips lighter. To remedy the situation, the powers-that-be decided to take a short break and sort the situation out. Everything was eventually settled, but as a result of this stoppage the next break will only last 10 minutes.
The remaining ten minutes of level eight and all of level nine have been completed. There are approximately 85 players remaining on 11 tables.
Level nine proved too much for Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Early in the level Ferguson was down to a chip and a chair, literally. After covering the $100 ante, Ferguson was left with one $100 chip. Ferguson was forced to put his last chip in when he was dealt the 2 for the low card. His opponent in seat 9 bet $600 with the 5 showing and forced everyone else out of the pot. With no betting left, Ferguson and his opponent turned up their cards. Ferguson had 7 4 in the hole and was up against A A. The dealer peeled off three fours for Ferguson and his opponent's hand never improved past the aces. There was no qualifying low and Ferguson was able to collect $1,000 on the hand. Shortly after the hand Ferguson was all in again with dueces and no low against one opponent with fours and another with a qualifying low.
In the field of 85 are still some large and recognizeabe names. 2004 World Series Main Event Champion Greg Raymer is still in the hunt and has a healthy chip stack. Men "The Master" Nguyen, Annie Duke, Perry Freidman, Elia Ahmadian, Mike Wattel and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi are all still in and competing as well.
Play began at noon in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em event. If one were to judge the field based on the number of pros sitting at tables as play began, it would appear relatively lacking in pros. Of course, by the end of the first level, numerous tardy pros had strolled in to assume their seats. With the late influx of pros, a number of stacked tables emerged.
Table 7-
2. Bill Gazes
3. Phil Gordon
7. Isabelle Mercier
10. Chip Jett
Table 27 -
1. Steve Dannenmann
2. Lee Watkinson
5. Johnny Chan
6. Barney Boatman
8. Melissa Hayden
Table 45 -
2. Men Nguyen
3. Jamie Gold
7. Roland De Wolfe
10. Layne Flack
And there are many other tables with two or three notable pros.
Off to an early start, Elia Ahmadian was able to build his stack to over $9,000 in the first level. The player in seat 10 made it $175 to go and there were three callers, including Ahmadian. The flop came AJ5 and the player in the small blind checked. Seat 10 pumped out $600 and Ahmadian, the player on the button and the player in the small blind called. The turn was the A and the small blind checked. Seat 10 check as well and Ahmadian bet out $800. The button folded and so did the small blind. The player in seat 10 made the call and the river was the 4. Seat 10 checked and Ahmadian bet out $2,200 with a quick little smile. The player in seat 10 went into the tank and eventually folded. Ahmadian now sits as the chip leader at his table.
4
2
, Jean-Robert Bellande checked. Larry Karambis bet 100,000. Bellande moved all in and Karambis called all in for 483,000. Karambis exposed the 9
9
Garrett Beckman Doubles Up
Brent Hanks Eliminated
