Paul Clark Poker Tournament Updates

$1,500 Seven Card Stud - Level 4

Jun 18, '08

Players have now begun a 30-minute break.

Ante: 25
Bring In: 50
Limits: 150/300

Players Left: 248 of 382

Chip Leaders:

Amnon Filippi - 10,300
Katja Thater - 9000
Jerry Buss - 7300
John Hennigan - 6700
Chip Jett - 6500
Huck Seed - 5900
Sabyl Landrum - 5700
Humberto Brenes - 5700
Jean Gaspard - 5500
John Cernuto - 5100

Eliminations: John Phan, David Williams, John Juanda.

Big Hands:
Barbieri Takes Small Pot

Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri completed the bet to 150 after drawing the 10, while one limper showed the 10 and the bring-in owned the 5. Fourth street brought no help to the others while Barbieri added the Q. He bet and produced two folds, after which he showed JJ in the hole for the wired pair.

Eskimo Clark Eliminates Another

Paul "Eskimo" Clark scooped an 1800 pot when he turned over king-queen for two pair, busting an opponent who was all-in. The next hand, Clark completed the bring-in to 150 with the 9, and his lone call came from the bring-in who held 3. When Clark drew the 9 on fourth street, his opponent folded at Clark's first move towards his stack.

Tomko Takes it Down

Dewey Tomko had the bring-in with the 4, one player limped with the J, then seat 7 raised with 8. Tomko called and the other limper folded. Tomko added connectors with the 6 and 5 on fourth and fifth street, while his opponent added the J and 5. Both players checked fifth street, and Tomko paired on sixth street with the 6. He bet out for 300, and his opponent, who added the 9, made the fold.

Hellmuth Can't Catch

Seat 4 made the initial bring-in for 50, and Phil Hellmuth as next to act made it 150 to play with the 8. He drew calls from three others, and added the A on fourth street to control the betting, which drew three more calls. The 9 followed on fifth street for Hellmuth, but he was dropped into a calling role as seat 6 showed 10710 to take the action. It remained a four-way pot through sixth street, when after three checks, a new country was heard from as seat 1 bet out while showing 7K510. Hellmuth and the other two players called, and seventh street was dealt. Again play was checked to seat 1 who bet 300. Hellmuth, now showing 8A9Q, made the fold, as did seat 6 with 10710K. The final resistance came from seat 8 who called while showing A826. He showed a buried ace for top pair, but seat 1 had wired fives in the hole for three of a kind to take the pot down.

Mueller Scares 'em Off

Greg Mueller had the bring-in with the 5 and was the lone caller for the 150 raise from seat 2 and the 7. Mueller took the lead with the K on fourth street, and bet again with the 3 on fifth. His opponent, holding 734, made the fold.

Player Tags: Paul Clark,   Dewey Tomko,   Greg Mueller,   Phil Hellmuth,   Al Barbieri

Paul "Eskimo" Clark Eliminated in Fourth Place ($31,186)

Jun 19, '07

Eskimo Clark was eliminated in fourth place and reportedly he made quite a fuss while he exited the final table. He took home $31,186 in prize money.

Player Tags: Paul Clark

Hour One

Jun 19, '07

Thomas Daubert Eliminated in Eighth Place ($10,743) and Men “The Master” Nguyen Eliminated in Seventh Place ($14,197)

Thomas Daubert moved all in for $14,000 and Katja Thater reraised. Men Nguyen made the all-in call and the cards were then flipped over as follows:

Daubert: A 8 (7 8 6 9) A
Nguyen: A 2 (4 9sJ 10) K
Thater: 5 2 (K 9 8 7) 7

Because he possessed fewer chips Daubert was eliminated in eighth place and he took home $10,743 in prize money. Nguyen was eliminated in seventh place and he took home $14,197 in prize money.

Setting the Scene

The atmosphere at the final table was relatively somber. This mood was set by the current chip leader O’Neil Longson who looked bored and depressed as he propped up his face on his right hand. This was in sharp contrast to Mark Vos who was laughing and generally having a good time as the low man on the totem pole. As the next sequence of events would point out, attitude can be everything.

Vos Doubles Up

Mark Vos was all in with A 6 (2 J 9 8) Q, which was enough to beat the 3 2 (A 10 2 8) Q of his opponent.

Eskimo Clark Makes his Move

Clark had a solid run of hands to take him into the second break, first he doubled through Katja Thater with 5 3 (7 6 2 9) J. The two had raised and reraised the action until Clark was all in on seventh street. Thater exposed 4 3 (Q A 2 8) 9. Clark then tangled in a large pot with Longson. The two players traded bets, checks, and raises until seventh street, where both player checked. Clark turned up K 6 (A 4 3 9) 10, which beat the 10-low of Longson. The pot gave Clark the chip lead with over $300,000.

Player Tags: Paul Clark,   Men Nguyen,   O'Neil Longson,   Mark Vos,   Katja Thater,   Thomas Daubert

Down To 14

Jun 18, '07

"I Make My Hand You Dead Baby."
Men Nguyen and a player in seat three are on fifth street, seat three checks, and Men bets..or so he thought.  Seat three claims she didn't check, and Men insists she did.  A floor is called, and it is ruled that she didn't check, and it was her action.  Men disagreed and said, "I make my hand you dead baby."  It ends up with seat three betting the whole way and Men calling down.  Seat three finally tabled a 6-7 low, but Men showed down A-2-4-5-7 for a 5-7 and he took down a massive pot. 

Too much Grit?
The running storyline throughout this tournament has been the health of Eskimo Clark.  He has gone down twice at this years World Series, and Harrah's has become very concerned about his health.  They have met with Clark's friends and come up with contingency plans in case of another medical emergency.  If Clark is able to win this event, it would truly be an amazing feat.

Double Time
We went from an 18 player field to a 16 player field in just one hand.  After some heavy pre flop action Mark Gerencher is all-in and on fourth street David Oppenhiem also joins the all-in club.  Katja Thater, one of two women remaining in the event had them covered with the lead she looked poised to bust both players.  She did just that with a A-3-4-5-7-Q-Q which took down Mark's A-3-5-8-9-9-T and David's 4-5-6-T-J-J-Q.

David Oppenheim finishes in 15th place and earns $5,120.
Mark Gerenecher takes 16th place and also earns $5,120.

Player Tags: Paul Clark,   Men Nguyen,   David Oppenheim

Paul "Eskimo" Clark Eliminated in Fourth Place ($31,186)

Jun 19, '07

Eskimo Clark was eliminated in fourth place and reportedly he made quite a fuss while he exited the final table. He took home $31,186 in prize money.

Player Tags: Paul Clark

Hour One

Jun 19, '07

Thomas Daubert Eliminated in Eighth Place ($10,743) and Men “The Master” Nguyen Eliminated in Seventh Place ($14,197)

Thomas Daubert moved all in for $14,000 and Katja Thater reraised. Men Nguyen made the all-in call and the cards were then flipped over as follows:

Daubert: A 8 (7 8 6 9) A
Nguyen: A 2 (4 9sJ 10) K
Thater: 5 2 (K 9 8 7) 7

Because he possessed fewer chips Daubert was eliminated in eighth place and he took home $10,743 in prize money. Nguyen was eliminated in seventh place and he took home $14,197 in prize money.

Setting the Scene

The atmosphere at the final table was relatively somber. This mood was set by the current chip leader O’Neil Longson who looked bored and depressed as he propped up his face on his right hand. This was in sharp contrast to Mark Vos who was laughing and generally having a good time as the low man on the totem pole. As the next sequence of events would point out, attitude can be everything.

Vos Doubles Up

Mark Vos was all in with A 6 (2 J 9 8) Q, which was enough to beat the 3 2 (A 10 2 8) Q of his opponent.

Eskimo Clark Makes his Move

Clark had a solid run of hands to take him into the second break, first he doubled through Katja Thater with 5 3 (7 6 2 9) J. The two had raised and reraised the action until Clark was all in on seventh street. Thater exposed 4 3 (Q A 2 8) 9. Clark then tangled in a large pot with Longson. The two players traded bets, checks, and raises until seventh street, where both player checked. Clark turned up K 6 (A 4 3 9) 10, which beat the 10-low of Longson. The pot gave Clark the chip lead with over $300,000.

Player Tags: Paul Clark,   Men Nguyen,   O'Neil Longson,   Mark Vos,   Katja Thater,   Thomas Daubert

Down To 14

Jun 18, '07

"I Make My Hand You Dead Baby."
Men Nguyen and a player in seat three are on fifth street, seat three checks, and Men bets..or so he thought.  Seat three claims she didn't check, and Men insists she did.  A floor is called, and it is ruled that she didn't check, and it was her action.  Men disagreed and said, "I make my hand you dead baby."  It ends up with seat three betting the whole way and Men calling down.  Seat three finally tabled a 6-7 low, but Men showed down A-2-4-5-7 for a 5-7 and he took down a massive pot. 

Too much Grit?
The running storyline throughout this tournament has been the health of Eskimo Clark.  He has gone down twice at this years World Series, and Harrah's has become very concerned about his health.  They have met with Clark's friends and come up with contingency plans in case of another medical emergency.  If Clark is able to win this event, it would truly be an amazing feat.

Double Time
We went from an 18 player field to a 16 player field in just one hand.  After some heavy pre flop action Mark Gerencher is all-in and on fourth street David Oppenhiem also joins the all-in club.  Katja Thater, one of two women remaining in the event had them covered with the lead she looked poised to bust both players.  She did just that with a A-3-4-5-7-Q-Q which took down Mark's A-3-5-8-9-9-T and David's 4-5-6-T-J-J-Q.

David Oppenheim finishes in 15th place and earns $5,120.
Mark Gerenecher takes 16th place and also earns $5,120.

Player Tags: Paul Clark,   Men Nguyen,   David Oppenheim

Take A Bad Beat? Go Eat

Jun 08, '07

Players are on their dinner break from ten to eleven p.m.  Before the break, a few big name players hit the rail. Miami John Cernuto was put on life support last level.  In one hand, Cernuto called down John Juanda only to be shown an ace-high spade flush after seventh.  With only a small stack of red $5 chips, the smallest chip seen in play so far at the year's World Series of Poker, Cernuto was on the way out and did eventual bust in the past hour. Paul "Eskimo" Clark was also eliminated this past level when his straight draw failed to improve.  With eliminations beginning to pick up, tables are beign broken and balanced, resulting in a few new pro match-ups.  Greg Raymer was joined by Max Pescatori, and Shawn Sheikhan joined Ted Forrest, who is a tough stud player and a spook by reputation.   The action is sure to heat up after the dinner break, so make sure to check back at Cardplayer.com for hourly updates and the Pro Blog of Andy Bloch.

Player Tags: John Cernuto,   Paul Clark,   Max Pescatori,   Ted Forrest,   Greg Raymer

Level 12 Ends

Jun 03, '07

Level 12 has come and gone and the field has narrowed to less than 130 players. The tournament continues in the far corner of the Amazon room, adjacent to the final table of the Mixed Hold 'Em event. Spectators continue to crowd the rails as they sweat players and pass frome event to event. As a result of the increased traffic and numerous tournament officials speaking on the loud speaker, many players are having a hard time staying focused on the task at hand. Early in level 12 two tables failed to recognized that the blinds had increased and players snuck in a few extra hands at the lower level. The confusion may only get worse as another event is scheduled to start today. Event number five, $2,500 Half Omaha Hi-Low Split/ Half Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split is slated to begin at 5 p.m. The addition of this event will mean that there will be one final table, three bracelet events, satellite tournaments and cash games all happening at the same time.

Amidst the chaos there is still poker actually being played.  Paul 'Eskimo' Clark has been eliminated and Reza Peyvar, winner of a World Series of Poker gold bracelet in 2005, has been moved to the featured table of Grey Raymer. Play has settled back into a normal pace following the barage of eliminations in the first level. Short stacks are doubling up and players with larger stacks are starting to tighten up a bit.

The players are now on a 15 minute break and will begin level 13 when they return. The $100 are being raced off and the blinds are increasing to $2,000-$4,000 with a $500 ante.

Player Tags: Paul Clark,   Reza Payvar,   Greg Raymer