David Baker Poker Tournament Updates

Level 22: Hellmuth Leads On Dinner Break; Sung 4th, Schulman 5th, Baker 6th

Jun 11, '11

NOTE: The remaining three players went on a one hour dinner break at the conclusion of Level 22, and will return at approximately 9:00pm to resume play.

Blinds: 10,000-20,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 3 out of 126

Average Chip Count: 1,260,000

Chip Counts:

1. Phill Hellmuth – 2,662,000
2. Richard Ashby – 700,000
3. John Juanda – 409,000

Eliminations:

4th. Steve Sung – $97,416
5th. Nick Schulman – $69,216
6th. David Baker – $51,485

Defending Champion David Baker Eliminated in 6th Place ($51,485)

Defending Champion David Baker had a tough level. He started the level as one of the short stacks and cemented that role about halfway through the level after doubling up Steve Sung when Sung stood pat with a J – 7 and Baker drew one, pairing eights with 8 – 4 – 3 – 2.

Baker was down to less than full big blind after that hand and found some relief in a quick quadruple up after drawing a 10 – 7 low against Richard Ashby’s J -10 in a four-way pot. Soon thereafter and David Baker would get it all in again against Steve Sung, Sung getting the best of it again.

Steve Sung raised to 50,000 before the draw, David Baker moved all in for about 10,000 more and both Phil Hellmuth and Sung called the raise.

Sung and Baker each drew one card while Hellmuth drew two. Hellmuth bet 50,000 at the side pot and Sung folded.

Hellmuth showed 10 – 9 – 8 – 3 – 2 while baker showed 9 – 7 – 5 – 4 – A. Hellmuth raked the pot with a ten-low and the defending champion, David Baker was eliminated in 6th place ($51,485).

Nick Schulman Eliminated in 5th Place ($69,216)

Nick Schulman raised to 50,000 before the draw, Phil Hellmuth raised to 340,000 and Schulman called all in for around 250,000.

Hellmuth stood pat with J – 6 – 5 – 4 – 2 while Schulman drew one card with 8 – 6 – 4 – 2. Schulman drew another 8, pairing his hand, and was eliminated in 5th place ($69,216) while Hellmuth secured a monster chiplead with 2.4 million.

Steve Sung Eliminated in 4th Place ($97,416)

John Juanda raised to 52,000 from under the gun, Steve Sung moved all in for 270,000 from the small blind and Juanda called.

Sung stood pat with J – 9 – 7 – 6 – 3 while Juanda drew one card with 10 – 6 – 4 – 3. Juanda turned over a five for a made ten-low and Steve Sung was eliminated in 4th place ($97,416).

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Phil Hellmuth,   Richard Ashby,   Steve Sung,   Nick Schulman,   David Baker

Level 20: Cassidy 8th, Hellmuth Leads Official Seven-Handed Final Table

Jun 11, '11

Blinds: 6,000-12,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 7 out of 126

Average Chip Count: 540,000

Chip Counts:

1. Phil Hellmuth – 763,000
2. Richard Ashby – 620,000
3. John Juanda – 598,000
4. Steve Sunng – 576,000
5. Nick Schulman – 464,000
6. David Baker – 402,000
7. Hasan Habib – 233,000

Eliminations:

8th. Joe Cassidy – $32,440

David Baker Makes a Strong Showing This Level

David Baker started the unofficial eight-handed final table as one of the short stacks, but has since managed to make a run up the leaderboard.

Baker raked a 150,000 pot from Steve Sung at the beginning of Level 20 after drawing one card to a 9 – 7 low while Sung bricked after drawing two cards.

Baker then took another 150,000 from Phil Hellmuth after drawing one card to a J – 7, just outkicking Hellmuth who claims to have drawn to a J – 8 with one card. This pot put Baker over 500,000.

Joe Cassidy Eliminated in 8th Place ($32,440)

Joe Cassidy raised to 30,000 before the flop, Steve Sung called from middle position, David Baker called from the button, Phil Hellmuth raised to 140,000 from the big blind, Cassidy moved all in, Sung and Baker both folded while Hellmuth called.

Hellmuth stood pat and Cassidy drew one card. Hellmuth turned over 10 – 9 – 7 – 6 – 5 for a made ten-low and Cassidy showed 8 – 7 – 5 – 2 – 7 for a pair of sevens. Cassidy drew another seven and was eliminated in 8th place ($32,440). Hellmuth took the chip lead this hand going into the official seven-handed final table.

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Player Tags: Phil Hellmuth,   Joe Cassidy,   David Baker

Level 20: Raymer Eliminated 9th, Unofficial Final Table Now Underway

Jun 11, '11

NOTE: Play ended last night with 9 players spread out over two tables and resumed today at 3:00pm. John Juanda started the day as the short stack and managed to double up through Greg Raymer early on with a pat 9 against Raymer’s pat 10. Juanda then made a run at the chip lead amassing over 500,000 at one point before surrendering a huge pot to Richard Ashby which put Ashby on top and dropped Juanda down to about 350,000.

Raymer on the other hand wouldn’t be so lucky as he was eliminated in 9th place ($27,928) after Raymer paired jacks against Juanda’s made ten. With Raymer’s 9th place elimination, the final eight players have consolidated to one table where one more player will need to be eliminated before the official seven-handed final table is set.

Blinds: 6,000-12,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 8 out of 126

Average Chip Count: 472,500

Chip Counts:

1. Richard Ashby – 835,000
2. Joe Cassidy – 530,000
3. Hasan Habib – 475,000
4. John Juanda – 475,000
5. Steve Sung – 420,000
6. Phil Hellmuth – 400,000
7. David Baker – 370,000
8. Nick Schulman – 295,000

Payouts:

1st. $367,170
2nd. $226,907
3rd. $143,833
4th. $97,416
5th. $69,216
6th. $51,485
7th. $40,020
8th. $32,440

Eliminations:

9th. Greg Raymer – $27,928

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates until a champion is crowned.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Hasan Habib,   Phil Hellmuth,   Joe Cassidy,   Greg Raymer,   Richard Ashby,   Steve Sung,   David Baker

David Baker Eliminated in Seventh Place ($176,520)

Mar 01, '11

David Baker raised to 125,000 from the cutoff preflop and Vivek Rajkumar reraised to 305,000 from the small blind. Baker reraised all in for just over 1.5 million and Rajkumar made the call. Their cards:

Baker: K K
Rajkumar: A 10

Board: A J 8 10 4

Baker was eliminated in seventh place and he will take home $176,520 in prize money. Stay tuned for official chip counts, and a recap of the day’s events.

Player Tags: Vivek Rajkumar,   David Baker

Poker Tweet -- Bakes

Mar 01, '11

Here is a tweet from David Baker about his turbulent first level of the day:

Player Tags: David Baker

Richard Toth Eliminated by David Baker

Feb 28, '11

Richard Toth entered the day in second place, but a series of misteps saw him lose a big chunk of his stack. On his final hand, Dan Heimiller raised to 22,000 and David Baker called behind him. Toth then reraised to 90,000 and Heimiller folded.

Baker moved all in and Toth called off the rest of his 450,000 stack with pocket queens. Baker was behind with AJ, but the board fell K9434 to give him a flush and send Toth packing. Baker is now the chip leader with 1.3 million.

Player Tags: Richard Toth,   David Baker

Poker Tweets -- David Baker

Feb 27, '11

Check out this poker tweet from David Baker.

Player Tags: David Baker

David Baker Busts Andrew Lichtenberger

Feb 27, '11

David Baker got the rest of Andrew Lichtenberger’s stack thanks to a coinflip when his pocket nines held against A-Q.

Lichtenberger was eliminated and Baker is now up to 180,000.

Player Tags: David Baker,   Andrew Lichtenberger

David Baker Eliminated in Seventh Place ($176,520)

Mar 01, '11

David Baker raised to 125,000 from the cutoff preflop and Vivek Rajkumar reraised to 305,000 from the small blind. Baker reraised all in for just over 1.5 million and Rajkumar made the call. Their cards:

Baker: K K
Rajkumar: A 10

Board: A J 8 10 4

Baker was eliminated in seventh place and he will take home $176,520 in prize money. Stay tuned for official chip counts, and a recap of the day’s events.

Player Tags: Vivek Rajkumar,   David Baker

Poker Tweet -- Bakes

Mar 01, '11

Here is a tweet from David Baker about his turbulent first level of the day:

Player Tags: David Baker

Richard Toth Eliminated by David Baker

Feb 28, '11

Richard Toth entered the day in second place, but a series of misteps saw him lose a big chunk of his stack. On his final hand, Dan Heimiller raised to 22,000 and David Baker called behind him. Toth then reraised to 90,000 and Heimiller folded.

Baker moved all in and Toth called off the rest of his 450,000 stack with pocket queens. Baker was behind with AJ, but the board fell K9434 to give him a flush and send Toth packing. Baker is now the chip leader with 1.3 million.

Player Tags: Richard Toth,   David Baker

Poker Tweets -- David Baker

Feb 27, '11

Check out this poker tweet from David Baker.

Player Tags: David Baker

David Baker Busts Andrew Lichtenberger

Feb 27, '11

David Baker got the rest of Andrew Lichtenberger’s stack thanks to a coinflip when his pocket nines held against A-Q.

Lichtenberger was eliminated and Baker is now up to 180,000.

Player Tags: David Baker,   Andrew Lichtenberger

David Baker Eliminated in Seventh Place ($176,520)

Mar 01, '11

David Baker raised to 125,000 from the cutoff preflop and Vivek Rajkumar reraised to 305,000 from the small blind. Baker reraised all in for just over 1.5 million and Rajkumar made the call. Their cards:

Baker: K K
Rajkumar: A 10

Board: A J 8 10 4

Baker was eliminated in seventh place and he will take home $176,520 in prize money. Stay tuned for official chip counts, and a recap of the day’s events.

Player Tags: Vivek Rajkumar,   David Baker

Poker Tweet -- Bakes

Mar 01, '11

Here is a tweet from David Baker about his turbulent first level of the day:

Player Tags: David Baker

Richard Toth Eliminated by David Baker

Feb 28, '11

Richard Toth entered the day in second place, but a series of misteps saw him lose a big chunk of his stack. On his final hand, Dan Heimiller raised to 22,000 and David Baker called behind him. Toth then reraised to 90,000 and Heimiller folded.

Baker moved all in and Toth called off the rest of his 450,000 stack with pocket queens. Baker was behind with AJ, but the board fell K9434 to give him a flush and send Toth packing. Baker is now the chip leader with 1.3 million.

Player Tags: Richard Toth,   David Baker

Poker Tweets -- David Baker

Feb 27, '11

Check out this poker tweet from David Baker.

Player Tags: David Baker

David Baker Busts Andrew Lichtenberger

Feb 27, '11

David Baker got the rest of Andrew Lichtenberger’s stack thanks to a coinflip when his pocket nines held against A-Q.

Lichtenberger was eliminated and Baker is now up to 180,000.

Player Tags: David Baker,   Andrew Lichtenberger

Nick Mitchell on a Roll

Dec 20, '10

Nick Mitchell was all in preflop for 47,300 and David Fox made the call. Their cards:

Mitchell: 10 10
Fox: A K

Board: 10 6 3 K 6

Mitchell won the hand to double up and Fox fell to 77,000.

A few hands later David Baker was all in with A-Q and Mitchell had him covered with A-K. The king kicker held for Mitchell and Baker was eliminated.

Player Tags: David Fox,   David Baker,   Nick Mitchell

David Baker Eliminated in 28th Place

Dec 06, '10

In a shocking turn of events David Baker went from one of the chip leaders to out of the tournament in a short amount of time. His final hand was fittingly shocking as well.

David Baker got the last of his chips into the middle preflop from the cutoff and Andrew Robl made the call from the button. Their cards:

Baker: A K
Robl: A K

Board: K J 2 3 2

Robl spiked a club on the river to make a flush and he grew his stack to 2.1 million. Baker took home $25,339 in prize money.

Player Tags: Andrew Robl,   David Baker

Jonathan Little Eliminated in 38th Place

Dec 06, '10

There was a board that read A 8 8 4 sitting on the table when Jonathan Little checked from the big blind. Daniel Fuhs bet 25,000 from middle position and David Baker made the call from the button. Little check-raised for an additional 95,000 and Fuhs mucked.

Baker made the call and the river fell 2. Little checked and Baker moved all in. Little made the all-in call after some thought but he didn’t bother to show his cards after Baker turned over pocket fours.

Little took home $21,116 in prize money in 38th place and Baker grew his stack to 1,190,000.

Player Tags: Jonathan Little,   David Baker

Phil Tom Eliminated in 44th Place

Dec 06, '10

Phil Tom moved all in preflop for 62,000 from early position and David Baker moved all in over the top of him from the small blind to isolate. The gambit didn’t work for Baker because George Cariveau made the all-in call from the big blind. Their cards:

Tom: A K
Cariveau: K K
Baker: A Q

Board: 3 2 2 2 3

Tom was eliminated in 44th place and he was awarded $16,892 for his efforts.

Player Tags: David Baker,   Philip Tom

Allen Kessler Eliminated in 45th Place

Dec 06, '10

David Baker raised from the button preflop and Allen Kessler moved all in. Baker made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Kessler: 8 8
Baker: A K

Board: A J 4 9 Q

Baker hit an ace on the flop and he held on after that to eliminate Kessler and grow his stack to 392,000. Kessler took home $16,892 for his 45th-place finish.

Player Tags: Allen Kessler,   David Baker

Level 8: The Penultimate Level of the Evening

Nov 12, '10

Blinds: 400-800 with a 100 ante

Players Remaining: 190 of 330

Eliminations:

Eric Froehlich
Antonio Esfandiari
Mandy Baker

Big Hands:

Eric Froehlich Hits The Rail

Tyler Smith raised and Scott Fischman reraised to 5,500 from the button. Eric Froehlich, who had lost the majority of his stack a few hands earlier, then moved all in from the small blind.

Smith reraised to 16,500 and Fischman folded. Froehlich’s pocket fours were in big trouble against Smith’s pocket aces and he received no help on the flop, turn or river.

David “bakes” Baker Doubles Up

David Baker found himself short stacked and all in holding pocket jacks against the pocket nines of his opponent.

The board brought no help for either player and Baker is now back to his original starting stack of about 30,000 in chips.

Bad Luck For Craig Bergeron

After a series of preflop raises, Craig Bergeron had an opponent all in and covered holding AK. His opponent showed AK and in all likelihood, they were heading for a chop.

Instead, the board fell Q75105 and Bergeron lost the pot to a runner-runner flush. He now has just 10,000 in chips.

Chad Brown Loses Some Chips

The button raised to 2,100 and Team PokerStars Pro Chad Brown made the call from the big blind. The flop came down Q94 and Brown checked.

The button continued with a bet of 1,700 and Brown made the call. The turn was the A and the button fired in 4,000. Brown folded, bringing his stack to 39,000.

Meet Your Chip Leader, Chris Hunichen

All of a sudden, Chris “BigHuni” Hunichen is sitting at the top of the leaderboard with about 190,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Scott Fischman,   Eric Froehlich,   David Baker,   Tyler Smith,   Craig Bergeron

David Baker Eliminated in 14th Place ($32,305)

Oct 27, '10

David Baker got the last of his chips into the middle preflop after a series of raises between him and Shannon Shorr that saw Baker shove for 292,000. Their cards:

Shorr: A A
Baker: A Q

Board: J 6 5 7 K

Baker was eliminated in 14th place and he will take home $32,305 in prize money. Shorr ascended to the summit with the chip leaders that are close to a million after the hand.

Player Tags: Shannon Shorr,   David Baker

Chris Klodnicki Doubles Up

Oct 27, '10

David Baker raised all in preflop and Chris Klodnicki made the all-in call for 95,000. Their cards:

Baker: K 2
Klodnicki: A 8

Board: 8 6 2 8 9

Klodnicki doubled up to survive and Baker is starting to get short.

Player Tags: Chris Klodnicki,   David Baker

Shawn Busse Eliminated in 20th Place ($22,678)

Oct 27, '10

David Baker raised to 15,000 from the button preflop and Shawn Busse reraised all in for 103,000. Baker made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Busse: A 8
Baker: A 9

Board: K 10 2 6 J

Busse was eliminated in 20th place and he will take home $22,678 in prize money.

Player Tags: Shawn Busse,   David Baker

Dave Orvis Busted by David Baker

Oct 26, '10

Dave Orvis was short stacked and made a move with pocket sevens only to run into the pocket queens of David Baker. The queens held and Orvis was eliminated.

We are now down to our final 28 players. Only 24 will make the money.

Player Tags: David Baker,   Dave Orvis

Baker vs. Powell vs. Tamayo

Oct 26, '10

David “Bakes” Baker (big blind), Brian Powell (UTG), and Jonathan Tamayo (middle position) collectively contributed 21,000 into a pot preflop and then proceeded to check down an A 4 2 K 3 board. Baker then bet 15,000 and after some thought Powell made the call. Tamayo mucked and Powell flipped over A Q, which induced Baker to muck as well.

Player Tags: Brian Powell,   Jonathan Tamayo,   David Baker

David Baker Doubles Through Gordon Vayo

Oct 26, '10

David Baker found himself all in holding AK against the pocket tens of Gordon Vayo. The board fell K9856 and Baker doubled up to 275,000. Vayo is now short stacked with 56,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Gordon Vayo,   David Baker

Bakes Loses Ground

Oct 26, '10

David Baker raised to 3,500 from under the gun only to see the cutoff move all in for 36,600. Baker made the call and showed AQ, but was dominated by his opponent’s AK.

The board ran out J8756 and Baker was left with just 32,000 in chips.

Player Tags: David Baker

David Baker Eliminated in 14th Place ($32,305)

Oct 27, '10

David Baker got the last of his chips into the middle preflop after a series of raises between him and Shannon Shorr that saw Baker shove for 292,000. Their cards:

Shorr: A A
Baker: A Q

Board: J 6 5 7 K

Baker was eliminated in 14th place and he will take home $32,305 in prize money. Shorr ascended to the summit with the chip leaders that are close to a million after the hand.

Player Tags: Shannon Shorr,   David Baker

Chris Klodnicki Doubles Up

Oct 27, '10

David Baker raised all in preflop and Chris Klodnicki made the all-in call for 95,000. Their cards:

Baker: K 2
Klodnicki: A 8

Board: 8 6 2 8 9

Klodnicki doubled up to survive and Baker is starting to get short.

Player Tags: Chris Klodnicki,   David Baker

Shawn Busse Eliminated in 20th Place ($22,678)

Oct 27, '10

David Baker raised to 15,000 from the button preflop and Shawn Busse reraised all in for 103,000. Baker made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Busse: A 8
Baker: A 9

Board: K 10 2 6 J

Busse was eliminated in 20th place and he will take home $22,678 in prize money.

Player Tags: Shawn Busse,   David Baker

Dave Orvis Busted by David Baker

Oct 26, '10

Dave Orvis was short stacked and made a move with pocket sevens only to run into the pocket queens of David Baker. The queens held and Orvis was eliminated.

We are now down to our final 28 players. Only 24 will make the money.

Player Tags: David Baker,   Dave Orvis

Baker vs. Powell vs. Tamayo

Oct 26, '10

David “Bakes” Baker (big blind), Brian Powell (UTG), and Jonathan Tamayo (middle position) collectively contributed 21,000 into a pot preflop and then proceeded to check down an A 4 2 K 3 board. Baker then bet 15,000 and after some thought Powell made the call. Tamayo mucked and Powell flipped over A Q, which induced Baker to muck as well.

Player Tags: Brian Powell,   Jonathan Tamayo,   David Baker

David Baker Doubles Through Gordon Vayo

Oct 26, '10

David Baker found himself all in holding AK against the pocket tens of Gordon Vayo. The board fell K9856 and Baker doubled up to 275,000. Vayo is now short stacked with 56,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Gordon Vayo,   David Baker

Bakes Loses Ground

Oct 26, '10

David Baker raised to 3,500 from under the gun only to see the cutoff move all in for 36,600. Baker made the call and showed AQ, but was dominated by his opponent’s AK.

The board ran out J8756 and Baker was left with just 32,000 in chips.

Player Tags: David Baker

Level 7 Update: Bustout Bonanza

Oct 16, '10

Blinds: 400-800 with a 100 ante

Players Remaining: 177 out of 317

Chip Counts:

1. Payman Arjang — 225,000
2. Peter Braglia — 190,000
3. Sorel Mizzi — 185,000
4. David Peters — 180,000
5. Annette Obrestad — 170,000
6. Noah Schwartz — 165,000
7. Danial Shiff — 165,000
8. Jeff Madsen — 160,000
9. Brandon Novena — 157,000
10. Randal Flowers 145,000

Card Player Chip Counts

Jeff Shulman — 72,000

Average Chip Count: 69,289

Notable Eliminations:

Keven Stammen
Justin Young
Kathy Liebert
Jose Barbero
Vanessa Peng
William Reynolds
Tim West
Doyle Brunson
Tony Dunst
Dan Smith
Brock Parker
Jonathan Little
Jen Harman

Big Hands:

David Williams Doubles Up Through Jeff Shulman

David Williams got the last of his chips into the middle preflop against Jeff Shulman and they flipped over their cards:

Williams: A K
Shulman: A J

Board: 8 2 2 3 9

Williams doubled up on the hand and he now holds 23,500. Shulman dropped slightly to 72,000.

Justin Young and David Baker Eliminated

Cornel Cimpan raised from the cutoff preflop and Justin moved all in for 17,000. David Baker reraised all in over the top. Cimpan made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Cimpan: K-K
Baker: 9-9
Young: A-10

Board: 10-7-3-J-4

Cimpan eliminated both Young and Baker on the hand and after starting the day with 23,000 and change he now holds about 70,000.

Sorel Mizzi Jumps to Third in the Counts

There was 17,000 in the pot and the board read K 9 4 Q when Josh Arieh bet 8,800 from the small blind. Sorel Mizzi made the call under the gun and Jeremy Menard made the call from early position. The river fell K and Arieh checked.

Mizzi bet 7,000 and Menard made the call. Arieh mucked and Mizzi turned over 10 6. Menard mucked and Mizzi held 170,000 after the hand.

Poker Tweets

Left in the Deck

Best Tournament Director Quote Ever

While trying to quell the players after a controversial decision on a pot where he invoked the over-sized chip rule, Tournament Director John Nieznanski said, “I rule the same, whether it’s my ex-wife who I hate, or my daughter who I love.”

Player Tags: Cornel Andrew Cimpan,   Jeff Shulman,   Justin Young,   David Williams,   Sorel Mizzi,   David Baker