David Levi - Live Updates

Level 12 Update: Torelli Crosses Million Mark

Jul 16, '09

Blinds: 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante

Players Remaining: 67 out of 268

Chip Counts:

1. Alec Torelli — 1,100,000
2. Faraz Jaka — 660,000
3. Vivek Rajkumar — 510,000
4. Anthony Spinella — 490,000
5. Ray Henson — 460,000
6. Sam Stein — 455,000
7. Terry Fleischer — 448,000
8. Tommy Hang — 390,000
9. David Levi — 375,000
10. Cornel Andrew Cimpan — 365,000

Average Chip Count: 240,000

Notable Eliminations:

David Baker
Daniel Drescher
Tony Dunst
Owen Crowe
Surinder Sunar
Justin Filtz
Philippe Rouas
Steve Gross

Hand of the Level:

David Levi Doubles Up and Cripples Steve Gross

On a flop of A74, both David Levi and Steve Gross checked. The turn was the 2 and Levi checked. Gross bet 28,000 and Levi check-raised to 70,000.

Gross decided to call and the river was the 9. Levi moved all in for his last 81,000 and Gross called with A-4 for a slowplayed two pair. Unfortunately for the Online Player of the Year candidate, Levi showed down A7 for a better two pair.

After the hand, Gross was left with just 40,000 while Levi moved up to 375,000. Gross was eliminated shortly afterwards.

Player Tags: David Levi,   Steve Gross

Level 18 Hour 2 Update: J.C. Tran Doubles Up

Jul 12, '09

Blinds: 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante

Players Remaining: 305 out of 6,494

Chip Counts:

1. Matt Affleck – 2,100,000
2. Ben Lamb – 2,000,000
3. Ludovic Lacay – 1,850,000
4. Kevin Schaffel – 1,760,000
5. Bernhard Perner – 1,675,000
6. Tom Lutz – 1,600,000
7. James Akenhead – 1,572,000
8. Charlie Elias – 1,540,000
9. Miika Puumalainen – 1,492,000
10. Jordan Morgan – 1,489,000

Card Player Chip Counts:

Jeff Shulman – 575,000

Average Chip Count: 624,423

Notable Eliminations:

David Levi
Andrew Black
Sorel Mizzi

Big Hands:

J.C Tran Doubles

After Nasr El Nasr raised to 20,000 preflop, J.C. Tran raised all in for his last 109,000. Steven Doebler was next to act and repopped to 200,000 total. Nasr folded and the cards were turned up.

Doebler tabled AQ and was disgusted when Tran showed AK. The flop came down 544. “I’ll take another pair,” Doebler said. The turn was the 3 and there were straight possibilities. But the river was the 6 and Tran doubled up to almost 230,000. “One more time,” Tran said as he raked in the chips.

David Levi Busts

David Levi moved all in for his last 30,000 preflop with 70,000 already in the pot. He was called by the Clayton Newman. Levi turned over AQ while Newman tabled 1010.

The flop came down K104, giving Newman a set but Levi a broadway draw. The turn was the J and Levi hit his straight, but the K on the river filled up Newman and Levi was gone.

Benyamine Straight To A Million

After David Benyamine and David McLarthy both put 17,000 into the pot preflop, the flop dropped 623. Benyamine led out with 28,000 and McLarthy made the call. The turn was the 4 and both players checked.

The river was the 5, putting a straight on the board. Benyamine led out again with 125,000 and McLarthy just smiled. He threw in the call and Benyamine turned over 87 for the absolute nuts. McLarthy mucked and Benyamine took in the pot, vaulting himself over 1 million.

Shulman Busts Andy Black

We weren’t able to get close enough to the action since Jeff Shulman is at the feature table, but somehow he had eliminated Andy Black from the tournament and doubled up to 640,000 in chips.

Ludovic Lacay Busts Another

Ludovic Lacay called the all in of Shawn Pilot and showed 88 and was off to the races against Pilot’s AK.

The board ran out 4J497, keeping Lacay’s pair in the lead and eliminating Pilot from the tournament.

Sorel Mizzi Eliminated

Sorel Mizzi got all of his chips in the middle with AJ and was called by Scott Cook who had 99. The flop was good for Cook as it came 963, but the K on the turn gave Mizzi some hope.

The 10 on the river left Mizzi one card short of his flush and sent him home early on day 5.

Stokes Doubles Through Kara Scott

There was a raise to 20,000 and Jamin Stokes opted to flat-call. The action got to Kara Scott and she decided to make it 100,000 total. The original raiser got out of the way and action was back to Stokes, who thought for 30 seconds before moving all in. Scott made the call and showed AK and was behind Stokes KK.

The board ran out 388JQ and Stokes doubled up.

Crowe’s Kings Trump Taylor’s Jacks

We were unable to catch when all the money went in, but Owen Crowe doubled through Brian Taylor with pocket kings against pocket jacks on a board that read 79632.

“I didn’t want to play a big pot yet,” said Crowe. “But then I figured I had two kings, so I would.”

Noah Boeken Scores A Knockout, Over A Million

After a flop of 1084, Joseph Michael was all in and Noah Boeken made the call. Michael showed down QQ for an overpair but Boeken tabled 88 for a flopped set.

The turn was the 6 and the river was the 7 and Michael was eliminated. Boeken raked in the pot and was at 1.3 million.

Player Tags: J.C. Tran,   David Levi,   Jeff Shulman,   David Benyamine,   Noah Boeken,   Owen Crowe,   Sorel Mizzi,   Ludovic Lacay,   Kara Scott,   Nasr El Nasr

Level 4 Update: Nguyen Chops With Juanda, Alaei Climbs To Top

Jun 18, '09

Ante: 100
Low Card: 200
Completion: 500
Limits: 500-1,000

Players Remaining: 163 out of 164

Note: Players have gone on a 60 minute dinner break and will return at 10:40 p.m.

Chip Counts:

1. Daniel Alaei – 53,000
2. Jeff Lisandro – 51,000
3. Johnny Chan – 47,000
4. Scotty Nguyen – 45,000
5. Soheil Shamseddin – 45,000
6. Anthony Rivera – 44,000
7. Frank Kassela – 44,000
8. John Hennigan – 43,000
9. Bill Chen – 42,000
10. Farzad Rouhani – 42,000

Average Chip Count: 30,000

Notable Eliminations:

Shawn Sheikhan

Big Hands:

Levi Relieves Eli Of His Chips

David Levi: X-X-2KJ
Eli Elezra: X-X-2Q4

With around 2,500 in the pot, David Levi fired 1,000 and Elezra made the call.

David Levi: X-X-2KJ5
Eli Elezra: X-X-2Q4Q

Although Elezra paired his ladies, he decided to check to Levi. Levi did the same and both players were dealt their river cards. Both players checked again and Levi turned over K88 for two pair and Elezra could not beat it. “I can’t call you if you bet it,” Elezra commented after throwing his hand away. He was at 42,000 while Levi was at 15,000.

Fricke Gobbles Up His Opponent

Fricke: X-X-3
Seat 2: X-X-J

The player in seat 2 completed to 500 and Jimmy Fricke raised to 1,000. His opponent made the call.

Fricke: X-X-37
Seat 2: X-X-J4

Seat 2 checked and Fricke bet 500. His opponent then raised 1,000 and Fricke did not skip a beat as he raised to 1,500. Seat 2 called.

Fricke: X-X-374
Seat 2: X-X-J43

Fricke bet 1,000 and his opponent called again.

Fricke: X-X-3748
Seat 2: X-X-J43Q

Fricke bet another 1,000 and seat 2 raised to 2,000. Fricke came back over the top to 3,000 and was called. On the river, Fricke bet again and his opponent just shook his head and mucked, unable to defend the chips he already had in the pot. Instead, they were added to Fricke’s stack and he was at 37,000.

Nguyen And Juanda Engage In A Friendly Contest

Scotty Nguyen: X-X-948
John Juanda: X-X-8JJ

John Juanda bet 1,000 into a pot holding 4,000 and Scotty Nguyen raised to 2,000. Juanda made the call.

Scotty Nguyen: X-X-9483
John Juanda: X-X-8JJA

Juanda bet 1,000 and Nguyen just called. On the river, Nguyen led out with 1,000 and Juanda threw in the call. Nguyen turned over (852X) for an eight-low and Juanda showed (10A4) for aces up and the players chopped the pot. Nguyen was still over 50,000 while Juanda was at 29,600.

Left In The Deck:

Famed poker commentator Norman Chad is in the field today. At last glance his stack was around 20,000. It will be interesting to see if he can show these players a thing or two on how to play some real poker.

Player Tags: Scotty Nguyen,   David Levi,   John Juanda,   Eli Elezra,   Jimmy Fricke,   Norman Chad

Level 6 Update: Tony G Gets The Best Of Chan

Jun 01, '09

Ante: 100
Low Card: 200
Completion: 600
Limits: 600-1,200

Players Remaining: 138 out of 142

Chip Counts:

1. Matt Glantz – 76,000
2. John Cernuto – 65,000
3. Yuval Bronshtein – 60,000
4. Keith Sexton – 58,000
5. Andy Bloch – 58,000
6. Tim Phan – 56,000
7. David Oppenheim – 55,000
8. Chris Amaral – 55,000
9. Nikolay Evdakov – 51,000
10. Jeff Lisandro – 47,000

Average Chip Count: 30,870

Big Hands:

Tony G Stows Away On The Orient Express

Tony G: X-X-29
Johnny Chan: X-X-QK

Johnny Chan fired a bet of 600 and Tony G made the call.

Tony G: X-X-296
Johnny Chan: X-X-QK3

Chan fired another round of 1,200 and Tony G called.

Tony G: X-X-2964
Johnny Chan: X-X-QK38

Chan slowed down and checked and Tony G bet 1,200. Chan made the call and the players saw the river. On the river, Tony G kept the gas pedal down and fired 1,200 more into the pot and Chan mucked his hand. After the hand Tony G was at 48,000 while Chan was at 22,000.

The Chainsaw Gets Bluffed

Allen Kessler: X-X-4
Seat 7: X-X-A

Kessler’s opponent threw an orange 1,000 chip into the pot to complete the bet. Kessler thought it was a raise and argued with the table about it. After that was over, he called 600 and the players saw the next card.

Allen Kessler: X-X-4Q
Seat 7: X-X-AQ

Seat 7 bet 600 and Kessler called.

Allen Kessler: X-X-4QJ
Seat 7: X-X-AQ9

Seat 7 bet 1,200 and Kessler raised to 2,400. His opponent made the call.

Allen Kessler: X-X-4QJK
Seat 7: X-X-AQ94

Seat 7 bet 1,200 and Kessler tagged along with the call.

Allen Kessler: X-X-4QJK-(2)
Seat 7: (K27)-AQ94

Seat 7 fired 1,200 and Kessler flashed the 2 he received on the river and mucked. His opponent then revealed his hand, showing that he had absoloutely nothing. After the hand, Kessler was down to just 13,500.

Erick Lindgren Takes a Pot

Lindgren: X-X-86K
Seat 8: X-X-743

Picking up the action on fifth street, Lindgren bet 1,200 and his opponent called.

Lindgren: X-X-86KQ
Seat 8: X-X-743A

The betting shifted over to seat 8 with the ace-high. He checked and Lindgren fired another 1,200 bet that was called. On the river, Lindgren fired one more bullet and seat 8 finally had enough, mucking his hand.

Traniello and Levi Tangle Again

Marco Traniello: X-X-43
David Levi: X-X-Q7

Traniello bet 600 and Levi made the call

Marco Traniello: X-X-43A
David Levi: X-X-Q78

Traniello bet 1,200 and Levi called.

Marco Traniello: X-X-43A4
David Levi: X-X-Q782

Traniello fired another 1,200 and Levi stuck around.

Marco Traniello: (KK6)43A4
David Levi: (X-X-10)-Q782

Both players checked the river and Traniello showed his two pair, good enough to take down the pot as Levi flashed his 10. Traniello was over 50,000 while Levi was down to 24,000.

Left In The Deck:

The prize pool for this tournament has been announced. It is $1,334,800. There will be 16 places paid and the winner will be awarded $373,744.

Player Tags: Antanas Guoga,   Erick Lindgren,   David Levi,   Allen Kessler,   Marco Traniello,   Johnny Chan

Level 5 Update: Seif Takes One From Dario

Jun 01, '09

Ante: 100
Low Card: 200
Completion: 500
Limits: 500-1,000

Players Remaining: 141 out of 142

Chip Counts:

1. Matt Glantz – 63,000
2. Toto Leonidas – 46,000
3. David Chiu – 44,000
4. David Bach – 39,000
5. Andy Bloch – 39,000
6. Frank Kassela – 39,000
7. Chris Amaral – 39,000
8. Marco Traniello – 38,000
9. Katja Thater – 37,000
10. Alexander Kravchenko – 37,000

Average Chip Count: 30,212

Big Hands:

Mark Seif vs. Dario Minieri

Minieri: X-X-7
Seif:X-X-10
Max Pescatori: X-X-K

Minieri completed to 500 and both Seif and Pescatori called.

Minieri: X-X-7K
Seif:X-X-10J
Max Pescatori: X-X-Kfold

Pescatori led out with 500 and Minieri called. Seif then raised to 1,000 and Pescatori mucked, but Minieri stuck around.

Minieri: X-X-7K9
Seif:X-X-10JA

The betting was on Seif and he fired 1,000. Minieri gathered his hand and threw it in the muck, leaving his stack around 34,000. With the pot, Seif improved to 13,000.

Jesus Pushes Out The Professor

Chris Ferguson: X-X-9K
Howard Lederer: X-X-69
Seat 7: X-X-98

Howard Lederer fired 1,000 into the pot and Ferguson called, along with seat 7.

Chris Ferguson: X-X-9KK
Howard Lederer: X-X-69-X
Seat 7: X-X-982

Ferguson paired his King and led out with 1,000. Lederer and seat 7 quickly got out of the way and Ferguson raked in the pot, his stack at 37,000. Lederer was not doing too bad himself with 46,000.

Levi vs. Traniello

David Levi: X-X-J
Marco Traniello: X-X-3

Levi completed to 500 and Traniello called.

David Levi: X-X-J4
Marco Traniello: X-X-34

Levi bet 500 and Traniello stuck around for 5th street.

David Levi: X-X-J46
Marco Traniello: X-X-34Q

Traniello checked and Levi fired 1,000. Traniello made the call.

David Levi: X-X-J4610
Marco Traniello: X-X-34QK

Levi fired another 1,000 into the pot with four diamonds showing and one card to go. Traniello had enough and mucked his hand. His stack was at 41,000 while Levi was up to 27,000.

Player Tags: Mark Seif,   Chris Ferguson,   David Levi,   Max Pescatori,   Howard Lederer,   Marco Traniello,   Dario Minieri

David Levi Eliminated

Oct 29, '08

David Levi has been eliminated from the tournament.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Player Tags: David Levi

Hevad Khan Wins a Monster Pot

Oct 29, '08

David Miscikowski raises to 35,000 under the gun and is called by Noah Schwartz and William Heimiller. The action gets around to Hevad Khan in late position who reraises to 135,000.

David Levi tanks in the blinds for several minutes before folding what he later claimed was pocket queens. Miscikowski moves all in for a total of 486,000 and Schwartz goes into the tank.

He eventually folds what he claimed was pocket jacks and Heimiller mucks. Khan calls with KK and Miscikowski stuns the table by turning over AQ.

The board comes 107455 and Khan eliminates his opponent while chipping up to 1.82 million.

 

 

 

Player Tags: David Levi,   William Heimiller,   Noah Schwartz,   Hevad Khan,   David Miscikowski

Mike Leah Eliminated

Oct 22, '08

Mike Leah got all of his chips into the middle with A-3 and David Levi called him down with 7-3. The board came out 5-3-rag-4-6 and Leah was knocked out of the tournament by a runner-runner straight.














 

Player Tags: David Levi,   Mike Leah

Mixed Hold'em Level 12 Recap

Jun 23, '08

Blinds/Antes:
No Limit: blinds 600-1,200 ante 200
Limit: blinds 1,300-2,500 limits 2,500-500

Players Remaining: 31-731

Average Stack: 70,742

Chip Leaders:

Nick Binger: 152,000
Jason Ruffinelli: 113,000
David Sorger: 110,000
Jonothan Tamayo: 110,000
Michael Chu: 107,000
Mats Gavatin: 106,000
Quyen Nguyen: 106,000
Chris Rentes: 100,000
Alex Jalali: 98,000
Peter Rho: 92,000

Eliminations: Dmitry Levy, David Levi

Hands:

You Say Tamayo, I Say He Has A Couple of Chips

Jonathon Tamayo eliminated two players during the first half of level 12: first his pocket aces held up against David Levi's king queen, and then he made a straight with ace eight against an unknown opponents pocket fours. Tamayo is now tied with David Sorger for third most chips with about 110,000.

Chopped Pot

Just after the no limit portion of the hour began, Ricky Sanders raised under the gun to 4,000 and Hien Tran called from the cutoff seat. The flop came 622 and Sanders led out for 8,000. "How much do you have left?" asked Tran. The answer was around 15,000, and Tran decided to play for everything. Sanders relucantly made the call with 55. "You want to chop?" joked Tran, who rolled over 55. Neither play was drawing to a flush, and they essentially chopped the blinds and antes. Tran had 44,000 after the hand, while sanders is sitting with about 30,000.

Levy Eliminated

Jason Rufinelli raised from early position and Dmitry Levy shoved for about 15,000 more. Rufinelli made the call with QQ and was in dominating position against Levy's 1010. Levy made a gutshot on the turn, as the board ran out J759, but the 4 ended his day in blank place. After the hand Sanders claimed he had folded pocket tens himself, meaning Levy was drawing very slim before the hand began.

Players are now on a one hour dinner break.
 

Player Tags: David Levi

$1,500 Mixed Hold'em - Level Nine Recap

Jun 23, '08

Blinds/Antes:
Limit: 600-1,200
No-Limit: 300-600-75

Players Remaining: 78 of 731

Average Chip Stack: 28,100

Eliminations:

Nick Goodall
Steve Fiorentini
Tino Lechich

Hands and Storylines:

Nam Le doubles

Nam Le began the day with under 8,000 chips and would have to pick a spot to get his chips into the pot. He decided to go with A-J, and fortunately caught a jack on the flop against A-Q. He doubled up and currently has about 16,000 chips.

Tamayo puts Levi to the test

David Levi called a preflop from the chipleader Jonathan Tamayo and then called a 2,500 bet on a 6-5-4 flop. When a deuce came on the turn Levi bet out 4,000 and Tamayo raised to 20,000. Levi thought for a couple minutes, got up from his seat, separated 16,000 chips from his stack, and then ultimately folded.

Player Tags: David Levi,   Nam Le,   Jonathan Tamayo

Mixed Hold'em - Level 4 - Vos Encourages Players to Get Massages

Jun 22, '08

Note: Players are now on a 30 minute break. Action will resume at 10 p.m.

Limit Blinds: 150-300
No Limit Blinds: 75-150

Chip Counts:
Heath Chick: 21,000
Richard Redmond: 18,400
David Pham: 17,000
John Juanda: 14,200
Todd Whitteles: 14,000
Allen Le: 9,400
Tino Lechich: 9,100
Michael Craig: 9,000
Mimi Tran: 8,500
Alan "Air" Engel: 8,500

Players Left: 324 of 731

Eliminations: Kenna James, Shannor Shorr, Joe Hachem

Big Hands/Storylines

A Very Energized Vos

Mark Vos yelled, "Pass the sugar!" then ran over to fellow Australian Joe Hachem's table and gave him a quick massage. Several minutes later he ran over to another player and kicked him in the bottom, then ran back to his seat to play poker. Read about his double up below in the no-limit section.

Limit Session

One Stacked Italian

Italy's Max Pescatori, who has already won a bracelet this year, called a bet of 300 on a K86 flop. His opponent checked the 9 turn and Pescatori fired out 600. His opponent quickly mucked and Pescatori chipped up to around 15,000.

Cowboy About to Fall?

Kenna James had just trippled up when he got in another big hand. A big pot sent his opponent all in and James called with only two green chips (totalling 50) left behind. The board was K7234 and James' opponent turned over KK for a set of kings. James mucked and was later eliminated.

Levi Happy Taking Pot

Before the flop of 853 was even spread out by the dealer, David Levi threw in a bet of 300 onto the cards and smiled as his opponent mucked. Levi has climbed to around 7,000 in chips.

No Limit Session

Miami John Gone

Miami John Cernuto got his short stack all in an dwas called by a player with QQ. Cernuto held A8 and was drawing slim. The flop helped, coming 877, but the 3 came on the turn and the 6 fell on the river, sending Cernuto to the rail.

Vos Doubles, Recommends Massage

In the final minute of the level, Mark Vos got all in and was called by an opponent on a board of A-J-J-Q-10, Vos showed A-J for a flopped full house, and his opponent showed A-Q for top two pair. Vos doubled to around 2,000. After the hand he recommended investing in a massage while playing and praised the woman rubbing his shoulders, causing her to blush.

Haxton Cripples Opponent

Isaac Haxton called the very talkative player in seat 8's all in bet. Seat 8 showed K10 and was trailing Haxton's QQ. The board ran 733J8 and Haxton scooped a nice pot. After the chips were counted, seat 8 had only 125 chips left and was crippled. Haxton got quite a bit healthier and was approaching 4,500 after the hand.

Player Tags: John Cernuto,   David Levi,   Kenna James,   Max Pescatori,   Mark Vos,   Isaac Haxton

Mixed Hold'em Level 12 Recap

Jun 23, '08

Blinds/Antes:
No Limit: blinds 600-1,200 ante 200
Limit: blinds 1,300-2,500 limits 2,500-500

Players Remaining: 31-731

Average Stack: 70,742

Chip Leaders:

Nick Binger: 152,000
Jason Ruffinelli: 113,000
David Sorger: 110,000
Jonothan Tamayo: 110,000
Michael Chu: 107,000
Mats Gavatin: 106,000
Quyen Nguyen: 106,000
Chris Rentes: 100,000
Alex Jalali: 98,000
Peter Rho: 92,000

Eliminations: Dmitry Levy, David Levi

Hands:

You Say Tamayo, I Say He Has A Couple of Chips

Jonathon Tamayo eliminated two players during the first half of level 12: first his pocket aces held up against David Levi's king queen, and then he made a straight with ace eight against an unknown opponents pocket fours. Tamayo is now tied with David Sorger for third most chips with about 110,000.

Chopped Pot

Just after the no limit portion of the hour began, Ricky Sanders raised under the gun to 4,000 and Hien Tran called from the cutoff seat. The flop came 622 and Sanders led out for 8,000. "How much do you have left?" asked Tran. The answer was around 15,000, and Tran decided to play for everything. Sanders relucantly made the call with 55. "You want to chop?" joked Tran, who rolled over 55. Neither play was drawing to a flush, and they essentially chopped the blinds and antes. Tran had 44,000 after the hand, while sanders is sitting with about 30,000.

Levy Eliminated

Jason Rufinelli raised from early position and Dmitry Levy shoved for about 15,000 more. Rufinelli made the call with QQ and was in dominating position against Levy's 1010. Levy made a gutshot on the turn, as the board ran out J759, but the 4 ended his day in blank place. After the hand Sanders claimed he had folded pocket tens himself, meaning Levy was drawing very slim before the hand began.

Players are now on a one hour dinner break.
 

Player Tags: David Levi

$1,500 Mixed Hold'em - Level Nine Recap

Jun 23, '08

Blinds/Antes:
Limit: 600-1,200
No-Limit: 300-600-75

Players Remaining: 78 of 731

Average Chip Stack: 28,100

Eliminations:

Nick Goodall
Steve Fiorentini
Tino Lechich

Hands and Storylines:

Nam Le doubles

Nam Le began the day with under 8,000 chips and would have to pick a spot to get his chips into the pot. He decided to go with A-J, and fortunately caught a jack on the flop against A-Q. He doubled up and currently has about 16,000 chips.

Tamayo puts Levi to the test

David Levi called a preflop from the chipleader Jonathan Tamayo and then called a 2,500 bet on a 6-5-4 flop. When a deuce came on the turn Levi bet out 4,000 and Tamayo raised to 20,000. Levi thought for a couple minutes, got up from his seat, separated 16,000 chips from his stack, and then ultimately folded.

Player Tags: David Levi,   Nam Le,   Jonathan Tamayo

Mixed Hold'em - Level 4 - Vos Encourages Players to Get Massages

Jun 22, '08

Note: Players are now on a 30 minute break. Action will resume at 10 p.m.

Limit Blinds: 150-300
No Limit Blinds: 75-150

Chip Counts:
Heath Chick: 21,000
Richard Redmond: 18,400
David Pham: 17,000
John Juanda: 14,200
Todd Whitteles: 14,000
Allen Le: 9,400
Tino Lechich: 9,100
Michael Craig: 9,000
Mimi Tran: 8,500
Alan "Air" Engel: 8,500

Players Left: 324 of 731

Eliminations: Kenna James, Shannor Shorr, Joe Hachem

Big Hands/Storylines

A Very Energized Vos

Mark Vos yelled, "Pass the sugar!" then ran over to fellow Australian Joe Hachem's table and gave him a quick massage. Several minutes later he ran over to another player and kicked him in the bottom, then ran back to his seat to play poker. Read about his double up below in the no-limit section.

Limit Session

One Stacked Italian

Italy's Max Pescatori, who has already won a bracelet this year, called a bet of 300 on a K86 flop. His opponent checked the 9 turn and Pescatori fired out 600. His opponent quickly mucked and Pescatori chipped up to around 15,000.

Cowboy About to Fall?

Kenna James had just trippled up when he got in another big hand. A big pot sent his opponent all in and James called with only two green chips (totalling 50) left behind. The board was K7234 and James' opponent turned over KK for a set of kings. James mucked and was later eliminated.

Levi Happy Taking Pot

Before the flop of 853 was even spread out by the dealer, David Levi threw in a bet of 300 onto the cards and smiled as his opponent mucked. Levi has climbed to around 7,000 in chips.

No Limit Session

Miami John Gone

Miami John Cernuto got his short stack all in an dwas called by a player with QQ. Cernuto held A8 and was drawing slim. The flop helped, coming 877, but the 3 came on the turn and the 6 fell on the river, sending Cernuto to the rail.

Vos Doubles, Recommends Massage

In the final minute of the level, Mark Vos got all in and was called by an opponent on a board of A-J-J-Q-10, Vos showed A-J for a flopped full house, and his opponent showed A-Q for top two pair. Vos doubled to around 2,000. After the hand he recommended investing in a massage while playing and praised the woman rubbing his shoulders, causing her to blush.

Haxton Cripples Opponent

Isaac Haxton called the very talkative player in seat 8's all in bet. Seat 8 showed K10 and was trailing Haxton's QQ. The board ran 733J8 and Haxton scooped a nice pot. After the chips were counted, seat 8 had only 125 chips left and was crippled. Haxton got quite a bit healthier and was approaching 4,500 after the hand.

Player Tags: John Cernuto,   David Levi,   Kenna James,   Max Pescatori,   Mark Vos,   Isaac Haxton

Seven Card Stud - Level 9 recap

Jun 19, '08

Limits: 600-1200 ante 100 bring-in 200

Players Remaining: 67-381

Eliminations: Greg Mueller

Chip Average: 17,080

Chip Leaders:

Greg Pappas: 50,000
Al Barbieri: 44,500
Levon Torosoyan: 38,700
Charile Townsend: 38,000
Michael Rocco: 36,400
Owen Mitchell: 34,000
Christopher Tryba: 32,900
Kim Erfle: 31,200
Paul Attarchi: 31,000
Christopher McIntyre: 29,500

Big Hands:

Barbieri Active Early

With up cards of A2106 Al Barbieri called down Chris Tryba to the end, who was showing QJQK. Tryba showed a single king underneath for kings up, but Barbieri showed down KQ for the ace high flush. Barbieri, who came into the day with a slight chip lead over the rest of the field, increased his stack to about 54,000.
A few hands later, though, Barbieri gave most of those chips back when he called down Max Troy, who completed in early position with the 9 and improved to a pair of nines showing on fifth street. Barbieri had J2A2, but Troy's wired queens plus nines were good to win the pot.

McIntyre's Got Levi's Number

David Levi bet out on fifth street showing 75A and Chris McIntyre raised to 2,400 with 6A10. Levi called, picking up the K on sixth street, and check-called McIntyre, who had added the 4. Levi again check-called on the river, and McIntyre showed him 6610 for sixes full of tens. Levi mucked his hand.
A few minutes later Levi went at with McIntyre again with a board of AQ84 against McIntyre's QA2Q. Again, McIntyre spearheaded the action; this time, however, Levi mucked his hand after McIntyre bet 7th street. McIntyre flashed the Q. Levi, meanwhile, is down to about 15,000.

Nelson Takes Down Pot

Katja Thater led out on fourth street and Alan Zarka raised to 1,200. Mike Nelson called and Zarka called.

Thader: Q67K
Zarka: Q3Q8
Nelson: 1087K

Zarka bet fifth street and both players called. The action checked around on sixth street, and then, after Zarka checked on the end, Nelson bet for the first time, and drew calls from both players. Nelson showed J109 for the straight. Thater and Zarka mucked their hands. Nelson is up to about 25,000.

Player Tags: David Levi,   Al Barbieri,   Katja Thater

On the Brink

Jun 14, '08

Limits: 5,000-10,000 with 1,000 ante, 2,000 bring-in

Players Left: 10 of 453

Chip Leaders:

Brandon Leeds: 215,000
Barry Greenstein: 190,000
Archie Karas: 170,000
Mark Tenner: 160,000
Christopher Viox: 135,000
Frank Kassela: 125,000
Chris Klondnicki: 112,000
Michael Wattel: 110,000
Joseph Michael: 80,000

Average Stack: 123,545

Big Hands:

David Levi Gone

Levi: (7-8-10)-A-4-6-J
Leeds: (3-5-6)-4-7-Q-9

David Levi was all in against Brandon Leeds. Leeds had a 9-low on 6th street while Levi had an 8-low. But the river ended Levi's night as Leeds hit a 6 to make a 7-low and rake the pot.

Tom Schneider Packs His Bag

Schneider: (8-3-10)-A-Q-7-8
Archie Karas: (A-3-5)-4-4-10-2

Tom Schneider was all in for his short stack against Karas. The money was all in on 5th street and Schneider was looking to improve his queen-low against Karas' 10-low draw. Sixth street made Karas his 10-low and paired Schneider. The river gave Karas the wheel which Schneider rode to the rail, his backpack in hand.

Greenstein Blames Canada

Barry Greenstein put Stephen Ladowsky all in on 5th street and here is how their boards ran out.

Greenstein: (3-8)-5-5-J-Q-(A)
Ladowsky: (x-x)-5-7-K-6-6-(x)

Greenstein made a jack-low on the river, which was good enough as Ladowsky threw his hand into the muck and made his exit in 11th place.

 

Player Tags: Barry Greenstein,   David Levi,   Tom Schneider,   Stephen Ladowsky

$1,500 Razz - Day 2 - Level 11 Recap

Jun 14, '08

Limits:  1000-2,000, 200 ante, 300 bring in

Players Left:  58 of 456

Chip Leaders:
Tom Schneider - 74,000
David Levi - 68,000
Joseph Michael - 54,000
Tom Chambers - 52,000
Jonathan Schwartz - 52,000
Frank Kassela - 51,000
Andrew Brown - 45,000
Barry Greenstein - 44,000
Archie Karas - 38,000
Larry St. Jean - 34,200

Average Stack: 23,600

Eliminations:
David Sklansky

Big Hands and Storylines:

Lawson Takes Another Hit

Barry Greenstein: 79610
Ted Lawson: Q-4-A-A

We entered the hand on 6^th street when Greenstein bet into Lawson’s freshly paired aces. Lawson asked Greenstein what he had and Greenstein jokingly responded, “I think I have a flush.” Lawson made the call, and, after Greenstein checked dark on the river, Lawson checked behind. Greenstein turned over (A-6-8) for a 9-8-7-6-A low and Lawson muttered, “two pair,” as he mucked. Greenstein has 44,000 in chips after winning the 13k pot while Lawson, with 20,000, is looking to reverse his recent ill fortune.

Levi Pours it On

David Levi: A-4-3-5
Ed Nassif: 10-4-3
Seat 1: A-7-6-6

David Levi continues to assert his dominance at the table with a little help from the dealers. Levi bet out on every street in this instance, causing Nassif to abandon his hand on 5^th street and the player in seat 1 to give up on 6^th. This pot brings Levi up to 68,000, behind only Tom Schneider’s 74,000.

Lisandro Doubles Up Seely

Jeffrey Lisandro: 48J9
Jim Seely: 42Q8

Seely completed on 3^rd street and Lisandro raised him. Seely called and the two saw 4^th street. With 4-2 showing Seely bet out and Lisandro called. Both 5^th street and 6^th street went check-check, then on 7^th street Lisandro bet and Seely reluctantly tossed the last of his chips in. Seely showed his (7-6-2) for an 8-7-6-4-2 and Lisandro, claiming a nine, mucked his cards. The hand doubled Seely up to 14,000 and dropped Lisandro to 27,000.

Player Tags: Frank Kassela,   Barry Greenstein,   David Levi,   Ted Lawson,   Larry St. Jean,   Tom Schneider,   Jeffrey Lisandro,   David Sklansky,   Archie Karas,   Andrew Brown,   Edward Nassif,   Tom Chambers,   Joseph Michael,   European Report

$1,500 Razz - Day 2 - Level 10 Recap

Jun 14, '08

Note: Players are now on a 20-minute break

Limits:  800-1,600, 200 ante, 200 bring in

Players Left:  69 of 456

Chip Leaders:
David Levi - 61,000
Joseph Michael - 57,000
Jonathan Schwatz - 56,000
Barry Greenstein - 40,000
Christopher Viox - 33,000
Michael Wattel - 29,000
Anthony Viganola - 28,000
Ted Lawson - 28,000
Frank Kassela - 26,200
Steven Merrifield – 25,000

Average Stack: 19,850

Eliminations:
Dario Alioto
Dewey Tomko
Vanessa Rousso

Big Hands and Storylines:

How much?!

The tournament screen displaying information for the next level showed that the bring-in would be 3,000 chips. This prompted a word from the supervisor that the bring-in for the next level would in fact be 300 and not 3,000. That, of course, makes much more sense considering the stakes will only be 1,000-2,000.

Nassif Takes a Pot Off Levi

Edward Nassif: 35K5
David Levi: 62Q2

The player in the 2 seat raised with the 5 up and David Levi called. Ed Nassif raised and both players came for 4^th street. On 4^th street Nassif bet, the 2 seat folded and Levi called. Levi then took the initiative and bet on 5^th and 6^th streets after two abysmal cards were dealt to Nassif. Nassif called twice however, and on 7^th street both players checked. Levi turned over (7-3-3) for a Q-7-6-3-2 low and Nassif seemed shocked when his (Q-6-4) underneath allowed him to take down the pot with a meager Q-6-5-4-3. Nassif is now up to 19,000 and Levi is still tops with 61,000.

Merrifield on a Run

Starting the day with only 8,000, Steven Merrifield has done a tremendous job of running his stack up to 25,000. A good deal of that money came from a recent pot contested with Andy Bloch:

Merrifield: T672
Bloch: Q749

Merrifield bet out with his superior upcards on 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th streets and on each occasion he was called by Bloch. Merrified showed T65 for a T-7-6-5-2 low, good enough to scoop the pot. After the pot Bloch was left with 18,000.

Sklansky Bucks Lawson

Ted Lawson bet on 4^th street with the 4 up and David Sklansky called showing the 4. On 4^th street, Lawson was dealt the 5 and Sklansky the 6; both players checked. On 6^th street Sklansky was dealt the 7 and bet into Lawson who drew the Q. Lawson folded and Sklansky won the pot. It’s not all bad news for Ted Lawson though, as he still has nearly 30,000 in chips. Sklansky has about 10,000.

Player Tags: Frank Kassela,   Barry Greenstein,   David Levi,   Andy Bloch,   Dewey Tomko,   Michael Wattel,   Ted Lawson,   David Sklansky,   Vanessa Rousso,   Edward Nassif,   Chris Viox,   Dario Alioto,   Joseph Michael,   Anthony Viganola,   Steven Merrifield

$1,500 Razz - Day 2 - Level 9 Recap

Jun 14, '08

Limits: 600-1,200, 100 ante, 200 bring in

Players Left:  94 of 456

Chip Leaders:
Barry Greenstein - 42,000
David Levi - 42,000
Jonathan Schwartz - 41,000
Michael Wattel - 28,000
Shahram "Shawn" Sheikhan - 28,000
Mark Gerencher - 27,300
Frank Kassela - 26,200
Allie Prescott - 24,000
John Turner - 22,800
Christopher Viox - 22,000

Average Stack: 14,550

Eliminations:
Brett “gank” Jungblut
Cyndy Violette
Kevin “bel0wab0ve” Saul

Big Hands and Storylines:

Color Me Confused

The tournament information screens in the Brasilia Room for the razz event started off level 9 as a retina-scorching and brain-addling shade of purple that left a number of players shaking their heads in confusion. After one player approached the floor and told him it was difficult to read, the color of the screen was switched to a simple and elegant black. Black. Always in style.

It’s That Easy

Barry Greenstein completed with a seven up and the action folded all the way around the table, giving Greenstein the pot. He showed the table A-2 and asked, “Doesn’t everybody get these?” It’s easy for Greenstein to be in good spirits as he is currently among the chip leaders with 42,000.

Jungblut Eliminated

Brett Jungblut got all-in on 3^rd street in a capped 4-way pot with Michael Kushner, Ellen Mead, and Trung Ly. Unsurprisingly, with a board of 6A43, Ly led the betting on every street. Mead folded on 6^th street after being dealt a king. After the final round of betting, the players showed their downcards. Ly’s 6-5-2 made him a wheel, rendering his opponents’ hands irrelevant, and eliminating Brett Jungblut.

Violette Takes Big Hit, Eliminated Shortly After

On 6^th street, with a board reading AT82, Nikolay Evdakov bet 1,200 into Cyndy Violette. Violette, with only 2,000 left and a board of 61094, decided to fold and pick a better spot. Unfortunately, no better spot would arrive and she was eliminated a few hands later.

Player Tags: Frank Kassela,   Brett Jungblut,   Barry Greenstein,   David Levi,   Michael Wattel,   Shawn Sheikhan,   John Turner,   Cyndy Violette,   Trung Ly,   Allie Prescott,   Kevin Saul,   Chris Viox,   Mark Gerencher

Razz Round 6 Recap

Jun 13, '08

 

Blinds: ante 75 bring-in 100 completion 300
Stakes: 300-600

Players Left: 193 of 453

Chip Leaders:

Jonothan Schwartz: 18,200
David Bach: 16,600
Michael Wattel: 15,500
Nikolay Edvakov: 13,500
Vanessa Rousso: 13,000
Dewey Tomko: 11,500
Steve Wolff: 11,100
Andy Bloch: 11,000
Sam Grizzle: 11,000
Cyndy Violette: 10,600

Hands:

Chip Jett Eliminated by Seat 4

Seat 4 completed and Chip Jett called. Seat 4 bet on fourth street and again Jett called. Seat 4 bet on fifth street and Jett called all in. Jett showed 9752A for a 9-7 low that was no good, and he was eliminated.

Juanda Takes Small Pot From Levi

In a pot involving John Juanda and David Levi, Juanda led out on fourth street showing Q6 against Levi's QJ. Levi hemmed and hawed before making the call. The turn brough the 9 for Juanda and 10 for Levi. "Straight draw," cracked the dealer. Juanda bet and Levi folded, showing the A6 in the hole.

 

Players are now on a twenty minute break.

Player Tags: David Levi,   John Juanda,   Chip Jett

$1,500 Razz - Day 1 - Level 1 Recap

Jun 13, '08

Limits: 50-100, 10 ante, 15 bring-in

Players Left:  435 of 435

Big Hands and Storylines:

With an ante of 10 and bring-in of 15 there should be little incentive for players to carry on with speculative hands, especially when you take into account the relatively large stakes of 50-100. Of course, that has not stopped some players from chasing iffy draws all the way until 6^th or 7^th street. The $1,500 buy-in tends to attract a large number of amateurs who are here simply to have a good time. The professionals in today’s field will be hoping to prey on these recreational players in the hopes of amassing a large stack by the end of the day.

Table Pairings

Here is a selection of tables with notable names:

Table 2: David Levi, Scott “scottyno” Novak
Table 4: Shawn Sheikhan, Cyndy Violette, Jon Von Halle, Mark “newhizzle” Newhouse
Table 5: Tom Schneider, Matt “mattg198” Graham
Table 9: Billy Baxter, Dewey Tomko, Ralph Perry
Table 26: Phil Ivey, Archie Karas

Good as Gold

It’s almost a certainty that you wouldn’t recognize Scott “scottyno” Novak walking down the street on any normal day, but today is no normal day for Scott.  The winner of the FTOPS VII razz event, Novak, basking in his gold champion’s jersey, is playing in one of his first live events. Though he did not get off to the best of starts, this hand against David Levi helped prop him back up.

David Levi: 7789
Scott Novak: 9328

Levi completed with his 7 showing and Novak called. The next card paired Levi, and with a 3 dealt to him, Novak had little choice but to fire into his opponent. Levi called and the pair saw 5^th street. Another good card for Novak led him to bet again and, again, Levi called. 6^th street saw another sequence of bet-call from the two gentlemen, and on the river Novak tossed out a final bet of 100.  Levi called and mucked after Novak showed (6-4-3) for an 8-6-4-3-2 low. The pot helped Novak get back up to 2,300 and dropped Levi down to 2,500.

Player Tags: David Levi