$1,500 No Limit Hold'em - Day 2 - Level 18
Jun 02, '08
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: A
A
Robertson: A
Q
Sinopoli: TT
The board came ragged: 7
6428 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.
Player Tags: Frank Sinopoli, Minh Nguyen, Perry Friedman, Elia Ahmadian, Theo Tran, Scott Montgomery, Evan McNiff, Joshua Engerdahl, European Report
