Tony Cousineau Poker Tournament Updates

Tony Cousineau Busts, Ronnie Bardah Triples

Nov 14, '10

Tony Cousineau moved all in from under the gun for his last 20,400 and Joseph Curcio moved all in behind him to isolate.

That play didn’t work out so well when Ronnie Bardah called all in from the button for his last 41,200. Cousineau had the worst of it with AQ and he was dominated by Curcio’s AK. Both players, however, were in terrible shape against Bardah’s pocket kings.

The board fell J9783 and Bardah tripled up. Cousineau was eliminated and Curcio was left with just over 20,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   Ronnie Bardah,   Joseph Curcio

Level 4 Update: More Big Names Bust

Nov 12, '10

Blinds: 100-200

Players Remaining: 319 (Approximate)

Eliminations:

Scott Clements
Soi Nguyen
Scott Montgomery
Sam Stein
Alex Keating

Big Hands:

Jonathan Aguiar Takes a Hit

The hijack raised to 700 preflop and the big blind and Jonathan Aguiar made the call on the button. The flop fell A 4 2 and the hijack bet 1,100. Aguiar made the call and the big blind mucked. Both players check the J on the turn and also the 5 on the river. The hijack flipped over K J and Aguiar mucked.

Flushed

Cody Slaubaugh raised to 750 preflop UTG+1 and Tony Cousineau made the call from the big blind. The flop fell 7 6 5 and Slaubaugh bet 1,200. Cousineau made the call and then both players checked the 6 on the turn. The 9 followed on the river and Cousineau bet 3,000. Slaubaugh made the call, but he mucked when Cousineau revealed A 3 for the flush.

Soi Nguyen Eliminated

Four players saw a 8 7 3 flop for a 1,300 entry fee. Soi Nguyen raised to 3,500 after an initial raise worth 1,000. One opponent reraised enough to force Nguyen to make an all-in call. Nguyen made that call with pocket aces but he quickly found out he was in a terrible predicament when his opponent turned over pocket threes. Nguyen was eliminated after the turn and river brought bricks.

Greg Raymer Doubles Up

Tomer Berda raised preflop and Greg Raymer reraised all in. Berda made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Berda: A Q
Raymer: 6 4

Board: K 9 7 K J

Raymer doubled up on the hand to get right back to where he started with 30,000.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   Greg Raymer,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Cody Slaubaugh,   Tomer Berda,   Soi Nguyen

Tony Cousineau Busts, Ronnie Bardah Triples

Nov 14, '10

Tony Cousineau moved all in from under the gun for his last 20,400 and Joseph Curcio moved all in behind him to isolate.

That play didn’t work out so well when Ronnie Bardah called all in from the button for his last 41,200. Cousineau had the worst of it with AQ and he was dominated by Curcio’s AK. Both players, however, were in terrible shape against Bardah’s pocket kings.

The board fell J9783 and Bardah tripled up. Cousineau was eliminated and Curcio was left with just over 20,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   Ronnie Bardah,   Joseph Curcio

Level 4 Update: More Big Names Bust

Nov 12, '10

Blinds: 100-200

Players Remaining: 319 (Approximate)

Eliminations:

Scott Clements
Soi Nguyen
Scott Montgomery
Sam Stein
Alex Keating

Big Hands:

Jonathan Aguiar Takes a Hit

The hijack raised to 700 preflop and the big blind and Jonathan Aguiar made the call on the button. The flop fell A 4 2 and the hijack bet 1,100. Aguiar made the call and the big blind mucked. Both players check the J on the turn and also the 5 on the river. The hijack flipped over K J and Aguiar mucked.

Flushed

Cody Slaubaugh raised to 750 preflop UTG+1 and Tony Cousineau made the call from the big blind. The flop fell 7 6 5 and Slaubaugh bet 1,200. Cousineau made the call and then both players checked the 6 on the turn. The 9 followed on the river and Cousineau bet 3,000. Slaubaugh made the call, but he mucked when Cousineau revealed A 3 for the flush.

Soi Nguyen Eliminated

Four players saw a 8 7 3 flop for a 1,300 entry fee. Soi Nguyen raised to 3,500 after an initial raise worth 1,000. One opponent reraised enough to force Nguyen to make an all-in call. Nguyen made that call with pocket aces but he quickly found out he was in a terrible predicament when his opponent turned over pocket threes. Nguyen was eliminated after the turn and river brought bricks.

Greg Raymer Doubles Up

Tomer Berda raised preflop and Greg Raymer reraised all in. Berda made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Berda: A Q
Raymer: 6 4

Board: K 9 7 K J

Raymer doubled up on the hand to get right back to where he started with 30,000.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   Greg Raymer,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Cody Slaubaugh,   Tomer Berda,   Soi Nguyen

Level 12 Update: Day 2 Ends

Sep 25, '10

NOTE: Day 2 has come to a close and the remaining field will return tomorrow at noon local time (4 a.m. PST). Stay tuned for a recap of the day’s events. Tomorrow, the field will play down to the final 27 or through six levels, whichever comes first. Tomorrow will also feature the final game in the high roller heads-up final match between Gus Hansen and Jim Collopy to decide who will take home the gold bracelet for event No. 4. The best-of-three match is tied 1-1.

Blinds: 1,000-2,000 with a 300 ante

Players Remaining: 66 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Viktor Blom — 443,200
2. Darren Woods — 442,300
3. Thomas Bichon — 372,500
4. Andrew Pantling — 316,000
5. Arnaud Mattern — 300,000
6. Phil Ivey — 289,300
7. Nick Schulman — 281,000
8. David Peters — 280,000
9. David Baker — 250,000
10. Nicolas Levi — 250,000

Average Chip Count: 157,272

Notable Eliminations:

Eric Baldwin
Phil Laak
Praz Bansi
Dag Palovic
Tony Cousineau

Big Hands:

Daniel Negreanu is Really Good at the WSOP Europe

Daniel Negreanu furthered his efforts to make a third WSOP Europe final table during the last level of the night. In a recent hand Negreanu checked a Q 8 3 K board and David Peters bet 15,700. Negreanu made the call and the river brought the J. Negreanu took the initiative this time and bet 45,000. Peter mucked and his stack dropped to 280,000. Negreanu held 156,000 after the hand, more than enough for him to make some moves with tomorrow.

Eric Baldwin Eliminated

The reigning Card Player Player of the Year, Eric Baldwin, has busted out of the tournament during the last level of the day. He opened a pot from the cutoff for 7,000 and Quinn Do reraised to 20,000 from the small blind. Baldwin moved all in and Do made the call. Their cards:

Baldwin: A 10
Do: 9 9

Board: Q 7 5 2 5

Baldwin lost the hand and Do grew his stack to 136,000.

Phil Laak Eliminated

Phil Laak was eliminated from the tournament when his A-K ran into pocket fours and there was no help on the board for the Unabomber. He still leaves London with his first gold bracelet. Making for a successful jump across the pond.

Praz Bansi Eliminated

Praz Bansi moved all in for 33,100 preflop and Remy Biechel made the call. Their cards:

Bansi: 9 9
Biechel: A Q

Board: Q 8 5 J K

Bansi was eliminated after the hand and Biechel held 130,000.

Arnaud Mattern Takes a Nice Pot off Barny Boatman

Barny Boatman raised to 5,100 under the gun and Arnaud Mattern reraised to 14,400 from middle position preflop. Boatman made the call and then both players checked a K 8 3 flop. The turn fell 7 and Boatman checked. Mattern bet 13,000 and Boatmn made the call. The river fell 8 and Boatman checked again. Mattern bet 26,000 and Boatman went into the tank. He eventually made the call but mucked his cards when Mattern revealed A K. Boatman dropped to 110,000 after the hand and Mattern held 300,000.

Quintessential Cousineau

Tony Cousineau was down to his final 14,000 when he decided to call a bet from Clint Coffee that was devised to put him all in. Cousineau was in the lead with pocket queens against the A-3 of Coffee, but the board brought a third ace and Cousineau was eliminated.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   Daniel Negreanu,   Phil Laak,   Barny Boatman,   Quinn Do,   Eric Baldwin,   Arnaud Mattern,   Praz Bansi,   Remy Biechel

Level 5 Update: Viktor Blom Takes the Lead

Sep 24, '10

Blinds: 200-400 with a 50 ante

Players Remaining: 153 out of 210 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1. Viktor Bloom — 132,000
2. Antonio Esfandiari — 130,000
3. Yann Dion — 110,000
4. Phil Laak — 103,000
5. James Mitchell — 100,000
6. Sam Trickett — 97,000
7. JP Kelly — 96,000
8. Carlos Mortensen — 93,000
9. Brian Powell — 90,000
10. John Dolan — 85,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 90,000
Allyn Jaffrey Shulman — 21,000

Average Chip Count: 40,127

Notable Eliminations:

David Ulliot
Benjamin Spindler
Willie Tann
Sandra Naujoks
Andrew Feldman
David Benyamine

Big Hands:

Viktor Bloom Jumps into the Lead

Viktor Blom has climbed the leader board during the last level of play and he now paces the field with 132,000. Blom reached such lofty heights in a hand where the board read K 8 7 9. David Weisberger bet 3,000 on the turn and Blom raised to 10,000. Weisberger made the call and the river fell Q. Weisberger checked and Blom fired a 40,000 mortar into the 25,000 pot. Weisberger would have to risk his tournament life to make the call and so he decided to fold.

David Benyamine Eliminated

David Benyamine moved all in preflop and J.C. Tran and one other player made the call. The flop fell K 8 3 and Tran bet 4,200. The other live player made the call and the turn fell 8. The two live players checked and the river brought the 4. Both live players checked again and Benyamine flipped over pocket sixes. The live opponent of Tran revealed K J and induced J.C. to muck his hand. Benyamine was eliminated on the hand after charging out of the gates as one of the chip leaders early in the afternoon here.

No Joke — Sandra Naujoks Eliminated

Sandra Naujoks moved all in for her final 6,850 and Adam Levy decided to face of against her. Their cards:

Naujoks: A J
Levy: Q Q

Board: Q 7 5 5

Naujoks was drawing dead after the turn brought no help and she promptly exited the tournament area.

Tony Cousineau Doubles Up

Tony Cousineau moved all in for 20,000 with a board of Q 7 3 6 sitting on the table and Ludovic Lacay made the call. Cousineau turned over A Q and Lacay held pocket eights. The turn and river blanked out and Cousineau held 65,000 after the hand.

Anton Wigg Doubles Up

Anton Wigg raised to 900 preflop from early position and Eli Elezra made the call from the cutoff. The big blind jumped into the fray as well and the flop fell K 8 6. The big blind checked, Wigg bet 1,700, and Elezra raised to 7,225. The big blind mucked and Wigg reraised all in for a little extra on top. Elezra made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Wigg: 10 6
Elezra: K J

Turn and River: 3 and 8

Wigg doubled up on the hand and Elezra took the minor hit in stride.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   J.C. Tran,   David Benyamine,   Eli Elezra,   David Weisberger,   Adam Levy,   Sandra Naujoks,   Anton Wigg,   Viktor Blom

Level 12 Update: Day 2 Ends

Sep 25, '10

NOTE: Day 2 has come to a close and the remaining field will return tomorrow at noon local time (4 a.m. PST). Stay tuned for a recap of the day’s events. Tomorrow, the field will play down to the final 27 or through six levels, whichever comes first. Tomorrow will also feature the final game in the high roller heads-up final match between Gus Hansen and Jim Collopy to decide who will take home the gold bracelet for event No. 4. The best-of-three match is tied 1-1.

Blinds: 1,000-2,000 with a 300 ante

Players Remaining: 66 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Viktor Blom — 443,200
2. Darren Woods — 442,300
3. Thomas Bichon — 372,500
4. Andrew Pantling — 316,000
5. Arnaud Mattern — 300,000
6. Phil Ivey — 289,300
7. Nick Schulman — 281,000
8. David Peters — 280,000
9. David Baker — 250,000
10. Nicolas Levi — 250,000

Average Chip Count: 157,272

Notable Eliminations:

Eric Baldwin
Phil Laak
Praz Bansi
Dag Palovic
Tony Cousineau

Big Hands:

Daniel Negreanu is Really Good at the WSOP Europe

Daniel Negreanu furthered his efforts to make a third WSOP Europe final table during the last level of the night. In a recent hand Negreanu checked a Q 8 3 K board and David Peters bet 15,700. Negreanu made the call and the river brought the J. Negreanu took the initiative this time and bet 45,000. Peter mucked and his stack dropped to 280,000. Negreanu held 156,000 after the hand, more than enough for him to make some moves with tomorrow.

Eric Baldwin Eliminated

The reigning Card Player Player of the Year, Eric Baldwin, has busted out of the tournament during the last level of the day. He opened a pot from the cutoff for 7,000 and Quinn Do reraised to 20,000 from the small blind. Baldwin moved all in and Do made the call. Their cards:

Baldwin: A 10
Do: 9 9

Board: Q 7 5 2 5

Baldwin lost the hand and Do grew his stack to 136,000.

Phil Laak Eliminated

Phil Laak was eliminated from the tournament when his A-K ran into pocket fours and there was no help on the board for the Unabomber. He still leaves London with his first gold bracelet. Making for a successful jump across the pond.

Praz Bansi Eliminated

Praz Bansi moved all in for 33,100 preflop and Remy Biechel made the call. Their cards:

Bansi: 9 9
Biechel: A Q

Board: Q 8 5 J K

Bansi was eliminated after the hand and Biechel held 130,000.

Arnaud Mattern Takes a Nice Pot off Barny Boatman

Barny Boatman raised to 5,100 under the gun and Arnaud Mattern reraised to 14,400 from middle position preflop. Boatman made the call and then both players checked a K 8 3 flop. The turn fell 7 and Boatman checked. Mattern bet 13,000 and Boatmn made the call. The river fell 8 and Boatman checked again. Mattern bet 26,000 and Boatman went into the tank. He eventually made the call but mucked his cards when Mattern revealed A K. Boatman dropped to 110,000 after the hand and Mattern held 300,000.

Quintessential Cousineau

Tony Cousineau was down to his final 14,000 when he decided to call a bet from Clint Coffee that was devised to put him all in. Cousineau was in the lead with pocket queens against the A-3 of Coffee, but the board brought a third ace and Cousineau was eliminated.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   Daniel Negreanu,   Phil Laak,   Barny Boatman,   Quinn Do,   Eric Baldwin,   Arnaud Mattern,   Praz Bansi,   Remy Biechel

Level 5 Update: Viktor Blom Takes the Lead

Sep 24, '10

Blinds: 200-400 with a 50 ante

Players Remaining: 153 out of 210 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1. Viktor Bloom — 132,000
2. Antonio Esfandiari — 130,000
3. Yann Dion — 110,000
4. Phil Laak — 103,000
5. James Mitchell — 100,000
6. Sam Trickett — 97,000
7. JP Kelly — 96,000
8. Carlos Mortensen — 93,000
9. Brian Powell — 90,000
10. John Dolan — 85,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 90,000
Allyn Jaffrey Shulman — 21,000

Average Chip Count: 40,127

Notable Eliminations:

David Ulliot
Benjamin Spindler
Willie Tann
Sandra Naujoks
Andrew Feldman
David Benyamine

Big Hands:

Viktor Bloom Jumps into the Lead

Viktor Blom has climbed the leader board during the last level of play and he now paces the field with 132,000. Blom reached such lofty heights in a hand where the board read K 8 7 9. David Weisberger bet 3,000 on the turn and Blom raised to 10,000. Weisberger made the call and the river fell Q. Weisberger checked and Blom fired a 40,000 mortar into the 25,000 pot. Weisberger would have to risk his tournament life to make the call and so he decided to fold.

David Benyamine Eliminated

David Benyamine moved all in preflop and J.C. Tran and one other player made the call. The flop fell K 8 3 and Tran bet 4,200. The other live player made the call and the turn fell 8. The two live players checked and the river brought the 4. Both live players checked again and Benyamine flipped over pocket sixes. The live opponent of Tran revealed K J and induced J.C. to muck his hand. Benyamine was eliminated on the hand after charging out of the gates as one of the chip leaders early in the afternoon here.

No Joke — Sandra Naujoks Eliminated

Sandra Naujoks moved all in for her final 6,850 and Adam Levy decided to face of against her. Their cards:

Naujoks: A J
Levy: Q Q

Board: Q 7 5 5

Naujoks was drawing dead after the turn brought no help and she promptly exited the tournament area.

Tony Cousineau Doubles Up

Tony Cousineau moved all in for 20,000 with a board of Q 7 3 6 sitting on the table and Ludovic Lacay made the call. Cousineau turned over A Q and Lacay held pocket eights. The turn and river blanked out and Cousineau held 65,000 after the hand.

Anton Wigg Doubles Up

Anton Wigg raised to 900 preflop from early position and Eli Elezra made the call from the cutoff. The big blind jumped into the fray as well and the flop fell K 8 6. The big blind checked, Wigg bet 1,700, and Elezra raised to 7,225. The big blind mucked and Wigg reraised all in for a little extra on top. Elezra made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Wigg: 10 6
Elezra: K J

Turn and River: 3 and 8

Wigg doubled up on the hand and Elezra took the minor hit in stride.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   J.C. Tran,   David Benyamine,   Eli Elezra,   David Weisberger,   Adam Levy,   Sandra Naujoks,   Anton Wigg,   Viktor Blom

Level 24 Update: Final Table Looming

Jul 03, '10

Blinds: 12,000-24,000

Players Remaining: 12 out of 346

Average Chip Count: 860,000

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Miguel Proulx – 2,350,000
2. Dmitry Stelmak – 1,215,000
3. Daniel Alaei – 950,000
4. Alessio Isaia – 890,000
5. Ludovic Lacay – 860,000
6. Ville Mattila – 790,000
7. Matthew Wheat – 670,000
8. Stephen Pierson – 540,000
9. Jason Mercier – 460,000
10. Trevor Uyesugi – 393,000

Notable Eliminations:

Phil Hellmuth – $39,906
Tony Cousineau – $39,906
Ben Blackmore – $39,906

Big Hands:

Phil Hellmuth Eliminated

Alessio Isaia raised to 66,000 and Phil Hellmuth moved all-in for 115,000 and was called by Isaia. Hellmuth showed AQJ6 and was up against the KK87.

The board came 36989 and Isaia’s kings held up and Hellmuth was eliminated with an extra $39,906 to his name.

Alaei Takes Out Cousineau

After Daniel Alaei raised, Tony Cousineau called off his last 56,000 in chips. Alaei showed AKQ5 and Cousineau held the JJ109.

The board ran out 92565, which gave Alaei trip fives and the pot.

Ben Blackmore Eliminated

Ben Blackmore raised to 72,000 and Ville Mattila called from the big blind. The two saw a flop of 1076.

Mattila led out fro 80,000 and Blackmore immediately moved all-in for 212,000. Mattila made the call and showed 107Q9, giving him top two pair and Blackmore showed AA95, for aces and a straight draw.

The 9 on the turn and the 7 on the river kept Mattila in the lead and eliminated Blackmore from the tournament.

Mercier Drops One

On a flop of 83A, Jason Mercier bet 31,000 and was raised to 100,000 by Daniela Alaei. Mercier called and the A came on the turn.

Both players checked and the J peeled off the deck for the river card. Mercier checked and Alaei bet 150,000. Mercier thought for a while before calling.

Alaei showed AJ42, good for the nut full house and Mercier mucked.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   Phil Hellmuth,   Jason Mercier

Level 7 Update: Danny Wong and Michael Mizrachi Double Up

Jun 29, '10

Blinds: 200-400

Players Remaining: 270 out 460

Average Chip Count: 25,555

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. John Cernuto — 86,000
2. Kevin Schaffel — 71,000
3. Mike Matusow — 52,000
4. John Duthie — 48,000
5. Nick Binger — 44,000
6. Vadim Markushevski — 43,000
7. Greg Raymer — 42,000
8. Christian Harder — 42,000
9. Felipe Ramos — 40,000
10. Andrew Brown — 38,000

Notable Eliminations:

Peter Jetten
Alex Kravchenko
Sam Farha
Chris Ferguson
Tom McEvoy
David Benyamine
Tony Cousineau

Big Hands:

Danny Wong Doubles Up

Danny Wong was all in for 14,000 with the AA73 and was up against the QQJ10 of his opponent. The board ran out 94272 and Wong doubled up to 30,000.

Michael Mizrachi Doubles Up

Michael Mizrachi was all in for 4,100 with the AA72 against the J986 of an opponent. The board ran out K7673 and Mizrachi doubled to 9,000.

Tony Cousineau Eliminated

An under-the-gun player bet 1,100. Tony Cousineau raised to 3,900. Mike Matusow called and so did the original bettor. The flop came K94 and action was checked to Cousineau. He bet 2,700. Matusow called and the other opponent potted. Cousineau called all in for his tournament life. Matusow folded. Cousineau tabled the AA86 while his opponent exposed the AJ9K. Cousineau was behind against the two pair of his opponent. Both the turn and river bricked for Cousineau and he was gone.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   Mike Matusow,   Michael Mizrachi,   Danny Wong

Tony Cousineau Eliminated in 18th Place ($47,033)

Apr 22, '10

After limping into the money at the end of day 4, Tony Cousineau moved his short stack of 57,000 all in from the cutoff on the very first hand of the day, and Nikolay Evdakov reraised to 107,000 from the small blind. Everyone else mucked and the two players turned over their cards:

Cousineau: 109
Evdakov: A4

Board: A105K8

Evdakov won the hand with a pair of aces and he grew his stack to 1,490,000. Cousineau was eliminated in 18th place and he will take home $47,033 in prize money.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   Nikolay Evdakov

James Guinther Eliminated

Apr 21, '10

James Guinther moved all in for 43,000 preflop and Tony Cousineau moved all in over the top of him. Their cards:

Guinther: QJ
Cousineau: A7

Board: A738x

Gunither was eliminated on the hand and Cousineau held 190,000.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau

Tony Cousineau Eliminated in 18th Place ($47,033)

Apr 22, '10

After limping into the money at the end of day 4, Tony Cousineau moved his short stack of 57,000 all in from the cutoff on the very first hand of the day, and Nikolay Evdakov reraised to 107,000 from the small blind. Everyone else mucked and the two players turned over their cards:

Cousineau: 109
Evdakov: A4

Board: A105K8

Evdakov won the hand with a pair of aces and he grew his stack to 1,490,000. Cousineau was eliminated in 18th place and he will take home $47,033 in prize money.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   Nikolay Evdakov

James Guinther Eliminated

Apr 21, '10

James Guinther moved all in for 43,000 preflop and Tony Cousineau moved all in over the top of him. Their cards:

Guinther: QJ
Cousineau: A7

Board: A738x

Gunither was eliminated on the hand and Cousineau held 190,000.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau

Level 9 Update -- Gymnast Be Gone

Oct 02, '09

Blinds: 500-1,000 with a 100 ante

Players Remaining: 135 out of 305 (Unofficial)

Average Chip Count:

68,000

Notable Eliminations:

Yuri Chechi
Markus Gonsalves
Sebastian Ruthenberg
Sida Yuen
Marcel Luske
Johan Van Til
Carter Phillips

Hand of the Level:

Tony Cousineau gets Lucky

After getting sucked out on in a massive 90,000 pot, Tony Cousineau was down to his last 9,000 or so and made an all-in move with K9, only to run into EPT Champion Pieter de Korver’s AK.

Nonetheless, the board came K759Q, giving Cousineau two pair and a double up over 18,000 in chips. De Korver is still fine with 57,000 or so.

Left In The Deck

Uh… He Went Where?

After Cousineau’s double up, I inquired about an empty chair at the table who appeared to be blinding away his chips.

De Korver and Cousineau filled in the details saying that an Italian, or was it a Frenchman, was given a one round penalty for exposing his cards about an hour before. They’d assumed he didn’t understand enough english to know that he could come back and that he was disqualified.

After some amazing journalism (asking the dealer), I discovered that the no-show was none other than Italian Olympic gymnast Yuri Chechi. After speaking to the nearest Italian reporter, I learned the truth. Chechi, not wanting to stick around, simply decided that he was too tired and went to sleep, allowing his 7,000 stack to blind away.

Needless to say, he was done by the end of the night.

PokerStars TV

Watch EPT 6 London Day 1A: Chris Moneymaker on PokerStars.tv

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   Pieter De Korver

Tournament Update -- Level 21

Sep 30, '09

Blinds: 8,000-16,000 with a 2,000 ante

Players Remaining: 12 out of 334

Chip Counts:

Jason Mercier — 2,691,000
James Akenhead — 1,205,000
Barry Shulman — 1,148,000
Praz Bansi — 869,000
Antoine Saout — 726,000
Markus Ristola — 631,000
Daniel Negreanu — 606,000
Matt Hawrilenko — 584,000
Chris Bjorin — 572,000
Eric Liu — 407,000

Average Chip Count: 835,000

Notable Eliminations:

17: Doyle Brunson — £31,198
16: Saar Wilf — £31,198
15: Ram Vaswani — £40,481
14: Teddy Sheringham — £40,481
13: Tony Cousineau — £40,481

Big Hands:

Doyle Brunson Eliminated in 17th Place (£31,198)

Daniel Negreanu raised to open the action and Doyle Brunson moved all in from the button. James Akenhead reraised all in and Negreanu got out of the way. Akenhand and Brunon then flipped over their cards:

Brunson: Q9
Akenhead: AK

Board: Q54KJ

Brunson was eliminated in 17th place on the hand and Akenhead grew his stack to more than 1.2 million.

Ram Vaswani Eliminated in 15th Place (£40,481)

Vaswani moved all in preflop on a short stack and Barry Shulman made the call. Their cards:

Vaswani: 109
Shulman: 8-8

Board: A73J4

Shulman grew his stack to more than 1 million after the hand.

Tony Cousineau Eliminated in 13th Place (£40,481)

James Akenhead called a late-position raise from the button and Tony Cousineau moved all in from the small blind. Akenhead made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Akenhead: K9
Cousineau: AK

Board: 54263

James Akendhead grew his stack to more than 1.3 million after the hand and Cousineau was eliminated by the flush in 13th place.

Player Tags: Tony Cousineau,   Doyle Brunson,   Barry Shulman,   Ram Vaswani,   James Akenhead