Level 21 Update
Dec 18, '08
Scoreboard
Level: 21
Blinds/Antes: 15,000-30,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Left: 12 of 497
Average: 1,720,385
Notable Chip Counts
Evan McNiff - 3,430,000
Ben Straate - 2,360,000
Justin Young - 2,215,000
Amnon Filippi - 2,100,000
Clonie Gowen - 2,050,000
Chino Rheem - 1,891,000
Hoyt Corkins - 1,787,000
Brett Richey - 1,770,000
Steve Sung - 1,628,000
Mike Matusow - 1,140,000
Robert Mizrachi - 878,000
Joe McGowan - 694,000
In the Money Eliminations
$57,635
18th: Bill Klein
17th: Ben Tollerene
16th: Tom Pniak
$72,060
15th: Martin DeKnijff
14th: Jack Wu
13th: Nick Schulman
Big Hands:
Bill Klein Eliminated in 18th Place ($57,635)
Evan McNiff raised to 75,000 preflop and Bill Klein reraised to 215,000. McNiff reraised all in and Klein made the all-in call. Their cards:
Klein: J
J
McNiff: AK
Board: K
9278
Klein was eliminated in 18th place, the first elimination of the day coming six hands in to play.
Ben Tollerene Eliminated in 17th Place ($57,635)
Ben Tollerene moved all in preflop and Chino Rheem made the call. Their cards:
Rheem: A
K
Tollerene: A9
Board: 76228
Tollerene was eliminated in 17th place and Rheem was up to 1.85 million.
Tom Pniak Elimimnated in 16th Place ($57,635)
Tom Pniak raised from the small blind to 85,000 and Hoyt Corkins reraised all in from the big blind. Pniak made the all-in call and they turned up their cards:
Corkins: Q8
Pniak: 99
Board: AK7Q3
Pniak was eliminated in 16th place and Corkins grew his stack to more than 1.7 million.
Clonie Gowen Scores a Double Knockout
Martin DeKnijff moved all in under the gun and Clonie Gowen moved all in over the top of him from the small blind. Jack Wu made the call from the big blind and Gowen had both of her opponents covered. Their cards:
Gowen: QQ
DeKnijff: AJ
Wu: AQ
Board: 652210
Gowen knocks out DeKnijj in 15th place and Wu in 14th place, but there is some confusion regarding the elimination order for spots 16-14 (you can read more about this below in Left in the Deck). In any case Gowen now holds just over 2 million.
Nick Schulman's Swan Song
Nick Schulman was the short stack left in the field with 13 remaining and he decided to move his chips into the middle to make something happen. Two times for him this worked out well, as he doubled up with king-high to take his stack to 303,000, and then he doubled up again with sevens-up to jump up to 580,000. He eventually met his doom though, when he moved all in preflop with pocket jacks against Justin Young, who held A-K. The board was dealt A-K-10-3-3 to send Schulman to the rail in 13th place. He will take home $72,060 in prize money.
Left in the Deck:
To the Tapes
The Bellagio tournament staff is currently reviewing the elimination hands for Tom Pniak, Martin DeKnijff, and Jack Wu. The staff said that it looks like both hands began simultaneously so they are now firguing out how to split up the prize money for places 16-14. We'll let you know if they break it down by stack sizes or just divide things evenly among the three, and how the payouts are adjusted when that information is released by the tournament staff.
Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins, Tom Pniak, Clonie Gowen, Chino Rheem, Martin DeKnijff, Evan McNiff, Jack Wu, Bill Klein, Benjamin Tollerene
Level 14 Update
Dec 16, '08
Scoreboard
Level: 14
Blinds/Antes: 3,000-6,000 with a 500 ante
Players Left: 67 of 497
Average: 334,000
Notable Chip Counts
Chino Rheem - 920,000
Evan McNiff - 850,000
Justin Young - 705,000
Scott Bohlman - 685,000
Jack Wu - 640,000
In the Money Eliminations
Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirakis ($21,620)
Annie Duke ($21,620)
Jon "PearlJammed" Turner ($21,620)
Minh Ly ($21,620)
Roy Winston ($21,620)
Amit "amak316" Makhija ($21,620)
Humberto Brenes ($21,620)
Haralabos Voulgaris ($21,620)
Andy "BKice" Seth ($21,620)
Kristy Gazes ($22,520)
Shane "Anbessa" Pacheco - ($23,420)
Rene Angelil - ($23,420)
Big Hands:
Humberto Brenes Is Fish Food
Humberto Brenes moved all in with pocket nines on a Q-J-10 flop only to get snap called by Steve Sung with A-K for a Broadway straight. The turn and river failed to help THE CHARK! and Brenes was eliminated from the tournament.
Annie Duke Gets Runner-Runnered
Annie Duke was all in and called by Mike Matusow on a flop of K96. Duke showed AK and Matusow turned over.... Q10. The turn and river ran out A4 and Matusow's flush took down Duke's two pair, eliminating her from the tournament.
Barry G Takes Out Two
Barry Greenstein has Jon Turner and Minh Ly all in and covered with the best hand. Greenstein showed pocket aces, Ly showed pocket kings and Turner was way behind with A-K. The board ran out 7534J and Turner and Ly were eliminated. Greenstein now has 430,000.
Antonio Esfandiari Takes a Massive Hit
Robert Mizrachi raised to 15,000 from the hijack and Antonio Esfandiari reraised to 48,000 from the cutoff. Jack Wu then moved all in from the button for 297,000. Mizrachi folded and Esfandiari made the call with A-K. Wu knocked the table and produced A-Q. His bad decision yielded a good result, however, as the flop came queen high to give him the large pot and double up. Esfandiari was left with 250,000 and a very noticeable scowl.
Player Tags: Humberto Brenes, Annie Duke, Barry Greenstein, Minh Ly, Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Matusow, Jon Turner, Jack Wu
