Blinds/Antes: 1500/3000/700

Players Remaining: 25 of 85

Notable Chip Counts:
Tom Dwan - 460,000
Mike Matusow - 295,000
David Benyamine - 220,000
Erick Lindgren - 205,000
Jeffrey Lisandro - 175,000
Chad Brown - 155,000
Doyle Brunson - 135,000
Tom Schneider - 125,000
Nick Schulman - 125,000
Barry Greenstein - 120,000

Recent Eliminations:
Howard Lederer
Robert Mizrachi

Big Hands:

Sheikhan Out-Aggresses Brunson

Doyle Brunson opened for a raise to 10,000 from the cut-off and was reraised all in by Shahram "Shawn" Sheikhan for about 70,000 more.  Doyle paused and counted down his chips but ultimately folded.

Carlos Mortensen Takes Another Hit

Facing a 15,000 bet from Carlos Mortensen after the discard round, Benyamine called.  Mortensen flipped up the Q to indicate that was his highest card, and Benyamine turned over 98632.  Benyamine has picked up multiple pots and is now one of the tournament chip leaders.

Howard Lederer Eliminated by Tom Dwan

After a round of discards, Howard Lederer pushed his entire stack all in against his opponent, Tom Dwan.  Dwan made the call and turned over J8642.  Lederer showed that he had a pair of deuces and mucked his hand.  Dwan is currently the tournament chip leader with over 400,000 in chips.

Doyle Brunson Gets His Revenge Against Sheikhan

Doyle Brunson tossed two pink 5,000 chips as a raise from under-the-gun, and was quickly called two spots to his left by Shahram "Shawn" Sheikhan.  Brunson stood pat at the discard, and Sheikhan threw away the Q face up.  Doyle checked during the final betting round and Sheikhan mucked his hand.  Brunson, seeming somewhat confused by Sheikhan’s muck during a free showdown, turned over his 87643 as he dragged the pot.  Sheikhan explained that he held a 7-6-5-4 and drew an eight to make an eight-high straight.  Straights and flushes count as high in deuce-to-seven lowball, therefore Sheikhan mucked knowing that his only way of winning would be if Brunson held a nine-high straight or better (full house, four-of-a-kind, and so on).  This was an unlikely outcome given the action of the hand.

Blinds: 800-1,600 (400 Ante)

Players Remaining: 39

Chip Leaders:
Tom Dwan: 230,000
Mike Matusow: 179,000
Michael Binger: 162,000
Tom Schneider: 149,000
Stephen Wolff: 145,000
Erick Lindgren: 135,000
Phil Ivey: 130,000
Michael Mizrachi: 125,000
Chad Brown: 120,000
Nick Schulman: 117,000

Eliminations: Gus Hansen, Andy Black

Stories:

Tom Dwan received a one round penalty for exposing his cards before action had completed in front of him. Although several players at the table thought the ruling was unnecessary, the floor maintained that the scenario warranted an indisputable penalty.

Notable Hands:

Michael Mizrachi raised to around 4,000 from under the gun, and Jon "PearlJammer" Turner called from the button. The Grinder drew 2 cards while Turner only took 1. Mizrachi checked after the draw, and PearlJammer went into the tank for half a minute before betting 11,000. Mizrachi quickly pushed out two stacks of twenty 1,000 chips for a total of 40,000. Turner went into the tank again before making the laydown. Mizrachi showed 7-6 and raked in the pot.

Tom Dwan opened the pot with a raise of 5,500. Howard Lederer moved all in behind him for a total of 48,800. Dwan tanked briefly after receiving the count, eventually folding and showing a made J-10 low. Lederer examined the hand before saying "You would have been drawing live."

Gus Hansen moved all in only to have Mickey Appleman put in a substantial reraise behind him. Appleman's bet pushed the remaining players out of the hand, and Gus was in bad shape, drawing 2 cards. Appleman stood pat and showed an 8-6 low. Hansen drew to a King high and was eliminated from the tournament, packing it up and moving to a vacant table near the tournament area to continue his massage.

Seat 7 raised to 5,000, and was called by Phil Galfond from late position and Chris Ferguson on the button. All players drew one card. Seat 7 bet 7,600, Galfond went into the tank before making the call, only to have Jesus raise an additional 22,000. Seat 7 folded, and Galfond tanked for another 3 minutes before laying it down. Ferguson picked up a nice pot worth over 30,000.


Play has ended for the evening. Players will reconvene to continue the tournament at 3 pm tomorrow, until the final table has been reached.

Blinds: 600-1200 (300 Ante), moving up to 800-1600 (400 Ante)

Players Remaining: 46

Eliminations: Chau Giang, Freddy Deeb, Lee Watkinson, Billy Baxter

Notable Hands:

Flack Triples Up

Tom Dwan raised to 4,000 and was called by Phil Ivey. Layne Flack moved all in for another 4,300, and was called by both players. Dwan drew one card, Ivey took two, and Flack stood pat. Ivey and Dwan both checked, and Flack flipped over 10-9-8-5-2. Neither of his opponents was able to draw to a better hand, and Flack tripled up to stay alive.

The Mouth Inhales Deeb's Stack

Mike Matusow 3-bet before the draw to a total of 20,000, and Freddy deeb called all-in from the big blind, folding the other two players in the hand. Deeb drew one and Matusow kept his hand, showing 9-8-5-4-2. Deeb showed his four original baby cards, and was still drawing live to beat The Mouth. Deeb's squeeze paired fives in his hand, however, and he was sent home, sending his chips into the already formidable stack of Mike Matusow.

Phil Ivey has just sat down in between Tom Dwan and Howard Lederer. Layne Flack, Robert Mizrachi, and Shawn Sheikhan share the same table.


 

Blinds: 500-1000 (300 Ante), moving up to 600-1,200

Players Remaining: 50

Average Stack: 71,480

Chip Leaders:
Mike Matusow: 192,000
Tom Dwan: 190,000
Todd Brunson: 132,000
Phil Ivey: 122,000
Shawn Sheikhan: 120,000
Dario Alioto: 102,000
Stephen Wolff: 101,000
Phillippe Rous: 100,000
Jeff Lisandro: 100,000
Robert Mizrachi: 96,000

Eliminations: Bryan Colin, Johnny Chan, Patrik Antonius, Jen Harman

Chan Goes From Double To Nothing

Johnny Chan moved all in for his last 1,200 and was called by Phil Ivey. Both players took one card, and Chan seemed upset as he turned over an Ace. Ace high was enough to beat Ivey, however, and he flashed a small pair before mucking his hand.

Just a few hands later Chan was all in again, this time getting looked up by Freddy Deeb. Chan drew one card, and was drawing live against Deeb's 9-8-7-3-2. After a long squeeze, Chan showed that he had paired his 8, and quitetly walked away.

Hansen Eliminates Colin

Bryan Colin raised to 4,000 only to be reraised by Gus Hansen, who reraised enough to effectively put Colin all in. Colin made the call, drawing one card,  but was unable to beat Hansen's made 8-5-4-3-2.


 

Blinds: 400-800 (200 Ante), moving up to 500-1,000 (300 Ante)

Players Remaining: 61

Eliminations: Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen, Erik Seidel, Allen Cunningham

Notable Hands:

That's Sick, Baby

Three players went to the draw following a raise by Shawn Sheikhan. Tom Dwan and Scotty Nguyen each drew one card. Dwan checked to Scotty, who bet 8,000, folding Sheiky but causing an all-in check-raise from Dwan. "That's so sick, baby. I call." Nguyen tabled a 9 low, but Dwan turned over a the nuts with a 7-5-4-3-2> Dwan had Scotty covered, and the prince of poker packed it up, and went back home, baby.

Bad News for Black

Andrew Black raised before the flop and was called by Eli Elezra and Tom Schneider. Elezra and Schneider each draw one card while Black stood pat and checked. Elezra bet 7,500, pushing Schneider off of his hand. Black made the call, showing some frustration while throwing his cards into the muck after Elezra showed his hand: 8-5-4-3-2.

Blinds: 300-600 (150 Ante), moving up to 400-800 (200 Ante)

Players Remaining: 69

Eliminations: Steve Zolotow

Chip Leaders:
Todd Brunson: 166,000
Shawn Sheikhan:110,000
Jeff Lisandro: 87,000
Phil Ivey: 86,000
Nick Schulman: 67,000
Gus Hansen: 67,000
Lyle Berman: 56,000
Tom Dwan: 55,000
Johnny Chan: 55,000
David Benyamine: 54,000

Average Stack: 12,319

Note: The 85 entrants in this event generated a total of 272 rebuys and add-ons, generating a prize pool of $1,735,020. 14 players will make the money, with the winner guaranteed a payday of $537,862.

Poker Royalty

Although the half hour dinner break did not technically begin until the end of level 4, several players have begun dining early, having their meals delivered to them at the table. While Eli Elezra sat snacking on some edamame he had acquired during the previous break, Patrik Antonius had a full meal brought to his seat, complete with a glass of white wine. Eric Lindgren had the same meal brought to his table, making the smell of clam chowder as pervasive as the sound of shuffling chips. When Scotty Nguyen had a plate of eel sushi delivered, Phil Hellmuth was quick to request two orders of the same dish, along with a California hand roll.

It also seems that the rules regarding the use of cell phones at the tables have been suspended for this star-studded event, as many of the players have been actively texting and chatting while tossing their hands into the muck.

It's good to be poker royalty.

Notable Hands:

Action has become slightly more subdued following the end of the rebuy period. Players have generally started making smaller sized bets and showing a bit more caution now that the threat of elimination looms large.

Appleman Doubles

Mickey Appleman moved all in before the draw and received one caller. Appleman stood pat, and his opponent drew one card. Appleman showed 10-9-8-6-3, which was enough to win him the pot and keep him in the running.

How do you fold three high?

After the draw, Jennifer Harman moved all-in for 75,000. Gus Hansen went into the tank for some time, softly murmuring his thought process out loud as he mentally ran through Harman's different possible holdings. He eventually folded, and as he mucked his hand the 3 was exposed, prompting David Grey to jokingly exclaim "You folded three high?!"


The Grinder and The Matador

Carlos Mortensen made a standard opening raise to 1,800 and received one caller before Michael Mizrachi moved all-in. Mortensen eventually made the call, prompting a fold from the other opponent. Mizrachi traded out one card, while Mortensen stood his ground, showing 10-7-3-4-2. Mizrachi took some time to squeeze his last card out, finally flipping over 9-8-7-6-4 triumphantly, taking down the pot and gorging the Matador's stack.

Players have gone on a 30 minute dinner break.

Total Entrants: 85

Blinds: 300-600 (150 Ante)

Chip Leaders:
Todd Brunson:166,000
Shawn Sheikhan: 110,000
Phil Ivey: 86,000
Gus Hansen: 67,000
Lyle Berman: 56,000
Tom Dwan: 55,000
Johnny Chan: 55,000
David Benyamine: 54,000
Robert Mizrachi: 54,000
Mike Matusow: 49,000

Note: Chip counts do not include add-ons purchased during the break.

It's difficult to describe the action in the orange corner of the amazon room this evening with any sort of subtley or nuance. The dynamic of play during the rebuy period of the event has been fairly consistent. Many pots consist of basic raise-and-take-it poker. Those hands that do have action have lots of it, and it is not unusual for at least one player to be all in after the draw. There seems to be little grey area thus far, as evidenced in the following examples:

Barry Greenstein was all in before the draw against Todd Brunson. Barry drew one card while Brunson stood pat, rolling over 8-7-5-6-3 for a made 8 low. Barry mucked his hand, tossed out the chips for a rebuy, and ran across the room to play in another event.

Carlos Mortensen was all in against Jeffrey Lisandro before the draw. The Matador drew one card while Lisandro stood pat, but this time the draw paid off, and Mortensen showed down 8-7-6-5-2 to scoop the pot.

Matusow put another player all-in and showed down the wheel, a perfect 7-5-4-3-2, padding his stack and singing about how easy it is to play 2-7 when you get the right cards.

Andy Black made the nuts a few hands later. Black was all in, awaiting calls from Greg Mueller and Eli Elezra. Mueller toyed with the idea of calling for a while, saying "I'm freerolling from last night," but eventually deciding to get out of the way of the mad Irishman. Elezra followed Black into the pot however, drawing one card, which he immediately mucked when Black flipped over the made seven low after his call.

Shawn Sheikhan prospered during the first three levels, perched near the top of the chip leaderboard going into the rebuy period. The chips seem well deserved, too, as the Sheik has been playing against both his opponents and his dealer. Sheikhan had an opponent all in, and they each drew one card. Before looking at his drawn card, he rolled over a 10, while his opponent showed 9-8. Sheikan looked like he was drawing dead and went to muck his hand, until his opponent rolled over the rest of his cards: 5-6-7, giving him a straight and making him a high hand. Sheikhan's queen high was enough to win the hand, but only after he and Howard Lederer had explained the situation to the dealer, who had already shipped the pot over to the player in seat 6.

Sheiky ran into more trouble a few moments later as the first tables began to break down. Phil Hellmuth, chip stack in hand, began wandering towards the table from across the floor. Sheikhan stood and yelled "Oh no! Are you kidding me? I get Philly?" It was no joke, however, and Hellmuth joined the table. Tom Dwan arrived moments later to round out a star studded stretch of felt: Shawn Sheikhan, Tom Dwan, Scotty Nguyen, Howard Lederer, and Phil Hellmuth now share table 2.

Players are on a 30 minute break, heralding the end of the rebuy/add-on period. Players may purchase a double rebuy and/or double add-on at the break.

Blinds: 200-400, 100 ante

Players Remaining: 83 of 84

Enter Phil Ivey

Table 1 may have been the place to be during the first hour today, but everything changed once Phil Ivey took his seat at table 8. Ivey showed up late but ready to gamble. On numerous occasions Ivey has moved his entire stack all-in preflop... without looking at his cards. As could be imagined, Ivey hasn't fared tremendously well so far. An early estimate has Ivey in for 12-to-14 buy-ins. He has lost showdowns to players tabling king-low and queen-low (twice), but a late double-up has him as one of the bigger stacks. The beneficiary of Ivey's gambling spirit has been Todd Brunson, whose stack of 145,000 dwarfs the rest of the field.

As For the Rest...

Cautious play is the word (phrase, perhaps) of the day, surprisingly. The majority of pots contested thus far have been on the small-side, with sensible value bets and plenty of checking being the norm. The average stack at every table other than nos. 1 and 8 appears to be well below 20,000.

Early Leaders

Though it is difficult (and, arguably, pointless) to give an update of chipleaders during the rebuy period, we at Card Player are here to serve you:

Todd Brunson - 150,000
Daniel Alaei - 60,000
Phil Ivey - 55,000
Shawn Sheikhan - 52,000
Brian Powell - 50,000
Tow "durrrr" Dwan - 50,000
Billy Baxter - 44,000
David Benyamine - 41,000

The rebuy period will continue until the conclusion of level 3.

Current entrants: 77

As expected, there have been plenty of shouts of "Rebuy!" heard throughout the orange section of the poker room in the first hour, but another refrain has also filled the air time and again: "Floor!" As could be expected in a game spread as infrequently as deuce-to-seven lowball, there have been a number of dealer errors. At table 5 -- featuring David Grey, Jennifer Harman, Daniel Alaei, and Chau Giang -- the players become noticeably perturbed at the result of numerous dealer errors made on a single hand.

Greg Mueller, too, found a reason to complain, though he had no qualms with the dealer. Registering a half-hour into the tournament, Mueller showed up to his seat and was upset to see part of his stack had been blinded away. The floor was called and, since Mueller registered late and did not simply arrive late, he was given the full starting stack (which he promptly doubled with a rebuy).

Of course, the players aren't perfect themselves. Many of them have shown their inexperience with the game, attempting to limp in pre-flop only to be informed that deuce-to-seven is a must-raise game.

As in most tournaments, the table a player is drawn to has quite an impact on their tournament chances. It seems that the table to be at today is, aptly, table no. 1. Featuring Doyle Brunson, Lyle Berman, Billy Baxter, Erick Lindgren, Brandon Adams, and a fashionably late Tony G, table no. 1 has seen chips flying back and forth from the outset.

Early on, Brunson made a raise to 3600 (with blinds at 100-200) from the small blind. Billy Baxter in the big blind moved all-in for his stack of 20,000. Doyle quipped, "This is a rebuy tournament right?" before moving his own 25,000 stack into the middle. Doyle drew one card and Baxter stood pat. Baxter told Doyle, "I ain't got much," but his T-8-5-4-3 was enough to get the better of Brunson, who flashed a face card before mucking.

Only two or three hands later Lindgren made a raise to 700 and Doyle fired his final 5,100 chips out. Lindgren called, and each player drew one card. Lindgren tabled 9-7-6-5-3 and Doyle again flashed a queen before mucking and asking the floor for a rebuy. Adding, "better make it a double."