Ouch

Ross Boatman moved all in and Karga Holt made the call. Boatman flipped over A K and Holt showed down pocket sixes. The board was dealt A A 8 J and it appeared that Boatman would double up and play would continue. That was until the 6 fell on the river to fill up Holt’s boat. The sixes full of aces eliminated Boatman in 10th place and the final table for 2 p.m. tomorrow was set.

Here is how things will look when the players take their seats:

Seat one: Will McMahon - $524,000
Seat two: Tex Barch - $709,000
Seat three: Michael Binger - $240,000
Seat four: Jan Sorenson - $349,000
Seat five: Stuart Fox - $718,000
Seat six: Michael Gracz - $534,000
Seat seven: Karga Holt - $1,211,000
Seat eight: James Mackey - $1,074,000
Seat nine: Nick Schulman - $1,045,000

Late From Dinner

The players arrived after dinner and action began. One player did not return and his stack was blinded off for five minutes. That player was Phil Laak. He did show up eventually and returned to a stack of $360,000. Nick Schulman was the post dinner chip leader with $940,000. He was trailed $100,000 to the negative by Michael Gracz. 

Rising to the Top

Karga Holt went on a tear shortly after action began anew. He picked up $120,000 off of Gracz with an all-in reraise. He then called an all-in raise from Kathy Liebert on the next hand. “I think I’ve got you,” said Liebert as she half-heatedly flipped over 6 3. “Deuce, four, five” she added as Holt flipped over pocket tens. The board was dealt 9 9 8 K Q and Liebert was eliminated in 13th place. Holt now had over $1 million.

Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty

There were now 12 players left and the blinds were kicked up to $10,000-$20,000 with a $3,000 ante. Gracz took another hit down to $600,000 when two players doubled up through him on an unfortunate hand. The hour was approaching 11:00 p.m. by this point and some players were showing the hour through their actions. Laak had taken to using his chip stack as a chin rest to support his head.

Laak Attacked

James Mackey bet $60,000 preflop and Laak raised all in for $250,000 more. Mackey made the all-in call and flipped over A Q. Laak showed pocket sixes and the board was dealt K 9 7 8 10. Mackey doubled up and Laak was crippled with only $11,000 after the hand. Laak was all in blind on the next hand and Tex Barch raised to $70,000. Michael Binger made the call and the two players checked down the side pot on a board of 10 8 4 2 8c. Laak flipped over a hand that had huge possibilities on the flop, but was an equally huge disappoint on the river, J 9. Binger threw down A 6 and Barch mucked. Laak sat there for a moment in eleventh place and tried to put together where it all went wrong.

The Wall

Action was now down to ten players and the tournament hit the proverbial wall. It was obvious that at this point two players were going to have to both receive cards for anything to go down. Barch and Binger both moved all in at certain points during the first 20 minutes of final table action, and both times it appeared that Schulman might call. He would go into the tank, count out the chips required for the call, and fold on both occasions though.

The players are on a dinner break until 10 p.m.

And Then There Were Two

The field played down to the final 18 player and they re-drew for seats again at the final two tables. Two faces were not among those left, and one of them was T.J. Cloutier, who had been eliminated. Dustin Dirksen was another not among the final 18 and this was somewhat surprising considering he had been the chip leader for most of the day. That was, until James Mackey came to town to double up through him and take the chip lead. Mackey still held strong with a healthy stack of $700,000. This was not enough for the chip lead though. Michael Gracz now held that distinction with $900,000. The two tables were both strong, but table 68 was the one table where you would not want to sit down. Ross Boatman, Michael Binger, Mackey, Phil Laak, and Tex Barch had been sequestered together, while Kathy Liebert, Gracz, and Nick Schulman did battle at table 67.

Boatman Moves it in multiple Times

Boatman was on the short stack and got aggressive. He moved all in shortly after the re-draw but no one called. He then moved all in again for $79,000 against Barch. Barch said, “I’ve got nothing,” as he made the call and flipped over 8 7. Boatman showed down A J and the board hit the table A K Q 2 K. Boatman doubled up and he also added the extra chips in the pot to his stack. He was now back in action.

Binger’s Wild Ride

Michael Binger called the all-in bet of his opponent in seat seven and flipped over K Q. His opponent flipped over A K with his tournament life on the line. The board was dealt 10 8 2 J 3 and Binger was knocked down to $290,000. A few hands later Binger raised from the cut off and Mackey repopped him from the button. Binger then reraised all in and Mackey was put on a tough decision. He tanked for a while then folded. Binger asked as he collected the pot, “Anybody give me $1,000 to show a deuce?” There were no takers.

The Razor Sweats His Pony

John “The Razor” Phan appeared in the tournament field to sweat Gracz. “Hey horsy,” said Phan. The two then conversed while Liebert was involved in a large pot where she laid her hand down. Phan also had half a dozen Milwaukee’s Best Light cups stacked into one another by this point of the evening.

Tex Rolls Over

Barch made it $32,000 to go under the gun and seat three raised $45,000 more from middle position. Tex made the call and the flop rolled out K Q 2. Both players checked and the 3 busted on to the scene on the turn. Tex bet $100,000 and seat three moved all in for $180,000 total. Tex went into the tank for a long time, into the fifteen minute break as a matter of fact, and then folded his hand in annoyed defeat. He was now under $200,000.  

Down to the Break

Action played down a little more slowly before the next break arrived. Many tables had been broken by this point and some interesting match-ups had developed. Kathy Liebert, Michael Gracz, and big stack Dustin Dirksen were seat together. T.J. Cloutier remained in action as well, and Davidson Matthew had busted form his table a bit earlier. Ross Boatman, Max Pescatori, and Tex Barch were seated together along with Mark Gregorich. Mike Sexton busted during this short stretch and his departure was followed by a fifteen minute break.

Gracz vs. Rajkumar

Shortly after the field returned, Michael Gracz made a raise preflop and Viver Rajkumar reraised. Gracz reraised all in and Rajkumar made the all-in call. He flipped over pocket queens and Gracz turned over K-J. Jacks were then peeled off the deck on the flop and turn, which gave Gracz the $400,000 pot. Rajkumar was eliminated from the event, but he remained calm in defeat. Gracz now had $530,000.

I Need to See Some I.D.

“Card that kid,” said Phil Laak, as he sat down at table 64 to join Liebert, Dirksen, and Gracz. He was talking to the player seated directly across from him in seat one, James Mackey. Mackey doesn’t look to be a day over 16, but he is in fact of legal gambling age. He also now possessed the chip lead with $880,000. Mackey had gained most of these chips by doubling up through the former king of the mountain, Dirksen. Dirksen held Big Slick on a hand where Mackey held a pair of ladies. A third mistress appeared on the flop and condemned Dirksen to a tournament life of chip poverty. While Mackey now had a fortune.

Down to Three

Action continued and Gregorich, Pescatori, and Dustin Woolf were lost en route to the final three tables. The players re-drew for seats and play continued. Play will continue for two more hours until the dinner break at 9 p.m. Whoever remains at that point will return to play down to the final nine.

WOW

By the end of hour two, there were only 36 players remaining at four tables. The money bubble burst without much slowdown, and then action shifted into fifth gear. Allen Cunningham, Alex Jacob, David Benyamine, Tony G, and Jennifer Tilly were all victims of this aggressive melee. If this pace continues we could reach a final table in the next hour.

Liebert into the Lead with an Assist from some Fellow Ladies

Kathy Liebert jumped into a slight chip lead when she made quad queens to take down a massive pot. This shot her up to $470,000.

Dirksen Falls, Still Strong Though

Dustin Dirksen fell to $466,000 when his A J was beat by pocket queens on a board of J 4 2 9 9. Dirksen doubled up his opponent but was still holding strong in second place.

Hot Ticket Item

The payout sheet was the must-have item of the hour, and it was passed from player to player throughout the tournament field. The jumps in prize money did nothing to curb the aggression of the remaining players though.

Gregorich Doubles Up

Mark Gregorich bet $20,000 preflop and seat nine moved all in for $28,000 total. Seat one and Max Pescatori folded before Gregorich made the call. He flipped over A K and his opponent flipped over A Q. The board was dealt A 9 2 2 4 as seat nine yelled out “Jamie Gold…Deuce,” and some other choice words that were laced with an unhealthy dose of surliness when he busted out of the tournament. Gregorich held $120,000 after the hand.

Woodley frustrated again

Englishman Ian Woodley felt very hard done by over his exit.

‘I had 27,000 in chips,’ he didn’t so much as explain as spit out in disgust. ‘Get dealt an ace and as the other card is flying towards me it flips over. It’s an ace. I’m fu*king gutted. I get dealt a deuce. Win nothing. I threw my other ace towards the fuc*king dealer face up.

Then I’m forced into making a play I wouldn’t have done had I won the aces pot with K-J. The antes are 500, the binds 2,000 and 4,000 and I have to make the move. That’s the 5th time this series I’ve gone deep and finished just before the money. I was six from the bubble. Fu*k.’

Euro Interest

Young Scot Rory Mathews went out in 47th for $12,653

Ross Boatman looks comfortable on around $120,000 in chips.

Turbo Tournament

There were only 70 players remaining after an hour of action in day two at the $5,000 no-limit hold’em event. Many familiar faces remained as the tournament quickly played down to the final table. Among them are Ben Roberts, Chris McCormack, Alex Jacob, and Kyle Bowker at Table 64. T.J. Cloutier, 2007 bracelet winner Allen Cunningham, Cliff Josephy, and Davidson Matthews resided at Table 70. Kathy Liebert, 2007 bracelet winner Alex Kravchenko,  and Tony G face doff at table 65. Also sprinkled among the field are Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly, David Benyamine, Max Pescatori, Mike Sexton, Michael Binger, Mark Gregorich, and Nick Schulman. Tex Barch has a large stack with $230,000, but the massive chip leader is Dustin Dirksen with $468,000.

Kravchenko Denied a Chance at Double Gold

Kravchenko moved all in preflop for $36,000 after Kathy Liebert had made it $12,000 to play. She flipped over pocket kings, but Kravchenko turned up pocket aces. The board was dealt J 4 2 K Q and Kravchenko was sent packing. Liebert was calm throughout the process and said, “I had a feeling it was coming.”

Johnny Bax Gets Bit

Cliff “Johhny Bax” Josephy was very aggressive during the early part of the day. It had been working well for the online legend and he had picked up a lot of blinds, antes, and preflop raises uncontested. On a flop of Q 6 6 he pushed all in again from the cut off and his opponent made the call from the small blind. Josephy flipped up pocket jacks and his opponent showed down Q 10. The turn and river cards were dealt Q A and Josephy lost the pot. He now held $54,500.

Laak Attack

Phil Laak made a strange preflop bet when he pushed out $38,000 preflop. This left him with only $2,500 on the button. His opponent in seat two went into the tank and was obviously confused. He tossed his cards into the muck and Laak took down the pot. Laak was equally engrossed in his PSP during the hour as he was with the poker tournament. He was entertaining as ever though, and at on point he said to an opponent, “Watch those conversations with the rail. You can get barred for that kind of thing.” Of course, he said this straight through his teeth as he grinned towards the player.

Bing!

Seat two had moved all in preflop from middle position and Michael Binger made the call in late position. Seat one then went into the tank for a few minutes and eventually folded his hand. Binger showed a pair of ladies and his opponent turned over Big Slick. The board was dealt 10 4 2 J 7 and seat two was sent home early. Seat one revealed that he had folded Big Slick as Binger collected the pot.

Jacob Takes a Hit

Seat six bet $9,000 under the gun. Both Alex Jacob and David Benyamine made the call from the small blind and big blind respectively. The flop was rolled out 9 5 3 and both Benyamine and Jacob checked. Seat six bet $18,000 and Jacob raised him all in. Seat six called and Jacob flipped over 8 8. Seat six showed down pocket queens and the turn and river cards hit the board 610. Seat six survived and he took down the $30,000 pot, as well as twice his $50,200 investment. Jacob was down to $44,000 after the hand.

The players colored up their chips and then went on a fifteen minute break.