Play has ended for the night with exactly 36 minutes left on the clock. Only79 players remain with an average chip stack of $27,037, but that means that we’re still 25 players away from the money as only 54 of them will cash. There are still plenty of pros left in the field, so be sure to check back tomorrow at 2 p.m. with CardPlayer.com to follow all of the action as it unfolds.
Thu Jun 28 01:24:00 -0700 2007
Players On Break
Players are now on a short fifteen minute break where the tournament staff will be coloring up the $100 chips. Only 94 players still remain with an average chip stack of $22,723, and although we are getting closer to the money, chances are that we won’t hit the bubble until tomorrow’s restart.
Young Phan made some good moves this level and managed to earn some chips right before the break, winning two consecutive pots in a row. On a flop of 7 4 3, the player in seat no. 5 bet out while Phan called behind him and the player in seat no. 7 called all-in behind him. The turn brought the 5 and seat no. 5 bet into Phan who made the call. The river brought the K and this time seat no. 5 checked to Phan who bet out – seat no. 5 called. Phan turned over for A Q 5 2, the nut flush for the high hand and the A-2 nut low. Seat no. 5 showed A 7 9 2 for the nut low, and seat no.7 (all-in) turned over A 5 4 3 for the third best hand and was eliminated. Phan takes ¾ of a three-way pot and gives himself a little more security as we close in on the end of the night.
The very next hand, on a flop of 9 8 3, the player in seat no. 9 bet out and Young Phan made the call. The turn brought the 6, and once again seat no. 9 bet out and Phan called. The river brought the Q and this time seat no. 9 checked to Phan who bets – seat no. 9 called. Phan turned over A 7 5 3 for the nut straight and the A-8 low, scooping the pot while his opponent shook his head and tossed his hand into the muck.
John Juanda wouldn’t be so lucky at the close of the level, being forced to split several big pots while taking some bad beats on the river. John Juanda came in for a raise and got one caller out of the big blind. The flop came 6 5 2, and Juanda pushed his short-stacked opponent all-in. The big blind calls and turned over J 8 7 2 while Juanda turned over A 10 8 5 for the lead. The 7 hit the turn and Juanda lost the high pot right there to his opponent’s flush, and the A on the river gave his opponent the same low hand, forcing Juanda to settle for ¼ of the pot.
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Play has ended for Level 9 and the remaining 135 players have just entered Level 10 where they will see the blinds increase to $500-$1,000 with betting limits of $1,000-$2,000.
The latest round of table redraws had put Bill Gazes, Robert Williamson III and Tony Cousineau all on table no.8. Gazes didn’t last long after struggling all night with a short stack, and Williamson was the one to eliminate him early on in Level 9.
On a flop of K 9 3, Bill Gazes bets out and Robert Williamson III calls behind him. The turn brings the Q and Gazes throws the last few of his chips in the center of the table and Williamson calls his all-in. Gazes turns over A K 7 2 for top pair top kicker, but Williamson shows A K Q 4 for top two pair. The 2 hits the river and just as quickly, Gazes hit the rail.
Kathy Liebert went on a tare in Level 9, gathering chips at an alarming rate and eliminating several of her table mates in a short series of consecutive hands. Kathy Liebert raised from under the gun and the player in the small blind made it 3-bets to go. Liebert calls and the flop comes J 6 7. The small blind checks to Liebert who pushes him all-in and he makes the call with A A K 2 while Liebert turns over A J K 4. Liebert was pretty far behind on the flop but the 2 on the turn and the K on river gave her the nut flush, the pot, and the credit for knocking out yet another player.
Several hands later and Kathy Liebert would go on to scoop a good sized three-handed pot, eliminating one player and crippling another. Liebert makes a raise from the button and gets two callers out the players in seat no.1 and 2. The flop comes 9 8 6, and seat no. 2 bets out only to be raised and pushed all-in by Liebert. Seat no. 2 calls all-in and seat no. 1 calls behind him. The turn brings the J and both players check around to the river which brings the K. Liebert bets out and the player in seat no. 1 makes the call. Liebert turns over A 7 5 3 for the nine-high straight and scoops the pot, severely crippling one of her opponents while eliminating the other.
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Players in Event no. 44 have just gone on a fifteen minute break. Level 8 has come to an end and when the players return from break they will be entering Level 9 where the blinds will increase to $400-$800 with $800-$1600 betting limits.
Humberto Brenes was eliminated this round after a series of second best hands and missed draws. Brenes raises to $1,200 from the button and the player in the cutoff calls the raise. The flop comes Q J 3, and Brenes bets out and the cutoff calls behind him. The turn brings the 3 and once again, Brenes bets and the cutoff makes the call. The river brings the 8 and Brenes fires one last bet into the pot, the cutoff thinks for a minute and finally calls. Brenes knocks the table as if to signify a busted hand and then turns over A 7 5 2. The player in the cutoff position shows A K J 4 for two pair and scoops the pot. This hand didn’t eliminated Humberto Brenes, but it started the chain of losing pots and within a few minutes he ultimately went bust.
Scotty Nguyen had also found himself facing elimination when he was all-in with the short-stack in a three-way pot. On a flop of 8 6 6, Nguyen bets out and gets called by the players in seats no. 2 and 3. The 3 hits the turn once again Nguyen bets out, but the player in seat no. 6 raises and Nguyen calls all-in. Seat no.6 turns over A K 8 2 for the nut low while Nguyen shows 10 8 7 6 for top tow pair for the high hand. So Scotty Nguyen splits the pot and lives to see another flop.
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What is there to say about the action in a split-pot limit game?
The day has brought many eliminations, and as a good deal of pros still remain in the field, David Sklansky just doubled up with the short stack. Sklansky re-raised all-in with A Q J 6 against Young Pham’s A K 5 3. The board came 10 10 6 8 6, giving Sklansky a full house on the river, scooping the pot and doubling through Pham. Sklansky lives to see another pot, and so does Captain Tom Franklin. Franklin calls all-in for $400 from the small blind and the big blind raises while the button calls the raise and all-in. Franklin shows A Q 8 3 while the big blind shows 7 7 5 4, and the button turns over A A 10 9. The board comes 9 6 4 8 5, giving Franklin half the main pot with the A-6 low and another quarter of the main pot with a pair of eights - ace kicker. So Franklin doesn’t quite double up this hand but he does make an ROI of 50 % and lives to see another day.
Level 7 has just come to an end and the remaining 250 players are about to enter Level 8 where the blinds have increased to $300-$600. Be sure to check back with CardPlayer.com for more updates and your favorite Pro Blogs.
Players in today's Omaha eight-or-better event have just returned from dinner and play is about to resume. Check back with CardPlayer.com for hourly updates of this event.
Notable Chip Counts
Marcel Luske
22,000
John Juanda
13,700
Annie Duke
11,500
Jeffrey Lisandro
10,300
Humberto Brenes
9,700
"Miami" John Cernuto
7,900
Sabyl Cohen
7,500
Phil Hellmuth Jr
7,400
Tony G
6,500
Robert Mizrachi
6,500
Robert Williamson III
6,300
Kathy Liebert
6,300
Todd Brunson
6,100
Howard Lederer
6,000
Minh Nguyen
5,500
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
5,150
Cyndy Violette
3,200
John "The Razor" Phan
2,800
David Sklansky
2,100
Scotty Nguyen
1,600
Berry Johnston
1,600
Wed Jun 27 19:00:00 -0700 2007
Dinner Break
Instead of sending the players on a 15 minute break and having them return to play only 15 minutes of the next level, tournament officials have elected to let the players go on their dinner break. Play will resume at 9 p.m.There are less than 295 players remaining in today's event and the average chip stack is $7,240.
Marcel Luske heads into the dinner break as the chip leader and Scott Clements and John Juanda are in the top four in chips as well. Notable eliminations include Erik Seidel, T.J. Cloutier and Allen Cunningham.
Phil Hellmuth usually enters his tournaments late but today was kind of ridiculous. Hellmuth arrived today during the fifth level and had already been blinded off down to $2,500. Eating Quizno's and doing what he does best, Hellmuth has built his stack to above the average at $7,500.
A slight controversy arose earlier today and it had to do with Tony G. Tony G was involved in a hand and had the low in a showdown with another player who had the high. Simple enough, split pot. The problem arose when Tony G answered his cell phone before the dealer calculated the hands. The dealer killed his hand and Tony G freaked out. Tony G slammed his fist and his chips flew into the dealer's face. The floor handed out an hour and a half penalty to Tony G who left immdediately before returning to plead his case. Claiming it was an accident, the floor let Tony G return and the situation was somewhat resolved.
There are around 420 players remaining from the original 534 and play continues to crawl along. John Juanda has emerged as the new chip leader with David Mitchell-Lolis, Davood Mehrmand and Humberto Brenes all in the top five.
2005 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Denis Ethier has been eliminated from today's tournament. Ethier was all in on a board of K 6 2 5 for his last $250. The river was the 3 and Ethier was up agains two opponents. Ethier showed A A and his opponent showed A 4, having rivered the wheel. Neither player had a qualifying low and Ethier left the tournament area in a hurry.
Robert Mizrachi, C.K. Hua, "Minneapolis" Jim Meehan and two other players were all involved in a hand for $200 preflop. The flop came A A 6 and Meehan checked. Hua and Mizrachi both checked and the player in seat two bet out $200. Seat five and Meehan both folded and Hua bumped it up to $400. Mizrachi and the player in seat two called and the turn was the 4. Hua bet out $400 and Mizrachi and the player in seat two called. The river was the 6 and Hua bet out $400 again. Mizrachi called and so did the player in seat two. Hua showed A J 7 6 for the flopped full house and Mizrachi showed Q 5 3 2 for the low.
The players in today's Omaha eight-or-better tournament have been given a 20 minute break following level four. The field is still rather large, as not many players are being eliminated. That being said, Perry Friedman and Allen Kessler have been eliminated from today's event.
David Mitchell-Lolis, who has been having a great 2007 World Series with multiple large cashes, is the new chip leader. Mitchell-Lolis took that distinction from Davood Mehrmand shortly before the level break.
The third hour of play has just ended in today's Limit Omaha eight-or-better tournament and several notable players are getting settled in for the long haul. Davood Merhmand, Robert Mizrachi, Brett Jungblut and Chau Giang are all among the chip leaders early on in this grinding tournament.
With tables starting to break at a more steady pace, players are being shuffled around the Amazon Room constantly. Some players are just getting comfortable in their new seats before being asked to move again. Table 32 has seen its share of faces come and go and now Howard Lederer, "MInneapolis" Jim Meehan, C.K. Hua and Robert Mizrachi are now sharing the felt there. Table 51 has also had some players juggled through and recently been the site of some controversy. Apparently the tournament officials have had to spend considerable amounts of time resolving an issue with a players misbet. The discussion/argument at the table became so loud and heated that players at surrounding tables have become annoyed and distracted. At the table but not in the discussion, T.J. Cloutier finally had enough. "Is this done yet?" said Cloutier in disgust, "It's been goin' on for 20 minutes for Christ's sake!" The player most disgruntled alledgedly lost just $300 in the hand and wouldn't let it go. Paul Darden got involved by saying, "Let him keep talkin'. He lost $300 already, let him keep steaming. Let him lose his other $3,000." The commotion eventually died down and play resumed.
Annie Duke has been warming up to her table and has been playing several pots. Duke got involved in a big hand that began with five players calling a $200 bet from Duke and seeing a flop of 6 4 3. The small blind and big blinds both checked and the player in seat one bet $100. The player in seat four called and Duke raised to $200. The small blind called, big blind folded and the player in seat one threw out $300. Duke called for $100 more and the small blind popped it up to $500. Seat one called and so did Duke. The turn brought the 2 and the small blind bet out $200. The player in seat one and Duke both called. The river was the 10 and the player in the small blind bet out $200 and the player in seat one and Duke called again. Seat one showed 7 6 5 4 for the straight and the player in seat one showed A 8 5 2 for the low. Duke turned over A 10 5 2 for the low as well and seat one took half the pot and Duke and the small blind each took half of the low.
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