It seems this tournament likes it eliminations to come in flurries.
Todd Lundwall was eliminated by Ray Spencer after Spencer flopped an Ace to outrace Lundwall's pocket sevens. At the same time at the adjacent table Thomas Middleton and Duane Felix hooked up an in hand as well. Felix trailed Middleton's pocket Queens with A-J, but Felix managed to spike the Ace on the turn to eliminate Middleton in 10th place. Middleton and Lundwall both earned $37,635.
Here are the final nine players:
Seat 1: Lewis Titterton $552,000
Seat 2: Greg "FBT" Mueller $1,032,000
Seat 3: Chandrasekhar Billavara $456,000
Seat 4: Leandro Pimentel $1,134,000
Seat 5: Ray Spencer $1,128,000
Seat 6: Taylor Douglas $2,618,000
Seat 7: Duane Felix $996,000
Seat 8: John Hunt $833,000
Seat 9: Cort Kibler-Melby $694,000
Mueller is making his second final table appearance of the World Series. The action will get underway at 12pm
The biggest story, or perhaps the loudest story is not who is eliminating who, but the avid supporters of Leandro Pimentel. Pimentel's entourage has taken up residence on the rail closest to the table, and they're making no secret about who they are rooting for. Pimentel recently moved his last $200,000 into the middle with pocket Jacks from the cutoff, and was called by Ray Spencer from the button with A 2. The board ran out Q 5 5 8 9, and Pimentel's railbirds burst into song.
Earlier Kyu Cho made a stand with K J against Spencer's A 6, but he failed to connect as the board came out 9 3 2 4 10. Cho busted in 14th place earning $33,334.
Taylor Douglas has continued to gather chips, having crossed the 2 million chip mark in the last level. Greg Mueller has also held steady, and has joined Douglas and Spencer in the million chip club. With the elimination of Marc Phan in 12th place ($37,635), we are now only two eliminations from the end of play tonight.
Once again a flurry of action resulted in a broken table.
Jim Routos moved all in with his last $84,000 with 4 3, chip leader Taylor Douglas just called with K 10, Jason Dousharm moved all in for $50,000 more with A Q from the big blind, and Douglas eventually made the call. Dousharm maintained the lead on the Q 7 8. Douglas took the lead with the K on the turn, and the 5 missed his opponent's outs, and Douglas picked up the double elimination.
Simultanenously Josh Prinsky busted in 19th place in disappointing fashion. Prinsky moved all in with A K, and was called by Ray Spencer with J 10. With the A 8 5 flop Prinsky seemed to have a lock on the hand. However the 10 and J rolled off on the turn and river.
Greg Mueller is currently among the chip leaders, gaining some of those when he eliminated Jesse Martin in 24th place, besting his Q-6 with pocket nines.
There are currently 16 players left. Douglas and Spencer are currently the only two players with over one million in chips.
Five players have quickly been eliminated and the players are on a short break as the final three tables are redrawn.
In one hand of note Shaun Deeb earned his second 27th place finish of the World Series, going out in a double elimination hand. Joe Anthony moved all in with A 9 with a very short stack and Deeb pushed all in with Q J to isolate. Duane Felix had them both covered and made the call with A K. the board ran out A 7 6 5 10, and both Anthony and Deeb were eliminated.
Notable Chip Counts
The most recent pro to hit the rail was Arnold Spee. Spee had been short on chips and found himself butting heads with the current chip leader Taylor Douglas. Spee managed to double his $78,000 through Douglas when he moved all in with A A, and got Douglas to call with A J, The board ran out 4 3 3 6 4, and Spee had about $170,000 in chips, which was still below the average, but considerably healthier. Spee ran into Douglas again with the best of it a few hands later, but he was drawn out on, and was eliminated in 34th place earning $20,860.
Greg "FBT" Mueller has been very active at his table, often offering free advice to his opponents. He has about an average chip stack at the moment. Also still alive are Jesse Martin and Shaun Deeb.
The players are now on dinner break until 10:20 pm.
Notable Chip Counts
There are only 45 players remaining on day two of event #49, $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em hold em. Tournament officials announced that the dinner break will be approximately at 9 p.m. following the next level.
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi was eliminated in 56th place in the last level. Mizrachi called a $55,000 preflop bet early in the level and saw a flop of K J 4. The other player in the hand pushed all in and Mizrachi folded pocket nines. A few hands later Will Jordan bet out $20,000 with the blinds at $4,000-$8,000. Mizrachi was in the small blind and pushed all in for $26,000 total. Jordan called and showed A-9. The Grinder flipped up K 3 and the board came 10 5 4 K A. The king on the turn gave Mizrachi hope, but it was very short lived when the ace hit on the river.
Greg "FBT" Mueller has continued to stay strong through the last level and now has $315,000. Mueller was on the button with only the blinds left to act. Mueller asked each player to count their chips and both were short stacked. Mueller bet out $100,000 to cover both players and the small blind immediately folded. The player in big blind said he had a good hand and went into the tank. When the player in the big blind folded, Mueller congratulated him and said, "Good fold sir." Mueller had been telling the players at his table "good fold" all day. A player at Mueller's table jeered, "Is it ever a bad fold Greg?" Mueller replied, "Not today it isn't," replied Mueller.
The fourteenth level of play has ended and there are fewer than 66 players remaining. Play tightened up slightly in the last level with fewer players risking all of their chips by pushing all in. Players have also become very aware of the pay jumps between eliminations. An unknown player was deciding whether or not to call an opponent's large raise and the opponent reminded him that the field was only two eliminations away from jumping a pay level. "Oh sh**, you're right," said the player and immediately folded his hand. The table laughed and the player said he was going to fold anyway.
Shannon Shorr is the most recent notable elimination. Greg "FBT" Mueller, Jesse Martin and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi are all still alive.
The tournament is on a 20 minute break at the end of the level. The break was extended to compensate for the time it would take tournament officials to color off the purple $500 chips.
Play continued at a furious pace in the 13th level and the field is down to 100. Notable eliminations in the last round include Chad Brown, Mike Gracz and 2006 Senior Event Champion Paul McKinney.
Gracz was eliminated shortly after losing a race for half his stack. Gracz raised to $12,000 preflop and the player in the seven seat reraises all in for $23,000. Gracz called and turned over A 10. The player in seat seven was ahead with Q Q. The flop came Q J 7 and Gracz was even further behind but picked up a gut shot straight draw. The turn brought the K and Gracz looked relieved. The player in seat seven pleaded for the dealer to pair the board and the river did just that, bringing the J. Gracz lost to his opponent's full house and was down to under $30,000 after the hand. Gracz was eliminated a few hands later.
Chad Brown was sent to the rail in the last level as well. Brown was all in with A K up against his opponent's A Q. A queen hit on the flop and Brown couldn't catch on the turn or the river.
Getting your aces cracked seems to be a common theme in this event and it happened to both Brad Berman and Shaun Deeb in seperate hands. Deeb bet out and was reraised all in by Jesse Martin who had about $40,000 behind him. Deeb had Martin well covered and instantly made the call showing A A. Martin realized he chose a bad time to push and showed 8 8. The flop came Q 8 5 and Martin was silent with two cards to come. Deeb simply shook his head and started counting out the right amount of chips to pay off Martin. The turn was the 3 and the river brought the 10. Martin doubled up to $86,000. On an adjacent table, Brad Berman was all in preflop against his opponent's pocket queens. The board came J 6 3 6 Q and the river gave Berman's opponent the pot. Berman tried to mask his frustration as he shipped $54,000 to his opponent.
Greg Mueller continued his roller coaster like journey in the last level and now sits with $115,000 in chips. The player in seat five raised all in from the small blind for $48,000 and Mueller had a decision for most of his chips. The two had tangled earlier in the day and you could sense Mueller wanted to snap him off. Mueller eventually called and turned up K 9. The player in seat five showed 5 5. The board came K 6 6 J J and Mueller was rewarded by eliminating a headache and picking up a large amount of chips. "I'm the wrong person to do that to" said Mueller. "I dont' get pushed around!"
The twelfth level of play has been completed and the players are now on a 15 minute break. In just an hour and a half the field has shrunk from 218 players down to 130. The pace of play is chaotic at best and players are busting out continuously. John Myung was eliminated in the 11th level of play after taking a crippling blow from an opponent at his table. Myung raised to $7,000 preflop and the player in the one seat popped it up to $35,000. Myung pushed all in with pocket queens and the player in seat one showed A-Q. An ace hit on the flop and Myung was left with just a few thousand. Myung was eliminated shortly after the hand.
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi came into day two third in chips and after a level and a half is still amongst the chip leaders. The Grinder took a small hit at the very beginning of level 12 but has built his stack back up to $133,000. The player in the five seat at Mizrachi's table bet out $9,000 and Mizrachi called from the small blind. The player in seat two reraised all in for $15,200. The player in seat five and Mizrachi both made the call. The two players still with chips checked all the way down and the board showed 9 5 4 J 9. Mizrachi shrugged and called out "Ace high." The player in seat two showed A Q and the player in the five seat flipped over 7 7 to take down the large pot.
Jesse Martin caused some excitement in the last level, and managed to triple up in the process. Early on, Martin pushed all in for his last $10,000 preflop and was called by the player in seat three. Martin showed K K and the player in seat three held Q J. The board came K 7 5 3 10 and Martin doubled to $24,000. Later in the level, Martin was again in a decision for all of his chips. The player in seat two had pushed all in preflop and was called by the player in seat three. Martin went into the tank for a few minutes and during his deliberation the player in seat two was constantly making noise. The player in seat two called for a clock on Martin and the floorman began his count. When his clock ran out, the floorman began to announce that Martin's hand was dead and he yelled out "call." Martin turned over A Q, the player in seat three held 9 9 and the player in seat two Q J. The board came Q 10 5 3 3 and Martin tripled up to $70,500. "That's what you get!" said Martin to the player in seat two. "Making noise, so disrespectful. You always do that when I play with you. There isn't a player in this room who would do what you did."
Greg "FBT" Mueller has experienced a roller coaster of a day so far. Mueller's chip stack has been changing more often than Gavin Griffin's hairstyle. With the board showing 10 3 2 Mueller bet out $6,000. The player in seat four came back over the top all in. Mueller thought for a moment and then said, "I probably shouldn't do this but here we go" and showed K 10. The player in seat four turned over Q 3 and said, "I didn't put you on a hand." The turn was the 5 and the river was the 9 doubling Mueller up to $50,000. "Didn't put me on a hand? Yeah, I always limp under the gun with nothing. What are you talking about?" said Mueller, semi-berating his opponent. Later in the level, after building his stack to almost $70,000 Mueller pushed all in over another player's preflop raise. The player called with 9 9 and Mueller showed K J. The board bricked out for Mueller when it came A 5 2 2 A and Mueller had to ship $36,000 across the table. Mueller was able to climb back up to $60,000 a few hands later courtesy of Chad Brown and an unknown player at his table. Brown raised to $9,000 preflop and Mueller called from the small blind. The big blind called and the flop came Q J 8. Mueller open pushed all in for his last $30,000 and got no callers, picking up the preflop bets.
The second day of event #49, the largest $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em event ever is set to begin at 2 p.m. There are 218 players returning today to battle down to the final table. Play ended last night with thirty minutes left in level 11 and all returning players are in the money. Mads Andersen ended the night as the chip leader and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi was in third. Stay with CardPlayer.com throughout the day to see what happens and follow who makes it all the way to the final table.
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