Day 13 saw the $5,000 two-seven lowball with rebuys battle it out to the last player standing, while Europeans dropped off the radar in the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha tournament. There was overseas action in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em event, but only one European remains in the $2,000 limit hold’em event. The day also saw the beginning of the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E tournament.
The final table fought it out in the $5,000 two-seven lowball with rebuys eliminating France and Lithuania as it progressed to the final two. France was first to go with David Benyamine sent to the rail in seventh place taking home $58,990. Erick Lindgren raised to 40,000 and Tony ‘G’ Guoga made the call. Benyamine then moved all in for 146,000 and Lindgren was the only caller. Benyamine stood pat and Lindgren drew one. Benyamine then turned over J-8-7-4-2 and Lindgren showed his draw, 8-5-4-2. Lindgren needed a three, six, seven, nine, ten, or jack to bust Benyamine. He turned over a 7 to make his hand.
Hopes were also dashed for the Lithuanian Tony ‘G’ Guoga when he went out next in sixth place. Erick Lindgren raised to 40,000 and Guoga moved all in for his last 140,000. Lindgren called and both drew one card. Lindgren drew a 9-8-6-5-4 and Guoga paired his deuce to bust out.
Eventually, it was down to the final two; Jeff Lisandro and Mike Matusow. Lisandro managed to keep the match going when he doubled up with a 10-8-5 against Matusow’s 10-8-7, but Matusow still held a nice chip lead which he used to put pressure on Lisandro to shrink his stack back down to size.
Lisandro held 580,000 when Matusow open-shoved all in, and he decided to make the call. After the call Lisandro asked for one card and Matusow went into the tank. He thought about whether he should stand pat, or try and improve his hand against Lisandro, but decided to do battle with the hand he was dealt. Lisandro had 9-6-5-3, and Matusow had Q-8-7-4-3.
Lisandro was dealt one last card and he took a peak before flipping up a queen for all to see. Eliminated in second place, he takes home $347,704 for his performance. Victorious Matusow was awarded his third gold bracelet, as well as $537,862 in prize money.
Europeans took a beating in event 19 — the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha tournament. Irishman Marty Smyth was eliminated at level 13, and one level later Dane Jesper Hougaard was also sent to the rail.
Italian Max Pescatori knew he had to dodge some bullets, but he could not have seen the end coming the way it did. Greg Cox raised from the small blind to 14,000, and both Pescatori and Craig Natte called to see the flop which ran out Q
9
5. All three players moved all in, with Cox having the others covered. Pescatori, the short-stack of the three, had about 35,000 in chips and held top set with the Q
Q108. Cox matched the 44,000 of Natte with the AA
96. Natte was reduced to bottom set with the 5522. The 4 came on the turn, which became relevant when the 3 hit the river. It was suddenly Natte, holding the 52 of clubs, who scooped the massive pot worth 168,000 in chips. Pescatori was eliminated and Cox was left with a big dent in his chip stack.
After several hands featuring many checks and folds, the biggest pot of the tournament exploded out of nowhere and the final nine were decided. Tom Schultz raised to 20,000 and Vanessa Selbst raised it 50,000 more to 75,000 total. Anthony Phillips then reraised it to 239,000 from late position and action folded to Selbst. Selbst stood up and thought long and hard. She asked Phillips how much he had left behind and he told her 188,000. After much deliberation, Selbst decided to just call. As soon as the decision left her lips, Phillips announced he was all in dark.
The flop came 854 and Selbst gritted her teeth, not happy with the flop. Still, she called and Phillips showed AAQ9. Selbst was behind, with just KJ98. The turn was the 10 and Selbst was still trailing, but the river was the 9, and a shocked Selbst exclaimed, “Two pair!” She had made two pair, 8s and 9s and Phillips stormed away from the table, eliminated in 10th place. “Gamble, gamble, baby,” she said with a smile.
Norwegian Henning Granstad was holding his own in the $2,000 limit hold’em, making it through to the final 14, but there was a lot more European action in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em event.
A few names present and attempting to battle their way were; Alan Smurfit from Ireland, Dario Minieri from Italy, Dutchman Michiel Brummelhuis, and Swedes; Anthony Chatelain, and Anders Henriksson.
As tables continued to break, missing spots in other tables were quickly filled by transferred players. On blue table No. 44, a particularly stacked table was in the works as Gavin Smith, Andy Black, Eli Elezra, and Greg Raymer all sat side by side. The focus of their conversation was the decorated crown of a human skull Black brought with him to today’s event, presumably as a good luck charm. Black promised that it was authentic, and also added that he had previously eaten out of it as a dish. After a request to drink from it, Raymer came to his defense by saying, “He’s going to eat dinner out of that later.”
Although Brummelhuis was doing well, fellow countryman Jon Van Fleet ran into some bad luck. Van Fleet opened for 2,500 from the hijack and was called by the button. The small blind then moved all in for a total of 16,200, which folded the big blind. Van Fleet moved all in behind him, muscling out the player on the button. The small blind showed AK while Van Fleet tabled a meager looking 63. As the board ran out A8725, Van Fleet realised that his opponent had moved in for about 10,000 more chips than he had initially assumed. The mistake cost him dearly, and he was left with just over 10,000 after the encounter.
At end of day, the chipleaders included Swedish Anders Henrikson and Dutch Michiel Brummelhuis.
Alex Kostritsyn from Russia, Marcel Luske from the Netherlands, and Austrian Markus Golser were doing well in the early stages of the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E event, but Frenchman David Benyamine was sent to the rail. He should not feel too bad though with his seventh place finish from an earlier event in the day.
In the fifth hour during the Omaha 8 section, Marco Traniello called every bet on each street of a J101045 board. Traniello tossed his cards into the muck when his opponent showed A1034 for a full house. He fought his way back to give the leaderboard a stronger mediterranean flavour by joining another Italian chip leader — Max Pescatori — at the end of play.
Pescatori, who was still wearing one arm in a sling and can only use one hand, bet 1,000 on 7th street and was called by one opponent. His opponent angrily mucked when he saw Pescatori’s hand – A644 (A72) for a pair of aces and the 7-low. Pescatori scooped the pot and a player from another table shouted over, “Imagine how many chips you’d have if you had two hands.”
This event will continue tomorrow alongside the remaining stages of the $2,000 limit hold’em and the $5,000 no-limit hold’em tournaments. Others beginning are the $2,000 no-limit hold’em and $2,500 pot-limit hold’em / Omaha.
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