Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
A total of 45 players started today, and we’ll be playing down to 27. The play so far could be most accurately described as certifiably insane. Multi-street bluffs are common, and several players have shown their bluffs after raking pots.
I’m not sure that either the bluffs or the tabling of cards is advisable.
One spectacular buff occurred on the turn, when Eric Lynch bet out 500k on a board of Ts-4h-8h-Th and his opponent moved in. Eric looked at his cards, T-8, and made a crying call. His opponent had Js-9s – an open-ended straight draw. The player with J-9 busted when he almost certainly could have waited for a better spot.
Among the big, crazy play, Allen Cunningham plays a steady, methodical game. He started the level with 1.2 Million and ended it with half a million more. He picked up chips in well-chosen spots. In one hand, he-reraised a button raise. In a couple of others he stole blinds.
When playing past the flop, he proceeds cautiously, controlling the size of pots by calling bets rather than raising when he thinks he’s ahead. His bets are about half the size of the pot or less.
He has yet to have a significant number of chips in play, and his style seems to be well suited for his more maniacal opponents.
More after Level 2.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
Jeffrey Lisandro goes into the today’s play in 9th chip position with 45 players remaining. I had a brief chat with him before he headed off to play.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
We’re down to 45. The last bust out of the night occurred in a race, JJ vs. AQ. The Jacks held up. All the remaining players are guaranteed 247,000. I’ll continue covering the play tomorrow, focusing on Allen Cunningham’s play.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
Another quiet round for Allen Cunningham. He played few pots in the last hour, twice raising under-the-gun. The first time he took the blinds. The second time, he ran into an opponent who had a lapse in concentration.
Allen raised to 75k and a player in late position looked down at his cards and said, “Raise to 70.” He hadn’t noticed that Allen had raised before him. A floor man was called and ruled that the player in late position had to min raise Allen’s open-raise.
It was then folded back to Allen, who popped it another 200k. The player folded, giving away 140k in chips.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
Here’s a little bit of advice. If you’re looking to be aggressive in late position – you know, try to steal the blinds – you might want to look at who is on the button. If it happens to be Allen Cunningham, you might want to wait for another spot.
Allen has been playing very few hands – I’d guess he’s seeing lousy cards. But still, he’s managed to pick up chips by punishing those who have raised while he’s on the button. In one hand a player raised two spots before Allen. He re-popped, making it 160k more.
A couple of orbits later, the cutoff raised, and Allen once again re-raised another 160. After this re-raise there was some drama. The big blind found a hand was seriously considering playing it. Finally, he laid it down. The cutoff then acted more quickly; he tabled 7-2 off-suit.
We’ll never know if Allen actually had cards in those spots, but he clearly found time for some profit.
Allen has about 1.3 Million.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to cover the event. We’re down to 75 players and at this point the media is begin kept at a distance from the tables.
The pace of the action has slowed considerably. We’re seeing some cautious, quality play. In the last hour and a quarter we’ve lost only seven players.
Allen Cunningham found an opportunity to double up. He was all-in in a blind-vs.-blind situation with K-J; the small bind had 7-7. A King on the flop brought Allen to 1.2 Million. Sabyl Cohen also doubled up after being low.
I’ll do my best to cover the rest of the day, but getting quality information is a problem.
Note on schedule: The latest word is that we’ll play today until 54 players remain or five levels, whichever comes first. Tomorrow, the play will go from 54 to 27. Tuesday, they’ll play from 27 to 9. Wednesday will be a day off. Then Thrusday will be the final table.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
The play is astonishingly fast. Despite an average stack of nearly 30 big blinds, a large proportion of hands result in all-in confrontations. At a few of the tables, the play is absolutely dizzying.
At Allen Cunningham’s table, the pace is a little slower. The big stacks have managed to get pretty lucky and are now quite formidable. Paul Wasicka, an online pro, picked up a multi-way draw against a pair of Aces, and took down a massive pot when he made a straight on the river, eliminating an opponent. Just before the end of the level, one player was sent to the rail after making a very tough call, then falling victim to a three-outer.
Alllen has played few pots and can’t seem to find a hand. He’s got a very good player, WeiKei Chang, to his left. Chang has a big stack and has re-raised Allen a couple of times, when Allen open-raised. Allen has folded to the pressure.
Allen is down to about 500k, but it is not the first time he’s been short-stacked in the tournament. With a little luck he could be right back in the think of it.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
At Allen Cunningham’s table, the following hand was just played. It wasn’t the largest of the tournament – but it was among the strangest.
All players in the hand, with the exception of the big blind, had deep stacks – over 1.5 Million.
With blinds of 8k/16k with a 2k ante, a player in early position raised to 50k. A middle position player and a late position player both called. The big blind then moved in for 200k. The early position player thought, then called.
Both the middle position player and the late position player then called as well, creating a massive pot.
The flop came Kd 6c 4s and the early position player bet out 200k. At this point the big blind looked stricken, as if he must be drawing dead. Both players with chips folded, and the early position player tabled K-8, which was a complete shock to all of us on the rail.
The big blind then perked up; he tabled his A-J, and was happy enough that he wasn’t drawing dead.
The turn and river were blanks, and K-8 took a massive pot.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
The 135 remaining players started today with blinds of 6k/12k and an ante of 2k. The play continued to move fast, with frequent all-ins. In the two-hour level, 30 players busted, leaving us with 103 players. The average stack is now just over 800k.
Allen Cunningham, after flirting with the felt for hours yesterday, has managed to build his stack to over 900k. In today’s play, Allen was extremely quiet. He was involved in only a five pots and saw only two flops. He took both of those pots, one a blind-vs.-blind confrontation where he bet out the flop; in the other, he bet when an Ace appeared on the river.
I’ll be following Allen for the next levels and will give updates on his progress.
Sabyl Cohen, the Full Tilt qualifier, had dropped to under 500k. But she continued her game – playing tight and waiting for good opportunities. Then it came. She raised from late position and was re-raised from the big blind. She moved in and was called. Her Aces were up against Ace-King, and now Sabyl has nearly 1 Million.
Some stacks are still very short, and we can expect a number of all-in moves in the following levels.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
Today 135 players remain in the Main Event. A look at the leader board shows that only a half dozen of these players have names familiar to the poker world. The rest are online qualifiers, unknowns, who have never played in situations as fraught and intense as they will encounter today.
Eighteen years ago, an unknown named Erik Seidel went deep in the Main Event. It was his first poker tournament. I caught up with Erik today and had a quick chat with him about his experiences.
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