Phil Ivey just picked Mike Matusow’s pocket in a $100,000 pot. It had to kill Matusow to lay down his hand, and it will kill him again as he now has to live with the doubt about Ivey’s hand … and it’ll be a third death when he finds out how Ivey played him.
I’ve just been ejected from the commentators’ booth, so My ability to tell you any specifics of the action is limited. But I returned to the studio at 1:05 PM, just in time to hear Phil Ivey say, “Bring me 500 more.”
As I predicted.
Seat 1 - Patrik Antonius - $362,300
Seat 2 - Andy Bloch (replacing Eli Elezra) - $100,000
Seat 3 - Mike Matusow - $76,700
Seat 4 - David Benyamine - $670,600
Seat 5 - Tom Dwan - $227,100
Seat 6 - Phil Hellmuth Jr. - $158,200
Seat 7 - Phil Ivey - $294,200
Seat 8 - Chris Ferguson - $298,900
It’s 12:40 PM and we haven’t started yet. Play has momentarily been delayed by, it seems, a Ryder Cup argument.
I’m standing next to Barry Mundee, the tournament director, at 12:10 PM, just ten minutes after I was told cards would be in the air. An assistant breathlessly approaches and whispers, “Mr. Ivey is in a cab.” From what I could make out over Barry’s shoulder, the opening line-up could/should/might include the following, as they are all present or cab-bound:
David Benyamine
Andy Bloch
Mike Matusow
Chris Ferguson
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Ivey
Here is how they ended yesterday:
Patrik Antonius - bought in for $600,000, ended up with $362,300, for a loss of $237,700.
Eli Elezra - bought in for $100,000, ended with $227,200, for a profit of $127,200.
Gus Hansen - bought in for $100,000, departed the game with $134,800, for a profit of $34,800.
Mike Matusow - bought in for $100,000, ended with $76,700, for a loss of $23,300.
David Benyamine - bought in for $500,000, ended with $670,600, for a profit of $170,600.
Tom Dwan - bought in for $450,000, ended with $227,100, for a loss of $222,900.
Phil Hellmuth - bought in for $200,000, ended with $158,200, for a loss of $41,800.
Phil Ivey - bought in for $300,000, ended with $294,200, for a loss of $5,800.
Chris Ferguson - bought in for $100,000, ended with $298,900, for a profit of $198,900.
A few comments on the day to come:
1. Chris Ferguson was the big winner. He won last year, but not nearly as much, and wasn’t as active. He had the worst position at the table, with Ivey, Antonius, and Lindgren/Townsend to his immediate left. It’s not as if there’s a “good” place to be at a table of this caliber, but it was generally agreed he had the worst of last year’s draw. His draw was relatively good yesterday, with Ivey, Benyamine, and Dwan to his right and just Antonius to his immediate left. But Chris’s toughest hand was when Patrik, with position, flat-called him and exposed the problems of being out of position against an active player of Antonius’s caliber. It didn’t cost him too much - on that hand or throughout the day - but it could have.
2. There were generally more noteworthy hands and more action than last year, and I expect that to escalate on Day 2.
3. I didn’t see Dwan on the “in the building/cab” list but I hope he’s back today. [As I write this, I see time coming to the table.] Tom was the story of Day 1, playing more hands than anyone else, seemingly spoiling for confrontations with Eli Elezra. He was either out-of-synch, extremely unlucky, craftier than anyone else, or very lucky. He tried making a lot of moves and, for most of the day, seemed to be failing spectacularly. But it more because he was running into big hands, I think, than that his opponents somehow had him “figured.” And he won some big pots later in the day in this fashion, getting a big fold from Eli Elezra by betting all-in on the turn with seven-high and a straight draw, and getting his all-in river bet called when he made a full house against Patrik Antonius.
4. Phil Ivey was quiet yesterday. I don’t think that will continue, especially with all the hands he observed Dwan playing. If he and Tom have the chips, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them play a million-dollar pot today.
5. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Antonius and Ivey bought in for a few hundred thousand more, giving their combined stacks, with Benyamine’s, approximately $2 million.
It’s 12:30 and the players have just arrived at the table.
It’s 10:45 PM and we just finished up the first day. There were no titanic hands at the very end, though both Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth made comebacks. I’ll get an end-of-day chip count, or beginning of day count if my internet access fails me away from the Hellenic Centre, as has been the case so far.
There have definitely been a lot more “action” hands this year than last year. I think I’ll split tomorrow between the floor and the control room. From the control room, I can tell you a lot more about the play of the hands, though I don’t get the same atmosphere. On the floor, I can pass along the “vibe” of the game, but it’s almost impossible to follow the individual bits of action.
In measures, I’ll give you both tomorrow.
Cheers!
Either I’m exactly right about everything I supposed about Tom Dwan, or I’m wrong about everything. He just doubled up on Patrik Antonius, with a giant river bet that Patrik called.
I’ve been told that they are playing until 11 PM tonight, so we’re just completing what’s probably the last break. Here is where the players stand:
So on the hand where Jesus live-straddles, Eli Elezra raises with ace-king. Tom Dwan, with 7-6o, reraises. Again, I’m thinking this is way too much tangling with a former officer of the Israeli Army. But Tom proves that, for a guy who looks like he’s still young enough to get his picture taken when he gets a haircut, he can be pretty tough too.
OK, here’s a hand you will (or would) love seeing on TV. If you use just a tiny bit of imagination, you’ll be able to visualize it as I saw it.
Phil Ivey live-straddled. Everyone folded around to Phil Hellmuth, in the big blind. Hellmuth had 2-2, so he raised. Ivey found out he had Ad-Jh and called.
It’s just before 9 PM here but I wanted to tell you about some of the hands between 8 and 8:30 that give you a real flavor of what’s going on here.
Eli Elezra raised with J-J and Mike Matusow flat-called with A-T. Tom Dwan, in the big blind with 8-5o, tried a squeeze play, reraising.
