The quantity of luck that it takes to win a large tournament is almost unfathomable. Getting good cards is only part of the issue. You need to catch big hands against fish or good players with second-bests. A good table draw is also critical.

Going into the final two tables, Jeffrey Lisandro got a terrible draw. Short on chips, with just over 2 Million, he was put on the featured table in seat 5. To his immediate left is the chip leader, Jamie Gold, who is playing a lot of pots. To Jamie’s left is Allen Cunningham, who is second in chips.

The blinds are high – it costs 220k to play a round. Lisandro is going to have to find some hands in the next hour or to be competitive.

Meanwhile, it seems that Gold and Cunningham are showing each other respect. Gold was unusually deferential in a blind-vs.-blind confrontation, and just ceded the pot to Allen.

Play continues at a torrid pace. In only 20 minutes, four players dropped. After an hour and a half of play, we’re down to 21 players.

At Allen Cunningham’s table, the pots are phenomenally large. Whereas at the other tables, most of the pots are heads-up, at Table 3, many of the raised pots were called in two or three places. One pot was raised to 250k and called by three players, including the blinds. It was checked all the way to river – no one wanted to stab and the board, which contained 4 hearts and a pair o 8s.

Amid the insanity, Cunningham was quiet, playing few pots. His stack was reasonable short – in the 2.2 Million range – and he wasn’t taking chances with this chips. He stole blinds a couple of times, but didn’t contest pots where he raised post-flop and was called.

Allen was involved in two very large, valuable pots. The first occurred 20 minutes before the break. A late position player limped. The small blind raised to 400k, and Allen came over the top all in. All folded.

The second major hand was the final deal before the break. The under-the-gun player raised to 175k and was called by a Swede in middle position who was something of a calling station. Allen called from the big blind. The flop came K-5-2 and Allen checked. The UTG player bet 400k and was called by the Swede. Allen then thought for a moment and declared “all in.”

The pre-flop raiser looked furious but folded. Then the Swede thought and thought, then called, tabling 9-9. The turn and river came Q-Q, giving Cunningham the full house – 5s full of Queens.

The pot will propel Allen into the top 5 or 6.

UPDATE: Early into the next level, with blinds of 30/60k and a 10k ante, Allen took his pocket Aces against Kings, eliminating a player and building his stack to over 13 Million. There are now 18 remaining players — two tables.

Allen Cunningham has made the final 27, guaranteeing a payday of just under $500,000. He has, in my humble opinion, played brilliantly. I chatted with Allen just after the today’s play.

JG: Is this a highlight of your poker career?

AC: I don’t know what ‘highlights’ mean, but this is the most fun and excitement I’ve had in a tournament. Even if I get knocked out next, it’s been really exciting getting this deep in a big tournament.

JG: I’ve been watching you play and you seem to play a lot slower than many of your opponents. Is playing slower working to your advantage in this field?

AC: I’m playing the way I think you should play. Some of the guys are really playing terrible, going broke with hands they shouldn’t go broke with. I’m trying not to take too many chances because there’s a lot of money in the higher places. If I can make the same playing a hand slow or fast, and there’s a risk I’ll go broke playing it fast, then I’ll play it slow.

JG: You won a big pot with a set earlier. It was a limped pot and you were in the small blind. You bet out every street. Is that the way you normally play a set?

AC: Yeah, I fired three barrels and he called. [I bet out there because] it’s often best to hope he has something. If you just keep betting it’s tough for him to get away.

JG: There are some very large stacks around. Is that something that’s going to be in your mind as you play tomorrow?

AC: It’s not in my mind at all. I just need to do the best with the chips I have.

In the last two day of play, Allen Cunningham has played exactly two big pot. One occurred yesterday when he was very short and took a race with K-J against a pair of 7s. He won.

The second big pot just went down.

A player who started the day among the chip leaders limped in middle position. Allen limped from the small blind and the big blind checked. The flop came Qd 7c 5s. Cunningham bet out 125. And the big stack called. (This player had made some strange calls earlier and had burned through some chips.)

The turn was the Js. Cunningham bet 300 His opponent called.

The river was the 6d. Allen measured out a stack of red, a stack of black and a stack of orange – 800k. His opponent called in a shot. Allen then showed his set of 5s and raked a huge pot.

With this pot he eclipsed the 3 Million chip mark. There are bigger stacks out there, but there is no player in the field who is more respected or feared.

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.

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.

Continue reading »

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.

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.

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.

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.