Poker From The Rail
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Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
There are a lot of reasons that can, and will, be kicked around about the texture of the 2011 World Series of Poker November Nine. It is truly an international field with the fewest members from the U.S. in many years. Just three of the nine are Yanks and the rest are spread around the world from Central America to Eastern Europe.
While it still took a long haul to whittled down the field, starting the final day with 22 players instead of 27 certainly made a difference. Also not taking six hours to go from 10 to 9 also played a part.
While there are no huge popular names in this year’s November Nine like Phil Ivey or Michael Mizrachi, there are two big online names, the leading 2011 WSOP Player of the Year, and a whole lot of vowels.
Phil “USCphildo” Collins already has a fine resume with his online game but this year came out as one of the favorite players. His energetic rail spend the evening singing “In the Air Tonight” (it’s a Phil Collins song, get it?).
Before the WSOP Main Event, Ben “Benba” Lamb was already having one of the best WSOP’s in history. He finished 2nd in the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament and followed that up by winning the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha. Throw in another final table in the $50,000 Player’s Poker Championship and that is one fine summer.
Matt Gianetti is the final U.S. player is a 26-year old Vegas local who is already guaranteed his biggest WSOP cash of his career. His previous high was a 4th place finish in the 2009 $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament for $66,544 but he now has over $782,000 in his pocket with a chance for a lot more.
Also 26-years old, Eoghan O’Dea has perhaps the best poker pedigree among those remaining. This is just his 5th WSOP cash but he has a 2nd place finish at the 2009 WPT Marrakech for $388,532. In addition to the results, he also the spawn of European Poker Players Hall of Famer Donnacha O’Dea.
The three youngest members of the November Nine come from the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Ukraine. Young Sam Holden is just a hair over 22 years old, the Main Event is his first career WSOP tournament cash, and his previous career high tournament cash was $5,785. He’ll be buying pints at the corner pub for the next few months.
This is also the first WSOP for German Pius Heinz but he has a little more success this year. The student from Cologne has only one other WSOP cash but it was a final table finish in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament for $83,286.
The youngest of the bunch is Anton Makiievskyi (also spelled Makiievskiy) from the Ukraine. While he only has a few small tournament cashes in Europe, his country has already made a mark at the 2011 World Series of Poker with four bracelets.
Finally our (not really) senior citizens. Martin Staszko from the Czech Republic and ran well this summer before the Main Event. While he has two near final tables in Europe, he cashed four times this summer before making the November Nine.
The oldest players at the final table, weighing in at a not very old 49-years old, is Badih Bou-Nahra. He came to Las Vegas from Belize via Lebanon and definitely seems to be the most low-key player at the table. It’s tough to get very tense when coming from a tropical paradise, but the business man will try to work his way through the final table and pick up the first WSOP bracelet for Belize.
Below are various breakdowns of the 2011 November Nine. We will return later with some handicapping of the field as the date draws nearer.
Players by chipstacks:
1 – Martin Staszko – 40,175,000
2 – Eoghan O’Dea – 33,925,000
3 – Matt Giannetti – 24,750,000
4 – Phil “USCphildo” Collins – 23,875,000
5 – Ben “Benba” Lamb – 20,875,000
6 – Badih Bou-Nahra – 19,700,000
7 – Pius Heinz – 16,425,000
8 – Anton Makiievskyi – 13,825,000
9 – Sam Holden – 12,375,000
Players by seat:
Seat 1 – Matt Gianetti – 24,750,000
Seat 2 – Badih Bou-Nahra – 19,700,000
Seat 3 – Eoghan O’Dea – 22,925,000
Seat 4 – Phil “USCphildo” Collins – 23,875,000
Seat 5 – Anton Makiievskyi – 13,825,000
Seat 6 – Sam Holden – 12,375,000
Seat 7 – Pius Heinz – 16,425,000
Seat 8 – Ben “Benba” Lamb – 20,875,000
Seat 9 – Martin Staszko – 40,175,000
Players by country:
3 – United States
1 – Czech Republic
1 – Ireland
1 – Belize
1 – Germany
1 – Ukraine
1 – United Kingdom
Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, Ben Lamb, Main Event, November Nine, Phil Collins, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
We’re just a few short days away from the start of the 2011 World Series of Poker and things are beginning to buzz. Plans are being solidified, airfare booked, and rolls wired to the Rio cage. While the world winds itself up for the coming series, we thought it would be nice to head back to last year for a few highlights.
Last week I put together a list of some of the best pictures of the summer and today I tried to come up with my 5 favorite stories from last year. It was not an easy task as I didn’t add the much anticipated first WSOP for Annette Obrestad, the incredible class shown by Brandon Adams getting berated on the way to a second place finish, or the incredible run of 2010 WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela.
While they may come off as a strictly Full Tilt Poker list, as a long time poker observer, these were the stories I consider the most memorable.
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Gavin Smith, Michael Mizrachi, November Nine, Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
One of the more interesting aspects of the November Nine Reunion at Foxwoods Resort Casino a few weeks ago (writeup here) was getting a chance to speak with the players now that they had some time to process the entire scene. It was also the first real time we were able to speak with them at the same time about the final table together. After busting in November, they were quickly whisked off to a mad house of flashing cameras and floating microphones.
This was no formal press conference where the players were up on a dias while getting peppered with questions. It was a casual affair with everyone milling around, eating some tasty cheeses courtesy of the fine folks at Cabot Creamery, and discussing the final table. While asking about strategy and action, I was able to throw in some zingers to keep them on their toes courtesy of our Facebook friends.
*Congrats to jawoca780, nwo321, Darkone1, DertyJerz1014, aplusmhs, watchdog26, Henreiman. Thanks for the questions, the FTP points are in your accounts.
How has their lives changed? For the better?
“Nothing much has changed about me. I still go to work every single day then grind online, go out w my friends. I mean beside I can’t walk into a card room without getting recognized, a big target on me.” – Soi Nguyen
“I was a good player before the final table, nothing has really changed. I was in Vegas to play $1,500 event. This is my biggest score, and maybe the best score I’ll ever have in my life. But when I came back home, I continued my life. I love my life.” – Filippo Candio, rockstar.
What was the first thing you did with the winnings?
“Lexus ISF, it has like 420 horsepower or something like that. But I’m never home to drive it.” – Matthew Jarvis
“I bought a Bentley.” – Soi Nguyen, the guys like their rides.
“I got an Xbox 360, and Halo Reach. That was probably my only real splurge so far.” – Joseph Cheong
“I literally bought nothing.” – John Dolan
What was the 1st thing they did after the tournament?
“I just kind of hung out with my girlfriend for a bit. I hadn’t drank anything in a year, but we went out that night and partied it up. Yeah, started drinking again. Me and Joseph swapped some percentage too, so I still had a bit of a sweat.” – Matthew Jarvis
“I actually had a party at PURE for the November Nine, nothing too crazy because I stuck out Vegas for a few weeks after that just doing nothing.” – Michael Mizrachi
“I just went back to my room and laid on my bed for 10, 15 minutes by myself. All of my friends we down in the suite partying, giving me some time alone. After about 15 minutes I went down and we partied.” – Soi Nguyen
“It was pretty late when I busted. I went to sleep right away. My apartment was just ten friends all over the floor just sleeping.” – Joseph Cheong
Can I borrow $10,000 so I can play next year?
They all said “no”. Better luck next time.
Filippo Candio and John Racener relax before the November Nine Reunion tournament
Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi hands with Eric Ramsey from PokerNews
Filippo Candio rocking his custom Full Tilt November 9 jersey
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Filippo Candio, John Dolan, Matt Jarvis, Michael Mizrachi, November Nine, Soi Nguyen, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Some of the fringe benefits of this gig are getting to witness history in person, attend cool gatherings, and watch some of the best players in the game ply their trade. Last week I received a unique invitation to attend a once in a life time reunion of a WSOP Main Event final table. On just 24 hours notice I found myself in the middle of the Connecticut wilderness at Foxwoods Resort Casino.
It was Bernard Lee, Foxwoods resident poker pro, who came up with the brilliant idea to reunite members of the 2010 November Nine in one spot. He scheduled the special gathering around their Mega Stack series which included a 3-table freeroll for their regulars to play with those nine as well as a meet-and-greet with the players. As the youngest final table in history, this 2010 group was perhaps the best suited for this type of activity. They all seem to generally like to hang out with each other and enjoy their company. This was never more evident then the Monday night activities which included an impromptu highstakes bowling match.
Apologies for the low-grade, cell phone capture of the bowling action. Jason Senti was the hands down best bowler, Michael Mizrachi and Matt Jarvis were a very close 2nd, Joseph Cheong was spotted several dozen pins and managed to win, Jonathan Duhamel will always be invited to highstakes bowling.
Those festivities were just the preliminary fun before getting to the reason everyone was in town. The players, media members, fans and random people walking by gathered in front of the poker room for the first official reunion of the final nine members of the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event. They spent their time before the tournament joking around with each other, answering any questions thrown at them, and acting like a group of players who didn’t have a care in the world.
The tournament itself was set up as a 3-table, 10-handed Sit N Go which would feature the November Nine, Foxwoods pro Bernard Lee, ESPN WSOP commentator Lon McEachern, editor Kasey Thompson, and the remaining seats occupied by lucky Foxwoods regulars who qualified to have their names entered into a raffle. While this freeroll was sporting a $25,000 prizepool, the November Niners had plenty of side action going on their in the form of last longer bets that boosted their stake in the game to around $50,000.
After Lon McEachern took over the mic to introduce the November Nine, play was underway. This was a much more relaxed experience then the last time these nine were together with plenty of chatter. Autographs were signed between hands and pictures taken with their fans on the rail. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi shared fan favorite honors with WSOP Champion Jonathan Duhamel and was also the first one to claim a knockout, sending Joseph Cheong to the rail in an early hand.
After a few hours of play the final table was formed and included three of the November Niners in Jonathan Duhamel, Michael Mizrachi, and Matt Jarvis along with Lee. The Grinder and Jarvis spent most of the day on the featured (and live streamed) table but Mizrachi would be an early casualty. Duhamel was enjoying himself throughout the day but could finish no better in this tournament then 5th place and soon we had Matt Jarvis going heads up for the win, and quite a bit of side action, with Foxwoods regular Ben Hopkins. The heads up battle went back and forth as the two traded punches but it was Hopkins who would bring home the title for the Foxwoods poker room sending Jarvis out in 2nd place but a pocket full of his November Niners cash.
Foxwoods Resorts put on a fantastic event which had the perfect combination of poker and good times, a great atmosphere for a special group of players to come back together. I’m not sure if this could ever be pulled off again successfully but these were the right guys at the right time.
Come back later this week for another post going over our time before the tournament when they answered any and all questions. Click the video below for Lon McEachern’s introductions.
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Filippo Candio, Jason Senti, John Dolan, John Racener, Jonathan Duhamel, Joseph Cheong, Matt Jarvis, Michael Mizrachi, November Nine, Soi Nguyen, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
It was just a week ago when the poker world turned it’s eyes back towards the Rio in Las Vegas as the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champion was set to be crowned. Once again the hallway between the casino and the theater were packed with players, family, and friends waiting to get their seats to watch history.
The WSOP continues to build the hype each year and add little quirks to the process but in the end it comes down to the players to determine how each event is remembered. Great players, excitable fans, and crazy hands will be burned in our memory long after the thoughts of confetti explosions and ring girls. In the end it’s always about the players.
We were lucky last weekend to have a few great photographers running around the Penn & Teller theater getting some fantastic shots of the action. Their access was limited, understandably, due to restraints from ESPN for taping but they did a great job including the picture above showing the WSOP bracelet for the November Nine victor.
Below are a few of my favorite pictures from the 2010 November Nine.
(Click to enlarge)
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Filippo Candio, John Dolan, John Racener, Joseph Cheong, Matt Jarvis, Michael Mizrachi, November Nine, Soi Nguyen, WSOP
Posted by Dave McCarthy | Filed under Bloggers Corner
It took 219 hands and about 14 hours for the November Nine to play down to two. In between, the clocks moved back an hour, Frank Kassela won Player of the Year, and the biggest pot in WSOP history was played.
When play resumes Monday at 8pm, Jonathan Duham will take a 6-1 chip lead heads up against John Racener. But it’s not all over for the Port Richey Florida pro. With 30 million chips and 600k/1.2m blinds, he’s still got a little wiggle room.
Early Saturday afternoon, Soi Nguyen was eliminated first, getting all in preflop w/ AK vs. QQ, only to see a queen in the door.
Next was Matt Jarvis, whose 99 couldn’t stay ahead of Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi’s AQ, when the board came down Q8Q9A – a bit of a roller coaster echoing Phil Ivey’s elimination at the hands of Chris Moneymaker back in 2003.
Jason Senti and John Dolan were eliminated in 7th and 6th place, respectively, both losing coin flips.
The Grinder’s Main Event (and Player of the Year) run ended when a tricky Duhamel completed the big blind with pocket aces, and the two got it all in on a Q-high flop.
Filippo Candio was only a few hands behind The Grinder, his KQ failing to catch up to Joseph Cheong’s A3.
Three handed, Racener managed (as he did all day) to stay afloat in the 25 BB range while Cheong and Duhamel when at it. Cheong was the first player to reach 100m in chips, playing what Phil Hellmuth called “beautiful poker” from the ESPN 3 booth.
Then Hand 213 came along…
Cheong opened on the button for 2.9m, Duhamel rereaised to 6.75 million, Cheong 4-bet to 14.25m, Duhamel 5-bet to 22.75m, and Cheong shoved, getting a quick call from Duhamel. Cheong grimaced at the sight of Duhamel’s QQ, flipping over A7, and telling Duhamel before the flop was dealt that 22.75m was the perfect amount to get him to shove. Five straight bricks left Cheong crippled, and sent roughly 180m chips – the largest pot in WSOP history – Duhamel’s way.
Despite a double up first, Cheong only lasted 6 more hands, going out with Q10 to Duhamel’s A2.
Which brings us to Monday night, 8pm Pacific time. With about 14 minutes remaining at level 40 – 600,000/1,200,000 blinds, 200,000 ante – Duhamel will take 188,950,000 chips heads up against Racener’s 30,750,000. They’re guaranteed $5,545,955, with the winner taking an additional $3,398,355.
We’ll have live updates and video from heads up play at the Rio at our WSOP 2010 Final Table Coverage site , and ESPN airs their 2 hour Final Table broadcast November 9, at 10pm.
Tags: November Nine
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
00:30PT – As we head into Level 40, Joseph Cheong continues to lead the 5 person field but chips are still finding their way around the table and this is still anybody’s game. Mizrachi has managed to live by his nickname by pulling himself back up a little with timely moves and few dangerous situations. Filippo Candio was either brutally card dead the previous level or he was sleeping off a food coma from the dinner break but he finally woke up near the end to open/shove a few times to pick up some chips.
When the players return from a 20 minutes break they will be playing with 600,000/1,200,000 blinds and a 200,000 ante. Average chip stack is 43,860,000 (36.55 big blinds M of 21.93)
1 – Joseph Cheong – 66,750,000
2 – Jonathan Duhamel – 56,550,000
3 – Michael Mizrachi – 39,500,000
4 – Filippo Candio – 29,950,000
5 – John Racener – 26,550,000
01:15PT – Just like that and the dream of a Michael Mizrachi double bracelet year is no longer alive. After batting to build his stack he ran into Duhamel. The Grinder seemed to be getting frustrated with his situation and put all his chips in the middle holding Q8 on a Queen high flop, unfortunately for the biggest name at the table Duhamel was holding pocket Aces.
No help came on the turn or river and Mizrachi is our 5th place finisher. A great year by any measurement.
Joseph Cheong continues to push the action with his big stack and Duhamel has now blown right past him. Racener and Candio need to grab more chips to improve their situation.
1 – Jonathan Duhamel – 91,950,000
2 – Joseph Cheong – 79,650,000
3 – John Racener – 26,150,000
4 – Filippo Candio – 21,500,000
01:45PT – The time tag is not a typo, here in the U.S. we have just passed the Daylight time switch so we are reliving the 1am hour. Unfortunately Filippo Candio will not be able to go back in time to when he actually at chips as he was our 4th place finisher. He was in the danger zone and pushed with KJ into big stack Cheong’s A3. “subiime” Cheong flopped an Ace and had Candio drawing dead on the turn to put us in position to reach the heads up portion of the event.
Cheong and Duhamel spent a few orbits trading the chip lead with Cheong becoming the first player to pop over the 100,000,000 level. Then Cheong seems to have lost his mind with the time change in what became the biggest pot in WSOP history. With both players holding a combined ~180,000,000 in chips there was really no reason to butt heads with John Racener standing by with just ~20,000 in chips but that’s exactly what happened. After a series of raises between the two, Cheong 6-bet all with nothing more A7o and Duhamel snap called with Queens. Absolutely clean board and the 177,000,000 pot was shipped to the Canadian.
That left Cheong with just 4,500,000 and he was eliminated shortly thereafter.
So that sets your heads up match for Monday at Jonathan Duhamel and the happiest shortstack in the world, John Racener who was basically gifted an extra $1,400,000 (difference between 2nd and 3rd pay jump). The chip counts are so lopsided it will take a miracle for him to move up to the top spot.
Back tomorrow with a recap.
1 – Jonathan Duhamel – 200,100,000
2 – John Racener – 29,200,000
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, November Nine, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Team Mizrachi enthusiastically sweating The Grinder in action
22:15PT – The stack sizes are starting to get shallow for a few players and we’ve now lost another player. John Dolan came into the day sitting with the second biggest chip count but could only manage a 6th place finish. In a battle of the blinds, Dolan shipped his chips in from the small blind with Q5o and was called by Jonathan Duhamel in the big blind with pocket 4′s. We had a great chance for another interesting river when Dolan picked up some interesting outs on the turn but blanked the river and will hit the cage for $1,772,959.
Candio and Racener are still in the red zone and will need to get to work while Mizrachi, Cheong, and Duhamel are the top part of the leaderboard.
Level 39 has blinds at 500,000/1,000,000 with 150,000 antes.
Chip counts:
1 – Michael Mizrachi – 61,950,000
2 – Joseph Cheong – 61,575,000
3 – Jonathen Duhamel – 52,925,000
4 – Filippo Candio – 27,025,000
5 – John Racener – 16,125,000
23:15PT – That was definitely the most entertaining hour of play so far with several all-in and calls, John Racener with two of those. I mentioned he needed to do some work and he got there twice. The first time he put all his chips in the middle with a slow, reluctant call from Mizrachi in a dominating position. Magically his AK stood up against the A8 for a small double up. Not long after than hand he put a bigger addition to his stack against previous chip leader Jonathan Duhamel and this one did not go down clean as his AQ was crushed pre-flop by AK.
But just as Phil Ivey learned last year, that can be an ugly hand to witness. Sure enough Racener hit a Queen right off the bat and was mobbed by his supporters.
That hand left Duhamel as the shortstack among the 5 remaining players and he was forced to make a decision when Mizrachi pushed all-in after a raise. After a long tank Duhamel eventually called with A9 to race against Grinders pocket 3′s. A nine popped on the turn and the board ran out clean on the turn and river to push Duhamel up to second in chips and moving Mizrachi to the Dank Position.
Current chip counts:
1 – Joseph Cheong – 67,925,000
2 – Jonathan Duhamel – 53,900,000
3 – John Racener – 39,600,000
4 – Filippo Candio – 29,725,000
5 – Michael Mizrachi – 28,450,000
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, November Nine, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
In an effort to make it easier to follow along, we are breaking up our coverage into Levels.
18:45PT – The players must sense when I comment on the lack of action, no sooner was the last update posted and we had a double up. John Racener doubled through Filippo Candio in a battle of the blinds and flopped a set of Queens. Things didn’t get frisky until the turn Ace and then Candio put him all-in on the river. Racener moved up the leaderboard but still has plenty of work ahead.
The players are heading off on their 90 minute dinner break and we will return with them.
20:15PT – The dinner break flew right by and the cards are back in the air. This is traditionally the time when we see players begin to get a little spunkier and the action picks up. Bellies full of food and possibly an adult beverage or two plus probably some interesting advice from their friends may get things loosened up. We are still 5 knockouts away from calling it a day and we need to pick up the pace if I’m to hit my 2:30am prediction.
Mizrachi comes back hanging onto the chip lead with Duhamel on his tail while Jason Senti, Filippo Candio, and John Dolan all need to get things in gear to get themselves back into the game.
There is one hour left in Level 38 and blinds are 400,000/800,000 with 100,000 ante.
1 – Michael Mizrachi – 50,225,000
2 – Jonathan Duhamel – 47,200,000
3 – Joseph Cheong – 32,150,000
4 – John Racener – 25,175,000
5 – Jason Senti – 22,675,000
6 – Filippo Candio – 22,625,000
7 – John Dolan – 20,850,000
21:15PT – An hour has gone by and we’ve yet to lose another player but we have seen a few all-in moves but none have been called. That was until just before the end of the level when we had more fireworks, another memorable hand made for TV.
Jason Senti raised pre-flop only to be re-raised all-in by Joseph Cheong, which he quickly called getting everyone on their feet. Another race with Senti’s offsuit AK against Cheong’s pocket tens. While ESPN lined up the cameras, Senti ramped up his supporters and they didn’t have to stop when he seriously out-flopped on the K K Q board. But if was that simple I wouldn’t call it a memorable hand. The hand became very interesting when a Jack on the turn. After an excrutiating pause for dramatic effect, the dealer peeled off the 9 of diamonds to fill out an unlikely King high straight for Cheong and knocking out Jason Senti in 7th place.
The remains players are now on a 20 minutes break and Senti takes home $1,356,720 for his efforts.
Chip counts:
1 – Michael Mizrachi – 65,375,000
2 – Joseph Cheong – 46,325,000
3 – Jonathan Duhamel – 41,425,000
4 – Filippo Candio – 29,575,000
5 – John Racener – 21,175,000
6 – John Dolan – 15,700,000
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, November Nine, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
After nearly 4 months of waiting it’s time to crown the 2010 World Series of Poker Champion. The November Nine are now getting ready for the biggest single table of their poker careers and everything is on the line today. No more waiting, preparing, sweating how everything will play out. Two of these nine players will end the day with a shot at the biggest title in poker but they’ll need to grind it out against some tough competition.
We are just 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the final table and the theater is beginning to fill up with family and friends of the players. The November Nine participants have taken their seat to unbag their chips and things are already a little rowdy in the theater. Jonathan Duhamel seems to have the loudest of gang at the moment with the throng clad in Montreal Canadien jerseys and chanting his name but you can’t overlook the gang here for Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi as they are sporting his custom t-shirts. The line for general admission seating is once again winding it’s way from the Penn & Teller Theater all the way down to the monster Pavilion room so we will have a full house.
Check back here for your hourly updates as we play down to the final two.
By chip count:
1 – Jonathan Duhamel – 65,975,000
2 – John Dolan – 46,250,000
3 – Joseph Cheong – 23,525,000
4 – John Racener – 19,050,000
5 – Matt Jarvis – 16,700,000
6 – Filippo Candio – 16,400,000
7 – Michael Mizrachi – 14,450,000
8 – Soi Nguyen – 9,650,000
9 – Jason Senti – 7,625,000
By seat assignment:
Seat 1 – Jason Senti – 7,625,000
Seat 2 – Joseph Cheong – 23,525,000
Seat 3 – John Dolan – 46,250,000
Seat 4 – Jonathan Duhamel – 65,975,000
Seat 5 – Michael Mizrachi – 14,450,000
Seat 6 – Matt Jarvis – 16,700,000
Seat 7 – John Racener – 19,050,000
Seat 8 – Filippo Candio – 16,400,000
Seat 9 – Soi Nguyen – 9,650,000
12:30PT – After unbagging their chips, all nine players walked out of the theater for their official introduction to the crowd. A new twist this year was having the players pick their entrance music and they were escorted by a “ring girl” with their seat assignment. It was no big surprise that “The Grinder” received the biggest ovation as he high-fived and hugged his way to the table. For those who were wondering about the patch situation we have Mizrachi, Dolan, and Cheong sporting the red and white Full Tilt Poker patches. Racener, Jarvis, and Filippo are wearing the colors of our friends at CardRunners and Soi Nguyen with a Poker After Dark patch.
Tournament Director Jack Effel has handed out his instructions to the crowd and players. Play is now underway with voice of the UFC and Full Tilt’s Bruce Buffer doing the official “shuffle up and deal” command. Next up, let’s start busting players.
13:30PT – The first hour of play is complete and most of the chip movement has been through pre-flop action. Jason Senti came in as the short stack but made several open/shoves to start things off to pick up the blinds/antes and then took a big pot of Matt Jarvis to move up into 7th position. The biggest pot of the hour occurred between Jarvis and Joseph “subiime” Cheong, over 20 million in the middle before Jarvis folded to Cheong’s all-in shove on the river. Racener also pulled a decent sized pot from John Dolan when his Kings held up. Duhamel seems to be relaxing with his big stack making few moves but Dolan and Cheong are quickly gaining ground.
With Soi Nguyen and Senti coming in with their stacks in dangerous shape we certainly expected to lose a player but they are fighting their way through it all. The players will be heading off on a 20 minute break shortly to catch their breath. The updated chip counts from Jack Effel.
1 – Jonathan Duhamel – 65,475,000
2 – John Dolan – 49,075,000
3 – Joseph Cheong – 30,575,000
4 – John Racener – 17,750,000
5 – Michael Mizrachi – 14,350,000
6 – Filippo Candio – 13,800,000
7 – Jason Senti – 10,975,000
8 – Matthew Jarvis – 8,875,000
9 – Soi Nguyen – 8,750,000
14:30PT – I wrote too soon with my last update as Soi Nguyen was our first elimination at the final table just before the break. Nguyen open/shoved only to have Jason Senti reshove over the top to isolate the only amateur at the final table. When the cards were tabled we had what everyone likes to call a classic race, Nguyen’s AdKc versus QQ, with Senti jumping to a big lead with the Queen on the flop. Nguyen was left waiting for a gutter ball Jack which never materialized sending him to the rail in 9th place for $811,823.
After going through the exit interview process, Nguyen’s excitable entourage stormed from the Penn & Teller Theater in a mass of red t-shirts and happy faces.
Updated chip counts:
1 – Jonathan Duhamel – 65,525,000
2 – John Dolan – 39,525,000
3 – Joseph Cheong – 29,675,000
4 – John Racener – 24,175,000
5 – Michael Mizrachi – 18,050,000
6 – Jason Senti – 17,500,000
7 – Filippo Candio – 15,050,000
8 – Matt Jarvis – 10,125,000
15:45PT – There always seems to be one signature hand which is remembered during the final table and I believe we just saw it. Last year we had Darvin Moon suckout on Phil Ivey, today it was The Grinder sending the crowed into a frenzy.
After a series of raises, Mizrachi and Matt Jarvis put the chips in the middle with Jarvis at risk and another race with AQ for Grinder against 99. It was Insanity all the way down to the river. Mizrachi jumped out to a big lead in the hand with the two Queen flop but Jarvis sent the room reeling with a turned two-out 9. The long drawn out process of live poker was a slight pause before The Grinder was gifted the Ace of Spades on the river to make a bigger boat. The entire theater went into hysterics with the exception of the Jarvis cheering section who were stunned along with their guy.
It will tough to find a more memorable hand but there is always hope. 7 players remain and Jarvis collects $1,045,743 for his 8th place finish.
Updated chip count:
1 – Jonathan Duhamel – 51,725,000
2 – Joseph Cheong – 42,725,000
3 – Michael Mizrachi – 42,150,000
4 – Filippo Candio – 27,425,000
5 – John Dolan – 25,025,000
6 – John Racener – 19,750,000
7 – Jason Senti – 11,300,000
17:00PT – Things settled down over the last as the field and spectators caught their breath. The biggest move over that time belonged to Joseph “subiime” Cheong who took nice chunk out of Duhamel’s stack and move into the chip lead. Just before the current break we saw another all-in and call with the shortstacked Jason Senti against Cheong.
With just 10,000,000 in chips he shoved with K7o and was called by Cheong with A9o. The flop kept everything clean but two diamonds, and putting a third diamond on the board with the Ad. Cheong was in the lead but was unable to dodge the runner runner when the diamond ten hit the river. Senti doubles to around 20,000,000.
Player are now on another 20 minute break and the stands have emptied out in favor of standing in line at the bar or bathroom. Level up!
Chip counts:
1 – Jonathan Duhamel – 42,800,000
2 – Joseph Cheong – 39,350,000
3 – Michael Mizrachi – 38,575,000
4 – Filippo Candio – 35,325,000
5 – John Dolan – 29,750,000
6 – Jason Senti – 20,575,000
7 – John Racener – 13,725,000
18:00PT – With a 20 minute break and a pause for ESPN to change tapes there hasn’t been much action over the last hour. Mizrachi had perhaps the biggest hand and it never saw a flop when his 10,000,000 4-bet was good enough to drive Dolan and Duhamel away. That was enough to propel The Grinder into the chip lead and the field continues to trudge along.
The crowd seems to be getting more rowdy as the day goes along and the drinks kick in. Those supporting Mizrachi and Duhamel have been going back and forth with the chanting throughout the level adding to an already great environment.
Chip counts:
1 – Michael Mizrachi – 52,600,000
2 – Jonathan Duhamel – 45,980,000
3 – Joseph Cheong – 34,500,000
4 – Filippo Candio – 31,325,000
5 – John Dolan – 23,150,000
6 – Jason Senti – 17,625,000
7 – John Racener – 11,575,000
18:45PT – The players must sense when I comment on the lack of action, no sooner was the last update posted and we had a double up. John Racener doubled through Filippo Candio in a battle of the blinds and flopped a set of Queens. Things didn’t get frisky until the turn Ace and then Candio put him all-in on the river. Racener is still the shortstack and has plenty of work ahead.
The players are heading off on their 90 minute dinner break and we will return with them.
Tags: 2010 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, November Nine, WSOP
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