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
Only 22 players remain with a dream at winning a World Series of Poker Main Event title. 22 players who have been grinding their way through 7 grueling days. 13 players will leave the tournament today disappointed. 9 players will have their tournament dream paused as they become a member of the 2011 November Nine.
Anton Makievskyi is pacing the field with over 20,000,000 in chips after taking a massive pot off Chris Moore but two young phenoms are right on his tail with a world class rail cheering him on, Ben “benba” Lamb and Phil “USCphildo” Collins sit in 5th and 6th respectively. Bryan Devonshire is another crowd favorite who will have a little work to do to make his first Main Event final table.
Play will resume at noon today and play down, no matter how late, until we have our 2011 November Nine. Last year this well past sunrise but we began the day with 27. This year it’s just 22 players return so perhaps we’ll be our of here by 6am.
Returning players:
1 – Anton Makievskyi – 21,045,000
2 – Eoghan O’Dea – 19,500,000
3 – Khoa Nguyen – 16,435,000
4 – Andrey Pateychuk – 16,245,000
5 – Ben “benba” Lamb – 14,690,000
6 – Phil “USCphildo” Collins – 13,805,000
7 – John Hewitt – 13,265,000
8 – Ryan Lenaghan – 10,415,000
9 – Matt Giannetti – 8,920,000
10 – Konstantinos Mamaliadis – 8,195,000
11 – Pius Heinz – 7,510,000
12 – Aleksandr Mozhnyakov – 7,075,000
13 – Scott Schwalich – 6,920,000
14 – Martin Staszko – 6,380,000
15 – Bryan Devonshire – 6,190,000
16 – Sam Barnhart – 4,935,000
17 – Sam Holden – 4,740,000
18 – Gionni Demers – 4,655,000
19 – Kenny Shih – 4,530,000
20 – Lars Bonding – 4,140,000
21 – Badih Bounahra – 3,835,000
22 – Chris Moore – 3,040,000
Level 32:
It’s been a bit of a shocker during the first level of the day. Contrary to years past, players are busting out faster than normal. Four were eliminated during the first hour of play to get to the final 2 tables. Since those eliminations things haven’t really slowed down except for the pause to redraw at 18.
Those eliminated so far were in the bottom half of the starting chipstacks and were picked off by the big stacks. Anton Makievskyi began the day with the chiplead and has not slowed down becoming the first player to top the 30,000,000 chip mark. Another big mover in the first level was Konstantinos Mamaliadis who doubled up his starting 8,000,000 to over 16,000,000.
Besides those players eliminated, Khoa Nguyen and Ben “benba” Lamb are the players trending down (but not out yet). Players will hit their first 15 minute break and come back to work their way towards the November Nine.
16th – Ryan Lenaghan – $378,796
17th – Sam Barnhart – $378,796
18th – Kenny Shih – $378,796
19th – Aleksandr Mozhnyakov – $302,005
20th – Gionni Demers – $302,005
21st – Chris Moore – $302,005
22nd – Lars Bonding – $302,005
Level 33:
The field is now on one of the quirky breaks that you only see deep in the WSOP Main Event. Midway throught Level 33 and Jack Effel sent them off on an early, extended break. This occurred after Andrey Pateychuk became our 5th place finisher and to prepare for a semi-live broadcast on ESPN2 in the State.
There were no big movements in the short amount of time they played other than Konstantinos Mamaliadis constant yoyo stack. Anton Makievskyi continues to lead the field and Khoa Nguyen is the short stack. Crowd favorites Ben Lamb and Phil Collins continue to grind along waiting for their spots to make moves.
Blinds are 120,000/240,000 with 30,000 ante
Chip counts:
1 – Anton Makievskyi – 31,970,000
2 – Eoghan O’Dea – 26,475,000
3 – Pius Heinz – 24,935,000
4 – John Hewitt – 19,760,000
5 – Phil “USCphildo” Collins – 18,360,000
6 – Ben “benba” Lamb – 14,910,000
7 – Martin Staszko – 13,450,000
8 – Sam Holden – 10,505,000
9 – Matt Gianetti – 10,115,000
10 – Badih Bounahra – 9,840,000
11 – Scott Schwalich – 7,875,000
12 – Bryan Devonshire – 7,395,000
13 – Konstantinos Mamaliadis – 7,050,000
14 – Khoa Nguyen – 3,280,000
Eliminated:
15th – Andrey Pateychuk – $478,174
Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Day 4 was bubble time, Day 5 was “moving day”, and today will when the remaining players try to position themselves for a November Nine appearance. Some massive stacks and top players will be spread throughout the 16 remaining tables. 142 players will start back up at noon and play just four levels. The tables are spread wide giving the room a real sense that we are near the end.
Ben Lamb and David Back spent most of Day 5 trading the lead, Lamb was the first over the 5,000,000 chip mark but Back finished the day with the chip lead. Back famously laid two nasty beats on Vanessa Rousso to stay alive and he’s taking advantage of his bonus time. Joseph Cheong continues to grind along as the only November Niner still in the field and we still have Tony Hachem, brother of 2005 Main Event champion.
The online players are represented by Phil “USCphildo” Collins, Frank “Frank1The1Tank” Calo, Christian “charder30″ Harder, and David “Doc Sands” Sands. The old school players include Eli Elezra, Allen Cunningham, and David Bach.
It’s impossible to tell how fast the action will move along but I suspect will see some early fireworks.
1 – David Bach – 4,706,000
2 – Pius Heinz – 4,699,000
3 – Kyle Johnson – 4,654,000
4 – Phil “USCphildo” Collins – 4,109,000
5 – Ben “benba” Lamb – 4,032,000
6 – Aleksandr Mozhnyakov – 3,462,000
7 – Sebastian Ruthenberg – 3,354,000
8 – Lars Bonding – 3,327,000
9 – Bryan Devonshire – 3,292,000
10 – Thomas Grey – 3,173,000
Other notables: Per Linde (2,986,000), JP Kelly (2,664,000), Tony Hachem (2,067,000), Joseph Cheong (1,988,000), Frank “Frank1The1Tank” Calo (1,686,000), Christian “charder30″ Harder (1,624,000), David “Doc Sands” Sands (1,620,000), Jean-Robert Bellande (1,230,000), Peter Feldman (827,000), Amanda “BodogMander” Musumeci (738,000), Allen Cunningham (641,000)
Level 24:
Things started off today hot and heavy, removing three tables worth of players from the field as just 114 made the first break of the day. The big mover early was Phil “USCphildo” Collins who became the first over 6million and then 7million. He is running over the main feature table and even created a rare situation when the WSOP staff colored up some of his chips off schedule.
Some of the early victims were Chris “boNeZee” Bonita, Carl Olson, and Peter Feldman. 2010 November Niner will not be making back-to-back final tables as he was eliminated near the beginning of Level 24. Hilton Laborda, Steve Rawle, and Guillaume Darcourt are just a few of the players trending northward. Ben “benba” Lamb and Bryan Devonshire continue to cruise along with monster stacks.
Random chip counts
Phil “USCphildo” Collins – 8,686,000
Ben “benba” Lamb – 5,335,000
Bryan Devonshire – 4,777,000
David Bach – 4,285,000
Per Linde – 2,890,000
JP Kelly – 2,710,000
Tony Hachem – 1,800,000
Frank “Frank1The1Tank” Calo – 1,800,000
David “Doc Sands” Sands – 1,650,000
Sorel Mizzi – 1,420,000
Level 25:
We generally see a big flurry of activity after the dinner break and today is no different. At this rate we are likely to see 50-some player at the end of the day if they play the schedule four levels. We now have just two women standing in the remaining 79 players in Erika Moutinho and Amanda “BodogMander” Musumeci.
Some of the more high profile players to hit the rail in the last few hours include Frank “Frank1The1Tank” Calo, Christian “charder30″ Harder, Ben Logan, and Eli Elezra. They are among a big group of busted players standing in line to get paid at the cage.
Phil “USCphildo” Collins continues to be a monster at the table, crawling over 8,000,000 in chips but he has some company now. Ben “benba” Lamb currently leads in the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year race and sitting just behind Collins in the chip counts with 8,110,000. Bryan Devonshit has a top 5 chip stack as well followed down the list by JP Kelly, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Per Linde, James “Not Jimmy” Page, David “Doc Sands” Sands, Erick Lindgren, and Allen Cunningham.
I’m not sure the WSOP will play out the entire four levels scheduled today or we will see a shortened day tomorrow.
Random chip counts:
Phil “USCphildo” Collins – 8,400,000
Ben “benba” Lamb – 8,110,000
Bryan Devonshire – 6,050,000
JP Kelly – 4,340,000
David Bach – 4,020,000
David “Doc Sands” Sands – 2,615,000
Erick Lindgren – 2,525,000
Erika Moutinho – 1,100,000
Amanda “BodogMander” Musumeci – 865,000
Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Allen Cunningham, Bloggers on the Rail, Eli Elezra, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Today we will see 159 dream shattered. 852 players return for Day 4 of the World Series of Poker and only 693 will burst through the money bubble. We expect to happen around mid-day when play will grind to a halt as 78 tables will play hand-for-hand. Until then we will see some spectacular burn outs as players dust off their stacks with complete disregard for the situation.
Two players come into the day with stacks over 1,000,000 in chips. Patrick Poirier and Darryl Jace are the big boys but far from a guarantee to win the tournament or even cash. Chris “boNeZee” Bonita, David Meagher, Peter Jetten, and Bryan Devonshire are a few of the pro near the top of the leaderboard but the field still features huge names like Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Allen Cunningham, and Ben Lamb. Joseph Cheong is the only remaining 2010 November Niner in the field.
Hurry up and wait are the key words for the day. Fast to begin and then we’ll hit the breaks. Level by level updates throughout play.
Top ten chipstacks:
1 – Patrick Poirier – 1,328,000
2 – Darryl Jace – 1,282,500
3 – Chris Kwon – 944,500
4 – David Barter – 917,500
5 – Scott Smith – 896,500
6 – Sebastian Ruthenberg – 889,000
7 – Chris “boNeZee” Bonita – 859,000
8 – Daniel Retallick – 859,000
9 – Brian Park – 858,500
10 – Alexsandr Mozhnyakov – 820,000
Other notables: Peter Jetten (657,000), Frank “Frank1The1Tank” Calo (617,500), Matt “All In At 420″ Stout (602,000), Bryan Devonshire (596,500), Amanda “BodogMander” Musumeci (528,500), JP Kelly (492,000), Phil “USCPhildo” Collins (436,500), Joe Tehan (420,000), Joseph Cheong (410,500)
Level 16:
Players are starting to get a little jumpy. More than 100 players were eliminated in the first 2 hour level of the day and things are tense in the hallways. Since they are less than 40 players from the money, some ill advised folks think this thing will hit the money soon. They don’t realize we are very close to hitting the breaks.
Some call it stalling, I call it boring.
Jeff Madsen was one of the first casualties even though he entered with a decent size stack. His KJ was no good against the K8 of his opponent when a third King hit the river, unfortunately there was also an 8 on the flop. David Chiu, Humberto Brenes, and 2009 World Series of Poker Player of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro were also early victims.
We have two new players sitting atop the board with million chip stacks, Marc-Andre Ladouceur and Sebastian Ruthenberg made their presense known at the start of play. David Meagher, Vanessa Rousso, and Joe Tehan have trended northward while Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Ted Forrest, and Rafe Furst are hanging on looking for a double or cash.
Random chip counts:
Daryl Jace – 1,537,000
David Meagher – 766,500
Matt “All In At 420″ Stout – 710,000
Vanessa Rousso – 660,000
Joe Tehan – 595,000
Sam Simon – 509,000
Dr. Pauly McGuire – 420,000
Freddy Deeb – 410,000
Joseph Cheong – 390,000
Todd Brunson – 365,000
Level 17:
As it turns out, I seem to have underestimated the gamble in the remaining players over the last level. With an hour remaining on the clock, WSOP Tournament Director announced for play to stop as the field was going hand-for-hand just 2 eliminations from the money. It takes a long time to play 78 seperate tables in this format and they were taking between 6 and 9 minutes to complete a hand.
Hand #2 lost the first player and then 4 hands later the players were in the money. Celebrations, high fives, fist pumps, and one table with a big round of shots. Everyone is now guaranteed $199,000 and change plus a chance at the big prize.
During the the first hour the field lost two former WSOP Champions. Phil Hellmuth’s exit was loudly cheered while Berry Johnston received “awwwww”s from the crowd and a nice round of applause. Johnston had cashed in 30 straight WSOP’s but this was the first summer he did not place in a single event.
Amanda Musumeci was the big mover of the level taking her stack into the top 5 and over 1,000,000 in chips. Ben “benba” Lamb finally has momentum on his side while Joseph Cheong and Shannon Shorr have taken a few hits along the way.
Player will make it through 1 hour of this level before heading off on a two hour dinner break.
Notable chipstacks:
Amanda Musumeci – 1,130,000
Mark Newhouse – 790,000
Phil “USCphildo” Collins – 775,000
Peter Jetten – 745,000
Erick Lindgren – 555,000
Per Linde – 520,000
David “Doc Sands” Sands – 430,000
Jon “Pearljammer” Turner – 330,000
Allen Cunningham – 330,000
Christian “charder30″ Harder – 270,000
Dinner Break
If you think the big price tag on the WSOP Main Event slows down the mayhem of post bubble play, you would be thinking wrong. Small stacks took it upon themselves to monkey shove their way to the rail plus a few monster hands among those with sizable stacks.
Ben Lamb has taken upon himself to personally more than a few of those poor souls and to temporarily storm to the front of the pack with 1,500,000 in chips. It seem Sam Barnhart is your dinner time leader and just a notch below the first 2,000,000 stack of the Main Event.
Notable exits after the bubble included Lee Childs, Dennis Phillips, Kristy Gazes, Jamie Kerstetter, and Eric “Avril Sharapova” Ladny. Other people making moves before and after the bubble were Matt Stout, Sorel Mizzi, Eli Elezra, and Blair Hinkle looking to repeat his 2009 Main Event Deep run.
Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Day 3 at the World Series of Poker is always one of my favorite. It’s the first day when the entire field is together, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel with the breaking of each table. Unlike the rest of the summer, when they break a table here it stays broke. Crews quickly pile the chairs on the hand carts and take apart the table. Never to be used again.
Everyone knows the front runners and the short stacks. The pros are trying to position themselves for bubble time tomorrow by building their stacks to punish the fearful. Scared money players are looking at their stacks while trying to figure if they can make it, crawling and scraping, to a WSOP min-cash.
ESPN is back in full force (coincidentally destroying wifi access for the media) with camera bullying their way between the tables looking for money shot. Players will “Hollywood” as soon as the crews find the table, not realizing sitting for 10 minutes and then folding will not get them on the broadcast.
Plenty of big names remain in the field at the start of play. 2011 WSOP bracelet winner Ben “benba” Lamb is pacing the field with over 550,000 in chips followed by Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul and Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo also in the Top 5. The top lady standing is Stephanie Albertini with a very healthy 400,100 in chips. Patrik Antonius, Jeff Madsen, and 2010 November Niner Joseph Cheong will be in contention tomorrow unless they run into some horrid luck.
In all we will see just shy of 1,900 player start today with them busting out at a fairly decent pace. They’ll break every table out of the Pavilion Room until we are just left with an Amazon Room containing the next poker world champion.
Check back for regular updates.
Top chipstack to start Day 3:
1 – Ben “benba” Lamb – 551,600
2 – Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul – 542,200
3 – Aleksandr Mozhnyakov – 478,600
4 – Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo – 462,300
5 – Tuan Vo – 434,500
6 – Guillaume Darcourt – 410,500
7 – Nicolas Fierro – 405,000
8 – Narenda Banwari – 404,800
9 – Stephanie Albertini – 400,100
10 – Dong Yang Yan – 383,400
Other notables: Patrik Antonius (361,000), Mike “SowerUNCC” Sowers (347,700), Sam Simon (317,900), Shaun “tedsfishfry” Deeb (294,700), Mark “dipthrong” Herm (273,000), Sam Stein (262,200), Justin “BoostedJ” Bonomo (252,400), Jeff Madsen (231,500), Joseph “subiime” Cheong (229,100), David Oppenheim (226,000), Paul “paulgees81″ Volpe (221,5000)
Level 12:
Shaun Deeb is an interesting character. For the longest time he was considered one of the best online tournament players around, then he “retired” for a year, before returning with full force. He once played the Ladies Event in drag complete with pink tank top and makeup. He’s unpredictable at the poker table which can cause players to call him very light when they have no idea what he is playing. Usually this helps him pull in big stacks but sometimes Mother Variance bites back.
Deeb was pulled to the ESPN feature table for taping and a 30-minute delayed live feed. As is normal, he was making moves and building a stack until another player 5-bet shoved on him with A6. Generally there might be a chance his Ace is good but in this instant he was snap called by Deeb with pocket Aces.
But sometimes bad things happen and unless you have your opponent drawing completely dead, there is always a chance. His opponent saw a light in the window with a flopped 6 and then it blew up the Mothership with the rivered 6-ball. That knocked Deeb all the way down to 20,000 and sure fire bad beat hand on the TV.
Level 13:
The most interesting hand of this level happened before my very eyes as I walked the room. I happened upon a table where player in seat 7 was already in the tank for several minutes. I didn’t detect excessive acting, he certainly looked like a man having to make a hard decision. The ESPN cameras appeared and the opponent who had put him all-in sat stone faced.
The 7-seat eventually folded saying “I’ll never fold this hand again but I think you have AA” as his pocket kings were flipped over. Players were shocked and stunned. The winner began sliding his hand into the muck when Freddy Deeb talked him into showing for the camera. He nodded towards the dealer who turned over his pocket Aces for all the world to see at some point during the broadcast.
Some notable stacks around the room:
Chris “boNeZee” Bonita – 465,000
Peter Jetten – 405,000
Sam Simon – 390,000
Joseph Cheong – 335,000
Mark “dipthrong” Herm – 300,000
Thomas Keller – 270,000
Jason Alexander – 245,000
Phil “USCPhildo” Collins – 240,000
Jean-Robert Bellande – 233,000
Miami John Cernuto – 230,000
Level 14:
Today brought one of the oddities of the Main Event when the two hour dinner break came in the middle of Level 13, extending into the evening. Staff locked down the Amazon Room and it was odd moment of quiet. Just 15 tables remained in the Pavilion Room during the break and only four remain at the end of Level 13. Although it’s a long shot, they might actually make the money this evening with some vibrant action.
Huck Seed was one of the big elimination over the last level when his Queens could not dodge a flush draw. Annette Obrestad was eliminated almost immediately after the dinner break but she was short stacked. Shuan Deeb’s mini-stack didn’t last long after his bad beat earlier in the day becoming another big name on the rail. 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Joe Cada has also been shown the door along with Carlos Mortensen, Tom McEvoy, and Lee Watkinson.
New Yorker Patrick Poirier became the first player in the Main Event to eclipse the million chip mark giving him only 333 big blinds. Chris “boNeZee” Bonita continues to contend as the field shrinks picking up a new of big pots along the way. Also sitting near the top of the table are Kevin Saul, Blair Hinkle, Ben Lamb, Shannon Shorr, and Joseph Cheong.
Just one more level before play concludes for the day. Doubtful we’ll knock out enough to hit the money bubble but we’ll get to see the joys of that moment early on Day 4.
Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Annette Obrestad, Annette_15, Bloggers on the Rail, Carlos Mortensen, Jeff Madsen, John Cernuto, Patrik Antonius, Shaun Deeb, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
It was a fairly easy prediction to say the Razz tournament would not crown a winner before the “hard stop” but I was shocked to find the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event also stuck in a heads up situation. It’s especially bizarre considering the amount of action which occurred at the start of the final table including Brazilian Andre Akkari knocking out two players in a massive three way all-in which drew some of the biggest cheers of the summer.
Full Tilt pros Robert Williamson III and Andreas Krause both had fantastic opportunities to pick up a bracelet when both made the Razz final table, Williamson sitting near the top of the chip counts most of the day. Perhaps the jovial Williamson is too happy for success in a game built on making the worst hand, he was sent to the rail in 4th place shortly after Krause.
We are left with two bonus poker days, both looking at heads up matches, neither has a guaranteed winner. The $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Event #45 returns with 21 players in the field, bonus poker tomorrow also.
Event #43: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em
1 – Nachman Berlin – 9,465,000
2 – Andre Akkari – 3,400,000
Event #44: $2,500 Seven Card Stud Razz
1 – Stephen Su – 1,655,000
2 – Rep Porter- 1,080,000
Day 2 of the favorite $10,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed Championship kicks off at 2:30 this afternoon with a nice mix of online and live pros. 162 of the starting 474 players return and the top chipstacks include 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Joe Cada, top online players Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul and Nick “Grippolio” Grippo, recent bracelet winner Ben “benba” Lamb, pros McLean Karr and Jake Cody.
We expect the action to be fast and furious despite the deepstacks, they will be opening up their range in the short handed format and pushing around the dead money.
Event #46: No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed Championship
1 – Alan Sternberg – 260,600
2 – Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul – 242,600
3 – Ben “benba” Lamb – 223,000
4 – Joe Cada – 208,800
5 – James Sowers – 203,900
6 – Jake Cody – 198,900
7 – Mclean Karr – 196,800
8 – Farzad Bonyadi – 190,800
9 – Jamie Armstrong – 190,000
10 – Nick “Grippolio” Grippo – 185,600
Other Notables: David Benefield (174,700), Isaac Baron (161,700), Dwyte Pilgrim (160,500), Fabrice Soulier (159,600), Steve “gboro780″ Gross (141,000), Phil Laak (140,500), John Racener (138,500), Dan Kelly (131,900), Praz Bansi (124,700), Tristan “CRE8IVE” Wade (115,300), James Akenhead (114,900), Justin “BoostedJ” Smith (105,800)
While our Ms. Jones bubbled the Razz event, we never miss a chance to post her picture
Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Andreas Krause, Bloggers on the Rail, Lacey Jones, Robert Williamson III, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
It took just 5 hands of bonus Day 4 action for 2010 November Niner Matt Jarvis to pick up his first WSOP bracelet. The lights on the Mothership were barely warmed up before Jarvis dispatched runner up Justin Filtz. Those two battled for hours the previous night only to have play suspended for 12 hours, but less than 5 minutes of heads up play.
Jarvis captured his bracelet in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed tournament after a grueling schedule and joins an elite group of November Niners with bracelets. When ask by WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla which was better, making the 2010 November Nine or winning his first bracelet, Jarvis had this to say:
“It’s so tough to answer. I think the November Nine put me on the map. But this secures me as a player. Especially in such a tough field, it shows I can do it again and that I’m a capable poker player. I do not know if I can say one is better than the other. I’m just really happy that one followed the other.”
~
Since bonus days are becoming the norm, no one is surprised to see the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship run into the 10-level daily limit. Usually one of the faster tournaments to completion, this one found four players sitting at the table when the clock was called in the wee hours of Monday morning. Pro player Ben “benba” Lamb has a decent chip lead on the rest of the field looking to pick up his first bracelet after a 2nd place close call earlier in the summer.
23 players return for the $1,500 Razz event (which can also expect a bonus day tomorrow) and a lot of the “premier” names were sent to the rail late in the day. Tommy Chen leads those remaining but John Monnette is stalking behind looking for his 2nd bracelet of the summer. They will return at 3am with every intention of crowning a winner.
Day 1 of the latest $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament had a slightly less bloody time when players busted at only a 4.3 per minute. Still a ridiculous rate but fully expected. They return this afternoon sitting only 7 eliminations from the money and we don’t suspect it will take very long. After the bubble bursts, the circus begins as the short stacks shove it in looking for a min-cash or double up. 2,890 players crowded the Rio yesterday, 304 return today, 297 of them will make the money. Interesting names in contention are Phil Hellmuth, Mark “dipthrong” Herm, Antonio Esfandiari, and Mark “xqsays” Radoja
Event #42: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship
1 – Ben “benba” Lamb – 4,335,000
2 – John Shipley – 2,705,000
3 – Sami Kelopuro – 2,155,000
4 – Chris King – 1,645,000
Event #43: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em
1 – Bryon Kaverman – 1,345,000
2 – Douglas Yamashiro – 722,000
3 – Simon Watt – 648,000
4 – Tripp Kirk – 617,000
5 – Nachman Berlin – 610,000
6 – Fatolla Shahen – 608,000
7 – Scott Sitron – 530,000
8 – Jason Newburger – 462,000
9 – Clement Thumy – 451,000
10 – Rodney Burt – 426,000
Other Notables: Nicolas “nicos11″ Chouity (380,000), Marco Liesy (116,000)
Event #44: $1,500 Seven Card Razz
1 – Tommy Chen – 473,000
2 – John Monnette – 205,000
3 – George Lewis – 174,000
4 – Mikail Tulchinskiy – 168,500
5 – Matthew Smith – 168,000
6 – Stephen Su – 167,500
7 – Scott Bohlman – 166,000
8 – Mikhail Smirnov – 153,000
9 – Jay Kwon – 148,500
10 – Victor Ramdin – 144,500
Other Notables: Chad Brown (70,000), David Sklansky (50,000), Andreas Krause (45,000), Chris Bjorin (34,500), Robert Williamson III (32,500)
Matt Jarvis celebrates his 2011 World Series of Poker bracelet with friend and family
Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Matt Jarvis, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Matt Jarvis heads up at the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed Final table
(Photo credit: WSOP.com)
Today is sure to be filled with insanity and a few opportunities for great things. Hours before the only tournament of the day, there have been reports of 2,000 players already registered for the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament. Players will completely fill the Amazon and Pavilion Rooms as well as additional table set up near the casino. Play has already been pushed back for the restarts and who knows what will happen to the daily deepstacks.
Either way the hallways and rooms will be packed, action will be furious, and the field will come close to busting 5 players per minute (robot Kevmath took the over).
Three interesting developments in the restarts today. Full Tilt’s 2010 November Niner Matt Jarvis will return for a bonus Day 4 when play was halted at the hard stop of his No Limit Hold’em 6-handed final table while heads up. Jarvis will return with a significant chip lead looking to pick up his first WSOP bracelet.
The other two tournaments I will be watching involve Sam Stein and Eugene Katchalov. Both are deep in their tournaments, including Katchalov’s Shootout final table, looking to be the first to capture two bracelets this summer. There has been a repeat winner every year at the WSOP since 2000 and it’s getting late in the game to find one this year.
In contrast to the speedy elimination of players in the low limit NLHE tournaments, the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha returns for Day 3 without having yet made the money. 38 players remain while only 36 will be paid and they are scheduled to play down to the winner. It’s not a long shot to say this one will hit the 10-level hard stop.
All told, between the massive $1,000 NLHE field and the final tables, it should be a great day at the Rio.
Event #40: $5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed
1 – Matt Jarvis – 8,645,000
2 – Justin Filtz – 2,345,000
Event #41: $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout Final Table
1 – Ari Engel – 270,000
2 – Adam Tyburski – 270,000
3 – Dom Denotaristefani – 270,000
4 – Mathieu Jacqmin – 270,000
5 – Eugene Katchalov – 270,000
6 – Jordan Rich – 270,000
7 – Stephen Bass – 270,000
8 – Christoph Kwon – 270,000
9 – Justin Pechie – 270,000
10 – Dale Eberle – 270,000
Event #42: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha
1 – Ben “benba” Lamb – 809,000
2 – Florian Langmann – 734,000
3 – Sami Kelopuro – 728,000
4 – Jared Bleznick – 715,000
5 – Sam Stein – 646,000
6 – Aaron Schaff – 561,000
7 – Willl “The Thrill” Failla – 528,000
8 – Tristan Clemencon – 433,000
9 – Benjamin Kaupp – 417,000
10 – Matt Glantz – 400,000
Other Notables: Mike “Timex” McDonald (397,000), Felipe “Mojave” Ramos (253,000), Max Pescatori (201,000), Joao Barbosa (175,500), Abe Mosseri (170,000), Alex Kravchenko (152,000)
Remember to keep an eye out on our @FullTiltPoker twitter and Facebook page for updates during the day. The Fantasy WSOP contest is also up and running for non-US players, get in the game and challenge your favorite pros.
Tom “durrrr” Dwan staring down Mike “Timex” McDonald in the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em Championship
Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr, Matt Jarvis, Mike "Timex" McDonald, Tom Dwan, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Tom “durrrr” Dwan at the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. final table
Photo credit: WhoJedi
One of last year’s most electrifying final tables happened to be a small $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament because it featured Tom “durrrr” Dwan going for a bracelet after laying several bets which would have likely broke a few big names. He was unable to pull off the the feat last year but once again found himself in the middle of a circus, this time sitting in the ESPN Mothership.
23 players returned yesterday for the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship and Dwan was not among the leaders. In fact he wasn’t a real threat until the field closed in on it’s final table when he surged ahead and found himself with the chip lead at another WSOP final table. There were no soft spots as the spectacular seats began to fill. Max Pescatori, Michael Binger, Shawn Buchanan, Daniel Ospina, and Fabrice Soulier all stood in the way of prop betting history.
In the end he ran into a problem all levels of bankrolls can appreciate, Razz hands. After a series of unfortunate hands, it was Razz which would be his quick fall from grace to the rail in 5th place for over $134,000. There were sighs of relief from big gamblers around the Rio.
For a great look at the atmosphere surrounding the two final tables last night, check out our friend Dr. Pauly’s writeup of Day 24.
~
As it’s become all too common this summer with the “hard stop” rule, the one which states in no squishy wording that play will stop after 10 levels of play no matter, quite a few tournaments have halted final table action without declaring a champion. Last night it happened twice. And it’s quickly becoming unpopular with players, media, friends, and family.
The most ridiculous would be the stoppage of the H.O.R.S.E. Championship where Fabrice Soulier is heads up versus Shawn Buchanan. Soulier is sporting a massive chip lead with Buchanan returning to a stack containing just 3 big bets. Perhaps it will give the loud French fans time to rebuild their voices for the continuation.
1 – Fabrice Soulier – 6,290,000
2 – Shawn Buchanan – 910,000
The other final table pause involved the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament lead by Brit Tom Middleton but a close battle with the remaining four. Pro player Eddy Sabat is still in contention when they return and I suspect this rowdy rail will have sport a proper hangover.
1 – Tom Middleton – 4,030,000
2 – Mikhail Lakhitov – 2,705,000
3 – Hassan Babajane – 2,365,000
4 – Eddy Sabat – 2,030,000
5 – Thomas Miller- 1,885,999
With all the being said, in theory we should be crowning four new champions today as the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em and $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha tournament are also supposed to play to a winner but both return with over 20 players in the field. Full Tilt pros Scott Clements and Melanie Weisner are both deep in their respective events and look to capture the title.
Remember to keep an eye out on our @FullTiltPoker twitter and Facebook page for updates during the day. The Fantasy WSOP contest is also up and running for non-US players, get in the game and challenge your favorite pros.
Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr, Melanie Weisner, Scott Clements, Tom Dwan, WSOP
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
One of the last $10,000 Championship tournaments aside from the Main Event should award it’s bracelet today in H.O.R.S.E. where they just made it into the money at the end of Day 2. Michael Binger leads the field followed by a who’s who of top tournament pros, cash game players, and a few high rollers from across the Pacific.
Mid-way through Day 2, there appears to have been a little dustup between Binger and Daniel Negreanu where the latter virtually accused the former of being an angle shooter. In the 3000/6000 Limit Hold’em portion, Binger put out a 1500 chip bet and his opponent (not Negreanu) through in 3000. While it looked like a check/raise, Bingers bet was actually half the bet size and the opponents apparent raise was indeed ruled to just be a call.
Negreanu took Binger to task, even though he was not involved in the hand, and things became quite heated. In the end it all worked out. Binger has the chip lead, Negreanu moved on to the next event, and played nice nice by shaking hands.
The 23 returning players are in the money and will attempt to play it down. 1st place collects $609,130.
1 – Michael Binger – 742,000
2 – Fabrice Soulier – 560,000
3 – Daniel Ospina – 532,000
4 – Jacobo Frenandez – 526,000
5 – Ram Vaswani – 505,000
6 – Shanw Buchanan – 479,000
7 – Tam Wang – 440,000
8 – Fu Wong – 398,000
9 – Kyle Loman – 388,000
10 – John Monnette – 325,000
Other Notables: Chau Giang (243,000), Joe Cassidy (184,000), Tom Dwan (135,000), Yuval “yuvee04″ Bronshtein (135,000), Robert Williamson III (22,000)
The young guns in poker, by which I mean most of those who have adopted twitter, seemed to be very excited for the start of yesterday’s $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha mix game. It’s standard fare to watch the players ram and jam, gambling it up for some big pots. Bracelet winner David Williams finished the day on top and looks to continue applying pressure to the table. Also among the 131 players returning are Scott Clements, Adam Junglen, Mohshin “chicagocards1″ Charania, and 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Tom “Donkeybomber” Schneider.
63 player will make the money and move towards the final table.
1 – David Williams – 137,700
2 – Mitch Schock – 121,600
3 – Ashkan Razavi – 115,000
4 – Scott Clements – 108,700
5 – Adam Junglen – 90,000
6 – Tyler Patterson – 77,800
7 – David Lestock – 76,200
8 – Lee Grove – 76,100
9 – Sean Grover – 72,000
10 – Sergey Altbregin – 71,300
Other Notables: Carter Gill (69,900), David “Bakes” Baker (65,300), Mohshin “chicagocards1″ Charania (47,800), Tom “Donkeybomber” Schneider (40,200)
Remember to keep an eye out on our @FullTiltPoker twitter and Facebook page for updates during the day. The Fantasy WSOP contest is also up and running for non-US players, get in the game and challenge your favorite pros.
Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Huck Seed, Michael Mizrachi, Scott Clements, WSOP
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