WSOP 2008
Parker Taking it to the Limit
by Crystal on 06.17.08, 9:45 pm
Brock “t_soprano” Parker is still at the final table of event #30 the $10k LHE tournament. After coming into the day short stacked, Parker (pictured right) has managed to win some big pots and is currently 4th out of the 6 remaining players in chips. He hasn’t been very active in hands for the past hour or so, obviously trying to pick his spots carefully and get his money in with the best hands he can. Andy Bloch was just eliminated in 7th place ensuring that Parker and the other 5 remainng players are guaranteed to take home at least $102,460
Over in the $2.5k NLHE six-handed tournament Billy Westom, Shannon Shorr, Keven “Stamdogg” Stammen and Jason “treysfull21″ Mercier have been eliminated.
Billy Westom got all his chips in with A
T against Bill Chen’s JJ
and failed to improve and was knocked out in 40th place good for $8,379.
Shannon Shorr got all his money in with almost the same hand as Westom, the AT
and found he was dominated by his opponents AJ. The flop came with both an ace and a jack and Shorr was sent to the rail in 32nd place to claim his $9,775 prize.
Keven Stammen was knocked out in 24th place when his QQ was bested by a player who made a flush with their AK on a T5238 board. Stammen recieves $15,594 for his great run.
Jason Mercier was one of the chip leaders for a good portion of the day but he doubled up Scotty Nguyen when his AT couldn’t catch up to Scotty’s pocket sevens. After the hand, both Mercier and Scotty were left with exactly 160k in chips and got involved in another big pot on the very next hand. Scotty opened with a raise to 11k and Mercier pushed his entire 160k stack into the pot. Scotty called with his TT which dominated Mercier’s 77
and when the board hit neither player, Mercier was eliminated by the prince of poker himself who said “I can’t be pushed around, baby” as Mercier was leaving the table. Mercier’s 22nd place finish was good enough to net him $15,594.
Event #33, the $5k Seven Card Stud H/L World Championship has been underway for almost two hours now and a number of notable players have been spotted in the field including Jordan “octavian_c” Rich, Thayer Rasmussen, Anna Wroblewski, Justin Bonomo, Steve “MrSmokey1″ Billirakis, Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, and Barry Greenstein. In a field filled with well known pro players this event is sure to be an exciting one and we will keep you posted as play progresses.
The Comeback Stud
by Crystal on 06.08.08, 8:17 pm
Dario Mineri (pictured at right) is trying to climb his way back up the leaderboard of the $10k Stud event after his stack fell to a mere 6.5k. He had called a player’s all in bet on 4th street and Dario showed the (JJ)KJ while his opponent held only a pair of aces. Unfortunately for Dario, his opponent caught another ace and Dario failed to improve, allowing the other player to double up. He’s now built his stack back to a much healthier 38k at the beginning of today’s first break and seems to be picking his spots well. Jordan “Octavian_C” Rich was eliminated earlier today from this event along with pros Doyle Brunson, Greg Raymer, and Bill Chen. There are currently 58 players remaining but only 16 will cash in this event.
With 13 players remaining, John “jdawg0913″ O’Brien has taken a couple of big hits over in the $1.5k LHE event. He lost a pot when his KQ wasn’t good enough to best the A8 of his opponent on a J837T board and then he flopped a set of 8s when the same player from the previous hand flopped a set of 9s and took another chunk of O’Brien’s chips. He is now down to around 140k in chips which is good for 8th out of 13 remaining as the players go on a 20 minute break. We still believe that the PocketFives.com t-shirt John has been religiously wearing to this event will bring him good luck and help him make the final table!
In the $5K NLHE Shootout Event, play commenced nearly three hours ago with Tim “tmay420″ West and former Quizbowl champ Leo “Superfluous Man” Wolpert facing Philip Tom, Thomas Roupe, former hockey pro Greg “FBT” Mueller, and Sirous Jamshidi. No one has been eliminated yet in the play, but several tense moments have occurred in the last hour of play.
Sirous Jamshidi managed to double up through West, flopping two pair to West’s JJ. Three hands later, Wolpert checked the flop from the big blind after calling a 70K preflop raise. Wolpert’s pocket eights were good enough to hold up, winning him about 300K in chips. His fans on the rail went nuts; other news sites are labeling them “raucous” and “wild” — only to be expected by the PocketFives crowd.
Later, West doubled through Tom Roupe when West held 88 to Roupe’s 77. West now holds a stack of over 1M in chips, yet after more than 90 hands of play, all six original players at the final table remained.