WSOP 2008
Loaded Field in 5k NL WSOP Event #21
by AdamJ on 06.11.08, 5:58 pm
With the second largest NL buy-in aside from the Main Event in the WSOP, tables were stacked with notable NL players from live and online scenes. The 731 player field created a handful of stacked tables throughout the Amazon Room.
P5er Court Harrington was at one of the most eclectic tables of all, sitting alongside Sammy Farha, Ari “BodogAri” Engel, Ray Davis, Matt “plattsburgh” Vengrin, and Ben “Milkybarkid” Grundy. Harrington has emerged from the tough draw with one of the biggest stacks at his table, doubling his 10k starting stack to over 20k.
Ray Davis busted before the dinner break when he closed the action on the flop after a player bet into the field and Grundy called and Davis called on a J
9
2 flop. When the K dropped on the turn, the flop bettor led big again on the turn, Grundy folded, and Davis tanked for a few minutes.
Shortly after the player mentioned to Davis that he should try to make the first break, Davis called with QQ
, ahead of his opponents JT. Davis was sent to the rail when the 3h dropped on the river. P5er Brent “bhanks11″ Hanks drew a tough starting table as he was up against three players with NL championship titles in Gavin Griffin, David Chiu, and Glen Chorny, a trio with 13.5 million in tournament winnings between them.
No table featured more notable players than Cory “ugotpzd” Carroll’s table, featuring Chris “Genius28″ Lee, Brian Devonshire, John Robert Bellande, Andrew “good2cu” Robl, and Richard “Quiet Lion” Brody. Devin “TranquilChaos” Porter drew one of the more interesting tables as well, playing alongside cash-game wizard Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby, and Steve “MrSmokey1″ Billarakis.
Daut, Crazy Marco Get Bad Beats
by AdamJ on 05.31.08, 12:55 am
In a three way raised pot between Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson, David Benyamine, and an unknown on a 989 flop, Johnson raised Benyamine’s flop bet and Benyamine went all-in and Johnson revealed 9
8 for full house besting Benyamine’s TT until a T turned and a meaningless 4 hit the river. Benyamine doubled up to about 80k in chips and Johnson, one of the chip leaders, dropped down to 122k.
Another bad beat elimated Ryan “Daut44″ Daut (right) when he reraised Phil Laak preflop and got reraised all in by Laak. Laak tabled the AT and Daut AK. After Laak’s flopped ten held up, Laak responded to his good fortune by saying “I was thinking he can’t have it everytime,” mentioning Daut had been habitually reraising him preflop.
Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul was involved in two interesting hands. He raised pre-flop only to be re-raised by David Chiu. After thinking for a little while Saul pushed enough chips in the middle to put Chiu in and Chiu quickly called. Saul showed AJ to Chiu’s QQ. The board came 875T2 letting Chiu’s hand hold for him to double up. After the hand Eric “Rizen” Lynch and Shaun Deeb debated whether Saul’s move was +EV or -EV.
The very next hand Saul called the cutoff’s all-in bet pre-flop. Before Saul flipped over his cards he said, “I have to call!” Saul showed 64 while the other player held AQ. The board came K5543 allowing Saul’s pair of fours to knock the other player out. After the hand was over Saul said he recieves at least 3 e-mails a day about how to play 46 suited better.
Another notable hand came from Alex “AJKHoosier1″ Kamberis who called the small blind’s all-in preflop. Alex showed A3 while the small blind held AK. The flop came with good and bad news for Alex showing Q53 giving him a pair of 3’s but giving his opponent a flush draw. The 4 on the turn and 9 on the river allowed Alex to take the pot and knock out the other player.
Some recent chip counts:
Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson - 122k
Amit “Amak316″ Makhija -111k (right)
Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar - 110k
Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers - 85k
Jerimiah “Believer82″ Vinsant - 80k
Joe Sebok - 74k
Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul - 52k
Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi - 51k
Richard “Lee Nickel” Fohrenbach - 46k
JC “PrtyPSux” Alvarado - 41k
Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little - 38k
David “DavidP18″ Peters - 28k
Mario “Deuce2high” Silvestri - 27k
Alex “AKJHoosier1″ Kamberis - 26k
Chris “Genius28″ Lee - 26k
Peter “Nordberg” Feldman - 23k
Jason Gray - 21k
Eric “Rizen” Lynch - 19k
Shaun Deeb -16k
Matt “MattG1983″ Graham - 16k
Chiu Makes The Comeback
$25K Bellagio Five Star WPT Championship
by Court on 04.27.08, 12:48 am
After going into heads up as a dominating chip leader Gus Hansen will now be leaving with only 2nd place money. David Chiu (left) was able to battle back and in the last hand hit what he needed on the river to win the pot and the title.
Chiu made the comeback after being a 23 to 4 dog starting heads up play. After climbing all the way to the chip lead David was faced with an all in bet of over 8 million from Gus on a board of AT85. After counting out the chips Chiu looked at some of his friends in the crowd and said “I think this is it boys,” then he looked back towads the table and said simply “I call.”
The next words he said were “aces and a flush draw,” and that was what he had with the A9. Gus had flopped two pair with the T8 and only needed to fade the river card to take back over as a commanding chip leader. Chiu didn’t make his flush on the river, but the A gave him trip aces to overcome Hansen’s two pair.
For second place Gus (right) will receive $1,714,800.
The comeback victory brings the top prize of $3,389,140 to David Chiu.
Heads Up Play
$25K Bellagio Five Star WPT Championship
by Court on 04.26.08, 11:29 pm
After plowing through the field to get to heads up play things have slowed down for Gus Hansen. David Chiu (left) went into heads up play with about 4 million and in serious danger against Hansen’s 23 million. Win a pot here and there and double up once though and then things aren’t so bad.
That is exactly what happened for Chiu and after about an hour of heads up play he is up to 9 million and Gus is down to about 18 million. Still a 2 to 1 chip lead, but another double up will flip the tables and make Chiu the 2 to 1 leader over Gus.
The difference between first and second is around $1.6 million so there is plenty to play for even before you factor in any ancillary benefits to being the champion of one of the largest tournaments of the year. Gus is in a commanding position but the death grip he had on this tournament has loosened slightly in the first part of heads up play.
Good Call, Bad Beat - Carroll Out 4th
by Court on 04.26.08, 9:20 pm
After successfully raising Gus Hansen to pick up a few pots preflop Cory “UGOTPZD” Carroll again popped one of Hansen’s opening raises. Gus made it 480k and Cory raised to 1.65 million chips. Gus called and on the QJ6 flop Cory checked and Hansen stood up to get a look at Carroll’s chips. After seeing that Cory had just over 6.5 million left Gus finally decided to move all in putting Cory to a decision for the rest of his chips.
Carroll (left) thought for a long time at one point saying “do you have a big draw Gus?” and then finally making his mind up after commenting “If you have king queen or queen ten then its over I guess, I call.” Cory had the AJ and his pair of jacks gave him the best hand against Hansen’s holding of the 75. The turn was the Q and Carroll was one card away from becoming a huge chip leader in the tournament. Instead the 3 filled the flush for Gus and eliminated Carroll in 4th place.
The payout for 4th is $593,645 and a large sum, but Cory will have to leave here thinking what could have been and about the almost $3 million more he could have had for first place.
David Chiu and John Roveto have been quiet up to this point. It is possible that neither have raked in a pot yet, but both have jumped way up the payout scale while Gus mows down the field.