WSOP 2008
Micon Is Gone
by Jessica on 06.30.08, 4:20 am
Bryan Micon (pictured at right) took a big hit in the $1.5K HORSE Event when his low draw didn’t materialize and pretty much everyone at his table and the tables surrounding him knew it. His tablemate, Mike Matusow, finally proclaimed, “Bryan: you are allowed to talk non-stop about anything you want, anything at all, but you are not allowed to talk about that hand anymore.”
Mike continued his table banter with Micon by explaining to him the power of positive thinking. Bryan was down to just 3 chips, 1,100 total, and Matusow was attempting to inspire him to make a comeback.
Micon made his last stand when he raised on 3rd street with a K up in Stud 8. Both Matusow and the player who was the bring in made the call. By 5th street Micon was showing K-10-10 and the third player bet, inducing Matusow to fold. The other player held a pair of aces, but he made aces up on 6th and left Bryan, who had kings and tens, drawing very thin, especially since one of the kings was folded on 3rd. Micon failed to improve and he was eliminated as Level 7 came to a close.
Other players making an exit in the event recently include Barry Greenstein and Kenna James. Here are some chip counts of a few of the players still hanging around in the event:
Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire - 15K
Eric “jakz101″ Crain - 14K
Brett “Gank” Jungblut - 13.5K
Shannon Shorr - 8K
Doug “Resilient” Smith - 6.5K
Eric “Rizen” Lynch made his exit from the $10K Pot Limit Omaha Championship when, with the blinds at 800/1,600 a player in late position raised and Lynch moved all-in for 11.8K more. The player made the call with 4-5-6-8 and Eric showed A
A
2
3. The flop came88
-X and, with no help on the turn or river, Lynch was eliminated.
Play has ended for the day and 86 players will be returning tomorrow. Here are some unofficial chip counts we spotted as the level was coming to a close:
Josh Arieh - 368k (chip leader)
Shawn “buck21″ Buchanan - 240k
David Williams - 160k
Michael Mizrachi - 160k
Scott “BigRiskky” Clements - 118k
Noah “Exclusive” Boeken - 95k
David “Raptor517″ Benefield - 90k
Nenad Medic - 75k
Thayer “THAY3R” Rasmussen - 75k
John D’Agostino - 48k
Rafi Amit - 34k
Clements Holding Steady in 10k PLO
by AdamJ on 06.30.08, 2:54 am
Scott “BigRiskky” Clements (pictured left) continues to yield an above average stack in the 10k PLO WSOP Event #50. Clements currently sits at 115k and recently just scooped a nice pot that has left John D’Agostino’s head spinning.
D’Agostino raised to 3,600 and Clements called on the button. Both players checked a T39 flop, and the action picked up on the 7 turn. D’Agostino bet 5k and Clements raised to 13k and D’Agostino called. D’Agostino checked the 8 and Clements bet 25k, sending D’Agostino into over a few minutes of deliberation. D’Agostino, who had about 60k behind, eventually found a fold and was visibly unnerved by the sequence of events following the hand.
Eric “Rizen” Lynch has somehow found a way to maintain around a ten big blind stack in a game known for huge swings during the past three hours.
Lynch currently sits at his apex during that stretch at 24k. Lynch got as low as 9k in the previous level.
“I finally got my starting stack back,” he said. ”It only took me nine hours!”
Shawn “buck21″ Buchanan has remained a healthy stack over 140k the past few hours although the arrival of overwhelming chip leader Josh Arieh to his table may drastically change that trend.
Arieh currently sits with 380k with blinds at 800-1600 with the average stack at 70k.
Here’s some other notable chip counts
David “Raptor517″ Benefield - 150k
Noah “Exclusive” Boeken - 135k
Rolf Slotboom - 45k
Tom “durrrr” Dwan - 28k
The $1.5K has already lost over half of its 803 person field, but 360 players still remain with a couple of hours left in Day One. One such player is Doug “Resilient” Smith (pictured right), who recently picked up some chips when he eliminated another player in a razz showdown.
Barry Greenstein brought the hand in for 75 with a K up and the player to his left completed the bet to 300 with the 8 showing. Smith then raised to 600 with his A up, and his opponent thought momentarily before 3-betting. Doug capped the betting and the other player called. Doug picked up the 4 on 4th while his opponent showed a K. Doug bet and his opponent called. When both players picked up Qs on 5th street Smith bet again, which was enough to put his opponent all-in. As the other player made the call and they turned their cards face up, Doug informed the other player he wasn’t in that bad of shape against Smith, as Doug had paired his four. The players showed the following hands:
Smith (5)(4)A4Q
Opponent: (6)(4)8KQ
On 6th Doug improved to the better low with the 2 while his opponent was dealt the 9. The 3 on the river sealed the deal for Smith by giving him the wheel, as well as the nearly 5K pot. He was up to 9K at the conclusion of the hand.
While some players, like John “jdawg0913″ O’Brien, Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke, and David “seal” Eisenstein have been eliminated, several others remain. Here are some unofficial chip counts:
Brett “gank” Jungblut - 11K
Eric “jakz101″ Crain - 11K
Alex Jacob - 8.5K
Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire - 5K
Shannon Shorr - 4K
Barry Greenstein - 3.5K
Bryan Micon - 2.5K
“Bodog” Ari Engel - 2K
Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg was eliminated in 28th place in the $1.5K No Limit Hold Em event when his pocket eights failed to hold against another player’s A-K. He will earn $13,727 for the finish. Andy Black and Men “The Master” Nguyen were also sent to the rail recently. 21 players remain, including David Tran, Tommy Vu, “Jumpin” Joe Pelton, and JC Tran.
The $50K HORSE event is nearing closer to a champion as only three players remain at the final table. Michael De Michele is the current chip leader with over 7 million, but Scotty Nguyen is within striking distance with 5.3 million. Erick Lindgren is the short stack of the trio; he is just shy of the 2 million chip marker.
Daut Busted in 10k PLO
by AdamJ on 06.30.08, 1:46 am
Despite rebuilding his short stack to a more respectable level at 28k, Ryan “Daut44″ Daut (pictured right) lost it all back in big confrontation with Clonie Gowen in the 10k PLO WSOP Event #50.
Gowen raised to 4.5k and Daut reraised to 15k and Gowen called. Gowen checked to Daut on a 873flop, and Daut went all-in for 13k and Gowen called. Daut tabled the AAKQ ahead of Gowen’s 6354 double-draw that he had murked with higher diamonds. Daut lost to Gowen’s straight outs when the board ran Q and the 6.
David “Raptor517″ Benefield lost a near 100k pot, dipping his 175k stack, one of the biggest stacks left, to around 120k. Benefield flopped a set eights to his opponents pockets aces and a nut flush draw and lost when his opponent hit a runner-runner straight.
Here’s a list of other notable chip stacks left with the average stack at 60k.
Shawn “buck21″ Buchanan - 130k
Scott “BigRiskky” Clements - 80k
Tom “durrrr” Dwan - 40k
Eric “Rizen” Lynch - 14k
The $1.5K No Limit Hold Em WSOP Event #49 is losing players at a feverish pace. There are currently 29 players remaining–slightly more than 1% of the intial 2,700 person field. Recent eliminations include Vivek “psyduck” Rajkumar in 35th place and Hevad “Rain” Khan. Khan was involved in a 4-way limped pot when the flop came Q98 Khan and another player got it all-in. Khan held KQ while the other player had 67. The 5 brought the other player their straight and Hevad was sent to the rail.
Some notable chip counts of the remaining players include JC Tran (380K), Andy Black (305K), and Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg (170K).
Gomes, Johnson Go 1 and 2 in $2K Event
by Jessica on 06.30.08, 12:24 am
Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson’s (pictured at left) tournament run also came to an end when he finished 2nd in the $2K No Limit Hold Em event. Johnson and fellow Pocket Fiver Alexandre “allingomes” Gomes battled back and forth in their heads up match before Gomes gained the upper hand when he cracked Johnson’s pocket aces with AT after the board ran out KT3TJ.
A few hands later, Marco moved in for the remainder of his chips with QJ and Alexandre quickly made the call with AK. After a flop of 432 and an ace on the turn, Johnson was drawing dead to a 5 for a chop. When the river came 4, Gomes scooped the pot and the victory, sending his large Brasilian contingent into a roar of applause. Gomes earned $770,540 for his finish and Johnson took home $491,273 for 2nd.
Gerry “TheGatherer” Kane’s run in the $1.5K No Limit Hold Em event has come to an end. Gerry was in the big blind when he and another player got it all-in on a board of 543K. Kane flopped two pair with his 34, but he needed to fill up in order to best the other player’s 67 for a flopped straight. The 2 on the river was no help to Kane and he was eliminated in 45th place, earning $10,759. Taylor “tdomeski” Douglas was also eliminated recently. He finished in 72nd place, good enough for $7,420.
The $50K HORSE event lost a couple of players before pausing the tournament to take a dinner break. Huck Seed was eliminated in 7th place and Barry Greenstein was out shortly afterwards in 6th when his pair of aces in Stud 8 were no match for Scotty Nguyen’s full house. Shortly after pocketing his $355,200 prize, Barry registered for his third tournament of the day and is now playing in the $1.5K HORSE event.
A handful of P5er’s are left in the 10k PLO WSOP Event #50. With a small 381 player field, not many tables featured players that were known from either live or online poker. However, Tim “TMay420″ West had a below average stack of 23k at a table full of live pro’s with Tony Cousineau, Tony G, Dan Shak, and Joe “The Elegance” Beevers from the Hendon Mob.
Jason “JP OSU” Potter just bricked out on a massive multiway 90k pot when his freeroll with pocket aces and a nut flush draw didn’t come to fruition. Potter’s 34k stack is below the 48k average. Ryan “Daut44″ Daut also just lost a big pot when his opponent rivered a nut flush and Daut led for 8k on the river and called another 12k more when he got raised. Daut had 44k earlier in the level and currently has 14k.
Eric “Rizen” Lynch is nursing an extreme short stack at 13k with blinds at 400-800 but remains optimistic at a table that includes Noah “Exclusive” Boeken’s massive 105k stack and Chris Moneymaker.
“It can change in a hurry,” Lynch said. “It will in one way or another shortly.”
Here’s a list of other notable chip stacks left:
Shawn “buck21″ Buchanon - 120k
David “Raptor57″ Benefield - 110k
Scott “BigRiskky” Clements - 64k
Thayer “THAY3R” Rasmussen - 55k
Dario Minieri - 43k
Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi - 19k
To Reload or Not to Reload?
by Crystal on 06.29.08, 3:39 pm
The $10k World Championship of Pot-Limit Omaha got started at noon today here in the Amazon room with around 240 entrants when play began. The field has since grown to more than 320 players and registration will stay open until the end of level two. We’ve already spotted some P5ers in this smaller field including Jamie “TheNew” Robbins, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Eric “EFro” Froehlich, Eric “Rizen” Lynch, Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke, Stu “The Donator” Patterson, and Scott “BigRiskky” Clements.
While in most of the other WSOP events this year the starting stack has been double the buy-in for the event, players begin this tournament with 10k in tournament chips plus a red reload chip (pictured left) that is good for another 10k chips whenever the player chooses to use it. Players can elect to use it right at the beginning, to make their starting stack 20k while others may wait until they need the extra chips. At the end of level three, the extra 10k will be added to any player’s stack that hasn’t already used their reload chip.
The final tables of both the $50k HORSE event #45 and the $2k NLHE event #48 will start this afternoon. The HORSE final table is fileld with big name pros including P5’s own Barry Greenstein who comes into the final table with the 3rd largest chip stack as he tries to win his 2nd bracelet this year and his 4th overall bracelet.
The $2k NLHE final table will be led by chip leader Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson who has more than 2.1 million. The final table will begin play at 3 pm where Marco hopes his amazing run in this event will lead straight to his first WSOP bracelet.