WSOP 2008
Friedberg Busts, Beckman Builds Stack
by AdamJ on 07.12.08, 6:52 pm
With a paltry 120k stack to start Day 5 of the Main Event, Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg (pictured right) lasted a few hours before bowing out.
Frieberg doubled in the first orbit of play and got to 350k in the second level. Without many hands and stack well below the 900k average, Friedberg busted when he reraised a 30k open for all of his 170k. Friedberg’s AJ was up against AQ and was eliminated when he didn’t improve.
Pocketfives caught up with Friedberg after he exited in 148th place, cashing in for 41k.
Friedberg said he was happy with his first Main Event cash, and given the situations he was dealt, he didn’t leave the Amazon Room with any major misgivings about any of his plays.
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman was the recent beneficiary of a flop that hammered he and his opponents hand when it came A
J
8. Beckman’s opponent bet 90k and Beckman shoved for about 450k total and his opponent called. Beckman revealed the AQ in a flip against his opponents A
J. Beckman promptly clipped a 2 on the turn and won the hand, boosting his stack to 970k, his highpoint of the day. Beckman started with 515k and got down to 200k rather in the first hour of play.
Cort “thecorster” Kibler-Melby won a huge hand off of Jeremiah Smith before the last break when he raised the from the hijack and Smith called in position. Kibler-Melby played for stacks on a Q-5-5 flop, outflopping Smith’s A-Q with K5, resulting in a 860k pot which was the stack he took to the break about twenty minutes ago. The hand left Smith with about 50k in chips and he busted shortly after that.
Andy “BadgerPro” Schultz was eliminated in 142nd place despite getting his money in ahead. Schultz and another player saw a flop of AT6. Schultz led out, his opponent raised and Schultz moved all in with A
K. The other player called with 79. The 9 came on the turn, but the 3 on the river knocked Andy of the tournament.
Norris Busts, Beckman Dips
by AdamJ on 07.12.08, 4:06 pm
It’s never a good sign to see a player walking away from the table during play but such was the fate for Joshua “theNorfman” Norris, (pictured right) who busted in the first few orbits on Day 5 of the Main Event.
“That wasn’t a good start to the day,” said Norris, who finished 179th.
Starting with only 207k, less than a third of the average stack, Norris was in for an uphill battle.
He got crippled when he picked up AQ in the big blind after the button opened and the small blind shoved for 100k with blinds at 6k-12k-2k. Norris shoved for his 200k and was isolated against the small blind’s AK. Despite a queen in the door, Norris’ opponent ran out a broadway straight and Norris was down to 100k. A few hands later Norris busted when the small blind put Norris all-in who was in the big blind after it was folded around to the blinds. Norris woke up with A-8 but lost to his opponents Q-2 when the flop came K-Q-2.
Despite feeling the sickness that overtakes anyone after busting out of a tournament, especially one of this magnitude, Norris took the exit in stride.
“This is the biggest score for me, live or online,” said Norris with a feeling of contentment.
Norris’ finish was good for 38k and he also won a handful of seats into the Main Event.
A few other P5er’s faired much better early on.
Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg doubled up his 120k starting stack in the first orbit of play when he woke up with AA against Lou Esposito’s AK, elevating Friedberg to around 230k.
Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby managed to double up early today when his AK was able to out-draw his opponents QQ on a A98 flop. The pair of aces held and Cort’s stack jumped up to around 520k.
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman is off to a rough start. Starting with 515k, Beckman lost the bulk of his chips when he doubled up another opponent when they both flopped a flush draw. Beckman’s T7 lost to his opponents KQ after he clipped a queen. Beckman is down to 200k.
Levy Cruising at Hellmuth’s Table
by AdamJ on 07.11.08, 10:57 pm
A host of P5′ers were featured at perhaps the most ballyhooed table on Day 4 of the Main Event. Playing amidst a strong contingent of photographers, film crews and spectators at this table was none other than Phil Hellmuth, who had a formidable table that included Adam “Roothlus” Levy (pictured left), Tracey “xtrACEy” Nguyen, Keith “damurdera3″ Ferrera, and Evelyn Ng.
Nguyen was playing her short stack very patiently throughout with blinds at 4k-8k-1k and finally made a stand with KQ, moving all-in for 68k but ran into Hellmuth’s TT. Nguyen situation look dire on the turn when the board read 7864. Hellmuth mentioned that a five wouldn’t be so bad and sure enough the 5 peeled on the river. Although he could have bemoaned his fate to the ESPN cameras capturing the draw out, he congratulated Nguyen in what seemed like a genuine act of sportsmanship.
“I don’t care what they say…you’re a sweetheart Phil,” said Nguyen. “You’re okay in my book.”
Moments later, Nguyen moved in for her last 88K from under the gun and a player in middle position made the call. Nguyen’s A7 needed a lot of help against the AA of her opponent and couldn’t find a miracle as the board ran out QJ3Q6. Tracey earned $35,383 for her four days of work. And to make things even more interesting, Jeremy “thechemist83″ Gaubert has taken Tracey’s seat at the table with a monstrous stack of 915K chips.
Levy and Ferrera (pictured right) played an interested hand a few hands earlier when Ferrera made it 20k from early position and Levy called. Ferrera bet 35k on a 442 flop and Levy called. The 9 dropped on the turn and both players checked. The 4 came on the river and Ferrera checked and Levy bet 55k and Ferrera called. Levy tabled the KK for a full house and Ferrera mucked. Levy’s stack has grown in the last level to over 800k and Ferrara’s has been steady over 1.1 million.
Edward “zaner1″ Zane hadn’t been too active today but when we walked by his table we noticed his chip stack had doubled in size. When we asked Edward about the hand he said that he “got lucky” and ran his pocket queens into another players pocket jacks all-in preflop and they held. He was sitting with around 375k in chips.
Unfortunately for Edward those chips didn’t last long. In one hand he raised on the button and when the big blind re-raised he pushed all-in. The big blind insta-called and Edward had to show the hammer, the 72 which was way behind the big blind’s KK. The board ran out AT296 and Edward’s stack dropped to around 150k.
It wasn’t long after that the rest of his chips went in preflop with pocket queens, but he ran into another player who held pocket kings. Edward was excited when the flop brought a third queen to give him a set, but the other player made a straight on the river to send Edward to the rail.
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman is playing at the featured table and with the flop already showing Q66 his opponent bet, Garrett raised, and his opponent pushed all in. Garrett instantly made the call with his KK and was ahead of the other players AQ. The other player had Garrett covered so his tournament life was at stake. The turn brought the harmless 9 and the 8 on the river was meaningless as well and Garrett doubled up to around 700k.
It seems like Chris “panamatony” Barrile is an action magnet today as we can’t walk by his table without finding him involved in a big hand. Most recently he got involved in an all-in preflop confrontation with a player holding the 99 which was ahead of Chris’s AK. The flop made Chris’s hand look even worse when it came 963. The 8 on the turn and 8 on the river were no help and Chris doubled his opponent up while his stack dropped down to around 470k.
Here’s a look at the chip counts as players go into their dinner break:
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe - 1.2M
David “Raptor517″ Benefield - 1.1M
Keith “damurdera3″ Ferrera - 1.1M
Peter “number1pen” Neff - 1.025M
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 830K
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman - 755K
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki - 585K
Chris “panamatony” Barrile - 570K
Brent “astrolux85″ Roberts - 570K
Cort “the cortster” Kibler-Melby - 460K
Jeff “jpapola” Papola - 360K
Josh “theNorfman” Norris - 300K
Steve “MrSmokey1″ Billirakis - 260K
Andrew “tufat23″ Teng - 260K
“therookieqq9″ - 185K
Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg - 60K
Rasmussen Crippled, Tripled, Then Out
by Crystal on 07.11.08, 8:11 pm
Thayer Rasmussen and another player got all the chips in preflop with Thayer holding the AK against the other players QQ. The flop was an incredibly dramatic AKJ to give Thayer two pair and the lead while giving his opponent a gutshot straight draw. That gutshot filled when the turn came with the T putting the other player back in the lead. The 7 fell on the river and Thayer’s stack was knocked down to around 20k.
A few hands later Thayer (pictured left) pushed all in and both blinds called. The other players checked down the board of Q9668 and when Thayer tabled his AQ the other players mucked and Thayer tripled up to 58k.
Thayer then in a later hand moved all in from the small blind for around 46k and the big blind made the call with his TT only to find that he was way behind Thayer’s AA. The flop came J83 keeping Thayer in the lead. The 7 on the turn gave his opponent a gutshot straight draw and the 9 on the river completed it sending Thayer to the rail. Joining Thayer in the past level were Derek “arodss3″ Buanomo, Clayton “clayton_27″ Newman and Bruce “cornellxc11″ Hyde.
Chris “panamatony” Barrile is still staying active. A shorter stacked player pushed all in and Chris made the call with the 66. The other player held the AQ and would need some help to stay alive. The board ran out T43TJ and BChris’s sixes held to scoop up the pot. He currently is back up to almost 800k in chips.
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman continues to march up the board today. He recently doubled when he and another player got all of their chips in preflop, with Beckman (pictured right) holding AK and his opponent QQ. The J73 was gin for Beckman, but the Q on the turn added some excitement as the other player began shouting to his rail “Pair the board!” His request was denied as the T landed on the river and Beckman picked up a pot of close to 300K to increase his stack to 450K. He’s now at 415K.
The average stack is 450K with just over 300 players remaining. Here’s a look at some chip counts:
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe - 930K
Keith “damurdera3″ Ferrera - 900K
Peter “number1pen” Neff - 880K
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 750K
Andy “tufat23″ Teng - 750K
Matt “Burton1080″ Jensen - 750K
Joe “LatestLines2″ Ward - 490K
Allen “AawwNutz” Carter - 450K
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki - 440K
Jeremy “thechemist83″ Gaubert - 430K
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman - 415K
Brent “Astrolux85″ Roberts - 385K
Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal - 320K
David “Bakes” Baker - 250K
Jeff “jpapola” Papola - 215K
Tracey “xtrACEy” Nguyen - 140K
Together They Fall
by Brett on 07.11.08, 6:51 pm
Devin “TranquilChaos” Porter couldn’t fade the short stack torture he started with on Day 4 on the Main Event. Starting out with 52k with blinds at 2.5k-5k-500, Porter survived the first hour and a half of play before busting out in 360th place when he moved all-in for 70k from middle position with the AT but ran into AQ behind him.
Hunter “the_Hunt_D” Frey got the rest of his chips in on a AJ5 board with AJ against an opponent’s JJ. The turn and river brought th 8{and 7h} and Frey calmly left the Amazon Room with a prize of $28,950.
Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy also met his demise, and at the hands of a fellow pocketfiver. Josephy shoved his last 60K in late position with KJ and Dag Martin “dmmikkel” Mikkelsen called with AK. Josephy’s hand didn’t improve and he was sent home after providing the P5s staff with plenty of entertaining moments during the Main Event.
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman has increased his 190k starting stack to over 300k. He needed a little luck to do so however. Beckman flatted his opponents under-the-gun raise after the action folded to him in the small blind with the AA. Beckman was a bit disappointed when the big blind didn’t squeeze but made the call. On a flop of 354, Beckman checked, the big blind bet 14k and the preflop raiser made it 200k, effectively putting the blinds all-in with smaller stacks. Beckman moved all-in for his last 135k and the big blind folded. Surprisingly, Beckman was trailing the under-the-gun preflop raiser, who flopped two pair with 53. Beckman immediately peeled off the A on the turn and more than doubled up.
After starting play today with a massive 873k in chips, Chris “panamatony” Barrille has slipped a little bit. In a hand right before the first break Chris and another player saw a flop of 996. The other player bet, Chris raised, and the other player went all in. The cards were tabled and Chris’ 77 wasn’t looking good against the other players 98. The turn was the 5 and the river the 5 to give the other player a full house and knock Chris’s stack down to around 690k.
At the end of the first level of the day, here’s a look at the chip counts of some notables still alive:
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe - 1.2 Million
Jon “PearlJammer” Turner - 1.1 Million
Paul “ComeOnPhis” Lieu - 750K
Keith “damurdera3″ Ferrera - 700K
Chris “panamatony” Barrille - 690K
David “raptor517″ Benefield - 690K
Jon Friedberg - 550K
Derek “arodss3″ Buanomo - 491K
Joe “LatestLines2″ Ward - 415K
Mark “AceSpades” Radoja - 370K
Jeremt “thechemist83″ Gaubert - 376K
Bruce “cornellxc11″ Hyde - 300K
Brent “Astrolux85″ Roberts - 285K
Jeff “jpapola” Papola - 200K
David “Bakes” Baker - 150K
Thayer Rasmussen - 100K