WSOP 2008
‘SirWatts’ Runs Out of Power
by Jessica on 07.02.08, 7:32 pm
Play in the $1.5K Limit Hold Em Shootout event resumed at 2pm and numerous players have been eliminated, including Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke and Ben “bfineman” Fineman.
Another player who saw his day come to a close was Mike “SirWatts” Watson, who shared a table with Matt “mattg1983″ Graham, Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo, and Kenna James. Watson took a big hit to his stack when he and Graham got involved in the following hand:
With the blinds at 1K/2K, Graham raised in middle position and Watson 3-bet out of the small blind. Matt made the call and after they saw the flop of Q
J
9
. Watson bet and Graham called. Mike bet again when the J came on the turn and Graham quickly called again. When the Q
came on the river, Watson bet one more time and Graham raised. Mike thought briefly before making the call and mucked his cards after Matt showed QT.
After that hand Watson was left with only 10K, which had dwindled down to 6.5K by the time Tamayo and Watson got involved in a blind versus blind confrontation that found Mike all-in and in bad shape with A8 against Jonathan’s AQ. The board ran out T75A9 and Watson was eliminated.
A short-stacked Jordan “scarface79″ Smith also saw his tournament come to an end when he and another player got it all-in on a T96 flop with Smith holding 89 to the other player’s AT. The turn and river came K2 and Jordan was sent to the rail.
Robbie “PlayaPlz” Lipkin (pictured at left) managed to get down to 3-handed play at his table, but after losing several chips when he rivered a set to his opponent’s straight, he found himself with less than 10K left. He raised out of the small blind and the player in the big blind made the call. The two then proceeded to get it all in after the flop came A74. Lipkin showed 9T while the other player held A-6. The pair of aces held and Robbie headed home.
Scott “ssitron” Sitron couldn’t have asked for a better start to his first WSOP final table. Sitron doubled up his 504k when he raised to 60k with QQ and Voitta Rintala went all-in for 544k behind him on the third hand. Sitron immediately called and his queens held up after the board ran out 42JJA. Sitron started the $1.5K No Limit Hold Em final table with the shortest stack and was relieved to get doubled up early. “It was so nice to get that double-up right away,” Sitron said. “Now i can play poker.” Sitron admitted to have a lot of jitters at the onset of the final table but added that after a few orbits it became rather normal and felt like any other tournament.
Sitron currently sits with 1.25 million, trailing only chip leader Matt Matros’ 1.4 million. David Daneshgar is the short stack at 430k with eight players left.
Meanwhile, Leo “SuperfluousMan” Wolpert is holding his own in the Ante Up for Africa event with 13K in chips and the rapidly increasing blinds at 800/1,600.
Tamayo Runner-Up, SKOAL Survives Bubble Burst
by Jill on 06.25.08, 4:11 am
As the Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship, Event #42, enters the single-digit early-morning hours, 17 players remain in the battle for the bracelet and a grand prize of $368,832. One recent elimination was four-time bracelet winner Tom McEvoy (pictured at right), who went all in with A-J against his opponent’s pocket kings. Tom takes home $7,669 for his 28th place deep run. Now down to the final two tables, Dale Eberle is the chip leader in the tournament with a nearly 2:1 advantage over the next biggest stack.
Event #41, the $1.5K Mixed Hold’em tournament, continued in heads-up warfare between Frank Gary and Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo. Their heads-up session went into its second hour after a brief pause; more than six hours have elapsed since the tournament entered its epic three-handed play. After flopping a straight and losing to Frank Gary’s rivered full house, Tamayo was outchipped 4:1, but unwilling to concede. Several hands later, Tamayo shoved all his chips in the middle with Q-7 and lost when Gary’s A-3 flopped a pair of aces. Gary wins the bracelet and $219,508, while PocketFiver Tamayo takes home $140,093. Congratulations to both players for their amazing performance!
Meanwhile, hand-for-hand play began in Event #43, the $1.5K Pot Limit Omaha 8 tournament. As the number of remaining players dropped on the LCD screens in the Amazon room, the tension was perceptible; players paced the floor in anticipation of the bubble bursting. Yet Chris “SKOAL” Falconer could be heard at his table challenging others: “You can’t be afraid to bubble!”
In all likelihood, Chris had one of the best reasons to be afraid, despite his positive outlook. After building his stack up to 26K over the last two rounds, a bad beat dropped him down to 9K and he was sweating it. Involved in a hand as the big blind for 1200, Chris dropped a chip protector on his hand and calmly observed his table. A player in middle position raised to 4,200, a player in late position reraised, and Chris promptly folded.
However, the reraise put the other player at a decision for his chips and the table laughed uncomfortably at his frustration — there were at least three other extremely short-stacked players, so fear was in the air. Each glanced up at the LCD, which read 73 players remaining. Other players less afraid of the bubble included Dan “Stainley88″ Adams who had 39K and Shannon Shorr, who was quite comfortable with three times the average stack at 70K.
Fortunately, just before the end of the last level of the evening, the bubble did burst and players were heard cheering for their successful entry into the ranks of WSOP cashers. All players are guaranteed $2,751, but only one will be crowned champion of the event and win the coveted gold. On the first hand after the bubble burst, Chris managed to get all his chips in and double up to 13K, while Shannon accumulated aggressively and worked his stack up to 87K. Congratulations to all players for making the money and good luck tomorrow in Day 2 when play resumes at 2pm.
Busting Before the Bubble
by Crystal on 06.25.08, 2:48 am
Matt “plattsburgh” Vengrin was recently eliminated from the PLO8 tournament about 20 players short of making the money. Vengrin (pictured left) had been nursing a short stack for some time now. We’ve seen players often stack their chips in a pyramid shape, but Vengrin had so few in front of him that his pyramid of chips were stacked only 1 chip high.
With the blinds at 500/1k a player in late postion raised to 2.5k and was called by the button, Dan “Stainley88″ Adams who was in the sb, and Vengrin who was in the big blind. Vengrin seemed reluctant to call preflop but getting very good odds he elected to toss in the extra 1.5k in chips to see the flop which came K42. Adams checked and Vengrin threw in his last 4.7k in chips. The original raiser made the call and both the button and Adams folded. Vengrin said “I have a set” as he tabled his 9644 and his opponent flipped over his AK72 and commented, “well I need a king or a little card.” Unfortunately for Vengrin the K fell on the turn leaving him drawing to the one remaining 4 in the deck to make quads but the river was the 5 and he was sent to the rail.
Eric “Rizen” Lynch was also knocked out just short of the money when his flopped set of aces were rivered by another player who made a flush along with the nut low.
82 players remain and the tension in the blue section of the Amazon room has risen as players try to fight (or slide) their way into the money. Play has slowed as the bubble approaches but with short stacks at many tables the bubble is likely not far away.
In the green section of the Amazon room John Phan has just captured WSOP gold for the 2nd time in less than a week as he captured the win in event #40, the 2-7 Triple Draw event. More than six hours passed between when the 4th place finisher was knocked out and when Phan finally claimed the bracelet and the $151,896 first prize.
P5er Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo is now heads up with Frank Gary in event #41’s final table and after just doubling Gary up the two are nearly even in chips, Tamayo having the slight advantage. This heads up match is sure to be exciting and we’ll keep you updated as it progresses.
Fair Day for Blair
by Brett on 06.24.08, 9:10 pm
Blair Rodman was just seen leaving the Rio, and we got the news that his day in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event has ended. Sitting with nearly 3K, Rodman (pictured right) got it all in preflop with A652 against AA86. The board ran out 9957T, giving his opponent a straight. Rodman’s bid at his second-ever Omaha Hi/Lo final table at the World Series came up short.
Two-hundred thirty-six of the original 720 players are still going strong. With the average stack at 9K, here’s a look at some notable chip counts in Event #43:
Matt “plattsburgh” Vengrin - 13K
Eric “Rizen” Lynch - 13K
Shannon Shorr - 6K
Dan “Stainley88″ Adams - 5.5K
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman - 5K
Chris “SKOAL” Falconer - 4K
Stu “thedonator” Paterson - 2.8K
We’re down to three players at the final table of the $1,500 Mixed Hold’em event. Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo is third in chips, but fighting back after making a fantastic call-down with king-high in the limit round. He has 200K chips; Nick Binger has 1.4 million and Frank Gary has 300K.
In the Passenger Seat
by Brett on 06.24.08, 7:47 pm
The five remaining players at today’s $1,500 Mixed Hold’em event final table have just returned from a 20-minute break and the the race to catch Nick Binger begins. Binger has over 1.3 million chips – more than half of the chips in play – and has single-handedly eliminated every player so far at the final table. Meanwhile, Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo sits patiently with 316K, good for second most at the table while the other three players hover around 200K.
Eric “Rizen” Lynch (13K), Shannon Shorr (8K), Chris “SKOAL” Falconer (7.7K) and Garrett “GBecks” Beckman (6.5K) are some of the notables still in today’s $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event. Almost 400 of the original 720 players have been eliminated, including bracelet winner Scott “BigRiskky” Clements (pictured left), who got all of his chips in preflop with KK32 and lost to a player’s aces just before the tournament went on a 20-minute break.