WSOP 2008
Dwan, Rivera Chip Leaders in 10k Mixed
by AdamJ on 06.06.08, 1:31 am
The young guns of high stakes poker are faring well in the 10k mixed event despite lacking years of experience compared to their live game pro counterparts.
Among the young pro’s doing well are Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Tony “tongni” Rivera, (pictured right) who were the top stacks after the dinner break with 33 players left.
Dwan, a 21-year-old online phenom, is the chip leader with 220k. Dwan specializes in nosebleed NL and PLO cash games at the highest stakes. Rivera, with 188k, is a 22-year-old who’s best known for limit hold-em, playing live 400-800 as well as high stakes mixed games.
Both are seated at a table stacked with live mixed game pro’s like Sammy Farha, who plays the 3k-6k mixed game in the Bellagio, as well as last year’s WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider, Mike Sexton, and Marcel Luske. Vanessa Rousso and Adam Friedman are also seated at the table.
Another table included Gus Hansen, Scott “gunning4you” Seiver, Ralph Perry, Brandon Adams, Lee Watkinson, Chad Brown, and James “mig.com” Mackey.
Mackey, winner of a 5k NL event last summer as a 21-year-old, had a solid stack of 135k in the 1k-2k NL round.
During the 1k-2k NL level, Farha faced elimination when he was all-in preflop for 63k and his A
Q
trailed Rouso’s A
K.
After a queen dropped on the turn and prevailed by the river, Rousso, stunned by the turn of events, proclaimed how unlucky she is for the next few minutes.
A few minutes later Farha was all-in again when he raised Schneider’s flop bet with an all-in move.
While Schneider was thinking, Hansen came over to watch the hand and proclaimed Farha as one of the most dangerous NL and PLO players, emphasizing “after Durrrr” of course in the pecking order.
Farha seemed amused by the compliment and raked the pot after Schneider folded.
Dwan and Farha were very active in the NL round as expected and played many pots against each other, resulting in some interesting hands.
Dwan opened from middle position for 5300 and Farha defended his big blind, calling 3200 more. Both players checked the K
J4 flop and the 3 turn Farha bet 12k and Dwan called. When the 7 dropped on the river, Farha checked and Dwan made an odd underbet of 4400. Farha called and mucked after Dwan tabled the 88 for a flush.
Sowers Eliminated in 8th Place
by Crystal on 06.01.08, 8:01 pm
At the final table of the PLHE tourney Mike Sexton raised to 110k and Mike Sowers (pictured at left) reraised to 390k from the big blind. Sexton moved all in and Sowers called. Sexton held the QQ while Sowers had the 94. The flop of K83 didn’t improve Sowers hand and after the turn showed the A he was drawing dead. The river was the J and Sowers was eliminated in 8th place, winning $99,264 for his efforts.
After the hand Sowers didn’t feel like having an interview with ESPN and left the area, but after he cooled off a little bit he showed true professionalism and returned to participate in the interview.
As the final table of the PLHE event continues, Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul was playing across the room in the 1.5k NLHE event. After losing a big hand with J-J vs his opponent’s K-T he was knocked out of the tournament when he pushed with A-9 and the big blind called him with pocket sixes. Saul flopped a 9 to take the lead, but a 6 came on the turn sealing his fate.
No Luck for the Ladies
by Jessica on 05.31.08, 7:53 pm
In the 10k PL event, things have not been going well for the majority of the remaining women in the field. With the blinds at 1500/3000 Anna Wroblewski pleaded with Nenad Medic to keep it friendly while she was in the small blind. He ignored her request and raised to 8,500. Wroblewski thought for a moment before reraising to 20,000. Medic reraised, putting her all in, and she made the call. Anna held A K to his pocket aces. The board came K 9 6 5 T and she was eliminated.
Just a couple of minutes later at the next table over, Jennifer Harman was also in the small blind when Chris Bell raised in the cut off to 9,600. She moved in for around 30k and Bell called. Harman showed J J while Chris held A K. Bell hit not just one, but two aces when the board came A 2 7 4 A, sending Harman to the rail. All hope is not lost for the ladies though, as two women, Jerri Thomas and Kathy Leibert, remain in the field.
Another recent elimination was Mario “Deuce2high” Silvestri, who moved all-in preflop on the button with 77. Called by a player in early position who showed KQ, the board brought a full house with Kings full and Mario quietly left the table.
Meanwhile, on Table 12, Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson led out with a 36K raise in middle position. A short stack called for the rest of his chips, showing 66 but the board was no help and Marco’s TT held. Several hands later at the same table, Mike Sexton raised pre-flop, meeting an immediate reraise from Vivek “psyduck” Rajkumar. After giving Vivek a hard time for his predictability, Sexton pushed all in with AT. Vivek called with A9, the board was no help, and Sexton doubled up. Afterwards, Eli Elezra laughed at Vivek’s “garbage hand.”
Other major chip movers in the event include Matt “mattg1983″ Graham who started the day with around 37K and is now up over 250K, Amit “amak316″ Makhija who is sitting at just over 300K, and Patrik Antonius.
Matt Graham got involved in two enormous pots. On a board of 654, Graham got it all in with Chris Ferguson holding KK and Graham 78 — a flopped straight. The 2 on the turn earned Graham the pot and he doubled to over 150K. Only a few minutes later, Graham took a huge pot off Tuan Le. Le opened with 8500 from the button, and Graham and Andy Bloch called from the blinds. The flop brought 975 and Graham and Bloch checked. Le bet 22K and Graham counted his chips and reraised to 67K. Bloch folded and Le called. Graham moved all in on the turn when the 5 appeared and Le folded, increasing Graham’s stack to around 260K.
Meanwhile, in Event #2 several P5ers remain in the field. Here are some recent chip counts:
Jason “JCarver” Somervile - 11k
Eric “Rizen” Lynch - 6K
Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin - 5K
Brent “bhanks11″ Hanks - 7K
Jason Gray - 3.5K
Brent Hanks recently doubled up. In a 4-way limped pot, Brent shoved from the big blind with pocket sevens and another player snap called with KQ. Hanks’ hand held and he was sitting at 7k going into break.