WSOP 2008
A Little Less Estrogen in the Room…
by Crystal on 07.14.08, 8:55 pm
Much to the dismay of a number of the players and spectators, the lovely Tiffany Michelle was eliminated in 17th place.
Dennis Phillips raised to 500K under the gun and Peter Eastgate called as did Tiffany Michelle from the big blind. The flop came A
T
9
, Tiffany checked and Phillips bet 1 million. Eastgate called and Michelle thought for a bit before declaring she was “All in.” for about 3.8 million more. Phillips folded and Eastgate called. Tiffany may have thought her AJ for top pair was good but she was actually way behind the flopped set of aces that Eastgate held with his A
A. Tiffany was drawing only to a runner-runner straight but the 5 on the turn was no help and she was sent to the rail in 17th place. The crowd gave her a standing ovation and Tournament Director Brooks Turk announced that Michelle was the WSOP Main Event’s highest-finishing female since 2000.
A little while after Tiffany’s elimination, Peter Eastgate raised to 350K and Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery re-raised to 900K. Eastgate made the call and the flop came Q92. Eastgate checked over to Montgomery who bet 1.4 million and Eastgate smooth called. The T fell on the turn and both players checked to see the T on the river. Both players checked again and Eastgate tabled his JJ for two pair and Montgomery mucked his hand. Eastgate’s stack rose to 16.5 million while Montgomery dropped to just below 10 million.
Eastgate has continued his massive run by eliminating Anthony Scherer in 16th place. All the chips went in pre-flop with Scherer holding the A8 to Eastgate’s KK. The board ran out 99255 and the kings held to knock out Scherer and rocket Eastgate’s stack up to 18.5 million and make him the chip leader.
With 15 players remaining, here are all the players current chip counts.
Peter Eastgate 18,500,000
Joe Bishop 17,100,000
Craig Marquis 14,850,000
Dennis Phillips 13,775,000
Darus Suharto 12,300,000
Ylon Schwartz 11,900,000
Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery 10,525,000
Kelly Kim 7,800,000
Dean Hamrick 7,025,000
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki 6,300,000
Ivan Demidov 5,100,000
Nicholas Sliwinski 4,200,000
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe 3,900,000
David ‘Chino’ Rheem 3,800,000
Gert Andersen 3,800,000
Two Tables Remain…
by Crystal on 07.14.08, 6:43 pm
There are now only 18 players remaining in the tournament, and there has been a lot of action going on. There have been a number of all-ins as of late as players with less chips try to gain more ground in their quest to make the final table.
Toni Cristian was planning on making a raise from under the gun, but the manner in which he put in his chips was determined to be a string bet so he only was able to call. Nicholas Sliwinski also limped into the pot before Albert Kim raised to 800k. Judet took the opportunity to put in the raise he originally wanted to and moved all in for 2 million total. Sliwinski folded but Kim made the call. Cristian held the AA against Kim’s 99. The board ran out T84J3 and Cristian managed a double up. Unfortunately for Cristian, his pocket jacks couldn’t best another players pocket kings and he was eliminated in 22nd place.
Right before Cristian’s elimination, Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery (pictured left) raised to 300K and Tim Loecke moved all in for his last 525K. Ylon Schwartz called from the button and Scott also made the call. The flop came AT2 and Scott and Ylon both checked, but when the 3 fell on the turn Montgomery checked and Schwartz bet 600K. Scott folded his hand, and Schwartz turned over his 33 for a turned set. Loecke’s pocket sixes had been outdrawn and when the 4 came on the river Tim Loecke was eliminated in 23rd place.
On the ESPN Featured table, Kelly Kim raised to 275K and Brandon Cantu reraised to 950K and Dean Hamrick moved all in. Kim let his hand go and Cantu went into the tank. Cantu contemplated what to do for over five minutes before finally saying “I call.” Hamrick flipped over the AA and the crowd was shocked to see Cantu flip over his T5. The flop gave Cantu’s hand a bit more strength as it came down with the 875 but the aces were still in the lead. The turn brought the 8 taking away any tens as possible outs for Cantu’s hand so it seemed ironic that the T fell on the river giving Cantu two pair, but the aces and eights were still best and Hamrick took down the hand and doubled his stack. Cantu was down to 2.4 million after the hand while Hamrick was up to 5.5 million. Cantu became the tournament’s shortest stack.
Cantu was eliminated soon afterward when he got all the chips in with the 99 against Peter Eastgate’s AQ. The board ran out 86384 and Eastgate’s ace-high flush was the best hand to send Cantu out in 20th place.
Just when we thought there might be a lull in the eliminations, but then Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki (pictured right) and another player tangled in a big pot. Albert Kim raised in the cutoff to 275K and Klodnicki re-raised to 750K on the button. The blinds folded and Kim moved all in. Both Kim and Klodnicki had similar sized stacks so Klodnicki tanked for a bit before eventually making the call. Klodnicki held the 99 against Kim’s AK. The board ran out 9863T and Klodnicki’s set of nines was enough to send Kim to the rail in 19th place.
Players are currently redrawing for seats at the final two tables and will resume play soon. The chip leader Dennis Phillips currently has 14.2 million in chips while the short stack is Anthony Scherer with 2.7 million.
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki has 7.4 million, Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery has 5.5 million, and Owen “ocrowe” Crowe has 4 million.
Players Getting Serious
by Crystal on 07.14.08, 4:30 pm
Although all the players in the Main Event dreamt of the more than $9 million dollar 1st place prize from the outset of the tournament, the mood in the Rio today is a far cry from that of the first few days. Whereas players were still inclined to drink and socalize with their tablemates during past days, today they are all almost silent. The three remaining tables are located in a small corner of the room and the rest of the Amazon room is barren. No more tables, no more cash games, just the occasional railbird walking through to see if he/she can catch a glimpse of the action.
The reality of the final table has obviously sunk in to these remaining players minds and the thought of being one of the elusive “November Nine” is making the action on the tables a little slower, players being a little more thoughtful as the difference between becoming famous and being forgotten could rest on one hand.
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe didn’t waste any time getting down to business today. On the first hand of play Owen (pictured above) raised to 225K and Tiffany Michelle called. The flop brought the 875 and Owen bet out 375K. Tiffany made the call and they saw the 3 fall on the turn. Owen check-raised Tiffany’s 500K bet to more than 1.5M and Tiffany folded her hand. Owen showed the J9 for a double-gutted straight draw before scooping up the pot.
Team Ladbrokes Player Peter Eastgate was also splashing around early. He raised to 225K and was called by one player. The flop brought the 522. Peter bet out 340K and the other player made the call to see the 7 fall on the turn. This time Peter bet 825K and again was called by his opponent. The river was the 4 and Peter fired a third bet of 1.7M and was looked up once again. Unfortunately for Peter’s opponent, the board filled with raggedy looking cards matched up with Peters 42 perfectly and Peter’s full house was good enough to rake in a huge pot and increase his stack to over 12 million.
Two players have already been eliminated so now there are 25 left to duke it out for one of the top nine spots. Recent chip counts are listed below.
Team Ladbrokes Player Peter Eastgate - 12.8M (the current chip leader)
Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery - 4.9M
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki - 4.6M
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe - 3M
GBye, GBecks!
by Jill on 07.14.08, 1:43 am
As Level 27 comes to a close with the blinds at 30K/60K and an ante of 10K, players are really tightening up their games. Though the first two levels of the day saw the field decrease from its starting point of 79 all the way down to 44 remaining, the last two levels have only seen the elimination of 11 additional contenders. All players are guaranteed $193,000, though the final table is so close it’s nearly palpable.
Craig Marquis is the currently chipleader with nearly 11.5 million chips, properly representing for internet poker. Team Ladbrokes player Peter Eastgate (pictured at left) is also in the top three with 8.9M in chips.
Several PocketFivers tried to continue hanging on as the blinds escalate, but were facing stacks quite short of the 4.5M average. Garrett “GBecks” Beckman (pictured at right) recently doubled up when it folded around to him and he shoved all-in for his remaining 870K. Dennis Phillips quickly called and everyone else folded. Phillips turned over QQ and Beckman appeared to be in bad shape with his KJ. The flop came J44 and Garrett picked up two more outs to take down the pot. The J on the turn put Beckman in the lead in the hand and the K on the river doubled Garrett up to 1.95 million.
However, in an unfortunate turn of events for Garrett, the last hand at the featured table made him head for the exit. Garrett got it all in on the turn with the 6-7-T-9 board showing three clubs. Garrett held AQ for the nut flush draw, but his opponent held Q8 for the made straight. The river bricked out and Garrett was sent home in 31st Place, receiving $193,000 for his efforts. Many congratulations for the deep run!