WSOP 2008
Dropping Like Flies
by Crystal on 07.03.08, 6:55 am
While the players in the $1.5k LHE Shootout played nine-handed for what seemed like an eternity, the ever growing blinds are starting to take their toll on the short stacks and play is now five-handed. The last three eliminations all happened in a span of less than 30 minutes.
Spencer “spankybabes” Lawrence was just knocked out when he got the remainder of his chips in preflop with the K
T
and was called by Jean-Robert Bellande who held the A9. The board ran out 963
2Q and Bellande’s pair of nines was good enough to send Lawrence to the rail in 6th place. He will take home $20,221 for his efforts.
Bellande talked to one of the floor supervisiors earlier about trying to end play at a certain time tonight and to come back tomorrow afternoon to finish and was told that if the entire table agreed then they could arrange it. The table has not agreed to this so for now play will continue until only one man is left holding all the chips.
Matt “mattg1983″ Graham has maintained a stack close to 300K during the past few levels without getting involved in any significant pots. His latest battle came against Brandon Wong. Graham three-bet Wong preflop with the blinds at 10K/15K and Wong made the call to see a flop of Q4
3. Matt bet 30K and Wong called, and then called bets from Graham when the 9 and 9 hit on the turn and river. Graham showed 77 and Wong mucked.
Spencer None the Richer
by Brett on 07.03.08, 5:22 am
Spencer “spankybabes” Lawrence has watched his stack diminish during the past level of the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout following a pair of pots lost to John Kranyak and Matt “mattg1983″ Graham. The first came with blinds at 5K/10K. Kranyak raised to 20K preflop and Lawrence (pictured right) three-bet from the big blind. Kranyak called and the players saw a flop of 986. The players four-bet each other and then Lawrence check-called a bet of 20K when the 2 fell on the turn. He again checked the 3 on the river and Kranyak bet 20K again. Lawrence shrugged his shoulders and called to see that Kranyak has KQ for a flush.
Two hands later, Lawrence raised from the button and Graham three-bet from the small blind. Lawrence called and the flop was KJ9. Graham led out and Lawrence called. The 8 came on the turn and again Lawrence called a bet from Graham. The river was the T and Lawrence yet again called a bet from Graham and let out a groan when Graham flipped over AQ for a rivered straight. Graham is sitting with 275K while Lawrence dropped to 150K.
Four hours after the first cards were dealt at the final table, there are still nine players remaining.
Sitron Takes 2nd
by Crystal on 07.03.08, 4:18 am
Scott “ssitron” Sitron came into the heads-up match against David Daneshgar with nearly a 2 to 1 chip advantage but his aggressive opponent was able to knock Sitron down and eventually out in only 50 hands.
Daneshgar caught some very big hands during the heads-up match including aces (twice) and kings but Sitron was able to avoid most of Daneshgar’s monster hands. In one crucial hand Sitron raised to 320k and Daneshgar re-raised to 895k total. Sitron made the call and they saw the flop come A62. Daneshgar led out with a bet of 610k and Sitron called. When the 6 fell on the turn Daneshgar checked over to Sitron who bet 800k and Daneshgar instantly pushed all in prompting Sitron to fold, giving Daneshgar the chip lead.
Sitron was able to take a few small pots after that hand to try to start building his stack back up, but then on one hand where Daneshgar raised to 400k, Sitron pushed all-in for 2.9 million and Daneshgar very quickly called with his TT. Sitron was in need of some help with his A8 but the board ran out 6649J and Daneshgar eliminated Sitron in 2nd place.
After coming to the final table 8th out of 9 in chips Sitron made an amazing run and played some great cards and nets a hefty $385,974. Congrats Scott!
Matt “mattg1983″ Graham is still battling at the final table of the LHE shootout and we’re all thinking that it might be a very long night. The blinds are still relatively small in relation to the chip stacks so no one has been eliminated yet although Danny Wong is down to around 75k of the 300k everyone started with. Graham has around 200k and Spencer “spankybabes” Lawrence is sitting close to the starting stack with around 270k. Not too much action going on yet but as the blinds continue to rise we expect play to speed up.
So Close He Can Taste It!
by Brett on 07.03.08, 2:29 am
Scott “ssitron” Sitron eliminated Dan Heimeller in third place of the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event and is now heads up against David Daneshgar. With the blinds at 50K/100K, Sitron (pictured left) raised to 225K from the button and Heimiller re-raised all in for a total of 1.6 million from the big blind. Sitron made the call with AT and had Heimillers A3 in trouble. Sitron made a pair of tens on the flop and held on to take the pot and advance to the final two. Heimiller, like Sitron, is a regular in the high-stakes MTT’s online and plays under the handle “Lenny.”
Sitron currently has a 5-3 chip advantage on Daneshgar, but Daneshgar has been the more aggressive player thus far and is progressively chipping up against the online star.
The $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout final table began a little after 10:00 PT and the final nine players have a long night of poker ahead of them. Matt “mattg1983″ Graham and Spencer “spankybabes ” Lawrence are seated next to each other, with Danny Wong and Jean-Robert Bellande sitting directly to Lawrence’s right. Play has started slow as expected but Graham and Lawrence have already tangled in a pot. With blinds at 2k/4K, Graham raised under the gun and got two callers, including Lawrence. The flop brought T96 and Lawrence check-raised a bet by Graham, who called. Lawrence then bet in the dark on the turn and Graham folded when the J peeled off.
Graham slid to 240K (with starting stack at 300K) until he took a sizable pot from John Kranyak. Kranyak raised preflop and Graham made the call to see a flop of AK4. Kranyak bet and Graham made the call, which was the same action when the 4 fell on the turn. The K came on the river and this time Kranyak check-called Graham, who showed AQ and Kranyak mucked. Matt is now just shy of his original starting stack.