WSOP 2008
Tuf Break
by Brett on 07.12.08, 8:45 pm
Andy “tufat23″ Teng went through the gamut of emotions on the hand that ultimately ended his run on Day 5 of the Main Event. With blinds at 8K/16K/2K, Shawn Sheikhan opened and another opponent reraised to 150k. Teng (pictured left) reraised to 400k, a move tantamount to moving all-in with about 500k behind. Sheikhan folded and the 3-bettor put Teng all-in and Teng called. Teng tabled the A
K
but was trailing his opponent’s K
K
until the flop came A35. Another player at the table announced that he had folded an ace before the 7 peeled on the turn. The gallery of fans standing around the table nearly fainted when the K dropped on the river, shipping a pot over 1.8 million away from Teng.
“I was like I am not even going to celebrate when the ace hit,” Teng told Pocketfives later. “Plus, I don’t want to rub it in to some guy that looks like he’s about to lose a monster pot with kings either.”
At one point during Day 5 Cort “the cortster” Kibler-Melby’s stack had grown to nearly 1 million. He’s got some work to do to reach that mark again here in Level 21. Cort is seated to the left of Phil Hellmuth and saw a cheap flop with Phil out of the big blind. Both checked the 953 flop, and Hellmuth led out for 62K when the A hit on the turn. Kibler-Melby min-raised to 124K and Hellmuth made the call. The 9 fell on the river and Hellmuth bet 200K. Kibler-Melby decided to make the call and mucked when Phil showed 33 for a full house. The hand dropped Cort to 400K.
A battle between two titans of online poker resulted in a swing of chips for Adam “Roothlus” Levy (pictured right) and Garrett “GBecks” Beckman. Alex Kostritsyn opened to 40k from early position and Levy called from middle position and Beckman called from late position. Both players checked the A35 flop to Beckman, who bet 80k and Levy called. The turn was the 9 and Levy checked and Beckman bet 125k and Levy moved all-in for an about 250k more and Beckman folded.
Ladbrokes pro Jeff Kimber was quiet for most of the day and finally busted when he ran his pocket kings into a pair of nines and his opponent flopped a full house. Kimber earned $41,816 for his 120th place finish. Keith “damurdera3″ Ferrera was eliminated just moments before in 121st place and will take home the same amount.
Raja “tiger76″ Kattmuri was eliminated when he shoved all-in preflop and was called by a player holding the 88. Raja held the KQ and needed some help but unforunately for him the flop came 8-5-2 giving his opponent a set and left Raja drawing dead. He was eliminated in 123rd place for $41,816.
Now that we’ve been able to make our way onto the tournament floor, we have some updated chip counts! With the average stack at 1.1 million and 120 players remaining, here’s a look at the notables still hanging around:
David “raptor517″ Benefield - 2.4M
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe - 1.2M
Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal - 1.1M
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman - 950K
Peter “number1pen” Neff - 900K
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 815K
Matt Jensen - 780K
Jeff “jpapola” Papola - 620K
Jeremy “thechemist83″ Gaubert - 620K
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki - 550K
Dan “Wildman75″ Buzgon - 450K
Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby - 400K
Pocket Fives No Good vs Pocket Kings
by Crystal on 07.12.08, 5:34 pm
Even being a PocketFiver couldn’t help Chris “panamatony” Barille’s pocket fives against another player’s pocket kings. All the chips went in pre-flop and a king hit the turn to solidify the other player’s hand and Barille (pictured left) was sent to the rail.
Sitting at the same table was Andrew “tufat23″ Teng, whose luck was running a little bit better. Teng called another player’s all-in bet preflop with the AJ only to find he was behind the other players AK. The flop came down J92 to catapult Teng into the lead with a pair of jacks. There was no king on the turn or river and Teng added to his already large stack. He is currently sitting with 1.1 million.
Our access is a bit limited right now due to media restrictions but we will continue to do our best to provide you with updates of the remaining players we’re covering. Here’s a look at some chip counts of those still alive with 158 players left in the Main Event:
David “raptor517″ Benefield - 2.7M (right)
Peter “number1pen” Neff - 1.25M
Andy “tufat23″ Teng - 1.1M
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe - 900K
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 750K
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki - 650K
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman - 470K
Looking Back in the Rearviewmirror
by Jill on 07.12.08, 1:21 am
Players recently returned from the dinner break and cards were in the air shortly after 9:40pm PST at the Rio. Play will continue this evening until 180 remain or until we complete one more two-hour level.
Just before the crowd in the Amazon Room dispersed for their suppers, several noteworthy things occurred, not the least of which was the crushing and subsequent elimination of Jon “PearlJammer” Turner (pictured at right). Turner was recently reseated at the second featured table, just to the side of the ESPN arena. He was reunited with Jeremiah Smith, with whom he sat next to during yesterday’s play and who still guarded a huge stack.
In a hand that will inevitably haunt Jon for a long time, he raised preflop to 21K and the player on the button called him. The dealer flopped out AT8 and Turner, first to act, bet 41K. His opponent raised him to nearly twice the pot’s size and Jon pushed alll in for 340K more. His opponent thought for a long time before calling down with 89 and was completely dominated by Jon’s pocket aces, which had flopped top set. However, the Q on the turn gave his opponent a flush, and Jon was looking for the board to pair. The meaningless 4 came on the river and Jon was sent to the sidelines looking like his puppy had been stolen.
Joe “LatestLines2″ Ward (pictured at left) also experienced heartbreak on the very last hand before the break when he faced off with Gus Hansen. On a flop of AT5, Joe tossed 100K into the pot and Hansen made the call. The dealer turned the 9 and Joe checked; Hansen took the opportunity to bet 200K, which Ward check-raised for 385K more when he went all in. Hansen ended up making the call and showing A-T to Joe’s A-Q; and Joe’s pair of aces couldn’t catch a queen on the river to make a better two pair. He was eliminated in 218th place and will take home $38,600 for his efforts.
In better news, Andrew “tufat23″ Teng has managed to chip up substantially after break, more than quadrupling his pre-dinner stack, which had been down to 200K in the middle of the last level. He now sits much more comfortably with 800K in front of him.
Over at the table of doom, Andy “BadgerPro” Schultz joined Keith “damurdera3″ Ferrera, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Jeremy “thechemist83″ Gaubert and Phil Hellmuth. It didn’t take long into the new level for Schultz to make a move. On a board of 652, Gaubert bet 45K and Shultz check-raised all in from the big blind from 94K more. Gaubert made with call with 99 and needed to come from behind to beat the 65 of Schultz. The turn and river bricked for Gaubert, increasing Andy’s stack to over 200K.
More chip counts (and hopefully, better news) to come shortly as we get this level under way!