WSOP 2008
Eight Isn’t Enough
by Jessica on 06.28.08, 6:54 am
The $5K Short Handed No Limit Hold Em event may be down to only 8 players, but they are still two players shy of the final table. As we last reported, play had slowed significantly with 14 players remaining, but during the last level or two action picked up and we saw the field nearly cut in half.
First to hit the rail was Jason Gray (pictured at left), who was eliminated in 14th place when his 5
5
failed to hold against another player’s A
Q. Gray managed to fade both the flop and turn when the board came KT47, but the J on the river brought the other player a straight and Jason was sent home with $31,781.
Shortly after Gray left the Brasilia Room, Alex Jacob was eliminated in 11th place when he got it all-in with pocket nines against his opponent’s pocket tens on a board of 7
76. Steven “CornellFiji” Ware was battling a short stack much of the last level and eventually moved all-in from the small blind with J5 and the player in the big blind called with A5. The board ran out A877Q and Ware was eliminated in 9th place, earning $63,941.
Play will continue on into the early morning until they lose two more players. Recent bracelet winner Davidi “legrouzin” Kitai remains in the field. He currently sits with 390K–good enough for 7th in chips out of the eight remaining players.
Basebaldy Bullies Bubble and Whiffs
by Jill on 06.28.08, 5:24 am
The last hour has been a harrowing run for the bubble in Event #48, the $2K No-Limit Hold’em tournament. After finishing standard tournament play after Level 10, players were nearly on the bubble and took a 15-minute break before resuming to burst the bubble. Most players were anxiously hovering over other tables to watch action occur; one PocketFiver in particular took the opportunity to double up at the hesitation of his table.
Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade found himself incredibly short-stacked with 11K after a huge 80K lost pot to another player. He was visibly tilted by the loss, but when action folded to him in the cutoff, he shoved the rest of his stack into the middle. The player in the big blind (to whom he’d lost his chips earlier), thought awhile before calling and flipped over his KT to Tristan’s 7-8. Tristan was in big trouble when the flop spiked a ten, but a miracle 7 and 8 on the turn and river bought him an extra life in the tournament.
Our bubble boy for the evening was Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin (pictured at right), who raised from early position to 4.4K, hoping for a walk. His opponent re-raised him preflop to 16.4K, Baldwin shoved all in, and met an instant call. Baldwin was caught bluffing and whiffed 74 to his opponent’s pocket aces.
The 198 remaining players are guaranteed $3,795 for their run and will return at 2pm PST tomorrow afternoon to commence Day 2. PocketFivers still in the running for the $770,540 and WSOP bracelet include chip leader Eric “jakz101″ Crain with 253,500 chips, Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Daniel “voff” Deveau, Adam “akat11″ Katz, David “ComptonMasta” Barter, Gary “GB2005″ Bogdanski, Dan “wretchy” Martin, and Matt “plattsburgh” Vengrin.
Play has slowed substantially in the $5K No-Limit Hold’em 6-max event following the elimination of Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier in 16th place. While we last reported that Grospellier had picked up a healthy pot off Jason Gray, he ran into a series of hands that resulted in substantial hits to his chip count. The final blow came when Bertrand bet every street on a jack high board, moving all-in on the river with his A-J only to be called by the pocket aces of his opponent.
Gray has had a rollercoaster ride of a level himself. With the blinds at 6K/12K and an ante of 1K, Tom Luntz raised to 30K in early position and Jason reraised to 120K. Luntz then moved all-in and Gray made the call with A-Q. Luntz showed pocket jacks, but a queen on the turn shipped the 530K pot in Gray’s direction.
Just a few hands later, Luntz and Gray got it all-in preflop again and Tommy held pocket jacks a second time. Jason was in much worse shape this time around with his pocket tens and when the board came out AK53K Jason doubled Luntz up and was left with 225K. Play is scheduled to continue down to the final 6-handed table this evening.
Day 3 of the $50K HORSE event has come to a close and 24 players remain in contention for the much coveted bracelet. Barry Greenstein continues to stay towards the top of the leaderboard along with Daniel Negreanu. James “mig.com” Mackey will also be returning tomorrow to play down to the final eight players.
The Katz Came Back
by Jessica on 06.28.08, 4:20 am
If you have been following our coverage regularly, you may remember us reporting on Adam “akat11′ Katz’s (pictured at left) deep run in Event #13, a $2.5K No Limit Hold Em event. You may also remember us mentioning his “lucky masseuse”, Erin. Well, we are happy to report the duo are reunited and it appears to be feelin’ so good. Adam informed Pocket Fives that he was down to a mere 9K going into the dinner break. He was concerned about returning from dinner to 400/800 blinds, but all his fears dissipated when he spotted Erin in the distance.
Erin dutifully reported to Katz’s table after play resumed and has been by his side ever since. Their magic seems to be working again, because Adam is now up to 94K with only 7 players left to eliminate before the money bubble bursts.
Another player who has been moving up, up, and up is Eric “jakz101″ Crain who continues to maintain his chip lead. When we checked in with Eric, he told us that he has been picking up a number of quality starting hands and kept getting it all-in good and eliminating opponents.
Daniel “voff” Deveau reported to PocketFives that he doubled up in the last round at the expense of David “The Dragon” Pham who was on a tear at his table. Daniel picked up pocket kings when Phan had been showing down big pocket pairs for several hands in a row. He shoved all in for 30K and was pleased to see Pham call, as he held the hooks. Daniel’s hand held and his stack increased to 65K.
Here are some unofficial chip counts as play begins to wind down for the night:
Eric “jakz101″ Crain - 220K
Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin - 100K
Dan “wretchy” Martin - 45K
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 38K
David “DavidP18″ Peters - 37K (pictured at right)
David “ComptonMasta” Barter - 28K
Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade - 22K
Jon Wein - 22K
Matt “plattsburgh” Vengrin - 20K
Over in the $5K Short Handed No Limit Hold Em event, Jason Gray and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier recently tangled in a hand when Grospellier raised to 25K on the button with the blinds at 5K/10K ante 1K. Both the small blind and Gray in the big blind made the call and the trio saw a flop of J73. It checked around to Bertrand, who bet 46K. The small blind folded and Jason made the call. Both players checked the A on the turn and Gray checked once again when the 3 came on the river. Grospellier then bet out 127K and Jason tanked for a couple of minutes before making the call. ElkY rolled over 36 for a rivered set of trips and Gray pushed his hand into the muck.
Here are some updated chip counts from that event:
Alex Jacob - 660K
Davidi “legrouzin” Kitai - 620K
Steven “CornellFiji” Ware - 595K
Jason Gray - 315K
Making ‘Cmoney’
by Jessica on 06.28.08, 1:48 am
Chris ‘cmoney3′ Kline came into Day 2 of the $5K No Limit Hold Em 6-max with only 16K in chips. Chris informed us he came in 95th in chips out of the 96 players who made it to the second day of play and, with the blinds starting at 800/1,600 with a 200 ante, he knew he had his work cut out with him to make it to the money.
Now there are 30 players left in the event, Kline is guaranteed $20,430 and his stack is beginning to grow. Chris nursed his short stack for some time and finally found a good spot to double up. With the blinds at 3K/6K ante 500 a player in early position raised to 16.5K and Kline moved all-in for around 70K total. The other player thought for a minute or so before making a crying call with AT. Chris was in a race situation with 88. The board came K7793 and his pocket eights held and increased his chip stack to nearly 150K.
Other players who failed in their attempts to double up include Chris “cdbr3799″ Dombrowski, who reraised all-in for 70K with 44 after a player under the gun raised. The other player made the call with KJ and, when the board ran out AAJJ6, Dombrowski was eliminated in 34th place.
Ryan “Daut44″ Daut took a big hit to his already dwindling stack when he moved all-in from the cut-off for just shy of 80K. The player in the big blind made the call with TT and Daut was in bad shape with his 88. The cards ran out 733K2 and Ryan was left with only 5K.
Two hands later, Daut was all-in in the big blind for his remaining chips and the same player who held pocket tens earlier raised on the button. The small blind folded and the other player again turned over pocket tens. Daut was in even worse shape the second time around with 39. His hand failed to improve and he was eliminated in 31st place.
Here are some selected chip counts of a few of the remaining players:
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier - 590K
Steven “CornellFiji” Ware - 420K
Jason Gray - 420K
Shannon Shorr - 187K
Alex Jacob - 135K
Over in the $2K No Limit Hold Em Event, David “ComptonMasta” Barter was on red alert with a short stack when he picked up A-Q in the hijack and shoved it in preflop. One opponent with pocket tens called Barter down, but he managed to flop an ace to double up. Moved recently to a new table, he sat much more comfortably with 21K.
Daniel “voff” Deveau (pictured at right) was sitting pretty with about 65K when we caught up to his table, though he reported he’s been moved four times in the last level. His newest table had more chips, but he was still feeling them out. Under the gun, after a short-stacked player in the big blind raised, Daniel called. The flop came 963 and Daniel bet out, forcing him to make a decision for all his chips. The short-stacked player called and showed 10-9 to Daniel’s 9-2. The turn and river came 64 and was no help to Daniel, who looked up and said “Oops!” before laughing. His stack took the hit and was down to 50K, still double the average.
Meanwhile, Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade won several more small pots over the last level, which he reported has been his strategy all day. In a hand that exemplified this no-showdown policy, he reraised 10K more against a player raising under the gun and one caller. The other players folded and he was up to 35K.
John Wein has also chipped up to healthy 30K, though he previously held a larger stack that he spewed through the following hand: There was a late limper and Wein checked in the big blind. The flop came AQ8 and he held A-T with no hearts. His opponent bet 2.5K after the flop, which Wein called. A blank came on the turn, and his opponent shoved for 13K more. Wein called with his pair of aces, but the A on the river caught up his opponent’s J9 for an ace-high flush. Later on, however, Wein looked down at pocket aces and raised 3K on the button. An early player shoved for 13K and Wein called. He won the hand and caught himself back up to 30K.