WSOP 2008
A Champion is Born
by Brett on 07.03.08, 10:38 am
Matt “mattg1983″ Graham played Limit Hold ‘em for 17 hours all day Wednesday and into Thursday, but just ask him if it was worth the frustration and exhaustion. Graham overcame an enormous heads-up chip lead by Jean-Robert Bellande to earn a World Series of Poker bracelet at his first ever World Series final table in the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout.
Graham was almost silent for most of the evening, rarely playing any large pots, and snuck his way into a heads up match with Bellande. From there, it seemed almost too easy as Graham used Bellande’s short fuse to his advantage and picked off a number of Bellande’s bluffs to even the match.
The big blow came a little after 7:00 am PT in Round 19. On a flop of J
5
2
, Bellande bet 50K and Graham raised. Bellande called and saw the 4 fall on the turn. He check-raised a bet from Graham and Matt called. Bellande then check-called a bet from Graham when the 7 came on the river and mucked when Graham flipped over J9.
Bellande was left was less than 300K chips after the hand and was eliminated two hands later when he got it in preflop with 9
7 against Graham’s AJ. The board was kind to Matt, who earned $278,180 and the gold bracelet for his first-place finish.
We’ll be back at noon for the kickoff of the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event!
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 KT and was called by Jean-Robert Bellande who held the A9. The board ran out 9632Q 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 Q43. 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.