WSOP 2008
2008 WSOP Main Event, Day 1A Concludes
by Jill on 07.04.08, 4:48 am
Play concluded for Day 1A of the Main Event just after 1AM PST. Nearly half of the day’s entrants were eliminated in the 10K championship; 657 of 1,297 remain for Day 2 play. Day 1b will commence tomorrow at 12pm PST at the Rio, but before we get ahead of ourselves, here is a wrap-up of Level 5, which brought quite a bit of excitement for PocketFives players.
After patiently waiting the entire level, Jeff “yellowsub” Williams (pictured at right) finally got his last 5K all in from the big blind after the player on the button raised to 1.2K. He was in great shape with A-K versus his opponent’s A-5. The flop came Q-7-2. When a queen came on the turn, Jeff looked nervous, fearing a chop, but an ace on the river sealed the deal and he doubled up to 10.5K in chips.
Another big double-up came for Richard “Lee Nickel” Fohrenbach, who had been sitting on a short stack for quite awhile. He got involved in a hand with one other player and Richard’s A
Q
bested his opponent’s AT on a A
979
2 board. He doubled up to 28K.
PocketFives also caught up with Joe “latestlines2″ Ward who was in the small blind and engaged in a hand with one other opponent. The board ran out 4-A-K-9-T and Joe’s A-6 held up to increase his stack to 56K. Shortly afterward, Joe also got involved in a hand when the board ran out J6J96. He bet out on the river and was called; both players showed A-Q for the chop, but they each picked up the blinds, antes, and a couple of limpers’ chips, so Joe increased his stack to 68K.
Josh “Squintngo” Goldstein (pictured at left), on the other hand, was feeling a little suppressed as he explained that his table was extremely nitty, yet the table next to theirs kept the camera crews running over every other hand with their all in action. Nitty or not, Josh’s stack stayed strong at 43K and he will continue on to Day 2 after attending a wedding in Chicago during his break.
Recent eliminations include Adam “akat11″ Katz, whose pocket queens couldn’t catch his opponents pocket kings, and Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul, whose all-in preflop K-J couldn’t best his opponent’s K-Q. Also suspiciously missing from their seats? JC “PrtyPSux” Alvarado and Eric “p3achy_keen” Liu, about whom we haven’t heard any news.
Congrats to all players who played valiantly through Day 1a! Though official chip counts will be released later this evening, here are estimates at the end of Level 5:
Michael “dblupM0j” Johnson - 114K
Mark “pokerbok” Vos - 106K
Jeremiah Smith - 99K
Tim “tmay420″ West - 70K
Jason Gray - 69.4K
Louis “MrBeeks” Werman - 57.4K
Joe “latestlines2″ Ward - 68K
Jamie “TheChronic420″ Rosen - 55K
Blair “blur5f6″ Hinkle - 54K
Steve “McNallyville” McNally - 50K
Eric “jakz101″ Crain - 50K
Peter “number1pen” Neff- 49K
Josh “Squintngo” Goldstein - 43K
Brendan “moe86″ Mahoney - 37.6
Kevin “Kice32″ Iacofano - 37.5K
Doug “Resilient” Smith - 35.8K
Justin “looshle” Pechie - 32K
Craig “MrCasino” Gray - 26K
Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke - 21K
Jordan “iMsoLucky0″ Morgan - 21K
Barry Greenstein - 21K
Short Stacked Shorr Looking to Chip Up
by Crystal on 07.04.08, 3:16 am
Shannon Shorr has been short stacked during this last level of the night but that hasn’t deterred him from getting involved in pots. When Shannon (pictured left) had 7.3k in chips remaining a player raised to 1.1k and Shannon pushed all in. The other player folded and Shannon added a bit more to his stack.
Soon after that hand Shannon raised to 1.1k in the hi-jack seat and the cutoff made the call. The flop came AT4 and both players checked. The 9 came on the turn and again both players checked. When the 5 came on the river Shannon bet 2.7k and after some thought his opponent folded.
The very next hand Shannon again raised to 1.1k but this time the player to his left re-raised to 3.1k. the table folded back around to Shannon who reluctantly folded. It seems he is trying to chip up bit by bit and not risk his whole stack unnecessarily.
When PocketFives caught up to Jon “PearlJammer” Turner’s table in the Orange section, he was sitting comfortably with 51k in chips in front of him. Turner (pictured right) alerted us to another P5er still in the race for the bracelet a few tables over. Sure enough, when we caught up to the action at Steve “McNallyville” McNally’s table, the dealer laid a flop of 9T9 and Steve bet out 3,650 after one other early player checked to him. His opponent called and the dealer turned the 2. Both players checked to see the 8 on the river. Steve’s opponent, first to act, checked to him and he answered with a 5.1K bet. After quite awhile in the tank, the other player called and Steve flipped over 98 for the full house. He shipped the chips into his growing stack, which was up to 42K.
Jason Gray continues to add to his stack, most recently we caught up with him and one other player involved in a hand with the flop showing T44. They both checked and saw the 4 come on the turn. The other player bet out 1,525 and Jason called. WHen the K fell on the river the other player checked over to Jason who bet 2.6k. The other player went into the tank for a bit before finally making the call. The other player showed 55 for fours full of fives, but Jason held the KQ for fours full of kings and he took the pot. He now has almost 40k in chips and will be now able to keep an eye on his twin brother Craig “MrCasino” Gray as they are now seated at tables right next to each other and keep stepping away from the table to update each other (as seen in the picture at right). Craig is sitting with around 23k.
Below are some other notable chip counts as play begins to wind down for the night. Players have a little less than an hour to go before day 1a will officially be in the books.
Tim “tmay420″ West - 71K
Eric “jakz101″ Crain - 52K
Jon “PearlJammer” Turner - 51K
Steve “McNallyville” McNally - 42K
Jordan “iMsoLucky0″ Morgan - 19K
Barry Greenstein - 9.5K
The Toilet-0 Dethrones His Opponent
by Jill on 07.04.08, 2:01 am
As Level 4 comes to a close and players anticipate the blinds increasing from 150/300 to 200/400 for the last level of play this evening, many players were making moves and chipping up before the break. We caught up with Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke as he called a river bet with T9 with two tens on the board to take down a good-sized pot and increase his stack from 22K to 30K.
Two tables over, Faraz “The Toilet-0″ Jaka (pictured at left) called an all-in bet on a flop of 443 against one opponent. He flipped over pocket kings to his opponent’s pocket nines; the dealer waved the magic “All-In” sign and the media descended on the table. The turn and river came 22 and Faraz increased his stack from 32.5K to 61K. His good-natured opponent shook everyone’s hand and exited the Amazon room.
In the Orange section, Jason Gray and one opponent saw a flop of QJ7 and both decided to check. When the 8 fell on the turn, Jason checked and the other player bet 2K. Jason made the call and the river brought the 2. Jason led out with a bet of 5K and his opponent called. Jason flipped over his 87 for two pair and the other player angrily mucked his hand and said “nice catch.” Jason just smiled and scooped up the pot. Jason is now sitting with a little more than 30K.
At the other end of the Amazon Blue section, PocketFives watched as Jamie “TheChronic420″ Rosen raised to 4.2K preflop with 23K behind. One opponent called after the rest of the table folded and the flop came JT6. His opponent pushed all in and Jamie snap-called him; he showed KK to the other player’s A-K. Jamie’s pocket kings held up effortlessly when turn was the 5 and the river the 4; he scooped the pot and was up to 67K, which he informed us was where he sat about ten minutes prior to the confrontation.
Other unofficial chip counts prior to the break:
Blair “blur5f6″ Hinkle - 86K
Jamie “TheChronic420″ Rosen - 67K
Faraz “The Toilet-0″ Jaka - 61K
Louis “MrBeeks” Werman (pictured at right)- 50K
Doug “Resilient” Smith - 40.3K
Brendan “moe86″ Mahoney - 35K
Jason Gray - 30K
Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke - 30K
Justin “looshle” Pechie - 17K
JC “PrtyPSux” Alvarado - 17K
Adam “akat11″ Katz - 10.5K
Jeff “yellowsub” Williams - 8K
Peter Cries De Wolfe
by Jill on 07.04.08, 12:58 am
Now back from dinner break and midway into Level 4, some players were feeling a bit squeezed by their short stacks and put to difficult decisions. PocketFives caught up with Dan “wretchy” Martin (pictured at right) in the Green section of the Amazon room sporting a stack of 2.8K, asking P5s to abstain from counting it out. It seemed like his friendly table image was working to his advantage, however, laughing as he shoved and raking in a few uncontested pots as we watched. He was definitely in emergency mode, but we all saw what happened to Matt “MattG1983″ Graham after he was down to one big blind last night — it won him a bracelet!
Nearby in the Green section sat Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul and Andy “BadgerPro” Schultz. We caught up with action at the table in a very interesting hand where Kevin was put to a decision for most of his chips. Before the flop, both the big blind and the small blind were in the hand, as well as two early limpers. The cutoff raised to a total of 3.1K with about 3K behind and Kevin sat on the button. Shuffling his chips, Kevin queried his opponent: “What was your name online?” He answered, “CG2212. Does that help you?” Kevin joked, “No.” His opponent took his sunglasses off and Kevin paused quite awhile to count out his chips before throwing his hand in the muck. Ultimately, one of the players in the blind shoved and got the call from the original raiser; the blind held A-K to his opponent’s pocket fours. Kevin, relieved, explained that he held A-Q and caught the sunglass tell; when the flop spiked an ace, his opponent was sent to the rail.
Peter “number1pen” Neff (pictured at left) told PocketFives at dinner break that he couldn’t wait for his table in the Orange section to break. Considering the lineup has featured everyone from David Benyamine to Brock “t_soprano” Parker to Roland De Wolfe to Gavin Smith, who can blame him? Upon returning from break, he first won a decent-sized pot off Brock with a full house. Then, with the blinds at 150/300 with an ante of 25, he picked up aces and raised preflop to 850. The small blind called and Roland De Wolfe made it 3K from the big blind. Peter shoved all in for the remainder of his 18K chips. The small blind folded and Roland called off his last 6K with pocket queens. Neff’s hand held up and subsequently, he got his wish when the table broke. Considering his hot streak, did he speak too soon?
Eric “jakz101″ Crain managed to double his stack when he got all his chips in preflop with KQ against his opponent’s 66. The board ran out 943Q9 and Eric’s queens and nines were good enough to take the pot; he has continued to build since then. In a recent hand, the board read 98667. Although we missed the action, it appeared that both players checked it down the whole way. When they both checked on the river Eric said “Dude, I flopped a straight but I’m going to check.” He flipped over his 75 which was good enough to take the pot. As he raked in the chips he said “I was hoping to get in a check-raise on the flop, then I didn’t like the turn, and I really didn’t like the river. Did you have outs?” The other player laughed and said no, so it seems that if Eric had fired off a bet at some point he would have taken the pot regardless. Eric is now sitting with 40K and in good spirits.
Jason Gray and one opponent saw a flop of JT3. When Jason checked, his opponent bet out, only to have Jason go all in for 13.5K. The other player made the call with his QJ only to find that he was behind Jason’s KK. The A on the turn and 7 on the river were harmless to Jason’s kings and he doubled up to around 30k.
Anna Wroblewski has been busy building up her big stack. Her most recent addition in chips came when another player pushed all in on a flop of T95. Anna debated for awhile before making the call with the KT for a pair of tens with a flush draw. Although she was behind her opponent who held the T9, the K fell on the turn, giving Anna a better two pair and the 5 on the river changed nothing so Anna knocked out a player and her stack grew to over 70k.
Ken “isuck123″ Goldin (pictured at right) did not fare as well during the last level. He reported that he had pocket ladies in the big blind and reraised Kido Pham on the button from 1K to 3.6K. When the flop came 7-high with two clubs, Ken shoved for 14K more and Kido called with 94. When the turn spiked the A, Ken was sent to the rail.
Also eliminated in the level was Joe Sebok, whose day came to an end when he shoved the remainder of his chips in preflop with pocket jacks and ran into another player’s pocket queens. The player with queens ended up making quads and Joe was eliminated.
“All-In”
by Jessica on 07.03.08, 10:32 pm
One of the many promotional aspects of this WSOP are large ping pong paddle-esque signs bearing the All-In energy drink logo distributed around each of the tables. Whenever a player’s all-in is called by another person, the dealer at the table raises his All-In pong paddle skyward and calls out so that the media and interested bystanders can come over and see the action.
As we neared the dinner break, it seemed like the paddles were flying fast and furious and several P5ers were caught in the crossfire including Alex “AJKHoosier1″ Kamberis, Matt “AllInAt420″ Stout, Eric “E-Fro” Froehlich, Larry “larrygold” Goldstein, Mike “michnak” Michnik, Zac “iLLNuGWichee” Fronterhouse, and Anthony “D1rtyR1v3r” Nardi.
Nardi called the all-in of his opponent on a board reading A-9-9-2 and threw his hands in the air in frustration when his opponent turned over 2-2 while Nardi held A-Q. He got no help from the K on the river and headed for the rail.
One player who has been heading nowhere but up is Jon “Pearljammer” Turner (pictured at left). He doubled up early on when he held pocket queens and flopped quads and got paid off by a player holding pocket kings. With the blinds at 150/300 Jon raised to 750 in middle position and the player in the big blind called. The flop came out K97 and both players checked. They checked again when the 7 peeled off on the turn. The big blind fired out 1.5K when the 2 hit on the river and Turner thought for a minute before making the call. His opponent tossed her hand in the muck before Jon could reveal his KJ.
Jamie “TheCronic420″ Rosen (pictured at right) has accumulated one of the top stacks in the tournament with a little over 70k. Rosen recently got involved in an interesting hand where he bet 1500 in a raised pot on a J86 flop and his opponent check called out of the blind. The turn was the K and both players checked. The river brought the J and Rosen’s opponent bet 2k and Rosen called. Both players chopped, Rosen showing QQ and his opponent the KJ.
Here are some chip counts headed into dinner break:
Jon “PearlJammer” Turner - 52K
Louis “MrBeeks” Werman - 43K
Tim “TMay420″ West - 41K
Doug “resilient” Smith - 40K
Brock “t_soprano” Parker - 35K
Richard “Lee Nickel” Fohrenbach - 29K
Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little - 25K
Joe “Dyzalot” Morneau - 25K
Josh “squintngo” Goldstein - 24K
Adam “akat11″ Katz - 23K
Shannon Shorr - 21K
Justin “looshle” Pechie - 20.5K
Jason Gray - 20K
Aaron Been - 20K
Peter “number1pen” Neff - 19K
Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers - 16.5K
Barry Greenstein - 15K
TJ “Doubles00ted” Slifka - 13.5K
Ken “isuck123″ Goldin - 13.5K
Steven “CornellFiji” Ware - 13K
Joe Sebok - 12K
JC “PrtyPSux” Alvarado - 8.5K
Dan “wretchy” Martin - 9.5K
Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul - 6.5K
We’ll be back with the action at the conclusion of the 90 minute dinner break.