WSOP 2008
So Long, Farewell
by Jessica on 07.16.08, 1:10 am
With 54 events in the books and the final table set, our summer here at the Rio has come to an end. Along the way numerous Pocket Fivers found themselves in the money, at final tables, and winning bracelets and we send our warmest congratulations to everyone. In the end, Pocket Fivers racked up approximately $20 million in cashes and took down several bracelets in the process.
It remains to be seen how much Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery will add to this tally with his Main Event finish. Montgomery and the eight other players at the final table will return on November 9th to play down to two players. On November 10th the final two will return for heads-up play and the event will air on November 11th on ESPN.
Here are the official chip counts of the November Nine:
Dennis Phillips - 26,295,000
Ivan Demidov - 24,400,000
Scott Montgomery - 19,690,000
Peter Eastgate - 18,375,000
Ylon Schwartz - 12,525,000
Darus Suharto - 12,520,000
David Rheem - 10,230,000
Craig Marquis - 10,210,000
Kelly Kim - 2,620,000
Pocket Fiver, Scott Montgomery, will be coming into the event 3rd in chips. Montgomery is no stranger to high profile final tables. He placed 5th in last year’s LA Poker Classic at Commerce Casino at a loaded final table featuring the event’s winner Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, and Nam Le.
Another online pro to watch out for at this final table is Craig Marquis, known to many online as CMarq. A high stakes online cash game player, Marquis’ railbirds as they played down to the final table included Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Brian “snagglepuss” Powell.
Arguably the most well-known player at the final table is David “Chino” Rheem. This will be his third WSOP final table. Rheem took 2nd in a No Limit Hold Em event at the 2006 WSOP and also finished 5th in the $5K Mixed Limit Hold Em event earlier this summer.
As we have said before, it has been our pleasure reporting for Pocket Fives this summer. We hope you have enjoyed reading as much as we have enjoyed writing. Don’t forget to watch the final table coverage of several P5ers beginning July 22nd (next Tuesday) at 8pm. The first event they will be broadcasting is the $10K World Championship of Pot Limit Hold Em featuring our own Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers and Amit “amak316″ Makhija. Coverage will continue on ESPN weekly through November 11th.
November Nine Set!
by Brett on 07.15.08, 7:00 am
After playing ten-handed for three hours, Dean Hamrick moved all in for his last 3.4 million and Craig Marquis made the call, potentially setting up the final bustout of Day 7. Hamrick showed A
J and needed some help against the Q
Q of Marquis.
The board revealed KT3
TK
, sending Hamrick out in tenth place with $591,869 and finally providing the poker world with its 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event final table. Here’s what we’ll be waiting for come November 11th:
Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery
Dennis Phillips
Craig Marquis
Ylon Schwartz
Darus Suharto
David “Chino” Rheem
Ivan Demidov
Kelly Kim
Peter Eastgate
Each of the final nine will leave the Rio with $900,670 (ninth place money) and have the chance to play for $9,119,517 when they return from their 117-day break in the fall. With that, we at pocketfiveslive.com would like to thank everyone that followed our coverage this summer and look forward to seeing you again soon!
Hoor_a_y!
by Brett on 07.15.08, 4:09 am
Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery’s relentless aggression throughout the final two days of the Main Event has rewarded him with a trip to the final table. The remaining 10 players have been seated and play has begun and will conclude when the final nine are decided.
With the field at 11 players, a reeling Joe Bishop moved in for his last 2.4 million from under the gun and David Rheem called in the big blind. Rheem asked him, “Do you have a pair?” and Bishop shook his head as he showed A3 and was in a race against Rheem’s 22. The flop was interesting to say the least; A53 gave Bishop top two pair but Rheem picked up a gutshot straight draw. His rail began chanting and even the other players at the table began pulling for Rheem as Bishop watched from a distance. The Q on the turn was no help to Rheem, but an outburst of emotion poured over the back of the Amazon Room when the 4 peeled off on the river, giving Rheem his straight and eliminating Bishop in 11th place.
Meanwhile at the featured table, Montgomery was in the middle of a colossal pot himself. Chip leader Dennis Phillips raised to 500K with blinds at 100K/200K and Montgomery reraised to 2.2 million. Phillips made the call and the two saw a JT6 flop. Phillips check-called a bet of 1.5 million from Montgomery. The K came on the turn and again Phillips check-called, this time a bet of 2 million. Phillips checked again when the 9 fell on the river and Montgomery bet 4 million. Dennis went into thought and eventually called but watched Montgomery flip over AT for an ace-high flush. The pot increased Scott’s stack to over 20 million, pulling him close to the chip lead as the tables combined into one.
We’ll be here with updates until we lose one more player so stay tuned to follow the progress of Scott Montgomery here at P5sLive!
P5ers Collide, Klodnicki Sent Home in 12th
by AdamJ on 07.15.08, 1:50 am
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki’s time at the ESPN featured table didn’t last long. Not even an hour after being moved from the secondary table, Klodnicki and Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery banged heads for a pot worth 9 million chips.
With the blinds at 80K/160K and a 20K ante, Dennis Phillips limped from early position and Montgomery rasied to 600K. Klodnicki called from the big blind, Phillips folded, and the two players saw a flop of AQQ. Klodnicki checked, Montgomery led out for 1 million, and Klodnicki moved all in for his last 4 million. Scott called and the entire room waited in angst for the players to turn up their cards:
Klodnicki: JT
Montgomery: QJ
Klodnicki flopped a royal flush draw but trailed the trip queens of Montgomery. The turn brought the J, leaving Klodnicki with just one out in the deck. The miracle didn’t come, however, as the 4 came on the river and Klodnicki was eliminated in 12th place for $591,869. Despite being by far the biggest payday Klodnicki’s ever won, he felt more like he missed out on nine million than won 591k in the wake of his Main Event exit.
“I had such a good shot at it,” Klodnicki lamented minutes after his bustout. “I’m not really up to celebrate right now, maybe tomorrow night.”
Given Klodnicki’s online and live tournament results, Klodnicki stood to benefit even more than just the jump in money as players advance to the final table. If he could have made it to the final nine, Klodnicki could have been the top player that companies and online poker rooms would have enticed with endorsement offers considering his impressive resume.
Now he’s only left to wonder what would have been.
The players have gone on a 20 minute break. Montgomery has catapulted to fifth overall in chips with 12.8 million. The chip leader is Dennis Phillips with 23 million.
Klodnicki and Rheem Headline Field
by AdamJ on 07.15.08, 12:36 am
Main Event final table run like last summer when Lee Watkinson, Scotty Nguyen, and Ray Henson were battling it out, there are a few players left that are far from unknowns.
David “Chino” Rheem (pictured left) is no stranger to the bright lights of a WSOP final table. Rheem took a commanding chip lead into WSOP Event #4 this summer in the 5k Mixed Hold-em final table and ended up finishing in fifth place for 93k. Rheem was up against a stacked final table with eventual winner Erick Lindgren, Justin “zeejustin” Bonomo, Howard Lederer, Andrew “good2cu” Robl, David Williams, and Isaac “luvthewnba” Haxton.
Rheem’s best WSOP moment was in 2006 when he lost a heads-up duel that aired on ESPN when he finished runner up to Allen Cunningham, cashing for 326k. Rheem had to navigate through another tough final table lineup to get to heads-up play with Alex Jacob, Andy Bloch, Tim Phan, Tom Franklin, Steve Wong, and John Hoang.
If Rheem doesn’t finish strong tonight, it won’t be from a lack of mentors.Rheem’s poker gallery standing nearly ten feet away reads like a who’s who of the poker world with the Mizrachi brothers, J.C. Tran, Theo Tran, Nam Le, Steve Sung, Greg “FBT” Mueller and Marcel Luske. After nearly every key hand Rheem plays, he walks over and rehashes it with his poker braintrust.
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki has the distinct advantage having an incredibly impressive poker resume but probably remaining anonymous to most of his competition he faces.
Klodnicki is the No. 43rd ranked player on the Pocketfives leaderboard with three cashes over 40k the past six months. If Klodnick is able to make the final table in the Main Event, it won’t be his first final WSOP final table. Klodnicki finished runner-up to Barry Greenstein in WSOP Event #46 in Razz, cashing for 97k. Klodnicki also cashed in WSOP Event #36, cashing for 5k in 89th place.