WSOP 2008
All Day For A Quarter, Day 1A Complete
by Court on 09.27.08, 9:51 pm
At the end of the day the players with the biggest smiles are quite often the same players with the bulging bags of chips. There were plenty of big stacks around the room, but at the end of the day Tim “Tmay420″ West seemed to be one of the most interested in telling people how he finished the day.
The starting stack was 20,000. West bagged up a grand total of 19,975 at the end of play, going through a full 5 levels and 10 hours of play to move only one of the smallest denomination of chips from his stack. West (left) is known for being patient, easily qualifying for the biblical reference of “having the patience of Job.” He will be back on Monday to see what he can do with his stack in day 2 play.
West wasn’t alone in finishing with less than the starting stack. Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar would be happy to trade chip bags with West at this point. Aguiar was short stacked for a majority of the day, but stayed calm late in the day when many players would have become over aggressive and been sent packing instead of packing up their chips at the end of play. Aguiar was in a pot with Andy Bloch late in the last level. Another player had opened for 1,200 and Jonathan called from the cutoff. Bloch also called from the big blind and the three players saw a Q
7
7
. The initial bettor checked to Aguiar who bet 2,225. Bloch called and the other player got out of the hand.
With the 5
on the turn Aguiar checked to Bloch who checked behind. The J river brought another check from Aguiar but Bloch decided to bet out and tossed in a 5k chip. With a pained look on his face Aguiar counted out his chips, discovering he had exactly 11,700 left and if he made the call and lost he would have less than 7k remaining. After another 10 seconds or so he tossed his hand in, living to fight another day both figuratively and literally (well, literally in the sense of making another day in the poker tournament).
Aguiar was able to grab a small pot or two in the last few hands of play to chip up to 13,250 for an end of day count.
Here are how some of the other players finished up the day:
Scott “R_A_Y” Montgomery - 81,650
Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman - 70,650
Chris “Moorman1″ Moorman - 53,700
Ben Grundy - 46,000
Isaac Haxton - 35,500 (right)
Isaac “mr. menlo” Baron - 34,550
Peter “#1Pen” Neff - 27,200
Tim “Tmay420″ West - 19,975
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 13,250
Final Numbers: 159 players started the day with 86 making it through Day 1A. Full end of day chip counts are available here.
Here are the top 10:
| Name | City | Country | Chip | |
| 1 | Smith, Justin | Kissimmee, FL | USA | 158,925 |
| 2 | Sagstrom, Eric | Gothenburg | Sweden | 98,750 |
| 3 | Bloch, Andy | Las Vegas, NV | USA | 97,100 |
| 4 | Montgomery, Scott | Perth, Ont. | Canada | 81,650 |
| 5 | Demidov, Ivan | Moscow | Russia | 73,625 |
| 6 | Adams, Brandon | Miami, FL | USA | 72,475 |
| 7 | Matusow, Mike | Las Vegas, NV | USA | 71,550 |
| 8 | Fischman, Scott | Las Vegas, NV | USA | 70,650 |
| 9 | Dirksen, Dustin | Las Vegas, NV | USA | 70,100 |
| 10 | Gratte, Goran | Kungalv | Sweden | 67,725 |
Baron Doubles, Last Level
by Court on 09.27.08, 8:06 pm
As play moved into the last level of the day the blinds increased to 200 / 400 with a 50 chip ante, making the pot just over 1k before anyone voluntarily puts a chip in the middle. With more out there to fight for, and each orbit eating away at the players stacks, the short stacks are finding their situation getting more dire.
Isaac “mr. menlo” Baron has been working with a short stack since his pocket queens lost earlier in the day to a player that had flopped middle pair with his 6-7 suited and ended up all 
in against Isaac. His opponent hit another 6 on the turn to stay alive and leave Baron with a shortstack of around 6k. Since then Isaac has fought his way back, working up to around 14k and then staying there for a level or so.
Recently Isaac moved all in for his last 12,850 over the top of a player preflop and was called. Baron made a comment along the lines of “I need to get lucky,” and turned over his A8. He did need some help, as he was dominated by his opponents pocket eights. The Q44 flop was no help and Baron was preparing himself to exit the tournament. The next card was the A though and Baron had hit a three outer to take the lead. With the 2 on the river Isaac doubled up to 27k and now has come chips to work with.
Ben Grundy (left) has chipped up to around 50k, recently picking up chips when he made a big hand from the big blind. On a board of 8-6-6-4-8 with 3 clubs Grundy led for 3,100 and was raised to 9k. Ben quickly called, tabling the T8 for a full house. His opponent mucked and while Grundy was stacking chips another player asked Ben why he didn’t raise, saying tongue in cheek “were you afraid of clubs?” Ben replied “I just can’t see the point in raising, what is he going to call me with.” And while it seems like Ben had a lock on the hand there were a few hands that could beat him. Pocket sixes for quads, though unlikely, could be out there and though the dealer raked the board before I could get all the suits exactly, with the cards that were out there a straight flush was possible had his opponent held the 75. Either way, Ben felt the only way he was getting called was if he was either chopping the pot to the case 8 or losing to one of the few hands that could beat him.
At the same table as Grundy, member of the November Nine Scott “R_A_Y” Montgomery (right) was also able to grab some chips. Scott was in middle position and bet 4k and change on the river of a 762TJ board and was called. Scott showed the T6 for two pair and raked the pot. Playing T6 suited from mid-early position? Maybe he is practicing running good for the WSOP Main Event Final Table, or just mixing it up to keep his opponents off balance.
Over in the main tournament area Peter “#1Pen” Neff and his table mates have been moved off the main feature table to another table in the area and Neff has been able to chip up to 30k, adding to his earlier double up. Another player opened for 1,200 and Neff raised to 3,325. He was called and on the T74 flop a continuation from Neff took the pot and pushed his stack to slightly over 30k.
Chip Counts:
Isaac Haxton - 68k
Chris “Moorman1″ Moorman - 62k
Ben Grundy - 50k
Scott “R_A_Y” Montgomery - 33k
Peter “#1Pen” Neff - 50k
Scott Fischman - 27k
Isaac “mr. menlo” Baron - 27k
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 27k
Tim “Tmay420″ West - 13k
Shuffling Tables
by Court on 09.27.08, 6:16 pm
The setup here at the Empire Casino is a little different than most major poker tournaments, or most U.S. based poker tournaments at least. Instead of being located inside one large, conference / ballroom type area with all the poker tables pretty much in the same place, the Empire has had to work around their space limitations and put poker tables about anywhere they can find space.
To start the day there were a couple tables in an upstairs hallway area with steps coming up on both sides, a handful of tables under the steps putting the players between a bar and a couple banks of slot machines. Those two areas of tables have been broken now and players have been consolidated into what I call the main area and the dungeon.
The main area is where the feature tables are along with three other tables just off to the side of the featured ones. This is the area where preliminary event final tables were hosted and has a slew of onlookers crowded around. Whether they are there for the poker or to partake in libations from the bar that they are also up against is a toss up, though I imagine if the bar were to close the crowd would go away a lot quicker than if the poker players left.
To get to the dungeon there is a low ceilinged hallway that leads by another, hidden bar and then opens into a very claustrophobic feeling room with 6 more poker tables. There have been film crews back there as well, along with a large group of fans clogging the small walkway.
So, the players are spread out around the casino - no problem. The other unique feature of the World Series of Poker Europe, presented by Betfair (hey, it’s the title what can I do) is that whole tables keep getting moved around to get different faces time on the featured and secondary tables. The table hosting Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar (right) and Isaac Haxton started off at table 3 in the main area and after a couple of levels was moved to the area under the stairs. After dinner the whole tables was moved again into the dungeon. Most, if not all, of the tables that have not yet broken have moved at least once today.
The tables are also numbered in a fairly sporadic fashion. For example the six tables in the main area are numbered 1-3 while the 3 adjoining tables were numbered in the teens. To add to the confusion, some table numbers have been taken with them when the whole table is moved while other times the physical table retains the number while the group of players are all moved to a new table.
With all this the staff has done a great job of moving people around and it seems that there should be ample television coverage for a majority of the players in the tournament instead of only for the few that happened to be seated at a table with a big name pro. There has been some confusion during table breaks. Recently I spotted Isaac “mr. menlo” Baron (right) wandering around with a rack of chips and a seat card looking for table 13. I told him I thought it was in the main area and sent him over there, only to see him moments later being pointed toward the dungeon where table 13 had been relocated to.
While the tables have been shuffled around, the dealers keep shuffling cards and dealing them out. With the antes kicking in after dinner and the blinds increasing larger and larger pots are emerging and more players are finding themselves in short stack situations looking to make a move.
Peter “#1Pen” Neff and his table mates, including Freddy Deeb and Erica Schoenberg, were recently moved to the main feature table. Not only is Neff under the bright lights and cameras, he is also there with more than twice as many chips as he had earlier thanks to a double up with his pocket kings against pocket nines. Neff now has around 25k.
Just behind Neff is Tim “Tmay420″ West (right). After mentioning Peter’s recent double up, West said he was “looking into that,” referring to a possible double up for himself. West is in ok shape with 13k, but would like to get something going before the blinds force him into action.
Over in the dungeon, Ben Grundy and Josh Arieh have been chatting for most of the day, but during their talks they are not afraid to play pots with each other. In a 3 way pot Grundy bet 1k on a AJ2 flop. Scott “R_A_Y” Montgomery, a recent addition to the table, folded but Arieh made the call. The K on the turn brought another check from Arieh and a 3k bet from Grundy. Josh called after taking a peek over at Ben’s stack. The K on the river made the board a dangerous one for a lot of hands and after Arieh checked Grundy immediately tossed over his QT, implying he was checking behind. Arieh mucked his hand and Grundy picked up the pot with a smile on his face, but a little disappointed in missing out on possible action on the river because of the board pairing flush card hitting.
With all the shuffling of tables, Amit “Amak316″ Makhija (left) seems to have been lost in the mix. Maybe he is just out walking around the Empire Casino looking for his table, but if that’s not the case it means there is either a hidden table somewhere I don’t know about (possible), or that he has been eliminated (sad, but probable).
As the last few levels continue on players will keep dropping out and the consolidation of the field will continue. Stay tuned to see who comes out of day 1A with hopes of a bracelet still alive and to find out who finds their last chance of an 08 bracelet left in the London night in Leicester Square.
Marco Busto, TV Play
by Court on 09.27.08, 1:59 pm
Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson (left) seems to have joined Jason “JP_OSU” Potter on the rail. Johnson’s seat is empty, with no chips on the table in front of it, and his location at one of the featured tables makes it very unlikely he has been moved. Most likely explanation - he has been eliminated from the World Series of Poker Europe, presented by Betfair.
While Marco was getting rid of his chips, Chris “Moorman1″ Moorman was helping other people get rid of theirs, though Moorman did give over 10k back in the last hand before his whole table was relocated to be one of the feature tables. Moorman had chipped up to almost 80k after winning a nice pot off of Max Pescatori. On a KJ47 board Max check called a bet of 3,200 from Chris. Max again check called on the 6 river for 6,600. Moorman, shaking throughout the hand as he put each bet out, steadied up a bit as he turned over his AA. Max mucked his hand and Chris raked in the pot.
Not too many hands later the floor came over to move Moorman’s table to the feature table area. In the last hand before the move, Moorman wound up in a pot with Mike Bebber. Everyone else at the table, with the exception of Ted Lawson had already left the area before the Moorman / Bebber hand got interesting.
On a flop of T83 Moorman (right) flat called a bet of 2,500 from Bebber. With the TV cameras watching closely for whatever reason, the dealer put out the 8 as the turn card. Bebber led for 3,500 and Moorman, again with shaky hands, raised to 9,500. Bebber didn’t take long to announce raise and put in the additional 6k to make the call and then saying all in as he pushed his stack of around 20k remaining chips towards the middle.
Moorman folded, but since the action on the hand had been taped for possible use on TV, the producer requested both players show their hand to his portable hole card viewer. The idea is to show the cards to the reader without exposing them to the table, but either Moorman and Bebber did not understand or didn’t really care since the rest of the table was already gone. Moorman showed his Q-7 for nothing but queen high, while Bebber had the best hand but also thought he was bluffing at the pot with his A7. Moorman still has over 60k after losing the pot.
Chip Counts Around the Casino:
Chris “Moorman1″ Moorman - 63k
Scott “R_A_Y” Montgomery - 27k
Ben Grundy - 27k
Isaac Haxton - 27k
Scott Fischman - 27k
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 20k
Tim “Tmay420″ West - 19k
Amit “Amak316″ Makhija - 16k
Isaac “mr. menlo” Baron - 14k
Peter “#1Pen” Neff - 7,200