WSOP 2008
Thugmoneymkr Makes Money (Ahem.)
by Jill on 07.01.08, 4:32 am
Play concluded in Event #52, the $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em tournament just before 1AM PST with 228 players remaining in the field. Several PocketFivers will return at 2PM tomorrow to contend for the bracelet and the $625,443 payout; amongst them are Cody “thugmoneymkr” Slaubaugh, Josh “pbdrunks” Van Duyn, Danny “THE_D_RY” Ryan, and Alvin “alsmooth” Zeidenfeld.
We caught up to Cody (pictured at left) during Level 10; Cody sported one of the biggest stacks at the table with 82K and was drinking Coronas with the biggest stack at the table. His strategy of chumming it up with the big guy seemed to be working as he made a big preflop raise to 3.2K in middle position and induced the table to show some respect and fold around to him.
Cody did, however, tangle in a pot with another PocketFiver, Joe “JonesJ1″ Jones, who sat with a small stack. He joked to PocketFives that it would be pretty embarrassing to have to return for Day 2 with so few chips, but he managed to pick up a hand shortly after and shove his 5,900 chips in the middle before the flop. Cody reraised to 10.6K total, isolating against the blinds that were still in the hand. They folded and Cody flipped over A
9
to Joe’s TT
. The board ran out J
JQ78 and Joe more than doubled to 14K. Cody’s stack sat at a very comfortable 82K, nearly triple the average.
Alvin “alsmooth” Zeidenfeld, however, was the standout of the evening and bagged up 180K in chips. He returns tomorrow as the above-and-beyond chipleader. Danny “THE_D_RY” Ryan took a hit to his chip stack and will return with 17K, while Josh “pbdrunks” Van Duyn managed to double up through several uncalled shoves to 18K.
Though we didn’t witness first-hand the miraculous comeback that Kevin Saul reported to us, apparently another PocketFiver, George Butler, had 125 chips going into the dinner break after his pocket queens ran into pocket aces. Butler now has 45K in chips, has made the money, and continues on to play in Day 2. This is the stuff that urban legends are made of, people.
In the Brasilia room, the $1.5K HORSE tournament continues, with 33 players left all vying for a spot at the final table. The large field has been condensed to a shark tank of live players; Phil Hellmuth, Allen Cunningham, Joe Hachem, and Chad Brown all contend for the bracelet alongside short-stacked Alex Jacob. Play is expected to continue late into the evening; all players are now guaranteed $5,042.
Event #50, the $10K Pot Limit Omaha tournament has now moved from Brasilia to the Amazon room because ESPN wanted to get down to filming. Play is now down to 16 remaining and all are guaranteed $35,814. Recent eliminations include Dario Alioto (19th), David Williams (26th) and Nikolay Evdakov (28th), who has cashed a record ten times in this year’s WSOP. Apparently, his opponents were not unhappy to see him go; his legendary stalling continued well into this evening’s play.