As predicted, we are seeing a lot of movement on the leader board at the $50k H.O.R.S.E. Championship Event. Some of the recent eliminations include Doyle Brunson, Eric Lindgren, Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein and Daniel Alaei. Hasan Habib has slipped all the way down to one of the short stacks and Erik Sagstrom has taken over as the overall leader with 1,250,000. This tournament still has a long way to go with over 30 players still seated at the tables.
Gus Hanson continues to play strong and is currently sitting at 725,000 in chips. Vitaly Lunkin is once again putting in a very strong performance and is currently located in the top ten with 560,000. There are still a lot of big names left in this tourney and you will probably continue to see a lot of movement as this is one of the most volatile games you will see. Every game guarantees a lot of action and your chip leader very well may be a short stack within 5 hands. They are going to play this one till the early hours of the morning.
In other tournaments…
The Limit Shootout Event is down to 6 players, but the stacks are fairly even among the top 3. This is another tournament that you can expect to go on for quite a bit tonight and not see a winner until after midnight. The current leader is Greg Mueller with 950,000. Marc Naalden and Millie Shue round out the top three and are both within less than 200,000 of Mueller.
The dinner break has sounded in event 51 and there are still well over 100 players alive. You will not recognize many of the names in this one as a lot of the pros have stayed away from these $1,500 tournaments as the WSOP has played on. Huge fields have given them all problems and they seem to be sticking with the higher buy ins and other poker variations for the time being. They are going to have enough problems in the Main Event so why sit down with this aggravation now. The one big name that is making his way up the leader board is Men Nguyen. We haven’t heard much from him so far this year so this may be his warm-up for next week’s tournament.
The Triple Chance No Limit Event is at full steam and has had a surprising amount of eliminations already. They started with 854 players and are close to 300 eliminations so far. Overall chip stacks are not available, but a quick glance around the room says that a lot of the pros were taking advantage of the ability to have the free triple re-buy and play very aggressively. Don’t be surprised to see some big names on the leader board at the end of the day in this one.
In what seemed like an eternity, the Seniors Event finally crowned a winner and it seems as though it could not have happened to a better person. Davis was contemplating having to go back to work to make ends meet, but he managed to turn his $1,000 buy in into a little financial security with the $437,358 first place prize. It looked a little desperate for him when all of the chips were pushed in as his A9 was totally dominated by the AJ of Buller, but the miracle turn continued to show its face and when the 9 hit, a thunderous roar came from around the table. Michael Davis is the Seniors NL Hold’em World Champion!
In other tournaments…
While it has already been mentioned in a previous post, Jeff Lisandro winning a third bracelet in a single WSOP warrants a quick review. The last time that someone won 3 bracelets in a single season was when Ivey did it in 2002. However, the fact that he has done it in all three versions of 7 Card Stud is simply incredible. He has been playing incredible and is now one of the favorites for player of the year.
Event 45 is down to the final 14 and should be an early finisher on Thursday. This is a tournament that has moved along nicely during each session and with the chip leader having about 30% of the chips in play, the rest of the field is going to have a very tough time of it when they get into pots with him. Expect fast and furious action when this one resumes on Friday.
Event 46, the Omaha Hi/Low Split Event, has made it down to the final 23 and they will play to a winner on Friday. This one has seen some radical changes on the leader board for the entire tournament and it would be no surprise to see that trend continue. Mark Tenner is current chip leader with 285,000 in his stack.
The Mixed Hold’em Event got underway on Wednesday and had a star studded field. Barry Greenstein has taken the chip lead with 177,200 in chips, but the every annoying Hasan Habib is a close second with 165,000. If you don’t remember Habib, he is the one that did this little monkey dance around the tables a few years back every time he eliminated a player. A new rule has been invoked just because of his antics that does not allow a player to leave their seat to celebrate a victory in a hand. Eli Elezra is also high up on the leader board as well as Daniel Negreanu.
Jeff Lisandro is arguably having the best WSOP of any player in the field so far this season. The funniest thing is that he is doing it in every game other than NL Hold’em. His name is showing up regularly in just about every other game. He continued his dominance on Saturday night by taking down the World Championship Seven Card Stud Hi/Low 8 Event. He was among the leaders from day one and bided his time until they were heads up. For three and a half hours he battled with Farzas Rouhani who had the chip lead going in.
Doyle Brunson and Scotty Nguyen also made a nice run in this tournament and at one point, it looked like the possibility of 4 previous bracelet winners fighting it out. Scotty went card dead and Doyle slowly faded and went out in 7th position. This may have been his best shot of the WSOP for number 11 because we are now only 2 weeks away for the circus. The fields are starting to get larger and larger and the pros will continue to have trouble working their way through these humongous fields of amateurs that put targets on their heads the moment they see a pro seated next to them.
The other bracelet winner on the evening was Jordan Smith who outlasted 1694 other players to take down Event 36 and the $586,212 that goes along with it. At one point, this tournament seemed like it was never going to end as day 2 was just brutally slow. However, Jordan Smith stuck to his guns and continued to wear down the field until he has a massive cheap lead and the other player’s fates were sealed. This was his first bracelet, but he is no stranger to the WSOP with 12 other cashes to his credit.
In other tournaments…
At one point, it looked like there was no stopping Phil Hellmuth, but after making a humongous comeback and getting atop the leader board, the cards went the other way on his and he made his way to the rail. The played down to the final table on Saturday Night and will get back at it at 2pm to decide a winner. Marc Naalden is the current chip leader with 755,000 in his stack.
Day 2 of Event 39 will get under way with a lot of work to come before they see a final table. This was an amateur dominated field as most of the pros were eying up the Pot Limit Omaha Championship later in the evening. Mohsin Charania is the current chip leader with 144,100.
Event 40, the World Championship of Pot Limit Omaha got underway and as predicted, it was packed with all the superstars of poker. The leader board is littered with names like David Williams, Josh Arieh, Steve Zolotow and Barry Greenstein. Nate Lindsay currently leads the way with a huge chip lead of almost 200,000 over the second place player. He will start the day off with 482,200 and he is going to need every last one of them to fight off this hungry field of professionals.
Barry Greenstein attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he studies Computer Science. While at college, he would host various poker games where he would offer to teach people how to play poker. The only stipulation was that they must play him in a poker game after the lessons. His games attracted various students and professors. Upon graduating with his Bachelors Degree, Greenstein became a regular in the California card rooms, where he honed his skills
One of the players that Greenstein played with frequently was Larry Flint, who was the owner of Hustler Magazine and owned the Huster Casino. In 2003, Flint put together a 7 Card Stud event with several of the top names in poker and himself. Flint wanted the event to result in only a single winner, but in the end Flint and Greenstein wound up chopping the prize money and Greenstein took home his first large score in poker at $770,000.
Later in the year, Greenstein earned his nickname “The Robin Hood of Poker” during a WPT event in Tunica, MS. Greenstein made the final table of the World Poker Open and eventually took down the top prize. He then donated the prize of over $1.2 Million to charity. Greenstein also took a WPT title in 2006. He placed first in the WPT Invitational held in Los Angeles, CA. For a long time Greenstein donated all of his tournament winnings to charity, but he had to slow down and only donate his overall profit from tournaments.
Barry Greenstein also holds three bracelets at the World Series of Poker. He won an lowball bracelet in 2004, and won a Pot Limit Omaha bracelet in 2005. His third bracelet came in 2008 when he won the Razz event. Greenstein also has made two final tables at the WSOP in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship. In both 2007 and 2008, he made the final eight, finishing 7th and 6th respectively.
When not playing at the tables, Greenstein is a member of Team Pokerstars. He is a regular ambassador for the site and is featured prominently on their site. Greenstein also authored the book Ace on the River. This book is primarily his autobiography, but it also delves into the pro poker lifestyle. He frequently autographs a copy of his books and gives it to players that knock him out of different tournaments. Greenstein is a high stakes poker player and is featured on shows such as High Stakes Poker and regularly plays in the “Big Game” at the Bellagio. Greenstein also is extremely respected by his peers. He is even called upon at times to settle disputes amongst professionals.
Greenstein has been around the poker community a long time and has adapted as the games switched from lowball and stud to Texas Holdem. He is skilled in all forms of poker and continues to compete at a championship level. His bracelet in 2008 was just one of many great accomplishments in his career and Greenstein looks to be a successful member of the poker community for many years to come.
Day 3 of the Main Event of the World Series of Poker Main Event saw 179 players return to try and begin their march towards the 2nd ever Main Event title on European soil. This field is incredibly pro heavy for a Day 2 with many having aspirations of Main Event glory.
Some of the players still alive in this event include Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Marco Traniello, Vanessa Rousso, Scotty Nguyen, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Tilly, Erica Schoenberg, Joe Beevers, Steve Zolotow, Nenad Medic, Andy Black, Brandon Adams, Scott Fischman, David “DevilFish” Ulliott, Ross Boatman, Mel Judah, Josh Arieh, Phil Laak, and Ted Lawson.
Tom “Durrrr” Dwan was the first big name to fall today. He started the day around 60,000 chips, but he either had a high stakes cash game to get to or he just wanted to game, because he was all in multiple times early on. With a flop of Qs-Kh-9s, Dwan raised Scott Montgomery all-in. Montgomery went into the tank for a while before calling with Ac-As. Dwan showed 3s-4s for a flush draw. The turn and river missed Dwan and he was eliminated. Unfortunately for Durrrr, this wasn’t an online cash game, and he couldn’t buy back in.
Chris “Jesus” Ferguson was eliminated shortly after by Sutha Nirmalananthan. On a board of Qd-5c-Jd-Jh-7d, Ferguson moved all in for 10,600. Nirmalananthan made the call showing Kh-Qh and Ferguson showed a bluff with Ah-Ks. With this, Ferguson headed out the door.
The champion of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the World Series of Poker departed next in the man known as Scotty Nguyen. He was all in with A-J and was called by a paltry 6-3. Sadly, a six hit the flop and we don’t get to see a repeat performance by the man I consider the “True World Champion.”
In an elimination that made many men sad, Vanessa Rousso was next to go. She was all in with Jh-Jd against Kc-Kd. The turn brought a flush draw for Rousso, but the river blanked out and Rousso is history. Meanwhile, Daniel Negreanu regained his position as chip leader, amassing 225,000 chips.
Doyle Brunson will not be able to catch Phil Hellmuth this year. Brunson was all in with A-K against pocket Kings. An ace did not hit the board, and Brunson was eliminated. His elimination was announced to the room, and he exited to a round of applause. Roland de Wolfe followed shortly afterward. He had flopped two pair holding Ac-Kc but his opponent, Martin Vallo, flopped a set of fours on a flop of Ad-Ks-4h. The turn and river missed both players, and De Wolfe hit the rail.
Phillipe Rouas has some light reading for the rest of the event. He was fortunate enough to knock out Barry Greenstein. As is his custom, Greenstein signed Rouas a copy of his book, Ace on the River. Meanwhile, Daniel Negreanu continued to build his chip lead. At this point, he had 285,000 in chips.
Mike Matusow had one of the funniest comments of the tournament. Gordon Vayo and Phil Hellmuth were in an argument about a hand they had played on Day 1a. Mike Matusow spoke up and said, “Kid, are you trying to have a rational conversation with Phil Hellmuth? That’s like trying to talk to the rail on Full Tilt.” I don’t know if any of you have watched some of the conversations in the high stakes games amongst the railbirds, but if you have, you know that his comment is very true.
Phil Hellmuth and Sherkhan Farnood have a little bit of a history. During the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E. Event, Farnood gave Hellmuth a series of beats and Hellmuth had declared him, “The worst player in history.” After Hellmuth berated a dealer a good part of the evening, Hellmuth then ended up getting sucked out on the river by Farnood to eliminate him from that event. Hellmuth made a couple of comments to Farnood at the beginning of the day trying to needle him.
Later, Hellmuth was all in on a flop of 5d-8h-2c. Farnood insta-called Hellmuth’s bet, showing 5s-5h. Hellmuth showed Ks-Kc. The turn and river were both blanks, and Hellmuth was eliminated from this event. Several people were asking Farnood if he was still the “worst player in the world.” He replied, “I’m trying to prove I’m only the second worst.” Personally, I think its poetic justice that the man that Hellmuth belittled so much got the best of him twice. Maybe next time Hellmuth will be nicer to players and dealers. Right, and Phil Ivey won’t make prop bets.
Bruno Fitoussi was the next to go out as he was all in against Mel Judah. Fitoussi held As-Ks and Judah held pocket Queens. The flop missed both players and Fitoussi was eliminated. Erica Schoenberg was the last of the last women remaining in the field. After eliminating a player, she built her stack up to 70,000.
Brian Townsend eliminated Martin Vallo when Vallo’s Ac-Kh ran into Townsend’s Ah-Ad. It is unclear where the money went in, but chances are it went in after the flop of 3c-7c-As. Vallo needed running clubs to win, but a spade on the turn sealed the deal for Townsend and sent Vallo packing. Steve Zolotow was unable to get anything doing during Day 2 and was soon seen exiting the tournament area.
Out of seemingly nowhere, Erik Seidel took the chip lead shortly after the start of level 10. Jean Thorel bet out 7,000 on a flop of Ac-7d-2c. Talal Shakerchi made the call and Seidel raised to 23,000. Thorel was the only one to make the call. The turn fell the Js and Thorel checked to Seidel. Seidel bet 40,000 and was called. The river came the Ad. Thorel checked again to Seidel and he moved all-in for 61,000. Thorel made the call. Seidel showed Ah-Kd for a set of Aces and Thorel mucked his hand. After the pot, Seidel moved up to 278,000 chips, wrestling the chip lead from Daniel Negreanu.
The rest of the action for Day 2 will be concluded in the next post.
