Well it changed in a big way as his dominance early paid off and allowed him to get into a heads up match with Lee Watkinson. Playing against one of the more accomplished players in the game is not a great situation when you are running bad. Luckily for Cantu, he did not really have to worry about that for long as the cards went good at exactly the right time and he managed to capture the title. He takes home $228,832 and the bracelet.

In other tournaments…

The $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event will start day three with 53 of the original 95 players. This tournament has been about as all over the board as you can imagine and the leader board seems to change every few minutes. The field has to take notice the player that is sitting on top now though as Gun Hansen can be quite the handful when he has a chip lead.

Some of the players that have been struggling in this WSOP are taking advantage of the small field and taking their shot at a bracelet. While this event does not have the entries that the Main Event does, there is no doubting the prestige that the players give to this event. Day three should be another long one and you can count on that leader board showing just as much action as we see on the tables.

The Limit Hold’em Shootout reached its final table very early in the morning. The players continued until about 1:30am when play was halted with the final 8. Greg Mueller has a place at the final table as does David Williams. All players will start the day with 360,000.

Event 51 had relatively slow play and still has about 350 players remaining. In order for this tourney to stay on schedule, they would have needed the field of 271 to get well below 300. Expect a full day of play and possibly a very long final day to this tourney. The chip leader is currently Christopher Bonita with 131,700 in chips.

Events 52 and 53 will kick off today and both should have fairly large fields. The Triple Chance No Limit event should be packed as players are getting free limited rebuys in the early stages of the tournament. This is going to make for some very aggressive play and some monstrous stacks heading into day 2. A good run of cards can put some well ahead of the field in this format. Should be a lot of fun to watch.

In other tournaments…

There are only 20 players left in the Omaha Split tourney, but nobody is even close to Brandon Cantu at this point. He has had an unbelievably dominating day and is almost seems as though he is the only player winning big hands. While he entered this day with a very close leader board, he has since taken over the tournament and accumulated almost a million in chips. With the next closest player only having 280,000, this is his tournament to lose.

The $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E. Tournament may have a short field, but the first place prize is anything but. The winner of this very prestigious tournament will walk away with $1,276,802 and the title of the best all around player in the game. Justin Smith has made some early moves and currently leads the tournament with 290,000, but he is going to have to fight off the likes of Jeff Lisandro, Daniel Negreunu and Scotty Nguyen if he wants to take down this tournament. Nobody has been eliminated yet, but there are some amazingly short stacks from the 150,000 starting point.

The Limit Hold’em Shootout tournament has gotten underway and has a surprisingly small field of 571 players. This format is very popular and you would have thought that they would have hit the 1,000 player max on this one. Perhaps everyone is catching some rest before the Main Event gets here or they are enjoying the H.O.R.S.E. tournament. This one has just gone to dinner break.

The final hand had him behind before the flop, but his Q8 quickly caught up and passed the A5d when the flop came out Q910. The turn was a 4d and another 10 came on the river and that was that. Naalden takes home a healthy $190,770 from this very short field of 446 players. Steven Cowley finished in second place and won $117,902.

In other tournaments…

Event 39 is down to 26 players for the final day and they will be back early to get this one finished. The huge field of 2715 players was once again dominated by amateurs and the biggest name left in the field is one of the young starts of the game, Brandon Cantu (270,000). He has a lot of work left though if he is going to grab a bracelet here as Michele Iacovone currently holds the chip lead with 1,605,200.

The World Championship of Pot Limit Omaha is still going strong with 25 players standing tall. Noah Schwartz (1,220,000) has a huge lead and is double the second place player. There is still a lot of talent left in this field and having just gotten under the bubble, play should be pretty spicy to start the session. David Williams, Howard Lederer and Barry Greenstein are all still alive in this one.

Day 2 of the NL Hold’em Shootout is set to get underway with 30 players remaining. They are all now in the money and the infamous Phil Ivey is still alive. Everyone will start this round with 150,000 in chips. Jennifer Harman, David Pham and John Monnette are also still alive.

Day 2 of Event 42 will also get started with only 153 of the 412 original players. We are going to see some double dipping here are several players that still have stacks in this one are also in the shootout. It is always entertaining to watch these guys sprinting from table to table trying to catch a hand and stay alive.

Many big names put up the cash for this event. Daniel Negreanu, Jens Voertmann, Gus Hansen, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Josh Arieh, Brandon Cantu, Patrik Antonius, Ross Boatman, Phil Hellmuth, Nanad Medic, Layne Flack, John Juanda, Freddy Deeb, Eli Elezra, David Benyamine, Barny Boatman, Andy Black, Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, Thor Hansen, Doyle Brunson, Allen Cunningham, Erik Seidel, Robert Willaimson III, Chris Ferguson, and Andy Bloch all were on hand as well as many other known players.

This event gave each player the option of a free 10,000 chip rebuy that could either be taken at the beginning of their tournament or at the any time during the first 3 levels. Daniel Negreanu was the first big name to be eliminated from the event. He apparently took his rebuy at the start of the event and proceeded to lose it in quick fashion.

Action was hot and heavy early on. The 2007 WSOP Europe Pot Limit Omaha Champion Dario Alioto was eliminated shortly after Negreanu. Jens Voertmann was also eliminated around the same time. Voertmann won the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the WSOP in Vegas in June.

Gus Hansen was eliminated by Jason Mercier. At showdown the board showed Ad-8-6d-Q-J. Mercier held 8-7-6-4 for two pair and Hansen held 9-7-5-3 for a couple of draws that missed. Mike “The Mouth” Matusow did not make it to the dinner break in this event. We aren’t sure of how he was eliminated but when someone mentioned how quiet it was, we realized it was due to his departure.

Josh Arieh and Phil Ivey were eliminated not long after the dinner break. Arieh was all in against Donnacha O’Dea. Arieh had a straight and O’Dea a set of aces. The river card paired the board, giving O’Dea the full house and Arieh the shaft. Phil Ivey was down to around 3,000 after the dinner break and shortly was eliminated. He’s probably looking for Mike Matusow to try and start a Chinese Poker game.

Sherkhan Farnood was playing in this event while playing the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E. final table. On a board of 4h-Qh-3s-9h-Jd, Farnood was all in against Erik Seidel and Andreas Krause. Farnood showed Qs-8s-10c-9c for the nut straight. Seidel only held a pair of aces. Krause mucked his hand. After the hand Farnood tripled up to 37,000.

Annette Obrestad was soon eliminated by David Williams. Obrestad had flopped a full house with the board showing 5-5-7 on the flop. She had a 5-7 in her hand. Sadly, Williams had pocket sevens for the nut boat. As a result, Obrestad floated down the river.

This event will not bring John Phan his third bracelet of the year. On a flop of 8h-7h-7c, Phan bet out 3,000. Jani Sointula raised the size of the pot, followed by Phan moving all-in. Sointula called. Phan showed Ad-Ah-8c-10c for aces up. Sointula showed Qs-8s-5h-6h for two pair and the straight flush draw. The turn fell the Kh, giving Sointula the flush and the river card fell the Kc, sealing the win for Sointula.

Three big names were eliminated in short order. First Richard Ashby was eliminated by Surindar Sunar. Soon afterwards, Sunar was eliminated when his two pair were outdrawn by another opponents better two pair. Patrik Antonius went all in holding a pair of queens but the hand was outdrawn and he was sent to the rail as well.

Barry Greenstein was eliminated by Neil Channing. As a result Greenstein is short another copy of his book. Channing made the final table in the Event #1 of the World Series of Poker Europe. Adam Junglen and Tom “Durrrr” Dwan didn’t fare much better and were eliminated shortly after the beginning of the last level of the night.

David Williams had a roller coaster of a day. He was down to just 13,000 chips at one point in the evening but increased it to over 100,000 by the last level. Part of that stack came at the expense of Jeff Madsen. Williams crippled Madsen when he flopped a set of kings, outdrawing Madsens’ aces. Then shortly afterwards, Madsen was all in with a straight draw and a pair. Williams had a pair of queens and a backdoor flush draw. The board came running hearts to fill out Williams’ flush and Madsen was out the door.

Jason Mercier finished the day as the chip leader with 209,800 in chips. Shaun Deeb was next with 190,700. Bruno Fitoussi was the high pro of the day with 123,700. Other notables are David Williams at 122,400, Phil Laak at 111,400, and Andy Bloch at 109,200. Chris Ferguson, Erik Seidel, Robert Williamson III and Allen Cunningham are all around the middle of the field. Doyle Brunson is still alive in his hunt for his 11th bracelet, but he is one of the short stacks with 36,500. Don’t count him out however as this a few well timed pots could turn him from a short stack to a chip leader.

Many pros bit the dust in this day one, including fan favorite Daniel Negreanu. David Benyamine and Phil Hellmuth also did not make it through the day. 2007 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Champion Freddy Deeb couldn’t find any magic on this day.

The day started with 165 players but in the end only 45 players remained in this Pot Limit Omaha Championship. While the pace of play on Day 1 was fast and furious, expect Thursday’s play to be a little more subdued due to the large stacks that will be in play. Players will return at 3 P.M. on Thursday London time to make a march towards the final table in this event.

Michael Binger was one of the first pros eliminated from today’s action. Binger pushed all in with pocket aces. His opponent held pocket threes. Binger must have read Phil Ivey’s book on busting out of this event. The flop came with both remaining threes, giving his opponent quads. The river did not fall an ace, and Binger was eliminated.

Marc Goodwin moved all in on a flop of 5s-3c-10d. Both Tony Duffield and Fuad Serhan pushed all-in behind him. Duffield showed Ah-10h for top pair, Goodwin showed As-Ac, and Serhan showed 5h-5d for a set of fives. Serhan had both opponents covered. The turn and river came running fours, giving Serhan the pot and eliminating two players.

Level 11 saw the end of Phil Laak’s tournament. Phil Laak moved all in holding Kc-Js. He picked a bad time to make a move as Sid Harris made the call with As-Ah. The board missed both players and Laak rocketed out of the tournament.

Shortly before the end of level 11, John Juanda moved all in on a flop of 6s-4d-9h and was called by Tim Pennington. Juanda held 9s-7s against Pennington’s Jh-Jd. The turn card of the 7c put Juanda head. Unfortunately for Juanda, the river fell the 6c, giving Pennington a better two pair.

Erik Seidel started the day as the third shortest stack in the tournament with only 7,000 chips. Seidel was able to double up a couple of times early on but his run finally came to an end in Level 12. Seidel moved in with A-K and ran into pocket queens. The board missed both opponents and Seidel will be available to play in tomorrow’s H.O.R.S.E. event.

This first event of the WSOP Europe will pay 45 spots and we reached the bubble period during level 12. Pete Linton became the unfortunate bubble boy. Linton was all in with Ah-9s against Ad-4s. Linton stayed ahead on both the flop and turn, but a river 4h sent Linton to the rail with the same prize as the other 365 player, $0.

Shortly after the bubble burst, pro Surinder Sunar moved all in with A-7 against Arkadi Kilman’s pocket fours. The board missed out and Sunar took home £ 3,075.

Level 13 saw the end of Brandon Cantu’s day. With only 8,100 chips remaining, Cantu moved all in with Qs-10c. Adam Junglen made the call with Ad-9s. Cantu exclaimed “Give me a ten, dealer” as the flop was dealt and his wish was granted with a Kd-4h-10s flop. The turn fell a disastrous Ah, leaving Cantu needing a queen, ten, or jack. The river card fell a harmless 4c, and Cantu was eliminated.

Level 13 appeared to be an unlucky level for Daniel Negreanu. First, Negreanu was forced to fold a hand on the river that cost him about 1/3 of his stack. Finally, during the color up period, Negreanu raised preflop and Christoph Bommes moved over the top all-in. After tanking for a while, Negreanu made the call showing 9s-9c. Bommes held As-Kd. Bommes immediately spiked a king on the flop, giving him a commanding lead. Negreanu needed one of the two remaining nines to win the hand. A nine did not fall and Negreanu busted out in 24th place.

During level 14, Jason Gray made a raise to 11,000 from late position. Warren Woodall made the call. The flop fell Ah-10d-9c. Woodall checked to Gray, who bet out 14,000. Woodall then raised to 45,000. After tanking a bit, Gray moved all-in and Woodall made the call. Gray held As-Ks for top pair, and Gray held 10c-9s for two pair. The river missed both players with the 3d. The river card of the Qh failed to help Gray and Gray headed for the rail.

Level 16 saw the end to Andy Bloch’s tournament. Jesper Hougaard made a raise from the button and Andy Bloch moved all in from the big blind. Hougaard insta-called with Qc-Qd. Bloch held Kh-Jh. The flop fell 7s-Ah-10s to give Bloch a gutshot straight draw. Neither a queen nor king would fall on the turn or river. Andy Bloch finished in 15th place and earned £ 7,072.

Play was down to ten handed when Christoph Bommes called an all in bet from Yevgeniy Timoshenko preflop. Bommes held Jh-Jc and Timoshenko held Ad-Kc. The flop fell 7h-Ac-5c to put Timoshenko in the lead. Bommes was unable to catch a jack on the turn or the river and he became the final table bubble boy.

Nine players will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. to play for the bracelet in this £1,500 No Limit Holdem event. This is the breakdown of the final table:

Seat 1: Fuad Serhan 61,000
Seat 2: Daniel Nutt 207,000
Seat 3: Yevgeniy Timoshenko 345,000
Seat 4: John Dwyer 511,000
Seat 5: Ian Woodley 153,000
Seat 6: Jesper Hougaard 89,000
Seat 7: Linda Lee 121,000
Seat 8: Neil Channing 199,000
Seat 9: Adam Junglen 795,000

Linda Lee is the last woman standing in this first event of the WSOP Europ but she will have a long road to travel to win this bracelet. Adam Junglen enters as the chip leader for this final table with John Dwyer right on his heals. Jesper Hougaard was chip leader for a good portion of the day, but wound up the second short stack entering the final table.

Tomorrow also marks day one of the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E event. Play will begin at 2 p.m. tomorrow and promises to sport a very strong field. As has been the case, I will be back tomorrow to bring you a recap of the action of both the final table of Event 1 and the first day of the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E event.

Thor Hansen, Max Pescatori, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Chris “Jesus’ Ferguson, John Juanda, Erik Seidel, Brandon Cantu, Barry Greenstein, Layne Flack, Roland De Wolfe, and several local professionals were among those competing in this first day. Max Pescatori was one of the first casualties of the day when he and Andrew Teng called an all-in bet from William Martin. Pescatori was on a flush draw, Martin held aces, and Teng held kings. In the end, Pescatori didn’t catch his flush and he was eliminated before the start of level two.

Phil Ivey went out before the end of level two, but if you must go out of a tournament, go out like Ivey did. On the turn, the board showed Q-8-5-9, and Ivey had a nut straight against Johnny Cooke. The river fell another five and Cooke checked to Ivey. Ivey moved all-in and Cooke called and showed pocket fives for quad fives. Ivey then headed “straight” out of the door.

Chris Ferguson and Roland De Wolfe departed during level four. Odin couldn’t help Thor Hansen on this day, as he was also a Day 1a casualty. Layne Flack proved that bad timing can happen to pros as well as amateurs. A player raised preflop and was called. Flack decided that he would try to make a move and go all in with K-Q. Unfortunately, the original raiser had pocket aces and Flack hit the sack. Barry Greenstein didn’t fare any better, and someone now has a signed copy of his book.

Daniel Negreanu quietly built his stack through Day 1a and finished the session with the unofficial chip lead. He current sits with 74,900 in chips. Not far behind is Jason Gray who has 72,800. Brandon Cantu finished in the top 5 in chips for the day and John Juanda finished in the middle of the pack with around 27,000 in chips. Erik Seidel is the 2nd short stack of the day with only around 7,000 chips remaining.

Day 1a was supposed to last ten full levels but the action today was fast and furious. Players dropped out at such a rapid pace that tournament officials decided to conclude play after only eight levels. 42 players remain of the 191 that started the day. This event is expected to sell out, so tomorrow’s Day 1b is expected to be at least 309 players. Several players have yet to take their seats including Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, David Benyamine, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, and Scotty Nguyen. Expect tomorrow’s action to be very pro heavy with a lot of action.

Tomorrow’s action kicks off at 1 p.m. London time.

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