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.
The World Series of Poker Main Event began on Saturday at the Empire Casino in London. 159 players put up £10,000 on this Day 1a to take their shot at this championship, which is the last bracelet of this year. Many of poker’s top names from both the United States and Europe gathered to take their shot at the title. Annette Obrestad is the current defending champion of this event. She became the youngest person in history to win a bracelet last year and the only woman to ever win a WSOP Main Event title.
Big names that participated in today’s event included Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Scott Fischman, Andy Black, Erik Seidel, Josh Arieh, Erica Schoenberg, Steve Zolotow, Ross Boatman, Joe Beevers, Phil Hellmuth, Ted Lawson, Kathy Liebert, Vanessa Rousso, Alexander Kravchenko, Chad Brown, Eli Elezra, Freddy Deeb, Patrik Antonius, Max Pascatori, Phil Ivey, David Benyamine, and Howard Lederer.
David Benyamine was the first big name to be eliminated from this Main Event. Apparently he had tangled early on with Andy Bloch and Bloch took around 6,000 of Benyamine’s 20,000 stack before they got tangled in another huge hand. There was a lot of action preflop between the two before the flop fell 4c-4d-6d. Benyamine bet out 2,800 and Bloch raised enough to put Benyamine all-in. Benyamine went into the tank, probably sensing what was about to come. He finally called showing Kc-Ks. As he was probably guessing, Bloch flipped over Ah-Ad. Benyamine was unable to catch a king and his day was done early.
Howard Lederer was the next to exit. Chris Moorman called a raise to 1,000 from Lederer preflop and the flop fell 9-6-3. Moorman checked and Lederer bet 1,500. Moorman check-raised to 4,800 and Lederer called. When the turn fell a 7, Moorman bet enough to put Lederer all-in and Lederer called. Moorman showed pocket sixes for a set of sixes and Lederer showed pocket aces. The river was a blank, and Lederer headed for the door.
One interesting note was that the seat formerly occupied by David Benyamine was shortly replaced by Erica Schoenberg. Schoenberg is the fiancé of David Benyamine. Also apparently the crews over in Europe aren’t quite sure who Phil Hellmuth is. An intern with ESPN asked Phil Hellmuth to fill out a player profile sheet, which is kind of funny considering that there shouldn’t be a poker fan out there that doesn’t know who he is.
It took a while for the next big name to fall by the wayside, but finally Layne Flack was all in with Ah-Kc against Ac-10s. The flop fell 10c-9c-10h, leaving Flack drawing thin. He was drawing dead after the 8c fell on the turn. Mike Matusow was among the early chip leaders after knocking out Finnish rocker Voittlo Rintala. Around the mid point of the day, Matusow had 75,000 chips.
I’m not sure why Odin is pissed right now, but he must be, because Thor Hansen had a really bad beat put on him at the river. Hansen and Liebert were all in against Liya Gerasimova after a pre-flop raising war. Hansen held Jc-Jd, Liebert held Qc-Qh, Gerasimova held Kh-Kd. Hansen was far behind and fell behind further on the flop of Ad-10h-3d. It must have seemed that Odin smiled upon Hansen when the Jh hit the river, giving Hansen a set. Odin was clearly just teasing Hansen, because the fell the Ks, giving Liebert a straight, and sending Hansen home. Why Odin, why?
Barny Boatman was eliminated later in the day when he moved all in with pocket 10’s. Isaac Haxton had limped in pre-flop with pocket aces and made the call. The board missed both players and Boatman is done. Linda Lee will not be making another final table at this WSOP Europe. She was all in with pocket sixes against the pocket tens of Praz Bansi. Neither player hit the board and Lee was eliminated. Eli Elezra was one of the short stacks the entire day and had survived a few all-in’s. Finally he went all-in with 7h-8h and was called by Andy Bloch who was holding A-K. An ace hit the board, and Elezra hit the bricks.
Phil Hellmuth had been grinding for the better part of the day himself. Earlier in the day he was all the way down to 4,000 after losing to a set holding pocket aces. He had moved up a little over 10,000 and had hovered around there most of the evening. During the last level, Hellmuth was in the big blind and was raised by the small blind. Hellmuth then moved over the top all-in. The call to the small blind was 8,000. After tanking for a while, the small blind made the call. Hellmuth flipped over Ad-Kc and the small blind showed As-Qd. Hellmuth had his opponent dominated. The flop came with two kings on it to give Hellmuth a set. With the hand, he doubled up to 24,800 and remained alive for Day 2. Hellmuth was head saying, “That’s what I’ve been waiting for and I have them dominated. That’s the first time I’ve been all in today.”
Josh Arieh was among the chip leaders when he ran into a big hand against Scott Montgomery. Montgomery went all in preflop for around 40,000 chips and Arieh inexplicably made the call with Ac-Jd. Montgomery flipped over As-Kc. An ace hit both players when the flop fell 7s-5h-Ad. The turn and river fell running 8’s and Arieh was reduced to 43,000 in chips.
86 players remain out of the 159 players that started this Day 1a. Many pros were eliminated on this first day including big names such as Phil Ivey, Max Pescatori, and Patrik Antonius. Justin “BoostedJ” Smith is the Day 1a chip leader with 158,925 in chips. Andy Bloch finished third in chips and will enter Day 2 with 97,100. Many top names remain in contention for this title and Day 2 should prove interesting. Day 1b will commence at 1pm Sunday London Time.
Today’s field included Phil Laak, Andy Bloch, Andy Black, Michael Binger, John Phan, David Williams, Howard Lederer, Robert Williamson III, Allen Cunningham, Mike Matusow, David “DevilFish” Ulliott, Erica Schoenberg, Annette Obrestad, and Phil Hellmuth. Conspicuously absent were the Brunson. Doyle, Todd, and Pamela were absent from this event. It is not known whether they just have not arrived yet or just decided not to play this event.
Many players arrived late for today’s tournament, including the man that historically likes to arrive late and put on a show, Phil Hellmuth. Today was no exception. Phil came in with his typical manner of going around the table and shaking everyone’s hand and letting them know that “The Man” had arrived.
Mike Matusow was wired for sound on this Day 1b. First he went into a little monologue regarding the crowd hanging around the rail. He mentioned that “There’s more people in that square than Sarah Palin was ever governor of in that little town of hers in Arkansas. Or Alaska or whatever.” Later he gave a clue regarding why he is always so wired. He said that is was coffee. Apparently the caffeine gets to him. He said, “I went from sleeping to can’t shut up.”
Jennifer Tilly and Marcus Golser were among the first big names to exit early in today’s field. Golser pushed with the powerhouse hand 8c-2d. Unfortunately, a player woke up with the “mediocre hand” A-A. The flop did come with an 8 on it, but the rest of the board bricked out and Golser hit the rail. Tilly exited much quieter and we didn’t get details on the bustout. I must say that I cannot see how she can afford to keep playing these events. After watching her play at the World Series at different times, one has to wonder who the money pit she is tapping to keep being bought into these events. Before you say Phil Laak, remember that he isn’t doing much better either. At least Laak cashed twice at the WSOP this year. Tilly was 0 for whatever.
Just before the end of the third level, both Phil Hellmuth and Annette Obrestad were eliminated. Hellmuth was all-in on a flop of 6h-8h-Qh. He held Ah-Ad, but unfortunately his opponent held Qc-Qd. As irony would have it, Hellmuth had 11 outs to win the hand. (11 is the number of bracelets Hellmuth holds.) The turn fell the 3d, which reduced his outs to 10. The river fell the 6d, which completed his opponent’s full house and sent Hellmuth packing. Annette Obrestad was all in on the turn with a pair and a flush draw, facing two players with better pairs. She was unable to neither pair her kick nor catch her flush, and her day is done.
Topics from politics to religion were discussed at today’s event. Mike Matusow and Robert Williamson III were discussing politics and Williamson said “Biden sucks . . . He’s old! He’s almost as old as McCain. That’s the only one out of the four I don’t like.” For those of you that are reading overseas, Biden is the vice-presidential candidate of John McCain in the US presidential election. Mike Matusow later on mentioned that he knew the reason why Jerry Yang won the Main Even in 2007. He said, “The reason Jerry Yang won the World Series was because he prayed harder than everyone else.”
Sadly, Mike Matusow was eliminated during level 5 of today’s event. Mike Matusow was all-in preflop and called by Costas Artemi. Matusow held pocket kings and his opponent held Ad-Kd. The flop hit neither player, but the turn produced an ace that put Artemi ahead. Matusow did not catch a miracle two outer on the river and the tournament area became significantly quieter after the hand.
In a “hand” that should have brought back great memories, the dealer at John Phan’s dealer dealt out a flop before dealing any cards to the players. Phan was greatly amused by this. David Williams at an adjoining table asked “You moved in, right?” For those of you that don’t know, during the $3,000 No Limit final table at the World Series of Poker in Vegas, John Phan and his heads up opponent moved all in blind three times in a row. The flop, turn, and river were all dealt before they turned up their cards one at a time.
The eighth and final level of the night saw the departure of Allen Cunningham. Cunningham tried to make a move from the button, pushing all in with 9d-2d. Jerome Bradpiece made the call with As-Qd. The board missed both players and Cunningham’s tournament is over.
John Phan had a roller coaster day. At one point he was around 50,000 in chips but slowly bled off chips throughout the evening. Finally in the last level, he was all in with As-Qs. Unfortunately, he was against Ks-Kd. The board missed both players and Phan had to get off the ride.
David Williams and Jean-Robert Bellande were the last two big names eliminated in the last level of play. Bellande pushed from the small blind holding 9h-8h. The big blind called with Kh-7s. The flop came with two hearts, giving Bellande hope. A king on the turn left Bellande needing a heart to win. The river fell the Ad, and Bellande was off to watch Survivor reruns. David Williams moved all in preflop with Ac-5d but ran into the pocket queens of Andy Black. The turn produced a gutshot wheel draw for Williams, but neither an ace nor a five fell on the river and Williams was gone.
48 players survived today’s Day 1b and will join the 41 player from yesterday tomorrow for Day 2. Phil Laak, Andy Bloch, and Andy Black all survived with decent stacks. Adam Junglen emerged as the chip leader, with 83,600 in chips. Junglen will enter Day 3 as the overall chip leader.
Day 2 will begin tomorrow at 1 p.m. London Time. The 90 player field will then play down to the final table.
