Most of tournaments have been going at it for at least 10 hours and we still have not had a bracelet winner crowned in any of the three events that are going for a championship tonight. The biggest tournament is obviously the $50k H.O.R.S.E Event. The field has been taken down to six and the fearless Russian has finally taken a small chip lead. Vitaly Lunkin is now sitting at 3,760,000. Huck Seed is also still alive and gradually climbing back into this thing. We stated earlier that Sagstrom was going to have a problem holding off this field and Lunkin is now in full overdrive.
The Triple Chance NL Hold’em Tourney also has 6 players remaining and Jorg Peisert has built a monster chip lead. He is currently holding 3,065,000 and is nearly 3:1 over second place. A lead like that is going to be very difficult to overcome unless the second or third place players catch him on an all in. He is playing very aggressively and that could happen, but it appears as though he is timing his aggression perfectly right now. This one should be fun to watch down to the end.
While there are only 2 players left in Event 53, we are still a long way from figuring out who is going to win this one. The chips are fairly even as William Kohler has 1,290,000 and David Halpern has 810,000. When you add in the fact that this is a hi/low game, they may be here longer than either of the other two tournaments.
Event 54 has about 40 players and with any luck, they will make it down to the final table tonight. That is probably wishful thinking, but you never know. Event 55 is also trucking along and has less than 40 players remaining. Triple draw can have some large pots, so you may still see a lot of railing going on. The one thing that could slow this down is the fact that they are very close to the bubble.
The game has been going on for four long days and these players have to be exhausted. When you are playing a multi-day tourney and only have to worry about one game, you can get into a zone at times and almost go on auto-pilot. When the game changes at every level, you have to continue to be sharp or you risk sending your chips across the table. The marathon will continue to today and we will see who wins what is arguably the most prestigious title of the season. Here is your final table:
Erik Sagstrom – 3,675,000 Vitaly Lunkin – 2,490,000 David Bach – 2,345,000 John Hanson – 1,700,000 Huck Seed – 1,380,000 Chau Giang – 1,075,000 Erik Seidel – 965,000 Ville Wahlbeck – 645,000
Lunkin has been having a marvelous WSOP and you would have to think that he will continue to remain among the leaders of this tournament. He is a pretty well rounded player and has shown little weakness this year. Sagstrom is an interesting player and his name has been popping up quite a bit this year. This will be his first cash in a WSOP Event and it will be interesting to see if he can hold up to the pressure. We also have a few specialty players in here who excel at one or two of the variations. Don’t be fooled by the big chip lead, this is still anyone’s tournament.
In other tournaments…
The Triple Chance Tournament heads into day 3 with 16 players fighting it out for the bracelet. This is the second of 3 bracelet tournaments that we are going to see on Tuesday. Early on it appeared that this tournament was going to be dominated by some of the pro’s, but they have fallen by the wayside in day 2 and it is pretty much an unknown field that is left alive. An Tran is the only bracelet winner left and Eric Lynch is the only other player of note. The current leader is Jason DeWitt with 1,599,000.
The third bracelet will be given out in the Seven Card Stud Hi Low 8 or Better Event. They are down to 14 players and for once, Jeff Lisandro nowhere to be seen on a 7 Stud final table. Lots of fresh meat in this tourney and it would appear as though we will get a first time winner here. Brian Swinford will start the day off as the chip leader with 292,000.
Events 54 and 55 finished off their days way short of where they needed to be to get to a final table by the end of day 2. Event 54 started with 2818 and still has almost 400 players sitting down when they start the next session. Event 55 did not do any better as they started the day with 258 players and now have 75 left. Lots of big names hit the rail early in this one including Todd Brunson, Greg Raymer, Erick Lindgren and Barry Greenstein. These guys have to be wearing down as you see their names in almost every tournament at the start. Main Event kicks off in 3 days!
The game has been going on for four long days and these players have to be exhausted.When you are playing a multi-day tourney and only have to worry about one game, you can get into a zone at times and almost go on auto-pilot.When the game changes at every level, you have to continue to be sharp or you risk sending your chips across the table.The marathon will continue to today and we will see who wins what is arguably the most prestigious title of the season.Here is your final table:
Erik Sagstrom – 3,675,000 Vitaly Lunkin – 2,490,000 David Bach – 2,345,000 John Hanson – 1,700,000 Huck Seed – 1,380,000 Chau Giang – 1,075,000 Erik Seidel – 965,000 Ville Wahlbeck – 645,000
Lunkin has been having a marvelous WSOP and you would have to think that he will continue to remain among the leaders of this tournament.He is a pretty well rounded player and has shown little weakness this year.Sagstrom is an interesting player and his name has been popping up quite a bit this year.This will be his first cash in a WSOP Event and it will be interesting to see if he can hold up to the pressure.We also have a few specialty players in here who excel at one or two of the variations.Don’t be fooled by the big chip lead, this is still anyone’s tournament.
In other tournaments…
The Triple Chance Tournament heads into day 3 with 16 players fighting it out for the bracelet.This is the second of 3 bracelet tournaments that we are going to see on Tuesday.Early on it appeared that this tournament was going to be dominated by some of the pro’s, but they have fallen by the wayside in day 2 and it is pretty much an unknown field that is left alive.An Tran is the only bracelet winner left and Eric Lynch is the only other player of note.The current leader is Jason DeWitt with 1,599,000.
The third bracelet will be given out in the Seven Card Stud Hi Low 8 or Better Event.They are down to 14 players and for once, Jeff Lisandro nowhere to be seen on a 7 Stud final table.Lots of fresh meat in this tourney and it would appear as though we will get a first time winner here. Brian Swinford will start the day off as the chip leader with 292,000.
Events 54 and 55 finished off their days way short of where they needed to be to get to a final table by the end of day 2.Event 54 started with 2818 and still has almost 400 players sitting down when they start the next session.Event 55 did not do any better as they started the day with 258 players and now have 75 left.Lots of big names hit the rail early in this one including Todd Brunson, Greg Raymer, Erick Lindgren and Barry Greenstein.These guys have to be wearing down as you see their names in almost every tournament at the start.Main Event kicks off in 3 days!
We are seeing some incredible heads up actions in these poker tournaments and Event #9 was no different. Ken Aldridge and Carman Cavella went head’s up and we saw dramatic chips swings and fantastic play for the duration. Aldridge came out on top, but this was a showdown that people will remember for quite some time. After three hours, Aldridge finally found a hand that allowed him to capture the bracelet. Here is the final hand.
Aldridge had been getting the best of Cavella for quite a while at this point and Cavella needed to make a move to try and get back in the tournament. He looked down at K4 diamonds and liked his chances so he shoved in and got an instacall from Aldridge who had him dominated with KQ. The flop gave him a little hope with K99, but the board never matched or hit an Ace and this marathon was finally over. Aldridge takes down $428,259 for first and Cavella will take home $264,814 for second place.
Event #10 was another long day, 13 hours in all. This tournament had been moving much slower than the others. So much so that the last day was only supposed to be a final table, but they had to play from 18 because of the pace. In the end, Boukai would emerge as another first time bracelet winner. We are seeing a lot of new names emerge so far as the pros are having a very difficult picking their way through these massive fields of very aggressive players. Here is a recap of the last hand.
Bennani was on the button and made a pot limit raise. Bouakai came over the top to put him all in and Bennani made the call. Boukai was sittign on pocket 9’s, but Bennani had two live over cards with a JdQh. The flop was great news with AKQ and it looked great for Bennnani until Boukai hit a 2 outer on the turn with a 9d. To add insult to injury, an Ad hit the river and Bennani was sent to the rail. He collected $151,335 for second place and Boukai wins $244,862 and his first bracelet.
In other tournaments…
Event #11 has finished its day two with 25 players still remaining so they will have to come back a little early and play a long session down to the bracelet winner. Hellmuth was eliminated to his usual rant when he placed his faith in 66 and was not rewarded. Picking a name out of this one is like a blind draw, but Scott Hall has been playing great and is well within striking distance of the chip leader. Let’s see if he can make a move on the final day.
Event #12 is easily the largest field of pros that we have seen go this far in a tournament. In fact, the top position is held by Huck Seed and Todd and Doyle Brunson are nipping at his heels. When Seed has chips he is as good as they get, but nostalgia has to have you hoping that Doyle can get it done one more time.
Event #13 is still trudging along with 180 players left in the field. Chip counts were not yet posted for this event. Event #14 was also in its first day and this one has a surprising amount of eliminations being a limit tournament. Our guess is the players playing no limit hands in a limit game and donating their chips in pot after pot. This is another event that is stacked with top name pros as the game of limit is a little more than most No Limit players can adjust to. This should be a great day two.
Event #11 has been slow going all along and after over 8 hours of play, they are still going at it. As of this posting, the players were just granted an hour and a half for dinner and then the final four will play until they have a winner. Once again, our endorsement has been the kiss of death. Scott Hall was humming along nicely and then the equivalent of the Sports Illustrated jinx hit him and he went out in 7th. We are going to leave the fate of the game up to the poker gods at this point and just give you the chip counts of the final four.
1) Anthony Harb – 2,500,000 2) Peter Rho – 2,500,000 3) Adam Adler – 2,200,000 4) Jim Geary – 1,950,000
Event 12 is also moving pretty slowly and has finally gotten down to 8 players. Huck Seed is no longer the chip leader at the $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event, but he is still hanging up at the top of the leader board. There is still a long way to go in this one and they will be sitting there until they have a winner. It is unlikely that this one will be over any time before 2 or 3 in the morning. Here are the chip counts for the final nine.
1) Ville Wahlbeck – 1,250,000 2) Scott Dorin – 925,000 3) David Chiu – 910,000 4) Huck Seed – 875,000 5) James Van Alstyne – 640,000 6) Mark Gregorich – 480,000 7) Todd Brunson – 295,000 8) Mike Wattel – 220,000
In other tournaments… Event 13 has finally gotten to under 100 players and now stand at 79 remaining. The money hit at 117, so the pace should pick up a bit at this point until we get to the really serious money. There are a ton of short stacks here and I cannot see the hanging around since they have already made the cash. Alan Keating is the current chip leader as of this posting.
Event 14 is almost at the money with only 39 players remaining and 36 getting paid. Once that bubble has been burst, play will definitely accelerate. Lots of big names are still floating around in this one including Negreanu and Greenstein. The fact that they are both atop the leader board spells misery for the rest of this field. Shawn Buchanan is the current chip leader in this event.
Events 15 and 16 just started today and still have huge fields left. Action is moving along very nicely in Event 15 with about half the field already out since early this afternoon. Event 16 has just gotten underway so there is no available information on that event. More information will be posted after the two bracelets of the evening have been awarded.
