Posted by pokerguru on June 19, 2009
Greg Mueller is always fun to watch, but Wednesday was just something different and special. Every time he wins a hand his cronies start the infamous “Sui” call and you just have to laugh. However, there was nothing funny about his performance as he obliterated one of the tougher fields that we have seen and finished first in the World Championship of no limit poker. His pocket 5’s held up on the final hand for him to win his first WSOP bracelet and yet another millionaire club member in WSOP and Circuit Tour Event winnings.
Angel Guillen also won his first bracelet in Event 32 in only his second WSOP cash ever. He bested a field of 1534 and won over a half million dollars for the three day tourney. He didn’t have the chip lead when he started the day, but all that matters is that he had every chip in play at around 1:00am. Mika Paasonen finished in second and won $326,203.
In other tournaments…
Event 34 is now down to 221 players with Jonas Klausen (920,000) leading the way. While day one was one of the bloodiest we have seen yet, day 2 continued the trend of not being able to get down to the final table once again. There are still 22 players remaining and they are going to have to dig in for a long session on Thursday to decide the winner. The good news is that they will start out on short tables so that should hopefully move play along a little quicker in the beginning.
Event 35 is bringing some fresh meat to the table. There are plenty of players left alive in this one that we have heard barely a word from so far in this year’s WSOP. Robert Mizrachi (15,000) is holding on for dear life, but David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliot (107,000) is making some noise at the top of the leader board. Jeffrey Lisandro (153,000) continues to have a great WSOP in anything but hold’em. His very impressive run in the other variations continues and he is amount the tournament leaders once again and poised to make a run at another final table.
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Posted by pokerguru on June 5, 2009
It took over 12 hours to finish the deed, but Freddie Ellis won the first World Championship Event of the 2009 WSOP by besting Eric Drache in Event #6. Ellis was perfect from day one and he had quite a few obstacles to get by in the process. If you play cards in Atlantic City and New York, you know the name. Now the world knows how Freddie Ellis is.
The final hand of the tournament, Drache found himself very short stacked and in deep trouble. The 100,000/200,000 blinds had all but gobbled up his stack and it was time for an all in. Drache raised on the river for his final couple of chips and that was all she wrote. Ellis finished the hand by hitting a flush and Ellis was sent to the rail. Ellis walks away with $373,751, a bracelet and the respect of every player that sat down at his tables. Other notable finishes were Max Pescatori (4th), Greg Mueller (7th), Jeffrey Lisandro (9th) and Daniel Negreanu (10th).
Event #8, the $2,500 Deuce to Seven Draw Lowball No Limit Event, was about as entertaining as it gets. In all likelihood, Ivey had more on side bets than he would win by taking down the bracelet, but he can’t collect unless he gets the jewelry. It was rumored that he stood to win more than $1,000,000 if he took down a tournament.
John Monnette was equal to the task and the two players went head to head for over three hours. At one point, Ivey was all but out and then made a huge run and it looked like the tournament was over as Ivey had over 900,000 of the 1,100,000 in chips. Then with two quick double ups, Monnette had Ivey on the ropes. It was Ground Hog Day all over again as within a few minutes, the situation was reversed and Ivey was back on top. After a few hands, the chip stacks evened back out and the player started trading blinds again for a bit.
The final hand finally happened about 3 and a half hours into heads up play. Monnette was on the button and made a raise when Ivey pushed everything into the middle of the table. Monnette never hesitated and everyone stood up in anticipation. Each player would be taking only one card on the draw. Ivey has holding 7-6-4-2 and Monnette held 9-7-5-2. Monnette was unlucky and drew a 7 to give him a pair and was now officially dead in the hand. Ivey turned over his 5 and the tournament was over.
Ivey now has 6 WSOP bracelets and not one of them is for a NL event. While Ivey is taking down $96,367 for his win, the real payday will come when he walks around the room and collects the money from all the side bets that are out there for a player to win a WSOP event. The will all more than likely ante up again, but Ivey has to feel good about this one.
In other tournaments…
Event #7 is at the final table, but we are still quite a ways from a winner. As of this posting, there are still 7 players remaining in the $1,500 No Limit Event. Craig McConville is currently the chip leader with 3,100,000.
Event #9, the 6 Handed $1,500 NL Hold’em Event is now down to 42 players. This one still has a long way to go with barely a recognizable name left in the field. There has been plenty of action and the number by the end of play today should have us pretty close to a final table.
Event #10, the $2,500 Pot Limit Mixed Game has players dropping like flies. As of this posting, there were only 36 player remaining in what appears to be one of the better fields for this deep in the tourney. A name we have not heard much from in recent times, David Sklansky is still hanging in but times are getting dire with only 32,000 left in his stack.
Event #11 started today and we have seen about half of the field walk away from the tables. The $2,000 NL Hold’em event is moving a bit slower than the bulk of the other tournaments, but the pace is still okay to hit the final table as scheduled. The story of the day in this tournament is Jason Mercier who is making an early bid for his second bracelet of the season.
The second World Championship event kicked off late tonight with the $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event. Negreanu, who has already gone deep in the 7 Stud World Championship Event is playing great poker and catching cards. This is not good news for the rest of the field as there are few better when he is on his game. He is already at the top of the leader board and seems like he is a man possessed. We all know how aggressive he is and he is just as likely to continue his run as he is to be broke by the time the blinds get back to him. However, after last year’s showing, you would have to think he will play a little more conservative when he gets a big chip lead this time around. Forget that, its Kid Poker, full steam ahead!
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Posted by James on September 25, 2008
The final 11 players gathered Wednesday for the final of £2,500 H.O.R.S.E. Event at the World Series of Poker Europe. Howard Lederer, Raul Paez, Erik Albinsson, Ivo Donev, Sherkhan Farnood, Jeffrey Lisandro, Mark Gregorich, Phil Ivey, Yuval Bronshtein, Jeff Duval, and Spencer Lawrence all came together to make a run for the bracelet.
On the very first hand we had a player eliminated. In an Omaha 8 round, Raul Paez raised to 8,000 and Howard Lederer made the call from the big blind. The flop fell 7c-6h-2d and Lederer bet out for 4,000. Paez called. The turn fell the 4c and Lederer put Paez in for his last 5,500. Paez held 10h-Ah-10c-8c for a flush draw, gutshot straight draw, and a bad low. Lederer showed 5h-5s-6s-7h for two pair, a straight draw, and a seven low. The river fell the Jd and Lederer scooped the pot and eliminated Paez in 11th place. Paez received £6,188 for his finish.
Yuval Bronshtein was the next player to fall. During a Stud 8 round Yuval Bronshtein was all in on Fifth Street and Phil Ivey made the call. Bronshstein was on an 8 gutshot straight draw on 6th holding 5s-9h-Ad-8d (Jh-Qd). Ivey was holding a pair of kings. The final card for Bronstein was a 4c, and Bronshstein was eliminated in 10th place. £6,875 was his prize for falling to the great Phil Ivey.
Erik Albinsson was forced to take a stand shortly after, going all in on Fourth Street in a Stud 8 round holding (3d-6d) 5c-Qd). Jeffrey Lisandro made the call with (Ah-4s) 10c-10d. Albinsson caught a 5h on Fifth Street to give him a pair, but Lisandro caught a 4c to put him far in the lead. Albinsson would need running diamonds, a queen, a five, or running kings or aces to win the hand. He lost one of his outs on 6th when Lidsandro caught a 5s. Albinsson caught a 9h. A 6h on Seventh Street missed Albinsson, and he becomes the 9th place finisher, earning £6,875.
The final table was now set with Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Spencer Lawrence, Sherkhan Farnood, Jeffrey Lisandro, Ivo Donev, Mark Gregorich, and Jeff Duval.
It took nearly three hours for the next elimination. Spencer Lawrence was all in on Third Street and three players stayed in the pot. Jeff Duval made an open pair of tens on fourth and Ivey ducked out. Duval bet out on fifth into Howard Lederer, who was showing three spades, and Lederer made the call. Sixth Street showed duval with three cards to a straight on board and Lederer with three wheel cards. Both players checked. The same action occurred on seventh. Lederer could only muster a pair of aces. Duval showed buried kings for kings up. Lawrence only held nines and threes, and Spencer Lawrence was eliminated in 8th place for £8,938. This was Lawrence’s third final WSOP final table this year, all coming in mixed events. It will be interesting to see how he follows up this performance at the WSOP in Las Vegas next year.
One of the strongest performers at the World Series of Poker the last two years has been Jeffrey Lisandro. Including today, he has 10 WSOP cashes in the last two years, 4 final tables, and a bracelet in the 2007 $2,000 Seven Card Stud Event. During a holdem round, with the board showing 6h-4c-Kh-8h, Lisandro raised all-in to 15,000. Howard Lederer made the call. Lisandro showed Jh-Jd for a pair of jacks and a flush draw. Lederer showed 7h-5s for a straight and a weaker flush draw. Unfortunately for Lisandro, the river fell the Ac, and he became out 7th place finisher, taking home £11,000.
Phil Ivey had a roller coaster final table. He was up and down throughout. For an half an hour after the Lisandro elimination, Ivey went on a losing streak and was left with only 14,500. During a stud round, Ivey became involved in a hand with Mark Gregorich. Gregorich bet out into Ivey on every street and even bet dark on Seventh Street. Ivey begrudgingly made the call on seventh with the last of his chips. Gregorich revealed buried queens to go with a pair of sixes showing on his board for queens-up. Ivey mucked his hand and headed for the rail. Phil Ivey was our 6th place finisher, taking home £13,750.
Although Gregorich eliminated Ivey, he still was only sitting on around 32,000 chips. With the limits 6,000-12,000, Gregorich has to make a stand. In a holdem round, the pot was three bet between Sherkhan Farnood and Gregorich. The flop fell Kc-9c-8c. Gregorich bet and Farnood threw out a raise. Gregorich made the call. The turn fell the 4d and Gregorich checked to Farnood, who bet. Gregorich only had 13,000 left and he elected to put the chips in. Farnood called. Farnood showed 5c-5s for a pair and a flush draw and Gregorich showed Ad-Jh for air. A 9s on the river sealed Gregorich’s fate, and he becomes our fifth place finisher. £17,188 was his reward for a strong performance.
Howard Lederer was controlling most of the action at this final table to this point. He had moved up to 553,000 in chips at one point four handed due to a big stud pot between him and Sherkhan Farnood. Lederer is known for being a limit holdem expert, but other than a win in an Aussie Millions preliminary, Lederer has not had a really big score in poker for a while. He holds two bracelets, one in Omaha Hi-Lo and Deuce to Seven Lowball.
While Lederer was the chip leader at this point, things in Limit poker can change quickly. By the time the players were four handed, the limits were 8,000 and 16,000. A couple of pots could mean a big swing in chips.
The conclusion of this event will be posted in the next post. Did Lederer pull off capturing his 3rd bracelet, or did someone else make a startling comeback?
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