Posted by pokerguru on June 8, 2009
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.
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Posted by pokerguru on June 6, 2009
One common theme throughout these multi-day tournaments is the frustration that you see start to show on players that are not mentally ready for the grind. Most players are used to their home games or the single day tournaments that they play at their local casinos. When they get into this kind of a field and have to play for 3 or 4 days, it starts to wear on them. The last day of Event #7 was proof positive of how that frustration can cost someone a tournament.
Steve Karp was in this poker tournament the whole way until the last few hours. Travis Johnson literally bullied his way to the bracelet as his aggressive play frustrated and wore down Karp. It became more noticeable in the last hour as Karp had seemed to have about enough of it and looked like he just wanted to go to bed. He got his wish and Johnson got the bracelet. Here is the final hand recap.
Karp had the button and limped in and Johnson immediately applied more pressure and pushed all in. Karp took no time at all to make the call. The cards were rolled and Karp had 55 to Johnson’s AQ. Karp managed to dodge the flop with K-10-4, but more outs had been added for Johnson. The Q in the turn but him behind to a 2 outer and the river J buried him.
In other tournaments….
We had already mentioned Phil Ivey’s win in our last post, but it definitely deserves another blurb. Ivey play phenomenally all night long and against a very good player and showed why always feared at a table. The only shame of it all was that he had already bought in for the $10,000 mixed event and did not get over there until very late and ended up busting out on the first day. I am sure the bracelet and the 7 figure side bet winning will help him get over that though. He said that he plans on taking a couple of days to get himself back together and then will be right back at it. Ivey seems poised to have a great series.
Event #9, the Six Handed $1,500 NL Hold’em event did not get to the final table, but they are pretty close. There are only 8 players left and play will resume today through to the bracelet winner. We think the two players to watch out for here are Peter Gould and Praz Bansi. They are both hurting a bit for chips here, but one good run and they can start to put some pressure on. Here is your chip count and standing for the day:
1) Charles Furey (1,690,000)
2) Bryce Yockey (1,489,000)
3) Carmen Cavella (1,059,000)
4) Peter Gould (780,000)
5) Bryn Kenney (656,000)
6) Praz Bansi (630,000)
7) Ken Aldridge (411,000)
8) Manny Minaya (339,000)
Event #10 concluded its second day with only 29 players remaining. The ever annoying Hevad Khan still has chips and we all know how lucky this guy can get. Daniel Makowsky has the chip lead and also some WSOP experience with a second place finish under his belt. Hopefully we will not have to endure the little rain dance that Khan has become so infamous for.
Event #11 finished day one in much the way the other tournaments have, by railing over 85% of field on the first day of play. This one started out a little slow and then it just took off as player after player was sent packing. The name to look out for here is the always dangerous Phil Hellmuth. He has chips and the money is sneaking up on the players. Chip counts were still up in the air on this one, but it would appear that one of the wonder kids is leading the pack as Scott Hall as about 140,000 in his stack.
All eyes are now on Event #12, the$10,000 World Championship Mixed Event. Play was a little slow as there is still about 60% of the field standing, but this was a late starting tournament and they did not have the full day to play. Already out are Phil Ivey, Greg Raymer and Mike Matusow. However, the story is the players that are atop the leader board. We are still loaded with some significant pros and Kid Poker leads the pack. Negreanu has a grip on the overall chip lead and it is hard to imagine him giving it up. It has been a while since he has had a strong showing in the WSOP and hopefully this can get him turned around. There is nothing better in poker than watching Kid Poker on a final table.
Two more events get kicked off today and all in all, we will have 6 tournaments going and hopefully 2 more bracelets getting awarded.
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