World Series of Poker Europe – £2,500 HORSE Event Day 2, Part I

Posted by James on September 24, 2008

Day 2 of the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E. started with 110 players trying to make their way to the final table. The field is still overrun with pro players. Barry Greenstein, Mike Matusow, Patrik Antonius, Andy Bloch, Gus Hansen, Robert Williamson III, John Juanda, Joe Beevers, Barny Boatman, David Williams, Max Pescatori, Jeff Lisandro, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, and Howard Lederer are among the names that are still in contention.

Barry Greenstein was the first casualty of the day. Shortly after the beginning of play, Greenstein was all in with A-10 against John Phan’s A-9. Phan caught a nine on the flop, and Greenstein was left hoping to catch one of the remaining 10’s. A ten did not arrive and Phan now has a copy of Ace on the River.

Bruno Fitoussi busted out shortly afterwards in an Omaha 8 round when his pair of kings were no match for Bruce Yamron’s sixes and fives. Fitoussi was the runner-up in the 2007 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the World Series of Poker. Freddy Deeb was the winner of the event.

Phil Hellmuth has received a tough table draw for this Day 2. His opponents include Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Mark Gregorich, Sherkhan Farnood, and Gary Jones. Gus Hansen started razzing Phil when he asked Howard Lederer if Phil was the 7th or 8th best player at the table. Lederer would not respond, but Hellmuth mentioned that he had only played 5 hands to that point.

Jean-Robert Bellande was voted off the island in a stud round when his queens ran into Ivo Donev’s kings up. Brandon Cantu was out shortly afterwards. In a holdem round with a flop of 8d-4h-3d, Cantu bet out and was raised by Yuval Bronshtein. This was enough to put Cantu all-in. Bronshtein showed 8s-8c for a set and Cantu showed Qh-Jc. Cantu needed running straight cards to win, but they did not come and Cantu hit the rail.

Sadly a few hands later saw the end to one of the more entertaining players, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. In a holdem hand against Gus Hansen, Matsow called bets from Hansen all the way to the river, where he was all in. The board showed Jd-Js-Jc-Ks-Qc when Hansen tabled pocket threes for a full house. Matusow only held ace high and was gone.

John Phan was involved in a three way pot that included Max Pescatori and Raul Paez. On a flop of Qs-Kh-5h, Phan bet out the last of his stack and was called by both opponents. Pescatori bet both the turn of the 3d and the river of the 6d. At showdown, Pescatori showed Ad-Kc-5c-3c for two pair, Paez showed As-3h-4c-Jc for the low, and Phan showed Ah-Jd-7h-6s, for a pair and a weaker low. As a result, Phan is eliminated from this H.O.R.S.E. event.

As we began to approach the bubble, Andy Bloch was all in during a holdem round. He had hit a pair of sevens on the flop, but John Juanda he flopped a pair of kings. Neither player improved and Bloch was eliminated from today’s event. Bloch was the runner up of the first ever $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the World Series of Poker. He came up on the short end of the marathon heads-up match with the late Chip Reese.

The two Phil’s have been tangling a bit today. First, Ivey sucked out on a hand against Hellmuth when he caught a queen on seventh in a stud round. The very next hand, Ivey caught a straight flush in five cards to move his chips up to 100,000. Then, a few hands later, David Williams completed showing (X-X) 4c. Ivey raised showing (X-X) Jc and Hellmuth called showing (X-X) Ad. Williams followed along.

Ivey bet out on fourth and fifth, with Williams folding on fourth and Hellmuth calling along. Hellmuth then bet out on sixth showing (X-X) Ad-Qs-6c-5h. Ivey raised showing a board of (X-X) Jc-7s-Kh-4d. Hellmuth three-bet and Ivey made the call. At showdown, Hellmuth showed a bluff and Ivey showed a pair of kings to take another big pot off of Hellmuth.

Howard Lederer has been the biggest surprise of this Day 2 thus far. He has been near the chip lead a good portion of the day. In one hand in a stud round, Lederer was able to eliminate both Gus Hansen and Barny Boatman with kings up. After the hand he was up to 85,000 but moved up to around 100,000 not long afterwards.

As we got closer to the bubble, both John Juanda and Robert Williamson III were eliminated. Both were eliminated during a stud 8 round. Joe Beevers finished in 18th place when his 7-6 low in razz ran into a perfect 6 of Jeff Lisandro.

Max Pescatori ended up being the bubble boy for this event. In a hand against Sherkhan Farnood, Pescatori was all in on Sixth Street showing Ah-5d-2h-8h-3s-7d for a wheel draw and a seven low. Farnood showed 4h-6d-8s-5c-As-7s for an eight high straight and a weaker seven low. A 3h on the river gave Farnood a seven high straight and a six low. Pascatori did not catch a four and he was eliminated.

David Williams was the first player to make the money with a 16th place finish. In an Omaha 8 round, with the flop showing 10c-3h-Kd, Yuval Bronshtein bet out 2,000 and Raul Paez raised to 4,000. Williams made the call and Bronshtein three bet to 6,000. Williams four bet but only for a few hundred more. Both opponents made the call. The turn of the 10s fell and Bronshtein bet out 4,000. Paez made the call. At showdown Bronstein showed 10d-3c-2h-5h for tens full. Paez flashed pocket threes for a weaker full house and Williams mucked his hand. He then went and collected his £4,812 for his finish.

Play will continue until we reach a final table. Of course, Harrah’s has been known to make strange decisions regarding ending tournaments early. The rest of today’s coverage will conclude in the next post.