No-limit hold'em is the first type of poker that many of today's younger players ever played. They saw Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker parlay $39 into $2,500,000 by winning first place in the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event after winning his entry via a PokerStars satellite tournament. That sparked the poker interest in many of them, who wanted thereafter only to play no-limit hold'em. But no-limit hold'em was a gateway drug for the most hardcore of the action junkies that were liberally interspersed in this new generation of poker players. The true action addicts and the most fearless poker players in the bunch quickly gravitated to pot-limit omaha. With interest in playing "all no-limit hold'em all the time" having plateaued over the last year, even more players are turning to PLO, as it's known.
That may explain why 1,223 players turned up to play in WCOOP Event #16 - $215 Pot Limit Omaha. This event was a re-buy event, with each player allowed a single $200 re-buy and a single $200 add-on. Of the players who entered the event, 756 took their re-buy and 751 took their add-on, creating a whopping prize pool of $546,000 and a first place prize of $98,280. 180 players would be paid. Team PokerStars Pros Barry Greenstein, Isabelle Mercier, Victor Ramdin Dario Minieri, Greg Raymer, Humberto Brenes and Chris Moneymaker all took their places in a wild and wooly field that saw thirty eliminations in the first ten minutes, while late registration was still open. Greenstein would exit in 131st place, pocketing $819 along the way, but by the end of the day this tournament's story was shaped most by Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker. He took his place at the final table along with eight stalwart competitors after grabskia was eliminated on the first hand of hand-for-hand play approaching the final table bubble.
At least three members of the final nine had previous WCOOP cashes. Andy McLEOD finished 15th in Event #21 $5,200 HORSE during the 2007 WCOOP for a $14,602.50 cash. Isaac Baron finished in 19th place for $10,543.75 in 2007 WCOOP Event #5 $530 No-Limit Hold’em. Not to be outdone, Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker final-tabled Event #5 $10,300 High-Roller No-Limit Hold'em during this year's WCOOP, finishing in 6th place for a $139,635 cash. No doubt that Moneymaker was hoping to improve upon that finish and take down the title in Event #16.
With blinds at 5,000 and 10,000 entering the final table, Ravinesh and nolimitsuckz were both short-stacked. nolimitsuckz bowed out first, when chip leader Andy McLEOD and Bounatirou ganged up on him by both trying to take him down after nolimitsuckz called all in preflop for his last 124,841. Andy McLEOD hit the flop in a big way, a theme that would become dominant during his final table run; holding Ah-9c-Kh-5c, he made trip fives on the 5h-5d-Jh board. He never improved by the river, but neither could Bounatirou (who folded on the turn) or nolimitsuckz, who flopped two pair jacks and fives and turned a gutterball straight draw that never filled. nolimitsuckz was the 9th place finisher, pocketing $7,644.
As we mentioned at the top of this piece, PLO seems to attract action junkies and gamblers, players that are willing to shove all of their chips in the middle and let the cards fall where they may. That was certainly true at the final table; players weren't the slightest bit shy about flinging chips around, a fact that short-stacked Ravinesh must have surely noticed. He stayed patiently on the sidelines while the player who came into the final table in seventh chip position, Bounatirou, decided to take on Andy McLEOD, getting all in preflop for a shade more than 300,000 chips. Bounatirou had the better hand preflop, showing Kc-Js-Jd-4c against Andy McLEOD's Ts-9h-8c-7h. But the cards were on Andy McLEOD's side once again, as the board ran out 6h-2c-6s-5h-Th to make a heart flush and eliminate Bounatirou in 8th place. Bounatirou collected $12,285 as a result.
With Ravinesh sneaking up to 7th in chips merely by virtue of the elimination of two of his opponents, he must have watched amazed as Andy McLEOD next took his tournament wrecking ball to Moorman1. The two players each put in 462,000 chips before the flop even came down. Once a flop of 5s-Ks-Td showed up on the virtual felt, Moorman1 moved his remaining 580,256 chips into the middle. Andy McLEOD, with chips to burn after the eliminations of nolimitsuckz and Bounatirou, called and attempted to eliminate his third player of the final table. Even though Moorman1 had an overpair and the nut flush draw against Andy McLeod's pair of tens and ten-high flush draw, he was eliminated in 7th place when Andy McLEOD rivered two pair. $17,745 went to Moorman1, more than three million chips total went to Andy McLEOD's stack, and Ravinesh sidled into sixth chip position.
Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker was not idle during this time. He made good on his own run of cards, mixing aggression well with good fortune. He took on the shorter-stacked cuthbertt in a preflop raising war that ended with cuthbertt all in. Both players had pocket aces as two of their hole cards, and each one had one other suited card that matched the ace. It was Moneymaker's Ad-5d that matched best with a board of 7d-9h-6d-8d-4s to make a diamond flush and eliminate cuthbertt in sixth place, where he collected $23,205.
"Finally!" Andy McLEOD must have thought. "Someone else is shouldering some of the load!"
"Excellent!" Ravinesh must have thought, sitting at his keyboard. "If they keep this up, I'll be heads-up for the title without doing a thing!"
Throughout the final table to that point, Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron had been relatively quiet. He finally gained some traction and some ground in the chip counts when he doubled through Andy McLEOD, the chip leader who was throwing chips around like Imelda Marcos on a shoe-shopping spree. The hand played out as follows:
With Baron's double-up, all hell broke loose at the final table. Moneymaker took the chip lead away from Andy McLEOD by chasing Baron and Andy McLEOD out of the pot on a 3s-Ah-7h board after the two had contributed 240,000 preflop and McLEOD added another 300,000 after the flop. His chip lead, however, was short-lived. Within a span of fifteen minutes, Moneymaker doubled up Baron once and Svend svaerd twice by missing draws. He was hemorrhaging chips at an alarming rate, and finally made a stand with 800,000 chips against, who else, Andy McLEOD. This time Andy McLEOD didn't need to outdraw anyone. He had a pair of kings and a king-high flush draw on the flop. Moneymaker had bottom pair of threes and an ace-high flush draw but couldn't improve on either. He went out in fifth place, one spot better than his showing in Event #5, and earned $28,665.
With only four players remaining after Moneymaker's elimination, there was nowhere left for Ravinesh to hide. He had scraped, struggled and survived after starting the final table with less than ten big blinds, jumping from a guaranteed $7,644 for ninth place to a guaranteed $40,950 for fourth place. That's exactly what he earned when he got all in preflop with Ks-Kh-4d-5c against none other than Andy McLEOD, the player responsible for almost every single elimination at the final table. It was a flush draw against for Andy McLEOD, whose Jh-7s-Jc-2c filled a club flush on the river.
At 7am, after fourteen hours of play, 1,220 players had been eliminated. The only three remaining were Svend saerd, Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron and Andy McLEOD. Svend saerd was the one who brought up the idea of a chop.
"May as well play it out," said Andy McLEOD.
Baron agreed. "We been playing this long. May as well gamble now."
"Thats the spirit," replied Andy McLEOD.
And so they played on. The players traded pots back and forth, drawing closer to each other then moving away. The chip counts had tightened to 2.0 million for Baron, 2.1 million for Svend saerd and 2.7 million for Andy McLEOD when this happened, a hand that shaped the end of the tournament for each of the three remaining players:
It was a soul-crushing ending for Svend saerd, who played his heart out to make it that far. He took his beat with grace and dignity, offering a "good game" to each of his competitors and wishing them the best of luck. His third place finish meant he received $54,600 and meant that the Unstoppable Force, Andy McLEOD, would be heads up with Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron for the Event #16 title.
The two played heads-up for half an hour. Although Andy McLEOD started with almost a three-to-one chip lead, the chip lead passed between the two combatants several times. The largest lead Baron was able to open was about two-to-one after rivering a flush, but he quickly gave it back over a series of hands that went the other way. It seemed at first that Baron was trying to keep pots small, but that strategy wasn't paying any dividends. After he missed a draw to once again fall behind over three-to-one in chips, Baron may have channeled his inner action junkie. He certainly went for the home run.
For the first time in heads-up play, Baron three-bet preflop, to 675,000. Andy McLEOD made the call. All of the rest of the chips wound up in the middle of the most raggedy board we'd seen all night, 7c-3c-2d. Baron had completely whiffed, tabling Ah-Kc-Jh-Ts. Andy McLEOD hadn't done much better, but he had at least connected with bottom pair, Ad-Qs-Jd-2s. Andy McLEOD made two pair on the turn with the Qc, completing his utter domination and annihilation of the final table. He sent Baron home in second place, a distinction that carried with it $70,980.
But as he had all night, Andy McLEOD could beat that -- he walked away with first place, $98,280 and a WCOOP bracelet.
No-limit hold'em je prva poker igra, ki so jo mnogi današnji mladi igralci pokra sploh igrali. Videli so Team PokerStars Proja Chrisa Moneymakerja kako je uspel pretvoriti $39 v $2.500.000, ko je osvojil prvo mesto na 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event potem, ko si je priboril svoj nastop z zmago na PokerStarsovem satelitu. To je pri mnogih vzbudilo zanimanje za poker, želeli pa so igrati samo no-limit hold'em. Toda no-limit hold'em je bil le vstopna droga za večino junkijev, ki obožujejo akcijo in so bili liberalno pomešani s to novo generacijo poker igralcev. Pravi akcijski odvisniki in najbolj neustrašni poker igralci v skupini so se hitro obrnili k igri pot-limit omaha. Nekateri so se ustalili pri igri no-limit hold'em še več pa se jih je obrnilo k PLO, kot rečemo igri.
Tako lahko razložimo zakaj je 1.223 igralcev igralo na WCOOP-ovem 16. Dogodku igro - $215 Pot Limit Omaha. Ta dogodek je bil re-buy dogodek, ki je vsakemu igralcu omogočil single $200 re-buy in single $200 add-on. Od igralcev, ki so nastopili se jih je 756 odločilo zat re-buy in 751 za add-on, pri tem so ustvarili zavidljiv nagradni sklad $546.000 in nagrado za prvo mesto $98.280. 180 igralcev dobi denarno nagrado. Team PokerStars Proji Barry Greenstein, Isabelle Mercier, Victor Ramdin Dario Minieri, Greg Raymer, Humberto Brenes in Chris Moneymaker so se podali v razdivjano areno, ki je bila priča tridesetim eliminacijam v prvih desetih minutah, ko je bila registracija še vedno možna. Greenstein je odšel kot 131.z $819 toda do konca dneva je glavni pečat na tem turnirju pustil Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker. Zavzel je svoje mesto za finalno mizo, skupaj s še osmimi strumnimi tekmovalci potem, ko je bila grabskia izločena.
Sedež 1: Moorman1 (968.178 žetonov)
Sedež 2: nolimitsuckz (199.841 žetonov)
Sedež 3: Ravinesh (82.385 žetonov)
Sedež 4: Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron (576.492 žetonov)
Sedež 5: Bounatirou (501.136 žetonov)
Sedež 6: Andy McLEOD (923.666 žetonov)
Sedež 7: Svend svaerd (776.699 žetonov)
Sedež 8: Team PokerStars Pro Chris "Money800" Moneymaker (1.244.705 žetonov)
Sedež 9: cuthbertt (561.902 žetonov)
(Click image for full version.)
Vsaj trije člani od devet finalistov so na WCOOP-u že zaslužili nekaj denarja. Andy McLEOD je bil 15. na 21. Dogodku $5,200 HORSE med 2007 WCOOP za $14.602.50. Isaac Baron je bil 19. za $10.543.75 na 2007 WCOOP-ovem 5. Dogodku $530 No-Limit Hold’em. Da ne pozabimo Team PokerStars Pro, Chris Moneymaker je igral v finalu Dogodka 5 $10,300 High-Roller No-Limit Hold'em med letošnjim WCOOP-om, bil je 6. in prejel $139.635. Ni dvoma, da je Moneymaker upal, na še boljši rezultat mogoče celo naslov zmagovalca na 16. Dogodku.
Z blindi pri 5.000 in 10,000 ob vstopu v finale sta bila Ravinesh in nolimitsuckz bolj na kratkem. nolimitsuckz se je prvi uklonil, ko sta ga vodilni po številu žetonov Andy McLEOD in Bounatirou napadla z namenom, da ga izločita potem, ko je nolimitsuckz izenačil all in preflop z zadnjimi 124.841. Andy McLEOD je dobil flop na lep način, in to ne zadnjič v finalu.Imel je Ah-9c-Kh-5c, dosegel je trip petic na 5h-5d-Jh board. Z riverjem se ni okoristil, vendar se ni niti Bounatirou (ki je odstopil na turnu) ali nolimitsuck. nolimitsuckz je bil tako 9. s $7,644.
Kot smo že omenili na vrhu, se zdi, da PLO privlači junkieje in gemblerje, igralce, ki so pripravljeni vreči vse žetone na sredino pa naj karte padejo kakor že bodo To je bilo v tem finalu vsekakor res, žetoni so namreč prav nič sramežljivo leteli naokoli, dejstvo, ki ga je moral Ravinesh tanek z žetoni, vsekakor opaziti. Pazljivo je stal ob strani medtem, ko se je Bounatirou, ki je vstopil v finale na sedmi poziciji odločil da napade Andy McLEOD-a, tako, da je dal na preflop več kot 300.000 žetonov. Bounatirou je imel boljši hand preflop, Kc-Js-Jd-4c proti Andy McLEOD-ovem Ts-9h-8c-7h. Toda še enkrat več so bile karte na strani Andy McLEOD-a , saj je dobil 6h-2c-6s-5h-Th in tako imel srčev flush ter izločil Bounatirou-ja, ki je bil osmi. Bounatirou je zbral $12.285.
Ravinesh se je prikradel na sedmo mesto po žetonih, največ po zaslugi eliminacije dveh njegovih nasprotnikov, in najbrž je odprtih ust gledal, ko se je Andy McLEOD vrgel na Moormana1. Oba sta že pred flopom položila po 462.000 v žetonih. Ko se je enkrat prikazal flop iz 5s-Ks-Td je Moorman1 dal preostale žetone v vrednosti 580.256 na sredino. Andy McLEOD, obložen z žetoni po eliminaciji nolimitsuckza in Bounatirouja, je izenačil in poskušal izlločiti še tretjega igralca. Čeprav je imel Moorman1 overpair in nut flush draw proti Andy McLeodu, ki je imel par desetk in deset-high flush draw,je bil izločen na 7. mestu, potem, ko je Andy McLEOD dobil na riverju dva para. $17.745 je šlo k Moormanu1, več kot tri milijone v žetonih pa je šlo na kup Andy McLEOD-a , Ravinesh pa se je zavihtel na šesto mesto.
Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker pa med tem časom ni lenaril. Dobro je izkoristil trenutke, ko ga je karta hotela, tako, da je to kombiniral z agresivnostjo. Prevzel je z žetoni kratkega cuthbertta v preflopu in stopnjeval vojno, ki se je končala z cuthberttom all in. Oba igralca sta imela pocket ase kot dve od njunih hole kart, in vsak je imel še eno karto, ki je šla z asom. Moneymakerjev Ad-5d je bil tisti, ki se je najbolje ujemal z boardom iz 7d-9h-6d-8d-4s kar je pomenilo diamond flush in cuthbertt je izpadel na šestem mestu, za kar je dobil $23.205.
"Končno!", si je moral misliti Andy McLEOD, se še nekdo drug trudi!
"Fantastično!" Si je moral misliti Ravinesh, ko je sedel na svojem mestu."Če bodo tako nadaljevali bom vsaj drugi brez borbe!"
Do tega trenutka je bil Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron relativno tiho. Končno je lahko pokazal nekaj žetonov, ko je podvojil na Andy McLEOD-u, ki je imel največ žetonov in jih je metal naokoli, tako kot Imelda Marcos denar na čevlje. Igrano je bilo kot sledi:
Po tem, ko je Baron podvojil, je nastal pekel za finalno mizo. Moneymaker je prevzel vodstvo iz rok Andy McLEOD-a in poskušal Barona in Andy McLEOD-a izriniti od pota s 3s-Ah-7h boardom, potem, ko sta prispevala 240.000 v preflopu in je McLEOD dodal novih 300.000 po flopu. Njegovo vodstvo v žetonih pa je bilo kratkotrajno. V obdobju petnajstih minut je Moneymaker podvojil enkrat Barona in dvakrat Svend svaerda z manjkajočimi drawi. Izgubljal je čipe na alarmanten način in končno je pristal pri 800.000 žetonih proti, kom drugem, Andy McLEOD-u. Tokrat Andy McLEOD ni imel potrebe po outdrawu . Imel je par kraljev in flush draw s kraljem na flopu. Moneymaker je imel par trojk in flush draw z asom toda tega ni mogel izboljšati. Izpadel je in končal kot peti, eno mesto boljše kot na Dogodku 5 in zaslužil $28.665.
Potem, ko so ostali samo štirje se Ravinesh ni več mogel skrivati. Nekako je preživel z manj kot desetimi blindi in skočil na najmanj $40.950 za četrto mesto.In točno toliko je tudi dobil ko je odšel v preflop s Ks-Kh-4d-5c proti nikomur drugemu kot Andy McLEOD-u, igralcu, ki je bil odgovoren za skoraj vsako eliminacijo v finalu. Flush draw je odločil tudi ta spopad.
Ob 7. zjutraj po štirinajstih urah igre so ostali samo še Svend saerd, Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron in, Andy McLEOD, 1220 igralcev pa je bilo izločenih. Svend saerd je predlagal chop.
"Lahko tudi igramo," je rekel Andy McLEOD.
Baron se je strinjal. "Igrali smo tako dolgo.Prav tako lahko gemblamo še naprej."
"To je duh," je odgovoril Andy McLEOD.
In tako so igrali naprej. Denar v žetonih je bil razdeljen sedaj: 2.0 milijona za Barona, 2.1 milijona za Svend saerda in 2.7 milijona za Andy McLEOD-a, ko se je zgodilo, delitev, ki je oblikovala konec turnirja za vsakega od treh preostalih igralcev:
Bil je srce-parajoč konec za Svend saerda, ki je pustil srce na igralni mizi, da je prišel tako daleč. Dostojanstveno je priznal poraz in zaželel srečo obema finalistoma. Pobral je $54.600 in tako je nezaustavljivi Andy McLEOD ostal nasproti Isaacu "westmenloAA" Baronu v borbi za naslov na 16. Dogodku.
Igrala sta pol ure. Čeprav je Andy McLEOD startal s prednostjo skoraj tri proti ena v žetonih, se je prednost izmenjevala. Največja prednost Barona je bila dva proti ena, ko je dobil flush na riverju, toda prednost je hitro izgubil. Kazalo je, da želi Baron ohraniti majhne pote toda ta strategija se ni obrestovala. Potem, ko je zamudil draw in še enkrat padel na minus več kot tri proti ena, bi moral Baron poiskati junaka v sebi in reskirati. Vsekakor je poskusil s home runom.
Prvič odkar sta ostala sama je Baron poskusil s three-bet preflopom, za 675.000. Andy McLEOD je izenačil. Vsi čipi so šli na sredino v najbolj divji igri večera, 7c-3c-2d. Baron je šel na občutek z Ah-Kc-Jh-Ts. Andy McLEOD se ni mogel kaj bolj pohvaliti, toda on je imel vsaj povezan nizki par Ad-Qs-Jd-2s. Andy McLEOD je dobil dva para na turnu z Qc in dosegel popolno dominacijo na finalni mizi. Poslal je Barona domov na drugem mestu s $70.980.
Andy McLEOD pa je odkorakal z $98.280 in WCOOP-ovo zapestnico..
Live blog coverage of WCOOP Event #16 $215 pot-limit Omaha (one rebuy/one add-on) is brought to you by bloggers Jason Kirk, Martin Harris, Dave Behr, and Carol Kline. Have a story for us? E-mail to blog@pokerstars.com. Click refresh to see the latest information.
7:39am--Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron eliminated in 2nd place; Andy McLEOD is the champion of Event #16!
Staring at a roughly 3.5/1 chip deficit, it seemed that Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron abandoned the small ball strategy he had attempted to adopt for heads-up play and went for a home run. He opened the pot to 75,000, and when Andy McLEOD reraised to 225,000, Baron three-bet it to 675,000. Andy McLEOD called.
The rest of the chips went in on a flop of 7c-3c-2d. Andy McLEOD led out for 1,350,000, prompting Baron to call all in for his last 1 million in chips. Baron had missed the flop completely with Ah-Kc-Jh-Ts; Andy McLEOD only managed to pick up a pair of deuces with Ad-Qs-Jd-2s. Baron needed help in the worst way on the turn and river, but didn't get it when the turn fell Qc to make an unbeatable two pair for Andy McLEOD. The 4h on the river completed the board and ended the tournament.
Baron finished in second place, earning $70,980 for an impressive run. He was topped only by Andy McLEOD, who won $98,280 and a WCOOP bracelet.
7:37am--Missed draw leaves westmenloAA searching for answers
When Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron got Andy McLEOD all-in after the turn on a board that read 8h-9d-2c-8d, all he needed to do was hit his draw (and hope that it didn’t fill up his opponent). What draw was that? Baron showed Qd-Ac-Jh-5d for the nut flush draw, but Andy McLEOD already had As-8c-Kc-4s for trip eights. The river Ah gave Baron a lowly pair of aces and Andy McLEOD the 5,499,784-chip pot and a 3.5/1 chip advantage.
7:30am--This see-saw is making me sick
The chip lead is being paced back and forth almost every hand now. Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron had to let one hand go on the river, with the board showing Tc-Qc-8h-6d-Ks, after his 725,000-chip bet was raised all in by Andy McLEOD. Baron got some of the chips back the next hand by leading out on the turn for 120,000 and the river for 260,000. Andy McLEOD called both bets, but on a board of Qd-6c-Qh-Kc-2d he coudn't beat Baron's 5h-2h-Qs-3s full house.
Never fear; just two hands later the chips were all back in Andy McLeod's stack when both players made two pair on a board of Qs-3c-4d-Qh-8s. McLeod's two pair, queens and nines with nines in the hole, were better than Baron's queens and fours.
After all those battles, Andy McLEOD once again has a 2/1 chip advantage.
7:27am--And now the tables are turned
Andy McLEOD has held the chip lead all through heads-up play. Well, that is, until this hand went down. Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron potted from the button to 75,000 and Andy McLEOD obliged by making the call. Andy McLEOD check-raised Baron’s 90,000 bet to 282,750. Baron made the call. The 3s on the turn elicited a 440,750-chip bet from Andy McLEOD, followed by a call from Baron. Andy McLEOD checked the river As, and Baron moved all in for 1,433,429. After taking a couple of seconds to mull it over, Andy McLEOD made the call. Baron showed Th-3h-Jd-2d for a turned two pair and a rivered flush. Andy McLEOD showed As-Qs-2s-7s for two pair, aces and sevens. With that double-up, Baron took his first lead of heads-up play. He has a 2/1 advantage over Andy McLEOD.
7:07am--Sick doesn't begin to describe it
The chips were once again evenly distributed. Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron had about 2.0 million; Svend svaerd had about 2.1 million, and Andy McLEOD had about 2.7 million. Then all hell broke loose.
Baron started the party with a preflop raise to 50,000. Andy McLEOD called the raise, but Svend svaerd put in a reraise to 200,000. Baron called THAT raise, only to have Andy McLEOD oddly put in a raise of his own, to 800,000! Svend svaerd settled the score once and for all by moving in for 2,164,181. That finally folded Baron but Andy McLEOD made a snap-call! The rest of the hand played itself, as you can see:
That board was described as "sick" by Baron, but it allowed him to enter heads-up play with Andy McLEOD, albeit at a 3-to-1 chip disadvantage. Svend svaerd finished in 3rd place with $54,600.
7:05am--It’s tricky to rock a rhyme
It’s also tricky to slow-play a flopped full house, and that’s exactly what Svend sværd did after he got Andy McLEOD to call his post-flop bet of 130,999 on a flop of Ts-Th-Qc. Svend sværd checked the 2d on the turn and check-called Andy McLEOD’s 236,750 bet. Svend sværd checked one more time when the river brought the Jc, but this time Andy McLEOD checked behind. Svend sværd flipped over Qh-Qs-7d-7h for a flopped full house (queens full of tens), and Andy McLEOD mucked. With that pot, Svend sværd inched closer to the two million-chip mark, putting him in striking distance of his two opponents.
7:01am--Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron doubles through Andy McLEOD
A bit of late-night fireworks resulted in a double up for Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron. He opened the pot to 50,000 preflop, then called after Andy McLEOD raised to 170,000. The 5d-Js-2c quickly produced an all-in raise from Baron after Andy McLEOD opened for 257,750. When the cards were turned up, Baron had flopped two pair with Qd-Ts-5s-2d and was ahead of Andy McLEOD's overpair, Kd-Kh-Qs-Jd. He stayed that way through the 7s turn and 4h river. Three-handed play continues, with Baron now having about 2 million chips.
6:53am--Inevitably, talk of a chop arises
Down to three-handed, deep-stacked, and tired after a grueling fourteen hours of poker, talk of a chip-count chop has finally arisen. The idea was broached by Svend sværd, who was in a virtual chip tie with Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron in second place behind Andy McLEOD. "chip cound split i am tired ???" was perhaps not the best approach, as it offered up a crucial strategic point to Andy McLEOD and Baron right away. If Svend sværd was tired, his game could suffer.
"May as well play it out," replied Andy McLEOD. Baron agreed.
"Meh lets flip some coins," said Baron. "We been playign this longs.
May as well gamble now."
"Thats the spirit," agreed Andy McLEOD.
"Ok np we play," said Svend sværd. "Then you are going to taste svends sværd."
Sounding a repeated question throughout this final table, Andy McLEOD shot back, "How do you pronounce that!" He was not rewarded with an answer; and so the world wonders.
6:49am--Stay low, keep moving
As the shortest stack going into the final table, Ravinesh had a lot of work to do in order to move up the leaderboard. His survivalist instincts served him well, as he watched five players exit the final table ahead of him. Ravinesh potted pre-flop from the button to 70,000. Andy McLEOD re-potted from the big blind to 220,000, and Ravinesh called all-in for less. Ravinesh held Ks-Kh-4d-5c, which was up against Andy McLEOD’s Jh-7s-Jc-2c. The 6c-Qc-3d flop gave Andy McLEOD a flush draw, which fell on the river with the 9c. Kudos to Ravinesh for lasting this long, though. Instead of $7,644 for ninth place, he collected $40,950 for fourth place.
6:40am--Team PokerStars Pro Chris "Money800" Moneymaker eliminated in 5th place
The roller coaster ride is over for Chris "Money800" Moneymaker. He seemed determined to play as many hands as possible at the final table, using a loose-aggressive style to build his chip stack up to 3 million chips. Unfortunately, the cards started breaking against him and Moneymaker couldn't complete the draws needed to continue firing all barrels at every pot. He got his last 800,000 chips into the middle on a flop of 7s-3c-9c against Andy McLEOD. Andy McLEOD showed Kc-Ks-5c-4d for an overpair of kings with a king-high flush draw; Moneymaker tabled Ac-Qc-Ts-3s for bottom pair with an ace-high flush draw. He couldn't improve on either his pair or his flush draw when the turn and river came running fives, 5d-5s. That made three of a kind for Andy McLEOD and sent Moneymaker out of the tournament in fifth place, with $28,665.
This fifth place finish tops, by one spot, Moneymaker's finish in Event #5, where he finished 6th for a $139,635 payday. Not a bad WCOOP so far for Moneymaker.
6:36am--Play has calmed
The last fifteen minutes have had a calming effect on the players remaining in this tournament. Previously chips were flying across the table in huge stacks every hand, now most pots are being won before the flop or with a flop bet. Nobody has been eliminated sine we came back from the fifteen-minute break about a half hour ago. This is quickly becoming a war of attrition. Might need to dig in . . .
6:25am--Svend svaerd doubles through Moneymaker . . . again
The cards are not breaking Chris Moneymaker's way since we came back from the fifteen-minute break. Preflop, he reraised Svend svaerd from 48,000 to 160,000. Svend svaerd made the call, leaving himself about 500,000 behind. All the rest of those chips went in the middle after the flop came down 3c-6s-9c. Moneymaker turned over Ah-Kh-Ks-Jh for a pair of kings; Svend svaerd had a wrap draw with Td-9h-8h-7s. He hit it once on the turn with the 5h and a second time for good measure with the river Th.
6:17am--Now it's Svend svaerd's turn to double up
Easy come, easy go for Chris Moneymaker. He and Svend svaerd went to the turn, and with the board showing 4c-6c-Jh-5s all of the chips went into the middle. Svend svaerd turned over 7c-7d-8h-Td for the made straight, but Moneymaker was drawing quite live with Ac-5c-6h-2h. He needed a club, a six or a five on the river to knock out Svend svaerd, but the river bricked out Qs. Svend svaerd doubled up, dropping Moneymaker back to the pack.
6:16am--Top pair improves to a flush
Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron and Chris “Money800” Moneymaker got into a raising war pre-flop, resulting in Baron all-in for 789,568 in chips. Baron held 9h-Jh-As-Ah which bested Moneymaker’s Kc-Kh-5d-3h in two places -- highest pocket pair and highest heart flush draw. The 2h-9c-6h flop produced a gutterball straight draw for Moneymaker, but one of his outs would give Baron the nut flush. The turn 6c paired the board, still leaving Moneymaker with any non-heart 4 or any king as outs. The river 7h was a brick for Moneymaker, and Baron doubled up in the hand.
6:11am--Moneymaker retakes chip lead
Andy McLEOD has taken a few recent hits, and Team PokerStars Pro Chris "Money800" Moneymaker was the beneficiary of one in a pot worth over one million chips. Svend svaerd started the action with an under-the-gun raise to 48,000. Moneymaker and Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron both called the raise before Andy McLEOD reraised out of the big blind to 240,000. That folded Svend svaerd, but both Moneymaker and Baron called a second time.
When the flop came 3s-Ah-7h, Baron checked to McLEOD, who led out for a bit less than half-pot, 305,750. Moneymaker wasted no time in raising that bet all in, a total of almost 1.6 million in chips. Nobody wanted to play for that much, and with that pot Moneymaker took over the chip lead from Andy McLEOD.
6:00am--Dangerous double-up
Just before the break, Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron doubled up courtesy of Andy McLEOD. Baron, ranked one of the top online tournament players in the world, went from 574,559 to 1,167,118 in chips after the hand. Perhaps it was bad timing for Andy McLEOD to call Baron’s all-in bet after the flop, as he needed running cards to make two-pair or a straight -- neither of which materialized.
Level 25
Blinds 8,000/16,000
Average chip count: 1,392,400
Players remaining: 5
First prize: $98,280
Chip counts:
1. Andy McLEOD 2,650,024
2. Chris "Money800" Moneymaker -- Team PokerStars Pro -- 1,998,549
3. Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron 1,167,118
4. Svend svaerd 966,154
5. Ravinesh 180,155
5:45am--Moneymaker's aces are better than cuthbertt's
Team PokerStars Pro Chris "Money800" Moneymaker continues to run well in tonight's event. He got in a preflop raising war with cuthbertt that ended with all of cuthbertt's chips in the middle. Both players turned over pocket aces, Ah-Ad-Kc-5d for Moneymaker and As-Ac-8c-3c for cuthbertt. cuthbertt was the one who had to sweat when the flop brought two diamonds, 7d-9h-6d. The 8d hit the turn, making a diamond flush for Moneymaker and eliminating cuthbertt from the tournament after the 4s came on the river.
That 6th place finish was worth $23,205 to cuthbertt.
5:36am--Andy McLEOD does it again
If you thought Andy McLEOD was unstoppable before, try butting heads with him for a two million-chip pot. Moorman1 tried to stand up to the table powerhouse and paid with his tournament life. After a raise to 30,000 by Moorman1 and a call by Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron, Andy McLEOD potted to 138,000. Moorman1 re-potted to 462,000 and Andy McLEOD made the call. The fireworks didn’t stop there. Moorman1 bet 580,256 after the 5s-Ks-Td and was all-in. Andy McLeod made the call. It seems that nobody is ever in good shape against Andy McLEOD. Even though Moorman1 had an overpair (aces) and the nut flush draw, Andy McLEOD was in the hand with a pair of tens and a ten-high flush draw. The 2d on the turn missed Andy McLEOD completely, but the river 6h gave Andy McLEOD two pair. Moorman1 collected $17,745 for his seventh-place finish, and Andy McLEOD surged to 3,081,360 in chips.
5:33am--Andy McLEOD of the Clan McLEOD, thanks
A pox on all who try to take on the freight train known as Andy McLEOD. He is an unstoppable force. Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron tried to sneak a preflop raise to 30,000 in front of Andy McLEOD and Bounatirou, but Bounatirou raised it up to 108,000. Andy McLEOD then re-popped THAT raise to 366,000. Action folded back to Bounatirou, who called all in for 200,445 more. It was a race, of sorts:
Bounatirou: Kc-Js-Jd-4c
Andy McLEOD: Ts-9h-8c-7h
Things looked safe for Bounatirou on the 6h-2c-6s flop, but the 5h turn made things much more interesting, bringing both a heart draw and a partial wrap draw for Andy McLEOD. He filled the heart draw with a river Th to send Bounatirou to the rail in 8th place, where he collected $12,285.
5:16am--nolimitsuckz is the first final table victim
nolimitsuckz came into the final table second-shortest on chips, and exits the final table first. He limped into the pot before Bounatirou raised to 41,233, a raise that chip leader Andy McLEOD raised from the button to 148,699. Action folded back to nolimitsuckz, who dipped into his time bank while he tanked over the call. He finally did call all in for 124,841 total. Probably to his dismay, Bounatirou called as well.
The two live players, Bounatirou and Andy McLEOD, checked the 5h-5d-Jh flop. On the turn 6c, Bounatirou checked again, bringing a bet of 94,750 from Andy McLEOD. Bounatirou got out of the way, allowing Andy McLEOD to win the side pot. Hands were opened for the main pot:
nolimitsuckz: 9s-Js-8s-Td
Andy McLEOD: Ah-9c-Kh-5c
nolimit suckz needed a seven to river a straight and stay alive. That didn't happen; the river was the Ad, eliminating nolimitsuckz in 9th place. He earned $7,644.
5:12am--Event #16 final table is set
After starting the day with 1,223 players, we're now down to our final nine.
Seat 1: Moorman1 (968,178 in chips)
Seat 2: nolimitsuckz (199,841 in chips)
Seat 3: Ravinesh (87,385 in chips)
Seat 4: westmenloAA (586,492 in chips)
Seat 5: Bounatirou (501,136 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (2,035,662 in chips)
Seat 7: Svend sværd (776,699 in chips)
Seat 8: Money800 (1,244,705 in chips)
Seat 9: cuthbertt (561,902 in chips)
Andy McLEOD finished 15th in Event #21 $5,200 HORSE during the 2007 WCOOP for a $14,602.50 cash. Not to be outdone, Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker final-tabled Event #5 $10,300 High-Roller No-Limit Hold'em during this year's WCOOP. Moneymaker finished that event in 6th place for a $139,635 cash.
5:09am--Hand-for-hand play lasts one hand
On the very first hand of hand-for-hand play, short-stacked grabskia opened for pot, 35,000. He was reraised by Andy McLEOD and made the call. The board ran out Kc-4d-7c-9h-2c, at which point grabskia had made only a pair of deuces with his 2h-Qd-5d-Ah. Andy McLEOD showed a club flush with 7s-6c-4s-9c to knock grabskia out in tenth place. He earned $5,187.
5:05am--The bigger they are, the harder they fall
Andy McLEOD and steamraise seemed to be sitting in comfortable positions, first and second in chips at table 45. But in a hand that quickly escalated to a 1,565,804-chip pot post-flop, one player would be sent to the rail in 11th place.
That’s right folks. steamraise flopped kings and tens against Andy McLEOD’s kings and deuces, and a turned deuce gave Andy McLEOD a full house and the monster pot. steamraise collected $5,187 for his 11th-place finish, and Andy McLEOD became our first player to hit the two million-chip mark.
4:47am--After 11 hours of play only 11 remain
Level 23
Blinds 5,000/10,000
Average chip count: 632,909
Players remaining: 11
First prize: $98,280
Chip counts:
1. Chris "Money800" Moneymaker -- Team PokerStars Pro -- 1,143,707
2. Andy McLEOD 1,133,972
3. Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron 1,020,581
4. Svend svaerd 927,697
5. steamraise 910,970
6. cuthbertt 663,477
7. Moorman1 429,089
8. Bounatirou 270,568
9. nolimitsuckz 246,416
10. Ravinesh 142,385
11. grabskia 73,138
4:40am--Are they giving away free concert tickets somewhere tonight?
The short stacks just refuse to stick around. Donald is the latest to exit the tournament. He was all in on a flop of 7h-Td-Jd against westmenloAA. Donald had aces in his hand, but westmenloAA flopped two pair and turned a straight to cinch the hand. That 12th-place exit was worth $5,187 to Donald.
4:40am--Swing and a miss
Try_An_Hit failed to knock one out of the park when he was all-in pre-flop against Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron. Baron held double suited aces (4d-Ah-4h-Ad) against Try_An_Hit’s Ks-9s-Qc-Qs. Try_An_Hit’s hand improved to a pair of kings and a gutterball straight draw after the 8h-Jc-Kc flop, but the turn and the river fell Jd-3s, sending Try_An_Hit back to the bench. Try_An_Hit’s payday is $4,095 for his 13th-place finish.
4:35am--pAAuletta next to fall to cuthbertt
The pots get really big, really quickly in PLO. One false step can mean the end of a long night. cuthbertt raised to 20,000 from under the gun and found one caller -- the big blind, pAAuletta. Uncharacteristically for the pace of play over the last hour, both players checked a flop that came 6c-7h-Ac. pAAuletta took a stab at the pot on the Qh turn with a bet to 32,000. cuthbertt raised to 140,000, but couldn't shake pAAuletta, who called and left herself only 37,826 behind. The rest of those chips went in on the Qd river. pAAuletta showed down Ah-Jc-Tc-7s for two pair, aces and queens, a hand crushed by cuthbertt's full house, Ad-As-9s-8c. pAAuletta is out in 14th place, earning $4,095.
4:29am--jhepp eliminated in 15th place
A couple of tough beats during the last hour sent jhepp down into Short-Stack Land. When he found himself with just 44,263 remaining chips, he put them all in over the top of a raise from cuthbertt. cuthbertt called, and off to the races they went!
jhepp: Td-Qh-6c-4h
cuthbertt: Kh-8s-7d-5c
It was anybody's hand to win, but when the board ran out Jd-2d-8h-3d-As, cuthbertt picked up the pot with a lowly pair of eights. That meant that jhepp could pack up his things and collect $4,095 for a fifteenth-place finish.
4:29am--Down goes FRASER!
JOE FRASER tried to set a trap for his opponents at table 55, but he ended up going down swinging to Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker. JOE FRASER limped from middle position for 8,000, and Donald raised to 32,000. Moneymaker made the call from the cutoff. JOE FRASER re-popped it to 140,000, folding Donald. Moneymaker elected to make the call. JOE FRASER started with a stiff upper-cut when he bet all-in for 94,440 on the 6h-3c-Qs flop. Moneymaker stayed in the ring and still had a fighting chance when the players flipped over their hole cards.
JOE FRASER: Ah-Ac-Qd-5c
Money800: Kd-8c-9h-Qh
The turn 4d gave JOE FRASER a gutterball to go along with his pair of aces, but he went down for the count when Moneymaker rivered a second pair (9d). JOE FRASER lost this title bout but will earn $3,003 for his efforts.
4:21am--"Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot."
We've had our first million-chip pot of the night, and it resulted in the elimination of Zanjong in 17th place. jhepp started the action off with a preflop raise to 24,000 from early position. That raise was called by Andy McLEOD on the button before the big blind, Zanjong, raised to 100,000. Only Andy McLEOD called.
Zanjong and McLEOD both started the hand with over half a million chips, so you might expect them to play the hand cautiously after the flop. After all, each had the ability to put a significant hurting on the other. The flop was another ragged flop, 2h-6s-3h (why is it always the ragged flops?). Zanjong led out for 128,000, a bet that Andy McLEOD quickly raised all in for over 578,000 chips. Zanjong snap-called all in for his last 295,047 behind, but it was a mistake. His Kh-Ks-9c-7c had been outflopped by Andy McLEOD's 8c-6d-4d-2c. When the board bricked out Qd-9d, Andy McLEOD found himself the owner of more than 1.2 million chips and Zanjong found himself shockingly out of the tournament.
4:17am--Grab a beer. Or better, some coffee
A couple of double-ups by the short-stacks -- Ravinesh, jhepp and grabskia -- have distributed the chips around the two remaining tables. With the average stack at this point of the tournament equal to almost seventy big blinds, we aim to be playing for quite a while longer.
4:10am--They say it’s a drawing game
One thing we know about Omaha is that you sometimes have to get your chips in on a draw. But what if you are already sitting on one of the larger stacks in the tournament and your opponent is one of the few players who has you covered? steamraise, Andy McLEOD and jhepp each invested 18,000 pre-flop and watched Qs-Ks-Th fall on the flop. After jhepp and steamraise both checked, Andy McLEOD fired 37,750. jhepp raised pot to 173,250, folding steamraise. Andy McLEOD made the call. jhepp bet 389,227 all-in when the 7c hit on the turn, and after tanking for a while, Andy McLEOD called all-in for slightly less. It was a 943,208-chip pot. The players showed the following hands:
jhepp: 2s-Kc-Ac-Jh
Andy McLEOD: Ts-Jc-9d-8s
That’s right. jhepp flopped the nut straight. Have you ever heard that phrase “flop a straight fold a straight”? If you haven’t, watch the river to see why this might be sage advice.
4:06am--Omaha can be such a brutal game
All systems say, 'Go!' when you're extremely short-stacked and wake up with kings. gillete, who finished 4th in this year's WCOOP Event #11 (Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo), pushed all in over the top of a raise from jhepp with Kc-Kh-7h-7d. jhepp made the call, tabling Ad-Kd-7s-3h. That was simultaneously good and bad news for gillete; good in that he took those outs away from jhepp, but bad in that when an ace hit the flop, gillete was practically drawing dead. The board came 3s-Ac-Ts-Qd-Td to send gillete to the rail in 18th place. That finish was worth $3,003. Well done, gillete.
4:02am--Our first millioinaire
Svend svaerd is the first player to cross the million-chip threshold. He gets nothing for that distinction other than the satisfaction of being in first chip position by a significant margin (and this blog entry, natch).
4:00am--rujobo’s mojo is gone
A severely short-stacked rujobo called Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron’s pre-flop raise to 15,000, committing almost half of his chips in the process. rujobo put his last 16,900 in the middle after the 2h-Th-7d flop holding Kc-Qh-9c-Td (top pair king kicker). Baron was ahead in the hand with Tc-4d-Qc-Qs for a pair a queens (and one of rujobo’s outs). The turn 5d and river Jh were no help to rujobo, and he was eliminated in 19th place. rujobo’s mojo may be gone, but his bankroll is $1,911 fatter.
With that elimination, we are now down to two tables.
3:54am--Flush over flush spells D-O-O-M for yara777
144,000 chips can get burned up quickly in PLO at limits of 3,000 and 6,000. That's the number of chips yara777 started with when he limped into the pot from under the gun. pAAuletta also limped in from the button before westmenloAA checked his option in the big blind.
On a flop of 8c-3c-6h, westmenloAA checked to yara777, who bet 21,000. That was enough to fold pAAuletta, but not enough to deter westmenloAA, who check-raised to 68,750. You know what happened from there -- all the chips went in. westmenloAA held Ac-Jd-Tc-Td for an overpair with the nut flush draw, while yara777 tabled Qc-Td-8d-7c for a pair of eights, a gutshot straight draw and a worse flush draw. The 6c on the turn killed the suspense, making the nut flush for westmenloAA. The river came 5d, sending yara777 to the virtual rail in 20th place with $1,911 in prize money.
3:51am--Wrap sinks Rap
Kenny Rap led this tournament for long stretches in the early and middle going, but he's been eliminated in 21st place by, of all things, a partial wrap draw. Watch irony's cruelty play out against Kenny Rap below:
3:42am--Eleventh hour already too late for some
Level 21
Blinds 3,000/6,000
Average chip count: 331,523
Players remaining: 21
First prize: $98,280
Top ten chip counts:
1. jhepp 676,310
2. Svend svaerd 654,818
3. Bounatirou 614,574
4. Moorman1 555,340
5. westmenloAA 514,729
6. cuthbertt 475,438
7. Zanjong 416,572
8. Chris "Money800" Moneymaker -- Team PokerStars Pro -- 410,270
9. steamraise 372,260
10. Andy McLEOD 344,304
3:37am--missheffer missteps with a dominated flush
missheffer picked the wrong time to bet a five-high flush. After checking the 8c-3c-Jc flop with Zanjong, missheffer re-raised all-in to 111,208 after Zanjong bet 50,000 when the 8s fell on the turn. Zanjong made the call and tabled Tc-Ac-Ah-3h for the nut flush. missheffer was drawing dead, holding 3d-4c-6d-5c for the lower flush. missheffer’s misstep here still nets her $1,911 for 22nd place.
3:28am--Paq18 packin' it in
Players continue to fall to the scythe quickly. Paq18 is the latest victim, finishing in 23rd place after getting all in on the turn with the board showing 7c-Qs-2s-6c. He showed down Ac-9c-7s-8h for a huge drawing hand, but was behind westmenloAA, who called with two pair, sevens and deuces, Jh-Jd-7d-2c. Paq18 felt a familiar Omaha frustation keenly when the river missed every single draw he held, coming 4d. At least the $1,911 deposited in his PokerStars account for 23rd place should provide some solace.
3:28am--Missing a draw can sometimes save your life
Andy McLEOD and jhepp started to build a big pot after a flop of 2c-Js-6c. Andy McLEOD bet 37,275 and jhepp called. The As hit on the turn, and it was bet-call again, this time for 78,425. The river 3s seemed to help neither player, as both checked. Andy McLEOD showed 7c-9h-6s-5c for a flopped pair of sixes and a busted 7-high flush draw. jhepp showed 5d-Tc-Qh-Ac for a turned pair of aces and a busted nut flush draw. jhepp took down the 281,400-chip pot and is now our chip leader.
3:25am--Moorman1 strikes again
Moorman1 is single-handedly moving this tournament along (for which the blogging staff offer our heartfelt thanks). He opened the pot from middle position with a preflop raise to 12,500. Action folded to the short-stacked antroff, in the big blind, who reraised to 40,000. Moorman1 was undeterred and jacked up the price of poker to 122,500, enough to put antroff all in. He called with Ah-Qc-Th-3c, a hand dominated by Moorman1's As-Ad-9h-2h. Shockingly, neither player really connected with the board, and so antroff heads into the virtual sunset, eliminated in 24th place and $1,911 richer.
3:22am--moondog77 barks up the wrong tree
Game over for moondog77. He made a stand with Ah-Js-Tc-4h and was looked up by Moorman1 and his double-suited kings, Ks-Kd-Td-4s. moondog77 paired his ace on the flop to take the lead in the hand, but a dreaded flush draw was also on board, Ac-7d-6d. The turn As improved moondog77's hand and took away a few diamond outs, but the river 8d filled Moorman1's diamond draw without making a full house for moondog77. He's out in 25th place, earning $1,911.
3:17am--Moneymaker gets the best of steamraise
steamraise has been steamrolling his table, but he just took a hit courtesy of Team PokerStars Pro Chris "Money800" Moneymaker. Moneymaker opened the pot with a raise to 17,500 from the button. steamraise, in the big blind, was the only caller.
A highly-coordinated flop of Td-9c-Jd called for caution from both players. steamraise opted to check; Moneymaker opted to make a continuation bet of 20,000 that steamraise called. The turn 4s seemed like a blank, and again steamraise checked. This time Moneymaker made it 70,000 to go, sending steamraise into the tank. He dipped into his time bank before making the call.
The river 2d filled any potential flush draws but was otherwise a blank. steamraise checked a third time, bringing a whopping 175,000-chip bet from Moneymaker, over half of his remaining stack. steamraise again tanked, but this time he folded, allowing Moneymaker to climb up the chip counts to over 492,000 in chips.
3:14am--CAVENDISH eliminated in 26th place
The tables were barely collapsed before Svend svaerd made his presence felt at his new table. He raised from the button to 10,999, then called a reraise by the small blind, CAVENDISH, to 36,997. The rest of the chips went in after the flop came down 7c-Qc-Ac. Svend svaerd had already made a flush, with Qs-Jd-Tc-3c, and was up against CAVENDISH’s set of aces, Ad-As-Jh-8h. CAVENDISH needed a board pair to prolong his tournament, but it didn't happen. The turn came 9c and river fell 4s. He was eliminated in 26th place, earning $1,911 for the privilege.
3:09am--OllowainTim eliminated in 27th place
cuthbertt started the action by raising to 12,000 from middle position. grabskia called from the cutoff, and OllowainTim re-raised to 50,859 all-in. cuthbertt re-potted to 168,577, forcing a fold from grabskia. OllowainTim was looking for a board full of middle cards, as he held 8d-7d-6h-Tc. cuthbertt flipped Ad-Kh-Ac-7h. the Qh-9d-Qs flop gave OllowainTim a gutterball straight draw, but the running fours on the turn and river sealed his fate. OllowainTim collected $1,911 for his 27th place finish.
3:07am--And then there were three (tables)
JP OSU attracted a fair number of critical railbirds for not being afraid to splash chips around. That tendency finally proved his undoing in a pot against cuthbertt. JP OSU made it 13,456 to go preflop after Chris Moneymaker limped in. Moneymaker made the call, as did cuthbertt, who started the hand in the big blind.
It was another one of those harmless-looking, ragged flops, 2s-5d-6s, but it led to a raising war between JP OSU and cuthbertt. JP OSU wound up all in for 208,425, and cuthbertt made the call. He had started the hand with Ac-Ah-4s-3h and flopped a six-high straight. JP OSU wasn't dead, showing down 9d-7d-5s-8c for a straight draw of his own, but it never materialized. The turn was the Th and the river the 5h, sending JP OSU to the rail in 28th place and collapsing the tournament from four tables to three.
3:06am--Top top is not gold
Moorman1 just picked up a 260,000-chip pot by eliciting calls from antroff pre-flop (raise to 10,000), on the flop (bet 18,000), and on the turn (36,000). On the river, antroff led out for the first time for 64,000, which Moorman1 called. What kept antroff so interested in the hand? Here are the starting cards:
Moorman1: Ah-Jc-Td-Kc
antroff: Jd-9h-As-Qc
After the flop of Js-4c-Tc, antroff had top pair top kicker against Moorman1’s top two pair and king-high flush draw. The turn 7s helped neither player. The river 5c completed Moorman1’s flush draw, but antroff never improved beyond his top pair top kicker.
2:57am--Moneymaker won't say, 'Die'
Chris Moneymaker's fortune continues to hold him in good stead. He made an unorthodox play by limping from under the gun, then pot-reraising Svend svaerd, who had raised to 16,999, to a total of 69,996 after Paq18 called out of the small blind. Paq18 pushed all in for almost 229,000, driving Paq18 out of the hand. Moneymaker, however, called all in for his last 90,507.
Moneymaker: Qh-Jh-Tc-9s
Paq18: Ac-Kd-8d-5c
We couldn't tell you who the statistical favorite was in this hand preflop, but after the 8s-5s-7d flop Moneymaker had about as big a wrap draw as you can have. Paq18 was no slouch either, having made two pair, but Moneymaker's wrap filled with the turn Td (and again with the river Th). He chipped up to 340,005.
2:53am--Aces hold up? Impossible!
Yes, it's true. Unimproved aces actually held up in PLO. westmenloAA started a limp parade from under the gun that was carried through the button by yara777 and rujobo. Kenny Rap raised pot on the button to 26,000, folding everyone except rujobo, who moved all in for 40,200. Of course Kenny Rap called.
rujobo: Ac-As-Th-6h
Kenny Rap: Ah-Qh-Jd-Td
The flop brought all sorts of cracking potential for Kenny Rap, coming 2h-Jc-8h, but he couldn't carry it through, bricking the turn 6d and the river 2s. rujobo doubled up to 94,400 in chips.
2:51am--Make that a double . . . well, almost
With 28 players remaining action seems to have slowed down a bit. Perhaps that’s because the next pay jump starts at 27th place. grabskia, sitting with 80,350 to start the hand, was one of the shortest stacks in the field. OllowainTim limped from under the gun, followed by a limp from missheffer in middle position. grabskia called the additional 2,000 from the small blind, and gillete checked his option. grabskia bet pot (16,000) after the 5c-Ts-9d flop and got a call from missheffer. Another pot bet (48,000) by grabskia after the 3s on the flop was called by missheffer. Kh on the river, and grabskia bet his last 12,350, this time bringing a fold from missheffer. grabskia is still below the average stack size but has a bit more room to breathe.
2:35am--Top ten, hour ten
Level 19
Blinds 2,000/4,000
Average chip count: 248,642
Players remaining: 28
First prize: $98,280
Team PokerStars Pro:
Chris "Money800" Moneymaker 213,176 (17th in chips)
2:25am--Svend svaerd lets his set do the talking
We have a new chip leader, named Svend svaerd. Svend svaerd has actually been near the top of the chip counts at several times during the tournament, but recently took down a huge pot with a set of tens, eliminating wetterwachs1 in the process. Take a look:
2:26am--Behold the power of the redraw
gillet was all-in against MrT-omte on a flop of Ah-Jd-4d. Both players had two pair (aces and jacks), but gillete had Ad-5d for a redraw to the nut flush. The 3d hit on the turn, completing gillete’s flush draw. MrT-omte needed the case ace or the case jack for a chop, but the turn fell 3s, giving gillete the 222,742-chip pot. MrT-omte dropped to 51,607.
2:15am--Big stacks do the tango
The largest of the stacks at table 132 have been doing an excellent job staying out of each other's way, letting the medium stacks take the full brunt of their pressure. But sometimes conflict is unavoidable.
Andy McLEOD, one of the chip leaders with more than 400,000 in chips, raised from under the gun to 8,175 and was called by Paq18 and by Svend svaerd, sitting in late position with 462,000 chips. The flop was all baby cards, coming 3h-4c-8h, and brought a bet of 22,999 from svend svaerd after Andy McLEOD and Paq18 both checked. Only Andy McLEOD called.
When the turn fell As, Andy McLEOD led out for a rather large 51,275. Svend svaerd tanked, dipping into his time bank slightly before making the call. Both players checked through on the river Ts, obviously wary of what the other might be holding. Svend svaerd showed a single pair of aces, Ah-Kh-Ks-Jd. That was beaten by Andy McLEOD's rivered two pair, tens and eights, Tc-9h-8c-6h.
2:14am--Once a night? It’s already morning in some places
OnceAnite raised to 9,000 and Bounatirou called from the small blind. Both players must have loved the 8d-5s-Td flop because a raising war resulted in OnceAnite all in.
The hands:
Bounatirou: 8h-Qd-9h-Tc (top two pair and a gutterball)
OnceAnite: 9d-Kc-6c-Jd (open-ended straight flush draw)
Watch the turn and the river fall, giving one of these players a 200K pot.
Apparently OnceAnite doesn’t refer to how many times this player hits his open-ended straight flush draw -- unless he already hit that earlier in the day.
2:08am--steamraise drives Kenny Rap out of 175K pot
Walk tall and carry a big stack, a U.S. president once said (or something close to it). steamraise can do that after bullying Kenny Rap off a hand with a large river bet. Kenny Rap had raised the pot to 9,000 preflop from under the gun, and was called by Chris Moneymaker and steamraise. When the flop fell Tc-Qs-2h, Kenny Rap checked, then called a bet of 24,000 from steamraise. Moneymaker folded.
On the turn 2c, Kenny Rap checked a second time. steamraise tanked before betting 48,000, a bet that Kenny Rap called immediately. The river brought the Kh, another check from Kenny Rap, and another tank-bet from steamraise, this time to 90,000. Kenny Rap let his time bank run down and timed out before acting on his hand. It was folded and the 175,000-chip pot was awarded to steamraise.
2:06am--The Donald says, “You’re fired”
bigbadray2k was all-in after a flop of Jh-3h-7s, with Donald making the call. bigbadray2k showed 8d-6s-4h-5c for an inside wrap draw, but some of his outs were taken away when Donald showed Kh-Kc-Jc-6h for a pair of kings and a king-high flush draw. The turn and the river were 7c-8s, leaving bigbadray2k with only a pair of eights. After firing bigbadray2k from Event #16, Donald moved up to 377,894 in chips -- 7th on the leaderboard.
2:01am--Moneymaker turns rags into riches
Omaha is one of those rare poker games where a ragged-looking hand before the flop can turn into the stone cold nuts after the flop. Rags are what helped Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker double up to 232,000 chips in a recent hand he played against yara777.
It was another one of those dangerous limped pots. Moneymaker was in the small blind, and fired first at a flop of 7h-5d-Qc. Yara777 raised him to 32,500, and the two went to the turn.
The turn came 4h, and again Moneymaker led out, this time for a whopping 75,000 chips, leaving himself just 3,838 behind. yara777 raised him all in to get the cards open and on the table. yara777 had the dreaded top set with Ac-Qd-Qs-9d, but Moneymaker had turned an eight-high straight with 9c-8s-6s-3d. The Tc that fell on the river did not pair the board, allowing Moneymaker to double up and continue what is turning into a deep run.
1:56am--Do or do not. There is no try
Try_An_Hit was hoping to do just that when he called moondog77’s pre-flop raise to 6,900. moondog77 checked the Ks-9d-2d flop, and Try__An__Hit fired 17,500. moondog77 then raised to 74,450, followed by an all-in re-raise to 118,196 from Try__An__Hit. moondog77 made the call and must have been disappointed to see that he was up against two pair (kings and nines) and a king-high flush draw -- he only had a pair of queens and a queen-high flush draw. The turn (Jc) and river (3c) improved neither player, and moondog77 was left with only 34,089 in chips. Try__An__Hit jumped to 258,342.
1:50am--The one where you call your opponent out for a bad beat
Table 132 continues to entertain. After a recent hand in which JP OSU took over 100,000 chips from Paq18 by hitting a gutshot on the turn to sink Paq18's top set, the verbal war of the words began.
Paq18: callin
Paq18: callin
JP OSU: lol you called just as many times in that hand as I did
Paq18: lol with a set of aces ?
Paq18: you call with a belly buster?
JP OSU: double belly buster yo
Paq18: omaha is a joke i just play this for another wcoopc ash
JP OSU: brag obv
JP OSU: lol
1:37am--Treadinwater not treading water any longer
Treadinwater was one of the short stacks on table 132, the Table of Death at this stage of the tournament. He made his stand by reraising YRWTHMELTHR from 7,500 to 26,250 preflop, and then calling all in on a flop of 3d-9d-Kc after YRWTHMELTHR bet half-pot. Treadinwater made a pair of nines, but YRWTHMELTHR held the nut flush draw, a draw that promptly came in when the 5d hit the turn. With that flush, Treadinwater went under for the last time, his tournament headed down the drain.
1:30am--Chip counts, hour eight
Level 17
Blinds 1,250/2,500
Average chip count: 165,761
Players remaining: 42
First prize: $98,280
Top ten chip counts:
1. Svend svaerd 474,560
2. Kenny Rap 385,786
3. missheffer 315,883
4. yara777 296,436
5. Bounatirou 289,282
6. nolimitsuckz 270,133
7. wetterwachs1 258,349
8. Donald 239,506
9. Andy McLEOD 233,808
10. steamraise 216,676
Team PokerStars Pros:
Chris "Money800" Moneymaker 110,088 (28th in chips)
1:29am--Tough to hit a set there
Unimproved aces are the downfall of many players in Omaha tournaments. Even with help on the board, aces can still be a siren’s song. But what happens when you have three aces in your hand?
Zanjong potted from middle position to 5,000, Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron re-potted to 18,000, and steamraise called from the cutoff. frkvinn decided to take a stand holding Ah-Ad-Qd-As in the big blind an re-potted to 78,000. steamraise was the only caller, with 19,838 left to play with after the flop. frkvinn bet 64,752 all-in after a flop of 9s-Qs-3d and steamraise called all-in for less holding 4s-7s-5c-6d. Would frkvinn’s aces hold up against frkvinn’s flush draw?
That’s a big old no. In fact, frkvinn was drawing dead after the turn. steamraised jumped to tenth on the leaderboard after that hand with 216,676.
1:25am--K-Rap! Kenny Rap takes a hit
Like in hold'em, limped pots can be very dangerous in Omaha, as it's hard to put an opponent on a narrow range of hands. Five limpers saw the flop on table 104 recently. When it came down Jd-8s-5s, three players checked to yara777, who bet 10,000. That folded everyone except Kenny Rap, who had been in the big blind and check-raised to 38,000. yara777 reraised to 124,000 and before you could blink, what had started out as a friendly hand wound up with all of the chips in the middle.
Kenny Rap: 8d-8c-7s-9h
yara777: 4h-Kc-Js-Jc
It was a disastrous set over set situation for Kenny Rap, but he had a few life preservers in the form of a double gutshot straight draw. He missed them with a turn card of 9d and a river cards of 3s. As a result of this loss, Kenny Rap slips back to the pack a bit, sitting at a shade more than 385,000 in chips.
1:19am--Heavy hitters
Table 132 has so many chips spread around it, we're surprised it doesn't crash from all the virtual weight. The line-up includes:
Top pair's not a great hand in Omaha. Even top set can be problematic. MrLynX raised to 8,000 from middle position and was called only by Paq18, from the big blind. The flop was a great one for MrLynX, coming down Td-Qh-7h to match nicely with his hand of 9s-Kd-Qd-Qc. He quickly found himself in a raising war with Paq18, and with the nuts, where was MrLynX going but all in? Paq18 called the all in and tabled Ac-Kc-Qs-7s for two pair and a gutshot to Broadway. With the other queens already dead, another seven was no help to Paq18. He could only win with a jack, and of course caught the Jd on the turn. The river 8s didn't pair the board, so MrLynX headed for the rail. MrLynX adds a $1,037.40 cash for 47th place to his 11th place ($3,045.60) cash in Event #8 8-Game Mixed.
1:06am--Too cool for school
Fibear raised from late position to 6,000 and bigegypt potted to 21,000. After moondog77 got out of the way in the small blind, Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron re-potted to 71,000. Fibear got out of the way, and action was back to bigegypt, who responded as follows:
bigegypt: not cool
Apparently not cool because a call would put bigegypt all-in. After tanking for a while, bigegypt finally made the call. Baron had single-suited aces (8c-As-Ah-6s) against bigegypt’s single-suited kings (Kh-6d-Kc-9h). The board ran out 4d-Jd-7d-Js-Th, improving neither player’s pocket pair. Baron showed some compassion for his eliminated opponent when he offered the following analysis of the hand:
bigegypt [observer]: is foldin there bad?
westmenloAA: i dont think u can fold
westmenloAA: when u put in 21k
Baron now has 221,248 in chips, making him a threat to go deep in Event #16.
1:02am--Oh those pesky wrap draws
Imagine putting your tournament life on the line by calling all-in preflop with Ac-Qc-Qs-4c and seeing your opponent turn over Th-9s-8d-7c. Think it would feel good? What if the flop came Jd-Jh-8h to give your opponent a pair and a partial wrap draw? That's what happened to DIFFET when he called all in against YRWTHMELTHR. Luckily for DIFFET, the turn and river bricked out 4s-6d to allow him to double up and remain in the tournament.
Sometimes Omaha is just an expensive way to flip coins.
12:56am--Chris takes a kick to the money-maker
Things are looking grim for Chris Moneymaker. He was all in on a flop of Qh-3c-9c against yara777. Moneymaker didn't have the best hand or the best draw, showing down Jc-Jd-4c-Td to yara777's Ac-Ks-Qc-2s. The club flush promptly came on the turn with the 7c. Moneymaker is down to about 30,000 remaining chips.
12:51am--gillete looking for another deep run in the WCOOP
gillete finished 4th in WCOOP Event #11 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo for a $36,393.00 cash. He is still in the hunt for a WCOOP bracelet in Event #16, sitting with 43,971 in chips.
12:43am--Three all-in bets lead to three full houses
You'd think that a preflop raise to 8,100 would scare a few people off, but what if those people know they'll wind up with a full house by the river? After Draethen limped in from early position, plplaya popped it up to 81,000. Chris Moneymaker called in postition as did yara777 in the blinds, and the original limper, Draethen.
The flop was about as connected as they come, 7s-9c-6c. yara777 immediately bet 33,000, folding Draethen. plplaya called all-in for less before Moneymaker raised to 66,000. Now it was yara777's turn to call all-in for less, which he did with the best hand: Ah-9h-9d-3d, a set of nines. plplaya showed Kc-Qd-8c-9s for a huge draw, and Moneymaker turned over the weakest draw of the three but the strongest made hand, Th-8d-4d-6s for a flopped straight. The turn and river were running eights, making a full house for everyone. yara777's full house, nines full of eights, was best, winning him both pots.
12:35am--If you got it, flaunt it
And by “it,” we’re referring to chips. Andy McLEOD is the chip leader on table 128 and third in the field overall -- and he’s not afraid to use those chips. Andy McLEOD raised to 4,775 from under the gun, bringing a call from john jdk. Drant then re-raised out of the big blind to 24,775, and Andy McLEOD re-raised yet again to 84,775. john jdk got out of the way, and Drant called all-in for slightly less. The cards?
Andy McLEOD: 6d-4d-3c-5c
Drant: As-5d-Ah-9c
The flop was 3d-3s-9d, giving Andy McLEOD trips. The turn 2d provided no relief to Drant, and the river 6s only added insult to injury by giving Andy McLEOD a full house (threes full of sixes). Andy McLEOD jumped to 426,098 after eliminating Drant. He is now second on the leaderboard.
12:28am--Kenny Rap steamrolling the field
Kenny Rap has been at the top or near the top of the chip counts for this tournament almost since the get-go. Right before the most recent break, he took out another opponent. Kenny Rap raised to 4,800 from middle position and was called only by pownedAss out of the big blind. The flop was small and ragged -- 2d-7s-5s -- yet produced a raising war. Kenny Rap started with a bet of 8,000 after pownedAss checked. From there the raises went to 17,600, then to 63,200, then all-in by pownedAss for 115,691 total. Kenny Rap called.
pownedAss: Ts-9s-9h-8s
Kenny Rap: Ad-Qs-5d-4s
Both players showed a pair with a flush draw. pownedAss had the better pair, with a pair of nines, but Kenny Rap had the better flush draw. pownedAss improved to a pair of tens with the Td turn, but Kenny Rap had the last laugh when he rivered the Ac for two pair, aces and fives.
That pot must have been a nice salve for Kenny Rap; while it was going down, he was going out of Event #15 - $320 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em in 50th place out of 2,048 for $1,843.20.
12:23am--Chip counts at seven-hour mark
Level 15
Blinds 900/1,800
Average chip count: 108,781
Players remaining: 64
First prize: $98,280
Team PokerStars pros:
Chris "Money800" Moneymaker 136,497 (17th in chips)
12:16am--And so it goes in Omaha
One aspect of Omaha that players find incredibly vexing is that starting hand values run close together, much closer than they do in hold'em. With one Omaha hand made up of six different starting hold'em hands, anything can happen after the flop. Bounatirou was the beneficiary of this concept after raising to 4,200 and being reraised all in to 10,232 by Sick Joke. Bounatirou made the call with Jc-Ts-Qh-4s and was in bad shape against Sick Joke's Qc-Qs-4d-2d, but this is Omaha! A jack on the 2h-3c-Jd flop and another on the river after the turn came Ac sent Sick Joke to the rail. We're sure he wasn't laughing at what he no doubt thought was a sick river card.
12:10am--Three big pairs, big three-way pot
pokerbull666, sitting with 30,548 chips to start the hand raised under the gun to 4,800. EATBANANAS re-raised to 7608 and was all-in. From the button, Kenny Rap re-popped it to 30,024. pokerbull666 re-raised 524 more all-in, and Kenny Rap made the call. With two players now all-in, Kenny Rap held the best hand pre-flop with 8s-4d-Ac-As. pokerbull666’s hand was second-best: Kd-9d-Ah-Ks. EATBANANAS had a pocket pair as well, but he would need a lot of help to survive his all-in holding Qh-Js-Qs-Td. Would pokerbull666 or EATBANANAS be able to put a dent in Kenny Rap’s stack? Watch the hand unfold below.
If you didn't watch, Kenny Rap’s aces held, giving him the 71,104-chip pot. He still sits atop our leaderboard with 364,257.
12:03am--zibanchik's case ace proves a problem
It didn't take long for zibanchik to take a hit, but it wasn't at the hands of Bounatirou. After wetterwachs1 limped in from under the gun, zibanchik made the price of poker 7,200. FRANZISKA called before wetterwachs1 reraised to 31,200. Both players, perhaps sensing that wetterwachs1 was short and making a move, called the bet.
wetterwachs1 was all in for 13,835 on a flop of 4c-3c-Ac. Only zibanchik called, and once the hands were opened he may have wished he hadn't called. He had Ah-Kh-Qc-Qh for a pair of aces, but wetterwachs1 did him one better by flopping a *set* of aces with As-Ad-8d-4s. Small wonder that zibanchik never improved on a turn of 7h and a river of Ts. He slipped back to 181,767 in chips while more than doubling wetterwachs1 to 123,670 at the same time.
11:52pm--Table draws are so rigged
With nine tables remaining, zibanchik, in third chip position was broken away from his table and sent to a new table where Bounatirou, the second biggest stack remaining in the tournament, awaited him. The two players are at opposite side of the table and so should be able to stay out of each other's way, but we'll keep an eye on the table to see how having two big stacks there affects the table dynamic.
11:49pm--Ace on the river
Many a player has won a big pot with an ace on the river. This time, steamraise picked up 84,850 chips when an ace fell on the river to give him aces full of fives. After check-calling bets from bigegypt on both the flop (5c-3s-2h) and the turn (5d), steamraise checked again on the river. This time, bigegypt checked behind. steamraise showed 3h-Ah-8d-Ad for the win as bigegypt mucked.
11:35pm--Moneymaker riding high after another double
Once you're a world champion with chips, anything is possible -- especially in Omaha. Chris Moneymaker was in the big blind and watched as SpadeSkillz raised from under the gun and was called in two spots before the action came to him. Getting a discount, Moneymaker also made the call. They were four to a flop of 3c-9d-6h. SpadeSkillz, with only 14,227 behind, shoved it all in. After one fold, plplaya immediately called. Action moved to Moneymaker, who promptly raised pot to 77,208, almost enough to put him all in. plplaya did the honors with a reraise that Moneymaker called. The cards were opened:
Side pot --
Moneymaker: Ah-9h-6d-6c
plplaya: 7d-7h-4h-3d
Main pot --
SpadeSkillz: Kc-Qs-Qh-Jh
For both pots, Moneymaker was ahead with a set of sixes against an overpair and a pair and a gutshot draw. The gutshot promptly hit on the turn with the 5s, but Moneymaker rivered one of his full house outs, the 9c, to take down a monster pot and knock SpadeSkillz out. Moneymaker now has about 195,000 chips.
11:33pm--Not enough fiber in your diet?
Isaac “westmenloAA" Baron continues to make strong plays over at table 80. Most recently, he pulled down a 129,500-chip pot after re-raising enough to put Fibear all-in after the flop. Fibear folded and lost over half of his stack in the hand, while Baron moved to more than 194,436 in chips.
11:23pm--Moneymaker flush with chips
What's better than being a world champion? Being a word champion with an above-average stack. Sitting in the cutoff, Chris Moneymaker was the only player to call a raise to 4,900 from Mr Neverquit. True to his moniker, Mr Neverquit didn't quit on the 2h-4h-5c flop after Moneymaker bet 5,600. Instead he raised pot to 28,700, putting Moneymaker to a decision for his stack. Moneymaker decided to go with his hand and reraised all in for 41,231. Mr Neverquit called.
Moneymaker: Qc-Th-7d-6h
Mr Neverquit: 2s-3d-6s-Kd
Moneymaker was on an open-ended straight draw (with one end of the draw filling the same straight that Mr Neverquit had flopped) and a flush draw. Mr Neverquit flopped a six-high straight but had no redraw, always a dangerous proposition in Omaha. The turn was the Qh to make Moneymaker's heart flush, and the river was another queen, the Qs.
Mr Neverquit was crippled on the hand, retaining just 5,697 chips, while Moneymaker now has a healthy stack of just more than 94,000.
11:09pm--Chip counts at six-hour mark
Level 13
Blinds 700/1,400
Average chip count: 68,254
Players remaining: 102
First prize: $98,280
Team PokerStars pros:
Chris "Money800" Moneymaker 47,531 (64th place)
11:00pm--Werry aggri-a-sive
MrKGBoreoman opened under the gun for 3,600 and his only caller was Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron in the big blind. When the flop came down Kh-5c-2c Baron checked and MrKGBoreoman bet the pot, 7,800. Baron checked-raised for the rest of his opponent's stack, another 17,920, and it all went in.
Baron showed Ac-Tc-8c-7d and would have to catch up to MrKGBoreoman's As-Ks-Qd-7s. The board didn't cooperate though, bringing 6s-8h to drop Baron to 92,136. MrKGBoreoman, meanwhile, is up to 43,640.
10:54pm--Kenny's big day
Not only is Kenny Rap leading this event (as he has for hours now), he's also still alive in Event 15, having made the final 64 over there. He's looking at the possibility of a very nice payday today after putting himself in good position all day.
10:45pm--The ups & downs of Omadraw
Svend sværd has been doing some gambling over on Table 67. Having the big stack enables one to do that.
In one recent hand he got all of Treadinwater's 38,950 chips in the middle on a flop of Td-Jd-4c. Treadinwater had Ad-Qd-Qc-Td for an overpair and flush draw, while Svend sværd had Qs-9d-8h-7s for the wrap draw. The turn was the 5s and the river the Tc, and Svend sværd lost a chunk of his stack.
On the very next hand, Svend sværd again had another short-stacked player, michi's_star, all in on the flop for all of his chips. This time the flop was Ts-9c-5d. michi's_star had Qd-Qh-Th-9d for top two, and Svend sværd had 8s-7c-6c-4s for another straight draw. The turn was the Qc and the river the Jh, giving Svend sværd the straight and the 53,116-chip pot. michi's_star is out in 114th.
That one put Svend sværd up over 165,000, but then came this one in which he dropped half his stack:
10:37pm--Not so fabulous
While we watched Kenny Rap extending his chip lead, fabsoul was going out over on Table 80.
suns100 raised on the button to 3,500, getting only one call from fabsoul in the big blind. When the flop came down 7s-6s-5h the former WCOOP bracelet winner checked and suns100 bet the pot for 7,500. fabsoul then put in a check-raise to 30,000, leaving himself 13,394 that would go in the middle when suns100 came over the top.
fabsoul showed two pair and a straight draw with Tc-9h-7c-6d but his opponent already had the straight with Td-9d-8d-5c. The board ran out As-4s to send fabsoul out in 137th place with $819.
10:33pm--Rich, richer, etc. Vol. II
On a flop of Ah-6h-3s all of Tmay420's money went in the middle; he held Kh-Th-Td-9h against Kenny Rap's Ac-7h-6d-4c and needed to hit a ten or a heart to take the lead. The board ran out 7d-6s, shipping the 47,124 pot to Kenny Rap and sending Tmay420 home (or at least back to the tournament lobby on PokerStars) in 135th place. He earns $819.
10:31pm--Greenstein grounded
Barry "barryg1" Greenstein built back up over 20,000, but had slipped back down to 9,852 again and found it necessary once more to go for broke. Again, YRWTHMELTHR raised to 3,000 preflop, and Greenstein shoved all in behind him. Bounatirou then reraised to 34,056 to isolate the Bear, and YRWTHMELTHR cooperated by getting out of the way.
barryg1: Td-Ts-9c-9h
Bounatirou: Ah-Ad-Kd-6h
The board came Js-Jc-Kc-8s-4s and Greenstein was eliminated in 131st, good for $819.
10:23pm--The rich get richer
Two big pots for Kenny Rap have pretty much defined his day. The first one took him up over 120,000 very early on in the day. Now he's got almost double that after a huge hand again BRUSTAMPHIN.
TOOLED_UP limped in for 1,000 under the gun and Kenny Rap came along, followed by two others; both blinds, including BRUSTAMPHIN in the big blind, saw the Ad-Th-9c flop as well. After that... well, we'll let you see for yourself:
10:16pm--Greenstein doubles up
After YRWTHMELTHR raised to 3,000, Barry "barryg1" Greenstein shoved his last 7,778 and YRWTHMELTHR called.
Greenstein showed Kc-Js-Td-Ts while YRWTHMELTHR had 8h-7s-6s-5s. The board came Jh-9h-5c-4s-Ad, and Greenstein took the 17,056-chip pot with a pair of jacks.
10:10pm--Ouch
Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron is now in 12th place on the leaderboard. Here's the little pot that got him there:
10:06pm--Bear: an endangered species
Team PokerStars pro Barry "barryg1" Greenstein has carried his short stack of 10,278 into the money. With just a little over ten big blinds, Greenstein -- along with all of the other short stacks -- will likely be making a move in short order.
10:03pm--Chip counts at five-hour mark
Level 11
Blinds 500/1,000
Average chip count: 38,893
Players remaining: 179
First prize: $98,280
Team PokerStars pros:
Chris "Money800" Moneymaker 50,950 (43rd place)
Barry "barryg1" Greenstein 10,278 (157th)
9:58pm--Bubble go pop
With the elimination of bostonted in 181st, we have now reached the money in Event No. 16 of the 2008 WCOOP. Everyone left is guaranteed at least $746.40.
9:54pm--fabsoul claims a victim
Just three hands after Isaac Baron's big chip-up, fabsoul got a smaller, but still significant, boost. He busted going2Auba with Ah-As-Ks-Td against Ac-Jc-8s-2c in a pot worth 22,072. That pot put fabsoul up to 51,839, about 13k above par.
9:53pm--Paying tribute to the Baron
This time it was Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron who took a chunk of change from yara777, in yet another multiway limped pot. Five players, including Baron in the hijack, were already in the pot when yara777 called form the small blind to see a flop of 7s-6h-2c.
yara777 led out for 4,800 but Baron raised to 14,325. With no one else in the pot, yara777 made the call with 27,741 behind. Both players checked the 5s turn, and after the 5s hit the turn yara777 checked again. Baron took down the 33,450 pot with a bet of 28,800.
Thanks to that pot, Baron now has 72,665.
9:47pm--Kenny krushes Khan
Team PokerStars pro Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan was holding on as we approach the money bubble, sitting on a stack of 20,420 when he found himself tangling big time with chip leader Kenny Rap.
Kenny Rap had raised to 2,400 and Khan had called him from the button when the flop came Ks-8s-3c. An action flop, as it turned out, as Kenny had a pair of kings in his hand while Khan had a pair of eights. The case eight didn't come to save Khan -- it couldn't, Kenny had it! -- and he hit the rail in 191st, just ten spots off of the money. Kenny Rap, meanwhile, continues to maintain a healthy lead with 157,566 -- still 35K ahead of second.
See how the hand played out (and the chat, too):
9:45pm--Baron steady, fabsoul advancing
Isaac Baron continues to hold steady in the 50k-60k range; he'd dropped to the low end of that scale before taking down three pots in a row to jump back to 61,715. He's dropped a touch to 56,740 but is playing very solid poker at the moment.
fabsoul, in the meantime, chipped up even further with a nice river card. With 14,125 already in the pot and the board reading 9d-9c-8h-9h-Qs, fabsoul got an extra 4,000 out of yara777 to take the pot with his Qc-Qd-Jh-Th. He now has 41,403.
9:35pm--A fab-ulous stretch
fabsoul had been sliding a bit, mostly having been quiet lately, but he bought himself a little more room to breathe a few minutes ago.
going2Auba opened for 1,800 in the hijack and fabsoul called on the button with 10,153 behind. going2Aub then led out for 3,600 into the 4,500 pot on a flop of As-6c-5c; fabsoul shoved and claimed the 11,700 in the middle. That picked him up to 18,253.
Then a blind-vs.-blind hand worked out to his advantage to boost his prospects even further. He and Chubagabra saw a flop of Qh-4h-2c together, and fabsoul took that pot down with a pot-sized re-raise after checking to allow Chubagabra to bet 4,000.
That pot took fabsoul up to 28,653, about 6k below the current average stack.
9:30pm--213 remain
We are just starting Level 10 (blinds 400/800). Right now, 213 players are still alive, meaning we've lost just over 1,000 since play began about five hours ago. The top 180 cash in this event, so we're anticipating that money bubble bursting soon.
Kenny Rap maintains the chip lead he has held since the middle of Level 5. He's followed by pownedAss, BRUSTAMPHIN, pAAuletta, and Bounatirou.
9:18pm--The Baron Chronicles
Another one of those multiway pots preflop cost Isaac Baron about 5,000 a few minutes ago in the small blind. He was one of four players to see the flop of Kc-6s-2h, which was checked around.
The 2c came on the turn and Baron bet 1,200, then called for a total of 4,425 when kiaser raised an chased the other players away. He checked on the 4h river and kiaser bet 7,725. Baron's regular time ran out and he let his time bank run down to about 30 seconds before letting the hand go.
No worries, though - he would jump back over 60,000 within a few more hands, thanks in part to a 10,080 three-way pot with fabsoul and AlpineMoney that he took down without a call on the turn with the board reading 6c-3s-5h-7s.
9:14pm--Those dangerous blind-vs.-blind hands
While Kenny Rap has gotten all the attention over the last few levels (he continues to lead the way with 165,000-plus), pownedAss just picked up a nice pot to move into second place with 124,759.
It was a blind-vs.-blind confrontation, with pownedAss having completed from the SB and okay player checking his option in the BB. The flop came 6h-Js-Qd and pownedAss promptly fired out 1,200. okay player minimum-reraised to 2,400, and pownedAss called.
The turn was the 7d. Same dance: pownedAss bet 1,200 again, okay player reraised to 2,400, and pownedAss called.
The river brought the Kh. This time pownedAss checked, and okay player bet 3,500. Surprise! pownedAss repop
No-limit hold'em is the first type of poker that many of today's younger players ever played. They saw Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker parlay $39 into $2,500,000 by winning first place in the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event after winning his entry via a PokerStars satellite tournament. That sparked the poker interest in many of them, who wanted thereafter only to play no-limit hold'em. But no-limit hold'em was a gateway drug for the most hardcore of the action junkies that were liberally interspersed in this new generation of poker players. The true action addicts and the most fearless poker players in the bunch quickly gravitated to pot-limit omaha. With interest in playing "all no-limit hold'em all the time" having plateaued over the last year, even more players are turning to PLO, as it's known.