There are times when poker is a test of cunning, times when it's a test of aggression or a test of patience. And then there are times when poker is a battle of attrition, a real slog through knee-deep mud where only the players with the most stamina (and a pinch of luck) will see things through to the end. That's often the case in split-pot poker tournaments. Not surprisingly, Event #28 - $530 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, was one of those tests of endurance.
The $530 price tag on Event #28 was not a problem for 829 people who signed up to play. Their combined buy-ins easily surpassed the $400,000 guarantee on the tournament and ensured that top prize would be a hefty $76,268. It wasn't going to be easy to get there though.
The structure of the tournament, with starting stacks of 5,000 chips, long levels and slow limit increases, was extremely player-friendly. The only "problem", if it can be called such, is that the split-pot nature of the game meant that players were looking at a marathon to determine who would take him the WCOOP bracelet. The tournament started at 16:30pm EST on Thursday, but the winner wasn't determined until close to 10am EST on Friday, more than seventeen hours later.
As they have been throughout the WCOOP, Team PokerStars Pro were out in force. Twenty-two of them joined the ranks of players looking to take down a big score and a WCOOP bracelet, including Greg Raymer, Gavin Griffin, Vanessa Rousso and Steve Paul-Ambrose. A surprising early elimination was Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, who has been having a banner WCOOP. But not even ElkY can win them all, especially not when he goes out in 789th place.
Only 126 players would get paid, and the law of averages dictated that most of the Team PokerStars Pros would not be in that segment of the field. Katja Thater went the deepest of the non-money finishers, going out just a few spots of the money with Ah-Kh-Qh-3d when one of the two players that tried to take her out, kidpoker406 and JCastle, turned a club flush. That left Thater with only outs to a low, which didn't come in on the river.
Three Team PokerStars Pros did make the money after Thater was eliminated. Luca Pagano finished in 83rd place, losing out to Rex5578's full house. The Shark, Humberto Brenes, followed quickly thereafter in 71st place, losing out to plumnelli's double-suited aces which rivered two pair. Lee Nelson made it the deepest of any Team PokerStars Pro, finally giving up the ghost in 52nd place.
Nelson was eliminated from the tournament just shy of 2am EST. It was another three-and-a-half hours from there before the final table participants were determined. They were:
Seat 1: cpfactor (651745 in chips)
Seat 2: DrParkinson (172637 in chips)
Seat 3: hazardous88 (430596 in chips)
Seat 4: flk&nit (226969 in chips)
Seat 5: porcelet (323411 in chips)
Seat 6: Big10 (475854 in chips)
Seat 7: fabsoul (350071 in chips)
Seat 8: Bonitaines (1060357 in chips)
Seat 9: lolovitch (453360 in chips)
(Click image for larger version.)
Bonitaines came into the final table as the clear chip leader, but he was very quickly joined by Big10 after Big10 showed down Ac-2s-3d-6s on a board of 3s-2h-Jh-8s-5c to make two pair, threes and deuces, and a six-five for low. That was a scooper against lolovitch in a quarter-million chip pot, and combined with a few other small scoops, Big10 quickly had amassed over 900,000 chips. He would sit behind that chip stack and in that favorable chip position for the whole rest of his time at the final table.
Double WCOOP-final-tablist porcelet was the first person eliminated from the final table. He had the nut flush draw on the 2c-Th-9h flop and an uncounterfeitable low draw with an open-ended straight draw on the 5c turn. porcelet most likely was hoping to improve upon the seventh place finish he recorded earlier in the night in Event #27 - No-Limit Hold'em Triple Shootout, but it wasn't meant to be. Three players were in against him and checked down to the river, easily beating his pair of fives for high after porcelet bricked on the river. porcelet took ninth in this event, recording a cash of $5,803. Two WCOOP final tables in a single night is nothing to be ashamed of.
porcelet's bust-out marked the start of a long, quiet period at the final table. Chips were traded around the table, but nobody was really making any headway on increasing their stack size or eliminating any opponents. Players would lose chips, then win them right back. At one point Bonitaines took two big hits in a row to drop almost 300,000 in chips, then got them all back within another three hands. That was the way it seemed to be going for everybody.
Finally DrParkinson, a player that came into the final table as one of the short stacks, got short enough that he was in deep trouble, given the limits. He was all in three times, rivering chops each time, before lolovitch finally sent him to the rail almost a full hour after porcelet went out. DrParkinson had no choice but to move in with 3h-Ac-Kc-Qc on a board of 2c-3d-2h. He was up against lolovitch's Js-6c-Jc-3s and never improved. For all of his short-stack scrappiness, he took home $9,326.25.
fabsoul was the next player to slowly chip down into the danger zone. He too was eliminated when he was forced to press a pair of flopped deuces against hazardous88. hazardous88 had only flopped a pair of tens, but when the turn and river bricked out for both players and no low was possible, a pair of tens was the winning hand. fabsoul was out in 7th place, $13,471.25 richer for the experience.
By the time 7am rolled around, six players still remained at the final table. Their chip counts showed not much had changed in an hour and a half of final-table play:
The big difference was that cpfactor, who came into the final table third in chips with more than 600,000, was the new short stack. Limits were about to increase to 30,000 and 60,000, giving cpfactor the rough equivalent of one hand to the river. He held on for half an hour, while flk&nit moved up the counts to over a million in chips courtesy of pots won off of hazardous88 and Bonitaines, but then cpfactor tried to take on Big10 and paid the price. He was crippled to 44,000 chips when Big10 turned a medium flush and rivered a six-low, then went out a few hands later after moving all in preflop with Ad-3s-5c-7c. The sense of humor of the poker gods being what it is, Big10 called and the flop of Th-9s-6h gave cpfactor very little hope. He had no hope after a river 9d and turn Tc. At least cpfactor can cry all the way to the bank -- 6th place was worth $17,616.25.
Big10 wasn't the only player poised to make a move. lolovitch decided to take a lesson from Big10. Not two minutes after cpfactor was eliminated, lolovitch put the hurting on hazardous88. He and Bonitaines teamed up, putting in three bets before the flop and two on the flop. hazardous88 called all in on the turn, but still both of his opponents came along for the river. hazardous88 went into the turn of a 6d-7h-Kc-8c board holding Ac-Jd-9s-2d, which was good for the nut low, but an ace on the river gave him an 8-7 low. That was no match against lolovitch.He held 5s-Kh-4s-Tc for an eight-high straight and a 7-6 low, scooping the whole thing. hazardous88 took down $21,761.25 for his fifth-place finish.
It was a reversal for Bonitaines, who had been atop the final table counts for almost two hours. He gave more back over the next ten minutes, losing several hands to Big10. But despite a lucky rivered full house against flk&nit, it seemed Bonitaines' days were numbered. He was losing chips at an alarming rate, unable to make hands when they mattered in the big pots. He finally went out with unimproved aces after lolovitch and Big10 both came along preflop. It turned out that Big10 flopped a small flush, and with no low on the board it was a scoop. Bonitaines collected $31,087.50 for fourth place.
Since Big10 had almost single-handedly relieved Bonitaines of all of his former chips, Big10 came into three-handed play with 2,751,676 in chips, almost three times as many as lolovitch and almost seven times as many as flk&nit, who had mostly been quietly lurking at the final table, inching his way up the pay ladder. With nowhere left to hide, Big10 and lolovitch set their sights firmly on flk&nit's short stack. flk&nit managed to river a nut-nut scoop against Big10 to move back over one million in chips, but lolovitch and Big10 relentlessly picked away at him.
flk&nit managed to stick around long enough for limits to go up to 50,000 and 100,000. That was expensive for all three player, but especially flk&nit. Down to 379,120, he committed himself to a hand with a three-bet from the big blind. Sensing blood, both Big10 and lolovitch called. The hand went all the way to the river for all three players, where flk&nit pushed his last chips into the middle. He had a pair of queens in his hand to go with a pair of nines on the board, but Big10 showed 4d-3d-4h-8h for a rivered diamond flush. flk&nit could hold his head up high at a third-place finish worth $41,450.
That left just two gladiators in the ring -- Big10, with just more than 3.0 million chips, and lolovitch, with about 1.1 million chips. Big swings were certainly possible given the limits, and within five minutes lolovitch had scooped three large pots off of Big10 to even out the chip counts. As soon as he drew level, lolovitch proposed a straight 50-50 chop to Big10. Big10 quickly agreed, with the number showing that each would be guaranteed $61,801.87 no matter how the tournament ended. Who would take home the remaining $8,000.01 and the WCOOP bracelet was the last thing to be determined.
As if it would be that simple.
Big10 and lolovitch engaged in what can only be described as an epic heads-up match. It lasted for almost an hour and a half. The chip lead changed hands numerous times, but neither player could take the tournament all the way home. Chopped pots were legion, and pots that weren't chopped seemed to alternate back and forth. After sixty minutes of play, the chip counts had reset themselves to what they were at the start of heads-up play, but even with his three-to-one advantage restored, Big10 couldn't put away the pesky lolovitch. Neither player was giving up an inch, but neither seemed to be gaining an inch either.
Finally, a break-through occured. Big10 managed to river a wheel with 3h-4d-5s-Jd after the flop had come down Qh-2c-Ah. It was a 1.5-million-chip win that seemed to deflate lolovitch's sails.
A few hands later, with just less than 700,000 chips in his stack, betting on a 3c-Qh-6c flop was capped after lolovitch had raised the preflop action. lolovitch led out again when the Qc hit the turn. Big10 quickly raised, and finally all of lolovitch's chips were at risk when he called all in.
lolovitch: Ac-Td-4d-5c
Big10: 6s-6h-Jh-8c
It was the big hand both players had been waiting for, but lolovitch was in trouble. He had made the nut flush, but Big10 flopped a set and turned a full house. lolovitch needed a low to hit the board on the river, but that didn't happen. The river was the 9d, ensuring that Big10 would be crowned the champion of Event #28 and the tournament would finally come to an end.
Since the players agreed on an even chop of the prize money near the start of heads-up play, Big10's reward was an extra $8,000.01 and a WCOOP bracelet. Both players played admirably, but even in a marathon only one person can win. That person was Big10.
Live blog coverage of WCOOP Event #28 $530 WCOOP Event 28 Limit Omaha High-Low is brought to you by David Aydt, Jason Kirk, Dave Behr, and Carol Kline.
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9:41am--And we have a winner!
After a marathon heads-up match, Big10 finally managed to get all of the chips to his side of the table. Blinds were at 70,000/140,000 when Big10 limped in from the button. lolovitch raised to 140,000, and Big10 made the call. The 3c-Qh-6c attracted quite a bit of attention (and chips) from both players. Action was capped heading into the turn. When the Qc came on the turn, lolovitch committed the last of his chips. He flipped over Ac-td-4d-5c for the ace-high flush, but he was drawing dead for the high half of the hand -- Big10 held 6s-6h-Jh-8c for sixes full of queens. lolovitch could still win half of the pot if a low card hit on the river, but it was the 9d instead. lolovitch won $61,801.87 for second place.
Congratulations to Big10, winner of Event #28 and the $69,801.88 and WCOOP bracelet that go along with the title!
9:35am--Big10 presses the advantage
We've pulled tantalizingly closer to a conclusion to this epic heads-up match. Big10 currently has a four-to-one chip advantage thanks to scooping a 770,000-chip pot with a wheel. He got two bets in on the river after the board ran out Qh-2c-Ah-Kc-5d. lolovitch called, to see the bad news -- Big10 held 4d-5s-Jd-3h.
9:28am--Orders of magnitude
At this point, every pot that's played to the river (and that doesn't chop) results in a minimum of a one-million chip swing. That's 500,000 up for one player and 500,000 down for the other. With only four million chips in play, you'd think that would mean that this would be over quickly. The snafu is that pots keep chopping, resulting in no net change in chip position. Neither player has been able to find that sustained rush which, it seems, is needed to put an end to the tournament.
9:27am--lolovitch refuses to die
In the first hand after the break, lolovitch picked up a much-needed pot to pull to 1,111,164 in chips. He didn’t have a made hand on the flop, but watch as he gets there by the river.
9:21am--Unbelievably, we've hit the next break
Level 31
Stakes 70,000 / 140,000
Average Chip Count: 2,072,500
Players Remaining: 2
First Prize: $76,268.00
1. Big10 3,523,836
2. lolovitch 621,164
9:19am--Queens up for Big10
lolovitch was the initial aggressor, raising to 120,000. Big10 made the call from the small blind and checked the Td-Qh-6h flop. lolovitch bet 60,000, and Big10 responded by putting in a raise to 120,000. Big10 bet the 3s turn, which lolovitch called. The 5d came on the river, bringing a check-check from the players. Big10’s Jc-8d-6c-Qs was good enough to take down the entire pot because neither player had a qualifying low. That gave Big10 an almost 5/1 chip advantage.
9:15am--...and we're back to where we started
This heads-up match started at 8:23am, with Big10 having a roughly three-to-one chip advantage over lolovitch. Lots and lots of chopped pots, scooped pots, and chip lead changes later, we've hit the "reset" button. Big10 again has a three-to-one chip advantage over lolovitch.
At least they managed to get a deal accomplished during that hour. That's something.
9:06am--Big10 regains chip lead
Big10 has just scooped two pots totaling more than 1,560,000 to regain the chip lead from lolovitch. In the first, he flopped the low end of a straight on a board that read 9c-8s-Td-6s-6d. lolovitch rivered trip sixes to lose the 720,000-chip pot. In the very next hand, Big10 turned a six-high straight on a board of 8h-6c-3h-2s-Ts for an 840,000-chip pot. That put Big10 at 2,353,836 chips to lolovitch’s 1,791,164.
9:02am--Pushing the chips around
As can be expected from a high-low split game, most of the big pots are being chopped between the two remaining players. Although lolovitch has a slight chip lead over Big10, most of the pots have been more than 500,000. With the total number of chips in play 4,145,000, that can create some sizeable swings in the blink of an eye. No player has blinked yet, so we might be here for a while.
8:50am--lolovitch out in front
lolovitch has gone on a tear, winning five of the last six pots outright and chopping the other. He now has a 3/1 chip lead over Big10. But it’s not over yet. With betting levels of 60,000/120,000, each pot can turn into a huge one rather quickly.
8:42am--Big10 flops a monster to draw close to even
Big10 picked up a 1.3 million-chip pot when he flopped a full house with 8d-5c-Kc-Th on a Kd-8s-Kh board. He was able to get a call from lolovitch on the flop. When the 6h hit on the turn, lolovitch led out, only to watch Big10 raise. Another raise from each player meant a pot of 1.1 million going into the river. lolovitch check-called Big10’s 100,000-chip bet on the river and mucked when he saw the bad news.
8:33am--lolovitch draws first blood
lolovitch has taken down the first million-chip pot of heads-up play. He started the action by raising to 100,000 pre-flop and bet the Qs-4d-3s flop. Big10 check-raised, and lolovitch just called. Big10 led out on the Jc turn, but a raising war erupted, resulting in each player committing four big bets (400,000). The river Ts was checked down, and it was lolovitch’s turned Broadway that brought him the scoop. Big10 had two pair (fours and threes) on the flop but could never fill up.
8:25am--Chop chop
With both players sitting roughly even in chips, you knew that talk of a deal was soon to arise.
lolovitch: deal ?
Big10: even?
lolovitch: do y want deal 50 50
Big10: fine
After the tournament was paused for discussion, the players agreed to an even split of first and second place prize money, giving them $61,801.87 each, with the required set-aside of $8,000.01 and the WCOOP bracelet going to the champion.
8:23am--lolovitch draws level
They're all big pots at this point. Losing just one causes a significant shift in the chip counts. Losing three in short order has brought Big10 down to lolovitch's level. Both players are sitting behind approximately two million in chips.
8:19am--Diamonds are not flk&nit’s best friend
With blinds at 50,000/100,000, it was getting to be quite expensive for flk&nit to stick around for a hand. He was already down to 379,120 in chips when he decided to three-bet from the big blind. Big10 and lolovitch both made the call. All three players committed another 50,000 on the Qd-Jd-Ts flop and another 100,000 on the 7s turn. The river Td brought a check from lolovitch, and flk&nit bet his last 79,120. Both players called. flk&nit had 9h-9c-Ah-Qc for a pair of queens to go along with the pair on board, but Big10 showed 4d-3d-4h-8h for the rivered flush. flk&nit’s third-place finish netted him $41,450.
At the start of heads-up play, the chip counts are as follows:
Big10: 3,003,836
lolovitch: 1,141,164
8:11am--Still going
Level 29
Stakes 50,000/100,000
Average Chip Count: 1,381,666
Players Remaining: 3
First Prize: $76,268.00
8:01am--Nut nut for flk&nit gives him some breathing room
flk&nit started the hand as the short stack at the table, but he rivered nut nut to scoop a 640,000-chip pot. Big10 raised on the button, and both lolovitch and flk&nit called. flk&nit check-called on the 8d-3c-Ac flop, while lolovitch got out of the way, and check-called again after the 7d hit on the turn. The river 5h was a dream card for flk&nit, and he led out for the first time this hand. Big10 made the call and mucked when he saw flk&nit’s 6c-2s-6s-4d -- an eight-high straight with a wheel for the low. flk&nit moved to 1,056,080 in chips after the hand.
7:55am--Aces are no good for Bonitaines
With blinds at 20,000/40,000, Bonitaines was staring down the barrel of a gun with only 121,484 in chips. Big10 raised on the button to 80,000, and Bonitaines decided it was time to make a move. He three-bet, only to have both lolovitch and Big10 call. The flop was Ks-Qc-5c, and Bonitaines shipped his last 1,484 into the middle. lolovitch and Big10 both called. lolovitch check-called Big10’s turn bet when the Jc fell on the turn, but folded on the river (8d) when Big10 bet again. Bonitaines had the bullets Ah-9c-Ad-Jd for his high hand, but Big10 flipped over Tc-6c-3h-Jh for the flopped flush. Out in fourth place, Bonitaines collected $31,087.50. Big10 now has 2,751,676 in chips, almost three times as many as lolovitch and almost seven times as many as flk&nit.
7:44am--Row, row, row your boat
Bonitaines just rivered a full house against flk&nit’s turned nut flush to stay alive in the tournament. Bonitaines hit the 6c-7c-Jd flop well with a pair of jacks (ace kicker) and the nut low draw while holding Jh-Ad-9s-2d, but flk&nit had the nut flush draw with Ac-6h-5c-9d. The Jc came on the turn, completing flk&nit’s flush draw and giving Bonitaines trip jacks. The As on the river filled Bonitaines and gave him the timely double-up.
7:38am--Big10's rise comes at Bonitaines' expense
Things can change quickly when limits get this big. Just a short while ago, Bonitaines seemed to be comfortably in the chip lead. However Big10 has amped up the juice, winning six of seven pots outright, several at Bonitaines' expense. The combined losses have sent Bonitaines' chip count under 500,000 and have made him the short stack at the table.
7:32am-hazardous88 unlucky on the river
Three players put in three bets each before the flop. Bonitaines led out on the 6d-7h-Kc flop, and lolovitch called. hazardous88 made it two-bets, and both players called. Bonitaines checked the 8c, allowing lolovitch to fire 60,000. hazardous88 called all in for less, and Bonitaines made the call for the full amount. lolovitch bet the Ah river, folding Bonitaines in the process. That river ace spelled doom for hazardous88. He went into the turn holding Ac-Jd-9s-2d, which was good for the nut low, but the ace on the river gave him an 8-7 low. That was no match against lolovitch. He held 5s-Kh-4s-Tc for an eight-high straight and a 7-6 low. hazardous88 took down $21,761.25 for his fifth-place finish.
7:30am--cpfactor eliminated in 6th place
cpfactor made a stand with four small cards, Ad-3s-5c-7c. He was called by the big blind -- Big10, his tormentor from just a few hands ago. All of the chips were in after a flop of Th-9s-6h hit the board. cpfactor had some draws to both sides of the pot when Big10 tabled 2h-5d-6s-Kc, but none came in. The turn was the 9d and the river the Tc. Big10's tens and sixes carried the day and eliminated cpfactor in 6th place. cpfactor's fall will be cushioned by $17,616.25 in prize money.
7:28am--cpfactor crippled
Disaster has struck for cpfactor. He went all the way to the river with Big10. With the board showing 6d-5s-9h-Kd-Ad, cpfactor called a river bet and was shown a scooper when Big10 turned over 4s-Td-3d-Ah for a small flush and a 6-5 for low. That left cpfactor with 44,236 chips, and although he managed to double up out of the big blind shortly thereafter, he remains in critical condition.
7:26am--flk&nit joins the million-chip club
flk&nit called a pre-flop raise from Bonitaines and check-called his bet on the Qc-2h-8s flop. When the Ad hit on the turn, flk&nit check-raised Bonitaines to 120,000. flk&nit led out on the 5d river and got the call from Bonitaines. flk&nit’s two pair -- aces and fives -- was good for the high. He also had a live three for a 7-5 low. That 555,000-chip pot put flk&nit at 1,026,282 in chips, good for second place behind Big10 with 1,430,236.
7:18am--Kings good to flk&nit
A four-way limped pot took a big bite out of the stack of hazardous88. He started the hand in the small blind and called flk&nit's bet on a flop of 9d-Td-Kd. The turn was the As, and again hazardous88 check-called one bet. The river Th paired the board and brought one more check-call by hazardous88. flk&nit showed Kc-3d-3d-Ks for a full house, kings full of tens. That was the winner; it dropped hazardous88 to less than 400,000 in chips.
7:15am--It's go time
With limits making a big jump from 20,000 and 40,000 to 30,000 and 60,000, we expect things to start moving at a much brisker pace than they have been.
7:05am--Break time
Level 27
Stakes 30,000/60,000
Average Chip Count: 690,833
Players Remaining: 6
First Prize: $76,268.00
It's been slow-going at the final table for all participants, with many pots ending in chops. Not so for Bonitaines in a recent hand against flk&nit. Bonitaines raised from under the gun preflop and was called by flk&nit out of the small blind. By the time the board ran out 5s-Jd-Kd-4d-Ts, there had been a bet on every street. Bonitaines showed first, and showed a winner with 4h-Ac-Td-6d for a diamond flush.
6:52am--This is what quads looks like
cpfactor picked up a much-needed 340,000-chip pot when he flopped aces full and rivered quads. Wanna know what quads looks like? Watch below.
6:48am--fabsoul eliminated in 7th place
63,000 chips is not very many when blinds are 10,000 and 20,000. fabsoul found a hand he liked and went with it, raising to 40,000. hazardous88 called out of the big blind. Both players checked the Jc-Th-2c flop. As soon as the turn 4d hit the virtual felt, hazardous88 bet 40,000. fabsoul just as quickly called all in, but he didn't have much -- just a lowly pair of deuces with 3s-Ks-2h-6d and a gutshow straight draw and low draw. hazardous88 didn't have much either with Ah-Qs-Td-8s, but his pair of tens was the best hand. fabsoul needed to improve to stay alive but couldn't do it when the board paired on the river with the Js. He was eliminated in 7th place and walked away with $13,471.25 in prize money.
6:46am--And then he gets them all back
After dropping down to 709,428 in chips from taking those two hits, Bonitaines made it all back in two successive hands. The first was for a 240,000-chip pot where lolovitch folded to his turn bet on a 2d-5c-3c-4d board. lolovitch had check-raised the flop, followed by Bonitaines’ three-bet, but that board and that kind of pressure on the turn prompted lolovitch to get out of the way. In the next hand, Bonitaines three-bet pre-flop, getting calls from lolovitch, flk&nit and fabsoul. Bonitaines continued to fire on the Jh-Th-8s flop, and both flk&nit and lolovitch stayed in the hand. Bonitaines again bet the 9d turn, eliciting a fold from lolovitch and a call from flk&nit. The players checked the river Qc, and Bonitaines showed Qs-8d-2c-Ad for the turned straight. Just like that, he was back over the million-chip mark.
6:41am--Two hits in a row for Bonitaines
Bonitaines was scooped out of back-to-back pots, resulting in a resdistrbution of about 300,000 chips around the final table. The first pot was played three-handed to the river with flk&nit and Big10. With the board showing Qh-7d-4h-Js-Kh, all three players checked the river. flk&nit turned over the best hand, As-8c-2h-Th for a heart flush.
The very next hand, it was Big10 who put a hurting on Bonitaines when the river deuce was Big10's gin card. It fit nicely with a board of 4s-6d-3s-Tc-2d, and even more nicely with Big10's hand of As-3d-5s-Qh to make a six-high straight for high and a wheel for low.
6:35am--DrParkinson finally succumbs to lolovitch
DrParkinson’s good run has finally come to an end. He was all in after the flop against lolovitch. On a board of 2c-3d-2h, DrParkinson held 3h-Ac-Kc-Qc for a pair of threes. That was no match for lolovitch’s Js-6c-Jc-3s. After the turn came Ts, DrParkinson needed an ace, king, queen or the case three to survive. The river was the 6d, sending DrParkinson to the rail in eighth place. For all of that work, he will take home $9,326.25.
6:30am--DrParkinson crippled by hazardous88
There was no lucky river for DrParkinson this time. In fact, the river was very unlucky. He found himself deep in a hand against hazardous88, who snap-called DrParkinson's turn bet on a board of 3h-Kd-2c-Qc. When the river fell 5d, DrParkinson quickly checked. He tanked for about thirty-five seconds before calling hazardous88's bet. hazardous88 showed a wheel with Ac-9d-4d-2d.
DrParkinson has only 50,000 chips remaining.
6:24am--DrParkinson bailed out by river again
For the second hand in a row, DrParkinson was all in by the river in rough shape. He raised, then called when chip leader Bonitaines three-bet from the button. DrParkinson led out on the Jc-5h-4h flop and Bonitaines quickly called. When the 3s hit the turn, DrParkinson's bet was raised by Bonitaines. DrParkinson tanked for forty seconds before calling all in. He held As-Jd-7s-3d for two pair, jacks and threes, and a 7-5 low. Bonitaines showed Ad-Td-5s-2h for a wheel, but a river 6c made a seven-high straight for DrParkinson to chop the pot. He lives to see another hand.
6:21am--911 . . . we have an emergency
DrParkinson was in a rough spot on a board of Ah-Th-Js-6h. He had already committed all but 22,637 of his chips at this point against fabsoul, holding only top pair top kicker. The river 7d, however, gave him an emergency low with 8c-As-Kd-3c against the turned second nut flush of fabsoul. That chop kept DrParkinson alive, but still on life support with only 122,637 in chips.
6:12am--Flopping the nizzuts
hazardous88 recovered from getting quartered by picking up a 312,000-chip pot. He raised pre-flop to 32,000 and was called by both flk&nit and cpfactor. hazardous88 check-raised the Jd-Qd-7d flop, folding flk&nit but getting a call from cpfactor. cpfactor then check-called the turn (6c) and river (Ks) only to find that hazardous88 held Kh-5d-6h-Ad for the flopped nut flush. hazardous88 moved back up to 541,596 in chips.
6:06am--A big pot to start Level 25
It didn't take long to get things going after the fifteen-minute break. On the very first hand, three players played a half-million chip pot. lolovitch raised from early position and cpfactor three-bet. hazardous88 called three cold, and the hand only got wilder from there:
That river quartered hazardous88, as lolovtich wound up with three-quarters. cpfactor didn't get any part of the pot and fell to about 300,000 in chips.
5:51am--We've made it to the second fifteen-minute break
Level 25
Stakes 16,000/32,000
Average Chip Count: 518,125
Players Remaining: 8
First Prize: $76,268.00
porcelet was the first casualty of our final table. He raised pre-flop to 24,000 and was called by Bonitaines, lolovitch and cpfactor. porcelet was the first to take a stab at the 2c-Th-9h flop, but none of his opponents folded. He checked the 5c turn and called all-in for 14,411 after Bonitaines bet 24,000. Each of the remaining players stayed in until the river -- Ks. The three players in the side pot checked it down, and Bonitaines had the best of it with 9s-6d-5d-7h for two pair. Meanwhile, porcelet had Ah-4h-5h-3c for a pair of fives. He had the nut flush draw on the flop and an uncounterfeitable low draw with an open-ended straight draw on the turn, but nothing materialized for him. porcelet will collect $5,803 for his ninth-place finish. That will go along nicely with his seventh-place finish in Event #27 No-Limit Hold'em Triple Shootout in this year's WCOOP.
5:42am--Big10 joins Bonitaines at the top
Another scoop has resulted in another change in the chip counts. Big10 showed down Ac-2s-3d-6s on a board of 3s-2h-Jh-8s-5c to make two pair, threes and deuces, and a six-five for low. That scooped against lolovitch, who had put in three bets preflop, one bet on the flop, then called a raise on the turn and a bet on the river. The total pot was worth a quarter of a million chips and gave Big10 a stack of more than 900,000 chips.
5:30am--Final table snapshot
With kleberAA’s elimination, the following players made it to the final table of Event #28.
Click image for full version
Seat 1: cpfactor (651,745 in chips)
Seat 2: DrParkinson (172,637 in chips)
Seat 3: hazardous88 (430,596 in chips)
Seat 4: flk&nit (226,969 in chips)
Seat 5: porcelet (323,411 in chips)
Seat 6: Big10 (475,854 in chips)
Seat 7: fabsoul (350,071 in chips)
Seat 8: Bonitaines (1,060,357 in chips)
Seat 9: lolovitch (453,360 in chips)
5:27am--Bonitaines jumps to the front of the pack
Bonitaines has just gone on a card rush, winning six of the last seven pots and chopping the other. This has propelled his chip stack to 1,060,357. He is the first player to hit this milestone.
In the last of these hands, DrParkinson opened the action with a raise to 24,000. kleberAA decided to get all of his 33,884 chips in the middle, and he was called in three places: flk&nit, Bonitaines and DrParkinson. Bonitaines bet the 9c-Th-Js flop, and both DrParkinson and flk&nit called. The Jd came on the turn, which prompted a check from all three players in the side pot. DrParkinson bet the 8h river, forcing a fold from flk&nit and DrParkinson. Dr Parkinson held 4d-7d-Qc-Qh, which bested kleberAA’s 3c-9d-6c-Ac.
kleberAA’s elimination in tenth place was worth $4,145.
5:24am-cpfactor scoops against porcelet
The aim of the split-pot games is to get three-quarters or, better yet, to scoop. porcelet has been scooped two hands in a row, first by cpfactor and then by hazardous88. In the first pot, cpfactor rivered two pair to go along with his nut low; in the second pot, hazardou88 held a flush with no qualifying low on board. Those two pots put a 200,000-chip dent in porcelet's stack, bringing him back to the pack with about 389,000 chips.
5:22am--Getting quartered isn’t going to cut it
A chop of the high hand isn’t as common as a chop for the low hand, but it just happened to flk&nit. Bonitaines raised pre-flop, with flk&nit making the call from the small blind. flk&nit check-raised the 5c-3h-Jc flop and led out on the 7d turn. He slowed down a bit after the river Jh and just check-called Bonitaines’ bet. Both players had A-5 in their hands to make jacks and fives with an ace kicker, but Bonitaines also had A-4 for the low.
5:14am--m3tph crippled, eliminated
Just one hand after being crippled by the full house, aces full of sixes, shown down by hazardous88, m3tph has been eliminated. He was left with just 53,842 chips and decided to three-bet preflop after fabsoul raised. hazardous88 called three cold, hoping to finish out the job he had started the previous hand. porcelet and fabsoul also called.
All four players checked the 3s-3h-Td flop. On the turn 9c, hazardous88 bet and m3tph called, leaving himself only 3,842 chips behind. They went into the pot on the Ts river. hazardous88 showed down Ad-3d-8h-2h for trip threes and the winner. m3tph's 11th-place finish earned him $4,145, and with his elimination we are on the final table bubble.
5:07am--The Cooker has left the kitchen
The Cooker was down to 34,426 in chips when he decided to raise to 20,000 on the button. A big-stacked porcelet made it three bets, and The Cooker shipped the rest of his chips into the middle. He had Ah-5s-Js-3d against porcelet’s 3h-Th-8h-Ac. Both players flopped a pair of treys on the Kc-9h-3c board, but the Td gave porcelet a second pair. With no low hand possible, The Cooker needed a queen to survive. Unfortunately for him, the river was the Ks, sending him to the rail in 12th place for a $4,145 payday.
5:04am--UHave_3_Outs has no outs left
After being crippled in a three-way hand against cpfactor and Bonitaines, it was just a matter of time before UHave_3_outs was eliminated. He survived one all-in confrontation by rivering two pair, but the next hand he was all in again from the small blind with 6d-6s-5c-Qh. cpfactor tried to finish off what he had started by showing Ah-Ad-3d-7c. Neither player connected with the board in any way, and with no qualifying low cpfactor's aces played as the best high hand. UHave_3_Outs was eliminated in 13th place, earning $3,316 for his performance over the course of this event.
5:01am--A brief lull
With just four spots to the final table and most of the super short stacks recently eliminated, the pace of play has slowed. Pots are smaller, with fewer players willing to reraise before the flop or raise on the flop without a premium holding. Expect this pace to continue into the next level, at which point the blinds will once again start to put pressure on some of the shorter stacks.
4:50am--Another break update
Level 23
Stakes 10,000/20,000
Average Chip Count: 318,846
Players Remaining: 13
First Prize: $76,268.00
updog is the latest casualty of this tournament. He got his last chips in on a flop of 2c-6h-7s, holding 2h-8h-Th-Ac, and was called by porcelet, who showed 4s-5c-6c-As. porcelet already had the low locked up, but it looked like a chop was in the works when the 2s hit the turn to make trips for updog. Not to worry, said porcelet, as he promptly spiked the 5s on the river to make a flush and win the high half of the pot too. That river card upended updog, sending him out of the tournament in 14th place. His consolation prize is $3,316 in cash.
4:42am--The hemorrhaging hasn’t stopped . . . Raize It Up is out in 15th place
Raize It Up, once the chip leader and in control of his table, has taken yet another big hit to his stack. True to his moniker, he raised it up to 16,000 from the botton, but both the small blind (cpfactor) and big blind (Bonitaines) called. The flop was 8c-Ad-Qc, bringing a check from cpfactor and a bet from Bonitaines. Raize It Up raised to 16,000, and again both players called. The 2s fell on the turn, and again cpfactor checked, Bonitaines bet and Raize It Up raised. This time, cpfactor checked, but Bonitaines made the call. The river Ks was checked by both players. Bonitaines showed 4d-Ah-9c-5h for a pair of aces (nine kicker) and an 8-5 low. Raize It Up mucked his hand and dropped to 36,899 in chips.
Just before the break, Raize It Up got the last of his chips into the middle against DrParkinson after the flop. Watch how the hand played out:
Raize It Up’s 15th-place finish was good for $3,316.
4:35am--Quads breathe life into Raize It Up while taking it away from bib1
Just when it looked like Raize It Up was going to complete a spectacular collapse, a big hand reversed his course. He flopped a set of nines and turned quads against bib1, who called all in on the river of a 9h-Qd-5c-9d-Ac board with two pair, aces and queens (6s-Ah-Qc-4s). Raize It Up's 9s-9c-6c-5d was a dagger in bib1's heart, eliminating him from this event in 16th place.
4:32am--Bonitaines scoops Raize It Up
Earlier, Raize It Up was an unstoppable machine. Now he seems toothless. He lost another in a series of recent pots after Bonitaines showed down Ad-7d-4d-4c on a board of 3s-2d-Jd-8s-2h. This made the nut low and two pair, fours and deuces. Raize It Up never showed his hand but was left hurting with 113,000 in chips.
4:30am--marcol1969 latest casualty
With only 11,095 in chips in front of him and 8,000 of them already sitting out there in the big blind, marcol1969 decided to call Bonitaines’ pre-flop raise and hope for the best. He held 5h-Qs-9s-5s against Bonitaines’ Qh-Ah-Ad-4h. The Jd-6d-Td flop gave marcol1969 an open-ended straight draw to go with his pair of fives, but a king would give his opponent a higher straight. Sure enough, the Kh fell on the turn, giving Bonitaines Broadway. marcol1969’s night ends with a $2,569.90 cash for 17th place.
4:28am--Nothin' but the nuts for Bonitaines
The easiest way to eliminate two short-stacked opponents from the tournament and consolidate their chips with yours is to make the nuts. That's what Bonitaines did to kcodya and Sidorenko. kcodya was all in by the turn on a Jc-6h-7h-Th board. Sidorenko was all in on the next street after the Ks came down. It didn't matter what other player had. There was no qualifying low and Bonitaines had made the nut high on the turn with Js-Ah-5s-4h. kcodya started the hand with fewer chips than Sidorenko and therefore took 19th place; Sidorenko got 18th. This made a difference as they straddled a pay-jump, with kcodya earning $1,865.25 and Sidorenko taking home $2,569.90.
4:24am--russomatic left to ponder what might have been
Several hours ago, russomatic was one of the chip leaders when big-stacked Raize It Up was moved to his left. He never recovered, slowly bleeding chips for several hours until his recent elimination in 20th place. He got his last 24,000 in preflop with Ac-Qh-6h-4h against the big blind, Big10, who had Kc-7c-7d-4s. Big10 flopped one pair on the 8c-8d-Kd board and tripped up on the turn with the Kh. That left russomatic drawing dead. Once the board completed with the 5s, he was out of the tournament.
4:19am--Times a-changin' for Raize It Up
After running hot for the better part of two hours, Raize It Up has slipped since the last break. He was quartered a few times and outright lost a few other pots to slip down to about 313,000 in chips, well off his high-water mark of roughly 550,000.
4:18am--Is there a doctor in the house?
A short-stacked pycb limped in for 8,000, followed by a raise to 16,000 from DrParkinson. pycb made the call and led out for 8,000 on the 4h-8h-5c flop. DrParkinson made the call. When the 7c fell on the turn, pycb check-called DrParkinson’s 16,000 bet. That put pycb all in and drawing slim. He had 8s-4s-5d-Ac for a flopped three pair and a live ace for the 8-7 low, but DrParkinson showed Ad-7d-6c-Ah for the turned straight and a 7-6 low. The Qs on the river sealed pycb’s fate. His 21st-place finish netted him $1,865.25.
4:15am--halut eliminated in 22nd place
halut had been rocking a short stack for at least a whole level. He made his stand in a three-way pot with The Cooker and porcelet that was capped preflop. porcelet got three bets in the middle (and halut all in) on a flop of 9s-3s-Jc. The Cooker check-called the 6h turn and the Js river. porcelet didn't wind up with much when he showed Ah-Ad-Kd-8c, just two pair, aces and jacks. The Cooker had made a flush with As-3d-8d-5s and scooped the pot after halut mucked. That sent halut out of the tournament in 22nd place.
4:10am--How’s that for the case ace . . . and the case nine?
pycb survived elimination when he flopped top set against the flopped top two pair of marcol1969. After pycb’s preflop raise to 12,000 from the small bling and call by marcol1969 in the big blind, action was capped on the 7s-Ah-9d flop. The 9c fell on the turn, and pycb put all of his remaining chips in the middle. marcol1969 made the call and tabled 9h-Ad-Kd-2c for nines full of aces. pycb’s hand -- Ac-9s-As-Ks -- had him beat and drawing dead.
4:06am--tofu sliced and diced
Another deep run for tofu came up short of the final table. Before the flop, he made it 12,000 to go and was called by both blinds, m3tph and halut. The flop was 2h-Ks-7h, with tofu managing to get his remaining 18,000 chips in the middle against both opponents. halut himself moved all in for 182 more on the 5h turn. After the river came down Tc, the hands were opened. m3tph took the low by making a seven-five with 6h-5s-4h-3h. halut took the high with a flush that was just a little bigger than m3tph's flush, 9h-8h-7d-Kd. tofu's 9s-6d-5c-As qualified for neither half. He's out in 23rd place, winning $1,865.25.
4:04am--russomatic doubles at the last possible moment
russomatic wasn't all in, but he was down to 1,247 chips as the river card came down 7h-6d-Qd-Kh-Js. He put them into the middle and was called by Bonitaines. russomatic turned over Ah-8h-5d-Tc for a Broadway straight to double up to about 83,000.
4:02am--Make that one more for the road
In the very next hand, lolovitch eliminated program1 when program1’s flopped nut flush went down in flames to a three-outer.
3:57am--Double the pleasure, double the fun
After pycb raised under the gun to 12,000, both TSAI168 and Mr_win called all in for slightly less. lolovitch made the call out of the big blind, and it was four players to the flop. lolovitch led out into the side pot for 6,000 after the Th-3s-Qh flop, and pycb called. The turn Qs brought another bet from lolovitch, this time folding pycb. When the hands were revealed, lolovitch had the best hand and the best draw:
The river 8s helped neither of the all-in players, and just like that, we are down to 24 players.
3:52am--jdawg165 goes for broke and winds up... broke
jdawg165 is the latest victim at Table 68. He raised preflop and then capped when porcelet, on his immediate left, three-bet. The flop was all big cards, Kd-Ah-Ts. jdawg165 led out and then three-bet after porcelet raised. This time porcelet just called. He called again on the 7c turn. When the river came 3s, jdawg165 checked despite having only 6,639 remaining chips. porcelet bet, and jdawg165 dutifully shipped them into the middle. He couldn't win; he had no qualifying low and only a pair of aces with Ad-2s-2h-Js. porcelet collected the pot with trip kings, Kh-Ks-2d-Ac, sending jdawg165 out of the tournament in 27th place.
3:48am--cpfactor sends TipsyPenguin to the rail
cpfactor raised on the button to 12,000, and TipsyPenguin raised out of the small blind to 18,000. That left TipsyPenguin with only 1,682 behind, all of which went into the middle after the Jh-2d-9c flop. cpfactor made the call and tabled 3c-7d-Ac-2h for a pair of deuces. TipsyPenguin was ahead with Ad-Qc-3h-Qs. The turn 6s gave cpfactor and TipsyPenguin the same low draw with A-3 in their hands. The river 3d, however, counterfeited TipsyPenguin’s low draw and gave cpfactor two pair, treys and deuces. With that elimination, we are now down to three tables.
3:39am--Break time!
Level 21
Stakes 6,000/12,000
Average Chip Count: 148,035
Players Remaining: 28
First Prize: $76,268.00
It's all over for Supernova player pepperdiablo, who made a last stand with Ad-Ks-6d-4s. pepperdiablo got no love from a board of Jd-7c-6h-7h-Ts and lost to kcodya's 2c-5c-9h-9d, which made two pair, nines and sevens.
3:31am--pepperdiablo on life support
Supernova player pepperdiablo was short before, but now is practically knocking on tournament death's door after raising preflop and being called by DrParkinson. One bet went in on a flop of 4h-5c-9s before both players checked the 4d turn and Td river. DrParkinson showed Ah-7h-3d-Th for two pair, tens and fours, and the winning hand.
3:25am--Bonitaines hits river to eliminate ~US&Co~
~US&Co~ had survived a couple of all ins as one of the shortest stacks in the tournment, but he couldn’t dodge Bonitaines’ outs in this hand.
~US&Co~ collected $1,450.75 for finishing 30th, while Bonitaines jumped to 175,803 in chips.
3:18am--Raize It Up can do no wrong
Table 18 should watch out. Seemingly every time Raize It Up is in a pot past the turn, he turns over the nuts or near to it. He capped the betting with pepperdiablo on a flop of Qs-Jd-Kd. pepperdiablo slowed down on the 3d turn, calling one bet. It was the same action on the Qc. At showdown Raize It Up turned over 5c-Ad-6h-Td. He had flopped the nuts, turned the bigger nuts, and they held through a board pair on the river. He has moved well over 500,000 in chips.
3:04am--Raize It Up razing his table
Everything continues to be five by five for Raize It Up on Table 18. He eliminated Deady12 and scooped a six-figure pot by turning a small flush, and since has won several more hands to increase his stack to approximately 420,000 in chips. That amount makes Raize It Up the chip leader once again.
3:01am--Everything but a quarter
A big three-handed pot started to brew among m3tph, program1 and The Cooker. Each player committed 8,000 pre-flop, 12,000 after the flop, 24,000 after the turn and another 8,000 on the river. At showdown, the board read Jd-7d-6s-5c-3h. m3tph had the best of it with 4s-As-8d-2d for an eight-high straight and the nut low. Unfortunately for him, The Cooker had Ah-8h-3c-2h for the same nut low and a quarter of the pot.
2:57am--Double KO
All those short stacks on Table 68 are starting to consolidate. Two of them, fratboy247 and Rex5578, were knocked out in a single hand. porcelet and halut double-teamed to do the work, making a full house for high and an 8-7 for low to send fratboy247 and Rex5578 to the virtual rail. Rex5578 started with more chips, and so finished in 35th place. fratboy247 took 36th, but it didn't matter as both received the same payout of $1,450.75.
2:52am--Trash-talking, vol. 2
kcodya took the betting lead on the turn and river against Raize It Up. With the board showing 8h-8c-Kc-3d-Ah, kcodya turned over Ad-6s-6c-2h for two pair, aces and eights and an eight-six low. Raize It up also had aces and eights with a better kicker, and an eight-five low. He scooped the whole thing and after the hand, he let kcodya know it.
Raize It Up: oooppss
Raize It Up: comon now cody
Raize It Up: 66
Raize It Up: u know who ur messin with
kcodya: yes sir i will quit ****ing with you
Raize It Up: smart
Raize It Up now has 333,415 chips. If we were him, we wouldn't hold kcodya to that promise.
2:46am--talisain51 eliminated
At one point during this tournament, a few hours ago, talisain51 was among the chip leaders. Now he is among the eliminations. He was down to 8,101 and got them in from the big blind against porcelet. porcelet didn't have much with Kh-3d-6h-6c, and was behind talisain51's Js-2h-Jd-As. porcelet took the lead on the Kc-9h-7s flop, gave it back with the Ah on the turn, then finished with the best hand, kings and threes, after the 3c river. talisain51 was eliminated in 38th place, earning $1,243.50.
After one more elimination, we will hit a pay jump to $1,450.75.
2:43am--Monster draw gets there for Bonitaines
After Bonitaines limped in from middle position, m3tph made it 8,000 to go from the cut-off. jdawg165 three-bet from the button, and both players made the call. Bonitaines led out on the Jd-3c-Tc flop for 4,000, which m3tph called. jdawg165 raised to 8,000, and this time Bonitaines was the player to make the three-bet. m3tph and jdawg165 both stayed in the hand. The 4h hit on the turn, and this time both Bonitaines and m3tph checked. jdawg165 bet 8,000, bringing a call from both players. When the 9c came on the river, Bonitaines led out for 8,000. m3tph made the call, and jdawg165 got out of the way. Bonitaines showed 8c-Qc-9h-Ts. That 9c gave Bonitaines the queen-high flush and it completed his wrap straight draw. m3tph mucked his hand. That 118,000-chip pot moved Bonitaines to 180,202.
2:42am--Table 68 very short
Some tables wind up loaded with chips at the late stages of a tournament. Other tables wind up full of short stacks. That's the case at Table 68, where apart from updog, no player has more than 80,000 chips. 80,000 may seem like quite a bit, but par is almost 100,000 at this point, with limits of 4,000 and 8,000. 80,000 chips can evaporate in the space of two or three hands.
2:35am--Time for another break
Level 19
Stakes 4,000/8,000
Average Chip Count: 98,690
Players Remaining: 42
First Prize: $76,268.00
2:28am--Nut (almost) nut only good for three quarters
fabsoul started it off with a raise to 6,000 from middle position. Sidorenko, who was in the big blind, was the only player to make the call. Sidorenko proceeded to check-call fabsoul’s bets on each of the flop, turn and river. At showdown, the board read 5s-4c-7h-8h-6h. fabsoul flipped over Ah-2h-Jd-Jc for the ace-high flush and the lock low. Sidorenko was only able to produce 5c-As-2s-Jh for a pair of fives and the lock low.
2:15am--A little trash-talking never hurt anybody
As the hour gets later and the field gets smaller, that swagger of confidence starts to appear in many players:
pepperdiablo: wow u really are my luckbox daisy :o)
daisyjubilee [observer]: AW SHUCKS
drainu: ur luck cant beat skill
fratboy247: lol
pepperdiablo: that wd be a worry if u had any
fratboy247: agreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
daisyjubilee [observer]: SHE'S GOT BOTH
drainu: we shall see
drainu: i take these down for lunch
drainu: beware
fratboy247: like a philly cheesesteak
drainu isn't really in much of a position to be engaging in all that much trash talking, however. He has only 37,000 chips, 100,000 fewer than pepperdiablo.
2:12am--m3tph rivers wheel to eliminate RBC*
A short-stacked RBC* had 12,519 chips left and raised to 6,000 from middle position. m3tph re-raised to 9,000 from the cut-off, folding everyone except for RBC*. RBC* made the call and then check-called the Td-4d-5h flop. With only 519 in chips left, RBC* decided to push them all into the middle after the Th turn. m3tph made the call with 3d-9d-2s-4s for a nine-high flush draw and open-ended straight draw. RBC* had Js-Ac-4h-7d for a pair of fours and an A-7 low draw. The river As gave m3tph the wheel, knocking RBC* out in 47th place. m3tph moved to 190,568 in chips, good enough for second place on the leaderboard.
2:05am--pepperdiablo scoop knocks out LuckyTC
Only one player could emerge from a scrape between Supernova player pepperdiablo and LuckyTC. Whoever won the hand would have a playable stack; the other would be crippled or busted. pepperdiablo got the win, as you can see here:
pepperdiablo has some breathing room now, but still has a fair amount of work with a stack that is less than par.
1:59am--Timely scoop for Bonitaines
Bonitaines had been slowly, steadily losing chips. Down to 68,577 after a high-water mark of about 130,000, Bonitaines raised it up from early position and was called by the big blind, AJB444. The flop was all Broadway cards, Ks-Th-Qc. AJB444 bet and Bonitaines called that flop, and the same action occurred on the 3c turn. When the river fell Td, Bonitaines raised AJB444's bet. AJB444 called, but couldn't beat Bonitaines' full house, tens full of threes, Ac-3s-Ts-9c. Bonitaines is back up to about 92,000 in chips.
1:54am--Lee Nelson eliminated in 52nd place
Team PokerStars Pro Lee Nelson got a cheap look at the flop when he was in the big blind and tofu was the only player who had limped into the pot. Perhaps a good thing for Nelson, as he only had 9,361 in chips to start the hand. Nelson bet the As-Qh-6c flop and called a raise to 5,000 from tofu. The 6d fell on the turn, and Nelson bet all in for 1,861. tofu made the call and tabled 4d-Ad-4c-6s for a turned full house. Nelson had an emergency low draw with 8s-Ah-9s-5h, but it didn’t hit when the Ac came on the river. Nelson collected $1,036.25 for his efforts.
1:51am--Raize It Up rolling
Raize It Up has hit a mini-rush on Table 18. He has scooped four of the last eight pots at his table and split another pot. Those wins pushed his stack up to about 285,000 in chips.
1:44am--Raise It Up gets the best of russomatic
Fortunes are changing on Table 18. Raize It Up, sitting in the small blind, was the only person to call a button raise from russomatic. The two players took a flop of Td-6s-Qs, with Raize It Up checking and then calling a bet from russomatic. When the turn fell Jh, Raize It Up checked again. But this time he raised after russomatic bet. russomatic went for a three-bet, but folded to Raize It Up's cap. Raize It Up now has more than 230,000 in chips.
1:41am--pepperdiablo standing when the music stops
pepperdiablo capped a pot out of the big blind after drainu raised and The Cooker had three-bet. Both players called. pepperdiablo checked a flop of all babies, 6d-4h-7d. drainu checked as well. Both players called a bet from The Cooker, then checked again on the turn Kd. The Cooker's bet folded pepperdiablo, but brought a call from drainu. On the river 6h, drainu went for a raise of The Cooker's bet, but The Cooker called and the pot was chopped. drainu got the high with sixes full of sevens, 8s-3s-6c-7c; The Cooker got the low with a 7-6, 2c-9s-Qc-As.
1:36am--Aces versus aces
tofu and carpenter124 got into a raising war pre-flop, with action capped at 10,000. On the 8c-Kh-3s flop, carpenter124 check-called tofu’s 2,500-chip bet. After the turn (Jc), carpenter124 check-raised to 10,000. tofu went all in for 13,815 total, and carpenter124 made the call.
tofu: 5c-Ah-5d-Ac
carpenter124: 9s-As-4c-Ad
Both players had a pair of aces in their hands for the high, but tofu had a redraw to the nut club flush. carpenter had the better low draw, holding A-4 to tofu’s A-5. The Tc on the river sent the 56,380-chip pot to tofu, while carpenter dropped to 46,544.
1:29am--Through 16 levels of play . . .
Level 17
Stakes 2,500/5,000
Average Chip Count: 72,719
Players Remaining: 57
First Prize: $76,268.00
russomatic tried to run a bluff against kcodya and plumnelli, but couldn't bring home the pot. He raised the turn on a 4d-Th-Jc-7s board after kcodya bet. plumnelli called the raise cold before kcodya called as well. On the river Tc, kcodya checked to russomatic, who bet. That bet folded plumnelli, but kcodya made the call. russomatic turned over 6h-2d-As-7d for two pair, tens and sevens. kcodya had that beat with Qc-Td-9h-Kd, three of a kind tens.
1:20am--Raize It Up and russomatic holding the line
There hasn't been much in the way of confrontation on Table 18 between russomatic and Raize It Up. russomatic still retains a slight chip lead, about 10,000 chips over Raize It Up, but neither has had much of an opportunity to increase his stack. In the meantime, both have been surpassed by cpfactor.
1:17am--cpfactor flush with chips
cpfactor is the current chip leader, with 238,924. He’s been adding to his stack with hands like this one.
1:07am--Game over for DCJ311
It's been a long, slow bleed for Supernova Elite Player DCJ311. Down to 6,850, he called a raise to 4,000 in a three-way pot, called again on the 9h-3h-9c flop, but folded when the Kd came on the turn. That left him with just 850 chips, which all went in three hands later in the big blind. lolovitch raised from under the gun and was called by the small blind, somebody. somebody took the betting lead on the turn of a Jh-Ad-9d-Ts board, folding lolovitch on the river 3s with another bet. somebody showed Ah-Qh-7s-5d, a pair of aces, for the main pot. DCJ311 showed 8d-3d-6s-2s, coming up with only a pair of threes. He was eliminated from the tournament in 61st place.
1:05am--Quarter pounder
Getting quartered can be quite brutal. Just ask tofu and porcelet. porcelet raised to 4,000 from the button, bringing a three-bet from tofu in the small blind. RiskStar capped it at 8,000 out of the big blind, and three-handed to the flop they went. tofu bet first on the 3h-7s-5d flop, followed by a raise from RiskStar and a three-bet from porcelet. tofu capped the action, and three-handed to the turn they went. When the 6d fell on the turn, tofu and RiskStar both checked. porcelet bet 4,000, and his two opponents called. The action followed the exact same pattern after the river Qc. The hands?
porcelet: 2c-As-Tc-Js (no pair and the lock low)
tofu: Ah-2s-9s-3s (a pair of treys and the lock low)
RiskStar: Kc-Ks-5s-5h (set of fives)
1:01am--thedonator hits the rail
It was a rapid demise for Stuart "thedonator" Patterson. With 7,381 left in his stack, he capped the betting preflop after lolovitch raised and cpfactor three-bet. Both players called. cpfactor bet the 4c-Kd-Jd flop, with Patterson calling all in and lolovitch calling also. cpfactor bet the 7s turn and again lolovitch called. When the Jh hit the river, lolovitch checked, then called cpfactor's bet. lolovitch had two pair, kings and jacks, with Ah-Kh-9c-5d. cpfactor had two pair, aces and jacks, with Ad-Ac-8s-5s. thedonator had four low cards and couldn't beat aces and jacks. He's out of the tournament in 65th place, earning $911.90.
12:58am--The Shark swims into the sunset
Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes was chomping to get his last 1,931 chips in the middle and did so after action folded around to him in late position. He was called by three players: plumnelli, Scared Money and kleberAA. The three players check through the river, hoping to eliminate Brenes. The board ran out Jc-Th-Kd-7c-9d. plumnelli took down the pot with 9c-Ac-As-7s for a rivered two pair. Brenes mucked his hand and collected $911.90 for his 71st-place finish.
12:55am--New table draw
The two chip leaders, Raize It Up and russomatic, have both been moved to Table 18. They are seated next to each other, with Raize It Up having position on russomatic. Are fireworks in their future, or will they take turns savaging the rest of the table?
12:50am--thedonator drops under 25,000
Stuart "thedonator" Patterson has less than seven big bets remaining in his stack after having to fold on the river in a recent three-way pot. Patterson, with the button, flat-called a three-bet from seaplayer69 that was also called by the initial raiser, jdawg165. All three players paid one bet on a flop of 7h-Jh-Kc to see the 4h turn. seaplayer69 bet the turn and was raised by Patterson. jdawg165 called two cold, and seaplayer69 called as well. When the board paired on the river with the 7d, jdawg165 came alive for the first time, betting 3,600. His bet folded each of the other players.
Patterson has less than 25,000 chips after this hand.
12:44am--The short stacks continue their march towards the sea
With ten minutes remaining in Level 15, only 77 players remain in the field. Raize It Up continues to battle with russomatic for the chip lead. Currently russomatic has pulled ahead with 183,797. At least one Supernova Elite player, DCJ311, remains in the tournament, but he is verging into short-stack territory with just less than 23,000 remaining chips.
12:41am--Perhaps we spoke too soon
Luca Pagano was just sent to the rail courtesy of Rex5578. RiskStar raised from late position to 3,600, followed by a call from Rex5578. Pagano three-bet from the small blind, bringing a call from each of RiskStar and Rex5578. Fireworks ensued after the 6s-Qd-2d flop. After Pagano checked, RiskStar bet 1,800. Rex5578 then raised to 3,600, followed by a raise to 5,400 from Pagano. RiskStar smooth called, and Rex5578 capped the betting at 7,200. On the Kh turn, Pagano led out first for 3,600, bringing a call from RiskStar and a raise to 7,200 from Rex5578. Pagano called all in for his last 464, and RiskStar remained in the hand as well. RiskStar check-called Rex5578’s 3,600 river bet and mucked when Rex5578 revealed Kc-Qh-Jh-Qc for queens full of deuces. Pagano mucked as well. He finished the tournament in 83rd place.
12:38am--Pro on pro violence
Team PokerStars Pros Lee Nelson and Luca Pagano are seated next to each other on Table 68. They’ve already shown a willingness to mix it up against one another, and this hand was no different. Pagano kicked things off with a raise to 3,600 from under the gun. Nelson promptly made it three bets. The rest of the table got out of the way before Pagano made the call. Nelson fired 1,800 after the Qh-4c-6c flop, forcing a fold from Pagano. We’ll see if Pagano can get those chips back from Nelson.
12:34am--Patterson can't get it going
It's been win a little, lose a little for Stuart Patterson over the last half hour. He finds himself with a stack that's just about par after a recent encounter with kcodya. Watch the hand below:
12:21am--After seven hours of action, 91 players remain
Level 15
Stakes 1,800/3,600
Average Chip Count: 45,549
Players Remaining: 91
First Prize: $76,268.00
Lee Nelson 61,386 (26th)
Humberto Brenes 34,462 (45th)
Luca Pagano 18,914 (79th)
12:15am--Easy come, easy go for thedonator
Stuart "thedonator" Patterson was not able to hold onto his new-found chips for very long. He called a raise by lolovitch along with BAGSIK829 to a flop of As-Qd-Qs. BAGSIK829 raised the flop, then bet the turn 6d and river Jh. Both of his opponents called to showdown, where BAGSIK829 showed them Ac-4d-2s-Qh for a full house, queens full of aces, and a scooped pot.
12:11am--Raize It Up knocks out another
Chip leader Raize It Up continues to add to his six-figure stack. He raised preflop to 3,200. Action folded to AKShotgun in the big blind, who had 1,577 behind his blind. "Lets do this," said AKShotgun and then he called all in. The board ran out 3s-Kc-5h-Jh-3c, making jacks and fives for Raize It Up with Ah-Jc-5c-2c. That was better then AKShotgun's fours and threes, 8s-4c-4h-2s. Another man down.
12:05am--thedonator accepts donations too
Stuart Patterson's nickname may be "thedonator", but that doesn't mean that he has anything against accepting chips from other players. He took a 23,200-chip pot off of tylerbills. Patterson raised preflop, eliciting a call from tylerbills in the big blind and from Janavel, who had limped in from early position. tylerbills bet the 9h-Js-9c flop and was raised by thedonator. He called.
tylerbills check-called the 5c that fell on the turn, then check-folded to Patterson's bet on the 5s river. Patterson is approaching 100,000 in chips.
12:01am--The floodgates open
The short stacks have been holding back from getting their chips in the middle for thirty minutes. Now that the money bubble has broken, they can't get their chips in fast enough. Twenty players have busted in the last ten minutes after twelve were eliminated in all of Level 13.
11:59pm--The dead man’s hand keeps Pagano alive
Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano opened the action by raising to 3,200 from under the gun. MPK_ReaVer three-bet from the cut-off. updog called from the small blind before Pagano capped the betting at 6,400. Both MPK_ReaVer and updog made the call. updog checked the 4d-Kc-As flop, and Pagano pushed his last 1,384 into the middle. MPK_ReaVer and updog made the call. When the 9h fell on the turn, updog check-folded to MPK_ReaVer’s 3,200 bet. MPK_ReaVer had Ah-Jd-2h-3c for top pair jack kicker and the nut low draw. Pagano showed 6c-Ad-8s-2c for top pair with an eight kicker. The 8c hit on the river, giving Pagano aces and eights for half of the pot. Pagano now has 12,476 in chips.
11:50pm--UPLAYBAD2 bubbles off the money; PokerDotty squeaks in with 2 chips!
Things didn't look good for PokerDotty. Down to only 2 chips in her stack, the big blind was approaching. Things were even more grim for UPLAYBAD2. He had more chips, 338 in total, but was in the big blind one hand before PokerDotty. Four players at UPLAYBAD2's table limped in to try to bust him. They all checked the 8h-Tc-8c flop and the 2c turn. On the 5d river, chuckles bet and was called by Feb19. chuckles took the high with 5s-8d for eights full of fives; Feb19 took the low with Ac-4s. That left no half of the pot for UPLAYBAD2. He was eliminated in 127th place. Everyone else made the money, including PokerDotty, the master of a stack of just 2 chips!
PokerDotty was eliminated in the first hand after the bubble burst.
11:48pm--How tough is it to be on the bubble?
For the players with the shortest stacks, it's going to be a couple of minutes of tense "wait-and-see."
miss_six_6, who just made it through the blinds, only has 443 chips. She most recently remarked:
miss_six_6: folded AA23 on the last hand, that hurt!
11:45pm--Who will be the bubble boy (girl)?
pokaplaya98 just went out in 128th place, leaving one more to go until the money. Hand for hand play is now in progress, with a few players holding chip counts of less than one small blind.
11:42pm--Two players to go until the money
Only 128 players remain in the tournament, with 126 making the money. The player with the shortest stack, PokerDotty, just made it through the blinds and now has 2 chips left. We'll see if she can survive two more eliminations.
11:36pm--Another pot for Nelson
Lee Nelson raised from the small blind and was called by the big blind, Feb19. Nelson fired again on a flop of 3c-Ac-Jd. Both players checked the Qh turn. When the river came As, Nelson bet and Feb19 called. Nelson showed 3d-Th-Ad-2s for a full house, aces full of threes. That was a winner as neither player had a qualifying low. Nelson now has about 34,000 chips.
11:28pm--Pagano fills up to stay in the hunt
Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano found himself on a short stack after the break. From the big blind, he watched as fishcake56 raised to 2,800 and porcelet re-raised to 4,200. After the rest of the table folded, Pagano made the call and fishcake56 called all-in for less. The 3s-7h-9c was checked by Pagano and porcelet, but Pagano decided to take a stab at the side pot with a 2,800 bet after the 6c fell on the turn. porcelet made the call. The 3d fell on the river, bringing another bet of 2,800 from Pagano. porcelet called again. Pagano flipped over As-9s-9h-3c for the flopped top set and rivered full house. porcelet had the low hand in the side pot with Qc-2c-5s-2h. fishcake56 took the low hand in the main pot with 6h-Jh-Ad-2d.
11:26pm--Katja Thater eliminated
Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater knew she needed to make a move if she wanted to cash in this event. She had only 2,345 chips, less than one big bet, and called all in after kidpoker406 raised. JCastle then three-bet, and kidpoker406 called all in for less than the three-bet.
It was anybody's hand until the flop came Td-5c-Kc. Thater had flopped a pair but both opponents had draws. The turn 7c made a flush for JCastle. The river Kd didn't change the outcome. Thater and kidpoker406 were both eliminated, moving the tournament two places closer to the money.
11:10pm--Hour seven chip counts, enjoy your meals!
Level 13
Stakes 1,400/2,800
Average Chip Count: 30,036
Players Remaining: 138 (12 to the money)
First Prize: $76,268.00
Humberto “Humberto B.” Brenes 37,712 (46th)
Lee Nelson 29,286 (62nd)
Luca Pagano 23,418 (72nd)
Katja Thater 4,445 (133rd)
Team PokerStars Pros eliminated this hour:
Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose (159th)
Greg “FossilMan” Raymer (180th)
Bill Chen (193rd)
11:00pm--Bad time to bet, good time to river a straight
Lee Nelson finally played a hand, but it didn't go so well for him.
In the big blind, he was the only caller of a button raise from Gstacks. He check-called bets on the Qc-7s-6h flop and 6s turn before pausing for about 10 seconds and leading out on the 9h river. Gstacks called almost immediately, showing Ac-8d-6c-3s for three sixes to win the pot over Nelson's Kc-Ks-Qh-Js.
After that pot, Nelson was at 16,086.
Two hands later, he would take down a 27,000 pot after flopping the nut flush draw and hitting a queen-high straight on the river, taking him almost to 30k.
10:59pm--Growling stomaches or growling bankrolls?
Barely a hand has gone by where players are either holing out to their time banks or anxiously awaiting the dash for that last pepperoni Hot Pocket in the freezer.
Still 16 players for the bubble to burst and players to rejoice getting about $100/hour for their play tonight should their tournament end shortly after 126th place is announced.
10:53pm--Let us begin the use of those time banks, bubble looms
It seems like quite a few players are now exercising their rights to use the sizable 240 second time banks here at the WCOOP. With the average stack only having 10 big bets, fast play will be coming soon as only the top 65 in chips are above par currently.
Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater is in the danger zone with 4,445 chips.
10:51pm--Slow night so long
As we approach bubble time with a big percentage of the field holding stacks of 10 big bets or less, both Lee Nelson and Luca Pagano have gone into lockdown mode. Getting Hillary Clinton to vote Republican would be easier right now than getting either of these guys to play a hand.
10:46pm--Humberto quietly (!!!) taking chips and staying around the top 50
As it may seem impossible, Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes is hanging out on Table 18 collecting chips with nary a shark-filled episode. More like the silent eel, snaking around zapping people for a few chips then slithering back into its cave.
He is currently at 35,312 chips as we’re 14 minutes from the dinner break and 19 players from the bubble.
10:37pm--Another pro down, Steve Paul-Ambrose eliminated
Steve Paul-Ambrose really needed a perfect situation to give himself a shot at picking up some chips. Down to just 5,490, he declined to call a raise in the big blind when it came from The Cooker in the small blind.
Two hands later he would make his stand with this hand:
10:31pm--The last supper
126 places pay and 160 players remain as we headed into the dinner break with blinds for level 12 moving up to 600/1200 and an average stack of 26,000. Humberto Brenes is the only PokerStars Pro left in the top 50 chip stacks.
Tonight 126th pays $829.00 for about seven hours of work, well worth it to go away with something more then dried bread at this point.
10:27pm--Seven kicker boots FossilMan out of the tourney in 180th
Not often you’ll see a kicker war in Omaha, but watch this hand as Greg “FossilMan” Raymer takes a good O8 starting hand to the felt and gets out kicked by a seven:
10:23pm--Kravchenko may be gone, but Canuck remains
Nearly six hours later Canuck is still at the same table he shared with Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko at the beginning.
Despite only having 2.5 big bets (blinds currently at 500/1000) he’s still in the tournament and now seated to the left of Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater who is a little healthier sitting with 19,145.
10:18pm--Paul-Ambrose on life support
Steve Paul-Ambrose just took a 10k hit to his stack and is in big trouble at the moment.
He opened with a raise in the hijack and ynika was his only caller in the small blind. ynika pulled out the check-raise on the 9h-7c-3d flop and then capped the action after Paul-Ambrose made it three bets. Paul-Ambrose called and then called one bet each on the 7d turn and the Jh river. ynika showed As-6h-3h-3s for the full house, claiming the 21,000 pot.
b>10:14pm--Pagano scoops
Scott Clements might be gone from Table 68, but the rest of the table just got a reminder that EPT Player of the Year Luca Pagano is still in action there. Pagano opened with a raise in the hijack and his only caller was Crisper in the small blind. Crisper check-raised on the 8h-4s-2d flop and Pagano called the second bet.
The Italian pro called again when Crisper led out for 2,000 on the Qc turn, but it was Crisper who check-called 2,000 when the 3c hit the river. Pagano showed Ac-5c-5s-3s for the wheel, scooping the 17,000 pot and jumping to 32,748.
10:11pm--AngryFish brings his SnG skills to the WCOOP
After making the final table of the very first Battle of the Planets monthly $50,000 triple shootout giveaway, AngryFish is currently in the top ten of Event #28 tonight.
He’ll be looking to expand on the $4,500 he walked away with in April.
Check out the info on how you can qualify for this montly triple shootout from SnG play here.
10:04pm--In the doghouse, Clements out
Just before the last break started, Scott "BigRiskky" Clements took a hit for half his stack against updog, who's cracked the top 10. updog opened with a raise under the gun and Clements made it three bets from the small blind. updog called and the flop came down Qc-Th-2c; Clements led out, updog raised, Clements reraised, and updog called.
Both players checked the Qs turn, and Clements called when the 9c hit the river to see updog show Ah-Ac-Jh-7c for the ace-high flush, enough to drag the 13,600 pot.
Left with just 5,879, Clements had to make a stand. He did so with Ac-Qd-8h-4c against chip leader RiskStar's As-Jh-7s-3h, but found himself on the rail after the board came down 9h-8d-5h-6c-Jd. He finishes in 195th place.
10:03pm--Hour 5 chip counts, dinner break up next
Level 11
Blinds 800/1,600
Average Chip Count: 20,725
Players Remaining: 200
First Prize: $76,268.00
Bill Chen 11,249 (152nd)
Greg “FossilMan” Raymer 15,556 (133rd)
Humberto “Humberto B.” Brenes 27,362 (51st)
Katja Thater 17,027 (118th)
Lee Nelson 18,201 (104th)
Luca Pagano 22,748 (74th)
Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose 16,875 (121st)
Team PokerStars Pros eliminated:
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker (250th)
Alex Kravchenko (252nd)
Dario Minieri (261st)
Raymond Rahme (275th)
Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Roussso (311st)
Isabelle “NoMercy” Mercier (336th)
Alexandre “allingomes” Gomes (346th)
9:53pm--Down, but still in it
Scott "BigRiskky" Clements is down to 13,079 after two pots that saw him folding well before showdown.
In the first pot he opened the betting with a raise in the cutoff; tunnny raised all-in for 1,899 total and was called by updog in the big blind and Clements. Action checked to Clements on the Kc-Jd-Th flop and he bet, only to be check-raised by updog.
He made it three bets and then called when updog capped the bet at 3,200. Clements then got out of the way on the 8s turn, a good decision as updog held A-Q in his hand and took the whole pot.
In the second pot, Luca Pagano (who moved to the table an orbit earlier) opened with a raise under the gun and Clements made it three bets in the hijack. RiskStar capped as he bet 3,200 on the button and Pagano and Clements both called. All three players checked the Td-5s-4s flop, and Clements folded when Pagano bet on the 3c turn.
One thing is for sure: nobody will ever be able to accuse Clements of not being disciplined.
9:48pm-- Wife wins, von Halle out in 225th
Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater has out lasted her husband as 50outs was short stacked with 5,354 and made a stand with 3c-Ts-4s-4h against desiree777 who raised preflop and never slowed down on any street.
desiree777 turned over a full house on the board of 7h-Js-7c-Ad-Tc and the German pro was eliminated in 225th place.
Now its time for Thater to try to outlast the remaining 212 players in the field for that $76K first prize.
9:41pm-- He’s the jack of all trades, WCOOP 8-game event winner at Katja Thater’s table
Winning the 8-game Event #8 for $50,797.28, Ulett_23 is now seated across from Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater on Table 58 with an well-above average stack at 33,386.
Read up on his victory by following the Event #8 live blog via this link.
9:37pm--Riskk management
Scott "BigRiskky" Clements had two limpers in front of him when he called 1,600 himself on the button to see a flop of Qs-7s-3d. He bet when the action checked to him and both opponents called.
When the Qh came on the turn, pacerookie led out for 1,600 and Clements raised to 3,200. He got the call both there and on the 3s river, and ended up scooping the pot with As-Qd-7d-3c for queens full of threes. He's now up to 23,624.
9:34pm-- Money on the side, out in 250th
Team PokerStars pro Chris Moneymaker is nursing his short stack for all its worth and just took down a side pot worth 2120 after flopping trips with Ad-8d-Qd-Qc on a board of 8s-6c-8h-Kh-4d.
Pushed again five hands later pre flop, this time no dice for the 2003 WSOP main champ as he couldn’t avoid the three others in the pot and Moneymaker is out in 250th.
9:30pm--Keeping an eye on our guys
With the stakes going up, Scott "BigRiskky" Clements is up just a touch to 13,664 after taking down a three-way limped pot uncontested with a bet on the 9-9-3 flop. That's the most action we've seen out of him lately, as he sits back and waits for a golden opportunity to present itself.
Steve Paul-Ambrose, meanwhile, is up to 23,475 on Table 63 after taking the low half of a pot worth 18,300.
9:25pm--Paul-Ambrose on the way up
Steve Paul-Ambrose has been quiet for the most part today on Table 26, but he's taken down two big pots over the last three hands to give him a nice little boost.
First he opened with a raise under the gun and made it four bets after being raised by hg_bg; his bet was called on the Qc-Jc-9d flop, but he took down the 6,900 pot with a bet on the 9c turn. Then he scooped a 10,200 pot with two pair, tens and threes, and a 6-4-3-2-A low in a pot against neeheh.
His table just broke, so we'll be tracking him down to see if he can continue his climb.
9:23pm-- Down to the last drop
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker is on borrowed time on Table 56 as he’s down to his last 740 in chips and will need to make something happen soon. Several times as the blinds are currently 300/600 and going up in 4 minutes.
9:19pm-- Not too high, not too low
The two Omaha Hi/Lo bracelet holders still out on Table #58, Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko (WSOP 2007) and Canuck (WCOOP 2002) haven’t exploded on the leaderboard, nor imploded to the rail. Both are currently under par with Kravchenko at 5,261 in chips to Canuck’s 9,019.
9:14pm--Time to get Riskky
Dario Minieri's table has broken, so we're going to follow WSOP Omaha Hi-Lo bracelet winner Scott "BigRiskky" Clements for a bit. He's sitting on 10,663 as we pick up the action on Table 68.
9:11pm-- Score one for the ladies, Thater jumps out a big chip lead over husband
Not to mention the field as well, Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater now sitting pretty at over 28,000 in chips as we have lost nearly 2/3rd of the field with 200 more eliminations to the money with 128 getting paid tonight. von Halle has slipped under par with around 10,000 chips but still holding his own.
Katja Thater: 28,039
50outs: 10,092
9:08pm--Another lifeline
Vanessa Rousso just tripled up her minuscule stack, getting back to 2,358 when she split the low with DO$UN*9* but took the high with two pair, aces and sixes. A couple more of those would help right about now.
9:03 pm--Hard to chip up that way
Just back from the break, Vanessa Rousso flopped an eight-high straight with 6s-6d-5h-2d in a three-way pot and managed to get herself all-in.
Things were looking good for her to take the high and have ladde1 and drainu split the low, but the turn and river came Ad-3c and all three players split the pot with the wheel.
9:00pm-- Hour four chip counts
Level 9
Blinds 600/1,200
Average Chip Count: 11,142
Players Remaining: 372
First Prize: $76,268.00
1. porcelet 41,992
2. sandow 33,020
3. Big10 31,938
4. Scared Money 30,580
5. m3tph 29,434
6. The Cooker 29,135
7. Raize It Up 28,725
8. Donald 28,403
9. fratboy247 28,152
10. plumnelli 27,231
Team PokerStars Pros remaining
Alexandre “allingomes” Gomes 3,233 (351st)
Bill Chen 17,979 (61st)
Chad Brown OUT (575th)
Dario Minieri `6,063 (78th)
Greg “FossilMan” Raymer 15,583 (86th)
Humberto “Humberto B.” Brenes 10,816 (153rd)
Katja Thater 17,583 (66th)
Alex Kravchenko 8,553 (212nd)
Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Roussso 4,608 (323rd)
Lee Nelson 10,701 (157th)
Luca Pagano 21,663 (35th)
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker 11,842 (136th)
Isabelle “NoMercy” Mercier 10,105 (169th)
Raymond Rahme 6,572 (265th)
Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose 10,650 (159th)
Team PokerStars Pros eliminated this hour
Victor Ramdin (378th)
Tom McEvoy (383rd)
John Duthie (398th)
Gavin Griffin (469th)
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan (494th)
Barry “barryg1” Greenstein (501st)
8:50pm--A lifeline for Rousso
Vanessa Rousso picked the right time to get her chips in the middle. She flopped a straight flush with Kh-Kd-Td-6d and managed to outrun Ulett_23's nut low draw to scoop a pot worth 4,808.
8:48pm-- Big to gone, Duthie out in 398th
Leader at the break and still a big stack midway through this level, Team PokerStars John Duthie never slowed down in this bust out hand against sonofchufty:
8:44pm-- Checking in with the German pro couple
Jan “50outs” van Halle has jumped out to the lead in chips, amassing over 23,000 chips currently as Team PokerStars pro Katja Thater continues to hang in there with over 9,000 as we’re 5 minutes from the break.
50outs: 23,308
Katja Thater: 9,245
8:40pm--Vanessa's fall
Vanessa Rousso is down to just 3,136 after a series of pots gone wrong. In the space of twelve hands she has dropped over 10k, which is more testament to the stakes at the moment than anything done badly wrong on her part.
It just goes to show that even when you build a big stack, you're never really safe.
8:35pm--Scoop for Dario
Since arriving at Table 98, Dario Minieri hasn't been, well, very Dario. We usually expect to see him splashing around in a lot of pots, but he's been fairly tame for the most part.
That doesn't mean he's not been chipping up, though; he just scooped one pot worth 5,400 after getting three bets in before the flop from the big blind with 8c-7h-4c-4s, going runner-runner for trip eights and taking the low with 7-4 on the 5s-3h-2h-8h-8d board.
Add that to the 6,400 pot he took down on the river with no showdown on a board of Qh-Td-8h-Qd-5c, and he's up to 15,963.
8:31pm-- Two players capping the river not a good sign, Griffin out in 469th
Starting the hand with 3,740 in chips the Team PokerStars Pro Gavin Griffin was all-in by the turn as four players capped preflop. Jan “50outs” von Halle three-bet Griffin on the turn when the rest of his chips went in and strela also called.
The board showed 5c-3s-Jd-8s-Ac on the river and both von Halle and strela capped the betting as Griffin remarked:
GavinGriffin said, "that's not good..."
Both players turned over A-5 wheels as Griffin mucked finishing in 469th place.
8:26pm--That's one way to come back
After slipping backward for a bit, Vanessa Rousso came back with a vengeance. She limped in before the flop and everyone but the two blinds folded, bringing a flop of Qd-9h-3d. She bet when the action checked to her and only drainu called from the big blind.
drainu checked the 3c as well, but this time he check-raised Rousso; when she popped him back, he called. One more bet on the river, and Rousso showed Qs-Qc-Jh-6c for the full house and scooped an 8,400 pot to get back over 18k
8:24pm-- Duthie’s stack finally shows signs of fatigue
While continuing to employ the aggressive style, Duthie now finds his once huge stack down to under 10,000 from several lost capped pots. Fear not action lovers, he ain’t going out like that, as Duthie continues to raise and cap nearly all pots preflop.
We down to 470 players with 128 getting paid tonight and the blinds have just escalated to 200/400 for level 8.
8:19pm--Rousso down a touch
Much like her fellow Team PokerStars Pro John Duthie, Vanessa Rousso has lost some steam since rocketing to the top of the leaderboard in the early going.
She's on 13,736 right now after dropping chips in three straight pots, including a loss of 2,200 when she flopped top pair and a gutshot draw without a low and got to the river against a flopped set and two nut lows.
8:14pm--McEvoy hits the nuts, loses a bit
Tom McEvoy just hit the nut low in a three-way pot - and lost money.
He dropped a total of 300 on the hand after getting the bulk of his 3,500 stack in the middle when both he and soundgarden4 turned up A-2 on the Qs-5d-3c-3h-7c board. jellycz took the high all by himself with a seven-high straight.
8:11pm-- Ground found, Griffin quadruples up
He not have as many chips as in this picture from his win in Monte Carlo...
... but Nut-Nut is good for Gavin Griffin as he was all-in preflop for 1065 with blinds at 150/300 against fellow Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker, strela, and armor.
The board came down Js-8h-4c-6s-7s as Griffin turned over 5d-2h-As-8s for the runner-runner nut flush as he already had the nut low on the turn.
Griffin’s second life starts with these 4,560 chips.
8:06pm--Three quarters=g00t
Isabelle Mercier has made up some ground on Table 91 as well, after quartering rkuok in this pot:
8:04pm-- Moneymaker moving up while Griffin trying to find some headway
Gavin Griffin and Chris Moneymaker are out on Table 14 together as Moneymaker just snagged an 8,400 chip pot with a turned nut flush. Griffin on the other hand just had to throw his remaining 495 into the middle with 3h-6d-2s-7h pre flop but managed to double up off tunny.
Griffin still short stacked at 1,065 chips, while Moneymaker is above average at 14,114 with another made flush as we got this post up.
7:58pm--Rahme fighting back
Raymond Rahme has been a raising machine since we came back from the break, and he's up to 6,198 as a result.
He took down one pot worth 3,000 with no contest on the turn, scooped one worth 2,350 with the nut flush for the high and the wheel for the low, and took another worth over 4k against a short stack.
Another run like that, and he'll be over 10k in no time.
7:55pm-- After settling down from his aggressive run, the rail offered some help for the chip leading Team PokerStars pro John Duthie:
He's still at over 20,000 chips but has lost a little steam.
DontLookBack [observer]: hey duthie theres a button next to call says fold
DontLookBack [observer]: found it yet?
John Duthie: no
zenman: LOL
DontLookBack [observer]: keep looking, youll get there
zenman: there's a button next to that says ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRR
oer
There are times when poker is a test of cunning, times when it's a test of aggression or a test of patience. And then there are times when poker is a battle of attrition, a real slog through knee-deep mud where only the players with the most stamina (and a pinch of luck) will see things through to the end. That's often the case in split-pot poker tournaments. Not surprisingly, Event #28 - $530 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, was one of those tests of endurance.
