Scott “DorinVandy” Dorin was a 22-year-old recent college grad seated at a final table with an EPT Champion, a World Series MVP and a WSOP World Champion. To say the table was stacked might be considered an understatement. But when the dust settled and the last card was dealt, is was Dorin, not Glenn Chorny, not Orel Hershiser and not Chris Moneymaker who took down Event #5 in the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker. The $10,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em event was the biggest buy-in tournament in WCOOP history, and we caught up with Dorin shortly after his win.
A recent graduate of Vanderbilt University (you guessed it, that’s where the name comes from), Dorin now lives in Las Vegas and plays poker for a living. He got started in online poker like so many of us, playing $5 SnG’s on PokerStars. He graduated from those to bigger events and cash games, with his biggest score before Event #5 coming in a PokerStars Sunday Second Chance tournament last year. Nowadays he plays mostly live cash games but according to Dorin “I just like playing the well-structured big buy-in tournaments.”
Dorin isn’t the only poker player in his family, as he joins sister Joanne as professional poker players. Joanne Dorin has a string of live successes over the past two years, including a preliminary event win at the 2007 Foxwoods Poker Classic. Scott Dorin took up the live game in college, but feels that he really learned the game by studying online training videos and playing online. A student of the game, he appreciates the players that have worked their way up through the cash game ranks. “I really appreciate studied players like dan harrington and david sklansky.”
As it would be for most people, taking down WCOOP #5 was Dorin’s biggest score ever. He felt pretty confident he could make the final table when he “sucked out on steamraise with 10c-7c vs. Ad-Kd all in preflop. That was for an enormous pot with about 25 people left.” Enormous, indeed. That pot moved Dorin over the million-chip mark for the first time when the board ran out 10s-10d-8s-Qh-5h. Once he took down that pot, Dorin went into the final table against a star-studded field including perhaps the most famous PokerStars qualifier ever – Chris Moneymaker.
Dorin was impressed with Moneymaker’s game, saying “He clearly has recrafted his game because he played quite differently than how I saw him play when he won the main event. I didn’t really play many big pots with him but he played a good tight aggressive style from what I could tell.” From the time he took to the final table with a huge chip lead to the time he collected the $617,000 first prize, Dorin only needed three hours to dispose of his final eight opponents.
With a huge boost to his bankroll, the young pro doesn’t plan on changing much in his life, maybe investing some of the money and getting into real estate. We certainly expect to hear more from this young poker stud as his career kicks off both live and online at PokerStars!
Having busted on level 4 of this tourney making a move with 4,6 suited it was great to watch the players whose patience, timing and skill managed to get them to the final 10.
This looked like a very interesting line-up with our old friend ‘Money800’ (Chris Moneymaker) joined by Jonathan Little (jcardshark), dorinvandy,DuckU ,purplEUROS, Glen Chorny (chornon),gbmantis,O.Hershiser and #1PEN all vying for a share of the huge prize-pool, but with their sites firmly on the $618,000 first prize.
With a tidy 22.5K sitting in the middle you could just sense the desire to steal it from pretty much any position (long gone are the days when you only steal the blinds in the cut-off and on the button) and we saw a few raise-steals then re-steals (one assumes) pretty much every hand. It was certainly rarely folded round to the blinds as one would expect at this standard of poker. Without seeing the hands it was difficult to say exactly what was going on as no one in particular seemed to be getting busy and the chip leader was being pretty patient, so it was all pretty much about position and timing.
The first significant hand and indeed elimination happened when Hershiser raised pre-flop and was called by Jonathan Little in the cut-off who had slightly more chips. On a flop of 8d,6c,Kd Hershisher must have thought his Aces were good and was probably given even more re-assurance when the 2d came on the turn strengthening his hand with the nut flush draw. Sadly for Hershisher, Little had flopped a set of 6’s and the river paired the board thereby sealing his demise. Pretty cruel getting aces cracked on the final table.
With Little up to nearly 1.5 million dorinvandy’s dominance now seemed threatened. That is until the second crucial turning point in the game happened. Usually, chip leaders avoid each other in poker tournaments, but because we all think that, maybe Little and dorinvandy were using this against each other and got entangled in a massive pot with Little holding A,5 and dorinvandy 4,5 suited. Now, I haven’t got the replay of this hand so can’t remember the exact betting or indeed flop, but all I do remember is dorinvandy making an all-in move on the river when Little still had about 1.4 m left in chips and was having to make the call of his life. It looked to me like a steal from dorinvandy but could Little call with a few overcards on the board and just holding bottom pair. Well he did make this hero-call, but dorinvandy had flopped 2-pair, 4’s and 5’s and was over-betting, representing a bluff, to try to get a bigger pair to call. Little’s genius and bravery just got the better of him on this particular day.
With well over 5 million chips now it looked like the others were playing for 2nd place and indeed the final positions ended:
It was one of the best final tables in WCOOP history, featuring Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker and baseball great Orel Hershiser. Now PokerStars.tv has put together a fantastic highlight reel for you to watch with all the hole cards exposed.
If three-bets were fleas, WCOOP Event #5's players would never stop itching.
The PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker has always been the richest event in online poker and one of the biggest tournament series live or online. Event #5, however, was a whole different beast. The $10,000 buy-in High-Roller No-Limit Hold'em event was the biggest buy-in WCOOP tournament ever and it brought out 321 of the best players in the game. Three-bets weren't something players saw every hour or so. Three-bets were the order of the day and could mean anything.
Event #5 was a poker clinic, a masterclass put on by the world's top players. Whether they were members of Team PokerStars Pro or other famous professionals, hardly a name at the table didn't carry with it a massive reputation. It was, in short, one of the coolest tournaments ever played online. To see all of our coverage, see the WCOOP Event #5 live blog.
With such a star-studded field, the final table was almost guaranteed to be interesting. No one, however, could've predicted just how interesting it would be.
Seat 1: Glen "Choron" Chorny (961204 in chips)
Seat 2: gbmantis (865936 in chips)
Seat 3: Orel Hershiser (686234 in chips)
Seat 4: #1PEN (799260 in chips)
Seat 5: Chris "Money800" Moneymaker (510878 in chips)
Seat 6: Jonathan "Jcardshark" Little (416281 in chips)
Seat 7: dorinvandy (2469033 in chips)
Seat 8: DuckU (657987 in chips)
Seat 9: purplEUROS (658187 in chips)
Click image for larger version
That's right. The final table featured 2003 World Series champion Chris Moneymaker, PCA final table player and WPT champion Jonathan "Jcardshark" Little, WCOOP Event #3 runner-up #1PEN, Season 4 EPT Grand Final champ Glen "Choron" Chorny, famous Major League Baseball pitcher Orel Hershiser, and well-known online pros gbmantis, dorinvandy, DuckU, and purplEUROS.
Simply put, no matter who busted, it was going to be a shame to watch them go. But go they must, one by one, to the rail. The only questions were who it would be, how it would happen, and how badly it would hurt. We learned quickly, it would be one of sports biggest stars and it would hurt pretty darned bad. The only question was how.
Too have battled through such a tough field, Orel Hershiser must have felt like he'd pitched eight innings of a no-hitter. And then the Bulldog looked down to pocket aces. He came in for a standard raise and got a flat call from Jon Little. You know what the crack of a homerun swing sounds like. It sounds a lot like aces getting cracked, as you'll see below.
Hershiser proved he is a competitor in more than just baseball and earned $54,570 for playing poker with the best in the world.
The big stack sitting in front of dorinvandy had been a force for hours. Once a flop hit, it was not uncommon to see dorinvandy's stack in the middle. So, when dorinvandy opened for 50,000, purplEUROS tried to take the all-in play away from him shoving for more than 514,000. His timing was off, because dorinvandy was ready to make the call with Ac-Ks to purplEUROS’ Ad-Qc. The board ran out jack high and purplEUROS was eliminated, collecting $75,435 for his run. dorinvandy’s stack topped 3 million after the hand.
For a closer look at what happened, click on the graphic below:
Most anybody watching the final table likely had a case of lockjaw from gritting their teeth in tension. The play had been insanely good and at times frighteningly so. Finally we found a hand that got rid of the lockjaw and left everybody's mouth hanging agape.
Holding more than 1.9 million chips at the start of the hand, Jonathan "Jcardshark" Little was hardly in danger. dorinvandy opened from UTG for 50,000 and Little called from the big blind. A 5c-4s-2c flop came down and Little led out for 72,000. dorinvandy put in a raise to 240,000 and Little called. The turn was the Qd and Little checked, opening the door for dorinvandy to put out a 420,000 bet. Little called. The river was the Ts and Little checked again. dorinvandy moved all-in, putting Little to a decision for his remaining 1.2 million. After his time bank ticked away for about a minute, Little made the call.
dorinvandy had flopped two pair with 4d-5d and the table exploded in disbelief when Little’s hand was revealed-- Ac-5h for third pair. Just like that, Little went from second in chips to hitting the rail and dorinvandy gained even more ammunition.
Watch the hand play out below.
Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker once again proved that his 2003 WSOP championship was no fluke and made it to the final table. It became obvious that he was beyond card dead. After doubling up once with JJ vs 66, Moneymaker couldn't get anything else going. After doubling up a short-stacked gbmantis in a button vs. big blind battle, Moneymaker put in the rest of his 300,000 chips with A-4. Clearly a play where he just hoped for the blinds, Moneymaker ran right into Glen Chorny's small blind KK. Moneymaker missed his ace and exited in sixth place for $139,635. See the hand play out in the re-player below.
Chris Moneymaker is the only member of Team PokerStars Pro who cashed in this event. Here's a look into the mind of Moneymaker.
While gbmantis had survived his battle with Moneymaker, he was finally crippled after open-shoving for 344,000 with Ad-Ks and getting a call from a similarly-stacked DuckU who turned up pocket eights. The snowmen held up, leaving gbmantis with only a bit more than 80,000 in chips. Though he managed to double back up with 7-7 vs. #1PEN’s 5-5, it was all over for him on the next hand. With the action folded to him in the small blind, gbmantis moved all in for 174,000 with Qc-2d but ran into #1PEN’s Ad-Qs. For his 5th place finish, gbmantis earned $179,760.
After most of a level where small pots were traded back and forth between the four remaining players, some action finally started brewing between #1PEN and Glen "Choron" Chorny. Chorny limped in from the small blind and #1Pen bumped it to 100,000. Choron came over the top for 250,000, prompting #1PEN to four-bet him all in for just short of a million in chips. Chorny made the call, revealing pocket queens and found himself in great shape against #1PEN’s Kc-8s. No king arrived for #1PEN and he found himself shortstacked. He managed a double-up on the next hand and stayed alive for a bit longer.
Glen "Choron" Chorny proved his poker chops a long time ago, most notably at the Season 4 EPT Grand Final where he won 2 million euros and the championship. Event #5 would not mark his return to first place, however. Chorny called dorinvandy’s button raise from the big blind and the two saw a flop of As-5c-3h. Chorny check-called 120,000 from dorinvandy. When the Qc fell on the turn Chorny checked again, and dorinvandy checked behind. The river came the 6d and Chorny checked a third time, prompting a 280,000 bet from dorinvandy. Chorny made the call, but saw the bad news when dorinvardy’s Ac-6c was revealed-- a rivered two pair. The million chip pot put dorinvandy up to 5.2 million while Chorny fell to 539,000. Only a few hands later, DuckU set Chorny all in when the action was folded to him in the small blind. Chorny called from the big blind, but found his Ac-7s dominated by DuckU’s As-Qs. To add insult to injury, DuckU flopped Broadway when it came down Kc-Jh-Th. Chorny couldn’t squeeze out a chop on the turn or river and he hit the rail in 4th place, collecting $256,800 for a spectacular run.
Still short-stacked at 302,000, #1PEN moved all in from the small blind with 4c-4h. Massively-stacked dorinvandy made the call from the big blind with Qd-7d. dorinvandy continued to catch lightning cards, the flop coming down 7-6-3. Though #1PEN had a glimmer of hope picking up an inside straight draw, he blanked out on the turn and river and bid the event a good night in 3rd place for a $337,050 payday.
Though tournament poker players are always gunning for first, and pretty much any other spot is a disappointment for most, you’ve got to hand it to #1PEN for making a tremendous run in the WCOOP these past two nights, now adding a 3rd place finish in Event #5 to his runner-up honors in Event #3 for a staggering weekend take of $391,170.
Going into heads-up play, the stacks looked like this:
dorinvandy - 5,521,457
DuckU - 2,503,543
The players sparred for a bit. In the end, a flop forced both players to get their money in.
In what would be the final hand of the night, dorinvandy made a standard raise from the button to 125,000 and DuckU called from the big blind. DuckU checked the Ts-8s-7d flop over to dorinvandy, who bet 140,000. DuckU came over the top for the rest of his chips, over 2 million in all, and dorinvandy quickly called, showing Td-Th for top set. DuckU was on straight and flush draws with Qs-9s and was looking for a jack or a spade that didn’t pair the board to double up and wrest control of the match from dorinvandy. However, the Kh fell on the turn and the Qh on the river, ending this deep-stacked heads-up match in swift fashion.
Congratulations to dorinvandy, who takes home $617,925 for topping this elite field. DuckU earned $459,030 for his runner-up finish.
Live blog coverage of WCOOP Event #5, the historic $10,000 High-Roller No-Limit Hold'em Event, is brought to you by bloggers Martin Harris, Johnny Kampis, Change100, and Brad Willis. Have a story for us? E-mail to blog@pokerstars.com. Click refresh to see the latest information. Want to see Event #6 action? See the WCOOP Event #6 Live Blog.
4:51am-dorinvandy wins Event #5, DuckU eliminated in 2nd place
Saying it was dorinvandy’s night... if anything, that’s a gross understatement.
In what would be the final hand of the night, dorinvandy made a standard raise from the button to 125,000 and DuckU called from the big blind. DuckU checked the Ts-8s-7d flop over to dorinvandy, who bet 140,000. DuckU came over the top for the rest of his chips, over 2 million in all, and dorinvandy quickly called, showing Td-Th for top set. DuckU was on straight and flush draws with Qs-9s and was looking for a jack or a spade that didn’t pair the board to double up and wrest control of the match from dorinvandy. However, the Kh fell on the turn and the Qh on the river, ending this deep-stacked heads-up match in swift fashion.
Congratulations to dorinvandy, who takes home $617,925 for topping this elite field. DuckU earned $459,030 for his runner-up finish.
You can see the last hand play out below. A full wrap-up will be available in just a bit.
4:32am-Starting heads-up chip counts
dorinvandy - 5,521,457
DuckU - 2,503,543
4:27am- #1PEN eliminated in 3rd place
Short-stacked at 302,000, #1PEN moved all in from the small blind with 4c-4h and massively-stacked dorinvandy made the call from the big blind with Qd-7d. dorinvandy continued to catch lightning cards, the flop coming down 7-6-3. Though #1PEN had a glimmer of hope picking up an inside straight draw, he blanked out on the turn and river and bid us good night in 3rd place for a $337,050 payday.
Though tournament poker players are always gunning for first, and pretty much any other spot is a disappointment for most, you’ve got to hand it to #1PEN for making a tremendous run in the WCOOP these past two nights, now adding a 3rd place finish in Event #5 to his runner-up honors in Event #3 for a staggering weekend take of $391,170. Well played, sir.
4:20am- Choron runs into the dorinvandy buzz saw
Glen "Choron" Chorny called dorinvandy’s button raise from the big blind and the two saw a flop of As-5c-3h. Chorny check-called 120,000 from dorinvandy. When the Qc fell on the turn Chorny checked again, but dorinvandy checked behind. The river came the 6d and Chorny checked a third time, prompting a 280,000 bet from dorinvandy. Chorny made the call, but saw the bad news when dorinvardy’s Ac-6c was revealed-- a rivered two pair. The million chip pot put dorinvandy up to 5.2 million while Chorny fell to 539,000. Only a few hands later, DuckU set Chorny all in when the action was folded to him in the small blind. Chorny called from the big blind, but found his Ac-7s dominated by DuckU’s As-Qs. To add insult to injury, DuckU flopped Broadway when it came down Kc-Jh-Th. Chorny couldn’t squeeze out a chop on the turn or river and he hit the rail in 4th place, collecting $256,800 for a spectacular run.
3:59am-Chip Counts at break
Level 25
Blinds 20,000/40,000, antes 4,500
Average chip count: 2,006,250
Players remaining: 4
First prize: $617,925.00
After most of a level where small pots were traded back and forth between our four remaining players, some action finally started brewing between #1PEN and Glen "Choron" Chorny. Chorny limped in from the small blind and #1Pen bumped it to 100,000. Choron came over the top for 250,000, prompting #1PEN to four-bet him all in for just short of a million in chips. Chorny made the call, revealing pocket queens and found himself in great shape against #1PEN’s Kc-8s. No king arrived for #1PEN and he found himself shortstacked. He managed a double-up on the next hand. At the break he has 357,000.
3:30am--Finally, it slows down
It looked for a bit like this might be the fastest final table of the year, but now that were down to four-handed play, the action has slowed down dramatically. No surprise why. First place is worth more than $600,000.
3:12am-#1PEN preys on gbmantis
gbmantis was crippled after open-shoving for 344,000 with Ad-Ks and getting a call from a similarly-stacked DuckU who turned up pocket eights. The snowmen held up, leaving gbmantis with only a bit more than 80,000 in chips. Though he managed to double back up with 7-7 vs. #1PEN’s 5-5, it was all over for him on the next hand. With the action folded to him in the small blind, gbmantis moved all in for 174,000 with Qc-2d but ran into #1PEN’s Ad-Qs. For his 5th place finish, gbmantis earned $179,760.
3:05am-Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker out in sixth place
Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker found himself shortstack after doubling up gbmantis a couple of hands earlier. Finally after looking down at A-4, he put in the rest of his 300,000 chips. His timing was bad, though. Glen "Choron" Chorny woke up in the small blind with KK. Moneymaker missed his ace and exite in sixth place for $139,635. See the hand play out in the re-player below.
2:53am--Chip counts at break
Level 23
Blinds 12,500/25,000, antes 2,500
Average chip count: 1,337,500
Players remaining: 10
First prize: $617,925.00
And while we were picking our jaws up off the floor, Chris Moneymaker doubled through #1PEN with JJ vs 66. Just a couple of hands later #1PEN doubled through gbmantis with TT vs AQ. Moneymaker is now back above 500,000. gbmantis is on the shortstack with 283,000.
2:48am- Jonathan "Jcardshark" Little makes surprise exit in 7th place
Holding more than 1.9 million chips at the start of the hand, Jonathan "Jcardshark" Little was hardly in danger. dorinvandy opened from UTG for 50,000 and Little called from the big blind. A 5c-4s-2c flop came down and Little led out for 72,000. dorinvandy put in a raise to 240,000 and Little called. The turn was the Qd and Little checked, opening the door for dorinvandy to put out a 420,000 bet. Little called. The river was the Ts and Little checked again. dorinvandy moved all-in for more than 2.5 million, putting Little to a decision for his remaining 1.2 million. After his time bank ticked away for about a minute, Little made the call.
dorinvandy had flopped two pair with 4d-5d and the table exploded in disbelief when Little’s hand was revealed-- Ac-5h for third pair. Just like that, Little went from second in chips to hitting the rail and dorinvandy gained even more ammunition. dorinvandy is now up to 5.1 million in chips. nearly six times more than his closest competitor, #1PEN who is sitting on just over 800,000.
Check out this utterly shocking hand below:
2:30am- purplEUROS cashes in 8th place
We’ve warned you throughout the afternoon/evening about what happens when you tangle with dorinvandy, so hear it again. You will get hurt, if the last few hours are any indication of how well he’s running in this event. purplEUROS tried to take the all-in play away from him, shoving for more than 514,000 after dorinvandy opened for 50,000, but he made the call, turning up Ac-Ks to purplEUROS’ Ad-Qc. The board ran out jack high and purplEUROS was eliminated, collecting $75,435 for his run. dorinvandy’s stack topped 3 million after the hand.
For a closer look at what happened, click on the graphic below:
2:25am-Orel Hershiser out in 9th place
In baseball terms, getting aces cracked would be kind of like throwing that perfect sinker, only to have it knocked out of the park. Orel Hershiser took his A-A up against Jonathan "jcardshark" Little, who flopped a set of sixes to KO him from the tournament. Hershiser earned a cool $54,570 for playing some excellent poker tonight. Well done. Check out how the hand unfolded below:
2:17am-Listen to live coverage on the PokerStars live stream
Want to listen to live coverage of the $10,000 High-Roller event? Check out the PokerStars Live Stream!
2:11am--#1PEN=sickness
So, wow. Seriously. Wow. (I stole that line, by the way).
Last night at the time, we watched #1PEN make the final table and place second in the $215 Limit Hold'em event where he won $54,000. Now, he sits at the final table of the $10,000 High-Roller event tonight.
At some point, #1PEN, you gotta go to sleep and give everybody else a chance.
2:02am--murza Zhban eliminated in 10th place, final table set
murza Zhban was crippled by Orel Hershiser just before the break, three-betting the Cy Young Award winner all in before the flop and getting a call he wasn’t really looking for. murza Zhban’s Qd-9s was dominated by Hershiser’s As-Qs and he got no help on the K-6-5-6-J board. Hershiser chipped up to more than 700,000 while murza Zhban was left with only 63,000.
On the third hand back from break, murza Zhban got the rest of his chips in the middle pre-flop vs. the ever-active dorinvandy only to find his Ah-7s dominated by dorinvandy’s Ac-Tc. dorinvandy hit a ten on the flop and that was it for murza Zhban who exited as the final table bubble boy in 10th place. The $41,730 payday should soothe him just a little.
Click image for larger version
1:49am-Chip counts at break
Level 21
Blinds 7,500/15,000, antes 1,500
Average chip count: 802,500
Players remaining: 10
First prize: $617,925.00
the dorinvandy wrecking ball still hasn’t stopped swinging, the latest casualty of his unbridled aggression being sappy123, who no douby is going to have nightmares about pocket deuces for weeks to come.
Here’s how it all unfolded. dorinvandy opened for 30,000 and sappy123 put in a reraise to 86,000. Not content to call and see a flop, dorinvandy moved all in for his entire 1.4 million stack and sappy123 called off his remaining 622,000. Turning up Ah-Qc to dorinvandy’s 2d-2h, it was a race situation, and with the arrival of the 9s-7h-7d-Kh-6c board, sappy123 was gone in a flash and dorinvandy dragged the 1.4 million pot, sending his stack up to an astonishing 2.1 million, more than twice than the 989,000 stack of Choron, his closest competitor. Along with a lifetime hatred of pocket deuces, sappy123 took home $41,730 for his performance today.
1:33am-Pokerccini sees way too may jacks, out in 12th
If you're going to go out in 12th place, you might as well do it in a big way. See Pokerccini's $41,730 exit below.
1:30am-steamraise runs into aces, blows gasket in 13th place
A massive pot just unfolded between steamraise and Jonathan "Jcardshark" Little. Team PokerStars Pro Chris "Money800" Moneymaker opened the pot for 27,888 and Little made the call. With the action folded to steamraise, he moved all in for nearly 450,000. Moneymaker gave up his hand and Little insta-called, turning up Ad-Ac to steamraise’s 7h-7s. No help for steamraise on the board and Little raked in the 836,000 chip pot, crippling steamraise to only 51,286.
Nearly the same scenario unfolded on the very next hand, steamraise moving all in behind Little’s 30,000 opening raise. Little made the call with 9d-Ts and discovered he was in better shape than he thought when he saw steamraise’s 5c-5h for a classic race situation. It’s turning out to be Little’s day, as he caught a ten on the flop and steamraise headed to the rail in 13th place.
1:29am-rivermanl out in 14th place
WIth 175,000 remaining in his stack, rivemanl moved all in over the top of Jonathan "Jcardshark" Little’s 25,000 open and Little made the call. rivermanl’s pocket threes were in serious trouble against Little’s pocket jacks and he couldn’t improve on the A-Q-5-9-4 board. For his 14th place finish, rivermanl took home $35,310.
1:23am--EPT Grand Final winner looking for another title
Though most of you probably knew this already, we now have permission to reveal that Choron is none other the Glen Chorny, winner of the EPT Season 4 Grand Final. Chorny won €2million just last April and today is in second place in this event.
Okay. We know Orel Hershiser can play poker. He made the quarter finals of the $25,000 NBC heads up championship. But, this $10K event is one of the toughest tournaments around and Orel is still alive. In fact he just doubled up with this hand.
1:11am-mendieta19 exits in 15th place
mendieta19 staked his tournament life on Big Slick, moving all in for 215,000 behind Pokerccini’s opening raise. Pokerccini made the call and his pocket queens held up to take out mendieta19 in 15th place. With that hand, Pokerccini chipped up to over half a million.
1:05am-NISSE123 eliminated in 16th place
Short-stacked NISSE123 patiently waited for the right hand to push with, and made his move when he picked up Qs-Qh. Though he was probably delighted to get a call from steamraise’s Ks-Ts, the flop came down Kd-9d-7c and NISSE couldn’t catch another queen or running straight cards to survive. Out in 16th place, NISSE123 earned $28,890 for his efforts.
1:00am-A Little information for you.
In case you didn't already know, one of the 16 players remaining in this event is Jonathan "Jcardshark" Little. One of Little's first major live scores was the 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. There, he took fifth place $317,873. Today he is looking to make it to the first prize of this event...more than $600,000.
Little, far right, at the 2007 PCA
12:50am-rkruok can finally get some sleep
rkruok has had a marathon two days of poker, finishing 12th in last night’s limit hold’em event and going deep here tonight in Event #5. rkruok had been fighting on the short stack for most of the last few levels, at one time sinking to only 9,000 in chips and rebuilding all the way back to an average stack. Facing a button raise from murza Zhban, rkruok moved all in for 225,000 and his opponent made the call, showing pocket sixes to rkukok’s Ac-Kd. The board ran out eight high and put an end to rkruok’s tournament and sending him to bed with an additional $28,890 for his 17th place finish.
12:49am-Chips at the break
Level 19
Blinds 5,000/10,000, antes 1,000
Average chip count: 501,562
Players remaining: 16
First prize: $617,925.00
Jcardshark just claimed another victim, taking out twirlpro. twirlpro moved all in over the top of Jcardshark’s 20,000 opening raise and his opponent made the call, turning up Ad-7c to his pocket deuces. An ace hit the flop and twirlpro couldn’t catch one of the two remaining deuces in the deck and hit the rail in 18th place. $28,890 will be waiting for him in his PokerStars account for his efforts today.
12:41am-bigegypt falls in 22nd place
Joe "bigegypt" Elpayaa moved all in pre-flop for his remaining 93,000 and Jcardshark made the call. Elpayaa’s Ad-6d was dominated by Jcardshark’s As-Jh and he couldn’t get any help on the Qd-Ts-7s-2h-5h board, exiting the tournament in 22nd place. bigegypt is a three-time winner of the $100 rebuy tournament and made the final table of this year’s PokerStars Carribean Adventure, finishing 6th.
12:36am-Moneymaker schools theprofess
Sure, it doesn't take a college education to wake up with kings in the big blind. Regardless, it's no fault of Chris Moneymaker that he did that very thing when facing an open-shove from theprofess. Theprofess had pocket fours. Moneymaker flopped his set and that was that. Theprofess finished in 20th place for $20,865.
12:32am-bestbuy82 out of business
Moments ago, bestbuy82 looked good for the final table. Now, he has no table at all. After doubling up #1PEN with AK vs AA, he ran into Choron in the hand below.
12:29am-nitbuster eliminated by dorinvandy
Another hand, another 800,000 pot for dorinvandy. This time, his victim was the formerly big-stacked nitbuster, who lost all of his 408,000 chips on the following hand, crushing his hopes of a repeat WCOOP final table. With these two hyper-aggressive players seated at the same table, there were bound to be some serious fireworks at one point or another.
nitbuster opened for 20,000 and dorinvandy smooth-called and sacker called from the big blind. On the Jd-9h-7h flop, sacker checked to nitbuster, who bet 46,000. dorinvandy raised to 136,000, chasing out sacker, and after using a good portion of his time bank to think it over, nitubster made the call, leaving himself 250,000 behind. When the 6c fell on the turn, nitbuster checked and dorinvandy immediately moved all in for 913,000. nitbuster made the call, turning up Js-Tc and likely smashing his fist on whatever surface held his computer when dorinvandy showed his Ah-Ad. The river was the Qs and nitbuster made a shocking exit in 24th place, earning $20,865.
12:26pm--Two aces, two times, two doubles
Table 13 is lucky for a couple of peoples. #1PEN just picked up aces versus bestbuy82's big slick and doubled up. On the very next hand rkruok found his own aces versus Choron's jacks and doubled up as well.
12:20am-Listen to live coverage on the PokerStars live stream
Want to listen to live coverage of the $10,000 High-Roller event? Check out the PokerStars Live Stream!
12:15am-Moneymaker in the money and looking for more
Chris Moneymaker is the only member of Team PokerStars Pro who cashed in this event. He's still running strong. Here's a look inside the mind of Moneymaker.
dorinvandy just became the tournament’s first million-dollar man after winning two monster pots to more than double up. dorinvandy made an opening raise of 15,000 from early position, only to be popped to 42,400 by top stack steamraise on the button. dorinvandy four-bet all in for over 400,000 and much to his chagrin was called, steamraise turning up Ad-Kd. dorinvandy was on a steal with only Tc-7c, but was saved by the flop, when it came down Ts-Td-8s. The turn was the Qh, the river was the 5h and dorinvandy raked in the largest pot of the tournament, taking the chip lead with 832,000.
Only two hands later, dorinvandy and kwil20 saw a flop of Kh-Qh-9h, kwil20 check-raising dorinvandy all in for nearly 208,000. dorinvandy made the call, showing Qc-Ts for a pair of queens to kwil20’s Ks-3c for a pair of kings. The 8h changed nothing on the turn, but the Tc spiked on the river, making dorinvandy two pair and awarding him another monster pot to send his stack soaring over a million in chips.
12:08am-bestbuy82 finds a customer
Is there anything better than flopping a set this late in a tournament? How about flopping a set and getting paid off in a big way. What you see below happened at the expense of Pier85 who is out in 27th place for $20,865.
11:57pm-Hung out to D__RY
Down to 70,000 in chips, Danny "THE__D__RY" Ryan made his last stand, open-shoving pre-flop from middle position and dorinvandy snap-called from the big blind. Ryan had run his Ah-8d into dorinvandy’s pocket aces and couldn’t catch a miracle board to survive. For his 31st place finish, Ryan earned $19,260.
Choron would know how sick it was. He laid the beat on Boosted J. How sick? Check it out below.
11:48pm-DuckU doubles through Jcardshark
Jcardshark has sat comfortably in the top ten for most of this tournament, but just hit his first significant bump in the road. Stacked at 278,000 and change, Jcardshark moved all in over the top of DuckU's opening raise of 18,000. DuckU made the call for his tournament life and turned up As-Ks to Jcardshark's Kh-Tc. The board ran out Ac-Ah-3c-3h-9s and DuckU doubled up to 216,000 while Jcardshark fell to the back third of the pack with 178,000.
11:37pm--Full chip counts at break
Level 17
Blinds 3,000/6,000, antes 600
Average chip count: 243,181
Players remaining: 34
First prize: $617,925.00
With only 69,529 left in his stack, Hasn82 open-shoved with two red sevens and ran directly into Dolcetrix's Th-Tc. The board offered little help and Hasn82 finished in 36th place for $19,260.
11:30pm-Pier85 beneficiary of SirWatts' demise
With 126,000 in his stack, and the action folded to him in the small blind, SirWatts put Pier85 to the test, setting him in for his entire 54,778 stack before the flop. Pier85 made the call, turning up Ks-Qc to SirWatts' Ac-5h. A king hit the flop and a queen hit the river, Pier85 making two pair and dragging the 124,000 pot.
Left with slightly more than 66,000, and the action folded to him again, SirWatts open-shoved, only to have Pier85 re-shove to isolate, forcing out big blind Assassin8tor. SirWatts' Ad-Qc was dominated by Pier85's As-Kd and he couldn't improve, exiting the tournament in 43rd place for a $17,655 payday.
11:28pm--A Royal ending for PearlJammer
After open-shoving with AQ, Jon "PearlJammer" Turner discovered he'd just run into rivermanl's aces. For a little insult on top of the injury, the board ran out Qd-Jd-8c-Td-K to give rivermanl the Royal Flush. Turner finished in 41st place for $17,655.
11:25pm-Right Call, Wrong Result for THE __D__RY
THE__D__RY: 0 for 3 last all ins
THE__D__RY: oh well... got luck for tourney life also
Don't you wish we all could be as gracious and level-headed as Danny "THE__D__RY" Ryan? Facing ArbahChamesh's 52,349 chip all in, Ryan decided to look him up with Ad-Qh and it ended up being a good call, his opponent holding Kh-Ts. The flop came down Kc-Js-4s, though and Ryan's hand couldn't improve on the 7s turn or the 2h river. He's down to just below the 60,000 mark now while ArbahChamesh doubled to nearly 112,000.
11:20pm-Knowing nitbuster
We're sure a lot of you know who nitbuster is. We can't say it here unless he outs himself publicly. Nonetheless, even if you don't know him by his real name, you know his screen name from last year's WCOOP main event final table. Yep. He's not a bad player at all.
nitbuster rolls past 500K No stranger to a WCOOP final table, nitbuster is positioning himself for another appearance after winning two massive pots within a single orbit. nitbuster's Ad-8d hit against murza Zhban's pocket tens when the flop came down Ah-Kh-3c and he called his opponent's lead bets down on every street, raking in a 365,000 pot.
Only three hands later, he mixed it up with KtheKing, flat-calling his opponent's early position open from the cutoff. The flop came down 7s-7h-5h and KtheKing led out for 20,914. nitbuster put him all in and KtheKing called, showing Ah-Th for two overs and a flush draw to nitbuster's pocket sixes. Non-heart fours landed on the turn and river, giving nitbuster another monster pot and increasing his stack to nearly 530,000.
He's currently second in chips, behind only steamraise, who boasts a nearly 700,000 stack.
10:54pm-Is Orel for real?
It seems our earlier reports about the reality of O. Hershiser being the actual Orel Hershiser haven't filtered worldwide. The rail is still asking "Are you him?" Well, the answer is yes. What's more, he's feeling pretty confident. And is he for real? We'll let this hand settle the debate.
10:53pm-Details of the Boeken bubble
Exclusive is our high-roller bubble boy Down to 45,000 in chips, Team PokerStars Pro Noah Boeken open-shoved pre-flop and couldn't have been too excited to see dorinvandy make an isolation reraise to 94,000 from the small blind. Indeed Boeken's As-Qh was dominated by dorinvandy's Ah-Kd and he couldn't improve on the ten-high board, exiting Event #5 on the money bubble, in 55th place.
10:49pm-Bubble pops all over Exclusive
Event #5 is now in the money, and Noah "Exclusive" Boeken is not. Details to come, but suffice to say, Boeken is the bubble boy of the night, leaving Chris Moneymaker as the only member of Team PokerStars to cash in this event.
10:45pm-#1PEN running pretty well
#1PEN was sitting on 71,000, about half of average when taktloss opened for 10,700 from UTG. #1PEN made his move, shoving all in, a substantial raise of 60,000 which would cost taktloss about half his remaining stack. taktloss decided to make the call and found himself in a race situation, his Th-Ts up against the Ah-Kd of #1PEN. The As-Ac-3s flop all but sealed the hand for #1PEN, who came away from the hand with a double-up to more than 150,000. taktloss was left with 56,000, down but certainly not out. You might remember, #1PEN came in runner up this morning in Event #3.
10:41pm-Brutal bubble hand
It wasn't quite the bubble, but it might as well have been when two of the top ten chip leaders tangled. Pure sickness ensued. Just watch it. It's like a car accident on the highway. You don't want to look, but you can't help yourself.
10:36pm-Chip counts at the break
Level 15
Blinds 2,000/4,000, antes 400
Average chip count: 140,789
Players remaining: 57
First prize: $617,925.00
Chris "Money800" Moneymaker 117,179
Noah "Exclusive" Boeken 53,064
10:15pm-nitbuster picks off BrynKenney's bluff
BrynKenney opened for 7,775 and nitbuster made the call from the big blind. He checked the As-5h-2c flop, but called BrynKenney's 11,200 continuation bet. nitbuster check-called his opponent's 26,400 bet when the 9c fell on the turn and another 58,400 when the river came the 4s. nitbuster had top pair with Ac-8c in the hole and successfully picked off a bluff, BrynKenney showing Kd-2s. nitbuster is now up to 285,000 and sits among the top 5 in chips.
10:00pm-Highlight city
It's like Sports Center for WCOOP. PokerStars.tv is putting together highlight reels of the big WCOOP events. Today we received the highlights from the final table of Event #1, $215 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Max.
WSOP bracelet winner James "mig.com" Mackey made his move, three-betting the aggressive Jcardshark's 7,000 open-raise all in for his remaining 46,000 in chips. Unfortunately, Jcardshark had a real hand there and made the call, his Ad-8d dominating mig.com's Kd-8s. Jcardshark paired his ace on the flop and sent mig.com to the rail in 64th place, just short of the money.
9:57pm-neverwin true to his name
Dustin "neverwin" Woolf opened for 7,000 and faced a reraise to 22,000 from bestbuy82. neverwin decided to make his stand, moving all in for 63,250 and was called, his Qc-Qh dominating bestbuy82's 7c-7d. It was not neverwin's day, though as the 7s hit the flop, making his opponent's set. No miracle for neverwin on the turn or river, and he hit the virtual rail in 71st place.
9:56pm-#1PEN cripples RandALLin
Playing poker for nearly two days straight doesn't seem to have deterred last night's runner-up in Event #3 in the least. #1PEN popped RandALLin's 6,000 chip open-raise to 16,400 only to face a four-bet all in from his opponent. #1PEN called another 32,000, turning up Qs-Qd and was no doubt delighted to see RandALLin's pocket jacks. The board blanked out and #1PEN's stack crossed the 100K mark while RandALLin was left with only slightly more than 15,000 in chips
9:52pm-Recent eliminations
In recent action, Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes and James "mig.com" Mackey have been eliminated,
9:42pm-NoMercy gets no...well, you get the idea
What a fall from grace. Just an hour ago, Team PokerStars Pro Isabelle "NoMercy" Mercier was the chip leader. Now, she is out just short of the money. PokerStars player steamraise is almost 100% to blame.
NoMercy came in for a raise 7000 and steamraise made the call. NoMercy bet 15,000 on a 4c-Jh-K flop. Steamraise put her all-in for 138,000 more and Mercier made the call with her As-Kh. The result wasn't pretty for the Team PokerStars Pro. Steamraise showed Jd-Ks. The board bricked twice and Mercier was out in 65th place.
9:38pm-UGOTPZD gets PZD
As we approach the bubble tonight, UGOTPZD was in dire need of a double up. He pushed his last chips in and got called in two places. He had to feel good when he actually flopped a pair. He likely felt let good when his opponent bet into the dry side pot. That's never good news. See the rest of the hand below.
9:28pm--Returning from break
After a 15-minute break to refresh after six hours of player, the 71 players are returning to try to make it to the first milestone...the top 54 players who will walk away with cash.
9:18pm--Chip counts at six-hour break
Level 13
Blinds 1,250/2,500, antes 250
Average chip count: 113,028
Players remaining: 71
First prize: $617,925.00
Just before the break, samh33 knocked out Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier. ElkY shoved his last 15,692 with Ad-5s, and samh33 called him with 6d-6c. The flop came 8c-5h-6h, giving samh33 a set. The 2c on the turn meant ElkY was drawing dead, and he is out in 72nd place. samh33 now has 79,319.
9:10pm--JohnnyBax’s pair is not good enough
Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy just finished in 76th after his pocket jacks couldn’t match the power of dorinvandy’s pocket kings. TIJO initially raised to 6,000, dorinvandy re-raised to 18,000 and Josephy pushed all in for 21,000. TIJO got out of the way and dorinvandy called. The flop of 3d-Ks-8h ended any drama and the turn and river of 8c-Ad finished Josephy off.
9:03pm--Nelson can't duck the duck
Team PokerStars pro Lee Nelson pushed his 20K stack in the middle, but DuckU called and knocked him out in 78th. Here is how the hand played out:
8:52pm--steamraise steamrollin'
On the very next hand, steamraise found himself involved in another huge pot versus FA_Morgoth.
In this one, philivey2694 raised to 2,567 from early position, and steamraise repopped it to 12,800 from the small blind. FA_Morgoth then three-bet to 29,535 from the big blind. philivey2694 folded, and steamraise called.
The flop came 2s-Jh-4s. steamraise checked, FA_Morgoth bet 35,231, and steamraise promptly shoved his enormous stack of 300-plus thousand in the middle. FA_Morgoth called with his last 127,937.
Talk about a rush. steamraise turned over As-Ac, while FA_Morgoth had Kd-Kh. The turn was the Qc and the river the 3c, and FA_Morgoth is suddenly out in 87th.
That hand put steamraise up to 534,314, nearly a quarter million ahead of his nearest foe!
8:46pm--Mercier takes a huge hit, courtesy steamraise
Isabelle "NoMercy" Mercier had briefly enjoyed the chip lead, having built her stack up over the quarter million mark. Then came the following huge pot versus steamraise, and she's fallen way back to 88,010. Meanwhile, steamraise has assumed the chip lead with 335,644. Click to see how the hand played out:
8:43pm--Hershiser strikes out Lee Nelson
A big pot just developed between Orel Hershiser and Lee "LeeNelsonP*" Nelson. Nelson raised to 4,500 from the button with 60,000 behind and Hershiser re-raised to 10,500 from the small blind, leaving himself 29,000 behind. Nelson then bet enough to put the former Los Angeles Dodgers star all in and Hershiser called.
The hands were Ks-Kd for Hershiser and 6h-6d for Nelson. The board ran out Qd-Jd-8c-9c-3c and Hershiser doubled up to 82K. Nelson fell to 25K.
8:37pm--Kicker problems for The Waco Kid
Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby got the rest of his stack in with A-J, but ran into problems, and found himself bounced from the tournament in 97th. Here's the hand:
8:33pm--Wait, don't tell me.... I know I've heard that name before...
You might have noticed a certain player named "area23JC" appearing in a couple of those top ten chip count lists from earlier in the afternoon. He continues to amass chips quietly. We just saw another instance where he called with position a preflop raise by _unskilled_, reraised the continuation bet of _unskilled_ on the flop causing his opponent to fold, and took a nice 26k pot.
Perhaps you recall that name "area23JC" from earlier WCOOP events, such as the 2006 WCOOP Main Event which he won, claiming a nice $670,194 first prize.
Do you remember who "area23JC" is?
None other than J.C. Tran, who nearly $7 million in lifetime live tourney winnings include his first bracelet at this summer's WSOP. Tran currently has 107,894 chips, putting him in 21st place.
8:24pm--Now under 100 players
It's still awhile to the money (top 54), but at least we've cracked the two-figure mark. Recent eliminations include Team PokerStars pro Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan in 113th place and Mike "Sowerss" Sowers in 106th.
8:09pm--Chip counts at five-hour break
Level 11
Blinds 750/1,500, antes 150
Average chip count: 75,707
Players remaining: 106
First prize: $617,925.00
Team PokerStars pros in top 100:
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker 122,854 (15th place)
Noah “Exclusive” Boeken 82,195 (42nd)
Lee Nelson 59,717 (57th)
Humberto “Humberto B” Brenes 53,196 (66th)
8:01pm--Is that the turn of the screw, or the screw of the turn?
Team PokerStars pro Lee Nelson found himself in good shape on the flop against doidovarrido, but the turn? That was a different story.
7:49pm--Four more Team PokerStars pros out
Among the victims of the recent carnage were Alex Kravchenko in 148th place, Victor Ramdin in 147th, Vanessa "LadyMaverick" Rousso in 121st, and Steve "stevejpa" Paul-Ambrose in 118th.
7:46pm--Shake your Moneymaker
Meanwhile, life is better for another former WSOP ME champ and Team PokerStars Pro, Chris "Money800" Moneymaker. He just crossed the 120,000-chip mark and is now hovering just beneath the top ten. Now, wouldn't this be an interesting way to mark a fifth anniversary...?
7:38pm--Tom McEvoy can't celebrate on 25th anniversary of WSOP win
Team PokerStars Pro Tom McEvoy, who won another $10,000 no-limit hold'em tournament 25 years ago when he took the WSOP Main Event 1983, just busted in 133rd place in this $10,000 event.
Down to 18,000, McEvoy pushed all in over the top of a 3,000 bet from YRWTHMELTHR. McEvoy found himself in bad shape with As-7c versus Ad-Kh and found no help on a board of 4h-3d-Td-9c-3c.
7:33pm--The deck giveth, the deck taketh away
After grabbing a big stack, FA_Morgoth lost more than a third of his stack to HoesMobil in a big pot. After this hand, HoesMobil moved up to 203,000 to jump into first place:
Scott “DorinVandy” Dorin was a 22-year-old recent college grad seated at a final table with an EPT Champion, a World Series MVP and a WSOP World Champion. To say the table was stacked might be considered an understatement. But when the dust settled and the last card was dealt, is was Dorin, not Glenn Chorny, not Orel Hershiser and not Chris Moneymaker who took down Event #5 in the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker. The $10,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em event was the biggest buy-in tournament in WCOOP history, and we caught up with Dorin shortly after his win.
by John Duthie
It was one of the best final tables in 
Team PokerStars Pro Tom McEvoy, who won another $10,000 no-limit hold'em tournament 25 years ago when he took the WSOP Main Event 1983, just busted in 133rd place in this $10,000 event.