Wednesday, June 9, 2010 8:56 PM Local Time
After close to two hours of heads up play Stephen Gee has won his first World Series of Poker bracelet and accomplished a goal held by nearly every player of the game.
Gee started the day with 1,540,000 and had a hard time getting much going in the early rounds. At one point he was down to just 975,000 chips before climbing up to a staggering chip lead heading into heads-up play with over 7,000,000 in chips.
Gee and Vance showed starkly different approaches to the game today with Vance playing a lot of big pots and making moves to eliminate opponents early on. Meanwhile Gee exercised a more cautious approach, playing few hands, but making those he did play count for a lot.
Interestingly enough, both Vance and Gee cashed in Event #11 last week. Vance came in 208th, while Gee lasted a little while longer cashing in 201st place. You could say they both lasted a little longer and finished a little closer together this time around.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 8:49 PM Local Time
Steven Gee raised to 300,000 from the button and Matt Vance shoved for his remaining 1,575,000. Gee asked for a count before making the call.
Vance:
Gee:
Vance was behind and got no love from the flop as it fell . He needed to go runner-runner if he was to pull ahead. When the came on the turn he was drawing dead with the on the river acting as a mere formality.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 8:26 PM Local Time
We haven't been seeing a whole lot of action as Matt Vance and Stephen Gee are mostly just trading chips back and forth.
We got one flop in when Stephen Gee raised to 250,000 on the button and got a call from Matt Vance. Gee followed up with a bet of 250,000 on the flop after Vance checked. The bet was good enough to take it down, and Gee won the pot.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 8:10 PM Local Time
We haven't been seeing too many flops since the break. In this hand both players limped to a flop of . We didn't see any action on the flop, as they both checked to bring the on the turn. Once again, it was checked through with the coming on the river. Vance decided to throw some money into it, betting 110,000 with Gee making the call.
Vance showed and Gee mucked. Vance has won a few hands in heads-up play and how looks to have over 2,000,000 in chips.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 7:47 PM Local Time
Matt Vance and Stephen Gee saw an uncontested flop of , which they both checked. When the came on the turn, Gee checked and vance bet 125,000 with Gee making the call.
The river was the and both players checked. Gee showed for a pair of kings, while Vance showed for a better pair and the pot.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 7:22 PM Local Time
The players are on a 20-minute break, and will return at about 8:40 local time.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 7:09 PM Local Time
Matt Vance and Stephen Gee saw an unraised flop of with both players checking through. When the came on the turn, Gee bet 100,000 and got a call from Vance.
The river was the and Gee check-folded to a 225,000 bet from Vance.
On the next hand, they saw another flop without a raise. This time it came and they checked to the on the turn. At this point Vance checked and Gee bet 95,000 with Vance making the call.
The river was the and both players checked once more.
Vance showed and Gee mucked, giving Vance two pots in a row.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 6:57 PM Local Time
Stephen Gee raised to 200,000 on the button and got a call from Matt Vance. When the flop delivered , Vance check-called a 150,000 bet from Gee.
The turn was the and Vance checked once more, calling a 500,000 bet from Gee.
The river was the . Once again Vance check-called Gee, this time for 1,100,000.
Gee turned up for aces full of kings and Vance mucked.
Gee now has over 7,000,000 in chips.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 6:47 PM Local Time
David Baker was in the small blind when he moved all in for 1,200,000. He got a call out of Stephen Gee, while Matt Vance folded.
Gee:
Baker:
Baker was way behind and failed to catch up as the board ran out .
The elimination has brought us to heads-up play with Gee taking the chip lead. Quite an impressive feat, considering he was on the short stack for much of the day.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 6:35 PM Local Time
We haven't had too many three-way pots lately, but we were treated to a doozy when David Baker made a raise to 160,000 from the button. Stephen Gee and Matt Vance called from the small blind and big blind respectively.
All three players checked a flop of . When we got to see the on the turn, Gee led out with a bet of 275,000 with both Vance and Baker calling. At this point there was over 1,000,000 in the pot.
The river was the and Gee bet 720,000. Vance folded, but Baker made the call. Gee showed for a rivered set and Baker mucked.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 6:26 PM Local Time
David Baker and Stephen Gee were involved in a board reading when Gee called a 115,000 bet from Baker. When the fell on the river, Baker bet 270,000 and Gee called once more.
When Baker turned over , Gee mucked and slipped back down to 2,000,000.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 6:14 PM Local Time
David Baker made it 140,000 to go from the button and Matt Vance took him up on the offer.
The flop brought to the board and both players checked. When the came on the turn, Baker made a bet of 220,000. Vance raised to 525,000 and Baker folded.
Baker now has only 1,800,000, while Vance is sitting with 3,800,000.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 6:11 PM Local Time
Matt Vance used his position on the bubble to raise to 135,000. Baker called from the small blind, but Gee re-raised for 300,000 more. That's as far as we got in the hand. Both Vance and Baker folded, giving Gee some more chips to play with.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 6:06 PM Local Time
Now that Stephen Gee is able to see a flop or two, he called David Baker's 90,000 preflop raise from the small blind.
The flop was and Baker led out with a bet of 200,000 while Gee made the call.
The turn brought the and Baker check-folded to Gee's 410,000 bet.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 5:56 PM Local Time
Matt Vance min-raised from the button and got a call from Stephen Gee in the big blind. With David Baker out of the way the flop came .
When Gee checked, Vance went all in. Gee called for his remaining 700,000.
Gee:
Vance:
Gee was ahead, but he had some fading to do before he was in the clear. The turn was a meaningless and the river sealed the deal when it came .
The double up puts Gee up to 2,000,000 and back in the running.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 5:50 PM Local Time
Matt Vance tried to limp when action was folded to him in the small blind, but Nicholas Heather wouldn't see a flop without raised stakes and went all in for 1,165,000 more. It took Vance some time but he eventually made the call.
Vance:
Heather:
Vance caught top pair when the flop came . The on the turn provided some sweat as Nicholas had a flush draw to work with. But when the came on the river, Heather's day was over and Vance took a commanding chip lead with over 5,000,000 in chips.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 5:42 PM Local Time
Nicholas Heather raised to 85,000 on the button and David Baker countered with an all-in bet. If Heather called, he'd be putting all his chips at risk. Heather folded, and Baker picked up the chips.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 5:31 PM Local Time
On one of the first hands after our break, Jeff Gross re-raised a 120,000 raise from Matt Vance, putting himself all in. Vance made the call for a total of 950,000.
Vance:
Gross:
The flop came and Gross needed an ace or some runner-runner combinations to pull ahead. He got no help when the came on the turn nor with the on the river.
Vance has taken a commanding chip lead and is now up to 3,900,000.
The rail area is considerably thinner now that Gross' fans have moved on. For a while we had Andy Black, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho and Greg Mueller on hand to watch the action.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 5:02 PM Local Time
We're on break once more, this time for 20 minutes.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 5:01 PM Local Time
One of the last hands in the level saw a lot of chips change hands without us even seeing a flop. Things started with Matt Vance raising to 115,000. Jeff Gross then re-raised to 275,000 on the button, but David Baker three-bet to 775,000 in the big blind.
Both Vance and Gross folded and Baker added 500,000 to his stack.