Monday, June 9, 2008 7:14 PM Local Time
Minh Ly was forced to fold on 6th street in a big pot with Alexander Kostritsyn. The action was 3-bet on 3rd street, then checked through to 6th street where Ly bet out with
but was raised by Kostritsyn with
. In a decision that was virtually for his tournament life Ly folded his hand and saved his last 90,000.
He was able to recover some chips back in the next hand against Eric Brooks. Brooks completed with the
and Ly raised with the
. Brooks made the call.
On 4th Ly spiked a repeat
while Brooks hit the
. Ly put his last 22,000 chips into the middle, and although Brooks was getting a discount, Ly's hand looked too big and Brooks laid it down.
Ly is now back to about 160,000 but will still need some more help to get back into contention for the title.
Monday, June 9, 2008 7:08 PM Local Time
We seem to be at the grinding portion of this stud final table. In a lot of stud games, there are many hands where someone with the high card showing will make a raises and everyone will just lay down. This happens a lot in the portions of a tournament where the stacks are relatively deep. With the exception of Minh Ly, we are at that portion of the game. In the case of Minh Ly, the other players are beginning to show him more respect for his raises as they do not want to give such a dangerous player a lot of chips this late in the game.
Monday, June 9, 2008 6:59 PM Local Time
Minh Ly had called the bets of Alexander Kostritsyn through until 5th street. Ly held
and Kostritsyn showed
but before 6th street was dealt Kostritsyn fired out a bet.
Ly then caught a
to pair up as Kostritsyn found the
. Ly's pair was the best hand so he was first to act, resulting in Kostritsyn's bet being a bet out of turn - his second time on this final table.
Ly decided to bet out which meant that Kostritsyn was given the option to take back his bet since the action in front of him had changed. After some discussion with the tournament director and other players Kostritsyn laid down his hand, to give Ly the pot as he moves to about 275,000 chips.
Monday, June 9, 2008 6:42 PM Local Time
Erik Seidel completed with the
before Minh Ly raised it up showing the
. Seidel made the call. Minh Ly bet each street with Seidel putting the last of his chips in on 6th street. The boards ran out:
Seidel: (
)
(
)
Ly: (
)
(
)
Ly had the ace in the hole for a pair of aces as Seidel squeezed his last card but couldn't find any help. Seidel misses his 9th bracelet, eliminated from the tournament in 5th place for $92,825.
Monday, June 9, 2008 6:33 PM Local Time
Minh Ly had all of his chips in on fifth street and Alexander Kostritsyn made the call.
Ly: (
)
Kostritsyn: (
)
Kostritsyn missed his flush and Ly hit his straight on the river to double him up to around 260,000. Kostritsyn is down to 725,000.
Monday, June 9, 2008 6:26 PM Local Time
Erik Seidel and Alexander Kostritsyn have been going at each other on the felt over the past twenty minutes. First Seidel doubled through Kostritsyn, but in hands since then Kostritsyn has had the better of Seidel.
Kostritsyn made aces-up with a board of (
)
against Seidel who mucked with
.
A few moments later Kostritsyn forced Seidel out of another hand with a check-raise on 5th street.
Of course this is not the first time these two have battled it out at a major international final table. They went heads up at the 2008 Aussie Millions in January this year. In that contest it was Kostritsyn who came out of top and took down the title, with Seidel finishing runner-up. These two are building quite a rivalry, and at the moment it looks like today's battle may go the same way as the Aussie Millions, unless Seidel can make yet another comeback sometime soon. He is now down to about 200,000 chips.
Monday, June 9, 2008 6:21 PM Local Time
A hand between Erik Seidel and Alexander Kostritsyn was bet all the way to the river. On the river, Seidel was all in and Kostritsyn called.
Seidel: (
)
Kostritsyn: (
)
Seidel's aces up were good to double up Seidel to 400,000
Monday, June 9, 2008 6:09 PM Local Time
Minh Ly just hit quads kings in a hand against Erik Seidel and Alex Kostritsyn. Unfortunately for Ly, the action was checked all the way and he didn't pick up any extra bets.
Five in a row?
Monday, June 9, 2008 6:06 PM Local Time
Minh Ly just doubled up again through Erik Seidel. Ly has gone from 15,000 to 150,000 in three hands.
Monday, June 9, 2008 6:05 PM Local Time
Minh Ly was crippled in a hand against Fu Wong when he could not outdraw a pair of kings. The very next hand Ly was all in for the ante but caught three straight aces to get a set of aces and move up to 15,000. The next hand afterwards Ly was all in and doubled up to 50,000, which is exactly one big bet.
Monday, June 9, 2008 6:02 PM Local Time
Fu Wong has taken down a healthy pot from Alexander Kostritsyn just after the break. Kostritsyn continued with his aggressive approach by completing with a
before Wong raised showing the
. Kostritsyn called, and again called on 4th and 5th street, before leading on 6th street. Both players checked the river.
Wong showed (
)
for two pair with Kostritsyn mucking his hand on a board of
.
Monday, June 9, 2008 5:57 PM Local Time
Players are now back from break. We will play two more levels and then decide if we are going on a dinner break.
With betting limits of 25,000 and 50,000, it's time for a couple of the short stacks to either build some chips, or hit the bricks.
Monday, June 9, 2008 5:39 PM Local Time
The players are now taking a 15-minute break.
Monday, June 9, 2008 5:27 PM Local Time
Alexander Kostritsyn had bet the whole way with a board of
and fired again in the dark before the river had been dealt. Fu Wong was hesitant but decided to call him down. Kostritsyn sheepishly said "eights" flipping the
in the hole as Wong showed (
)
for the straight in a brave call that paid dividends.
Monday, June 9, 2008 5:23 PM Local Time
There was four way action on third between Alexander Kostritsyn, Erik Seidel, Fu Wong, and Eric Brooks. Brooks completed showing the
, Kostritsyn raised showing the
. Seidel called showing the
and Wong made the call showing the
. On fourth, Brooks caught the
, Seidel caught the
, Wong the
, and Kostritsyn the
. Brooks checked, Kostritsyn bet, Seidel and Wong called, and then Brooks check-raised. Kostritsyn then proceeded to three-bet the hand and Seidel and Wong get out of the way.
Brooks bet both fifth and sixth street and Kostritsyn called him down. On the river, Brooks bet out showing a board of
. Kostritsyn made the call showing a board of
. Brooks flipped over
for kings full. Kostritsyn flashed a
and folded.
After the hand Minh Ly said, "Queen nine? You call him with queen nine?"
Eric Brooks is now up to around 950,000 chips.
Monday, June 9, 2008 5:12 PM Local Time
It's been a tournament of comebacks and Minh Ly has been down, but not out, on several occasions. However he has just tripled up through Fu Wong and Alexander Kostritsyn in a massive pot.
With Ly all in on 4th street, Kostritsyn fired bets on 5th, 6th and 7th before Wong folded his hand to give Kostritsyn the side pot.
"Three queens" said Kostritsyn as he showed (
)
however Ly emphatically announced "full house" in a way that only Minh Ly can, as he flipped over (
)
.
With this pot Ly now sits with nearly 400,000 chips and is alive once again!
Monday, June 9, 2008 5:08 PM Local Time
Minh Ly made the call on the river with (
)
(
) but wasn't happy when Eric Brooks said "jacks" to reveal (
)
(
).
Ly is now down to about 120,000 in chips.
Monday, June 9, 2008 5:06 PM Local Time
So far we have very contrasting styles in today's event. Alexander Kostritsyn is playing in a lot of pots and using aggression and some good cards to build a lot of chips. Erik Seidel is using selective aggression to pick up pots from weaker opponents and double up in key spots to stay alive.
Eric Brooks is mostly staying out of the way of the big guns and playing very selectively. Minh Ly seems to be gunning a lot for Kostritsyn, as they have tangled in several pots already, but Kostritsyn seems willing to tangle. Fu Wong's play thus far has been very similar to Seidel with the exception of playing a few more pots.
Stay tuned an see how things progress.
Monday, June 9, 2008 4:55 PM Local Time
Alexander Kostritsyn completed and Jim Paluszek moved all in for an additional 18,000. Kostritsyn made the call and the boards ran out:
Kostritsyn:
(
)
(
)
Paluszek:
(
)
(
)
Kostritsyn makes tens and eights to eliminate Paluszek in 6th place for a payday of $74,260.
Monday, June 9, 2008 4:55 PM Local Time
Jim Paluszek and Fu Wong bet every street in a hand to the river. With the board of
, Wong bet into Paluszek's board of
. Paluszek made the call and Wong showed (
) for the nut flush.
Paluszek is down to 20,000 after the hand.