WSOP Tournament of Champions

Johnny Chan raised to 15,000 from the button, only for Huck Seed to move all in from the big blind. Chan released his hand.

Level 15 has started with little in the way of excitement, mainly blind-stealing and the occasional flop.

On a     flop, Joe Hachem bet 18,000, only for Huck Seed to raise to 71,000. After a long dwell, Hachem laid it down.

With the board reading    , Daniel Negreanu found himself all in with   , but behind against Joe Hachem's    for the flopped set.

As Negreanu fist-pounded his foe, the dealer dealt out the   turn. "Ha ha," gleamed Negreanu as the potential of a split pot emerged.

But, alas, the river bricked out with the  , and Negreanu was out in sixth.

After seeing a mutli-way flop fall  , Huck Seed checked, and Johnny Chan bet 12,000. Daniel Negreanu called on the button, and Seed joined them for another street. The turn brought the  , and Seed and Chan both checked it. Negreanu bet 20,000, and Seed called quickly. Chan let them go to the river heads up. The   was Huck's cue to end the checking. Instead, he moved all in for a total of 41,500. Once again, Negreanu was faced with a river bet he really didn't like. Kid Poker shook his head and talked through his usual routine. As he has several times before today, Negreanu arrived at "fold" as the correct decision. Seed to the nice pot to chip up to 130,000. Negreanu continued his downward trend, now the short stack with 55,000.

Huck Seed raised, and Howard Lederer moved all in for 30,400 total. Johnny Chan surprised Seed by flat calling. That was scary enough for Seed to give it up. Lederer tabled   to Chan's  . The   flop was clean, as was the   on the turn. Could both siblings get two-outed on the river? The crowd gasped as the   fell on the turn, but was quickly relieved to see it was one spot short of a killer for Lederer. He more than doubled to 80,000. Chan is still comfortably in the lead, however, with 235,000.

Johnny Chan has Daniel Negreanu's number. Despite being out of position, Chan has beaten Negreanu in every big pot they've played today, but Negreanu isn't giving up. This time, Chan raised to 8,000 from the cutoff, and Negreanu called on the button. The blinds folded, it was just them again fighting over a   flop. Chan bet out 15,000, and Negreanu raised it to 35,000. After all, it's the kind of flop you expect to have hit Negreanu. But Chan wasn't fooled for a second. He moved all in to put Daniel at risk, and Negreanu folded without much thought. Chan moved further into the lead with 265,000, and Negreanu slipped to 92,000.

Annie Duke open-shoved for 33,000 from early position. One hand after doubling with aces, Barry Greenstein was feeling wealthy. He reshipped from the cutoff. Jen Harman spent a minute calculating whether it was worth a shot at doubling or not, but she decided to give up her small blind and save her few thousand chips for a better spot. Howard Lederer folded the big blind, and it was time for showdown.

Duke:  

Greenstein:  

Duke was in good shape, and the   flop meant she didn't have to worry about Barry's club draw. The crowd applauded the   turn card that gave Annie a flush draw and took away one of Greenstein's three outs. He was down to two on the river, and the audience had all but guaranteed Duke the double up in their minds. Sometimes you feel a river like a swift kick in the gut. And the fan reaction to the   as it fell made it clear they felt it.

Duke got a hug from her brother as she left the table, and Joe Reitman was on the rail waiting to lend his support. Greenstein smiled for the first time all day as he stacked his nearly 130,000 in chips, but he stopped to join in as the stands gave Duke one last round of applause.

Johnny Chan raised to 6,000 from the button, and Daniel Negreanu flatted in the small blind. Barry Greenstein folded his big blind, and they went heads up to a   flop. The action proceeded exactly like the last time Negreanu was heads up from the small blind with Chan. Both players checked the flop. Negreanu checked again after the   turn, and Chan bet 12,000. Just like last time, Negreanu flatted. He checked once more when the   fell on the river. Chan bet 25,000, and Negreanu muttered to himself before shrugging his shoulders and folding his hand. Negreanu started the level with 210,000, but he's down to 135,000 45 minutes later.

Not too much happening at the moment. Howard Lederer moved all in from the button to pick up the blinds, and Daniel c-bet a flop against Johnny Chan, but, overall, we're witnessing very little in the way of action. Eight players remain.