Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:23 PM Local Time
Phil Hellmuth was just now all in with his tourney life on the line -- a rare occurrence, as we all know. The chips were in and at risk by the turn with the board showing . Hellmuth stood by his chair over his tabled cards -- for a Broadway straight. Meanwhile, his opponent had for two pair.
Play was paused as the camera folk hastily fell into place, and after some delay the dealer was instructed to resume. He burned a card and delivered the river -- the .
"Yes!" said Hellmuth as he sat back down. He's now at 72,000.
Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:18 PM Local Time
Noah Boeken was all in for his last 43,300 before the flop with , and he was flipping for double or nothing against the of another player.
Boeken mentioned that he almost folded the two jacks since the Jack Link's promotion from 2010 has been discontinued this year, but ultimately be very pleased with the decision. Wouldn't ya know it -- the board came , and Boeken's quad jacks won't earn him any free beef jerky this year, but they will earn him a double up to about 90,000.
Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:16 PM Local Time
A player in the cutoff opened for 5,100 and action passed to Justin Bonomo in the big blind and he called. The flop came and both players checked. The turn came and Bonomo bet 10,000. His opponent called and the river came .
Both players checked the river and Bonomo tabled , but his opponent showed and took the pot.
Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:16 PM Local Time
Freddy Deeb just scored a much-needed double-up, with the ESPN cameras rolling nearby. It appeared as though all of Deeb's chips went into the middle following a flop, with Deeb holding for trip sevens and his opponent . The turn was the and river the , and Deeb now has about 150,000.
"You lost the pot, but at least you'll be on TV," said Deeb afterwards to his opponent, who sat for a moment, then replied in most honey badger-like fashion: "I don't think I care."
Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:14 PM Local Time
We were drawn to yells of "YES," a lot of fist pumping, and maybe some even air guitar. What we saw was the carnage that was the biggest pot of the tournament won by Anton Ionel. Ionel came second at this year's $2,500 No-Limit Six-Handed and 3rd at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, so he is no stranger to having a big stack in the meat of a tournament.
The hand was recounted to us by the table who said there was a raise, a re-raise, another re-raise, and a call preflop between Ionel and his opponent. The flop came down and as we were told, the bets went in until Ionel was all in.
Ionel showed for a flopped set and he had the of his opponent in bad shape. The turn and river came and and Ionel took down the ridiculously huge pot. It took the dealer about four or five minutes to square up all the counts and when all was said and done, Ionel had around 680,000. His opponent had him covered and could only shake his head as he was given back around 18,000. At this point, Ionel is our likely chip leader with close to 700,000
Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:12 PM Local Time
Todd Brunson has recently arrived in the blue section of the Amazon room and on one of his first hand at the table, he called the raise of his opponent to go heads up to the flop. The flop came down and Brunson quickly checked. His opponent continued out with a bet of 12,000 and Brunson replied by moving all in.
His opponent sent his hand sailing toward the muck and Brunson was able to scoop up the pot.
| - | 84,000 | -16,300  |
Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:11 PM Local Time
Doug Lee raised to 5,500 from middle position and it folded around to the big blind who then reraised all in for 53,400 total. Lee sat for a half-minute looking as though he was about to pull the calling chips off his stack, then let his hand go.
On the very next hand, Lee raised again, this time to 5,300. It folded around to a different opponent in the big blind who again pushed all in, but only for 9,300. Lee called right away, tabling his . His opponent showed , and after the board ran out , the pot went to the short-stacked survivor.
Lee still sits with about 227,000 after those two hands.
Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:11 PM Local Time
While the action continues at a frenetic pace out in other areas of the Rio, here in Amazon Blue, action has been few and far between. Here are just some of the flops we've seen in the last 20 minutes:
Earlier, over on table 280, T.K. Miles checked to his opponent on a flop of with around 15,000 in the middle. The player led out for 7,000, but Miles check-raised to 17,000. However, Miles folded after his opponent came back over the top with a bet worth 47,000 total.
We've also picked up Erika Moutinho over on table 277, who in recent action went three-handed to a flop that read . The player in the big blind checked to Moutinho who bet 7,000, but both she and the big blind folded after the player in the cutoff raised to 22,000. Despite having only started the day with 178,600, Moutinho's now on more than 300,000!
| - | 306,000 | 127,400  |
| T.K. Miles | 265,000 | -80,000 |
Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:10 PM Local Time
We're not sure of the betting, but we do know that last year's Main Event runner-up, John Racener, got his stack of 52,100 all in preflop and was called by an unknown opponent.
Showdown
Racener:
Opponent:
Racener was in a dominating spot as the ESPN cameras swarmed the table. Unfortunately, Racener found himself in a head of trouble when the flop fell , delivering his opponent a set. Racener stood in preparation for his exit as the blanked on the turn. With the cameras rolling, in a hand that will no doubt make the broadcast, the fell harmlessly on the river and Racener's day was done.
With Racener's elimination, the only player left in the field from last year's November Nine is third-place finisher Joseph Cheong.
| John Racener | 0 | -52,000 |
Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:06 PM Local Time
When we went over to Sorel Mizzi's table, we saw him counting out a ton of chips to hand over to his opponent. We saw that Mizzi had and his opponent held with the board reading . According to a player at the table, all of the money got in on the flop, with Mizzi having a flush draw while his opponent flopped a set that held till the end. Mizzi lost over 150,000 on the hand, which was more then half of his stack.
| - | 123,000 | -147,000 |
Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:00 PM Local Time
There's still a handful of people in the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event that made super-deep runs in the 2010 WSOP Main Event. In order to see the entire list of entrants who cashed last year, check out our archived payouts section. Below is a list of those still in this year that finished in the Top 50 last year.
| Player | 2010 Finish | Prize |
|---|
| John Racener | 2nd | $5,545,955 |
| Joseph Cheong | 3rd | $4,130,049 |
| David "ODB" Baker | 17th | $396,967 |
| Scott Clements | 18th | $396,967 |
| Patrick Eskandar | 20th | $317,161 |
| Ronnie Bardah | 24th | $317,161 |
| Corey Emery | 33rd | $255,242 |
| Eddie Ochana | 34th | $255,242 |
We'll be paying special attention to these players to see if they can make another deep run, so be on the lookout for any updates involving these players.
Thursday, July 14, 2011 1:59 PM Local Time
Phil Hellmuth started the hand with about starting stack, and opened to 5,400 from the hijack seat. A player in the cutoff three-bet to 15,400, and the action folded back to Hellmuth.
"You got it?" Hellmuth asked his opponent.
The man stayed silent. Hellmuth remained in the tank for quite a long while before finally folding face-up, leaving himself with just 25,000 chips.
| - | 25,000 | -20,000 |
Thursday, July 14, 2011 1:59 PM Local Time
We joined a pot in progress on the flop, arriving just in time to see Matt Savage put out a bet of 12,000 into a pot of about 20,000. It looks like there was likely a raise and a three-bet preflop. Isabelle Mercier was in the small blind, and she check-raised to 30,200, drawing a call from Savage. On the turn, Mercier moved all in for 43,400, and Savage looked her up, making the call with his covering stack and a chance at the elimination.
Showdown
Savage:
Mercier:
The river changed nothing, and Savage is forced to part with about half his stack. This pot knocks him back to 90,000, while another double-up pushes Mercier up to about 170,000.
| - | 170,000 | 35,000 |
| Matt Savage | 90,000 | -112,000 |
Thursday, July 14, 2011 1:57 PM Local Time
Sandra Naujoks opened with a raise to 4,000 from middle position, and it folded around to the button who reraised to 12,200. James Calderaro, sitting in the small blind, checked his cards and said he was all in.
The dealer counted out Calderaro's chips. "48,500," she said, and the action was on Naujoks. As she thought, Calderaro held up one extra black chip that the dealer had missed, raising his eyebrows. "48,600," the dealer corrected.
Naujoks folded, and after some thought the button folded as well. Calderaro showed his and dragged the pot. He's smiling, but still on the short side with about 65,000.
Thursday, July 14, 2011 1:53 PM Local Time
On the feature table, Henry Van Tran raised to 4,500 preflop and received calls from Dale Robinson, Daniel Negreanu (small blind), and Brian Dennis (big blind). It was four-way action to the flop, which inspired Negreanu to lead out for 9,200. Only Van Tran made the call and it was heads up to the turn.
Action went check-check and the dealer put out the on the river. Negreanu checked, Van Tran bet 15,000, and Negreanu tanked hard. He perked up in his chair as he thought the hand through, eventually settling on a call. Van Tran sheepishly turned over for ace high, which wasn't good enough against the of Negreanu.
"Kid Poker" is up to 152,200.
| Daniel Negreanu | 152,200 | 32,200 |
Thursday, July 14, 2011 1:53 PM Local Time
The player in the cutoff opened for 4,500 and Josh Brikis called from the button. The flop came and both players checked. The turn came , the cutoff bet 16,000 and Brikis called. The river brought the , the cutoff checked and Brikis bet 18,000.
The cutoff tanked for a short while and then folded, giving the pot to Brikis who is working his way back up to what he started Day 3 with.
| Josh Brikis | 64,000 | 9,000 |
Thursday, July 14, 2011 1:52 PM Local Time
A short-stacked player got his last 32,600 chips into the middle with , and big stack Chris Bonita figured was plenty good enough to look him up.
The board ran out , and the knockout moves Bonita up to 430,000 or so.
Thursday, July 14, 2011 1:50 PM Local Time
Jani Sointula raised to 4,500 from the cutoff seat, and the small blind three-bet to 12,000 straight. Sointula called, and off they went.
The flop came , and the small blind continued out with another 13,800. Sointula called that bet, and he called another 23,700 behind the turn. The filled out the board on the river, and the small blind shoved all in for 58,700. Sointula called again, and those were all chips he'd not get back. The small blind tabled for two pair, and it earns him the big double to knock Sointula all the way down to 105,000.
Thursday, July 14, 2011 1:49 PM Local Time
A player in late position opened to 5,000, Randall Flowers moved all in for 14,400 on the button, and his opponent called.
Flowers:
Opponent:
Flowers was well ahead, and secured a double when the board ran .
| - | 34,500 | 3,500 |
Thursday, July 14, 2011 1:46 PM Local Time
The action folded around to Victor Ramdin on the button who raised to 4,500 before the flop, only to see the small blind re-raise to 13,700. The big blind folded and Ramdin tanked for about two minutes before re-raising to 31,000 total. The small blind snap-shoved.
Ramdin almost fell out of his chair, but adjusted himself back in his seat and went back into the tank. After a very tense three minutes, he furrowed his brow and brushed his cards away into the muck.
| Victor Ramdin | 133,000 | -91,000 |