Friday, October 2, 2009 4:27 AM Local Time
Good Lord, if there's anyone out there who still doesn't accept that poker is a sport, they should check out the stamina levels of these guys.
The uneven pace of this final table has been nothing short of gruelling for all involved, but none more so than Last Men Standing Barry Shulman and Daniel Negreanu. Their patience has been extraordinary, their caffeine consumption (at least Shulman's, anyway) verging on the legendary, and it has been a thoroughly deserved win for Mr. Shulman.
While two November Niners made the final table, it was another November Niner's dad who took it down -- Barry Shulman has proved today that the Shulman family are a force to be reckoned with at the felt, and his son Jeff can now get some inside information from him on how at least James Akenhead and Antoine Saout play to maybe help him out when he gets to the WSOP Main Event Final Table this November.
With the sun about to come up outside, the coveted bracelet has been placed on the wrist of the winner, and while the hardcore are still hanging around the bar, everyone else is wondering how they're going to get home. As we head off into the Leicester Square dawn, we've just got time to thank all at Betfair, Harrahs, the WSOP and the Empire Casino for having us, and to wish all congratulations to the happy winners.
From PokerNews.com, it's over and out.
Friday, October 2, 2009 4:19 AM Local Time
So, all in preflop, pair vs. pair, as one might expect, Daniel Negreanu, having come full circle back to short stack, had his tournament life on the line one more time.
Negreanu:
Shulman:
The
straight out on the flop brought a groan from the Negreanu supporters, and the rest of the board got him drawing dead by the turn:
. But both players were thoroughly applauded as the final hurdle was leaped.
Daniel Negreanu might have come so close only to miss out on the bracelet, but knowing that he's now topping the All-Time Money List must, surely, be some consolation for when he goes home and googles himself. That in itself is an achievement stretching beyond this one, admittedly highly prestigious, tournament.
Friday, October 2, 2009 4:15 AM Local Time
Our final two saw a
flop and Shulman bet 300,000. Negreanu responded by raising to 900,000. And Shulman responded to that by moving all in.
Negreanu turned to the rail in the hope that they might help him with his decision. "So you all wanna go home, right?" he asked them. "I'm not saying I'm gonna lose..."
"Ah, I shouldn't listen to the rail. I call."
On their backs.
Negreanu:
Shulman:
Oh dear.
But wait!
Turn: to massive screaming from the suddenly very awake crowd --
But wait some more!
River: ...
...
...
!
The noise was deafening. In what we are confidently declaring the Hand Of The Day, Shulman doubled to over 8 million, and Negreanu is right back down to under 2 million. Extraordinary. We play on.
Friday, October 2, 2009 4:03 AM Local Time
Negreanu bet out 300,000 on the
flop and Shulman called.
Like in so many hands previously, they then checked down the
turn and
river. The dealer is still woefully not letting us see the cards, but Jack Effel announced that Negreanu's
won the hand.
Friday, October 2, 2009 4:01 AM Local Time
The blinds are big now, really big. A flop bet, or first bet post flop is often 500k, one neat stack of white tournament chips, which can be sort of pushed out in front of one's stack, and then manoeuvred back in place with a sort of coffee-cup clenching motion if no call. The days of flippant chip throwing are over - this is stack-betting poker and there's been barely a light-hearted chip trick or flashy fold for over an hour.
Just now another pot went to Shulman, who'd called Negreanu's preflop button raise, checked the flop:
and then bet out 500k on the
turn.
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:57 AM Local Time
Negreanu raised and Shulman called. They saw a flop.
Flop:
Shulman checked and Negreanu bet 240,000. Back to Shulman, who now raised to 700,000. And back over to Negreanu, who announced all in. A moment of consideration from Shulman, and he passed.
Please, by the by, accept our apologies for a crazy glitch in our chip counts page that had the counts going all over the place for about five minutes there. It's fixed now, and the current counts are like so:
Negreanu: 5.05 million
Shulman: 4.985 million
There is less than one big blind between them. What with some of use required to be at the EPT starting tomorrow at noon -- that's seven hours from now -- and one PokerNews crew member already gone to catch his flight home, we're beginning to wish we'd brought sleeping bags...
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:51 AM Local Time
Another tasty pot for Daniel Negreanu levels up the chip counts once again after his two paint cards (sorry, occasionally no announcing + no camera view + no access to table = no detail) were deemed the winning hand on a
board. If I had to suggest a hand (which he bet on the river and got a call) it would be
but I can't be sure.
But then the very next hand, after raising small on the button, Negreanu called a 550k reraise from Shulman, and then passed on the
flop when Shulman bet out 400k. He looked reluctant though, reminding the hole card cameras of exactly what it was he was letting go...
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:46 AM Local Time
Negreanu is back over the 4 million mark after getting to showdown on a
board and flipping pocket fives. Shulman mucked, and the pot was his.
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:45 AM Local Time
Button Shulman minraised, and found big blind Negreanu raising a further 450k - a sizeable chunk of his stack. Shulman made the call...
Flop:
Negreanu bet 850k, as sure a sign of commital to the hand as a wedding ring. Shulman passed and Negreanu showed
- for the fourth pair of (shown) Aces on this final!
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:42 AM Local Time
Shulman bet out on the
flop and then called the raise from Negreanu.
Both players appear to have backed off once again come the
turn, checking both that and the
river. Both players turned their hands over, but woefully the dealer did not think to show them to the camera so all we know comes from TD Jack Effel: "Daniel shows a pair of sixes and it's good to take the pot."
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:37 AM Local Time
Right away Negreanu moved all in over a standard Barry Shulman preflop raise - uncalled as his previous three goes at getting them all in the middle have been.
The next hand got to a flop:
. Check to Negreanu on the button now, who bet 275k, again greeted with a fold. This time he looked a little frustrated about it, saying, "Yes that's the flop!" rubbing his cards together before throwing them back to be shuffled yet again. I think he would have been quite happy to commit the lot there too, but Shulman's being very careful to avoid doing that and giving his wily opponent another chance to get back in the game.
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:34 AM Local Time
There seems to have been a slight discrepancy between the counts on the official screen which we have been working with and the actual real chips on the table.
Actual, real chip counts:
Negreanu: 2.015 million
Shulman: 8.02 million
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:22 AM Local Time
Yes, it's 4.30am and it's break time.
Back soon.
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:22 AM Local Time
A slightly larger than usual pot saw a limp-checked flop of
which neither player bet . On the
turn Negreanu checked and Shulman bet 200k. Negreanu made the call.
The river was the
and again, check to Shulman, who bet 300k... a slight pause, but another call, although Negreanu mucked when he saw Shulman's winning
for rivered trips. I wonder what Negreanu had - we couldn't see if he flashed his hand while mucking.
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:18 AM Local Time
Down to just 1.435 million before the hand started, Negreanu checked the
flop and Shulman checked behind.
Negreanu checked the
turn and this time Shulman bet. And promptly, Negreanu announced all in.
Instafold.
Negreanu back up to the heady heights of 2.045 million.
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:10 AM Local Time
He's made the move three times already over the course of this heads up - no interest each time from Barry Shulman. But Daniel Negreanu is now down to round about 1,800,000 in chips and although he's picked up two sets of blinds in quick succession, any reraised pot he plays may well be either a) his last or b) the start of yet another comeback to add to the one which brought him here in the first place.
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:07 AM Local Time
600,000 chips found their way into the middle preflop, and when they all came out again after the
flop, they went into Shulman's stack.
2 million chips is a bare 20% of the chips in play. Negreanu may be in some trouble.
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:05 AM Local Time
The flop which got the action was a surprisingly non-threatening looking
. 400k was stacked in front of Shulman and button Negreanu was thinking about what to do about that. Suddenly he announced he was all in, and a Mexican Wave style "Ooooh," filtered around the room. But Shulman passed, handed the pot over, and play continues apace.
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:01 AM Local Time
Both players checked the
flop, and Negreanu tried an experimental bet on the
turn. Shulman raised, though, and Negreanu, by now looking really tired, tossed his cards away.
He's down to 2.395 million.
Friday, October 2, 2009 3:01 AM Local Time
...And it looked like it was heading for even giddier pot sizes as the flop saw Barry Shulman check-raise Daniel Negreanu on a flop of
to 600k. Negreanu made the call - and then checked down the turn and river which came
. A
-rag combo was the winning hand, scooping Shulman a chunky pot as the clock turns 4am straight.
Shulman's got himself a big old cup of coffee. Good move.