Saturday, July 12, 2008 1:27 PM Local Time
Chino Rheem opened with a raise to 36,000 from early position with Mike Matusow making the call. The action then folded to Sean Davis in the small blind, who announced a raise to 140,000. It was back with Rheem, who moved all in. Matusow got out of the way and Davis made a quick call.
Rheem:
Davis:
The flop came
, but a miracle
on the turn gave Rheem his two-outer to the screams of delight from his entourage in the stands. The river bricked the
and Rheem finds an incredible double-up to be back to close to 1.5 million chips.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 1:20 PM Local Time
Two tough hands, back-to-back, have sent Gus Hansen to the rail. First, with over 600,000 in the pot preflop and the board showing
, Hansen bet 189,000. His opponent, Jeremy Joseph, moved all in for 520,000 total. Hansen had Joseph covered and weighed his options before making the call.
Hansen:
Joseph:
Hansen showed an up-and-down straight draw against Joseph's ace-high. The
on the turn didn't improve anyone, nor did the
river. Joseph won the pot when his ace-high beat Hansen's queen-high.
On the next hand, Hansen called Chris Crilly's all in bet on a flop of
. Crilly's
was behind Hansen's
but the turn
gave Crilly a few more outs.
"That keeps it interesting," quipped Hansen.
The river came down
to make a nine-high straight for Crilly. Hansen didn't say much after he was eliminated. He just picked up his things and headed to the payout table.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 1:20 PM Local Time
After Kellen Hunter raised to 29,000 Chip Jett moved in from the cutoff for his last 185,000. Unfortunately for Jett, Hunter wasn't making a late-position steal--he had
to Jett's modest
. The
was no help and while Jett caught the
on the turn the river was the
and Jett's Main Event came to an end.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 1:20 PM Local Time
Phil Hellmuth limped from under the gun, then David Saab raised to 40,000 from the cutoff. Albert Kim called from the button, the blinds got out of the way, and Hellmuth called as well.
All three checked the
flop. The turn was the
. Hellmuth bet 140,000, and Saab called him instantly. Kim folded.
The river was the
. This time Hellmuth checked, and Saab counted out some chips, eventually pushing 200,000 forward. Hellmuth mucked, and Saab showed
before dragging the pot.
Hellmuth exhaled. "I play against these idiots," he began, Saab laughing in response. "Okay, you got away with it," Hellmuth conceded. "I should have reraised him preflop," added Kim.
Hellmuth was still shaking his head. "I can't believe what I just saw," he added, echoing Jack Buck's immortal call from another World Series.
"I'm the luckiest player," said Saab, still smiling. "Not only that, I'm color blind," a reference to the chip colors and their denominations.
(Incidentally, we're almost ten minutes later, now, and Hellmuth is still talking about the hand. He's saying now he folded pocket nines.)
Saturday, July 12, 2008 1:19 PM Local Time
Terry Lade was all in before the flop against Jerry Martin. Lade had a big hand with
but was way behind the
of Martin.
The dealer pulled in the pot and Martin said "no jack!" as the flop came
. To add insult to injury, the turn fell the
giving Lade four of a kind. The river was a meaningless
and Lade doubled to approximately 1,400,000 chips. Martin meanwhile, is now a bit below average with roughly 625,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 1:17 PM Local Time
Hoyt Corkins and Ivan Demidov exchanged a series of preflop raises that built a 600,000 pot, and after the flop came down
Corkins moved in for his last 275,000. Demidov called. That's when Hoyt learned that his
had run into Demidov's
. The
on the turn and
on the river brought Corkins no help and he was eliminated from the Main Event.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 1:13 PM Local Time
Justin Scott and Matt Matros just tangled in a big hand that saw Scott's tournament life hanging in the balance. Scott was all in before the flop against Matros and the players showed:
Scott:
Matros:
Matros had the dominating hand and both players caught top pair on the
flop. The turn was a relative blank, falling the
, but the river was the
and completed Scott's flush. He doubled to roughly 800,000 chips on the hand and left Matros with just over 725,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 1:08 PM Local Time
Robin Larsson raised to 36,000 from early position before Alex Outhred, from the big blind, reraised enough to put his opponent all in. Larsson made the call.
Larsson:
Outhred:
The board ran out
and although Larsson made trips on the river, Outhred held a full house to take the pot and send Larsson to the exit.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 1:06 PM Local Time
A short-stacked Andy Witek was all in with
and found himself unfortunately pitted against Joshua Freeman's
. The flop of
put Witek ahead, but the
on the turn gave Freeman a better pair. The river was the
, and Witek is out. Freeman was up to 1.09 million after that one.
Freeman's good fortune didn't last long, though. Soon afterwards he had another shorter-stacked player, Vito Branciforte, all in on a flop of
. Freeman had
for a set of sevens, but Branciforte had
for the better set. No case seven came to save Freeman on the turn or river, and he fell back down to 365,000. Branciforte, meanwhile, vaults up to 1.15 million.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 1:04 PM Local Time
Before the flop Brent Sheirbon raised to 37,000 from under the gun and Alexander Kostritsyn reraised to 100,000. Sheirbon made the call and when the flop came
Sheirbon immediately moved all in.
Kostritsyn looked at the dealer and to make sure he'd heard correctly asked, "Is he all in?" The dealer confirmed that fact and Alex announced that he called, showing
to Sheribon's
. The board ran out
and after taking some hits earlier in the day Kostritsyn doubled up.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 1:03 PM Local Time
From early position, Kellen Hunter made it 28,000 to go. Action folded to Steve Pestal in the big blind, who reraised all in for 170,000. Hunter made the call and both players opened their hands.
Hunter:
Pestal:
Pestal had Hunter dominated, but the rug was pulled out from under him when the flop came down
. Pestal needed an ace or a jack on the turn, and got it when the turn was the
. The river was a harmless
. Pestal doubled up to about 390,000; Hunter dropped to 630,000.
"Were you nervous after the queen hit?" another player asked Pestal.
"No, not at all," he jokingly replied.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 1:02 PM Local Time
Andrew Teng limped in from UTG, Jeff Madsen raised to 31,000 from the button and Teng called. The flop was
. Teng checked, Madsen bet 50,000 and Teng called. The turn was the
. Teng checked, Madsen bet 81,000 and Teng called again. The river was the
. Teng checked a third time, Madsen bet 145,000 and Teng called.
Madsen showed
for a bluff, while Teng raked in the pot with
for trip queens.
Teng is up to 1.1 million while Madsen slipped to 500,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 12:58 PM Local Time
Brandon Cantu raised to 42,000 from the button. As Cantu announced he was raising, Phil Hellmuth already was pulling back his small blind, essentially indicating his intention to call. He did call, the big blind folded, and Hellmuth said he was checking in the dark on the flop.
The flop came
. Cantu bet 40,000, and Hellmuth called. The turn was the
. Hellmuth checked, Cantu bet 100,000, and Hellmuth instacalled.
The river was the
. Hellmuth paused a beat, then tapped the table indicating his check. Cantu announced "All in," and Hellmuth called immediately, turning over
for the club flush. Cantu mucked.
"That's why I throw it away, boys!" crowed Hellmuth, referring to the recent hand in which he let go of
. "That's why!"
Hellmuth is now up to 718,000, while Cantu still has 1.7 million.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 12:57 PM Local Time
The main event run of Evan Jarvis has just come to end. Jarvis tangled up with Andrew Rosskamm in a hand that saw Jarvis's untimely elimination.
Jarvis got all his chips in before the flop holding
but ran into the
of Rosskamm.
The board helped neither player as it came
and Jarvis was eliminated. Rosskamm now commands a stack just shy of 2,000,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 12:57 PM Local Time
Cory Albertson took a big hit from Michael Carroll after their chips were committed on a board of
.
Albertson held
and had the
of Carroll dominated. That is, until the river fell the
to give Carroll the pot to move up to 975,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 12:55 PM Local Time
[u]Blue #31[/u]
"...I turned my hand over and the guy said, 'That wins.' Then he said, 'Oh wait!' A 650,000 chip pot. No way he should have done that."
"Back a few years ago, you were allowed to hit a guy for that. They'd just ban you for twenty minutes..."
[u]Green #5[/u]
[after counting down the table chip leader's stack]: "I just need to count something."
[u]Blue #11[/u]
"He's not gonna root that hard against himself..."
[u]Blue #35[/u]
Jeremiah Smith approached Mark Vos' table and was stopped by a security guard, who asked to see Smith's media badge.
Vos: "This gentleman's name is Jeremiah Smith. He came into today as one of the chip leaders."
Saturday, July 12, 2008 12:54 PM Local Time
All the money went in preflop and Hornet's
dominated Ferrera's
. Hornet turned a king after three blanks on the flop and Stephane doubled to 580,000. Ferrera is down to 385,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 12:52 PM Local Time
Before the flop Mao Qiu raised to 35,000 from late position and Nicholas Sliwinski called in the small blind. James McManus raised to 110,000 from the big blind and both Qiu and Sliwinski called. The flop came
and after Sliwinski checked McManus bet 170,000. Qiu then came over the top for 750,000 and after Sliwinski stepped aside McManus made the call.
He held
to Qiu's
and after the
came on the turn Mao was looking for a jack to save his tournament life. Instead the
fell on the river and Qiu was eliminated from the Main Event. McManus now sits with a 2.7 million stack.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 12:52 PM Local Time
On a board of
, Phil Hellmuth was involved in a three-way pot with Felix Osterland and Barry Leventhal. Hellmuth checked from middle position and Leventhal moved all in for 399,000.
Leventhal said, "If I lose, I'm gonna go to the buffet."
There was some additional chit-chat but Osterland eventually folded and the action was on Phil Hellmuth.
"I know you got something," said Hellmuth.
"I got a bluff," replied Leventhal.
After some additonal back-and-forth between the two men, Hellmuth eventually folded
face up.
"Wow! How can you fold that?" asked David Saab from a nearby table.
The table encouraged Leventhal to show but he eventually mucked face down.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 12:51 PM Local Time
On a flop of
, Cornel Pazara led out from the big blind, Mark Vos raised, Pazara moved all in and Vos made the call.
Pazara
Vos
After ESPN's cameras swarmed to get in place, the
immediately fell on the turn, making Vos's flush. The river was the
and Pazara was eliminated.
"Nice hand. Good luck to the rest of you guys," said Pazara as he shook his tablemates' hands and made a gracious exit.
Pazara's orange and yellow towers were shipped across the table to Vos, whose chip castle is growing by the minute. He's now up to 1,825,000.