Saturday, July 12, 2008 6:10 PM Local Time
For the last six weeks, the Amazon Room has been the center of the poker universe. Thousands of poker players (and staff, and media, and spectators) filled this cavernous space nearly to the rafters. At times, there were six tournaments going on at the same time, with a long line of players waiting to get into the cash games as well.
Five days deep into the biggest event in poker, the Amazon Room is returning to nature, so to speak. As the field was whittled down on Day Three and housed under one roof, the tables were broken so that they condensed around the Milwaukee's Best Light stage, and that meant that the most of the Orange and Blue sections would no longer be needed. So, as the tables were broken in the tournament they were literally broken as well--the leather rails removed, the legs folded up, and the tables stacked like cordwood.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 6:07 PM Local Time
Vito Branciforte and Paul Snead got it all in on a flop of
, Snead having Branciforte covered. Snead turned up
for two pair and needed some help against Branciforte's set of fives. The turn was the
and Snead picked up a flush draw and the
on the river filled it. Snead's stack shot up to 1,120,000 while Branciforte was left with only 225,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 6:06 PM Local Time
Judet Toni Cristian held
on a flop of
. He got it all in the middle with Andrew Brokos, who was the player at risk of elimination. Brokos had the upper hand, showing
. The board ran out
to preserve the win for Brokos. He doubled up to about 1.1 million, dropping Cristian to 1.625 million in the process.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 6:03 PM Local Time
Kara Scott opened with a raise to 60,000 from middle position and Phi Nguyen made the call in the big blind.
They saw a flop of
where Nguyen checked over to Scott who made a continuation bet of 100,000. Nugyen then check-raised to 280,000. Scott thought for a few moments before moving all in for an additional 167,000. Nguyen made the call.
Nguyen:
Scott:
Needing some help to survive, Scott watched as the
fell on the turn and the
on the river to end her run in 104th place for $41,816.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 6:03 PM Local Time
Mark Vos had just been moved to a new table, and on his first hand let his chips handle the introductions when he raised to 55,000 from under the gun. Stephane Hornet promptly reraised all in to 395,000 behind Vos. Three different players tanked deciding whether or not to get involved, but all folded. Vos then made the call.
Vos:
Hornet:
A queen flopped, and Hornet couldn't catch up. He's out and Vos' new tablemates will now have to deal with his stack of 2.6 million.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 6:02 PM Local Time
Crippled to only 75,000 on a previous hand, Shawn Sheikhan made his stand with
and ran into Jamal Kunbuz's
. No help for Sheiky on the
board and he hit the rail in 105th place.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 6:01 PM Local Time
A short-stacked Nathan Hays made his last stand holding
. Hays was all in before the flop and up against Nhan Le and his
.
The board ran out
and Le's king high was best. Hays hit the rail and Le chipped up to just under 1,000,000 chips.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:55 PM Local Time
With the board reading
on the turn, Nghia Le moved all in and Aaron Gordon made the call.
Le:
Gordon:
Le held middle pair and a flush draw, but Gordon had turned top pair. The river was the
and Le was eliminated in 108th place, while Gordon's stack grew to 2,900,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:55 PM Local Time
Shawn Sheikhan raised from late position, and was reraised by Jamal Kunbuz from the button. It folded back around to Sheikhan who shoved his entire stack -- around 1.5 million -- and Kunbuz snap-called.
Sheikhan:
Kunbuz:
The board ran out
, and Kunbuz catapults to 3.2 million. Sheikhan is now all of sudden way down to just 75,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:53 PM Local Time
Alexander Kostritsyn and Reagan Silber were at it again. When we caught up to them, the board showed
. Silber checked to Kostritsyn, who bet 75,000, then check-raised all in for a shade over 600,000. Kostritsyn thought it over, then said, "I call."
Kostritsyn:
Silber:
It was Silber's Broadway straight against Kostritsyn's set of aces. Kostritsyn needed a board pair to send Silber to the rail, but he didn't get it when the river fell
.
Kostritsyn had previously chipped up, but that pot knocked him back to about 1.7 million. Silber is up to 1.3 million.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:51 PM Local Time
Before the flop, Greg Debora raised to 70,000 on the button and Peter Eastgate reraised to 200,000 from the small blind. Debora moved in for his last 430,000 and Eastgate made the call. His
were pitted against Debora's
, but Greg couldn't find an ace on the
board and he was eliminated. Eastgate is now up to 2.2 million.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:45 PM Local Time
With the action folded around to Reggie Lyons in the small blind, he moved all in for his last 310,000. Suresh Prabhu made the call, and Lyons had to have been disappointed to see that he didn't even have two live cards, as his
were dominated by Prabhu's
. And when Suresh made a pair on the
flop, it was all over but the shouting. Well, there wasn't any shouting, just the
on the turn and
on the river, and Lyons' Main Event came to an end. Prabhu is now up to 2.38 million.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:44 PM Local Time
On a flop of
, Nhan Le checked, Dwayne Stacey bet 100,000, Le moved all in and Stacey called.
Le:
Stacey:
The turn was the
, the river was the
and Stacey hit his flush to double up.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:42 PM Local Time
With the board showing
and about 260,000 in the pot, Alexander Kostritsyn check-called a bet of 150,000 from Garrett Beckman.
The turn fell the
and both men checked. The
hit the river and Kostritsyn check-called again, this time for 300,000. As soon as Kostritsyn tossed out the call, Beckman immediately mucked. Kostritsyn mucked behind and stacked the over 1,000,000 chip pot without a showdown.
Kostritsyn climbed to about 2,190,000 chips on the hand while Beckman was left with just 406,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:38 PM Local Time
Thomas Keller opened the action with a raise to 60,000 from middle position. Tim Loecke made the call in the cutoff as did Alex Outhred in the big blind.
The three players took a flop of
where all players checked. The turn was the
and Outhred led out with a bet of 140,000. Keller folded and Loecke made the call.
They went to the river where the
landed. Outhred fired out 350,000 and Loecke called once again. Loecke tabled
which was good to take the pot as Outhred mucked.
After the hand Loecke is up to 1.2 million with Outhred back down to 1.1 million.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:35 PM Local Time
Cort Kibler-Melby just got a much needed double up when his
held off the
of Scott Montgomery.
The chips went in before the flop and when the board finished
, Kibler-Melby's ace-high was best. He doubled to just under 375,000. Montgomery is still well above average with about 2,600,000 chips.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:35 PM Local Time
It folded around to Mark Vos who raised to 55,000 from the button, and Clint Schafer called from the small blind.
The flop came
. Schafer bet 55,000, and Vos raised it to 230,000. Schafer then re-popped it to 600,000. Vos got the message Schafer was sending, and let it go.
Vos still has 1.76 million. Schafer moves up to 1.24 million.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:33 PM Local Time
Scott Montgomery opened for 39,000 from UTG. The action was folded around to Nghia Le in the big blind, who moved all in for 200,000. Montgomery made the call.
Le:
Montgomery:
The board ran out
and Le doubled up to 440,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:31 PM Local Time
Action folded around to Brandon Cantu in the cutoff seat and he raised to 60,000. Robert Ford pushed all in from the big blind for 255,000 and Cantu called. The players showed:
Ford:
Cantu:
The board ran out
giving Cantu the win. Ford's fives were no good and he hit the rail. Cantu now commands a stack of about 2,850,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:31 PM Local Time
A short-stacked Jeff Madsen pushed all in and Victor Ramdin called him. Madsen turned over
, and Ramdin showed
.
The board ran out
, and Madsen is out.
"Rich gettin' richer," said someone from across the table. "Rich got poor, then rich again," answered Ramdin. He has had a bit of an up and down day, but is now edging back close to two million again.