Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:29 PM Local Time
Dan Buzgon opened with a standard raise before Aditya Agarwal came over the top for about 200,000. Buzgon moved all in and Agarwal made the call of an additional 250,000.
Agarwal:
Buzgon:
The board bricked out
and Buzgon finds a handy double up to about 900,000 leaving Agarwal on the short stack.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:29 PM Local Time
Steve Pestal moved all in from the big blind after Larry Wright raised on the button and learned that Wright's
had his
dominated. Pestal was in even worse shape after the
flop but after the
fell on the turn he could at least hope for a jack and a chop. Alas, the river brought the
and Pestal was eliminated. Wright is now up to 1.66 million
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:29 PM Local Time
This must be a very frustrating day for Alexander Kostritsyn. Although he hasn't been eliminated, his stack has been all over the place. His latest battle was against Reagan Silber. When we got to the tale, Kostritsyn had checked a flop of
. Silber bet 50,000 before Kostritsyn check-raised to 175,000. Silber made the call.
The turn came
, bringing a bet of 200,000 from Kostritsyn. Again Silber called.
On the river
, Kostritsyn fired out for 333,000. Silber called a third time, then mucked when Kostritsyn showed him
for the nut flush. That win pumped Kostritsyn back up to 1.75 million.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:25 PM Local Time
There's not a lot to report for Mike Matusow fans today I'm afraid. After doubling up early in the day with A-Q vs 9-9, Mike has played very tightly and avoided most big confrontations.
In fact, Mike just gave himself, and the audience, a wake-up when out of nowhere he randomly yelled, "I'm sick of just sitting around like an idiot!! Watch out I'm coming right NOW!" much to the amusement of the crowd at the ESPN feature table.
Mike is currently still sitting with around 700,000 in chips.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:25 PM Local Time
Adam York was all in preflop for his remaining 289,000 with
against Mark Vos'
. York's hand could not improve when the board came down
and he hit the rail in 114th place.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:23 PM Local Time
With the board reading
on the turn, Geoffrey Herzog bet 200,000 from the small blind and Justin Sadauskas called from the big blind. The river was the
. Herzog checked, Sadauskas bet 150,000 and Herzog called.
Sadauskas turned over
and Herzog mucked. He's now up to 2,000,000 while Herzog is down to 1,275,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:22 PM Local Time
Kellen Hunter raised in middle position and was called by Robert Caiaffa in the small blind, and Larry Wright in the big blind. They saw a three-way flop of
. Caiaffa led out at the pot with a bet of 125,000. He was called by Wright before Hunter moved all in for a total of 459,000. Caiaffa made the call; Wright folded.
Caiaffa:
Hunter:
It was Hunter's overpair versus Caiaffa's naked flush draw. Caiaffa won the battle when the turn immediately came
to make his flush and give him an unbeatable hand. The board paired on the river with the
.
Hunter was eliminated on the hand. Caiaffa fell to his knees when he made the flush, shouted "Yes!" then stood back up and dragged in his chips.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:21 PM Local Time
Owen Crowe and Cristian Dragomir took a flop of
. Crowe checked to Dragomir who bet out 85,000. Crowe made the call. The turn was the
and both players checked. The river was the
and Crowe fired out 150,000 which Dragomir called.
Crowe tabled
for top pair which was good to take down the pot and move to up over 1.5 million chips.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:19 PM Local Time
This year's WSOP Main Event drew a total of 6,844 entrants creating a total prize pool of $64,333,600. It's worth noting that $32,633,446 (just over 50 percent) of that prize money will be awarded to those who make the final table.
This "top heavy" distribution is in stark contrast to last year's main event in which just under 37 percent ($22,019,901 of the $59,784,954) was earmarked for the top nine finishers.
Jerry Yang took home 13.8 percent of the total prize money last year while this year's champion can look forward to bagging 14.2 percent of the total prize pool.
To walk away with $100,000 or more in 2007, you had to finish in 81st place, essentially outlasting 98.7 percent of the field, whereas this year you'd need to outlast over 99 percent of the field and place 63rd or better to score that same hundred grand.
Here is a quick snapshot of the last two years.
[u]2008 Main Event[/u]
Champion - $9,119,517
Runner Up - $5,790,024
3rd Place - $4,503,352
4th Place - $3,763,515
5th Place - $3,088,012
6th Place - $2,412,510
7th Place - $1,769,174
8th Place - $1,286,672
9th Place - $900,670
[u]2007 Main Event[/u]
Champion - $8,250,000 - Jerry Yang
Runner Up - $4,840,981 - Tuan Lam
3rd Place - $3,048,025 - Raymond Rahme
4th Place - $1,852,721 - Alex Kravchenko
5th Place - $1,255,069 - Jon Kalmar
6th Place - $956,243 - Hevad "Rain" Khan
7th Place - $705,229 - Lee Childs
8th Place - $585,699 - Lee Watkinson
9th Place - $525,934 - Philip Hilm
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:18 PM Local Time
Lonnie Heimowitz has found a double-up despite being dominated when all the money went in preflop. Heimowitz held
up against the
of Alex Outhred.
However the board fell
to give Heimowitz the only pair to double to 585,000. Outhred is back to 1.75 million in chips.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:14 PM Local Time
Mark Wilds was all in with
, up against Tri Nguyen's
.
The flop came
and Nguyen was ahead. The turn was a
, and Wilds was in trouble. But the
spiked on the river, and Wilds is still alive with 500,000 chips.
"Ahh . . . fifty-fifty," said Nguyen afterwards (although some may want to debate whether it was ever 50-50 on this one). "You win some and you lose some. And I lost." Nguyen tumbles to 300,000.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:09 PM Local Time
Another player moves all in, and another player is eliminated. After Tim Taylor opened the pot with a raise to 55,000, Matthew Jensen moved all in from late position. Taylor was the only caller.
Taylor:
Jensen:
Taylor needed at least a king, but he didn't get it. A board of
sent him to the payout table to start the paperwork necessary for collecting his prize money.
Taylor now has 1.25 million in chips.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:05 PM Local Time
Nikolay Losev raised to 60,000 from middle position, and Will Brewin pushed all in for 275,000 behind him. It folded back around and Losev made the call.
Losev showed
, and Brewin
.
The flop brought Losev his better pair --
-- and Brewin needed help. But the
turn and
river meant his day was done.
Losev now has 2.3 million.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 5:04 PM Local Time
Allen Cunningham moved all in preflop from the hijack position for 255,000 and Tim Loecke made the call in the small blind.
Cunningham:
Loecke:
The board ran out
to end another deep Main Event run for Allen Cunningham in 117th place for $41,816 in prize money.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 4:57 PM Local Time
Play resumes. This will be the final level before dinner break.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 4:32 PM Local Time
Jeff Kimber got it all in with
but couldn't fade Jamal Kunbuz's
when he made a set on the
flop. The turn was the
, the river was the
and the young Brit hit the rail.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 4:31 PM Local Time
Play will resume in 20 minutes.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 4:31 PM Local Time
Andrew Rosskamm opened for a raise from early position and Nikolay Losev called from late position. Aaron Gordon called from the small blind and Jens Klaning pushed all in from the big blind for about 285,000.
Rosskamm folded and Losev reraised for roughly 250,000 more. Gordon pushed all in for about 650,000 and Losev went into the tank. He thought for over six minutes before finally calling and the players showed:
Klaning:
Losev:
Gordan:
The board ran out
and Gordon's ace king high was good. He doubled up to about 1,700,000 through Losev and eliminated Jens Klaning.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 4:30 PM Local Time
Had a fairly big hand just before the end of the level involving David Saab (button), Suresh Prabhu (small blind), and Jeremy Joseph (big blind).
There was 120,000 in the middle when the flop came
. The blinds checked, and Saab bet 80,000. Prabhu called, then Joseph reraised to 300,000. Both Saab and Prabhu called.
The turn was the
. Prabhu checked, Joseph pushed all in for about 1.26 million, and Saab and Prabhu both folded.
Joseph has 2.3 million, Saab has 2 million, and Prabhu 1.58 million.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 4:29 PM Local Time
Just before the end of the level, Niklas Flisberg and Anthony Scherer got it all in on a flop of
. Scherer, who started the hand in the big blind, held
. Flisberg turned over
for top pair. The board ran out
. Scherer, the player at risk of elimination, managed to double up to just over two million in chips when his rockets held up. Flisberg is down to 1,220,000.