Tuesday, June 1, 2010 6:28 PM Local Time
Mike Matusow, on break from a different event, wandered into the feature table area of Event 4. He said a few words to Fred Koubi and then stood behind Jeff Madsen.
"I'm trying to see how many chips you have," said Matusow.
"I don't have many," Madsen replied.
"That's you're style," said Matusow. "You'll be alright."
"Here, sweat this one hand." Madsen peeked at his cards with Matusow peering in. Action folded to small blind Scott Epstein, who raised. Madsen called.
Epstein check-called a bet on a flop of , then led the turn. Madsen called that bet and was facing another on the river. He sighed.
"Should I have just folded pre?" he asked. He debated for about a minute before folding his hand.
"I would have called," said Matusow.
"I had three aces," Madsen explained to the table. "But when he bet the turn I thought one pair might not be good."
Madsen is down to about 95,000 in chips.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 6:18 PM Local Time
Michael Chow ran a clinic on how to make a profitable bluff in a big hand against Stephen Su. The trick? Get there. Chow raised preflop, and Su called from the big blind. The flop came , and Su bet out. Chow raised him, and Su called. The turn was teh , and when Su checked, Chow bet. Su called, and check-called another bet after the on the river. Though he had a monster by then, Chow seemed almost disappointed with a call since he'd have to show down. "I was trying to make a play," he told Su. "I got really lucky." Chow tabled for a runner-runner wheel to scoop the pot. Su just looked at his in disbelief. After the big hand, Su dropped to 100,000 while Chow was up over 300,000.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 6:12 PM Local Time
Hamid Salari got short quickly in the last level and then evaporated from the feature table. They're down to twelve now, with an even six on each table.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 5:59 PM Local Time
Chris Viox didn't have many options left with just 60,000 chips. He survived one all-in against Madsen by rivering a same-two-pair chop after Madsen turned a small two pair. A short time later Viox was all in again. His chips didn't come back out of the pot. He's eliminated in 14th place, leaving with $11,316 in prize money.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 5:55 PM Local Time
We picked up a hand at former WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Madsen's table on the turn. With the board showing , Madsen led into his lone opponent, Michael Chow. Chow called the river, a . Madsen fired again, but this time Chow raised.
Madsen shook his head and audibly sighed. He couldn't bring himself not to pay off Chow. Chow called "wheel," as he tabled for the five-high straight.
Mucking his hand left Madsen with about 130,000 chips. That's not many at our current limits.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 5:40 PM Local Time
Bobby Ferdinand just wouldn't die. But even the most stubborn of fighters can only last so long with one big blind. He was all in for 18,000, and Todd Barlow called from the small blind. Big blind/big stack Sasha Rosewood raised, and Barlow called to see the flop. Barlow check-folded to a bet from Rosewood, sending the hand to showdown. It was not looking good for Bobby's against Rosewood's , but with a on the turn and on the river, Ferdinand managed a runner-runner straight to chop the pot and stay alive.
"Good luck to everybody if I depart," he told the table. "I'm not a very good loser. I'll say it now before I get up and walk away." Next hand he folded, and the one after that, he was in the big blind with 12,000 chips behind. Action folded to Mike Cipolla in the small blind, who limped and let Ferdinand keep his chips until after the flop. Then he bet, and Bobby called all in. It was Bobby's against Cipolla's . The turn brought the , and Ferdinand groaned. The river was the , giving Cipolla a flush for the high half. Yet again, Ferdinand's better low allowed him to chop and stay alive.
Just as he was chopping the last one, Andreas Krause was eliminated in 16th place. "Look! I made a pay jump!" he told his fiance on the rail. The next hand, the Bus was in the small blind and stuck in his last chips when it folded to him. In the big blind, Ylon Schwartz called the extra 12,000, and it was time to show. Ferdinand needed his to best Ylon's to stay alive. The board ran out , and though Ferdinand got the low cards he was yelling for, they weren't quite the right ones. Schwartz scooped the pot with kings and sixes and finally busted Ferdinand in 15th place. Though the Bus warned he was a poor loser, he shook hands with several people at the table and left cheerfully.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 5:33 PM Local Time
Andreas Krause was the shortest of the short stacks, hanging on with not even a full big bet. Those chips eventually wound up in Jeff Madsen's stack, as a floor supervisor walked Krause off to the payouts table.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 5:31 PM Local Time
Things are looking grim for Robert "Bobby the Bus" Ferdinand after a big pot on the secondary feature table against Todd Barlow. Each player invested roughly 100,000 chips, with Ferdinand facing a final bet on the river of a board that read .
"You've gotten very lucky on me today, sir," said Ferdinand as he pondered a cal. Finally: "You're going to have to show me." He called the last bet, then angrily mucked when Barlow showed for a full house. Ferdinand is down to 20,000 chips.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 5:26 PM Local Time
At the river of a board, Sasha Rosewood and Ylon Schwartz. Schwartz called, "Aces," as he tabled . Rosewood had the other two aces, but he also had a to go along with them, making ace-five for low to get three-quarters of the pot.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 5:21 PM Local Time
Joe Leibman tossed some chips out preflop and thought he was trying to raise, but he didn't say anything or bet enough, so it was ruled a call. In the small blind, Bobby "the Bus" Ferdinand called, and big blind Ylon Schwartz said, "Run it."
Flop: - Bobby and Ylon checked, and then both called when Leibman bet.
Turn: - Two more checks from Ferdinand and Schwartz brought another bet from Leibman. Ferdinand called, and Schwartz thought more a moment before doing the same.
River: - This time, the Bus bet out. Not what Ylon was expecting. He sat up in his chair and studied the board. Then he got out of his chair for a stretch, sat back down, and pondered some more. Eventually he folded, and Leibman called.
"Ace-king," Ferdinand said. "You got a low?" Leibman asked? "Just put them on the table and we'll see," the dealer said, trying to get the show on the road already. Ferdinand tabled for top two pair and an low. Leibman held . His low was good for half the pot. "Nice king," he lamented to Ferdinand as they chopped Ylon's money.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 5:10 PM Local Time
Fred Koubi has been playing lots of pots on the secondary table, and it's been a mixed bag. In one three-way pot, he bet the flop and also the turn. Each time Ylon Schwartz checked and then called. When the river fell , Schwartz checked a third time.
"I can't bet," said Koubi. "If you don't have it, you can't call. If you do have it you might check it." Koubi checked behind and tabled a set of queens, . It turned out that Schwartz did indeed "have it"; he turned up a Broadway straight, .
A few hands later, Koubi was one of four players in for one small bet. Three continued for another small bet on a , and all checked the turn. At the river , action checked to last-to-act Dan Heimiller, who threw out a bet. Koubi was the only player to call.
Heimiller showed one card, the , and then paused. Then he mucked the rest of his hand. Koubi tabled a flush, , to claim the pot.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 5:02 PM Local Time
Mike Puskarich raised on the button, and Jeff Madsen called from the small blind. The flop fell , and Madsen bet out. Puskarich raised, and Madsen three-bet for most of his stack. He didn't have to worry, however, Puskarich folded, leaving himself about 45,000.
The next hand, Puskarich got all of those chips in preflop against his nemesis. It was Puskarich's against Madsen's . The flop brought the cases aces, , and gave Madsen a low draw. The on the turn was a perfect card for him and a deadly one for Puskarich. The river was a blank, and Madsen scooped the pot with a low and aces full of fives. Puskarich hung on all the way to 17th place since being short-stacked yesterday afternoon, but his ride ends here. Madsen's is just starting. He's over the 200k mark now.
After Puskarich was eliminated, Chris Viox was moved to the feature table to balance each one at eight players.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 4:45 PM Local Time
Fred Koubi had just lost both halves of a big three-way pot when Dan Heimiller and Sasha Rosewood chopped up Koubi's double-suited aces, .
"You missed a bet," said Heimiller.
"What do you mean I missed a bet?" replied Koubi. "I'm not getting a penny out of this pot."
Heimiller looked back at the board. He amended his previous statement. "I guess we missed a bet."
Mike Matusow happened to wander by the table at that exact moment for a few words with Ylon Schwartz and Koubi
"I just got f***ed in the ass," Matusow said as he strolled by. "But that's negativity. Think positive."
"Some people like getting f***ed in the ass," said Chris Viox. But Koubi didn't look please by the hand at all.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 4:36 PM Local Time
Ylon Schwartz and Fred Koubi saw a flop out of the blinds. Schwartz bet, and Koubi called. They switched it up after the on the turn, when Schwartz checked, then called when Koubi bet. Both players checked the turn, and Ylon tabled for queens and jacks. Koubi looked sadly at his kings and mucked.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 4:06 PM Local Time
After a breakneck first two levels that saw the eliminations of nine players, including David Bach, Shawn Buchanan, and Huck Seed, the remaining 17 have 20-minutes to take a breather.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 4:02 PM Local Time
Huck Seed doubled through Jeff Madsen when they were both seated together at their first table of the day. Stuck with each other again after the redraw, they continued to challenge each other in big pots. The last one spelled doom for Huck Seed, who was ousted by Madsen in 18th place. He can now mosey on over to the 2-7 Triple Draw event that is just starting.
After snatching Huck's chips, Madsen is up to 125,000.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 3:57 PM Local Time
Scott Eptsein raised preflop, and only small bind Michael Chow went with him to a flop. It came out , and Chow fired a bet. Epstein flat called to see the on the turn. Chow bet again, and this time, Epstein raised. Chow moved all in for his last 23,000. Epstein called the extra 3,000, and they were on their backs.
Showdown
Epstein:
Chow:
Chow was in the lead with aces and jacks, but Epstein had a low draw for half the pot. The floated out on the river, bricking for Epstein. Chow doubled to 116,000, leaving Epstein with 150,000.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 3:48 PM Local Time
Feature Table
Seat 1 - Scott Epstein
Seat 2 - Huck Seed
Seat 3 - Mike Puskarich
Seat 4 - Jeff Madsen
Seat 5 - Stephen Su
Seat 6 - Andreas Krause
Seat 7 - Michael Chow
Seat 8 - James McWhorter
Seat 9 - Hamid Salari
Table 365
Seat 1 - Robert "Bobby the Bus" Ferdinand
Seat 2 - Ylon Schwartz
Seat 3 - Fred Koubi
Seat 4 - Joe Leibman
Seat 5 - Chris Viox
Seat 6 - Dan Heimiller
Seat 7 - Todd Barlow
Seat 8 - Sasha Rosewood
Seat 9 - Mike Cipolla
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 3:40 PM Local Time
Chris Viox raised from the small bind, and Dan Heimiller three-bet from the big blind. Viox called, and the flop fell . Chris check-called a bet from Heimiller. Repeat the check-call after the on the turn and the on the river. Then Heimiller tabled for the nut low and aces to scoop the pot. He is up to 350,000 while Viox slipped to 70,000.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 3:27 PM Local Time
Just as Brian Lives was leaving in 20th place, Ward Crane was all in with against Hamid Salari's . The board fell , and Salari's rivered ten-high straight was enough to relegate Crane to a 19th-place finish.
With 40 minutes left in the level, they are now pausing to redraw to two tables.