Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:09 PM Local Time
Trevor Pope of Florida has a couple of cashes at the World Series of Poker already this summer, his best finish thus far coming in Event No. 8, a $1,000 no-limit hold'em event in which he finished 89th for $4,866. Pope also one other PLO final table to his credit as well, having finished fifth in a PLO event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure earlier this year.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:08 PM Local Time
The final nine are back in their seats and the player introductions have been delivered. The first hand of Event No. 28's final table is now being dealt.
As play gets underway, let us present our own introductions of our remaining players.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:47 PM Local Time
Players are now on a 20 minute break. When we return we will have the official final table.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:45 PM Local Time
Preflop action built a pot of about 140,000 between Joerg Engels and Dilyan Kovachev. The flop came and Engels bet 95,000. Kovachev wanted to reraised all in but because of the size of the pot he wasn't able to; however, he did raise the pot, leaving himself 40,000 behind.
Engels rereaised enough to put Kovachev all in and of course he called.
Kovachev:
Engels:
Kovachev was in the lead, but Engels had an open-ended straight draw. The hit on the turn and changed nothing.
When the came on the river it gave Engels a set and the best hand. Kovachev was eliminated from the tournament in 10th place for which he will take home $19,588.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:27 PM Local Time
Now that players have been moved to the feature table, a crowd has gathered to watch the action. Among them is none other than Annette Obrestad, although who she is supporting isn't exactly clear.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:25 PM Local Time
Action folded to Trevor Pope who raised to 40,000 on the button. Joerg Engels called from the big blind and then checked the flop.
Pope bet 60,000 and Engel made the call. Once again, Engel checked when the came on the turn. Pope moved all in for his remaining 145,000. Engels decided to fold, which prompted a large cheer from Pope's supporters.
Tommy Le responded by saying, "That kind of makes me want to bust you." Pope simply laughed.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:10 PM Local Time
Dilyan Kovachev raised to 35,000 from middle position and L.J. Klein called. Everyone else got out of the way and the two saw a flop of .
Kovachev tossed out a bet of 50,000 and Klein made the call. When the hit the turn, Kovachev bet 120,000 only to have Klein raise all in for 490,000. Kovachev, who was clearly surprised, stood up and began to contemplate what Klein could have.
Eventually Kovachev slammed his cards down and folded. Klein is up to 685,000 after the hand while Kovachev dropped to 345,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:07 PM Local Time
Patrick Hanoteau raised to 25,000 in middle position and was called by Joerg Engels. Tommy Le then moved all in for a total of 42,000 and both players called.
The flop came and both Hanoteau and Engels checked. They then checked down both the on the turn and on the river.
Le turned over for flopped quads! He tripled up on the hand, but is still short with around 140,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:02 PM Local Time
With only ten remaining, the players have combined to one table and received new seating assignments.
Seat 1: Patrick Hanoteau
Seat 2: Joerg Engels
Seat 3: Dilyan Kovachev
Seat 4: Miguel Proulx
Seat 5: L.J. Klein
Seat 6: Michael Greco
Seat 7: Tommy Le
Seat 8: Karl Gal
Seat 9: Stephane Tayar
Seat 10: Trevor Pope
Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:48 PM Local Time
Joe Serock minimum-raised to 24,000 from under the gun, Miguel Proulx called behind him, and both blinds -- Dilyan Kovachev (small) and Stephane Tayar (big) -- called as well.
The flop came . It checked to Serock who bet 96,000, leaving himself 77,000 behind. Proulx folded quickly, then Kovachev tanked for nearly five minutes before the clock was called. Time running out, Kovachev made his decision.
"All or nothing, I raise," he said. "Good luck to you." Serock called with his remaining chips, showing for the flopped straight. Kovachev turned over for a flush draw and two pair.
The turn was the and Serock's hand was still best. But the river brought the , giving Kovachev the hand and eliminating Serock.
A pause now as we redraw for seats around the not-quite-final ten-handed table, then move over to one of the feature tables across the Amazon ballroom.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:37 PM Local Time
Patrick Hanoteau opened for 30,000 from the button, and Trevor Pope reraised to 102,000 from the small blind, leaving himself just 37,000 behind. The big blind folded, and Hanoteau called.
Pope
Hanoteau
Hanoteau was looking for low cards with which to bust Pope's aces, but the board didn't cooperate with the Frenchman's plans, coming . Pope doubles to 300,000, while Hanoteau still has 1.05 million.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:32 PM Local Time
We have a couple of short stacks on Table 262 -- Tommy Le and Stephane Tayar -- doing what they can to try to survive to the final table.
Tayar just made through another all in -- another chopped pot -- versus Joerg Engels. Meanwhile, Le had to fold his big blind to a button raise by chip leader Migeul Proulx.
Tayar has just 124,000, while Le has just 74,000. Michael Greco is nursing his short stack of 110,000 over at Table 267 as well.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:26 PM Local Time
Joerg Engels raised to 30,000 from the hijack seat, Tommy Le called from the cutoff, and the others folded. The flop came . Engels checked, Le bet 36,000, and Engels called. Both then checked the turn.
The river was the . This time Engels led for 50,000, and Le folded. Engels has 450,000, while Le slips to 120,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:19 PM Local Time
Patrick Hanoteau raised to 30,000 from the cutoff, then Matthew Reed reraised to 108,000 from the button, leaving himself 136,000 behind. The blinds folded, Hanoteau reraised all in, and Reed called with his remaining chips.
Hanoteau
Reed
The board came , and Hanoteau's kings up were best. Reed is out in 12th, while Hanoteau is now up to 1.2 million.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:16 PM Local Time
Trevor Pope made a raise to 26,000 from UTG, and it folded back to the blinds, both of whom called -- Patrick Hanoteau in the small, and Matthew Reed in the big.
The flop came . It checked to Pope who bet 42,000, Hanoteau called, and Reed stepped aside. Both remaining players checked the turn. The river then brought the . Hanoteau checked, and Pope hesitated before checking as well.
Hanoteau showed and Pope mucked. Hanoteau now has 930,000 -- taking over the lead for the moment -- while Pope has 192,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:10 PM Local Time
Stephane Tayar opened by raising pot from under the gun, then Miguel Proulx reraised pot from the button. The blinds folded, and Tayar called with his remaining chips.
Proulx
Tayar
No flushes on this one, as the board went . Tayar survives but remains short with 111,000. Proulx leads everyone with 888,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:07 PM Local Time
We're starting in the back of the Blue section in the Amazon Room this afternoon with a couple of six-handed tables. Once we lose two players, there will be a brief break while we move the remaining 10 players over to one of the feature tables at the opposite corner.
Patrick Hanoteau has arrived and taken his seat. Here's how our final 12 are seated for the first hands of Day 3:
Table 262
Seat 1 -- Miguel Proulx (877,000)
Seat 2 -- Joerg Engels (405,000)
Seat 3 -- Tommy Le (213,000)
Seat 4 -- Dilyan Kovachev (339,000)
Seat 5 -- Stephane Tayar (102,000)
Seat 6 -- Joe Serock (185,000)
Table 267
Seat 1 -- Trevor Pope (261,000)
Seat 2 -- Karl Gal (458,000)
Seat 3 -- Michael Greco (100,000)
Seat 4 -- L.J. Klein (470,000)
Seat 5 -- Patrick Hanoteau (824,000)
Seat 6 -- Matthew Reed (253,000)
Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:02 PM Local Time
We're underway. It looks like everyone but Patrick Hanoteau is here and seated as the first hands of Day 3 are being dealt.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 11:18 AM Local Time
First there were 596. Then 102. And now just 12. Two days of action-fueled poker has brought us to the third and final day of Event No. 28, the $2,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event, by the end of which we'll see our next WSOP bracelet winner.
Miguel Proulx of Canada will enjoy a slight lead over France's Patrick Hanoteau when play recommences today. With stacks over 800,000, those two have created some distance between themselves and the remaining ten. However, as we saw yesterday -- when chip leaders became eliminations within just a hand or two -- much can change quickly in pot-limit Omaha, or, as Bob Ciaffone once dubbed it, "the action game."
No matter who survives the first three eliminations today to make the final nine, our final table appears destined to have an international feel, as six countries are represented by our final dozen players. In addition to Canada and France, we'll see players from Germany, England, Bulgaria, and the U.S. coming back today to fight for the Event No. 28 bracelet. Kind of a World Cup of PLO, one could say.
Join us at 3 p.m. local time when the action begins again.