Thursday, June 17, 2010 6:06 PM Local Time
Joerg Engels opened for 65,000 from the button, and L.J. Klein called from the big blind. Both checked the flop. The turn brought the and a bet of 100,000 from Klein. Engel called.
The river was the . Klein bet 150,000 this time. Engels fiddled with his chips for about a half-minute, then let it go. Klein is up to 735,000, while Engels has slipped back to the middle of the pack with 650,000.
After sitting on the short stack for much of the early part of the day, Tommy Le is our current chip leader with just under 800,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 5:54 PM Local Time
Patrick Hanoteau began the day as one of our chip leaders, and in fact moved in front at one point early on. But a series of losing hands saw the Frenchman's stack slip to ninth position, and just now he was forced to commit the last of his chips.
The hand began with Hanoteau raising to 70,000 from middle position, Karl Gal reraising behind him, and Hanoteau calling with his remaining 40,000 or so. Hanoteau had and Gal .
The flop came , giving Hanoteau the flush draw. The turn was the , adding a Broadway wrap for Hanoteau. But the river was the , and Hanoteau is out.
Gal now has 561,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 5:45 PM Local Time
Karl Gal raised to 44,000 from middle position, Patrick Hanoteau reraised to 150,000, and it folded back to Gal. Gal reraised all in, and Hanoteau called.
Gal showed and Hanoteau . The flop came , giving Gal a big wrap draw. The turn was the , adding flush possibilties for Gal.
The river then brought the , giving Gal the flush and the pot. He's up to 456,000, and now Hanoteau is the table's short stack with 115,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 5:34 PM Local Time
Patrick Hanoteau raised to 45,000 and was reraised by Michael Greco to 160,000. Hanoteau made the call and the two saw a flop of .
Hanoteau bet enough to put Greco all in, which was 76,000. Greco called and showed for a pair of aces. Hanoteau showed for a pair of tens and a straight draw.
The on the turn changed nothing and neither did the on the river. Greco doubled to 524,000 while Hanoteau dropped to 265,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 5:28 PM Local Time
Another limped pot -- this time involving five players. The flop came , and Michael Greco bet 80,000. Only Joerg Engels was interested in sticking around, raising Greco to 160,000. That was enough to put the Englishman all in, and he called with his remaining chips.
Greco
Engels
A set of kings for Engels, and an open-ender for the former star of "Eastenders." The turn was the , giving Greco the straight, and after the river he'd doubled to 280,000. Engels still leads with 930,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 5:21 PM Local Time
During the deal, the was exposed. "Indecent exposure," cracked Robbie, our Tournament Director.
Five players limped to see a flop of . L.J. Klein bet 50,000 from the small blind, and only Engels called from the cutoff. The turn brought the and a bet of 165,000 from Klein. Engels went into the tank for a couple of minutes before finally making the call.
The river brought the and this time Klein checked. Engels checked as well. The players tabled their cards, and Engels' -X-X -- treys full of sixes -- proved best.
Engels chips up over one million with that one, moving into the chip lead. Klein is down to 575,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 5:13 PM Local Time
Four players limped to see a flop of . Trevor Pope checked, Patrick Hanoteau bet 45,000, Tommy Le called, Michael Greco folded, and Pope folded as well.
The turn brought the . Hanoteau checked, Le bet the pot -- 170,000 -- Hanoteau check-raised all in, and Le called with his remaining chips.
Hanoteau showed for the straight, while Le tabled for a set of nines. The river brought the , filling Le up and enabling him to survive.
Le bumps up over 700,000 on that hand, suddenly going from almost out to challenging for the chip lead. Hanoteau drops to about 520,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 5:02 PM Local Time
In addition to his successful poker career, 40-year-old Michael Greco of England is an actor best known for his role as Beppe di Marco in the popular British series "Eastenders," where he starred from 1998-2002. Indeed, when back in England Greco still routinely gets recognized for the role.
Over here in the States, Greco usually doesn't have the problem of people calling him "Beppe," because we Yanks aren't familiar with the show.
Greco is sitting on the short stack at the moment (ninth out of nine). With the recent level change he's down to less than nine big blinds, so we expect a move from Beppe... er, Michael, quite soon.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:44 PM Local Time
Players are now on a ten minute break.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:33 PM Local Time
Our short stacks continue to survive as we still have all nine of our final tablists with chips.
Just now one of those short stacks, Stephane Tayar, opened with a raise to 56,000 from middle position and got one caller in Miguel Proulx from the button. The flop came , Tayar moved all in, and Proulx made the call.
Proulx
Tayar
The turn brought the and the river the , and Tayar ended with nines and sixes to double up to about 250,000. Proulx meanwhile tumbles to about 700,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:22 PM Local Time
It folded to Tommy Le on the button who raised to 54,000, leaving himself just 46,000 behind. Karl Gal folded from the small blind, but Stephane Tayar made the call from the BB.
The flop came . Tayar checked, and Le bet the rest of his chips. Tayar thought a moment and let it go.
Le showed his hand -- -- as he dragged the pot. Le has 162,000 now, and Tayar 114,000 (eighth and ninth in chips, respectively).
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:16 PM Local Time
On the first hand of the final table, Stephane Tayar was all in before the flop with against Michael Greco's . Tayar spiked a king on the flop and his hand held, pushing him up to 170,000 and knocking Greco down to 59,000.
On the very next hand, Trevor Pope raised to 40,000 from early position, and Greco reraised all in from the button. Karl Gal called from the big blind, as did Pope.
The flop came , Gal bet the pot, and Pope got out. Gal showed for a set of sevens, and Greco was in tough shape with his . But the turn brought the , giving Greco the better set, and after the he had more than tripled back to 201,000. Gal now has 365,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:12 PM Local Time
Patrick Hanoteau of France comes to the 2010 WSOP having made several final tables in low buy-in events in Paris, plus one previous cash at the Series, a deep run in last year's Main Event where he finished 227th for a $32,963 payday.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:11 PM Local Time
Today's final table marks the first significant cash for Joerg Engels of Germany.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:11 PM Local Time
Miguel Proulx of Quebec, Canada has just one previous WSOP cash to his credit, a 50th-place finish in the 2007 $1,500 short-handed no-limit hold'em event. Regardless of where he finishes today, his final tabling this one will mean a substantial increase in his overall WSOP earnings of $4,188 for that previous cash.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:11 PM Local Time
L.J. Klein of Colorado ended Day 1 as our chip leader, and remained near the top of the counts for most of the day yesterday as well. Klein has a handful of WSOP cashes to his credit already, including a 14th-place finish in this same $2,500 PLO event last year, his best previous Series performance.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:11 PM Local Time
Michael Greco of England is an actor and poker player who has appeared on several poker shows as well as recorded numerous tourney cashes. He's made a couple of WSOP final tables before, with his best ever finish being a third place in a $1,500 no-limit hold's event in 2009, earning $248,555 for doing so. His total tourney winnings exceed $650,000.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:10 PM Local Time
Tommy Le of California is better known by some as the younger brother of top poker player Nam Le, although Tommy has himself compiled an own impressive resume of poker successes. Primarily an online player, "Tommy Legend" has nevertheless earned numerous live scores as well, including eight WSOP cashes prior to this event, plus a WPT Championship final table in 2008 where he finished fifth, earning $395,725.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:10 PM Local Time
Prior to today's final table, Karl Gal of Germany only had a few small cashes in events in Austria, the largest being a €1,275 cash in a PLO event just a couple of weeks ago. Guaranteed at least $25,044 for making today's final table, Gal's career earnings total is about to jump considerably today.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:09 PM Local Time
Stephane Tayar is from Canada though currently lives in Paris, France. He's enjoyed numerous cashes over the last half-dozen years in France, with his biggest score being a runner-up finish in a no-limit hold'em event at Paris' famed Aviation Club, enabling him to turn a €1,000 buy-in into €25,770. Today marks Tayar's fourth WSOP cash and second final table. He finished ninth in the 2008 $2,000 no-limit hold's event.