Tuesday, June 22, 2010 8:50 PM Local Time
We haven't yet reached our "official" final table but a decent-sized rail has started to form over the last half-hour. A group of 2+2-ers has taken over one side, while about two dozen Russians and Germans are conversing in their native tongues on the other. Many of the Germans are wearing their national colors of red, yellow, and black and carrying German flags. A few bracelet winners are hovering around as well-- Scott Seiver (who offered to fetch Matt Marafioti a Red Bull for $500) and Alex Kravchenko, who has been stealthily camping out in media row in between bouts of pacing.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 8:27 PM Local Time
Peter Jetten and Sam Stein had built a pot of close to 200,000 by the time the river arrived on a board. Jetten was leading the betting, and he fired out a healthy wager of 150,000, about a third of his remaining stack.
When Stein slid out a raise to 355,000 total, Jetten sunk in his chair, and he asked the dealer to pull in the call so he could see what he was facing. It was another 205,000 to him, and Jetten had just 340,000 in front of his spot. He mumbled to himself for several minutes, throwing out the occasional expletive as he toyed with the decision. Finally, he folded.
That leaves him with just those 340,000 chips, and Sam Stein is now sitting right at the million-chip mark.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 8:14 PM Local Time
Konstantin Bucherl opened for 55,000 and Dani Stern called from the small blind. Both players checked the flop. The turn came the and Stern checked to Bucherl, who bet 60,000. Stern raised to 200,000 and Bucherl gave it up.
Stern is up to 1,157,000.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 8:09 PM Local Time
Matt Marafioti limped in from the small blind and Peter Jetten checked his option. Marafioti checked to Jetten on the flop. He bet 30,000 and Marafioti called. Both players checked the on the turn. The river fell the and Marafioti checked a third time. Jetten tanked for about 60 seconds before settling on a 90,000 bet. Mariafioti called.
Marafioti showed for the straight and Jetten mucked. Marafioti is up to 815,000.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 6:40 PM Local Time
Our final ten players have been sent off for their one-hour dinner break, so we're going to do the same.
We'll be back when play resumes at 8:45 p.m.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 6:36 PM Local Time
Tom Marchese opened the pot in late position, and a reraising war left Matt Marafioti all in for 337,000 in the small blind. And he was in bad shape:
Marchese:
Marafioti:
Marafioti was dominated, but things would improve in a hurry. The flop came to give him a big lead and leave him needing only to fade running cards to survive. The turn and river improved him even further, and Marafioti flushes his way to a big double up. That puts him at 694,000, knocking Marchese back down a peg to 873,000.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 6:29 PM Local Time
Dani Stern opened for 45,000 and the action folded around to Konstantin Bucherl in the big blind. He three-bet to 130,000 and after a short tank, Stern declared a pot-sized reraise. Bucherl moved all-in and Stern called.
Stern
Bucherl
Stern flopped a set on the board and doubled up to 1,024,000. Bucherl is down to 1.3 million.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 6:27 PM Local Time
Tom Marchese raised to 45,000 from early position, and Sam Stein made the call a few seats over. Everyone else ducked out of the way, and the two of them went heads up to a flop.
It came , and Marchese continued out with a bet of 60,000. Stein stared him down and popped it up to 155,000 after a minute or two. Marchese didn't waste much time flat-calling.
Fourth street came the , and Stein checked behind, and Marchese checked it to him again on the river. Taking his cue to fire, Stein gathered heaps of pink chips and slid forward one final bet of 245,000. Marchese just thought it over for a few seconds before calling it down.
Without a word, Stein flipped up his miss, and Marchese's was the winner. The two men have essentially traded stacks after that hand with Marchese moving his way up to 1.22 million.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 6:07 PM Local Time
With Nathan Doudney's elimination, we are down to our final ten players. They have redrawn seats, and everyone's been moved over here to one of the tertiary featured tables. It's a big redraw as it's the last of the event, and the players will be seated here for the rest of their respective days.
Seat 1: Valdemar Kwaysser (1,398,000)
Seat 2: Blair Rodman (282,000)
Seat 3: Tom Marchese (764,000)
Seat 4: Konstantin Bucherl (1,825,000)
Seat 5: Matt Marafioti (357,000)
Seat 6: Peter Jetten (700,000)
Seat 7: Sam Stein (1,202,000)
Seat 8: Dani Stern (537,000)
Seat 9: Alexander Kuzmin (707,000)
Seat 10: James Calderaro (328,000)
We had just a couple minutes' pause there for the move, but the cards are back in the air with about 35 minutes left in the current level.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 6:01 PM Local Time
Blair Rodman opened to 60,000 from late position, and Nathan Doudney reraised all in for 137,000 total. Rodman asked for the exact count as a call represented the vast majority of his own chips. When he learned the number, he made a sighing call to put Doudney at risk. It was a good call:
Rodman:
Doudney:
There wasn't anything for Doudney to use on a board of , and he has been eliminated in 11th place.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 5:45 PM Local Time
Valdemar Kwaysser raised from under-the-gun and Clement Thumy re-potted to 129,000 from the big blind. Kwaysser pushed in a tall stack of 5,000-denomination chips, which Thumy misinterpreted as an all-in. Thumy said "call" and pre-emptively opened his hand, exposing . However, the amount Kwaysser pushed toward the pot wasn't enough for a raise. Kwaysser's action was ruled a call, and they went to the flop with Thumy's hand open.
The flop was . Thumy moved all-in for his last 53,000. Kwaysser began mumbling through some calculations, knowing he was behind in the hand but was trying to see if he had the right price to make the call. Kwaysser was getting close to 6-1 on his money and tossed in a call, turning up .
It turned out to be well worth it. The turn was the , but the hit the river and Kwaysser took down the pot with trip kings, sending Thumy to the rail in 12th place.
The moral of the story, kids? Always know your pot odds.
Kwaysser is up to 1.2 million
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 5:26 PM Local Time
After a preflop raising war, Marc Inizan found himself all in and in trouble with (again) against Konstantin Bucherl's .
The flop was a mixed bag for Inizan as he paired up, but the left him needing to fade a deck's worth of outs in order to survive.
He could not. The turn gave Bucherl the unbeatable flush, and the landed on the river just for good measure. That's what the kids call a Royal Flush these days, and it's royally flushed Marc Inizan right out the door.
He's been eliminated in 13th place, taking home just about $35,000 for his three-day effort.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 5:21 PM Local Time
Peter Jetten raised to 45,000 from late position, and Valdemar Kwaysser three-bet to 125,000 from the big blind. Jetten asked how much his opponent was playing before making the call.
The flop came , and Kwaysser continued out with a bet of 130,000. Jetten didn't waste much time calling, and the appeared on fourth street. The action check-checked, and the river paired the board with the . Kwaysser paused before doing a diamond check on his hole cards, and he slowly tapped the table. Jetten threw his hands up in the air and said, "Check!"
Kwaysser was first to show his , and it was the best hand. Jetten flipped his back and forth in between his hands, then laid them face-up on the felt to send the pot over to his opponent.
Kwaysser climbs up over the million-chip mark to 1.05 million with that pot.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 5:14 PM Local Time
Clement Thumy checked the flop over to Sam Stein, who bet 62,000. Thumy raised to 175,000, Stein moved all-in and Thumy called.
Thumy turned over pocket fours for a set, but Stein had pocket fives for a higher set! Mayhem! Madness! Stein couldn't believe his eyes and sprung from his chair.
The turn was the , the river was the and Stein doubled to 1,242,000. Onetime chip leader Thumy is down to only 202,000.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 5:10 PM Local Time
Talk about a game-changer...
On a flop of , Konstantin Bucherl bet 63,000, Marc Inizan raised to 175,000, Bucherl raised enough to set Inizan all-in and he made the call.
Bucherl
Inizan
Bucherl made his flush on the turn when the fell. The river was the and Inizan shipped 664,000 across the table, leaving himself with 377,000. Bucherl is the new chip leader with 1,442,000.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 5:04 PM Local Time
Alexander Kuzmin was in the big blind, and action was on Tom Marchese when he asked Kuzmin how much he was playing.
"I don't know," Kuzmin said flatly. Marchese asked him to count, and he declined, so the floor was called over.
When the dealer explained that Marchese was requesting a count, floor person Nikki said, "Okay, then we'll count it down."
"But these are my chips," Kuzmin said, denying the count. "I don't know why he needs to know."
From across the table, Dani Stern had had just about enough of this exchange. "Because it's relevant information, that's why! He wants to know how many chips in a poker tournament, imagine that!"
"Fine, then I want a count on him," Kuzmin said, stubbornly pointing to Marchese.
"And he can tell you in twenty seconds," Stern said. "Because he has them stacked in a reasonable manner. You're just being difficult" Sure enough, Marchese already had himself counted at 827,000 by the time Stern was done talking. The floor counted Kuzmin down at 482,000, Marchese folded, Stern raised, and he took the blinds, including Kuzmin's.
Nikki explained to Kuzmin that if he kept his chips stacked in twenties, it would be easier for the other players to eyeball.
"Something happens when you put nine grown men in front of a piece of green felt," someone said within earshot. "They all revert back to kindergarten."
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 4:48 PM Local Time
Marc Inizan opened for 45,000 and Tom Marchese called. Both players checked the flop. The turn was the and Marchese fired out 74,000. Inizan called and they went to the river, which fell the . Marchese bet 141,000 and Inizan called.
Marchese showed for the win and Inizan mucked. Marchese is up to 685,000 while Inizan still holds the chip lead with 1.1 million.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 4:45 PM Local Time
Allen Kessler moved all-in for 59,000 from the hijack seat and the action folded around to Konstantin Bucherl in the big blind. He screwed up his face as he looked down at his hole cards but nevertheless made the call.
Kessler
Bucherl
Bucherl hit a four on the flop, giving him the lead. Sixes fell on the turn and river and "Chainsaw" hit the rail in 14th place.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 4:19 PM Local Time
Our 14 remaining players are on their first 20-minute break of the day.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 4:19 PM Local Time
Sandra Naujoks raised to open the pot, and she got the rest of her chips in after a Clement Thumy reraise. She was in bad shape when the cards were turned up, her pocket fives running into Thumy's two nines.
Naujoks picked up a gutshot straight draw on the turn, but she could not find any of her out cards, and she's been offed in 15th place. We're now left with a field full of 14 men, still looking for our first female open bracelet winner of 2010.
