Saturday, June 26, 2010 8:10 PM Local Time
The players over at Table 39 seem to be enjoying themselves and having a good time. That is mainly due to one man, Antonio Esfandiari. As per his usual, Esfandiari has gotten the table to engage in a friendly game of "What Johnny Lodden Thinks."
At this point in time, Esfandiari is playing the role of Lodden and threw out the following question: "How long do I think Garrett (a new dealer who had just sat down with a flowing mane of silver hair) spent doing his hair?" His tablemates seemed to enjoy the question and were last seen brainstorming answers.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 7:47 PM Local Time
Four players were in preflop and saw a flop of . A player in middle position bet 1,300 and Carter King made the call from the button as the other two players got out of the way.
When the hit the turn, the middle position player moved in for 23,000, prompting King to fold while showing the . King left himself with 19,000.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 7:43 PM Local Time
Mandy Baker has been nursing a short stack for quite some time. She recently raised a pot from the hijack to 775 only to have the player in the big blind reraise to 2,350.
Baker counted down her stack, 3,800 behind, and looked as though she was going to call; however, something pushed her in the other direction and she decided to fold and save her remaining chips.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 7:32 PM Local Time
Not too long ago we wrote about a hand where Antonio Esfandiari had a worse two piar than his opponent but hit his miracle card on the river to take down a huge pot. Well, the same situation just arose for Esfandiari.
He was faced with an all in bet of 8,175 from the player in the small blind on a board of . There was about 6,500 in the pot and Esfandiari thought long and hard before making the call. His opponent turned over for two pair while Esfandiari was behind with for a smaller two pair.
Last time, Esfandiari managed to hit his king on the river, but this time it came the . Esfandiari lost the hand and dropped back down to around 30,000.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 7:16 PM Local Time
Players are back from their dinner break and the cards are in the air!
Saturday, June 26, 2010 5:44 PM Local Time
We're now on a 90-minute dinner break.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 5:34 PM Local Time
The dinner break is about to hit and we are already down to 560 players. With fifteen minutes left in the sixth level, the math says we have lost an average of 3.475 players per minute throughout the tournament. At this pace, we will likely reach the final 15% of the Day 1A field before the end of Level 10, at which point the tournament will come to a close for the day.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 5:28 PM Local Time
Lauren Kling opened the pot with a 4,100-chip raise from the small blind, and the big blind moved all in. Kling called, leaving 1,300 chips behind.
Showdown
Kling:
Big blind:
The board gave the pot to Kling's opponent.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 5:23 PM Local Time
As the field begins to narrow, there are still a few notables who've managed to survive the onslaught. They include Jordan Morgan, Lars Bonding, Steve Gross, Antonio Esfandiari, Michael Mizrachi, Nick Maimone, JJ Liu, Scott Montgomery and Matt Glantz.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 5:12 PM Local Time
There was about 10,000 in the pot with a board reading and action was on Antonio Esfandiari. His sole opponent in Seat 5 had moved all in for 10,075 and it was up to Esfandiari to call or fold.
He agonized over the decision for a few moments before reluctantly making the call. Seat 5 turned over for two pair while Esfandiari sheepishly turned over for a smaller two pair.
There was over 30,000 in the pot when the hit the river. The table reacted with gasps of disbelief while Seat 5 seemed to be in shock. Esfandiari quietly stacked his chips and waited for seat 5 to make his exit before saying, "Wow, that is sick." Esfandiari is up to around 40,000.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 5:11 PM Local Time
Shannon Elizabeth's seat is empty, this should mean one thing: Shannon Elizabeth Busto!
Saturday, June 26, 2010 4:58 PM Local Time
Seat 2 was all in for 8,800 with against the of Mandy Baker. Seat 2 seemed resigned to elimination as he stood and began to put on his jacket.
He may have acted too quickly however as the flop came down , keeping him in the lead. Baker was still looking for an ace or king, but could now make a straight with a queen.
The turn was the and suddenly all Seat 2 needed to do was sweat the river. The dealer burned and slowly revealed the . Seat 2 sat back down to his newly doubled chip stack while Baker dropped to a little less than 5,000.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 4:51 PM Local Time
We didn't catch the hand but Chau Giang has been eliminated. The same can be said of Keith Sexton, who's empty seat has already been filled over at Table 14.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 4:40 PM Local Time
Lars Bonding is currently getting a massage. We wonder what feels better, the muscle relaxation or his massive 27,000 stack.
Likewise, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, who won the $50,000 Players Championship earlier in the series, and Scott Montgomery, who won the last $1,000 event, are both sitting strong with around 20,000.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 4:33 PM Local Time
The player under the gun raised to 525 and was called by Antonio Esfandiari from the cutoff. When the flop came , the under the gun player bet 600 and Esfandiari quickly made the call.
The on the turn inspired the under the gun player to bet 1,100, which Esfandiari promptly raised to 3,000. His opponent thought about it for a few moments before moving all in for a couple thousand more and Esfandiari immediately mucked. With that small hit Esfandiari is down to around 20,000.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 4:19 PM Local Time
The tournament clock says we are down to 750 players, which means we have lost more than half the field in four and a half levels. This averages out to about 3.73 players busting per minute of this tournament. So when we say the eliminations are coming fast and furious, you know we're not exaggerating
Saturday, June 26, 2010 4:15 PM Local Time
Steve Gross raised to 500 preflop from the cutoff only to have the small blind raise to 1,000. Gross opted to make the call and the two saw a flop of .
Both players checked to the on the turn, at which point the small blind bet 1,000. Gross took his time before making the call. The small blind checked when the came on the river and Gross started to count out chips. He finally bet 2,700 and the small blind quickly folded. Gross is up to around 15,000 in chips.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 4:04 PM Local Time
There was quite the commotion over at Table #45. We first noticed something was going on when a crowd gathered around the rail and the table was surrounded by tournament staff and security guards.
As far as we could tell, the incident began on a board of . There was a river bet and a call, creating a pot of around 6,000. Seat 2 said, "Striaght," and as he did his opponent in Seat 4 began to push his cards forward.
The dealer then noticed that Seat 2 didn't have a straight with his , at which point Seat 4 turned over . Seat 2 was adamant that the forward motion of Seat 4 constituted a muck and a dead hand.
The floor staff listened to all parties involved and ruled that Seat 4's hand would win since it was never fully mucked. Obviously this upset Seat 2, who was very vocal about the ruling. Either way, some might say it was justice served as Seat 2 had misrepresented his hand by announcing "straight," which is otherwise known as an angle shoot.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 3:24 PM Local Time
We're now a 20-minute break.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 3:23 PM Local Time
Keith Ferrera moved all in for about 375 chips in late position, the player in the small blind moved in too (800 chips) and the big blind called.
Showdown
Ferrera:
Small blind:
Big blind:
The board ran out and Ferrera is out of the tournament.