Thursday, July 1, 2010 12:14 AM Local Time
Kevin Boudreau limped his button, and Chance Kornuth checked the big blind. They were heads up to the flop. Kornuth bet out 90,000, and Boudreau potted to 405,000. Very slowly, Kornuth made the call. The on the turn completed a flush draw, and Kornuth checked. Boudreau checked behind. The came on the river, and Chance bet out a scary-looking 450,000. "Call," said Boudreau quickly, not needing to count out the chips. Kornuth didn't even need to see a hand before starting to muck. Kevin showed for a set of tens.
"We have a hero," shouted one of Boureau's friends as he dragged nearly two-million chip pot. He is up to 3.4 million while Kornuth continues his slide down to 1.2 million.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 12:01 AM Local Time
Kevin Boudreau opened for 125,000 under the gun and small blind Chance Kornuth reraised the pot. Boudreau re-potted, they agreed to get all the chips in, and the cards were on their backs.
Boudreau:
Kornuth: a somewhat esoteric
Board:
Boudreau flopped a Broadway straight, while Kornuth got two pair. He failed to fill up, though, and the roar from the Boudreau rail was deafening as their boy doubled up.
Boudreau - 2.3 million and the chip lead
Kornuth - 2.1 million
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 11:52 PM Local Time
Chance Kornuth and Scott Mandel were heads up to a raised flop. It came , and Mandel checked. Kornuth checked behind to see the on the turn. This time, Mandel bet out 100,000. "How much do you have behind?" Chance asked him.
Kornuth moved his arm from in front of his stack in response. "It hasn't changed."
Chance potted, and they got it all in in under ten seconds. "One out," Mandel said when he saw the bad news.
Mandel: for a set of treys
Kornuth: for a set of eights
Earlier today, Danny Wong was eliminated from the $25k six-max tournament when his set of eights was rivered by an opponent whose set of threes rivered quads. Could it happen again here? The on the river said no, and Mandel was sent home in fifth place. Kornuth has even more chips now, with 3.3 million of the 6.9 million in play.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 11:43 PM Local Time
Scott Mandel raised and then pushed to a pot-sized reraise from Chance Kornuth. Mandel turned over .
"I have a very similar hand," said Kornuth. He turned over .
Mandel looked terribly excited as he stood over the table, one foot up on his chair. But in the end they chopped it up.
Board:
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 11:39 PM Local Time
Chance Kornuth raised to 80,000, and Kevin Boudreau called on the button. Danny Smith potted from the big blind, making it a total of 340,000. Kornuth cut out the green chips from his stack and made the big call, while Boudreau declined to risk that much. The flop came , and after a minute, Smith moved all for his remaining 400,000. Chance folded without much hesitation, dropping down to 2.3 million. Smith moved up to 1.3 million.
The loss of a few chips didn't keep Chance from entering the next pot. The next hand folded to him in the small blind and he raised to 100,000. Ted Martin called to see the flop, then folded when Kornuth bet out 160,000.
Next hand, Scott Mandel limped under the gun. Kornuth bumped it up to 180,000, and Martin called. The flop fell , and Martin check-folded when Kornuth bet 120,000.
Kornuth moved back up to 2,565,000.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 11:30 PM Local Time
Chance Kornuth min-raised under the gun and both Ted Martin and Danny Smith called in the cutoff and small blind respectively.
All three players checked the flop and they saw a turn, on which Smith bet out 110,000. Kornuth called quickly. Martin tanked up for a while before asking, "How much is in the pot?" He tanked for a while longer. Then he just called.
All three reverted to checking the river and both Kornuth and Martin turned over pocket queens - black ones for Kornuth, red ones for Martin. Smith made a face that said, "D'oh!" and the other two chopped it up.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 11:21 PM Local Time
Chance Kornuth bet out 140,000 on the flop. Kevin Boudreau called behind.
They saw a turn and this time Kornuth bet pot - a hefty 450,000. This time Boudreau folded, dropping to 1.18 million. Kornuth extended his chip lead to 2.65 million.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 10:59 PM Local Time
First to act, Scott Mandel raised to 140,000. Danny Smith called, and in the big blind, Kevin Boudreau tank-called as well. They were three-handed to the flop. Boudreau checked, and Mandel bet the pot, 450,000. The other two folded, and Mandel took it down, moving up to 950,000.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 10:54 PM Local Time
Chance Kornuth min-raised to 80,000 and it folded around to Julian Gardner in the big blind who thought about it for a moment and then made the call.
Gardner checked the flop and Kornuth ominously asked how many chips Gardner had left before betting 85,000. Gardner went all in, Kornuth called, and they turned the cards over.
Gardner:
Kornuth:
"All of it!" cried someone at the Kornuth rail.
"You've got me dominated," admitted Gardner.
Turn: leaving Gardner drawing dead.
River: a completely academic
The man who went heads up with Robert Varkonyi in the 2002 Main Event hit the rail. Kornuth was up to 2.31 million.
By the by, Gardner's exit rather cheered up Kevin Boudreau. "Yeah, I just got out of make up!" he called over to his rail.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 10:41 PM Local Time
The pot limit party is under way once more.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 10:26 PM Local Time
Last hand before the break, and some craziness occurred.
It started small.
Kevin Boudreau limped in on his small blind and Scott Mandel checked his big. They saw a flop.
Flop:
Boudreau bet out 35,000. Mandel briefly paused, and then called.
Turn:
Boudreau now bet out 130,000. Over to Mandel, who raised to 340,000. Slience descended on the final table. The action moved back on Boudreau - who reraised all in. Everyone held their breath. Mandel thought about it - and then folded, showing pocket jacks. Boudreau showed pocket eights. His other two cards will remain a mystery to all but Boudreau.
Boudreau moved up to 1.49 million. Mandel dropped to 545,000.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 10:20 PM Local Time
The final six and their fans are on a 20-minute break. If you didn't think to bring a case with you, now would be a good time to grab some beers put on your game faces for the Final Table Part II when we return.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 10:17 PM Local Time
Scott Mandel opened to 80,000 from the cutoff, and only Chance Kornuth in the big blind made the call. The flop brought the , , and . Kornuth checked, and Mandel checked behind. Another king, the , fell on the turn, and Kornuth checked a second time. Mandel bet 120,000. Chance responded by check-raising to 310,000. Mandel shook his head and folded, dropping under a million for the first time in awhile. Kornuth increased his chip lead, now stacking 1,775,000.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 10:13 PM Local Time
Young Kevin Boudreau, who had earlier been calling over to his rail, "I'm not even in the money yet!" despite being guaranteed over $90,000 now, has nudged his stack above the million mark and is now at roughly average.
Scott Mandel opened for 90,000 under the gun and Chance Kornuth called on the button before Kevin Boudreau in the big blind announced, "Pot," in a very matter-of-fact tone, and pushed out the requisite 375,000. Mandel gave it a good minute or so in the tank before he folded; Kornuth needed virtually no time at all.
Boudreau won the next hand as well, a small limp-checked affair that time. On both occasions, his by now rather beered-up rail went wild. Their boy is at around 1.1 million.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 10:06 PM Local Time
The stands today are the most crowded we've seen them in awhile. And they're full of big names too. Of course, Nacho Barbero's rail, including Veronica Dabul and a few other Team PokerStars members, left as soon as he did. And the Mizrachi clan followed Robert out the door. But that just made room for the overflow from other cheering sections.
Recent new bracelet winners Gavin Smith and Chris Bell are here and were joined by Erick Lindren and Carlos Mortensen during the break in their event. Chance Kornuth has a large and colorful rail. Cheering on Julian Gardner are Ben Roberts, Jeff Duvall and 2007 Irish Open champion Marty Smyth. And the loudest and best prepared (including 24-packs of Milwaukee's Best) belongs to Kevin Boudreau. He's got the usual durrrr crew, including Peter Jetten and Max Greenwood, plus occasional visits from the Dwan himself.
The secondary stage also has a raucous rail cheering on the heads-up match over there, and between both crowds, it's finally an atmosphere befitting the high energy poker we've been watching all day.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 9:55 PM Local Time
Chance Kornuth raised to 60,000, and next to act, Eric "p3achy_keen" Liu potted to 225,000. After a minute, Kornuth folded.
The next hand, Kornuth raised to 60,000. Liu potted to 225,000. It was all looking familiar until Kornuth called. Liu had about 270,000 behind, and there were quite a few flops that would get all that money in the middle. The dealer alerted the announcer that after a few hands without much happening, there was going to be a flop. It came out , and Kornuth had moved all of his chips forward before the last card was even down. Liu called just as fast.
Liu: for top set
Kornuth: for straight and flush draws
The announcer called out the hands. "Where's the straight draw?" Liu asked, completely serious. Kornuth pointed to the cards he'd separated. "I was trying to show you." Liu laughed. "I don't play this game. I usually stick to no limit."
The on the turn completed that pesky straight, and Kornuth's large rail went nuts. They got a litter more tense when they realized that the spade had given Liu the nut flush draw to go with his boat draw. "Pair the board! Pair the board!" shouted Liu's fans.
But the on the river didn't come to Liu's rescue. He went from final table chip leader by a very slim margin to out in seventh place for $68,902. Kornuth took over the lead with 1.6 million.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 9:44 PM Local Time
Several players made it to the flop and it checked around to Scott Mandel in position, who bet pot - 120,000. Robert Mizrachi, who'd checked in the big blind, now check-raised pot or 480,000, with not much behind.
Mandel whistled in an "oooh, that's a lot" sort of way. He thought about it for a while. Then he reraised all in to cover Mizrachi, who swiftly called all in.
Mandel: for two pair
Mizrachi: for aces and a flush draw
Turn: giving Mizrachi straight outs as well
River:
The river was not one of Mizrachi's outs, and he duly busted out in eighth place. There will be no second bracelet for Mizrachi this time around.
Mandel moved back into the chip lead on 1.37 million.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 9:40 PM Local Time
Eric Liu raised to 75,000, and Danny Smith defended his big blind. The flop fell , and Smith checked. Liu bet 105,000, and Smith instantly check-raised to 250,000. Liu didn't like it, but after checking his hand again, he gave it up. Liu has dropped to 400,000, while Smith just keeps building. He's up to 1.4 million now.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 9:37 PM Local Time
Four players limped to an flop. Scott Mandel checked his small blind, Julian Gardner checked the big, and Ted Martin potted for 120,000. Kevin Boudreau folded, and Mandel made a thoughtful call. Garder got out of the way, and they were heads up to the turn. Mandel checked again, and Martin bet 360,000. It didn't take Mandel very long to decide to fold, saving himself 700,000. Martin moved up to 1.1 million.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 9:29 PM Local Time
Robert Mizrachi, by far the most aggressive player at this final table so far, opened for 80,000. Chance Kornuth called on the button, as did Eric Liu and Ted Martin in the blinds.
They saw a flop and it checked around to Kornuth, who bet pot - 320,000. Like dominoes his opponents all gave it up, and Kornuth raked in the pot.
---
A few hands later and Mizrachi limped in, only for Kornuth to raise pot. Martin tanked up and eventually called on the button, Mizrachi folded, and they were heads up to the flop.
Flop:
Kornuth bet out 200,000, and after a few moments of squinting at the felt (he likes to take his time over decisions, does Martin), Martin folded and Kornuth again took the pot.
He's up to 1.3 million.