Friday, July 9, 2010 4:51 PM Local Time
Two more hours of poker are in the books at the WSOP Main Event and 729 of today's 2,412 starters have already seen their Main Event dreams come to an end. Two former world champions--Berry Johnston and Tom McEvoy--exited this level along with Andre Akkari, Liz Lieu, Amnon Filippi, David "The Dragon" Pham, and Haralabos Voulgaris.
On the other end of the spectrum, Dragan Galic and Robert Mizrachi are still one-two in the chip counts. This level saw the rise of Yevgeniy Timoshenko, who won a series of pots to take him up to 220,000 as well as Cole South, who doubled up with a set of aces over a set of nines to take his stack up to 223,000. Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi was also able to reclaim some lost chips, taking his stack from 50,000 to 97,000 in this level.
This break will be a bit longer than the usual 20 minutes, as there is a massive color-up scheduled. All of the green 25-denomination chips will be removed from play, so expect action to pick back up in about half an hour.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:50 PM Local Time
Daniel Alaei was all in preflop with , and that's not a very good thing when your opponent calls with .
There was an ace on the flop! But, unfortunately, also an eight. The board ran , and Alaei's day is done.
Daniel won another bracelet this year, his third overall, and that puts him in some fairly elite company. He won't be adding a fourth this year, though, not unless he plans on making the trip to London for the WSOPE in the fall.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:49 PM Local Time
On a flop of Jeff Fenech fired out 6,000 into a pot of slightly less.
His opponent in the cutoff bumped it up to 16,000 only to have Fenech respond with a three-bet to 41,000. The cutoff moved all in for 45,775 and Fenech made the call for the additional few thousand.
Fenech:
Opponent:
The turn and river landed the and to see Fenech double his opponent up while slipping to 31,000 in chips.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:48 PM Local Time
With a raise to 1,500 from early position in front of him, Scotty Nguyen popped it up to 5,000 from middle position. His opponent responded by moving all in for about 40,000 with Nguyen happy to make the call.
Nguyen:
Opponent:
A cooler in favor of the "Prince of Poker" and he stayed ahead on the board. Nguyen is now up to 120,000.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:47 PM Local Time
On a flop of , Jonathan "xMONSTERxDONGx" Karamalikis fired a bet of 1,800 which his opponent called, before the hit the turn. Karamalikis fired 4,000 but his opponent clicked it back to 8,000. Karamalikis called, and then again for another 8,000 on the river.
Karamalikis' opponent tabled for two pair which was good as Karamalikis mucked and slipped to 135,000.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:44 PM Local Time
One player checked the flop of to Ralph Perry. He fired a bet of 5,000 and Sandra Naujoks made the call. The other player folded.
The turn card brought the and Perry checked. Naujoks fired 5,000 and then Perry fired back a raise to 15,000. After a minute in the tank, Naujoks mucked her hand and dropped to 40,000. Perry moved up to 140,000.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:40 PM Local Time
Steven Burkholder called his opponent's all-in bet on the flop of with two black kings. His opponent held the . The turn was the and the river the . Burkholder's now up to 150,000 in chips.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:40 PM Local Time
Ted Forrest was all in preflop with his tournament on the line with against the of his opponent.
Forrest had to wait for the ESPN cameras to capture the moment as the flop landed .
"Wow!" was all that Forrest could say as the flop was about as bad as it could be without pairing his opponent. With hearts and a jack added to the mix, it got worse as the hit the turn. Forrest realized he was down to just one card in the deck to save himself but it didn't arrive on the river. Forrest is eliminated.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:40 PM Local Time
Tony "Bond 18" Dunst opened for 1,500 from under-the-gun and Gary Benson called from the small blind. Benson checked the flop over to Dunst, who made a 2,500 continuation bet. Benson called and they went to the turn, which paired the board with the . Benson checked, Dunst bet 6,000 and Benson raised to 15,000. Dunst made the call. The river was the and Benson led out for 18,000. Dunst called all-in for less.
Dunst turned over for a set and doubled up to 86,000.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:39 PM Local Time
Matt Savage is one of - if not the - most well known Tournament Directors in the world having worked for many different companies; including the World Series of Poker.
You would think that someone that possessed his expertise would know the rules better than any, but there is always that first time . . .
Matt Savage has just been issued a penalty by one of the Tournament Directors!
Catching the action on a board reading Matt Savage moved all in over an opponent's bet, but thinking that his all in was covered by his opponent's bet, he exposed his hand.
The nearby Tournament Director was informed of what had happened and ruled that Savage would be issued a penalty once the hand had been completed.
Savage's opponent called the additional few thousand tabling his to be trailing Savage's .
The on the river ensured Savage the double up to 24,000, but not before he would be forced to hand over his Harrah's Total Rewards card for breaking Section VI, Rule 94; A player exposing his or her cards with action pending will incur a penalty, but will not have a dead hand. The penalty will begin at the end of the hand. All players at the table are entitled to see the exposed card(s), if requested.
"That's my first penalty ever!" Savage claimed to our PokerNews reporter in a semi-excited tone.
"Well at least I doubled" Savage added before beginning his orbit hiatus from the table.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:39 PM Local Time
Tiffany Michelle was all in for 26,025 on a flop, and her opponent looked her up. Michelle turned over for top set, and fortunately for her, the caller held a clubless . The turn gave him chop outs, but the river filled Michelle's boat. She doubled up to 73,500 and can go back to running her table.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:36 PM Local Time
With the board reading , Lex Veldhuis fired a bet of 7,300 with two players to act behind him. The first of those players made the call. The other player folded.
The river completed the board with the and Veldhuis took some time. He opted to fire out a bet worth 22,800. His opponent took a moment and then mucked his hand, giving Veldhuis the pot.
Veldhuis is now up to about 130,000 chips.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:28 PM Local Time
The player on the button moved all in preflop for 9,800 and was called by Carter Gill from the small blind.
Button:
Gill:
Gill had the better hand and it held as the board ran out . Gill sent his opponent packing and chipped up to 210,000.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:24 PM Local Time
Van Marcus has just doubled up a short stack with the chips in preflop. Marcus' opponent only had 9,150 in chips but held to be in a dominant position against Marcus' .
The board ran out failing to connect with Marcus' kicker, giving his opponent the double up. Marcus is back to 64,000.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:23 PM Local Time
Tony Korfman, notoriously inappropriate hothead and author of Texas Hold'em: Tournaments, Cash Games, and Embarrassing Social Gas, raised to 1,700. After a minute, Fatima de Melo raised to 5,100 on the button. Korfman flatted, leaving de Melo about 13,000 behind. The flop fell , and Korfman tossed out 8,000. De Melo went into deep thought. She bit her finger and studied the board as ESPN's cameras swarmed the table. "You want to know what I have?" Korfman asked. "I have king-queen." She laughed. "Will you show?" He agreed, and she folded her pocket jacks face up, saying she'd put him on king-queen before he'd made that comment.
"I got nothing," Korman said, flipping up . "That's sick," she said, sadly looking down at her remaining chips. Korfman just grinned at the cameras. Wonder if he factored TV-time equity into his play.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:23 PM Local Time
Berry Johnston got his entire stack in the middle before the flop with and was in great shape against his opponent's . But this is a bustout post, so you know how these things go. The flop made his opponent a set and left Johnston drawing extremely thin. He was already out of his chair when the hit the turn, and heading for the door when the hit the river.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:21 PM Local Time
Dewey Tomko limped in from middle position, along with another player, before Jeff Fenech made it 2,400 from the hi-jack.
Both players called to see the flop fall, and the action checked round.
The turn landed the and Fenech's 2,500-chip bet was met with a fold from Tomko and a call from the player caught in the middle.
The river landed the and Fenech's 12,000-chip bet remained uncalled as the 'Marrickville Mauler' collected the pot to move to 75,000 in chips.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:19 PM Local Time
With a raise to 1,500 from under the gun, Sarah Underwood made the call on the button to see a flop of . The UTG-player checked to Underwood who fired 2,500. Her opponent made the call.
The turn was the and it was again checked to Underwood who upped the price to 4,000. Her opponent again made the call. The river was the and both players checked it down.
Underwood held for busted flush draw, as her opponent collected with for top pair. Underwood is down to 22,600.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:19 PM Local Time
Chris Moneymaker was under the gun and raised to 1,400. One early position player and the big blind tagged along to see a flop of . Everyone checked to the on the turn, at which point the big blind checked and Moneymaker bet 2,600.
The early position player then raised to 6,100, the big blind folded and Moneymaker made the call. The river was the and Moneymaker check-called his opponent's 5,000 bet. Moneymaker showed for a straight but was behind the other player's Broadway straight.
Moneymaker is down to 83,000.
Friday, July 9, 2010 4:16 PM Local Time
Catching the action with the board reading , we found both Brock Parker and opponent committing 7,000 each as the dealer dropped the on the turn.
Parker check-called another 7,000-chip bet as the river landed the and both players checked it through.
Parker tabled his , but it would be his opponent's that would see him collect the pot as Parker slips to 18,0000 in chips.