Thursday, September 16, 2010 4:51 PM Local Time
We picked up the action on the turn as the board showed . Andrew Pantling was first to speak, and he made it 50,000 to go. Laak obliged him with the call, and Pantling checked to him on the river. Laak wasn't checking back; he fired a wager of 97,000 chips, and that was enough to garner a fold and send another pot over to his corner.
Laak is getting there, having almost worked his stack up to match that of his opponent.
Laak - 845,000
Pantling - 985,000
Thursday, September 16, 2010 4:50 PM Local Time
Andrew Pantling opened to 24,000 from the button, and Phil Laak called to see a flop. It brought , and Laak check-called a 31,000-chip bet. Pantling checked behind Laak when the landed on fourth street, and the blank hit fifth street. Now it was Laak's turn to bet, and he pushed out 45,000 chips. Pantling called, and he could kiss those chips goodbye.
Laak tabled the winning , and he's trying to chip his way to even here. He's not quite there yet, and Pantling has a heads-up championship on his résumé already, but this one sure does have the trappings of a pretty fair fight.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 4:43 PM Local Time
Phil Laak limped in from the button and Andrew Pantling raised to 22,000. Laak called, and Pantling fired 32,000 at the flop. Laak called, and the two men check-checked the turn. The river was the , and Pantling bet again, 41,000 this time, and Laak made a relatively expedient call.
Pantling's was a miss, and Laak's was good for trip kings and the pot.
Laak - 755,000
Pantling - 1,075,000
Thursday, September 16, 2010 4:38 PM Local Time
Phil Laak opened to 20,000, and Andrew Pantling called. The dealer spread out on the flop, and Pantling called a continuation bet of 30,000. He checked again on the turn, and this time a second bullet 80,000 chips strong was just what Laak needed to win the pot.
Laak - 680,000
Pantling - 1,150,000
Thursday, September 16, 2010 4:32 PM Local Time
On a flop, we picked up the action as Phil Laak led out with a bet of 35,000. Pantling made the call, and Laak slowed down on the turn. When he checked, Pantling took the opportunity to lay out a bet of 82,000. That was the winner; Laak folded himself down to 648,000, and the first little victory of heads-up play goes to Pantling.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 4:27 PM Local Time
The players have been called back to their chairs, and Phil Laak insisted upon a little redecorating before beginning heads-up play. Laak and Pantling have moved to the one and two seats because Laak wanted to make sure all of the "witnesses" (spectators) have a clear view of the action. There is indeed a growing great crowd of spectators, but we'd guess none of the witnesses are more intently focused on the action than Laak's better half, Jennifer Tilly.
In any event, the cards are back in the air, and we're heads up for the first bracelet of the 2010 WSOPE!
Thursday, September 16, 2010 4:05 PM Local Time
From the button, Phil Laak opened the pot to 30,000, and Andrew Pantling called from the small blind. In the big, though, Chris Bjorin pushed out his tall tower of red chips and verbally declared himself all in. It took just about two seconds for Laak to re-shove all in, and Pantling's cards hit the muck. With Bjorin at risk, the cards were on their backs:
Laak:
Bjorin:
Oof! Bjorin just laughed it off as poor timing, but he had to be awfully put out to run into such a monster hand at such a monster time. The flop wouldn't make things any better either. The dealer spread out , and Laak almost fell out of his chair with surprise. Bjorin was already shaking hands and packing his gear as the turn and river and completed the board.
It was another remarkable WSOPE performance for the double bracelet winner, but his bid for number three has come up just short. Bjorin is out in 3rd place, taking home more than £70,000 for his efforts. Oh, and he's just in time to catch [URL="http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/world-series-of-poker-europe-2010/event-2-pot-limit-omaha/"+]the start of WSOPE Event #2[/URL], the £5,000 PLO funfest.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 3:57 PM Local Time
Phil Laak raised to 30,000 before Andrew Pantling reraised to 80,000. Laak was in the small blind and Pantling in the big blind. Laak put in a four-bet to an unknown amount and that got a fold from Pantling. Laak showed pocket queens.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 3:39 PM Local Time
Andrew Pantling raised on the button to 16,000, the minimum allotted raise. Chris Bjorin moved all in from the small blind for 87,000. Pantling made the call and the cards were on their backs. Pantling's was behind and in a dominating way as Bjorin held the .
The flop came down and although Pantling didn't hit, he couldn't do anything but like his chances much better now after having flopped a flush draw.
The turn brought the and now Pantling could hit any nine, any six, any ten or any spade... pretty much the entire deck. The dealer somehow managed to pull out the for the river card though and Bjorin staved elimination to double up.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 3:38 PM Local Time
Chris Bjorin came in raising to 20,000 from the button, and Andrew Pantling gave him calling action out of the big blind.
Heads up, the flop brought and two checks, and both men checked through the turn as well. On the river, the drew one last check from Pantling, and Bjorin took his cue to bet 20,000 more. Oops. Pantling check-raised all in, and Bjorin was forced to fold and leave his 88,000 chips for another opportunity.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 3:32 PM Local Time
From the button, chip leader Andrew Pantling raised to 16,000. Phil Laak made the call from the big blind and the two players took a flop of . Laak checked and Pantling fired 40,000. Laak made the call.
The turn card added the to the board and Laak checked again. Pantling fired out 63,000 this time. Laak tanked for a bit with a stack of 209,000 remaining. He asked the dealer to spread the pot and he tanked for a bit more. Then, Laak announced that he was all in. Pantling shook his head and mucked his hand, while Laak picked up the pot and moved to 328,000. Pantling still has a big lead with 1.28 million.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 3:28 PM Local Time
Phil Laak raised to 22,000 from the button and Chris Bjorin defended from the big blind by making the call. A flop of was spread on the felt and action was checked by both players to see the hit fourth street. Both players checked again and the fell on the river. Both players checked again and Bjorin's was the winning hand.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 3:26 PM Local Time
Phil Laak raised to 24,000 from the small blind and Andrew Pantling called from the big bind. The flop came down . Laak fired 37,000 and Pantling made the call.
The turn brought the and both players checked. After the fell on the river, Laak fired 110,000. Pantling folded and Laak showed the for the bluff.
"Gotta keep the bloggers busy," said Laak. "They have nothing to do."
Thursday, September 16, 2010 3:14 PM Local Time
As soon as Willie Tann left the building, Chris Bjorin took over the title of the tightest player at the table. As such, even three-handed, most of the action is between Phil Laak and chip daddy Andrew Pantling.
We just caught the tail end of a pot with about 50,000 in it going to a river. Pantling made a big 72,000-chip bet on the end, and Laak made what would turn out to be a wrong call. His opponent showed for the two pair, and that was the winner.
On the next hand, Laak opened to 22,000 from the button before Pantling three-bet him to 64,000 next door. Bjorin folded and Laak eventually did so as well, and that's another pile of chips to Pantling's corner.
Laak has slipped back to 255,000 after those two hits, and Pantling now has more than two thirds of the chips in play. Laak, on the other hand, has an enormous lead in number of tweets during the last two hours.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:52 PM Local Time
The players are back in the their seats and the cards are in the air.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:45 PM Local Time
Chris Bjorin raised to 30,000 straight to open the action, and he found calls from Phil Laak (button) and Andrew Pantling (big blind).
The three men took a flop of , and Pantling checked. Bjorin continued out with 40,000 more chips, Laak folded, and the decision was back on the big blind. Aggression rules for the big stack, and he went ahead and check-raised to 115,000 total. A fold from Bjorin leaves him with 173,000 chips, while Pantling's stack continues to swell.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:40 PM Local Time
Under the gun, David Peters came in raising to 19,000. He found action from the big stack in the big blind as Andrew Pantling came along with the call.
The two of them took a flop of , and the action went check-check. On the turn, Pantling took the betting lead with a wager of 20,500 chips. Peters called, now getting a bit thin on chips.
That brought the out on fifth street, and Pantling announced a covering all-in shove. It was an effective bet for the 111,000 chips that Peters had left, and the latter went into the tank for a few minutes as he considered the decision for his whole stack. Finally, and quietly, he said, "I call."
Pantling quickly flipped up for kings up, and Peters mucked his cards and stood up from his chair for the last time. The WSOP rule dictates that all-in hands must be shown down, and despite some friendly objections from the other players, the dealer was instructed to flip over the mucked as Peters made his way from the table.
Chalk up another WSOP cash for Peters and add it to his already impressive resume of tournament success. His bid for bracelet #1 has come up a bit short, however, and he'll have to settle for fourth-place money worth £48,202.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:26 PM Local Time
From the cutoff seat, Phil Laak raised to 16,500. Ilan Rouah decided it was his time to make a stand and moved all in from the small blind. His total shove was worth 56,500, just under ten big blinds total. Action folded back to Laak and he made the call, holding the . Rouah was in front with the , but Laak's cards were still very much live.
The flop came down and Laak picked up a pair of jacks to take the lead. The turn card brought the and with just one card to come, Rouah was left needing an ace and only an ace.
The final card to the board was the and Rouah was eliminated on the hand. He took home over £33,000 for his finish. Laak was pushed the pot and moved his stack to 455,000.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:25 PM Local Time
From under the gun, Chris Bjorin raised to 16,000. On the button was Andrew Pantling and he made the call. David Peters was in the big blind and squeezed all in for 126,500. Bjorin and Pantling both folded, allowing Peters to pick up the pot.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:22 PM Local Time
Action folded around to David Peters in the cutoff seat and he raised to 12,500. Chris Bjorin made the call on the button for the two to see a flop of . Peters checked and Bjorin fired 25,000. Peters folded and dropped back to 127,000 in chips. Bjorin increased to 280,000.