Sherkhan Farnood Poker Tournament Updates

Level 23 and 24 - Razz and Stud

Jun 25, '07

RAZZ

Table 41

In addition to housing to last year's champion, Chip Reese, and the chip leader , Eli Elezra, table 41 has seen a veritable whose who of big-name pros come and go.  When Carlos Mortonsen busted, Darrell Dicken replaced him.  David Grey took the former seat of Chad Brown.  This table seems unstoppable, but with tables breaking at an increasingly quick pace, this table is next in line.  When it goes it will unleash some of the toughest in the game onto the other tables.

Farnood Busted By Trips

Doyle Brunson eliminated Sherkhan Farnood during the razz level.  Amazingly, Doyle held trip aces in his hand, but also had a jack-high low that was good enough to win the pot and send Farnood to the rail.

Dan Harmetz  and T.J. Cloutier were also eliminated during the razz level.

STUD

Zolotow's Favorite: Position

Steve Zolotow was on a shorter than average stack when he announced that he was merely trying to survive through the seven card stud games, so that he could use the button and the positional advantage it offers.

Fade To Grey

A short stacked David Grey was battling for his tournament life at the treacherous table 41.  He got the last of his chips is after three cards against Chip Reese, who was showing a 10 with (J 8 )J. Unfortunately for Grey, Reese held (Q Q) in the hole and called his all-in.  Grey did not improve and Reese sent him to the rail.

Only 96 players remain in the event. With payouts beginning at 16th place, the money is still a ways off. But with such an incredible field, the mix of games and the amazing amount of money on the line, this is already one of the most  entertaining  and interesting events of the year. Make sure to catch all the action every hour here at Cardplayer.com.

Daniel Negreanu	180,000
Max Pescatori	158,000
Greg Raymer	158,000
Chris Ferguson	148,000
John Hennigan	145,000
Isabelle Mercier	120,000
Todd Brunson	85,000
Howard Lederer	55,000

Player Tags: T.J. Cloutier,   David Reese,   Steve Zolotow,   Doyle Brunson,   Eli Elezra,   David Grey,   Sherkhan Farnood,   Darrell Dicken,   Dan Harmetz

Rebuy Period Over

Jun 20, '07

The rebuy period is officially over but the dust has yet to settle.  The tournament directors are currently extremely busy sorting out the final rebuys and add-ons permitted at the end of the level.  The official numbers and prize pool can be expected sometime in the next level.

 

Some pros are prospering and others floundering.  Andy Bloch, Johnny Chan, John Juanda, reigning champ Eric Froelich, John D’Agostino, and Noah Boeken all have healthy chipstacks.  Gavin Smith and Phil Ivey are also doing well, and had quite a bit of fun with each other in the last level.  After Ivey raised pre-flop, Smith complained that Ivey was always raising in his blinds.  Ivey replied that Smith was the only one who had enough money for Ivey to want to go after.  In this particular occasion it was one of the last hands before the break, Both players checked the flop and turn, leaving a board of K Q 6 6 7.  Smith bet $2,000 on the river, Ivey raised to $6,000, and Smith reluctantly made the call.  Ivey showed 10764, for runner-runner full house, and Smith mucked.

 

A couple of players who weren’t having the greatest time with each other were Eli Elezra, Sherkhan Farnood, and Mike Matusow.  Elezra and Farnood were playing very aggressively and accumulating chips, and Matusow was visibly frustrated by their play. 

 

There is one player who has found early success in this tournament with very little committed.  He was overheard telling his friend as he was going on break that he has already built his stack to $59,500, and yet he has only committed $3,000 to the prize pool (his buy in and one add-on).  However he declined to give his name when asked.  We tried asking another player at his table, who replied, “I don’t know, Luck Box?”  The dealer at the table showed that Randall Edmonson started the day in that player’s seat, but obviously that was a high action table, and who ended the level in that chair, didn’t necessarily start there.  So it remains to be seen whether this mystery player, who may or may not be Randall Edmonson will find continued success in this tournament, but he’s off to an okay start.  Rick Fuller has a similar prosperous story having turned only his initial $1,500 into $50,000 in tournament chips at the break.  Get the full details on how much money was spent on rebuys at his table in our Pro Blogs section.

Notable chip counts:

John Juanda	50,000
Johnny Chan	40,400
Humberto Brenes	35,000
Robert Williamson III	34,000
Andy Bloch	34,000
Andrew Black	32,000
Phil Ivey	29,000
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi	28,000
Scott Clements	26,300
John D'Agostino	24,000
Juha Helppi	23,500
Lee Watkinson	19,700
Rolf Slotboom	19,100
Scott Fischman	16,700
Greg Raymer	16,600
Michael Binger	16,000
Erik Seidel	15,500
John "The Razor" Phan	14,000
Max Pescatori	13,000
Kirk Morrison	13,000
William Thorsson	12,500
David Williams	12,500
David "Devilfish" Ulliott	12,100
Sammy Farha	12,000
Minh Ly	12,000
Daniel Alaei	12,000

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Andy Bloch,   John D'Agostino,   Mike Matusow,   Rick Fuller,   Eli Elezra,   Gavin Smith,   Johnny Chan,   Phil Ivey,   Noah Boeken,   Sherkhan Farnood,   Eric Froehlich

Day Two - Hour Six

Jun 09, '07

Final Four

Fifteen minutes into hour six of play the fifth table broke and the players took their new seats at the final four tables. Paul Darden joined Barry Greenstein, while Mimi Tran joined Ted Forrest. William Chen was eliminated before these new tables were formed.

Floor!

A dispute had broken out at one of the tables and the dealer called for the floor. Seat three had bet out of turn for $2,000. Toni Vardjavand had then quickly raised to $4,000. The dispute concerned whether the $2,000 initial bet of seat three was committed to the pot. Tournament Director Chris Spears made the ruling that because new action had been initiated on the hand by Vardjavand, seat three was able to retain her $2,000.

Barnes Storm

Chris Barnes completed a free fall that saw his chip stack lowered to $21,500 when his opponent made threes full of sevens. His opponent doubled on the hand and Barnes was now below the average chip stack. Greg Raymer had also fallen a bit to $50,000. Barry Greenstein had made ample use of the preceding hour and now had $96,000. Greenstein was now the chip leader.

The Rise of Matthew Kelly

Matthew Kelly bet $2,000 on third street and his opponent in seat eight made the call. Kelly continued to lead out on every street and his opponent continued to call, except on fifth street where he raised to $4,000 and Kelly made the call. Kelly turned up AK(J47K)2 and his opponent mucked with Q252 exposed. Kelly now had $91,000, good for second place.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

A player who would undoubtedly win the Larry David look-a-like award for the tournament then went on a strange odyssey. This journey would ultimately leave him on tilt, and on the rail. He started the trip by doubling up through Steve Sung. Sung still held $65,000 after the hand. He was then involved in a hand where Vardjavand had bet $4,000 on seventh street with 2A106 exposed. Our anti-hero had 3645 exposed and said, “Whoa!” Sherkhan Farnood then said to him, “The worst thing is you could lose the pot, nothing more.” The call was made and Vardjavand turned over a pair of sixes and an ace in the hole for a full house. After mucking his cards he got up from the table and had a few choice words to mutter under his breath.

Bang!

A few hands later our Larry David look-a-like was involved in a hand with Farnood and Steven Richmond. Richmond was all in for a $2,100 bet on fifth street. The 9 had been dealt to him and he had yelled, “Nine of spades, BANG!” when it hit the table. Farnood tossed his cards into the muck and the tortured soul of the past half hour made the call. He exposed 1010(102Q) and Richmond showed 76(859). Sixth and seventh street did not improve either player and Richmond had survived the hand. This left the Larry David clone with just $1,800, which he did not hold on to for long.

At the conclusion of the hour there were 30 players left at the four tables and they were all sent to a fifteen minute break.

Player Tags: Sherkhan Farnood,   Steve Sung,   Varahram Vardjavand

One Bust Away From Final Two Tables

Jun 07, '07

Returning from the dinner break with twenty three players remaining, a number of big names where on short stacks.  Johnny Chan, Cory Zeidman and onetime chip leader Sherkhan Farnood all were close to being out, and each of them got all their money in and doubled up to survive.  Chan had a pair of tens against an opponents queens, and caught the case ten to double up.  Zeidman must have become frustrated as he repeatedly had the low card and was forced to bring it in for $1,000.  Down to less than $10,000, Zeidman finally doubled off Chan, but not without sweating.  With all this money in on sixth street, Zeidman had a queen high straight and a club draw with the (109)JQ98.  Chan revealed the (A7) 7Q37, for trip sevens.  Zeidman didn't hit the straight flush and had to sweat Chan squeezing out his last card to see if he filled up.  Chan did not pair any of his other cards, though, and Zeidman more than doubled. Sherkhan Farnood was eliminated in 22nd place, receiving $8,460.

 Chan was left short stacked after his run in with Zeidman, and ultimately was busted out when his pair of sevens failed to improve against Phil Ivey's aces.  After Chan's elimination, Table 55 became a pretty tough five handed table with David Oppenheim, Phil Ivey, Mike Wattell, and Zeidman all butting heads, and most of them with large stacks.  With only one player left to be eliminated before players converge upon the final two tables, action is really heating up. Make sure to check in on it here at Cardplayer.com.

Player Tags: Johnny Chan,   Cory Zeidman,   Phil Ivey,   Sherkhan Farnood

'Amazon' Women

Jun 07, '07

Only four tables remain here in the Amazon Room,  and that means less than thirty-two players remain in the $5,000 World Championship of Seven Card Stud event.  Five women players are still in contention, comprising approximately fifteen percent of the remaining field.  With only around a dozen female entrants, this is a very strong showing for women stud players. Both genders will be battling hard for the bracelet, and the play will only get more fierce with the money bubble less than a table full of eliminations away. Humberto Brenes was a casualty of this battle, being sent to the rail toward the end of the level.  Phil Ivey, on the other hand, took down a huge pot off of chip leader Sherkhan Farnood, whose three pair did not improve against Ivey's trip eights.

Keep your browser locked on Cardplayer.com for more hourly updates.

Player Tags: Phil Ivey,   Sherkhan Farnood

Dropping Like Flys

Jun 03, '07

The last two levels have proved to be the breaking point for many top pros.  Doyle Brunson was eliminated at the hands of Cyndy Violette failing to complete both straight and flush draws.  Mike Mizrachi was all in for his last $500, having been crippled on the previous hand, and lost to Chris Ferguson's two pair.  On his way out of the Amazon Room, Mizrachi stopped by Mike Matusow's table to settle their last longer bet.  A jubilant Matusow has also seen his tablemate Ted Forrest hit the rail as well.  A brief feud between Shawn Sheikhan and Sherkhan Farnood has been quelled as Sheikhan has busted out as well.  Other players who have busted include Blair Rodman and Max Pescatori.

Play is now entering the final hour.  There are approximately 120 players left.  Many of the chip leaders have around $30,000 with Farnood and Anthony Reategui among them.  Play will end at 3:00am PST with the final level being Stud-Eight-or-Better.

Player Tags: Chris Ferguson,   Max Pescatori,   Blair Rodman,   Ted Forrest,   Shawn Sheikhan,   Mike Matusow,   Doyle Brunson,   Michael Mizrachi,   Cyndy Violette,   Sherkhan Farnood,   Anthony Reategui