Steve Wolff Poker Tournament Updates

$1,500 HORSE - Final Day - Level 20

Jul 01, '08

Blinds/Antes: Razz, Stud  – Ante: 2000, Bring: 2000, Complete: 8000.  Hold’em – Blinds: 4000/8000

Players Remaining: 13 of 803

Chip Leaders:
Phil Hellmuth - 420000          
Tommy Hang - 282000          
Victor Ramdin - 275000        
Sam Silverman - 245000        
James Schaaf - 205000          
Matt Grapenthien - 170000   
Edward Brogdon - 155000    
Jason Dollinger - 145000       
Esther Rossi - 130000            
Phillip Penn Sr. - 130000

Eliminations:
Stephen Wolff Eliminated in 17th Place ($6,686)
Art Young Eliminated in 16th Place ($8,878)
Keith Sexton Eliminated in 15th Place ($8,878)
Arash Ghaneian Eliminated in 14th Place ($11,070)

Big Hands:

Stephen Wolff Eliminated in 17th Place ($6,686)

As the remaining players continued to battle down to final table play, Stephen Wolff made his exit during the hold’em round.  Wolff got it all in with Phillip Penn on a flop of As8c3h and turned over Ad5c.  Penn showed 8s3s for bottom two pair.  The turn and river blanked for Wolff, and he earned $6,686 for his 17th place finish.

Art Young Eliminated in 16th Place ($8,878)

Lonnie Heimowitz’s ten-seven low was good enough to eliminate Art Young during the razz round.  Young earned $8,878 for his 16th place finish.

Keith Sexton Eliminated in 15th Place ($8,878)

Steve Diano continued his elimination binge by taking aim on Keith Sexton during the razz round.  Diano eliminated Sexton when his eight-low was good against Sexton’s ten-low.  Sexton earned $8,878 for his 15th place finish.

Arash Ghaneian Eliminated in 14th Place ($11,070)

Arash Ghaneian was eliminated as the prize amounts continued to rise, earning an $11,070 payday in the stud round when Matt Grapenthein’s two pair, queens and jacks, caused Ghaneian to muck his hole cards.

 

Player Tags: Art Young,   Phil Hellmuth,   Victor Ramdin,   Arash Ghaneian,   Keith Sexton,   Steve Wolff,   European Report

$50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E - Day 2 - Level 7 Recap

Jun 26, '08

Stakes:
Hold’em/Omaha:  1,000-2,000 blinds
Stud/Razz/Stud8:  500 ante, 500 bring in, 2,000-4,000 stakes

Players Left: 122 of 148

Chip Leaders:
Steve Wolff - 285,000
Tom Dwan - 280,000
Isabelle Mercier - 280,000
Abraham "Abe" Mosseri - 260,000
Joe Cassidy - 257,000
Ray Dehkharghani - 245,000
Doug Ganger - 230,000
William Chen - 225,000
Minh Ly - 200,000
Pat Pezzin - 196,500

Average Stack: 121,300

Eliminations:
Andrew Black
David Grey
Antanas “Tony G” Guoga

Big Hands and Storylines:

Hold’em

Ivey Climbing

Robert Mizrachi raised from early position and was met by a re-raise from Phil Ivey on the button. Mizrachi called and the two saw a AK7 flop. Mizrachi check-raised Ivey’s continuation bet and Ivey made the call. Mizrachi bet 4,000 on the 7 turn and Ivey made a quick call. The river was the 6. Mizrachi checked and Ivey bet. Mizrachi mulled it over his decision for a minute or so before announcing a call. Ivey turned over AJ. His pair of aces was good enough to take down the pot and grow his stack to 130,000. Mizrachi now has about 12 big bets left with 50,000.

Razz

Chipping Up Off The Old Bloch

Hawrilenko: 85JA
Bloch: 42109

Matt “Hoss_TBF” Hawrilenko completed with the 8 and was raised by Andy Bloch on his left. Johnny Chan and Mike Wattel both called, as did Hawrilenko, and the 4 each drew a fourth card. Hawrilenko caught a 5, Bloch a 2, Chan a J, and Wattel the K. Bloch led out with his 4-low, Chan and Wattel called, but Hawrilenko put in a raise and then Bloch 3-bet, squeezing Chan and Wattel out of the pot, much to their consternation. On 5^th street, Bloch bet and Hawrilenko called. The tables turned on 6^th street and Bloch check-called a bet from Hawrilenko. Both players checked the river and Hawrilenko’s (A-6-4) gave him an 8-low. Bloch briefly showed (9-7-3) and mucked his 9-low. With the pot Hawrilenko moved up to 90,000.

Stud

David Grey Eliminated

Andy Bloch completed with the T and was raised by David Grey with the Q up. Grey admitted that, with about 13,000 chips to start the hand, he was almost certainly going to end up all-in on the hand. That is indeed what ended up happening, with he and Bloch all-in on 6^th street:

Grey: (Q)(6)Q478
Bloch: (K)(J)1025A

Grey’s pair of queens was ahead of Bloch going to the final card, but Bloch had a slew of outs: any diamond, ace, king, or queen would give him the lead in the hand. Bloch flipped over his final card like it was hot: Q. Grey could only laugh as Bloch made a straight with the card that he so desperately needed.

Bloch now has an impressive 180,000 chips.

Stud/8b

Gus’ Flush Trips Up Kravchenko

With boards of:

Hansen: 8355
Kravchenko: 76KK

Hansen was the aggressor on all streets, betting when checked to and leading out when acting first. On 7^th street, Kravchenko timidly check-called Hansen’s river bet and was not happy to see Gus table (Q)(J)(7) for a flush. Kravchenko could not produce a low and the pot was shipped to the Dane. Hansen now has  60,000.

Player Tags: Robert Mizrachi,   Antanas Guoga,   Andy Bloch,   Minh Ly,   Gus Hansen,   Joe Cassidy,   David Grey,   Phil Ivey,   Abe Mosseri,   Alexander Kravchenko,   Ray Dehkharghani,   Isabelle Mercier,   Steve Wolff,   Andy Black,   Matt Hawrilenko,   Bill Chen,   Tom Dwan,   Doug Ganger

$50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E - Day 2 - Level 6 Recap

Jun 26, '08

Stakes:
Hold’em/Omaha:  900-1,800 blinds
Stud/Razz/Stud8:  400 ante, 500 bring in, 1,800-3,600 stakes

Players Left: 136 of 148

Chip Leaders:
Ray Dehkharghani - 220,000
William Chen - 215,000
Steve Wolff - 204,000
Erick Lindgren - 202,000
Abraham "Abe" Mosseri - 196,000
Chris Reslock - 195,000
Steve Sung - 194,000
Patrik Antonius - 190,000
Doug Ganger - 190,000
Farzad "Fred" Bonyadi - 185,000

Average Stack: 108,825

Big Hands and Storylines:

Hold’em

Good Start For Forrest

Erick Lindgren raised from middle position and action folded around to Ted Forrest in the big blind who made the call. The flop was J1010 and Forrest check-called a bet from Lindgren. The turn was the 7. Again Forrest checked and Lindgren bet. Forrest then raised and Lindgren called. Forrest bet the 4 river and Lindgren made the call. Forrest showed down KJ and took down a nice sized pot. Forrest is now just below the starting stack of 100,000. Lindgren is among the chip leaders with 200,000.

Horse Does Start With An “H”

Having been questioned about the situation by a few players, Jack Effel brought up the issue of whether the first game of each day should be hold’em or, instead, a game chosen by random draw. Effel asked for a show of hands from those who were in favor of a random game to start off each day. His request was met by only a meager show of hands, indicative more perhaps of the players ambivalence toward the situation than any real opinion. With such a lackluster show of hands, it appears that hold’em will be the game to start each of the days of this tournament. Mickey Appleman said it best, “Why complicate things?”

Omaha/8b

Fitoussi Gets Cut Out

Hasan Habib limped from early position and was joined on the flop by David Singer, Patrick Bueno, Michael Binger, and Bruno Fitoussi. The flop came AK2. Fitoussi checked, Habib bet, Singer and Bueno folded, Binger raised, and Fitoussi and Habib called. On the J turn, Fitoussi checked, Habib bet, Binger raised again, and Fitoussi and Habib called. The river was the 6. Again Fitoussi checked, Habib bet, and Binger and Fitoussi called. Habib showed A422 for the nut flush while Binger tabled 10543 for the nut low. Fitoussi showed... nothing. He mucked his hand quietly and shuffled his remaining 40,000 in chips. Habib has a more stable 80,000, and Binger has an even better 115,000.

Stud

“I Can’t Believe I Laid It Down!”

With boards reading:

Eli Elezra: Q10K2
Annie Duke: 3896

Elezra after leading out on 5^th street, checked his hand on 6^th street. Duke bet and Elezra went into the tank. After about 90 seconds of thinking, he flipped his upcards over and the conceded the pot to Duke. Apparently Elezra wasn’t too crushed by the lost pot, as he joked, “I can’t believe I laid that down. Two fours!” Elezra has about 85,000. Even with that pot Duke finds herself with only 30,000 in chips.

Stud/8b

Kaplan and Corkins Split Galfond’s Chips

Corkins: 7452
Kaplan: JQ104
Galfond: AK68

Hoyt Corkins completed with the 7 up, Gabe Kaplan called with the J, Phil Galfond raised with an A, and the two others called. Galfond led into his two elder statesmen on 4^th street and was called by both. 5^th street and 6^th street shared the same action: Galfond checked, Corkins bet, and Kaplan and Galfond both called. Corkins bet 7^th street and was raised by Kaplan, this put Galfond in a difficult position and he was forced to lay down his hand. A bit overeager, Kaplan flipped over his hand before Corkins made his decision. Corkins saw his opponent’s JJT  for a full house and made the call, showing A43 for a wheel. Corkins took down half of the pot, but was unlucky not to scoop it. After the hand, Corkins had 45,000, Kaplan 85,000, and Galfond 95,000.

Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins,   Annie Duke,   Erick Lindgren,   Hasan Habib,   Ted Forrest,   Eli Elezra,   Gabe Kaplan,   Bruno Fitoussi,   Abe Mosseri,   Ray Dehkharghani,   Chris Reslock,   Steve Wolff,   Bill Chen,   Steve Sung,   Michael Binger,   Phil Galfond,   Doug Ganger

Into Dinner

Jun 27, '07

Short-Stack Survival

The short stacks continued to hang on by a thread, including Gabe Kaplan. He picked up a decent amount of chips to help his push to the final table when he picked up a pot off of Greg Raymer during seven-card stud eight-or-better. Raymer had 3 7 6 6 exposed and Kaplan had 2 A 9 9 exposed when he flipped up his hole cards (A Q 8).

Cashing Out Err….Color Up

“Pleasure playing with you guys, but I’m going to cash out,” said Freddy Deeb with a wide grin on his face. He had four racks of chips ready to go for when the color up would commence at the end of the level. The players went on a 20 minute break while this took place and they would continue play until the dinner break began at 7:30 p.m.

Back to Hold’em

The game jumped to hold’em when the players returned from the break.

Greg Raymer Busted in 14th Place ($103,008)

Greg Raymer was all in and covered by John Hanson preflop. Hanson turned over pocket eights and Raymer showed down A 7. “I can’t lose, it’s my hand,” said Raymer in reference to Hanson’s two eights. The board suggested otherwise when it was rolled out 9 5 3 4 Q. Raymer was eliminated in 14th place and he took home $103,008 in prize money.

The Road to Omaha

The game was then switched to Omaha eight-or-better with $40,000-$80,000 limits.

Tim Phan Busted in 13th Place ($103,008)

Tim Phan bet $40,000 and both Gabe Kaplan and Freddy Deeb call. The flop was dealt J 8 7 and Deeb led out for $40,000 from the small blind. Phan called from middle position and Kaplan called on the button. The turn brought the 6 and Deeb led out again, this time for $80,000. Phan made the all-in call, and Kaplan called as well. The J on the river was checked by both players in the side pot and Deeb tunred up 10 9 8 4 for a straight. Kaplan revealed A K 4 3 to take the low and Phan mucked his hand. Phan was eliminated in 13th place and he took home $103,008 in prize money.

Down to a Dozen

There was now 12 players remaining and Bruno Fitoussi was moved back to the table he came from earlier in the day.

Steve Wolff Eliminated in 12th Place ($117,216)

On a flop of 10 3 2 Steve Wolff moved all in for his last $30,000 and Dewey Tomko made the call. Kenny Tran then raised to $80,000 total and Tomko called down that bet as well. Both players in the side pot checked the 10 on the turn. The river brought the A and Tomko bet $80,000. Tran called and flipped over 6 4. Tomko turned up A-10 for aces full of tens and he took down the side pot and the main pot. Wolff mucked his hand and he was eliminated in 12th place. He took home $117,216 in prize money.

Player Tags: Dewey Tomko,   Gabe Kaplan,   Kenny Tran,   Greg Raymer,   Steve Wolff,   John Hanson,   Freddy Deeb

Levels 47 and 48 - Hold'em and Omaha Eight-or-Better

Jun 27, '07

Double Up Dewey

The game switched to hold’em and on a board of J 5 2 2 Dewey Tomko moved all in. Amnon Filippi called. Filippi flipped up Q-5 and Tomko showed down pocket tens. The K was dealt on the river and Tomko survived with the stronger two pair.

Max Pescatori Eliminated in 19th Place

Max Pescatori was the next player to hit the rail in 19th place, just three spots shy of the money.

Bonomo Busts

On a board of K 5 4 A 5 Justin Bonomo is all in against Bruno Fitoussi. Bonomo turned up pocket sevens, but they were rendered obsolete when Fitoussi turned up pocket fours. Bonomo was eliminated in 17th place.

The Messenger

The clock was paused and play now went to hand for hand. The game had been switched to Omaha eight-or-better right after the Bonomo bust. The players now had a keen interest in where their fellow competitors stood. Johnny Chan served as the chip count relay man for the players, letting one table’s professionals know what the other contenders had left in front of them. “Man, that’s a bad information guy,” lamented Tim Phan in a half-sarcastic tone.

Bubble Boy – Noah Jefferson

Noah Jefferson had moved all in on the turn and Phan called him down. Phan revealed A Q 3 2 and Jefferson turned up A J 9 4. The 7 joined the board of A Q 6 4 and Jefferson was eliminated in 17th place. 

A Ray of Hope

Jefferson was told not to leave just yet after his bust out, because another player was all in on the same hand. That player was Steve Wolff, and if he were to bust, the two would split 16th-place money. These hoped were crushed though, when Wolff made quad kings on the turn. He beat out the quad sixes of David Singer, in a hand that only Omaha could produce.

A Pair of Hopeful Tables

There were now 16 players remaining and they redrew for seats at the final two tables:

Featured Table:

Seat No. 1: Chris Reslock
Seat No. 2: Amnon Filippi – Chip Leader
Seat No. 3: Dewey Tomko
Seat No. 4: David Singer
Seat No. 5: Kenny Tran
Seat No. 6: Steve Wolff
Seat No. 7: Mike Matusow
Seat No. 8: Barry Greenstein

On-Deck Circle:

Seat No. 1: Bruno Fitoussi
Seat No. 2: Mark Gregorich
Seat No. 3: Greg Raymer
Seat No. 4: Tim Phan
Seat No. 5: Thor Hansen
Seat No. 6: Gabe Kaplan
Seat No. 7: Freddy Deeb
Seat No. 8: John Hanson

Chip Counts

Player Tags: Dewey Tomko,   David Singer,   Noah Jefferson,   Bruno Fitoussi,   Amnon Filippi,   Justin Bonomo,   Steve Wolff