Liz Lieu Poker Tournament Updates

Level 6 Update: Ivey Doubles Up, Ho Takes Huge Pot

Jun 16, '09

Blinds: 400-800

Players Remaining: 158 out of 185

Chip Counts

1. Greg Mueller – 95,000
2. Shaun Deeb – 88,000
3. Lex Veldhuis – 74,000
4. Markus Golser – 74,000
5. Mike Sowers – 72,500
6. Maria Ho – 68,000
7. Mark Teltscher – 64,000
8. Josh Arieh – 58,500
9. Dustin Sitar – 56,000
10. Chino Rheem – 54,000

Average Stack: 34,049

Notable Eliminations:

Nick Schulman
Dustin Woolf
Mike Caro
Sam Grizzle
Nikolay Evdakov
Pat Bueno

Big Hands:

Duke Bests Ivey

With the board reading 1046Q, Phil Ivey fired 1,600 into the pot. Annie Duke then popped it to 3,200 and Ivey made the call. The river brought the 8 and Duke led out with 1,600. Ivey made the call and Duke turned over AQ for top pair and Ivey mucked his hand. He was down to 16,000 while Duke was cruising with 45,000.

Tran Forces Wahlbeck Out

Mimi Tran raised to 1,600 preflop and Ville Wahlbeck made the call. The flop came A96 and Tran fired out 800. Wahlbeck mucked his hand and he was around 24,000. Tran raked in the pot and improved her chip stack to
42,000.

Ho Flushes A Monster Pot

Maria Ho raised to 1,600 preflop and her opponent in seat 4 raised to 2,400. Ho made the call and the flop came 643. Ho checked and her opponent took the bait, firing 800. Ho raised to 1,600 and he proceeded to three-bet to 2,400. Ho made the call and the K came on the turn. Seat 4 bet 1,600 and Ho raised to 3,200. Seat 4 then three-bet again to 4,800 and Ho just called. The 5 came on the turn and Ho checked again. Seat 4 checked behind her and Ho showed Q10 for a flush and seat 4 mucked. Ho raked in the huge pot and she was over 60,000 after the hand.

Ivey Drops More Chips

On a flop of 1074, Phil Ivey led out for 800 and his opponent in seat 4 raised to 1,600. Ivey three-bet to 2,400 and seat 4 made the call. The turn brought the 6 and Ivey fired 1,600. Seat 4 called again and the river was the 5. Ivey decided to check and his opponent bet 1,600. After short thought, Ivey made the call and his opponent tabled 98 for the straight. Ivey gave a frustrated look and mucked his hand. He was down to just 6,200 after the hand.

Three Ducks On Two Trays For Robin Hood

After a flop of 1023, Barry Greenstein, Eli Elezra and another player were into the pot for 2,400 each. The turn brought the 3 and everyone checked. The 7 came on the river and Elezra fired 1,600. Greenstein then raised to 3,200 and the other player in the hand folded his hand. Elezra decided to call and Greenstein showed 22 for a full house and Elezra mucked. He was down to 25,000 while Greenstein was at 44,000.

Slick River For Lieu, Ivey Doubles Through

Annie Duke, Phil Ivey and Liz Lieu were in for 2,400 each preflop. The flop came down Q67 and Lieu fired 800. Ivey called and Duke mucked her hand. Lieu then fired 1,600 in the dark, putting pressure on Ivey’s short stack. The 8 came along and Ivey called the bet. Lieu bet 1,600 in the dark again before the K fell on the river. Ivey made the call and tabled AK for top pair on the river. Lieu grunted in disgust as she showed QJ. Ivey just smiled and doubled up to 15,500 after the hand.

Smith Throws Seidel Off His Boat

Erik Seidel raised to 1,600 from the cutoff and Gavin Smith three-bet to 2,400 from the button. Seidel called and both players checked the flop of AA4. They did the same after the A showed up on the turn and the river brought the 3. Smith fired 1,600 and Seidel called. Smith showed 1010 for a full house and Seidel mucked. Smith improved to 12,000 while Seidel was doing just fine with 40,000.

Lieu And Her Girlfriends Double Up

The player in seat 3 raised to 1,600 and Liz Lieu three-bet to 2,400. Her opponent called and the flop came Q74. Both players checked and the turn was the 7. Seat 3 bet 1,600 and Lieu raised all in for 1,700 total. Her opponent made the call and Lieu tabled QQ for a set of queens. Her opponent showed QJ and the river was the A, doing no harm to Lieu and she doubled to just under 10,000.

Player Tags: Erik Seidel,   Annie Duke,   Barry Greenstein,   Mimi Tran,   Eli Elezra,   Gavin Smith,   Phil Ivey,   Ville Wahlbeck,   Maria Ho,   Liz Lieu

Level 11 Update

Feb 22, '09

Level: 11

Blinds: 500-1,000 with a 100 ante

Players Left: 170 out of 696
 

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Score Board

Notable Chip Counts

Antonio Esfandiari - 405,000
Kofi Farkye - 391,000
Mike Sowers - 235,000
KJ Nam - 209,000
Bertrand Grospellier - 190,000
Haralabos Voulgaris - 188,000

Average: 80,000

Notable Eliminations

Victor Ramdin
Kevin Saul
Eric Hershler
David Oppenheim

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Big Hands:

Victor Ramdin Gets Two-Outed Out of the Tournament

Victor Ramdin had a rough day. Earlier in the tournament Ramdin was forced to lay down the third nut flush against Blake Cahail even though the flush draw had come runner, runner to get there.

On his final hand, Ramdin held trips fives on the turn and was up against his opponent's pocket queens. The river was one of those two remaining queens and Ramdin was eliminated from the tournament.

Liz Lieu Cracks Aces

Liz Lieu was all in with pocket tens against her opponent's pocket aces. The flop and turn were blanks, but the ten on the river was enough for Lieu to double up over 100,000 in chips.

James Mackey Doubles Through Hoyt Corkins

Hoyt Corkins has gone out of his way to play big pots to close out this day of the tournament. Recently, James Mackey was all in with AQ against Corkins and his A8. The board paired Mackey and he doubled up over 65,000.

Don't Push Around Kofi Farkye

On a flop of K106, Kevin Saul bet about 35,000 and Kofi Farkye raised to 80,000. Saul then moved all in for 164,000 and Farkye instantly called with KJ. Saul could only show 85 and didn't catch up when the turn came 4K. Saul was eliminated and Farkye picked up a new stack of 385,000.

Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins,   Victor Ramdin,   Liz Lieu,   Kevin Saul,   Kofi Farkye,   Blake Cahail

Level 14 Update

Feb 23, '09

Level: 14

Blinds: 1,000-2,000 with a 300 ante

Players Left: 94 out of 696

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Score Board

Notable Chip Counts:

Mike Sowers - 470,000
Kofi Farkye - 418,000
Antonio Esfandiari - 297,000
Cody Slaubaugh - 290,000
Zach Hyman - 253,000
Jeff Garza - 240,000
Haralabos Voulgaris - 215,00
Chris Karagulleyan - 215,000
Bertrand Grospellier - 210,000
David Daneshgar - 205,000

Average: 148,085

Notable Eliminations:

Mohsin Charania
Todd Brunson
Ali Eslami
J.J. Liu
Olivier Busquet
Jon Dull
Eugene Katchalov
John Monnette
Ross Boatman
Luis Calvo
Farzad Bonyadi
Kevin Song
Rajkumar Ramakrishnan
Mickey Mills
Hevad Khan
Liz Lieu
 

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Big Hands:

Todd Brunson Eliminated

Peter Fedlman raised and Todd Brunson called preflop. The flop came 8-6-3 and Feldman bet. Brunson moved all in and Feldman insta-called. He held pocket sixes and Brunson flipped over 10-8 for top pair. Feldman won the hand and Brunson was knocked out of the tournament.

Liz Lieu Eliminated

Liz Lieu just got the last of her chips into the middle with QQ and her opponent held AK. The A fell on the turn to knocke Lieu out of the tournament.

Voulgaris Doubles Up Opponent

Seat 3 was all in with AK UTG+1 on a board of K739K and Voulgaris had him covered in the big blind. Voulgaris mucked his cards and doubled up his opponent. He held 160,000 after the hand.

Ben Straate Doubles Through the Master

Ben Straate was all in on the short stack with Q-10 against Men "The Master" Nguyen's pocket nines. Straate flopped two pair and then turned queens and jacks. Nguyen was looking for a straight card, but the river bricked, doubling Straate up to 65,000. Nguyen is now short stacked with 30,000.

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Left In The Deck:

Al Barbieri Yells his Opinion

A shouting match recently erupted over at table 26 between Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri and Ryan Young. Young was involved in a hand and asked his opponent, "You don't want to knock me out, do you?"

This table talk upset Barbieri who felt that Young was inducing a particular action with his words. Most of the table came to Young's defense and agreed he had done nothing wrong, but an irrate Barbieri continued the rant anyway. Tournament Director Matt Savage came over and agreed that Young never disclosed the contents of his hand and did nothing wrong. Order was restored and play continued, albeit with more tension than before.

Player Tags: Todd Brunson,   Haralabos Voulgaris,   Al Barbieri,   Ryan Young,   Liz Lieu,   Peter Feldman

Level 11 Update

Feb 22, '09

Level: 11

Blinds: 500-1,000 with a 100 ante

Players Left: 170 out of 696
 

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Score Board

Notable Chip Counts

Antonio Esfandiari - 405,000
Kofi Farkye - 391,000
Mike Sowers - 235,000
KJ Nam - 209,000
Bertrand Grospellier - 190,000
Haralabos Voulgaris - 188,000

Average: 80,000

Notable Eliminations

Victor Ramdin
Kevin Saul
Eric Hershler
David Oppenheim

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Big Hands:

Victor Ramdin Gets Two-Outed Out of the Tournament

Victor Ramdin had a rough day. Earlier in the tournament Ramdin was forced to lay down the third nut flush against Blake Cahail even though the flush draw had come runner, runner to get there.

On his final hand, Ramdin held trips fives on the turn and was up against his opponent's pocket queens. The river was one of those two remaining queens and Ramdin was eliminated from the tournament.

Liz Lieu Cracks Aces

Liz Lieu was all in with pocket tens against her opponent's pocket aces. The flop and turn were blanks, but the ten on the river was enough for Lieu to double up over 100,000 in chips.

James Mackey Doubles Through Hoyt Corkins

Hoyt Corkins has gone out of his way to play big pots to close out this day of the tournament. Recently, James Mackey was all in with AQ against Corkins and his A8. The board paired Mackey and he doubled up over 65,000.

Don't Push Around Kofi Farkye

On a flop of K106, Kevin Saul bet about 35,000 and Kofi Farkye raised to 80,000. Saul then moved all in for 164,000 and Farkye instantly called with KJ. Saul could only show 85 and didn't catch up when the turn came 4K. Saul was eliminated and Farkye picked up a new stack of 385,000.

Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins,   Victor Ramdin,   Liz Lieu,   Kevin Saul,   Kofi Farkye,   Blake Cahail

Level 14 Update

Feb 23, '09

Level: 14

Blinds: 1,000-2,000 with a 300 ante

Players Left: 94 out of 696

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Score Board

Notable Chip Counts:

Mike Sowers - 470,000
Kofi Farkye - 418,000
Antonio Esfandiari - 297,000
Cody Slaubaugh - 290,000
Zach Hyman - 253,000
Jeff Garza - 240,000
Haralabos Voulgaris - 215,00
Chris Karagulleyan - 215,000
Bertrand Grospellier - 210,000
David Daneshgar - 205,000

Average: 148,085

Notable Eliminations:

Mohsin Charania
Todd Brunson
Ali Eslami
J.J. Liu
Olivier Busquet
Jon Dull
Eugene Katchalov
John Monnette
Ross Boatman
Luis Calvo
Farzad Bonyadi
Kevin Song
Rajkumar Ramakrishnan
Mickey Mills
Hevad Khan
Liz Lieu
 

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Big Hands:

Todd Brunson Eliminated

Peter Fedlman raised and Todd Brunson called preflop. The flop came 8-6-3 and Feldman bet. Brunson moved all in and Feldman insta-called. He held pocket sixes and Brunson flipped over 10-8 for top pair. Feldman won the hand and Brunson was knocked out of the tournament.

Liz Lieu Eliminated

Liz Lieu just got the last of her chips into the middle with QQ and her opponent held AK. The A fell on the turn to knocke Lieu out of the tournament.

Voulgaris Doubles Up Opponent

Seat 3 was all in with AK UTG+1 on a board of K739K and Voulgaris had him covered in the big blind. Voulgaris mucked his cards and doubled up his opponent. He held 160,000 after the hand.

Ben Straate Doubles Through the Master

Ben Straate was all in on the short stack with Q-10 against Men "The Master" Nguyen's pocket nines. Straate flopped two pair and then turned queens and jacks. Nguyen was looking for a straight card, but the river bricked, doubling Straate up to 65,000. Nguyen is now short stacked with 30,000.

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Left In The Deck:

Al Barbieri Yells his Opinion

A shouting match recently erupted over at table 26 between Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri and Ryan Young. Young was involved in a hand and asked his opponent, "You don't want to knock me out, do you?"

This table talk upset Barbieri who felt that Young was inducing a particular action with his words. Most of the table came to Young's defense and agreed he had done nothing wrong, but an irrate Barbieri continued the rant anyway. Tournament Director Matt Savage came over and agreed that Young never disclosed the contents of his hand and did nothing wrong. Order was restored and play continued, albeit with more tension than before.

Player Tags: Todd Brunson,   Haralabos Voulgaris,   Al Barbieri,   Ryan Young,   Liz Lieu,   Peter Feldman

$10,000 World Championship Limit Hold'em - Day 1 - Level 5 Recap

Jun 15, '08

Blinds: 300-600

Players Left: 184 of 218

Chip Leaders:
Michael Binger - 60,000
Liz Lieu - 55,000
David Oppenheim - 55,000
Minh Ly - 42,000
Justin Bonomo - 40,000
Todd Witteles - 40,000
Mickey Appleman - 39,000
J.C. Tran - 38,000
Andy Bloch - 38,000
Richard Brodie - 37,000

Average Stack: 23,700

Eliminations:
Anna Wroblewski
Doyle Brunson
Marcel Luske
Patrik Antonius
Thor Hansen
Vivek Rajkumar

Big Hands and Storylines:

Kicker Problems for Boeken

Noah Boeken and Bill Edler tangled again, with Edler claiming his revenge on this occasion. Boeken raised from middle position and Edler re-raised him. The table folded around and Boeken made the call. The board came Q55T8 and Boeken check-called Edler on every street. Edler tabled AQ and Boeken rapped the table, flashed a queen, and mucked his cards. With that pot Edler is up to 28,500.

Duck Tales

With only four big blinds left, Vivek “psyduck” Rajkumar got all of his chips into the middle with AJ against his opponent’s A2. When the board ran out KT3K5, Rajkumar was up to 5,000 chips. Unfortunately his day would not last much longer and he busted 15 minutes later.

So That’s Why He Wears a Suit

We here at Card Player never tire of Marcel Luske’s antics. While many players’ shenanigans can be cruel and tragic (which makes them not really shenanigans at all) Marcel’s are always good-natured and amusing. After rivering a straight against Matt Hawrilenko to stay alive in the tournament, Luske leaned close to the table, laid his necktie flat on the felt, and made a very simple request to the dealer: “Gimme da money.” The dealer – like all of the players at the table – was entertained by this turn of events and obliged the Dutchman, placing the chips on his tie. As Luske dragged the pot in a most unusual manner, Terrence Chan asked Hawrilenko, “Now wasn’t it worth it to lose that small pot?” Unfortunately for lovers of fanciful fun and dapperly-dressed Dutchman, Luske would be eliminated later in the level.

Traniello a Thorn in Arieh’s Side

Marco Traniello has just taken two pots off of Josh Arieh and increased his stack to 28,000.

In the first pot Traniello raised from the button and Arieh called in the big blind. The two checked a AJ2 flop, and Traniello took it down on the turn (4) when Arieh check-folded.

The next hand was a bit bigger: Marco raised in early position and Arieh 3-bet him in late position. Theo Tran called in the big blind, and Traniello called. The flop was 992. Tran checked, Traniello bet, Arieh called, and Tran folded. Traniello and Arieh both checked the 6c turn. The 2 seemed to be a harmless river card, so when Traniello checked, Arieh fired 1,200. Traniello called and the two showed their cards:

Arieh: 8-8
Traniello T-T

Traniello’s recent run has propelled him up into the upper-third of today’s players. Arieh is down to 18,500, and Theo Tran is lingering at 13,000.

Player Tags: J.C. Tran,   Thor Hansen,   Josh Arieh,   Richard Brodie,   Mickey Appleman,   Andy Bloch,   Minh Ly,   David Oppenheim,   Doyle Brunson,   Marco Traniello,   Marcel Luske,   Bill Edler,   Noah Boeken,   Patrik Antonius,   Justin Bonomo,   Liz Lieu,   Todd Witteles,   Michael Binger,   Theo Tran,   V R,   Anna Wroblewski,   European Report

$10,000 World Championship Limit Hold'em - Day 1 - Level 4 Recap

Jun 15, '08

Note: Players are now on a 30-minute break

Blinds: 300-500, 500-1,000 limit

Players Left: 192 of 218

Chip Leaders:
David Oppenheim - 54,000
Liz Lieu - 37,000
J.C. Tran - 35,200
Justin Bonomo - 35,000
Todd Witteles - 35,000
Greg Mueller - 35,000
Andy Bloch - 32,000
Brock Parker – 32,000
Michael Mizrachi - 31,000
Howard Lederer - 29,000

Average Stack: 22,700

Eliminations:
Jeff Shulman

Big Hands and Storylines:

And The Crowd Goes Wild

Despite this being a world championship event with a $10,000 buy-in, all eyes during the last level seemed to be focused on the televisions airing the Lakers-Celtics game. As the game was drawing to a close and the Lakers were trying to maintain a 6-point lead, players debated which was the more effective method of closing out a game: fouling or allowing a 3-pointer. Other tables, meanwhile, were discussing point spreads and prop bets.

Without a doubt, the biggest roar of the entire day came courtesy of the NBA Finals. Eddie House’s twisting, turning, fadeaway 3-pointer to cut the Lakers’ lead to 3 was accompanied by a raucous volley of noise from the field here. Now that the game is over and the televisions have reverted back to a tangerine tournament information screen, things should be back to normal during level 5.

Shortstack Ninja

Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire raised pre-flop and called a three-bet from a late-position player. Devonshire then check-folded on a jack-high flop, conserving the remainder of his stack for a later battle. Devonshire has about 5,000 left in chips, only about 8 big blinds going into the next level.

Deep-Sixed

Brock “t soprano” Parker made it 1,000 from the cutoff and was called by the big blind. The big blind check-called Parker’s bet on the 982 flop. On the turn both players checked upon seeing the 2. The big blind bet the 6 river and Parker tossed in an orange chip for the call. The big blind showed A-6 for a rivered pair and took down the pot. Despite this hit, Parker still has 32,000 in chips.

Small Blind Special

Action folded around to Erik Cajelais in the small blind. Cajelais limped and was promptly raised by the big blind sitting in seat 1. Cajelais called and the pair a flop. J88 was the board and Cajelais called a 500 chip bet. The 7 came on the turn and Cajelais checked, seat 1 bet, and Cajelais raised. Seat 1 called and they saw the river: 5. Cajelais bet and seat 1 called. Cajelais tabled 87 for a full house, good enough to take down the pot. The hand boosted him up to 13,000, a far cry from his earlier 30,000 but still enough to get by.

Player Tags: J.C. Tran,   Jeff Shulman,   Andy Bloch,   Howard Lederer,   David Oppenheim,   Greg Mueller,   Michael Mizrachi,   Brock Parker,   Justin Bonomo,   Liz Lieu,   Todd Witteles,   Erik Cajelais,   Bryan Devonshire

$10,000 World Championship Limit Hold'em - Day 1 - Level 3 Recap

Jun 15, '08

Blinds: 200-400

Players Left: 218

Chip Leaders:
David Oppenheim - 50,000
Terrence Chan - 39,000
Todd Witteles - 36,000
Michael Mizrachi - 31,000
Erik Cajelais - 30,000
Robert Mizrachi - 28,000
Liz Lieu - 28,000
Huck Seed - 25,000
Greg Mueller - 24,000
John Hennigan - 24,000
Michael Binger – 24,000

Eliminations:
Phil Ivey

Big Hands and Storylines:

Michael Binger: Serious Business

Darrell “Gigabet” Dicken raised from early position and was called by Michael Binger two seats to his left. Dicken bet the Q75 flop and Binger called. The turn was the 4 and Dicken bet again. Binger tossed in a raise and Dicken, smiling, asked, “Whaddya got?” Binger slowly and seriously counted down the chips in front of him and gave Dicken an answer. Of course, this information wasn’t quite what “Gigabet” was looking for: “I meant the cards in your hands,” Dicken quipped, before folding his hand. We don’t know what cards Binger had, but we do know that he currently has about 24,000 in chips, a couple thousand more than Dicken’s 22,000.

Harman Hanging On

Erik Cajelais raised preflop from middle position and Harman called from the small blind. Harman checked raised him on the Q107 flop and Cajelais called. The turn was the 2 and Harman bet, Cajelais raised, Harman 3-bet, and Cajelais made another raise, putting Harman all in. Harman called and the two both showed down A-Q, splitting the pot and allowing Harman to live for another hand. Harman has only about 5,000 chips left, but Cajelais is sitting pretty with 30,000.

“Waco” Standoffish

Upon losing another pot, Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby tossed down his hand in frustration and started shuffling his chips -- all four of them. The quartet of remaining 1,000-denomination chips leaves him with a mere 4,000 from his starting stack of 20,000. Hamby will need a bit of luck to dig himself out of this hole.

Boeken Re-building

Noah Boeken raised from the hijack and Bill Edler called from the cutoff. The two saw a flop of A72 and both players checked. On the A turn, Boeken bet out and Edler called him. Boeken bet the river 9, and Edler quickly folded. This hand brought Boeken back up to 10,000 in chips while Edler slipped to 19,500.

Player Tags: Robert Mizrachi,   Huck Seed,   David Oppenheim,   Greg Mueller,   Michael Mizrachi,   John Hennigan,   Jennifer Harman,   Phil Ivey,   Bill Edler,   Noah Boeken,   Terrence Chan,   Darrell Dicken,   Liz Lieu,   Todd Witteles,   Erik Cajelais,   Michael Binger,   Jared Hamby,   European Report

Liz Lieu Sighting

Apr 15, '08

Liz Lieu is here in Monte Carlo, but as you may have noticed she was not in the coverage. That is becuase she unfortunatley came down with a bout of food poisining on Day 1A and didn't recover until today. She was feeling better, and thankful to have a friend that spoke French when she went into the doctor. The PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final staff did the right thing and refunded here buy in as well. She will be in Las Vegas next week for the World Poker Tour championship at Bellagio.

 

 

 

 

 

Player Tags: Liz Lieu

Hour Three Recap

Jul 06, '07

Players are busting out of today's day one heat at an alarming rate. Tables are breaking at a consistent pace and players with racks of chips are shuffling around the Amazon room on a quest to find their new tables. Thomas Wahlroos was literally moved from one end of the Amazon room to the other, only to find Liz Lieu seated to his right at his new table. The Amazon room is returning to a more familiar layout with about 115 tables left in the tournament and cash games and satellites emerging to add to the chaos.

The table adjacent to Wahlroos is home to Jeff Madsen who has been hovering just above $15,000 for much of the level. As mentioned earlier, Madsen is wearing what can only be called a ridiculous jester's outfit courtesy of Joe Sebok. Madsen looks like someone just kicked his dog and is constantly fidgeting with the jester costume that keeps covering his eyes and impeding his vision. Madsen looked up long enough to take a nice pot and build his stack to $24,000 courtesy of two unknown players at his table. With the board showing 10 10 7 3 Madsen bet out $1,500. The player in seat one called and so did the player in seat seven. The river was the 5 and this time Madsen led out with a $4,000 bet. The player in seat one took no time in folding and the player in seat seven called. Madsen showed the 10 and the player in seat seven folded.

Notable eliminations in the last hour include Marco Traniello, Shane Schleger, and Steve Billirakis. Schleger was eliminated by Richard "Quiet Lion" Brodie. Brodie made a preflop raise with pocket jacks and Schleger came back over the top all in for $10,000 more with A-K. Brodie made the and Schleger's hand didn't improve.

Andy Black and Vince Van Patten are jabbering away about poker TV and Mike Sexton. Black commented to a player at the table behind him that 'I though they were making people have IQ tests to get into the tournament this year.' after some inane boasting by on of this tablemates. Black has $23,000 in chips.

Former soccer stars Teddy Sheringham and Tony Cascarino are playing a steady game. They have $20,500 in chips each.

Other Euro chip counts include Marty Smyth on $14,050 in chips, Des Wilson on $23,200, Dave Colclough on $16,300, Chris Bjorin on $12,850, Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott on $10,550, Julian Gardiner on $43,600 and Roy 'The Boy' Brindley on $16,000.

Brindley had an unhappy start to the day after arriving late and getting tangled in a losing pot on his first hand. He's since recouped some chips saying, 'Instead of being happy to walk out after two hours, I fancy i can sit here all day now. ' Read Roy's Pro Blog exclusively at CardPlayer.com.

The unofficial current chip leader is Nestor Martinez with $94,000. Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf and Barry Greenstein are both in the top ten in chips with $50,000 and $48,000 respectively.

Mike Sexton	31500
Michael Mizrachi	31200
Billy Baxter	29000
Steve Paul-Ambrose	27600
Huck Seed	27500
Alex Jacob	25500
Tony Cousineau	24000
Tobey Maguire	23000
Perry Friedman	22000
Joe Awada	20000
John D'Agostino	20000
Mickey Appleman	20000
Thomas Wahlroos	20000
Joe Beevers	19000
Tony Ma	19000
Jeff Madsen	17500
Debbie Burkhead	17000
Liz Lieu	17000
Minh Ly	16500
Dewey Tomko	15000
Janet Jones	13500
Johnny Chan	13000
Joe Tehan	12000
Josh Arieh	12000
David Grey	11600
Frankie O'Dell	11350
Ray Romano`	11000
Kenny Tran	7000
Marcel Luske	4200

Player Tags: Barry Greenstein,   Richard Brodie,   Marco Traniello,   Dustin Woolf,   Steve Billirakis,   Shane Schleger,   Liz Lieu,   Joe Sebok,   Thomas Wahlroos,   Nestor Martinez,   Jeff Madsen

Hour Two Recap

Jun 16, '07

Eliminations

Liz Lieu and Steve Dannenman both hit the rail this past level. Only 83 players remain, meaning that after one more elimination all players are gauranteed $5,157.  At the end of level 12 players went on a short break , during which the $100 black and blue chips were taken out of play and the orange $5,000 chips were introduced.

Below Takes A Blow

After a moments consideration, Kevin "BelowAbove" Saul Pushed in a forty-stack of $1,000 yellow chips, silently announcing a reraise large enough to put his opponent all-in.  His opponent quickly called, and showed the 4 4.  Saul seemed shocked as he reveled his A Q.  The board of 6 3 2 9 K improved neither player, and Saul sustained a huge blow to his stack.

UK heroes
Praz Bansi is thoroughly  enjoying his game and has about $70,000 in chips. Follow his progress on Pro Blogs. Martin Green has $260,000 and looks supremely comfortable. Rob Sherwood and Dave Shallow are railbirding him and questioning his skills. Claiming the 'cash game wizard' isn't really that good! Martin is taking it in his stride though.

Rolf Slotboom and Ross Boatman are still in the thick of the action.

Make sure to check back on the charge toward the final table as it surges on here at Cardplayer.com.

Player Tags: Liz Lieu,   Kevin Saul,   Steve Dannenmann

Day Two Begins

Jun 16, '07

Day two of the $2,000 no-limit hold'em event was set to get underway in the Amazon Room at 2 p.m., but due to the huge field of today's $1,500 no-limit event, there are literally not enough tables to restart for another hour. 138 players are returning today, each guarenteed at least $3,831.  Notable players still in contention include Amnon Filippi, Rolf Slotbloom, Liz Lieu and Jeff Shulman.  Play will continue today until the final table is set, so make sure to check in every hour for updates here at Cardplayer.com. 

Player Tags: Jeff Shulman,   Amnon Filippi,   Liz Lieu,   Rolf Slotboom

(Multi)table Dinner Dilemma

Jun 10, '07

In addition to Darell Dicken, David Chiu and Daniel Negreanu are also playing mutliple events at one time. Tournament officials announced in the last hour that the dinner break for the $5,000 event will begin around 9:30 p.m., almost an hour earlier than previous 5 p.m. start-time events have been doing.  This apparently threw a wrench in the plans of the multi-tables, and Negreanu was especially upset at the lack of notification.  The new dinner break time will apparently overlap with the dinner break of his other event, the $2,500 H.O.R.S.E., and will therefore make it harder for him to spread his time over the tournaments by taking away the ability to play one event while the other was on break. 

With the final 200 players of the ladies event sitting only feet away, Table 15 in the $5,000 World Championship of Limit Hold'em event seats two of the biggest names in the world of women's poker, JJ Liu and Liz Lieu.  Lieu got involved in a sizable pot against an opponent in the big blind. After a flop of K 5 3, the big blind checked, Lieu bet and the big blind raised. Lieu  called, and the A hit the turn. The big blind led out this time, and Lieu called. The A on the river prompted the big blind to check-call Lieu's bet, and when Lieu revealed the K K, he quickly mucked, and Lieu dragged the pot. 

The players are now on their dinner break and will return at 10:30, so make sure to check back around 11:30 for another hourly update here at  Cardplayer.com.

Player Tags: Daniel Negreanu,   David Chiu,   Joanne Liu,   Liz Lieu

Down to 18

Jun 11, '07

The final two tables of the Limit Holdem World Championship are set, with two big eliminations preceding the redraw.  Eric Froelich got all of his last chips in the pot with pocket Jacks only to run head-on into his opponents pocket Aces.  Froelich busted out in 20th place.  Soon to follow him was the last remaining woman in the field Liz Lieu, who was dispatched by Thor Hansen.

Still hanging on are Max Pescatori, who has managed to chip up to almost $60,000, Ian Johns, Ayaz Mahmood, and William Thorsson, who finished in 13th place at last year's Main Event.

Only 9 elminations left until the end of the action for the day.

Player Tags: Ayaz Mahmood,   Thor Hansen,   Max Pescatori,   William Thorson,   Liz Lieu,   Eric Froehlich,   Ian Johns

Sitar Bubble Boy

Jun 11, '07

Dustin Sitar was the unfortunate final player to bust out of the money in this event. 

Play will continue tonight until this final 27 players are whittled down to the final 9.  Max Pescatori refuses to go quietly and is still nursing a short stack.  Standing in his way at his table is two-time bracelet winner Eric Froelich, who was very aggressive during hand for hand play.  Liz Lieu and Thor Hansen now find themselves seated at the same table, along with Ian Johns.

We will continue to follow Johns's progress in our Pro Blogs, as the final 18 players are eliminated for the day.

Player Tags: Thor Hansen,   Max Pescatori,   Liz Lieu,   Eric Froehlich,   Ian Johns

Dinner Break

Jun 11, '07

The remaining 33 players are now on dinner break...a mere 6 spots away from the money. 

Doyle Brunson was the one of the unfortunate few to fall before the break in action.  Brunson also took time out to help award Phil Hellmuth his eleventh World Series Bracelet, while he came up short in his quest for his own in this event.

Max Pescatori, Thomas Wahlroos, Thor Hansen, and Benjamin Lin, find themselves all on short stacks.  Pro Blogger Ian Johns has pushed his chips to almost $150,000, while Howard Lederer and Liz Lieu are also in the middle of the pack.

Play will resume at 10pm PST.

Player Tags: Thor Hansen,   Max Pescatori,   Howard Lederer,   Phil Hellmuth,   Doyle Brunson,   Benjamin Lin,   Liz Lieu,   Ian Johns,   Thomas Wahlroos

Down to Forty

Jun 11, '07

Only 40 players remain in the $5,000 World Championship Limit Hold'em event.  The money bubble will burst after a few more than a tables' worth of eliminations, and a new group has risen to the head of the pack.  Ian Johns, who won a bracelet last year in a limit event, is sitting with around a hundred thousand. William Thorsson also chipped up dramatically in the last levels, and now sits around the $100,000 chip mark.  

Vanessa Rousso was eliminated this past level, making Liz Lieu the only female remaining in the event.  Eli Elezra and Bryan Devonshire were also eliminated in the past level.

The players are now on a short break, and play will resume at 7:45, so make sure to check back for more updates the the Pro Blog of Ian Johns here at Cardplayer.com.

Player Tags: Eli Elezra,   William Thorson,   Vanessa Rousso,   Liz Lieu,   Bryan Devonshire,   Ian Johns

(Multi)table Dinner Dilemma

Jun 10, '07

In addition to Darell Dicken, David Chiu and Daniel Negreanu are also playing mutliple events at one time. Tournament officials announced in the last hour that the dinner break for the $5,000 event will begin around 9:30 p.m., almost an hour earlier than previous 5 p.m. start-time events have been doing.  This apparently threw a wrench in the plans of the multi-tables, and Negreanu was especially upset at the lack of notification.  The new dinner break time will apparently overlap with the dinner break of his other event, the $2,500 H.O.R.S.E., and will therefore make it harder for him to spread his time over the tournaments by taking away the ability to play one event while the other was on break. 

With the final 200 players of the ladies event sitting only feet away, Table 15 in the $5,000 World Championship of Limit Hold'em event seats two of the biggest names in the world of women's poker, JJ Liu and Liz Lieu.  Lieu got involved in a sizable pot against an opponent in the big blind. After a flop of K 5 3, the big blind checked, Lieu bet and the big blind raised. Lieu  called, and the A hit the turn. The big blind led out this time, and Lieu called. The A on the river prompted the big blind to check-call Lieu's bet, and when Lieu revealed the K K, he quickly mucked, and Lieu dragged the pot. 

The players are now on their dinner break and will return at 10:30, so make sure to check back around 11:30 for another hourly update here at  Cardplayer.com.

Player Tags: Daniel Negreanu,   David Chiu,   Joanne Liu,   Liz Lieu

Down to 18

Jun 11, '07

The final two tables of the Limit Holdem World Championship are set, with two big eliminations preceding the redraw.  Eric Froelich got all of his last chips in the pot with pocket Jacks only to run head-on into his opponents pocket Aces.  Froelich busted out in 20th place.  Soon to follow him was the last remaining woman in the field Liz Lieu, who was dispatched by Thor Hansen.

Still hanging on are Max Pescatori, who has managed to chip up to almost $60,000, Ian Johns, Ayaz Mahmood, and William Thorsson, who finished in 13th place at last year's Main Event.

Only 9 elminations left until the end of the action for the day.

Player Tags: Ayaz Mahmood,   Thor Hansen,   Max Pescatori,   William Thorson,   Liz Lieu,   Eric Froehlich,   Ian Johns

Sitar Bubble Boy

Jun 11, '07

Dustin Sitar was the unfortunate final player to bust out of the money in this event. 

Play will continue tonight until this final 27 players are whittled down to the final 9.  Max Pescatori refuses to go quietly and is still nursing a short stack.  Standing in his way at his table is two-time bracelet winner Eric Froelich, who was very aggressive during hand for hand play.  Liz Lieu and Thor Hansen now find themselves seated at the same table, along with Ian Johns.

We will continue to follow Johns's progress in our Pro Blogs, as the final 18 players are eliminated for the day.

Player Tags: Thor Hansen,   Max Pescatori,   Liz Lieu,   Eric Froehlich,   Ian Johns

Dinner Break

Jun 11, '07

The remaining 33 players are now on dinner break...a mere 6 spots away from the money. 

Doyle Brunson was the one of the unfortunate few to fall before the break in action.  Brunson also took time out to help award Phil Hellmuth his eleventh World Series Bracelet, while he came up short in his quest for his own in this event.

Max Pescatori, Thomas Wahlroos, Thor Hansen, and Benjamin Lin, find themselves all on short stacks.  Pro Blogger Ian Johns has pushed his chips to almost $150,000, while Howard Lederer and Liz Lieu are also in the middle of the pack.

Play will resume at 10pm PST.

Player Tags: Thor Hansen,   Max Pescatori,   Howard Lederer,   Phil Hellmuth,   Doyle Brunson,   Benjamin Lin,   Liz Lieu,   Ian Johns,   Thomas Wahlroos

Down to Forty

Jun 11, '07

Only 40 players remain in the $5,000 World Championship Limit Hold'em event.  The money bubble will burst after a few more than a tables' worth of eliminations, and a new group has risen to the head of the pack.  Ian Johns, who won a bracelet last year in a limit event, is sitting with around a hundred thousand. William Thorsson also chipped up dramatically in the last levels, and now sits around the $100,000 chip mark.  

Vanessa Rousso was eliminated this past level, making Liz Lieu the only female remaining in the event.  Eli Elezra and Bryan Devonshire were also eliminated in the past level.

The players are now on a short break, and play will resume at 7:45, so make sure to check back for more updates the the Pro Blog of Ian Johns here at Cardplayer.com.

Player Tags: Eli Elezra,   William Thorson,   Vanessa Rousso,   Liz Lieu,   Bryan Devonshire,   Ian Johns

New Cards

Jun 01, '07

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. At least that is how Ryan Daut is approaching the day. Daut was eliminated from the final table at the WPT Mandalay Bay Poker Championship in ninth place earlier today. He then came straight to the Rio to play in the mixed hold'em world championship.

TJ Cloutier got involved in a hand with less than stellar hole cars at one point, but used aggression to take down the pot. Cloutier reraised $1200 total after his opponent bet $600 on a board of QQ29. His opponent folded and Cloutier said, "I'm not used to playing these, but I can play them, " as he turned over Q-4. Jeff Shulman has almost doubled his starting stack and picked up a pot off of Phil Gordon with ace-high.

Table 43 has been stock-piling poker talent as the field breaks down, and it now has Steve Sung, John "The Razor" Phan, Liz Lieu, Scott Fischman, William Jensen, and Bill Gazes. Doyle Brunson has built his stack up to $30,000 and looks like he is enjoying the tournament while chatting with Layne Flack between hands.

The tournament recently went on a break to color up the green $25 chips. It was also announced that their will be new playing cards after the break.  This was met by cheers from the majority of the players in the tournament. There were 36 tables left during this tournament-wide celebration.

Player Tags: John Phan,   T.J. Cloutier,   Jeff Shulman,   Scott Fischman,   Bill Gazes,   Phil Gordon,   Layne Flack,   Doyle Brunson,   Liz Lieu,   William Jensen,   Steve Sung,   Ryan Daut

The Battle for the First Bracelet Resumes

Jun 02, '07

Play began shortly after 4:30 in the $5,000 mixed-limit championship event.   Of the 451 entrants, 95 players remained and resumed their battle for the bracelet with $1,000-$1,500 blinds for the no-limit portion of the level.   Going into the limit half only 90 players remained. Early bust outs include Liz Lieu, Vanessa Rousso, and Perry Friedman.

Shortly after the limit portion began,Table 67 broke, sending Humberto Brenes and Jason Strasser to the already tough table 72 to join David Grey, Anahit Galajian and Barry Greenstein.  A few hands later, Strasser and Brenes got in a raising war and eventually got all of Brenes' chips in preflop.  Strasser's JJ were way ahead of Brenes' 1010, and after the board bricked off, Brenes was eliminated and Strasser padded his already sizable stack.

Keep checking in on Cardplayer.com for hourly level updates, as well as the Pro Blogs of Strasser and Joe Tehan.

Player Tags: Humberto Brenes,   David Grey,   Perry Friedman,   Vanessa Rousso,   Liz Lieu