Roland de Wolfe Poker Tournament Updates

Roland de Wolfe Eliminated

Jan 26, '11

The flop read K Q 10 when Roland de Wolfe made the call and Richard Young made the call. Their cards:

Young: A J
de Wolfe: K Q

Turn and River: 7 and 10

Young won with the straight and he grabbed the chip lead with 675,000, while de Wolfe hit the rail.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Richard Young

Roland de Wolfe Doubles Up

Jan 24, '11

Roland de Wolfe moved all in on a 9-4-2-3 rainbow board with pocket queens in the hole and one opponent made the call with pocket sixes. The river brought a brick and de Wolfe doubled up to survive. He now holds 25,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe

Roland de Wolfe Out

Sep 29, '10

Roland de Wolfe charged all the way to a fourth-place finish in the WSOP Europe main event yesterday, but he wasn’t able to recreate that magic at the PokerStars EPT London main event. De Wolfe has busted before the dinner break here on day 1A.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe

Level 6 Update: Brits Make Moves

Sep 24, '10

Note: Play has ended for tonight. Please tune back in at noon local time tomorrow (4 a.m. PST) as we go deeper into this year’s WSOPE main event.

Blinds: 100-200

Players Remaining: 122 out of 200 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1 James Mitchell — 178,850
2 John Dolan — 173,700
3 Antonio Esfandiari — 130,000
4 Brian Powell — 111,000
5 Yann Dion — 110,000
6 Eli Elezra — 100,000
7 Carlos Mortensen — 99,000
8 Andrew Pantling — 97,000
9 Phil Ivey — 94,350
10 David Peters — 92,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 86,325

Average Chip Count: 52,250

Notable Eliminations:

Allyn Jaffrey Shulman
Noel Furlong
Melanie Weisner

Big Hands:

Pantling Trips Up

A table that has attracted a crowd is one which involves Antonio Esfandiari, John Dolan, Andrew Pantling, JP Kelly, and Jim Collopy. In between playing “Johnny Lodden Thinks”, there is definitely some explosive poker going on. Esfandiari bets 1,500 from under the gun and Roland de Wolfe makes the call from the hijack. Andrew Pantling calls from the small blind and Yevgeniy Timoshenko folds, donating his big blind. The flop comes K K 6 and it’s checked to de Wolfe who bets 3,500. Pantling calls and Esfandiari folds. The turn is the 9 and Pantling checks. De Wolfe bets 8,500 and Pantling calls. The river is the 4 and both players check. Pantling shows K J and de Wolfe mucks his hand. His stack takes a hit and he now has 28,000. Pantling has 97,000.

De Wolfe also just lost $1,000 to Esfandiari in a “Johnny Lodden Thinks” moment involving John Dolan and this question – How much would you need to be paid to not show up on November Nine? Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day for the Brit.

Quietly Collecting Chips

JP Kelly bets 1,400 from the small blind and Andrew Pantling calls from the big blind. The flop falls J 10 7 and Kelly bets 1,600. Pantling makes the call and the turn is the 5. Kelly bets 4,600 and Pantling mucks. Kelly moves on up to a respectable 67,900 in chips.

Across the room, Kathy Liebert bets 1,500 from the hijack and Andy Black calls from the big blind. The flop is A K 10 and Black bets 2,000. Liebert folds and Black adds her chips to his stack which is now at 38,800. Liebert has 55,000.

Trickett Loses Some

Sam Trickett has been on some run of late and today he reached the top spot of unofficial chip counts, but dropped off slightly towards the end of play. One hand that helped his downfall was against Mike Browne. On a flop of 8 6 4 with a healthy little pot in the middle, Trickett bet 12,000 and Browne moved all in. Trickett made the call and flipped over 7 6 while Browne revealed 6 6. The turn was dealt the A, and the river the J. Browne’s stack doubled to 72,500.

Railbird Challenges Ivey

While Phil Ivey slows down a little in the last level of the night, he should still be safe in the knowledge he is among chip leaders at close of play. One uneasy moment however developed when a man made his way to the front of the rail and shouted, “Yo Phil! Yo Phil!” Getting everyone’s attention, the man then proceeded to point to his own face and exclaim, “You see this face? Remember this face! Remember this face! In 12 months time I’m going to take your stack!” “Okay,” said Phil laughing, and as the man walked abruptly away, wide-eyed, the area abrupted into laughter and conversation. “You better watch out Phil!” said Barry Greenstein smirking.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   John Dolan,   Andrew Pantling,   Sam Trickett

Level 10 Update: Viktor Blom Rockin' It

Sep 25, '10

Note: Players are now on a 90-minute dinner break. They will return at 8.45 p.m. local time.

Blinds: 600-1,200 with 200 ante

Players Remaining: 98 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Viktor Blom — 450,000
2 Darren Woods — 310,000
3 Phil Ivey — 296,000
4 Thomas Bichon — 290,000
5 Dan Shak — 285,000
6 Barny Boatman — 255,000
7 Andrew Pantling — 240,000
8 Rob Akery — 225,000
9 Bojan Gledovic — 220,000
10 Nick Schulman — 218,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 81,000

Average Chip Count: 105,918

Notable Eliminations:

John Racener
Tyler Bonkowski
Jim Collopy
Charles Chua
Andy Black

Big Hands:

Viktor Blom Takes the Lead

Magnus Persson raised preflop UTG+1 and Viktor Blom reraised preflop. Persson made the call and the two saw a flop of 9 6 5. Both players checked and then the 2 fell on the turn. Persson checked, Blom bet 13,500, and Persson made the call. The river fell 5 and Persson checked again. Blom bet 49,000 and Persson made the call. Blom flipped over AA and Persson mucked. Blom held 480,000 after the hand as he continues to increase his chip lead. He ended the level with 450,000 in chips.

Three Streets of Value for Schulman

Nicolas Levi raised to 3,000 UTG +1 and Nick Schulman made the call from late position. Ivey made the call from the big blind as well. The flop fell A 4 3 and Ivey and Levi check. Schulman bet 6,500. Ivey mucked and Levi called. The 8 fell on the turn and Levi checked. Schulman bet 15,000. Levi called. The river fell 2. Levi checked and Schulman bet 25,000. Levi called and mucked when Schulman flipped over 4 4. Levi held 100,000 after the hand. During happier times at the start of the day he was one of the chip leaders. Schulman rose above 200,000 after the hand.

Shak and Awe

On a flop of J 9 5, Antonio Esfandiari had led out, only to be raised to 18,000 by Dan Shak. Esfandiari went into the tank, only to eventually announce all-in for around 140,000 in total. Shak called without hesitation, and the players revealed their hands.

Esfandiari: K 10

Shak: 6 3

With a dominant flush draw, gut shot straight draw, and the currently good king-high, Esfandiari was a strong favorite with all but a few thousand of his chips in the middle.

The turn came the 2, leaving Shak drawing only to the remaining non-diamond threes and sixes.

The 3 did roll off on the river, and Esfandiari exploded out of his seat in shocked disgust. As the dealer laboriously counted out the stacks, Esfandiari politely said “Nice hand.” Shak apologized about the bad beat, but unsurprisingly this did little to salve Esfandiari’s wounds.

Shak’s stack grew to around 280,000 after the hand.

Show The Bluff

Phil Laak bets 3,000 from mid-position and Andy Frankenberger calls from the cut-off. Dan Fleyshman calls also, from the big blind. The flop is dealt A J 2 and it is checked around. The turn comes the 7. Fleyshman checks, Laak bets 5,000, Frankenberger calls, and Fleyshman folds. The river is the Q, Laak bets 11,000 and Frankenberger thinks for some time. He then raises it to 26,000, putting the decision back to Laak. Laak goes into the tank – he has about 58,000 behind his original bet. Eventually Laak passes and instantly starts trying to get Frankenberger to show his cards, “Show the bluff and make me crazy. I’ll pay you, just say the number!” He takes out some sterling notes and places them on the table. “I’ll give you £40 to show me the bluff,” he says smiling. Frankenberger stays quiet as the others debate what he had. He now has 147,000 in chips.

Up and Down Day for Lacay

Coming in late into the action, Ludovic Lacay has moved all in for 22,000 on a J 8 4 5 8 board with about 15,000 already in the middle. The decision is on Daniel Steinberg and he takes his time. He finally calls and mucks when he sees Lacay’s A A for the nut flush. Steinberg has 120,000 remaining while Lacay reaches the 74,000 mark. He soon loses a good few chips however when he calls Eugene Katchalov’s all in with pocket nines. Katchalov has A Q and the board falls Q 5 8 8 J. “It’s been like this all day!” says Lacay.

Present for Praz

Allen Cunningham bets 3,500 from UTG and Roland de Wolfe calls from the small blind. Praz Bansi calls from the big blind and the flop comes 9 6 5. De Wolfe and Bansi check and Cunningham bets 6,000. De Wolfe folds but Bansi pops it to 14,800. “What do you have behind?” asks Cunningham. It’s about 33,000. After a few minutes Cunningham passes and Bansi mucks. The British pro is nearing the 60,000 mark just before dinner time.

De Wolfe Gets Lucky

Guy Gorelik bets 3,000 from late position and Roland de Wolfe calls from the hijack. Martin Davis makes it 9,500 and Gorelik steps aside. Players begin to make their way out for the dinner break as de Wolfe and David go head to head. De Wolfe asks Davis, “A-K?” “Yep, I have,” answers Davis, and then sadds, “Maybe.” De Wolfe calls and the flop is dealt K Q 6. Davis bets 9,000 and smiles. De Wolfe sighs and debates whether he wants to come back after dinner with 10 big blinds. “I know I’m behind,” he says. As the room eventually clears, de Wolfe moves all in for 17,300. Davis calls and shows A K. De Wolfe reveals Q J. The turn is the A and the river is the 10 giving de Wolfe a straight. He smiles mischievously as Davis simply says, “Shit!”

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

The last two levels of the tournament have truly created a new hierarchy within the chip counts. Viktor Blom, the alleged “Isildur1” has been crushing it today and he now holds more than 400,000 to lead the way. We have two players at the 300,000 level and they are Phil Ivey and Darren Woods. The 200,000 club can count Barny Boatman, Nick Schulman, Thomas Bichon and Andre Pantling among its members.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Laak,   Dan Shak,   Eugene Katchalov,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nick Schulman,   Martin Davis,   Nicolas Levi,   Praz Bansi,   Ludovic Lacay,   Andy Frankenberger,   Viktor Blom,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 16 Update: Into the Dinner Break

Sep 26, '10

NOTE: The field is now on a 90-minute dinner break. Play will resume at 8:45 p.m. local time (12:45 p.m. PST).

Blinds: 2,500-5,000 with a 500 ante

Players Remaining: 28 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Andrew Pantling — 1,300,000
2. Phil Ivey — 699,000
3. Dan Fleyshman — 695,000
4. Nicolas Levi — 634,000
5. Bojan Gledovic — 605,000
6. Daniel Steinberg — 605,000
7. Arnaud Mattern — 480,000
8. David Peters — 442,000
9. Marc Inizan — 375,000
10. Ronald Lee — 367,000

Average Chip Count: 346,000

Notable Cashes:

29	Bryn Kenney	£21,106
30	Freddy Deeb	₤21,106
31	James Mitchell	₤21,106
32	Jean Paul Seatelli	₤21,106
33	Matthew Waxman	₤21,106
34	Magnus Persson	₤21,106
35	Darren Woods	₤21,106
36	Mark Thurgood	₤21,106

Big Hands:

James Mitchell Eliminated in 31st Place (₤21,106)

James Mitchell moved all in on a flop of 7 4 2 and Marc Inizan made the call. Their cards:

Micthell: 9-9
Inizan: 10-10

Turn and River: 3 and 6

Mitchell was eliminated on the hand in 31st place and he will take home ₤21,106 in prize money.

Freddy Deeb Eliminated in 30th Place (₤21,106)

Roland de Wolfe raised preflop from the small blind and Freddy Deeb reraised all in from the big blind. De Wolfe made the call and they flipped over their cards:

De Wolfe: K 8
Deeb: 9 9

Board: Q J 10 A

De Wolfe made a Broadway straight on the turn and that brought an end to Deeb’s tournament in 30th place. He will take home ₤21,106 in prize money.

Boatman Gets Chatty

Ivey bets 12,500 from late position and Barny Boatman raises it to 37,500 from the hijack. Ivey calls and the flop comes J 10 7. Both players check and the turn is the Q. Ivey checks and Boatman bets 35,500. Ivey calls and the river is the 8. Ivey checks and Boatman moves all in. Ivey asks how much it is and the answer is 175,000. He sits back and contemplates the call. Boatman then turns to him and says, “Were you trap-checking me on the flop?” Straight away Ivey gets very animated and starts repeating the question – “Was I trap-checking you on the flop?” He’s almost laughing as he stares at Boatman to figure out if he’s playing mind games. After a few minutes he decides to pass and Boatman adds a good few more chips to his stack.

Bryn Kenney Eliminated in 29th Place (£21,106)

Bryn Kenney bets 13,000 from the cut-off and Phil Ivey makes it 40,000 from the small blind. Kenny pops it to 80,000 and after about 30 seconds Ivey quietly says, “I’m all in.” Kenney insta-calls and flips over K K. Ivey shows A 8 and the board is dealt 10 10 9 J A. Not only did Ivey hit his ace but it was a club giving him a flush. He adds about 170,000 to his stack.

De Wolfe and Blom at it Again

Coming in preflop but slightly late into the action. Viktor Blom bets 28,500 from the button and Roland de Wolfe makes it 65,000 from the small blind. There is about 21,000 in the middle. It comes back to Blom who takes some time to think. One of the other players then calls the clock and Blom asks, “Who called time?” The player leans forward, picks up his short stack and says, “I can’t handle the blinds going up.” “You show?” Blom says to de Wolfe. “I told you I’d show!” says de Wolfe. “Promise?” asks Blom and then folds. De Wolfe shows him pocket jacks and moves up to 245,000.

Blom bets 12,000 on a flop of 7 6 2. De Wolfe bends forward to try and see Blom’s hooded face, and then makes the call. The turn is the J and both players check. The river is the 3 and Blom bets 52,000. De Wolfe leans forward once again and takes a good hard look at him. Eventually, he calls and Blom shows 10 10. De Wolfe mucks and his stack moves back down again.

Player Tags: Barny Boatman,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   Freddy Deeb,   Bryn Kenney,   James Mitchell,   Viktor Blom

Level 14 Update: Kid Poker Hits Rail

Sep 26, '10

Blinds: 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante

Players Remaining: 43 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Andrew Pantling — 795,000
2 Bojan Gledovic — 720,000
3 Darren Woods — 550,000
4 Phil Ivey — 435,000
5 Daniel Steinberg — 409,000
6 Arnaud Mattern — 365,000
7 Viktor Blom — 350,000
8 Thomas Bichon — 346,000
9 David Baker — 340,000
10 Yevgeniy Timoshenko — 340,000

Average Chip Count: 241,395

Notable Eliminations:

Eli Elezra
Daniel Negreanu
Anton Wigg

Big Hands:

2009 Runner-Up Eliminated

Daniel Negreanu just handed his stack over to Darren Woods who has already been sitting in the top 10 since early yesterday. Woods bets 7,100 from the cut-off and Negreanu makes it 20,100 from the small blind. Woods thought for a while and raised it up. However Negreanu insta-shoved for just a little more and Woods was committed to call. It was A-K versus pocket threes for Negreanu and Woods respectively. The threes held however and Negreanu stood up looking a little pale. He said, " I can’t believe you thought I was going to fold there. I’m never folding in that spot."

Negreanu’s hopes of taking a seat at his third consecutive World Series of Poker Europe main event final table have now been destroyed, along with many others’ as the field has been quickly demolished on day 3.

Loss for Levi

Freddy Deeb bets 7,500 from the hijack and the button, Anthony Newman. moves all in for 41,000. Nicolas Levi calls from the big blind and Deeb folds showing an ace. The board comes 8 7 4 2 8. Levi holds J J but Newman has Q Q and so improves to 88,000. Levi has 150,000 in chips now.

Blom Versus de Wolfe

Roland de Wolfe is on Viktor Blom’s left and the two have been battling it out in the past level, along with Thomas Bichon. De Wolfe bet 7,200 and Bichon made it 21,500. Blom called, as did de Wolfe, and the three saw a 9 5 4 board. It was checked to the K turn and de Wolfe and Blom checked again. Bichon bet 41,000 and his two opponents folded their cards. De Wolfe dropped a little to 120,000 while Bichon increased his stack to 355,000.

It wasn’t long before de Wolfe was involved in another pot, but this time for his tournament life. Blom made it 6,800 from mid-late position and de Wolfe called from the hijack. The two went heads up to the J 7 6 flop and Blom bet 14,500. De Wolfe looked at his opponent and then called. The turn was the 10 and both players quietly checked. The river was the 5 and Blom bet 25,000. De Wolfe moved all in and it was 61,800 more for Blom to call. After a few minutes he did, but de Wolfe turned over 5 5 for a rivered set and Blom mucked his hand. De Wolfe improves to 215,000.

Blondeau Takes from Ivey

Two other players going to battle are Rudy Blondeau and Phil Ivey. With around 41,000 in the pot and the board showing A K 2 2 6 Ivey was staring down Blondeau as he decided how much to bet. He went for 23,000, but Ivey didn’t take long to make it 81,000. Blondeau went into the tank but eventually called and flipped over A J. Ivey showed A Q and the two chopped the pot.

They didn’t have to wait much longer to face each other again. Ivey bet 7,500 from the hijack and Blondeau made it 21,500 from the button. Ivey let it go. In the next hand Ivey then bet 7,500 again and Blondeau made it 21,500 once more. This time Ivey called and they saw a 7 5 2 flop. Ivey studied his opponent with widened, darting eyes and then checked. Blondeau did not make eye contact and quietly put 26,500 out in front of him. Ivey let his hand go again and drops to 430,000, which is still among the top 10. Blondeau improves to 246,000.

Trouble for Inizan

Marc Inizan bets 7,075 from UTG+1 and gets two callers, the button and the big blind. The flop comes down 10 4 7 and Inizan bets 10,100. Hoi Cheung (the button) comes along for the ride, while the big blind steps aside. The turn is the 2 and Inizan bets 22,500. Cheung moves all in for 58,200 and Inizan goes into the tank. He eventually folds and Cheung collects the pot.

Mitchell Takes a Hit

James Mitchell bets 7,300 from the hijack and Viktor Blom calls. Ronald Lee then moves all in for another 79,300 and Mitchell calls. Blom folds and the two flip over their cards.

Mitchell: J J
Lee: A K

Board: A Q 9 Q 8

Mitchell’s stack takes a hit and he is now on 126,000. Lee doubles up just before break.

Timoshenko vs. Seed

Yevgeniy Timoshenko raised to 8,000 preflop and Huck Seed reraised to 23,500. Timoshenko made the call and the flop fell 10 9 5. Both players checked and the Q fell on the turn. Timoshenko bet 29,000 after some thought and Seed made the call.

The river fell 4 and Timoshenko checked after spending some time in the tank. Seed checked as well and he flipped over J J after Timoshenko had revealed K Q. Seed dropped to 115,000 after the hand and Timoshenko rose to 360,000.

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

Andrew Pantling has had a fantastic level and has come to the fore as chip leader with just under 800,000 in chips. It’s still a tough leader board however with the likes of Phil Ivey, Arnaud Mattern, Viktor Blom, and Thomas Bichon in the top 10. Mattern is on Pantling’s left with just under 400,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Huck Seed,   Daniel Negreanu,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nicolas Levi,   Yevgeniy Timoshenko,   Ronald Lee,   Marc Inizan,   James Mitchell,   Viktor Blom,   Rudy Blondeau

Level 22 Update: Final Table Set

Sep 27, '10

NOTE: Day 4 has come to a close now that the final table of nine has been set. Check back tomorrow at noon local time (4 a.m. PST) for live updates, photos, chip counts, and videos from CardPlayer TV. A champion will be crowned in London tomorrow.

Blinds: 10,000-20,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 9 of 346

Final-Table Seating Chart with Chip Counts:

Seat 1: Roland de Wolfe – 1,377,000
Seat 2: Marc Inizan – 349,000
Seat 3: Nicolas Levi – 428,000
Seat 4: Fabrizio Baldassari – 697,000
Seat 5: Brian Powell – 842,000
Seat 6: Dan Steinberg – 1,520,000
Seat 7: James Bord – 1,331,000
Seat 8: Ronald Lee – 1,899,000
Seat 9: Dan Fleyshman – 1,946,000

Average Chip Count: 1,153,333

Notable Cashes:

10

David Peters

£54,114

Big Hands:

David Peters Eliminated in 10th Place (£54,114)

David Peters raised all in from the button preflop for 340,000 and Roland de Wolfe made the call from the small blind. Their cards:

Peters: A 7
De Wolfe: A 5

Board: Q Q 5 9 6

Peters was eliminated on the hand in 10th place and he will take home £54,114 in prize money. De Wolfe grew his stack to 1,377,000 after the hand.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   David Peters

Level 20 Update: Down to a Dozen

Sep 27, '10

Blinds: 6,000-12,000 with a 2,000 ante

Players Remaining: 12 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Ronald Lee — 1,826,000
2. Dan Fleyshman — 1,777,000
3. James Bord — 1,609,000
4. Roland de Wolfe — 1,312,000
5. Fabrizio Baldassari — 1,010,000
6. Nicolas Levi — 786,000
7. Daniel Steinberg – 526,000
8. David Peters — 472,000
9. Andrew Pantling — 430,000
10. Brian Powell — 295,000
11. Marc Inizan — 264,000
12. Arnaud Mattern — 130,000

Average Chip Count: 692,000

Notable Cashes:

15	Hoyt Corkins	£42,454
14	Clint Coffee	£42,454
13	Barny Boatman	£42,454

Big Hands:

Marc Inizan Doubles Up

Dan Steinberg raised to 27,000 preflop from the cutoff and Marc Inizan reraised all in. Brian Powell made the call on the button and Steinberg mucked. Their cards:

Powell: A K
Inizan: A J

Board: J J 2 5 8

Inizan doubled up to 530,000 after the hand and Powell held less than 500,000.

Hoyt Corkins Eliminated in 15th Place (£42,454)

Hoyt Corkins raised to 35,000 preflop from the cutoff and Fabrizio Baldassari reraised to 102,000 on the button. Corkins reraised to 212,000 and then Baldassari moved all in. Corkins made the all-in call and the two players flipped over their cards:

Corkins: A Q
Baldassari: K K

Board: 10 4 2 Q 5

Corkins was eliminated on the hand in 15th place (£42,454) and Baldassari grew his stack to 1,010,000.

Clint Coffee (14th Place) and Barny Boatman (13th Place) Eliminated on the same Hand

Clint Coffee and Barny Boatman moved all in ahead of Roland de Wolfe preflop and he made the call, covering both of his opponents. Their cards:

De Wolfe: A A
Coffee: A J
Boatman: A K

Board: K 10 4 9 8

Coffee and Boatman were eliminated in 14th place and 13th place respectively and they each took home £42,454. De Wolfe rocketed his stack to 1,312,000 just before the break.

Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins,   Barny Boatman,   Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Marc Inizan,   Clint Coffee

Level 18 Update -- Early Action

Sep 27, '10

Blinds: 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante

Players Remaining: 19 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. James Bord — 920,000
2. Viktor Blom — 900,000
3. Ronald Lee — 850,000
4. Andrew Pantling — 760,000
5. Daniel Steinberg — 660,000
6. David Peters — 645,000
7. Nicolas Levi — 640,000
8. Dan Fleyshman — 625,000
9. Bojan Gledovic — 610,000
10. Clint Coffee — 590,000
11. Phil Ivey — 481,000
12. Hoyt Corkins — 435,000
13. Brian Powell — 379,000
14. Barny Boatman — 300,000
15. Roland de Wolfe — 232,000
16. Marc Inizan — 205,000
17. Anthony Newman — 196,000
18. Arnaud Mattern — 180,000

Average Chip Count: 546,316

Notable Cashes:

22	Greg Mueller	£26,400
21	Jani Sointula	£26,400
20	Thomas Bichon	£26,400

Big Hands:

Greg Mueller Eliminated in 22nd Place (£26,400)

Greg Mueller moved all in with A Q and was called by Brian Powell who held A K. The board fell 9 6 5 8 6 and Mueller shook his opponents’ hands and made his exit. He leaves with £26,400 for 22nd place.

Jani Sointula Eliminated in 21st Place (£26,400)

Phil Ivey and Jani Sointula ran into each other for the second and final time today. Ivey made it 20,000 from the button and Sointula moved all in for 197,000. Ivey did not look happy as he contemplated the call. He decided to go with it, moved his chips over the line and flipped over pocket fours. Sointula showed Q J and waited for his fate to be determined. The flop came down J 9 2 and Sointula moved ahead. The turn was the K keeping Sointula safe. Ivey would need one of the two remaining fours to win the pot, and that’s exactly what came down. Ivey now closes in on the 800,000 in chips mark.

Thomas Bichon Eliminated in 20th Place (£26,400)

Thomas Bichon made his last stand in the main event against Viktor Blom, but it was not meant to be for the French pro when his A-Q could not beat Blom’s K-Q. Blom found a king on the flop and waved goodbye to another opponent. He’s currently nearing the million in chips mark.

De wolfe Hangs On

After moving all in and chopping a pot with Bojan Gledovic, Roland de Wolfe survived once more, this time doubling through Marc Inizan. With just under 80,000 in chips, de Wolfe shoved with A 8 and Inizan called with 10-10. De Wolfe binked an ace on the turn and doubled his stack.

Fleyshman Doubles

Andrew Pantling bet 18,000 from under the gun and Dan Fleyshman moved all in from the cut-off for the best part of 300,000. Pantling went into the tank and when he came out the other side, he opted to call. He flipped over 10 10 and saw he was up against A Q. The board came down J 6 4 A 5 and Fleyshman doubled up to over 600,000.

Mattern Miraculously Survives

Arnaud Mattern’s pocket queens ran head-first into James Bord’s pocket aces. Viktor Blom triggered a raising war and then stepped out when Arnaud Mattern four-bet. Bord then shoved and Mattern made the call. The hands stood as they were after all was said and done, and pocket rockets were enough to send Bord sky-high into the chip lead, crippling Mattern down to just 12,000.

Before the first break of the day however, Mattern managed to double up three times. First with pocket sixes versus Brian Powel’s K-Q, then with A-3 versus Anthony Newman’s A-Q by hitting a 3 on the turn, and finally with pocket eights versus Viktor Blom’s K-9. Mattern made a set on the flop and is now on a little more than 180,000.

Player Tags: Greg Mueller,   Phil Ivey,   Jani Sointula,   Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Dan Fleyshman,   Arnaud Mattern,   James Bord,   Thomas Bichon,   Viktor Blom

Level 26 Update -- Steinberg, Levi, and de Wolfe Out

Sep 28, '10

NOTE: The players are now on dinner break and they will return at 9:40 p.m. local time (1:40 p.m. PST).

Blinds: 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 3 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 6,830,000
2: Fabrizio Baldassari – 2,480,000
3: James Bord – 1,120,000

Average Chip Count: 3,460,000

Notable Cashes:

6	Daniel Steinberg	£156,530
5	Nicolas Levi	£208,119
4	Roland de Wolfe	£278,945

Big Hands:

Daniel Steinberg Eliminated in Sixth Place (£156,530)

Ronald Lee raised to 110,000 and Daniel Steinberg reraised to 285,000 total from the big blind. Chip leader Lee then moved all in and Steinberg went into the tank. He had about 900,000 behind and after contemplating his decision intensely, he decided to call. The two revealed their cards:

Steinberg: A J
Lee: 4 4

Board: Q 9 6 3 8

Pocket fours were enough to scoop the whole lot and Steinberg hit the rail £156,530 richer.

Nicolas Levi Eliminated in Fifth Place (£208,119)

Nicolas Levi bet 135,000 from the cut-off and Lee raised enough from the big blind to put the Frenchman all in. Just moments before this hand Levi had made the all-in move but this time he was calling all in. After some thought, Levi called and showed 9 9. Lee flipped over K Q.

The board ran out 8 5 4 K 10 and with that Lee had destroyed another finalist.

Roland de Wolfe Eliminated in Fourth Place (£278,945)

Roland De Wolfe moved all in from the small blind with his short stack and Fabrizio Baldassari called.

De Wolfe: K Q
Baldassari: A 8

The board went in Baldasarri’s favour: A 8 3 2 9 and the popular Brit hits the rail just before the dinner break.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 25 Update: Dan Fleyshman Eliminated in Seventh Place (£118,643)

Sep 28, '10

Blinds: 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 6 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 2,550,000
2: Fabrizio Baldassari – 2,250,000
3: James Bord – 2,200,000
4: Dan Steinberg – 1,500,000
5: Nicolas Levi – 1,275,000
6: Roland de Wolfe – 550,000

Average Chip Count: 1,730,000

Notable Cashes:

7

Dan Fleyshman

£118,643

Big Hands:

Dan Fleyshman Eliminated in Seventh Place (£118,643)

Ronald Lee raised it to 85,000 preflop and Dan Fleyshman reraised all in for 250,000. Lee made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Lee: K 5
Fleyshman: J 10

Board: K 7 3 8 A

Fleyshman was eliminated in seventh place and he took home £118,643 in prize money while Lee continued to build his chip lead.

James Bord Doubles Up and Ignites the Crowd

Ronald Lee raised to 85,000 preflop under the gun and Nicolas Levi reraised to 225,000 from the cutoff. James Bord then reraised all in after thinking for quite some time. Lee got out of the way and Levi made the call. Their cards:

Levi: A Q
Bord: J J

Board: 9 5 5 5 7

Bord won the hand to double up and the cheers from the crowd could be heard throughout the Empire Casino.

Nicolas Levi Doubles Up

Roland de Wolfe raised to 95,000 preflop and Nicolas Levi reraised all in for 595,000. De Wolfe made the call after spending a moment in the tank and they flipped over their cards:

De Wolfe: A 10
Levi: A 8

Board: 8 6 2 A 5

Levi doubled up on the hand and de Wolfe suffered another setback.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Dan Fleyshman,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   James Bord

Level 23 Update: Marc Inizan (9th) and Brian Powell (8th) Eliminated

Sep 28, '10

Blinds: 12,000-24,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 7 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 3,164,000
2: Dan Steinberg – 2,063,000
3: Dan Fleyshman – 1,797,000
4: James Bord – 1,059,000
5: Roland de Wolfe – 931,000
6: Fabrizio Baldassari – 787,000
7: Nicolas Levi – 584,000

Average Chip Count: 1,482,857

Notable Cashes:

9	Marc Inizan	£54,114
8	Brian Powell	£69,754

Big Hands:

Marc Inizan Eliminated in Ninth Place (£54,114) and Brian Powell Eliminated in Eighth Place (£69,754) on the Same Hand

Marc Inizan moved all in preflop for 313,000 preflop and Brian Powell moved all in over the top of him before Ronald Lee made the call and had both opponents covered. Their cards:

Lee: A K
Inizan: 8 8
Powell: 8 8

Board: J 10 6 K 4

Lee won the hand to take a dominating chip lead with more than 3 million. Inizan was eliminated in ninth place (£54,114) and Powell took home eight-place money (£69,754).

Nicolas Levi Doubles Up Through Roland de Wolfe

Dan Fleyshman limped preflop and Roland de Wolfe also joined the pot from the cutoff. Nicolas Levi then moved all in from the small blind for 336,000. Fleyshman mucked and de Wolfe made the call. Their cards:

Levi: 10 10
De Wolfe: A K

Board: Q 9 4 8 8

Levi doubled up on the hand and de Wolfe suffered a setback to start the day.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   Marc Inizan

Level 6 Update: Brits Make Moves

Sep 24, '10

Note: Play has ended for tonight. Please tune back in at noon local time tomorrow (4 a.m. PST) as we go deeper into this year’s WSOPE main event.

Blinds: 100-200

Players Remaining: 122 out of 200 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1 James Mitchell — 178,850
2 John Dolan — 173,700
3 Antonio Esfandiari — 130,000
4 Brian Powell — 111,000
5 Yann Dion — 110,000
6 Eli Elezra — 100,000
7 Carlos Mortensen — 99,000
8 Andrew Pantling — 97,000
9 Phil Ivey — 94,350
10 David Peters — 92,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 86,325

Average Chip Count: 52,250

Notable Eliminations:

Allyn Jaffrey Shulman
Noel Furlong
Melanie Weisner

Big Hands:

Pantling Trips Up

A table that has attracted a crowd is one which involves Antonio Esfandiari, John Dolan, Andrew Pantling, JP Kelly, and Jim Collopy. In between playing “Johnny Lodden Thinks”, there is definitely some explosive poker going on. Esfandiari bets 1,500 from under the gun and Roland de Wolfe makes the call from the hijack. Andrew Pantling calls from the small blind and Yevgeniy Timoshenko folds, donating his big blind. The flop comes K K 6 and it’s checked to de Wolfe who bets 3,500. Pantling calls and Esfandiari folds. The turn is the 9 and Pantling checks. De Wolfe bets 8,500 and Pantling calls. The river is the 4 and both players check. Pantling shows K J and de Wolfe mucks his hand. His stack takes a hit and he now has 28,000. Pantling has 97,000.

De Wolfe also just lost $1,000 to Esfandiari in a “Johnny Lodden Thinks” moment involving John Dolan and this question – How much would you need to be paid to not show up on November Nine? Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day for the Brit.

Quietly Collecting Chips

JP Kelly bets 1,400 from the small blind and Andrew Pantling calls from the big blind. The flop falls J 10 7 and Kelly bets 1,600. Pantling makes the call and the turn is the 5. Kelly bets 4,600 and Pantling mucks. Kelly moves on up to a respectable 67,900 in chips.

Across the room, Kathy Liebert bets 1,500 from the hijack and Andy Black calls from the big blind. The flop is A K 10 and Black bets 2,000. Liebert folds and Black adds her chips to his stack which is now at 38,800. Liebert has 55,000.

Trickett Loses Some

Sam Trickett has been on some run of late and today he reached the top spot of unofficial chip counts, but dropped off slightly towards the end of play. One hand that helped his downfall was against Mike Browne. On a flop of 8 6 4 with a healthy little pot in the middle, Trickett bet 12,000 and Browne moved all in. Trickett made the call and flipped over 7 6 while Browne revealed 6 6. The turn was dealt the A, and the river the J. Browne’s stack doubled to 72,500.

Railbird Challenges Ivey

While Phil Ivey slows down a little in the last level of the night, he should still be safe in the knowledge he is among chip leaders at close of play. One uneasy moment however developed when a man made his way to the front of the rail and shouted, “Yo Phil! Yo Phil!” Getting everyone’s attention, the man then proceeded to point to his own face and exclaim, “You see this face? Remember this face! Remember this face! In 12 months time I’m going to take your stack!” “Okay,” said Phil laughing, and as the man walked abruptly away, wide-eyed, the area abrupted into laughter and conversation. “You better watch out Phil!” said Barry Greenstein smirking.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   John Dolan,   Andrew Pantling,   Sam Trickett

Level 10 Update: Viktor Blom Rockin' It

Sep 25, '10

Note: Players are now on a 90-minute dinner break. They will return at 8.45 p.m. local time.

Blinds: 600-1,200 with 200 ante

Players Remaining: 98 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Viktor Blom — 450,000
2 Darren Woods — 310,000
3 Phil Ivey — 296,000
4 Thomas Bichon — 290,000
5 Dan Shak — 285,000
6 Barny Boatman — 255,000
7 Andrew Pantling — 240,000
8 Rob Akery — 225,000
9 Bojan Gledovic — 220,000
10 Nick Schulman — 218,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 81,000

Average Chip Count: 105,918

Notable Eliminations:

John Racener
Tyler Bonkowski
Jim Collopy
Charles Chua
Andy Black

Big Hands:

Viktor Blom Takes the Lead

Magnus Persson raised preflop UTG+1 and Viktor Blom reraised preflop. Persson made the call and the two saw a flop of 9 6 5. Both players checked and then the 2 fell on the turn. Persson checked, Blom bet 13,500, and Persson made the call. The river fell 5 and Persson checked again. Blom bet 49,000 and Persson made the call. Blom flipped over AA and Persson mucked. Blom held 480,000 after the hand as he continues to increase his chip lead. He ended the level with 450,000 in chips.

Three Streets of Value for Schulman

Nicolas Levi raised to 3,000 UTG +1 and Nick Schulman made the call from late position. Ivey made the call from the big blind as well. The flop fell A 4 3 and Ivey and Levi check. Schulman bet 6,500. Ivey mucked and Levi called. The 8 fell on the turn and Levi checked. Schulman bet 15,000. Levi called. The river fell 2. Levi checked and Schulman bet 25,000. Levi called and mucked when Schulman flipped over 4 4. Levi held 100,000 after the hand. During happier times at the start of the day he was one of the chip leaders. Schulman rose above 200,000 after the hand.

Shak and Awe

On a flop of J 9 5, Antonio Esfandiari had led out, only to be raised to 18,000 by Dan Shak. Esfandiari went into the tank, only to eventually announce all-in for around 140,000 in total. Shak called without hesitation, and the players revealed their hands.

Esfandiari: K 10

Shak: 6 3

With a dominant flush draw, gut shot straight draw, and the currently good king-high, Esfandiari was a strong favorite with all but a few thousand of his chips in the middle.

The turn came the 2, leaving Shak drawing only to the remaining non-diamond threes and sixes.

The 3 did roll off on the river, and Esfandiari exploded out of his seat in shocked disgust. As the dealer laboriously counted out the stacks, Esfandiari politely said “Nice hand.” Shak apologized about the bad beat, but unsurprisingly this did little to salve Esfandiari’s wounds.

Shak’s stack grew to around 280,000 after the hand.

Show The Bluff

Phil Laak bets 3,000 from mid-position and Andy Frankenberger calls from the cut-off. Dan Fleyshman calls also, from the big blind. The flop is dealt A J 2 and it is checked around. The turn comes the 7. Fleyshman checks, Laak bets 5,000, Frankenberger calls, and Fleyshman folds. The river is the Q, Laak bets 11,000 and Frankenberger thinks for some time. He then raises it to 26,000, putting the decision back to Laak. Laak goes into the tank – he has about 58,000 behind his original bet. Eventually Laak passes and instantly starts trying to get Frankenberger to show his cards, “Show the bluff and make me crazy. I’ll pay you, just say the number!” He takes out some sterling notes and places them on the table. “I’ll give you £40 to show me the bluff,” he says smiling. Frankenberger stays quiet as the others debate what he had. He now has 147,000 in chips.

Up and Down Day for Lacay

Coming in late into the action, Ludovic Lacay has moved all in for 22,000 on a J 8 4 5 8 board with about 15,000 already in the middle. The decision is on Daniel Steinberg and he takes his time. He finally calls and mucks when he sees Lacay’s A A for the nut flush. Steinberg has 120,000 remaining while Lacay reaches the 74,000 mark. He soon loses a good few chips however when he calls Eugene Katchalov’s all in with pocket nines. Katchalov has A Q and the board falls Q 5 8 8 J. “It’s been like this all day!” says Lacay.

Present for Praz

Allen Cunningham bets 3,500 from UTG and Roland de Wolfe calls from the small blind. Praz Bansi calls from the big blind and the flop comes 9 6 5. De Wolfe and Bansi check and Cunningham bets 6,000. De Wolfe folds but Bansi pops it to 14,800. “What do you have behind?” asks Cunningham. It’s about 33,000. After a few minutes Cunningham passes and Bansi mucks. The British pro is nearing the 60,000 mark just before dinner time.

De Wolfe Gets Lucky

Guy Gorelik bets 3,000 from late position and Roland de Wolfe calls from the hijack. Martin Davis makes it 9,500 and Gorelik steps aside. Players begin to make their way out for the dinner break as de Wolfe and David go head to head. De Wolfe asks Davis, “A-K?” “Yep, I have,” answers Davis, and then sadds, “Maybe.” De Wolfe calls and the flop is dealt K Q 6. Davis bets 9,000 and smiles. De Wolfe sighs and debates whether he wants to come back after dinner with 10 big blinds. “I know I’m behind,” he says. As the room eventually clears, de Wolfe moves all in for 17,300. Davis calls and shows A K. De Wolfe reveals Q J. The turn is the A and the river is the 10 giving de Wolfe a straight. He smiles mischievously as Davis simply says, “Shit!”

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

The last two levels of the tournament have truly created a new hierarchy within the chip counts. Viktor Blom, the alleged “Isildur1” has been crushing it today and he now holds more than 400,000 to lead the way. We have two players at the 300,000 level and they are Phil Ivey and Darren Woods. The 200,000 club can count Barny Boatman, Nick Schulman, Thomas Bichon and Andre Pantling among its members.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Laak,   Dan Shak,   Eugene Katchalov,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nick Schulman,   Martin Davis,   Nicolas Levi,   Praz Bansi,   Ludovic Lacay,   Andy Frankenberger,   Viktor Blom,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 16 Update: Into the Dinner Break

Sep 26, '10

NOTE: The field is now on a 90-minute dinner break. Play will resume at 8:45 p.m. local time (12:45 p.m. PST).

Blinds: 2,500-5,000 with a 500 ante

Players Remaining: 28 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Andrew Pantling — 1,300,000
2. Phil Ivey — 699,000
3. Dan Fleyshman — 695,000
4. Nicolas Levi — 634,000
5. Bojan Gledovic — 605,000
6. Daniel Steinberg — 605,000
7. Arnaud Mattern — 480,000
8. David Peters — 442,000
9. Marc Inizan — 375,000
10. Ronald Lee — 367,000

Average Chip Count: 346,000

Notable Cashes:

29	Bryn Kenney	£21,106
30	Freddy Deeb	₤21,106
31	James Mitchell	₤21,106
32	Jean Paul Seatelli	₤21,106
33	Matthew Waxman	₤21,106
34	Magnus Persson	₤21,106
35	Darren Woods	₤21,106
36	Mark Thurgood	₤21,106

Big Hands:

James Mitchell Eliminated in 31st Place (₤21,106)

James Mitchell moved all in on a flop of 7 4 2 and Marc Inizan made the call. Their cards:

Micthell: 9-9
Inizan: 10-10

Turn and River: 3 and 6

Mitchell was eliminated on the hand in 31st place and he will take home ₤21,106 in prize money.

Freddy Deeb Eliminated in 30th Place (₤21,106)

Roland de Wolfe raised preflop from the small blind and Freddy Deeb reraised all in from the big blind. De Wolfe made the call and they flipped over their cards:

De Wolfe: K 8
Deeb: 9 9

Board: Q J 10 A

De Wolfe made a Broadway straight on the turn and that brought an end to Deeb’s tournament in 30th place. He will take home ₤21,106 in prize money.

Boatman Gets Chatty

Ivey bets 12,500 from late position and Barny Boatman raises it to 37,500 from the hijack. Ivey calls and the flop comes J 10 7. Both players check and the turn is the Q. Ivey checks and Boatman bets 35,500. Ivey calls and the river is the 8. Ivey checks and Boatman moves all in. Ivey asks how much it is and the answer is 175,000. He sits back and contemplates the call. Boatman then turns to him and says, “Were you trap-checking me on the flop?” Straight away Ivey gets very animated and starts repeating the question – “Was I trap-checking you on the flop?” He’s almost laughing as he stares at Boatman to figure out if he’s playing mind games. After a few minutes he decides to pass and Boatman adds a good few more chips to his stack.

Bryn Kenney Eliminated in 29th Place (£21,106)

Bryn Kenney bets 13,000 from the cut-off and Phil Ivey makes it 40,000 from the small blind. Kenny pops it to 80,000 and after about 30 seconds Ivey quietly says, “I’m all in.” Kenney insta-calls and flips over K K. Ivey shows A 8 and the board is dealt 10 10 9 J A. Not only did Ivey hit his ace but it was a club giving him a flush. He adds about 170,000 to his stack.

De Wolfe and Blom at it Again

Coming in preflop but slightly late into the action. Viktor Blom bets 28,500 from the button and Roland de Wolfe makes it 65,000 from the small blind. There is about 21,000 in the middle. It comes back to Blom who takes some time to think. One of the other players then calls the clock and Blom asks, “Who called time?” The player leans forward, picks up his short stack and says, “I can’t handle the blinds going up.” “You show?” Blom says to de Wolfe. “I told you I’d show!” says de Wolfe. “Promise?” asks Blom and then folds. De Wolfe shows him pocket jacks and moves up to 245,000.

Blom bets 12,000 on a flop of 7 6 2. De Wolfe bends forward to try and see Blom’s hooded face, and then makes the call. The turn is the J and both players check. The river is the 3 and Blom bets 52,000. De Wolfe leans forward once again and takes a good hard look at him. Eventually, he calls and Blom shows 10 10. De Wolfe mucks and his stack moves back down again.

Player Tags: Barny Boatman,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   Freddy Deeb,   Bryn Kenney,   James Mitchell,   Viktor Blom

Level 14 Update: Kid Poker Hits Rail

Sep 26, '10

Blinds: 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante

Players Remaining: 43 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Andrew Pantling — 795,000
2 Bojan Gledovic — 720,000
3 Darren Woods — 550,000
4 Phil Ivey — 435,000
5 Daniel Steinberg — 409,000
6 Arnaud Mattern — 365,000
7 Viktor Blom — 350,000
8 Thomas Bichon — 346,000
9 David Baker — 340,000
10 Yevgeniy Timoshenko — 340,000

Average Chip Count: 241,395

Notable Eliminations:

Eli Elezra
Daniel Negreanu
Anton Wigg

Big Hands:

2009 Runner-Up Eliminated

Daniel Negreanu just handed his stack over to Darren Woods who has already been sitting in the top 10 since early yesterday. Woods bets 7,100 from the cut-off and Negreanu makes it 20,100 from the small blind. Woods thought for a while and raised it up. However Negreanu insta-shoved for just a little more and Woods was committed to call. It was A-K versus pocket threes for Negreanu and Woods respectively. The threes held however and Negreanu stood up looking a little pale. He said, " I can’t believe you thought I was going to fold there. I’m never folding in that spot."

Negreanu’s hopes of taking a seat at his third consecutive World Series of Poker Europe main event final table have now been destroyed, along with many others’ as the field has been quickly demolished on day 3.

Loss for Levi

Freddy Deeb bets 7,500 from the hijack and the button, Anthony Newman. moves all in for 41,000. Nicolas Levi calls from the big blind and Deeb folds showing an ace. The board comes 8 7 4 2 8. Levi holds J J but Newman has Q Q and so improves to 88,000. Levi has 150,000 in chips now.

Blom Versus de Wolfe

Roland de Wolfe is on Viktor Blom’s left and the two have been battling it out in the past level, along with Thomas Bichon. De Wolfe bet 7,200 and Bichon made it 21,500. Blom called, as did de Wolfe, and the three saw a 9 5 4 board. It was checked to the K turn and de Wolfe and Blom checked again. Bichon bet 41,000 and his two opponents folded their cards. De Wolfe dropped a little to 120,000 while Bichon increased his stack to 355,000.

It wasn’t long before de Wolfe was involved in another pot, but this time for his tournament life. Blom made it 6,800 from mid-late position and de Wolfe called from the hijack. The two went heads up to the J 7 6 flop and Blom bet 14,500. De Wolfe looked at his opponent and then called. The turn was the 10 and both players quietly checked. The river was the 5 and Blom bet 25,000. De Wolfe moved all in and it was 61,800 more for Blom to call. After a few minutes he did, but de Wolfe turned over 5 5 for a rivered set and Blom mucked his hand. De Wolfe improves to 215,000.

Blondeau Takes from Ivey

Two other players going to battle are Rudy Blondeau and Phil Ivey. With around 41,000 in the pot and the board showing A K 2 2 6 Ivey was staring down Blondeau as he decided how much to bet. He went for 23,000, but Ivey didn’t take long to make it 81,000. Blondeau went into the tank but eventually called and flipped over A J. Ivey showed A Q and the two chopped the pot.

They didn’t have to wait much longer to face each other again. Ivey bet 7,500 from the hijack and Blondeau made it 21,500 from the button. Ivey let it go. In the next hand Ivey then bet 7,500 again and Blondeau made it 21,500 once more. This time Ivey called and they saw a 7 5 2 flop. Ivey studied his opponent with widened, darting eyes and then checked. Blondeau did not make eye contact and quietly put 26,500 out in front of him. Ivey let his hand go again and drops to 430,000, which is still among the top 10. Blondeau improves to 246,000.

Trouble for Inizan

Marc Inizan bets 7,075 from UTG+1 and gets two callers, the button and the big blind. The flop comes down 10 4 7 and Inizan bets 10,100. Hoi Cheung (the button) comes along for the ride, while the big blind steps aside. The turn is the 2 and Inizan bets 22,500. Cheung moves all in for 58,200 and Inizan goes into the tank. He eventually folds and Cheung collects the pot.

Mitchell Takes a Hit

James Mitchell bets 7,300 from the hijack and Viktor Blom calls. Ronald Lee then moves all in for another 79,300 and Mitchell calls. Blom folds and the two flip over their cards.

Mitchell: J J
Lee: A K

Board: A Q 9 Q 8

Mitchell’s stack takes a hit and he is now on 126,000. Lee doubles up just before break.

Timoshenko vs. Seed

Yevgeniy Timoshenko raised to 8,000 preflop and Huck Seed reraised to 23,500. Timoshenko made the call and the flop fell 10 9 5. Both players checked and the Q fell on the turn. Timoshenko bet 29,000 after some thought and Seed made the call.

The river fell 4 and Timoshenko checked after spending some time in the tank. Seed checked as well and he flipped over J J after Timoshenko had revealed K Q. Seed dropped to 115,000 after the hand and Timoshenko rose to 360,000.

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

Andrew Pantling has had a fantastic level and has come to the fore as chip leader with just under 800,000 in chips. It’s still a tough leader board however with the likes of Phil Ivey, Arnaud Mattern, Viktor Blom, and Thomas Bichon in the top 10. Mattern is on Pantling’s left with just under 400,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Huck Seed,   Daniel Negreanu,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nicolas Levi,   Yevgeniy Timoshenko,   Ronald Lee,   Marc Inizan,   James Mitchell,   Viktor Blom,   Rudy Blondeau

Level 22 Update: Final Table Set

Sep 27, '10

NOTE: Day 4 has come to a close now that the final table of nine has been set. Check back tomorrow at noon local time (4 a.m. PST) for live updates, photos, chip counts, and videos from CardPlayer TV. A champion will be crowned in London tomorrow.

Blinds: 10,000-20,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 9 of 346

Final-Table Seating Chart with Chip Counts:

Seat 1: Roland de Wolfe – 1,377,000
Seat 2: Marc Inizan – 349,000
Seat 3: Nicolas Levi – 428,000
Seat 4: Fabrizio Baldassari – 697,000
Seat 5: Brian Powell – 842,000
Seat 6: Dan Steinberg – 1,520,000
Seat 7: James Bord – 1,331,000
Seat 8: Ronald Lee – 1,899,000
Seat 9: Dan Fleyshman – 1,946,000

Average Chip Count: 1,153,333

Notable Cashes:

10

David Peters

£54,114

Big Hands:

David Peters Eliminated in 10th Place (£54,114)

David Peters raised all in from the button preflop for 340,000 and Roland de Wolfe made the call from the small blind. Their cards:

Peters: A 7
De Wolfe: A 5

Board: Q Q 5 9 6

Peters was eliminated on the hand in 10th place and he will take home £54,114 in prize money. De Wolfe grew his stack to 1,377,000 after the hand.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   David Peters

Level 20 Update: Down to a Dozen

Sep 27, '10

Blinds: 6,000-12,000 with a 2,000 ante

Players Remaining: 12 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Ronald Lee — 1,826,000
2. Dan Fleyshman — 1,777,000
3. James Bord — 1,609,000
4. Roland de Wolfe — 1,312,000
5. Fabrizio Baldassari — 1,010,000
6. Nicolas Levi — 786,000
7. Daniel Steinberg – 526,000
8. David Peters — 472,000
9. Andrew Pantling — 430,000
10. Brian Powell — 295,000
11. Marc Inizan — 264,000
12. Arnaud Mattern — 130,000

Average Chip Count: 692,000

Notable Cashes:

15	Hoyt Corkins	£42,454
14	Clint Coffee	£42,454
13	Barny Boatman	£42,454

Big Hands:

Marc Inizan Doubles Up

Dan Steinberg raised to 27,000 preflop from the cutoff and Marc Inizan reraised all in. Brian Powell made the call on the button and Steinberg mucked. Their cards:

Powell: A K
Inizan: A J

Board: J J 2 5 8

Inizan doubled up to 530,000 after the hand and Powell held less than 500,000.

Hoyt Corkins Eliminated in 15th Place (£42,454)

Hoyt Corkins raised to 35,000 preflop from the cutoff and Fabrizio Baldassari reraised to 102,000 on the button. Corkins reraised to 212,000 and then Baldassari moved all in. Corkins made the all-in call and the two players flipped over their cards:

Corkins: A Q
Baldassari: K K

Board: 10 4 2 Q 5

Corkins was eliminated on the hand in 15th place (£42,454) and Baldassari grew his stack to 1,010,000.

Clint Coffee (14th Place) and Barny Boatman (13th Place) Eliminated on the same Hand

Clint Coffee and Barny Boatman moved all in ahead of Roland de Wolfe preflop and he made the call, covering both of his opponents. Their cards:

De Wolfe: A A
Coffee: A J
Boatman: A K

Board: K 10 4 9 8

Coffee and Boatman were eliminated in 14th place and 13th place respectively and they each took home £42,454. De Wolfe rocketed his stack to 1,312,000 just before the break.

Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins,   Barny Boatman,   Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Marc Inizan,   Clint Coffee

Level 18 Update -- Early Action

Sep 27, '10

Blinds: 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante

Players Remaining: 19 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. James Bord — 920,000
2. Viktor Blom — 900,000
3. Ronald Lee — 850,000
4. Andrew Pantling — 760,000
5. Daniel Steinberg — 660,000
6. David Peters — 645,000
7. Nicolas Levi — 640,000
8. Dan Fleyshman — 625,000
9. Bojan Gledovic — 610,000
10. Clint Coffee — 590,000
11. Phil Ivey — 481,000
12. Hoyt Corkins — 435,000
13. Brian Powell — 379,000
14. Barny Boatman — 300,000
15. Roland de Wolfe — 232,000
16. Marc Inizan — 205,000
17. Anthony Newman — 196,000
18. Arnaud Mattern — 180,000

Average Chip Count: 546,316

Notable Cashes:

22	Greg Mueller	£26,400
21	Jani Sointula	£26,400
20	Thomas Bichon	£26,400

Big Hands:

Greg Mueller Eliminated in 22nd Place (£26,400)

Greg Mueller moved all in with A Q and was called by Brian Powell who held A K. The board fell 9 6 5 8 6 and Mueller shook his opponents’ hands and made his exit. He leaves with £26,400 for 22nd place.

Jani Sointula Eliminated in 21st Place (£26,400)

Phil Ivey and Jani Sointula ran into each other for the second and final time today. Ivey made it 20,000 from the button and Sointula moved all in for 197,000. Ivey did not look happy as he contemplated the call. He decided to go with it, moved his chips over the line and flipped over pocket fours. Sointula showed Q J and waited for his fate to be determined. The flop came down J 9 2 and Sointula moved ahead. The turn was the K keeping Sointula safe. Ivey would need one of the two remaining fours to win the pot, and that’s exactly what came down. Ivey now closes in on the 800,000 in chips mark.

Thomas Bichon Eliminated in 20th Place (£26,400)

Thomas Bichon made his last stand in the main event against Viktor Blom, but it was not meant to be for the French pro when his A-Q could not beat Blom’s K-Q. Blom found a king on the flop and waved goodbye to another opponent. He’s currently nearing the million in chips mark.

De wolfe Hangs On

After moving all in and chopping a pot with Bojan Gledovic, Roland de Wolfe survived once more, this time doubling through Marc Inizan. With just under 80,000 in chips, de Wolfe shoved with A 8 and Inizan called with 10-10. De Wolfe binked an ace on the turn and doubled his stack.

Fleyshman Doubles

Andrew Pantling bet 18,000 from under the gun and Dan Fleyshman moved all in from the cut-off for the best part of 300,000. Pantling went into the tank and when he came out the other side, he opted to call. He flipped over 10 10 and saw he was up against A Q. The board came down J 6 4 A 5 and Fleyshman doubled up to over 600,000.

Mattern Miraculously Survives

Arnaud Mattern’s pocket queens ran head-first into James Bord’s pocket aces. Viktor Blom triggered a raising war and then stepped out when Arnaud Mattern four-bet. Bord then shoved and Mattern made the call. The hands stood as they were after all was said and done, and pocket rockets were enough to send Bord sky-high into the chip lead, crippling Mattern down to just 12,000.

Before the first break of the day however, Mattern managed to double up three times. First with pocket sixes versus Brian Powel’s K-Q, then with A-3 versus Anthony Newman’s A-Q by hitting a 3 on the turn, and finally with pocket eights versus Viktor Blom’s K-9. Mattern made a set on the flop and is now on a little more than 180,000.

Player Tags: Greg Mueller,   Phil Ivey,   Jani Sointula,   Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Dan Fleyshman,   Arnaud Mattern,   James Bord,   Thomas Bichon,   Viktor Blom

Level 26 Update -- Steinberg, Levi, and de Wolfe Out

Sep 28, '10

NOTE: The players are now on dinner break and they will return at 9:40 p.m. local time (1:40 p.m. PST).

Blinds: 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 3 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 6,830,000
2: Fabrizio Baldassari – 2,480,000
3: James Bord – 1,120,000

Average Chip Count: 3,460,000

Notable Cashes:

6	Daniel Steinberg	£156,530
5	Nicolas Levi	£208,119
4	Roland de Wolfe	£278,945

Big Hands:

Daniel Steinberg Eliminated in Sixth Place (£156,530)

Ronald Lee raised to 110,000 and Daniel Steinberg reraised to 285,000 total from the big blind. Chip leader Lee then moved all in and Steinberg went into the tank. He had about 900,000 behind and after contemplating his decision intensely, he decided to call. The two revealed their cards:

Steinberg: A J
Lee: 4 4

Board: Q 9 6 3 8

Pocket fours were enough to scoop the whole lot and Steinberg hit the rail £156,530 richer.

Nicolas Levi Eliminated in Fifth Place (£208,119)

Nicolas Levi bet 135,000 from the cut-off and Lee raised enough from the big blind to put the Frenchman all in. Just moments before this hand Levi had made the all-in move but this time he was calling all in. After some thought, Levi called and showed 9 9. Lee flipped over K Q.

The board ran out 8 5 4 K 10 and with that Lee had destroyed another finalist.

Roland de Wolfe Eliminated in Fourth Place (£278,945)

Roland De Wolfe moved all in from the small blind with his short stack and Fabrizio Baldassari called.

De Wolfe: K Q
Baldassari: A 8

The board went in Baldasarri’s favour: A 8 3 2 9 and the popular Brit hits the rail just before the dinner break.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 25 Update: Dan Fleyshman Eliminated in Seventh Place (£118,643)

Sep 28, '10

Blinds: 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 6 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 2,550,000
2: Fabrizio Baldassari – 2,250,000
3: James Bord – 2,200,000
4: Dan Steinberg – 1,500,000
5: Nicolas Levi – 1,275,000
6: Roland de Wolfe – 550,000

Average Chip Count: 1,730,000

Notable Cashes:

7

Dan Fleyshman

£118,643

Big Hands:

Dan Fleyshman Eliminated in Seventh Place (£118,643)

Ronald Lee raised it to 85,000 preflop and Dan Fleyshman reraised all in for 250,000. Lee made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Lee: K 5
Fleyshman: J 10

Board: K 7 3 8 A

Fleyshman was eliminated in seventh place and he took home £118,643 in prize money while Lee continued to build his chip lead.

James Bord Doubles Up and Ignites the Crowd

Ronald Lee raised to 85,000 preflop under the gun and Nicolas Levi reraised to 225,000 from the cutoff. James Bord then reraised all in after thinking for quite some time. Lee got out of the way and Levi made the call. Their cards:

Levi: A Q
Bord: J J

Board: 9 5 5 5 7

Bord won the hand to double up and the cheers from the crowd could be heard throughout the Empire Casino.

Nicolas Levi Doubles Up

Roland de Wolfe raised to 95,000 preflop and Nicolas Levi reraised all in for 595,000. De Wolfe made the call after spending a moment in the tank and they flipped over their cards:

De Wolfe: A 10
Levi: A 8

Board: 8 6 2 A 5

Levi doubled up on the hand and de Wolfe suffered another setback.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Dan Fleyshman,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   James Bord

Level 23 Update: Marc Inizan (9th) and Brian Powell (8th) Eliminated

Sep 28, '10

Blinds: 12,000-24,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 7 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 3,164,000
2: Dan Steinberg – 2,063,000
3: Dan Fleyshman – 1,797,000
4: James Bord – 1,059,000
5: Roland de Wolfe – 931,000
6: Fabrizio Baldassari – 787,000
7: Nicolas Levi – 584,000

Average Chip Count: 1,482,857

Notable Cashes:

9	Marc Inizan	£54,114
8	Brian Powell	£69,754

Big Hands:

Marc Inizan Eliminated in Ninth Place (£54,114) and Brian Powell Eliminated in Eighth Place (£69,754) on the Same Hand

Marc Inizan moved all in preflop for 313,000 preflop and Brian Powell moved all in over the top of him before Ronald Lee made the call and had both opponents covered. Their cards:

Lee: A K
Inizan: 8 8
Powell: 8 8

Board: J 10 6 K 4

Lee won the hand to take a dominating chip lead with more than 3 million. Inizan was eliminated in ninth place (£54,114) and Powell took home eight-place money (£69,754).

Nicolas Levi Doubles Up Through Roland de Wolfe

Dan Fleyshman limped preflop and Roland de Wolfe also joined the pot from the cutoff. Nicolas Levi then moved all in from the small blind for 336,000. Fleyshman mucked and de Wolfe made the call. Their cards:

Levi: 10 10
De Wolfe: A K

Board: Q 9 4 8 8

Levi doubled up on the hand and de Wolfe suffered a setback to start the day.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   Marc Inizan

Level 6 Update: Brits Make Moves

Sep 24, '10

Note: Play has ended for tonight. Please tune back in at noon local time tomorrow (4 a.m. PST) as we go deeper into this year’s WSOPE main event.

Blinds: 100-200

Players Remaining: 122 out of 200 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1 James Mitchell — 178,850
2 John Dolan — 173,700
3 Antonio Esfandiari — 130,000
4 Brian Powell — 111,000
5 Yann Dion — 110,000
6 Eli Elezra — 100,000
7 Carlos Mortensen — 99,000
8 Andrew Pantling — 97,000
9 Phil Ivey — 94,350
10 David Peters — 92,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 86,325

Average Chip Count: 52,250

Notable Eliminations:

Allyn Jaffrey Shulman
Noel Furlong
Melanie Weisner

Big Hands:

Pantling Trips Up

A table that has attracted a crowd is one which involves Antonio Esfandiari, John Dolan, Andrew Pantling, JP Kelly, and Jim Collopy. In between playing “Johnny Lodden Thinks”, there is definitely some explosive poker going on. Esfandiari bets 1,500 from under the gun and Roland de Wolfe makes the call from the hijack. Andrew Pantling calls from the small blind and Yevgeniy Timoshenko folds, donating his big blind. The flop comes K K 6 and it’s checked to de Wolfe who bets 3,500. Pantling calls and Esfandiari folds. The turn is the 9 and Pantling checks. De Wolfe bets 8,500 and Pantling calls. The river is the 4 and both players check. Pantling shows K J and de Wolfe mucks his hand. His stack takes a hit and he now has 28,000. Pantling has 97,000.

De Wolfe also just lost $1,000 to Esfandiari in a “Johnny Lodden Thinks” moment involving John Dolan and this question – How much would you need to be paid to not show up on November Nine? Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day for the Brit.

Quietly Collecting Chips

JP Kelly bets 1,400 from the small blind and Andrew Pantling calls from the big blind. The flop falls J 10 7 and Kelly bets 1,600. Pantling makes the call and the turn is the 5. Kelly bets 4,600 and Pantling mucks. Kelly moves on up to a respectable 67,900 in chips.

Across the room, Kathy Liebert bets 1,500 from the hijack and Andy Black calls from the big blind. The flop is A K 10 and Black bets 2,000. Liebert folds and Black adds her chips to his stack which is now at 38,800. Liebert has 55,000.

Trickett Loses Some

Sam Trickett has been on some run of late and today he reached the top spot of unofficial chip counts, but dropped off slightly towards the end of play. One hand that helped his downfall was against Mike Browne. On a flop of 8 6 4 with a healthy little pot in the middle, Trickett bet 12,000 and Browne moved all in. Trickett made the call and flipped over 7 6 while Browne revealed 6 6. The turn was dealt the A, and the river the J. Browne’s stack doubled to 72,500.

Railbird Challenges Ivey

While Phil Ivey slows down a little in the last level of the night, he should still be safe in the knowledge he is among chip leaders at close of play. One uneasy moment however developed when a man made his way to the front of the rail and shouted, “Yo Phil! Yo Phil!” Getting everyone’s attention, the man then proceeded to point to his own face and exclaim, “You see this face? Remember this face! Remember this face! In 12 months time I’m going to take your stack!” “Okay,” said Phil laughing, and as the man walked abruptly away, wide-eyed, the area abrupted into laughter and conversation. “You better watch out Phil!” said Barry Greenstein smirking.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   John Dolan,   Andrew Pantling,   Sam Trickett

Level 10 Update: Viktor Blom Rockin' It

Sep 25, '10

Note: Players are now on a 90-minute dinner break. They will return at 8.45 p.m. local time.

Blinds: 600-1,200 with 200 ante

Players Remaining: 98 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Viktor Blom — 450,000
2 Darren Woods — 310,000
3 Phil Ivey — 296,000
4 Thomas Bichon — 290,000
5 Dan Shak — 285,000
6 Barny Boatman — 255,000
7 Andrew Pantling — 240,000
8 Rob Akery — 225,000
9 Bojan Gledovic — 220,000
10 Nick Schulman — 218,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 81,000

Average Chip Count: 105,918

Notable Eliminations:

John Racener
Tyler Bonkowski
Jim Collopy
Charles Chua
Andy Black

Big Hands:

Viktor Blom Takes the Lead

Magnus Persson raised preflop UTG+1 and Viktor Blom reraised preflop. Persson made the call and the two saw a flop of 9 6 5. Both players checked and then the 2 fell on the turn. Persson checked, Blom bet 13,500, and Persson made the call. The river fell 5 and Persson checked again. Blom bet 49,000 and Persson made the call. Blom flipped over AA and Persson mucked. Blom held 480,000 after the hand as he continues to increase his chip lead. He ended the level with 450,000 in chips.

Three Streets of Value for Schulman

Nicolas Levi raised to 3,000 UTG +1 and Nick Schulman made the call from late position. Ivey made the call from the big blind as well. The flop fell A 4 3 and Ivey and Levi check. Schulman bet 6,500. Ivey mucked and Levi called. The 8 fell on the turn and Levi checked. Schulman bet 15,000. Levi called. The river fell 2. Levi checked and Schulman bet 25,000. Levi called and mucked when Schulman flipped over 4 4. Levi held 100,000 after the hand. During happier times at the start of the day he was one of the chip leaders. Schulman rose above 200,000 after the hand.

Shak and Awe

On a flop of J 9 5, Antonio Esfandiari had led out, only to be raised to 18,000 by Dan Shak. Esfandiari went into the tank, only to eventually announce all-in for around 140,000 in total. Shak called without hesitation, and the players revealed their hands.

Esfandiari: K 10

Shak: 6 3

With a dominant flush draw, gut shot straight draw, and the currently good king-high, Esfandiari was a strong favorite with all but a few thousand of his chips in the middle.

The turn came the 2, leaving Shak drawing only to the remaining non-diamond threes and sixes.

The 3 did roll off on the river, and Esfandiari exploded out of his seat in shocked disgust. As the dealer laboriously counted out the stacks, Esfandiari politely said “Nice hand.” Shak apologized about the bad beat, but unsurprisingly this did little to salve Esfandiari’s wounds.

Shak’s stack grew to around 280,000 after the hand.

Show The Bluff

Phil Laak bets 3,000 from mid-position and Andy Frankenberger calls from the cut-off. Dan Fleyshman calls also, from the big blind. The flop is dealt A J 2 and it is checked around. The turn comes the 7. Fleyshman checks, Laak bets 5,000, Frankenberger calls, and Fleyshman folds. The river is the Q, Laak bets 11,000 and Frankenberger thinks for some time. He then raises it to 26,000, putting the decision back to Laak. Laak goes into the tank – he has about 58,000 behind his original bet. Eventually Laak passes and instantly starts trying to get Frankenberger to show his cards, “Show the bluff and make me crazy. I’ll pay you, just say the number!” He takes out some sterling notes and places them on the table. “I’ll give you £40 to show me the bluff,” he says smiling. Frankenberger stays quiet as the others debate what he had. He now has 147,000 in chips.

Up and Down Day for Lacay

Coming in late into the action, Ludovic Lacay has moved all in for 22,000 on a J 8 4 5 8 board with about 15,000 already in the middle. The decision is on Daniel Steinberg and he takes his time. He finally calls and mucks when he sees Lacay’s A A for the nut flush. Steinberg has 120,000 remaining while Lacay reaches the 74,000 mark. He soon loses a good few chips however when he calls Eugene Katchalov’s all in with pocket nines. Katchalov has A Q and the board falls Q 5 8 8 J. “It’s been like this all day!” says Lacay.

Present for Praz

Allen Cunningham bets 3,500 from UTG and Roland de Wolfe calls from the small blind. Praz Bansi calls from the big blind and the flop comes 9 6 5. De Wolfe and Bansi check and Cunningham bets 6,000. De Wolfe folds but Bansi pops it to 14,800. “What do you have behind?” asks Cunningham. It’s about 33,000. After a few minutes Cunningham passes and Bansi mucks. The British pro is nearing the 60,000 mark just before dinner time.

De Wolfe Gets Lucky

Guy Gorelik bets 3,000 from late position and Roland de Wolfe calls from the hijack. Martin Davis makes it 9,500 and Gorelik steps aside. Players begin to make their way out for the dinner break as de Wolfe and David go head to head. De Wolfe asks Davis, “A-K?” “Yep, I have,” answers Davis, and then sadds, “Maybe.” De Wolfe calls and the flop is dealt K Q 6. Davis bets 9,000 and smiles. De Wolfe sighs and debates whether he wants to come back after dinner with 10 big blinds. “I know I’m behind,” he says. As the room eventually clears, de Wolfe moves all in for 17,300. Davis calls and shows A K. De Wolfe reveals Q J. The turn is the A and the river is the 10 giving de Wolfe a straight. He smiles mischievously as Davis simply says, “Shit!”

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

The last two levels of the tournament have truly created a new hierarchy within the chip counts. Viktor Blom, the alleged “Isildur1” has been crushing it today and he now holds more than 400,000 to lead the way. We have two players at the 300,000 level and they are Phil Ivey and Darren Woods. The 200,000 club can count Barny Boatman, Nick Schulman, Thomas Bichon and Andre Pantling among its members.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Laak,   Dan Shak,   Eugene Katchalov,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nick Schulman,   Martin Davis,   Nicolas Levi,   Praz Bansi,   Ludovic Lacay,   Andy Frankenberger,   Viktor Blom,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 16 Update: Into the Dinner Break

Sep 26, '10

NOTE: The field is now on a 90-minute dinner break. Play will resume at 8:45 p.m. local time (12:45 p.m. PST).

Blinds: 2,500-5,000 with a 500 ante

Players Remaining: 28 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Andrew Pantling — 1,300,000
2. Phil Ivey — 699,000
3. Dan Fleyshman — 695,000
4. Nicolas Levi — 634,000
5. Bojan Gledovic — 605,000
6. Daniel Steinberg — 605,000
7. Arnaud Mattern — 480,000
8. David Peters — 442,000
9. Marc Inizan — 375,000
10. Ronald Lee — 367,000

Average Chip Count: 346,000

Notable Cashes:

29	Bryn Kenney	£21,106
30	Freddy Deeb	₤21,106
31	James Mitchell	₤21,106
32	Jean Paul Seatelli	₤21,106
33	Matthew Waxman	₤21,106
34	Magnus Persson	₤21,106
35	Darren Woods	₤21,106
36	Mark Thurgood	₤21,106

Big Hands:

James Mitchell Eliminated in 31st Place (₤21,106)

James Mitchell moved all in on a flop of 7 4 2 and Marc Inizan made the call. Their cards:

Micthell: 9-9
Inizan: 10-10

Turn and River: 3 and 6

Mitchell was eliminated on the hand in 31st place and he will take home ₤21,106 in prize money.

Freddy Deeb Eliminated in 30th Place (₤21,106)

Roland de Wolfe raised preflop from the small blind and Freddy Deeb reraised all in from the big blind. De Wolfe made the call and they flipped over their cards:

De Wolfe: K 8
Deeb: 9 9

Board: Q J 10 A

De Wolfe made a Broadway straight on the turn and that brought an end to Deeb’s tournament in 30th place. He will take home ₤21,106 in prize money.

Boatman Gets Chatty

Ivey bets 12,500 from late position and Barny Boatman raises it to 37,500 from the hijack. Ivey calls and the flop comes J 10 7. Both players check and the turn is the Q. Ivey checks and Boatman bets 35,500. Ivey calls and the river is the 8. Ivey checks and Boatman moves all in. Ivey asks how much it is and the answer is 175,000. He sits back and contemplates the call. Boatman then turns to him and says, “Were you trap-checking me on the flop?” Straight away Ivey gets very animated and starts repeating the question – “Was I trap-checking you on the flop?” He’s almost laughing as he stares at Boatman to figure out if he’s playing mind games. After a few minutes he decides to pass and Boatman adds a good few more chips to his stack.

Bryn Kenney Eliminated in 29th Place (£21,106)

Bryn Kenney bets 13,000 from the cut-off and Phil Ivey makes it 40,000 from the small blind. Kenny pops it to 80,000 and after about 30 seconds Ivey quietly says, “I’m all in.” Kenney insta-calls and flips over K K. Ivey shows A 8 and the board is dealt 10 10 9 J A. Not only did Ivey hit his ace but it was a club giving him a flush. He adds about 170,000 to his stack.

De Wolfe and Blom at it Again

Coming in preflop but slightly late into the action. Viktor Blom bets 28,500 from the button and Roland de Wolfe makes it 65,000 from the small blind. There is about 21,000 in the middle. It comes back to Blom who takes some time to think. One of the other players then calls the clock and Blom asks, “Who called time?” The player leans forward, picks up his short stack and says, “I can’t handle the blinds going up.” “You show?” Blom says to de Wolfe. “I told you I’d show!” says de Wolfe. “Promise?” asks Blom and then folds. De Wolfe shows him pocket jacks and moves up to 245,000.

Blom bets 12,000 on a flop of 7 6 2. De Wolfe bends forward to try and see Blom’s hooded face, and then makes the call. The turn is the J and both players check. The river is the 3 and Blom bets 52,000. De Wolfe leans forward once again and takes a good hard look at him. Eventually, he calls and Blom shows 10 10. De Wolfe mucks and his stack moves back down again.

Player Tags: Barny Boatman,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   Freddy Deeb,   Bryn Kenney,   James Mitchell,   Viktor Blom

Level 14 Update: Kid Poker Hits Rail

Sep 26, '10

Blinds: 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante

Players Remaining: 43 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Andrew Pantling — 795,000
2 Bojan Gledovic — 720,000
3 Darren Woods — 550,000
4 Phil Ivey — 435,000
5 Daniel Steinberg — 409,000
6 Arnaud Mattern — 365,000
7 Viktor Blom — 350,000
8 Thomas Bichon — 346,000
9 David Baker — 340,000
10 Yevgeniy Timoshenko — 340,000

Average Chip Count: 241,395

Notable Eliminations:

Eli Elezra
Daniel Negreanu
Anton Wigg

Big Hands:

2009 Runner-Up Eliminated

Daniel Negreanu just handed his stack over to Darren Woods who has already been sitting in the top 10 since early yesterday. Woods bets 7,100 from the cut-off and Negreanu makes it 20,100 from the small blind. Woods thought for a while and raised it up. However Negreanu insta-shoved for just a little more and Woods was committed to call. It was A-K versus pocket threes for Negreanu and Woods respectively. The threes held however and Negreanu stood up looking a little pale. He said, " I can’t believe you thought I was going to fold there. I’m never folding in that spot."

Negreanu’s hopes of taking a seat at his third consecutive World Series of Poker Europe main event final table have now been destroyed, along with many others’ as the field has been quickly demolished on day 3.

Loss for Levi

Freddy Deeb bets 7,500 from the hijack and the button, Anthony Newman. moves all in for 41,000. Nicolas Levi calls from the big blind and Deeb folds showing an ace. The board comes 8 7 4 2 8. Levi holds J J but Newman has Q Q and so improves to 88,000. Levi has 150,000 in chips now.

Blom Versus de Wolfe

Roland de Wolfe is on Viktor Blom’s left and the two have been battling it out in the past level, along with Thomas Bichon. De Wolfe bet 7,200 and Bichon made it 21,500. Blom called, as did de Wolfe, and the three saw a 9 5 4 board. It was checked to the K turn and de Wolfe and Blom checked again. Bichon bet 41,000 and his two opponents folded their cards. De Wolfe dropped a little to 120,000 while Bichon increased his stack to 355,000.

It wasn’t long before de Wolfe was involved in another pot, but this time for his tournament life. Blom made it 6,800 from mid-late position and de Wolfe called from the hijack. The two went heads up to the J 7 6 flop and Blom bet 14,500. De Wolfe looked at his opponent and then called. The turn was the 10 and both players quietly checked. The river was the 5 and Blom bet 25,000. De Wolfe moved all in and it was 61,800 more for Blom to call. After a few minutes he did, but de Wolfe turned over 5 5 for a rivered set and Blom mucked his hand. De Wolfe improves to 215,000.

Blondeau Takes from Ivey

Two other players going to battle are Rudy Blondeau and Phil Ivey. With around 41,000 in the pot and the board showing A K 2 2 6 Ivey was staring down Blondeau as he decided how much to bet. He went for 23,000, but Ivey didn’t take long to make it 81,000. Blondeau went into the tank but eventually called and flipped over A J. Ivey showed A Q and the two chopped the pot.

They didn’t have to wait much longer to face each other again. Ivey bet 7,500 from the hijack and Blondeau made it 21,500 from the button. Ivey let it go. In the next hand Ivey then bet 7,500 again and Blondeau made it 21,500 once more. This time Ivey called and they saw a 7 5 2 flop. Ivey studied his opponent with widened, darting eyes and then checked. Blondeau did not make eye contact and quietly put 26,500 out in front of him. Ivey let his hand go again and drops to 430,000, which is still among the top 10. Blondeau improves to 246,000.

Trouble for Inizan

Marc Inizan bets 7,075 from UTG+1 and gets two callers, the button and the big blind. The flop comes down 10 4 7 and Inizan bets 10,100. Hoi Cheung (the button) comes along for the ride, while the big blind steps aside. The turn is the 2 and Inizan bets 22,500. Cheung moves all in for 58,200 and Inizan goes into the tank. He eventually folds and Cheung collects the pot.

Mitchell Takes a Hit

James Mitchell bets 7,300 from the hijack and Viktor Blom calls. Ronald Lee then moves all in for another 79,300 and Mitchell calls. Blom folds and the two flip over their cards.

Mitchell: J J
Lee: A K

Board: A Q 9 Q 8

Mitchell’s stack takes a hit and he is now on 126,000. Lee doubles up just before break.

Timoshenko vs. Seed

Yevgeniy Timoshenko raised to 8,000 preflop and Huck Seed reraised to 23,500. Timoshenko made the call and the flop fell 10 9 5. Both players checked and the Q fell on the turn. Timoshenko bet 29,000 after some thought and Seed made the call.

The river fell 4 and Timoshenko checked after spending some time in the tank. Seed checked as well and he flipped over J J after Timoshenko had revealed K Q. Seed dropped to 115,000 after the hand and Timoshenko rose to 360,000.

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

Andrew Pantling has had a fantastic level and has come to the fore as chip leader with just under 800,000 in chips. It’s still a tough leader board however with the likes of Phil Ivey, Arnaud Mattern, Viktor Blom, and Thomas Bichon in the top 10. Mattern is on Pantling’s left with just under 400,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Huck Seed,   Daniel Negreanu,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nicolas Levi,   Yevgeniy Timoshenko,   Ronald Lee,   Marc Inizan,   James Mitchell,   Viktor Blom,   Rudy Blondeau

Level 22 Update: Final Table Set

Sep 27, '10

NOTE: Day 4 has come to a close now that the final table of nine has been set. Check back tomorrow at noon local time (4 a.m. PST) for live updates, photos, chip counts, and videos from CardPlayer TV. A champion will be crowned in London tomorrow.

Blinds: 10,000-20,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 9 of 346

Final-Table Seating Chart with Chip Counts:

Seat 1: Roland de Wolfe – 1,377,000
Seat 2: Marc Inizan – 349,000
Seat 3: Nicolas Levi – 428,000
Seat 4: Fabrizio Baldassari – 697,000
Seat 5: Brian Powell – 842,000
Seat 6: Dan Steinberg – 1,520,000
Seat 7: James Bord – 1,331,000
Seat 8: Ronald Lee – 1,899,000
Seat 9: Dan Fleyshman – 1,946,000

Average Chip Count: 1,153,333

Notable Cashes:

10

David Peters

£54,114

Big Hands:

David Peters Eliminated in 10th Place (£54,114)

David Peters raised all in from the button preflop for 340,000 and Roland de Wolfe made the call from the small blind. Their cards:

Peters: A 7
De Wolfe: A 5

Board: Q Q 5 9 6

Peters was eliminated on the hand in 10th place and he will take home £54,114 in prize money. De Wolfe grew his stack to 1,377,000 after the hand.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   David Peters

Level 20 Update: Down to a Dozen

Sep 27, '10

Blinds: 6,000-12,000 with a 2,000 ante

Players Remaining: 12 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Ronald Lee — 1,826,000
2. Dan Fleyshman — 1,777,000
3. James Bord — 1,609,000
4. Roland de Wolfe — 1,312,000
5. Fabrizio Baldassari — 1,010,000
6. Nicolas Levi — 786,000
7. Daniel Steinberg – 526,000
8. David Peters — 472,000
9. Andrew Pantling — 430,000
10. Brian Powell — 295,000
11. Marc Inizan — 264,000
12. Arnaud Mattern — 130,000

Average Chip Count: 692,000

Notable Cashes:

15	Hoyt Corkins	£42,454
14	Clint Coffee	£42,454
13	Barny Boatman	£42,454

Big Hands:

Marc Inizan Doubles Up

Dan Steinberg raised to 27,000 preflop from the cutoff and Marc Inizan reraised all in. Brian Powell made the call on the button and Steinberg mucked. Their cards:

Powell: A K
Inizan: A J

Board: J J 2 5 8

Inizan doubled up to 530,000 after the hand and Powell held less than 500,000.

Hoyt Corkins Eliminated in 15th Place (£42,454)

Hoyt Corkins raised to 35,000 preflop from the cutoff and Fabrizio Baldassari reraised to 102,000 on the button. Corkins reraised to 212,000 and then Baldassari moved all in. Corkins made the all-in call and the two players flipped over their cards:

Corkins: A Q
Baldassari: K K

Board: 10 4 2 Q 5

Corkins was eliminated on the hand in 15th place (£42,454) and Baldassari grew his stack to 1,010,000.

Clint Coffee (14th Place) and Barny Boatman (13th Place) Eliminated on the same Hand

Clint Coffee and Barny Boatman moved all in ahead of Roland de Wolfe preflop and he made the call, covering both of his opponents. Their cards:

De Wolfe: A A
Coffee: A J
Boatman: A K

Board: K 10 4 9 8

Coffee and Boatman were eliminated in 14th place and 13th place respectively and they each took home £42,454. De Wolfe rocketed his stack to 1,312,000 just before the break.

Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins,   Barny Boatman,   Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Marc Inizan,   Clint Coffee

Level 18 Update -- Early Action

Sep 27, '10

Blinds: 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante

Players Remaining: 19 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. James Bord — 920,000
2. Viktor Blom — 900,000
3. Ronald Lee — 850,000
4. Andrew Pantling — 760,000
5. Daniel Steinberg — 660,000
6. David Peters — 645,000
7. Nicolas Levi — 640,000
8. Dan Fleyshman — 625,000
9. Bojan Gledovic — 610,000
10. Clint Coffee — 590,000
11. Phil Ivey — 481,000
12. Hoyt Corkins — 435,000
13. Brian Powell — 379,000
14. Barny Boatman — 300,000
15. Roland de Wolfe — 232,000
16. Marc Inizan — 205,000
17. Anthony Newman — 196,000
18. Arnaud Mattern — 180,000

Average Chip Count: 546,316

Notable Cashes:

22	Greg Mueller	£26,400
21	Jani Sointula	£26,400
20	Thomas Bichon	£26,400

Big Hands:

Greg Mueller Eliminated in 22nd Place (£26,400)

Greg Mueller moved all in with A Q and was called by Brian Powell who held A K. The board fell 9 6 5 8 6 and Mueller shook his opponents’ hands and made his exit. He leaves with £26,400 for 22nd place.

Jani Sointula Eliminated in 21st Place (£26,400)

Phil Ivey and Jani Sointula ran into each other for the second and final time today. Ivey made it 20,000 from the button and Sointula moved all in for 197,000. Ivey did not look happy as he contemplated the call. He decided to go with it, moved his chips over the line and flipped over pocket fours. Sointula showed Q J and waited for his fate to be determined. The flop came down J 9 2 and Sointula moved ahead. The turn was the K keeping Sointula safe. Ivey would need one of the two remaining fours to win the pot, and that’s exactly what came down. Ivey now closes in on the 800,000 in chips mark.

Thomas Bichon Eliminated in 20th Place (£26,400)

Thomas Bichon made his last stand in the main event against Viktor Blom, but it was not meant to be for the French pro when his A-Q could not beat Blom’s K-Q. Blom found a king on the flop and waved goodbye to another opponent. He’s currently nearing the million in chips mark.

De wolfe Hangs On

After moving all in and chopping a pot with Bojan Gledovic, Roland de Wolfe survived once more, this time doubling through Marc Inizan. With just under 80,000 in chips, de Wolfe shoved with A 8 and Inizan called with 10-10. De Wolfe binked an ace on the turn and doubled his stack.

Fleyshman Doubles

Andrew Pantling bet 18,000 from under the gun and Dan Fleyshman moved all in from the cut-off for the best part of 300,000. Pantling went into the tank and when he came out the other side, he opted to call. He flipped over 10 10 and saw he was up against A Q. The board came down J 6 4 A 5 and Fleyshman doubled up to over 600,000.

Mattern Miraculously Survives

Arnaud Mattern’s pocket queens ran head-first into James Bord’s pocket aces. Viktor Blom triggered a raising war and then stepped out when Arnaud Mattern four-bet. Bord then shoved and Mattern made the call. The hands stood as they were after all was said and done, and pocket rockets were enough to send Bord sky-high into the chip lead, crippling Mattern down to just 12,000.

Before the first break of the day however, Mattern managed to double up three times. First with pocket sixes versus Brian Powel’s K-Q, then with A-3 versus Anthony Newman’s A-Q by hitting a 3 on the turn, and finally with pocket eights versus Viktor Blom’s K-9. Mattern made a set on the flop and is now on a little more than 180,000.

Player Tags: Greg Mueller,   Phil Ivey,   Jani Sointula,   Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Dan Fleyshman,   Arnaud Mattern,   James Bord,   Thomas Bichon,   Viktor Blom

Level 26 Update -- Steinberg, Levi, and de Wolfe Out

Sep 28, '10

NOTE: The players are now on dinner break and they will return at 9:40 p.m. local time (1:40 p.m. PST).

Blinds: 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 3 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 6,830,000
2: Fabrizio Baldassari – 2,480,000
3: James Bord – 1,120,000

Average Chip Count: 3,460,000

Notable Cashes:

6	Daniel Steinberg	£156,530
5	Nicolas Levi	£208,119
4	Roland de Wolfe	£278,945

Big Hands:

Daniel Steinberg Eliminated in Sixth Place (£156,530)

Ronald Lee raised to 110,000 and Daniel Steinberg reraised to 285,000 total from the big blind. Chip leader Lee then moved all in and Steinberg went into the tank. He had about 900,000 behind and after contemplating his decision intensely, he decided to call. The two revealed their cards:

Steinberg: A J
Lee: 4 4

Board: Q 9 6 3 8

Pocket fours were enough to scoop the whole lot and Steinberg hit the rail £156,530 richer.

Nicolas Levi Eliminated in Fifth Place (£208,119)

Nicolas Levi bet 135,000 from the cut-off and Lee raised enough from the big blind to put the Frenchman all in. Just moments before this hand Levi had made the all-in move but this time he was calling all in. After some thought, Levi called and showed 9 9. Lee flipped over K Q.

The board ran out 8 5 4 K 10 and with that Lee had destroyed another finalist.

Roland de Wolfe Eliminated in Fourth Place (£278,945)

Roland De Wolfe moved all in from the small blind with his short stack and Fabrizio Baldassari called.

De Wolfe: K Q
Baldassari: A 8

The board went in Baldasarri’s favour: A 8 3 2 9 and the popular Brit hits the rail just before the dinner break.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 25 Update: Dan Fleyshman Eliminated in Seventh Place (£118,643)

Sep 28, '10

Blinds: 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 6 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 2,550,000
2: Fabrizio Baldassari – 2,250,000
3: James Bord – 2,200,000
4: Dan Steinberg – 1,500,000
5: Nicolas Levi – 1,275,000
6: Roland de Wolfe – 550,000

Average Chip Count: 1,730,000

Notable Cashes:

7

Dan Fleyshman

£118,643

Big Hands:

Dan Fleyshman Eliminated in Seventh Place (£118,643)

Ronald Lee raised it to 85,000 preflop and Dan Fleyshman reraised all in for 250,000. Lee made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Lee: K 5
Fleyshman: J 10

Board: K 7 3 8 A

Fleyshman was eliminated in seventh place and he took home £118,643 in prize money while Lee continued to build his chip lead.

James Bord Doubles Up and Ignites the Crowd

Ronald Lee raised to 85,000 preflop under the gun and Nicolas Levi reraised to 225,000 from the cutoff. James Bord then reraised all in after thinking for quite some time. Lee got out of the way and Levi made the call. Their cards:

Levi: A Q
Bord: J J

Board: 9 5 5 5 7

Bord won the hand to double up and the cheers from the crowd could be heard throughout the Empire Casino.

Nicolas Levi Doubles Up

Roland de Wolfe raised to 95,000 preflop and Nicolas Levi reraised all in for 595,000. De Wolfe made the call after spending a moment in the tank and they flipped over their cards:

De Wolfe: A 10
Levi: A 8

Board: 8 6 2 A 5

Levi doubled up on the hand and de Wolfe suffered another setback.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Dan Fleyshman,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   James Bord

Level 23 Update: Marc Inizan (9th) and Brian Powell (8th) Eliminated

Sep 28, '10

Blinds: 12,000-24,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 7 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 3,164,000
2: Dan Steinberg – 2,063,000
3: Dan Fleyshman – 1,797,000
4: James Bord – 1,059,000
5: Roland de Wolfe – 931,000
6: Fabrizio Baldassari – 787,000
7: Nicolas Levi – 584,000

Average Chip Count: 1,482,857

Notable Cashes:

9	Marc Inizan	£54,114
8	Brian Powell	£69,754

Big Hands:

Marc Inizan Eliminated in Ninth Place (£54,114) and Brian Powell Eliminated in Eighth Place (£69,754) on the Same Hand

Marc Inizan moved all in preflop for 313,000 preflop and Brian Powell moved all in over the top of him before Ronald Lee made the call and had both opponents covered. Their cards:

Lee: A K
Inizan: 8 8
Powell: 8 8

Board: J 10 6 K 4

Lee won the hand to take a dominating chip lead with more than 3 million. Inizan was eliminated in ninth place (£54,114) and Powell took home eight-place money (£69,754).

Nicolas Levi Doubles Up Through Roland de Wolfe

Dan Fleyshman limped preflop and Roland de Wolfe also joined the pot from the cutoff. Nicolas Levi then moved all in from the small blind for 336,000. Fleyshman mucked and de Wolfe made the call. Their cards:

Levi: 10 10
De Wolfe: A K

Board: Q 9 4 8 8

Levi doubled up on the hand and de Wolfe suffered a setback to start the day.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   Marc Inizan

Level 6 Update: Brits Make Moves

Sep 24, '10

Note: Play has ended for tonight. Please tune back in at noon local time tomorrow (4 a.m. PST) as we go deeper into this year’s WSOPE main event.

Blinds: 100-200

Players Remaining: 122 out of 200 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1 James Mitchell — 178,850
2 John Dolan — 173,700
3 Antonio Esfandiari — 130,000
4 Brian Powell — 111,000
5 Yann Dion — 110,000
6 Eli Elezra — 100,000
7 Carlos Mortensen — 99,000
8 Andrew Pantling — 97,000
9 Phil Ivey — 94,350
10 David Peters — 92,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 86,325

Average Chip Count: 52,250

Notable Eliminations:

Allyn Jaffrey Shulman
Noel Furlong
Melanie Weisner

Big Hands:

Pantling Trips Up

A table that has attracted a crowd is one which involves Antonio Esfandiari, John Dolan, Andrew Pantling, JP Kelly, and Jim Collopy. In between playing “Johnny Lodden Thinks”, there is definitely some explosive poker going on. Esfandiari bets 1,500 from under the gun and Roland de Wolfe makes the call from the hijack. Andrew Pantling calls from the small blind and Yevgeniy Timoshenko folds, donating his big blind. The flop comes K K 6 and it’s checked to de Wolfe who bets 3,500. Pantling calls and Esfandiari folds. The turn is the 9 and Pantling checks. De Wolfe bets 8,500 and Pantling calls. The river is the 4 and both players check. Pantling shows K J and de Wolfe mucks his hand. His stack takes a hit and he now has 28,000. Pantling has 97,000.

De Wolfe also just lost $1,000 to Esfandiari in a “Johnny Lodden Thinks” moment involving John Dolan and this question – How much would you need to be paid to not show up on November Nine? Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day for the Brit.

Quietly Collecting Chips

JP Kelly bets 1,400 from the small blind and Andrew Pantling calls from the big blind. The flop falls J 10 7 and Kelly bets 1,600. Pantling makes the call and the turn is the 5. Kelly bets 4,600 and Pantling mucks. Kelly moves on up to a respectable 67,900 in chips.

Across the room, Kathy Liebert bets 1,500 from the hijack and Andy Black calls from the big blind. The flop is A K 10 and Black bets 2,000. Liebert folds and Black adds her chips to his stack which is now at 38,800. Liebert has 55,000.

Trickett Loses Some

Sam Trickett has been on some run of late and today he reached the top spot of unofficial chip counts, but dropped off slightly towards the end of play. One hand that helped his downfall was against Mike Browne. On a flop of 8 6 4 with a healthy little pot in the middle, Trickett bet 12,000 and Browne moved all in. Trickett made the call and flipped over 7 6 while Browne revealed 6 6. The turn was dealt the A, and the river the J. Browne’s stack doubled to 72,500.

Railbird Challenges Ivey

While Phil Ivey slows down a little in the last level of the night, he should still be safe in the knowledge he is among chip leaders at close of play. One uneasy moment however developed when a man made his way to the front of the rail and shouted, “Yo Phil! Yo Phil!” Getting everyone’s attention, the man then proceeded to point to his own face and exclaim, “You see this face? Remember this face! Remember this face! In 12 months time I’m going to take your stack!” “Okay,” said Phil laughing, and as the man walked abruptly away, wide-eyed, the area abrupted into laughter and conversation. “You better watch out Phil!” said Barry Greenstein smirking.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   John Dolan,   Andrew Pantling,   Sam Trickett

Level 10 Update: Viktor Blom Rockin' It

Sep 25, '10

Note: Players are now on a 90-minute dinner break. They will return at 8.45 p.m. local time.

Blinds: 600-1,200 with 200 ante

Players Remaining: 98 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Viktor Blom — 450,000
2 Darren Woods — 310,000
3 Phil Ivey — 296,000
4 Thomas Bichon — 290,000
5 Dan Shak — 285,000
6 Barny Boatman — 255,000
7 Andrew Pantling — 240,000
8 Rob Akery — 225,000
9 Bojan Gledovic — 220,000
10 Nick Schulman — 218,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 81,000

Average Chip Count: 105,918

Notable Eliminations:

John Racener
Tyler Bonkowski
Jim Collopy
Charles Chua
Andy Black

Big Hands:

Viktor Blom Takes the Lead

Magnus Persson raised preflop UTG+1 and Viktor Blom reraised preflop. Persson made the call and the two saw a flop of 9 6 5. Both players checked and then the 2 fell on the turn. Persson checked, Blom bet 13,500, and Persson made the call. The river fell 5 and Persson checked again. Blom bet 49,000 and Persson made the call. Blom flipped over AA and Persson mucked. Blom held 480,000 after the hand as he continues to increase his chip lead. He ended the level with 450,000 in chips.

Three Streets of Value for Schulman

Nicolas Levi raised to 3,000 UTG +1 and Nick Schulman made the call from late position. Ivey made the call from the big blind as well. The flop fell A 4 3 and Ivey and Levi check. Schulman bet 6,500. Ivey mucked and Levi called. The 8 fell on the turn and Levi checked. Schulman bet 15,000. Levi called. The river fell 2. Levi checked and Schulman bet 25,000. Levi called and mucked when Schulman flipped over 4 4. Levi held 100,000 after the hand. During happier times at the start of the day he was one of the chip leaders. Schulman rose above 200,000 after the hand.

Shak and Awe

On a flop of J 9 5, Antonio Esfandiari had led out, only to be raised to 18,000 by Dan Shak. Esfandiari went into the tank, only to eventually announce all-in for around 140,000 in total. Shak called without hesitation, and the players revealed their hands.

Esfandiari: K 10

Shak: 6 3

With a dominant flush draw, gut shot straight draw, and the currently good king-high, Esfandiari was a strong favorite with all but a few thousand of his chips in the middle.

The turn came the 2, leaving Shak drawing only to the remaining non-diamond threes and sixes.

The 3 did roll off on the river, and Esfandiari exploded out of his seat in shocked disgust. As the dealer laboriously counted out the stacks, Esfandiari politely said “Nice hand.” Shak apologized about the bad beat, but unsurprisingly this did little to salve Esfandiari’s wounds.

Shak’s stack grew to around 280,000 after the hand.

Show The Bluff

Phil Laak bets 3,000 from mid-position and Andy Frankenberger calls from the cut-off. Dan Fleyshman calls also, from the big blind. The flop is dealt A J 2 and it is checked around. The turn comes the 7. Fleyshman checks, Laak bets 5,000, Frankenberger calls, and Fleyshman folds. The river is the Q, Laak bets 11,000 and Frankenberger thinks for some time. He then raises it to 26,000, putting the decision back to Laak. Laak goes into the tank – he has about 58,000 behind his original bet. Eventually Laak passes and instantly starts trying to get Frankenberger to show his cards, “Show the bluff and make me crazy. I’ll pay you, just say the number!” He takes out some sterling notes and places them on the table. “I’ll give you £40 to show me the bluff,” he says smiling. Frankenberger stays quiet as the others debate what he had. He now has 147,000 in chips.

Up and Down Day for Lacay

Coming in late into the action, Ludovic Lacay has moved all in for 22,000 on a J 8 4 5 8 board with about 15,000 already in the middle. The decision is on Daniel Steinberg and he takes his time. He finally calls and mucks when he sees Lacay’s A A for the nut flush. Steinberg has 120,000 remaining while Lacay reaches the 74,000 mark. He soon loses a good few chips however when he calls Eugene Katchalov’s all in with pocket nines. Katchalov has A Q and the board falls Q 5 8 8 J. “It’s been like this all day!” says Lacay.

Present for Praz

Allen Cunningham bets 3,500 from UTG and Roland de Wolfe calls from the small blind. Praz Bansi calls from the big blind and the flop comes 9 6 5. De Wolfe and Bansi check and Cunningham bets 6,000. De Wolfe folds but Bansi pops it to 14,800. “What do you have behind?” asks Cunningham. It’s about 33,000. After a few minutes Cunningham passes and Bansi mucks. The British pro is nearing the 60,000 mark just before dinner time.

De Wolfe Gets Lucky

Guy Gorelik bets 3,000 from late position and Roland de Wolfe calls from the hijack. Martin Davis makes it 9,500 and Gorelik steps aside. Players begin to make their way out for the dinner break as de Wolfe and David go head to head. De Wolfe asks Davis, “A-K?” “Yep, I have,” answers Davis, and then sadds, “Maybe.” De Wolfe calls and the flop is dealt K Q 6. Davis bets 9,000 and smiles. De Wolfe sighs and debates whether he wants to come back after dinner with 10 big blinds. “I know I’m behind,” he says. As the room eventually clears, de Wolfe moves all in for 17,300. Davis calls and shows A K. De Wolfe reveals Q J. The turn is the A and the river is the 10 giving de Wolfe a straight. He smiles mischievously as Davis simply says, “Shit!”

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

The last two levels of the tournament have truly created a new hierarchy within the chip counts. Viktor Blom, the alleged “Isildur1” has been crushing it today and he now holds more than 400,000 to lead the way. We have two players at the 300,000 level and they are Phil Ivey and Darren Woods. The 200,000 club can count Barny Boatman, Nick Schulman, Thomas Bichon and Andre Pantling among its members.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Laak,   Dan Shak,   Eugene Katchalov,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nick Schulman,   Martin Davis,   Nicolas Levi,   Praz Bansi,   Ludovic Lacay,   Andy Frankenberger,   Viktor Blom,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 16 Update: Into the Dinner Break

Sep 26, '10

NOTE: The field is now on a 90-minute dinner break. Play will resume at 8:45 p.m. local time (12:45 p.m. PST).

Blinds: 2,500-5,000 with a 500 ante

Players Remaining: 28 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Andrew Pantling — 1,300,000
2. Phil Ivey — 699,000
3. Dan Fleyshman — 695,000
4. Nicolas Levi — 634,000
5. Bojan Gledovic — 605,000
6. Daniel Steinberg — 605,000
7. Arnaud Mattern — 480,000
8. David Peters — 442,000
9. Marc Inizan — 375,000
10. Ronald Lee — 367,000

Average Chip Count: 346,000

Notable Cashes:

29	Bryn Kenney	£21,106
30	Freddy Deeb	₤21,106
31	James Mitchell	₤21,106
32	Jean Paul Seatelli	₤21,106
33	Matthew Waxman	₤21,106
34	Magnus Persson	₤21,106
35	Darren Woods	₤21,106
36	Mark Thurgood	₤21,106

Big Hands:

James Mitchell Eliminated in 31st Place (₤21,106)

James Mitchell moved all in on a flop of 7 4 2 and Marc Inizan made the call. Their cards:

Micthell: 9-9
Inizan: 10-10

Turn and River: 3 and 6

Mitchell was eliminated on the hand in 31st place and he will take home ₤21,106 in prize money.

Freddy Deeb Eliminated in 30th Place (₤21,106)

Roland de Wolfe raised preflop from the small blind and Freddy Deeb reraised all in from the big blind. De Wolfe made the call and they flipped over their cards:

De Wolfe: K 8
Deeb: 9 9

Board: Q J 10 A

De Wolfe made a Broadway straight on the turn and that brought an end to Deeb’s tournament in 30th place. He will take home ₤21,106 in prize money.

Boatman Gets Chatty

Ivey bets 12,500 from late position and Barny Boatman raises it to 37,500 from the hijack. Ivey calls and the flop comes J 10 7. Both players check and the turn is the Q. Ivey checks and Boatman bets 35,500. Ivey calls and the river is the 8. Ivey checks and Boatman moves all in. Ivey asks how much it is and the answer is 175,000. He sits back and contemplates the call. Boatman then turns to him and says, “Were you trap-checking me on the flop?” Straight away Ivey gets very animated and starts repeating the question – “Was I trap-checking you on the flop?” He’s almost laughing as he stares at Boatman to figure out if he’s playing mind games. After a few minutes he decides to pass and Boatman adds a good few more chips to his stack.

Bryn Kenney Eliminated in 29th Place (£21,106)

Bryn Kenney bets 13,000 from the cut-off and Phil Ivey makes it 40,000 from the small blind. Kenny pops it to 80,000 and after about 30 seconds Ivey quietly says, “I’m all in.” Kenney insta-calls and flips over K K. Ivey shows A 8 and the board is dealt 10 10 9 J A. Not only did Ivey hit his ace but it was a club giving him a flush. He adds about 170,000 to his stack.

De Wolfe and Blom at it Again

Coming in preflop but slightly late into the action. Viktor Blom bets 28,500 from the button and Roland de Wolfe makes it 65,000 from the small blind. There is about 21,000 in the middle. It comes back to Blom who takes some time to think. One of the other players then calls the clock and Blom asks, “Who called time?” The player leans forward, picks up his short stack and says, “I can’t handle the blinds going up.” “You show?” Blom says to de Wolfe. “I told you I’d show!” says de Wolfe. “Promise?” asks Blom and then folds. De Wolfe shows him pocket jacks and moves up to 245,000.

Blom bets 12,000 on a flop of 7 6 2. De Wolfe bends forward to try and see Blom’s hooded face, and then makes the call. The turn is the J and both players check. The river is the 3 and Blom bets 52,000. De Wolfe leans forward once again and takes a good hard look at him. Eventually, he calls and Blom shows 10 10. De Wolfe mucks and his stack moves back down again.

Player Tags: Barny Boatman,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   Freddy Deeb,   Bryn Kenney,   James Mitchell,   Viktor Blom

Level 14 Update: Kid Poker Hits Rail

Sep 26, '10

Blinds: 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante

Players Remaining: 43 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Andrew Pantling — 795,000
2 Bojan Gledovic — 720,000
3 Darren Woods — 550,000
4 Phil Ivey — 435,000
5 Daniel Steinberg — 409,000
6 Arnaud Mattern — 365,000
7 Viktor Blom — 350,000
8 Thomas Bichon — 346,000
9 David Baker — 340,000
10 Yevgeniy Timoshenko — 340,000

Average Chip Count: 241,395

Notable Eliminations:

Eli Elezra
Daniel Negreanu
Anton Wigg

Big Hands:

2009 Runner-Up Eliminated

Daniel Negreanu just handed his stack over to Darren Woods who has already been sitting in the top 10 since early yesterday. Woods bets 7,100 from the cut-off and Negreanu makes it 20,100 from the small blind. Woods thought for a while and raised it up. However Negreanu insta-shoved for just a little more and Woods was committed to call. It was A-K versus pocket threes for Negreanu and Woods respectively. The threes held however and Negreanu stood up looking a little pale. He said, " I can’t believe you thought I was going to fold there. I’m never folding in that spot."

Negreanu’s hopes of taking a seat at his third consecutive World Series of Poker Europe main event final table have now been destroyed, along with many others’ as the field has been quickly demolished on day 3.

Loss for Levi

Freddy Deeb bets 7,500 from the hijack and the button, Anthony Newman. moves all in for 41,000. Nicolas Levi calls from the big blind and Deeb folds showing an ace. The board comes 8 7 4 2 8. Levi holds J J but Newman has Q Q and so improves to 88,000. Levi has 150,000 in chips now.

Blom Versus de Wolfe

Roland de Wolfe is on Viktor Blom’s left and the two have been battling it out in the past level, along with Thomas Bichon. De Wolfe bet 7,200 and Bichon made it 21,500. Blom called, as did de Wolfe, and the three saw a 9 5 4 board. It was checked to the K turn and de Wolfe and Blom checked again. Bichon bet 41,000 and his two opponents folded their cards. De Wolfe dropped a little to 120,000 while Bichon increased his stack to 355,000.

It wasn’t long before de Wolfe was involved in another pot, but this time for his tournament life. Blom made it 6,800 from mid-late position and de Wolfe called from the hijack. The two went heads up to the J 7 6 flop and Blom bet 14,500. De Wolfe looked at his opponent and then called. The turn was the 10 and both players quietly checked. The river was the 5 and Blom bet 25,000. De Wolfe moved all in and it was 61,800 more for Blom to call. After a few minutes he did, but de Wolfe turned over 5 5 for a rivered set and Blom mucked his hand. De Wolfe improves to 215,000.

Blondeau Takes from Ivey

Two other players going to battle are Rudy Blondeau and Phil Ivey. With around 41,000 in the pot and the board showing A K 2 2 6 Ivey was staring down Blondeau as he decided how much to bet. He went for 23,000, but Ivey didn’t take long to make it 81,000. Blondeau went into the tank but eventually called and flipped over A J. Ivey showed A Q and the two chopped the pot.

They didn’t have to wait much longer to face each other again. Ivey bet 7,500 from the hijack and Blondeau made it 21,500 from the button. Ivey let it go. In the next hand Ivey then bet 7,500 again and Blondeau made it 21,500 once more. This time Ivey called and they saw a 7 5 2 flop. Ivey studied his opponent with widened, darting eyes and then checked. Blondeau did not make eye contact and quietly put 26,500 out in front of him. Ivey let his hand go again and drops to 430,000, which is still among the top 10. Blondeau improves to 246,000.

Trouble for Inizan

Marc Inizan bets 7,075 from UTG+1 and gets two callers, the button and the big blind. The flop comes down 10 4 7 and Inizan bets 10,100. Hoi Cheung (the button) comes along for the ride, while the big blind steps aside. The turn is the 2 and Inizan bets 22,500. Cheung moves all in for 58,200 and Inizan goes into the tank. He eventually folds and Cheung collects the pot.

Mitchell Takes a Hit

James Mitchell bets 7,300 from the hijack and Viktor Blom calls. Ronald Lee then moves all in for another 79,300 and Mitchell calls. Blom folds and the two flip over their cards.

Mitchell: J J
Lee: A K

Board: A Q 9 Q 8

Mitchell’s stack takes a hit and he is now on 126,000. Lee doubles up just before break.

Timoshenko vs. Seed

Yevgeniy Timoshenko raised to 8,000 preflop and Huck Seed reraised to 23,500. Timoshenko made the call and the flop fell 10 9 5. Both players checked and the Q fell on the turn. Timoshenko bet 29,000 after some thought and Seed made the call.

The river fell 4 and Timoshenko checked after spending some time in the tank. Seed checked as well and he flipped over J J after Timoshenko had revealed K Q. Seed dropped to 115,000 after the hand and Timoshenko rose to 360,000.

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

Andrew Pantling has had a fantastic level and has come to the fore as chip leader with just under 800,000 in chips. It’s still a tough leader board however with the likes of Phil Ivey, Arnaud Mattern, Viktor Blom, and Thomas Bichon in the top 10. Mattern is on Pantling’s left with just under 400,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Huck Seed,   Daniel Negreanu,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nicolas Levi,   Yevgeniy Timoshenko,   Ronald Lee,   Marc Inizan,   James Mitchell,   Viktor Blom,   Rudy Blondeau

Level 22 Update: Final Table Set

Sep 27, '10

NOTE: Day 4 has come to a close now that the final table of nine has been set. Check back tomorrow at noon local time (4 a.m. PST) for live updates, photos, chip counts, and videos from CardPlayer TV. A champion will be crowned in London tomorrow.

Blinds: 10,000-20,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 9 of 346

Final-Table Seating Chart with Chip Counts:

Seat 1: Roland de Wolfe – 1,377,000
Seat 2: Marc Inizan – 349,000
Seat 3: Nicolas Levi – 428,000
Seat 4: Fabrizio Baldassari – 697,000
Seat 5: Brian Powell – 842,000
Seat 6: Dan Steinberg – 1,520,000
Seat 7: James Bord – 1,331,000
Seat 8: Ronald Lee – 1,899,000
Seat 9: Dan Fleyshman – 1,946,000

Average Chip Count: 1,153,333

Notable Cashes:

10

David Peters

£54,114

Big Hands:

David Peters Eliminated in 10th Place (£54,114)

David Peters raised all in from the button preflop for 340,000 and Roland de Wolfe made the call from the small blind. Their cards:

Peters: A 7
De Wolfe: A 5

Board: Q Q 5 9 6

Peters was eliminated on the hand in 10th place and he will take home £54,114 in prize money. De Wolfe grew his stack to 1,377,000 after the hand.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   David Peters

Level 20 Update: Down to a Dozen

Sep 27, '10

Blinds: 6,000-12,000 with a 2,000 ante

Players Remaining: 12 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Ronald Lee — 1,826,000
2. Dan Fleyshman — 1,777,000
3. James Bord — 1,609,000
4. Roland de Wolfe — 1,312,000
5. Fabrizio Baldassari — 1,010,000
6. Nicolas Levi — 786,000
7. Daniel Steinberg – 526,000
8. David Peters — 472,000
9. Andrew Pantling — 430,000
10. Brian Powell — 295,000
11. Marc Inizan — 264,000
12. Arnaud Mattern — 130,000

Average Chip Count: 692,000

Notable Cashes:

15	Hoyt Corkins	£42,454
14	Clint Coffee	£42,454
13	Barny Boatman	£42,454

Big Hands:

Marc Inizan Doubles Up

Dan Steinberg raised to 27,000 preflop from the cutoff and Marc Inizan reraised all in. Brian Powell made the call on the button and Steinberg mucked. Their cards:

Powell: A K
Inizan: A J

Board: J J 2 5 8

Inizan doubled up to 530,000 after the hand and Powell held less than 500,000.

Hoyt Corkins Eliminated in 15th Place (£42,454)

Hoyt Corkins raised to 35,000 preflop from the cutoff and Fabrizio Baldassari reraised to 102,000 on the button. Corkins reraised to 212,000 and then Baldassari moved all in. Corkins made the all-in call and the two players flipped over their cards:

Corkins: A Q
Baldassari: K K

Board: 10 4 2 Q 5

Corkins was eliminated on the hand in 15th place (£42,454) and Baldassari grew his stack to 1,010,000.

Clint Coffee (14th Place) and Barny Boatman (13th Place) Eliminated on the same Hand

Clint Coffee and Barny Boatman moved all in ahead of Roland de Wolfe preflop and he made the call, covering both of his opponents. Their cards:

De Wolfe: A A
Coffee: A J
Boatman: A K

Board: K 10 4 9 8

Coffee and Boatman were eliminated in 14th place and 13th place respectively and they each took home £42,454. De Wolfe rocketed his stack to 1,312,000 just before the break.

Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins,   Barny Boatman,   Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Marc Inizan,   Clint Coffee

Level 18 Update -- Early Action

Sep 27, '10

Blinds: 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante

Players Remaining: 19 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. James Bord — 920,000
2. Viktor Blom — 900,000
3. Ronald Lee — 850,000
4. Andrew Pantling — 760,000
5. Daniel Steinberg — 660,000
6. David Peters — 645,000
7. Nicolas Levi — 640,000
8. Dan Fleyshman — 625,000
9. Bojan Gledovic — 610,000
10. Clint Coffee — 590,000
11. Phil Ivey — 481,000
12. Hoyt Corkins — 435,000
13. Brian Powell — 379,000
14. Barny Boatman — 300,000
15. Roland de Wolfe — 232,000
16. Marc Inizan — 205,000
17. Anthony Newman — 196,000
18. Arnaud Mattern — 180,000

Average Chip Count: 546,316

Notable Cashes:

22	Greg Mueller	£26,400
21	Jani Sointula	£26,400
20	Thomas Bichon	£26,400

Big Hands:

Greg Mueller Eliminated in 22nd Place (£26,400)

Greg Mueller moved all in with A Q and was called by Brian Powell who held A K. The board fell 9 6 5 8 6 and Mueller shook his opponents’ hands and made his exit. He leaves with £26,400 for 22nd place.

Jani Sointula Eliminated in 21st Place (£26,400)

Phil Ivey and Jani Sointula ran into each other for the second and final time today. Ivey made it 20,000 from the button and Sointula moved all in for 197,000. Ivey did not look happy as he contemplated the call. He decided to go with it, moved his chips over the line and flipped over pocket fours. Sointula showed Q J and waited for his fate to be determined. The flop came down J 9 2 and Sointula moved ahead. The turn was the K keeping Sointula safe. Ivey would need one of the two remaining fours to win the pot, and that’s exactly what came down. Ivey now closes in on the 800,000 in chips mark.

Thomas Bichon Eliminated in 20th Place (£26,400)

Thomas Bichon made his last stand in the main event against Viktor Blom, but it was not meant to be for the French pro when his A-Q could not beat Blom’s K-Q. Blom found a king on the flop and waved goodbye to another opponent. He’s currently nearing the million in chips mark.

De wolfe Hangs On

After moving all in and chopping a pot with Bojan Gledovic, Roland de Wolfe survived once more, this time doubling through Marc Inizan. With just under 80,000 in chips, de Wolfe shoved with A 8 and Inizan called with 10-10. De Wolfe binked an ace on the turn and doubled his stack.

Fleyshman Doubles

Andrew Pantling bet 18,000 from under the gun and Dan Fleyshman moved all in from the cut-off for the best part of 300,000. Pantling went into the tank and when he came out the other side, he opted to call. He flipped over 10 10 and saw he was up against A Q. The board came down J 6 4 A 5 and Fleyshman doubled up to over 600,000.

Mattern Miraculously Survives

Arnaud Mattern’s pocket queens ran head-first into James Bord’s pocket aces. Viktor Blom triggered a raising war and then stepped out when Arnaud Mattern four-bet. Bord then shoved and Mattern made the call. The hands stood as they were after all was said and done, and pocket rockets were enough to send Bord sky-high into the chip lead, crippling Mattern down to just 12,000.

Before the first break of the day however, Mattern managed to double up three times. First with pocket sixes versus Brian Powel’s K-Q, then with A-3 versus Anthony Newman’s A-Q by hitting a 3 on the turn, and finally with pocket eights versus Viktor Blom’s K-9. Mattern made a set on the flop and is now on a little more than 180,000.

Player Tags: Greg Mueller,   Phil Ivey,   Jani Sointula,   Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Dan Fleyshman,   Arnaud Mattern,   James Bord,   Thomas Bichon,   Viktor Blom

Level 26 Update -- Steinberg, Levi, and de Wolfe Out

Sep 28, '10

NOTE: The players are now on dinner break and they will return at 9:40 p.m. local time (1:40 p.m. PST).

Blinds: 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 3 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 6,830,000
2: Fabrizio Baldassari – 2,480,000
3: James Bord – 1,120,000

Average Chip Count: 3,460,000

Notable Cashes:

6	Daniel Steinberg	£156,530
5	Nicolas Levi	£208,119
4	Roland de Wolfe	£278,945

Big Hands:

Daniel Steinberg Eliminated in Sixth Place (£156,530)

Ronald Lee raised to 110,000 and Daniel Steinberg reraised to 285,000 total from the big blind. Chip leader Lee then moved all in and Steinberg went into the tank. He had about 900,000 behind and after contemplating his decision intensely, he decided to call. The two revealed their cards:

Steinberg: A J
Lee: 4 4

Board: Q 9 6 3 8

Pocket fours were enough to scoop the whole lot and Steinberg hit the rail £156,530 richer.

Nicolas Levi Eliminated in Fifth Place (£208,119)

Nicolas Levi bet 135,000 from the cut-off and Lee raised enough from the big blind to put the Frenchman all in. Just moments before this hand Levi had made the all-in move but this time he was calling all in. After some thought, Levi called and showed 9 9. Lee flipped over K Q.

The board ran out 8 5 4 K 10 and with that Lee had destroyed another finalist.

Roland de Wolfe Eliminated in Fourth Place (£278,945)

Roland De Wolfe moved all in from the small blind with his short stack and Fabrizio Baldassari called.

De Wolfe: K Q
Baldassari: A 8

The board went in Baldasarri’s favour: A 8 3 2 9 and the popular Brit hits the rail just before the dinner break.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 25 Update: Dan Fleyshman Eliminated in Seventh Place (£118,643)

Sep 28, '10

Blinds: 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 6 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 2,550,000
2: Fabrizio Baldassari – 2,250,000
3: James Bord – 2,200,000
4: Dan Steinberg – 1,500,000
5: Nicolas Levi – 1,275,000
6: Roland de Wolfe – 550,000

Average Chip Count: 1,730,000

Notable Cashes:

7

Dan Fleyshman

£118,643

Big Hands:

Dan Fleyshman Eliminated in Seventh Place (£118,643)

Ronald Lee raised it to 85,000 preflop and Dan Fleyshman reraised all in for 250,000. Lee made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Lee: K 5
Fleyshman: J 10

Board: K 7 3 8 A

Fleyshman was eliminated in seventh place and he took home £118,643 in prize money while Lee continued to build his chip lead.

James Bord Doubles Up and Ignites the Crowd

Ronald Lee raised to 85,000 preflop under the gun and Nicolas Levi reraised to 225,000 from the cutoff. James Bord then reraised all in after thinking for quite some time. Lee got out of the way and Levi made the call. Their cards:

Levi: A Q
Bord: J J

Board: 9 5 5 5 7

Bord won the hand to double up and the cheers from the crowd could be heard throughout the Empire Casino.

Nicolas Levi Doubles Up

Roland de Wolfe raised to 95,000 preflop and Nicolas Levi reraised all in for 595,000. De Wolfe made the call after spending a moment in the tank and they flipped over their cards:

De Wolfe: A 10
Levi: A 8

Board: 8 6 2 A 5

Levi doubled up on the hand and de Wolfe suffered another setback.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Dan Fleyshman,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   James Bord

Level 23 Update: Marc Inizan (9th) and Brian Powell (8th) Eliminated

Sep 28, '10

Blinds: 12,000-24,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 7 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 3,164,000
2: Dan Steinberg – 2,063,000
3: Dan Fleyshman – 1,797,000
4: James Bord – 1,059,000
5: Roland de Wolfe – 931,000
6: Fabrizio Baldassari – 787,000
7: Nicolas Levi – 584,000

Average Chip Count: 1,482,857

Notable Cashes:

9	Marc Inizan	£54,114
8	Brian Powell	£69,754

Big Hands:

Marc Inizan Eliminated in Ninth Place (£54,114) and Brian Powell Eliminated in Eighth Place (£69,754) on the Same Hand

Marc Inizan moved all in preflop for 313,000 preflop and Brian Powell moved all in over the top of him before Ronald Lee made the call and had both opponents covered. Their cards:

Lee: A K
Inizan: 8 8
Powell: 8 8

Board: J 10 6 K 4

Lee won the hand to take a dominating chip lead with more than 3 million. Inizan was eliminated in ninth place (£54,114) and Powell took home eight-place money (£69,754).

Nicolas Levi Doubles Up Through Roland de Wolfe

Dan Fleyshman limped preflop and Roland de Wolfe also joined the pot from the cutoff. Nicolas Levi then moved all in from the small blind for 336,000. Fleyshman mucked and de Wolfe made the call. Their cards:

Levi: 10 10
De Wolfe: A K

Board: Q 9 4 8 8

Levi doubled up on the hand and de Wolfe suffered a setback to start the day.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   Marc Inizan

Level 6 Update: Brits Make Moves

Sep 24, '10

Note: Play has ended for tonight. Please tune back in at noon local time tomorrow (4 a.m. PST) as we go deeper into this year’s WSOPE main event.

Blinds: 100-200

Players Remaining: 122 out of 200 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1 James Mitchell — 178,850
2 John Dolan — 173,700
3 Antonio Esfandiari — 130,000
4 Brian Powell — 111,000
5 Yann Dion — 110,000
6 Eli Elezra — 100,000
7 Carlos Mortensen — 99,000
8 Andrew Pantling — 97,000
9 Phil Ivey — 94,350
10 David Peters — 92,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 86,325

Average Chip Count: 52,250

Notable Eliminations:

Allyn Jaffrey Shulman
Noel Furlong
Melanie Weisner

Big Hands:

Pantling Trips Up

A table that has attracted a crowd is one which involves Antonio Esfandiari, John Dolan, Andrew Pantling, JP Kelly, and Jim Collopy. In between playing “Johnny Lodden Thinks”, there is definitely some explosive poker going on. Esfandiari bets 1,500 from under the gun and Roland de Wolfe makes the call from the hijack. Andrew Pantling calls from the small blind and Yevgeniy Timoshenko folds, donating his big blind. The flop comes K K 6 and it’s checked to de Wolfe who bets 3,500. Pantling calls and Esfandiari folds. The turn is the 9 and Pantling checks. De Wolfe bets 8,500 and Pantling calls. The river is the 4 and both players check. Pantling shows K J and de Wolfe mucks his hand. His stack takes a hit and he now has 28,000. Pantling has 97,000.

De Wolfe also just lost $1,000 to Esfandiari in a “Johnny Lodden Thinks” moment involving John Dolan and this question – How much would you need to be paid to not show up on November Nine? Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day for the Brit.

Quietly Collecting Chips

JP Kelly bets 1,400 from the small blind and Andrew Pantling calls from the big blind. The flop falls J 10 7 and Kelly bets 1,600. Pantling makes the call and the turn is the 5. Kelly bets 4,600 and Pantling mucks. Kelly moves on up to a respectable 67,900 in chips.

Across the room, Kathy Liebert bets 1,500 from the hijack and Andy Black calls from the big blind. The flop is A K 10 and Black bets 2,000. Liebert folds and Black adds her chips to his stack which is now at 38,800. Liebert has 55,000.

Trickett Loses Some

Sam Trickett has been on some run of late and today he reached the top spot of unofficial chip counts, but dropped off slightly towards the end of play. One hand that helped his downfall was against Mike Browne. On a flop of 8 6 4 with a healthy little pot in the middle, Trickett bet 12,000 and Browne moved all in. Trickett made the call and flipped over 7 6 while Browne revealed 6 6. The turn was dealt the A, and the river the J. Browne’s stack doubled to 72,500.

Railbird Challenges Ivey

While Phil Ivey slows down a little in the last level of the night, he should still be safe in the knowledge he is among chip leaders at close of play. One uneasy moment however developed when a man made his way to the front of the rail and shouted, “Yo Phil! Yo Phil!” Getting everyone’s attention, the man then proceeded to point to his own face and exclaim, “You see this face? Remember this face! Remember this face! In 12 months time I’m going to take your stack!” “Okay,” said Phil laughing, and as the man walked abruptly away, wide-eyed, the area abrupted into laughter and conversation. “You better watch out Phil!” said Barry Greenstein smirking.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   John Dolan,   Andrew Pantling,   Sam Trickett

Level 10 Update: Viktor Blom Rockin' It

Sep 25, '10

Note: Players are now on a 90-minute dinner break. They will return at 8.45 p.m. local time.

Blinds: 600-1,200 with 200 ante

Players Remaining: 98 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Viktor Blom — 450,000
2 Darren Woods — 310,000
3 Phil Ivey — 296,000
4 Thomas Bichon — 290,000
5 Dan Shak — 285,000
6 Barny Boatman — 255,000
7 Andrew Pantling — 240,000
8 Rob Akery — 225,000
9 Bojan Gledovic — 220,000
10 Nick Schulman — 218,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 81,000

Average Chip Count: 105,918

Notable Eliminations:

John Racener
Tyler Bonkowski
Jim Collopy
Charles Chua
Andy Black

Big Hands:

Viktor Blom Takes the Lead

Magnus Persson raised preflop UTG+1 and Viktor Blom reraised preflop. Persson made the call and the two saw a flop of 9 6 5. Both players checked and then the 2 fell on the turn. Persson checked, Blom bet 13,500, and Persson made the call. The river fell 5 and Persson checked again. Blom bet 49,000 and Persson made the call. Blom flipped over AA and Persson mucked. Blom held 480,000 after the hand as he continues to increase his chip lead. He ended the level with 450,000 in chips.

Three Streets of Value for Schulman

Nicolas Levi raised to 3,000 UTG +1 and Nick Schulman made the call from late position. Ivey made the call from the big blind as well. The flop fell A 4 3 and Ivey and Levi check. Schulman bet 6,500. Ivey mucked and Levi called. The 8 fell on the turn and Levi checked. Schulman bet 15,000. Levi called. The river fell 2. Levi checked and Schulman bet 25,000. Levi called and mucked when Schulman flipped over 4 4. Levi held 100,000 after the hand. During happier times at the start of the day he was one of the chip leaders. Schulman rose above 200,000 after the hand.

Shak and Awe

On a flop of J 9 5, Antonio Esfandiari had led out, only to be raised to 18,000 by Dan Shak. Esfandiari went into the tank, only to eventually announce all-in for around 140,000 in total. Shak called without hesitation, and the players revealed their hands.

Esfandiari: K 10

Shak: 6 3

With a dominant flush draw, gut shot straight draw, and the currently good king-high, Esfandiari was a strong favorite with all but a few thousand of his chips in the middle.

The turn came the 2, leaving Shak drawing only to the remaining non-diamond threes and sixes.

The 3 did roll off on the river, and Esfandiari exploded out of his seat in shocked disgust. As the dealer laboriously counted out the stacks, Esfandiari politely said “Nice hand.” Shak apologized about the bad beat, but unsurprisingly this did little to salve Esfandiari’s wounds.

Shak’s stack grew to around 280,000 after the hand.

Show The Bluff

Phil Laak bets 3,000 from mid-position and Andy Frankenberger calls from the cut-off. Dan Fleyshman calls also, from the big blind. The flop is dealt A J 2 and it is checked around. The turn comes the 7. Fleyshman checks, Laak bets 5,000, Frankenberger calls, and Fleyshman folds. The river is the Q, Laak bets 11,000 and Frankenberger thinks for some time. He then raises it to 26,000, putting the decision back to Laak. Laak goes into the tank – he has about 58,000 behind his original bet. Eventually Laak passes and instantly starts trying to get Frankenberger to show his cards, “Show the bluff and make me crazy. I’ll pay you, just say the number!” He takes out some sterling notes and places them on the table. “I’ll give you £40 to show me the bluff,” he says smiling. Frankenberger stays quiet as the others debate what he had. He now has 147,000 in chips.

Up and Down Day for Lacay

Coming in late into the action, Ludovic Lacay has moved all in for 22,000 on a J 8 4 5 8 board with about 15,000 already in the middle. The decision is on Daniel Steinberg and he takes his time. He finally calls and mucks when he sees Lacay’s A A for the nut flush. Steinberg has 120,000 remaining while Lacay reaches the 74,000 mark. He soon loses a good few chips however when he calls Eugene Katchalov’s all in with pocket nines. Katchalov has A Q and the board falls Q 5 8 8 J. “It’s been like this all day!” says Lacay.

Present for Praz

Allen Cunningham bets 3,500 from UTG and Roland de Wolfe calls from the small blind. Praz Bansi calls from the big blind and the flop comes 9 6 5. De Wolfe and Bansi check and Cunningham bets 6,000. De Wolfe folds but Bansi pops it to 14,800. “What do you have behind?” asks Cunningham. It’s about 33,000. After a few minutes Cunningham passes and Bansi mucks. The British pro is nearing the 60,000 mark just before dinner time.

De Wolfe Gets Lucky

Guy Gorelik bets 3,000 from late position and Roland de Wolfe calls from the hijack. Martin Davis makes it 9,500 and Gorelik steps aside. Players begin to make their way out for the dinner break as de Wolfe and David go head to head. De Wolfe asks Davis, “A-K?” “Yep, I have,” answers Davis, and then sadds, “Maybe.” De Wolfe calls and the flop is dealt K Q 6. Davis bets 9,000 and smiles. De Wolfe sighs and debates whether he wants to come back after dinner with 10 big blinds. “I know I’m behind,” he says. As the room eventually clears, de Wolfe moves all in for 17,300. Davis calls and shows A K. De Wolfe reveals Q J. The turn is the A and the river is the 10 giving de Wolfe a straight. He smiles mischievously as Davis simply says, “Shit!”

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

The last two levels of the tournament have truly created a new hierarchy within the chip counts. Viktor Blom, the alleged “Isildur1” has been crushing it today and he now holds more than 400,000 to lead the way. We have two players at the 300,000 level and they are Phil Ivey and Darren Woods. The 200,000 club can count Barny Boatman, Nick Schulman, Thomas Bichon and Andre Pantling among its members.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Laak,   Dan Shak,   Eugene Katchalov,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nick Schulman,   Martin Davis,   Nicolas Levi,   Praz Bansi,   Ludovic Lacay,   Andy Frankenberger,   Viktor Blom,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 16 Update: Into the Dinner Break

Sep 26, '10

NOTE: The field is now on a 90-minute dinner break. Play will resume at 8:45 p.m. local time (12:45 p.m. PST).

Blinds: 2,500-5,000 with a 500 ante

Players Remaining: 28 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Andrew Pantling — 1,300,000
2. Phil Ivey — 699,000
3. Dan Fleyshman — 695,000
4. Nicolas Levi — 634,000
5. Bojan Gledovic — 605,000
6. Daniel Steinberg — 605,000
7. Arnaud Mattern — 480,000
8. David Peters — 442,000
9. Marc Inizan — 375,000
10. Ronald Lee — 367,000

Average Chip Count: 346,000

Notable Cashes:

29	Bryn Kenney	£21,106
30	Freddy Deeb	₤21,106
31	James Mitchell	₤21,106
32	Jean Paul Seatelli	₤21,106
33	Matthew Waxman	₤21,106
34	Magnus Persson	₤21,106
35	Darren Woods	₤21,106
36	Mark Thurgood	₤21,106

Big Hands:

James Mitchell Eliminated in 31st Place (₤21,106)

James Mitchell moved all in on a flop of 7 4 2 and Marc Inizan made the call. Their cards:

Micthell: 9-9
Inizan: 10-10

Turn and River: 3 and 6

Mitchell was eliminated on the hand in 31st place and he will take home ₤21,106 in prize money.

Freddy Deeb Eliminated in 30th Place (₤21,106)

Roland de Wolfe raised preflop from the small blind and Freddy Deeb reraised all in from the big blind. De Wolfe made the call and they flipped over their cards:

De Wolfe: K 8
Deeb: 9 9

Board: Q J 10 A

De Wolfe made a Broadway straight on the turn and that brought an end to Deeb’s tournament in 30th place. He will take home ₤21,106 in prize money.

Boatman Gets Chatty

Ivey bets 12,500 from late position and Barny Boatman raises it to 37,500 from the hijack. Ivey calls and the flop comes J 10 7. Both players check and the turn is the Q. Ivey checks and Boatman bets 35,500. Ivey calls and the river is the 8. Ivey checks and Boatman moves all in. Ivey asks how much it is and the answer is 175,000. He sits back and contemplates the call. Boatman then turns to him and says, “Were you trap-checking me on the flop?” Straight away Ivey gets very animated and starts repeating the question – “Was I trap-checking you on the flop?” He’s almost laughing as he stares at Boatman to figure out if he’s playing mind games. After a few minutes he decides to pass and Boatman adds a good few more chips to his stack.

Bryn Kenney Eliminated in 29th Place (£21,106)

Bryn Kenney bets 13,000 from the cut-off and Phil Ivey makes it 40,000 from the small blind. Kenny pops it to 80,000 and after about 30 seconds Ivey quietly says, “I’m all in.” Kenney insta-calls and flips over K K. Ivey shows A 8 and the board is dealt 10 10 9 J A. Not only did Ivey hit his ace but it was a club giving him a flush. He adds about 170,000 to his stack.

De Wolfe and Blom at it Again

Coming in preflop but slightly late into the action. Viktor Blom bets 28,500 from the button and Roland de Wolfe makes it 65,000 from the small blind. There is about 21,000 in the middle. It comes back to Blom who takes some time to think. One of the other players then calls the clock and Blom asks, “Who called time?” The player leans forward, picks up his short stack and says, “I can’t handle the blinds going up.” “You show?” Blom says to de Wolfe. “I told you I’d show!” says de Wolfe. “Promise?” asks Blom and then folds. De Wolfe shows him pocket jacks and moves up to 245,000.

Blom bets 12,000 on a flop of 7 6 2. De Wolfe bends forward to try and see Blom’s hooded face, and then makes the call. The turn is the J and both players check. The river is the 3 and Blom bets 52,000. De Wolfe leans forward once again and takes a good hard look at him. Eventually, he calls and Blom shows 10 10. De Wolfe mucks and his stack moves back down again.

Player Tags: Barny Boatman,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   Freddy Deeb,   Bryn Kenney,   James Mitchell,   Viktor Blom

Level 14 Update: Kid Poker Hits Rail

Sep 26, '10

Blinds: 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante

Players Remaining: 43 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Andrew Pantling — 795,000
2 Bojan Gledovic — 720,000
3 Darren Woods — 550,000
4 Phil Ivey — 435,000
5 Daniel Steinberg — 409,000
6 Arnaud Mattern — 365,000
7 Viktor Blom — 350,000
8 Thomas Bichon — 346,000
9 David Baker — 340,000
10 Yevgeniy Timoshenko — 340,000

Average Chip Count: 241,395

Notable Eliminations:

Eli Elezra
Daniel Negreanu
Anton Wigg

Big Hands:

2009 Runner-Up Eliminated

Daniel Negreanu just handed his stack over to Darren Woods who has already been sitting in the top 10 since early yesterday. Woods bets 7,100 from the cut-off and Negreanu makes it 20,100 from the small blind. Woods thought for a while and raised it up. However Negreanu insta-shoved for just a little more and Woods was committed to call. It was A-K versus pocket threes for Negreanu and Woods respectively. The threes held however and Negreanu stood up looking a little pale. He said, " I can’t believe you thought I was going to fold there. I’m never folding in that spot."

Negreanu’s hopes of taking a seat at his third consecutive World Series of Poker Europe main event final table have now been destroyed, along with many others’ as the field has been quickly demolished on day 3.

Loss for Levi

Freddy Deeb bets 7,500 from the hijack and the button, Anthony Newman. moves all in for 41,000. Nicolas Levi calls from the big blind and Deeb folds showing an ace. The board comes 8 7 4 2 8. Levi holds J J but Newman has Q Q and so improves to 88,000. Levi has 150,000 in chips now.

Blom Versus de Wolfe

Roland de Wolfe is on Viktor Blom’s left and the two have been battling it out in the past level, along with Thomas Bichon. De Wolfe bet 7,200 and Bichon made it 21,500. Blom called, as did de Wolfe, and the three saw a 9 5 4 board. It was checked to the K turn and de Wolfe and Blom checked again. Bichon bet 41,000 and his two opponents folded their cards. De Wolfe dropped a little to 120,000 while Bichon increased his stack to 355,000.

It wasn’t long before de Wolfe was involved in another pot, but this time for his tournament life. Blom made it 6,800 from mid-late position and de Wolfe called from the hijack. The two went heads up to the J 7 6 flop and Blom bet 14,500. De Wolfe looked at his opponent and then called. The turn was the 10 and both players quietly checked. The river was the 5 and Blom bet 25,000. De Wolfe moved all in and it was 61,800 more for Blom to call. After a few minutes he did, but de Wolfe turned over 5 5 for a rivered set and Blom mucked his hand. De Wolfe improves to 215,000.

Blondeau Takes from Ivey

Two other players going to battle are Rudy Blondeau and Phil Ivey. With around 41,000 in the pot and the board showing A K 2 2 6 Ivey was staring down Blondeau as he decided how much to bet. He went for 23,000, but Ivey didn’t take long to make it 81,000. Blondeau went into the tank but eventually called and flipped over A J. Ivey showed A Q and the two chopped the pot.

They didn’t have to wait much longer to face each other again. Ivey bet 7,500 from the hijack and Blondeau made it 21,500 from the button. Ivey let it go. In the next hand Ivey then bet 7,500 again and Blondeau made it 21,500 once more. This time Ivey called and they saw a 7 5 2 flop. Ivey studied his opponent with widened, darting eyes and then checked. Blondeau did not make eye contact and quietly put 26,500 out in front of him. Ivey let his hand go again and drops to 430,000, which is still among the top 10. Blondeau improves to 246,000.

Trouble for Inizan

Marc Inizan bets 7,075 from UTG+1 and gets two callers, the button and the big blind. The flop comes down 10 4 7 and Inizan bets 10,100. Hoi Cheung (the button) comes along for the ride, while the big blind steps aside. The turn is the 2 and Inizan bets 22,500. Cheung moves all in for 58,200 and Inizan goes into the tank. He eventually folds and Cheung collects the pot.

Mitchell Takes a Hit

James Mitchell bets 7,300 from the hijack and Viktor Blom calls. Ronald Lee then moves all in for another 79,300 and Mitchell calls. Blom folds and the two flip over their cards.

Mitchell: J J
Lee: A K

Board: A Q 9 Q 8

Mitchell’s stack takes a hit and he is now on 126,000. Lee doubles up just before break.

Timoshenko vs. Seed

Yevgeniy Timoshenko raised to 8,000 preflop and Huck Seed reraised to 23,500. Timoshenko made the call and the flop fell 10 9 5. Both players checked and the Q fell on the turn. Timoshenko bet 29,000 after some thought and Seed made the call.

The river fell 4 and Timoshenko checked after spending some time in the tank. Seed checked as well and he flipped over J J after Timoshenko had revealed K Q. Seed dropped to 115,000 after the hand and Timoshenko rose to 360,000.

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

Andrew Pantling has had a fantastic level and has come to the fore as chip leader with just under 800,000 in chips. It’s still a tough leader board however with the likes of Phil Ivey, Arnaud Mattern, Viktor Blom, and Thomas Bichon in the top 10. Mattern is on Pantling’s left with just under 400,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Huck Seed,   Daniel Negreanu,   Phil Ivey,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nicolas Levi,   Yevgeniy Timoshenko,   Ronald Lee,   Marc Inizan,   James Mitchell,   Viktor Blom,   Rudy Blondeau

Level 22 Update: Final Table Set

Sep 27, '10

NOTE: Day 4 has come to a close now that the final table of nine has been set. Check back tomorrow at noon local time (4 a.m. PST) for live updates, photos, chip counts, and videos from CardPlayer TV. A champion will be crowned in London tomorrow.

Blinds: 10,000-20,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 9 of 346

Final-Table Seating Chart with Chip Counts:

Seat 1: Roland de Wolfe – 1,377,000
Seat 2: Marc Inizan – 349,000
Seat 3: Nicolas Levi – 428,000
Seat 4: Fabrizio Baldassari – 697,000
Seat 5: Brian Powell – 842,000
Seat 6: Dan Steinberg – 1,520,000
Seat 7: James Bord – 1,331,000
Seat 8: Ronald Lee – 1,899,000
Seat 9: Dan Fleyshman – 1,946,000

Average Chip Count: 1,153,333

Notable Cashes:

10

David Peters

£54,114

Big Hands:

David Peters Eliminated in 10th Place (£54,114)

David Peters raised all in from the button preflop for 340,000 and Roland de Wolfe made the call from the small blind. Their cards:

Peters: A 7
De Wolfe: A 5

Board: Q Q 5 9 6

Peters was eliminated on the hand in 10th place and he will take home £54,114 in prize money. De Wolfe grew his stack to 1,377,000 after the hand.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   David Peters

Level 20 Update: Down to a Dozen

Sep 27, '10

Blinds: 6,000-12,000 with a 2,000 ante

Players Remaining: 12 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Ronald Lee — 1,826,000
2. Dan Fleyshman — 1,777,000
3. James Bord — 1,609,000
4. Roland de Wolfe — 1,312,000
5. Fabrizio Baldassari — 1,010,000
6. Nicolas Levi — 786,000
7. Daniel Steinberg – 526,000
8. David Peters — 472,000
9. Andrew Pantling — 430,000
10. Brian Powell — 295,000
11. Marc Inizan — 264,000
12. Arnaud Mattern — 130,000

Average Chip Count: 692,000

Notable Cashes:

15	Hoyt Corkins	£42,454
14	Clint Coffee	£42,454
13	Barny Boatman	£42,454

Big Hands:

Marc Inizan Doubles Up

Dan Steinberg raised to 27,000 preflop from the cutoff and Marc Inizan reraised all in. Brian Powell made the call on the button and Steinberg mucked. Their cards:

Powell: A K
Inizan: A J

Board: J J 2 5 8

Inizan doubled up to 530,000 after the hand and Powell held less than 500,000.

Hoyt Corkins Eliminated in 15th Place (£42,454)

Hoyt Corkins raised to 35,000 preflop from the cutoff and Fabrizio Baldassari reraised to 102,000 on the button. Corkins reraised to 212,000 and then Baldassari moved all in. Corkins made the all-in call and the two players flipped over their cards:

Corkins: A Q
Baldassari: K K

Board: 10 4 2 Q 5

Corkins was eliminated on the hand in 15th place (£42,454) and Baldassari grew his stack to 1,010,000.

Clint Coffee (14th Place) and Barny Boatman (13th Place) Eliminated on the same Hand

Clint Coffee and Barny Boatman moved all in ahead of Roland de Wolfe preflop and he made the call, covering both of his opponents. Their cards:

De Wolfe: A A
Coffee: A J
Boatman: A K

Board: K 10 4 9 8

Coffee and Boatman were eliminated in 14th place and 13th place respectively and they each took home £42,454. De Wolfe rocketed his stack to 1,312,000 just before the break.

Player Tags: Hoyt Corkins,   Barny Boatman,   Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Marc Inizan,   Clint Coffee

Level 18 Update -- Early Action

Sep 27, '10

Blinds: 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante

Players Remaining: 19 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. James Bord — 920,000
2. Viktor Blom — 900,000
3. Ronald Lee — 850,000
4. Andrew Pantling — 760,000
5. Daniel Steinberg — 660,000
6. David Peters — 645,000
7. Nicolas Levi — 640,000
8. Dan Fleyshman — 625,000
9. Bojan Gledovic — 610,000
10. Clint Coffee — 590,000
11. Phil Ivey — 481,000
12. Hoyt Corkins — 435,000
13. Brian Powell — 379,000
14. Barny Boatman — 300,000
15. Roland de Wolfe — 232,000
16. Marc Inizan — 205,000
17. Anthony Newman — 196,000
18. Arnaud Mattern — 180,000

Average Chip Count: 546,316

Notable Cashes:

22	Greg Mueller	£26,400
21	Jani Sointula	£26,400
20	Thomas Bichon	£26,400

Big Hands:

Greg Mueller Eliminated in 22nd Place (£26,400)

Greg Mueller moved all in with A Q and was called by Brian Powell who held A K. The board fell 9 6 5 8 6 and Mueller shook his opponents’ hands and made his exit. He leaves with £26,400 for 22nd place.

Jani Sointula Eliminated in 21st Place (£26,400)

Phil Ivey and Jani Sointula ran into each other for the second and final time today. Ivey made it 20,000 from the button and Sointula moved all in for 197,000. Ivey did not look happy as he contemplated the call. He decided to go with it, moved his chips over the line and flipped over pocket fours. Sointula showed Q J and waited for his fate to be determined. The flop came down J 9 2 and Sointula moved ahead. The turn was the K keeping Sointula safe. Ivey would need one of the two remaining fours to win the pot, and that’s exactly what came down. Ivey now closes in on the 800,000 in chips mark.

Thomas Bichon Eliminated in 20th Place (£26,400)

Thomas Bichon made his last stand in the main event against Viktor Blom, but it was not meant to be for the French pro when his A-Q could not beat Blom’s K-Q. Blom found a king on the flop and waved goodbye to another opponent. He’s currently nearing the million in chips mark.

De wolfe Hangs On

After moving all in and chopping a pot with Bojan Gledovic, Roland de Wolfe survived once more, this time doubling through Marc Inizan. With just under 80,000 in chips, de Wolfe shoved with A 8 and Inizan called with 10-10. De Wolfe binked an ace on the turn and doubled his stack.

Fleyshman Doubles

Andrew Pantling bet 18,000 from under the gun and Dan Fleyshman moved all in from the cut-off for the best part of 300,000. Pantling went into the tank and when he came out the other side, he opted to call. He flipped over 10 10 and saw he was up against A Q. The board came down J 6 4 A 5 and Fleyshman doubled up to over 600,000.

Mattern Miraculously Survives

Arnaud Mattern’s pocket queens ran head-first into James Bord’s pocket aces. Viktor Blom triggered a raising war and then stepped out when Arnaud Mattern four-bet. Bord then shoved and Mattern made the call. The hands stood as they were after all was said and done, and pocket rockets were enough to send Bord sky-high into the chip lead, crippling Mattern down to just 12,000.

Before the first break of the day however, Mattern managed to double up three times. First with pocket sixes versus Brian Powel’s K-Q, then with A-3 versus Anthony Newman’s A-Q by hitting a 3 on the turn, and finally with pocket eights versus Viktor Blom’s K-9. Mattern made a set on the flop and is now on a little more than 180,000.

Player Tags: Greg Mueller,   Phil Ivey,   Jani Sointula,   Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Dan Fleyshman,   Arnaud Mattern,   James Bord,   Thomas Bichon,   Viktor Blom

Level 26 Update -- Steinberg, Levi, and de Wolfe Out

Sep 28, '10

NOTE: The players are now on dinner break and they will return at 9:40 p.m. local time (1:40 p.m. PST).

Blinds: 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 3 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 6,830,000
2: Fabrizio Baldassari – 2,480,000
3: James Bord – 1,120,000

Average Chip Count: 3,460,000

Notable Cashes:

6	Daniel Steinberg	£156,530
5	Nicolas Levi	£208,119
4	Roland de Wolfe	£278,945

Big Hands:

Daniel Steinberg Eliminated in Sixth Place (£156,530)

Ronald Lee raised to 110,000 and Daniel Steinberg reraised to 285,000 total from the big blind. Chip leader Lee then moved all in and Steinberg went into the tank. He had about 900,000 behind and after contemplating his decision intensely, he decided to call. The two revealed their cards:

Steinberg: A J
Lee: 4 4

Board: Q 9 6 3 8

Pocket fours were enough to scoop the whole lot and Steinberg hit the rail £156,530 richer.

Nicolas Levi Eliminated in Fifth Place (£208,119)

Nicolas Levi bet 135,000 from the cut-off and Lee raised enough from the big blind to put the Frenchman all in. Just moments before this hand Levi had made the all-in move but this time he was calling all in. After some thought, Levi called and showed 9 9. Lee flipped over K Q.

The board ran out 8 5 4 K 10 and with that Lee had destroyed another finalist.

Roland de Wolfe Eliminated in Fourth Place (£278,945)

Roland De Wolfe moved all in from the small blind with his short stack and Fabrizio Baldassari called.

De Wolfe: K Q
Baldassari: A 8

The board went in Baldasarri’s favour: A 8 3 2 9 and the popular Brit hits the rail just before the dinner break.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 25 Update: Dan Fleyshman Eliminated in Seventh Place (£118,643)

Sep 28, '10

Blinds: 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 6 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 2,550,000
2: Fabrizio Baldassari – 2,250,000
3: James Bord – 2,200,000
4: Dan Steinberg – 1,500,000
5: Nicolas Levi – 1,275,000
6: Roland de Wolfe – 550,000

Average Chip Count: 1,730,000

Notable Cashes:

7

Dan Fleyshman

£118,643

Big Hands:

Dan Fleyshman Eliminated in Seventh Place (£118,643)

Ronald Lee raised it to 85,000 preflop and Dan Fleyshman reraised all in for 250,000. Lee made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Lee: K 5
Fleyshman: J 10

Board: K 7 3 8 A

Fleyshman was eliminated in seventh place and he took home £118,643 in prize money while Lee continued to build his chip lead.

James Bord Doubles Up and Ignites the Crowd

Ronald Lee raised to 85,000 preflop under the gun and Nicolas Levi reraised to 225,000 from the cutoff. James Bord then reraised all in after thinking for quite some time. Lee got out of the way and Levi made the call. Their cards:

Levi: A Q
Bord: J J

Board: 9 5 5 5 7

Bord won the hand to double up and the cheers from the crowd could be heard throughout the Empire Casino.

Nicolas Levi Doubles Up

Roland de Wolfe raised to 95,000 preflop and Nicolas Levi reraised all in for 595,000. De Wolfe made the call after spending a moment in the tank and they flipped over their cards:

De Wolfe: A 10
Levi: A 8

Board: 8 6 2 A 5

Levi doubled up on the hand and de Wolfe suffered another setback.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Dan Fleyshman,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   James Bord

Level 23 Update: Marc Inizan (9th) and Brian Powell (8th) Eliminated

Sep 28, '10

Blinds: 12,000-24,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 7 of 346

Chip Counts:

1: Ronald Lee – 3,164,000
2: Dan Steinberg – 2,063,000
3: Dan Fleyshman – 1,797,000
4: James Bord – 1,059,000
5: Roland de Wolfe – 931,000
6: Fabrizio Baldassari – 787,000
7: Nicolas Levi – 584,000

Average Chip Count: 1,482,857

Notable Cashes:

9	Marc Inizan	£54,114
8	Brian Powell	£69,754

Big Hands:

Marc Inizan Eliminated in Ninth Place (£54,114) and Brian Powell Eliminated in Eighth Place (£69,754) on the Same Hand

Marc Inizan moved all in preflop for 313,000 preflop and Brian Powell moved all in over the top of him before Ronald Lee made the call and had both opponents covered. Their cards:

Lee: A K
Inizan: 8 8
Powell: 8 8

Board: J 10 6 K 4

Lee won the hand to take a dominating chip lead with more than 3 million. Inizan was eliminated in ninth place (£54,114) and Powell took home eight-place money (£69,754).

Nicolas Levi Doubles Up Through Roland de Wolfe

Dan Fleyshman limped preflop and Roland de Wolfe also joined the pot from the cutoff. Nicolas Levi then moved all in from the small blind for 336,000. Fleyshman mucked and de Wolfe made the call. Their cards:

Levi: 10 10
De Wolfe: A K

Board: Q 9 4 8 8

Levi doubled up on the hand and de Wolfe suffered a setback to start the day.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe,   Brian Powell,   Nicolas Levi,   Ronald Lee,   Marc Inizan

Dinner Break

Jun 28, '10

The remaining 860 players have gone on a 90-minute dinner break and will return to action at 8:20 p.m.

There were 2,543 players who registered for this event and they accumulated a prize pool of $3,433,050. There will be 270 places paid with a min-cash receiving $2,780. The winner of this event will take home $609,493.

Notables who are still around at the dinner break include Roland de Wolfe, Chad Batista, Chino Rheem and Theo Tran. Others who were not so lucky include Joe Cada, John Juanda, Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey.

The players will return with the blinds at 200-400 with a 50 ante. The average stack is 13,306 and they will play four more levels before bagging up for the night.

Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com as we bring you a summary of today’s events at the conclusion of level 10.

Players Twitter Accounts

Phil Hellmuth
David Sands
Shannon Shorr
Lee Childs
Jeff Williams
Andy Bloch

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe

Dinner Break

Jun 29, '10

The remaining 128 players have gone on a 60-minute dinner break and will return to action at 7:50 p.m.

Roland de Wolfe is still alive at the dinner break with just under 100,000 in chips. Unfortuantely, others like George Lind and Andy Bloch could not share in de Wolfe’s happiness as they busted before the break.

The remaining players are now guaranteed at least $3,845. They will return with the blinds at 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante. The average stack is 89,402 and they will play six more levels before calling it a night.

Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com at the conclusion of play as we will bring you a summary of the day’s events.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe

Dinner Break

Jun 28, '10

The remaining 860 players have gone on a 90-minute dinner break and will return to action at 8:20 p.m.

There were 2,543 players who registered for this event and they accumulated a prize pool of $3,433,050. There will be 270 places paid with a min-cash receiving $2,780. The winner of this event will take home $609,493.

Notables who are still around at the dinner break include Roland de Wolfe, Chad Batista, Chino Rheem and Theo Tran. Others who were not so lucky include Joe Cada, John Juanda, Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey.

The players will return with the blinds at 200-400 with a 50 ante. The average stack is 13,306 and they will play four more levels before bagging up for the night.

Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com as we bring you a summary of today’s events at the conclusion of level 10.

Players Twitter Accounts

Phil Hellmuth
David Sands
Shannon Shorr
Lee Childs
Jeff Williams
Andy Bloch

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe

Dinner Break

Jun 29, '10

The remaining 128 players have gone on a 60-minute dinner break and will return to action at 7:50 p.m.

Roland de Wolfe is still alive at the dinner break with just under 100,000 in chips. Unfortuantely, others like George Lind and Andy Bloch could not share in de Wolfe’s happiness as they busted before the break.

The remaining players are now guaranteed at least $3,845. They will return with the blinds at 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante. The average stack is 89,402 and they will play six more levels before calling it a night.

Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com at the conclusion of play as we will bring you a summary of the day’s events.

Player Tags: Roland de Wolfe