Anton Ionel Poker Tournament Updates

Level 12 Update: Josh Brikis Gone

Jul 14, '11

Note: Levels are two hours in length.

Players Remaining: 1,476 of 6,865

Blinds: 1,00-2,000 with a 300 ante

The Chip Leaders:

1. Guillaume Darcourt — 820,000
2. Anton Ionel — 645,000
3. Ben Lamb — 600,000
4. Darryl Jace — 580,000
5. Kevin Saul — 547,000
6. Massimiliano Martinez — 520,000
7. Aleksandr Mozhnyakov — 510,000
8. Tuan Vo — 510,000
9. Rupert Elder — 506,000
10. Takaaki Nakayama — 491,000

Card Player Chip Counts:

Matt Matros — 105,000
Daniel Negreanu — 114,000
Phil Hellmuth — 120,000
Thomas Keller — 270,000
Todd Brunson — 100,000

Notables Eliminated:

Josh Brikis
Amit Makhija

Hands:

Jean-Robert Bellande Makes Incorrect Laydown

With 17,000 in the pot on an A 5 4 K board, Jean-Robert Bellande checked and his opponent bet all in for 20,000. Bellande thought about it and eventually folded the A 3 and was shown the 3 3.

Phil Hellmuth Doubles

Phil Hellmuth was super short early in the level, but managed to chip up and have his A-K hold versus the A 8 to double to 120,000.

Phillip Collins Loses Some

Phillip Collins is one of the big stacks in the room, but lost some chips recently after losing with A-10 to K-Q, all in preflop, and 5-5 to K-K to double up another short-stacked opponent. He was down to 210,000 after the two hands.

Randall Flowers Doubles

Randall Flowers has been grinding a short stack all day, but just got his pocket tens all in preflop against pocket nines. The over pair held and Flowers doubled to 60,000.

Peter Jetten Building a Huge Stack

Peter Jetten just had his Q-Q hold versus A-K and he is now at 460,000.

Josh Brikis Eliminated

Josh Brikis was short when he got all his chips in the middle with pocket queens. He unfortunately ran into aces and was gone.

Steve O’Dwyer Doubles

Steve O’Dwyer was down to about 70,000 when he got his pocket kings to hold against pocket queens for all of his chips. He doubled to 140,000 and now has some ammunition to work with.

Anton Ionel Close to 700,000

Anton Ionel was involved in poker’s toughest situation: holding pocket kings when your opponent holds pocket aces. Fortunately for Ionel he flopped a king and was able to double to nearly 700,000. His opponent was left with just 18,000.

Poker Tweets:

Player Tags: Steve O'Dwyer,   Josh Brikis,   Anton Ionel

Oleksii Kovalchuk Wins Event #26 ($689,739)

Jun 18, '11

Anton Ionel Eliminated in 2nd Place ($428,140)

Anton Ionel began heads-up play with the chip lead, but Oleksii Kovalchuk quickly stole stole it after raising Ionel out of a 2 million pot. Kovalchuk then won another huge pot for 3 million after rivering a full house, taking a near 2:1 chip lead over Ionel at that point with 6.8 million to 3.5 million.

Kovalcheck then began to really put the pressure on and whittled Ionel down to just 1.5 million before he took his last stand with A 6.

Kovalchuk button-raised to 150,000 Ionel moved all in for about 1,500,000 from the big blind and Kovalchuk called with 7 7.

The board came 9 7 5 10 10, giving Kovalchuk middle set on the flop and a full house on the river. Anton Ionel was eliminated in 2nd place ($428,140) while Oleksii Kovalchuk won Event #26, the the gold bracelet and the $689,739 grand prize.

Player Tags: Anton Ionel,   Oleksii Kovalchuk

Level 27: Ionel Leads Kovalchuk Heads-Up; Moorman 3rd

Jun 18, '11

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

Players Remaining: 2 out of 1,378

Average Chip Count: 5,167,500

Chip Counts:

1. Anton Ionel – 6,425,000
2. Oleksii Kovalchuk – 3,875,000

Eliminations:

3rd. Chris Moorman – $271,800

Chris Moorman Eliminated in 3rd Place ($271,800)

With Dan O’Brien eliminated in 4th place, Chris Moorman entered the level as the short stack and quickly got it all in before the flop with K J against Oleksii Kovalchuk’s K 9,

The board came Q 10 5 7 J, giving Kovalchuk a straight on the river. Chris Mooorman was eliminated in 3rd place ($271,800) while Oleksii Kovalchuk took the chip lead going into heads-up play.

NOTE: With the elimination of Chris Moorman in 3rd place, Oleksii Kovalchuk took the chip lead going into heads-up play with 8 million to Anton Ionel’s 2.3 million.

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Ionel Doubles Up, Takes Chip Lead

Anton Ionel doubled up early heads-up play after getting it all in pre-flop with pocket eights against Oleksii Kovalchuk’s K – J. Kovalchuck bricked and Ionel ended up making a four card flush to double up to over 5.6 million, taking the chip lead for the first time this match.

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Player Tags: Chris Moorman,   Anton Ionel,   Oleksii Kovalchuk

Level 25: Kovalchuk Leads Final Four; Khoury 5th, Ruberto 6th

Jun 17, '11

Blinds: 12,000-24,000 with a 4,000 ante

Players Remaining: 4 out of 1,378

Average Chip Count: 2,578,100

Chip Counts:

1. Oleksii Kovalchuk – 3,750,000
2. Anton Ionel – 3,000,000
3. Chris Moorman – 1,700,000
4. Dan O’Brien – 1,115,000

Eliminations:

5th. Mazin Khoury – $121,416
6th. Anthony Ruberto – $84,549

Anthony Ruberto Eliminated in 6th Place ($84,549)

Anthony Ruberto came to the final table as the short stack and after a shaky start he was the first to go in 6th place. Anton Ionel opened the pot for 57,000, Anthony Ruberto reraised to 187,000 and Anton called.

The flop came 9 8 2, Anton checked, Ruberto bet 247,000, Ionel check-raised all in and Ruberto called all in.

Ruberto turned over K K for an overpair but Ionel showed 2 2 for bottom set.

The turn and river were the 9 and the 2, giving Ionel quads on the river. Anthony Ruberto was eliminated in 6th place ($84,549) while Ionel Anton moved up to 3.3 million in chips.

Mazin Khoury Eliminated in 5th Place ($121,416)

Anton Ionel raised to 57,000 before the flop, Mazin Khoury reraised all in and Ionel called.

Khoury turned over A Q and was behind Anton’s A A.

The board came K Q 7 10 10, no help to Mazin Khoury who was eliminated in 6th place ($121,416).

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Player Tags: Anton Ionel,   Mazin Khoury

Level 25: Failla Eliminated 7th, Final Table Now Underway

Jun 17, '11

NOTE: Play ended last night with 22 players and resumed today at 2:30pm. With the elimination of Will Failla in 7th place ($60,473), the official six-handed final table is now underway.

Blinds: 12,000-24,000 with a 4,000 ante

Players Remaining: 6 out of 1,378

Average Chip Count: 1,722,500

Chip Counts:

1. Oleksii Kovalchuk – 4,700,000
2. Anton Ionel – 2,500,000
3. Dan O’Brien – 1,700,000
4. Chris Moorman – 1,150,000
5. Mazin Khoury – 520,000
6. Anthony Ruberto – 518,000

Payouts:

1st. $689,739
2nd. $428,140
3rd. $271,800
4th. $179,162
5th. $121,416
6th. $84,549

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Player Tags: Chris Moorman,   Dan O'Brien,   Anton Ionel,   Mazin Khoury,   Oleksii Kovalchuk