Level 8 Update: Annette Obrestad Moves Into Chip Lead
Oct 16, '10
Blinds: 500-1,000 with a 100 ante
Players Remaining: 150 out of 328 (Unofficial)
Chip Counts:
1. Annette Obrestad — 380,000
2. Barry Greenstein — 215,000
3. Gavin Smith — 200,000
4. Sorel Mizzi — 195,000
5. Peter Braglia — 190,000
6. Noah Schwartz — 185,000
7. David Peters — 180,000
8. Matt Affleck — 175,000
9. Payman Arjang — 170,000
10. Andreas Hoivold — 165,000
Card Player Chip Counts
Jeff Shulman — 113,000
Average Chip Count: 87,466
Notable Eliminations:
Arnaud Mattern
Jonathan Aguiar
Steve Sung
Faraz Jaka
Allen Carter
Big Hands:
Gavin Smith Takes Out Arnaud Mattern On Bad Beat
A unknown player raised and Nancy Todd Tyner called from the cutoff. Gavin Smith then called out of the small blind as did Arnaud Mattern in the big blind.
The flop came down 10
4
2 and Smith checked. Mattern bet 8,000 and the preflop raiser called. Tyner folded and Smith check-raised to 37,000.
Mattern then moved all in for 46,000 and the initial raiser folded. Smith made the automatic call and showed KJ, but was in terrible shape against Mattern’s A10.
The turn and river fell 7
K and Smith paired his king to chip up to 200,000. Mattern was eliminated.
John Juanda Chips Up Against Michael Kamran
MIchael Kamran raised to 2,400 from early position and John Juanda made the call from the big blind. The flop came down J
43 and both players checked.
The turn was the 9 and Juanda bet 4,500. Kamran called and the 6 hit the river. Juanda then bet 8,800 and Kamran thought it over for a few minutes before deciding on a fold.
Kamran now has 35,000 and Juanda chipped up to 65,000.
Nick Grippo Eliminates Steve Sung
In a battle of the extreme short stacks, Steve Sung moved all in and Nick Grippo called, as did another player. Grippo and his opponent checked down a board of J8107 and Grippo’s KQ was enough to take the pot.
Sung was eliminated and Grippo chipped up to 30,000, still way below the average stack in the room.
Maria Ho Takes Out Faraz Jaka
A preflop confrontation saw Maria Ho’s pocket nines hold up against Faraz Jaka’s A-10 to end his tournament run. Ho now has over 90,000 in chips.
Jonathan Aguiar Hits The Rail
Jonathan Aguiar raised to 2,300 from under the gun and his opponent in the big blind made the call. The flop came down 764 and the big blind bet 3,000.
Aguiar moved all in for 19,000 and was called by his opponents pocket threes. Aguiar showed KQ for two overs and a flush draw, but bricked on the turn and river, busting from the tournament.
Poker Tweets
Player Tags: John Juanda, Gavin Smith, Maria Ho, Jonathan Aguiar, Arnaud Mattern, Michael Kamran, Faraz Jaka
Level 15 Update: Day 3 Ends
Oct 17, '10
NOTE: Day 3 has come to a close and there are 41 players still in the hunt at the WPT Festa al Lago $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event. Play will resume tomorrow at noon PST. Check back in at CardPlayer.com at that time for more live coverage of the event and videos from CardPlayer TV. Stay tuned for official chip counts and a recap of the day’s events.
Blinds: 2,500-5,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 41 out of 335
Chip Counts:
1. Steve O’Dwyer — 910,000
2. Randal Flowers — 795,000
3. Jeff Madsen — 750,000
4. Jason Koon — 705,000
5. Brandon Steven — 670,000
6. Ryan Goindoo — 650,000
7. Andreas Hoivold — 470,000
8. Jared Jaffee — 426,500
9. Daniel Alaei — 415,000
10. Michael Benvenuti — 400,000
Average Chip Count: 326,829
Notable Eliminations:
Steve Brecher
Men Nguyen
Joe Tehan
Gavin Smith
Big Hands:
Gavin Smith Eliminated in 48th Place ($12,896)
Jimmy Tran raised to 17,000 from the hijack and Gavin Smith reraised all in for 47,000 from the cutoff. The two players then revealed their cards after everyone else mucked:
Tran: A J
Smith: 7 7
Board: K 10 9 3 Q
Tran made a Broadway straight, which brought Smith’s tournament run to an end in 48th place. He was awarded $12,896 in prize money.
Owen Crowe Eliminated on the Money Bubble
Owen Crowe was on an extremely short stack when he decided to move all in preflop from late position and Gavin Smith reraised all in over the top of him from the cutoff. Their cards:
Crowe: Q 10
Smith: A K
Board: J 7 4 J 7
Crowe was eliminated on the money bubble after the hand.
Allen Kessler Doubles up Through the Chip Leader
Steve O’Dwyer raised to 13,000 from middle position preflop and Allen Kessler reraised to 50,000 from the hijack. O’Dwyer asked for a count and he was informed that Kessler held 61,000. O’Dwyer moved all in and Kessler made the all-in call. Their cards:
Kessler: A K
O’Dwyer: J J
Board: A 10 7 2 2
Kessler won the hand to double up to 230,000 and O’Dwyer took a hit down to 910,000.
Joe Elpayaa Doubles up on a Long Shot
Joe Elpayaa moved all in under the gun for 68,000 seat 6 made the call from the small blind. Their cards:
Elpayaa: A Q
Seat 6: 8 8
Board: 8 3 2 5 4
Elpayaa doubled up on the hand to survive with 140,000.
Poker Tweets
Player Tags: Jimmy Tran, Gavin Smith, Allen Kessler, Owen Crowe, Joseph Elpayaa, Steve O'Dwyer
Level 13 Update: Maria Ho Eliminated after a Strong Fight
Oct 17, '10
Blinds: 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante
Players Remaining: 61 out of 335
Chip Counts:
1. Jared Jaffee — 630,000
2. Michael Benvenuti — 620,000
3. Matt Affleck — 610,000
4. Jeff Madsen — 560,000
5. Randal Flowers — 490,000
6. Owen Crowe — 470,000
7. Chad Batista — 430,000
8. Annette Obrestad — 430,000
9. Andreas Hoivold — 410,000
10. McLean Karr — 350,000
Average Chip Count: 81,212
Notable Eliminations:
Matt Marafioti
Jimmy Fricke
Vivek Rajkumar
Chris Bjorin
David Williams
Maria Ho
Big Hands:
Luke Vrabel Doubles Up
Luke Vrabel got the last of his chips into the middle preflop against Erik Cajelais and they flipped over their cards:
Vrabel: Q J
Cajelais: A K
Board: Q 8 3 8 10
Vrabel doubled up on the hand and he held 120,000. Cajelais was left with 60,000.
Luke Vrabel Doubles Up Bobby Suer
There was 10,000 in the pot and a flop that read Q 7 5 when Luke Vrabel checked on the big blind and Bobby Suer bet the pot from the button. Vrabel spent some time in the tank and he eventually raised all in for 45,600. Suer then spent a little time in the tank and decided to call. Their cards:
Suer: Q J
Vrabel: A 2
Turn and River: 4 and 10
Vrabel was knocked down to 62,000 and Suer doubled up to 110,000.
Mario Ho Takes a Fatal Hit
A player in middle position raised to 8,000 preflop and Mario Ho reraised all in from the hi-jack. Gavin Smith then called all in for 35,600 from the button and everyone else got out of the way. Their cards:
Ho: A Q
Smith: K K
Board: 9 7 3 6 5
Smith doubled up and Ho was left with just 8,000 after the hand. She busted a short time later after an admirable fight for survival in the today’s tournament field.
Monnette vs. Makhija
The board read 10 8 4 when John Monnette bet 9,900 from the big blind. Amit Makhija made the call from middle position and the A fell on the turn.
Monnette fired out 12,200 and Makhija went into the tank. He reraised for another 28,800 on top and Monnette went into the tank. He eventually mucked and Makhija won the hand to grow his stack to 270,000. Monnette fell to 370,000.
Poker Tweets
Player Tags: Gavin Smith, John Monnette, Maria Ho, Erik Cajelais, Amit Makhija, Bobby Suer, Luke Vrabel
Level 12 Update: Jared Jaffee Takes The Chip Lead
Oct 17, '10
Blinds: 1,200-2,400 with a 300 ante
Players Remaining: 65 out of 335
Chip Counts:
1. Jared Jaffee — 640,000
2. Jeff Madsen — 605,000
3. Matt Affleck — 495,000
4. Annette Obrestad — 485,000
5. Owen Crowe — 470,000
6. Michael Benvenuti — 430,000
7. Andreas Hoivold — 415,000
8. Chad Batista — 385,000
9. Trevor Pope — 310,000
10. Men Nguyen — 310,000
Average Chip Count: 81,212
Notable Eliminations:
Tyler Kenney
Jeremy Menard
Cornel Cimpan
Ted Lawson
Jimmy Fricke
Big Hands:
The Maria Ho Show
On the last hand before the break, Maria Ho was all in holding A-Q on a A-J-4 flop, but unfortunately for her, Alex Melnikow had A-4.
The turn and river fell K 9 and Ho was eliminated. Or was she? It turns out, she was called back to the room when it was discovered that she still had 300 in chips remaining.
Back from break, Ho was all in for the ante and won when her 7-5 outflopped Gavin Smith’s A-10. That got her to 2,700 in chips, which were all in on the next hand when her pocket aces held up against two players ace-rags.
After folding a few hands, Ho was all in from under the gun holding K4 against the big blinds K2. The turn gave her the nut flush and all of a sudden she was up past the 23,000 mark.
An orbit later, Ho shoved for her last 17,100 from under the gun and was called by Chad Batista in the small blind. Ho’s AJ outflopped Batista’s pocket sixes and she doubled up to nearly 40,000.
She still has a lot of work to do, but she’s come a long way from having just one ante.
Jimmy Fricke Exits
We didn’t see the action, but according to Jimmy Fricke’s twitter page, he wasn’t able to outdraw Vladimir Shchemelev in an all in situation. Apparently Fricke’s pocket queens ran into pocket aces.
David Sklansky Doubles Up
Barry Greenstein raised to 6,100 from the hijack and Noah Schwartz called on the button. David Sklansky then moved all in for 35,100 in the big blind and Schwartz was the only caller.
Schwartz showed AJ, but he was dominated by Sklansky’s AK. The board rolled out 975QK and Sklansky doubled up to 85,000. Schwartz still has 185,000.
Poker Tweets:
Left In The Deck:
Gavin Smith Having Some Fun With Jeff Madsen
Gavin Smith is having a lot of fun after doubling up twice in this level at the expense of Jeff Madsen. After Madsen was forced to give up a small pot to another opponent, Smith reached over and knocked down his entire fortress of chips.
To add insult to injury, Smith then called the floor over to complain that Madsen wasn’t stacking his chips. The floor reminded Madsen that he needs to keep his chips orderly and the table laughed some more.
Player Tags: Barry Greenstein, Gavin Smith, David Sklansky, Maria Ho, Jimmy Fricke, Jeff Madsen, Noah Schwartz, Alex Melnikow, Chad Batista
Vladimir Shchemelev Eliminated in Eighth Place ($26,757)
8
K
)
6
Gavin Smith Eliminated in Seventh Place ($34,268)
Just 42 players remain in the hunt in event no. 56, the $1,500 no-limit hold’em tournament.
Welcome to event no. 52, the $2,500 mixed hold’em event. Last year, Gavin Smith defeated a field of 507 to earn his first gold bracelet and $268,238.
Gus Hansen was short stack and forced to move in with middle pair, but Gavin Smith made the call with top pair, putting Hansen’s tournament life in jeopardy.
The turn and river were blanks and Hansen was eliminated. Smith will now play James Bord in the next round.
Gavin Smith went into his match confident, but is now out after committing his stack with a straight and flush draw.
Gavin Smith was all in preflop for 75,000 on the big blind and Nikolai Yakovenko had him covered UTG+1. Their cards:
Gavin Smith raised to 12,000 preflop from early position and Sorel Mizzi reraised to 33,000 right behind him. Smith made the call and the flop fell K
David Paredes raised to 950 from under the gun and was called by a player in middle position and Gavin Smith in the big blind.