Jan Suchanek Poker Tournament Updates

$1,500 H.O.R.S.E. - Day 2 - Level 15 Recap

Jun 30, '08

Stakes:
Hold’em/Omaha:  1,300-2,500 blinds
Stud/Razz/Stud8:  500 ante, 700 bring in, 2,500-5,000 stakes

Players Left:  45 of 803

Chip Leaders:
Phillip Penn Sr. - 125,000
Steven Diano - 103,000
Arash Ghaneian - 100,000
Joe Bolnick - 87,400
Jason Dollinger - 83,000
Jens Voertmann - 82,000
Randall Holland - 81,500
Allen Cunningham - 78,000
Cliff Pappas – 75,000

Average Stack: 53,525

Eliminations:
David Gee
Greg Jamison
Michael Binger

Big Hands and Storylines:

Hold’em

Michael Binger vs. Phillip Penn Sr. - Part I

Phillip Penn Sr. raised to 5,000 from middle position and was re-raised by Michael Binger on his left. Penn made the call and they saw a flop of 633. Penn checked and Binger bet. Penn called. The turn was the J, and again Penn checked. Binger bet 5,000 and Penn check-raised him.  Binger called, and then called another bet on the K river. Penn Sr. turned over 66 for a flopped full house. Binger showed his AA and, infuriated with the recent development, stormed away from the table, hitting a chair in the process. Binger was down to only 10,000 after that hand.

Omaha/8b

Michael Binger vs. Phillip Penn Sr. – Part II: The Reckoning

A few hands later, with the game having switched to Omaha/8b, William Penn Sr. opened with a raised from middle position which was again re-raised by Binger, who had less than a big bet behind. The flop came 1092 and Penn check-called. Penn check-called a bet of Binger’s final 200 chips on the turn (K) and the two showed their cards:

Binger: AA87
Penn: A876

Binger, in good shape, stood up and awaited the river card. The dealer laid out an 8 and Binger stared at the board for a moment to make sure what he saw was accurate: Penn hit one of his few outs to make a straight. As could be predicted, Binger was not happy, and he stormed from the table once again, this time for good.

Those two hands have propelled Penn to the chip lead with 125,000.

“Let’s Go”

Action folded around to Esther Rossi in the small blind who completed the bet and Jan Suchanek told the dealer, “Let’s go.” The dealer scooped in the two players’ blinds... and then Suchanek threw in a raise. Apparently, Suchanek’s declaration of “Let’s go” was intended as the precursor to a raise and not an indication of a check. After some squabbling between Rossi and Suchanek with the dealer serving as a slightly biased arbiter (after all, nobody likes admitting to a mistake) the floor was called over. After what seemed like hours of explanation to the dealer of what had transpired, it was ruled that uttering the phrase “Let’s go” alone does not indicate a check and that the raise would stand.

After all of that was settled, there was some poker to be played. The dealer put out a flop of A106 and Rossi check-called a bet from Suchanek. Action went check-call again on the K turn, and then both players checked the 10 on the river. Suchanek showed A443 for a pair of aces and that was good enough to take down the pot. Rossi, with 48,000, still has a bit more chips than Suchanek, who has 30,000.

Player Tags: Randy Holland,   Phillip "JB" Penn Sr.,   Allen Cunningham,   Greg Jamison,   Arash Ghaneian,   David Gee,   Esther Rossi,   Cliff Pappas,   Steven Diano,   Michael Binger,   Jan Suchanek,   Jens Voertmann,   Joseph Bolnick,   Jason Dollinger

$5,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud 8/b - Day 2 - Level 18 Recap

Jun 18, '08

Note: The players are now on a 20-minute break

Limit: 6,000-12,000, 1,500 ante, 2,000 bring in

Players Left:  13 of 261

Chip Leaders:
Steve Sung - 350,000
Sebastian Ruthenberg - 280,000
Annie Duke - 250,000
Marcel Luske – 250,000
Chris Ferguson - 225,000
Robert Lauria - 212,000
David Benyamine - 170,000
Howard Lederer - 160,000
Robert Beveridge - 155,000
Allen Cunningham - 125,000
Alessio Isaia - 120,000

Average Stack: 200,750

Eliminations:
14^th – Barry Greenstein
15^th – Matt Grapenthien
16^th – Aliaksandr Dzianisau
17^th – Jan Suchanek
18^th – Kirill Gerasimov
19^th – William Kohler
20^th – Thang Duc Nguyen

Big Hands and Storylines:

Full House Over Full House

Jan Suchanek got his money into the pot with fours full of aces and assumed he was ahead of his opponent, who was showing only a pair of queens and two low cards. Suchanek was quite surprised to see his opponent show up with a full house of his own: queens full of fives. With that, Suchanek was eliminated in 17^th place, taking home $11,040.

What Would King Solomon Do?

A shortstacked Barry Greenstein was eliminated by Steve Sung, leading Greenstein to begin his post-bustout routine of taking out his book and signing it for his assassin. Howard Lederer leaned over from the other table and asked, “What happens when it’s a split pot?” This garnered a nice chuckle out of Chris Ferguson, but Greenstein did not seem to be in a laughing mood. Perhaps in the future Barry should bring two copies of his book to high-low events.

The Flying Dutchman

Marcel Luske just scooped a massive pot when he made a six-high straight and six low in a four-way pot. Luske was all-in on 6^th street and action checked around on 7^th street, so Luske scooped the main pot, and the miniscule side-pot went elsewhere. “Gimme all da money.... except the side-pot,” exclaimed Luske. Even without the side-pot the Dutchman is up to a healthy 250,000.

And We Play On

The players just voted nearly unanimously in favor of playing down to 8 players instead of stopping for the night. The lone dissenter was Allen Cunningham, who, unlike the rest of the remaining players, does not seem too excited about the $10,000 Omaha high-low event beginning tomorrow.

Player Tags: Chris Ferguson,   Annie Duke,   Barry Greenstein,   Matt Grapenthien,   Allen Cunningham,   Howard Lederer,   David Benyamine,   Kirill Gerasimov,   Marcel Luske,   Steve Sung,   Jan Suchanek,   Sebastian Ruthenberg,   Aliaksandr Dzianisau,   Robert Beveridge,   William Kohler,   Alessio Isaia,   European Report

$5,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud 8/b - Day 2 - Level 13 Recap

Jun 18, '08

Limit: 2,000-4,000, 500 ante, 500 bring in

Players Left:  56 of 261

Chip Leaders:
Robert Lauria - 132,000
Shahram "Shawn" Sheikhan - 110,000
Steve Sung - 107,000
David Benyamine - 106,000
Matt Grapenthien - 90,000
Jan Suchanek - 83,000
Tim Frazin - 80,000
Chris Ferguson - 78,000
Kirill Gerasimov - 75,000
Alessio Isaia - 72,000

Average Stack: 46,600

Eliminations:

Big Hands and Storylines:

Matusow Motivated

Annie Duke and Mike Matusow were having a lighthearted conversation about how if they could just stay at their table without it breaking for a few hours longer they could sneak into the money. Matusow then added, “I want to win.” He continued, “I just know that every year somebody wins 2 bracelets, and I want to be the one that does it.” He’ll need a bit of help to accomplish that goal though, as he has a below average stack of 35,000. Duke, with 28,000, is in need of some aid too.

Cunningham Scoops Rasmussen

Allen Cunningham just took a nice pot off of Thayer “thay3r” Rasmussen as his broadway straight took the high side of the pot and neither player could make a low:

Cunningham: J10KK
Rasmussen: 6397

Cunningham brought in with the J and called Rasmussen’s raise. On 4^th and 5^th streets Cunningham check-called, but on 6^th street, pairing his king, he bet out. Rasmussen called the bet and both players checked 7^th street. Cunningham showed (A)(J)Q) for a broadway straight (to go along with two pair) and Rasmussen mucked his hand. Cunningham is now at 57,000 while Rasmussen is left with only 15,000.

Everything Coming Up Roses for Violette

Cyndy Violette, who already has a World Series bracelet in Stud 8/b, just busted a very short-stacked opponent. They got their money all-in on 3^rd street. Though her opponent made a straight on 6^th street, Violette made aces full of fours on 7^th street to take down the entire pot and eliminate a player. Violette is sitting at about average with 50,000.

Kill Kirill

Barry Greenstein just won a small pot against Kirill Gerasimov. With Barry’s board reading 546, he fired out against Kirill’s AQJ on both 4^th and 5^th streets. Though Kirill called the first barrel, he laid his hand down following the second. Gerasimov still has the bigger stack though, his 75,000 is more than double Greenstein’s 34,000.

Player Tags: Chris Ferguson,   Annie Duke,   Barry Greenstein,   Matt Grapenthien,   Allen Cunningham,   Shawn Sheikhan,   David Benyamine,   Mike Matusow,   Cyndy Violette,   Kirill Gerasimov,   Steve Sung,   Jan Suchanek,   Thayer Rasmussen,   Tim Frazin,   Alessio Isaia