Henry Tran Poker Tournament Updates

Level 2 Update: Antonio Esfandiari Hits the Rail

Apr 18, '10

Blinds: 100-200 with a 25 ante

Players Remaining: 145 out of 149

Chip Counts:

1. Shawn Buchanan — 180,000
2. Prahlad Friedman — 175,000
3. Kathy Liebert — 155,000
4. Daniel Negreanu — 155,000
5. Alex Kamberis — 152,000
6. Benjamin Fineman — 145,000
7. David Benyamine — 145,000
8. Phil Ivey — 140,000
9. Chris Moore — 140,000
10. Carlos Mortensen — 140,000

Average Chip Count: 102,000

Notable Eliminations:

Antonio Esfandiari

Big Hands:

Soheil Shamseddin Eliminates Antonio Esfandiari

On a flop of AQ4, Antonio Esfandiari fired in a bet of 3,700. The original preflop raiser check-raised to 20,000 and Soheil Shamseddin called.

Esfandiari then called off his last 14,000 and the turn was the K. The original raiser bet 30,000 and Shamseddin moved all in for just a few thousand more. His opponent called and showed a set of kings, but Shamseddin held 108 for the flush.

Esfandiari then mucked his hand, presumably drawing dead. The river was the 9 and Shamseddin chipped up to 135,000.

Henry Tran Busts One

On a flop of K77, seat 9 bet and an unknown in seat 4 raised. Henry Tran then reraised to 15,000 and after about a minute in the tank, seat 9 folded.

Seat 4 then moved all in for an additional 38,275 and Tran wasted no time before making the call with 76.

Seat 4 sheepishly pushed his cards forward face down and gathered his belongings. On his way out the door, the dealer turned up his hand and revealed J10. Tran wanted his hand to be dead since he had mucked and left the room, but the dealer explained that an all-in hand is still live, a rule created to prevent collusion.

The turn and river fell 510 and Tran chipped up to 148,000. Despite the dealer’s explanation, however, he continued to question the ruling and had the floor called over, who confirmed the dealer’s ruling.

Steve O’Dwyer Takes One From Alexandre Gomes

Alexandre Gomes raised to 600 and Steve O’Dwyer reraised to 2,050. Gomes called and the flop came down AA5.

Gomes checked and O’Dwyer continued with a bet of 2,700. Gomes called and both players checked the 4 on the turn.

The river was the Q and Gomes checked. O’Dwyer decided to bet 5,700 and Gomes quickly mucked. O’Dwyer is now up to 115,000 and Gomes is down to 81,000.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Henry Tran,   Soheil Shamseddin,   Steve O'Dwyer,   Alexandre Gomes

$2,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Level One Recap

Jun 12, '08

Blinds: 25-50

Entrants So Far: 1,315

Eliminations:

Henry Tran

Notable Names in the Field:

Barry Greenstein
Scotty Nguyen
Men Nguyen
Jeff Madsen
Mark Seif
Jeff Williams

Big Hands and Storylines:

Greenstein picks up chips with semibluff

Barry Greenstein called a raise out of the big blind and then checked and called a bet after a flop of A85. After the 3 on the turn, Greenstein again checked and then raised his opponent's bet of 400 to 2,400. His opponent folded, and Shankar Pillai guessed Greenstein had 65. Greenstein said he rarely shows his hands, but after Pillai's comment he turned over 76.

Seif Folds on the River

Mark Seif called a raise in the big blind and three players saw a flop of AKQ. The preflop raiser bet 300 and Seif was the only caller. The turn was the 5 and Seif checked and then called a bet of 650. The river was the 6 and Seif checked and his opponent bet 1,050. Seif quickly folded and was down to about 2,700 chips.

Eugene's two hours start well

Eugene Todd, who will be playing the final table $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament at 2 p.m., still went ahead and played in this tournament. Early in the level he raised his opponent's bet of 275 to 1,100 after a flop of AQJ. His opponent called, and then both players checked it down after the turn and river of Q and 3, respectively. Todd flipped over A-J and his opponent mucked.

Tran out in a hurry

Henry Tran raised to 175 from the button and Rainer Meyer reraised to 600 from the small blind. Tran moved all in for 1,375 more and Meyer called with A9. Tran held 1010 and appeared to be in good shape. But an ace came on the flop, and Tran quickly headed to the exit.

Men “the Master” Nguyen Loses One, Wins One

One victory and one loss for Men “the Master” Nguyen, who was seated with Scotty Nguyen on a table in the Amazon Room’s green section.

After a player in middle position came in for a raise to 150, the player in the small blind called as well as Men “the Master” Nguyen in the big blind. The small blind and Nguyen checked the AA2 flop, as did the middle position pre-flop aggressor. The 6 on the turn brought checks from small blind and Nguyen, but this time the middle position player made a bet of 150. The small blind folded, but Nguyen called and checked the K on the river. His opponent bet 250, and Nguyen called only to see his opponent turn over AQ. Nguyen mucked.

Several hands later, Nguyen opened for a raise to 150 from early position and received two callers in late position. Nguyen checked the 887 flop, and his next to act opponent made a bet of 300. After the other caller folded, Nguyen check-raised his opponent for an additional 800 in chips. His opponent deliberated, but eventually released his hand.

Freddy Deeb Can’t Make Six-High Win the Pot

After a player in late position limped into the pot on Freddy Deeb’s table (which he shared with Hevad “Rain” Khan), the player in the small blind completed and Deeb checked his big blind option. The flop came 1087 and the small blind checked. Deeb bet 150, the late position limper called, and the small blind folded. Deeb and his opponent took the 8 turn heads-up, and both players checked. The 7 on the river brought another round of checking, and Deeb turned over 64. His opponent showed down K10 and took the pot. “I was hoping you couldn’t beat six-high,” Deeb joked after missing both his flush and straight draw.

Player Tags: Mark Seif,   Barry Greenstein,   Men Nguyen,   Eugene Todd,   Henry Tran,   Freddy Deeb

No Limit Hold 'Em Level 8 - Well That Didn't Take Long

May 31, '08

Blinds: 400-800-100

Players Remaining: 250

Average Stack: 23,600

Chip Leaders:

Shane Schleger - 105,000
Ryan D'Angelo - 75,000
Eric Hicks - 71,000
Henry Tran - 67,000
David Robertson - 63,000
Jeremiah Smith - 63,000
Cesar Flores - 60,000
Asher Derei - 60,000
Mark Ketteringham - 45,000
Paul Lee - 40,000

Eliminations:

Matt "Plattsburgh" Vengrin
John Cernuto
Shannon Shorr

Big Hands:

Schleger and Griffin waste no time

With a short stack all in and over 20,000 in the pot preflop, Gavin Griffin calls a bet of 7,500 made by Shane Schleger after a T95 flop. After the T comes on the turn, Schleger checks and Griffin bets just under 20,000 and then calls when Schleger moves all in for only 14,000 more. Both show surprisingly mediocre holdings: pocket eights for Schleger and QJ for Griffin. The river created a brief stir, though. It was the 8, giving Schleger a full house and Griffin a straight. The double-up gave Schleger roughly 110,000 chips and dropped Griffin to under 10,000.

Henry Tran takes step back

Some of the confidence Tran was showing earlier in the last level went away after a bad beat to a player with just over 10,000 chips. With pocket tens against J-9, Tran was in great shape until a jack came on the turn. The loss dropped Tran to a little over 50,000 chips.

Cernuto Busto

With 10 big blinds, John Cernuto moved his stack into the middle from early position. The big blind looked down to see A-K and called immediately.  Cernuto turned over A-Q and found himself eliminated after the board brought no help.

Dan Druff doubles up

Todd "Dan Druff" Witteles got some much-needed breathing room with a double up to end the level. He got his chips all in preflop  with pocket kings and saw them hold up against an opponents A-Q. With the pot he know has roughly 35,000 chips.

The remaining players are now on a 20-minute break as the tournament staff races off the $25 chips.







 

Player Tags: John Cernuto,   Gavin Griffin,   Shane Schleger,   Todd Witteles,   Henry Tran

No Limit Hold'Em - Level 7

May 31, '08

Blinds: 300-600 ante 75

Players Remaining: 310

Average Stack: 19,800

Chip Leaders:

Ryan D'Angelo - 90,000
Gavin Griffin - 65,000
Jeremiah Smith - 63,000
Henry Tran - 60,000
Cesar Flores - 54,000
Shane Schleger - 45,500
Paul Lee - 42,000
Chris Vaughn - 42,000
Mark Ketteringham - 40,000
Mark Hanna - 36,000

Eliminations:

Greg Raymer
Johnny Chan
Brett Jungblut

Big Hands:

D’Angelo Takes The Lead

Ryan D’Angelo won a massive pot to give himself the largest stack in the tournament.  He raised pre-flop from middle position and got a call from the player directly on his left and John Cernuto in the big blind.  On a flop of J94, Cernuto checked, D’Angelo put out a pot-sized bet and the player to his left – who had quite a stack himself -- set him all-in immediately. D’Angelo leaned back in his chair and moaned, “We’re gonna need a count. This is sick. This is sick.” After a few more reminders of how sick the situation was, he made the call and the players revealed their cards:

D’Angelo: AJ
Opponent: QJ

The turn came T giving his opponent and open-ended straight-draw in addition to his flush draw, but the river was the A, sending a mountain of chips D’Angelo’s way, bringing him to a total of nearly 90,000.

Roveto knocks out Alvarado

After committing most of his chips preflop, J.C Alvarado moved all in on the flop with A-5 and was called by John Roveto, who held A-Q. Alvarado flopped a gutshot straight draw, but did not catch a card on the turn or river and was eliminated.

Gazes takes a hit

After a short stack moved all in preflop, Bill Gazes reluctantly made the call with QT. His opponent flipped over AK and flopped a king to end the suspense. After the hand Gazes was left with under 20,000 chips.

Together at Last

Gavin Griffin was moved to Shane Schleger's table, putting two of the chip leaders on a collision course with one another. Matt "Allinat420" Stout immediately noticed the move and came over to the table, willing to bet that the two of them would be bust within two hours.

Player Tags: John Cernuto,   Brett Jungblut,   Johnny Chan,   Paul Lee,   Gavin Griffin,   Greg Raymer,   Mark Hanna,   Shane Schleger,   Henry Tran,   Jeremiah Smith,   Ryan D'Angelo,   Cesar Flores

No-Limit Hold'em - Back From Dinner Break

May 31, '08

Player Tags: Mark Ketteringham,   Paul Lee,   Gavin Griffin,   Mark Hanna,   Shane Schleger,   Henry Tran,   Jeremiah Smith,   Ryan D'Angelo,   Chris Vaughn,   Cesar Flores