Jim Meehan Poker Tournament Updates

Level 10 Update: Final Level of the Day

May 29, '10

Blinds: 400-800 with a 100 ante

Entrants: 4,031

Card Player Chip Counts:

Jon Friedberg – 25,900

Notable Eliminations:

None

Player’s Twitter Accounts:

Vanessa Rousso
Bryan Devonshire
Jonathan Little

Big Hands:

Friedberg’s Shove Forces a Fold

After a raise in late position to 2,200, Jon Friedberg reraised all in for 11,000. After his opponent thought for a few moments, his cards hit the muck and Friedberg took the pot and incrased his stack to 15,000.

Bordreau Makes it Look Easy to Flop Quads

Jason Wheeler raised to 2,200 from middle position and was met with a three-bet to 5,800 from Kevin Bordreau. Wheeler moved the rest of his chips in and Bordreau made the call. Wheeler showed AK and was in a classic race situation since he was against the 66 of Bordreau.

All of drama was ended early when Bordreau flopped quads and left Wheeler drawing dead. Bordreau chipped up to 46,000 and Wheeler slipped to 14,000.

Minneapolis Jim Waits for a Better Spot

A player under-the-gun raised to 2,200 and “Minneapolis” Jim Meehan called and so did the big blind.

On a flop of K54, the original preflop raiser bet 1,800 and was called by Meehan. The player in the blind got out of the way and they saw the 2 fall on the turn.

Now the player under-the-gun moves all in and has Meehan covered, who has 14,000 left. Meehan goes into the tank.

“Sorry guys,” he said. “For you it’s nothing, but for me it’s my tournament life.” Eventually Meehan tossed his cards into the muck and will wait for a better spot to get his chips in.

Left in the Deck:

Players are Dropping Like Flies

Justin Young and Bryan Devonshire are at the same table are are joking about how many players have been eliminated today. There were 2,601 people who started the day, and there are currently approximately 300 players left.

“You could get through day 1 and be in the money on the start of day 2,” joked Young.

Player Tags: Jon Friedberg,   Jim Meehan

Level 12 Update: Aguiar Wins A Monster Pot

May 31, '10

Blinds: 600-1,200 with a 100 ante

Players Remaining: 325 out of 4345

Average Chip Count: 39,984

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Nancy Todd Tyner — 152,000
2. Braxton Dunaway — 139,000
3. Terry Fleischer — 119,300
4. Jon Aguiar — 110,000
5. Timothy Boytor — 108,000
6. Matthew Berkey — 100,400
7. Thomas Joanides — 98,200
8. Jerrymee Jose — 96,100
9. Drew Crawford — 95,000
10. Jordan Morgan — 95,000

Notable Eliminations:

Jim Meehan – $2,150
Justin Young – $2,150

Big Hands:

Aguiar Wins Monster Pot

Jon Aguiar raised to 1,200 under-the-gun and Benjamin Lefew three-bet to 6,300, which was called by Aguiar. The flop came A410 and Lefew bet 8,000 after Aguiar checked. Aguiar thought for a while before raising to 19,400. Lefew asked Aguiar how much he had behind and after he got the answer of 31,000, he proceeded to move all in and Aguiar instantly called.

Aguiar showed 44 and was way ahead of Lefew’s AK. After the 2 on the turn, Lefew was drawing dead and Aguiar doubled up to 110,000.

Nancy Todd Tyner Continues to Cruise

Nancy Todd Tyner called her opponent’s all in of 10,000 and was off to the races as she showed AQ and was up against the 66.

The board ran out K10AJA, giving the pot to Tyner and eliminating another player. Tyner now sits with over 150,000.

Jim Meehan Crippled, Busts the Following Hand

We caught up with the action on the turn with Jim Meehan’s AA laying on the table versus the QJ of an all-in opponent. The board read J1042. Meehan needed to avoid any club, queen or jack. One of those outs came in the form of the J, crippling Meehan to just 700 in chips.

The very next hand, Meehan was all in for less than the big blind with the K8 versus the pocket sevens of his opponent.

Jordan Morgan Wins a Nice Pot

We caught up with Jordan Morgan stacking a boat load of chips. His pocket kings held against the queens of an opponent. Morgan is now at 95,000.

Player Tags: Jim Meehan,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Nancy Todd

Level 10 Update: Final Level of the Day

May 29, '10

Blinds: 400-800 with a 100 ante

Entrants: 4,031

Card Player Chip Counts:

Jon Friedberg – 25,900

Notable Eliminations:

None

Player’s Twitter Accounts:

Vanessa Rousso
Bryan Devonshire
Jonathan Little

Big Hands:

Friedberg’s Shove Forces a Fold

After a raise in late position to 2,200, Jon Friedberg reraised all in for 11,000. After his opponent thought for a few moments, his cards hit the muck and Friedberg took the pot and incrased his stack to 15,000.

Bordreau Makes it Look Easy to Flop Quads

Jason Wheeler raised to 2,200 from middle position and was met with a three-bet to 5,800 from Kevin Bordreau. Wheeler moved the rest of his chips in and Bordreau made the call. Wheeler showed AK and was in a classic race situation since he was against the 66 of Bordreau.

All of drama was ended early when Bordreau flopped quads and left Wheeler drawing dead. Bordreau chipped up to 46,000 and Wheeler slipped to 14,000.

Minneapolis Jim Waits for a Better Spot

A player under-the-gun raised to 2,200 and “Minneapolis” Jim Meehan called and so did the big blind.

On a flop of K54, the original preflop raiser bet 1,800 and was called by Meehan. The player in the blind got out of the way and they saw the 2 fall on the turn.

Now the player under-the-gun moves all in and has Meehan covered, who has 14,000 left. Meehan goes into the tank.

“Sorry guys,” he said. “For you it’s nothing, but for me it’s my tournament life.” Eventually Meehan tossed his cards into the muck and will wait for a better spot to get his chips in.

Left in the Deck:

Players are Dropping Like Flies

Justin Young and Bryan Devonshire are at the same table are are joking about how many players have been eliminated today. There were 2,601 people who started the day, and there are currently approximately 300 players left.

“You could get through day 1 and be in the money on the start of day 2,” joked Young.

Player Tags: Jon Friedberg,   Jim Meehan

Level 12 Update: Aguiar Wins A Monster Pot

May 31, '10

Blinds: 600-1,200 with a 100 ante

Players Remaining: 325 out of 4345

Average Chip Count: 39,984

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Nancy Todd Tyner — 152,000
2. Braxton Dunaway — 139,000
3. Terry Fleischer — 119,300
4. Jon Aguiar — 110,000
5. Timothy Boytor — 108,000
6. Matthew Berkey — 100,400
7. Thomas Joanides — 98,200
8. Jerrymee Jose — 96,100
9. Drew Crawford — 95,000
10. Jordan Morgan — 95,000

Notable Eliminations:

Jim Meehan – $2,150
Justin Young – $2,150

Big Hands:

Aguiar Wins Monster Pot

Jon Aguiar raised to 1,200 under-the-gun and Benjamin Lefew three-bet to 6,300, which was called by Aguiar. The flop came A410 and Lefew bet 8,000 after Aguiar checked. Aguiar thought for a while before raising to 19,400. Lefew asked Aguiar how much he had behind and after he got the answer of 31,000, he proceeded to move all in and Aguiar instantly called.

Aguiar showed 44 and was way ahead of Lefew’s AK. After the 2 on the turn, Lefew was drawing dead and Aguiar doubled up to 110,000.

Nancy Todd Tyner Continues to Cruise

Nancy Todd Tyner called her opponent’s all in of 10,000 and was off to the races as she showed AQ and was up against the 66.

The board ran out K10AJA, giving the pot to Tyner and eliminating another player. Tyner now sits with over 150,000.

Jim Meehan Crippled, Busts the Following Hand

We caught up with the action on the turn with Jim Meehan’s AA laying on the table versus the QJ of an all-in opponent. The board read J1042. Meehan needed to avoid any club, queen or jack. One of those outs came in the form of the J, crippling Meehan to just 700 in chips.

The very next hand, Meehan was all in for less than the big blind with the K8 versus the pocket sevens of his opponent.

Jordan Morgan Wins a Nice Pot

We caught up with Jordan Morgan stacking a boat load of chips. His pocket kings held against the queens of an opponent. Morgan is now at 95,000.

Player Tags: Jim Meehan,   Jonathan Aguiar,   Nancy Todd

Pot Limit Omaha Level 7

Jun 24, '08

Blinds: 300-600

Chip Average: 16,000

Players Remaining: 135-720

Eliminations: Martin Corpuz

Chip Leaders:

Jeff Bryan: 42.700
Gabe Costner: 40,000
Michael Fatter: 38.000
Layne Flack: 28.600
Joe Hachem: 24.000
Chip Jett: 18.000
Eric Lynch: 16,000
Stephen Graboski: 16.000
Randy Kaas: 16,000

Hands:

Markholt Quartered

Lee Markholt moved all in for about 9,000 on the river of a board of K7689 in a three-way pot. Seat 4 deliberated before making the call, and then seat 8, whose request for a black card before the river was granted, called all in. Markholt showed ace deuce for the nut low, while seat 4 had been slyly playing A210J for the nut low plus nut straight. Markholt received one quarter of the pot, leaving him with about 10,000 in chips, while seat 8 was eliminated.

Shorr Eliminates Corpuz

Shannon Shorr eliminated Martin Corpuz in the following hand after both players got it all in before the flop.

Shorr: AKK6
Corpuz:: A632

Corpuz's best shot was for the low, but the board ran out K105J5, giving Shorr top set. Shorr had about 12,000 after the hand.

Player Tags: Jim Meehan

2,000 NLHE - Day 1 - Level 6

Jun 04, '08

Note: Players are now on a 90 minute dinner break. They will return to action at level 7 with the blinds at 300-600 with a 75 ante.

Blinds/Antes: 200-400 with a 50 Ante

Players Left: 410 of 1,592

Chip Leaders:

John Myung: 48,000
Lee Redmond: 41,000
J.C. Tran: 40,000
Derek Dempsey: 40,000
Florian Langmann: 36,000
Michael Michlich: 34,000
John Phan: 31,000
Stuart Krasney: 31,000
Evan Schwartz: 28,000
Mihai Manole: 27,000

Average Stack: 15,532

Eliminations:

Victor Ramdin, Joe Sebok, Lee Markholt

Big Hands:

Brenes Chops a Pot with Big Slick, But Then the Shark Gets Hungry

Humberto Brenes moved his opponent all in, only to find that they each had the same hand. Brenes showed AK while his opponent showed AK. The board ran out Q10JQK for a couple of flopped broadway straights and a chopped pot.

Later, Brenes reraised his opponent in seat 5 to over 4,000. Seat 5 folded and Brenes turned over J4. "No, no, no!" Brenes said, tired of being raised by his opponent. "Shark's hungry!" Considering Brenes' stack is hovering at under 10,000, below the average stack, it's no wonder the shark is hungry.

Who Needs The Flop?

With seat 2 and seat 3 already all in, J.C. Tran made the call from the big blind. He showed 55 while seat 2 showed 99 and seat 3 showed A-J. The flop was empty for Tran, dropping 1044. But the turn brought a 5, giving Tran a set and control of the hand. The river was the 5, giving Tran quads and helping him eliminate two players. His stack was over 33,000 after the hand.

Jim Meehan Double s Up

Meehan reraised to 2,700 from late position. Seat 1 pushed all in for 12,500 and Meehan debated his move, eventually electing to call. Seat 1 showed QQ while Meehan held AK. The flop came K-9-4 and Meehan hit on ace on the turn for good measure. Meehan improved his stack to 29,775.

Schoenberg Hanging Around for Dinner

Erica Schoenberg has been short stacked for ages, but she found a way to survive through the dinner break. She moved all in from the cutoff and had no callers, allowing her to pick up the blinds and antes. Her stack was around 2,500 as the dinner break rolled around.

Thunder Joins The Master, Loses First Pot

Thomas "Thunder" Keller was moved to Men "The Master" Nguyen's table early into level 6. Soon after, Nguyen poured some eyedrops into his eyes as he had not played a hand in what seemed like an eternity. Keller lost his first hand at his new table when his opponent bet enough to put Keller all in and "Thunder" mucked his hand. Keller was left with just around 11,000 in chips.

Player Tags: J.C. Tran,   Humberto Brenes,   Men Nguyen,   Thomas Keller,   Jim Meehan,   Erica Schoenberg

Level Five Recap

Jun 27, '07

There are around 420 players remaining from the original 534 and play continues to crawl along. John Juanda has emerged as the new chip leader with David Mitchell-Lolis, Davood Mehrmand and Humberto Brenes all in the top five.

2005 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Denis Ethier has been eliminated from today's tournament. Ethier was all in on a board of K 6 2 5 for his last $250. The river was the 3 and Ethier was up agains two opponents. Ethier showed A A and his opponent showed A 4, having rivered the wheel. Neither player had a qualifying low and Ethier left the tournament area in a hurry.

Robert Mizrachi, C.K. Hua, "Minneapolis" Jim Meehan and two other players were all involved in a hand for $200 preflop. The flop came A A 6 and Meehan checked. Hua and Mizrachi both checked and the player in seat two bet out $200. Seat five and Meehan both folded and Hua bumped it up to $400. Mizrachi and the player in seat two called and the turn was the 4. Hua bet out $400 and Mizrachi and the player in seat two called. The river was the 6 and Hua bet out $400 again. Mizrachi called and so did the player in seat two. Hua showed A J 7 6 for the flopped full house and Mizrachi showed Q 5 3 2 for the low.

Player Tags: Robert Mizrachi,   Humberto Brenes,   Davood Mehrmand,   Antanas Guoga,   Denis Ethier,   Jim Meehan,   David Mitchell-Lolis

Level Three Update

Jun 27, '07

The third hour of play has just ended in today's Limit Omaha eight-or-better tournament and several notable players are getting settled in for the long haul. Davood Merhmand, Robert Mizrachi, Brett Jungblut and Chau Giang are all among the chip leaders early on in this grinding tournament.

With tables starting to break at a more steady pace, players are being shuffled around the Amazon Room constantly. Some players are just getting comfortable in their new seats before being asked to move again. Table 32 has seen its share of faces come and go and now Howard Lederer, "MInneapolis" Jim Meehan, C.K. Hua and Robert Mizrachi are now sharing the felt there. Table 51 has also had some players juggled through and recently been the site of some controversy. Apparently the tournament officials have had to spend considerable amounts of time resolving an issue with a players misbet. The discussion/argument at the table became so loud and heated that players at surrounding tables have become annoyed and distracted. At the table but not in the discussion, T.J. Cloutier finally had enough. "Is this done yet?" said Cloutier in disgust, "It's been goin' on for 20 minutes for Christ's sake!" The player most disgruntled alledgedly lost just $300 in the hand and wouldn't let it go. Paul Darden got involved by saying, "Let him keep talkin'. He lost $300 already, let him keep steaming. Let him lose his other $3,000." The commotion eventually died down and play resumed.

Annie Duke has been warming up to her table and has been playing several pots. Duke got involved in a big hand that began with five players calling a $200 bet from Duke and seeing a flop of 6 4 3. The small blind and big blinds both checked and the player in seat one bet $100. The player in seat four called and Duke raised to $200. The small blind called, big blind folded and the player in seat one threw out $300. Duke called for $100 more and the small blind popped it up to $500. Seat one called and so did Duke. The turn brought the 2 and the small blind bet out $200. The player in seat one and Duke both called. The river was the 10 and the player in the small blind bet out $200 and the player in seat one and Duke called again. Seat one showed 7 6 5 4 for the straight and the player in seat one showed A 8 5 2 for the low. Duke turned over A 10 5 2 for the low as well and seat one took half the pot and Duke and the small blind each took half of the low.

Notable Chip Counts

Davood Mehrmand	10,500
Marcel Luske	8,500
Chau Giang	7,800
Young Phan	6,500
Robert Mizrachi	6,500
Eric "Rizen" Lynch	6,500
"Minneapolis" Jim Meehan	6,350
John Juanda	6,000
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson	6,000
Captain Tom Franklin	5,800
"Omaha" Ed Tonnellier	5,600
John "The Razor" Phan	5,500
Annie Duke	5,500
Jeffrey Lisandro	5,425
Scott Clements	5,400
"Miami" John Cernuto	5,400
Cyndy Violette	5,100
Allen Cunningham	5,000
Steve Zolotow	4,900
Brett "Gank" Jungblut	4,900
Howard Lederer	4,800
Humberto Brenes	4,300
Joe Tehan	4,000
Bill Chen	4,000
Prince of Docness	3,800
TJ Cloutier	3,750
Todd Brunson	3,650
Scotty Nguyen	3,600
Bill Gazes	3,500
Tony G	3,250
Mel Judah	3,200
Robert Williamson III	3,100
David Sklansky	3,000
Andy Bloch	3,000
Kathy Liebert	2,575
Berry Johnston	2,550
Sabyl Cohen	2,500
Michael DeMichelle	2,500
Ron "Grumpy" Ware	2,200
Erik Seidel	1,275
Victor Ramdin	850

Player Tags: Robert Mizrachi,   Annie Duke,   Howard Lederer,   Jim Meehan,   Chau Giang

Chip Up, Or Chip Out

Jun 09, '07

It seems several pros have adopted a very wishy-washy attitude regarding any one player's chances against such a large field.  Several pros have been stating that they are simply trying to reach a certain number of chips or go broke by the 5pm HORSE event.  J.C. Tran is among those, finding himself all in with the worst of it three times in the last level.  First Tran found himself all in with Q-J suited against A-J, finding an 8 on the river to complete his nut straight.  Next he was up against John Racener on a flop of 982, Tran had 87 to Racener's AA.  The turn 8 bailed Tran out, and Racener missed his two-out redraw with the 10on the river.  Finally Tran's luck ran out as he pushed on a flop of J63 with A5 getting a call from his opponent with 44.  The 4 cut Tran's outs to two, and the J on the river ended Tran's day.  Other players to hit the rail included "Minneapolis Jim" Meehan, David Williams, Ed Moncada, and Gavin Smith.

Anthony Reategui was on the bad end of large pot at his mine-filled table.  In a five-way raised pot with a flop of 1075, Reategui led out with a pot-sized bet of $2,200, only to have two players move in behind it.  Reategui called quickly stating he had the right kind of hand for this pot.  Reategui showed A9, while the other two tabled 55 and 89.  The flop and turn came 7 and 9, filling up Reategui's opponent.  Phil Hellmuth also managed to create sufficient drama for his legion of railbrids, despite the event being in its early stages.  After Hellmuth raised preflop, two players moved all in over the top of his raise.  Hellmuth pondered the call.  He would be all-in himself, but he was getting 6 to 1 on his money.  Finally he folded his A-Q offsuit face-up.  His opponents showed pocket nines and pocket sevens, showing Hellmuth was getting the right price to call.  Both players ended up with sets by the river and Hellmuth patted himself on the back.

The official numbers have been released.  A total of 2,628 players entered today, generating a prize pool of $3,587,220 dollars.  The top 270 players will finish in the money, with 270th place receiving $3,049, and 1st place bagging $637,254.

Player Tags: J.C. Tran,   Edward Moncada,   Phil Hellmuth,   Gavin Smith,   Jim Meehan,   David Williams,   John Racener

Play Slowly Moving Along

Jun 04, '07

The first level of Event 6 slithered along at a terribly slow place. Not because the field lacked a significant amount of players, pros, and/or action, but rather because that is how the nature of a limit hold’em tournament is designed.

Phil Hellmuth showed up on time; a half hour late, but for Phil that’s about as “on time” as anyone could hope for. As he made his way through the tournament room he asked me if I had seen the seating list. Assuming that he was looking for a friend, I asked him who he was looking for when he replied, “Me. I know I’m sitting in this section, I just don’t know where.” Well Phil found his seat alright, two seats to the right of J.J. Liu and it wasn’t long before they were going at it heads up. On a flop of QJ4, Hellmuth bets $100 and J.J. Liu calls. The turn brings the 5, and once again Hellmuth bets and Lieu calls. The river brings the 10 and Hellmuth bets out only to be raised by Liu. Hellmuth thinks for a minute and makes the call. Liu turns over J10 for two pair and Hellmuth slams over Q10 for a higher two pair.

Table number 2 wasn’t the only table drawing spectators, as table number 53 played host to David Sklansky, Shannon Elizabeth and Tony Ma. For the most part all three of them seemed to stay out of each others’ way to focus their aggression on some less recognizable faces, although it’s hard to imagine that everyone in the vicinity wasn’t focused on Shannon.

Despite being laid-up in a wheel chair, cast and back brace, Shannon Shorr had no problems raking pots as he was off to good start by the end of Level 1. Jim Meehan was yet another late arrival, and as he finally took his seat, another player yelled, “Hey Jim, you know how to play limit?” Meehan replied, “There’s no better time to learn…I have nowhere else to go.” A whimsical anticdote considering Meehan won the LA Poker Classic limit events in both 1995 and 1998, not to mention he was the runner-up in the limit event at the 1997 World Series of Poker.

Be sure to check out more tournament updates and the pro blogs of Shannon Elizabeth and Eric Froehlich, only at Card Player.com

Player Tags: Phil Hellmuth,   Jim Meehan,   David Sklansky,   Eric Froehlich,   Shannon Shorr,   Shannon Elizabeth

In A Hurry To Leave

Jun 05, '07

Play started today at 2pm PST with 90 players remaining, all of them in the money.  The after the first hour, the field has already been whittled down to 62 players.  Thom Werthmann (86th), Thor Hansen (82nd), "Minneapolis Jim" Meehan (76th), and Mihn Nguyen (72nd).  all could not survive the first hour of Day Two.

Nguyen, despite sitting for almost an hour with about $4,500 in chips, while the average stack has closer to $45,000, was in great spirits, and celebrated with his tablemates including David Chiu when he squeaked past another pay bump.  Nguyen found himself all-in soon after with K-J against his opponent's 10-10.  The flop came K-Q-10, but Nguyen would not make his straight as was sent to the rail.

Others players still very much in the game include David Sklansky, Matt Hawrilenko (who was moved into Nguyen's seat), and Scott Keikoan.

They are down to 7 tables, looking to get down to the final nine players before the end of the day.

Player Tags: Thor Hansen,   Minh Nguyen,   Jim Meehan

Play Slowly Moving Along

Jun 04, '07

The first level of Event 6 slithered along at a terribly slow place. Not because the field lacked a significant amount of players, pros, and/or action, but rather because that is how the nature of a limit hold’em tournament is designed.

Phil Hellmuth showed up on time; a half hour late, but for Phil that’s about as “on time” as anyone could hope for. As he made his way through the tournament room he asked me if I had seen the seating list. Assuming that he was looking for a friend, I asked him who he was looking for when he replied, “Me. I know I’m sitting in this section, I just don’t know where.” Well Phil found his seat alright, two seats to the right of J.J. Liu and it wasn’t long before they were going at it heads up. On a flop of QJ4, Hellmuth bets $100 and J.J. Liu calls. The turn brings the 5, and once again Hellmuth bets and Lieu calls. The river brings the 10 and Hellmuth bets out only to be raised by Liu. Hellmuth thinks for a minute and makes the call. Liu turns over J10 for two pair and Hellmuth slams over Q10 for a higher two pair.

Table number 2 wasn’t the only table drawing spectators, as table number 53 played host to David Sklansky, Shannon Elizabeth and Tony Ma. For the most part all three of them seemed to stay out of each others’ way to focus their aggression on some less recognizable faces, although it’s hard to imagine that everyone in the vicinity wasn’t focused on Shannon.

Despite being laid-up in a wheel chair, cast and back brace, Shannon Shorr had no problems raking pots as he was off to good start by the end of Level 1. Jim Meehan was yet another late arrival, and as he finally took his seat, another player yelled, “Hey Jim, you know how to play limit?” Meehan replied, “There’s no better time to learn…I have nowhere else to go.” A whimsical anticdote considering Meehan won the LA Poker Classic limit events in both 1995 and 1998, not to mention he was the runner-up in the limit event at the 1997 World Series of Poker.

Be sure to check out more tournament updates and the pro blogs of Shannon Elizabeth and Eric Froehlich, only at Card Player.com

Player Tags: Phil Hellmuth,   Jim Meehan,   David Sklansky,   Eric Froehlich,   Shannon Shorr,   Shannon Elizabeth

In A Hurry To Leave

Jun 05, '07

Play started today at 2pm PST with 90 players remaining, all of them in the money.  The after the first hour, the field has already been whittled down to 62 players.  Thom Werthmann (86th), Thor Hansen (82nd), "Minneapolis Jim" Meehan (76th), and Mihn Nguyen (72nd).  all could not survive the first hour of Day Two.

Nguyen, despite sitting for almost an hour with about $4,500 in chips, while the average stack has closer to $45,000, was in great spirits, and celebrated with his tablemates including David Chiu when he squeaked past another pay bump.  Nguyen found himself all-in soon after with K-J against his opponent's 10-10.  The flop came K-Q-10, but Nguyen would not make his straight as was sent to the rail.

Others players still very much in the game include David Sklansky, Matt Hawrilenko (who was moved into Nguyen's seat), and Scott Keikoan.

They are down to 7 tables, looking to get down to the final nine players before the end of the day.

Player Tags: Thor Hansen,   Minh Nguyen,   Jim Meehan

Several Alternates Coast Into Break

Jun 02, '07

As the first two levels have been completed, there is still a decent queue of alternates waiting for their chance to enter play.  While the crowd of alternates is not as thick as it once was, there's still a ways to go until each of the approximately 3200 players in today's tournament will actually see a hand.

Daniel Negreanu, Shane "Shaniac" Schleger, and Young Phan are some the pros that have climbed to the top of the chip counts early on in the tournament.  Negreanu in particular seems to be enjoying himself immensely.  With a table draw including Robert Mizrachi, Jean Gaspard, and William Chen, he's firing on all cylinders.  This table is one of the unfortunate few located in the pavillion where the Poker kitchen was located last year at the World Series.  This small annex, despite the tournament's best efforts, acts like a low-grade sauna.  Look for this to be one of the things to make the player's complaint list.

A few other pros have not faired so well so far.  On a board of K97, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson pushed his remaining $1,450 chips into the pot.  His opponent went into the tank, and eventually called when she had a clock called on her.  Ferguson announced "I have 8-high" tabling 86, while his opponent showed the KQ.  The turn and river bricked for Ferguson as they came J2, and Ferguson was sent packing.  "Minneapolis" Jim Meehan also failed to connect on a draw when he called an opponent's all in on a board of 1094 with K2.  His opponent showed J8.  The turn Q completed his opponents straight and 4 on the river ended Meehan's day.

The players are now on a 25 minute break.  Play will resume again around 3:30pm

Player Tags: Robert Mizrachi,   Young Phan,   Chris Ferguson,   Daniel Negreanu,   Jim Meehan,   Shane Schleger,   Bill Chen