Monster Lay Downs
Jun 08, '07
Level 2 has brought us some big eliminations and some even bigger emerging chip stacks. Sorel Mizzi managed to pick off Tong G and Tuan Le back to back-to-back within a half hour’s time, and as a result he has amassed roughly $45,000 in chips.
Allen Kessler was the next one to hit the rail when he pushed all-in on a flop of Q
87
. The player in seat 10 made the call and flipped over Q
8 against Kessler’s A
Q. The turn and river bring the 10 and the 3, no help to Kessler as his opponent’s two pair holds up. Filling his empty seat was Brett Jungblut who joins the table already in progress with David Willamson III, Eugene Todd, T.J. Cloutier, Eric Froehlich, and defending champion, Jason Lester. Despite being surrounded by all of this talent and their accompanied bracelets, an unknown player in seat 10 is starting to build some real momentum. After eliminating Kessler and stealing a few pots with some big raises, he gets the ultimate sign of respect by T.J. Cloutier. I’m not sure if it was a sign of respect or just a case of knowing when to get out of the way when a player is running good, but none the less, Cloutier throws A-K into the muck pre-flop against this guy. T.J. Cloutier raises $625 before the flop and Seat-10 re-pots it for another $1,275 more. T.J thinks for a minute and flips over AK and says to the table, “I’m throwing this away because he’s running so good.” Brett Jungblut seemed shocked by T.J.’s lay down and although you can argue the move, no on can argue how good Seat-10 is running right now. Seat-10 shows T.J. pocket jacks, as he’s eliminated a few pros, scared some more off of their hands, and now sits with well over $40,000 in chips.
Aaron Been went into the tank for almost eight minutes during the break when Jennifer Harman put him to a decision for all of his chips. The flop comes AJ2 and Been bets $2,000. Harman re-raises the size of the pot for a total of $7,500. Been deliberates for almost eight minutes before showing A-K and tossing it into the muck.
Roughly 330 players remain as we head into Level 3.
Player Tags: T.J. Cloutier, Brett Jungblut, Allen Kessler, Jason Lester, Jennifer Harman, Eugene Todd, Eric Froehlich, Aaron Been, Sorel Mizzi
Cards Are in the Air
Jun 08, '07
Today kicks off Event 13, the $5,000 World Championship of Pot-Limit Hold’em. Play starts at 12:00p.m. with blinds of $25-$50. Levels will last sixty minutes each with one fifteen minute break every two levels. Last year’s event had a total entry of 378 players where Jason Lester won the bracelet and pocket $550,764 for his first place finish.
Keep checking back at Cardplayer.com for more live updates and your favorite Pro Blogs.
Player Tags: Jason Lester
And Then There Were Nine
Jun 09, '07
Play has ended in day two of the $5,000 Pot Limit Hold 'Em event. The final nine players are Jeff Lisandro, Jason Lester, Allen Cunningham, Gavin Griffin, Travis Rice, Joe Patrick, Alan Jaffray, Humberto Brenes, and Keith Lehr. The final table will begin tomorrow at 3 p.m. This will be the second year in a row that Jason Lester will be at the final table for this event, last year was able to outlast 378 players to take down the bracelet.
The main attraction during this level of play was the back and forth battle between Humberto Brenes and Joe Sebok. Brenes was up to his usual antics, singing and dancing and saying who knows what about sharks, all the while betting large and using his stack to his advantage. Earlier in the round Sebok and Brenes were involved in a hand in which Sebok folded to an all in bet by Brenes. Brenes showed the A
and told Sebok that "he didn't have a chance." Several hands later the two butted heads again, this time with negative consequences for Sebok. Brenes pushed all in from the button and stood up and made a two handed gesture to do so. The small blind, Keith Lehr, hadn't returned from dinner yet so his hand was folded and his blind put into the middle. Sebok called from the big blind for $80,000. Sebok showed K
J
and Brenes yelled out, "Blackjack hand baby!" and turned over 8
3
. Brenes called out for an eight and the flop was 8
7
3
. Brenes freaked out and starts playing with his shark toy again. Sebok, all but drawing dead, gets up from the table. The turn is the 5
and the river brings the 8
to fill up Humberto's boat. Sebok was eliminated in 11th place, earning $21,512.
Chris Sandrock was the 10th place finisher, also taking home $21,512. Sandrock was all in with pocket fives against Joe Patrick who had two black aces. The 5
on the river gave Sandrock trips, but it also gave Patrick the ace high flush.
Tune back in to
CardPlayer.com to see what happens on the final table and to see who will make history.
Player Tags: Allen Cunningham, Jason Lester, Jeffrey Lisandro, Gavin Griffin, Joe Sebok, Chris Sandrock, Travis Rice, Joe Patrick
Hour Four Update
Jun 10, '07
Your First Half of Hour Four...
Has been lost, thanks to computer problems. Heres a quick rundown of what was lost. Very vivid description of Humberto Brenes doubling up and Travis Rice busting in 6th place.
Blinds Raised
The blinds have been raised to $20,000-$40,000.
Jason Lester Doubles Up
Jason Lester raises to $130,000 and Joe Patrick reraises to $400,000. Lester makes the call for his last $290,000 and tables A
J
. Lester shows 9
9
and board comes 10
5
2
2
J
. Lester spikes a jack on the river to double up keep the table six handed.
Jeffrey Lisandro Takes Out Two
Joe Patrick raised to $140,000, Jeff Lisandro reraised to $300,000 and Jason Lester moved all in for his last $580,000. Patrick made the call as did Lisandro
. Patrick tabled 7
7
, Lester A
K
and Lisandro Q
Q
. The flop came J
J
9
and the queens were the best hand at the time. The turn was the 6
, and Lisandro was one card away from eliminating two players. The best hand actually held when river came 6
sending both Patrick and Lester home. Because he has less chips, Patrick took 5th place and won $99,142 while Lester was eliminated in 4th and took down $132,813.
Here are the Three handed chip counts:
Jeff Lisandro -- $1,995,000
Allen Cunningham -- $1,660,000
Humberto Brenes -- $325,000
Player Tags: Allen Cunningham, Jason Lester, Travis Rice, Joe Patrick
Hour One Update
Jun 10, '07
Sweet Cranium Accessories (Yes, that is a Mitch Hedberg reference) :
Aside from the usual poker site headgear, two players have some interesting head wear. Allen Jaffray is wearing a nice black lady's hat with a red flower, it looks more like something that Allyn Jaffrey Shulman would wear. Apparently it was worn by Steve Sun when he won the 2000 Tournament of Champions and Jaffary hoped to pick up a little more luck by wearing it today. Gavin Griffin has once again dyed his hair pink in support of breast cancer. His girlfriend is a survivor and rumor is the money he has received for wearing Pokerstars gear at the final table will be donated to charity.
Who is the King?
Humberto Brenes raised and Jason Lester reraised to $170,000. Brenes called going all in for his last $156,000. Lester tables J
J
, and Brenes raised his two cards in the air and yelled, "Who is the king!" He then plopped two black kings, K
K
down on the felt sparking the crowd to go wild. The board came 8
2
2
7
. On the river some of the crowd started chanting, "Jack, Jack, Jack," Brenes pointed his shark at them then jabbed in a fencer's pose. The river was the 10
, Brenes' kings held and he doubled up to over $310,000.
Rio Media Connection Down
The wireless Internet connection at the Rio is down, luckily
Cardplayer.com coverage of this event is off an air card and therefore will continue uninterrupted.
Break and Color Up
There has been a break.
Out of Magic?
Alan Jaffray has been eliminated 9th for $31,800. He raised to $70,000 and Gavin Griffin reraised to $150,000. Jaffray pushed all in with A
J
and Griffin called with K
K
. The board came 9
5
4
8
J
, Jaffray cannot beat kings and is sent home in 9th place.
Player Tags: Humberto Brenes, Jason Lester, Gavin Griffin
