Day Two Over
Jun 04, '07
The remaining 12 players returned from their dinner break at approximately 9 p.m. refreshed and ready to play some cards. Gavin Smith wasted no time in re-establishing himself as the most vocal player at his table, much to the delight of the crowd gathered on the rail. At one point Smith accused the fans directly behind of rooting for and aiding his opponents across the table. Down the rail, Jennifer Harman has rejoined the crowd to cheer for her husband Marco Traniello.
Play condensed down to one table following the elimination of Nick Binger in 11th place. Binger bet out and Billy Hill raised putting Binger all in. Binger made the call and showed A
Q
. Hill turned over A
A
and the board came K
10
3
6
9
. Binger's elimination trimmed the field down to ten players and one table.
Gavin Smith didn't quiet down at all when the five players from the other table joined his. Bruce Van Horn, seated in the five seat, quickly became the object of Smith's affection. Smith ordered a beer for Van Horn's son Archie who was on the rail and said, "Any friend of Bruce Van Horn is a friend of mine. I assume you are friends with your own kid, right?" Smith folded his next hand and then said, "While we're at it, let's get drinks for everyone at the table. Drinks are on me!"
Once Smith made sure that everyone's drink order had been placed he got down to business. Smith made a pot size bet of $33,000 before the flop and Billy Hill re-bet the pot. Smith responded by pushing all in and Hill hesitated before making the call. Smith showed J
J
and Hill had 8
8
. The board came K
Q
4
K
10
and Smith doubled up to $395,000. A few hands later, Smith continued to roll and was responsible for eliminating John McCarthy in 10th place and ended play for day two. Smith bet out $33,000 and McCarthy raised all in for $42,000 in the one seat. Billy Hill made the call, as did Smith. The flop came 9
8
5
and Smith bet out $60,000. Hill folded and the players turned over their cards. Smith had J
9
and McCarthy had A
Q
. The turn was the 2
and the river was the 3
. As Smith collected his chips McCarthy stood up and said, "It was a pleasure giving my chips to you. I'll be back in two weeks!"
Gavin Smith will be the chip leader at tomorrow's final table with over $480,000. Returning tomorrow in order of chip counts are: Gavin Smith, William Hill, Bruce Van Horn, Jeff Langdon, Marco Traniello, Mike Spiegel, Jon Friedberg, Tom Savitsky and Eric Lynch. The final table will begin at 2 p.m. and
CardPlayer.com will be there for all the action.
Player Tags: Bruce Van Horn, Gavin Smith, Marco Traniello, Jon Friedberg, William Hill, Jeff Langdon, Eric Lynch, Nick Binger, Mike Spegal
Hour Two Log
Jun 05, '07
Action Increases, a Little
The frequency of flops increased over the next period of play, but big confrontations were avoided. This level of moderate action continued until the first fifteen minute break was taken and the players evacuated the final table like a fire alarm had gone off.
The players came back from break and things were a little slow to start back up. Chips had to be colored up and it took a while considering there was over $2 million in play. Action started back up at 4:45 p.m. and the blinds were kicked up to $10,000-$20,000. The tournament director once again gave an update on the chip stacks when things got started:
Eric Lynch: $240,000
Bill Hill: $340,000
Tom Savitsky: $400,000
Mike Spegal: $215,000
Jon Friedberg: $230,000
Jeff Langdon: $410,000
Gavin Smith: $670,000
The Double up Kid
A few hands into the action Tom Savitsky once again moved all in. This time he held AJ and Jeff Langdon called him with 75 in the hole. The board was dealt A97106 and Savitsky continued his reign as the double up kid. He has lived on the edge during the entire course of the final table up to this point.
Four by Four
Jeff Langdon Eliminated in 8th Place ($20,255)
Things continued to pass by quietly for a number of hands and then Jeff Langdon bet $80,000 on flop of Q54. Gavin Smith reraised, and Langdon moved all in. Smith called and flipped over two black fours. Langdon flipped over pocket aces and the turn card was dealt. Remember, there was only one remaining four hiding out in the deck at this point. It came out of hiding on the turn though, when the 4 was peeled off the deck. The entire crowd erupted into cheers, including Erick Lindgren who sat by the media table to sweat Gavin. The inconsequential 6 was dealt on the river and Gavin took a commanding chip lead with $980,000.
Player Tags: Gavin Smith, Jeff Langdon
