Tom Chambers Poker Tournament Updates

Level 30 Update: Phillips Leads Cada Heads-Up; Chambers 3rd ($290,875), Andrews 4th ($210,083)

Jun 19, '12

Level: 30

Blinds: 50,000-100,000 with a 10,000 ante

Players Remaining: 2 out of 2,811

Average Chip Count: 6,324,750

Chip Counts:

Seat no. 4 — Joe Cada — 3,500,000

Seat no. 9 — Carter Phillips — 9,100,000

Players Eliminated:

Tom Chambers — 3rd Place ($290,875)
Cherish Andrew — 4th Place ($210,083)

Live Updates:

Cherish Andrews Eliminated in 4th Place ($210,083)

Joe Cada opened the cutoff for 205,000, Cherish Andrews moved all in for about 1.9 million on the button and Cada called.

Andrews was all in before the flop for her tournament life and had the lead with 88 against Cada’s AK.

The board came J5243, giving Cada a running straight on the river to win the pot and eliminate Cherish Andrews in 4th place ($210,083). Cada moved up to 7.2 million after the hand.

Tom Chambers Eliminated in 3rd place ($290,875)

Carter Phillips opened the button for 200,000, Tom Chambers moved all in from the small blind, Joe Cada re-shoved the big blind and Phillips folded.

Cada was ahead before the flop with KK against Chambers’ 88.

The board came A535J, offering no help to Tom Chambers who was eliminated in 3rd place ($290,875). Joe Cada took the chip lead over Carter Phillips going into heads-up play with 8.9 million to 3.7 million.

Be sure to check back with Card Player at the conclusion of each level for regular updates with all of the action, current chip counts, and prize distributions.

Player Tags: Tom Chambers,   Cherish Andrews,   Carter Phillips,   Joseph Cada

Level 29 Update: Najib Kamand Eliminated in 5th Place ($153,578)

Jun 19, '12

Level: 29

Blinds: 40,000-80,000 with a 10,000 ante

Players Remaining: 4 out of 2,811

Average Chip Count: 3,162,375

Chip Counts:

Seat no. 3 — Tom Chambers — 3,185,000
Seat no. 4 — Joe Cada — 5,135,000

Seat no. 8 — Chreish Andrews — 1,990,000
Seat no. 9 — Carter Phillips — 2,340,000

Players Eliminated:

Najob Kamand — 5th Place ($153,578)

Live Updates:

Najib Kamand Eliminated in 5th Place ($153,578)

Carter Phillips opened the pot for 160,000 from the button, Najib Kamand moved all in for 1,350,000 from the small blind, Tom Chambers re-shoved the big blind and Phillips folded.

Chambers led before the flop with 1010 against Kamand’s AJ.

The board came 86547, giving Chambers a four-card flush on the river to win the pot and eliminate Najib Kamand in 5th place ($153,578). Chambers moved up to just under 3 million chips that hand.

Be sure to check back with Card Player at the conclusion of each level for regular updates with all of the action, current chip counts, and prize distributions.

Player Tags: Tom Chambers,   Najib Kamand

Level 25 Update: Tom Chambers Eliminated in 6th Place ($61,521)

Jun 14, '12

Level: 25

Blinds: 15,000-30,000

Players Remaining: 5 out of 589

Average Chip Count: 1,060,200

Chip Counts:

Seat no. 2 — Scott Stanko — 670,000

Seat no. 4 — Austin Scott — 1,130,000
Seat no. 5 — Vadzim Kursevich — 1,940,000

Seat no. 7 — Brett Richey — 875,000

Seat no. 9 — Khiem Nguyen — 690,000

Players Eliminated:

Tom Chambers — 6th Place ($61,521)

Live Updates:

Tom Chambers Eliminated in 6th Place ($61,521)

Vadzim Kursevich opened the pot to 60,000 from the cutoff and Tom Chambers called from the button.

The flop came Q87, Kursevich checked, Chambers bet 125,000 and Kursevich called.

The turn was the K, Kursevich checked, Chambers bet 415,000, Kursevich shoved and Chambers called all in for 455,000.

Kursevich: AAKQ
Chambers: AQ107

Chambers flopped two pair to take the lead, but Kursevich turned a higher two pair. The river was the 2, and Tom Chambers was eliminated in 6th place ($61,521). Kursevich ended the hand with just under 2 million.

Be sure to check back with Card Player at the conclusion of each level for regular updates with all of the action, current chip counts, and prize distributions.

Player Tags: Tom Chambers,   Vadzim Kursevich

Action Begins, Final Table Now Underway

Jun 14, '12

The final table of Event no. 26 ($3,000 Po-Limit Omaha) is now underway, and Card Player will be posting level-by-level updates with all of the action, current chip counts, and prize distributions.

Day 3 began with 18 players spread out over 2 tables, and with the elimination of Jon Hoellein in 10th Place ($21,016), the official 9-handed final table is now set. Play will begin in Level 22 with blinds of 8,000-16,000, and will continue until a winner is determined.

With cards now back in the air, here is a look at the final table and how these players match up:

Seat no. 1 — Thomas Pettersson — 225,000
Seat no. 2 — Scott Stanko — 238,000
Seat no. 3 — Romik Vartzar — 341,000
Seat no. 4 — Austin Scott — 763,000
Seat no. 5 — Vadzim Kursevich — 1,649,000
Seat no. 6 — Tom Chambers — 681,000
Seat no. 7 — Brett Richey — 405,000
Seat no. 8 — Dutch Boyd — 343,000
Seat no. 9 — Khiem Nguyen — 658,000

While only 9 remain, this event gathered 589 players, creating a total prize pool of $1,607,970. Here is a look at the final payouts:

1st Place — $361,797
2nd Place — $223,492
3rd Place — $158,530
4th Place — $114,037
5th Place — $83,180
6th Place — $61,521
7th Place — $46,117
8th Place — $35,038
9th Place — $26,966

Be sure to check back with Card Player at the conclusion of each level for regular updates with all of the action, current chip counts, and prize distributions.

Player Tags: Brett Richey,   Jon Hoellein,   Austin Scott,   Romik Vartzar,   Dutch Boyd,   Tom Chambers,   Scott Stanko,   Khiem Nguyen,   Thomas Patterson,   Vadzim Kursevich

Level 4 Update: Schulman atop Chip Counts

Jun 06, '10

Limits: Bring-in 200, Ante 100, Limits 500-1,000

Players Remaining: 167 out of 170

Average Chip Count: 30,538

Card Player Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman – 46,000
Phil Hellmuth – 32,000
Steve Zolotow – 19,000
Mark Gregorich – 42,000

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Nick Schulman – 58,000
2. Eli Elezra – 55,000
3. Ozzy Sheikh – 50,000
4. Barry Shulman – 46,000
5. Chad Brown – 44,000
6. Daniel Negreanu – 43,500
7. Sirous Jamshidi – 43,000
8. Justin Smith – 42,500
9. Mark Gregorich – 42,000
10. Hasan Habib – 41,000

Notable Eliminations:

Tom Chambers

Big Hands:

Benyamine Scoops Bloch

David Benyamine checked and called a bet from Andy Bloch on fourth street. Benyamine bet first on fifth and sixth and was called by Bloch.

Bloch: (X-X)-4-10-5-2
Benyamine: (X-X)-3-Q-3-K

Both players checked the river and bloch turned over J-5-6, giving him a pair of fives, which were no good against Benyamine’s A-3-2, giving him trip threes and the pot. Benyamine is up to 27,000 and Bloch dropped to 19,000.

Schulman and Bronshtein Chop Chambers

Yuval Bronshtein: (X-X)-4-8-K-6
Tom Chambers: (X-X)-A-K-4-J
Nick Schulman: (X-X)-8-Q-J-Q

We found this hand taking place with the rivers being dealt face down. Bronshtein fired and was called by both Chambers and Schulman.

Bronshtein showed 6-5-3, which gave him just a qualifying low. Schulman turned up 8-7-6, giving him queens-up and Chambers mucked his hand while muttering under his breath. Chambers was left with around 10,000 and was eliminated later in the level.

Katchalov’s Trips Good for the Whole Pot

Eugene Katchalov bet fifth street and was called by Tom Schneider. Kathalov bet sixth and seventh street and was called by Schneider. Their boards looked like this.

Katchalov: (X-X)-5-2-5-7
Schneider: (X-X)-10-J-3-J

Katchalov showed the 5-9-3, giving trip fives and his stack grew to 39,000, while Schneider is down to 31,800.

Player Tags: Andy Bloch,   David Benyamine,   Tom Schneider,   Eugene Katchalov,   Nick Schulman,   Tom Chambers

$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha High-Low - Day 2 - Level 14 Recap

Jun 25, '08

Note: The players are now on a 60-minute dinner break

Blinds: 2,000-4,000

Players Left: 19 of 720

Chip Leaders:
Martin Klaser - 290,000
Tom Chambers - 230,000
Chad Burum - 212,000
Michael Fetter - 200,000
Derek Kadota - 172,000
Joseph Haddad - 170,000
Larry Wright - 145,000
Ian Graham - 115,000
Gary Hutzler - 87,000
Daniel Klein - 86,000

Average Stack: 113,700

Eliminations:
Ed Smith
Shannon Shorr

Big Hands and Storylines:

The Hunter Becomes The Hunted

Not long after Dan “Stainley88” Adams amassed a stack of 130,000, he would see most of it disappear.

Derek Kadota raised to 11,000 from under-the-gun. Action folded around to Adams in the blind who made it 44,000. Kadota, covered by Adams, called with 60,000 behind. Adams moved all-in on the Q92 flop and Kadota called. The two turned over their hands:

Adams: AA105
Kadota: AQ102

Kadota was in the lead with two-pair, and his hand held up when the turn and river came 5 and K. That pot lifted “The Ghost” – so nicknamed because his opponents’ chips always seem to vanish (what that has to do with being a ghost I’m not quite sure. Do ghosts have the power to make other objects disappear? I don’t know, I’m just reporting what I was told) up to 240,000.

Adams is now down to 30,000.

Table Draw? More Like Table Unfair!

As the tournament played down to 27, the players were re-drawn to new tables on the other side of the Brasilia Room. The table draw, produced at random, made table 9 the center of the action. Not only were the 4 largest chip stacks assigned to the table, but Erik Seidiel and Shannon Shorr as well. By contrast, not a single player assigned to table 10 had more than 20 big blinds.

No Shorr Thing

Shannon Shorr met a similar fate to Dan Adams, his aces getting cracked in a most painful way. Shorr and Tom Chambers got all of their money in on a Q54 flop. The pot was worth 230,000 and the two turned over their cards:

Shorr: AAK7
Chambers: A853

The turn was the 9, but the river was the crushing 2, giving Chambers a wheel and leaving Shorr with only 5,000. Shorr would be eliminated a short while later when he was rivered again by, what else, a wheel.

Player Tags: Larry Wright,   Gary Hutzler,   Chad Burum,   Michael Fetter,   Joseph Haddad,   Daniel Klein,   Derek Kadota,   Shannon Shorr,   Tom Chambers,   Daniel Adams,   Martin Klaser

$1,500 PLO 8/ob - Chambers Out

Jun 26, '08

Blinds: 5,000-10,000

Players Left: 8 of 720

Chip Leaders:

Seat 1: Joseph Haddad – 35,000
Seat 3: Larry Wright - 120,000
Seat 4: Chad Burum - 180,000
Seat 5: Michael Fetter - 120,000
Seat 6: Casey Kastle - 675,000
Seat 7: Jon Maren - 290,000
Seat 8: Martin Klaser - 385,000
Seat 9: Erik Seidel - 360,000

Eliminations: Tom Chambers (9th Place),

Big Hands:

Tom Chambers Eliminated in Ninth Place ($19,656)

Tom Chambers raised the pot preflop and Casey Kastle made the call from the big blind. The flop came AKQ and both players checked. The turn was the 3 and Kastle bet the pot. Chambers raised all in and Kastle thought it over before deciding to call with 7742, the nut low draw and a small flush draw. Chambers was sleeping on his AAK9 set of aces and needed a big non-diamond card to double up. Unfortunately, the river was the 6 giving Kastle his flush and the nut low. Chambers was eliminated in ninth place.

Larry Wright Doubles Through Michael Fetter

Larry Wright got the last of his stack all in preflop against Michael Fetter. Wright showed AQJ5 and Fetter turned over AKK10. The board ran out J8636 and Wright made his queen high flush and low to double up.

Player Tags: Casey Kastle,   Larry Wright,   Michael Fetter,   Tom Chambers

$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha High-Low - Day 2 - Level 14 Recap

Jun 25, '08

Note: The players are now on a 60-minute dinner break

Blinds: 2,000-4,000

Players Left: 19 of 720

Chip Leaders:
Martin Klaser - 290,000
Tom Chambers - 230,000
Chad Burum - 212,000
Michael Fetter - 200,000
Derek Kadota - 172,000
Joseph Haddad - 170,000
Larry Wright - 145,000
Ian Graham - 115,000
Gary Hutzler - 87,000
Daniel Klein - 86,000

Average Stack: 113,700

Eliminations:
Ed Smith
Shannon Shorr

Big Hands and Storylines:

The Hunter Becomes The Hunted

Not long after Dan “Stainley88” Adams amassed a stack of 130,000, he would see most of it disappear.

Derek Kadota raised to 11,000 from under-the-gun. Action folded around to Adams in the blind who made it 44,000. Kadota, covered by Adams, called with 60,000 behind. Adams moved all-in on the Q92 flop and Kadota called. The two turned over their hands:

Adams: AA105
Kadota: AQ102

Kadota was in the lead with two-pair, and his hand held up when the turn and river came 5 and K. That pot lifted “The Ghost” – so nicknamed because his opponents’ chips always seem to vanish (what that has to do with being a ghost I’m not quite sure. Do ghosts have the power to make other objects disappear? I don’t know, I’m just reporting what I was told) up to 240,000.

Adams is now down to 30,000.

Table Draw? More Like Table Unfair!

As the tournament played down to 27, the players were re-drawn to new tables on the other side of the Brasilia Room. The table draw, produced at random, made table 9 the center of the action. Not only were the 4 largest chip stacks assigned to the table, but Erik Seidiel and Shannon Shorr as well. By contrast, not a single player assigned to table 10 had more than 20 big blinds.

No Shorr Thing

Shannon Shorr met a similar fate to Dan Adams, his aces getting cracked in a most painful way. Shorr and Tom Chambers got all of their money in on a Q54 flop. The pot was worth 230,000 and the two turned over their cards:

Shorr: AAK7
Chambers: A853

The turn was the 9, but the river was the crushing 2, giving Chambers a wheel and leaving Shorr with only 5,000. Shorr would be eliminated a short while later when he was rivered again by, what else, a wheel.

Player Tags: Larry Wright,   Gary Hutzler,   Chad Burum,   Michael Fetter,   Joseph Haddad,   Daniel Klein,   Derek Kadota,   Shannon Shorr,   Tom Chambers,   Daniel Adams,   Martin Klaser

$1,500 PLO 8/ob - Chambers Out

Jun 26, '08

Blinds: 5,000-10,000

Players Left: 8 of 720

Chip Leaders:

Seat 1: Joseph Haddad – 35,000
Seat 3: Larry Wright - 120,000
Seat 4: Chad Burum - 180,000
Seat 5: Michael Fetter - 120,000
Seat 6: Casey Kastle - 675,000
Seat 7: Jon Maren - 290,000
Seat 8: Martin Klaser - 385,000
Seat 9: Erik Seidel - 360,000

Eliminations: Tom Chambers (9th Place),

Big Hands:

Tom Chambers Eliminated in Ninth Place ($19,656)

Tom Chambers raised the pot preflop and Casey Kastle made the call from the big blind. The flop came AKQ and both players checked. The turn was the 3 and Kastle bet the pot. Chambers raised all in and Kastle thought it over before deciding to call with 7742, the nut low draw and a small flush draw. Chambers was sleeping on his AAK9 set of aces and needed a big non-diamond card to double up. Unfortunately, the river was the 6 giving Kastle his flush and the nut low. Chambers was eliminated in ninth place.

Larry Wright Doubles Through Michael Fetter

Larry Wright got the last of his stack all in preflop against Michael Fetter. Wright showed AQJ5 and Fetter turned over AKK10. The board ran out J8636 and Wright made his queen high flush and low to double up.

Player Tags: Casey Kastle,   Larry Wright,   Michael Fetter,   Tom Chambers

$1,500 Razz - Day 2 - Level 11 Recap

Jun 14, '08

Limits:  1000-2,000, 200 ante, 300 bring in

Players Left:  58 of 456

Chip Leaders:
Tom Schneider - 74,000
David Levi - 68,000
Joseph Michael - 54,000
Tom Chambers - 52,000
Jonathan Schwartz - 52,000
Frank Kassela - 51,000
Andrew Brown - 45,000
Barry Greenstein - 44,000
Archie Karas - 38,000
Larry St. Jean - 34,200

Average Stack: 23,600

Eliminations:
David Sklansky

Big Hands and Storylines:

Lawson Takes Another Hit

Barry Greenstein: 79610
Ted Lawson: Q-4-A-A

We entered the hand on 6^th street when Greenstein bet into Lawson’s freshly paired aces. Lawson asked Greenstein what he had and Greenstein jokingly responded, “I think I have a flush.” Lawson made the call, and, after Greenstein checked dark on the river, Lawson checked behind. Greenstein turned over (A-6-8) for a 9-8-7-6-A low and Lawson muttered, “two pair,” as he mucked. Greenstein has 44,000 in chips after winning the 13k pot while Lawson, with 20,000, is looking to reverse his recent ill fortune.

Levi Pours it On

David Levi: A-4-3-5
Ed Nassif: 10-4-3
Seat 1: A-7-6-6

David Levi continues to assert his dominance at the table with a little help from the dealers. Levi bet out on every street in this instance, causing Nassif to abandon his hand on 5^th street and the player in seat 1 to give up on 6^th. This pot brings Levi up to 68,000, behind only Tom Schneider’s 74,000.

Lisandro Doubles Up Seely

Jeffrey Lisandro: 48J9
Jim Seely: 42Q8

Seely completed on 3^rd street and Lisandro raised him. Seely called and the two saw 4^th street. With 4-2 showing Seely bet out and Lisandro called. Both 5^th street and 6^th street went check-check, then on 7^th street Lisandro bet and Seely reluctantly tossed the last of his chips in. Seely showed his (7-6-2) for an 8-7-6-4-2 and Lisandro, claiming a nine, mucked his cards. The hand doubled Seely up to 14,000 and dropped Lisandro to 27,000.

Player Tags: Frank Kassela,   Barry Greenstein,   David Levi,   Ted Lawson,   Larry St. Jean,   Tom Schneider,   Jeffrey Lisandro,   David Sklansky,   Archie Karas,   Andrew Brown,   Edward Nassif,   Tom Chambers,   Joseph Michael,   European Report

$2,500 E.O. - Farzad Rouhani Wins Event No. 10 Bracelet

Jun 07, '08

Farzad Rouhani Wins Bracelet by Defeating Tom Chambers

Although both players fought a fierce battle throughout all three days of play, Farzad Rouhani eventually got the best of Tom Chambers while heads-up during the Omaha eight-or-better round.  Rouhani dominated the final table, eliminating the majority of the players.

In the final hand, Rouhani called on the button and Chambers raised his option.  Rouhani called, and the flop came 733.  Chamber's bet was raised by Rouhani, and the two were able to get it all in on the flop.  Chambers turned over AT92, which was behind Rouhani's 9832.  The turn brought the A, but the 3 on the river made four-of-a-kind for Rouhani and guaranteed him a win.

Farzad Rouhani's first place prize includes $232,911 and a coveted gold bracelet.  This is Rouhani's first win at the World Series of Poker, after being defeated heads-up by Justin Scott in a $2,000 no-limit hold'em event at the 2006 WSOP.  Tom Chambers will take home $142,784 for his second place finish.

Player Tags: Farzad Rouhani,   Tom Chambers

$2,500 E.O. - Down to Heads Up

Jun 07, '08

Players Left: 2

Chip Counts:

Big Hands and Storylines:

Greg Pappas Eliminated in 5th Place ($48,190) - Omaha 8/b

Greg Pappas is all in against Tom Chambers on a board of 1097210. Pappas has a straight but he is beaten by the KQ94 for a flush of Chambers. Pappas is eliminated in fifth place.

After Pappas was eliminated, Rouhani began to steamroll the other three players, at one point having both Yueqi Zhu and Miami John Cernuto on the ropes.

Yueqi Zhu Eliminated in 4th Place ($63,807)

Yueqi Zhu was short stacked and needed to make a move with A5Q9, but unforunately ran into the AA3K of Farzad Rouhani. The Aces held up and a low never materialized for Zhu, who finished in fourth place.

Miami John Cernuto Eliminated in 3rd Place ($86,117)

On a board of J1075, Miami John Cernuto is all in holding 10753 for two pair. He's up against Farzad Rouhani's AQ95. The river is the K and Rouhani makes his flush to eliminate Cernuto in fourth place.
 

NOTE: The players then took a brief break before beginning heads-up play.
 

Player Tags: John Cernuto,   Farzad Rouhani,   Gregory Pappas,   Yueqi Zhu,   Tom Chambers

$2,500 E.O. - Mizrachi and Mowczan Hit the Rail

Jun 07, '08

Chip Counts:

Michael Mizrachi Eliminated in 8th Place ($24,095) - Stud 8/b

Michael Mizrachi was all in holding 72Q3(A2J) against Yueqi Zhu who held 4A910(66Q). Despite holding numerous low draws and pair draws, Mizrachi airballs seventh street and is eliminated by Zhu's lowly pair of sixes.

Daniel Mowczan Eliminated in 7th Place ($28,557) - Omaha 8/b

John Racener, Daniel Mowczan and Tom Chambers saw a flop of QJ7. Chambers bet, Mowczan called all in and Racener called. The turn was the J and both players checked. The river was the 10 and Racener bet. Chambers folded and Racener revealed AK62 for a broadway straight to take the pot and eliminate Mowczan in seventh place.
 

NOTE: The players then went on a 20-minute break before returning to increased blinds.


 

Player Tags: Michael Mizrachi,   Daniel Mowczan,   Yueqi Zhu,   Tom Chambers,   John Racener