$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Level 19 Recap
Jun 15, '08
Blinds/Antes: 8,000-16,000-2,000
Player Remaining: 19 of 2,706
Average Chip Stack: 427,000
Eliminations:
20th: Jeffery Henry
21th: Brian Olsson
22th: Salman Ali
23th: Nikolay Malyshev
24th: Harold Akiona
25th: Terry Quinn
26th: Jason Gray
Big Hands and Storylines:
Lunkin gets lucky, then knocks out two
Vitaly Lunkin moved all in with Q-T and was called by Brian Olsson with K-Q. But, with the board A-J-2-7, Lunkin caught the king to make a straight and win the pot. Then shortly later he eliminated Salman Ali from the tournament when with A-J he caught an ace on the turn to beat Ali's pocket tens. And finally, his pocket tens held up against Olsson's A-Q. Currently Lunkin has over one million chips.
Blair catches runner-runner to stay alive
With a flop of 8
6
4
, Deb Blair raised a small bet by Tony Gargano and moved all in. Gargano held Q-8 while Blair was well behind with A5. But the turn and river were hearts, giving Blair a flush and the pot. Blair currently has 320,000 chips, while Gargano has 200,000 chips.
Player Tags: Vitaly Lunkin, Deb Blair
$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Level 18 Recap
Jun 15, '08
Note: Players are now on a 20-minute break.
Blinds/Antes: 6,000-12,000-1,000
Players Remaining: 27 of 2,706
Average Chip Stack: 301,000
Eliminations: The following players all received $13,666:
28th: John Myung
29th: Jerry Hunter
30th: Kristian Haslov
31th: Andrew Goddard
32th: Michael Abbott
33th: Humberto Brenes
34th: Patrick Stemper
35th: Mike Tran
36th: Rainer Meyer
Big Hands and Storylines:
Hyung puts chips in, goes out to Deb Blair
It was a rough end to the day for John Hyung. First he found himself calling an all in preflop with AT, and flopping top pair but losing to a set. That dropped him down to just 30,000 chips or so. Then he doubled up when he was in the big blind with 9-5, and then soon afterward was all in with pocket threes and lost to Deb Blair's K-Q when she rivered a king.
Yeh rivers straight and gets paid off
With the board QJ63
8, Philip Yeh, who has been on a wild ride all day long, bets 80,000 chips. Richard Alm thought about his decision for a minute or so and then made the call. Yeh immediately turned over T9 for a straight and took the pot. Yeh now has over 400,000 chips and among the chip leaders. Alm dropped some on that hand, but is right there with him.
Player Tags: Deb Blair
$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Level 17 Recap
Jun 15, '08
Blinds/Antes: 5,000-10,000-1,000
Players Remaining: 36 of 2,706
Average Chip Stack: 159,000
Chip Leaders:
Richard Alm - 576,000
Malyshev Nikolay - 560,000
Tony Gargano - 465,000
Deb Blair - 410,000
Phillip Yeh - 373,000
Barry Schultz - 340,000
Aliaksandr Dzianisau - 274,000
Jason Duffy - 245,000
Ali Salman - 240,000
Danny Dang - 210,000
Eliminations:
37th: Jean Robert Bellande
38th: Justin Pechie
39th: Ben Zamani
40th: Trai Dang
41st: Don Zewin
42nd: Steve Matulac
Big Hands and Storylines:
Bellande out in 37th place
Jean-Robert Bellande moved all in with AQ from the big blind and found himself in huge hole against Philip Yeh's A-K. The flop gave him the chance at a split of the pot when it came T-6-6, but it didn't work out for him and he was eliminated. Bellande won $10,711 for his two-day effort.
Zamani ousted by Blair
Ben Zamani found himself all in on a jack-high flop, and after the turn and river was dealt he was all out. Zamani held a two to go with his jack, while Deb Blair's kicker was a king. At the end of the level Blair, who is the only female left in the field, had over 400,000 chips.
Pechie out after run-in with aces
Justin Pechie, very short-stacked, pushed all in from the big blind with A-K. However, the player under the gun, Trevor Donaldson, held pocket aces and instantly called. Pechie headed to the exit, and Donaldson now has roughly 200,000 chips.
Player Tags: Jean-Robert Bellande, Deb Blair, Benjamin Zamani
