Dan Shak Poker Tournament Updates

Dan Shak Picks Up Aces, Busts Two Opponents

Dec 14, '18

We walked up to find a board of 765QK with two players walking away from the table. In front of their empty seats sat the AK and the KJ.

In front of Dan Shak lay the AA, the winning hand that earned him the double knockout and the sizable pot. Shak raked in the chips to grow his stack to 112,000.

Player Tags: Dan Shak

Dan Shak Eliminated In 8th Place ($60,717)

Jul 18, '18

Dan Shak open shoved for about 200,000 and it was on Anthony Zinno. He three-bet to about 550,000. Everyone else folded. Zinno tabled AK, and he was in good shape against Shak’s A5.

The board ran out AQ972, giving Zinno the hand and sending Shak to the rail. Zinno was up to around 1.3 million.

Player Tags: Dan Shak,   Anthony Zinno

Level Two Update: Brad Garret Hits Quads -- Billirakis Bounced

Jul 09, '11

NOTE: Levels are two hours in length and players are starting with 30,000 in chips. Registration will remain open until the end of the second level.

Players on Day 1C: Approximately 978

Blinds: 100-200

Notables Remaining:

Notables Eliminated This Level:

Steve Billirakis
Allen Bari
Jason Somerville
David Steicke
Liz Lieu

Hands:

Shak vs. Billirakis

Fate picked the wrong time to deal pocket queens to Steve Billirakis. That is because Dan Shak was dealt a set of eights on the same hand. Billirakis was all in by the end of the hand and he was eliminated in the aftermath that saw Shak grow his stack to 50,000.

Duhamel Watch — Defending Champ Doubles Up

The defending champion kept his head above water when he doubled up with a full house to survive. He held 48,000 after the hand.

Everybody Loves Brad Garrett

Everybody Loves Raymond co-stars Ray Romano and Brad Garrett are both playing in the main event on Day 1C. In a recent pot Garrett raised to 600 preflop and Max Cohn and the big blind made the call. The flop fell K 9 4 and all three players checked.

The turn fell 6 and Garrett opened the action again, this time for 1,000. Cohn raised to 3,000 and the big blind mucked. Garrett made the call and the river fell K. Garrett and Cohn both checked and then Garrett flipped over K K for quad kings. Cohn mucked and Garrett grew his stack to 40,000.

Jonathan Jaffe Grows his Stack

In a recent pot the flop fell 10-9-3 and Jonathan Jaffe held pocket jacks. His opponent checked and Jaffe bet 1,900. His opponent called the turn brought a 5. Jaffe bet again, this time for 2,900 after he opponent checked.

The river then delivered a deuce and Jaffe bet 3,600 after yet another check from his opponent. Jaffe revealed his jacks and his opponent mucked. Jaffe won the pot and he is now up to 60,000.

Brenes Ahead from Start to Finish

Humberto Brenes raised to 1,100 preflop from middle position and UTG+1 made the call. The flop fell J 4 4 and Brenes bet 2,100. His opponent made the call and the turn fell J. Both players checked and the 8 fell on the river. Both players checked again and Brenes revealed A K. His opponent mucked 7 6 face up on the table while Brenes collected the pot to replenish his stack and hold steady at 30,000.

Featured Poker Tweet — Donkey Watch from the Pros:

Chris Bell Picks the Right time to Make his Move

The flop read 9 6 4 and the big blind bet 2,000 after Chris Bell checked in the small blind. Bell made the call and the A fell on the turn.

The big blind bet 2,000 again after Bell checked and he made the call once again. The river then delivered the 10 and Bell went on the offensive. Bell bet 6,600 and the big blind went into the tank. He eventually mucked and Bell collected the pot to grow his stack to 35,000.

CardPlayer TV — Patrik Antonius on First-Day Main Event Flights

Player Tags: Humberto Brenes,   Dan Shak,   Chris Bell,   Steve Billirakis,   Jonathan Jaffe,   Brad Garrett,   Jonathan Duhamel,   Darryll Fish,   Ray Romano,   Christian Harder

Dan Shak Eliminated in 40th Place

Dec 06, '10

Ray Dehkharghani raised to 22,000 from middle position preflop and Dan Shak reraised to 60,000 from the button. Ray made the call and the flop fell 8 3 2. Ray checked and Shak bet 100,000. Ray reraised all in and Shak made the all-in call. Their cards:

Shak: K K
Ray: 8 8

Turn and River: 2 and 7

Shak was eliminated on the hand in 41st place and he will take home $16,892 in prize money.

Player Tags: Dan Shak

Dan Shak Takes Down an Early Pot

Sep 30, '10

A 10 8 5 flop sat on the table when the cutoff bet 500. Dan Shak made the call from the small blind. UTG+1 made the call as well and then a player in late position raised to 2,675. The cutoff mucked and then Shak reraised to 6,000. UTG+1 mucked as well, and after some time in the tank the player in late position mucked as well. Shak has begun to build his stack today and he sits on 42,000.

Player Tags: Dan Shak

Level 3 Update: Barry Shulman Doubles Up

Sep 24, '10

Blinds: 150-300

Players Remaining: 189 out of 210 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1. Andrew Pantling — 85,000
2. Markus Golser — 82,000
3. Antonio Esfandiari — 66,000
4. Brian Powell — 60,000
5. Nikolay Evdakov — 59,000
6. Eli Elezra — 58,000
7. Jim Collopy — 55,000
8. Steve Brecher — 54,000
9. Carlos Mortensen — 53,000
10. JP Kelly — 53,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 50,000
Allyn Jaffrey Shulman — 25,000

Average Chip Count: 33,333

Notable Eliminations:

Richard Ashby
Dan Heimiller
Frank Kassela
Robert Mizrachi
Vanessa Rousso

Big Hands:

Barry Shulman Doubles Up

Barry Shulman doubled up during the third level of the day when he flopped a set of sixes on an 8-7-6 flop. An opponent tried to make a move against Shulman with nothing in the hole but blanks and Shulman snapped him off. Shulman doubled up to 50,000 after the hand, which sets him up for a nice run through the rest of day 1B.

Dan Heimiller Eliminated

Dan Heimiller limped from the small blind and Dan Shak raised to 1,100 from the big blind. Heimiller made the call and the flop ran out 4-3-2 with two spades. Hemiller bet 1,200 and Shak raised to 3,500.

Heimiller made the call and the turn brought another 4. Heimiller checked, Shak bet 6,000, and Heimiller called. The river brought a 10 and Heimiller checked again. Shak bet enough to put Heimiller all in and he made the call for his final 12,000.

Shak flipped over pocket tens and Heimiller was knocked out of tournament.

David Steicke Takes a Hit

Brian Powell raised to 800 from the cutoff and David Steicke reraised to 2,000 from the button. Both players checked through a J 9 9 10 board before Steicke bet 3,600 on the turn and Powell made the call.

The 9 fell on the river and both players checked. Powell flipped over J 7 for a full house and Steicke mucked. Powell grew his stack to 60,000 after the hand while Steicke fell back to where he started with 30,000.

Lacay Takes a Hit

Ludovic Lacay bets 800 from the hijack and the cut-off raises it to a little more than 2,000. Lacay calls and the chips are quickly pulled into the pot. The flop falls A Q 10 and Lacay bets 3,150. The cut-off calls and the turn is the 9. Lacay bets 6,600 and the cut-off goes into the tank. He counts out 6,600 and puts it to one side. He then counts the rest of his chips and takes the 6,600 up in his hand. Suddenly he moves all in and Lacay looks bewildered. He gestures as if to say, “What the ??!!”

After a minute of thought he calls, flipping over Q Q. His opponent shows A A for the better set, and then an unnecessary K is dealt on the river, giving him a straight. Lacay has 26,000 and his opponent exhales deeply while counting out his 64,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Barry Shulman,   Dan Shak,   Ludovic Lacay,   David Steicke,   Dan Heimiller

Level 10 Update: Viktor Blom Rockin' It

Sep 25, '10

Note: Players are now on a 90-minute dinner break. They will return at 8.45 p.m. local time.

Blinds: 600-1,200 with 200 ante

Players Remaining: 98 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Viktor Blom — 450,000
2 Darren Woods — 310,000
3 Phil Ivey — 296,000
4 Thomas Bichon — 290,000
5 Dan Shak — 285,000
6 Barny Boatman — 255,000
7 Andrew Pantling — 240,000
8 Rob Akery — 225,000
9 Bojan Gledovic — 220,000
10 Nick Schulman — 218,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 81,000

Average Chip Count: 105,918

Notable Eliminations:

John Racener
Tyler Bonkowski
Jim Collopy
Charles Chua
Andy Black

Big Hands:

Viktor Blom Takes the Lead

Magnus Persson raised preflop UTG+1 and Viktor Blom reraised preflop. Persson made the call and the two saw a flop of 9 6 5. Both players checked and then the 2 fell on the turn. Persson checked, Blom bet 13,500, and Persson made the call. The river fell 5 and Persson checked again. Blom bet 49,000 and Persson made the call. Blom flipped over AA and Persson mucked. Blom held 480,000 after the hand as he continues to increase his chip lead. He ended the level with 450,000 in chips.

Three Streets of Value for Schulman

Nicolas Levi raised to 3,000 UTG +1 and Nick Schulman made the call from late position. Ivey made the call from the big blind as well. The flop fell A 4 3 and Ivey and Levi check. Schulman bet 6,500. Ivey mucked and Levi called. The 8 fell on the turn and Levi checked. Schulman bet 15,000. Levi called. The river fell 2. Levi checked and Schulman bet 25,000. Levi called and mucked when Schulman flipped over 4 4. Levi held 100,000 after the hand. During happier times at the start of the day he was one of the chip leaders. Schulman rose above 200,000 after the hand.

Shak and Awe

On a flop of J 9 5, Antonio Esfandiari had led out, only to be raised to 18,000 by Dan Shak. Esfandiari went into the tank, only to eventually announce all-in for around 140,000 in total. Shak called without hesitation, and the players revealed their hands.

Esfandiari: K 10

Shak: 6 3

With a dominant flush draw, gut shot straight draw, and the currently good king-high, Esfandiari was a strong favorite with all but a few thousand of his chips in the middle.

The turn came the 2, leaving Shak drawing only to the remaining non-diamond threes and sixes.

The 3 did roll off on the river, and Esfandiari exploded out of his seat in shocked disgust. As the dealer laboriously counted out the stacks, Esfandiari politely said “Nice hand.” Shak apologized about the bad beat, but unsurprisingly this did little to salve Esfandiari’s wounds.

Shak’s stack grew to around 280,000 after the hand.

Show The Bluff

Phil Laak bets 3,000 from mid-position and Andy Frankenberger calls from the cut-off. Dan Fleyshman calls also, from the big blind. The flop is dealt A J 2 and it is checked around. The turn comes the 7. Fleyshman checks, Laak bets 5,000, Frankenberger calls, and Fleyshman folds. The river is the Q, Laak bets 11,000 and Frankenberger thinks for some time. He then raises it to 26,000, putting the decision back to Laak. Laak goes into the tank – he has about 58,000 behind his original bet. Eventually Laak passes and instantly starts trying to get Frankenberger to show his cards, “Show the bluff and make me crazy. I’ll pay you, just say the number!” He takes out some sterling notes and places them on the table. “I’ll give you £40 to show me the bluff,” he says smiling. Frankenberger stays quiet as the others debate what he had. He now has 147,000 in chips.

Up and Down Day for Lacay

Coming in late into the action, Ludovic Lacay has moved all in for 22,000 on a J 8 4 5 8 board with about 15,000 already in the middle. The decision is on Daniel Steinberg and he takes his time. He finally calls and mucks when he sees Lacay’s A A for the nut flush. Steinberg has 120,000 remaining while Lacay reaches the 74,000 mark. He soon loses a good few chips however when he calls Eugene Katchalov’s all in with pocket nines. Katchalov has A Q and the board falls Q 5 8 8 J. “It’s been like this all day!” says Lacay.

Present for Praz

Allen Cunningham bets 3,500 from UTG and Roland de Wolfe calls from the small blind. Praz Bansi calls from the big blind and the flop comes 9 6 5. De Wolfe and Bansi check and Cunningham bets 6,000. De Wolfe folds but Bansi pops it to 14,800. “What do you have behind?” asks Cunningham. It’s about 33,000. After a few minutes Cunningham passes and Bansi mucks. The British pro is nearing the 60,000 mark just before dinner time.

De Wolfe Gets Lucky

Guy Gorelik bets 3,000 from late position and Roland de Wolfe calls from the hijack. Martin Davis makes it 9,500 and Gorelik steps aside. Players begin to make their way out for the dinner break as de Wolfe and David go head to head. De Wolfe asks Davis, “A-K?” “Yep, I have,” answers Davis, and then sadds, “Maybe.” De Wolfe calls and the flop is dealt K Q 6. Davis bets 9,000 and smiles. De Wolfe sighs and debates whether he wants to come back after dinner with 10 big blinds. “I know I’m behind,” he says. As the room eventually clears, de Wolfe moves all in for 17,300. Davis calls and shows A K. De Wolfe reveals Q J. The turn is the A and the river is the 10 giving de Wolfe a straight. He smiles mischievously as Davis simply says, “Shit!”

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

The last two levels of the tournament have truly created a new hierarchy within the chip counts. Viktor Blom, the alleged “Isildur1” has been crushing it today and he now holds more than 400,000 to lead the way. We have two players at the 300,000 level and they are Phil Ivey and Darren Woods. The 200,000 club can count Barny Boatman, Nick Schulman, Thomas Bichon and Andre Pantling among its members.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Laak,   Dan Shak,   Eugene Katchalov,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nick Schulman,   Martin Davis,   Nicolas Levi,   Praz Bansi,   Ludovic Lacay,   Andy Frankenberger,   Viktor Blom,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 13 Update: Marching to 27

Sep 26, '10

Blinds: 1,200-2,400 with a 300 ante

Players Remaining: 53 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Phil Ivey — 510,000
2. Andrew Pantling — 480,000
3. Bojan Gledovic — 455,000
4. Viktor Blom — 440,000
5. Arnaud Mattern — 400,000
6. Darren Woods — 372,500
7. Rob Akery — 345,000
8. Thomas Bichon — 320,000
9. David Peters — 309,300
10. Dan Fleyshman — 269,000

Average Chip Count: 195,849

Notable Eliminations:

Nick Schulman
Matt Stout
Nam Le
J.P. Kelly
Dan Shak
John Dolan
Andy Frankenberger
Steven van Zadelhoff
Remy Biechel

Big Hands:

Phil Ivey Eliminates Nick Schulman

Nick Schulman moved all in for 160,000 preflop and Phil Ivey made the call. Their cards:

Ivey: A K
Schulman: A K

Board: Q 9 2 3

Schulman was drawing dead after the turn and he was eliminated after the hand. Ivey held 430,000 after scoring the early elimination.

Ivey Eliminates Matt Stout to take the Chip Lead

Phil Ivey raised to 6,000 preflop and Matt Stout reraised all in for 80,000. Ivey made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Ivey: 10 10
Stout: A K

Board: 10 4 3 Q 5

Stout was eliminated and Ivey grew his stack to 510,000 to take back the chip lead.

Nam Le Eliminated

Matt Waxman raised to 5,600 under the gun and Nam Le reraised all in for 50,000. Waxman made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Waxman: A K
Le: Q Q

Board: 10 9 8 7 A

Le was eliminated and Waxman grew his stack to 120,000.

Dan Shak Eliminated

On a Q 7 6 2 board Dan Shak checked from the big blind and Bojan Gledovic bet 30,000. Shak raised for 115,000 and Gledovic reraised all in. Shak made the all-in call and they flipped over their cards:

Gledovic: 6 6
Shak: Q 9

River: 4

Shak was eliminated after the hand.

John Dolan Eliminated — No More November Nine

Magnus Persson raised to 5,200 preflop and November Niner John Dolan reraised all in for 50,000. Persson made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Dolan: Q J
Persson: 10 10

Board: 5 4 2 9 4

Dolan was eliminated on the hand but he has bright prospects in his immediate future. He will enter the WSOP main event final table in Las Vegas this November in second chip-position.

Player Tags: Nam Le,   Phil Ivey,   Dan Shak,   Nick Schulman,   Matt Stout,   John Dolan,   Matthew Waxman

Level 3 Update: Barry Shulman Doubles Up

Sep 24, '10

Blinds: 150-300

Players Remaining: 189 out of 210 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1. Andrew Pantling — 85,000
2. Markus Golser — 82,000
3. Antonio Esfandiari — 66,000
4. Brian Powell — 60,000
5. Nikolay Evdakov — 59,000
6. Eli Elezra — 58,000
7. Jim Collopy — 55,000
8. Steve Brecher — 54,000
9. Carlos Mortensen — 53,000
10. JP Kelly — 53,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 50,000
Allyn Jaffrey Shulman — 25,000

Average Chip Count: 33,333

Notable Eliminations:

Richard Ashby
Dan Heimiller
Frank Kassela
Robert Mizrachi
Vanessa Rousso

Big Hands:

Barry Shulman Doubles Up

Barry Shulman doubled up during the third level of the day when he flopped a set of sixes on an 8-7-6 flop. An opponent tried to make a move against Shulman with nothing in the hole but blanks and Shulman snapped him off. Shulman doubled up to 50,000 after the hand, which sets him up for a nice run through the rest of day 1B.

Dan Heimiller Eliminated

Dan Heimiller limped from the small blind and Dan Shak raised to 1,100 from the big blind. Heimiller made the call and the flop ran out 4-3-2 with two spades. Hemiller bet 1,200 and Shak raised to 3,500.

Heimiller made the call and the turn brought another 4. Heimiller checked, Shak bet 6,000, and Heimiller called. The river brought a 10 and Heimiller checked again. Shak bet enough to put Heimiller all in and he made the call for his final 12,000.

Shak flipped over pocket tens and Heimiller was knocked out of tournament.

David Steicke Takes a Hit

Brian Powell raised to 800 from the cutoff and David Steicke reraised to 2,000 from the button. Both players checked through a J 9 9 10 board before Steicke bet 3,600 on the turn and Powell made the call.

The 9 fell on the river and both players checked. Powell flipped over J 7 for a full house and Steicke mucked. Powell grew his stack to 60,000 after the hand while Steicke fell back to where he started with 30,000.

Lacay Takes a Hit

Ludovic Lacay bets 800 from the hijack and the cut-off raises it to a little more than 2,000. Lacay calls and the chips are quickly pulled into the pot. The flop falls A Q 10 and Lacay bets 3,150. The cut-off calls and the turn is the 9. Lacay bets 6,600 and the cut-off goes into the tank. He counts out 6,600 and puts it to one side. He then counts the rest of his chips and takes the 6,600 up in his hand. Suddenly he moves all in and Lacay looks bewildered. He gestures as if to say, “What the ??!!”

After a minute of thought he calls, flipping over Q Q. His opponent shows A A for the better set, and then an unnecessary K is dealt on the river, giving him a straight. Lacay has 26,000 and his opponent exhales deeply while counting out his 64,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Barry Shulman,   Dan Shak,   Ludovic Lacay,   David Steicke,   Dan Heimiller

Level 10 Update: Viktor Blom Rockin' It

Sep 25, '10

Note: Players are now on a 90-minute dinner break. They will return at 8.45 p.m. local time.

Blinds: 600-1,200 with 200 ante

Players Remaining: 98 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Viktor Blom — 450,000
2 Darren Woods — 310,000
3 Phil Ivey — 296,000
4 Thomas Bichon — 290,000
5 Dan Shak — 285,000
6 Barny Boatman — 255,000
7 Andrew Pantling — 240,000
8 Rob Akery — 225,000
9 Bojan Gledovic — 220,000
10 Nick Schulman — 218,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 81,000

Average Chip Count: 105,918

Notable Eliminations:

John Racener
Tyler Bonkowski
Jim Collopy
Charles Chua
Andy Black

Big Hands:

Viktor Blom Takes the Lead

Magnus Persson raised preflop UTG+1 and Viktor Blom reraised preflop. Persson made the call and the two saw a flop of 9 6 5. Both players checked and then the 2 fell on the turn. Persson checked, Blom bet 13,500, and Persson made the call. The river fell 5 and Persson checked again. Blom bet 49,000 and Persson made the call. Blom flipped over AA and Persson mucked. Blom held 480,000 after the hand as he continues to increase his chip lead. He ended the level with 450,000 in chips.

Three Streets of Value for Schulman

Nicolas Levi raised to 3,000 UTG +1 and Nick Schulman made the call from late position. Ivey made the call from the big blind as well. The flop fell A 4 3 and Ivey and Levi check. Schulman bet 6,500. Ivey mucked and Levi called. The 8 fell on the turn and Levi checked. Schulman bet 15,000. Levi called. The river fell 2. Levi checked and Schulman bet 25,000. Levi called and mucked when Schulman flipped over 4 4. Levi held 100,000 after the hand. During happier times at the start of the day he was one of the chip leaders. Schulman rose above 200,000 after the hand.

Shak and Awe

On a flop of J 9 5, Antonio Esfandiari had led out, only to be raised to 18,000 by Dan Shak. Esfandiari went into the tank, only to eventually announce all-in for around 140,000 in total. Shak called without hesitation, and the players revealed their hands.

Esfandiari: K 10

Shak: 6 3

With a dominant flush draw, gut shot straight draw, and the currently good king-high, Esfandiari was a strong favorite with all but a few thousand of his chips in the middle.

The turn came the 2, leaving Shak drawing only to the remaining non-diamond threes and sixes.

The 3 did roll off on the river, and Esfandiari exploded out of his seat in shocked disgust. As the dealer laboriously counted out the stacks, Esfandiari politely said “Nice hand.” Shak apologized about the bad beat, but unsurprisingly this did little to salve Esfandiari’s wounds.

Shak’s stack grew to around 280,000 after the hand.

Show The Bluff

Phil Laak bets 3,000 from mid-position and Andy Frankenberger calls from the cut-off. Dan Fleyshman calls also, from the big blind. The flop is dealt A J 2 and it is checked around. The turn comes the 7. Fleyshman checks, Laak bets 5,000, Frankenberger calls, and Fleyshman folds. The river is the Q, Laak bets 11,000 and Frankenberger thinks for some time. He then raises it to 26,000, putting the decision back to Laak. Laak goes into the tank – he has about 58,000 behind his original bet. Eventually Laak passes and instantly starts trying to get Frankenberger to show his cards, “Show the bluff and make me crazy. I’ll pay you, just say the number!” He takes out some sterling notes and places them on the table. “I’ll give you £40 to show me the bluff,” he says smiling. Frankenberger stays quiet as the others debate what he had. He now has 147,000 in chips.

Up and Down Day for Lacay

Coming in late into the action, Ludovic Lacay has moved all in for 22,000 on a J 8 4 5 8 board with about 15,000 already in the middle. The decision is on Daniel Steinberg and he takes his time. He finally calls and mucks when he sees Lacay’s A A for the nut flush. Steinberg has 120,000 remaining while Lacay reaches the 74,000 mark. He soon loses a good few chips however when he calls Eugene Katchalov’s all in with pocket nines. Katchalov has A Q and the board falls Q 5 8 8 J. “It’s been like this all day!” says Lacay.

Present for Praz

Allen Cunningham bets 3,500 from UTG and Roland de Wolfe calls from the small blind. Praz Bansi calls from the big blind and the flop comes 9 6 5. De Wolfe and Bansi check and Cunningham bets 6,000. De Wolfe folds but Bansi pops it to 14,800. “What do you have behind?” asks Cunningham. It’s about 33,000. After a few minutes Cunningham passes and Bansi mucks. The British pro is nearing the 60,000 mark just before dinner time.

De Wolfe Gets Lucky

Guy Gorelik bets 3,000 from late position and Roland de Wolfe calls from the hijack. Martin Davis makes it 9,500 and Gorelik steps aside. Players begin to make their way out for the dinner break as de Wolfe and David go head to head. De Wolfe asks Davis, “A-K?” “Yep, I have,” answers Davis, and then sadds, “Maybe.” De Wolfe calls and the flop is dealt K Q 6. Davis bets 9,000 and smiles. De Wolfe sighs and debates whether he wants to come back after dinner with 10 big blinds. “I know I’m behind,” he says. As the room eventually clears, de Wolfe moves all in for 17,300. Davis calls and shows A K. De Wolfe reveals Q J. The turn is the A and the river is the 10 giving de Wolfe a straight. He smiles mischievously as Davis simply says, “Shit!”

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

The last two levels of the tournament have truly created a new hierarchy within the chip counts. Viktor Blom, the alleged “Isildur1” has been crushing it today and he now holds more than 400,000 to lead the way. We have two players at the 300,000 level and they are Phil Ivey and Darren Woods. The 200,000 club can count Barny Boatman, Nick Schulman, Thomas Bichon and Andre Pantling among its members.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Laak,   Dan Shak,   Eugene Katchalov,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nick Schulman,   Martin Davis,   Nicolas Levi,   Praz Bansi,   Ludovic Lacay,   Andy Frankenberger,   Viktor Blom,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 13 Update: Marching to 27

Sep 26, '10

Blinds: 1,200-2,400 with a 300 ante

Players Remaining: 53 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Phil Ivey — 510,000
2. Andrew Pantling — 480,000
3. Bojan Gledovic — 455,000
4. Viktor Blom — 440,000
5. Arnaud Mattern — 400,000
6. Darren Woods — 372,500
7. Rob Akery — 345,000
8. Thomas Bichon — 320,000
9. David Peters — 309,300
10. Dan Fleyshman — 269,000

Average Chip Count: 195,849

Notable Eliminations:

Nick Schulman
Matt Stout
Nam Le
J.P. Kelly
Dan Shak
John Dolan
Andy Frankenberger
Steven van Zadelhoff
Remy Biechel

Big Hands:

Phil Ivey Eliminates Nick Schulman

Nick Schulman moved all in for 160,000 preflop and Phil Ivey made the call. Their cards:

Ivey: A K
Schulman: A K

Board: Q 9 2 3

Schulman was drawing dead after the turn and he was eliminated after the hand. Ivey held 430,000 after scoring the early elimination.

Ivey Eliminates Matt Stout to take the Chip Lead

Phil Ivey raised to 6,000 preflop and Matt Stout reraised all in for 80,000. Ivey made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Ivey: 10 10
Stout: A K

Board: 10 4 3 Q 5

Stout was eliminated and Ivey grew his stack to 510,000 to take back the chip lead.

Nam Le Eliminated

Matt Waxman raised to 5,600 under the gun and Nam Le reraised all in for 50,000. Waxman made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Waxman: A K
Le: Q Q

Board: 10 9 8 7 A

Le was eliminated and Waxman grew his stack to 120,000.

Dan Shak Eliminated

On a Q 7 6 2 board Dan Shak checked from the big blind and Bojan Gledovic bet 30,000. Shak raised for 115,000 and Gledovic reraised all in. Shak made the all-in call and they flipped over their cards:

Gledovic: 6 6
Shak: Q 9

River: 4

Shak was eliminated after the hand.

John Dolan Eliminated — No More November Nine

Magnus Persson raised to 5,200 preflop and November Niner John Dolan reraised all in for 50,000. Persson made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Dolan: Q J
Persson: 10 10

Board: 5 4 2 9 4

Dolan was eliminated on the hand but he has bright prospects in his immediate future. He will enter the WSOP main event final table in Las Vegas this November in second chip-position.

Player Tags: Nam Le,   Phil Ivey,   Dan Shak,   Nick Schulman,   Matt Stout,   John Dolan,   Matthew Waxman

Level 3 Update: Barry Shulman Doubles Up

Sep 24, '10

Blinds: 150-300

Players Remaining: 189 out of 210 (unofficial)

Chip Counts:

1. Andrew Pantling — 85,000
2. Markus Golser — 82,000
3. Antonio Esfandiari — 66,000
4. Brian Powell — 60,000
5. Nikolay Evdakov — 59,000
6. Eli Elezra — 58,000
7. Jim Collopy — 55,000
8. Steve Brecher — 54,000
9. Carlos Mortensen — 53,000
10. JP Kelly — 53,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 50,000
Allyn Jaffrey Shulman — 25,000

Average Chip Count: 33,333

Notable Eliminations:

Richard Ashby
Dan Heimiller
Frank Kassela
Robert Mizrachi
Vanessa Rousso

Big Hands:

Barry Shulman Doubles Up

Barry Shulman doubled up during the third level of the day when he flopped a set of sixes on an 8-7-6 flop. An opponent tried to make a move against Shulman with nothing in the hole but blanks and Shulman snapped him off. Shulman doubled up to 50,000 after the hand, which sets him up for a nice run through the rest of day 1B.

Dan Heimiller Eliminated

Dan Heimiller limped from the small blind and Dan Shak raised to 1,100 from the big blind. Heimiller made the call and the flop ran out 4-3-2 with two spades. Hemiller bet 1,200 and Shak raised to 3,500.

Heimiller made the call and the turn brought another 4. Heimiller checked, Shak bet 6,000, and Heimiller called. The river brought a 10 and Heimiller checked again. Shak bet enough to put Heimiller all in and he made the call for his final 12,000.

Shak flipped over pocket tens and Heimiller was knocked out of tournament.

David Steicke Takes a Hit

Brian Powell raised to 800 from the cutoff and David Steicke reraised to 2,000 from the button. Both players checked through a J 9 9 10 board before Steicke bet 3,600 on the turn and Powell made the call.

The 9 fell on the river and both players checked. Powell flipped over J 7 for a full house and Steicke mucked. Powell grew his stack to 60,000 after the hand while Steicke fell back to where he started with 30,000.

Lacay Takes a Hit

Ludovic Lacay bets 800 from the hijack and the cut-off raises it to a little more than 2,000. Lacay calls and the chips are quickly pulled into the pot. The flop falls A Q 10 and Lacay bets 3,150. The cut-off calls and the turn is the 9. Lacay bets 6,600 and the cut-off goes into the tank. He counts out 6,600 and puts it to one side. He then counts the rest of his chips and takes the 6,600 up in his hand. Suddenly he moves all in and Lacay looks bewildered. He gestures as if to say, “What the ??!!”

After a minute of thought he calls, flipping over Q Q. His opponent shows A A for the better set, and then an unnecessary K is dealt on the river, giving him a straight. Lacay has 26,000 and his opponent exhales deeply while counting out his 64,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Barry Shulman,   Dan Shak,   Ludovic Lacay,   David Steicke,   Dan Heimiller

Level 10 Update: Viktor Blom Rockin' It

Sep 25, '10

Note: Players are now on a 90-minute dinner break. They will return at 8.45 p.m. local time.

Blinds: 600-1,200 with 200 ante

Players Remaining: 98 of 346

Chip Counts:

1 Viktor Blom — 450,000
2 Darren Woods — 310,000
3 Phil Ivey — 296,000
4 Thomas Bichon — 290,000
5 Dan Shak — 285,000
6 Barny Boatman — 255,000
7 Andrew Pantling — 240,000
8 Rob Akery — 225,000
9 Bojan Gledovic — 220,000
10 Nick Schulman — 218,000

Card Player Family Chip Counts:

Barry Shulman — 81,000

Average Chip Count: 105,918

Notable Eliminations:

John Racener
Tyler Bonkowski
Jim Collopy
Charles Chua
Andy Black

Big Hands:

Viktor Blom Takes the Lead

Magnus Persson raised preflop UTG+1 and Viktor Blom reraised preflop. Persson made the call and the two saw a flop of 9 6 5. Both players checked and then the 2 fell on the turn. Persson checked, Blom bet 13,500, and Persson made the call. The river fell 5 and Persson checked again. Blom bet 49,000 and Persson made the call. Blom flipped over AA and Persson mucked. Blom held 480,000 after the hand as he continues to increase his chip lead. He ended the level with 450,000 in chips.

Three Streets of Value for Schulman

Nicolas Levi raised to 3,000 UTG +1 and Nick Schulman made the call from late position. Ivey made the call from the big blind as well. The flop fell A 4 3 and Ivey and Levi check. Schulman bet 6,500. Ivey mucked and Levi called. The 8 fell on the turn and Levi checked. Schulman bet 15,000. Levi called. The river fell 2. Levi checked and Schulman bet 25,000. Levi called and mucked when Schulman flipped over 4 4. Levi held 100,000 after the hand. During happier times at the start of the day he was one of the chip leaders. Schulman rose above 200,000 after the hand.

Shak and Awe

On a flop of J 9 5, Antonio Esfandiari had led out, only to be raised to 18,000 by Dan Shak. Esfandiari went into the tank, only to eventually announce all-in for around 140,000 in total. Shak called without hesitation, and the players revealed their hands.

Esfandiari: K 10

Shak: 6 3

With a dominant flush draw, gut shot straight draw, and the currently good king-high, Esfandiari was a strong favorite with all but a few thousand of his chips in the middle.

The turn came the 2, leaving Shak drawing only to the remaining non-diamond threes and sixes.

The 3 did roll off on the river, and Esfandiari exploded out of his seat in shocked disgust. As the dealer laboriously counted out the stacks, Esfandiari politely said “Nice hand.” Shak apologized about the bad beat, but unsurprisingly this did little to salve Esfandiari’s wounds.

Shak’s stack grew to around 280,000 after the hand.

Show The Bluff

Phil Laak bets 3,000 from mid-position and Andy Frankenberger calls from the cut-off. Dan Fleyshman calls also, from the big blind. The flop is dealt A J 2 and it is checked around. The turn comes the 7. Fleyshman checks, Laak bets 5,000, Frankenberger calls, and Fleyshman folds. The river is the Q, Laak bets 11,000 and Frankenberger thinks for some time. He then raises it to 26,000, putting the decision back to Laak. Laak goes into the tank – he has about 58,000 behind his original bet. Eventually Laak passes and instantly starts trying to get Frankenberger to show his cards, “Show the bluff and make me crazy. I’ll pay you, just say the number!” He takes out some sterling notes and places them on the table. “I’ll give you £40 to show me the bluff,” he says smiling. Frankenberger stays quiet as the others debate what he had. He now has 147,000 in chips.

Up and Down Day for Lacay

Coming in late into the action, Ludovic Lacay has moved all in for 22,000 on a J 8 4 5 8 board with about 15,000 already in the middle. The decision is on Daniel Steinberg and he takes his time. He finally calls and mucks when he sees Lacay’s A A for the nut flush. Steinberg has 120,000 remaining while Lacay reaches the 74,000 mark. He soon loses a good few chips however when he calls Eugene Katchalov’s all in with pocket nines. Katchalov has A Q and the board falls Q 5 8 8 J. “It’s been like this all day!” says Lacay.

Present for Praz

Allen Cunningham bets 3,500 from UTG and Roland de Wolfe calls from the small blind. Praz Bansi calls from the big blind and the flop comes 9 6 5. De Wolfe and Bansi check and Cunningham bets 6,000. De Wolfe folds but Bansi pops it to 14,800. “What do you have behind?” asks Cunningham. It’s about 33,000. After a few minutes Cunningham passes and Bansi mucks. The British pro is nearing the 60,000 mark just before dinner time.

De Wolfe Gets Lucky

Guy Gorelik bets 3,000 from late position and Roland de Wolfe calls from the hijack. Martin Davis makes it 9,500 and Gorelik steps aside. Players begin to make their way out for the dinner break as de Wolfe and David go head to head. De Wolfe asks Davis, “A-K?” “Yep, I have,” answers Davis, and then sadds, “Maybe.” De Wolfe calls and the flop is dealt K Q 6. Davis bets 9,000 and smiles. De Wolfe sighs and debates whether he wants to come back after dinner with 10 big blinds. “I know I’m behind,” he says. As the room eventually clears, de Wolfe moves all in for 17,300. Davis calls and shows A K. De Wolfe reveals Q J. The turn is the A and the river is the 10 giving de Wolfe a straight. He smiles mischievously as Davis simply says, “Shit!”

Left in the Deck

Chip Movers and Shakers

The last two levels of the tournament have truly created a new hierarchy within the chip counts. Viktor Blom, the alleged “Isildur1” has been crushing it today and he now holds more than 400,000 to lead the way. We have two players at the 300,000 level and they are Phil Ivey and Darren Woods. The 200,000 club can count Barny Boatman, Nick Schulman, Thomas Bichon and Andre Pantling among its members.

Player Tags: Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Laak,   Dan Shak,   Eugene Katchalov,   Roland de Wolfe,   Nick Schulman,   Martin Davis,   Nicolas Levi,   Praz Bansi,   Ludovic Lacay,   Andy Frankenberger,   Viktor Blom,   Daniel Steinberg

Level 13 Update: Marching to 27

Sep 26, '10

Blinds: 1,200-2,400 with a 300 ante

Players Remaining: 53 of 346

Chip Counts:

1. Phil Ivey — 510,000
2. Andrew Pantling — 480,000
3. Bojan Gledovic — 455,000
4. Viktor Blom — 440,000
5. Arnaud Mattern — 400,000
6. Darren Woods — 372,500
7. Rob Akery — 345,000
8. Thomas Bichon — 320,000
9. David Peters — 309,300
10. Dan Fleyshman — 269,000

Average Chip Count: 195,849

Notable Eliminations:

Nick Schulman
Matt Stout
Nam Le
J.P. Kelly
Dan Shak
John Dolan
Andy Frankenberger
Steven van Zadelhoff
Remy Biechel

Big Hands:

Phil Ivey Eliminates Nick Schulman

Nick Schulman moved all in for 160,000 preflop and Phil Ivey made the call. Their cards:

Ivey: A K
Schulman: A K

Board: Q 9 2 3

Schulman was drawing dead after the turn and he was eliminated after the hand. Ivey held 430,000 after scoring the early elimination.

Ivey Eliminates Matt Stout to take the Chip Lead

Phil Ivey raised to 6,000 preflop and Matt Stout reraised all in for 80,000. Ivey made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Ivey: 10 10
Stout: A K

Board: 10 4 3 Q 5

Stout was eliminated and Ivey grew his stack to 510,000 to take back the chip lead.

Nam Le Eliminated

Matt Waxman raised to 5,600 under the gun and Nam Le reraised all in for 50,000. Waxman made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Waxman: A K
Le: Q Q

Board: 10 9 8 7 A

Le was eliminated and Waxman grew his stack to 120,000.

Dan Shak Eliminated

On a Q 7 6 2 board Dan Shak checked from the big blind and Bojan Gledovic bet 30,000. Shak raised for 115,000 and Gledovic reraised all in. Shak made the all-in call and they flipped over their cards:

Gledovic: 6 6
Shak: Q 9

River: 4

Shak was eliminated after the hand.

John Dolan Eliminated — No More November Nine

Magnus Persson raised to 5,200 preflop and November Niner John Dolan reraised all in for 50,000. Persson made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Dolan: Q J
Persson: 10 10

Board: 5 4 2 9 4

Dolan was eliminated on the hand but he has bright prospects in his immediate future. He will enter the WSOP main event final table in Las Vegas this November in second chip-position.

Player Tags: Nam Le,   Phil Ivey,   Dan Shak,   Nick Schulman,   Matt Stout,   John Dolan,   Matthew Waxman

Level Six: Boeken Takes Chip Lead

Jul 02, '10

Blinds: 200-400

Players Remaining: 310 of 346

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Noah Boeken – 120,000
2. Men Nguyen – 98,000
3. David Baker – 90,000
4. David Benyamine – 84,000
5. Justin Smith – 80,000
6. James Akenhead – 80,000
7. Vanessa Selbst – 78,000
8. David Benefield – 66,000
9. Jeffrey Lisandro – 66,000
10. Ted Lawson – 65,000

Average Chip Count: 33,483

Notable Eliminations:

Phil Ivey
David Singer
John Hennigan
Sam Farha

Big Hands:

Mizrachi’s Aces Cracked

Michael Mizrachi raised to 1,150 preflop and the action folded to Kevin MacPhee on the button. He three-bet to 4,000 and the player under-the-gun called after previously limping.

Mizrachi then shoved for 43,000 and both his opponents called. Mizrachi had them both covered and here were their cards.

Mizrachi: AA106
MacPhee: AKJ10
UTG: QJ97

The board ran out K7479 and the player under the gun made sevens full. MacPhee was eliminated and Mizrachi was down to just under 17,000.

Shak Doubles But Still Short

Dan Shak raised the pot and Rino Mathis put in another raise to get Shak’s last few chips in the middle. Shak called and tabled KQJ8.

Mathis tabled AA93

The board ran out K8769 and Shak successfully doubled by cracking aces with his two pair. However, even with the double up Shak was only at 5,000 in chips.

Noah Boeken With The Knockout

Florian Langmann raised to 1,100 from the button and Noah Boeken repotted to 3,700 from the small blind. Langmann then repotted to 11,500 and Boeken called.

The flop came down KQQ and Boeken moved all in. Langmann made the call and tabled AA43. But his aces had been cracked as Boeken tabled QJ98.

The board finished off with the 4 on the turn and the 5 on the river. Boeken eliminated Langmann and was up to 120,000.

Player Tags: Michael Mizrachi,   Noah Boeken,   Dan Shak,   Florian Langmann

Level Four: Last Level Before Dinner

Jul 01, '10

Blinds: 100-200

Players Remaining: 346 of 346

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Andy Seth – 38,500
2. Marco Traniello – 37,000
3. Tex Barch – 36,000
4. David Benyamine – 35,000
5. Michael Mizrachi – 35,000
6. Juha Helppi – 35,000
7. Greg Raymer – 35,000
8. Jason Mercier – 34,400
9. Dan Heimiller – 34,000
10. Jose Barbero – 33,500

Average Chip Count: 30,000

Notable Eliminations:

None

Big Hands:

Lisandro Takes It Down

Picking up the action on the flop of J54, Jeffrey Lisandro moved all in for 5,000. Daniel Alaei was in the hand and mucked, as did Danny Wong.

The action was then on seat 7 and he tanked for a few moments. He finally released his hand and surrendered the pot to Lisandro.

“Wanna be heads-up,” Lisandro said as he turned 82. He held the two cards for the whole table to see and mucked his other two cards as he took the pot.

Glantz With The Power Move

After the flop came down J86, Dan Shak bet 1,050 and Matt Glantz made the call.

The turn was the 3 and Shak led out with another bet, this one 2,500. Glantz immediately announced pot and Shak let his hand go.

Glantz took the pot and he was at 46,000 with no reloads left while Shak was at 10,250 with all his reloads gone as well.

Dwan Reloads Again

Picking up the action with the board showing 1042A, Tom Dwan bet 1,000 and the player in seat 8 raised it to 3,050 total. Dwan thought for awhile and then threw in the call.

The river was the 9 and seat 8 put Dwan all in. Dwan called and seat 8 turned over 10953. Dwan mucked and was forced to use his second reload chip, leaving him with just one behind.

Player Tags: Jeffrey Lisandro,   Dan Shak,   Matthew Glantz,   Tom Dwan

Level 10 Update: Dan Shak Eliminated

Jun 29, '10

Blinds: 500-1,000

Players Remaining: 152 out 460

Average Chip Count: 45,394

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Kevin Boudreau — 200,000
2. Jose Nacho Barbero — 165,000
3. Mark Eddleman — 145,000
4. Alex Freiberg — 138,900
5. Matt Glantz — 132,000
6. Men Nguyen — 122,000
7. Jonas Entin — 118,200
8. Ross Boatman — 114,000
9. Jarred Solomon — 104,800
10. John Barch — 103,500

Notable Eliminations:

Allen Bari
David Baker
Ted Forrest
Dan Shak
Phil Ivey

Player Twitter Accounts:

Annette Obrestad
Matt Glantz
Mike Watson
Jonathan Little
Phil Hellmuth
Eugene Todd
Justin Smith

Big Hands:

Dan Shak Eliminated

Dan Shak was all in on a board of JJ72. Shak was called and tabled the AAJ-X but was in bad shape against the QQ22 of Mark Eddleman. The river 3 was a brick for Shak and he was out.

Justin Smith Doubles Up

Justin Smith was all in with the AAK6 on a 1042 flop. He was up against Laurent Leclerc’s 7543. The J on the turn and 8 on the river were safe for Smith and he doubled to 65,000.

Player Tags: Dan Shak,   Justin Smith