Jan Von Halle Poker Tournament Updates

$50,000 H.O.R.S.E - Level 2

Jun 25, '08

 

Following the level, play halted for a 60-minute dinner break.

Blinds:
Hold'em: 400-800
Omaha 8: 400-800
Razz: 200 ante, 200 bring-in, 800 completion
Stud: 200 ante, 200 bring-in, 800 completion
Eight or Better: 200 ante, 200 bring-in, 800 completion

Chip Counts:

Gus Hansen: 158,000
Bill Chen: 141,000
Ray Dehkharghani: 140,000
Michael DeMichele: 140,000
John Monnette: 136,000
Patrick Bueno: 130,000
Bill Gazes: 125,000
Max Pescatori: 125,000
Greg Mascio: 125,000
Pat Pezzin: 124,000

Hold'em

Kings For Gregorich

Joe Cassidy put in a raise and Mark Gregorich 3-bet right behind him. Action folded to Cassidy, who made the call. The flop came AJ2and both players checked. On the 5 turn Cassidy bet 1,600 and was called by Gregorich. Both players checked the 4 river and Cassidy showed K-J for a pair of jacks, but Gregorich rolled over pocket kings to take the pot.

Omaha 8

Nguyen Hits Full House to Take Pot From Defending Champ Deeb

Scotty Nguyen bet out on a board of Q1088and was raised by defending H.O.R.S.E champion Freddy Deeb. Nguyen called then bet out when the 10 fell on the river. Deeb made the call and Nguyen showed Q-J-10-3 for a rivered full house. Deeb looked at the board for a while then tossed in his cards, A-J-J-9 for the flopped straight. Nguyen scooped the pot.

Razz

Chen Takes Big Pot

A large pot had been built between Andrew Black and Bill Chen. But when Black called Chen's final bet he quickly mucked as Chen turned over 7-6-5-3-2-8-Q for a 7-low.

Grey Gets Better Cards... Or Worse?

David Grey and Thater both showed a deuce, and Thater bet out when she his an ace for her next card and Grey called with a 5. But when Thater hit a king and Grey hit a 6, Grey bet and Thater mucked. Their hands:
Grey: 2-5-6
Thather: 2-A-K

Stud

Alex Kravchenko Wins Multi-Way Pot

Jan Von Halle completed the bet on third street with the 2 and both Alex Kravechenko (5) and Michael Binger (7) called the raise.

Kravchenko: 5345 -AQ5
Binger: 76K8 - fold
Von Halle: 2463 - X-X-X

Jan Von Halle took the betting lead from the start, Kravchenko acting first and betting out with a pair of fives of sixth street. Both Binger and Von Halle made the call. Kravchenko also bet the river where Binger folded and Von Halle called. Kravchenko turned over trip fives and raked the pot.

Stud 8

Tran Takes Pot From Benyamine

Kenny Tran bet 800 after fourth street and was called by David Benyamine. Tran bet 16,000 and Benyamine raised on fifth street 3,200. Tran made the call and led out for 16,000 on sixth street. Benyamine called and both players checked the final card. Their hands were:

Tran: QJ210 (Q-9-6)
Benyamine: 85Q10 (AKx - 5)

Tran's pair of queens was good enough for the high and Benyamine missed his flush draw and didn't make a low draw, so Tran scooped the entire pot and said he had put Benyamine on a draw.

Ivey and Galfond Chop It

In what looks like something you'd see on Full Tilt Poker, Phil Ivey and recent bracelet winner Phil Galfond (known as OMGClayAiken online) went head to head in a stud 8 hand. Ivey bet and was called by Galfond on every street.
Ivey: 7KKQ (A-A-Q)
Galfond: 65410 (3-6-8)
Ivey took the high with a full house and Galfond took the low with an 8-low, splitting the pot early in level 2.

Player Tags: Scotty Nguyen,   David Benyamine,   Mark Gregorich,   Joe Cassidy,   David Grey,   Phil Ivey,   Kenny Tran,   Alexander Kravchenko,   Michael Binger,   Phil Galfond,   Katja Thater,   Freddy Deeb,   Jan Von Halle,   European Report

Mixed Hold'em - Level 7 - A Dragon Slayed

Jun 22, '08

Limit Blinds: 400-800
No Limit Blinds: 150-300

Average Chip Stack: 16,244

Chip Counts:
Fabrice Soulier: 39,000
Johnathan Tamayo: 38,000
Correy Parpart: 35,000
David Plastik: 33,000
Richard Redmond: 33,000
David Levi: 31,000
Michael Guzzardi: 25,000
Allen Le: 24,000
Ayaz Mahmood: 23,500
Tino Lechich: 23,000

Players Left: 135 of 731

Eliminations: Max Pescatori, David Pham, Mimi Tran, Michael Craig

Big Hands/Storylines:

Limit Session

Patterson Wounds the Dragon

Stuart Patterson bet 800 on a flop pf 9-8-6 and was called by David Pham. Patterson again fired, 1,600, when the turn brought another 8. Pham made the call again but mucked when Patterson bet the 2 on the river.
Patterson had around 22,000 at the end of the level.

Good Fold Mr. Boeken

Noah Boeken raised to 1,600 preflop and the player in seat 6 re-raised to 2,400. Boeken made the call and the flop came K43. Boeken checked and his opponent fired 800. Boeken made the call and the K fell on the turn. Boeken again checked and his opponent bet 1,600. Boeken thought over his decision for a while and look confused, but he eventually mucked his hand. It's safe to say it was the right decision as his opponent threw in KK face up, having hit quads on the turn.

Parker Can't Push Chaser Off Draw

Brock Parker AKA tsoprano recently finished 6th in event 30 and now he's deep in another event. But he just took a big hit when his opponent caught his flush. Parker raised to 1,600 and was called by the small and big blind. The flop was Q85 and the small blind bet 800, the big blind raised to 1,600 and Parker reraised to 2,400. Both the small and big blinds called and the 3 fell on the turn. Action was checked to Parker who bet 1,600 and the small blind mucked, but the big blind called. The 6 fell on the river and the big blind bet out 1,600 and Parker reluctantly made the call, appearing to know he was rivered. The big blind showed J10 for a rivered flush and Parker mucked having lost over 7,000 of his chips in the hand.

No Limit Session

Hard To Beat Quads, Pescatori Gone

Max Pescatori was getting short on chips when this hand came up. He raised to 900 and was reraised by the player in seat 3 to 2,000. Pescatori called and the flop came 883. Both players checked and the turn brought the 9. Pescatori led out with a bet of 2,000 and was called by his opponent. The Q fell on the river and Pescatori made the same 2,000 bet. His opponent came over the top to put Pescatori all in. Pescatori pushed his remaining thousand into the pot and his opponent flipped over 88 for flopped quads. Pescatori tossed his cards into the muck and walked away from the table.

Dragon Slayed

After being among the chip leaders earlier in the event, David Pham fell when his A-J ran into an opponent's A-5. The problem was the flop came K-10-5 to give his opponent a pair of fives. The turn and river bricked and Pham shook hands with the players at his table and left.

Safety First

After raises preflop, the board was checked all the way down between 3 players, running A-3-2-K-2. "Nines," one player said. "I can beat that," was Jan Von Halle's response as he flipped over pocket jacks. He then wiggled his fingers to show he had been scared by the high cards on the board and that was why he had checked.

Player Tags: David Pham,   Max Pescatori,   Brock Parker,   Noah Boeken,   Stuart Paterson,   Jan Von Halle,   European Report

$2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em - End of Day 2

Jun 21, '08

The final table of event 38 is set and the big name of the lot is Lee Watkinson. Watkinson will be making his first final table since last year's World Series main event where he finished a dissapointing 8th place. Watkinson entered 10-handed play with a paucity of chips, a situation he would soon remedy by winning a race against Robert Cheung. He would never look back and by the time the final table was set, he would be 2nd in chips with 390,000. Jan Von Halle, whose play has been solid as a rock, will enter the final table with the chip lead. Other notables who will have the chance to earn a bracelet tomorrow include Ayaz Mahmood, Robert Cheung, and Chris Bell.

Action will begin tomorrow at 2 p.m. PST.
 

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Players Left: 9 of 605

Chip Leaders:
Jan Von Halle - 470,000
Lee Watkinson - 390,000
Ayaz Mahmood - 330,000
Robert Cheung - 315,000
Keith Greer - 280,000
Chris Bell - 265,000
Michael Greco - 125,000
Benjamin Roberts - 120,000
Davidi Kitai - 80,000

Average Stack: 161,300

Eliminations:
10^th – Benjamin Zamani
11^th – Michael Binger
12^th – Keith Lehr
13^th – Jeff Sluzinski
14^th – Amato Galasso
15^th – Chris Dombrowski

The Road To The Final Table

Keith Lehr Is A Man Of His Word; He’s Also Eliminated

Before the start of the hand, Keith Lehr in the big blind warned everyone at his 6-handed table not to raise unless they were willing to play for 83,000, the size of his stack. Ayaz Mahmood, undeterred by this portentous statement, raised to 23,000. Action folded around to Lehr who – surprise, surprise – moved all of his chips in. Mahmood made the call and the two showed their hands:

Lehr: A9
Mahmood: 44

The flop came K33. The turn 8 gave Lehr a flush draw in addition to his two overcards. The river was the 7 though, ending Lehr’s day a few hours earlier than he would have liked.

Bell Tolls For Binger

Chris Bell raised from middle position to 25,000 and Michael Binger raised to 78,000, leaving himself 75,000 behind. After a bit of thought, Bell moved all-in and Binger called. The two were racing: Bell’s JJ against Binger’s AQ. Binger was not aided by the board – 975109 – and he was eliminated in 11^th place.

Ayaz Mahmood Folds.... A-K? Really?

Ayaz Mahmood raised to 28,000 and action at the 6-handed table folded to Bob Cheung in the big blind. Cheung stacked his chips and slid them forward and backward in thought, never moving them into the center of the table. After a minute or so of this, Mahmood implored Cheung, “Put your money in.” Another minute passed before Cheung raised the pot, making it 61,000 more and leaving about 160,000 behind. This prompted Mahmood to fold A-K offsuit face up. Mahmood and Cheung were the two biggest stacks at the table at the time; perhaps Mahmood did not want to tangle with someone who could cripple him before the final table.

Final Table Action

Watkinson Doubles Up

Early on at the final table, Lee Watkinson doubled up off of Robert Cheung. Cheung had QQ and Watkinson had AK. The flop was good news for Watkinson – K22 – the king giving him a near lock on the hand. The turn was the A, giving him an unnecessary two pair, but also providing Cheung with a flush draw. The river blanked, however, and Watkinson was able to double up, giving him a stack that would not wane for the remainder of the day.

Greer Doubles Up

Severely short-stacked Keith Greer, in the cutoff, moved 20,000 into the pot for a raise and reached for more chips to add to it, but since he had not announced an amount, the min-raise had to stand. Ayaz Mahmood called the 10,000 extra in the big blind. Both players checked the Q107 flop. On the 8 turn Mahmood bet 30,000, putting Greer all-in. Greer made a quick call and declared a set of tens. His 1010 had Mahmood’s 102 drawing dead. Greer doubled up to a little over 100,000.

Greer Double Doubles Up

Perhaps a simpler title would have been Greer Quadruples Up, but this was anything but a simple hand. Benjamin Zamani raised to 26,000 from middle position. Robert Cheung min-raised to 40,000. The action was only beginning though. Keith Greer, who had been playing extraordinarily tight, moved in for 67,000. Ayaz Mahmood cold-called the 4-bet, and Zamani called also, leaving himself 90,000 behind. Cheung asked the dealer, “The pot is open for a re-raise, right?” The dealer confirmed that it indeed was, and that put Cheung into decision mode. With numbers racing through his head, he stood up, and, after confirming that Mahmood had about 270,000 left behind him, he moved all-in. Mahmood folded, as did Zamani, and the massive pot was to be contested between Cheung and Greer. Greer showed QQ, which was not unexpected, but the table exploded in a cacophony of disbelief when Cheung showed his KQ. The board rolled off harmlessly and Greer was able to more than quadruple up.

The insanity wasn’t quite over yet. Remarkably, Ayaz Mahmood claimed to have fold pocket kings. Then again, perhaps it was not so unbelievable when you consider his berating of Cheung after the hand. He and Cheung got into a bit of a tiff about the hand which was quickly quashed by the dealer as play recommenced.

Michael Greco summed all of the action quite succinctly: “Mental. Mental. Absolutely mental.”

The Backbreaker

Davidi Kitai and Benjamin Zamani, the two short stacks, got all of their chips into the middle and showed the following hands:

Zamani: 1010
Kitai: AQ

The board peeled off A525K and Kitai had doubled up. After counting out what Zamani owed the Frenchman, he was left with a mere two chips. There would be no miracle comeback for Zamani today, as Jan Von Halle took his pair of chips only two hands later. Zamani's 10th place finish is good for $14,314.

Player Tags: Lee Watkinson,   Ayaz Mahmood,   Benjamin Roberts,   Chris Bell,   Michael Binger,   Robert Cheung,   Keith Lehr,   Davidi Kitai,   Michael Greco,   Amato Galasso,   Jeff Sluzinski,   Jan Von Halle,   Keith Greer,   Chris Dombrowski,   Benjamin Zamani

Omaha World Championship - Hour One

Jun 19, '08

Blinds: 100-200
Stakes: 200-400

Players Left: 181 of 191

Big Hands:

As expected with any $10,000 buy-in World Championship event, the field is small, yet stacked with pros. With such a great concentration of talent in one room, stacked tables are bound to pop up, so here's a list of some of the more exciting tables playing right now.

Table 12
Seat 3: Ralph Perry
Seat 5: Jimmy Fricke
Seat 6: Greg Raymer
Seat 7: Jordan Morgan
Seat 8: Tony Ma
Table 14
Seat 1: Shannon Elizabeth
Seat 2: Brad Booth
Seat 5: Bill Edler
Seat 6: John Monnette
Seat 7: Mike Wattel
Seat 8: Jan Von Halle

Table 15
Seat 1: John D'Agostino
Seat 2: Jeff Lisandro
Seat 4 Bret Jungblut
Seat 6: Ted Lawson
Seat 9: Mickey Appleman

Greg Raymer Wins Multi-Way Pot Uncontested

On a flop of KK5, the player in seat 1 bet 200, seat 4 raised to 400 and Greg Raymer reraised to 600. The player in seat 1 called and seat 4 folded. The turn was the J and Raymer bet 400, seat 1 called. The river was the 7 and Raymer bet 400, seat 1 folded. Raymer raked a decent pot on the river, uncontested.

Jan Von Halle takes a Pot Off of Mike Wattel

Mike Wattel came in for a raise from the cutoff and Jan Von Halle called from the button. The flop was the AJ7, and Wattel bet 200, Von Halle called. The turn was 7, and Wattel checked to Von Halle who bet 400. Wattel called and the river was the J. Von Halle bet 400 and Wattel folded. Von Halle raked the pot.   

Ted Lawson Takes a Pot From Jeff Lisandro

Jeff Lisandro raised to 400 from middle position and Ted Lawson called from the small blind. The flop came 855 and Lawson bet 200, Lisandro called. The turn was the J, and Lawson bet 400, Lisandro called. The river was the 8, and once again Lawson bet 400, this time Lisandro folded, giving the full pot to Lawson, uncontested. 

Player Tags: Ted Lawson,   Jeffrey Lisandro,   Greg Raymer,   Jan Von Halle

$2,500 PLHE/PLO - Hour Five

Jun 12, '08

Blinds/Antes:
PLHE: 150-300
PLO: 100-200

Players Left: 180 of 457

Chip Leaders:
Dustin Sitar: 50,100
Jordan Morgan: 43,000
Ross Boatman: 23,000
Minh Ly: 22,000
Sorel Mizzi: 21,000
Matthew Humphrey: 19,800
Burt Boutin: 19,100
Allen Cunningham: 17,100
Johnny Chan: 17,000
Ted Forrest: 16,100
Average Stack: 12,694

Eliminations: Jan Von Halle, Chau Giang, Sirous Jamshidi, Vanessa Rousso, Annie Duke, Chad Brown, John Phan, David Benyamine, John Juanda, David Chiu, Lee Watkinson, Phil Ivey, Ted Lawson, Erick Lindgren

Big Hands:

PLHE

Jan Von Halle Eliminated by Erik Seidel

The player in the cutoff postion limped into the pot for 300 and Jan Von Halle completed from the small blind. Erik Seidel raised the pot (1,200) and the cutoff folded. Von Halle made the call. The flop came 854, and Von Halle bet 3,500. Seidel raised enough to put Von Halle all in, and already comitted to the pot, Von Halle called his last few thousand all in.

Seidel: JJ
Von Halle: A4

Seidel held the overpair while Von Halle had flopped bottom pair and a backdoor flush draw. Von Halle would need some help on the turn, but the J gave Seidel the check mark and Von Halle was drawing dead on the river (Q). Seidel raked a big pot and Jan Von HAlle hit the rail about halfway through Level 5.

Max Pescatori Doubles Up With Aces

Max Pescatori raised to 700 from under the gun and the player in the cutoff reraised to 2,500 (enough to cover Max). Pescatori called all in for another 1,300.

Cutoff: AK
Pescatori: AA
Board: KJ2103

Pescatori doubled up to around 4,500 with the blinds and antes.

PLO

Chau Giang Eliminated, Opponent Freerolls and Gets There

Chau Giang got the rest of his chips in the middle against two opponents, one of whom was all in. Seat 5 had them both covered.

Giang: AAQ2
Seat 5: AAKQ
Board: 98463

Both seat 5 and Chau Giang had an overpair of aces on the flop, seat 5 with the club flush draw. Another club hit the turn and Giang was drawing dead. Seat 5 eliminated both Giang and another player in the same hand.

Chris Ferguson Doubles Up, Well...Almost

On a flop of J84, Chris Ferguson got it all in against two opponents. The player on the button was all in, Ferguson had him covered, and the player in Seat 7 had them  both covered.

Ferguson: QJ109
Seat 7: AQ107
Button: A885
Turn/River: 6J

On the flop, Ferguson had top pair and a few straight draws while the button had middle set. Seat 7 had the nut flush draw and an inside straight draw. The turn and river pretty much blanked out for the main pot, the button winning that with his set. Ferguson made trip jacks on the river which was good enough to take down the side pot which happened to be much, much larger than the main pot. After the hand Ferguson almost doubled up to 18,000 in chips.

Player Tags: Erik Seidel,   Chris Ferguson,   Max Pescatori,   Chau Giang,   Jan Von Halle

Von Halle On a Roll

Jun 09, '07

Action started to pick back up again once we hit the money, losing ten more players this round. Tad Jurgens was eliminated in 36^th place followed by Lex “RaSZI” Veldhuis in 35^th and Kirill Gerasimov in 33^rd place. WPT Mandalay Bay Poker Championship winner, Shawn Buchanan was eliminated in 30^th place when his jacks were cracked by a set of tens. The player in seat 1 raised the pot to $18,000 when Shawn Buchanan re-raises $42,000 more. Seat-1 re-raises all-in and Buchanan makes the call (Seat-1 has Buchanan covered). Seat-1 turns over 1010 while Buchanan shows JJ for the lead. The board comes 10436Q, flopping a set of tens to crack Buchanan’s jacks and eliminating him in 30^th place.

Event 1 gold bracelet winner, Steve Billirakis made a good run at the money, finishing in 29^th place, but it was Jan Von Halle that was the talk of Level 14. Alexander Kravchenko raised the pot $21,000 and Jan Von Halle re-raised to $45,000. The player in seat 7 re-raises to $125,000 and all-in . Kravchenko calls all-in for $86,000 and Von Halle too makes the call but has them covered. Seat-7 flips over AK while Kravchenko shows QQ and Von Halle shows AA. The board comes 87434, no help to any player as Von Halle’s aces hold up and he eliminates two players in one hand.

25 players now remain as we take a fifteen minute break until we return for a half hour of play before breaking again for dinner at 7:30pm. The dinner break will last ninety minutes and play will resume at 9:00pm.

Keep your browsers locked on CardPlayer.com for more updates and your favorite Pro Blogs.

Player Tags: Shawn Buchanan,   Alexander Kravchenko,   Steve Billirakis,   Tad Jurgens,   Jan Von Halle

Done and Done

Jun 06, '07

Just like that play has ended in the $1,000 No Limt Hold 'Em with rebuys event. Nine players will return tomorrow at 3 p.m. to battle for a first place prize of $585,774 and the right to be called a World Series of Poker bracelet winner.

Todd Witteles was the final player eliminated today. Witteles finished in 10th place and will take home $23,811. With all the money in before the flop, Witteles was heads up against Barry Cales. Witteles had Q-Q and Cales had A-K. The board held strong for Witteles up until the river when the king hit and gave Cales the higher pair.

Amir Vahedi heads into the final the table as the clear chip leader with over $1,300,000. Accompanying him tomorrow are Mike Gracz, Dolph Arnold, Michael Chu, Barry Cales, Tommy Vu, Shane Schleger, Robert Aron and Jan Von Halle. CardPlayer.com will be back tomorrow with level updates and Pro Blogs.

Player Tags: Amir Vahedi,   Michael Gracz,   Dolph Arnold,   Shane Schleger,   Todd Witteles,   Robert Aron,   Michael Chu,   Jan Von Halle,   Tommy Vu,   Barry Cales