$10,000 Main Event - The Final 27
Jul 13, '08
Day 6 is over. At the start of the day, 79 players duked it out to make it to the final 27. After notables such as Victor Ramdin, Phil Hellmuth, Kido Pham and Mike Matusow busted, we finally have our final three tables set for Day 7 on Monday. Players will return to play down to a final table Monday at noon.
Blinds/Antes: 40,000-80,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Left: 27 of 6,844
Chip Leaders:
Craig Marquis: 11,300,000
Dennis Phillips: 11,150,000
Tiffany Michelle: 9,900,000
Peter Eastgate: 8,720,000
Gert Andersen: 8,350,000
Kelly Kim: 7,850,000
Chris Klodnicki: 7,800,000
David Rheem: 6,800,000
Ivan Demidov: 5,800,000
Paul Snead: 5,600,000
Average Stack: 5,069,630
Eliminations:
30th: Mike "The Mouth" Matusow: $193,000
29th: Cristian Dragomir: $193,000
28th: Nikolay Losev: $193,000
Big Hands:
Matusow Takes a Wrong Turn, Eliminated in 30th Place ($193,000)
Right before the players went on break, Paul Snead raised to 200,000 and Mike Matusow repopped it to 660,000 from the big blind. Snead made the call and the flop came A
A
5
. Both players checked and the turn brought the 9, the death card as far as Matusow was concerned. He bet 500,000 and Snead shoved all in. Matusow made the call and showed down AJ for a set. Unfortunately for "The Mouth," Snead turned over A
9 for a full boat on the turn. Matusow needed a jack to survive, but the K fell on the river and the biggest name left in the main event took a sick beat and made his exit in 30th place.
Cristian Dragomir Out in 29th Place ($193,000)
Dragomir shoved all in preflop and Joe Bishop made the call. Both players then turned over their hands.
Dragomir: 1010
Bishop: AA
The flop came down Q26 and Dragomir received no help. He needed to hit one of the remaining tens to stay alive. The turn was the 5 and Dragomir was down to his last card. The river was the J and Dragomir made his exit in 29th place.
Nikolay Losev Gets Crippled, Then Busted in 28th Place By Nicholas Sliwinski
Sliwinski raised to 240,000 from the small blind and Losev popped it to around 3 million. Sliwinski took some time before making the call and turning over A10. Losev showed Q3, clearly caught trying to steal. The board ran out 975K7 and Sliwinski doubled to about 3.5 million. Losev was down to just 1.5 million. Soon, he would have much less than that.
A few hands later, both players were again in the blinds and Sliwinski completed the bet. Losev popped it to 775,000. Sliwinski then moved all in, putting Losev to a decision. The decision was to make the call, and Losev showed 83. Sliwinski showed A5 and the board ran out 1010494 and Losev was the final elimination of the night.
Player Tags: Mike Matusow, Paul Snead, Nikolay Losev, Cristian Dragomir, Nicholas Sliwinski, Joe Bishop
$10,000 Main Event - Day 6 - Level 25 (Hour 2)
Jul 13, '08
Blinds/Antes: 20,000 / 40,000 / 5,000
Players Remaining: 44 of 6,844
Average Stack: 3.1 million
Chip Counts:
Gert Andersen - 9,000,000
Nikolay Losev - 7,800,000
Albert Kim - 7,350,000
Brandon Cantu - 6,800,000
Ivan Demidov - 6,400,000
Tiffany Michelle - 5,500,000
Chris Klodnicki - 5,400,000
Kelly Kim - 4,750,000
Aaron Gordon - 4,600,000
Nicholas Sliwinski - 4,300,000
Recent Eliminations:
45th place - Phil Hellmuth - $154,401
46th place - David Saab - $135,101
47th place - Tommy Le - $135,101
48th place - Adam Levy - $135,101
49th place - Aaron Keay - $135,101
50th place - Allen Kennedy - $135,101
Big Hands and Storylines:
Phil Hellmuth Eliminated in 45th Place
It’s official: This year’s World Series of Poker main event winner will not be a former champion.
After watching his stack slowly chip away, Phil Hellmuth finally made his stand by moving all in for 405,000 from under the gun. Hellmuth’s shove marked the first time today that Hellmuth was at risk for all of his chips. The action folded to Andrew Rosskamm who called. As the spectators rose to their feet, Hellmuth turned over AQ to Rosskamm’s JJ. As the shouts of encouragement came, the flop fell K43, failing to give Hellmuth a pair. As the dealer prepared to deal the turn card, several shouts of turn card requests from audience members filled the ESPN featured table area. Just as someone had requested, the 10 fell on the turn. This card gave Hellmuth several ways of winning the pot on the river. The chips would go his way if the river card was any ace, jack, queen, or heart. The crowd silenced as the 2 fell on the river.
Hellmuth earned $154.400 for his 45th place finish, bringing his WSOP career total earnings to $6,008,145, including 11 bracelet victories. After politely shaking the hands of his tablemates, Hellmuth exited the tournament area with a storm of obscenities, cursing his inability to “catch a break.”
Saab Wrecks with Aces
Dean Hamrick raised to 90,000 while one from the cut-off, and had David Saab and Nikolay Losev both make the call, Saab from the button and Losev from the small blind. The flop came K88, and after checks from Hamrick and Losev, the fireworks started. Saab, the short stack of the remaining players bet 200,000 at the pot. Losev then check-raised to 400,000, and suddenly Hamrick called the check-raise. Saab now faced a decision for the rest of his chips. He had another 465,000, and finally with a shrug he announced all-in. Losev and Hamrick both made the call, and the 10 came on the turn. Losev now stepped out for a 600,000 bet, and this time Hamrick released his hand. Saab flipped over AA for two pair, but Losev had flopped trips with the 86, and they held through the 3 on the river. Saab was eliminated and Losev raked in the pot of over 2.3 million.
Michelle's run continues
With the board K659 raised to 300,000 and was called by Kido Pham and Ivan Demidov. The river was the 4 and Michelle bet 600,000. Pham folded quickly and after thinking it over, and after two minutes Demidov did the same. Michelle is now up to 5.8 million, while Demidov has a similar amound and Pham has under two million.
Marquis folds pocket kings
Craig Marquis raised to 115,000 and David Rheem and Chris Crilly made the call. The three checked the flop and on the turn the board was QJ43. Crilly bet 150,000 and Marquis raised to 375,000. Rheem folded, Crilly called and the dealer put out the Q for the river. Crilly moved all in for 725,000 and after a few minutes Marquis reluctantly folded. He said he had pocket kings, and that the river was "the sickest card" to come on the river.
Player Tags: Phil Hellmuth, Dean Hamrick, David Saab, Nikolay Losev, Craig Marquis
$10,000 Main Event - Day 6 - Level 24 (Hour 1)
Jul 13, '08
Blinds/Antes: 15,000 / 30,000 / 4,000
Players Remaining: 71 of 6,844
Average Stack: 1.93 million
Chip Counts:
Dennis Phillips - 5,100,000
Nikolay Losev - 4,900,000
Brandon Cantu - 4,800,000
Aaron Gordon - 4,500,000
Nicholas Sliwinski - 4,500,000
Andrew Brokos - 4,500,000
Ivan Demidov - 4,300,000
Tiffany Michelle - 3,700,000
Judet Christian - 3,700,000
Chris Klodnicki - 3,650,000
Recent Eliminations:
72nd place - Daniel Buzgon - $96,500
73rd place - David Benefield - $77,200
74th place - Jamal Sawaqdeh - $77,200
75th place - Keith Hawkins - $77,200
76th place - Lisa Parsons - $77,200
77th place - Mark Wilds - $77,200
78th place - Matt Matros - $77,200
79th place - Bob Whalen - $77,200
Big Hands and Storylines:
Phil Hellmuth’s Penalty Disappears
During the final minutes of last night’s play, Phil Hellmuth berated Christian Dragomir after he won a pot with 104 and cracked Hellmuth’s ace-king. Although the hand occurred at the end of the night, Hellmuth was assessed a one-orbit penalty to be administered during the first orbit of today’s play.
As the official “shuffle up and deal” announcement was made to start off the day, Hellmuth took his seat at the ESPN featured table and received cards on the first hand and continued to on all subsequent hands of the orbit. An inquiry by our reporting team was answered with an explanation that the penalty had been “overruled.” World Series of Poker media director Nolan Dalla informed our tournament reporting team that a statement would be released regarding the overruling within one hour.
Phil won three of the first nine “penalty” hands at his table, bringing well-needed improvement to his struggling chip stack. He quickly rose to more than 1.5 million in chips.
Update: This morning Phil Hellmuth met with Jack Effel, WSOP Tournament Director, Howard Greenbaum, Harrah's Regional Vice President for Specialty Gaming, and Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner of the WSOP. Based on that meeting and an official review of the situation, it was decided that the penalty imposed on Mr. Hellmuth at the conclusion of play last night was excessive.
"Warnings and penalties are intended to correct inappropriate behavior and our rulings should be as fair as possible, given the circumstances," said Pollack. "In this instance, the punishment did not fit the crime.
"Phil has now been warned and put on notice in a way that he never has been."
Sawaqdeh out in 74th place ($77,200), Crilly triples
Preflop, Jamal Sawaqdeh limped in from early position, and then Jamal Kunbuz raised to 125,000. Chris Crilly called from the small blind and Sawaqdeh called as well. After a 764 flop Crilly moved all in. Then Sawaqdeh quickly called all in, and after a minute Kunbuz called. Kunbuz had them both covered and when the cards were flipped up was a big favorite after the flop.
Chris Crilly: TT
Jamal Sawaqdeh: 55
Jamal Kunbuz: AA
Turn/River: TK
As far as the percentages go, Kunbuz went from worst to first on the turn, and then held on when the river was dealt. He nearly tripled up and now has roughly 2.7 million chips. Kunbuz droped to under two million chips after the hand.
Table 4
Flops were hard to come by in the first hour of play at table 4. The first seven hands resulted in late position raises and folds from blinds, and twice Alex Outhred was able to announce all-in after an early position raise, and got his opponents to fold. But then two consecutive hands resulted in a significant chip shift, as well as the first elimination of the day.
Bad Way to Start the Day
Justin Scott raised from early position to 90,000, and table chip leader Nikolay Losev made the call from the small blind. The flop came K62, and after Losev checked, Scott bet 175,000. Losev made the call, and after the Q came on the turn, both players checked. The 6 paired the board on the river, and Losev took the initiative by betting 350,000. Scott made the call and showed AK, but the free river had allowed Losev to hit trips with the A6 and he added to his chip stack.
Scott ran into trouble later in the level as well. He raised to 90,000 preflop and was called by David Saab in the big blind. The Q94 came on board, and both players checked. The 3 was the turn card and again both players checked. The 5 hit the river, and Saab stepped out for a 150,000 bet. Scott called, then mucked when Saab showed him the 88.
Saab Forces First Elimination
The first elimination of the day came courtesy David Saab who raised to 100,000 from the cut-off. Mike Matros then moved all-in from the small blind for 680,000 and Saab called. Saab held 33 while Matros had two overcards with the A7. The flop came paired with the JJ6, giving Matros further outs, as did the 9 on the turn. But the river was a brick, the 4, and Matros was eliminated.
Player Tags: Phil Hellmuth, Chris Crilly, Justin Scott, David Saab, Nikolay Losev
9
, Losev bet all in for 22,000 and Smith called.
9