Aliaksandr Dzianisau Poker Tournament Updates

$1,000 NL Hold'em w/Rebuys - Level 5

Jun 25, '08

Blinds: 150/300 with 25 ante

Players Left: 420 of 879 (field accounted for 2508 rebuys and add-ons combined)

Chip Leaders:

Mark Seif - 73,000
Jason Mercier - 62,000
Jamie Rosen - 54,400
John Phan - 51,000
J.C. Tran - 50,300
Brandon Cantu - 46,500
Nicholas Levi - 44,600
Richard Fohrenbach - 41,200
Terrence Chan - 41,000
Peter Feldman - 36,400

Eliminations: Phil Gordon, Kristy Gazes, Nikolay Evdakov, David Pham, Antonio Esfandiari, Shannon Elizabeth, Vivek Rajkumar, Jean-Robert Bellande.

Big Hands/Storylines

Players were divided between the Amazon Room and Brasilia Room to start the tournament, but following level 4 all Brasilia Room players were moved into the main Amazon facility.
It was almost a reunion of sorts of ladies night on Poker After Dark. Clonie Gowen and Vanessa Rousso are seated together, while behind them were Kristy Gazes and Kathy Liebert. Gazes wouldn't last however, falling victim to a cruel river.

Don't Trust the Queen of Diamonds . . .

Kristy Gazes moved all-in for her final 4,175 in chips and drew a lone call from seat 10 who showed AQ. Gazes held in her possession 44. She dodged the flop that came J106, and the 10 on the turn did her no damage. But the Q on the river sent Gazes packing.

Gowen Takes the Initiative

Clonie Gowen was one of five players to call the blind and see the flop for 300. A dangerous looking 976 board was checked by the first four players, including Vanessa Rousso. Gowen then bet out 1500, and drew four folds in response to take the pot.

Gordon Makes Right Read at Wrong Time

Play was still at 300 when it came to the cutoff who raised to 800. The button called, then Phil Gordon in the small blind raised to 3500. The cutoff folded and the button called. The flop came A42. Gordon checked and the button player moved all-in, having enough chips to cover Gordon's remaining 10,300. Gordon made several motions as if he was about to call, trying to draw a response. Eventually, sensing weakness, he did make the decision to call, and was rewarded when his opponent showed 75 for a small flush draw. Gordon was ahead with A8. The J on the turn kept Gordon in the lead, but the 3 on the turn put an end to the night for the Little Green Book author.

Dragon Slayer

He hasn't been officially put to rest, but David "Dragon" Pham was crippled after a recent battle. The flop came K92, and after the 8 on the turn Pham bet 2,000, leaving him with just 2,825 in chips. The A on the river made it a four-flush board, and now his opponent in seat 1 bet enough to put Pham all-in. Pham laid it down but was eliminated a few hands later.

Dzianisau Knocks off Two

Seat 1 moved all-in for 4200, seat 3 followed all-in for 3550, and Aliaksandr Dzianisau made the call from late position. Seat 1 held 1010, seat 3 showed AK, and Dzianisau proved to be ahead with QQ. The flop hit seat 3, coming KJ8, but ran out 68 to give Dzianisau the flush for the winning hand.







 

Player Tags: David Pham,   Kristy Gazes,   Phil Gordon,   Clonie Gowen,   Aliaksandr Dzianisau

$5,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud 8/b - Day 2 - Level 18 Recap

Jun 18, '08

Note: The players are now on a 20-minute break

Limit: 6,000-12,000, 1,500 ante, 2,000 bring in

Players Left:  13 of 261

Chip Leaders:
Steve Sung - 350,000
Sebastian Ruthenberg - 280,000
Annie Duke - 250,000
Marcel Luske – 250,000
Chris Ferguson - 225,000
Robert Lauria - 212,000
David Benyamine - 170,000
Howard Lederer - 160,000
Robert Beveridge - 155,000
Allen Cunningham - 125,000
Alessio Isaia - 120,000

Average Stack: 200,750

Eliminations:
14^th – Barry Greenstein
15^th – Matt Grapenthien
16^th – Aliaksandr Dzianisau
17^th – Jan Suchanek
18^th – Kirill Gerasimov
19^th – William Kohler
20^th – Thang Duc Nguyen

Big Hands and Storylines:

Full House Over Full House

Jan Suchanek got his money into the pot with fours full of aces and assumed he was ahead of his opponent, who was showing only a pair of queens and two low cards. Suchanek was quite surprised to see his opponent show up with a full house of his own: queens full of fives. With that, Suchanek was eliminated in 17^th place, taking home $11,040.

What Would King Solomon Do?

A shortstacked Barry Greenstein was eliminated by Steve Sung, leading Greenstein to begin his post-bustout routine of taking out his book and signing it for his assassin. Howard Lederer leaned over from the other table and asked, “What happens when it’s a split pot?” This garnered a nice chuckle out of Chris Ferguson, but Greenstein did not seem to be in a laughing mood. Perhaps in the future Barry should bring two copies of his book to high-low events.

The Flying Dutchman

Marcel Luske just scooped a massive pot when he made a six-high straight and six low in a four-way pot. Luske was all-in on 6^th street and action checked around on 7^th street, so Luske scooped the main pot, and the miniscule side-pot went elsewhere. “Gimme all da money.... except the side-pot,” exclaimed Luske. Even without the side-pot the Dutchman is up to a healthy 250,000.

And We Play On

The players just voted nearly unanimously in favor of playing down to 8 players instead of stopping for the night. The lone dissenter was Allen Cunningham, who, unlike the rest of the remaining players, does not seem too excited about the $10,000 Omaha high-low event beginning tomorrow.

Player Tags: Chris Ferguson,   Annie Duke,   Barry Greenstein,   Matt Grapenthien,   Allen Cunningham,   Howard Lederer,   David Benyamine,   Kirill Gerasimov,   Marcel Luske,   Steve Sung,   Jan Suchanek,   Sebastian Ruthenberg,   Aliaksandr Dzianisau,   Robert Beveridge,   William Kohler,   Alessio Isaia,   European Report

$5,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud 8/b - Day 2 - Level 17 Recap

Jun 18, '08

Limit: 5,000-10,000, 1,000 ante, 2,000 bring in

Players Left:  21 of 261

Chip Leaders:
Steve Sung - 410,000
Sebastian Ruthenberg - 310,000
Annie Duke – 185,000
Howard Lederer - 170,000
Marcel Luske - 160,000
Alessio Isaia - 145,000
William Kohler - 125,000
Aleaksandr Dzianisau – 125,000
Barry Greenstein - 110,000
Allen Cunningham – 110,000
Chris Ferguson - 100,000

Average Stack: 124,300

Eliminations:
22^nd – Doug Ganger
23^rd – Cyndy Violette
24^th – Hasan Habib

Big Hands and Storylines:

Cunning Call Saves Giang Chips

Allen Cunningham: A434
Chau Giang: A6Q8

We enter this hand on 5^th street where both players checked. Giang bet on 6^th street after getting another low card and Cunningham called. Then, on 7^th street, Cunningham bet out. Giang called, and Cunningham turned over (A)(4)(J) for a full house. Giang shows an ace-high flush and mucks his hand. Though Giang lost the post, his ability to simply call at the close of the hand saved him 10,000 in chips, or more than 10% of his stack of 82,000. Cunningham has run his stack up to 110,000.

Jesus Exacts Revenge on Ruthenberg

After a number of hands in which Sebastian Ruthenberg had gotten the better of him, including one monster pot, Chris Ferguson has finally taken a sizeable pot off of the German:

Ferguson: AJ6J
Ruthenberg: 8853

Ruthenberg bet out on 4^th street, having paired his 8, and Ferguson called. The action went bet-call again on 5^th street. Then on 6^th street Ferguson led out with his pair of jacks showing and was swiftly raised by Ruthenberg. Ferguson called and both players checked the river. Ferguson’s (7)(10)(A) was enough to scoop the pot with aces and jacks, and he added to his stack which now sits at 100,000. The hand put a very minor dent in Ruthenberg’s 310,000 chip stack.

Ruthenberg Reclaims Some, Busts Violette

Cyndy Violette was faced with a difficult decision on 7^th street. With her board reading 7AK8 and facing a bet that would put her all-in, she closely scrutinized Ruthenberg’s board: 10A96. Eventually, with so many chips committed, Violette made the call. Ruthenberg showed (3)(7)(4) for the ten-high flush and he scooped the pot. Violette’s run at a second World Series bracelet has been put to an end for now.

Ganger Busted

David Ganger found himself all-in against David Benyamine on 6^th street, hoping to double up or at least snatch half of the pot to stay alive. But when Benyamine showed (7)(4)355J, Ganger muttered, “I’m drawing dead.” With a naked pair of aces and no low draw, he was indeed drawing dead. Ganger will take home $11,040 for his two days of work.

Player Tags: Chris Ferguson,   Annie Duke,   Barry Greenstein,   Hasan Habib,   Allen Cunningham,   Howard Lederer,   David Benyamine,   Chau Giang,   Cyndy Violette,   Marcel Luske,   Steve Sung,   Sebastian Ruthenberg,   Aliaksandr Dzianisau,   Doug Ganger,   William Kohler,   Alessio Isaia,   European Report

$5,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud 8/b - Day 2 - Level 14 Recap

Jun 18, '08

Note: The players are now on a 20-minute break

Limit: 2,500-5,000, 500 ante, 700 bring in

Players Left:  42 of 261

Chip Leaders:
Steve Sung - 295,000
Sebastian Ruthenberg - 195,000
Chau Giang - 130,000
Alessio Isaia - 120,000
Aleaksandr Dzianisau - 99,000
Robert Lauria - 95,000
Chris Ferguson - 93,000
Marcel Luske - 92,000
Howard Lederer - 91,000
Vegard Nygaard - 77,000

Average Stack: 62,150

Big Hands and Storylines:

That’s Why They Call Him “The Mouth”

Mike Matusow can consider himself doubly unlucky – well, as unlucky as someone who just won a bracelet can be – not only was he moved from his earlier table, but his new seat has Shawn Sheikhan to its right and Patrick Bueno to its left. Add to that Marcel Luske and Steve Sung and Matusow’s new table is quite the minefield.  

Of course, it didn’t take very long for Matusow to get involved in a hand and it was against the chip leader Steve Sung:

Matusow: 78KQ
Sung: AJ93

Sung raised on 3^rd street and Matusow called. On 4^th street, Sung checked, Matusow bet, and Sung called. Matusow drew a face card on 5^th street and Sung bet into him, Matusow called. Action went bet-call again on 6^th street, then both players checked it on the end. Sung showed (A)(4)(K) for a pair of aces and that was enough to scoop the pot. Sung has now amassed a massive stack of 300,000.

A bit of playful verbal sparring took place between Matusow and Sung a bit later, with Matusow showing where his allegiance lies. Spouted Matusow, “If I’m not in a pot I’m rooting for you [Sung]. If you’re not in a pot I’m rooting for Marcel. If he’s not in a pot I’m rooting for Sheiky.” Then, after taking a bit of guff from the other players at the table Matusow quipped, “I’m not biased. I hate you all.”

May All Your Pots Be Scooped

Mike Sexton just tripled up against Alessio Isaia and another opponent. Sexton was all-in on 3^rd street for 9,000 against Isaia and another player. By 7^th street the third player had dropped out and it was only Sexton and Isaia. The two showed their hands:

Sexton: (2)(3)(7)47J6
Isaia: (A)(3)(3)Q756

Remarkably, Sexton was able to take down the entire pot with only a pair of 7s and a 7-6-4-3-2 low. The pot takes him up to 30,000, nothing to write home about, but much preferable to hitting the rail.

Ruthenberg Wins a Massive, Massive Pot

A massive pot just took place between Sebastian Ruthenberg, Chris Ferguson, Farzad Rouhani, and Alex Jacob. The action was raised on 3^rd street, but the real meat of the hand came on 4^th street, where all four players remained in the hand (Jacob all-in) while the betting was capped. Heavy action continued on the rest of the hand with Rouhani bowing out on 6^th street. At the conclusion of the hand Rutherberg showed 34A7(5)(6)(Q), good enough to scoop the pot. Ferguson mucked his 437A, and was still left with 115,000 despite taking a big hit. Ruthenberg, with 195,000, now sits 2^nd in chips. Alex Jacob's night is through.

Player Tags: Farzad Rouhani,   Chris Ferguson,   Howard Lederer,   Mike Matusow,   Chau Giang,   Mike Sexton,   Marcel Luske,   Vergard Nygaard,   Steve Sung,   Alex Jacob,   Sebastian Ruthenberg,   Aliaksandr Dzianisau,   Alessio Isaia,   European Report

$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - 17 Players Return Tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Jun 15, '08

When level 20 began, only one player needed to be elminated to end the day. But right when Aliaksandr Dzianisau was eliminated in 19th place, Jason Duffy was making a decision for all his chips. He decided to call and go all in. He lost, and went out in 18th place. The final 17 players will return tomorrow. Play will continue all the way until the end when someone can claim the bracelet and the $628,290 that comes with it.

Dzianisau eliminated in 19th place

Dzianisau got all his chips to the middle preflop and Philip Yeh was right there with him. Their cards and the board were:

Dzianisau: A8
Yeh: 99
Board: Q643K

Duffy eliminated in 18th place place

When Dzianisau was eliminated and the tournament director told the other two tables that the hand they were on would be the last, Ken Terrell reraised Duffy all in. Duffy thought it over for two minutes and then decided to call.

Duffy: 99
Terrell: AK
Board: A7584

Player Tags: Aliaksandr Dzianisau,   Jason Duffy,   Kenneth Terrell