Final Two Tables, WSOP Champ Stops By
Jun 03, '07
Level 19 opened with the ESPN camera crews roaming the tournament area, and it was clear from the beginning they affected the players. Easy decisions become two minute personal odysseys with the hope it will make it onto national TV. In one hand a player took almost 5 minutes to make a decision and the clock was called. It was unclear on who actually called the clock prompting someone from the rail to say, "I'll bet the rail can call the clock here."
Alex Jacob open the level betting $60,000 on a 8
6
46
board, only to be reraised to $200,000. Jacob tanked, then finally mucked. His opponent showed A
7 and Jacob tapped the table in respect for the nice bluff. Jacob rebounded nicely and still has a stack around $600,000.
The field was finally struck down to two tables for the final 18 and at 3am the rail was still full though considerably more intoxicated. Spectators were rowdy when Richard Dinunzio was crippled by an opponent in seat six. Seat six moved all in from the small blind with AQ and Dinunzino called with JJ. The flop came 765 and Dinuzino's railbirds let out a might cheer. The turn was the 8, giving seat six eight outs to tie and six to win. The river was the A and Dinunzino was crippled. He wasn't out yet, and he got some encouragement from a former WSOP champion.
After finishing the night in the mixed eight or better tournament, Greg Raymer cased the final two tables of the $1,500 NLHE tournament. He commanded respect as if he was the poker head of state, and he spread goodwill to all. The tired faces seemed to light up when they saw him, as if the his presence was enough to rekindle the dreams of winning a WSOP bracelet. He gave Dinunzio some encouragement, saying even though his stack was small it had heart. Unfortunately Dinunzino busted a short time later.
Player Tags: Greg Raymer, Alex Jacob, Richard Dinunzio
