Ten Handed Final Table
Jun 18, '07
Play has ended for the evening and there are ten players remaining. This event has been chosen as a televised final table by ESPN and is going to be ten handed. The final table will resume play tomorrow at 3 p.m. with the following ten players in order of their chip counts: Dustin Holmes, Beth Shak, Brett Richey, Perry Friedman, Shankar Pillai, Luke Vrabel, Jason Song, Ben Fineman, Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Corbin.
The players returned from dinner and on the first two hands there were two eliminations. In the first hand back from dinner the action folded to Thomas Wahlroos who pushed all in from the button. Perry Friedman called from the big blind and had A-Q. Wahlroos was holding K-6 and never improved. Wahlroos earned $19,173 for his 14th place finish. Ed Moncada was the 13th place finisher, also earning $19,173. Moncada moved all in with A-Q and was called by Shankar Pillai with K-10. Moncada enjoyed the lead until a ten came on the turn and for emphasis a king came on the river.
The level started off with Phil Hellmuth pumping up the agression and raising several times. Over at the other table, Brett Richey seemed to be doing the exact same thing. Richey made a series of $45,000 raises and collected the blinds and antes more than a few times.
Beth Shak had a strong round following dinner and is now second in chips. One one hand she took down more than $200,000 without even seeing a flop. Shak raised from early position and Shankar Pillai reraised her $200,000. Shak didn't even flinch and pushed all in for $450,000. Pillai went deep into the tank with his tournament life in the balance. After several moments Pillai stood up, said "fold", and showed A-K. Shak thought he was calling and excitedly said, "Aces!" and showed A
A
. The dealer assured Shak that Pillai indeed folded and she collected around $230,000.
Kevin Hong was the 12th place finisher, earning $21,456. On what would be the final hand of the night, Noah Schwartz moved all in for $232,000. Still steaming from the previous hand in which Shak called the clock on him, Schwartz looked visibly agitated. Perry Friedman took no time at all in calling and flipped over Q
Q
. Schwartz had 6
6
. The board came A
10
3
7
4
and Schwartz was eliminated in 11th place, earning $21,456.
The final table for this event will eventually be televised by ESPN after the conclusion of the
World Series but to follow all the action and see who takes home the gold bracelet, check back tomorrow with
CardPlayer.com
Player Tags: Edward Moncada, Phil Hellmuth, Perry Friedman, Kevin Hong, Brett Richey, Dustin Holmes, Benjamin Fineman, Beth Shak, Jason Song, Thomas Wahlroos, Noah Schwartz, Luke Vrabel, Daniel Corbin, Shankar Pillai
Hour Eight
Jun 19, '07
Jason Song Eliminated 3rd ($212,274)
Song gets all his money in with Q
5
and runs into Shankar Pillai's A
A
. Song gets no help when the board comes J
J
8
J
K
and he is sent home in third place.
Heads Up
Shankar Pillai and Beth Shak are now heads up. The ESPN crew is assembling the money for the presentation here are the chip counts:
Beth Shak -- $2,550,000
Shankar Pillai -- $2,410,000
Historic Night?
If Shak can win this event, it will be the first time in the history of the
WSOP that two women have won gold on the same day. What makes it more impressive is that both women won open events.
Shankar Pillai Wins Event #28 ($527,829)
Pillai raised to $180,000 and Shak reraised $550,000 more. Pillai made the call and the flop came 10
8
3
and as she had done many times before, opened all in. This put Pilli deep into the tank and he took over a minute to make his decision. The arena was as quiet as we have seen it, then Pilli made the call. Shaks section burst into applause when she tabled K
8
, but the applause was quickly drowned by the ruckus of Pillai supporters when his A
8
were announced by tournament director Sam Minutello. The turn brought the 7
and the river the 2
, shipping Pillai the pot and the tournament.
Player Tags: Beth Shak, Shankar Pillai
Play Resumes
Jun 19, '07
Play Resumes
Play has restarted three handed.
Jason Song Doubles Up.
Song gets it all in with J
10
but is dominated by Shankar Pillai's A
10
. The board comes J
6
5
3
2
, and Song doubles up.
Same Song
Song again gets it all against Pillai. This time Song has the best hand with 9
9
versus Pillai's K
Q
. The board bricks for Pillai when it comes A
3
3
6
4
, and Song doubles up again.
Shankar Pillai Doubles Up
Beth Shak raises to $225,000 and Pillai reraises all in for another $575,000. Shak insta-calls and his A
A
are dominating Shaks 8
8
. The board comes K
J
J
9
6
and Shankar doubles up.
Two Woman, Two Braclets?
Katja Thater has just won the Seven Card Razz event, and Beth Shak is down to the final three in the $3,000 no limit hold'em. If she wins, it would be two female winners in open events on the same day.
Player Tags: Beth Shak, Jason Song, Shankar Pillai
Hour Two
Jun 19, '07
3 Way All In -- Daniel Corbin Eliminated 9th ($30.814)
In a massive hand Daniel Corbin has been eliminated, Shankar Pillai tripled up and Beth Shak took a huge hit. Daniel Corbin moved all in for his last $109,000 and Pillai reraised all in for $258,000. Beth Shak then moved all in as well with both players covered. Corbin showed K
9
, Pillai 8
8
, and Shak A
Q
. The board came J
7
6
3
3
, tripling Pillai up to $680,000, knocking Shak down to $335,000 and sending Corbin home in 9th place for a $30,814 payday.
Hellmuth Doubles Again
On a board of A
J
6
Ben Fineman bets and Hellmuth immediately moves all in. Fineman makes the call and Hellmuth tables A
8
. Fineman tables J
9
and before the turn comes Hellmuth yells, "I want insurance where's Ivey?" When Hellmulth asks him for insurance Ivey replies, "Oh, you got it, what is it (in reference to what the cards are)." After looking it over they decide that Hellmuth will risk $30,000 to Ivey's $90,000. The next two cards come 7
3
, and Hellmuth doubles up. He also loses another $30,000 to Ivey prompting Hellmuth to say, "I've ran out of money in my pocket." That gives Ivey a $50,000 profit on the day, good for 8th place money for the final table with a lot less work.
Break
Players are on a 15 minute break.
Break Ends
Phil Hellmuth is MIA after the break and tournament staff is about to restart with out him.
Player Tags: Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Benjamin Fineman, Daniel Corbin, Shankar Pillai
The $3,000 buy-in no limit hold'em is a few hours away. This will be event 29 of the 2008 World Series of Poker.
Feldman Makes Gutsy Call