Hal Lubarsky Poker Tournament Updates

Level 2 Update: Gavin Griffin and Ted Lawson Eliminated

May 30, '10

Blinds: 25-50

Players Remaining: 1,699 out of 4,341

Card Player Chip Counts:

Stephen Murphy – 5,500
Justin Marchand – 4,000

Notable Eliminations:

Gavin Griffin
Ted Lawson

Big Hands:

Devil Fish Takes a Hit

David Ulliott called a raise to 200 from Josh Stern and they saw a flop heads up of K108. Stern bet 400 and was called by Ulliott.

The turn was the 2 and now Stern checked. Ulliott bet 700 and was met with a check-raise all in fro 1,625 more.

“They usually do that,” said Ulliott while he was contemplating a call. Ulliott let it go and has dropped to 3,400.

Dunst Grows Stack Quickly

Tony “Bond18” Dunst was already more than doubled up when he found himself in a great position to add more to his stack.

Dunst’s opponent found a way to get his whole stack in preflop with K-Q and was up against Dunst’s A-Q. The board was friendly to Dunst and kept him in the lead the whole way to propel him to 9,500 in chips.

Chan Gets Best of Griffin

We got to the action a little late, but Gavin Griffin was all in and way ahead of Terrance Chan. Chan held pocket queens, but Griffin had pocket aces. The queen on the river sent Griffin home earlier than he would have liked.

Chan is now up to 11,500 and said “It’s the first time I’m genuinely unhappy to win an all-in in a big tournament.”

Will Failla Wins a Large Pot

Will Failla bet 275 on the button with about 4,000 in his stack and the small blind and a player in early position called. The flop came 552 and the small blind checked. The player in early position bet 200 and Failla raised to 600. The initial bettor called and the 10 fell on the turn. Failla’s opponent bet 500 and Failla made the call. The Q hit the felt and it was checked to Failla bet 600. The bet was quickly called and Failla tabled pocket kings while his opponent mucked A-Q face up. Failla is now up to 5,500.

Hal Lubarsky Wins a Pot

Tony Dunst bet 150 from early position and the player next to act called. Hal Lubarsky made the call on the button with about 1,200 in his stack. The flopped AJ9 and action went check-check to Lubarsky, who went all in for about 800. Both his opponents folded and Lubarsky took the 1,425 chip pot.

Ted Lawson Eliminated

Ted Lawson put his stack of 1,075 into the middle with the 66 and was called by a player holding the 1010. The tens held up and Lawson was gone.

Player Tags: Ted Lawson,   Gavin Griffin,   Will Failla,   Hal Lubarsky,   Tony Dunst

Level 15

Jul 13, '07

Hard to Kill Poetic; One Champ Down

In the movie Hard to Kill, Steven Segal mentions that "the anticipation of death is worse than death itself." Former main event champion, Robert Varkonyi probably knew what he meant by the those words in the last level. Varkonyi pushed all in from middle position for his last $200,000 and was called by Mickey Seagle. Varkonyi showed A 5, and Seagle had him in bad shape with A Q. Then the dealer called out, "All-in and call!" to alert the ESPN cameras. It took several minutes while Varkonyi had to wait in agony as his inferior cards simply sat on the table. Seagle sealed the deal as the flop came down K J 10, giving him Broadway. The turn was the K, and the river was a small needle as the 5 fell, offering Varkonyi a measly small pair for his exit. Nolan Dalla announced Varkonyi's exit in 177th place. There are now three main event champions still alive: Berry Johnston ('86), Huck Seed ('96), and Scotty Nguyen ('98).

Dario Gets a Big Boost

On a flop of 7 5 4 Deb Blair bets out $75,000, and Dario Minieri makes the call. The 3h comes on the turn, Blair bets $200,000, Minieri pushes all in over the top quickly, and Blair nearly beats him into the pot for her last $949,000. Minieri has her drawing dead though holding J 6 to her 10 10. The river is an inconsequential 2, and Minieri is vaulted back up, well over the 2 million chip mark.

All Skill

Roy Winston moved all in on a A Q 10 board, and was called by Brock Parker. Parker was looking for a miracle as he was in horrible shape holding A Q to Winston's Q Q. As the players waited for the ESPN cameras, a player at the other end of the table jokingly asked Winston, "You gotta teach me how to do that." The turn and river found no Ace for Parker and he was eliminated.

Big Hand

Receving one of the warmer rounds of appaluse from the remaining players was blind player Hal Lubarsky, who remarkably finished in 193rd place. His accomplishment has not gone unnoticed and will serve as inspiration to other players with similar impairments, hoping to one day play at the World Series.

Scotty Nguyen	880,000
Huckleberry Seed	660,000
Berry Johnston	550,000
David Tran	550,000
Chad Brown	505,000
Humberto Brenes	500,000
Billy Baxter	341,000
Bill Edler	320,000

Pokerstars Online Qualifiers

Rep Porter	2,050,000
Hevad Khan	1,400,000
Ryan Lawrence	1,000,000
Zhuang Han	915,000
Jason Welch	657,000
Andrew Gunderson	630,000
David Names	470,000
Karim Vegas	450,000
Marco Mills	120,000

pokerstars.com

Player Tags: Brock Parker,   Robert Varkonyi,   Roy Winston,   Dario Minieri,   Deb Blair,   Hal Lubarsky