Bobby Baldwin Poker Tournament Updates

Level 21 Update: Rast 6th ($1,621,333), Baldwin 7th ($1,408,000)

Jul 03, '12

Level: 21

Blinds: 300,000-600,000 with a 75,000 ante

Players Remaining: 5 out of 48

Average Chip Count: 28,800,000

Chip Counts:

Seat no. 1 — Guy Laliberte — 26,425,000
Seat no. 3 — Phil Hellmuth — 10,425,000
Seat no. 4 — Antonio Esfandiari — 59,225,000

Seat no. 6 — Sam Trickett — 36,375,000

Seat no. 8 — David Einhorn — 11,525,000

Players Eliminated:

Brian Rast — 6th Place ($1,621,333)
Bobby Baldwin — 7th Place ($1,408,000)

Live Updates:

Bobby Baldwin Eliminated in 7th Place ($1,408,000)

Guy Laliberte opened the pot for 1,000,000 from under the gun, Bbby Baldwin three-bet to 5,000,000, Laliberte shoved and Badlwin called all in.

Laliberte was ahead before the flop with JJ against Baldwin’s A10.

The board came 1087Q7, offering no help to Bobby baldwin who was eliminated in 7th place ($1,408,0000. Laliberte moved up to just under 22.4 million that hand.

Brian Rast Eliminated in 6th Place ($1,621,333)

Sam Trickett opened the pot for 1,200,000 from under the gun, Brian Rast called from the button and Antonio Esfandiari called from the big blind.

The flop came 843, Esfandiari checked, Trickett bet 1,800,000, Rast called and Esfandiari folded.

The turn was the 3, Trickett shoved and Rast called all in. Rast showed AJ for the nut flush on the flop but Trickett turned over 33 for quads on the turn. Brian Rast was drawing dead on the river and was eliminated in 6th place ($1,621,333). Trickett secured the chip lead that hand with about 51 million.

Be sure to check back with Card Player at the conclusion of each level for regular updates with all of the action, current chip counts, and prize distributions.

Player Tags: Bobby Baldwin,   Brian Rast,   Guy Laliberte,   Sam Trickett

Level 20 Update: Trickett Leads Final 7 on Dinner Break; Yong 8th ($1,237,333)

Jul 03, '12

Level: 20

Blinds: 250,000-500,000 with a 50,000 ante

Players Remaining: 7 out of 48

Average Chip Count: 20,571,428

Chip Counts:

Seat no. 1 — Guy Laliberte — 11,125,000
Seat no. 2 — Brian Rast — 12,650,000
Seat no. 3 — Phil Hellmuth — 17,875,000
Seat no. 4 — Antonio Esfandiari — 38,425,000
Seat no. 5 — Bobby Baldwin — 10,250,000
Seat no. 6 — Sam Trickett — 41,900,000

Seat no. 8 — David Einhorn — 11,750,000

Players Eliminated:

Richard Yong — 8th Place ($1,237,333)

Live Updates:

Richard Yong Eliminated in 8th Place ($1,237,333)

Richard Yong open-shoved for about 3.3 million before the flop, Brian Rast re-shoved the small blind and Phil Hellmuth folded the big.

Yong was all in for his tournament life and ahead before the flop with A2 against Rast’s KJ.

The board came 7532K, giving Rast top pair on the river to win the pot and eliminate Ryan Yong in 8th place ($1,237,333). Rast moved up to over 13.1 million that hand.

Bobby Baldwin Doubles Through Guy Laliberte

Guy Laliberte opened the pot for 1,000,000 from under the gun and Bobby Baldwin called, followed by Sam Trickett in the small blind.

The flop came 864, Baldwin moved all in for around 3.4 million, Trickett folded and Laliberte called.

Laliberte was ahead on the flop with 54 for bottom pair against Baldwin’s K9 for over cards.

The turn and river were the 5 and the 7, giving Laliberte two pair on the turn, but the river put a straight to the eight on the board and Baldwin made a straight to the nine to win the pot and double up to over 10.5 million that hand. Laliberte ended the hand with about 14.4 million.

The remaining seven players took a one hour dinner break at the conclusion of Level 20 and will return at approximately 4:45pm local time to resume play.

Be sure to check back with Card Player at the conclusion of each level for regular updates with all of the action, current chip counts, and prize distributions.

Player Tags: Bobby Baldwin,   Brian Rast,   Guy Laliberte,   Richard Yong

Action Begins, Final Table Now Underway

Jul 03, '12

The final table of Event no. 55 ($1,000,000 No-Limit Hold’em The Big One for One Drop) is now underway, and Card Player will be posting level-by-level updates with all of the action, current chip counts, and prize distributions.



After two days of nail-biting high stakes action, the final table is set in the $1 million dollar buy-in World Series of Poker Big One for One Drop.

The event started with 48 players, featuring the superstars of the poker world alongside a number of highly successful businessmen with a love for the game and a desire to support the One Drop Charity

34-year-old Russian businessman and poker player Ilya Bulychev was eliminated on the largest money bubble in tournament poker history, finishing tenth for zero dollars, ensuring that the remaining nine were all guaranteed at least a seven-figure cash. The first player eliminated inside the money was 2009 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Mike Sexton The WSOP bracelet winner and World Poker Tour commentator earner $1,109,333 for his ninth place finish.



With that, only eight players remained to battle it out at the ESPN televised final table, each of them with their eyes on the record-demolishing $18.3 million first-place prize. Who will win this historic event and instantly take over the lead in the all-time money list? Here are the eight potential champions in order of chip count:
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1. Antonio Esfandiari – 39,925,000



Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari made a number of opponents disappear while building his sizable stack. One of his biggest vanishing acts was midway through the day when Esfandiari found pocket aces and got stacks in preflop against Jason Mercier’s pocket kings, moving him into a chip lead as the bubble loomed.



Esfandiari had finished third in a $3,000 no-limit hold’em event just a week before this $1,000,000 buy-in began. He has already locked up nearly three times the first prize in that event simply by making the money, and surely has a great shot at his second WSOP gold bracelet and the $18.3 million first-place prize.
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2. Sam Trickett – 37,000,000



East Retford, England’s Sam Trickett turned 26 today. Making the final table of the largest buy-in poker tournament in history seems like a pretty good birthday present for the young pro, and the fact that he has the second largest stack surely makes it even better.



Trickett has more than $6.3 million in lifetime earnings, with considerable success in previous high roller events. At the 2011 Aussie Millions, he won a $100,000 high roller and finished second four days later in the $250,000 buy-in event there, earning over $3 million in a matter of days. Trickett now is staring down the opportunity to win more than six times as much as that and his first gold bracelet. What more could a poker pro wish for as they blow out the candles on their birthday cake?
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3. Guy Laliberté – 21,700,000



Guy Laliberté, the 52-year-old founder and CEO of Cirque du Soleil, was the driving force behind this historic tournament. The event has been a great success, meeting the 48-player cap and raising $5,333,328 for the One Drop Foundation, which he also founded. It seems only fitting that Laliberté should be rewarded for his hard work with a shot at the title.



Originally a street performer, Laliberté built an empire on excellence in performance, and now has a reported net worth of $1.5 billion. Laliberté is no stranger to the poker table, with experience playing in the highest-stakes cash games in the world, and nearly $750,000 in prior tournament earnings, including a fourth place finish in the World Poker Tour Championship $25,000 main event.
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4. Brian Rast – 11,350,000



Brian Rast was the only player to win two gold bracelets at the 2011 WSOP, topping a $1,500 pot-limit hold’em event for his first WSOP title and then following that win up by defeating fellow final tablist of this event Phil Hellmuth heads-up to win the $50,000 Poker Players Championship for $1.7 million. He is back again, looking for his third bracelet and the biggest payout in tournament history.



Rast enters the final table in the middle of the pack, but solidly below the roughly 18-million-chip average stack. With years of experience playing high-stakes cash games live and online, the player known on the virtual felts as “tsarrast” will surely feel as comfortable as one can when eight-figures are on the line.
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5. Phil Hellmuth – 10,925,000



Phil Hellmuth is the all-time leader in bracelets with 12 World Series of Poker titles to his name, including the 1989 WSOP main event. One of poker’s most recognizable names, Hellmuth undoubtedly has his eyes on capturing his record-furthering 13 and the massive prize money that comes along with it. The 47-year-old won his twelfth bracelet just weeks ago in a $2,500 Razz event, his first WSOP win in a non-hold’em event.



Hellmuth is already fifth on the all-time money list with $12,970,089 in live-tournament winnings, and can take a stranglehold on the lead and increase his earnings to more than $30 million if he were able to build his stack and take home this prestigious title.

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6. David Einhorn – 8,375,000



43-year-old David Einhorn is a highly successful hedge fund manager and the Founder and President of Greenlight Capital. The Rye, New York native is no stranger to the felt, however, as he previously made a deep run in the event that held the previous record for largest first-place prize in a poker tournament, the 2006 WSOP main event.



Einhorn finished 18th out of 8,773 entrants. More impressive than his strong showing in the was the fact that he donated his $659,000 in winnings to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. $111,111 of Einhorn’s million dollar buy-in already went to the One Drop charity, but he also has announced that he intends to donate his winning from this tournament to the City Year Foundation, an education-focused non-profit that partners with high-need public schools to provide full-time targeted student interventions.
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7. Richard Yong – 7,475,000



Richard Yong is a 54-year-old businessman from Asia who currently resides in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has many businesses worldwide, his main ones being data mining and IT-related companies. Yong’s biggest tournament cash was for finishing fourth in a super high roller event at the 2012 Asian Poker Tour Manila, for which he earned $463,454.



Yong has participated in the highest buy-in cash games and tournaments around the world, including the much-discussed games in Macau that have drawn top pros like Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, and final tablists of this event Sam Trickett and Brian rast.
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8. Bobby Baldwin – 7,150,000



The shortest stack at this historic final table is far from short on accomplishments. Bobby Baldwin won the 1978 WSOP main event, as well as three other WSOP titles, and has continued to play in some of the biggest cash games in the world, when he has time. Now 62-years-old, Baldwin has transitioned to the other side of the industry, rising to the rank of casino industry executive. The most famous high stakes cash games in the world have taken place in Bobby’s room at Bellagio, named after Baldwin.



Baldwin served for a time as a consultant for the Golden Nugget Casino, was named its president in 1984. He has also headed The Mirage and was named president of the Bellagio in 1998. He served under Steve Wynn as CFO of Mirage Resorts from 1999-2000. He now serves as president and CEO of City Center.
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Day 2 concluded with the elimination of Mike Sexton in 9th Place ($1,109,333), and the official eight-handed final table is now set. Play will begin in Level 18 with blinds of 150,000-300,000 with a 50,000 ante, and will continue until a winner is determined.

With cards now back in the air, here is a look at the final table and how these players match up:

Seat no. 1 — Guy Laliberte — 21,700,000
Seat no. 2 — Brian Rast — 11,350,000
Seat no. 3 — Phil Hellmuth — 10,925,000
Seat no. 4 — Antonio Esfandiari — 39,925,000
Seat no. 5 — Bobby Baldwin — 7,150,000
Seat no. 6 — Sam Trickett — 37,000,000
Seat no. 7 — Richard Yong — 7,475,000
Seat no. 8 — David Einhorn — 8,375,000

While only 8 remain, this event gathered 48 players, creating a total prize pool of $42,666,672. Here is a look at the final payouts:

1st Place — $18,346,673
2nd Place — $10,112,001
3rd Place — $4,352,000
4th Place — $2,645,333
5th Place — $1,834,666
6th Place — $1,621,333
7th Place — $1,408,000
8th Place — $1,237,333

Be sure to check back with Card Player at the conclusion of each level for regular updates with all of the action, current chip counts, and prize distributions.

Player Tags: Bobby Baldwin,   Antonio Esfandiari,   Phil Hellmuth,   David Einhorn,   Brian Rast,   Guy Laliberte,   Richard Young,   Sam Trickett,   Richard Yong

Level 16 Hour 2 Update: Money Bubble Bursts

Jul 11, '09

Blinds: 2,500-5,000 with a 500 ante

Players Remaining: 571 out of 6,494

Chip Counts:

1. Bertrand Grospellier – 1,700,000
2. Benjamin Jensen – 1,400,000
3. Ludovic Lacay – 1,400,000
4. James Akenhead – 1,140,000
5. Theo Tran – 1,050,000
6. Billy Kopp – 1,040,000
7. Blair Hinkle – 1,030,000
8. Miika Puumalainen – 1,000,000
9. Matt Affleck – 960,000
10. Eli Adler – 895,000

Card Player Chip Counts:

Jeff Shulman – 270,000
Phil Hellmuth – 200,000

Average Chip Count: 335,318

Notable Eliminations:

Kristy Gazes

Big Hands:

Eastgate Takes One Off Hachem

Joe Hachem raised to 15,000 preflop and Peter Eastgate made the call from the big blind. The flop then fell A58 and both players checked. The turn was the 3 and Hachem bet 18,000 after Eastgate checked. The call was made and the river was the 9. Both players checked one last time and Hachem tabled K8 for middle pair on the flop.

Eastgate then tabled QQ for the best hand and took the pot.

Bobby Baldwin Still Alive

With a flop showing K76, Bobby Baldwin moved all in with A9 and was called by Elias Eldon who was holding QQ.

The turn was the 5 and the bubble was so close to bursting. But the river was the 3 and Baldwin doubled up, much to the chagrin of everyone else in the Amazon Room hoping to cash.

Lou Diamond Phillips Takes One Off Tran

J.C. Tran raised to 13,000 and Lou Diamond Phillips made the call from the big blind. The flop came 876 and Phillips led out for 20,000. Tran made the call and the turn was the 4. Phillips led out one more time, this time for 30,000. Tran then popped it to 80,000 and Phillips made the call.

The river was the Q and Phillips kept the foot to the gas pedal, firing 130,000. Tran mucked and Phillips tabled 55 for the straight and he was at 565,000. Tran was down to 150,000.

Kia Hamadani Is The Bubble Boy

Kia Hamadani was all in for his last 500 on the ante. Reed Hensel raised to 17,000 from the hijack and the blinds called. The flop came down Q6Q and Hensel bet 20,000. The blinds mucked and Hensel tabled 92. It was clearly a move to take the much bigger side pot, but he was also ahead of Hamadani who held 43. The turn was the 9, leaving Hamadani drawing dead. For good measure, the 9 came on the river and the field was officially in the money.

Kenny Tran Picks Off a Short Stack

Max Greenwood moved all in preflop for his last 86,500 chips and was called by Prahlad Friedman on the button. Action was to Kenny Tran in the big blind and Tran decided to move all in himself. Friedman decided to get out of the way and let Tran take on Greenwood himself.

Tran showed KK and Greenwood showed QJ. The board ran out A65K9 and eliminated Greenwood from the tournament, while Kenny Tran increased his stack to 800,000.

Kristy Gazes Eliminated

Kristy Gazes had been nursing a below average stack for a while and she finally moved it in preflop. Dag Palovic made the call and here were their cards.

Gazes: A2
Palovic: 1010

Gazes had only one overcard to Palovic’s pocket pair. The flop then came AJ10, giving Gazes top pair but making Palovic a set. Gazes took a few steps away from the table, anticipating her elimination. But the Q came on the turn and she still had outs. “One time dealer!” Gazes said asking for a king. But the river was the 3 and Gazes joined the flock of players busting out after the bursting of the bubble.

Left In The Deck:

The money bubble has officially burst with the elimination of Kia Hamadani. Everyone in the field is now guaranteed at least $21,365. Hamadani does get the nice consolation prize of being bought in to the 2010 main event and, of course, the fame of being the 2009 bubble boy.

Since 13 hands were played during that entire level, the tournament staff has decided to add three minutes per hands played to the clock. That means the players will have 39 minutes of added play before dinner arrives. Let the all in madness begin.

Dinner Pushed Back

The players have gone on a 20-minute break to color up the blue “500” chips. Most of the field thought their dinner break would be after level 16, but the tournament staff has verified that the field will play one more 120 minute level before they players take their 90 minute dinner break.

Player Tags: J.C. Tran,   Bobby Baldwin,   Kristy Gazes,   Lou Diamond Phillips,   Joe Hachem,   Peter Eastgate

First Hour Over

Jul 06, '07

The first hour of the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event has come and gone. The levels for the main event are 120 minutes long, twice as long as the levels in events 1 through 54. Just one short hour into today's event tables are being broken and the field is already starting to shrink.

Ten minutes into play, tournament director Jack Effel got on the loud speaker and announced, "Congratulations players, you have all outlasted one player!" The field cheered and quickly got back to business.

There were officially 159 tables in play today on day 1A, putting the player count at roughly 1,590. If this pace continues for all four day ones, which it probably won't, the field size for this year's main event would be much healthier than most predicted.

The first day of play in the main event is not the most popular amongst professionals and seasoned players. Most players elect to play on one of the later days to avoid some of the chaos and hype of the official first day of the tournament. That being said, there are several dozen notable players in today's field including, but not limited to: Eugene Todd, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, David "Devilfish" Ulliot, Thomas Wahlroos, Mel Judah, Chad "lilholdem" Batista, Joe Beevers, Marty Smyth, Teddy Sheringham, Dave Colclough, Marcel Luske, Jeff Madsen, Barry Greenstein, Josh Arieh, and Greg "FBT" Mueller.

In today's field are four former World Series of Poker Main Event Champions. Doyle Brunson ('76, '77), Amarillo Slim ('72), Bobby Baldwin ('78), and Huck Seed ('96) are all in today's group of players battling to make it to day two.

Player Tags: Josh Arieh,   Bobby Baldwin,   Barry Greenstein,   Mel Judah,   Huck Seed,   Greg Mueller,   Doyle Brunson,   Michael Mizrachi,   Eugene Todd,   Thomas Wahlroos,   Jeff Madsen,   Chad Batista,   Thomas Preston