John Juanda Poker Tournament Updates

Official Final Table Begins for Event No. 38 ($2,500 Four-Handed No-Limit Hold'em)

Jun 23, '13

The final table of Event No. 38 ($2,500 Four-Handed No-Limit Hold’em) has begun, and Card Player will be posting level-by-level updates with all major hands, current chip counts, and prize payouts.

With the eliminations of John Juanda in fifth place and David Pham in fourth place on the same hand (see hand below), the official final table is now set. Play will begin in Level 23 with blinds of 8,000-16,000 with a 2,000 ante, and action will continue until a winner is determined. Play may be extended an additional day if it takes more than 10 levels to reach a winner as noted on the official structure sheet. With cards now back in the air, here is a look at the final table and how these players stack up:

Seat 1: Justin Oliver – 1,140,000
Seat 2: Jared Jaffee – 534,000
Seat 3: Nick Schwarmann – 2,587,000

While only 3 remain, this event attracted 566 players, creating a total prize pool of $1,287,650, and the top 64 players made the money. Here is a look at the final table payouts:

1st Place: $309,071
2nd Place: $191,434
3rd Place: $129,447
4th Place: $89,736

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

John Juanda Eliminated in Fifth Place ($54,770) — David Pham Eliminated in Fourth Place ($89,736)

Nick Schwarmann raised to 32,000 preflop and David Pham called. John Juanda also called and the flop was dealt Q43. Juanda checked and Schwarmann bet 43,000. Pham called and Juanda raised all in. Schwarmann called and Pham called all in. The three players then flipped over their cards.

Schwarmann: A7
Pham: KJ
Juanda: Q2

Turn and River: 53

The river gave Schwarmann the nut flush and he busted Pham in fourth place and Juanda in fifth place, meaning that the official final table would begin with just three players.

Player Tags: David Pham,   John Juanda

Level 21 Update: John Juanda Eliminated in 6th Place ($41,270)

Jul 07, '12

Level: 21

Blinds: 8,000-16,000 with a 4,000 ante

Players Remaining: 5 out of 101

Average Chip Count: 606,000

Chip Counts:

Seat no. 1 — George Danzer — 680,000

Seat no. 3 — Nick Schulman — 1,200,000

Seat no. 5 — Ashton Griffin — 720,000
Seat no. 6 — Mike Wattel — 235,000
Seat no. 7 — Benjamin Parker — 220,000

Players Eliminated:

John Juanda — 6th Place ($41,270)

Live Updates:

John Juanda Eliminated in 6th Place ($41,270)

John Juanda moved all in before the draw for just under 200,000 from middle position, and Ashton Griffin moved all in over the top from the button without any action.

Draw: Juanda drew 1 card while Griffin stood pat.

Griffin: 3 – 4 – 7 – 10 – J

Juanda was drawing live but bricked with a king and was eliminated in 6th place ($41,270). Griffin ended the hand second in chips with just over 700,000.

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: John Juanda,   Ashton Griffin

Action Begins, Final Table Now Underway

Jul 07, '12

The final table of Event no. 60 ($10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball) is now underway, and Card Player will be posting level-by-level updates with all of the action, current chip counts, and prize distributions.

Day 3 began with 10 players spread out over 2 tables, and with the elimination of Ali Eslami in 8th Place ($26,004), the final table is now set. Play will begin in Level 20, 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 — George Danzer — 261,000
Seat no. 2 — John Juanda — 371,000
Seat no. 3 — Nick Schulman — 979,000
Seat no. 4 — Bob Bright — 38,000
Seat no. 5 — Ashton Griffin — 596,000
Seat no. 6 — Mike Wattel — 477,000
Seat no. 7 — Benjamin Parker — 313,000

While only 7 remain, this event gathered 101 players, creating a total prize pool of $949,400. Here is a look at the final payouts:

1st Place — $294,321
2nd Place — $181,886
3rd Place — $115,295
4th Place — $78,088
5th Place — $55,482
6th Place — $41,270
7th Place — $32,080

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: John Juanda,   Michael Wattel,   Ali Eslami,   Nick Schulman,   George Danzer,   Bob Bright,   Ashton Griffin,   Benjamin Parker

Level One Update: Nelly Getting Low in Chips

Jul 10, '11

NOTE: Levels are two hours in length and players are starting with 30,000 in chips. Registration will remain open until the end of the second level.

Players on Day 1D: Approximately 2,500

Blinds: 50-100

Notables Remaining:

Card Player Chip Counts:

Jeff Shulman — 30,000

Featured Poker Tweets — Jeff Shulman

Notables Eliminated This Level:

NONE

Hands:

Nelly Takes a Hit Early

The board read A 6 5 7 when UTG bet 1,250 and Nelly raised to 3,400. UTG reraised all in for 13,275 and Nelly made the call. Their cards:

Nelly: A 7
UTG: 6 6

River: Q

UTG won the hand and Nelly saw his stack fall to less than 10,000 during level one.

Juanda vs. Gold

Early position raised 250 preflop and Jamie Gold in the small blind. John Juanda then raised to 1,000 and early position mucked but Gold made the call. The flop fell 9 7 6 and Gold checked. Juanda bet 1,500 and Gold made the call.

The turn fell 2 and Gold bet 2,000. Juanda made the call and the river brought a brick, which both players checked. Gold then flipped over pocket jacks but Juanda showed down pocket queens. Juanda was about 5,000 above his starting stack of 30,000 after the hand and Gold was 5,000 below.

Featured Poker Tweets — Donkey Watch with Matt Stout

Card Player TV

Player Tags: Jeff Shulman,   John Juanda,   Jamie Gold,   Matt Stout

Level 25: Juanda Denied Second Bracelet of Summer, Out in 6th ($42,897)

Jun 16, '11

NOTE: Sixty minute levels with games changing every eight hands.

Limits: 25,000-50,000

Triple Draw 2-7 – Hold’em – Omaha 8:
Blinds: 12,000-25,000

Razz – Stud – Stud 8:
Ante: 5,000
Bring In: 7,000
Completion: 25,000

Players Remaining: 5 out of 489

Average Chip Count: 733,500

Chip Counts:

1. Michele Limongi – 1,205,000
2. John Monnette – 1,095,000
3. Eric Buchman – 1,075,000
4. Desmond Portano – 270,000
5. Brent Hanks – 71,000

Eliminations:

6th. John Juanda – $42,897

John Juanda Eliminated in 6th Place ($42,897)
Limit Hold’em

Eric Buchman raised from the small blind, John Juanda three-bet all in from the big blind and Buchman called.

Juanda turned over K 2 and was ahead of Buchman’s 8 6.

The board came A 9 7 10 6, giving Buchman a straight on the river. John Juanda was denied his second bracelet of the summer as he was eliminated in 6th place ($42,897).

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Eric Buchman

Level 23: Geyer Eliminated 9th, Final Table Now Underway

Jun 15, '11

NOTE: Play ended last night with 25 players in accordance with the ten-level rule and resumed at 3:00pm. With the elimination of Adam Geyer in 9th place ($19,268), the official eight-handed final table is now underway.

NOTE: Sixty minute levels with games changing every eight hands.

Limits: 15,000-30,000

Triple Draw 2-7 – Hold’em – Omaha 8:
Blinds: 8,000-15,000

Razz – Stud – Stud 8:
Ante: 3,000
Bring In: 5,000
Completion: 15,000

Players Remaining: 8 out of 489

Average Chip Count: 458,437

Chip Counts:

1. Eric Buchman – 1,045,000
2. John Monnette – 990,000
3. John Racener – 380,000
4. Michele Limongi – 315,000
5. Desmond Portano – 310,000
6. Adam Kornuth – 245,000
7. John Juanda – 280,000
8. Brent Hanks – 190,000

Payouts:

1st. $278,144
2nd. $171,855
3rd. $109,245
4th. $78,774
5th. $57,692
6th. $42,897
7th. $32,373
8th. $24,797

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Desmond Portano,   Eric Buchman,   John Monnette,   Brent Hanks,   John Racener,   Michele Limongi,   Adam Kornuth

John Juanda Wins Event #16 ($367,170)

Jun 12, '11

Phil Hellmuth Eliminated in 2nd Place ($226,907)

Level 26 didn’t last very long as Phil Hellmuth began the round with just about 1 million in chips to John Juanda’s 2.8 million. He lost nearly half his stack right out of the gate when Juanda drew one card to a ten-low and it wasn’t long after that he was all in from the button for 550,000 (10.5 BBs) when Juanda called from the big blind.

Hellmuth stood pat with Q – 10 – 8 – 5 – 2 for a queen-low while Juanda drew one card with J – 6 – 3 – 2. Juanda dew an 8 and made a jack-low on the final hand of the evening, denying Phil Hellmuth his record-breaking 12th WSOP gold bracelet and what would have been his first in a variety of game other than hold’em.

Phil Hellmuth was eliminated in 2nd place ($226,907) while John Juanda went on to capture his 5th gold bracelet and the grand prize of $367,170 for winning Event #16.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Phil Hellmuth

Level 25: Juanda Back On Top

Jun 12, '11

Blinds: 20,000-40,000 with a 10,000 ante

Players Remaining: 2 out of 126

Average Chip Count: 1,890,000

Chip Counts:

1. John Juanda – 2,800,000
2. Phil Hellmuth – 1,000,000

Juanda Steals Lead With Aggressive Style

John Juanda began this level on the short stack with 1.7 million to Phil Hellmuth’s 2.4 million. He picked up a few chips with some early aggression and brought the two players back to even.

A few hands later and Hellmuth fired back by shoving over the top of Junada’s three-bet and once again started to put some distance back between the two. Juanda evened things out again after wining a pot with a pat-nine against Hellmuth’s pat-jack. This type of back and forth movement went on for a while until Juanda started raising Hellmuth off of hands again, and one in particular that caused Hellmuth to lay down a smooth-ten after the draw to a 400,000 reraise. Juanda pulled out in front this hand with about 2.5 million to Hellmuth’s 1.3 million, putting Hellmuth a bit off his game and more than a million chips in the red.

Juanda continued to play back at Hellmuth, eventually whittling him down to just about 1 million in chips to Juand’a 2.8 million.

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Phil Hellmuth

Level 24: Hellmuth Gives Up Chip Lead, Gets It Back

Jun 11, '11

Blinds: 15,000-30,000 with a 7,000 ante

Players Remaining: 2 out of 126

Average Chip Count: 1,890,000

Chip Counts:

1. Phil Hellmuth – 2,100,000
2. John Juanda – 1,700,000

Juanda Takes The Chip Lead From Hellmuth

Juanda started Level 24 with a slight chip disadvantages but managed to even out the stacks after winning a 400,000+ pot by drawing one card to a ten-low. From there he picked up some momentum and took the chip lead himself for the first time after raking a 1.2 million pot with a pat-ten. Juanda was now ahead with 2.6 million to Hellmuth’s 1.2 million.

As soon as Juanda claimed the chip lead, he put it to good use with some very aggressive open-raising and three-bet shoving to widen the gap between Hellmuth and himself.

Hellmuth Doubles Up, Back in the Lead

Hellmuth came back from the dinner break with the chip lead but saw it quickly fade away. After losing the chip lead to Juanda and faced with some pretty relentless aggression, Hellmuth was down to his last million or so when he took a stand on this hand, doubling up for a slight chip lead once again.

Phil Hellmuth button-raised to 60,000, John Juanda three-bet shoved and Hellmuth called all in for 946,000.

Both players stood pat. Hellmuth showed 10 – 8 – 5 – 3 – 2 against Juanda’s J – 10 – 6 – 5 – 2. Hellmuth doubled up to 1.95 million this hand, reclaiming the chip lead against Juanda’s 1.85 million. Hellmuth continued to run good this level and managed to extend his lead by the time the players went on break.

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Phil Hellmuth

Level 23: Hellmuth Leads Juanda Heads-Up; Ashby 3rd

Jun 11, '11

Blinds: 12,000-24,000 with a 6,000 ante

Players Remaining: 2 out of 126

Average Chip Count: 1,890,000

Chip Counts:

1. Phil Hellmuth – 2,200,000
2. John Juanda – 1,600,000

Eliminations:

3rd. Richard Ashby – $143,833

Richard Ashby Eliminated in 3rd Place ($143,833)

Shortly after returning from the dinner break, John Juanda doubled through Richard Ashby after getting it all in with 10 – 5 – 4 – 2 against Ashby’s 10 – 5 – 4 – 3. Both players drew one card each. Juanda drew a 6 for a made ten-low while Ashby paired his three. Juanda doubled up, leaving Ashby on the short stack with just about 200,000. Ashby got it all in shortly after in this final hand of his tournament.

Richard Ashby open-shoved the short stack for around 200,000 from the small blind and Phil Hellmuth called from the big blind.

Hellmuth was ahead before the draw with 8 – 6 – 3 – 2 against Ashby’s Q – 10 – 4 – 3.

Hellmuth drew a 10 for a made ten-low while Ashby drew a 6 for a queen-high. Richard Ashby was eliminated in 3rd place ($143,833).

NOTE: With the elimination of Richard Ashby in 3rd place ($143,833), heads-up play began shortly thereafter. Phil Hellmuth led going into the final match with roughly 2.8 million to John Juanda’s 1 million.

Juanda Gets Even

John Juanda came back from the dinner break as the short stack and doubled through Richard Ashby early on. Hellmuth finished him shortly after and took a 2.8 million to 1 million chip lead against Juanda to the final match. Hellmuth managed to chip away at Juanda’s stack a few times, but Juanda bounced back, finally chipping up to about even after raking a big pot with a pat-jack.

Hellmuth however managed to once again widen his lead with some aggressive pre-draw raising, ending the level with roughly 2.2 million to Juanda’s 1.6 million.

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Phil Hellmuth,   Richard Ashby

Level 22: Hellmuth Leads On Dinner Break; Sung 4th, Schulman 5th, Baker 6th

Jun 11, '11

NOTE: The remaining three players went on a one hour dinner break at the conclusion of Level 22, and will return at approximately 9:00pm to resume play.

Blinds: 10,000-20,000 with a 5,000 ante

Players Remaining: 3 out of 126

Average Chip Count: 1,260,000

Chip Counts:

1. Phill Hellmuth – 2,662,000
2. Richard Ashby – 700,000
3. John Juanda – 409,000

Eliminations:

4th. Steve Sung – $97,416
5th. Nick Schulman – $69,216
6th. David Baker – $51,485

Defending Champion David Baker Eliminated in 6th Place ($51,485)

Defending Champion David Baker had a tough level. He started the level as one of the short stacks and cemented that role about halfway through the level after doubling up Steve Sung when Sung stood pat with a J – 7 and Baker drew one, pairing eights with 8 – 4 – 3 – 2.

Baker was down to less than full big blind after that hand and found some relief in a quick quadruple up after drawing a 10 – 7 low against Richard Ashby’s J -10 in a four-way pot. Soon thereafter and David Baker would get it all in again against Steve Sung, Sung getting the best of it again.

Steve Sung raised to 50,000 before the draw, David Baker moved all in for about 10,000 more and both Phil Hellmuth and Sung called the raise.

Sung and Baker each drew one card while Hellmuth drew two. Hellmuth bet 50,000 at the side pot and Sung folded.

Hellmuth showed 10 – 9 – 8 – 3 – 2 while baker showed 9 – 7 – 5 – 4 – A. Hellmuth raked the pot with a ten-low and the defending champion, David Baker was eliminated in 6th place ($51,485).

Nick Schulman Eliminated in 5th Place ($69,216)

Nick Schulman raised to 50,000 before the draw, Phil Hellmuth raised to 340,000 and Schulman called all in for around 250,000.

Hellmuth stood pat with J – 6 – 5 – 4 – 2 while Schulman drew one card with 8 – 6 – 4 – 2. Schulman drew another 8, pairing his hand, and was eliminated in 5th place ($69,216) while Hellmuth secured a monster chiplead with 2.4 million.

Steve Sung Eliminated in 4th Place ($97,416)

John Juanda raised to 52,000 from under the gun, Steve Sung moved all in for 270,000 from the small blind and Juanda called.

Sung stood pat with J – 9 – 7 – 6 – 3 while Juanda drew one card with 10 – 6 – 4 – 3. Juanda turned over a five for a made ten-low and Steve Sung was eliminated in 4th place ($97,416).

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Phil Hellmuth,   Richard Ashby,   Steve Sung,   Nick Schulman,   David Baker

Level 20: Raymer Eliminated 9th, Unofficial Final Table Now Underway

Jun 11, '11

NOTE: Play ended last night with 9 players spread out over two tables and resumed today at 3:00pm. John Juanda started the day as the short stack and managed to double up through Greg Raymer early on with a pat 9 against Raymer’s pat 10. Juanda then made a run at the chip lead amassing over 500,000 at one point before surrendering a huge pot to Richard Ashby which put Ashby on top and dropped Juanda down to about 350,000.

Raymer on the other hand wouldn’t be so lucky as he was eliminated in 9th place ($27,928) after Raymer paired jacks against Juanda’s made ten. With Raymer’s 9th place elimination, the final eight players have consolidated to one table where one more player will need to be eliminated before the official seven-handed final table is set.

Blinds: 6,000-12,000 with a 3,000 ante

Players Remaining: 8 out of 126

Average Chip Count: 472,500

Chip Counts:

1. Richard Ashby – 835,000
2. Joe Cassidy – 530,000
3. Hasan Habib – 475,000
4. John Juanda – 475,000
5. Steve Sung – 420,000
6. Phil Hellmuth – 400,000
7. David Baker – 370,000
8. Nick Schulman – 295,000

Payouts:

1st. $367,170
2nd. $226,907
3rd. $143,833
4th. $97,416
5th. $69,216
6th. $51,485
7th. $40,020
8th. $32,440

Eliminations:

9th. Greg Raymer – $27,928

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates until a champion is crowned.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Hasan Habib,   Phil Hellmuth,   Joe Cassidy,   Greg Raymer,   Richard Ashby,   Steve Sung,   David Baker

Day 1 Ends

Jun 01, '11

John Juanda has defeated Kenny Tran in the final match on day 1 of the $25,000 heads-up no-limit hold’em championship and secured a spot among the final 32 players. With the conclusion of this marathon match day 1 has come to a close.

Play will resume at 3 p.m. tomorrow for day 2 and Card Player will bring you more hourly updates from the Amazon Room at that time. Stay tuned tonight for a recap of the day’s events and a full listing of tomorrow’s table draw.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Kenny Tran

Round Three: Hour One – Slow Start to Round of 32 Matches with More Chips in Play

Jun 01, '11

NOTE: Three blind levels will be played each hour, as each is just 20 minutes long. The only difference in round 3 is that the blinds begin at 600-1,200.

Players Remaining: 32 out of 128

Starting Stacks: 300,000 broken up into three chances — meaning that the players started with 100,000 and had 200,000 additional on the side that they could add on at anytime before a hand. If their additional chips were not in play when a hand begins, those chips couldn’t be used to wager with.

Ongoing Matches:

David Benyamine vs. Anthony Guetti
Chris Moorman vs. Richard Lyndaker
Dani Stern vs. Jake Cody
Isaac Haxton vs. Jonathan Jaffe

Ashton Griffin vs. Tom Dwan
Daniel Alaei vs. Gus Hansen
Steve Blilirakis vs. Trevor Pope
Matt Marafioti vs. Maxim Lykov

Eric Froehlich vs. Steve Zolotow
John Duthie vs. Carlos Mortenson
Jason Smirnov vs. Darren Elias
Erik Cajelais vs. Nikolay Evdakov

Yevgeniy Timshenko vs. Amritraj Singh
Oliver Busquet vs. Andrew Robl
Kunimaro Kojo vs. Nick Schulman
David Paredes vs. John Juanda

Eliminations:

NONE

Key Hands:

Hansen vs. Alaei

There was 10,000 in the pot and a board of 6 5 3 A sat on the table when Daniel Alaei bet 7,500 from the small blind. Hansen went into the tank for a minute and eventually tossed in the chips for the call. The 6 fell on the river and Alaei checked. Hansen bet 22,200 and Alaei made the call after some thought. Alaei revealed K 3 and Hansen mucked the 10 face up. Alaei took the lead in their match after the hand.

Juanda Down to his Final 100,000

John Juanda moved all in on a 8 4 3 A board with 10 8 in the hole but unfortunately for him David Paredes was waiting to make the call with J 8. His dominant hand faded the river and he won the pot, forcing Juanda to reach for his final 100,000 to reload.

Lykov vs. Marafioti Match Heating Up

The most interesting match at the start of day 2 so far has been between Matt Marafioti and Maxim Lykov. The two have been jousting early and often and that hasn’t gone so well for Lykov, who is currently out of rebuy chips.

In perhaps the largest confrontation between the two so far, Lykov bet 3,500 from the button preflop and Marafioti raised to 10,500. Lykov then reraised all in and Marafioti made the call to cover him. Their cards:

Lykov: 4 4
Marafioti: K K

Board: 7 5 4 K 9

Marafioti won the seesaw hand thanks to the king on the turn and Lykov was forced to reload after the hand.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Gus Hansen,   Daniel Alaei,   David Paredes,   Maxim Lykov,   Matthew Marafioti

Day 1 Ends

Jun 01, '11

John Juanda has defeated Kenny Tran in the final match on day 1 of the $25,000 heads-up no-limit hold’em championship and secured a spot among the final 32 players. With the conclusion of this marathon match day 1 has come to a close.

Play will resume at 3 p.m. tomorrow for day 2 and Card Player will bring you more hourly updates from the Amazon Room at that time. Stay tuned tonight for a recap of the day’s events and a full listing of tomorrow’s table draw.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Kenny Tran

Round Three: Hour One – Slow Start to Round of 32 Matches with More Chips in Play

Jun 01, '11

NOTE: Three blind levels will be played each hour, as each is just 20 minutes long. The only difference in round 3 is that the blinds begin at 600-1,200.

Players Remaining: 32 out of 128

Starting Stacks: 300,000 broken up into three chances — meaning that the players started with 100,000 and had 200,000 additional on the side that they could add on at anytime before a hand. If their additional chips were not in play when a hand begins, those chips couldn’t be used to wager with.

Ongoing Matches:

David Benyamine vs. Anthony Guetti
Chris Moorman vs. Richard Lyndaker
Dani Stern vs. Jake Cody
Isaac Haxton vs. Jonathan Jaffe

Ashton Griffin vs. Tom Dwan
Daniel Alaei vs. Gus Hansen
Steve Blilirakis vs. Trevor Pope
Matt Marafioti vs. Maxim Lykov

Eric Froehlich vs. Steve Zolotow
John Duthie vs. Carlos Mortenson
Jason Smirnov vs. Darren Elias
Erik Cajelais vs. Nikolay Evdakov

Yevgeniy Timshenko vs. Amritraj Singh
Oliver Busquet vs. Andrew Robl
Kunimaro Kojo vs. Nick Schulman
David Paredes vs. John Juanda

Eliminations:

NONE

Key Hands:

Hansen vs. Alaei

There was 10,000 in the pot and a board of 6 5 3 A sat on the table when Daniel Alaei bet 7,500 from the small blind. Hansen went into the tank for a minute and eventually tossed in the chips for the call. The 6 fell on the river and Alaei checked. Hansen bet 22,200 and Alaei made the call after some thought. Alaei revealed K 3 and Hansen mucked the 10 face up. Alaei took the lead in their match after the hand.

Juanda Down to his Final 100,000

John Juanda moved all in on a 8 4 3 A board with 10 8 in the hole but unfortunately for him David Paredes was waiting to make the call with J 8. His dominant hand faded the river and he won the pot, forcing Juanda to reach for his final 100,000 to reload.

Lykov vs. Marafioti Match Heating Up

The most interesting match at the start of day 2 so far has been between Matt Marafioti and Maxim Lykov. The two have been jousting early and often and that hasn’t gone so well for Lykov, who is currently out of rebuy chips.

In perhaps the largest confrontation between the two so far, Lykov bet 3,500 from the button preflop and Marafioti raised to 10,500. Lykov then reraised all in and Marafioti made the call to cover him. Their cards:

Lykov: 4 4
Marafioti: K K

Board: 7 5 4 K 9

Marafioti won the seesaw hand thanks to the king on the turn and Lykov was forced to reload after the hand.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Gus Hansen,   Daniel Alaei,   David Paredes,   Maxim Lykov,   Matthew Marafioti

Andy Bloch Defeats John Juanda

Mar 04, '11

John Juanda and Andy Bloch battled in a back and forth match that saw several lead changes. Ultimately, it was Andy Bloch who took it down.

Juanda was all in holding QJ and called by Bloch’s K2. The board rolled out K87Q8 and Juanda was eliminated.

Bloch will now face Jason Mercier in the round of 32.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Andy Bloch

John Juanda Eliminated

Jan 26, '11

John Juanda was all in preflop on the button against Tony Bloom on the small blind. Their cards:

Juanda: Q 4
Bloom: 9 9

Board: 10 6 3 2 7

Junada was eliminated on the hand and Bloom continues to grow his stack. He now holds more than 400,000.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Tony Bloom

John Juanda Doubles Up

Jan 26, '11

John Juanda got the last of his chips into the middle preflop and Chris Ferguson made the call. Their cards:

Juanda: K K
Ferguson: Q Q

Board: J 2 2 2 A

Juanda doubled up to more than 300,000 after the hand and Ferguson dropped down close to 100,000.

Player Tags: Chris Ferguson,   John Juanda

John Juanda Eliminated

Jan 22, '11

John Juanda moved all in preflop and Justin Smith made the call. Their cards:

Juanda: A J
Smith: A K

Board: K 4 2 10 5

Smith won the hand with a pair of kings and the field edged down to the final three tables.

Player Tags: John Juanda,   Justin Smith