$1,500 No Limit Hold'em - Day 2 - Level 18
Jun 02, '08
Note: There was an unscheduled 10-minute break during this level for reasons that will be explained later in this update...
Blinds/Antes: 6,000/12,000 – 1,000 ante
Players Left: 31 of 3929
Chip Leaders:
Theo Tran - 1,345,000
Aaron Coulthard - 1,150,000
Joshua Engerdahl - 1,080,000
Joe Rutledge - 860,000
Pia Jeppesen - 750,000
Matthew Kearney - 650,000
Melvin Jones - 590,000
Chris Ferguson - 506,000
James Akenhead - 502,000
Perry Friedman - 404,000
Average Stack: 380,000
Eliminations:
Nadim Shabou
Cesar Flores
David Robertson
Scott Montgomery
Big Hands and Storylines:
Raise, Raise, All-In, All-In
Maybe the late hour is starting to make players antsy: Perry Friedman opened the pot to 35,000, and Frank Sinopoli raised behind him to 90,000. The player to Sinopoli’s left, David Robertson, then moved his stack of about 75,000 into the pot, and after that Elia Ahmadian, one seat to Robertson’s left, shipped his last 100,000 into the middle. Friedman folded, but Sinopoli made the call and the players showed:
Ahmadian: A
A
Robertson: A
Q
Sinopoli: TT
The board came ragged: 7
6428 and Ahmadian’s rockets boosted him to 300,000. Sinopoli took a hit and is down to 200,000, and Robertson can finally get some sleep.
Engerdahl Takes Off
Josh Engerdahl raised three times the blinds from late position and Cesar Flores made a massive raise to 400,000. Action folded back around to Engerdahl who look dismayed as he called and turned over AK. He was in tremendous shape, however, as Flores was caught making a move with AJ. The board, Q88T4, didn’t change a thing and Engerdahl’s stack grew to 900,000. After the hand Flores told Engerdahl, “I put you on a steal.”
The very next hand Engerdahl continued his winning ways, tangling with fellow chip leader Pia Jeppesen. Engerdahl again raised from late position to 36,000 and was met by a raise to 105,000 from Jeppesen in the small blind. Undeterred, Engerdahl put in another raise to 300,000 total. Jeppesen did not think too long before folding her hand, conceding the pot. Engerdahl now sits near the chip lead with over a million.
Slow and Steady Nguyen Wins Race (Okay, Not Quite a Race)
Minh Nguyen tossed his final 150,000 chips into the middle from late position and was called by Evan McNiff. Nguyen’s A2 was in bad shape against McNiff’s JJ. The flop KQT left Nguyen drawing to only two outs. The 2 was about the best card McNiff could have hoped for on the turn, but the river was a killer: J. Minh Nguyen, despite not showing down very many hands today, is now up to 300,000.
Tran Busts Montgomery
Theo Tran got caught stealing against Scott Montgomery. Tran's T9 was in dire straits against Montgomery's pocket aces. The flop came with three hearts, however, and Montgomery, without the ace of hearts, was drawing close to dead. The turn and river gave Montgomery no aid, and he was eliminated in 30th place. Tran is now the clear chipleader with close to 1,400,000 chips.
Wiedenhoeft Wins More Than He Bargained For
Steve Chu raised under-the-gun to 50,000 and Jeff Wiedenhoeft made it 100,000 to go from the button. Chu took the bait and re-raised all-in for 10,000 more. He was immediately called by Wiedenhoeft who flipped over AA, crushing Chu’s AQ. Wiedenhoeft’s aces held up on a board of KJ456, but the action was only beginning. While raking in his chips indiscriminately, Wiedenhoeft somehow managed to confuse the pot with neighbor Thomas Fuller’s chips. By the time Fuller returned from his seat, his stack was about 250,000 chips lighter. To remedy the situation, the powers-that-be decided to take a short break and sort the situation out. Everything was eventually settled, but as a result of this stoppage the next break will only last 10 minutes.
Player Tags: Frank Sinopoli, Minh Nguyen, Perry Friedman, Elia Ahmadian, Theo Tran, Scott Montgomery, Evan McNiff, Joshua Engerdahl, European Report
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em - Day 2 - Level 17
Jun 02, '08
Note: There was a short delay prior to level 17 due to a "surveillance issue". In addition, the players will continue playing until only 9 remain no matter how long it takes. The final table will commence ten hours after we reach 9 players.
Blinds/Antes: 5,000/10,000 – 1,000 ante
Players Left: 45 of 3929
Chip Leaders:
Pia Jeppesen - 825,000
Aaron Coulthard - 660,000
Matthew Kearney - 650,000
Theo Tran - 596,500
Melvin Jones - 590,000
Perry Friedman - 520,000
Ryan D'Angelo - 403,500
Allan Puzontyan - 400,000
Joe Rutledge - 350,000
Joshua Engerdahl - 338,000
Average Stack: 262,000
Eliminations:
Lars Bonding
Big Hands and Storylines:
8 (Outs) Is Enough
Matthew Kearney raised the cutoff to 25,000 and Ryan D’Angelo three-bet to 56,000 on the button. Kearney flat-called with 170,000 behind and the two saw a flop of KTT. Kearney shoved his remaining stack into the pot and was insta-called by D’Angelo. The two revealed their cards:
D’Angelo: AK
Kearney: QJ
D’Angelo had top pair, top kicker and Kearney was left drawing to 8 outs. It didn’t take long for one of those outs to come though, as the turn brought the 9. The river 4 couldn’t help fill D’Angelo and a 450,000 pot was shipped to Kearney. D’Angelo, once the chip leader, now stands at 230,000.
Engerdahl Slowplays to Perfection
Joe Rutledge raised from middle position to 35,000 and was flat-called on the button by Josh Engerdahl. Hutchinson shoved over the top for a bit more and was called by Rutledge. Engerdahl then moved all-in for about 105,000 total and gets a pot-committed call from Rutledge. The three show:
Engerdahl: AA
Hutchinson: A-Q
Rutledge: K9
The board came ten high and Engerdahl scooped a 350,000 pot. Hutchinson was eliminated on the hand and Rutledge was left with 150,000.
The Return of Rutledge
Only an orbit later, Joe Rutledge was on the brink of elimination, with his KK all-in pre-flop against Scott Einiger’s AA. Rutledge let out a cry of ecstasy when the K showed up in the door. The rest of the board, 53QJ, could not help Einiger, and the pot went to Rutledge. After the hand, Rutledge was back up to 400,000 and Einiger was down to 170,000.
Jeppesen Finishes the Job
Einiger raised pre-flop to 40,000 and Jeppesen three-bet behind him to 100,000. Surprisingly (or maybe not) Einiger called with only 40,000 behind. On the 533 flop, Einiger moved his final chips into the pot and the Dane quickly called. Einiger’s A8 was dominated by Jeppesen’s AQ. The turn came Q and the river 7, and Einiger’s tournament is through. Jeppesen extended her chip lead, and now has over 800,000.
Player Tags: Perry Friedman, Joe Rutledge, Theo Tran, Ryan D'Angelo, Joshua Engerdahl, European Report
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em - Day 2 - Level 12
Jun 02, '08
Note: The players are now on a 60-minute dinner break.
Blinds/Antes: 1000-2000, 300 ante
Players Left: 152 of 3,932
Chip Leaders:
David Bach - 288,000
Ryan D'Angelo - 237,000
Johannes Strassmann – 185,000
John Carlson - 184,000
Pat White - 175,000
Evan McNiff - 175,000
Sean Ferrer - 166,000
Josh Engerdahl – 160,000
Michael Ium - 152,000
John Phan - 150,000
Allan Puzontyan - 145,000
Brian Haas – 140,000
Average Stack: 56,942
Big hands and Storylines:
Strassmann’s Queens Hold
After a barrage of raising pre-flop, Johannes Strassmann found his QQ all-in pre-flop against his opponents’ 88and AK. The board rolled out J7J39 and the young German raked in a massive 185,000 chip pot.
Kanter Granted a Reprieve
Aaron Kanter put his last 28,000 chips into the pot and found himself racing:
Kanter: AQ
JL Velador: 99
The flop of J77 put Velador at ease, as did the J on the turn. The A on the river, however, brought Velador back down to earth, and his stack down to 16,000. Kanter now has 61,000 chips at his disposal.
Engerdahl Makes Himself Known
An early position player raised to 2,600 and Todd “Dan Druff” Witteles called from the cutoff. Josh Engerdahl, sitting on a big stack, raised it up to 20,000 from the button, eliciting folds from both the initial raiser and Witteles. The young Canadian Engerdahl now sits at around 160,000 chips.
Player Tags: John Phan, Aaron Kanter, Todd Witteles, Johannes Strassmann, Joshua Engerdahl, European Report
