Kenna James Poker Tournament Updates

No Limit Hold 'Em Level 3

Jun 21, '08

Players are now back from break.

Blinds: 100-200

Eliminations: Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda, Katthy Liebert

Players Remaining: 1,560-2,720

Chip Leaders:

Scott Clements: 17,500
Erick Lindgren: 17,000
Maureen Feduniak: 15,200
Steve O'Dwyer: 14,000
Jeff Williams: 13,800
David Williams: 11,500
Mark Seif: 11,000
Bill Chen: 10,000
Joe Tehan: 9,500
Grant Hinkle: 9,500

Big Hands:

Phan Eliminated

Young Phan was eliminated after he went all in from the big blind over the top of an under the gun raise. "Of course you call, you have two queens," said Phan, who tabled AK. In reality, he was in worse shape than that, as his opponent revealed AA. The board ran out J63K9, and Phan's day was done.

James Begs For Call

The under the gun player made it 600 to go and the player two seats to his left raised to 2,000. The action folded around to Kenna James on the big blind, who decided to move all in for 3,400 more. "C'mon," taunted James, "I gave you 3,000." Ultimately his opponent chose to fold, showing AJ before tossing them into the muck.

Grindin'

Michael Mizrachi decided to risk his last 625 chips after an early position player moved all in for 1,250. Mizrachi was in the lead with 55 against the A6. The board ran out QJ3Q3 and Mizrachi's pair held. He was at 1,500 after the hand.

Player Tags: Young Phan,   Kenna James,   Michael Mizrachi

$1,500 NL - Level 3

Jun 19, '08

Blinds: 100-200

Players Remaining: 1,640 of 2,447

Chip Counts:

Average Chip Stack: 4,476

Eliminations: Kathy Liebert

Big Hands:

John Phan Busts

John Phan got all in preflop with KJ against his opponent's A8. The board ran Q-7-4-Q-A and Phan was eliminated.

Chan Doubles an Opponent

On a board of K76, Johnny Chan called a short stack's all in bet for a little over a thousand. The all in player showed 1010 and Chan showed he had many outs with his QJ. However, the turn took away some of those outs, coming 10 and the river bricked, coming 5. Chan's opponent doubled up and Chan saw his stack decrease to around 2,500.

"Oh Come On," James Crippled

Kenna James jokingly said, "Oh come on," when the player on the button reached to put in a raise to 600. But James made the call and both players checked the A53 flop. On the 7 turn the button bet 500 and James made the call. The river brought the 2 and James checked. When the button bet 700, James checkraised to 2,100 - nearly enough to put the button all in. After thinking it over the button shrugged and made the call, and it turned out to be a good one. He showed A9 and James mucked his hand.

Several hands later James moved over seat 8's raise all in preflop and was called by the player8. James sheepishly turned over A-8 but was ahead of his opponent's K-Q. However, the board ran Q-J-6-10-9 to give seat 8 a higher straight and the double up. James was down to around 1,500 after the hand.

Lindgren Gets a Caller

In a limped battle of the blinds, Erick Lindgren checked from the big blind and the flop came J72. Both players checked and again checked the 8 turn. On the A river Lindgren bet out 300. His opponent smiled and thought for a moment then called. Lindgren showed A6 for a pair of aces and took the pot.

Kathy Liebert Eliminated

The player in seat 10 raised to 250 from the cutoff and Kathy Liebert called from the big bling. The flop came 752, and seat 10 bet 1,200. Liebert started counting and then recounting her chips. She told her opponent, "I'm just trying to decide if I want to go all in now or wait until the turn." Then she deicded the flop would be best, coming over the top and moving all in. Seat 10 called anf both players turned over their cards.

Liebert: 66
Seat 10: KK

Liebert was behind on the flop, and neither the turn (5) nor the river (Q) improved her hand. Liebert got up from her chair and exited the tournament room as seat 10 raked a good pot.

Rolf Slotboom Doubles Up

Rolf Slotboom got it all in with KQ on a K106Q4 board. The action and the other player's hand is unknown, we just saw Slotboom raking the pot.

Player Tags: John Phan,   Kathy Liebert,   Erick Lindgren,   Kenna James,   Johnny Chan,   Rolf Slotboom

$1,500 Razz - Level 4

Jun 13, '08

Note: Players have just completed Level 4 and are now on a thirty-minute dinner break. Players will return at approx. 10:00 pm local time to resume play in Level 5.

Blinds/Antes: 25 ante, 50 bring-in, 150 completion
Stakes: 150-300

Players Left: 336 of 453 (official)

Chip Leaders:
Jonathan Schwartz: 9,300
David Bach: 8,900
David Levi: 8,000
Cyndy Violette: 7,000
Steve Wolff: 6,800
Matt Graham: 6,800
Perry Friedman: 6,600
John Hennigan: 6,600
Ted Lawson: 6,200
Annie Duke: 6,100
Average Stack: 4,045

Eliminations: Men Nguyen, Mark Vos

Big Hands:

Nick Schulman Wins Big Heads-Up Pot With Six-Low vs. Seven-Low

Nick Schulman completed to 150 and the player in seat 8 called the raise.

Schulman: 643Q - AJ5
Seat 8: 7435 - X-X-X

Schulman continued to be the aggressor, betting on every street and raising on sixth street after seat 8, first to act made a bet. Seat 8 called Schulman's raise on sixth street and his bet on seventh street, only to muck his seven-low after Schulman turned over a six-low and raked a nice pot. After the hand schulman had climbed up to just about 5,000 in chips.

Kenna James Finally Wins a Pot

Kenna James was involved in a big three-way pot with Russ Salzer and seat 4. James seemd to be the one betting most of the way, Salzer folded on the river while seat 4 called James' bet and looked him up.

James: 7426 - 1084
Seat 4: 5963 - Q73
Salzer: 9639 - fold

James made an eight-low while the best seat 4 could make was a nine-low. The pot was three-handed until the river and James was very happy to take such a nice pot. Apparently James hadn't been running too well up until that point, Salzer said that in one hand Kenna had raised an opponent on fifth street who had already made the wheel. After this hand James was up to just over 4,000 in chips.

Chad Brown Doubles Up

Chad Brown was all in with a board of 7J92A47, making a nine-low on seventh street. Brown's nine was good enough to win the pot, allowing him to double up and make it through the dinner break.

Opponent Puts Read On Ivey

Phil Ivey completed the bet with a deuce and the player in seat 4 called the raise with a different deuce. Ivey took the betting lead from the start, never letting up and continued to bet right through seventh street. Seat 4 raised on 4th street, telling Ivey, "I can beat your pair of aces." Ivey looked a little thrown off and made the call. Seat 4 backed off after Ivey called his raise, once again allowing Ivey to bet his hand. There was a showdown on seventh street.

Ivey: 2AA5 - A103
Seat 4: 24Q4 - 653

Right after seat 4 accused Ivey of having a pair of aces on fourth street, Ivey hit another ace on fifth street. Ivey laughed, still fiiring at the pot. It appeared as though seat 4 was right after Ivey turned up his hand revealing another ace in the hole. Seat 4 made a six-low on the river and raked the pot.

Player Tags: Kenna James,   Phil Ivey,   Russ Salzer,   Nick Schulman

$3K H.O.R.S.E. - Hour One

Jun 11, '08

Blinds/Antes:
Hold'em-Omaha 8: 50-75
Razz-Stud-Stud 8: 25 ante, 25 bring-in, 75 completion

Players: 389

Big Hands:

Hold'em - Kenna James Gets Slowed Played

On a flop of K44, the small blind checked to Kenna James who bet 75, the small blind called. The turn was the 10 and the small blind checked to James who bet 150. The small blind raised (check-raise) to 300 and James hesitated for a minute before calling. The river was the 6 and the small blind led out for 150. James said, "If you have a 4...punish me." as he made the call. The small blind turned over AA and James mucked his hand.  
Omaha 8/b - Jean-Robert Bellande Scoops a Multi-Way Pot

In a six-way limped pot, and on a flop of KQ10, the action got checked around to Jean-Robert Bellande who bet 75 from the cutoff. Victor Ramdin called from the button, Mark Gregorich folded from the small blind, the big blind and seat 6 called. The turn was the 3 and Bellande bet 150. Everyone folded except seat 6 who made the call. The river was the 9 and both players checked. "That was a scary river", said Bellande who turned over KK73 for top set. There was no low hand and Bellande scooped the pot.

Razz - Victor Ramdin Loses a Close One

The player in seat 7 brought it in for 25 and Victor Ramdin completed to 75 with the 5. The player in seat 6 called with the A and seat 7 folded to the raise.

Ramdin: 51086 - A76
Seat 6: A1028 - 975

Victor Ramdin was the aggressor in this pot, betting every single round including seventh street. Seat 6 called him down the whole way, eventually making th best best hand. Ramdin showed an 8-7-6 low while seat 6 turned over the 8-7-5. Ramdin lost a close one there while seat 6 raked a good pot.

Stud - Chip Jett Gets Rivered

Chip Jett completed the door card to 75 and the player in seat 4 raised to 150, Jett called.

Jett:  JQ569 - X-X-X
Seat 4: A6J7 - A75

Seat 4 took the betting lead right down through the river with Jett continuing to call every round. Seat 4 turned over an ace and a seven on the river to make two pair on his board. Jett shook his head and tossed his hand into the muck.

Player Tags: Kenna James,   Chip Jett,   Victor Ramdin,   Mark Gregorich,   Jean-Robert Bellande

Level 1

Jun 06, '08

Blinds/Antes: 25-50 with 50-100 limits

Entrants: Approx. 866

Big Hands:

The Ups and Downs and In-Between's of Limit Hold'em

Before the flop, Kenna James raised it to 100 and received two callers. The flop came Q92. James bet 50 and had one caller. On the turn, James bet and his opponent quickly folded. James tabled A-Q for top pair top kicker, but had no diamond.

On another hand, James made it three bet it to 150 and was called by seat 9. The flop was KK10. James bet 50 and seat 9 raised to 100. James made the call and the turn came 5. James' opponent bet 100 and James folded. He was at 3,500 at that point.

On yet another hand, the board showed A727. A player bet 100 and James made the call. The river brought the K and was checked by the players. James showed AJ while seat 7 showed AJ. They each had two pair with a king kicker and they chopped the pot. James was around 3,750 after that hand.

Two Pair is Good

John Myung called a preflop raise to 100. The flop came 457. Seat 10 bet 50 and Myung popped it to 100. Seat 10 made the call. The turn was the K and Myung bet 100. He was called again. The river was the A and both players checked. Myung showed K7 for two pair and seat 10 mucked. Myung was around 3,900 after the hand.

Boyd Loses One Early

Dutch Boyd called a preflop raise to 100 and saw a flop of K93. Seat 8 bet 50 and Boyd raised it to 100. He was called. The turn was the 10 and both players checked. The 6 on the river was also checked and seat 8 showed 88. Boyd mucked and was down to around 2,700.

Goldberg the Masseuse

Fred Goldberg is sitting at table 18. A massage threrapist walked over to him. She offered him a massage as he was getting up. "I was gonna give you a massage," Goldberg said. Goldberg then gave in, saying "alright" as he turned his chair and sat back down to get a massage.

Player Tags: John Myung,   Kenna James,   Fred Goldberg,   Dutch Boyd

Kenna James Eliminated

Apr 05, '08

Kenna James has busted out of the tournament on day 2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Player Tags: Kenna James

Kenna James Doubles Up

Apr 05, '08

Kenna James just double up on the short stack. Hand is coming soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Player Tags: Kenna James

Shooting Star: Kenna James Eliminated

Mar 10, '08

Kenna James moves all in on the turn with AAQ7 on the board. Thuan Nguyen makes the call and they turn up their hands:

James: K7
Nguyen: A7

Turn and River: 7J

James has busted out of the tournament and Nguyen collects the $5,000 bounty on his head.

Player Tags: Kenna James

Falling Stars

Mar 10, '08

The period after the dinner break has been rough on the shooting stars remaining. After Eirk Seidel hit the rail he was followed by David Pham, Michael Mizrachi, and Kenna James have all made an early exit after dinner. The bounty on their heads is welcoming a lot of action when these players move all in.

 

 

 

 

Player Tags: David Pham,   Kenna James,   Michael Mizrachi

Night Court

Jul 08, '07

Jesus Channels Aces
A player limped in early position and it is folded to Chris "Jesus" Ferguson who raises to $2,000 from the small blind.  The limper makes the call and the flop comes J42.  Jesus checks and the limper bets out $1,000.  Jesus raises to $5,000, and the limper makes the call.  The turn is 6 and Jesus bets out $7,000.  The limper asks the dealer to count the pot, the makes the call.  The river is the 10, Jesus bets out $15,000 and the limper folds.  Jesus then shows AA before he tosses into the muck.

Im ??? James
Overheard from Kenna James to Amnon Filippi after James won a pot, "How long do these guys think they can step on me?  I'm Kenna James....Bitch!"

Insider Info
Melissa Hayden and Chris Ferguson are having quite an interesting conversation regarding pretty much everyone in the poker industry.  So far they have covered topics ranging from Gavin Smith and Joe Sebok's jester prop bet to Mike Matusow's life habits.  Interestingly quiet in the conversation is Robert Varkonyi , who clearly is not in the poker "loop."

Dicken Chips Up

With a board of 10 9 4 7 3 Darrell "GigaBet" Dicken bet $16,000.  His opponent called and mucked when revealed A 10. 

Good Sportsmanship

With so many hands played every day here at the World Series of Poker, bad beats are bound to happen.  When you get all the money in with aces against tens and the board comes down J-9-8-7-2,  its hard to keep your composure.  A surprising amount of players this year have exhibited incredible self control and all around good etiquette after being eliminated.  Perhaps all of the television coverage of players melting down after taking a beat has actually brought about a change for the better, giving players an example of what they don't want to be like.   Whatever the cause, many players this year have learned to take their bad-beat eliminations in stride, and the poker world is better for it.
Notable Chip Counts

Gavin Griffin	128,000
JC Tran	110,000
Tuan Nguyen	102,000
Darrell "Gigabet" Dicken	80,000
Chris Moneymaker	62,000
Allen Cunningham	59,500
Robert Varkonyi	58,000
Steve Dannenmann	54,000
Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson	54,000
Humberto Brenes	47,000
Brad Berman	47,000
Todd Brunson	32,500
Phil Gordon	32,000
Michael DeMichelle	32,000
Toto Leonidas	28,000
Brad Daugherty	19,000

Player Tags: Chris Ferguson,   Kenna James,   Mike Matusow,   Robert Varkonyi,   Joe Sebok

Level Two Recap

Jul 08, '07

Hour four has come and gone with the completion of the second level of play. Tables are starting to open up in the fary corner of the Amazon room and cash games have been started. It is always an interesting experience for the players in the tournament that have to deal with being seated near the noise and chaos of players risking one tenth of their tournament buy in.

Gavin Griffin has been hard to miss during the 2007 World Series of Poker, his trademark bright pink mohawk has the tendency to stand out in the crowd. Griffin has been sporting the new look in an effort to raise awareness for breast cancer, a cause he is passionate about. Griffin has been drawing attention today not only becuase of his hair, but for his play as well. The player in seat three limped for $200 and Griffin raised to $800 preflop. Griffin recieved two calls and the flop came 6 3 2. The player in seat three checked and Griffin threw out $1,525. The player in seat three tries to fold out of turn but quickly brings his cards back in. The player in seat nine pushes all in and the player seat three throws his cards away. Griffin instantly makes the call and turns over A A. Seat nine showed K Q and was far behind. The turn was the 6 and the river brought the 7, giving Griffin the huge pot and increasing his stack to $44,000. The pot gave Griffin help on his way to catching the two new chip leaders, Chad Brown ($58,000) and Phil Ivey ($54,000).

Whatever method ESPN uses to choose who sits at the featured table, it works. Mike Matusow and T.J. Cloutier are sitting in the one and ten seats at one of the featured tables and the presence of two great poker personalities is attracting attention. Matusow was complaining to a tournament official about having to play such a long day one and his lamenting inspired Cloutier to chime in. "I've never played a 16 hour day one in a tournament ever in my life!" exclaimed Matusow. "If there are going to be two day 2's, why do we have to play so long?" Cloutier added, "Yeah, they did just the opposite for H.O.R.S.E! They thought there was going to be more than 200. Ha! I bet you (Matusow) would have bet there was going to be more than 200, you bet on everything that moves!" In between complaining, the two actually did play some poker as well.

Antonio Tarver, Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, couldn't make it past the first day of this year's main event. Tarver had a relatively rough day, not as rough as his usual day at work, but still. Tarver had his aces cracked earlier in the day and on what would be his last hand, found himself with only $1,600. Two players limped in front of Tarver and he raised to $600. The player in seat four called and Roy Park reraised to $1,600 total from the small blind. The two limpers and Tarver called. The flop came K K Q and Park pushed all in. The action folded to Tarver who put his last $1,000 into the middle. Park showed A K and Tarver was way behind with his 6 6. The turn was the 3and the river brought the 4, sending Tarver to the rail.

Jose Canseco, Shannon Elizabeth and Greg Raymer, member of Team Pokerstarswww.pokerstars.com, were all eliminated this round as well. Raymer got his last few chips in the middle with J-10 up against an opponent with pocket sixes. A six hit on the flop and Raymer recieved applause as he exited the tournament area. Elizabeth got all her money in with pocket kings against an opponent with Q-J. A queen and a jack hit on the flop, ending Elizabeth's tournament. A player at an adjacent table cried out, "No! Give her more chips!" Maybe next year bud.

Amnon Filippi is cruising through the day at his table and now has over $30,000. With the board showing K 9 7 the player in seat five at Filippi's table bet out $800. The player in seat seven called and so did Filippi. The turn was the 8 and all players checked. The river was the 3 and the player in seat seven checked. Filippi threw out $2,600 and seat five folded. The player in seat seven went into the tank and Filippi chastised him into calling by saying, "How can you possibly think of folding for $2,600?" Seat seven called and Filippi threw his cards, 3 3, onto the board. "Set" said Filippi. The player in seat seven mucked his hand. "How many pairs you gonna get today?" asked Kenna James in the six seat. Filippi just laughed and said to himself, "Some people can't sleep at night if they don't see your cards." The very next hand Filippi raised preflop and took the blinds. Filippi turned over 6 6 and said, "See, I'm not stealing." James just shook his head in disbelief.


Notable Chip Counts

Chad Brown	58,200
Allen Cunningham	45,500
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson	44,000
Steve Dannenmann	42,000
Gavin Griffin	40,000
Amir Vahedi	39,000
Warren Karp	36,000
Jason Alexander	34,050
Lee Watkinson	33,000
Todd Brunson	32,900
Vanessa Rousso	31,500
David Sklansky	31,000
Darrell "Gigabet" Dicken	31,000
T.J. Cloutier	28,700
Shannon Shorr	26,000
Humberto Brenes	25,000
Amnon Filippi	24,000
Phil Gordon	22,350
Katja Thater	22,000
Andy Bloch	22,000
Men "The Master" Nguyen	21,500
Rene Angelil	20,000
Chris Moneymaker	20,000
Kristy Gazes	19,600
Tony Hachem	19,000
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow	19,000
Chau Giang	19,000
Bill Gazes	18,200
Melissa Hayden	17,000
Jennifer Tilly	16,200
Eric Cajelais	15,900
Rafe Furst	15,500
JC Alvarado	15,500
Clonie Gowen	15,500
Toto Leonidas	14,000
Greg Raymer	14,000
Kenna James	10,800
JC Tran	6,000
Tex Barch	4,575

Player Tags: T.J. Cloutier,   Kenna James,   Mike Matusow,   Phil Ivey,   Gavin Griffin,   Greg Raymer,   Amnon Filippi,   Shannon Elizabeth,   Antonio Tarver,   Jose Canseco

Big Pairs Galore

Jul 02, '07

E-Dog Makes The Big Lay Down
The action is fast and furious now that the tournament is winding down. At one table we saw the A-A vs K-K showdown two hands in a row. In the second hand Eric Lindgren made a big lay down when he let J-J go pre flop. I guess he is still on his game even after enduring his long day out on the golf course due to a very sizable prop bet that he took part in against Phil Ivey.

Kenna James Says "It's Remarkable"
At Kenna's table there was a flurry of action right after the break and on five consecutive hands there was a player all-in with a showdown. Kenna leaned back and remarked "It is pretty remarkable that there is a player all-in every hand, and I have to just sit back and watch all the action".

Prize Money
The payouts have been announced for this tournament and first place will earn over $725,000 and the coveted gold bracelet.
Notable Chip Counts

David Williams	143,000
J.C. Tran	139,000
Joe Hachem	66,000
Mike Matusow	64,000
Jamie Gold	59,000
Erick Lindgren	59,000
Berry Johnston	49,800
Phil Hellmuth Jr.	42,500
Kenna James	37,000
Joe Sebok	26,000
Joe Awada	18,000
Brad Daugherty	6,400

Player Tags: Erick Lindgren,   Kenna James

Hour Five Recap

Jun 28, '07

Eliminations

Shannon Elizabeth, Gavin Griffin and Kenna James all busted this past level.

Kicker Trouble

Ted Forrest took a hit when he called an opponents all-in off a flop of 7 3 2 with Q 7.  He was correct in thinking than his opponent didn't have a set, two-pair of a bigger pair.  His opponent also held a pair of sevens, but unfortunately for Forrest his opponent 's A 7 had him notched.

Roller Coaster

On a flop of Q 10 8 Bill Edler was facing an all-in.  After a moments deliberation Edler called with Q 8 and was indeed in the lead against his opponent's AQ.  The turn flipped the situation when it brought the A, giving Edler's opponent a better two pair. The river brought the 8, filling up Edler's boat and eliminating his opponent.

Make sure to check back for more hourly updates here at Cardplayer.com.

Howard Lederer	38,000
Fred Goldberg	31,500
Phil Laak	31,000
Ram Vaswani	30,750
Erick Lindgren	29,000
Ted Lawson	28,300
Lee Watkinson	28,000
Max Pescatori	27,000
Michael Binger	27,000
David Ulliott	26,000
Greg Raymer	26,000
Roland deWolfe	26,000
Allen Cunningham	25,500
Jeff Madsen	24,000
Chau Giang	20,500
Mark Vos	20,000
Bill Chen	19,000
Dutch Boyd	19,000
Scott Clements	18,200
Clonie Gowen	18,000
David Levi	18,000
John Racener	18,000

Player Tags: Kenna James,   Ted Forrest,   Gavin Griffin,   Bill Edler,   Shannon Elizabeth