Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Main Event

Official November Nine Chip Counts and Seat Assignments
On November 9th, 2008, the following nine players will return to the felt with 21 minutes and 50 seconds left in level 33:

Dennis Phillips - 26,295,000
Craig Marquis - 10,210,000
Ylon Schwartz - 12,525,000
Scott Montgomery - 19,690,000
Darus Suharto - 12,520,000
David 'Chino' Rheem - 10,230,000
Ivan Demidov - 24,400,000
Kelly Kim - 2,620,000
Peter Eastgate - 18,375,000

This is a new thing where the WSOP is playing their final table in November (an almost 4 month intermission) to build up hype, and broadcast the event much closer to the release date of their television coverage, in an attempt to build up viewership.

For the record, blinds for level 33 are $120-000/$240,000 with a $30,000 chip ante. My guess Kelly Kim (the very short stack) should be the first to go, but really, this championship is anyone's to take.

Monday, July 14, 2008

A SIX on the river…..Are you kidding me!!!!!!

Sunday night brought us a Team7Deuce birthday as Robert decided to add another year to his life, allowing us the opportunity for some fellowship. It began in the way of a yummy dinner down at the Macaroni Grill in Northridge, and culminated in an odd event for us, Poker. OK, so maybe not so odd, but the fact that it happened on Sunday was rare.

It was one of the most interesting games that we’ve had at pablosplace in memory, as we had 9 players (an actual full table), and some newcomers (Derrick and Amanda). But it was the play that was bizarre. It took just over an hour to make the first orbit around, as the pots were really insane, including one bust out, then a re-buy.

Things began to settle down shortly after, and one by one the table whittled down. Derrick was the first to go out, followed by Robert. Amber was the next to go, followed by Jordan about an hour later. 5 handed, Tim controlled a massive stack playing a great run of cards to virtual perfection. Tay held a very healthy stack as well. I was a little short stacked in comparison, but not as low on chips as was Amanda and Traci. Amanda busted, then re-bought, and then went out again.

4 handed, saw Traci with the short stack, and she made her move raising the big blind (of 6-12) to 24, and I smooth called. Tay folded the action to Tim, who moved over the top for another 24. Traci re-raised all in with her final 31, and I moved all in after that for my final 73 (above Tim’s raise), and Tim made the call. When the cards were flipped, I had a huge advantage, tabling A-A, Traci 8-8, and Tim A-10. The board ran out pairing Tim’s 10 on the turn, but no 8 fell, and I scooped the pot eliminating Traci in 4th.

3 handed action lasted for about 35 minutes, as Tay was the most active member of our action. She was raising like crazy, and I finally made a bad call holding K-9. Tay had moved all in after I made the min-raise, and Tim stepped out of the way. I was in the tank for a while but decided to put most of my chips at risk, putting her on something small. I wasn’t completely off as she tabled Q-4. She had two live cards, but didn’t catch up on the board, as the river produced a case 9.

Heads up with Tim lasted just one hand. I had roughly 400 to Tim’s roughly 600, and Tim called the big blind (10-20). I raised to 60, and Tim re-raised to 120. I made the call. The flop came out Q-10-6. First to act, I checked over to Tim, who led out with 60. I knew I had him as I had flopped two pair (Q’s and 10’s). I check raised Tim to 100 more, and Tim moved all in. I insta-called, and Tim tossed over Aces. I was WAY ahead. Tim had but 5 outs, until the turn brought a 7, giving him a total of 8 outs (any 6, 7, or Ace would make him a better two pair or a set). The chance of him hitting a better hand at this point was about 18%, and wouldn’t you know, Tim hit it. A 4 to 1 shot paid off as he hits the 8 outer, catching a 6 on the river, giving him Aces and 6’s to my Q’s and 10’s, and it was over. Tim raked the pot.

In truth, Tim played brilliantly up to that point, amassing a great chip stack with over 1000 chips in play. It was a lot of fun last night with some really great action. A lot crazier than most nights, but fun none-the-less.

Remember, this coming Saturday, we’re a no-go, but things look ok as of right now for the following Friday. Thanks for everyone who came (Robert, Tay, Tim, Jordan, Amber, Derrick, Amanda, and Traci) for such a fun night. And a special thanks for Tay for coming down from Big Bear on her one off day to play (and Kudos for the great play), and for Robert, as we wish him great success this year on his birthday. Cheers, P

WSOP Update

Official Day 7 Seat Assignments Announced

It's Day 7 of the 2008 WSOP Main Event, and the 27 surviving players will return today at noon to play down to the final nine. WSOP officials conducted a redraw at the end of Day 6 play, and have now released the Day 7 seat assignments. Personally, I'm disappointed in the eliminations of Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow (in 30th place). I'll probably now be pulling for any American, but specifically, I'd like to see Tiffany "Hot Chips" Michelle, the lone female, make a deep run. Here is how the remaining 27 players will line up:

(Table 1)
Joe Bishop (Cincinnati, Ohio) - 4,855,000
Peter Eastgate (Odense, Denmark) - 9,325,000
Gert Andersen (Herning, Denmark) - 6,740,000
Kelly Kim (Whittier, California) - 8,840,000
Brandon Cantu (Las Vegas, Nevada) - 4,740,000
Dean Hamrick (East Lansing, Michigan) - 2,375,000
Ivan Demidov (Moscow, Russia) - 4,965,000
Niklas Flisberg (Stockholm, Sweden) - 1,330,000
Michael Carroll (Carson, California) - 1,015,000

(Table 2)
Scott Montgomery (Perth, Ontario, Canada) - 4,320,000
Tim Loecke (Highland Park, Illinois) - 2,280,000
Anthony Scherer (Truckee, California) - 2,385,000
Owen Crowe (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) - 3,800,000
Craig Marquis (Arlington, Texas) - 11,460,000
Ylon Schwartz (Brooklyn, New York) - 3,655,000
Paul Snead (Kings Park, New York) - 6,600,000
Tiffany 'Hot Chips' Michelle (Los Angeles, California) - 9,755,000
Phi Nguyen (Hawaiian Gardens, California) - 1,020,000

(Table 3)
Jason Riesenberg (Halbur, Iowa) - 3,405,000
Darus Suharto (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - 4,510,000
Chris Klodnicki (Voorhees, New Jersey) - 6,245,000
Toni Judet (Bucharest, Romania) - 5,000,000
Nicholas Sliwinski (Las Vegas, Nevada) - 4,925,000
David 'Chino' Rheem (Los Angeles, California) - 8,280,000
Dennis Phillips (St. Louis, Missouri) - 11,910,000
Albert Kim (Staten Island, New York) - 3,675,000
Aaron Gordon (Brighton, England) - 1,790,000

Sunday, July 13, 2008

WSOP Day 5

After Day 5 saw the likes of Allen Cunningham, Gus Hansen, Hoyt Corkins, and Mark Vos (on the last hand of the night by the way) hit the rail, we beging Day 6 of the WSOP Main Event at noon today. The chip average is over $1.7 million, and "the Brat" and "the Mouth" are still alive, though Phil Hellmuth is clinging to a smaller chip stack (around $700k). Here are the table assignments for the final 79 players as they begin today:

Table 1)
Bob Whalen - 1,382,000
Paul Snead - 1,572,000
Christopher Zapf - 297,000
Brian Tatum - 780,000
Aaron Gordon - 3,369,000
Jason Glass - 629,000
David Rheem - 2,586,000
Thomas Keller - 245,000
Garrett Beckman - 1,860,000

(Table 2)
Chris Klodnicki - 2,496,000
Kido Pham - 1,600,000
Aaron Keay - 990,000
Anthony Scherer - 2,245,000
Alfredo Fernandez - 3,053,000
Peter Eastgate - 2,629,000
Judet Christian - 3,031,000
Scott Montgomery - 1,669,000
Mauro Lupo - 2,261,000

(Table 3)
Greg Byard - 1,189,000
Jonathan Plens - 1,870,000
Nhan Le - 2,190,000
Justin Sadauskas -2,000,000
Keith Hawkins - 636,000
Eric Bamer - 479,000
Cristian Dragomir - 2,372,000
Dean Hamrick - 1,905,000
Joe Bishop - 1,570,000

(Table 4)
Geert Jans - 1,633,000
Justin Scott - 1,971,000
Alan Gould - 1,838,000
Daniel Buzgon - 876,000
Alex Outhred - 699,000
Albert Kim - 3,734,000
David Saab - 1,705,000
Nikolay Losev - 4,058,000
Matt Matros - 766,000

(Table 5)
Jeremy Joseph - 3,100,000
Mark Ketteringham - 5,800,000
Gert Andersen - 1,447,000
Brandon Cantu - 2,288,000
David Benefield - 2,490,000
Dennis Phillips - 3,436,000
Sean Davis - 861,000
Michael Carroll - 957,000
Mark Owens - 595,000

(Table 6)
Rafael Caiaffa - 1,338,000
Steve Lade - 3,225,000
Ivan Demidov - 2,185,000
Phi Nguyen - 1,540,000
Adam Levy - 767,000
Nicholas Sliwinski - 2,236,000
Suresh Prabhu - 1,175,000
Ylon Schwartz - 816,000
Victor Ramdin - 795,000

(Table 7)
James McManus - 2,434,000
Tim Loecke - 996,000
Phil Hellmuth - 721,000
Allen Kennedy - 1,153,000
Kelly Kim - 2,425,000
Larry Wright - 1,502,000
Jason Riesenberg - 2,217,000
Andrew Rosskamm - 1,593,000
Clint Schafer - 1,123,000

(Table 8)
Chris Crilly - 1,183,000
Craig Marquis - 1,748,000
Felix Osterland - 786,000
Jamal Sawaqdeh - 888,000
Jamal Kunbuz - 3,327,000
Mike Matusow - 1,169,000
Tiffany Michelle - 3,438,000
Jeremy Gaubert - 578,000

(Table 9)
Craig Stein - 440,000
Niklas Flisberg - 1,264,000
Mark Wilds - 485,000
Andrew Brokos - 4,080,000
Lisa Parsons - 581,000
Peter Neff - 1,275,000
Darus Suharto - 1,057,000
Owen Crowe - 1,050,000

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Main Event Update

Just thought I'd throw it out there for anyone that's interested. The main event begins Day 5 in about 15 minutes. There are currently 189 of the 6844 entrants remaining. I've got a rooting interest in the following players (with their current chip totals):

Mike Matusow - 458,000
Allen Cunningham - 1,141,000
Jeff Madsen - 690,300
Phil Hellmuth - 581,000
Mark Vos - 1,373,000
Shawn "Sheiky" Sheikhan - 1,516,000
Victor Ramdin - 1,322,000
Gus Hansen - 1,367,000
Hoyt Corkins - 305,000

The tournament average is about 750,00 chips right now, so Hoyt Corkins is severely short stacked, but everyone else is doing ok. They're all seated at separate tables, but wouldn't this make for an awesome final table? Impossible, I know, but cool. Good luck to everyone else in it. I'll be there one day..........

"A" Game

Last night, we had 5 players at pablosplace, and I brought the A-game. From the opening, I was making perfect reads, even though it was resulting in a damaged chip stack.

After dropping to about 50 or so chips in the first 30 minutes, I was content that I didn't loose more. On a board of Qh-5h-9h-10d-Jd, Tim lead out for another 18, after I called bets of 10 on the flop, and 12 on the turn. Holding K-Q, I thought back to the play, and put Tim on A-Q. I said it aloud, folding it as I tabled my cards, and Tim flipped it A-Q. My first good read of the night.

A little later, I folded after a pre-flop raise and put Amber on a K when she made a boat, and later I put her on J-10 and was able to away from that hand as well.

Robert was the first to go, as the flop came out Q-6-7, he led out with a raise, and I called, then Traci called. 3 handed, a 9 fell on the turn and Robert led out all-in. I snap called, and Traci folded. I tabled 6-7 for two pair, and Robert flipped 8-9 for middle pair and a straight draw. However, the J on the turn was no help and Robert was eliminated in 5th place.

Traci would go out in 4th place. After nursing a very short stack for some time. She took the biggest hit on her stack with a board of J-5-6-8-8, and Tim led out for 24. Traci went into the Tank for quite some time, and finally laid down Q-J. Tim turned over his semi-bluff of J-7, and raked a good pot, sending Traci down to about 15 chips or so. She was able to triple her stack at one point, moving all in with Q-J, and found calls by both me and Tim. On the board of 10-7-4, I led out for 12, and Tim called. With the J on the turn, I fired 12 more, and Tim let it go. I took the side pot, and tabled K-10, and Traci's J held up. Finally, she made her stand with K-J, and I made the call with Jh-9h. The board played out 6-7-8-5-10, giving me a straight on the river, and sending Traci out in 4th place.

Things had really picked up for me just a few hands before that, as I was dealt Qd-Jd, and raised the pot to 12 pre-flop. Only Tim made the call, and I checked the board of Ad-10d-Ks. Tim checked behind me. The 10h came on the turn, and I fired out 12 more, and Tim made the call. The river was the best possible card for me, the Kd, making a Royal Flush for me, and I led out with 24. Tim went into the tank, and was wondering if I was just playing the board. After about 4 minutes, he gave up his hand, and I tabled the nuts. From there, it was a steady ascension up the ladder.

I bluffed a hand a little later, and got Tim to make a big lay down, and eventually was able to bust Tim, calling his all-in. He'd made a couple of moves for his last 30 or so, but found no action, and just picked up the blinds. I can't remember the bust out hand for the life of me at the moment, because I keep recalling some of the other great hands of the night. There was one that doubled Tim, where on a board of 10-9-7, I made an all-in move with A-Q, and Tim went into the tank. He finally made the call with A-K, and the turn and River bricked out giving Tim the hand. The other was a couple of laydowns that he made, folding to my Pocket J's which was an over pair on the board, and also laying down a hand pre-flop after debating an all-in. I tabled pocket 7's, and the board ran out with me dominating having flopped a set.

Amber and I were heads up for about 15 hands, and she started out short stacked. She made a great play on the second hand when I raised to 40 on a board of 4-5-J-Q, and she made the call. When the 3 fell on the river she moved all in, and I got away from K-10. That moved her to almost even in chips on that hand. I was controlling the heads up match for the most part, and ended it on a board of 6-7-J. I led out with 20. Amber made the call, and the turn came out 5. I made a move all-in, and Amber quick called, with a A-4. I tabled 8-9 for the straight, and had her drawing dead, and raked the pot.

I was able to make some really amazing reads last night, and was right on just about all of them. Add that to the third Royal Flush in pablosplace history, and it was a really great night.

Next week looks like a no-go, as everyone seems to have something else going on. We discussed the possiblity for a pablosplace Mountain game, as Tay has the possibility of a cabin in Big Bear. And we've also discussed the possibility for pablosplace coastal, for a game at a beach house in Mexico for my birthday, or another Team7Deuce event, including a wine tasting trip in either Napa or Solvang, followed by a tournament at the Chumash Casino. More details on those events to come.

Thanks to everyone who played last night, and I'll see you all next time. Cheers, P

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Friday Night Lights

Just wanted to get something up to let everyone know that we are good to go for this Friday.

Also wanted to get a shameless plug in for the main event (2008 WSOP Event #54, $10,000 Buy In No Limit Hold Em' World Championship - Main Event). I've been following the action religiously through the blogs on http://www.wsop.com/, and there has been some amazing action. The remaining 666 players are in the money as of just a couple of minutes ago. The chip leader is over $1 million chips (Some guy named Jeremiah Smith) and there are several notable players still in the field:

Former Champs, Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan are very healthy and sitting well over 300k. They are the only former winners of this event that are still alive.

Other notable players still alive and in the money include, Allen Cunningham, Mike Matusow, and Men "The Master" Nguyen. Hevan "Rainkahn" Kahn, Gus Hansen, and Jeff Madsen are also still rolling. It's been an amazing main event so far, and it looms only bigger and better in the coming days.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Seven Deuce Day Recap

Seven Deuce Day

I’ve been waiting for this day since Tim texted me last year out of sheer jest “Happy Seven Deuce Day,” last July 2nd. Since then, the countdown was on.

I’m happy to report the sheer joy and happiness experienced by every member of Team7Deuce, as we played quite successfully (maybe not by monetary standards, but by other immeasurable standards) at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens.
Nervousness began the day on the part of several of our team. It looked like the 7 confirmed members might be 5, when Tim had car issues, and was bringing Traci along with him. At the last second, we were able to reach Andrew as he was leaving, to pick the two of them up, and we were back to 7. In all, Traci, Tay, Robert, Amber, Tim, Andrew, and I, all donned our Team7Deuce shirts, and stormed the Bicycle Casino in style. The shirts were a huge splash, and the talk of the tournament. Every table was commenting about them, and we got rave reviews.

For the record, and between me, and the ba-jillion readers here at pablosplace, I’d have liked to see how Tim performed without this fiasco. I think that the way that he’s been playing recently, we would have seen him go much deeper in the tournament.

As it was, the whole group arrived at about 12:45, or with 15 minutes till go time. By the time that everyone had received their cards and registered (and Traci had received her sandwich for lunch), we were sitting at our respective tables and playing cards.

There were 162 at 16 tables (a few late entries came in to fill the 10 handed action at each table) final entries to the tournament, and each of us began with 2000 chips. I can’t speak for absolutely everyone, as I didn’t get the chance to see everyone’s play, but I was very happy with mine.

After about 25 minutes, I’d increased my chip stack to around $5000. I was really controlling the action, and just about every pot went through me. But I suffered a few unfortunate losses, and they happened within 3 hands of one another. The first was where I raised with the blinds at 100-200 to 225 holding Ac-Kc. The blinds folded, and I got one caller. With 750 in the pot, and a board of 2s-6s-9c, I was first to act and bet out 400. The guy behind me re-raised all in for about 2500. I went into the tank for a little bit, and made the announcement “I think that I’m behind, but I can catch up. I call.” He flipped over As-5s for a simple flush draw, and I had him for the moment. But when the turn dealt a red 5, and the river bricked, I was left with about half of my stack.

I picked up the blinds on the next two hands with Min-raises. Then got into trouble again. From the button, I made another raise to $225, and the guy behind pushed all in from the small blind. It pushed away three other limpers, and put the action back on me. He had under 2k remaining, and had been playing really tight the entire session. I read him as having two over cards, and decided to gamble announcing “I’ll race you” and made the call with pocket 9’s. He turned over A-K, and I was looking good after the flop. But, the turn dropped an Ace, and I didn’t catch my 9 on the river. This took my stack down to about $450 chips.

At that point, the break was the next hand, and I was on life support after having controlled the table and having eliminated 3 other players. But I came to find out that after the break, everyone was still in. Robert was also short-stacked with about $500 chips remaining, but everyone else was relatively healthy. Amber had a little under $2k, and Tay, Tim, and Traci all had a little over 2k, and Andrew was very healthy at near 6k.

After the break, things came unglued for our team quickly. I think that Tay was first to go, just a couple hands after the break, and then Robert followed her to the rail quickly after. Shortly after Amber then Tim was eliminated.

My story of the day came shortly after that though. I was all in three times, two scooping the blinds, and the third chopping a pot as both of us turned over K-Q. But the 4th all in was the all in of the tournament in my opinion. Down to $950 remaining, someone made it $600 to go, and I looked down and saw “Seven Deuce, off-suit”. I thought for about 2.5 seconds, and moved all in. The blinds folded and the bring in bet called. He turned over Ad-Kd. I stood up and said “I made this move for one reason,” and another guy said “He’s got 7-2!!!!” I flipped the cards over adamantly and said loudly “Seven Deuce ALL IN!!!” I got some attention from the surrounding tables and the flop came out 3-6-9 rainbow. I shouted, “I’m still alive”, and then one of the guys at my table said “it’s coming on this card. Sure enough, the turn was a 7, and I was ahead. I went ballistic as did my table. Laughs abounded as we heard one person say “Happy Seven Deuce Day.” The river was a 6, and I doubled up. I was apologetic towards the guy I laid the bad beat on. He later went to Tim’s table short stacked, and still ranting about the bad beat I laid on him.

Moments later, another shout rose up on Traci and Andrew’s table, as Traci hit quad Q’s. This gave her a much healthier stack as well.

But that’s where the main action ended for the most of us. Tables were reduced to 6 tables, and that’s when I basically went card dead. My final hand, I moved for my last 1k with pocket 2’s, and got called by pocket 8’s. The board ended up K-K-7-7-Q, giving him a better two pair, and I was out in the 50’s. Traci would follow me to the rail after the reduction to 5 tables, having mostly been blinded out. She moved all in, and was called by 3 people. Andrew ended scooping the pot making a K high flush.

Andrew was our last team member in, and he played really well. Sitting most of the tournament to the right of the Chip leader, he had to play conservatively, and still amassed an impressive chip stack, though I don’t think he was ever at 10k. Maybe right around there though. We saw them reduce the tables from 5, to 4, and then to 3, and announce that they were going to pay the 19th place finisher $45. Turns out, that’s where Andrew ended up, as our only casher.

I couldn’t be more proud of the play of our group, and am so happy to see all of the laughs and the smiles of everyone who played. It was an outstanding event. Thanks again for everyone on Team7Deuce for making it so enjoyable, and thanks to the Bike for hosting our Pablosplace Inaugural Seven Deuce Day Tournament, even if they didn’t know that’s what they doing. It was beyond words fun, and it was something that we will be repeating, time and again.

Just a reminder, that pablosplace will be dark this Friday night for 4th of July. Go watch fireworks somewhere. But we’ll resume next Friday.

Congrats again to Andrew for his cash, and assuming the lead on the POY leaderboard. I’m going to keep track of points for Team7Deuce, and I think that this was the perfect opportunity to do so. Soon to be released will be www.team7deuce.com where player profiles and bio’s will be made available, as well as a leader board with the player of the year to be announced. More on that in the near future. Cheers, P