WPT $25K World Championship from the Bellagio - Day 1A
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 08:54 PM
Play has ended.
The last hands were fairly uneventful. Brad Berman did see his Q-Q fall to big slick on the second to last hand, earning him an elimination. WPT Player of the Year leader Jonathan Little also fell during the last level, with a few players still in the POY running, including Phil Ivey and Steve Sung.
Of the 210 Day 1A entrants, just 141 bagged chips at the end of the night. Expect a larger crowd tomorrow, 200 players have already registered.
Here's the top ten:
1. Billy Baxter - 167,150
2. Darrell "Gigabet" Dicken - 163,675
3. Steve Billirakis - 156,800
4. Scott Epstein - 147,800
5. Brandon Cantu - 145,125
6. John Hillman - 124,550
7. Abe Mosseri - 123,400
8. John Celii - 121,075
9. Dario Minieri - 118,650
10. Jim Bechtel - 115,000
Play resumes Sunday at 12 p.m. PST with an all new Day 1B field.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 08:50 PM
Tournament Director Jack McClelland stopped the clock for his traditional drawing of the cards. Berry Johnston would do the honors, pulling a 6 from the deck. So six more hands and the day is done.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 08:41 PM
Scott Fischman scooped a nice pot. Eric "Rizen" Lynch made it 1,800 and was followed in the pot by calls from Fischman and Steve Sung. Tony Cousineau would make it 6K more. Lynch would call, only to have Fischman put in a stack of over 60K. Cousineau would grab his seat cushion, readying himself for an exit. He would eventually find it in himself to fold. Lynch would soon follow, informing Fischman that he's throwing away the best hand.
Phil Hellmuth has taken hits from both Bruno Fitoussi and Wei Kei Chang, but that hasn't shut up. Between complaints, Hellmuth was informing the table that not only does he have 11 bracelets, but the Poker Brat's face will grace 12 million beer cans come June. I guess people forgot to inform him that men usually like to look at women when they drink.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 07:19 PM
It's now level five, meaning 300-600 blinds and 75 for an ante.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 07:05 PM
Break time. Players will be back in 15 for level five play. Players managed to obliterate the table of free cupcakes during the last break, so they'll have to venture elsewhere for a sugar fix.
There looks to be 16 tables left, including two that remain in the main poker room.
Ted Lawson and Eric Froelich were each eliminated during level four, while James Van Alstyne used the level to chip up to over 125K, which looks like the big stack in the room. Roy Winston and Billirakis still sit near the chip lead, each over 100K. Darrell "Gigabet" Dicken made a push for the top spot, before falling back to under 90K.
Satellites are occupying nearly half of the Fontana Room. Doug Lee, Sorel Mizzi and Hevad Kahn are among those looking for a cheap seat in the Championship.
The wind is starting to pick up, moving the Bellagio staff to lock the doors to the Fontana Room patio. Apparently, the staff didn't tell everyone. I watched five different people unsuccessfully attempt to grab some fresh air and a view of the fountain show. Denied!
There will be one more level of play before they wrap up Day 1A.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 05:52 PM
Some tournament numbers:
There were 210 total Day 1A entrants, with 166 of those players remaining.
Last year, 300 players showed up for Day 1A, on their way to a combined total of 639 Day 1 entrants. It looks as if this year's field will fall way short of last year.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 05:43 PM
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| Dario Minieri | |
David Williams has busted.
Dario Minieri re-raised from the button with K-K and was called by Williams, who was UTG. There was a king on the flop and by the river, the board had paired, giving Dario the full house. Williams would call of the rest of his chips with A-K, earning a trip to the rail.
Dario Minieri is over 90K.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 05:16 PM
Level four is about to begin, with 200-400 blinds and a 50 ante.
We lost both Guy Laliberte and Scott Clements during the last level. Laliberte, looking to repeat his final table performance from last year's WPT World Championship, couldn't recover from the hit delivered by Billirakis and has busted. Clements got it all in on the turn, drawing dead to Brandon Cantu's flopped nut straight.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 05:03 PM
NBA Playoff games seem to be garnering a lot of attention from the field. A lot of interested parties are watching the plasmas religiously, keeping an eye on their action. There were a lot of excited players as the Spurs squeaked by the Suns in double overtime. Expect a lot of the same for the duration of the tournament, as it coincides with the NBA's 1st round.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| Doyle Brunson | |
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 04:51 PM
David Singer was all in and drawing dead before the river against his opponent, who turned trip eights to eliminate the Ceasars Classic champ.
After seeing a few limpers ahead, Doyle Brunson reached for a raise, throwing out a couple white chips, among other denominations. The table quickly folds after realizing Doyle had made it about 15K to go, a far cry from the 700-800 range that the table had been seeing. The table joined Doyle in a laugh as he scooped the pot and took a closer look at the chip denominations.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 03:32 PM
Level two has come to an end and it looks like Steve Billarakis is our chip leader. The youngest WSOP bracelet winner ever took a huge pot from Guy Laliberte with a full house to get over 125K.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 02:56 PM
Congrats to those who had 2:29 p.m. in the 'when will Phil arrive pool'. Hellmuth placed stacks of cash near his remaining chip stack, then proceded to make his rounds greeting his friends, rather than play a hand.
Mike Gracz is doing his best to survive a tough table. Gracz made it 800 to go preflop with two callers behind, including Joe Sebok. The 3 7 4 flop earned three checks, but the 9 turn saw Sebok raise Gracz from 1,200 to 2,600. Gracz would call after the third player got out of the way. The 8 on the river led Gracz to check-call 1,200. Sebok informed Gracz that his hand was good and mucked his cards. Gracz showed 9 10 and pulled in a healthy pot.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| Steve Billirakis | |
Steve Billarakis flopped top pair, holding J-9 on a nine high flop. The king on the turn and 10 on the river didn't scare the WSOP's youngest bracelet winner, who made the river call to scoop a small pot.
Roy Winston looks to be the chip leader and the only player over 100K. In the main poker room, Dario Minieri is thriving and sits behind over 80K, which looks good enough for second in chips.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 02:07 PM
Level two has started, with 100-200 blinds.
We may have had our first elimination. Just before the break, Daniel Alaei found himself all in on a scary board against Roy Winston, who made the call with A-Q, good for top two pair. Alaei would muck and head to the rail, paying $25K for just one level of play.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 01:56 PM
There are now four tables in the main poker room. Two tables have already broken and moved into the Fontana Room, where there are plenty of open tables. I couldn't find any answers as to why tables were set up in the main poker room in the first place, since the Fontana Room could have accomodated all the entire Day 1A field.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 01:40 PM
The first level is coming to an end. After a pass through the room I've noticed a lot of tough tables.
In the main poker room, Dario Minieri will have his hands full, dealing with David Williams, David Sklansky, Mark Newhouse, Tim West and Tuan Le. Dewey Tomko, Shane "Shaniac" Schleger, Nick Schulman, Kido Pham and Bandon Adams are also among those seated in the poker room.
In the Fontana Room, Kristy Gazes, Daniel Alaei, Roy Winston and Doyle Brunson find themselves sharing a table. Hoyt Corkins, Mike Sexton, Lee Markholt and Barry Greenstein share table 62 and will be joined by Phil Hellmuth, when he decides to show up.
Table 55 is home to Jonathan Little, Brandon Cantu, Michael Gracz, Andy Black, Joe Sebok and Scott Clements. Little, Cantu and Clements eached gained their $25K entry by grabbing a WPT title this year.
Other notables in the Fontana room:
John Murphy, Eugene Katchalov, Allen Kessler, Ted Lawson, John Hennigan, Cliff Josephy, Raymond Davis, Erik Seidel, Minh Ly, Dan Shak, James Van Alstyne, Steve Billarakis, Scott Fischman, Tony Cousineau, Eric Lynch and Jeff Madsen.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 12:20 PM
Play has begun. There are 14 ten-handed tables in the Fontana room, with another six tournament tables to be found in the poker room. Registration is open until the end of level two.
Saturday, 19th of April 2008 11:50 AM
There is less than 20 minutes left in the countdown to WPT World Championship action. It sounds as if the field may spill over from the Fontana Room into the Bellagio poker room, due to lack of seating. Players are gathering around the Fontana Bar, anxiously waiting the start of one of the richest poker tournaments of all time.
Poker Pages will be providing live coverage fo the 2008 WPT World Championships until a champion is crowned on Saturday the 26th. We will return when the cards are in the air.
|
