June 7th marked the ninth day 2008 WSOP action at the Rio. On this day Events 9 & 10 saw gold bracelets awarded, Events 11 & 12 which were 5k and 1500 buy-ins respectively had tomorrow final tables determined, and Events 13 & 14 got their starts.

This report covers most of the days action but the two final tables have already been covered in their own reports (see: Event 9 final table and Event 10 final table) so we’ll skip them in this report. Let get the report started looking at Event #11 $5,000 buy-in 6 max shootout day 2.

Event #11 No-limit Hold’em shootout $5,000 buy-in:

36 players survived the first day which essentially was a single table sit & go, when these 36 returned for day 2 the catch will be that it doesn’t matter if they bust on the first hand of the day or if they bust on the last hand as they will walk home with $16,920. Some of the notables to survive the first day include, on table 1 Joe Sebok, table 3 Greg “Full Blown Tilt” Mueller, table 4 Tony G, table 5 John Juanda, Eric Froehlich, Erik Seidel. Each of the 6 tables has 6 players all trying to best all the others on the table to make the final 6 who will return on Sunday to vie for the bracelet. Each player starts with 100k in chips and blinds start at 1000/2000 with a 300 ante.

The first elimination of the day came at table 2 when Pier Ruscalla was badly crippled in a hand where he lost to AhJh on a 8hAd5c4dJc board after his opponent showed the top 2 he mucked. He had only 8k after the hand in which the SB made it 5,500 to go he pushed in the rest of his chips and the cards hit the table face up –
Gavatin AsKs
Ruscalla Js7s
The board read 4c 2d 3c 9h Qd
With that Gavatin took Ruscalla’s chips in back to back hands and after 15 minutes was in a commanding position to win his table. Greg Mueller put himself in good position with some key hands including a 2nd nut flush draw that came through on the river and made a good sized bet that was called.

Other Notables Juanda and Seidel got into and early confrontation in the blinds that left Seidel sitting a little more comfortable after a limp re-raise got called from Juanda and a bet on the flop ended the hand. The very outspoken and often unliked Tony G was whittled down to just 23k early and was eliminated shortly after when he shoved from the BB and the SB called quickly and tabled A’s. Gavatin who was part of the early fireworks went from Hero to Zero when he shoved from the button and was called by a pair of 8’s from the SB, this was good news for Gavatin as he tabled 9’s then the elusive 8 hit the flop and when it came running bricks Gavatin headed for the rail. Joe Sebok was widdled down early only to get a much needed double up, then after a visit from his father “The Robin Hood of Poker” Barry Greenstein, Sebok was shown the door when he re-raised Thomas Roupe who three bet Sebok allin and Sebok called tabling JsJd he saw the proverbial race in the form of AdQs and to his heart ache the Qh sat in the door and it was all over but the walk out.

As the fireworks keep running on table 5 Eric Froehlich and Erik Seidel take 2 raises each preflop before it finally hits the middle with E-Fro showing JJ and Seidel tabling Anna and her King with no Ace or King on the flop turn or river Seidel will have to wait another day before he can make his wrist a little more full. Leo Wolpert is the first to make the final table when Wolpert flopped the Dead man with top two (A8) and filled up on the river and got Maciek Gracz to shove on him. Mueller made it to heads up with a 530k – 70k chip advantage and looks poised to make the final table. The fireworks table was at it again when E-Fro got into a big hand Juanda in which E-Fro flopped two pair K’s and 6’s but was coutnerfitted on the river when the 8 paired the board making JJ’s AK good, a little while latter JJ busted E-Fro when in the blinds they both flopped middle pair of 5’s but Juanda’s Q kicker was much more impressive then the lonely 3 of E-Fro.

The day ended when Tim West finally over came John Juanda’s chip lead to take the table and be the final piece of the 6 man final table.

Sirous Jamshidi
Greg “FBT” Mueller
Thomas Roupe
Phil Tom
Tim West
Leo Wolpert

These final 6 guys will return on Sunday June 8th 2008 at 2pm Pacific time to vie for the bracelet they will start with 1,000,000 in chips and they payout structure will be as follows

1st $477,990
2nd $298,638
3rd 187,812
4th $118,440
5th $63,450
6th $38,070

Event #12 $1,500 Limit Hold’em

This Event started with 880 players and Saturday saw 179 return to battle down to the final 9, and with the field packed tight throughout there would certainly be some early movement on the board. The top 10 at the start of the day had one well known player Marco Traniello (husband of Jennifer Harman) sitting in 6th with 34,400 not far behind leader Eric Pratt at 40,700 and David Rood rounds out the top 10 with 29,500. The bubble will bust with the 82nd player eliminated so there is some poker to be played before that happens. The blinds will start at 300/600 and it would only take one hand to see the field get smaller when John Magaan was shown the door on the first hand.

In an early hand Marco Traniello’s AK is good enough to cap a 3 way pot when the Ace hit’s the flop, the turn brings one bet called by both players and all three check the river and Traniello finds his self at 38k climbing the board. Marcel Luske was the first notable to hit the rail when he was forced allin with 7c4c and lost to Ace high. After just 2 hours the field is down to 126 and the buzz is starting as the bubble looms nearer. It only took just under 6 hours to the see the bubble bust and with all players on dinner break immediately following the bust players have time to savor the moment. Tom Schnieder POY last year was eliminated in 64th after he ran into a well played pair of rockets. Other notable Dewey Tomko finished 68th, Marco Traniello 53rd. The eliminations where picking up fast and furious as the short stacks that survived the money were now making for the cage within 1 hour they dropped 22 players. In a hand between two unknowns the ultimate dreaded cooler occurred A’s vs. K’s except this time the A’s didn’t just hold up they flopped Quads! And Zelong Dong now has a legitimate bad beat story!

After just another 2 hours were down another 30 players and final table is in sight as the players are preparing for the break down to 3 tables. After an exhausting day in which they played just over 8 levels the tournament staff made the decision to stop the event on day 2 at 18 players 2 tables and resume Sunday at 2pm Pacific time.

The Chips counts are as follows

Vinny Vinh 335,000
Erik Lindgren 244,000
Brendan Taylor 240,000
Ali Eslami 208,000
Steven Shkolnik 199,000
Joseph Sanders 173,000
Christoph Niesert 173,000
Zac Fellows 164,000
John O’Brien 163,000
Jimmy Shultz 161,000
Markus Golser 135,000
Duc Nguyen 115,000
Chung Law 110,000
Zachary Henderson 98,000
Eric Pratt 48,000
Teddy Monroe 40,000
Steve Foutty 21,000
Arash Beral 14,000

So day 3 will start and with 2 big names in the field Full Tilt looks to show again that it has the best pro’s in the world on there team as both Lindgren and Golser look to win the bracelet.

Event #13 $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em

With a field of 1,357 it continues the trend of an increase in every event, there are some big names in attendance including T.J. Cloutier, Humberto Brenes, Bill Gazes, Freddy Deeb, and Hevad Khan.

The fireworks started early and the always dangerous T.J. Cloutier was very thankful as he limped UTG followed by the player in the cutoff and the BB. The flop brought As 4d 4s all three players checked the turn was the 7d, at which time the BB bet 600 and was raised to 3,500 by T.J. the player in the cutoff shoved and was snap called by both the BB and T.J. the cutoff player table AK while the BB tabled A4 and T.J. turned over 77 and knocked out both players when to add insult to injury he quaded on the river. Both Roland de Wolfe and Andy Black make early exits, Jamie Gold has made an early chip up getting all his money in bad against a set with just flush draw and hitting on the turn and then in turn avoiding the river pairing the board he is up to over 15k early. The great Men the Master was eliminated early but a full-house, and will have to look for another event to try and narrowed the gap between Hellmuth and himself for most cashes all-time he still sits at 57. The always media attention getting Jennifer Tilly made an early exit, and was followed by Gavin Smith who was looking good then went out in a matter of a couple hands.

When they finally closed registration they ended up with 1,397 players and after just 2 hours were back down to 1,100. Ninety-nine players will cash with the 99th spot taking home $5,783 and first grabbing $666,777. The loud mouth Hellmuth found himself on the rail before the end of level 3 when he ran K’s into both Q’s and A’s the A’s held up. Just after the start of level 6 Mike Matusow ran pocket 10’s into Q’s and found himself on the rail, and just prior to that hand Justin Bonomo sacrificed his chips with J-3 so he could play the 10k 7-card stud event hmmm must be nice to be able to do that!

So after day one 137 of the large 1,397 player field will come back for day 2 the top 10 in chips are:

Eli Elezra 147,500
Theo Tran 134,900
Greg Sellgren 130,000
Dean Bui 127,600
Napolean Ta 127,200
Asger Boye 119,000
Marty Wong 113,700
Pedro Rios 113,500
Mathias Kuerschner 107,400
Jake Solis 106,800

Still in the field are many well known players and will all look to make the final table and eventually the bracelet when they return on Sunday for day 2 action will kick off at 2pm Pacific time.

Event #14 World Championship Seven Card Stud $10,000 Buy-in

The field of 158 is littered with the World’s best which is fitting for a World Championship event in the most classic format Seven Card Stud. With the likes of Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Carlos Mortensen, Greg Raymer, David Singer (fresh off his first bracelet), Eli Elezra, Marcel Luske, Erik Seidel Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, Andy Black, David Williams, Men Nguyen, and defending Champion Chris Reslock this should prove to be one great tournament however it wouldn’t be complete with the Great Doyle Brunson who arrived late just after the start of level 2.

One of the early stories developing is one involving the negotiation of a prop bet between Greenstein and the well known gambler Ted Forrest concerning the guessing of Raymers weight, should be interesting to see what the details are. David Bach is the first player to hit the rail. Hellmuth bought in at the last possible second 7pm Pacific time and arrived sometime there after to his table and immediately started chiming at people in his usuall way. David Singer was among the early victims, along with David Grey and Phil “the poker brat” Hellmuth. I’m sure everyone was able to turn down the volume on the IPod after that , on the way out Doyle asked Phil where he was going and he chimed that he would be back at 12pm to play the ladies event.

At the end of day one 80 survived and leader board was an impressive one as would be expected,

Alexander Kostritsyn 121,100
Barry Mullinax 103,300
Michael Fiorito 101,900
Chad Brown 89,100
Daniel Negreanu 79,700
Ralph Perry 76,100
Cyndi Violette 70,300
Vassilios Lazarou 69,400
Thomas Weideman 62,100
Eric Brooks 62,100

This marks the first event of this year’s WSOP where Daniel Negreanu survived day one. Among others still in are Doyle Brunson, Tony G, Shannon Elizabeth, and Erik Seidel just to name a few. Players will return at 2pm Pacific time on Sunday to play down to the final 9 where many here will be looking to add to there current bracelet total and some look to get there first.

Well to everyone keep reading to stay updated on the WSOP for everyone at www.poker-prop.net I hope you come back to see my next review.

By Staypuff