The Rio was packed today where we once again had six WSOP tournaments running simultaneously. The big stories of today were Event #26 where Barry Greenstein earned his third career bracelet (details), event #25 where Kenny Tran took down the $10K World Championship of Heads-up Holdem (details), and Event #28 where tomorrows final table will include Phil Hellmuth, Jonny Chan, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, David Benyamine, Kirill Gerasimov and Phil ‘OMGClayAiken’ Galfond. On top of these stories we also saw day two of event #27 played and two additional tournaments get their starts. We’ll cover all the day’s non final table action in this report.

Event #28 – $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha w/ re-buys Day 2

The $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event may turn out to be the most epic tournament of the 2008 World Series of Poker. Day 1 was full of action and the 152 players who entered created a prize pool thats worth over $3 million. Day 2 began with 54 players and is playing down to 9 players which will make the final table of the event.

With so many re-buys and add-ons the amount of chips that are in play has made the Omaha tournament very deep stacked. This is great because it creates a lot more play and post flop action. Normally, Pot Limit Omaha events have little play post flop due to the blinds and antes and becomes an all in fest.

The day started quite conservative compared to the re-buy madness on Day 1. Players also realized that only the top 18 will be payed and there is a massive $3 million prize pool to compete for. Players who were still left in the event included: Johnny Chan, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Phil Hellmuth, David Benyamine, Chris Ferguson and Phil Galfond.

Key hands of the day:

Steve Billirakis finished in 22nd after Daniel Negreanu bested him with the nut flush on the turn. Billirakis held Ac-Ah-Kc-8h and Negreanu held As-8s-4d-7c and after a 3 way preflop pot with Alexander Kostritsyn, Billirakis was all in. The flop and turn was Ks-7s-2h-6s and after the turn fell Negreanu went all in and Kostritsyn folded and Billirakis could not beat the nuts which sent him home.

Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth have been bickering throughout the final two tables. Here is just an example of them trash talking each other:

“You’re playing well” said Phil Hellmuth to his table mate Johnny Chan.

Sitting at an adjacent table, Daniel Negreanu piped in with a laugh. “Now you KNOW you’re playing well. Phil Hellmuth said you were!”

“This is a 10 bracelet and above conversation, son. You don’t qualify yet” admonished Hellmuth.

“Good thing you said ‘yet.’ See me in 10 years. Even 6 years!” replied Negreanu

Hellmuth has yet to stop needling Brian Hast and here is the latest comment he gave him: “I kind of like you, kid. But you will understand why I’m Phil Hellmuth by the end of the night. It will be like a lightning bolt — He’s Phil Hellmuth!”

Full Tilt Poker Professional Eli Elezra fell in 18th place when he played a big hand with Brian Hast. We aren’t exactly sure what happened buy apparently Eli had a flush draw on a 9h-6s-10h board and Hast flopped the straight. Elezra failed to improve and ended up cashing out with $54,003.

Team Bodog Poker player David Williams finished in 16th place after being eliminated by Daniel Negreanu.

Williams held: 10c-9d-7h-8h
Negreanu held: As-7s-10d-7h

Negreanu open raised preflop and Williams called from the big blind. The flop came 2-3-7 and Williams stabbed at the pot with 40,000 in chips and Negreanu smooth called. The turn brought a 10 of hearts and Williams fired another barrel and this time Negreanu re-raised and Williams went all in; Negreanu called. Williams was drawing to a 10 and failed to hit it on the river and was eliminated in 16th place earning himself $54,003.

Young Gun Alexander Kostritsyn was eliminated in 11th place after a run in with Kirill Gerasimov. Kostritsyn put all his chips in with middle pair and straight draw on the flop and Gerasimov called with top two pair. The only thing Kostritsyn hit was the rail and earned $69,433 for his play.

Daniel Negreanu bought spent $85,000 on re-buys and add-ons in this event and when it was 10 handed this is what he had to say: “One more place and I’m unstuck!, Actually, one more place and I’m only stuck $1,000!”

Shortly after giving his little speech Negreanu lost a ton of chips to online poker superstar Phil Galfond. Galfond bet out 50,000 on a flop of Kd-Jd-8h and Negreanu called, the turn was a 3 of spades and Galfond check raised Negreanu all in.

Galfond: Kh-Ks-Qc-7h
Negreanu: Jc-10h-8c-9c

The river brought a 3 of hearts making Galfond a full house and over 1.3 million in chips and leaving Negreanu with 440,000.

The final table was set after Chris Ferguson was eliminated in 10th place and earned $69,433. His final hand: From the cutoff Brian Rast raised to 46,000 and Ferguson called from the big blind and the flop fell Kh-9c-8h. Ferguson checked and Rast bet his position with a 100,000 bet and Freguson raised all in and Rast called.

Ferguson: As-Kc-10s-Qd
Rast: Ad-Qs-10c-Jc

The turn was a great card, which was a 4 of clubs giving Rast a flush draw to go with his straight draw against Ferguson’s one pair. The river was a 10 of diamonds giving Rast a straight and knocked Ferguson out of the tournament.

Day 3 will crown a new World Series of Poker winner and pay out an impressive $817,781 for first place. The final table will begin at 3:00 Pm. Here are the players and chip counts heading into tomorrows final table:

Seat 1: John Juanda 694,000
Seat 2: Phil Hellmuth 119,000
Seat 3: David Benyamine 1,041,000
Seat 4: Kirill Gerasimov 558,000
Seat 5: Phil Galfond 1,393,000
Seat 6: Daniel Negreanu 460,000
Seat 7: Brian Rast 1,176,000
Seat 8: Adam Hourani 300,000
Seat 9: Johnny Chan 624,000

Event #29, – $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Day 1

The $3,000 No Limit Hold’em event drew 716 players and is paying a first place prize of $435,780 plus a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. The event began at noon from within the Amazon Room and will play out until late in the evening. Interesting to note that this is the only $3,000 No Limit hold’em event of the 2008 WSOP. This same event last year brought in 826 players with a first place prize of $527,829 with Shankar Pillai winning.

This event lacked the star power that some of the other events have had. This is most likely because of the other events being played at the same time. The recognizable faces in this event that we’ve seen our: Jimmy Fricke, Kathy Liebert, Mike Matusow, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak, Jeff Madsen, Ryan Young, Alex Zaslavsky, David Singer, Kristy Gazes, Beth Shark and Stuart Paterson.

Key hands of the day:

Early in the day Mike Matusow was eliminated when he apparently put all his chips in with Q-J on a J-J-3 board and an opponent called with 6-6. The turn was a 4 and he river was a 6. This hand was not reported clearly, but according to PokerNews.com that’s what happened. Matusow was also wearing a t-shirt that said, “No Blowups.” We wonder how quietly he left the room after this hand.

Jennifer Tilly out lasts her boy toy Phil Laak who went bust when he pushed all in on a Kc-3h-2c board and his opponent called with 3c-3d. Laaks flush draw could not hit on the turn or river against bottom set and he made an early exit from the tournament.

Poker babe Kristy Gazes eliminates an opponent when they moved all in from the small blind for 3,200 with a flop of 8h-9c-9d and Gazes called with 10h-10d and was against 8s-5s. The turn and river did not help the 8-5 hand and Gazes stack is now over 18,000.

Bodog Poker Pro Evelyn Ng went all in preflop against Zelong Dong. Ng held Qs-Kc against Dong’s Ah-Jd, the board ran As-7s-10c-5h-6h. Ng was eliminated by a pair of Aces and sent home.

David Singer built a big pot when he raised preflop and had five callers. The flop was checked around when it came As-Qc-3h. The turn brought a 2 of hearts and Singer pushed all in for 4,100 and Jennifer Tilly called. Singer showed 4-5 for a bike and Tilly showed 5h-9h for a gut shot and flush draw. The river was a black 6 and Singer has a stack close to 11,000.

With a board of Qs-3s-9h-10c David Pham put his remaining chips in the middle and was called with a player holding K-J and Pham only held top pair with a straight draw. He needed a king to chop the pot, but failed to hit the river and was eliminated from the event.

With about 35 minutes left of day 1 Jimmy Fricke lost a preflop race when he held pocket eights and Hjalti Jacobsen held Ace King offsuit. The board ran 6-5-A-Q-K giving Jacobsen the pot and doubles close to 90,000. Fricke had roughly 30,000 of chips left after this hand.

The last biggest pot of the day came when Justin Newton was all in against Ryan Young preflop. Newton held pocket jacks and Young held K-10 off suit. Newton was please with the situation until he saw a flop of 10-10-8, giving Young trip 10’s. The turn was a 7 and river a 2 and Young collected a pot that was nearly 150,000 in chips. Newton was basically crippled after this big hand.

The day finished off with Alex Zaslavsky with the chip lead and he’ll be ready to play day 2, which begins at 2:00 PM tomorrow with 81 players remaining out of the 716 entered. Day 1 chip leaders and stack sizes:

Alex Zaslavsky 187,100
Ryan Young 148,500
Matt Vengrin 147,000
Hjalti Jacobsen 132,800
Alex Melnikow 130,100
John Phan 127,400
Earl Plyler 118,100
Douglas Miranda 111,100
Roberto Romanello 107,600
Vincent Peraino 100,600

Event #30 – $10,000 Limit Hold’em World Championship Day 1

The World Championship Limit Hold’em event kicked off Sunday at 5:00 PM and drew 218 entrants and creating a first place prize of nearly $500,000 out of the $ 2,049,200 prize pool. This event last year drew 57 players and was won by Saro Getzoyan. The numbers are a bit down this year, but this won’t take away from the great action that follows.

Popular faces in the event include: Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey, Bill Chen, David Oppenhem, Justin Bonomo, Alex Kravchenko, Doyle Brunson, Gabe Kaplan, JC Tran, Huck Seed and many more.

Key hands:

There seems to be a few tough tables one of them is table 23, who has Joe Sebok, Michael Mizrachi, Huck Seed, Theo Tran and JC Tran. One has to feel bad for the amateurs on this table.

Todd Brunson is riding a heater and his latest hand came when him, Erik Cajelais and another opponent got involved in a pot together. Preflop Cajelais raised and the other player made it to bets to go, and Brunson called from the small blind and Erik called from early position. The flop came 4c-6h-7h, Brunson and Cajelais check and the other player bet. Brunson made the call and Cajelais folded. The turn brought a 2 of clubs and Brunson bet and was raised, Brunson called. The river brought a 4 of spades and Brunson check called and showed Ac-6c and his opponent showed As-Qs and the pair of six’s was good for the pot. Brunson is now sitting over 26,000 in chips.

Phil Ivey was eliminated after a hand was 3-bet preflop and Ivey calling down to see the flop heads up. The flop came 3-A-5 and Ivey called one bet and a king hit on the turn. Ivey decided to bet out and was raised, he called and saw another king on the turn. Ivey check raised and his opponent called showing Ace King. Ivey immediately mucked and on his next hand he put all his chips in with A-2 and got a call from 5-2. The board hit a 5 and Ivey went and watched the basketball game.

On the stacked table 23 a interesting came alive when a flop came 5h-9h-9d and Mizarchi led out with a bet from the small blind and Huck Seed raised to 1,000 from the big blind. Theo Tran called and Mizrachi 3-bet the pot and both Seed and Tran called. The turn brought 3 of diamonds on the turn and Mizarchi lead out with another bet and received calls from Tran and Seed again. A 6 of clubs hit the river and Mizarchi bet out again and Seed raised it up, Tran folded, Mizrachi called. Seed showed As-9s and Mizarchi showed pocket kings. This hand puts Seed up to 32,000 in chips.

Rep Porter was eliminated by Bill Chen when Chen raised under the gun preflop and Porter put the rest of his short stack with a re-raise from the big blind. Another player also called both raises and the players saw a flop of Qd-5h-7c. Chen bet out and the other player called and the same thing happened when a Q of spades hit the turn as well. An 8 of spades fell on the river and Chen fired a third barrel and once again called. Chen showed Ks-Qh and his opponent mucked and took down the side pot. Porter showed 2d-8h, which made a pair of 8’s which was not good enough to beat Chen’s top pair and Chen scoops the main pot as well.

Several big name players are being eliminated late in the day which includes: Daniel Alaei, Ted Forrest, Mark Newhouse, Scotty Nguyen, Freddy Deeb, Patrik Antonius, Gabe Kaplan, and Thor Hansen.

The remaining 97 players out of an initial 218 entrants will be back for Day 2 on Tuesday and play will resume at 2:00 PM. Day 2 will play down to the final 9 players which will make the final table. The players will be competing for the Limit World Championship Hold’em bracelet and the first place prize of $496,931 of the $2,049,200 prize pool. The official chip leaders and stack sizes after day 1 are below.

Aaron Katz 1,232,00
Rob Hollink 893,000
Tommy Hang 578,000
Jerrod Ankenman 441,000
Andy Bloch 370,000
J.C. Tran 247,000
Cy Jassinowsky 231,000
Chris Vitch 201,000
Brock Parker 166,000

Event #27 – $1,500 No Limit Holdem Day 2

Event #27 returned to the Rio today with the 224 day one survivors all vying for the chance to make tomorrow’s final table of nine. The money bubble had burst yesterday so today we started with all players already in the money. After twelve hours of play, the tournament was suspended with 17 players left, so tomorrow it will take a few hours or so from the start time before the official final table is started and then played.

Key hands, cashes and eliminations:

The day one chip leader Bernard Lee could not get much going today. He lost a lot of chops early when he flopped top pair and was out kicked. He eventually finished in 75th place collecting $6,279. There were very few known pros still in the field when day two started, and at the end of the day there were none. Here’s how the noteworthy pros worth mentioning faired in day two.

33rd – Humberto Brenes – $13,666
37tf – Jean-Robert Bellande – $10,711
62nd – Alan Jaffray – $8,495
67th – Greg ‘FBT’ Mueller – $7,387
78th – Mark Seif – $6,279
92nd Joe Awada – $4,801

At the end of the day Moscow’s Vitaly Lunkin and American Kenneth Terrell were a top the chip count standings, but they’re still is a long way to go with 17 players returning tomorrow. Here are the finishing day chip counts:

Vitaly Lunkin 912,000
Kenneth Terrell 888,000
Barry Schultz 858,000
Philip Yeh 819,000
Jordan Smith 789,000
Bobby Firestone 544,000
Carl Jerome 495,000
Trevor Donaldson 470,000
Jeffrey Brown 337,000
Richard Alm 322,000
Deb Blair 310,000
Robert Brown 300,000
Tony Gargano 284,000
Brett Kimes 208,000
Bashar Ramahi 204,000
Frank Simpson 199,000
Deric Fitzgerald 175,000

Play resumes at 2PM Pacific tomorrow.