ClubWPT.com Level 11 Update

Level 12: 1,500-3,000, 400 ante

The Cinderella stories of ClubWPT.com qualifiers came to a close early in Day 3 as both Dean Meyer and Jesse Lopez saw their tournament runs cut short during the first level of the day.

Even though Dean Meyer only lasted midway through the first level of the day, his Day 3 here at Foxwoods was a real roller coaster ride.  Meyer came into the day with just 30,000 chips, but quickly doubled up thanks to a little luck and 56.  Meyer limped from under the gun, Eric Froehlich raised in middle position and Meyer called.

The flop fell A86 and Meyer shoved all-in for his last 24,000.  Froehlich called and showed A-J, which had Meyer's 56 for bottom pair in bad shape. The J on the turn left Meyer drawing even thinner, but he hit a miraculous 6 on the river to make trips and double up.

Froehlich and Meyer would clash again a little while later.  Eric Froehlich raised in early position, Eric Haber reraised to 20,000 total and Meyer called.  Froehlich then moved all-in, Haber folded and Meyer thought for a moment before calling with AJ.  Froehlich showed AK, which held as the board ran out A32T3. 

After the hand, Meyer told us he had hoped that Froehlich was pushing with a mid pair and he was in a race situation.  While Meyer was disappointed to be eliminated, he does have something to look forward to tomorrow.  Yesterday, he befriended a Foxwoods local at his table and they promised to show Meyer and his wife around Connecticut before they head back to North Dakota.

Jesse Lopez found himself heading for the rail shortly after Meyer when Todd Terry opened for a raise from early position, Lopez called from middle position and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi made it an additional 15,000 to go.  Terry folded and Lopez shoved all-in for 75,000 total and Mizrachi called with JJ.  Lopez was racing with his KQ and failed to connect as the board ran out 98894.  His tournament run is over, but he and his dad still have a couple more days to enjoy Foxwoods before they have to head back to Texas.

It has been a wild ride for the three ClubWPT.com qualifiers and, though none of them were able to make the money, they all agreed it was a great experience and enjoyed putting in some time at the tables with some of the best players in the game.

Think you can hold your own in a WPT event?  If you would like to win your way to a WPT Main Event on ClubWPT.com click on the link below for all the details.

Chip Count Update

Level 11: 1,200-2,400, 300 ante

All of the chip counts have just been updated in the Chip Count Tab.

With 63 players remaining, here is a look at the top five...

Terrence Chan - 520,000
Steven Merrifield - 465,100
Todd Terry - 460,000
Sooheil Shamseddin - 400,000
Curt Kohlberg - 380,000

Recent Eliminations:

Dean Meyer
Jesse Lopez

ClubWPT.com End of Day 2 Update

Level 10: 1,000-2,000, 300 ante

Both Jesse Lopez and Dean Meyer came into the second day of play here at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals with high hopes but low expectations since both of them started the day with some of the smallest stacks in the field.

The two ClubWPT.com qualifiers had big days courtesy of some timely double ups, big calls and a lot of patience.  Neither player played many pots during this last level of the day, so they ended slightly down from where they were to end Level 9.  Lopez took a couple of hits after his big hand against Kathy Liebert to end the day with 61,700.  However, considering he started the day with just 9,000 chips, his chip stack has to feel massive compared to where he started the day.

Meyer ended the day with just 30,500, but the ever-optimistic North Dakotan put his end of day results in a positive light.  "Yesterday I ended with 25,000," Meyer explained.  "So, the way I see it, I am up 5,000 chips on the day and that is fine with me."

The third ClubWPT.com qualifier, Alan Sasser, made his exit from the event earlier in the day, but he will be able to look back on Foxwoods with fond memories of ending Day 1 with a top ten chip stack, making a big call with ace high against known pro Theo Tran and holding his own against poker pros like Christian Harder and Victor Ramdin.

Stay tuned tomorrow to see if our two remaining ClubWPT.com qualifiers can continue their wild Foxwoods ride into the money alongside the other 71 players still in the field here in Connecticut.

If you would like to win your way to a WPT Main Event on ClubWPT.com click on the link below for all the details.

Chip Count Update

Level 10: 1,000-2,000, 300 ante

All of the chip counts have just been updated in the Chip Count Tab.

With 73 players remaining, here is a look at the top five...

Christian Harder - 361,000
Jack Schanbacher - 351,000
Terrence Chan - 320,000
Michael Mizrachi - 310,000
Curt Kohlberg - 305,000

ClubWPT.com Chip Counts

Jesse Lopez - 102,000
Dean Meyer - 41,000

Recent Eliminations:

Kathy Liebert
Adam Lippert
Andrew Barta

ClubWPT.com Level 9 Update

Level 10: 1,000-2,000, 300 ante

The miraculous upswing of  ClubWPT.com qualifier Jesse Lopez continued during Level 9 and, for the first time today, he has cracked the 100,000 chip mark.  Poker pro Kathy Liebert was moved to Lopez's table earlier this afternoon and she took a break from making prop bets with Matt Stout to ask Lopez about ClubWPT.com. 

While the table talk between Liebert and Lopez was nothing but friendly, the big pot they clashed in on the the last hand of Level 9 was not so nice.  Lopez raised from the cutoff, Liebert reraised from the button and Lopez called, leaving around 40,000 chips behind.  The flop came 822 and Lopez led out for 14,000.  Liebert eyed his stack, evaluated her options and moved all-in, just barely having Lopez covered.  He thought for a bit and told us later that he, "decided to trust his instincts," and called with A8 for two pair.  Liebert showed AQ for ace high.  The turn and river brought running jacks to give Lopez jacks and eights to take the pot and leave Liebert with only 6,000 chips. 

When we went over to check on our other ClubWPT.com qualifier Dean Meyer, the whole table informed us that we missed out on a doozy of a hand, but they were kind enough to fill us in on the details:

For the second time today, Meyer came back from the brink of elimination thanks to the dealer putting a straight on the board.  Earlier today, he chopped a pot with A-Q against his opponent's A-K after the board ran out 5-3-2-X-4 and he had equally good fortune during Level 9.  Meyer called another player's all-in on a 7-6-5 board holding pocket aces to the other player's set of sevens.  It looked like it was the end for Meyer, but the turn put a gutshot on the board and the river completed the straight to chop the pot once again.

Other than that big pot, Meyer has laid low this past level and he is still sitting on just over 40,000 chips.

If you would like to win your way to a WPT Main Event on ClubWPT.com click on the link below for all the details.

Chip Count Update

Level 9: 800-1,600, 200 ante

All of the chip counts have just been updated in the Chip Count Tab.

With 89 players remaining, here is a look at the top five...

Christian Harder - 365,000
Jack Schanbacher - 355,000
Curt Kohlberg - 340,000
Joe Serock - 325,000
Frank Calo - 295,000

ClubWPT.com Chip Counts

Jesse Lopez - 52,000
Dean Meyer - 40,000

Chip Count Update

Level 9: 800-1,600, 200 ante

All of the chip counts have just been updated in the Chip Count Tab.

With 95 players remaining, here is a look at the top ten...

Christian Harder - 340,000
Curt Kohlberg - 330,000
Terrence Chan - 300,000
Joe Serock - 290,000
Michael Mizrachi - 280,000

ClubWPT.com Chip Counts

Dean Meyer - 60,000
Jesse Lopez - 60,000

Recent Eliminations:

Steve Sung
Gavin Smith
Dave Fox
Eric Baldwin
Scott Dorin

ClubWPT.com Level 8 Update

Level 9: 800-1,600, 200 ante

After starting the day as one of the chip leaders, ClubWPT.com qualifier Alan Sasser saw his tournament come to an end earlier today.  Sasser had to contend with the aggressive Christian Harder on his right for the duration of the afternoon and then lost a sizeable portion of his stack when he got it all-in during a blind vs. blind confrontation holding AQ to his opponent's AK.  The A8693 board was no help to Sasser and he was left with just 25,000 chips after the hand.

It didn't take long for Sasser to get the rest of those chips in the middle.  Two hands later, he opened for a raise from the button and Harder reraised from the small blind.  Sasser moved all-in and Harder quickly called, tabling AA.  Sasser's A7 failed to catch up with the aces and he hit the rail shortly into Level 8.

As Sasser was shipping the last of his chips to Harder, Jesse Lopez was one table over tangling with several player in a big pot worth 65,000.  Lopez moved all-in with pocket tens, got one caller who held pocket eights and his hand held to propel him up to an average chip stack.

When we last checked in with ClubWPT.com qualifier Dean Meyer, he had chipped up to nearly 60,000 chips, but he has fallen off a bit since then.  One hand where he dropped some chips came in a blind versus blind confrontation with one of the tournament chip leaders, Curt Kohlberg.  Meyer bet out 5,000 on a flop of Q87 and Kohlberg raised to 15,000 total.  Meyer contemplated a call, but cut his losses and tossed his hand instead.  At the conclusion of Level 8 Meyer was sitting on 46,000.

If you would like to win your way to a WPT Main Event on ClubWPT.com click on the link below for all the details.

Chip Count Update

Level 8: 600-1,200, 200 ante

All of the chip counts have just been updated in the Chip Count Tab.

With122 players remaining, here is a look at the top five...

Curt Kohlberg - 310,000
Terrence Chan - 275,000
Joe Serock - 220,000
Frank Calo - 210,000
Michael Mizrachi - 190,000

ClubWPT.com Chip Counts

Jesse Lopez - 65,000
Dean Meyer - 60,000

Recent Eliminations:

Alan Sasser
Prahlad Friedman
Jonathan Wein
Heather Sue Mercer

ClubWPT.com Level 7 Update

Level 8: 600-1,200, 200 ante

Remember ClubWPT.com qualifier Dean Meyer's plan to only play premium hands in the hopes of doubling his short stack up? It worked well for him in Level 6 and worked even better in Level 7 as Meyer both staved off elimination and doubled up over the course of the past 90-minutes.

Meyer filled us in on his brush with elimination on break.  He raised all-in over the top of another player's opening raise for 17,000 holding A-Q and the initial raiser called with A-K.  The 2-3-5 flop looked dire for Meyer and the card on the turn was no help to him either.  The river brought a four to give both players the wheel though and Meyer was able to dodge elimination on the river.

The very next hand Meyer moved all-in with TT and another player called him with AQ.  The board ran out K939T to give Meyer a full house, the pot, and a double up to almost 50,000 chips.  He picked up a few additional pots to end the level with almost 60,000 and is nearing closer and closer to the average stack.

Jesse Lopez picked up a few pots of his own this level to maintain his chips at 25,000.  We caught up with Lopez in a hand where Matt "All In At 420" Stout opened for a raise from under the gun to 2,650, a player called in middle position and Lopez called from the big blind.  The flop came Q54, Lopez shoved all-in for around 14,000 and Stout and the other player quickly folded their hands.

Alan Sasser proved he could tangle with the pros this level when he picked off a big bluff from Theo Tran to collect most of Tran's stack.  Sasser check-called bets from his aggressive opponent on every street with ace high, despite both flush and full house possibilities on the board. 

The expert call helped to pad Sasser's stack back up over 100,000.  Early in the level, Sasser dropped a sizeable pot to Christian Harder.  Sasser picked up A-K and tangled with Harder as the board ran out K-Q-J-9-X.  Harder moved all-in on the river and Sasser was forced to fold, leaving himself with 90,000. 

Thanks to the hand with Tran and a couple of other pots, Sasser worked his way back up to 115,000 heading into the second break of the day.

If you would like to win your way to a WPT Main Event on ClubWPT.com click on the link below for all the details.