Live Tournament Updates
Day Two Recap
Level 7: 200,000-400,000, 50,000 ante
By: BJ Nemeth
Day Two moved quickly, and with 40 players surviving, this five-day tournament looks like it could be finished in four days. While an off day is a longshot, we're certain that either Day Three or Day Four (possibly both) will have an early finish.
At the start of the day, these were the four big stacks:
1. Davidson Matthew - 156,625
2. Daniel Alaei - 141,125
3. Darrell 'Gigabet' Dicken - 123,100
4. Shannon Shorr - 121,200
All four survived Day Two. Darrell Dicken moved into first place during the first level and never looked back. His stack steadily increased all day, then took a big leap in the last level to put him over half a million in chips.
The other Day One leaders didn't fare as well. After an entire day, Davidson Matthew only added about 10,000 chips to his stack. Daniel Alaei and Shannon Shorr did worse than that -- Shorr lost about half his stack, while Alaei lost 62% of his. But they're still alive, and as long as they're alive, they have a shot.
Here is the new top four from the end of Day Two:
1. Darrell Dicken 501,900
2. Phil Ivey 289,900
3. Mikko Pispala 279,300
4. John D'Agostino 279,100
As you can see, Dicken is over 500,000, and nobody else is above the 300,000 mark.
Phil Ivey ended the day in second place, but for the most part, he had a tough day. He picked up some chips early before taking some hits and dropping down the in the chip counts. In the middle of the day, Steve Sung was aggressively attacking him with raises and re-reraises. Sung kept pushing and pushing, but when Ivey finally stood his ground, he made it count.
With the board showing [Qc 9h 7c 6d] on the turn, Sung checked, Ivey bet 30,000, and Sung called. The river card was the 3
, Sung checked, Ivey moved all in, and Sung thought for about five minutes before calling. Ivey showed [Kc Qh] for top pair, and it was good enough. Sung mucked his cards as he lost most of his chips, and he busted out with a whimper a few hands later.
While the top four chipleaders from Day One survived the day, there were a lot of big names that weren't so lucky -- Mark Seif, Erik Seidel, Gavin Smith, Barry Greenstein, Nenad Medic, Erick Lindgren, Dustin 'Neverwin' Woolf, and J.J. Liu were all sent home early in the day.
Even with those losses, this field was still heavily populated by top players, and there were no easy tables. Table 37 was perhaps the toughest throughout the day. Here's a partial lineup from the start of the day:
Seat 1 - Mark Seif
Seat 2 - Michael Binger
Seat 3 - Nam Le
Seat 5 - J.C. Alvarado
Seat 6 - Dustin 'Neverwin' Woolf
Seat 7 - Lex 'RaSZi' Vendhuis
Seat 9 - Alex Prendes, Jr.
Seif was crippled in the second hand of the day when he doubled up Vendhuis, a top online pro from the Netherlands who final tabled one of the Mirage prelim events. If possible, the table got even tougher at that point when Phil Ivey moved into the open seat. By the end of the day, this was the lineup at that same table:
Seat 1 - Phil Ivey
Seat 2 - John D'Agostino
Seat 3 - Nam Le
Seat 6 - Chad Layne
Seat 7 - Rene Angelil
Seat 8 - Tom Pniak
Seat 9 - Amnon Filippi
As tough as those names are by themselves, remember that Ivey and D'Agostino are both among the top four in chips.
Kathy Liebert and Kristy Gazes both made it deep into the day, but neither survived. Gazes was the last woman in the field when she was eliminated in approximately 50th place.
As we advance to Day Three on Monday, here are some of the other big names still in the hunt for the first WPT Final Table of Season VI:
13. Chip Reese - 175,000
14. Davidson Matthew - 167,000
15. Eric Froehlich - 166,200
AVERAGE - 154,500
21. Alan Goehring - 141,500
26. Rene Angelil - 111,800
29. Jared Hamby - 104,200
30. David 'The Dragon' Pham - 97,900
31. Amnon Filippi - 90,100
32. Haralabos Voulgaris - 87,100
34. Nam Le - 65,500
35. Shannon Shorr - 65,200
36. Chad Layne - 59,300
37. Daniel Alaei - 53,200
38. Burt Boutin - 49,700
With 40 players left, only the top 27 will finish in the money. Day Three starts Monday at 12:00 noon PDT, and it's scheduled to finish when the money bubble bursts at 27 players. I expect it will continue longer than that, probably to the final two tables (18 players). Unless they play all the way down to the final table, expect Day Three to have an early finish.
So return to |:ll:17:|/WPT Live Updates/ early, so you can catch the action live, as it happens. Haralabos Voulgaris started a |:ll:18:|/WPT Pro Player Blog/ today (along with Alex Jacob), and you can follow his progress in his own words as he strives for the final table. You'll also get all the chip counts, hand updates, photos, and video interviews you crave to keep you on top of everything happening at the Mirage Poker Showdown.
Have a good night, and we'll see you back here tomorrow.
11:05 PM, 05/20/07
Official Chip Counts from Day Two
Level 7: 200,000-400,000, 50,000 ante
The chip counts have been updated with the official numbers from the end of Day Two. For your convenience, here are the top 10 chipleaders, along with some notables: 1. Darrell Dicken 501,900 2. Phil Ivey 289,900 3. Mikko Pispala 279,300 4. John D'Agostino 279,100 5. Richard Kirsch 260,000 6. Jon Friedberg 245,600 7. Cory Carroll 241,200 8. Mark Ketteringham 238,700 9. Jonathan Little 225,400 10. Owen Crowe 217,000 13. Chip Reese 175,000 14. Davidson Matthew 167,000 15. Eric Froehlich 166,200 21. Alan Goehring 141,500 26. Rene Angelil 111,800 29. Jared Hamby 104,200 30. David Pham 97,900 31. Amnon Filippi 90,100 32. Haralabos Voulgaris 87,100 34. Nam Le 65,500 35. Shannon Shorr 65,200 36. Chad Layne 59,300 37. Daniel Alaei 53,200 38. Burt Boutin 49,700 Stay tuned for a recap of today's highlights.
Sorted In: Mirage Poker Showdown, The Mirage, Season VI09:31 PM, 05/20/07
Gavin Smith
Level 7: 200,000-400,000, 50,000 ante
Video description: The Season IV Mirage Poker Showdown champion talks about his play at Mirage; handing over the Player of the Year torch to JC Tran; and his bizarre confrontation with Allen Kessler.
Sorted In: Mirage Poker Showdown, The Mirage, Season VI
09:03 PM, 05/20/07
Jared Hamby
Level 7: 200,000-400,000, 50,000 ante
09:02 PM, 05/20/07
Day Two Comes to an End
Level 7: 200,000-400,000, 50,000 ante
Day Two comes to an end with 41 players still left according to the tournament clock. Stay tuned for official chip counts, which should be posted within about 15 minutes, along with a final recap.
Sorted In: Mirage Poker Showdown, The Mirage, Season VI08:42 PM, 05/20/07
Kenna James
Level 7: 200,000-400,000, 50,000 ante
08:39 PM, 05/20/07
Lex 'RaSZi' Vendhui Eliminated
Level 7: 200,000-400,000, 50,000 ante
Online pro Lex 'RaSZi' Vendhui of The Netherlands has been eliminated from the tournament.
Sorted In: Mirage Poker Showdown, The Mirage, Season VI08:32 PM, 05/20/07
Froehlich Heating Up
Level 7: 200,000-400,000, 50,000 ante
Action is folded to Jonathan Depa in the sb who raises to 30k. Eric Froehlich then moves all-in from the bb for a little over 100k. Depa takes a couple of minutes to make a decision and he finally folds. On the very next hand with one limper already in the pot, Eric raises to 17k total out of the sb. The bb folds and so does the limper and Eric picks up back-to-back pots. He is now above average with nearly 160,000 in chips.
Sorted In: Eric Froehlich, Mirage Poker Showdown, The Mirage, Season VI08:31 PM, 05/20/07
Jared Hamby Makes a Good Hand -- But Not Great -- And He Pays the Price
Level 7: 200,000-400,000, 50,000 ante
With the board showing [Ac Jc 9h 5s] on the turn, Paul Wang checks, Jared Hamby bets about 15,000, and Wang calls. The river card is the 8
, Wang bets 20,200, and Hamby immediately calls, showing [10h 7h] for the jack-high straight.
But Wang shows [Qh 10d] -- for the nut queen-high straight. Hamby is noticeably pissed, grabs his 20,200 for the final call, and tosses the chips directly into the pot. The dealer quickly calls for a floorperson to resolve the situation.
Eventually, a few players vouch for the fact that Hamby did, in fact, have 20,200 in his hand, and the pot is not counted down to make sure it's accurate. Hamby has been noticeably upset since then, pacing around and muttering to himself. He is down to about 90,000 in chips, while Paul Wang moved up to about 214,000.
08:30 PM, 05/20/07
Got a Club?
Level 7: 200,000-400,000, 50,000 ante
On a board of 8
JQQ, David PhamDavid Pham// in middle position bets 24,000. The player in Seat 8 quick calls.
The river is a 4 and Seat 8 bets 24,000. Pham calls. Seat 8 asks, "You got a club? A club is good." Seat 8 then shows 8-6 no clubs for a two pair 8's. Pham rolls over pocket 6's for a lower two pair and neither are a club.
The table explodes into laughter and Seat 8 is shocked he won. Davidson Matthew who is also at the table says "You got some big ones...I don't want to be in a hand with you!"
08:24 PM, 05/20/07
