Down to 27 in WSOP
July 14th 2008 08:41
Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few rounds of the World Series of Poker main event, internet connection has been in and out. As it is now, I'm on a borrowed connection.
But the tournament has finally reached the final 27 and they will go at it today until they get down to nine,then take a vacation to November.
Most of the remaining field will be unknowns as the last few remaining top pros took a hit when it mattered. Phil Hellmuth was one of those and after watching him play this week I have to admit he is, bar none, the best poker player around. Yes he is a brat, and will berate everyone and everything, but he knows how to gamble and has made an adjustment to the wide mob of amateurs in the game. Watch him for just an hour and you realize his ability to sniff out an opponents hand is unreal.
Most pros will tell you when they play they put their opponent on a range of hands, based on their betting each round, then kind of zoom in on a specific hand when they need too. Daniel Negreanu and Kenny Tran have developed a notable reputation of doing this. But I honestly think Hellmuth does it better, you just don’t see it as much because he doesn’t play as many hands.
Still his AQ couldn’t hold up against jacks when he and his opponent both went in pre-flop. And Hellmuth ended in 45th place. Incidentally, AQ is a hand that’s bit Hellmuth at several WSOPs
The second big defeat of the day was Mike Matusow who finished in 30th. Wouldn’t have been great to see Matusow and Hellmuth at the final table? They’d have lots of fun words for the other players. But Matusow, who had been playing tight and making great reads all day, fell on a tough hand. Matusow had an AJ and went all in on a board that was AA59. His opponent held A9 and the river K didn’t help and Matusow was gone.
I’ll be rooting for Tiffany Michelle, the lone remaining female in the tournament, who sits in third at just under 10 million chips. Michelle is an actress by trade, although poker may now be her new career, as her poker credits are become more impressive than her acting ones (sad because she’s very easy on the eyes, so I’d love to see more of her on the screen). She hasn’t, however cashed in a WSOP event.
So who else is left? (listed in approximate chip count order with any known info listed in parentheses)
Dennis Phillips; Craig Marquis (3 WSOP cashes); Peter Eastgate; Kelly Kim (2 WSOP cashes); David Rheem (5 WSOP cashes, including a second place finish in a $1000 buy-in in 2006; Gert Andersen; Paul Snead (3 WSOP cashes); Chris Klodnicki (3 WSOP cashes, including a 2nd in a RAZZ event this year); Judet Christian; Ivan Demidov ( 1 WSOP cash); Nicholas Sliwinski; Joe Bishop; Brandon Cantu (5 WSOP cashes, 1 bracelet, and was the leader for a good portion of the last few days); Darus Suharto (finished 448th in in 2006 main event for only cash); Scott Montgomery (3 WSOP cashes); Owen Crowe (3 WSOP cashes); Albert Kim; Ylon Schwartz (11 WSOP cashes but no top 10s and no main event cashes); Jason Riesenberg; Anthony Scherer; Dean Hamrick (3 cashes, including 599th in last year’s main event); Tim Loecke; Aaron Gordon; Nicklas Flisberg (only WSOP was 65th place in 2005 main event; Phi Nguyen (1 WSOP cash); and Michael Carroll (3 cashes).
It’s hard to figure who is a favorite here. Schwartz has the most experience, but only has about 3.6 million chips. That will last him a while today if he just sits, but he’ll have to find a good spot to move all in against a farily aggressive field. Right now, I wouldn’t pick any of the bottom 7 to make it to the final table as they will all be looking for a quick strike, and the odds are against them.
If I were betting on the final table I’d put Cantu, Rheem and Bishop as my top 3 picks right now to join Michelle at the final table.
But the tournament has finally reached the final 27 and they will go at it today until they get down to nine,then take a vacation to November.
Most of the remaining field will be unknowns as the last few remaining top pros took a hit when it mattered. Phil Hellmuth was one of those and after watching him play this week I have to admit he is, bar none, the best poker player around. Yes he is a brat, and will berate everyone and everything, but he knows how to gamble and has made an adjustment to the wide mob of amateurs in the game. Watch him for just an hour and you realize his ability to sniff out an opponents hand is unreal.
Most pros will tell you when they play they put their opponent on a range of hands, based on their betting each round, then kind of zoom in on a specific hand when they need too. Daniel Negreanu and Kenny Tran have developed a notable reputation of doing this. But I honestly think Hellmuth does it better, you just don’t see it as much because he doesn’t play as many hands.
Still his AQ couldn’t hold up against jacks when he and his opponent both went in pre-flop. And Hellmuth ended in 45th place. Incidentally, AQ is a hand that’s bit Hellmuth at several WSOPs
The second big defeat of the day was Mike Matusow who finished in 30th. Wouldn’t have been great to see Matusow and Hellmuth at the final table? They’d have lots of fun words for the other players. But Matusow, who had been playing tight and making great reads all day, fell on a tough hand. Matusow had an AJ and went all in on a board that was AA59. His opponent held A9 and the river K didn’t help and Matusow was gone.
Actress Tiffany Michelle is in fourth place at the World Series of Poker main event.
So who else is left? (listed in approximate chip count order with any known info listed in parentheses)
Dennis Phillips; Craig Marquis (3 WSOP cashes); Peter Eastgate; Kelly Kim (2 WSOP cashes); David Rheem (5 WSOP cashes, including a second place finish in a $1000 buy-in in 2006; Gert Andersen; Paul Snead (3 WSOP cashes); Chris Klodnicki (3 WSOP cashes, including a 2nd in a RAZZ event this year); Judet Christian; Ivan Demidov ( 1 WSOP cash); Nicholas Sliwinski; Joe Bishop; Brandon Cantu (5 WSOP cashes, 1 bracelet, and was the leader for a good portion of the last few days); Darus Suharto (finished 448th in in 2006 main event for only cash); Scott Montgomery (3 WSOP cashes); Owen Crowe (3 WSOP cashes); Albert Kim; Ylon Schwartz (11 WSOP cashes but no top 10s and no main event cashes); Jason Riesenberg; Anthony Scherer; Dean Hamrick (3 cashes, including 599th in last year’s main event); Tim Loecke; Aaron Gordon; Nicklas Flisberg (only WSOP was 65th place in 2005 main event; Phi Nguyen (1 WSOP cash); and Michael Carroll (3 cashes).
It’s hard to figure who is a favorite here. Schwartz has the most experience, but only has about 3.6 million chips. That will last him a while today if he just sits, but he’ll have to find a good spot to move all in against a farily aggressive field. Right now, I wouldn’t pick any of the bottom 7 to make it to the final table as they will all be looking for a quick strike, and the odds are against them.
If I were betting on the final table I’d put Cantu, Rheem and Bishop as my top 3 picks right now to join Michelle at the final table.
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