WPT $25,000 Final: Day 1A - At A Glance

[snoopy1239]

Play is due to commence at 12pm Las Vegas time, which I believe is 8pm UK time.


For interactive coverage, and photos from the event, visit the Interactive thread by clicking this link:  http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=22739.

[Djinn]

Well, we're here, in the Bellagio, in Las Vegas, trying not to trip up the rest of the press as we cement ourselves to the outer wall of the Fontana Lounge, in which will soon be played what is probably the best tournament in the world... the $25k WPT Championship.  It's luxurious, the tables pristine, the stacks very deep, the wireless Coming Any Minute, the WPT press ladies Lindsay and Beatrice helpful and we're generally excited to be covering this event.

In parallel you have the UK's Manchester GUKPT continuing through the weekend, while this will just go on and on, until someone is left as Champion, joining a select group of people who have won multiple million dollars in one tournament.

Been looking forward to this - and a day 'adjusting' to the climate (nice) the time (8 hours earlier than London) and the surroundings (what can I say, there's a chocolate fountain here) has left us feeling as ready as we've ever been. 

20 minutes  is counting down on the TV screens.

[Djinn]

We're in the first level, having shuffled up and dealt at a nearly spot-on-time midday (coinciding with the Bellagio fountains doing their ridiculous lake-in-a-desert show to the American National Anthem).  The sound of many, many tournament chips being riffled and won and lost in small increments is muted by the thick Bellagio carpets and drapery, while the Up view is an impressive chandelier, and the Down view is a room packed to bursting with tables.  There are wedding chapels bigger than this - much better for us than our only other Vegas basis of comparison, the Rio.  Two day Ones - Snoopy has been listing some of those present on the first.

[snoopy1239]

Okey cokey, I've done my rounds and here are the players I spotted.

Miami John Cernuto
Alan Smurfit
Liz Lieu
Barry Greenstein
David Pham
Ross Boatman
Harry Demetriou
Shane Schledger
Hoyt Corkins
Jamie Gold
Paul Alterman
Peter Gould
Jani Sointula
Johnny Lodden
Brian Townsend
Jennifer Harman
TJ Cloutier
Joe Bartholdi
Juha Helppi
Any Black
Phil Ivey
Padraig Parkinson
Scott Fischman
Kenna James
Ben Roberts
Martin Wendt
Jesse Jones
Bruce Yamron
Barny Boatman
Peter Haslam

[Djinn]

Attention was drawn to table Parkinson as this monster of a hand went down just before the first break:

So, we have threeway action on the turn.  Padraig quietly announces that a bet of 41,000 has been made on his table. 
The board reads .  Amazingly, there is interest, to the tune of all-in from all three players at this point.  Padraig guesses, quite correctly, that the lady to his right has just hit the nuts.  She apparently managed to spill beer on the table a couple of hands previously ("I love it when someone spills beer on the table and it isn't me," adds Parkinson) but looked pretty calm now as her opponents showed and respectively (incredibly).
"No pair!" she predictably requests, and the river brings a to a bit of a shriek of delight, as she now has 130k+.

Her name:  Anna Wrobelski (she won an event here during this festival which got the 21-year-old newcomer a seat in this one) - she's now the chip leader, who said, "Don't take a picture of me with beer, I'll look like an alcoholic."  Just at that moment, the waitress brought her another one and she seemed to relent, "Two beers is OK."  Pictures on Interactive thread (must be signed in to see them)...

[snoopy1239]

Bad news for JP Kelly fans, the newly illegal (in America, anyhow) is down to just 4k after an unfortunate set over set encounter.

JP raised it up to 250 pre-flop with Queens, two people smooth called behind him and the big blind made it 1,250 with Kings.

JP called.

K-Q-5 Flop

Bet, raise, re-raise, re-re-raise, push (JP making the final push).

No miracle quads.

"He's one of two fish on the table, anyone else and I could have got away from it."

------------------

Also stuggling is Peter Haslam (we've decided to call him Birmingham Pete seeing that he's next door to John Cernuto). Birmingham Pete's currently on 40k after his flopped set was outdone by a Turned straight. Still plenty of time, even JP can come back from 4k with this structure.

[snoopy1239]

Steve Zoine -- 73.5k
Marcel Luske -- 49.5k
Eli Elezra -- 52k
Tom Franklin -- 56.5k
John Cernuto -- 37.5k
David Williams -- 80k
Jess Jones -- 51.5k
Marc Goodwin -- 80k
Joe Bartholdi -- 84.5k
Vanessa Rousso -- 59k
Peter Haslam -- 49.5k
Kenna James -- 51k
Johnny Lodden -- 70.5k
JP Kelly -- 4k
Harry Demetriou -- 89.5k
John Hennigan -- 20k
Kristy Gazes -- 53k
Juha Helppi -- 58k
David Pham -- 45.5k
Barry Greenstein -- 43.5k
John Myung -- 57.5k
Jennifer Harman -- 56k
Scott Fischman -- 53k
Christian Grundtvig -- 68k
TJ Cloutier -- 32.2k
Dan Harrington -- 70k
Joe Rafferty -- 58k
Ross Boatman -- 44.5k

Other counts:

John Gale    23,650
Dan Alspach  46,575
Ram Vaswani  50,650
John Juanda   60,800
Gavin Simms   53,200
Noah Boeken  35,600
Martin Wendt  53,800
Barney Boatman  65,000
Andy Black      61,850

[snoopy1239]

Dwayne Moyers is OUT.

Eliminated at the hands of early chip leader Anna Wrobelski.

With the board reading , Dwayne pushed in for his last 10k saying "Oh, I like you in the process."

"I've got a set," announces Anna as she reveals her Deuces to take down the pot and take out yet another player.

[Djinn]

When it's all looking slow (blinds are currently 100/200) you can always count on Phil Hellmuth to be doing or at least saying something.  Here's one I saw earlier:
He raises in early position to 1,200.  The big blind calls (Phil: "You were thinking about raising?  What, have you got a pair of Eights?") His guess was amusing considering how the board cards came - to start with:    His opponent bet out, and Hellmuth called, muttering something about A-K.
Turn:    Now Phil faced a 3k bet, saying, "Chance to be a hero Hellmuth..." and called.  No one talks about themselves in the third person with such self-assurance in England.  It's great to watch.
River:    Matey bet 5k and Phil announced, "Call!" before the chip landed on the central area of the felt.  He was shown ; his were good.

[snoopy1239]

John Hennigan is OUT. Didn't catch the hand, but I saw him leaving the table with a pile of chips sailing the other way, which is never the best of signs.

[Djinn]

Barney Boatman increases his stack by a good 13k or so:  saw him check-raising a 3k bet to 10k on a board.  He received a slow call - in contrast he announced "all-in" for his 40k or so on the river almost immediately.  This time he didn't face a long decision, but picked it up there in a matter of seconds.
_________________________________

Andy Black's left hand side neighbours Sorel Mizzi and Lyle Berman, requiring more interest in this early level, are overheard combing through the fine points of their side bets... "So it's $1,000 red or black..."

[snoopy1239]

Joe Rafferty's currently on 53k, although he did take a 15k hit with top two pair versus trips before clawing back 5.

Roland de Wolfe has around 60k.

Ross Boatman has 53k after rivering a full house with 8-6s on a 9-8-4-8-6 board.

[snoopy1239]

JP Kelly has doubled up to 10k (13k really, but he lost 3k moments after).

All-in for for 4,850 after there'd been an under-the-gun raise and two flat calls ("the dead money made my mind up for me"), he was not called by the initial raiser, but more surprisingly, the first caller, who flipped over .

Nice Flop and although the Tens had an out for a straight flush (the ten of clubs would make it impossible for JP to make his Royal), it didn't arrive and JP shoots up to a much more playable 13,000.

[Djinn]

Second Room Discovered

In the Bellagio poker room, a handful of WPT tournament tables are scattered between the medium to enormous cash games.  Sorry it took two levels to find them (they're about a mile down the hall) but here are a few counts wanted from earlier:

John Duthie    82,675.  I asked him what had happened early (expecting some swashbuckling big pots recounted by the EPT figurehead) but he just said, "I've been playing really tight.  You have to in these comps.  Amazingly tight, actually."  Well, that extra 32k must have come from somewhere, I'll see if he's more forthcoming in the next break.  He also cashed in this event last year.

Roland de Wolfe  55,750  Writing small notes all the time.
Gavin Smith         40.900
Kris85 (Kristian Kjondal)  41,475
Victor Ramdin      50,150
Abe Korotki         60,000  (Asked for his chip count by his wife, who added, "He's got a WSOP win, now for the WPT...Room full of allstars)

[Djinn]

Full Player List for Day 1A:

Elia   Ahmadian
Danny   Alaei
Dennis   Almasy
Dan   Alspach
Gregory   Alston
Paul   Alterman
Timothy   Anders
Rene   Angelil
Richard   Anthony
Anthony   Argila
Josh   Arieh
Doa Kim   Bac
Greg   Baird
Tom   Barkas
Robert   Barnes
Rick   Barstow
Joe   Bartholdi
Jim   Bechtel
Paul   Begum
Eric   Beller
Brad   Berman
Lyle   Berman
Chris   Bjorin
Andrew   Black
Ross   Boatman
Barney   Boatman
Noah   Boeken
Wayne   Boich
Emeline   Boich
Alex   Bolotin
Jon   Bonetti
Justin   Bonomo
Burt   Boutin
Steve   Brecher
Chad   Brown
Blake   Buffington
Jeff   Cabanillas
Erik   Cajelais
Rhynie   Campbell
Kyle   Carlston
Cory   Carroll
Nick   Cassavetes
John   Cernuto
Wei Kai   Chang
Tim   Chauser
Neila   Chriss
Scott   Clements
Tj   Cloutier
Rock   Cloutier
Hoylt   Corkins
Bruce   Corman
Tony   Cousineau
Steve   Crockett
Ricky   Cummings
Alan   Cutler
Jimmy   D' Ambrosio
Richard   Dabal
Fred   David
Raymond   Davis
Quirt   Davis
Alfred   De Carlos
Martin   Deknijff
Harry   Demitriou
Sandor   Demjan
Eric   Deregt
Roland   Dewolfe
David   Dicken
Ben   Doud
Veronica   Dunn
Steve   Dunning
John   Duthie
Jason   Eakes
Mark   Edwards
Eli   Elezra
Eli   Eslami
Terricita   Evanowski
Will   Failla
Ron   Faltinsky
Ray   Faltinsky
Bob   Feduniak
Maureen   Feduniak
Amnon   Filippi
Scott   Fischman
Alan   Fixel
Frank   Flowers
Stuart   Fox
Tom   Franklin
Erik   Friberg
Jon   Friedberg
Stan   Fulton
Bill   Gaffney
John   Gale
Tor   Gammelgard
Pierre   Garand
Kristy   Gazes
Roland   Gentner
Matthew   Glantz
Alan   Goehring
Jamie   Gold
Marc   Goodwin
Ari   Goott
Peter   Gould
Steven   Graham
Barry   Greenstein
David   Grey
Edward   Gross
Christian   Grundtvig
Jared   Hamby
Pat   Hamner
Nick   Hanna
Edward   Hansen
Thor   Hansen
John   Hanson
Adeeb   Harb
Jason   Hardage
Jennifer   Harman
Daniel   Harrington
John   Harris
Richard   Harroch
Peter   Haslam
Gary   Haubelt
Isaac   Haxton
Jay   Heimowitz
Phil   Hellmuth
Bradley   Helm
Juha   Helppi
John   Hennigan
Eric   Hershler
Jerry   Humphrey Ii
Scott   Idsinga
Phil   Ivey
Alex   Jacob
Kenna   James
Euna   Jee
Marco   Johnson
Greg   Johnson
Berry   Johnston
Jesse   Jones
Sir Robert Dean   Jones
Jeremy   Joseph
Cliff   Josephy
John   Juanda
Tad   Jurgens
Marc   Karam
Jack   Karban
Gevork   Kasabyan
Eugene   Katchalov
Cary   Katz
Ted   Kearly
Matt   Keikoan
Charles   Kelley
John   Kelly
Chris   Kennedy
Kian   Kiarash
David   Kim
Chris   King
Harold   Kirkpatrick
Kristian   Kjondal
Abraham   Korotki
Paul   Kraus
Christian   Kruel
Guy   Laliberte
David   Lambard
Mike   Landers
Grant   Lang
Krishna   Lawrence
Ted   Lawson
Tuan   Le
Tom   Lee
Paul   Lee
Doug   Lee
Agis   Leontakianakos
Jason   Lester
David   Levi
Paul   Lieu
Liz   Lieu
Joao   Lima
Jonathan   Little
J J   Liu
Johnny   Lodden
Scott   Lundberg
Marcel   Luske
Moto Yuki   Mabuchi
Scott   Machninch
James   Mackey
Douglas   Mackinnon
Jeff   Madsen
Doron   Malinasky
Steve   Mandelbaum
Anthony   Marks
George   Marlow
Robert   Mathews
Davidson   Matthew
Philip   Matthews
Scott   Mayfield
Jim   Mc Crink
Tom   Mc Evoy
Steven   Mclaughlin
Andrew   Micali
Jeppe   Mikkelsen
Jake   Minter
Robert   Mizrachi
Sorel   Mizzi
Herb   Montalbano
Jordan   Morgan
Abraham   Mosseri
Dwayne   Moyers
Peter   Muller
Yohannes   Muruz
John   Myung
Amir   Nasseri
John   Nathan
Robert   Nehrayan
Tuan   Nguyen
Men   Nguyen
Binh Quoc   Nguyen
Tai   Nguyen
Harry   Noel
Don   Odea
Anders   Osterstrom
Chuck   Pacheco
Padre   Parkinson
Rajendra   Patel
David   Peat
Justin   Pechie
Rehne   Pedersen
Ralph   Perry
David   Pham
Loi   Phan
Billy   Pilossoph
David   Plastik
Tom   Pniak
Vincent   Procopio
Joseph   Pulliam
Daniel   Quach
Joseph   Rafferty
Annand   Ramdin
Brian   Rast
Ben   Roberts
Anthony   Romanelli
Mark   Rose
Vanessa   Rousso
Ben   Sabrin
Omar   Saeed
Francois   Safieddine
Rich   Salomon
Antonio   Salorio
Chris   Santora
Kevin   Saul
Alan   Schein
Shane   Schleger
Thomas   Schneider
Noah   Schwartz
Aaron   Scott
Joe   Sebok
Charlie   Sewell
Daniel   Shak
John   Shipley
Shannon   Shorr
Barry   Shulman
Joseph   Simmons
Steve   Simmons
Gavin   Simms
Nek-Pal   Singh
David   Sklansky
Cody   Slaubaugh
Gavin   Smith
John   Smith
Alan   Smurfit
Jani   Sointula
David   Stroj
Mark   Stubbs
Joe   Tehan
Roy   Thung
Brian   Townsend
Vadin   Trincher
Eliseo   Trujillo
Soren   Turkewitsch
James   Van Alstyne
Ram   Vaswani
Cindy   Violette
Haralabos   Voulgaris
Manousos   Vourkoutiotis
Andreas   Walnum
Robeert   Wazelle
Adam   Weinraub
Martin   Wendt
Louis   Werman
Tim   West
Tom   West
Keith   William
David   Williams
Matthew   Wolf
Danny   Wong
Carl   Wong
Michael   Woo
Dustin   Woolf
Anna   Wroblewski
Michael   Xu
Bruce   Yamron
Justin   Young
Hertzel   Zalewski
Alvin   Zeidenfeld
Steven   Zoine