Tuesday, June 17, 2008

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2008 WSOP Day 19: Big names upset by online balla

By Miguel Strother

As the World Series of Poker rumbles through the Rio, it's a Russian finishing with love, a balla with bracelet No. 1 and couple of powerful pros wailing for wins that dominate the poker headlines.

Event 27

Businessman Vitaly Lunkin of Moscow, Russia took down a massive field of 2,706 entries to win the latest World Series of Poker $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event last night in Las Vegas.

Lunkin is the 37-year-old general manager of a company that markets and distributes dietary supplements. Lunkin is married with two kids and says he loves the United States of America. Who wouldn't after winning $628,417 in Las Vegas?

"I am very happy to win," Lunkin after being presented with his WSOP gold bracelet. "I love America and everyone here has been very nice to me."

Lunkin is another of the gaming converts showing up in poker. In 2002, he won the "Renju" online world championship. Renju is a Japanese board game similar to the better known "Go" or "Gomoku." Like poker, the game demands strong strategy and the ability to anticipate your opponent's moves.

Lunkin carried the chip lead into the final day of play and although he didn't stay there the whole way, he found himself at the top after several key hands helped him finish off runner-up Brett Kimes of San Antonio, Texas.

Kimes actually entered heads-up play with a 1.2 million-chip lead over Lunkin but was thoroughly dominated when the two faced off. Lunkin should have won previous to what turned out to be the final hand.

Holding A 6, Kimes called Lunkin's all-in after the flop came 5 6 9. He wasn't so happy to see his middle pair dominated by Lunkin's 7 8 straight. However, the board unfathomably turned two more diamonds for the chop.

About an hour later, holding 10 8 in the small blind, Kimes limped in before calling a raise by Lunkin. Both players checked the J 2 4 flop. The turn revealed an 8 and Kimes came over the top all-in after Lunkin raised 1 million in chips. Lunkin called and turned over A J, and there were no more miracles to save Kimes' middle pair.

Kimes gets $387,873 for the second-place finish. The total prize pool for the event amounted to $3,693,690, with the top 270 finishers taking home cash in the second of seven $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em events in the 2008 WSOP.

Held every year since 1973, the lower-buy-in game has been quite possibly the most played event aside from the Main Event since making its debut. Participation in the event increased 17 percent this year alone.

Although Lunkin is Russian, he was just part of the diversity represented in the tournament, with 13 other countries including Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Mexico and Japan among the mix.

Event 28

Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond navigated what may have been the most difficult final table thus far at the 2008 WSOP to take his first-ever WSOP bracelet.

The final table of the $5k Pot-Limit Omaha w/Rebuys featured some of the biggest names in poker, including Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and David Benyamine.

Although it's his first WSOP bracelet, the player better known simply as "OMGClayAiken" is no stranger to big wins. The "Ship It Holla Ballas" crew member has cashed several times in the WSOP and is one of the most feared online and high-stakes cash-game players in the world.

Even though the table was filled with huge-name pros, it was Adam Hourani who found himself heads-up against Galfond to end the tournamnet.

In the final hand, Hourani was all-in ahead with a better kicker on a pair of aces before the turn gave Galfond two pair, aces and sixes. As a result he takes the whopping $817,781 for the first-place finish

Hourani takes $493,748 and did extremely well to finish with the second-highest payout considering he came into the day on the second-shortest stack.

Johnny Chan: Distracted by loud shirt pattern?

Neither of the top two bracelet winners in WSOP history, Johnny Chan (10) and Phil Hellmuth (11), could capitalize on their past triumphs to once again make a WSOP final table.

Chan held the chip lead at one point but seemed distracted as he was late from the breaks and up from his seat several times. He finished in fourth while Hellmuth, who entered the final table severely short-stacked, exited in eighth.

Event 29

David Singer continues to march through the 2008 World Series of Poker. Not only has he welcomed both his first WSOP bracelet and his newborn baby, he's now made the final table of the $3k No-Limit Hold'em event.

Although Singer took a hit late in play after he went all-in on Alex Bolotin holding a pair of queens when Bolotin turned out to be sporting a set of eights, the new papa still has a chance to claim his second bracelet of the season.

Singer (334,000) joins Matt Vengrin (1,007,500), Johnny Neckar (796,000), Stewart Newman (398,000), John Phan (396,500), Thuyen Doan (369,500), Tony Dunst (333,000), Alex Bolotin (534,000) and Sebastian Segovia (128,500) at the final table, which will resume at 2 p.m. Tuesday. To follow all the action, watch Pokerlisting's Live Updates.

Event 30

It took until nearly 4 a.m. but the final table for the $10k Limit Hold'em World Championship is set and ready to go at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Not surprisingly, pro Andy Bloch is still in the mix. Bloch has one second-place finish thus far at the 2008 WSOP and is running well.

Bloch: Reason to smile.

Bloch (370,000) currently sits fifth in chips and joins chip leader Aaron Katz (1,232,000), Dutchman Rob Hollink (893,000), Tommy Hang (578,000), Jarrod Ankenman (441,000), former World Poker Tour Player of the Year J.C. Tran (247,000), South African Cy Jassinowsky (231,000), Chris Vitch (201,000) and Brock Parker (166,000) at the final table.

Event 31

Just 73 of the more than 1,000 players in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed event remain for Day 2, which will resume at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

The top 10 in chips are Alon Shahar (264,100), Dario Minieri (191,600), Justin Filtz (180,200), Randall Brueckner (131,100), Frank Rusnak (127,800), Michael Skomac (123,700), Ed Fernandez (121,800), Andrew Emory (121,400), Cory Albertson (120,500) and Brendan Keenan (119,100).

Big-name pros still alive include Scotty Nguyen (118,600) and Max Pescatori (71,500).

The event will likely play down to a final table today before resuming for the final table Wednesday.

Event 32

The next installment of $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em begins today at noon. Last year, from a field of 2,314, Dave Stucke, a physics professor from Henderson, Nevada, beat out Young Cho for the $603,069 first prize and the bracelet in this event's incarnation as #27.

How large a field the tournament will attract this time around remains to be seen, but you can find out by checking the live updates at the appointed time.

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