Friday, June 20, 2008

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2008 WSOP Day 21: High-octane poker action

By Sarah Polson

Another $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event is playing to conclusion Thursday, and so far Luis Velador has been running the table. Plus, when action gets started in the $5,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Split Eight-or-Better event, there will be plenty of stars to watch battle for a bracelet as well.

Event 32

Luis Velador had the chip lead when the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event started its final table Thursday, but by no means would anyone have thought of him as a clear favorite to win. He was up to $1.8 million in chips, but Dany Georges was also up over $1 million to start Thursday.

However, Valedor came into the game swinging away and has nearly doubled his stack and put himself way out in front of the pack. Some might say this is his event to lose, but as poker fans know, just about anything can happen, even if a player has nearly $2 million more in chips than his nearest opponent.

Play began after 2 p.m. Thursday and two players have already been sent from the table to claim their cash prizes. The first to go was Justin Hoffman in ninth place.

On Hand 18, Hoffman had moved all-in for $79,000 and he got a call from Dean Bui. Hoffman showed J 8 to Bui's K 3, and they saw a flop of A T#7 with a four and a five to follow on the turn and river, giving Bui the hand.

Just a few hands later Utsab Saha was eliminated as well when he ran into Velador. The action had folded around to Velador on the button, and he proceeded to raise to $60,000.

The small blind folded, but Saha reraised to $120,000 from the big blind. Velador reraised again to make it $250,000, and Saha eventually moved all-in.

After making the call, Velador showed Q Q to Saha's A T. The board came K J J 2 6, and Velador added to his mountain of chips as Saha headed to the rail.

Check out the action in the Event 32 live updates.

Event 33

The second final table that will play Thursday is for the $5,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Split Eight-or-Better. The event wrapped up play late Thursday morning, so the final table is scheduled to get started at 5 p.m. instead of the usual 2 or 3 p.m.

When play resumes, the table will be filled by:

Name	Chip Count
Sebastian Ruthenberg	$663,000
Chris Ferguson	$434,000
Alessio Isaia	$398,000
Marcel Luske	$308,000
Bob Beveridge	$280,000
Annie Duke	$277,000
Steve Sung	$207,000
Bob Lauria	$44,000

Event 34

The $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha with Rebuys event is under way again and is nearing the money bubble. For some that means a lot of blind-stealing, as other players tighten up to try to survive into the cash.

One player taking advantage of the tightening-up trend is Barney Boatman, who was observed stealing the blinds twice in a row. There are plenty of other pros still in the thick of things as well.

Layne Flack, Ted Forrest, Tom Wahlroos, Erik Seidel and Clonie Gowen are still in it, while players like Marc Goodwin, Mats Rahm and Jared Hamby have busted to bring the field closer to the bubble.

Stay tuned to the Event 34 live updates to see who makes it into the money and eventually into the final table Thursday.

Event 35

The $1,500 Seven-Card Stud also started up its second day of play Thursday at 3 p.m. and already some heavy hitters have hit the bricks.

Greg Mueller, Ralph Perry, Katja Thater, Amnon Filippi and David Levi have all already busted to take the 70 players who started Thursday down closer to the money. The top 40 players will make it into the money.

Some of the pros still looking to earn some cash and hopefully end Thursday at least in the black, if not at the final table, are Chip Jett, Chad Brown, Bryan Devonshire, John Hennigan, Men Nguyen and more.

Keep your eyes on your favorites in the Event 35 live updates.

Event 36

At noon the latest of the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em events got under way with 2,447 entrants, which equates to more than $3 million in prize money up for grabs for those who can make it to the money.

After several hours of play, the field is already down to less than half, and among the players who've headed to the rail are a variety of poker pros. Jean-Robert Bellande, Beth Shak, Gavin Smith, Justin Bonomo, Kevin Saul, John Juanda, Michael Mizrachi, Michael Binger, Juha Helppi and Jennifer Tilly are just a few pros who've already busted.

There are still plenty of others still in play to watch, however. Shannon Shorr is hanging in there, along with Terrence Chan, Freddy Deeb, Tom McEvoy, Rafe Furst, Erica Schoenberg, Joe Sebok, Alex Jacob and Rolf Slotboom.

See the action for yourself in the Event 36 live updates.

Event 37

Action will get under way shortly for the $10,000 World Championship Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight-or-Better event. Because of the buy-in and the poker variation being played, this is expected to be a very high-caliber playing field.

Stay tuned for all the latest videos, reports, photos, interviews and more in the 2008 WSOP Live Tournaments section.

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• 2008 WSOP Day 21: Dario gets his due
• 2008 WSOP Day 20: Minieri working his magic
• 2008 WSOP Day 20: Phan-ing the tournament flames

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