Tuesday, June 24, 2008

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2008 WSOP Day 25: Baxter back for more

Baxter bets on his Lowball skills to win him another WSOP bracelet.

By Sarah Polson

Most eyes are probably on the final table of the latest $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event playing today, but poker aficionados may be more interested in the story of Billy Baxter today.

Baxter started out the day playing in the Seniors Event that kicked off at noon, but he's given up on that game for a while as Event 40, 2-7 Triple-Draw Lowball (Limit), has resumed play this afternoon.

He started out the day as the short stack when play began again, but he's been clawing his way up in the leaderboard to sit near the top instead at the moment. He's lasted into the money, but it would be a safe bet that he's thinking more about gold bracelets than cash right now.

Let's take a look at all the tournament action around the Rio.

Event 39

The $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event drew its usual large field of players to create a $3,712,800 prize pool, and today the top nine came to the felt to determine who was going to get the biggest piece of that prize.

Some might call the fields in these lower-buy-in Hold'em events soft, but the final table has seen some tough plays already with two players heading off to collect ninth- and eighth-place payouts.

After coming in to the final table second to last in chips, Jim Paras didn't last long once play began. On Hand 5 he got a call from David Woo after making it $150,000 to see the flop.

The flop dropped J 5 2, and Woo checked, only to see Paras move all-in. Woo makes the call and flips up 2 2 to Paras' A J.

The turn brings the J, helping Paras' hand a little bit but also giving Woo a full house to widen the gap a little more for him. When the 9 comes on the river, it's all over for Paras.

Next on the chopping block was Mark Glasser, who had started the day as the short stack behind Paras. He lasted 27 hands in before he ran into Matt Wood.

Glasser ended up all-in pre-flop and got a call from Wood. Glasser had 9 9 to rival Wood's A Q, and they saw a flop of J 7 4. Glasser was still safe when a J hit the turn, but Woods caught an A on the river to take the hand.

Action will continue until a winner is found. Stay tuned to the Event 39 live updates to find out who it will be.

Event 40

Short-stacked no more, Billy Baxter has gone from near death to being a contender to make the final table in today's $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) action.

Not everyone has fared as well as he, though - Baxter's newfound chips had to come from somebody. John Roveto lost a lot of his chips to Baxter before busting out.

On one particular hand, Roveto bet out after the second draw, and Baxter raised from the button. Roveto called and then took one card in the next draw while Baxter stood pat and both players checked.

Baxter showed 8-7-5-4-2, and Roveto showed the ace he'd picked up on the final draw and then watched his chips head to Baxter.

Baxter has seven World Series of Poker bracelets already, and all of them are in Lowball games.

Some of the other big names still holding in as well are Chau Giang, Greg Raymer, Raymond Davis, Robert Mizrachi, Ralph Perry and more.

The first person to go after the money bubble burst was former gold bracelet winner Bill Chen.

Stay tuned to the Event 40 live updates to see if Baxter can continue his good run, or if his luck will evaporate before the final table.

Event 41

The money bubble is nearing in the $1,500 Mixed Hold'em event as well. Play resumed at 3 p.m. and already several of the 98 remaining players have dropped, but there's still a few more to go before they reach the 72 who will be in the money.

Jonathan Tomayo has so far held onto the chip lead he came in with today, and some players who've managed to improve their stacks so far are Nick Binger and Alex Borteh.

Find out who makes the final table today in the Event 41 live updates.

Event 42

Partway through the first day of play, Baxter left his chair and chip stack in the Seniors No-Limit Hold'em World Championship to soldier on without him while he went on a tear in the 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event.

However, there were more than 2,000 other 50-and-older players keeping the action lively in the event. Some of the notable players include Men "The Master" Nguyen, Marsha Waggoner, Amarillo Slim Preston, Captain Tom Franklin, Tom McEvoy and Tony Ma.

Some of the familiar faces who've already busted for today include Johnny Chan, Eskimo Clark and Humberto Brenes.

Check out all the action in the Event 42 live updates or see what else is going on at the Rio in Las Vegas with all of our videos, photos, reports and more in the Live Tournaments section.

Related Articles:

• 2008 WSOP Day 25: Score one for Belgium
• 2008 WSOP Day 24: Lowball action
• 2008 WSOP Day 24: Mixing it up

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