2008 WSOP Day 29: Bursting bubbles

Bolotin busts out of bracelet contention.

Bubbles are bursting in more ways than one as players vie for a bracelet at the Event 44 final table and one event works down to a final table, with the $50k H.O.R.S.E. plays another day and one more event gets started.

That makes for a lot of raised hopes, bubbles bursting and plenty of poker action to dip into.

Event 44

First up is the final table of the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys event. The table got underway this afternoon and they've wasted no time in sending players off to collect their consolation money.

Seven hands in, Alex Bolotin hit the rail in ninth place. Action had folded around to him, and he made it $52,000 to go, and Albert Iverson reraised to $132,000.

When the action folded back around to Bolotin, he flat called and they saw a flop of A♦ 6♥ T♦. After both players checked, the 7♠ came on the turn. Bolotin shoved all-in for his last $112,000 and Iverson called.

With A♥ T♥ Iverson has the lead against Bolotin's A♠ K♦. The river brought a 9♣ to give Iverson the pot and Bolotin the boot.

Next to go was Phung Ngo after he ran into Rene Mouritsen. Max Greenwood had started the action with a $50,000 raise, and Mouritsen reraised to $170,000. This got an all-in from Ngo in the small blind for a total of $250,000.

Greenwood decided to get out of the way and Mouritsen made the call. He showed A♣ J♦ to Ngo's 8♠ 8♥ and the race was on.

The board brought T♥ A♦ 4♣ 6♥ 5♠, giving Mouritsen the pair he needed on the flop and Ngo couldn't catch another eight to beat him.

Curtis Kohlberg ended up in the seventh-place spot when his A♥ 7♠ couldn't hold up against Greenwood's K♠ 8♥. Kohlberg ended up all-in on the hand pre-flop, and then saw Greenwood hit a king on a flop of K♥ 4♦ 8♠. The turn and the river then bring T♣ Q♠ respectively and Kohlberg is done.

Sixth place then went to Aliaksandr Dzianisau. Iverson had raised from the small blind after action had folded around to him and then Dzianisau went all-in from the big blind.

Dzianisau tabled Q♠ Q♥, and Iversen turned up J♠ 7♠. But a flop of 4♣ J♣ J♥ gave Iversen the lead in the hand and when the turn and river brought running aces, Iversen was in the clear and Dzianisau was out.

That isn't the end of it yet either. Jesse Chinni was then eliminated on Hand 22 by Mouritsen. Mouritsen had raised it to $60,000 pre-flop and Chinni re-raised it. Mouritsen then came over the top again, resulting in an all-in Chinni.

When Mouritsen insta-calls, they reveal what all the fuss is about: #AdKc for Chinni and A♠ A♣ for Mouritsen. The board came A♦ 5♠ 4♥ 4♦ 6♦ to give Mouritsen a huge pot and Chinni gives up his chip lead coming into the day in exchange for a fifth-place payout.

Mouritsen now has more than $3 million in chips with Iversen at just more than 1.5 million in chips as his nearest competitor. Greenwood and Scott Freeman are the other two players still desperately hoping to become a bracelet winner today.

For more of the action, tune in to the Event 44 live updates.

Event 45

The $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship players have returned to the felt for a third day of play. They have two more to go after this before a winner will be crowned, but it's necessary when you consider the caliber of players in the event.

Play resumed today with 67 players at about 3 p.m. and just three of them have been picked off so far. Max Pescatori, Jeffrey Lisandro and Allen Kessler were booted in the first couple hours of play.

Pescatori was taken out by Brendan Adams during Hold'em hand. He got all-in with A♦ 8♥ only to find Adams holding A♥ 9♣, and Pescatori couldn't improve his hand with the board.

In an Omaha Eight-or-Better hand, Lisandro ended up all-in after a flop of 5♠ 3♦ 2♠ and Huck Seed made the call. Lisandro turned up A♦ J♦ 6♠ 5♣ to Seed's A♥ K♥ 6♥ 4♠.

Seed had flopped the wheel and when the turn and river just brought tens, Lisandro was out.

If you want a taste of more of the action, visit the Event 45 live updates where you can see how all your favorite pro poker players are faring in this event.

Event 46

The bubble is about to burst in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed event. Tournament officials had to pause the tournament clock and go hand for hand for quite some time now as nobody seems to want to be labeled the bubble boy today.

There are a few players who didn't even make it to this point today, however. Jimmy Fricke won't be making another cash today, nor will Chad Batista.

Bertrand Grospellier is fairly safe as the chip leader at the moment. J.J. Liu has also been making a steady climb today to stay safe so far.

Shannon Shorr, Eugene Todd, Ryan Daut, Eddie Scharf, Glen Chorny and plenty of others are still in the mix as well.

Take a look at the action in the Event 46 live updates.

Event 47

Another event playing to a final table today is the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Eight-or-Better event. After starting with 543 players on Thursday, 96 returned to play today.

Chip Jett and Tony Cosineau were early casualties. Sam Grizzle and David Plastik also won't see the money in this event after busting out.

If you want to see who's still in, visit the Event 47 live updates.

Event 48

The only event getting its start today is the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event. It was probably a good idea not to schedule the start of a second event this event since Event 48 brought in 2,317 players at noon today.

Among the huge playing field looking for 2008 WSOP bracelet glory are David Pham, Doug Carli, Humberto Brenes, Jordan Morgan, John Juanda, Lou Esposito, Chau Giang, Joe Hachem, Mike Matusow, Luca Pagano, Jennifer Tilly, Erica Schoenberg, Erik Seidel, David Benyamine, Jean-Robert Bellande and many others.

For all the action, head to the Event 48 live updates.

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