WPT Merit Cyprus Classic Championship Day 3 | 2009 WPT Merit Cyprus Classic

WPT Merit Cyprus Classic Championship

Day 3 Completed

09-09-2009 21:15 UTC+3

Flack Back on Top at the End of Day 3

[user75032]

Just how interesting is chip leader Layne Flack?

Fifteen levels of poker have been played across three days here at the 2009 WPT Merit Cyprus Classic. Fifteen levels were required to reduce the field from the 181 who started down to the 21 who remain.

Who are those 21 players? They are some of the cream of the international poker circuit. Tommy Vedes. Antony Lellouche. Kelly Kim. Huck Seed. Jonathan Little. Nenad Medic. Rep Porter.

And then there's the player who bills himself as "the most interesting man in the world", Layne Flack. Flack started this tournament with a bang, tripling his stack before Level 1 ended several days ago. He was back at it again today, quadrupling his stack over the course of five levels to finish with 915,000 of the 7.2 million chips in play. With 21 players still remaining, that's quite a feat.

Of course it wasn't a good day for everyone. Players eliminated from the 55 that started today and who will NOT be returning tomorrow include Andy Bloch, Bruno Fitoussi, Allen Cunningham, Chris Ferguson, Praz Bansi, Sorel Mizzi, Dan Harrington, and Roy Winston.

Flack will be in the pole position when the players return at noon tomorrow to continue the chase, but this is far from a done deal. Rep Porter's 812,000 chips are giving Flack a good chase. Three of the remaining 21 players will go home empty-handed tomorrow, while the other 18 will be guaranteed at least $17,000.

Official chip counts have been compiled and entered into the chip counts page. Hopefully that will hold you over before the action resumes at noon local time tomorrow.

Until then, you can find us at the bar.

Tags: Layne Flack

09-09-2009 21:02 UTC+3

Yosh Nakano Eliminated

[user75032]

On the first of the five hands at Table 1, Yosh Nakano opened all in for 63,000. He was called in two spots: by button Antony Lellouche, and by big blind Kelly Kim. On a {7-Clubs}

flop, Kim checked and then open-folded {A-?}

to an all-in bet from Lellouche. That left Lellouche alone with Nakano for the main pot.

Nakano: {A-Hearts}

Lellouche: {J-Clubs}

Nakano's pair of fives needed to improve to avoid elimination. But when the {J-Spades}

hit the turn, Nakano was drawing dead. He's out.

Tags: Antony Lellouche Yosh Nakano

09-09-2009 20:57 UTC+3

Five More Hands

[user75032]

The clock is paused with twelve minutes left in the level. Chip leader Layne Flack was given the honor of drawing a card to determine how many more hands each table will play. He drew a card and left it face down on the table.

"Five," he said, patting the card. TD Jack McLellan turned up the card. It was the {5-Spades}

.

"Somebody's running good," said Michael Peltekci from the rail.

09-09-2009 20:49 UTC+3

Kim Folds to Pressure

[user75032]

Table 1 has most of the chips and plenty of big names. It's been a tough slog for many of those players today, including Kelly Kim. After Antony Lellouche opened from middle position to 22,000, Kim tried re-raising the button to 59,000. Lellouche eyeballed Kim's stack and then announced a raise of "one hundred more", making it 159,000 total. Kim mulled, and mulled, and mulled some more before folding.

Tags: Antony Lellouche Kelly Kim

09-09-2009 20:45 UTC+3

Keidar KO's Monnette

[user38449]

We missed the action as it happened, but Huck Seed replayed the basics for us:

Uri Keidar limped into the pot with pocket tens and John Monnette moved all in for his last ~90,000 holding pocket sevens. Keider allegedly tanked for ages but eventually made the call, and the board brought no help to Monnette, who was eliminated from the tournament in 23rd place.

Keidar stacked up just over 350,000 in chips after the hand.

Tags: John Monnette

09-09-2009 20:43 UTC+3

Lestina's Turn to Hang On

[user75032]

"How much do you have?" small blind Janar Kiivramees asked big blind John Lestina. He was told that Lestina had 39,000 total, including his blind.

"I'm all in," Kiivramees announced.

"I call," Lestina quickly said. He found himself in a great spot, with his {7-Diamonds}

absolutely crushing Kiivramees' {7-Hearts}

. The board rolled out {Q-Clubs}

to give Lestina the double-up.

"Hey, now you have 100,000," Tommy Vedes told Lestina.

"Not quite," Lestina replied, "but I do have a few more blinds and antes."

Tags: Janar Kiivramees John Lestina

09-09-2009 20:39 UTC+3

Bichon Drinking Double

[user66118]

For the second hand in a row, Jonathan Little opened the pot in early position with a raise to 22,000. Thomas Bichon was in late position, and he moved all in for a total of 75,000. Little quickly called when it came back to him, putting Bichon at risk.

Showdown
Little: {A-Hearts}

Bichon:

All in but ahead, Bichon watched a safe board run out {4-Diamonds}

. Ace-king holds, doubling him up to 170,000.

Tags: Jonathan Little Thomas Bichon

09-09-2009 20:25 UTC+3

Aboukhalil Hangs On

[user75032]

Down to 23,000 chips, Anthony Aboukhalil moved all in. He was called by small blind Thomas Bichon, yet another in a string of opponents that has attempted to take Aboukhalil out. This time Aboukhalil showed {9-Spades}

; Bichon was drawing at an ace with {A-Clubs}

. The board blanked {J-Spades}

to give Aboukhalil another double-up.

He is, however, still deathly short at 62,000.

Tags: Anthony Aboukhalil Thomas Bichon

09-09-2009 20:21 UTC+3

Aboukhalil Hurtin'

[user66118]

Huck Seed opened the pot with a raise to 25,000 from middle position, and only short stack Anthony Aboukhalil came along with him, making the call from the big blind for a significant chunk of his stack.

The flop showed up {8-Diamonds}

, and Aboukhalil checked. While Seed was mulling it over, Aboukhalil said, "Thirty thousand," preemptively answering Seed's request for a count. After another minute or two, Seed checked behind.

The turn card was the {10-Diamonds}

, and Aboukhalil passed again. Seed paused before making the bet to put his opponent to a decision for his tournament life. Aboukhalil would take four or five minutes to consider before quietly saying, "Pass," pushing his cards back to the dealer and saving his four big blinds for a better spot.

Tags: Anthony Aboukhalil Huck Seed