PartyPoker Premier League, Day 5: Tony G, Andy Black Secure Finals Seats

PartyPoker Premier League, Day 5: Tony G, Andy Black Secure Finals Seats 0001

Tony G took the points lead into Day 5 of the PartyPoker Premier League, and secured his place at the PPPL final table with another strong showing in his heat. Andy Black kept the pressure on Tony by taking down yet another heat and guaranteed a finals seat of his own, while Phil Hellmuth's woes continued at the event where he has struggled all week.

Heat #9 kicked off with many of the lowest point totals in the series playing each other as Marcel Luske, Phil Hellmuth, Vicky Coren, Eddy Scharf, Ian Frazer and Juha Helppi squared off. Helppi started the day with the lowest point total, at four, but was followed closely by Hellmuth and Luske, who had five points each. All three players desperately needed a win to stay relevant in the competition, but it was not to be for the Poker Brat. Hellmuth was the first to fall after he moved all in over the top of Marcel Luske's preflop raise with AK. Luske's cards were live with the 78, and the flop of 8710 left him in great shape. The turn and river came down 39, and Hellmuth was left with zero points and far away from the playoffs.

Eddy Scharf was next to bust the he moved the last of his short stack in preflop with 105, only to find Juha Helppi waiting with AJ. The board came down QK9Q9, and Helppi's ace kicker played to send Scharf to the rail. Ian Frazer was next to fall when he moved all in on a flop of 9K5 holding K4. Juha Helppi called with A-x and spiked an ace on the river to bust Frazer.

Vicky Coren exited in third when she moved all in from the small blind with KJ, only to run into Juha Helppi in the big blind with KQ. The board ran out 3K382, and Helppi's queen played to send Coren to the rail. Helppi and Marcel Luske then played a lengthy heads-up match before all the chips finally went in the middle preflop with AK for Helppi and J10 for Luske. The flop came down an exciting 4KA, and Helppi made two pair, but Luske had the spade flush draw. The 5 on the turn gave Luske his flush, and Helppi missed his outs to a full house when the 3 came on the river. Marcel Luske picked up nine points for the win, catapulting him from the bottom of the points tally to relevance once again.

Heat #10 featured many of the current overall leaders, including first-place Tony G second-place Andy Black. Joining them in the match were Roland de Wolfe, Annie Duke, Alex Kravchenko, and Dave 'The Devilfish' Ulliott, who asked for an early start time to Heat #10 so he could make a hot Valentine's date. The players seemed determined to make Ulliott miss his date, as the heat started off very tentative, with over 70 hands passing before the first elimination.

It was Ulliott who sparked the action for the first bustout, moving all in preflop with AK. De Wolfe called with A6, pot-committed after posting his big blind. The flop came down K46, giving de Wolfe three outs to catch up to Ulliott, but the 9 turn wasn't one of them. The A on the river didn't help either, and de Wolfe was the first casualty of Heat #10.

Next, Ulliott open-shoved from the small blind with 69, and Alex Kravchenko helped him make his date on time when he called with KQ. The board ran out 5J7K4, and Ulliott picked up one league point on his way to his rendezvous. Tony G then took out two players with an interesting call, busting both Annie Duke and Alex Kravchenko in one hand. Duke moved all in with A5, then Kravchenko pushed all in with AJ. Tony G then called the double all-in with Q8, leading Andy Black to remark, "Oh man, that's sick!" when the board ran out 4107Q8, with Duke and Kravchenko both sent to the rail at the same time.

Black and Tony G squared off for a brief but exciting heads-up match, the second such match between the two in this series. In the end it was Black prevailing when he called Tony G's all-in move with A8. Tony G tabled a dominated K8, and the board missed both players when it ran out queen-high. Andy Black closed within one point of Tony G with his victory, with both assured of moving on to the finals.

At the end of Day #5, Tony G and Black sat atop the leader board, with Roland de Wolfe, Annie Duke, Eddy Scharf, Alex Kravchenko and Marcel Luske all vying for one of the top four spots and a guaranteed seat at the final table. The overall point standings after ten preliminary heats:

Tony G: 33 pts.

Andy Black: 32 pts.

Roland de Wolfe: 20 pts.

Annie Duke: 18 pts.

Eddy Scharf: 17 pts.

Alex Kravchenko: 17 pts.

Marcel Luske: 16 pts.

Vicky Coren: 14 pts.

Dave Ulliott: 10 pts.

Juha Helppi: 9 pts.

Ian Frazer: 9 pts.

Phil Hellmuth: 5 pts.

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