2008 WSOP Event #25, $10,000 Heads-Up NLHE World Championship: Round of 32 Set
Event #25 in the 2008 WSOP, the $10,000 Heads-Up Championship was capped at 256 players, all vying for the bracelet and $539,056. Three rounds of the event were played in Day 1, each round cutting the field size down by half until 32 players remained. This event debuted last year with Daniel Schreiber taking the inaugural bracelet, but Schreiber fell in Round 1 at the hands of Emil Patel, opening it up for a new winner. There were some unbelievable matchups today and Day 2 promises the same. A list of Day 1's survivors and their Round 4 matches follow:
Jason Rosenkrantz vs. Brandon Adams
Emil Patel vs. Michael Banducci
Roman Paradiso vs. Sam Farha
Kenny Tran vs. Erick Lindgren
Thomas Lutz vs. John Patgorski
Gavin Griffin vs. Alexander Kostritsyn
Andy Black vs. Michael McNeil
Alex Jacob vs. Jonathan Jaffe
Brian Roberts vs. Alec Torelli
Scott Montgomery vs. Isaac Haxton
Daniel "Ansky" Stern vs. David Williams
Lyle Berman vs. David Podgurski
Jean-Claude Moussa vs. Robert Mizrachi
Jonas Entin vs. Evan Sofer
Cliff Cantor vs. Vanessa Selbst
Matt Giannetti vs. Michael Mizrachi
Round 1 Highlights:
Tony G made quick work of Sebastian Ruthenberg, after getting an early 3-to-1 chip advantage. In ending, all the money went in on a 5♣4♣3♦ flop. Ruthenberg had the flush draw and a gustshot with Q♣7♣ while Tony G's A♦6♣ had the temporary lead with ace-high and an open ended straight draw. An ace on the turn improved Tony G's hand, and the flush or straight never materialized for Ruthenberg.
Phil Ivey was an early casualty, falling to John Hennigan. Hennigan got the advantage on a hand where he had flopped top two pair to Ivey's top pair. A few hands later the money would be all in on a 8-7-3 flop with Ivey holding J-10 to Hennigan's pocket queens. The turn paired the board with another seven and the queen on the river gave Hennigan the boat and the victory.
All the money went in on the J-6-4-9 turn in the match between Kevin O'Donnell and Patrick Antonius. O'Donnell had J-9 for two pair while Antonius had Q-10 for the open-ended straight draw. The four on the river gave the match to O'Donnell. In their final hand, Alex Kravchenko advanced to Round 2 when his pocket kings prevailed against Barry Greenstein's A-Q.
Elsewhere, Andy Bloch's pocket nines would prevail against Bill Edler's A-8. JC Tran's A-K won the race against Sorel Mizzi's pocket jacks when a king hit the board. And Chris Ferguson's pocket aces avoided being cracked by Keith Helgevold's pocket sixes.
In one of the last matches of Round 1, 2006 WSOP Champion Jamie Gold finally fell to Stuart Marshak. Gold's Q♥9♥ was dominated by Marshak's K♠Q♠ until the J♠9♦7♥ flop, giving Gold the advantage with middle pair. But Marshak's revenge would come in the form of a 7♠ turn and a 8♠ river, giving him a runner-runner flush to put Gold away.
Other notable Round 1 match results:
Tex Barch def. Robert Topham
Matthias Andersson def. Sergey Rybachenko
Paul Krause def. Daniel Alaei
Dustin Woolf def. Jim Feldhouse
Blake Cahail def. Vanessa Rousso
Theo Tran def. Robert Eckstut
Daniel Stern def. Adam Ewenstei
Mark Teltscher def. Steve Wong
Isaac Haxton def. Scott Fischman
Jason Rosenkrantz def. Bryan Colin
Carlos Mortensen def. Nathaniel Seet
Clonie Gowen def. Steven Goosen
Justin Bonomo def. David Benefield
Roman Paradiso def. Mikael Thuritz
Asger Boye def. Ryan Thurlow
Phil Galfond def. Chris Bell
Alesso Isaia def. Eli Elezra
Raymond Rice def. David Pham
Nam Le def. Anthony Phillips
Emil Patel def. Daniel Schreiber (defending champion)
Johannes Strassmann def. Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy
Alioscia Oliva def. Scott Clements
Thomas Kelly def. Greg Raymer
Anna Wroblewski def. Alan Meltzer
Gavin Smith def. Ken Shei
Round 2 Highlights:
All players that advanced to Round 3 made the money and are guaranteed at least a $14,438 payday
New WSOP bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst made the semifinals in this event last year, and it looks like she stands to make a run of it again this year. Selbst took out Alessio Isala in the first hand of Round 1 when her K-J prevailed on a 10-6-5-K-7 board. Selbst smooth-called the turn and pushed in on the river to take the match.
Theo Tran and Andy Bloch's match ended on a hand where Bloch's pocket fours found a set on a 9-5-4 flop. All the money went in on the turn of a deuce, exposing Tran's A-3 for the wheel. Bloch couldn't get the river to pair the board and Tran advanced. Kenny Tran moved on to Round Three when his A-10 found a Broadway straight on the turn to overcome Mathias Andersson's flopped top pair with K-10.
2001 WSOP Champion Carlos Mortensen's pocket aces eliminated recent WSOP bracelet winner David Singer. And Daniel "Ansky" Stern's pocket aces held up against Thomas Bentham's 5♣7♣, despite the fact that Betham had flopped a gutshot to the straight flush.
Justin Bonomo advanced when he called Phil Gordon's check-raise on a 9-7-3 flop. Gordon was forced to table his bluff, making Bonomo's 9-6 look strong. Another nine on the turn had Gordon drawing dead. David Williams' A-K was in a race against Andrew Rosskamm's pocket tens. The board of A-9-9-9-K swung the match to Williams.
Antonio Esfanriari's pocket jacks dodged Johannes Strassman's open-ended straight draw for the match. And Lyle Berman advanced when his pocket aces prevailed against Stephen Wolff's pocket eights. Nam Le got his Round 2 checkmark when his pocket sevens held up against Gavin Smith's A-Q.
Chris Ferguson won his Round 2 match much like he did his Round One match. Ferguson had pocket aces to an opponent's underpair; this time it would be Garrett Adelstein's pocket threes to see defeat. And in the last match of Round 2, all the money went in on the turn, when Anna Wroblewski's 10-7 hit a jack-high straight to overcome Farzad Bonyadi's top pair with A-J.
Other notable Round 2 match results:
JC Tran def. Leonid Yanovski
Robert Mizrachi def. Jeffrey Lisandro
Sam Farha def. Alioscia Oliva
Phil Galfond def. Suk Sung
Erick Lindgren def. Stuart Marshak
Chris Bush def. Tony G
Jesse McGinty def. Layne Flack
Gavin Griffin def. Jonathan Goldberg
Isaac Haxton def. Nathan Doudney
Michael Mizrachi def. John 'Tex' Barch
Clonie Gowen def. John Gordon
Alex Jacob def. Markus Lehmann
Brandon Adams def. Dario Minieri
Round 3 Highlights
Betting all the way, Brandon Adams had Carlos Mortensen all in on the river. Adams flipped over 10-9, having made trips on a 10-5-4-10-Q board. Mortensen mucked and Adams advanced. Clonie Gowen went all-in on a river bluff on a raggy board, but Alexander Kostritsyn wasn't buying it. He took the hand and the match with pocket tens.
Isaac Haxton advanced when his A-K found a king on the flop against Mark Teltscher's pocket jacks. An ace came on the river to seal the deal. Chris Ferguson didn't have his pocket aces this time, and instead was holding pocket queens when all the money went in pre-flop. Andy Black, however, had a firm grip on a pair of rockets, ending Ferguson's run.
After their match, Dustin Woolf and Roman Paradiso exchanged phone numbers, as Woolf wanted to play him heads up again for "real money." As far as the "tournament money" goes, score more for Paradiso who took the match holding J-7 and making two pair, besting Woolf's Q-8. And yes, all the money went in preflop.
All the money went in preflop, as well, when Venessa Selbst and Ketul Nathwani saw their final hand. Selbst's A-3 got a little extra help with an ace on the turn to defeat Nathwani's K-2. Erick Lindgren's A-K did the trick against Erik Pettersson's A-J to advance, but Anna Wroblewski's A-Q couldn't hold on against Scott Montgomery's A-10. A ten on the turn sent Wroblewski to the rail and Montgomery on to Round 4.
In the last hand of the day, Sammy Farha advanced when his pocket sixes held against Randall Brueckner's K-2.
The 32 remaining player will return for Day 2 and play three more rounds, all the way down to the final four. Players will start the day with 160,000 chips each with blinds at 800/1600. Check back with the PokerNews 'Live Reporting' team for the start of Round 4 at 2pm PDT.
