2008 WSOP Event #29 $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em: Matt Vengrin Heads Final

June 17, 2008

John Hartness

2008 WSOP Event #29 $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em: Matt Vengrin Heads Final 0001

Eighty-one players returned to the Amazon Room on Monday to play down to the final table in Event #29, $3,000 No Limit Hold'em. With 72 places paying out, it didn't take long for the play to reach the money bubble. Only nine of Day 2's players went home empty-handed, with Roberto Romanelo the bubble boy, busting in 73rd place less than 45 minutes after the start of Day 2. With all the remaining players in the money, play loosened up after Romanelo's elimination.

Beth and Dan Shak made Event #29 a family affair, with husband and wife both making the money in this event. Dan Shak was the first to head to the rail, when he moved all in preflop with K♦Q♥ and was called by Nicholas Levi with A♥6♥. The flop of 5♦A♠J♦ hit Levi hard, but left Shak with a straight draw. The J♠ on the turn helped neither player, and the 5♠ on the river sent Dan Shak to the rail in 70th place for $5,533.

Beth Shak outlasted her husband by nearly 20 places, finishing in 52nd place for $6,718. She got all her chips in preflop with A♠Q♣ to Alex Melnikow's A♥2♥. The flop of Q♥10♥8♥ made Melnikow's nut flush and left Shak drawing to running cards for the full house. The 10♣ on the turn had her drawing dead, and Event #29 was left Shak-less. Other notables eliminated early on Day 2 included Eric "Rizen" Lynch, Barny Boatman, Amir Vahedi and Kristy Gazes. Kathy Liebert added another WSOP cash to her resume in Event #29, finishing in 39th place for $7,311.

Some controversy erupted over the 19th- and 18th-place eliminations and their payouts. Dale Pinchot went to the rail in 19th place, and Richard Tatalovich busted almost simultaneously in 18th place. Several players, including Pinchot, felt that since the players busted at the same time, the difference in 19th- and 18th-place money should be split between the two players. It was later explained that at the World Series of Poker, the only time a money chop can occur is in a hand-for-hand situation. Since the tournament was not hand-for-hand when both men went all in, there was no money chop possible. The double elimination set up the following redraw for the final two tables:

Table 61

Seat 1: Vincent Peraino

Seat 2: Tony Dunst

Seat 3: Johnny Neckar

Seat 4: John Phan

Seat 5: Ryan Young

Seat 6: Matt Stout

Seat 7: Matt Vengrin

Seat 8: Stewart Newman

Seat 9: Alex Zaslavsky

Table 62

Seat 1: Lee Childs

Seat 3: Sebastian Segovia

Seat 4: Alex Bolotin

Seat 5: Thuyen Doan

Seat 6: Linda Lee

Seat 7: Don Mullis

Seat 8: David Singer

Seat 9: Dustin Pattinson

Play continued with a steady flow of eliminations once the final two tables were set, as Ryan Young busted in 17th place ($14,821). Young moved all in over the top of Stewart Newman's preflop raise with K♦K♠, and Newman called with 10♥10♠. Newman spiked a set on the 10♦7♣3♦ flop, but the K♣ on the turn gave Young a two-outer of his own to retake the lead in the hand. His elation was short-lived, as the 10♣ landed on the river to give Newman a one-outer to take Young out of the game in brutal fashion.

The field thinned steadily as Don Mullis (16th, $14,821), Vincent Peraino (15th, $19,761), Dustin Pattinson (14th, $19,761) and Matt "AllInAt420" Stout (13th, $19,761) busted in fairly short order. Stout's tournament ended when he ran pocket threes into David Phan's pocket sevens preflop. Nothing unexpected occurred, and Stout went to the rail in 13th.

Lee Childs made his first WSOP cash since finishing seventh in the 2007 Main Event. Childs finished in 12th place ($24,702) when he ran A♦6♦ into David Singer's K♦K♠ preflop. The board ran out Q♠9♣10♥4♥4♠, and Childs was eliminated. Linda Lee was one of two women left standing when she moved all in from the button and was called by David Singer in the small blind. Lee's Q♥J♥ was dominated by Singer's A♠Q♠, and the board of K♠9♦5♣A♣A♥ gave Singer trips and sent Lee to the rail in 11th place ($24,702).

The final ten players gathered around one table awaiting the final elimination of the day. The seating assignments looked like this following the final redraw of Day 2:

Seat 1: Sebastian Segovia

Seat 2: Alex Bolotin

Seat 3: David Singer

Seat 4: Thuyen Doan

Seat 5: John Phan

Seat 6: Matt Vengrin

Seat 7: Stewart Newman

Seat 8: Alex Zaslavsky

Seat 9: Johnny Neckar

Seat 10: Tony Dunst

The final-table bubble lasted for nearly an hour before start-of-day-leader Alex Zaslavsky headed to the rail in 10th place ($24,702). Zaslavsky raised from under the gun, and was reraised by Matt Vengrin. Zaslavsky thought for a moment before moving all in with A♥K♠. Vengrin went deep into the tank before making the call with 10♣10♠. Zaslavsky found himself in a classic coin flip for all his chips; the board of 4♠3♦9♦3♠Q♦ brought no help, and he was eliminated just one off the final table.