2009 WSOP, $2,500 Deuce-to-Seven Draw: Flack Leads Pack
Event #8, No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw, also kicked off on Tuesday evening. It is the second event in this year’s WSOP schedule to use add-ons in lieu of rebuys. This event also instituted a rule where the first player to enter the pot is required to open for a raise. The new anti-limping rule, coupled with the fast structure of the event, made for an action-packed day. Layne Flack is firmly at the top of the leaderboard heading into Day 2 with 75,125, with Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, and Tony G all finishing amongst the top ten in chips.
153 players entered today’s event and much like years past, the field featured an all-star cast. Among those playing in the event were Greg Raymer, Jennifer Harman, Huck Seed, Dewey Tomko, Gavin Griffin, John Phan, Mike Caro, Barry Greenstein, Freddy Deeb, Scotty Nguyen and 2008 Champion Mike Matusow. Many players chose to pace themselves during this event, electing to play their starting stack only instead of taking their add-ons right away. Carlos Mortensen was on his last add-on by the third level after running into an eight-seven of another opponent. He would later be eliminated from the event.
As it happens in most events, prop betting became a popular way to pass the time. Early in the tournament, Greg Raymer put up $100 to say that he could shoot an empty soda bottle into a trash can 25 feet away. Erick Lindgren gave Raymer even money on the bet and Raymer proceeded to sink the shot and take Lindgren’s cash.
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow was among the early chip leaders. After eliminating Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke, Matusow was up to 30,000. Matusow stated, "Every time somebody moves in, I have a pat eight or a pat nine." Michael Mizrachi was grinded out of the event when he could not outdraw the nine-five of his opponent.
Legendary gambler Archie Karas was up to 20,000 in chips at one point during Day 1. He would give a portion of that stack over to Gavin Smith in a pot where his 8-7-6-5-3 was outdrawn by the 8-7-6-4-2 of Smith. Even with the benefit of this pot, Smith still was unable to survive Day 1 of this event. Others that did not make it through Day 1 included Jennifer Harman, Josh Arieh, Roy Winston, Berry Johnston, Scotty Nguyen, Greg Raymer, and David “Chino” Rheem.
35 players will return tomorrow at 2 p.m. PDT to play their way to the money and the final table. The money starts at 21 players, with 21st place getting $4,094 and the eventual winner receiving $96,361 along with the gold bracelet. Among those still in contention are Erick Lindgren, Barry Greenstein, Erik Seidel, Freddy Deeb, John Juanda, and Vanessa Rousso. Stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all of the exciting action.
