The WSOP on ESPN: Rettenmaier Gored by the Matador; Obrestad Ousted in Day 5 Action

September 26, 2013

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

On Tuesday night, the 2013 World Series of Poker continued with two brand new episodes of the Main Event on ESPN. Last week's broadcast featured action from Day 5, which is where this week picked up. Just 118 players remained with an average stack of 1.615 million. Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts at the top of the broadcast:

Place	Player	Chip Count
1	Chris Lindh	4,209,000
2	Sami Rustom	4,175,000
3	Jonathan Jaffe	3,886,000
4	Anton Morgenstern	3,832,000
5	Matthew Reed	3,785,000
6	Jason Mann	3,450,000
7	Jonathan Lane	3,145,000
8	George Wong	3,115,000
9	Grayson Ramage	2,840,000
10	Marc Entienne McLaughlin	2,833,000

Has ESPN Ruined Poker?: That’s the question Argun M. Ulgen recently asked in an article for Salon.com. Ulgen believes the “network’s breathless tournament coverage has done no favors for the game’s popularity and legality in the U.S.” He goes on to explain the ESPN has done an injustice by focusing on the “what” of the game as opposed to the “how” and the “why.” It’ll make a lot more sense if you give it a read, and it’s definitely worth checking out. What do you think, has the WSOP on ESPN gotten better or worse over the last ten years? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

The WSOP on ESPN: Rettenmaier Gored by the Matador; Obrestad Ousted in Day 5 Action 101 — Michiel Brummelhuis

Big Hand Early: After Annette Obrestad opened for 50,000 from the cutoff with the 10♣8♣, Michiel Brummelhuis got frisky on the button and three-bet to 125,000 with the 7♥6♠. The blinds folded, Obrestad called and it was heads-up action to the 5♥10♠4♣ flop. Obrestad check-called a bet of 95,000 with top pair and then checked for a second time on the 3♠ turn. Brummelhuis coyly did the same with his straight and the 8♥ completed the board on the river. Obrestad made top two pair and led out for 280,000, which prompted the Dutchman to shift in his chair a bit and then announce that he was all in for 692,000. Obrestad seemed suspicious but called nonetheless. Brummelhuis doubled on the hand to 1.896 million while Obrestad lost 49% of her stack and dropped to 970,000.

“What Phil [Laak] means by future implied value is that in no-limit hold’em what you want to do is always throw your opponents off and not play the standard ABC,” Antonio Esfandiari explained in the follow-up Pro Analysis on the hand. “You really want to mix it up. By playing this hand this way, by three-betting with 7-6 and then checking the nuts on the turn, that’s exactly what he does. It makes your opponents know that you’re capable of playing any two cards in any which way, therefore it’s really hard to figure out what you have.”

U Mad, Matador: Carlos “The Matador” Mortensen and Marvin Rettenmaier are two of the biggest names in poker. Both have won the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship, with Mortensen also serving as the WPT’s all-time money leader and Rettenmaier the only player to win back-to-back WPT titles. Interestingly, these two titans of the felt squared off in this year’s WSOP Main Event.

The WSOP on ESPN: Rettenmaier Gored by the Matador; Obrestad Ousted in Day 5 Action 102 — Marvin Rettenmaier

It happened at the secondary feature table when Mortensen, who won the 2001 WSOP Main Event, looked down at the K♠K♥ and opened for 65,000. Rettenmaier picked up the Q♥Q♦ and moved all in for 620,000, and of course Mortensen called after action folded back to him. The board ran out 4♦3♣8♦8♣2♦ and Rettenmaier shook hands with Mortensen before taking his leave in 99th place for $59,708.

Down to Two Women: After Jonathan Jaffe, who is training to be a dolphin trainer, opened for 95,000 from the button with the 9♦6♠, Annette Obrestad shoved all in for 810,000 from the small blind holding the 5♠5♣. Michiel Brummelhuis, the same man who had doubled through her earlier, then looked down at the K♦K♥ in the big. The Dutchman opted to flat and Jaffe quickly got out of the way.

“Can I use my one time now?” Obrestad asked. She was surprisingly upbeat and was all smiles and laughs as the board ran out 2♣6♦4♠2♥9♣. Obrestad shook hands with her opponent and then exited the main stage in 89th place for $71,053 – leaving just Jackie Glazier and Beverly Lange as the last two women in the field.

Last Woman Standing: Speaking of Lange, who was playing in her first WSOP Main Event, she was facing a raise from Chris Kinane that would force her to put her tournament life on the line if she wished to call. “Mr. Vinnie, I would like to winnie because I’m all in,” Lange said to the deal before calling off with the A♦J♦. She needed some help as Kinane rolled over the K♠K♣. The K♠8♣A♣ flop paired her ace, but it also gave Kinane a set. The J♣ turn meant Lange could still win with an ace on the river, but it wasn’t in the cards as the useless Q♣ peeled off. “Had a blast, y’all were so fun,” Lange said before making her way to the payout desk in 86th place for $71,053. That left Glazier as the last woman remaining in the 2013 WSOP Main Event.

Bonus Footage: Miss any of the Day 5 coverage of the 2013 WSOP Main Event? Lon McEachern recaps the action and provides some footage that didn't make it on air in this ESPN video:

Tune in Next Week: The WSOP on ESPN will continue every Tuesday through November. You can check out the full schedule by clicking here. Two more episode will air next week, and if you happen to miss it, check back right here on PokerNews for a full recap of the action.