Event 14: $15,400 $5 Million Guaranteed WPT World Championship Day 3 | 2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open

04-24-2014 20:58 UTC-4

Let's Not Forget About Afriat and Cristos

donpeters

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante

With Mukul Pahuja recently locking up the World Poker Tour Season XII Player of the Year title, none of the remaining competitors have a shot at that added glory. Now, while Pahuja's overall performance on Season XII was amazing — five cashes, three final tables, and $1,447,742 in earnings — he failed to win an event, and that's something two players remaining in the field have a chance to do for a second time this season.

That's right, both Eric Afriat and Jordan Cristos previously won events in Season XII. Afriat's win was in the largest WPT field in history when he took down the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown to the tune of $1,081,184, beating out a field of 1,795 entries. Cristos won the WPT Legends of Poker for $613,355 when he defeated a field of 716.

As it stands, both Afriat and Cristos have zero chance at winning the Season XII POY title because Pahuja already has that victory in the bag, but there's certainly something to be said about any player who wins not one, but two WPT titles in the same season. In the case for Cristos, he also has two other cashes this season, including one that resulted in a final table appearance when he took fifth in the WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open for $47,802.

Not taking anything away from Pahuja and his truly amazing performance this season, a strong argument could be made that Afriat or Cristos should've won the POY title if either goes on to win a second title this season. Both are still alive and well in this event, so debaters get ready.

_{(H/T Jess Welman)}

Tags: Eric Afriat Jordan Cristos Mukul Pahuja Spring Poker Open WPT

04-24-2014 20:47 UTC-4

Brian Yoon Eliminated in 33rd Place ($30,085)

[user101598]

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante

Brock Parker raised to 25,000 in late position, Brian Yoon re-raised all in for 215,000 on his direct left, and the action folded back to Parker. The two-time WSOP bracelet winner called.

Parker:
Yoon:

Parker took the lead on a flop of with a pair of jacks, but Yoon could still double through with one of the two remaining threes in the deck. The on the turn added four more outs - a would give him a straight to the six - but unfortunately for him the bricked off on the river.

Yoon exited in 33rd place, earning $30,085, and Parker is right under a million chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Brock Parker	995,000 445,000	445,000
Brian Yoon	Busted

Tags: Brian Yoon Brock Parker

04-24-2014 20:42 UTC-4

Loni and the Lady

[user253757]

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante

Loni Harwood was short-stacked and looking to steal, so she shoved all in for her last 113,000 before the flop, holding and hoping to fold the table - or find some magic on the flop if somebody looked her up.

Brian Yoon did just that, calling and tabling to fins himself well out in front.

Flop:

The dealer delivered a queen on the flop and Harwood suddenly had a huge advantage, with Yoon left to call for the deck's two remaining jacks to arrive. Paint showed up on the turn and river, but the and were not the royalty Yoon had in mind.

Player	Chips	Progress
Loni Harwood	262,000 -12,000	-12,000

Brian Yoon	247,000 41,000	41,000

Tags: Brian Yoon Loni Harwood

04-24-2014 20:35 UTC-4

Athanasios Polychronopoulos Eliminated in 34th Place ($30,085)

[user101598]

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante

Athanasios Polychronopoulos - 34th Place

Athanasios Polychronopoulos open-shoved for 120,000 in early position, Ryan D'Angelo called in the cutoff, and the action folded to Maurice Hawkins in the big blind. He folded as well, flashing the .

Polychronopoulos:
D'Angelo:

Knowing one ace was dead it was a bit of a lopsided race, and D'Angelo remained in front after the flop (), the turn (), and the river ().

Polychronopoulos exited in 34th place, earning $30,085, while D'Angelo is up to 670,000 chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ryan D'Angelo	670,000 66,000	66,000

Athanasios Polychronopoulos	Busted

Tags: Athanasios Polychronopoulos Ryan D'Angelo

04-24-2014 20:31 UTC-4

Alex Condon Eliminated in 35th Place ($30,085)

[user101598]

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante

Justin Young taised to 25,000 in early position, Alex Condon moved all in for a little over 100,000 two spots to his left, and the action folded back to Young who instantly called.

Young:
Condon:

The kings held up on a board of , and Condon was eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Justin Young	615,000 171,000	171,000

Alex Condon	Busted

Tags: Justin Young Alex Condon

04-24-2014 20:26 UTC-4

Scott Eskenazi Eliminated in 36th Place ($30,085)

[user253757]

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante

Tony Gregg opened to 27,000 from early position and one player flatted from the hijack, with Scott Eskenazi three-betting to 85,000 out of the cutoff.

Poker's "End Boss" didn't seem to mind the reraise in the slightest, and he casually flicked a four-bet of 177,000 into the middle.

This folded the flatter but Eskenazi made his stand by five-bet jamming for right under 300,000. Bowser was waiting to breath fire though, and Gregg snap-called while tabling like a true boss. Eskenazi had a real hand with his , but it didn't matter after a clean runout of .

Just like that the "End Boss" claimed the chip lead and moved over 1.2 million, meaning every player left in the field will have to contend with somebody who does not like to let anybody else win.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tony Gregg	1,240,000 357,000	357,000
Scott Eskenazi	Busted

Tags: Scott Eskenazi Tony Gregg

04-24-2014 19:44 UTC-4

Out of the Kave and Into the Spotlight: Byron Kaverman Primed for His Largest Splash Ever

donpeters

Level 18 : 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante

Leading the way at the dinner break with 36 players remaining is Ohio native Byron Kaverman, a quiet young player that tends to fly well under the radar in the tournaments he plays.

Making it to the money has marked the sixth cash on Season XII of the World Poker Tour for Kaverman, and that ties the record for most cashes in a single season. Kaverman now shares the record with Matt Salsberg (Season XI), Lee Markholt (Season V and Season VI), Abraham Gray (Season IV), and Barry Greenstein (Season IV).

After making a very deep run in the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event where he placed 34th for $229,281, Kaverman finished in the money at the bwin WPT Grand Prix de Paris, WPT bestbet Jacksonville Fall Poker Scramble, WPT Caribbean, partypoker WPT Montreal, and WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open. The best result from those in terms of winnings was the WPT Grand Prix de Paris where Kaverman took 20th place out of 187 players for $20,250.

Helping Kaverman move his way into the chip lead was the hand in which he eliminated Phil Hellmuth as the money bubble approached. According to our previous report, Kaverman opened and then called Hellmuth's all-in shove with the . The 13-time gold bracelet winning Hellmuth was dominated with the . The board ran out in Kaverman's favor, leaving Hellmuth ranting as he made his way to the exit.

"That kid raises every hand and when I finally get a hand, he gets ace-queen," Hellmuth complained. "Are you kidding me?"

Kaverman will now add at least another $30,085 to his live tournament earnings, which total nearly $2 million, but he has the chance at making much more than that given that he's in the pole position with 36 players left.

Tags: Barry Greenstein Byron Kaverman Lee Markholt Matt Salsberg Phil Hellmuth WPT Spring Poker Open Abraham Gray

04-24-2014 19:17 UTC-4

Double Bubble During Dinner

[user101598]

Level 18 : 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante

Nick Schulman - One of the two bubble boys

The tournament clock ticked down to triple zeros here in the Season XII WPT World Championship, and the remaining 38 players started trickling out of the Poker Room for their 75-minute dinner break. Half of the field was already gone when a commotion broke out in the high-limit area where two of the tournament tables are being held.

Several players were hugging one another, including Tom Dobrilovic, and Maurice Hawkins was singing a very familiar tune.

"We're in the moneyyyyy," Hawkins belted. "We're in the moneyyyyy."

It couldn't be. Less than a minute ago there were 38 players remaining, and now two of them were suddenly gone?

Upon further review, we discovered that the bubble had indeed burst with concurrent eliminations on adjacent tables. Thanks to our colleagues with the WPT we have exact details for one hand, and thanks to Hawkins we have some details on the other.

In the first elimination, Michael Lavoie raised to 30,000 from under the gun. Curt Kohlberg three-bet to 65,000 on his immediate left, and the action folded back to Lavoie, who moved all in for 165,000. Kohlberg made a quick call.

Lavoie:
Kohlberg:

Kohlberg had Lavoie dominated, and there was very little sweat as the board came .

On the next table over, a short-stacked Nick Schulman was all in and at risk with an open-ended straight draw.

According to Hawkins, Yuval Harosh raised to 20,000 from under the gun, Hawkins called on the button, and Schulman defended his big blind. The flop fell , Schulman and Harosh both checked, and Hawkins fired out 35,000. Schulman moved all in for 150,000, Harosh folded, and Hawkins called.

Schulman:
Hawkins:

Hawkins was in the lead with ace-high, but he also held straight and flush draws. The turn was a , changing nothing, and the on the river gave Hawkins a pair of aces for kicks and giggles.

"We're in the moneyyyy," Hawkins continued to sing.

Some players - particularly the ones captaining short stacks - are in for a surprise when they return and find they've earned a minimum of $30,085.

We are on dinner break for another 50 minutes. See you then!

Player	Chips	Progress
Maurice Hawkins	830,000 440,000	440,000
Curt Kohlberg	788,000 267,000	267,000
Michael Lavoie	Busted
Nick Schulman	Busted

Tags: Curt Kohlberg Maurice Hawkins Michael Lavoie Nick Schulman

04-24-2014 18:48 UTC-4

Tony Gregg Doubles Through Nick Schulman

[user272102]

Level 18 : 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante

Maurice Hawkins opened to 20,000 from under the gun. He found three callers in Tony Gregg, Nick Schulman, and Abraham Korotki.

The flop came and Korotki checked first to act. Hawkins was next to act and checked as well. Gregg bet 47,000 and Schulman made it 104,000 to go. Hawkins and Korotki folded and after thinking for about thirty seconds Gregg made the call.

The turn was the and Gregg checked to Schulman who made a bet of 116,000. Gregg would tank for over 10 minutes. The first half of that time, he sat there frozen, his arms crossed, looking calm, as he thought about what to do. The second half he took his hoodie and headphones off, a puzzled look on his face. Jesse Sylvia stood up and whispered "how do you call the clock on Tony, he's the End Boss!"

No clock was called and Gregg moved all in. Schulman didn't take as long as he snap-called. Gregg had while Schulman had . Schulman could eliminate Gregg with an Ace or Queen but the river was the and Gregg doubled up to 860,000 in chips while Schulman was knocked down to 200,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tony Gregg	860,000 295,000	295,000
Nick Schulman	200,000 -314,000	-314,000

Tags: Nick Schulman Tony Gregg

04-24-2014 18:42 UTC-4

"That's Fair"

[user101598]

Level 18 : 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante

Leo Palermo open-shoved for 180,000 out of the cutoff, Keven Stammen re-shoved for 445,000 on the button, and both players in the blinds folded.

Palermo:
Stammen:

"That's fair," Stammen chuckled at the sight of Palermo's hand.

Oh, if he only knew.

The dealer rapped the felt and delivered a flop of . Stammen could no longer win the pot, but a chop was the most likely scenario unless the turn and river both produced spades.

The turn was a spade - the - and the table fell silent for the brief period before the dealer revealed the river. It too was a spade - the - and Palermo's freeroll turned into a full double.

Stammen slipped to 265,000 chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Leonardo Palermo	383,000 141,000	141,000
Keven Stammen	265,000 -228,000	-228,000

Tags: Keven Stammen Leonardo Palermo