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Perennial "first alternate" David Oppenheim is through to the Sweet 16. After forcing Carlos Mortensen to fold a set of kings on the river earlier, Oppenheim had command of the match. With his stack depleted, Mortensen open-shoved his button with 
. Oppenheim called with 
and stuck a sword in the Matador on a board of 
.
Our much-anticipated Liv B. v. LivB match didn't last very long. Olivier Busquet raised, and Liv Boeree moved all in. Busquet called to put her at risk. The lovely lady had a pair of them: 
. Busquet may have heard that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but he was hoping his 
would switch the adage. He got his wish on the 
flop. Hard to beat the nuts, and Boeree was drawing dead after the 
turn failed to pair the board.
Busquet will go on to play Jason Mercier in the next round.
In a tournament with a fast structure like the structure at play today, half of the battle is not getting unlucky at the wrong time. That's the story of Daniel Cates' demise at the hands of Chris Moneymaker. Moneymaker had the lead in their match and went for the kill by getting Cates all in preflop. Cates had the best hand with 
but Moneymaker's 
out-flopped him, 
. The 
turn gave Cates a few additional outs but he was out of the tournament after the 
river.
Moneymaker will play the winner of the Brunson-Phillips match in the next round.
Doyle Brunson was at risk and behind with to Dennis Phillips' 
. But the 
flop put the veteran out in front. After the 
turn and 
river, Doyle doubled back to even.
In a re-match of one of last year's quarterfinals, Doyle Brunson exacted a small measure of revenge against Dennis Phillips. The two played a back-and-forth match that ended on a flip: Brunson's against Phillips' 
. Brunson had a small lead going into the hand and all of the chips coming out of it after the board ran out 
.
"It was a 55/45," Phillips told his rail. "I was ahead both times but, you know, that's poker."
One match remains.
Barry Greenstein had a slight edge over Ayaz Mahmood, but both players were feeling the pressure with 41 big blinds between them. Mahmood raised, and Greenstein moved all in to put him to the test. Mahmood quickly called with and had the Bear's dominated. The 
flop gave them both trips and put a chop possibility out there for Greenstein. But the turn and 
river neither paired the board nor Barry's kicker, and Mahmood doubled up, taking a sizable lead in the last match still going.
Barry Greenstein remains alive in his match against Ayaz Mahmood. Greestein opened all in pre-flop with 
; Mahmood called with , a hand that was a slight favorite. Greenstein flopped best by making a pair of tens, 
. That pair held after a turn and river, but Mahmood still has the lead in the match.
Barry Greenstein was still the short stack after doubling up, and he got his chips in again quickly with 
. He was dominated by Ayaz Mahmood's , but it wasn't an easy win for Mahmood. In a made-for-tv elimination, The flop gave Greenstein an open-ender. With the turn, Mahmood hit top pair but Barry added a clubs to his outs. But he bricked them all with the 
on the river.
Reigning WSOP Heads-Up Champion Mahmood is the last member of the Hearts and Clubs Brackets to move on to tonight's Round of 16, where he will play reigning WSOP Champion Jonathan Duhamel.
We're halfway through the Round of 32. The Spades and Clubs matches saw three WSOP Main Event champions advance to the Sweet 16: Doyle Brunson, Chris Moneymaker and Jonathan Duhamel. Joining them are Olivier Busquet, Jason Mercier, Ayaz Mahmood, David Oppenheim and Eugene Katchalov.
The tournament is on a break now. When play resumes, the Hearts/Diamonds Round of 32 matches will commence:
Hearts and Diamonds Brackets
Andrew Robl v. Emmitt Smith
Gavin Smith v. James Bord
Phil Laak v. Michael Mizrachi ***FEATURE TABLE***
Tom Dwan v. David Benyamine
Bertrand Grospellier v. Phil Galfond
Vanessa Selbst v. Peter Eastgate
Jennifer Harman v. Erik Seidel
Greg Raymer v. Phil Gordon
The Hearts and Diamonds Round of 32 matches are underway. Phil Laak and Michael Mizrachi are center stage; Andrew Robl and Emmitt Smith are at the back feature table.
As a special favor to Phil Gordon, we promise to write as many Phil Gordon updates as the action allows.
