WPT Merit Cyprus Classic Championship Day 3 | 2009 WPT Merit Cyprus Classic

09-09-2009 19:11 UTC+3

Aboukhalil Doubles Again

[user75032]

Anthony Aboukhalil has been riding the shortest of short stacks as far as it will take him. He opened all in for 28,000 from late position. Action passed to John Monnette in the big blind, who had to call only 22,000 more. He decided to gamble and called with {8-Spades}

. Aboukhalil showed {A-Spades}

and the game was afoot.

Board: {2-Hearts}

Each player made a pair, but Aboukhalil's pair of aces was best. He dragged the pot and doubled to 63,000.

Tags: Anthony Aboukhalil John Monnette

09-09-2009 18:53 UTC+3

Bichon Back in the Game

[user75032]

Thomas Bichon tanked for his tournament life for almost five full minutes. He had bet 16,000 on a flop of {k-Diamonds}

then saw opponent John Monnette raise to 100,000, enough to put Bichon all in. Bichon took a deep breath at the end of the five minutes and called all in for 86,500 total. His {Q-Hearts}

pair of queens was in the lead but needed to duck Monnette's flush draw, {10-Diamonds}

. Things were even more interesting after the turn fell {J-Hearts}

to give Monnette a straight draw as well, but everything missed when the river paired kings, {K-Clubs}

.

Tags: John Monnette Thomas Bichon

09-09-2009 18:43 UTC+3

Can Anyone Stop Layne Flack?

[user75032]

Layne Flack has been a man on a mission here in Cyprus. If you've been to the beach in the morning hours, you might think that mission is to have a little rendezvous with one of the Romanian girls that have been out there sunbathing topless each day. But if you've been in the poker room, you'll know the mission is to win this tournament.

Flack's stack just got a big boost in the arm thanks to Nenad Medic. With 72,000 chips in the middle, Flack bet 43,000 on a board of {Q-Spades}

. Medic announced a raise, put 43,000 over the betting line, and then added another 113,000. Flack took thirty seconds, taking off his sunglasses and setting them on the table. Then he matched Medic's bet.

"Two pair," said Medic, has voice rising questioningly at the end. That prompted Flack to turn over two pair of his own, {A-Spades}

, to drag the pot. Medic did not look pleased.

"I thought you were asking me," said Flack. "I was like... yeah, two pair. I was really only worried about ace-queen. I didn't think you had king-ten."

"I thought it was king-ten of clubs," piped up Dan Harrington.

Tags: Layne Flack Nenand Medic

09-09-2009 18:41 UTC+3

Bichon Doubles Through Plauski

[user38449]

All in before the flop holding {8-Diamonds}

against Aleh Plauski's {Q-Diamonds}

, a short-stacked Thomas Bichon would need a little bit of luck to stay alive, and he got just that...

Bichon picked up eight outs to make a straight after the flop came {7-Diamonds}

, and he'd get there on the turn when the {5-Diamonds}

peeled off. Though the scales had tipped in Bichon's favor, Plauski still had outs for a flush, but missed when the board paired on the river ( {5-Hearts}

).

After the hand, Bichon stacked up 104,000 in chips while Plauski fell to 165,000.

Tags: Aleh Plauski Thomas Bichon

09-09-2009 18:32 UTC+3

New Seat Assignments

[user75032]

With the tournament down to three tables, a full re-draw has been done. Here's the new draw:

Table 1

Seat 1: Dan Harrington
Seat 2: Nenad Medic
Seat 3: Steven Fung
Seat 4: Wahab Shlomo
Seat 5: Layne Flack
Seat 6: Zorlu Menderes
Seat 7: Kelly Kim
Seat 8: Rony Jazzar
Seat 9: Yosh Nakano

Table 2

Seat 1: Thomas Bichon
Seat 2: John Monnette
Seat 3: Roy Winston
Seat 4: Aleh Plauski
Seat 5: Joseph El Khoury
Seat 6: Jonathan Little
Seat 7: Anthony Aboukhalil
Seat 8: Uri Keidar
Seat 9: Antony Lellouche

Table 4

Seat 1: John Lestina
Seat 2: Ahmet Arpa
Seat 3: Huck Seed
Seat 4: Engin Sancalctaroglu
Seat 5: Sefik "Rob" Peltekci
Seat 6: Rep Porter
Seat 7: Homan Houshiar
Seat 8: Tommy Vedes
Seat 9: Janar Kiivramees

09-09-2009 18:26 UTC+3

Medic Eliminates Mizzi; Final 27 Redraw for New Seats

[user38449]

Tournament Director Jack McClellan just got on the mic to pause the clock and let the players know he was going to initiate a redraw of the final three tables, which clued us in on the fact that someone new had been eliminated.

Out on the floor, we noticed Nenad Medic stacking up more chips, and he let us know he'd just busted Sorel Mizzi from the main event. In Medic's words, "Tommy (Vedes) raised, Sorel reraised and I woke up with aces."

After the hand, Medic stacked up 555,000 in chips.

Tags: Nenad Medic Sorel Mizzi

09-09-2009 18:18 UTC+3

Medic Getting Healthier

[user66118]

Zorlu Menderes opened the pot with a raise to 6,000, and Joseph El Khoury called from the next seat over. When the action came to Nenad Medic in position, he announced a re-raise to 28,500. Menderes would eventually call while El Khoury thought it best to duck out of the way.

Heads up then, the flop came out {Q-Spades}

, and both players checked. The turn brought the action with the {A-Spades}

. Menderes checked it over, and Medic fired 40,500 chips at the pot. He watched carefully as his opponent stacked out the call plus a raise in two separate stacks, but Menderes eventually decided to push only the calling stack across the line.

The last card off the deck was the {7-Clubs}

, and Menderes slowly checked again. Medic carefully cut out a healthy bet of 117,500 and moved the chips into the betting area. Menderes didn't take too long to fold, after which he retrieved his {10-Spades}

from the discard and showed them to his opponent.

Medic nodded faintly as he stacked that nice pot, pushing him back up to 420,000.

Tags: Nenad Medic

09-09-2009 18:12 UTC+3

Lestina's Stop and Go Does the Trick

[user75032]

We're getting close to the money now. Every pot and every chip is taking on much more significance. John Lestina was in the big blind for a preflop raise from button Steven Fung to 17,000. Lestina called that raise, then moved in for 43,000 on an ace-high flop of {7-Spades}

. Fung quickly called on a draw, {K-Spades}

. Lestina turned up a pair, {A-Spades}

. That pair held when the turn and river were running clubs that were no help to Fung.

Tags: John Lestina Steve Fung

09-09-2009 17:59 UTC+3

Ladies Kind to Seed

[user75032]

Huck Seed hasn't had the best day, but he's been working hard to make the most of what he's been dealt. He opened a recent pot to 15,500 and was called by Zorlu Menderes (in position) and John Monnette (from the big blind).

Action checked to Menderes on a jack-high flop, {9-Hearts}

. He bet 23,500 and was called only by Seed. Menderes may have sensed something amiss on the {5-Diamonds}

turn; after Seed checked, he checked behind. The river was the {A-Clubs}

, a card that killed any further action. Seed showed two queens, {Q-Clubs}

, to take the pot.

Tags: Huck Seed Zorlu Menderes