Mike Matusow is regarded as one of the premier omaha players in the world. He's up to 9,400 in chips (no rebuys left) after taking down a recent pot uncontested on the river. The board showed whe Matusow's lone opponent, the small blind, bet 350 into a pot of 700. Matusow raised pot to 1,750, eventually inducing a fold. Matusow showed anyway -- for the nut low and and the nut straight.
"It was a big river," said Matusow. "As long as he wasn't full it was a good hand."
Two players checked the board of to Raymond Davis. He fired the pot for 2,175. The first player tanked and then made the call. The next player called as well, but much quicker.
Davis tabled the and the player who called last tabled the . The other player mucked his way down to under 100 chips and was eliminated a few hands later. Scooping the high for Davis put him up to 6,300 in chips.
A massive four-way all-in at Dario Alioto's and John Phan's table has resulted in both players cashing in one of their two remaining rebuy chips. We didn't catch any of the action, just the end results:
Player 1:
Player 2:
Phan:
Alioto: (hand killed)
The board showed . Phan flopped top pair, a small flush draw, and a weak low draw. One plyer had the nut low draw. Another had the nut spade draw, the second nut-low draw, and a straight draw. We didn't see what Alioto had, but he wound up getting none of the pot. The two unknown players chopped it up, and Phan and Alioto each rebought for 1,000 chips.
Even the pots that you don't expect to chop sometimes chop in this game. Chad Brown was in the small blind for a limped three-way pot. The flop come and Brown, the first player to act, led for pot. The big blind folded, but the under-the-gun player called.
The turn came and again Brown led for pot, a sizable 900. Again the under-the-gun player called. Both players checked the river. Brown turned over for aces and tens. But the pot chopped, despite no low on board, when the under-the-gun player also turned up aces and tens, .
Level 4 is the last level that players will be allowed to rebuy or add-on during play. Once this level completes, all add-on chips must be used and when you bust after that, you're gone from the tournament.
The clock says that there's over 800 players for this event, which is plenty more than last year's 762. The official numbers should be in shortly and we'll have all the info for you then.
With a flop of , Derek Raymond checked to his opponent. The payer fired a bet of 225 before Raymond check-raised to 1,050. After some chatter and time in the tank, Raymond's opponent tossed his hand into the muck and the Portland, Maine native is now up over 5,000 chips.
On the flop of , Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier fired 525 and Marco Traniello all in for a few hundred more. Grospellier made the cheap call and the hands were turned up.
Grospellier held the and Traniello the .
The turn was a and the river a . Grospellier took the low and Traniello scooped the high for another chopped pot.
We've just spotted a bunch of familiar faces in the back of the room:
- Annie Duke
- Jeff Lisandro
- David Singer
- Joe Serock
- JJ Liu
- Jason Mercier
- Chad Brown
- Jorge Arias
- Jose Ignacio Barbero
- John Pham
- Andy Bloch
- George Lind