Welcome back to the Rio! We are coming to you live from the Amazon Room for Day 3 of Event 13: $1,500 Limit Hold'em. Yesterday, we knocked the tournament down to just 25 players, and we will hopefully play down to a winner today, though there is a 3:00 AM hard stop in place. Leading the way is Leonid Bilokur, who comes into today with 318,000 in chips. Ian Johns and Chris Swan are nipping at his heels, and there's a few other notable names who still have a shot at the bracelet.
Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri leads the notables in chips, bringing 214,000 to the tables. He will be joined by the likes of Roland Israel (199,000), Isaac Haxton (72,000), and Jennifer Harman (60,300).
We will be underway in about 15 minutes here. The blinds will start today at 3,000-6000, with the limits being 6,000-12,000. We will be here all day to bring you all the action. Thanks for tuning into Pokernews, and very shortly, we will shuffle up and deal!
We came to the table as the turn was being dealt on a board that read . Al Barbieri checked to his lone opponent Isaac Haxton, who fired out a bet. Barbieri check raised, and Haxton had a decision for all his chips. He made the call, and when the cards were flipped, Barbieri was well out in front.
Barbieri:
Haxton:
Haxton could only catch a diamond to survive, and the river brought the . Haxton goes home in 20th place, while Barbieri is out chip leader with 450,000.
A short-stacked Jennifer Harman got her chips in preflop with and squaring off against Leonid Bilokur, who held . It was an old-fashioned flip, and one that didn't come down in Harman's favor as the flop fell . Bilokur paired his king to take a commanding lead, and Harman was left looking for a queen.
The turn wasn't what she needed and neither was the river. Bilokur ended up making a flush, which sent Harman home in 18th place with her first cash of the 2012 World Series of Poker.
Action folded around to Lori Kirgan on the button and she put in a raise. Leonid Bilokur made the call and then checked the flop. Kirgan obliged with a bet, Bilokur check-raised and Kirgan three-bet her last 4,000. Bilokur made the call and table , which was ahead of Kirgan's .
"You did it to me again," Kirgan said in reference to an earlier hand. At that time, the dealer burned and turned the . "Yes," Kirgan said after hitting the two-outter. The completed the board on the river and Bilokur was left with 70,000.
A few hands later, Bilokur became involved in a pot with David Arsht. We're not sure of the exact action, but we do know that Bilokur was eliminated on a board after Arsht revealed .
A short-stacked Charles Tucker got his last 38,000 all in preflop with and was behind the of Donald Auger. While he had live cards, the flop was disaster for Tucker as it paired Auger's king. The turn would leave him drawing dead, and after the was run out on the river for good measure, he exited in 11th place.
The final ten players are now combining to one table and relocating to the feature table in the Pavilion Room.
Lori Kirgan was hanging by a thread on the short stack for most of the past couple levels, and her luck has finally run out, as she is the first victim of the final table. Al Barbieri raised it up to 40,000, and it folded to Kirgan, who tossed in her last 38,000. Everyone else folded, and the cards were tabled.
Kirgan:
Barbieri:
The board ran out , and Barbieri's straight was good enough to take the pot, and knock Kirgan out in 9th.
Al Barbieri started the action by raising in the cutoff, and Alex Queen three bet on the button. It folded back to Barbieri, and he made the call. The flop came down , and Barbieri check called a bet from Queen. The turn was the , and Barbieri led out for 40,000. Queen had just a few thousand more, and he committed them to the pot. Barbieri called, and the cards were tabled.
Barbieri:
Queen:
The turn was a cooler card, as it gave Barbieri the straight, and Queen a set. Queen would need the board to pair to survive, but the river was the . Queen will take home over $20,000 for his efforts, while Barbieri is now over 850,000.
David Arsht put in a raise from middle position and was called by Jeff Weiss and Al Barbieri, who were in the small and big blinds respectively. Action then checked to Arsht on the flop and he put out a bet. Weiss called off his last 7,000 while Barbieri got out of the way.
Showdown
Weiss |
Arsht |
Arsht was in the lead with a pair of nine, but the turn did give Weiss an open-ended straight draw headed to the river. "Here comes the king," Barbieri said. The dealer burned and put out paint, but it was the . Weiss collected his things and made his way to the payout desk to collect $26,401 for his seventh-place finish.
Ben Landowski's nightmare return from dinner break has come to an end. He entered the final table as the chip leader, but he went on a downward spiral in the last 30 minutes that has resulted in his elimination. Action started with Landowski, and he raised. Stephen Hung made it three bets in the big blind, and Landowski called. The flop came , and Hung bet. Landowski immediately went all in, and Hung made the call.
Landowski:
Hung:
Landowski had flopped top pair, but it was no good, as Hung held an overpair. Landowski would need another jack, or running spades to win the pot. The turn was the , and the river was the . Landowski will take home just under $35,000 for his efforts, while Hung's stack rising up to 420,000.
David Arsht raised from the button, and Glenn Engelbert and Donald Augar called in the blinds. The flop came down, and it was checked to Arsht. He fired out a bet, and Engelbert instantly raised. Auger folded, but Arsht called. The turn was the , and Arsht called a bet from Engelbert. The hit the river, and Engelbert checked. Arsht bet out 50,000, and Engelbert went into the tank. He only had 56,000 left, so it was a huge decision. After two minutes of thinking, he flung in the call. Arsht showed , and Engelbert led out a big sigh of frustration, saying he had .
After the hand, Engelbert was left with just 6,000, while Arsht had half the chips in play at 1.6 million. Engelbert tripled up shortly after, but was eliminated a few hands later. Engelbert was all in preflop, and got calls from Al Barbieri and Stephen Hung. The board ran out , and Barbieri showed . It was good enough to take the pot, and Engelbert was eliminated in 5th place.