[user169505]
Manuel Bevand is leading the way in Event #17
Good afternoon and welcome to the final day of Event #17 $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em, and what a day it promises to be. One way or another the 17th World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet will be slung over the wrist of somebody. At the moment the person in control of the field is the Frenchman Manuel Bevand. Bevand has 4 WSOP cashes to his name and is a regular on the European poker circuit where he made the final table of the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Prague, in 2010, for $98,873 which remains his biggest score to date. Bevand finished great yesterday eliminating both Mike "TImex" McDonald and Farzad Bonyadi to leave himself with 961,000 chips.
Also in the hunt for their first piece of WSOP gold is Steve Landfish. He currently resides in second place with 599,000 chips and has been in the top two of this leaderboard since the tournament began. Landfish has a 2nd and a 4th in WSOP final tables so he knows how to navigate his way through a WSOP crowd.
Another player with WSOP final table experience, but still no bracelet, is Shaun Deeb. Last year Deeb made the final of the $2,500 10-Game/Six Handed tournament where he finished in 4th place for $67,146. Deeb's stack has been fluctuating wildly and he has been great fun to have around the latter stages of this tournament.
Then you have a roster of experienced players who already hold WSOP gold. Hoyt Corkins played the low-medium short stack excellently yesterday. The man with 2 WSOP bracelets to his name starts the day just behind Ryan Julius in fourth place. Antonio Esfandiari has been the voice of this tournament. His continual wisecracks have kept everyone entertained and his poker is not too shabby either. Andy Frankenberger burst onto the scene last year and took down a WSOP bracelet and remains in the hunt for his second title, as is David Benyamine.
Last but not least you have Phil Ivey. The man who has 8 WSOP bracelets hidden in a security vault somewhere had a quiet day yesterday, but he still managed to bag up 180,000 chips and will still be most people's favorite when the tournament starts.
Action starts in the Amazon room at 1:00 PM and we will bring you all of the action at Pokernews.
Cary Katz has just been eliminated in his very first hand and it is that man Steve Landfish - the one man wrecking crew - that is responsible for his demise. Katz, who is a confirmed attendee in the $1 million One Drop event, opened to pot from first position (56,000) and Landfish moved all-in, one seat to his left. Everybody else folded and we had a showdown.
Landfish
Katz
Board:
So Landfish continues his outrageous fortune of finding the right hand at the right time. Katz leaves with $23,876 and a 7th WSOP cash.
Alex Venovski raised to 27,000 to open the pot, and David Benyamine three-bet shoved. It was 109,000 total, and Venovski needed some time to consider. After a couple minutes, he made a reluctant call to find that he was dominated.
Showdown
Venovski:
Benyamine:
Benyamine was poised for a much-needed double, but the poker gods had other ideas. The flop put him in a huge hole that he could not escape from. The turn and river were the last cards of his tournament, and Benyamine has departed with a 16th-place finish.
Matt Marafioti has just been handed a gift by Jeff Tims. The slick haired Marafioti raised to 34,000 in early position and the action folded to Tims in the big blind.
"How much do you have behind?" Asked Tims.
Marafioti showed him his stack and the amount was 96,000. Tims made the call and within no time the pair were staring at .
Tims bet 76,000, Marafioti moved all-in and TIms called.
Marafioti
Tims
The turn card was the and the river was the and Marafioti doubled up.
[user169505]
Chris Klodnicki eliminated in 15th place
Shaun Deeb raised to 33,000 in the hijack seat and Chris Klodnicki bet 'pot' from the big blind. It was a 104,000 bet and despite a look of slight upset on the face of Deeb he moved all-in and Klodnicki called.
Jeff Tims becomes the last player to take home $28,334 after being eliminated by the cheeky, chirpy Ali Eslami.
It was Alexander Venovski who started the ball rolling when he raised to 40,000 from the hijack. Eslami raised 'pot' from the button, Tims moved all-in for 154,000 in the small blind, Venovski folded and Eslami called.
Eslami
Tims
Venovski told the table that he folded ace-queen, so less outs for Tims.
Board:
"Hey, Ali how is it going?" Came a shout from the rail.
"Not bad. Just doubled up. Got tens against ace-king, flopped a set…" said Eslami.
"Anything else?" Shouted Deeb from the other table.
Eslami is doing very well as he moves up to 402,000 and Tims is out.
Manuel Bevand raised to 40,000 in the cutoff, Antonio Esfandiari three-bet to 102,000 from the big blind and Bevand folded.
Then Bevand tried again, this time from the hijack, and Esfandiari once again raised the stakes by making it 102,000 from the small blind. This time Bevand moved all-in and Esfandiari called.
The flop was and Esfandiari's pose still looked confident. The turn card was the and any jack would now fill up a straight for Bevand. Then the river delivered a punch right to the heart of the former WSOP bracelet winner .
"Dammit," said Esfandiari before composing himself to shake everyone's hand.
It's a shame to see The Magician leave because he would have been a great spectacle at the final table.
[user169505]
Andy Frankenberger doubles through Bevand
Our chip leader Manuel Bevand raised to 48,000 and Andy Frankenberger bet 'pot' from the big blind. The pair decided to play for stacks and Frankenberger was in a great position.
Frankenberger
Bevand
The flop was and Frankenberger rose from his seat and turned away from the table. The turn card didn't change much, but the certainly did. The noise from the rail prompting Frankenberger to turn around and when he saw his set he was jubilant.
"Come on! Come on!" Shouted a fired up Frankenberger.
So far that is the most intense emotion we have seen from anyone in the closing stages of this tournament. It seems Frankenberger wants his second bracelet in a bad way.
Despite being in the top few spots since the beginning of this tournament, Steve Landfish, will not be experiencing another World Series of Poker (WSOP) final table.
Shaun Deeb raised to 48,000 in first position and Steve Landfish moved all-in for around 180,000 and Deeb called.
Deeb
Landfish
"At least I have two live cards," said Landfish.
The flop of gave Landfish the lead. The turn of made it even more likely that Landfish would find successive double ups. Then the river turned the showdown on it's head.
"I knew it was coming," said Landfish.
With that elimination we have a our preliminary final table of 10 and will be moving to the main stage in the Amazon room so there will be a short delay in coverage.
Shaun Deeb opened to 60,000 from middle position, and Phil Ivey reraised to 165,000 across the table. Deeb asked how much he was playing, and Ivey rearranged his stacks to reveal all 390,000 he had behind. After another pause, Deeb announced, "Pot," and Ivey quickly moved all in for 555,000 total. Deeb was working with a small pocket pair and hoping to be in a race. He was not.
Showdown
Deeb:
Ivey:
Ivey had found his spot, and Deeb had more than half his chips in jeopardy. The board ran out clean, coming .
Um, look out! Phil Ivey has the chip lead with more than 1.1 million. And he's got that look in his eye...
![[user169505]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop put him in a huge hole that he could not escape from. The turn 
and river 
.
and the river was the 
and Marafioti doubled up.
and Esfandiari's pose still looked confident. The turn card was the 
.
gave Landfish the lead. The turn of 
turned the showdown on it's head.
