The WSOP on ESPN: Day 7 Continues as Mizrachi, Senti and LeFrancois Thrive

October 20, 2010

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Tonight’s ESPN broadcast of the World Series of Poker featured the continuation of Day 7 with the final 48 players looking to crack the top 27. The five biggest chip counts at the beginning of the broadcast belonged to William Thorson (12,915,000), Joseph Cheong (11,195,000), Filippo Candio (10,105,000), Theo Jorgensen (9,770,000) and Patrick Eskandar (8,695,000). “Everyone is within reach of the final table,” Lon McEachern said as action continued, and nothing could be more true.

What a Featured Table: The featured table was stacked with some tough competition including John Racener (8.1 million), Duy Le (6.3 million), Matt Affleck (4.8 million), Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi (2.5 million), and Hasan Habib (880,000).

In the first hand, Thorson raised to 210,000 from early position and Mizrachi reraised to 655,000 from the hijack position. Racener then made it 1.28 million to go from the big blind with K♠K♦. Thorson folded his A♦Q♦ and Mizrachi followed suit by tossing his A♠J♣, giving Racener the pot.

Early Double for the Grinder: John Racener raised to 180,000 with K♠Q♥ and David Baker (not “Bakes”) called from middle position with 3♠3♣. William Thorson called with 10♦9♦ in the hijack and Mizrachi pushed all-in for 1.3 million. Action folded back around to Thorson, who made the call. Mizrachi was ahead but his tournament life was at risk. The board ran out 7♣A♦5♣J♥A♣ and Mizrachi more than doubled to 3.59 million.

Bingo on the Turn: Jonathan Duhamel looked down at 8♥8♣ and made it 200,000 from the hijack. Matt Berkey called from the big blind with 10♦6♦ and the two saw the flop come 6♥3♦6♠, giving Berkey trips. He checked to Duhamel, who bet 245,000. Berkey responded by check-raising to 625,000, and Duhamel called.

The 8♦ hit the turn and suddenly Duhamel was in great shape with a full house. Both players checked and the 2♣ fell on the river. Berkey bet out 1.2 million and Duhamel moved all-in for 1.835 million more. Berkey called and Duhamel took down the 7.8 million chip pot, much to Berkey's dismay.

Rabbit Hunt: Mizrachi raised to 180,000 from early position with pocket fives and Matt Affleck reraised to 500,000 directly behind with A♣K♠. Duy Le then made it 1.4 million to go from the hijack with A♥Q♠. Mizrachi mucked and Affleck pushed all-in for 3.5 million more. Le opted to fold and Affleck took pot uncontested but not before talking the dealer into rabbit hunting the flop, which was 6♠8♠J♣.

Wrong Call for Assouline: With a board reading Q♣6♥A♦A♣J♦, Pascal LeFrancois bet 2.675 million, enough to put David Assouline all-in if he made the call. Assouline held K♦K♣ but was far behind LeFrancois’ A♠J♠. Assouline ended up making the call and was sent to the rail in 44th place for $206,395.

Ace for Clements: Scott Clements was all-in preflop with A♥K♠ against the K♥K♦ of Ben Statz in a pot worth 4.34 million. The A♣10♣5♠ flop vaulted Clements into the lead and left Statz drawing thin. The 3♠ on the turn and 7♦ river changed nothing and Clements double, keeping his hopes alive for a third WSOP bracelet.

New Chip Leader After Monster Pot: On a flop of K♣5♥9♣, Theo Jorgensen bet 525,000 with A♣3♣ and Soi Nguyen check-raised to 1.5 million with his K♥J♣. Jorgensen reraised to 4.525 million and Nguyen moved all-in for 4.5 million more. Jorgensen called and the two created a pot worth 19,520,000! Nguyen was at risk but ahead as the dealer burned and turned the 10♦. The 3♦ on the river missed Jorgensen, and Nguyen became the new tournament chip leader. Meanwhile, Jorgensen, who started the day among the chip leaders, was left with a mere fraction of his former big stack.

How does Soi Win?: Soi Nguyen, featured in an interview with ESPN, revealed that he did not know what “implied odds” were and couldn’t tell you what UTG+3 meant. “Everybody out there is probably going to laugh at me now,” Nguyen said. “This whole entire experience, if I had to sum it up in one word, it would be surreal.” He may not know the lingo, but that didn’t stop Nguyen from enjoying the chip lead.

Mizrachi Eliminates Emery: Corey Emery called 100,000 from the button with 6♦6♣, as did Mizrachi from the small blind with 9♦8♠. Affleck looked down at 2♠2♦ and checked his option from the big. The flop came down 3♠6♥7♣ and Mizrachi checked to Affleck, who bet 175,000. Both his opponents called and the turn was the 10♥, giving Mizrachi a straight. It checked to Emery and he bet 450,000. Mizrachi raised to 1.05 million, Affleck folded, and Emery moved all-in for 1.365 million. Mizrachi snap-called and the dealer put out the 5♥. Emery was eliminated in 33rd place while Mizrachi chipped up to 7.4 million.

Senti on a Heater: Michael Skender was all-in preflop with K♦Q♦ against the 9♥9♣ of Jason Senti. The flop came down Q♥6♣3♥, giving Skender the lead. The 3♦ left Senti drawing to a nine, and wouldn’t you know it, the 9♦ hit the river. Skender was eliminated in 31st place while Senti continued to roll. To give you an idea of just how hot he was running: Senti started Day 7 with 970,000 but sat with 13.25 million after the hand.

From Big Stack to No Stack: Jorgensen was under the gun and raised to 250,000 with A♥K♦. Racener was next to act and called with A♦Q♣. Thorson called from the cutoff with 2♥2♦ and Duy Le came along in the big blind with 10♦9♣. The flop came down 4♣6♣A♣ and Le checked to Jorgensen, who bet 1,000,000. Racener min-raised to 2,000,000 and action folded back to Jorgensen, who moved all-in for 220,000 more.

After Racener made the call, the dealer put the Q♥ on the turn. Suddenly the former chip leader was behind and need help on the river. It was not meant to be for Jorgensen as the 9♥ was revealed on the river. He was eliminated in 30th place for $255,242 while Racener jumped to over 9.8 million.

End of Day 7: The last hand of Day 7 came when Bryn Kenney was all in preflop with 2♠2♥ against the A♥A♣ of Pascal LeFrancois. There was 1.985 million in the pot as the flop came down 6♠4♥A♠, giving LeFrancois a set and leaving Kenney drawing thin. The 9♣ meant Kenney was drawing dead and was thus eliminated in 28th place. After the 8♥ was put out on the river, Kenney made his way to the exit while the remaining 27 players celebrated making it to the final three tables.