Mike Sexton
Phil Hellmuth has just eliminated one of poker's nice guys from the tournament, courtesy of a nasty ace on the river.
Hellmuth put Sexton all in before the flop holding and Sexton made the call holding a pocket pair of queens. Sexton maintained the lead through the turn as the board filled out , but Hellmuth was able to spike the on the river to win the match.
"He deserves to win this one, folks" said Hellmuth, pointing at Sexton. "Last year against 'durrrr' I said I deserved to win it, but this year it's him."
Gavin Smith then chimed in from a neighboring table: "Actually, Mike's handling it a lot better than you did last year too."
Safely on to the Round of 32, Hellmuth will face the winner of the Jeffrey Ishbia v. Leon Yanovski match-up.
A short-stacked Gabe Kaplan moved all in from the button. He was called by his mirror alter ego, Chris Ferguson. Both men are wearing wrap-around mirrored sunglasses and cowboy hats; Kaplan is dressed in a white shirt and sporting PokerStars logos; Ferguson is dressed in a black jacket and wearing Full Tilt gear.
This round went to Kaplan, whose held up against Ferguson's on a board of . Kaplan now has a slight chip lead.
Blandino Gines relinquished his early chip lead to Barry Greenstein and called all in after the Bear put him all in preflop. Gines' was in the lead against Greenstein's and paired kings on a flop of . That pair of kings held up to double-up Gines.
We haven't mentioned yet that, in addition to playing their own match, Tom Dwan and Gavin Griffin are prop-betting every other all in that takes place. Dwan won this round.
That'll do it for Joe Hachem. After losing the last pot to John Juanda's ace-king, Hachem moved all in and was called. "I know I have the best hand this time," said Hachem. He was correct; his was ahead of Juanda's . But a deuce on the flop and a deuce on the turn put a stake through Hachem's tournament life. He is the first player eliminated from the Spades Bracket.
Gavin Smith has just doubled through Ilari 'Zigmund' Sahamies to take a slight chip lead in their match. The two exchanged preflop raises and eventually got it all in; Smith with pocket tens and Sahamies with . The board then ran out , giving Gavin two pair, queens and tens, securing his double up.
Surprisingly, we're now thirty-five minutes into the last set of matches without an elimination. There were two recent all-in bets called, but each resulted in a double-up. Barry Greenstein doubled through PokerStars qualifier Blandino Gines, by holding a straight against Gines' smaller straight; Joe Hachem's couldn't overtake John Juanda's after the flop came - X. The board blanked from there.
Unlike the earlier three brackets, the matches in the Spades Bracket are, so far, eerily silent. We thought for sure that Smith v. Sahamies (now underway) would produce some entertaining moments, but that hasn't been the case. The only table that seems to be enjoying itself in the slightest is the feature table, where Phil "the Poker Brat" Hellmuth is battling Mike "the Poker Ambassador" Sexton. Hellmuth is even wearing a black hat; if someone got a white hat for Sexton, the battle of Poker Evil versus Poker Good would be perfectly costumed.
Cards are in the air. This is the last bracket of the day. Ilari Sahamies has not yet made his way onto the set; play has been delayed for his match against Gavin Smith until Sahamies turns up.
"Hey durrrr," called Phil Hellmuth to Tom Dwan as action commenced. "If they allowed you to use a laptop, would you play right now?"
"Actually I would," replied Dwan. "Normally I would not."
On a completely unrelated note, Layne Flack was recently seen entering the room. Presumably he put his "one call" to good use; he is no longer listed as an inmate in the Clark County detention system.
Group shot of the players in the Spades Bracket
The Round One Clubs Bracket matches have drawn to a close. The Round Two matches tomorrow are set to be:
Don Cheadle v. Paul Wasicka
Phil Ivey v. Vanessa Rousso
Scotty Nguyen v. Ted Forrest
Daniel Negreanu v. Dario Minieri
We're now on a break until 9:30pm local time, when the last of the four brackets, the Spades Bracket, will enter action with the following matches:
Feature Table:
Mike Sexton v. Phil Hellmuth
Gabe Kaplan v. Chris Ferguson
John Juanda v. Joe Hachem
Ilari Sahamies v. Gavin Smith
Fred Collins (qualifier) v. Bertrand Grospellier
Jeffrey Ishbia (qualifier) v. Leon Yanovski (qualifier)
Mike Matusow started his match late against Dario Minieri due to a broken pair of glasses. He couldn't see danger at the end of the match when he needed to dodge it most. The shorter-stacked Matusow moved all in on a flop of holding . Minieri quickly called with pocket kings, a hand that threatened to send Matusow to the rail.
The turn fell . "That's not a good card," understated Matusow. The river wasn't a good card for Matusow either. It sealed his elimination and wrapped up the last remaining match in the Clubs Bracket. Minieri can head back to his hotel for some rest before tomorrow's Round Two match against Daniel Negreanu.
button in Safari
and Sexton made the call holding a pocket pair of queens. Sexton maintained the lead through the turn as the board filled out 
, but Hellmuth was able to spike the 
on the river to win the match.
held up against Ferguson's 
on a board of 
. Kaplan now has a slight chip lead.
and paired kings on a flop of 
. That pair of kings held up to double-up Gines.
was ahead of Juanda's 
. But a deuce on the flop and a deuce on the turn put a stake through Hachem's tournament life. He is the first player eliminated from the Spades Bracket.
. The board then ran out 
, giving Gavin two pair, queens and tens, securing his double up.
after the flop came 
- X. The board blanked from there.
holding 
wasn't a good card for Matusow either. It sealed his elimination and wrapped up the last remaining match in the Clubs Bracket. Minieri can head back to his hotel for some rest before tomorrow's Round Two match against Daniel Negreanu.
