More Premier League Action Today!
Yesterday saw David Benyamine battle his way to a victory and move up the leaderboard into second place. In front of him is Phil Laak, who will once again be wearing the yellow jersey as the leader of the pack. Laak has two win under his belt in the first two heats and will be looking to go three for three here in the fourth heat.
Let's take a look at the standings so far, with the players in bold taking to the felt today.
1. Phil Laak – 32 points
2. David Benyamine - 24 points
3. JC Tran – 17 points
4. Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 16 points
5. Giovanni Safina - 15 points
6. Roland De Wolfe – 14 points
T-7. Vanessa Rousso – 8 points
T-7. Ian Frazer – 8 points
9. Phil Hellmuth - 6 points
T-10. Luke Schwartz – 4 points
T-10. Daniel Negreanu – 4 points
12. Tony G - 2 points
As you can see, the top three point getters are all in action today and will be looking to distance themselves from the rest of the field with solid performances today. If Laak or Benyamine can finish first or second today, they should easily secure themselves a spot in the final. Tran stated that he feels like he should have more points than he already has and is looking to pick up 10-15 points in the next few heats and lock up his place in the final.
The most pressure in this match will be on the newest member of Team PartyPoker Pro and PokerNews' top man Tony G. The G comes into today with only two points thanks to an early exit in his first match. He'll be looking to make a much deeper run today. Tony G had high expectations coming into the event, stating in his blog before the event started, "I’m going to spend the next few days seeing myself take the title of the PartyPoker Premier League this year." We'll see if today is the day Tony G rides his bike to a victory.
Luke Schwartz is also looking to grab some much needed points today. He only comes in with two more points than Tony G at four. That's good enough for a tie for tenth place, but definitely not something that's going to get you anywhere in the Premier League. After spending yesterday in the commentating booth, maybe Schwartz has picked up some valuable information on his opponents that he can use against them today.
"I woke up feeling GREAT and I expect good things today!!! :)" That's what Vanessa Rousso stated on her Twitter this morning. She sits right in the middle of the pack and will be looking to break into the top of the bunch when today's all said and done.
Play will begin shortly, so stay tuned to PokerNews for all the live coverage!
on a flop of 
. David Benyamine held 
.
, giving Schwartz his flush. He fired 30,000 and Benyamine called.
and Schwartz fired 62,000. Benyamine made a solid, disciplined fold and hung onto some chips while Schwartz moved up to 350,000.
, JC Tran called from the small blind with the 
and Tony G called from the big blind with the 
.
and Tran led with a bet of 10,000. Tony G folded and then Frazer raised to 30,000. Tran made the call.
and slowed down the action, as both players checked. Frazer showed the best hand with two queens and won the pot.
and David Benyaine fired 17,000 with the 
. JC Tran called with the 
for a lot of draws.
and Benyamine fired 38,000. Tran called again, not opting to get more aggressive with his big draw.
and both players checked. Benyamine tabled the winner and Tran dropped to 160,000.
, but it was JC Tran and David Benyamine who smacked it the hardest. Tran flopped bottom set with the 
and Benyamine checked again, setting a nice deep hole for Tran to fall into. Tran fired 42,000 and then Benyamine check-raised all in. Tran called all in for 133,000 total.
and now both players held a full house, but Tony G's was a bit better. Rousso checked and Tony G fired 25,000. After a minute or so, Rousso made the call.
and Rousso checked again. Tony G fired 50,000 into the pot of 88,000, sending Rousso into the tank. She had 243,000 chips left in her stack at the time Tony G bet the river and though about it for a few minutes. Eventually, she made the call.
. Tony G called from the small blind with the 
fell on the turn, Tony G bet 7,000 and Benyamine called. The river was an interesting when the