WPT Merit Cyprus Classic Championship Day 5 | 2009 WPT Merit Cyprus Classic

09-11-2009 11:44 UTC+3

And Then There Were Ten

[user75032]

It's Day 5 at the 2009 WPT Merit Cyprus Classic, which means it's time for the final table -- only not. Due to a quirk in the schedule, today the remaining 10 players, now playing at one table on a raised, black felt-covered platform in the center of the tournament room, will play down to a WPT final table of six. Those six players will bag and tag one more time before returning tomorrow to finally play this thing out to a champion.

Who are the ten players joining us today?

Seat 1: Jonathan Little - 972,000
Seat 2: Thomas Bichon - 396,000
Seat 3: Huck Seed - 669,000
Seat 4: Layne Flack - 952,000
Seat 5: Nenad Medic - 256,000
Seat 6: Steven Fung - 681,000
Seat 7: Uri Keidar - 583,000
Seat 8: Rony Jazzar - 437,000
Seat 9: Janar Kiivramees - 509,000
Seat 10: Rep Porter - 1,786,000

Play is supposed to start at noon (in fifteen minutes), but the crew are nowhere near finished setting up the final table area. We'll keep you posted.

09-11-2009 12:39 UTC+3

Delayed Start

[user38449]

The production crew is hurriedly making some last minute adjustments to the final table stage, and therefore our scheduled 12:00 p.m. start has been pushed back a bit.

Several of the final tablists are scattered around the room, many of them chatting each other up, waiting for the green light to take their seats.

Tournament Director Jack McClellan indicated that he anticipates the cards will be in the air at 1:00 p.m.

Stay tuned...

09-11-2009 13:25 UTC+3

Shuffle Up and Deal!

[user75032]

It was a lengthy delay, but the TV table is now ready. The players have been mic'ed up and introduced. We're ninety minutes late, but cards are finally in the air with 51:30 left in Level 18.

Level: 18

Blinds: 8,000/16,000

Ante: 2,000

09-11-2009 13:43 UTC+3

Not Much Action Yet

[user75032]

We've played six hands so far. Only two have gone to flops. Both were raised preflop to 41,000 by Steven Fung. Each pot was three-ways to the flop, with no significant action developing thereafter. Jonathan Little won the first pot by check-calling 77,000 on a flop of {A-Clubs}

. Fung and Little checked the rest of the action down, {A-Spades}

and

, with Little showing down {7-Diamonds}

for two pair, aces and eights, to take the pot.

The second hand developed the same as the first, but Fung's 77,000-chip bet on a flop of {K-Diamonds}

got no callers.

Tags: Jonathan Little Steve Fung

09-11-2009 13:58 UTC+3

Table Talk

[user38449]

"Are you guys having fun yet?" Huck Seed asked his table mates.

"You guys seem kind of gloomy."

Huck's read on the mood in the room is spot on. It's quiet, due to some strictly enforced filming rules, and completely absent the traditional ruckus we're used to seeing on the World Poker Tour. Some of this may of course be due to the fact that we haven't yet reached our 'official' final table, but whatever the reason, it feels pretty dark in the room right now. Even Layne Flack is uncharacteristically subdued.

The fact that they're playing for over half a million dollars might have a little something to do with it as well...

09-11-2009 14:07 UTC+3

Caution Abounds

[user75032]

We took another two flops without significant post-flop action. In the first, Layne Flack opened for 40,000 and then called small blind Rep Porter's re-raise to 140,000. Porter's bet of 200,000 on a flop of {3-Hearts}

was enough to scare Flack out of the pot, but not before Flack noted that one of his cards was bent.

"Are these new decks?" Flack asked the staff. He was assured that they were brand new.

"So someone's bending the cards already," Flack noted wryly. The offending deck was immediately substituted out, with Flack telling Nenad Medic that the bent card was the {k-Clubs}

.

A few hands later, Steve Fung, the most active player at the table so far, opened a pot for 41,000. Jonathan Little called from the button and made a 65,000-chip stab at a {2-Hearts}

flop after Fung checked. Fung was not so easily deterred. He called, with both players checking the {6-Spades}

turn and

river. Fung's unimproved {A-Diamonds}

took down the pot.

Tags: Jonathan Little Layne Flack Rep Porter Steve Fung

09-11-2009 14:25 UTC+3

Flack Folds to Pressure

[user75032]

On the last hand before our first break we finally had a spot of action. Layne Flack opened from middle position to 40,000 and was called by small blind Rony Jazzar. On an uncoordinated {2-Clubs}

flop, Jazzar led into Flack for 40,000. Flack didn't hesitate to call.

The turn was another five, the {5-Diamonds}

. Jazzar quickly fired another 100,000 into the pot and again Flack was right in there with him. Things changed, however, when the river fell {3-Spades}

. Jazzar quickly moved in with first action, 299,000 chips total. Flack thought it over for two minutes before folding his hand. Jazzar showed {7-Diamonds}