$5,150 Championship Main Event | 2008 WSOP Circuit Event - Lake Tahoe

11-16-2008 15:19 UTC-7

No Sad Song for McClain Yet

[user65508]

Mike McClain is teased on a regular basis for being "the agony of defeat face". The title comes form a montage done to a country song during ESPN's broadcast of the 2003 World Series of Poker. Interestingly, the grimace that is seen in the clip is from a hand in which McClain is not busted out of the tournament. The following year McClain made the final table of the WSOP before making a quick exit.

So far today McClain has not had too much to frown about as he is still among the reaming players.

Tags: Mike McClain

11-16-2008 15:27 UTC-7

Travis Erdman Eliminated in 7th Place ($24,968)

[user38449]

Big stack Ty Stewart just grew even bigger after eliminating Travis Erdman from the championship event.

Stewart opened the pot with a raise to 18,000 from under the gun plus one and Erdman, sitting to Stewart's immediate left, re-popped it to 45,000. Action folded all the way around the table and back to Stewart who made the call.

The flop came down {9-Spades}

, and Stewart checked to Erdman, who slid three stacks of yellow 1,000 chips across the betting line, a bet worth 60,000. Stewart then quickly announced, "All in," and Erdman made the call:

Showdown:
Stewart: {6-Spades}

Erdman:

The turn and river bricked off {10-Hearts}

,

and Stewart took down the pot on the strength of a spade flush.

Despite having busted out a bit earlier than he would've hoped, Erdman can be proud of one thing: he's the only player in WSOP Circuit history to have made the final table of a championship event at the same location three years straight.

Stewart, meanwhile, stacked up approximately 490,000 in chips with the win, pulling that much closer to chip leader Michael Binger.

Tags: Travis Erdman Ty Stewart

11-16-2008 15:36 UTC-7

15-Minute Break

[user38449]

The tournament clock has been paused while the remaining six.... scratch that, five players go on their first 15-minute break of the day.

A bomb dropped on the Harvey's Poker Room just before the break, as Allen Kessler was two-outed by Ty Stewart moments ago.

That hand and updated chip counts will be posted momentarily.

11-16-2008 15:36 UTC-7

Allen Kessler Eliminated in 6th Place ($31,370)

[user65508]

After a raise to 20,000 from Tay Nguyen and an all-in reraise from Ty Stewart for approximately 500,000, Allen Kessler moved his remaining 140,000 stack into the middle from the small blind. Nguyen folded and Stewart and Kessler moved straight to the showdown where Stewart tabled {7-Clubs}

, in bad shape against Kessler's {A-Diamonds}

.

The pocket rockets were good through the flop and turn of {J-Clubs}

, but the river {7-Diamonds}

proved fatal as Stewart caught one of the two remaining sevens that were his only outs.

Kessler will take home $31,370 after the bad beat, a bittersweet consolation prize. Stewart moved into the chip lead with 650,000 after the hand.

Tags: Allen Kessler

11-16-2008 15:46 UTC-7

Update Chip Counts

[user38449]

Ty Stewart (chip leader) - 650,000
Michael Binger - 608,000
Jake Solis - 347,000
Mike McClain - 308,000
Tay Nguyen - 67,000

11-16-2008 15:56 UTC-7

Play Resumes

[user38449]

The players have returned to the final table stage -- all of them except Ty Stewart -- and the action will recommence four-handed until Ty returns to the table.

Level: 19

Blinds: 4,000/8,000

Ante: 1,000

11-16-2008 15:58 UTC-7

Ty Returns

[user38449]

Ty Stewart has made his way back to the final table stage after missing just one hand, and all is well again in the world.

11-16-2008 16:07 UTC-7

Tay Nguyen Eliminated in 5th Place ($40,653)

[user65508]

Tay Nguyen open shoved for his last 51,000 as action folded around. Mike McClain, on the button, called quickly and tabled {A-Diamonds}

.

Nguyen, short stack by a big margin, made his stand with {10-Clubs}

. The flop kept the underdog Nguyen optimistic as it was spread {9-Spades}

, and the turn kept the anticipation alive as it hit {8-Hearts}

.

With the {7-Diamonds}

leaving Nguyen's draw coming up short, he received a big round of applause from the gallery for his best finish to date. Nguyen will take home $40,653 marking his accomplishment.

Tags: Tay Nguyen

11-16-2008 16:14 UTC-7

Stewart Wins Pivotal Pot from Binger

[user38449]

Ty Stewart just took down a monster pot against Michael Binger to further increase his chip lead over the field.

Preflop, Stewart tried to open with a raise to 15,000, but Binger corrected him, saying the raise had to be a minimum of 16,000. The dealer supported Binger and Stewart was forced to toss in another 1,000 chip to make it 16,000 total. Binger made the call from the small blind and Mike McClain came along for the ride in the big.

The flop came {5-Hearts}

and Binger opened with a 28,000 bet. McClain folded and when the action landed on Stewart, he raised, making it a total of 75,000 to go; Binger made the call.

The {Q-Diamonds}

rolled off on the turn and Binger check-called a 75,000 bet from Stewart which took us to the river: {Q-Hearts}

.

Binger checked once more and Stewart fired a massive 150,000 bet. Binger folded, telling the table that he had an open-ended straight flush draw; Stewart did not reveal his hand.

Afterwards, Binger dropped to about 479,000 in chips while Stewart improved to over 845,000.

Tags: Michael Binger Ty Stewart