2008 World Series of Poker

Event 2 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 2
Event Info

2008 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
104
Prize
$831,462
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$5,363,085
Entries
3,929
Level Info
Level
29
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000

In the Name of the Son

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson is on a roll. He recently opened a pot preflop for 14,000. Alan Lai reraised for his last 35,000. Ferguson thoughtfully pondered the situation for several minutes before making the call with {A-Clubs}{8-Clubs}. He was behind Lai's pocket nines, but he flopped an ace and rivered another to win the pot with three aces. His stack increased to almost 280,000.

Tags: "Jesus"Chris Ferguson

Writers Unite

Jay Greenspan
Jay Greenspan
One player we have been remiss in not writing about is fellow writer and blogger Jay Greenspan. Greenspan, author of the book Hunting Fish: A Cross-Country Search for America's Worst Poker Players, is alive and healthy in today's field. He is currently sitting on an average-sized stack of approximately 130,000 chips. At this stage in the tournament, he may not find many fish left to hunt.

Tags: Jay Greenspan

Haas Joins the 200 Club

On a flop of {9-Spades}{6-Clubs}{3-Hearts}, Brian Haas bet 15,000 against his lone opponent, Jorge Rodriguez. Rodriguez quickly raised to 65,000, but Haas just as quickly reraised all in to 130,000. Rodriguez gave the matter some thought but ultimately surrendered the pot to Haas.

Haas now has 230,000 chips while Rodriguez has fallen to 112,000.

Jesus Saved

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson got Ken Shaevel to put all of his chips in the middle preflop. Ferguson held {A-Diamonds}{Q-Diamonds} and was behind Shaevel's {J-Spades}{J-Clubs}. No help on the flop or the turn for Jesus, but the {A-Clubs} appeared on the river to make him a pair of aces and the best hand.

Shaevel busted on the hand while Ferguson rose to 227,000.

Tags: "Jesus"Chris Ferguson

Three Aces Are Best

{A-Clubs}{Q-Clubs} is a nice-looking starting hand. It looks even nicer when the flop comes down {A-Spades}{J-Hearts}{A-Diamonds}, as it did for Joe Gotlieb. His opponent stuck around until showdown only to see the bad news. With that pot Gotlieb moved north of 170,000 in chips.

Chips Change Hands

We joined the action on the flop for this hand, with the board reading {6-Hearts}{6-Diamonds}{7-Diamonds}.

Andre Boyer, first to act, checks over to Josh Engerdahl, who puts out a bet of 9,000. Boyer pumps it up to 21,000, and Engerdahl comes back over the top with 61,000. Boyer moves all in and is called, showing {K-Clubs}{K-Diamonds} against Engerdahl's {Q-Diamonds}{J-Diamonds}.

The turn provides some help with the {Q-Spades}, but the river bricks off the {7-Clubs}, and Engerdahl ships a big chunk of his chips over to Boyer.

After the confrontation, Boyer stands at 312,000, while Engerdahl is down to 100,000.

Strassmann Keeps Piling On

Johannes Strassmann keeps accumulating chips, this time at Thomas Fuller's expense. Strassmann fired on a flop of {6-Hearts}{3-Hearts}{3-Clubs} for 12,700. Fuller made the call. Both players checked the turn {2-Diamonds}. When the {Q-Spades} fell on the river, Strassmann fired again -- this time for 39,000. Fuller made the call, only to see Strassmann turn over {K-Spades}{Q-Clubs} for a rivered top pair. Fuller mucked.

After the pot was pushed to Strassmann, his stack stood at a touch over 200,000.

Tags: Johannes Strassmann

Level: 14

Blinds: 2,000/4,000

Ante: 500

Kanter's Big Slick Overwhelms Brady's Cowboys

In a big hand, Aaron Kanter raised, Hooman Nikzad reraised all in and Matt Brady called. When action got back to Kanter, he reraised all in and Brady called again. The players turned up their hands:

Kanter: {A-Hearts}{K-Diamonds}
Nikzad: {10-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}
Brady: {K-Spades}{K-Clubs}

Brady was in great shape until the board came {A-Diamonds}{J-Spades}{5-Clubs}{4-Clubs}{9-Spades} to make a pair of aces for Kanter. Kanter finished the hand with 165,000 in chips while Brady dipped to 50,000. Nikzad busted on the hand.