Event 3 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em | 2008 World Series of Poker

06-04-2008 15:16 UTC-7

Get Carter

[user4144]

It's been an unsteady start for Zachary 'Carter' King, who is clearly frustrated with his poor timing and increasing lack of cards. His last encounter saw him raise to 21,000 from under the gun, but a reraise from the active-as-ever Al Barbieri the next seat down led to him conceding the hand.

Zachary is still hovering around the 100,000 but desperately seeking a double-up to get himself back in the game.

Tags: Al Barbieri Zachary King

06-04-2008 15:11 UTC-7

All Quiet on the Western Front

[user4144]

The cards may be producing more action than a Bad Boys sequel, but the players themselves have been very quiet, with little banter to report. Joe Tehan seems to be the most lively, frequently jumping up from his seat to stretch his legs and chat to railers. At one point he joked to the cameraman, "Hey, I'm not in your way, am I?" to which I replied, "Actually, I wasn't going to say, Joe, but at times you have been blocking my view." He took my British wit, which has let me down so many times before, in good spirits and seems like a highly amicable guy.

Meanwhile, David Singer seems very tense or, perhaps more accurately, "in the zone." Obviously brimming with experience in these big-money finals, Singer has barely moved an inch, his body seemingly fixed in one position as he focuses on his goal of winning what would be his first, if my source is correct, WSOP bracelet to date.

Tags: David Singer Joe Tehan

06-04-2008 14:52 UTC-7

Al-In

[user4144]

With players taking turns to either steal the blinds uncontested or successfully continuation-bet after the big blind calls a late-position preflop raise, we finally run into some drama and, subsequently, our first all-in of today's final table.

On hand 17, Al Barbieri limps in early position, only for Joe Tehan to make it 20,000 from the small blind followed by a fold from Jacobo Fernandez in the big. Back round to Barbieri, who, with a puzzled expression, does indeed make the call.

A {Q-Diamonds}

flop leads to a check from Tehan, a 40,000 bet from Barbieri, followed by a check-raise to 102,000 from Tehan, who confidently pushes a column of orange chips across the felt.

As Tehan shakes his foot uncontrollably underneath the table, Barbieri mulls over his decision like a contest on the final question of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. After a few moments of contemplation, he splashes the chips in the pot, albeit with a slight sigh of resignation.

With the dealer popping out a potentially flush-filling {4-Diamonds}

on the turn, Tehan's check is instantly followed by an all-in from Barbieri who, after a quick calculation, puts his tournament life on the line for a total of 153,000.

As Tehan's shoulders drop in disappointment, he exhales briefly before making the fold. Barbieri shows {A-Diamonds}

.

Tehan is now down 260,000 while Barbieri leaps up to 380,000.

Tags: Ali Barbieri Joe Tehan

06-04-2008 14:39 UTC-7

A Little Cagey

[user46392]

Still there is a distinct unwillingness to see any flops -- play has turned extremely cagey.

There was one flop witnessed, when Joe Tehan limped under the gun and it folded right around to Russ Harriman on the big blind, who checked. That flop came down {9-Spades}

and Harriman checked it to Tehan who bet 11,000, but Harriman must have had a hand or sensed some weakness as he raised it up to 36,000, forcing Tehan to pass.

Tehan, incidentally, seems the most antsy of our players today. While mostly the players look slightly bored if attentive, Tehan has been in and out of his seat, pacing, crouched on his knees when he is seated rather than in a more relaxed seating position. He also seems to have been the most aggressive player at the table so far, at least in terms of preflop raising. In addition to the aforementioned failed attempt to take that pot off of Harriman from the UTG position, he took the blinds twice in a row, raising from the cutoff and then the hijack. The first time, Al Barbieri on the big blind passed 2-7 offsuit face up, with a resigned snort.

Nevertheless, Tehan is not the only one raising at the table. David Singer has also taken down the blinds uncontested once (in between lengthy sessions playing with his cell phone away from the table), and at one point, as though he had suddenly woken up and realized where he was, Zachary King also took the blinds with an uncontested late-position raise.

Tags: Joe Tehan

06-04-2008 14:26 UTC-7

Gregory Shoots up the Peck-ing Order

[user4144]

It took five hands of blind stealing before we actually witnessed a flop, Joe Tehan raising it up to 19,000 from early position and being called by Gregory Alston on the button.

On a {J-Clubs}

flop, Tehan quickly checked to Alston, who, donning a highly pensive expression, bet out 28,000. Tehan made the call.

A {6-Spades}

on the turn led to another quick check from Tehan, resulting in a 51,000 bet from a confident-looking Alston. Quicker than he had checked, Tehan made the fold.

The very next hand, Alston was getting busy again, this time betting Robert Lipkin off of a {K-Spades}

flop after the latter had smooth-called the former's 19,000 preflop button raise from the big blind.

Good start for Alston, who adds some vital chips to his stack.

06-04-2008 14:18 UTC-7

A Head for Numbers

[user46392]

While Snoopy is watching the action for a few hands, I feel I should take the opportunity to say that we have the highest concentration of hats here today that I have ever seen at a final table. Five out of our nine finalists are sporting baseball caps of one kind or another, plus Gregory Alston is sporting a kind of tweedy trilby. Very pleasing.

Tags: Gregory Alston

Level: 16

Blinds: 4,000/8,000

Ante: 0

06-04-2008 14:04 UTC-7

No Lights, No Cameras, Plenty of Action

[user46392]

Good afternoon and welcome back to the Amazon Room at the Rio, where the exciting final table of the $1500 PLHE event is about to play out in the glorious arena that is... er... Green Section, Table 15. Owing to another final table taking place on the ESPN televised table in about an hour, these guys won't be getting the same glory as other WSOP finalists. I feel a bit sorry for them in some ways. Although the payout is delicious enough that I don't feel too bad for any of them.

Anyway, players are seated and announced, and there has been some shuffling up and, indeed, some dealing.

06-04-2008 03:05 UTC-7

Final Table Begins at 2 pm

[user33020]

It's a 2 pm start time for the final table in Event #3, $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em, after the field was whittled down to a final nine after a relatively short Day 2 session. American Joe Tehan leads a well-spaced, all-American final at 458,000 in chips, narrowly ahead of Jacobo Fernandez at 428,000.

Here's how the complete seating assignments, home towns and chip stacks appear:

Seat 1: Russ Harriman (Clarkston, Michigan) 206,000
Seat 2: Joe Tehan (Utica, New York) 458,000
Seat 3: Jacobo Fernandez (Hollywood, Florida) 428,000
Seat 4: Zachary 'Carter' King (Marietta, Georgia) 139,000
Seat 5: Al Barbieri (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 271,000
Seat 6: Gregory Alston (Danville, California) 179,000
Seat 7: Glen Bean (Biggs, California) 75,000
Seat 8: David Singer (Las Vegas, Nevada) 83,000
Seat 9: Robert Lipkin (Buffalo Grove, Illinois) 305,000

Join us this afternoon for latest in live reports from the Amazon Room.