Event 34 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha w/Rebuys | 2008 World Series of Poker

06-20-2008 14:19 UTC-7

Shuffle Up and Deal

MarcC

We're at Level 18. Blinds are 8,000/16,000.

Level: 18

Blinds: 8,000/16,000

Ante: 0

06-20-2008 14:18 UTC-7

The players are seated and their names and bios are being announced to the crowd. When it came to Tim West being introduced our announcer mistakenly said he was twenty years old. I hope the Feds weren't listening! He's actually 22 years old.

Tags: Tim West

06-20-2008 14:07 UTC-7

Seat 9: Ted Forrest (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 757,000

Shamus

Like Kloeckner, West, and Fernandez, today also marks Ted Forrest’s second final table of this year’s WSOP. Forrest finished second to Andrew Brown in Event No. 16, the $2,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 event. And like Flack, Forrest has five WSOP bracelets and one WPT title. Forrest’s WSOP bracelets have come in Razz, Stud (twice), Omaha hi-low split-8, and hold’em. Forrest’s list of accomplishments goes on and on, and includes victories in the 2006 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship as well as a deep run in last fall’s PLO event at the WSOPE. Forrest has well over $5 million in lifetime tourney winnings.

Tags: Ted Forrest

06-20-2008 14:06 UTC-7

Seat 8: Michael Guzzardi (Melbourne, Australia) -- 751,000

Shamus

This marks T6 Poker-qualifier Michael “TheBigSiCkO” Guzzardi’s first deep run in a major tourney. The 24-year-old Aussie casino dealer was down to just 20,000 chips when we approached the cash bubble yesterday. However, a series of double-ups bounced him all of the way to the top of the leaderboard for much of the latter portion of the day's play.

Tags: Michael Guzzardi

06-20-2008 14:06 UTC-7

Seat 7: Layne Flack (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 601,000

Shamus

With five WSOP bracelets already to his credit, Layne Flack is no stranger to World Series final tables -- this marks his 13th overall. Flack’s first WSOP final table came just over a decade ago when he finished second in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event in 1998. Since then, Flack has amassed well over $3 million in tourney winnings, and besides his WSOP bracelets in limit hold’em, pot-limit hold’em, no-limit hold’em, and Omaha hi-low split-8, he has a WPT title as well.

Tags: Layne Flack

06-20-2008 14:05 UTC-7

Seat 6: Jacobo Fernandez (Hollywood, Florida) -- 348,000

Shamus

Floridian Jacobo Fernandez has over $1.1 million in tournament winnings to his credit, and is in the midst of a terrific World Series, having already cashed in four events. At the moment, Fernandez is seventh in the World Series of Poker Player of the Year points race, but today’s final table means that tomorrow he’ll wake up at the top of the leaderboard, no matter how he finishes. Fernandez also made the final table of Event No. 21, the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event, earning nearly a quarter million for his fourth place finish there. His biggest payday came in 2007 when he finished third at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, claiming just over $600,000 for his efforts.

Tags: Jacobo Fernandez

06-20-2008 14:04 UTC-7

Seat 5: Kyle Kloeckner (St. Louis, Missouri) -- 845,000

Shamus

Chip leader Kyle Kloeckner has already proven himself a tough player of pot-limit poker, having finished runner up to Max Pescatori in Event No. 24, the Pot-Limit Hold’em/Omaha event. That was Kloeckner’s largest tourney cash by far, netting him over $150,000. Kloeckner overtook Frank Vizza midway through Day 2 and hovered at or around the chip lead throughout the day.

Tags: Kyle Kloeckner

06-20-2008 14:03 UTC-7

Seat 4: Daniel Makowsky (Zurich, Switzerland) -- 493,000

Shamus

Daniel Makowsky has enjoyed considerable online success and is beginning to translate that experience into the live arena. Makowsky just missed another final table at this year’s Series, finishing 10th in the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event. He finished second in a $500 No-Limit Hold’em event at last summer’s Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza, earning over $48,000. If he wins the bracelet today, Makowsky says he plans to give it to his girlfriend.

Tags: Daniel Makowsky

06-20-2008 14:02 UTC-7

Seat 3: Tim West (Los Altos, California) -- 187,000

Shamus

In less than two years of live tourney play, online MTT phenom Tim “Tmay420” West has already amassed over $670,000 in career earnings, including two cashes at the 2007 WSOP and two more already at this summer’s Series. His largest cash to date was for taking second at the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic in late 2006, earning him over $180,000. West has also made the money at WPT events and at the Aussie Millions, with all of his previous significant tourney cashes having been in hold’em events.

Tags: Tim West