Event 40 - $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw | 2008 World Series of Poker

06-24-2008 16:31 UTC-7

Let's Not, and Say We Did

[user75032]

After taking a recent pot from John Phan after the first draw, the mood of a frustrated Robert Mizrachi lightened somewhat.

"After this, let's all go to Bellagio and play deuce-seven for cash," he suggested. Everyone at the table laughed.

06-24-2008 16:36 UTC-7

Uchida In Need of Cards

Shamus

Shun Uchida is now down to a few 20-chip stacks of yellow 1,000-chips. He recently tangled with chip leader John Phan, and it didn't turn out so well.

Phan raised before the first draw, and Uchida called. Phan drew one, and Uchida two. Phan bet, and Uchida called. Both drew one the second time around, and again Phan bet and Uchida pushed out 16 of those yellow chips to make the call.

Phan stood pat on the last round, while Uchida took one. Phan checked, and Uchida thought about betting, but decided just to check. Phan showed 9-6-5-4-2, and Uchida folded.

Uchida is now down to 68,000.

06-24-2008 16:43 UTC-7

The Story So Far

[user75032]

There are two tales being told at the final table: the continuing aggression, and excellent draws, of John Phan; and the withering of Robert Mizrachi.

Twice in the last ten minutes, we've seen Mizrachi fold when faced with pressure from Shun Uchida. Uchida check-raised Mizrachi after the first draw on one hand, causing Mizrachi to fold after the next draw, and on the second hand Uchida reraised Mizrachi from the small blind before the first draw, causing Mizrachi to fold after the draw.

Meanwhile, John Phan continues to amass an empire of chips. When he's not crushing the table with his pure aggression, he's drawing extremely well. Gioi Luong tried to take Phan down in a hand just a few minutes ago, calling Phan's raise from the big blind. Both players drew two on the first pass. On the second pass, Luong drew two again while Phan was pat. Luong check-called Phan's bet, then check-called again after drawing one card on the third draw.

What did Phan have? Just a seven-six.

Right now Phan is the sole dominant force on the table. Uchida and Mizrachi are trying to hang on, but each player has about eight big bets left in his stack. Luong seems content to pick his spots for now.

Tags: Gioi Luong John Phan Robert Mizrachi

06-24-2008 16:51 UTC-7

The Luong and the Short of It

Shamus

The short stacks have taken a couple of pots off of second-place Gioi Luong.

First, Robert Mizrachi just survived another all in, betting all of the way down to his last three yellow chips, then taking a pot against Gioi Luong. Then, Shun Uchida took a 64,000 pot off of Luong just afterwards.

While these short stacks exchange chips, Phan still has over half the chips in play over at his end of the table.

06-24-2008 16:55 UTC-7

Phan-ally Caught

[user75032]

Everyone at the table had to know John Phan was getting away with a few bluffs. Gioi Luong finally picked one off. Phan called Luong's raise from the big blind, then drew three to Luong's one. Phan checked, then called after Luong bet.

On the second draw, Phan took two to Luong's one. Again Phan checked, then called Luong's bet, although he thought longer before making the call.

On the final draw, Phan took one. Luong stood pat. After squeezing his card, Phan bet. Luong quickly called.

"You got it," said Phan, unwilling to open his hand. Luong showed 8-6-5-4-3. Phan nodded and mucked.

06-24-2008 17:04 UTC-7

More Misery for Mizrachi

Shamus

Gioi Luong limped from under the gun, Robert Mizrachi raised from the button, and Luong called.

On the first draw Luong two two cards and Mizrachi one. Luong checked, Mizrachi bet, and Luong called. On the second draw, Luong took one and Mizrachi stood pat. Again, Luong check-called Mizrachi.

On the last draw, Luong took one again and Mizrachi stuck with his hand. This time Luong bet, and Mizrachi called. Luong turned over a wheel -- 7-5-4-3-2. Mizrachi sat and stared at his opponent's hand for a few moments, then mucked. Luong is back up to 405,000.

On the next hand, Mizrachi bet down to the third draw and folded. He's now in dire straits with just 30,000 left.

Level: 20

Blinds: 5,000/10,000

Ante: 0

06-24-2008 17:08 UTC-7

Robert Mizrachi Eliminated in Fourth Place ($41,055)

[user75032]

Robert Mizrachi, seemingly frustrated throughout this final table, is out of the tournament. He got involved in a pot just before the limits went up. Shun Uchida raised and Gioi Luong called. Mizrachi called as well, and each player drew two cards.

Mizrachi led the action on the next betting round, with each player calling. Luong and Mizrachi drew one each, while Uchida again took two.

Luong led out with a bet after the second draw. Mizrachi called all in, and Uchida folded. Luong was pat; Mizrachi drew one. Luong showed Mizrachi what he had to beat: 10-6-5-4-2. Mizrachi opened 8-6-4-2, but his final draw card was a jack. He collects $41,055 for his fourth-place finish.

Tags: Gioi Luong Robert Mizrachi Shun Uchida

06-24-2008 17:09 UTC-7

And Then There Were Three

[user75032]

With Shun Uchida desperately clinging to his short stack, it looks like we're barreling down to a heads-up finale between John Phan and Gioi Luong. After the two exchanged sharp words earlier in the day, it almost has to be that way. We'll see if Shun Uchida can do anything about that between now and then.

The updated chip counts are:

Phan - 625,000
Luong - 390,000
Uchida - 240,000

06-24-2008 17:16 UTC-7

Jockeying for Position

Shamus

After racing up over 600,000, John Phan has been taking it easy the last few orbits, letting the others battle while playing few hands. He's moved over to the next seat in order to balance the table.

Phan just now got briefly involved in a blind-vs.-blind hand with Luong. After the second draw, Luong bet out and Phan quizzed him for a while while rearranging his numerous stacks of chips near his new seat. "You got it," he finally conceded.

Meanwhile, Maria Ho just stopped by and asked Shun Uchida if he was better at Deuce-to-Seven than hold'em. He smiled and shook his head.