Event 22 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout Day 1 | 2009 World Series of Poker

06-10-2009 08:25 UTC-12

Today is All About the Luck of the Draw

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One of the interesting things about a shootout tournament is that tables don't break as they get short-handed, which means players will be squaring off against the same opponents all day long.

For some players, like Phil Ivey, who is the only pro at his table, this can make for a relatively short day with easy pickings. Others didn't get quite so lucky though, landing at tables with other known pros who can make for stiff competition.

Some of the interesting table groupings we've found today include:

Shannon Elizabeth and Humberto Brenes
Adam Junglen and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi
Jonathan Little, Chris McCormack and David "Devilfish" Ulliott
Paul "Eskimo" Clark, Nick Binger and Ryan DeAngelo
Alexander Kostritsyn and Eric Froehlich
Gavin Griffin and Scott Clements

06-10-2009 08:26 UTC-12

Early Eliminations

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A few notable players have already made their exits from today's event, including Chad Brown, Doug Lee, Shaun Deeb, Chino Rheem and Lika Gerasimova who recently finished in fifth place in the $5K No-Limit Hold 'em tournament.

06-10-2009 08:31 UTC-12

Froehlich Tangles with Kostritsyn

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We picked this hand up on the turn when Eric Froehlich bet 800 on a board of {A-Diamonds}

and got flat called by Alexander Kostritsyn.

When the {8-Hearts}

paired the board on the river, Froehlich check-called a 2,200 bet by Kostritsyn and showed {10-Hearts}

, which couldn't beat the Russian's {A-Clubs}

.

Kostritsyn has 9,300 while Froehlich has 4,000.

06-10-2009 08:35 UTC-12

More Eliminations

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A few more players have left the tournament area, including Allen Kessler, Lars Bonding and Matt Keikoan.

Meanwhile, Victor Ramdin is running over his table, which is already down to seven players. Ramdin has almost tripled his starting stack, which stands at more than 13,000, while everyone else is at or below their original stack size.

06-10-2009 08:46 UTC-12

Two Pros Going in Two Directions

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Scott Fischman and Phil Ivey are sitting only a few tables apart in the Amazon Room, but their days couldn't be going any differently.

As we watched, Fischman got a walk in the big blind and flashed the {A-Clubs}

before taking the pot. It was a big win for him, considering he's down to just 500 after losing a big hand earlier on.

Ivey's table, on the other hand, has already lost three players, with chips fairly well distributed among the survivors. Ivey has more than slightly doubled his starting stack, and is sitting on about 10,000.

06-10-2009 08:59 UTC-12

A Tough Climb for Noah Schwartz

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Noah Schwartz is playing at what turned out to be a big action table, which is already down to five-handed play.

Schwartz still has most of his starting stack with 4,300 chips. The problem is, one player has the majority of chips on the table, having built his stack up to almost 30,000 in the early going.

06-10-2009 09:03 UTC-12

Break

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Players are now on a 20-minute break.

Level: 3

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 0

06-10-2009 09:27 UTC-12

We're Back

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The break is over and cards are back in the air. Blinds are now 100/200.

06-10-2009 09:41 UTC-12

Tran Pads His Stack

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Theo Tran called an opponent's all in with {A-Hearts}

and was ahead of {A-Spades}

.

When the board ran out {5-Hearts}

, Tran held on and bumped his stack up to 6,900.

Some other counts from around the room include:

Scott Freeman - 5,300
Erick Lindgren - 5,300
Paul Magriel - 4,800
Alan Jaffray - 3,200
Jason Young - 11,000
Hal Lubarsky - 2,200
David Inselberg - 6,200
Thomas Keller - 12,000
Clark Hamagami - 7,700
Scott Clements - 800