Event 25 - $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8-or-better Day 1 | 2009 World Series of Poker

06-11-2009 12:01 UTC-12

Event 25: Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low About to Commence

A section of the Brazilia room which would be considered of reasonable size, had today not hosted one of the WSOP's $1,500 No Limit events which dwarfs all poker tournaments before it, has been set aside for the Omaha/Stud $2,500 event. Two games, two halves to the pots, two minutes before scheduled start time...

Live coverage for all three days coming up right here on Pokernews.

Level: 1

Blinds: 0/0

Ante: 0

06-11-2009 12:31 UTC-12

Who Plays This Game Anyway?

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

290 players are prepared to stump up the $2,500 buy-in to this event, actually, and that number is steadily rising like the temperature in Las Vegas this week.

Among them are Jeff Lisandro and Vinny Vinh (sharing a table), Eli Elezra, Scott Clements, Miami John Cernuto, Dutch Boyd, Steve Wong, Brock Parker, Jerry Buss and Carlos Mortensen.

These familiar names join last year's perma-casher Nikolay Evdakov, and former Razz bracelet winner Katja Thater. All manner of experienced and simply poker-immersed players seem to want to give the mixed games a go this year, and we fully expect the number of entrants to top 300 any second now.

06-11-2009 12:36 UTC-12

More Cards than Players

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Each table is currently playing six-handed. I heard a dealer annoucement to keep the Four and Eight seats' chips in the well, as these are presumably left for late entrants (having spaces spread evenly over the room also eliminates the problem of friends registering together and then being given neighbouring seats). I also overheard two guys pass this table sighing and saying, "Yeah, I just busted too. So I guess it's Stud and Omaha then."

"Yeah, let's get to the cage. It's only level one."

06-11-2009 12:41 UTC-12

Shannon-ymous?

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Allen Kessler (who's sat at the table nearest the PokerNews computer) asked me if Shannon Elizabeth was playing today. It being early, and the room not yet swept, I answered that I wasn't sure but would get back to him. "You must know who Shannon Elizabeth is?" he asked, incredulous, having picked up the wrong end of the stick with both hands.

I know there are few in the room who do not know the movie starlet/poker player, and I also know that she's not had the best early half-level. Just now in Omaha/8 she called a utg raise to 150, seeing a flop of {3-Spades}

. The utg player bet, she called. Exactly the same thing happened on the {9-Hearts}

turn, but the {5-Clubs}

river was checked.

Elizabeth's opponent showed {4-Clubs}

and she mucked her hand.

Tags: Allen Kessler Shannon Elizabeth

06-11-2009 12:53 UTC-12

Katja Catches on the Turn

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

German pro player Katja Thater (who took down the 2007 $1,500 Razz bracelet) seems at home with Omaha Hi-Lo too. She just chopped an Omaha pot showing {Q-Spades}

on the river with the board standing {9-Spades}

. Her opponent took the low, but asked to see her whole four-card hand, as is required at showdown... It was flipped so fast I missed it, but her opponent seemed satisfied with that glimpse and half the pot.

Interestingly, before taking up poker full time, Thater used to compete in dressage tournaments, and still participates in her spare time.

Tags: Katja Thater

06-11-2009 13:04 UTC-12

Big Names Take their Time, and their Seats

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

As the first level draws to a close, the empty seats are being taken, for the most part, by players who are household names (at least in the households of the other people in the Brasilia room). Among them:

Jennifer Harman
Rob Hollink
Jon 'Pearljammer' Turner
Layne Flack
Daniel Negreanu
Chad Brown
Marcel Luske
Andy Bloch
Shannon Shorr
Gavin Smith
Mike Sexton
Tony Ma
Sam Grizzle

Tags: Andy Bloch Chad Brown Daniel Negreanu Gavin Smith

Level: 2

Blinds: 0/0

Ante: 0

06-11-2009 13:13 UTC-12

That'll Teach Minieri to Be Late

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Italian poker hero Dario Minieri just strolled in to take his seat but found it was already taken. The player in seat 1 showed no sign of worry, continuing to be massaged right up until the moment the floor sent him off to his correct table and gave Minieri a stack blinded off to the required amount for a late entry.

This situation was made more difficult as the original player in the seat had lost a few chips and was going to have to leave them in their new home stacks and take his own remaining chips off the table... that's what happens when you're late. Someone takes your seat, chips up your table and then vanishes.

Also at this table - Allen Kessler and Sebastian Ruthenberg (winner of EPT Barcelona and consistent casher in pretty much anything Europe has to offer). Should be a fun one to watch.

Tags: Dario Minieri Sebastian Ruthenberg

06-11-2009 13:19 UTC-12

Mortensen-d it

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

The WSOP Main Event, the WPT $25k Final, $5k Limit Hold'em bracelet event, you name it, Carlos Mortensen's won it, or come close. Now looking for his third bracelet, will the Omaha/Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better be the game to give it to him?

He's had a good start at least: he took down an Omaha pot which started off three-way to a {2-Diamonds}

flop. It was checked round on the {3-Clubs}

turn, but ended up with Mortensen betting the {A-Diamonds}

river and getting one caller, who mucked when he showed a wheel-y {5-Clubs}

.

Tags: Carlos Mortensen