WSOP Tournament of Champions
Day 4 Started
2010 World Series of Poker
WSOP Tournament of Champions
Day: 4
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2010 World Series of Poker
Prize Pool
$1,000,000
Entries
27
Level
19
Blinds
8,000 / 16,000
Ante
2,000
Another Crack of the Whip
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After the debacle that was yesterday's non-starter, we've returned today at the ungodly hour of (gulp) 11am to give it another crack of the whip. However, on first sight, you wouldn't think that in 30 minutes time 17 of the game's biggest attractions would be gathering to lock their bracelet-winning horns, as the feature table is still covered by a musky blanket whilst the audience is little more than a janitor taking a brief rest from his day job.
But Negreanu, Hellmuth, Matusow and co. are like human magnets, and I'm sure their presence will help form a rail quicker than a France World Cup exit and the room will once again be the hustle and bustle that we've become accustomed to from recent days. In fact, its the latter of that trio who boasts the chip lead heading into today's play, 'The Mouth' topping the star-studded pack with 85,500. But the road is long, and snapping on his heels like an alligator with toothache are a number of heavy hitters: Huck Seed (73,300), Johnny Chan (68,600), and Scotty Nguyen... baby (!) (64,700).
Play is unlikely to start on time given the cast and early kick-off time, but when it does, we should be in for a quite the slobber knocker as we search for our 2010 Tournament of Champions Champion. Make sure you follow all the action, right here, on PokerNews.com.
Level: 9
Blinds: 600/1,200
Ante: 100
Orange Line Up
Here is how they're seated to start the day at the featured table in the orange section:
Seat 1: Chris Ferguson - 30,100
Seat 2: Mike Matusow - 85,500
Seat 3: Daniel Negreanu - 39,900
Seat 4: Howard Lederer - 30,800
Seat 5: Phil Hellmuth - 44,100
Seat 6: Huck Seed - 73,000
Seat 7: ElkY Grospellier - 21,400
Seat 8: T.J. Cloutier - 38,800
Starting Whistle Blown
I stand corrected. At 11am sharp, the final whistle was blown, and cards were officially flung into the air. Game on!
Red Line Up
And here is how they're seated to start the day at the featured table in the red section:
Seat 1: Scotty Nguyen
Seat 2: Barry Greenstein
Seat 3: Antonio Esfandiari
Seat 4: Johnny Chan
Seat 5: Annie Duke
Seat 6: Joe Hachem
Seat 7: Jennifer Harman
Seat 8: Erik Seidel
Seat 9: Allen Cunningham
It Started With a Split
On the very first hand, we encountered an all-in, Allen Cunningham making the final all-in call with 
versus Johnny Chan's 
. Despite boasting the suited hand, it was Cunningham who made his opponent sweat, the board coming a nerve-jangling 
to chop the pot up. A few giggles and two raised eyebrows from Chan later and it was onto the next hand.
Chan Wasting No Time
Johnny Chan has been the most active player during these early stages, but not yet to any benefit to his stack. On his last encounter, he opened to 2,800, but folded to a three-bet to 9,000 from neighbor Annie Duke. There are a few ESPN cameras to dance through, but a quick glance reveals that Chan has just over the 60,000 mark.
A Showdown!
While the July 4th fireworks started early on the other table, the folks in Orange have been taking it a little easier. After nearly half an hour, we finally got to our first showdown.
Daniel Negreanu raised preflop, and Phil Hellmuth called. Chris Ferguson joined them from the big blind, and they went three-handd to a 
flop. All three checked to get to the 
on the turn. Ferguson checked again, and Negreanu bet 3,200. Hellmuth called, and Jesus let his hand go. The on the river paired the board, and Negreanu went back to checking. Hellmuth checked behind, and Negreanu tabled pocket deuces for deuces and eights. That was good enough, as Hellmuth showed 
on its way to the muck.
Squeeze Play
ElkY Grospellier opened with a raise to 2,600, and Mike Matusow called on the button. Daniel Negreanu folded his small blind, and from the big blind, Howard Lederer moved all in. ElkY folded quickly, and Matusow followed suit, giving the pot to Lederer.
And you thought only Internet kids could squeeze.