2010 World Series of Poker

WSOP Tournament of Champions
Day: 4
Event Info

2010 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a2
Prize
$500,000
Event Info
Prize Pool
$1,000,000
Entries
27
Level Info
Level
19
Blinds
8,000 / 16,000
Ante
2,000

Matusow Moves On

Mike Matusow
Mike Matusow

So long, Mikey. Daniel Negreanu is on a roll and crushing everything in his path. Picking up kings twice in the first hour doesn't hurt either. On a {k-Hearts}{j-Spades}{10-Spades}{5-Hearts} board, Mike Matusow moved all in. "Call," Negreanu said before Matusow had finished saying "all in." Matusow's family knew that was bad news.

Matusow: {k-Spades}{3-Diamonds} for top pair and 0 outs
Negreanu: {k-Clubs}{k-Hearts} for top set

"He's out, he's out," Matusow's brother reported back to their mother sitting down on the rail. "What happened?" she asked? "I don't know," he responded. "He was on tilt or something."

The meaningless {6-Spades} completed the board, and our chip leader only one short hour ago, Matusow made a beeline for the exit. Negreanu increased his lead over the rest of the field, moving up to a towering 160,000.

Tags: Daniel NegreanuMike Matusow

Jesus Has Left the Building

Chris Ferguson
Chris Ferguson

T.J. Cloutier raised from the cutoff, and Chris Ferguson moved all in on the button. Cloutier snap-called to put Ferguson at risk, and it was time for showdown.

Ferguson: {8-Hearts}{8-Diamonds}
Cloutier: {10-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}

The {a-Spades}{k-Diamonds}{j-Clubs} flop wasn't much help to Ferguson. Neither was the {2-Spades}. The {7-Spades} on the river looked like a miracle at first and got a murmur from the crowd, but it was one pip short of rescue for Jesus, and he shook hands and disappeared as fast as possible.

Cloutier chipped up to about 60,000.

Tags: Chris FergusonTJ Cloutier

Harman Doubles Through

It's mayhem here in the red section; every time I head back to my laptop, there's another all-in showdown. I'm not sure where the money went in (although I suspect the flop), but the bottom line is that Jennifer Harman has just doubled through off Barry Greenstein, {K-Spades}{K-Diamonds} versus {Q-Hearts}{10-Hearts} on a {4-Hearts}{8-Diamonds}{5-Hearts}{K-Clubs}{J-Diamonds} board. Harman now has 63,000.

Tags: Barry GreensteinJennifer Harman

Magician Disappears

Antonio Esfandiari
Antonio Esfandiari

Despite expressing his belief in their presence, the Poker Gods have now turned on Antonio Esfandiari to send him hurtling to the rail.

The board read {10-Spades}{7-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds}{Q-Clubs}, and although Esfandiari held top pair with {A-Clubs}{Q-Diamonds}, Johnny Chan had him by the short and curlies with {10-Clubs}{10-Hearts}.

An academic {J-Clubs} river later and the Magician was gone.

"I folded sevens, Johnny," revealed Jennifer Harman in the aftermath.

"When you play poker, there is no God," mused Scotty Nguyen. For some players, it would seem, he may be right.

Tags: Antonio EsfandiariJennifer HarmanJohnny Chan

ElkY Eliminated

Bertrand Grospellier
Bertrand Grospellier

Daniel Negreanu opened under the gun, and Bertrand Grospellier moved all in. Negreanu snap called. "Oh, you've got me crushed," said Negreanu when he saw the cards.

Grospellier: {2-Clubs}{2-Diamonds}
Negreanu: {a-Diamonds}{k-Clubs}

The {q-Spades}{7-Clubs}{3-Clubs} flop gave Negreanu running draws to go with his over cards, and the {j-Hearts} turn kept his straight draw alive. "Eight, eight!" Negreanu called. "He needs it more than me." But Negreanu is running too hot to miss today. The {k-Hearts} river paired Negreanu and sent ElkY home. Kid Poker is up to 170,000.

The remaining players immediately started arguing over where the new player should be seated when the TD moved one from the other table to balance them. But as soon as he walked to the other side of the room, Scotty Nguyen was felted to give them six players, meaning we'll keep going with five.

Tags: Bertrand GrospellierDaniel Negreanu

Seidel Pushes

Two short stacks clashed with Annie Duke opening the cut-off to 4,000 and Erik Seidel pushing all in from the big blind for around 30,000. Duke immediately folded to leave herself with circa 20,000 in chips.

Five minutes remain at the current level.

Tags: Annie DukeErik Seidel

Seed Growing, Hellmuth Blinding Away

Howard Lederer limped on the button, Phil Hellmuth called from the small blind with three big blinds behind, and Huck Seed checked his option. The flop came down {q-Clubs}{7-Clubs}{7-Diamonds}, and Hellmuth and Seed checked. Lederer bet 3,200, and only Seed called. Hellmuth opted to save his 4,000 for a better spot. After checking down the blanks on the turn and river, Seed turned over {q-Hearts}{4-Hearts} and took the pot with queens and sevens. He's up to 85,000 while Lederer was left with 26,700.

Tags: Huck SeedPhil HellmuthHoward Lederer

Hellmuth Whittled Away

Seeing what Phil holds
Seeing what Phil holds

Phil Hellmuth held on by the skin of his teeth for as long as possible, but it's tough to get much play out of two big blinds. "It's so unfair," he told he his wife after his elimination. "Matusow just powered through all of those chips, and I didn't get any of them."

He was in the big blind with one blind behind. It folded to Howard Lederer in the small blind, and he raised to put Hellmuth all in. The Poker Brat called without looking, and Lederer turned over {a-Diamonds}{9-Spades}. Hellmuth wanted to sweat his cards after the board, but Daniel Negreanu insisted he turn them over before. Hellmuth had only flipped over the {6-Diamonds} when the dealer laid out the flop. {a-Spades}{9-Diamonds}{3-Spades}. Lederer laughed. "I don't know what his other card is," said the TD. "But I do know he'll need help." After the {4-Clubs} on the turn, Hellmuth showed the {j-Diamonds} to go with his {6-Diamonds} but was drawing dead. He got a round of applause from the fans and stayed to sign autographs for a few minutes.

The rest of the players are breaking to film ESPN interviews before they begin the ten-handed final table. We'll have the new draw and updated chip counts for you in a moment.

Tags: Daniel NegreanuHoward LedererPhil Hellmuth