2012 World Series of Poker

Event 12: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1
Event Info

2012 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a4
Prize
$371,498
Event Info
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$1,428,800
Entries
152
Level Info
Level
81
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
0

Mercier Makes a Full House

Level 5 : 400/800, 0 ante

Jason Mercier just took the second bullet away from Steven Silverman. Mercier held the {8-Hearts}{8-Spades} against Silverman's {K-Spades}{J-Spades}. The flop came down {A-Spades}{8-Diamonds}{7-Spades} and it was now Mercier's set of eights versus Silverman's flush draw.

The turn was the {A-Clubs} and river the {10-Spades}. Mercier held a full house and Silverman reloaded for his last 10,000.

Tags: Jason MercierSteven Silverman

Mercier Makes it Happen

Jason Mercier
Jason Mercier

In a most recent hand Jason Mercier, placed a bet putting his opponent Steven Silverman all in preflop. Silverman quickly called and both players turned over their hole cards.

Mercier: {3-Spades}{3-Clubs}
Silverman: {q-Clubs}{k-Hearts}

It was basically a coin flip, with either player having a great chance of taking this pot down. A {K-Clubs}{Q-Hearts}{5-Hearts} flop gave Silverman the advantage. Mercier was going to need one of the last two threes in the deck if he wanted to knock out SIlverman.

The miracle {3-Diamonds} on the turn brought a "wow" out of Mercier and the lead. With the {5-Clubs} planting on the river the deed was done and Mercier was awarded the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Jason Mercier us
Jason Mercier
60,000
30,000
30,000
Steven Silverman us
Steven Silverman
Busted

Tags: Jason MercierSteven Silverman

Level: 6

Blinds: 500/1,000

Ante: 0

Esfandiari Sends Rousso Packing

Antonio Esfandiari, Vanessa Rousso
Antonio Esfandiari, Vanessa Rousso

Both players had all their chips in play when the final hand played out. Rousso raised from the button to 1,600 and Esfandiari made the call. The flop came down {7-Clubs}{7-Spades}{J-Spades} and Esfandiari check-raised the 2,000 continuation bet to 5,200. Rousso tanked for a bit before making the call.

The turn was the {8-Clubs} and Esfandiari bet 6,600. Rousso tanked once more before shoving all in for around 16,000 chips and Esfandiari snap-called. Rousso tabled {J-Clubs}{6-Diamonds} against Esfandiari's {10-Spades}{7-Diamonds} and the river was the {5-Hearts}. The players shook hands and Esfandiari filled in his name on the slip that gave him acces to the second round.

Player Chips Progress
Antonio Esfandiari us
Antonio Esfandiari
60,000
19,000
19,000
WSOP 3X Winner
Vanessa Rousso us
Vanessa Rousso
Busted
PokerStars

Tags: Antonio Esfandiari

Chen Cleaning Up

Gregory Gokey has just been eliminated literally by the hands of Tommy Chen.

We caught up to Chen after the hand to see what happened and he informed us that he put Gokey all in for about 13,000 and was called preflop. Chen held {9-Diamonds}{7-Diamonds} while Gokey possessed a superior {10-}{10-}.

A {10-}{7-}{4-} flop looked to give Gokey the double up he desperately needed, but alas a {6-} on the turn and a {8-} on the river brought Chen a winning straight and the knock out blow.

Player Chips Progress
Tommy Chen us
Tommy Chen
60,000
30,000
30,000
Gregory Gokey
Gregory Gokey
Busted

Tags: Gregory GokeyTommy Chen

Blom Defeats Bloch in First Match of First-Ever WSOP Tournament

See you in the second round, Viktor
See you in the second round, Viktor

As we discussed earlier, this is Viktor "Isildur1" Blom's first-ever World Series of Poker. He was squared off against Andy Bloch in the first round and has just defeated the newly crowned WSOP champion. Here's how it all went down.

With the blinds 400/800, Blom limped on the button and Bloch checked his option. The flop came down {Q-Diamonds}{J-Clubs}{2-Clubs} and Bloch check-called a bet of 800 to see the {5-Diamonds} land on the turn. Both players checked fourth street and then checked the river when the {3-Clubs} completed the board. Blom showed the {K-Diamonds}{2-Hearts} for a pair of twos and Bloch mucked his hand.

A couple hands later in the same blind level, Blom limped the button again and Bloch checked. The flop produced the {A-Spades}{J-Hearts}{6-Spades} and Bloch checked. Blom bet 800 and Bloch called. After the {A-Clubs} fell on the turn, Bloch checked and Blom bet 1,800. Bloch folded.

It was then time for the next level and the blinds increased to 500/1,000. On the first hand of the level, Bloch raised all in for 6,300 after Blom limped the button. Blom snap-called with the {A-Hearts}{8-Hearts} and was dominating the {8-Spades}{7-Spades} for Bloch. The flop, turn and river ran out {10-Diamonds}{8-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds}{3-Hearts}{Q-Diamonds} and Bloch was forced to use his last add-on lammer.

On the very next hand having just reloaded for his final 10,000 in chips, Bloch shoved all in from the button for 10,000 and Blom called. Bloch held the {10-Clubs}{7-Clubs} and was once again dominated against Blom's {K-Hearts}{7-Hearts}. A board of {Q-Hearts}{J-Hearts}{3-Spades}{A-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds} was run out and Bloch was eliminated.

With his victory, that means Blom has won his first match in his first-ever WSOP tournament. We'll be seeing him in the second round at 4:00 PM.

Player Chips Progress
Viktor Blom se
Viktor Blom
60,000
30,000
30,000
PokerStars
Andy Bloch us
Andy Bloch
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Andy BlochViktor Blom

Baumstein Gets There Against Mandavia

Scott Baumstein
Scott Baumstein

Right after the final hand Ankush Mandavia said, "That ace-four call was horrible," as both players started discussing the hands. We ran over and wrote down the final hand which played out in the following manner.

Mandavia was down to his final five big blinds and got it in with {6-Hearts}{6-Clubs} against {Q-Diamonds}{3-Diamonds}. The board ran out {6-Diamonds}{2-Spades}{J-Clubs}{5-Clubs}{4-Diamonds} and after flopping a set Mandavia got runner-runnered and Baumstein moved on.

"You just got here for this hand, but you missed the big pot," Mandavia said as we listened to Baumstein who laid out the first big pot the two played. In the first level Mandavia raised to 400 and Baumstein called from the big blind. The flop came down {A-}{7-}{9-} and Baumstein check-called 400. The turn was a {K-} and both players checked. The river was a {K-} and Baumstein checked once more. Mandavia moved all in for 7,800 and Baumstein looked him up with {A-}{5-}. This cost Mandavia his first lammer.

Mandavia went on to tell his the other big hand. Baumstein min-raised from the button to 1,600 and Mandavia moved all in for 18,000. Baumstein immediately corrected him saying it was 16,500 and after a good three minutes of bickering both players still couldn't agree on the bet size. Baumstein ended up making the call with {A-Hearts}{4-Hearts} and Mandavia kept stating how bad this was. Mandavia had {A-}{10-} and the board ran out {Q-}{J-Hearts}{10-Hearts}{9-Hearts}{x-} giving Baumstein a flush and a commanding chip lead. The final hand was described above and Baumstein moves on to the second round.

Player Chips Progress
Scott Baumstein us
Scott Baumstein
60,000
30,000
30,000
Ankush Mandavia us
Ankush Mandavia
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Ankush MandaviaScott Baumstein

The Bye Players

Player Chips Progress
George Lind us
George Lind
60,000
PokerStars
Serkan Kurnaz
Serkan Kurnaz
60,000
Brandon Steven us
Brandon Steven
60,000
Jason Mo us
Jason Mo
60,000
Steven Greenberg
Steven Greenberg
60,000
Harry Kaczka
Harry Kaczka
60,000
Yin Sin
Yin Sin
60,000
Mark Radoja ca
Mark Radoja
60,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Dan Smith us
Dan Smith
60,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Brock Parker us
Brock Parker
60,000
Moses Silverman
Moses Silverman
60,000
Erik Seidel us
Erik Seidel
60,000
WSOP 10X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
Sam Stein us
Sam Stein
60,000
Christopher Wafula
Christopher Wafula
60,000
John Riordan us
John Riordan
60,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Andrew Robl us
Andrew Robl
60,000
Jim Collopy us
Jim Collopy
60,000
WSOP 3X Winner
Elton Beebe us
Elton Beebe
60,000
Justin Bonomo us
Justin Bonomo
60,000
WSOP 3X Winner
Eevert Kokkonen
Eevert Kokkonen
60,000
Max Steinberg us
Max Steinberg
60,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Alex Keating us
Alex Keating
60,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Ronald Minnis us
Ronald Minnis
60,000
Andy Frankenberger us
Andy Frankenberger
60,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Daniel Colman us
Daniel Colman
60,000
WSOP 1X Winner

Cheong Called, Out

Joseph Cheong
Joseph Cheong

Recent Event 6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Mixed-Max runner up Joseph Cheong has been eliminated after moving all in against Jacob Godshall and receiving a call preflop.

Cheong: {K-Spades}{10-Diamonds}
Godshall: {A-Diamonds}{j-Clubs}

Godshall held a a bit of a lead, but with a {k-Clubs}{j-Diamonds}{2-Hearts} flop Cheong overtook Godshall and now possessed a strong advantage. The {6-Clubs} on fourth street further insured a Cheong victory, but a {a-Hearts} river again brought a reversal of leads and Cheong was eliminated.

Player Chips Progress
Jacob Godshall
Jacob Godshall
60,000
30,000
30,000
Joseph Cheong us
Joseph Cheong
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Jacob GodshallJoseph Cheong