Time to Kill
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Level 4
: 150/300, 25 ante
We've put four levels in the books, and the players are off for their 30-minute break.
2012 World Series of Poker
Event 4: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2012 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$839,700
Entries
622
Level
29
Limits
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
15,000
Roberts on a Roll
Level 4
: 150/300, 25 ante
With three players in the hand and a pot of 6,400 at stake, we arrived just in time to see two players table the following hands:
Adam Roberts: 
/ 
Opponent: 
The third player promptly mucked, which mean Roberts laid claim to 3,200 chips. That brought him up to 9,300, more than double the starting stack.
Boom . . . We've Surpassed Last Year's Number
Level 4
: 150/300, 25 ante
Last year's event drew 606 players, and we're happy to say that we've surpassed that number here today. According to the tournament clock, 612 players have registered for this year's event.
"Highly Bored as Usual"
Level 4
: 150/300, 25 ante
"The only part of my body that I hate are my wrists," we heard before turning around and discovering "Crazy" Mike Thorpe squeezing a handheld exercise device. "Why hello, PokerNews," he added upon seeing us.
"How are you?" was our simple response.
"Highly bored as usual," he shot back. At that same time, he completed with the 
showing after the player directly to his right had brought it in with the . The rest of the field cleared out and the bring in made the call.
Thorpe: 
/ 
/ (x)
Opponent: / 
/ (x)
Thorpe proceeded to bet fourth street, his opponent called and fifth street was put down. Again Thorpe led out, but this time his opponent raised. Thorpe made the call and then check-called a bet on sixth street. Both players checked seventh and Thorpe's opponent showed the 
he had caught for deuces full of nines. Thorpe flashed his cards before sending them to the muck, which dropped his stack to 2,500.
Volpe Fills
Level 3
: 100/200, 25 ante
Paul Volpe is anchoring a tough table that also contains Michael Mizrachi, David "Bakes" Baker, and Cary Katz. Volpe is picking his spots well, and we just watched him tangle up with a player without a notable name, as far as we're aware.
Mr. Unknown completed with his 
showing, and Volpe raised with the . Off they went:
Unknown: (x-x) / 
/ (x)
Volpe: (x-x) / 
/ (x)
Volpe gave up the betting lead on fourth, instead checking and calling all the way to seventh. On the end, though, he snuck in a check-raise and got his opponent to put a second bet into the pot. "Kings full," Volpe announced.
Volpe: 
/
"Very nice hand, sir," the opponent acknowledged as he mucked. With that pot, Volpe pushes up close to double his starting stack. We count him at about 8,600 now.
Sugar Bear Dissolved
Level 3
: 100/200, 25 ante
The impressively tanned Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri has just been eliminated. He plays a lot of stud, but he won't be playing any more stud in Event #4.
Good game, Sugar.
Second Chance: Calenzo vs. Viox
Level 3
: 100/200, 25 ante
We happened upon Table 400 and were making small talk with Kevin Calenzo, who qualified for this year's National Championship by winning the WSOP Circuit Main Event at Caesars Palace earlier this season. He mentioned that he had some history with his tablemate, defending champ Chris "PiMaster" Viox.
"I took 23rd in this event last year while he took first," Calenzo explained. "But we never played against each other last year." Well, Calenzo has his chance to take on the champion today as they'll be seated at the same table pretty much all night. However, we recommend they pay attention to the other players at the table as Allen Cunningham is planted in Seat 2.
Taking a Shot
Level 3
: 100/200, 25 ante
Depending on who you are, these $1,500 events are the perfect events in which to take a shot. For most people, "taking a shot" means scratching together 1,500 bucks, daydreaming about the event for weeks, not being able to sleep the night before, and making the most of every hand they're dealt once they hit the table.
For a lot of pros, though — pros like Joseph Cheong — the $1,500s offer the chance to take a shot of a different kind. Being the lowest non-hold'em buyin of the summer, these events are the pros' chances to try their hands at some of their not-so-strong games.
Have a look at Cheong's latest tweet:
subiime Joseph Cheong Snap busted that hyper turbo 3k hu today. Late regged the 1500 stud8 that I have no idea how to play. Off to a good start tho 7200 from 4500
May 29 2012
Schwartz Busto
We're not sure how it happened, but former November Niner Ylon Schwartz has been eliminated from the tournament. How do we know? Easy, his seat has been filled by Shaun Deeb.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Studs of Stud
Level 3
: 100/200, 25 ante
Well, that's one interesting table that just formed over there in the Purple section. We'll skip the other notables at the table and focus on the fact that Jeff Lisandro and Shaun Deeb are sharing table space in this event. We'll confidently call them the two best stud players in the world, and we have the evidence to back up that claim.
Lisandro won Stud for the year 2009, essentially. He took down three WSOP events that summer, one in each of the stud disciplines — Stud, Stud Hi/Lo, and Razz. His wins combined to add $745,021 to his bank account.
Just this month, Shaun Deeb accomplished the online equivalent of "The Lisandro", winning three $2,100 seven-card SCOOP titles — Stud, Stud Hi/Lo, Triple Stud titles. Just to put the golden cherry on top, he went ahead and won the final event, the $2,100 H.O.R.S.E. that also contains all three stud games. His work earned him $172,455 over those four events.
This variant of poker still belongs to the older generation, but it's certainly nice to see Deeb doing his part to lower the average age of the entrants.