Event 47: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better
Day 1 Completed
2012 World Series of Poker
Event 47: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2012 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$1,320,300
Entries
978
Level
27
Blinds
30,000 / 60,000
Ante
0
Gomes Takes Commanding Chip Lead Into Day 2; Dempsey & Frankenberger Lurking
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 0 ante
On Tuesday, the Brasilia Room at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino was packed full as 978 players forked over $1,500 to play in Event #47 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better. That number was up from last year’s 946, and up considerably from 2010’s field of 847. Needless to say, PLO8 is becoming a popular game.
After ten levels of play, the field was reduced to just 149 players, each looking to make the money by finishing in the top 117 and laying claim to their share of a $1,320,300 prize pool. The man best positioned to not only make the money, but to make a run at the $267,345 first-place prize, is chip leader Alex Gomes.
Gomes built his stack throughout the day and hit when it counted. For instance, late in the night Joseph Haddag got all in preflop and was called Gomes.
Showdown
| Haddag |     |
| Gomes |     |
The 
flop gave Haddag top pair with top kicked, but the 
turn gave Gomes a pair of kings and the lead. The 
river improved Gomes to two pair, which was good enough to win the pot, sending Haddag to the rail, and locked up the title of Day 1 chip leader with 143,300, almost twice the number of his closest opponent.
Obviously not everyone was as fortunate as Gomes. Dozens upon dozens of notables came and went throughout the day including Daniel Negreanu, David Williams, Olivier Busquet, Mike Matusow, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Jennifer Harman, Erik Seidel, Scott Seiver and Men “The Master” Nguyen.
Another man who couldn’t survive the day was the defending champ, David Singontiko. He had a good showing, making it down to under 180 players, but then the following hand happened with just a half hour left in the day. With 9,800 in the pot and a board reading 
, Dario Alioto checked and allowed Singontiko to fire out a pot-sized bet. Alioto responded by moving all in for 15,100 and Singontiko made the call.
Showdown
Singontiko:  |
Alioto:    |
Alioto held the straight and had Singontiko drawing dead. The meaningless 
was put out on the river, and Singontiko was left with just 2,500. A couple of hands later, Singontiko was eliminated from the tournament.
In related news, Day 3 of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship unfolded over in the Amazon Room, and the PLO8 tournament saw some spillover from that event. Chad Brown, Shaun Deeb, Dan Kelly, Scott Clements and Jason Mercier busted that tournament and tried their luck in Event 47, but all of them hit the rail early. On the other hand, three other $50K casualties, Allen Kessler, Michael Binger and Barry Greenstein, found success and survived the day, bagging 17,400, 8,000 and 59,300 respectively.
Another man who had a little bit of luck was Lee Watkinson, who was at one point on the verge of elimination. You see, he was short stacked with about 1,500 and got involved in a three-way pot. Watkinson and Rob Whittenburge were both all in with the former having the latter covered. An unknown player was also in the hand and had both covered by a large margin.
Showdown
| Watkinson | |
| Unknown |  |
| Whittenburge |    |
The board ran 
and Whittenburge took the main pot with his full house, while the dealer shipped the side pot to the unknown player. Watkinson, who thought he had busted, left the tournament area but then returned several moments later when it hit him that he should have chopped the side pot since both players had made a Broadway straight. A floorman was summoned, Watkinson received his half of the side pot (900) and was back in the tournament. By the end of the night, he had run that stack up to 22,000.
Some other players who’ll be returning on Day 2 are David Bach (20,800), Berry Johnston (41,000), Warren Oberman (50,500), Michael Cooper (61,000), Andy Frankenberger (76,000) and James Dempsey (77,000).
Notable End of Day 1 Counts
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| Alex Gomes | 143,300 |
| James Dempsey | 77,000 |
| Andy Frankenberger | 76,000 |
| Joe Tehan | 73,600 |
| Nital Jethalal | 65,000 |
| Randy Ohel | 62,000 |
| Michael Cooper | 61,000 |
| Barry Greenstein | 59,300 |
| Tim Finne | 58,400 |
| Michael Lawrence | 56,200 |
Day 2 action is set to kick off at 1:00 PM PST in the Purple Section of the Amazon Room. Join us then as we bring you all the action and eliminations on the way to the money in Event #47 $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better.
Official End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
143,300 | |
|
95,500 | |
|
77,000 | |
|
76,000 | |
|
75,000 | |
|
73,600 | |
|
|
72,300 | |
|
71,600 | |
|
|
65,000 | |
|
64,200 | |
|
62,000 | |
|
62,000 | |
|
61,000 | |
|
59,300 | |
|
59,100 | |
|
|
58,800 | |
|
58,400 | |
|
57,900 | |
|
56,600 | |
|
|
56,200 | |
|
54,700 | |
|
54,400 | |
|
53,400 | |
|
51,500 | 1,000 |
|
50,800 |
Notable End of Day 1 Chip Counts
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
143,300 | 13,300 |
|
|
77,000 | 24,000 |
|
|
76,000 | -26,000 |
|
|
73,600 | 31,600 |
|
|
65,000 | |
|
|
62,000 | |
|
|
61,000 | -17,000 |
|
|
59,300 | 17,300 |
|
58,400 | 30,400 |
|
56,200 | |
|
|
54,400 | |
|
|
53,400 | |
|
|
50,500 | 5,500 |
|
41,100 | |
|
41,000 | 17,000 |
|
40,100 | 100 |
|
35,600 | 2,600 |
|
25,800 | 3,800 |
|
25,200 | |
|
23,400 | 2,400 |
|
22,000 | 6,700 |
|
20,800 | -4,700 |
|
17,500 | 500 |
|
17,400 | -1,200 |
|
9,600 | -19,400 |
Six More Hands . . . Bad News for Chan
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 0 ante
The tournament staff just announced that the remaining players will play six more hands before bagging and tagging for the evening. That's bad news for Terrence Chan, who recently tweeted:
tchanpoker Terrence Chan This is the time of night where I pray they draw a low card so I can make In-N-Out burger after bag & tag. #sickbubble
June 27 2012
Going For the Gold
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 0 ante
The field has been trimmed down to just the Gold Section. Play will wrap up in the next 20 minutes.
Defending Champ First Crippled, Then Eliminated
With 9,800 in the pot and a board reading , Dario Alioto checked and allowed David Singontiko to fire out a pot-sized bet. Alioto responded by moving all in for 15,100 and Singontiko made the call.
Showdown
Singontiko:
Alioto:
Alioto held the straight and had Singontiko drawing dead. The meaningless was put out on the river, and Singontiko was left with just 2,500. A couple of hands later, Singontiko was eliminated from the tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
40,000 | 18,000 |
|
2,500 | -16,600 |
Confusion at Table 20
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 0 ante
We came upon Table 20 and one player was very upset, some of the players at the table had left their seats and were wandering and two floormen were in attendance.
We missed the action of the hand but the short story is that Alex Gomes beat Jason Somerville in a pot where Gomes took 3/4 of the pot and Somerville earned 1/4 of the pot.
Somewhere along the way the upset player was certain that the dealer chopped the pot wrong - it should be noted he was not involved in the hand.
Somerville was calm and collected and broke down the hand with each action. Gomes said nothing and the floorman pleaded with the upset player to calm down and let them figure out action. The action was replayed for everyone and the pot came out correct.
When the Gomes Get Tough, the Tough Get Out of the Way
Joseph Haddag got all in preflop, for how much we can't be sure, and was called by Alex Gomes, who has more than enough chips to spare.
Showdown
Haddag:
Gomes:
The flop gave Haddag top pair with top kicked, but the turn gave Gomes a pair of kings and the lead. The river improved Gomes to two pair, which was good enough to win the pot and send Haddag to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
130,000 | 39,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Greenstein Doubles
barrygreenstein Barry Greenstein Just dbled with AAJ2 vs AQQ2. 7k preflop. Rest on flop of 10 8 6. Turn A. River K. 180 left. Avg 25k. I have 42k. 42BB #wsop47
June 26 2012
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
42,000 | 26,000 |