Event 5: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em Day 2 | 2012 World Series of Poker

05-31-2012 15:27 UTC-7

Chan Crippled

Dan O'Hair

Just a short time ago, Terrence Chan was our chip leader with about 150,000. He is now down to 28,000.

That's poker folks.

Action began with Chan in the hijack position. He raised to 4,000 and his lone opponent in the big blind 3-bet to around 11,000. Chan responded by re-popping it again to a bit over 30,000 and his opponent quickly went all in. Chan called and hands were revealed.

Chan:
Opponent:

Ouch.

No miracle came for Chan as the board ran out .

Chan didn't waste too much time before tweeting about his misfortune.

tchanpoker Terrence Chan 28k, AQ<AA. I'm positive I've run into aces more than any player in the 2012 WSOP. Fuuuuck May 31 2012

Player	Chips	Progress
Terrence Chan	28,000 60,000	60,000

Tags: Terrence Chan

05-31-2012 15:39 UTC-7

Juanda Doubles Through Pellegrino

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Kevin Taylor

John Juanda was part of the last table to be broken, and he took the seat to the right of Terrence Chan and our chip leader Bryan Pellegrino. Juanda got a warm welcome to the table, as he doubled up just a few hands into his stay at table 436.

We missed the exact action, but we know that Juanda got all his money in preflop holding {a-Diamonds} {a-Spades} against Pellegrino, who was holding {9-Clubs} {9-Spades} . The board was all safe for Juanda, coming down {j-Clubs} {10-Hearts} {4-Diamonds} {6-Clubs} {10-Spades} , and Juanda jumped up to over 70,000. Meanwhile, Pellegrino loses the chip lead, but is still plenty healthy with 130,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bryan Pellegrino	130,000 38,000	38,000
John Juanda	73,000 20,000	20,000

Tags: Bryan Pellegrino John Juanda

05-31-2012 15:44 UTC-7

Mackey Doubles Up

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Dan O'Hair

James Mackey just doubled up to 90,000.

We caught up with the action with the hand already over. Mackey had the {A-Spades} {A-Diamonds} in front of him and was all in for a bit over 40,000. Mackey's opponent had already mucked on a board reading {8-Diamonds} {2-Diamonds} {5-Spades} {9-Diamonds} {10-Spades} .

Mackey won the $5,000 No Limit Hold'em event back in 2007 when he was just 21 years old, becoming the third youngest player to ever win a WSOP bracelet. We will keep an eye on him as he looks to add to his already-impressive poker resume.

Player	Chips	Progress
James Mackey	90,000 70,500	70,500

Tags: James Macky

05-31-2012 15:52 UTC-7

Esfandiari's Brutal Day Ended

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Kevin Taylor

Antonio Esfandiari came into today with high hopes as the chip leader, but he had a disastrous that has mercifully come to an end. He lost most of his chips in an earlier pot where his ace high flush draw was ahead of Steve Brecher's king high straight draw, but a king on the turn shipped the pot to Brecher. Unfortunately, we did not catch Esfandiari's bustout, but the seat that he was in is now vacant with no chips in front of it. He has been eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Antonio Esfandiari	Busted

Tags: Antonio Esfandiari

05-31-2012 16:01 UTC-7

Le Lets One Go

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Dan O'Hair

Nam Le opened to 4,500 from the button and was three-bet by his opponent from the small blind to 10,000. Nam, deliberate as usual, thought it over and pushed in a call.

The flop came {J-Diamonds} {6-Hearts} {3-Clubs} and Le's opponent asked, "How much you playing?"

"About 100 to start the hand," Le replied.

Le's opponent then quickly tossed in a 14,000 bet.

Le took his time, but eventually re-checked his hole cards and slid them into the muck.

"Ace-queen?" Le asked.

"Two queens," his opponent replied. He did not show his cards, however.

Le is still in fine shape with 90,000 at the moment.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nam Le	90,000 3,000	3,000

Tags: Nam Le

Level: 14

Blinds: 1,200/2,400

Ante: 0

05-31-2012 16:15 UTC-7

Ellwood Eliminates Chan, Takes Chip Lead

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Kevin Taylor

Jack Ellwood might be one of the most accomplished players left in the field that you've never heard of. Ellwood has almost $250,000 in live tournament earnings, but he cut his teeth online, where he has an FTOPS Main Event win, along with a win in the Ultimate Bet $200k. Well he has just made a fantastic read on Terrence Chan to knock him out, taking the chip lead in the process.

Action started with Ellwood raising to 4,500 in late position, with Chan being the only caller in the small blind. The dealer laid out a flop of {10-Spades} {4-Hearts} {3-Spades} , and Chan check raised a 5,100 bet from Ellwood to 12,500. Ellwood made the call, and the dealer peeled off the {7-Diamonds} on the turn. Here's where things get interesting.

Chan took his time in assembling a bet of 35,000, just short of a pot sized bet, and put it into the middle. This sent Ellwood deep into the tank. He was there for about three minutes, shuffling his chips and doing deep thinking on the hand. Eventually, he moved all in, and while Chan took little time in calling, he didn't look thrilled about it. When the cards were tabled, we saw why.

Ellwood: {10-Hearts} {8-Clubs}
Chan: {k-Spades} {j-Spades}

Ellwood was out in front with top pair, but he needed to dodge a king, jack, or spade to secure the win. The river was the {9-Diamonds} , and a stunned Chan headed to the rail. Meanwhile, Ellwood's gutsy play pays off, as he is now the chip leader.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jack Ellwood	175,000
Terrence Chan	Busted

Tags: Jack Ellwood Terrence Chan

05-31-2012 16:15 UTC-7

Vedes Knocks One Out

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Dan O'Hair

We caught up with the action with Tommy Vedes in the hijack. He appeared to have raised and then get 3-bet by his lone opponent from the button. Vedes responded by raising enough to put his opponent all in and his opponent called.

Vedes: {A-Diamonds} {10-Clubs}
Opponent: {K-Hearts} {Q-Hearts}

The flop came with an {A-Diamonds} in the window, but the other two were the {5-Diamonds} {K-Diamonds} , which gave Vedes' opponent a pair and some hope.

The turn brought the {Q-Spades} , propelling Vedes' opponent into the lead.

The river? {10-Hearts} , giving Vedes a superior two-pair and knocking his opponent to the rail.

"Well that was about as swingy of a hand as you can get," one of Vedes' table-mates said.

Vedes is up to 120,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tommy Vedes	120,000 80,000	80,000

Tags: Tommy Vedes

05-31-2012 16:37 UTC-7

Pellegrino Picks Off Gardenhire, Takes Chip Lead

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Kevin Taylor

The chip lead has been like a revolving door all day, with a new name at the top of the leaderboard every time we walk the floor. Well now Bryan Pellegrino is back at the top after making a great call against Justin Gardenhire.

We picked up action on the turn, with the board reading {10-Hearts} {5-Hearts} {a-Spades} {2-Clubs} , and 25,000 in the middle. Gardenhire checked to Pellegrino, who fired out a bet of 15,600. Gardenhire thought for about a minute before making the call. The dealer peeled off the {k-Hearts} on the river, and Gardenhire looked at his stack for about a minute before assembling a big bet of 34,400, and sliding it towards the dealer.

It was on Pellegrino, who had a tough decision: flush or no flush for Gardenhire? Pellegrino seemed pretty confident that Gardenhire was making a move, as it only took him a few moments to call with {10-Spades} {10-Clubs} for a set. Gardenhire said good call, and mucked his hand, plummeting him to 28,000, while Pellegrino rockets up to over 200,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bryan Pellegrino	203,000 73,000	73,000
Justin Gardenhire	28,000 82,000	82,000

Tags: Bryan Pellegrino Justin Gardenhire

05-31-2012 16:54 UTC-7

Aguiar Wins Race, Has His Turn At the Top

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Kevin Taylor

Didn't I just say something about the leader being a revolving door? Sure enough, we went back on the floor, and after another massive pot, we have a new chip leader: Jonathan Aguiar.

Action started with a player in middle position raising to 5,200. It folded around to Aguiar on the button, and he made the call. Nam Le folded his small blind, and the big blind wasted little time, announcing "pot". This was a bet of 22,000, and it was back on the original raiser. After about a minute, he reluctantly gave his hand up, and it was back to Aguiar. Aguiar tanked for about 90 seconds, all the while shuffling chips while the masseuse worked on his left shoulder. Eventually, he announced "pot" and the big blind quickly moved all in for around the same amount. Aguiar called, and the cards were tabled.

Aguiar: {q-Hearts} {q-Diamonds}
Opponent: {a-Spades} {k-Diamonds}

The original raiser said he folded {a-} {q-} , which was both good and bad for Aguiar. If his opponent paired, Aguiar would be drawing very thin, but that never happened, as the board ran down {9-Spades} {9-Hearts} {7-Clubs} {6-Spades} {4-Spades} . Aguiar scooped the pot, and it took the dealer about 60 seconds to transfer all the chips over to him. Aguiar is now sitting on a mountain of chips that by our estimation comes out to about 210,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jonathan Aguiar	210,000 89,000	89,000

Tags: Jonathan Aguier