Event 54: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Day 3 | 2012 World Series of Poker

07-04-2012 02:34 UTC-6

Day 3 Ends With Heads-Up Play Set to Resume Tomorrow

[user198174]

Level 27 : 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante

It has taken three days and 3,219 players to get to this point. We have two players left, Will Jaffe and Luis Campelo. Both players fought it out heads up for 2 levels, and look to come back tomorrow to finish it out.

Play began today with 15 players fighting for contention. Clayton Fletcher was the first player to fall to the wayside after {k-Hearts} {j-Hearts} couldn't over come Nghi Van Tran's {a-Spades} {j-Spades} . After Fletcher we saw a slew of players get eliminated on the journey to the final table; Ian Chan, David 'Bakes' Baker, Benjamin Volpe, and Carl Le all took their leave short of the final 10 handed table.

Of all the players to come up short it was Baker who had faced the worst of it. He managed to call the all in of eventual final tablist Luis Campelo, with {A-Spades} {K-Spades} . Campelo tabled {K-Clubs} {j-Spades} , and the board ran out {10-} {q-} {10-} {j-} {10-} giving Campelo the rivered boat. This fact was lost on Campelo who went to shake Baker's hand, thinking he had just been eliminated. The short stacked Baker made his exit a few hands later.

Ten handed play didn't last long with Brett Schwertley coming up short with {A-Diamonds} {Q-Hearts} against Ken Fishman's {K-Diamonds} {k-Spades} . Jeff Fielder, Benjamin Grise, and Muhamet Perati all followed Schwertley to the rail shortly after.

After knocking out Jason Tompkins in 6th place Joseph Kuether took control of the game with a chip lead he refused to relinquish. Kuether went on to knock out Ken Fishman and gained even more chips.

Nghi Van Tran was the next to leave in fourth place. Three handed play commenced with players trading off stealing the blinds and antes, but eventually a pot did manifest. Luis Campelo and Joseph Kuether managed to get all the chips in the middle with Kuether ahead, but am unfortunate river card put the hand in Campelo's favor, causing for the bigger stack Kuether to lose a huge chunk. Soon after that Kuether was eliminated by Will Jaffe.

Will Jaffe and Luis Campelo started their heads up match by playing small pots. They ended the day doing the same. For two levels both players traded chips back and forth with neither one moving up and down the counts very much and staying virtually even. Jaffe ended the day with the chip lead, but both players remain close in the counts. The completion of 10 levels brought an end to play for the day. Both players are expected to return tomorrow at 2:00 PM.

It only seemed natural that the two players with the biggest rails would end up heads up. Campelo's camp seemed to explode in excite every time Campelo even stole the blinds. Brazilian chants and cheers have been a common occurrence through out the day and the wave has become quite a common sight at the final table by the Brazilians. Jaffe's crowd hasn't been quite as loud as Campelo's, but they have been steadfast in their cheering Jaffe cheering through out the day.

Come back tomorrow at 2:00 PM for all the PokerNews updates.

07-04-2012 00:01 UTC-6

Joseph Kuether Eliminated in 3rd Place ($218,983)

[user169505]

Joseph Kuether has just been eliminated at the hands of Will Jaffe. Kuether raised on the button and Jaffe called in the big blind. The jam-packed rail were desperate for a flop to create some fireworks and the dealer delivered.

Flop: {10-Clubs} {7-Hearts} {6-Spades}

Jaffe checked, Kuether bet 180,000, Jaffe check-raised to 390,000, Kuether moved all-in and Jaffe called.

Jaffe
Kuether

Jaffe was in the lead with top pair. The crown gathered around the tv screen in anticipation of the turn.

Turn: {6-Clubs}

Jaffe hit a full-house

River: {2-Spades}

Jaffe had eliminated Kuether but it was all Brazilian noise as the South Americans started to cheer because their man Luis Campelo was now heads-up against Will Jaffe.

Player	Chips	Progress
Will Jaffe	4,713,000	1,713,000
Joseph Kuether	Busted

Tags: Joseph Kuether Will Jaffe

07-03-2012 23:09 UTC-6

Nghi Van Tran is Eliminated in 4th Place ($158,512)

[user169505]

The only reason Nghi Van Tran is not going to win a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet - and it's a pretty good one - has been his inability to win a single flip during this final table.

Joseph Kuether raised to 120,000 in the cutoff, Nghi Van Tran moved all-in on the button, Will Jaffe also moved all-in from the big blind and Kuether folded.

Jaffe
Tran

Flop: {10-Clubs} {10-Diamonds} {5-Clubs}

The best flop Tran had seen in a long while.

Turn: {Q-Spades}

There was a collective, "ooh," from the crowd as some of them thought it was a Jack.

River: {Q-Hearts}

The crowd went berserk as the board paired for the second time and Jaffe's ace played. Tran losing yet another flip and he was out in 4th place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Will Jaffe	3,000,000	900,000
Nghi Van Tran	Busted

Tags: Nghi Van Tran Will Jaffe

07-03-2012 22:09 UTC-6

Ken Fishman is Eliminated in 5th Place ($116,072)

[user169505]

In what turned out to be the 4th all-in since the dinner break we eventually had a call and the inevitable showdown. When it happened it was Ken Fishman who shoved and Joseph Kuether who made the call.

Kuether
Fishman

Board: {7-Diamonds} {3-Diamonds} {2-Diamonds} {6-Hearts} {3-Clubs}

No jack for Fishman and he leaves us in 5th place. Kuether extends his lead at the top.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joseph Kuether	4,100,000	1,000,000
Ken Fishman	Busted

Tags: Joseph Kuether Ken Fishman

07-03-2012 20:42 UTC-6

Muhamet Perati is Eliminated in 7th Place ($64,414)

[user169505]

The action folded around to Joseph Kuether in the small blind and he moved all-in. Muhamet Perati was in the big blind and he made the call.

Kuether
Perati

So Perati had a slight edge, but all that would change on the flop.

Board: {5-Diamonds} {Q-Clubs} {6-Spades} {2-Hearts} {Q-Hearts}

Perati could not find the ace needed to stay alive and in fact Kuether nailed a third queen on the river just to make sure.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joseph Kuether	2,300,000	1,020,000
Muhamet Perati	Busted

Tags: Muhamet Perati

07-03-2012 14:53 UTC-6

David 'Bakes' Baker Eliminated in 13th Place ($22,640)

[user169505]

It was going to take something special to eliminate David 'Bakes' Baker and Luis Campelo found it when he found his runner-runner full house just a few hands ago. This left Baker woefully short and he moved his final 67,000 into the middle in the cutoff and both Nghi Van Tran and Jeff Fielder called in the blinds. Both players then proceeded to check down the action on a board of {A-Spades} {K-Spades} {2-Clubs} {J-Hearts} {8-Clubs} and Fielder picked up the pot with a pair of treys. Baker held {Q-Diamonds} {4-Hearts} and Van Tran held {Q-Clubs} {3-Clubs} .

Player	Chips	Progress
Nghi Van Tran	950,000	210,000
Jeff Fielder	660,000	120,000
David 'Bakes' Baker	Busted

Tags: David Baker

07-03-2012 13:00 UTC-6

Welcome to the Final Day of Event#54: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em

[user169505]

David "Bakes" Baker can he win his 2nd bracelet of this series?

Good afternoon and welcome to our coverage of the final day of Event #54: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em. The players have done a great job of whittling themselves down, from a starting field of three-thousand, two-hundred and twenty-one players to just fifteen, and today we will crown our fifty-fourth World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion and hand over a first prize of $500,075.

So let's have a look at the contenders…

People compare the $1k tournaments to the State Lottery, but they also seem to draw one or two players of immense talent that just goes to show how important skill is. When it comes to poker credentials there are none more qualified than David 'Bakes' Baker. Bakes has won two-WSOP gold bracelets including this years Event #32: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E event where he bested a final table including Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth. Bakes lost a huge pot towards the end of Day 2 yesterday but still comes into play 6th in chips and the man everyone has to beat.

Benjamin Volpe was our chip leader for the first few levels yesterday. Volpe has 4 WSOP cashes that includes a final table in a WSOP $1,000 event. He finished 6th for $83,925 in the event won by Markus Schmid last year. Volpe is seeking back-to-back final tables and considering the size of these fields that would be an amazing achievement.

There are three World Series Of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) event winners in the last fifteen. Nghi Van Tran, Joseph Kuether and Brett Schwertley all want to add gold bracelets to their gold ring. Van Tran won an astonishing $780,615 in 2005 when he defeated Erick Lindgren, heads-up, for his title.

There also promises to be a lot of fun, especially if Jeff Fielder finds his way to the final table. The former WSOPC final tablist told us that his name was Jeff Lebowski (the name of the star of the Jeff Bridges movie) and for the last few levels of Day 1 that is how we reported him! Eventually, Dutch Boyd told us he was pulling our leg, "he is a real player," said Boyd referring to the fact that The Big Lebowski can also play cards as well. We can't wait to see what he has put on his profile sheet if he does indeed make the final table.

Last but not least, and as expected in a $1,000 buy-in event, there are a lot of inexperienced live players in the field. This includes our 2 chip leaders Will Jaffe and Ken Fishman. Jaffe has been on our radar since the midway point on Day 1and he takes a considerable lead (1,947,000) into the final table after eliminating Gianluca Rullo in a 1.3 million flip towards the end of the level. Fishman, who saved his spurt until the very end as well, takes 1,400,000 into the final table.

The action will begin at 1:00PM and we will bring you all of the action here at PokerNews.