Event #22: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 | 2013 World Series of Poker

06-12-2013 18:25 UTC-7

Rancor

[user253757]

Level 6 : 150/300, 0 ante

Eric Froehlich (Seen Here in Earlier WSOP Competition) Has Been Eliminated Midway Through Day 1 Play

We caught up with Eric "E-Fro" Froehlich, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner who made his bones playing the fantasy card game Magic the Gathering, and despite surviving his all-in encounter, Froehlich was frowning throughout the hand.

With the flop reading , Froehlich's last chips were already in the pot, but both his opponent and the dealer seemed to have trouble calculating the amount of a bet designed to isolate the all-in player.

"It's 4,850," Froehlich said flatly, over the protestations of the dealer who believed the amount was less. "Forty-eight fifty."

"I have no pair," his opponent announced excitedly during the subsequent showdown, apparently relishing this moment of pure gamble as he revealed the for a gutshot straight draw.

"I do," was Froehlich's response as he rolled over the for middle pair and the same gutterball draw.

With his king and queen outs voided by Froehlich's hand, the opponent was left to hope for a hit, and he anxiously called out "Jack!" while dealer burned and turned.

Turn:

With that, both players made identical Broadway straights, and the on the river didn't change a thing.

With his face now a perma-frown, Froehlich watched as the dealer almost shipped the pot to his opponent, perhaps convinced by his successful call for a jack that the chips were his to take. Another player spotted the error, however, and after all of the theatrics, both players returned to the same stacks they started the hand with.

Unfortunately for E-Fro, the lack of a double in this key spot likely doomed his chances, and he was eliminated from contention shortly thereafter.

Player	Chips	Progress
Eric Froehlich	Busted

Tags: Eric Froehlich

06-12-2013 18:23 UTC-7

Counts from the Rest of the Room

Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 150/300, 0 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Henri Korvisto	68,000
Ben Yu	50,000	9,000
David Chiu	18,000	13,500
Ludovic Lacay	18,000
JC Tran	16,000
Nancy Birnbaum	15,000	500
Eddie Blumenthal	15,000	10,500
Joseph Cheong	15,000
AP Phahurat	14,000	11,450
Ismael Bojang	14,000
Shannon Shorr	12,000	7,500
Christopher Brammer	12,000	-775
Eli Elezra	11,000
Naoya Kihara	9,000
Matt Affleck	9,000	-3,000
David Nicholson	8,500	200
Larry Wright	8,000
Erik Cajelais	8,000
David "ODB" Baker	6,000
Jon Turner	5,600
Bryan Devonshire	3,000	-3,000
Hoyt Corkins	2,500
Erica Lindgren	2,400	-1,100
Steve O'Dwyer	Busted
Eric Rodawig	Busted

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06-12-2013 18:06 UTC-7

Kostristyn Doubles with Nines

Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 150/300, 0 ante

In one of the last hands before the level went up, there was a pot with around 2,100 in it when the player in the big blind checked and Alexander Kostritsyn bet 2,000 from middle position. The player in the cutoff called, the button and big blind folded and it was heads-up action to the turn. Kostritsyn wasted little time in betting his last 4,125 and the cutoff quickly called.

Kostritsyn:
Cutoff:

"I missed," the cutoff said when the completed the board on the river. "Nines win it?"

"Why shouldn't it?" Kostritsyn asked as his lowly pair of nine was pushed the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexander Kostritsyn	14,500

Tags: Alexander Kostritsyn

Level: 6

Blinds: 150/300

Ante:

06-12-2013 17:59 UTC-7

Updated Chip Counts from Half the Room

Chad Holloway

Level 5 : 100/200, 0 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Ken Aldridge	32,500	28,000
Nikolai Yakovenko	26,000
Jeremy Ausmus	20,000
Berry Johnston	19,000
Marco Johnson	17,000	9,000
Leif Force	15,500	11,000
Max Pescatori	15,000	-200
Justin Young	14,000
Richard Ashby	13,500
Joe Hachem	13,000	500
Carlos Mortensen	13,000	8,500
Brett Richey	12,000	7,500
Ben Tollerene	12,000
Barny Boatman	12,000	2,000
Cary Katz	12,000	1,000
Doug Lee	12,000
Lee Watkinson	11,300	6,800
Kevin Boudreau	11,000	6,500
Noah Schwartz	11,000	-2,000
David Sands	11,000
Huck Seed	10,500	4,000
Jason Mercier	10,000	5,500
Michael Benvenuti	9,500	5,000
Steve O'Dwyer	9,000	-500
Mike Beasely	9,000

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06-12-2013 17:54 UTC-7

In His Defense

[user253757]

Level 5 : 100/200, 0 ante

We noticed an interesting hand develop recently that perfectly captured the divide that can exist at every poker table, but that seems to affect Omaha more than other poker disciplines.

With the flop reading , a young man responded to a much older opponent's bet with a pot sized raise for the rest of his 6,500 or so. The older gentleman put his glasses on to analyze the board, and he counted his stack a few times before ultimately announcing a call.

The young gun turned over for a pair, a wrap draw, and flush possibilities. Although the twenty-something's hand was not yet made, it was actually in great shape against the mere turned over by his opponent.

Turn:
River:

The turn completed one of the straight draws, and the river offered up a full house, all of which was more than enough to best a single pair of queens.

When we asked the victor for his name and chip count, we discovered him to be none other than Vincent Van Der Fluit, the defending champion in this event after taking down the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet just last year. Van Der Fluit was pleased to have encountered yet another opponent who overvalued a pocket pair preflop, and as the Dutchman continues to build his stack here on Day 1, he is looking to accomplish the rarest of poker feats: defending his WSOP title.

Player	Chips	Progress
Vincent Van Der Fluit	14,775	9,675

06-12-2013 17:41 UTC-7

Out With the Old, In With the New

[user253757]

Level 5 : 100/200, 0 ante

Erick Lindgren Has Joined the Exodus Out of the Brasilia Room

Two of poker's first generation of stars have recently been felted, and with the four levels of late registration recently concluded, they were replaced by members of poker's current crop of stars.

Erick Lindgren and Marcel Luske have both hit the rail, while Marvin Rettenmaier and Matt Marafioti have both been spotted manning the original starting stack after the now standard late-reg.

Player	Chips	Progress
Matt Marfioti	4,500	4,500
Marvin Rettenmaier	4,500	4,500
Erick Lindrgen	Busted
Marcel Luske	Busted

Tags: Daniel Negreanu Erick Lindgren Marvin Rettenmaier Matt Marafioti

06-12-2013 17:27 UTC-7

Hachem Shocked By How Fast They're Passing the Sugah

[user253757]

Level 5 : 100/200, 0 ante

Joe Hachem (Seen Here in Earlier WSOP Play) is Still Here As Day 1 Rolls On

With his back to the Brasilia Room's Bronze section, which is currently being broken down as players are eliminated from the field, 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Hachem was unable to see the Pot-Limit Omaha carnage unfolding behind him.

When Hachem finally noticed that all of the tables behind him were empty, he expressed disbelief that ten tables, and a hundred players, could have been broken in just four levels.

"There's no way we're going that fast, is there?" he asked his tablemates, still shocked that the field of nearly 1,000 runners had already been halved halfway through the first day of play.

For a player like Hachem, who is so accustomed to holding stacks of chips throughout most tournaments he enters, perhaps the thought of being felted so fast is foreign to him. With a healthy stack of 12,500 at the moment, Hachem does not appear to be in any danger of an early exit, although he may want to check with his brother Anthony Hachem, who was among the waves of players to be eliminated during the first level of play.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joe Hachem	12,500	8,000

Tags: Joe Hachem Anthony Hachem

06-12-2013 17:20 UTC-7

Prize Pool and Payout Information

Chad Holloway

Level 5 : 100/200, 0 ante

The official numbers are in. Today's tournament drew 1,021 players — 51 more than last year — and has created a prize pol of $1,378,350. That will be distributed to the top 117 finishers with $279,431 going to first.

Here's a look at the final table payouts:

Place	Prize
1st	$279,431
2nd	$172,931
3rd	$108,196
4th	$78,532
5th	$57,974
6th	$43,460
7th	$33,057
8th	$25,483
9th	$19,909

06-12-2013 17:08 UTC-7

Better Late Than Never

[user253757]

Level 5 : 100/200, 0 ante

Phil Hellmuth (Seen Here in Earlier WSOP Play) Has Finally Arrived

Upholding his tradition of arriving to WSOP events at the last possible moment, Phil Hellmuth has just taken his seat to begin Day 1 with four levels of play already in the books.

While other players have already moved their stacks into the five-figure realm, Hellmuth has the original 4,500 starting stack to work with, which is good for 22.5 big blinds at the moment.

Although this strategy of forgoing a tournament's early stages is debatable, what is beyond dispute is Hellmuth's dominance over WSOP competition, and with a record-setting 13 gold bracelets to his credit already, nobody can question the "Poker Brat" and his remarkable ability to run a stack up in a hurry.

Player	Chips	Progress
Phil Hellmuth	4,500	4,500

Poker Tactic:

Phil Hellmuth