Tom Koral Leads into Final Day of H.O.R.S.E., Matusow in Hunt for Fifth Bracelet
On Day 2 of Event #44: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E., a field of 156 players was reduced to just 18.
Tom Koral leads the remaining players with 770,000 chips after what he called the hottest run he's ever had in a limit tournament at the World Series of Poker. After taking about 20 big bets into the dinner break, Koral came back to his heater, making a wheel against Josh Arieh in razz.
Then, Koral busted Tom West in crushing fashion, first making a flush in stud when he put in a check-raise with his draw on fourth and then finishing West off improbably with just a small pair against rolled up jacks. Koral has had plenty of success in live poker tournaments, with almost $1.8 million in cashes, but has yet to bank his first bracelet.
One player with plenty of gold hardware who advanced is Mike "The Mouth" Matusow. Matusow, at one point down to 4,500 after being bluffed in devastating fashion by Scotty Nguyen, crawled his way out of the depths. He kept singing about how he played so much better with a nub, and he did indeed make his short stack last.
"They couldn't bust me when I had 4,500, how the f*** are they gonna bust me now?" he kept asking.
Matusow is seeking his fifth bracelet.
"I'm the best short-stack player in the world!" he crowed after bagging. "I've got all the confidence in the world. You can't beat confidence.
"They just don't understand how good I play! They can't beat me!"
Others remaining in contention are David Steicke, Phil Hui, Don Zewin and Valentin Vornicu.
Some players who busted among the 60 paid places included Stephen Chidwick, Phil Hellmuth, Jason Mercier, Nguyen and Shaun Deeb.
The 18 remaining will meet at 2 p.m. in Brasilia for the final day of the event. Come back to PokerNews for more coverage.
| Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brasilia | 700 | 1 | Seamus Cahill | Ireland | 287,000 |
| Brasilia | 700 | 3 | Don Zewin | United States | 155,000 |
| Brasilia | 700 | 4 | Matthew Honig | United States | 240,000 |
| Brasilia | 700 | 5 | Brendan Taylor | United States | 312,000 |
| Brasilia | 700 | 6 | Nikolay Fal | Russia | 222,000 |
| Brasilia | 700 | 7 | Valentin Vornicu | United States | 62,000 |
| Brasilia | 700 | 8 | Matthew Schreiber | United States | 388,000 |
| Brasilia | 701 | 1 | Ryan Hughes | United States | 288,000 |
| Brasilia | 701 | 2 | Gabe Paul | United States | 484,000 |
| Brasilia | 701 | 3 | Ryan Himes | United States | 219,000 |
| Brasilia | 701 | 5 | Mike Matusow | United States | 212,000 |
| Brasilia | 701 | 7 | Alex Livingston | Canada | 146,000 |
| Brasilia | 701 | 8 | Richard Bai | United States | 371,000 |
| Brasilia | 702 | 1 | Marcus Mizzi | Canada | 485,000 |
| Brasilia | 702 | 3 | Dmitry Chop | Ukraine | 346,000 |
| Brasilia | 702 | 4 | Tom Koral | United States | 770,000 |
| Brasilia | 702 | 5 | Phillip Hui | United States | 516,000 |
| Brasilia | 702 | 6 | David Steicke | Hong Kong | 441,000 |
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for two pair. Nguyen flashed a pair of kings, but it was no good and the pot was pushed to Nguyen. 
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, and Ryan Himes made it two bets with 
. Those two played a side pot that saw West pair up and lead sixth.
and Negreanu squeezed out one diamond but said his second card was worthless and left him drawing dead.
