[user46392]
No sooner had Dario Alioto doubled up Karsten Johansen than he did it again, this time getting the chips in preflop with against T6 player Jason Gray's . Some sucking-in-air-between-the-teeth noises around the table on the turn, but ultimately no surprises on the board and a cheerful Gray now has 12,500 in chips, while Alioto has less than 5,000.
[user4144]
Like a Chaz and Dave reunion (with another thrown in for good measure), a trio of Cockney rascals in Peter Gould, Ian Woodley and Ian Frazer have settled on a table beneath the stairs, meaning the banter will be flowing quicker than the Guinness at the Irish Open.
The chip counts for the lovable rogues are:
Peter Gould -- 7,375
Ian Woodley -- 6,350
Ian Frazer -- 6,800
Meanwhile, Gould junior, Josh, was bemoaning his early departure on the sidelines. "I'm out, someone got it in with a flush and a gutshot straight draw and hit."
[user46298]
Here are the players on the upper level of the Empire Casino whose stacks are head and shoulders above the rest, literally and metaphorically:
Dennis O'Mahoney - 9,600
Will Brewin - 11,600
Cristiano Blanco - 11,475
Tony Salmon - 17,900
[user4144]
Michel 'The Abacus' Abecassis has just eliminated two players in one fell swoop. All the money went in preflop with the Frenchman and his A-K up against Graham Wheldon's pocket queens and another gentleman's pocket jacks. A king on the flop was as interesting as it got, and that was all she wrote for Wheldon and co.
[user46392]
Dario Alioto seems to have used up his winning streak for the day and is now firmly on the way down, dropping down to around his starting stack after doubling up another tablemate.
This time it was the turn of Karsten Johansen. Alioto bet out on the flop only for Johansen to announce all in. Alioto called and once again was massively behind, boasting to Johansen's dominating . No nasty surprises for Johansen on the turn and river, and he finds himself with an extremely comfortable 9,000 in chips.
[user38449]
Stuart Taylor has just managed to double up through his next door neighbor, Mark Friedman.
Taylor opened the pot with a 350 pre-flop raise and both the player on the button and John Juanda made the call before the action returned to Friedman who had limped in from under-the-gun. Feeling frisky, Friedman opted to move all in in an apparent attempt to steal the ~1,000-chip pot. Holding pocket queens, Taylor made the call and all other players folded, Taylor and Friedman at the mercy of the community cards.
At the showdown, Friedman turned over and was well behind Taylor's queens. The board filled out bringing no help to Friedman who was left with right around 5,500 after the hand. Taylor, meanwhile, piled up over 12,000 in chips with the win and soared near the top of the leaderboard.
[user4144]
The Bee Gees' disco classic is being honored by a number of players today as the short-stacks push their chip across the line and pick up pots uncontested. The last player I witnessed doing this was Richard Wheatley. "It could be spectacular," he warned as he pushed his remaining 1,825 over the line on an flop. But spectacular it wasn't as his opponent made the fold and Wheatley scooped the pot.
[user46298]
Dan Smith's table has been fairly eating its own today at an unusual rate. Just this moment, Josh Gould hit the rail as his found a ten-high flop to move his remaining chips in. The flop was actually , however, and Zach Chesses wasn't going anywhere near the muck with his . It hit, and they were down to five players! "We'll be playing heads up soon," remarked a confident Dan.
What actually happened was a table move for pink-headbanded Ed Rogers instead.
[user46298]
Late arrivals to the Balcony Section include two of the young British players taking the live tournament circuit by storm at the moment - Tony Phillips and Sam Trickett. Phillips, a live cash player at the Vic (and former dealer at the Gutshot Club) has been steadily accumulating results, and recently narrowly missed finalling a $1,500 PLO event at this year's World Series. Today he couldn't even get his seat quietly, and was already asking if anyone was out (like a warm-up for ensuing table-talk) while the tounament director showed him to his correct place.
Trickett made the final table of the WSOP short-handed $5,000 NLHE and has been fairly unstoppable back on home ground of late. Both of them surely worth keeping an eye (and an ear) on.
[user46392]
Dario Alioto, although still very much the table big stack, seems somewhat irked after doubling up the table short stack Dimps Maker. The chips went in on a flop and Maker was miles ahead with against Alioto's . The on the turn gave Alioto a few more outs but a harmless on the river kept a clearly delighted Maker in the game with a below-average but thoroughly manageable 4,800.
![[user46392]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
against T6 player Jason Gray's 
. Some sucking-in-air-between-the-teeth noises around the table on the turn, but ultimately no surprises on the 
board and a cheerful Gray now has 12,500 in chips, while Alioto has less than 5,000.
flop only for Johansen to announce all in. Alioto called and once again was massively behind, boasting 
to Johansen's dominating 
. No nasty surprises for Johansen on the 
turn and 
river, and he finds himself with an extremely comfortable 9,000 in chips.
bringing no help to Friedman who was left with right around 5,500 after the hand. Taylor, meanwhile, piled up over 12,000 in chips with the win and soared near the top of the leaderboard.
flop. But spectacular it wasn't as his opponent made the fold and Wheatley scooped the pot.
found a ten-high flop to move his remaining chips in. The flop was actually 
, however, and Zach Chesses wasn't going anywhere near the muck with his 
against Alioto's 
on the turn gave Alioto a few more outs but a harmless 
on the river kept a clearly delighted Maker in the game with a below-average but thoroughly manageable 4,800.
