Hey Joe - We Go to Tomorrow

Hey Joe, where you goin' with that $188,710 in your hand?

Joe Beevers of Hendon, England, is our 7th place finisher.

Rob Hollink opened Joe's final hand with a raise to 250K. Joe moved all-in for 680K, and Rob called. Joe had Td-9d, dominated by Rob's A-T offsuit.

The flop came Qh-5s-4s. The turn was the Js, putting three of Rob's suit on board and giving Joe just five outs (two offsuit nines and three offsuit eights). Again no help from the river gods and, well, we go to tomorrow.

Here's Joe, out on the TV bubble and earning $118,710.



And the TV six?

JOHN PHAN -- 1.41M
TUAN LE -- 2.68M
HASAN HABIB -- 7.80M
PAUL MAXFIELD -- 2.89M
PHIL IVEY -- 3.37M
ROB HOLLINK -- 4.43M

We'll reconvene tomorrow at 4pm in a Bellagio ballroom for the final table action. Why the late start? Why, to give the wizards of the WPT a chance to work their pre-broadcast magic, of course. And maybe to give the six final combatants a chance to catch their breath.

How do you handicap such a fight? Here's my thumbnail take.

John Phan is short-stacked. By his own admission he was on tilt after his big laydown to Maxwell's bluff (or incredible T-2 holding?) He's lucky he got out of today without having the chance to steam off all his chips. He'll have plenty of time to regroup before tomorrow afternoon, but given his chip count he's still got an uphill climb.

Rob Hollink. In his quiet way he's been as agressive as Hasan Habib. When he comes out betting, folks tend to get out of his way. (Bet Joe Beevers wishes he had.) He has some friends from Holland here in the house, but no way will he be the crowd favorite. That would have to be...

HaSAN HaBIB! By the end of play today he had most of the crowd cheering for his triumphs, and we'll see more of that tomorrow. Hasan is practically local -- he lives in Southern California -- and he'll have a lot of his homies in the house. Hasan took second in this event last year, and he seems to have the fire in his belly to close the deal this time out.

Tuan Le won a WPT event at Foxwoods not too long ago. He's been playing terrific, aggressive poker all week long here, and I think he expected to go to the final table in stronger chip position than he has. He'll have to move strong and move swiftly to get back into contention with Habib and Ivey. Look for him to wear a yellow sweater.

Phil Ivey. We haven't heard a word from Ivey all week. He barely speaks to announce his bets, never talks about his play, and considers casual conversation to be anathema. With his noise-cancelling headphones clamped to his ears and his dark sunglasses down over his face, he seems to leave the world behind and enter his own particular poker zone. Ivey will be the favorite of the casual fan, because he's gotten a lot of TV time in the last couple of years, but if his fans are as demonstrative as he is, you won't hear a peep out of him.

Joe Maxfield has shown the ability to make big bluffs and bold moves. Though relatively unknown, compared to the WPT luminaries he'll face, he seems ready to go toe to toe with them all. Maxfield hails from England, and will pick up Joe Beevers' supporters like a candidate picks up another candidate's delegates on the second round of balloting.

If you held a gun to my head and said, "Pick 'em," here's the order I'd pick 'em to finish:

6th JOHN PHAN
5th PAUL MAXFIELD
4th ROB HOLLINK
3rd TUAN LE
2nd PHIL IVEY
1st HASAN HABIB

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. More later, -jv

Paul Adopts an Orphan

John Phan in the big blind.
Paul Maxfield opens for 225K
Hasan Habib calls.
Phan calls.
Flop comes J-2-2 rainbow, a classic orphan flop, just looking to be adopted.
Phan bets 300K.
Maxfield raises 300K.
Habib folds.
Phan calls.
Turn is a 7.
Phan checks.
Maxfield goes all-in.
Phan thinks and thinks and thinks and thinks. He stacks and restacks and counts and recounts his chips. He makes three or four feints at pushing forward his stack, either to try to get a tell on Paul or because he just can't bring himself to call. He thinks some more. The clock is called, giving him a minute and ten seconds to act on his hand. After a minute, Jack McClelland starts counting down from ten. If he reaches zero, Phan's hand will be dead. Just before time runs out, Phan shows... J-Q!... and folds.
Maxfield shows a ten, but not his second card. What could he possibly have that Phan couldn't beat? A deuce? Who gets involved in a pot like that with T-2? On the other hand, who puts his tournament life on the line with, at best, second pair or top pair, weak kicker? Paul is overheard to say that he had nothing. Well, nothing but giant cojones, and now a giant stack of John Phan's chips.
That's how you play poker, folks: You see a pot and you adopt it. In this big custody battle, Paul Maxfield came out on top.

All (Okay Some) of your Chips are Belong to Me

Hasan Habib just picked off almost a million of Phil Ivey's chips, this time by uncharacteristically calling on the river.

Hasan opened for 260K. Phil called.
Flop came A-3-8.
Both checked.
Turn was a nine.
Hasan bet 300K. Phil called.
River was another nine.
Hasan checked. Phil bet 400K. Hasan called.
Hasan showed A-7. Phil didn't show.

Hasan's got gears, man. He's made most of his money by betting strong until he meets resistance and then getting out of the way. Just now, though, he got Phil to bet into him, and called him down. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and this cat knows 'em all.

An Anagram for "World Poker Tour"

work lured troop

Sometimes it Takes a Wall of Chips

For everyone now, the problem is how to slow down Hasan. Tuan Le raised Hasan's blind to 180K. Hasan reraised to 400, and Le called. The flop came 8d-6h-5d. Hasan checked. Le went all-in for 1.65M. Hasan thought and thought and thought, and finally folded. That's how you slow him down: Just stick a big wall of chips in his path.

The 22nd level is history. Seven players remain, with the following seat positions and chip counts.


SEAT ONE -- JOE BEEVERS -- 900K
SEAT TWO -- PAUL MAXFIELD -- 2.05M
SEAT THREE -- HASAN HABIB -- 6.4M
SEAT FOUR -- PHIL IVEY -- 4.9M
SEAT FIVE -- TUAN LE -- 3.0M
SEAT SIX -- JOHN PHAN -- 2.7M
SEAT SEVEN -- ROB HOLLINK -- 2.9M


Level 23 will feature 10K antes and 40K and 80K blinds. One lap -- seven hands -- will cost each player 190K. Look for Hasan Habib to continue swinging his big stack around -- and with only one player, Joe Beevers, under a million in chips, it might be a while before anyone decides to take him on. -jv

We've Reached the TV Bubble

Joe Cordi is out in 7th place, falling to Hasan Habib, who did not like his hand.



Habib, the habitual bully, made his standard opening raise of 200K. Cordi decided to make a stand with his last 680K, calling Habib's raise and reraising himself all-in for 480 more. Saying, "I don't like my hand," Habib nevertheless called. K-8 for Hasan A-8 of spades for Joe. The board came brick-brick-brick-brick-king, and suddenly Hasan liked his hand a whole lot more.

We're down to seven. Joe (another supersatellite-winning entrant) is up $150,970. The next elimination will end play for the day.

Jesus Falls

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson is our 9th place finisher, and his end came under somewhat unusual circumstances.

Paul Maxfield entered the pot in early position -- just calling the 60K big blind. So far as I can tell, this is the first time in a couple of days (certainly the first time today) that anyone has limped into the pot without raising. Very suspicious, right? Well, if Chris was suspicious, he wasn't scared, raising the pot to 400K. Maxfield reraised all-in for his last 600K, barely covering Chris's 540K remaining chips. Chris thought -- not very long -- and called. A-K for Maxfield, T-T for Ferguson. His read was right... he was the favorite... but Maxfield had six outs 5 times, for a 60% shot at improving. He got what he needed -- a king on the turn -- and Ferguson was finished.

For the greater good of poker you hate to see the likes of Chris Ferguson miss a TV table. He's so charismatic, photogenic and classy that every time he appears on TV another 50,000 players take up the game (numbers approximate)(okay numbers totally fabricated)(you get the idea). But there will be no TV time for Jesus this time.

Here's Chris with the money for his 9th place finish: $132, 095.00, exactly.

Great work, Chris, and on a personal note, thanks for all the painfully precise chip counts. -jv

You Want to Slow Him Down?

You want to slow down Hasan Habib?



Your best bet seems to be to make a big play back at him before the flop. In the past few hands, Hasan has made two opening raises in the 200K range, and let his hand go both times in the face of major rereaises. On the other hand, Hasan currently has over 6M in chips, so when you engage with him remember that you're grabbing the proverbial tiger by the tail.

Now, I ask you, is this whimsy... or something else? Hasan opened for 225K, and Phil Ivey reraised to 600. Hasan thought and stared, thought and stared. Then, all of a sudden, he practically barked, "I'm all... out." Did he hope to get a flinch from Phil between the "all" and the "out?" If so, he must have been disappointed, because the icy Ivy didn't react at all. Then again, you can't believe that Hasan was just having his little joke. One thing I've come to believe about poker at this level: Mistakes are not mistakes, jokes are not jokes, everything is done for a purpose, and nothing happens by accident. -jv

The Finn is Finished

After playing superb poker all week, quietly and with excellent spirit, Juha Helpp is out in tenth place.

His end comes in typical final-table fashion, when two foes tacitly agree to check down the hand in hopes of eliminating a player and moving up in the money table.

Juha moves all in preflop with his last 335K, getting calls from both Phil Ivey and Tuan Le. The board comes K-4-3. Check, check. The turn is a Q. Check, check. The river is a 2. Check, check. A-J for Juha, A-Q for Phil. Tuan doesn't show.

Helppi gets $113,225 for his tenth place finish, but you know he's disappointed not to repeat at a WPT TV table. He won in Aruba two years ago, and hasn't TVed (is there such a word?) since.

But he played with style and grace, and should be more than proud of his accomplishment.

Juha Helppi, out in 10th.

Last Ten Standing

We're down to one table... ten players... six of whom will come back tomorrow and do it on TV. Who will be knocked out before then? Who'll go out on the dreaded TV bubble? Who will hang tough? Who will lose the plot? Who knows? But we'll all know soon enough, and this we know for sure: Your final table looks like this:

SEAT 1 JOE CORDI 975K
2 JOE BEEVERS 1.625M
3 PAUL MAXFIELD 1.270M
4 HASAN HABIB 6.475M
5 JUHA HELPPI 390K
6 PHIL IVEY 3.795M
7 CHRIS FERGUSON 1.115M
8 TUAN LE 2.09M
9 JOHN PAHN 2.245M
10 ROB HOLLINK 3.080M

More final table action as it happens. -jv

Grinder Ground Down (and Out)

Was it the hand against Hasan when he got frisky with pocket sixes and ran into queens? Did the major loss of chip equity cause a fissure in his judgment? Or did he consider 700,000 chips not a strong enough stack to be patient with? Only Grinder knows for sure, but when Rob Hollink made it 180 to go in, Grinder came over the top for the rest of his chips. The blinds gave way, and Hollink called. A-Q for Hollink, A-J for Mizrachi.

The flop came T-9-2. An 8 on the turn created a straight draw, but no 7 or queen came, and Grinder was out in 11th place.

It kind of looks like the wheels came off the bus. At the last break he was King of the Hill with 4.2M in chips. Conventional wisdom says that big stacks should avoid going to war with other big stacks, yet that's exactly what Mike did with his 6-6. Well, conventional wisdom is for conventional thinkers, and there's no doubt that Mike has his own -- highly successful -- approach to this game. Yet the fact remains that he burned through more than 4 million in chips in less than 20 minutes of tournament play, his two big losses coming when he bet big into better hands.

Well, he's young, and he's got game. He's also got $95,000 in new money. He'll land on his feet, no doubt, and you'll see him back in the winner's circle soon. -jv

Jeff Shulman -- out in 12th

All-in in the big blind, Jeff Shulman watched John Phan raise in early position to give him protection. Everyone else folded, content to let Phan try to knock Shulman out. And what protection Jeff got: Q-8 for Shulman, Q-7 for Phan. But you know how it goes... "may the worst hand win." The flop came 7-6-6, and though a four on the turn gave Shulman four extra outs to an inside straight, the poker gods were unwilling, a deuce came on the river, and Shulman was out in dozenth place, taking home $95,000 and change.

According to Jeff's dad, Barry, publisher of Card Player magazine, Jeff's got a great game: patience, aggressiveness, reads; the whole package. All he needs is the one thing he hasn't had so far -- the right luck at the righ time -- and he'll snag a major title.

It's funny: I can't remember writing three words about Jeff Shulman this whole tournament (and I can't find his picture in my archives anywhere). He's anonymous... invisible... but he sticks around and stays alive, quietly knocking off the competition and rising higher and higher through the tournament ranks. "The Quiet Lion": out in 12th at the 5Star.

Oh, and not for nothing, but Hasan Habib just doubled through Mike Mizrachi when Grinder put Habib all-in. Pocket sixes for Mike, pocket queens for Hasan. As a queen came on the flop, cries of "Ha-SAN!" reverberated through the room. If Habib makes the final table (and right now he's extremely well-placed to do so) expect to hear that cry quite a few more times. -jv

Top of the 22nd

We've reached the 22nd leve, where the antes remain 5K, but the blinds are now 30K and 60K. At the two six-handed tables, a lap costs 120K. You wouldn't like to be Jeff Shulman right now, sitting on just 95,000 in chips.

Let's do the numbers...

TABLE ONE

JUHA HELPPI -- 700K
JOHN PHAN -- 2.325M
CHRIS FERGUSON -- 1M
JOE CORDI -- 800K
PHIL IVEY -- 3.6M
JEFF SHULMAN -- 95K

TABLE TWO

HASAN HABIB -- 4.3M
MIKE MIZRACHI -- 4.2M
TUAN LE -- 2.8M
JOE BEEVERS -- 900K
ROB HOLLINK -- 2.1M
PAUL MAXFIELD -- 700K

Back in a flash with the action. -jv

Sammy Arzoin is Unlucky 13

NYC's Sammy Arzoin (pictured here) has been eliminated in 13th place.



Holding pocket nines, he raised all-in in late position for his last 575K chips. Tuan Le, who seems to be calling everyone, called Arzoin with A-J offsuit. An ace in the window (first card of the flop) was a stake through Sammy's heart, no nines appeared anywhere, and Arzoin was done for the day. Like the other low-teen finishers, he takes home $95, 355.

Hasan Habib has been shifted to table two to balance out the tables at six players apiece. This is probably best news for John Phan, who hasn't had much luck this afternoon running Hasan off his hands, and would probably prefer not to see him again until the final table -- if, you know, at all.

We've come to the end of round 21. I'll be back with chip counts in a moment. -jv

They Don't Call Him "The Grinder" for Nothing

Michael "the Grinder" Mizrachi just romanced more than 1.5 million in chips out of Tuan Le's stack.

He started by raising preflop to 140K. Tuan Le flat-called in the blind. The flop came 5-T-7 rainbow. Tuan, holding T-K, checked and then, when Mizrachi made it 300K to go, raised to 700K, probably expecting to take the pot right there. But Grinder held two red jacks and rereaised all-in. After some deliberation, Le called. The board bricked out, and Grinder had doubled through. That's just a 3.5 million dollar pot, kids; and that's how tournaments are won and lost. More later, -jv

It's Alright, Ma, I'm Only Bleeding

Tony Ma nursed his small stack for all it was worth, surviving two all-ins and playing the waiting game for as long as he could. Finally he found a hand to push with, 8-8, only to find two willing callers, Joe Beevers and Mike Mizrachi. Both live players checked a flop of Qc-9d-Ad, but when a king hit the board on the turn, Beevers bet Grinder off the pot. KQ for Beevers, and the need for a miracle 8 for Ma. No miracle. No more Ma.

Tony Ma is, of course, a force in any tournament he enters, and his days of steady, mistake-free poker were rewarded with a payday of almost $100,000.

We have 13 players left. We'll play down to 6 today, no matter how short or long a time that takes. Paul Maxfield just survived his own all-in Donnybrook, and doubled through to more than 800. But at these levels of antes and blinds, no stack is safe... and in just 25 minutes they numbers jump again. Hold onto your hat, Hortense, this is starting to get good. -jv

George Miller Exits in 15th Place

Surprisingly, it was George Miller, not Tony Ma, who took the next Long Walk from the tournament floor. Holding K-J of clubs, he pushed all in for his last 240K and found a willing caller in Rob Hollink, who held A-Q of diamonds. Michael Mizrachi showed 7-8 offsuit and folded.

Well, that would've been the winner (not that Grinder has a call there) because the flop came 4-5-6 rainbow, the turn was a three and the river was a six. Hollink won the pot, and George was heading back to his Gary, Indiana, home some $94,000 richer (less the cost of the supersatellite he won to get in.) Congratulations, George, on some gutsy laydowns, some incisive reads, and six days of super-solid play. More later, -jv

Hand for Hand (but not Forever)

David Sklansky is our 17th place finisher. He was short-stacked on table one while Tony Ma was short-stacked on table two. David perceived that play at the other table was slower than at his, and therefore unfairly imperiled him to the tune of almost $20,000 (since the 17th place finisher gets $75,485 and the 16th place finisher gets $94,355). To even things out, he started stalling... waiting for the clock to be called, which gave him a minute to act on his hand before it was declared dead. Jack McClelland ultimately had to respond by calling for hand-for-hand play, even though an objective analysis of the situation made it evident that the only one stalling was Sklansky.

After three hands of hand-for-hand, the point became moot when John Phan raised Sklansky all in -- blind -- from the small blind. Sklanksy had odds to call no matter what his cards were, but he can't have been happy to call with 5-3 offsuit, especially since Phan turned out to have him dominated with 5-6 offsuit (and rare is the hold'em confrontation where 6-high ends up being a dominating hand). When the board caome T-4-8-2-8, Sklansky was out in 17th place.

Two hands later, Ma went all in and doubled through when his K-J held up against Tuan Le's 9-T. He's still the short stack by far, but he's also still alive. More later, -jv

Top of the 21st

We've reached the start of the 21st level, with antes of 5k and blinds of 20K and 40K. That means that sitting on your hands for just one lap will cost you 40K in antes and 60K in blinds -- a cool 100,000 in chips. Not even the biggest stacks can let too many theft opportunities pass by. And as for the smaller stacks? There will come a time that they'll greet any pair or K-Q suited as if it were pocket rockets. A certain subjective reality creeps in when the blinds get this high: The hand you folded an hour ago is the hand you raise with now.

They're racing off the $1000 chips right now, and here are your players and a current approximation of their "assignable value tokens."

TONY MA -- 110K
PAUL MAXFIELD -- 640K
GEORGE MILLER -- 600K
SAMMY ARZOIN -- 1.2M
TUAN LE -- 3.5M
JOE BEEVERS -- 1.2M
MICHAEL MIZRACHI -- 1.3M
ROB HOLLINK -- 2M

JUHA HELPPI -- 836K
HASAN HABIB -- 2.2M
PHIL IVEY -- 3.6M
JOHN PHAN -- 920K
DAVID SKLANSKY -- 250K
JOE CORDI -- 650K
JEFF SHULMAN -- 650K

And the finicky-precise Chris Ferguson, with 1,887,500 +/- 2500, depending on the outcome of the chip race.

Cards are in the air again. As the saying goes, "Shuffle up and dead." -jv

How Big is Your, er, Stack?

And how big are your stones?

The story as it's emerging here in the first round on day 6 at the 5Star is, in a nutshell, "may the biggest bet win." Two recent hands are instructive.

On table one, Phil Ivey opened for 90K, Joe Cordi called. The flop came Ah-3s-6h Ivey bet 150K, Joe called. The turn was the 4d. Phil bet 300. Joe called. The river was the Kd. Phil went all-in. Joe thought and thought and thought and folded. Who what what? Who knows. But it's an iteration of old poker wisdom: It's better the bettor to be. To put it another (familiar) way, "Be the one who knows, not the one who guesses."

Meanwhile over on table two, Tuan Le opened for 90. Rob Hollink (who lets nobody push him around) raised to 300. Tuan called. The flop came 4-A-8 rainbow, and Rob bet 600K. Tuan folded. It's tough to outmuscle the muscle of a Tuan Le, but Hollink found a way. Folks, this much is clear. If you can't swing your big, uhm, stack, you won't last long in this crowd.

David Sklanksy (shown here) is currently clinging to the short stack, having survived one all-in against John Phan.



He pushed with K-7 suited and Phan called with K-2 The board brought both a king and a seven, and Sklansky survived. Not exactly a Group One hand... but good enough. More later, -jv


Will his luck last? We shall see.

And Just Like That, it's Au Revoir, Paul

Paul Testud has been eliminated in 17th place here at the Bellagio 5Star. He had to like his money odds when got his last 80K into a four-way pot preflop. But when Joe Beevers bet the flop to get heads up against Paul, and then paired his ace on the turn, Testud's K-J was drawing dead and his (very short) day was done.
Still, it's $75,000+ to take back to Paris and show off for the boys at Aviation Club France. Bon chance, Mr. Paul. Better luck next time. -jv

12:06, Day 6 -- Cards are in the Air

... and fortunes hang in the balance. Here are your two final tables:

TABLE ONE:

Seat
1 Juha Helppi 493K
2 John Phan 1.044M
3 David Sklansky 205K
4 Chris Ferguson 1.411M
5 Joe Cordi 1.069M
6 Jeff Shulman 759M
7 Hasan Habib 3.255M
8 Rob Hollink 1.584M
9 Phil Ivey 3.884M

TABLE TWO

Seat
1 Tony Ma 287K
2 Paul Maxfield 685M
3 George Miller 502M
4 Sammy Arzoin 1.128M
5 Tuan Le 3,730M
6 Joe Beevers 1.162M
7 Paul Testud 80K
8 Michael Mizrachi 1.334M

A short photo essay before we start. Here's Tony Ma, in harmony with Bellagio's elegant flora.

George Miller of Gary, Indiana

Here's Team Nutzchips, Ricky (l), Jamaal and Alan, supporting their boy Mike Mizrachi. Nutzchips makes custom card protectors.

And here's the product they sell. This one is Mike "The Grinder" Mizrachi's of course. These bad boys sell for $1500 in 18 karat gold...

...or a mere $500 in sterling silver

The Blinds are High, Tra-la, Tra-la

Here's a rewrite of the great reggae classic, The Tide is High. I originally bastardized the original for Aruba, 2004, so some of you may have seen it before. I know at least someone has, because they requested that I eprint it again. It would help if you put on Blondie's classic remake of the song, cranked through it a couple of times, and then sang along using the words below. It might help if you smoked a great big spliff to put you in the reggae mood before you tried it -- but you didn't hear that from me.

Okay, here we go, on the backbeat…

THE BLINDS ARE HIGH

The blinds are high but I'm holdin' on
I'm gonna be the number one
I'm not the kinda guy who gives up
Just like that - oh no

It’s not the bets you make that hurt my stack so bad
No it’s the calls I make that make me feel so sad
But I’m not the kinda guy who gives up just like that -- oh no

The blinds are high but I'm holdin' on
I'm gonna be the number one
Number one - number one

Everyone wants to come out on top
But I'll wait right here till it’s my flop
‘Cause I'm not the kinda guy who gives up just like that - oh no

The blinds are high but I'm holdin' on
I'm gonna be the number one
Number one - number one

If you should ask do I want to deal
I’ll look you in the eye and say hey dude get real
‘Cause I'm not the kinda guy who gives up just like that - oh no

The blinds are high but I'm holdin' on
I'm gonna be the number one
Number one - number one

The blinds are high but I'm holdin' on
I'm gonna be the number one

The blinds are high but I'm holdin' on
I'm gonna be the number one

The blinds are high but I'm holdin' on
I'm gonna be the number one

The blinds are high but I'm holdin' on
I'm gonna be the number one

Back soon with the start of day 6 play. -jv