WSOP Updates – Event 47 – Crawford Leads; Wroblewski, de Wolfe, Rodman Make Final

Laurene DeBord-Foulk

Jul 01, 2007 3 min read

WSOP Updates – Event 47 – Crawford Leads; Wroblewski, de Wolfe, Rodman Make Final 0001

The final table is set for $2,000 No Limit Hold em - Event 47. In quest of the bracelet and first prize of $707,898, four of the final nine players start Sunday with stacks of more than a million. Stan Crawford leads the pack at 1,498,000 in chips.

After a short delay, play began on Saturday with 142 players — reduced from 2,038 starters the day before — with all players in the money. Former bracelet winner James Mackey was one of the early casualties, in 138th place, followed by Isaac Haxton (130th), Jakob Brekken (127th) and Kirk Morrison (111th). Power player Tom McEvoy couldn't catch the right cards and left in 93rd place. John Esposito (79th) and Ron Faltinsky (68th) made their exit within the first few hours as well.

Rafe Furst deposited some of his stack with final-table qualifier Joe Pelton before leaving in 62nd place. Four-time bracelet winner David Chiu was another early departure in 61st place, when he ran into Pelton's K-Q after going all in on Q-10. The flop brought J♥10♦4♥ and Chiu paired his ten to take the lead, while Pelton looked for the open-ended straight draw. The turn 2♥ was inconsequential, but the river A♠ made Pelton's straight and sent Chiu to the rails. Chiu cashed $10,571 for his effort.

Jennifer Tilly also tangled with Pelton, but ended up taking some of his stack in the process. After a flop of J♦10♥9♦, Tilly moved all in, prompting Pelton to fold. The hand increased her stack and a double-through against Klein Bach pushed her above 200,000. However, Bach reclaimed his chips when he flopped two pair in a later hand to double through Tilly. She went out a few hands later in 30th place with $18,546 when her A-7 couldn't find any help on the board.

The chip leaders going into Saturday's play — Jess Ravich, Peter Horenstein, Pontus Khosravi, and Ali Eslami — made it to mid-day before facing elimination. Eslami was the first to go, in 55th place, followed by Horenstein in 41st place. Ravich was eliminated in a hand with Khong Ng and Kuong Lu after he went all in on Q♥9♥ after the flop of 10♦9♣7♠; Ravich held middle pair, while Lu had Q♣10♠ for top pair and Ng had A♠K♦ for ace-high. The turn 4♦ made little difference, but the river, K♠, gave Ng the highest pair and the pot, eliminating Ravich in 37th place with $15,578. Khosravi held on until late in the day, hitting the rail in 27th place with $21,884.

Some big hands in the last hour redistributed several stacks. Amato Galasso doubled through Mark McKibben to push past the million mark and take the chip lead. After a flop of K♥10♦4♥, Galasso went all in with A♥10♥ for middle pair and a flush draw. McKibben showed pocket aces and was ahead, but the turn 3♥ made Galasso's flush and the 5♦ river was no help to McKibben, who dropped to about 250,000.

Blair Rodman hit David Schnettler's stack when he moved all in after a flop and turn of J♦6♠4♥ 8♠. Schnettler held K♣J♥ for a pair of jacks and Rodman 9♦8♣ for a pair of eights. Rodman, however, spiked the 8♦ on the river to make trips and double his stack.

Bach looked like a likely departure when he got into a pot with Matt "SamENole" Smith. After a flop of K♣7♥2♠, Smith bet 90,000 and Bach moved all in after a moment's contemplation. Smith called and showed K♥9♣ for the pair, and Bach wondered aloud, "What have I done?" as he flipped over J♠8♣ with few prospects to improve. The turn 10♥ brought the possibility of the gutshot-straight draw, and the possibility became fact when the river delivered the 9♦. No one was more stunned than Smith, who was knocked out in 11th place with $33,012.

With one elimination left to go, Lance Ingram moved all in from early position with A♥Q♦. Crawford called with J♥J♠, and the race was on. The board brought K♥8♣3♣6♣10♦, absolutely no help for Ingram. Crawford's pocket jacks secured the pot, and, with the elimination of Ingram, established the final table, which was drawn as follows (with chip counts):