WSOP Updates – Event 50, $10,000 PLO – Tommy Ly Leads as Doyle Brunson Seeks 11th
The $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament is an event guaranteed to draw the top pros every year, and there were plenty of recognizable names in the hunt for the final table on Day Two. From the 314 original entrants, 55 returned for the second day of play, including Doyle Brunson, Patrik Antonius, Scotty Nguyen, Annie Duke and Greg Raymer. Antonius, Duke and EPT founder John Duthie started the day among the chip leaders, but of the three, only Antonius would survive the day. Here are the top ten chip counts when play began:
Jonas Flug-Entin — 366,500
Tommy Ly — 354,500
Kenneth Strandli — 287,000
Antonio Salorio — 264,500
Roy Brindley — 231,000
Patrik Antonius — 205,500
Robert Mizrachi — 204,000
Liekke Kimmo — 197,500
Rene Mouritsen — 189,500
John Duthie — 188,000
The first hour of play saw ten players eliminated, with Anita Perl the first to go, followed by Minh Ly, JC Tran and Chau Giang. Another 90 minutes would see Greg Raymer, John Duthie and Alex Brenes head to the rail before Mickey Appleman went out on the bubble, guaranteeing a payday for the 36 remaining players.
Bustouts came in droves following Appleman's bubble exit, as Paul Jackson went out on the very next hand, followed shortly by Joe Beevers, Dario Alioto, Antonio Salorio and Magnus Persson in the span of twenty minutes. Kido Phan sent Leif Force to the rail in 31st when he turned a straight, then Doyle Brunson's A♠A♥J♠10♠ held up against Thanh Pham's 7♥6♠5♠4♣ to eliminate Pham in 30th.
Scotty Nguyen took out three players in a row to go on a run midway through the day when he first eliminated Tim Phan by rivering a flush to crack Phan's flopped set of jacks. Nguyen followed that by eliminating Michael Binger and Jani Sointula in the same hand. The double knockout gave Nguyen a short-lived chip lead.
Eric Froehlich was next to fall, knocked out by David Chiu's turned full house, exiting in 25th. Kido Pham went out seconds later in 24th when none of his flush or straight outs materialized and he was eliminated by Rene Mouritsen's set of sevens. Varahram Vardjavand battled Chan Ping Hsiung in the next hand and came out second best, as Vardjavand's A♠A♥A♦K♠ did not improve and Hsiung's A♣Q♦8♣5♦ made a straight when the board arrived J♥9♥2♦10♠. Andy Bloch sent William McMahan to the rail next when his aces held up on a disconnected board of Q♠9♥5♣2♥5♠.
In a flurry of bustouts to get down to two tables, Kristian Kjondal, Kimmo Liukku, David Callaghan and Leonardo Fernandez all went out within minutes of each other. Kjondal finished the day in 21st, a testament to his play as he started Day Two as the short stack and made it well into the money before busting out.
Annie Duke made her stand with J♣9♣9♦6♦ and was called by chip leader Robert Mizrachi with K♠Q♥Q♣2♥. The flop improved Mizrachi's bigger pair when it came down A♠K♦2♠. The turn came the 5♠ and the river the 6♠ and Duke couldn't beat Mizrachi's pair of kings. She was eliminated in 17th. Chan Ping Hsiung went out in 16th moments later as Roy Brindley caught running aces on the turn and river for trips to beat Hsiung's aces and jacks.
Scotty Nguyen was eliminated in 15th by Andy Bloch. Nguyen pushed all-in preflop with A♠Q♥J♣2♠; Bloch called with A♦J♦8♦4♦ and caught running diamonds for a flush to send Nguyen to the cashier's cage.
As a break approached, Don O'Dea moved all-in with A♠J♠10♦7♠ and was called by Mouritsen with K♦J♣J♦9♥. The flop brought Q♥9♠4♦, keeping Mouritsen's jacks ahead. The turn came 8♦ and the river 7♦ and O'Dea was eliminated in 14th. Almost simultaneously, Sylvester Geoghegan busted in 13th as Tommy Ly made a flush on the turn.
It only took about half an hour after the break break to get down to the final ten-handed table, as Roy Brindley pushed his short stack in with K♠Q♠Q♥{8h, only to run into Jonas Flug-Entin, who held A♣A♠9♦8♠ for a better pair and better spade-flush draw. The board brought no help for either player, reading 10♣6♦4♠2♥6♣ by the river, and Brindley was eliminated in 12th. Soon after, Bloch moved all-in after a flop of Q♣9♦5♠ and was called by Chiu. Bloch had made a pair of nines with his A♥J♦9♥3♦, and Chiu was drawing to a straight with A♣J♥10♣2♠. The turn made Chiu's hand with the K♠, and the river was an irrelevant 4♠ as Bloch finished in 11th.
Players redrew for the final ten-handed table, needed one more elimination to reach the final nine and call it quits for the day. Stephen Ladowsky had the shortest stack and needed to make a move, and he succeeded by tripling up early against Steve Sung and Patrik Antonius. Ladowsky pushed all-in with A♣K♣K♠2♣ against Q♣9♥8♥8♣ for Sung and A♠A♥Q♦7♦ for Antonius. Ladowsky rivered the nut flush with a board of J♥9♣4♣3♦7♣, and Sung took the side pot, leaving Antonius as the odd man out.
Steve Sung was then the short stack, but Sung doubled through Mouritsen twice to stay alive, once by rivering a flush to come from behind with J♥J♦10♣9♥ to crack Mouritsen's A♥A♠8♦7♦, then again by flopping quad kings with K♠K♣10♣5♣ on a board of K♥K♦10♦5♥10♠. Chiu would bubble the final table instead, ending the day's play when he called all-in against Tommy Ly on a flop of J♣8♥2♣. Chiu revealed A♣A♥4♦3♣ for a pair of aces with the nut flush draw and Ly turned over A♦J♠9♠8♦ for two pair. None of Chiu's outs arrived on the turn or river and Chiu exited in tenth.
The final table was set with Chiu's elimination, and the seating assignments and chip counts will look like this when play resumes today:
Seat 1: Doyle Brunson — 510,000
Seat 2: Patrik Antonius — 650,000
Seat 3: Marco Traniello — 420,000
Seat 4: Rene Mouritsen — 775,000
Seat 5: Tommy Ly — 1,895,000
Seat 6: Jonas Flug-Entin — 445,000
Seat 7: Steve Sung — 175,000
Seat 8: Stephen Ladowski — 360,000
Seat 9: Robert Mizrachi — 1,090,000
Tommy Ly takes a big chip lead into the final table, giving him the inside edge on the race to the $768,889 first prize. Join PokerNews.com's 'Live Reporting' of Event #50, Pot Limit Omaha World Championship, at 2pm today for live updates.
