2009 WSOP: NLHE #19, Switzer Snatches Early Lead
As the stud Event #16 final table was wrapping up, Event #19, $2,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em, was just building up a head of steam. One thousand sixty-eight players bought into the event, a bit more than the 1012 who played in the 2008 WSOP event won by Dario Minieri. By the end of Day 1 action, only 135 would be left with a chance for the bracelet, with Brett Switzer’s name at the top of the leaderboard on a stack of 183,000. [Removed:197] closed out the day in second place with 173,600. Notable names still in the hunt going into Day 2 include Shaun Deeb, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Johannes Strassmann, Blair Hinkle, and Motoyuki Mabuchi.
Joe Sebok lasted only about three hours before getting the hook. According to his Twitter report, he got it all in with straight and flush draws holding Q♥9♥ on the flop of 10-8-5 with two hearts. But neither of his draws came in and Sebok lost to a player holding 10-8 for two pair. Andy Bloch survived only a little longer. He pushed all in from the blind with K♠Q♠ after a raise and a call. He folded the original raiser, but got looked up by Matt Marafioti, holding 5♠5♣. The board ran out 8♠J♠2♥7♥8♣, and Bloch was done.
Greg Raymer signed a card-capping fossil for the opponent who ousted him – a new tradition he has started this year. Raymer raised to 500 on the button, and Andy Schultz reraised to 1,700. Schultz had reportedly been three-betting Raymer relentlessly, so Raymer shoved for 13,000 with his A♦10♣. Schultz immediately called, holding Q♣Q♦. The board went the wrong way for the former world champ as it came down 6♠Q♠10♥K♥2♥. Raymer made every reporter’s job easy by summing up the situation perfectly: “I guess I picked the wrong one to move in on.”
Andy Black must have thought he had a near lock on one hand when he flopped the nut flush, holding A♣J♣ on the flop of 6♣5♣4♣. He slow-played it against two opponents, one of whom really liked the turn of 6♦, as it gave him quads with his pocket sixes. Black moved all in on the turn and was called, to find himself drawing dead and out of the tournament.
Speaking of quads, it’s painful enough when you have pocket kings and run into pocket aces, but is it really necessary for your opponent to rub it in by catching the other two of them? That may be what Mike Watson was thinking when he got it all in preflop with pocket kings against Taylor Caby just after the dinner break. Caby’s A♥A♣ was the first wave of bad news for Watson, and the 3♦A♠A♦ flop brought the second wave.
Other notables who won’t be returning for Day 2 include Jason Mercier, Jared Hamby, Justin Bonomo, Allen Cunningham, Victor Ramdin, David Singer, Burt Boutin, Jesper Hougaard, Jordan Morgan, and Eric Froehlich.
The remaining players will reassemble at 2:00 PDT Tuesday. The schedule calls for them to play down to a final table, though so far in the Series very few Day 2s have managed to accomplish that feat. The survivors are competing for 108 paying spots and a total prize pool of $2,456,400, including $552,745 for the eventual champion.
