2008 World Series of Poker

Event 40 - $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw
Day: 3
Event Info

2008 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Prize
$151,896
Event Info
Buy-in
$2,500
Entries
238
Level Info
Level
24
Blinds
13,000 / 25,000
Ante
0

Don't Bother

First to act, Robert Mizrachi mucked. That's when everyone else at the table noticed that the dealer had only dealt four cards. She tried to push Mizrachi's cards back at him, but he sent them into the muck again. Shrugging, the dealer dealt out the final card to each player, making sure to deal Mizrachi's card, in turn, directly into the muck.

Mizrachi Squeaks One Out

Robert Mizrachi is currently last in chips, desperately looking to pick up a pot. He raised the button, and The Razor, John Phan was his lone customer.

Both players drew two on the first pass. Phan led into Mizrachi, who just called. On the second pass, Phan took one and again Mizrachi took two. This brought another bet from Phan, and another call from Mizrachi.

On the final draw, Phan stood pat against Mizrachi's one. Both players checked it down. Phan opened 10-7; Mizrachi showed 10-6, drawing a disappointed sigh from Phan. If Mizrachi had lost the hand, he would have had only about 20,000 left in his stack. Instead he jumps to 110,000.

Picking Up Where He Left Off

John Phan
John Phan
On the first hand back from break, John Phan raised from the button, Gioi Luong three-bet from the big blind, and Phan called. Luong stood pat, and Phan took two. Luong bet and Phan called. On the second draw, Luong stood pat again, and Phan again drew two. Once more, Luong bet and Phan called.

On the third draw, Luong again stuck with his original five, and Phan took one card. This time Luong bet, and Phan tossed out the bet of 16,000. Luong called.

Phan spread out his 7-6-5-3-2, and Luong mucked. Phan is now up to 609,000, and Luong -- his nearest competitor -- has 347,000.

Level: 19

Blinds: 4,000/8,000

Ante: 0

Melancholic Mizrachi

A couple of tough ones for Robert Mizrachi before the break.

In the first, Mizrachi bet, and John Phan called behind him. Both drew two, Mizrachi bet, and Phan called. On the second draw, Mizrachi drew one and Phan took two. Again, Mizrachi bet and Phan called. On the last draw, Mizrachi stood pat and Phan took one. Both checked.

Phan showed 8-7-6-4-2, and Mizrachi mucked.

Then, in the last hand before the break, Gioi Luong raised, and Mizrachi three-bet from the button. Luong called. Luong took one, and Mizrachi two. Both checked. On the second draw, both took one, and both checked again. On the last draw, both again drew one card. This time Luong bet, Mizrachi raised, and Luong called. Luong showed 8-7-5-4-3, and Mizrachi mucked in disappointment. He's now down to 69,000.

Ben Ponzio Eliminated in Fifth Place ($28,739)

Ben Ponzio - 5th Place
Ben Ponzio - 5th Place
Ben Ponzio and John Phan have been joking with each other throughout the day. The only thing is, Phan can't remember Ponzio's name.

"Matt, you might want to color up, huh?" asked Phan after the floor announced they would take some yellow chips off the table at the break. Ponzio had only about 35,000 chips total.

"Ben!" said an exasperated Ponzio. "My name's Ben!"

"From now on, you're Matt," the dealer interjected.

"Ben?" asked Phan.

"That's what I said," replied Ponzio. "You gotta get my name right."

Apparently not. On the very next hand, Phan raised and Ponzio three-bet from the button. Phan checked how much Ponzio had behind (17,000) before making the call and drawing two. Ponzio took one.

Phan check-called Ponzio's bet. On the next draw, both players took one. Phan bet 12,000, and Ponzio called all in. Each player took one on the final draw.

"Keep it down, keep it down," said Phan. Each player opened his hand.

Phan: 8-7-4-3
Ponzio: 7-5-4-2

Phan asked the dealer, "Deuce for me, seven for him."

"You go first," said Ponzio. "Help me out here." But Phan didn't help Ponzio at all, drawing good by catching a deuce to make an eight-seven-four. Only a three or a six could save Ponzio. He opened his draw card to reveal a ten.

Ponzio collects $28,739 for being eliminated in fifth place by John Phan, who probably still doesn't know Ponzio's first name.

Tags: Ben PonzioJohn Phan

For the Want of a Card . . .

. . . the hand was lost. So says Ben Ponzio, who has taken a couple of hits to his stack.

In one hand, he raised and had both Robert Mizrachi and John Phan call him from the blinds. All took two on the first draw. They checked to Ponzio, he bet, and they called. Mizrachi then took two, Phan one, and Ponzio one. This time Phan bet, Ponzio called, and Mizrachi folded.

On the last draw, Phan stood pat and Ponzio took one. Phan showed 8-7-5-4-3, and Ponzio mucked saying he was drawing to a seven.

On the next hand, Ponzio again put in several bets, this time against Gioi Luong. Luong showed a smooth 8 -- 8-5-4-3-2. Again, Ponzio mucked saying he had been drawing to a seven.

Ponzio is down to 49,000.