2008 World Series of Poker

39th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event
Event Info

2008 World Series of Poker

Event Info
Buy-in
$10,000
Entries
6,844
Players Left
9
Next Payout
Place 9
$900,670
Level Info
Level
33
Blinds
120,000 / 240,000
Ante
30,000

Jean-Robert Bellande Eliminated

And they'll be showing this hand on TV, I think. Playing on the ESPN TV table Jean-Robert Bellande moved all in for his last 66,000 and was called by Sarkis Akopyan. Bellande's {A-Spades} {Q-Hearts} led Akopyan's {10-Clubs} {9-Spades} and when the flop came {A-Clubs} {2-Diamonds} {8-Hearts} it seemed certain that Bellande would double up.

The {6-Spades} fell on the turn and Bellande slapped his hands together and said "Yes", perhaps thinking that he had the hand locked up. But there was some murmuring in the crowd as everyone realized that Akopyan now had a gutshot straight draw.

The was the usual dramatic pause before the river was dealt...and when the dealer placed the {7-Spades} on the felt there was a combined roar and moan from the crowd as Bellande fell to a brutal runner-runner straight and saw his Main Event come to an sudden end.

Those Sets Can Be Hard to Spot

Shifting over to Orange #10, Andreas Martens recently pushed all in on the river for 66,000 with the board showing {3-Spades} {J-Hearts} {5-Hearts} {7-Diamonds} {A-Diamonds}. Alana Morin tanked, then decided to make the call. She never got to show her hand, however, choosing instead to muck when Martens showed {5-Clubs} {5-Diamonds} for a set of fives. That pot doubled Martens to 330,000 and dropped Morin to 140,000.

"$100 if You Don't Put Paint Up There!"

With the board reading {9-Hearts} {4-Clubs} {3-Spades} {A-Diamonds} Christian Oman got the rest of his chips in the middle vs. Paul Lieu. Oman held {A-Spades} {Q-Spades}, but Lieu had turned two pair with {A-Hearts} {9-Clubs}.

As the dealer was about to burn and turn the river, Lieu reached into his wallet and offered the dealer $100 if he didn't put paint on the river. The dealer pulled the {10-Clubs} out of the deck, sealing the hand for Lieu, who happily forked over the Benjamin as the ESPN cameras recorded the entire incident.

Oman was eliminated, while Lieu is up to 650,000 in chips.

Tags: Christian OmanPaul Lieu

Denys Drobyna Eliminated

Action folded around to Denys Drobyna in the cutoff and he raised to 13,000. Gus Hansen, next to act, reraised to 37,000 from the button and the blinds folded. With action back to Drobyna, he moved all in for roughly 300,000 and Hansen made the call. The players showed:

Drobyna: {A-Clubs} {Q-Clubs}
Hansen: {A-Diamonds} {A-Hearts}

The board ran out {Q-Spades} {7-Diamonds} {9-Spades} {7-Hearts} {8-Hearts} to give Hansen the win and leave Drobyna with no chips. He was eliminated while Hansen climbed to about 735,000 on the hand.

A Good Flop

Salomon Sutton raises to 10,000 on the button and Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy reraises all in, in the small blind. Sutton calls with {A-Hearts}{K-Hearts} to the {10-Hearts}{10-Diamonds} of Bax.

The flop is {7-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}{6-Clubs}. "That's a good flop, right?" jokes Bax. The turn is {10-Spades}. "That's a lot of tens!" he says. The river is {K-Clubs} and Bax and Sutton both have 110,000 after the hand.

Sweating Your Main Squeeze

Jon Turner and Tracey Nguyen spent the last forty minutes of play last night seated next to each other at the same table. They started play today able to keep a close eye on each other -- they are at back-to-back tables on Orange #11 and Orange #13.