$10,000 No Limit Hold'em

Day 5 Final Table

WPT-BAY 101 SHOOTING STARS, FINAL TABLE

Seat/Player/Hometown/Chips
1 Danny Nguyen San Jose CA 881,000
2 Corey Cheresnick Coral Springs FL 769,000
3 Shandor Szentkuti Pacifica CA 250,000
4 Gus Hansen Monte Carlo, Monaco 1,007,000
5 Men Nguyen Bell Gardens CA 310,000
6 Jay Martens Prince George, Canada 1,165,000






















4 pm tomorrow.

8:00

Gus bets ug. Miller raises 30k, Gus calls. check, Miller 40k. Gus checkraises 70k. Miller all-in. Gus calls. Miller A K, Gus a set of 2's!!! Gus has him covered. "It's over," Matt says. Andy Miller is 7th.

Chip counts soon. They keep their same seats.

7:50

Chau Vu ug. Shandor bets 15k. Gus calls. Men calls. Three players. two clubs, checks to Men, 40k. No calls.
Shows a flopped set of Jacks.

Miller ug. Gus 17k, Danny plus 45k. No calls. Gus tosses chips at Danny.

Shandor ug. Gus 17k, Chau Vu all-in from sb (small blind). Gus asks for count. It's another 76k. Gus only has about 360k now and probably knows he's behind. He calls anyway. A K for Vu. K 9 for Gus. <10 8 7> all hearts. Six on the turn for a straight. Chau Vu is 8th.

One to go for the night.


7:40

Shandor big blind. Gus ug folds. Miller calls from sb. <6 5 2> two spades, check check. Q on turn. Miller 19k, fold.

Men ug folds. Miller bets 18k, Gus calls from the bb. check check, Q on the turn, 4 on the river. Ace high for Miller.

Jay Martens ug calls , Gus calls. Men checks, <8 8 4> two spades. all check. 6 on the turn. Gus 18k. Jay calls. 5 on the river. Gus bets 50k, fold.

Jay Stein ug (under the gun) Stein is all-in for 58k. Corey raises another 100k. All fold. Stein has Q Q. Corey A K of Clubs. Two clubs on the flop. An Ace on the turn. Jan Stein is 9th.

7:30

Danny bets 32k under the gun. No call.

Corey first to act. All fold to Gus 18k. No calls.

Jay 17k, Corey big blind, call. Jay 17k, no call.

Miller 18k ug, Gus calls, Corey calls. <8 4 3> two spades. Corey bets from the small blind 70k. All fold.

Jay makes it 40k, no calls

7:20

Danny bets out to 18k, Shandor and Gus call. Jay in the blind calls. two hearts, Danny makes it 90k to go.
Shandor goes all-in for another 162k. Danny calls. Q J, Q J. This is funny. Anotther split pot. These guys play just alike.


7:15

Gus 22k, Jay calls. <5 4 2 two diamonds> 4 on the turn. Gus 45k, Jay calls, 2 on the river. Gus bets 70k, Jay calls. Jay has A 4 for 4's full. Martens didn't pop Hansen for some reason.

All fold to Gus in the big blind.

Danny calls 6k. Shandor makes it 26k on the button. Master in the big blind is upset with the dealer and folds. Check check, 2 turn. Danny 20k call, K on the river. Danny 90k, call. J 9 straight on the river.

7:05

Miller 18k, The Master calls, calls from the small blind. Chau calls from the big blind. Corey bets 100k. No call.

Miller big blind, Shandor first to act. Danny Nguyen bets 15k from the cutoff seat. Corey calls from the small blind. Heads up. <9 8 4> Check, Coreybets 80k to go from the bb. Danny reraises 200k. Corey all-in. Danny calls. Corey 10 9 vs A K for Nguyen. Corey doubles up to over 600k.

7:00

Danny Nguyen hasn't moved very far, one seat to the left of where he used to work as a dealer at Bay 101. He's taken over the aggressor's role from Gus Hansen, picking up blinds and antes of 18k a pop.

The latest hand:

Chau makes it 25k to go from the 3 seat. Danny is the big blind in the 1 seat. No callers.

Gus 17k, Jay Martens from Vancouver, Canada raises another 100k. No call.

6:50

This could take a while. The average stack almost 500k with the big blind of 6k. Actually it should take a while with this big a multiple, but these players have shown a proclivity to overbet the pots they enter.

6:40

Andy Miller took the first big pot from Gus Hansen when his 64k reraise was called and the flop came A K K. Now Andy's been re-reraised by Chau Vu with a flop of Q 7 6 rainbow. Andy calls another 170k, not all-in. Turn 2. A Q, A Q. A lot of drama for nothing.

6:30

Let's get it on. 1k ante, 3k/6k blinds.

Nine handed now going to six. Gus Hansen and Men Nguyen are the only bounties left.

Danny Nguyen 886k, Cheresnick 314k, Vu 196k, Miller 288k, Szentkuti 504k, Hansen 699k, Men Nguyen 350, Martens 1,014,000, Stein 101k


5:20

James Van Alstyne has had a great year. He won at the Plaza's tournament and has cashed several times elsewhere. This wasn't his day, however. All-in twice as the puny stack, the second time he had 99 and was called by Shandor Szentkuti with K K. Van Alstyne was 10th.

One hour dinner break.

5:10

"I have 14 outs," Gus Hansen said as he saw the pocket 9's Chip Jett turned over. The flop was 6 3 2 with two clubs. Gus had gone all-in first and Chip called quickly. Gus had the 10 6 of Clubs and caught a club on the turn. "It's over," Matt Savage said as Chip just shook his head.

The 10 handed non-TV Final Table is formed.


4:50

Ok, I'll quit whining. Let's have some ALL-IN POKER! It's been an unprecedented 30 minutes since anything special has happened.

4:40

Corey Cheresnick got what he wanted. With a small raise from early position with pocket Kings, Corey got Chau Vu go go all-in from the small blind with pocket Jacks. Corey more than doubles up to 350k.

Still 11 left with 3 stars. 30 minutes remain in this level.

4:20

After four hours a poker game broke out. Suddenly, all-in poker is out. Maybe it has something to do with the ten handed non-TV Final Table that comes with the next elimination.

4:00

Remember Rule #1? Forget it. There's a new sheriff in town. Jay Martens went all-in with A 7 on a rag flop. Danny Nguyen had trapped Jay with two pair 5's and 4's. The board came A A on the turn and river for a 700k pot.

Mike Sexton just came by to comment on how 'fast and furious' the action has been. No one is shy here.

3:50

Table 1
Jett 600k, Miller 300k, Danny Nguyen 900k, Martens 400k, Hanse 650k

Table 2
Van Alstyne 150k, Cheresnick 140k, Szentkuti 400k, Men Nguyen 250k, Vu 350k, Stein 150k

Danny Nguyen took out Allie Prescott with A 2 and two pair. Prescott had pocket Jacks all-in for about 140k and he gets $50,000 for 12th. Tough beat, see Rule #1.

3:20

13th Jason Berligen with a K Q vs Gus Hansen with A Q. Redraw for two tables then a 15 minute break.

3:10

Gus Hansen has taken 200k from Men Nguyen and is in a big pot with him right now. The flop is K 4 4 two diamonds. Men is on the button. They bet and called the flop for 30k and not surprisingly Gus Hansen bet 60k on the turn of a 6. Men folded. Putting Hansen on a hand is tough even for the Master.

The GENERATION 20 group got several new members today. Corey Cheresnick, Michael Miller, James Wilson, Patrik Antonius, Andy Miller and Allie Prescott are all under 30. Must be nice.

3:00

The Magician ran out of tricks. After a first round were he was all-in repeatedly short stacked with the worst of it, Antonio Esfandiari left in 14th with the best hand Q Q. Andy Miller had Esfandiari covered for the all-in 113k with A Q of Hearts. The Ace came on the turn.

Three stars left to be shot at.

2:50

It has finally slowed down a little. Chip Jett just reraised Danny Nguyen all-in for an extra 350k over Danny's 170k preflop in a battle of the blinds. Chip Jett picks up 200k. No call.


2:30

Banned lifted, we are back on the floor. 15 players left, four stars.

Table 1
Allie Prescott 230k, Jan Stein 120k, Danny Nguyen 710k, Chip Jett 520k, James Van Alstyne 180k

Table 2
Gus Hansen 390k, Men Nguyen 450k, Jay Martens 250k, Corey Cheresnick 230k, Jason Berligen 120k

Table 3
Antonio Esfandiari 180k , Andy Miller 180k , Chau Vu 400k, Shandor Szentkuti 180k

Antonius is an honorable man, but he couldn't survive a flopped set of 3's from Chau Vu in 15th.

2:10

Blame it on TV. We've been banned from the floor. We're (the Internet media) too numerous to appear in the WPT shots. So Matt is going to have to give us chip counts.

Redraw:

Table 1
Mosbacher, Prescott, Stein, Danny Nguyen, Chip Jett, Van Alstyne

Table 2
Gus Hansen, Men Nguyen, Martens, Cheresnick, Berligen

Table 3
Esfandiari, Miller, Vu, Szentkuti, Antonius

16th-Gerson Mosbacher for 30k all-in with A K. Danny Nguyen had Q Q. So what else is new?

2:00

As life imitates television, so poker tournaments imitate those on TV. Now it's necessary to play at break neck speed no matter what the blinds are. At this rate, we won't have to edit. They can be played live in real time on air like Turning Stone last year. No fear of long stretches of boring poker.

Jerry Reed wore a beautiful Chinese silk suit. Another player said "I almost wore the same thing. That would have been embarrassing." Funny like. Reed tried the best hand against Gus Hansen, usually a big mistake. Jerry had pocket Queens. Gus had K 10. No waiting for the Great Dane with a King on the flop. Another short stack bites the dust, but at least Reed went out in style. What a gorgeous outfit. Reed was 18th.

In the next minute, Billy Baxter pumped it up with A K. Allie Prescott had 'presto' which would have to be his signiture hand, no? The 5's were good. The great Billy Baxter, and I never use that word loosely, is 17th.

Gerson Mosbacher just walked to his new table and said "The big stacks are playing terribly." I agree. Blame it on TV is my motto. But then we wouldn't have Shana Hiatt.

1:50

Back at it. 500 ante, 2k/4k blinds.

Danny Nguyen has 700k as substancial chip leader. Allie Prescott has 315.

In OHIO news, John Schorr is out in 21st with all-in A 8 for about 60k against Chip Jett's A K. John had a shot on the flop with a straight draw that didn't get there.

Bay 101 employee Barnard Ko lost a 200k pot to Gus Hansen with an all-in form the button with A J. Hansen turned over A Q both hands were offsuit. The Queen played. Bay 101's Ko worker was 20th. One more to another raise to $40,000.

1:30

'Don't mess with the hot guy.' Paulle's Rule #1. John Cernuto said "It's the only hand I've had all day." All day in this case being an hour and a quarter since we started. John went all-in with pocket 8's. Danny Nguyen could play any two cards at this point. He had the K Q of Hearts and flopped the nut straight. Cernuto was 22nd and a bounty.

Four stars left.

Gus Hansen
Chip Jett
Men Nguyen
Antonio Esfandiari

15 minute break.

1:20

Bad news for Michael Miller fans. He sucked out then got sucked out on and is out in 24th. Michael leaves only one Miller left, Andy. Michael had Q 9 and turned a straight. Chip Jett made two pair on the turn and a full house on the river.

Chau Vu continues to make hands. He flopped a set against Mike Woo. Woe is Woo in 23rd.

I'd love to give you more details on these hands but they are coming at the same time.

1:10

All-in poker. Richard Harroch is no dummy. He's the editor of the popular paperback "Poker For Dummies." But his A Q and 20k couldn't wise up Corey Cheresnick with pocket 10's that walked. Richard just missed the big money in 25th. It's $30k now. Just kidding, Richard. (as a writer, it's not smart to ever tease an editor).

1:00

Tony Ma tried pocket Queens short handed all-in for about 50k. They should have been good. But Bernard Ko had pocket Kings behind Tony. This stuff can break your heart. Tony was 27th.

Danny Nguyen has 370k to take over the chip lead as Chau Vu took a couple hundred from James Van Alstyne.

Randy Larson won his seat online for count 'em...$10. That's a $24,990 profit. Nice. Randy was 26th.

This isn't fast, it's mercurial.

12:40

Two bad beats with big slick for two more out. Steve Kim had A K and 11,500 all-in. Antonio Esfandiari had the 'must call' as one of the chip leaders. The Magician made both a straight and a flush appear with his 9 6 offsuit. Kim was 31th.

Even worse than that, Noah Jefferson had A K of Diamonds against Danny Nguyen's A K of Clubs. This is usually a split pot. But Danny is on fire right now and he flopped two clubs and rivered another. Noah needed an ark for all his tears in 30th. At least he made an extra $5,000.

Then Danny Nguyen made the nut straight on the turn with J 10 and got Ian Kalman to go all-in with pocket Aces for 129k. Ian is 29th.

Too fast to send. Phi Nguyen's name isn't Danny. He went all-in for about 70k with A 9 against Jay Martens A Q. When a 9 flopped, Martens had three outs. No problem. Queen on the river. Phi is 28th.



12:20

Well, we got the action that was anticipated and hoped for. Three players out in the first ten minutes.

Sean Daulat mucked when Ian Kalman showed him J 10 with a 10 on the flop. He told John Cernuto he had the J 9 of Clubs and couldn't beat John's A Q offsuit.

Son Ly had pocket 8's. Men Nguyen had Kings.

James Wilson made the mistake of going all-in with a dominant hand A 8 vs K 8 for Billy Baxter. Baxter flopped K 8.

Action! How about Chau Vu taking 200k from starting chip leader James Van Alstyne. The last with trip Jacks and a 10 kciker that played.

We're down to 31.

Van Alstyne, James 411,000 5 6
Prescott, Allie 365,500 6 4
Nguyen, Men 296,500 6 5
Jett, Chip 272,000 3 5
Martens, Jay 240,000 1 4
Hansen, Gus 223,500 3 2
Esfandiari, Antonio 207,000 4 1
Szentkuti, Sandar 186,000 5 5
Cheresnick, Corey 185,500 1 1
Kalman, Ian 179,500 2 6
Nguyen, Danny 171,000 2 2
Ko, Bernard 164,000 3 4
Miller, Andy 154,500 6 2
Cernuto, John 121,000 2 5
Baxter, Billy 112,500 2 1
Reed, Jerry 96,000 4 5
Berligen, Jason 94,000 1 6
Nguyen, Phi 90,000 1 3

Antonius, Patrick 87,500 4 2
Jefferson, Noah 82,000 5 4
Vu, Chau 71,500 5 2
Ma, Tony 62,500 3 3
Mosbacher, Gerson 62,000 4 4
Miller, Michael 61,500 3 1
Harroch, Richard 55,000 1 5
Schaffer, Ryan 53,000 5 3
Schorr, John 51,000 3 6
Stein, Jan 47,500 6 6
Woo, Michael 41,500 1 2
Larson, Randy 35,000 5 1
Kim, Steve 34,500 4 3
Ly, Son 29,000 6 3
Daulat, Sean 21,000 2 4
Wilson, James 18,500 2 3


Cheresnick, Corey 185,500 1 1
Woo, Michael 41,500 1 2
Nguyen, Phi 90,000 1 3

Martens, Jay 240,000 1 4
Harroch, Richard 55,000 1 5
Berligen, Jason 94,000 1 6
Baxter, Billy 112,500 2 1
Nguyen, Danny 171,000 2 2
Wilson, James 18,500 2 3
Daulat, Sean 21,000 2 4
Cernuto, John 121,000 2 5
Kalman, Ian 179,500 2 6
Miller, Michael 61,500 3 1
Hansen, Gus 223,500 3 2
Ma, Tony 62,500 3 3
Ko, Bernard 164,000 3 4
Jett, Chip 272,000 3 5
Schorr, John 51,000 3 6
Esfandiari, Antonio 207,000 4 1
Antonius, Patrick 87,500 4 2
Kim, Steve 34,500 4 3
Mosbacher, Gerson 62,000 4 4
Reed, Jerry 96,000 4 5
Larson, Randy 35,000 5 1

Vu, Chau 71,500 5 2
Schaffer, Ryan 53,000 5 3
Jefferson, Noah 82,000 5 4
Szentkuti, Sandar 186,000 5 5
Van Alystne, James 411,000 5 6
Miller, Andy 154,500 6 2
Ly, Son 29,000 6 3
Prescott, Allie 365,500 6 4
Nguyen, Men 296,500 6 5
Stein, Jan 47,500 6 6

1 $1,025,500 and a $25,000 seat to WPT Championship
2 $600,000
3 $320,000
4 $280,000
5 $240,000
6 $200,000
7 $160,000
8 $130,000
9 $100,000

10 $65,000
11 $50,000
12 $50,000
13 $40,000
14 $40,000
15 $40,000
16 $40,000
17 $40,000
18 $40,000
19 $30,000
20 $30,000
21 $30,000
22 $30,000
23 $30,000
24 $30,000
25 $25,000
26 $25,000
27 $25,000
28 $25,000
29 $25,000
30 $25,000
31 $20,000
32 $20,000
33 $20,000
34 $20,000

12:10

Ready to go!

34 players, 5 stars. Still playing 500 ante, 1,500/3,000 for 82 minutes

Six tables, two of them with 5 players. We should get some action short handed.

I'd be surprised if any player with less than 100,000 makes the Final Table tomorrow.