Event #13 $5,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em ....They're in the money, they're in the money......


Looks like we will be in for 10 people instead of 9 at 3pm pacific time. See ya manana.

3:15
Looks like we might have number eleven rolling off the line here pretty quickly. I know, I know, chip and a chair, and that is exactly what Shae Drubushevich now has after going all in after Gavin Smith raised to 15K. Gavin called and showed AQ and Shae AJ. The AQ was good enough, but, a Q came on the river to clench it. Shae is all in with his one chip and doenst find a thing to help.

11 Shae Drubushevich $24,090

3:05
Damage control....Well, QQ just came through for John Hennigan. Todd Brunson called his all in move with AhKh and J 3 6 6 J rolled off the deck to double John up and leave Todd gasping for air.

3AM
2500/5000 and 500 ante.....let her rip!

2:35
But first a break from our sponsors....(well, ok, the guys had to go see a man about a dog)
Two more and we'll have our final nine.
2:25
Right after removing Mr. La, Ms. Lieu had her own exit. She was already in "deep doo doo" after tangling with Steve Zoine. She had a big pair this time but not big enough to wrestle down Steve's pocket kings. The next hand left her with virtually no chips and facing the big blind. She had an ace and tried to make it work for her to no avail.

12 Liz Lieu $25,090

2:12
Meng could hold on no longer, especially when presented with such a beautiful woman and her pair. All night Liz Lieu has called with small pairs and made them stand up to huge over cards. Meng had the AT this trip only to find them to be no good. Her 6 6 wins.He made it a really far considering he was tetering on the brink of disaster for about the past 4 hours.

13 Meng La $19,710

2:03
This time T.J. survived a call with the lesser hand. He got into it with Julian Gardner, each having an ace with a questionable kicker. T.J. had a 7 vs Julians 8 and yanked a 7 out of thin air for the take down.

14 Julian Gardner $19,710

1:45
Blinds are 2K/4K with 500 ante
Post Break Chip Count (approximate)


Neal Wang- 700,000
John Bonetti- 300,000
Steve Zoine- 2002,000
Shae Drubushevich- 185,000
Todd Brunson- 175,000
Tony Ma- 150,000
John Hennigan- 115,000
T.J Cloutier- 105,000
Liz Leui- 90,000
Gavin Smith- 85,000
Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf- 80,000
Julian Gardner- 65,000
Jason Berilgen- 55,000
Meng La- 17,000

1:20
Ruuuuuuuuuuuumble......... John Bonetti and T.J. Cloutier go at it! T.J. shows QQ and John JK off. Do I need to tell you the outcome? Oh, OK. 2 K 6 T 5 and you have one unhappy T.J.

The players are on a 15 minute break.

Just a few points of interest. Meng La has gone all in at least 8 times and has stayed alive through maybe 10-12 bust outs.

Neal Wang is so very quiet and almost shy. But there are two words his table is tiring of....."all in". No matter what the bet, the power of his chip position puts the fear of wrath into the heart of whomever raise. Players acquiesce time and time again. His stack is ginormous!!!!

15 Jon Brody $19,710


1AM
Neal Wang raises to 15K from UTG. Jennifer Harman quickly says all in and the rest of the field folds..........except for Neal. He answers her by a call. She shows AK and he TT. The board come T J K, but peters out bringing no Q for Jennifer. She goes out 16th

16 Jennifer Harman $15,330

12:52
With the blinds at 1500K/3000K and the ante at 500, some players are finding they have to make a move.

12:45
With nuttin' but net, Sean McCabe found the horses he wanted to race and took his AQ against Liz Lieu's 55. The board disappointed him with 4 T K 3 K keeping her 55 healthy and strong.

17 Sean McCabe $15,330


12:40
Ah those women. You lift up the corner of your cards ever so gently only to find them smiling at you with their evil ways. They provoke you into doing things you wouldnt normally do.........and sure enough, Ben Johnson fell in love with them and went againt the other evil hand, big slick. Steven Zoine caught the Ace on the flop and the queens giggled all the way to the cashier. Why oh why do we always believe in them???? Personally I have lost more tournaments with them than, well, maybe, big slick.

18 Ben Johnson $15,330

12:21
16,17 and 18 will get $15,330 for their effort

12:20
Down to two tables. Now we have to redraw again for seats. Hang on.

19 Jesus Moquendo $10,950

12:15
20 Robbie Frank $10,950

11:40
21 Steve Edelson $10,950

Neal Wang- 450,000
T.J Cloutier- 245,000
John Bonetti- 195,000
Julian Gardner- 125,000
Todd Brunson- 137,000
John Hennigan- 125,000
Shae Drobushevich- 125,000
Jon Brody- 108,000
Dustin Woolf- 77,500
Gavin Smith- 68,500
Jennifer Harman- 68,000
Jason Berilgen- 56,000
Liz Leui- 48,000
Tony Ma- 27,000
Sean Mccabe- $40,000
Meng La- 22,000
Ben Johnson- 17,500
Steve Zoine - 68,000
Jesus Moquendo -35,000


11:30
Dont get excited...NOW they are really coloring up the black chips. They will carry on in just a few minutes. The stacks look smaller, but the denominations are bigger. But they are easier to count....

11:27

22 Marc Aubin $10,950

Marc bites the dust when his JJ finds a third on the flop only to be eaten alive by Liz Lieu's KK when the King arrives to finish him off.

11:15

23 Mickey Appleman $10,950

11:00
Neal Wang has about 350K in chips. T.J. Cloutier follows with about 250K. Then John Bonetti at about 150K. Robbie Franks really jumped up the ladder with that last hand and he too has about 150K. Dustin "neverwin" is. He is about up to 77K now.

10:44
Louis Asmo just finished his work for the day. He thanks all you guys who have been emailing me for following him today.

24 Louis Asmo$10,950

10:30
Reza misses making it to the final table again this year. He pitted his JJ against an AQ suited. The AQ called Reza's all in move and caught a Queen. The Queen showed up on the flop and never got any better for him. Robbie Frank adds a bundle to his stack and is going for the gold.

25 Reza Payvar $10,950
26 Mike Manttan $10,950
27 Patrik Antonius $10,950

10:25
There are a lot of really big stacks, but, in my minds eye, Neal Wang has the lions share in comparison. The next player to finish up will receive $10,950. The players are cashing in all their black chips ($100) now and it is taking a few minutes. It wont be long now. OK...they didnt really color up. It was just that Neal Wang had about a billion in hundred dollar chips and HE had to color up.

10:19

"Neverwin" is up to 51K for you fans out there.

10:15
Seats are being changed for the remaining 27 players.

10:14
28 Gregg Turk $8,760
Gregg had a pair and his opponent had A6 of hearts. The river came a'flowin for Mark Aubin to take Gregg's pair out.

10:10
Bump it up again to 12K/24K with a $400 ante.

9:42
Tiny break.

29 Eric Ford $8,760

9:33
Jennifer and Liz, both in high cotton. News at 11.

9:28
Steven Metzger played the ole SATAN hand (named by my friend Nolan in Austin). The cutoff raised to 6K. Steve called from the small blind and Jennifer H called from the big blind. The flop comes 9d 4h 2c. The cutoff bets 10K (leaving him pretty short). Steven pushes all his chips in and is promptly followed by Jennifer with her chip dump and down to the felt. Feeling pretty whipsawed, the cutoff thought for a long time and decided to make a laydown. Jennifer happily flips over 44 making her a fat set. Steve has A J. The turn comes a 3 giving Jennifer a skipped heartbeat and then leveled out with a 6. Her set makes history and Steven Metzger goes out 30th.

30 Steven Metzger $8,760
31 Senthil Kumar $8,760

9:20
Meng La gave it a shot but had to chop it up with Robin Frank. Both held aces with some other small card and the board kept Meng alive for another play at it.
9:15
Had to go check on "my girls". Jennifer Harman and Liz Lieu still hangin' with the ole guys. Jennifer has about 35 while Liz is managing a little larger stack of about 90K.

9:10
A.J. Kelsall stood up and wished his table good luck as he lost his final hand. He smiled and went to collect his win. What a nice man.

32 A.J. Kelsall $8,760

9:05
Isabel Mercier makes a move with 7c8c. She is called by Gavin Smith. It was 16,500 to call and he held "presto" (55). The board made a full house for Gavin, 9 9 9 4 2 and sent Isabel to the spa.

33 Isabel Mercier $8,760
8:58

34 Joseph Bartholdi $8,760
35 Morgan Machina $8,760
That trouble hand KQ ran into AQ, both catching a Q and the Ace towered over the King.

8:55
Meng La and Isabel Mercier are sitting next to each other, seat 8 and 9. Both are grinding it out as Meng has only 25K and Isabel about 16K. I feel aggression in the air as Meng picked up about 10K by making two all in moves to build up to 25K. Isabel follows suit and pushes all in in early position and picks up the antes and the blinds.

8:50
Preflop T.J. bets 6,500 and is called by Julian Gardner. Flop comes 5s 7h 2s and T.J. bets 30K. Julian smells a rat...folds and T.J. flaunts his gorgeous A A.

8:45
When the group got back from dinner, they moved up the scale to 300 ante and 1K/2K blinds.

36 Bill Blanda $8,760

8:30
Dusin "Neverwin" Woolf says Howdy to all his fans out there! (im getting lots of emails) He has about 40K and seems happy as a pig in slop.

7:15
Dinner Break. Go getcha two all beef patties, special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun.......and we'll meet back here to play down to the final 9. These 4 are goin' for the gusto.

T.J. Cloutier $ 200,000
Reza Payvar $ 120,000
Julian Gardner $ 110,000
John Bonetti $ 100,000


6:52
T.J. cleans house and takes out Chris Bigler and Vinny Napolitano.

37 Kevin Saul $6,570
38 Chris Bigler $6,570
39 Vinny Napolitano $6,570

6:30
Neal Wang, John Bonetti and T.J. Cloutier battle for chip leader.


6:25
With the blinds at 800/1600 and an ante of 200, the players are in for about 4K every round. Eric Ford pushed all in and Vinny Napoliano said "I know you have me beat" and proceeds to call. ????? Vinny shows Ac 8c and Eric big slick unsuited. The board brings a K for Eric and nada for Vinny. Lots of chips shift over to Erics stack and Vinnie is in a bit of trouble now.

6:20
Mickey Appleman, a quiet slight man, has been to the felt several times and has come back over and over. He just confronted Reza Payvar with an all in bet with this showing on the board. Tc Td Jd Kd. Reza had delicately checked to him after the flop and turn. At this point he made his move and backed Reza into the fold. His chip stack is growing substantially.

Mickey is a poker professional yet he dresses in, shall we say, "street attire". He holds 4 WSOP bracelets to date. People never cease to amaze me.

6:10
40 Chad Layne $6,570
41 Matthew Glantz $6,570

6:00
42 Johan Storakers $6,570
43 Antonio Esfandiari $6,570

5:50
The players are roaming around now with drinks in hand, some with food, some just pacing. It's time to get the cards in the air and see who makes it a little farther.


Players get a 15 minute respite

5:30
Bill Blanda, another Texan just took Paul "quack quack" out with AQ vs KJ. The board was unremarkable and took Paul out of the game.

44 Paul Magriel $6,570

5:28 Saddenz....my buddy Don Mullis took 45th for the first payout. Pocket KK vs Don's AdQd. No help arrived.

45 Don Mullis $6,570

5:16
Erin Ness held her breath and pushed her remaining 1,800 into the pot on a KT. The seat to her left, Ben Johnson said "ill give you some protection" and raised to 6K. No one bothered to get in with them. He showed QQ. The board came A 5 7, then a J...gving her hope....but the 4 on the river gave her no happiness....just bubbleness. The next 45 get paid. Going to 5 tables now ... let the games begin!

5:15
"Quack quack" just ran out of luck when he took a flush draw to the end only to be taken by a wheel. He had to push 31K to the other player and I saw no grinnin' this time.


5:10 Money money money money..........moooooooooooney........
One more to go and everyone left goes home a winner.

4:32
Chris never recovered from the beating he took from Paul. He got all in against him again. Now Paul, he is a unique player. He is wearing a red shirt and a red watch on each arm. Chris moved all in after the flop of Th Ts Jd and was called again by Paul and then by Steve Edelson. The turn brings an 8d.There is a side pot brewing for Paul and Steve but Paul mutters, "big quack quack...22,000". The dealer asks, "are you saying you bet 22,000". Paul shakes his head wildly and says yes. Steve quickly dumps his cards, Chris turns over Ad 4d and Paul shows the 7s 9s for the straight. The 5h on the river did nothing and Chris calls it a day.

4:25
51 left. Ivo Donev lost with that AQ against 55. Im beginning to believe more and more that AQ is evil.
4:20
H. Voulgaris is out taking up to 52. The "Godfather of Poker" John Bonetti from Houston Texas (ya know how I love my Texans) is currently chip leader.

4:00
Break time and the blinds shoot higher when they return. (not to mention Chris's blood pressure!) As strange as it seems, we are going now from 500/1000 to 600/1200. This is gonna be a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng night.

3:57
OMG...OMG....Chris Tsiprailidis just had the bloody hand from hell. Oh golly. He went all in with TT and Paul Magriel called with AK. The flop came T34, nearly locking up the win for Chris until the turn brought a Q and yes you guessed it, the river a J. Chris hit the table and ^#^$&$# was said as he stomped off. I dont blame him a bit. Then Paul gave a s_ _ _ eating grin and scooped his chips. It left Chris short, but still in the game.

3:52
Just caught the tail end of a good one. T.J. Cloutier had 22 and got Hoyt Corkins all in somehow. The board was brutal for T.J., giving Hoyt a happy grin, soon to be shortlived. K 6 6 Q turned to hell in a hand basket when T.J. spiked the 2 on the river and sent Hoyt packing.

Down to 53.


3:31
Looks like we are down to 54 players now. The blinds are 500/1000 with 100 ante and will increase in about 15 minutes.

3:23
Shane Schleger just got most of his chips in with AQ. He ran up against a pair of sixes. The board brought only little cards and left Shane with 2,100. The bb came his way the very next hand and he got his last chip in with the As 7c. He was ahead preflop agains KQ, but the board disappointed him with the flop immediately bringing Q K 7. Junk followed and Shane is out.


2:59
Gearing up and revvin' the engines for day two of the $5K NLHE events.


60 Players Remaining Players Going into Day 2


Player Name Hometown Chip Count Table # Seat #

Chris Bigler Las Vegas, NV $113,700 128 9
John Bonetti Houston, TX $112,100 118 6
Patrik Antonius Helsinki $109,000 129 9
T.J. Cloutier Richardson, TX $96,700 128 2
Liz Lieu Los Angeles, CA $92,000 129 7
Reza Payvar Los Angeles, CA $81,000 119 10
Morgan Machina Mission Viejo, CA $71,600 130 1
Bill Blanda Houston, TX $70,600 129 4
Hoyt Corkins Glenwood $63,800 128 8
Vinny Napolitano Williston Park, NY $62,000 128 5
Meng La Torrance, CA $60,100 118 7
Sean McCabe Sunny Isles Bch, FL $57,100 129 6
Senthil Kumar $55,500 129 1
Robbie Frank Evansville, IN $55,100 117 5
Neal Wang $54,000
Steven Zoine Merrick, NY $50,200 117 8
Gregg Turk Sterling, VA $50,100 119 6
Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf Los Angeles, CA $48,600 117 6
Hieu "Tony" Ma $48,200 119 9
Jennifer Harman Las Vegas, NV $47,900 117 3
Marc Aubin Montreal, Canada $45,400 117 4
Jon Brody Davie, FL $44,900 130 5
Jeses Moquendo $44,600 129 5
Kevin Song Rowland Hts, CA $41,100 118 4
Louis J. Asmo Dublin, OH $40,800 129 8
Julian Gardner Manchester, UK $36,400 128 1
Joseph N Bartholdi Riverside, CA $36,000 129 3
Antonio Esfandiari San Francisco $35,900 130 4
Gavin Griffin Darien, IL $30,200 119 5
A.J. Kelsall Lutz, FL $30,100 118 9
H. Voulgaris Winnineg, MB $29,500 118 1
Shane Schleger New York City $29,500 118 10
Todd Brunson Bagdad $28,900 130 2
John Hennigan Philadelphia, PA $28,900 128 6
Don Mullis Mooresville, NC $28,700 130 3
Paul Magriec Las Vegas, NV $28,400 130 7
Isabelle Mercier Montreal, Canada $25,400 130 9
Billy Ouarte Berthoud, CO $25,000 117 2
Chad Layne Las Vegas, NV $24,500 128 7
Steven Jacobs Philadelphia, PA $24,500 119 8
Matthew Glantz Lafayette Hill, PA $24,500 118 2
Gavin Smith Las Vegas, NV $24,100 118 3
Mike Manttan Sydney $21,900 118 5
Steven Metzger New York City $20,100 117 1
Kevin Saul Chicago, IL $17,300 117 7
Johan Storakers Stockholm $17,300 117 9
Shae Drobushevich Moline, IL $17,100 118 8
Jason Berilgen Houston, TX $17,100 117 10
Paul Sexton San Diego, CA $15,600 119 1
Erin Ness $12,900 119 3
Benjamin Roberts London, UK $12,600 128 3
Steve Edelson Atlanta, GA $12,400 130 8
Mickey Appleman Fontleg, NJ $10,800 119 2
Chris Tsiprailidis Syracuse $10,700 130 6
Ben Johnsan $10,500 119 4
Ivo Donev Bregenz $10,000 130 10
Dani Awad Las Vegas, NV $9,000 129 2
Eric Ford Tigaro, OR $8,100 128 4


Prize Money Breakdown

1 $657,100
2 $352,620
3 $175,215
4 $153,315
5 $131,410
6 $109,510
7 $87,610
8 $65,705
9 $43,805
10 $24,090
11 $24,090
12 $24,090
13 $19,710
14 $19,710
15 $19,710
16 $15,330
17 $15,330
18 $15,330
19 $10,950
20 $10,950
21 $10,950
22 $10,950
23 $10,950
24 $10,950
25 $10,950
26 $10,950
27 $10,950
28 $8,760
29 $8,760
30 $8,760
31 $8,760
32 $8,760
33 $8,760
34 $8,760
35 $8,760
36 $8,760
37 $6,570
38 $6,570
39 $6,570
40 $6,570
41 $6,570
42 $6,570
43 $6,570
44 $6,570
45 $6,570