Day 1B of the WPT World Championship
Monday, 21 April 2008
Anyone who worried that the turn out on Day 1A would be a sign of a
quiet WPT Championship had those fears soothed when 325 came to
play some cards. With a total prize pool of just over $13,200,000,
two new millionaires will be made at the WPT Champi
Anyone who worried that the turn out on Day 1A would be a sign of a
quiet WPT Championship had those fears soothed when 325 came to
play some cards. With a total prize pool of just over $13,200,000,
two new millionaires will be made at the WPT Championship final
table.
With the slow blind increments, there was plenty of time for
players to work their way into a strong position – something which
Tom Dwan did while wearing a silly hat. We kid you not. After
losing a prop bet with Alan Sass, the young internet prodigy come
live-game shark had to do his day’s work wearing a Chiquita banana
hat. The bet? Whether he would make it to the tournament on time, a
feat he didn’t manage having overslept. He will now have to do the
rest of the tournament wearing said hat.
With such a large starting stack and a long, drawn out blind
structure, the tournament itself took a back seat to prop bets and
other malarkey surrounding the Fontana Lounge.
One of the most talked about hands cropped up between Jordan
Morgan and Joe Hachem, who found a way to fold the second nuts on
the turn. Morgan raised to 700 and was called by three players
including Hachem on the button. The flop came A-7-4 and was checked
around. The turn brought a 6, and Morgan made it 2,000 to go. When
it folded around to Hachem the Aussie raised it to 7,000 for Morgan
to reraise it to12,000. Hachem put in a third raise to 22,000 total
and Morgan moved all in for his last 27,000. With his own stack
around the 27,000 mark as well, Hachem eventually folded 5-3 face
up, only for Morgan to show him pocket Aces. The fold is one which
certainly got the rail and other pros talking.
While the pace of play was slower than the preceeding day, there
were still some high-profile casualties. Phil Laak, Allen
Cunningham, Lee Watkinson, Andy Bloch, Gavin Griffin, and Barry
Shulman are among those who won’t be coming back for Day 2.
Paul Chauderson - 200,900
Kenny Tran - 193,025
Robert Mizrachi - 173,375
Juan Carlos Mortensen - 172,075
Jordan Morgan - 171,750
David Benyamine - 169,350
Tom Dwan - 155,675
Joe Tehan - 143,275
J.C. Tran - 138,350
James Mordue - 137,500