WSOP Main Event 2005 (Spoilers)

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by vtbub

Sammy Farha gone at around 316th.

Noooooooooo!!

[vtbub]

from cardplayer.com:

With the board showing 5-4-4-3 on the turn, Sammy Farha is all in against John Falconeer at ESPN's Featured Table. Farha shows pocket sevens (an overpair and a gut-shot straight draw), but Falconeer has pocket fives (full house). Farha's straight draw is dead, and he now needs to catch one of the last two sevens in the deck to stay alive. The river card is an 8, and Sammy Farha is eliminated from the Championship Event.

Farha finished in approximately 316th place. He will receive $21,070 for his efforts.

[larrymcg421]

Check this hand out.

Tiffany Williamson ($320,000) has AsQs
Player 2 ($300,000) has AcKh

Tiffany makes it $30k to go. Player 2 raises all in. Tiffany calls???

Board: 5s5cJs3h8s giving Tiffany the flush.

So she won and is among the chip leaders now. It's a good story, but man, how do you call with AQ in that spot?

[SirFozzie]

Good news/Bad News.

The guy I mentioned in that other thread, Christopher "Trocar Slush Weasel" Hamlyn DID make the money.

The bad news is.. he's now out in 295th place. Trocar takes home: $24,365 (before Taxes). Not bad for an online qualifier.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Chubby

so we're talking about what? 1% maybe that benefit from that which still has nothing to do with the $7 million dollar 1st prize in the ME or any of the other smaller events' payouts. Harrah's makes a mint I'm sure off of the WSOP telecasts, the players make nothing off of the telecast.

You don't think the huge field, which pays for the huge prizes, is at all a result of the increased TV coverage over the last few years?

[MJ4H]

Can't believe nobody's bumped this to mention the chipleader:

1 Greg "Fossilman"Raymer $ 1,064,000
2 Rodney Pardey Jr. $ 1,041,000
3 Brad Kondracki $ 962,500
4 Johnny Howard $ 910,500
5 Bob Larsen $ 796,500
6 Tim Phan $ 746,000
7 Phil Ivey $ 722,500
8 Steve Marx $ 679,500
9 S Bartholomew $ 659,000
10 Gabe Wells $ 655,500

[larrymcg421]

Once Raymer gets a big stack, he is very dangerous. He was down to $3500 at one point, went on a rush to get a nice stack and hasn't looked back.

He attacks with his big stack as good as anyone I've ever seen. He did the same thing at last year's WSOP, completely bullying every table he was at.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Once Raymer gets a big stack, he is very dangerous. He was down to $3500 at one point, went on a rush to get a nice stack and hasn't looked back.

He attacks with his big stack as good as anyone I've ever seen. He did the same thing at last year's WSOP, completely bullying every table he was at.

And I'd guess there will be a lot more pressure on the other guys who haven't won the thing already.

[QuikSand]

Well, Raymer has something unique at stake - he could cataput himself into the highest annals of poker stardom with another win, or even a top-tier finish. Honestly, with all the grumblings that Dan Harrington got for making two final tables -- if Raymer wins once and makes another strong finish against a field this huge? He'd clearly set himself apart from the legions of "some guy" players out there who get lucky and win an event here or there.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Well, Raymer has something unique at stake - he could cataput himself into the highest annals of poker stardom with another win, or even a top-tier finish. Honestly, with all the grumblings that Dan Harrington got for making two final tables -- if Raymer wins once and makes another strong finish against a field this huge? He'd clearly set himself apart from the legions of "some guy" players out there who get lucky and win an event here or there.

For some reason he doesn't impress me as the type to get into that part of it.

[timmynausea]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Well, Raymer has something unique at stake - he could cataput himself into the highest annals of poker stardom with another win, or even a top-tier finish. Honestly, with all the grumblings that Dan Harrington got for making two final tables -- if Raymer wins once and makes another strong finish against a field this huge? He'd clearly set himself apart from the legions of "some guy" players out there who get lucky and win an event here or there.

That's what I was thinking. Although I never thought he was an absolute bum, I think he moves into the top tier with a top 10 or so finish this year.

[larrymcg421]

Hallelujah!

Dutch Boyd is all-in preflop with K-10 and is called by Chris Todlewski with A-A. The board comes Q-J-5, giving Boyd an open ended straight draw. The turn is a K. Boyd can now also hit an A for a chop. The river is the 4s, and Dutch Boyd's busted straight is eliminated by Todlewski's pocket Aces.

[Subby]

Dutch Boyd out...guess he won't be paying all those folks back afterall

[Subby]

Tough table:

Seat #4 - Phil Ivey
Seat #5 - John Juanda
Seat #6 - Farzad Bonyadi
Seat #7 - C.K. Hua

[larrymcg421]

From the Gutshot interview with Raymer, he talked about how many people were paying him off. I guess they bought into the "he was lucky" nonsense and call him with lesser hands because they didn't respect him.

[larrymcg421]

I thought this was funny:

What does a bad beat sound like? Cliff Cantor is all in, and when the river card falls, he lets out the F-Bomb loud enough for the entire tournament area to hear. Since he is eliminated on the hand, the ten-minute penalty is pretty irrelevant.

[larrymcg421]

Ivey, Juanda, and Lederer are now at the same table.

I'd get a 10 minute penalty for dropping the f-bomb if I saw all of them coming to my table.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

I'd get a 10 minute penalty for dropping the f-bomb if I saw all of them coming to my table.

I think I'd want a 10 minute penalty for dropping the f-bomb if I saw all of them coming to my table.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

You don't think the huge field, which pays for the huge prizes, is at all a result of the increased TV coverage over the last few years?

nope, as I've already said it's due to the boom in internet poker. it's not like a shitload of people suddenly came into $10k they could spend on a poker tourny. Has tv helped increase the internet poker boom? Sure, but it isn't anywhere near the sole cause for it. There's been a growing internet gambling thing going on for years.

[Chubby]

go Ivey!

[larrymcg421]

Juanda just busted Lederer.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Chubby

nope, as I've already said it's due to the boom in internet poker. it's not like a shitload of people suddenly came into $10k they could spend on a poker tourny. Has tv helped increase the internet poker boom? Sure, but it isn't anywhere near the sole cause for it. There's been a growing internet gambling thing going on for years.

Yeah but Chubby the field MORE THAN DOUBLE from 2003 to 2004, and basically doubled again this year. You're nuts if you think TV isn't responsible for almost all new internet site players.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

Yeah but Chubby the field MORE THAN DOUBLE from 2003 to 2004, and basically doubled again this year. You're nuts if you think TV isn't responsible for almost all new internet site players.

Exactly.

My boy Lederer has busted out.

Interesting that so far ESPN hasn't put Matusow and Raymer together at the featured table. I think someone high up at the network is crossing their fingers that these two will make it to the final table. It should be great TV to see them rekindle the rivalry the sparked at last year's WSOP.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Well, Raymer has something unique at stake - he could cataput himself into the highest annals of poker stardom with another win, or even a top-tier finish. Honestly, with all the grumblings that Dan Harrington got for making two final tables -- if Raymer wins once and makes another strong finish against a field this huge? He'd clearly set himself apart from the legions of "some guy" players out there who get lucky and win an event here or there.

I'm not one to argue with results, so despite the fact that I can't really embrace Raymer as one of my preferred players, I think he deserves much more credit than he's received.

Despite that, if Raymer does repeat at the final table, I think he'll still be knocked as lucky because of his style of play. People see Dan Harrington and I think have more respect for that because he is so conservative and deliberate. Raymer is so much more aggressive and ends up in more than his fair share of races and appears to be more lucky, regardless of whether that is reality.

[larrymcg421]

It's a huge misnomer that Harrington doesn't get lucky. He was all in and cracked Aces with Jacks on day three last year when a four flush hit. Otherwise, no one would be talking about his back to back performances. We just haven't seen him get lucky. Raymer seems lucky because he builds big stacks and makes calls that people like Harrington aren't willing to make.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

Interesting that so far ESPN hasn't put Matusow and Raymer together at the featured table.

Does ESPN get to choose who's at each table?

[larrymcg421]

No ESPN doesn't get to choose the table seating. It's completely random. But they know the table seatings ahead of time and get to pick the feature table accordingly.

The last two years they have been very lucky by getting the eventual champion on Day 3. In 2003 they had Moneymaker with Lederer, Darden, and Chan and last year they had Raymer and Matusow.

[hoopsguy]

This sounds a little brutal ...

With the board showing 7-5-3-K Greg Raymer bets $80,000 and Tex Barch calls. The river brings a 6. Barch bets out $400,000 and Raymer calls. Barch shows 9-8, for a rivered gutshot. Raymer ships over $500,000 to Barch on the hand and is down to $700,000 in chips.

If he is shipping over 500k, then it sounds like Burch called down a pot-sized bet on the turn to try and hit his gutshot. Would really be interested in hearing the suits to know if the guy called that bet with four outs (assuming overs aren't playing here). Of course, Tex had some chips to play with - 1.4mil, just behind Raymer at last chip count, so maybe he decided to cowboy up and gamble? Either way, that result had to be hard for Raymer to stomach.

[larrymcg421]

At the final table last year, Raymer lost a TON of chips really quickly. At least two times he re-raised someone to $500k, but had to fold after they moved all in on him. He rebounded from that pretty well, so I think he'll be alright.

[MJ4H]

I wouldnt try to analyze it too much, thats at least the 3rd COMPLETELY DIFFERENT way ive seen that hand described (as in different cards for barch and different cards on the board).

[larrymcg421]

Yeah Gutshot has a different description.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

At the final table last year, Raymer lost a TON of chips really quickly. At least two times he re-raised someone to $500k, but had to fold after they moved all in on him. He rebounded from that pretty well, so I think he'll be alright.

Lets make sure we are being realistic here. Even if he did lose 500k very quickly, which I dont remember happening (watched the final table live on poker stars relay), he had over 8 million chips at that point. Here, he is down to 700,000, which I think is barely over average for the tournament, now.

[larrymcg421]

I know what you mean about the difference in stack sizes, but I'd argue that he'd be better prepared to deal with it as a returning WSOP champ than he was last year. Here are the hands from last year's WSOP:

3:38 PM
Hand #38, Arieh's button. Arieh opens for $175,000 from the button, Raymer raises to $500,000 from the button, and Arieh calls. The flop comes 8h 9s As. Raymer checks, and Arieh moves all in. Raymer removes his reptilian sunglasses, thinks, and folds. 3:47 PM
Hand #40, Raymer's button. Under the gun, Hughes opens for $175,000, Raymer reraises to $500,000, and Hughes moves all in over the top. There is a lengthy staredown between Raymer and Hughes, but Raymer eventually folds. Raymer has quickly lost a lot of chips.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

I know what you mean about the difference in stack sizes, but I'd argue that he'd be better prepared to deal with it as a returning WSOP champ than he was last year. Here are the hands from last year's WSOP:

I wouldn't call 40 hands in very quickly, personally. Hadn't he already busted McClain and maybe even Anderson by then?

[cthomer5000]

And Raymer appears to have won two big hands and is now reportedbly back at 1.8 million chips (stealing this from 2+2, no idea about source)

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

I wouldn't call 40 hands in very quickly, personally. Hadn't he already busted McClain and maybe even Anderson by then?

Yes he did, but what I meant was he lost $1 million in two out of three hands. I guess what I'm trying to say is he is no Olof Thorsen and wouldn't steam his way out after taking a hit like that.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Yes he did, but what I meant was he lost $1 million in two out of three hands. I guess what I'm trying to say is he is no Olof Thorsen and wouldn't steam his way out after taking a hit like that.

Point.

[larrymcg421]

My dream final table consisting of Raymer, Ivey, and Matusow is coming close to reality.

[larrymcg421]

Damn Raymer!

After a flop of As-Js-8c, Greg Raymer bets about $80,000, Tex Barch raises to about $220,000, and Raymer pushes all in. Word quickly spreads through the media and the fans that crowd-favorite Greg Raymer is all in, and a swarm quickly descends on the table. Just as quickly as everyone arrives, they soon become as motionless as Raymer himself, who calmly stares back at Barch through his signature reptilian sunglasses.

Barch, however, is in motion. He's adjusting his hat, counting out his chips, looking at Raymer's chips, and studying the defending World Champion as he contemplates whether or not to call. They are close enough in chips that this is a make-it-or-break-it hand for both of them. Looking at Raymer more closely, his breathing is normal, and he is so relaxed, at first glance you wouldn't think he was even involved in the hand.

Nobody calls the clock, even though it seems like an eternity. The break has started, and most of the players are already out of the tournament area. But nobody ever calls the clock.

After four agonizing minutes, Tex Barch folds, and Raymer's supporters (and there are plenty) breathe a huge sigh of relief.

I can't wait to see this hand on ESPN to see what they had.

[timmynausea]

That was pretty suspenseful just to read. I guess I'm pulling for Raymer at this point. I wouldn't mind seeing Ivey win, but I like Raymer more.

[timmynausea]

Here are the chip counts from the end of the day. It's hard to believe it's already down to 58. Raymer hurt himself a bit at the end of the day.


1 Tim Phan $ 3,244,000
2 Mike Matusow $ 2,561,000
3 Farzad Bonyadi $ 2,402,000
4 Steve Danaman $ 2,143,000
5 Phil Ivey $ 2,027,000
6 Tex Barch $ 2,025,000
7 Tiffany Williamson $ 1,992,000
8 Johnny Howard $ 1,806,000
9 Scott Lazar $ 1,629,000
10 Tuan Vu $ 1,571,000
11 Gregory Rice $ 1,414,000
12 Raymi Sanchesz Thorn $ 1,288,000
13 Lee Watkinson $ 1,221,000
14 Tom Sartori $ 1,208,000
15 Daniel Bergsdorf $ 1,144,000
16 Brad Koundracki $ 1,136,000
17 Minh Ly $ 1,102,000
18 Terry Burt $ 1,080,000
19 Steve Marx $ 1,042,000
20 Per Hildebrand $ 1,017,000
21 Michael Kessler $ 986,000
22 Shahram $ 983,000
23 Patrick Hayden $ 972,000
24 Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf $ 968,000
25 John Juanda $ 841,000
26 Joseph Hachem $ 814,000
27 Nick Givson $ 811,000
28 John McGrane $ 780,880
29 Aaron Kanter $ 778,000
30 Ayhan Alsancak $ 775,000
31 Greg "Fossil Man" Raymer $ 766,000
32 Radu Butan $ 762,000
33 Bing Wang $ 739,000
34 Oskar Silow $ 720,000
35 Adam Friedman $ 719,000
36 James Butt $ 716,000
37 Russell "The Muscle" Salzer $ 710,000
38 Bryant King $ 702,000
39 Frankling Caldwell $ 690,000
40 Yakov Hirsch $ 658,000
41 Joe Connor $ 641,000
42 Mark Forrester $ 628,000
43 Karlo Lopez $ 607,000
44 Joe Stillman $ 584,000
45 Kevin Kaikko $ 571,000
46 Tony Abesamis $ 513,000
47 Kenna James $ 510,000
48 Hung La $ 505,000
49 David Richardson $ 501,000
50 Roland Israelashvici $ 469,000
51 Francis W O'Brien $ 423,000
52 Bernard Lee $ 379,000
53 Andrew Black $ 371,000
54 Conor Tate $ 368,000
55 Derek Dix $ 202,000
56 Rod Pardey Jr. $ 187,000
57 Larry Prugh $ 166,000
58 Jarl Lindholt $ 101,000

[SirFozzie]

Geeez.. today's going to be short, they were only going to play down to 27

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Geeez.. today's going to be short, they were only going to play down to 27

Seems to me like they should plow down to the final table, give those dudes a day off, then finsih it off.

The planning has been suspect in a few areas this year... like stopping 7 players short of the money that one day - why not play down to the money the day before, then start up the next day with everyone in the money?

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

Seems to me like they should plow down to the final table, give those dudes a day off, then finsih it off.

The planning has been suspect in a few areas this year... like stopping 7 players short of the money that one day - why not play down to the money the day before, then start up the next day with everyone in the money?

They pretty much had to. They played for 15 hours at the point and I think it took almost another two-plus hours to eliminate those seven players ... they would have been playing for almost 18 hours straight, and the players would have hated that even more.

The field has whittled down faster than they expected. They are apparently still sticking to the original schedule of playing down to 27 today before moving to Binion's. There were rumors they would play down to the final table today and take Thursday off so ESPN would have more time to set up, but that has been denied repeatedly by the tourney officials.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

No ESPN doesn't get to choose the table seating. It's completely random. But they know the table seatings ahead of time and get to pick the feature table accordingly.

ESPN indeed gets to pick the table it wants of all the available tables to put on air. In theory those tables are assigned randomly, but the featured table is treated somewhat differently than the other tables in that they shift players much less frequently and don't replace eliminated players as frequently to keep play going. The ESPN tables run a bit behind the rest of the field because it takes time to set up and mic everyone, so it takes longer to play the tables and they have a different level clock.

That said, I'm not entirely convinced that the table settings at the WSOP are completely random. I'm not indulging in any conspiracy theories, but I'm not convinced that it's completely random.

Clearly Matusow has emerged as ESPN darling. He's been at the featured table almost exclusively the last two days. The media can't get close enough to hear what's being said, and all the audio goes straight to ESPN, but apparently he's been quite the character.

[Chubby]

but why feature him if we don't want swearing? think of the children!!!

[Comey]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

ESPN indeed gets to pick the table it wants of all the available tables to put on air. In theory those tables are assigned randomly, but the featured table is treated somewhat differently than the other tables in that they shift players much less frequently and don't replace eliminated players as frequently to keep play going. The ESPN tables run a bit behind the rest of the field because it takes time to set up and mic everyone, so it takes longer to play the tables and they have a different level clock.

That said, I'm not entirely convinced that the table settings at the WSOP are completely random. I'm not indulging in any conspiracy theories, but I'm not convinced that it's completely random.

Clearly Matusow has emerged as ESPN darling. He's been at the featured table almost exclusively the last two days. The media can't get close enough to hear what's being said, and all the audio goes straight to ESPN, but apparently he's been quite the character.

There was a table that had Lederer, Ivey, Juanda, CK Hua, and a couple big stacks (I believe). That was not a featured table, but Howard Lederer told CardPlayer that an ESPN person told him that if the table werent' scheduled to be broken down next, it would've been moved to the featured table.

Take that for what you will. CardPlayer has stated that ESPN has no say in who goes where. I used to hold the same belief as you, but I no longer do.

[Mr. Wednesday]

The way I read that, ESPN thought that the table was compelling enough that, if it had been going to stay together, they would have turned it into the feature table. That is, they don't have a say in who winds up together at a table, but they have control over which table they decide to feature.

[Maple Leafs]

FossilMan showed up at the 2+2 boards to explain his version of the incident in which he threatened to kill a fan.

My wife was sitting in the press area, where only press and staff are allowed. She got special dispensation from the staff to be there. Some guy comes in who is not allowed, sits next to her, and starts asking her all about our daughter. He wants to know where she is, who's watching her now, what she looks like, and my wife is totally freaking out from his questions and attitude. She asks to have him removed, and tells me what was going on. I look at him on the rail a minute later, and he's pointing at her, pointing at me, talking to people in the crowd, and has a psycho-mad look on his face.

I stand up and tell him to watch himself. He has an even angrier look on his facee, and yells out that he was just asking about my daughter. My immediate reaction, based upon his demeanor and attitude is that he really is a threat. I told him that if he messed with my daugher or family, I would kill him. I shouted all this across a 20 foot gap, and yes, everyone could here it, and it happened.

And I wasn't lying. If anybody messes with my family, I'm going to kill them as certainly as I possibly can.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[Mr. Wednesday]

Haven't seen it mentioned... Jay Lovinger has his WSOP diary up on ESPN.com.