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Event #57 Main Event Day 8

Day 8

World Series of Poker Main Event Notes from Day 7:

Day 7 began with 64 players. The day ended with 27 survivors. All 64 players who started play on Day 7 were already guaranteed $90,344 in prize money. Now, after 12 days and 60 total hours of tournament play, all finishers are guaranteed at least $352,832 in prize money. Tomorrow (Wednesday) begins at noon and will play down to nine players, which constitutes the final table. This year�s final table will make up the 2009 "November Nine." Following tomorrow�s play down to nine players, the tournament takes a 115-day recess.

Players competed for nearly four complete levels. Play ended towards the end of Level 29. There are 7 minutes 17 seconds remaining. Next, at Level 30, blinds will be 50,000-100,000 with a 10,000 ante. The average stack size is currently 7,215,556. Only one female started the day still in contention. Leo Margets (Barcelona, Spain) began play ranked in 18th place. She survived and is currently in 26th place. Margets will need to make a big move on Day 8 to make the November Nine. Seven-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Ivey remains in contention, currently ranked in fourth place.

12:10 PM -- Day 8 has begun with just a few minutes left in level 29. Jordan Smith is off to a great start as he took over 1 million chips from Phil Ivey and another 650,000 from Joe Cada.

12:46 PM -- The last woman in the field became the first one out today. Ending a great performance was Leo Margets who busted in 27th place. Margets raised Warren Zackey with all her chips and lost to the two pair Zackey made (4's and 10's) by the river. She takes home $352,832 for her efforts.

Soon after Margets came Jesse Haabak finishing in 26th. He also became a victim of Zackey as his hand of Q 9 suited, lost to Zackey's A K which became two pair on the flop, dominating the hand.

1:26 PM -- Francois Balmigere just ended his run for the bracelet and finished in 25th place after his pocket J's lost to the 10 high straight of Billy Kopp. Antonio Esfandiari picked up the money for 24th place after his pocket 5's lost to the paired 10's of Steve Begleiter. The top 6 players at this time are:
  1. Billy Kopp -- 21,200,000
  2. Darvin Moon -- 17,500,000
  3. Steve Begleiter -- 15,200,000
  4. Kevin Schaffel -- 12,300,000
  5. Eric Buchman -- 12,000,000
  6. Jeff Shulman -- 10,800,000
2:24 PM -- Action is at level 30 where blinds are $60,000/$120,000 with a $15,000 ante. Ivey is slowly making his way back up after a huge loss to Marco Mattes which reduced his stack to about 5.8 million.

3:26 PM -- Billy Kopp has been winning chips and is up to 27 million, but his table isn't really being watched so how he is doing it we really haven't found out yet. Ivey unfortunately keeps having other players take chunks out of his stack, so he is around 5.5 million.

Marco Mattes finished in 23rd place when he pushed with pocket 5's and was called by Joseph Cada who had pocket 8's. Another 8 on the flop spelled disaster for Mattes from which he could not recover. Following him was Warren Zackey in 22nd place after Zackey pushed to the middle with 3.25 million having pocket 2's and was called by Ian Tavelli with Q J suited. One more Queen came on the flop enabling Tavelli to pair his Queens and that was all she wrote for Zackey.

3:47 PM -- Now with so many players having over 10 million, those who don't are the short stacks. Jonathan Tamayo went in for 3 million on a hand with Eric Buchman. By the time the river card landed, Eric had made a set of Kings which told Jonathan to head to the cashier's cage for a 21st place payout.

The next bust was painful for George Caragiorgas who ended up in 20th place. In an all-in move having a heart flush draw on the flop, he was called by Nick Maimone with pocket Kings. It was bad enough that a King came on the flop, but a 4th King came on the river giving Nick quad Kings for the win. Next to go was Tommy Vedes in 19th place. Vedes decided to go all-in preflop and was called by Eric Buchman. Vedes had pocket 3's to the pocket 7's of Buchman. The flop was 10 3 7 of clubs, which sent the crowd into hysterics. Turn card and river were meaningless, so Vedes had to stand up as tall as he could with the realization that he can afford the Main Event entry fee next year with no problem.

4:13 PM -- After Vedes emptied his chair, officials decided to redraw tables now that there were only 18 players. Andrew Lichtenberger was drawn to the table with Darvin Moon and Billy Kopp who have so many chips their faces can't be seen. Within 20 minutes of the last bust, Andrew Lichtenberger finished in 18th place. Making an all-in move and Moon as the caller, Lichtenberger had pocket J's verses the pocket K's of Moon. No other cards came to help, so Lichtenberger will receive over half a million dollars which can buy him something to console himself with until next year. Moon is up to almost 25 million chips. Play has moved up to level 31 with blinds at $80,000/$160,000 with a $20,000 ante.

5:05 PM -- Latest warriors to fall are Ian Tavelli in 17th and Ludovic Lacay in 16th place. Tavelli raised 450,000 and was reraised by Steven Begleiter for 1.35 million. Tavelli called and after a flop of 6 4 2 he raised, was reraised, then went all-in of which Begleiter called. Begleiter had pocket K's which had it all over the pocket 9's of Tavelli. Begleiter is now the chip leader with over 27 million in front of him and Tavelli went to collect over a half a million dollars.

Ludovic Lacay moved all-in with over 3 million in chips and was called by Jeff Shulman. Shulman had A K suited to the pocket 7's of Lacay. Another King came on the flop putting Shulman ahead, next two cards bricked and Lacay who also has been a standout the entire World Series of Poker can add a feather in his cap for his performance.

5:18 PM -- Top 6 players at this time are:
  1. Steven Begleiter -- 27,890,000
  2. Darvin Moon -- 21,285,000
  3. Jordan Smith -- 18,350,000
  4. Billy Kopp -- 16,520,000
  5. Eric Buchman -- 16,480,000
  6. Joseph Cada -- 14,340,000
This doesn't happen too often, but Phil Ivey is at the bottom with 7,720,000 chips. When he decided to move it will be interesting.

6:04 PM -- Nick Maimone finishes in 15th place. After a flop of J 10 8, Eric Buchman moved all-in and Maimone called. Maimone had A Q suited and Buchman had J 9, giving him a pair of Jacks so far. Turn card was also a Jack giving Buchman a set, but the river was a Q making a straight for the win over Maimone.

7:02 PM -- Players will be on dinner break for the next 90 minutes.

7:05 PM -- Big question here. We have just heard that if Jeff Shulman, the president and COO of Card Player magazine which is one of the biggest industry news sources on poker in the world, will throw the Main Event bracelet away if he wins the Main Event. He says that the WSOP has treated his magazine unfairly over the years and would throw the bracelet in the garbage if he gets it. Story can be read at Wicked Chops Poker.

Well WTF would he even play at any event the WSOP sponsors? For one it seems that if this story is true which we have heard from many sources it is, that this is a person who has a high double standard. Secondly, so many players who compete professionally that have entered the Main Event, have spent their professional lives trying to get close to this one reward. And also, isn't the purpose of Card Player to promote poker to the public? Any disagreements should be put aside and worked out away from the public eye. All we have to say is that online poker and even poker rooms across America have enough problems without someone trashing the game. Jeff Shulman needs to print a serious answer to this question A.S.A.P. We have no problem printing his response.

NOTE: Shulman's Response July 17th, 2009 -- He did say that he would toss the bracelet originally, but now he is looking for ideas as to what to do with it. He doesn't want the bracelet but he will take their money! Hmmmmmmmm? One would think if Shulman was against the way WSOP is doing things, he would stay out of any tournaments they offer, plus he should donate 100% of his Main Event winnings minus the entry fee to charity. If you want to read his response, click this link.

9:02 PM -- Players are back at the tables. Action is at level 32 with blinds at $100,000/$200,000 with a $30,000 ante. Top 6 at the tables right now are:
  1. Eric Buchman -- 33,950,000
  2. Steven Begleiter -- 27,260,000
  3. Darvin Moon -- 25,400,000
  4. Billy Kopp -- 17,200,000
  5. Jordan Smith -- 15,700,000
  6. Jeff Shulman -- 15,100,000
10:03 PM -- Three busts have taken place since the last update. Ben Lamb went out in 14th place when he lost an all-in against Jeff Shulman when Shulman paired his King card. Shulman rose to 22 million chips after that hand. Next was James Calderaro in 13th place. James went in for 2.5 million and was called by Kevin Schaffel who made two pair (10's and Q's) verses the flush draw of Calderaro.

Billy Kopp went in 12th, and it was painful between him and Darvin Moon. On a flop of K 9 2 of diamonds, Kopp bet 750K. When the turn came and a 2 of hearts came up, Moon checked and Kopp put in a 2 million raise. Moon then raised by 6.0 million and Kopp moved all in for 20 million...and was called by Moon. Kopp turned over 5 3 of diamonds for a flush, but Moon had Q J of diamonds for a larger flush. Kopp knew it was over and ran out of the featured table area before the river card hit the table. Moon is chip leader again with over 45 million chips.

10:22 PM -- Play has moved up to level 33 where blinds are $120,000/$240,000 with a $30,000 ante. Jamie Robbins was taken out by Phil Ivey to finish in 11th place. Robbins went all-in preflop and Ivey called it. Robbins had K Q and Ivey had A 10. The board showed 8 3 3 3 5 having Ivey add another 2.5 million chips to his stack by winning an Ace high hand.

11:00 PM -- Jordan Smith busted out in 10th place and this one is sick! In hand with Darvin Moon, both saw a flop of 8c 4d 2d. Smith checked, Moon raised 4 million and Smith moved all-in of which Moon called. Smith turned over two beautiful Aces with one being the Ace of diamonds. However, Moon turned over an even more beautiful pocket 8's for a set made on the flop. The other cards did not help and Smith is on his way to the cashier's cage. Moon is now over 57 million chips. And yes this means the 9 for the final table have been established and Phil Ivey made it. (For those of you who cheer for Phil Ivey). More information will come as it is released!

6:14 AM July 16 -- Here are the names with chip counts of the Main Event final table:
  1. Darvin Moon -- 58,930,000
  2. Eric Buchman -- 34,800,000
  3. Steven Begleiter -- 29,885,000
  4. Jeff Shulman -- 19,580,000
  5. Joseph Cada -- 13,215,000
  6. Kevin Schaffel -- 12,390,000
  7. Phil Ivey -- 9,765,000
  8. Antoine Saout -- 9,500,000
  9. James Akenhead -- 6,800,000
They will take up the cards again on November 7th.

The November Nine From left to right: James Akenhead, Jeff Shulman, Phil Ivey, Antoine Saout, Darvin Moon, Joseph Cada, Steven Begleiter, Kevin Schaffel, Eric Buchman
From left to right: James Akenhead, Jeff Shulman, Phil Ivey, Antoine Saout, Darvin Moon
Joseph Cada, Steven Begleiter, Kevin Schaffel, Eric Buchman

Top 50 Players in the Main Event:
  1. $8,546,435
  2. $5,182,601
  3. $3,479,485
  4. $2,502,787
  5. $1,953,395
  6. $1,587,133
  7. $1,404,002
  8. $1,300,228
  9. $1,263,602
  10. Jordan Smith -- $896,730
  11. Jamie Robbins -- $896,730
  12. Billy Kopp -- $896,730
  13. James Calderaro -- $633,022
  14. Ben Lamb -- $633,022
  15. Nick Maimone -- $633,022
  16. Ludovic Lacay -- $500,557
  17. Ian Tavelli -- $500,557
  18. Andrew Lichtenberger -- $500,557
  19. Tommy Vedes -- $352,832
  20. George Caragiorgas -- $352,832
  21. Jonathan Tamayo -- $352,832
  22. Warren Zackey -- $352,832
  23. Marco Mattes -- $352,832
  24. Antonio Esfandiari -- $352,832
  25. Francois Balmigere -- $352,832
  26. Jesse Haabak -- $352,832
  27. Leo Margets -- $352,832
  28. Joe Ward -- $253,941
  29. Luis Nargentino -- $253,941
  30. Marc Etienne McLaughlin -- $253,941
  31. Ryan Fair -- $253,941
  32. Scott Sitron -- $253,941
  33. Jason Brice -- $253,941
  34. Blair Rodman -- $253,941
  35. Grayson Ramage -- $253,941
  36. Christopher Bach -- $253,941
  37. Martin Lapostolle -- $178,857
  38. Gabriel Vezina -- $178,857
  39. Eugene Katchalov -- $178,857
  40. Scott Cook -- $178,857
  41. Adam York -- $178,857
  42. Jeff Duval -- $178,857
  43. Montagna Corrado -- $178,857
  44. Manuel Labandeira -- $178,857
  45. Dennis Phillips -- $178,857
  46. Hung Pham -- $138,568
  47. Adam Bilzerian -- $138,568
  48. Hieu Luu -- $138,568
  49. Fabrice Soulier -- $138,568
  50. Bradley Craig -- $138,568