June 5, 2005

13. So lucky. So unlucky. Let's see who it is for whom...

Freddy Deeb - Deeb has been lucky. He has 22 points and is a lock to move to the round of 16.

Carlos Mortenson - He's not only lucky, he's been hot - 2 straight tournament wins.

Todd Brunson - He mixes lucky and good. He's on the border, but in the dance.

Mike Caro - Right now, he's on the border and looking at the punch bowl that everyone at the party is drinking from.

Antonio Esfandiari - The magician needs to have more than his 5 points appear.

Bobby Hoff - 2 points. Last place. Look out for black cats.

Hand #1 - The 'Matador' Comes out with $20,000. Deeb has 'Big Slick' (A ? K ?) and just calls. The Flop is 2 ? 10 ? 2 ?, and a pair of checks gets us a 7? ( a straight draw for Mortenson) on the turn. Mortenson bets $40,000 and Deeb calls. The river i s a 6 ?, which gives the Matador his straight. He bets $80,000 and Deeb folds. Mortenson takes the first pot - and shows Deeb his straight. How nice of Carlos.

Hand #2 - a Q ? 8 ? 9 ? is a monster flop for Brunson (Q ? J ?) and Esfandiari (10 ? 8 ?). The Turn is a 6 ?, and both people have monster opportunities on the river, but Esfandiari blinks and folds. Brunson gets the win while the 'Magician', who needs points, decides to be conservative tonight. Let's see how long that lasts...

Hand #3 - Brunson (Q ?, 9 ?) raises first, but Caro with a better hand (K ? J ?,) calls. a 5 ?, 8 ?, 10 ?, gives Brunson a straight draw, but a 5 ? on the turn and a 4 ? on the river does nothing for him and the only way to get the pot is to bluff at it. He does, but Caro calls and takes the pot.

Hand #4 - Deeb has a K ? and a J ? as he raises. Caro warns Deeb to e gentle, but Deeb's rough stuff forces everyone else out of the pot.

Hand #5 - A J ? 7 ? suited has Mortenson raising the pot, but Caro comes over the Top with a $100,000 raise on ...an 8 ? 2 ???? Caro, knowing that Mortenson is very aggressive, wants a bluff - and he gets it as Mortenson folds.

Hand #6 - Mortenson gets aggressive with a J ? 9 ?. Brunson's comment? 'I'm up against a Mad Genius, a Matador, a Magician, a Wizard, and a Terrorist! What am I going to do?' Well being more politically correct would be a good start...

Hand #7 - Mortenson goes and raises again - this time with a 10 ? 8 ? suited. Deeb has a pair of 5's (? and ?) and he goes all-in. Mortenson asks for a chip count and calls. The Flop - 4 ?, 2 ?, 8 ?, and Carlos pairs the 8's. The 9 ? on the Turn forces Deep to get a 5 on the river...which is not a J ?. Deeb gets no points, which is great for the other people who desperately need to score - like everyone else not named Carlos Mortenson. Deeb - 'Mortenson has enough points, so he's gambling like he doesn't care'. Well, based on going in on the pair of 5's, neither do you, Deeb.

Hand #8 - Esfandiari raises with a A ? 10 ?. Caro calls with a Q ? J ?, and a 5 ?, A ? 10 ? gives him a flush draw, It also gives Esfandiari 2 pair and he goes all-in. Caro gets the K ? for the flush and calls, and Esfandiari needs some Ace or 10 Magic. The river...3 ?, and Esfandiari goes out the door with a single point. 13 was not lucky for Esfandiary, who needs to come in at least second in his 2 remaining matches to have a shot at the play-offs.

Hand #9 - Brunson goes all-in with a A ? 5 ?, and Caro calls with an A ?, 8 ?. An A ?, 9 ? 9 ? does no one any good, (neither does a 6 ? on the turn) and an A ? on the river gives them a split pot.

Hand #10 - Brunson goes all-in again. Caro calls again with a K ? 7 ?. Brunson's cards...5 ?, 4 ?. Yick. The flop is a monster 4 ?, 9 ?, 5 ? for Brunson, but a 6 ? gives Caro an open-ended straight. The river...is neither (Q ?) and Brunson doubles up.

Hand #11 - It's Hoff who goes all-in with a K &diams ; 2 ?, but he retracts the bet because he covers Brunson's all-in - but Brunson has a better hand (A ?, J ?). The flop is a 3 ?, 7 ?, 7 ?, and a 7 ?, could open up a split possibility. The river is a Q ?, as Brunson now doubles up again. Hoff is now the one on life support.

Hand #12 - Hoff goes all in with a pair of black 7's. Mortensen calls with a Q ? 5 ?, while Caro , with a J ? 5 ?, also joins the party. A 2 ?, J ?, 9 ? gives the Mad Genius a pair of jacks. He scares Mortenson out of the pot and it's between him and Hoff. a 2 ? and a J ? gives Caro a full house, and it gives the now-eliminated Hoff 4th place.

Hand #13 - THIRTEEEEEEN!!!!!! EEEEEK! Caro finds an A ? 5 ? lucky and raises the pot. Brunson with the A ? 3 ? goes all-in and Caro calls. The flop has a 10 ? 7 ?, 7 ?, which helps no one. A Q ? on the turn gives Brunson a flush draw, but an 8 ? comes up and we have another chop tie. So #13 was lucky to...no one, but unlucky to...also no one. For all that build-up, we're not getting much action.

Hand #14 - Mortenson will make up for the lack of action with a pair of black cowboys. Caro goes all-in with an 8 ?, 6 ?. Oops. The Flop is J ? 10 ? 7 ?. With the Turn of a 4 ? and the River of a 10 ?, Caro plays himself out and Mortenson has a huge $1,170,000 - $330,000 lead on Brunson.

Hand #15 - Mortenson has a Q ? and a 10 ?, Brunson has an 8/2 off suit. Brunson folds.

Hand #16 - Carlos takes a Q ? 7 ? to Brunson, who has a 7 ? 4 ?. He gets a free look at an 10 ? A ?, 6 ?. An 8 ? has Brunson going all-in on absolutely nothing but an inside straight draw. Mortenson doesn't stick around to see if he hits it and folds. Brunson wins, but he's down to $300,000 in chips.

Hand #17 - Brunson has a Q ? 8 ? and he is contemplating an all-in from Mortenson with a 10 ? 8 ?. He calls, which gives him the lead, and a K?, 7 ?, 8 ? gives him the lead. a Q ? pairs him up, but a spade gives Mortenson the flush. The river...5 ?, and Brunson doubles up. It's now a much closer game - 780,000 for Mortenson, 720,000 for Brunson.

Hand #18 - We have garbage this hand - a 6 ? 3 ? for Brunson and a 8 ?, 6 ?, for Mortenson. There's a 2 ?, 4 ?, 3 ? on the Flop and the dealer was going right to the turn - without allowing a bet on the Flop. Oops. Well, a lot of people are tired. Brunson bets. Mortenson folds out - but wants to see what the card would have been. He doesn't get to see it as Brunson pulls even closer.

Hand #19 - Brunson wants to go all-in with a K ?, 8 ?. The only problem here - Mortenson has an A ? Q ?, and it gets worse when a 3 ? A ? 7 ? shows up and pairs Mortenson's aces. Todd needs a pair of runners, and when he doesn't get one on the turn, Mortenson wins the match and pockets another $10,000, while Brunson gets another 7 points for second. Caro also betters himself, while Deeb stays where he is and Hoff and Esfandiari are now in deep trouble.

Let's see who's holding a lucky rabbit's foot and who's holding an amputated rabbit.

*30 - Carlos Mortenson
27 - Kathy Liebert
23 - David Sklansky
*22 - Freddie Deeb
20 - Johnny Chan
*19 - Todd Brunson
18 - Mimi Tran
17 - David Grey
17 - Mike Sexton
15 - Cyndy Violette
*15 - Mike Caro
14 - Scotty Nguyen
13 - Ted Forrest
12 - Doyle Brunson
11 - Dewey Tomko
11 - Barry Greenstein
-----CUTOFF-----
11 - Tommy Wang
8 - Huck Seed
7 - Eli Elezra
7 - Chau Giang
6 - John Myung
*6 - Antonio Esfandari
*5 - Bobby Hoff
4 - Chris Moneymaker

* - Have played in 4 matches

Next week - we get to Elimination Match #14. Join us in 7 days to see who prefers #14 over #13.