July 10,
2005 Last
week, we saw certain people get their tickets punched
for the post-season, while we saw other people get
their post-season punched. This week, it's sort of
different, because all of these people are either
right at or over the cut-off. For 4 of those people,
however, they can't afford a quick exit.
Carlos Mortenson - He can afford a quick exit, but he
doesn't want to. He probably won't, either - at 30
points, he has won the past 3 straight matches.
David Grey - He's the other person who could probably
take no more points and get it. He has 27, which looks
to be good. You could always get more points though.
Mike Sexton - Sexton is one member of the 18 club.
It's very tentative, and although two more decent
placings will likely advance him, he'd rather get his
points now.
Cyndy VIolette - The other member of the 18 point
club, She's also in a good place, but she would love
to get more points and not be stressed out in the last
match.
Mike Caro - He's a mad genius, but at 15 points, his
blood pressure could be a little mad if he doesn't
secure a safer position in the standings.
Scotty Nguyen - He's the only person who is under the
cut-off line in this group. Granted, he's only 1 point
under the line, but you don't want to be any points
under the cut-off line.
Hand #1 - Mortenson re-raises to $30,000 with a 9 ? 3
?. Nguyen calls with an A ? 8 ?.
The flop is 6 ? 6 ? J
?. Nguyen checks, but
Mortenson bets $40,000 with nothing. Nguyen calls. A 2
? comes up on the Turn and they both check. A Q
? comes up on the River and
they both check again. Scotty, with a measly Ace high,
wins the first pot.
Hand #2 - Sexton, with a J ?
J ?, raises to $45,000. Nguyesn has a suited Big Slick
of the Spade variety and re-raises to $145,000. That's
a lot of re-raise. Sexton quickly goes all-in and
Nguyen calls. Sexton is out should he lose, but a 2 ?
9 ? 3 ? keeps him in the
lead. A 2 ? on the turn gives Nguyen a flush draw, and
although a K ? doesn't give
Nguyen a flush, it does pair his kings and it sends
Sexton packing. Sexton takes a zero for the match, and
although he is still in decent shape, he has to
perform in his final match and he would probably want
to see some help.
Hand #3 - Conversely, Nugyen now has a nice chip lead
and he can afford to start bullying the other players
around. VIolette, however is controlling the action as
she raises an A/8 ?.
Mortenson has a K/10 ? and calls her. The flop has a 3
? 2 ? 10 ? and Mortenson goes
all-in. He should, with the top pair at the table, and
Violette, knowing that she needs to win points, folds.
The fac tthat Mortenton doesn't need points means that
he can be more aggressive, and that could give him an
edge later...
Hand #4 - Nguyen raise with ...an 8
? and a 6 ?? Grey has an A ? J
? and goes over the top with
an all-in. Nguyen curses out Grey and folds, while
Grey converses with Nguyen.
Hand #5 - The win by Grey now makes Mortenson the
short stack and he goes all-in with a Q
? 8 ?. Nguyen, with an A
? 8 ?,
calls. Carlos wants a Queen. Cyndy thinks he's getting
one. They are both...right, with a flop, of Q
? 8 ?
3 ?. A J ?
turns up on the Turn and a 7 ? shows up on the River,
which allows Mortenson to double up and Nguyen, though
still with a healthy chip lead, gets to curse some
more.
Hand #6 - We haven't heard from Caro, but we will with
an A/K ?. Mortenson calls
with a pair of 2's (? and ?)
and here we go. We see a Q ?
10 ? 5 ?
on the Flop, a 3 ? on the turn and a 5 ? on the river.
Mortenson builds his stack up to the leader position
again, and this time at Caro's expense as he comes in
5th place. He only gets 1 point and he needs to place
in the Top 3 for the final round to secure himself a
playoff spot.
Hand #7 - A now chip-full Mortenson raises to $90,000
with an A/4 ? suited.
Violette goes all-in with a A ? 10 ?, so only a 4 can
hurt her...until the flop, where a 2 ?, J
? 3 ?
gives Mortenson some straight possibilities. An 8 ?
won't help him, and neither will a 3 ? on the River.
Violette doubles up and she moves to the top pack. The
leader of the pack? Nguyen, who wrests control form
Mortenson.
Hand #8 - Grey limps in with a J ? 9
?. Mortenson raises with a J ? 5 ?. Grey calls,
so we see a flop of K ? A
? K ?,
which would be huge, except neither of them have
anything. The first person that bets will win this
one. Mortenson bets - and he wins the pot after Grey
folds.
Hand #9 - Everyone folds so Mortenson gets to keep the
big blind. Isnt't that nice of everyone?
Hand #10 - We haven't heard from Nguyen for awhile. We
see him now, as he raises with black pocket rockets.
Grey calls with a 10 ? 8 ?, and a Flop of 6
? 5 ? 10 ?
gives Grey top pair and he goes all-in. That turns out
to be disaster as we know, because the Turn is a 2
? and t he River is a 3 ?.
Nguyen eliminates Grey and becomes the new chip
leader. Grey is the first eliminated person who didnt
really need to win any points.
Hand #11 - Nguyen goes all-in. Everyone else folds and
he grabs the pot.
Hand #12 - Nguyen raises with a A/7
?. Violette folds. Mortenson has a A ? 3
? and folds. Nyguyen wins
another pot.
Hand #13 - VIolette goes all-in with a 8 ? 6
?. Mortenson calls with a 9
?, 2 ?. With 2 bad hold sets,
this could be close, and they get a piese of a 2 ? J
? 6 ?. A J ? and an A c' come
up on the Turn and the River, and Violette doubles up
with a pair of 6's.
Hand #14 - VIolette goes all-in again, but this time
she has something (the something being an A
? 10 ?.
Mortenson calls with a Q ? 7?.
The flop this time - 9 ? 10 ?
2 ?, and Violette gets a
pair. A 10 ? on the river gives her trips and another
double-up. That jumps her into second and Mortenson is
now the short stack.
Hand #15 - Violette goes all in with a K
? 7 ?.
Nguyen calls with a Q ? 5 ?. The flop is a 3 ? 7
? K ?.
That gives Violette 2 pair, and a 9 on the turn locks
it up. Violette doubles again, but Nguyen still has
the lead.
Hand #16 - Nguyen goes all-in this time with a 9
? 9 ?. Mortenson calls with a
A ? 4 ?. The flop is a A h' K
? 4 ?, which gives Mortenson
some love. a K ? on the turn
does no good, but an A ? on the River doubles up
Mortenson. He's now the leader with 800,000+, Violette
is now in second with 400,000+, and Nguyen is now in
the basement with 200,000+.
Hand #17 - Mortenson goes all-in with the same 2's (?
and ?) that knocked out
Sexton. Violette calls with a K ? 9
?. The flop is A ? Q ?
5 ?, so the 2's are still in the lead. The 8
? is on the turn and on the
River is...4 ?. The deuces work for the deuce...I mean
second straight time. Violette finishes in third.
We're down to Mortenson, with 1,240,000+ Vs. Nguyen,
with around 260,000. Nguyen is going to need a few
double ups.
Hand #18 - Mortenson goes all-in again with K ? J ?
and Nguyen, with Q ? 2 ?, folds. Mortenson takes the
pot and Nguyen's pile of chips continues to shrink.
Hand #19 - Nguyen goes all0in with a 9 ? 8 ?, while
Mortenson has a A ? J
?. The flop is 2
? 8 ? 6 ? which gives Nguyen
a pair. He holds on through the turn and river to
double up, which brings him up to...220.000, which
isn't much against Mortenson's 1,280,000.
Hand #20 - Nguyen goes all-in again with a 9
? 7 ?.
Moretnson calls with a Q ? 2
?. The flop gives Nguyen a pair of 7, but a Q
? on the Turn gives Mortenson
the lead back, and a 8 ? on
the River finishes the deal for Mortenson, who has now
won 4 straight matches and has picked up his $40,000
entry fee back.
The winners here are clearly Mortenson, Violette, who
has pretty much assured herself of the post-season,
and Nguyen, who may have enough now and doesn't have
to do much if he needs a few more points. Sexton and
Caro really hurt themselves and are both vulnerable
should a few more people do what Nguyen did. Who does
this open the door for?
*40 - Kathy Liebert
*40 - Carlos Mortenson
*35 - David Sklansky
30 - Johnny Chan
*30 - David Grey
*26 - Todd Brunson
*23 - Cyndy Violette
22 - Freddie Deeb
*22 - Eli Elezra
*21 - Scotty Nguyen
20 - Ted Forrest
18 - Mimi Tran
*18 - Mike Sexton
16 - Dewey Tomko
16 - Barry Greenstein
*16 - Mike Caro
-----CUTOFF-----
15 - Doyle Brunson
14 - Chau Giang
12 - Tommy Wang
11 - Huck Seed
*7 - John Myung
6 - Antonio Esfandari
5 - Bobby Hoff
*5 - Chris Moneymaker
* - Have played in 5 matches
Why were we talking about opening the door? Because
many of the middle people and the four people directly
under the cutoff line have yet to play their fifth
match. Join us in 7 days to see 6 of these people do
so. |