The Official WSOP final table thread ( spoilers inside)

[Lathum]

Final table begins at 3:00 PM EST, anyone getting the pay per view?

Chip counts below.




1 Philip Hilm 22,070,000

2 Tuan Lam 21,315,000

3 Jon Kalmar 20,320,000

4 Raymond Rahme 16,320,000

5 Lee Childs 13,240,000

6 Lee Watkinson 9,925,000

7 Hevad Khan 9,205,000

8 Jerry Yang 8,450,000

9 Alexander Kravchenko 6,570,000

[Pumpy Tudors]

I've got to say that I've only heard of a couple of these guys, but Hevad Khan is good at basketball.

[Maple Leafs]

... but Hevad Khan is good at basketball.
Thread over.

[Lathum]

introductions happening now

[Logan]

If anyone manages an online link like last year, please post.

How much to the winner this year?

[Lathum]

8.2 million

about to deal

[Lathum]

nice, first hand is raised under the gun

[Lathum]

and called,

[SirFozzie]

I've got to say that I've only heard of a couple of these guys, but Hevad Khan is good at basketball.

I think he's got a sister.. Shaka..

(Ok, at least I didn't resort to any William Shatner jokes)

[Logan]

I know nothing about all of em...but I'll predict Lee Childs takes it down.

[Lathum]

The pace is actualy faster then I thought.

[Maple Leafs]

2+2 posters say they're watching it free at hxxp://www.channelsurfing.net/

I haven't tried it, so no idea if it actually works.

[Lathum]

2+2 posters say they're watching it free at hxxp://www.channelsurfing.net/

I haven't tried it, so no idea if it actually works.

I'de rather pay the $20.00 and watch on my TV.

just had the first big all in and Childs folded QQ to an all in bet on a board of 7 4 2 with 2 clubs.

[spleen1015]

2+2 posters say they're watching it free at hxxp://www.channelsurfing.net/

I haven't tried it, so no idea if it actually works.

It doesn't for me.

[spleen1015]

Dola,

It works with IE, but not Firefox.

[spleen1015]

Does anyone know how long the Final Table usually lasts?

[Lathum]

They just announced if Lee Watkinson wins he gets 10 Million extra from full tilt for qualifying there.

[Lathum]

Does anyone know how long the Final Table usually lasts?

last year was 14 hours.

Jamie Gold predicted 7 this year and Phil Gordon predicted 20.

[MJ4H]

2+2 posters say they're watching it free at hxxp://www.channelsurfing.net/

I haven't tried it, so no idea if it actually works.

Yeah it works fine in IE. Didn't work for me in firefox either. Don't pay for the ppv if this is good enough for you (just double click for full screen, works fantastically here).

[Jas_lov]

Big pot already. I'm curious to see what these guys have. Raise 10x the BB and a call?

[Lathum]

Big pot already. I'm curious to see what these guys have. Raise 10x the BB and a call?

I am enjoying not seeing the hole cards but the suspense is killing me.

[Jas_lov]

This Yang guy is dominating now with pure aggression, so he should be broke by dinner.

[Lathum]

wow, big all in between the 2 chip leaders.

[Lathum]

wow, chipleader coming in with over 20 million is eliminated in 9th. Unreal.

[Lathum]

This Yang guy is dominating now with pure aggression, so he should be broke by dinner.

care to rethink that statement?

[Jas_lov]

care to rethink that statement?

Unbelievable. Hilm just got tired of being pushed around. Maybe Yang is just getting hit on the head with the deck like Gold did last year.

[Lathum]

you would think there could be a better spot

[hoopsguy]

Yeah, I'm stunned as I read the recap of Hilm's play in Hand's #14 and 15. He had so much room to play with 20 million chips and treated the final table like it was a turbo sit-n-go.

[Lathum]

Watkinson the only named pro at the table is all in. Yet to be called

[Lathum]

wow

[QuikSand]

Watkinson in trouble, his A7 all-in got called by A9. Sick call.

[Jas_lov]

What a call. I was rooting for Lee too.

[QuikSand]

Wel, I have one guy to comfortably root against.

[MrBigglesworth]

How about those prayers from Yang?

[Lathum]

WTF was that?

the weird thing is the guy was chanting " Lord I will glorify your name with the money I win, lord please father"

[Lathum]

Gordon is absolutly bashing Yang right now.

[larrymcg421]

Gordon was bashing Gold last year as well.

As bad as Yang's call was, I don't like the move by Lee. He had time to sit and wait for something better.

[primelord]

I won't post the link, but there is a live link to the ESPN live broadcast floating around out there. I was watching for about 15 minutes earlier.

Edit: Ah I missed that the channelsurfing one was working as well. So I guess you guys are already watching.

[Lathum]

Yang is a monster right now.

[Jas_lov]

Gordon was bashing Gold last year as well.

As bad as Yang's call was, I don't like the move by Lee. He had time to sit and wait for something better.

He could have waited and tried to outplay the table post flop since he was the best player there.

Yang continues the agression shoving Childs all in after Childs raised.

[Lathum]

sick

[MrBigglesworth]

Whoever this announcer is, he is about 0 for 324 on predictions. Whenever he says someone must have a good hand, he has J 8. Every time he says he is going to fold, he calls. It's uncanny.

[QuikSand]

Awful turn card.

[Lathum]

what a horrible beat.

[MrBigglesworth]

Whatever Yang's religion is, I am going to look into it. Because that is one god that answers prayers.

[Coffee Warlord]

I really want Yang to get killed by a straight on the river soon.

[Lathum]

I think this is gonna end early

[Jas_lov]

Whoever this announcer is, he is about 0 for 324 on predictions. Whenever he says someone must have a good hand, he has J 8. Every time he says he is going to fold, he calls. It's uncanny.

It's Phil Gordon and he's having trouble reading the amateur as many of are. I think I liked the A9 call better than the KJ call for all your chips. Sure it turned out he had him dominated, but that's not a good call.

[Lathum]

It's Phil Gordon and he's having trouble reading the amateur as many of are. I think I liked the A9 call better than the KJ call for all your chips. Sure it turned out he had him dominated, but that's not a good call.

I see what you are saying but sitting to his right you need to make a move at some point otherwise he is just going to run you over.

[CleBrownsfan]

Did Chan really stick an ALL-IN energy drink sticker on Yang's shirt?! Poker players are starting to look like Nascar...

[Lathum]

Holy Crap. Jerry Yang has 6 kids!!

[Jas_lov]

I see what you are saying but sitting to his right you need to make a move at some point otherwise he is just going to run you over.

Yeah but Childs still had 20x the BB if he folds, and instead he just calls off 5 million with KJ. Don't you think he could have waited for a better hand? I do agree that as the table gets smaller they'll have to start lowering their calling requirements if Yang is just going to shove them all in after an initial raise. Yang will probably continue this since he has a huge chip lead, he's not the best player at the table, and he has God on his side.

[Lathum]

I think it was reasonable to think he had the best hand there and he did. I think he played the player not his hand and he made the right descion and got unlucky.

[CleBrownsfan]

I thought most religions look down on gambling?!?!

[Lathum]

I really don't like "rain"

[CleBrownsfan]

I really don't like "rain"

I can't even comment on his "victory dance"... I don't even know WTF he is doing after he wins a pot... tool :rolleyes:

[QuikSand]

Rain recognizes that he has an opportunity to create a "brand" for himself, on beyond just what he might win at the table. With the lore about his online play, and the antics, it's not a bad play for him to get camera time with whatever he can, a la Bobby Bellande (a seemingly marginal player who is now a "name" mostly by virtue of acting like an ass).

[CleBrownsfan]

Rain(3,3) just doubled up Kravchenko(K,J spades). Flop 9 J x x x...

[larrymcg421]

I'm definitely taking the under on the Hellmuth bet.

[CleBrownsfan]

I'm definitely taking the under on the Hellmuth bet.

45 seconds.... more like the firat words that come out of his mouth. 11

[CleBrownsfan]

duh

[larrymcg421]

I win.

[larrymcg421]

dola

This is quite a hand here.

[CleBrownsfan]

I hope Yang dumps some chips here!

[CleBrownsfan]

Yang = A 10 or A J

[CleBrownsfan]

we got a call....

[CleBrownsfan]

ouch

[MrBigglesworth]

This is the kind of god I can get behind.

[CleBrownsfan]

Yang adds to his chips... kocks out Khan - Yang JJ vs Khan AQs

[QuikSand]

Rain busts on a drawn-out hand... reraising Jerry with AQ, and eventually all in against him. He played the hald a bit aggressively, but that's no real surprise.

[larrymcg421]

What did BB fold? I'm honestly thinking he had QQ. If he had JJ (unlikely) or TT, he should not have thought for that long.

[CleBrownsfan]

So what time do you think this will be over with? I guessing only 5 or 6 more hours...

[CleBrownsfan]

IF the BB folded QQ I think he's crazy... as aggressive as this table has been I think I would have called with QQ

[larrymcg421]

If the BB considered calling with TT, then he's even crazier I think.

[Jas_lov]

So what time do you think this will be over with? I guessing only 5 or 6 more hours...

I said Yang would be broke by dinner, but at this rate he could win by dinner. If Lam, Rahme, or Kalmer can double up it could go a lot longer than 5-6 hours though. Kravchenko is just hoping to pick up a hand and get back in it. He's already moved up about $1 million in prize money, which isn't bad considering he was the shorstack when play started.

[QuikSand]

What did BB fold? I'm honestly thinking he had QQ. If he had JJ (unlikely) or TT, he should not have thought for that long.

I was thinking a middle pair, maybe tens but any pair down to 77.

[larrymcg421]

I was thinking a middle pair, maybe tens but any pair down to 77.

Would you have even considering calling with those hands in that situation? I think he took too long considering a call if his hand was in that range.

[Lathum]

I love Phil Hellmuth

[Jas_lov]

I wish they had Hellmuth on this thing all night, along with interviews of a drunk/wired Johnny Chan.

[Lathum]

And Yang makes his first misstep, calls an all in with J 10 and loses to A 10

[Jas_lov]

Another all in- Kalmer AK vs. Rahme JJ

[CleBrownsfan]

and the JJ held...

[QuikSand]

Would you have even considering calling with those hands in that situation? I think he took too long considering a call if his hand was in that range.

Sorry, was away a bit. No, I'd fold them all, and probably only think a bit with TT, but I think he was giving it a lot of thought on purpose, maybe to send a message for later, even.

[digamma]

Down to four already. Our 8:00 game tonight may have no final table action to watch.

[Lathum]

Down to four already. Our 8:00 game tonight may have no final table action to watch.

the dinner break will add some time to it.

[QuikSand]

Alex Kravchenko has played his short stack for two days plus awfully well -- he's still a longshot to win this thing, but getting a million from where he has been in chips is awfully impressive. I trust that he has had to make some painful laydowns along the way.

[CleBrownsfan]

Yang (KQ) AI again - this time with Kravchenko(3/3)...


Kravchenko caught a set of 3's... and x2's up

[CleBrownsfan]

I think Kravchenko now will win this

[Jas_lov]

Yang doubles up Kravchenko again, this time calling 9 million with KQ vs. Kravchenko's 33. Yang still has over twice as much as 2nd though.

[Lathum]

Phil Gordon should just blow Kravchenko already

[Maple Leafs]

Quik, did you play in any events this year?

[QuikSand]

Yes, I played in two of the $1500 lottery events. Needless to say, nothing too much to report.

[MrBigglesworth]

Kahn is being interviewed, he is really interesting.

Gordon is a douche.

[Lathum]

Kahn is being interviewed, he is really interesting.

Gordon is a douche.

I kind of like Kahn after the interview.

Why do you think Gordon is a douche?

[QuikSand]

I agree, Khan comes off really well in his interview. Seems very genuine to me.

[QuikSand]

I'm not feeling the hate for Phil Gordon. I don't really have any quarrel with his commentary -- live commentary is pretty demanding, and trying to make on-the-spot reads like he has been doing is bound to be frought with misses (and he definitely has). He's been fine, seems to me.

[MrBigglesworth]

I kind of like Kahn after the interview.

Why do you think Gordon is a douche?

Gordon has been misreading people all day (which is fine, I know how tough it is). But then they get Kahn on here to talk about what he was thinking, especially the in the dark all-in, and it was interesting and something that I never really thought of. Then the exchange was something like:

Kahn: I though maybe if I went all-in in the dark he would have a chance to lay it down, like if AAK came up or something.
Gordon: He would never lay it down.
Kahn: Well, maybe 2 out of 50 times, whatever.
Gordon: Never.

If you have spent the last 5 hours giving wrong reads and someone who just lost out on 8 million dollars is nice enough to come onto your broadcast and talk about his experience, you could at least throw him a bone. Plus he is trying to get everyone to say how bad of a player Yang is, and talked trash on Hellmuth as soon as he left the booth.

[Jas_lov]

I agree about Gordon. They're ripping him at 2+2, but it's hard to read players in live commentary who you've never played with or seen play before especially Jerry Yang. Now that he's seen them play a little bit maybe his reads will improve. Kahn was hilarious in the booth and very natural.

[Lathum]

I don't think he said anything bad about Hellmuth and I agree 100% with Gordon that he wouldn't lay down the jacks in that spot.

[MrBigglesworth]

I don't think he said anything bad about Hellmuth and I agree 100% with Gordon that he wouldn't lay down the jacks in that spot.
Kahn didn't know he had jacks when he did it. Kahn was explaining why he did it, and Yang was known for calling and going all-in with marginal hands.

[Lathum]

Kahn didn't know he had jacks when he did it. Kahn was explaining why he did it, and Yang was known for calling and going all-in with marginal hands.

but what Gordon was saying is Yang wasn't folding jacks there for 3 million more into a 14 million pot regardless of the flop.

[larrymcg421]

Yep. If he had flat called, then he could have got Yang to fold on the flop. But he had already committed both of them to the pot.

[Scoobz0202]

Interesting piece on Stu Ungar.

[Lathum]

back from the break

[Lathum]

fireworks right out of the break

[Scoobz0202]

dammmmmnnnnn

[larrymcg421]

Move all in, Alex.

[Lathum]

lets see if Yang donks off some more chips

[larrymcg421]

I think Yang had two hearts.

[Lathum]

WOW! Lindgren just crushed Yang

[larrymcg421]

Krevchenko just doubled up against Yang. Yang down to $46 million.

[MrBigglesworth]

Lam is just staring down Yang, I love it.

[larrymcg421]

Wow. What an absolutely brutal joke at Matusow's expense.

[JonInMiddleGA]

So, if he completes the meltdown that's been in progress for a while now, does that become the biggest collapse in poker history?

[larrymcg421]

No, I think that definitely goes to John Shipley, who had a massive lead (more than 2:1 against anyone else) starting the 2002 WSOP final table and finished 7th.

[Jas_lov]

John D'Agostino had 3x as many chips as anybody else at the 2004 U.S. Poker Championship, took a brutal beat to Hoyt Corkins and finished in 6th. Andy Black had a big chip lead the year Hachem won it and took a couple bad beats to Dannenman before finishing 5th. Those are a couple big collapses I remember.

[QuikSand]

Lam doubles up with a suspect all-in over the top of Yang with Ah5h, and gets called surprisingly by Rahme, with QQ. Yang folds, but Lam hits a couple of aces to pass Rahme in the standings. Fascinating hand for me to wake up and immediately catch.

[QuikSand]

Rahme is apparently now tilting like crazy, has made all-in moves on the last three hands... preflop twice, and on the flop once after calling Yang's initial raise. Hard to watch, it's like he's flipping out.

Go take a walk, buddy.

[MrBigglesworth]

He's getting killed for it by the announcers too, but so far it hasn't hurt him. You got here at a good time QS, not a lot has been going on.

[Desmond]

Argghhhhh! What did the Leopard say to the Girafe at the poker table?

[larrymcg421]

Gordon is actually getting on my nerves a bit. He seems really dismissive and sometimes blatantly rude to his announcing partner.

[Jas_lov]

Argghhhhh! What did the Leopard say to the Girafe at the poker table?

I thought you were a cheetah

[Desmond]

thank you. that would of bothered me greatly.

[larrymcg421]

Oh how much do I hate Zeidman. He can come up with whatever excuse he wants, but that slow roll was one of the biggest dick moves I've seen in a tournament. There was no betting left, she was all in and he had the stone cold nuts, yet he still made a little speech before calling.

[MrBigglesworth]

Gordon is actually getting on my nerves a bit. He seems really dismissive and sometimes blatantly rude to his announcing partner.
It's not because he is tired, he's been like that all day.

[Jas_lov]

The old guy must be tired shoving with AQ. Yang took forever to call with QQ. Ace hits! Justice I guess since he took a bad beat with QQ vs. A5 earlier.

[Jas_lov]

Oh how much do I hate Zeidman. He can come up with whatever excuse he wants, but that slow roll was one of the biggest dick moves I've seen in a tournament. There was no betting left, she was all in and he had the stone cold nuts, yet he still made a little speech before calling.

Give him a break, he had a sore tooth. It took him 20 minutes to tell that story and then he left.

[MrBigglesworth]

The Russian taken out by Yang, 88 tripping up and beating AK.

Yang is back up to his high water mark.

[Jas_lov]

This is the hand of the tournament. KK for the old guy vs. A5 for Jerry with an ace on the board.

[Jas_lov]

Well, both of them played this hand terrible. The old guy check raises all in with KK with and ace on the board against a guy who folds nothing. Jerry of course calls with aces and a 5 kicker against a tight old nit. This is pretty much the tournament.

[QuikSand]

Lam all in and called...Lam has AQ vs Yang's 88...

[QuikSand]

Q on the flop, looks like Lam will double up...

[QuikSand]

...but Yang gets his runner runner straight cards to take it down, in fitting fashion. Perfect ending.

[Jas_lov]

Yep, very fitting ending. Yang made a lot of questionable calls for a lot of chips, but he had the best hand more often than not so I guess you have to give him credit for that and staying aggressive throughout. This table wasn't very interesting poker wise because of all the all in coin flips. At least we had post flop play with Gold and Cunningham last year.

[larrymcg421]

Doesn't matter that he made runner runner. The money was in before the flop. Yang was actually the favorite.

Not that I was rooting for him, I should say.

[QuikSand]

I wasn't trying to suggest that he was unreasonably lucky after an idiotic call, sorry if it came off that way... It's just rather fitting that it would work out in such a bizarre fashion to work for him.

To hear him tell it, he had basically nothing to do with it, though -- it was all god's plan anyway. *shurg*