The Poker Thread

Bellande Busts

Jeff Banghart opened to 130,000 from middle position only to have Jean-Robert Bellande move all in for 815,000 from the button.

With the action on Duy Le in the big blind, he cut out a re-raise amounting to 1,350,000. Although the four-bet had both players covered, it was technically not enough, and Le was forced to make it 1,490,000 to go.

"Oh boy! I need a second" stated Banghart as he deliberated for over two minutes before open-folding .

Bellande:

Le:

With Bellande on his feet, the dealer dropped a flop to leave Bellande drawing to a ten or running cards for a straight.

The on the turn cut out all of Bellande's backdoor outs, and left him with just one of the lone tens in the deck.

"Ten please dealer" pleaded Bellande as he awaited his Main Event fate.

Unfortunately for BrokeLivingJRB, the river would fall the to see him eliminated and sent to the exit amongst a round of applause.

The Levy Holds

Pierre Canali was all in preflop with the and up against the for Adam Levy. The board ran out and Levy sent Canali to the rail.

Levy moved up to 2.75 million.

Lodden Calls

Jonathan Driscoll fired 600,000 into Johnny Lodden on the final board of . Lodden made the call with the to beat Driscoll's for a busted draw and moved up to 3.85 million. Driscoll dropped back to 5.6 million.

Baldwin Gets a Call

We just caught the tail end of a pot as we walked up to see a board of in the middle of the table. Ismail Erkenov had the betting lead, and he fired out one final bet of 200,000. Eric "basebaldy" Baldwin proceeded to raise to 650,000 straight, and that sent Erkenov deep into the tank. When he finally did call, Baldwin tabled his cards and pulled his chips back into his stack immediately. He had , and jacks full are basically the nuts there.

That pot moves Baldwin up to 3.1 million, while Erkenov has slipped back to about 900,000.

Dunst Ships It

John Racener opened the button to 115,000 and was immediately face with a 945,000 all in from Tony Dunst out of the big blind.

Dunst's trademark aviator sunglasses were missing, but his casual approach was intact as he had his chin resting on both hands while Racener contemplated a decision.

After a minute of deliberation, Racener found a fold to see Dunst win his first pot at the feature table.

Kings Beat Tens

Eric Baldwin checked the flop of to Theo Jorgensen. He fired 375,000 and Baldwin made the call.

The turn added the to the board and both players checked to see the fall on the river. Baldwin fired 620,000 and Jorgensen made the call.

Jorgensen held the to beat Baldwin's and win the pot. He's now up to 10.75 million and Baldwin dropped to 1.67 million.

Dunst Delivers on River

Hasan Habib opened to 155,000 from early position only to have Tony Dunst move all in for 930,000. Once the blinds passed, Habib made the call to put "Bond18" at risk.

Habib:

Dunst:

"Well if I go out this way, at least I don't have to explain it!" announced Dunst.

The dealer dropped the flop to put Habib in the lead and leave Dunst drawing to just two outs.

The changed little on the turn, but it would the on the river that would send the railbirds into an eruption of cheers and applause.

"That's just ridiculous!" uttered an amazed Dunst as he collected the pot to move to 2,030,000 while Habib slips to 985,000 in chips.

Baldwin Crushed by Rybachenko

Theo Jorgensen raised to 135,000 from under the gun and Sergey Rybachenko shoved from late position for 925,000. Eric Baldwin reraised all in from the big blind and Jorgensen folded.

Baldwin held the and Rybachenko the .

The board ran out to double up Rybachenko to over two million. Baldwin was left with 310,000.

Base Hit for Baldwin

Eric Baldwin got his last 270,000 chips into the middle with , and he was in fine shape to double as Sergey Rybachenko made the call with his dominated .

The board ran safe for "basebaldy": . He's doubled up to about 700,000 now as he begins his crawl back in to contention.

Baldwin Tagged Out

Pascal LeFrancois raised from middle position, and Brandon Steven called on the button. Eric Baldwin was in the big blind with less than 700,000 chips, and he shipped it in there with and a prayer. LeFrancois called with , Steven folded, and Baldwin was at risk as the film crew swarmed his table.

Board: (uh-oh!) . Baldwin's pair of kings were no good to his opponent's set, and he has been eliminated. It was a fine run for one of the more dangerous players in the field, but his Main Event has come to a close in 59th place.

Benyamine Busto

David Benyamine raised from the button, and he and big blind Pascal LeFrancois raised it back and forth until Benyamine was all in for about 1.4 million. LeFrancois called with his mightier stack, and everyone's favorite high-stakes Frenchman was at risk for his tournament life.

Showdown

Benyamine:

LeFrancois:

It was all over as soon as the dealer put down the flop, giving LeFrancois the nut flush and sealing Benyamine's fate with two cards still to come. The turn and river finished things off, and we've found our 58th-place finisher.

LeFrancois is up to about 4.2 million now, and running hot at the moment.

Dunst Dusted

William Thorson opened to 200,000 from under the gun only to have Tony Dunst pull back his big blind and announce a raise of, "one mirrion" in his best Jerry Yang-esque impression.

Thorson put Dunst all in for his last 75,000 and "Bond18" made the call for his tournament life.

Dunst:

Thorson:

The flop wasn't the best one that Dunst could have seen, but the on the turn gave him additional outs to chop to go along with his queen to scoop the pot.

Unfortunately for one of the best dressed men in poker, he saw the delivered on the river to end his tournament in 50th place as Thorson climbs to 12,980,000 in chips.

Roothlus Aggression

Matthew Bucaric raised to 200,000 from the cutoff seat, and Edward Ochana called on the button. In the small blind, Adam Levy squeezed all in for 1.885 million total. Bucaric made the call with his big stack, and that got Ochana out and put "Roothlus" heads up for his tournament life. And racing:

Bucaric:

Levy:

Help came quickly for the at-risk Levy as the flop came . The turn kept him in front, and the river cued his double up. Not that he was out of it before, but now he's right back in the game with over four million chips.

Bucaric - 5.6 million

Levy - 4.25 million

Lodden Takes One From Sijpkens

Michiel Sijpkens raised the hijack position to 185,000 with Johnny Lodden making the call on the button.

They saw a flop of and Sijpkens led out for 225,000. Lodden made the call in position.

The turn was a repeat and Sijpkens fired again for 450,000 but Lodden responded by raising it up to 1.125 million. It was enough to see a fold from Sijpkens to give Lodden a nice pot without showdown. Lodden is up to 5.1 million with Sijpkens back to 3 million.

Mizrachi Doubles

John Racener entered the pot from early position for 180,000 with David Baker and William Thorson making the call before Michael Mizrachi moved all in for 1,510,000 from the button.

Racener passed, Baker did so too, before Thorson thought for barely thirty seconds before making the call.

Mizrachi:

Thorson:

With Mizrachi's rail all on their feet watching on, the flop fell to force them into a screech of loud cheers.

The turn landed the to improve Mizrachi, but now give Racener outs for a gutshot straight.

Fortunately for Mizrachi, the river improved his hand once again as it landed the to see him double through to 3,590,000 in chips.

Wow, We Have a New Leader!

Brandon Steven raised to 225,000 from late position, and he found calls from both of the blinds -- Theo Jorgensen in the small and Cuong Nguyen in the big.

The three players took a flop of , and some serious action ensued. The blinds checked, and Steven continued out with a bet of 525,000. Jorgensen check-called, but Nguyen wanted to play for more. He raised to 1.5 million, and Steven quickly folded. Jorgensen promptly reraised to 4 million straight and Nguyen came right back over the top with an all-in shove for 7.62 million. Jorgensen called, and all of the sudden there was a pot of 19.52 million up for grabs!

A wave of chatter swept through the spectator gallery as everyone quickly booked their bets on the players' two hands. Set over set? Ace-king versus a set? Not quite. Showdown, please:

Jorgensen:

Nguyen:

Seriously. These guys are not messing around. Jorgensen was on the club draw, and his overcard ace gave him three extra outs. Nguyen had put about 8 million in with just top pair-medium kicker, but he was ahead with two cards to come and in position to win a chip-leading pot.

Turn: . That's the wrong color for Jorgensen, and Nguyen didn't even flinch.

River: . Jorgensen paired up, but it was the wrong card. His lowly pair of threes was no match for Nguyen's pair, and that gargantuan pile of chips goes to Nguyen.

Let the record show that on the last hand before the dinner break, Cuong Nguyen took a commanding chip lead in the Main Event with 19.52 million. Jorgensen, once mighty himself, has been reduced to just 2.3 million.

Wow.

Mizrachi Sets Up On Thorson

William Thorson opened to 250,000 from the hi-jack and Michael Mizrachi made the call from the cutoff.

The flop fell down and Thorson check-called 400,000 before both players checked the on the turn.

The river landed the and Thorson led out for 875,000 only to have Mizrachi slide in 2,300,000.

Thorson sat in the tank for over four minutes before tossing in his , as Mizrachi tabled his and collected the pot to move to 9,100,000 in chips.

"Baby why you bet so much?" yelled out Lily Mizrachi as both Thorson and Mizrachi both burst out into laughter.

Lodden Thinks A Chop Will Do

Jonathan Duhamel opened it up with a raise to 250,000 from the hijack position before Johnny Lodden pushed all in from the button for an additional 1.11 million. The blinds folded and Duhamel made the call.

Duhamel:

Lodden:

Lodden was dominated and staring elimination in the face but the board was spread to give both players queens and deuces with an ace kicker for a chopped pot. Lodden remains alive, but the short stack of the field with about 1.5 million.

Lodden Chops To Survive Again!

Michiel Sijpkens started things off with a raise to 315,000 before Jonathan Duhamel made it 765,000 on the button. Johnny Lodden moved all in over the top from the big blind, forcing Sijpkens to fold but Duhamel made a quick call.

Lodden:

Duhamel:

The board was spread and again Lodden survives a dominated situation to chop the pot. He's hanging tough with 1.6 million, and he'll certainly remember these two chopped pots if he can get through the day. Duhamel is still going strong with 11 million.

Final 27 Set, November Nine Decided Tomorrow

A total of 78 players -- all survivors of six days' worth of poker -- arrived at noon today with hopes of continuing their long and winding tourney journeys. They were the final standing from the starting field of 7,319, and all had already achieved much.

But all wanted more. And just 27 would earn the right to come back tomorrow for the last day of poker this summer in the 2010 WSOP.

Bustouts began shortly after cards went in the air, with Jean-Robert Bellande, Meenakshi Subramaniam, David Benyamine, Peter Jetten, Alexander Kostritsyn, and Tony Dunst among those departing during the first levels.

The pace slowed as the dinner break approached, and with 42 left it was thought it might take a while before we'd get down to three tables.

But then came the fireworks of Level 29 -- specifically the last hour of Level 29, when 11 players were eliminated. It didn't take long after that for Theo Jorgensen, Gianni Direnzo, and Bryn Kenney all to hit the rail, too, each earning $255,242 for getting this far.

As the night wore on, Joseph Cheong and Cuong Nguyen put some distance between themselves and the rest of the field, but there's a formidable bunch behind them, among them Matt Affleck, John Racener, Scott Clements, David Baker, and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi. Mizrachi took some hits early today, but true to his name, grinded his way back into contention, and still (incredibly) has a chance of tying Frank Kassela for WSOP POY with a Main Event victory.

Thanks for following our coverage today. Join us again tomorrow at noon Vegas time to find out who among these 27 will emerge as this year's November Nine.