WPT Alpha8 Floride

It was a long, intense day of poker at the inaugural WPT Alpha 8 event at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. Just 9 players remain heading into tomorrow's final day of play, with Matt Glantz leading the way with 410,500 chips.

Un total de 18 players came to participate in the $100,000 buy-in event with several marquee names among them. Three players took the option to rebuy into the tournament today, bringing the total entries to 21 and pushing the overall prize pool up to $2,026,500.

Andrew Lichtenberger and Jason Koon were the first eliminations during the pre-dinner hours, with neither choosing to re-enter the tournament. Meanwhile Glantz was among the late registrants, only taking his seat during Level 5 after finally busting from the Seminole Hard Rock Open Main Event happening on the other end of the property.

Alors que Jason Mercier montait dans les décomptes pour occuper la première position pendant une grande partie de l'après-midi, Daniel Perper, Daniel Alaei et Isaac Haxton ont tous été éliminés avant la pause du dîner, tous trois choisissant de racheter avant la porte de rentrée. fermé.

Tom Hall was knocked out shortly after dinner, leaving 15 players, then another late registrant, Chris Klodnicki, made an early exit as well. Short stack Dan Shak persevered for a while before falling, then Erik Seidel was crippled in a hand versus Joseph Cheong before being eliminated.

Brandon Steven was next to go after a huge three-way all-in hand in which his [AsAc] failed to outlast the [JhJd] of Glantz when a jack came on the flop. Philipp Gruissem suffered some damage to his stack as well in that hand with his [TdTs], and he'd last a while longer before going out, too, following Daniel Perper to the rail after he had lost his second stack of the day.

That left just nine players to comprise the not-quite-final final table in this eight-handed event, and all nine would survive to night's end with Glantz leading and Bill Perkins the short stack. Here's how the chips will look when play resumes tomorrow.

Matt Glantz - 410,500 (82 b)
Jason Mercier - 375,500 (75 b)
Steven Silverman - 372,500 (74 b)
Daniel Alaei - 293,500 (59 b)
Isaac Haxton - 218,500 (44 b)
Jeff Gross - 140,500 (28 b)
Joseph Cheong-106,000 (21 b)
JC Tran - 94,000 (18 b)
Bill Perkins - 89,000 (17 b)

Le jeu reprend à midi, heure locale, et se poursuivra jusqu'à ce qu'un gagnant soit trouvé, la bulle d'argent éclatant à quatre joueurs.

Thanks for following our coverage today, and be sure to return tomorrow to see who will claim the $891,660 premier prix.

Main #20 - With Level 11 about to draw to a close, JC Tran raises to 9,500 et gagne les blinds et les antes.

Main #21 - Steven Silverman relance à 8,000 from early position and Joseph Cheong calls from a seat over. Next to act, JC Tran pushes all in for about 82,000. It folds all of the way back to Silverman who folds, then Cheong goes into the tank for a while before calling.

Both players have ace-queen, and when the flop comes [10s6s3s], it is Tran who is freerolling with the [Qs] in his hand. But the turn is the [Qd] and river the [6h], and the players split the last hand of the night.

Main #17 - Daniel Alaei relance à 8,000 and Bill Perkins tosses out a call. Joseph Cheong calls from the cutoff and Matt Glantz calls from the big blind. 

The four players take in a flop of [9s2d8s] and Glantz checks. Alaei continues for 17,000 and Perkins quickly calls. Cheong folds and Glantz follows suit. Alaei and Perkins are heads up to the turn which brings the [7c]. Alaei cuts out a bet of 43,000 and Perkins once again calls in no time. 

Le [2c] completes the board and Alaei announces and all in bet. Perkins finally takes pause. A moment passes before Perkins releases his cards, awarding Alaei the pot. 

Main #18 - Isaac Haxton opened to 9,000 sous le feu des projecteurs et a fait baisser les blindes et les antes. 

Main #19 - Jeff Gross ships all in for 69,500 from under the gun. Joseph Cheong moves all in over the top and the rest of the table folds, allowing the hands to be turned over. 

Brut: [7c7h]
Cheong : [AdQc]

Le tableau est épuisé [5cK4c8cTs] and Gross' sevens were able to score him a double to about 150,000.

Main #13 - Matt Glantz relance à 8,000 and Steven Silverman defends his big blind with a call. The flop comes [Qh10c9d]. Silverman checks, Glantz bets 11,000, et Silverman se plie.

Main #14 - Bill Perkins opens with a raise to 9,000 from the button. Silverman reraises to 26,500 from the small blind, good enough to earn folds and the pot.

Main #15 - Jason Mercier raises to 8,000 from under the gun, and all fold.

Main #16 - Silverman relance à 8,000 depuis le siège de coupure et remporte les blinds et les antes.

Main #10 - JC Tran opens the hijack for 10,000. He takes down the blinds and antes. 

Main #11 - Steven Silverman opens with a raise to 8,000 from early position and takes down the blinds and antes. 

Main #12 - Isaac Haxton le fait 8,000 from the button and Jeff Gross moves all in for roughly 50,000 from the small blind. Bill Perkins folds his big blind and Haxton lets it go as well.  

Main #7 - Daniel Alaei opens for 8,000 from early position. It folds back to JC Tran who shoves all in from the small blind, and both Jason Mercier (big blind) and Alaei fold.

Main #8 - Joseph Cheong relance à 9,000 depuis le siège de coupure et remporte les blinds et les antes.

Main #9 - Bill Perkins raises to 10,000 from middle position, then Cheong reraises to 24,000 from the hijack seat. It folds back around to Perkins who pushes all in for 132,500, and Cheong lets his hand go.

Main #4 - Matt Glantz relance à 8,000. Jeff Gross flat calls from the button and the blinds fold. The flop comes down [9dQ6s] and Glantz continues out for 11,000. Gross flat calls to see fourth street. 

The dealer produces the [Jh] on the turn and Glantz slows down with a check. Gross checks it back and the [Jc] pairs the board on the river. Glantz bets 32,000 and Gross wastes little time calling. Glantz shows [AhJd] for trip jacks which is enough to take down the pot. 

Main #5 - Jason Mercier opens to 8,000 and it folds around to Bill Perkins on the button. He makes it 19,000 to go and action folds back to Mercier. He calls and the two take in a flop of [7d6c8s]. Mercier checks and Perkins bets 30,000. Mercier lets it go and Perkins drags in the pot. 

Main #6 - Perkins makes it 10,000 to go from the cutoff and Steven Silverman calls from the button. JC Tran peeks at his cards in the big blind and announces a three-bet to 27,000. Perkins lets his hand go and Silverman calls to see a flop. 

Les fans du concessionnaire [4s5s6h] on the felt and Tran releases a continuation bet of 38,000. Silverman announces an all in raise over the top and Tran calls. 

Tran : [KhKc]
Silverman: [5h5d]

Silverman leads with his flopped set of fives and Tran fails to improve as the [8h] hits the turn and the [Ac] falls on the river. Silverman drags in the pot and leaves Tran with about 60,000 en chips.

Main #1 - Jeff Gross relance à 9,000 sous le coup de la menace, et Bill Perkins appelle depuis un siège au-dessus. Steven Silverman est le prochain à agir et relance à 33,500. Il se couche jusqu'à Gross qui réfléchit un moment avant de se coucher, puis Perkins se couche également et Silverman récupère le pot.

Main #2 - Joseph Cheong relance à 9,000 depuis la position médiane et remporte les blinds et les antes.

Main #3 - Isaac Haxton augmente le minimum à 8,000 depuis le bouton et quand il se couche sur Perkins dans la grosse blinde, il relance à 16,000. Haxton répond avec une sur-relance à 36,000, et Perkins lâche sa main.

The inaugural World Poker Tour Alpha8 tournament has reached its unofficial final table of nine. One more elimination will secure the official final table. Here is how the final nine players are seated. 

Places assises 1:Daniel Alaei
Places assises 2:Isaac Haxton
Places assises 3: Jeff Gross
Places assises 4: Bill Perkins
Places assises 5: Steven Silverman
Places assises 6:Joseph Cheong
Places assises 7:JC Tran
Places assises 8: Jason Mercier
Places assises 9: Matt Glantz 

As this unofficial final table begins, one player -- Tran -- is also thinking of another final table at which he'll be playing:

9 players left and I drew seat 7. Same seat as November. I'm asking each guy to look up who they are supposed to mock and help me out.

— JC TRAN (@jctran23) Août 27, 2013

Philipp Gruissem open-raises all in for 42,500 from the big blind and the table folds around to Matt Glantz in the big blind. Glantz squeezes his cards then calls, turning over [Qc9c] to Gruissem's [Ad7h].

The announcer comes over to call the action, noting that Gruissem is in the lead before the flop. But the flop comes [9d8c3d] to pair Glantz's nine, and after the turn brings the [3s], Gruissem needs help on the river to survive.

The announcer mixes up the players' hands when calling the action, and incorrectly notes that Gruissem needs to dodge a bad river card.

"Yes, but it's the other way around," says Gruissem. "Thanks for the needle though!" he adds with a grin, and the table chuckles.

La rivière est la [4h], and Gruissem shakes his opponents' hands before departing, having finished 10th. There will be a brief pause now as the final nine players redraw to sit around a single table.

Niveau 11 commence, avec des blinds augmentés de 2,000-4,000 et 500 des portes.

Jason Mercier relance à 6,000 depuis le siège cutoff et Jeff Gross call depuis le big blind. Le flop arrive [AdKh7s]. Chèques bruts, Mercier mise 5,000, et Gross appelle. Le tour amène le [9d] et quelques contrôles des deux joueurs.

La cinquième rue est la [Ac]. Cette fois, Gross mène avec un pari de 7,500, puis Mercier relance à 26,500Gross réfléchit un moment puis appelle, et quand Mercier se retourne [Ah2h] pour les as de voyage, Gross mucks.

Jason Mercier - 372,000 (164 b)
Jeff Gross - 146,000 (49 b)

Daniel Alaei opens to 6,000 and Steven Silverman calls from the small blind. Matt Glantz calls out of the big blind and the trio take in a flop of [9cThAh]. All three players check and the turn brings the [3d]. Silverman moves 15,500 into the middle and Glantz comes right over the top for 38,000 total. Alaei mucks his cards and Silverman stays the course. 

Fifth street brings the [5h] and Silverman checks to the raiser. Glantz fires 45,000 and Silverman tanks for about 45 seconds before mucking his cards, awarding Glantz the pot suite à la cure. 

Matt Glantz - 300,000 (100 b)
Steven Silverman - 165,000 (55 b)

Steven Silverman relance à 6,500 from under the gun and it folds back around to Joseph Cheong who calls from the big blind. The flop comes [8d5s2c] and Cheong checks. Silverman continues for 8,000 and Cheong calls. The turn brings the [8c] and bet from Cheong this time of 15,000. Silverman waits a moment, then calls.

La rivière est la [10s]. Cheong fires again, dropping chips in front of him for a bet of 19,500, and after pausing just a beat Silverman folds.

Joseph Cheong- 238,000 (79 b)
Steven Silverman - 202,000 (67 b)

Jeff Gross relance à 6,000 from late position and finds Daniel Perper three-bet all in for his last 23,000. Jason Mercier flat calls from the next seat over and action folds back to Gross. Gross also decides to release and the hands are turned on their backs. 

Perper : [AsJs]
Mercier : [AhQd]

Mercier is in the lead heading to the community cards and never relinquishes that lead as the board comes [KcQh9d6h7c]. For the second time today, Daniel Perper has been eliminated from play.

Daniel Alaei opens to 6,500 from early position and it folds to Matt Glantz on the button. Glantz re-raises to 16,000 total and Brandon Steven flat calls out of the small blind. Philipp Gruissem four-bets to 35,000 from the big blind and Alaei quickly mucks. Glantz stacks all of his chips and pushes them forward for a five-bet all in and Steven moves all in as well. A moment passes while Gruissem ponders a call. 

"...Shit," Gruissem laments as he plops calling chips into the middle of the table. 

Steven is all in for 62,000 while Glantz is at risk for his last 78,000. Gruissem has both players covered but is also revealed to have the worst hand. 

Gruissem : [TdTs]
Glantz : [JhJd]
Steven : [AcAs]

"Belle ouverture", dit Glantz à un Alaei souriant alors que les jetons sont comptés à rebours.  

The dealer raps the table and produces a flop that reads [Js6h4c], giving Glantz the lead with a set of jacks. The turn brings the [6s] et la rivière la [9c], ensuring that Glantz scoops the pot. Steven, on the other hand, has been sent to the rail. 

Matt Glantz - 255,000 (85 b)
Philippe Gruissem - 78,000 (26 b)
Brandon Steven - OUT

Niveau 10 commence, avec des blinds augmentés de 1,500-3,000 et 500 des portes.

Niveau 9 ends, and the 12 remaining players are taking a quick 10-minute break before beginning the last two one-hour levels of the night. Jason Mercier continues to lead the way.

Jason Mercier - 342,000 (142 b)
Daniel Alaei - 236,000 (98 b)
Steven Silverman - 230,500 (96 b)
Bill Perkins - 224,000 (93 b)
JC Tran - 218,500 (91 b)
Isaac Haxton - 205,000 (85 b)
Joseph Cheong- 176,500 (74 b)
Philippe Gruissem - 151,500 (63 b)
Jeff Gross - 130,500 (54 b)
Matt Glantz - 87,500 (36 b)
Brandon Steven - 72,000 (30 b)
Daniel Perper - 42,500 (18 b)

Daniel Alaei relance à 5,000 from the button and Erik Seidel calls from the big blind. The two see a flop filled with hearts as [Qh3h2h] hits the felt. Seidel leads out for 10,500 and Alaei comes over the top for 23,000 total. 

Seidel thinks for a moment before dropping in a three-bet to 55,500. Alaei announces that he is all in for 111,600 and Seidel quickly calls.

Seidel: [Kh4h]
Alaei: [Ah9h]

Alaei leads with the nut flush to Seidel's second nuts. The turn and river bring the [Jc] and [Kd] respectively and allow Alaei to double.

Daniel Alaei - 234,000
Erik Seidel - 4,700