Event 50 - $10,000 PLO Championship - Day Two Recap

News / Chris Edwards / 01 July 2008 / Leave a comment

Only 86 players survived day one after 381 entered the $10,000 World Championship Of Pot Limit Omaha. Josh Arieh came into day two as chip leader with 347,000 chips but with many great players still left playing the turbulent game of PLO, anything could happen.

Big Game regular Chau Giang was one of the firs players eliminated after facing off against recent bracelet winners Nenad Medic and Rob Hollink. On the turn, the board read Qd 4d 3d Ks. Medic checked, Hollink bet and Giang moved all in with Medic folding. Giang showed trip Queens but Hollink showed the nut flush. Needing the board to pair, the river 6h was no help and Giang was gone.

Hendon Mobster Ross Boatman got sent to the rail when he got it all in with As Ks Kh 6d against his opponents As Ah 5h 8c. A board of Qc Jc Jd 3h 7h could not improve Boatman's hand and he made an early exit.

The mouth from the south Tony G was eliminated when David Singer raised and Tony G re-raised the pot, with Singer calling. On a board of 10h 8c 3h Tony bet his last 1000 with Singer having to make the call. Tony showed As Ad Jh 7h for a pair of Aces, a flush draw and a gutshot, while Singer showed Kh Kd Qh Jd for a pair of Kings, a better flush draw and a better gutshot. In what was almost a perfect coinflip (Tony G was a .24% favorite) the 9s on the turn completed both players gutshot, with Singer having the best of the two and leaving Tony drawing dead for his tournament life.

After leading the tournament, Josh Arieh lost some huge pots towards the end of the day. Shortstacked, he moved the remainder of his chips into the middle holding K 9 8 4 and was up against Q Q 3 3. The flop was no help to Arieh who picked up a heart draw on the turn, but the river was a brick and he was eliminated in 12th place, earning $53,721.

David 'Raptor' Benefield has not had the WSOP he had hoped for but made a strong showing in this event. On the final table bubble he was getting short of chips and made a huge preflop raise with As Ad Kc 3h against Michael 'Grinder' Mizrachi. The Grinder made the call and both players made it clear they were moving in on any flop with the pot so big. The flop was 10d 7c 4s and with The Grinder showing Ac Qs Tc 5s Benefield was in the lead. The 5d on the turn gave The Gridner Queens up and left Benefield need one of a few outs to win. The river 8h was no help and Benefield was eliminated in 10th place earning $53,721. 'I really felt good about this tourney, and feel like I played top notch poker both days' He said afterwards.

Nine Players resume play later today. Here are the final table chip counts:

1. Kido Pham - 1,080,000
2. Brandon Moran - 1,286,000
3. Peter Jetten - 492,000
4. Michael Mizrachi - 1,767,000
5. Billy Argyros - 729,000
6. Greg Hurst - 637,000
7. Tom Hanlon - 192,000
8. Marty Smyth - 1,068,000
9. Richard Harroch - 372,000