Season 6 2007-2008 Monday Nights at 9pm/8c on GSN
Mirage Poker Showdown
Day 1
Season VI of the World Poker Tour kicked off today with the Mirage Poker Showdown, just like it has the last three seasons. Unfortunately, the number of entrants was down, no doubt a result of the recent UIGEA legislation passed late last year.
But the 309 players who showed up were enough to create a $2.9 million prizepool, and first place is worth $1,066,295 and a $25,500 seat in the Season VI WPT World Championship next April.
Last year's winner Stan Weiss was a no-show, and 2004 winner Eli Elezra busted in the last level. 2005 winner Gavin Smith survived the day -- barely. Smith has just 10,350 in chips (about 25% of the average stack), so look for him to make some moves early on Day 2.
Recent WPT World Champion (and multiple WPT winner) Carlos Mortensen decided to give the other players a chance, so he sat this one out. Harry Demetriou, who finished in second place last year after a grueling heads-up battle against Stan Weiss, finishes Day 1 with 17,400 in chips. He's hoping to slightly improve on last year's result.
Like most casinos, the poker room at the Mirage is located next to the Sports Book, and the tournament spread across both rooms. Around 3:00 pm, the Sports Book started filling to capacity as gamblers and spectators gathered to watch the Preakness Stakes -- the middle event of horseracing's Triple Crown. Some poker players had action on the race, while others wondered what all the cheering was about. At the end of it all, Street Sense failed in his shot at the Triple Crown by finishing second to Curlin in a photo finish.
Street Sense's streak ended at one, but in poker action, Kirk Morrison's WPT streak ends at four. When Morrison cashed in the WPT World Championship (though it's a bit of an understatement to call $2 million for second place a "cash"), he tied Daniel Negreanu for the most straight cashes in WPT events. Here at the Mirage Poker Showdown, he needed to finish in the top 27 to keep his streak alive and break the record -- but it wasn't meant to be. The streak stops at four, and he'll have to start fresh at the WPT Mandalay Bay Poker Championship in two weeks.
J.C. Tran burned up the poker scene in Season V, picking up the WPT Player of the Year award in the process. Unfortunately, his Season VI got off to a slow start, and he busted early. But it's a long season, and Tran is still a big threat.
So who did have a good day? A good place to start would be everyone who ended the day with over 100,000 in chips (each player began the day with 20,000):
1. Davidson Matthew - 156,625
2. Daniel Alaei - 141,125
3. Darrell 'Gigabet' Dicken - 123,100
4. Shannon Shorr - 121,200
5. Geoff Sanford - 112,075
6. Jeff Blenkarn - 103,925
7. Anthony Newman - 100,600
You might remember Davidson Matthew from the Season IV WPT World Championship, where he finished in second place after accidentally missing most of Day 1 because he thought he started the next day. He's got a strong lead going into Day 2. Meanwhile, Daniel Alaei was a one-man wrecking crew, busting player after player in a steady stream during the last two levels of the day.
Darrell 'Gigabet' Dicken and Shannon Shorr were two of the first players over the 100,000 mark, and shortly after that Shorr moved to Dicken's table, disrupting the balance of power. Even though they were seated side by side (Dicken had position), they stayed out of each other's way as both of their chip stacks continued to grow.
The tournament is only going to get more exciting from here. There are 144 players who survived to Day 2, and play resumes on Sunday at 12:00 noon PDT. Return to WPT Live Updates to catch all the action, along with chip counts, photos, player blogs, and video interviews.
Day 2
Day Two moved quickly, and with 40 players surviving, this five-day tournament looks like it could be finished in four days. While an off day is a longshot, we're certain that either Day Three or Day Four (possibly both) will have an early finish.
At the start of the day, these were the four big stacks:
1. Davidson Matthew - 156,625
2. Daniel Alaei - 141,125
3. Darrell 'Gigabet' Dicken - 123,100
4. Shannon Shorr - 121,200
All four survived Day Two. Darrell Dicken moved into first place during the first level and never looked back. His stack steadily increased all day, then took a big leap in the last level to put him over half a million in chips.
The other Day One leaders didn't fare as well. After an entire day, Davidson Matthew only added about 10,000 chips to his stack. Daniel Alaei and Shannon Shorr did worse than that -- Shorr lost about half his stack, while Alaei lost 62% of his. But they're still alive, and as long as they're alive, they have a shot.
Here is the new top four from the end of Day Two:
1. Darrell Dicken 501,900
2. Phil Ivey 289,900
3. Mikko Pispala 279,300
4. John D'Agostino 279,100
As you can see, Dicken is over 500,000, and nobody else is above the 300,000 mark.
Phil Ivey ended the day in second place, but for the most part, he had a tough day. He picked up some chips early before taking some hits and dropping down the in the chip counts. In the middle of the day, Steve Sung was aggressively attacking him with raises and re-reraises. Sung kept pushing and pushing, but when Ivey finally stood his ground, he made it count.
With the board showing Q
9
7 6
on the turn, Sung checked, Ivey bet 30,000, and Sung called. The river card was the 3
, Sung checked, Ivey moved all in, and Sung thought for about five minutes before calling. Ivey showed K Q for top pair, and it was good enough. Sung mucked his cards as he lost most of his chips, and he busted out with a whimper a few hands later.
While the top four chipleaders from Day One survived the day, there were a lot of big names that weren't so lucky -- Mark Seif, Erik Seidel, Gavin Smith, Barry Greenstein, Nenad Medic, Erick Lindgren, Dustin 'Neverwin' Woolf, and J.J. Liu were all sent home early in the day.
Even with those losses, this field was still heavily populated by top players, and there were no easy tables. Table 37 was perhaps the toughest throughout the day. Here's a partial lineup from the start of the day:
Seat 1 - Mark Seif
Seat 2 - Michael Binger
Seat 3 - Nam Le
Seat 5 - J.C. Alvarado
Seat 6 - Dustin 'Neverwin' Woolf
Seat 7 - Lex 'RaSZi' Vendhuis
Seat 9 - Alex Prendes, Jr.
Seif was crippled in the second hand of the day when he doubled up Vendhuis, a top online pro from the Netherlands who final tabled one of the Mirage prelim events. If possible, the table got even tougher at that point when Phil Ivey moved into the open seat. By the end of the day, this was the lineup at that same table:
Seat 1 - Phil Ivey
Seat 2 - John D'Agostino
Seat 3 - Nam Le
Seat 6 - Chad Layne
Seat 7 - Rene Angelil
Seat 8 - Tom Pniak
Seat 9 - Amnon Filippi
As tough as those names are by themselves, remember that Ivey and D'Agostino are both among the top four in chips.
Kathy Liebert and Kristy Gazes both made it deep into the day, but neither survived. Gazes was the last woman in the field when she was eliminated in approximately 50th place.
As we advance to Day Three on Monday, here are some of the other big names still in the hunt for the first WPT Final Table of Season VI:
13. Chip Reese - 175,000
14. Davidson Matthew - 167,000
15. Eric Froehlich - 166,200
AVERAGE - 154,500
21. Alan Goehring - 141,500
26. Rene Angelil - 111,800
29. Jared Hamby - 104,200
30. David 'The Dragon' Pham - 97,900
31. Amnon Filippi - 90,100
32. Haralabos Voulgaris - 87,100
34. Nam Le - 65,500
35. Shannon Shorr - 65,200
36. Chad Layne - 59,300
37. Daniel Alaei - 53,200
38. Burt Boutin - 49,700
With 40 players left, only the top 27 will finish in the money. Day Three starts Monday at 12:00 noon PDT, and it's scheduled to finish when the money bubble bursts at 27 players. I expect it will continue longer than that, probably to the final two tables (18 players). Unless they play all the way down to the final table, expect Day Three to have an early finish.
So return to WPT Live Updates early, so you can catch the action live, as it happens. You'll also get all the chip counts, hand updates, photos, and video interviews you crave to keep you on top of everything happening at the Mirage Poker Showdown.
Day 3
Day Three of the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown would start with 40 players, break through the money bubble at 27 players, and finish the day with 18 players. It would be an early day, setting the stage for another early day again tomorrow.
Once again, the four leaders from the day before survived (Darrell Dicken, Phil Ivey, Mikko Pispala, and John D'Agostino), and once again, Dicken continued to increase his chipleading stack. Day One chipleader Davidson Matthew also reached the final 18, but he actually has *fewer* chips than he had two days ago. While he dominated Day One, he merely survived the next two. Here's his progression:
Davidson Matthew's End-of-Day Chip Counts
Day 1 - 156,625
Day 2 - 167,000
Day 3 - 111,000
The action started at 12:00 noon, and the players wasted no time getting all their money in the pot. Seven players were sent home in the first 35 minutes, an average of one player every five minutes. Things cooled off for a bit after that rush, but with a bustout in the last hand of the first level, there were just 28 players remaining. We lost 30% of the field in 90 minutes.
Not even the money bubble could slow down this field. In the very first hand on the bubble, Tommy Garza moved his short stack all in with A-J suited, and John D'Agostino called with pocket tens. Five cards later, Garza was out of the tournament, and the remaining 27 players had guaranteed themselves a payday of at least $17,292.
Philosophical Question of the Day: Can you really call it hand-for-hand play if it only lasts for one hand?
Redrawing for seats at the final three tables, Jared Hamby once again found himself sitting on Darrell Dicken's right. When he showed up in that position the day before, his stack was over 300,000, but he quickly lost half of it. Today's result was even worse. First to act in a four-way pot, Hamby moved all in with a flush draw on a flop of 6 6 4, only to be called by Dicken who had 6 5 for trip sixes. The 8 on the turn gave Hamby his flush, but the 4 on the river double-paired the board, giving Dicken a full house. Jared Hamby was out in 26th place. He had a strong showing in this tournament -- except when he was seated next to Dicken.
The bustouts weren't as frequent as they were earlier in the day, but they steadily kept coming -- Rene Angelil (27th), Jared Hamby (26th), Haralabos Voulgaris (25th), Chul Kim (24th), Laith Salem (23rd), John Esposito (22nd), Solomon Niyazov (21st), and Gabriel Alarie (20th). Haralabos is a recent addition to the WPT Pro Player Blog team, and you can read about his tournament first hand by clicking on the red "Pro Blog" tab near the top of the page.
Shortly after 4:15 pm, Mark Ketteringham moved all in for about 100,000 from the small blind with A-K suited, and Kirsch (who had raised to 30,000) called with pocket sevens. Ketteringham flopped a flush draw, but never improved beyond that, and he was the 19th place finisher.
Here are the 18 players who will return on Tuesday to play Day Four:
1. Darrell 'Gigabet' Dicken - 1,167,000
2. Cory Carroll - 697,000
3. Richard Kirsch - 610,000
4. Amnon Filippi - 532,000
5. David Peat - 550,000
6. Phil Ivey - 475,000
***AVERAGE *** - 343,333
7. Mikko Pispala - 322,000
8. Jonathan Little - 300,000
9. Randy Holland - 250,000
10. Tom Pniak - 218,000
11. Shannon Shorr - 197,000
12. John D'Agostino - 186,000
13. Jon Friedberg - 145,000
14. Nam Le - 136,000
15. Davidson Matthew - 111,000
16. Cuong Nguyen - 108,000
17. David 'The Dragon' Pham - 107,000
18. Alan Goehring - 60,000
Dicken has held on to the chip lead ever since he claimed it in the first level on Day Two. But all eyes are on fan-favorite Phil Ivey, who promised that if he makes the final table, he'll win the tournament.
Day Three lasted just a little over four hours. How long will Day Four last, as they play down from 18 players to the final six? And who will be sitting at the first final table of Season VI? This field is still rich with poker talent, and there are a lot of fascinating final table possibilities. But it's up to the players and the cards at this point. Return to WPT Live Updates tomorrow (Tuesday) at 12:00 noon PDT to catch all of the Day Four action, with chip counts, hand updates, tournament photos, and video interviews.
Day 4
It took less than six-and-a-half hours to shrink the field from 18 players to six. We've been saying all along that this tournament has been packed with top pros, and the final table definitely shows it. Season VI of the World Poker Tour couldn't ask for a better opening lineup than this. (More on the final table later tonight.)
In the very first hand of Day Four, Cuong Nguyen moved all in under the gun with A-Q suited, only to run into John D'Agostino's pocket kings. Nguyen went home in 18th place, and short stack Alan Goehring followed him to the rail about 15 minutes later. The steady stream of bustouts continued with Day One chipleader Davidson Matthew (16th), Tom Pniak (15th), John D'Agostino (14th), Shannon Shorr (13th), Nam Le (12th), and David 'The Dragon' Pham (11th).
Down to ten players in just two hours of play, they redrew for seats at the final (non-televised) table. Here's how things stood at that point (chip counts are approximate):
Seat 1. Mikko Pispala - 163,000
Seat 2. Richard Kirsch - 529,000
Seat 3. Jonathan Little - 240,000
Seat 4. Cory Carroll - 862,000
Seat 5. Jon Friedberg - 266,000
Seat 6. Phil Ivey - 452,000
Seat 7. Randy Holland - 340,000
Seat 8. Darrell 'Gigabet' Dicken - 1,207,000
Seat 9. Amnon Filippi - 745,000
Seat 10. David Peat - 597,000
As you can see, Darrell Dicken was still holding onto the chip lead that he's held since the first level of Day Two.
Predictably, the pace slowed down once they started playing ten-handed, and the stakes increased as each elimination meant higher payouts for the survivors. They played for about 50 minutes before Mikko Pispala moved all in under the gun with A-8 offsuit, and was eliminated by Cory Carroll's pocket kings.
The final nine players held strong, and nobody busted for nearly two hours. There were several all-in situations, but the short stacks always came out on top.
The big story at this point was Dicken -- after a few bad hands, including losing a race to double up David Peat, he not only lost the chip lead, but fell below average in the counts. It wasn't clear how quickly Dicken could adapt to an average stack after dominating the field for several days, but it turns out he adapted quickly -- half an hour later he had regained the lead.
Nearly five hours into the action, Randy Holland moved all in with A-K against Darrell Dicken's pocket tens. The board came queen high, and Holland went home in ninth place.
Another hour passed before Jon Friedberg raised from the cutoff, Phil Ivey reraised from the button, and Friedberg moved in with A-10 suited. Ivey called with pocket jacks, and Friedberg was in trouble. He caught a ten on the flop but nothing more, and Jon Friedberg was the 8th place finisher. That hand gave Phil Ivey the chip lead for the first time, with Dicken in a close second.
With just one elimination to go (the TV bubble), it could take minutes or it could take hours. On this day, it would take minutes. (About 30 of them.)
David Peat raised from the button to 70,000, and Richard Kirsch moved all in from the small blind for 398,000. Peat thought for several minutes, even asking the other players if they wanted him to call. (With Kirsch and Peat nearly even in chips, a call would guarantee that one player would either bust or be severely crippled, unless they chopped.) Peat was joking a bit with the players and the media, but finally decided to call with A 5. Kirsch proudly showed A K, and Peat was in serious trouble. The board came A 7 3 3 J, and Kirsch's hand held up. Peat had slightly more chips, and was left with just 10,000 at a time when the ante alone was 3,000.
Peat was all in on the next hand, and three other players limped in to see the flop of 10 4 3. Everyone checked to the turn, which was the 7, Jonathan Little bet 40,000, Dicken called, and Kirsch folded. The river card was the 6, and the two active players checked. Little showed 10 3 for two pair, and Dicken mucked. Peat flipped over A 7 and jokingly asked, "Do I have a flush?" Peat was eliminated in 7th place, and the first WPT Final Table of Season VI was set:
Seat 1 - Richard Kirsch - 810,000
Seat 2 - Jonathan Little - 956,000
Seat 3 - Cory Carroll - 1,235,000
Seat 4 - Phil Ivey - 1,395,000
Seat 5 - Darrell Dicken - 1,203,000
Seat 6 - Amnon Filippi - 571,000
And here are the payouts for everyone else who reached Day Four:
7th - David Peat - $72,047
8th - Jon Friedberg - $57,637
9th - Randy Holland - $46,110
10th - Mikko Pispala - $34,582
11th - David 'The Dragon' Pham - $34,582
12th - Nam Le - $34,582
13th - Shannon Shorr - $28,818
14th - John D'Agostino - $28,818
15th - Tom Pniak - $28,818
16th - Davidson Matthew - $23,056
17th - Alan Goehring - $23,056
18th - Cuong Nguyen - $23,056
Stay tuned to WorldPokerTour.com for a breakdown of tomorrow's final table with background information on all six players. The WPT Final Table is scheduled to start tomorrow (Wednesday) at 5:00 pm PDT, and we'll have all the hand-by-hand action for you live, right here at WorldPokerTour.com.
Blind Structure
| Level | Ante | Blinds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | - | $50-$100 |
| 2 | - | $100-$200 |
| 3 | 25 | $100-$200 |
| 4 | 25 | $200-$400 |
| 5 | 50 | $300-$600 |
| 6 | 75 | $400-$800 |
| 7 | 100 | $600-$1,200 |
| 8 | 200 | $800-$1,600 |
| 9 | 300 | $1,000-$2,000 |
| 10 | 400 | $1,500-$3,000 |
| 11 | 500 | $2,000-$4,000 |
| 12 | 500 | $3,000-$6,000 |
| 13 | 1,000 | $4,000-$8,000 |
| 14 | 1,000 | $6,000-$12,000 |
| 15 | 2,000 | $8,000-$16,000 |
| 16 | 3,000 | $10,000-$20,000 |
| 17 | 3,000 | $10,000-$20,000 |
| 18 | 3,000 | $10,000-$20,000 |
| TV1 | 3,000 | $12,000-$24,000 |
| TV2 | 5,000 | $20,000-$40,000 |
| TV3 | 10,000 | $30,000-$60,000 |
| TV4 | 10,000 | $50,000-$100,000 |
| TV5 | 15,000 | $80,000-$160,000 |
| TV6 | 30,000 | $120,000-$240,000 |
| TV7 | 50,000 | $200,000-$400,000 |
Tournament Prizes
| Rank | Prize Amount |
|---|---|
| 1 | $1,401,109 |
| 2 | $737,685 |
| 3 | $381,137 |
| 4 | $331,958 |
| 5 | $282,779 |
| 6 | $233,600 |
| 7 | $125,109 |
| 8 | $108,685 |
| 9 | $38,137 |
| 10-12 | $33,958 |
| 13-15 | $28,779 |
| 16-18 | $23,600 |
| 19-27 | $19,250 |
