2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
2-7 Triple Draw Lowball - Limit (Event 40)
Date:
Sunday, June 22, 2008 to Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Buy-In:
$2,500
Prize Pool:
$547,400
Entrants:
238
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:22:02
Congratulations to John Phan, Winner of Event #40 ($151,896)
John Phan has won his second WSOP gold bracelet in less than a week. "History has been made," said Phan triumphantly as the Tournament Director clasped the gold bracelet onto his wrist. For his three days of work, Phan earns not only his second bracelet, but also a payday of $151,896. Congraulations once again to John Phan.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:19:36
Number Two Gets Phan Number Two -- John Phan Wins Event No. 40; Shun Uchida Finishes in 2nd Place ($95,795)
Shun Uchida had just 127,000 left. John Phan raised, Uchida thought for a good while, then reraised to 75,000. "How much you got left," asked Phan. "52," said Uchida. "I call," answered Phan.
Uchida drew two, and Phan three. Uchida bet, Phan raised, and Uchida reraised all in for just 2,000 more. Phan called.
On the second draw, Uchida took one. When Phan indicated he was standing pat, his cheering section erupted.
Before the third draw, Phan boisterously pushed his huge mountain of chips in the middle. Even though the betting was over, he was raucously exclaiming he was all in.
Uchida took one more. Phan again stood pat.
Uchida showed 8-7-6-5-3. But Phan had drawn a "number two" -- 7-6-4-3-2. Phan claimed his second bracelet in less than a week!
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:11:38
Uchida Doubles
Shun Uchida has a little more time. At John Phan's insistence, he got his chips in.
"Get it all in, Shun," said Phan.
"I haven't looked yet."
"You don't need to look. Let's play no-look poker."
Uchida decided to look anyway, then reraised all in after John Phan raised. Phan called. The draws went: two, two, one for Uchida, and three, two, two for Phan. Before Phan made his last draw, Uchida said, "Take two please." Phan complied, saying, "I like it when I'm behind."
Uchida: 9-6-3-2
Phan: 3-4-5
Uchida squeezed first, drawing a seven for a final hand of 9-7-6-3-2. Then it was Phan's turn. Ever so slowly, he squeezed his first card: a seven. That gave him 3-4-5-7. Any deuce, eight or nine would win the tournament. He squeezed his second card so slowly that even Shun Uchida got out of his seat to squeeze it with Phan. No luck for Phan right now, however, as he squeezed a ten to make 10-7-5-4-3.
Uchida doubles up to 140,000 and remains alive. For now.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:06:49
Options Running Out for Uchida
In the last hand of the the previous level, Shun Uchida raised from the button/small blind, and John Phan called.
Phan drew two cards, and Uchida took one. Phan checked, Uchida bet, and Phan grabbed enough chips to raise, but just called.
Both took one card on the second draw. Phan bet quickly, and Uchida slowly called.
Phan stood pat on the third round, and Uchida took one. Phan bet out, and Uchida flashed his hand to the Tournament Director. "Should I call?" he asked with a smile. "One person to a hand," the TD light-heartedly announced.
Uchida folded. He'd made a six-high straight. He's now down to just 70,000.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:01:30
Phan Keeps Pushing
John Phan hasn't relented. He keeps winning small pots off of Shun Uchida, who doesn't seem to want to get involved without a premium starting hand. At these blinds and limits, however, Uchida doesn't have much choice. Phan is nickel and diming him to death.
The two players did recently go to a showdown. In a raised pot, both drew two on the first draw and then checked. Both drew two on the second draw and checked again. On the third draw, Phan drew two and Uchida drew one. Phan checked to Uchida, who bet. Phan called. As soon as Phan said call, Uchida threw his hand into the muck.
Uchida is now dangerously close to elimination, with under 200,000 chips remaining.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:56:45
Three-to-One Chip Lead for Phan
We made it to a showdown. And things continue to go well for John Phan.
Shun Uchida limped from the button, Phan raised, and Uchida called. Phan took two, and Uchida three cards. Phan bet and Uchida called.
On the second draw, Phan took one card and Uchida two. Again, Phan bet, and Uchida called.
Phat stood pat on the end, and Uchida drew one last card. Both checked. Phan turned over 10-8-6-4-2, and Uchida mucked.
Phan is up to 890,000, and Uchida down to 310,000.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:48:17
Small Steps
The players are proceeding with caution. They've taken each other's blinds, or ended hands after the first draw. John Phan has had slightly the better of it.
Phan has a 690,000-510,000 edge on Shun Uchida at the moment.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:40:35
Uchida Takes One
John Phan raised from the button, Shun Uchida three-bet, and Phan called. Uchida drew one, and Phan took two. Uchida bet, and Phan called.
Both took one on the second draw. Uchida checked, Phan bet, and Uchida called.
Uchida took one on the last draw, and Phan stood pat. Uchida checked, Phan bet, and Uchida called.
Uchida turned over 8-7-6-5-2. Phan looked at his cards for several seconds, then mucked.
Phan 650,000, Uchida 550,000.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:35:41
Phan Takes Early Heads Up Lead
The first two showdowns of heads up play belonged to John Phan. Both times, he made an eight, and both times Shun Uchida mucked. The current chip counts are:
John Phan - 800,000
Shun Uchida - 400,000
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:34:44
Let the Trash Talking Begin
As soon as we were heads up, John Phan and Shun Uchida started trying to get in each other's heads.
"I'll give you the bracelet for a half million, John," began Uchida.
"What kind of a deal are you giving me?" replied Phan. "I'll give it to you for a quarter million."
Then: "Let's go all in in the dark."
"One hand?" asked Uchida.
"I've done it before. Let's do it again." The rail started cheering Phan on.
"Winner take all, Shun?"
Uchida shrugged no.
"You have no gambling blood in you, kid. Let's go all in in the dark."
"Maybe later," said Uchida.
"Now. Let's do something nice that history will not repeat. You're chicken-sh*t. No history in your blood. Only 'nit' in your blood. Grind, grind, grind. I've been playing your game all day. Now you play mine."
It was at this point that Uchida asked the floor if he could use his iPod. As is standard once WSOP tournaments are in the money, the answer was no.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:29:35
Chip Counts As We Begin Heads Up
John Phan -- 605,000
Shun Uchida -- 595,000
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:25:14
Gioi Luong Eliminated in 3rd Place ($61,583)
Gioi Luong raised from the small blind, John Phan reraised from the big blind, and Luong called.
Luong took two cards and Phan stood pat. Luong checked, and Phan splashed chips in front of him, enough to put Luong all in. Luong made the call.
On the second draw, Luong stood pat. Phan fiddled with his chips as he contemplated what to do. "Okay, I break my hand," said Phan, asking for two cards. He then moved to turn over his hand, but was reminded one more draw was to come. "I thought that was it!" he grinned.
On the third draw, Luong again stood pat. Phan took two cards again. Luong turned over his hand: 8-7-6-5-2. Phan slowly peeked at what he had picked up...
Suddenly he stood up and shouted. He flipped his cards over: 7-6-5-4-2! Luong is out in third.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:16:05
Not Luong for This World?
Gioi Luong is on life support after taking a hit in a hand against Shun Uchida. Uchida raised from the small blind pre-draw and Luong reraised. Uchida called.
Both players drew one card and checked on the first draw, then drew one card and checked on the second draw. On the third draw, Uchida drew one again while Luong stayed pat. After squeezing his cards, Uchida bet. It was a great bet, since Luong was most likely pat with a rough nine or ten and had to wonder whether Uchida was making a play at the pot. Luong elected to call and found out it wasn't a play at all -- Uchida had made 8-7-5-4-2.
After the hand, Luong's stack dipped to just 93,000.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:13:00
Phan Closes the Gap
With blinds of 10,000/20,000 and limits of 20,000/40,000, a lot can change on just one hand.
The first five hands saw one hand taken with a raise before the first draw, one with a bet after the first draw, and three walks.
Then Shun Uchida raised on the button, John Phan three-bet from the small blind, and Uchida called. Phan drew one card, and Uchida took two. Phan checked, Uchida bet, Phan check-raised, and Uchida called.
On the second draw, Phan took one, and Uchida took two cards. Phan bet the 40,000, and Uchida called. On the last draw, Phan stood pat and Uchida again took two cards. Phan bet, and after a bit of thought, Uchida called.
Phan showed 8-6-5-4-2, and Uchida mucked. Just like that Uchida is down to 540,000, and Phan up to 474,000.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:00:21
Play Resumes
Cards are back in the air.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:29:03
Players Are on a Break
Play will resume in 90 minutes. Our dinner break tonight was only scheduled to be one hour, but John Phan just strong-armed his two remaining opponents into accepting a longer break.
Phan won a nice-sized pot on the last hand before the break to pick up some chips. The updated chip counts are:
Shun Uchida - 770,000
John Phan - 254,000
Gioi Luong - 171,000
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:24:11
More Snow
Deuces are a key card in deuce-to-seven lowball games. A great opportunity for snowing arises when you hold all the deuces. Just ask Gioi Luong.
He raised from the small blind, and John Phan called in the big blind. Luong was pat on the first draw, while Phan took three. Luong bet and Phan called. On the second draw, Luong was pat again. Phan took two, then folded after Luong bet.
Luong flashed 2-2-2-Q-Q.
For the most part, Luong has been quiet since he asked that the rail be cleared, choosing to sit back and allow Shun Uchida and John Phan to go after each other. Uchida has won three of the last four pots in which he was heads up against Phan.
Phan, for his part, has started taking a long time (for a limit game, anyway) to make each of his decisions. His shrinking chip stack may have something to do with that, as each lost pot pushes him closer and closer to elimination.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:19:11
Uchida Has Upper Hand
After taking a series of small- to medium-sized pots, Shun Uchida has extended his chip lead.
Uchida now has 757,000, John Phan has 245,000, and Gioi Luong 198,000.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:10:02
Luong Time Coming
Gioi Luong limped in from the small blind and John Phan checked his option. Both drew three, and both checked. Then both drew two, Luong checked, Phan bet, and Luong called.
Luong stood pat on the third draw, and Phan took one. Both checked. Luong showed a 10-8-6-3-2, and Phan mucked.
A small pot -- only 90,000 -- but Luong will take it.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:02:33
Updated Chip Counts
Shun Uchida - 607,000
John Phan - 378,000
Gioi Luong - 215,000
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:02:01
Phan's Lead Short-Lived
Any time John Phan starts to extend his chip lead, one of the other players comes storming back. His most recent nemesis has been Shun Uchida.
In back-to-back hands, Phan and Uchida got three bets in before the first draw. Both times, Uchida drew one, then went pat, pat. Both times, Phan drew one on his draw.
In the first hand, Uchida checked the final round of betting to Phan. "Sign of weakness?" asked Phan. "I mean, c'mon." He thought it over for a minute, took a sip of beer, then bet. Uchida deliberated about 15 seconds before raising. That put Phan in the tank a second time for a minute before mucking.
He knocked the table and said he folded 8-7-5-4-3.
On the second hand, Phan checked the last round of betting to Uchida who bet. Phan must have missed his draw, as he smiled with that look that lowball players know so well -- the look of "how did I miss this draw three times in a row!" -- before folding.
A few hands after that, the two were involved in a limped pot. Each drew three cards. Phan bet, and Uchida called. Each drew two on the second draw. Again Phan bet. This time Uchida raised, and Phan called.
On the final draw Phan took one, while Uchida was pat. Phan elected to fire a bet, and again Uchida raised. Phan sat back in his chair, thought it over, then called. Uchida showed 7-6-5-3-2 to take down the pot.
Updated chip counts are coming.
