Wednesday, September 12, 2007

WSOPE Day 6 - Main Event Day 1b: The Antonius Factor

By Pauly
London

Oh to be young and good looking and sitting with the big stack in life. We're just ugly satellites floating around the universe of Patrik Antonius, the uber-pretty boy toy from Finland. Model. Tennis pro. Poker God.

He's also Shronk's man crush. To quote Shronk, "Patrik Antonius is so godlike that when he folds his cards they turn into doves and fly away."

Antonius ended Day 1b as the chipleader after busting a slew of people who dared to mess with the chosen one. Other players that accumulated chips on Day 1b included Adam Junglen (the 19-year old whiz from Ohio who made a final table at the EPT Barcelona ten days earlier), Kenny Tran (50K HORSE finalist), Jesse Jones, Pearljammer, and everyone's favorite canuck, Daniel Negreanu.
End of Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts:
1. Patrik Antonius 76,150 Fifty
2. Shaun Deeb 71825 Sportsman
3. Tino Lechich 71,725 Fifty
4. Adam Junglen 69,275 Empire
5. Kenny Tran 67,025 Empire
6. Gerry Kane 66,675 Sportsman
7. David Lionel 65,825 Fifty
8. Jesse Jones 64,950 Fifty
9. Jon "Pearljammer" Turner 60,975 Empire
10. Daniel Negreanu 60,900 Empire

Notable Stacks:
Jamie Gold 53,400
Theo Jorgensen 50,825
Johnny Chan 47,250
Lee Nelson 46,450
Johnny Lodden 46,125
Tony G 44,750
Dario Alioto 42,225
Juha Helppi 42,025
Dan Shak 39,900
Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo 39,000
Barny Boatman 37,725
Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke 36,975
Harry Demetriou 32,975
Isabelle Mercier 32,400
Roland de Wolfe 32,250
Magnus Persson 31,400
Joe Beevers 26,000
Howard Lederer 20,450
Marc Goodwin 16,900
Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirakis 16,375
Willie Tann 16,150
Ben Roberts 12,950
Martin Johnson 12,200
Allen Cunningham 10,550
Neil "Bad Beat" Channing 10,475
Michel Abecassis 9,875
Kristian Kjondal 8,025
Day 1b followed the same format of Day 1a. The action was spread out over three casinos. I covered The Empire and the mood was more subdued compared to Day 1a. The action crawled along and went super slow. I couldn't explain why.

The big story at the Empire was the early elimination of Texas Dolly. He busted out on the third hand courtesy of ZeeJustin. When I saw the table draw (Brunson had ZeeJustin and Adam Junglen at his table), I anticipated some sort of shoot out between the grizzled veteran and the two young guns. ZeeJustin shot first and sent Brunson packing.

The flop was 10s-5d-4c and all the money went in on the turn when the As. Brunson showed 4d-4h for a set, while ZeeJustin had ZeeWheel (and picked up a flush draw). The 7d could not save Brunson and he limped to the rail with the assistance of his crutch. Always a class act, Brunson smiled for the cameras and took the time to do an interview with SkySports.

And over at the Fifty, Change100 told me that Brandon Schaefer busted out when his K-K ran into A-A. Ouch. Schaefer headed over to the Empire to sweat his buddy (and youngest WSOP bracelet winner) MrSmokey1.

MrSmokey1's record might be in jeopardy since the WSOPE allows players under 21 to particpate. That's why Annette_15, Gobboboy, and Adam Junglen are in the mix. And there's also the story of Mike Macdonald. Here's what I wrote on PokerNews:
Mike Macdonald's 18th Birthday Ruined By Jamie Gold's Two Outer

What did you do on your 18th birthday??

Well, American player Mike Macdonald turned 18 years old today, which means he can finally compete in his first live poker tournament. He forked over £10,000 for a chance to fling around chips with the big boys. He was recently moved to the featured TV table which included former WSOP world champion Jamie Gold and Kenny Tran. Macdonald raised with Jacks pre-flop and Jamie Gold called. On a ragged flop, Gold pushed all in and Macdonald instantly called. Gold showed pocket threes and was way behind. The turn gave Gold a set when a three spiked. The river was no help for Macdonald and he headed to the rail.

And you know what? The kid took the bad beat like a man despite getting berated by Jamie Gold.
When I asked my fellow media reps what they were doing on their 18th birthday, Change100 admitted that she was in high school playing the lead of Carousel. Me? I was in Atlanta, GA shitfaced on tequila at a classy joint on Cheshire Bridge Road called Tops N' Tails (infamous for their Monday Night hot oil wrestling).

And Snoopy? Snoopy takes the prize. He was in a pub near his university in the UK. His friends hired a stripper who dressed up like a bobbie. She stripped him down (the expression he used was "full monty") and started spanking him with a whip, which she "accidentally" shoved up his bum. Poor Snoopy. Anally-violated by a stripper on his 18th birthday.

"I think I would have preferred the two outer," he said with a straight face.

* * * * *

Bouncin Round the Room...

Negreanu almost hit me in the junk while practicing his golf swing. I'm not saying that he tried to "cop a feel" but he got way to close to the fopping my nuts. That was a little too close for comfort, Monroe Ficus.

Sportswriter Martin Johnson played on Day 1b. He's famous in the UK and writes for various outlets. He admitted that he knew very little about poker and found himself sandwiched in between Pearljammer and Phil Gordon. Lucky for Johnson, Gordon took him under his wing to give him a few tips. That must have worked. Everyone's favorite Tiltboy busted out before dinner break, while Johnson went on to advance to Day 2.

Snoopy could not eat his dinner without getting bombarded with local pros telling him bad beat stories. Poor kid. He said he's going to have to eat in a stall in the men's bathroom to avoid the maelstrom of bad beats.

Devilfish has been all over the hot mid-drift exposing massage therapists. We can't keep our eyes off of them. We got Felipe to take a few stealth photos...


Chad Brown busted out at the feature table at the Empire minutes after his gal pal Vanessa Rousso busted out at the Fifty. Vanessa rushed over to the Empire and asked me where Chad was. I told her that he busted and rushed past me in media row. I assume he was headed over to The Fifty to check up on Vanessa.
Last 5 Pros I Pissed Next to...
1. Kenny Tran
2. Ben Roberts
3. Ted Forrest
4. Devilfish
5. Kristian Kondjal
* * * * *

Come back at the Tao of Poker for daily recaps and head over at PokerNews for live coverage and updates including chip counts, photos, and videos.

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Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

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