Nine Strong Hearts Await Date With Destiny

by Andrew N.S. Glazer

The 2000 World Series of Poker No-Limit Championship Event ended when the nine of hearts fell on the final card to give Chris "Jesus" Ferguson the title, and thanks to a good rule change that created a nine-player final table for the worldwide television audience, instead of the traditional six, we've come full circle.

I don't know if the magic nine finalists have the strongest nine hearts of the 613 players who started the 2001 Championship Event (some other mighty strong hearts fell this day), but having been watching them every step of the way, I do know that none of them could have reached this point without tremendous heart, will, and resolve. There are many poker players who possess the skills necessary to reach the WSOP finale. There aren't nearly as many who have the heart necessary to get there.

THE INNER GAME MEETS THE OUTER GAME

The final nine didn't just have to master their 604 opponents. They had to master themselves, and handle the adversity that came along the way. Tomorrow, one champion will emerge, and while that champion may win because he holds the most cards, I think it more likely that the champion will be the player who can remain within himself and play well not just with the world watching, but also with both $1,500,000 and a place in history to be won.

The nine warriors will enter the arena in the following seats and chip positions:

Analysis of the seat positions: There's no more "Hydra" problem. If you eliminate someone, you get his chips, and a stronger player doesn't come in to replace him. Hellmuth has position on his two most dangerous opponents, Mortensen and Matusow, although it's hard to consider anyone in this group "not dangerous." Riehle has already shown he can and will call an all-in bet if he thinks his opponent is weak.

DON'T BRING A GUN TO A KNIFE FIGHT

Instead of the "Hydra" problem, the players now have to worry about ammunition for the fight, but the analogy so many people use to "bullets in their gun" is all wrong. Poker isn't a gunfight, it's a knife-throwing fight, because when you fire at your opponent and miss, he can pick up your weapon and throw it back at you later. You can't stuff expended bullets back into a gun.

Unlike last year, when Ferguson used his immense chip lead to blow everyone but TJ Cloutier out of the building, we have a finale where the trailer can almost catch the leader in one hand, not that I expect to see that kind of quick action out of John Inashima, who plays conservatively and picks his spots carefully. An average stack is $681,111.

I did fairly well in my projections yesterday, when I predicted a final table of Hellmuth, Nowakowski, Allen Cunningham, Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Jim Bechtel, Tony D, David Pham, and Mortensen. Four of them made it, and Negreanu and D got very close. If you've read many of my articles before, you know I don't have to make a prediction for tomorrow, and if you haven't read my articles before, shame on you.

PRESSURE FALLS SQUARELY ON HELLMUTH

Hellmuth will be going for his eighth bracelet and second World Championship. He already has a first, second, sixth, and three other cashes at this Series; the Big One makes it seven cashes at the 2001 WSOP, and he skipped a lot of events, including some hold'em tournaments.

Out of greatness and achievement springs the burden of expectation. He's one player among nine, with a slightly better than average chip position, several of his opponents are poker superstars, and if he doesn't win, the people who love to hate him will talk about how much they enjoy his "failure." I don't think they'll get the chance, but I'm biased.

The funny thing is, Hellmuth would probably consider it a failure too, because he sets pretty high standards for himself. I don't think he's spending tonight thinking about failure.

Let's take a look at how it all unfolded. When we started play, the seats and chip positions were:

I won't take you through every elimination, just some of the more dramatic ones; I'll include a special section at the end for those of you who want all the gory details, but I'd rather stick to the more interesting hands and human-interest stories in the main article.

David "the Dragon" Pham, one of my picks, left in early, dramatic style when Tomko opened a pot for $20,000, Pham moved all-in, and Tomko, who had already doubled through Chris Bjorin, called with A-Q. Pham had 9-9, and the board came down 2-3-4-J-A, the river card ending Pham's run in 44th place.

NINE PLAYERS EXIT IN FIRST HOUR

It only took an hour to eliminate the first nine players; as expected, once everyone had achieved "in the money" status, play loosened up as small stacks tried to collect enough chips to make a serious run. The first nine to go collect their $20,000 payoffs were Strothers, Pham, Thomas, Gazes, Alspach, Malatesta, Magee, Dietrich, and Baxter. Everyone left was now guaranteed at least $30,000.

We didn't re-draw at 36 players, but we did consolidate the five shorthanded tables into four full tables, and Schrier caught a nice break when he got moved out of his very difficult starting table into a less difficult group with plenty of short stacks.

IT AIN'T JUST THE CARDS, BABY

You can't get very far in a no-limit tournament if you just wait for perfect cards and hope to get action on your hands when you do come into a pot. Although most of the time you want to get your money in with the best hand, you have to steal some pots here and there, and sometimes you have to make some calls you'd rather not have to make, just because of the huge pot odds you're getting.

Mike Matusow demonstrated both of these principles just before the first break, when looking at a flop of As-8h-2h, he bet $70,000, only to have John Farley come over the top of him for an additional all-in $40,500.

With the blinds, antes, and pre-flop money (Matusow had limped in) already in the pot, as well as Matusow's $70,000 and Farley's $110,500, Matusow was looking at a chance to collect nearly $200,000 for his $40,500 call, and so when he announced, as he pondered what was clearly a tough decision, "I have a draw," it was pretty clear he didn't have a flush draw, because nine outs twice would have made the call an easy one for that much money.

Eventually Matusow tossed the extra $40,500 in, and turned over 3c-5c, while Farley showed us Ad-6d. Matusow could win with a four, or with two pair or trips if he caught perfect-perfect. Four outs twice gave him about 16% winning chances, plus a little extra equity for the outside shot of catching runner-runner (consecutive threes, consecutive fives, or 5-3/3-5). This made his call mathematically close to correct, even if a bit nauseating in practice, and did give him a chance to get a big stack that could do a lot of damage.

"I committed so many chips, I gotta try to get lucky," said Matusow as he made the call. No miracles arrived, though, and Farley doubled up.

HELLMUTH TAKES LEAD AT BREAK

We hit the first break with Hellmuth having taken the chip lead at $523,000, mostly via the style he prefers, winning small pots rather than getting involved in huge coin flip affairs. Negreanu had moved into second at $400,000, with Tony D third at $356,000. Former Card Player Magazine publisher Linda Johnson delivered these chip counts to me, along with the news that the 2002 WSOP will be non-smoking, word that she had just received from Becky Binion Behnen.

The new blinds were $3,000-$6,000, with $1,500 antes, meaning that with the mostly eight-handed tables we had, it was costing $20,000 to sit out a round. I wasn't the only one able to do that math, and the action picked up quickly, with Hellmuth taking out Bjorin with 8-8 against Kd-10d and Brenes taking out Sexton with K-K against Q-Q in the span of 30 seconds.

With Sexton out 29th, we went into a hand-for-hand situation, because the next player eliminated would receive $30,000, but the player eliminated after that $39,600. In case you're not familiar with "hand for hand" situations, each table completes one hand and waits for the other tables to finish one hand; that keeps players from stalling in the hope that someone at another table will bust out during the stall and move them up the pay ladder.

OH, DANNY BOY

Going hand for hand slows the action, but nothing slows down Daniel Negreanu. Sitting in late position in an unusual four-way action pot (the four coming in for $15,000 each, no less), Negreanu looked at the 7h-9h-8s flop, and when his three companions checked to him, he fired out with $75,000.

Everyone folded: 7-8-9 with two hearts is a pretty scary flop in a multi-way pot, and as Daniel dragged the pot and someone asked him about his hand, he said, "You don't really want to see it, do you?" When he got an answer in the affirmative, he first showed the 3s, and with everyone else expecting the other card to be something like the 6s, which at least would have given him an open-ended straight draw, Daniel showed his other card, the 5s. He'd bought the pot with what almost certainly was the worst hand of the four contestants.

When Mike May, who'd dodged the elimination knife to make the money last night, took 9-9 against K-Q and found himself staring into a 2-Q-Q flop, we were down to three tables, and redrew for new seats. Redraws are a good part of tournament poker: they make everyone play against everyone, help players who have bad seats get a chance for better ones, and often move players who have enjoyed favorable seats into more difficult positions.

The players who'd exited along the way were, in order, Patrick, Kaufman, Echeverri, Boatman, O'Bryan, McKelvey, Bjorin, Sexton, and May.

WHEN THE MUSIC STOPPED, THE NEW SEATS WERE…

Our new three tables were (starting with seat one and moving in position around the ring sequentially):

1, Bechtel, Matusow, Wood, Hellmuth, Schrier, Guiberson, Cunningham, Batshon, Glorioso.

2, Nowakowski, Farley, Katz, Gordon, Song, Brenes, Korbin, Weiner, Mortensen.

3, Keller, Inashima, Diaz, Barton, Tomko, Esposito, D, Riehle, Negreanu.

Almost immediately after the redraw, we lost the great Allen Cunningham when they each put in $16,000 before the flop, the flop came 7s-Js-7c, Guiberson bet $25,000, Cunningham raised back $60,000 more, Guiberson went all-in, and Cunningham, already almost fully committed to this pot, called. A-J for Allen, A-7 for Guiberson, and Cunningham's run had ended on a perfect trap flop.

WAS EVERYONE TRYING TO CATCH THE SAME FLIGHT?

I tried to take a moment to speak with Cunningham, but need to rush back to the action, because it seemed that someone had installed ejector seats at the tables during the redraw. We lost Esposito, Keller, Brenes, Bechtel and Katz in less than five minutes.

They pulled the ejector seats out and the action slowed for a while, letting me catch up with Cunningham. As Katz came over to join our chat, Allen asked him, "Where do we get paid?"

"Who cares," Katz said. For many of these players, the payoff doesn't mean much in the difficult moment when you have to leave your seat. "Yeah, me either," replied Cunningham. "You going to watch any more of today, I don't think I can stomach it."

"Me neither," said Katz. Each player indicated he would come back tomorrow, but that for now, they wanted to get away from the tables that had brought them to the brink of poker's Holy Grail, only to disappoint them as the quest neared its end.

THAT'S 13'3" OF PHILS

Although Hellmuth wasn't the tallest Phil still in the tournament (Gordon is 6'9", Hellmuth 6'6"), he was, as usual, the most talkative, although Negreanu and Matusow were giving him a run for his money, and Guiberson scored some points with the crowd when, after he and Hellmuth had exchanged a few comment, Phil reached over to shake his hand and asked, "What's your name?"

"Steve," Guiberson replied. "What's yours?"

The "other Phil" had already started heating up (in fact, he'd joined the talking party by announcing "Watch out boys, I'm en fuego") when he really collected a big chunk of change before check-raising and moving all-in on a 7-7-10 flop. Kevin Song thought a long time before calling, and turned over K-10, the very same hand that had busted him out of the 2000 Tournament of Champions, and Gordon turned over 7-8. An eight on the turn added insult to injury, and Song left 20th.

MORE MUSICAL CHAIRS

When Mel Weiner's 10-J couldn't beat Mortensen's 4-4, we redrew at 5:45 p.m.:

Table one: Korbin, D, Inashima, Negreanu, Barton, Farley, Mortensen, Schrier, Nowakowski.

Table two: Glorioso, Hellmuth, Wood, Tomko, Riehle, Guiberson, Matusow, Gordon, Diaz.

Almost immediately after the break, we lost Wood and Korbin in exactly the same fashion on consecutive hands: each took A-K up against A-A, with Gordon and Schrier the beneficiaries.

Although you might think that each poker hand is an entity unto its own, very often what happens in or around one hand influences the psychology of the next one, so let's look at two that came along soon thereafter that showed us a lot about Phil Gordon.

GORDON PUTS PUZZLE PIECES TOGETHER CORRECTLY

Gordon wasn't in the first hand: That one was Hellmuth vs. Matusow, a friend of Hellmuth's who has a decent-sized ego of his own, and who'd been barking at Hellmuth all afternoon long with lines like "You're the greatest, Phil, you're the best, Phil, no one can play like you, Phil" (sorry if the sarcasm dripping off these comments shorts out your computer).

Matusow brought the hand for $20,000, and Hellmuth called from the big blind. The flop came Ks-9d-10d, Hellmuth bet $30,000, and Matusow called. The Kc hit the turn, Hellmuth checked, Matusow bet $50,000, and Hellmuth said, "Raise it," putting $120,000 into the pot for a 70k raise.

Matusow moved all-in, and Hellmuth mucked his hand. Matusow showed Q-Q, and roared, "I know you don't got no king, baby. Yes! I warned you, when we got in each other's way, I'd have the best of it."

"Table change," joked Riehle from in between the two talkers.

Matusow immediately assured Riehle that "This is just two good friends quarreling, there's no problem here."

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Now, Act II.

Matusow brought the very next hand in for $20,000 again, and Gordon raised him $100,000. Hellmuth didn't take very long to move all-in. Matusow mucked his hand, but not before showing it to some spectators, in a "look what I'm laying down" gesture.

Gordon, who had every right to believe that Hellmuth might be steaming a bit from the beat and the chatter on the last hand, asked for a countdown on Hellmuth's chips, and after learning that the raise was another $408,500, threw his hand away, and Hellmuth showed two aces.

"I had two kings," Gordon said.

"Wow," Matusow said, "two queens, two kings, and two aces on the same hand!" Hellmuth wasn't sure that he believed Gordon, so Gordon reached over to the top of the muck and turned over two red kings.

It was an impressive laydown: not too many people can throw kings away before the flop, (although Hellmuth had also done it correctly two days earlier), and when you crank in the chance Gordon might have thought Hellmuth was steaming, it was even more impressive.

DID MATUSOW UNINTENTIONALLY INFLUENCE THE HAND?

I'll subtract about five points from the otherwise perfect score I'm awarding Gordon on this one, because I think Matusow showing his hand to spectators before he mucked it unintentionally gave Gordon a little more information: Matusow wouldn't have bothered showing his hand unless it was at least J-J or Q-Q, and the existence of one of those pairs in Matusow's hand made it less likely that Hellmuth was raising with one of those pairs; it also might have told Gordon, who hadn't played much with Hellmuth, that Matusow, who had, figured Hellmuth for a giant hand in that spot.

I called this information "unintentional" and I mean that: Matusow and Hellmuth ARE friends, and Matusow is an ethical guy who understandably got a bit excited in the moment. For all I know, Gordon didn't draw the same conclusions I did.

Nonetheless, impressed I was, and so was Hellmuth, who made several remarks over the next hour about "giving credit" to Gordon for the good laydown.

At the 6:05 p.m. break, the chip counts were

Table One

D, $194,000
Inashima, $320,000
Negreanu, $600,000
Barton, $90,000
Farley, $120,000
Mortensen, $450,000
Schrier, $620,000
Nowakowski, $420,000

Table Two

Glorioso, $240,000
Hellmuth, $650,000
Tomko, $210,000
Riehle, $165,000
Guiberson, $440,000
Gordon, $600,000
Diaz, $540,000

We came back with $2,000 antes and $5,000-10,000 blinds, which meant that eight-handed, it was costing $31,000 to sit out a round.

NO KNOCKOUT, BUT A KNOCKDOWN

We lost Farley right after the break, but Negreanu and Nowakowski sent shock waves through the tournament right after that when they hooked up on a big hand that didn't knock anyone out.

Mortensen opened this pot for $35,000, and Nowakowski made it $150,000 to go. Negreanu thought for a while, and finally decided to raise another $200,000. Mortensen, prudent lad that he is, got the heck out of the way, and Nowakowski pushed the rest of his chips in, a re-raise of $70,000 more.

Negreanu called immediately-with that much money in the pot already, he'd have called with virtually any two cards there, and he didn't have any two cards, he had A-K.

Nowakowski is a very pleasant, friendly man who comes from Frankfurt, Germany, and who comes to these tables rather better dressed than most players, usually sporting a suit, tie, and silk handkerchief. He must have decided that with $150,000 already in the pot, he was willing to gamble that Negreanu had overcards and not a big pair, because he turned over 6-6, and when the board came 7-J-10-9-3, he'd doubled through Daniel and had the chip lead with about $900,000, leaving Negreanu with only about $200,000.

THE FRANKFURT WALL?

It was pretty easy to count Nowakowski's chips, because he arranged them in stacks of 20, and he had two pink ($10,000 chips) stacks, four orange ($5,000) stacks, and five blue ($1,000) stacks, and he lined them all up in a straight row, his own version of the Berlin Wall, and Negreanu no doubt was in a mood to spray paint it or knock it down.

I think I had it right in yesterday's report when I said Nowakowski was "fearless."

A little while later, I learned why Steve Riehle, an electrician from Cincinnati, was still in this tournament. He can read people, and they must have a move in Cincinnati that they don't have anywhere else in the country, because he made the same immediate stunning call that Jim "Cincinnati Kid" Lester had made on Jay Heimowitz a few tournaments back, except that this one was before the flop.

Riehle opened the pot for $40,000, and Guiberson instantly moved all-in for about $170,000. Riehle called just as fast, and turned over K-Q. As unbelievable as it sounds, Guiberson turned over K-8, those were the exact same hands that Lester and Heimowitz had held when Heimowitz moved all-in on a 10-8-7 flop late in the $3,000 no-limit tournament. They must know something about calling fast all-in moves with K-Q in Cincinnati. Either that, or they know an awful lot about reading other players.

Guiberson had only $22,000 left, and departed shortly thereafter.

Nowakowski had badly hurt one of my final table picks, Negreanu, and a little while later, Mortensen did some additional intramural damage when he took A-9 up against Tony D's Q-Q, and wound up making nines full of aces.

NOBODY'S PERFECT

I only saw Gordon make one false move today, and it came down in a very strange pot with Hellmuth. Gordon limped in from late position, and Hellmuth raised $40,000 from the big blind, with Gordon calling. The flop came K-4-6, and both players checked. A nine came off on the turn, Hellmuth bet $60,000, and Gordon raised him $100,000 more.

"I'm not sure what happened," Hellmuth said later. "I found my hand pushing the $100,000 in to call, and my hand wouldn't stop."

A jack hit the river, both players checked, and with about $450,000 in the pot, Hellmuth turned over A-6, third pair.

Gordon couldn't beat it, and mucked his hand. He'd made an expensive mistake, although his raise might well have bought the pot if Hellmuth's subconscious hadn't pushed those chips forward, but just as I saw right before the dinner break yesterday, when he took two very bad beats, Gordon didn't unravel.

You gotta have heart to hang in this tournament. Gordon showed it by keeping his act together after this tough hand, and Mortensen did the same thing shortly thereafter.

MORTENSEN KEEPS IT TOGETHER

Within five minutes of releasing a hand in which he already had $80,000 invested to an all-in move, Mortensen found himself in the same spot when Matusow raised $45,000 from the small blind and Mortensen called from the big blind. The flop came Jd-7s-3d, Matusow bet $80,000, and Mortensen called.

The 6h hit the turn, and Matusow moved all-in. Mortensen thought about it for a long time, and as he was thinking, Matusow said to Negreanu, sitting over at the other table, "I have to pick up some chips for tomorrow."

Mortensen eventually threw his hand away, showing that he was folding A-J, and Matusow turned over 10-J. The Madrid, Spain native slammed his hand on the table, not believing that he'd thrown the better hand away in a spot where he could have made a large fortune instead of losing a small one.

These are the kinds of moments that test one's soul in a poker tournament. A great many players would come apart at the seams after seeing such a missed opportunity. Mortensen had only $260,000 left after the laydown, and ended the day with $873,000. I guess Carlos Mortensen's seams are just fine, thank you.

"I tried to hang myself," Matusow said. "I was sure 10-J was the best hand. I really got away with one there."

DON'T FLOP A SET WITH THAT HAND, FATHER!

Gordon knocked out Glorioso, a Catholic priest, when his A-A held up against Glorioso's 6-6. I guess a priest isn't supposed to make 6-6-6.

Negreanu hadn't been able to find any big hands all day, stealing most of his chips and then getting hurt when he found A-K, and got knocked out when he moved the last of his $150,000 all-in from the button, only to run into a Matusow willing to call with 7-7 in the small blind.

Daniel could only show us a steal attempt, 9s-6c, and when the flop came 10s-4s-7c, Daniel was reduced to hoping for an eight or two consecutive spades, and he got neither, leaving a disappointed 11th.

Now it was nervous time, because they combined the two tables into one ten-handed table, to avoid the lengthy hand-for-hand delays. They redrew for new seat numbers, which all but one of the players were going to be able to keep tomorrow.

The new draw was

1, Gordon
2, Nowakowski
3, Inashima
4, Mortensen
5, Schrier
6, Matusow
7, Diaz
8, Hellmuth
9, Tomko
10, Riehle

Everyone went into super-tight mode, and it's understandable. The jump up the ladder one spot isn't the big deal, although you wouldn't throw the extra cash out into the street. Hanging on to the final table means you get to be on TV, you get to say for the rest of your life that you made the final table at the World Series, and you get a night to regroup and figure out the best strategy for dealing with your seat position the next day-whom you want to attack, and out of whose way you want to stay.

The first seven hands all went bet, no call.

DIAZ GATHERS AMMO, BUT IT WINDS UP ELSEWHERE

We had a little action on #8, and then Diaz doubled his $100,000 on #9. That became significant on unlucky #13, when Mortensen brought it in for $40,000, Matusow flat-called, a scary and surprising move at that stage, and Diaz also called, changing the game from bet-fold to friendly three-way action.

The flop came a very scary looking 9h-10s-Jh, and Mortensen bet $100,000. Matusow decided he'd had enough, but Diaz flat called the bet.

The 6d hit the turn, and Mortensen moved in. Diaz called for his last $60,000. Qd-Jd for Mortensen, J-7 for Diaz. Diaz had called with top pair and a gutshot for a straight, but an eight would now eliminate him rather than save him, because it would make Mortensen a bigger straight. Diaz had to have a seven, and the 5s came off, setting our final table.

The most important poker day of most of these players' lives will come tomorrow, when all of them are physically and emotionally spent after four days of lengthy, intense competition. If you don't think heart will have a lot to do with the outcome, think again.

GRUESOME DETAILS FOR THOSE WHO WANT THE BLOW BY BLOW

(In the vast majority of these hands, the losing player was short-stacked and needed to make a move.)

#45 Bill Strothers takes A-4 vs. Negreanu A-10.
#44 David Pham takes 9-9 vs. Tomko A-Q, ace on river.
#43 Harry Thomas takes 8-8 vs. Inashima A-K, king on turn.
#42 Bill Gazes takes A-10 vs. John Esposito 9-9 (got 2-1 pot odds on call).
#41 Dan Alspach takes 7-7 vs. Schrier J-J.
#40 Gene Malatesta takes A-7 vs. Riehle A-K, 7 on flop, Riehle makes flush on river.
#39 Mike Magee takes A-K vs. Salim Batshon A-A.
#38 Alexander Dietrich takes 10-10 vs. Charles Glorioso A-A.
#37 Billy Baxter takes 9-9 vs. Kevin Song K-K.

#36 Bueno Patrick takes Ac-2c vs. Negreanu A-8.
#35 Pete Kaufman takes K-J vs. Scott O'Bryan A-A.
#34 Gustavo Echeverri takes 10d-8d vs. Glorioso K-K.
#33 Barney Boatman takes 6-6 vs. Gordon K-Q, queen on river.
#32 Scott O'Bryan takes 5-5 vs. Negreanu 9-9.
#31 Carl McKelvey takes A-2 vs. Hellmuth A-8.
#30 Chris Bjorin takes Kd-10d vs. Hellmuth 8-8.
#29 Mike Sexton takes Q-Q vs. Alex Brenes K-K.
#28 Mike May takes 9-9 vs. Nowakowski Ks-Qs, Q-Q-2 flop.

#27 Allen Cunningham takes A-J vs. Guiberson A-7 on 7-J-7 flop.
#26 John Esposito takes Ah-5h vs. Tomko 6-6.
#25 Kevin Keller takes J-J vs. Guiberson 9-9, money in before flop, 9 on flop.

#24 Alex Brenes takes K-10 vs. Nowakowski J-J.
#23 Jim Bechtel takes 4-4 vs. Ah-Qd, fourth heart hits on river.
#22 Aaron Katz takes A-6 vs. Rich Korbin Jh-Qh, board comes A-K-4-K-10.

#21 Salim Batshon takes J-J vs. Inashima Ah-Qh, A-10-A-K-2 board.
#20 Kevin Song takes K-10 vs. Gordon 7-8, money goes in on 7-7-10 flop.
#19 Mel Weiner takes 10-J vs. Mortensen 4-4.

#18 Larry Wood takes A-K vs. Gordon A-A.
#17 Richie Korbin takes A-K vs. Schrier A-A.
#16 John Farley takes A-9 vs. Mortensen A-Q, can't "do a Ferguson."

#15 Don Barton takes A-4 vs. Tony D K-K.
#14 Steve Guiberson takes Q-7 vs. Nowakowski 10-10.
#13 Tony D takes Q-Q vs. Mortensen A-9, board comes A-J-6-9-9.

#12 Charles Glorioso takes 6-6 vs. Gordon A-A.
#11 Daniel Negreanu takes 9-6 vs. Matusow 7-7.
#10 Arturo Diaz takes J-7 vs. Mortensen Q-J, money goes in on 9-10-J flop.

Andrew N.S. Glazer, Editor
Wednesday Nite Poker

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