Two original November Nine members, Dennis Phillips and 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate, took center stage on ESPN on Tuesday night. Play from Day 6 of the 2009 Main Event wrapped up from the Rio in Las Vegas.
Eastgate and Phillips were seated at the feature table during the first hour of ESPN’s WSOP coverage, which aired at 9:00pm ET. Joining them were J.C. Tran, Joe Hachem, and one of the chip leaders throughout much of the day, Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp. In the first hand shown at the feature table, Hachem raised to 55,000 pre-flop with A-K and Thai Tran made it 305,000 with pocket kings. Hachem noted, “It doesn’t feel right” and promptly mucked.
2009 November Nine members Phil Ivey and Steven Begleiter could be found at Table Two. Ivey raised to 54,000 holding K-J and Begleiter made the call with 8-7 of diamonds to see the flop came 9-A-6. Begleiter check-called an 80,000 chip bet from Ivey to see a three hit the turn. The action went check-check to a queen on the river. Begleiter bet out 175,000 to build a 490,000 chip pot with his busted straight draw and Ivey folded.
Kopp continued to build his stack, sending Nasr El Nasr home in 137th place with pocket aces against pocket queens. After the board fell 2-4-10-10-3, Kopp raked in the 3.2 million chip pot to hold the second largest stack in the room. Incidentally, Phillips held pocket fours in the hand and would have turned a boat. Meanwhile, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier was sent packing with A-K against the pocket kings of online poker pro Scott Sitron.
“The Nuts” examined the use of the phrases “nice hand” and “good luck,” while out in the field, 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider doubled up with pocket aces against John Martin’s A-K. Bradley Craig, who was once down to just 400 chips during the Main Event, doubled up with A-Q versus the pocket kings of Noah Boeken to balloon his stack to 2.6 million. Back at the feature table, J.C. Tran was sent packing at the hands of Phillips for his fourth Main Event cash since 2004.
Hachem’s run through the 2009 WSOP Main Event came to an abrupt halt when he shoved his five big blind stack with J-9 of clubs. Kopp made the call with pocket fours, setting up a race situation. By the river, Hachem was rooting for an ace, king, jack, nine, or club to double up, but the three of hearts sealed the 2005 Main Event Champion’s fate. Eastgate represented the lone winner of the $10,000 buy-in tournament left in the field.
The second episode, which began at 10:00pm ET on ESPN, included the same feature and side tables, with poker pro Joe Sebok making his way to the former. At Table Two, Ivey drew out on Hac Dang with pocket jacks against Dang’s pocket queens when the flop came jack-high. Antonio Esfandiari also drew out on an opponent to send them to the rails, as “The Magician’s” K-Q found the nuts on a flop of 9-10-J to send Bobby Law packing with A-K in 91st place.
In the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the hole cards of one player are concealed, Phillips raised to 70,000 pre-flop with pocket kings and Thai Tran made the call from the big blind. The flop came 10-A-3 and Tran check-raised Phillips to 440,000. Phillips called to see a six fall on the turn and the action went check-check. The river was an eight and Tran checked. Phillips checked behind and Tran showed a baby ace, A-2, to scoop the pot.
Out in the field, Darvin Moon sent Jamie Brown to the exits with pocket aces against pocket kings to scoop a 3.8 million chip pot and become the new chip leader. Shortly thereafter, Kenny Tran was all-in with A-5 of diamonds against Joe Cada’s pocket eights. The board ran out 4-3-3-9-6 and Tran busted in 86th place. It was then Eastgate’s turn to pack his bags after an impressive run in 2009 after winning it all one year ago. The 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion pushed all-in pre-flop with A-J; Kopp made the call with pocket eights, as did Phillips, who held K-Q. Kopp and Phillips checked the action to the river, which put four hearts on the board. Kopp held the only heart and sent Eastgate to the rails in 78th.
A new feature table was assembled featuring Moon, Phillips, and Schneider. In one hand, Schneider raised to 110,000 with A-J and Phillips made it 310,000 with pocket queens. Moon, holding A-K, pushed the action to 675,000, Schneider got out of the way, and Phillips made the call. ESPN announcer Norman Chad noted, “It’s the every man against the every man.” The flop came A-4-8 and Moon bet 750,000 with his top pair after Phillips checked. Phillips commented, “I have no idea if you’re pushing me around or not” and folded, showing his hole cards. The pot was worth 2.3 million chips.
Ivey made a flush to eliminate an opponent at Table Two, while Nichoel Peppe, one of two women remaining in the field, was all-in with her tournament life on the line holding J-4 of hearts against Adam York’s pocket aces. The board came with one heart and Peppe exited in 75th place, leaving Leo Margets as the last woman standing in the 2009 WSOP Main Event.
A total of 64 players remain. WSOP on ESPN coverage hits television airwaves on Tuesdays at 9:00pm ET and runs for two hours. The Main Event final table can be seen on November 10th.
