Saturday, July 12th, 2008

It's been a whirlwind last few days here at the Rio as we hit the money bubble and pushed onward, with the Team far exceeding even our own expectations over the closing days. While individual players have cashed for more in past events as part of Team PokerRoom, a record number of Team members fought their way to the money:

119th: EroticDon ($41,816)
141st: MickeMusxxx ($41,816)
152nd: AREZ_ONE ($41,816)
168th: Githead ($38,600)
251st: drohse ($35,383)
497th: UpChitCreek ($25,090)
565th: ---Grazy--- ($23,160)
600th: bettysogray ($23,160)

Total cashes for Team PokerRoom at the 2008 WSOP: $270,841

That's a pretty amazing total, as far as the Team going home more than a quarter of a million dollars richer, so a hearty round of applause for everyone! It's especially impressive given that many players played their way in via freerolls and qualifiers, so their return on investment is pretty astronomical.

And a hearty round of applause for all the Team members who played their way here, regardless of whether you cashed or not. It's an amazing accomplishment just to get here and something many poker players never achieve, so every single member of the Team should be very proud of what they've accomplished.

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Monday, August 7th, 2006 15questions just busted Jennifer Harman in the $1,500 side event. He has 5500 with 180/420 players left.

Monday, August 7th, 2006

As River Ricki exits the tournament in 35th position, that is it for the Team this time around. We'll be back in the blog with some more interviews and stories, but from now on we will not do by-the-minute updates on the tournament. As more content is put into the blog we will make notifications in Pokah, so as usual keep an eye there.

The mood is still good here in the player's lounge as River Ricki declared that we shouldn't feel sorry for him (we weren't really planning on that...) and that he's had the time of his life. 

Interviews will be done with River Ricki later in the week as he's taking some time of the whole poker/casino thing and leaving Vegas for a few days with his parents.

Monday, August 7th, 2006 We'll get back with the details soon - but sadly has Ricki busted in 35th position. Ricki had AK against pocket 6s, a 6 on the flop and it was all over for The Greater Dane. He will collect $329,865.

Monday, August 7th, 2006

Maybe the luck is changing for River Ricki as he has just knocked out well-known professional Humberto Brenes.

Brenes went all-in for his last 210,000 and Ricki called with pocket Kings from the big blind. Brenes turned up 8-5 of spades and when the board came JQ9AT they were down to 35 and Ricki gets a well needed padding to his stack (now up to 1,500,000).

Monday, August 7th, 2006 There are 36 players left of the main event, River Ricki is one of them. He is now guaranteed a hefty $329,865. We all hope that he can reverse the negative trend he experienced in the last level.

Monday, August 7th, 2006

Ricki is down to 1,200,000 at the end the first level of the day. After the A3 vs QQ hand he had slightly above 1,600,000 - then came these three hands just before the break.

From under-the-gun Ricki made a standard raise of 100,000 and got called by the big blind (same guy who called with QQ against Ricki's A3 before). On a flop of Q57 the big blind checked, Ricki bet 125,000 and his opponent folded.

Up to 1,900,000.

The Ricki, in the small blind, calls a pre-flop raise to 75,000 from the player in the cut-off seat. The flop came As8h7d and both players checked.

The turn was a deuce and again Ricki checked. His opponent bet 75,000 and Ricki folded. Down to 1,800,000.

Then came another dance with William Thorsson.

Thorsson raised pre-flop to 100,000 and Ricki called in late position. The flop came QJ5, rainbow and Thorsson bet 150,000, which again was called by Ricki.

The turn was the Ace of Spades and now Thorsson checked. Ricki bet 150,000 and Thorsson called quickly.

The river came as the 5 of hearts and now both players checked.

Thorsson shows AK for top-pair top-kicker and Ricki mucks Q9s for the top pair on the flop and a backdoor flush draw on the turn. Now down to around 1,200,000 Ricki is looking to move up a bit during the next level.

At another table chip-leader Jamie Gold is crushing his opponents, having an enourmous stack of 13,500,000 (more than twice that of the second in chips). They are down to 37 players - one more out and there is a sharp raise in payouts. 

Monday, August 7th, 2006 Paul Raeburn is out in 43rd position - down to 42.

Monday, August 7th, 2006 The details are yet to follow, but it's being reported from the tournament area that River Ricki just lost another big pot when he tried to push an initial raiser off his hand with an all-in re-raise. The initial raiser had pocket Queens however, and made the call against River Ricki's A3. The boards missed them both, and Ricki lost slightly more than 1,000,000 on the hand.
Time to cool a little bit down for Ricki. They are now down to 44 players in the tournament after James Routos was eliminated in 45th position.

Monday, August 7th, 2006

In a Scandinavian showdown, Ricki loses around 300,000 to dangerous Swede William Thorsson.

On an all-heart flop of AQJ, Ricki checked and Thorsson bet an unknown amount (not huge). Ricki called the bet.

On the turn there was the 3 of diamonds card and the action went check-check. The river was the 4 of spades and now Ricki bet out 250,000, which was called by Thorsson after some deliberation.

Ricki showed KJo, with the King of hearts (giving him bottom-pair and nut-flush draw on the flop), and Thorsson showed pocket 4s, for the rivered set to take the pot. 

Ricki now has around 2,700,000.