Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Day 4
Las Vegas, Nevada - Dec 17th, 2009 The Doyle´s Room family of players was down to only one representative by the time day 4 started at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio. Amit "Amak316" Makhija came into the day 22nd of the remaining 36 players and was able to make his way inside the money but lost a coinflip soon after and was eliminated from the tournament short of a final table appearance.
The top 27 players made the money and after Hasan Habib was eliminated in 28th place it wasn´t long before Amit had his chips in the middle. After the money bubble he only had 280k chips with the blinds at 6,000 / 12,000 and a 1k ante and when he picked up AJ suited and was faced with a raise to 30k he moved all in. Matt Waxman called with his pocket sevens and in a standard race situation the smaller pair held up to eliminate Makhija in 26th place for a payout of $28,569.
Even with all of Doyle´s group of players eliminated play rolled on in the tournament named after Brunson. A full five levels of play brought the field down to the final 16 players, led by Curt Kohlberg who is coming off a recent WPT final table at Foxwoods where he finished in 5th place. Going into the playdown day of the Five Diamond Kohlberg has 2,856,000 chips and leads the charge towards a second consecutive WPT main event final table. Play will continue tomorrow until the 16 are trimmed to only 6 who will then return the next day to play it out for the title and nearly $1.5 million first prize on the WPT TV set.
Curt Kohlberg - 2,856,000
Faraz Jaka - 2,768,000
Danny Alaei - 2,422,000
John Juanda - 1,851,000
Chad Batista - 1,550,000
Joe Cassidy - 1,445,000
Josh Arieh - 1,067,000
Shawn Buchanan - 1,007,000
Steve O'Dwyer - 826,000
Carter King - 805,000
Eric Hershler - 796,000
Mike Sowers - 661,000
Matt Waxman - 641,000
Joe Elpayaa - 446,000
Scotty Nguyen - 339,000
Lee Salem - 275,000
After strong showings during Day 3, Doyle Brunson and Brunson 10 member Dani Stern bust out of the 5 Diamond World Poker Classic. Amit Makhija heads into Day 4 within reach of final table.
Las Vegas, Nevada - Dec 17th, 2009 Doyle Brunson has busted out of the tournament named in his honor, but he´ll still be well represented in the WPT Doyle Brunson 5 Diamond World Poker Classic when play resumes today at Noon in Vegas at Bellagio. After a chip count rollercoaster ride that saw Amit Makhija go from 59th place to one of the top spots, the Brunson 10 member heads into Day 4 with enough chips to rally back to the top.
Stated poker legend Doyle Brunson, "All of the members of The Brunson 10 had a good run at Bellagio and I´m proud of every single one of them. Amit´s still in it, he´s on my team of pros for a reason and I really think he´s going to keeping building his chip stack until he´s on top. Just watch."
Amit Makhija will resume play with 423,000 chips. While the Brunson 10 pro was short-stacked during most of the tournament, he rallied late in the day to position himself among the chip leaders. By the end of the day, he had dropped back down to 22nd place.
With the top 27 players finishing in the money, Amit Makhija is still in a position to add to his nearly $2.5 million in lifetime poker winnings. In last year´s WPT Doyle Brunson 5 Diamond World Poker Classic, Makhija earned $21,620 for a 79th place finish.
The Doyle Brunson 5 Diamond World Poker Classic will resume today at Noon at Bellagio in Las Vegas with 36 players remaining. The $15,000+400 buy-in tournament features a $4,761,450 prize pool. The top 27 players will finish in the money.
Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Day 3
Las Vegas, Nevada - Dec 16th, 2009 Everywhere he goes Doyle Brunson is a fan favorite and has the poker world rooting for him to do well, but that sentiment is only amplified at the Bellagio in December when the poker world comes together for the last major tournament of the year, named after the Godfather of poker. The Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic saw its namesake make a strong run on day 2 putting himself near the top of the chip counts going into day 3, but the run ended when Doyle was eliminated midway through the third day of play in the 6 day tournament.
Of the 130 players that started the day only 36 made it through to day 4, and Doyle wasn't the only Brunson or member of the Doyle's Room family to fall during day 3 play. Todd Brunson came into the day as the third shortest stack and after an early rally his fate went south again and he was eliminated from the tournament. The newest member of the Brunson 10 also saw his tournament run end during the days play. Dani Stern was all in on the turn with a pair of queens against an opponent that had KQ on a jack high board. The other player had a gutshot straight draw and the overcard king that would help him on the river and his 7 outer got there with a king to bust Stern from the tournament. Hoyt Corkins was also ousted from the tournament late in the day.
Fellow Brunson 10 member Amit Makhija was short stacked for a lot of the tournament but rallied later in the day to build up to 900k in chips and put himself among the chipleaders. The day ended on a down note for Makhija as he dropped to 423,500 by the end of play, but he is still in 22nd place of the 36 remaining players and could easily make a final table run. The first order of business when play starts back tomorrow at noon will be getting into the money and from there play will continue for a full five levels or until the field is reduced to 10 players. The next day of play will bring the field down to the final 6, who will then return the next day to play it out for the title under the lights and cameras of the World Poker Tour's TV set.
For now Danny Alaei holds the top spot with 1,664,500 with Steven Landfish and Josh Arieh both also over the 1 million chip mark. Here are how the top 10 stack up going into day 4 play:
Danny Alaie - 1,664,500
Steven Landfish - 1,172,500
Josh Arieh - 1,112,000
Scotty Nguyen - 981,500
Matt Waxman - 951,500
Joe Elpayaa - 921,000
Jamie Rosen - 803,000
Mike Sowers - 801,000
Matt Stout - 700,500
Joe Cassidy - 689,500
Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Day 2
Las Vegas, Nevada - Dec 15th, 2009 Doyle Brunson took advantage of the registration policy and entered the tournament named after him part way through day 2 play. Once at the tables it didn´t take long for Doyle to put his name up towards the top of the chip counts along with on the title of the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
Doyle was able to bust his friend and fellow big game player Eli Elezra to quickly build a stack and finished the day with a solid 283,000 chips putting him in 15th place in the chip counts. The final number of entrants came in at 329 players and 130 are left after 10 levels and 2 full days of play. The top 27 will make the money.
Alec Torelli also chose to enter the tournament during day 2 play, but for him the strategy didn´t work out. Alec was eliminated with about an hour left in day 2 play when he flopped a pair of aces with his A4. His opponent also flopped a pair of aces with A6. Alec picked up a flush draw on the turn and had most of the deck to chop the pot but a six hit on the river giving his opponent two pair and eliminating Alec from the tournament. Other day 2 entrants included Hoyt Corkins and Todd Brunson. Both finished the day short of the 60k chips they started with. Hoyt finished up with 41,700 and in 120th place while Todd is almost at the very bottom of the chip counts in 128th place with only 24,600.
Amit Makhija, Dani Stern and Zach Clark all started play during day 1 and at the end of the second day Amit is in 59th place with 142,000 and Dani has 120,200 putting him in 70th place. For Zach Clark day 2 marked the end of his tournament run.
Players will return on Wednesday at noon to play another five levels. Doyle has Hoyt at his table along with Steve Zolotow, Carter King, Jamie Rosen, and Glen Chorny.
Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic 2009 Day 1
Las Vegas, Nevada - Dec 14th, 2009 Day 1 is complete and registration is still open at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio. Recently the Bellagio adopted a policy of allowing registration through 8 levels of play, which goes over halfway into day 2 play. The interesting registration ruling drew a lot of attention at the last Bellagio event, but at the end of the day it didn´t really seem to have that much of an impact on the tournament.
Of the roughly 290 players that took to the tables today 235 made it through the 5 levels of play and will be back tomorrow for another full day of play. Anyone that decides to register late will start play with the same 60k starting stack that players starting on day 1 entered the tournament with, but will be coming in facing some stacks that have grown to over 200k. Darryll Fish leads the way with 236,625 and Jon Turner is in 2nd with 227,325.
Three Brunson 10 members were seen in action today as Zach Clark, Amit Makhija and Dani Stern all took to the tables. Chris Moorman and Alec Torelli still have the chance to enter the tournament if they wish and Doyle Brunson and Hoyt Corkins have made it known that they plan to enter play on day 2 taking advantage of the later registration.
Makhija finished the day ranked 54th with 100,750 chips, Stern is in 79th with 82,750 and Clark is 144th with 57,500 but will also be slightly behind any players that register over night or before the start of play tomorrow who will enter the tournament with 60k stacks. Tournament play resumes at noon for day 2 action.
Doyle was spotted playing in the big game in Bobby´s Room at the Bellagio as day 1 play was underway in the tournament. While Doyle might not like the long forced hours of tournament play it is hard to keep him away from a good cash game session in Bobby´s room.
22-year-old star of popular poker television series and consistent winner at the online poker tables is the fifth member of The Brunson 10
Las Vegas, Nevada November 9, 2009 The Brunson 10, Doyle Brunson’s team of elite poker pros, is now half complete thanks to the addition of a full-on star. DoylesRoom.com has confirmed what’s been widely speculated this past week. Dani “Ansky” Stern, a leading high-stakes online poker player, is the fifth member to join The Brunson 10.
Stated Doyle Brunson, “I’ve seen Ansky play on TV, I’ve seen him play online, and I’ve seen him talk poker like someone who’s been playing for decades. Dani “Anksy” Stern is the future of this game and I’m proud to have him on my team.”
Poker players and technology fans will recognize Dani Stern from the popular G4 television series, 2 Months, 2 Million. The show featured Stern and three other online poker players attempting to win $2 million playing online poker over a 2-month period as they lived a lifestyle that online poker players envy.
But Stern’s success is a lot more than just typical Hollywood smoke and mirrors. At just 22 years old, Stern has accomplished a lot playing online and in live tournaments, raking in close to $1 million in tournament winnings alone. That value does not include money won playing cash games.
At the 2009 WSOP, Stern finished strong in the second event of the series and won nearly $550,000. At the online poker tables, Dani Stern has performed consistently strong and is well respected for his in-depth poker knowledge.
The Brunson 10 originally launched with three members Alec Torelli, Amit Makhija and Zachary Clark all of whom began their poker careers online and achieved enormous success at live card rooms as well. In September, DoylesRoom.com scooped up Chris Moorman, a champion online poker from the UK.
With Stern’s addition to the team, there are five spots left on The Brunson 10. Doyle Brunson, poker’s biggest legend, will continue to handpick members for his group of young, elite poker players who are all on board to help bridge the gap between old-school poker and the new world that exists online.