Event 26 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em | 2009 World Series of Poker

06-14-2009 12:38 UTC-12

Sugar Bear Needs More Honey

[user25067]

Al Barbieri raised from the button and Tomas Alenius made the call from the big blind.

The flop came down {6-Spades}

. Alenius check-called a bet from Barbieri. The turn was the {4-Hearts}

. Alenius checked again, Barbieri bet, and Alenius came back with a raise. Barbieri called and they saw the {5-Spades}

on the river. Alenius bet and Barbieri folded {A-Hearts}

face-up.

Alenius showed only the {8-Clubs}

as he raked in the pot. He's up to 1,175,000 while Barbieri is down to 300,000.

06-14-2009 12:25 UTC-12

As happens in limit hold'em, hands go by at a particular rhythm -- for the most part -- with players generally not taking all that long to decide what they are going to do.

Jason Tam had the button, and when he was taking a little longer than usual to examine his hole cards, Al Barbieri tossed his reading glasses to him across the table to help out.

A smiling Tam made as if to put them on, then went ahead and checked his cards without them. He liked what he saw, and put in the raise. Tomas Alenius then three-bet from the small blind. That caused Barbieri to put on his glasses and take a closer look at his hand. He decided to call the three bets from the big blind, and Tam called as well.

No one seemed to have any trouble seeing the {K-Spades}

flop. Alenius bet, and neither Barbieri nor Tam took very long before letting their hands go.

Each of the three can also see that the chip stacks of his two opponents are close to even with his own.

06-14-2009 12:16 UTC-12

Updated Chip Counts

[user25067]

Our three remaining players are all neck-in-neck:

Jason Tam 970,000
Tomas Alenius 930,000
Al Barbieri 850,000

06-14-2009 12:15 UTC-12

Glenn Engelbert Eliminated in 4th Place ($55,576)

[user25067]

Tomas Alenius raised from UTG, Glenn Engelbert moved all in for his remaining 45,000 from the button, and Jason Tam called from the big blind.

The flop came down {8-Spades}

. Tam checked, Alenius bet and Tam folded. Showdown time.

Engelbert {Q-Spades}

Alenius

The turn was the {6-Clubs}

, the river was the {5-Clubs}

and Alenius' aces up send Engelbert to the rail in fourth place.

06-14-2009 12:11 UTC-12

Barbieri Puts Engelbert on the Ropes

[user25067]

Glenn Engelbert raised from the small blind and Al Barbieri made the call from the big blind.

The flop came down {A-Spades}

. Engelbert checked, Barbieri bet, Engelbert raised, Barbieri made it three bets and Engelbert called.

The turn was the {9-Clubs}

and Barbieri immediately bet out. Engelbert tanked for about a minute before making the call. The river fell the {6-Diamonds}

and Barbieri fired again. Engelbert made what appeared to be a resigned call.

Barbieri showed {A-Clubs}

for top two pair and Engelbert mucked in disgust. He's left with only 40,000 in chips.

06-14-2009 12:02 UTC-12

Change Atop the Leaderboard

Shamus

After that hand with Glenn Engelbert, Tomas Alenius won a couple more to push into the chip lead. And Jason Tam has also chipped up past Al Barbieri. Here are the updated counts:

Tomas Alenius -- 915,000
Jason Tam -- 810,000
Al Barbieri -- 750,000
Glenn Engelbert -- 300,000

06-14-2009 12:01 UTC-12

Sevens Lucky for Alenius

Shamus

Glenn Engelbert raised from the cutoff, and it folded back to Tomas Alenius who called from the big blind. The flop came {J-Hearts}

. Alenius checked, Engelbert bet, and Alenius called. The turn was the {6-Spades}

, and again Alenius checked, Engelbert bet, and Alenius called.

The river was the {10-Spades}

, and both players checked. Alenius showed {9-Diamonds}

for a pair of sevens, and Engelbert tossed his {A-Clubs}

to the dealer.

Level: 24

Blinds: 0/0

Ante: 0

06-14-2009 11:54 UTC-12

Sugar Bear Drops Three in a Row

[user25067]

Once at the lofty heights of 1.5 million in chips, Al Barbieri just dropped three pots in a row-- folding on the river to a bet from Glenn Engelbert, folding to a turn bet from Engelbert in a multi-way pot with Jason Tam, and then tangling with Tam in an interesting pot where both players' junk hands connected with the board.

Barbieri and Tam saw a flop of {8-Spades}

from the blinds. Barbieri led out, Tam raised and Barbieri called. Both players checked the {2-Clubs}

on the turn. The river was the {A-Hearts}

and Sugar Bear check-called one more bet.

It was {6-Spades}

for Barbieri, who flopped top pair and a gutshot. Tam flopped a gutshot as well, but went runner-runner and rivered the wheel with {3-Diamonds}

to take it down.

Barbieri is still on a bit over a million in chips while Tam is up to 660,000.

06-14-2009 11:41 UTC-12

Demetrios Arvanetes Eliminated in 5th Place ($40,681)

Shamus

After that double up, Demetrios Arvanetes managed to survive again -- more than tripling up this time. "One happy guy and four miserable guys," he joked afterwards. But the blinds were quickly coming back around again, and time was running out.

Finally came a hand in which Tomas Alenius raised from the button, Glenn Engelbert called from the small blind, and Arvenetes three-bet from the BB, leaving himself just 10,000 behind. Both of his opponents called.

The flop came {3-Clubs}