2009 WSOP: Phil Ivey Wins Seventh Bracelet in #25 Mixed
Day 3 of Event #25, $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo, began with 14 players looking to make both the final table of the event and take down the gold bracelet. Jon ��PearlJammer�� Turner started the day as chip leader, while Phil Ivey began the day as one of the short stacks. But Ivey went on an epic run that resulted in his seventh World Series of Poker bracelet.
Chad Brown entered the day as the shortest stack and got his chips in very early. Ming Lee ended Brown��s day, as Lee caught an eight-high straight with a six-low to best Brown��s eight-low. Phil Ivey also began the day short on ammunition, but Ivey proved that as long as he has chips, he can still be a force. Ivey got the last of his chips in during the Omaha hi/lo round on the board of A?6?3?8?2?. Steve Wong made the call as Ivey showed K?K?4?5? for a six-high straight with a wheel. After the pot, Ivey moved up to a solid 204,000 in chips.
Frank Debus and Blair Rodman were eliminated in back-to-back hands. Debus moved in during an Omaha hi/lo round with only a pair of queens and ran into aces with a flush draw from Steve Wong. The aces held and Debus was done in 12th place, good for $13,274. Rodman was all in during stud hi/lo on sixth street with a pair of kings. Carlos Mortensen had started the hand with rolled up threes and he filled up on sixth street. Rodman was drawing dead and headed out in 11th place to collect $13,274.
Matt Kelly headed to the rail next, out in tenth place for a payday of $16,517. In a stud hi/lo hand Kelly was all in with kings up, but he was bested by Ming Lee��s eights full of fives for high and a seven-low for Carlos Mortensen. Soon after, in another hand of stud hi/lo, Steve Wong became the final table ��bubble boy�� when he ran queens up into a flush from Dutch Boyd and an eight-low from Carlos Mortensen. Wong took home $16,517 for his ninth-place finish.
Jon Turner took the chip lead into the final table, with Carlos Mortensen and Ming Lee right behind.
Seat 1: Eric Buchman - 236,000
Seat 2: Dutch Boyd - 419,000
Seat 3: Tom Koral - 155,000
Seat 4: Carlos Mortensen - 482,000
Seat 5: Peter Gelencser - 219,000
Seat 6: Phil Ivey - 217,000
Seat 7: Ming Lee - 466,000
Seat 8: Jon Turner - 607,000
Peter Gelencser was the first player eliminated from the final table. In Omaha hi/lo, Dutch Boyd raised preflop and Gelencser made the call. The flop fell 9?2?2? and Gelencser three-bet all in after a raise from Boyd. Boyd flipped over Q?Q?J?6? for two pair and a flush draw. Gelencser held A?7?5?6? for a better flush draw and a backdoor low draw. The turn fell the 3? to give Gelencser outs to a straight and a low. The river was the 9?, giving Boyd an improved two pair and sending Gelencser to the rail in eighth place with $23,600.
After chipping up to over 200,000, Phil Ivey primarily treaded water and kept his stack around that mark. However, in the space of three pots, Ivey went from short stack to chip leader. First, Ivey took two marginal Omaha hi/lo holdings and took a pair of pots off Carlos Mortensen to move up to 560,000. Then, Ivey started with split threes with a five and backed into a flush with an eight-low to scoop a pot off Jon Turner and move up to 755,000 in chips.
Tom Koral was the next player eliminated from the final table. During the Omaha hi/lo round, Ming Lee raised preflop and Carlos Mortensen and Koral both called. The flop of A?6?6? was three-bet, with Koral calling all in and Mortensen coming along for the ride. The turn fell the K? and Mortensen called a bet from Lee. The river was the 10? and both Lee and Mortensen checked. Mortensen flipped up J?J?7?6? for the third-nut flush. Koral had two pair and a missed low and promptly mucked his hand, heading to the payout window to collect $27,993 for his seventh-place finish
Eric Buchman was all in a few hands later during stud hi/lo. All of his chips went in on fourth street, with Dutch Boyd and Ming Lee battling for the side pot the rest of the way. Boyd bet every street and Lee called him down all the way. At showdown, Boyd revealed three queens in the hole, which was good enough to scoop the pot and send Buchman out in sixth place, good for $34,747. Shortly after dinner break, Phil Ivey eclipsed the million-chip mark to take a commanding chip lead and put himself in position to take home his seventh bracelet.
Jon Turner started Day 3 and the final table with the chip lead, but he ultimately fell in fifth place ($45,237) during the Omaha hi/lo round. The board at the turn read 8?2?8?Q? when Turner put the rest of his chips into the middle. Dutch Boyd called with A?4?4?K? for two pair and the nut flush draw. Turner only held A?2?9?K? for an inferior two pair. The river fell the 6? to give Boyd a flush and low, bringing Turner��s run at the bracelet to an abrupt end.
Phil Ivey moved up to nearly 1.5 million in chips after a pot with Dutch Boyd. Ivey bet both the turn and river of the K?4?7?K?9? board. At showdown, Ivey tabled A?7?J?J? for two pair as Boyd mucked. Ivey possessed over half of the chips in play after the pot. Boyd was eliminated soon thereafter by Carlos Mortensen. During the stud hi/lo round, Boyd moved in with split jacks and Mortensen called with split tens. Mortensen improved to tens full of aces and Boyd only managed to catch jacks up. Boyd headed to the pay window to collect his $61,919 for finishing fourth.
Carlos Mortensen put the rest of his stack into the middle during Omaha hi/lo against Ming Lee. Mortensen held A?3?6?10? to the A?K?4?K? of Lee. The flop came down Q?4?8? to give Mortensen a low draw. The turn fell the K? to give Lee a set of kings, but Mortensen picked up a Broadway draw. The river was the 4?, giving Lee a full house and Mortensen became the third-place finisher, good for a payday of $89,342.
Phil Ivey took a hefty chip lead into heads-up play, with 1,785,000 to Lee��s 1,035,000. The two battled back and forth for awhile and at one point, both players sat with 1.4 million in chips. Ivey regained the chip lead during stud hi/lo. On seventh street, Ivey��s board read J?K?4?8? and Lee��s board read J?K?7?10?. Lee check-raised a river bet from Ivey and Ivey responded with a three-bet. Lee made the call and Ivey revealed K?10?5? in the hole for a king-high flush. After the pot, Ivey moved up to 1.9 million in chips as Lee slipped to 900,000.
At this point, Ivey continually applied pressure and Lee��s stack continued to shrink. Lee managed a couple of double-ups but his stack never moved back above 900,000. Ivey crippled Lee in during an Omaha hi/lo hand. The board at the river read 4?9?J?8?4? and Ivey check-raised a bet from Lee. Lee made the call and Ivey tabled A?4?J?8? for a full house. After the pot, Lee was left with only 150,000 in chips. The betting limits were 50,000 and 100,000 and the end was near.
In the final hand, Lee moved all in on third street with J?6?7? and Ivey made the call with Q?Q?3?. Ivey improved to three queens by the river and Lee finished with only a pair of jacks. Ivey��s three queens were enough to win him his second gold bracelet of the 2009 World Series of Poker and his seventh overall. Phil Ivey is now tied with Billy Baxter for fourth all-time in bracelet wins. In addition to his seventh bracelet, Ivey received $220,538 in prize money.
The question on everyone��s mind now is whether Ivey can win yet another bracelet. Several event remain on the 2009 WSOP schedule that play into Ivey��s strengths, including the $10,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo, the $50,000 World Championship HORSE event, and the $2,500 Mixed Event. With 28 events yet to be played, Ivey has plenty of chances to join Erik Seidel with eight bracelets on the all-time list.
Stay tuned to PokerNews.com as we follow Ivey��s progress and bring you all the exciting action from the remaining events of the 2009 World Series of Poker.
