The remaining match ups were:
- Mike Matusow and Humberto Brenes
- Jonathan Little and Erik Seidel
- Patrik Antonius and Gabe Kaplan
- Greg Raymer and Hooman Nikzad
- Kenny Tran and Scott Clements
- Tom Schneider and Gavin Smith
- Chris Ferguson and John Juanda
Unfortunately for Phil he wasn’t the star for long after making what he called, ‘a beautiful play’ and having it get super unlucky. Phil limped on the button, Tom raised, Phil insta-reraised and Tom shoved all in. Holding aces, Phil obviously called and Tom flipped up 10-10. It was looking good until the turn brought the unfortunate 10 and Phil Hellmuth was left with nothing more than a leather jacket and an Ultimate Bet jersey.
I talked to Phil about it later and while shaking his head he said, “I don’t know how you get more than 3000 in there preflop.”
In typical fashion Phil challenged Tom to a $100,000 heads up match after he lost. No word yet on when this will take place but I know Tom said he wanted to do it.
Matusow took over where Humberto Brenes left off last year by bringing his own props to his match. It wasn’t a shark, but an Australian flag, of course. Matusow had a good time shouting out Hachem’s coin phrase “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy, Oy.” It evidently worked for him as the self-proclaimed unluckiest guy in poker took down a Main Event Champion.
Other than Hellmuth there was a lot of chip exchanging in this bracket. Short stacks seemed to keep doubling up on all-ins.
The next one to advance was Greg Raymer after following in Tom Dwan’s footsteps and getting lucky on the turn. He stopped by after his win and said that all the internet kids wanted Tom and Phil to be the featured match. They got their wish, even if it didn’t last long.
Gabe Kaplan felt good about his place in the event. “I’m in a good situation in my match and I am the best looking guy here,” he said. He must have been right, as he took down respected player Patrik Antonius.
Right after Antonius, Erik Seidel was the next pro to fall. Annie told him she really thought he was going to take it this year. “You are the eternal optimist!” Seidel told her.
Gavin Smith was the king of lucky hits and somehow happened to hit his hand every time he was all in and behind, eventually knocking out 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider.
TJ Cloutier’s response to the luck fest that occurred during this bracket: “Everyone that plays has to get lucky once or twice or you don't get there.”
The final two of the afternoon to advance were Chris Ferguson and Scott Clements.
The last of the day…the Spades…
The Spades - The Diamonds - The Clubs - The Hearts