Caribbean Poker Adventure - Day 5

9:14 - Chris Ferguson, desperately short stacked, moved all-in with Qs-9s for about 7000. Both Daniel Negreanu and Hoyt Corkins called and then checked down the entire board. The Flop came Jh-Ac-5h -- Th (giving Chris an open end straight draw) and then a semi-miracle 8 on the river gave Chris the straight. Daniel showed Kh-Jd, Hoyt did not show.

We are at 1500-3000 blinds with 400 ante.

19:24 - Chris Ferguson moved all-in for about 30,000. Gus Hansen called and turned over pocket 8's. Chris had Ah-Jc, so it was essentially a toss-up, until the 9-8-7 flop left Chris only with a ten for a straight. The king and ace on the turn river didn't help him enough, and he was out.

At the same time, one table over, Shawn Rice jammed all-in with Ah-5s on the button, only to run into Lee Pierce's pocket aces. The board offered no miracles for Rice and he is out.

And finally, Michael Curtis raised to 9000 and Barry Belzer, an FPP winner, moved all in with pocket queens. Curtis called with pocket nines and was delighted to see a 9 on the flop. No queen appeared and Belzer is out 18th.

19:40 - David Welch moved all-in with As-Ts, but ran into John D'Agostino's Ah-Kc. A king on the flop virtually sealed Welch's fate so by the turn he was drawing dead. The third king on the river for D'Agostino just added insult to injury. But Welch walks away with the full $19,890 prize for 17th place.

We're delighted to report that of the remaining 16 players, three of them are FPP winners, who put up zero dollars for this whole thing. They have gotten the cruise and are guaranteed a win of almost $20,000. Those FPP winners are Seppo Rajamaki, Michael Curtis, and Steve Kotlarsz.

19:55 Daniel Negreanu raises it to 10K. Seppo Rajamaki, with a lot of chips, re-raises to 35K. Daniel calls immediately. The flop comes 9s-7c-Kc, and Seppo immeidately moves all-in for about 79K. Daniel calls like a shot, which is not surprising, because he had pocket 7's and had flopped a set. Daniel wins and now has almost 300K chips.

On the very next hand, Paul Wolfe moved all-in and it was folded to Hoyt Corkins in the big blind. Hoyt went into the tank for quite a few minutes. Paul stood, smiled, and sipped his beer. In the meantime, Daniel, Bill Gazes, and Andy Bloch discussed Daniel's natty tuxedo and his diamond hoop earrings.

Eventually, Hoyt called and turned up Ac-4h. Paul had Ks-Jd, making him a 57:43 underdog. The flop was 9h-3s-6c, putting Paul 76:24 behind. The 4 on the turn didn't matter, but the ace on the river finished up Paul's chances in 15th place.

There are now two tables left:

Table 1:
99200 Andy Bloch
111400 Bill Gazes
316000 Daniel Negreanu
47200 Lee Pierce
56000 Don Sjulstad
120500 Mike Curtis
211500 Hoyt Corkins

Table 2:
24300 Steve Kotlarsz
85900 Reoben Rafaeloff
136800 Eli Marciano
185700 Michael Bendetto
72600 Remco Schrijvers
170000 Gus Hanson
30500 John D'agostino



22:05 John D'Agostino was down to his last 6K chips on the big blind. Gus Hansen put him all in, but John had an ace and paired aces on the river to keep him in the running.

On the next hand, Elie Marciano raised and John immediately went all-in. Elie called and turned up 8-7 offsuit. John felt moderately good about his pair of sixes, which made him about even money to win the hand. An 8 on the flop made him miserable, as it paired Elie's eight. A 6 on the turn gave John a set however and made his day. He is now up to about 47K chips.

Around the same time at the next table, Lee Pierce called 4K under the gun (we're playing 2K-4K blinds and 500 antes). Don Sjulstad raised to 12K and was called by Andy Bloch. Lee then went all in for about 40K, after which Sjulstad and Bloch folded.

22:15 Don Sjulstad got all in with AK off-suit vs. Daniel Negreanu's Kh-Qh. When the board helped neither, Sjulstad had doubled up.

22:40 Hoyt Corkins raised to 62K and Andy Bloch moved all-in for 82K. Hoyt called and turned over Kh-Qs. Andy had Ah-9s and the 8s-5c-5d flop looked good for him. But Hoyt hit a king on the turn and the river was a blank. Andy Bloch, a well known player with two WPT final table appearances is out.

22:45 Michael Curtis, an FPP qualifier, raised to 12K. Daniel Negreanu raised all-in and Michael called for 95K more. Daniel had A-9 offsuit and Michael had Kd-Qd. The flop came 2d-5s-Ks, which looked great for Michael. The 3d on the turn gave Daniel some extra outs - in fact he said, "Give me a four!" And a four he got, giving him a "wheel" straight and busting Michael Curtis out.

22:55 Steve Kotlarsz moved all in for about 27K. Michael Benedetto was quick to call with pocket queens, after which a queen fell on the flop. Steve was out, but he invested nothing more than FPP's and got a wonderful cruise and $19,890 for his trouble - not a bad week.

23:05 Lee Pierce just doubled through Hoyt Corkins. Lee raised all-in for 48K and Hoyt called with Ah-Qc. Lee had Jc-Jd. The ace in the "window" of the flop terrified him, but the Jh on the flop as well delighted him. A king on the turn gave him a bad moment since it gave Corkins a gutshot draw to a straight, but the river was a queen, giving Lee the pot with his set of Jacks.

23:17 Elie Marciano moves all-in for 40K. Michael Benedetto, who has a lot of chips, just calls - this surprises a lot of people. Now Gus Hansen goes into the tank for a *long* time. Eventually he, too, calls the 40K. The flop comes 4-5-6 rainbow, Gus checks, and Michael moves all-in. Gus folds, and Michael turns up pocket aces! Elie has pocket 8's, so he has six outs (two 8's and four 7's). The turn is a king, and the board a meaningless 5. Elie Marciano is out in 11th place and Michael Benedetto has about 240K chips. Michael won his seat on the cruise by buying into a $650 satellite on PokerStars. So he is now enjoying a cruise with PokerStars. And a guaranteed $19,890, with an upside much bigger than that.

23:58 Lee Pierce moves all in for 103K. Folded to Daniel who stops cold. Daniel says, "I definitely have you beat." Daniel then thinks, separates the 103K from his stack and contemplates some more and continues talking about how he has Lee beat. Lee says "Then it should be easy to call." Daniel: "It's more complex than that, but I think - I think we're going to gamble this time." Eventually he pushes the 103K in. Lee turns up pocket jacks. Daniel shows pocket nines and says, "I was wrong - once again I'm behind."

But then the most astonishing hand of the week happened: the flop came 9-9-Q! Daniel leapt out of his chair while Lee sadly stood up from his. When no miracle jack appeared on the turn (and would have still needed a greater miracle jack on the river), Lee Pierce, who qualified for this event via a cash satellite, was out in tenth place.

00:30 Hoyt Corkins makes it 20K, Don Sjulstad moves all in for about 10K more. Hoyt calls immediately and turns up pocket nines - the same hand that Daniel had. Don had Kd-Td, but a ragged board with no king or ten knocked Don out in 9th place, giving him $28,000 in prize money.

00:40 Daniel and Gus play a huge pot when Daniel makes it 186K to go, Gus immediately calls all-in for 167K. Daniel has Ah-4h and Gus has pocket queens. A 4 on the flop gives Daniel a few more outs, but a queen on the turn seals the hand for Gus Hansen.

01:00 Another monster pot developed, this time three-way among Gus Hansen, Hoyt Corkins, and Michael Benedetto. Gus raised to 12K, both Hoyt and Mike called. The flop came all 9-5-3, all clubs. Mike checked, Gus bet 35K and *both* Hoyt and Mike called. The turn was the 6d. Again Mike checked. Gus bet 75K. Hoyt thought only briefly and then declared himself all-in. Mike folded immediately, and Gus tanked for multiple minutes. Then he said "I'm going with it.." and the crowd gasped. He folded and said "My read.", teasing the crowd.

01:25 Gus Hansen raises 26K. Bill Gazes moves all in with pocket 5's. Gus calls like a shot with pocket queens and when no 5 appears, Bill Gazes, a well-known pro player, is out in 8th place, winning $43,000.

01:30, Roberto Raefelloff calls, Gus calls and Remco checks. The flop comes 2c-4c-8h. Gus checks, Remco moves all-in, and Roberto immediately calls all-in. Gus folds. Remco has 6d-6s and Roberto had quietly played two black kings. The 3c on the turn gave Remco three outs (non-club fives), but the river was an astonishing six, giving him a set, and busting Roberto out in 7th place, though he gets $58,000 to take home.

We're now down to the final six:

Seat 1 - Agostino 54k
Seat 2 - Hansen 314k
Seat 3 - Schrijvers 118.5k
Seat 4 - Corkins 609.5k
Seat 5 - Bennedetto 116k
Seat 6 - Negreanu 408k

Blinds: 3k/6k - Ante 1k

With warmest regards,
Lee Jones

PokerStars Poker Manager

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7