BELLAGIO CHALLENGE CUP – DAY 2 RECAP

I was disappointed to discover that early on before we arrived, there were several notable bust outs including T.J. Cloutier, Tim Phan, Bob Stupak, Jean Gaspard, Carl “2005 WSOP Main Event Bubble Boy” Ygborn, Allen Cunningham, Erik Seidel, Mike Wattel and Hasan Habbib.

Once action was down to 18 players and the final two tables, Quinn Do emerged as the chipleader. Scott Fischman, David Chui, and David Pham were all eliminated when action got down to two tables. Flipchip got in trouble for taking photos. He thought he was given clearance but a suit decided otherwise. I was cleared to cover the event for print media. However, I was not too happy with the way a veteran tournament photographer of Flipchip’s stature was treated. Hopefully he’ll be able to clear up this injustice and he’ll back to snap a winner’s photo on Wednesday.

I hung out on the rail near the Sports Book and focused my attention on “Table 1” because it featured a slew of bracelet winners including Cyndy Violette, Quinn Do, David Chui, and David “The Dragon” Pham. The always entertaining Sam Grizzle, who has no bracelets but made several WSOP final tables, was also at that solid table along with Mimi Tran.

Cyndy Violette bubbled out in 10th place after she was knocked out by Scotty Nguyen. She was short stacked and moved all in with A6s. Scotty Nguyen called with A-K and flopped a King. Scotty felt bad and he ran over to give her a big hug. Cyndy won nothing for 10th place and she left the table with extreme grace and flashed a warm smile. On the inside she must have been upset, but you would never know from her body language. There were no cameras there filming her every move, so she wasn’t faking it. After witnessing that moment and her excellent play during this year’s WSOP, Cyndy’s stock rose even more in my book. She’s a classy player.

The final table will resume at Noon on Wednesday. Quinn Do is the chipleader. Here are seating assignments with chip counts:

Seat 1: Fuat Can $47,900
Seat 2: Tobey Maguire $68,500
Seat 3: Jeff Shulman $190,300
Seat 4: Quinn Do $494,000
Seat 5: Scotty Nguyen $377,000
Seat 6: Annon Filippi $362,100
Seat 7: Chad Layne $40,800
Seat 8: Sam Grizzle $214,200
Seat 9: Mimi Tran $146,900

Some Bellagio poker room side notes:

I chatted with Ron Rose. He had some heart problems and that prevented him from playing in the WSOP. He joked that his health issues turned him into a cash game player because he’s not well enough to play lengthy tournaments. Good to see him at the tables again.

There was a Carmel Petresco sighting and it looked like she had just been shopping.

I chatted with Minh Ly in the Sports Book while I kept my eye on the Yankees score. He was upset with Mike Matusow. “He’s not a gentleman,” he repeated several times during our conversation. Supposedly, Matusow was talking tons of smack with Minh during the Main Event. On Monday night, Matusow arrived at the Bellagio to cash his $1M WSOP check. Minh was playing $4K/$8K at the time. Matusow wouldn’t stop talking and said he’d play Minh for a $1 million heads-up freeze out. Minh took him up on his offer and left to secure the money. When Minh came back 20 minutes later with a sufficient bankroll, Matusow bailed on him. “He’s afraid to play me,” Minh added. Mike Matusow is good, but Minh Ly would out play him for sure. Minh plays in the “big game” with Doyle and Chip Reese. He’s one of the last guys I’d want to play heads up, especially for $1M.

I played a cash game with tourists while covering the tournament. The $2/5 NL game was full, so I was seated right away at a $4/8 Limit table. Inside of an hour, I was up 32 big bets after my K-K and A-A held up. I only played a few hands after that and cashed out quickly. It was back to covering the final ten players.

I found everyone’s favorite Bellagio dealer Linda and she gave me a big hug. She told me she had to deal “the big game” which was located in Bobby’s Room. Off to the side of the poker room is a glass room for Bobby Baldwin and his friends. At first, I only saw Sammy Farha playing Gus Hansen heads up. Gus was scruffy and looked like he hadn’t showered or changed his clothes in days. The always dapper Sammy Farha had his trademark unlit cigarette hanging off of his bottom lip. Later on all the big boys showed up including Minh Ly, Chau Giang, Phil Ivey, and Bobby Baldwin. Linda told me they were playing $4K/$8K mixed games and she dealt Pot Limit Omaha with a $150K max bet per player. Anyone want to bankroll me in that game?