Online Poker News » June 2006
» June 27, 2006.
The 2006 Tournament of Champions Day 1 - The Wild Bunch.
Day 1 of the exclusive, invitation only tournament played out in the Rio's Amazon Room, the massive space that will soon be the site
of the World Series of Poker, and featured an eclectic starting field. Of the twenty-seven players, the majority earned entrance by
placing first in a WSOP Circuit Event. These players included: Greg Merkow (Grand Tunica), Daniel Negreanu (Grand Tunica), Vinny Vinh
(Caesar's Indiana), Chris Reslock (Harrah's Atlantic City), Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (Harrah's Vegas), Darrell Dicken (Harrah's San Diego),
Peter Feldman (Harrah's New Orleans), John Spadavecchia (Caesar's Las Vegas), Thang "Kido" Pham (Paris/Bally's), and Clint Baskin
(Harrah's Lake Tahoe).
The now famous members of the 2005 WSOP Main Event final table also gained entrance into the TOC and the event marked the first tournament to feature Joseph Hachem (1st), Steve Dannenmann (2nd), John "Tex" Barch (3rd), Aaron Kanter (4th), Andrew Black (5th), Scott Lazar (6th), Daniel Bergsdorf (7th), Bradley Kondracki (8th), and Mike "The Mouth" Matusow (9th) together since last year's championship.
A number of players received special invitations to the tournament and they included: Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Sexton, Gus Hansen, Mike O'Malley, Jeffrey King and Sarah Strom, who won her seat through a contest held by sandwich restaurant chain Quizno's.
At 12:10pm the action kicked off with $25-$50 blinds and $10,000 chip stacks. Fans, in bleacher seats and standing three rows deep behind the rails, witnessed a much lighter tournament atmosphere than usual as all twenty-seven players free-rolled into the event. Daniel Negreanu spent most of the day joking with the railbirds and all the big name players took time in between hands to sign autographs and take pictures.
Despite the free entry, players entered the day with a chance to take home a $1,000,000 first place prize, and the stakes created some tension among the pros. Mike Matusow, the TOC defending champion, and Phil Hellmuth traded verbal shots early in the tournament and the floor manager was called over on numerous occasions to intervene.
The arguments ended, however, when Hellmuth became the first poker star to be eliminated. He bowed out of the tournament after his pocket queens failed to improve against Chris Ferguson's pocket aces.
Negreanu, in between chatting with fans and practicing his golf swing, enjoyed the rare honor of knocking out the 2006 WSOP champion and runner-up finisher on the same hand. The action began when Joseph Hachem, a short stack for the majority of the day, pushed all-in pre-flop and received calls from both Steve Dannenmann and Negreanu. Hachem took an early lead when he showed the Qh-Qd, while Dannenmann flipped over 8s-8c and Negreanu turned over the Ad-Qc. But the As-Jc-10c-10d-4s board gave Negreanu two pair and he eliminated Hachem and Dannenmann from the tournament.
With a goal of playing down from twenty-seven to ten, the final elimination of the day came nearly twelve hours after the first cards had hit the air. In a head's up hand that featured the WSOP 4th and 5th place finishers, Aaron Kanter moved all in on a Ah-10d-6h flop and Andrew Black called. Black flipped over Ad-10c and Kanter became an instant dog with Ac-Kd. The 8s turn and 3h river offered Kanter no help, and he finished the tournament in 11th place.
The chip counts going into the final table are as follows:
v 1. Andrew Black - $94,175 (Seat 6)
2. Daniel Negreanu - $44,325 (Seat 5)
3. Daniel Bergsdorf - $24,500 (Seat 10)
4. Thang "Kido" Pham - $23,825 (Seat 1)
5. Mike "The Mouth" Matusow - $21,300 (Seat 4)
6. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson - $16,600 (Seat 2)
7. Mike Sexton - $16,100 (Seat 7)
8. Darrell Dicken - $15,425 (Seat 3)
9. Gus Hansen - $7,375 (Seat 8)
10. Chris Reslock - $6,375 (Seat 9)
Source: www.WorldSeriesOfPoker.com
Related Poker Articles:
1. Official Report From 2006 Tournament Of Champions. As final.. (26/06/2006)
2. 2006 WSOP Promotions At Full Tilt Poker - Race For Bracelets.. (22/06/2006)
3. Sun Poker And Bluff Magazine Are Hosting A WSOP 'Dream Shot'.. (08/06/2006)
4. Detroit Native Wins Seat At Upcoming World Series Of Poker.. (06/06/2006)
5. WSOP 2006 Qualifiers And Second Chance $200K Freeroll At Sun.. (17/05/2006)
6. Win 1 WSOP Seat, Get 1 Free At InterPoker - Play World Series.. (24/04/2006)
All WSOP 2006 Room's News
