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LAS VEGAS — -
A pair of eliminations Saturday at the World Series of Poker main event pushed the seven remaining players closer to the title and $8.55 million prize.
Kevin Schaffel, 52, a cash game player from Coral Springs, Fla., was eliminated in eighth place with the best starting hand in no-limit Texas Hold 'em after he took out London pro James Akenhead in ninth place.
Schaffel got all his chips in the pot with pocket aces against Eric Buchman, 30, of Hewlett, N.Y., who called with pocket kings - the game's second-best starting hand.
A king on the flop put Buchman in the lead, and the fourth king on the turn made it impossible for Schaffel to win the hand.
"It was a sick flop," Schaffel said. "It's just poker." He won $1.3 million for eighth place.
Darvin Moon, 46, a Garrett County logger, started the day as chip leader with about 30 percent of the chips in play. He later lost his lead when he folded to an all-in bet from Steven Begleiter, who leapfrogged Moon slightly in chips. Both were behind Buchman.
Buchman, who began the day in second, was hurt early in the day by a bad beat against James Akenhead, who was later eliminated in ninth place.
Akenhead found a miracle queen on a hand against Buchman to delay elimination and triple his chips, but he lost most of it on two hands to Schaffel. He busted when his pocket pair of threes couldn't improve against Schaffel's pocket nines.
Akenhead took home $1.26 million for ninth place, nothing beyond what each final table player was awarded in July when they made it to the top of a field of 6,494 entrants in the no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament.
French professional Antoine Saout started the day short on chips but doubled up through Moon, who pressured Saout with an all-in bluff while Saout held two pair.
Akenhead's triple-up and Saout's win drastically altered a session that began slowly at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, with hands rarely going to a showdown.
Phil Ivey, 32, a poker professional widely recognized as the best player alive, started the day in seventh place but had the shortest stack at the table two eliminations later.
But Ivey won three all-in bets uncontested and picked up 3 million chips from Begleiter in one hand after the former Bear Stearns Cos. executive folded to a bet on the flop. He held nearly 15 million chips at the dinner break, about 7 percent of the chips in play.
Kevin Schaffel, 52, a cash game player from Coral Springs, Fla., was eliminated in eighth place with the best starting hand in no-limit Texas Hold 'em after he took out London pro James Akenhead in ninth place.
Schaffel got all his chips in the pot with pocket aces against Eric Buchman, 30, of Hewlett, N.Y., who called with pocket kings - the game's second-best starting hand.
A king on the flop put Buchman in the lead, and the fourth king on the turn made it impossible for Schaffel to win the hand.
"It was a sick flop," Schaffel said. "It's just poker." He won $1.3 million for eighth place.
Darvin Moon, 46, a Garrett County logger, started the day as chip leader with about 30 percent of the chips in play. He later lost his lead when he folded to an all-in bet from Steven Begleiter, who leapfrogged Moon slightly in chips. Both were behind Buchman.
Buchman, who began the day in second, was hurt early in the day by a bad beat against James Akenhead, who was later eliminated in ninth place.
Akenhead found a miracle queen on a hand against Buchman to delay elimination and triple his chips, but he lost most of it on two hands to Schaffel. He busted when his pocket pair of threes couldn't improve against Schaffel's pocket nines.
Akenhead took home $1.26 million for ninth place, nothing beyond what each final table player was awarded in July when they made it to the top of a field of 6,494 entrants in the no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament.
French professional Antoine Saout started the day short on chips but doubled up through Moon, who pressured Saout with an all-in bluff while Saout held two pair.
Akenhead's triple-up and Saout's win drastically altered a session that began slowly at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, with hands rarely going to a showdown.
Phil Ivey, 32, a poker professional widely recognized as the best player alive, started the day in seventh place but had the shortest stack at the table two eliminations later.
But Ivey won three all-in bets uncontested and picked up 3 million chips from Begleiter in one hand after the former Bear Stearns Cos. executive folded to a bet on the flop. He held nearly 15 million chips at the dinner break, about 7 percent of the chips in play.
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