Tran marches on while it’s bagels for Phil and Peter
Day two at the PartyPoker.com Premier League III was not one to remember for WSOP Main Event champion Peter Eastgate and 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. The two youngest-ever champions busted out of their heats with bagels – zero points – and now have some work to do to get themselves back into the $1.25 million tournament.
In contrast, it was an excellent day for JC Tran, who won his second successive heat, and season one winner Juha Helppi, who also picked up 10 points.
Heat three
Finland’s Helppi won heat three after overcoming Norway’s Annette Obrestad heads-up. The decisive hand saw Helppi raise with K-Q off-suit, only for Obrestad to push all-in with J-4 off-suit. Helppi hit his 10 on the river to secure maximum points while Obrestad received six points. The heat itself was very cagey early on and remained six-handed for a long period of time. Hellmuth got the bagel with Tony G finishing with two points, Nenad Medic taking three points and Roland De Wolfe securing four points.
Heat four
Heat four saw the JC Tran Show continue as he picked up another maximum. Cheered on by a large contingent in the green room, including WSOP Main Event final pal David ‘Chino’ Rheem, he put on other great display.
When it got heads-up he held 476,000 to Vicky Coren’s 124,000 and he looked the likely winner throughout. The decisive hand saw Tran raise with A-6 off-suit and pushed all-in by Coren with K-K. An Ace on the flop was enough to take it down.
Andy Black finished third for four points, Devilfish finished fourth for three points, Tom ‘Durrr’ Dwan finished fifth for two points and $9 million man Eastgate ended up with zero. Like his first heat, Dwan mixed it up hugely but was fighting with a short stack the majority of the time after getting caught out early on. There is little doubt, however, that he still remains one of the most feared players in PartyPoker.com Premier League III.
PartyPoker.com Premier League III standings after day two:
20 points – JC Tran
12 – Tony G
12 – Juha Helppi
10 – Annette Obrestad
10 – Vicky Coren
8 – Tom Dwan
7 – Andy Black
6 – Peter Eastgate
6 – Roland De Wolfe
3 – Devilfish
3 – Phil Hellmuth
3 – Nenad Medic
Today’s line-ups:
Heat five
Annette Obrestad
Nenad Medic
Vicky Coren
JC Tran
Peter Eastgate
Juha Helppi
Heat six
Phil Hellmuth
Devilfish
Tony G
Tom Dwan
Roland De Wolfe
Andy Black
Heat six could turn out to be a classic as it’ll be decisive for the chances of Devilfish and Phil Hellmuth, both in desperate need of big scores.
You can follow the PartyPoker.com Premier League III action live and analyse the hands at MatchroomPoker.com.
