2011 World Series of Poker

Moneymaker is 1-0 in Our Second Match

Postato 2011-06-03 02:05 GMT

Farha, with a short stack, was able to get all of his chips in the middle as a favorite preflop. He held the against the from Moneymaker.

The board ran out . Everyone, including Farha and Moneymaker let out a bit of a gasp came with an eight spiked the turn. But that's poker and just like that Moneymaker takes a 1-0 lead. It appears we are on a short break before we begin the second leg of our best of 3 match. In the next one, Farha will start with a near 2 to 1 chip lead, just as Moneymaker had in the first leg.

"It Was a Bad Fold Sammy!"

Postato 2011-06-03 01:45 GMT

There are not nearly as many people in the stands for this match and they are much quieter. In addition, the tournament director on the stage with the microphone isn't announcing every street of action like he had been for the Chan/Hellmuth match so the room is overall more peaceful than earlier.

However, the past few hands, a couple of the railbirds have begun to try and engage the players. One spectator just shouted to Farha "It was a bad fold Sammy. It was a bad bluff and a bad fold." referring to the hand that MoneyMaker bluffed Farha off the best holdings during the original heads up match. The comment seemed to be in good fun but neither of the players reacted that positively to it.

Moneymaker Retaking Control

Postato 2011-06-03 01:41 GMT

Preflop, Moneymaker raised to 125,000 on the button and Farha called.

The flop came . Farha checked to Moneymaker who continuation bet 150,000. Farha raised to 400,000 and this time it was Moneymaker who just flatted in position.

The turn was the . Farha bet 400,000 and Moneymaker again just flatted.

The river was the . This time Farha checked, as did Moneymaker who showed , good enough to ship the pot and take a near 3 to 1 chip lead.

Farha Catching Up

Postato 2011-06-03 01:31 GMT

The two players saw a flop of . Farha checked to Moneymaker who fired 150,000 which Farha called.

The turn was the and both players checked. The river was the and this time Farha led out for 200,000. After some thought, Moneymaker called and Farha won the hand with .

After the hand Farha had almost eclipsed the 4 million mark but has since dropped back down to about 3,300,000.

Blinds Increase

Postato 2011-06-03 01:25 GMT

Moneymaker and Farha are playing a little bit more quickly than Chan and Hellmuth did so they were able to get in 15 hands before the blinds went up. They are now at 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante and there is still plenty of play left for both players.

Farha Wins a Showdown

Postato 2011-06-03 01:22 GMT

On a board, Farha check-raised Moneymaker's 110,000 chip bet to 300,000. Moneymaker called and the two saw the turn. Both players slowed down this time and checked to peel the on the turn. Farha fired , good enough to win the largest pot so far.

Moneymaker Three Bets

Postato 2011-06-03 01:20 GMT

After Farha raised his button to 200,000, Moneymaker three bet to 700,000. Farha folded is now down to 2 million chips while Moneymaker has reached 6.4 million.

... There's Something Missing

Postato 2011-06-03 01:14 GMT

Chris Moneymaker: Check
Sam Farha: Check
A dealer and cards: Check
A crowd and ESPN camera's: Check
Sammy's patented unlit cigarette: ... Not there

Our tournament director, Jack Effel, noticed the absence of the infamous prop and tried to give Mr. Farha a cigarette to no avail.

"It needs to be Marlboro Lights," Sammy told him. After a few minutes search the Rio, we found one and now everything is as it should be.

Moneymaker Increasing Advantage

Postato 2011-06-03 01:11 GMT

We start with the blinds 20,000-40,000 and a 5,000 ante.

On our fourth hand we saw our first flop, turn and river. The board read . The pot grew to 900,000 and Moneymaker tabled for a flush. Farha mucked and Moneymaker has moved to almost 6 million.

Introductions

Postato 2011-06-03 01:06 GMT

It's been a full eight years since the poker boom and it is mostly credited to one epic run in the WSOP Main Event. The story is well known and needs little introduction. Chris Moneymaker, having never played a live poker tournament in his life, bested a field of 839 players to win $2.5 million dollars. In that event, he beat one of the worlds best players, Sam Farha, in one of the most entertaining heads up matches in history.

Today we get to recreate that moment from 2003. The two players will play a best of 3 series and in this recreation, the two players will start with the same amount of chips they had to begin with in that amazing battle back in 2003. In the second match they will switch roles, and if they split the first two matches, they will play a third with even chip stacks.