Tran-tastic

Day Two

Day two at the www.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 WSOP Main Event 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 for 12 specially invited elite players. In contrast, it was an excellent day for JC Tran who won his second successive heat as well as season one winner Juha Helppi, who also picked up the maximum ten 10 points.

Follow the action live at: http://www.matchroompoker.com/forums/index.php

Finland’s Juha 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 make a straight and secure maximum 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 2 points, Nenad Medic 3 points, Roland De Wolfe 4 points and Annette Obrestad 6 points.

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 4 points, Devilfish finished fourth for 3 points, Tom ‘Durrr’ Dwan finished fifth for 2 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.

Day Three

Day three at the www.partypoker.com Premier League III saw a reverse of the results on day two as both Peter Eastgate and Phil Hellmuth picked up the maximum 10 points from their heats. Eastgate completely dominated his heat while Hellmuth finally found some form to bring him back into contention for Sunday’s final table.

Heat five at the start of day three was hugely eventful. All the previous heats had seen very few eliminations in early levels but this game was different and it very quickly become a heads-up battle between JC Tran and Peter Eastgate. The 2008 WSOP Main Event champion completely run over the field and looked to be home and dry but the blinds were only at 2,000 – 4,000. Eastgate sat with 541,000 to Tran’s 59,000, a very different scenario to when the pair met on day one when the chip counts going into the heads-up stage were more level. Remarkably, as a 9-1 underdog, Tran fought back to hold the chip lead. Eastgate, however, eventually got his revenge for his defeat at the hands of Tran on day one to pick up 10 points. Eastgate pushed all-in with K3 and was called by Tran with A7. A king on the flop was enough to seal the deal for the $9 million Dane.

With 6 points from the heat, however, JC is the man to beat and holds a very comfortable lead at the top of the league table and he looks set to qualify for the deep-stacked final table on Sunday. In this heat, Obrestad got the bagel, Helppi 2 points, Medic 3 points and Coren 4 points.

Heat six was the noisiest yet boasting a great line-up of Hellmuth, Tony G, Devilfish, Roland de Wolfe, Tom Dwan and Andy Black. By the time shuffle up and deal was called the players were at each others throat with there seeming to be a competition on who could turn up the latest and hold-up the production.

The Devilfish’s dreadful luck in the Premier League continued as he busted with 0 points. Unsurprisingly, the instigator of his downfall was Dwan, whose bet frequency throughout the whole of the Premier League so far has been way above that of any other player. Dwan raised to 10k with Q-7 off-suit, Devilfish called with K-Q off-suit. The flop came 7-7-K with a Q on the river and all the money went in. The chances of the Fish finally getting a run together in the Premier League now look slim as he only has 3 points.

‘Durrr’ busted Tony G next for 2 points and Andy Black for 3 points but then went himself in third place for 4 points at the expense of Hellmuth after pushing it just a little too much. This left Hellmuth and De Wolfe heads-up with Roland leading 319,000 to 281,000. After days where it seemed that the ‘Poker Brat’ was getting outgunned by the newcomers he showed great form with some majestic calls and laydowns. Hellmuth chipped away at De Wolfe but was the subject of good fortune in the hand that gave him his eventual victory. Roland re-raised all-in with A-Q off-suit and Phil called with K-10. It was looking great for Roland until a king came on the river to secure Hellmuth 10 points.

LEAGUE TABLE AT THE END OF DAY THREE

26 pts JC TRAN

16 pts PETER EASTGATE

14 pts JUHA HELPPI

14 pts TONY G

14 pts VICKY COREN

13 pts PHIL HELLMUTH

12 pts TOM DWAN

12 pts ROLAND DE WOLFE

10 pts ANNETTE OBRESTAD

10 pts ANDY BLACK

6pts NENAD MEDIC

3pts DEVILFISH