Grabbing counts from Ionel Anton's chip stack is proving difficult. He prefers unusually tall second tier chip stacks that are proving difficult to count. But it appears he has pulled ahead in the chiplead against Olekssi Kovalchuk. Accurate counts coming soon.
2011 World Series of Poker
The past several hands have been won or lost depending on who has the button. A raise from either player on the button will usually take the pot.

Ionel Anton raised to 80,000 on the button and Oleksii Kovalchuk re-raised to 250,000 and Anton called.
The flop was and both players checked. The turn was
and Kovalchuk checked. Anton bet out 300,000 and Kovalchuk called.
The river was the and Kovalchuk bet out 700,000. Anton slowed down here but eventually made the call and Kovalchuk showed
for the rivered straight. Kovalchuk is still down to Anton but is back up to 4,250,000
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
![]() |
6,550,000
120,000
|
120,000 |
![]() |
4,250,000
1,250,000
|
1,250,000 |
|
Oleksii Kovalchuk made it 100,000 to from the button and Ionel Anton moved all in. Kovalchuk called and the hands were tabled.
Showdown:
Anton:
Kovalchuk:
Board:
Anton's pocket pair held and doubled to 5,670,000 and Kovalchuk slipped to 4,000,000.


Chris Moorman, the winningest online tournament poker player of all time, has been eliminated just short of the bracelet in third place.
Moorman got his 1,100,000 all in preflop good with against the
of Oleksii Kovalchuk. The board was not so kind though.
The flop looked good with but the turn
gave a straight draw to Kovalchuk and he completed it with the
on the river.
Moorman came into the day as one of our big stacks but lost most of his chips right before the final table. He and his loud and crazy rail have left the Amazon Room and we are now down to heads up play.
Kovalchuk will start with around 8,000,000 and Ionel Anton will start with around 2,300,000. The bracelet is on the table and the $689,739 is officially up for grabs.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
![]() |
8,000,000
1,200,000
|
1,200,000 |
|
||
![]() |
2,300,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
![]() |
Busted | |
|
The board read
and Chris Moorman bet 110,000. Oleksii Kovalchuk raised to 250,000 and Moorman moved all in. Kovalchuk called and tabled
and Moorman tabled
. The board completed
and they chopped the pot.
Level: 27
Blinds: 20,000/40,000
Ante: 5,000

Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
![]() |
6,800,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
![]() |
2,400,000
200,000
|
200,000 |
![]() |
1,100,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
|
We've completed another two levels and the players are taking a 20 minute break.
Ionel Anton raised to 75,000 from the small blind and Chris Moorman called from the big blind. The flop came
and Ionel check-called 85,000 from Moorman. The turn was the
and both players checked to the
river. Anton bet out 131,000 and Moorman called.
Anton tabled
and Moorman tabled
and took the pot with a better kicker.