It was a mini-version of the Battle of Alberta and a fight for a second ring in the heads-up battle between Nicholas Lee and Talal Shoush. Shoush, from Edmonton, won his first Ring back in May 2022 in the $1k Turbo event while Lee, from Calgary, picked one up last January in the 4-Flight here in Calgary.
This edition of the Battle of Alberta went to Calgary as Lee was the one to pick up his second ring tonight. Lee held the lead for most of the final table, and though he and Shoush were about even to start heads-up play, Lee was the one in control for most of it.
One of the biggest hands heads up saw both players hit two pair by the river. Lee was down at that point and doubled to the lead when he called off Shoush's river shove. He'd flopped two pair with king-queen while Shoush ran out to two pair with seven-four.
That put Shoush down below a million, but he doubled back before the death blow was dealt. In the final hand, Shoush had ace-queen against fives and Lee hit a set to take it down. This was Lee's fourth win on the live felt and the score should be enough to push him over $300k in lifetime earnings.
Talal Shoush fell just short of his second Circuit Ring tonight after falling to Nicholas Lee. Most of the damage happened in a huge cooler that saw both players with two pair by the river, with Lee holding the best of it. That left Shoush with just over a million and he managed a double-up before another cooler signalled his doom.
In the final hand, his ace-queen lost to the pocket fives of Lee when Lee hit a set and held. Shoush won his ring in 2022 in the $1k Turbo and tonight's prize should push his lifetime earnings over $140k.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Lee |  |
8,600,000 | 2,000,000 |
| Talal Shoush | |
0 | 0 |
It was a cooler when both players ended up with two pair. I arrived at the board on the turn reading 
and Talal Shoush bet 200k. Nicholas Lee called to the 
river where Shoush shoved and Lee called down. Shoush went runner-runner two pair with seven-four, but Lee had flopped it with king-queen.
In the next hand, Shoush got a double back when he flopped a set of deuces against a flopped pair of fives for Lee. Le also had wheel outs with five-four but bricked it to send the double to Shoush.
This is something of a Battle of Alberta with Shoush hailing from the capital of Edmonton and Lee a Cowtown native. It's also a battle for the second ring, as both players have already won one in previous editions of WSOP-C Calgary.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Lee | |
6,600,000 | 2,300,000 |
| Talal Shoush | |
2,000,000 | 2,300,000 |
Nicholas Lee was down to just over 2 million when he shoved and got the call from Talal Shoush. Shoush was dominated with ace-nine suited against ace-queen off for Lee, and Lee hit his queen on the flop.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talal Shoush | |
4,300,000 | 2,800,000 |
| Nicholas Lee | |
4,300,000 | 1,900,000 |
They are heads-up in the Flip & Go after Johnny Gagelonia couldn't win a flip over Talal Shoush. Shoush had pocket eights against the ace-nine overs for Gagelonia, but Gagelonia couldn't find his cards.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Gagelonia | |
0 | 0 |
Nicholas Lee raised the button to 160k then called when Talal Shoush shoved the big blind.
Talal Shoush: 
Nicholas Lee: 
Lee was in good shape for most of the 
board, and Shoush was on his feet ready for his payout slip until the river hit.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Lee | |
6,200,000 | 1,700,000 |
| Talal Shoush | |
1,500,000 | 210,000 |
| Johnny Gagelonia | |
900,000 | 245,000 |
They are down to three players left now after Barry Frey hit the cage in 4th place tonight, though I missed the action as I was writing up the previous two hands.
Shortly after knocking out Patrick Tardif, Haven Taylor shoved her small blind, and big stack Nicholas Lee called from the big blind. Lee was behind with king-queen against Taylor's ace-three but Lee spiked his card to take it down and send Taylor home 5 short of her first ring.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haven Taylor | |
0 | 0 |
Patrick Tardif was short after doubling up Barry Frey, but he got a walk in the big blind with only about 4 bigs. He got it in shortly after with 
but ran into 
for Haven Taylor. They both hist a straight but Taylor's was best and the GGPoker streamer hit the rail in 6th place.
Talal Shoush raised to 130k from the cutoff, and both blinds came along to the flop of 
. It checked around to the 
turn where small blind Nicholas Lee fired 205k. Big blind Barry Frey got out of the way, but Shoush put in the call to see 
on the river.
Lee tanked for a bit before announcing a bet of 580k. Shoush snap-called it, showing down 
for flopped bottom pair against the bluff from Lee.
Patrick 'Egption' Tardif shoved under the gun in the first hand back from the break, and it folded around to small blind Barry Frey who called for less.
Barry Frey: 
Patrick Tardif: 
Frey hit his four on the flop to take the lead with his dominated hand and while Tardif turned a BRoadway draw, he bricked the river and counted out the double.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barry Frey | |
800,000 | 420,000 |
| Patrick 'Egption' Tardif | |
210,000 | 385,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Lee | |
4,500,000 | 3,325,000 |
| Talal Shoush | |
1,710,000 | 940,000 |
| Haven Taylor | |
865,000 | 625,000 |
| Johnny Gagelonia | |
655,000 | 130,000 |
| Patrick 'Egption' Tardif | |
595,000 | 40,000 |
| Barry Frey | |
380,000 | 200,000 |
There are 6 players left in the Flip & Go Day 2 now after Jonathan Newman hit the rail in 7th place tonight.
They are down to 7 left now after Graham Lupton, who won his first ring last May in the Monster Stack here at Deerfoot, hit the rail for 8th place.
They are down to 8 players now after Brant Taylor lost a race with sixes into ace-jack.
They are down to 10 players left now, but since this is an eight-handed game, the final table won't be set until they are down to 9 in this one. Prizes to date are under the payouts tab.
They are down to 13 players left now after Shariq Khan, Kyle Nuttley, and Justin Pennell hit the rail during Level 11.
The Flip & Go is now back from dinner with 16 players left in the action.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Lee | |
1,175,000 | 715,000 |
| Jonathan Newton | |
995,000 | 165,000 |
| Craig Caldwell | |
830,000 | 180,000 |
| Talal Shoush | |
770,000 | 70,000 |
| Eric Westrum | |
645,000 | 215,000 |
| Barry Frey | |
580,000 | 200,000 |
| Patrick 'Egption' Tardif | |
555,000 | 130,000 |
| Johnny Gagelonia | |
525,000 | 155,000 |
| Graham Lupton | |
500,000 | 150,000 |
| Anthony Manfredi | |
415,000 | 45,000 |
| Justin Pennell | |
335,000 | 55,000 |
| Ryan Nickle | |
330,000 | 590,000 |
| Brant Taylor | |
300,000 | 50,000 |
| Haven Werner | |
240,000 | 50,000 |
| Shariq Khan | |
225,000 | 55,000 |
| Kyle Nuttley | |
155,000 | 5,000 |
The Flip & Go Players have just finished Level 10 and are now on their 45-minute dinner break. The previous counts I entered were eyeballed, so I'll get some exact counts during dinner.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Nickle | |
920,000 | 600,000 |
| Jonathan Newton | |
830,000 | 670,000 |
| Talal Shoush | |
700,000 | 540,000 |
| Graham Lupton | |
650,000 | 330,000 |
| Craig Caldwell | |
650,000 | 330,000 |
| Nicholas Lee | |
460,000 | 300,000 |
| Eric Westrum | |
430,000 | 270,000 |
| Patrick 'Egption' Tardif | |
425,000 | 265,000 |
| Barry Frey | |
380,000 | 220,000 |
| Johnny Gagelonia | |
370,000 | 210,000 |
| Anthony Manfredi | |
370,000 | 210,000 |
| Justin Pennell | |
280,000 | 120,000 |
| Brant Taylor | |
250,000 | 90,000 |
| Haven Werner | |
190,000 | 30,000 |
| Shang Khan | |
170,000 | 10,000 |
| Kyle Nuttley | |
160,000 | 0 |
They are down to two tables in the Flip & Go with 16 players left now and just over 20 minutes to pay in Level 10.
They are down to 18 players left now, nearing the two-table redraw. Runner-up from the Monster Stack last night, Andrew Goosen, was the most recent player to hit the rail in this one for 19th place and $817 added to his big score from last night. Main Event Ring winner Rob Limpert and Ottawa moving mogul Marc Lavergne were also among the recent exits from the game.
They are down to the final three tables (8-handed) now with 24 players left in the game. They will redraw for new seats at 16 left for the final two tables, and again at 9 left for the 9-handed final table.
They are down to 39 players left in the Go stage of the Flip & Go game now with about 5 minutes gone in Level 5. They'll take their first break of the day following this level.
Among the players to hit the rail early today was one of the double-stack players, Jeet Shergill, as well as Nick Andreas and DJ Sharma.
There are 44 players left in the GO stage today with the early prizes listed under the Payouts tab. There are about 7 minutes left in Level 2.
Day 2 of the Flip & Go game is underway with Level 2 and the field down to 46 players left now. The average stack right now is still about 75 bigs so they are still pretty deep, but the stacks will get shorter pretty quickly with 25-minute blinds.
Event #12: $250 Flip & Go
Jan 19, 2024, 2 pm
Entries: 434
Day 2: 49
Prizes: $89,073 ($19,298 for 1st)
Five players bagged double stacks for Day 2 of the Flip and Go. The action kicks off at 2 pm with blinds at 1k/2k/2k and they'll play down to a winner. The blinds increase every 25 minutes, so while they will start pretty deep, the game should move pretty quickly.
This will be my main focus for the early part of the day until it is finished, and then I'll move my eyes over to the PLO Bounty game starting at 6 pm.
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