Play slows down at World Series
Play slowed considerably at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas on Saturday, as the top tier of the field held powerful chip stacks and enough rounders had been eliminated to let players be more picky about their hands.
Some players used the breathing room to tighten their play and only play pots with good starting hands. Others used the extra chips to play more hands, driving up action and leading to big pots for players holding less-than-stellar hands.
Thomas “Thunder” Keller, who won a gold bracelet at the world series in 2004, cracked an opponent’s aces and doubled his stack with a king-10 when the fourth and fifth community cards gave him a straight.
“That’s officially the worst suck-out I have ever done,” said Keller, 27, of Scottsdale, Ariz. “I genuinely feel bad for him.”
Tennis
Santoro back in final
Defending champion Fabrice Santoro advanced to the final of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I., by beating Vince Spadea 7-6 (4), 6-1.
Santoro, the second seed and oldest champion on Newport’s grass courts in the 32-year history of the tourney, will face Prakash Amritraj today.
•Michael Chang, who finished with 34 titles, was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He was a finalist at the 1995 French Open, 1996 U.S. Open and 1996 Australian Open. Inducted posthumously were contributors Mark McCormack and Eugene Scott.
Miscellany
’Cats, Soul in Bowl
Mark Grieb threw eight touchdown passes, five of them to Cleannord Saintil, and the San Jose Sabercats advanced to Arena Bowl XXII with an 81-55 win over Grand Rapids in San Jose Calif.
Omarr Smith intercepted a team playoff-record three passes that led to touchdowns and the defending champion Sabercats advanced to play in the Arena Bowl against first-time participant Philadelphia Soul, who beat the Cleveland Gladiators 70-35 earlier in the day in Philadelphia. The game will take place in two weeks at New Orleans.
•Borrachos beat Two Step Salsa by one length in the $350,000 Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif.
Ridden by Tyler Baze, Tres Borrachos gained the lead on the rail on the turn for home and gradually pulled away in the final sixteenth while covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.29.
•Taylor Phinney, the cycling phenom from Boulder, Colo., became a two-time junior world champion, winning the 3,000-meter individual pursuit at Cape Town, South Africa. He won the junior men’s road time trial last year before turning his attention to the track, and he’ll be the U.S. men’s best hope for a medal at the Olympic velodrome next month.