Smooth progress in Paradise, but Jesus hits the rail

The Paradise players are just getting into their groove after four hour’s play, with some making a comeback from a poor start and others continuing their good form.

That’s more than can be said for Chris Ferguson (pictured), who was knocked out before our eyes after getting into a big hand with a ‘friendly’ rival.

After chatting with “Jesus” for a while, Kenneth E. Sheldon put a beat on the renowned mathematician when both men flopped big draws.

Ferguson had a big edge however, with his A9s having made middle pair with a flush draw versus his opponent’s open ended straight draw holding JQ, but Sheldon spiked a river Queen to knock out his rival – then confessed a friend had knocked the pro out of the $1,000 event.

“Bad Beat” Brandon Blake, as known by his pals, had been the man to cause Jesus pain in Event #36, but to his credit, Ferguson was gracious in defeat.

Amongst our own players, the chip leader is Paradise pro Luis "Repicas" Rufas (pictured left), who has been playing table captain as he racked up around 24,000 chips.

“I’m having a great tournament so far and my chips mean I can see a lot of hands, bluff my opponents and I feel comfortable at the table.

“My best cards pre-flop have been deuces and AK, but there was a raise and an all-in and call in front of me, so I went over the top and got the other guy to fold.

“The player who was all-in had AQ and I hit a king on the flop – and that sums up my tournament so far!”

Online qualifier Tom Garland (pictured below) meanwhile is also running well after settling the early nerves with some big hands.

“I was nervous the first hand but I limped in and flopped a broadway straight, which helped!” he smiled. “I then had Aces and got re-raised pre-flop, so I was loving it as I got up to about 9,000 early on.

“I made one mistake when I tangled with the strongest player on the table, trying to lay down a marker, but I’ve since calmed down and I’m trying not to do anything stupid.

“The last hour I had no action but in the third hour of play I had Aces twice inside six hands and I’ve generally played my cards well.

“Everyone at the table is a good laugh so there’s been some good banter too, so I’m feeling a lot more comfortable than I was this morning!”

More good news came in the form of Portuguese Paradise pro Carlos Oliveira, who has made a comeback since being reduced to a mere 1,500 stack at the first break.

“Doubling through with AQ vs AJ first, I started winning some small pots and then took down a big hand to make it a good couple of hours.

“I called a pre-flop raise in the cut-off with 9s and it came 10-9-7 and the guy open shoves on that flop with KK and I obviously call.

“That leaves me on about 7,900 but that’s still not a big stack to be honest because of the blind structure. Still, let’s see how it goes.”

Other success stories have been Hungarian duo Peter Csecsetka (19,000) and Zsord Cserhati (12,500).

Less content was compatriot Miguel Russo, the Paradise Poker manager in Portugal, who is representing the staff at the WSOP but had a tough couple of hours after a quick start.

Having spun up a 15,000 chips, his trip Aces ran into a bigger kicker and sent his stack spiralling back towards the average, which stood at around 6,000 at the interval.

Frenchman Christophe Guyard was also out of luck, as the dreaded table move robbed him on his momentum and without so much as a bad beat to report, he found himself all-in and knocked out in rapid time.