World Series of Poker finalists await November showdown

Poker

Tough beat for Affleck of Mill Creek: A weary group of card sharks, exhausted by a no-limit Texas Hold'em session that ended nearly 18 hours after its first hand, scored nearly $812,000 each at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas on Sunday — and a ticket for a November finale worth $8.94 million to the winner.

"My brain is barely functioning — it's hard for me to even form sentences right now," said Joseph Cheong, 24, of La Mirada, Calif., one of nine players to advance to the final table.

They emerged from a field of 7,319 players in the $10,000 buy-in event that started July 5.

Matt Affleck, 23, of Mill Creek went from being fifth in chips to busting in 15th place Saturday night. Though Affleck earned $500,165, it was a tough beat for him.

Jonathan Duhamel, who had the second-biggest stack in the tournament at the time, called an all-in bet from Affleck with pocket jacks and the board showing a 10, nine, seven and queen. Affleck turned up pocket aces. But an eight on the river gave Duhamel, who is from Quebec, a queen-high straight and the chip-count lead.

According to pokernews.com, Affleck "was visibly stricken by the result, choking back his emotions and burying his face in his cap for a long while."

Affleck wrote on Twitter: "Don't have any words to explain what just happened."

Minus a profanity, Affleck wrote he was an 80 percent favorite on the turn to be the chip leader at the final table.

Duhamel and Cheong will be joined at the final table by Floridians John Dolan, John Racener and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi; Canadian Matthew Jarvis; Californian Soi Nguyen; Italian Filippo Candio and Jason Senti of Minnesota.

NBA

Hornets' Pondexter scores 42 points in last two summer games: Ex-Washington Huskies standout Quincy Pondexter, a rookie for the New Orleans Hornets, averaged 15.2 points on 40.7 percent field-goal shooting in five games in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

Pondexter scored a game-high 26 points in Saturday's 101-93 loss to Toronto that dropped the Hornets to 0-5. On Friday, he scored 16 points in a 90-89 loss to the Washington Wizards.

"I think I competed really hard," Pondexter was quoted as saying on the league website. "It's tough to find guys that come out and go hard every possession. That's what I try to do every game.

"It's just been a great experience. I loved every moment of it."

Wade intends to prove skeptics wrong: All-Star guard Dwyane Wade is keeping track. He has heard analysts say the Miami Heat will be a flop. He has heard other players lash out over the way LeBron James, the league's most valuable player the last two seasons, made his decision to leave Cleveland to join the Heat. Wade has heard executives from other teams list Boston and Orlando as the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference.

All duly noted in his mind.

Wade is neither bothered nor angered, he said. But at the Summer Groove charity game Wade co-hosted with Alonzo Mourning, he acknowledged when the Heat convenes for training camp in late September, the naysayers will serve as motivation for him, James, teammate Chris Bosh and others inside the Miami locker room.

Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. coached Wade's "Blue" team, which won the charity game 124-108.

According to media reports, 29-year-old forward James Jones has agreed to return to the Heat on a minimum-salary deal.

Jordan speaks out on Heat trio: Basketball icon Michael Jordan, speaking after a celebrity golf tournament in Stateline, Nev., as quoted by ESPN, on James joining forces with Wade and Bosh in Miami: "There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry (Bird), called up Magic (Johnson) and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team.' But that's ... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today.

"In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."

Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles.

Horse racing

Rosario, O'Neill rule at Hollywood: Joel Rosario, who won 79 races, was the leading rider at a Hollywood Park meeting for the third consecutive time and Doug O'Neill had 28 victories to take the training title at the Inglewood, Calif., track. The Southern California circuit shifts to Del Mar, near San Diego, starting Wednesday.

Soccer

Galaxy prevails: Edson Buddle scored in the first half and Landon Donovan got the winning goal on a penalty kick in the 58th minute as the league-leading Los Angeles Galaxy beat host D.C. United 2-1 in a Major League Soccer match.

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