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| 18th May - 396 (+16%) players. Prizepool $372,740 (+9%). 1st prize $134,000 (+16%). Fantastic turnout for this well organised event. Ben Battle of London the only one of 36 prize places to be non-American. Read more | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Key Plays | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It was nice to see some NEW faces at the Final Table. In the classic poker hand, A K against pocket Queens, Dennis Lane had raised and short-stacked Bill Bertram reraised all-in on the button with the Queens. No waiting, the King windowed sending Bertram off and to his rocker in 10th. On the poker internet newsgroup: rec.gambling.poker, pocket 5's have a name. They are called "Presto" and the hand seems to have magical powers. Repeatedly, Presto has been known to crack far more powerful hands. Not today, however. Today, Presto dominated two weaker hands. Chris Wunderlich raised under the gun with the pocket 5's. Johnny Davis only had a few chips over his big blind and "didn't look" before tossing them in. Davis had A 4 and was miles ahead on his way out the door in 9th. On the very next hand, Wunderlich picked up Presto again, and found a new way to win with the pocket 5's. Chris flopped a set and let 'Fast' Freddy Brown go all-in against him. Brown had outs, but they were Brown outs. You know what I mean? Freddy had J 9 for a flopped up and down straight draw. He needed a King or an 8 to stay alive. There was a power failure for Freddy and he went downtown into 8th. Veteran tournament warrior Pat Callahan made a move on the blinds with his last $20k and the K J of Clubs. The incredibly hot Chris Wunderlich had a brainstorm. Chris picked up pocket Aces in the big blind and decided to call. Such bravado for an oldster! Chris's bravery was rewarded immediately as Pat Callahan in 7th was drawing dead on the flop that came A 3 3. If you can win with pocket Aces once, you can lose to them twice. Chris Wunderlich was only playing the rush that had brought him to the clear chip lead when the paradigm shifted. (Poker Definition: paradigm=$2,000). After being unable to lose a hand for the first hour, Chris had to wonder where his luck went from then on. It seemed inconceivable that Chris could be the next one out, but that's what happened. He ran into pocket Aces twice, once he had pocket 10's and then pocket Queens. All-in now for his last $4.5k and an A 8, Wunderlich got to test his wanderlust as he wandered toward the door in 6th. Ben Battle had K J and made trips. The Battle of Britian was won by a few incredibly brave young pilots. Ben Battle of Britian only had a proven loser on his side, A 8 all-in. Mike Sexton shot Ben out of the sky in 5th with an A K that played. Shortness has nothing to do with age. Shortness is usually fatal, age inevitable. David Troyer came in 10th in chips with only $10,600. That he lasted to 4th is a testament to David's grittiness. Troyer finally surrendered to shortness and went all-in with A Q. Bill Swan called with A K and didn't need the King that came. "This is a bad call," Mike Sexton said and shoved in his stacks. Turned out Sexton was correct, just premature. After several minutes of contemplation, Mike called the preflop $35k reraise all-in bet of Dennis Lane. Sexton had A J. Lane had pocket 7's. It wasn't as bad as Mike had feared, this time. Mike had two overcards, and the Ace flopped to give Dennis more than a penny in 3rd. Lois would have been proud of Lane's super performance. "37 cashes and only one bracelet, that's pretty bad," Mike Sexton was making fun of his WSOP frustration. But he might be second guessing two calls that he made heads up that probably cost him another bracelet. It seemed clear that Mike, the tournament veteran, could chip away at Bill Swan. Sexton didn't need to make any 'coin toss-type' calls. "I think I played the hand well, he could only put me on a bluff," Bill Swan said of the first of two pivotal hands. Swan had slow-played pocket Aces to the river. What could have been a disastrous mistake, turned golden. Bill bet $81k all-in with the board Q 9 4 6 8. With pocket Jacks, a bluff was about the only hand Mike Sexton could beat. Mike called and Swan turned over his Aces. Still, Sexton was the clearly superior heads up player. He clipped Swan's stack repeatedly until the fateful hand arrived. Mike flopped two pair with 7's and 5's. Sexton may have gotten greedy, only he knows. In any case, Mike let Bill Swan see the turn card cheaply. The board was 7 5 3 8 K. Bill went from an ugly duckling on the flop to a Swan on the turn when his 9 6 hit the paydirt, gutshot straight. Bill went all-in and, again, Mike Sexton called when he didn’t have to. There is nothing in this world easier than playing a tournament from the sidelines. No one but Mike Sexton can know what his thinking processes were on those two calls. He may have made the correct play on both of them. It sure didn't look like it from the stands. Mike Sexton is a great player, a gentleman and a credit to poker. But may have let 'The Geezer's Open' bracelet slip off his wrist, today. Commentary Mike Paulle sent by Tex Whitson of Binions Horseshoe |
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