With all of the action that was going on in Las Vegas, the
Bellagio Cup III, a series of 28 events, got off to a slow start. Competing against the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, The Venetian, and Binion's, attendance at the
Bellagio Cup III preliminary events wasn't quite what Tournament Director Jack McClelland expected. Averaging about 100 players per tournament, it took until the $10,000 championship to see players flood through the doors. In total, 535 players crammed into the Fontana Lounge over three starting days to create a prize pool of $5,189,500.
Last year, Shannon Shorr won $960,690 by besting a field of 324. This year, well-known Internet pro Kevin "BeL0WaB0Ve" Saul would lead from wire to wire, overcoming an early stumble at the final table to take the title.
Day One - Three Days of Five Levels
Due to scheduling changes in the
World Series of Poker main event, an extra day one was added to the
Cup, making three separate day ones available to those who were not fortunate enough to survive at the Rio.
Day one (A) saw Kevin Saul take a massive chip lead when he eliminated fellow big stack David Singer. Singer raised to $1,700 and Saul made the call. The flop was Q
J
9
and Singer bet $5,000. Saul raised the minimum to $10,000 and Singer immediately pushed all in. Saul called instantly, tabling the K
10
for the nut straight. Singer showed the J
J
for middle set, and needed the board to pair. But, the turn and river came 3
and 8
, respectively, and Singer was eliminated, putting Saul just over $200,000 in chips. He would end the day with $262,075, by far the largest stack to end day one.
David Oppenheim battled a short stack for most of day one (B), but had an incredible final level that saw him take the chip lead. On a flop of 8
7
3
, Oppenheim's opponent moved all in and he made the call for $46,000. His opponent turned over the 8
7
for top two pair, and Oppenheim showed the A
10
for the nut-flush draw. The turn and river brought the A
and the Q
, respectively, giving Oppenheim the flush and doubling him up to $100,750 for the chip lead.
Mike Matusow spent most of the day complaining to tournament officials about a 20-minute penalty he was given for using his cell phone at the table. Matusow tried to appeal, even having Freddy Deeb come to his defense, but the penalty stood. As a result, his stack was blinded down to a dangerously low level. At one point, he was all in for his last $5,400 with the K
Q
, and was way behind to his opponent's A
A
. However, the board came 7
5
2
10
8
and Matusow made a heart flush to double up and survive the day.
Day one (C) was the largest of the three starting days with 232 players, most of whom had made their way from the Rio when they heard of the schedule extension.
Notable pros who never saw the field combine included Phil Ivey, Roland De Wolfe, Max Pescatori, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Scott Fischman, Barry Greenstein, Michael Mizrachi, Paul Wasicka, John "The Razor" Phan, Phil Hellmuth, and last year's champion, Shannon Shorr.
Day Two - Combining the Field
The remaining 240 players combined to play in two separate rooms due to space issues at Bellagio. Half the field continued play in the poker room, while the rest played across the hotel in the DaVinci rooms of the convention center. Once the player count hit 150, everyone was assembled in the convention center to battle to make the money, which consisted of 100 places.
Play was uncharacteristically loose on the money bubble, with large pots being pushed in every direction. It didn't take long for that bubble to burst, causing the player count to drop dramatically. Robert McLaughlin, who came into the day as one of the chip leaders, went on major tilt after succumbing to Lee Markholt's quad queens and barely squeaked in a cash of $15,490 for finishing in 100th place. Also cashing in the tournament but unable to make day three were Bob Stupak (99th), Bill Gazes (89th), Ralph Perry (84th), Kristy Gazes (79th), Gioi Luong (76th), Alan Smurfit (68th), and Victor Ramdin (59th). Fifty-seven players survived the day, and all would return the next day to battle down to the six-player TV final table.
Day Three - Destination Television
It didn't take long for another string of pros to be eliminated. John Hennigan (53rd), Fred Goldberg (49th), Erik Friberg (46th), and Nenad Medic (44th) all hit the rail early, while a few players started to separate themselves from the pack.
Poker couple David Benyamine and Erica Schoenberg both found themselves at the top of the leader board throughout the day. Benyamine eventually found himself all in with top pair, top kicker, only to have his opponent show an overpair to the board. He finished in 20th place. He then went to the rail to sweat Schoenberg, who ran into some bad luck. Chris Bonita raised to $47,000 and Schoenberg moved in for $102,000. Schoenberg showed the A
K
and was in great shape against her opponent's A
Q
. The flop came 7
6
3
, keeping her in the lead. The turn was the harmless 8
, but the river delivered the Q
to eliminate Schoenberg in 18th place. Both Benyamine and Schoenberg walked away with $41,310.
Nam Le was able to make the final table, but he busted out short of the
WPT stage in eighth place. Final-table bubble play was fast and aggressive, and when the dust finally cleared, Konstantin Puchkov, Eric Panayiotou, Danny Wong, Mike Matusow, Shane Schleger, and Kevin Saul were the only players left standing.
Day Four - Saul Falters, Gets Back Up
At the beginning of the final table, the chip counts were as follows:
1. Kevin "BeL0WaB0Ve" Saul - $4,210,000 (seat No. 1)
2. Mike Matusow - $1,872,000 (seat No. 4)
3. Shane "Shaniac" Schleger - $1,838,000 (seat No. 6)
4. Danny Wong - $1,022,000 (seat No. 5)
5. Konstantin Puchkov - $1,005,000 (seat No. 3)
6. Eric Panayiotou - $759,000 (seat No. 2)
It was a rough start for the chip leader, who was playing too fast and too loose for the unusually slow blinds structure. On hand No. 8, Saul raised to $77,000 and Wong made the call. The flop came 8
7
4
and Wong bet $135,000. Saul made the call, and the turn card was the 10
. Wong bet out $225,000 and Saul moved all in. Wong immediately called all in for his last $729,000, showing the A
A
, and Saul was in trouble with the K
J
for a gutshot-straight draw. The river was the 6
and Wong was able to double up to get back into contention. Just two hands later, Saul shipped $800,000 in chips over to Matusow, who flopped a set of nines. After starting off with a dominating stack, the chip leader was now in danger of going out in sixth place.
Saul credits his comeback to a timely break in the action. After starting the final table with his cell phone off, Saul turned it back on during the first break and was greeted with dozens of messages and nonstop calls of encouragement. This was the boost he needed to focus his mind and begin the long trek back up the leader board.
It wouldn't take long to lose the first player. On a flop of Q
6
4
, Matusow bet $35,000. Puchkov called, and the turn was the 3
. Matusow now bet $225,000 and Puchkov decided to move all in. Matusow called the additional $198,000 and showed Q-9 for top pair, top kicker. Puchkov showed Q-5 for top pair with an open-end straight draw. The 8
hit on the river, and Puchkov was the sixth-place finisher, walking away with $103,280.
About 20 hands later, it got down to fourhanded play when Panayiotou moved all in for $315,000 and Saul made the call. Saul showed the A
K
and Panayiotou showed the J
10
. The board came 10
9
4
5
, putting Panayiotou ahead. But, the river was the A
, knocking Panayiotou out in fifth place. He went home with $154,920.
The remaining four players were clearly the fan favorites going into the last day, and now the crowd was torn. Schleger wasn't shy about battling with Saul all night long, and the crowd appreciated it. On Schleger's final hand, Saul raised to $175,000 and Schleger moved all in for $1,539,000. Saul called and showed the A
J
, while a dominated Schleger showed the A
6
. The dramatic flop came J
10
6
, pairing each player's kicker. The turn was the K
, giving outs to a chop. But, the river was the 4
, making Schleger the fourth-place finisher, earning $232,690.
This was Wong's second consecutive final table on the
World Poker Tour, after finishing in sixth place in the Mandalay Bay championship event. But a win was not in the cards for Wong, as a tough cooler crippled him threehanded. On a flop of 7
6
3
, Saul bet $150,000 and Wong raised to $350,000. Saul called, and the turn was the J
. Saul now bet $100,000 and Wong quickly raised to $700,000. Saul reraised all in and Wong thought for a few minutes before calling. Saul had the J
3
for top pair and bottom pair with a flush draw, while Wong had the 7
6
for middle two pair. Wong needed a 6 or a 7 to stay alive, but the river was the 9
and Saul doubled up to a massive chip lead. After the hand, Wong was crippled down to roughly $800,000. Five hands later, he was eliminated with the A
3
against Matusow's K
J
. Wong pocketed $361,480 for his third-place finish.
With the slow-moving blinds structure, which the
WPT experimented with here after enduring several years of complaints from players, heads-up play could've lasted for hours. But, on the 21st hand of heads-up play, Saul raised to $220,000 and Matusow called. The flop was 10
6
5
and Saul bet $385,000. Matusow moved all in and Saul immediately called. Saul showed the Q
Q
and Matusow had the 8
7
for an open-end straight-flush draw. Matusow needed any club, 9, or 4 to double up, making him a slight favorite in the hand. The turn card was the 3
and the river was the K
, giving Saul the
Bellagio Cup III title. Matusow won the consolation prize of $671,320, while Saul took home $1,342,320, the gold bracelet, and a $25,000 seat in the
WPT Championship.
With more than $1 million in winnings in online poker since January 2005, Saul quickly became legendary online. One would be hard-pressed to find an online poker leader board or ranking site with the hyperaggressive Saul not in the upper tiers. With this victory, BeL0WaB0Ve scored his first big live-tournament win and became yet another successful online player to end up in the winner's circle in a
WPT event.
