Scott Clements may be the best player you've never heard of. The unassuming Clements doesn't bring attitude, theatrics, or gimmicks to the poker table. This 25-year-old from Mount Vernon, Washington, brings only one thing - game, and lots of it.
Although he is known as one of the best young players on the tournament circuit, many casual fans have never heard of him. This lack of recognition is surprising, considering his track record: two
World Series of Poker bracelets, more than $2.8 million in lifetime tournament winnings, and now a
World Poker Tour title. If you don't know who he is, it's about time that you learned.
Day One: The Kid, the Survivor, and the Myst
The first three days of the
North American Poker Championship attracted 504 players, creating a prize pool of $4,863,300 (Canadian). First place paid $1,361,724 (Canadian) plus a $25,000 seat in the
WPT Championship at Bellagio. Day one (A) feataured the largest field of the first three days, and the eventual chip leader at the final table, Jonathan Little, emerged as the early top stack. Day one (B) saw a bellowing Jean-Robert Bellande, a contestant on the current season of Survivor, amass the largest stack of the first three days. Day one (C) was led by Canadian poker pro and
Card Player columnist Marc "Myst" Karam. He placed sixth in the
NAPC one year ago, and finished the day as the chip boss of his flight, positioning himself for another deep run in his homeland.
Day Two: Floating Down the River
The first three days of "day-one" play whittled the starters down to 234, and the surviving players assembled as one for the first time on day two. Barry Greenstein picked up Bellande in his table draw and wasted no time in chipping away at his large stack. Greenstein and Bellande tangled numerous times, with Greenstein clearly winning the confrontations. In one hand, he perfectly value-bet a set of eights into Bellande's top pair, getting paid off on every street.
Things went the opposite way for Little, who entered the day with $164,200 in chips. By midday, he had surpassed Bellande as the chip leader with more than $300,000, and it seemed that he was unstoppable. However, things started to derail when he doubled up Adam "Roothlus" Levy with a $100,000 pot, and the massive chip stack he had built began to crumble. Little ended the day with a disappointing chip count of $132,000, with just 79 players remaining.
Day Three: The Bubble Bursts
Play narrowed down to the bubble very quickly, and several well-known professionals were sent to the rail in the process, including Karam, Jordan Morgan, Kathy Liebert, J.C. Tran, Joe Cassidy, and Jeff Madsen. It was
WPT titleholder Nick Schulman who was the unlucky 46th-place finisher. Lee Markholt was eliminated in 23rd place, netting his remarkable eighth
WPT cash in 2007. At the end of the day, just 18 had survived for a chance to play down to the final six TV-appearance spots.
Day Four: Playdown
Eighteen players returned for a shot at poker glory, but it was Jonathan Little who took center stage. Little skillfully rebuilt his stack, then punished opponents for most of the day. He constantly put medium and small stacks to all-in decisions, and by the end of the night he had emerged as the chip leader.
This time, however, Clements was nipping at his heels. Clements played perhaps the most talked about hand of the tournament, pulling off a huge bluff that had the room buzzing. Cheryl Deleon raised to $45,000 and Clements made the call from the small blind. The flop came Q
9
4
, Deleon bet $80,000, and Clements raised to $175,000. Deleon called, and the turn brought the 9
. Clements bet $300,000, and Deleon thought for about a minute before calling. The river was the K
, and Clements immediately announced that he was all in. Deleon asked if he had her million dollars in chips covered, and he did, by $200,000. Deleon went into the tank for five minutes before finally mucking her hand. Clements turned over a devastating 8
6
, and Deleon angrily slammed the table while blurting out an expletive. This clearly put her on tilt, and a short time later she was eliminated in seventh place, bubbling the TV table.
Day Five: The Final Table
At the final table, there was more on the line than just money; the outcome of the tournament would have weighty implications on the
Card Player Player of the Year (POY) race. Little entered the day in fifth place in the POY standings, and a victory would put him in the top spot with just two months to go. Clements began the day in ninth place in the standings, and a victory would move him into second or third place depending on Little's finish. In addition, fourth-place POY competitor Tom Schneider had just made the final table of a POY event in Indiana, adding to the pressure.
Entering final-table play, the chip counts were as follows:
Jeff "ActionJeff" Garza - Sixth Place
Respected 19-year-old online pro Jeff "ActionJeff" Garza is new to the live tournament circuit. He was the first to make an exit, on this hand: Clements raised from the cutoff to $70,000, and Garza called. The flop came 8
7
2
, Garza checked, Clements bet $150,000, and Garza thought for almost a minute before he moved all in. Clements immediately called with his A
9
for the nut-flush draw, and Garza tabled the 10
9
for just an open-end straight draw. Any sweat of the action that Garza had was eliminated when the turn brought the 3
, leaving him drawing dead. He was eliminated in sixth place, good for a $170,216 (Canadian) payday.
Kofi "Redsoxsox" Farkye - Fifth Place
The next to go was 19-year-old Kofi Farkye, and he too fell at the hands of Clements. In
Farkye's final hand, Clements raised from the small blind to $80,000, and Farkye called from the big blind. The flop came 10
8
7
, Clements quickly checked, Farkye moved all in, and Clements immediately called with the 10
8
for top two pair. Farkye showed down the 6
5
and his open-end straight draw needed to hit. The turn and river were no help, and Clements' hand held up, giving him the pot and eliminating Farkye. Farkye's fifth-place finish was good for $218,849 (Canadian). On Farkye's way out, Barry Greenstein couldn't help himself from firing out a good-natured joke. "They're going out in order of age," he said, referencing the first two eliminations.
Barry Greenstein - Fourth Place
Unfortunately for Greenstein, his observation would not hold true, as a bad beat put on him by David Cloutier would send him to the rail next. Cloutier raised to $140,000 from the small blind and Greenstein moved all in from the big blind. Cloutier deliberated for a few moments before electing to call with the K
9
. Greenstein tabled the A
9
and was in a dominant position to double up. The flop came Q
10
7
, and Cloutier picked up additional outs to the gutshot. The turn card was the K
, giving Cloutier the lead and leaving Greenstein, ironically, drawing to an ace on the river (the title of his book) or a jack to double up. The river card was the 5
, and Cloutier took down the pot, eliminating Greenstein in fourth place, good for $291,798 (Canadian). The always classy Greenstein took a moment to sign a copy of his book for Cloutier, and as he left the table, the ever-amicable Canadian crowd gave him a standing ovation.
David Cloutier - Third Place
At this point, play was down to the two pros, Little and Clements, and the amateur in his first live tournament, David Cloutier.
It took 137 hands of threehanded play, spanning almost exactly five hours, before Cloutier was eliminated. On his final hand, Little raised from the small blind to $180,000, and Cloutier moved all in for his last $1.68 million. Little called with the A
10
, Cloutier showed the J
9
, and the board came 8
6
3
J
3
, giving Little the nut flush and sending Cloutier to the rail in third place for $355,021 (Canadian). A large contingent of his hometown fans gave him a sizable ovation as he exited the arena, and play was down to the two young guns.
Heads Up - Jonathan Little Versus Scott Clements
Although had Little busted Cloutier, he still had ground to make up against Clements, as the chip counts entering heads-up play were:
Jonathan Little - $3,685,000
Scott "BigRiskky" Clements - $6,400,000
Due to the length of the threehanded battle, the heads-up match was just eight hands away from setting a new record for the most hands played at a
WPT final table. The old record of 263 was broken when Clements folded on the button on the 264th hand. The heads-up battle ended when Little was eliminated on the 271st hand of play (the new
WPT record). He raised from the button to $180,000, and Clements made the call. The flop came 7
5
5
and both players checked. The turn card was the 4
, Clements checked, and Little bet $250,000. Clements raised to $550,000, Little thought for a moment before moving all in, and Clements immediately called with the Q
5
for trip fives. Little showed the K
4
and was drawing dead. He took home $680,862 (Canadian).
Clements took down the
WPT North American Poker Championship title, and earned $1,361,724 (Canadian) and a seat in the
WPT Championship in April 2008. At press time, Clements' victory had put him in third place in the
Card Player Player of the Year standings, while Little's second-place finish moved him into second place.
A Big Risk Pays Off
By Julio Rodriguez
Scott "BigRiskky" Clements told
Card Player that he will always pull the trigger on a bluff if he thinks he can get his opponent to fold.
It was, perhaps, the hand of the tournament (see Day Four: Playdown). Clements pulled off a massive bluff against Cheryl Deleon on the TV bubble and sent his opponents quite a message with his bold and audacious play.
Card Player sat down with both Clements and Deleon to get the inside scoop on their thought processes throughout the hand.
Julio Rodriguez: Cheryl, you raised to $45,000 with the A
Q
and Scott made the call. What type of hand did you put him on here?
Cheryl Deleon: Once he made the call, I put Scott on a small pocket pair.
JR: Scott, what made you call with such a speculative hand as the 8
6
from out of position?
Scott Clements: She had been playing pretty solid, and I was looking to flop big, and try to win a big pot. The fact that we were on the television bubble increased the likelihood of a bluff being successful. TV time is important to many players - sometimes more so than the money jump.
JR: So, the flop came down Q
9
4
and Scott checked.
CD: At this point, I bet $80,000, thinking the hand was over and we'd just move on to the next.
SC: I decided to raise just a little to $175,000, because I didn't think she would flat-call my raise with a big hand such as a set, so I would find out
immediately if she flopped huge. Her bet indicated that she had a hand, but wasn't exactly looking for a lot of action with it. This was not because of the amount, but more of the speed of her bet, and the demeanor she projected to me while betting.
JR: The turn paired the board with the 9
, and Scott bet. Scott, what made you decide to bet $300,000?
SC: I always try to keep people's stack sizes in the back of my mind. I didn't know her exact chip stack, but I did know approximately how much she had. The $300,000 bet would not pot-commit her, and unless my previous read was wrong, the 9 did not help her hand.
CD: When he bet $300,000, I took a while before I made the call. I was trying to get something out of him, but he wasn't giving anything up.
JR: The river was the K
, and Scott moved all in for $1.2 million. Cheryl had about $1 million behind. Scott, did you make up your mind to move in no matter what, or were you looking for a scare card to represent?
SC: I was going to continue with my read that she would not go all in on the TV bubble without a monster. If another queen comes on the river, I don't move all in, because it is too likely that it hit her range. I believed she would call only if she had K-K and the river had made her a full boat.
JR: Cheryl, after five long minutes, you finally decided to fold. What factors were you considering on the river?
CD: I took a long while going over every possible card combination he could hold that would allow him to bet so much on the river. I know that when I have a strong hand on the river, I will bet big, figuring that if I'm going to get called, I might as well maximize my value. I really didn't think he would risk virtually his whole stack on the TV bubble. Ultimately, I put him on J-10 and mucked my hand.
JR: At this point, Scott showed his bluff and Cheryl angrily slammed the table in disgust. Scott, why show the bluff?
SC: One reason for showing was to try to induce looser calls on my big bets. A bluff like that will always be a rare occasion from me. Making a bluff like that will usually make players second-guess my bets. I also saw how hard it was for her to fold, so I thought that if I showed, she would be more likely to make bad decisions in the future, and I would have a 1-in-6 chance to capitalize on a bad decision.
