Aussie Mark Vos Grabs Gold in the 2006 WSOP No Limit Holdem EventOmaha Tournament Begins and today is the $3,000 No Limit Holdem Final Table |
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For the second day in a row, an established pro reached heads up action at a World Series of Poker final table when Card Player Player of the Year contender Nam Le faced off against young up and coming Aussie Mark Vos in the $2,000 No Limit Hold'em event. The ESPN televised finale also marked the second final table appearance for former WSOP champion Carlos Mortensen who took 9th place in last week's $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event.
In a little case of history repeating, Mortensen again became the first bustout at his final table. He fell when his pocket sevens failed to hold up against Vanessa Selbst's A
9. Selbst hit her ace on the flop and Mortensen went home the 9th place finisher ($73,344). Selbst quickly claimed her second victim with her elimination of table short stack David Wells. Despite her K
8 being dominated by Wells' K
10, Selbst paired her eight on the AAQ85
board and sent Wells home in 8th place ($87,315).
Selbst run, however, came to an end when she moved all in preflop on an apparent bluff with 52, and was called by Kevin Peterson who held AA. Peterson made quad aces on the board, and Selbst hit the rails in 7th place ($101,285).
After the dinner break, eliminations six and five occurred within five minutes of each other. J.R. Reiss knocked out Kevin Peterson when his pocket treys held up against Peterson's Q10. Peterson's 6th place finish netted him ($115,255). Minutes later, Chang pushed all in preflop for his remaining $370,000, and Nam Le made the call. Le's dominant KQ stayed dominant against Chang's K3, and Chang went home in 5th place ($136,211).
The rapid fire eliminations continued when the fourth and third bustouts again went down within a five minute span. Thomas Hunt made a rare final table "muck-out." He was all in on a AKK52 board, and threw his cards into the muck after Reiss flipped over an ace. Hunt finished in 4th place ($160,659). Reiss soon found himself on the wrong side of the rails exactly five minutes later. He pushed all in on a J1084 board and received an immediate call from Le. Reiss' AJ proved to be no match for Le and his 97, which made Le the jack high straight. Reiss' hand failed to improve and he took home 3rd place ($209,555).
Le began heads up play with over a 2-to-1 chip lead, but after a series of big hands he flip flopped positions with Vos. After a few hours of back and forth play, which saw the lead change several times, Vos fired $90,000 into a preflop pot. He received a call from Le, and after a Q83 flop, bet another $150,000. With Le calling again, and the turn coming the 2, Vos continued to dictate the action with a $250,000 bet. Finally, with a Q river card, Vos pushed all in and Le called. Vos' Q10 gave him trip queens, and Le frowned as he flipped up pocket sixes. Le exited the tournament in 2nd place ($401,647).
At twenty-two years old, making his first WSOP appearance, Vos outlasted a field of 1,919 entrants to take home the coveted gold bracelet, and $803,274 first place prize.
$3,000 Limit Hold'em Event
As exciting as the night's final table was, there was plenty more action going on in the WSOP tournament room. Day 2 of the $3,000 Limit Hold'em event saw 415 players whittled down to the final nine, but not without some much talked about drama.
In the game of poker, the betting limits often change, but some things always stay the same. One constant in the poker world is Phil Hellmuth Jr., and his emotional outbursts at the table. He may not have made the final table this go around, but Hellmuth did manage to get plenty of television time, thanks in part to Card Player's own, Barry Shulman. During the hand Shulman raised on the button, and Hellmuth smooth called from the big blind. After a Q876 board, Hellmuth, perhaps trying to take advantage of a short-stacked Shulman, bet the river in the dark. Shulman called, turned over A-9, and, when the 10 hit on the river, made the ten high straight and cracked Hellmuth's pocket kings. As Shulman flipped over the winning hand, Hellmuth stood up and all eyes, and camera lenses for that matter, were on him.
"God! Boy, they outdrew me all of $70,000. Moved all-in in the dark, and caught a miracle on the river. You're not going to beat my pocket kings ever again, I'll tell you that much.", fumed Hellmuth (Referring to this hand, and the previous). But the tirade didn't seem to bother Barry Shulman as he went on to finish tenth, one seat shy of making the final table, and take home $12,599.
The chip counts going into the final table are as follows:
1. Karlo Lopez - $227,000
2. Rich Zu - $221,000
3. Henry Nguyen - $189,000
4. Jeffery Lisandro - $153,000
5. Allan Puzantyan - $144,000
6. William Chen - $122,000
7. Ernie Scherer - $118,00
8. Larry Thomas - $59,000
9. Danny Ciaramella - $38,000
$2,000 Omaha High-Low Split Event #8
Monday also marked the start of the $2,000 Omaha High-Low Split event. 670 poker players from all corners of the globe gathered at the Rio to fight for a fair share of the $1,219,400 total prize pool. Early into Tuesday morning, the first day of tournament play came to an end with the field narrowed down to 61 players.
Stay tuned to Cardplayer.com for live updates, chip counts, videos, photos, a for new episodes of "The Circuit" and "The Series."
Co-Written by: Andy Liakos
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