Eric Kesselman Wins 2006 WSOP Pot-Limit Hold'em EventKesselman Takes Home the Bracelet |
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WSOP event No. 18, the pot-limit hold'em tournament, got off to a tense start with its remaining 22 players, and stayed that way through the final table. This was mainly due to pressure from the blinds. Blinds were as big as 1/10 of the average stack throughout most of the day and players didn't have much room to be choosy with hands. The result was tight-aggressive play, with players waiting for playable hands with the intent of committing most of their chip stacks when they found one.
Some notable eliminations before the final table included Joe Hachem (15th, $9,664) and Kirill Gerasimov (14th, $9,664). Hachem missed what would have been his second World Series of Poker final table this year by five places.
The final table seating assignments were as follows:
1 - Chris Viox
2 - Kevin Ross
3 - Eric Kessleman
4 - Dustin Holmes
5 - Harry Thomas
6 - Hyon Kim
7 - Jason Sagle
8 - Chris Black
9 - Jim McManus
10 - Jeff Rothstein
Blinds were comparatively prohibitively large entering the final table, but it was still an hour before the first elimination. Jeffrey Rothstein raised preflop and Chris Viox reraised to enough to put Rothstein all in. Rothstein made the call but saw his A
10
was in trouble against Viox's A
K
. The board came 8 8 7 6 J, and Rothstein was eliminated in 10th place, earning him $11,812.
Harry Thomas Jr. was eliminated in ninth place ($21,476) when his A 5 didn't improve against Jason Sagle's pocket threes.
For the next elimination, Chris Viox raised and Chris Black reraised all in. Viox made the call and tabled 8 8 while Black had A Q. The flop of 10 3 3 looked good to Viox and the 3 turn left Black calling for an ace or a queen on the river. The 6 sent Black home in eighth with a well-earned $32,214.
Over two hours later, Eric Kesselman raised and Dustin Holmes reraised all in. Kesselman made the call and flipped over 9 8, while Holmes had A Q, the same hand that doomed Black in the previous elimination. The flop came K 10 4, giving Holmes a straight draw beyond his ace-high lead, but also giving Kesselman a flush draw. The turn was the 6, helping neither player and leaving Holmes in the lead. The river brought the 4, completing Kesselman's flush and eliminating Holmes in seventh place. Holmes took home $42,952.
Jim McManus was eliminated in sixth ($53,690) when his suited K-Q butted heads with Hyon Kim's suited A-10. Kim hit an ace on the flop to further his lead and the turn and river were no help for McManus. McManus had a rough start to this year's WSOP. He couldn't seem to make it past the first break in the first few events he played. However, things have started going his way. McManus placed 14th in the $1,500 seven-card stud event, and waded through a very difficult field in the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha event to place 14th again. With this final table, the journalist/author/poker player has placed in the top 20 in the last three events he's played.
Another elimination followed a mere 10 minutes after McManus's. Jason Sagel moved all in on a flop of 10 9 9 and was called by Eric Kesselman. They both turned over pocket pairs, Sagel with fives and Kesselman with sixes, and the turn and river improved neither, giving the hand to Kesselman. Sagel was eliminated in fifth place and received $64,428.
Kevin Ross was next to go when he woke up with pocket kings when his opponents woke up with one better, aces. The board improved neither and Ross was sent home in fourth ($75,166).
The board was unimportant in the next elimination as well, when Chris Viox pushed all in and was called by Hyon Kim. Viox's K 10 was up against Kim's sixes and Kim's hand held up to eliminate Viox in third. Viox made $85,905 and the stage was set for the heads-up match up between Kim and Kesselman.
However, that match up was to be short-lived when the first hand took one of them out. Eric Kesselman raised and Hyon Kim reraised preflop. Kesselman reraised again and the pot was finally such that Kim could move all in. Kesselman made the call and had Kim covered. Kesselman showed A 10 and dominated Kim's A 9. The flop came down QJ2 and Kim was still behind, needing running clubs, a 9, or running straight cards to stay alive. The turn was an 8 giving Kim the flush draw and a straight draw. Kim could now survive with any club or 10. This help did not come when the river was a 7, and Kesselman won the $2,000 pot-limit hold'em event. Kim would walk away with $164,291 for his second-place finish. Kesselman took home $311,403 and the coveted golden WSOP bracelet for his win in the event, defeating 590 opponents to take first place.
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