A Pro's Pro! Chip Reese Wins Prestigious $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Bracelet At 2006 WSOP$2,500 Short-Handed Gets Shorter and $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em Event Kicks Off |
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The Amazon Room felt like ringside at a heavyweight fight as fans and media clamored around the ESPN set to witness eight of poker's biggest stars duke it out for a WSOP gold bracelet and a $1,716,000 first-place cash prize.
While the most talked-about,and anticipated tournament-not-called-the-main-event unfolded on the main stage, two other events played out in the periphery: day two of the $2,500 no-limit hold'em short-handed and day one of the $2,000 no-limit hold'em.
$50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event Final Table
After surviving the most competitive WSOP field per capita in years, the nine remaining players arrived to a frenzy of public attention and hype.
Robert Williamson III, the high-stakes Omaha player and 10th place finisher, served as MC and performed the player introductions.
The chip counts for the final table were as follows:
1. David "Chip" Reese - $1,756,000 (Seat 3)
2. Doyle Brunson - $1,227,000 (Seat 2)
3. Andy Bloch - $934,000 (Seat 5)
4. Phil Ivey - $885,000 (Seat 9)
5. Jim Bechtel - $841,000 (Seat 1)
6. David Singer - $745,000 (Seat 7)
7. Dewey Tomko - $438,000 (Seat 4)
8. T.J. Cloutier - $351,000 (Seat 6)
9. Patrik Antonius - $13,000 (Seat 8)
Final table action began at 10 p.m. PDT with $10,000-$20,000 blinds and $3,000 antes.
Patrik Antonius, who nearly missed the final table after losing to Chip Reese on the last hand of day two, entered play with less in chips than the big blind. Antonius told Card Player he planned to push all in on the first hand regardless of his cards. He did, and doubled up after making two pair. Still the short stack, he moved all on a J
4
3
board, but exited the tournament as the ninth-place finisher ($205,920) when his A 4 failed to catch up to Reese's pocket eights.
Doyle Brunson drew the loudest applause during introductions, and his family and friends, including Todd Brunson and Mike Caro, sat front row on the featured table set. Despite coming into play second in chips, Brunson took a big hit when he doubled up T.J. Cloutier. Never fully recovering from the hand, Brunson called a $500,000 raise by Jim Bechtel after a Q 8
2 flop. Bechtel's A Q gave him a pair and Brunson, holding J 6, needed help. But the 7 turn and 8 river left Brunson with nothing other than an eighth-place finish ($274,560).
The next elimination came at the expense of two-time WSOP main event runner-up Dewey Tomko. After raising $100,000, Tomko moved all in over the top of Andy Bloch's $300,000 reraise. Tomko's pocket eights put him way behind Bloch's pocket queens and, while the 9 7 5 flop gave Tomko an inside straight draw, he exited the tournament in seventh place ($343,200) with the K turn and 4 river.
Less than 10 minutes later, David Singer pushed all in from under the gun and Reese called. Singer's A 10 put him behind Reese's pocket jacks. With the board coming 10 7 6 4 3, Singer's day ended in a sixth-place finish ($411,840).
Cloutier used his no-limit expertise to survive at the competitive final table. He doubled up, and pushed all in a number of times, but ran out of moves when his pocket sevens collided with Bloch's pocket tens. With no miracle sevens, straights, or flushes on the board, Cloutier walked away from the final table as the fifth-place finisher ($480,480).
The tens/sevens combo popped up again on the next final table elimination. For the second time in a row, Bloch called an all-in raise with pocket tens while his opponent held pocket sevens. The result was the same, and the only difference was the victim, as Cloutier was replaced by Bechtel. The 1993 WSOP champion received no help from the Q J 3 2 2 board and went home in fourth place ($549,120).
Bechtel's elimination set up a three-way match between two members of Team Full Tilt, and the legendary cash game player with no sponsorships. Phil Ivey, Bloch, and Reese battled for only half an hour before Ivey took a trip to the rail. Considered by many to be the most dangerous player at the table, Ivey appeared to run cold and dragged few substantial pots.
The end came for Ivey when, as the big blind, he raised $100,000 on Bloch's blind. After a call, and with the Q 7 3 flop, Ivey bet another $100,000 and then called when Bloch reraised him all in. Ivey's A 7 gave him a pair, but Bloch had both the straight and flush draws with his 5 4. The ace on the turn provided Ivey with his second pair, but the diamond suit made Bloch's flush. The 6 river completed a superfluous straight for Bloch, and Ivey's quest for a sixth bracelet ended one spot short of heads-up play ($617,760)
The boxing analogy used earlier became irrelevant once Bloch and Reese faced off. The two pros engaged in marathon poker, participating in heads-up action that lasted more than seven hours.
Bloch and Reese entered play with comparable chip stacks, but Bloch eventually built up a substantial lead. Reese managed to double up twice, once with a straight and the second time with pocket kings, and the players again battled with the same amount of ammunition.
At 9:12 a.m. PDT, Bloch and Reese officially made history by breaking the heads-up record of seven hours set during the 1983 World Series of Poker.
The end came only a few minutes later. With a $6,850,000 to $300,000 chip lead, Reese moved all in preflop. After a few minutes of thought, Bloch made the call and flipped over 9 8. Reese showed A Q. Bloch picked up a straight draw with the J 7 7 flop, but the 4 turn and 4 river gave Reese two pair with a better kicker.
Bloch, making his second final table appearance at the 2006 WSOP, earned $1,029,600 for his second-place finish.
During his victory speech, Reese thanked tournament officials for adding the H.O.R.S.E. event to the WSOP.
And why did winning the inaugural $50,000 event mean so much to Reese? "It was important to me," Reese told Card Player's Rich Belsky, "'cause all my friends wanted to win it too. We all talked about it for a long time."
Two of Reese's friends who shared his enthusiasm for the tournament were fellow final table members Ivey and Brunson. While they'll have to wait till next year for their shot, Reese enjoyed the spoils of the 2006 event, namely, $1,716,000 and a coveted WSOP bracelet.
$2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Short-Handed Event - Day 2
Day two of the $2,500 no-limit hold'em short-handed event saw 38 players return from a starting field of 750. By the time the final cards were mucked, and the last pots dragged, nine remained for final table action and a shot at the $442,511 first place cash prize and gold WSOP bracelet.
Play began at 2 p.m. PDT with $800-$1,600 blinds and $200 antes. The format, which promoted consistent action, generated a slew of eliminations, as eight participants bowed out of tournament play within the first hour.
At 5 p.m. PDT, a member of the Card Player family, tournament intern Jeremiah Smith, butted heads with poker veteran Harry Demetriou. Credentials aside, Smith became the boss after pushing all in preflop with A A and receiving a call from Demetriou with A K. But the KK4 flop gave Demetriou trip kings and Smith finished the day in 19th place ($8,085). With Smith eliminated, the remaining 18 players redrew for the final three tables.
Four hours later, Demetriou burst another bubble when he knocked Harold Cohen out in the No. 7 spot ($48,507). With the event's six-man roster set, the second day of the $2,000 no-limit short-handed tournament concluded.
The chip counts going into the final table are as follows:
1. Matt Guttman - $587,000 (Seat 4)
2. Harry Demetriou - $378,000 (Seat 3)
3. Dan Hicks - $321,000 (Seat 6)
4. Alex Bolotin - $280,000 (Seat 2)
5. William Chen - $175,000 (Seat 1)
6. Nath Pizzolatto - $102,000 (Seat 5)
Players return at 2 p.m. PDT for final table action.
$2,000 No-Limit Hold'em Event - Day 1
A starting field of 1,579 gathered for day one of the $2,000 no-limit hold'em event. The number of players generated a $2,873,780 total prize pool, which included $660,948 for first place.
Cards hit the air at noon PDT with $25-$25 blinds.
Gavin Smith and Barry Greenstein entered action working on little sleep. Both players advanced deep into the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event before being eliminated in the early hours of Friday morning. The near 24 hours of straight poker may have taken a toll, as both Greenstein and Smith failed to survive day one.
Other big-name pro who exited the tournament included Evelyn Ng, John Juanda, Layne Flack, Chris Ferguson, Erick Lindgren, Johnny Chan, Joe Sebok, and Scott Fischman.
At 11:36 p.m. PDT, the money bubble burst with the elimination of six players, 156th place through 151st, during round-for-round play.
Play resumes tomorrow at 2 p.m. PDT, when the remaining 101 players return to the Amazon Room.
Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, video and for new episodes of "The Circuit" and "The Series."
For more information on bracelet winners and other WSOP news stories please visit http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/wsop/2006s
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