Mats Rahmn Wins $1.5K No-Limit Hold'em Bracelet

by Alex Baer

"Chaos is a friend of mine" -Bob Dylan, Newsweek, December 9, 1985

As if they didn't have enough to do, the tournament directors decided to add more to their plate. In addition to the numerous cash games and constant satellites, four official World Series of Poker events took place today in the Amazon Room. This is not the first nor the last time this will occur at the Rio, but it still demands a large amount of respect as it takes an extreme amount of coordination to succeed. Two tournaments, the $1,500 no-limit hold'em event and $5,000 seven-card stud event played to their completion today, and the $2,500 pot-limit hold'em and $5,000 short-handed 6/table no-limit hold'em played down to their final nine and 36 respectively. And yet those at the tables in these events seemed to be completely unfazed by the madness going on around them. As a result some fantastic poker took place today, and two new WSOP champions were crowned.

$1,500 No-Limit Texas Hold'em - Final Table

Of the staggering 2,126 players that entered this event, an elite nine came together at the ESPN table at 2 p.m. to vie for a large share of the $2,901,999 prize pool and the twenty-seventh bracelet to be handed out at this year's WSOP. The chip counts going into the final table were:

Seat 1 - James Sileo $144,000
Seat 2 - Richard Toth $447,000
Seat 3 - Mats Rahmn $511,000
Seat 4 - Billy Duarte $96,000
Seat 5 - Padraig Parkinson $278,000
Seat 6 - Ashwin Sarin $591,000
Seat 7 - Chris "MarvinGarden" Birchby $497,000
Seat 8 - Michael Binger $325,000
Seat 9 - Jordan "ImSoLucky0" Morgan $307,000

These nine displayed remarkable poise and resilience from the very start as not one elimination occurred until the fortieth hand of play. Billy Duarte came over-the-top of Chris Birchby's under-the-gun only to find himself in horrible shape with A Q versus Birchby's A K. Receiving no help from the board Duarte earned $58,040 for his ninth place finish. A few hands later, Ashwin Sarin ran into bad fortune as his K K was outrun by Richard Toth's 8 7 and was eliminated in eighth place ($72,550). By then the floodgates were wide open as three players then busted in a span of eight hands.

Internet pro Jordan Morgan was sent in search of a more appropriate online handle than "InSoLucky0" as his under-the-gun raise with 10 10 was matched by Michael Binger with Q 4, which proceeded to spike a Queen to send Morgan out in seventh place earning $87,060. Five hands later, after doubling up Mats Rahmn, Michael Binger (sixth place, $101,570) got a taste of his own medicine, as he moved all in under-the-gun with K J, was called by Chris Birchby and an inferior 10 7, yet couldn't weather the unfavorable 87432 board. A mere two hands later James Sileo (fifth place, $116,080)lost a race for all his chips with A K to Irish professional Padraig Parkinson whose Q Q held up.

At this point less than $300,000 in chips separated the chip leader and the short stack, so play calmed down for a spell. However, after Richard Toth slow played his pocket Queens to double through Chris Birchby's middle pair of Eights, Birchby was left with few chips and was eliminated in fourth place ($145,100) when his Q 5 failed to improve against Mats Rahmn's K 7. This left lone professional Padraig Parkinson out-chipped 2-1 by both of his opponents. At this point these players were shifted off of the final table stage to allow the seven-card stud final table to take place. Parkinson was eliminated in third place earning $203,139, after Richard Toth made a full house with his A 3 to best Parkinson's A 4.

Toth and Rahmn then engaged in spirited heads-up battle. Toth began heads-up with a 2-1 chip advantage, and played well to maintain that lead, but Rahmn also was able to maintain his stack as well, winning enough small pots to stay within striking distance. 43 hands into the heads up scrum, Rahmn doubled through Toth when they both flopped top pair with Kings, but Rahm also paired his kicker on the flop. Fourteen hands later the two players got all their money in on a flop of J109. Rahmn held K K, but was vulnerable to the outs of Toth's J 8. Nonetheless, the turn and river didn't not improve either hand, and Toth bowed out in second earning $333,729.

Mats Rahmn prevailed over one of the largest tournament fields ever to win $655,141 and a WSOP gold bracelet.

$5,000 Seven-Card Stud
For final table results please see "Featured News" on CardPlayer.com's homepage.

$2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em - Day 2

The 562 entrants in this event created a prize pool of $1,292,600, yet only 40 players resumed play at 3 p.m. Play was cutthroat early as established pros Daniel Negreanu and recent bracelet winner Lee Watkinson were ousted early in the day's action. Other notable players who have had success already this year at the WSOP continued their success here. Alex Jacob spent the better part of the evening cultivating a demonstrative chip lead, putting himself in a position to improve on his last final table performance in which he finished ninth. Theo Tran and Aaron Bartley who each have deep cashes in a limit hold'em event this year proved the versatility of their game by their strong showings here, alas they finished eleventh and tenth respectively each earning $14,219. Another interesting storyline that had promise was new tournament player Zack Stewart who at 21 years and four days old had a shot to break Jeff Madsen's recently-minted record for youngest WSOP bracelet winner ever. Stewart was eliminated in twentieth place nineteen spaces off the mark. But perhaps the best story lies in the final table contender who, despite winning a considerably bigger event last year, won't ease up now given another chance to shine. Joe Hachem has reached his second final table of this year's schedule of events, further cementing his status as rightful owner of the title "World Champion."

The final table will begin at 2 p.m. PDT with the players fighting for a bracelet and a first prize of $374,849. They will be seated as follows:

Seat 1 - Lee Markholt $128,000
Seat 2 - Maros Lechman $101,000
Seat 3 - Joseph Hachem $64,000
Seat 4 - Jeffrey Roberson $24,000
Seat 5 - John Gale $134,000
Seat 6 - Lee Grove $66,000
Seat 7 - Alex Jacob $524,000
Seat 8 - Kevin Ho $287,000
Seat 9 - Greg Alston $80,000

$5,000 Short-Handed 6/Table No-Limit Hold'em - Day 1

The only new event of the day is the final short-handed hold'em event of the WSOP. 507 players put up $5,000 to build a prize pool of $2,382,900 with $643,381 reserved for the winner. The top 54 players would be paid in this event. If the previous short-handed hold'em events of this year were an indicator it would not be a struggle for the tournament field to be narrowed to that money number in this first day.

High action players such as Josh Arieh and Gavin Smith reaped the benefits of early aggression, quickly building large stacks. However they along with pros Erik Seidel, Annie Duke, and John Bonetti all couldn't last the day. However when the money bubble burst, the faces on the green side of the bubble were anything by ordinary by poker standards. A few notable players who cashed were Jim Bechtel (54th), David Singer (52nd), Mark Gregorich (46th), and Jennifer Tilly (41st). And of course the unflappable Phil Hellmuth finished in 44th place, snagging his 54th WSOP cash. Each of these players received $8,340.

The remaining 36 players will return at 2 p.m. PDT to play down to the final table of six. The current chip leader is "Captain" Tom Franklin ($237,800) with Erick Lindgren ($187,300) and Jeff Madsen ($160,300) not far behind. Other notables still in this potent field include, John Juanda, Marco Traniello, recent bracelet winner David Pham, Vanessa Rousso, and Kenna James.

Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, videos, and for a new episode of "The Circuit."

For more information on bracelet winners and other WSOP news stories please visit http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/wsop/2006s.

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