In two days, an expected 8,000 poker players will descend on the Amazon Room for the most anticipated no-limit hold'em tournament of the year, the $10,000 main event. But before the poker storm can hit Vegas, the
WSOP had a few more bracelets to hand out, including three in one day.
$1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout (Event #36) Final Table
The $1,500 limit hold'em shootout started with 524 participants spread out over 37 tables. The nine-handed sit-and-go format saw the field whittled down until only six players remained, each with a shot at a $157,338 first-place cash prize and a gold
WSOP bracelet.
The players involved in final table action were:
1. Ralph "Rep" Porter
2. Anders Henriksson
3. Marianno Garcia
4. Victoriano "Victor" Perches
5. Tom Schneider
6. Arnold Spee
All players started with $150,000 in chips and play began at 2:18 p.m. PDT with $1,000-$2,000 blinds and $2,000-$4,000 stakes.
Marianno Garcia became the first player picked off in the shootout. Just under three hours into play, and after a series of raises, he pushed all in on a 10
7
3
flop. Rep Porter called and Garcia's A
10
top pair put him in a huge hole against Porter's A
J
flush. Garcia's hand failed to improve and he exited play in sixth place ($17,882).
Five suits flushed another player out of the tournament on the next elimination. After calling the preflop all in raise, Arnold Spee's 9
6
needed help against Tom Schneider's K
3
. The A
8
7
6
2
board gave Spee the heart flush, and sent Schneider home as the fifth-place finisher ($28,610).
An Anders Henriksson full house, sixes full of threes, crippled Porter and he moved all in from the big blind on the next hand. With his remaining chips in the pot, Porter found his 10
8
up against Victoriano "Victor" Perches's A
4
. The A
Q
8
flop gave both players a pair. The aces held up for Perches, and Porter's day ended with a fourth-place finish ($39,339).
Players entered three-handed action nearly equal in chips, but Spee took down a number of pots and built a $250,000 lead.
Perches closed the gap with his elimination of Henriksson in third ($50,068). Perches's K
10
made two pair on the K
9
7
6
6
board, crushing Henriksson's A
8
.
Spee lost his chip lead only a few minutes after action went heads-up when Perches dragged a big pot with top pair. Once in front, Perches never looked back. He flopped trip sevens to crack pocket nines, leaving Spee with $100,000 in chips.
The hand crippled the 2005
World Poker Championship winner and the tournament ended on the following hand: With an A
J
9
flop, Perches bet $15,000 and Spee called. Perches reraised Spee all in on the 6
turn and Spee flipped over the Q
J
for a pair of jacks. But Perches's A
6
gave him two pair. The 8
river brought Spee no help, and Perches raked the final pot of the day.
Spee netted $78,679 for his runner-up finish.
Perches, a limit hold'em specialist with two previous
WSOP cashes, took home his first bracelet and $157,338 in prize money.
$5,000 No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball with Rebuys (Event #38) Final Table
Final table results available at
CardPlayer.com homepage.
$1,000 Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better (Event #35) Final Table
Final table results available at
CardPlayer.com homepage.
$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (Event #37) - Day 2
The survivors of the 2,803 starting field, 157 players to be exact, returned for day two of the $1,500 no-limit hold'em event.
The action kicked off at 2 p.m. PDT with $800-$1,600 blinds and $200 antes. Like day one, the second leg of the $1,500 NLH event featured a wave of early eliminations with 23 players busting out in the first half hour of play.
Joe Awada proved to be the last big-name pro to exit tournament action. His run ended with a 14th-place finish ($39,791).
At 1:25 a.m. PDT, Steve Wise bowed out of play in 10th place ($56,626) when his A
6
ran into Nicholas Ronyecz's A
K
. Wise's elimination ended action and set up the last remaining no-limit hold'em final table before the $10,000 main event.
The players and chip counts going into the final table are as follows:
1. Osman Kibar - $796,000 (seat 6)
2. Nicholas Ronyecz - $789,000 (seat 4)
3. James Gorham - $717,000 (seat 1)
4. Peter Dalhuijsen - $477,000 (seat 9)
5. Miff Fagerlie - $367,000 (seat 8)
6. Age Spets - $316,000 (seat 3)
7. George Christian - $262,000 (seat 2)
8. Jason Strasser - $254,000 (seat 7)
9. Mohammad Ilyas - $252,000 (seat 5)
Final table play begins at 2 p.m. PDT and the winner will take home a $765,226 cash prize and gold
WSOP bracelet.
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.
