$5,000 No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball with Rebuys (Event #38) Final Table
The 21 players who returned for the second and final day of the $5,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven draw lowball with rebuys event made up a veritable "who's who" of poker. The group accounted for over 30
WSOP bracelets between them and included big names like Johnny Chan, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Layne Flack, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, David Williams and Greg Raymer.
At 6:37 p.m. PDT (over three hours after the 3:15 start time) eight players moved on to final table action, but only seven spots paid.
The seating assignments for the final table were as follows:
1. Men "The Master" Nguyen
2. Allen Cunningham
3. Eliyahu Levy
4. David Williams
5. Greg Raymer
6. Daniel Alaei
7. Layne Flack
8. Phillipe Rouas
Layne Flack earned the unenviable distinction of finishing in the eight spot and landing one place outside the money. After seeing Phillipe Rouas' nine-low, Flack mucked his hand and was eliminated from the tournament.
David Williams proved to be a force at the final table after he busted two players on the same hand. With Eliyahu Levy all-in, Williams called a second all in raise by Allen Cunningham. His 8-6-5-4-2 bested Cunningham's 8-7-6-5-2 and Levy's 8-6-4-4-3 missed draw. As a result of chip stacks going into the hand, Levy took home seventh place ($34,921) while Cunningham's day ended in sixth place ($58,202).
In a funny twist of fate, Williams followed up his double bust by eliminating the man who knocked him out of the 2004 Main Event - Greg Raymer. After an all in bet, both players drew one card. Williams' 3 completed his 10-9-8-5 low while Raymer's 9 counterfeited his 9-7-6-4 hand. The 2004 Main Event runner-up sent the 2004 Maine Event champ to the rails as the fifth place finisher ($93,124).
Daniel Alaei had no history with Men Nguyen, but that didn't stop him from busting "The Master" in fourth place ($128,045). Alaei called Nguyen's all in bet before the draw. Both players stood pat and Nguyen mucked his hand after Alaei showed 7-6-5-3-2.
Mirroring the $1,000 seven-card eight-or-better final table, which played out at the same time, the $5,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven slowed down dramatically when action moved to three-handed.
Play did not reach heads up until 1:18 a.m. PDT when Rouas moved all in before the draw. Williams called, but bowed out of the hand after Alaei pushed all in as well. Alaei showed the 10-9-7-3-2 low and Rouas exited the tournament in third ($162,967) when his 7 draw paired his 7-5-4-3 hand.
Williams and Alaei played a back and forth heads up match for two hours until one hand shifted the momentum. Alaei doubled up on a missed draw by Williams, giving him the lead for the first time in their match - $650,000 to $500,000 in chips.
Although not a huge deficit, Alaei continued to take down pots and distance himself from Williams. Seeing Alaei's lead jump over $500,000 in chips, Williams moved all in before the draw and Alaei called. When Alaei flipped over the 8-6-5-3-2, Williams stated that he was "drawing dead" and walked over to shake Alaei's hand.
A disappointed Williams, one player away from winning his second 2006
WSOP bracelet, took home $256,091 for his runner-up finish.
Alaei, a well-known high-limit cash game player, smiled throughout his interview with
Card Player's Ryan Lucchesi. "Oh man, this feels good," he said about winning his first gold bracelet. In addition to the coveted jewelry, Alaei received a $430,698 first place cash prize.
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
