Cunningham Locks Up Third Pro-Am Final SeatHe Plays for $500,000 Thursday |
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All six qualifying matches of the Pro-Am Equalizer poker tournament that's taking place this week at South Coast Casino in Las Vegas are suppose to be made of four pros and two amateurs.
But some people would say that today's match had only one.
Jennifer Tilly and Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller) joined professionals Ted Forrest, Allen Cunningham, Clonie Gowen, and David Williams. The winner of the table advanced to the final match that will be played Thursday, where all the players are guaranteed $25,000 and the winner receives $500,000.
As most poker fans know, Tilly owns a World Series of Poker bracelet in the ladies event a few years ago and most of the pros gently complained about what a mistake it was to lump Tilly into the same category as Jillette, Cindy Margolis (who plays later today), and Jason Alexander (tomorrow).
Afterwards, Tilly insisted that she is indeed an amateur since she still earns most of her money by being an actor. She even went as far as saying poker has cost her a significant amount of money, but it's not because she's a loser. She said she's been passing up movie roles because she'd rather be playing poker.
The producers agreed, and she and Jillette both started the match with $150,000 in chips. The pros all started with $100,000, qualifying the word "Equalizer" in this tournament's name.
The equalizer wasn't quite enough this time around, unlike last night, when the two amateurs ended up battling heads-up, ensuring that at least one nonpro would play for the money.
But Tilly could do no better than third and Jillette was the second player out. The winner ended up being Cunningham, who has more than $7.9 million in tournament winnings and can be seen tonight on ESPN's broadcast of the 2006 WSOP main event.
Forrest was the first to go when he ended up all in with A-K against William's K-K. The flop meant nothing, and for the third time in a row, a pro was the first person eliminated.
Jillette was the next person to go, and he made sure to let everyone know that at least he wasn't the first person to make the walk. He took somewhat of a bad beat after hitting two pair on the flop with K-8 against Tilly's pocket jacks, but a jack on the turn destroyed his hand.
Williams and Tilly, who sat right next to each other, pushed chips back and forth to each other in one-on-one battles that never really changed things until he got all his chips in the pot with K-Q and Tilly called with A-6. A king on the flop made it look like Tilly would be next to leave, but she rivered an ace to send Williams home.
During his exit interview, Williams quipped, "Jennifer is no amateur, despite what this show says."
Although Tilly made her case as to why she should be considered an amateur, when play got down to three-handed, it was obvious she knows what she's doing.
And the way she got knocked out was exceptional in itself and gives her a bad beat she'll be able to talk about her whole life.
After Gowen made a marginal raise, Tilly moved all in with A
9
. Gowen called with A
8, and when the flop came J T 7 it looked like Tilly was good, especially because her ace was a spade. Gowen looked at the flop, saw how bad shape she was in, and asked the dealer for the 9, and just like that, the dealer complied and flipped one over to give her the straight flush.
Cunningham and Gowen went into heads-up play each holding about half the chips (Cunningham had her covered by a few thousand), but that wouldn't last. Although Gowen won a few pots, they all were small compared to the ones Cunningham was raking. Just about every time Gowen raised $20,000 or more, Cunningham played back at her and she would fold. Soon, Cunningham held about a 2-to-1 chip advantage and ended the match with a fantastic call.
First, he saw a flop after calling a $65,000 raise, and Gowen immediately pushed all in when the flop came T-6-9. Cunningham went into the tank before finally calling with 6-5. That was better than Gowen's A-8, and the third seat at the final table was locked up.
The show will air on ABC weekends starting Nov. 11, for a total of 14 hours of poker action. The broadcast schedule is as follows (all times are EST): Saturday, Nov. 11, 2-3 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 12, 1:30-3:30 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 18, 2-3 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 19, 4-6 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 26, 1:30-3:30 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 3, 4-6 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 17, 1-3 p.m.; and the final takes place Saturday, Dec. 23, 2-4 p.m.
CardPlayer.com will have a report after each match. Check back all week to see how the Pro-Am Equalizer turns out.
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