Forget the money. Day four of the 2006
Festa al Lago came down to the tournament's second bubble, the one that bursts when only six players remain. That's right - the
World Poker Tour televised final table bubble.
The nine-handed, two-table action began at noon PDT with $5,000-$10,000 blinds and $1,000 antes. As a result of the previous day's redraw, four of the top five stacks started play at the same table, including the chip boss, Joe Pelton.
At the 14-minute mark, Pelton added to an already dramatic
Festa al Lago run when he tangled with the No. 3 chip stack, Brandon Cantu. After flopping a flush to beat Nick Schulman and take the chip lead on day two, Pelton (9
7
) caught runner-runner nines to best Cantu's full house (7
7
) on a 10
7
2
9
9
board.
The win gave Pelton a stack in excess of $1.9 million, and made a shocked Cantu the
Festa al Lago's 18th-place finisher ($33,395).
2006
Mirage Poker Showdown champion Joe Tehan, who battled back from a short stack late on day three, followed Cantu to the rail 10 minutes later. Tehan moved all in over the top of a Steve Wong bet on a K
9
9
flop and took the lead when he showed 9
6
to Wong's K
3
. After the A
turn, Tehan looked on the verge of doubling up again but a spiked K
river ended Tehan's tournament with a 17th-place finish ($33,395).
While Tehan failed in his bid to double up, Andreas Walnum found nothing but success every time he moved his chips into the middle. Starting with only $103,000, Walnum doubled up five times during the first two hours of play. The pots helped Walnum outlast a number of players with bigger stacks, including Stan Wasserkrug (16th - $33,395), Ted McNeely (15th - $41,745), and the two biggest names left in the field, Carlos Mortensen (14th - $41,745) and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (13th - $41,475).
Mortensen, who hit a one-outer to survive on day three, exited tournament play when he pushed all in preflop with pocket sixes, and Can Kim Hua, holding pocket tens, called. Five minutes after knocking out Mortensen, Hua delivered the day's second high profile elimination. In a heads-up hand, Hua pushed all in over the top of a Mizrachi raise. After a call, Hua showed K
K
and Mizrachi turned over A
Q
. The J
5
3
2
board gave Mizrachi, the current
Card Player Player of the Year points leader, 16 outs, but he missed all of them with the 8
river.
The next bustout came courtesy of Full Tilt's Danny Smith. His pocket nines held against Michael Eckes pocket fives, making Eckes the tournament's 12th-place finisher ($41,475).
At 2:37 p.m., PDT "Captain" Tom Franklin, forced to make a move on the short stack, pushed all in preflop and his A
2
failed to improve against Chris Cellery's A
K
. Franklin finished in 11th ($41,475) and the 10 remaining players consolidated to the 2006
Festa al Lago's final table.
The chip counts were as follows:
1. Joe Pelton - $2,381,000 (seat No. 8)
2. David Baker - $1,168,000 (seat No. 10)
3. Chris Loveland - $1,134,000 (seat No. 9)
4. Can Kim Hua - $1,118,000 (seat No. 1)
5. Danny Smith - $699,000 (seat No. 4)
6. Chris Cellery - $664,000 (seat No. 5)
7. Andreas Walnum - $602,000 (seat No. 3)
8. Steve Wong - $400,000 (seat No. 6)
9. Loi Phan - $305,000 (seat No. 7)
10. George Mamacas - $243,000 (seat No. 2)
George Mamacas lasted 20 minutes as the final table's short stack. An Australian player better known as "Tasmaniac," Mamacas dropped out in 10th place ($50,095) when he moved all in with A
J
preflop and David Baker's 3
3
made a full house on the 5
5
4
3
2
board.
After doubling up Loi Phan, Chris Cellery became the next player to exit from the
Festa al Lago final table. An all-in preflop reraise received an immediate call from Steve Wong and Cellery found himself in a huge hole with his A
J
against Wong's A
Q
. The board brought no help, and Cellery walked off the tournament floor as the ninth-place finisher ($58,445).
A matchup of short stack versus chip boss led to Loi Phan's elimination in eighth place ($66,795). Down to his last $78,000, Phan pushed all in against Joe Pelton. His A
J
put him in good position against Pelton's 9
7
, but Pelton continued his run of luck by making a heart flush on the Q
J
10
9
6
board.
Over an hour after Phan's departure, the bubble for the
World Poker Tour televised final table burst with the elimination of Danny Smith. With the blinds at $10,000-$20,000 and with $3,000 antes, Smith moved all in for an additional $242,000 over the top of a $55,000 bet by David Baker. Smith shook his head as he flipped over K
10
and Baker showed A
8
. When the board brought A
6
5
4
4
, Smith, the
Festa al Lago's seventh-place finisher ($75,145), stood and shook hands with the six remaining players.
The chip counts going into the final table were as follows:
1. Joe Pelton - $2,923,000
2. David Baker - $1,652,000
3. Andreas Walnum - $1,374,000
4. Chris Loveland - $1,059,000
5. Steve Wong - $886,000
6. Can Kim Hua - $765,000
Pelton, going for his second
WPT event title this season, and the rest of the remaining players return at 4 p.m. PDT for final table action and a shot at the $1,090,000 first-place cash prize.
Stay tuned to
CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, videos, photos, and for a new edition of "The Circuit."
