Six players, survivors of a starting field of 433, gathered in the Bellagio's Grand Ballroom to settle a four-daylong question. Who would win the
World Poker Tour Festa al Lago championship and take home a $1,090,025 first-place cash prize?
While the remaining group featured five professional players, the buzz entering action centered on the final table's lone amateur, Joe Pelton, who was on the verge of winning his second
World Poker Tour season five title.
The 2006
Legends of Poker first-place finisher, Pelton came into the last day of the
Festa al Lago with the opportunity to join Gus Hansen, Howard Lederer, Erik Lindgren, and Daniel Negreanu as the only players to win multiple championship events in a single
WPT season.
At 4:07 p.m. PDT, tournament director Jack McClelland introduced the six participants and the 2006
Festa al Lago final table began with $10,000-$20,000 blinds and $2,000 antes.
The chip counts and seating were as follows:
1. Joe Pelton - $2,923,000 (seat #4)
2. David Baker - $1,652,000 (seat #6)
3. Andreas Walnum - $1,374,000 (seat #2)
4. Chris Loveland - $1,059,000 (seat #5)
5. Steve Wong - $886,000 (seat #3)
6. Can Kim Hua - $765,000 (seat #1)
Employing an aggressive playing still since taking the chip lead on day three, Pelton continued to apply pressure on his opponents at the final table, albeit with much less success. On the second hand of play, Pelton doubled up Steve Wong after Wong, holding A
K
, called Pelton's A
9
all-in preflop raise.
One hand later, and with the board showing A
Q
8
8
6
, Pelton called an all-in reraise by Andreas Walnum. When Walnum flipped over the 6
6
, Pelton mucked. The win gave Walnum the chip lead, and dropped Pelton's stack down to $850,000
At one time ahead by over $1 million, Pelton fell to the bottom of the leader board, but he would not be the first player to exit from the
Festa al Lago final table. An hour and 45 minutes into play, the other short stack, Can Kim Hua, called an all-in reraise by David Baker. A veteran pro with over $2 million in winnings but no major titles, Hua showed A
K
, only to have Baker turn up A
A
. Baker's aces held and Hua became the 2006
Festa al Lago sixth-place finisher ($83,490).
Despite the win over Hua, Baker failed to drag any other significant pots and his stack steadily declined. Down to his last $720,000, Baker, a high-stakes limit player, moved all in preflop, and Pelton, again wielding a sizable chip stack after doubling up several times, called. A slight race situation developed with Baker's A
5
against Pelton's K
Q
. The Q
9
2
flop and K
turn, however, gave Pelton two pair and Baker's tournament run ended in a fifth-place finish ($125,240).
Like Baker, Chris Loveland seldom found himself on the winning end of big hands at the
Festa al Lago final table. Less than 20 minutes after doubling up through Pelton, and still the short stack, Loveland pushed all in over the top of a Walnum preflop raise. Walnum called, flipped over A
K
, and Loveland took a slight lead with 7
7
. The statistical edge vanished when Walnum paired his ace on the flop and Loveland exited in fourth place ($187,745).
The departure of Loveland put Pelton within two eliminations of tying a
WPT record, but any hopes of joining the likes of Lindgren and Negreanu ended two hands later. On a K
8
7
flop, Pelton made an all-in call, and his J
9
needed to improve after Walnum turned over K
Q
. Pelton missed his outs with the 3
turn and A
river. After making two
WPT final tables in two months and flirting with poker history, Pelton walked off the televised set as the third-place finisher ($292,220).
The chip counts going into heads-up play were:
1. Andreas Walnum - $6,200,000
2. Steve Wong - $2,600,000
Walnum, a 23-year-old Norwegian poker pro, doubled up five times on day four to battle back from a short stack, and doubled once at the final table to take a chip lead he never lost. As for Wong, the 33-year-old professional player from Holland hovered near the middle to top of the leader board for the better part of days three and four en route to his final table appearance.
In the end, the all-European heads-up match lasted only two hands, and, in keeping with a current trend at
World Poker Tour events, the winner was yet another talented, up-and-coming young player.
The final hand of the 2006
Festa al Lago started when Walnum made a $175,000 raise from the big blind and Wong called. Walnum bet another $200,000 on the K
J
2
flop. The 8
generated a $400,000 bet by Wong, followed by Walnum raising to $800,000. With the 5
coming on the river, Walnum pushed all in. Wong called, flipped over the K
4
, and then turned away from the table when Walnum showed the 2
2
.
Wong earned $542,000 for his runner-up finish.
As for Walnum, the youngest player at the
Festa al Lago final table took home a diamond-encrusted Bellagio bracelet, a $1,090,025 first-place cash prize, and a $25,000 entry into the
World Poker Tour Championship event.
