DevilFish Wins World Poker Classic $2,000 EventDavid Ulliott Maintained Lead At Bellagios Second Preliminary Poker Tournament |
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David "DevilFish" Ulliott took down another final table at the 2006 Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas on Sunday night, pocketing over a quarter million dollars, while adding even more bling to his attire by sporting a new WPC gold bracelet. He was also awarded a seat into the $25,000 World Poker Tour Finals on April 21, 2007.
During day 1 of the competition, Devilfish waded through an ocean of sharks. Notable players David Williams, Alex Jacob, Shannon Shorr, Eugene Todd, Noah Boeken, Tony Cousineau, Michael Mizrachi, Can Kim Hua, Dapo Fadeyi, David Daneshgar, JJ Liu, Allen Kessler, Scotty Nguyen, Vinnie Vinh, Brad Booth, and Nam Le were present and accounted for.
DevilFish and Williams came out swinging during the very first round, both establishing an early lead. By the dinner break, both were in control of their domains. But Williams suffered a fall before last call was announced, missing the cutoff for day 2. On the other hand, DevilFish was muscled up.
Twelve players returned at 3 p.m. on Sunday, ready to do battle. Here was the lineup:
Table 61
1 Noah Boeken 68,500
2 Gerald Rhoads 140,000
3 Mo Fathipour 95,500
4 William Lin 164,000
5B Sam Alsharairi 76,000
6 David Farber 155,500
Table 64
1 Rayshawn Smalls 171,000
2 John Strzemp 184,500
3 Keven Stammen 54,000
4 Daniel Donati 34,500
5B Brad Booth 177,000
6 David Ulliott 192,000
Predictably, the short stacks were the first ones out, with Stammen going out in 12th place only 12 minutes into the level. Donati was right behind him in 11th. Both players took home $8,495.
The final 10 players drew their feature table seats, and since there wasn't much action before the short stacks made their exit, the big stacks didn't gain or suffer substantially.
The final table looked like this:
Seat 1 - Brad Booth 180,000
Seat 2 - David Farber 160,000
Seat 3 - John Strzemp 170,000
Seat 4 - Mo Fathipour 90,000
Seat 5 - Gerald Rhoads 135,000
Seat 6 - Noah Boeken 45,000
Seat 7 - William Lin 150,000
Seat 8 - Sam Alsharairi 76,000
Seat 9 - David Ulliott 192,000
Seat 10 - Rayshawn Smalls 165,000
It took another hour, but Boeken made his exit when he moved all in in middle position and Alsharairi, who was on the button, called. Boeken turned over A
3 and Alsharairi had 10
10 in the hole. The flop came J
7 2
, giving Alshariari the clear lead. The turn (7) and river (4s) didn't help Boeken, who went home in 10th place with $8,495.
Rhoads knocked out Mo Fathipour. Fathipour was representing the Bicycle Club Casino as the high-stakes poker host and manager. He moved all in with K 2, but Rhoads had just doubled up through Devilfish, and had no problem calling the $30,000 bet with merely a 10 5. The board came J 3 2, giving Rhoads a flush draw, but Fathipour only needed to hold onto his pair of deuces to double up. The turn was the 9, and then came the 5, gifting Rhoads with a higher pair on the river, sending Fathipour to the rail in ninth place with $11,325.
Things looked good for Rhoads until Lin began to make some noise. On a run, Lin began his attack by picking on the short stacks, but once he'd built his own little mountain, he tuned into his own offensive line.
Lin took a bite out of Booth, and then went after Farber. Rhoads was next, and couldn't have seen Lin coming. Lin doubled himself up through Rhoads, who was left with less than $50,000 when the all-in hand was over. But Lin wasn't finished with Rhoads, yet. Rhoads pushed on the small blind with A 6. Lin, in the big blind, called for the $41,000 more and turned over Q J. The flop paired Lin twice with Q J 10. The turn was the 3, and the river was the 5, sending Rhoads packing in eighth place with $14,155.
Lin turned next to Booth.
Short-stacked and in the big blind, Booth moved all in and Lin called. Booth turned over K 10 and Lin had A 10. The flop came 9 6 2
and Lin held the lead into the turn of 4. The river was the 3. Lin sent Booth home in seventh place with $17,695.
Lin terminated another short stack when Smalls moved all in on the big blind with 8 9. Lin called with K 8. The board came Q 10 7, giving both players a draw. The turn and river, A, 3, missed both players, but awarded the pot to Lin with merely the high card. Rayshawn Smalls went out in sixth place with $24,775.
Lin dominated his field of dreams, knocking several players out of the park, but as fate would have it, Lin took a swing at the wrong pitch. Lin pushed all in with pocket sevens, and Strzemp called with pocket nines. Lin's inferior hand held the same value going in as it did coming out. The board missed both players, and Strzemp double up through Lin. Lin was left with less than $100,000 in chips.
Two hands later, Lin pushed all in on the button with K-10 offsuit. Farber called under the gun with A-K. The better hand held up and Lin went out in fifth place with $31,850.
Ulliott couldn't resist calling Alsharairi, who went all in before the flop for two more blinds. Pricing Ulliott into the pot, he showed J-8 suited. Alsharairi turned over pocket aces. It was over for Alsharairi before the river when Ulliott made a flush on the turn. Alsharairi went home in fourth place with $42,475.
It was down to three-handed. The blinds were $10,000-$20,000 with a $4,000 ante.
Seat 2: David Farber - $452,000
Seat 3: John Strzemp - $371,000
Seat 9: David Ulliott - $690,000
After a short break, Ulliott turned on the heat, taking two pots down within minutes. Farber was the next to face "elimination by Ulliott" when he pushed all in before the flop with K-10. Ulliott called with A-4. The flop came 8-5-2 allowing Ulliott to maintain his lead, and the turn was another dangerous card for Farber as the 6 gave Ulliott a straight draw. The river sealed it for Ulliott when a 3 completed his hand and sent Farber to the rail in third place with $74,320.
The action was heads up between Ulliott and Strzemp. These two had quietly been Charlie-horsing each other all day, rallying back and forth
with the chip leads, and not afraid to go against each other since Lin's exit. Ulliott had a little over $600,000 in chips, so with the rest of the $1,512,000 in play, Strzemp was ahead, but Ulliott was not impressed.
As predicted, heads-up play went on for hours, with both contenders trading chip leads. Finally, after a flop of 7 6 5, Strzemp moved all in with 8 3 and DevilFish called with 3 4. Strzemp had both straight and flush draws, while DevilFish had made his hand with a low straight. Strzemp had a higher straight draw, but the turn was the K, and the river the 3, giving DevilFish the win, and doubling him up through Strzemp. Strzemp had only $100,000 or so remaining.
On the very next hand, Strzemp woke up with an ace. But what he couldn't know, with his next move, was that Ulliott also caught an ace with a better kicker. Strzemp moved all in. Ulliott called and both players showed their hands. Following the painful race, the tournament was finally over. Devilfish had swallowed up every chip on the table.
Runner-up John Strzemp took home $148,640.
David "DevilFish" Ulliott won the bracelet, $266,160, and a seat into the World Poker Tour Championship in April, 2007.
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