Ben Ponzio Wins Event #25 at the WSOP

As we have seen over the last couple of weeks, every final table at the World Series of Poker weaves its own story. Some tables are unbalanced, the chip leader is too powerful, has too many chips, and the end is almost a foregone conclusion. Other tables see players come back from the dead to win the gold in a modern rags-to-riches tale. Some tables find all the contestants even at one strange point in the day. The final table of the $2,000 no-limit hold'em event last night at the WSOP was an exercise in the latter. At the beginning of threehanded play, only one big blind separated the remaining players. Justin Rollo, Ben Ponzio, and David Hewitt all went separate ways from that point, which led two of them to the rail and one of them to gold and glory. But, for one small moment last night, these three men and every one watching took a small moment to catch their breath and mutter, "Wow."

Ponzio would cripple Rollo soon after this surreal poker moment took place and for all effective purposes that gave him a 2-to-1 chip advantage. Ponzio parlayed this into $599,467 and his first gold bracelet. "I'm very excited…this [is] something I've wanted to do for a long time," said Ponzio. Ponzio and his heads-up opponent, Hewitt, started the day with short stacks and they were both all in for their tournament life earlier in the day. "With the short stacks, we just had to wait for a hand. I felt like I'm short, but I know how to play a short stack," said Ponzio. The short stack patience paid off for Ponzio and he now has his first gold bracelet to show for the effort. Sunday June, 18 was another first for Ponzio; it was his first Father's Day, as well.

Here is the last hour from the CardPlayer.com event logs:

Evan Schwartz Eliminated in Fourth Place ($165,008)

It was a battle of the blinds when Evan Schwartz moved all in from the small blind and Justin Rollo made the call from the big blind. Schwartz flipped over Q 3, while Rollo revealed pocket sixes. The board was dealt A J 9 8 5 and Schwartz was eliminated in fourth place. He took home $165,008 in prize money.

Break!

The players then went on an unscheduled 10-minute break.

The Twilight Zone

After the break, the chip counts were extremely even for threehanded play. Less than one big blind separated the final three players and it created a Twilight Zone atmosphere.

Seat No. 2: Justin Rollo - $2,125,000
Seat No. 5: Ben Ponzio - $2,190,000
Seat No. 7: David Hewitt - $2,160,000

Rollo Gets Rolled

Ben Ponzio quickly made a call with pocket queens after Justin Rollo moved all in. Rollo rolled over A 3. The board brought J J 2 4 K and shipped Ponzio the chip lead. Rollo was crippled after the hand and he will be all in on the next hand when he is in the big blind. Ponzio was now the massive chip leader with over two-thirds of the chips left in play.

Justin Rollo Eliminated in Third Place ($244,566)

Justin Rollo moved all and David Hewitt made the call. Rollo flipped over Q 5, while Hewitt showed K 10. The board came A 7 4 2 6. Rollo was eliminated in third place and he took home $244,566.

Heads Up!

The unlikely heads-up match brought together two players who were on the brink of elimination earlier in the day. It also brought out the vocal chords of Ponzio, who now held a massive chip lead when things started.

The match began slowly despite the large chip lead of Ponzio. He had $5.3 million to the $1.2 million of Hewitt after 15 minutes of heads-up play. The blinds were kicked up to $60,000-$120,000 with a $15,000 ante. Hewitt held strong and the heads-up match continued over 30 hands before it got interesting.

Ben Ponzio Wins Event #25 ($599,467)

Ponzio raised an additional $250,000 and Hewitt moved all in. Ponzio immediately called with K Q. Hewitt showed down 10 3 and the board came J 9 6 8 A. Ponzio won the hand, the bracelet, and $599,467 in prize money. Hewitt was eliminated in second place and he took home $374,216 in prize money.

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