David Singer Wins The 2007 Caesars Palace ClassicSinger Takes Down the Title at One of the More Impressive Final Tables of the Year |
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Action began shortly after 3 p.m. PT on Oct. 24, 2007, at the final table of the Caesars Palace Classic, and excitement was in the air. A star-studded final table was the order of the day, and an enthusiastic crowd was present at the start of competition. Here is a quick look at the chip stacks and seating chart when things began:
Seat No. 2 - David Singer - $304,000
Seat No. 3 - Justin Bonomo - $702,000
Seat No. 4 - Jose Valdes - $182,000
Seat No. 5 - Vivek "Psyduck" Rajkumar - $248,000
Seat No. 6 - George Unich - $168,000
Seat No. 7 - Scott Fischman - $733,000
Seat No. 8 - Tony Cousineau - $816,000
Seat No. 9 - Kido Pham - $913,000
ed in the first 20 hands. Here is the action from the felt:
Bolotin limped in and Rajkumar moved all in from the hijack. Cousineau made the call from the small blind and Bolotin mucked. Rajkumar showed down J
10
and Cousineau showed pocket sevens. The board came Q
9 9 9 2
and Rajkumar was the first to make his exit from the final table.
10 6, and Unich opened the action for $50,000. Fischman raised to $175,000 total and Unich made the call. The turn brought the 7 and Fischman moved all in. Unich made the call and showed down pocket queens. Fischman turned up A-10 for two pair and the lead. The river brought the J and Unich was eliminated on the hand. Unich was the last Caesars Palace freeroll winner (the poker room here at Caesars gave out tournament seats as a high-hand jackpot promotion) to bust out of the event, and he received a large round of applause from the crowd for being the last jackpot-winner standing.
7 and Valdes had him dominated with A Q. The board hit the table 9 6 2 5 8 and Cousineau made a straight to eliminate Valdes in seventh place.
Bolotin raised to $50,000 and Bonomo moved all in. Bolotin called, showing A Q against the pocket jacks of Bonomo. The board rolled out 10 6 2 3 4 and Bolotin was the sixth-place finisher.
7 5 5 K and Bonomo was eliminated in fifth place.
After the elimination of Bonomo, play tightened up a bit as four players of high poker pedigree began to test each other out in the hopes of making it to a heads-up finale. It took some time, but the first step toward that heads-up match was taken when Cousineau hit the rail.
Hand No. 79 - Tony Cousineau Eliminated in Fourth Place ($190,976)
9 7 10 2 to eliminate Cousineau in fourth place.
After this hand, the stacks were about even among the final three, and play got serious. The three players traded off pots and chips back and forth until Fischman got all of his chip into the middle.
6 5, and Singer bet $80,000. Fischman called, and the turn was the A. Singer bet $220,000, and Fischman called. The river was the 5, and Singer bet $400,000. Fischman moved all in, and Singer called. Singer turned over A 6, and Fischman showed A 8. Fischman was eliminated in third place and Singer took a monster chip leader into the heads-up match.
Pham - $1,050,000
Shortly after that, play began, and things slowed down - way down. Kido took a large chunk out of Singer's stack a few hands into the heads-up match to even up the stacks and put himself back into contention. This changed the climate of the match into a standoff; an entire level of poker was played with no significant action. To call the poker that was played from this point forward small-ball would be an understatement, and the length of the heads-up match exceeded the length of the prior portion of the final table.
On the 203rd hand of the final table (the 104th of the heads-up match) the final hand of the night came down.
9. The board came 10 8 5 7 6 and Singer hit a straight on the river to end the tournament. Singer won the first place-prize of $1,000,000 and Kido finished in second place, earning $480,167.
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