Action got under way at 10 a.m. ET this morning in the Bahamas at the final table of the European Poker Tour PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and here is how the chip stacks stacked up at the start of play:
David "The Dragon" Pham — 7,390,000
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier — 3,060,000
Joe "BigEgypt" Elpayaa — 2,755,000
Hafiz Khan — 2,560,000
Kris Kuykendall — 2,150,000
Richard Fohrenbach — 1,855,000
Craig Hopkins — 1,770,000
Christian Harder — 905,000
Richard Fohrenbach was the first player to take his leave from the final table. Two hands after he doubled up with pocket jacks and things were looking good, he was eliminated in eighth place ($150,000). On the fateful hand, he held pocket jacks once again, but they were no good against the A-K of Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier when a king fell on the flop to send Fohrenbach home. This was only the beginning of a good day for Grospellier, and a few minutes later he found himself in another all-in battle, this time it was the Frenchman that held pocket jacks, and they held. He had his opponent Christian Harder covered, and Harder could only muster an unimproved pocket sevens. Harder was eliminated in seventh place on the hand ($200,000).
The speed of play at the table then began to slow down for some time, but the march to a champion continued when Joe “BigEgypt” Elpayaa shoved all in preflop with K
J. Grospellier once again played the roll of the eliminator when he called and flipped over A-Q. The board bricked out, and Elpayaa was sent home in sixth place ($300,000). Grospellier had dominated the final table up to this point, but David “The Dragon” Pham got into the act when Craig Hopkins moved all in with K
8. Pham made the call with pocket tens, and he added insult to injury when he flopped a set to send Hopkins packing in fifth place ($450,000).
The final table had undergone a restructure of hierarchy at this point of play, and here is how the chip counts looked before the final four faced off.
Betrand "ElkY" Grospellier — 9,551,000
Hafiz Khan — 5,720,000
David Pham — 5,045,000
Kris Kuykendall — 2,665,000
The four players left seemed content to take measure of each other for a while at this point of the final table, and rarely did a pot exceed a million in chips. This was partly in due to the fact that the chip leader, Grospellier, was flexing the muscles of his large stack and imposing his will by making his opponents lay down to large bets. One thing that did take place during this stretch was the comeback of Kris Kuykendall. He fought hard during the level and won many small pots to build his stack back to respectability. This even gave him enough chips to outlast Pham, who was eliminated in fourth place ($600,000). Pham wore a target on his back for most of the tournament, as many players wanted to lay claim to the title of dragon-slayer. But the 2007 Card Player Player of the Year fought hard and started 2008 the same way he finished 2
007, playing great poker and finishing deep in yet another major tournament. It was Grospellier who sent Pham packing when they tangled on this hand:
Grospellier raised 400,000 preflop from under the gun, and Pham made the call in the big blind. The flop rolled out K Q 5, and both players checked. The turn brought the J, and Pham checked. Grospellier bet 700,000, and Pham moved all in for an additional 2.5 million. Grospellier tanked for a moment before making the call and flipping up A 2. Pham showed down Q
5 and the race was on. The river brought one of the cards that Grospellier needed, the 7, and Pham was sent to the rail.
Kuykendall was the next to fall a short time later. This time it was Hafiz Khan that got his hands dirty. First he crippled Kuykendall down to 1.5 million with pocket kings, and then Khan raised on his blind a few hands later, which forced Kuykendall to make the all-in call on a very short stack. Kuykendall mustered K Q
, but Khan turned over A 7, and, after the board bricked out, Kuykendall was sent home in third place ($800,000).
Action was now set for a battle of mismatched chip stacks for the grand prize:
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier — 16,200,000
Hafiz Khan — 7,705,000
The heads-up battle did not last long, as Grospellier took a million-chip chunk out of Khan’s stack early, and then Khan chose an ill-fated time to make a huge bluff:
Grospellier raised from the button preflop, and he was reraised all in by Khan for just over 6 million. Grospellier made the call very quickly and confidently flipped over pocket eights. Khan showed down 9 3 for a bluff gone wrong, and the board rolled out 7 5 2 4 4. Khan was eliminated, and he took home $1,094,976 for his runner-up finish. Grospellier emerged from the hand as the champion of the 2008 PCA and he scored a coveted EPT title, his first. Grospellier also took home $2 million for his win and begins 2008 on a very good note.
