WSOP: Michael Rocco Wins Event No. 35Rocco Takes Down $1,500 7-Card Stud Final Table |
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Michael Rocco came into the final table of the $1,500 7-Card Stud final table as the chip leader, but winning was anything but a foregotten conclusion. Down nearly 5-1 in chips heads up, Rocco battled back to reclaim the chip lead, and ultimately his first gold bracelet.
Here were the chip counts heading into the final table:
Seat 1 - Levon Torosyan - 114,500
Seat 2 - Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri - 252,500
Seat 3 - Max Troy - 88,500
Seat 4 - Michael Rocco - 255,000
Seat 5 - Giacomo D'Agostino - 123,000
Seat 6 - Andre Boyer - 106,000
Seat 7 - Jeffrey Siegal - 150,000
Seat 8 - Danny Kalpakis - 55,000
Here are highlights from all of the action, as featured in CardPlayer.com’s live coverage of the final table:
Michael Rocco's Two Pair No Good
The chip leader coming into the day has been going backwards to start out this final table. After bringing it in with a 5 showing, Rocco stuck around to make fives up on seventh street. Unfortunately for him, Al Barbieri made jacks up to scoop a decent sized pot.
Danny Kalpakis Doubles Up
Kalpakis got his last 22,000 all in on third street with a pair of split queens against Levon Torosyan's split pair of aces. Torosyan never improved and Kalpakis caught a third queen along with a pair of jacks as his full house doubled him up to 50,000 in chips.
Max Troy Doubles Up
Troy was all in on sixth street holding just a pair of sixes against Al Barbieri's ace high. Barbieri squeezed out seventh street to see he made a pair of kings, but Troy's squeeze revealed another ten to make two pair and double up.
Danny Kalpakis Doubles Up
Kalpakis got it all in once again on fifth street with a straight draw and a pair of jacks against Giacomo D'Agostino's pair of kings. D'Agostino failed to improve but Kalpakis came from behind to catch a ten for two pair. Kalpakis doubled to 64,000 in chips.
Jeffrey Siegal Eliminated in Eighth Place ($14,041)
Jeffrey Siegal was all in holding aces up and looking to double up. Unfortunately for him, Max Troy was rolled up with sevens to bust him in eighth place.
Andre Boyer Eliminated in Seventh Place ($16,642)
Andre Boyer battled a short stack for awhile, but finally succumbed to Al Barbieri and his trip fours. Bracelet winner Boyer was eliminated in seventh place.
Danny Kalpakis Eliminated in Sixth Place ($21,842)
Kalpakis has finally been eliminated after numerous double ups throughout the final table. This time he had the best hand with a pair of sixes, but Barbieri hit trip deuces on fifth street to end his day in sixth place.
Giacomo D'Agostino Eliminated in Fifth Place ($28,083)
With just two big bets left in his stack, Giacomo D'Agostino invested it all with split tens against Michael Rocco's aces in the hole. Rocco hit another ace on sixth street to leave D'Agostino drawing dead and busted him in fifth place.
Max Troy Eliminated in Fourth Place ($37,184)
Max Troy was all in on fourth street holding a pair of aces and a straight draw, but he was in big trouble against Levon Torosyan's trip fours. Troy bricked out and Torosyan rivered a full house. Troy was eliminated in fourth place.
Al Barbieri Takes Over
Three handed play has been nice to Barbieri, who has been slowly chipping up and has a big lead over his opponents. On a recent hand with Levon Torosyan, Barbieri was showing four to the flush on board against Torosyan's four to a broadway straight. Torosyan was forced to fold once again and Barbieri chipped up some more. After the hand, Barbieri held nearly 4/5 of the total chips in play.
Levon Torosyan Eliminated in Third Place ($50,186)
After being crippled down to his last 6,000 in chips when his pair of deuces failed to push out Michael Rocco's pair of jacks, Levon Torosyan was eliminated shortly afterwards by Rocco's trip queens. He was eliminated in third place.
Rocco Takes the Chip Lead
Since coming back from the dinner break, Al Barbieri has been going backwards. Meanwhile, Michael Rocco's small ball approach to heads up stud has given him slightly less than a 2-1 chip lead.
His biggest hand came down when he made trip queens and got Barbieri to call him down.
Michael Rocco Keeps Chipping Away
Al Barbieri made aces up but was smart enough to just call a river bet from Michael Rocco. Rocco turned over the wheel and scooped a nice sized pot to increase his chip lead.
Rocco was up to 900,000 after the hand while Barbieri took a hit down to 250,000.
Michael Rocco Wins Event No. 35 ($135,753)
After grinding Al Barbieri down to his last few pink chips, all it took was a pair of kings to send him to the rail in second place. After realizing his pair had held, Rocco bursted into celebration, screaming with joy. As tears streamed down his face, he spoke about his victory for his five-year-old son. In a time where some bracelet winners take the prestige for granted, it was nice to see a man unafraid to show the world how much the win truly meant to him.
Barbieri earned $83,210 for his runner-up finish.
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