This Week in Poker: Poker Tournament News Oct. 25 - Oct. 31

Check out CardPlayer.com every Friday for a weekly wrap-up of the news from the live poker tournament trail.

This Week in Tournament Poker

Card Player Live Coverage Event -- World Poker Tour Festa al Lago $15,000 no-limit hold’em championship

NOTE: This Festa al Lago tournmant report was provided by Julio Rodriguez

Coming into the final table with the chip lead far from guarantees you a WPT title, but Bertrand Grospellier overcame pesky short stacks and players who just wouldn’t quit to win the 2008 Festa al Lago at Bellagio.

Here were the stacks heading into the final table:

Seat 1 -- Will Mietz -- 1,400,000
Seat 2 -- Osmin “Oddie” Dardon -- 2,070,000
Seat 3 -- Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier -- 6,420,000
Seat 4 -- Nam Le -- 2,275,000
Seat 5 -- Adam “Roothlus” Levy -- 1,370,000
Seat 6 -- Nenad Medic -- 3,025,000

Here’s how the action went according to CardPlayer.com’s live updates page:
 

William Mietz Eliminated in Sixth Place ($186,510)

The blinds are now 60,000-120,000 with a 15,000 ante.

Bertrand Grospellier raised to 260,000, and William Mietz called from the big blind. The flop came 9 7 4, and both players checked.

The turn was the 9, pairing the board, and Mietz checked. Grospellier bet 360,000, and Mietz check-raised all in for 1,075,000. Grospellier called and showed A 10 for just ace high, but, amazingly, it was good against Mietz and his K 10.

The river was the 9, and Mietz was eliminated in sixth place, earning $186,510.
 

Adam Levy Eliminated in Fifth Place ($266,445)

Bertrand Grospellier raised to 265,000 from under the gun, and Adam Levy moved all in for 2.4 million behind him.

The action folded around, and Grospellier snap-called, showing Q Q. Levy showed A 9 and needed help to stay alive.

The board came K 3 2 Q 7, and Grospellier got a set of queens to send Levy packing in fifth place. He earned $266,445 for his efforts.
 

Nenad Medic Eliminated in Fourth Place ($373,010)

Nenad Medic moved all in from the button for 1.3 million, and Bertrand Grospellier called from the big blind with K J. Medic showed pocket sixes, but the board came J 9 3 2 5, and Medic was eliminated in fourth place.

The former WPT champion earned $373,010 for his performance this week.
 

Bertrand Grospellier shoved from the button, and Nam Le called instantly from the small blind, showing A J. Grospellier had been caught with 83, but his cards were live.

The board ran out Q Q 9 4 6, and Le doubled up to around 2.7 million.
 

Oddie Dardon Takes the Chip Lead

Oddie Dardon raised to 400,000, and Bertrand Grospellier called in the small blind. The board rolled out A Q 5 7 7, and Grospellier bet 160,000. Dardon raised to 860,000, and Grospellier called. Dardon showed A-10 to win the pot and now holds a slight chip lead over Grospellier.
 

Oddie Bluffs Off Some Chips

Bertrand Grospellier raised from the button to 360,000, and Oddie Dardon called from the big blind. The flop came 10 10 2, and Dardon bet 550,000. Grospellier called, and the turn was the 2.

Dardon bet 1.4 million, and Grospellier moved all in. Grospellier tuned over A-4, and Dardon showed his 9-4. Dardon is now under 3 million, and Grospellier chips up to more than 11 million.
 

Osmin “Oddie” Dardon Eliminated in Third Place ($506,245)

Bertrand Grospellier raised to 330,000 on the button, and Nam Le folded from the small blind. Oddie Dardon studied for a bit and reraised to 1,130,000.

Grospellier moved all in, and Dardon stood up. Le only had 900,000 in his stack, and this was a big decision to gamble here to move up one spot. After only a few seconds, Dardon said, “That’s a move,” and called with A J. Grospellier turned over 10 2, and Dardon clapped his hands together in celebration.

However, the board came 9 4 2 9 3, and Grospellier’s pair of deuces sent Dardon home in third place. This is Dardon’s biggest career score for $506,245.
 

Heads-Up Chip Counts

Here are the official heads-up chip counts:

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier -- 15,635,000
Nam Le -- 925,000
 

Bertrand Grospellier Wins the 2008 WPT Festa al Lago

Both players got it all in for the third consecutive hand of heads-up play.

Nam Le showed A Q, and Bertrand Grospellier showed 10 10.

The board came out 10 7 6 9 K, and Le was eliminated in second place, earning $943,215.

Grospellier won his second major tournament of the year and $1,411,015.

Final Results

1. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier -- $1,411,015
2. Nam Le -- $943,215
3. Osmin “Oddie” Dardon -- $506,245
4. Nenad Medic -- $373,010
5. Adam “Roothlus” Levy -- $266,445
6. William Mietz -- $186,510

Full Tournament Results

Card Player Live Coverage Event -- Caesars Palace Classic $10,000 no-limit hold'em championship

The cards got into the air at 2 p.m. on the final day of the 2008 Caesars Palace Classic $10,000 no-limit hold’em championship. From the original field of 311 players, 19 returned for the final day of play at two final tables. During the first 2.5 hours of play, Carter Gill (19th), Kevin Albers (18th), Ray Qartomy (17th), Sabyl Cohen (16th), Brent Roberts (15th), Robert Ford (14th), Van Nguyen (13th), Jamie Rosen (12th), and Mike Sexton (11th) were eliminated during the march to the final table. The final 10 players were then given a short break before they returned to the final-table stage at 5:15 p.m. to determine who would walk away with the $1 million first-place prize.

Here is how the final table looked when things got started:

Seat 1: Joseph Cordi -- 2,420,000
Seat 2: John Hennigan -- 2,800,000
Seat 3: Michael Katz -- 2,170,000
Seat 4: Gary Friedlander -- 1,625,000
Seat 5: Michael Fantini -- 1,430,000
Seat 6: Michael Kamran -- 2,150,000
Seat 7: Adam Junglen -- 2,705,000
Seat 8: Jonathan Aguiar -- 3,610,000
Seat 9: Hevad Khan -- 8,675,000
Seat 10: Daniel Schreiber -- 3,625,000

The action began slowly as the players got used to the new scenery, and also because they were hoping to make a larger pay jump in the prize money. It took nearly an hour before Adam Junglen got his money all in to double up in the first major pot at the final table. During the next 40 minutes after that, Gary Friedlander doubled up twice before Michael Katz was the first to fall in 10th place.

That first elimination opened the gates for action once again, and the next seven eliminations went down in a business-as-usual manner with the blinds and antes helping to force along the action. The final battle was a much different affair. It took three hours to crown a champion between Hevad "Rain" Khan and Michael Kamran as they engaged in a seesaw battle. Khan eventually emerged with his first major tournament victory just before 3 a.m., and the $1 million first-place prize gives him well over $2 million in career tournament winnings.

Here are the final-table results:

1st: Hevad Khan -- $1,000,000
2nd: Michael Kamran -- $520,320
3rd: Gary Freidlander -- $266,073
4th: Jonathan Aguiar -- $206,946
5th: Joseph Cordi -- $177,382
6th: Adam Junglen -- $147,818
7th: John Hennigan -- $118,255
8th: Daniel Schreiber -- $88,691
9th: Michael Fantini -- $59,127
10th: Michael Katz -- $35,746

Final-Table Recap
Event No. 12 Tournament Recap
Event No. 16 Tournament Recap
Full Tournament Series Results

Card Player Live Coverage Event -- EPT Hungarian Open

The third day of action at the EPT Hungarian Open in Budapest, Hungary shrunk the field down to eight players from the original 532 that entered. Those eight will return at the final table tomorrow at 1 p.m. and play down to one champion who will walk away with approximately $745,865 in prize money. Professional players Johnny Lodden and Gino Alacqua are still in the hunt.

The final table coverage will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1.

Day 3 Recap
Chip Counts

Selected Tournament Results:

World Poker Open

$5,000 no-limit hold’em championship

Number of entries: 107
Total prize pool: $508,981
First-place prize: $183,224
Place paid: 9

Final-table results:

1. Clonie Gowen -- $183,224
2. B.J. McBrayer -- $96,701
3. Kirby Brewer -- $61,074
4. Michael Schneider -- $40,716
5. Justin Allen -- $35,627
6. Brandon Jarrett -- $30,537
7. Jim Peanick -- $25,448
8. Barry Hatcher -- $20,358
9. Blake Huff -- $15,296

Clonie Gowen World Poker Open Poker News Story

World Poker Finals

$600 no-limit hold’em shoot-out

Number of entries: 330
Total prize pool: $169,653
First-place prize: $122,893
Place paid: 40

Final-table results:

1: Bernard Lee -- $22,893
2: Rami Taqtaq -- $14,000
3: Matthew Sahagian -- $14,000
4: Mohamed Ahmed -- $14,000
5: David Lee -- $5,000
6: Steve Ryan -- $5,000
7: Bobby Ferdinand -- $5,000
8: Jay Morgenstern -- $5,000
9: Dennis Couto -- $5,000

Heartland Poker Tour – Detroit, MI

HPT $2,000 no-limit hold’em main event

Number of entries: 374
Total prize pool: $545,646
First-place prize: $162,972
Place paid: 38

Final-table results:

1: Pat Meeks -- $162,972
2: Dean Hamrick -- $81,396
3: Tony Villano -- $48,838
4: Gary Doesy -- $37,985
5: Woody Sloan -- $32,558
6: Trevor Hackworth -- $27,132

Card Player Player of the Year Update

POY Standings:

John Phan — 6,704
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier — 5,410
Erik Seidel — 4,754
David Benyamine — 4,376
David “The Dragon” Pham — 4,022
Michael Martin — 3,800
Michael Binger — 3,792
Sebastian Ruthenberg — 3,648
Matt Brady — 3,640
Shannon Shorr — 3,548

POY Movement

The top three players in the Card Player Player of the Year race had not been challenged since the World Series of Poker this summer. Leader John Phan was followed from afar by Erik Seidel and David Benyamine, and then there was everyone else below. Players that won major tournaments had cracked the top 10, but not the elusive top three. That all changed on Sunday, Oct. 26 when Bertand “ElkY” Grospellier won the World Poker Tour  Festa al Lago $15,000 no-limit hold’em championship and took home 2,220 points. This gave Grospellier 5,410 points total, good for second place on the leader board. Grospellier also took home $1,411,015 to bring his 2008 money won total up to $3,628,910. That makes Grospellier the leading money winner in tournament poker in 2008 (that is, until the WSOP main event pays out places 1-4 on Nov. 10).

Grospellier began 2008 with a huge win, taking home $2 million for his victory at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where he also picked up 2,400 points to take an early POY lead. Grospellier went on to make three more final tables and cash five additional times before the WPT Festa al Lago event began, to run his point total up to 3,190, and the big win at Bellagio put him in a position to make a challenge against John Phan for the POY title. Keep in mind that Grospellier is still 1,294 points behind Phan.

Another familiar face to the POY race jumped into the top 5 when defending champion David “The Dragon” Pham finished in second place in a $5,000 no-limit hold’em preliminary at Festa al Lago. Pham won $116,100 and 440 points to take his yearly totals up to $1,060,739 and 4,022 points won, putting him in fifth place.

The final tables at the WPT Festa al Lago and the North American Poker Championship were also responsible for thrusting three well-known players into the top 20. Kathy Liebert collected $277,684 and 1,600 points for finishing in third place at the NAPC, which gave her 3,054 for the year and put her in 24th place on the leader board. She then continued to inch up the standings when she finished in third place in a $500 no-limit hold’em event at Festa al Lago to take home $5,485 and 72 points. This was enough to put her total at 3,126 and leap frog a few players to jump up to 20th place in the standings at press time.

The other two players jumped into the top 20 courtesy of the Festa al Lago final table. Nam Le has been a consistent performer all year, and his runner-up finish at Bellagio took him to 15th place in the standings with 3,421 points total. Le has cashed 11 times now in 2008, making 3 final tables and winning $1,418,696. This was his biggest cash and point score of the year, topping his fourth place finish at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic and his victory at the Asian Poker Tour high rollers event in Macau. This is also familiar territory for Le, who finished in 15th place in 2007 with 3,177 points and second in 2006 with 5,215 points.

Nenad Medic has only cashed four times in 2008, but when he does he makes those cashes count. His first major win of the year came at the WSOP, where he claimed the first gold bracelet of the summer when he won the $10,000 pot-limit hold’em championship. Medic took home $794,112 for that win along with 2,100 points. His fourth-place finish at Festa al Lago gave him another 1,110 points and $373,010 to bring his yearly totals up to 3,210 points and $1,167,122. That total is good enough to put Medic in 17th place in a POY race that promises to be exciting until the conclusion of the WPT Five World Diamond Classic in December.

Looking Ahead

World Poker Finals

Preliminary Event Schedule

Card Player Live Coverage Event – World Poker Tour $10,000 no-limit hold’em championship

Wednesday, Nov. 5: Day 1A (all preliminary days begin at noon)
Thursday, Nov. 6: Day 1B
Friday, Nov. 7: Day 2
Saturday, Nov. 8: Day 3
Sunday, Nov. 9: Day 4
Monday, Nov. 10: Day 5
Tuesday, Nov. 11: Final Table (Begins at 5 p.m.)

WSOP Circuit – Horseshoe Hammond
 
Friday, Oct. 31 - Sunday, Nov. 2: Event No. 11 ($5,150 no-limit hold'em championship)

PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour – San Jose, Costa Rica

Monday, Nov. 3 – Wednesday, Nov. 5: Main Event ($3,500 no-limit hold’em)

Caesars Palace Mega Stack Series

Event Schedule

Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza IV

Event Schedule

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