Buy-In: | $15,000 + $400 |
---|---|
Prize Pool: | $6,489,300 |
Entrants: | 446 |
Mike Watson Wins the 2008 Bellagio Cup ($1,673,770)
Mike Watson moved all in from the button and David Benyamine made the call. Watson showed Q9
but was in major trouble against Benyamine's K
9
. The board ran out A
Q
6
9
7
and Benyamine was eliminated, earning $840,295 for his runner up performance.
Watson takes home the title, along with the bracelet and nearly $1.7 million.
Blinds: 80,000 – 160,000 with a 15,000 ante
Ace on the River for Michael Watson
David Benyamine moved all in preflop for 8.6 million and Michael Watson made an all-in call. Their cards:
Benyamine: QQ
Watson: AK
Board: 109
2
5
A
Watson doubled up on the hand and Benyamine was crippled down to 2,665,000.
The tournament reached heads-up action after the elimination of Staudenmire, and then there was a 20-minute break while the money presentation took place. Action then moved onward and upward with 80,000-160,000 blinds with a 15,000 ante.
Here are the heads-up starting stacks:
David Benyamine: 11,700,000
Michael Watson: 8,420,000
Blinds: 80,000 – 160,000 with a 15,000 ante
Mike Watson Doubles Through Luke Staudenmaier
Q
and was ahead of Staudenmaier’s A
10
. The board came K
J
9
7
7
and Watson’s hand held to double him up to about 8 million in chips.
5
3
and Benyamine checked. Watson bet 500,000 and Benyamine quickly folded, showing Q-4. Watson turned over Q
8
and was way ahead of Staudenmaier’s K
4
. The turn and river came 5
6
and Staudenmaier was eliminated in third place, earning just short of half of a million dollars.
Blinds: 80,000 – 160,000 with a 15,000 ante
9
8
and Watson bet 260,000. Staudenmaier called and the turn was the 4
. Watson bet 600,000 and Staudenmaier gave it up.
6
4
. Watson checked and Staudenmaier’s bet of 725,000 was enough to earn him the pot.
Blinds: 60,000 – 120,000 with a 10,000 ante
Luke Staudenmaier Doubles Up
Luke Staudenmaier raised to 360,000 preflop from the button and Michael Watson reraised to 1.1 million. Staudenmaier reraised all in for 3.48 million and Watson made the call to cover his opponent. Their cards:
Staudenmaier: AK
Watson: QQ
Board: QJ
2
10
6
Staudenmaier doubled up on the hand to survive, and action continued three handed.
Blinds: 60,000 – 120,000 with a 10,000 ante
Big Hands:
David Benyamine Doubles Up
David Benyamine raised to 360,000 from the button preflop and Luke Staudenmaier reraised all in. Benyamine made the call for his final 4 million and they turned up their hands:
Benyamine: AJ
Staudenmaier: A10
Board: 64
3
Q
7
Benyamine doubled up to 8 million on the hand and survived. Staudenmaier was knocked down to less than 4 million.
Blinds: 60,000 – 120,000 with a 10,000 ante
Ralph Perry Doubles Through John Phan
9
and Phan was ahead with A
10
. The board came A
J
9
9
J
and a dejected Phan shipped most of his chips over to Perry who got the fortunate double up.
9
and was ahead of Benyamine’s A
6
.
J
7
and Phan maintained the lead. But the turn was the Q
, giving Benyamine a flush draw and many, many outs to the chop. The river was the …. 3
! and Benyamine made the nut flush to eliminated Phan in fifth place.
Ralph Perry Eliminated in
Q
and Perry was behind with K
J
.
4
2
and Perry was drawring semi-dead on the flawpp. The turn and river came 9
A
and Perry hit the rail in fourth place, earning over a quarter of a million dollars for his finish.
Short Break
After the bustout madness had ended, the players took a 15-minute break.
Blinds: 60,000 – 120,000 with a 10,000 ante
A Terrible Board For Two Black Kings
6
3
. Benyamine thought for a bit before betting 1,375,000 and Perry folded.
K
.
6
3
and both players checked.
and Staudenmaier bet 525,000. Phan gave it some thought before making the call. The river was the 6
and Staudenmaier bet 1.7 million. Phan tanked for almost three minutes before calling, and he was disappointed to see Staudenmaier’s pocket tens for a full house.
The trivia contest has ended. Congratulations are in order to Jeremy Ensrud and Brandon Mileski, who were the first two readers to correctly identify that Phil Ivey won three World Series of Poker bracelets in 2002. Click here to read more about the 2002 WSOP and Ivey's unheard of accomplishment.
I received dozens of emails in response (more are still coming in) and many of you clearly showed your knowledge of poker history. Then again, many of you had some comically wrong answers. Some of the more bizarre answers I received ranged from Bill Edler, (who only has one bracelet) to Isaac Baron, (who has never played in the WSOP) to Sam Grizzle.
If you didn't win, then don't worry. You can still pick up official Card Player merchandise at the Card Player poker store.
Jump to | Page 1 of 2 | Next |
Career Winnings | Titles | Cashes | Final Tables |
1 |
Carlos Mortensen $6,738,670 |
---|---|
2 |
Daniel Negreanu $5,973,158 |
3 |
Daniel Sepiol $5,444,754 |
4 |
Michael Mizrachi $5,135,478 |
5 |
Darren Elias $4,527,471 |
6 |
Tuan Le $4,508,943 |
7 |
Chris Moorman $4,367,285 |
8 |
Andrew Lichtenberger $4,317,725 |
9 |
Eliot Hudon $4,218,780 |
10 |
Georgios Sotiropoulos $4,167,246 |