Roberto Santos Eliminated in 5th Place
Saturday, October 10, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Perhaps no player who made it past the first day had more fun that Roberto Santos. Cheered on by an (extremely) enthusiastic band of supporters Santos enjoyed bantering in Spanish with his friends on the rail and showing off his bluffs to the crowd and indulging in wild histrionics when he won a big hand.
He came to the final table very short in chips but after picking up an early pot was able to eliminate Matt Ross and nearly double up. Brock Parker’s elimination meant Santos jumped another spot in the money list but he needed a double-up (or two, or three) to mount a serious challenge for the Aruba Poker Classic title.
After Chase Steely called in the small blind Santos chose to check his option and the two saw a 3c-Kc-5s flop. Steely bet 26,000 and Santos called. The 4d came on the river and when Steely again bet, this time 68,000, Santos again called. This left him just 150,000 behind and you figured that no matter what fell on the river those chips were going in the middle.
It was the Kh the dealer set on the felt and out of turn Santos moved his stack forward as if to indicate he was all in. While Steely looked the situation over and asked Santos if he was all in. Santos asked Steely if he’d checked and Chase said he hadn’t. The two looked at each other for a few moments more before Steely said, “I’m all in.”
Roberto made the call and that’s when Chase turned over the 6s-7c for the turned straight. All Santos could do was throw his cards into the muck and turn around to accept the congratulations of his friends and shake his opponents’ hands. He wins $92,150 for his fifth-place finish.
That hand put Steely up over the two-million chip mark, and he and Eric Baldwin are neck-and-neck for the chip lead. Robert Mizrachi has around 1.9 million and Brandon Hall around 1.1 million, so the stacks have consolidated a bit and it’s still anybody’s ballgame.
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