Gene Bromberg
Saturday, November 7, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Unless you’ve been living in a fortified bunker you know that today’s the day the World Series of Poker Main Event resumes and we find out which of the November Nine will be our next champion. Well, actually we’ll find that on Monday, because today they play down to heads-up and then resume the match at 10pm Monday night. So, actually, we’ll probably find out who the next World Champion is on Tuesday. And then Tuesday night ESPN shows their Final Table broadcast. Complicated stuff, I know.
And if you don’t want to know what happens or who wins before that broadcast, I advise you return to that fortified bunker and pull that heavy metal door shut. Because in this age of blogs and Twitter and Facebook and texts and the myriad other ways we communicate with one another (talking, even) it’s well-nigh impossible to remove yourself from the grid without deliberate action on your part. So if it’s a nice day in your part of the word, a camping trip might be advisable. Take the car out for a long, long, long drive? Get yourself arrested on a minor (and here I stress MINOR) charge and be a guest of the state for the weekend. These are all ideas for those who want to be on tenterhooks for ESPN’s broadcast.
For those who will be keeping an ear to the ground there are a few options for news. UltimateBet is sponsoring the live coverage over at Bluff Magazine, and Annie Duke and Hollywood Dave will be tableside providing commentary. You can visit the re-launched WSOP.com for a live-viewer and video updates and all sorts of info from the final table. PokerNews will of course be providing hand-for-hand updates and chip counts throughout the day. ESPN’s Andrew Feldman will have a live-blog of the final-table, as will my friend the infamous Dr. Pauly. And then whatever particular poker publication you prefer as well.
So we’re almost ready to go, play begins at noon Vegas time (3pm on the East Coast) and unless you have an elephantine memory you may need a refresher of where we stand. Here’s some info about the situation as play resumes:
Current Level: 33 with 7 minutes and 16 seconds remaining
Blinds: 120K/240K with a 30K ante
Next Level: 150K/300K with a 40K ante
Chip Count:
Darvin Moon – 58,930,000
Eric Buchman – 34,800,000
Steven Begleiter – 29,885,000
Jeff Shulman – 19,580,000
Joseph Cada – 13,215,000
Kevin Schaffel – 12,390,000
Phil Ivey – 9,765,000
Antoine Saout – 9,500,000
James Akenhead – 6,800,000
Seating Assignments:
Seat 1: Darvin Moon (Oakland, MD) – 58,930,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead (London, UK) – 6,800,000
Seat 3: Phil Ivey (Las Vegas, NV) – 9,765,000
Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel (Coral Springs, FL) – 12,390,000
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter (Chappaqua, NY) – 29,885,000
Seat 6: Eric Buchman (Valley Stream, NY) – 34,800,000
Seat 7: Joseph Cada (Shelby Township, MI)- 13,215,000
Seat 8: Antoine Saout (St. Martin des Champs, France) – 9,500,000
Seat 9: Jeff Shulman (Las Vegas, NV) – 19,580,000
November Nine Payouts:
1st $8,547,042
2nd $5,182,928
3rd $3,479,670
4th $2,502,890
5th $1,953,452
6th $1,587,160
7th $1,404,014
8th $1,300,231
9th $1,263,602
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Sunday, November 1, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
On the one hand I think that that the four-month hiatus for the WSOP Main Event is too doggone long. You build to this crescendo, you have your final nine players in the biggest event in poker…and then you leave it hanging for a quarter of the year. That’s long enough for the media to write tens of thousands of words about the players and the event, but its also enough time for fans to forget who the heck these guys are. When I was in Aruba some of us reporter types were trying to list the members of the November Nine as quickly as possible. It was harder than you’d think, even for folks working in the industry (Antoine Saout was the name that slipped the most minds).
But as the poker world again turns it’s gaze toward the Rio it almost feels like the Main Event wrapped just yesterday. Watching ESPN’s coverage has reminded me of those happy days ensconced on Media Row, wolfing down Jack’s Links Jerky and wondering which of my strung-out colleagues would be the next to snap. And thinking about that moved me to look at some of the photos I took during the Main Event, which seemed to both go on forever and end before we knew it:
After waiting nearly four months we’re just a few days from discovering who is the latest World Champion. Play will start at noon on Saturday, and when they’re down to heads-up they’ll pause again and resume playing at 10pm on Monday, with ESPN’s final-table broadcast airing on Tuesday. The wait is almost, almost over.
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Thursday, October 29, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
I must confess that I don’t watch much reality TV. See, I live in reality and I get quite enough of it, thank you very much. Then again reality TV bears little resemblance to the reality that you and I enjoy on a day-to-day basis. There’s no jackass in a black T-shirt telling us our heartfelt performance stinks (unless you work at some Trendy Company From Hell), we aren’t whisked off to some tropical hellhole to scrabble in the dirt as we devise devious schemes to betray our friends (though that’s a bit like how Wall Street works).
My friend Ted is a huge fan of The Amazing Race, which he considers by far the best reality show around. And the folks who award the Emmy’s seem to have the same opinion, as that show has won the Emmy for best reality show all seven years it’s been around. As you probably know this season UltimateBet’s Tiffany Michelle is teamed up with her fellow poker player and friend Maria Ho on the show and they’ve been racing across southeast Asia and Dubai the last few weeks. She and Maria are still in the running, but don’t ask me (or her) if they go on to win the thing. I’m pretty sure revealing the winner of a reality show ahead of time is an automatic death-penalty offense. Heck, Death Penalty!! might end up being the next big reality show, especially if Jay Leno’s new primetime show continues to tank.
Tiffany actually missed the Main Event to participate in The Amazing Race but she didn’t miss last night’s UltimateBet Amazing Race freeroll. A grand total of 1,949 racers solved the series of clues that took them all over the World-Wide-Web and led them to the freeroll’s password. There was a cool $1,000 prizepool, with the final pair left standing at the end winning seats in our $200,000 Sunday Guaranteed Tournament.
Alas, though Tiffany is still going strong on The Amazing Race she did not reach the final finish line in this freeroll held in her honor. With her stack short she moved in for her last 1,500 or so when, holding K-Q, she turned a Queen. Unfortunately that not-so-lucky-lady on fourth street gave LONELYLONER (jeez that name depresses me) a straight and sent Tiffany out in 333rd place. On the show Tiffany and Maria spent some time in Vietnam and when I was in Vietnam a year or so ago one of the popular beers there is called “333″. OK, calling that a coincidence is a stretch but sue me, I’m thirsty.
Tiffany didn’t make the money, nor did LONELYLONER (and that makes me even sadder). Neither did 8LUFFMEOKI, who went out in 48th place to become our unfortunate Bubble Person. Normally players fall quickly after we make the money then things tighten before we reach the final table, and that’s what happened last night. In fact some of the players seemed to be stalling as we got down to the nitty-gritty, which was a bit silly as we were playing hand-for-hand and the other table was just sitting there waiting for play to wrap on the other table so they could start the next hand. I was sitting there too, watching it all, screaming “YOU KNOW YOU’RE GONNA FOLD!! SO FOLD!!!” as the clock struck 1AM on the East Coast. In the end it was the desperate SUNNYSTORM who got his money in holding the mighty 2-6, though he’d improved to a pair and a gutshot by the time the money went in on the turn. But ALEX_D22 had flopped a ten holding K-10 and wasn’t going anywhere, and when the river brought a blank SUNNYSTORM was going to the rail and ALEX_D22 was going to the final table, along with these eight players:
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again–when you make the final table of a tournament, and you’re short-stacked, and you decide to shove UTG with a hand like Kd-Jd. DO NOT do so when a player in the small blind is holding pocket Aces. Which is the exact unlucky scenario that sent TARGETSD out in 9th at the hands of MONEYNIKEME. Not that pocket Aces are infallible–no doubt ELNACHO was feeling good when he moved in with the bullets and was called by JED2006 holding Kh-10h. The flop brought no danger…well, there was a heart on the flop but how threatening is one lousy heart, really? Then came another heart on the turn…and another on the river, and that runner-runner flush sent ELNACHO and his Aces to the rail in 8th place, with $26.22 to comfort him.
It’s one thing to crack Aces with K-10 suited–can you WIN with Aces against K-10 suited? That exactly what JED2006 did a few hands later, picking up pocket Aces and using them to send APA_ATSAA and his Ks-10s out in 7th (good for $32.21). We actually had a decisive hand that didn’t include Aces, as QUINTDRIP’s pocket Queens held up against SWEETENXV’s pocket Tens. SWEET managed to double up like three times but when you start with just 357 chips that isn’t enough, and he soon succombed to finish sixth and pocket $39.62.
Then comes one of those hands that sticks with you for a long time, like when you walk in on your grandmother disposing of a corpse. QUINTDRIP was dealt pocket Kings, ALEX_D22 pocket Queens, and the two cagey players held off getting the money in until after the flop. Which came 3c…Kh…Qs. I’m sure ALEX felt quite confident putting in the last of his chips with middle set, only to see that QUINT turn over his cowboys. “Unreal” ALEX_D22 said as the turn and river failed to bring the case Queen and from a safe distance MONEYNIKEME said “OMG”. ALEX_D22, who had been near the top of the leaderboard for several hours, collected $51.30 for finishing 5th.
A more routine hand spelled the end of THE RAW ONE, as his pocket fours failed to win a not-so-Amazing Race with JED2006’s K-8. The money went in before the flop, which brought a King, and that spelled the end of THE RAW ONE and the increase of his bankroll by $68.69.
We were down to three-handed, with the player finishing third pocketing a hefty $119.42 and the two two getting tickets to the $200K Sunday Tournament. JED2006 open shoved and MONEYNIKEME called from the big blind with Ac-6c. JED2006 turned over a mighty 8s-3s. That hand proved mighty enough as an eight hit on the flop and MONEYNIKEME ended in third place and with a tidy boost to the bankroll.
One that JED2006 had been eyeing. “i wanted third dammit” JED2006 posted in chat, not necessarily an illogical wish. Finish third and your balance definitely goes up, finish first or second and you now have to navigate yet another huge field to get your hands on the cash. JED2006 and QUINTDRIP played a few desultory hands (there was really no difference between finishing first or second) before they got the money in preflop and JED2006 won the final race of the day:
However, I’d like to remind JED2006 of a little story. When Chris Moneymaker won his seat into the 2003 Main Event he played a satellite that paid out Main Event seats for the top few finishers and cash to the rest. In his autobiography Moneymaker said he wanted the cash–he had some credit cards he wanted to pay off and the money would’ve helped. He was going to just tank it and lock up the money when a friend called and offered to give Chris the money in exchange for a piece of what Moneymaker might win if he played and cashed in the Main Event. The rest, as they say, is History. So who knows–maybe JED2006 is our player of destiny, maybe he’s going to WIN the Sunday Guaranteed Tournament, maybe this Amazing Race Freeroll will the jumping-off point to a truly amazing ride to ultimate poker superstardom. Maybe two years from now JED2006 will be sitting down with a poker journalist (someone far more famous and respected than me) and saying, “Yes, it all started with a freeroll and,” here he’ll pause for a self-depreciating chuckle, “I wanted third, dammit”. Time, it will tell.
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Sunday, October 25, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
The final table of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event is just two weeks away, and as always there’s been quite a bit of discussion about who would be the “best” champion for poker. Which player among the November Nine would do the most to boost poker’s popularity, push the game further into the mainstream, maybe even help trigger a second poker boom. I think that expecting so much from the new World Champion is more than a bit unrealistic–when Jerry Yang won the title in 2007 he gave a poignant and heartfelt speech about his escape fro Laos and his faith that gave me goosebumps. “This is going to play so well with people who don’t follow poker,” I thought at the time. I thought that Yang had the chance to be a transformational figure, a deeply religious family man who loved poker and was going to donate a big chunk of his winnings to charity. You can’t make up a story like that.
The problem was ESPN only showed about five seconds of so of Yang’s speech. His story really didn’t get out into the mainstream, and Yang didn’t play all that many events and so faded from the scene, though he was always a gracious champion and a friendly and accommodating person. Expecting Yang, or Peter Eastgate, or really any person that Lady Luck picks at random and anoints as the Main Event champion to take up poker’s cause and lead us all to the promised land is, as I said, unrealistic.
This year, however, might be a bit different.
Because there is a player among the November Nine with the stature to put poker on his shoulders and carry it with him into the limelight. That player, of course, is Phil Ivey. Already considered by most the best poker player in the world and already having won two bracelets this year, Ivey marched through the Main Event field and made the final table, to the delight of just about everyone involved with poker. My colleagues in the poker media thought that having a famous pro like Ivey at the final table would boost the TV ratings through the roof (and so far ESPN’s numbers for their Main Event coverage have been very good) and would attract the attention of the big media outlets. That also has happened, as this week Ivey appeared on the cover of ESPN the Magazine and was the subject of a long feature story by Chad Millman.
Whether any media companies outside the ESPN umbrella will join in hyping the November Nine and Phil Ivey remains to be seen. Ivey has typically shunned the spotlight, rarely giving interviews and not opening up much to those he does speak to. But that’s changed in the last few months, as he’s done a number of lengthy interviews with various sites and let Millman follow him around during a whirlwind gambling trip. In a chat he did with ESPN readers Millman was asked about Ivey coming out of his shell with the media this is how he replied:
(Ivey’s) answer was that he feels like he’s getting older and has a sense of history for the game and realizes the relevance of him making the final table. So if this is a chance to spread the word about poker, he’s going to take it.
You couldn’t ask for a better attitude from a future World Champion, and hardly a better story that Ivey’s. He started playing in Atlantic City before he could legally enter a casino, using a fake ID that gave his name as “Jerome”. He played so much, was at the tables for so many marathon sessions, that the dealers nicknamed him “No Home Jerome”. Ivey has talked about playing 18 hours a day, going broke, raising a stake to get back into the game, and learning. Now he’s considered the best in the world and lives a life more akin to a rock star than a poker player. It’s a story that you’d think would appeal to a mass audience.
And of course to the poker audience Ivey is a god, already a member of the pantheon with a chance in November to capture the only prize that has so far eluded him–the title of World Champion. Should he win the Main Event Ivey’s resume would truly be staggering. It would be his eighth WSOP bracelet–and his first in Hold-Em. He would become the all-time tournament money leader (which he’ll still become should he finish sixth or better). He’s made 8 WPT final tables and won one WPT title. And all this from a player who’s best known as a cash player. Ivey’s exploits in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio are the stuff of legend (both urban and real) and, oh yeah, he’s also one of the biggest winners in the super-nosebleed online cash games. And then there’s the exploit that cements his status as an immortal, his heads-up battle with billionaire Andy Beal. Beal played a group of high-stakes pros in the biggest cash game of all time (the subject of Michael Craig’s outstanding book The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King) and when he returned to Vegas for a second shot he won $10 million off the pros who formed a consortium called The Corporation. Ten million is a huge sum, even for those deep-pocketed pros, and they brought in Ivey to try to turn the tide. Playing heads-up limit Hold-Em, Ivey won a mind-boggling $16 million from Beal and moved the billionaire to give up the game once again.
I honestly don’t know if Phil Ivey winning the Main Event will do much to push poker into the mainstream, I don’t know if Nike will come calling and make him their next signature personality. Ivey is sometimes called “The Tiger Woods of Poker”, though in the past the comparison was a lazy one raised more because they’re both African-American. But if Ivey wins the Main Event he could, like Tiger, become bigger than the game itself. And this is where I think Ivey winning the Main Event could indeed have a lasting effect on the game. Poker players often posssess sizable egos and they aren’t shy about telling people (including themselves) how great they are. There’s a huge crop of young hotshots out there and more come onto the scene every year. For those whose ambition matches their talent and ego, for those who truly want to become the greatest player in the world, they’ll have to try to eclipse Phil Ivey. And that, needless to say, is a daunting task.
In poker there are lots of players who look down on tournaments (or donkaments, as they call them), but it’s harder to do so when the biggest tournament money-winner is Ivey. He’s won bracelets in a variety of games, so mixed-game expertise is a must. And you have to be an absolute monster in both live and online cash games. There aren’t many players who would consciously set themselves up for that sort of challenge, but those who do aspire to that sort of greatness could be the personalities who drive the game forward for decades. Ivey himself is only 33 years old–the scary thing is that he’s likely to get better over time. Phil Hellmuth still has decades left in his career and he often talks about how he’s trying to make history with every tournament he plays. Of course it’s intimidating for a 21-year-old to contemplate winning eleven bracelets with the huge fields we see today, but poker is a game for the long haul, and a player with the proper perspective and the desire to be one of the greats has a path to follow.
I don’t know that I’ll be rooting for Phil Ivey come November. For one thing Ivey represents another online poker site that I’m professionally obligated to do battle with. For another, hasn’t Ivey won enough? There are other players who could use the money more, who might never otherwise enjoy the supernova of attention that will be lavished on the Main Event champion. But if Ivey does win I’ll be very interested to see how it all plays out, how the world at large looks upon this enigmatic superstar. I’d also be interested to know if Ivey wonders about these questions. If he does, maybe he’s human after all.
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Sunday, October 18, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
When you play in a tournament like the Aruba Poker Classic there’s a chance you could win life-changing money. First prize this year was around $750,000; last year it was a cool million. That’s a nice chunk of change no matter what your current bank balance is. Even if you “only” make the final table you’re walking away with more money than the average American family takes in during the year.
But poker doesn’t always have about high-stakes action, and it doesn’t take a huge sum of money to make a difference in someone’s life. Most people play poker for fun, believe it or not, even big-time pros who are used to risking huge sums on the turn of a card. And sometimes it can be fun to lose money at poker, especially when the money you’re kissing goodbye will be used to help people in need. This year in Aruba UltimateBet hosted a charity event to benefit the Children’s Home Imeldahof, which provides a temporary home and support for children who can’t remain in their homes due to mental, physical or sexual abuse. There was a big turnout for the $100 with rebuys charity event and the players were not at all shy about pulling out their bankrolls and giving till it hurts. It was a chance to have some fun, play with our Team UB pros, and raise some money for some kids in need:
In total $18,220 was raised from the tournament, as $11,700 was raised from the entries and rebuys, $5,000 was donated by UltimateBet, and the winners of the tournament contributed $1,520. At the Awards Banquet a check was presented to the director of the Children’s Home Imeldahof and she thanked those who contributed to the donation and told the crowd about the home’s mission:
Poker players often complain about their bad luck but it’s important to remember that many people have it much, much worse. Charity tournaments like the fundraiser for the Children’s Home Imeldahof serve as a reminder of how fortunate many of us are and how rewarding it can be to help those who need that help the most.
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Monday, October 12, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Home sweet home. That’s what a lot of people who attended the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic have been saying the last day or so as we wended our ways home. Don’t get me wrong, who doesn’t LOVE being in Aruba? I know I did, especially when I got home to Pittsburgh last night and the temperature was 38 degrees. And I was wearing a T-shirt and shorts. You bet I was missing Aruba then.
But a week on the island can take a toll, can it not? What with the non-stop poker and partying and sunshine and swimming it taxes even the strongest constitutions. I bet lots of folks who spent the last week in Aruba are taking today to regroup, to let their sunburned skin and overextended livers recover. God knows I am.
I’m also reveling in a hard and fast internet connection, something we didn’t always have in Aruba. I spent much of Sunday morning yelling at my computer, begging it to let me upload photos of the Awards Banquet held Saturday night. I figured that party would be more low-key that the Welcome Party of a week before, though full-on soccer riot would probably be more low-key than that party had been. And indeed things started off quite mellow, with a smaller crowd enjoying drinks and dinner and the end of the tournament.
The newly-minted champion of the Aruba Poker Classic, Brandon Hall, briefly addressed the crowd and thanked Tournament Director Matt Savage’s staff for running such a great tournament and accepted the congratulations of the crowd for his victory:
In keeping with the Roman theme of UltimateBet’s Tenth Anniversary celebration there was a procession of glittering models who walked through the crowd and posed with the partygoers (some of those pics may not be, uh, suitable for publication):
Phil Hellmuth chatted with the crowd before introducing the evening’s entertainment–The Dan Band. And they were awesome (I shot some video which I’ll post over the next day or so) and got the crowd in a dancing mood:
And as the evening wore on more people got in the pool and we started to see more scenes like these:
And that’s when the party got a bit…spirited, with roving gangs roaming through the crowd and tossing dozens of people into the drink. Some of these people went willingly, others were a bit demonstrative in their opposition. Usually when I sort through my photos I look for things like composition and clarity, but with some of the pics from the party I may have to take ethical considerations into account before I work on them. Like, “would this person be appalled if I posted this pic?” I usually take a conservative approach to such things so the more voyeuristic among you might be disaapointed. Though not with this pic of Liv Boeree and Robbie Cunningham, who worked on their synchronized swimming routine all year:
I’ll be posting more items about Aruba all week, trying to catch up with everything that went on during that whirlwind week. But now I’m gotta scrape the frost of my car and then I’m probably gonna have a little cry. Aruba…miss you already.
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Saturday, October 10, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
After hours where (literally) nothing happened there were two quick eliminations following Eric Baldwin’s exit. Chase Steely moved in for about 500,000 after a Robert Mizrachi raise and Robert called with K-J to Steely’s pocket Queens. The flop came A-10-9, giving Mizrachi a gutshot draw (though Steely held two of the necessary Queens). The turn was a deuce and the river…the Qd, giving Mizrachi Broadway and sending Steely out in 3rd place (and with a $218,860 payday).
Heads-up play began with Hall holding the chiplead and he extended it when he called a 500K Mizrachi bet on the river and showed K-9 for King-high. Mizrachi could only show K-8, Brandon’s nine kicker played, and that gave him a 4.8M to 2.4M lead.
The end came almost immediately after, as the two got all the chips in the middle after an 8s-9h-2c flop. As the crowd pushed close Mizrachi revealed 9c-6c for top pair while Hall held Js-10d for an open-ended straight draw and overcards. The Jd gave Hall a bigger pair and the lead and when the Qd fell on the turn and gave Hall a straight it also gave him the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic championship.
Hall said he’d just endured a rough patch of play before turning it around recently and posting some solid results online. He can now add a major live tournament score to his poker resume, as Brandon Hall is the champion of the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic.
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Saturday, October 10, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
The four players left in the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic have been discussing a deal for well over a half-hour now. They’re talking about chopping the money along some intricately-negotiated lines and saving about $100,00 to play for. This is perhaps the longest chop-talk I’ve ever seen and it ain’t over yet. And the clock has been running the whole time–if they can’t work it out (or if they do and play for money set aside) the blinds will be going up soon after play resumes. Provide play DOES resume, eventually.
While we wait, a picture of the Radisson’s resident cat (yes, he lives there, has a cat-condo on the premises and everything).
UPDATE: No deal. The players couldn’t agree to terms so after nearly an hour of talk we’re gonna play some cards.
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Saturday, October 10, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
The four players left in the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic seem prepared to turn this into a war of attrition. The biggest hand of the last hour came when Brandon Hall doubled up with Queens to Chase Steely’s pocket Tens. That gave Hall a 1.4 million stack and and bunched the players together even more. Here are the chip counts as we go on a break:
Robert Mizrachi – 2,300,000
Eric Baldwin – 2,250,000
Brandon Hall – 1,450,000
Chase Steely – 1,400,000
While we’re on break a few logistical issues have to be addressed–namely, the table has to be moved under the roof a few feet so Eric Baldwin and Brandon Hall don’t get broiled alive by the setting sun. Though imminent sunstroke would probably help spur the action Tournament Director Matt Savage doesn’t seem to think that’s a good idea so they’ll inch the table under Gilligan’s roof before play resumes.
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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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