The World Series of Poker event that has grabbed the headlines this
week was undoubtedly the H.O.R.S.E. tournament (see previous InfoPowa
bulletins) where the creme de la creme of players in several variations
of the game paid $50 000 a pop entry fees for a crack at the $1.7
million first prize, or a share in the $6.8 million prize pool.
143 players fronted up this significant entry fee and the grueling
three day endurance event got underway with the most competitive WSOP
field per capita yet seen.
Finally, however after a 19 hour session it was down to nine great
players at the last table, which looked like this:
David “Chip” Reese - $1,756,000
Doyle Brunson - $1,227,000
Andy Bloch - $934,000
Phil Ivey - $885,000
Jim Bechtel - $841,000
David Singer - $745,000
Dewey Tomko - $438,000
T.J. Cloutier - $351,000
Patrik Antonius - $13,000
The finalists boast a breathtaking collection of achievements - 27
WSOP bracelets and 116 final table appearances.
Final table action began with $10,000 - $20,000 blinds and $3,000
antes.
Patrik Antonius, who was riding a knife edge with a low chip count
to start with, had a flash of good luck and boldness initially, but
soon exited after he moved all on a J43 board, and his A 4 failed
to catch up to Reese’s pocket eights. His ninth place paycheck
was $205,920
The legendary Doyle Brunson was next to go in eight place at $274,560,
and he was followed at seventh by two-time WSOP Main Event runner-up
Dewey Tomko. After raising $100 000, Tomko moved all in over the top
of an Andy Bloch $300 000 re-raise. Tomko’s pocket eights put
him way behind Bloch’s pocket queens, and, while the 975 flop
gave Tomko an inside straight draw, he was out of the game with $343
200 with the K turn and 4 river.
It was Davbid Singer's time to go within ten minutes of Tomko's departure,
again the victim of aggressive Reese play. Singer's sixth place payout
was still big money at $411 840.
T.J. Cloutier was next. Although he used his no-limit expertise to
good effect at the ferocious table, doubling up, and pushing all-in
a number of times, he ran out moves when his pocket sevens collided
into Bloch’s pocket tens. With no miracle sevens, straights
or flushes on the board, Cloutier walked away from the final table
as the fifth place finisher with $480 480.
1993 WSOP champion Jim Bechtel also fell victim to Bloch's skill and
broke the half a million dollar barrier as he went home with a fourth
place cheque $549 120.
Bechtel’s elimination set up a three way match between two members
of Team Full Tilt, and a cash game player with no sponsorships. Phil
Ivey, Bloch and Reese battled for only half an hour before Ivey, who
was a fave to win the HORSE by many, and had been hoping to add a
sixth WSOP bracelet to his collection was dispatched by Bloch who
called Ivey's all-in bet with a straight draw and a flush draw, hitting
the flush on the turn to get to heads up play just before 2 a.m. He
collected his third place paycheck of $617 760 and left the table
.
Ivey's departure set the scene for the final heads up confrontation
between two professional players of consummate skill, and it started
a thriller of a marathon match that was to run for just over 7 hours,
breaking the previous WSOP record set in 1983.
After hours of tough play which swung back and forth, at the end it
came down to a Reese move all-in from the strong position of $6,850,000
to $300,000 chip lead. Bloch made the call and flipped over 9 8. Reese
showed the A Q. Bloch picked up a straight draw with the J77 flop,
but the 4 turn and 4 river gave Reese two pair with a better kicker.
It was all over....Bloch left with second place and $1 029 600 for
his trouble, and a jubilant Reese carried off the $1 716 000 top prize
and his third hard-won WSOP bracelet.
"He had me beat four or five times," Reese
said after the game. "I just kept coming back. I'm very
happy to win, but I feel bad for [Bloch], because he played well enough
to win today."
The level of skill and excitement inherent in the H.O.R.S.E format,
which enables players to show their poker paces in games other than
Hold Em makes this event one of the most spectacular in the World
Series of Poker, and this year was certainly no exception.