Chan's
Ninth
Just
another day at the office.
--
Johnny Chan
Poker
history was made once again, as living
poker legend "The Orient Express" himself,
Johnny Chan claimed his second title at
this year's World Series of Poker, and
ninth overall bracelet since 1985 -- putting
him into a virtual tie for first place
with Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson. Chan
also bolstered his position as the all-time
leading money winner in World Series history,
with $3,473,994 in lifetime earnings.
Indeed,
the final table of the $5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit
Omaha event was arguably one of the toughest
lineups of all time. There were no less
than 21 gold bracelets spread amongst
five players -- including two former world
champions, and the defending champion
from last year. The final table also offered
a collective mix of N.A.T.O. nationalities,
from the United States, England, France,
and Germany. But it was Hong Kong-born
Chan who took the gold bracelet and collected
$158,100 for first place.
Phillip
Marmorstein from Munich, Germany was the
first player to be eliminated, going out
in 9th place -- good for $7,900. The next
key hand occurred ten minutes later and
completely altered there complexion of
the finale. Huck Seed got into a raising
war with Johnny Chan after the flop came
K-J-4 (two diamonds came on board). Chan
held K-K-x-x and had Seed "all-in" drawing
to the nut-diamond flush, with the A-10-x-x
(and diamonds). With $55,000 in the pot,
Seed caught his much-needed diamond on
the turn and just as it appeared he would
win the big pot, a four came from the
deck and paired the board -- knocking
Seed out of the tournament and catapulting
Chan into the chip lead for the first
time. Seed, the 1996 world champion, was
out in 8th place.
Seeing
Johnny Chan accumulating chips is certainly
not a welcome sight, especially if one
is sitting on the opposite side of the
table. Chan's stack continued to grow
as he used his position effectively to
win a few more pots without getting called,
and was up to $130K exactly one hour into
play.
Next,
Robert Williamson got into a big hand
with John Juanda when the flop came Q-6-3.
Juanda bet out $14K (with A-A-x-x -- which
amounted to a pair of aces) and Williamson
made a bold over-the-top pot-sized re-raise
with Q-9-8-7 (top pair was all he had
at the time). Juanda called with the better
of the two hands, and was distressed to
see a 9 come on the turn, giving Williamson
two pair. When the final card brought
a 10, Williamson had a straight and Juanda
was out of the tournament in 7th place.
He received $13,800.
Jon Brody pulled off a stunning double-up
hand when he moved "all-in" with top set
(queens) after the flop came, and was
called by Robert Williamson with top two
pair (queens and sevens). Incredibly,
the turn made Williamson a straight and
just when it looked like Brody would be
eliminated, he caught a lifesaving backdoor
heart on the river to make a heart flush.
Instead of hitting the rail, Brody moved
close to $100K in chips, while Williamson
was left with $60K.
An
hour went by before the next key hand
of the final table. Williamson made a
spade flush against Immanuel Sebag, leaving
the Englishman down to $25K. But spades
would pay back Sebag nicely a few hands
later when he made a spade flush and knocked-out
Erik Seidel, who was desperately short-stacked
and was never able to generate any momentum
at the final table. For those hoping for
another classic "Chan-Seidel match," they
would have to wait until another day.
Seidel took home $17,800 for 6th place.
Williamson
gradually recovered from his early setback
and overcame Chan in chips ($170 vs. $140K)
about three hours into play. The three
other players -- Sebag, Atlanic, and Brody
were slowly grinded down one orbit at
a time until it became critical that each
had to double through to stay in the tournament.
Sebag did precisely that when, incredibly,
he misread his hand and still managed
to win a huge pot. After the flop came
Q-10-4, three players moved "all-in" --
Sebag with just a pair of queens (he thought
he had a flush draw -- but was mistaken
with A-Q-8-7), Jon Brody who flopped a
set of tens (10-10-6-4), and Robert Williamson
on the nut flush draw (A-Q-9-9). Amazingly,
Sebag caught two perfect cards to make
queens full of eights, as an eight and
queen fell on the turn and river, respectively.
Brody, with tens full (a loser to the
higher full house) went out in 5th place
and received $21,700.
A
few minutes later, with Chan the chip
leader, he went after Maurice Atlani who
was short-stacked, and knocked out the
Frenchman in 4th place when his two pair
bested Atlani's missed draw. Atlani collected
$27,750 for 4th place as Chan held a 2-1
chip lead over both of his two remaining
opponents.
The
three finalists battled for over 90 minutes
before a hand of major significance took
place. Sebag made a pot-sized bet with
A-A-J-10 and Williamson came over the
top for an "all-in" raise holding K-9-8-6
after seeing the flop come K-5-3. The
last two cards came Q-3 giving Sebag a
$150K pot with two pair -- aces and threes.
Now,
it was Williamson who was in big trouble.
The part-time tournament pro from Dallas
moved in with his last $11K when he was
dealt Q-Q-7-3. Chan called Williamson's
final bet of the night and made two pair,
aces and fours to win the pot. Williamson,
showing his customary class and sportsmanship,
shook both of his opponents hands and
wished the two finalists the best. Williamson,
the defending champion in this event,
collected $47,400 for third place.
The
last hand of the night came just moments
later and it was memorable. Chan was dealt
8-6-5-2, normally not much of an Omaha-high
hand, but was delighted to see the final
board show 9-4-3-Q-2. Sebag had K-Q-Q-J
(double-suited) and announced he was betting
the pot with trip-queens on the river.
Chan wisecracked, "I guess I'll call with
the nuts." That effectively ended it,
which meant Chan had moved beyond the
farthest horizon by joining legendary
Doyle Brunson with nine lifetime World
Series of Poker wins.
Immanuel
Sebag, from London, was clearly fortunate
to be in a position to take second-place.
He comes from a highly-competitive player
base of pot-limit specialists from the
U.K. But no amount of poker acumen could
derail "The Orient Express" in what was
yet another masterful performance. At
no point EVER at this final table was
Chan in danger of going out or jeopardizing
any sizable portion of his chips. With
nine events yet to go at this year's World
Series of Poker, it remains to be seen
if Chan can be the first poker player
ever to win ten gold bracelets. Based
on his performance to date, it's really
not so much a matter of if, but when.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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