The swings of Limit Hold’em are the kinds of things they write movies about. A player can go from chip leader to all in, or from the short stack to champion after just a few hands.
Tomas Alenius came back from a 3-1 chip deficit going into heads-up play of USD 1,500 Limit Hold’em (Event 26) to beat Jason Tam for the World Series of Poker bracelet and USD 197,488.
“There’s not much to do,” the Swede said of his comeback. “Catch some hands and take the thing over. There’s a lot of luck involved,” he said laughing. “And I run good.”
Alenius was down to 420,000, while Tam was near 2.5 million early, but Alenius was able to win several small pots and creep to 920,000, pull up even with Tam, and eventually take the chip lead from his opponent.
With only 185,000 left, Tam raised and called his last chips with Q 5 , while Alenius had A 4 . The board never hit Tam, running 6 T 2 K K , giving Alenius the win, and his first bracelet. Tam earned USD 122,000 for the second-place.
“(Winning the bracelet) is awesome,” Alenius said. “This is what you dream about.”
Al Barbieri was another unfortunate soul to go from penthouse to the outhouse in this tournament. He began as the chip leader coming into the final day of play and had more than three times as many chips as anyone else on the table at one point, but when it was down to three-handed, he ran into trouble.
His stack had slowly been chipped away as Alenius and Tam climbed up and three were closer to average. Tam finally sent the man they call “Sugar Bear” looking for a new game when Barbieri moved all in on the flop, which brought A J 8 . Tam led out and the action was capped after four bets. Barbieri was all in when the 7 fell on the turn and Tam led out again. Barbieri showed J T , but Tam had A K and took the pot and a 3-1 chip lead over Alenius going into heads-up play. Barbieri made USD 80,072 for finishing in third.
Play began on Day 3 with 15 players remaining to play for the gold bracelet, and after John Varner, Mike Schiffman, Andrew Kerstine, Yan Peng Li and Ken Dickenson were eliminated, those left were combined to one table hidden behind the two feature tables in the Amazon Room of the Rio Hotel, where they would remain until a champion was crowned.
The remaining players were Tam, Alenius, Barbieri, Glenn Engelbert, Demetrios Arvanetes, Rep Porter, Cole Miller, Kim-Phong Duong, Richard Brodie and Dominik Kulicki.
Down to 10 players at the final table, Engelbert hurt Brodie’s stack, when Brodie check-folded on the turn after three-betting from the small blind and getting raised on the flop. After he was down to only 80,000 in chips, Tam finished Brodie off, when his A J hit middle pair on the flop of Q J 2 , but Tam’s K T gave him an open-ended-straight draw and a flush draw. The board paired queens on the turn, but the 3 gave Tam a king-high flush and eliminated Brodie in the 10th, who received USD 13,543.
Although it took a little while, three more players were eliminated seemingly back-to-back-to-back, all leaving within an hour.
Miller was next to leave the final table when he raised from the small blind with A 9 and Barbieri called in the big blind. Miller led out on the Q 5 3 flop, Barbieri raised Miller’s short stack. Miller re-raised and Barbieri put him all in for last few thousand chips and Miller called. Barbieri showed 8 5 for middle pair. Miller needed an ace or a nine, but the T Q ended his tournament life. He collected USD 18,932 for the ninth.
On the next deal, Duong called all of his chips with A Q to Engelbert’s raise from under the gun. Tam also called. The two checked the whole way down and after the board read 6 4 2 4 T , Tam had 9 7 and Engelbert won with A K . The ace-king high was good enough for the pot and knocked Duong out. Doung’s eighth-place finish earned USD 21,416.
Porter joined the other two on the rail soon after when he raised from first position and only Arvanetes called, from the big blind. Arvanetes led out on the 2 5 7 flop, Porter raised and was called. Porter was check-raised when the 4 came on the turn and called. When Arvanetes led out on the river, 7 , Porter finally called off the last of his chips to Arvanetes’ J T , for a flush. The seventh-place finish won Porter USD 25,313.
After that level, a quick 20-minute break and color up, Kulicki was eliminated in the sixth place. The short stack with 220,000, he three-bet all in from the big blind over Tam’s original raise from early position. Tam called with A A and Kulicki showed K Q hit a pair on the Q 7 4 , but the next two streets didn’t help him with the T 6 . Kulicki took USD 31,325 for his deep run.
With around 50,000 after winning an all-in bet with only 20000, Arvanetes put in most of his remaining chips against Engelbert and Alenius. After Arvanetes put his last two orange, 5,000 chips in the middle after 3 J 7 and other two called. They checked the rest of the way down, with the turn and river bringing 2 and J . Engelbert flopped a set, holding 7 7 , and improved to a full house on the turn, beating Alenius’ king-high flush and Arvanetes’ A 7 . He was awarded USD 40,681 for finishing in fifth.
Play was down to three-handed after Engelbert was eliminated by Alenius’ aces. Engelbert had been severely crippled by Barbieri the hand before, and moved all in for his last few chips on the button with Q 7 after Alenius opened with a raise, holding A A , and Tam called from big blind. Tam check-folded on the 8 8 5 after Alenius bet with his over pair. The 6 and 5 fell on the next two streets, leaving Engelbert with queen-high and out in fourth, making USD 55,576.3
Tomas Alenius came back from a 3-1 chip deficit going into heads-up play of USD 1,500 Limit Hold’em (Event 26) to beat Jason Tam for the World Series of Poker bracelet and USD 197,488.
“There’s not much to do,” the Swede said of his comeback. “Catch some hands and take the thing over. There’s a lot of luck involved,” he said laughing. “And I run good.”
Alenius was down to 420,000, while Tam was near 2.5 million early, but Alenius was able to win several small pots and creep to 920,000, pull up even with Tam, and eventually take the chip lead from his opponent.
With only 185,000 left, Tam raised and called his last chips with Q 5 , while Alenius had A 4 . The board never hit Tam, running 6 T 2 K K , giving Alenius the win, and his first bracelet. Tam earned USD 122,000 for the second-place.
“(Winning the bracelet) is awesome,” Alenius said. “This is what you dream about.”
Al Barbieri was another unfortunate soul to go from penthouse to the outhouse in this tournament. He began as the chip leader coming into the final day of play and had more than three times as many chips as anyone else on the table at one point, but when it was down to three-handed, he ran into trouble.
His stack had slowly been chipped away as Alenius and Tam climbed up and three were closer to average. Tam finally sent the man they call “Sugar Bear” looking for a new game when Barbieri moved all in on the flop, which brought A J 8 . Tam led out and the action was capped after four bets. Barbieri was all in when the 7 fell on the turn and Tam led out again. Barbieri showed J T , but Tam had A K and took the pot and a 3-1 chip lead over Alenius going into heads-up play. Barbieri made USD 80,072 for finishing in third.
Play began on Day 3 with 15 players remaining to play for the gold bracelet, and after John Varner, Mike Schiffman, Andrew Kerstine, Yan Peng Li and Ken Dickenson were eliminated, those left were combined to one table hidden behind the two feature tables in the Amazon Room of the Rio Hotel, where they would remain until a champion was crowned.
The remaining players were Tam, Alenius, Barbieri, Glenn Engelbert, Demetrios Arvanetes, Rep Porter, Cole Miller, Kim-Phong Duong, Richard Brodie and Dominik Kulicki.
Down to 10 players at the final table, Engelbert hurt Brodie’s stack, when Brodie check-folded on the turn after three-betting from the small blind and getting raised on the flop. After he was down to only 80,000 in chips, Tam finished Brodie off, when his A J hit middle pair on the flop of Q J 2 , but Tam’s K T gave him an open-ended-straight draw and a flush draw. The board paired queens on the turn, but the 3 gave Tam a king-high flush and eliminated Brodie in the 10th, who received USD 13,543.
Although it took a little while, three more players were eliminated seemingly back-to-back-to-back, all leaving within an hour.
Miller was next to leave the final table when he raised from the small blind with A 9 and Barbieri called in the big blind. Miller led out on the Q 5 3 flop, Barbieri raised Miller’s short stack. Miller re-raised and Barbieri put him all in for last few thousand chips and Miller called. Barbieri showed 8 5 for middle pair. Miller needed an ace or a nine, but the T Q ended his tournament life. He collected USD 18,932 for the ninth.
On the next deal, Duong called all of his chips with A Q to Engelbert’s raise from under the gun. Tam also called. The two checked the whole way down and after the board read 6 4 2 4 T , Tam had 9 7 and Engelbert won with A K . The ace-king high was good enough for the pot and knocked Duong out. Doung’s eighth-place finish earned USD 21,416.
Porter joined the other two on the rail soon after when he raised from first position and only Arvanetes called, from the big blind. Arvanetes led out on the 2 5 7 flop, Porter raised and was called. Porter was check-raised when the 4 came on the turn and called. When Arvanetes led out on the river, 7 , Porter finally called off the last of his chips to Arvanetes’ J T , for a flush. The seventh-place finish won Porter USD 25,313.
After that level, a quick 20-minute break and color up, Kulicki was eliminated in the sixth place. The short stack with 220,000, he three-bet all in from the big blind over Tam’s original raise from early position. Tam called with A A and Kulicki showed K Q hit a pair on the Q 7 4 , but the next two streets didn’t help him with the T 6 . Kulicki took USD 31,325 for his deep run.
With around 50,000 after winning an all-in bet with only 20000, Arvanetes put in most of his remaining chips against Engelbert and Alenius. After Arvanetes put his last two orange, 5,000 chips in the middle after 3 J 7 and other two called. They checked the rest of the way down, with the turn and river bringing 2 and J . Engelbert flopped a set, holding 7 7 , and improved to a full house on the turn, beating Alenius’ king-high flush and Arvanetes’ A 7 . He was awarded USD 40,681 for finishing in fifth.
Play was down to three-handed after Engelbert was eliminated by Alenius’ aces. Engelbert had been severely crippled by Barbieri the hand before, and moved all in for his last few chips on the button with Q 7 after Alenius opened with a raise, holding A A , and Tam called from big blind. Tam check-folded on the 8 8 5 after Alenius bet with his over pair. The 6 and 5 fell on the next two streets, leaving Engelbert with queen-high and out in fourth, making USD 55,576.3
Final table results and payouts
1. Tomas Alenius – USD 197,488
2. Jason Tam - USD 122,000
3. Al Barbieri - USD 80,072
4. Glenn Engelbert - USD 55,576
5. Demetrios Arvanetes - USD 40,681
6. Dominik Kulicki - USD 31,325
7. Rep Porter - USD 25,313
8. Kim-Phong Duong - USD 21,416
9. Cole Miller - USD 18,932
10. Richard Brodie - USD 13,5432
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