I hope all of our US readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week (for the rest of you, I hope your Thursday was magnificent). I myself was traveling all week, a fun exercise that ended with me stuck on an interstate for 10 hours. Thus, I missed the final table of this past Sunday's Party 200k Guarantee, but Haley has a recap over at PokerNews. My traveling and general Thanksgiving merriment (read: passed out on couch after big turkey dinner) have put me a bit behind on the To Do list, but, operating under the premise "better late than never", I offer you my recap of the 11/19 200k tournament.
If you've never heard of professional poker player David Ross, do yourself a favor and cozy up with the 2+2 archives. Our favorite Party Poker man [bonus code Tuaca!] Bill Rini makes it easy for you, by linking to each one of David's weekly reports on his attempts to turn pro. That attempt ended up successful, and David is now a top online pro. He's also Canadian, which allows him (for now) to continue playing on Party Poker.
938 players started the 200k, and when it was down to ten four of those players were solidly in push or fold mode. The shortest stack belonged to AcadianWind, who had T153812 facing blinds and antes of 20k/40k/1k. In the cutoff, he pushed all-in preflop and three players called - davidross, Merc300CE24, and callandcry1. The 8h-6h-9h flop prompted a check all around, but the Kd on the turn elicited a bet from davidross. Merc300CE24 and callandcry1 folded, leaving David heads-up with the all-in player. David showed pocket 8s against AcadianWind's AQo, and the 6s on the river gave davidross an unnecessary, but no doubt welcome, boat. This one hand shot davidross to over 1 million in chips and gave him a comfortable lead over the remaining players.
Next out was another short stack, Drengur16. Sitting with about 200k in chips, Drengur pushed all-in preflop with AK and was called by one of the big stacks, aplunk, who showed J8. As usual, the Jack hit on the river, sending Drengur out in 9th place. The two remaining short stacks got in to it when M_A_M_ pushed all-in preflop with A-4c and got a call from Druggie_ with A-Qo. The 4h on the flop doubled up M_A_M_, and crippled Druggie. Soon talk of a deal begins. David Ross is having nothing of it, correctly pointing out that it's silly to talk deal with 8 players left, especially when one of them stands a really good chance of going out soon. Play resumed at the 40k/80k/2k level, with Druggie_ pushing all-in with pocket 4s, and M_A_M_ calling with QJ. Two Jacks on the flop sent Druggie out in 8th. Following soon after in 7th place was Merc300CE24, who pushed all-in preflop with the computer hand Q-7 and got a call from aplunk with A-9. Flop was 9h-Jh-Ks, and the turn brought an Ad for good measure, giving aplunk the chip lead with over 1 million in chips. titan779 followed in second place with T982,723 and davidross was in third with T603,099.
Despite the pleas from several of the remaining players, Ross is not interested in a deal. The others are upset by this, and you know they're just waiting for bad luck or a bad read to strike; to take David out of the game so they can have their fun dividing up the prize pool. They don't have to wait long.
M_A_M_ pushes all-in preflop and Ross, having about 40k more in chips, pushes all-in as well. M_A_M_ shows A-Kc against Ross' pocket Kings. Flop is Jd-Qs-2c. Turn is Tc. And the river, as you've no doubt guessed, was the 9c, leaving Ross on life support.
The very next hand Ross is all-in in the big blind, and gets a call from titan779, while M_A_M_ completes from the small blind. The flop is 9h-Ts-3d, and it's checked around. Turn is 4d, and M_A_M_ folds to a bet from titan. Down to two, titan shows A-9 to Ross' K-T. River is a Js and David lives on. The next hand finds David in the small blind with 2d-5d, with callandcry1 in the big blind with Qd-8d. The flop looks bleak, but a 2 hits the turn, doubling up David again to a stack now over T200000. Not a lot of breathing room, but some.
Of course now that David has taken a hit, he's being razzed for his decision to not take a deal. Like the pro that he is, David doesn't bite, knowing that it was bad luck that got him, not bad decision-making. The biggest razzer is cryandcall1, who soon pushed all-in from the button with K-8, getting a call from titan779 with K-Q. The board paired with Aces, but the remaining cards where no help to either player, sending cryandcall1 home in 6th.
Down to five, and with a much shorter stack than before, Ross now agrees to consider a deal. Players enter the deal making chat, but no one says anything or makes any attempt to work out an offer. Ross leaves the deal making and play resumes. M_A_M_ is out next in 5th when aplunk pushes all-in with pocket Kings. M_A_M_ shows pocket Queens and the board is no help. David continues to build back up courtesy of titan779 - this time David pushed with A-J and titan called with K-8. The board was no help to either and gave Ross a stack of T420,000. He continues building when he goes all-in on the button with K-9 and gets a call from KAPMAH_ in the big blind. You haven't heard about him yet, and that's the reason why he only had one big blind left after putting his in, making this a must-call. KAPMAH_ had 7-3o, Ross flops a King, and KAPMAH_ is out in 4th, giving Ross a stack of T741,436.
It's now down to three - aplunk, titan779, and davidross. Deal making discussions are entered in to again, but Ross refuses to take a chip chop, pointing out that while aplunk has the chip lead, he and titan are only one big hand away from it. No one can seem to figure out another way of making a deal, so play resumes again, with blinds and antes at 50k/100k/2500. As if on cue, pocket Aces arrive for David Ross and he pushes all-in, getting a call from aplunk with J-9. The River brings a 9, but it's not enough, and Ross doubles up to a stack of T1,117,872. He pushes again with pocket Jacks, this time getting a call from titan779 who shows A-Q. A Jack hits the flop, and titan779 is out in 3rd, taking home $15,000.
Down to two, Ross and aplunk agree to a deal that would give them each $35,000, with an additional $3,000 going to the first place finisher. The heads-up match doesn't last long. davidross raises pre-flop, aplunk re-raises, and then Ross pushes all-in. aplunk calls, showing As-2s to Ross' pocket Tens. The flop comes 6d-5s-Qh, and the Turn gives Ross a set with the Ts. River is the 4s, ending the tournament and declaring aplunk the winner.
