Poker Tournament Results

Legends of Poker / WPT Event Season 8

Kent Keilholtz

Tournament Report

Kenton Keilholtz Takes Down the 2009 Legends of Poker Event #8 – $545 NLH Tournament The 2009 Legends of Poker had its eighth overall event and the final table at the Bicycle Casino saw action that was both exciting and fast paced at their newly remodeled Events Center with a $545 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament. The 2-day event began with a total of 258 players and a prize pool of $115,130. In addition to first prize of $42,675 the winner also received a championship ring and a $10K seat at the WPT tournament to be held at the end of the month. Final table play began at level 18 with blinds at 15K-30K with a $5K ante. Daniel Amouyal entered the final table as the chip leader holding $1,035,000 of the $4,380,000 chips in play. Kenton Keilholtz started the final table in third place but after the first five hands he would become the overwhelming chip leader riding a streak that few of us will ever experience at a final table. On just the 3rd hand the short stack Franco Brunetti raised to $70K, Kenton re-raised all-in from the big blind and was then called by Franco. Franco turned over his A-3 suited and Kenton revealed his pocket A’s as the flop came 5-5-5 giving Kenton an unbeatable full house. The J on the turn and the 6 on the river were inconsequential and Franco Brunetti was knocked out in 10th place earning him $1,440. On the very next hand Kenton raised in the small blind only to have Roy Peters re-raise all-in from the big blind. Kenton made an immediate call and revealed his A-K, Roy then turned over his A-3. The board came J-8-8-6-7 and gave no help to Roy who was eliminated in 9th place earning him $1,725. One hand later found yet another player all-in. On the 5th hand Julian Chung raised $105K in middle position and was re-raised all-in by Kenton Keilholtz. Julian made a quick call and flipped over his pocket J’s and was relieved to see he was ahead of Kenton’s pocket 9’s. That relief was short lived however when a 9 in the window gave Kenton trip 9’s. With a flop 9-4-7 Julian was down to two outs but a J never came as the turn was a 3 and the river an 8. Kenton’s trip’s were enough to eliminate Julian in 8th place making him $2,300. After three hands and three eliminations by Kenton we had to wait until the 10th hand to see our next player knocked out. Daniel Amouyal raised all-in on the button with pocket K’s and was called by Ablahad Salim who had A-K suited. The flop gave Ablahad an inside straight draw as it came Q-10-8 but the straight never manifested with a 4 on the turn and a 7 on the river. Daniel’s pocket K’s held and sent Ablahad out in 7th place good for $2,875. Two hands later found Phillip Loung raising all-in under the gun with pocket 7’s and Daniel Amouyal made the call with A-4 suited. The flop came 6-A-5 giving the advantage to Daniel and after the J on the turn and a 3 on the river Phillip was unable to improve his hand and he was out in 6th place worth $4,030. The action slowed somewhat and it was a round later on the 21st hand that we found our 5th place finisher. Phuong Nguyen raised all-in from the cut off position with Q-J and was called by Kenton holding a dominating A-J in the big blind. The board came J-8-5-10-J giving both players trip J’s but Kenton the best of it with the Ace kicker, Phuong was eliminated in 5th place earning him $5,180. The remaining 4 players discussed a chip count and after the staff ran the numbers the players were in agreement to a deal. Kenton Keilholtz was declared the winner of the Legends of Poker eighth event earning him the first place prize of $42,675, a championship ring, and a seat at the WPT later this month worth $10K. -- Matt Snodgrass BIOGRAPHY Kenton Keilholtz has only been playing poker two years. The $545 tournament was his biggest win to date and when he arrived on the first day he was unaware that the tournament would run two days. The 2 day format did not affect his play and the deepstack style helped him navigate the tournament early. Kenton is a retired Orange County Firefighter; he prefers No Limit Hold’em to most other poker games and also enjoys the tournaments more than the cash games. He chose a mixture of strategies at the final table where he allowed his cards to do the work early and his chips to do the work late. Without a doubt Kenton felt that the first five hands set the tone for him at the final table.