Poker Tournament Results

Legends of Poker / WPT Event Season 8

Patrick Karschamroon

Tournament Report

Patrick Karschamroon Wins the 2009 Legends of Poker Event #20 – the $1070 No Limit Hold’em Tournament The 2009 Legends of Poker had its twentieth overall event at the Bicycle Casino’s newly remodeled Events Center and the final table was the quietest to date, with players letting their chip do the talking for them. The $1070 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold’em Deepstack tournament was a 2-day event which began with a total of 175 players and a prize pool of $159,750. In addition to a first prize of $54,080 the winner also received a championship ring, and a WPT seat worth $10K. Final table play began at level 15 with antes at $3K and blinds at $10K/$20K. Patrick Karschamroon entered the final table as the chip leader holding $886,000 of the $4,038,000 chips in play. On the first hand Thanh Luoug pushed all-in with pocket A-Q only to be called by the chip leader Patrick Karschamroon with pocket 5’s. The flop came 8-4-6 which offered no help to Thanh and his two overcards. A 5 on the turn gave Patrick a set of 5’s and a Q on the river would be the last card for Thanh who was eliminated in 10th place taking home $2,970. After a first hand knockout we would have to wait for twenty more hands and a level increase before we had our next player out. On the 21st hand Scott Barrows raised with A-K one off from the button, John Nguyen re-raised all-in from the big blind with A-10 suited, and Scott called. Both players turned over their cards as the rainbow flop came 5-6-A giving both players top pair but leaving Scott with the best kicker. A 3 on the turn and a K on the river would not improve John’s hand and he was out in 9th place earning $3,390. On the 47th hand at level 17 with antes at $4K and blinds at $12K/$24K, Eric Baldwin raised to a total of $62K with pocket J’s and was re-raised all-in by Phillip Liou with pocket 9’s in the big blind. Eric made an immediate call and the cards were turned over as the flop came 7-8-6 keeping Eric in the early lead but giving Phillip an open ended straight draw, but a 4 on the turn did not make the straight and a J on the river only improver Eric’s hand as Phillip was eliminated in 8th place worth $3,820. The action at the table increased and on the 56th hand we had our next player eliminated. Patrick would later say that this was the key hand in the tournament for him. Patrick Karschamroon raised to a total of $65K in late position, Joseph Serock who had been fairly tight up until this point re-raised all-in from the big blind with over $550K in chips, Patrick would take a moment before calling and turning up his A-Q suited spades, Joseph then turned up his K-10 suited clubs. The rainbow flop came 4-J-J putting Patrick in the lead with Joseph hoping for an A or a Q. The 5 of spades on the turn was the second spade on the board giving Patrick a flush draw and eliminating even more outs for Joseph, and with a 2 on the river Joseph’s day was done as he was knocked out in 7th place earning him $4,260 and making Patrick the overwhelming chip leader. On the 73rd hand Scott Barrows raised all-in for a total of $215K with A-8 in late position, and was called by Patrick Karschamroon in the small blind with A-J. Again the board was kind to Patrick as it came 6-7-4-K-9 allowing Patrick to win with Ace high and a Jack kicker, while Scott was eliminated in 6th place worth $5,950. Five hands later the short stack Franco Brunetti raised to a total of $85K in late position, Patrick Karschamroon re-raised from the small blind for $90K more, Franco then pushed all-in, and Patrick called turning up his K-J while Franco turned up A-7. Franco’s lead only lasted until the flop as it came K-9-2 giving Patrick top pair and with a 6 on the turn and a 3 on the river Franco was eliminated in 5th place earning him $7,645. On the 83rd hand Eric Baldwin opened the action by raising to a total of $70K, and after a moment to think Dong Xu made the call from the big blind. The flop came 2-8-A and Dong checked the action to Eric who bet $125K, Dong re-raised all-in for $495K more and Eric then called. The cards were turned over revealing Eric’s A-10 for top pair while Dong showed 10-2 for bottom pair. The 3 on the turn and a J on the river did not improve Dong’s hand as he was knocked out in 4th place taking home $10,180. The pace continued to be aggressive and just four hands later Patrick Karschamroon raised on the button, Eric Baldwin re-raised from the big blind, and Patrick called. The flop came 10-9-8 with two clubs and Eric checked the action to Patrick who bet out, Eric raised all-in, and Patrick called turning up his K-10 good for top pair with a King kicker while Eric turned over Q-10 also with top pair but a slightly inferior Queen kicker. The 3 on the turn and the 5 on the river would not improve Eric’s hand and he was eliminated in 3rd place earning him $16,120. The last hand of the tournament would occur two hands later. On the 89th hand Patrick Karschamroon raised on the button with A-3, Eric Fields re-raised all-in with A-J, and Patrick called. Eric’s lead pre-flop was over when a 3 hit the flop as it came 5-3-Q and Patrick would remain in the lead as an 8 hit the turn and another 3 hit the river giving Patrick a set of 3’s and ending Eric’s day in 2nd place good for $31,400. Patrick Karschamroon was declared the winner of the Legends of Poker Event #20, earning him the championship ring, a WPT seat worth $10K, and the first place prize of $54,080. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter on our Bicyclecasino account. -- Matt Snodgrass BIOGRAPHY Patrick Karschamroon has been playing competitively for four years with no limit hold’em being his favorite game and preferring cash to tournament play. This is his biggest cash in a tournament so far and Patrick feels that the key to his final table strategy was to be very aggressive and to use his chip lead in order to put as much pressure on the other players as possible.