Peter Phillips Stages Stunning Comeback Victory
in Stud Eight-or-Better Event
Talk about a long shot. Peter Phillips started Day Two of the JBWPO Stud Eight-or-Better Event lowest in chips -- with only $3,800. His over/under could have been measured in seconds, instead of minutes. Contrast that with the chip leader, who began the day with a whopping $61,400. In fact, Phillips had less than 3 percent of the total chips in play when play began. Four hours later, Peter Phillips had ALL the chips and $38,816 in prize money for his first major tournament victory.
The most unlikely of comeback scenarios was impossible to foresee in the early stages, as chip leader George Kraynak continued to distance himself from the pack. Jeff Hunsinger. a salesman from Birmingham, was the first player to make an exit. Hunsinger was the second shortest-stack with only $5,600, which meant with the betting limits at $2K-4K he was "all-in" on fourth-street. Hunsinger had two pair when his final hand was shown -- (J-4) 4-3-5-J (Q). Unfortunately, George Kraynak ended up with two pair also, Ks and 6s, which scooped the pot. Hunsinger received $2,203 for eighth place.
Not much went right for Angel Fontanez at the final table. He lasted less than an hour and played his final hand when he started off with a pair of Kings. Angel failed to improve and lost to George Kraynak's two pair, 7s and 6s. While Angel fell from grace in seventh place -- good for $3,148 -- Kraynak fortified his chip lead with over $80K – towering over the rest of the field.
Brent Carter (no relation to the Las Vegas-based poker pro) was playing in his first poker tournament. Carter, from Florida, was low and chips and ended up with (8-6) 6-3-2-K (9), good for just a pair of 6s. Gary Gentry's pair of 7's edged out Carter's weak hand and another player was bounced off the final table. Carter received $4,196 for sixth place.
Frankie Hendrickson survived four “all-ins” before succumbing to misfortune. Down to her last $12K, she ended up with two pair, 9s and 3s which was crushed by Thor Hansen's powerful wheel, A-2-3-4-5 -- which scooped the $30K pot. Hendrickson, who has made final tables previously at the JBWPO, went “back to Kokomo” (IN) with $5,246 for fifth place.
After a short break, the limits were raised to $4K-8K. George Kraynak went on a terrible run over the next 20 minutes, during which he lost two critical pots. Thor Hansen benefited from Kraynak's misery, particularly on one hand when Hansen made a 6-high straight to scoop the high and low versus Kraynak's two pair -- As and Qs.
Hansen then seized the chip lead on a hand when he eliminated Kraynak shortly thereafter. Kraynak began with split 9s and ended up with (9-3) 9-6-7-10 (2) versus Hansen's (K-9) K-6-Q-J (6) -- good for two pair. Kraynak, an Information Technology Consultant with several second and third-place finishes added $6,294 to his poker bankroll for fourth place. It has been quite a week for Kraynak, as he also finished third in the "Cajon Classic" held at Harrah's New Orleans, last week.
Peter Phillips maintained a "stealth" strategy most of the finale, rarely getting involved in a hand unless he seemed to have the best of it. Phillips, calmly sipping a glass of cabernet while he played, managed to make the biggest comeback of this year’s tournament, starting with a paltry $3,800 (enough chips to play just one hand) and -- incredibly -- ran his stack up into the chip lead.
The key hand of the tournament occurred when Phillips and Gary Gentry both started with low cards and ended up with two-pair. Phillips scooped the $60K pot when his As and 8s made a "dead man" of Gentry. The two rivals squared off the next three straight hands after that --- splitting each pot.
Gentry was down to just $15K when his last hand was dealt. He ended up with two-pair when his (K-9) 5-6-4-K (4) was shown. But old nemesis Peter Phillips snagged a 10 on sixth-street, good for trip-10s, which scooped the pot. Gentry, a retiree from Evansville, IN took home $9,967 for third place.
Then, the marathon began. Thor Hansen, the two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner faced off against relatively unknown Florida retiree, Peter Phillips. When heads-up play began, the chip counts stood as follows:
Hansen -- $90K
Phillips -- $87.5K
A short time later, limits went up to $6K-12K, which meant any single hand played to conclusion would completely alter the outcome of events. Over the next ten minutes, Hansen rocketed into a 3 to 1 chip lead. Hansen used a combination of well-timed aggressiveness, combined with obvious strength in third-street situations (his Ace up-card versus Phillips' 9 up-card, for example) to slowly chip away at his adversary. Phillips realized he had to make a stand at some point, and completely out of character, decided to play a hand "blind." With a Queen up and no further information, Phillips was anything but conservative and kept betting until he caught a second Queen on board and forced Hansen to fold. Strangely enough, the bizarre "no peek" strategy for Phillips ignited a staggering comeback that left everyone sharing at the final table arena in stunned disbelief. Phillips drew close to even again by playing his hands hyper-aggressively, raising and re-raising with no outward fear. Phillips was clearly mixing up his play enough to confuse Hansen, who gradually became more passive at the two-player marathon was underway.
The two finalists traded off chips for another 45 minutes before Phillips seized the momentum and took the chip lead. Limits increased again to $8K-16K. Now, losing a head played to conclusion could be catastrophic. Both players played cautiously, although Phillips was clearly more aggressive as the excitement in the Grand Ballroom of the Gold Strike Casino-Resort continued to build.
The final hand came exactly five hours into the final table when Hansen was down to his last $30K. He was "all-in" for the fourth time on fifth-street and showed (A-K) J-Q-6 against Phillips' (9-7) 9-6-5. Hansen caught a much-needed Ace on sixth-street, good for top-pair and -- at the time -- the best hand. But seventh-street was pure agony for Hansen. He failed to improve his Aces, while Phillips caught another 5 -- good for two pair.
Hansen shuffled away from the final table, clearly disappointed with the turn of events. Nevertheless, the Norwegian-born poker pro now living in Southern California, collected $19,933 as the runner up.
"I was lucky," Peter Phillips said afterward. But it was more than just luck that propelled the 68-year-old retiree into his first major tournament win. Phillips carefully picked his spots in the early stages of the final table, and once heads-up, completely shifted gears and ran away with the title. In the five-year history of the Jack Binion World Poker Open, no player had ever come from so far behind, with so few chips to eventually win a tournament. For Peter Phillips, it was clearly a "Rags to Riches" finish.
Final Table Started: 5:00 pm CST
Final Table Ended: 10:02 pm CST
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