| TWO FOR THE SEESAW
For pictures of this event, please check out Mark Napolitano's videos on the homepage.
There were 310 entries for a total prize pool of $283,214. 27 were paid.
FINAL TABLE
Seat/Player/Hometown/Chip Count
1 Jose Rosenkrantz Miami FL 26,000
2 Nick Yobbagy Fort Collins CO 64,500
3 Gene Bowden Yuma AZ 73,500
4 Hung Ly Los Angeles CA 102,000
5 Minh Nguyen Lake Elsinor CA 18,500
6 Matt Overstreet Oxford MS 11,500
7 Matthew Palmer Ontario, Canada 25,500
8 San Oliverio Bridgeport WV 69,000
9 Norm Ketchum Rockford IL 74,500
24:10 remained in the 1,500/3,000 level.
Ever wonder why Limit Hold'em has been replaced by No Limit as the most popular tournament game? It not just TV's doing. This Final Table has the answer.
It began like so many other WPO events have this year, with two exits quickly. 21-year-old Matt Overstreet only barely got here from last night and he stayed two hands. Matt made a good play by going all-in for 5,500 with K Q offsuit as two overcards to a garbage board of 8 5 2 with two hearts. Gene Bowden was on the button and Gene believes nobody ever. Gene had A K off and he called to win the hand with Ace high.
On hand 10, one of the other short stacks tried to move on Bowden. The 10 10 2 board with two diamonds gave Costa Rican Jose Rosenkrantz two pair, 10's and 4's. Jose is now living in Miami and the Dolphins had more luck. Mean Gene called Jose's 12,500 all-in with pocket 6's. You may fool Mother Nature, but you can't fool Gene Bowden. He gets his money's worth when he enters a tournament.
That was it for the excitement. Henceforth the pace came to a screeching halt. 289 hands later we got this marathon across the finish line.
When we started there was a clear demarcation between those who had enough chips to compete and those who didn't. Five players had enough, four didn't.
Canadian young gun Matthew Palmer is 26. He fought the good fight, but he couldn't overcome his lack of ammunition. In his big blind on hand 25, Matthew tried to create some equity in the pot by tossing in his last 2,500 with 7 5 offsuit. The Executioner sang his song. It went Palmer finishes 7th. Gene Bowden had A K and flopped trip Aces. Both young Matthews look like players we'll be seeing again in the future. All they have to do is stay away from Gene Bowden.
Meanwhile, a dangerous short stack was doubling up. Minh Nguyen had a great WSOP in 2004. Minh is often confused in print with Men 'The Master' Nguyen, his mentor. In life, they aren't the least bit similar except in last name. Minh had a couple of big hands hold up to look for awhile like he would join the big boys in battle, but his fortunes reversed just as quickly. On hand 37 Minh was leading until the river when a 9 hit and gave Norm Ketchum a King high straight. Nguyen never recovered. Minh might have been out earlier, but a contested ruling from the floor saved him. Gene Bowden might have knocked out all of the four short starting stacks if he'd slow played his quad 8's. Instead, Gene put out three stacks which was a raise, but he mistakenly said call. The ruling was that the chips that had hit the felt had to stay in the pot, so the raise stood. Nguyen disagreed with the ruling and it saved him from going all-in on the river drawing dead. On hand 55, Minh let go his last 7k with the A 2 of Spades in the small blind. Nick Yobbagy was ruling the table at the time and Nick called the small raise with the K J off. The hook came on the flop to give Nguyen 6th.
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The 'have-nots' were dispensed with. Now all the remaining five players had chips and were ready to get it on. Trouble was Nick Yobbagy was more ready than the others. He was on fire.
The heat proved to be too much for Sam Oliverio. He lasted until hand 81 when the constant drain of not winning any pots left Sam all-in for 5k with the best hand to the river. Nick Yobbagy was dreaming cards at the time and Nick called Sam's A Q with an A 7 on the button. The board came 9 6 8 9 10. Nick had flopped up and down and he was going nowhere. The seven made a straight. A visibly disgusted Oliverio deserved better than 5th place he got.
Suddenly, without warning, we were heads up. Two players hit the rail in three hands. Short handed on hand 91, Norm Ketchum made a move on the blinds with A 6 offsuit. When a six hit the turn, the tournament veteran Ketchum bet out only to be raised by tournament rookie Hung Ly. Norm didn't have enough chips to fold so he called all-in. Even rookies know how to play pocket rockets. Ketchum didn't catch the third six and left in 4th.
Two hands later, the early Executioner sang farewell. For several rounds Gene Bowden had been complaining about his cards. Gene is an action player. If he can't even call the big blind, you know his cards had to be awful. 'I'm being blinded off,' he lamented. When Nick Yobbagy raised from the button, Gene found what must have looked like a monster to him by then, the A J of Diamonds in the small blind. Bowden reraised and was put all-in for 43k. In fact, Gene did have a monster preflop against Nick's J 9 of Hearts. But Yobbagy couldn't miss. When a nine flopped, the pair stood up and so did Bowden in 3rd.
Ok, that was then. 93 hands to get rid of seven players. Big deal. We'd only just begun. Heads up, Yobbagy had a 2-1 chip lead on the starting chip leader Hung Ly. It only took 206 hands to get Ly hanged.
In a monumental and monumentally boring performance to all but the players, these two stalwarts battled for nearly three hours. Most of the time, it was Nick at night who lead. Twice Yobbagy had Ly lying prostrate. One hand was especially significant. Ly was all-in needing runner runner to survive. Nick had an Ace and flopped another. Hung was so low on chips he called with the Q 6 of Spades and nothing on the flop. The turn came a six and the river a Queen. Hello, let's play for two more hours.
Hung Ly wants to become a pro player. He's 30-years-old and fairly new to tournament play. He's a high-stakes live player, however, and that experience showed in the heads up confrontation. He wanted the pressure of needing to win so he refused to take any money for his chips. They were playing for the difference between first and second prize which was $44,577, the winner's bracelet and the WPT entry. So Ly gave up some money for his principle. Nick Yobbagy was always willing to make a deal.
As the hours melted away, the chips swayed back and forth. Hung actually had a 3-1 chip lead at one time. But this was Nick's night. When he needed a card, it came.
Finally, after an unbelievable 299 hands, fate was served. We'd played over twice as long heads up as we did to get to heads up.
At 10:36, the courageous Hung Ly went all-in for the last time with the 9 5 of Clubs. Nick Yobbagy had Hung dominated with the K 9 of Spades. Ly needed a five which never appeared.
Because it was Limit Hold'em these two were stuck on the seesaw and couldn't get off.
Any questions as to why Limit Hold'em has become the game of the past and No Limit Hold'em the game of the future?
Mike Paulle
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