Poker Tournament Results

Borgata Poker Open - WPT Season 3

Daniel Negreanu

Tournament Report

Chip Count: David Williams $2,039,000 Josh Arieh $1,390,000 Daniel Negreanu $950,000 “Syracuse” Chris Tsiprailidis $784,000 Phil Ivey $466,000 Brandon Moran $449,000 Blinds began at $12,000-$24,000, $4,000 ante. The short stacks, Ivey and Moran, came out firing. They weren’t wasting their time trying to creep into 5th place for the extra $30,200. They were perfectly willing to risk all of their chips in order to pick up a pot. On Hand #16, Moran made it $80,000 to go from the cutoff. Arieh called from the small blind with 3c 3h. Ivey picked up As Qs in the big blind, and pushed in all of his chips. Moran folded immediately, but Arieh decided to race. Ivey had the crowd on his side, but their pleas were unanswered. Moran managed to accumulate a few blinds and antes with some well-timed move-ins, but he got wiped out when he picked up A-K and ran into J-J. Moran found A-K in the cutoff, and brought it in for $80,000. But Negreanu was waiting on the button with two black jacks, and reraised to $250,000. Moran quickly pushed in his last $450,000, and Negreanu called. Moran got no help from the board, and left in 5th place. Despite his early exit, Moran, a trader from Chicago, was thrilled by his final table appearance. By eliminating Moran, Negreanu moved into the chip lead: Chip Count (approximate): Daniel Negreanu $2,030,000 David Williams $1,845,000 Josh Arieh $1,790,000 Chris Tsipirailidis $865,000 Tsiprailidis, an accomplished pro with a World Series bracelet for Limit Hold ‘Em, never gained any momentum at the final table. It seemed as though he simply couldn’t catch any cards. For the first three rounds, he sat back, patiently waiting for his opportunity. By that point, almost $200,000 had been eroded from his stack, and his situation became more urgent. He took a couple of shots at the blinds and antes, but each time someone came over the top and forced him to give it up. He managed to double up through David Williams, but then he resumed his gradual decline. He took another shot at the blinds, but had to lay it down when Negreanu came blasting over the top. “Don’t get used to that,” Tsiprailidis warned - next time he would make Negreanu pay for doubting his sincerity. With the blinds now at $20,000-$40,000, $5,000 ante, Negreanu found Ac 9h on the button, and raised to $160,000. Tsiprailidis backed up his threat and defended his big blind with a $530,000 all in reraise. Negreanu wrestled with the decision, and reluctantly called. “Gamble,” he declared, turning over the Ac 9h. Tsiprailidis was not pleased by the call. He had been making a gutsy situational bluff with 5d 3s. And that was the end of Syracuse Chris. The players battled for the next eight rounds. On Hand #50, Negreanu bet $120,000 from the button, Williams reraised to $500,000, and Negreanu called. The flop came 5c Jd 9d. Williams moved in and Negreanu released. That pot allowed Williams to regain a slight chip lead. When the following hand came up, the chip count was as follows: Chip Count (approximate): David Williams $2,515,000 Daniel Negreanu $2,335,000 Josh Arieh $1,330,000 Hand #67: Arieh limped in from the button with Jc 9d. Williams folded. Negreanu, sitting in the big blind with 9c 6c, checked it through. The flop came 10c 5c 3d, giving Negreanu a flush draw. Negreanu bet out [I’m not sure of the amount, but probably about $120,000], and Arieh called. The turn came 7d. This was a very important card, since it gave Arieh the nut straight draw, but it also gave Negreanu a double-belly-buster straight draw. Negreanu had fourteen outs to make a hand, although an 8 would have been disastrous for him. In any case, Negreanu checked, presumably so he couldn’t be raised off of his draw. Arieh bet $225,000, and Negreanu called. The river came 4h, filling the low end of Negreanu’s straight. Negreanu bet out $550,000, and Arieh raised all in with jack-high for about $450,000 more. This was an incredible bluff by Arieh. At this point, Negreanu had about $1.4 million in front of him, and he was getting about 5:1 to call. So it would have been hard to expect him to release any decent holding. In my opinion, Arieh must have (correctly) figured him for a busted flush draw, based on Negreanu’s check-call on the turn. If Arieh won the pot, he would become chip leader. But he could have easily folded and played on with nearly $1 million remaining – not a negligible amount at this blind level. Arieh decided to trust his read, a read that had to be exactly correct. Based on the caliber of reads that Arieh has demonstrated, and the fact that he could have released and played on with nearly $1 million, it seems likely that this improbable play was not an act of simple desperation, but a display of serious intuition and guts. But perhaps it’s all academic, since Negreanu wasn’t going anywhere with the 2nd nut hand. Arieh was out in 3rd. Chip Count (approximate): Daniel Negreanu $3,690,000 David Williams $2,490,000 As heads up play began, the blinds increased to $30,000-$60,000 with a $10,000 ante. Williams and Negreanu traded blows for a while. Both players seemed comfortable playing after the flop, and there were a lot of unraised pots. Then, Williams dramatically regained control in the following hand: Negreanu limped from the button, and Williams checked. The flop came 3s 6s 6c. Both players checked. The turn came 9s. Williams checked, Negreanu bet $60,000, Williams check-raised to $200,000, and Negreanu called. The river came 6d. Williams bet out $500,000. Negreanu started talking the hand out. “Do you have a 9?” “Maybe you got 7-8.” Finally, he decided to call, and Williams flipped up 9-9, having made nines full on the turn. Williams raked the $1.54 million pot, giving him a nearly 2:1 chip lead. Chip Count (approximate): David Williams $3,900,000 Daniel Negreanu $2,200,000 Now that Williams was in control, he turned up the heat. Whenever a big pot was at stake, Williams put Negreanu to the test. He quickly wore Negreanu down to only $1 million. Negreanu picked up A-2 and limped in from the button, but Williams looked at Qs Qc and raised to $200,000. Negreanu called, and the flop came 9c 2s 2d. Williams moved all in, and Negreanu beat him into the pot with his last $750,000. Negreanu’s trips held up, and he doubled up to about $2 million. Still, Williams retained a dominant chip lead. Seven hands later, Williams raised to $285,000 from the button. Negreanu picked up Kc Kd, and reraised to $725,000, and Williams called. The flop came Jd 5d 2s. Negreanu bet $400,000, Williams raised Negreanu all in, and Negreanu called for $955,000 more. Williams was bluffing completely with Qd 7h. For the third time today, Negreanu had picked off a monstrous bluff. Williams still had a 1 in 66 chance to win, but no runner-runner materialized, and Negreanu doubled up again. Chip Count (approximate): Daniel Negreanu $4,180,000 David Williams $1,920,000 But Williams would not be squashed. He began a series of aggressive playbacks. On one hand, Negreanu bet $300,000 from the button, and Williams moved all in for over $2 million. On the very next hand, Williams limped in, Negreanu raised to $500,000… and Williams moved all in again! “I knew he was going to do that!” Negreanu exclaimed. “I think you’re on a stone cold bluff,” he said unnervingly, but he mucked again. By the time Hand #132 came around, it seemed as though the audience was in for a long night. Williams had played back to nearly dead even in chips. He limped in from the button, and Negreanu raised to $400,000. Williams called, and the flop came Kc Jc 8s. Negreanu bet out $400,000, and Williams moved all in. Negreanu stood and said emphatically: “I call.” But Williams wasn’t messing around this time. He had a real hand, Kd 6d. But then Negreanu turned over As Ad! The turn came Jd, and the river came Qh. At this point, it was practically impossible that Negreanu would not win, but the stacks had to be counted to determine who was outchipped. As Williams sectioned off the last of his chips, it was apparent that Negreanu had just a little bit more. This win was the latest victory in Daniel Negreanu’s incredible year, which also includes a World Series bracelet in Limit Hold ‘Em, the WSOP Best All-Around Player award, and a practically insurmountable lead in the world rankings. Final Results: 1 Daniel Negreanu $1,117,400 2 David Williams $573,800 3 Josh Arieh $286,900 4 Chris Tsiprailidis $181,200 5 Brandon Moran $135,900 6 Phil Ivey $105,700