2009 WSOP Event #2 – Final Table Results
June 2, 2009
2009 WSOP Event #2 – Final Table Results
Note: If you just want to know who won, scroll down to the bottom of this page. For those of you who would rather read about the action as it played out, continue from here. This is a summary of the more exciting action, as originally reported on PokerNews.com.
Day 4 of the $40,000 NL Hold’em event (Event #2) – With a top prize of almost $1.9 million, this tournament was a great way to start a buzz around the 2009 WSOP. 2004 Main Event champion Greg ‘Fossilman’ Raymer was seeking his 2nd bracelet win, while Ted Forrest and his short-stack were looking for some chip love. Throw in a few online pros, a bracelet winner from last year, and a couple of newcomers into the mix and action was sure to be exciting. Here’s how the day started.
1/ Isaac Haxton – 5,955,000
2/ Vitaly Lunkin – 4,565,000
3/ Lex ‘RaSZi’ Velduis – 3,805,000
4/ Greg ‘Fossilman’ Raymer – 3,345,000
5/ Alec Torelli – 2,340,000
6/ Justin Bonomo – 1,685,000
7/ Dani ‘Ansky’ Stern – 1,300,000
8/ Noah Schwartz – 660,000
9/ Ted Forrest – 560,000
The day started without much action. During the first 14 hands, most were taken down preflop. On hand #15, Greg Raymer raised to 150,000 from the button position. Justin Bonomo in the small blind moved all in for 1,440,000. Surprisingly, Raymer called him with a marginal Ah, 8s. This was a bad situation for Raymer, as Bonomo turned over As, Jc. This seems like a pretty loose call for Raymer, he must’ve thought Bonomo was on a steal attempt. The board didn’t help Raymer, and Bonomo doubled through the Fossilman. This brought Bonomo up to almost 3 million in chips, and dropped Raymer down to 1,785,000.
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Dramatic action occurred during back to back hands, starting with a double up for Dani Stern on hand #18. All-in preflop with Ad, Jh, Stern was called by the Ac, Kc held by Lex Veldhuis. With three hearts on the board by the turn, Stern needed one of three remaining jacks or 9 hearts to win the pot. The river brought the Jd, and Stern doubled through Veldhuis. Stern is now a solid threat with a stack of over 3 million chips.
On hand #19, short-stack Ted Forrest got his money in preflop holding Jh, 10d. His opponent was Noah Schwartz who held pocket 3’s. The board didn’t help Forrest, and he was eliminated in 9th place. Forrest takes home $230,317 for his efforts.
On hand #25, Raymer got a bit of justice after losing with pocket aces twice and chopping a pot with them a third time yesterday. This time he held aces against the Ad, Kh held by Noah Schwartz. With only one face card (J), and a rainbow board by the turn, Schwartz was drawing dead going into the river. Raymer’s stack is back up to 2.83 million and he seems to be on the comeback trail. For his 8th place finish, Noah Schwartz will pocket $246,834.
Presto!!! On hand #27 the Fossilman took down a monstrous pot when he flopped a set of 6’s against the over pair of Jh, Jd held by Isaac Haxton. Haxton, thinking he had the best of it check-raised Raymer all-in after the flop. With a flop of 9s, 6h, 5s, Raymer called. I would guess Raymer was happy to see Haxton’s pocket jacks, instead of a big drawing hand or a straight. After the hand, Raymer became the chip leader with about 5.8 million in chips. Haxton, who had been the chip leader prior to this hand, saw his stack go from about 6.6 million down to 3.8 million.
Blinds were traded around for while, until hand #47. Greg Raymer raised the pot preflop to 200,000. From the small blind, Lex Veldhuis moved all-in with 1,265,000. Raymer called and flipped over pocket kings. Veldhuis turned over Ad, 7d and was a 68/32 underdog. The board didn’t help Veldhuis at all, and he was eliminated in 7th place, taking home $277,940. Raymer is now taking control of the table, with a stack approaching 8 million.
Just 5 hands later, Alec Torelli was eliminated in 6th place when his Ah, 2h was beaten by the As, 10d held by Isaac Haxton. The board was uneventful, and Alec Torelli will cash in $329,730 for his 6th place finish. Isaac Haxton is looking to rebuild his stack after that huge loss against Raymer. He is now up to 4.6 million in chips.
You have to admire the way Vitaly Lunkin is playing today. Without ever putting his stack at risk, he has slowing built his stack to 5.6 million, guaranteed himself an extra $183,000, and is still solidly in second place. After starting the day in second place, he’s found ways to win small pots and stay out of harms way.
After several small taken by Lunkin, he finally took the chip lead. He is now slightly ahead of Greg Raymer, both above the 7 million mark. The Full Tilt Poker sponsored player has only made one ‘large’ bet today, a bet of 2 million which forced his opponent to fold. At this point, it stands to reason that Lunkin could get away with a few well-timed bluffs if he chooses to try it. He has the table set up well if he decides to turn it up a notch.
This tournament is still anyones game. Although Dani ‘Ansky’ Stern is short-stacked at about 1.9 million chips, a single double-up would put him right back in the thick of things. With his experience in pressure situations like this, you have to like Raymer’s chances. It looks like Lunkin has a great chance as well, but I wonder if he’s going to be able to change gears as the blinds continue to move up. Also, how will he respond to Bonomo, Haxton, and Raymer who are clearly more aggressive at this point? Aside from Raymer, Lunkin is the only other player at the table with a WSOP bracelet, winning a $1500 NL Hold’em event in last year’s WSOP.
That didn’t take long! Just minutes after writing about Dani Stern’s chances with a double-up, he doubled up. In a hand against Greg Raymer, Stern moved all-in preflop with As, 10h. Raymer called him with pocket 7’s. Raymer was in good shape to knock out Stern, until the dreaded river card brought Stern one of his 6 outs, the 10 of clubs. Stern is still the short stack with 4 million in chips, but he’s only 1.3 million from the second-largest stack held by Greg Raymer. 4 players are now very closely matched in chips, with Vitaly Lunkin in front with about 2.3 million more than Raymer. This is about as tightly matched as you will see a final table down to 5 players. This is getting exciting.
Raymer and Haxton are chipping up. Both have taken down a couple of pots in recent hands, amounting to about 700,000 chips for each player. At this point, even small pots amount to 300-400,000 chips, a sizeable amount.
Bonomo is Gone-omo! Justin Bonomo raised to $250,000 preflop and was called by Isaac Haxton and Greg Raymer, respectively in the small and big blinds. The flop came down 10d, 9h, 3h. Haxton led out for 300,000 and Raymer folded. Bonomo moved all-in for 2,775,000 and Haxton called him. Bonomo turned over pocket jacks, while Haxton held pocket aces. Bonomo needed one of the two remaining jacks, or running straight cards or his day would be over. Well, the turn and river didn’t help Bonomo who takes home $413,166 for his fifth place effort. Haxton also becomes the new chip leader, with barely under 8 million. Vitaly Lunkin trails closely behind with 7.2 million, followed by Raymer’s 5.7 million and Dani Stern’s 4.8 million. It’s still anyones game.
All remaining players are guaranteed at least $548,315.
After a lot of pot-trading, Greg Raymer finally wins a decent pot and is now in almost a dead-tie for the chip lead. Raymer opened the pot in hand #91 for a $300,000 raise. Dani Stern called from the button. The flop came down As, 4c, 3s. Raymer bet $500,000 and Stern called. The turn card was the 4d, and Raymer checked. Stern checked behind him. The river card was the 8c, and Raymer fired out $1 million even. Stern called and Raymer showed the powerful starting hand of 2d, 5d. He flopped the straight, and took down the 3.8 million pot!
Going into the dinner break, here are the chip counts:
1/ Greg Raymer – 8,385,000
2/ Vitaly Lunkin – 7,410,000
3/ Dani Stern – 4,975,000
4/ Isaac Haxton – 3,245,000
Players are back from dinner and the blinds are 80,000/160,000 with an ante of 20,000.
Seven hands after the break ended, Isaac Haxton doubled-up against Dani Stern. Stern limped from the button, and Haxton moved all-in. Haxton showed Kc, 7c, and Stern flipped over pocket 5’s. The flop came down Ac, 6s, 3c giving Haxton the nut flush draw. The turn brought the 9c and Haxton made his flush. Haxton now has 6,530,000 while Stern is down to 1,450,000. With blinds and antes as high as they are, Stern is going to need to double-up quick if he wants to get back into the tournament.
Well, that’s not going to happen as Stern was knocked out the very next hand. It was fairly uneventful as Sterns Qh, 10c was beaten by Haxton’s As, Kh. For his awesome fourth place finish, Dani Stern will collect a nice payday of $548,315.
Wow! Only five hands later, Raymer raised to $400,000 on the button. On the big blind, Isaac Haxton reraised to 1,250,000. Raymer then moved all-in for 8,105,000. Haxton called and showed pocket 9’s, while Raymer held pocket 5’s. Unfortunately for Raymer, the board didn’t help him and he was eliminated in 3rd place. While Raymer leaves with a big paycheck of $774,927, you have to wonder if he regrets that all-in. The Fossilman autographed the fossil he had been using as his card protector and handed it to Haxton as a souvenir. A class act. If you would like to follow in Greg Raymer’s footsteps, you still have time to win a seat for the 2009 WSOP Main Event at Pokerstars. Get a Pokerstars deposit bonus of 100% up to $600 when you sign up to play.
Going into heads-up, Haxton has a big chip lead with 16,495,000 versus 7,520,000 for Lunkin.
On hand #120, Haxton raises to 320,000 from the button and Lunkin calls. The flop came 5h, 5d, 2d. Lunkin checks, Haxton bets 340,000, and Lunkin raises to a total of 1 million. Haxton called and the turn brought the 3d. Lunkin bet 1.5 million, and once again Haxton called. The river card was the 7 of hearts, and Lunkin shoved all-in. Haxton folded, losing the first big pot since heads-up action started.
Prior to this hand, Lunkin had been chipping away at Haxton, and had closed the gap. With this hand, the chip lead was now in Lunkin’s side, with 13,590,000 to Haxton’s 10,425,000.
With a bit of aggression on several hands, Haxton has been chipping away at Lunkin, and now has the chip lead once again. Haxton has about 3 million more chips than Lunkin. It’s starting to look like this could go on all night.
Haxton has been grinding Lunkin down, and now has a sizeable chip lead.
Hand #154. From the button, Isaac Haxton raises to 400,000. Lunkin reraises to 1.4 million. Haxton moves all-in for 7,940,000 and Lunkin calls. Lunkin shows pocket tens, against Kc, 3c for Haxton. The flop gave Lunkin a set, and he doubled through Haxton.
On hand #160, it was Haxton’s turn for a double-up. Haxton raised preflop to 400,000 and Lunkin flat called. The flop came Kc, 5c, 3h. Lunkin checks, Haxton bets 525,000, and Lunkin raises him to 1.45 million. Haxton calls, then on the turn came the 6s. Lunkin bet 1.5 million and Haxton moved all-in. Lunkin calls and turns over pocket aces. Haxton turned over Ks, 10s. Only a king or ten will save him. On a sick river card, Haxton caught the 10c to win the pot. Haxton now has close to 14 million, versus a little over 10 million for Lunkin.
Just two hands later, another exciting hand got the crowd going crazy. Haxton on the button raises to 400,000. Lunkin reraises to 1.4 million and Haxton calls. The flop came Ac, 5 c, 4c. Lunkin bets 2 million even, and Haxton moves all-in. Lunkin calls. Lunkin flips over Qc, 10s for nothing but a flush draw. It gets worse, as Haxton flips over Qs, 8c, for a nothing but a worse flush draw! Care to take a guess what the turn card was? The eight of diamonds! So Haxton is now ahead, looking to dodge a club or a 10. Care to take a guess at what the river card was? The 2 of clubs fell, and Lunkin had his justice. Lunkin took a huge chip lead at this point, with about 18.6 million against Haxton’s stack of just 5.5 million.
On hand #167, this long battle finally came to a close on the following hand. Vitaly Lunkin limped in from the button, and Haxton raised it to 600,000. Lunkin called. The flop came Qd, 10d, 8d, and Haxton bet out 1.2 million chips. Lunkin shoved and Haxton called with his tournament life on the line. Haxton apparently gave up, as he turned over a weak 3d, 8c. Apparently the long, grueling match had wore on him, because this was clearly the worst play he made all night. Vitaly Lunkin turned over pocket aces, but neither one was a diamond. Haxton now needed a diamond, 8, or 3, otherwise his day would be done. And done it was, as the turn brought the 7c, and the river was the Ks. As mentioned above, this is the second WSOP bracelet for the Russian in as many years.
For his second place finish, Isaac Haxton can cry his tears in $1,168,566. Lunkin takes home the bracelet and $1,891,012.
This was a great tournament, and a fantastic way to start the 2009 WSOP. There is still plenty of time to win a seat for the Main Event at Pokerstars. Use Pokerstars promo code “psa2040″, and go to Pokerstars to qualify today.
Final results:
1/ Vitaly Lunkin – $1,891,012
2/ Isaac Haxton – $1,168,566
3/ Greg ‘ Fossilman’ Raymer – $774,927
4/ Dani ‘Ansky’ Stern – $548,315
5/ Justin Bonomo – $413,166
6/ Alec Torelli – $329,730
7/ Lex ‘RaSZi’ Velduis – $277,940
8/ Noah Schwartz – $246,834
9/ Ted Forrest – $230,317
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