April 25 2011, Rich Ryan

Last week on High Stakes Poker, “Silent” Mike Baxter stole the show by making big hands and timely bluffs. He’s been the big winner thus far during the second session, but Haralabos Voulgaris and Jason Mercier are both well in the black and are both capable of making moves. Amateur Bill Perkins hasn’t had a winning episode yet, and entered the last one of the session down over $250,000.

SPOILER ALERT: If you are waiting to watch the HSP episode, read no further.

Eff It, I Call: Bill Perkins opened to $2,300 with , and Barry Greenstein called with on the button. The blinds released, and the flop fell . Both players checked. The turn was the , giving Greenstein a flush, and Perkins led for $3,600 with just ace-high. Greenstein called.

The river was the , and Perkins quickly checked. Greenstein tossed in $15,000 – more than a pot-sized bet – and Perkins said, “F*** it, I call.” Greenstein showed him the winner, and Perkins angrily mucked his hand.

On Your Horses: Bill Perkins straddled for $1,600, and Barry Greenstein opened to $5,100 from under the gun with . The action folded all the way to Julian Movsesian in the big blind, and he reraised to $25,400. Perkins got out of the way, Greenstein shoved for $72,200, and Movsesian called.

The flop was dry – – but the spiked on the turn, giving Greenstein the lead. The river was a meaningless , and Greenstein doubled his stack to $146,400.

Picking off Bluffs: Jason Mercier opened to $2,300 with on the button, and both Julian Movsesian () and Bill Perkins () defended their blinds. The dealer fanned , and everybody checked. The turn was the , Movsesian checked again, and Perkins fired $4,000. Mercier called, Movsesian didn’t.

The river was the , and Perkins led for $13,000. Mercier quickly called.

“You win,” Perkins announced, and Mercier tabled his hand.

“The only thing nicer than hearing ‘f*** it’ is ‘you win,’” Mercier joked.

The Car Crash: Bill Perkins straddled for $1,600, and Barry Greenstein opened to $5,100 from under the gun with . “Silent” Mike Baxter called from the cutoff with , Jason Mercier called from the small blind with , and Bill Perkins told a weird, anti-climatic and unfunny story about car crashes in movies before folding.

The flop was a fun one – . Greenstein led for $10,000, Baxter raised to $30,000, and Mercier smooth-called. Greenstein called as well. All three players checked after the turned, and again after the fell on the river. Mercier tabled his set of sevens, and the $108,500 pot was shipped his way.

“Car crash!” Perkins yelped.

The Setup: Haralabos Voulgaris opened to $2,300 with two red sixes, Julian Movsesian called with on the button, and Barry Greenstein defended his big blind with . The flop came down , Greenstein checked, and Voulgaris continued for $4,200. Only Movsesian called. The turn was the , and Voulgaris led for $7,200. Movsesian made a play at the pot, raising to $27,800, but Voulgaris was going no where with his set of sixes and called.

The river was the , and Voulgaris checked. Movsesian immediately fired $30,000, and Voulgaris tank-called. The two opened their hands, and Voulgaris took down the six-figure pot.

A Passive King: Jason Mercier opened to $2,300 from under the gun with , Julian Movsesian called with , Bill Perkins followed suit with , and Haralabos Voulgaris three-bet to $12,000 with on the button. Mike Baxter cold four-bet to $30,000 with from the small blind, and the action folded back to Voulgaris who just called.

The flop fell , and Baxter led for $50,000. Voulgaris called. Baxter quit when the turned, checking to Voulgaris who surprisingly checked behind. The river was the , both players checked again, and Voulgaris won another big pot.

“I wanted to fold on the flop,” Voulgaris admitted, shaking his head.

Chop Suey: Bill Perkins straddled for $1,600, and Phil Laak opened to $5,100 from middle position with . Perkins defended his straddle with , and the flop was all hearts – . Perkins checked, Laak continued for $9,000, Perkins check-raised to $30,000, and Laak immediately moved all in. Perkins called, and the two agreed to run it twice.

The first board ran , , giving Laak half of the pot, and the second board ran , , giving Perkins the other half.

“Why are you so excited about chopping?” Haralabos Voulgaris asked Laak after the hand.

“Because it’s so tough to win anything,” Laak responded. “At least we chopped the blinds and antes.”

High Stakes Legends: Fred “Sarge” Ferris was an American grinder of Lebanese decent, and he escaped poverty by grinding on the felt. He defeated Doyle Brunson heads-up in a WSOP event in 1980, and in the same year he backed Stu Ungar in the Main Event and he defeated Brunson heads-up as well. Ferris passed in 1989 and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame later that year.

Let’s take a look at the stack sizes.

Hollywood: “Silent” Mike Baxter wanted to straddle, but had already received his cards so he min-raised to $1,600 with . Jason Mercier three-bet to $4,400 with , Bill Perkins called with , and Baxter called as well.

The flop was a nightmare for Mercier – . Baxter checked, Mercier continued for $8,600, and Perkins called. Baxter mucked, and the turn was the . Mercier led for $20,100, and Perkins began cursing angrily. He finally moved all in after a horrible acting job, and Mercier made the crying call.

“Run it twice guys,” Phil Laak offered. “I’m telling you, it’s 3D.”

Mercier and Perkins obliged. The first river was the , the second was the , and Perkins doubled to $175,600.

“That’s what I get for getting excited on the flop,” Mercier murmured

The next episode of HSP marks the start of a new session. Bill Klein, Robert Croak, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak and Doyle Brunson will return for their second session of the season, while Phil Galfond headlines the newcomers.

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April 18 2011, Chad Holloway

While this past Sunday was the first without the major online tournaments in the U.S., this didn’t stop FSN’s coverage of the World Poker Tour’s ninth season. This week, FSN aired Part II of its Foxwoods World Poker Finals broadcast. We’ll be covering the entire final table at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals in this recap – from first elimination to last.

The World Poker Finals drew 242 players and created a prize pool of $2,276,978, with $548,752 reserved for first place. Some of the entrants included Howard Lederer, Barry Greenstein, Jason Mercier, Gavin Smith, and Josh Arieh. While many of those players managed to make the money, the final table was dominated by young guns. “This young, aggressive poker bunch should make for great poker action. The cards are about ready to fly, let’s go watch the bluffing begin,” co-host Vince Van Patten said to kick things off.

Here is how the final table looked at the top of the broadcast.

Final Table

Seat 1: Nikolai Yakovenko (637,000)
Seat 2: Jeff Forrest (1,933,000)
Seat 3: Thomas Marchese (2,986,000)
Seat 4: David Inselberg (392,000)
Seat 5: Keven Stammen (269,000)
Seat 6: Mohsin Charania (1,097,000)

First Hand: Action began with the blinds at 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante. In the first hand, Nikolai Yakovenko raised to 58,000 from the cutoff and received call from Jeff Forrest on the button and Thomas Marchese in the small blind. The flop came down and action folded to Forrest, who promptly fired out 84,000. Yakovenko folded his while Forrest made the call.

When the dealer burned and turned the , Marchese bet 234,000, Forrest called, and the hit the river. Both players checked and Marchese showed for a rivered pair of nines with a missed flush draw, which was enough to beat Forrest’s .

Charania Eliminated in 6th Place: Action folded to Keven Stammen and he moved all-in for 355,000 holding . Mohsin Charania, who was also short-stacked, moved all in behind with . The rest of the field folded and the board ran out . Stammen doubled to 800,000 while Charania was left with just 30,000.

All in the next hand with , Charania received calls from the of Forrest and of Marchese. The saw Marchese win the pot and Charania hit the rail in sixth place for $104,741.

Stammen Out in Fifth Place; Yakovenko in Fourth: After Stammen ran into the of David Inselberg and was sent packing in fifth place ($128,650), Yakovenko raised to 100,000 with and received a call from the of Inselberg in the big blind. When the flop fell , Inselberg checked his top two pair, Yakovenko bet 50,000, and Inselberg raised to 150,000. Yakovenko wasted little time in moving all in for 885,000 and discovered the bad news after Inselberg made the call. The turn and river changed nothing and Yakovenko was eliminated in fourth place ($170,773).

Big Slick No Good for Marchese: In back-to-back hands, Marchese peeked down at big slick and proceeded to double Forrest and Inselberg respectively. The doubles shook up the chip standings and left Marchese, who started the final table as chip leader, in second place with 2,390,000. Meanwhile, Inselberg had vaulted to the chip lead with 3,220,000, followed by Forrest on the short stack with 1,705,000.

Big Pot: Forrest raised to 225,000 with only to have Marchese move all-in with . To call would cost Forrest all of his chips, about 1.6 million more, and that is exactly what he did. With 3,630,000 in the pot, the flop fell to solidify Forrest’s lead. The turn left Marchese drawing dead, and the was run out on the river for good measure. Marchese was left with just under 800,000 after the hand.

Marchese Finishes in 3rd Place: In the very next hand, Forrest raised to 275,000, Marchese moved all-in for 770,000, and Forrest made the call.

Marchese:
Forrest:

Historically, Big Slick had been disaster for Marchese and this time would prove no different as the flop came down , pairing Forrest’s six and giving him the lead. The turn and river were no help to Marchese and he was eliminated in third place for $211,759.

Heads-Up: Forrest entered heads-up play with 5,185,000 to Inselberg’s 2,130,000. On the fourth hand between the two, Forrest raised to 200,000 with and Inselberg made the call with . Inselberg then checked the flop, Forrest bet 250,000, Inselberg check-raised to 600,000, and Forrest moved all-in. Inselberg made the call and was looking for a six, seven, or nine to double into the chip lead. If not, Forrest would capture a WPT title in his first-ever attempt.

The turn meant Inselberg was drawing to a seven on the river, but it was not meant to be as the came down. Inselberg finished as runner up ($325,608) while Forrest became the WPT Season 9 Foxwoods World Poker Final Champion and took down the $548,752 first-place prize.

“It definitely doesn’t even feel real yet. I don’t know when it will finally hit me, you know, that I’m a WPT champion, but it’s completely, it’s a dream come true,” Forrest said after his big win.

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