August 30 2012, Rich Ryan

On Wednesday, after four days of battle at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, California, the final six players returned for Day 5 of the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker. Josh Hale held a commanding chip lead with over 7.3 million chips. His closest competitor, Greg Mueller, began the day with almost 3.5 million chips.

WPT Legends of Poker Final Table

According to the World Poker Tour Live Updates team, on the 20th hand of the final table, the action folded to Max Steinberg, who called out of the small blind. Jeff Madsen, commanding the shortest stack at the table, moved all in from the big blind. Steinberg called with , dominating Madsen’s . Then the flop, turn and river came , eliminating Madsen in sixth place with $75,400.

On Hand #56, the third hand of Level 30 (50,000/100,000/10,000), Mueller moved all in from under the gun for around 2 million. Action folded to Steinberg in the small blind and he tanked before reshoving all in. Raouf Malek surrendered his big blind and the hands were opened to a classic race situation with Mueller’s slightly ahead of Steinberg’s , and the flop kept Mueller in the lead. The turned, however, giving Steinberg a better pair and the completed the board. Mueller was eliminated in fifth place, taking home $97,100.

Four hands later, Malek doubled through Ali Eslami, leaving Eslami with just 120,000 chips (less than two big blinds). The action started when Hale raised to 210,000 from under the gun. Eslami called on the button, and Malek moved all in for 2.4 million from the big blind. Hale folded, and Eslami tank-called. Eslami’s was dominated by Malek’s , and the board ran out .

Miraculously, in the next six hands, Eslami doubled, tripled, then doubled again, rocketing his stack up to over 1.5 million chips. On the seventh hand after being crippled, Eslami effectively three-bet jammed (he left one chip behind as a card protector) over a raise from Malek and a call from Hale. Malek tank-folded, Hale quickly called, and Eslami’s were way ahead of Hale’s . The board came , and suddenly Eslami was back up to 3.4 million chips (34 big blinds).

Hale, who had been dominating, dropped to 6.5 million chips, and on the 74th hand lost another sizable pot to Eslami. For the first time at the final table, Hale was not the chip leader.

Hale’s stack continued to drop, and he was even all-in and at risk on Hand #87 against Malek. Hale’s out-raced Malek’s as the board came , giving Hale the chip lead once again. Malek was now up against the ropes, but then he tripled up through Hale and Eslami two hands later when both players held kings! Malek’s was of course trailing, but he spiked an ace on the turn to stay alive.

Finally, nearly 40 hands after Mueller was eliminated in fifth place, Eslami bowed out in fourth. Hale limped the button with the blinds at 60,000/120,000/20,000, and Eslami moved all in from the small blind. Steinberg asked for a count, then reshoved from the big blind. Hale folded. It was another race with Eslami holding and Steinberg . There was a king on the flop, giving Steinberg a commanding lead, and the turn and river came , , respectively. Eslami was eliminated but earned $133,700 for his efforts.

Malek, Hale, and Steinberg battled back and forth three handed, but Steinberg maintained the chip lead throughout. On Hand #119, Malek opened to 300,000 on the button, and Steinberg defended his big blind. The flop was , Steinberg checked, and Malek continued for 325,000. Steinberg called. The turn was the , and both players checked. The completed the board, and Steinberg led out for 900,000. Malek raised to 3 million, and Steinberg moved all in. Malek called with for a king-high straight, but Steinberg turned over for Broadway, eliminating Malek in third place ($192,400).

Heads Up Chip Counts

On the 13th hand of heads-up play, after chipping up a bit, Hale received a monster double-up. The blinds were 100,000/200,000/25,000 when Steinberg raised to 500,000 on the button. Hale called, and the flop came . Hale checked, Steinberg fired 550,000, and Hale moved all in for just under 5 million. Steinberg called with for tens and sixes, and Hale showed for a naked flush draw. The turn was red, but the was no help to Hale. The spiked on the river however, and Hale took down the pot with a flush, taking a near two-to-one chip lead.

Hale never looked back, and on Hand #145, it was all over. Hale raised to 550,000 with the blinds at 125,000/250,000/25,000. Steinberg quickly moved all in for 3.25 million, and Hale snapped it off. Hale tabled , and Steinberg showed . The board ran out , and Hale was the champion of the 2012 WPT Legends of Poker.

WPT Legends of Poker Final Table Payouts

Along with a half million dollars, Hale has earned a seat in the 2013 WPT World Championship. This concludes PokerNews’ recap coverage from the WPT Legends of Poker. We’ll see you next time at the Aviation Club in Paris, France.

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Photo and data courtesy of WorldPokerTour.com.

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April 04 2012, Chad Holloway

Working your way through the poker ranks can be tough. For every success story, there are dozens of futile tales. Luckily for Joe Kuether, he can count himself in the former camp. The 24-year-old has followed in the footsteps of Phil Galfond and Phil Hellmuth by going from the classrooms of the University of Wisconsin Madison to the bright lights of Las Vegas. While Kuether hasn’t attained the extraordinary results as his fellow alumni, he is well on his way to a successful poker career.

Kuether recently made poker headlines when he conquered a 332-player field at the World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Rincon Main Event for $111,104. Kuether defeated a stacked field and a tough final table that included WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Main Event Champ Freddy Deeb.

Since 2009, Kuether has amassed $445,113, including $191,083 of which has come in the first three months of 2012.

Kuether’s 2012 Results

PokerNews recently spoke with Kuether to talk about his big WSOP Circuit win and his great start to 2012.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I grew up in Elm Grove, Wisconsin, just outside of Milwaukee. I went to college at UW-Madison and graduated with a degree in accounting. I’ve got an older brother and younger sister, neither of whom play poker.

How did you learn to play poker and when did you start taking it more serious?

It’s the standard poker story I think. I played with friends in high school, tried online, kept playing, and won. I started taking it more seriously when I won a little and realized you could win money. I really enjoyed playing.

Is poker your full-time job? If so, can you tell us a little bit about your lifestyle? For instance, what’s your normal daily schedule?

Ya, I live in Vegas and travel around some for live tournaments. I play a lot of live cash, but play a lot less then I did when there was online. I moved out to Vegas after Black Friday and have just been playing live cash here and traveling to some live tournaments.

What was it like playing against Freddy Deeb at the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Rincon Main Event final table?

It was alright, nothing really of note. He was getting frustrated with me because I had won some big pots off him.

Tell us about that last hand against Chris Cronin when you held aces? Can you describe your thought process?

Well, he was calling pretty much all my min-raises preflop, so preflop, it was standard [for me to raise]. I decided to check back the rainbow flop because he was just folding when he missed so I wanted to give him a chance to catch up. The turn put two hearts on the board. He checked, I bet like half pot and he check-raised around three times. I just didn’t think he was bluffing and has a king here almost always, so I just shoved knowing he wasn’t going to fold.

Do you have any big plans for the $111,000 payday? Did you get it all or did you have a backer?

No real plans about the $111,000. I’m not backed or anything. I had to pay out a little with a few small swaps with friends. I’m just trying to build up. I had a rough last year, like everyone with Black Friday, obviously. I had my biggest online cash like two weeks before Black Friday, so that sucked having all that money frozen – still is. Then had a couple stakes go bad/scammed and what not, so was just a little lower on money then I’d like to be. Just nice to have more money and some nice scores with the WSOP coming up.

Care to elaborate on the FTP win and the scam?

A good chunk [of my money is] on Full Tilt Poker. Because the win was right before Black Friday, I wasn’t able to get it out. I won the Sunday $100 Rebuy Turbo multi-entry for around $115,000. The scam I don’t want to elaborate on too much. Just a staking deal with a supposed friend gone wrong where he was stealing and lying.

What does owning a WSOPC gold ring mean to you or was it mainly about the money?

Having a ring is cool, a nice little accomplishment/trophy/memento I suppose; however, it was mainly about the money.

You’ve had a great start to 2012 primarily in the Vegas and California. Do you have any plans to branch out and play any tournaments further away or will you be sticking around the West?

Ya, I don’t plan too far in advance. If a tournament series is close to Vegas, I’ll look into going. Might go to Florida for the World Poker Tour event in April.

What are your plans for the summer? Can we expect to see you at the WSOP? If so, which events will you be playing?

Ya, I’ll be playing most, if not all, events at WSOP. Very excited obviously.

Are you excited to be playing the National Championship? Will you be doing any preparation, such as studying or researching your opponents, or will you just go in there and play it by ear?

The National Championship is cool. Not sure [of my strategy], I’ll probably look and see who all is in it before, but who knows.

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