November 02 2011, Donnie Peters

The World Poker Tour World Poker Finals at Foxwoods concluded on Tuesday after an eight-hour, 200-hand final table. At the end of the night, Daniel Santoro took down Christian Harder heads-up to claim the $449,910 first-place prize.

Coming into the official WPT final table, Steven Brackesy held the chip lead. The shortest stack was former WPT champion and Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger. Falling in sixth place, though, was the second shortest stack entering the day, Eli Berg. He was eliminated on the third hand of the day.

According to the WPT Live Update Team, Berg raised under the gun to 36,000 with the blinds at 8,000/16,000/2,000. Harder made the call from the button and Frankenberger called from the big blind. The flop came down and Frankenberger checked. Berg fired a continuation bet of 73,000 and Harder called. Frankenberger folded.

The turn brought the and Berg checked. Harder bet 104,000 and Berg made a check-raise for all of his chips. Harder called and showed . Berg held . The river was the and Harder’s aces won the pot to knock out Berg in sixth place for $83,580.

Frankenberger fell in fifth place, on the 13th hand of the final table, and took home $99,585. Start-of-the-day chip leader Brackesy raised from under the gun to 37,000. Santoro called from the cutoff seat, Harder three-bet to 127,000 from the button, and then Frankenberger reraised all-in from the big blind. After Brackesy and Santoro folded, Harder snap-called with . Frankenberger tabled . The flop, turn and river ran out and Harder won the pot.

Ten hands later, Brackesy hit the rail in fourth place. It was still the same level and he was eliminated by Santoro. Brackesy was all-in preflop with after six-bet shoving into Santoro.

Brackesy made it 43,000 to go from the small blind, Santoro reraised to 110,000 out of the big blind, Brackesy four-bet to 243,000 and then Santoro five-bet to 440,000. Brackesy moved all-in and Santoro called holding . No help came for Brackesy as the board ran out . He was eliminated and earned $129,816 for his finish.

Falling in third place was Bob Carbone and he took home $166,271. The blinds were up to 15,000/30,000/5,000 and Santoro min-raised to 60,000 from the button. Carbone moved all-in from the big blind, but got snap-called by Santoro who held . Carbone held . A rather uneventful board followed and Carbone was eliminated.

With the tournament now down to two players, Santoro was pitted against Harder for the title. Santoro held the chip lead going into heads-up play with 4.49 million in chips to Harder’s 1.23 million.

Around 28 hands into the match, Harder lost a big pot to Santoro and was knocked down to just nine big blinds. He was able to double up on the very next hand, but still only had 780,000 in chips to Santoro’s 4.94 million. After getting ground down a bit more over the next couple of hands, Harder found another double to 1.21 million on Hand No. 130.

Several hands later, Harder lost another big pot to Santoro and was back under one million. Much like before, he doubled on the very next hand and got back to 1.71 million in chips. Shortly after that, he won a big pot worth 1.8 million in chips to get nearly even with Santoro. On Hand No. 153, Harder took a slight lead for the first time in the match.

Although Harder made a very strong comeback from the short stack, Santoro stuck to his guns and ground Harder right back down. Then, on Hand No. 185, Harder doubled to take the lead of 3.99 million to 1.68 million. He didn’t hold onto the lead for too long, though. On Hand No. 189, Santoro doubled back and took the lead again with 3.18 million to 2.49 million. The chips stayed right around the same before the final hand came up on Hand No. 200.

The blinds were up to 40,000/80,000/10,000 and Harder min-raised from the button to 160,000. Santoro reraised to 425,000 and then Harder reraised all-in for right around 2.5 million. Santoro instantly called with . He was in a flip with .

The flop was and Harder’s tens stayed in front. The turn didn’t change anything and left Santoro needing an ace or a king on the river to knock out Harder and win the title. On the river, Santoro got just what he wanted when the hit the felt and gave him the win. For his runner-up finish, Harder took home $248,962.

Final Table Results

For his win, Santoro took home $449,910 along with a $25,500 WPT Championship seat.

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*Photo courtesy of WorldPokerTour.com

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April 11 2011, Chad Holloway

On Sunday, April 10, 2011, PokerStars held the continuation of the SuperStar Showdown featuring Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Scott “urnotindangr” Palmer.

If you recall, last week the two played the first part of their two-round match, with Palmer notching a modest $5,425-win after 2,500 hands. As it turned out, this week’s match was a completely different story as Blom raked in $66,607 over 2,500 hands to finish the two-part match $61,182 in the black.

SuperStar Showdown Breakdown Prior to the Match

How It’s Played: While the SuperStar Showdown may conjure images of the “durrrr Challenge,” there are some differences. The SuperStar Showdown is designed as a one-time high-stakes match where challengers face Blom in a heads-up match of 2,500 hands (as opposed to the “durrrr Challenge,” which is 50,000 hands and can last over many months — or years).

The match is played across four tables of $50/$100 or higher no-limit hold’em and/or pot-limit Omaha, depending on the competitor’s preference. The winner is the player who shows a profit at the end of the match or who felts his or her opponent in the process. What’s more, the SuperStar Showdown matches are announced in advance, so poker fans can enjoy the action live on PokerStars, unlike the “durrrr Challenge,” which has been inconsistent. In this particular match, Blom and Palmer continued to play four tables of heads-up no-limit hold’em.

The Outcome: Part I was characterized by swings that lasted right up to the conclusion of the match. It was during those late stages that Palmer managed to win a couple of pots and pulled into a slight lead. Things turned out quite different during Part II as Blom seized the lead early on, one that he would never relinquish. While things didn’t go Palmer’s way, he was able to battle back from Blom’s one-time lead of over $100,000 and ended up losing $66,607 ($61,182 total over both matches).

Here is a look at a few of the biggest and most notable hands from the latest Blom-Palmer match, according to the PokerStars Blog.

Out to an Early Lead: Blom ($10,800) managed to jump out to an early lead, one he would never give up, when Palmer ($11,200) raised to $300 preflop and then called Blom’s three-bet to $1,000, leading to a flop of . Blom continuation bet $1,200, Palmer called, and the appeared on the turn. Again Blom bet, this time $2,650, and Palmer called, leading to the on the river. Blom pushed all-in for $5,950, Palmer called, and Blom rolled over for a flopped full house. Palmer, who held for a turned straight, lost the $21,600 pot and never fully recovered.

Blom Goes Runner-Runner: While Palmer managed to win a few pots here and there, every time he took a step forward, he’d fall two back. It didn’t help that Blom was running well. In one hand, Palmer was all-in preflop with against the of Blom. The flop seemed harmless enough to Palmer, but the turn gave Blom an open-ended straight draw. The draw was completed when the spiked on the river, sending the $32,300 pot Blom’s way.

Things Not Going Palmer’s Way: Palmer ($25,700) raised to $300 on the button and Blom ($23,500) exercised his option in the big blind by making it $1,100 to go. Palmer made the call, the flop came down , and Blom fired out $1,300. After a call, the hit the turn. This time Blom bet $3,150, Palmer raised to $8,000, Blom made it $12,850, and Palmer called. Blom, who had $8,250 behind, moved all-in when the was revealed on the river, which Palmer called. With $47,000 in the pot, Blom rolled over for a full house and it was good against the of Palmer.

A Little Recovery: With around 500 hands left, Palmer was down over $100,000 and was looking for any luck at all. He received a little when he was all-in preflop holding against the of Blom. The board ran out and Palmer’s hand actually held up. A few more favorable hands saw Palmer recoup around $35,000, bringing his total losses down to $66,607 after the 2,500-hand mark was met.

Updated SuperStar Showdown Breakdown

Who’s Next?: That is a good question since the next challenger for the SuperStar Showdown has yet to be revealed, but when it is, rest assured PokerNews we’ll let you know.

If you want to find out more details and hands from this installment of the PokerStars SuperStar Showdown, check out the PokerStars Blog.

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