January 10 2012, Rich Ryan

Last year at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, we “learned” that Isildur1 was Viktor Blom. This year, he won over a million dollars in the first tournament of the 2012 PCA. We think that’s a good place to start this week’s Five Thoughts.

1. Isildur1 binks over $1.25 million

Viktor Blom didn’t arrive in the Bahamas until the day of the $100,000 Super High Roller, and when he entered the special high-stakes room, he was sporting a new haircut and a bathing suit. He was very quiet, save for a few small conversations at the table, but also very deadly, eliminating Philipp Gruissem, Bryn Kenney, and Matt Glantz. Blom finished Day 1 second in chips with more than three times the starting stack.

Blom struggled out of the gate on Day 2, losing almost half his stack in the third level of play, but he never went on tilt or started spewing. Blom’s low point on the day was 550,000, but after busting David “Doc” Sands, Sam Stein, and winning a key pot off of Galen Hall, he bagged over 1.2 million chips, and was in the middle of the pack going to the final table.

On the third and final day, Blom recorded the second knockout, eliminating Michael “Timex” McDonald but didn’t move much until the bubble burst. That’s when the boomswitch was turned on, and Blom eliminated all four of his opponents.

Blom won a race against Daniel Negreanu, made the nut flush against Jonathan Duhamel’s flopped top pair, crushed Hall’s pocket nines with pocket aces, and faded Dan Shak’s flush and straight draws on the turn to win the tournament. Blom ran white hot at the final table but would’ve never reached the final eight if he hadn’t played so marvelously during the first two days.

Blom’s performance was legendary – it almost broke NVG on TwoPlusTwo – and we hope to see him more on this year’s circuit. We also can’t wait to see how juicy the high-stakes action is going to get on PokerStars.

2. Close, but no cigar

Galen Hall finished third in the Super High Roller. Third. Third! So close!

If you’re blankly staring at your computer screen, confused as to why we’re so upset that Hall finished third, then you haven’t read my 12 Predictions for 2012.

The first prediction was that Galen Hall would win the Super High Roller – and the 2011 PCA Main Event champion damn near did, finishing in third place for $470,400. At one point on Day 2, Hall looked like a dog to survive let alone make a run, but during the last level of play, he won two huge hands against Isaac Haxton.

In the first hand, Hall turned a flush, and after both players checked the turn, he led out for 257,000 into a pot of 220,000. Haxton called and mucked upon seeing Hall’s flush. A few hands later, Hall opened to 35,000 on the button, Haxton three-bet to 85,000 from the small blind, and Hall moved all-in for effectively 580,000. Haxton snap-called with , which dominated Hall’s . There was a jack on the flop, however, and after the turn and river bricked, Haxton was eliminated and Hall ascended into the chip lead to end the day.

Day 3 started off great for Hall. He eliminated Humberto Brenes to start the day and Scott Seiver on the bubble, but once the players reached the money it all came crashing down. Hall’s stack began to sink, and once he was three-handed against Blom and Shak, it plummeted. Eventually he three-bet jammed with two black nines, but was dominated by Blom’s aces. Blom held, and Hall was out in third place.

Congratulations are in order for Hall for running so deep, and for giving me a good sweat. I was ready to drop the mic and walk off stage.

3. Randy “nanonoko” Lew isn’t human

On Sunday, while Day 1b of the PCA Main Event was taking place right behind him, Randy “nanonoko” Lew sat in the Imperial Ballroom here at the Atlantis and played 23,493 hands of online poker in eight hours, setting a new Guinness World Record.

It was insane.

Lew didn’t leave the chair once to eat, relieve himself, stretch, or fume after a bad beat. No. He sat there in silence for eight hours and ground his face off.

The result? A profit of $7.65 – bling blang blaow!

Throughout the day, Team PokerStars Online manager Dustin Iannotti would inform Lew of his progress, and Lew would either mutter a short response or simply nod his head. Lew’s peak profit was a couple hundred dollars, and his nadir was $1,200. At that point, he fired up some higher-stakes tables and erased the deficit.

Finally, when the eight hours were up, Lew got up out of his chair, stretched his arms above his head, and wiped his tired eyes. His eight-hour poker hibernation was over.

For most people, it takes years to compile 23,493 hands of poker, and even high-volume grinders would take weeks or months to do what Lew did in one day. The legendary “nanonoko” looked fine the next day too, and finished Day 2 of the PCA Main Event with 146,500 chips.

4. Jaka Jaka Jaka

“It’s weird getting it in good.”

That’s what Faraz Jaka said on Day 2 of the PCA Main Event after eliminating yet another player. In this particular hand, Jaka called an all-in with after an opponent three-bet jammed with . This was no more than five minutes after a short-stacked player on the button open-shoved with , and Jaka woke up with two queens in the small blind.

Jaka started Day 2 with 129,500 chips, peaked at 1.2 million, and ended the day with 902,500. He applied relentless pressure, ran well, built a castle of chips, and provided some of the best tweets of the day.

One of our favorites was:

The man they call “The Toilet” entered Day 3 with almost 350,000 more chips than his closest competitor (Christian Folescu, 555,500), and will look to added to his crazy, wild stacks.

5. More Jaka

Ironically, before going on his insane run, Jaka told our own Sarah Grant that good cards make him nervous.

What makes you nervous?

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Follow Rich Ryan on Twitter – @RichTRyan

August 10 2011, Chad Holloway

Aside from the Main Event, the most highly anticipated tournament of the World Series of Poker is the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship. As part of ESPN’s Tuesday-night lineup, new episodes of the WSOP aired this week featuring two hours of the aforementioned event. The tournament drew 128 players, creating a prize pool of $6,144,000, with more than $1.72 million of that reserved for first place.

Like in 2010, the event was an 8-game mix until the final table, at which point the game was switched to no-limit hold’em. Last year’s champ, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, returned to defend his title, but fell well short of making the final table. As expected, that table ended up being a star-studded affair, with just one amateur (bracelet winner Owais Ahmed) making the top eight.

$50,000 Poker Player’s Championship Final Table

Let’s Get It On: With the blinds at 25,000/50,000 with a 15,000 ante, Brian Rast raised to 125,000 from middle position holding . Phil Hellmuth responded by three-betting to 250,000 from the cutoff with , which cleared the field back to Rast. After a call, the flop came down , hitting both players.

Rast was first to act and led out with a massive bet of 2 million. “Wow, I hope he’s not drawing live,” Hellmuth responded as he slid his entire stack of 2.03 million into the pot. Indeed, Rast was drawing live to diamonds and called the additional 30,000. The Poker Brat was out of his chair, seeking comfort from his wife, as the turn changed nothing. The river improved Rast to sevens full, but it was no good against the jacks full of Hellmuth, who became the new chip leader with 4.755 million.

Ben Lamb Eliminate in Eighth Place: As the program returned from a commercial break, Ben Lamb was all-in for his last 295,000 and called by Scott Seiver.

Showdown
Seiver:
Lamb:

Lamb, who sat atop the WSOP Player-of-the-Year Leaderboard, could not find help. The board ran out an uneventful . While he was the first casualty, Lamb earned $201,338 for his eighth-place finish, which was his third final table of the 2011 WSOP to that point.

Leading Up to the Final Table: Here’s a look at the payouts and eliminations leading up to the $50,000 Poker Players Championship final table:

$50,000 Heads-Up Championship Payouts

Scott Seiver Eliminated in Seventh Place: A short-stacked Scott Seiver open-shipped for 1.315 million from middle position with only to run into Brian Rast’s in the small blind. He moved all-in over the top and isolated Seiver, who only had a 19 percent chance of winning the hand. The flop wasn’t much help to Seiver, and the turn left him looking for a eight on the river. Unfortunately for him, it was not meant to be, because the blanked. Seiver took home $243,978 for his seventh-place finish.

George Lind Eliminated in Sixth Place: George Lind raised to 125,000 from middle position holding and received a call from Minh Ly on the button, holding . It was heads-up to the flop, which saw Lind check-call a bet of 150,000. The turn was gin for Ly, who hit his flush; on the other hand, it proved disastrous for Lind, who hit an inferior two pair. After the latter checked, Ly fired out 380,000, Lind moved all-in for 1.025 million, and Ly snap-called. Lind needed either a queen or ten on the river, but instead the reared its ugly head. Lind hit the rail in sixth place, earning $300,441 in the process.

Premature Fold: After Minh Ly raised to 125,000 from early position, Matt Glantz looked down at and moved all-in for 1.24 million. Action folded to Owais Ahmed in the big blind and he asked for a count, which prompted Ly to fold out of turn. The premature fold didn’t sit too well with Glantz, who gently scolded Ly.

Ahmed eventually made the call with and Glantz, who finished fourth in this event in 2008, was at risk. Ahmed admitted Ly’s fold influenced his call, which upset Glantz even though he was in a good spot to double. The flop changed nothing, nor did the turn. Glantz needed to dodge an ace on the river to take down the 2.71 million pot, which is exactly what he did as the peeled off.

Matt Glantz Eliminated in Fifth Place: Minh Ly opened under the gun for 130,000 with and received a call from Matt Glantz who was holding . Phil Hellmuth called from the small blind holding , while Owais Ahmed came along from the big. The flop was a precursor to fireworks, and Hellmuth fired out 250,000 with his two pair. Ahmed quickly folded while Ly made the call. Glantz, who held both straight and flush draws, moved all-in for 2.415 million, which put the pressure back on the Poker Brat.

Hellmuth eventually mucked his two pair, while Ly ended up making the call. Glantz was behind with a 41 percent chance of winning the hand, but it was not meant to be. The turn and river sent him home in fifth place ($376,750).

Wild Card Hand: In the second hour of the broadcast, Brian Rast was dealt the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card hand and raised to 200,000. To make things more exciting, viewers were given four possible hands to choose from: A.) ; B.) ; C.) ; D.) .

Phil Hellmuth then raised to 450,000 with , and Rast called the additional 250,000. Co-host Norman Chad guessed that Rast held C.) , but admitted he was essentially playing pin the tail on the donkey – and he was the donkey!

Rast proceeded to fire out 400,000 on the flop, Hellmuth called, and the dealer burned and turned the . Again Rast bet, this time 650,000, Hellmuth called, and the spiked on the river. It went check-check and Hellmuth showed his pair of sixes. Can you guess what Rast had? Hint: It was the only hand Hellmuth could beat.

Owais Ahmed Eliminated in Fourth Place: As the broadcast returned from a commercial break, Owais Ahmed was all in for 1.725 million and called by Phil Hellmuth.

Showdown
Hellmuth:
Ahmed:

While Hellmuth was ahead preflop, the flop delivered a king and the lead for Ahmed. The turn left Hellmuth looking for an ace on the river, and wouldn’t you know it, the spiked! Hellmuth celebrated with his rail and Ahmed made his way to the payout desk to pick up $482,085 for his fourth-place finish.

Minh Ly Eliminated in Third Place: Phil Hellmuth opened on the button to 280,000 only to have Minh Ly move all-in for 1.925 million. Brian Rast quickly got out of the way while Hellmuth tanked. After deliberating for a few moments, he made the call and discovered he was a 62 percent favorite.

Showdown
Hellmuth:
Ly:

The flop gave Hellmuth a pair of sixes, and Ly a gut-shot straight draw. The turn gave Ly an inferior pair, leaving him in need of help on the river. Alas, the was not what he was looking for, and just like that, Ly was busted in third place ($665,763).

Heads-Up Play: Phil Hellmuth began heads-up play with 10,765,000 chips to Brian Rast’s 8,435,000. It didn’t take long for Hellmuth to jump out to a big lead. He hit hand after hand, to give him 16.57 million to Rast’s 2.63 million.

With the blinds at 60,000/120,000 and a 30,000 ante, Hellmuth limped with and then called a raise to 400,000 by Rast who was holding . The flop gave Hellmuth a flush draw, and he moved all-in after Rast bet 345,000. Rast called, putting himself at risk, and it was a coinflip; however, neither the turn nor river helped the Poker Brat. Rast doubled to 5.26 million.

In the next hand of the broadcast, Hellmuth limped with only to have Rast, who peeked down at , raise to 405,000. Hellmuth made the call and watched the bring him another flush draw. Rast bet 375,000 with his pair of kings, Hellmuth quickly raised to 1.275 million, and Rast responded by moving all-in for 4.19 million total. Hellmuth called, and once again the title was on the line. Hellmuth was looking to complete his flush, but he couldn’t do it. The turn and river assured Rast the double.

With Rast now in the chip lead, Hellmuth raised to 400,000 with . Rast called the additional 280,000 with , and was no doubt pleased to hit the nuts when the flop came down ; however, Hellmuth had picked up yet another flush draw. Rast led out for 500,000, Hellmuth moved all-in for 8.495 million, and Rast simply responded, “I’m sorry, Phil. I have the nuts. I call.”

Hellmuth wasn’t done, he had a 36 percent chance of hitting a flush. “I need a diamond or he wins,” Hellmuth said as he made his way to his rail. The turn was no help to Hellmuth, and neither was the river. Three missed flush draws devastated Hellmuth and left him with his third runner-up finish of the 2011 WSOP ($1,063,034).

“Buddy, if I was you, I’d tip that dealer a million,” Hellmuth said as he congratulated Rast on the victory. Uncharacteristically, Hellmuth was upbeat and gracious in his post-elimination interview.

“It was certainly something to fade the three flush draws,” Rast said in his post-victory interview with Kara Scott. Rast, who became the only double-bracelet winner of the 2011 WSOP, went on to add: “It’s really special, I don’t know, I feel good.”

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