PartyPoker.com Quarter Million Guaranteed - May 22nd, 2005

Patrick Jackson

May 22nd, 2005

The Sunday Quarter Million Guaranteed tournament on PartyPoker.com had 1,663 players sign up for a total prize pool of $332,600. After over seven hours of grueling poker, the field had been reduced to the following ten survivors with a shot at the $69,846 first prize (chip counts in parenthesis):

Seat 1: zorrojnr82 (287,992)
Seat 2: k_rockk (148,100)
Seat 3: mpk1965 (81,096)
Seat 4: bruced111 (127,884)
Seat 5: Rounder9999 (243,120)
Seat 6: dung_063 (567,509)
Seat 7: KingKobe (495,932)
Seat 8: bronson11 (326,504)
Seat 9: russianlove1 (102,852)
Seat 10: groovejoint (113,511)

With the blinds at 10k-20k, the action was folded to groovejoint in middle position. With only 83k left, groovejoint decided to push all-in with his pocket eights, and all folded to mpk1965 on the button. With only 53k left himself, it was an easy call for mpk1965 with A-K off-suit. Going to the flop groovejoint had a slight edge, but an ace was the first card out, and suddenly mpk1965 had jumped into the lead. Needing an eight to eliminate mpk1965, groovejoint watched as the turn brought the useless 6c, but the 8c on the river gave groovejoint the set and the pot. It was a tough break for mpk1965 after hitting his ace on the flop, but he would have to settle for a tenth place finish and $3,326.

After the blinds were raised to 15k-30k, bronson11 limped into the pot from middle position. All folded to k_rockk in the big blind, who checked and saw a free flop. The flop came Jh-Jd-5d, and k_rockk immediately went all-in for his last 88k. After a slight pause, bronson11 called the bet, and turned over Kh-Qh, for king high. Happy to see his 8-5 off-suit for two pair (jacks and fives) was in the lead, k_rockk had to wait and hope his hand held up. The turn was the 8d, giving k_rockk a higher two pair, but indicative of what was to come, k_rockk had to watch in disgust as the the Kd came on the river, giving bronson11 kings and jacks, for a higher two pair. Yet another tough beat led to k_rockk's ninth place finish, and a pay out of $4,989.

Next, groovejoint pushed all-in from middle position for his last 150k, and all folded to bruced111 on the button, who proceeded to go all-in as well for 202k. Both the blinds folded so bruced111 was returned 52k, and he saw his pocket eights had the advantage over groovejoint's Qs-Ts going to the flop. The flop however came 4s-6d-As, giving groovejoint the spade flush draw as well as two over cards. The turn was the Kc, giving groovejoint even more outs with an inside straight draw. Luckily for him, one of his 18 outs hit on the river in the form of the Qh, doubling him up and crippling bruced111.

With bruced111 still short stacked, bronson111 raised under the gun to 60k total. The action was passed to zorrojnr82 in middle position, and he re-raised all-in for over 212k. All folded back to bronson111 who called quickly, and zorrojnr82 saw his pocket jacks had ran into a pair of bullets. In desperate need of a jack, zorrojnr82 watched in dejection as the board failed to bring any sort of help. It was a tough time to run into pocket aces for zorrojnr82, but he would have to settle for $6,652 and eighth place.

Soon after zorrojnr82's exit, KingKobe raised from the cut off seat to 90k. The button folded, but russianlove1 quickly called off their last 47k in chips from the small blind. groovejoint then made things even more interesting, by pushing all-in for 360k total, which caused KingKobe to fold. It would be a classic race, with groovejoint's A-K off-suit squaring off against russianlove1's pocket tens. The flop came 8s-Qc-6c, keeping russianlove1 out in front, and after the 4h hit on the turn, it looked like they would get a much needed double up. The final table continued it's trend of awful beats however, as the Ac came on the river, ending russianlove1's night is a disappointing fashion. A seventh place finish and $9,978 would have to help soothe the pain after a tough defeat.

Things continued to run wild at the final table, as a few hands later Rounder9999 pushed all-in for his last 183k from early position. The table folded to groovejoint in the small blind, who had no problem calling the all-in with his A-K off-suit. Rounder9999 turned over pocket sixes, so once again there would be a race to decide the fate of another player. The flop came down 6d-3d-9d, giving Rounder9999 his set of sixes, but also giving groovejoint a diamond flush draw with his Kd. The 8d on the turn was a dagger in the heart for Rounder9999, as it gave groovejoint his flush, and left Rounder9999 hoping for his last six or for the board to pair and give him a full house. It wasn't meant to be however, as the meaningless Jc came on river and Rounder9999 was eliminated in sixth place with a cash of $13,304.

Continuing to run unbelievably hot, groovejoint raised all-in for 438k from the small blind. In the big blind with 40k of his short stack already invested, bruced111 committed his last 160k to the pot with Ah-8h. groovejoint's pocket tens were ahead going to the flop, and for once the best hand held up as the board offered no help to bruced111. After being down to 50k with 8 players remaining, bruced111 had been able to hang on and move all the way up to fifth before his exit. For that great job of survival, bruced111 won $16,630, which was close to 10k more then he would have earned with an eighth place finish.

Down to four players and with the blinds at 20k-40k, dung_063 pushed all-in for over 384k. The small blind folded, but bronson11 quickly called in the big blind with a pocket pair of tens, which was in good shape versus dung_063's As-7s. The flop came ace high though, vaulting dung_063 out into the lead with his pair of aces, but the Td on the turn gave bronson11 his set, and left dung_063 drawing dead. The Th on the river was a bit of an overkill, as it gave bronson11 quads, but regardless dung_063 was knocked out in fourth place, with a nice pay day of $19,956.

With only three players left, KingKobe had built a commanding lead with over 1.5 million in comparison to bronson11's 575k and groovejoint's 340k, by consistently stealing the blinds and winning pot after pot with timely raises. From the button, KingKobe once again raised to 120k, but this time groovejoint went all-in over the top of him for 340k total. Needing to call 220k more, KingKobe thought for a long time before calling, and groovejoint had to be ecstatic to see his pocket nines were far ahead of KingKobe's 8-6 off-suit. The flop of Kc-9c-7c gave groovejoint a set of nines, but also gave KingKobe an open-ended straight draw. The 4h on the turn put groovejoint one card away from doubling up, but the Ts on the river gave KingKobe his straight, knocking groovejoint out in the process. A horrible beat to take in a spot like that could not have sat well with groovejoint, but a third place finish and $26,608 was nothing to be ashamed of.

With close to a four-to-one chip lead going into heads up play, KingKobe called bronson11's raise to 123k from the big blind. The flop came Ts-Qs-2c, and after bronson11 checked, KingKobe bet 300k. With not much more then that left, bronson called, and both players saw the 6s come on the turn. Again, bronson11 made a strange play by only betting 40k, and KingKobe quickly called. The fourth spade, the 2s, came on the river, and after bronson11 checked, KingKobe bet 40k, which would put bronson11 all-in since they only had 12k left. bronson11 of course called, and showed Q-T off-suit, for two pair. All KingKobe could show was J-8 off-suit, a busted straight draw, and with no spade, meaning bronson11 had won a huge million chip pot.

With his lead down to only 500k, KingKobe was able to see a free flop in the big blind after bronson11 limped into the pot. The flop came Ks-3s-7h, and after KingKobe checked, bronson11 quickly bet out 40k, and KingKobe called. The turn brought the 3d, which paired the board, and KingKone again checked. Seeing this as a sign of weakness, bronson11 bet out 261k, but KingKobe immediately went all-in, which meant bronson11 would have to commit their last 650k in chips. After a short delay, bronson11 called and showed K-5 off-suit, good for top pair of kings. KingKobe had 2-3 off-suit, and had hit trips on the turn. The Qs on the river was meaningless, and bronson11 finished a great tournament off in second place, cashing for $35,588.

This week's winner KingKobe came to the final table as the chip leader, and was able to build his stack without any real confrontations. Once the action got short handed, he was able to get some help from the deck, and rode that wave of good fortune all the way to a first place finish, and a whopping $69,846 payday.

Final Results:

1st - KingKobe $69,846
2nd - bronson11 $35,588
3rd - groovejoint $26,608
4th - dung_063 $19,956
5th - bruced111 $16,630
6th - Rounder9999 $13,304
7th - russianlove1 $9,978
8th - zorrojnr82 $6,652
9th - k_rockk $4,989
10th - mpk1965 $3,326