Pokerstars.com $500,000 Guaranteed - August 14th, 2005
Patrick Jackson
August 14th, 2005
With a field of 3,188 players each paying the $215 entry to compete in this week's 700k Guarantee on PokerStars, the prize pool reached a staggering $637,600. The top 324 places were paid, but only the following final nine still had a shot at the $127,520 first place money. (Chip counts in parenthesis):
Seat 1: Krusty (1,186,390 in chips)
Seat 2: tralala (771,692 in chips)
Seat 3: DMD FLUSH (363,776 in chips)
Seat 4: El Capitano (479,306 in chips)
Seat 5: emilie (951,440 in chips)
Seat 6: armen13 (11,208 in chips)
Seat 7: DDDoubleUp (689,840 in chips)
Seat 8: brainwash (1,360,123 in chips)
Seat 9: Jeffray73 (2,156,225 in chips)
The story early on at the final table was armen13, who came to the final table with a measly 11k in chips. After posting and folding his antes for the first three hands which totaled 10k, he was left with only 1200 in chips. Forced in via his ante the very next hand, he was able to double up with K 2 off-suit, and soon after, doubled up again. Amazingly, armen13 was able to work his way up over 250k at one point, by completely ignoring any sort of tournament strategy. It was painfully obvious that armen13 was looking to move up the pay ladder, but even so, his lack to play a hand was theoretically wrong with so few chips.
Lucky for armen13 however, DDDoubleUp decided to make a move at the wrong time, when he pushed all-in from the cut off for 636k (blinds were 40k-80k with a 4k ante). All folded to Krusty in the big blind, who made the call and saw his As Jh was in a dominating position over DDDoubleUp Ac 4d. The flop brought neither player any help, but the Js on the turn left DDDoubleUp drawing dead. After a meaningless river card, DDDoubleUp was eliminated in ninth place, raking in $6,886. With armen13 so desperately short stacked though, DDDoubleUp's move was questionable to say the least.
Following DDDoubleUp's exit, the short stacks had their way at the table. El Capitano was able to double up twice, as was the case for armen13 and tralala. It was still eight handed and it was starting to look like the short stacks couldn't lose an all-in. Then, after building his stack up to 390k and letting it blind off again, armen13 was forced all-in on his big blind. The table all folded to El Capitano, who completed the blind and saw his Kd 9d was well ahead of armen13's 2d 3d. The flop came 9s 5s Ah, giving El Capitano a pair of nines, but also giving armen13 an inside straight draw. Needing a four to stay alive, armen13 watched anxiously as the 5d came on the turn, and then the useless Tc on the river. It had been a good run for armen13, amazingly hanging on hand after hand, but in the end his lack of aggressiveness was his undoing. An eighth place finish and $11,476 was nothing to be ashamed of however.
Now down to seven players, DMD FLUSH had only 74k left, and he had to post 40k of it in the small blind. After emilie folded under the gun, brainwash pushed all-in for 515k total. All folded around to DMD FLUSH in the small blind, and he quickly called off his last 30k in chips. Going to the flop brainwash had the advantage with his Jc Jd versus DMD FLUSH's Ac 7d. The flop came Jh Kh Qh, giving brainwash his set of jacks, and leaving DMD FLUSH drawing to one of the four tens in the deck to make a straight. The turn was the 9c, meaning if a ten did not come on the river, DMD FLUSH would be eliminated. Unfortunately for DMD FLUSH, the river was the Ks, giving brainwash a full house and eliminating him in seventh place. For his efforts, DMD FLUSH took in a nice payday of $16,577.
After coming to the final table with the chip lead, Jeffray73 had slowed down a bit and lost some pots, but still was in second place when he made a crucial mistake. The action was folded to emilie on the button, who raised it to 249k total. After brainwash folded in the small blind, Jeffray73 decided emilie was on a steal and re-raised, making it 640k total. Without much hesitation, emilie went all-in for 478k more, and Jeffray73 called just as quickly. When the cards were turned over, emilie was happy to see that their Ad Jh was in good shape up against Jeffray73's As 2s. The flop came Qd 4h 7d, giving no help to either player, and the 8h on the turn kept emilie ahead. Needing one of the three remaining deuces in the deck to eliminate emilie, Jeffray73 disappointedly watched as the 6h appeared on the river. With that 2.3 million chip pot, emilie had taken the chip lead, and crippled Jeffray73 in the process.
For the duration of the final table, Krusty had played solid poker and had been able to work his way up to be one of the chip leaders, with over 2.1 million in chips. That all would change in the span of two hands however, as Krusty suffered an unfortunate meltdown. The first step in his downfall came in the hand immediately following Jeffray73's misstep against emilie. After the new chip leader emilie raised on the button to 320k, Jeffray73 jammed for his last 577k from the small blind. Next to act was Krusty in the big blind, and he immediately went all-in as well, forcing emilie to fold. Going to the flop, Krusty was the favorite with his As Qd out in front of Jeffray73's Ks 9s, but the flop came 5d 2s 4s, giving Jeffray73 a spade flush draw. The 8s on the turn gave Jeffray73 his flush, but Krusty had a re-draw to the nut flush with the ace of spades. The river was a meaningless 3d however, and Jeffray73 had doubled up to over 1.4 million, while Krusty had taken a substantial hit to his stack.
Even after losing that hand, Krusty had a decent stack, but the loss to Jeffray73 seemed to put him on tilt. Two hands later, the action was folded to Krusty in third position, and he immediately went all-in for 1.2 million. The rest of the table folded to emilie in the big blind, who called without much hesitation, and was delighted to see their As Ks was a big favorite over Krusty's Kd 8c. Needing an eight, or some sort of miraculous draw to stay alive, Krusty watched as the flop brought him no help, and when the Ad hit on the turn, he was drawing dead. A great tournament ended on a sour note, as Krusty had blown through over 2 million in chips in a matter of minutes. For his sixth place finish, Krusty was rewarded with $22,316.
Soon after play becoming five handed, El Capitano spiked a miracle seven on the river to make a set, and doubled through emilie, leaving brainwash as the short stack at the table. It didn't take brainwash long to get his chips in the middle, as the very next hand he pushed all-in from the button. Needing to call 336k more, tralala did so, and saw his 9s 9h was in a race versus brainwash's Ah Ks. A flop of Ts 2h 2c kept tralala's pair of nines in the lead, and the 3h on the turn offered no help to brainwash either. Needing an ace or a king on the river to stay alive, brainwash watched in dismay as the 2d came on the river, and tralala's pocket nines had held up. It was another fantastic showing in the Sunday tournament for brainwash however, as this appearance was his fourth at the final table this year. A fifth place finish and $28,962 added another line to his growing list of accomplishments.
Now down to four players, the tournament was stopped so the players could discuss a deal. With some help from PokerStars support, the players had come up with a deal based on chip counts, but there was one hold out. El Capitano, who was the short stack of the players remaining, wanted more money to be thrown his way. When told he was in no place to bargain because of the chip disparity, El Capitano replied to the effect of 'I am the better player, so I deserve more money.' This didn't sit well with emilie at all, and the two traded words back and forth before the deal was officially called off.
After play resumed, El Capitano went right to work. First, he outplayed Jeffray73 for a large pot, when he came over the top of a weak raise by Jeffray73 on the river. The very next hand, El Capitano raised under the gun to 300k, and Jeffray73 went all-in over the top of him for 790k total. El Capitano made a quick call, and saw he was in a coin flip situation with his Ah 9s up against Jeffray73's 5c 5h. The flop of 4h Jh As vaulted El Capitano to the lead, and after consecutive bricks on the turn and river, Jeffray73 was eliminated in fourth place. Instead of the $65k or so he would have garnered in the proposed deal, Jeffray73 would have to settle for $36,980. Not a paltry sum by any means, but you can be sure he will not be sending El Capitano a Christmas card this year.
Now the chip leader, El Capitano had already improved his position tremendously after turning down the deal. Once again, he continued his torrid pace as he hooked up with his nemesis, emilie, in a key pot. After tralala folded on the button, El Capitano called from the small blind, and emilie checked. The flop came 8s 7h 6s, and El Capitano check-called an 80k bet from emilie. The Ac came on the turn, and again El Capitano check-called a bet from emilie, this time for 160k. The Jd peeled off on the river, and this time El Capitano bet out 320k, but emilie raised to 1.44 million total. After a long delay as El Capitano deliberated, he finally called and emilie showed 9s 9c, which could not beat El Capitano's As 9h for a pair of aces. After the re-raise on the river, it was a tough call for El Capitano to make, but by doing so he had taken a firm grasp on the tournament.
Now desperately short stacked due to the hand with El Capitano, emilie ended up getting their last 473k in the middle with Js Td, but unfortunately for emilie, tralala had Ac Tc on the big blind. A flop of As Ad 7h left emilie with little hope, and the 4d on the turn had them drawing dead. A great showing by emilie ended with a third place finish and $47,820, but that was close to 18k less then they would have received via the discussed deal.
Now down to just two players, and no talk of a deal, El Capitano and tralala squared off in a heads up battle. Not much of consequence happened over the first half dozen hands or so, but tralala was able to trim El Capitano's lead a bit, until it was down under 2 million. Then, tralala raised from the small blind to 240k, and El Capitano called. The flop came 7s 3h Kd, and El Capitano check-called a 320k bet from tralala. The turn brought the Kh, pairing the board, and El Capitano bet out a suspicious 80k. After some thought, tralala went all-in for 2.5 million total, and El Capitano quickly called, showing Kc 2s for three kings, which had tralala drawing dead with his 7h 8h. For good measure, the 2d came on the river, giving El Capitano a full house and the victory. It was an unfortunate end to a great day of poker from tralala, who was able to make his way through over 3,000 other players to take down second place, and $76,512.
After turning down a deal four-handed when he was the short stack at the table, El Capitano switched into another gear and dominated play from that point on. He needed a little luck to stay afloat prior to that point, but once he threw down the gauntlet and declared himself a superior player to those remaining, he really backed up his claims. Keeping that in mind, it was not at all surprising to read this article, which reveals El Capitano is in fact well-known poker superstar Marcel Luske. Regardless of who El Capitano is, he did a tremendous job this week in taking down the tournament, and in the process winning $127,520.
Final Results:
1st - El Capitano $127,520
2nd - tralala $76,512
3rd - emilie $47,820
4th - Jeffray73 $36,980.80
5th - brainwash $28,692
6th - Krusty $22,316
7th - DMD FLUSH $16,577.60
8th - armen13 $11,476.80
9th - DDDoubleUp $6,886.08
Readers Note: A few days later, Noah Boeken posted on pocketfives.com that he had played under the account. Noah is usually online as exclusive on PokerStars. Marcel does own the account, but Noah was playing the cards at the final table.
