Final results round 2 matches

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WHU Update No. 9

Now that the second round is over, we can make up the balance. Well, we have lost some more few big names like former winners Bruno Fitoussi and Angel Blanco, the strong Julian Thew, the colorful Padraig Parkinson, the dangerous Alex Kravchenko, the English trumps John Kabbaj, Roy Brindley and Ross Boatman, and last but not least the young Noah Boeken. Coupled with the casualties from round 1, that's quite a few recognizable faces that are not with us anymore. All in all, the qualifiers for round 3 are:

1
Ivo Donev
Pascal Perrault
Dave Ulliott
Stephen Pearce
Simon Trumper
Martin Cedercrantz
Peter Gunnarson
Mickey Wernick

2
Dave Colclough
Juan Sastre
Raul Paez Corral
Barny Boatman
Richard Gryko
Jamie Sharrat
Manuel Silva
Andreas Hagan

3
Derek Baxter
David Leigh
Hans Eskilsson
Jac Arama
Isabelle Mercier
Frej Rutenskold
Chen Guosem
John Falconer

4
Jin Cai Lin
Cui Guogun
Peter Abela
Jatinder Singh
Luzhe Zhang
Paul Jackson
Simon Nowab
Rory Liffey

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WHU Update No. 8

The first round has led to the departure of quite a few notable names. To name but a few: Luca Pagano, Ram Vaswani, Xuyen Pham, Carlo Citrone, Rob Hollink, Steve Vladar, Joe Beevers and Lothar Landauer. Coupled with the fact that one or two true poker superstars like Marcel Luske have decided not to appear here, but instead focus on big American events, means that in contrast to previous years we may have slightly fewer big names left at this stage of the event. Actually, this World Heads Up event may well be on a crossroad now. Despite the fact that this event is a huge success, a sell-out, and despite the fact that the players love it and the TV-registration looks better than ever, the event may not be as big as it it used to be, for the simple reason that the other events have grown massive. So, the question is: Will the World Heads Up stay like this, a nice an beautiful event, or will it try to catch up with the bigger events, by either increasing the buy-in, or else allowing more entrants. An interesting dilemma, and one that is not exclusive to this World Heads Up. Basically all events that are not part of the EPT or WPT face a similar situation, and all will have to find the best way to deal with it.

But guys, I guess you have not come here to listen to my philosophy or analysis - you are here for the poker, right? Well, I guess we've got some cracking matches in store. So, without further I do, I say: Welcome to the second round of the World Heads Up - let's play some poker.

Chips: 10,000 each
Blinds start at 100-200, go up every hour to 150-300, 200-400 and the final increase to 300-600

1
Angel Blanco Puras - Ivo Donev* (1h03)
... The reigning champion is out! It was the tricky Ivo who did the damage. And one can say a lot about Ivo, but his pre-match preparation is second to none. When I talked to him this morning, he said he had actually looked in all the Internet archives on Angel's play and his tendencies, and had in fact analyzed all the match statistics from last year's event. And it did pay off for him! In the final hand, the Spaniard went for a massive all-in bluff, holding two clubs with three hearts on the board. Ivo could not believe his luck, holding ace-four of hearts for the nut flush, and the strong Angel is out.
Pascal Perrault - Roy Brindley * (0h23)
... With Pascal having a slight lead over Roy, a big pot developed. Pascal had ace-king of hearts, Roy queen-jack of clubs. Pot-size before the flop: 4,400. Roy caught a good flop, QTT, but Pascal would not release his ace-king of course with this much money in the middle, so they both put in 4,100 more. An ace on the turn ended the hopes of the Boy, while keeping those of the Bandit alive.
**
Carlos Muntan - Dave Ulliott* (1h47)
... Hometown Carlos caught the Devil bluffing in a big pot. With king-queen of hearts, Dave had flopped a royal flush draw, but in the end he had nothing more than a mere king high, and his 1,500 bet was called by a better hand. And then on the immediate next hand, it was Dave who raised to 600 from the small blind / button (SBB), Carlos immediately reraising to 2,200. Also within a second Dave said: "I am all-in", and to tell you the truth Dave had convinced me that he may still have been steaming from the last hand. But Carlos knew better and folded ace-ten of diamonds face-up, and Dave showed that indeed he had the goods: QQ. Dave now only had a slight chip lead, even though looking at the stacks it seemed his lead was huge: The man from Hull had simply accumulated all the low-denomination chips in the game to look even more impressive. In the end, one of Europe's biggest poker stars came out on top as was more or less expected. On the final hand, AK against 55, all-in before the flop, he found the help he needed: a king on the turn.
Stephen Pearce* - Daniel Larsson (0h19)
... A somewhat surprising result. Daniel had a short stack from the start, and with just 1,900 left he went all-in with a king-queen. When he got called, he announced "good call", but in fact he was only a slight dog against his opponent's A4. And when the flop came Q86, he was actually a massive favorite! But then the almighty ace on the turn, and it was Stephen Pearce to go through.
**
Albert Ashamn - Simon Trumper* (0h12)
... A very easy win for Simon against the man who had busted out Luca Pagano. First, holding Q6 on a QQJ flop, he simply check-called the flop bet. He then check-raised Albert's 400 turn bet to 800, and again flatcalled when Albert reraised to 2,400. When a blank came on the river, Simon check-called another 3,000 and won - his opponent had been semibluffing all through the hand. And a few minutes later, Simon had called a raise with JT and then flopped the absolute nuts, 987! This time, Simon simply bet into his opponent, his opponent moved all-in with A9 for top pair / top kicker, and the rest is history. Aces is through to round 3.
Martin Cedercrantz* - Ross Boatman (3h11)
... On the televised table, Ross had gotten into early trouble. With his stack down to 2,000, he merely limped while holding two aces, and his opponent checked too with a fairly big hand: ace-ten. Flop AT8. Ross bet 300 with his top set, Martin called with his top two pair. When an eight on the turn gave Ross top full, he check-raised Martin all-in, and doubled through to 4,000 - but he still had a very long way to go. Still, after about 2 hours of playing, it was Ross who had taken the lead, with just over 12,000 in chips. But Martin showed fighting spirit to take over again, and then a crucial hand developed. From the SBB, Ross made it 1,200 to go with big slick, with Martin calling. On the flop, Ross had hit the whopper, because it was QJT - giving him the absolute nuts, with a good chance that his opponent could find a decent second-best hand to pay him off with. Indeed Martin check-called his flop bet, and when the turn was an eight of hearts, creating not just a one-card straight but also three hearts for a possible flush, Martin came out betting into the Englisman's ace-high straight. Of course, there was no way Ross could give his opponent credit for the flush here - but he did have it. Martin's nine-five of hearts was enough to bust out the strong Mobster.
**
Peter Gunnarson* - Paul Hersleth (0h15)
... Just like Simon Trumper, Peter can enjoy a nice and relaxing afternoon, because after just 15 minutes this match was over! Peter had his opponent down to about 5,500 when he flopped an overpair (QQ) against Paul's top pair of sevens, and the best hand held up.
John Kabbaj - Mickey Wernick* (0h27)
... Mickey kept up to his reputation of being able to beat extremely strong players. Most people would be horrified to find the strong John Kabbaj as their opponent, but Mickey needed just half an hour to get the job done. Holding AT on a final board T4298, Mickey had flatcalled his opponent on all streets, including the 4,000 all-in river bet, and he beat his opponent by the slightest possible margin, Kabbaj holding king-ten.
**

2
Dave Colclough* - Noah Boeken (0h42)
... Noah Boeken, one of the rising stars on the European poker scene, and winner of the EPT event in Copenhagen, is out! He had a terrible draw of course against one of the best players in Europe, Dave Colclough, and as it turned out he would hardly win a pot against the Englishman! Dave caught a lot of good hands and Noah was complaining how once the flop was there he would never get any part of that. And he was unlucky when it mattered most. Down to 1,300, Dave raised him all-in from the SBB, and Noah made a stand with A7 - so Dave was basically drawing to not much more than an eight. Bang! First card off the deck was an eight, and yet another young gun is out.
Josep M Talens - Juan Sastre* (2h22)
... With just 1,850 left, Josep was forced to go all-in with the worst hand (A3 against Juan's A8), and found no help.
**
Raul Paez Corral* - Alexander Kravchenko (1h50)
... The strong Russian is out. With 4,800 in the middle preflop, holding the best hand (KJ vs. Raul's QJ), he was unlucky to see a flop with a queen: AQ3. Of course, the remaining 1,000 went in with his gutshot, but he received no help.
Jon Huckle - Barny Boatman* (2h18)
... When Barny had raised to 800 from the SBB, Jon made a massive reraise to 5,600. When Barny then went all-in, Jon folded - while he only had 3,300 left! It may have been possible that Jon had misread the amount of his reraise, or maybe he may even have thrown in the wrong colored chips, meaning he actually just wanted to call - but with 11,200 in the middle already, calling an additional 3,300 would seem like a no-brainer with any hand, even after this possible mistake in the earlier betting. With the large chip lead he accumulated in this pot, Barny clinched the match just two hands later. Barny had raised to 900 from the SBB again, and Jon had moved all-in to about 2,900 with a reasonable hand, A8. But Barny had him dominated with AK, and when an ace flopped, his bigger kicker played.
**
Woody Deck - Richard Gryko* (0h43)
... Yet another good win for Richard, who is playing very strong this week. He took an early lead, and holding almost 90% of the chips in play, he got his opponent all-in with TT vs. K7. No surprises, and Richard is through.
Jim Britton - Jamie Sharrat* (1h23)
**
Manuel Silva* - Dan Simcelescu (0h27)
Mathias Wilkens - Andreas Hagan* (1h31)

3
Derek Baxter* - David Slowik (1h19)
... After beating "Chief" Rob Hollink in round 1, Derek kept his good form by winning this match as well. As an experienced cash game player, one would think the different pace of tournament heads up matches would give him some problems - but so far, this does not seem to be the case at all.
David Leigh* - Rino Mathis (041)
... In this match, Rino ran into early trouble, and was unable to recover. Down to 2,200 in an unraised pot, he made a move with J9 on a flop QT2, for an open-ended straight draw. But his opponent had T2 for bottom two pair, and that held up.
**
Hans Eskilsson* - Gary Collins + TT (3h16)
Michael Keiner - Jac Arama* (3h15)
... Holding a clear chip lead, Jac moved all-in with an ace-six suited, and Michael called him with an ace-nine. The better hand held up, and Jac's lead was now only 13,000-7,000. But he was able to put the pressure on, and with success - in the end busting out the strong German.
**
Peter Eichhardt - Isabelle Mercier* (2h01)
... In this match, things didn't seem to go Isabelle's way at all. On more than one occasion, she was playing a good-but-dominated hand, or Peter would make a second pair on the river to cost her valuable chips. But she also made a few mistakes herself. On the turn 7T33 with two hearts, she was check-called by the strong Swede. When the river was a Q that did not complete any draw and Peter checked once more, a bluff with her busted hand would probably have been the best course of action. But she simply checked it back, allowing the Swede to win the pot with Jh6h for a busted flush draw, but a higher no-pair, a hand he would never have called any reasonable bet with. At one time, she was down to 2,000, but she fought back to 5,600 to get back into the match, by having her 77 hold up on a flop 642, where Peter had a four. But not much later it still seemed all over for her. Peter had raised to 600 on the SBB, and Isabelle made the only logical play to move all-in with her ace-jack. But when she got called she saw that again Peter had her dominated with an ace-queen. With the cameras and the large crowd, the tension built, but no help on the flop for Isabelle, no help on the turn, and then... the river was a jack! We were witnessing a great match between two players who both share an unusual combination of being nice and friendly yet still having the ability to look incredibly arrogant - now, for poker players, this can be quite a virtue of course. All in all, a slight chip lead for Isabelle, and from there she was able to do what she does best: put pressure on her opponent, and keep chipping away at him. Peter could not recover, and "No Mercy" Isabelle is through.
Frej Rutenskold* - Bengt Sonnert (0h55)
... In this match, Bengt never got hold of much chips. He survived once, when his middle pair / queen kicker held up against Frej's bottom pair / queen kicker, but the second time it was over. Holding 53 on a board 885, he was drawing thin against his opponent's cowboys, and found no help.
**
Chen Guosem* - Padraig Parkinson (3h00)
... The Asians are performing very well in this tournament. In a match between two somewhat unpredictable players, it was Chen who came out on top.
John Falconer* - Antony Lellouche (1h43)
... Burnley John has just beaten the very dangerous Frenchman Antony Lellouche. After his excellent performance in Ireland recently, he is playing very strong here as well.
**

4
Bruno Fitoussi - Jin Cai Lin* (1h41)
... A match I very much looked forward to, between the colorful-but-intimidating Bruno from the Aviation Club in Paris, and the highly aggressive Jin from Poker World in Vienna. Jin took the lead when in a pot that was raised to 500 by him before the flop, he came out betting an unusually small amount of 300 on the flop KKQ. Bruno called, and on the turn they both checked. A blank on the river and now Jin overbet the pot slightly for 2,200. It seemed obvious that either Jin had been trapping with the absolute nuts, or he was going for the big bluff, figuring that after the turn checks the pot may now be up for grabs. After stalling the action for more than three minutes, Bruno decided to call and as he had probably feared, Jin did have the goods: KQ for top full. With Jin holding a slight chip lead, Bruno did what he could to fight back, but in the end it was the Chinese Austrian to go through.
Cui Guogun* - Ali Osman (5h48)
... And he is going to be up against another Chinese player, the sympathetic Cui Guogun. Cui took an early lead, and had his opponent down to 1,500 after two hours. But when Ali then doubled up, it looked more and more like this was going to be a marathon match. Slowly but surely Ali came back into the match, and after five hours he even gained a slight lead. That's when a crucial hand developed. Ali raised to 600, with Cui immediately reraising him to 1,800. Within seconds, Ali had his entire stack in, for 9,300 total. Now, I thought Ali had a really big hand here to make this move, especially because he had not been making these types of all-in bets very often. But Cui musty have though differently, because after long deliberation he decided to call an additional 7,500 with a hand as weak as king-ten offsuit! And actually, he was in fairly good shape because Ali only had pocket nines. No help for Cui until the river, when a gorgeous king fell - to give him a pot of 18,600 total. From there, he went on to win the match, and he will now face the dangerous Jin in round 3.
**
Peter Abela* - Julian Thew (3h11)
... Julian was a clear favorite in this match, even more so after his excellent performance yesterday, but he just could not get rid of his opponent. In the end, Peter would win the match, and yet another favorite is out.
Jatinder Singh* - Roberto Binelli (3h09)
**
Mark MacMahon - Luzhe Zhang* (2h57)
... And yet another Chinese player to go through. Luzhe Zhang is a very experienced player, based in Vienna, but he can be found in Barcelona quite often, and sometimes travels to Amsterdam as well. He got lucky against Mark once or twice, but in the end deserved to go through.
Bill Edler - Paul Jackson* (1h23)
**
Mattias Backstrom - Simon Nowab* (0h57)
... Simon took a quick lead. He then seemed to run into a bit of trouble when with a final board of two jacks, two sevens and a four, he paid off 500 and lost to his opponent's ace high. But in the end he remained calm and relaxed. And even though he needed to get a bit lucky to win the match (QJ vs. AQ all-in preflop, jack on the flop), he had well over 17,000 in chips at that point and thus could afford to take a few chances.
Mark Foster - Rory Liffey* (2h41)
... Playing his matches at the bottom right end of the tournament area, Rory looks very comfortable. On the final hand, Rory had Ah 6h on a flop Kd Qd 9h. Mark had hardly any money left at that time, and even though on the flop Rory was still behind to his opponent's pair of nines, an ace rivered to send him through.