Quarter final results


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WHU Update No. 14

The quarter finals are over! Tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. local time we will have the semi-finals, followed by the final - with a €100,000 Euro first prize at stake. The matches:

Peter Gunnarson (Sweden) - Dave Colclough (UK)
John Falconer (UK) - Simon Nowab (UK)

These players will be here tomorrow afternoon in the beautiful Gran Casino Barcelona, for the final day of the World Heads Up 2005. Goodbye for now - see you all tomorrow!

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WHU Update No. 13

Day 6 will start on 3:30 p.m local time with the two remaining quarter finals, in an all British affair:

+++ David Leigh (UK) - John Falconer* (UK) TT (1h37)

John had gotten off to a very good start, winning three pots in a row. The first one was even a fairly big one, 29,000 total. David had raised to 4,500 from the small blind / button (SBB), and on a flop KK3 they had both checked. On the turn, John bet 4K, and now David raised it up to 10K, representing a slowplayed big hand. But when John called and then again bet into David on the river, the man from Oxford had to give up. When John won the next two hands as well, he was even up to 98,000, but then David won a few small pots to almost level things again. And after one hour of play, David actually has a 96,000-64,000 chip lead. In a pot that was raised by him, he check-raised on a flop Q75 to make him opponent lay down his hand, and a few minutes later he won another decent pot when he flopped a queen-high flush and John paid him off on all streets - bets of 2K, 5K and 10K respectively.

But John kept his calm to regain the lead. In the big blind and an action flop of JT4 with two of a suit, he placed a well-timed check-raise to make his opponent lay down his hand. Not much later, he won another pot without needing to show his cards. On a flop J22 with two clubs, initial raiser David had check-raised John's 6,000 bet to 18,000. But when John came over the top for all his chips, the young student couldn't call him. And two minutes later, it was yet another pot where David made an aggressive move, but had to retreat without ever getting to see his opponent's cards. John had made it 5K to go from the SBB, David had reraised to 15K, and when as before John said "All-in", David again had to surrender. He was now down to 38,000.

From there, it didn't take long for the match to end. John won another pot, value-betting 5,000 on the river with a straight against his opponent's pair of aces. And two hands later, it was all over over. John had made it 6,000 to go on the SBB, and then David made the correct play moving all-in to 33,000 with his A8. John decided to call the additional 27K with a QT to knock his opponent out - and when two queens flopped, he had indeed succeeded in doing that. The strong Burnley John is through to the semi-finals.

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+++ Peter Abela (UK) - Simon Nowab* (UK) TT (2h22)



After about half an hour, stacks were still about even. Simon won a good pot when on a flop A72 rainbow, he bet 4,750, and when he got raised to 10,000 deduced that this raise meant Peter probably didn't have anything: after all, with this unthreatening board he would probably just have called if we has truly strong. So, Simon reraised to 25K with a J4 for no pair, no draw - and made his opponent lay down his hand! But Peter was rather clever as well. When on the turn AA56 he bet 3,000 and Simon called him instantly, he read this quick call for weakness, not strength, and when a queen came on the river, he check-called him for 5K with just a six, indeed snapping off a bluff. But not much later Simon flopped a full house jacks and fours and was able to get paid off. The man who (just like John Falconer) is from Burnley, has now taken a slight lead.

When Simon started winning more and more pots, the for a large part English crowd already started speculating about the possible semi-final between Simon and John Falconer, who are both from Burnley and who are very good friends. But then Peter won a pot where he got his four aces paid off to get back into the match. And then, just before the first break, Simon actually increased his lead to 105K-55K after a winning pot with queens, and even making a small raise on the river despite an ace being out there.

And right after the break, Simon continued his run with a truly great call. In an unraised pot, with no bets on the flop, Simon check-called a 4,000 bet on a board KJ44 in his usual fast manner. When an eight came on the river, Simon checked, Peter bet 12K and then Simon made an absolutely stunning call with a mere queen-high! He was correct: Peter had been bluffing with a ten-high. Chip counts after 90 minutes: 42,000 for Peter, 118,000 for Simon.

From there, Simon simply tried to keep the pressure on, but the both times he had his opponent all-in before the flop, Peter managed to escape. The first time was a rather strange one. In what seemed like an obvious move-in situation to me (Simon holding A2, his opponent in the 2,000 big blind holding a stack of only 23,500) Simon just called on the SBB and then called his opponent's all-in raise within a heartbeat. King-ten of hearts for Peter, who survived by making the nut straight. And when the man from Burnley then had his opponent down at 20,500 again, it was again all-in before the flop, his pocket sevens losing on the river this time against Peter's jack-ten. But after continuing to just chip away at his opponent, he has put him back down to about 26,000 again at the second break.

In the third hour, the match turned into, as a creative member in the audience called it, a "ping-pong match: you ping, I pong." Peter and Simon took turns in just sticking their entire stacks in, and without exception the other player would fold. But on attempt number 13 or 14, we had a caller - and it was game, set and match. Simon had moved in with a king-five, Peter had called all-in for 29,500 with an ace-seven, and a five flopped to send through "The Edge" Simon Nowab. He will now play his friend Burnley John Falconer in the semi-finals; let's see if they will still be friends after this match.

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WHU Update No. 12

Day 5 is over, a day with some exciting and some excellent play as well. The first two semi-finalists: Peter Gunnarson and Dave Colclough. Tomorrow, we will get to see British players only, who will fight for the two remaining seats in the final four. From sunny Barcelona I say: Thanks for joining us - see you guys tomorrow!

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WHU Update No. 11

We are into the final eight, and the players have secured themselves of quite a bit of money. Of course, the first place should be everyone's goal: With a cool 100,000 in prize money, the honors and millions of viewers around Europe, it should be clear that first place may now be more important than ever. The stage is being set for the first two quarter finals that are being played today; the other two will follow tomorrow. That is: from now on all matches will take place on the televised table, and I will keep you guys up to date to the best of my abilities. Everyone will start with 80,000 in chips, and the blinds will increase every hour, starting with 750-1,500, then 1,000-2,000, then 1,500-3,000 and finally 2,000-4,000.

+++ Pascal Perrault (France) - Peter Gunnarson* (Sweden) TT (2h26)

Already in the fifth hand, it seemed like we had a decision. In a raised pot, Pascal check-raised to 20 K on a flop J93, with Peter calling. When the turn brought another Jack, the Bandit said "All-in". Peter took a long time before calling with his KJ against the somewhat obvious semibluff by the Frenchman, who had QT for an open-ended straight draw. Of course, after the turn card, his straight draw was not open-ended anymore as any king would now give the Swede a full house. No surprises on the river, and after doing an accurate chip count, it was determined that Pascal had 1,500 left - less than 1% of the total chips in play.

But that didn't stop him from starting a miraculous comeback! All-in on the immediate next hand with the worst hand J9 vs. Q5, the flop Q72 gave him not much hope of course, except for maybe... a runner-runner straight. Bang! An eight and then a ten, to keep him alive. With now 3,000 in chips, he was again all-in on the very next hand, and again he had the worst hand: a 54 of hearts against his opponent's Q6. Flop 762, turn J, river... eight, to give Pascal a straight - and 6,000 in chips. When on the next hand Peter (amazingly) folded his big blind to an all-in raise, and Pascal won the next all-in as well (with A6 vs. Q2) he had 14,250. And that was not the end of it! On the next hand, Peter raised all-in with Ad8d, and Pascal called all-in with a ten-nine offsuit. A flop KJT with two diamonds gave Peter an excellent drawing hand, but nothing came, so Pascal won with a mere pair of tens, doubling up to 28,500. And when Pascal then first called a 5,000 raise and then bet all-in after the flop (and won uncalled), he was back at 33,500 - more than 20% of the total chips in play! And then, it seemed his comeback would be even more impressive, when they both got all their chips in preflop, both holding A7 - only the Frenchman had them suited in hearts. And indeed, two hearts flopped... but for once, the turn or river would not be helpful to the Bandit. (Remember, he had rivered himself through this tournament in previous matches as well, so "River Rat" might be a more appropriate nickname than Bandit, maybe.) And then, Pascal would even lose a pot on the river! He called a 5,000 bet on the turn with QJ for second pair / gutshot / good kicker, and when on the river a third heart fell, he again paid off - for 6,000 this time. Peter indeed had rivered a flush, and had his opponent down to 23,000 again.

In the second hour of play, Pascal's stack shrunk to 10,000 again, when in a raised pot Peter checked twice with top pair to make a small value bet on the river. But that is what I didn't like about Peter's play at this stage of the match: He didn't put enough pressure on his opponent, letting him win pots uncontested a bit too much for my taste. For instance, when Pascal was down to 10K, with the blinds at 2K, Peter folded against a raise twice, and did not make a single raise himself! There may have been a reason for this, of course: It is Pascal's specialty to win hands as a dog. Pascal doubled up to 24K, when he was all-in with K8 against J9, and Peter was one card away from victory with a 982T board. But a king came for the River Rat to keep him alive once more.

Then Peter made the in my view most horrible play of the entire match. When Pascal flatcalled on the small blind / button (SBB), Peter finally took an aggressive posture, raising to 7,000, but when Pascal reraised all-in to 23,000, he folded! A very bad move in my view, because you just know that Pascal is going to make this move, regardless of his cards - now he basically got a 7,000 present without ever needing to show a hand.

But it needs to be said that Peter was very unlucky as well! Again having his opponent all-in, and again holding the best hand, he again lost. KK for Peter, AQ offsuit for Pascal, and the Bandit hit everything this time, hitting both an ace and making a flush. The Frenchman won two more pots, one where he value-bet with three nines and got called, and then when on a board 8728 he bluff-raised his opponent off his hand, to then show his bluff: queen-ten for no pair, no draw. Believe it or not, the man who was down to just one big blind now has taken the lead!

Pascal's bigger aggressiveness allowed him to even move into a 98,000-62,000 chip lead, when he suffered a terrible loss. In an unraised pot, with a flop JT8, both players flopped a straight: 97 for the Frenchman, Q9 for the Swede. All the money went in and no surprises this time, and suddenly Pascal was down to 36K again. And Peter was then able to finish off the match quickly. When on a flop J83 Pascal bet 27K all-in, Peter finally decided to make a stand, making a good call with a mere pair of fours. Pascal had K3 for bottom pair / king kicker, and for once could not improve. A memorable match - Peter Gunnarson is through.

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+++ Dave Colclough* (UK) - Andreas Hagen (Norway) (1h26)

Dave had taken an early lead in this match. After winning a couple of small pots, he check-called 3,500 on the flop A95 all spades, and then check-called another 6,000 when a fourth spade came on the turn. River: check / check, and Dave won the pot with an A4 including the four of spades. But then he lost a pot when on the river Andreas bet 6,000 for value with AQ for two pair, queens and sixes / ace kicker - and Dave called with a weaker hand that that. After almost an hour of play, Dave had a commanding 124K-36K chip lead, most of all because his opponent had not been a real threat to him, and the Englishman simply continued to win one small pot after another. Dave kept on chipping away at him, and it seemed like the passive Andreas would slowly be bleeding to death.

After the break, with blinds 1,000 and 2,000, Andreas did what he probably should have done earlier: become more aggressive. He even bluffed one time (with Dave calling and winning with a mere ace-high), but in my view he did the right thing by putting more pressure on Dave - Dave who just loves to play for small pots. And had the Scandinavian won the final hand, he would actually have taken the lead. He had raised to 5K, with Dave calling, and on a flop 642 with two clubs Dave checked. Andreas had queen-ten of clubs, bet 10K and when Dave check-raised all-in, Andreas decided to call the 29,500 more. (He said: "You got me; I am committed.") In the biggest pot of the night, Dave had 65 for top pair + straight draw, meaning Andreas actually had a premium draw, because not just any club, but also any queen or ten may have been good. When two blanks fell, it was all over for Andreas though, and El Blondie who is playing at an expert level this week, is through to the semi-finals.

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