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FRIENDLY FOES
Erik Seidel and Layne Flack have been in this position so many times there was no need to prolong the confrontation. "I'm going all-in on the next hand," Layne says.
"If you do, I'll call you," Erik replied. What they meant was that neither of them would look at their cards first. This is hand 76.
Erik and Layne have only played 19 hands heads up and already they are bored with it.
Besides Erik is winning every hand and has a 4-1 chip lead. What does Layne have to lose? Flack turns over the J 4 of Diamonds for his no-look all-in hand. Erik flips up 7 5 offsuit. Unbelievably, the flop comes 6 4 3 to give Erik the nuts and the title. Hearty laughs for the friendly foes.
FINAL TABLE
Seat 1 Tony Cousineau Daytona Beach FL 50,000
Seat 2 Matt Heintschel Escondido CA 99,000
Seat 3 Jeff Knight Las Vegas NV 52,000,
Seat 4 Kido Pham Dallas TX 178,000,
Seat 5 Tom Franklin Gulfport MS 70,000
Seat 6 Freddy Bonyadi Aliso Viejo CA 121,000
Seat 7 Erik Seidel Las Vegas NV 312,000
Seat 8 Layne Flack Las Vegas NV 117,000
Seat 9 Gioi Luong Westminster CA 45,000
Ante 1,000 Blinds 2,000/4,000 60 minutes left in this level.
These players were in such a hurry, you'd think their tricycles were sitting in the no parking zone. Eight players and 900,000 chips lost in 2 1/2 hours. Wow!
It was a race for the door at the opening bell and Jeff Knight wins. For a record that can be tied but never broken, Jeff says good Knight all on the very first hand. Matt Heintschel raises from the small blind and Jeff goes all-in for all his starting stack less the ante and big blind, 47k, with A 5 offsuit. Matt has the K 10 of Spades and makes a flush.
The problem Kido Pham has is that today isn't yesterday. Pham came into today second in chips. He built up a prodigious stack over 15 hours of play yesterday. They lasted 10 minutes today. On hand 3 Kido makes it 12k to go on the button. Tom Franklin goes all-in for about 65k with pocket 8's. Great! Kido thinks and calls with pocket Kings. Not great. An 8 flops and almost half of Pham's hard earned is already gone.
Almost all the rest goes over to Layne Flack's stack when Kido tries to make a flush draw two hands later. Layne flops top pair with a Queen and leaves Kido with 15k when the flush doesn't come. Oddly, Kido does win one hand before exiting in hand 9. He has 11k left when pocket Aces arrive. Nice timing. Kido's miserable ten minutes is up when he is outkicked and kicked out in 8th by Tom Franklin.
We get all the way up to hand 24 before 7th place is filled with a warm body. Gioi Luong has had a terrific year so far. This just wasn't one of his days. With only 45k to start, Gioi did manage to move up two spots by not playing a hand. Luong only has 14k left when Tom Franklin's A K flops a King.
Unlike yesterday, no one is playing badly today. The deck is hot and multiple players are getting hands at the same time. On hand 31 Freddy Bonyadi picks up A 10 offsuit in the cutoff seat. Freddy gets it all-in about 150k. Erik Seidel, on the button, covers him with big slick and doesn't need the King he gets on the flop.
The blinds are now 4k/8k.
We're averaging a player loss every ten hands as Matt Heintschel hits the bricks on hand 40. "I ran into it," Matt yelled in disgust. Tom Franklin makes it 30k to go from early position. Matt is in the small blind and flat calls. The flop does Matt dirt. It's J 10 9. Matt has J 7 offsuit and he goes all-in for his case 129k. Tom Franklin says call before Matt can move his chips. 'Captain' Tom has J 10 for top two pair.
Suddenly, in about 75 minutes, we are four handed.
Five hands later we're three handed. Do these guys have something important to do elsewhere?
Tony Cousineau has a good reason to make a lot of money playing poker, his beautiful new wife sitting behind him. He can only shrug to her when he goes all-in with A K for 83k and a prayer. Erik Seidel has pocket Queens that are golden.
How's this for a beat? Layne Flack ships it when the flop comes 5 4 3. Ok, Tom Franklin says. Tom flops a wheel with his A 2. On the river Jack McClelland says, "Layne needs a 4 or a 3." Flack catches his four-outer, a four. Tom has seen this before and barely flinches, but he never recovers. Now Layne can bust Tom and Flack does six hands later.
The deck remains hot. When Tom finds the A J of Spades he shoves 150k all-in. Three handed you wouldn't expect another player to have the A Q of Diamonds, but that's what Layne Flack wakes up with. The diamond flush comes on the turn. It was a nice voyage for Captain Tom, one that came close to being a luxury cruise.
You've already read what happens between Erik and Layne. Players like these are in a close knit fraternity who play hundreds of hours together in tournament all over the world. As in any fraternity there are some people who don't like each other, but these guys are friendly foes.
Mike Paulle
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