| Winning Every Showdown, Perlman 'The Prophet' Prevails in No-Limit
Philadelphia options trader Eli Perlman is called "The Prophet,"
a nickname he got from dominating his home games. He must have a touch of clairvoyance,
because, throughout this entire tournament, he said he never lost a showdown
hand, except perhaps at the very outset.
Still, he was in last place when the four finalists made a deal for the bulk
of the prize money. At that point he had 167,000 in chips to 331k for Brazilian
pro Christian Kruel; 230k for day care operator Mike Vatan; and 184k for Bryan
Kim, a systems administrator.
Perlman won a 200k pot from Kruel on the first hand after the deal was made,
and gradually moved up, largely from picking up pots with uncalled all-in moves.
He took the lead when he knocked out Kim, and after 22 hands of heads-up play
against Vatan, had all the chips. The turning point for him came yesterday when
he was down to $1,200, about one-tenth average, and won a big pot with a set
of treys.
Perlman, whose tournament play has been largely limited to online, wanted to
offer thanks to his two mentors, Matt Glantz and John Farley, both of whom have
World Series cash-outs.
There was 55:29 left when final-table action got underway with $500 antes and
blinds of $1,500-$3,000. The final table would produce some huge chip swings
and a couple of 500k pots;. three-handed, runner-up Vatan would have close to
600k in chips after knocking out Kruel.
In early going, Humberto Brenes was the busiest player. In 16 hands he moved
in and won four times. He also called an all-in bet by Gevork Kasabyan, who
had 10d-9d and survived by hitting a river 10 to outrun Brenes' pocket 5s. But
Kasabyan then left on hand 19. He raised to 14k with K-Q, and ran into Vatan's
pocket aces. Vatan put him in for 15k more and busted him.
Fives did not treat Brenes well tonight. He had them again when he was all in
from the big blind. Daniel Fuhs had A-K, flopped a king and caught another on
the river for good measure, and two were gone.
When blinds went to $2,000-$4,000, Kruel, who arrived with a chip lead of 162k,
still led, with about 185k.
Mike Joon Lee got low-chipped on hand 39. He had Ad-Qd and called after David
Gee moved all in for 26k with pocket 8s. Gee made a set on a flop of A-J-8,
then filled. A hand later Lee moved in for 22k with Qh-9h. Kruel called with
A-J and easily won when two more jacks hit the board. .
Some 30 hands later, with $3,000-$6,000 blinds and $1,000 antes, Arizona pro
player David Gee opened for 12k with Ah-9h. Vatan raised a modest 30k with K-K.
Gee went for it, moved in for 25k more and finished seventh when Vatan flopped
a set.
Another pro, Daniel Fuhs, finished sixth. After Kruel raised 18k from the cut-off
seat, Fuhs tried an all 150k re-raise from the button with A-8. This time it
was Perlman who had pocket kings, and he also made a set.
A rough count showed that Kim was now in the lead with about 240k; followed
by Vatan, 230; Perlman, 200; Kruel, 140; and "Chico" Mike Dufloth,
60k. Dufloth, the CEO of an ISP, was hurt earlier after making a good call.
With a flop of K-K-5, Vatan went all in for 31k. "Have to call," Dufloth
said. He had the lead with pocket 10s to A-J for Vatan, until an ace turned.
Meanwhile, the players' fortunes kept shifting. Starting chip leader Kruel had
lost a good chunk of his ammo, then recovered and took the lead again against
Vatan when he won a $120,000 pot. Starting with three-way action and an 18k
raise, Vatan bet 30k into a flop of A-5-3, then folded when the Brazilian re-raised
80k more.
On the first hand with blinds of $4,000-$8,000, Chico moved in under the gun
for 61k with J-10. Kruel called with A-Q. When a board of K-9-5-2-5 came, we
were down to four, and a deal was made for the bulk of the prize pool.
Now Vatan made his move. First, he took down a 136k pot when he bet into a board
of K-7-2-7-4 and Perlman folded. Four hands later, Kruel had A-J on the button
and raised 20k. Vatan re-raised 60k with pocket 5s and Kruel moved in for 144k
more. The pocket fives worked better for Vatan than they did for Brenes, because
he flopped a set, filled on the turn, knocked Kruel out, hauled in a pot of
close to 500k and and now had a huge lead of close to 600k.
Then Perlman begin picking up chips with several well-placed all-in bets that
weren't called. When blinds went to $6,000-$12,000 with $2,000 antes, Vatan
still led with about 490k, but Perlman was closing in with 340k, while Kim was
down to 80.
On hand 137, Perlman took the lead by taking out Kim, who moved in with K-Q.
Perlman had A-5 and hit a straight when the board came 8-7-4-10-6.
On hand 149, now heads-up, Perlman grabbed a 456k pot. He raised to 46k and
Vatan popped it for 80k more. On a flop of A-J-2, Vatan bet 100k, then folded
when Perlman moved in. Perlman now led by 744k-168k, and had so many chips spilling
on the table that he needed help stacking them.
Not much happened then until hand 159 when Vatan opened with a 30k raise holding
K-9, and Perlman put him all in with A-4. The board came A-10-4-10-Q and the
Prophet rang up a very handsome profit for two nights of work.
Max Shapiro |
