The $120 No-limit Terminator event drew 112 players with 109 rebuys. This event awards a $500 bonus to the player who eliminates the most players. For every player you eliminate you receive a terminator chip and the player with the most chips at the end of the tournament is the winner.
With $100 antes and $400-$800 blinds final table play began with 26 minutes remaining on the clock.
A few hands into final table play Dick Corpuz raised $800 and Dan Day called from the big blind. The flop came Q-5-2, Dan bet all-in and Dick called all-in. Dick showed pocket eights and Dan rolled over Q-J for a pair of queens. Dick needed an eight to win but lady luck must have been out shopping. Dick had to settle for 10th place and $498.
At 9:00 the blinds were raised to $500-$1000 with a $200 ante.
Four hands later David Hanson raised to $4,000, Bucky Fong raised all-in for $500 more and David called. Bucky showed K-J and David turned over A-8 of spades. The flop came 6-A-6 and David was in the lead with aces-up. The turn card came a nine and the river came an ace. David filled on the river and Bucky was forced out in 9th place with $584 to add to his bankroll.
There were no more casualties at that level and at 9:30 the blinds increased to $700-$1,500 with a $300 ante.
Sixteen hands later Bob Knaszak called Nino Pigato’s big blind. The flop came Q-9-2, Nino moved all-in and Bob called all-in. Nino showed Q-10 and had flopped a pair of queens. Bob turned over pocket rockets and took the lead. When the dealer exposed the turn card it was another queen and Bob was crushed. Bob was losing to Nino’s trip queens and he needed an ace to win. No such luck, the river card was a six and Bob had to settle for 8th place and $714.
Nino’s rush didn’t last but a second, on the very next hand Nino moved all-in and David called, covering Nino’s bet. Nino showed A-6 and was trailing to David’s A-10. The flop produced a 10 for David, Nino needed to catch two running sixes to win and that didn’t happen. Nino took 7th place and $898.
At 10:15 the blinds increased to $1,000-$2,000 with antes at $500.
They were down to the final six and for the next half hour the action consisted of raise and take it. No casualties occurred in that half hour and at 10:45 the blinds increased to $1,500-$3,000 with a $700 ante.
Nine hands later Dan Day moved all-in for his remaining $2,800, $200 shy of a full call, Bill Bertram called on the small blind and Tuna Lund checked the big blind. The flop came 5-K-10, Bill and Tuna checked, the turn card was an ace and they checked again. The river was a four and again they checked. Tuna mucked, Dan showed K-9 and had flopped a pair of kings but Bill turned over A-8 showing a pair of aces for the win. Dan took 6th place and $1,154.
Two hands later Tuna moved all-in for $9,200, Brent raised to $13,900 to get it heads-up with Tuna. Tuna showed J-9. Brent turned over K-Q, and as luck would have it, the flop came Q-6-4 and the turn came a seven leaving Tuna no outs. Tuna left the final table in 5th place and collected $1,518.
At 11:00 David, who had been accumulating chips by picking up blinds and antes, moved all-in and got a call from Bill. David showed J-10 and Bill had A-K. The flop came J-4-2 and David was in the lead with a pair of jacks. The turn card was another four and the river was a six. David took a massive chip lead and Bill was sent home with $2,031 for 4th place.
At 11:15 the $100 chips were raced off, the blinds increased to $2,000-$4,000 with a $1,000 ante and three players remained. David had an impressive lead with $116,500, Dave was in second with $35,000 and Brent was trailing in 3rd with $15,500.
On the second hand at the new level Dave moved all-in and David called. Dave showed 10-8 of hearts and David turned over A-K. It was definitely David’s lucky day, the flop came A-K-2 and another ace on the turn. Dave took 3rd place and $2,758.
David and Brent were heads-up when play resumed. Brent raised the first hand at heads-up play and pick up the antes and blinds. David moved all-in on the second hand and he picked up the antes and blinds. On the third hand, Brent called David’s big blind, David moved all-in and Brent folded.
On the fourth hand David raised, Brent called all-in for $13,500 and David called. Brent showed A-4 and David had J-3 of diamonds. The flop came 8-7-4, and gave Brent a pair of fours. The turn card was an ace and that gave Brent the win with aces up. Brent doubled through and increased his stack to $27,000.
The fifth hand was won by David when he raised and Brent folded.
It only took David six hands to eliminated Brent and become the winner of the no-limit terminator event. David moved all-in and Brent made the call. Brent showed the Q-8 of diamonds and David revealed pocket sevens. The board came J-J-2-5-6 and David was declared the winner. David was tied for the bonus $500 until that last hand which gave him nine terminator chips to win another $500 on top of $7,269 for his 1st place win.
David is not a novice to poker but admits to not having much final table experience. This is David’s first major tournament win. This was also David’s third appearance at the final table and on all three occasions he was either the chip leader or very close to the chip leader going in to the final table but ended up taking 7th until now. I mentioned this to David and he explained, “I play a lot of low limit buy-in tournaments in Iowa and by the time I get to the final table the limits are so high that there isn’t time to wait on the perfect hand, so I was use to playing fast.” He admitted that it finally dawned on him in this tournament that he didn’t need to play so fast at the final table, he realized he had more time to wait for those premium hands. It took three final tables for David to learn this but it certainly paid off. I think we will be seeing a lot of David in the future.
Congratulations, David!
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