Allen Carter Goes the Distance in World Poker Tour's Southern Poker
Championship
Part-Time Poker Player and Dallas Business owner Delivers a Knockout Punch
at Beau Rivage in Biloxi
*Biloxi, MS (January 17, 2009) – *Poker commonly uses boxing metaphors. All
poker players know what it's like to "step into the ring." The very best
players can "take a punch." The goal of every tournament player is to "go
the distance." And the sweetest poker victory comes when delivering the
"knockout punch."
On January 17th, Beau Rivage Casino & Resort, perched on the
shores of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, hosted two enormously popular sporting
events -- a World Poker Tour championship and a Don King world title prize
fight. Filled to capacity with swarms of poker players and boxing fans
alike, the luxury resort destination in Biloxi, MS drew thousands of people
to the WPT final table arena and the WBO welterweight championship.
Inside the ring a nationally televised HBO audience witnessed a
brutally-tough 12-round brawl. Defending world champ Andre Berto won a
close decision over challenger Luis Collazo. On the opposite end of the
casino floor on the green felt under the bright lights of WPT television
cameras, Allen Carter outlasted a formidable force of five would-be
champions and won his first major poker title ever. Yet Carter's victory –
won with his brains instead of fists -- took considerably longer than the
boxing match and in many ways was an even more impressive demonstration of
stamina and perseverance.
Consider the first, that Carter was outchipped by a 2 to 1 margin when final
table play began. Second, he the most dangerous and unpredictable player in
the tournament sat on his immediate left, who happened to be the chip
leader. Furthermore, Carter was short-stacked during much of the 8 hour 15
minute battle. Finally, this experience marked Carter's first time to ever
play poker with the pressure of a live viewing audience and potentially
millions more deciphering his every move later on television.
The opening bell had sounded three days earlier. The 2009
Southern Poker Championship Main Event began with 283 entries. The size of
this year's field was up over last year, when 259 players entered the same
WPT championship event – which amounts to an 8 percent increase in
attendance (so much for the *bad* economy). A whopping $2,662,747 in prize
money was up for grabs in the tournament -- with the winner's share a cool
one-million dollars. In a surprise announcement made earlier, Beau Rivage
casino management decided to supplement the winner's share with $24,219 in
additional money, so the top figure would hit the seven-figure milestone.
Tournament participants included several world-class players and
poker superstars, including Brandon Cantu, Brent Carter, "Miami John"
Cernuto, Scott Clements, T.J. Cloutier, Hoyt Corkins, Bill Edler, Layne
Flack, Ted Forrest, Clonie Gowen, Barry Greenstein, Bernie Lee, Erick
Lindgren, Men "the Master" Nguyen, David "Dragon" Pham, Mark Seif, Hilbert
Shirey, David Singer, Gavin Smith, and others. The defending champion was
Brett Faustman, who was eliminated on the first day. A large percentage of
the field (108 players) qualified at a discount, by winning tournament seats
in on-property satellite qualifiers. Eight more players earned their way in
by winning preliminary tournaments which were part of the 15-event schedule
which began back on Jan. 3rd.
The field included 17 women, which amounted to six percent of the entire
field. At the end of the first day, two ladies held onto the top two spots
in the standings with Esther Taylor and Jacquelyn Scott as the chip leaders.
Their good fortune did not continue, however since both players busted out
on the second day.
Day three began with 27 players who had all made it into the money. Once
play became six-handed, the final table was set. Among the notable players
who were eliminated but cashed were Vanessa Rousso (finishing on the
"television bubble" in seventh place), Tony Cousineau (the prolific
tournament casher who came in eighth), Hevad Khan (the expressive pro who
finished 14th), Brent Carter (longtime tournament veteran who came in 21st),
Bernard Lee (poker pro and media personality who finished 23rd), and Ted
Lawson (poker vet and former WSOP event winner who took 25th place).
The WPT final table was played on a busy Saturday night. Hundreds of poker
fans filled the tournament ballroom to full capacity, while many more stood
in adjacent hallways watching the action on television monitors. Little did
they know at the time that this was a battle that would go the entire
distance, well past midnight in fact.
Five excruciating hours passed before the first bust-out. During that span,
Soheil Shamseddin experienced a number of knockdowns. But each time he got
up in time from the count. The final table began with Shamseddin holding a
comfortable chip lead. But Shamseddin was not content to sit comfortably on
his chips. He played in numerous pots, losing some ridiculously big hands
to the point he was actually the shortest stack of the six remaining
players. But Shamseddin mixed up his game sufficiently with enough jabs to
recover and zigged and zagged his way across the leader board. From the
outset, it seemed to be Shamseddin versus the world. And the Iranian-born
Texan was certain to be an underdog in that fight.
*6th Place – Chuck Kim: *A new WPT record was nearly set when the 93rd hand
of the final table was dealt out. Just one hand away from tying the longest
span in the seven-year history of the WPT for "most hands without
elimination," Chuck Kim moved all-in pre-flop holding A-K suited. Shamseddin
called the big raise and showed A-9. Both players caught an ace on the
flop, but it was Kim who was in a great position to double up with his
higher kicker. After a blank on the turn, the river brought a dream
crushing nine to Kim, which gave Shamseddin two pair. Chuck Kim, playing in
his first WPT event ever, cashed with $105,490 paid out for sixth place. Five
players were left in the ring.
*5th Place – Tyler Smith: *An hour and 23 hands later, Tyler Smith got into
a race with A-K suited versus Allen Carter's Q-Q. It was truly a turning
point at the final table, since the winner of the huge pot was destined to
become Shamseddin's main rival. Smith missed catching one of his overcards,
which gave the 2,100,000 pot to Carter. Smith, a 22-year-old local poker
pro, had to settle for fifth place, which paid $134,500. Four were left.
*4th Place – Hilbert Shirey: *If experience was the most important
determination of winning and losing, Hilbert Shirey would have locked up
first prize hours earlier. The three-time World Series of Poker gold
bracelet winner has been playing tournaments for three decades, even before
some of the players at the final table were born. Shirey did manage to
seize the chip lead at one point. But he ultimately busted out when left
short on chips, trying to bluff with a J-10 suited against Bobby Suer's A-8.
Shirey picked up a straight draw, but lost to his adversary's pair of aces.
The Floridian received a nice payout totaling $184,607. Only three
remained.
*3rd Place – Soheil Shamseddin:* After the tournament was over, the winner
called Soheil Shamseddin "a maniac." It was meant as a term of endearment.
"I mean that in a good way," Allen Carter said only moments after victory. It
was difficult to tell if Carter's description was really a compliment. One
thing is for sure. Soheil Shamseddin likes to play a lot of pots and is not
afraid to move his chips. For that reason, no one could have been surprised
by an outright victory, or a sixth-out-of-six finish. The madman was
capable of just about anything.
Shamseddin made the final table fun for everyone – especially
those who were watching. Hours of monotony were broken up many times by the
colorful tournament regular prancing around the stage, smiling, laughing,
and calling out for cards. He was his own best cheerleader and was the
featured entertainment in the finale. But comedic appeal could only carry
Shamseddin so far. He needed cards, as well. And those favorable cards
began to run out as the clock neared midnight. The glass slipper would not
fit. Soheil Shamseddin victory party was about to crash and burn. Even Ali
got too old to put up a good fight.
On what turned out to be his final hand of the tournament,
Shamseddin was dealt J-7. After half of his chips were committed to the
pot, he fired his last 600,000 on the river on a pure bluff (jack high). Allen
Carter had seen his tricky adversary play enough hands by this point where
he made an easy call and won the pot with trip tens. That eliminated
Shamseddin, who earned $263,725 and a million cheers. That left the two
heavyweights.
*2nd Place – Bobby Suer:* Allen Carter enjoyed a 2 to 1 chip advantage when
play went heads up. Hand #154 was a surprise that caught everyone off guard
– even the two players battling for their first big win. Carter was dealt
A-4 offsuit. Suer was dealt A-K of clubs and was all-in before the
flop. Holding
the dominant hand, it appeared Suer was about to double up. The flop showed
J-5-3 with two clubs, giving Suer a flush draw. But Carter had an inside
straight draw. A deuce would give him a straight.
Kaboom! Down went Suer. Down went Suer. Down went Suer. A deuce on the
turn gave Carter the straight – ace to the five. Suer still had one punch
left, since a club would give him a flush and the pot. But the last
uppercut of the night did not land and a new poker champion was crowned. As
the runner up, Bobby Suer collected $501,028.
*1st Place – Allen Carter:* "It's been a long four days. This has been a
dream come true," said Carter moments after his victory. Incredibly, this
was Carter's first recorded cash in a live tournament.
Carter freely admits he only plays poker part-time. When playing,
he concentrates solely on tournaments and does not play in cash games. Carter
owns a very successful business in Dallas. "I'm very fortunate," he
said. "But
the million dollars will not change my life. The validation (of being a
poker player) is what's important to me – to be called a champion."
"It's really cool to have bracelets I can keep. Those are the kinds of
things you just can't put a price tag on. So, this is all about the
hardware. It's about the victory. I do this for the competition. I think
it's really cool to beat out 300 people. And to do it at the top level is
all you can ask for."
In addition to the million in cash, Carter received a custom-designed white
gold and diamond bracelet. He was also presented with a $25,500 buy-in into
the annual World Poker Tour championship, to be held at the Bellagio Casino
in Las Vegas in April, 2009.
The 15 combined tournament events at this year's Southern Poker Championship
attracted a total of 4,680 players. The total prize money amounted to
$5,257,942, making it one of the most successful poker tournaments ever held
in the South. Indeed, the entire tournament was a knockout. But there will
be a rematch, next year in Biloxi. And ringside seats are going to sell out
fast.
|
