Master Classics of Poker Day 4:
No-limit hold’em, buy-in $140 (340 guilders), unlimited rebuys
No-limit hold’em title captured by yet another Brit
Today’s tournament could be considered a rebuyer’s paradise, as there were 220 entrants and no less than 380 rebuys. Although a lot of famous players have already showed up in Amsterdam (WSOP Main Event winner Carlos Mortensen, high stakes player Freddy Deeb and the French player / rock star Patrick Bruel, to name but a few), there were no big stars on today’s final table. Three Dutch players were present: the 1999 winner of the no-limit hold’em event Martin Koetsier (also a regular Las Vegas tournament player), nice guy Sascha Huyers for his second final table this week, and final table freshman Dennis Douze. The chips were rather evenly distributed at the start of the final table, no one having a huge lead over any other. Two of the best players were rather short-stacked (Marion Flock from Germany and MCOP-regular Joe Reinhardt from Florida) and were faced with an unlucky draw, both of them being forced to post the blind in the first two hands.
The final table (players / country / chip count)
Seat # 1: Antonio Turrisi, Italy, 96,700
Seat # 2: Marion Flock, Germany, 27,000
Seat # 3: Joe Reinhardt, U.S.A., 32,000
Seat # 4: Sascha Huyers, The Netherlands, 70,700
Seat # 5: Mr. Addad, France, 85,000
Seat # 6: Dennis Douze, The Netherlands, 63,000
Seat # 7: Ashley Alteman, England, 80,000
Seat # 8: Martin Koetsier, The Netherlands, 47,000
Seat # 9: Mr. Vinnie, England, 99,000
Blinds at the start: 2,000-4,000, ante 1,000
Once again, casualties all over
Just like yesterday, the action started off fast and furious. Marion made a stand with KQ against Martin’s late position raise, but his A2 and the A62 flop matched together perfectly. Local hero Dennis tried to be aggressive right from the start, raising to 20,000 (and winning) on hand # 1, and to 10,000 on hand # 3. Big blind Sascha read him for weakness and tried to make him lay down his hand by coming over the top. When he got called, he decided to continue his bluff on the flop AJ4, but sure enough Dennis held an ace and busted his fellow countryman out. Martin took over control of the table by being aggressive when possible, making great position plays and playing his stack like he was supposed to. He finished Joe off on hand # 9. The next victim was Mr. Vinnie, who was very unlucky to run into aces two pots in a row. His QJ and KK were no good and once again, the former chipleader exited fifth. On hand # 15, we also lost our second chipleader, Antonio from Italy. He decided to come over the top of Ashley’s 23,000 raise with A9, but Ashley called his 43,000 reraise with 88, which stood up. Hometown player Dennis then tried to trap his more experienced opponent Ashley on hand # 17, but got trapped himself. Blind against blind, he was lucky enough to hit the whopper with his marginal 87, as the flop came A88. He checked the flop and the turn, and when Ashley made a rather out-of line bet against this board by overbetting the pot on the turn, Dennis check-raised him all-in and got called. Of course, his eight was no good, as Ashley held a bigger kicker, and Dennis’ mistake to call before the flop rather than fold or raise had cost him dearly. We were now down to three-handed.
Martin out, tournament over
The experienced tournament player Martin had built his stack in a rather impressive way, and had been able to gain valuable chips by coming over the top over his opponents on two occasions, to make them lay down their hands. But on the third time he tried it, he was out. He came over the top of Ashley, who had raised to 31,000 on the button, and when the Englishman called his all-in raise, he was in deep trouble, staring into the two eyes of Texas (AA). He still flopped a gutshot with his A3, but received no help and was out. Two players left, with Ashley having a 4-to-1 chiplead over Mr. Addad, a regular player from the Aviation Club in Paris, France. After a short break, play resumed but it was not as exciting as a heads up final is supposed to be. The two players were laughing and joking, betting blind and then folding, indicating they had probably made some kind of deal and the final result therefore didn’t matter that much anymore. After only 27 hands, the final table was over and we had yet another Brit lifting the trophy, the excellent playing Ashley Alteman.
Final results:
1. Ashley Alteman, England, $29,000 (71,399 guilders)
2. Mr. Addad, France, $14,500 (35,700 guilders)
3. Martin Koetsier, The Netherlands, $7,250 (17,850 guilders)
Tomorrow the highlight of this year’s week will get started, the $2000 (5000 guilder) no-limit hold’em freeze-out tournament. Because I was fortunate enough to win a free entry through Saturday’s freeroll event, I will be participating there. When I’m out early (which is not unlikely as I am far from a tournament expert), I’ll have a detailed report ready in time, if I’m still in you guys will probably get a less detailed (and more biased) story. Take care, and good luck,
Rolf “Ace” Slotboom.
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