PartyPoker.com Million Tournament Final Day
By Michael O'Malley
If there is a better place to hold a major poker tournament, I don't know where it is. CardPlayer Cruises and PartyPoker.com put on a tournament that surpassed everyone expectations. I have attended every major tournament and there has not been anything like this. Taking a weeklong cruise to the Mexican Riviera is a dream come true for many people. To be able to take that cruise and play for a chance to win $1,000,000 is like hitting the lottery twice. The final table of the tournament was set up on the main stage of the Cole Porter Lounge. This is one of the nicer lounges on the ship where many of the parties are held. From the minute I walked into the room, I could tell that this tournament was like no other tournament I had ever experienced. The audience was happy to be there, and it seemed everyone was rooting loudly for their favorite player. It was evident from the start that the audience was rooting mostly for the three Internet players that had qualified on PartyPoker.com. I guess it is true about rooting for the underdog. This final table featured 6 very skilled professional poker players that included two former WSOP champions and a former U.S. Poker Champion. With the exception of Tiger Woods, it usually seems like the masses like to root for the long shots. As they introduced the nine players, cheers broke out like it was a rock concert.
The final table participants took their seats accordingly:
Seat 1 - Ken Flaton $29,500
Seat 2 - Scott Buller $34,500
Seat 3 - Mel Judah $23,500
Seat 4 - Chris Ferguson $144,000
Seat 5 - Phil Hellmuth $227,000
Seat 6 - Kathy Liebert $176,500
Seat 7 - Michael Yuwiler $103,000
Seat 8 - Bruce Yamron $203,000
Seat 9 - Berj Kacherian $187,000
Because the stage area was reserved for the extensive television coverage, as well as the audio commentary of Linda Johnson and Mike Sexton, I had to rely on the commentary to pick up the actual hands as they played out. The first player to exit was Mel Judah. Mel had come to the final table with the smallest stack, took his chances with pocket 6's and was called by Bruce Yamron with A7o. When an Ace flopped, Mel collected $12,480 for his hard earned 9th place finish. Having a short stack at a final table means a player has to take chances. Ken Flaton made his move with the 78 of spades. Unfortunately for Ken, Mike Yuwiler with the A6 of spades called him. No help to either player and Ken left in 8th place with $15,600. Mike Yuwiler started the final table with $103,000 and ran into some bad luck quickly. After bleeding his stack down, he raised in first position with KTo. Normally a strong hand short handed, Mike was 3 bet by Scott Buller, who had picked up some chips early to add to his stack. Everyone else folded to the big blind, where to everyone's surprise, Kathy Liebert called 2 bets cold. Mike also called the raise. The flop came down KQ9, and Kathy bet out. Mike was forced to go all in with his top pair and straight draw. When Scott raised Kathy, Kathy reraised making this one of the key pots of the tournament. Kathy bet and was called by Scott on both the turn and river. The two hands were turned up for the side pot, pocket 9's for Kathy and AA for Scott. Mike failed to improve his hand and exited the tournament in 7th place, collecting $18,720 for his efforts. Former WSOP champion Chris Ferguson had run into some problems of his own. With his few remaining chips he raised all in with A9o, a very familiar hand for him. Bruce Yamron just happened to find QQ in the big blind and of course came along for the ride. When the flop came down T95, chants were heard for the dealer to put up the 9 of hearts, the same card Chris won the WSOP championship with in 2002. The turn and river brought blanks and Chris was the 6th place finisher collecting $24,960. Scott Buller had been on a roller coaster ride. Never accumulating lots of chips, but surviving many all in situations, Scott was forced to put the rest of his chips into the pot with A5o. Again Bruce Yamron found a hand in the big blind, this time AK. When Scott didn't improve he was the 5th place finisher. For his efforts Scott collected $37,440. At this point, 4 players remained. Two of these players are well known pros, Phil Hellmuth and Kathy Liebert. Bruce Yamron is a high stakes player and Berj Kacherian was the last player standing that qualified online.
At four handed the approximate chips counts were as follows:
Kathy Liebert - $460,000
Phil Hellmuth - $280,000
Berk Kacherian - $240,000
Bruce Yamron - $175,000
Bruce Yamron had been playing a solid game of poker for 3 days. He was fighting to pick up chips 4 handed when he raised in first position with AJo. Phil Hellmuth reraised out of the small blind, which will usually allow the hand to be played heads up. For both of these players there was a small problem, Kathy Liebert called time in the big blind to evaluate the situation. When she called the double raise cold, eyebrows were raised in the audience. Kathy had made the same call in the big blind earlier with 99, and my evaluation was that she had a big hand here. Bruce capped the betting and Phil called. The flop came 367, Phil bet, Kathy raised, Bruce reraised, Phil called and now Kathy got to cap the betting. This put Bruce all in and started a small side pot between Kathy and Phil. An innocent deuce fell on the turn, Phil checked and called. A ten on the river, Phil again checked and called, and when the smoked cleared Kathy scooped a huge pot with KK. Phil mucked his had and Bruce showed AJo. Bruce Yamron finished in 4th place and collected $46,800. This hand turned the tide toward Kathy as she had gained a huge chip lead. A few hands later Phil and Berj got tangled up in a pot. Berj raised in the small blind with KK and Phil reraised out of the big blind with JJ. When the final board showed 772T8, Phil was left with only $60,000 in chips. His fate would be sealed a few hands later when Kathy turned over K6s on the turn as the board showed K226. Phil, with T6s, was drawing dead and exited the tournament with class in a very respectable 3rd place. 3rd place was worth $62,400 for the former world champion.
The PartyPoker.com Million Tournament was now heads up between Kathy Liebert, a professional poker player, and Berj Kacherian, a novice player who not only qualified on PartyPoker.com for this tournament by buying into a satellite for $22, but was also playing his very first poker tournament. As Mike Sexton mentioned several times, this final pairing would make history in poker. If Kathy won it would be the first time a woman had won a major poker tournament. If Berj won it would be a first for a player that had no poker tournament experience. The fact that Berj got this far in the tournament after a $22 investment even surprised him as he clearly stated he loved the fact he was playing with people he had only read about previously. Heads up play began at 4:10 p.m. between Kathy and Berj. Kathy held the lead with $700,000 in chips while Berj had $400,000. They were playing $20,000/$40,000 and with over $1.1 million in chips on the table the possibility that this heads up match could take a while was very real. Kathy slowly chipped away at the blinds and had taken an $800k to $300k lead when Berj made Jacks full on a very big pot. With that pot Berj had almost drawn even with Kathy. Kathy brought her lead back to $700k to $400k when she made two pair with the 7Tc and a board of AT735. Kathy again increased her lead to $800k to $300k when she reraised before the flop with AQ and got paid off on a board that showed A9336. Berj was showing no fear and brought the chips back to even when he checkraised the turn as the board showed AT32. He was holding AT and the 3 on the river changed nothing. Kathy never showed her hand. This pot of well over $400k was the largest of the tournament at that point. The limits were increased to $30k/$60k and Kathy had taken another lead of $700k/$300k when she made a straight on the river. But as had already happened so many times, Berj was able to regain the lead when he rivered a flush and now held his own slight lead of $600k/$500k.
Things were seesawing back and forth when a hand happened that almost brought the tournament to an end. Berj raised preflop and Kathy called. The flop came 457 and both players put in three bets. When a ten fell on the turn, Kathy bet and Berj called. The river Queen brought two checks and when Berj turned over KTo Kathy mucked her hand. This pot brought the chips stacks to a commanding lead for Berj…$950k to $150k. Many spectators thought the end might be near, but Kathy being the professional she is started to build her chips back up with a string of small pots.
After about only 20 minutes, Kathy had evened the chips without showing a big hand. Small pots and blind steals meant the tournament was now back to even and anyone’s game. They had been playing heads up for almost two hours now and both players were putting on a spectacular show for the audience. Kathy increased her lead to $1,000,000 vs. $100,000 by winning 4 pots in succession that were bet and called all the way to the river.
The final hand of the tournament was anti climactic as Berj was forced to go all in the in the big blind with 45o. Kathy having to only put in an extra $5k in chips obliged and when the final board showed KQ3QT, Kathy Liebert had become the very first winner of the PartyPoker.com Million Tournament. Berj Kacherian picked up his first tournament payday of $93,600 and received a rousing ovation from the crowd for his great accomplishment and tough play.
The PartyPoker.com Million made several marks on the poker world this week. Not only was it the biggest online poker tournament, but also the largest prize pool for any Limit Hold'em tournament in the history of poker. To top that off, the distinction as the being the first major poker tournament won by a woman was also achieved. Kathy Liebert became the first woman to ever win $1,000,000 in a poker tournament.
With the conclusion of a very successful PartyPoker.com Million Tournament, players from around the world now realize that anyone can pay $22 to win $1,000,000. Never in the history of poker has there been a better payout for such a small investment.
|
