BET AND TAKE IT
If there is such a thing as TOO much respect, maybe the players at tonight's Final Table had it. After all, gambling is legal in Nevada. Although one would have a hard time proving it by these guys.
There were 26 entrants in the $1,500 Buy-In, Razz for a total prize pool of $36,660. One table was paid, a total of five players.
To setup the Final Table, Phil Ivey caught a four on 6th street for a 10 4 to send Chris Bjorin home jacketless in 9th. Chris had a 10 9.
THE FINAL TABLE: 34 mins left of 60. The ante was $50. High card was $100. Playing $300/$600
Player Hometown Chip Count
Seat 1 Phil Ivey Atlantic City NJ $ 9,750
Seat 2 Scotty Nguyen Henderson NV $ 1,200
Seat 3 Tom McEvoy Las Vegas NV $10,025
Seat 4 Robert Williamson III Dallas TX $ 3,700
Seat 5 John Juanda Alhambra CA $ 8,650
Seat 6 Don Zewin Las Vegas NV $ 2,950
Seat 7 Bill Wiley Flora IL $ 1,725
Seat 8 Ken Flaton Las Vegas NV $ 1,450
There was a lot of pride on the line with this grizzled Razz group. No one wanted to have to go home empty-handed. The Hall of Fame jacket wasn’t going to be sufficient for bragging rights in the poker locker room. The short stacks were going to have to get real lucky early, because the big boys were gonna come after them.
The first to crack was gentleman Bill Wiley. If he has a word to say at the table it's a lot. As usual with Bill he started out with the best hand. Wiley had A 4 8 to Bob Williamson's 3 6 8. Both players double paired but Wiley's were Queens for a Queen low and Williamson's were Jacks for Jack low. So much for the coyote in 8th.
This was one Final Table of the many he's had, that Don Zewin will be glad to forget. He didn't make any money and he didn't make any hands. Tom McEvoy put Zewin out with an 8 to Don's 9.
After having fought until after 3 a.m. this morning to win the No-Limit event, Scotty Nguyen had to be exhausted. Still he was drawing to the best hand all-in against Phil Ivey. Scotty had a wheel draw that bricked a 9. Phil was already there with 8 6. From $47k last night to $0 tonight, Scotty was one out of the money.
The second former World Champion at the table left with a little cash since he won a satellite to get into the event, but Tom McEvoy wasn't a happy camper after starting with the chip lead. 5th wasn't what he had in mind. But few good starters and a brickyard when he played ended Tom Terrific's night early. In a sad final hand, McEvoy caught K K to lose with Q J to John Juanda's Q 10. "I caught him stealing and paired on the end," Tom said dejectedly.
Kenny ‘Skyhawk' Flaton was the one short stack to escape the mire. He went on a headlong rush from the get-go. The wunderkind Phil Ivey knew he was dead when he paired Deuces on 4th street, but he only had $450 left so he shipped it into the pot anyway. Time to go home for Phil in 4th. He had no way to beat Ken Flaton's made 9 5.
This is where the too much respect part comes in. Yes, the blinds were relatively low. But how could three players push chips back and forth for over two hours? It was ‘bet and take it' to the extreme. Each player was waiting for the other to go bad.
Eventually, with the limits now $1,000/$2,000 $150 antes and a $300 high card someone cracked. That someone was Ken Flaton. It didn't take too many high cards and failed draws to eat up Ken's third of the chips on the table.
Ken went all-in for his last $4,100 with a better 9 draw than the made 9 of Bob Williamson, but Kenny bricked on the end for a great 3rd coming from so far back.
Heads up, Williamson had a $26k to 19k lead on the Zen Master John Juanda. There doesn't seem to be a card game that the brilliant Juanda can't play. Even though he was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open, John still keet winning the ‘bet and take it' battle that ensued.
Finally we had a pivotal hand. "Brick, brick," Williamson said as he had to muck his big draw. Juanda won a $20k pot with a rag 9.
Williamson kept begging Juanda to gamble with him, offering to bet without looking. He was even willing to have them play all-in hands, that he would have to win both of. But Juanda is too disciplined. Even groggy from lack of sleep, the Zen Master never gambles. He has the edge or he doesn't play.
The end came at last when Williamson went all-in out of desperation with a bad hand. Bob had a K 5 in the hole with a 2 showing. Juanda had 9 6 in the hole with a 2 up. All the bating Williamson was doing of Juanda came to no avail. John is just to strong a player to fall for such an obvious ploy. The ‘bet and take it' game was over. Bob Williamson was drawing dead on the river to John's 9 8.
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