| Young Swede conquers Devils, Foxes and Unknowns for a Record Win - and for yet another Victory
When I arrived in the casino at about 8:30 p.m., we still had three tables going. With blinds of 3,000-6,000 and an ante of 1,500, everybody with less than, say, 60,000 in chips couldn't afford to wait for very long. And indeed, the short stacks all fought very hard to stay in contention. One of these short stacks was Robin Keston, the chip leader at the end of day one. He went out against the aces of Tuesday's no-limit hold'em winner Johan Storakers. The young Swede now had over 300,000 in chips and looked sharp but relaxed - an excellent combination for a poker player. Johan gained even more chips when he also busted out Robert Mizrach. Robert's jack-ten was trailing against his opponent's deuces on the flop, but when a ten came on the turn he jumped out of his chair - only to see a deuce on the river give the Swede bottom full, and even more chips.
As I noted in my report two days ago, there's one thing in Johan's play that I appreciate very much: he likes to do his own dirty work. In other words: he doesn't mind taking some chances in order to knock someone out. When the dangerous John Kabbaj raised all-in to 50,000 from the button, Johan immediately called him from the small blind with king-ten only, even though the blinds were still just 3,000-6,000. Not many players would have made that call (by the way, he was right: Kabbaj was on a steal with a J3 only), because they would have figured: let's wait for a better opportunity - or let's just hope someone else will call him. Johan got rewarded for the chances he took by reaching today's final table with over 25% of the chips in play. However, the aggressive C.T. Law, and also "Devilfish" Dave Ulliott (three-times WSOP bracelet winner) and "Dutch Flying Fox" Marcel Lüske (the current number 1 in the European poker rankings) were not that far behind.
Final table / chip counts:
Seat # 1: Sergei Pevzner, Russia, 124,000
Seat # 2: Marcel Lüske, Netherlands, 192,000
Seat # 3: C.T. Law, England, 411,000
Seat # 4: Ian Oldershaw, England, 213,500
Seat # 5: Yves Aknin, France, 191,500
Seat # 6: Dave Ulliott, England, 216,500
Seat # 7: Adam Lee, England, 119,000
Seat # 8: Wolfgang Pilecki, Germany, 53,500
Seat # 9: Johan Storakers, Sweden, 532,000
Total chips in play: 2,050,000
Final table starts out fast and furious
Despite his good chip position, it was only on the second hand that Johan lost a huge pot, to double up the relatively unknown Ian Oldershaw from Derbyshire, England. With blinds of 5,000 and 10,000 and an ante of 2,000, Ian had raised under the gun to 30,000, with the Swede flat-calling on the button. When the flop came 227 and Ian bet out 30,000 again, Johan raised him to 150,000, and when Ian moved all-in for about 60,000 more, the Swede knew he was in trouble. Aces for Ian, tens for Johan, and suddenly it was an Unknown who had taken over the chip lead. Then, on the very next hand a Fox (Marcel) and a Devil (Dave) were involved in a huge clash. The Devil raised preflop to 35,000 and when The Fox came over the top of him, Dave had to think for quite some time. But he called anyway and was a big favorite, holding ace-king over Marcel's ace-queen. But like yesterday, the ladies were good to the Flying Fox. He found a queen on the flop, and not only did he have one of the largest stacks by now with almost 400,000 in chips, he had also severely crippled one of his most dangerous opponents, whose stack was now down to a mere 45,000.
Devil unwilling to surrender
With his stack this small, and after the huge beat he had taken, it seemed probable that Dave would not be able to recover. But he did! He doubled through C.T. Law two hands in a row: with jack-ten versus ten-seven and then with ace-queen versus king-eight. And then he doubled his stack again - against Russian Sergei Pevzner this time. When Dave raised his big blind, Sergei thought that he was stealing, and went for the re-steal by raising all-in. But Dave had AQ, called quickly and was right: the Russian was making a move with a nine-three only. Devilfish had fought back from way behind to threaten Johan's chip lead now. After Yves and Sergei had busted out, I estimated the chips at:
Marcel: 230,000
C.T.: 280,000
Ian: 500,000
Devilfish: 400,000
Adam: 100,000
Wolfgang: 50,000
Johan: 460,000
Blinds: 10,000-20,000 / Antes: 3,000
Big guys battling for chips
Both the Fox and the Devil went out of their way to get involved with the short-stacked Wolfgang Pilecki. But, the first time the German took a stand, his jack-nine of clubs proved good against Dave's eight-high only. The man from Hull did have a hand when he came over the top of C.T. Law, and his pocket tens held up against ace-king. Devilfish had busted out his fellow countryman C.T. and now held almost one-third of the chips, a more than remarkable comeback. Marcel also gained some ground when he called Adam Lee's all-in raise quickly, and the Dutchman's ace-ten proved good. Slowly but surely we headed into the expected direction: the two big gunners Dave and Marcel preparing for the Big Final, with the young, calm and talented Johan caught in the middle. When Wolfgang finally surrendered against Marcel, we had three poker stars battling for the trophy with the unknown-but-fearless Ian, who had a big stack as well. At hand # 50, I estimated the chips at:
Marcel: 440,000
Ian: 580,000
Devilfish: 640,000
Johan : 390,000
Young Swede takes over again
Johan was most certainly not pleased to see that both the Fox and the Devil had gained so many chips, but he got an excellent chance to double through Ian. Holding jacks, his opponent came over the top of his raise with pocket nines – an excellent situation to be in for the Swede, who was a huge favorite to win. But the crowd roared when the flop came Q97, and now the Swede had become a big dog, his opponent having flopped three-nines. The turn (a ten) gave Johan an open-ended straight draw and some hope again… and then the crowd roared yet again when on the river he did make the straight! Ian's three-nines were cracked, and his stack was down to 90,000 now, while the young Swede suddenly had a stack of close to one million - almost 50% of the chips in play.
Two more recoveries by crippled players
But just like Devilfish had done before, the fearless Ian was simply unwilling to give up. And it was precisely against the man from Hull that he recovered his chips. Devilfish seemed very keen on trying to bust Ian, but Ian survived two all-in confrontations (with Q7 vs. JT and with AJ v. A9) to build his stacks to over 400,000 again, with the Devil now down to 350,000. But Dave kept the pressure on with his constant preflop raising. He took the initiative whenever he could, and because of this he forced Marcel to sit and wait for premium hands - which the Fox didn't get. Slowly but surely his stack deteriorated, and with only 45,000 in chips left, things looked rather dim for the hometown favorite. But then he won an all-in pot against both Dave and Johan, and the crowd loved the fact that Europe’s No. 1 was still in contention. And not just that. A few hands later, he caught the Devil stealing with 85 only while holding kings himself, which got the crowd cheering some more. He got out of his chair and told the people to scream even louder – and this they did! It was an electric atmosphere, and with so many people supporting the Fox, he looked stronger and stronger with every hand he played.
But then, for whatever reason, Marcel lost momentum. First, after having called a big raise by the Devil, he had to check-fold on the flop, and he was once again the smallest stack. And then he was caught stealing by Johan, who called a big all-in raise with king-queen to see that the Dutchman held an eight-seven only. Suddenly, the crowd's favorite was out, and we were now three-handed with:
Ian 370,000
Devilfish 540,000
Johan 1,120,000
Young Swede takes no prisoners
Even though Johan had been up against two highly aggressive and experienced players all day (the Fox and the Devil), he didn't seem the least intimidated by them. Quite the contrary: I had seen him come over the top of the Devilfish on at least four or five occasions – and the Devil had to release on all of them. While it is possible that Johan had a great hand every time, it is more likely that the Swede simply knew that Dave doesn’t like to make big calls early in the hand, and that he took advantage of this knowledge. But then, with all things going so well, Johan suddenly got trapped himself. In the small blind, he raised Ian's 30,000 big blind to 80,000. Ian came over the top for 360,000 with what very much looked like a re-steal (after all, Johan didn't need to have much in this spot to attack Ian's blind). When Johan called the big raise, he looked into the Two Eyes of Texas, though (AA), and with king-ten offsuit he was in very bad shape. But then he flopped a ten, and on the turn he got another ten to give him a full house, tens over sixes with the board T66T. Ian could not believe how his monster had been outdrawn in such a horrible manner – and the crowd felt his pain, too. But then, just when he was about to get out of his chair, the dealer burned and turned… and came up with a gorgeous ace! Aces full for Ian against the tens full for Johan: a truly amazing pot with only two players in the hand, at this stage of the event, and with these amounts of money at stake.
Suddenly everybody starts pounding on the Devil
With Ian now having a big stack himself, he decided to do what he had seen Johan do so often: let Devilfish do the betting, and then play back at him to make him lay down his hand. On hand # 92, Dave raised to 80,000, Ian moved all-in and the Dave folded. And on hand # 93, with a flop T84, small blind Ian checked to big blind Devil, who bet 100,000 only to see his opponent check-raise him all-in. Once again, the Devil was unable to call, and he was now in serious danger. It was Johan, who finally finished him off. In a three-way pot with Devilfish on the button and a Qd Jc 3c flop, everybody checked. After the turn 8c (three clubs were now on the board) both Johan and Ian checked again, and now Dave bet 120,000. Johan thought it was impossible for Dave to have a flush here, he even thought it was highly unlikely that the man from Hull even had a pair - so he check-raised him all-in with a pair of fours only. A truly excellent read by the young Swede, as his opponent had the bare king of clubs for a king-high only, and when he couldn't improve on the river, he was out. The chips:
Ian 590,000
Johan 1,460,000
Johan has the lead, but the Unknown is scared of nothing - and even refuses a deal
With Johan having the chip lead and bigger experience in this type of situation (he was runner up at last year’s Main Event, and won the no-limit hold’em event just two days ago), he was a clear favorite to win at this stage of the event. But when Ian’s pocket eights survived all-in against the Swede's A8, the stacks were suddenly back to even again. With the blinds at 20,000-40,000, antes of 10,000 and a difference of more than 120,000 Euros between first and second prize, it seemed wise to make a deal, or at least some kind of save. But despite the experience and the reputation of his excellent opponent, Ian simply said: "Please don't be offended - but I simply like to play." A more than admirable attitude from someone who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself… and who played a great game of poker. So, the game continued, and they kept chipping away at each other, until the Englishman finally took the lead, with Johan trailing by 820,000 to 1,230,000.
Late breakthrough for the favorite
But then things finally worked out well for the Swede after all. When his opponent made a huge all-in move from the big blind, he decided to call with pocket fives, and he was indeed in front, the man from Derbyshire holding ace-three. Having started with more than 800,000 in chips, Johan was now in front by a wide margin. And then, on hand # 132, it was all over. Preflop, Johan moved in with six-five of diamonds, got called by Ian's ace-nine and then flopped a six to end today's Main Event for his second victory in only three days. An amazing accomplishment by an excellent player, who without a doubt has a very bright future ahead. Congratulations to Johan Storakers for yet another excellent win, and for the biggest prize ever handed out in Master Classics history: a monstrous, and unparalleled, 243,540 Euros.
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