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July 19th 2006
WSOP Update: The Dragon wins 3rd WSOP bracelet
The $2000 NL Hold’em Shootout is one of the most exciting events at the World Series of Poker. With a format unlike any other used in mainstream American poker programs, the shootout is a throwback to the days of Late Night Poker, and it is a joy to watch.
Rather than accumulating chips over a number of days the Shootout tournament features isolated single table tournaments, with the winner of each table moving onto the next round where they will play another single table. This year 600 players signed up for the event, starting on 100 six-handed tables. The 100 winners of these tables then played on 10 ten-handed tables, with the winner of those tables progressing to the final table.
The result is a final table where each player begins with the same number of chips – making for a classic test of poker ability.
This year the ten players to reach the final were: Jeffery Heiberg, Roland De Wolfe, David Bach, Chad Layne, Dustin Woolf, Jerald Williamson, Adam Kagin, David Pham, Charles Sewell and Jason Dewitt.
They each began with $200,000 in chips, with the blinds set at $2000-$4000.
The relatively high blinds meant the players did not hang around before getting stuck into each others stacks. Heiberg took the initial advantage after a clash with Jason Dewitt but he quickly surrendered his chips after losing a vast pot to David Pham. With top pair on the flop Heiberg had the advantage when the chips went in but Pham hit his flush on the turn to win a $500,000 plus pot.
That left Heiberg crippled, and Pham finished the job shortly after to further cement his position at the top of the table. After Heiberg it was the turn of Adam Kelgin, followed by Dustin Woolf and David Bach, whose pocket queens ran head first into De Wolfe’s pocket kings.
Jason Dewitt, Chad Layne and Jerald Williamson then all fell, in the order, to David Pham, meaning that with three players left the prodigious pupil of Men “The Master” Nguyen had a reasonable chip lead.
The three remaining players were all well stacked however, and Roland De Wolfe took the chip lead from Pham only a few hands after Williamson was busted. He moved all-in on Pham after Pham had bet $140,000 on the flop and $190,000 on the turn. Pham deliberated for a long time before folding and handing De Wolfe the chip lead.
The loss seemed to get to Pham, and his poker moved up a level from that point. He became very aggressive, raising and re-raising on numerous pots, and twice re-raising De Wolfe all-in to claim big pots. He then made a superb call against Charles Sewell. On a board of Ts-7h-5d-5s Sewell had re-raised Pham’s $60,000 bet to $200,000. Pham called and then called another $200,000 bet by Sewell on the river. He turned over A-Q for ace high. He had read Sewell perfectly, who had just Q-3 for queen high.
That put Pham in an almost unassailable chip lead, and when he knocked out De Wolfe in third, after his A-8 outkicked De Wolfe’s A-6, that was that. Sewell was eliminated three hands later and Pham had the bracelet. He won $240,222 for first. Sewell picked up $124,488 for second.
Submitted: 19/07/2006 17:15:55
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