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December 6th 2006
Steve Wong captures Five Diamond Event #3 as Roland de Wolfe picks up second place in Event #4
The preliminary events in the Five Diamond World Poker Classic are proving fertile hunting ground for the world’s best poker players. Already Dave “the Devilfish” Ulliot has gobbled up a WPC bracelet for winning the $2000 tournament, and now two other pros have logged big finishes in the most recent events.
Steve Wong announced himself to the poker world this summer with a final table in the WSOP followed by first place in the $5000 NL Hold’em event in the Festa al Lago tournament. The talkative Dutchman continued his strong run by finishing second to Andreas Walnum in the Festa al Lago WPT main-event, collecting $542,700, and it looks like he brought his good form to the Five Diamond Classic.
In the third event of this series (the $2500 NL Hold’em tournament) Wong came out on top of a tough final table that included Player of the Year contender Nam Lee. Going into heads-up Wong trailed the aggressive and unpredictable Gevork Kasabyan by $740,000 to $340,000 in chips, but never appeared under any pressure. With a steady but steadfast approach Wong slowly reduced Kasabyan’s chip lead until the two players were level. The key hand came when Wong pushed all-in with A-9o and Kasabyan called with Ah-8h. The better kicker held up, and the match was over shortly afterwards. Wong collected $215,255 for first place, bringing his total earnings from the last six months to $1.2 million.
Event #4, the $3000 NL Hold’em tournament, was another event that was dominated by on form pros. Ralph Perry won his first WSOP bracelet this year, bringing his career tournament earnings to an impressive $1.5 million. He was joined on the final table by possibly the in-form player of the year, Roland de Wolfe, who over the last 18 months has won over $2.4 million, capturing a WPT title, an EPT title, and finishing third in the WPT Championship in the process.
Ralph and Roland began the final table first and second in chips respectively, and it was no surprise then that they ended up as the last two players standing, though Roland’s aggressive play meant he could easily have been knocked out long before. Three times it looked like de Wolfe’s tournament was over, and three times he sucked out on Ralph Perry to stay alive. First de Wolfe triumphed with Q-J versus Perry’s K-Q, then he won a battle with Q-6 versus A-K on a 8-8-3 board, and then he added insult to injury by winning with T-6 with K-6.
Perry was down but not out, and having promised his ten year-old son his next gold bracelet he was determined to deliver. He finally got things going his way when he double up with a straight draw versus de Wolfe’s two pair, and then went on a rampage, raking pot after pot to take a commanding lead. His son’s birthday present was finally assured when he hit a gutshot straight draw against Roland’s top pair and took down the title. Perry won $234,635 to go with his bracelet, while Roland added another six figure sum to his bankroll.
Submitted: 06/12/2006 09:43:40
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