If you’re looking for the continuing WSOP story of PokerStars Bernard Lee, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. The Sunday $500,000 Guaranteed tournament is getting a little to big to ignore. Bernie will be back on Tuesday.
I had logged on to PokerStars Sunday afternoon to watch the heads-up match between Exclusive and Wil Wheaton. I know them both and wanted to see how it turned out (Wil ended up winning after a back and forth battle that lasted for quite a while). Before I logged off, I checked in to see how the Sunday $500,000 Guaranteed was looking.
It was looking, in a word, big. Before registration was finished, more than 3300 people had signed up and built a prize pool of more than $670,000. Several hours later, I watched as some big names dropped off the list and we were left with nine players. Among them was a familiar name. Brainwash won nearly $160,000 back in April in what was then the monthly $500,000 Guaranteed Tournament (now the monthly event is $700,000).
This is what the final table looked like as the final nine began to play.
Click on image for full-size version
Seat 1: MrSmits (Randers, DK) $394,221
Seat 2: quietman (Carson City, NV) $541,374
Seat 3: wader (Alberta, Canada) $368,522
Seat 4: maui pag (Aiea, HI) $1,408,618
Seat 5: brainwash (San Clemente, CA) $916,352
Seat 6: Andy134 (Garstang, GB) $1,180,623
Seat 7: mrp123 (Conover, NC) $581,718
Seat 8: Morteler (Bryne, NO) $1,466,285
Seat 9: Fanoffour (Charlotte, NC) $1,446,787
MrSmits, surely up very late in his Danish home, was on the ropes and needed to find a hand and a willing caller to stay alive. He found both within minutes. A pair of kings versus brainwash‘s pair of sevens was good enought to give MrSmits some breathing room.
That left Canadian player wader pulling up the rear. Although he’d found a way to double through once, he still needed to find a way to build some chips. Perhaps sensing he could pick up the blinds, wader came in for a standard raise from the cutoff. Andy123, the Manchester United fan and the man with the chips to command respect, called from the big blind. The flop came down 4d2d6d. Andy123 check-raised wader all-in and wader called. Andy123 showed 7dQd for the flopped flush. Wader, with 8s6s, was drawing dead to two runners which never came. He left in ninth place for $8,047.20.
Brainwash seemed to be on a mission to win the whole shooting match again and never shied away from a coin flip. When facing a button raise from maui pag, brainwash pushed all-in with his pair of nines. After some thought, maui pag called with A3 suited in clubs. Brainwash, who likely figured he was in for a coin flip, got an even better result and doubled though.
Where the pocket pairs were good for brainwash, they were ugly for mrp123. Within just a few hands, mrp123 picked up pocket tens twice and lost both times, first to pocket queens, then to KJ. The two losses sent th man from the Tarheel state to the rail in eighth place and $12,741.40.
If there was any question about how well Andy123 would do in this tournament, it was clearly answered when he won one of the biggest pots of the tournament His pocket kings versus maui pag’s pocket sevens sent the Hawaiian to the rail and fixed Andy123 up with a $3.5 million pot. Maui pag made $18,206.20 for the seventh place finish. And Lee Jones, who had been offering innocuous congratulations, showed up with the first of a few Jones-esque quips.
Lee Jones: Okay Maui — you can take your $18K back to the island. Good match!
Fanoffour had been fighting to build his chipstack but had lost a few battles and ended up getting all his money in with JT on a ten-high flop. His opponent Morteler had two overs and a gutshot draw with QJ. The gutshot filled in on the turn and busted fanoffour in sixth place. For his efforts he earned $24,141,60 and this quip for his screen image of the Green Bay Packers QB.
Lee Jones: And Favre is sacked! But not before collecting $24K. Good game, fan.
I’m ashamed to admit that my notes don’t reflect how quietman busted out. MrSmits took his chips and quietman left in fifth place for $30,847.60.
Lee Jones: You didn’t go quietly, man. You won $30K. Nicely done.
MrSmits, despite taking the remainder of quietman’s chips, eventually found himself unable to catch a break. With about $750K in chips left, he raised from the button and Andy123 moved all in. MrSmits called with A2 and found himself up against A3. He had to hope for a chopped pot, but a three came off on the flop and and MrSmits left in fourth place for $39,565.40
Lee Jones: Okay Mr. Smits – back to Washington for you and your $40K. Great match!
With just three players remaining the players started talking about a deal and ended up with the following arrangement.
brainwash — $73,392
Andy123 — $86,663
Morteler — $95,503
With the required $10,000 left on the table, the players went to battle. It didn’t last long. In the end, Andy123 won the whole thing, besting Morteler’s AQ with AJ and brainwash’s 44 with 66. With the Manchester United symbol burning as the last remaining image, Lee Jones let out one last quip:
Lee Jones: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!
Here are the final results from the contest.
Sunday $500,000 Guarantee Results
(payouts reflect 3-way deal)
1st– Andy134 (Garstang, GB) $96,663
2nd– brainwash (San Clemente, CA) $73,392
3rd– Morteler (Bryne, NO) $95,503
4th– MrSmits (Randers, DK) $39,565.40
5th– quietman (Carson City, NV) $30,847.60
6th– fanoffour (Charlotte, NC) $24,141,60
7th– maui pag (Aiea, HI) $18,206.20
8th– mrp123 (Conover, NC) $12,741.40
9th– wader (Alberta, Canada) $8,047.20
Congratulations to all the players. Be sure to sign up for the monthly $700,000 Guaranteed tournament on PokerStars.com.
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