How often have we heard Poker Journalists claim to know what they’re talking about when it comes to the top flight of the game? I know I do it nearly every day. Chad Holloway now has a big stick to beat any detractors of his work over the head, and it comes in the form of a gold bracelet with the letter WSOP engraved in the top, along with a cheque for $84,915.
Event #1 of the WSOP is open to Casino Employees, and as Chad is going to be covering the WSOP, he also got in. The $500 buy in is the lowest of the WSOP, and this traditional WSOP opener is one of the few chances Casino Workers get to play in a bracelet event.
The final table was set when Vince Petrino was eliminated in 10th place for $5,010. This Gave Bobby Rooney the chip lead going to the final nine. The chip counts for the final table looked like this with the b8linds standing at 5k/10k-1k ante
- Bobby Rooney – 713,000
- Allan Kwong – 447,000
- Chad Holloway – 378,000
- Brian Pingel – 251,000
- Michael Trivett – 246,000
- Tyrone Smith – 216,000
- Daniel Ellery – 205,000
- Sean Small – 133,000
- Hieu Le – 104,000
The first bustout didn’t take long at all, in fact it was in the first hand of the final table. the action was folded to shortstacked Hieu Le in the small blind. He moved all in with his 2
2
, and was called by Allan Kwong in the big blind with 33
. The board threw out five over cards, not helping Le, and he was eliminated in 9th place for $6,348.
The final table was shrinking fast as the second bustout was close on the heels of the first. Michael Trivett opened the action to 27,000 from the button, only to see Chad Holloway three bet from the small blind to 77,000. Trivett pondered his decision for a while, before coming out of the tank to four bet shove. Holloway took a little time over his decision, and made the call with A8. Trivett turned over KJ to be hoping for some help from the cards to come.
The flop came A
72 to improve Holloway’s lead, something that was made even more obvious by his rail’s cheering. The 7 on the turn sealed Trivett’s fate, and the K was irrelevant. Trivett left the table in 8th place with $8,146.
It was shaping up to be a short final table when 7th place was awarded after Triivett had barely left the table. Action had folded round to Tyrone Smith in the small blind, and he open shoved JT, only to be called by Rooney’s dominating QJ. The board missed both hands, and Rooney swept the chips into his stack. Smith left with $10,567 for his 7th place.
It was a day for the shortstacks controlling the action, and 6th place went to Sean Smith after he shoved his last 89,000 with J8c. He was called by Chad Holloway with A4, and the board ran out 43769 to pair Holloway’s kicker, and send Small home with $13,868.
This hand had increase Holloway’s chip lead, with Rooney, Kwong and Ellery behind with playable stacks. Pingel was bringing up the rear with 17.5 big blinds left in his stack.
Pingel wasn’t the next man out though, that dubious honour went to Daniel Ellery, who while making the right moves didn’t have lady luck on his side. Ellery opened to 40,000 from the button, and Pingle made the call from the big blind. The flop came 393c, and both players checked to see the turn card of 6. Pingel checked, and Ellery delayed c-bet 65,000, only to have his opponent shove over his raise. Ellery made the call without much deliberation, and saw that his 65 was ahead against Pingel’s QT flush draw. The river of A completed that draw, and sent Ellery to the rail with $18,426.
There was a chance to draw breath as the next bustout was a little while, but when it came it sent “Lucky” Brian Pingel to the rail. With the blinds standing at 10k/20k-3k Rooney min-raised the un-opened pot from the button. Pingel defended his big blind, and brought the 485 flop. Pingel checked, and Rooney’s 55,000 c-bet brought a shove from the out of position Pingel. Rooney’s chips nearly beat Pingel’s into the middle, and Rooney’s flopped two pair with 45 was ahead of Pingel’s 69 flush draw. It wasn’t over yet, and Pingel certainly had some outs, but the turn of Q or the river of K weren’t helpful, and sent him to the rail with $24,811.
Three handed play went on for a while, and saw Bobby Rooney down to about his last 350,000, even after doubling through Holloway. Rooney called Kwongs open shove from the small blind. Rooney’s TcT was ahead of Kwong’s AT, and it was looking like he was going to double up again until the river brought a A to give Kwong a bigger pair, and send Rooney to the rail with $33,903.
Holloway head into the heads up match with a sizeable chip lead, but the chips flew across the table, with the chip lead changing hands more than once. The final hand saw Kwong raise to 75,000, and Holloway make the call. the Flop of 5QQ saw some furious action Holloway checked, and then reraised over Kwong’s 85,00 bet. Kwong brought out the big guns and shoved, and Holloway snap called. Holloway held the Q, while Kwong held AK. The turn and river did nothing, and Chad Holloway took his first Bracelet, and the first bracelet in the 2013 WSOP season.
The final table payouts looked like this:
- Chad Holoway – $84,915
- Allan Kwong – $52,318
- Bobby Rooney – $33,903
- Brian Pingel – $24,811
- Daniel Ellery – $18,426
- Sean Small – $13,868
- Tyrone Smith – $10,567
- Michael Trivett – $8,146
- Hieu Le – $6,348
