For the first time since the start of 2008, the tournament scene has finally hit a small lull, but it’s not without a semi-major final table going down. Today nine men did battle on the felt for a $229k 1st place prize at the Rincon World Series of Poker circuit event.
Only 148 players signed up for this event, but that didn’t mean the final table was devoid of talent. Gavin Smith, Jon “Sketchy1” Eaton, Lee Watkinson, and David “dpeters217” Peters were all present at today’s final table.
Going into the final table, here were the chip stacks.
Edward Sabat – 854,000
Kenny Bedoya – 701,500
David Peters – 442,000
Lee Watkinson – 337,000
Gavin Smith – 197,500
Damien Oborne – 124,000
Michael Pickett – 121,000
Cristian Avendano – 96,500
Jon Eaton – 75,000
With the blinds starting at 4k/8k today, Eaton, Avendano, and Pickett would have to pick their spots soon.
Just a few hands into the final table, Eaton was lucky enough to double through Smith. Just a few hands later he got his chips in with AJ of spades against David Peters’s KJ off suit. Peters flopped a flush draw on a 5Q8 all diamond flop, turned an open ended when a Ten peeled off, and rivered an Ace to complete the suckout on Eaton. Eaton busted in 9th place, earning $14,136 for his showing.
Eight handed, here were the stacks:
Edward Sabat: 770,000
David Peters: 710,000
Kenny Bedoya: 690,000
Michael Pickett: 340,000
Cristian Avendano: 100,000
Lee Watkinson: 160,000
Damien Oborne: 120,000
Gavin Smith: 60,000
The two biggest names at the final table were barely there, heading in the wrong direction. With the blinds up to 5k/10k, time was of the essence for Watkinson and Smith, as well as Oborne.
Just a few hands after the blind raise, Oborne was able to get his short stack in with as mall advantage, putting the last of his chips in with A5 against David’s KT. The first card out was a Ten, which was enough to hold off Oborne and finish him off in 8th place. He made $21,204.
Watkinson would be the next to exit the final table. A bit later after doubling up Gavin Smith, he shoved in his last 90 k, which prompted Gavin Smith to push over the top. Smith had a commanding lead with pocket tens, crushing Watkinson’s pocket fours. A Q8A28 board offered no help to Watkinson, and he was out in 7th place, taking home $28,272.
With 6 left, here were the chip stacks:
David Peters: 1,049,000
Kenny Bedoya: 700,000
Edward Sabat: 550,000
Michael Pickett: 370,000
Cristian Avendano: 240,000
Gavin Smith: 220,000
Blinding down to below 100k after Watkinson’s bustout, Smith shoved in his last 93k with QT offsuit. Kenny Bedoya called him down with AJ offsuit. The AK4 flop left Gavin drawing to one of the last three jacks in the deck, however the K turn and 9 river weren’t what he was looking for. Gavin Smith, the accomplished Canadian pro, was sent away in 6th place, winning $35,340.
A relatively quiet final table had begun to move at a breakneck pace, and less than fifteen minutes after Smith’s bustout, the final table was narrowed to 5.
Cristian Avendano, short the whole final table, open shoved his stack in with pocket sevens, and was called by Kenny Bedoya in the big blind. Once Bedoya flipped over his eights, Avendano knew he was in a world of trouble. Bedoya flopped a third eight and never looked back, knocking Avendano out in 5th place. Avendano scored $42,408 for his place.
Just before the blind jump to 6k/12k, here’s how the stacks shaped up:
David Peters: 1,137,000
Kenny Bedoya: 1,019,000
Michael Pickett: 616,000
Edward Sabat: 176,000
Despite not playing many of the big pots, Pickett had quietly chipped up to over 50 big blinds, but still trailing far behind Bedoya and Peters. Sabat, a ghost throughout the day, was way in the rear.
However, after some chipping up by Sabat and Pickett at Bedoya and David’s expenses, the final table was narrowed to 3.
Seeing a turn with the board reading 76Q5, Kenny Bedoya got all his chips in against Michael Pickett, but was dismayed to see his AQ was drawing dead to Michael’s 84, which hit his gutshot on the turn. Drawing dead, Kenny was sent home with $56,544 in 4th place.
In a short time, Michael Pickett had emerged as the juggernaut of this tournament, lording over Sabat and Peters now with his massive stack. Here were the stacks during 3 handed play:
Michael Pickett: 2,140,000
David Peters: 450,000
Edward Sabat: 310,000
With the blinds up to 8k/16k, Sabat was able to get all his chips in a race situation, with A9 vs. David’s pocket eights. However, It was not meant to be for Sabat as he whiffed on all five cards, and exited in 3rd place. He won $70,680.
Going into heads up play, Peters was down about 2-1, with his 910k vs. Pickett’s 2,038,000. After an up and down heads up match, the ultimate hand occurred.
With the blinds at 10k/20k, Peters limped in the small blind, which was met with a check from Pickett. On an A93 flop, Pickett bet the minimum, 20k, which was promptly called by Peters. The turn brought a 7, which Pickett then bet 60k, and was again called by Peters. The river brought a Jack, which prompted Pickett to bet 200k, which was met by Peters moving in for 210k more. Pickett called, flipping over T8 offsuit, for the nuts. Peters had rivered two pair with J9, giving him the cooler.
Peters finished in 2nd place, earning $120,156. Pickett earned 1st place, and a cool $229,002.