Online Poker

November 9, 2009

The 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event final table has been reduced to only two players: new PokerStars Pro Joe Cada, and logger Darvin Moon.

This year’s WSOP Main Event final table got off to a slow start, as all players were aware of the looming threats of Darvin Moon’s chip lead and Phil Ivey’s skills. Soon enough, James Akenhead was cut down by fate, as his play of pocket Kings met opposing pocket Aces and no luck. This was then followed by pocket 3s that did not stand up to the pocket 9s of Jeff Shulman. In a repeat of his WSOPE Championship Event performance, James Akenhead finished in 9th place.

Kevin Schaffel was the next to leave the table, this time in a reversal of the hand that undid Akenhead. Schaffel’s pocket Aces lost out to the pocket Kings of Eric Buchman when a King came up in the flop and on the turn, with no Ace to save Schaffel on the river. This put Eric Buchman in a much better position, and Kevin Schaffel was out at 8th place.

Full Tilt Poker’s Phil Ivey met his end at the final table when Darvin Moon called him going all-in. It was Ivey’s Ace/King to Moon’s Ace/Queen, and on any other day it might have gone to Ivey, but on that day the flop awarded Moon a Queen and Ivey nothing. This was followed by more nothings on the turn and river, to write Phil Ivey in at 7th place.

Steven Begleiter paid dearly for Ivey’s departure, as with the greatest poker player in the world slain, Darvin Moon went crazy for blood. Within mere minutes after taking down Ivey in an incredible stroke of luck, Moon took off Begleiter’s head with a similarly lucky hand. Moon went all-in on Ace/Queen, and Begleiter called with pocket Queens. Again, it looked bad for Moon, with the flop and turn giving him nothing… but then the river came down Ace, and Darvin Moon had made another $350,000. Moon’s bloodlust was sated for the nonce, and Steven Begleiter finished in 6th place.

Jeff Shulman was the last to take prize money of less than $2 million, losing a big hand to Antoine Saout. Going all-in on pocket 7s, Shulman came up against the Ace/9 of Saout. Too bad for Shulman, the flop gave Saout a 9, and Shulman got nothing on the turn and the river. Jeff Shulman walked away in 5th place, his dreams of scorning the WSOP Main Event title shattered.

Eric Buchman could now go no further, as Darvin Moon had to claim yet another player at the final table. Buchman’s all-in with Ace/5 had a shot at taking out Moon’s King of Diamonds/Jack of Diamonds, but when a King fell with no Ace to follow, Buchman’s run at the WSOP Main Event was done. Eric Buchman finished in 4th place for $2,502,787.

Antoine Saout was brought to a stop just before reaching the final two. In a short space of time, Saout went from being the chip leader to the next bust out. When Joe Cada went all-in with pocket 2s against Saout’s pocket Queens, it should have ended well for him. The flop awarded Cada a third 2, however, and Saout got nothing, doubling the stack of the young Joe Cada. Soon after, Saout made a move with pocket 8s, going all-in and getting called by Cada with Ace/King. Neither player was helped by the flop or the turn, and Saout looked home free, but the river washed up a King and gave Joe Cada a massive chip lead. Antoine Saout returns home with a 3rd place WSOP Main Event finish, and $3,479,485 to show for it.

The final two players will battle it out on Monday night at 10PM PST. PokerStars’ Joe Cada leads with 136,925,000 to Darvin Moon’s 58,875,000 chips. If Cada takes the contest, he will be the youngest player to win the Main Event, at just 21 years old. Darvin Moon has actually slightly gone down in his chip count compared to when he started this table, so things look grim for him at this point, but he has done marvelously for an amateur player. Regardless, one of his trademark fortunate flops may just win the tournament for him.

We’ll report more on the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event after its conclusion.