Home / Poker News June 2009 / Eric Baldwin wins $2,000 NL Holdem event
Eric Baldwin wins $2,000 NL Holdem event
Posted by: James Carter. - Sun, 2009-06-21 12:17
The final day of the $2,000 NL Holdem event of the 2009 WSOP featured 21 survivors, among them Bertrand Grospellier, Roland de Wolfe and of course, eventual winner, Eric Baldwin. When all the dust settled, it was Baldwin who held up his final pocket hand and the gold bracelet with a grin, and with $521,932 in his pocket.
Day 3 kicked off on the fast note as 3 players were eliminated early on, to allow the rest of the field to condense to two tables. Marc Whitford, Matt Heiligenthaler and Praz Bansi were these 3 players, their bracelet quests nipped in the bud.
James Mackey picked up a pair of Qs and decided to stake his tournament life on them. He got called by Eric Baldwin who tabled J,J and Mackey was looking pretty solid. The flop fell A,10,K and Mackey was still hanging in there, though Baldwin had picked up a gutshot straight. The Q on the turn gave Mackey one set that he was definitely not looking forward to, as it also filled up Baldwin’s Broadway straight.
Joseph Cada fell to Bertrand Grospellier in 17th place and he was soon followed to the rail by Pete Kevorkian who was sent there by Roland de Wolfe.
Pocket 7s were responsible for the following 2 eliminations. Joseph Grenon and Sean Mullaghy were both eliminated while holding pocket pairs and their opponents landed a set of 7s on the river.
Bertrand Grospellier got into a tussle with Steven Bradbury next. The classic K,K vs A,A match-up didn’t go down in the Frenchman’s favor though, and a new chip leader was crowned, as Grospellier was left seriously crippled.
Forced to shove all-in a few hands later, “ElkY” was eliminated by Eric Baldwin.
Benjamin Scholl eliminated Young Phan in 10th place to set the final table. Scholl’s J,J made short work of Phan’s Qd, 8d to make a bubble-boy out of him.
Eric DeFontes was the first victim of the final table, eliminated by Jonas Klausen. Martin Jacobson finished 8th as Eric Baldwin began his home-stretch rally. A few hands later, Baldwin crippled Steven Bradbury (A,A, cracked by K,K) to reel in the chip leader.
Bradbury busted out a few hands later. Andrew Youngblood finished in 6th, followed by Roland De Wolfe in 5th.
Benjamin Scholl was eliminated in 4th, by James Taylor. Taylor himself fell next to set the heads-up stage between Baldwin and Klausen.
The chip lead see-sawed a while before the final confrontation, which featured Baldwin’s pocket 10s going up against Klausen’s Ah, Qh. The board bricked out and Klausen was eliminated just one position short of the bracelet.
