Home / Poker News June 2009 / Marc Naalden wins $2,000 Limit Holdem event
Marc Naalden wins $2,000 Limit Holdem event
Posted by: James Carter. - Wed, 2009-06-24 15:26
Marc Naalden started event #38 of the 2009 WSOP, the $2,000 Limit Holdem one, in the chip lead, and that’s exactly how he finished it: with all the chips piled in front of him, happily holding his freshly acquired WSOP bracelet in his right hand. The final table performance was an almost coast-to-coast ride for the Dutchman, who attracted a noisy throng of orange-clad railbirds which cheered him on every step of the way.
Having started the final table with 755,000 chips, Naalden was quick to swing into action and to extend his lead further. He did that at the expense of Steve Cowley first, then at that of Tommy Hang. The first elimination of the day was foreshadowed by a crippling blow which Rep Porter took from Steve Cowley.
As a result of that blow, Porter was soon forced to put his tournament life onto the line. He shoved all-in on a flop of 7,8,K with his A,7 and got called by Jameson Painter (who also had some noisy support on the rail) with pocket rockets. Severely short on outs, Porter missed both the flop and the river to bust out in 9th.
He was followed to the rail by Painter himself though. After his moment of glory, Painter took a bad hit from Alex Keating and was eventually eliminated by Marc Naalden who rivered a straight to send him packing in 8th.
Jared O’Dell bit the dust in 7th place at the hands of Tommy Hang.
Naalden then proceeded to methodically eject Danny Qutami in 6th and Alex Keating in 5th.
The Dutch steamroller didn’t stop for Tommy Hang either, whom he swatted in 4th place, nor did he find Ian Johns a serious challenger, whom he eliminated in 3rd to set the heads-up stage. As the orange celebration on the rail grew larger and larger, Naalden took on Cowley for the bracelet. The Dutchman started the heads-up action with a huge chip lead, which Cowley managed to neutralize after a while. Naalden then bounced back and the two fought it out back and forth for a while until Naalden managed to land another potentially crippling blow.
Refusing to go down, Cowley emerged once again as a contender before a 20 minute break the two of them took. After the break, it was all Naalden all the way. He ran all over Cowley and eventually came from behind on the final hand to secure the title and the $190,770 prize. His Q,8 managed to catch a Q on the flop against Cowley’s A,5 which failed to improve.
