Home / Poker News June 2009 / Matt Graham wins $10,000 World Championship PL Omaha event
Matt Graham wins $10,000 World Championship PL Omaha event
Posted by: James Carter. - Fri, 2009-06-26 04:59
High buy-in events always attract illustrious fields, and the $10,000 World Championship PL Omaha event of the 2009 WSOP was no exception in this respect. 25 survivors bellied up to the tables on the last day of the event, and among them were names like Van Marcus, Vitaly Lunkin, Barry Greenstein, Josh Arieh, Marcus Golser and David Williams.
The day began with a few fast eliminations and the final table was reached relatively quickly. It was there though that the pace slowed to a crawl and a true war of attrition commenced which resulted in Matt Graham’s victory, who managed to come from behind to secure his second WSOP bracelet and the $679,379 first prize.
The first hour of play saw several players head to the rail, as 16 of them needed to go before the official final table was set. Marcus Golser was among these early eliminations, when his A,Q,J,9 fell to David Podgurki’s K,K,10,7 as none of the hands improved with the board.
David Williams was eliminated too, in 16th place, by eventual winner, Matt Graham.
Noah Schwartz came into the day as the chip leader, but he bled his chips away and was eventually ejected in 15th place. Stefan Mattson was guilty for this elimination, as his K,O,J,9 was hit for a set of Js by the flop to beat Schwartz’s A,Q,10,5.
Howard Lederer fell short of the final table too, eliminated in 12th spot.
Chau Giang fell 11th, and Nathan Doudney became the final table bubble-boy when Josh Arieh made the nut flush on the turn to send him packing.
Matt Graham started the final table in the chip lead and it took nearly two hours for the first player to be ousted from the final table. That player was Barry Greenstein, Josh Arieh responsible for his elimination.
Richard Austin fell in 8th place, followed by Josh Arieh in 7th.
After Arieh left, the action came to a virtual stand-still. It took more than three hours for the ice to crack and for Stefan Mattsson to head to the rail. That elimination propelled Vitaly Lunkin to over 4 million chips.
Ferit Gabriellson finished 5th and Robin Keston followed him to the rail in 4th. Van Marcus was eliminated in 3rd place when his broadway straight draw failed to fill up against Matt Graham’s set of aces.
The heads-up stage of the tournament started with Graham enjoying a slight chip advantage over Vitaly Lunkin. The action was fairly back and forth until Graham took a crippling blow. He managed to storm back from the brink of elimination though, by doubling up three consecutive times. He eventually cornered Lunkin and his set of 10s made short work of the Russian’s straight and flush draws in the final hand of the event. Lunkin picked up $419,832 for his second place.
