Home / Poker News November 2008 / WSOP Circuit event Hammond final table report
WSOP Circuit event Hammond final table report
Posted by: James Carter. - Tue, 2008-11-04 17:48
Steve Billirakis proved he deserved to win the WSOP’s Hammond circuit event as he took the chip lead on Day 1 and didn’t let go of the reins till he was the only player left standing. This win brought him a $208,885 prize and the right to brag about thoroughly dominating players like Thomas Koral, Dustin Woolf and Jason DeWitt.
The 9 final table participants were: George Dietz, Thomas Koral, Dustin Woolf, Kyle Schertz, Ravi Raghavan, Sameer Al-Dbhany, Steve Bilirakis and Gary Leibovitz.
Final table action began in a rather slow fashion, as the 9 players were all trying to get the feel of the game. Dustin Woolf was the one who decided to break the ice, and committed his whole stack on a 10,9 before the flop. He found one caller in Thomas Koral with his Q,8. The flop fell J,8,K followed by a 10 on the turn which gave Woolf the lead, but the 9 on the river filled Koral’s straight draw and sent Woolf to the rail in 9th.
Steve Billirakis trapped Jason DeWitt on a Q,Q vs A,Q near coin-flip next. The board missed both of them, and thus Billirakis prevailed sending DeWitt home in 8th.
Ravi Raghavan pushed his stack all-in a couple of hands later on a pair of Jacks, only to be called by Thomas Koral with an A,K who then proceeded to catch an A on the flop and to eliminate Raghavan in 7th.
Sameer Al-Dbhany was the next victim, as he fell at the hands of Kyle Schertz. Schertz wasted no time after his successful move, and a few hands later he sent Dietz to the rail too.
The dinner break found the field 4-handed, as the next elimination – that of Schertz - only came by after the break. Gary Leibovitz ran his pair of 6s into Billirakis’ Kh,Jh next on a board which gave the latter a flush.
The heads-up stage between Koral and Billirakis was a relatively short affair. It only took a few hands before Koral decided to put his tournament life on the line on a pair of 9s. Billirakis called him on a Ad,8s and hit a nut flush on a board of Jd, Kd, 4d, Qd, 9s.
