Home / Poker News October 2009 / WSOPE Main Event – Shulman wins
WSOPE Main Event – Shulman wins
Posted by: James Carter. - Wed, 2009-10-07 08:20
Nine survivors returned for the final day of WSOPE action to the tables of the Empire Casino in London. The final table survivors knew that one of them would walk away with the title on Day 5, so quite naturally, none of them was in a hurry to put his stack into harm’s way. The early Day 5 action was slow. Large pots were avoided as players tried to get a feel for the action before they committed a significant part of their stacks on anything.
During this cautious early phase,
Team PokerStars pro Jason Mercier managed to increase his already impressive stack from 3.1 million chips to 3.7 million. James Akenhead and Antoine Saout, the two November Nine members had managed to join Mercier at the final table the day before, but as the noose tightened, it became obvious one of them had to go. James Akenhead became the first victim of the final table, when he staked his tournament life on an A,Qo he’d picked up and was called by Daniel Negreanu’s pocket Ks. The board only brought blanks and Akenhead was done.
The third day’s chip leader, Matt Hawrilenko was the next victim. After Akernhead’s elimination, the ice broke and the flow washed Hawrilenko’s stack clean off the table. Down to his last few chips, Hawrilenko made the move on J,7o. Barry Shulman was there though to pick up the crumbs and called him with an A,Qo. The board bricked out and Hawrilenko picked up £87,074 for his efforts.
Antoine Saout went all-in next, putting his tourney life onto the line on a pair of 5s he’d picked up. Daniel Negreanu called him with his As,Qs and proceeded to land a spade nut flush on the river to send Saout to the rail for good. The final representative of the November Nine in the event picked up a six-figure prize for his 7th place finish.
Negreanu was not done yet though. Chris Bjorin got into his way holding A,Jo and Negreanu made the call with A,Qo. The board failed to give Bjorin anything and he was done in 6th place, for a £150,267 payday.
Once rolling, Negreanu is obviously near impossible to stop. Markus Ristola found that out the hard way next, when he ran his Kd,10d into Negreanu’s Ac, 5c. The turn did give Ristola a K, thrusting him into the lead, but the A on the river gave Negreanu the higher pair and the win.
The Daniel Negreanu show continued after the dinner break, as Jason Mercier became the Canadian’s next victim. Praz Bansi was next on Negranu’s list and it appeared nothing would stop the Canadian from steam-rolling Barry Shulman heads-up.
Swimming against the tide and fighting a nearly 2-1 chip handicap, Shulman was quick to double up by hitting a flush against Negreanu’s pocket rockets.
Negreanu slowly wrestled his way back from the edge time and time again though, and landing small pot after small pot he managed to stave off elimination. Just as Negreanu managed to even things up again, a decisive hand developed. The money went all-in on a flop of 5d,8d,Jc, with Negreanu holding Q,J against Shulman’s pocket rockets. A J fell on the turn to give Negreanu a set and a commanding lead, but the A on the river sent him to the floor for good. A few hands later his pocket 4s fell to Shulman’s pocket 10s in the last hand of the event.
