|
Recap: $25,500 WPT World Championship
Recap: $100,000 WPT Super High Roller
| Earnings | $996,962 |
| Cashes | 3 |
| Final Tables | 1 |
| Titles | 1 |
| Tournaments Played | 24 |
Est. Current Chipcount
Est. Average Chipcount
30,540,000
Current Chipleader
-
Day 2
524,600
Day 3
1,561,000
Day 4
10,350,000
Day 5
1st
Level 32: 60,000-120,000, 10,000 ante
Level 32: 60,000-120,000, 10,000 ante
WPT Borgata Poker Open, Day 4 Recap
By BJ Nemeth
With a quicker-than-expected Day 3, there were concerns that Day 4 would run long as a result. But once again, the bustouts came quickly at times, and play ended around 11:00 pm ET for the fourth straight day -- that might be the first time in my career as a tournament reporter that every non-final table day ended at almost the exact same time. Score one for scheduling on the part of the Borgata staff, even with a record WPT field of 1,018 players.
The biggest personality in the room belonged to Maurice Hawkins, who rose to prominence in this tournament late in Day 3 as he took the chip lead and busted quite a few players in the process. He was lively at the table and very talkative, but it just wasn't meant to be today.
Hawkins had a pretty good first few hours, and was talking about how he was happy with an average stack, hoping to make his move at the final table. But in his last 45 minutes things weren't going his way, as he lost a few pots and then moved all in with A-Q, and ran into Olivier Busquet's A-A. Hawkins was stunned after his elimination in 13th place, though he did earn $28,218 for his $3,500 buyin.
As it turned out, the player who followed Hawkins' strategy of making a late push was Olivier Busquet, who waited until the final table before he dominated the leaderboard. With seven players remaining, he doubled through Michael Brown in a huge pot -- Busquet had trip jacks and moved all in, and Brown thought he was bluffing. That hand catapulted Busquet to the chip lead, and he never relinquished it, finishing with more than 10 million.
Michael Brown never fully recovered from that bad read, and two hours later he was eliminated in seventh place on the TV bubble.
Here's a look at the chip counts for the final six:
1. Yanick Brodeur - 5,780,000
2. Keith Crowder - 2,750,000
3. Jeremy Brown - 5,480,000
4. Olivier Busquet - 10,350,000
5. Kenny Nguyen - 600,000
6. Ivan Mamuzic - 5,655,000
And the prizepool they're playing for:
1st: $925,514
2nd: $453,519
3rd: $251,955
4th: $216,681
5th: $188,126
6th: $156,212
The televised WPT Final Table begins tomorrow (Thursday) at 4:00 pm PT, and if you're in the Atlantic City area it's free to come down to the Borgata and watch it live. If you can't make it here in person, be sure to return to WorldPokerTour.com for complete live coverage of every check, bet, call, raise, and fold.
Level 31: 50,000-100,000, 10,000 ante
Hand #99 - Michael Brown moves all in from the cutoff for 835,000, and Olivier Busquet calls from the big blind with A
6. Brown shows A
J
, and he's a favorite to double up here.
The board comes A954Q, and Brown wins the pot with his jack kicker.
Michael Brown - 1,800,000
Olivier Busquet - 10,300,000
Level 30: 40,000-80,000, 5,000 ante
Hand #78 - Jeremy Brown raises from the small blind to an unknown amount, winning the blinds and antes.
Hand #79 - Keith Crowder raises from the cutoff to an unknown amount, winning the blinds and antes.
Hand #80 - Michael Brown raises from middle position to 320,000, and Olivier Busquet calls from the button. The flop comes J42, Brown bets 500,000, and Busquet calls. The turn card pairs the board with the J, Brown bets 1 million, and Busquet calls.
The river card is the 3
, Brown checks, Busquet moves all in for about 2.76 million, and Brown immediately calls with 66 for two pair, jacks and sixes. But Olivier Busquet shows AJ to win the pot with trip jacks.
We don't have chip counts from after that hand, but here's how they both looked a few hands later:
Olivier Busquet - 9.2 million
Michael Brown - 800,000
Level 30: 40,000-80,000, 5,000 ante
Hand #72 - Jeremy Brown raises from the cutoff to 240,000, winning the blinds and antes.
Hand #73 - Keith Crowder raises from middle position to 205,000, Eric Blair reraises to 450,000, Olivier Busquet moves all in, and Crowder folds. Blair calls all in for 1.9 million with AA, and he is a big favorite over Busquet's AK.
The flop comes A104, and Blair solidifies his lead with a set of aces. But Ivan Mamuzic, who is not in the hand, jokingly says, "Here comes running queen-jack."
The table gets a little excited as the Q peels off on the turn. When the J hits the river everyone at the table explodes with excitement for Ivan's prediction -- everyone, that is, except for Eric Blair, who was just eliminated.
Olivier Busquet wins the pot with his ace-high straight, while Eric Blair is eliminated in eighth place, earning $87,345.
Olivier Busquet - 4,450,000
Eric Blair - Out in 8th Place ($87,345)
Level 30: 40,000-80,000, 5,000 ante
Hand #69 - Ray Henson raises under the gun to 300,000, leaving himself with just 80,000 behind. Olivier Busquet moves all in from middle position, and Henson calls with AK. Busquet shows QQ, and it's a race situation.
The board comes 10754J, and Olivier Busquet wins the pot with his pocket queens. Ray Henson is eliminated in ninth place, earning $63,828.
Olivier Busquet - 2,250,000
Ray Henson - Out in 9th Place ($63,828)
Level 29: 30,000-60,000, 5,000 ante
Hand #48 - Olivier Busquet raises from middle position to 140,000, and Michael Brown calls from the small blind. The flop comes QJ10, Brown bets 500,000, and Busquet asks him about the size of the stack. The exact wording of the question is important (more on that later), but Brown says he has about 2.5 million.
Busquet moves all in, and Michael Brown tanks for a while before he calls with Q10 (two pair, queens and tens). Busquet shows KJ for a pair of jacks with an open-ended straight draw, and he'll need to improve to bust Brown here.
The turn is the 2, the river is the 4, and Michael Brown wins the pot with two pair to double up.
As the stacks are counted down, it's revealed that Michael Brown had 2,520,000 behind his 500,000 bet, for a total of 3,020,000. Busquet argues that he asked about Brown's total stack size, and claims he was misled. A floorperson is called over, and regardless of the wording, he rules that it was an innocent mistake.
Michael Brown - 6.5 million
Olivier Busquet - 1.9 million
Level 27: 20,000-40,000, 4,000 ante
Ray Henson raises from early position to 100,000, Olivier Busquet reraises from the small blind to 300,000, and Maurice Hawkins moves all in from the big blind for about 2,000,000.
Henson folds, and Busquet immediately calls with AA. Hawkins shows AQ, and he'll need to improve to stay alive. The board comes 865103, and Olivier Busquet wins the pot with his pocket aces.
Jeremy Brown (not in the hand) tells Hawkins that he's covered in chips and it's time to leave. But the stacks are very close, and they are counted down by both a dealer and a floorperson -- Busquet covers Hawkins by just 14,000 in chips.
Maurice Hawkins is eliminated in 13th place, earning $28,218. Hawkins is stunned by the events of the last ten minutes, looking in a daze as he waits to be taken to the cage to receive his payout.
Olivier Busquet - 4,250,000
Maurice Hawkins - Out in 13th Place ($28,218)
Level 27: 20,000-40,000, 4,000 ante
Olivier Busquet raises from middle position to 100,000, and Maurice Hawkins calls from late position. Both players check to the turn on a board of 7647, Busquet checks, Hawkins bets 113,000, and Busquet calls.
The river card is the 10, Busquet bets 220,000, and Hawkins calls with AJ for ace high. Busquet shows A10, pairing his ten on the river to win the pot.
Maurice Hawkins slaps his hands when he sees that he was rivered, and gets up to take a deep breath and settle himself down.
Olivier Busquet - 1.6 million
Maurice Hawkins - 1.9 million
