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Recap: $25,500 WPT World Championship
Recap: $100,000 WPT Super High Roller
| Earnings | $1,668,595 |
| Cashes | 5 |
| Final Tables | 2 |
| Titles | 0 |
| Tournaments Played | 26 |
Est. Current Chipcount
Est. Average Chipcount
2,910,000
Current Chipleader
-
Day 1
92,275
Day 2
29,800
Day 3
182,500
Day 4
175,000
Day 5
4th
Level 24: 12,000-24,000, 4,000 ante
Many part-time poker players believe they are good enough to take the leap and go pro. Some realize it is just a pipe dream, some don’t realize their kidding themselves, and some just need some sort of validation that they can run with the best the game has to offer.
If Cincinnati grinder Mike Scarborough is looking for validation that he could go pro if he wanted to, try this on for size: He just beat Erik Seidel heads-up for a WPT title. Even Seidel had to admit that Scarborough was a top notch player, telling Scarborough he was surprised he still had a day job considering the high quality poker he played over the course of the Hollywood Poker Open Main Event.
Q
9
. Scarborough called him with A
Q and ousted the qualifier.K to Reynolds’ 1010. The AJ10 flop gave Reynolds a set of tens, but Marchese took the advantage in the hand by making a straight with the Q on the turn. The Q on the river gave Reynolds a boat though and, after just 28 hands of play, the field was down to three.J5K3 board and moved all-in. After more than five minutes in the tank, Reynolds called and immediately mucked as soon as Scarborough revealed his Q9.10 and Scarborough called him with AJ. Reynolds had a bit of a sweat, as he picked up a flush draw, but he bricked the river and Scarborough was left facing the legendary Erik Seidel heads-up.10, which was behind but live against Seidel’s A9. The 1097 flop paired up both players, but the 8 on the turn gave Scarborough a straight and had Seidel drawing dead to a chop. The river 10 couldn’t save Seidel and Scarborough scored the pot, the match, and the WPT title.Level 18: 3,000-6,000, 1,000 ante
William Reynolds raises from the button to 14,000, Erik Seidel calls from the small blind, and Tom Marchese reraises from the big blind to 48,000. Reynolds thinks for about 30 seconds before reraising to 100,000, and Seidel quickly folds.
Marchese thinks for about 20 seconds before he moves all in, and Reynolds quickly calls with 1010. Marchese shows AK, and it's a race situation.
The flop comes AJ10 and Marchese pairs his ace and picks up a gutshot straight draw as Reynolds flops a set.
The turn card is -- the Q, and Marchese turns an ace-high straight to take the lead. Marchese will double up as long as the board doesn't pair.
The river card is -- the Q! The lead goes back-and-forth-and-back-again, but it is William Reynolds who has the best hand on the river with a full house (tens full of queens). Tom Marchese is eliminated in fourth place.
Seat 2. Erik Seidel - 785,000
Seat 4. Tom Marchese - Out in 4th Place ($77,551)
Seat 5. Mike Scarborough - 584,000
Seat 6. William Reynolds - 1,568,000
Level 17: 2,500-5,000, 500 ante
Erik Seidel completes the small blind to 5,000, Tom Marchese raises from the big blind to 15,000, and Seidel reraises to 34,000. Marchese calls.
The flop comes AJ5, Seidel bets 55,000, and Marchese calls. The turn card is the K, Seidel bets 110,000, and Marchese thinks for more than a minute before he folds. Erik Seidel takes the pot.
Seat 2. Erik Seidel - 769,500
Seat 4. Tom Marchese - 269,000
Seat 5. Mike Scarborough - 715,500
Seat 6. William Reynolds - 1,182,500
Level 17: 2,500-5,000, 500 ante
Tom Marchese raises from the button to 12,500, and William Reynolds calls from the big blind. The flop comes K75, Reynolds checks, Marchese bets 13,500, and Reynolds calls. The turn card is the 6, Reynolds checks, Marchese bets 34,500, and Reynolds calls.
The river card is the 2, Reynolds checks, Marchese bets 88,500, and Reynolds thinks for more than a minute before he folds. Marchese shows one card -- the A -- as he collects the pot.
Seat 2. Erik Seidel - 640,500
Seat 4. Tom Marchese - 359,000
Seat 5. Mike Scarborough - 751,000
Seat 6. William Reynolds - 1,186,000
Level 17: 2,500-5,000, 500 ante
There is a dead button in seat 1. William Reynolds raises under the gun to 11,000, Tom Marchese reraises from the big blind to 28,500, and Reynolds calls. The flop comes Q107, Marchese bets 32,500, Reynolds moves all in, and Marchese instacalls with 107 for bottom two pair.
Reynolds turns over KJ for an open-ended straight draw, and he'll need to improve to bust Marchese here.
The turn card is the 5, giving Reynolds additional outs to a flush draw. But the river is the 10, and Tom Marchese wins the pot with a full house, tens full of sevens, to double up in chips.
Seat 2. Erik Seidel - 641,500
Seat 4. Tom Marchese - 352,500
Seat 5. Mike Scarborough - 695,000
Seat 6. William Reynolds - 1,247,000
Level 17: 2,500-5,000, 500 ante
By BJ Nemeth
Day 4 of the WPT Hollywood Poker Open was relatively quick, as you'd expect when the field only needs to play down from nine players to six. But while the day went quickly, it definitely didn't go as expected -- there were several major reversals of fortune and the biggest pot of the tournament to end the day and propel one player to a massive chip lead.
Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel begins stacking his chips before play begins on Day 4. The WPT hat in the foreground belongs to ClubWPT.com qualifier Andy Whetstone, who had all nine players sign it as a personalized souvenir. When William Reynolds signed it, he said it was a really cool idea and sort of wished he had done something like that.
Steve Barshak unbags his chips at the start of Day 4. Barshak finished Day 3 strong, eliminating Steven Kelly in the final hand to take the lead, but Day 4 would not go as well for him.
Terry Jacobs (center) shakes hands with Erik Seidel after busting out in ninth place in Hand #19. Jacobs lost a preflop race when his AK failed to improve against the QQ of Mike Scarborough (foreground, right).
In Hand #18, Allen Kessler (right) reraised Erik Seidel preflop from the small blind, and then bet out on the flop of A74. Seidel called, and when the 8 hit the turn, Kessler check-folded to Seidel's bet, showing 99 before tossing his cards into the muck. Kessler, who entered the day fifth in chips, was starting to get pretty short.
In Hand #23, short stack Andy Whetstone (right) contemplated whether or not to call the bet from Day 3 chipleader Steve Barshak (left) on a board of J934. Whetstone chose to fold, saving the few chips he had left, and Barshak took the pot. Whetstone spent most of the day below 20 big blinds, but never found himself in an all-in situation. (Though he did shove preflop two times without any callers.)
In Hand #30, Allen Kessler faced an all-in bet from Mike Scarborough (foreground, right) on a board of KQ9J7. Kessler called all in with AK for a pair of kings, but Scarborough turned over Q10 to win the pot with a king-high straight. This was the second time this season that Kessler made the final nine of a WPT event, but couldn't reach the televised final table. Kessler told the WPT cameras, "I run so bad at these final tables."
Royal Flush Girl Melanie Iglesias interviews Erik Seidel during a break, doing a ClubWPT.com segment called "Five for Five Dollars," where a poker pro must answer five random questions to earn a five-dollar bill. Seidel probably wasn't doing it for the money, since he has already earned more than $4.3 million in tournaments so far in 2011 -- and that doesn't even include what he will earn in this event.
In Hand #41, William Reynolds (left) played a pot against Erik Seidel (foreground, right). Seidel called the bet from Reynolds on the turn, and then took the pot with a bet on the river with the board showing 1082Q7.
In Hand #42, Mike Scarborough (right) bet the turn on a board of AKQ10, but folded to a raise from Ali Eslami (left). Tom Marchese (center, left) sat this hand out from the small blind.
Hand #43 would be the last of the day, and the biggest pot of the tournament, as William Reynolds (standing, left) got in a preflop raising war against Mike Barshak (center). Barshak raised under the gun, Reynolds reraised from the big blind, Barshak reraised, Reynolds re-reraised, and Barshak six-bet all in.
Reynolds called with QQ, and Barshak turned over AK for a race situation. The board came JJ510Q, giving Barshak an ace-high straight on the river. Unfortunately for him, the same card gave Reynolds a full house (queens full of jacks), and start-of-day chipleader Barshak was eliminated in seventh place on the TV bubble.
After the final hand, William Reynolds told the table, "The ladies are treating me well," referring to the pocket queens he just used to win the biggest pot of the tournament. Then he remembered that the Royal Flush Girls had been sweating the action nearby, and added, "The Royal Flush Girls are representing the ladies well too." (The Royal Flush Girls, from left to right: Katrina Topacio, Melanie Iglesias, Michelle Banzer, and Jennifer Haley.)
ClubWPT.com qualifier Andy Whetstone, who started the day as the shortest stack with just 20 big blinds but outlasted three players with larger stacks, was the first to congratulate Reynolds, saying, "Thank you, Bill. My fifteen minutes of fame turned into four days."
Seventh-place finisher and TV "Bubble Boy" Steve Barshak stands for an exit interview in the background, describing what must be a gut-wrenching experience -- starting as the chipleader with nine players left and finishing seventh. Meanwhile, William Reynolds (center) had more stacks of chips than he had ever had before, and gave into the temptation of spilling them into one giant pile. Also pictured, Mike Scarborough (left) and Royal Flush Girls Katrina Topacio and Melanie Iglesias.
Official chip counts for the WPT final table:
Seat 1. Andy Whetstone - 80,500 (16 BBs)
Seat 2. Erik Seidel - 645,000 (129 BBs)
Seat 3. Ali Eslami - 213,000 (42 BBs)
Seat 4. Tom Marchese - 175,000 (35 BBs)
Seat 5. Mike Scarborough - 654,500 (130 BBs)
Seat 6. William Reynolds - 1,169,000 (233 BBs)
The televised WPT final table begins Wednesday at 4:00 pm ET. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for complete live coverage of every check, bet, call, raise, and fold, along with updated chip counts for every hand. And check out the Jess & BJ Final Table Preview Show, which should be posted here in the updates by 12:00 noon.
Level 16: 2,000-4,000, 500 ante
By BJ Nemeth
Day 3 began with 27 players, and a full day of play shrank the field down to nine. The big story is Erik Seidel, who is having an incredible year so far in 2011, and near the chip lead as he seeks out his second WPT title. But the final nine includes several great players and several great stories, which you can see for yourself in our photographic look back at Day 3 of the WPT Hollywood Poker Open:
Erik Seidel finished the day third in chips, and with his guaranteed cash here he has become the only player in WPT history to cash at least once in all nine seasons. Seidel's 2011 hot streak continues ...
Richard Pflum chats with the Royal Flush Girls after winning a pot early on Day 3. Unfortunately, Pflum would be eliminated a short while later in 23rd place. The Royal Flush Girls, from left to right: Jennifer Haley, Melanie Iglesias, Katrina Topacio, and Michelle Banzer.
The WPT crew interviews Tamara Whetstone as her husband Andy plays behind her.
With the board showing J8459, Erik Seidel moved all in against James Hensley (foreground, right). Hensley tanked for a while before he called with AJ for a pair of jacks. But Seidel turned over 107 to win the pot with a jack-high straight and eliminate Hensley in 24th place.
This dark and blurry photo seems like it is better suited to a different website, but the guy in the foreground is Steve Barshak, who would finish the day as chipleader with 601,000. The two "girls on the rail" are Royal Flush Girls Melanie Iglesias (left) and Jennifer Haley.
Local player Mike Scarborough (from Cincinnati) may not have results like Erik Seidel, but he is on a recent hot streak of his own. In the week leading up to this WPT event, Scarborough won two prelim events and finished second in another. He was one of the six players who joined the field at the start of Day 2, poised to pick up his first cash in a WPT event.
Shawn Cunix (left) congratulates Ali Eslami on winning the pot that eliminated him in 16th place. Cunix got it all in with AJ on a board of J8710 (pair of jacks), but he was drawing dead against Eslami's K9 (jack-high straight).
When the final 18 players redrew for seats at the final two tables, Amanda Musumeci, Chris Bell, and William Reynolds (from left to right) found themselves sitting next to each other.
Two spots away from the money, Chris Bell reraised Erik Seidel (foreground, left) preflop. But Seidel called and then bet into Bell after a flop of 875. Bell tanked for several long minutes before folding, leaving himself with less than 20 big blinds. Bell would survive into the money, but was eliminated in 12th place.
Allen Kessler told his table about the time he folded pocket aces preflop in a WSOP bracelet event -- on purpose. (We won't bore you with the details here, but if you're interested, you can read the original post for yourself by clicking here.) While Chris Bell openly doubted the truth of Kessler's story, Ali Eslami (left) and Erik Seidel (center) seemed to find it amusing.
In other Allen Kessler news, his guaranteed cash here gives him more cashes (4) in Season IX of the WPT than anyone else. It becomes more notable when you combine that with the fact that he also had the most cashes at the WSOP/WSOP-E last year.
But perhaps the biggest story of the day was the fact that Allen Kessler … bluffed. You can read the details of that hand by clicking here, and thankfully, the WPT camera crew was on hand to record the moment when Kessler showed off his successful bluff. That in itself is reason enough to watch this episode of the World Poker Tour when it airs.
ClubWPT.com qualifier Andy Whetstone gets a massage from his wife Tamara during one of the breaks on Day 3. Whetstone started the day as the chipleader, but finished at the bottom of the chip counts. Still, he's alive with nine players left, and everyone who has already busted would happily swap places with him.
Amanda Musumeci was one of the short stacks in the few hours leading up to the money bubble, treading water but unable to catch any momentum.
After a raise and two reraises, William Reynolds (left) and Ali Eslami saw a flop of J92. Reynolds bet, Eslami raised, and Reynolds moved all in. Eslami tanked for several minutes before he called with 53 for a five-high flush draw. Reynolds turned over KK, and his overpair held up to give him the pot -- and the chip lead with 14 players left.
With 13 players left and only 12 getting paid, Ben Tollerene (right) winces after being crippled down to less than a single big blind by Mike Scarborough. Scarborough check-raised all in on a board of 10337, and Tollerene tanked for a while before he called with A10 for two pair, tens and threes. But Scarborough turned over 77 for a dominating set of sevens, and it held up with the Q on the river. Tollerene quadrupled up on the next hand, but it was only a dead man's bounce as he was eliminated as the unfortunate Bubble Boy a few minutes later.
Tom Marchese (center, right) started the day second-to-last in chips, but he was smiling late in the day after doubling through Andy Whetstone (foreground, left). They got it all in on a board of J643, and Marchese's KJ outkicked and dominated Whetstone's QJ. Whetstone was knocked down to just 10 big blinds, but he managed to hang on and battle back a bit to finish the day with 20 big blinds.
In the final hand of the day, Allen Kessler (left) and Amanda Musumeci got it all in preflop from the blinds. Musumeci's AQ dominated Kessler's QJ, but the board would come 10993K to give Kessler the suckout with a king-high straight. Musumeci was eliminated in 11th place, earning a cash in her first WPT event.
Play was supposed to end with 10 players, but a hand was already in progress at the other table when Amanda Musumeci busted in 11th place. Steven Kelly (right) was all in preflop with AQ, but dominated by the AK of Steve Barshak (left). The best hand held up, and Barshak took Kelly's chips while Kelly collected $22,167 for his 10th place finish.
Kelly is fresh off a runner-up finish at the last stop on the World Poker Tour, the Bay 101 Shooting Star, and came close to adding his name to the short list of players who have made back-to-back televised WPT final tables.
Here are the official chip counts and seating positions for the final nine players, along with the others who finished in the money:
Seat 1. Andy Whetstone - 83,500 (20 BBs)
Seat 2. Terry Jacobs - 106,000 (26 BBs)
Seat 3. Erik Seidel - 526,000 (131 BBs)
Seat 4. Allen Kessler - 226,000 (56 BBs)
Seat 5. Ali Eslami - 204,000 (51 BBs)
Seat 6. Tom Marchese - 182,500 (45 BBs)
Seat 7. Mike Scarborough - 467,000 (116 BBs)
Seat 8. William Reynolds - 541,000 (135 BBs)
Seat 9. Steve Barshak - 601,000 (150 BBs)
10th Place - Steven Kelly ($22,167)
11th Place - Amanda Musumeci ($22,167)
12th Place - Chris Bell ($22,167)
Day 4 begins tomorrow (Tuesday) at 1:00 pm ET. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for complete hand-for-hand coverage as the final nine players battle for the six seats at the televised WPT Final Table, along with another episode of the Jess & BJ Show.
Level 15: 1,500-3,000, 500 ante
Photo: Tom Marchese (center) smiles after doubling through Andy Whetstone (foreground, left).
On a board of J643, ClubWPT.com qualifier Andy Whetstone bets 20,000 from the big blind, Tom Marchese moves all in for a total of 63,200 from the cutoff and Whetstone calls.
Marchese shows KJ for top pair with a king kicker while Whetstone shows QJ for top pair with a queen kicker.
The river is the A and Marchese doubles up.
Tom Marchese - 188,000 (62 BBs)
Andy Whetstone - 32,000 (10 BBs)
Level 14: 1,200-2,400, 400 ante
Short stack Larry Ormson is all in preflop from the button with AK against the 97 of Tom Marchese in the cutoff.
The board comes 7423A, and Ormson pairs his ace on the river to win the pot and double up in chips -- though he is still the shortest stack in the field.
Larry Ormson - 59,000 (24 BBs)
Tom Marchese - 183,000 (76 BBs)
Level 14: 1,200-2,400, 400 ante
Steve Barshak raises to 5,600 from middle position and Steven Kelly reraises to 14,500 from the hijack. Tom Marchese is on the button and thinks a minute before making it 32,500 to play.
Action folds around to Mike Scarborough in the big blind and he thinks for a while. At one point, he slides the stack of gray 5,000 chips out of his stack and it appears he is on the verg of cold five-betting. After another minute of thought, Scarborough folds and Barshak pitches his hand as well.
Kelly doesn't take too long to think and puts in a five-bet of his own, making it 55,000 to go. Marchese folds fairly quickly and Kelly takes the pot.
Steven Kelly - 295,000
Tom Marchese - 185,000
