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Live: $100,000 WPT Super High Roller Final Table
Live: $25,500 WPT World Championship
| Earnings | $405,859 |
| Cashes | 11 |
| Final Tables | 1 |
| Titles | 0 |
| Tournaments Played | 77 |
Ranking
6th
Payout
$126,693
Points
800
Day 1
91,000
Day 2
210,000
Day 3
310,000
Day 4
400,000
Day 5
635,000
Day 6
6th
Level 25: 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ante
After Ted Lawson's elimination, play is paused briefly to shift the seats for the cameras. During the lull, the players at the table are chatting. Vanessa Rousso marvels at how long Lawson lasted considering he wasn't picking up any hands at all and has been short-stacked since Day 4.
"He did amazingly well," she tells the table.
Level 25: 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ante
Vanessa Rousso raises under the gun to 125,000, and Ted Lawson moves all in from middle position for 615,000. Rousso quickly calls with Q
Q
. Lawson turns over 99
, and he'll need to improve to stay alive.
The board comes J9
2QK, and Lawson flops a set to take the lead, only to see Rousso turn a higher set to win the pot. Ted Lawson is eliminated in sixth place, earning $126,693.
Seat 1. Antonio Esfandiari - 2,045,000
Seat 2. Vanessa Rousso - 6,540,000
Seat 3. Ted Lawson - Out in 6th Place ($126,693)
Seat 4. John Racener - 3,415,000
Seat 5. Kirk Morrison - 2,615,000
Seat 6. Andrew Robl - 3,040,000
Level 25: 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ante
By BJ Nemeth
The final 15 players battled for the right to sit at Wednesday's televised WPT final table, and with a tough field, it wasn't an easy task. Sorel Mizzi was hoping to improve on his seventh-place finish from our last stop on the tour (Foxwoods), but fell short in ninth place, just missing two televised WPT final tables in a row. Kia Mohajeri, who had a shot at catching WPT Player of the Year points leader Andy Frankenberger with a third-place-or-higher finish, was the unfortunate "Bubble Boy," finishing seventh.
But enough about those who fell short. It's time to take a look at the players who went the distance, and it's one of the most interesting final tables the WPT has had in recent years. Here are the official seating and chip counts:
Seat 1. Antonio Esfandiari - 2,105,000 (35 bb)
Seat 2. Vanessa Rousso - 5,830,000 (97 bb)
Seat 3. Ted Lawson - 635,000 (10 bb)
Seat 4. John Racener - 3,235,000 (53 bb)
Seat 5. Kirk Morrison - 2,650,000 (44 bb)
Seat 6. Andrew Robl - 3,210,000 (53 bb)
And now, a photographic look back at how those six final tablists made it down the home stretch:
Royal Flush Girl Melanie Iglesias (standing, right) checks out the players at the final two tables early on Day 5, including Kia Mohajeri (left) and Antonio Esfandiari (center).
With the board showing 88487 and nearly 900,000 already in the pot, Antonio Esfandiari moves all in against Vanessa Rousso. Rousso removes her sunglasses to talk to Esfandiari, saying, "You don't look scared at all Antonio. I have the weirdest feeling you have aces. I don't think you have an eight."
Charles Caris (left) and Chris DeMaci (center) wait for Vanessa Rousso (right) to decide whether to call or fold to Antonio Esfandiari's all-in bet on the river. Rousso says, "What do you think I have? Anything?" Rousso says, "You think I can make a tough call," and repeats that phrase to herself a few times. Rousso spent a long time in the tank, but none of the other players dared to call the clock on her, because it was obviously a crucial point in the tournament for both Rousso and Esfandiari.
Antonio Esfandiari waits for Vanessa Rousso to make a decision. Rousso eventually apologizes to the rest of the table and calls the clock on herself. About 30 seconds later, Rousso calls and turns over 1010 for a full house, eights full of tens. Esfandiari silently mucks his cards, and Rousso wins the pot.
Vanessa Rousso pulls in the pot after making one of the toughest and more important calls of her career, saying, "Oh my god, that was the hardest thing ever." Rousso is visibly giddy and jittery as she stacks her chips, saying, "I need a break, I need a break. That's all I can say. I need a break." The double up catapults Rousso into the chip lead, and knocks Antonio Esfandiari out of that position for the first time in three days.
Kirk Morrison (left) doubles thru Amit Makhija in a cooler -- Makhija has QQ to Morrison's KK, and they reraise each other back-and-forth from the blinds until Morrison six-bets all in. The board comes nine-high and misses them both completely, sending Morrison near the top of the leaderboard and knocking Makhija down. Makhija was eliminated in 13th place a short while later after running flopped top pair and a gutshot straight draw into Vanessa Rousso's set of deuces.
Ray Dehkharghani plays a hand against John Racener with 12 players remaining.
After Luis Velador's elimination in 11th place, the final 10 players redraw for seats at a single table. Vanessa Rousso (left) still holds the chip lead, while Kirk Morrison (right) has increased his stack to third in chips.
The final 10 players, in seat order: (1) Antonio Esfandiari, (2) Vanessa Rousso, (3) Ted Lawson, (4) Kia Mohajeri, (5) Andrew Lichtenberger, (6) John Racener, (7) Ray Dehkharghani, (8) Kirk Morrison, (9) Sorel Mizzi (not pictured), and (10) Andrew Robl.
Ted Lawson (left) turns to update his wife Michelle (right) on the status of his chip count with 10 players remaining. At that point, Lawson was ranked seventh in chips, and he knew he'd need to move up if he was going to reach the six-handed WPT TV final table.
John Racener (right) studies Andrew Lichtenberger (left) as they battle over a pot that extends into the break.
Antonio Esfandiari describes his up-and-down day to the WPT cameras during a break. Esfandiari had been at or near the chip lead since the start of the tournament, but took a beating at the start of Day 5. But Esfandiari stayed strong and managed to battle back into contention. Esfandiari also mentions that this TV final table falls on his birthday -- what could be a better present than that?
Andrew Lichtenberger gets a massage as he waits for the other nine players to return from break.
The rest of the players watch as Sorel Mizzi (foreground, left) considers whether to call or fold to the all-in bet of Ray Dehkharghani after a flop of AJ9. After more than six minutes, Mizzi calls the clock on himself (as Vanessa Rousso did earlier), and eventually calls with KJ for a pair of jacks. Dehkharghani turns over A10 for a pair of aces, and he's poised to double up. But the J falls on the river to give Mizzi trip jacks, sending Dehkharghani home in 10th place. Though Mizzi won this pot, he would be the next player to be eliminated, finishing ninth.
Andrew Robl (right) studies John Racener (left) as they battle over a pot with eight players remaining.
With the board showing K72KJ and more than 2 million already in the pot, Vanessa Rousso (foreground, right) bets 1 million in chips -- those two red stacks in front of her represent 500,000 each. John Racener (far left) says, "I know you have two jacks. It's just so brutal. I was supposed to bet the million and you were going to call." Racener folds, trusting his read as he forfeits the pot to Rousso, who mucks her cards without offering any information.
Vanessa Rousso pulls in the big pot that she just won against John Racener. Rousso had a lot of practice stacking chips after all the pots she's been raking. Antonio Esfandiari, sitting next to her, asks, "So Vanessa, how are you running today?"
With eight players remaining, Andrew Robl (left) bets the river against Vanessa Rousso (right) on a board of J8793. Rousso thinks for more than a minute before she calls, and Robl shows 1010 to win the pot with a jack-high straight.
Andrew Lichtenberger talks to the WPT cameras after his elimination in eighth place. After a flop of A106, Lichtenberger was all in with AQ (pair of aces) to Vanessa Rousso's A6 (two pair).
Kirk Morrison is never boring. While two other players battle over a pot, a WPT producer gives Morrison a chance to record the action for the show.
Antonio Esfandiari (left) and Vanessa Rousso (right) are both eager to make the televised WPT final table. Esfandiari won a WPT title all the way back in Season II, but hasn't earned his way to one in nearly seven years. Meanwhile, Rousso made her first splash in the poker world with a high-profile seventh-place finish in the 2006 WPT World Championship, and she is still looking for her first televised WPT final table.
With the final board showing 109724 and about 1.2 million already in the pot, Andrew Robl (right) moves all in, and Kirk Morrison (left) tanks for a bit before he calls. Robl shows QQ, and Morrison points at the queens to indicate it's the best hand. Morrison rechecks his cards, and jokingly exclaims, "Two pair" before tossing his cards into the muck. Morrison complimented Robl on the hand, saying Robl got maximum value with his bets.
Kia Mohajeri is the unfortunate "Bubble Boy," eliminated in seventh place when he runs AQ into John Racener's AK preflop. Mohajeri sincerely wishes the other six players good luck as he leaves the tournament.
Antonio Esfandiari and Vanessa Rousso fill out their WPT bio sheets while they wait for a TD to verify their chip stacks for the TV final table. Rousso will resume play with a big chip lead, hoping to become the first woman in history to win an open WPT title, while Esfandiari hopes to enter the elite club of players with multiple WPT titles.
The final table begins tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4:00 pm PT. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for complete live coverage of every check, bet, call, raise, and fold from the final table, including updated chip counts every hand. And we'll cap off the entire tournament with a final episode of the Jess and BJ Show that will be posted Thursday morning.
Level 25: 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ante
The six final tablists are locked in, and tomorrow's televised WPT Final Table is set to begin at 4:00 pm PT tomorrow (Wednesday).
Seat 1. Antonio Esfandiari - 2,105,000 (35 bb)
Seat 2. Vanessa Rousso - 5,830,000 (97 bb)
Seat 3. Ted Lawson - 635,000 (10 bb)
Seat 4. John Racener - 3,235,000 (53 bb)
Seat 5. Kirk Morrison - 2,650,000 (44 bb)
Seat 6. Andrew Robl - 3,210,000 (53 bb)
There are 12 minutes left in Level 25, with blinds at 25,000-50,000 (5,000 ante). Level 26 will have blinds at 30,000-60,000 (5,000 ante), and that's the number we've used to computed the number of big blinds listed next to each chip stack.
Action resumes tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4:00 pm PT. Return to WorldPokerTour.com in the morning for a WPT Photo Blog Recap and a fresh Final Table Preview episode of the untitled video recap show with Jessica Welman and BJ Nemeth.
Level 25: 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ante
Hand #71 - Ted Lawson shoves all-in from early position for 425,000 and John Racener calls from the cutoff. Everyone else folds and Racener's KQ is racing with Ted Lawson's 33. The board runs out A921010 and Lawson's treys hold to take the pot.
Ted Lawson - 950,000 (19 bbs)
John Racener - 1,210,000 (24 bbs)
After the hand, Antonio Esfandiari tells Lawson, "We were all rooting for you." Lawson laughs and says, "Yeah, I bet."
Esfandiari asks, "How does it feel to have one person in the room rooting for you?" (Esfandiari is obviously referring to Lawson's wife Michelle.)
Without hesitation, Lawson says, "It feels great, because that one person is the one I love the most."
Level 23: 15,000-30,000, 4,000 ante
Hand #17 - Ray Dehkharghani moves all in from late position to 312,000, winning the blinds and antes.
Hand #18 - Ray Dehkharghani moves all in from middle position for 409,000, winning the blinds and antes.
Hand #19 - Sorel Mizzi raises from late position to 66,000, and Ted Lawson thinks for a bit from the big blind, and he doesn't look like he's sure whether or not he'll play the pot. Lawson says, "I'll give you $100 if you show me aces."
Mizzi smiles and turns over A-A. Lawson leaps out of his chair in surprise as the entire table reacts. Lawson happily pays Mizzi the $100.
Level 23: 15,000-30,000, 4,000 ante
Hand #15 - Vanessa Rousso raises from middle position to 75,000, John Racener reraises from the cutoff to 245,000, and Rousso folds. Racener taeks the pot.
Hand #16 - Ted Lawson raises from middle position to 75,000, and Andrew Robl calls from the big blind. Both players check to the turn on a board of KQ99, Robl bets 125,000, and Lawson calls.
The river card is the 5, and Robl bets 350,000, which is more than half of Lawson's remaining stack. Lawson goes into the tank for a long time, and there are a few moments where he looks like he's going to push his chips forward to call, but he stops himself. He tells the table that he's slowly getting there, implying that he'll eventually call.
Eventually, Lawson calls, turning over AQ for two pair, queens and nines. Robl mucks, and Lawson takes the pot.
Ted Lawson - 1,250,000 (41 bb)
Andrew Robl - 2,080,000 (69 bb)
Level 19: 6,000-12,000, 2,000 ante
Ted Lawson is all in before the flop from the small blind against Luis Velador on the button.
Lawson shows KQ while Velador shows 106.
The board comes 997QA. Lawson doubles up to 400,000 this hand while Velador slips to 1,850,000.
Ted Lawson - 400,000 (25 bb)
Luis Velador - 1,850,000 (115 bb)
Level 19: 6,000-12,000, 2,000 ante
Ted Lawson is all in preflop from the big blind with 1010 against Eugene Katchalov's 76 in middle position. The board comes K1082J, and Lawson doubles up to 260,000.
Ted Lawson - 260,000 (21 bb)
Eugene Katchalov - 461,000 (38 bb)
Level 18: 5,000-10,000, 1,000 ante
Ted Lawson is all in preflop with JJ against Freddy Deeb's Q10. The board comes A93AK, and Lawson's pocket jacks held up to win the pot.
Ted Lawson - 310,000 (31 bb)
Freddy Deeb - 170,000 (17 bb)
