Tournament Details

The WPT hit the Sea of Cortez for the Cruisin' Mexico Party Poker Tournament, a floating festival of cards that created not one, but two new WPT millionaires. 735 players ponied up $10,000 to test their mettle aboard the beautiful cruise ship M.S. Oosterdam, pushing the prize pool to the largest in WPT history - $7,207,108. It's a fitting testament to another milestone reached with this tournament, as the WPT crossed the $100,000,000 mark in poker payouts in its third season. Last year Erick Lindgren edged out Daniel Negreanu for his first million. This year, the 21st and 22nd WPT millionaires came from these final six players...

In Seat 1, Adam Csallany, a 23 year old Computer Science major at University of Minnesota, the short stack, with $360,000. In Seat 2, Mathew Cherackal, a 22 year old Princeton Pre-Med student, with $1,440,000. In Seat 3, David "the Colonel" Minto, a retired USAF Lieutenant Colonel from Alamogordo, New Mexico, the chip leader, with $2,500,000. In Seat 4, Paul "the Truth" Darden, a former WPT Champion, in his 2nd WPT final, with $900,000. In Seat 5, Richard Kain, a 33 year old San Francisco marketing executive, with $1,530,000. In Seat 6, Michael "the Kid" Gracz, a 24 year old pro from Raleigh, N.C., born in Warsaw, Poland, with $630,000. Blinds started at $20,000 and $40,000, limits at $30,000 and $60,000.

While this is one of the few limit tournaments on the WPT, the action is generally twice as fast as its no-limit cousin, and this cruise was no exception. The theme early on was "poor Richard," and not as in the almanac. No, it was the self-nicknamed "Hurricane" Richard Kain who just kept taking it on the nose, being drawn out on and losing with good cards, and getting snapped off on every move. So it was no surprise that he quickly found himself on a precipitously short stack, and with As-Qs, he 3-bet it, making it $120,000 over the top of Adam Csallany's opening raise. Csallany, sitting on 7h-7c, made the call. When the flop improved neither, coming Jc-4s-2c, Kain took a crack at it for $40,000, and Csallany flat called. A 3c on the turn looked harmless, and Kain again kept the heat on, pushing in $80,000, which Csallany promptly raised to $160,000. Now pot-logged with little left, Kain called, hoping for a change to get some help from the cards, but it was not to be. When he failed to improve with a 6h on the river, he pushed in his final $60,000 to call Csallany's bet, and found himself the first final table bust-out, going to the rail in 6th place, at least with a heart-warming $200,000.

On the other hand, Michael Gracz found himself blessed with good cards and good hits most of the day. With limits going up to $60,000 and $120,000, the action continued to heat up. Paul Darden, having made a little noise at the start of play, was now on the short-stack, and finding 7d-7c, he pushed in his final $70,000, and was called in two spots, by Gracz, with Jh-Ts, and Csallany, with Ks-9d. Darden had reason to hope when the flop came Td-9s-7s, making him trips, but it also gave Gracz a reason to stick around, and he did, bringing it into the side pot for $60,000, and Csallany, with middle pair, re-raised him, and was called. And 8c on the turn made Darden slump, certain now that his trip 7's were trumped by a straight, and he was right. Gracz, who was holding the nuts, brought it in for $120,000, and again Csallany inexplicably re-raised, and was smooth called. An inconsequential Qd on the river again saw Gracz confidently lead out for $120,000 with the winner, and finally Csallany mucked. Paul "the Truth" Darden, having flopped a set, found himself the 5th place finisher, and the popular former WPT winner went to the bar with a consoling $300,000, as well as an appreciative standing ovation from the showroom crowd.

Csallany promptly went on a run of small pocket pairs, and the short stack at the beginning of play took over the chip lead when he flopped a set of 3's. But the aggressive play that brought him to the top of the mountain quickly undid him, and he threw off most of his chips in a matter of minutes on a sequence of questionable chases. Finding himself back on the short stack with limits up to $100,000 and $200,000, Csallany, with Kc-5h, pushed in his last $200,000 to call the Colonel's raise with Ah-3h. The flop came Qc-Jc-7d, and As on the turn paired the Colonel, and had Csallany down to 4 outs. Alas the T he needed did not appear, and when 4c fell on the river, Adam Csallany was the 4th place finisher, strolling to the poolside with a neat half-million dollar payout in his first major tournament.

Cherackal, having played tight, solid poker all day, ventured out of the spider hole for a pivotal hand, and lost a huge pot with aces up when Gracz, as it seemed he did regularly, chased and hit lucky, making runner-runner flush. Cherackal, now the short stack, found Ad-Qd, and came over the top of Gracz's $100,000 opener, to make it $300,000 to go. Gracz re-raised, and Cherackal quickly called with his last $70,000, and was happy to see that he was a 2-1 favorite over Gracz's 9-8 offsuit. He felt even better after 4h on the turn made him a 3-1 favorite, until Gracz (sense a theme here?) spiked a 9 on the river to knock out the young Princeton man in 3rd place. Cherackal went home with $700,000 in tuition money, having played as well as anyone could have.

Down to two, the Colonel vs. the Kid, it seemed as if it might be a quick ending, but the USAF rocket engineer showed some afterburners, and within a few hands had the Kid wondering what hit him when he pulled just about even. Gracz had him back on the ropes after the Colonel blew a hand chasing Gracz's unbeatable full boat, admitting "that was a bad play." Again it seemed to be over, but with the limits now up to $200,000 and $400,000, each hand was pivotal, and the Colonel caught aces on the next hand. He managed to squeeze every cent out of Gracz, who chased an open-ended straight draw all the way into doubling up the Colonel. The next hand, Minto, with Ac-6d, was raised by Gracz, with Ah-9h, to $400,000, and he re-raised to $600,000, which Gracz called. The flop came Tc-8c-5h, the Colonel fired $200,000 at it, and Gracz again called. The turn came 7c, the Colonel fired $400,000, and Gracz called once more. A useless 8h on the river brought one last shell from the Colonel, and Gracz called, to find that his A high was good, the 9 kicker playing, and crippling the Colonel.

Now down to $20,000, the Colonel was on fumes, all-in with Tc-5h, and Gracz called and flipped over Jd-2d. When the flop came out a demonstrative Jc-Js-5s, Lt. Colonel David Minto was down to having to hit perfect-perfect to win, and it was not to be. A 7d on the turn sealed his fate, and a perfunctory 9s on the river made it official: he was the newest WPT millionaire, and amazingly, for finishing in 2nd place! Young Michael "the Kid" Gracz, became the 22nd WPT millionaire himself, taking the crown, the $25,000 guaranteed seat at the WPT World Championship at Bellagio, and the staggering champion's payout of $1,500,000. Hey, is it too late to get in this game?