Tournament Details

The WPT kicked off its fourth season in fine fashion with the aptly named Mirage Poker Showdown. With a prize pool topping 3,000,000, the winner laid claim not only to a coveted, guaranteed 25,000 seat at the WPT Championship, but a million-dollar-plus payday. With those numbers uppermost in mind, 317 players gathered on the poker floor of the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and commenced to clash for four arduous days. Befitting its location, the final table was the perfect microcosm of the recent poker boom – four highly skilled, dangerous professionals out to prove to the two remaining amateurs that their hopes of victory are indeed an illusion. Here was the situation at the start of play:

In Seat 1, veteran pro Ted Forrest, one of the best high-stakes cash game players in the world, at his third WPT final table, in 3rd chip position with 1,370,000. In Seat 2, amateur Mark Ellerbe of Richmond, TX., on the short stack with 353,000. In Seat 3, amateur satellite qualifier Eugene Todd of Brooklyn, NY., in 4th position with 763,000. In Seat 4, little known North Carolinian pro Chris Bell, making his WPT final table debut, in 2nd position with 1,417,000. In Seat 5, wily Canadian journeyman pro, Gavin Smith, also making his WPT final table debut in 5th position with 687,000. In Seat 6, mercurial chip leader Thang "Kido" Pham, at his second WPT final table, with 1,760,000. Antes and blinds started at 2,000, 6,000, and 12,000.

First blood went to the amateurs, when tough-looking Todd came right out of the gate, roughing up pro Bell, raising and re-raising pre-flop with pocket 8's to Bell's A-Q offsuit. Then, when the flop came K-Q-T rainbow, he pushed Bell off the best hand with a huge bet into a board of overcards. Bell responded in kind in the next hand, betting Todd, with pocket T's, out after the flop came with an A. Anxious to get into the action himself, in the next critical hand, Ellerbe called from the big blind with Jc-Th, after Pham, on the button with pocket 5's, made it 40,000 to go. Unfortunately, Ellerbe picked the wrong moment to make a move when the flop came an apparent junkyard of 9-5-3, pushing all-in for 273,000. Kido, sitting on trip 5's, gave a double-take to see if he'd heard right, and immediately called. When the board paired 3's on the turn, it was over, but for a meaningless T on the river, and Ellerbe hit the road, going out 6th with $106,729.

Kido Pham then sniffed out a bluff from the amateur Brooklynite, Todd, calling him down with K high. But Pham's high-rolling ran into trouble when he doubled up Gavin Smith with a baffling call holding, again, K high. With blinds going up to 2,000, 10,000, and 20,000, Kido had dropped from first to fourth, and Gavin had taken over the chip lead. Gavin didn't miss a beat, playing the rush on the next hand, bringing it in for 65,000 with Kh-9h, and found customers in both Pham, with 5h-3h, and Todd, with As-Jh. A big flop of Kc-Kd-Js hit the board with a pot of 225,000 already up for grabs. Todd checked his bottom pair-ace kicker, but Gavin refused to slow-play, putting out a tantalizingly callable half-pot bet that forced Pham to fold. Todd, however, perhaps not believing that the Canadian would bet with trips, made a fateful call. And when the turn came 9c, giving Gavin the unbeatable boat, Todd put himself in a terrible position by bluffing at the pot with another 125,000. Gavin pushed all-in over the top for 1,364,000, and Todd, with nearly half his chips in the pot, appeared magnetized by the mountain in the middle. He called, and was summarily dismissed with a perfunctory 7s on the river, going back to Brooklyn in 5th place, carrying $137,223.

Now that the kids were put to sleep, the big boys proceeded to tangle. With blinds and antes now at 3,000, 15,000, and 30,000, the quietly dangerous Ted Forrest began to come to life. Having watched Kido play all types of hands, Forrest made a tremendous call, trusting his little trip 4's against a scary flush board and a testing, all-in bluff by the transplanted Vietnamese. The first to congratulate Forrest on a great call, Kido was nonetheless on fumes. Not surprisingly, finding Ac-5d in early position on the next hand, Kido pushed his remaining 187,000 into the pot. Forrest, with As-9s, called, as did Bell, with 9h-9d. The flop came Kh-8s-4s, and Forrest, forsaking tournament etiquette – that you don't bet anything but a monster hand into a dry pot against an active competitor when you're both trying to knock out an all-in short-stack – pushed in 200,000. Bell turned in his 9's, and appeared furious that Forrest had bet his flush draw, especially when the turn came 9c! When 4c hit the river, Forrest had knocked out Kido Pham and taken over the chip lead, and Bell was left with thoughts of what might have been. Early leader Pham was sent packing, shell-shocked, in 4th place, with $182,964 to salve his wounds.

With antes and blinds going up to 5,000, 25,000, and 50,000, the level of play just kept improving, with the 3 remaining pros making great reads, bluffs, and laydowns, often on the same hand. Ted Forrest appeared a mind-reader, betting his top pair with ace kicker right up to the river, when Bell spiked a miracle 7 to make trips. Forrest laid down the loser, even with almost half his stack in a pot of over 2 million! Then came the fateful hand of the night. New chip leader Bell made it 200,000 to go with As-9h on the button. Smith, finding Ad-Jc, re-raised to 600,000, and Bell called, making for a 1,200,000 pot. Feeling strong when the flop came 9-7-5 yardsale, delivering him top pair, Bell was elated when Smith stubbed his toe mightily, pushing all-in for 1,270,000. Bell called quick, and Smith looked sick, ripping his cap off in disgust at both Bell's bad pre-flop call as well as his own bad timing, and it got worse when the turn paired the board 7's, making the Canadian a nearly 10-1 dog. But as so often happens in a game with LUCK writ large in the ledger sheet, an absolute miracle came when Js hit the river, making Smith the new chip leader.

Bell was philosophical, with over two million in chips to short-stack Forrest's 545,000, but his bad luck persisted into the next hand. After Smith, with 9d-9c, brought it in for 300,000, Forrest pushed all-in with As-7h. Bell woke up with Ah-Ks, and promptly pushed all-in himself, to isolate the short stack. Smith realized he wasn't getting enough pot equity, and folded his pair. Bell's bad dream continued, as the flop came Qs-Jh-7d, vaulting Forrest into the lead, and prompting him to shout "7 is my lucky number!" When the board ran out 4, Q, Bell had doubled up Forrest, and was suddenly sucking air himself.

Bell never got a chance to catch his breath, finding pocket 8's on the next hand, and when Smith re-raised to 240,000, Bell called the rest of his stack. This time, though, the classic race went to Smith's A-Q offsuit when the flop came A-K-7 rainbow, giving him top pair, and it held up when the board ran out T, 9. Bell went to the rail shaking his head, in 3rd place, with a hefty $289,693 payout.

With blinds and antes at 10,000, 40,000, 80,000, Smith held a prohibitive chip lead with 4,590,000 to Forrest's 1,760,000. And he was helped by the poker gods when he found Qd-Qc on the second heads-up hand. Taking a chance and limping to conceal strength, he was raised another 150,000 by Forrest, with a very strong hand himself, Ac-Jc. Smith pushed all-in over the top, and Forrest considered briefly before taking his chance to double up, then called. The flop fell all around the two tough and tested pros, but hit neither of them, Ks-Td-9c, and when the board ran out with no help to either, Smith went from being only the 6th Canadian to even make a WPT final table to the first to take a WPT title, winning a staggering $1,128,278. Forrest, for his hard work, bagged $579,386, and went out as he came in, with his inscrutable mustachioed smile intact.