Tournament Details

The boys are back in town for WPT Bad Boys of Poker II. This final table is stacked with six of the toughest poker pros fighting for the right to be called the “Bad Boy of Poker” and a $25,000 seat at the WPT World Championship. Gus Hansen the reigning Bad Boy champ is back to defend his title against the constant needling of Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, “Poker Brat” Phil Hellmuth, master of the game Men Nguyen, the brash “Australian Airbag” Tony G, and pool shark turned card pro Jean-Robert Bellande. Sparks fly as these six ignite the table with explosive poker action and attempt to grind down each others nerves on this World Poker Tour special edition.

Seat 1: Tony G - 250,000
Seat 2: Mike Matusow - 250,000
Seat 3: Phil Hellmuth - 250,000
Seat 4: Men Nguyen - 250,000
Seat 5: Jean-Robert Bellande - 250,000
Seat 6: Gus Hansen - 250,000

From the moment the cards were dealt Mike Matusow used what he’s infamous for - his mouth - to take several stinging shots at Phil Hellmuth. But Hellmuth had to endure more than that: first, he went heads up with Gus Hansen and was pushed out of the pot after Gus paired the board and came in with a strong 28,000 bet; in the next hand, Hellmuth picked up a wired pair of 8’s but lost when Matusow paired his 9. To make matters worse, Matusow was rubbing it in.

Hellmuth picked up a massive hand, pocket kings and jumped right back into the table action, making it 20,000 to go. Men with Q-10 called and the rest of the table folded. The flop came Q-J-9 making Hellmuth’s kings the top pair, but opening a few doors for Men with the straight draw. Both checked to the turn, 5, which helped neither player, and again they both checked. The dealer peeled off the river card, a king, making this a dangerous pot. Men and Phil clashed hard after Hellmuth checked, Men fired 60,000 out and Hellmuth immediately called thinking his trip kings were good. Men showed his straight to take down the pot and put Hellmuth on the short stack.

The action was heating up as Gus found AQ and pushed it to 18,000. The table folded around to Matusow with pocket fives and without hesitation pushed all-in, for 232,000. Gus wanting to shut down Matusow and having amassed nearly 350,000, decided he had enough chips to gamble. The board never matched Gus’s hand and Matusow doubled up.

On the next hand, Matusow 5d-4d and made it 18,000 to go. Hellmuth, on the short stack, again found pocket kings and pushed all-in for 37,000. The table folded around to Matusow who called. While the board offered Matusow a few possible outs, none came and Hellmuth doubled up.

A few hands later Phil made another all-in move with A6. Gus having already made a play on the pot with Q-10 was again left with the decision to call another all-in move, this time of 114,000. Gus pushed his chips to the center ready to see the action unfold. It was a spectacular flop of A-Q-5, making a pair for both players. The turn and the river came running 4’s, no help to either player. Hellmuth cut into Gus’s chip stack leaving him crippled on the short stack.

As the final six returned from break, Phil Hellmuth could not be found. The action set to start back up when WPT hostess Courtney Friel dashed on-stage to place a cardboard cutout of Hellmuth in his seat. As the cards were dealt he was anted off and his hand automatically folded (as what typically happens when players return late). Hellmuth returned shortly after a bit shocked play started without him, but in good spirits, encouraging Matusow’s jokes by commenting how the cardboard plays better.

With only 10,000 in chips, Gus found himself with all-in with A3. Men with 9h-6h wanted to pick up an easy pot and raised to 20,000, but Tony G wasn’t going to let it go that easily, he called with K-7. The flop came K-4-9 rainbow. No help for Gus, but gave Tony G top pair. The side pot grew larger when Men bet out 30,000 and Tony G called. The turn revealed a 2, no help to anyone and Men and Tony G checked. A 7 on the river gave Tony G two pair and he quickly fired out 50,000, Men wisely folded. Tony G took out the reigning champ Gus Hansen and picked up a nice pot.

A great run gave Tony G the chip lead. Feeling confident he bet Kd-10d and Men called with Ac-9d. The flop came 10c-5c-Kc, giving Tony G top two pair, but Men the nut flush draw. Tony G not wanting to see another club come out on the board, pushed all-in for over 400,000. Faced with a tough call, Men deliberated long and hard, so long that Tony G called the clock on him. As the crowd anxiously counted down the last 5 seconds, Men still continued to deliberate and made no action. Consequently, his hand was folded and Tony G automatically picked up the pot.

Jean-Robert Bellande, on the short stack, took down a few pots earlier in the day but didn’t see much action sense, so he moved all-in with Kd-7d. Tony G, knowing he had good pot odds, easily called with Ah-4c. The flop came Q-Q-J rainbow, helping neither player but giving Bellande a few more outs. The turn came 9 and now Bellande could possibly make a straight, however the river was a K giving Bellande top pair to stay alive. Later, in another hand against Tony G, Bellande was able to double up again when his pockets sevens held.

Tony G wasn’t done playing and wasn’t far behind in chips. The next hand he picked up a pair of Q’s and raised 50,000. The table folded to Men who picked up big slick, As-Ks. Men immediately jumped up, turned to the crowd and asked “what Men gonna say?” The crowd enthusiastically yelled back “All you can eat, baby!” Men forcefully put his chips toward the center of the table ready for action. Tony G quickly called and the flop came Js-6s-Jh, giving hope to Men to make the nut flush. The turn and river came 4d and 2c respectively and Men was out in 5th place.

Bellande wanting to see more action limped in from the small blind with J7. Tony G with QJ checked and the flop came 8-9-10 giving both players the straight, but Tony G the nuts with queen high. Bellande confident of his straight immediately bet and Tony G fired back hard with a raise. When Bellande announced a re-raise, Tony G began trash talking, “You’ll dance and I’ll lead you”. He continued pushing Ballande by announcing to everyone that Bellande’s re-raise should be 140,000. Bellande retorted with “I’ll raise 139,000”. Tony G complimented him on being a good partner and, with that said, pushed all-in. Bellande quickly called and Tony G flipped his cards declaring he had the nuts with the queen high straight. Now, all Bellande could hope for was a queen on the turn or river, but she never came and Bellande was out in 4th place.

The action went to Hellmuth with Qs-5s and on the short stack he moved all in. Matusow called and flipped over Qc-10c. The flop came 7d-4d-3s, with possibly inside straight draw Hellmuth now had eight outs to beat Matusow. The turn came Ks, giving Hellmuth 15 outs. Matusow anxiously awaiting the last card began to run his mouth about the increasing number of outs Hellmuth could get to beat him. The river came Kh, Matusow’s Q10 held and Phil Hellmuth went out in 3rd place.

The two boisterous mouths, Tony G and Mike Matusow, sat side by side ready to square off for the title and entry into the Championship. Tony G didn’t waste anytime grinding hard into Matusow’s chip stack. In back-to-back hands, Tony G outplayed Matusow by winning with 10-4 off suit, 6-4 off suit and 7-2 off suit.

Matusow - tired of being cut-off - found the hand he needed cut into Tony G’s growing chip stack. Matusow slow played perfectly and set his trap by limping in with pocket kings. Tony G with 10-8 suited, trying to take more of Matusow’s stack, pushed all-in. Matusow quickly called and flipped over his two kings knowing he was way ahead. That was until the flop came 8-10-2, pairing both Tony G’s cards. Matusow needed to match the board or find a king to stay alive, the turn and river didn’t do it and he went out in a respectable 2nd place. Tony G, the new “Bad Boy of Poker” earned the $25,000 seat in the WPT World Championship and proved not only does he talk-the-talk, he walks-the-walk.