Tournament Details

Bellagio was the home of the second installment of the WPT Poker by the Book series of special tournaments. Chapter II invited some of the greatest players in the game whose books have taught people all over the world how to play winning poker.

Each player began with 250,000 in chips, and the blinds were 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante. The seating assignments were as follows:

Seat 1: Johnny Chan (Play Poker Like Johnny Chan)
Seat 2: Daniel Negreanu (Hold’em Wisdom)
Seat 3: Dan Harrington (Harrington on Hold’em)
Seat 4: Barry Greenstein (Ace on the River)
Seat 5: Antonio Esfandiari (In the Money)
Seat 6: Tom McEvoy (author of 12 poker books and counting)

The first hand of the night started with Antonio Esfandiari raising to 20,000 with Ac2h, and Tom McEvoy called with Qh10s. After the flop of 8s7d3d, McEvoy checked, Esfandiari bet 44,000, and McEvoy folded. Esfandiari did his “Magician’s wave,” and took the first pot of the event.

Play started out rather slow with no one making big bets or challenging each other excessively. A perfect example was the third hand where Daniel Negreanu limped with Jh10h, Dan Harrington also limped with Kh8s, and Barry Greenstein checked his 7d4c. The flop came an incredible 7s7h4s to give Greenstein the full house, but he checked with the others doing the same behind him. The Ac turn brought three checks. The Jc river caused Harrington to check, but Greenstein finally bet 40,000, Negreanu called, but Harrington folded. Greenstein took the relatively small pot with his flopped full house.

Negreanu spent quite a few hands playing small-ball poker but not hitting anything. One hand worked in his favor when Esfandiari raised to 20,000 with AcQh preflop, McEvoy called with AhQd, and Negreanu raised to 90,000 with only 10d3d. The others folded, and his bluff worked.

Several hands later, Esfandiari raised to 20,000 with 9d7s, McEvoy reraised to 65,000 with JsJh, and Negreanu moved his short stack All-In with 8d4d in the big blind. Esfandiari folded. The board came 8c5d3c4c4h to give Negreanu the full house and the double-up. McEvoy could only laugh and tip his hat to Negreanu.

Next, the two big chip leaders tangled when Greenstein raised to 20,000 with Js10s, and Johnny Chan called with KcQc. On the flop of Kh8s3s, Greenstein bet 30,000 on his flush draw, Chan raised to 90,000 with top pair, Greenstein reraised All-In, and Chan called. The turn and river were 4c and 7s, and Greenstein caught his flush to double up and become the massive chip leader at the table.

Chan knew he would have to play his short stack soon. The opportunity came when Greenstein raised to 30,000 with As8h. Chan reraised All-In for 63,000 with Ad9c, and Greenstein called. The board came Kd3h2dQh7d, and Chan doubled up.

Soon after, Chan raised to 30,000 with Ad8d, and Greenstein reraised to 160,000 to put Chan All-In. Chan did make the call for all of his 129,000. The board showed Qd10s7d5c3h, and Chan couldn’t catch the flush. Johnny Chan was eliminated in 6th place.

Negreanu, who had also been short-stacked for awhile, saw his opportunity when McEvoy raised preflop to 30,000 with 10h10d. Negreanu reraised All-In for his last 52,000 with AdQh, and McEvoy called. The board was 7h6s5c10s6d, and McEvoy’s trips won the pot. Daniel Negreanu was eliminated in 5th place.

In the very next hand, Greenstein raised to 40,000 with AcJc, but Esfandiari looked down at AhAd and reraised to 122,000. Greenstein reraised All-In but had Esfandiari covered. Esfandiari called for his 306,000. The cards were turned over as 9c6c5s5c8h, and Greenstein made his flush. Antonio Esfandiari had his Aces cracked and was sent home in 4th place.

Harrington was down to 92,000 and moved it All-In with Kh3d, and Greenstein reraised to 185,000 with KcQc, causing McEvoy to fold. The board produced Js6s4d9hKs, and Greenstein’s better kicker came into play. Dan Harrington was relegated to the rail in 3rd place.

Heads-up play then began with blinds of 8,000/16,000 and a 2,000 ante, and chip counts as follows:

Barry Greenstein 1,116,000
Tom McEvoy 384,000

On the first hand, Greenstein raised to 48,000 with Jh7s, but McEvoy came over the top All-In with Ks5s, causing Greenstein to fold.

McEvoy then immediately moved All-In for 432,000 when he looked down at 2s2d. Greenstein called with AcQd. The board came 8s6s4h10c9c, and McEvoy doubled up, even taking the chip lead from Greenstein.

Several hands later, Greenstein had retaken the lead. McEvoy made a 70,000 raise preflop with KcJd, and Greenstein called with 7h5h. The flop was an amazing 7d5d3c, but both players only checked. The turn was a 3h, and Greenstein bet 70,000, but McEvoy raised All-In for 427,000. Greenstein called. The river was the most fitting card – an Ace on the river – and Tom McEvoy was eliminated in 2nd place.

Barry Greenstein was victorious at the Poker by the Book, Chapter 2 tournament, and he won a seat into the season-ending WPT Championship worth $25,000 for his efforts. Congratulations, Barry!