WPC
Final Six Make the WPT
The
final 22 players of the original 87 returned
Tuesday at noon to compete for a seat
at the final table of the Championship
event. Six of the final 22 will become
part of poker history and participant
in the televised final table of the World
Poker Tour.
Airing
of the World Poker Challenge 2003 will
be on Wednesday, June 18 at 9-11 p.m.
on the Travel Channel.
Twelve
players were eliminated in three hours
and 30 minutes.
Layne
Flack took out Howard Lederer with Q-8.
Howard had Q-7 and the flop came Q-8-7.
Howard finished 16th.
Shortly
after Howard exited Paul Darden gave Scotty
Nguyen his walking papers. Scotty moved
all-in with K-Q and Paul D. called with
pocket rockets. End of story, Scotty finished
15th.
The
next casualty was Aidan Bennett who started
the day the chip leader with $85,300.
He took a couple of beats earlier and
was short stacked when he went all-in
against Layne. He flopped a pair of sixes
holding 9-6 and Layne flopped a pair of
deuces with 8-2. The turn card was another
eight and Layne’s two pair held up after
the turn card came a queen. Aidan was
forced out in 14th place.
A
few hands later Layne was crippled by
Paul Magriel when he flopped a set of
fives and filled on the river. Layne lost
more than 50% of his stack and was left
with $40,000.
Steve
Zolotow finished in 13th place after going
all-in against Paul D. Steve flopped a
pair of aces but Paul flopped a set of
eights and they held up. Steve was the
forced to take 13th place.
Layne
ran into bad luck with pocket jacks against
Paul M. and his A-8. The flop brought
an ace for Paul and Layne was half way
across the casino before the river card
hit the table. Layne was forced to take
a 12th place finish. Phil Laak was the
next casualty when he made the mistake
of moving all-in after Mark made a small
raise before the flop. Mark called with
pocket kings and Phil showed A-9. The
dealer failed to put any aces or nines
on board and Phil took and 11th place
finish.
At
3:30 the final ten players assembled at
the final table but only nine players
were going to finish in the money.
Twenty
minutes later Jennifer Harman exited on
the dreaded bubble. Paul Magriel smooth
called and Jennifer moved all-in for $22,500
and Paul called. Genitor showed A-K and
Paul turned over A-Q of diamonds. The
flop came with two diamonds and the turn
card came the six of diamonds. Paul made
the nut flush and Jennifer had to settle
for a 10th place finish.
Paul
Magriel had a commanding chip lead with
$314,000, Tony Le was in second with $128,000
T.J. Cloutier was in third with $120,500,
Cal Dykes was in fourth with $106,000,
Jack Fox was in fifth with $55,000, Mark
Edwards was in sixth with $47,000, Nathan
“Butch” Wade was in seventh with $43,000,
Ron Rose was in eight with $34,000, and
Paul Darden was last with $23,000.
At
4:30 p.m. Ron raised to $10,000 and Paul
Darden called. Paul showed A-9 and Ron
turned over A-10. The board came 7-5-2-10-7
and Paul was forced to take 9th place
and $8,415.
At
4:35 p.m. the players took a 10 minute
break.
At
4:45 p.m. the blinds increased to $2,000-$4,000
with a $500 ante. With over $300,000 in
chips it wasn’t hard for Paul M. to pick
up that $10,000 in antes and blinds. He’d
raise $22,000 and force players to wait
for a better hand.
Paul
Magriel still had a commanding chip lead
with $350,000, Cal Dykes was in second
with $115,000, Ron was in third with $104,500,
T.J. was in fourth with $93,000, Jack
Fox was in fifth with $71,500, Tony Le
was in sixth with $70,500.
Mark
was in seventh with $37,500, and Butch
was trailing with $28,000. At 5:20 p.m.
T.J. raised to $12,000, Jack moved all-in
and T.J. called. Jack showed AK and T.J.
turned over pocket queens. The board came
J-2-2-6-6 and T.J.’s queens held up. Jack
finished in 8th place and collected $10,519.
At 5:55 p.m. the $100 chips were removed
and the limit went to $3,000-$6,000 with
a $1,000 ante.
The
blinds and antes weren’t easy to steal
but very profitable at $16,000 a pop.
At
6:00 p.m. Butch moved in under the gun
for $20,000 and T.J. called. Butch showed
pocket fours and T.J. Called with A-8
of clubs. The flop came 5d-4s-Jc and Butch
flopped a set. The turn card gave T.J.
12 outs when it came a three of clubs.
Any deuce or club that didn’t pair the
board would give T.J. the win. When the
six of clubs came on the river it was
all over for Butch. He had to settle for
7th place and missed the opportunity to
be part of the televised WPT final six
players.
The
final six will return tomorrow at 4:00
p.m. to determine a champion. Paul Magriel
is in lead by more than $260,000. Paul
has $387,000, Cal Dykes is in second with
$127,000, Mark is in third place with
$114,000, Ron is in fourth place with
$103,000, Tony is in fifth place with
$85,000 and T.J. is trailing with $54,000.
Debbie Burkhead
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