Layne
Flack Wins Fifth Gold Bracelet
in Limit Hold'em Shootout
With
25 events now concluded, this has clearly
been a World Series of Poker where the
very best players in the game have risen
to the top, time after time. World-class
tournament players such as Chris "Jesus"
Ferguson, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth,
Doyle Brunson, Erik Seidel, Mickey Appleman,
and others have all won gold bracelets
this year. But bar none, no player is
hotter right now than Layne "Heart Attack"
Flack, who won his fifth lifetime gold
bracelet in the Limit Hold'em Shootout
event, and second at this year's tournament.
Consider for a moment that Flack has now
won four bracelets in two years. Even
more impressive -- in his last five final
table appearances, he's won four titles.
That's dominance. That's excellence. That's
Layne Flack -- virtually unbeatable when
he's at the top of his game.
Flack
certainly did not start out as the favorite
when the day began. In fact, Annie Duke
came to the final table with the chip
lead (nearly 2 to 1 in chips over Flack
when play started). It took about six
hours for the two finalists to be decided
-- Flack and Duke, which then resulted
in an epic duel between two outstanding
tournament pros, playing the best poker
of their lives. The fact is -- it's a
shame there couldn't be two winners at
this event since the confrontation could
conceivably have gone either way. But
in the end, Flack triumphed and collected
$120,000 for first place.
Al
Korson, making his second final table
appearance at this year's Series was the
first player to make an exit. He went
"all-in" with his last $4K on A-K and
was eliminated when Layne Flack made a
straight with pocket sixes. Korson collected
9th-place prize money of $5,000.
A
short time later, Steve Schraber found
himself short-stacked and made his final
stand with K-Q. Sam Chang called Schraber's
final bet with a pair of fives. Scraber
was drawing to two overcards after the
flop came with all low cards, but was
unable to match either the king or the
queen, meaning an 8th-place finish for
the player from Oceanside, CA. He took
home $6,200.
Sam
Chang went out next when he missed a series
of flops, then went "all-in" with Q-Q
on his final hand. Dee Luong had A-A,
which meant Chang was drawing slim. A
queen failed to appear on board, resulting
in a 7th-place finish -- good for $7,700.
Meanwhile, Layne Flack steadily increased
his chip position to the point where he
was even with Annie Duke in chips. Even
more impressive was the run made by Dee
Luong, who was down to $18K at one point
and then built her chips up to $90K with
a steady rush of favorable cards and aggressive
play. After Chang's exit in 7th place,
two hours passed before the next player
was eliminated. That came when Walter
Threadgill got involved in a $45K pot
with Layne Flack, who was drawing to a
heart flush and a straight. Threadgill
did not reveal his hand, but when a nine
fell on the river and the final board
showed 10-7-3-J-9, that meant Flack had
the nut high straight with Q-8. Threadgill
received $11,000 for 6th place.
Don
Barton must have been a cat in another
life. He managed survive eight "all-ins,"
but finally went out on the ninth and
final test of fate when he took 7-7 up
against Duke's K-J. Barton was in the
lead nearly the entire way, but the final
board showed aces and nines, meaning Duke's
king kicker played as the fifth card.
Barton, adding yet another time in the
money, added $14,000 to his World Series
of Poker winnings.
Pete
Kaufman went out a short time later when
Layne Flack made two pair, aces and sevens,
and eliminated the local Las Vegas in
4th place. Kaufman, who finished in the
money in the $10,000 buy-in main event
two years ago, took $20,000 in prize money.
Down
to the last three players, Flack had about
$140K in chips to Duke's $100K and Luongs'
$75K. Just when it looked as though Flack
might run away with the tournament, Duke
staged a startling comeback and had Flack
down 2 to 1 in chips at one point. Then,
the see-saw battle continued as Flack
clawed and scratched his way back and
drew even with Duke. The three finalists
battled for over an hour before the next
player was eliminated.
That
player was Dee Luong, who was gradually
blinded down and forced to go "all-in"
(9-5) on a pair of fives when the board
came with a five. Unfortunately, Flack
caught two pair -- queens and eights --
and ended up knocking Luong out in 3rd
place. Luong played brilliantly considering
this was her first final table appearance
at the World Series of Poker. She collected
$30,000 in prize money.
The
heads-up confrontation many were expecting
to see finally came about six hours into
the final table. Both players shared several
similar traits -- being about the same
age (30s), both formally of Montana, and
both now well-respected players living
in Las Vegas. However, the one differentiating
characteristic was Flack's four gold bracelets
to Duke's none. Despite all her accomplishments
in poker, the one thing that had eluded
Duke has been a title at the World Series
of Poker.
With
Duke holding a slight chip lead of $175
to $155K, the two champions battled back
and forth, with each winning key pots
early. However, Flack put a bad beat on
Duke when he caught two perfect cards
on the turn and river to make two pair,
besting Duke who did not reveal her hand
(she clearly took a beat judging by her
reaction). With Duke down 2 to 1 in chips,
she staged a comeback and drew even with
Flack, who then made a full house and
regained his 2 to 1 chip lead.
But
Duke showed great resilience and made
a full house on Flack a short time later,
drawing back to even. It was a tug of
war between two great champions, with
every pot critical to the outcome of the
tournament. In fact, few hands did not
involve a barrage of raises and re-raises
in what had to be one of the most aggressive
displays of heads-up play ever on record.
Duke
was down at least 2 to 1 in chips on no
less than five occasions, and managed
to come back each and every time. She
broke through again and regained the chip
lead when she made a diamond flush and
went a full five bets on the turn back
and forth before Flack was finally convinced
he was beat. Duke reversed the chip lead
and took a $200K to $130K chip advantage
into another key hand when, Flack again
fought his way back and drew back to even
with Duke. The chip lead changed ten times
before Duke made an absolute monster when
she had A-5 and made a straight on the
river when the final board showed 8-8-4-2-3.
Incredibly, Flack had 10-8 for three eights
and lost when disaster struck as the turn
and river brought a straight for Duke.
Once again, Duke was the chip leader.
It wouldn't last.
The
chip lead changed yet again when Flack
staged a rally with a couple of big hands
that gave him a 2 to 1 chip advantage
(for the fifth time). Up until then, Flack
had been unable to "close" the deal, but
he would finally do so when the betting
limits went up to $8-16K.
With
Flack holding a $250K to $80K chip lead,
Duke's crushing blow came when she was
dealt a jack-high diamond flush. She clearly
expected to scoop the $120K pot given
the relative strength of hands in heads-up
play, and was flabbergasted when Flack
turned over an even higher queen-high
flush. Flack was the winner, and Duke
took second place.
"I
couldn't have played any better," said
Duke afterward -- and she was right. She
came back from $100K+ chip deficits five
times, and had Flack down to his last
$100K on two occasions, but was unable
to catch a final rush of cards to bury
Flack. Ultimately, it was a big hand where
Flack had a razor-tin advantage (a queen-high
versus a jack-high flush) that ended the
match. At the conclusion, the two great
players embraced in a sign of mutual respect
and admiration. The audience stood and
applauded. Everyone in the crowd knew
that on this night they had witnessed
something truly special -- a heads-up
match that must certainly go down in history
as one of the best limit hold'em matches
of all-time.
-- by Nolan Dalla
|
