January 2008 Archives

By Dennis Oehring

What a week it was! Bringing together six of the premier trash talkers in the game resulted in one of the most entertaining matches in the history of Poker After Dark. After all, when you have a table comprised of Gavin Smith, Sam Grizzle, Jean-Robert Bellande, Mike Matusow, Shawn Sheikhan, and Phil Hellmuth, what else would you expect?

Matusow got into trouble early on Day 1 when he raised preflop with pocket 9s, only to have Hellmuth reraise with pocket kings. Matusow moved all in and Hellmuth made one of his patented "can't get the chips in the middle fast enough" calls. A king on the flop all but assured a visibly upset Matusow's fate, and he was left with only $6000 in chips while doubling Hellmuth up. Then on Day 2 Mikey found pocket 9s again and moved in preflop with his short stack, only to be called by Shawn Sheikhan with pocket queens. Sheiky hit a set on the flop just like Hellmuth did, and Matusow was eliminated in 6th place for the 4th consecutive time.

The five remaining players all made it to Day 4, with Sheikhan enjoying the chip lead and Grizzle on the short stack. The two would tangle when Sheiky opened the pot with a raise to $1600 holding the Kc 10d, and Sam moved all in for his remaining $7050 with Ac 5d. Shawn called, spiked a 10 on the flop, and when Sam didn't improve, he was out in 5th place.

With the blinds at $400/$800, Gavin Smith limped in from the button with the Ah 2h, and Sheikhan checked from the big blind with pocket 4s. An action flop of Ad Kh 4h gave Smith top pair and the nut flush draw, but still behind Sheiky's set of 4s. Smith would move all in after being check-raised by Sheiky, who called, having Smith covered. The Jc and Kc on the turn and the river were no help to Smith, and he was eliminated in 4th place.

The first hand of Day 5 was the last for Jean-Robert. Hellmuth moved all in with As 4c from the small blind and Bellande called holding Ac 8s for his remaining $12,900 hoping to double up. Ironically, Jean-Robert began saying how unlucky he was in situations like this, despite having Phil dominated. The flop came 4h 6d 8c, giving each player a pair, and causing Bellande to comment even more about how unlucky he is. As if on cue, the 4s hit the turn, giving Hellmuth trip 4s and leaving Bellande to hit a 2-outer to survive. But the river bricked, and a visibly upset Jean-Robert was the next to visit with Marianela. If anyone didn't know what a "cooler" was, they do now as Sheiky had mucked the 4c preflop.

This set the stage for a lengthy seesaw heads-up battle between Sheikhan and Hellmuth that saw some very interesting hands. Sheiky held a $76,000 to $44,000 chip lead to begin play, and quickly ran his stack up to more than $100k by winning the first 7 hands before Phil finally won a pot. Hellmuth would eventually take the chip lead on a hand where he flopped trip 9s and made quads on the river, with Sheiky chasing a flush that never materialized. But Sheiky pulled even in an all in pot when Phil's pocket 7s were counterfeited on a board of Ah Ks Ac Kd Jh with Sheiky holding Qh 9d, setting off one of Phil's famous rants.

Shawn held an $84k to $36k chip lead when he limped in with pocket kings and Phil moved all in with Ah 4h. Sheiky confidently called, but Phil turned the Ad to double up. On the final hand, Hellmuth moved all in with Qc 2d and Sheiky looked at one card only, the As, and called. A deuce on the flop and another on the turn left Shawn drawing dead with the As Jd, and Phil Hellmuth claimed his second consecutive PAD victory.

By Dennis Oehring

This week's match saw some terrific poker and one of the biggest comebacks in PAD's history. It featured 6 top pros who also love to play golf and gamble on the golf course, and viewers were treated to stories aplenty of the players' exploits on the links. Those participating were Gavin Smith, Erick Lindgren, David Oppenheim, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, and Phil Ivey.

On Day 2, with the blinds at only $150/$300, Phil Ivey and David Oppenheim got all of their chips in the middle after a flop of Qh 3c 5c. David, holding pocket 5s, had middle set, but Ivey with the Qc 9c had top pair and a flush draw. The turn brought the 10c, giving Ivey his flush and needing to fade the board pairing to win. Fortunately for Phil, the river bricked and David was quickly out in 6th place.

Just a few hands later, Gavin Smith limped in from the button with Qs Jc, inviting Erick Lindgren to call from the small blind with Kd 3s and Phil Ivey to check from the big blind with Ac 3d. The flop came 2h 3c 3h, big trouble for Erick as both he and Ivey flopped trip 3s but Ivey had the better kicker. Lindgren bet, Ivey raised, and Lindgren called. Erick bet out $5000 after the Jh hit the turn, and again Ivey raised, forcing Lindgren all in. Erick needed a deuce or a jack to chop, or a king to win, but none came and Ivey had knocked out two opponents in short order.

After losing all but $1350 of his chips to Gavin on the previous hand, $1200 of which went into the big blind, Daniel was forced all in on the next hand holding Qc 6c against Phil Ivey's Ad Jd. The flop of Ac 10d Js gave Phil top two pair, leaving Daniel to draw to a king for a straight or two running clubs for a flush. As fate would have it, Daniel got the Kd on the turn, making his straight, but now Phil had additional outs as he also picked up a diamond draw and a royal flush draw. The river brought the Jc, filling Ivey up and sending Daniel home in 4th place.

Shortly after with the blinds at $600/$1200, the two short stacks battled as Doyle found Kh Jc and raised to $5000. Gavin, with pocket 4s in the big blind, moved in and Doyle called. Smith was a slight favorite and had Doyle covered. The board of 6s 10d 6c 2c 6h did not help Doyle, who left in 3rd place, leaving Smith and Ivey heads-up for the title.

At one time in the match with 4 players remaining, Gavin was down to only $8000 in chips, but he made some great reads resulting in key laydowns to stay alive. During heads-up play, he once faced a 5:1 chip deficit but doubled through Phil when he caught a flush holding the Kd 2d to get back in the match. He would soon after catch another flush on the river to take the chip lead, and Ivey's quest for his third PAD title was in jeopardy.

On the last hand, Ivey limped in with Kd Qc and Smith checked with 10h 6c. The flop came 10s Qd 10c, giving Smith trip 10s and Ivey two pair. Both players checked the flop, and the turn was the 6d, giving Smith a full house. After Smith checked, Ivey bet $6000 and Smith check raised to $15,000. Ivey went all in and Smith instacalled. Ivey would need a queen to stay alive, but the river was the 3h and Smith completed his improbable comeback to capture his first PAD title.

By Dennis Oehring

In a match that featured the use of the word "baby" more than any other previous match on PAD, the eyes of the poker community were on amateur player Ken Light who won his seat into this match via a freeroll on FullTiltPoker.net. Light told the producers who his favorite players were, and five of them, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen, Jennifer Harman, and Mike Matusow, were invited to play against Ken in what was billed as the "Dream Match." The table was filled with laughter and conversation and the players genuinely seemed to enjoy themselves.

All of the players made it into Day 4 of the match, but Mike Matusow was the first to depart when Daniel Negreanu set a perfect trap by limping in with pocket kings and Mike called from the button with Ac 8d. The flop was 6c 7c 6s, and Daniel checked. Mike made a position bet, and Daniel called. The Ks on the turn filled Daniel up, but he checked again, letting Mike bet at the pot again with air, and Daniel called once more. The Ad on the river couldn't have been a worse card for Matusow, and after checking again Mike bet his aces up, and Daniel check raised all in. Mike called, and was left to lament at the bar with Marianela after another 6th place finish.

As 5 players went into the final day, you knew there was going to be lots of action. Daniel enjoyed the chip lead for most of the session, but took a hit to his stack when his pocket 3s ran into Scotty's pocket jacks. Nguyen doubled up on the hand and temporarily assumed the chip lead. Daniel would then double up Ken Light with the blinds at $1000/$2000, and suddenly only $9000 separated all five players.

With the blinds now at $1500/$3000 and a board of Jc Kh 6c, Hellmuth bet $3500 holding top pair with the Ks 10h and Negreanu moved all in with bottom 2 pair holding the Js 6s. Negreanu was a 7:3 favorite, but Phil rivered the 10c for two higher pair, doubling up and leaving Daniel with only $1300 in chips. Those chips evaporated on the next hand when Daniel's pocket 10s were beat by Jennifer who made a diamond flush on the turn, eliminating Negreanu in 5th place.

Scotty would then move all in from the button with the blinds at $2000/$4000 for his remaining $10,600 with As Jh, but Phil woke up with the Ah Kh in the big blind and called. Scotty would board a straight, but Hellmuth made a flush to eliminate "The Prince of Poker" in 4th place.

With the blinds now at a hefty $3000/$6000, Jennifer raised to $12,000 from the button with Qc 10h. Ken Light, the short stack with only $8600, pushed all in with the 9h 8h, and Phil called with the 9c 7s. After a flop of 10c 7s 5d Phil bet $6000 with his pair of 7s, and Jennifer went all in for her last $29,800 with top pair. Phil pondered, but having Jennifer covered eventually made the call. The turn brought the 7h, making trips for Phil, but leaving Jennifer and Ken still with outs to stay alive. The river, however, was the Ks, and in a first on Poker After Dark, there was no heads-up battle as the final hand saw Phil knocking out the remaining two players.

The victory was the first for Hellmuth who had the worst record on PAD going into this match, and suffice it to say that he was elated to get the 0-fer off of his back. For amateur Ken Light, the match had to represent the thrill of a lifetime for him, and though he didn't win, he can lay claim to some bragging rights that most of the rest of us can only dream about.