19th Hole Week recap

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.