WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. - Final Table

[Djinn]

Before the few hands I've recorded here, at the start of the Razz round the stacks were:

Bruno Fitoussi  6,605,000
John Hanson  5,155,000
Freddy Deeb  3,110,000

R

But Freddy is a fair bit shorter after these two (ante 40k, bring-in 50k, small bet 180k big bet 360k!):

Folding on fifth street after completing to 180k with the , Bruno calling him with the .  Freddy paired the Six on fourth, and received the on fifth, at which point he gave it up to Fitoussi's 360k big bet showing X X .
__________________________

John Hanson brought in with the , Freddy called, and called the full 180k when Bruno completed the bet showing ; Freddy showed .
Fourth street:  Freddy Deeb:  X X
Bruno Fitoussi:  X X   Freddy bet out 180k, Bruno called.
Fifth:  Freddy Deeb:  X X   vs.  Bruno Fitoussi:  X X   Freddy bet out 360k, Bruno called.
Sixth:  Freddy Deeb:  X X   vs.  Bruno Fitoussi:  X X   Now Freddy checked, Bruno bet the 360k, Freddy called.

On the river both players checked and Bruno showed the low of 9-7-6-5-2...Freddy flashed a 9-8 and that was that, another one to the chip leader.

[Bigfella]

Before the few hands I've recorded here, at the start of the Razz round the stacks were:


But Freddy is a fair bit shorter after these two (

Now come on, I would have thought that was obvious!!   

[Djinn]

S

If I said that there has been lots of action this round, play down all streets and lots of big pots, I would be lying, and how.  With one exception:  A pretty chunky pot developed between rapidly-coming-back Freddy Deeb and continual third-street bettor Bruno Fitoussi.
Freddy called showing the vs. Bruno's .  They both paired fourth street, where Freddy called Bruno once more.  On fifth street, which brought the harmless looking and to Bruno and Freddy respectively, Freddy called the 360k bet.
On sixth street their hands looked like this:
Freddy Deeb:  X X
Bruno Fitoussi:  X X   Bruno bet 360k once more; call.
The river card was dealt to both players, and Bruno checked it at this point, facing a pretty quick bet from his opponent.  He went into the tank for longer than I've seen anyone do so all day.  The pot, including Freddy's bet, was now a large 2.64 mil.  And with his eventual call (after a stand up, hands on hips, a good long stare at everything on the table, and a firm sit back down) a 3,000,000 pot went Freddy Deeb's way as he revealed the case , beating Bruno's over Queens.

[NoflopsHomer]

E

Freddy takes a chunky pot off John.

Freddy:

(?) (?) (?)

John:

(?) (?) (?)

Freddy check-called the whole way before both checked the river and Freddy's Queens and Tens beat John's Jacks and Sevens.


Bruno vs John

Bruno:

(?) (?) (?)

John:

(?) (?) (?)

John called Bruno's completion and his bet on 4th street. When John hit his Ace though, he took over the aggression and Bruno check-called to the river. Bruno's Queens and Eights took the high against John's Sixes and Twos, but John's 6-4-3-2-A took the low half.

[Djinn]

Morning, anyone waking up in the UK.  Action dragging a bit for you?  Here's a giant and artfully arranged stack of money, for which they are playing.  It'll be going on the table, I bet, as soon as it gets heads up.

[Djinn]

H

Back to hold'em after a break and the blinds are now 100k/200k with betting increments 200k/400k.  Pretty hefty.

Bruno is still raising more preflop than either of the others - the first hand it didn't go his way as his 400k was called by Freddy Deeb in the big blind who also check-called his 200k bet on the flop.  It was checked all the way after that - a coming which left Freddy's still in the lead.

But then...

Bruno raised to 400K, big blind John Hanson re-raised (a preflop re-raise!) to 600k.  Call.
Flop:  Bruno checked, John bet 200k, call.
Turn:    Bruno checked again, John bet 400k, and found a raise to 800k.  John called.
River:    Now Bruno bet out 400k and John raised to 800k.  This was interesting - Bruno had check-raised the turn and now found himself being raised on the river.  He called, however, as one does with a set of Jacks.  John's T-9 two pair were no good, and the big stack is firmly in front of Fitoussi.

[NoflopsHomer]

Play briefly stopped in the Hold'Em when Phil Hellmuth swanned over like Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator...

Seriously, the general fauning over Hellmuth is quite embarrassing. He's treated with more respect than his childish, petulant table attitude deserves. Yes, he maybe the best NL tournament player around, but he's no champion human being, that's for sure.

H

Bruno raises to 400k, Freddy calls in the big blind.

Flop:



Freddy checks, Bruno bets 200k, Freddy calls.

Turn:



Freddy checks, Bruno bets 400k, Freddy calls.

River:



Freddy announces check in the dark before the river was dealt, Bruno bets 400k anyway and Freddy calls. Bruno shows for the house and takes the pot.

[Djinn]

O

John Hanson was all-in just as I re-accessed the Final area:  the flop and turn were out, so the board read:  .
John held: 
drawing against Freddy Deeb's

The river:    and the straight got there.  "Next hand," sighed Freddy.

[Djinn]

R

The chip stacks at this point:

Bruno Fitoussi  6,000,000
John Hanson  4,180,000
Freddy Deeb  4,690,000

But just look at the limits:  ante 50k, bring-in 70k, bet sizes 250k/500k.

Six hands pass without getting further than fourth street, John Hanson winning two, Freddy Deeb winning four.  Then John brings in with the showing, and Bruno completes.  It gets back to John, who then raises to 500k - Bruno calls.  Fourth street brings John a and Bruno an - the latter check-called 250k, but when he received a on fifth street (John getting a ) he gave the pot up to John.

[NoflopsHomer]

R

Nevergoingtoendments.

John:

(?) (?)

Freddy:

(?) (?)

Freddy raised to 1 million on 5th street and bet 500k on sixth after John had previously been in charge of the betting. John folded and Freddy showed the in the hole.


Bruno completely Freddy's bring in. John and Freddy call

Bruno:

(?) (?)

John:

(?) (?)

Freddy:

(?) (?)

Bruno bet all the way and both others pass on 5th. Bruno shows K-J in the hole.

Finally, another 3-way pot.

John:

(?) (?)

Freddy:

(?) (?) (?)

Bruno:

(?) (?) (?)

Both Bruno and Freddy call the raise, Bruno bets 4th street, is called by Freddy and then Freddy bets all the way to the river and Bruno calls him down.

Freddy shows a wheel for a big pot. Bruno mucks what looked like an A-2-3-4-7.

[Djinn]

R

A few more hands before another Action One popped up:  Bruno brought in with the , but got out of the way after the 250k from John and the raise to 500k from Freddy.  On fourth street:
Freddy Deeb:  X X
John Hanson:  X X   Freddy bet 250 - call from John.  Freddy received the , John the .  Now John became first to act, and bet out 500k - Freddy called.
On sixth street:
Freddy Deeb:  X X
John Hanson:  X X   John bet out 500k, and Freddy made it an even million...this was effectively going to polish off his stack if he called and lost.  He made the call, and the rest of his stack was all-in on the river.  And polished it was - Freddy Deeb revealed what the announcer announced as a 6-5-4-2-A which was good.

So John Hanson finishes in 3rd place, winning $852,480

[Djinn]

Hands were shaken all round at this most recent elimination, and Bruno jumped up - they've gone for a cigarette break, but not before Freddy exhorted, "Come on buddy, sit your ass down!  You come all the way from France...OK...enjoy your cigarette before I bust you!"

These two aren't exactly strangers, and a sudden outbreak of good-natured heckling signalled the heads up being about to start..."You smoke a cigarette, I'm gonna smoke a cigar."  "You know where I can shove that cigar..."

Any minute now, restart...Razz...heads up.

[Wardonkey]

Good luck Bruno!

Congrats on staying awake! I've managed a full nights play and 8 hours sleep since you started this update!

[Djinn]

S

I watched pretty much all of the Stud half hour, and, again, it was back and forth, with many small, brief hands, the (slight) majority of which went to Bruno.  But there was a pretty important hand right before the game changed - Freddy's brought in, and Bruno completed with the .  Freddy called, and paired his on fourth street, immediately betting out 500k.  Bruno, who'd received the , leaned back in his chair, hands behind head (pictured) deciding what to do.  After a good long while he called, and then much quicker on fifth and sixth streets as Freddy bet each time.  Their hands then:
Freddy Deeb:  X X
Bruno Fitoussi:  X X  
The river card saw yet another 500k go in from Freddy, and Bruno grimly pondered for a good five minutes.  No one made a murmur, cameramen, audience, Freddy.  For once the dwell was just watched with bated breath - no wise guy could throw out, "Come on, it's not the World Series Main Event."  Clearly paiined by the decision, Bruno folded in the end, leaving himself with what looks like just 1,500,000....

[Djinn]

Good luck Bruno!

Congrats on staying awake! I've managed a full nights play and 8 hours sleep since you started this update!

Ah, spent a year training for it.  And nothing compares to the 7 hour heads up at last year's H.O.R.S.E. following the previous day's 20 hours of play.  I've sent the boys to bed, though, they're delicate flowers.

And not getting a day off tomorrow like me