Firstly, apologies for the heading. I know it's gut-wrenchingly puntastic, but I just couldn't resist. As MadYank said earlier today, "Shakespeare said that 'the pun is the lowest form of wit'". Well, I wouldn't hold my own personal wit in high esteem, so what the hell, I'm gonna pun away!
Anyhow, back to business and the small matter of a $50,000 WSOP H.O.R.S.E. Final...
Early this morning, cash game specialist Chip Reese finally took the bracelet for Event 20 when he beat the highly respected Andy Bloch after a mammoth 7 hour heads up confrontation.
After a seemingly endless period of total conservatism in which pots rarely exceeded the 500,000 mark, Reese finally forced Bloch down to the felt when the latter called the former's all-in on a flop of 9s 3d 8d. The five of diamonds Turn brought Reese a flush, thereby resulting in Bloch drawing dead with his 9-7 holding.
Then, with Bloch on just 500,000, Reese moved in with A-Q, only for Bloch to call with his 8-9 connecting cards. Although the J-7-7 flop offered four more outs, it wasn't to be for the former Blackjack player as the Turn and River were both harmless fours.
A cleary delighted, and understandably exhausted Chip Reese, punched the air with delight whilst a devestated Andy Bloch was forced to reflect on what might have been. No bracelet for the widely liked Bloch, but still, the 1.2 million dollars he earned for his more than commendable runner-up spot should soften the blow.
When two of poker's most disciplined players lock horns heads-up with so much on the line, it's of no huge surprise that they are to endure such a lengthy session, however, one must also look back on the events preceeding, perhaps suggesting that another reason for the seven hours of one-on-one poker was the fact that the other 7 players had been eliminated in such a brief fashion.
Firstly, Internet whizkid, Patrik Antonius, was first to bite the dust when he was unable to accomplish that potential miraculous comeback with his lowly 13k, before the legendary Doyle Brunson (who departed to a standing ovation) exited in 8th for $274,560.
Then, with the Micky Wernick-esque Dewey Tomko, the dark horse presence of David Singer, and the foreboding figure of TJ Cloutier took 7th, 6th and 5th respectively, we were left with 4 warriors, all of whom had been part of a 20 hour session just 1 day previous.
1993 Main Event victor, Jim Betchel, was next for the chop when his pocket Sevens all-in reraise was superbly called by Bloch's Tens, before tournament favourite and the much feared Phil Ivey rose from his seat after a 2nd pair versus flush and gutshot straight draw failed to slide in his favour.
With blinds still relatively low, a 90 minute clock on the screen, and the rest of the field collapsing at a swift pace, we were left with Bloch and Reese and a potentially long session of heads-up play - although no one could have predicted the seven hours of conservatism that was to follow.
Still, Chip Reese remained focused in these most testing of times, before accepting a cheque for 1.7 million and basking in the glory of his win.
A much underrated fellow due to his lack of televised tournament appearances, it was good to see a player of Chip's calibre snap up victory, and once again showed that when it comes to tournaments of this type, the cream really does rise to the top.
[Ed Note: To see the final result of this comp, please click here]