Bellagio 5Star World Poker Classic

That's a Wrap

2005-04-24T23:42:00.000-07:00

You can't fault Paul Maxfield for moving all-in with K-5. With the blinds and antes as high as they were, almost any paint was playable. He was just unfortunate to run into Tuan Le with a dominating hand.

For a championship event, and season-ending struggle, this match had it all: magnificent bluffs, gutsy calls, suckouts, re-suckouts, gut checks, meltdowns, tests of will, drama, excitement... folks, nouns escape me. DO NOT MISS THIS ONE ON TV ON JUNE 29TH! It will blow your fricking mind.

Mine is blown now.

They're interviewing Paul Maxfield and he tells us... uhm.... "I don't know what to say." Guess he let his play speak for him in the end. As for Tuan Le, this is his second WPT victory this season, and he looks like he's about to cry. "They're all champions," he says of his opponents. "They played really hard and really tough." One thing the young pro has mastered is the art of interview-speak.

In any case, there's no denying that this was the most exciting, see-saw final table the WPT has yet to see. This was a hell of a capper to season three. I don't know how season four can top it.

Not for nothing, but Tuan Le is now the all-time leading money winner on the WPT, and in addition to winning more than two million bucks today, he also gets a free pass to next year's championship event. He says he'll be back to defend. Yeah, I guess.

Well, folks, that's a wrap for this blog of the Bellagio 5Star World Poker Classic. I'll be back in July for the main event of the World Series of Poker. I'd say that after this it must be an anti-climax, but with a field of entrants projected to top out somewhere north of 5000, it should be anything but dull.

More later, -jv

NOW IT'S OVER! TUAN LE WINS IT!

2005-04-24T23:39:00.000-07:00

The river was a harmless 7, giving Tuan Le a pair of jacks, and a well, well, well deserved victory over the game Paul Maxfield. Maxfield got very lucky. Tuan Le got very lucky, too. In the end, you'd have to say that the luck evened out, though as the last bit of luck went Tuan's way, he is our WPT champion.

It Ain't Over Till It's Over, and it May Never be Over

2005-04-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

hand 42

SBB Paul. Paul makes it 2.4M. Tuan calls. J-9-3 flop. Check, check. Turn is a 9. Tuan goes all in. Paul folds.

hand 43

SBB Tuan. Raise to 2M. Paul goes all in. Tuan mucks.

hand 44

SBB Paul. He's all in. Tuan calls. Kd JD for Tuan, K-5 offsuit for Paul. Will the King of Kings survive this one? He'll have to be the King of Fives if he's going to. 9.7M in the pot. Flop comes J-T-3! Paul is dead to running fives, or runner-runner straight cards for a split pot. Turn is a queen of hearts. This gives Paul some outs. An ace or a 9 will give him a split pot. He has eight outs... and doesn't get one!

The River Giveth, the River Taketh Away!

2005-04-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

The river gods are just having us on now. Once again, a miracle river card -- this time a seven to give Tuan a straight (when he had MUCH the worst of it) has put Tuan right back in the game. Paul Maxfield, the king of river kings, is on the receiving end of the suckout this time. The crowd, highly partisan for Tuan, is buzzing. Paul and Tuan are just... you know... hanging. And on we go.

Hand 33 Forward -- An All-in Party

2005-04-24T23:21:00.000-07:00

hand 33

Tuan in the SBB pushes all in for 4.7 M. Paul folds. Here we go again.

hand 34

Paul in SBB. He's all in. Tuan folds.

hand 35

Tuan in SBB. Calls 400K. Paul checks. Flop comes T 9 4, two hearts. Paul checks. Tuan wins the pot with an 800K bet.

hand 36

Paul SBB. Folds.

hand 37

Tuan SBB. He's all -in. Paul mucks 2-8.

hand 38

Paul SBB. He calls. Tuan checks. Flop comes 2d 6s 4d. Tuan checks, and folds to Paul's bet.

hand 39

Tuan SBB.

6.5M for Tuan
16M for Paul

Tuan goes all in. Paul folds.

hand 40

SBB Paul. Paul forcefully raises to 2M. Tuan forcefully folds.

hand 41

SBB Tuan. Tuan raises to 2M. Paul calls the 1.2M raise. Flop comes 6h 5h 3c. Paul checks, Tuan goes all in, Paul calls. 5-6 diamonds for Paul. 8-9 offsuit for Tuan. Turn is a deuce. Tuan needs a 7 or a 4 to stay alive. He gets it!

Paul Maxfield -- King of Kings

2005-04-24T23:14:00.000-07:00

Every time Paul has needed a king so far, he's gotten one. He got another one just now, and it has really put Tuan in a bind.

Tuan got into that pot because it was unraised preflop. At least I assume he'd have folded that 8-5 suited to a raise. But when he flopped a flush draw and faced an all-in call... well... I'm not sure I would have made it. Then again, my game is built on nostrums like, "Draws are death in no-limit." Tuan has shown nothing but absolute control over his game. We can only assume that he knows exactly what he's doing.

Right now, though, he's going to have to do some voodoo, because he's back where he was about two hours ago: Short stacked, and with his back to the wall.

4.8 for Tuan
17.8 for Paul

Shuffle up and deal.

Hand 28 Forward - This Could be It

2005-04-24T23:07:00.000-07:00

hand 28

SBB Paul. He calls. Tuan moves all in. Paul folds. Pretty soon we'll be back in the situation where Paul's only move is to move all-in. He doesn't seem to have a betting strategy to contend with Tuan's bob-and-weave

hand 29

SBB Tuan, an unraised pot. Q 5 4, two diamonds, check, check. Turn is another queen. River is a 3d. Paul wins the pot with queens and fours.

hand 30

SBB Paul. Paul raises 2M. Tuan calls. Flop comes Kh 4c 8d. Tuan checks. Paul moves all in. Tuan folds. Next case

hand 31

SBB Tuan. There's a dizzying sameness to the action now, or maybe that's just the annoying disco-light lighting scheme the WPT insists on using for its set. Tuan raises 1.6M. Paul folds.

hand 32

SBB Paul. Not that anybody cares, but I've been typing so long I think I feel carpal tunnel setting in. Unraised pot. K-Q-Q, two clubs. Tuan checks. Paul bets 2M. Tuan raises 3M more. Paul goes all in. Tuan calls. One way or another, this will be it

K-3s for Paul
8-5c for Tuan. He needs a club to win.

Turn is the 5 of spades. It's small help to Taun, giving him two extra outs.

River is another king. Geez, we haven't seen a king on the river for a while, have we?

Hand 23 Forward

2005-04-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

hand 23

Tuan in SBB. He wins without a fight.

hand 24

Paul has SBB. He raises. Tuan folds (showing a little disgust). Next case.

hand 25

Tuan SBB. He calls. Paul checks. Flop comes T-9-4 offsut. Tuan bets 800K. Paul calls. Turn is another T, a second diamond. Paul checks. Tuan bets 3M. Paul folds.

hand 26

Given that their last all-in confrontation featured hands of, let's say, "indifferent quality," it shouldn't be too long before these two get their money in the middle again.

Paul SBB raises to 1.4M. Tuan calls. Flop comes 5-6-7, two hearts. Tuan moves all in. Paul gives the situation a good, long mull. He flups up his sunglasses. No need for stealth now. He folds.

hand 27

Tuan SBB

Credit Tuan with staying tough and firing away. He has the SBB now. He makes it 1.2M to go. Paul calls. Flop comes T-6-5, two diamonds. Paul checks, Tuan goes all in, Paul folds.

POST!

How Many Rivers Has This Guy Caught?

2005-04-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

That was Paul Maxfield's third or fourth major suckout, and it pushed more than 12M in chips to his side of the table. Tuan puffs out his cheeks, swallowing his shock. Paul struts a little, as if his miracle catch was somehow a result of... what? Prescience? Skill? Taun can't believe what happened, but the question is: Will he avoid Hasan's crash-and-burn fate? Let's see.

We Have a Winner ... NOT!

2005-04-24T22:57:00.000-07:00

Flop comes 9-5-T offsut. Turn is a 7, giving Paul a straight draw. Will he pull a miracle? Yes! It's a KING! Paul has pulled off ANOTHER miracle river!

Hand 22 Forward -- Paul is All In

2005-04-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

hand 22

SBB Tuan: He makes a very suspicious minimum raise to 1.2M. Paul raises 2M more. Tuan reraises all-in. Paul folds. Tuan shows 5-8 offsuit! Wow! Paul had 6-4. This is some serious frivolous poker.

By the way, Tuan fumbled the bet on that one, just like he did the other day when he "fumbled" a big raise with pocket aces. Maybe Paul read his weakness for strength -- just as Tuan intended.

hand 23

SBB Paul. Unraised pot. Flop comes Ad As 7s. Check,check. Turn is 5d. Tuan checks, Paul moves all in Tuan folds.

We have a makeup break, and yeah let's revisit Tuan's min-raise a moment ago. That was the first minimum raise we've seen in, well, hours. Paul probably raised to see where he was at in the hand, planning to fold without hesitation if Tuan moved all-in. Which is exactly what happened -- exactly as if Tuan had planned it exactly that way.

hand 24

SBB Tuan. He calls. Paul goes all in. Tuan folds.

That's two all-ins in a row for Paul. Maybe he figures that the only way to keep Tuan from monkeying with him is to get his chips in first.

hand 25

SBB Paul. He raises 2M, very aggressively placing his chips out on the table, for what that's worth. Tuan folds.

hand 26

SBB Tuan. He completes. Paul checks. Flop comes Ts 6c 5c. Check, check. Turn is 5d. Check, check. River is Tc. Two tens and two fives on board. Paul checks. Tuan bets 600K. Paul fidgets and grimaces. It looks a little Hollywood to me... but I'm flat-wrong again. Paul folds.

hand 27

6 M for Paul
17 M for Tuan

SBB Paul. He raises all-in. Tuan calls. Kd-8c for Paul A-4d for Tuan. This is a 12.358M pot. Neither player is anywhere near the table. They can't bear to watch.

Hand 17 Forward

2005-04-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

hand 17

Paul, SBB, completes. Tuan checks. Flop comes Q-9-4, two spades. Check, check. Turn is another Q. Both players check. River is an offsuit A. Tuan checks. Paul bets 2M. Tuan calls. A-K of clubs for Paul. He wins the pot of almost 3m. What do you suppose Tuan had? A bad ace? Under pair?

Is this a sea change?

hand 18

Tuan, SBB, opens for a million. Paul calls. Flop 2c 4c 8s. Paul checks. Tuan bets 1.6M. Paul folds.

hand 19

One thing: Without Hasan's noisy fans in the room, it's gotten a whole lot quieter in here. Kinda like the poker room of the Imperial Palace at 3 o'clock on a Tuesday morning.

Paul, SBB, opens for a milion. Tuan calls. Flop Jh Ks 8c. Paul bets a million. Tuan folds.

hand 21

Tuan, SBB, raises. Paul folds.

hand 21

Blinds and antes are up. 75K ante, 300K and 600K blinds, so a "lap" will cost 1.05M.

Paul, 9.5 M
Tuan, 13M

Paul, SBB, completes. Tuan makes it 1.5M to go. Paul counts some chips, then calls. Just your basic 4M pot. Flop comes 3c 3d 6s. Tuan bets 3M. Paul puts his hands on his head. This is another one of those hand-of-the-match moments. If he calls or raises, the chips will swing massively in one direction or the other. But he folds, and the balance tips gently more toward Tuan.

Post!

Hand 11 Forward

2005-04-24T22:27:00.000-07:00

hand 11

Tuan, SBB, calls. Paul checks. Flop is Q-9-7, two hearts. Taun bets 700K. Paul calls for 700K. Turn is 6 of hearts. Paul checks. Tuan checks. River is 8s. Paul bets 1M. He likes his river bets. Tuan looks like he's going to call him down, maybe raise. Paul covers his mouth with his hand, like he's watching a horror movie. Tuan raises 3M. Paul folds.

hand 12

Paul, SBB, raises to 1.2M and wins without a fight.

hand 13

Tuan, SBB, calls. Paul raises an indeterminate amount, but Tuan folds before he can get his bet in. Just like we do it at the $2-5 blind tables.

hand 14

Paul, SBB, folds.

hand 15

Tuan, SBB, calls. Paul checks. Flop comes 7c Ad Kc. Paul checks. Tuan bets 500K and wins the pot.

hand 16

It's like a cooling-off period. After the fireworks of Hasan's last hands, both players seemed to need a period of pass-the-blinds for a while before they can get back to the task at hand.

We see a flop in an unraised pot. Flop comes T-8-8. Tuan bets 1.2M. Paul goes all-in. Tuan folds.

Post!

Heads Up -- Hand 6 Forward

2005-04-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

hand 6

Paul makes a small raise from the SBB. Tuan reraises a million or so and wins the pot.

hand 7

Tuan, SBB, raises 750K to 1.25M. Paul raises 3M. Tuan folds.

hand 8

Paul SBB, calls. Tuan goes all in and takes the pot.

Chip count:

Paul: 8.3M
Tuan: 15.0M

hand 9

Tuan SBB, raises and wins

hand 10

Paul SBB, calls. Tuan checks. Family pot? Flop is 7-4-J rainbow. Check/check. Turn is a 3. Tuan bets half a million and wins.

We are Heads Up

2005-04-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

hand 1 of heads up play

Paul Maxfield has put on his dark sunglasses. Tuan makes it a million to go on the button. Paul raises three million more. We could have a very short final confrontation. Tuan contemplates the situation... sniffs... counts his chips... counts Pauls chips... and mucks.

hand 2

Maxfield has SBB (small blind on the button). Blinds are 250K and 500K. Paul folds.

hand 3

Antes are 50K, so there's 850K in the pot on every hand. Tuan, SBB, makes it 1.1M. Paul folds. Is his strategy to fold every hand he can't push? If so, he'd better hope for hands he can push, and quick.

hand 4

Paul SBB, flat-calls (so much for my assesment of strategy). Tuan checks. Flop is Ah 9s 7s. Tuan checks. Paul bets 800K. Tuan raises 2M. Paul folds. So far you have to give the nod to Tuan. He is quickly taking control of this heads up battle. When you think of how far down he was at one point, he's got to be feeling inspired... maybe even destined to win.

hand 5

Tuan SBB, calls 250K. Paul checks. Flop comes A-Q-2, two spades. Check, check. Turn is a 6h. Tuan bets 1M. Paul goes all-in and takes the pot.

Post!

Explosive Decompression!

2005-04-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen anything like it? You won't believe it when you see it on TV. Hasan Habib was ONE CARD AWAY from virtually locking up the WPT championship that eluded him last year. Rivered by Paul, he then experienced the most astounding explosive decompression I've ever seen in my life (including my own episodes of meta-tilt, which believe me, are nightmares to behold.) It happened so fast I couldn't even phrase the idea that it was time for Hasan to prove his patience and find his feet again.

He had the best hand with pocket sevens... but not by much, and as we've seen, he'd folded much better hands to the dangerous Tuan before that. He certainly didn't have the best hand with Qc-8c. I don't know you can spin it as anything but a steam raise.

That's hold'em, folks. You can play flawless poker for a solid week, but let a bad beat rattle you and you can be standing on the sideline shaking your head before you even knew what hit you. It can happen to anyone, even one of the greats like Hasan Habib.

Oh, by the way, we still have a poker tournament to finish.

Now that the scantily clad women have made the obligatory WPT cash presentation we can get down to the final battle between Paul Maxfield and a surprising, exultant Tuan Le.

7.7 M for Paul
14.9 M for Tuan

50K ante, 250K-500K blinds. Small blind has the button.

Let's play poker!

Gut Check Time for Hasan Habib

2005-04-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

Tuan on the button opens for 950K. Paul folds. Hasan goes all in. Tuan folds. I think Hasan is lucky Tuan didn't have half a hand there, because that looked like a steam raise if ever there was one. Of course, there's nothing to say that Hasan didn't pick up a real hand there himself, in which case he had the perfect opportunity to make it look like a steam raise.

But...
On the next hand, Hasan goes all in again.
And this time Tuan calls!

Qc 8c for Hasan
Kc Jd for Tuan

Flop comes 2-7-9 with one club.
Turn is another 2.

Now HASAN is down to his final card. Will he get it or will he get out?

It's a 3! Hasan is OUT IN THIRD!

POST! POST! FRICKING POST!

If He Wasn't Before, He Must Be Now!

2005-04-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

In the space of three hands, Hasan has gone from dominating chip leader to third place! My reporting on that last hand was kind of ragged, but I wanted to get it to you right away. Here's what matters: Hasan called without a thought on a hand he probably would have folded before. He's been folding to Tuan's raises all day. But it looks like he wanted to "get well quick," as they say. Instead, Tuan flopped a flush draw, turned the nut flush, and now stands as our NEW CHIP LEADER! More lives than a cat. More bullets dodged. More hands, please.

Is Hasan on Tilt?

2005-04-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

On the button, Hasan raised to a million
Tuan raise all in 4.187,
Looking frustrated, Hasan calls with pocket sevens
As-8s for Tuan.
Flop 3d ks ts
Turn 9s
A flush for Tuan! A ROAR FROM THE CROWD!
A stunned Hasan can not believe what happened!

POST!

Rough Numbers as we Resume

2005-04-24T21:52:00.000-07:00

8.29 M for Hasan
9.27 M for Paul
3,9 M for Tuan

Deja vu all over again all over again.

And don't forget:

3rd place wins $896,375. 2nd wins $1,698,390. First wins $2,856, 150. So Paul's miracle river cost Tuan a guaranteed bump of $800,000. Man, that's some pricey river!

We're on a Break. We Need a Break

2005-04-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

While they take a break to change tape in the camera, let's pause to catch our breath and contemplate this sudden reversal of fortune. Hasan must have felt he was living large when Paul Maxfield first didn't, then couldn't, bet his flopped straight. But on the very next hand, he got all his money in with the best of it... very much the best of it... A-J versus K-T... and then, when it looked like he was about to move into an insurmountable lead... the poker gods laughed. "We're not done with you yet," they said. "Let's give Paul another chance." So here we are: Paul Maxfield just picked up four million of Hasan's chips. Tuan Le probably would like to have seen Paul go home, leaving him with second place money. Hasan certainly wanted to see the end of Paul. But the end is not here. From where I sit, the end is not in sight.

It's 9:48 PM. Suddenly my midnight "over" bet is starting to look good again.

A Few Hands Where Nothing Happened... and Then!

2005-04-24T21:34:00.000-07:00

Some hands where nothing happened have just been played. Some foldouts. Some chips changed hands. Some time spent admiring the tower of power that Hasan is building with his chips. Next case.

Hasan on the button calls 400K
Tuan calls 200K from the small blind.
Paul raps. We have a family pot. This family again.
Flp is 6-5-4 with two clubs.
All check.
Turn is a 4d.
All check.
Another four.
Paul shows 7-8 to win the pot.

Yikes! He flopped a straight and didn't bet it! Then when a second four came he didn't bet it again, hoping Hasan would. Then when a third four came, he couldn't bet it, for fear of someone having an accidental full house. Well, that's that with that. Next case!

Tuan folds.
Paul completes in the small blind.
Hasan raises 1.4M
Paul goes all-in with 3.625M
K-T for Paul
A-J for Hasan
Flop comes 7c 3d 8c
Turn is the 6s
Paul is down to his last gasp.
Habib fans are actually chanting, "Pair the board, pair the board!"
River is a KING! Paul Maxfield stays alive!

Tuan = Neo

2005-04-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

Right now, Tuan Le is dodging more bullets than Keanu Reeves in The Matrix.

We have a family pot, with Hasan as daddy on the button. Flop comes Jh Th 5h. Tuan bets 500K. Wins without a fight.

A chip count:

3.3 M for Paul
4.9 M for Tuan
And Hasan is right back in the driver's seat with 13.9 M. It's deja vu all over again.

A Tuan Song? NO!

2005-04-24T21:27:00.000-07:00

Tuan is all in for 1.96M with Th-Td versus Hasan's Qh-6c offsuit. A-2-3 on the flop, with two clubs. Turn is a 9, giving Hasan four to a flush. The river is the jack of spades, and Tuan doubles through again. More lives than a cat, friends, more lives than a cat.

Tuan in the Hunt

2005-04-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Tuan Le now has more than 4M in chips, a big enough stack to do some damage with so now we're back to a real three-way match again. He raises from the small blind. Paul has no stomach to call. Next case.

Hasan opens for 1.2M on the button. Fold. Fold. Next case.

Tuan has the button. He folds. Paul folds. Next case.

Paul's puck. He folds. Hasan folds. Tuan wins in a walk. Next case.

Hasan opens for 1.2M. Tuan calls. Paul folds. Flop comes Kh 6h Qd. Tuan goes all in for 3M and change. This seems to be his favorite strategy: Call Hasan's raise, then movein on the flop. So far he's tried it four or five times, and Hasan hasn't seen fit to call. Will this time be different? Nope. Hasan folds two tens. Next case.

Tuan calls 400 on the button. Paul folds, Hasan checks. Flop is T-6-3, two hearts. Hasan checks. Tuan bets 600. Hasan raises 1.2M. Tuan reraises 2M. We've got ourselves a shootout! You can't see Hasan laying the hand down now. Nope, he calls. He's got to have the best hand. I think he's trying to suck the last of Tuan's chips into the pot. Sure enough, he goes all-in on a deuce turn card. But Tuan folds, leaving himself crippled again, but still alive.

Let's post.