Longtime poker pro Randal “RandALLin” Flowers is the chip leader entering the final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago. After extended play on Tuesday, Flowers will come armed to the six-handed televised final table with 40 big blinds. The action picks back up today at 4:00pm PT.
Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler was the final elimination yesterday. Kessler picked up A-K and moved all-in, but Jason Koon woke up with pocket aces. The better hand held after the board came 9-6-4-2-Q and Kessler was ousted in seventh place for $80,000. With Kessler’s elimination, each player left in the field is assured at least $112,000. It took over 70 hands to go from seven-handed play to six.
Bobby Suer landed in eighth place at the Festa al Lago. Suer pushed all-in before the flop with A-8 and Noah Schwartz called with pocket queens. Suer picked up an open-ended straight draw when the flop came 5-6-7, but he bricked out on a turn deuce and river eight. Two hands prior, Suer was crippled after doubling up Michael Benvenuti when his queens could not hold up against 8-6 of diamonds.
Brandon Steven continued his tradition of bubbling, this time taking ninth at the WPT Festa al Lago. Steven, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine Bubble Boy, doubled up Suer to fall to two big blinds. His remaining chips hit the middle with J-4 of diamonds, but Koon tabled A-7 of clubs and held. Steven picked up $51,000 for his efforts in the $10,000 buy-in event after departing in ninth place.
Koon knocked out John Krpan in 10th place after coming out on the winning end of a race with A-K of hearts against pocket sevens. Koon also served as the executioner of Jeff Madsen after cracking Madsen’s A-Q with A-5. Holding the ace of spades, Koon watched as the river brought the fourth spade to the board, giving him the nut flush. Madsen earned $32,000 for his first cash in a WPT event since April 2009.
John Monnette landed in 12th place after running pocket queens headlong into Andy Frankenberger‘s pocket aces. Monnette came within inches of his first WPT final table and recorded his fifth in the money finish on the tour. With Tuesday’s cash, Monnette has three top 12 finishes on the WPT circuit, but has yet to make a televised final table.
Finally, after coming into the day with the chip lead, Full Tilt Poker pro Annette Obrestad was the Festa al Lago’s first casualty on Tuesday. Obrestad ran Q-10 into Steven’s A-10 on her final hand to bust in 13th place for $32,000. Obrestad’s road to elimination included two double ups of Skip Wilson, the second of which sent her stack plummeting to 16 big blinds. Obrestad, the champion of the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event in London, was in search of her signature live win on U.S. soil.
Here’s how the final six look entering today’s conclusion of the WPT Festa al Lago:
1. Randal Flowers – 3,215,000 (40 big blinds)
2. Noah Schwartz – 3,135,000 (39 big blinds)
3. Jason Koon – 2,555,000 (32 big blinds)
4. Andy Frankenberger – 1,935,000 (24 big blinds)
5. Michael Benvenuti – 1,390,000 (18 big blinds)
6. Skip Wilson – 1,200,000 (15 big blinds)
Today’s play will be filmed for television and air as part of the WPT’s ninth season on Fox Sports Net. The assembled group features players with plenty of success on the WPT. Flowers won the 2009 WPT Spanish Championship for $414,000, while Schwartz made the final table of the 2008 Borgata Poker Classic in Atlantic City. Frankenberger is two months removed from a win in the Legends of Poker, while Koon, Benvenuti, and Wilson are each appearing at their first WPT final table.
