Battling from the middle of the pack at a final table that only paid three spots, David “Doc” Sands emerged as the champion of the World Poker Tour Super High Roller championship event at the Bellagio early Friday morning.
21 of the deepest pocketed pros stepped to the table on Tuesday and, after two days of battle, the final six combatants lined up as such:
Seat 1: Joseph Cheong, 1.646 million
Seat 2: Andrew Robl, 169,000
Seat 3: James Courtney, 1.69 million
Seat 4: Steven Silverman, 1.339 million
Seat 5: Daniel Perper, 164,000
Seat 6: David “Doc” Sands, 1.286 million
With only 21 entries into the Super High Roller (with its $100,000 buy in), only the top three players would take down any of the $2 million-plus prize pool. That meant three men would have nothing to show for their three days of work in Las Vegas except some airtime on television when the tournament is broadcast as a part of the Season XI WPT schedule.
Sands was aggressive in the early going, taking four of the first eight hands to take over the lead, while Perper was able to get a double up through Silverman. Perper continued to slowly work his stack upwards, doubling up again a few hands later through Cheong to move up to 674K in chips. It wasn’t until nearly 30 hands had been played that the first elimination occurred.
Robl, coming in on one of the two short stacks at the start of the final table, could never mount any type of offense. After seeing Cheong raise in front of him, Robl moved all in from the button and Courtney made the call from the small blind. Cheong decided to get out of the way and, once the cards were on their backs, Robl’s K-Q was way behind Courtney’s pocket Kings. Although the flop brought some hope for Robl with its 10-9-4 arrangement (a gut shot straight draw), the eight on the turn and six on the river didn’t provide any help and Robl was out in sixth place.
Over the next 40-plus hands, the players were happy to shift chips between each other before a massive hand saw the leaderboard shuffle. After a Silverman limp, Perper moved all in and chip leader Sands moved all in over the top of Perper and Silverman folded. Perper would show a K♥ Q♥ that was in tough shape against Sands’ pocket Jacks, but the 9♥ 6♥ 3♠ flop brought even more outs for Perper (flush draw with two over cards). One of those outs came home on the 8♥ turn, giving Perper an unbeatable flush and, once the chips were shifted, put Sands down the leaderboard in fourth and gave Perper new life.
Just prior to the 100th hand of the final table, the next player would depart the Bellagio. Cheong made a min-raise from the button, leading to Silverman moving all in from the small blind and Perper going over the top of him from the big. After Cheong backed out, Silverman showed a measly K-5 that was in tough shape against Perper’s pocket Queens. The Jack high board brought no help for Silverman, sending him out of the tournament in fifth place.
With extremely deep stacks, the final four men – now on the money bubble – took their time determining the next man out. Cheong would double through Sands, who would double back against Cheong, and Cheong came back to double again through Sands to keep the chips circling the table. After that flurry of activity, Sands took his attack to the other players on the felt to build up a nice chip lead. By the time Level 19 started at nearly 11PM in Las Vegas, Sands was leading, while Cheong, Courtney and Perper were looking to catch up.
After almost 150 hands, the final three players were determined. Perper, Cheong and Courtney would see a J-8-6 rainbow flop, which saw the action checked to Perper. He would fire a bet and, after Cheong folded, Courtney made the call. The fireworks came on the nine turn, when Courtney moved all in and Perper immediately made the call. Perper turned up J-8 for two pair, while all Courtney could muster was pocket sevens for a straight draw. After a King came on the river, Courtney was out in fourth place and the remaining three men were in the money.
Courtesy of that elimination, Perper surged into the lead, but it wouldn’t last long. He doubled up Cheong and, after Sands won three consecutive hands, Perper dropped to second behind Sands. It still would be almost an hour before the next elimination would occur.
Perper would move all in from the button for over a million in chips and Sands looked to his hold cards and moved all in over the top. Cheong folded and Perper showed his K-7 for battle against Sands’ pocket fives. A five on the flop virtually ended the hand and, once the turn and river failed to bring any salvation for him, Perper was out in third place and Sands went to heads up play against Cheong with a more than 3:1 lead.
Heads up lasted for all of four hands before Sands would emerge victorious. Cheong made the all-in move and, after Sands made the call, he found his A-3 was behind Sands’ A-8. Although both would hit an Ace on the turn, Sands’ eight kicker would play on the Q-5-2-A-9 board to earn Sands the championship of the WPT Super High Roller.
1. David “Doc” Sands, $1,023,750
2. Joseph Cheong, $614,250
3. Daniel Perper, $409,500
4. Jim Courtney*
5. Steven Silverman*
6. Andrew Robl*
* – outside the money
With the victory, Sands now has over $5.5 million in career earnings and, with the World Series of Poker on the horizon, has to be viewed as a favorite in many of the bigger events.
