In an epic battle for one of the biggest prizes so far this tournament poker season, Tom Marchese was able to outlast his other five opponents to take down the World Poker Tour’s $100,000 Super High Roller late last night at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Although the six men who came to the table had survived some of the biggest names – and deepest pockets – in the tournament poker world, one man would walk away from this final table disappointed in his efforts. With only five players paying, the sixth place finisher would earn nothing for his three days of labor on the felt. For the gathered audience, many believed that would be the short stack to start the day, Bill Klein, but that would prove not to be the case.
On the very first hand of play, Klein would find a double up through the chip leader, Daniel Perper, to push his stack over the million chip mark. Klein, who stated before the tournament that he would donate any winnings he received to charity, still was the short stack but he now had some chips to operate at the minimum. It would be a clash between the “old guard” and the “new breed” that would bring about the first elimination of the day.
Just thirteen hands into play, Justin Bonomo made a raise from the cutoff, only to have John Juanda repop him from the big blind. Bonomo made the call and, on the 10-7-5 flop, Juanda decided to put him to the test. He moved all in and, after a moment of thought, Bonomo called and tabled an A-10 for top pair. Juanda had that crushed, however, unveiling pocket Kings and, after the turn and river blanked, Bonomo was out in sixth place with nothing to go home with but memories.
Now into the money, the remaining five players would settle in for the long haul. Twenty hands after Bonomo’s elimination, the time came for Klein. After a raise from Perper and a three bet from Andrew Robl, Klein would move all in. Although Perper exited the battle, Robl made the call and was vastly ahead with his pocket Jacks over Klein’s pocket threes. With the cards on their backs, the board brought arguably the most dramatic hand of the tournament.
An A-3-2 flop beat the odds and gave Klein a set of threes to seize the lead, but the fates weren’t done just yet. On the turn, a Jack came to completely shift the fortunes to Robl with his set of Jacks. Once no three came on the river, Klein was out in fifth place but earned a nice donation for two charities with his finish.
Just three hands later, the table would be down to three players. Juanda pumped up the action originally and found a partner in Perper, who moved all in. After a lengthy deliberation, Juanda made the call and turned up an A-10 of diamonds. Perper had the veteran pro exactly where he wanted him as he turned up his pocket Kings, but the board once again provided some cruel reality.
A ten on the flop gave Juanda more outs but, after the board paired on the turn, he was down to four outs to eclipse Perper. The lightning bolt struck on the river in the form of an Ace, giving Juanda Aces up and brutally crush Perper’s Kings up. After starting the day in the lead, Perper was eliminated in fourth place in a particularly ugly fashion.
Only an hour and a half into final table play, the three remaining players then set into one of the longest three-handed battles in recent memory. Marchese, Robl and Juanda shuffled chips between each other, no one able to deliver the knockout blow to get the match to heads up. It would take over 80 hands and three hours of play before the third place finisher was determined.
After Robl made what looked like an attempted blind steal with a raise, Juanda made it three bets to go from the big blind. Robl pushed in his remaining stack and Juanda made the call. It proved to be an unfortunate mistake as Juanda tabled his pocket nines against Robl’s dominant pocket Aces. The board went against Juanda, coming King high, and Robl and Marchese proceeded to heads up play nearly even in chips with Juanda’s departure in third.
The three handed play was a slugfest and, as it turned out, the heads up match would be just as brutal. Marchese would move out to a good lead about twenty hands into the fight but couldn’t initially find the endgame against Robl. By the 30th hand of heads up, Robl had fought back to take the lead by a nearly 2/1 margin. Marchese demonstrated the same fighting spirit, as he slowly brought the match back to even before the penultimate hand of the night.
After a Robl min-raise, Marchese made it 1.2 million to go and Robl called. A monochrome J-7-2 (all spade) flop brought a continuation bet from Marchese, but Robl challenged him with a reraise to 2.5 million. As soon as Robl’s chips hit the pot, Marchese stated, “All in,” and almost as soon as the “in” was out of Marchese’s mouth, Robl’s cards were in the muck. The nearly 7.5 million pot would shift the fortunes of the heads up match.
Six hands following that clash, the tournament would be over. Another Robl min-raise brought another Marchese 1.2 million bet but, this time, Robl dispensed with the call and moved all in. Marchese made a quick call and saw that his pocket eights were ahead of Robl’s A-4. Once the board came with no Ace or four, Tom Marchese became the second ever champion of the WPT $100,000 Super High Roller event.
1. Tom Marchese, $1,308,405
2. Andrew Robl, $822,375
3. John Juanda, $526,320
4. Daniel Perper, $394,740
5. Bill Klein, $263,160
6. Justin Bonomo (bubble)
With the completion of the Super High Roller, there is one more bit of business to be finished up before Season Ten of the WPT is complete. The WPT Championship will be determined this afternoon at 4PM (Pacific Time), with Marvin Rettenmaier holding a dominant lead over the field. The WPT Live Streaming team, with Tony Dunst and Dan O’ Brien, will be bringing the final table to the WPT website on a half-hour delay as the festivities at the Bellagio conclude an excellent season for the WPT.
