2009 WSOP: Carris is Sole Survivor of NLHE Shootout #22
The final table of Event #22, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, started with ten players who each won his first two rounds of one-table shootouts as 1,000 players were reduced to ten. When the final round ended on Friday night, Jeffrey Carris was the one with all the chips, claiming the title and his first WSOP gold bracelet.
As Day 3 action began, the final table was seated as follows, each player starting with 450,000 in chips and blinds starting at 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante:
Seat 1: Jason Somerville
Seat 2: Christopher Moore
Seat 3: Joseph Cutler
Seat 4: Jeffrey Carris
Seat 5: Michael McNeil
Seat 6: Josh Tieman
Seat 7: Eugene Katchalov
Seat 8: Mike Shannon
Seat 9: Andrew Margolis
Seat 10: Brandon Wong
Jason Somerville took an early pot off of Josh Tieman with pocket queens against Tieman's A♣K♥, while Jeffrey Carris made the higher end of a straight with A♠10♠ on the A♦8♥9♣7♠6♣ board, as Mike Shannon had the bottom end of the straight with pocket fives to establish the two leaders and two short stacks. Early in Level 2, Shannon would be the first player to run out of bullets in the shootout. Down to his last 117,000 in chips, he went all in with K♠Q♥ as Jeffrey Carris called instantly with K♦K♥. No help came for Mike Shannon, who finished in tenth place, good for $13,609.
Andrew Margolis would move into the chip lead after he tangled with Jason Somerville in the largest pot of the first two levels. Margolis made a button raise to 20,000. Somerville re-popped it to 63,000 out of the big blind, and Margolis called. Somerville made a continuation bet of 80,000 on the 4♦6♦7♥ flop as Margolis came along for the ride. The K♥ on the turn brought another bet of 130,000 from Somerville, which Margolis called again. The river was the 10♠, and this time Somerville gave it some thought and decided to check. Margolis pounced on the opportunity and fired out a bet of 275,000. Somerville asked how much Margolis had behind him, and after hearing the answer, folded his hand.
Josh Tieman remained the short stack as play entered Level 3 with blinds at 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante. His last hand had him making a raise to 31,000, and when Jason Somerville made a reraise to 256,000, Tieman called for the rest of his chips with A♥K♣. Somerville turned over a pair of black tens, which held up when the board came 6♣4♣8♦7♥8♠, sending Josh Tieman to the cashier to pick up $17,045 in winnings. The remaining eight players moved on to Level 4 with 8,000/16,000 blinds with a 2,000 ante.
Michael McNeil departed the table in eighth place, after he flopped top pair with Q♦10♠ on the Q♥4♣6♣ board and pushed all in. Unfortunately for him, Andrew Margolis had flopped a set of sixes with his 6♦6♠ and he didn't hesitate in making the call. McNeil's hopes were gone at the 7♠ turn as he picked up $21,981 for his efforts. Joseph Cutler moved into contention when he shoved all in for 326,000 holding A♣10♣, with Eugene Katchalov calling in the small blind with A♦K♠. Cutler looked in bad shape, but the flop of 9♥5♦10♦ turned that frown upside down. The turn and river brought no help to Katchalov, as he fell to just 70,000 in chips while Cutler moved over 700,000.
Katchalov put the last of his chips into the middle a few hands later with pocket queens, to be called by Jeffrey Carris holding K♥9♦. The 10♦J♥2♥ flop left Carris drawing to just five outs. The turn was a blank, but the river queen gave Carris the straight, which brought a roar from his fans on the rail. Katchalov would walk away from the table in seventh place with a payout slip good for $29,195. The six remaining players would then go on their one-hour dinner break shortly afterward, with Carris the chip leader.
Brandon Wong was the next player to leave the featured table. Starting with the best hand, Wong held A♣Q♥ when he went all in with his last 289,000. Andrew Margolis held A♥J♦ when he decided to make the call, ruing the decision when both hands were turned over. That all changed when the flop came down 7♣6♣J♥, as the Margolis supporters gave a roar of approval at the turn of events. The turn and river didn't bring Brandon Wong a queen, leaving him to take the long walk to the pay window to pick up $39,968 while Margolis regained the chip lead with over 1.5 million in chips.
Jason Somerville was the short stack with under 500,000 when the blinds moved up to 12,000/24,000 with a 3,000 ante. Somerville didn't let that faze him, as some aggressive play against Andrew Margolis put him over the million-chip mark. Joseph Cutler also tried to take a piece of Margolis' stack when he three-bet all in with K♥Q♥. Margolis called with the dominating A♣Q♣ and the flop gave Cutler little help as it came down 8♣4♥3♠. The A♥ on the turn gave Cutler outs to a flush, but the 3♦ was the wrong red card for him as he hit the rail, consoled by the $56,440 payday for his fifth-place finish.
Players returned from a break to start Level 7, with the blinds at 15,000/30,000 and a 4,000 ante when the two chip leaders, Jeffrey Carris and Andrew Margolis, tangled in a gigantic pot. Carris made a raise under the gun for 85,000. Margolis reraised to 140,000, which Carris called. Both players checked the 9♦5♠6♠ flop. The 10♥ turn saw Carris lead out with a bet of 200,000 which Margolis called. When the 3♦ came on the river, Carris led out again with a bet for 440,000. Margolis thought for several minutes, eventually making the call. Carris then turned over the nuts 8♦7♦ for the flopped straight, sending him to nearly 2.5 million in chips while Margolis slipped to just 750,000.
Jason Somerville pounced on the opportunity when he moved in for 435,000 against Margolis, who called with 10♦10♣. Somerville revealed K♥J♥ and it was a race situation. When the flop came down 9♠J♦A♣, it was Somerville who moved into the lead, the flop and turn brought no help for Margolis, who now dropped to just 320,000 while Somerville moved to 1,200,000.
The final half-hour would bring the field from four down to the eventual winner in a rapid-fire series of eliminations. First, Christopher Moore moved in with his last 350,000 in chips holding K♣J♦, as Jeffrey Carris looked him up with A♠9♠. The flop came down K♠7♠A♦ giving Carris top pair and the nut flush draw, which came in when the J♠ hit the turn. Christopher Moore had four outs left to make a full house, but the 4♥ wasn't one of them and he left the tournament in fourth place to have his $82,322 payout added to his tournament database. Carris continued to send people to the rail when his A♣Q♦ led all the way against Andrew Margolis’ K♠8♠ as the board came down 2♦9♣3♥A♠10♥, with Margolis drawing dead by the turn. Margolis and his fans left the room with $124,158 at their disposal to celebrate his third-place finish.
Jeffrey Carris held a 3-to-1 chip lead over Jason Somerville when the heads-up duel began. After 20 minutes mano-a-mano, Somerville shoved from the small blind with Q♠6♦ and Carris called with K♣5♦. When the board came down A♠7♦8♣3♠J♣, the thrill was gone for Jason Somerville, who would take home $194,004 for finishing as the runner-up.
For Jeffrey Carris, $313,673 and a coveted WSOP bracelet was his reward for winning three one-table shootouts and besting 999 other hopefuls. Stay locked into PokerNews to follow all the action as the World Series of Poker continues at the Rio in Las Vegas.
