2009 WSOP: Omaha/8 #46, Raymond Claims Bracelet in Epic Final
Day 3 of Event #46, $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo, started with 23 players looking to make the final table of this event and take down the bracelet. Mark Tenner began the day as chip leader with 285,000. Among those left in the field included two-time Omaha hi/lo bracelet winner Frankie O’Dell, Mike Matusow, Pat Poels, David Rabbi, CK Hua, Mark Gregorich, and John Monnette. After 14 hours of play, including a see-saw heads-up match that lasted nearly three hours, Derek Raymond emerged as the champion.
Five players were eliminated during the first few minutes of play. Mike Matusow was first to go in 23rd place. Matusow moved in preflop after looking at only two of his hole cards and was called by James Dempsey. Matusow held A♠A♦Q♣6♦ to Dempsey’s A♥A♣6♣5♣. By the river, Dempsey held both an eight-high straight and 8-7-5 low to scoop Matusow out of the event. David Rabbi was the next player to ht the rail in 22nd place. Rabbi is an old-school professional with three WSOP final table finishes. This was his first cash since the 2005 WSOP.
Jonah Seewald followed Rabbi out the door in 21st place and Victor Del Toro exited in 20th place. Del Toro was involved in a four-way pot preflop with Frankie O’Dell, Fabio Coppola, and Sirous Jamshidi. The flop fell 5♣2♥4♣ and Del Toro bet his last 7,000. Frankie O’Dell raised and the other players called. O’Dell bet both the 10♦ turn and the 7♣ river, while the other opponents called all the way. At the river O’Dell showed A♦6♠3♣10♥ for a wheel and seven-high straight. Jamshidi showed 9♣8♥7♦6♥ for an eight-high straight and Coppola only held two pair. Del Toro mucked his hand and headed out of the tournament area.
Jim Banafato was bounced from the tournament in 19th place. He was all in with a low and straight draw against the nut low, straight draw, and flush draw of J.W. Smith. The turn and river put trips on the board and Smith scooped after he won the high with his A-K kickers. Meng La finished in 18th when he ran queens up into the aces up of Mark Tenner. CK Hua soon joined La on the rail, out in 17th place. Frankie O’Dell was all in on the flop with aces and queens against the aces and fives of Josh Schlein. The river fell another five to give Schlein fives full and bust O’Dell in 16th place.
Danny Smith was all in preflop with 10♠8♠7♦5♣ and called by the A♣Q♥9♣2♣ of Sirous Jamshidi. The flop gave Smith a gutshot draw and a pair of tens. The river gave Jamshidi a pair of queens to send Smith home in 15th. James “Flushy” Dempsey put the last of his chips in on the 2♥6♥J♥ flop. Pat Poels and Fabio Coppola both made the call and checked down the 3♣ turn and the A♠ river. Coppola showed Q♥9♥Q♣4♣ for the flush. Poels mucked and Dempsey tabled A♥K♦9♠2♣ for two pair as he hit the rail in 14th. Jeff Tunkel was then knocked out in 13th place by J.W. Smith.
Patrice Boudet made his exit in 12th place. He put the last of his chips in preflop with A♠7♣5♥2♥ and was called by both Pat Poels and Michael Keiner. The 9♥8♣10♣J♦J♠ board was checked down all the way and Keiner showed K♠9♠9♦7♥ to scoop the pot with nines full. J.W. Smith finished in 11th place. He moved in with double-suited aces, and was called by Josh Schlein with K♦K♥J♣2♣. A king on the flop put Schlein in the lead and his set of kings was good enough send Smith packing.
John Monnette became this event’s final table bubble boy. Michael Keiner three-bet preflop and Monnette called all in. Monnette held 9♠7♥6♥5♠ against the A♥A♦3♦8♠ of Keiner. The flop of 7♠2♦Q♦ gave Keiner a double-nut draw. The turn J♦ left Monnette needing a non-pairing small card to hit the river to win half the pot. The river fell the 2♥ and Monnette was out in tenth place as the final table was set. Josh Schlein entered the final table as chip leader. This is how the final nine players entered final table play:
Seat 1: Mark Gregorich — 90,000
Seat 2: Josh Schlein — 740,000
Seat 3: Scott Bohlman — 120,000
Seat 4: Mark Tenner — 585,000
Seat 5: Michael Keiner — 400,000
Seat 6: Pat Poels — 90,000
Seat 7: Derek Raymond — 415,000
Seat 8: Sirous Jamshidi — 260,000
Seat 9: Fabio Coppola — 407,000
Pat Poels started the final as the short stack and he didn’t take long to attempt a double-up. Scott Bohlman three-bet preflop and Pat Poels made the call. Poels called a bet on the flop of 7♣8♥8♠ and then raised Bohlman all in when the 9♠ fell on the turn. Bohlman called and turned over A♠A♦7♠4♥ for aces up, a flush draw, and a low draw. Poels turned over A♣A♥J♦J♠ for the same two pair with no draws. The river fell the 5♠ to give Bohlman his flush and a low, sending Poels out in ninth place. The multi-bracelet winner took home $23,541 for his strong finish.
Mark Tenner took the chip lead after taking a sizable pot off Mark Keiner and Josh Schlein. Schlein three-bet preflop with Keiner and Tenner both making the call. Schlein bet out and was called by both opponents on the Q♦10♦3♥ flop and the J♣ turn. The river of the 4♣ was checked down and Tenner took the pot with A♦3♦J♠6♥ for two pair. Tenner moved up to 900,000 in chips after the pot.
Mark Gregorich was the next man eliminated from the event. He was all in preflop against both Josh Schlein and Mark Tenner. At the turn, Tenner bet into the board of 8♠K♥4♦K♣ and Schlein got out of the way. Gregorich held A♥K♠10♠10♥ for trip kings and Tenner tabled K♦J♦9♣8♦ for a turned full house. The river 6♥ failed to improve Gregorich and he headed to the rail. Gregorich’s eighth-place finished netted him $26,213.
On the next hand, Michael Keiner moved all in with A♠5♥5♦10♥ and was called by Derek Raymond holding J♣9♠4♥3♦. By the river, Raymond held jacks up to best the eights up of Keiner. Michael Keiner finished in seventh place, good for $30,562.
Sirous Jamshidi raised all in on the board of 4♦5♠2♥7♦ and was insta-called by Bohlman. Jamshidi knew he was in trouble and even said, “You flopped the wheel, huh?” Jamshidi’s powers of deduction were spot on as Bohlman flipped over A♦K♦J♦3♠ for a wheel and the nut-flush draw. Jamshidi flipped over Q♣5♣4♥2♣ for two pair and needed a four, five, or deuce to stay alive. The river fell the 9♦ and Jamshidi went out in sixth place as he headed to the payout window to receive his $37,350 payday.
Josh Schlein finished in fifth place at the hands of Derek Raymond. Down to just 110,000 in chips, Schlein put them into play holding 7♦6♣5♠5♦. Raymond called with Q♦10♥4♦3♦. The flop of Q♣A♣6♦ gave both players a pair and Raymond the better low draw. The J♣ on the turn missed both players and the 8♣ on the river gave Raymond the scoop. Schlein took home $48,028 for his fifth-place finish. Fabio Coppola was the next player to get the hook, out in fourth place. Coppola three-bet preflop and was called by Derek Raymond. Raymond check-called each street as the board fell J♦7♥5♥J♣Q♦. Coppola’s bet on the river set him all in. At showdown, Raymond flipped over A♦K♠10♦7♦ for jacks and sevens and Coppola showed A♠K♣4♠3♥ for jacks only. Fabio Coppola’s failed bluff sent him to the rail in fourth place for a $65,094 payday.
Scott Bohlman moved all in at the turn on the board of 5♦7♣J♦5♥ and was called by Mark Tenner. Bohlman held A♦K♠Q♠7♠ for two pair and Tenner held A♠K♥5♠4♣ for trip fives. No seven arrived on the river and Bohlman headed out in third place. $93,199 was his reward for the strong showing. Heads-up play began with Mark Tenner holding a slight chips advantage over Derek Raymond. Tenner held around 1.7 million in chips while Raymond held 1.3 million.
Play went back and forth for a bit, with Raymond moving into the chip lead for awhile, but Tenner pulled right back to even. A big pot then developed between the two that gave Tenner more than a 2-to-1 advantage over Raymond. On the board of Q♥2♣7♣6♥2♦, Raymond check-called a river bet from Tenner. Tenner showed A♥K♥Q♦3♠ for two pair with the nut low. Raymond mucked and Tenner moved up to 2.25 million. Raymond was left with just 930,000.
Raymond then took down a series of pots to come back and take the title. The comeback started when Raymond rivered a flush against Tenner. Raymond continued to chip away at Tenner’s stack until Tenner had only around 205,000 left. The final hand of the event had Tenner all in with K♦Q♥3♥2♥ against the 10♠5♣4♣3♦ of Raymond. The flop of J♦7♥2♦ gave Tenner the lead with a pair and also gave Raymond a low draw. The A♦ turn gave each player a straight draw at opposite ends of the deck, as Raymond was drawing to a wheel and Tenner had a draw to Broadway. The river fell the 4♦ to complete Raymond’s wheel and eliminate Tenner. Mark Tenner finished as the runner-up of this event and took home $141,647.
Derek Raymond is the champion of Event #46, $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo. Raymond entered the final table in the middle of the pack and played a solid game to stay around the top of the leaderboard. Heads-up play between Raymond and Tenner lasted nearly three hours, with both players taking a turn as chip leader. After falling to a 2-to-1 chip disadvantage, Raymond caught a heater and rode it to his first WSOP gold bracelet. In addition to his new bling, Raymond received $229,192.
