2010 World Series of Poker Day 38: Huck Seed Wins Tournament of Champions and Final Tables Set in Events #54 and #56
Huck Seed, 1996 Main Event champion, added to his resume Sunday night by winning the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions. Seed outlasted Howard Lederer in a heads-up battle to win half a million in prize money and walk away with the glory that comes with winning a tournament that included the best poker players in the world. The final two tables for the last two tournaments before the Main Event gets under way will play out Monday alongside Day 1a if the biggest tournament of the summer.
Event #54: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Nine players, David Peters, Marcel Vonk, Henrik Tollefsen, Nathan Jessen, Matthew Lupton, Dustin Dorrance-Bowman, Mehul Chaudhari, Paul Kerr and Espen Moen will return Monday and play until one wins Event #54.
The final table was set after Peters took the chip lead going into the final table by elminating eliminated Johnny Kitchens. After a flop of 7♠10♦9♣, Peters check-raised all-in on a 225,000 bet from Kitchens, who found himself behind with A♦10♣ when Peters turned over pocket aces. Kitchens needed a ten to stay in the tournament but the board ran out Q♦J♥ making him the unfortunate bubble of the final table.
The nine players will return Monday at 3 p.m. and our WSOP live update crew will be there to bring you all the action as it happens.
Event #56: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
James "mig.com" Mackey became the final table bubble in Event #56. Mackey was short-stacked with just 80,000 when Tomer Berda opened to 110,000 from under the gun, and Hungcheng Hung called from early position causing Mackey to push all-in chips into the middle. Ali Alawadhi called from the small blind to see a flop of 6♦K♠2♣, and all three active players checked. Alawahdi checked the turn of the 4♦, Berda fired out a bet of 200,000, Hung called, and Alawahdi removed himself from the hand. Hung folded on the river after the A♥ was revealed, and when Berda fired out 300,000, it was time to see the two remaining players' hands. Berda opened up two black fours for a set, which trumped Mackey's pocket nines. And with that, the final table was set. Mackey hopes to brush off his bubble finish and have better luck in the Main Event.
The nine remaining players will be back Monday at 3 p.m. and play down to a winner and you can follow the action here.
World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions
A seasoned champion emerged as the winner of the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions after outlasting a final table that included Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Joe Hachem, Jennifer Harman andJohnny Chan. The player to outlast the star-studded field full of the best players in the world was the quiet, toweringHuck Seed.
After the elimination of Johnny Chan in third place, the heads-up battle for the title between Seed and Howard Lederer began with Lederer slightly in the lead. But after just about an hour of heads-up play, Seed was able to double through Lederer with a rivered nine-high straight to gain the advantage and turn the tournament momentum in his favor.
Lederer moved his remaining 138,000 into the middle from the button, and Seed made the call. Lederer showed Q♣8♣ and Seed turned over A♠2♠ to see a flop of 7♠6♥6♦. The turn revealed the 9♠, giving Lederer the open-ended straight draw but Seed the flush-draw. The flush or straight was not to be, though, and in the end it was the A♥ on the river that gave Seed two pair for the win. The 1996 Main Event champion took home half a million dollars in prize money, but more importantly, he proved he is still as good as ever 14 years after his first major win.
Check out how it all went down over on our WSOP live reporting pages.
On Tap
Day 1a of the Main Event will begin at 12 p.m. Monday.
Be sure to follow the WSOP live reporting coverage for all the action, and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
