PartyPoker Premier League VI: Cates Wins Group A Heat 2; Duhamel Retains Overall Lead
The second heat of Group A of the Party Poker Premier League VI ended Tuesday night with Dan "Jungleman" Cates sitting behind all the chips. Cates vastly improved his performance from Heat 1, where he received just two points, by picking up 16 points and $32,000 for his Heat 2 triumph. He now sits second overall in Group A behind Jonathan Duhamel, who finished runner-up in the second heat.
Group A Heat 2 Results
| Place | Player | Points | Prize* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Cates | 16 | $32,000 |
| 2 | Jonathan Duhamel | 11 | $22,000 |
| 3 | Daniel Negreanu | 8 | $16,000 |
| 4 | Phil Hellmuth | 6 | $12,000 |
| 5 | Scott Seiver | 4 | $8,000 |
| 6 | Marvin Rettenmaier | 3 | $6,000 |
| 7 | Sam Trickett | 2 | $4,000 |
| 8 | Antonio Esfandiari | 0 | $0 |
*Each player receives $2,000 for every point earned during the event
Antonio Esfandiari, playing in his first Premier League, continued to struggle on Tuesday after picking up only three points for his sixth-place finish in Heat 1. He was the first to hit the rail in Heat 2, leaving him with no points and no money. To have any chance of making the final table, he’ll need to finish in the top three in the next two heats.
Sam Trickett started the Premier League off well by earning 11 points in Heat 1 after losing to Duhamel in heads-up play. Despite sitting near the top of the counts in the first few levels of Heat 2, Trickett lost a big pot with pocket queens against Scott Seiver’s pocket kings, and later he ran into two troubling hands against Marvin Rettenmaier, leaving him with only two points for seventh place.
Rettenmaier played through the first few levels as the shortest stack but managed to double up twice. The first came with him holding only six big blinds when his pocket aces held against Trickett's pocket kings. Later he found himself with Ax8x against Trickett’s Ax7x, and the better hand held up again. Rettenmaier held on for a little while longer until he three-bet all-in for his last 116,000 with pocket nines against Cates, who felt he was priced in to call with K♦4♦. The 7♥3♦K♥ flop gave Cates the lead he held on through the J♥ turn and 10♦ river. Rettenmaier locked up three points for sixth to go with the eight he collected in the first heat.
Seiver, the defending Premier League champ, got off to a bad start in Heat 1, finishing in last place for no points. But things got better in Heat 2. After doubling against Trickett with his pocket kings, he held on a bit longer before exiting in Level 6. Daniel Negreanu min-raised with J♥10♣ from early position and Seiver flatted with A♦3♦. On the 2♠3♠10♠ flop, Seiver checked and Negreanu tossed in a continuation bet worth 25,000. Seiver then raised all in for 111,000, and Negreanu snap-called. The turn and river didn’t help Seiver, who exited in fifth place with four points.
Hellmuth was the next to go, but not before he got bluffed off a pot by Negreanu. Hellmuth limped from the cutoff with K♠9♠ and then called when Negreanu raised to 48,000 from the button with 8♠6♣. The two then checked to the river on a A♣A♠K♦9♣9♦ board. Hellmuth fired a 20,000 bet and Negreanu raised to 140,000, resulting in an insta-muck from Hellmuth with his full house. It was downhill from there as Hellmuth eventually got the last of his chips in the middle with K♠Q♦ against Duhamel’s pocket threes. A 2♦8♠10♥9♣9♠ board sent Hellmuth’s remaining chips to Duhamel, and the "Poker Brat" hit the rail in fourth place.
Negreanu was out soon after when he ran Ax10x into the AxKx of Cates. He took third place for eight points.
Down to just two players, Duhamel batted Cates heads-up for the 16 points and $32,000 that goes to the winner of each heat. In the key hand that left Duhamel crippled, Duhamel raised with Kx8x, Cates three-bet with pocket aces and Duhamel called. On a queen-high flop, Cates fired a continuation bet and Duhamel shoved all-in. Cates called with the best of it and his hand help up, leaving Duhamel with just 62,000 in chips.
Duhamel managed to run his stack back up over 300,000, but he couldn’t pull off the comeback. Cates went on to win the heat and now sits second in the overall group standings.
Group A Overall Standings
| Place | Player | Points | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Duhamel | 27 | $54,000 |
| 2 | Daniel Cates | 18 | $36,000 |
| 3 | Daniel Negreanu | 14 | $28,000 |
| 4 | Sam Trickett | 13 | $26,000 |
| 5 | Marvin Rettenmaier | 11 | $22,000 |
| 6 | Phil Hellmuth | 10 | $20,000 |
| 7 | Scott Seiver | 4 | $8,000 |
| 8 | Antonio Esfandiari | 3 | $6,000 |
Two more rounds will be played in Group A this week. The top three players from each group will move into the finals while fourth and fifth place will compete heads-up in a best-of-three format for the final two seats. The eight-man final table will then play for the top prize of $450,000.
The second heat of Group B began late on Tuesday and reconvened earlier today. Stay tuned to PokerNews for full recaps of each heat of the PartyPoker Premier League.
For more, check out the PartyPoker Blog.
Photo courtesy of the PartyPoker Blog.
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