888poker's Martin Jacobson Falls Short of Second Bracelet in Marathon
A marathon is 26.2 miles long, but at the 2018 World Series of Poker, Event #24: $2,620 The Marathon was measured by time such as the 100-minute levels and the five days needed to play out the final table.
Among those to fall short were Poker Hall of Famer Scotty Nguyen (46th - $11,329), 888poker Ambassador Chris Moorman (60th - $9,616) and Germany’s Marvin Rettenmaier (69th - $8,269).
On Friday, the final nine from a 1,637-player field returned to the Brasilia Room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino to play under the bright lights. With PokerGO capturing the action, some big names were contending for the bracelet and $653,581 first-place prize including Michael Addamo, Taylor Paur and 2014 WSOP Main Event champ Martin Jacobson.
The 888poker Ambassador and Sweden’s all-time money leader was seeking his second piece of WSOP gold, and thanks to a solid run through the tournament, he was in a position to make a run at it coming into Day 5 second in chips.
Days 1 & 2
Jacobson: "The Marathon lived up to its name, it was brutally long to be honest … It was similar to my Main Event run."
Of the 1,637 players that started the tournament only 706 bagged and tagged. Among them was Jacobson, who finished with 63,200. That was good enough to put him 223rd on the end-of-day chip counts. Unfortunately, the PokerNews Live Reporting Team did not catch any hands with Jacobson on Day 1.
On Day 2, it was Level 8 when we picked up a hand with 26,000 in the pot and a board reading 5♦2♣5♣3♣5♠. Jacobson, who was sitting on a stack of 48,000, bet 18,000 into Jon Turner, who was among the big stacks with 170,000. It did the trick though as Turner released his hand.
By the end of the night, 246 players remain in action and Jacobson sat 86th in chips with 205,500.
Days 3 & 4
On Day 3, Jacobson got some early luck when he won a big all in against Dan Colpoys. Jacobson was in for 92,000 holding the J♦J♥ and managed to hold against Colpoys’ A♦K♥ when the board ran out 2♠5♦8♦9♠J♠. Jacobson doubled to 190,5000 after that hand.
In the next level, the board read 3♥Q♠9♥ when Dimitar Danchev check-called a bet from Jacobson, who had tossed out 15,000 from the button. Both players then checked the 3♠ turn and the Q♥ completed the board on the river. Danchev checked and called when Jacobson bet 30,000. Jacobson tabled the J♥5♥ for a flush and Danchev mucked.
At the end of Day 3, 60 players remained and Jacobson was 21st in chips with 811,000.
In the first level of Day 4, Jacobson raised to 26,000 from the cutoff and Peter Rosenblum three-bet to 75,000 from the button. Jacobson responded with a four-bet to 210,000 and Rosenblum called to see a 10♥5♦7♥ flop.
Jacobson continued for 150,000, Rosenblum raised to 325,000, and Jacobson moved all in. Rosenblum snap-called.
Martin Jacobson: A♦A♣
Peter Rosenblum: J♣J♥
Neither the 7♦ turn nor 8♠ river changed a thing and Jacobson doubled big to 1.57 million.
Later in the day, Jacobson managed to seize the chip lead when Javier Fernandez four-bet jammed with the A♠K♣. Jacobson called with the A♥A♦ and held when the board ran out 6♠9♣K♥3♥Q♠. Jacobson chipped up to 5.5 million while Fernandez hit the rail in 28th place for $16,340.
Jacobson went on to eliminate both Mike Azzaro and Sanjay Dulabh on his way to making the final table second in chips with 7,345,000. The only player ahead of him was Mark Sleet with 7,725,000.
Day 5
At the final table, Jacobson seemed to be stuck in reverse. First, he flopped a spade flush draw against the top pair of Ying Chan and failed to get there, and then on Hand #72 he lost a big one to Paur. It happened when he four-bet jammed K♦Q♦ and Paur called off with the A♠K♣. The board ran out 10♥6♠5♣10♠7♠ and Jacobson was left with less than 10bb.
He hung on for a while long, but his number was called on Hand #127 of the final table. In Level 28 (50,000/100,000/10,000) with five players remaining, Bart Lybaert raised to 250,000 from the cutoff and Jacobson three-bet to 1 million out of the big blind. Lybaert four-bet all in and Jacobson called off for around 5.5 million.
Lybaert: A♣A♥
Jacobson: J♠J♦
The A♠K♦6♥ flop gave Lybaert a set and left Jacobson drawing to runner-runner. The 10♦ turn kept him alive, but the 5♦ river was not the jack he needed to stay alive. Jacobson finished the Marathon in fifth place for $155,062.
“I feel happy with my play overall, but there were some misplays, some good plays,” said Jacobson in a post-elimination interview. “The Marathon lived up to its name, it was brutally long to be honest … It was similar to my Main Event run. I don’t even know what day it is. I think it’s Day 5.”
It marked the third cash of the series for Jacobson, who finished 64th in Event #17: $1,500 NLH 6-Handed for $4,608 and 426th in Event #21: $1,500 Millionaire Maker for $4,038.
