Carlos Mortensen is on the cusp of poker history. Not only does he have his sights on $4M, he's also trying to become the first player to ever win the WSOP Main Event and a WPT World Championship. Mortensen is one of the best players from Europe and a victory tonight would solidify his place as one of the greatest tournament players in poker history.
"Carlos is one of the top 3 heads-up players in the world. Behind myself of course," mentioned Gavin Smith. "He's got the edge. There's nobody in the world that I'd rather play less than Carlos Mortensen heads-up."
"I've played with both players and they are great. This final will be fantastic," mentioned Daniel Negreanu.
This is a significant moment in poker and it's extra special that Mortensen could mount one of the greatest comebacks ever at a WPT final table at the taping of the 100th episode.
About 90 minutes before the final table began, the World Poker Tour hosted a party in one of the suites here at Bellagio in honor of this, their 100th episode. Most of the WPT executives were on hand, along with two executives from the Game Show Network (GSN), the new home for the WPT in the upcoming Season 6.
In television, the 100th episode is the key milestone in a show's history. It has very important implications for syndication rights, as a show can be broadcast five days a week and not repeat an episode for 20 straight weeks. And syndication deals are generally worth millions and millions of dollars for a show's producers.
There was also a nice video presentation of the WPT's 100 greatest moments, which was essentially clips of the 100 champions as they won their respective tournaments. It was nice to watch, particularly for those of us who were present for many of those moments.
The World Poker Tour is very important to the sport of poker, and here's hoping they have at least another 100 episodes in their future.
The blinds are still at 200,000-400,000, with a 50,000 ante. The money is on the table and the players are ready to go, so it's time to shuffle up and deal!
Reminder: In heads-up play, the button has the small blind, and acts first before the flop.
2003: Alan Goehring - $1,036,886
2004: Martin de Knijff - $2,728,356
2005: Tuan Le - $2,856,150
2006: Joseph Bartholdi - $3,760,165
2007: ??? - $3,970,415
Hand #88 - Carlos Mortensen has the button, and he folds. Morrison shows A-K as he collects the blinds and antes.
Hand #89 - Kirk Morrison has the button, he limps for 400,000, and Mortensen checks his option. The flop comes 7-7-5, Mortensen checks, Morrison bets 400,000, and Mortensen calls. The turn card is a Q, Mortensen bets 700,000, and Morrison folds. Mortensen takes the pot.
Hand #90 - Carlos Mortensen has the button, he limps for 400,000, Morrison raises to 1.4 million, and Mortensen folds. Morrison takes the pot.
Hand #91 - Kirk Morrison has the button, he limps for 400,000, and Mortensen checks his option. The flop comes with two spades, Mortensen checks, Morrison bets 400,000, and Mortensen folds. Morrison takes the pot.
Hand #92 - Carlos Mortensen has the button, he limps for 400,000, and Morrison checks his option. The flop comes , Morrison checks, Mortensen bets 400,000, and Morrison folds. Mortensen takes the pot.
Heads-up can be a tricky aspect of tournament poker. Some of the best players in the world have problems adjusting to heads-up. You have to start playing a wider variety of hands and that makes it harder to read your opponents.
Another difficult aspect of heads-up to overcome is the fact that you are forced to play every single hand and focus during every moment of play. During full tables, it's possible to take a hand or two off and space out after mucking a hand.
The player who displays the best mental toughness usually prevails heads-up.
Hand #93 - Kirk Morrison has the button, he raises to 1 million, and Mortensen calls. The flop comes , and both players check. The turn card pairs the board with the , Mortensen bets 1.6 million, and Morrison calls. The river card puts trips on the board with the , Mortensen bets 4 million, and Morrison studies Mortensen for several long, quiet minutes.
If Morrison calls, this pot will be worth 13.3 million, and could swing the entire tournament.
Morrison finally calls, showing A-J for trip tens with an ace kicker. Mortensen shows K-2 for trip tens with a king kicker. Morrison makes an extremely difficult call to win a huge pot and take a big lead in the final stage of this tournament.