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 The inaugural
Doyle Brunson North American Classic Poker Championship was a
record breaking inaugural event. 312 players put up the $10,000 for a prize pool of $3,026,400. The event was exciting
because it was named after the great Doyle Brunson, but more than that it showed how aggressive play is key in winning big
No Limit tournaments. Some of the best
No Limit tournament players (at least in my opinion) are Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen and Daniel Negreanu and all of them are known
for their aggressive play. In tonight's' show, we had David "The Dragon" Pham,
Carlos Mortensen, and Kido Pham. All three
players mixed it up beautifully and ended up being the top three finishers. The other three players were Hung La,
Erik Seidel and John Juanda.
 One of the
first hands of the tournament, we see how David's aggression helps in acquiring chips. Kido raised to $60,000 with T2 and David
reraised to $120,000 with K4 of clubs.
I am not sure how David seemed to know when he could get away with moves like this, but it seemed that every time he
bluffed over the top over a player, the original
raiser was holding a hand that was weak. I suppose it could have been an illusion considering that the WPT is an edited program.
Maybe they only showed the hands where David was successful on his over the top bluffs. But, maybe, David is really a genius poker
player with impeccable timing. David wasn't the only person making over the top moves, Carlos was doing it as well. On one hand,
Carlos raised to $64,000 with 85 of hearts and Hung La called from the small blind with KQ. The flop was AJ5 and both players checked.
The turn was a nine. Hung bet $130,000, Carlos raised to $300,000, and Hung folded his hand.
Kido was one of the shortest stacks when the tournament began, but that quickly changed when he got extremely lucky against
Carlos. Carlos called the $24,000 big
blind with pocket queens and Kido raised to $200,000 with AQ of clubs. Carlos moved all-in and Kido called. The flop was
764 with two clubs. The turn was a jack of clubs giving Kido the
flush and giving Carlos no outs.
The first player eliminated on the show was
John Juanda. Kido raised to $140,000 on the
button with pocket queens and John Juanda moved
all-in from the small blind with pocket tens.
After a little thought, Kido called. It seemed a little strange Kido took so long to make the call. It appeared that John was a
little puzzled with Kido's hesitance too. John looked a little shocked when Kido turned his hand up.
 One
of the most memorable hands of the tournament was when Kido just doubled the $40,000 big blind in first
position with pocket threes. All players folded
around to Carlos in the big blind and he reraised the minimum with 85. Kido called the raise and the table looked on in amusement.
The flop was K83. Carlos bet $40,000 and Kido raised to $600,000! This huge overbet of the pot looked
fishy to Carlos and he took his time to think about
whether his pair of eights was good. He took so long that another player asked for a
clock on him. Once the clock was requested,
Carlos had one minute to act on his hand if he failed to do, his hand would be declared dead. Carlos took all the time on his clock
and his hand was dead. Kido twisted the knife a little when he said that Carlos would be able to see the hand on television. He then
pointed to Carlos chest and drew a little heart on it letting him know that he had heart. I am not sure if the next hand that is shown
on television was actually the next hand in the tournament, but if it was, then it would explain the play a little better. Carlos
raised to $200,000 with 73 of diamonds and Kido folded pocket tens in the blind. The only possible explanation I can come up with is
that Kido knew Carlos was bothered about the prior hand. Normally, you would want to play against somebody who is "tilting",
but Carlos is a tough, relentless player. Kido knew that if he just called there, he would be out of position for the rest
of the hand and Carlos would certainly bet (or raise) no matter what fell on the flop. Kido might have thought his best
options were to either raise or fold. Since he was one of the chip leaders, he could fold the hand and wait for a better spot.
 Erik
was one of the chip leaders in the beginning of the show, but that changed when he got involved in a huge pot. All of the
players folded to David in the small blind and he just called with AJ of clubs. Erik raised to $210,000 with KT of hearts
and David moved all-in for $700,000. Erik was getting about 2 to 1 on his call and he decided to go for it. David flopped an
ace and Erik could not draw out on him. After the hand, Erik was one of the short stacks, but he was not the person who went
out next. Hung La moved all-in with QT and Carlos called with pocket eights. Carlos' hand held up and Hung left the
tournament in fifth place. Erik was not far behind. He got eliminated on the next hand shown when he took QJ against Kido's
pocket Aces.
When the play got down to three handed play, we got to see aggressive play at it's finest. On the first hand of three handed
play, David raised all-in for $880,000 with pocket threes and Carlos called with AJ. David's hand held up and he took a big
chunk out of Carlos' stack. David took down the next hand shown too. Carlos raised to $300,000 on the button with A6 and
David reraised to $890,000 with 32 of clubs. I couldn't believe the guts David hand making a move like that with 3 high.
Carlos folded his hand and David looked like he was going to get the best of his opponents. He probably would have ended up
getting the best of them if he didn't get unlucky on the next hand. David raised to $300,000 with AQ and Carlos moved all-in
from the small blind with A5 of diamonds. David had to call a raise of $1,570,000 and he looked a little troubled for a minute.
He finally called and was relieved when Carlos turned up his hand. The flop was QJ5 with two diamonds. Carlos hit the one of the
best flops for his hand and managed to improve to a flush on the turn. The pot was $3,870,000 and put Carlos back in the lead.
David managed to double up on the next hand when he took K5 against Carlos' A4. He didn't keep the chips long because he called an all-in
bet by Kido and lost when his pocket fours didn't hold up against K9. He was left with only $150,000 and had enough to play only one hand.
The hand that will be talked about more than any others is the next hand we see. David was on the button and had less than
the amount of the big blind. He opted to fold 84 of diamonds. Carlos knew that Kido would fold almost any hand because there
was a $250,000 difference between third and second place. Carlos moved all-in with A5 and Kido shocked everyone when he
called with pocket tens. He could have waited one hand and almost guaranteed himself another $250,000. Instead, he opted to
call the all-in bet with pocket tens because he was going for the win. David looked shocked at the call. He needed Carlos to
win the hand and he would have guaranteed himself a second place finish. Kido's hand held up and David said, "Nice call"
to him. David finished in third place when all of his money went into the big blind with 98. Kido called with Q9 and won the hand.
The heads up play on the show lasted
for a total of three hands. Kido picked up the first one with a raise and Carlos picked up the next one with a raise. The
final hand Carlos raised to $600,000 with KT of clubs. Kido moved all-in with K8 of diamonds and Carlos called! The flop was
K32, the turn was a seven, and the river was a four. Carlos was declared champion of the inaugural Doyle Brunson North
American Classic WPT event. |
