There aren’t many situations in this world where winning over $400,000 can feel terrible. Even fewer where that feeling has nothing to do with the additional money that wasn’t won. Poker is one of those arenas. To Henry Lu, Monday night was his moment to shine, to celebrate his victory in the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em. For Neil Channing, it was a night where he watched his dream slip right out of his fingers.
Channing is one of Britain’s favorite poker sons. The 44-year year old is extremely popular and exceedingly skilled at the game. His 13 years of tournament cashes, including almost 30 at the WSOP, and now $3.3 million in earnings bear this out. But just as some golfer is always nicknamed “the best player to have never won a major,” so is Neil Channing considered one of the best poker players to have never won a WSOP bracelet.
It looked like Monday would finally be the day Channing could throw away that title, as he ran roughshod over the competition. It seemed like everything he touched turned to gold on Day 3 and he was just 10,000 behind Lu, the chip leader, heading into the final table. His domination continued at the final table. With four players remaining, Channing had 6.52 million chips, more than his three opponents combined. Upon eliminating Tom Alner in 4th place, he was up to 9.1 million. And then, entered heads-up play, he had a monstrous 10.2 million to 2.25 million chip lead. The bracelet was right there.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the title. Henry Lu got in the way. Lu himself was almost not even at the final table. With just 11 players remaining, he was down to about two big blinds, likely mentally prepared to take his leave. But he doubled-up and doubled-up and doubled-up again and just like that, he was leading the tourney going into the final table.
Perhaps he learned a lesson in persistence when he was almost out of the tournament, as he quickly doubled at the beginning of heads-up play. In less than a half-hour, he had taken the chip lead away from Channing. Channing was able to grab it back, though, and even grew it back to about where it was to start heads-up. But Lu was playing great poker and perhaps because he never expected to make it so far, appearing extremely loose.
Lu regained the chip lead about two hours in and didn’t look back. With around 9 million chips, Lu went over the top all-in after Channing raised pre-flop and Channing decided to make the call for his tournament life. It was a race: Channing had A♦-J♦ and Lu held 4♣-4♥. The rest of the hand was uneventful. Neither man hit a card, but that worked perfectly for Lu, as his pair remained the best hand. The devastated Channing took a while to leave, looking like he had no idea how his first bracelet escaped him. For Henry Lu, it was time to celebrate. He had his first WSOP gold bracelet and $654,380.
2012 WSOP Event #43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em – Final Table Results
1. Henry Lu – $654,380
2. Neil Channing – $406,409
3. James Mackey – $286,633
4. Tom Alner – $207,019
5. John Nelson – $151,338
6. Hovan Nguyen – $111,961
7. Balazs Botond – $83,802
8. Francois Dur – $63,459
9. Jared Rosenbaum – $48,614
