Battling early into the morning on Friday, PokerNews.com editor Chad Holloway outlasted a field of 898 players to earn the first bracelet of the 2013 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, the $500 Casino Employees Event.
Holloway came into Day Two on Thursday in third place with his 99,400 in chips, a good distance behind the leader Michael Trivett (133,900) but only slightly behind second place Sean Small (103,700) among the 55 players left. Small would make the first big impact of the day, eliminating two players within minutes of the opening bell to rocket up to 230,000 in chips to take the lead. That lead was short-lived, however, as Wyatt Gibson would make pocket tens work against an opponent’s A-J to jump over Small and take over the pole position.
Within three hours of the Day Two play, the field had been cut in half and 27 contenders were still in contention of the title. Holloway to this point had been rather silent but that would change with a big double knockout that would push him up the ladder. After Kevin Kalthoff moved all in and another player pushed his stack in over the top, Holloway found pocket Queens and made the call. His opponents unveiled an A-10 and pocket sevens and, once the board rolled out with no surprises, Holloway saw his stack bump up to 215,000 chips.
The eliminations continued to come quickly as the big stacks maneuvered for their run at the final table. Josh Cahlik doubled up through Gibson to move over the 300K mark, then would bounce another player to approach 400K. Trivett, on the other hand, saw his chips dwindle away after doubling up both Hieu Le and Vincent Petrino. In the Petrino matchup, Trivett would flop a nine to go with his A-9, but Petrino would come back on the King turn to match his Big Slick to take the hand.
Gibson’s run at the Casino Employees Event championship would end when he ran an off suit K-Q into Big Chick (A-Q) and wasn’t able to find a King to save him. Holloway, meanwhile, performed another double execution when he eliminated Robert Jones (J-10) and Jake Revelle (A-K) with pocket Queens on a nine high board. As the dinner bell rang, Holloway was in the fourth place slot behind Bobby Rooney, Allan Kwong and Tyrone Smith among the twelve players remaining.
Cahlik’s night would end after dinner at the hands of Trivett when Trivett’s A♣ 10♣ stood up over Cahlik’s off suit K-8 and, after the elimination of Troy Wilcoxon at the hands of Daniel Ellery, the final table bubble was upon the ten men left. Rooney, after being bested by Holloway’s flopped set while holding two pair, would bring the action down to the official final table after knocking off Petrino and would continue to hold the lead.
Over the first hour of the final table, the eliminations came frequently. Kwong would dump Le out in ninth place when his pocket treys held up over Le’s pocket deuces, Holloway would eliminate Trivett in eighths when his A-8 maintained its lead to the river over Trivett’s K-J and Rooney ended Smith’s run in seventh. The final hand of that first hour of play would help to set up the eventual champion.
After Small raised all in on the button, Holloway looked him up from the small blind and was in the lead, albeit a precarious one. Holloway’s A-4 led Small’s J-8 pre-flop and it got a bit better when a four came on the flop. Looking for an eight or a Jack to take the hand back, Small would instead see a measly six and a nine come on the turn and river, giving the chip lead to Holloway (869,000) with the knockout of Small in sixth place.
There were still five men left as the clock approached midnight and Holloway lost his chip lead. First he would double up Brian Pingel and then would lose a huge pot against Kwong when his K-10 was outpipped by Kwong’s K-J on a K-2-K-5-9 board to fall under the 500K mark and send Kwong over a million chips. That situation would flip around, however, when Holloway made a flush against Kwong to retake the chip lead.
Rooney would attempt to get back in the game by eliminating Pingel (who had eliminated Ellery in fifth) in fourth place, but Kwong would end Rooney’s run in third to set up the heads up fight with Holloway. At the start of play, Holloway held more than a 2:1 lead, but that would disappear on the first hand of heads up action. The duo would flip-flop that lead over a 90 minute battle before the penultimate hand occurred.
After a Kwong pre-flop bet of 75K, Holloway made the call to see a 5-Q-Q flop hit the felt. Holloway checked his option and, after Kwong pushed out some chips, Holloway would three bet him. Kwong responded with an all-in shove and Holloway was more than happy to make the call, tabling his Q-9 for flopped trips while all Kwong could muster was an A-K. A ten on the turn opened the door slightly for Kwong with a Broadway straight draw, but that door slammed shut on the deuce river to crown Chad Holloway the champion of the $500 Casino Employees Event.
1. Chad Holloway (Reedsburg, WI), $84,915
2. Allan Kwong (Oakland, CA), $52,318
3. Bobby Rooney (Oakland, CA), $33,903
4. Brian Pingel (Mesquite, NV), $24,811
5. Daniel Ellery (Las Vegas, NV), $18,426
6. Sean Small (Douglasville, GA), $13,868
7. Tyrone Smith (Las Vegas, NV), $10,567
8. Michael Trivett (Johnson City, TN), $8146
9. Hieu Le (Elk Grove, CA), $6348
