In a rather quick five-hour session on Wednesday, the players at the World Poker Tour’s latest stop at the Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, CA, determined the final table for the event. Leading the way for the final six will be William Vo, but he will face the opposition of five other men who have scrambled their way through the 687-entry field.
13 men came back on Wednesday afternoon, looking to claim the latest title on the Season XV schedule. Local favorite Vo, a 77-year old grinder whose celebrations after winning hands has delighted the railbirds, was the heavy favorite at the start of the day with his 4.125 million in chips. He was going to face several potent challenges, however, mostly in the form of World Series of Poker bracelet winners Upeshka de Silva (2.665 million), Benjamin Zamani (two million), former WSOP-Europe Championship Event victor Barry Shulman (1.865 million) and former WPT champion Garrett Greer (800K).
Only a half hour into the day’s action, one of the biggest clashes of the tournament occurred. After a raise from Todd Peterson, Gary Sewell popped the remainder of his stack to the center and called for less. Shulman called Sewell’s action and, following an all-in from Peterson, didn’t hesitate to make the call and put both Peterson and Sewell in danger of elimination. When the cards came up, it was obvious that the hands played themselves:
Shulman: pocket Jacks
Peterson: pocket Aces
Sewell: K-J off suit
Sewell, acting after Peterson’s raise, was looking to get him to dump a smaller pair, but once Shulman was in the hand Sewell had to realize he wasn’t in good shape. Shulman was looking to isolate Sewell and force Peterson off that smaller pair that Sewell though Peterson was holding, but Peterson – and his Aces – weren’t going anywhere!
When the dealer delivered the flop, he also killed any drama that might have happened. The A-A-10 flop gave Peterson quad Aces and left Shulman and Sewell drawing dead. Once the formalities were completed (running Kings, which gave Sewell a worthless boat of Kings over Aces), Sewell was eliminated from the tournament and Shulman was left with fumes in the tank, with those fumes being sucked up by de Silva moments later.
It would take more than two hours before a flurry of departures brought about the final table. Maintaining his lead, Vo knocked off Will Givens in 11th place when Givens’ flush failed to come home. After the redraw for the final 10 men at the unofficial final table, de Silva would eliminate Ray Quartomy in tenth place and David “The Dragon” Pham fell in ninth place at the hands of Peterson.
With only two players left until the official WPT six-handed final table, the tension only increased for the final eight men. After seeing de Silva make a big bet from the cutoff in front of him, Greer made his stand and, after de Silva made the call and the cards were up, saw that he had made the right decision. Greer’s pocket fours were in the lead against de Silva’s K-Q off suit, but the J-10-7 flop opened several doors for de Silva. One of those doors opened when a nine came on the turn, giving de Silva the unbeatable straight. Another ten came on the river but Greer was already shaking hands with de Silva as he hit the rail in eighth place.
De Silva would also be responsible for ending the evening’s play. Jeremy Kottler would open the betting from early position and, after de Silva defended his big blind, a 6-3-2 flop rolled out. De Silva check-called Kottler’s continuation bet and, on a four turn, de Silva now fired out. Kottler called and, after another trey came on the river, de Silva plopped his remaining chips in the center of the baize.
Kottler now try to reconstruct the hand and, after those thoughts, didn’t buy the story de Silva was telling. He made the call and turned up his pocket Aces, only to see de Silva turn up a 6-3 that had flopped two pair and made a boat on the river to win the hand. As de Silva scooped up the chips, Kottler hit the cashier’s cage in seventh place and the survivors were through to the final table.
1. William Vo, 5.26 million
2. Pat Lyons, 4.98 million
3. Upeshka de Silva, 4.475 million
4. Benjamin Zamani, 3.21 million
5. Todd Peterson, 1.94 million
6. Rafael Ferreira de Oliveira, 780,000
The six men will reconvene on Thursday afternoon at “The Bike” and look to determine the champion of the Legends of Poker. The player who works their way through the final table to be the “last man standing” will take down the laurels of victory and $615,346 in prize money.
