Bahador “Baha” Ahmad careened his way through a field of 527 players, including a tough final table that included Barry Greenstein and Ylon Schwartz, to win the $2.5K Mixed Hold’em Event (#47) Friday evening. Ahmadi, an Iranian-born poker pro now living in Canada, earned his biggest career payday of $278,804 with the win.
After seven hours of play at the final table it took just one hand of heads-up play for Ahmadi to claim victory. His opponent, John McGuiness, completed his option from the button and Ahmadi checked behind. On the A-7-2 flop with two diamonds, McGuiness moved all in and Ahmadi quickly called:
McGuiness: [Td][Th]
Ahmadi: [Jd][3d]
A deafening roar came from Ahmadi’s supporters when the [Kd] landed on the turn, giving Ahmadi a flush and leading McGuiness drawing dead. McGuiness collected $172,227 for his first WSOP cash.
In Mixed Hold’em, the game switches between rounds of Limit Hold’em and No Limit Hold’em with the games alternating every 30 minutes. Ahmadi, more experienced in Limit Hold’em, talked about his strategy during Event #47: “In an event like this, you find a lot of No Limit players who have not played much Limit. So, if you have any edge in Limit, you can do well. I have a strong background in Limit. I found that I was able to really make (major gains) when we were playing Limit. I sat back in the No-Limit and just picked my spots.”
This was Ahmadi’s second final table of the 2009 WSOP. He took fourth in the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em Event (#13) for $139,934. He two cashes this year bring his total WSOP earnings to $418,738.
A handful of big names joined Ahmadi and McGuinness at the final table. PokerStars Team Pro Ylon Schwartz, a member of the 2008 WSOP Main Event November Nine, took third place for $112,967. Barry Greenstein made his second final table appearance in less than a week and finished fifth for $57,671. Fellow bracelet winner Hassan Habib earned $30,641 for his eighth-place finish.
Here’s a look at the final results of Event #47:
1. Bahador Ahmadi – $278,804
2. John McGuiness – $172,227
3. Ylon Schwartz – $112,967
4. Karlo Lopez – $78,628
5. Barry Greenstein – $57,671
6. Matt Woodward – $44,520
7. Randy Haddox – $36,084
8. Hasan Habib – $30,641
9. Zachary Humphrey – $27,199
One tournament will crown a champion on Saturday as the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 8-or-better event will play down to a winner. Ultimate Bet Team Pro Brandon Cantu gained the chip lead early on Day 2 and never looked back, eclipsing the 1-million mark before another player had even reached 300,000. He’ll begin the final table with 1,025,000 in chips while Jacqmin Mathieu (552,000) and Full Tilt Pro Lee Watkinson (412,000) follow him in contention for the bracelet and $228,867 prize.
Meanwhile, Day 2 of the $50,000 HORSE event will resume at 4:00 p.m. with 90 of the original 95 participants still in the field. Hassan Habib, who took his seat after busting from the final table of Event #47, has the chip lead with 387,000. Martin Vallo (347,200), Matt Glantz (300,000) and David Benyamine (282,200) are close behind. The five-day event will conclude on Tuesday with the winner receiving $ 1,276,802.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for updates on all of today’s events at the World Series of Poker.
