It took a grueling three-day battle through 2,095 players and 11 hours on Thursday but, as the clock passed Midnight, online poker player Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin emerged as the champion of the latest $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
As the final day of play began, 21 players were in the hunt for their first WSOP bracelet and some were looking to add another one to their collection. Such pros as 2009 bracelet winner Roland de Wolfe and Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier took to the felts. Corwin “mig.com” Mackey (a 2007 WSOP bracelet winner), Praz Bansi (2006 bracelet holder), and poker veteran Young Phan (a WSOP Circuit Event ring owner) were all gathered for battle at one table, all but ensuring that at least one wouldn’t survive to the finals.
The early action wasn’t kind to some of the pros on the felt. Bansi was eliminated in 19th place and Mackey followed him out the door in 18th. A cooler knocked out ElkY in 13th place when his pocket Kings ran into pocket Aces. After nearly four hours of play, only Phan and de Wolfe made the final 10 players, but were the short stacks. Jonas Klausen had the chip lead with slightly over 2.3 million chips, 600,000 more than Baldwin, his closest pursuer, and more than six times what Phan and de Wolfe held.
Phan did not record an official final table finish, as he was eliminated in 10th place. After the dinner break, de Wolfe, who had nursed his short stack in an attempt to claim his second bracelet of this year’s WSOP, left the festivities in fifth at the hands of Klausen. An hour and a half after de Wolfe’s departure, the final duo was determined with the two players who came to the final table with the most chips, Klausen and Baldwin, began to battle for the bracelet.
Both players were nearly dead even in chips as the heads-up battle started. Over the first 45 minutes of heads-up play, Klausen was able to crawl into the lead, only to see Baldwin cripple him 10 minutes later when Klausen flopped top two pair on a [Ts] [4s] [Qh] flop, moved in, and was called. Baldwin’s set of fours decimated the stack of the Danish player and, on the next hand, Baldwin sealed the deal when his pocket 10s outraced the [Ah] [Qh] of Klausen. For his efforts, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, who was also the member of a Division III NCAA baseball championship team in 2005, walked off with his first WSOP gold bracelet and the $521,932 first place prize.
There will be a bit of a delay in Event #35, the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament, before final table action begins today. Eleven players were remaining in the field when the 3:00am curfew hit and there are plenty of dangerous players remaining. Team Betfair member Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, and Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron are all on one of the two tables remaining. Other notable tournament names like Peter Jetten (who finished second last year in the $10,000 World Championship of this event) and Brazil’s Felipe Ramos are also in contention.
Two tournaments will be active with Day Two today. In Event #36, the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, 609 players return from the original 1,695 that entered. Corwin Cole will be the chip leader at 185,700 in chips, but there are threats everywhere. Top pros such as original “November Nine” member David “Chino” Rheem, John Myung, Shaun Deeb, Shannon Shorr, and Kenna James are just some of the remaining players in hot pursuit.
Day Two of the $10,000 World Championship of Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, Event #37 on the WSOP schedule, will also be in action this afternoon. A total of 110 of the original 164 players are still alive, with only 16 taking away something for their efforts. As to be expected in a big money buy-in tournament, there isn’t a table remaining that doesn’t have at least three or four top pros on it, but they will all be chasing former World Poker Tour (WPT) Champion Tuan Le and his 234,000 in chips. WPT Co-Founder Lyle Berman and poker pro Jeffrey Lisandro are in second and third place at this point, respectively, and it is entirely possible that a final table will not be determined by the 3:00am curfew.
Only one event is scheduled for its Day One on Friday. The $2,000 Limit Hold’em, Event #38 on the WSOP schedule, is set for play at Noon in the Amazon Room at the Rio.
