Two first-time winners were awarded gold bracelets at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) on Friday evening.
A Cinderella story became reality for Ken Aldridge in the $1,500 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em event. Aldridge, whose career live tournament earnings were just $2,000, defeated a field of 1,459 players to win the bracelet and a prize of $428,259.
The final six players took their seats at the featured table, all searching for their first gold bracelet. Manny Minaya was the first to make an exit after he moved all-in pre-flop with pocket eights and found himself up against the pocket nines of Peter Gould. The bigger pair held and Minaya walked away with $59,049.
It was Aldridge who used pocket nines to eliminate a player next. Charles Furrey moved all-in pre-flop with a pair of tens and Aldridge called, having Furrey covered in chips. The flop brought the nine of spades, giving Aldridge a considerable lead in the hand, but the queen of spades on the turn opened a door for Furrey, giving him a flush draw. A meaningless three of hearts on the river sent him home, however. He received $80,896 for his fifth place finish.
The fierce pre-flop action continued when Bryce Yockey moved all-in with a pair of tens and was called by Carman Cavalla, who flipped over a suited K-Q. A queen on the flop left Yockey in a world of trouble and he was unable to catch up, sending the 21 year-old to the rail in fourth place with $115,230.
Peter Gould was the next to leave. Gould, who took third in a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em rebuy event at the WSOP in 2008, couldn’t improve on that performance, as Aldridge picked him off on a bluff. Gould moved all-in on a seven-high flop with king-high. Aldridge called with ace-high and an ace on the turn sealed the deal. Gould earned $170,953 for his fifth career cash at the WSOP.
Heads-up play lasted quite a while, as Aldridge and Cavalla got away from the pre-flop madness and decided to see flops and play small pots. At one point, Cavalla was at a 6-1 chip disadvantage, but managed to double up twice and get things close to back to even. In the end, though, Alridge got the best of him, as Cavalla moved all-in with K-4 and Alridge called with K-Q. The better hand held up and Alridge was crowned the champion.
Rami “arbianight” Boukai had to play into the early morning at the $2,500 Mixed Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha final table, but it was well worth the wait. Eighteen players took their seats at 1:00pm local time, as play had run late the night before. Thirteen hours later, Boukai was the last man standing.
Boukai defeated Najib Bennani heads-up in the Hold’em round when some aggressive pre-flop action resulted in Bennani getting all of his chips in with Q-J against the pocket nines of Boukai. The flop brought a queen, giving Bennani the lead, but Boukai made a set of nines of the turn and held on to win the pot, the $244,862 prize, and his first gold bracelet.
Boukai was born in Dammam, Saudi Arabia and is believed to be the only Saudi Arabian-born WSOP bracelet winner in history. The table had some international flavor to it, as the final nine members represented five different nations; two of the Americans (including Boukai) were born abroad.
Here were the final payouts from the $2,500 Mixed Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha event:
1. Rami Boukai – $244,862
2. Najib Bennani – $151,335
3. Ben Grundy – $99,574
4. Cornel Cimpan – $69,546
5. Daniel Makowsky – $51,313
6. Paul Parker – $39,904
7. Pawel Andrzejewski – $32,653
8. John Kabbaj – $28,006
9. Sigi Stockinger – $25,151
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for all of the latest updates from the 2009 WSOP!
