Jordan “scarface_79” Smith added his name to a long list of online poker pros to achieve success at this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) by winning the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em Event (#36) late Saturday evening. Smith weaved his way through a field of 1,695 players to capture his first bracelet and a prize of $586,212.
Smith joined internet stars Brock “t_soprano” Parker, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Leo “Pechorin” Wolpert, Rami “arbianight” Boukai, Keven “stamdogg” Stammen, and others to make an impressive transition to live poker by winning their first bracelets.
After a seven hour final table, Smith finally put away Ken Lennaard to claim victory. On the last hand, Lennard raised to 300,000 on the button and Smith called to see an all-diamond flop of 8-4-3. Lennard bet 350,000, Smith moved all-in (having his opponent covered), and Lennard called:
Smith: [9d][7d]
Lennard: [Jd][8h]
Smith flopped a flush and was able to avoid another diamond hitting the board to win the pot and the tournament. The 27 year-old from Texas admittedly said afterward that he had endured some financial pitfalls during his poker career and while the $586,212 payday was nice, receiving a bracelet as a WSOP champion was his biggest objective: “It’s the World Series of Poker… I play for living and I play for money, but so far as prestigious things go, winning the gold bracelet is the only goal to have.”
For the first time in the year’s WSOP, two women made the final table of an open event. Laurence Grondin, from Montreal, and Almira Skripchenko, from Paris, were each members of the final table of Event #36. Only one female (Annie Duke) had made a final table in the first 35 events this year.
Skripchenko exited in seventh place and it was Smith who did the dirty work. Grondin raised from late position and Smith made the call. Skripchenko then moved all-in from the small blind, Grondin got rid of her hand, and Smith called. Skripchenko’s pocket kings were well in front of the pocket fives of Smith, but a five on the flop spelled disaster for Skripchenko, who failed to catch a king on the turn or river to seal her elimination. The former European chess champion earned $78,664.
Pat Atchinson had the chip lead to begin the final day, but took one of the most painful beats of this year’s WSOP to Joe “Dyzalot” Morneau that assisted in his sixth place finish. The two players got involved in a raising war that ended with all of the chips eventually getting in pre-flop. Atchinson held pocket queens and Morneau had pocket jacks. Each player made a set on the flop, which was a fantastic sight for Atchinson, but Morneau hit his remaining out on the river to make quads and cripple Atchinson’s stack. He was knocked out a few hands later and took $95,631 back to his home in Fort Worth.
After Anthony Roux and Morneau were eliminated in fifth and fourth place, respectively, Grondin’s hopes at becoming the first female player to win a bracelet this year then came to an end. Grondin moved all-in with Q-8 on an 8-5-3 flop, but found herself against Ken Lennard’s 5-3. The turn and river were no help to her and she collected $237,537. Grondin will certainly be expressing thanks to her friends, who convinced her to play in this event at the last minute.
Here are the final results from Event #36 of the 2009 WSOP:
1. Jordan Smith – $586,212
2. Ken Lennaard – $360,439
3. Laurence Grondin – $237,537
4. Joe Morneau – $166,584
5. Anthony Roux – $120,311
6. Pat Atchinson – $95,631
7. Almira Skripchenko – $78,664
8. Andrew Sedon – $67,867
9. Jonathan Plens – $61,081
We’ll have our 38th champion of this year’s WSOP crowned on Sunday, as the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event will play down to winner. Marc Naalden takes 755,000 chips to the final table as the chip leader with bracelet winners Ian Johns and Rep Porter each in contention. Phil Hellmuth fell just short of the final table, as he exited in 17th place.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for updates on all of today’s events at the WSOP.