Has Mexico found its own version of Chris Moneymaker? Mexico City’s Angel Guillen became just the second Mexican national in World Series of Poker (WSOP) history to win a bracelet. Guillen claimed victory in the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em Event (#32) by besting 1,534 players and a tough final table filled with online superstars. He earned $530,548 for his three days of work.
The heads-up match between Guillen and runner-up Mika Paasonen of Finland lasted six hours, the longest yet at this year’s WSOP. The two began play nearly even in chips, but Guillen’s unrelenting pre-flop aggression was too much for Paasonen to handle when it was all said and done. On the final hand, the two players saw a flop of K-4-3 with two clubs and, after a bet and a raise, all of the chips went in:
Guillen: [3s][3d]
Paasonen: [Kd][Td]
Paasonen ‘s fate was sealed when the [Ad] landed on the turn, as Guillen’s set of threes were good enough to earn the final pot. Paasonen watched as Guillen’s followers swarmed him, but he still managed to give the winner a congratulatory handshake. Paasonen walked away with $326,203 for his runner-up finish.
This was Guillen’s second final table appearance at the 2009 WSOP. The other came on June 8th, when he took second place in the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em Event (#13). He pocketed $312,800 for that performance.
Guillen, who is fluent in both Spanish and English, was very vocal about the current poker position in his homeland following his win: “The problem in Mexico is that poker is not legal. So, the growth of poker in our country has been very slow. We are trying to develop that now. We want to make a boom in Mexico… Like Chris Moneymaker did for you (in the U.S.), I want to do the same thing in my country. Hopefully, I can.”
One of the nation’s biggest poker stars was by Guillen’s side for much of the day. Team PokerStars Pro member JC Alvarado joined many of his friends to lend their support to Guillen during the prolonged heads-up match. Guillen expressed his gratitude for his followers afterward: “I feel very fortunate to have the support of my family, my friends, and all of the people that supported me.”
The online poker contingent was well-represented at the Event #32 final table, which isn’t surprising considering the size of the field and smaller starting stacks. Clark “snake8484” Hamagami, Daniel “amichaikk” Makowsky, and Eric “avril sharapova” Ladny are all regulars in the high-stakes online scene and each proved their poker prowess during the three days of play.
Hamagami was the first player to exit in ninth place. Guillen moved all-in from the small blind with A-K and the short-stacked Hamagami called with A-8. Both players paired up on the flop, but Guillen’s kings held, sending Hamagami to the rail with $55,279.
Makowsky lost a race to go home in sixth place. He moved his short stack all-in with pocket threes and Steve Kohner called with A-K. Kohner hit a King on the flop and Makowsky was unable to catch up on the turn and river. He earned $86,548, his biggest live score since taking second in a WSOP Pot Limit Omaha event last year for $355,050.
Ladny followed shortly after in fifth. The 21-year-old college student got his remaining chips in pre-flop with pocket jacks against Guillen’s K-10, but Guillen spiked a King on the flop and hit a 10 on the turn for good measure to eliminate Ladny. Kohner was taken out in fourth, while Jason Boyes finished third.
Here are the final results from the final table of Event #32:
1. Angel Guillen – $530,548
2. Mika Paasonen – $326,203
3. Jason Boyes – $214,974
4. Steve Kohner – $150,761
5. Eric Ladny – $108,883
6. Daniel Makowsky – $86,548
7. Chris MacNeil – $71,192
8. Antoine Amourette – $61,421
9. Clark Hamagami – $55,279
Only one event will award a bracelet on Thursday evening. The $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament (#34) played down to 21 early Thursday morning, when the action was halted at 3:00am. Notables still in the field include recent bracelet winner Roland de Wolfe, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, and Corwin “mig.com” Mackey. They will all be chasing chip leader Jonas Klausen, who has 949,000 chips going into the final day. The winner will receive $521,932.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for continuing coverage of the 2009 WSOP.
