Results of the 10k wsop heads up championship

June 18th, 2009

The World Series of Poker $10,000 Heads-Up NL Holdem Championship kicked off this past Saturday with 256 players looking to stake claim to the heads-up bracelet. Some of the participants in the event included Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Nam Le, Dario Minieri, Peter Eastgae, Sami Kelopuro aka LarsLuzak and Ted Forrest. Some of the more interesting draws were Gavin Smith vs. Chino Rheem and Chris Ferguson against Greg Mueller.

256 players soon shrank to 128 as Round 2 of poker play also occurred on Day 1. Among those to advance to Round 2 were John Juanda, Johnny Chan, Alec Torelli, Chris Ferguson, Mike Caro, Lex Velhuis, Sorel Mizzi, Hoyt Corkins, Tom Dwan, and Vanessa Rousso. The final 64 players returned on Day 2 to play their way down to the final 8. Among those that made the final 64 were. Dustin Woolf, Tom Dwan, David Pham, Jason Mercier, Erik Seidel, Chris Ferguson, Brock Parker, Vanessa Rousso, Alec Torelli, and Mike Caro.

Those that survive and made Round 4 were guaranteed a payday. The notables among those advancing were Brock Parker, Steve Zolotow, Jason Mercier, Mike Caro, Alec Torelli, and Johnny Chan. Round 5 kicked off with the final 16 players looking to make a serious challenge at the bracelet. Still left in Round 5 were Mike Caro, Dustin Woolf, Johnny Chan, Jason Mercier, and John Duthie.

Day 4 of the NL Heads-Up World Championship started with huge buzz due to the fact that Johnny Chan had made the final 8 of the event. Talk centered around whether he would in fact win his 11th bracelet and tie Phil Hellmuth on the all-time list. The matches for the Elite 8 were Leo Wolpert vs Dustin Woolf, Jamin Stokes vs. Johnny Chan, Nathan Doudney vs Bryan Pellegrino, and John Duthie vs Steve O’Dwyer.
Nathan Doudney won his match first against Bryan Pellegrino. Pellegrino was all-in pre-flop and tied with Doudney. They both held A-K, with Pellegrino holding clubs and Doudney hearts. Doudney flopped two hearts and then caught the fifth one on the turn to eliminate Pellegrino. Steve O’Dwyer went down to John Duthie. O’Dwyer was all-in on the turn with a flush draw against a turned straight by Dwyer. The flush failed to fill and Duthie moved on to the Final Four.
Dustin Woolf was next to fall. Woolf was all-in with pocket sixes against the pocket sevens of Leo Wolpert. The flop gave Woolf a set and the lead, but Wolpert caught runner-runner straight to eliminate Woolf. The most anticipated match was fittingly the last to end. However, the result was not what the crowd had hoped for. Johnny Chan was all-in with A-9 against the A-Q of Jamin Stokes. By the turn, Stokes held broadway, but Chan had redraw outs to a diamond flush. The river fell the 2 of hearts and Chan was eliminated.

Nathan Doudney faced John Duthie and Leo Wolpert faced Jamin Stokes in the Final Four. John Duthie defeated Nathan Doudney to move on to the final. In the last hand of their match, Duthie moved all-in with pocket queens and was called by the As-Jd of Doudney. Doudney was unable to catch an ace and was eliminated. Leo Wolpert became Duthie’s opponent after eliminating Jamin Stokes. After a flop of 3h-6d-8h, Stokes was all-in and called by Wolpert. Both held flush draws, but Wolpert held Ah-Jh against the Qh-9h of Stokes. The turn fell the Jc to give Wolpert a pair and leaving Stokes needing a queen or a non-heart 10. The river fell the 8s and the championship showdown was set.
Play was extended to a fourth day to avoid having players play all night to the bracelet. The championship match was a best of three set with a player having to win two matches to take the bracelet. The first match lasted 96 hands and was won by John Duthie. Leo Wolpert was all-in with Ks-Qs and Duthie held Ad-Qd. The flop and turn missed both players, but the river ace gave Duthie a pair of aces and the first match.
Match 2 only lasted nine hands. The board at the turn read 9-6-A-2 and Duthie moved all-in. Wolpert insta-calls with pocket sixes for a set and Duthie is drawing dead with A-K. The third and final match went an epic 191 hands before a winner was determined. On a flop of 10-3-5, Duthie moved all-in and was called by Wolpert. Wolpert held 3-5 for two pair and Duthie 10-2 for top pair. The turn fell a jack and the river a queen and Leo Wolpert is the Heads-Up World Champion.

This is Wolpert’s first bracelet. Wolpert is a former professional player that is currently a law student at the University of Virginia. With this victory, Wolpert may find the allure of poker to outweigh a legal career. Wolper received $625,682 for his victory as well as the gold bracelet.