Friday, June 20, 2008 9:42 PM Local Time
Mike Rocco is the champion of Event #35 - $1,500 Seven Card Stud. He was, by far, the most emotional of the champions in the events that this reporter has covered thus far in the the 2008 World Series of Poker. He screamed, "Yes!" several times, both after crippling Barbieri and then eliminating him. He pumped his fist and flexed while screaming, then got hugs from several supporters and was in tears while on the phone with other supporters.
In addition to the champion's gold bracelet, which is already on Rocco's wrist, Rocco will collect $135,753 from the cage when he is done posing for photographs. Congratulations to Mike Rocco.
Friday, June 20, 2008 9:38 PM Local Time
It's not looking good for Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri. He led the betting on every street to the river after starting with the
against Mike Rocco's
. The boards came:
Barbieri:
Rocco:
Barbieri bet the river dark. Rocco squeezed, then quickly raised. Barbieri had no choice but to call. Rocco showed a seven-high straight.
On the very next hand, the fifth hand since Barbieri made his prediction, Barbieri was all in on third street. He made a pair of threes on sixth street, but Rocco made a pair of kings on seventh. Barbieri squeezed his river card and couldn't come up with anything else.
He is eliminated in second place and collects $83,210.
Friday, June 20, 2008 9:32 PM Local Time
Al Barbieri has returned from the break, apparently back to his old good-natured form. As they sit back down, Sugar Bear makes his latest prediction:
"If you don't get me in 15 hands, we're gonna be here a while. Fifteen, Mike. You gotta get me in 15. Count 'em."
Friday, June 20, 2008 9:24 PM Local Time
The cards are in the air once again.
Friday, June 20, 2008 9:18 PM Local Time
Mike Rocco - 883,000
Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri - 257,000
Friday, June 20, 2008 9:03 PM Local Time
Play will resume in 20 minutes.
Friday, June 20, 2008 8:57 PM Local Time
Mike Rocco - 930,000
Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri - 210,000
Friday, June 20, 2008 8:56 PM Local Time
Al Barbieri is having trouble winning the pots that go to the river. He just lost another one to Mike Rocco. The two traded the betting lead back and forth on third through sixth streets. On the river, the board read:
Barbieri:
Rocco:
Rocco bet the river with his open fives, and Barbieri made the call. Rocco opened
. Barbieri just shook his head.
"Jesus..." he sighed, his voice trailing off. He showed Rocco his own hand: a queen and a four in the hole for two pair, queens and fours. Barbieri now has just 210,000 in chips.
Friday, June 20, 2008 8:44 PM Local Time
Al Barbieri is now at a greater than three-to-one chip deficit to Mike Rocco, and thus has no choice but to play cautiously. That is the style of play that Rocco has been trying to dictate all along -- keeping pots small, slowly chipping down at Barbieri. It should be interesting to see how long Barbieri can play such a style before reverting to his more aggressive form.
Friday, June 20, 2008 8:39 PM Local Time
When we began heads up play, the atmosphere was quite jovial and friendly. The two opponents were smiling at each other, shooting each other wry glances, and generally high in spirits. They would talk about the other's play, commenting on the frequency of raises and sharing information about the cards they had been dealt. Things have changed quite a bit, at least for Al Barbieri. As his chip stack has fallen, his demeanor has dropped in equal measure.
Barbieri is looking frustrated most of the time. Gone is the laughing and joking between the players. When he is facing difficult decisions, Barbieri leans back in his chair, sighs, nervously fingers chips, and stares at his own cards. He recently removed his red sweatshirt, perhaps in the hope that it will get things going back in his direction.
Friday, June 20, 2008 8:33 PM Local Time
Barbieri brought in showing the
and Rocco comes along with the
.
Barbieri: x-x /
/ x
Rocco: x-x /
/ x
On fourth street, Rocco checked, Barbieri bet, and Rocco called.
On fifth, Barbieri had the lead. He checked, Rocco bet, and he called. Both players checked sixth.
On seventh street, Rocco bet out. Barbieri asks, "What do you got, the nuts?" as he tossed his calling chips in.
Barbieri:
/
Rocco:
/
Rocco does indeed have "the nuts" relatively speaking. His wheel takes the pot and knocks Barbieri down to 250,000 chips.
Friday, June 20, 2008 8:18 PM Local Time
Despite the fact that he's playing for a difference in $50,000 and a WSOP gold bracelet, Mike Rocco is still finding plenty of time to send text messages on his phone -- sometimes when the action is on him.
Friday, June 20, 2008 8:16 PM Local Time
Mike Rocco - 760,000
Al Barbieri - 380,000
Friday, June 20, 2008 8:15 PM Local Time
Earlier in the day, Al Barbieri could do no wrong. Now it's Mike Rocco's turn. Barbieri tanked for a long time after Rocco bet fifth street, showing
. He ultimately made the call, with his board showing
. On sixth street, Rocco caught the
. Before he could even bet, Barbieri mucked in disgust, flipping up one of his own hole cards, the
as he did so.
"Case deuce!" said Barbieri. "How do you hit the case deuce?"
Friday, June 20, 2008 8:03 PM Local Time
Cards are in the air.
Friday, June 20, 2008 7:54 PM Local Time
Mike Rocco took the last two pots leading into the break. First, he made deuces full of queens by sixth street, but Al Barbieri couldn't squeeze much out of his hand and folded to Rocco's sixth street bet.
The same thing happened the next hand, where Rocco led all streets with
. Barbieri showed
and quietly mucked after Rocco's fifth street bet.
Friday, June 20, 2008 7:52 PM Local Time
Play will resume in ten minutes.
Friday, June 20, 2008 7:52 PM Local Time
Rocco brought in with his
, and Barbieri calls with a
in the door.
Both players check fourth and fifth streets:
Barbieri -
Rocco -
On sixth street, Barbieri grabs the
and he leads with a bet. Rocco folds quickly, and Barbieri clenches his fists. He shows his down cards:
.
Friday, June 20, 2008 7:40 PM Local Time
Rocco brought it in with the
, and Barbieri raised with a
in the door. Rocco called.
Fourth street brought Rocco a
. He checked, as did Barbieri, who picked up a
.
On fifth street, Barbieri was allowed to bet with the
, only to get raised by Rocco's
. He called.
Sixth street: Barbieri checked his
, Rocco bet the
, and Barbieri goes into the tank. He fingered his chips and stared at the pot, which the dealer courteously spread out for him. After about two minutes, Barbieri made the call.
On seventh street, Rocco bet again, and Barbieri put in the call. As the cards are turned over, Barbieri sees the bad news. Rocco opens up
, having made triple queens on fourth street. He takes down another nice pot, increasing his chiplead to 250,000.
Friday, June 20, 2008 7:33 PM Local Time
It's been a series of limped and checked streets on Green #10. It could be that Mike Rocco's small ball style will become the dominant style of play, as he refuses to play at Al Barbieri's speed.