Monday, June 15, 2009 11:33 PM Local Time
It took three long and gruelling days of poker and a six hour final table to crown Mike Eise the champion of Event 28 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em!
Eise battled through 2,641 of the world's best players from the seasoned pro of JC Tran, to the veteran Amarillo Slim, to the up-and-coming youngster of Jason Mercier.
However when play returned for the final day everyone had a chance of claiming their first WSOP victory with Joe Simmons, Jason Potter and Rico Ramirez placed well on top. Simmons would fall short, but both Potter and Ramirez would fight it right out eventually finishing in fourth and third spot respectively.
Entering heads-up play against Jeff Chang with a commanding nine-to-two chip lead, play would swing back and forth until Chang made a great call for his tournament life holding just Ace-high. Eise would outdraw Chang on the turn when he made a pair of sevens; but behind the luck on the final hand Eise displayed patience, aggression, skill and timing to capture the gold bracelet, title of champion and $639,331 first prize.
Congratulations to Mike Eise for capturing the Event 28 Gold Bracelet and make sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for the remainder of what is to be a very exciting 2009 World Series of Poker!
Monday, June 15, 2009 11:21 PM Local Time
Mike Eise min-raised from the button and Jeff Chang made the call from the big blind.
The flop fell down
and Chang checked to Eise who moved all in. Chang insta-called for his tournament life and the cards were tabled.
Eise:
Chang:
With Chang making a great call, both players sat there emotionless waiting to see how their poker fate played out at the hands of the dealer.
The crowd leaned in, and for once it was fairly quiet around the secondary feature table . . . until the dealer burned and turned the
to cause and eruption from both the railbirds, random onlookers and most importantly Eise.
Dejected, but still with outs, Chang would need one of the remaining Aces or Jacks in the deck; but seeing the
land on the river, all hope was lost.
Eise was rushed by his family and friends, and the ever-calm Chang walked over and shook his hand while on his way to collecting $392,494 for his runner-up finish.
Monday, June 15, 2009 11:12 PM Local Time
Mike Eise took the option of a min-raise and made it 200,000 from the button.
Jeff Chang made the call and then check-called 225,000 when the
flop dropped. The turn landed the
and Chang again checked to see Eise fire 500,000 into the pot.
Chang check-raised all in to prompt a fold from Eise as he moves up to 2,900,000 in chips.
Monday, June 15, 2009 11:08 PM Local Time
From the button Jeff Chang min-raised to 200,000 with Mike Eise defending from the big blind.
The flop of
brought about checks from both players until the
landed on the turn.
Eise checked and Chang lead out for 200,000 to prompt a fold from Eise as Chang takes down his first pot of heads-up play.
Monday, June 15, 2009 11:06 PM Local Time
Jeff Chang limped in and then called a 300,000-chip raise from Mike Eise.
The flop fell down
and a bet of 300,000 from Eise was enough to take the first pot of heads-up play down.
Monday, June 15, 2009 11:00 PM Local Time
We are now heads up for the bracelet with the following counts.
Mike Eise - 9,765,000
Jeff Chang - 2,115,000
Monday, June 15, 2009 10:59 PM Local Time
Mike Eise raised to 300,000 from the button and Rico Ramirez made the call from the big blind.
The flop fell down
and both players checked the see the
fall on the turn. Ramirez lead out for 725,000 only to have Eise move all in. Ramirez called and the cards were tabled.
Ramirez:
Eise:
With Ramirez needing to improve to a full house to stay alive, the
on the river would be not what he was looking for, and consequently headed to the rail in 3rd place for a $261,963 payday.
Monday, June 15, 2009 10:55 PM Local Time
With the action on Rico Ramirez in the small blind, he bumped it up to 500,000. Mike Eise then reraised all in for an additional 2,070,000 more to put Ramirez in the tank.
After nearly three minutes in the tank, Ramirez made the call putting Eise's tournament life on the line.
Eise:
Ramirez:
The board ran out
to see Eise double through to 5,100,000, while Ramirez slips to 4,500,000 in chips.
Monday, June 15, 2009 10:48 PM Local Time
The cards are back in the air with the final three players back in their seats.
Monday, June 15, 2009 10:29 PM Local Time
We are on another 20-minute break for the tournament.
Monday, June 15, 2009 10:28 PM Local Time
Rico Ramirez opened the button to 175,000 and both blinds made the call.
The flop fell down
and Mark Eise checked to Jeff Chang who fired out 250,000. Ramirez proceeded to raise to 1,500,000 total to force Eise out of the pot and the decision back on Chang.
Chang sat in the tank slowly shuffling a handful of chips before laying his hand down to give Ramirez the pot as he climbed to over seven million.
Monday, June 15, 2009 10:19 PM Local Time
Jason Potter shipped it all in from the button for just on a million and Jeff Chang made the call from the big blind.
Potter:
Chang:
With Potter needing to catch a Queen to stay alive or a combination of a flush or straight, the crowd and Potter would erupt seeing the
as the window.
Like an online glitch, the dealer spread the flop but one card remained hidden. With it reading
-
the dealer would finally un-stick the two cards and out popped the
.
Similar to the magnitude of a fireworks display on New Years Eve; the crowd erupted with an ear-splitting and deafening display of claps and stomps that the secondary feature table surely couldn't handle!
With thunderous noise echoing throughout the stage the
on the turn made it more interesting as it gave Potter additional flush outs to go with the two remaining Queens that could save his tournament life.
The dealer burned and turned a black . . .
and Potter would be forced to leave the rowdy stage on his way to collecting $185,444 for his 4th place finish.
Monday, June 15, 2009 10:11 PM Local Time
Rico Ramirez made it 180,000 to go from the cutoff and both Mike Eise and Jeff Chang made the call.
The flop fell down
and it was checked round to see the
fall on the turn. The action was checked to Ramirez who fired with 200,000, only to see Eise push all in for 840,000 more.
Chang mucked and then Ramirez followed by open-mucking his
.
As Eise raked in the pot to move to 1,600,000 he flashed his
for a flopped set.
Monday, June 15, 2009 9:49 PM Local Time
On the rail we find Cliff 'JohnnyBax' Josephy, Kevin 'BeL0WaB0Ve' Saul and Thayer 'THAY3R' Rasmussen all here supporting Jason Potter.
Along with the countless family and friends of the other three final members it is bound to get even louder as they fight it out for the $639,331 first prize, coveted bracelet and title of champion.
Monday, June 15, 2009 9:39 PM Local Time
With the action passed round to the blinds Mike Eise made the call before Jeff Chang pushed it up to 200,000. Eise moved all in and Chang made the call.
Eise:
Chang:
The board would run out
to see Eise smack the river twice in a row to stay alive and now sit on 1,480,000 in chips.
Monday, June 15, 2009 9:36 PM Local Time
From the button Mike Eise pushed all in for a total of 425,000 and Jeff Chang made the call.
Eise:
Chang:
The flop of
gave Chang additional outs to a straight and when the
landed on the turn Eise would have a sweat for his tournament life.
Drawing to a six, three or deuce to stay alive, Eise would find one on the river when the dealer burned and turned the
to give Eise deuces full of sixes and the pot as he doubles to 940,000 in chips.
Monday, June 15, 2009 9:29 PM Local Time
Barry Berger opened to 215,000 from the cutoff and Rico Ramirez defended his button by making the call.
The flop fell down
and after nearly ninety seconds of thinking he slid out a stack of 25,000-denomination chips to amount a bet of 500,000.
Berger looked back at the 800,000 that he had in front of him and slid the rest in with Ramirez quickly calling.
Berger:
Ramirez:
With Berger making a call for his tournament life, he would have to evade countless outs with Ramirez holding a double-gutshot straight-draw as well as a flush-draw.
The turn would land the
to give Berger a set, but fill Ramirez's straight, and when the
peeled on the river Berger was sent packing in 5th place.
Monday, June 15, 2009 9:21 PM Local Time
Barry Berger has managed to find another nice double holding
against Mike Eise's
.
The board ran out
to double Berger up to 1,110,000 in chips as Eise slips down to 520,000 and change.
Monday, June 15, 2009 9:12 PM Local Time
Jason Potter has received two walks on this final table.
One earlier with
and now with
.
There is an argument that it's a good thing that his big blind isn't getting raised . . . but when you find big pairs in the big blind; sometimes some action would be nice!
Monday, June 15, 2009 9:06 PM Local Time
After calling a 145,000-chip bet from Jason Potter, Jeff Chang was also joined by Rico Ramirez.
Chang lead out for 265,000 on the
board, but after being check-raised all in by Ramirez he opted to lay his hand down.
The next hand, Chang opened to 180,000 and was called by Mike Eise.
Both players checked the
flop to find Eise check-call 250,000 on the turn and then check-fold on to 600,000 when the river peeled the
.