Thursday, February 7, 2008 7:24 PM Local Time
And just like that Michael "Mickey" Pickett is the new WSOP-C Rincon Champion, having bested a very tough field of 148 players en route to the biggest victory of his young tournament career.
Congratulations to all of the finalists and money winners on a job well done.
Final Standings:
1st: Michael Pickett ($229,002)
2nd: David Peters ($120,156)
3rd: Edward Sabat ($70,680)
4th: Kenny Bedoya ($56,544)
5th: Cristian Avendano ($42,408)
6th: Gavin Smith ($35,340)
7th: Lee Watkinson ($28,272)
8th: Damien Oborne (21,204)
9th: Jon Eaton ($14,136)
Until next time, good night from Rincon!
Thursday, February 7, 2008 7:05 PM Local Time
23-year-old Michael "Mickey" Pickett has just eliminated David Peters from the tournament, earning $229,002 in prize money, a gold circuit championship ring and a $10,000 buy-in to this summer's WSOP main event. Here's how the hand went down:
Peters called the extra 10,000 it cost to complete the big blind and Pickett knuckled the table opting to see a free flop, which came:
. Pickett opened with a 20,000 feeler bet and Peters made the call. The turn brought the
and Pickett fired again - this time for 60,000; once again, Peters made the call.
The last card off the deck was the
and it turned out to be the biggest action card possible, as it gave Peters, who held
two pair, and Pickett, sitting with
, the title-winning straight. On the river, Mickey fired a 200,000 bet and Peters moved all in over the top for a total of 410,000. Pickett made the call and that was all she wrote.
Congratulations to David Peters, our tournament runner-up. Peters will take home $120,156 in prize money for his second-place finish.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 6:57 PM Local Time
Pre-flop, Michael Pickett completed the big blind and David Peters knuckled the table, opting to see a free flop:
Peters then led out with a 40,000 bet and Pickett made the call. The turn brought the
and Peters led out again, this time for 100,000; Pickett called again. Before the river was dealt, Peters announced that he was all in in the dark for a total of 180,000. Pickett tanked for quite some time, but eventually made the call and upon hearing the news, Peters excitedly flipped over his
, announcing, "Two pair!" Pickett mucked his hand.
The double up improved Peters to 650,000 in chips while Pickett dropped to just over 2,300,000.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 6:45 PM Local Time
Over the last few hands, David Peters and Michael Pickett have been stealing each other's blinds with standard pre-flop raises, rarely seeing the flop.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 6:39 PM Local Time
The players have returned to the table and the cards are back in the air. There are 12 minutes remaining in the current blind level.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 6:36 PM Local Time
The tournament clock has been paused while the Bluff Media crew works out a technical issue. We'll be back momentarily.
The current chip counts are as follows:
Michael Pickett: 2,609,000
David Peters: 340,000
Thursday, February 7, 2008 6:27 PM Local Time
Over the last ten minutes, the dealer has accidentally pushed two small pots to Michael Pickett that should've gone to David Peters. "That's enough!" said Peters with a smile, reaching across the table to take back what's rightfully his.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 6:21 PM Local Time
Michael "Mickey" Pickett has begun using his monstrous chip lead to start pushing David Peters around. On this particular hand, Pickett limped into the pot and Peters opted to raise it up another 66,000; Pickett called.
The flop came
and David led out with a 70,000 bet, which was met by an all-in re-raise from Pickett. David, as he has done quite often today, insta-folded.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 6:09 PM Local Time
David Peters has managed to double up through Michael Pickett, spiking a queen on the river after getting it all in pre-flop holding
against Picket's
. "It's not over yet!" Peters said after the hand.
Peters now has approximately 360,000 in chips to Pickett's 2,599,000.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 6:03 PM Local Time
Pickett raised to 40,000 preflop and was called by Peters. After they both checked a flop of
, Peters bet 60,000 and was raised to 200,000 when the
came on the turn, and Peters called the raise. Pickett then bet a massive 500,000 on a
river and was called. Mickey showed
for the straight. Peters mucked and was left with just 160,000 in chips.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 6:01 PM Local Time
At the start of heads-up play, Michael Pickett has a 2:1 chip advantage over David Peters, with 2,038,000 to Peters' 910,000.
Today's winner will receive $229,002 and the runner-up, $120,156.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 5:55 PM Local Time
Shortly after the last break, David Peters won a coinflip against Edward Sabat, eliminating him from the tournament and setting up a heads-up match for the title between Peters and chip leader Michael Pickett.
Peters opened the pot with a 50,000 pre-flop raise from the button and when the action fell to Sabat in the big blind, he moved all in. Peters snap-called, tabling a pocket pair of eights and finding himself up against Sabat's
.
The board filled out
and Peters' eights held up to take down the pot. Sabat took home $70,680 for his third-place finish.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 5:45 PM Local Time
After Edward Sabat and David Peters saw an unraised pot pre-flop from the blinds, Sabat fired 16,000 on a flop of
and Peters called. Ed slowed down on the
turn, but Peters fired 30,000 and Sabat called. Sabat check-called the
on the river, but when Peters revealed K-5 for two pair, Sabat mucked.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 5:38 PM Local Time
Players have returned and the cards are in the air.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 5:24 PM Local Time
The tournament clock has been paused while the remaining three players take a 15-minute break.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 5:24 PM Local Time
With the elimination of Kenny Bedoya in fourth place, Michael Pickett has assumed a monstrous tournament chip lead. Here's how they stack up:
Michael Pickett: 2,140,000
David Peters: 450,000
Edward Sabat: 310,000
Thursday, February 7, 2008 5:18 PM Local Time
On a board showing
, Kenny Bedoya led out with a 100,000 bet and Michael Pickett min-raised to 200,000. Kenny then immediately announced all in and Pickett made the call, tabling
for a straight. Bedoya could only produce
and was drawing dead.
For his fourth-place finish, Bedoya took home $56,544 in prize money.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 5:02 PM Local Time
Michael Pickett opened with a 35,000 pre-flop raise and David Peters made the call from the small blind. Peters and Pickett checked the
board down to the river, until Peters took a 25,000 stab at the pot on the end. Pickett made the call and Peters tabled nothing but king-high. Pickett then turned over ace-high to collect the miniature pot.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 4:56 PM Local Time
Michael Pickett: 1,300,000
David Peters: 745,000
Kenny Bedoya: 550,000
Edward Sabat: 445,000
Thursday, February 7, 2008 4:47 PM Local Time
On a board showing
, Kenny Bedoya opened with a 70,000 bet and Michael Pickett was the lone caller. The turn brought the
and Bedoya fired again, this time sliding 150,000 into the middle; Pickett made the call.
The last card off the deck was the
, which caused Bedoya to put on the brakes, as he passed the first action to Pickett, who bet 200,000. Bedoya took one last look at his cards before tossing them into the muck, conceding the hand to Pickett, who now has right around 1 million in chips.