Event #52: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em (Rebuy)

Graves raised with    and Tran called with   . The     flop gave Graves a pair and an open-ended straight draw and Tran a gutshot draw along with his overcards. Graves bet 375,000, and as soon as Tran announced he was all-in Graves made the call. The   on the turn and   on the turn missed Tran's hand and Michael Graves, who came to the table with the chip lead and laid low early on before making his move, won the tournament, the World Series of Poker bracelet, and $742,121. Theo Tran, who played a creative and aggressive game and made some remarkable plays down the stretch, takes home $387,193 as our runner-up.

So far the play has favored Tran. After Graves made a 325K raise, Tran moved in with A-Q and Graves instantly mucked his cards. On the next hand, Tran picked up A-K and won the blinds and antes with a raise.

And on one of those hands that feels like a fist slamming into your gut. Michael Graves raised with    and Luman looked down at   . Running low on chips there was only one move to make and Luman pushed in his stack, and after Theo Tran folded Graves made the call and saw that he was dominated. The     flop gave Graves a gutshot straight draw, and after the   turned Luman had to watch as the dealer peeled the   off the deck and send him crashing out of the tournament. It was a cruel way for the day to end for the former chip leader, but Luman takes home $224,249 for finishing today in third.

Luman raised with    and called when Graves re-raised with   . Both players paired their Ace on the     flop, and Luman chose to call Graves' bet. He also called when the   turned, which gave Luman a flush draw and Graves top two pair. The   hit on the river and again Graves led out, and after thinking it over Luman chose to call once again. And after seeing that he'd trailed the entire hand Luman's stack was reduced to 960,000.

Sometimes No-Limit Hold'Em devolves into preflop shovefests, where players try to avoid making decisions by letting the cards settle the matter. The following hand does not fall into that category. Theo Tran limped on the button with    and Michael Graves called with   . Shawn Luman raised from the big blind with    and after Tran made the call Graves decided to get out of the way. The     flop missed both players, but after Luman checked Tran bet 350,000. Luman called. When the   turned Luman came alive and let out for 400,000. And now Tran went into the tank. He didn't have much left behind, if he folded he'd be severely short-stacked, but if he moved in he might be drawing dead. He thought a long, long time before announcing all-in and pushing his chips forward. Now Luman was put to the decision, but there wasn't much to decide. He tossed his cards in the muck and Tran slapped his cards down on the felt, showing his bluff. He enthusiastically scooped the massive pot with both arms and is now back in the chip lead with 2,750,000.

Shawm Luman must've eaten a leprechaun for breakfast. Over the course of play today he's had pocket Queens, Tens, Nines, Eights, and Fours, and he's also had Ace-King twice. Which at least partly explains why he's our new chip-leader with 2,800,000.

After Shawn Luman raised with pocket Fours Theo Tran called with A-9. The flop came     and both players checked. On the   turn Tran led out and Luman called, and when the   hit on the river Tran thought a bit before checking. Luman checked and turned over his Fours, and Tran got up and put his fists to his forehead, walking in circles as Luman raked in a pot he knew could've been his with a bet on the river.

It seems like every big confrontation ends in an elimination. We just lost our fourth player when Kris Tate, who came into today's event as the short stack, moved in his last 165,000 with   . Michael Graves called with pocket Fives...but Theo Tran looked down at    and re-raised. Graves got out of the way and when the board ran out       Kris Tate was our sixth-place finisher, winning $112,931.

After Tran raised with    Isaac Haxton chose to call with   . Both players checked the     flop, and when Tran checked the   on the turn Haxton threw out a bet. Tran called, then checked again when the   hit on the river. Haxton bet 350,000 and Tran went into the tank. He thought it over for a few minutes before pushing in the chips for the call. That hand crippled Haxton, who came into play today just off the chip lead.

The third time was the charm today for pocket Tens. Shawn Luman raised to 80K and Isaac Haxton re-raised to 200,000. Luman moved in with   , and Haxton called with   . That’s the very same confrontation that sent Arnold Spee out of today’s event, but this time the board read      . Luman doubled up to 770,000, while Haxton’s stack fell to the exact same amount.