Event #16: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed

What can we say about Carter Phillips? He's barely old enough to legally consume alcohol in the United States, but he already has two major wins under his belt -- an EPT title and now a WSOP gold bracelet. Phillips used a combination of good cards, excellent timing and power poker to bulldoze his way through the last 16 players in this field enroute to victory.

It's true that Phillips had to get lucky to win. If his all-in confrontation with Craig Bergeron towards the end of the tournament had gone the other way, Phillips would have become the short stack with about 1.2 million chips and Bergeron would have been the one able to swing the bully stick.

But nobody should take anything away from Phillips. He put himself in a position to get lucky with strong play. Phillip' most impressive hand today may have been his absolutely sick call with just a pair of treys on the turn after Mikhail Lakhitov check-raised all in. Phillips never hesitated when he called. It turned out his hand was in the lead and faded 15 outs on the river to send Lakhitov to the rail.

In what was arguably the youngest final table in WSOP history, it was only fitting that the 21-year-old Phillips should be the player to capture the bracelet. When asked how it felt to be the one to win, Phillips said, "It's more amazing than I ever could have imagined."

For all of his skill, stamina, luck and heart, Phillips banks the champion's share of the prize pool -- $482,774. He'll also add a new piece of jewelry to his collection at a bracelet ceremony tomorrow.

Until then, you can find us at the bar.

Remember earlier in the day when Carter Phillips was running so good that nobody could stand in his way? There may have been a little of that run-good left over in the tank. Phillips opened the pot pre-flop with a standard raise from the button. Samuel Gerber passed in the small blind before big blind Craig Bergeron re-raised to 295,000.

Bergeron had roughly another 1.9 million behind his raise. They all very, very quickly went into the middle after Carter Phillips four-bet all in. A chagrined Phillips was caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar when he turned over    . Bergeron showed down     and immediately bounded out of his seat and began pacing around the table. His railbirds were immediately out of their chairs and to the edge of the stage to sweat the flop.

The flop was an utter disaster for Bergeron. His sevens were out-flopped by Phillips, who made a pair of jacks. The turn   teased some hope into Bergeron, as a river 10 would give him a chop. But the river paired the board with the   to cut short Bergeron's impressive comeback from the short stack after his king-high hero call just before dinner backfired.

Bergeron leaves with $189,661. Carter Phillips and Samuel Gerber are now heads-up. Phillips starts with a better than 3-to-1 chip lead.

Craig Bergeron opened the pot with a 95,000-chip bet and Samuel Gerber moved all in. Bergeron eventually called.

Showdown

Bergeron:   

Gerber:   

Board:       and Bergeron is now up to 1,800,000 chips. Gerber slipped to 1,700,000.

The remaining four players have been given one hour to eat dinner. We'll be back at 8:30pm local time.

The action had gotten pretty lethargic here at our final table, but Samuel Gerber and Craig Bergeron just played a huge pot that had many in the gallery arching their eyebrows in shock and surprise.

Samuel Gerber and Craig Bergeron took a raised flop of      . Gerber led for 110,000 and Bergeron called behind him. The turn   paired the board but didn't slow Gerber down. He fired again, making the price of poker 200,000. Bergeron called a second time.

The river came down  . Gerber paused slightly before moving all in for 907,000 total. Bergeron thought things through and then called, creating a pot worth approximately 2.6 million chips. Gerber tabled     for trip nines, a hand that caused Bergeron to slam the table in frustration. He opened     and then paid Gerber off.

When the stacks were adjusted, Gerber had climbed to 2.6 million in chips, while Bergeron settled into fourth chip position with just 365,000.

After Carter Phillips raised pre-flop, action passed to Craig Bergeron in the blinds. Bergeron three-bet, with Phillips thinking things over and then calling. That was enough to shut Bergeron down. He checked a flop of      , then folded to a bet of 190,000 from Phillips.

Flops are starting to dwindle in numbers and we've had a couple of walks in the last ten minutes, almost (it seems) for the first time all tournament. With big money on the line and the stacks of three of our competitors quite deep, we might be witnessing a slow down as those three wait for the super-short stack, Hugo Perez, to bust.

The level has ended. Players are on a five-minute break.

Carter Phillps opened the pot with a 65,000-chip raise on the button and Samuel Gerber re-popped it to 160,000. Phillips four-bet to 270,000 and Gerber five-bet to 650,000.

Phillips moved all in. Gerber tanked and eventually folded.

Phillips tabled    for the amusement of the crowd.

Samuel Gerber opened the pot with a 70,000-chip raise on the button and Russell Thomas re-popped it to 202,000 in the small blind. Craig Bergeron folded in the big blind and the action got back to Gerber. Gerber went all in and Thomas called.

Showdown

Thomas:   

Gerber:   

Board:      

No help for Thomas and he is our 5th place finisher.