Thursday, July 1, 2010 3:25 AM Local Time
It's been one of the stranger finals that we can remember, but in the end there had to be a winner, and that winner was Chance Kornuth.
Kornuth turned 24 just six days ago, and what better way to celebrate than with a bracelet win. This is only Kornuth's second WSOP cash, and he had to fight for it all the way. The final table he was up against had some very serious pedigree - Jose Nacho Barbero, Eric Liu, Robert Mizrachi and Julian Gardner were among those he defeated to take the win.
The Amazon Room has finally fallen silent, but we suspect that a pack of extremely happy young folks will shortly be hitting the bars and clubs of Vegas. Chance would be a fine thing, wouldn't it?
From everyone here at the Rio, it's over and out.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 3:11 AM Local Time
Chance Kornuth opened for 200,000 from the button and Kevin Boudreau made it 600,000 from the big blind. Kornuth flat-called. They saw a flop.
Flop:
Boudreau bet pot.
"OK, let's get it in," said Kornuth. They turned the cards over. Boudreau was ahead.
Kornuth:
Boudreau:
Turn:
The roar from the Kornuth rail could have burst a blogger's eardrum as Kornuth made trip eights.
River:
Boudreau fell away from the table into the consoling arms of his rail, while the Kornuth rail continued to cheer and Kornuth himself made a phone call.
"Hi dad, I won," he told his father on the other end of the phone. "Bracelet, baby!"
Says it all.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 2:55 AM Local Time
Most of the heads up match has been focused on the verbal sparing between the two players' rails, split on other side of the room. But finally a giant hand took place on the felt...
Chance Kornuth raised to 200,000, and Kevin Boudreau called. Both players checked the flop. The checked again after the turn. After the on the river, Boudreau checked, and Kornuth bet 300,000. Suddenly, the rails went silent. Boudreau then raised to 750,000. Chance counted out the call, checked his cards, put the bet back, and checked them again. "I call," he said.
Boudreau announced he had a straight, showing for the nine-high straight. Kornuth paused a second before showing for the ten-high straight to scoop the huge pot.
Kornuth is up to 4.15 million while Boudreau is down to 2.65 million.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 2:40 AM Local Time
Danny Smith potted from the button and Kevin Boudreau put him in from the big blind.
Smith:
Boudreau:
Boudreau walked away from the table. The rail attempted to close in on the table. The security lady asked them to step back from the table. "Just run it," the TD told the dealer.
Board:
And with that, Danny Smith became our third place finisher.
We are heads up.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 2:34 AM Local Time
As usual, Kevin Boudreau and Chance Kornuth were heads up in a raised pot. The flop came out , and Kornuth checked. Boudreau bet 225,000, and Chance called. Both players checked the turn. The river brought the , and Kornuth bet out 115,000. Boudreau called the small bet. "You good," said Chance, mucking even before Boudreau showed for two pair.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 2:24 AM Local Time
Chance Kornuth raised to 280,000 on the button, and with a look of firm determination, Ted Martin shoved in the small blind for 550,000. In the big blind Kevin Boudreau eyed him up. He called, leaving himself 340,000 behind. Kornuth called too.
They saw a flop and Boudreau shipped his last into the middle. Kornuth called.
The assorted railers closed in on the table to witness the three-way all-in showdown.
Kornuth:
Boudreau:
Martin:
Turn:
The Boudreau rail went wild as their boy made a flush. Martin stood up to leave with a resigned nod.
River:
Thus we lost Mr. Ted Martin, while Boudreau tripled up to around 2.4 million. Boudreau seemed to be apologizing to Danny Smith for finding it all a bit stressful earlier.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 2:09 AM Local Time
Chance Kornuth checked the flop from the small blind and Danny Smith bet 135,000 from the button. Kornuth called it, and then bet out 400,000 on the turn. A dejected looking Smith folded, and was down to just 430,000.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 2:03 AM Local Time
Chance Kornuth raised to 125,000 under the gun and Ted Martin called on the button. Kornuth bet out 90,000 on the flop and Martin called, but Kornuth bet another 160,000 on the turn and this time Martin folded.
Martin now joins Danny Smith below the million mark - he's down to 850,000.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 2:03 AM Local Time
Kevin Boudreau raised to 160,000, and Chance Kornuth defended his big blind. The flop fell , and Kornuth checked. Boudreau bet 240,000. Chance announced pot, but he was still counting out the million-chip bet when Boudreau folded.
Kornuth's fans went nuts, cheering and clapping. They were careful not say anything, having been told they could positively root for their friend. But after a few seconds, the TD silenced them. Apparently they're not allowed to celebrate now either if Kornuth wins chips at the expense of Boudreau. Meanwhile, Kevin is down to a million in chips.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 1:55 AM Local Time
Chance Kornuth min-raised under the gun only for Kevin Boudreau to reraise pot from the small blind - 300,000 in total. Kornuth sat motionless for a moment, and then called.
They saw a flop and Boudreau checked. Kornuth bet a relatively small 150,000, and Boudreau folded. Cheering from the Kornuth side of the rail.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 1:50 AM Local Time
...But this time it was Chau Giang. The railers changed their minds when they realized who it was, but Giang decided to move of his own accord.
Gavin Smith tried to bet the bemused Giang $1,000 that he couldn't sit on the Forbidden Rail for a minute. Giang declined and sat down in the Permitted Rail instead.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 1:48 AM Local Time
That was the cry from the assembled railers, as a hapless gentleman attempted to sit down in the "forbidden" area of the stands.
"Welcome to Vegas," said the TD as the confused gent was escorted to another side of the rail by security.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 1:44 AM Local Time
A brief raising war between Kevin Boudreau (under the gun) and Chance Kornuth (big blind) resulted in the cards on their backs, Boudreau all in.
Boudreau:
Kornuth:
Board:
To cheering from the his railers, Boudreau doubled to around 2.1 million. Kornuth remained the chip leader after that on around 3 million.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 1:41 AM Local Time
Chance Kornuth min-raised under the gun and Danny Smith called in the big blind.
Smith checked the flop and Kornuth asked the dealer, "How much can I bet?" The dealer immediately replied 270,000. "Wow," said Kornuth, "You're fast." He bet pot.
Smith tanked up. Kornuth told him, "I wish you luck if you go all in." Still he tanked.
Over at the rail Shaun Deeb and Jon Aguiar were having fun.
Aguiar: "How much are you down in live tournaments?"
Deeb: "How much are you down in online tournaments?"
Eventually Smith folded, and Kornuth took the pot.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 1:31 AM Local Time
Well, we were kind of due one after the breakneck pace of the day so far.
Action has really slowed down since Chance Kornuth's double up. Whether it's down to the blinds getting big and the resulting shallowness of everyone's stack but Kornuth's, the proximity to a bracelet, or just the fact that the rail have all moved around so they can't tilt anyone - we're not sure. But all the pots played since that double up have been small, and there has been little change in the stack sizes.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 1:19 AM Local Time
Kevin Boudreau raised to 175,000, and his nemesis, Chance Kornuth, potted for a total of 585,000. Boudreau called, and the flop fell . Kornuth moved all in for around 800,000, and Boureau called.
Kornuth: for top two pair
Boudreau: for straight draws
The on the turn was safe for Kornuth, and the on the river gave him aces and queens to double up to retake the chip lead with 2.9 million. That knocked Boudreau back to 1.5 million.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 1:12 AM Local Time
No-one has come to blows yet, but the TD and a couple security guards are now attempting to move Chance Kornuth's railers over to the other side of the stands so that Kevin Boudreau doesn't have to look at them while he's playing.
"Hey, how come nobody's fighting with us?" asked a bemused gentleman who was railing Danny Smith.
The Smith rail in turn tried to move over to where the Kornuth rail had been, but were prevented by the security guard standing in front of the seats there. "I'm sorry," he said, "This section is closed now."
"Everybody's on Team Dan now," said the Smith railer.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 12:46 AM Local Time
We are now taking a 20-minute break. If others adjourn to the parking lot, we're staying out of it.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 12:41 AM Local Time
Kevin Boudreau limped, and Danny Smith and Chance Kornuth called in the blinds. They checked the flop, and all three checked again after the on the turn paired the board. Then things got crazy after the river. Smith bet out 90,000, and Kornuth potted to 350,000. Boudreau folded, and with the action back on him, Smith wanted a count of Chance's stack. He had about 600,000 behind. Smith raised to 520,000. Kornuth snap-shoved, and Smith called. Smith turned up and Kornuth held , giving both kings full of nines to chop the pot.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 12:33 AM Local Time
We don't know exactly what happened to spark it - although we think it may have been some heckling from the rail that kicked it off - but there is some serious tension brewing between Kevin Boudreau and Chance Kornuth.
We witnessed two hands.
Hand 1
Boudreau raised to 125,000 on the button and Kornuth called in the big blind. They checked the board down to the river, when Kornuth bet out 225,000. Boudreau called and turned over for a flush - but then mucked his other two cards when Kornuth turned over for an ever-so-slightly better flush.
Some words were exchanged but the only bit of it we caught was, "Chance, you're crazy," from the mouth of Boudreau.
Hand 2
Next hand, Boudreau opened for 125,000, under the gun this time. Kornuth called from the small blind and they saw a flop. They both checked.
Kornuth bet out 160,000 on the turn and Boudreau called; Kornuth checked the river. Boudreau bet 225,000.
Maybe 30 seconds had elapsed when Boudreau asked the tournament director, "Can I call the clock? How long has it been?"
Replied TD David Klein, "Not long enough."
Kornuth called, and mucked as soon as Boudreau turned over .
Boudreau turned to his cheering rail and bellowed, "PAID OFF LIKE A FISH! PAID OFF LIKE A FISH!"
He sat back down and told Kornuth, "You used to be so much fun, Chance, Now I want to bust you every hand."
---
As we said, we don't actually know what sparked this off, but we do know that Boudreau was threatened with a penalty if he didn't calm down, the rail were ordered to stop heckling, and the waiters have been ordered not to serve any drinks to the rail.