Doug Lee and Gavin are the prominent Canadian players still left but Doug doesn’t last much longer.
Talking to him later, he confessed, “I struggled with being short-stacked, got some breaks utilizing my chips, but I ended up getting knocked out in forty-third place. The calibre of players was pretty good.
There were a lot of Canadian pros and some good US players. I like playing the events in Canada. I finished second in the Deerfoot CPT event last November and the great thing about winning in Canada is that it’s tax-free.”
His comments on Johnny Chan included, “Johnny Chan has been a great poker player for many years. He has proved himself with ten bracelets alongside Phil Hellmuth and having him here meant a lot to many people.” From here, Doug plans to head back to Calgary to rest up for his annual pilgrimage to the WSOP.
Holding medium pair with a flush draw seemed OK. Unfortunately Tony Ng flopped 2 pair with his K-3 and busted the 2006 Player of the Year after pushing his 486K. Out in 15th is the great white (north) hope for an entertaining final table.J10o looks harmless enough. Gavin raises a bet all-in with his 99. Gavin lasts until LVL 19 (10K/20K +2K) when a flop of K72 hurts him a bit.
The river is inconsequential and Tommy goes from chip leader to middle of the pack while Keith spends several minutes stacking his chips. I’ll have to ask Brian Alspach what the odds are of flopping the nut and second-nut flush, but I suspect they’re not good. With about a half a million dollar swing it’s a pivotal hand with only 13 players left. Keith checks, Tommy fires again with 300K. This time Keith raises all-in and Tommy insta-calls. The so called “steal” hand turned out quite different, with Keith holding A•7•for the nut flush and Tommy with the K•4• for second-nut.
The A6o key hand approaching the televised bubble, involved Tommy Pavlicek and Keith Wintermans. Tommy raised preflop to 80K, which Keith called. A flop of 5•6•8• looked like a great opportunity for a steal from someone, so when Keith checked, Tommy was quick to bet 125K. Keith calls. Turn is the harmless 2.
Not until 1:30 in the morning did the night end when Tommy pushes all-in with Q-Q and get called by Narinder Khasria with A-K. It’s over quick when a Queen appears on the flop and turn, leaving Narinder with about 40K, which he pushes with on the next hand. His desperate attempt doesn’t hold up and the Milton, ON native is busted in 11th, leaving a final table in his wake; not too bad for someone who was playing in his first tournament and collected $15,000 to help find his way into more tournaments in the future.
Breaking for the night, our final table is an eclectic mix of amateurs, colourful misfits, seasoned players, a televised table repeater and cantankerous malcontents. For some players it just about the poker, for others, it’s a great once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Unfortunately for others, it’s just a big hassle and for those who downplayed the experience, found themselves… well, downplayed.
