It took nine hours to get there, but only a few minutes to play out hand-for-hand play as derek8 busted in 10th place to set up the final table. Gretko came into the final table as the chip leader, with the stacks looking like this as the final nine settled in to duke it out for the big money.
gretko (LA) - $11,052,372
ROHR (Wurzburg) - $8,641,187
Chaesi (Aetingen) - $7,155,428
donnylon346 (skivarp) - $6,298,870
delegator (Bergen) - $5,435,468
risiko13 (Basel) - $3,741,696
toetagU (WWI) - $2,532,407
Joe Hahn (Doorwerth) - $2,053,096
Negriin (Punta Alta) - $1,269,476
It only took a few hands into the final table for the first big confrontation to take place. Action started off reasonably, with a preflop raise from Chaesi and a call from ROHR, but the fireworks kicked off when the flop came down Q♠-9♠-A♥. Chaesi led out with a bet, and ROHR flat-called to bring the J♦ on the turn. Chaesi quickly moved all in with A♦-J♠ for two pair, and ROHR made the easy call with A♠-Q♥ for the bigger two pair. Only a jack on the river would save Chaesi, but it was not to be when the A♣ rolled off to send him packing in 9th place ($7,708.80).
Joe Hahn came into the final table one of the shortest stacks, and when action folded around to his small blind, Q♦-6♣ looked good enough to shove with, so that's exactly what he did. ToetagU thought for a moment before calling, but tabled the dominating A♥-6♦ to put Joe in a world of hurt. Life got no better for Joe Hahn as the board ran out A♣-8♠-K♠-Q♥-K♥ to bust him in 8th place ($12,045).
Negriin played the short-stack ninja role well, ducking and weaving his tiny stack to a 7th-place finish and a $21,681 payday. His run came to an end at the hands of the deep-stacked gretko, who moved all in over the top of Negriin's preflop raise. The pot-committed Negriin called with A♣-3♦, only to find himself crushed by gretko's A♦-4♥. The flop of 4♠-9♣-7♣ left Negriin looking for running clubs to stay alive, and for a moment it looked like the poker gods would obey when they dropped the T♣ on the turn. But the river was a less-than-helpful 6♥, and Negriin was headed to the virtual rail.
Gretko claimed another victim and the chip lead when he busted toetagU in 6th place ($31,317). All the money went in preflop when toetagU defended his small blind against gretko's button raise by moving all in over the top with A♥-2♦. Unfortunately for toetagU, gretko wasn't on a bluff, but had pocket queens. Gretko made the obvious call, but the 4♦-2♥-4♠ flop gave toetagU a couple more outs. The T♦ on the turn wasn't one of them, and neither was the 5♠ that hit the river as gretko's queens held up, and then there were five.
They say that fortune favors the bold, and it's certainly easier to be bold if you've got a big chip lead. That's what the world looked like when gretko open-raised from the small blind with K♣-3♠, then called delegator's all-in move. Delegator showed A♥-K♥, and looked to be in good shape to double through the chip lead on the J♣-8♠-T♣ flop, but disaster in the form of the 3♥ came on the turn. The 7♦ on the river was no help, and delegator was relegated to a 5th-place finish, good for $40,953.
Donnylon346 made it all the way to 4th place mostly by staying out of the way, but eventually he too, succumbed to the gretko steamroller. Gretko opened with a raise from the button, and donnylon moved all in over the top with A♣-5♥. Gretko made the call with A♥-8♣, and was significantly ahead of his opponent. The flop was no big help to either player, coming down 4♠-J♣-7♣, and the Q♦ on the turn was equally meaningless. The Q♥ on the river brought no reprieve for donnylon, and he was done in 4th place ($54,443.40).
With donnylon's elimination, the three remaining players took a moment to discuss a chop, and after some brief discussion, they agreed on a chip count chop that locked up $128,188.59 for gretko, $109,548.05 for ROHR and $94,758.03 for risiko13. With $10,000 left on the table for the eventual winner, the three survivors retook their seats and the tournament was re-started.
All the money went in on a coin flip on the very first hand back, as gretko opened from the button with A♥-J♥, and risiko13 moved all in over the top with 6♥-6♣. The flop swung the pendulum firmly to gretko's side when it came down T♣-A♦-Q♥, and risiko was in deep trouble. The 5♠ on the turn was no help for anyone, and when the river brought the 9♥, risiko was done in 3rd place and heads up poker ensued.
For all the fevered pace of the rest of the final table, the heads up match between ROHR and gretko was a study in patience. Gretko took a big lead into heads up play, and quickly established a 2:1 chip advantage, but was unable to advance his cause for the longest time as ROHR proved adept at picking his spots and timing his moves.
And finally, after a lengthy heads-up duel, ROHR's patience was rewarded. He took a dominant chip lead when his pocket eights held up against gretko's flush draw in the next-to-last hand of the tournament, and then this all happened. With a massive chip lead, ROHR opened for a raise from the button with 3♣-3♥. Gretko called for the last of his chips with J♦-4♣. The flop of Q♦-7♠-6♥ was no help to either player, but gretko picked up an inside straight draw with the 5♣ turn. No two-outer for greto, though, as the A♦ on the river sent him packing in 2nd place, but with $128,188.59 for his troubles.
ROHR proved that good things come to those who wait, and his slow-but-steady approach to the heads up match garnered him a Sunday Warm-Up title and $119,548.05 for a good day's work. Congratulations to ROHR and all our final table players on a job well done!
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[Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: PokerStars Sunday Tournaments]
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