Caribbean Poker Adventure - Day 7

The final table of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure tournament (a World Poker Tour event) got started with plenty of excitement, even before the first card was dealt. It was held in a huge ice rink/theatre aboard the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' Voyager of the Seas, an extraordinary venue for an extraordinary event.

The crowd was already buzzing, having spotted poker luminaries such as Chris Moneymaker, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Tom McEvoy, Brad Daugherty and Linda Johnson. They were also pointing out World Poker Tour hosts Mike Sexton, Vince Van Patton, and Shana Hiatt.

With the Hollywood smoke blowing around and the theme music playing, the six final table participants walked out into the arena:

1. John D'Agostino (54K chips)
2. Gus Hansen (314K chips)
3. Remco Schrijvers (118K chips)
4. Hoyt Corkins (609K chips)
5. Michael Benedetto (166K chips)
6. Daniel Negreanu (408K chips)

Once tournament director Michael Ward got things under way, it didn't take long for action to break out. On the fifth hand, Gus Hansen raised to 19,000 and Remco Schrijvers promptly pushed all-in. Gus wasn't particularly happy about this and asked for a chip count (Remco had about 115K chips). Finally Gus called and was happy to see that his A-Q was up against Remco's A-J. The flop contained a meaningless ace, the turn and river didn't change a thing. Remco was out, but had parlayed a $650 satellite on PokerStars into a $74,587 payday.

On literally the next hand, another huge confrontation developed. Gus Hansen, now with 450K chips, raised to 19K again and Daniel called. Now John D'Agostino, who had been extremely selective about hands throughout the tournament, promptly jammed for his remaining 50K in chips. With that much in the pot, and a relatively small amount to call, Gus did so quickly. Daniel however, went into the tank. Finally, he reached deep into his stacks and the crowd exploded. Daniel chuckled and said, "I didn't do anything yet, but they talked me into it." and called. The flop came Qs-6s-2d and Gus bet 40K. Daniel quickly folded. With just the two players remaining and D'Agostino all in, they turned up their cards. John had yet another premium hand - pocket jacks, but Gus's Q9 had flopped a pair higher than his and he needed a jack to survive. When an ace hit the turn, Daniel yelped, "That was me!" but it did neither Daniel nor John any good. The river didn't matter either and John was out fifth, with a payout of $99,450.

John was a true story of survival throughout the last couple of days of play, nursing a very small stack from about two or three tables remaining, staying out of the fray while many players with larger stacks busted out. Eventually his relatively small stack made it impossible for him to protect his jacks against Gus's Q-9, but his conservative play almost assuredly won him tens of thousands of dollars extra (and the incredible experience of participating in a WPT final table). He accomplished all this after winning an $80 satellite at PokerStars, which got him a seat in a $650 satellite. In the $650 satellite, he won a seat onto the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure cruise. After that, well, you're reading the rest of the story.

As if some kind of "action gas" had been pumped into the arena, only one more hand went by before there was another all-in confrontation. This time, Michael Benedetto, the last remaining qualifier from PokerStars raised to 20K, capturing the button. But Gus Hansen, now fresh with the proceeds of his past two all-in victories, called. The flop came Jc-Td-9c, Gus bet 26K and Michael, who had flopped a straight with 8h-7h, promptly moved all-in. Gus called quickly with Qc-Jc - top pair, an open-ended straight draw and three to a club flush. The river card didn't take Michael out - it was the king on the turn that did the damage, giving Gus a higher straight. The other king on the river only added insult to injury.

Michael Benedetto had become a crowd favorite by wearing a pair of holographic sunglasses that made him look cross-eyed. He had played aggressively throughout, seemingly unfazed by the recognizable names and non-stop aggression of his opponents. He had actually almost missed the cruise because of family obligations, but had finally worked out the details to come along for the fun. That fun ended up including a trip to the World Poker Tour final table, a prize check of $132,600, and (no doubt) some priceless memories.

Now we were down to three top professionals: Gus Hansen, Hoyt Corkins and Daniel Negreanu. Daniel was making his first WPT final table appearance (he finished 7th at the Aviation Club in Paris), but both Gus and Hoyt already had WPT titles under their belts.

A big pot developed between Gus and Hoyt when Hoyt raised to 20K and Gus called. The flop came 7s-7d-5s, Gus bet 21K, and Hoyt doubled that to 42K. Gus called quickly, and bet out 60K when the Ac hit the turn. Hoyt pondered quite a while and finally folded, giving Gus over 60K of chips that had started out the hand in Hoyt's stack.

On the next hand, Daniel and Gus both limped, only to have Hoyt raise to 31K on the big blind. Daniel looked a bit put out by this, thought a while, and called. Gus folded. The flop was all spades - Q-7-2, and when Gus bet 25K, Daniel folded.

The very next hand was a big confrontation between Daniel and Hoyt. Gus folded on the button, Hoyt called and Daniel checked. The flop came Qd-9s-8d, and Hoyt bet 12K. Daniel raised to 32K and Hoyt called. On the 4c turn, Hoyt bet 35K and Daniel called. When the 5d fell on the river, Hoyt checked, Daniel bet 50K, Hoyt thought briefly, and folded.

A few hands later, we got an official chip count:

1. Gus: 555K
2. Hoyt: 730K
3. Daniel: 387K

A big pot developed shortly after when Hoyt raised to 30K from the button. Gus, re-architected his chip stack, riffled his chips (it's amazing to watch him perfectly riffle two stacks of ten chips), and eventually made a raise to 105K. Hoyt examined Gus's remaining chips, thought briefly and called. The flop came Ad-7c-3d and Gus bet 100K, with Hoyt calling immediately. Both men checked when the Qh fell on the turn. On the river, the 4s came. Gus checked, Hoyt bet 200K and Gus did not think long before folding. This created a 400K change in the standings between the two players.

Two or three hands later, Daniel re-raised all-in after Hoyt raised to 30K. Hoyt went into the tank for quite a while - perhaps a minute or so, and finally folded.

Daniel lost a bunch of chips a few minutes later when he raised to 40K in the small blind after Hoyt had folded. Gus called. The flop was Qh-8d-7s and Daniel bet 60K. Gus rechecked his cards (am I the only one who thinks that not only do they really know what their cards are, but they could tell you which of the two is in front of the other?), waited a while and called. The turn was the Jd and both players checked. On the river (8h), Daniel checked and Gus bet 80K. Daniel thought for a moment, folded, and said, "I can't wait to see that one on TV."

A monster all-in developed between Hoyt and Daniel just a few hands later. Hoyt raised to 185K. Daniel looked at his cards, shook his head and thought hard. Eventually he pushed all his chips in the middle and Hoyt called. Daniel had Ad-3d and Hoyt had 9s-7h, making Daniel about a 3:2 favorite over Hoyt. The flop was Ks-8d-2c, pushing Daniel into an 8:3 lead. The turn was the 5c and the river the Qs, giving Daniel a huge win as his many supporters in the crowd erupted into applause.

[Note: the flop in the above hand was mis-transcribed in the original simulcast, with the eight on the flop appearing as a nine. This confused people who wondered why the pot was pushed to Daniel. Needless to say, it was a simple transcription error, and the pot was pushed correctly.]

Gus took a big chunk out of Daniel's stack when he raised to 31K on the button and Daniel called. The flop was 9h-6c-4d. Daniel checked, Gus bet 30K, and Daniel called. The turn of Jd was checked through, then Daniel bet 50K on the river of 4c, and Gus called. Daniel could only produce K-Q, and Gus, whose 6-5 gave him a pair of 6's, won the pot.

Daniel's chips had been bleeding away and he needed to find a hand with which to take a stand. On the button with about 170K in chips, he raised to 42K and Hoyt called. The flop came 8-7-6 rainbow, Hoyt bet 100K and Daniel promptly moved all-in. He was terrified when Hoyt called and showed K-9. Daniel had Q-9, so unless a queen arrived, or the straight came to chop the pot, he was out. He turned to his girlfriend in the stands and said, "It doesn't look good for me." The three on the turn and seven on the river helped no one and Daniel was out in third place, but got $192,270 as a consolation prize.

I also want add one story that I need to tell because it probably won't make the WPT show. Immediately after busting out, Daniel was walking up through the stands and he was waved over by some fans who wanted him to sign hats and t-shirts. He was incredibly gracious about it, shaking their hands, laughing with them and signing everything they presented. This literally within two or three minutes of busting out of a tournament on which he'd invested the last four days. You can't buy class like that, and Daniel has it in spades.

This left us with just Gus Hansen and Hoyt Corkins - the first time that the WPT has had a final match-up between two former winners.

Now that we were heads-up, there was a break in the action while Shana came out to the table, accompanied by three members of the ship's crew in full uniform carrying a life preserver filled with money. They dumped it all onto one end of the table, leaving Hoyt and Gus to play their poker in the shadow of a mountain of $100 bills.

The two men traded blinds for a while, occasionally raising and winning preflop, or sometimes calling and then a bet on the flop would end it.

Finally a big pot developed in which Gus raised to 53K from the button and Hoyt called. The flop was K-J-4 of hearts. Gus bet 50K and Hoyt called. On the turn, Gus bet 85K and Hoyt reluctantly surrendered his cards.

A few hands later, Hoyt called on the button/small-blind, and Gus checked. The flop was 8-4-4 rainbow. Gus bet 16K and Hoyt called. The Kc fell on the turn and both players checked. On the river, Gus bet 37K and Hoyt doubled the bet to 74K. Gus looked pained, thought for awhile, and finally called. When Hoyt showed Ks-5c, Gus mucked without showing his cards.

We had a monster pot when Hoyt raised to 43K from the button, with Gus calling. The flop was 9-5-5 rainbow and they both checked. The turn was the 6s. Gus checked, Hoyt bet 60K and Gus called. The river was the 2c. Gus checked and Hoyt bet 140K. Gus called fairly quickly and mucked equally quickly when Hoyt showed 8h-7h, having turned a gutshot straight.

For awhile, the two men just traded blinds. Then Gus called from the button/small-blind, and Hoyt raised to 66K from the big blind. Without even waiting for a flop, Gus jammed for all his chips. Hoyt folded.

The defining hand of the tournament came when Hoyt raised to 43K and Gus pushed all-in for about 400K. Hoyt quickly called and showed Ac-9c. Gus could only produce Td-9d, leaving him in deep trouble. The flop was all spades - Q-9-3, and since neither man had a spade, only a ten or a miracle runner-runner straight could help Gus now, as Hoyt had him outchipped. But that miraculous ten came straight on the turn, the 2c on the river didn't matter, and Gus Hansen had a new lease on poker life.

Five or six hands later, Gus raised to 48K before the flop, and Hoyt called. The flop was Th-3s-3h. Hoyt checked, Gus bet 42K, and Hoyt check-raised him (one of the few check-raises we saw the entire day) to 112K. Gus called. When the As fell on the turn, Hoyt checked, Gus bet 150K, and Hoyt folded pretty quickly. This made a 300K swing in the relative stacks of the two.

On the very next hand, Hoyt raised to 70K and Gus quickly jammed all-in. Hoyt thought briefly and folded.

The next hand, Hoyt called before the flop and Gus checked. The flop was Kc-7s-5d. Gus bet 30K and Hoyt called. The turn was the 3d, that would prove to be an important card. Gus checked, Hoyt bet 100K and Gus raised all-in. Hoyt called very quickly. With the crowd on its feet, Hoyt turned over 9d-4d for a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. Gus had 7d-3c for two pair. It turned out that Gus was exactly a 3:1 favorite, with 33 of the remaining 44 cards winning the hand (and the event for him). So he didn't need the 3s that fell on the river, giving him a full house and first prize money in the inaugural PokerStars Caribbean Adventure tournament.

With that, Mike, Vince, Shana, Linda, Mike Ward and some of us from PokerStars came out to celebrate the entire event. PokerStars VP of Marketing, Dan Goldman, told Hoyt that he was now $290,062 richer. Then he turned to Gus and presented him with the winner's bracelet, a diploma noting that he was now entered in the $25,000 Bellagio WPT event and $430,780 in cash. We toasted the winners on camera, Gus and Hoyt stuck around for a bit to accept congratulations and sign autographs, and the crowd headed back to other parts of the ship to tell the story of the amazing poker tournament they'd just witnessed.

With warmest regards,
Lee Jones

PokerStars Poker Manager

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7