PokerStars Caribbean Adventure – Final Table Report
Atlantis Resort & Casino (Credit: Vos Efx )
The final table at the 2007 PCA ( Poker Stars Caribbean Adventure) began a little after 10:30 AM EST on Wednesday January 10, 2007 . Isaac Haxton had a commanding chip lead going on. He was at 9,216,000. Jonathan Little, his nearest competitor, was only at 2,366,000. The rest of the field was tightly packed with Frank Rusnack bringing up the rear at 1,166,000.
Here are the seating arrangements and chip counts for all six of our finalists:
1) Robert Mizrachi – 1,450,000
2) Isaac Haxton – 9,216,000
3) Robert “John” Ford – 2,324,000
4) Frank Rusnack – 1,166,000
5) Jonathan Little – 2,366,000
6) Ryan Daut – 2,300,000
During the first few hours of the match, play was pretty conservative. There weren't a lot of confrontations and no one was knocked out.
Why don't we use this this time to learn a bit about each of the guys?
Robert Mizrachi is 26 years old and the eldest of the four Mizrachi brothers. He's the one who introduced his younger brother, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi – perhaps you've heard of him? – to the game. He had a rough time making it to the final table, but his 15 years of playing poker, 5 of which have been spent on the professional circuit, helped him along the way.
Isaac Haxton is 21 and a student at Brown University in Rhode Island . The long-locked dude qualified for this event by playing in a $175 double shootout event at PokerStars. (Note: a double shootout requires that you beat two tables to win. You play at one table and are the last man/woman standing before you move on to the second and repeat the feat.)
Robert “John” Ford is 22 and also on break from university. He, like Isaac Haxton, qualified for the PCA by playing in a double shootout at PokerStars.
Frank Rusnack is a 24 year old college graduate. He went to NIU. He is a reporter covering prep sports for the Chicago Sun Times. We'll be seeing a lot more of Frank because he recently won not one, but two, entries into the 2007 WSOP. He's also got a great sense of humor and compares himself to a legendary player. As he says, “I'm an exact replica of Doyle Brunson, just without the experience, skills, money, or fame.”
Jonathan Little is also 22 years old. He is an online poker nut who has no hobbies. As a friend of his said, “Dude, you don't have any hobbies. How do you think you got here?” He has his own blog entitled The Trials and Tribulations of Jonathan Little . In this, his first year on the tournament circuit, the talented Little has cashed in eight major events and made the final table at the PCA.
Finally, we have Ryan Daut. Daut is a graduate student working towards getting a Ph.D. in math. The 22 year old considers himself a full-time poker pro, however and is mentored by GreenPlastic, a well-known online player. He also thinks that “Women are bad for poker” because, “They distract you and make you do stupid things.”
Ugh!
Now back to the game. After the players took a break, the first thing you notice is that the chip counts haven't changed that much AFTER THREE HOURS. Robert Mizrachi and Frank Rusnack have changed positions with chip counts at around 1.5 mil each. Isaac Haxton still has about half the chips in play with well over 9 mil and the rest are sitting around the 2 mil mark.
Finally, at around 2:15 pm EST , we get our first elimination of the match. Ford raises to 280k UTG (under the gun). Rusnack makes the call. The flop is Jh, 9c, 9s and Ford moves all-in. Rusnack calls and flips up Kh, Ks. Ford shows his Ac, Kd. The turn brings a 3s and Rusnack looks to double up. Unfortunately the river brings the only card the can beat him, an ace – and the sports writer is outta there.
After Rusnack's elimination, we go back to seeing few flops and lots of walks. Soon after, Mizrachi doubles up through Jonathan Little. His stack his now at a healthy 2.8 mil. Little, on the hand, is crippled and eliminated shortly thereafter when Ryan Daut makes a set of sixes on the river. He takes home $317,873 for his fifth place finish.
The next elimination is Robert Mizrachi himself. Haxton makes it 400k to go. Mizrachi calls. The flop is 10h, 3c, 3s. Both players check. The turn is the jack of clubs. Mizrachi bets out with 400k, hoping to take down the pot right there. Haxton calls. The river is an 8c. Mizrachi checks it and Haxton goes all-in. Mizrachi calls and mucks his cards. Haxton turns over his Q, 9 for the straight.
With three players remaining, the chip counts look like this:
Isaac Haxton - 11,900,000
Robert “John” Ford - 3,505,000
Ryan Daut - 2,990,000
We return to aggressive, pre-flop play and don't see a lot of cards hit the board. The blinds increase to 100k/200k with a 10k ante. Under five minutes later, we have our next elimination. It's Robert “John” Ford. He was pushed all-in in the small blind for his last 65k. Haxton raises on the button and Daut folds. Haxton flips over a Kc, 3s. Ford shows his Ad, 8d. The flop brings Haxton a 3 and the turn pairs his king, giving him two-pair and leaving Ford with no outs as no diamonds hit the board. He exits in third place with $550,980.
Now, it's time for the money presentation. Yippee! We're heads up. Haxton has 13,905,000 to Daut's 4,920,000, and it looks like Haxton's gonna walk away with the win. However, within the first fifteen minutes of heads-up play, Daut, the math specialist, doubles-up and takes the chip lead away from Haxton for the first time all day.
Haxton is unable to get back to even in the match. Daut wins another big pot off him with two-pair, Queens and fives. Daut pounces and continues aggressively re-raising pre-flop. Soon after, the blinds increase to 150k/300k and 30k antes. The WPT also reduces the levels to just 30 minutes so we can finish this thing up. Less than five minutes later, we have our winner.
Daut moves all-in on the button. Haxton calls. Daut shows his Ad, 10h. Haxton flips over an unimpressive Qd, 8h. The board brings no help for either player and Daut wins with his Ace-High. Haxton's second-place finish earns him $861,789. Our winner, Ryan Daut, receives an entry into the 2007 WPT Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas this April as well as an impressive first-place prize of $1,535,255.
Here are the final results:
1) Ryan Daut - $1,535,255
2) Isaac Haxton - $861,789
3) Robert “John” Ford - $550,980
4) Robert Mizrachi - $409,703
5) Jonathan Little - $317,873
6) Frank Rusnack - $247,234
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