Jim McDaniel won his third career SPT title last night, winning a tournament of 20 players in the second major of the year. Jim came back from being one of the biggest underdogs in the history of the SPT and claimed the title.

 

The tournament started with a re-buy period. Action was fairly calm, with only Dave hitting the 5 re-buy cap, and only Waisner having to hit 3 re-buys. All told, we had 21 re-buys and 18 add-ons.

 

Bad beats took place during the time up to the final table (and continued there). Some players took the situation better than others. Stamp was first up on the bad beat train, as he got all in with pocket aces. Bristow had queens, but the turn was a queen, and Stamp was out. Unfortunately for Stamp, he came with MacLean, and had to wait for him to go.

 

Barry, however, was in no mood to wait. He lost a huge pot when MacLean rivered a gut shot straight, and Barry was on mega-tilt at that point. In the span of 10 minutes, his chip count of 8,000 was down to nothing. He threw his chips at Travis, grabbed his stuff and ran out. No good byes for Barry as he moves to San Antonio. The SPT wishes Barry well in his new home!

 

Play was much quieter and subdued at this point. We reached the final table with the following chip counts:

 

Greg Buhler     11,600

Sanjit                  8,600

Kevin Bristow   8,900

Duncan O'Frie  6,750

Jim McDaniel   8,050

Joaquin McPeek  2,500

Travis Green      14,500

Sean MacLean 21,700

Koutney              9,300

 

Sean quickly doubled up Joaquin, prompting McDaniel to say derisively "It's only 10% of your stack, keep doing that for all of us!"

 

Koutney then took a big pot from Travis, and stated "I saw it in your face" as he raked in the pot. While there was some back and forth on the issue, we quickly went back to playing cards.

A huge pot then developed. Koutney raised with QQ, Sanjit moved all-in for 8,500 with A-Q, and McDaniel called with his last 4,500 with A-J. Koutney called, and a big main pot had a good sized side pot as well. Koutney was a 72% favorite, with McDaniel only a 9.7% favorite. Of course, "Binion" hit 2 jacks on the flop, and McDaniel tripled up. Sanjit was eliminated.

 

Duncan was next to go in a brutal beat, but he was the classy player that the SPT has come to know and respect. He raised with pocket kings, and Sean called with A-Q. The flop came K-J-4, and both checked. The turn was a 10, and all the money went in. Sean's straight held up, and Duncan was out.

 

Koutney raised from the button with J-7, and Greg called from the small blind with Q-Q. The flop came down Q-7-5. The 7 on the turn added a lot of betting. The river was a blank, with Greg making a small bet, but Koutney moving all-in. Greg called and Koutney said "Three sevens", but Greg said "Full House". Koutney then said a quick good-bye and left, before hearing Greg comment that he "Saw it in his face".

 

Another big pot ended the day for Joaquin. All the money got in on a board of J-10-4-J, with Joaquin showing A-J. McDaniel, however, had J-10 for a boat. No Ace on the river came, and Joaquin was out in sixth.

 

Down to the top 5 and the money - Travis was short stacked at this point and forced to go all-in with 10-6 of clubs. Bristow called with K-Q and ultimately made a full house. Travis was out in fifth in his second 2006 and career money finish, winning $41 and 110 points.

Bristow was the next out, as he raised with pocket 10's, getting called by McDaniel. The flop was K-9-2, with Bristow moving all-in. McDaniel called with K-10, and the kings held up. Bristow won $82 and 134 points in his 3rd 2006 money finish, and 17th career money finish.

 

Play at 3 handed went back and forth with a lot of raising and re-raising, with less than premium hands. McDaniel was slowly taking a chip lead during this process. Ultimately, McDaniel raised with A-J, MacLean pushed in with Q-10, and Jim called. No help came on the board, and Sean was out in third. Sean won $165 and 168 points in his first 2006 money finish, and 9th career SPT money finish.

McDaniel was ahead by an 8 to 1 margin, though Greg quickly doubled up with A-7 vs. Q-8. Greg battled back through a series of hands. Finally, with McDaniel leading 75k to 25k, both saw a flop of A-A-2. McDaniel bet with 5-2, Greg moved in with Q-2, and McDaniel called. Jim was dead to a 5 or a few other cards for a tie. The 5 came on the turn, and the river was a blank, winning the tournament for McDaniel.

Greg Buhler won $206 and 226 points in his third money finish of 2006 (and second consecutive second place finish). He has 8 career money finishes.

Jim McDaniel won $330 and 357 points. This is his third title (two of which are majors). This is his second money finish of 2006, and his 11th career money finish.

 

Many thanks to Dave for hosting the event!

The June and July tournament dates are currently being negotiated - more to come very soon!