2011 August 11 Poker News, Events and Happenings

PROFILE
Name: Sam Holden
Age: 22
Hometown: Canterbury, Great Britain
Online Handle: SAMDMND

Sam Holden is the lone Brit — and the short stack — at the 2011 World Series of Poker final table. Still, you can almost guarantee his rail will be the most rambunctious at the Penn and Teller Theater in November.

Poker players from across the pond are well known for their wild, energetic behavior on final table rails during the WSOP. Holden, though, offers the opposite at the table. The polite 22-year-old poker pro from Sussex quietly squeaked his way into a seat at the final table of poker’s most prestigious tournament. He’ll bring a stack of 12,375,000 to the final table — 1.5 million short of his nearest competitor Anton Makiievskyi — but is still deep enough to make some moves when play begins.

Holden began playing poker professionally after graduating from the University of Kent last year and had immediate success online. He earned $89,000 for a six-way chip in the PokerStars Sunday Million in April and has accrued more than $300,000 in online tournament earnings since 2007.

Holden was playing in his first WSOP this year and had very little live poker experience going in. His live cashes totaled just $10,000, highlighted by a 14th-place finish in his first live event at UKIPT Edinburgh in 2010. He’s guaranteed at least $782,155 as a member of the November Nine.

HOW HE GOT THERE:

Day 1: 82,950 chips
Day 2: 230,300
Day 3: 426,000
Day 4: 1,412,000
Day 5: 2,281,000
Day 6: 4,740,000
Day 7: 2,220,000
Day 8: 12,375,000

KEY HAND: Holden’s biggest pot came as a result of a destructive meltdown by former chip leader Ryan Lenaghan, who began Day 7 as the overall leader with 12,865,000. He had been sliced down to around 4.5 million when Holden scooped up the rest in a preflop confrontation.

With the blinds at 100,000/200,000, Holden opened to 400,000 from early position and Lenaghan moved all in directly behind him. Action folded back to Holden, who took a moment before calling:

Lenaghan: Ah-8h
Holden: As-Qs

Lenaghan’s Ace was dominated, and the 7c-6s-2s flop left his outlook even grimmer. He paired his Eight on the turn, but it was a spade, and Holden’s flush sent Lenaghan to the rail in 16th place. Holden’s stack increased to 11.7 million.

WHY HE CAN WIN: The odds are against him — Holden is offered at 16/1 by one sportsbook to win the Main Event. But we’ve learned in the past that short stacks can sneak up on people. In 2007, Jerry Yang was considered the least likely player to win as bookmakers offered odds of 19-1 before the final table. Joe Cada opened as an 18/1 favorite in 2009 and went on to become the youngest Main Event winner ever.

One early double up would move Holden into the top 3 in chips. He’s a very cautious, solid player, so we’re not expecting him to get out of line at any point during the biggest night(s) of his life. With some good fortune, Holden could become the first Brit to win the WSOP Main Event since 1990, when London-based Mansour Matloubi was crowned world champ (James Bord won the WSOP Europe Main Event in 2010).

The Nightly Turbo is bringing you the day’s top poker news stories including a look at Daniel Negreanu’s blog on the Epic Poker League, the drama surrounding Chino Rheem, and more.

While the Global Poker Index top ten didn’t see much change, Jose “Nacho” Barbero took a big tumble in this week’s rankings.

The Women in Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2011 (Kristy Gazes, Margie Heintz, and Phyllis Caro) will see join an elite class of women that includes Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Jen Harman, and Kathy Liebert.

Sam Trickett leads the Epic Poker League Main Event after Day 2. Only 18 players remain and everyone left is in the money.

PROFILE
Name: Ben Lamb
Age: 26
Hometown: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Online Handle: benba

In 2011, Ben Lamb put together one of the most impressive performances the World Series of Poker has ever seen. And with a date at the Main Event final table set for November, Lamb’s fairy-tale series is far from over.

The 26-year-old had a World Series for the ages this year. After a second place finish in the $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event in June, Lamb won his first gold bracelet in the $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for $814,436. That moved him past Jason Mercier as the No. 1 all-time money winner in Omaha tournaments at the WSOP.

He also added an eighth-place finish at the $50,000 Poker Players Championship and a 12th-place finish in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event. In total, his 2011 WSOP earnings had eclipsed $1.3 million.

And then came the Main Event.

The Las Vegas-based pro fittingly surged to the chip lead on Day 1B of poker’s biggest tournament; Lamb was atop the leaderboard during five of the eight events he played at this year’s WSOP. He maintained a big stack throughout the Main Event, lurking near the leaders during each of the eight days before securing a seat at the November Nine. Lamb takes more than 20 million to the final table, placing him just fifth overall, but he’s considered the favorite by many in the industry based on his immense talent and recent streak of success.

This marks Lamb’s second deep run in the WSOP Main Event in three years. In 2009, he finished 14th for $633,022 after being eliminated by Steve Begleiter on Day 8. That stood as his largest career cash until this year’s series.

Now, he’s guaranteed at least $782,155, with a top prize of $8,711,956 within reach.

HOW HE GOT THERE:

Day 1: 188,925 chips
Day 2: 551,600
Day 3: 354,500
Day 4: 1,268,000
Day 5: 4,032,000
Day 6: 9,980,000
Day 7: 14,690,000
Day 8: 20,875,000

KEY HAND: It was one of the longest, most intense hands during the final days of the Main Event. Late on Day 7, Lamb and Matt Giannetti tangled in a sizeable pot, but it was Lamb’s incredible body control that made the hand so memorable. Here’s how it played out:

With the blinds at 150,000/300,000 and a 40,000 ante, Ben Lamb raised to 675,000 from the cutoff and Giannetti called out of the big blind. After the flop came Ah-9h-2d, Giannetti checked, Lamb fired a bet of 700,000, and Giannetti called. The turn brought the 7d and both players checked to see the 2h hit the river. Giannetti checked again and Lamb overbet the pot, pushing 4 million chips into a pot of 3.1 million. Giannetti went into the tank for nearly ten minutes, visibly anguished while Lamb sat frozen in his seat. Finally, Giannetti called and Lamb turned over 3c-2s for rivered trips, good enough to win a pot worth more than 11 million, increasing his stack to 26 million.

Giannetti mucked, but ESPN revealed that he had Ace-nine for a flopped two pair. He was left with 9.5 million but battled his way to a seat at the final table.

WHY HE CAN WIN: Lamb has more high-pressure poker experience than any member of the November Nine and is arguably the best No Limit tournament player remaining. He’s known as a high-stakes Omaha cash game specialist, but Lamb is quickly becoming one of most feared all-around players in the world. He’ll enter the final table with more than 40 big blinds and lots of room to maneuver.

The inaugural $20,000 Epic Poker League Main Event is down to three six-handed tables as the loaded field of 137 has been trimmed down to 18. Each remaining member of the star-studded field is guaranteed a minimum payday of $43,190 with the winner receiving a cool $1 million in the first of four “epic” Main Events this year.

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