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December 6th 2006
Pro’s flourish at Five Diamond Classic as Steve Wong captures Event #3 and Ralph Perry nails down Event #4
The early going in the Five Diamond World Poker Classic is proving rich hunting ground for the world’s best poker sharks. Already Dave “the Devilfish” Ulliot has guzzled up a WPC bracelet in the $2000 tournament, and now the last two tournaments have also fallen to big name pros.
Dutchman Steve Wong introduced himself to the US poker world this summer, first with a final table in the WSOP and then with a first place finish in the $5000 NL Hold’em event in the Festa al Lago tournament. The ebullient Dutchman continued his hot streak by finishing second to Andreas Walnum (Norway) in the $10,000 buy-in Festa al Lago WPT main-event, collecting $542,700 in the process, and it looks like he’s brought his good form to the Five Diamond Classic as well.
In the third event of this series (the $2500 NL Hold’em tournament) Wong vanquished a tough final table that included Player of the Year contender Nam Lee (who’s third place finish in this event put him second din the overall standings). Going into the heads-up stage Wong trailed the unpredictable Gevork Kasabyan by $740,000 to $340,000 in chips, but he never appeared at a disadvantage. With a steady but steadfast approach Wong used his greater experience to gradually reduce Kasabyan’s chip lead until the two players were level. The crucial hand came after about 3.5 hours when Wong pushed all-in with A-9o and Kasabyan called with Ah-8h. The better kicker played after the board missed both players, and Wong sealed the victory shortly afterwards, collecting $215,255 for first place and bringing his total earnings from the last six months to $1.2 million.
Event #4, the $3000 NL Hold’em tournament, was another event that was dominated by the year’s form pros. Ralph Perry won his first WSOP bracelet this year, to bring his career tournament earnings to an impressive $1.5 million. He was joined on the final table by perhaps THE in-form player of the year, England’s Roland de Wolfe, who over the past 18 months has won more than $2.4 million, capturing a WPT title, an EPT title and finishing third in the WPT Championship in the process.
Ralph and Roland started the final table first and second in chips respectively, and it surprised no-one that they were the last two players standing, though Roland’s aggressive play meant he could easily have been knocked out long before. Three times it looked like his tournament was over, and three times he sucked out on Ralph Perry to stay alive. First Roland triumphed with Q-J versus Perry’s K-Q, then he won a battle with Q-6 versus A-K on an 8-8-3 board, and finally he added insult to injury by winning with T-6 with K-6.
Perry was down but certainly not out, and having promised his ten year-old son (who’s birthday it was) his next gold bracelet he was determined to deliver. He got things going his way when he doubled up with a straight draw against de Wolfe’s two pair, and then Ralph went on a rampage, raking pot after pot to build a commanding chip lead.
His son’s birthday present was finally assured when Raplh hit a gutshot straight draw against Roland’s top pair to take down the title. Perry won $234,635 to go with his bracelet, while Roland added another six figure sum to his bankroll.
Submitted: 06/12/2006 09:59:14
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