The organisers of this year’s Mandalay Bay Poker Championships will surely be regretting their decision to schedule the event so close to the start of the 2007 WSOP, but there is one man who will be forever grateful for their oversight.
The poor timing of this WPT event meant a tiny field (227 players), much smaller crowds than usual, and the smallest winner’s cheque in a while. That said, there were still plenty of big name pros, and a first prize of $768,755 may be small compared to the likes of the LA Poker Classic, but it is not to be sniffed at.
Shawn Buchanon will certainly be more than happy, after he beat Jared Hamby in classy heads-up battle. It was fitting that Hamby and Buchanon should make the final two, as both players had been stand out performers since the beginning of the tournament, with Buchanon particularly dominant in the early stages, while Hamby made Day Three his own.
In the end the tournament turned on two pairs of pocket threes, both belonging to Shawn Buchanon. In the tournament’s key hand Jared Hamby re-raised to $350,000 preflop and Buchanon called. The flop came Qs-9h-4h and Hamby fired out a $410,000 bet. Buchanon quickly called and then called again when Hamby fired $600,000 at the 9c on the turn. When the king of diamonds fell on the river Hamby checked, and Buchanon quickly checked again.
“No pair” he said immediately, accepting the pot was lost. Even so, he must have been surprised to see that Buchanon had looked him up with nothing but a pair of pocket threes. Hamby had played conservatively for the most part, which made Buchanon’s play all the more surprising, but poker is all about timing, and in this case Buchanon’s was perfect.
A few hands later Hamby moved all-in preflop for $865,000 and Buchanon looked down to see another pair of threes. He gave the decision some thought, but eventually decided to make the call. The Wacokid tabled Kh-8h but the board blanked out and Buchanon had the victory. Hamby, ever the gentleman, was nothing less than classy in taking the defeat, and was the first man in the queue to congratulate Buchanon.
The final table payouts were as follows:
Shawn Buchanon - $768,755
Jared Hamby - $459,080
David Levi - $229,540
Thayer Rasmussen - $131,170
Davi Haddad - $98,375
Danny Wong - $76,515